In a devastating terror attack last night, two employees of the Israeli Embassy in Washington DC were murdered at an event hosted by the American Jewish Committee in the nation’s capital. The two young embassy employees, Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim. Yaron was planning to propose next week to Sara, when they were set to be in Jerusalem together. 

See the statement by Jewish Federations of North America here.

• Two IDF soldiers fell in the last week: Yosef Chirak, aged 22 (who had been married just seven months), and Danilo Mocanu. Mocanu was the 858th fatality among Israeli service members since October 7, 2023.
• In recent days, the Israeli military has begun conducting extensive attacks in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, after mobilizing thousands of reservists as part of a renewed campaign. There are now five IDF divisions operating in Gaza. The military says that the goal of the operation, which has been named “Gideon’s Chariots,” is to achieve “operational control” in areas it is capturing.
• The IDF has confirmed that it killed and recovered the body of Hamas leader Muhammad Sinwar, who had taken over the terror group’s Gaza operations after his brother, Yahya Sinwar, was killed last year. Muhammad was found hiding beneath a hospital when he was killed.
• Beginning earlier this week, Israel began allowing humanitarian aid into Gaza, largely as a result of US pressure. Some 100 supply trucks have entered the Strip, with the IDF trying to ensure that Hamas is unable to commandeer the goods. Nonetheless, it is understood that ten percent of the aid has found its way to the terror group. Read more about Israel’s aid strategy here.
• The military has confirmed that in a covert and complex Mossad operation (in cooperation with “an allied foreign intelligence service”), it has recovered the official Syrian archive on Eli Cohen, Israel’s most famous spy, who was executed in Damascus in 1965.
  • The files were presented to Eli Cohen's widow, Nadia, who is still alive.
  • Among the documents were the original will written by Eli Cohen himself, hours before his execution.
  • The archive includes approximately 2,500 original documents, photographs, and personal items.
  • Also found among the many documents was the original sentence and the decision to execute Cohen. In this document, the court determined that the head of the Jewish community in Damascus, Rabbi Nissim Indibo, was to be allowed to minister to Eli Cohen according to Jewish tradition.