KOENIG

Sixteen were lightly wounded overnight on Friday when a ballistic missile fired by Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists in Yemen struck a residential area in Tel Aviv’s Jaffa neighborhood at 3:44 a.m. The impact created a crater in a playground.

Magen David Adom paramedics treated at least 14 people hurt, mainly by shards of glass created by the impact. They were evacuated to Wolfson Medical Center in Holon and Sourasky Medical Center (Ichilov Hospital) in Tel Aviv.

Another 14 people were injured on the way to a protected area and seven others suffered from anxiety.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas "logically" could happen in a Thursday interview with Bloomberg. 

"I say that with all of the caution that comes with that statement because we've been very close before," he told The Big Take on Thursday.

"But what's changed is this: Hamas knows that the cavalry is not coming to the rescue," Blinken continued. "For months and months, It hoped it would get a wider war with Hezbollah, with Iran, with Iranian-aligned groups, coming in and creating more problems from Israel on more fronts and helping Hamas endure."

As 14 Israeli Air Force fighter jets accompanied by refuelers were on their way to Yemen, some 1,250 miles south of the Jewish state, to strike Houthi terrorist and economic infrastructure early on Thursday, a Houthi surface-to-surface ballistic missile was also in the air, heading toward Israel.

The missile was intercepted by Israeli air defenses, but part of its warhead fell in central Israel, heavily damaging a Ramat Gan school—a stark reminder that this Iranian proxy remains committed to killing and terrorizing Israelis.

In its response, Israel expanded on its previous targeting of Houthi economic-terrorist infrastructure, hitting weapons smuggling facilities, and oil and other energy infrastructure. By doing so, Israel also sent a warning to the Houthis’ sponsors in Iran, located roughly as far from Israel as Yemen is, whose economy is heavily dependent on oil ports.

Mike Huckabee, President-elect Donald Trump's nominated US ambassador to Israel, reaffirmed America's commitment to Israel, stating that the Jewish state would never stand alone during a speech at the One Israel Fund's 30th anniversary gala.

"I want to say you will never be alone again in your fight for freedom and to preserve the country and the land and the heritage that God gave you," Huckabee said.

During the event, Huckabee also met the head of the Binyamin Council and the chairman of the Yesha Council, Israel Gantz. The two discussed what is expected in the new era under President Trump.

U.S. Central Command announced on Friday that its forces conducted a precision airstrike Thursday targeting ISIS leader Abu Yusif aka Mahmud in Syria's Dayr az Zawr Province, killing him and another operative of the terrorist group. The strike came as the U.S. is working to thwart the jihadists' attempt to free their brethren held in Syrian detention facilities.

Said Arikat, Washington bureau chief for the Jerusalem-based newspaper Al-Quds, regularly criticizes the Jewish state in his ostensible questions at the U.S. State Department press briefings.

“Why is [sic] all these attacks by Israel and basically coming so close to Damascus—and in fact, they struck Tartus the other day with a bomb that measured three-point something on the Richter scale,” he said at Wednesday’s briefing

Vedant Patel, principal deputy spokesman at the State Department, told Arikat that “what we want to see is lasting stability between Israel and Syria.”

“Israel has said that these kinds of actions and the limited defense of its borders are temporary, and no nation—certainly not even the United States—could tolerate terrorists and other armed militia groups becoming embedded right on their doorsteps,” Patel said.

The Israeli Air Force struck Houthi targets in Yemen overnight Wednesday, after intercepting a missile over central Israel fired by the Iranian-backed terror group.

An elementary school in the Ramat Efal neighborhood of Ramat Gan, just east of Tel Aviv, suffered severe damage when shrapnel hit it following the interception. According to the city’s mayor, the impact caused a partial collapse of the school’s central building, prompting the cancellation of classes for the day. No injuries were reported.

Following an initial investigation into the impact, the Israel Defense Forces said on Thursday afternoon that “it is likely that the damage was caused by partial interception of the missile launched from Yemen and that the missile warhead was the part that exploded and damaged the school.”

Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists “are learning—and will learn the hard way—that whoever harms Israel will pay a very heavy price for it,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday after the Israeli Air Force struck Hodeidah in response to ongoing missile attacks.

“This morning, the Air Force attacked strategic Houthi targets in the port of Hodeidah and deep inside Yemen. We did this in response to the Houthis’ repeated attacks on Israeli civilians,” Netanyahu said.

Hours after the Israel Defense Forces carried out intense airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Israel’s operations are protecting not just itself from the Iran-backed rebel group but [protecting] the entire world.

From 1974 until December 7-8 of this year, the Syrian border was an extremely dangerous one where neither Israeli soldiers nor journalists would dare set foot, other than rare covert operations which where generally covered in a fog of mystery.

The United Kingdom, France and Germany on Tuesday called on Iran to “reverse its nuclear escalation,” claiming that there is no “credible civilian justification” for the amount of highly enriched uranium it is stockpiling, AFP reported.

According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Tehran has already become the only non-nuclear state to have uranium enriched to 60%, just a short step from military-grade level.

In a joint statement ahead of a U.N. Security Council meeting, the three countries warned that “Iran’s stockpile of High Enriched Uranium has … reached unprecedented levels, again without any credible civilian justification. It gives Iran the capability to rapidly produce sufficient fissile material for multiple nuclear weapons.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu led an assessment of the Israel Defense Forces deployment on the northern border with Syria on Tuesday afternoon, his office said.

Netanyahu visited the Mt. Hermon peak with Defense Minister Israel Katz, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, Northern Command head Maj. Gen. Ori Gordin, Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) head Ronen Bar and other security officials.

Netanyahu during the visit “reviewed the IDF deployment in the area and set guidelines for the future,” according to the PMO statement.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday that the Israel Defense Forces will continue to maintain security control in the Gaza Strip after the war with Hamas concludes.

“In response to various reports, my position regarding Gaza is clear. After we defeat Hamas’s military and governing power in Gaza, Israel will maintain security control in Gaza with full freedom of action, just as in Judea and Samaria,” tweeted Katz in Hebrew.

“We will not allow any terrorist group to organize against Israeli communities and citizens from Gaza. We will not allow a return to the reality that existed before Oct. 7,” he added.

Israel is likely to finally respond to Yemen’s Houthis in the coming weeks, The Jerusalem Post learned on Monday following yet another ballistic missile attack by the Iranian proxy.

The IDF air defense intercepted a ballistic missile fired by Yemen’s Houthis on Monday, setting off sirens across central Israel, the army announced at 3:23 p.m.

The IDF added that the missile did not cross into Israeli territory. However, alerts were triggered due to the possibility of falling debris from the interception.

Air-raid sirens pealed in the greater Tel Aviv area on Monday afternoon after Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists fired a missile at the Jewish state from Yemen, the Israel Defense Forces confirmed.

“Following alerts that were activated a short time ago in central Israel, one missile that was launched from Yemeni territory was intercepted and shot down before it crossed into Israeli territory,” the IDF said.

Air-raid sirens were activated to warn civilians for the possibility of falling missile fragments following the interception, the army said.

Heavy Israeli airstrikes were reported in Syria’s coastal Tartus region overnight Sunday-Monday, allegedly targeting military sites, in the latest such raids since rebels brought down Bashar al-Assad’s regime last week.

The attacks were reported by local media and several monitors, with some footage distributed on social media showing explosions, ostensibly from the bombings.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said early Monday that Israel Defense Forces jets had targeted a series of sites, including air defense units and surface-to-surface missile depots, calling the campaign “the heaviest strikes in Syria’s coastal region since the start of strikes in 2012.”

The Israeli government unanimously approved Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's NIS 40 million plan to encourage demographic growth in the Golan Heights, the Prime Minister's Office announced on Sunday.

Netanyahu has expressed a desire to double the population of the Golan after Israel's north suffered over a year of devastation due to the war.

Currently, over 100,000 people have been displaced along the northern border, and the potential for a new conflict with Syria after Assad's fall has made many concerned that their return home would be delayed.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had a “very friendly, warm and important” phone call with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on the need to complete Jerusalem’s victory over Iranian-backed terror proxies and free the hostages held by Hamas, the Israeli leader said on Sunday.

Netanyahu in a statement said he and his “friend” Trump discussed the situations in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria during the call on Saturday night.

“A year ago, I said something simple: We would change the face of the Middle East, and we are indeed doing so. Syria is not the same Syria. Lebanon is not the same Lebanon. Gaza is not the same Gaza. And the head of the axis, Iran, is not the same Iran,” Netanyahu said in the video statement on Sunday.

Amid internal and international pressure to end the conflict in Israel's North and the emerging settlement between Israel and Lebanon, some Israeli political leaders expressed their opposition to the upcoming agreement, which, among other things, strives to pressure Hamas to return the remaining 101 hostagesstill held in the Gaza Strip by the Gaza-based terrorist organization.

Throughout the weekend, Israel continued targeting remnants of Assad's former military arsenal. Arab media reported multiple strikes on military sites, including headquarters, battalion positions, radar installations, weapons depots, and assets belonging to the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Center, known for developing advanced weaponry.

In response to al-Julani's statements, IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi clarified Israel's stance: "We are not intervening in what is happening in Syria. Our presence here is solely to prevent terrorist organizations from establishing a foothold."

Israel launched a series of strikes early Saturday targeting military sites in Damascus and its countryside, including rocket depots buried deep under a mountain, a Syrian war monitor said, in the latest such raids since rebels brought down Bashar al-Assad almost a week ago.

Earlier in the week Israel launched a major operation to destroy the Syrian military’s strategic military capabilities, including chemical weapons sites, missiles, air defenses, air force and navy targets, in a bid to prevent them from falling into the hands of hostile elements.

The early Saturday strikes appeared to be aimed at completing the effort.