Following a tense confrontation on Thursday night, in Crown Heights, where hundreds of Lubavitcher bochurim stood up to pro-Hamas supporters, Crown Heights Shomrim has issued an urgent community alert about a planned pro-terror demonstration scheduled for Monday, April 28, at 7:00 p.m. The protest is set to begin at the Barclays Center and move toward Crown Heights, prompting heightened vigilance from local authorities and residents. The Thursday night incident saw pro-Hamas agitators met with strong resistance from the Chabad community, resulting in the protesters being driven out of the area. Additionally, members of Neturei Karta were chased out of Crown Heights during the same evening. It remains unclear whether Neturei Karta plans to return for Monday’s demonstration.

A clear majority of American Jews disapprove of President Donald Trump’s performance in office, including his handling of antisemitism, according to a new survey released on Friday. The poll, conducted by the Mellman Group for the Jewish Electorate Institute, found that 72 percent of American Jewish respondents disapprove of the president’s performance, while 24 percent said they approve. A majority—67 percent—reported that they “strongly disapprove,” compared with 16 percent who “strongly approve.” The survey also found that 56 percent of American Jews disapprove of how Trump has addressed antisemitism, compared with 31 percent who approve.

Nechama Grossman, Israel’s oldest Holocaust survivor, passed away at the age of 109 on Thursday—Yom Hashoah, Israel’s national day of remembrance for Holocaust victim. Her granddaughter, Luba, shared her grief with Kan News, saying, “I am in shock—I have no words. Honestly, we thought she’d make it to 110. Yesterday… she wasn’t feeling well. She was lucid until the end and died peacefully. On Holocaust Remembrance Day of all days.” In her final days, Grossman reportedly dreamed of Nazis returning to harm her, waking up fearful that the horrors of her youth were resurfacing. “She was afraid of the Nazis—that it was coming back,” Luba said. “She always said that we need to live in peace and without wars.

Nearly 36,000 Gazans—close to 2% of the coastal enclave’s population—have left the Gaza Strip since the start of the war triggered by Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre in southern Israel, Channel 12 News reported Friday. Most of the departing residents have relocated to Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Western European nations, and Romania, according to the report. Approximately 2,000 Gazans were able to exit through Israeli territory, traveling via Ramon Airport near Eilat or the Allenby Crossing into Jordan. The vast majority, however, crossed through Gaza’s Rafah Crossing with Egypt, which reopened briefly on January 31 during a now-expired ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. The crossing closed again on March 18 when fighting resumed.

Fire Chief Eyal Caspi ordered the establishment of a special investigative team to examine the circumstances of last week’s fire in the Beit Shemesh area that reached the outskirts of Jerusalem. The special investigative team was established at the beginning of the fire, and one of the main conclusions was that the fire was the result of arson. “Evidence was found at the scene, supported by testimonies, which reinforce the suspicions that the fire was started by a person who was at the scene at the beginning of the fire,” the Fire and Rescue Authority spokesperson stated. The fire’s epicenter was located at the entrance to Moshav Tarom, near the access road to the chicken coops. The fire spread rapidly due to the harsh weather conditions.

Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett accused the Netanyahu-led government of intentionally stalling the enlistment of bnei hayeshivos, claiming that this policy is directly responsible for the stalemate in Gaza. “The paralysis in Gaza stems from a conscious decision to deprive the IDF of its most vital resource: soldiers ready to fight,” Bennett wrote in a lengthy post on X. The former prime minister, who is rumored to be positioning himself for a political comeback, asserted that the IDF’s shortage of manpower is preventing a victory against Hamas. According to official figures, there are approximately 70,000 yeshivaleit between the ages of 18 and 24 who are legally eligible for military service but are currently not enlisted.

In a gambit to cling to power, Hamas says it would strike a deal with Israel that would leave it ruling Gaza under the protection of an internationally guaranteed five-year truce, according to sources cited by international media outlets. Under the proposed agreement, Hamas would release all remaining Israeli hostages in a single exchange—one of Israel’s key demands since the brutal October 7, 2023, massacre that ignited the current war. The latest maneuver comes after Hamas rejected an Israeli ceasefire offer earlier this month, dismissing it as “partial” and insisting instead on a “comprehensive” arrangement to end the fighting.

Israel has denied involvement in the massive explosion ripped through Iran’s largest port on Saturday, killing at least 28 people and injuring over 1,000 others. The blast shook the Port of Shahid Rajaee in Bandar Abbas, a critical hub on the Strait of Hormuz. Thick plumes of smoke towered over the strategic facility after the blast, which initial reports suggested may have involved chemical materials linked to ballistic missile production. Iranian officials have remained tight-lipped about the true cause, saying only that the explosion had no connection to the country’s oil industry. Hossein Zafari, a spokesperson for Iran’s crisis management agency, told local media that “chemicals inside the shipping containers” were to blame.