In a dramatic and unprecedented move, the IDF announced on Sunday that it will begin implementing a new and severe enforcement plan against Chareidi draft dodgers. The new plan is taking place in parallel with the issuance of 54,000 conscription orders to bnei yeshivos beginning on Tuesday. As part of the plan, the IDF will deploy new roadblocks at border crossings, at entrances to Chareidi cities, and even on main roads, at checkpoints in Yehudah and Shomron, on the way to Eilat, and at entrances to Chareidi population centers. In addition, the military police will be bolstered, and Border Police companies will be deployed to prepare for expected riots.

An article published in the Wall Street Journal over the weekend drew parallels from Operation Rising Lion to Iran’s eight-year war with Iraq in the 1980s. “That war really looms large in terms of the entire way in which they see themselves under siege, permanently under threat,” said Vali Nasr, an Iran expert at Johns Hopkins University and author of Iran’s Grand Strategy: A Political History. “The mindset of the country now is that it dodged a bullet and that it still has to contend with a long-term danger.” “They know that they can survive a total war that lasts a long time,” said Afshon Ostovar, an Iran military expert and associate professor at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif.

Israel’s charedi Shas and United Torah Judaism parties are refusing to set foot in the Knesset chamber to vote with their coalition partners until they receive a new draft of the hotly contested conscription bill, Channel 12 reported. The standoff marks a sharp escalation in tensions over the government’s efforts to draft thousands of charedi men into the IDF. United Torah Judaism MK Moshe Roth confirmed to Radio Kol Barama that his party is already boycotting private member bills sponsored by coalition MKs to protest delays in moving the legislation forward. The controversial bill — shelved temporarily during the 12-day war with Iran — is now back in the spotlight.

A ship came under attack Sunday in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen by armed men firing guns and launching rocket-propelled grenades, a group overseen by the British military said. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, which comes as tensions remain high in the Middle East over the Israel-Hamas war and after the Iran-Israel war and airstrikes by the United States targeting Iranian nuclear sites. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center said that an armed security team on the ship had returned fire and that the “situation is ongoing.” “Authorities are investigating,” it said.

The Muslim “Day of Ashura” took place on Shabbos, July 5, this year. On this day, Sunni Muslims celebrate, among many other things, the splitting of the Yam Suf by “Prophet Moses,” the landing of the ark of “Prophet Nuh” (Noach), and the emergence of “Prophet Yonah” from the belly of the fish. In contrast, for Shia Muslims, Ashura is a solemn day: it is a day of mourning, commemorating the anniversary of the killing of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, during the Battle of Karbala in October 680 CE.

The IDF is considering establishing hundreds of new prison spaces for Chareidi draft dodgers. The IDF announced late last week that it is preparing to begin sending 54,000 conscription orders to bnei yeshivos as early as Tuesday, July 8. However, the army has not yet decided whether to send all the orders at once, on the same day, or to divide the sending of the orders into several stages until the end of July in order to comply with the letter of the law. One of the problems that the IDF is facing is the lack of military prison spaces to implement the enforcement of the draft orders. The IDF’s detention facility has room for hundreds of prisoners, far less than the estimated tens of thousands of Chareidi draft dodgers.

An Israeli delegation is scheduled to leave for Doha on Sunday for talks on a ceasefire/hostage release deal. However, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s office stated on Motzei Shabbos that “the changes that Hamas is requesting to make to the Qatari proposal were conveyed to us last night and are unacceptable to Israel.” “Following a situational assessment, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu instructed to accept the invitation for proximity talks and continue efforts for the return of our hostages, based on the Qatari proposal that Israel has agreed to.” Hamas is demanding, among other things, guarantees that the war will not resume after the 60-day ceasefire and that the US-Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Fund (GHF) cease its activities in the Strip. (YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)

The Telegraph reported that Iranian ballistic missiles struck five sensitive IDF military bases during last month’s 12-day war, citing advanced radar data shared by Oregon State University. The satellite-tracked evidence, kept under wraps by Israeli authorities to prevent Iran from fine-tuning potential future salvos, indicates direct hits on strategic installations including the Tel Nof Airbase, the Glilot intelligence compound, and the Zipporit armor and weapons production facility. The Telegraph analysis, based on bomb damage signatures picked up from orbit, concluded that six Iranian ballistic missiles penetrated Israel’s multi-layer air defense systems and slammed into IDF facilities.

YWN regrets to inform you of the Petira of  R’ Avi Piamenta Z”L, one of the most beloved and influential Jewish musicians of the past generation. He was Niftar on Friday, 8 Tammuz 5785, at the age of 69. R’ Avi, who was a master fluiet player, brought simcha to countless Yidden around the world with his soulful music and energy. He was the brother of the legendary R’ Yossi Piamenta Z”L, one of the greatest guitarists in Jewish music history, who was Niftar in 2015. Together, the Piamenta brothers performed at tens of thousands of chasunos and events over several decades, leaving an indelible impact on the world of Jewish music and the hearts of Klal Yisrael.

A shul in Melbourne, Australia, was set on fire on Friday night while 20 people were inside. B’Chasdei Hashem, only the door was burned, and no one was injured in the incident. Those inside the shul evacuated through the back of the building. The incident began when a man entered the grounds of the East Melbourne shul at around 8:00 p.m. on Friday night, poured a flammable liquid on the entrance door, and set it on fire. It is one of the oldest shuls in the city, founded in 1870. Only minutes after the arson attempt, pro-Hamas rioters stormed the Miznon restaurant in Melbourne, throwing chairs and shattering a window while shouting “Death to the IDF.” The group of rioters arrived at the restaurant after a demonstration attended by about 100 pro-Hamas rioters on a nearby street.