After about 30 hours, Chief Fire  Eyal Caspi announced at 6:30 p.m. that control had been achieved over the massive fire in the Jerusalem hills. “The Fire Chief has instructed to gradually reduce forces,” a statement said. “The firefighters will continue to work at low intensity but with a strong presence on the ground to prevent the fire from rekindling. The Fire Chief thanks all the forces and parties that assisted in the national effort to extinguish the fire.” The main hotspots on Thursday were Latrun, Burma Road, Eshtaol, Mesilat Zion, Ta’oz, Canada Park, Sha’ar HaGai, Kedoshim Forest, and Shoresh. According to the Fire and Rescue Authority, a special investigative team has launched a probe into the circumstances of the fire, and an in-depth investigation is underway.

Trump administration National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and other staffers are out at the National Security Council, all major media outlets are confirming. Waltz and his deputy Alex Wong were purged Thursday. Waltz, who previously served as a Florida congressman and as a decorated combat Green Beret, has come under fire from Democrats and critics since March, when the Atlantic magazine’s editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg published a firsthand account of getting added to a Signal group chat with top national security leaders, including Waltz, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and CIA Director John Ratcliffe, while they discussed strikes against Yemen terrorists.

A Fire and Rescue Authority spokesperson said on Thursday morning that the wildfires that began in the Jerusalem hills on Wednesday are not yet under control after 163 firefighting teams battled the flames overnight. “Over 150 firefighting teams are still working at full capacity in all the fire hotspots in the Judean Plain area,” a spokesperson said. About 23 firefighting teams are operating in the Beit Meir and Shoresh area, and 10 firefighting planes are assisting the forces in the field. Firefighters are still battling flames at 11 locations on the outskirts of Jerusalem and seven yishuvim are still evacuated of their residents. The winds have weakened, and until 2 p.m., the weather, which includes a chance of rain, is in favor of the firefighters.

Jerusalem, Israel – As major fires ravaged multiple regions across Israel on Wednesday, April 30, 2025, Shas Chairman Aryeh Deri took to X to demand harsh action against Palestinians he claims are responsible, urging the IDF to “eliminate from the air” those identified as arsonists. The Shin Bet security agency is investigating the fires’ causes, and several arson suspects were arrested in east Jerusalem and security teams in two other areas arrested suspects in two additional attacks, one in Rosh HaAyin and another in Beit Keshet, a kibbutz in northern Israel. Deri wrote, “Arsonists during wartime are terrorists in every sense.

Wildfires broke out in the Eshtaol forest near Beit Shemesh on Wednesday morning amid heatwave weather conditions and powerful winds. As of noon, there was five active fires: on Route 2, in Canada Park, Neve Shalom, Mesilat Tzion and Mitzpe Harel. The yishuvim of Neve Shalom, Tekoa, Ta’oz, Nachshon and Mesilat Tzion were evacuated of their residents. The planned Yom HaZikaron ceremony at the Latrun memorial was canceled and the area was evacuated. The police closed Route 3 to traffic along with part of Route 1. There are 63 firefighting teams, 11 planes, and two helicopters working to prevent the fire from spreading amid the strong winds. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

Clashes broke out after the onset of Yom HaZikaron in Israel on Tuesday evening at the entrance to a Reform synagogue in Ra’anana, where a screening of a Palestinian-Israeli Yom HaZikaron ceremony in Yaffo was being held. The majority of Israelis, especially after the October 7 massacre, view such a ceremony, in which Palestinian “victims” of the Israeli “occupation” are mourned along with Jewish victims of Palestinian terrorism, as a terrible affront. Hundreds of people gathered outside the synagogue and demanded that the municipality cancel the screening.

Israeli officials are expressing growing unease over the increasing likelihood that nuclear negotiations between the United States and Iran will succeed, according to a report by Israel’s Kan public broadcaster. The shift in assessment follows the third round of talks held in Oman over the weekend, which have raised fears in Jerusalem that a new nuclear deal may not sufficiently curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Previously skeptical that the talks would yield any agreement, Israeli authorities now believe the negotiations are more likely to produce a deal than to fail. This development is viewed with alarm, as officials fear the emerging agreement may compromise Israel’s security by allowing Iran to retain significant nuclear capabilities.

As Israel prepares to celebrate its 77th Independence Day, new data from the Central Bureau of Statistics reveals a historic milestone: the country’s population has officially surpassed 10 million. According to the bureau, Israel’s population grew by approximately 135,000 over the past year, bringing the total to an estimated 10,094,000 residents. The figures include 7.7 million individuals classified as Jewish or “other” — a category encompassing non-Arab Christians and people without a listed ethnicity. In previous years, Jews and “others” were tallied separately, but the latest report combines them into a single figure. The Arab population stands at about 2.1 million, accounting for 20.9 percent of the total population.

A violent home invasion turned deadly in Woodland Hills, a neighborhood in Los Angeles, last weekend, leaving an Israeli-American man dead and three suspects behind bars following an investigation by the LAPD and FBI. Just after 1 a.m. Saturday morning, officers were dispatched to the 22200 block of De La Osa Street after receiving reports of a death. When they arrived, they found a harrowing scene: 47-year-old Aleksandre Modebadze lying lifeless inside the home, the victim of a brutal assault. Paramedics declared him dead at the scene, citing a severe head injury. Detectives launched an immediate investigation, uncovering chilling details. According to police, three suspects had broken into Modebadze’s home, held him captive, and assaulted him before fleeing into the night.

During a meeting between Israeli PM Binyamin Netanyahu and this year’s Yom Ha’atzmaut torch-lighters on Monday, Sara Netanyahu was heard whispering that fewer than 24 hostages in Gaza remain alive, a video released by the Prime Minister’s Office shows. “There are up to 24 alive, up to 24 alive,” the prime minister said while referencing the 59 hostages believed to still be in captivity. Sitting beside him, Sara Netanyahu was heard quietly whispering, “less,” prompting the prime minister to add, “I say up to, and the rest of course unfortunately are not alive, and we will return them.” Until now, the government has avoided publicly specifying how many hostages are thought to still be alive.