In a major milestone, the IDF revealed on Wednesday that it successfully used an unidentified laser defense system—related to the Iron Beam—to take down multiple airborne threats during the ongoing conflict.
Although The Jerusalem Post had previously discovered that Israel had deployed laser defense systems as early as fall 2024, it was prevented from publishing the information at that time due to security restrictions.
The Defense Ministry credits Rafael Advanced Defense Systems for developing the Iron Beam and its related technologies, calling them the world’s most sophisticated operational laser defense solutions. While countries like the United States and the United Kingdom are also advancing in this space, Israel’s system is seen as the most capable.

During a combative address to the Knesset on Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Binyomin Netanyahu praised what he described as landmark successes in the Gaza war, claiming his administration had achieved “tremendous achievements” that “changed the face of the Middle East” and “broke the stranglehold of the Iranian axis.”
Listing what he called key victories, Netanyahu highlighted the killing of top Hamas operatives, and for the first time, publicly stated that the IDF had taken out Muhammad Sinwar — the brother of Yahya Sinwar, the mastermind behind the October 7 attack.

A major coalition crisis is looming over the government as the Chareidi parties have threatened to bolt the coalition in less than two weeks if the stalemate on advancing a Chareidi draft law continues after Shavuos. The office of UTJ chairman Yitzchak Goldknopf denied a Channel 12 report earlier in the day that stated that the Gerrer Rebbe had already decided that Goldknopf would resign from the coalition “even on the day after Shavuos” over the stalemate of the draft law.

Iair Horn, who was freed from Hamas captivity in February amid a Gaza ceasefire arrangement, expressed deep uncertainty about the fate of his younger brother, Eitan Horn, who remains in captivity.
At a rally in Hostages Square commemorating 600 days since Hamas’s brutal October 7 attack, Horn described the paralyzing anxiety he lived with underground. “In the tunnels, you can’t know if a terrorist will get up one morning and just shoot you, or if the tunnel where you’re sleeping will be blown up because of a bomb,” he said.
He recalled one terrifying moment during an Israeli strike, when his captors forced them to flee. “They grabbed us and we started running in a totally crooked tunnel, which could collapse at any moment, trying to escape the bombing and toxic fumes.”

More than three years after a family of four from India froze to death while trying to enter the U.S. along a remote stretch of the Canadian border in a blizzard, the convicted ringleader of an international human smuggling plot was sentenced in Minnesota on Wednesday to 10 years in prison. Federal prosecutors had recommended nearly 20 years for Harshkumar Ramanlal Patel, and nearly 11 years for the driver who was supposed to pick them up, Steve Anthony Shand, who got 6 1/2 years Wednesday. “The crime in many respects is extraordinary because it did result in the unimaginable death of four individuals, including two children,” U.S. District Judge John Tunheim said.

A humanitarian relief effort in Gaza spiraled into disorder as thousands of Palestinians, pushed to the brink by severe hunger, overwhelmed a food distribution site managed by a US-funded organization. Israeli forces fired into the air in an attempt to restore order, while American personnel supervising the operation briefly pulled back for safety.
The region has endured nearly three months of severe restrictions on aid, leaving over two million residents in Gaza teetering on the edge of starvation. Last week marked the first instance of aid resuming, albeit in limited amounts.

The Czech Republic has accused China of being “responsible” for cyberattacks against a a communication network of its Foreign Ministry, officials said on Wednesday. The Foreign Ministry in Prague said the malicious activities started in 2022 and targeted the country’s critical infrastructure, adding it believed the Advanced Persistent Threat 31, or APT31, hacking group, which is associated with the Chinese Ministry of State Security, was behind the campaign. It was not immediately clear what specific information were seized or what damage was caused by the attacks. The Czech ministry said a new communication system has already been put in place.

WASHINGTON, D.C.