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A nonprofit, independent news source to inform, inspire, educate and connect the St. Louis Jewish community.

St. Louis Jewish Light

A nonprofit, independent news source to inform, inspire, educate and connect the St. Louis Jewish community.

St. Louis Jewish Light

A nonprofit, independent news source to inform, inspire, educate and connect the St. Louis Jewish community.

St. Louis Jewish Light

War In Israel

U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff looks on, at the White House, in Washington, U.S. February 3, 2025. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz

Middle East envoy Witcoff says the second phase of the ceasefire is proceeding

By Jacob Kornbluh, The ForwardPublished February 16, 2025

Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy, said on Sunday that Israel and the mediators have agreed to advance to the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire, which could lead to a withdrawal of the Israeli Defense Forces from the enclave...

Israeli Defense Ministry personnel coordinate the arrival of U.S. MK-84 heavy bombs to the Port of Ashdod on Feb. 15, 2025. Photo credit: Israel Ministry of Defense.

Israel receives heavy bomb shipment in joint US operation

Joshua Marks, JNSPublished February 16, 2025

Israel received a shipment of MK-84 munitions overnight Saturday in a joint operation of the Israeli Defense Ministry and the United States government. The 2,000-pound bombs were unloaded at Ashdod Port and transferred to Israeli Air Force bases, according...

U.S.-Israeli Sagui Dekel-Chen and Russian-Israeli Sasha (Alexander) Troufanov, hostages held in Gaza since the deadly October 7, 2023 attack, are escorted by Palestinian Hamas militants and Islamic Jihad militants as part of a ceasefire and a hostages-prisoners swap deal between Hamas and Israel in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, February 15, 2025. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed

3 hostages released from Gaza, including American-Israeli Sagui Dekel-Chen

Ben Sales, JTAPublished February 15, 2025

Three Israeli hostages were released from captivity in Gaza Saturday, including Sagui Dekel-Chen, an American citizen. Dekel-Chen was freed along with Yair Horn, an Argentine-Israeli, and Sasha Trufanov, a Russian-Israeli. All three were abducted from...

U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio attend a bilateral meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy  (not pictured), on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference (MSC), in Munich, Germany February 14, 2025. REUTERS/Leah Millis

Rubio: Hamas can’t stay in power, I’m open to Gaza plan alternatives

JNS StaffPublished February 14, 2025

Any plan allowing Hamas to rule Gaza would be unacceptable to Israel and ineffective in resolving the conflict, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday. President Donald Trump is willing to take the lead on rebuilding Gaza, as no other viable...

US President Donald Trump speaks to journalists in the Oval Office on January 20, 2025.

Nobel laureates make bold peace prize offer to Trump in bid to save hostages from Hamas

Lidor Sultan, Israel Hayom via JNSPublished February 13, 2025

Four of Israel’s most distinguished scientists—including three Nobel Prize laureates in chemistry and the president of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities—dispatched an urgent letter on Wednesday to U.S. President Donald Trump, sounding...

Joaquin Phoenix (left) and Ilana Glazer. (Getty Images)

Joaquin Phoenix, Ilana Glazer and hundreds of Jewish celebrities and rabbis ‘say no to ethnic cleansing’ in Gaza in full-page NYT ad

Ben Sales, JTAPublished February 13, 2025

Dozens of Jewish celebrities and artists, as well as hundreds of rabbis, took out a full-page ad in The New York Times Thursday to object to ethnic cleansing in Gaza. The ad is a response to President Donald Trump’s calls to permanently relocate...

Israelis protest for the release of Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip, outside the prime minister's official residence in Jerusalem, Sept. 1, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Hamas says ceasefire deal is still on as negotiations continue

Ben Sales, JTAPublished February 13, 2025

Hamas said that it will release three more Israeli hostages on Saturday, a sign that the ceasefire in Gaza may hold despite a crisis earlier this week. Israel has not confirmed that its dispute with Hamas was resolved. But negotiations are ongoing,...

Bassem Eid

What’s next for Gaza? Palestinian political analyst to share insights at B’nai Amoona

Jordan Palmer, Chief Digital Content OfficerPublished February 12, 2025

As the conflict in Gaza continues to shape headlines and political discourse, Congregation B’nai Amoona is providing a space for critical discussion on the region’s future. The event, titled “What’s Next for Gaza,” will take place on Feb. 27...

Actions and images from Betar US and its allies since its formation in 2024 include (from top-left, clockwise): a button associated with the original Beitar group; messages on a truck driven outside Washington, D.C., during a visit by Benjamin Netanyahu; a masked Betar member planning to disrupt a pro-Palestinian protest; a brass-knuckle menorah shared on Betar social media; Betar former executive director Ross Glick knocking on Rep. Rashida Tlaib's office in Capitol Hill; Betar member Jakob Schanzer spraying over a pro-Palestinian mural in New Orleans; and singer Matisyahu endorsing Betar.

A century-old Zionist group is being rebooted — and wants Jews to ‘fight back’ on the street

Andrew Lapin, JTAPublished February 11, 2025

(JTA) — The video appeared on Instagram in October. A man, in the dark of night, is spray-painting over a mural in New Orleans depicting a large pair of eyes with the Palestinian flag incorporated into their pupils, paired with text reading “All Eyes...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a joint meeting of Congress on July 24, 2024.

Netanyahu: ‘If Hamas does not return our hostages by Saturday noon, the ceasefire will end’

Ben Sales, JTAPublished February 11, 2025

Netanyahu threatens Hamas ceasefire, warning that if hostages are not released by Saturday at noon, Israel will resume fighting in Gaza. The statement adds more uncertainty to the three-week-long ceasefire, as tensions escalate over hostage negotiations. “If...

Israelis rally in Tel Aviv for the release of the remaining 76 hostages being held hostage by Hamas terrorists in Gaza, Feb. 8, 2025.

‘Hell’ to break out if Hamas won’t release all hostages on Feb. 15, warns Trump

Jonathan D. Salant, JNSPublished February 10, 2025

U.S. President Donald Trump vowed on Monday that “all hell is going to break out” if Hamas did not release the remaining hostages by Saturday. “As far as I’m concerned, if all of the hostages aren’t returned by Saturday at 12 o’clock—I...

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas speaks to the media in Berlin, Aug. 16, 2022.

Mahmoud Abbas ends Palestinian Authority’s payments to families of terrorists

Published February 10, 2025

The Palestinian Authority will no longer pay stipends to the families of convicted terrorists and other prisoners, in a gesture to President Donald Trump. | RELATED: Hamas says that it will delay next hostage release The longstanding program determined...

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