Israel’s Security Cabinet has voted to intensify military pressure on Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Sunday, declaring that the dual strategy of force and diplomacy is working to both weaken the terror group and create conditions for the release of hostages. “Last night, the Security Cabinet convened and decided to increase the pressure, which was already increased, to further pound Hamas and create the optimal conditions for freeing our hostages,” Netanyahu said at the weekly Cabinet meeting in Jerusalem.

In a major step toward rebuilding Israel’s southern communities, the Knesset on Monday approved a sweeping NIS 5 billion ($1.3 billion) recovery plan targeting towns and cities within 7 kilometers of the Gaza border, devastated by the Hamas-led massacre on October 7, 2023. The seven-year initiative, introduced by Knesset member Haim Katz and backed by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, designates the affected areas as national development priorities.

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem marked its 100th anniversary this week, celebrating a century of groundbreaking research, academic excellence, and visionary leadership that helped shape the intellectual and scientific foundations of the State of Israel. Founded in 1925 by an extraordinary group of Zionist thinkers Albert Einstein, Chaim Weizmann, Chaim Nachman Bialik, and Martin Buber among them the university was envisioned as a beacon of learning in the heart of Jerusalem.

In a groundbreaking discovery that links ancient history with biblical narrative, Israeli archaeologists have uncovered compelling evidence that confirms the site of the dramatic biblical battle of Armageddon at Tel Megiddo in northern Israel. This is the very location where, according to the Book of Chronicles, King Josiah of Judah was killed by Egyptian Pharaoh Necho in 609 BCE. The revelation centers around the discovery of Nile Valley pottery within a structure dated to just before the time of the battle.