4.2-magnitude quake shakes Negev; no injuries
(JNS) — A 4.2-magnitude earthquake struck southern Israel on Jan. 15, shaking the Dead Sea and Negev regions, according to the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre.
The quake’s epicenter was near the city of Dimona, southeast of Beersheva.
Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency medical service said there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.
Israeli officials activated an earthquake alert despite the tremor measuring below the standard 4.5 magnitude threshold, citing initial fluctuations that suggested a potentially stronger quake.
The IDF Home Front Command said the precautionary warning was issued due to borderline seismic readings along the Syrian-African Rift, where Israel’s location makes it particularly vulnerable to earthquakes.
Authorities urged residents to move to open ground away from buildings and infrastructure if tremors occur, warning that aftershocks could collapse structures damaged in an initial quake.
Officials said external assistance could be delayed up to 72 hours due to potential infrastructure damage, advising citizens to avoid tap water, maintain emergency supplies and only re-enter damaged buildings in pairs during daylight, and even then only if absolutely necessary.
Islamic Jihad is holding last hostage’s body in Gaza, says Israeli official
(JNS) — The body of the last remaining Israeli hostage in Gaza is being held by Islamic Jihad in the Hamas-controlled section of the northern Gaza Strip, an Israeli official said on Jan. 14.
Intelligence regarding the location of Master Sgt. Ran Gvili’s body has been transferred over the last “few days and weeks” to mediators to be passed on to Hamas interlocutors, but the terrorist group has failed to act on it to date, said the official.
The October ceasefire signed in Egypt by Israel and Hamas stipulated the return of all the hostages and bodies.
“Islamic Jihad took him, and inside Islamic Jihad, there is a group of people who know where Ran is,” the official said. “Hamas knows how to put the pressure on Islamic Jihad, and they are not doing it.”
The terrorist groups have used delay tactics to stall for time.
“We will know if the efforts are 100%,” the official said during a Tel Aviv briefing for international journalists. “And it is not 100%. It is far from 100%.”
The official, who said he was “not satisfied” with the response he has received, said that there was a “strong linkage” between the release of the final hostage and moving on to the next stage of the Gaza ceasefire agreement, but that it was up to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu how to proceed.
IDF strikes Hezbollah in in response to ‘repeated’ truce violations
(JNS) — The Israel Defense Forces attacked Hezbollah targets across Lebanon on Jan. 15 in response to the Iranian-backed terrorist organization’s “repeated violations of the ceasefire,” the military said.
No further details were provided in the initial IDF statement.
Hezbollah started attacking the Jewish state’s north on Oct. 8, 2023, one day after the Hamas-led terrorist massacre in the south, opening a second front on the country’s borders that lasted until a U.S.-brokered ceasefire between Beirut and Jerusalem entered into effect on Nov. 27, 2024.
The truce terms required Hezbollah to be disarmed, starting in regions adjacent to the border, with the Lebanese Armed Forces mandated to establish a monopoly over weapons in the country under the terms of the ceasefire agreement and a subsequent Lebanese Cabinet decision.
The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office in a Jan. 8 statement said that while Beirut’s efforts were “an encouraging beginning,” they were “far from sufficient” given Hezbollah’s Iranian-aided rearmament efforts.
“The ceasefire agreement brokered by the United States between Israel and Lebanon states clearly, Hezbollah must be fully disarmed. This is imperative for Israel’s security and Lebanon’s future,” Jerusalem said.
Travel disrupted, fears elevated as Israel weathers uncertainty over potential US strike on Iran
(JTA) — Several European carriers canceled flights to Tel Aviv on Jan. 14 as turmoil over a potential U.S. strike on Iran roiled the skies and elevated fears in Israel.
President Donald Trump has threatened for days to intervene in Iran if the government proceeds with plans to execute protesters who have staged weeks of demonstrations against the autocratic religious regime there. Tehran had planned a first execution of a protester arrested during the demonstrations on Jan. 15.
That execution was postponed amid sharp pressure from the United States, as signs piled up that Trump may plan to go forward with a military option against Iran. U.S. planes have moved within the region, several countries including the United States have urged nonessential personnel to leave the region and Iran briefly closed its airspace on Jan. 14.
On Jan. 15, reports emerged that Gulf states had talked Trump out of an imminent attack. But the uncertainty — and the recollection that Trump had appeared to waffle before striking Iran last year — has escalated fears in Israel, which is the Islamic Republic of Iran’s sworn enemy.
Iran and Israel fought a deadly 12-day war last year. This time, Israel and Iran have reportedly exchanged assurances, via Russia, that they would not strike each other first, but Iranian officials have said they could attack Israel alongside U.S. targets if Trump strikes Iran.
Daily life in Israel has not been interrupted, but Israelis are on high alert for a potential rehash of last year, when Iranian missiles sent them running to safe rooms multiple times and killed dozens of people.
200 rally in Holon for Iranian protesters
(JNS) — About 200 people gathered in Holon near Tel Aviv on Jan. 14 for a rally held in support of protesters in Iran — the first gathering of its size since the Dec. 28 outbreak of unrest in the Islamic Republic.
The rally, co-organized by journalist Emily Schrader, co-host of The Quad on JNS, amid preparations for a possible resumption of direct warfare between Israel and Iran, featured two prominent sentiments, often intertwined: Hope for the removal of a major threat to Israel, and admiration for the Iranian protesters working to overthrow the Islamists.
Analysts have described the protest movement as the most serious threat in years to the ayatollah regime’s hold on power.
Demonstrators in Holon had multifaceted reasons to gather there, one of them, Golda Daphna, told JNS.
One reason was to confront a force that has been orchestrating terrorist warfare against Israel for decades, said Daphna, a Jewish-American 26-year-old woman who made aliyah in 2023.
“If I enlisted after Oct. 7 and feel so passionately about defending the Jewish people, then how could I not advocate for the fall of the regime that caused it?” she said, arguing that Israelis should seize a rare opportunity to end “over 40 years” of terrorism backed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
She also described a deep kinship with Iranians, calling the Persian people “exactly like us — an ancient civilization” that has faced attempts at erasure by radical Islam.
