VFI News 2 Houthi Missiles Intercepted, 2 Rockets Launched from Lebanon; Israelis Running for Shelter

This week, the war in Gaza continues to intensify, with the Houthis in Yemen launching ballistic missiles at Israel, adding a new layer of complexity to the ongoing conflict. Despite the threat of missile strikes, Israel’s air defense systems successfully intercepted many of these attacks, though several people were injured while scrambling to shelters.

Meanwhile, the situation in Gaza remains dire, with Hamas refusing to release hostages and continuing its aggressive stance against Israel.

Domestic turmoil in Israel, rising economic costs due to the war, and increasing international pressure on Iran are also major focal points of the crisis.

This video covers the latest updates, including strikes on Hezbollah in Lebanon, the humanitarian impact, the political situation in Israel, and the growing threat from Iranian-backed forces.

Stay tuned as we delve into these developments, offering insights into Israel's response, the challenges on the ground, and the global implications of this escalating situation.

#HouthiMissiles #GazaWar #IsraelConflict #MiddleEastCrisis #IDFUpdates

The Houthi rebels fired two ballistic missiles at Israel on Thursday, March 27, triggering millions to scramble for shelter — with the terrorist warning, “This is only the beginning,” following America’s airstrikes in Yemen.

Sirens blared across Israel Thursday morning, with civilians hiding in bomb shelters as far north as Kfar Saba, about 15 miles from Tel Aviv, and as south as Hebron, according to the Israeli military. “Following alerts that were activated a short time ago in several areas of the country, two missiles launched from Yemen were intercepted,” the IDF said. 

“Both missiles were intercepted before they crossed into the country’s territory; alerts were activated according to policy.” The Houthis claimed responsibility for the attack, claiming to have been targeting the Ben Gurion International Airport and a “military” site in Tel Aviv. 

No injuries were reported during the incident, but several people were hurt during the rush to take shelter, according to Israel’s Magen David Adom medical response group. 

It was the third missile attack from Yemen this week, with other rockets fired at Israel on Sunday and Monday. Along with the two ballistic missile strikes, the Houthis also claimed to have attacked the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier group with rockets and drones. (NYP/VFI News)

“Dear Lord, we thank You for saving us from this week's Houthi attacks. We praise You and are extremely grateful for Your love and protection. May You put an end to these attacks once and for all, and bring peace in the land. We pray for the full and speedy recovery of all the Israelis who got injured while trying to find shelter, as well as for all the hostages to return home as soon as possible. In Yeshua's Name we pray.”

Two rockets were fired at Israeli territory from Lebanon, triggering rocket sirens in Kiryat Shmona and its surrounding area starting at 7:50 a.m. local time on Friday morning, March 28. Alerts were also triggered in Margaliot, Tel Hai, and Misgav Am. 

The military said one rocket was intercepted while the other impacted within Lebanese territory. Israel's emergency response service, Magen David Adom (MDA), said it had not received reports of injuries. 

"If there is no quiet in Kiryat Shmona and the Galilee communities, there will be no quiet in Beirut either," Defense Minister Israel Katz warned. 

He pointed the blame at the Lebanese government, which "bears direct responsibility for any firing toward the Galilee."

"We will not allow a return to the reality of October 7. We will ensure the security of the residents of the Galilee and respond forcefully to any threat," he added. (JPost/VFI News)

“Truly my soul silently waits for God; from Him comes my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be greatly moved.” - Psalm 62:1-2 

The IDF has recently launched a new wave of airstrikes, quickly followed by coordinated ground operations in three key areas: the Netzarim Corridor, Gaza’s northern coastline, and the Rafah district in the south.

With expanded U.S. support and favorable shifts in the regional landscape, this next phase signals a significant evolution in Israel’s military objectives, from degrading Hamas’s battlefield capabilities to dismantling its ability to govern.

"We’ve been fighting them for 10 days," said Maj. Gen. Yaakov Amidror (res.), former Israeli national security advisor. "All they’ve managed to do is fire seven rockets. That tells you how much damage we’ve inflicted already."

A senior Israeli security official told American media: "We seized weapons caches, labs, and command centers. Hamas today is not functioning like an army. It’s a dangerous terror group, but it’s not what it was on October 7." According to Israeli data, most of Hamas’s senior command has been eliminated and only fragmented units remain.

"They’ve lost their experienced leadership," the official said. "They’re operating in survival mode." "We’re not just degrading military capabilities anymore," Amidror said. "We’re dismantling the structure that allowed Hamas to govern."

During the pause in fighting, Hamas consolidated control over humanitarian aid, confiscating supplies, reselling goods, and using them to recruit fighters and maintain loyalty. Israeli officials now say that won’t be allowed to continue. (FN/VFI News)

“Our Heavenly Father, we thank You for dismantling Hamas and helping our people feel safe in their country. We are grateful for You and the defense personnel working tirelessly to ensure that Hamas will no longer be a threat to Israelis. We pray in Yeshua's Name for all the innocent to rebuild their lives and live peacefully in the land You have given us. May Your Will be done in all matters and may You give us discernment and guidance.”

Hundreds of Palestinians protested against Hamas rule and the war in at least three locations in Gaza on Tuesday, March 25, in a relatively rare occurrence in the Strip due to the terror group’s often violent suppression of political dissent. 

Footage showed around 100 residents of Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip, holding a protest calling for an end to the war and an end to Hamas’s governance, with some demonstrators carrying signs reading “Stop war” and “Children in Palestine want to live.” 

Additionally, a few video clips captured residents chanting “Hamas out,” “Hamas terrorists,” “The people want to overthrow Hamas” and “Yes to peace, no to the ongoing war.” One gathering of residents took place in front of the Indonesian Hospital. Some of the protesters carried white flags.

“I don’t know who organized the protest,” said Mohammed, a demonstrator who declined to give his last name for fear of reprisals.“I took part to send a message on behalf of the people: Enough with the war,” he said, adding that he had seen “members of the Hamas security forces in civilian clothing breaking up the protest.” 

Hours after the first protest, another anti-war and anti-Hamas demonstration was held in northern Gaza’s Jabalia refugee camp, with dozens of demonstrators burning tires and chanting, “We want to eat.” As news of the protests spread, other demonstrations broke out across Gaza, including one in Khan Younis, where protesters were filmed chanting “down with Hamas,” and calling for an end to the fighting. (TOI/VFI News) 

“Dear God, we pray in Yeshua's Name for the war to be over and for the innocent civilians to stop being exploited, abused, and used as human shields. We pray for their health and safety and we ask that You provide for all their needs and give them permanent homes, even better than the ones they lost, according to Your perfect Will.”

In this week’s parashah video, Batya covers Parashat Pekudei (Exodus 38:21-40:38). This topic is all about Moses’s obedience to the Lord and encompasses all he has done to serve God and build a temple. The temple is completed, and God’s presence there will guide the people of Israel as they worship and pray in the temple that Moses built. These verses remind us of the reward that comes from being obedient to the Lord. Though we may not always understand at the moment, God has a plan for us and always knows best.

Roughly 100 Palestinians from Gaza will travel to Indonesia for construction work under a new Israeli pilot program, according to Israeli media, which reported the initiative as the first stage of a larger plan to facilitate voluntary migration from the Hamas-run enclave.

On Wednesday, March 26, Hebrew media revealed that the pilot initiative — coordinated by the IDF’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) and overseen by Major General Ghassan Alian — is designed to test the feasibility of voluntary Gaza emigration through overseas employment opportunities.

If successful, the program will be transferred to Israel’s newly established Migration Directorate, a unit created within the Defense Ministry by Defense Minister Israel Katz and approved by Israel’s Security Cabinet just days earlier. 

The Directorate is tasked with organizing “safe and controlled passage” for Gazans seeking to relocate abroad, including logistics for land, air, and sea departures. 

According to the report, the 100 workers headed to Indonesia — a Muslim-majority nation with no formal diplomatic ties to Israel — will be employed in the construction sector. Despite the diplomatic gap, cooperation was reached to facilitate the pilot program, marking a quiet milestone in Israel’s regional outreach efforts.

The long-term goal is to enable thousands more Gazans to take advantage of similar employment-based migration opportunities, provided host countries are willing to participate.  (BB/VFI News) 

The Oklahoma state Senate has passed two key bills aimed at safeguarding Jewish students and addressing antisemitism on college campuses, Republican state Senator Kristen Thompson announced on Tuesday, March 25, according to Jewish media.

“Antisemitism has no place in our state,” said Thompson, who sponsored both bills. “These bills make it clear that Oklahoma stands with our Jewish communities and will not tolerate hatred disguised as political discourse. We are drawing a firm line and giving our schools the tools to take meaningful action.”

Thompson emphasized that the legislation, which received bipartisan support, is a direct response to increasing concerns from Jewish students, faculty, and families in Oklahoma.

SB 991, which passed by a 27-15 vote, formally adopts the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism into state law. This measure builds on a January 2022 executive order by Governor Kevin Stitt endorsing the definition, according to the Combat Antisemitism Movement.

The IHRA working definition offers a comprehensive description of antisemitism in its various forms, including hatred and discrimination against Jews, Holocaust denial, and, sometimes controversially, the way antisemitism relates to the ways criticism of Israel is expressed.

More than half the states in the US have adopted or endorsed the IHRA definition, as has the District of Columbia, either as legislation or as an educational standard. (INN/VFI News) 

“A man who has friends must himself be friendly, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” - Proverbs 18:24

Dr. Charles Small, previously head of the Yale Initiative for the Interdisciplinary Study of Antisemitism (YIISA), after the closure of the center, launched a series of investigations that eventually uncovered hidden financial connections between Qatari entities and institutions across the United States, Europe, and Israel. 

“In a short time, we identified over $3 billion in donations to Yale and other universities that were not properly reported as required by law,” Small said. In 2019, he presented his findings to senior officials in Washington, prompting a federal investigation that exposed extensive undisclosed foreign funding. 

Since then, Small, along with a team of 10 researchers and an Israeli forensic accounting firm specializing in global financial investigations, deepened their inquiry. 

Their research led to a series of reports detailing the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood and Qatari funding on academic content, the promotion of anti-democratic and anti-Israel agendas, and even antisemitic rhetoric in higher education. 

Their latest report, released recently, highlights a previously overlooked dimension: Qatari involvement in U.S. elementary and secondary education (K-12). “The fact that Qatar—a country with fewer than 350,000 citizens—donates more money to American universities, civil society organizations, and cultural institutions than any other nation in the world is deeply troubling,” he said.  (YNet/VFI News)

“And you shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds the discerning and perverts the words of the righteous.” - Exodus 23:8 

Israel is the world’s eighth happiest country, according to the World Happiness Report 2025 published Thursday, March 20, while the US dropped to its lowest-ever position, at 24.

Israel fell several places from 2024, when it ranked fifth — though that survey had been based on data collected before the unprecedented Hamas invasion and slaughter of October 7, 2023. 

Israeli young adults spoke most positively out of anyone in this year’s survey about the quality of their social connections — with Mexico and Argentina following closely behind — and seventh on their quantity. On the rubric of freedom, however, Israelis ranked their country 87th out of the approximately 130 countries studied, while on graft it is seen as only the 32nd most corrupt place. 

On inequality, it snagged the 15th-highest score, where a higher score means less inequality. Other Nordic countries are also once again at the top of the happiness rankings this year, in the annual report published by the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford. Besides Finland, Denmark, Iceland, and Sweden remain in the top four and in the same order.

Country rankings were based on answers people gave when asked to rate their own lives. Researchers say that beyond health and wealth, some factors that influence happiness sound deceptively simple: sharing meals with others, having somebody to count on for social support, and household size. 

Believing in the kindness of others is also much more closely tied to happiness than previously thought, according to the latest findings. (TOI/VFI News)

“He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise.” - Luke 3:11  

The suggestions, opinions, and scripture references made by VFI News writers and editors are based on the best information received.

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