Breaking News

The National Hurricane Center in Miami warned early Wednesday evening that the northern eyewall of Hurricane Milton had started to spread onshore along the Florida Gulf Coast.

“The northern eyewall of Hurricane Milton is beginning to move onshore of the Florida gulf coast near Tampa and St. Petersburg where an Extreme Wind Warning is now in effect,” the center warned in advisory, pleading with residents to “shelter in place as these extremely dangerous hurricane-force winds overspread the region.”

The phone call between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris ends after 50 minutes, Netanyahu’s office tells The Times of Israel.

No readout of the call has been issued yet.

No matter how perfect conditions may get, a hurricane can only get so strong.

At least that’s what the science says. Milton, which blew up into a Category 5 hurricane Monday and kept going, is pushing the boundaries, approaching what’s known among hurricane experts as the Maximum Potential Intensity or MPI. When meteorologists pull out that measure, you know the hurricane is a monster — and Milton is that by any measure.

At 8 p.m., the National Hurricane Center said its sustained winds had hit 180 mph. By barometric pressure — a measure of storm intensity — Milton is already the fourth strongest hurricane on record with central barometric pressure at 897 millibars . Only five hurricanes in records have dipped below 900 in official records dating back more than 170 years. 

Milton strengthened rapidly Monday into a Category 5 hurricane on a path toward Florida, threatening the densely populated Tampa area with a potential direct hit and menacing the same stretch of coastline that was battered by Hurricane Helene less than two weeks ago.

The center of the storm could come ashore Wednesday in the Tampa Bay region, which has not endured a head-on hit by a major hurricane in more than a century. Scientists expect the system to weaken slightly before landfall, though it could retain hurricane strength as it churns across central Florida toward the Atlantic Ocean. That would largely spare other states ravaged by Helene, which killed at least 230 people on its path from Florida to the Appalachian Mountains.

As evacuation orders were issued, forecasters warned of a possible 8- to 12-foot storm surge (2.4 to 3.6 meters) in Tampa Bay and widespread flooding from 5 to 10 inches (13 to 25 centimeters) of rain in mainland Florida and the Keys, with as much as 15 inches (38 centimeters) in places. The Tampa metro area has a population of more than 3.2 million people.

The United States will not ease its "pressure" on Israel and Arab leaders to reach a deal on hostages and a ceasefire in Gaza, Vice President Kamala Harris said in an interview released Sunday.

Washington is working with Israel on humanitarian aid and "the need for a deal to be done which would release the hostages and create a ceasefire. And we're not going to stop in terms of putting that pressure on Israel and in the region, including Arab leaders," Harris told CBS' "60 Minutes."

When asked by Whitaker if the US has a "real, close ally" in Netanyahu, Harris responded that the "better question is: do we have an important alliance between the American people and the Israeli people?"

"And the answer to that question is yes."

The Biden administration has been offering to compensate Israel for refraining from striking certain targets in Iran as part of its planned response to the regime’s ballistic missile assault last week, Israel’s Kan News reported Sunday.

“You can call this a ‘compensation/temptation package’ which the U.S. government is offering Israel in the past days,” said Amichai Stein, the channel’s diplomatic correspondent.

He cited informed sources saying that American officials have offered extensive diplomatic backing and a large, additional package of military assistance if Israel complied with the Biden administration’s requests.

“We consider the US our ally, and are always ready to listen,” a source told Kan. “At the same time, we will do everything necessary to protect the citizens of Israel and Israel’s security.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calls a security briefing after the government meeting marking the anniversary of the October 7 attacks, an Israeli official tells The Times of Israel.

The meeting seems to be urgent, as a scheduled meeting between Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot was postponed at the last minute.

Earlier this week, Biden said he opposed Israel targeting Iranian nuclear sites as well.

US President Joe Biden doesn’t back an Israeli retaliatory strike on Iran’s nuclear strike but has striven to build a broad international consensus for a response to the Islamic Republic’s missile strike against the Jewish state Tuesday.

"We'll be discussing with the Israelis what they're going to do, but all seven of us (G7 nations) agree that they have a right to respond, but they should respond proportionally," Biden told reporters before boarding Air Force One. He said he would be speaking soon with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu but did not give a timeline for that call.

“Iran is way off board,” he said. “There is going to be some sanctions imposed on Iran,” he stressed.

PRAY FOR THE IDF TROOPS ON THE FRONT LINES AS THE GROUND ASSAULT INTO LEBANON BEGINS: - (prayer in Hebrew and English)  

מִי שֶׁבֵּרַךְ אֲבוֹתֵינוּ אַבְרָהָם יִצְחָק וְיַעֲקֹב הוּא יְבָרֵךְ אֶת חַיָּלֵי צְבָא הֲגַנָּה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל, הָעוֹמְדִים עַל מִשְׁמַר אַרְצֵנוּ וְעָרֵי אֱלהֵינוּ מִגְּבוּל הַלְּבָנוֹן וְעַד מִדְבַּר מִצְרַיִם וּמִן הַיָּם הַגָּדוֹל עַד לְבוֹא הָעֲרָבָה בַּיַּבָּשָׁה בָּאֲוִיר וּבַיָּם.

יִתֵּן ה' אֶת אוֹיְבֵינוּ הַקָּמִים עָלֵינוּ נִגָּפִים לִפְנֵיהֶם. הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא יִשְׁמֹר וְיַצִּיל אֶת חַיָלֵינוּ מִכָּל צָרָה וְצוּקָה וּמִכָּל נֶגַע וּמַחְלָה וְיִשְׁלַח בְּרָכָה וְהַצְלָחָה בְּכָל מַעֲשֵׂה יְדֵיהֶם. יַדְבֵּר שׂוֹנְאֵינוּ תַּחְתֵּיהֶם וִיעַטְרֵם בְּכֶתֶר יְשׁוּעָה וּבְעֲטֶרֶת נִצָּחוֹן. וִיקֻיַּם בָּהֶם הַכָּתוּב: כִּי ה' אֱלֹהֵיכֶם הַהֹלֵךְ עִמָּכֶם לְהִלָּחֵם לָכֶם עִם איבֵיכֶם לְהוֹשִׁיעַ אֶתְכֶם: וְנאמַר אָמֵן

May He who blessed our forefathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, bless the soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces, who stand guard over our land and the cities of our God, from the border of Lebanon to the desert of Egypt, and from the Great Sea to the approach of the Aravah, on land, in the air, and at sea.

May the Lord cause the enemies who rise up against us to be struck down before them. May the Holy One, blessed be He, protect and deliver our soldiers from every trouble and distress and from every plague and illness, and may He send blessing and success in all the work of their hands. May He subdue our enemies beneath them and crown them with salvation and victory. And may it be fulfilled for them the verse: "For it is the Lord your God who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you." And let us say "AMEN"