Arab Media outlets and NGOs on all sides of the conflict in Syria are accusing Israel of carrying out attacks on several military bases controlled by the Assad regime Sunday evening. Senior Iranian officers were reportedly killed in the strikes, which Teheran is officially denying ever took place, despite videos taken of the attacks which have been widely viewed on social media and a report by the European Mediterranean Seismological Center saying an explosion caused by a strike on one site resulted in a 2.6 magnitude earthquake.

Mike Pompeo was in Israel Sunday as part of his first trip abroad in his new job as US Secretary of State. Greeting him at IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his guest that “We are very proud of the fact that this is your first visit as Secretary of State.” US Secy. of State Pompeo replied, “You’re an incredibly important partner, [and] occupy a special place in my heart too.”

The Hamas-run Gazan Ministry of Health issued a statement Sunday that four Palestinians who participated in riots near the border with Israel last Friday had died of wounds they received in the course of the riots, which Hamas called “The Day of Angry Youth” but which Israel called “The day of lost youth” in a reflection of an ongoing public relations battle running parallel to kinetic battles on the ground. Elsewhere, Mahmoud al-Habash, who serves as Supreme sharia judge in the Palestinian Authority, condemned the ongoing riots in his sermon on Friday.

Saturday evening saw the conclusion of the European Judo Championships in Tel Aviv. In addition to the three bronze medals won by Israeli athletes during the competition, Israeli Sagi Muki managed to win the gold medal in the under-81kg category on Friday. Organizers of the tournament expressed pride that it had been a success, promising more international Judo competitions in Israel in the future.

The Jerusalem District Court sentenced Pinchas Zidman, an ultra-Orthodox (haredi) Rabbi who ran several yeshivas in the capital, to 17 months in prison and a NIS 900,000 fine over the weekend after he plead guilty to defrauding the government of NIS 2.2 million. According to court record, Zidman’s network of yeshivas gave inflated enrollment figures to the government in order to receive larger grants, further complication the issue by taking steps to hide this activity through falsifying documents and other illegal activities.

The coming month of May looks set to contain an unusual number of potential escalation points that could converge to create a highly explosive month. The Israeli defense establishment is dealing with several pending potential flashpoints.

From the emergence of a direct Iranian front across the frontier with Syria to recurrent mass protests along the Gaza border, recent events underscore the complexity of Israel’s security situation. To discuss Israel’s strategy for dealing with these challenges—as well as the state of bilateral strategic cooperation with the Trump administration, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy recently hosted Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman.

Not long after Sergie and Alana came to Israel, Alana suffered a serious brain hemorrhage. This was more than twenty years ago. The Homecare team helped them daily, but Alana is completely dependent on help; most hours of the day she lies in bed. All these years Sergei has taken care of her.