Hezbollah terror group steps up attacks on Israel amidst mounting threats from Iran
Iran’s Lebanese proxy terror group, Hezbollah, has continued to attack Israel’s northern border amidst mounting speculation that Iran is readying a major attack on Israel following the killing of Hamas’ Head of Politburo Ismail Haniyeh and top Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr.
Two long-range rockets were also fired from Gaza today toward Tel Aviv by Hamas, which is also supported by Iran. The two projectiles reported landed in the Mediterranean, off Israel’s coast.
The Israel Defense Forces said that around 30 rockets entered Israeli airspace overnight Sunday in a barrage that targeted the Western Galilee region.
Hezbollah, claimed responsibility for the attack, which sparked a blaze near the Israeli town of Moshav Avdon. The IDF reportedly targeted the rocket’s launch-site.
Two anti-tank missiles were also fired into Israel on Monday from Lebanon. The munitions struck the Metula area in the Eastern Galilee.
A barrage of drones crossed into Israeli airspace at around 7:30 p.m. on Saturday from Lebanon, causing several fires.
The IDF has reportedly doubled its number of UAVs over Lebanon to better detect Hezbollah’s increasing drone attacks.
Israel’s Defence Minister: 20 – 35 may be released in first phase of hostage deal
Defence Minister Yoav Gallant told the Knesset that 20 to 35 living hostages would be released during the first phase of a deal between Israel and the terror group Hamas.
The comments were made during a private conversation with Israel’s Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee.
Previously, 18 to 33 “humanitarian” hostages were thought to be prioritised for release during the first stage of the deal – women, children, the elderly, sick and wounded – although it was unclear how many were alive.
76 of the captive 115 hostages are thought to be alive in Hamas captivity.
Hamas terrorists – one released in hostage deal – launches terror attacks across West Bank.
Israeli citizen Yonatan Deutsch, 23 from Beit She’an, was killed and another wounded in a drive-by shooting on Sunday afternoon by Hamas terrorists in the Mehola Junction of the Jordan Valley, West Bank.
Deutsch, who was recently engaged and who, on 7th October, defended Kibbutz Nahal Oz as part of the IDF’s Maglan unit, was described as a “great man” by Beit She’an Mayor Noam Juma.
Two vehicles came under fire, one of which was driven by Deutsch. The other, driven by Anas Jaramana, 32 from the northern Arab town of Muqeible, sustained damage. Jaramana was taken to hospital in moderate condition, according to Magen David Adom.
A 60-year-old Israeli was wounded in another Hamas terror attack in the West Bank on Monday evening by a terrorist released as part of the hostage deal in November, Tariq Ziad Abed el Rahum Daud, for women and children abducted by the terror group on 7th October.
The IDF chased down the assailant after the attack, which took place in the town of Qalqilya and also harmed two Palestinians. Although Qalqilya officially falls under the Palestinian Authority, Hamas has been tightening its control over the West Bank as the Palestinian Authority continues to lose its grip across the territory.
After the recent death of the former Head of Hamas’ Politburo Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, a number of Palestinians took to protesting in multiple West Bank cities, some chanting pro-Hamas slogans and waving the terror group’s emblematic green flag.
High Level Military Group (HLMG) to International Criminal Court (ICC): Israel is dedicated to “genuine, ongoing and concerted” humanitarian effort in Gaza
The High Level Military Group (HLMG), constituted of international retired generals and top military officers, has filed its amicus brief to the International Criminal Court following its Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan’s request for arrest warrants against Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.
The HLMG called out the request for being unjustified, stating that “the resources dedicated by the IDF to these [humanitarian aid] efforts, the directives and commands we saw, and the commanders we met all suggest that there is a genuine, ongoing and concerted effort to alleviate the humanitarian situation in Gaza, in direct contradiction to the claims of the Prosecutor”.
The brief follows the Chief Prosecutor’s claims that starvation and the targeting of civilians were strategies being deliberately employed by Israel against the people of Gaza.
“Should the court approve the requested arrest warrants, it is our professional military opinion that this would set standards that are unbearable and unrealistic […] for other democracies and their armed forces”, the military body continued.
Far from being within Israel’s control, food insecurity in the Strip was due to the “unavoidable effects of large-scale urban warfare” needed to defeat Hamas and ensure Israel’s security, together with Hamas’ role in misappropriating aid consignments, the HLMG assessed.
31 terrorists reportedly killed in strike on Hamas’ Gaza school-HQ
The IDF named 12 additional terrorists killed in the precise strike on the Al-Taabin school complex in Gaza, bringing the tally of terrorists killed to 31, after recently naming 19 of those killed in the operation.
The munitions used for the strike were smaller and more precise, due to information that civilians were sheltering nearby the complex that reportedly served as a base of operations for the Hamas terror group.
The IDF recently published a video showing that the compound was left intact.
It is reportedly likely that the Palestinian Islamic Jihad commander of Central Gaza was killed in the blast.
The IDF has rejected Gaza’s Hamas-run civil defence agency’s claims that over 90 were killed in the strike.
