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Posted: 6/4/2024 11:48:12 PM EDT
[#1]
Hezbollah anti-tank guided missile footage of an attack on what I think is Metula, Israel. FDD article on Hezbollah activities.
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ESP
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Posted: 6/5/2024 5:53:51 AM EDT
[#2]
“Hamas is holding women, children, the sick and the elderly hostage in Gaza. We will keep on doing everything we need for their freedom…This is what any other decent country in the world would do.”
Hezbollah UAV explodes in the field of Mavo Hama. The wheat is gone. The military says it carried out a drone strike overnight against a Hamas compound in central Gaza's Bureij, based out of a United Nations school. A son of a Hamas co-founder, Mosab Hassan Yousef on pro-Palestinian protesters in NYC: “If it was up to me I would ship them all to Gaza right now.” Israeli troops continue fighting in Gaza: |
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Posted: 6/5/2024 5:54:50 AM EDT
[#3]
Link to liveblog articles below.
Government to vote on authorizing the IDF to raise number of reservists to 350,000 by end of August Iranian Revolutionary Guards chief: Israel will pay a price for the death of Iranian military adviser in Syria. They have to attack General Salami with a Hellfire Ginsu missile. Iranian Revolutionary Guards chief Hossein Salami warned that Israel would pay a price for the death of an Iranian military adviser in an attack on the Syrian city of Aleppo on Sunday. "The Zionist criminals who kill children should know that they will pay a price for the bloodshed," Salami said, adding that Israel should be on high alert for a response following the death of Iranian adviser Saeed Abyar. Here are the latest updates for day 243 of the Israel-Hamas war ■ An armed man opened fire at the U.S. embassy in Lebanon. Soldiers from the Lebanese army returned fire and arrested the shooter, who was evacuated for medical treatment. ■ The U.S. said it was still awaiting a response from Hamas on the cease-fire proposal, national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters on Tuesday. ■ The Tel Aviv District Court shortened the duration of the orders to shut down Al Jazeera that were issued by Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi. ■ Israeli PM Netanyahu canceled his attendance at a state event for Jerusalem Day. ■ An independent group of experts known as the Famine Early Warning Systems Network warned Tuesday that it's possible that famine is underway in northern Gaza. ■ The IDF announced that two soldiers were seriously wounded when ammunition stored on a base in southern Israel exploded. ■ The IDF said it struck Hezbollah missile launchers and buildings in south Lebanon. ■ Sirens sounded in northern Israel, near the border with Lebanon, multiple times on Wednesday morning.
A "suspicious aerial target" that entered Israeli airspace from Lebanon, thought to be a drone, was intercepted by air defenses over Metula this morning, the military says. Another interceptor was launched at a second target a short while later, the IDF adds. There was no damage or injuries in either incident.
The IDF's new operation in the central Gaza Strip is focusing on the eastern areas of Bureij and the east of Deir al-Balah, the military says. The IDF had previously battled Hamas in Bureij, in January, but until now, had not operated in the Deir al-Balah area. The new offensive is being carried out by the 98th Division, which had until recently been deployed to northern Gaza's Jabaliya. Before that, the division fought Hamas in Khan Younis, in the Strip's south. The IDF says the operation is being carried out following intelligence of operatives and infrastructure belonging to terror group above and below ground in the area, several kilometers from the Israeli border. As ground troops pushed into the east Bureij and east Deir al-Balah areas, a large wave of airstrikes was carried out, targeting weapon depots, underground infrastructure, buildings used by terror groups, and other sites, the IDF says. The military says several Hamas operatives were killed in the strikes. The new offensive comes as the IDF continues to operate in southern Gaza's Rafah and in the Netzarim Corridor in the central part of the Strip. Two Hezbollah rocket launchers in southern Lebanon's Zibqin and Ayta ash-Shab were struck by fighter jets overnight, the military says. Another three buildings used by the terror group in Odaisseh, Blida, and Markaba were struck, the IDF adds. Sirens this morning in the Galilee Panhandle area were false alarms.
Two Hezbollah rocket launchers in southern Lebanon's Zibqin and Ayta ash-Shab were struck by fighter jets overnight, the military says. Another three buildings used by the terror group in Odaisseh, Blida, and Markaba were struck, the IDF adds. Sirens this morning in the Galilee Panhandle area were false alarms. Palestinian tweet
An intense night in Gaza, especially in central parts of the strip. Tens of killed. The Israeli military is present in Rafah, north Khan Younis, Burej Refugee Camp, East Jabalia and some neighborhoods in south Gaza city |
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Posted: 6/5/2024 10:02:06 AM EDT
[#4]
The IDF announces the formation of a new counter-terrorism unit that will operate in Gaza border communities, made up of residents of the area who are ex-special forces. The unit, known as LOTAR Otef -- referring to Otef Aza or the Gaza envelope -- was established Monday, per the instructions of Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi and "as part of learning the lessons that have emerged from the initial investigations into the events of October 7," the IDF says. The unit will be commanded by a lieutenant colonel reservist and will be subordinate to the Gaza Division. The IDF says the unit will consist of reservists who previously served in special forces, live in Gaza border communities or nearby towns, and who will be ready for sudden events. It says that unit members will undergo specific training for "the challenges of the area." Hundreds of reservists have already applied to serve in LOTAR Otef, and in the coming weeks, they will begin training, the IDF says.
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ESP
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Posted: 6/5/2024 10:34:55 AM EDT
[#5]
Police publish footage of the operation in the Balata Camp in Nablus yesterday, during which a wanted terrorist was killed and several more terrorists were shot.
An "innocent civilian" in Gaza sits in civilian clothes and fires mortars at Israel while drinking coffee. The military says it has wrapped up a week and a half-long pinpoint raid in Gaza City's Sabra neighborhood, aimed at re-clearing the area of Hamas infrastructure and terrorists. Hamas terrorists, disguised as civilians, are firing mortars at IDF soldiers. When they're taken out, they get counted as civilians. This is a blatant war crime! |
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Posted: 6/5/2024 12:26:48 PM EDT
[Last Edit: michigan66]
[#6]
Any good live feeds from northern Israel?
Link here. 10 wounded by drone strike in northern Israeli town of Hurfiesh, one critically; No sirens were activated before the hit. Hezbollah claimes responsibility. Crappy video showing smoke from drone impact.
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Posted: 6/5/2024 6:42:48 PM EDT
[Last Edit: michigan66]
[#7]
The military says it has established "operational control" over the east Bureij and east Deir al-Balah areas in the central Gaza Strip today, after launching a new operation in the area yesterday. Troops of the 7th Armored Brigade and Kfir Infantry Brigade killed several gunmen in battles and by calling in airstrikes, and also located tunnel shafts, the IDF says. Hours into the operation, the IDF says troops located a mortar launcher hidden in a small structure with a United Nations logo on it.  Attached File
The IDF reveals a "significant" Hamas tunnel in southern Gaza's Rafah, adjacent to the border crossing with Egypt, used by the terror group to smuggle weapons into the Strip. According to the IDF, troops located several tunnel shafts in the area, which led to the 2-kilometer-long underground route with several paths. Inside the tunnel, troops found several weapons, explosives, and a large amount of intelligence materials, the military says. Some parts of the tunnel were blocked by blast doors. Combat engineers later demolished the tunnel. Along the so-called Philadelphi Corridor, adjacent to the southern city of Rafah, the IDF has located so far some 20 tunnels that cross into Egypt. Another 82 tunnel shafts leading into the tunnels have been located in the corridor area. Hamas has been known to use such tunnels to smuggle weapons into Gaza, despite attempts by Egypt to thwart them in the past decade. A "high-level" source speaking to Egyptian state media last week denied such tunnels still exist. |
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Posted: 6/6/2024 9:30:09 AM EDT
[#8]
  Institute for Study of War Backgrounder 5 June Key Takeaways Gaza Strip An IDF lieutenant colonel highlighted Palestinian militias’ use of “guerilla-style” tactics in the Gaza Strip, in which Palestinian militias allow IDF units to enter their target areas before Palestinian militias engage the IDF troops. Israeli Forces (IDF) continued operations along the Netzarim Corridor.he IDF. Seven Palestinian militias launched rocket and mortars targeting Israeli forces and an IDF site along the Netzarim Corridor, demonstrating militias remain active in the northern Gaza Strip. The IDF continued clearing operations in Rafah. Israeli forces located and destroyed a 2km-long tunnel that ran along the Philadelphi Corridor and connected to several other tunnel branches. The IDF seized various weapons, including an explosively formed penetrator (EFP), from the tunnel. A Palestinian journalist reported that Israeli forces advanced into western Rafah’s ”Saudi neighborhood.” Three Palestinian militias claimed attacks targeting Israeli forces in central and eastern Rafah. The IDF announced on June 5 that it will increase the maximum active reservists by 50,000 soldiers to 350,000. The IDF established a new rapid-response unit to respond to “terrorist incidents” in the Gaza Envelope. The new unit, LOTAR Otef, reports to the IDF 143rd Gaza Division. The unit will be comprised of reservists and veterans of elite IDF units from the areas surrounding the Gaza Strip. The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) and the al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades conducted a combined rocket attack targeting an IDF site east of Deir al Balah. West Bank Israeli forces have engaged Palestinian fighters in at least six locations in the West Bank. Hamas, PIJ, and al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades fighters engaged IDF forces operating in Jenin. The IDF and Shin Bet detained 18 wanted men throughout the West Bank during overnight raids. Israeli forces conducted a “large-scale operation” in Beit Ummar, northwest of Hebron, to detain “illegal immigrants” and suspects carrying out "sabotage activities.” The IDF also seized small arms, IEDs, and “incendiary materials” belonging to Hamas. The IDF and Israeli Border Police killed a wanted al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades fighter in Balata refugee camp, Nablus. Southern Lebanon Iranian-backed militias, including Lebanese Hezbollah, have conducted at least 13 attacks into northern Israel in the last 24 hours, including a drone attack that wounded seven Israeli civilians in Hurfeish. Lebanon Israeli officials are continuing to talk about an offensive into Lebanon amid an increase in Hezbollah drone attacks targeting northern Israel. Iran Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Commander Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami threatened to retaliate against Israel for the June 3 airstrike that killed IRGC Quds Force Gen. Saeid Abyar in Aleppo, Syria.. Abyar was a member of the IRGC Quds Force and had been stationed in Syria since 2012. Salami stated that Israel must “wait” for Iran’s response during the funeral ceremony for Saeid Abyar. The IRGC uses Syria as a regional hub for coordination among the larger Axis of Resistance.. Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes in Syria targeting weapons transfer lines through Syria to Iranian-backed fighters or proxy groups since the start of the Syrian Civil War in 2011. The June 3 airstrike in Aleppo represented the first Israeli attack on Iranian targets abroad since Salami threatened Israel with Iran‘s “new equation.“. Syria A Syrian Arab Army (SAA)-affiliated source reported on June 4 that the Syrian Defense Laboratories Corporation manufactured rockets that Lebanese Hezbollah has used to conduct attacks against Israeli positions in northern Israel. This statement is consistent with Israel’s air campaign to disrupt the transfer of Iranian military materiel to its partners and proxies in the Levant, especially Hezbollah, by targeting Syrian weapons production facilities. Yemen CENTCOM said on June 4 that the Houthis launched two anti-ship ballistic missiles from Houthi-controlled Yemen into the Red Sea. Iranian Presidential Elections Former IRGC Commander Mohsen Rezaei appears to be trying to promote an electoral consensus among hardliners ahead of the June 28 Iranian presidential election. Post-War Palestine Hamas is continuing to discuss its desired political end state for the war, in which a Hamas-influenced government that includes Fatah governs the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Islamic State A possible Islamic State gunman attacked the US embassy in Beirut on June 5 before being wounded by the Lebanese army in a shootout and arrested. No Americans were killed or injured.  
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Posted: 6/6/2024 9:48:04 AM EDT
[#9]
Militants attempted a raid into Israel from Gaza. Details in tweets below. Surprised it didn't happen before, but doing it now with all the internal turmoil, international pressure, and a change in Hezbollah is a psychological tool for the militants.
The attempted infiltration on the Gaza border began this morning at around 4:00 a.m., when soldiers monitoring surveillance cameras spotted suspicious movement amid foggy weather, according to an initial IDF probe. Troops of the Desert Reconnaissance Battalion were then dispatched to the scene, in Gaza, just across from the Israeli border communities of Kerem Shalom and Holit, to search for the suspects. At around 5:00 a.m., the soldiers came under fire by the cell, around 400 meters from the Israeli border. Moments later, two of the gunmen were killed in a drone strike, and a short time after that, a third was killed by tank shelling. The cell was armed with assault rifles and RPGs. A possible fourth gunman fled the area, though the IDF was still investigating this. The IDF was also investigating how the gunmen reached the border area, where they were then detected.
The IDF announces the death of a soldier killed during a gun battle with Hamas operatives who attempted to infiltrate into Israel from southern Gaza's Rafah early this morning. The slain soldier is named as Warrant Officer Zeed Mazarib, 34, from Zarzir, a tracker in the Gaza Division's Southern Brigade. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attempt, during which the IDF said it killed three armed terror operatives.
Israeli fighter jets and other aircraft struck dozens of targets across the Gaza Strip over the past day, the military says. The targets included weapon depots, buildings used by terror groups, tunnel shafts, and other infrastructure. One drone strike hit a position from which rockets were launched at Israel previously, and another targeted a launcher and a terror cell that fired mortars at the border community of Kissufim, the IDF says. The strikes come as troops continue to operate in the east Bureij and east Deir al-Balah areas in central Gaza, in Rafah in the Strip's south, and in the Netzarim Corridor. In Bureij and Deir al-Balah, the IDF says troops located several tunnel shafts and weapons, and killed several members of Hamas's rocket unit with tank shelling. In Rafah, several more tunnel shafts were located, along with caches of weapons, the military adds.
Overnight, the IDF said it carried out an airstrike against a Hamas compound based out of a United Nations school in central Gaza's Nuseirat, killing terrorists who participated in the October 7 onslaught. Hamas authorities claim at least 27 people were killed in the strike. Ahead of the strike, the IDF says it carried out "many steps" to prevent harm to civilians. According to the IDF, members of Hamas's elite Nukhba force and Palestinian Islamic Jihad operatives who were involved in the massacre on October 7 were gathered at the compound when it was hit. It says the terror operatives used the school building to plan and advance attacks against Israeli troops "in the immediate time frame."  Attached File |
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Posted: 6/6/2024 2:16:03 PM EDT
[#10]
The IDF releases footage showing an airstrike this morning against a Hamas cell attempting to infiltrate into Israel this morning from the southern Gaza Strip. Two terrorists were killed in the drone strike, while a third was killed by tank shelling. A fourth Hamas operative fled back toward the Rafah area.
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Posted: 6/6/2024 7:07:10 PM EDT
[Last Edit: michigan66]
[#11]
 Attached File
They should sail it to Lebanon and get a second estimate, labor costs are lower. Senior U.S. Defense Officials have assessed that the Army’s JLOTS Temporary-Floating Pier for Humanitarian Aid off the Coast of the Gaza Strip, which is reported to have Costed between $230 and $320 Million, will require at least $22 Million in Repairs before it is Returned to Active Service.
This is the aerial photo the @IDF released this morning following a strike on terrorists using an @UNRWA school in #Nusierat. We know: What 3 rooms the #Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists were using. We assess that: 20-30 terrorists were in the compound at the time of the strike. We targeted: Precision strikes on the specific classrooms. What were the terrorists doing in a @UN school: The compound was used for staging attacks and as a forward operating base. How we planned the strike: Based on the intelligence, precision munitions, surveillance and intelligence. Precautions we took: We called off the strikes twice to be are precise as possible ensure limited civilian casualties. We will announce the terrorists targeted as soon as possible.  Attached File
Also what's funny is there Ankara "reconcile" pieces are always the same for the last decade. They never run them in Turkish newspaper demanding Ankara "reconcile"...it's just messaging for the US...Ankara never has to change... And reconciliation is always a scam...look at how it "reconciled" with Israel and then backs Hamas and October 7. Ankara doesn't want to reconcile...it pursues the same aggressive extremist policies year after year... |
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Posted: 6/6/2024 9:33:05 PM EDT
[#12]
  Institute for the Study Backgrounder 6 June Key Takeaways Status of armed resistance in Gaza Reuters published a report that Hamas has lost half of its forces and is currently using insurgent tactics. US officials familiar with battlefield developments said that Hamas’ numbers have decreased from an estimated 20,000 to 25,000 before the conflict to between 9,000 and 12,000 fighters at present. US and Israeli intelligence estimate that Hamas had as many as 30,000 to 40,000 fighters prior to the war. An IDF spokesperson acknowledged that destroying Hamas as a governing authority is “an achievable and attainable military objective,” instead of attempting to kill every Hamas fighter. Israeli officials have previously said that Israel’s war objectives are to destroy Hamas as a military organization and governing authority. One official said that Hamas is avoiding direct battles with Israeli forces, preferring to use ambushes the IDF and improvised explosive devices. A Gazan resident noted that Hamas previously immediately engaged Israeli forces as they advanced, but now Hamas is waiting for the IDF to enter the target area before attacking. Hamas fighters have previously employed similar tactics. US officials estimate that Hamas can sustain such tactics “for months,” given Hamas’ ability to access weapons smuggled into the Strip via tunnels as well as additional weapons and ordinance captured from the IDF. Gaza Strip Hamas attempted to infiltrate Israel using a tunnel 200 meters from the Israel-Gaza Strip border in Rafah. Four Palestinian fighters armed with small arms and rocket-propelled grenades (RPG) emerged from the tunnel under the cover of a thick fog. Israeli forces engaged the Palestinian fighters in a fire fight with a drone and tank supporting the IDF Bedouin trackers. The IDF killed three of the four Palestinian fighters 400 meters from the Israeli border in the Gaza Strip. The fourth Hamas fighter fled into Rafah. One Israeli soldier died during the incident. Air Force struck a Hamas compound within a UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) school in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip. The IDF identified 20 to 30 Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad fighters in the compound who had directed attacks on Israeli forces. The compound also served as a civilian shelter for approximately 6,000 people. 98th Division continued re-clearing operations in eastern Bureij and eastern Deir al Balah, locating tunnel shafts and engaged Palestinian fighters with tank fire and airstrikes. Palestinian militias targeted Israeli forces in eastern Bureij and eastern Deir al Balah using mortars and rocket-propelled grenades (RPG). The IDF Air Force struck a Palestinian cell that fired rockets at Kissufim from the central Gaza Strip. The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades claimed responsibility for the attack. 162nd Division continued clearing operations in Rafah. Hamas fighters detonated an explosively rigged tunnel in western Rafah. US and Israeli officials told Reuters that there are about 7,000 to 8,000 Hamas fighters sheltering in Rafah, including top Hamas leaders. 828th Bislamach Brigade completed its mission in Rafah and withdrew on June 6. The brigade initially entered Rafah on May 28. There are five IDF brigades currently operating in Rafah. Palestinian militias did not conduct any indirect fire attacks from the Gaza Strip into Israel on June 6. West Bank Palestinian fighters are likely maintaining at least one vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) manufacturing cell northeast of Tubas. Palestinian militias in Tubas may be collaborating to assemble and deploy these VBIEDs, given the significant amount of resources and expertise required to manufacture a VBIED. The IDF conducted an overnight “counterterrorism” operation in the West Bank on June 5, detaining 11 Palestinians affiliated with Hamas. Palestinian fighters engaged Israeli forces in Jenin wiith small arms and IEDs. An IDF helicopter opened fire on Palestinians in Jenin and injuring eight people. The Shin Bet and IDF assess that the current poor economic conditions may lead West Bank residents to join Palestinian militias at a time when Iran is smuggling funds into the West Bank to support Palestinian resistance efforts. The document warns that a third intifada could break out in the West Bank, transforming the West Bank from a “secondary arena” to a “central arena” for Israeli war efforts. Southern Israel and Golan Heights Iranian-backed militias, including Lebanese Hezbollah, conducted at least eight attacks into northern Israel in the last 24 hours. US and Israeli officials told Axios that the Biden administration cautioned that an Israeli offensive in Lebanon could push Iran to intervene and widen the conflict. A senior IDF source told Axios that the situation on the Israel-Lebanon border has been escalating since May due to an increase in Hezbollah drone attacks, Yemen The Houthis claimed on June 6 that they conducted a combined operation targeting Israel with Iranian-backed Iraqi militias as part of their effort to impose an unofficial blockade. This blockade is unlikely to be successful, given that the Houthis have so far been unable to successfully attack Israeli shipping in the Mediterranean at a sufficient rate to impact imports or exports from Mediterranean ports. The Houthis claimed on June 5 that it conducted drone and missile attacks targeting three ships in the Red and Arabian Seas. The Houthis released a video on June 5 that shows the Houthis firing a likely Iranian-supplied missile that it used to target Eilat, southern Israel, on June 3. The Houthis said that its Palestine missile is “locally made,” but the missile bears visual similarities to the Iranian Kheiber Shekan ballistic missile. Iran originally unveiled the Khiber Shekan in February 2022. Associated Press reports that the Palestine missile uses solid fuel as opposed to liquid fuel. Iranian Presidential Elections Iranian hardline officials are continuing to try to promote an electoral consensus among hardliners ahead of the June 28 presidential election as part of an effort to avoid infighting between hardliners that could provide an opening for a moderate victory. Ceasefire Negotiations Hamas reportedly said that it will reject the Israeli ceasefire proposal, arguing that the proposal does not ensure a permanent end to hostilities. Hamas will continue to reject proposals until it secures a “permanent ceasefire.” Hamas does not acknowledge the legitimacy of any permanent ceasefire and has repeatedly said that any ceasefire is temporary until Hamas destroys Israel. Iraq Iranian-backed Iraqi militias reportedly set a 40-day deadline for the Iraqi prime minister to expel US forces from Iraq.°   
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Posted: 6/6/2024 9:59:25 PM EDT
[#13]
June 6 Red Sea Update In the past 24 hours, U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) forces successfully destroyed eight Houthi uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) launched from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen over the Red Sea. Additionally, USCENTCOM forces successfully destroyed two Houthi uncrewed surface vessels (USV) in the Red Sea. Separately, a coalition ship successfully engaged one UAS launched from a Houthi controlled area of Yemen over the Red Sea. Also, Iranian-backed Houthis launched one anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM) from a Houthi controlled area of Yemen over the Red Sea. There were no injuries or damage reported by U.S., coalition, or commercial ships. |
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ESP
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Posted: 6/7/2024 4:39:04 AM EDT
[#14]
Two Hezbollah rocket launchers in southern Lebanon's Zibqin and Ayta ash-Shab were struck by fighter jets overnight:
The IDF reveals a "significant" Hamas tunnel in southern Gaza's Rafah, adjacent to the border crossing with Egypt, used by the terror group to smuggle weapons into the Strip. Israeli fighter jets struck a series of Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon: Israeli located a number of significant shafts that led to a long tunnel route that reached as far as the Philadelphia axis. The length of the route is about 2 kilometers and it connects to several other routes in the area. Israeli fighter jets struck a Hezbollah weapons depot in southern Lebanon's Wadi Jilou, as well as two more sites belonging to the terror group near Aadchit: |
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ESP
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Posted: 6/7/2024 8:20:45 AM EDT
[#15]
Two Hezbollah terrorists were struck in an Israeli drone strike in southern Lebanon's Aitaroun:
IDF Spox. on Hamas Terrorists Operating Inside a U.N. School: The IDF releases footage showing an airstrike this morning against a Hamas cell attempting to infiltrate into Israel: Soldiers of the Givat patrol identified, using a drone, a trapped house in the Rafah area and located inside it a stockpile of dozens of mortar bombs. Overnight, Israeli fighter jets struck buildings used by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon's Jabal Rezlane, and in the towns of Ramyeh and Kafr Kila: |
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Posted: 6/7/2024 9:04:13 AM EDT
[#16]
The London-based Qatar-owned Al-Araby Al-Jadeed outlet, quoting one of its correspondents, says the Israeli military had reached the coast of Rafah, completing its control over the Philadelphi Corridor. The IDF announced last week that it had established “operational control” over the entire route along the Gaza-Egypt border. It said at the time that troops were physically located in most of the corridor, and that there was a small section near the coast where ground forces were not present, but it was controlling the area with surveillance and firepower.
The IDF says it has killed dozens of terror operatives amid an ongoing operation in east Buriej and east Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. The operation began earlier this week, and is being carried out by the 98th Division. Troops located tunnel shafts and demolished infrastructure used by terror groups in the area, the IDF says. The head of a Hamas rocket-launching cell was also killed in an airstrike in the central Gaza area, the IDF adds. The IDF also continues its offensive in southern Gaza's Rafah, where it says troops of the 162nd Division located additional tunnel shafts and weapons over the past day. The military also continues to operate in the Netzarim Corridor in central Gaza, with the Paratroopers Brigade being deployed to the area, joining the 99th Division.
Destroyed because Hamas festooned it with weapons and tunneled under it. Once again...note Hamas is never mentioned. All the international community had to do was tell Hamas it couldn't go into civilian areas and take them over and put weapons in homes and tunnel under these poor civilians. It was easy. But instead...Hamas was allowed to hijack all of Gaza and illegally take over areas like Beit Hanoun. Officials say Yemen's Houthis detain at least 9 UN staffers and others in sudden crackdown At least nine Yemeni employees of United Nations agencies have been detained by Yemen's Houthis under unclear circumstances, authorities said Friday, as the Houthis face increasing financial pressure and airstrikes from a U.S.-led coalition. Others working for aid groups also likely have been taken. Regional officials, speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to brief journalists, confirmed the U.N. detentions. Those held include staff from the United Nations human rights agency, its development program, the World Food Program and one working for the office of its special envoy, the officials said. The wife of one of those held is also detained. |
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Posted: 6/7/2024 9:55:48 AM EDT
[#17]
Reuters: Depleted Hamas switches to insurgent tactics in Gaza, posing steep challenge Link here and entire article posted below
The best line in the article--Lerner, an DF spokesperson, agreed Israel faced a protracted battle to overcome Hamas, "There is no quick fix after 17 years of them building their capabilities". Highpoints Hamas has seen about half its forces wiped out and is relying on hit-and-run insurgent tactics in engagements with Israeli forces, US and Israeli officials told Reuters. Hamas...has been reduced to between 9,000 and 12,000 fighters, according to US officials, down from estimates of 20,000-25,000 before the conflict. By contrast, Israel says it has lost almost 300 troops in the Gaza campaign. (How many have been killed is interesting--who has been killed is important. How many trained Nukhba shooters have been killed is critical. If many of them are alive, Hamas can quickly regenerate.) Hamas..largely avoids sustained skirmishes with Israeli forces in Rafah, instead relying on ambushes and improvised bombs to hit targets often behind enemy lines, one of the officials said. Such tactics could sustain a Hamas insurgency for months to come, aided by weapons smuggled into Gaza via tunnels and others repurposed from unexploded ordnance or captured from Israeli forces. There are about 7,000-8,000 Hamas fighters reportedly entrenched in Rafah ..the group’s fighters are videotaping their ambushes of Israeli troops, before editing and posting them on Telegram and other social media apps. A Hamas spokesperson didn’t respond to requests for comment on its battlefield strategy.  . Sinwar thinks we're stupid, this question gives him another data point that confirms that).Sources..said the IDF could face similar threats to those encountered by America in the city of Fallujah in 2004-2006 following the US-led invasion of Iraq. Lerner, an DF spokesperson, agreed Israel faced a protracted battle to overcome Hamas, which has ruled the Gaza Strip since seizing the territory in 2007 from the Palestinian Authority in a bloody coup. Entire Reuters article below Depleted Hamas switches to insurgent tactics in Gaza, posing steep challenge 6 Jun 2024 WASHINGTON — Hamas has seen about half its forces wiped out in eight months of war and is relying on hit-and-run insurgent tactics to frustrate Israel’s attempts to take control of Gaza, US and Israeli officials told Reuters. Hamas, the enclave’s ruling group, has been reduced to between 9,000 and 12,000 fighters, according to three senior US officials familiar with battlefield developments, down from American estimates of 20,000-25,000 before the conflict. By contrast, Israel says it has lost almost 300 troops in the Gaza campaign. Hamas fighters are now largely avoiding sustained skirmishes with Israeli forces closing in on the southernmost city of Rafah, instead relying on ambushes and improvised bombs to hit targets often behind enemy lines, one of the officials said. Several Gaza residents, including Wissam Ibrahim, said they too had observed a shift in tactics. “In earlier months, Hamas fighters would intercept, engage, and fire at Israeli troops as soon as they pushed into their territory,” Ibrahim told Reuters by phone. “But now, there is a notable shift in their mode of operations. They wait for [the IDF] to deploy and then they start their ambushes and attacks.” The US officials, who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, said such tactics could sustain a Hamas insurgency for months to come, aided by weapons smuggled into Gaza via tunnels and others repurposed from unexploded ordnance or captured from Israeli forces. This kind of protracted timeframe is echoed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s national security adviser who said last week the war could last until the end of 2024 at least. A Hamas spokesperson didn’t respond to requests for comment on its battlefield strategy. In a parallel propaganda drive, some of the group’s fighters are videotaping their ambushes of Israeli troops, before editing and posting them on Telegram and other social media apps. Lt. Col. (res.) Peter Lerner, a spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces, told Reuters they were still some way from destroying Hamas, which he also said had lost roughly half of its fighting force. Lerner said the military was adapting to the group’s shift in tactics and acknowledged Israel couldn’t eliminate every Hamas fighter or destroy every Hamas tunnel. “There is never a goal to kill each and every last terrorist on the ground. That’s not a realistic goal,” he said. “Destroying Hamas as a governing authority is an achievable and attainable military objective,” he added. Hamas leaders Sinwar and Deif Netanyahu and his government are under pressure from Washington to agree to a ceasefire plan to end the war, which began on October 7 when Hamas led 3,000 terrorists to storm into southern Israel, killing more than 1,200 people and seizing 251 hostages. The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says at least 36,586 Palestinians have been killed and 83,074 injured. The figures cannot be verified and only some 24,000 fatalities have been identified at hospitals. Hamas does not distinguish between deaths of combatants and unarmed civilians, or between those killed by Israel and those killed by errant Palestinian rockets. The tolls include some 15,000 terror operatives Israel says it has killed in battle. Israel also says it killed some 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7. There are about 7,000-8,000 Hamas fighters reportedly entrenched in Rafah, the last significant bastion of the group’s resistance, according to Israeli and US officials. Top leaders Yahya Sinwar, his brother Mohammed, and Sinwar’s second-in-command Mohammed Deif are still alive and believed to be hiding in tunnels with Israeli hostages, they said. The Palestinian group has shown the ability to withdraw rapidly after attacks, take cover, regroup, and pop up again in areas that Israel had believed to be cleared of Hamas operatives, a US administration official said. Lerner, the IDF spokesperson, agreed Israel faced a protracted battle to overcome Hamas, which has ruled the Gaza Strip since seizing the territory in 2007 from the Palestinian Authority in a bloody coup. “There is no quick fix after 17 years of them building their capabilities,” he said. Hamas has constructed a 500-kilometer (310-mile) subterranean city of tunnels over the years. The labyrinth, dubbed the Gaza metro by the Israeli military, is roughly half the length of the New York subway system. Equipped with water, power, and ventilation, it shelters Hamas leaders, command and control centers, and weapons and ammunition stores. The Israeli military said last week that it had taken control of the entire Gaza-Egypt land border to prevent weapons smuggling. About 20 tunnels used by Hamas to carry arms into Gaza were found within the zone, it added. Egypt’s State Information Service didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on Israel’s claims of arms smuggling from the country. Egyptian officials have previously denied any such clandestine trade is taking place, saying they destroyed the tunnel networks leading to Gaza years ago. Echoes of Fallujah insurgency The Gaza incursion is Israel’s longest and fiercest conflict since it invaded Lebanon to oust the Palestinian Liberation Organization in 1982. Netanyahu has defied domestic and international calls to outline a postwar plan for the territory. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has warned that the absence of such a roadmap could trigger lawlessness in the enclave. War cabinet minister Benny Gantz has given Netanyahu until the end of the week to lay out such a plan or he will pull his National Unity party out of the government. One Arab official told Reuters that criminal gangs had already emerged in Gaza amid the power vacuum, seizing food deliveries and conducting armed robberies. The official and two other Arab government sources, who all requested anonymity to speak freely, said the IDF could face similar threats to those encountered by America in the city of Fallujah in 2004-2006 following the US-led invasion of Iraq. A broad insurgency in Fallujah swelled the ranks first of al-Qaeda and then Islamic State, miring Iraq in conflict and chaos from which it has yet to fully emerge two decades later. Washington and its Arab allies have said they are working on a post-conflict plan for Gaza that involves a time-bound, irreversible path to Palestinian statehood. When the plan, part of a “grand bargain” envisioned by the United States that aims to secure a normalizing of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel, is complete, Washington aims to put it to Israel, the US officials said. A United Arab Emirates official with direct knowledge of the discussions said a Palestinian invitation was needed for countries to assist Gaza in an emergency operation, as well as an end to hostilities, full Israeli disengagement, and clarity on Gaza’s legal status, including control of borders. The emergency process could last a year and be potentially renewable for another year, according to the UAE official who said the aim was to stabilize the enclave rather than rebuild it. For reconstruction to begin, a more detailed roadmap towards a two-state solution was needed, he added, as well as serious and credible reform of the Palestinian Authority. How the United States aims to overcome Netanyahu’s repeated rejection of a two-state solution, which Riyadh says is a condition for normalizing ties, is unclear. David Schenker, a former US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, dismissed any suggestion of a clean IDF pullout from the Palestinian territory. “Israel says it’s going to maintain security control, which means that it’s going to constantly fly drones over Gaza. And they’re not going to be limited if they see Hamas re-emerging, they’re going to go back,” said Schenker, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute US-based think-tank. Gadi Eisenkot, a former Israeli military chief serving as an observer in Netanyahu’s war cabinet, has proposed an Egyptian-led international coalition as an alternative to Hamas rule in Gaza. Eisenkot, a member of Gantz’s National Unity party, has lost a son and nephew in the Gaza war. In a closed-door briefing last week to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, he emphasized the complex nature of anti-militancy warfare. “This is a religious, nationalistic, social, and military struggle with no knockout blow but rather protracted warfare that will last many years,” he said. Longish article from the AP Gaza casualty figures in quote box below and here. Analysis finds flaws in Hamas data, drop in rate of Gazan women, children killed The proportion of Palestinian women and children being killed in the Israel-Hamas war appears to have declined sharply, an Associated Press analysis of Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry data, which cannot be verified, has found. This trend coincides both with Israel’s changing battlefield tactics and contradicts the Hamas-run ministry’s own public statements. The trend is significant because the death rate for women and children is the best available proxy for civilian casualties in the conflict. In October, when the war began following Hamas’s October 7 onslaught, it was above 60 percent. In April, it was below 40%. Yet the shift went unnoticed for months by the United Nations and much of the media, and the Gazan health ministry has made no effort to set the record straight. Israel faces heavy international criticism over the level of reported civilian casualties in Gaza and questions about whether it has done enough to prevent them in an eight-month-long war that shows no sign of ending. Jerusalem vehemently denies the charges, saying it is taking unprecedented measures to reduce civilian casualties, and that the combatant-to-civilian ratio is relatively low even according to the unverified figures issued by Hamas-run authorities. The figures make no distinction between civilians and combatants, and include Gazans killed by hundreds of misfired Palestinian rockets that landed inside the Strip. The AP analysis highlights facts that have been overlooked and could help inform the public debate, said Gabriel Epstein, a research assistant at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy who has also studied the Health Ministry data. The declining impact on women and children — as well as a drop in the overall death rate — are “definitely due to a change in the way the IDF is acting right now,” Epstein said, using an acronym for the Israel Defense Forces. “That’s an easy conclusion, but I don’t think it’s been made enough.” As the war evolves, a shift occurs When Israel first responded to Hamas’s October 7 massacre in southern communities — in which terrorists murdered some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 hostages to Gaza — it launched an intense aerial bombardment on the densely populated Gaza Strip. Israel said its goal was to destroy Hamas positions, and the barrage cleared the way for tens of thousands of ground troops, backed by tanks and artillery, to enter the Strip with the aim of toppling the terror group, which openly seeks Israel’s destruction and has vowed to repeat its onslaught again and again if allowed to. The reported Gaza death toll rose quickly and by the end of October, women and people 17 and younger accounted for 64% of the 6,745 killed who were fully identified by Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry. After moving across most of Gaza and saying it had achieved many key objectives, Israel then began withdrawing most of its ground forces. It reduced the frequency of aerial bombings and has focused in recent months on smaller drone strikes and limited ground operations. As the intensity of fighting has scaled back, the death toll has continued to rise, but at a slower rate – and with seemingly fewer civilians caught in the crossfire. In April, women and children made up 38% of the newly and fully identified deaths, the health ministry’s most recent data shows. “Historically, airstrikes  a higher ratio of women and children compared to ground operations,” said Larry Lewis, an expert on the civilian impacts of war at CNA, a nonprofit research group in Washington. The findings of the AP analysis “make sense,” he said.Another sign that Israel softened its bombing campaign: Beginning in January, there was a sharp slowdown in “new damage” to buildings in Gaza, according to Corey Scher, a satellite mapping expert at City University of New York who has monitored buildings damaged or destroyed since the war began. The fate of women and children is an important indicator of civilian casualties because the health ministry does not break out combatant deaths. But it’s not a perfect indicator: Many civilian men have died, and many older teenagers may be involved in the fighting. Daily death tolls at odds with underlying data The health ministry announces a new death toll for the war nearly every day. It also has periodically released the underlying data behind this figure, including detailed lists of the dead. The AP’s analysis looked at these lists, which were shared on social media in late October, early January, late March, and the end of April. Each list includes the names of people whose deaths were attributable to the war, along with other identifying details. The daily death tolls, however, are provided without supporting data. In February, ministry officials said 75% of the dead were women and children – a level that was never confirmed in the detailed reports. And as recently as March, the ministry’s daily reports claimed that 72% of the dead were women and children, even as underlying data clearly showed the percentage was well below that. Israeli leaders have pointed to such inconsistencies as evidence that the ministry, which is led by medical professionals but reports to Gaza’s Hamas government, is inflating the figures for political gain. Some experts contend that the reality is more complicated, given the scale of devastation that has overwhelmed and badly damaged Gaza’s hospital system. Lewis said while the “beleaguered” health ministry has come under heavy scrutiny, Israel has yet to provide credible alternative data. He called on Israel to “put out your numbers.” High civilian death toll is a liability for Israel The true toll in Gaza could have serious repercussions. Two international courts in the Hague are examining accusations that Israel has committed war crimes and “genocide” against Palestinians – allegations it adamantly denies. Israel has opened a new phase of the war in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where an estimated 100,000 civilians remain even after mass evacuations, aimed at rooting out remaining Hamas battalions that are hiding there. How Israel mitigates civilian deaths there will be closely watched. Israel says it has tried to avoid civilian casualties throughout the war, including by issuing mass evacuation orders ahead of intense military operations that have displaced some 80% of Gaza’s population. It has provided evidence of Hamas intentionally and systematically putting civilians in harm’s way as human shields. Parsing Gaza health ministry data The ministry said publicly on April 30 that 34,622 had died in the war. The AP analysis was based on the 22,961 individuals fully identified at the time by the health ministry with names, genders, ages and Israeli-issued identification numbers. The ministry says 9,940 of the dead – 29% of its April 30 total – were not listed in the data because they remain “unidentified.” These include bodies not claimed by families, decomposed beyond recognition, or whose records were lost in Israeli raids on hospitals that targeted gunmen from Hamas and other terror groups using the facilities for military operations. An additional 1,699 records in the ministry’s April data were incomplete and 22 were duplicates; they were excluded from AP’s analysis. Among those fully identified, the records show a steady decline in the overall proportion of women and children who have been killed: from 64% in late October, to 62% as of early January, to 57% by the end of March, to 54% by the end of April. Yet throughout the war, the ministry has claimed that roughly two-thirds of the dead were women and children. This figure has been repeated by international organizations and many in the foreign media, including the AP. The health ministry says it has gone to great lengths to accurately compile information but that its ability to count and identify the dead has been greatly hampered by the war. The fighting has crippled the Gaza health system, knocking out two-thirds of the territory’s 36 hospitals, closing morgues, and hampering the work of facilities still functioning. Dr. Moatasem Salah, director of the ministry’s emergency center, rejected Israeli assertions that his ministry has intentionally inflated or manipulated the death toll. “This shows disrespect to the humanity for any person who exists here,” he said. “We are not numbers… These are all human souls.” He insisted that 70% of those killed have been women and children and claimed the overall death toll is much higher than what has been reported because thousands of people remain missing, are believed to be buried in rubble, or their deaths were not reported by their families. As death toll rises, the details are debated To be sure, this war’s death toll is the highest of any previous Israel-Palestinian conflict. But Israeli leaders charge that the international media and United Nations have cited Hamas figures without a critical eye. Israel last month angrily criticized the UN’s use of data from Hamas’s media office – a propaganda arm of the terror group – that reported a larger number of women and children killed. The UN later lowered its number in line with health ministry figures. Foreign Minister Israel Katz lashed out on the social platform X: “Anyone who relies on fake data from a terrorist organization in order to promote blood libels against Israel is antisemitic and supports terrorism.” AP’s examination of the reports found flaws in the Palestinian record keeping. As Gaza’s hospital system collapsed in December and January, the ministry began relying on hard-to-verify “media reports” to register new deaths. Its March report included 531 individuals who were counted twice, and many deaths were self-reported by families, instead of health officials. Epstein, the Washington Institute researcher, said using different data-collection methodologies and then combining all the numbers gives an inaccurate picture. “That’s probably the biggest problem,” he said, adding that he was surprised there hadn’t been more scrutiny. The number of Hamas gunmen killed in the fighting is also unclear. Hamas has closely guarded this information, though Khalil al-Hayya, a top Hamas official, told the AP in late April that the group had lost no more than 20% of its fighters. That would amount to roughly 6,000 fighters based on Israeli pre-war estimates. Michael Spagat, a London-based economics professor who chairs the board of Every Casualty Counts, a nonprofit that tracks armed conflicts, said he continues to trust the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry and believes it is doing its best in difficult circumstances. “I think [the data] becomes increasingly flawed,” he said. But, he added, “the flaws don’t necessarily change the overall picture.” The IDF has not challenged the overall death toll released by the Hamas-run ministry. But it says the number of dead gunmen is much higher at roughly 15,000 – or over 40% of all the dead. It has provided no public evidence to support the claim and declined to comment for this story. Shlomo Mofaz, director of the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, said such estimates are typically based on body counts, battlefield intelligence, and the interrogations of captured Hamas commanders. Mofaz, a former intelligence officer, said his researchers are skeptical of the Palestinian data. In previous conflicts, he said his researchers found numerous inconsistencies, such as including natural deaths from disease or car accidents among the war casualties. He expects that to be the case this time as well. The large number of unidentified dead raises further questions, he said. |
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Posted: 6/7/2024 12:54:01 PM EDT
[Last Edit: michigan66]
[#18]
Biden's pier is back. Link
The U.S. military has repaired a temporary pier for humanitarian relief and on Friday reattached it to the Gaza shore, more than a week after it broke apart in high seas, the military said. Army Corps Of Engineers workers completed the work on Friday morning, Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, the deputy commander of U.S. Central Command, told reporters in a briefing call. The $230-million floating pier, which American officials have lauded as part of a solution to getting more aid into hunger-stricken Gaza, has been troubled by logistical and security issues. |
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Posted: 6/7/2024 4:44:34 PM EDT
[#19]
The Israeli military confirms that an explosive-laden drone launched from Lebanon earlier today struck an open area in the Jezreel Valley, near Nazareth. According to the IDF, there was a failed attempt to intercept the drone. Residents of the area reported seeing an Iron Dome missile launch. Sirens had sounded in the area amid the incident, amid fears of falling shrapnel. A second drone struck an area near Shomera, the military adds. No damage or injuries were caused in either drone strike. The update from the IDF comes nearly eight hours after the incident.
A senior member of Hamas's general security forces in southern Gaza's Rafah was killed in an airstrike yesterday, the military announces. Salame Muhammad Abu Ajaj, according to the IDF, was one of the commanders of the general security forces in Rafah. He was killed in a fighter jet strike, it says. The IDF says the general security forces is a Hamas body that supports the military wing of the terror group, and is tasked with several roles to "ensure the survival of the group, [continue] routine Hamas military activity, and disrupt the IDF's freedom of action in the Strip." Alongside Abu Ajaj, the mayor of Nuseirat, Eyad al-Maghari, was also killed in the strike. The IDF says al-Maghari was a terrorist with "an extensive history in Hamas." It says he previously served in Hamas's so-called West Bank headquarters, a unit involved in advancing attacks against Israel from or within the West Bank. Israel has vowed to eliminate Hamas following the October 7 onslaught, including its civil authority and members of its political wing.  Attached File
The IDF names nine Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad operatives killed in the overnight strike in central Gaza's Nuseirat. According to the IDF, some 30 terror operatives were gathered in three classrooms at a UN school. Civilians were also sheltering at the site. IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari in a press conference says the military is working to identify the others terrorists who were killed in the attack. "Some of these terrorists participated in the massacre on October 7. We will pursue anyone who participated in October 7," he says  Attached File
The IDF says it has identified another eight Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad operatives who were killed in Thursday's airstrike on a United Nations school in central Gaza's Nuseirat. According to the IDF, some 30 terror operatives were gathered in three classrooms at the UN school. Civilians were also sheltering in the compound, but not in the classrooms with the Hamas and PIJ members. Yesterday, the IDF named nine of the killed terror group members. In all, 17 have now been identified by the military.  Attached File
Earlier today a cell of Hamas operatives gathered at a United Nations school in Gaza City's Shati camp were killed in an airstrike, the military says. According to the IDF, the Hamas members were operating from inside a container within the ground of UNRWA's Asmaa school. The container was being used as a command room by the operatives and a meeting point for members of the terror group's internal security forces, the IDF says, The military says that the operatives killed in the strike were planning attacks against Israeli forces in Gaza in the "immediate time-frame." Prior to the strike, the IDF says it carried out "many steps to reduce the chance of harming civilians." The strike itself was carried out using "precision munitions," it says. The IDF says Hamas was taking advantage of the school for terror activity, and it "systematically, intentionally and strategically places its infrastructure and operates from within civilian areas, in complete violation of international law and while putting the lives of [Palestinian civilians] at risk."  Attached File
All these people were at an UNRWA school and instead of UNRWA doing what every other school in the world would do, telling them to leave and warning the children and parents that suspicious men were invading the school….UNRWA covers it up and never mentions to reports it. This is because UNRWA has covered for this for decades. It’s awful and it endangers civilians and is a basic violation of human rights to let extremists take over a school and not inform parents and tell the men to leave.
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Posted: 6/7/2024 8:21:50 PM EDT
[Last Edit: michigan66]
[#20]
 Institute for Study of War Backgrounder 7 June Key Takeaways Gaza Strip Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip Yahya Sinwar indicated opposition to the latest Israeli ceasefire proposal. Hamas seems unlikely to accept a proposal that does not meet its maximalist demands. 99th Division destroyed Palestinian militia infrastructure and engaged Palestinian fighters along the Netzarim Corridor, south of Gaza City. 35th Paratroopers Brigade is now operating along the corridor. Palestinian militias mortared Israeli forces in the area. The Air Force struck a container in a UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) school in al Shati refugee camp. The container served as a “concentration point” for Hamas’ internal security forces. 98th Division continued re-clearing operations in eastern Bureij and eastern Deir al Balah. The Air Force cooperated with ground forces to kill the head of a Hamas squad overseeing rocket attacks. Hamas fighters fired a thermobaric rocket at Israeli forces in a house east of Deir al Balah. The al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades mortared Israeli forces in eastern Bureij and eastern Deir al Balah. The IDF advanced further along the Philadelphi Corridor, reaching the Gazan coast around Rafah. Local and regional sources reported there were Israeli forces along the coast. Controlling the Philadelphi Corridor will prevent Hamas from smuggling weapons into the Gaza Strip. Israeli forces continued clearing operations in Rafah. Nahal Brigade located Palestinian militia tunnels and engaged Palestinian fighters under and above ground. The Air Force killed a senior member of Hamas’ general security forces. The IDF also killed the mayor of Nuseirat, who had a long history with Hamas, including involvement in its West Bank headquarters. Israel released additional information on Hamas’ attempted infiltration into Israel from Rafah on June 6. Hamas fighters used a tunnel that the IDF had identified during Operation Protective Edge in 2014. Hamas fighters went through an opening in the fence that Israeli forces had been using. CENTCOM reattached its temporary pier off the coast of the Gaza Strip. The United States suspended operations at the pier on May 27 due to damage sustained at sea. Palestinian militias conducted two indirect fire attacks from the Gaza Strip into Israel on June 7. West Bank Israeli forces engaged Palestinian fighters in al Ain refugee camp in Nablus on June 7. Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian residents and set fire to Palestinian property in two villages in the West Bank. Israeli media reported that “extremists” clashed with Palestinian residents in Qusra, south of Nablus, throwing stones at Palestinian residents, setting fire to agricultural fields, and tried to burn down a house. Southern Lebanon and Golan Heights Hezbollah has conducted at least three attacks into northern Israel. Yemen CENTCOM destroyed two Houthi uncrewed surface vessels and eight Houthi drones in the Red Sea on June 6. One coalition vessel separately intercepted a Houthi drone over the Red Sea. CENTCOM reported that the Houthis also launched an anti-ship ballistic missile toward the Red Sea. Houthi spokesperson Yahya Sharee claimed the Houthis conducted multiple drone and missile strikes targeting the Maltese-flagged Elbella and Cypriot-flagged AAL Genoa in the Red Sea. Houthi media claimed that the United States and the United Kingdom conducted four strikes targeting Hudaydah International Airport and Salif Port in Hudaydah Province, Yemen. Iran Some elements in the IRGC appear to be supporting Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf in the upcoming Iranian presidential election. This support is unsurprising given Ghalibaf’s deep connections to the IRGC. Iraq The US State Department said that it is concerned that the Iraqi prime minister does not control fully the Iraqi PMF. Iran has infiltrated the PMF extensively and uses it to exert significant influence in Iraq.  
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Posted: 6/7/2024 11:19:05 PM EDT
[#21]
June 7 Red Sea Update In the past 24 hours, Iranian-backed Houthis launched four anti-ship ballistic missiles (ASBM) from Houthi controlled areas of Yemen over the Red Sea. There were no injuries or damage reported by U.S., coalition, or commercial ships. Additionally, U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) forces successfully destroyed four UASs and two ASBMs in Houthi controlled areas of Yemen. USCENTCOM forces also successfully destroyed one UAS launched from a Houthi controlled area of Yemen into the Bab al-Mandab Strait. Separately, USCENTCOM forces successfully destroyed a Houthi patrol boat in the Red Sea. |
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Posted: 6/8/2024 10:09:52 AM EDT
[Last Edit: michigan66]
[#22]
Double
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Posted: 6/8/2024 10:26:42 AM EDT
[Last Edit: michigan66]
[#23]
IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari says the operation to rescue four hostages from Hamas captivity in central Gaza's Nuseirat earlier today was "daring." He says hostages Noa Argamani, Almog Meir Jan, Andrey Kozlov, and Shlomi Ziv were rescued by special forces while "under fire." "During the operation, we struck... threats to our forces in the area. These threats were struck from the land, air and sea... in order for us to rescue the hostages," he says.
This was
The Hamas-run health ministry in the Gaza Strip reports "large numbers" of dead and injured are arriving at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah amid the IDF's intensive operation in central Gaza's Nuseirat. The IDF said earlier in an unusual statement that it was striking targets in Nuseirat. The military is due to release more information later today.
 Attached File |
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Posted: 6/8/2024 11:48:20 AM EDT
[#24]
The name of the joint IDF, Shin Bet, and police operation to rescue the four hostages from the Gaza Strip is "Seeds of Summer." At 11:00 a.m. the order was given to the Yamam and Shin Bet officers to raid two multi-story buildings in central Gaza's Nuseirat, where Hamas was holding hostages Noa Argamani, Almog Meir Jan, Andrey Kozlov, and Shlomi Ziv. The buildings were about 200 meters apart, and the decision to go for both simultaneously, and not just one of the sites, was due to the possibility that Hamas may murder the hostages after identifying the rescue operation. Argamani was held by Hamas guards alone in the home of a Palestinian family, while the other three hostages were held at a separate home. According to the IDF, Hamas pays such families to hold the hostages in their homes. At the home where Meir Jan, Kozlov, and Ziv were held, a major gun battle erupted, during which Yamam officer Chief Inspector Arnon Zamora, the commander of the rescue team at the second building, was critically wounded by Hamas fire. As the three hostages and Zamora were being extracted, their vehicle came under fire, leading it to get stuck. Other forces quickly reached the scene to rescue them, bringing them to a makeshift helipad in Gaza. There was a large amount of gunfire and RPG fire on the rescue forces amid the operation, leading the ground troops and the Air Force to carry out major strikes in the area to protect themselves and the rescued hostages. The IDF acknowledges that it killed many Palestinian civilians amid the fighting, although it places the blame on Hamas for holding hostages in a civilian environment. Hamas operatives also fired anti-aircraft missiles at Israeli helicopters over the area amid the operation, without success. |
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Posted: 6/8/2024 1:00:56 PM EDT
[#25]
Palestinian twitter is losing its mind:
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Posted: 6/8/2024 2:22:02 PM EDT
[#26]
Article giving more details--plan was developed weeks ago. Decision to attack at 1100 made because past rescues were done at night.
‘Operation Arnon’: How 4 hostages were freed from Hamas captivity in central Gaza Link here. ‘Operation Arnon’: How 4 hostages were freed from Hamas captivity in central Gaza The Israel Defense Forces, Shin Bet security agency and Israel Police on Saturday morning carried out one of the most daring, complex, high-risk yet successful operations amid the war against Hamas, rescuing four hostages alive from the terror group’s captivity in the Gaza Strip. The mission was conducted in broad daylight and in an area where Israeli forces had not previously operated. The operation to rescue Noa Argamani, 26, Almog Meir Jan, 21, Andrey Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 41 was planned out weeks in advance, according to information seen by The Times of Israel. Known originally as “Seeds of Summer,” its name was changed after the event to “Operation Arnon” after Yamam officer Chief Inspector Arnon Zamora, who was critically wounded by Hamas fire amid the rescue of three of the hostages and later died of his wounds. During the planning period, intelligence on the hostages’ locations was obtained and studied. Amid the war, Hamas has repeatedly moved hostages around Gaza, in an attempt to prevent Israeli rescue operations. In the days leading up to the rescue, the police’s elite Yamam counter-terrorism unit drilled various models of the extraction from central Gaza’s Nuseirat, which military officials said were “similar to the Entebbe raid” of 1976, when Israeli commandos rescued more than 100 hostages in Uganda. Also in the days before the mission, the military launched a new operation in eastern Bureij — to the east of Nuseirat — and in east Deir al-Balah — to the southeast of where the hostages were rescued — in an apparent feint to reduce Hamas’s defenses in Nuseirat. And according to a diplomatic source, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant approved the operation on Thursday evening when a war cabinet and security cabinet meeting was canceled. Simultaneous attacks Ultimately, the raid was carried out Saturday morning, after the Shin Bet recommended it would be an optimal time to surprise the Hamas terrorists holding the four hostages captive. Previous hostage rescue operations in Gaza have taken place overnight. At 11:00 a.m. the order was given to the Yamam and Shin Bet officers to raid two multi-story buildings in Nuseirat, where Hamas was holding the hostages. Nuseirat is one of the few areas of Gaza where ground troops have not yet entered during the IDF’s ground offensive against the Hamas terror group. The buildings were about 200 meters apart, and the decision to go for both simultaneously was due to the possibility that Hamas may murder the hostages after identifying the rescue operation at the other location. Argamani was held by Hamas guards alone in the home of a Palestinian family, while the other three hostages were held at a separate home, also with guards. According to the IDF, Hamas pays such families to hold the hostages in their houses. Argamani’s rescue was described by military officials as relatively smooth considering the circumstances. But a major gun battle erupted at the home where Meir Jan, Kozlov, and Ziv were held. Zamora, the commander of the rescue team at the second building, where the three hostages were being held, was critically wounded by Hamas fire and later died of his wounds. The Hamas guards were killed in the exchange. Under fire, and stuck A short while later, as the three hostages and Zamora were being extracted from Nuseirat, their vehicle came under fire, causing it to get stuck in Gaza. Other forces quickly reached the scene to rescue them, bringing them to a makeshift helipad in Gaza, from where they were airlifted to Tel Hashomer Hospital in central Israel. Noa was similarly taken by helicopter to the hospital, shortly before the other three were extracted from Gaza. According to the IDF, the rescue forces faced a massive amount of gunfire and RPG fire in Nuseirat, leading the ground troops and the Israeli Air Force to carry out major strikes in the area. The strikes, targeting the areas from where Hamas operatives were opening fire, were aimed at protecting the rescue forces and the hostages. Hamas’s government media office said at least 210 people were killed amid the operation. The IDF acknowledged that it killed Palestinian civilians amid the fighting, but it placed the blame on Hamas for holding hostages and fighting in a dense civilian environment. “We know about under 100 [Palestinian] casualties. I don’t know how many of them are terrorists,” IDF Spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a briefing with journalists, reported by Reuters. Hamas operatives also fired anti-aircraft missiles at Israeli helicopters over the area amid the operation, without managing to score any hits. Aside from Zamora, several more troops were slightly hurt by shrapnel amid the operation. Third rescue in 8 months Military officials said the mission was a “hair’s breadth” between success and failure. IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi and Shin Bet head Ronen Bar commanded the operation together. Netanyahu and Gallant also observed the mission from inside the war room. Halevi and the commander of Yamam later agreed to change the name of the rescue mission to “Operation Arnon,” in honor of the slain officer. It was only the third such successful operation in the 246 days since the Hamas-led attack in which the hostages were taken, after female soldier Ori Megidish was rescued in late October and Fernando Marman, 61, and Louis Har, 70, were rescued from southern Gaza’s Rafah in February. At least one more hostage rescue was attempted in December, but ended in failure, with the hostage being killed and his body remaining in Hamas captivity. All of the hostages rescued by the IDF from Gaza, including the four on Saturday, were saved from buildings and not from Hamas’s vast network of tunnels. Many other rescue operations have been planned, extensively in some cases, but were ultimately deemed too dangerous or otherwise impossible to carry out. Argamani, Meir Jan, Kozlov and Ziv, who had been in Hamas captivity for eight months, were all in good condition, according to initial medical assessments. The four had been abducted from the Supernova music festival near the community of Re’im on the morning of October 7, when some 3,000 Hamas-led terrorists killed 1,200 people and took 251 hostages in a murderous rampage in southern Israel. |
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Posted: 6/8/2024 3:10:52 PM EDT
[#27]
Hamas looking to blame others.
 Attached File
Translation: Almog Meir Jan, who was rescued from captivity in Gaza in the heroic operation, met for the first time with his friends from home
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Posted: 6/8/2024 8:25:21 PM EDT
[#28]
 Institute for Study of War Backgrounder 8 June Key Takeaways Gaza Strip Israeli forces rescued four Hamas-held hostages during a complex operation in the central Gaza Strip. Israeli forces engaged Palestinian fighters during the rescue and Palestinian fighters killed one Israeli officer. Hamas fighters fired a man portable air defense system at an Israeli helicopter in Nuseirat, where the rescue occurred. The spokesperson for Hamas’ military wing threatened to capture more hostages and noted that most hostages remain in Hamas’ control. Hamas also said that Israel killed other hostages while conducting the rescue. Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz canceled his June 8 speech, in which he was expected to announce his resignation from the coalition government. 99th Division continued operations along the Netzarim Corridor in southern Gaza City. Palestinian Islamic Jihad fighters mortared Israeli forces operating in the corridot. Hamas claimed two attacks on Israeli forces in Gaza City’s Zaytoun neighborhood. Clearing operations continued in eastern Deir al Balah and eastern Bureij. The Air Force struck militia infrastructure in the area and reported that there were secondary explosions caused by the airstrike. A Palestinian activist reported violent clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinian militia fighters east of Bureij and Maghazi. Palestinian militias claimed the attacked Israeli forces using mortars and small arms in eastern Deir al Balah. Israeli radio reported the IDF launched raids in the central Gaza Strip as a cover for the hostage rescue operation. Israeli forces continued clearing operations in western. 401st Brigade raided Tal al Sultan, western Rafah, and destroyed a Hamas training facility. The IDF began “reinforcing security” near the US-constructed temporary pier in Gaza City. CENTCOM reattached its temporary pier off the coast of the Gaza Strip on June 7 after it suspended operations due to damage sustained at sea. Palestinian militias conducted one indirect fire attack from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel. West Bank Israeli forces engaged Palestinian fighters in at least six locations across the West Bank since CTP-ISW's last data cut off on June 7. Lebanon Lebanese Hezbollah has conducted at least 11 attacks into northern Israel since CTP-ISW's last data cutoff on June 7. Yemen US CENTCOM destroyed a Houthi patrol boat in the Red Sea on June 7. Iraq Saraya Awliya al Dam, an Iraqi militia facade group with suspected ties to Kataib Sayyida al Shuhada and Kataib Hezbollah, said on June 8 that the Islamic Resistance in Iraq targeted the Rabin power station in Caesarea, Israel.  
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Posted: 6/9/2024 5:44:01 AM EDT
[#29]
Israeli fighter jets struck a Hezbollah rocket launcher and other infrastructure in southern Lebanon:
The fighting on Israel's northern border is intensifying with an average of 10 terrorist attacks a day in May. Yesterday, a Hezbollah drone injured 11 people and killed one IDF soldier in the Galilee. Most Israeli citizens have evacuated communities near Israel's border with Lebanon. President Yitzhak Herzog called with tears of happiness to Israeli hostage Noa Argamani with her rescue from Hamas captivity and her arrival in the State of Israel together with the hostages Almog Meir, Andrey Kozlov and Shlomi Ziv Israeli soldiers proudly bringing home four hostages from Gaza IDF Spox. on Operation to return 4 hostages back home: The name of the joint IDF, Shin Bet, and police operation to rescue the four hostages from the Gaza Strip is "Seeds of Summer." At 11:00 a.m. the order was given to the Yamam and Shin Bet officers to raid two multi-story buildings in central Gaza's Nuseirat, where Hamas was holding hostages Noa Argamani, Almog Meir Jan, Andrey Kozlov, and Shlomi Ziv. The buildings were about 200 meters apart, and the decision to go for both simultaneously, and not just one of the sites, was due to the possibility that Hamas may murder the hostages after identifying the rescue operation. Argamani was held by Hamas guards alone in the home of a Palestinian family, while the other three hostages were held at a separate home. According to the IDF, Hamas pays such families to hold the hostages in their homes. At the home where Meir Jan, Kozlov, and Ziv were held, a major gun battle erupted, during which Yamam officer Chief Inspector Arnon Zamora, the commander of the rescue team at the second building, was critically wounded by Hamas fire. As the three hostages and Zamora were being extracted, their vehicle came under fire, leading it to get stuck. Other forces quickly reached the scene to rescue them, bringing them to a makeshift helipad in Gaza. There was a large amount of gunfire and RPG fire on the rescue forces amid the operation, leading the ground troops and the Air Force to carry out major strikes in the area to protect themselves and the rescued hostages. The IDF acknowledges that it killed many Palestinian civilians amid the fighting, although it places the blame on Hamas for holding hostages in a civilian environment. Hamas terrorists also fired anti-aircraft missiles at Israeli helicopters over the area amid the operation, without success. |
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Posted: 6/9/2024 9:09:54 AM EDT
[Last Edit: michigan66]
[#30]
Good information In John Spencer's podcast on the Border Police special ops unit involved in yesterday's raid. They typically don't get the publicity the others do, but they are unique. Quite a few of their operators are native Arabic speakers from minority populations in Israel: Druze, Bedouin, Circassians info on Circassians here.. Samuel Katz wrote a book on them also--Ghost Warriors, Amazon link.
One of the lead units involved in Israel’s hostage rescue in Gaza is the Yamam (Israeli’s National Counterterrorism force). In 2021, I interviewed a former Yamam leader who was a part of one of their first operations. In the podcast we discuss the unit’s history/mission. Have a listen
Two explosive-laden drones launched from Lebanon at Israel an hour ago struck areas in the northern Golan Heights, sparking fires, the military says. The IDF says it is investigating the incident. Firefighters are meanwhile working to extinguish the blazes. A short while before the drone attack, a barrage of some 10 rockets was launched from Lebanon, hitting open areas in the northern Golan, the IDF says. The rocket attack also sparked a fire. The IDF says it is shelling the launch sites with artillery.
Israeli troops continue to operate in the central Gaza Strip following yesterday's hostage rescue mission in Nuseirat, the military says. The IDF's 98th Division launched an offensive last week in east Bureij and east Deir al-Balah -- east and southeast of Nuseirat, where the rescue operation took place. The division had participated in the operation, striking numerous targets and terror operatives in the area as special forces rescued the four hostages, the military says. Meanwhile, operations also continue in southern Gaza's Rafah, where the IDF says troops of the 162nd Division located several tunnel shafts, mortar launchers, and other weapons over the past day. And in the Netzarim Corridor in central Gaza, the IDF says a drone strike was carried out against a cell that had opened fire at troops operating in the area. Another airstrike was carried out against a mortar launcher at the Islamic University in southern Gaza City, after several projectiles were launched at troops in the corridor. No injuries were caused in the mortar attack. Numerous more strikes were carried out across Gaza over the past day. The IDF says one strike killed an Islamic Jihad field commander.
Israeli fighter jets struck several Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon last night and this morning, the military says. The IDF says the targets hit last night included infrastructure in Aitaroun and buildings used by the terror group in Rab al-Thalathine This morning, a rocket launcher in Houla was struck, the IDF adds. Also this morning, several rockets were launched from Lebanon at the Misgav Am area. According to the IDF, the rockets struck open areas, causing no injuries.
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Posted: 6/9/2024 11:26:42 AM EDT
[#31]
Hamas: The Israeli soldiers in the military rescue operation in Nuseirat impersonated refugees. Link
Hamas' Public Relations office claims that the Israel soldiers that took part in the Israeli hostage rescue operation entered the Nuseirat refugee camp with civilian vehicles, in camouflage, impersonating refugees and displaced Palestinians. According to the office, during the operation, 89 inhabited apartments and homes were harmed. They would never do anything like that.  Hamas Militants Don IDF Uniforms Inside Israel | Watch What Happened Next ...Hamas media office claims “210 martyrs” were killed and over 400 injured, and accuses the IDF of a “massacre” and of engaging in “brutal and savage aggression on Nuseirat camp.” |
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Posted: 6/9/2024 2:12:38 PM EDT
[Last Edit: michigan66]
[#32]
Link to liveblog articles below 'A heavy heart, yet wholeheartedly': Benny Gantz announces his resignation from Netanyahu government. War Cabinet minister Benny Gantz announced his resignation in a press conference he held on Sunday. "Netanyahu is preventing us from progressing towards a true victory," he stated, "For this reason we are leaving the emergency government today, with a heavy heart, yet wholeheartedly." Gantz then called on Netanyahu to set a date for elections, adding, "do not let our nation tear apart." "Defense minister, you are a courageous and determined leader, and above all — a patriot. In this team, leadership and courage means not only saying what's right - but doing what's right," he said. "There are those who say that we helped Netanyahu get into the government - he isn't the point - Israel is. I know that people say I am not a cheater, a hater, and am not uninhibited like my contenders. True, but I can promise you one thing - I am prepared to die for your children. I will also be there when the country needs us. I will pay any political price and won't fear what people will say," added Gantz. "I want to ask the hostages' families for forgiveness. We did a lot - but we failed. We have not succeeded in returning many of the hostages home. The responsibility for this is mine too. I stand behind the plan we decided upon in the war cabinet, presented by President Biden, and demand from the prime minister the courage needed to stand behind it and promote it," he said. He then called on the citizens of Israel: "Keep reporting for duty." IDF: Hamas member held three Israeli hostages in his home alongside his family The Israel Defense Forces announced on Sunday that Abdallah Ajamal, who was killed during the IDF rescue operation on Saturday, was a member of Hamas who held hostages in his home. According to the IDF statement, Ajamal held hostages Almog Meir Jan, Andrey Kozlov and Shlomi Ziv in his home alongside his family. All three hostages, as well as Noa Argamani, were rescued by the IDF. And thanks to Chokey, here's the rest of the story: Originally Posted By Chokey:
 Ben-Gvir's party says it will vote with Netanyahu coalition due to Gantz's expected resignation, rejection of hostage deal--Netanyahu's government won't fall anytime soon. Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir's party Otzma Yehudit announced that it will go back to voting with the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition in the Knesset, due to Hamas' apparent rejection of the deal and the expected resignation of the National Unity party from the government. In an announcement, the party said it will "keep voting with the coalition as long as there is no reckless deal on the table," and called to "raise the military pressure, which yet again proved to be the effective way to return our hostages." Last Wednesday, the party announcement that it will not be committed to the coalition in Knesset voting, until Netanyahu "stops concealing deal drafts." In the past, Otzma Yehudit members have boycotted voting, like in May 2023, when they declined to participate in Knesset voting due to what they called a "meek IDF response" to rocket fire from Gaza.
The military releases headcam footage showing the moment when the Israeli hostages rescued from Hamas captivity in central Gaza's Nuseirat by special forces were brought to a helipad to be airlifted to Israel. The video comes from the camera of a soldier in the Navy's elite Shayetet 13 commando unit, the IDF says. The military says the Paratroopers Brigade's reconnaissance unit had aided in the extraction of the Yamam officers and Shin Bet agents with the four rescued hostages from Nuseirat, while under fire. At the same time, the IDF says members of the Israeli Air Force's elite Shaldag and 669 units worked to treat wounded Yamam officer Ch. Insp. Arnon Zmora, who was fatally shot by Hamas terrorists guarding three of the four hostages. Zmora died upon arriving at a hospital in Israel, and the rescue mission was later named "Operation Arnon" in his honor.
Palestinian twitter in quote box
Link to tweet described below, can't get it to post the usual way. Qassam vs IDF in Beit Hanoun: Extended footage from 22/5 complex, three-stage ambush: 1) IEDs + EFPs vs soldiers + their armour reinforcements; 2) al-Ghoul sniper op with 2 IDF killed in 1 shot; 3) booby-trapped tunnel. [Qassam Brigades via Al Jazeera 6/6] |
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Posted: 6/9/2024 8:05:41 PM EDT
[#33]
 Institute for Study of War Backgrounder 9 June Key Takeaways Gaza Hamas claimed that the IDF operation to rescue four hostages in the central Gaza Strip killed three other Israeli hostages, one of whom was an American. Israeli aircraft conducted dozens of strikes on Nuseirat during the June 8 operation, causing significant damage and casualties according to Palestinian health officials. US Central Command (CENTCOM) said that the US-constructed temporary pier in Gaza City was not involved in the IDF operation to extract hostages from Nuseirat on June 8. Palestinian militias claimed that the US participated in and facilitated the hostage rescue operation. The IDF expects to conclude clearing operations in Rafah in the “next few weeks". The IDF will transition to a targeted raid approach in the Gaza Strip after concluding operations in Rafah. IDF transitioned to a ”targeted raid” model in the northern Gaza Strip in late December 2023, withdrawing five brigades. Since then the IDF has repeatedly had to conduct clearing operations in neighborhoods previously declared "clear". Some areas have been "cleared" three times. 99th Division continued to operate along the Netzarim Corridor in southern Gaza City. The IDF destroyed a mortar position near the Islamic University campus south of Gaza City after Palestinian fighters from the al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades used it to attack Israeli forces along the corridor. 98th Division continued clearing operations in eastern Deir al Balah and eastern Bureij in the central Gaza Strip. The Air Force struck Palestinian fighters, including a cell that fired on IDF 98th Division forces. Israeli forces expanded clearing operations into northeast Rafah. Local reports indicated that Israeli armor advanced into Khirbet al Adas and Musabeh, northeast of Rafah. 162nd Division continued "targeted” operations to locate additional tunnel shafts and weapons caches. The Givati Brigade located rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, explosive charges, ammunition, grenades, and other military equipment during the operation. Palestinian groups attacked Israeli forces in multiple locations in Rafah. The Air Force killed a tactical-level Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) commander in the Gaza Strip on June 9. Hamas and PIJ launched a combined rocket attack targeting an IDF site near Rafah. Palestinian fighters launched four rockets from the northern Gaza Strip targeting Israeli towns near Sderot. West Bank Israeli forces engaged Palestinian fighters in at least three locations across the West Bank. Lebanon Lebanese Hezbollah has conducted at least 10 attacks into northern Israel Yemen A Houthi attack in the Arabian Sea on June 9 caused two ships to catch fire. Houthi spokesperson Yahya Sarea claimed the Houthis conducted a combined drone and missile attack targeting two vessels, the Antigua and Barbuda-flagged Norderney and the Liberia-flagged MSC Tavivshi, in the Arabian sea. The British maritime company Ambrey stated that a missile struck the Norderney 83 nautical miles southeast of Aden, Yemen. UKMTO reported that vessel’s mooring station caught fire. UKMTO also reported that a second vessel was struck by an unknown projective 70 nautical miles southwest of Aden, resulting in a fire, but the ship proceeded to its next port of call without casualties. UKMTO also reported that a missile struck a third vessel in the Arabian Sea, 89 nautical miles southwest of Aden. Houthis claimed they attacked the Royal Navy destroyer HMS Diamond in the Red Sea with missiles. The British Ministry of Defense denied the Houthis’ claim. Houthi media claimed that the United States and the United Kingdom conducted three airstrikes targeting al Jabaneh, west of Hudaydah, Yemen, on June 9. Israel Israeli War Cabinet minister Benny Gantz resigned from the coalition government on June 9. Gantz’s resignation will not on its own cause the collapse of the Netanyahu government. Gantz said he resigned because of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s conduct of the war in the Gaza Strip, which he believes is ”preventing [Israel] from reaching true victory.” Iran Iran’s Guardian Council approved six candidates to participate in the June 28 Iranian presidential elections. The council only approved one reformist politician, and it disqualified prominent moderate politician Ali Larijani for the second consecutive presidential election.   
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Posted: 6/9/2024 8:18:35 PM EDT
[#34]
Video showing the moment the rescued hostages reunite with their families.
An Air Force aircraft attacked an operative of the terrorist organization Hezbollah, who was identified by the forces of the 91st Division in the Itatron area in southern Lebanon. Israeli fighter jets completed a wave of airstrikes in Southern Lebanon a short while ago, targeting a cell and rocket launchers: Special video from Gaza: Noa Argamani is escorted by IDF fighters to the rescue helicopter after she was rescued from the terrorists' apartment in Nuseirat: Prime Minister Netanyahu visits the four released hostages in hospital. Noa Argamani enters the helicopter in the Gaza Strip |
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Posted: 6/9/2024 8:25:23 PM EDT
[#35]
June 9 U.S. Central Command Update In the past 24 hours, Iranian-backed Houthis launched two anti-ship ballistic missiles (ASBM) from Houthi controlled areas of Yemen into the Gulf of Aden. One ASBM struck M/V Tavvishi, a Liberian-flagged, Swiss owned and operated container ship. M/V Tavvishi reported damage but has continued underway. The second ASBM was successfully destroyed by a coalition ship. There were no injuries reported by U.S., coalition, or merchant vessels. Separately, Iranian-backed Houthis launched one ASBM and one anti-ship cruise missile (ASCM) into the Gulf of Aden. Both missiles struck M/V Norderney, an Antigua and Barbados flagged, German owned and operated cargo ship. M/V Norderney reported damage but has continued underway. There were no injuries reported by U.S., coalition, or merchant vessels. Additionally, U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) forces successfully destroyed one uncrewed aerial system (UAS) over the Gulf of Aden. Later, USCENTCOM forces successfully destroyed two Houthi land attack cruise missiles (LACM) and one missile launcher in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen. It was determined these systems presented an imminent threat to U.S., coalition forces, and merchant vessels in the region. This action was taken to protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer and more secure for U.S., coalition, and merchant vessels. |
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Posted: 6/10/2024 3:01:28 AM EDT
[#36]
Several Hamas operatives, including members of the terror group's elite Nukhba force were killed in airstrikes in the central Gaza Strip in the last few hours, the military says. The IDF says that simultaneously, strikes were also carried out against Hamas tunnel infrastructure in the Deir al-Balah area. The strikes come as the 98th Division continues an offensive in central Gaza. Amid the operation in central Gaza, the IDF says troops of the 7th Armored Brigade and elite Yahalom combat engineering unit raided several buildings used by terror groups and demolished tunnels. Operations also continue in southern Gaza's Rafah. In one incident in Rafah, the IDF says a drone strike was carried out against two gunmen who were spotted by troops 414th Combat Intelligence Collection Unit heading toward a tunnel shaft.
A Palestinian gunman was shot dead by a Border Police sniper during an overnight arrest raid in the West Bank city of Tulkarem, police say. According to police, undercover officers raided the Tulkarem neighbourhood of Danaba to detain a Palestinian wanted over his alleged involvement in terror activities. The suspect was detained by the Border Police officers, and clashes erupted in the area. Police say that an armed Palestinian wearing a military vest was shot dead by a sniper amid the clashes. No Israeli officers were hurt. Separately, a Palestinian man was shot dead by Israeli forces during a raid in the West Bank's Far’a camp, near Tubas this morning, Palestinian media report. The IDF says it launched a "wide counter-terrorism operation" in Far'a, during which troops shot several suspects and neutralised explosive devices. The operation is still ongoing. The official Palestinian Wafa news agency says another four people were wounded by IDF fire in Far'a.
A cell of Hezbollah operatives that launched anti-aircraft missiles at Israeli fighter jets over southern Lebanon earlier today were killed in a drone strike, the military says. The IDF says there was no threat to the fighter jets amid the attack. A short while after the missiles were launched, a drone struck and killed the cell, near the coastal city of Tyre, according to the military. Meanwhile, the IDF says it struck buildings used by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon's Chebaa, Aitaroun, and Markaba, alongside additional infrastructure in Aitaroun and a rocket launcher in at-Tiri, used in a recent attack on northern Israel. Another building in southern Lebanon's Houla, where the IDF says it identified Hezbollah operatives, was also hit by fighter jets.
Article referenced in tweet--Iran-Backed Houthi Rebels Abduct UN Employees Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen abducted at least 15 Yemeni employees of United Nations (UN) and other international agencies on June 7. Houthi enforcers detained nine employees of UN agencies, three from the U.S.-funded pro-democracy group National Democratic Institute, and three employees of a local human rights group, Reuters reported, citing information from officials in Yemen’s internationally recognized government. They also raided the homes and offices of the detainees and confiscated phones and computers. The Associated Press (AP) confirmed the reports, citing regional officials stating that the UN staffers detained, all of whom are Yemeni citizens, worked for the “UN human rights agency, its development program, the World Food Programme and one working for the office of its special envoy.” The officials told AP that the wife of one of the staffers was detained as well. Most of the agencies have not yet publicly commented on the detentions. Save the Children, a non-governmental organization, told AP that it was “concerned of the whereabouts of one of our staff members in Yemen and doing everything we can to ensure his safety and well-being.” “The Houthis flout every aspect of international law — kidnapping non-combatants, strikes against international shipping, and attacks on Israel. They are not deterred by pinpoint attacks by U.S. and United Kingdom forces. They and their sponsor, Iran, will only be deterred by meaningful, cost-imposing strikes. This sort of offensive campaign is long overdue.” — RADM (Ret.) Mark Montgomery, FDD Senior Fellow and Senior Director of FDD’s Center on Cyber and Technology “The detention of Yemeni employees by Iran-backed Houthi rebels not only jeopardizes the safety of humanitarian workers but also disrupts vital aid operations essential for the survival of millions who have suffered since 2014. Moreover, the recent collaboration between the Iraqi groups and the Houthis highlights Iran’s broader ambition in the region: to intensify its attacks on Israel and disrupt maritime supply lines in the Red Sea, thereby impacting other countries in the region such as Jordan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia.” — Ahmad Sharawi, FDD Research Analyst The arrests came one day after Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi said that the group would intensify its attacks against Israel in coordination with Iran-backed Shia militias based in Iraq — the Islamic Resistance in Iraq. Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree said that the Houthis and the Islamic Resistance had launched joint military operations against ships in Israel’s Haifa port. Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner said Saree’s claims were “not true.” The Houthis have launched multiple drone and missile attacks towards Israeli territory since October 19, shortly after the group announced that it would support Hamas in its war with Israel. The IDF has thwarted nearly all of the attacks, with only one missile so far impacting an open area near the southern port city of Eilat on March 17. The group has also continuously attacked commercial and military ships in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, and the Bab al-Mandab Strait since November 19, claiming to target more than 100 ships traveling through the critical trade route linking Europe and Asia. On June 6, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said that its forces destroyed eight Houthi aerial drones and two naval drones launched from Houthi-controlled parts of Yemen over the past 24 hours after determining them to be an “imminent threat to U.S., coalition forces, and merchant vessels in the region.” A Houthi-run television station claimed that U.S.-led forces conducted airstrikes near the Red Sea port city of Hodeida on June 7, but CENTCOM has not verified the claim. UN food agency pauses delivery of aid from US pier in Gaza, citing safety concerns Link The director of the UN World Food Program says Sunday the program has “paused” its distribution of humanitarian aid from an American-built pier off Gaza, saying she was “concerned about the safety of our people” after what had been one of the deadliest days of the war there. Saturday saw both an Israeli military operation that freed four hostages from Hamas captivity but was accompanied by deadly fighting, and, Cindy McCain says, two of WFP’s warehouses in Gaza had been “rocketed” and a staffer injured. The UN announcement of the pause appears the latest setback for the US sea route, set up to try to bring more aid to Gaza’s starving people. The US Agency for International Development describes the pause as a step to allow for a security review by the humanitarian community in Gaza. USAID works with the World Food Program and their humanitarian partners in Gaza to distribute food and other aid coming from the US-operated pier. The UN agency gives no further details, including how long the pause will last. WFP spokespeople do not respond to requests for further details. Asked about the pier operation during an appearance on CBS’s “Face the Nation” McCain says: “Right now we’re paused.” “I’m concerned about the safety of our people after the incident yesterday,” McCain says, without elaboration. “We also, two of our warehouses, the warehouse complex were rocketed yesterday.” “We’ve stepped back for the moment,” she says, and want “to make sure that we’re on safe terms and on safe ground before we’ll restart. But the rest of the country is operational. We’re doing … everything we can in the north and the south.” USAID says in a statement to The Associated Press that it’s working with other US government officials and with humanitarian groups in Gaza “to ensure that aid can safely and effectively resume movement following completion of the security review that the humanitarian community is currently undertaking.” |
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Posted: 6/10/2024 12:36:03 PM EDT
[#37]
Video from the helmet cameras of Israeli soldiers:
A cell of Hezbollah terrorist that launched anti-aircraft missiles at Israeli fighter jets over southern Lebanon earlier today were killed in a drone strike: Several Hamas terrorists, including members of the terror group's elite Nukhba force were killed in airstrikes in the central Gaza Strip in the last few hours: A terrorist exits a tunnel with a RPG and is eliminated: The funeral of Arnon Zemorah, the heroic IDF soldier who was killed rescuing hostages: Two explosive-laden drones launched by Hezbollah from Lebanon a few hours ago impacted in the northern Golan Heights: |
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Posted: 6/10/2024 2:02:49 PM EDT
[#38]
The military releases new footage showing the moments when rescued hostages Almog Meir Jan, Andrey Kozlov, and Shlomi Ziv, were being extracted from the Gaza Strip in a helicopter. The clip shows the three boarding the chopper and being flown to Tel Hashomer Hospital in central Israel. The fourth hostage rescued in Saturday's operation in Nuseirat, Noa Argamani, was taken in a separate helicopter after being freed by special forces from another building.
The Israeli Air Force’s Aerial Defense Array has intercepted more than 150 drones using ground-based systems, such as the Iron Dome, amid the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip and fighting along the Lebanon border, according to new data published by the military. Many more drones were downed by fighter jets, according to the IAF. Drone attacks have largely been carried out from Lebanon. Several have been launched from Gaza, and there have also been numerous drones launched by Iran-backed groups in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen. Hezbollah’s near-daily explosive-laden drone attacks from Lebanon have been one of the Aerial Defense Array’s most significant challenges amid the war. In numerous cases, the IAF has been challenged to detect the threat in time in order to intercept it, leading to casualties. The terror group in recent months has increasingly been using explosive-laden drones, alongside anti-tank guided missiles and barrages of rockets. Hezbollah’s drones have largely been launched at army positions or Israeli communities on the border, with a handful of incidents of drones being launched much further, even up to 40 kilometers deep into Israel. With drones, being able to detect them accurately is the most important, but most complicated part of thwarting the threat, IAF officials say. The Aerial Defense Array uses a wide-range of sensors to detect what it calls “suspicious aerial targets,” heading into Israeli airspace. Though repeatedly, with Israeli radars set to a high sensitivity, many such targets have later been determined to have been “false identifications,” often birds. At times, Israeli drones that failed to identify themselves correctly were also shot down. Still, Hezbollah’s drones are not always identified by the IAF at all until it is far too late to intercept them. The topography on the Lebanon border, with many ridges and hills, can potentially be a challenge to Israeli radars. This, combined with the often very short flight paths, makes it difficult for the IAF to respond in time to the attack when it does detect the drone. Unlike during Iran’s attack on Israel on April 14, the IAF and its allies were able to detect hundreds of Iranian drones heading toward Israel hours in advance, preventing any of them from entering Israeli airspace. The IAF says that nothing in the Aerial Defense Array is automatic, and every identification and launch of an interceptor is carried out manually by its soldiers. According to recent IAF assessments, Hezbollah is attempting to harm Israel’s air defenses amid the fighting, and would especially work to target the Aerial Defense Array’s systems in an all-out war. Last week, Hezbollah published a video showing it striking with a guided missile what it claimed was an Iron Dome launcher in northern Israel. In a war, Hezbollah is likely to launch swarms of drones, rather than two or three at a time as it currently does, in what could become a major challenge, according to the IAF assessments. The IAF also says that more than 19,000 unguided rockets have also been launched at Israel amid the war, mostly from the Gaza Strip although the portion of rocket attacks from Lebanon has been steadily growing in recent months. Thousands of those rockets have been intercepted by air defenses.
Two explosive-laden drones launched by Hezbollah from Lebanon a few hours ago impacted in the northern Golan Heights, the military says. One of the drone impacts sparked a fire near the northern community of Sha'al, which was extinguished a short while later. The IDF says several interceptor missiles were launched at the drones, although it failed to down the two devices. As a result of the interception attempts, a fire was sparked in the Safed area. Firefighters are working to extinguish the blaze. The IDF says the incident is under further investigation. Also today, two rockets launched from Lebanon at the Mount Hermon area hit open areas, the military says. Meanwhile, sirens that sounded in Kiryat Shmona at 17:45, and in the Upper Galilee at 17:20 and 15:11, were determined to be false alarms, the IDF adds. The IDF also says it struck a Hezbollah rocket launcher and a building used by the terror group in Aitaroun, and another building in Ayta ash-Shab.
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Posted: 6/10/2024 2:54:34 PM EDT
[#39]
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Posted: 6/10/2024 8:16:12 PM EDT
[#40]
The Border Police unit that was part of the hostage rescue has been fighting in Gaza for a long time. Samuel Katz wrote a book about the unit, "Ghost Warriors", link here..
Gaza has always been rough, even when the IDF was there every day before the 2005 withdrawal, and it has only gotten worse in the last 18 years. I screen shot a few pages from the book that describe their operations and conditions in Gaza--they're inside the spoiler. Click To View Spoiler |
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Posted: 6/10/2024 8:51:53 PM EDT
[#41]
 Institute for Study of War Backgrounder 10 June Key Takeaways Gaza Strip Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip Yahya Sinwar is likely hiding in a “vast” tunnel system beneath Khan Younis, according to unspecified US officials. Palestinian fighters conducted at least five mortar and rocket attacks targeting Israeli “supply lines” and headquarters along the Netzarim Corridor. The 99th Division is currently operating along the corridor, which the Israelis use to launch raids against Hamas fighters and infrastructure in the northern and central Gaza Strip. 98th Division continued clearing operations in eastern Deir al Balah and eastern Bureij in the central Gaza Strip. 98th Division and Southern Command directed strikes targeting Hamas Nukhba fighters and underground infrastructure in Deir al Balah. 7th Brigade and the Yahalom combat engineering unit destroyed underground militia infrastructure as well as a training facility in eastern Bureij. Kfir Brigade detained Palestinian fighters and located weapons caches in central Gaza. A unit of the 35th Paratroopers Brigade killed a Palestinian fighter emerging from a tunnel shaft carrying a rocket-propelled grenade. 162nd Division continued clearing operations in Rafah. Hamas fighters detonated a five-story building rigged to explode and collapse on an IDF Givati Brigade unit in Shaboura refugee camp, central Rafah. Hamas repeatedly mortared the explosion site after the attack to prevent the Israeli quick reaction force from responding to the situation. Palestinian reports claimed that the house-borne IED attack injured as many as 10 Israeli soldiers. Hamas has inflicted high casualties on Israeli units through house-borne IED attacks, either by rigging the houses themselves or prematurely detonating buildings that Israeli forces rigged with explosives. The highest IDF single casualty event of the war, which killed 21 Israeli soldiers, occurred in January 2024 when Hamas detonated a building that the IDF had prepared to demolish with explosives in the central Gaza Strip. Hamas leaders have given standing orders to Hamas fighters to shoot hostages if the fighters believe that Israeli forces are closing in, according to Israeli officials speaking to the New York Times. Hamas claimed on June 9 that the IDF operation to rescue four hostages in the central Gaza Strip on June 8 lead to the deaths of three other Israeli hostages, one an American citizen. The World Food Program (WFP) paused humanitarian aid provision through the US-built pier after recent rocket attacks near the pier. The organization’s director said that two of the WFP’s warehouses were struck by rocket fire, injuring one individual on June 8. PIJ launched mortars and rockets at an IDF site near Kerem Shalom. West Bank Israeli forces have engaged Palestinian fighters in at least four locations across the West Bank. Unspecified fighters fired small arms and detonated improvised explosive devices (IED) at Israeli forces in Burqa, east of Ramallah. The IDF and Israeli Shin Bet launched an operation targeting Palestinian fighters near Tubas, the operation is ongoing. The IDF has detained three wanted individuals. The al Aqsa Martyrs‘ Brigades attacked Israeli forces operating in the camp. Palestinian Authority-affiliated media reported that the IDF killed one Palestinian and wounded four others. Lebanon Iranian-backed militias, including Lebanese Hezbollah, have conducted at least 16 attacks into northern Israel in the last 24 hours. An Israeli Army Radio correspondent highlighted some of the challenges that Israeli forces face intercepting drones targeting northern Israel in an X (Twitter) post on June 10. These challenges are particularly salient given the increased risk of a major war between Israel and Hezbollah in northern Israel. Hezbollah would likely use the lessons it is learning in its attacks on Israel to penetrate Israeli air defenses and strike critical infrastructure and civilian areas, including Haifa port. Yemen US Central Command destroyed two Houthi land attack cruise missiles and one missile launcher in Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen on June 9 as well as a suicide drone over the Gulf of Aden. Houthi media claimed that the United States and the United Kingdom conducted three airstrikes targeting al Jabaneh, west of Hudaydah, Yemen. Iranian Presidential Elections The Iranian Guardian Council approved six candidates including one reformist and five hardliners for the upcoming 2024 presidential election. The participation of five hardliners risks splitting the hardline vote, though some hardliners will probably withdraw from the election to prevent splitting the vote. The Guardian Council did not approve some top politicians, including former Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani. Iran Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf’s advisers have spoken to Western diplomats in recent weeks, possibly to set conditions for the resumption of nuclear negotiations if he becomes president. Iraq An Iranian-backed Iraqi militia warned on June 8 that it will resume attacks targeting US forces if US forces do not leave Iraq. Unspecified Iranian-backed militias in Iraq reportedly plan to renew attacks if the Iraqi prime minister does not set a deadline for a full US military withdrawal by May 15. Ceasefire Negotiations The United States is reportedly considering bilateral hostage talks with Hamas to free Americans from the Gaza Strip.   
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Posted: 6/10/2024 9:08:16 PM EDT
[Last Edit: michigan66]
[#42]
Something to keep an eye on--a Palestinian reporter is posting an IDF unit was ambushed in a booby-trapped house in Rafah, south Gaza. He is usually spot-on with stuff like this. A "house bomb" was responsible for the biggest loss of life in a single incident in the current war--21 IDF dead in January.
ETA--he was right again. Four Givati Brigade soldiers were killed in combat in Gaza's south on Monday. Their names are Tal Pshebilski Shaulov, 24-years-old from Gedera; Eitan Karlsbrun, 20-years-old from Modi'in; Almog Shalom, 19-years-old from Kibbutz Hamadia; and Yair Levin, 19-years old from Givat Harel. |
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Posted: 6/11/2024 4:51:35 AM EDT
[#43]
The Israeli Air Force’s Aerial Defense Array has intercepted more than 150 drones using ground-based systems, such as the Iron Dome
Police release footage showing the rescue of hostages Almog Meir Jan, Andrey Kozlov, and Shlomi Ziv by forces of the elite Yamam unit and Shin Bet agents. The military releases new footage showing the moments when rescued hostages Almog Meir Jan, Andrey Kozlov, and Shlomi Ziv, were being extracted from the Gaza Strip in a helicopter: One of the first moments when Shlomi, Andrey and Almog board the “Yasur” helicopter after being rescued from Hamas after 245 days as hostages: Another "suspicious aerial target," thought to be a drone, was intercepted by air defenses over the Golan Heights: |
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Posted: 6/11/2024 9:15:09 AM EDT
[#44]
Link to liveblog articles
Here are the latest updates on day 249 of the war: Four Givati Brigade soldiers were killed in combat in Gaza's south on Monday. Their names are Tal Pshebilski Shaulov, 24-years-old from Gedera; Eitan Karlsbrun, 20-years-old from Modi'in; Almog Shalom, 19-years-old from Kibbutz Hamadia; and Yair Levin, 19-years old from Givat Harel. ■ The United Nations human rights office said on Tuesday that the civilian deaths in Gaza during the Israeli operation to secure the release of four hostages and their holding by armed groups in densely populated areas could amount to war crimes. ■ Hamas accepts a UN Security Council cease-fire resolution and is ready to negotiate over the details, senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters on Tuesday. ■ U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday a Hamas statement of support for a UN resolution backing a proposal for a cease-fire in Gaza was a 'hopeful sign', while word coming from the Palestinian militant group's leadership in Gaza is what counts. ■ Fifty rockets were detected crossing over from Lebanon into the Golan Heights, the IDF said, with some intercepted and the rest falling in open areas with no casualties. Hezbollah has claimed responsibility for dozens of rockets launched. ■ Air force fighter jets have attacked overnight into Tuesday a military compound of Hezbollah's Unit 4400, a logistical unit in charge of transferring weapons within Lebanon, the IDF said. The strike happened near Baalbek, deep into the country. ■ Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar has referred to the tens of thousands of Gazans who were killed in the Strip since October 7 as "necessary sacrifices" in messages he sent to the Hamas officials in charge of the hostage negotiations, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal. ■ The Israeli army continues to operate in Gaza's southern Rafah, the IDF said, adding that over the past day, Givati brigade combat soldiers raided several parts of the city and killed groups of armed men in close-range encounters. At the same time, Air Force fighter jets and aerial vehicles attacked 35 targets across the Strip, including military buildings, weapon warehouses and launch sites. ■ A fire broke out Tuesday in the Nahal Zavitan area in the Golan region after rocket sirens were heard in the area, said the local council head. According to him, it remains unclear if the fire broke out as a result of a missile falling or shrapnel from an intercepting missile. |
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Posted: 6/11/2024 12:18:09 PM EDT
[Last Edit: michigan66]
[#45]
More information on four soldiers killed yesterday in Rafah. House bombs have killed a lot of troops thus far. Helps me understand why the IDF kills as many bad guys as possible with air and artillery strikes.
Four Israeli Soldiers Killed in Explosion of Booby-trapped House in Rafah, Southern Gaza Link here. Four Israeli soldiers killed in explosion of booby-trapped house in Rafah, southern Gaza Tal Pshebilski Shaulov, Eitan Karlsbrun, Almog Shalom, and Yair Levin were killed when a booby trapped building exploded in the Shabura neighborhood in Rafah's east Four Israeli soldiers were killed Monday and six wounded in combat in the southern Gazan city of Rafah. The army named the Givati Brigade soldiers killed as Tal Pshebilski Shaulov, 24-years-old from Gedera; Eitan Karlsbrun, 20-years-old from Modi'in; Almog Shalom, 19-years-old from Kibbutz Hamadia; and Yair Levin, 19-years old from Givat Harel. The soldiers' group was made up of soldiers in training, and was hit when a booby trapped building exploded in the Shabura neighborhood in Rafah's east. Pshebilski was the head of the group, and when he and three others entered the house of a Hamas militant, an explosive device went off and caused the building to collapse. After the explosion, a tunnel was found underneath the house. The IDF believes that the militant who lived there was involved in the kidnapping of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in 2006. A Givati officer and four soldiers in training were severely wounded, and another combat soldier was moderately wounded in the incident. According to IDF data, 650 soldiers have been killed since the October 7 attack. Of these, 298 were killed in the ground operation in the Gaza Strip that began at the end of last October. Pshebilski Shaulov grew up in the southern Israeli city of Ashdod, and studied at the Yitzhak Rabin School and Makif T High School. He played in the Ashdod sports club and was a classmate of the couple Sivan Elkavatz and Naor Hassidim, who were murdered on October 7 in Kibbutz Kfar Azza. Pshebilski Shaulov is survived by his parents, Shaul and Yuli. His funeral will be held at 2 P.M. on Tuesday at the Gedera Cemetery. Karlsbrun was a graduate of the Maccabim-Reut High School. He is survived by his parents and three sisters. His funeral was held at 12 P.M. Tuesday at the military cemetery in Modi'in. Karlsbrun's fellow soldiers wrote, "Eitan began the war on the path of a combat soldier. After a long period of ongoing combat, he finished the path together with his military company inside the Gaza Strip, and moved to the role of an advanced training officer. With the company's ascension to this path, Eitan was promoted to the position of sergeant, and served in the last week as the company commander. "Eitan was dedicated, opinionated, a role model, and someone to look up to who stuck to his beliefs and always sacrificed for the common good." Levin studied at the Ahavas Chaim high school in the West Bank settlement of Kokhav HaShahar, and later at a pre-army preparatory school in Jaffa. He is survived by his parents, Yohai and Na'ama, and his brothers Elroy and Eitan. Levin's maternal grandfather is former MK Moshe Feiglin. Levin's funeral was held at 11:30 A.M. on Tuesday at the military cemetery in Karnei Shomron. |
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Posted: 6/11/2024 12:20:30 PM EDT
[#46]
Another data point on Sinwar--no real surprises.
WSJ--Gaza Chief’s Brutal Calculation: Civilian Bloodshed Will Help Hamas Link here. Highpoints [M]ore fighting—and more Palestinian civilian deaths—work to his advantage. "We have the Israelis right where we want them,” Sinwar said in a recent message to Hamas officials seeking to broker an agreement with Qatari and Egyptian officials. Fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas units in the Gaza Strip’s south has disrupted humanitarian-aid shipments, caused mounting civilian casualties and intensified international criticism of Israel’s efforts to eradicate the Islamist extremist group. For much of Sinwar’s political life, shaped by bloody conflict with an Israeli state that he says has no right to exist, he has stuck to a simple playbook. Backed into a corner, he looks to violence for a way out. The current fight in Gaza is no exception. In dozens of messages...he’s shown a cold disregard for human life and made clear he believes Israel has more to lose from the war than Hamas. Sinwar has...micromanaged Hamas’s war effort, drafting letters, sending messages to cease-fire negotiators and deciding when the U.S.-designated terrorist group ramps up or dials back its attacks. His ultimate goal appears to be to win a permanent cease-fire that allows Hamas to declare a historic victory by outlasting Israel and claim leadership of the Palestinian national cause. Sinwar believes Netanyahu has few options other than occupying Gaza and getting bogged down fighting a Hamas-led insurgency for months or years. “For Netanyahu, a victory would be even worse than a defeat,” Sinwar told an Italian journalist writing in 2018. ...early messages to cease-fire negotiators show [Sinwar] seemed surprised by the brutality of Hamas’s armed wing and other Palestinians, and how easily they committed civilian atrocities. “Things went out of control,” Sinwar said in one of his messages, referring to gangs taking civilian women and children as hostages. “People got caught up in this, and that should not have happened. This became a talking point for Hamas to explain away the Oct. 7 civilian toll. (I'm calling BS on this--he could have freed women and children that day if it was a mistake. Some Palestinians did just that, sending children.back into Israel) Entire article in quote box Exclusive | Gaza Chief’s Brutal Calculation: Civilian Bloodshed Will Help Hamas For months, Yahya Sinwar has resisted pressure to cut a ceasefire-and-hostages deal with Israel. Behind his decision, messages the Hamas military leader in Gaza has sent to mediators show, is a calculation that more fighting—and more Palestinian civilian deaths—work to his advantage. “We have the Israelis right where we want them,” Sinwar said in a recent message to Hamas officials seeking to broker an agreement with Qatari and Egyptian officials. Fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas units in the Gaza Strip’s south has disrupted humanitarian-aid shipments, caused mounting civilian casualties and intensified international criticism of Israel’s efforts to eradicate the Islamist extremist group. For much of Sinwar’s political life, shaped by bloody conflict with an Israeli state that he says has no right to exist, he has stuck to a simple playbook. Backed into a corner, he looks to violence for a way out. The current fight in Gaza is no exception. In dozens of messages—reviewed by The Wall Street Journal—that Sinwar has transmitted to cease-fire negotiators, Hamas compatriots outside Gaza and others, he’s shown a cold disregard for human life and made clear he believes Israel has more to lose from the war than Hamas. The messages were shared by multiple people with differing views of Sinwar. More than 37,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war, most of them civilians, Palestinian officials say. The figure doesn’t specify how many were combatants. Health authorities said almost 300 Palestinians were killed Saturday in an Israeli raid that rescued four hostages kept in captivity in homes surrounded by civilians—driving home for some Palestinians their role as pawns for Hamas. In one message to Hamas leaders in Doha, Sinwar cited civilian losses in national-liberation conflicts in places such as Algeria, where hundreds of thousands of people died fighting for independence from France, saying, “these are necessary sacrifices.” In an April 11 letter to Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh after three of Haniyeh’s adult sons were killed by an Israeli airstrike, Sinwar wrote that their deaths and those of other Palestinians would “infuse life into the veins of this nation, prompting it to rise to its glory and honor.” Sinwar isn’t the first Palestinian leader to embrace bloodshed as a means to pressure Israel. But the scale of the collateral damage in this war—civilians killed and destruction wrought—is unprecedented between Israelis and Palestinians. Despite Israel’s ferocious effort to kill him, Sinwar has survived and micromanaged Hamas’s war effort, drafting letters, sending messages to cease-fire negotiators and deciding when the U.S.-designated terrorist group ramps up or dials back its attacks. His ultimate goal appears to be to win a permanent cease-fire that allows Hamas to declare a historic victory by outlasting Israel and claim leadership of the Palestinian national cause. President Biden is trying to force Israel and Hamas to halt the war. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is opposed to permanently ending the fight before what he calls “total victory” over Hamas. Even without a lasting truce, Sinwar believes Netanyahu has few options other than occupying Gaza and getting bogged down fighting a Hamas-led insurgency for months or years. It is an outcome that Sinwar foreshadowed six years ago when he first became leader in the Gaza Strip. Hamas might lose a war with Israel, but it would cause an Israeli occupation of more than two million Palestinians. “For Netanyahu, a victory would be even worse than a defeat,” Sinwar told an Italian journalist writing in 2018 in an Israeli daily, Yedioth Ahronoth. The 1967 war, which took place when Sinwar was a child, reordered the Middle East. Sinwar, now in his early 60s, was roughly 5 years old when the 1967 war brought him his first experience of significant violence between Israelis and Arabs. That brief fight reordered the Middle East. Israel took control of the Golan Heights from Syria and the West Bank from Jordan. It also captured the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt, as well as the Gaza Strip, where Sinwar grew up in a United Nations-run refugee camp. The conflict was a constant presence. Sinwar published a novel in 2004 while in Israeli prison and wrote in the preface that it was based on his own experiences. In the book, a father digs a deep hole in the yard of the refugee camp during the 1967 war, covering it with wood and metal to make a shelter. A young son waits in the hole with his family, crying and hearing the sounds of explosions grow louder as the Israeli army approaches. The boy tries to climb out, only for his mother to yell: “It’s war out there! Don’t you know what war means?” Sinwar joined the movement that eventually became Hamas in the 1980s, becoming close to founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, and setting up an internal-security police that hunted and killed suspected informants, according to the transcript of his confession to Israeli interrogators in 1988. He received multiple life sentences for murder and spent 22 years in prison before being freed in a swap along with a thousand other Palestinians in 2011 for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. During the negotiations between Israel and Hamas over the Shalit swap, Sinwar was influential in pushing for the freedom of Palestinians who were jailed for murdering Israelis. He wanted to release even those who were involved in bombings that had killed large numbers of Israelis and was so maximalist in his demands that Israel put him in solitary confinement so he wouldn’t disrupt progress. When he became leader of Hamas in Gaza in 2017, violence was a constant in his repertoire. Hamas had wrested control of Gaza from the Palestinian Authority in a bloody conflict a decade earlier, and while Sinwar moved early in his tenure to reconcile Hamas with other Palestinian factions, he warned that he would “break the neck” of anyone who stood in the way. In 2018, Sinwar supported weekly protests at the fence between Gaza and Israeli territory. Fearful of a breach in the barrier, the Israeli military fired on Palestinians and agitators who came too close. It was all part of the plan. “We make the headlines only with blood,” Sinwar said in the interview at the time with an Italian journalist. “No blood, no news.” In 2021, reconciliation talks between Hamas and Palestinian factions appeared to be progressing toward legislative and presidential elections for the Palestinian Authority, the first in 15 years. But at the last moment, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas canceled polls. With the political track closed, Sinwar days later turned to bloodshed to change the status quo, firing rockets on Jerusalem amid tensions between Israelis and Palestinians in the city. The ensuing 11-day conflict killed 242 Palestinians and 12 people in Israel. Israeli airstrikes caused such damage that Israeli officials believed Sinwar would be deterred from again attacking Israelis. But the opposite happened: Israeli officials now believe Sinwar then began planning the Oct. 7 attacks. One aim was to end the paralysis in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and revive its global diplomatic importance, said Arab and Hamas officials familiar with Sinwar’s thinking. Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories had lasted more than half a century, and Netanyahu’s far-right coalition partners were talking about annexing land in the West Bank that Palestinians wanted for a future state. Saudi Arabia, once a champion of the Palestinian cause, was in talks to normalize relations with Israel. Though Sinwar planned and greenlighted the Oct. 7 attacks, early messages to cease-fire negotiators show he seemed surprised by the brutality of Hamas’s armed wing and other Palestinians, and how easily they committed civilian atrocities. “Things went out of control,” Sinwar said in one of his messages, referring to gangs taking civilian women and children as hostages. “People got caught up in this, and that should not have happened. This became a talking point for Hamas to explain away the Oct. 7 civilian toll. Early in the war, Sinwar focused on using the hostages as a bargaining chip to delay an Israeli ground operation in Gaza. A day after Israeli soldiers entered the strip, Sinwar said Hamas was ready for an immediate deal to exchange its hostages for the release of all Palestinian prisoners held in Israel. But Sinwar had misread how Israel would react to Oct. 7. Netanyahu declared Israel was going to destroy Hamas and said the only way to force the group to release hostages was through military pressure. Sinwar appears to have also misinterpreted the support that Iran and Lebanese militia Hezbollah were willing to offer. When Hamas political chief Haniyeh and deputy Saleh al-Arouri traveled to Tehran in November for a meeting with Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, they were told that Tehran backed Hamas but wouldn’t be entering the conflict “He was partly misled by them and partly misled himself,” said Ehud Yaari, an Israeli commentator who has known Sinwar since his days in prison. “He was extremely disappointed.” By November, Hamas’s political leadership privately began distancing themselves from Sinwar, saying he launched the Oct. 7 attacks without telling them, Arab officials who spoke to Hamas said. At the end of November, Israel and Hamas agreed to a cease-fire and the release of some hostages held by the militants. But the deal collapsed after a week. As Israel’s army quickly dismantled Hamas’s military structures, the group’s political leadership began meeting other Palestinian factions in early December to discuss reconciliation and a postwar plan. Sinwar wasn’t consulted. Sinwar in a message sent to the political leaders blasted the end-around as “shameful and outrageous.” “As long as fighters are still standing and we have not lost the war, such contacts should be immediately terminated,” he said. “We have the capabilities to continue fighting for months.” On Jan. 2, Arouri was killed in a suspected Israeli strike in Beirut, and Sinwar began to change the way he communicated, said Arab officials. He used aliases and relayed notes only through a handful of trusted aides and via codes, switching between audio, messages spoken to intermediaries and written messages, they said. Still, his communications indicate he began to feel things were turning Hamas’s way. By the end of that month, Israel’s military advance had slowed to a grueling battle in the city of Khan Younis, Sinwar’s hometown. Israel began to lose more troops. On Jan. 23, about two dozen Israeli troops were killed in central and southern Gaza, the invasion’s deadliest day for the military. Arab mediators hastened to speed up talks about a cease-fire, and on Feb. 19, Israel set a deadline of Ramadan—a month later—for Hamas to return the hostages or face a ground offensive in Rafah, what Israeli officials described as the militant group’s last stronghold. Sinwar in a message urged his comrades in Hamas’s political leadership outside Gaza not to make concessions and instead to push for a permanent end to the war. High civilian casualties would create worldwide pressure on Israel, Sinwar said. The group’s armed wing was ready for the onslaught, Sinwar’s messages said. “Israel’s journey in Rafah won’t be a walk in the park,” Sinwar told Hamas leaders in Doha in a message. At the end of February, an aid delivery in Gaza turned deadly as Israeli forces fired on Palestinian civilians crowding trucks, adding U.S. pressure on Israel to limit casualties. Disagreements among Israel’s wartime leaders erupted into public view, as Netanyahu failed to articulate a postwar governance plan for Gaza and his defense minister, Yoav Gallant, privately warned against reoccupying the strip. Israelis grew concerned the country was losing the war. In May, Israel again threatened to attack Rafah if cease-fire talks remained deadlocked, a move Hamas viewed as purely a negotiating tactic. Netanyahu said Israel needed to expand into Rafah to destroy Hamas’s military structure there and disrupt smuggling from Egypt. Sinwar’s response: Hamas fired on Kerem Shalom crossing May 5, killing four soldiers. Hamas officials outside Gaza began to echo Sinwar’s confident posture. Israel has since launched its Rafah operation. But as Sinwar predicted, it has come at a humanitarian and diplomatic cost. Sinwar’s messages, meanwhile, indicate he’s willing to die in the fighting. In a recent message to allies, the Hamas leader likened the war to a 7th-century battle in Karbala, Iraq, where the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad was controversially slain. “We have to move forward on the same path we started,” Sinwar wrote. “Or let it be a new Karbala.” |
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Posted: 6/11/2024 2:21:43 PM EDT
[#47]
Israeli special forces are carrying out a raid in the West Bank town of Kafr Dan, near Jenin, according to the military and Palestinian media. As troops entered the town they came under fire by Palestinian gunmen. The troops returned fire, fired shoulder-launched missiles at a target, and an attack helicopter also carried out a strike in the area. Footage shows a military chopper opening fire over the town. At least three Palestinians are reported killed in the raid, military sources say.
The IDF says at least 15 rockets were launched in the attack. Some of the rockets were intercepted by air defenses, while other hit open areas. There are no reports of injuries in the attack. The IDF also says it carried out a strike on a building used by Hezbollah, a rocket launching site, and other infrastructure in southern Lebanon's Aitaroun. At the same time, a Hezbollah rocket-launching cell was targeted in a drone strike in Deir Aames, the military adds.
The military says it has wrapped up an 18 hour counter-terrorism raid in the West Bank's Far'a camp, during which troops killed a gunman and located a bomb-making lab. At the bomb manufacturing site, the IDF says troops located more than 80 improvised explosive devices, along with barrels packed with explosive material. The bomb lab was later demolished. Other weapons located inside a car were also seized, the IDF says. Troops clashed with gunmen amid the raid, killing at least one on Monday morning. A drone strike was also carried out against two armed Palestinians, the army says. Eight wanted Palestinians were detained amid the raid. The IDF says they were wanted over suspected involved in terror activities. No soldiers were hurt in the operation.
Article referenced in tweet Lessons, 10 years after ISIS took over Mosul - analysis This week marks the ten-year anniversary of the extremist group ISIS taking over Mosul. ISIS swept into Mosul and took over the large Iraqi city on June 10, 2014. The conquest of Mosul followed the dramatic rise of ISIS in the spring of 2014. The group had its roots in extremists in Iraq and Syria who had grown out of the Sunni Arab insurgent groups that were fighting the US, and had been boosted by the chaos of the Syrian civil war. ISIS was able to build upon the framework that existed in Iraq and Syria to construct itself as a war machine. It wasn’t just a terrorist group or a bunch of terrorist cells like Al Qaeda. It wasn’t an insurgency, either. ISIS thrived because of the breakdown of the state in Syria and Iraq. Hard loan In Syria, the Syrian civil war had been growing since 2011. Syria truly began to break apart in 2012 and 2013, such that many local groups assumed control of certain areas. The Syrian regime likely had an interest in fueling the disintegration and factionalism within the Syrian rebel groups by encouraging extremists to grow. It's important to understand that the Syrian regime had long tolerated extremists, such as jihadist types, flowing into Iraq via the Euphrates river valley during the period of the US conquest of Iraq after 2003. When the US left Iraq in 2011 these groups were able to consolidate their influence in marginal desert regions. The era of the Sunni “awakening” in Iraq had been pushed aside by the authoritarian Shi’ite prime minister Nour al-Malaki. This created a toxic vacuum in Syria and Iraq in 2013-2014 because both the Syrian regime and the Iraqi regime were letting groups seep into the periphery. ISIS burst onto the scene due to its brutality and zealous cohesion. It promised a new Islamic era, free from the infighting of Syrian rebel groups in Syria and free from what many Sunni Arabs in Iraq saw as oppression by the Iranian-backed Malaki regime. ISIS also benefited from the fact that Kurdish groups were creating a form of autonomy in eastern Syria, and the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq had no love for Malaki either. ISIS entered a vacuum ISIS moved into the vacuum in June 2014. Mosul was a logical objective. A city of two million, it sits on two banks of the Tigris river. The western half of the city is anchored in the historic old city of Mosul. The eastern half is more modern and has larger boulevards built in Saddam’s era. Mosul was a city that deeply supported Saddam’s regime, and Moslawis were known to flock to Saddam’s army during the 1980s and the war against Iran. Thus, it was no surprise that the city might fall to ISIS, it had a large number of veterans who looked fondly on the old era and had military training. ISIS promised them a new era, but one under the black Islamic flag. ISIS may have promised something to locals in Syria and Iraq, but its policies were genocidal against minorities. It was foremost a group that wanted to ethnically cleanse and massacre Shi’ites, Christians, and other minorities such as Yazidis. ISIS set its plans in motion much like the Nazi regime in the 1930s, legislating the expulsion and mass murder of first one group and then another. It expelled Christians from Mosul and the Nineveh plains. It rounded up Shi’ite cadets at Camp Speicher and murdered more than 1,000 of them on June 12, 2014. It’s worth recalling that this mass murder of Shi’ites is similar in number to what Hamas did on October 7, 2023. However, ISIS wasn’t done with its horrific crimes. When it saw that it faced almost no opposition in Iraq, it decided to massacre and enslave Yazidis, a minority group that lives in northern Iraq. In August 2014, it put its plan in motion, overrunning numerous Yazidi villages, forcing a half million people to flee, and capturing thousands of Yazidis. It then divided the men and women, murdering many of the older people and selling the women and children, and some of the men, into slavery. Thousands of women were sold in markets in Mosul and northern Iraq and the ISIS capital in Syria. They were sold to be raped. ISIS used the same term for women it was selling, as Hamas did when it also captured women on October 7. They use the term “sabaya,” which means female slave. Western progressives and pro-Hamas voices deny this, but the facts are clear. ISIS was a movement devoted to mass rape and genocide. Hamas has similarities to ISIS in its methods and mentality. The city of Mosul was devastated by ISIS occupation. More than half the residents of the 2 million-strong city had to flee the extremists. It occupied Mosul from June 2014 to June 2017, when the Iraqi army, backed by the US-led Coalition against ISIS, defeated ISIS in Mosul. The campaign to defeat ISIS began in October 2016. I witnessed many of the crimes of ISIS. I saw the mass graves of Yazidis in northern Iraq after the graves were uncovered in the fall of 2015. These killing fields were similar to what the Nazis had done in Eastern Europe under the Einsatzgruppen. ISIS lined up the Yazidis, shot them, and pushed the bodies into mass graves. Dozens of these graves were found. The same fate awaited Beduin tribes who didn’t accept ISIS rule, Christians, Shi’ites, and any other group or local dissidents. The defeat of ISIS took years. However, Iraq was able to mobilize against the extremists. Kurdish Peshmerga pushed ISIS back from Mosul and Sinjar. Other Kurdish groups linked to the YPG in Syria helped liberate parts of Mosul and save hundreds of thousands of Yazidis. In central Iraq, Ayatollah Sistani put out a fatwa that called to arms young men, who flocked to the banners of various militias to fight ISIS. By 2016, the Iraqi army, supported by the seventy countries that backed the US-led coalition, was able to help Iraq prepare to retake Mosul. Mosul has now recovered over the last seven years since it was liberated. Churches have been revived, but the scars will not all heal. The Christian community barely exists today in Mosul. Yazidis have not received support to rebuild Sinjar. The Kurdish community sought more freedom and independence in 2017, only to be attacked by the Iraqi federal government, backed by Shi’ite militias. Iran has decided to use the militias to attack US forces and also threaten Israel. As such, Iraq has not had peace since the defeat of ISIS. The ISIS conquest of Mosul shook the region from its slumber. ISIS crimes were so shocking that many countries decided to confront this extremism. This had a profound effect in the Gulf and in Jordan. It also hardened the Syrian regime and led some Lebanese to believe Hezbollah was necessary to defend Lebanon from groups like ISIS. ISIS crimes and its methods also likely inspired Hamas. ISIS used tunnels and drones, which adapted to the environment. It also learned how to operate against the sophisticated US technology that empowers drones and other assets in the region. As such, Hamas was likely inspired by ISIS crimes to believe it could one day do the same. Tragically for Israel, Hamas was able to do what ISIS did, and Jews on the border on October 7 found themselves as vulnerable as Christians, Yazidis, and Shi’ites in Iraq. |
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Posted: 6/11/2024 4:00:13 PM EDT
[#48]
Link to liveblog articles here.
Hamas said to give amendments to hostage deal offer including new timeline, full withdrawal from Gaza The Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad response to Israel’s latest hostage-ceasefire proposal includes amendments to the offer, Al Jazeera reports. Quoting unnamed sources, the Qatari outlet says that the terror groups’ proposed amendments include Israel’s withdrawal from the entire Gaza Strip, including the Rafah Border Crossing and so-called Philadelphi Corridor — which runs for a total of 14 kilometers (8.7 miles) all along the Gaza-Egypt border. According to the report, the Palestinian response was sent to Qatari and Egyptian negotiators by Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and Palestinian Islamic Jihad secretary-general Ziad al-Nakhaleh. Reuters quotes an official briefed on the talks as saying that the Hamas response also includes a new timeline for a permanent ceasefire and withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. Channel 12 reported yesterday that Israel’s proposed hostage and ceasefire deal, announced by US President Joe Biden in late May, includes a commitment to end the war in Gaza even before all hostages are released. IDF wraps up West Bank counter-terror operation; 6 gunmen killed The military says it has wrapped up a counter-terrorism operation in the West Bank town of Kafr Dan, near Jenin. In a statement, the IDF says troops of the Duvdevan commando unit encircled a building used by terror operatives and carried out a tactic known as “pressure cooker” that involves escalating the volume of fire directed at a building to force suspects to come out. The IDF says an attack helicopter was also used to strike the building amid the operation. The troops killed six gunmen in ensuing clashes and wounded others, the military says. The Palestinian Authority health ministry confirms that six Palestinians were killed by Israeli troops during the raid. The IDF says the commandos seized two assault rifles and a handgun that belonged to the gunmen, as well as a car with several explosive devices. No soldiers were hurt in the raid. Weapons seized in operation  operationAt least five reported dead in alleged Israeli strike in southern Lebanon At least five people have been killed in an alleged Israeli strike in southern Lebanon, according to the Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Akhbar newspaper. A house near the southern Lebanon city of Tyre was targeted in the strikes, according to the report. There is no immediate comment from the Israel Defense Forces on the report, which comes amid near-daily attacks from Hezbollah in Lebanon since October 8, after war erupted in Gaza. The Iran-backed terror group says its campaign is in support of Palestinians in Gaza amid the ongoing fighting.
Translation: The number of casualties in an air strike rose to at least five, including a child  Attached File |
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Posted: 6/11/2024 5:14:12 PM EDT
[#49]
Hamas and Islamic Jihad issued a joint statement in response to the ceasefire offer they received. They say that Israel needs to stop the war and withdraw from Gaza, but they do not explicitly say if it's a precondition to Hamas accepting a ceasefire. Nonetheless, the statement is framed in a way that makes it appear that the groups' interest lie with the Palestinian people, but that's far from the truth. Hamas and its allies want to ensure that Israel will not restart the war if the armed groups drag out the negotiations or other unexpected events occur. |
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Posted: 6/11/2024 7:34:18 PM EDT
[Last Edit: michigan66]
[#50]
Hezbollah officially announces the death of the commander of the al-Nasr unit, Taleb Abdullah, in the Israeli attack in Juya in southern Lebanon. He is referred to as a commander and in fact only he and Wissam Tawil, the actual commander of the Radwan force, were called commanders in Hezbollah's official announcements. To teach you about his seniority
Hezbollah issues a statement mourning “the martyr Commander Taleb Abdullah”, according to available information, Abdullah has been the commander of the Nasr unit that covers the western sector between the border with Israel and the Litani River. Eventually Nasr unit is the first defence zone. Link here. An Israeli strike on the village of Jouya in southern Lebanon late Tuesday killed at least four people, including a senior field commander in Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, three security sources told Reuters. Hezbollah identified the killed commander by his rank in a statement, naming him as Taleb Abdallah. Sources said he was the organization's commander for the central region of the southern border strip, comprising some of the towns hardest hit in the last eight months of exchanges of fire between Israel and Hezbollah. Saudi news channel Al Hadath, using an apparent nom de guerre, said that the commander was Abu Taleb, the head of Hezbollah's Victory Unit. He was the most senior Hezbollah official to be killed by Israel since hostilities began just over eight months ago, Al Hadath added. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the commander's role in Hezbollah was as significant as that of Wissam Tawil, a senior Hezbollah commander killed in an Israeli strike in January. |
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