At the MEAD Conference in Washington, D.C., on Sunday, former War Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz stated that Israel should consider launching an offensive against Hezbollah within “days or a few weeks” if negotiations for a hostage deal with Hamas fail.
Daily attacks by the Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorist organization on Israeli targets, ongoing since October 7, reached their highest point in August, according to data released by the Shin Bet security agency on Thursday.
During a press briefing to foreign media on Wednesday night, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated his stance that Israel cannot abandon the 7.8 mile long Philadelphi Corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border without first implementing a viable plan to prevent weapons smuggling into the Gaza Strip.
Israeli authorities reported that over 100 rockets were launched at northern Israel on Wednesday by the Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorist organization. In Kiryat Shmona, some of the rockets directly struck homes, sparking fires. Police and emergency teams quickly responded to the scene to provide assistance and assess the damage.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a rare apology to the families of six Israeli hostages recently executed by Hamas in a press conference on Monday. He stressed the necessity of international pressure on Hamas and emphasized that Israel would retain its military presence in the Philadelphi Corridor, a critical buffer zone along the Gaza-Egypt border, underscoring the strategic importance of the area.
Hamas has admitted to killing hostages it abducted in Israel on October 7.
US forces and Iraqi security forces last week killed 15 Islamic State terrorists during an operation in western Iraq that also left seven US military personnel injured, Algemeiner reports.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) recently completed a three-week-long operation in the southern Gaza Strip. During this operation, the military destroyed six kilometers of tunnels, eliminated over 250 terrorists, and recovered the bodies of twelve hostages over the past two weeks.
While still engaged in a war with Hamas in Gaza, and battling Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Israel Defense Forces on Wednesday carried out a targeted drone strike in Syria and killed Firas Qasem, a senior member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) organization, who was reportedly on his way to attack Israel, the Times of Israel (TOI) reports.