Operation Swords of Iron: What happened on Day 13?

A US Navy warship traveling near Yemen intercepted multiple projectiles, a US official told Reuters on Thursday. The missiles, according to Israeli media citing the Pentagon, were launched at Israel.

Washington is on heightened alert for activity by Iran-backed groups as regional tensions soar during the Israel-Hamas war.

The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said there were no injuries and a number of projectiles, including drones, were brought down near the destroyer USS Carney.

European intelligence findings reported that the actual number of deaths in the recent blast in a Gaza hospital was largely misreported by Hamas ministry officials, French media reported.

While Hamas reported 471 deaths, European intelligence data estimated the number as between 10-50 deaths.

The Israeli government on Thursday evening approved a decision to dedicate emergency funds to evacuation assistance and accommodation for residents of Ashkelon who do not have access to an adequate bomb shelter, according to Walla.  This will also aid those without a consistent place to live as well as the elderly. 

This plan, which will dedicate NIS 160 million of coalition funds to the relocation effort, is projected to help approximately 27,000 Israelis living in Ashkelon.  

Thursday’s escalation along the border between Israel and Lebanon has revived Hamas’s hope of fulfilling its vision of the “Unity of the Battlefields,” which aims to trigger a multi-front confrontation with Israel.

Both Hamas and Hezbollah claimed responsibility for the firing of dozens of rockets at Israeli army bases and communities. Hamas is desperate to drag Hezbollah into the war.

Hezbollah, for its part, is seeking to send a message to Hamas that the Lebanon-based group has not abandoned its Palestinian allies and is ready to join the war.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met on Thursday with soldiers from the IDF's 51st and 13th Golani battalions stationed near the Gaza border. 

"They fought like lions," Netanyahu said of the Golani combat soldiers, "and they will [continue to] fight like lions."

He continued, telling them: "The entire nation of Israel stands behind you, and we will strike at our enemies until we achieve victory."

srael's government was preparing an economic aid package for those impacted by attacks by Hamas militants that will be "bigger and broader" than during the COVID-19 pandemic, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on Thursday.

Speaking to reporters, Smotrich said Israel's economy and fiscal position - such as a low debt-to-GDP ratio - was strong enough to support the military and civilian war efforts as needed.

"We have money and we will use it now for everything that is needed with a generous hand," Smotrich said. "We have stopped everything that is not important in the budget and we are diverting everything to the needs of the war and supporting the economy."

He added that in the coming days Israel would increase the budget framework in parliament to create "maximum flexibility for ourselves."

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant visited Israel's South on Thursday and met with soldiers serving on the Gaza border. 

"We are first and foremost focused on... defeating Hamas," Gallant said. "I have been leading soldiers into battles for 45 years. I am responsible for security. I was responsible for it these last two weeks - even during difficult times, I am responsible for bringing [Israel] to victory."

He later told troops on the Gaza border: "You see Gaza now from afar. Soon, you'll see it from inside."

Intelligence Minister Gila Gamliel has told The Jerusalem Post in an exclusive interview in the context of the war with Hamas and the conflict with Hezbollah that Israel’s intelligence services know that Hezbollah acts according to Iran’s directives even more precisely than with Gaza.

In other words, Hamas also has massive Iranian funding, logistics support, and training, and is regularly pressed by Iran to provoke Israel, but Hezbollah is “even more a direct proxy of Iran, and Iran’s direct involvement with them is even greater than with Gaza,” said Gamliel.

Islamic Jihad is also known as being a direct proxy of Iran, but Hezbollah was the first and fully rules Lebanon, whereas Islamic Jihad must also contend with Hamas strategies and policies.

All of this means that after Hamas is dealt with, Israel will still need to eventually return its attention to the Iran-Hezbollah tandem.

Part of Gamliel’s role as intelligence minister is to hold regular meetings with top intelligence and defense officials, provide oversight over their budget and inter-agency sharing, and to also receive cabinet updates from those top officials.

Israeli security forces struck targets in southern Lebanon after a barrage of approximately 30 rockets was fired into Israel.

As a result, there were reports of rocket fall in Kiryat Shmona, according to Israeli media, with two people reported injured. 

Hamas's military wing took responsibility late Thursday afternoon for approximately 30 rockets that had been fired into Israel's north from Lebanon, according to Israeli media. This was after Hezbollah took responsibility for the initial barrages. 

Recently recovered video documentation showed Hamas terrorists traveling on a road uninterrupted to the entrance of Kibbutz Re'im, leading to the October 7th massacre of Israeli civilians living in Gaza border communities and throughout Israel.

The video showed several terrorists in vehicles, primarily white pick-up trucks, stacked in the back of the car and shooting.

WATCH: New footage that emerged from the October 7 massacre in Israel shows Hamas terrorists blocking roads near Re'im, the site of the rave party massacre, while gunfire is heard in the background.

(CREDIT: VIA @MaarivOnline) Read more here: https://t.co/K4OJlfzWO5 pic.twitter.com/Dt71P49IKJ

— The Jerusalem Post (@Jerusalem_Post) October 19, 2023

The terrorists are shown shooting aimlessly and blocking traffic just at the entrance of the Re'im nature party, which was soon massacred.