Israel at war: What happened on days 42-43?

Rocket sirens sounded across northern Israeli border towns on Saturday morning after a barrage of at least 25 rockets was fired from Lebanon, the IDF confirmed.

The Israeli military said it was striking the source of the fire, as well as several Hezbollah terror positions across the border. 

Sirens also sounded in the northern city of Kiryat Shmona later on Saturday. The IDF said it responded to the rocket fire.

The IDF strikes Hezbollah terror targets in southern Lebanon on November 18, 2023 (credit: REUTERS/ALAA AL-MARJANI)

Hezbollah says it shot down Israeli drone

The Iran-backed Hezbollah said it shot down an Israeli drone near the border in the early hours of Saturday.

Lebanese officials said an Israeli airstrike hit a building in an industrial area near the town of Nabatieh, one of the deepest Israeli strikes inside Lebanese territory since fighting resumed last month. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the incident.

The IDF's Duvdevan Unit has raided Hamas infrastructures in the Gaza Strip and found a large amount of weapons and military equipment inside a high school during one of their raids on Saturday, a military spokesperson said.

Soldiers in the Dovdevan Unit encountered and eliminated Hamas terrorists whilst dismantling their infrastructure.

Additionally, the also raided infrastructure at the house belonging to a commander of an engineering company in Hamas's northern battalions. Weapons and training manuals by Hamas were found in the raid.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz criticized Israel's settlement policy in the West Bank on Saturday and repeated calls for a two state solution for Israel and Palestinians.

"We don't want any new settlements in the West Bank, no violence by settlers against the Palestinians in the West Bank," Scholz said during a visit to Nuthetal in Brandenburg state.

The best outcome for Israelis and Palestinians remains the two-state solution, he said.

"If some in Israeli politics distance themselves from this, we will not support them," Scholz said.

Family members of some hostages and those missing in Gaza marched this week from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem under the slogan "We are going to bring them back."

The marchers, numbering about 20 thousand since Saturday morning, are intensifying and are expected to arrive in Jerusalem in the coming hours.

A short time ago, the marchers arrived at Mevasseret Zion and received a warm welcome. The families of the hostages call on the entire war cabinet to meet them this evening. "You are responsible for returning them, meet us, and stop making us beg - it doesn't make sense," said the families' representatives.

Who will they meet with?

The families are expected to meet with ministers Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. However, the representatives of the families are still waiting for approval to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Galant, and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer.

Israel has called on residents of the city of Khan Yunis to evacuate on Saturday, with leaflets distributed by the IDF that asked them to reach areas where Israel allows the transfer of humanitarian aid.

As the IDF operates in the northern Gaza Strip, Israeli forces are expected to locate underground tunnels built by Hamas.

IDF spokesman R.-Adm Daniel Hagari said on Friday said that more information on Hamas' underground infrastructure and the hostages' location were discovered. Earlier that day, Israeli forces found RPG bombs, mortar bombs, and weapons in a kindergarten in Gaza.

US President Joe Biden's top adviser on the Middle East said on Saturday the release of hostages held by the Palestinian terror group Hamas would lead to a surge in the delivery of humanitarian aid and a significant pause in fighting in Gaza.

"The hostages are released, you will see a significant, significant change," Brett McGurk said at the IISS Manama Dialogue security summit in Bahrain.

Bahrain's crown prince, speaking at the summit on Friday, called on Hamas to release Israeli women and children held hostage and for Israel in exchange to release from its prisons Palestinian women and children who he claimed were non-combatants.

UAE worried over Israeli long-term presence in Gaza

A top foreign policy adviser to the United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan said on Saturday that statements from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about a longer-term presence in Gaza were worrying.

"We hear now from the Israeli prime minister and indeed the Israeli president about the sort of longer-term Israeli connection to Gaza. They are very worrying," Anwar Gargash said at the summit in Bahrain.

The IDF eliminated a Hamas terrorist cell on Saturday that carried out a barrage of rocket fire on Israel's center the day before.

Reservists from the IDF's 16th Jerusalem Brigade identified the terrorists who carried out the shooting from the roof of a building and directed an IAF aircraft to eliminate them.

This is a developing story.

The Iran-backed Hezbollah said it shot down an Israeli drone near the border in the early hours of Saturday.

Lebanese officials said an Israeli airstrike hit a building in an industrial area near the town of Nabatieh, one of the deepest Israeli strikes inside Lebanese territory since fighting resumed last month. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the incident.