Israel-Hamas War: What happened on day 86?
Israel can only discuss 'day after' when Gaza war ends, Netanyahu claims • IDF intercepts Iraqi drone over Golan Heights, strikes in Lebanon
IDF says it 'must think' about post-war Gaza after Netanyahu comments
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted that discussions about what would happen to the Gaza Strip "the day after" the war ends would need to wait until Hamas was defeated.
The IDF must look ahead to the future as it operates in the Gaza Strip, Israeli military spokesperson R.-Adm. Daniel Hagari said in a Sunday evening briefing.
Earlier on Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted that discussions about what would happen to the Gaza Strip "the day after" the war ends would need to wait until Hamas was defeated.
Netanyahu: Israel can only discuss day after when Gaza war ends
Speaking in a Sunday cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said that the "day after must get here first."
"In order to talk about the day after, it needs to get here first. Only the IDF will have control," the prime minister said.
"Obviously, the Strip will be demilitarized. There will be no power except Israel," said Netanyahu.
Netanyahu: I plan to get rid of Hamas, but not my job
In spite of his plummeted popularity, Netanyahu is dedicated to remaining in office and remains steadfast in his commitment to the nation's security.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he has no plans to resign once the Gaza war is over, even though his popularity has plummeted and others are already eyeing his seat.
“I plan to get rid of Hamas, but won’t get rid of my job,” he told reporters in Tel Aviv on Saturday night when asked if he planned to step down when the IDF’s military campaign to oust Hamas is over.
Netanyahu also asserted that he remained strong on the issue of Israeli security despite the Hamas-led infiltration of southern Israel on October 7, during which 1,200 people were killed and some 250 were taken hostage.
Netanyahu asserts that he remains strong on security
“During the years that I led Israel, it became much stronger,” Netanyahu stated. The IDF’s ability to handle multi-front threats is proof of this, he added.
He spoke as polls continued to show he has lost significant support since last year when he won the 2022 elections with 32 seats for his Likud Party.
A Maariv poll from over the weekend showed that if elections were held today, the Likud under his leadership would garner only 17 seats.
Minister Benny Gantz, who heads the National Unity Party, received 38 seats in that same poll, compared to the 12 he garnered in the last election.
In an interview with Channel 12’s Meet the Press on Saturday night, Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chairman MK Yuli Edelstein said he did not think this was the time for elections.
“I would prefer that those in the upper echelon would take responsibility,” he said, adding that he didn’t believe I was wise to switch governments in the middle of a war.
“But you can’t continue as normal,” he added.
Opposition Lead Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid) has called for Netanyahu to resign.
Go to the full article >>Mossad chief approved to proceed with Qatari hostage release proposal
The proposal would include the release of 40-50 hostages in exchange for a ceasefire lasting a few weeks.
The war cabinet gave approval to Mossad chief David Barnea to proceed with the Qatari proposal to secure the release of the hostages in Gaza, Kan 11 reported on Saturday.
The Jerusalem Post reported earlier this week that the proposal would include the release of 40-50 hostages in exchange for a ceasefire lasting a few weeks.
Both Israel and Hamas had previously not come to an agreement about the proposal, but Hamas reportedly stated that it "agrees in principle" to return to such negotiations.
Kan noted that the move signified a shift in Hamas’s previous position, as the organization used to take the stance that without a permanent ceasefire, no hostages would be released.
“We have moved from the freezer to the coldest shelf in the refrigerator," an Israeli source told Kan, providing an analogy to depict the complex nature of negotiating with Hamas.
Further plans for the future
The war cabinet will meet on Sunday to further discuss the hostage deal, according to Kan.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir will also discuss the issue of how Gaza will be run after the war.
Despite the complexity of this war, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remains committed to gaining victory over Hamas.
In last week's war cabinet meeting, he stated that although it may take time to win, "We are united and determined to fight until the end."
Go to the full article >>Netanyahu: Bennett was not authorized to disclose Israeli strike on Iran
"We will oppose [Iran] in every place in every way," Netanyahu said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu charged that his predecessor Naftali Bennett acted with “grave irresponsibility” for admitting that Israel directly attacked a military target in Iran last year.
"He has no authority to make those claims," Netanyahu said on Saturday night, explaining that only a sitting Prime Minister is tasked with making such claims.
Netanyahu spoke in response to an opinion piece Bennett published in the Wall Street Journal on Thursday in which he stated that the IDF had “destroyed a UAV based on Iranian soil” after it had launched two failed UAV attacks on Israel in February 2022.
Attempted terror
“Iran’s terror unit attempted to kill Israeli tourists in Turkey and failed. Shortly thereafter, the commander of that very unit was assassinated in the center of Tehran,” Bennett wrote, hinting that Israel was behind that killing.
In that piece, Bennett called on Israel and the United States to directly attack the Islamic Republic, as he criticized Netanyahu’s policies on Iran while buttressing his own.
Netanyahu also has a history of publicizing information about veiled Israeli regional attacks. When he was opposition leader in 2007, he revealed that Israel had struck the site of a suspected nuclear reactor in Syria.
In speaking with reporters on Saturday night, Netanyahu said, that his 2007 utterance which was done in the context of a live interview was a mistake but had been intended as a compliment to the then Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Bennett’s admission, Netanyahu said, was done in a written article and was thus deliberate and well thought out.
Go to the full article >>Netanyahu warns Hezbollah, Iran and sees flexibility on hostage deal
“Relieving myself of Hamas, not my job” - “Gaza war will go on for months”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a stern warning to Iran and Hezbollah as he confirmed that the Gaza war could continue for months and said there was possible movement on proposal to secure the release of additional hostages.
“We see a possibility, maybe for movement,” Netanyahu said, adding that a strong military campaign in Gaza was the best pressure point for such an agreement.
“On the northern border, we are landing heavy blows against Hezbollah, eliminating many terrorists and destroying the enemy’s capabilities,” Netanyahu said in a press conference in Tel Aviv on Saturday night.
He spoke as Israel continued its military operation to destroy Hamas in Gaza, even as it thwarted Hezbollah violence along its northern border, working to prevent the situation from escalating into a full-fledged war.
Netanyahu said diplomacy was the best option to restore security to that border but noted that Israel would not hesitate to act against the Iranian proxy group should those options fail.
“We approved operational plans for the continuation of the fighting. If Hezbollah expands the war, it will receive blows it never dreamed of – and so will Iran. We will act in any way until we restore security to the residents of the North,” Netanyahu stated.
“Iran leads the axis of evil and aggression against us on the various fronts,” the prime minister stated.
“This aggression is directed not only against Israel but against the entire free world. We act against Iran all the time, everywhere, in every way,” he said, as he declined to provide details to back up his statement.
Netanyahu reaffirms intent to prevent a nuclear Iran
Netanyahu also underscored the importance of preventing a nuclear Iran, as the Islamic Republic continues to inch closer to weapons-grade uranium enrichment.
“Everyone understands today that the threat from Iran will increase dozens of times if Iran has nuclear weapons. And so the goal that I have been working for many years... remains the same: to do anything – anything – to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons,” he said.
The prime minister also spoke about the importance of an international coalition to thwart the Yemen-based Houthi threat against shipping routes in the Red Sea. Israel has warned that Iran is behind those attacks.
“I talked with many leaders about the need to establish an international coalition to maintain the freedom of international navigation,” he stated.
Concerning Gaza, Netanyahu said that the war would continue until Israel’s two primary goals were completed: “the elimination of Hamas and the release of all our hostages.”
“As prime minister, I have pushed back against international pressures aimed at stopping the war before we achieved these goals,” he said.
Netanyahu noted that he appreciated the Biden administration’s support for Israel’s war against Hamas, both in its actions at the United Nations and in its approval over the weekend of additional military supplies for the IDF.
Netanyahu: We have not given up, not for a moment, on return of hostages
Concerning the hostages, he stated, “We have not given up, not for a moment, our efforts to bring our captives home – even in these moments.”
He spoke amid reports on KAN News that the war cabinet had permitted Mossad Chief David Barnea to work with Qatar on a deal it was attempting to mediate that would include a pause of several weeks to the war in exchange for the release of additional hostages, likely women, children and the elderly.
Hamas had been insisting on a permanent ceasefire for any hostage deal, but Israeli is now estimating that it would be willing to move forward on a partial deal.
There are 129 hostages held in Gaza out of some 250 that Hamas and other terrorists seized from southern Israel on October 7. Some 1,200 people were killed in that Hamas-led attack.
There are 110 hostages who have already been freed. Another eight were found dead and another three were mistakenly killed by the IDF.
Netanyahu told reporters that Hamas had put forward all kinds of ultimatums that have been rejected and that there was now a possible flexibility, but that he didn’t want to raise false hopes.
In its war against Hamas, the IDF has “so far eliminated over 8,000 terrorists – and every day of fighting we eliminate many more terrorists,” the prime minister said. “Step by step, we are depriving Hamas of its capabilities. We are hitting the top officials – and we will also eliminate Hamas leaders. Hamas will be defeated.”
It’s important, Netanyahu said, for Israel to ensure that Hamas cannot continue to pose a threat to it. To that end, he said, Israel has no intention of giving up the Philadelphi Corridor, which is a buffer zone by Gaza’s border with Egypt. This “must remain” in Israel’s hands, he emphasized.
Netanyahu, in response to reporters’ questions, the premier rejected any suggestion that he had weakened Israel’s security while in office or that he would consider resigning.
“The only thing I plan to relieve myself of is Hamas: I am not relieving myself of anything else,” he stated. Destroying Hamas “is what I am focused on – and not anything else.”
Go to the full article >>IDF finds Chinese weapons used in Gaza - report
"China has an extensive arms industry," an expert on China-Israel relations said. "By definition, it does not sell weapons to non-state entities."
A "massive" number of Chinese weaponry used by Palestinian terrorists has been seized by the IDF in Gaza, N12 reported on Saturday.
As per the report, the political echelon was briefed on the findings.
How did Chinese weapons get to Gazan terrorists' hands?
Following N12's report, Carice Witte, CEO and founder of SIGNAL Group and an expert on China-Israel relations, said that while it is certainly possible Chinese weapons have made it to the Palestinian terrorist group's hands, it was not bought directly from Beijing.
"China has an extensive arms industry," Wette said. "By definition, it does not sell weapons to non-state entities, it certainly does sell weapons to countries in the [Middle East].
According to Wette, those responsible for the weaponry's presence in Gaza are either countries or independent Chinese actors illegally selling the weaponry to Gazan-based groups.
"Trade relations between China and Middle Eastern nations are well known, even with those sanctioned by the West," she added. "It is not impossible that such weaponry ends up in the wrong hands.
She added that Israel "must check the issue with official Chinese authorities."
Go to the full article >>Large IDF forces operating in Tulkarm
Large IDF forces were operating in the West Bank city of Tulkarm on Saturday night, amid reports of violence and disorder.
Go to the full article >>Large IDF forces operating in Tulkarm
Large IDF forces were operating in the West Bank city of Tulkarm on Saturday night, amid reports of violence and disorder.
Go to the full article >>IDF kills Abdel Fattah Ma'ali, right-hand man of Hamas "Engineer" Yahya Ayash - reports
The IDF has killed Hamas operative Abd el-Fatah Maali, according to reports in Palestinian media on Saturday.
Maali was the deputy of Yahya Ayash, the Hamas bomb-maker known as the "Engineer," who was responsible for the deaths of an estimated 90 Israelis before his assassination by the Shin Bet in 1996.
Go to the full article >>US shoot down two missiles launched from Houthi-controlled areas
While responding, the Navy destroyer Gravely shot down two anti-ship ballistic missiles fired from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen.
The United States shot down two missiles headed toward a container ship in the southern Red Sea and launched from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen on Saturday, Central Command (CENTCOM) said.
A Singapore-flagged, Denmark-owned/operated container ship reported that it was struck by a missile and the US Gravely and US Laboon responded to the ship, CENTCOM said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
While responding, the Navy destroyer Gravely shot down two anti-ship ballistic missiles fired from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen, CENTCOM added.
The vessel is reportedly seaworthy and there were no reported injuries, CENTCOM said.
Continuous attacks
The Iran-aligned Houthis, who control much of Yemen, have disrupted world trade for weeks with attacks on ships passing through the Bab al-Mandab Strait at the southern end of the Red Sea in what they say is a response to Israel's war in Gaza.
This is the 23rd attack by the Houthis on international shipping since Nov. 19, CENTCOM said.
Go to the full article >>Israel-Hamas War: What you need to know
- Hamas launched a massive attack on October 7, with thousands of terrorists infiltrating from the Gaza border and taking some 240 hostages into Gaza
- Over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals were murdered, including over 350 in the Re'im music festival and hundreds of Israeli civilians across Gaza border communities