Israel-Hamas War: What happened on day 194?

The IDF carried out several attacks on terrorists in the Rafah area. It was also reported that there were several dead and wounded, according to Israeli media citing Palestinian media.

Rockets sound in the northern towns of Kfar Giladi, Kfar Yuval, and Metulla

In recent evacuations of injured soldiers from the Gaza Strip, it has taken 27 minutes from the moment a soldier is injured to the moment he is in a helicopter in the air, said Lieutenant-Colonel N, head of a team in the air force command cell responsible for evacuating injured soldiers.

In these recent cases, it has taken around 40 minutes from the moment a soldier is injured until he is in an operating room, he added.

On average, from the moment someone is injured, under the direction of N's command cell, a helicopter will pick them up and lift off with them within 47 minutes. which is unprecedented, he said.

"If you live in Tel Aviv, it takes longer to order a pizza than for an injured person to get a helicopter in Gaza," joked N.

Foreign ministers from the G7 forum headed to the island of Capri on Wednesday for a three-day meeting to discuss how to prevent tensions in the Middle East from erupting into a regional war.

"At our meeting we will discuss how we can prevent the extremely dangerous situation in the Middle East from becoming a regional conflagration following Iran's unprecedented attack on Israel," said German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock before departing Israel for Capri.

"As the G7, we speak with one voice: all actors in the region are called upon to exercise maximum restraint," Baerbock added. "Because a spiral of escalation would not serve anyone - not Israel's security, not the dozens of hostages still in the hands of Hamas, not the suffering population of Gaza, not the many people in Iran who are themselves suffering under the regime, and not even the third countries in the region."

European Union leaders will meet on Wednesday to discuss stepping up sanctions against Iran after Tehran's missile and drone attack on Israel.

The bloc's 27 national leaders will hold a summit in Brussels as world powers try to prevent a wider conflict in the Middle East, more than six months into the war between Israel and the Iran-backed Palestinian terror organization Hamas.

Israel has not said how it will respond to Saturday's attack, but EU leaders have urged it to exercise restraint while signalling their readiness to tighten sanctions on Tehran.

"The EU is ready to take further restrictive measures against Iran, notably in relation to unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and missiles," a draft statement said ahead of the EU summit, which was due to start at 1700 GMT.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday that Iran's attack on Israel was the latest signal of the intent of a "new league of authoritarians," mentioning Russia and North Korea as well.

Speaking at a defense and security conference in Brussels, she added that this league is working to tear up international rules-based order and to stretch democracies to a breaking point.

Hakan Fidan, Turkish Foreign Minister, met with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Qatar on Wednesday to discuss the situation in Gaza, according to a Turkish diplomatic source.  

Haniyeh will visit Turkey at the weekend to hold talks with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan.

Haniyeh will visit Turkey on Friday to hold talks with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish national television news channel NTV said on Wednesday.

"I will host the leader of the Palestinian cause at the weekend. We will discuss a number of issues," Erdogan earlier told lawmakers from his AK Party in parliament, once again calling Hamas a "liberation movement."

Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report. 

14 IDF soldiers were wounded on Wednesday by two Hezbollah drones and two anti-tank missiles at and around a community center in Arab al-Aramshe, a Bedouin village in the northern Galilee.

The village is less than three kilometers from the Lebanese village from which the anti-tank missiles and drones were launched, likely part of why most of the attacks got past Israel's warning systems as well as its air defense systems, though the IDF was still probing the issue.

Also, the IDF is probing why the building materials for the structures which were hurt did not sufficiently protect those inside.

US Army ships that are heading for Gaza to build a temporary pier or floating dock have arrived in Crete, according to vessel-tracking websites. The ships left Fort Eustis on the James River on March 12 and had to make their way across the Atlantic Ocean.

The US ordered the ships to head to the coast of Gaza because of the humanitarian crisis in March after a stampede broke out near a convoy of trucks, leading to numerous deaths. Today Israel has opened a new northern crossing to Gaza and much of the humanitarian situation has improved and more trucks are crossing to Gaza.

The armada of ships includes five US Army watercraft, including the USAV James A. Loux (LSV-6), USAV Montorrey (LCU-2030), USAV Matamoros (LCU-2026), USAV General Frank S. Besson Jr. (LSV-1)  and USAV Wilson Wharf (LCU-2011). They traveled down the Chesapeake Bay and then headed south along the coast of the Carolinas before heading to the open ocean passing Bermuda, and arriving off the coast of Spain and Africa.

The ships are part of the US Army’s 7th Transportation Brigade of the 18th Airborne Corps. Back in March, US Central Command said the ships “from the 7th Transportation Brigade (Expeditionary), 3rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command, XVIII Airborne Corps, departed Joint Base Langley-Eustis en route to the Eastern Mediterranean to establish a roll-on, roll-off dock capability that allows the ship to shore humanitarian assistance to Gaza. SP4 James A. Loux, Monterrey, Matamoros, and Wilson Warf are carrying equipment and supplies needed to establish a temporary pier to deliver vital humanitarian supplies.”

According to the Vessel Finder website, the ships are now moored at the Crete Naval Base in Souda Bay. These include the USAV Matamoros, USAV James A. Loux, USAV Monterrey, and USAV General Frank S. Besson Jr. The USAV Wilson’s Wharf, however, appears to still be in the Atlantic Ocean at the Canary Islands in a port near Tenerife. It’s not clear why it is lagging behind or if it was dispatched for a different mission.

A view shows the Chinese Navy frigate Linyi during the Maritime Security Belt 2024 international naval exercise of Russia, China and Iran in the Gulf of Oman, in this still image taken from video released March 12, 2024. (credit: Russian Defence Ministry/Handout via REUTERS)

US naval base in Crete

The Iranian-backed terror group Hezbollah claimed on April 17 that it targeted the headquarters of the IDF’s 91st division in Biranit in northern Israel, according to a report at the pro-Iranian Al-Mayadeen media. Sirens sounded in the area of Alkosh, Matat, Fassuta, Netua and Hurfeish on April 17 in the morning.

The 91st division is responsible for the Lebanese border. Hezbollah has claimed to target the base of the division in the past and has also targeted IDF northern command in Safed and also targeted an IDF facility on Mount Meron in the past.

Hezbollah appears to be trying to increase tensions in the north. On April 16 it flew two drones into Israeli airspace and carried out other attacks. This follows the large attack Hezbollah carried out to support the Iranian attack on the night of April 13-14 in which Hezbollah fired more than 150 rockets at IDF bases in the Golan.

On April 17 Al-Mayadeen noted that Hezbollah “in solidarity with Gaza and in response to the attacks on Lebanese villages, the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon announces that it has targeted sites belonging to the Israeli occupation on the border with occupied Palestine.” The Burkan missile has a heavy warhead but can only be fired a short distance.

Israel has wanted Hezbollah to be removed from the border area so it can’t fire large missiles like this and also anti-tank missiles which has used since it began attacks on Israel on October 8 to back Hamas. Hezbollah has fired more than 3,200 missiles and rockets at Israel over six months of attacks.

Hezbollah strikes Israel targets

A Hezbollah fighter stands in front of anti-tank artillery at Juroud Arsal, the Syria-Lebanon border, July 29, 2017. (credit: ALI HASHISHO/REUTERS)

Hezbollah claimed, according to Al-Mayadeen, that it also “targeted a new deployment of Israeli occupation army soldiers south of the same barracks, using rocket weapons and artillery shells, twice in two separate operations.” It claimed to target an area called “Ramia.” It was not clear where this is. Also Hezbollah said they targeted an IDF vehicle near Metulla on the northern border.