Israel-Hamas War Day 198: What's going on in Gaza, Lebanon?

Iran's Student News Network reported on Saturday that Iran would be receiving a shipment of Sukhoi 35 (Su-35) fighter jets from Russia next week, but later deleted the report and said that it was false.

In November, Russian and Iranian officials announced that Russia was delivering Yak-130 trainers, Su-35 fighters, and Mi-28 helicopters to Iran but added that the process was "ongoing." It remains unclear if any Su-35 fighter jets were ever actually delivered.

The Kuwaiti Al-Jarida newspaper reported last week that Iran had already received some Su-35 fighter jets about a year ago but was unable to operate them due to a lack of certain parts.

Thousands of protesters gathered throughout Tel Aviv on Saturday evening, calling for the return of hostages held in Hamas captivity and demonstrating against the government, Israeli media reported.

The protests took place in various locations in the city. Groups gathered outside the Tel Aviv Museum of Art at Hostages Square and blocked several streets, including the Kaplan interchange and Begin Road. 

As protestors marched through the city, police blocked the roads leading to the Ayalon highway to prevent demonstrators from blocking it. 

During the protest, demonstrators screened a movie titled "One Request," which demanded that government leaders take action to return those held in Hamas captivity for almost 200 days. Protesters also called for immediate elections in the country. 

An alleged Israeli airstrike targeted a radar site belonging to the Syrian Army between the towns of Izraa and Naamer in southern Syria on Saturday night, according to Arabic media.

Syrian air defenses were activated in response to the airstrike, according to Sputnik.

Anti-Israel activists threatened Jewish and Israeli students with further October 7 Massacres, claimed membership with Hamas, and expressed support for terrorism during the Columbia University protests that began on Wednesday, according to footage and accounts from local media and organizations.

"Remember the 7th of October!" shouted a man with a red keffiyeh over his face in a video published by Columbia Sundial editor-in-chief Jonas Du on social media on Friday.  "That will happen not one more time, not five more times, not 10 more times, not 100 more times, not 1000 more times, but 10,000 times!"

Calling for "October 7 everyday"

"Never forget the 7th of October," said another masked man wearing a Palestinian flag, standing outside the campus gates on Thursday night. "Are you ready? 7th of October is about to be every day. Every day.  7th of October is going to be every day for you."

"Never forget the 7th of October. That will happen not one more time, not five more times, not 10...100…1000…10,000...The 7th of October is going to be every day for you."

Protestors screamed this at two Jewish @Columbia students right outside campus gates tonight. pic.twitter.com/VYp0tFudGj

— Jonas Du (@jonasydu) April 19, 2024

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lashed out at the United States for its plans to sanction the IDF’s Netzah Yehuda Battalion, which in the past has been accused of mistreating Palestinians.

Among the more high-profile incidents was the death of Palestinian American Omar As’ad, 80, of a heart attack after he had been detained, blindfolded, gagged, and handcuffed by that battalion in the West Bank. 

Netanyahu calls for the government to act against move

“At a time when our soldiers are fighting terrorist monsters, the intention to sanction a unit in the IDF is the height of absurdity and a moral low,” Netanyahu wrote in a post on X late Saturday night.

“In recent weeks, I have been working against the leveling of sanctions on Israeli citizens, including in my conversations with senior American government officials,” he stated.

Israel and Iran appeared to step back from the brink of an all-out war on Saturday, even as Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian warned his country would respond forcibly to any further military action against it.

“If Israel wants to do another [act of] adventurism and acts against the interests of Iran, our next response will be immediate and will be at the maximum level,” he told NBC.

Amirabdollahian spoke hours after Israel struck Iranian air force assets in Isfahan, in central Iran, early Friday morning in retaliation for the Islamic Republic’s unprecedented attack on April 14 of more than 300 drones and missiles.

Israel had said that such attacks could not be normalized and that it would have to respond but did not go so far as to publicly acknowledge the Isfahan strike.

Several national anti-Israel groups have threatened to "seize" universities across the United States to force them to adopt Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions policies on Saturday, raising the specter that encampments and protests like those seen at Columbia University could be replicated across the continent.

"The supposed power of our administrators is nothing compared to the strength of the united students, staff, and faculty committed to realizing justice and upholding Palestinian liberation on campus," National Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) wrote on social media.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to announce sanctions against the IDF’s Netzah Yehuda Battalion in the next few days, according to three American sources.  

The sanctions are a result of human rights violations against Palestinians in the West Bank. 

This will be the first time that the United States government has imposed sanctions on an Israeli military unit for its activities in the West Bank.

The sources stated that the American sanctions will prohibit the transfer of US military aid to the Netzah Yehuda Battalion, will prevent its soldiers and officers from taking part in training with the United States military, and will prevent the soldiers from this unit from participating in activities that receive American funding.

The US House of Representatives on Saturday with broad bipartisan support passed a $95 billion legislative package providing security assistance to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, over bitter objections from Republican hardliners.

The legislation now proceeds to the Democratic-majority Senate, which passed a similar measure more than two months ago. US leaders from Democratic President Joe Biden to top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell have been urging embattled Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson to bring it up for a vote.

The Senate is expected to pass the measure next week, sending it to Biden to sign into law.

A dozen or so Democratic lawmakers waved small Ukrainian flags as it became clear that element of the package was headed to passage. Johnson told lawmakers that was a "violation of decorum."

Earlier Thursday, the  US House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a resolution condemning Iran's drone and missile attack on Israel and supporting Israel's right to respond to Iranian aggression through military means. 

The 13 most progressive members of the Democratic party and one Republican voted against the legislatively symbolic resolution. 

While Progressive Caucus member Rep. Mark Pocan (D-MI) voted in favor of Thursday's resolution, he's been heavily critical of Israel's conduct during the war and quickly condemned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for retaliating against Iran. 

This is why the US "can't continue to supply Netanyahu with offensive weapons," Pocan said. 

"He’s going to bring us into a broader conflict we asked him not to do. His interests are NOT the United States interests," Pocan said on X. "I hope calmer heads prevail in Iran but doubt it. This could be very, very bad."