Israel-Hamas war: What happened on day 201?

US Vice President Kamala Harris spoke with Israel's President Isaac Herzog on Tuesday night and reassured him of the Biden's administration "commitment to Israel's security, including international efforts to ensure Israel can defend itself against Iran and its proxies," The White house said in a statement. 

In addition,  Harris "welcomed the supplemental funding package passed by the House of Representatives," according to the statement. 

The two leaders also spoke of the need to reach a hostage deal, the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, and the rise in antisemitism in the US and worldwide. 

The United Nations omitted Hamas from its blacklist of state and non-state parties guilty of sexual violence in 2023, due to a lack of evidence it deemed credible enough.

The blacklist was part of a larger annual report on sexual violence authored by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, which was completed this month and debated Tuesday at the United Nations Security Council.

Guterres's April report described sexual violence in 18 conflict settings or situations of concern, including the Hamas-led October invasion of Israel and Russia’s war against Ukraine.

An Israeli drone allegedly hit a vehicle in Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, killing a Hamas police officer, Walla reported Wednesday morning, citing Palestinian reports. 

Overnight Wednesday, the IDF fired artillery at several areas in Gaza, including central Gaza and also at  Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza, where Hamas is still attempting to reinstate itself, according to the IDF.

Jewish Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders commented on the US Senate's decision to approve aid to Israel in a statement published to X on Wednesday. 

"I voted no tonight on the foreign aid package for one simple reason: US taxpayers should not be providing billions to the extremist Netanyahu government to continue its devastating war against the Palestinian people."

I voted no tonight on the foreign aid package for one simple reason: U.S. taxpayers should not be providing billions more to the extremist Netanyahu government to continue its devastating war against the Palestinian people. pic.twitter.com/WzTtm6ShYb

— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) April 24, 2024

Previously, on Saturday, Sanders tweeted, "I will do everything in my power to make sure the United States does not send more unconditional military aid to Netanyahu’s war machine and does not allow any more children to starve in Gaza."

The IDF is preparing to begin the ground operation in Rafah "very soon," beginning with a massive evacuation of over a million Palestinians, Kan 11 reported Tuesday evening, citing two American officials. 

Palestinians will reportedly be required to evacuate in the next four to five weeks to tent complexes that international aid organizations have set up. 

The plan for the Rafah operation has been presented to American officials as well as other agencies in the region, KAN noted. According to the plan, the operation will move forward in stages, based on a regional division of the Gazan city into defined areas. 

Diaspora Affairs and Combatting Antisemitism Minister Amichai Chikli told KAN B on Wednesday morning that if he were an American, he would vote for former US President Donald Trump.

"If you look at Biden's strategy in what happened in Afghanistan, Ukraine, and the Middle East - he said 'Don't' to Hezbollah and Iran at the beginning of the war, and we saw the result," Chikli said. "I don't think that the United States under [Biden's] leadership radiates power. [His administration] hurts both the State of Israel and many other countries. If I were an American citizen with the right to vote, I would vote for Trump and the Republicans."

Chikli belongs to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi referred to an extensive Israeli reaction towards his country during his visit to Pakistan, stating on Tuesday that "an attack on Iranian territory will bring about a complete change of circumstances," the official IRNA news agency quoted him as saying.

Raisi also claimed that an attack of this type "could result in nothing being left of the Zionist regime."

Iran carried out an unprecedented attack against Israel earlier this month, which included over 300 launches of missiles and unmanned aircraft. Last Thursday night, a number of Israeli attacks on Iranian territory were attributed as a response to this, most notably in the city of Isfahan.

Several rockets from Lebanon fell into open areas in the Shomera region, the IDF reported Wednesday morning.

Shortly after, the Israel Air Force (IAF) attacked and destroyed the rocket launcher from which the rockets were fired in the Tayr Harfa area. 

Additionally, the IAF also struck infrastructure in the area of Markaba, a military compound in the Ayta ash Shab area, and a Hezbollah observation post in the area of Marwahin. 

IDF artillery also opened fire to remove a threat in the areas of Chihine and Kfarchouba. 

Israel Air Force (IAF) fighter jets targeted two Hamas launch posts in a humanitarian area in southern Gaza overnight into Wednesday, following intelligence reports and operational identification, the IDF stated. 

The IDF noted that the strike was made after taking precautions to mitigate civilian harm, adding that the launch sites were filled with rockets and were struck before any were fired toward Israel. 

The IDF continues to operate in central Gaza, eliminating terrorists and destroying Hamas infrastructure, the military said. 

Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah said on Tuesday it had launched a drone attack against Israeli military bases north of the city of Acre, in its deepest strike into Israeli territory since the Gaza war began.

The IDF said it had no knowledge of any of its facilities being hit by Hezbollah, but had said earlier on Tuesday that it intercepted two "aerial targets" off Israel's northern coast.

Hezbollah said it acted in retaliation for an earlier Israeli attack killing one of its terrorists. The group published what appeared to be a satellite photo, with the location of the strike symbolized by a flash with a red circle around it that sat halfway between Acre and Nahariyya to the north.

Heavy missile rockets attack that landed in the kibbutz of Hanita, northern Israel, on April 21, 2024. (credit: MICHAEL GILADI/FLASH90)

Retaliation drone strikes onto Israel

Israeli airstrikes killed two Hezbollah terrorists in southern Lebanon, the military said earlier on Tuesday. Hezbollah later confirmed the death of one of its terrorists, Hussein Azkoul, but provided no further details.

A separate Israeli strike overnight Monday to Tuesday killed a fighter in Hezbollah's elite unit, Radwan Forces, the military said, though Hezbollah has not confirmed his death.