Israel-Hamas war: What happened on day 210?

The IDF spokesperson announced the names of officers who will ascend to senior roles in the General Staff forum on Thursday evening, following discussions between Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Chief of the General Staff, Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi. According to Walla, the decisions are based on evaluations of commanders distinguished in combat and staff roles during the 'Iron Swords' war. Brig.-Gen. Shlomi Binder is set to lead the Intelligence Division and Brig.-Gen. David (Dado) Bar Kalifa will head the Personnel Division.

The Defense Minister approved the Chief of Staff's recommendation for the following appointments: Brig.-Gen. Avi Blut will be designated as the Central Command chief. This officer will be elevated to major general. Brig.-Gen. Shlomi Binder will head the Intelligence Division and be promoted to major general. Brig.-Gen. Dan Goldfus will take over as commander of the Northern Corps and head of the Ground Forces' Maneuvering System, with a promotion to major general. Brig.-Gen. David (Dado) Bar Kalifa will lead the Personnel Division, with a promotion to major general. Brig.-Gen. Aviad Dagan will head the Communications Division and be elevated to major general. These appointments will be implemented in the coming months on a phased basis.

Blut, a highly decorated combat officer, is also the first major general from the religious Zionist Eli Pre-Military Academy alumnus in the IDF. Blut, a flesh-and-blood representative of the settlers of Judea and Samaria, will now challenge those on the right to decry discrimination, neglect, persecution, and misunderstanding of Central Command's needs for their security and today’s realities.

The “Islamic Resistance in Bahrain, Saraya Al-Ashtar” claimed Thursday that it had attempted to target Israel with a drone attack, according to reports posted on social media and also by pro-Iranian media in the region. The pro-Iranian Al-Mayadeen said that the group had “announced the targeting of the depths of the Israeli occupation entity, with drones, in support of the Palestinian cause and in support of the resisting people in Gaza, in the first operation since the beginning of the ‘Al-Aqsa Flood’ operation.”

Saraya Al-Ashtar confirmed, in a statement published on Thursday, “that it targeted the headquarters of the company responsible for land transportation in the occupation entity, Trucknet, in the city of Umm Al-Rashrash, Eilat, south of occupied Palestine.” It claimed that it had carried out the attack on April 27. In a video online the group appeared to use an Iranian-style drone launched from a metal frame using a propellant. The drone then soars into the distance.

#BREAKING
The newly formed Islamic Resistance in #Bahrain released a footage of what it claims a drone that was used to target Eilat, southern #Israel from Bahrain. pic.twitter.com/AOgZYQpY5c

— Tammuz Intel (@Tammuz_Intel) May 2, 2024

Washington and Riyadh are close to finalizing details of a defense pact, but the Gaza war must end for that agreement and the one regarding normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia to be completed, US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters in Washington on Thursday.

“There are a few details [on the defense pact] that we have to continue to work through, but we think we can reach agreement on those details in very short order,” Miller said.

“We are very far along,” he said.

He explained, however, that this defense agreement is just one part of a triad understanding that would also see a normalization deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia and would set out a pathway for Palestinian statehood.

Eight Syrian soldiers were injured in alleged Israeli airstrikes that targeted a building in the Damascus area on Thursday night, the first such strikes reported since several senior commanders in Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) were killed in an alleged Israeli airstrike in early April.

According to Syrian reports, the airstrike on Thursday targeted a building used by Syrian security forces near Najha, south of Damascus. 

The Syrian state news agency SANA reported that the airstrikes were carried out from over the Golan Heights, causing material damage and injuring several Syrian soldiers in the Damascus area.

متابعة || 🚨 || مصادر محلية: العدو١١ن الاسر١١ئيلي استهدف مبنى مدرسة أمن الدولة، شرقي طريق #دمشق _ #السويداء ، وأدى لدمار كبير في الموقع، وأصوات سيارات الإسعاف تسمع بقوة في المنطقة التي تم استهدافها، ولم تردنا معلومات عن ارتقاء شهد١ء او جرحى.

- البناء المستهدف مؤلف من ثلاث… pic.twitter.com/qWmCnkAfjb

— درعا نت (@daraa_net_2020) May 2, 2024

Local media outlets reported that ambulances were seen in the area shortly after the strike and that three missiles targeted the building south of Damascus.

Dror Or, a resident of Kibbutz Be'eri, was murdered on October 7, and his body was taken by Hamas to Gaza, the kibbutz announced on Thursday evening.

Or's wife, Yonat, was murdered on October 7 as well, and their children, Noam and Alma, were kidnapped and released in the ceasefire deal in November. Their eldest son, Yahli, was in northern Israel at the time, escaping the Hamas assault.

A committee of experts met on Thursday and, together with representatives of the Health Ministry, intelligence officials, Israel Police, the Religious Services Ministry, and the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, determined that the evidence shows that Or was murdered.

"Together with the Be'eri community, we wished and held onto the hope all the time that Dror would return alive from captivity to the arms of his children, parents, brother, and sister. Unfortunately, a committee of experts that met today determined, based on the findings presented to it, that Dror is not among the living," said the Eshkol Regional Council on Thursday.

Iran-backed militias in Iraq claimed they launched cruise missiles toward Tel Aviv and Beersheba on Thursday afternoon in two statements published by the militias on Thursday night.

No alerts were activated and no entry of projectiles was reported from the direction of Iraq at the time.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Thursday he did not see any indication Hamas was planning any attack on US troops in Gaza.