Israel-Hamas War day 285: What is happening in Gaza, the Middle East?

On Wednesday, the Military Security Coordinator, the Givati Brigade, and the security scout thwarted an attempted infiltration into the settlement of Telam in the Hebron Hills.

Security forces in the settlement identified the suspect beyond the fence through the settlement's defense systems. The security scout and settlement defense forces quickly jumped to the location and located the suspect, and when the scout began the arrest procedure, the suspect escaped.

Rocket sirens sounded in Kerem Shalom, by the Gaza border, on Wednesday.

The head of Hamas's political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, spoke with Turkey's Foreign Minister, Hakan Fidan, regarding the war in the Gaza Strip, Israeli media reported on Wednesday.

According to Haniyeh, Hamas "positively addressed the proposal conveyed to us by the mediators, but Israel is evading the necessary outcomes and does not want to reach an agreement that would end the war and its aggression in the Gaza Strip."

The CIA estimates that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar is under pressure from those under his command to agree to a ceasefire deal and end the war with Israel, according to CIA Director Bill Burns, who reported this in a closed committee on Saturday.

Sinwar "is not worried about his death," but he faced pressure concerning the blame that will be directed at him due to the extent of suffering in Gaza. American intelligence officials added that they believed Sinwar was hiding in underground tunnels in Khan Yunis and that he was the primary decision-maker for Hamas surrounding the decision on a ceasefire and hostage deal.

Hamas's tactic of hiding in tunnels causes difficulties in transmitting messages to and from him on behalf of Israel, thereby slowing down the pace of talks between the two sides and hindering the progress of the deal.

The Israel Air Force targeted terror infrastructure in an area where three projectiles were previously fired from in the northern Gaza Strip, the IDF reported on Wednesday.

During precise intelligence-based operational activity in the Gaza Strip, the IDF identified and eliminated a terrorist cell in the Rafah area, as well as dismantled structures used to observe IDF soldiers in the area.

Furthermore, the IAF targeted over 25 terror facilities and personnel throughout the Gaza Strip, as well as eliminated a Hamas sniper in northern Gaza on Tuesday.

The IDF aerial defense systems intercepted a series of projectiles fired toward Nahariyya in northern Israel on Wednesday morning, according to the IDF.

The projectiles were launched in response to IAF strikes on Hezbollah infrastructure overnight.

Israel's red alert system, Tzeva Adom, sent at least five siren alerts between 2:23 and 2:24 a.m. on Wednesday.

The military later confirmed that it had identified approximately 15 projectiles crossing into Israel from Lebanon.

Officers from the Civil Administration, along with security forces, demolished three Israeli structures that were built illegally in the northern West Bank, the Civil Administration's office reported on Wednesday morning.

Civil Administration officers in front of of the the illegally constructed buildings, 17.7.2024 (credit: CIVIL ADMINISTRATION)

The three illegally constructed structures were located on the Gid'onim Ridge in Samaria, north of Nablus.

Air defenses shot down some of the 15 launches directed at the western Galilee in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

The remaining launches landed in open areas.

Sirens were sounded in Nahariya, Shlomi, Achziv, Gesher Ziv, Liman and Sa'ar.

Some 500 Israeli academics wrote on Tuesday to US House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson to request that Congress rescind its invitation to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. 

“This is a dangerous political and diplomatic gesture that endangers not only Israel, but the entire free world,” the letter claimed.  

“It gives support and a significant platform to a leader who has abandoned his people and refuses to take responsibility for the greatest disaster that has befallen the Jewish people since the Holocaust,” the letter added, in reference to the October 7 massacre Hamas carried out on southern Israel. 

French President Emmanuel Macron spoke on Tuesday with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Qatar's Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa to discuss the conflict between Israel and Hamas, said Macron's office.

France is a United Nations Security Council permanent member and the country has both large Jewish and Muslim populations. Also, hostages holding French citizenship were killed in the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7 last year.

Qatar has also played an increasingly important role as a mediator - in January, Qatar and France brokered a deal with Israel and Hamas to deliver urgent medication to Israeli hostages.