Israel-Hamas War day 315: What happened in Israel and West Bank?
Iran expands surveillance • Biden says no one should undermine efforts to Gaza ceasefire deal
IDF announces fallen soldier Mordechai Yosef Ben Shoam killed in central Gaza Strip
Warr. Ofc. Ben Shoam, 34, from Geva Binyamin, served in the 8119 in the Jerusalem Brigade.
Warr. Ofc (res.) Mordechai Yosef Ben Shoam was killed in battle while fighting in the Gaza Strip, the IDF announced on Saturday.
Go to the full article >>New video shows Aryeh Zalmanovich abducted to Gaza on back of motorcycle - N12
Hamas previously published a video in mid-November that showed Zalmanovich in critical condition, and his death was declared in December.
Aryeh Zalmanovich, 86, was abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz on the back of a motorcycle, flanked by his captors seated in front and behind him, new footage published by N12 on Saturday showed.
Go to the full article >>IDF announces Maj. (Res.) Yotam Itzhak Peled killed in central Gaza Strip
Major (Maj.) (Res.) Yotam Itzhak Peled, 34, from Rosh Haayin, fell in combat in the central Gaza Strip, the IDF announced Saturday evening.
Go to the full article >>Haniyeh's son claims Hamas leader was killed by guided missile that tracked his cell phone
Haniyeh revealed that his father had been using his phone constantly and even used it at 10:15 p.m. the same night he was killed.
Hamas head Ismail Haniyeh was killed by a guided missile that tracked his cell phone, his son Abdussalam Haniyeh told Saudi Arabia state media Al Arabiya Friday from Doha, Qatar, in an interview.
Go to the full article >>Gaza death toll since Oct. 7 reaches 40,074, Hamas-run Gaza health min. says
The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry stated on Saturday that the death toll in Gaza has reached 40,074 since the war started on October 7 of last year.
A further 92,537 have thus far been wounded in the conflict, the Gazan ministry added.
The number has not been independently verified, and the ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its toll.
The Hamas-run ministry has also been repeatedly criticized for distorting casualty figures.
In May, departing from Hamas’s reported figures, the UN halved the number of women and children it had previously reported had been killed thus far in the war.
Go to the full article >>'Not interested in a broad war': Former Hezbollah official says response may be limited
The former official estimated that in his upcoming speech, Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah will "console the people."
A former senior Hezbollah official told the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Anbaa on Saturday that he expects a measured response from the organization following the assassination of senior official Fuad Shukr Abu Mohsen, as "the organization is not interested in a broad war."
According to the report, Hezbollah did not place much hope in the talks held by the American envoy Amos Hochstein and French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné, as they claimed that Israel did not commit to reducing tensions and even continued actions against the organization's senior members.
The former official estimated that in his upcoming speech, Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah will "console the people" and that the speech is expected to come after the organization's response to Shukr's assassination.
Go to the full article >>Hezbollah commander reportedly struck after 55-rocket barrage pounds North
The IDF also announced that, earlier in the day, two soldiers were wounded as a result of projectiles launched from Lebanon that landed in the area of Misgav Am.
An Israeli drone hit the motorcycle of a Hezbollah commander in the Tzur area in southern Lebanon on Saturday shortly after Hezbollah fired 55 rockets into northern Israel from southern Lebanon, Israeli media reported.
לאחר המטח הכבד לגליל - דיווח: כטב"ם ישראלי תקף מפקד שטח בחיזבאללה בדרום לבנון | תיעוד האופנוע שלו לאחר התקיפה@OmerShahar123 @kaisos1987 https://t.co/AQHcv63yNt pic.twitter.com/CToFjlTH61
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) August 17, 2024
The IDF confirmed on Saturday afternoon that shortly after sirens sounded in the area of Ayelet HaShahar in northern Israel, approximately 55 projectiles crossed from Lebanon.
Go to the full article >>US official: Iran will face 'cataclysmic' consequences if it attacks Israel
A senior US official told the Wall Street Journal on Saturday that it is possible Iran may delay an attack on Israel at the behest of warnings by international parties that it could damage Gaza ceasefire talks.
While Tehran may have been talked down from an attack, the official said the US and its allies were prepared for all contingencies and issued a message to Iran - warning it would face “cataclysmic” consequences should it attack Israel.
Go to the full article >>If there's a will, there's a way: Egypt says political will all that is needed for an agreement
The mediators believe that Israel must show real commitment to negotiations by refraining from military action and escalation during negotiations.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said at a press conference on Saturday morning, ahead of the resumption of talks in Cairo, that "if there is a political will, it will be possible to reach a ceasefire in Gaza."
"There are some gaps in the negotiations, and we are working on closing them," he added. "They are making ongoing efforts to renew the talks and reach an agreement."
These comments came hours after Hamas officials pointed the finger at Israel for delaying the conclusion of negotiations.
Members of the Egyptian mediation team in Doha told the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar that they were facing "extreme difficulties" in the ceasefire negotiations.
Go to the full article >>Deal or no deal: Hamas denies Israeli, US claims ceasefire-hostage deal progressing
"Netanyahu undermined the agreement from the ground up," senior Hamas official Ghazi Hamad told Al-Mayadeen.
Multiple Hamas officials on Saturday denied US and Israeli claims that a ceasefire-hostage deal was progressing - insisting that it was an "illusion" and that parties abide by the July 2 agreement presented by US President Joe Biden.
American officials, including Biden, stated that major gaps had been bridged in the ceasefire discussions spanning from Thursday to Friday which are anticipated to continue next week.
Senior Hamas official Ghazi Hamad lashed out at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for 'undermining' the current hostage and ceasefire negotiations in a Friday interview with the Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Mayadeen.
Hamad told Al-Mayadeen that Netanyahu was "practicing deception" and claimed that he was "setting new conditions and undermining what was previously agreed upon."
Go to the full article >>Israel-Hamas War: What you need to know
- Hamas launched a massive attack on October 7, with thousands of terrorists infiltrating from the Gaza border and taking some 240 hostages into Gaza
- Over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals were murdered, including over 350 at the Re'im music festival and hundreds of Israeli civilians across Gaza border communities
- 115 hostages remain in Gaza
- 48 hostages in total have been killed in captivity, IDF says