Israel-Hamas War: What happened on Day 337?

The United States plans to give Hamas and Israel a new proposal to close the gaps in the last remaining 10% of Phase 1 of the May 31 deal, as Jerusalem remains pessimistic that progress is possible.

“We are not optimistic at all,” a source told The Jerusalem Post.

In a rare public appearance in London, CIA Director William Burns underscored on Saturday that 90% of the text needed for Phase 1 of the three-phase first introduced by President Joe Biden has been completed but that the last 10% has been very difficult to finalize.

The military reported that it had succeeded in killing dozens of terrorists and raiding terrorist infrastructure in the area in a Saturday evening operational update on IDF activities in Tel Al-Sultan, a city in Gaza’s Rafah Governate.

The IDF’s activities come as part of ongoing “precise, intelligence-based targeted operations” in southern Gaza, the military added.

IDF fighter jets destroyed launchers by the Hezbollah terrorist organization from where rockets were detected towards the area of Safed, the IDF stated on Saturday.

The rockets were launched from the Einta area in southern Lebanon, according to the IDF. In response, the military targeted Hezbollah positions in Odaisseh, Naqoura, and Tayr Harfa, all located in southern Lebanon.

This report came after two Hezbollah attack drones, which were intended to be launched toward Israel, fell in the village of Ain Ebel in southern Lebanon on Saturday, Ynet reported, citing Lebanese military sources.

Lebanese army personnel reportedly arrived at the scene and operated in the area.

Thousands of Israelis gathered at protests around the country Saturday night, calling to bring the hostages home and for a hostage deal. 

Hundreds of thousands filled the road outside the IDF military headquarters, according to the Hostage Family Forum. Thousands more protested at additional locations around the country. 

How the protests immediately sparked

News of the deaths of six hostages killed just over a week ago, and just before IDF forces reached them, sparked huge protests and a general strike last week.

When Mohammed Sinwar was born in 1975 in the Khan Younis refugee camp, his brother Yahya was already 13. Their family fled a village near Ashkelon in 1948 and settled in southern Gaza. Fueled by a burning hatred for the Zionist idea, the Sinwar brothers became deeply involved in subversive activities against Israel, culminating in the horrific October 7 attack on Israeli civilians.

In 1989, when Yahya was arrested and sentenced to five life terms, Mohammed was 14. He was no longer just the brother of the brutal Yahya, who personally executed suspected collaborators with Israel, but also the brother of one of the founders of Hamas.

This movement cautiously developed a military force initially based on small, isolated terrorist cells that were difficult for the IDF and Shin Bet to penetrate. In 1991, Mohammed was arrested by the IDF for suspected terrorist activity and imprisoned in Ktzi'ot Prison but released after nine months. He grew close to field commanders who later became key figures, such as Mohammed Deif, Sa'ad Al-Arabid, and others involved in developing Hamas's military capabilities.

Three Lebanese paramedics were killed and two others wounded, one critically, in an Israeli attack while they were extinguishing fires in the southern town of Faroun, Lebanon's health ministry said on Saturday.

"Israeli forces targeted a team from the Lebanese Civil Defence as they responded to fires sparked by recent Israeli airstrikes," a ministry statement said, specifying that the strike hit a fire truck.

It condemned the attack as a "blatant strike" on an official Lebanese state apparatus, marking the second such attack on an emergency team in less than 12 hours.

The Israeli military did not immediately comment.

European Union Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell announced in a letter to the Israeli Foreign Affairs Ministry that he intends to visit the country on September 14 and 15, Ynet reported on Saturday.

Israel, in response, reportedly said that Borell could not come during these days and called on him to coordinate a visit after the holidays, which would be around late October after he finishes his term.

Borrell announced his intention to visit despite no prior reports on him coordinating to do so.

This is a developing story.

Israeli forces have paved a road along the Philadelphi Corridor, according to a Saturday report by the BBC.

This move is seen as a show of determination regarding Israel's stance on not leaving the Corridor, which has become a central point of contention in negotiations over a hostage deal and a ceasefire in Gaza.

Videos shared on social media show that the infrastructure was laid on Wednesday, September 4 — the same day Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated his "Philadelphi Corridor speech" in English at a press conference for the foreign media, according to the report. In the accompanying video, heavy machinery can be seen laying asphalt on the ground.