IDF and Shin Bet eliminate head of PIJ network in Nur Shams, Harris calls for Mideast de-escalation

The IDF and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) eliminated the head of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad's (PIJ) network in Nur Shams in the West Bank, along with an additional terrorist, the military announced early on Friday. 

During a joint operation between the IDF and Shin Bet on Thursday, an Israel Air Force (IAF) aircraft struck and eliminated Muhammad Abdullah, head of the PIJ's terror network in Nur Shams. 

An additional terrorist was eliminated alongside Abdullah. 

Pro-Iranian militia groups in Iraq claimed to have attacked a "vital target" in Eilat with UAVs early on Friday morning, Israeli media reported, citing the groups. 

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) complex in Jerusalem will be turned into an apartment complex, the Israel Land Authority (ILA) announced on Thursday.

According to the information on the ILA website, the project is already in the preparation stages.

The UNRWA complex, located in Ma'alot Dafna, Jerusalem, is planned to become a housing project with 1,440 units.

Israel's High Court of Justice ruled on Thursday that the state must explain within 40 days why certain northern communities that were not evacuated were excluded from the economic aid plan. 

According to Defense Minister Yoav Gallant's decision, communities located up to five kilometers from the border should be evacuated. However, communities just 3.5 kilometers away were not evacuated.

The local councils of Avdon, Abirim, Fassuta, Rehaniya, and Hurfeish, which filed the petition through attorney Harel Reichman, argued that their communities should be included in the aid plan. 

Iran’s ambassador to the UN, Amir Saied Iravani, delivered a statement before the UN Security Council during which he eulogized former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah as ‘a critical factor for peace and stability in Lebanon’ on Thursday.

In the meeting, which was called to discuss the conflict in Lebanon, Iravani claimed that the assassinations of Nasrallah and former Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh were done with the intention of ‘sabotage any chance of a ceasefire’ in Lebanon and Gaza. 

"Israel is now a serious threat to international peace and security. Its ongoing aggressive acts of terror and atrocities now threaten to plunge the entire region into all-out war," he said.

Since September 28, the US has secured more than 5,000 airplane seats for US citizens, permanent residents, and their families to depart Lebanon, the US government announced in a statement on Thursday. 

Some of these actions include reserving seats daily on commercial flights as well as providing seats on US government-organized flights. 

The US government also stated that it is assisting US citizens with on-site US consular services to help with travel and providing emergency loans for relocation or other emergency needs. 

A classified document obtained by The Jerusalem Post revealed the extent of the demand for military equipment in the weeks following the October 7 massacre: 350 requests.

The document was presented in the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on October 23 and includes nearly 350 requests for military equipment gathered by an ad-hoc call center that MKs formed in the days after the massacre.

Notably, many of the requests came from regular army units and not just from reserve units. More surprisingly, this included special units. A significant portion of the requests originated from combat reserve units, while others came from military medical personnel and even the air force. Other requests were submitted by specific individuals, and one even came from a municipality.

MK Eliyahu Revivo drove to Eilat to organize the transport of a special CT machine to help identify bodies from Yoseftal Hospital to the Shura military base near Ramle.

MK Avichai Boaron gathered a group of volunteers to work a factory line at a weapons factory to help with production. MK Yulia Malinovsky left her son's birthday party to finalize the donation of an ECMO machine to Kaplan Hospital.

Amidst the chaos of the days and weeks following the October 7 Hamas massacre, Israel's Members of Knesset received thousands of requests for aid from civilians, evacuees, families of people who went missing, survivors, families of children with special needs, managers of old age homes, soldiers, and many, many more.

The 91st Division of the IDF conducted limited and localized ground raids in southern Lebanon, the military said on Thursday evening. 

In these operations, soldiers dismantled terrorist infrastructure and destroyed weapons belonging to Hezbollah, as well as engaged in close-quarter combat with terrorists. 

Additionally, soldiers from the 3rd Brigade discovered approximately 800 military vests and hundreds of weapons that included grenades, explosives, AK-47s, and more.