Palestinian driver killed during terror ramming, IDF kills Hezbollah deputy commander

A drone launched from Lebanon toward the city of Caesarea on Saturday morning was reportedly targeting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's residence, according to Ynet, citing the Saudi TV news channel Al-Hadath.

Three drones were fired towards the city earlier, with two of them being intercepted and the third hitting a building. There were no casualties, according to reports.

Major Yedaya, a company commander who has led his soldiers in battles in southern Lebanon in recent days, said in a recent interview with Maariv that they have been studying Hezbollah and that the terror group's tactics were nothing unexpected.

Yedaya serves in the 71st Battalion of the 188th Armored Brigade, which has been continuing its focused ground activities in southern Lebanon under the command of Division 36 in recent days.

Retired Navy Senior Chief Petty Officer Rob O'Neill told NewsMax on Thursday that Israel was “showing [the US] how to win a war” following the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.

O’Neill, according to the Daily Mail, was a member of SEAL Team Six, the group that stormed Al Qaeda terrorist Osama Bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, on May 2, 2011. In 2014, he reportedly identified himself as the one who pulled the trigger on the mastermind of the September 11 attacks.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called former Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar "heroic" on Saturday morning in a post on X/Twitter following the Palestinian arch-terrorist's elimination by the IDF.

"In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful," the Iranian autocrat wrote. "Dear Muslim nations! Dear courageous youth of the region! The heroic mujahid, Commander Yahya #alSinwar, has joined his martyred comrades."

An explosion was heard in Caesarea on Saturday morning after a drone launched from Lebanon slammed into a building in the city, the IDF said. No injuries have so far been reported.

Police arrived to locate the scene of the fall. Around the same time, sirens sounded in Tel Aviv, but Israeli media reported that no notification was sent to the Home Front Command app for users in the area.

Hostile aircraft intrusion alarms were activated early Saturday morning in Gan Yashia, Olesh, Ametz, Bat Hefer, Yad Hana, and Barotaim in Emek Hefer, central Israel.

No damage or casualties were reported.

IDF Arabic spokesperson, Colonel Avichay Adraee, shared a recording on his X/Twitter account on Friday of a conversation between two Gaza residents that reveals their joy following the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.

Sinwar was killed by the IDF in Tel Sultan in Rafah on Wednesday in an unplanned operation, sources close to the matter confirmed to The Jerusalem Post Thursday evening, several hours after rumors arose that he had been killed earlier Thursday.

“How are you? Well, Sinwar is dead and gone,” a man says, to which a woman replies, “May he go to hell! I swear I cheered when they came and told me.”

The man continues, “May God have mercy on him; what do you want from him?” She responds, “He’s the one who destroyed everything. May God not have mercy on him, not on him, and not on Haniyeh. I hope they never see God’s mercy.”

#خاص مكالمة من داخل غزة: ״هاي السنوار إستشهد وراح | والله قضيتها أزغلط لما إجو قالولي | صاروا يوزعوا حلو وقهوة"

فرحة غير مسبوقة في شوارع #غزة بعد سماع خبر تصفية المدعو #يحيى_السنوار. المكالمة بين اثنين من سكان غزة تعبّر عن المشاعر الحقيقية: من الزغاريد وتوزيع الحلوى إلى… pic.twitter.com/pq6yYNROHD

— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) October 18, 2024

Later in the conversation, when the man asks, “What’s new with you?” she responds, “We’re fine, thank God. They started handing out sweets here…” and adds, “They’ve started distributing sweets and coffee. May God have no mercy for what happened in Gaza, may God have no mercy.”

What do Gazans think about Hamas?

An opinion poll published in mid-September by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PSR), a think tank based in Ramallah and funded by Western donors, showed for the first time the majority of Gazans opposed the decision to attack Israel on October 7. 

The poll, conducted in early September, found that 57% of people surveyed in the Gaza Strip said the decision to launch the offensive was incorrect, while just 39% said it was correct – down sharply from the previous poll in June.

Hamas has long been accused of crushing dissent in Gaza with beatings or worse. But recent months have seen some rare public displays of dissent.

Signs of dissent matter to Hamas, which aims to maintain its sway in Gaza once the war ends, despite the insistence of Israel and the United States that it can play no part in governing the enclave after the war.

Vice President Kamala Harris is making a hard push on the campaign trail in battleground Michigan on Friday where the Biden administration faces heavy opposition to its support of Israel in its war against Hamas from the state’s high Arab population. 

'We have to end this war'

Earlier this week, the Arab American Political Action Committee said it would not endorse Harris or former President Donald Trump over their “blind support” for Israel in its wars in Gaza and Lebanon. 

Harris was asked about her message to opposition voters across Michigan before a campaign event late Friday afternoon. 

“First of all, we have got to end this war,” Harris said. “I think that what has happened now is the killing of Sinwar creates an opportunity for us to end this war and bring the hostages home.”
 

One of the officers in the unit that killed Yahya Sinwar, Lt. Col. Itamar Eitam, shared a post on social media Friday in which he described the minutes he spent alone with Sinwar’s body after the operation.

Eitam wrote: “I just left Rafah. Not long ago, I looked him—Sinwar—in the eyes. I had a few minutes alone with him, and I looked at him—a small, ugly, and broken figure, lying on a shattered couch."

Itam said he thought “about all the good people who are no longer here: Amishar, Banba, Roy, Tomer, Salman, Eder, Ran, and many, many more—fallen soldiers, orphans, hostages, and the wounded.

'I feel insulted on behalf of God'

"So much pain this man caused," he wrote. "I looked at the ruined city, and I even felt pain for them, but more than anything, I felt insulted—insulted on behalf of God. Because he, too, was once a baby and a child, and he had a choice, and he chose evil. He chose wickedness. What an insult that he was also a person created in Your image. How distorted. How much better the world is now. We won't be confused, and we won't give up. Together we will win. Happy holiday."

Hilit, Eitam's mother, told Walla, “Everyone is happy, thank God—less wickedness. The world is better now; the world is better.”

She added, “We live in a world of miracles all the time. My son wasn’t there alone. He was with the best forces, and we have to say thank God they succeeded. My daughter-in-law is also a hero; she has been waiting at home for a whole year for him to do his duty. I wish the people of Israel a happy holiday and hope we continue to hear good news.”

Over 30 Palestinians were killed in heavy strikes in the Jabalya refugee camp in northern Gaza, according to Palestinian media.

Over 80 people are reported to have been injured in the strike, according to Palestinian media.