Israel-Hamas War day 381: Updates on Houthis, Gaza, and Hezbollah

Seven Israelis, some of them relatives, were arrested on suspicion of espionage for Iran, Israel Police announced on Monday. Charges, expected by the end of the week, are anticipated to include assisting the enemy during wartime.

The seven suspects, Jewish Israelis of Azeri origin from Haifa and Haifa’s bayside suburbs, have been in custody for about 35 days.

Without Sinwar in charge, it should be possible to do more work on freeing the hostages. 

The question after Jabaliya is cleared of terrorists is whether there is a next step and a willingness to exploit the death of Sinwar for leverage. Hamas leaders abroad appear to be saying that they won’t budge. 

Palestinian Rafah resident Ashraf Abo Taha, the owner of the home Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was eliminated in, was “shocked” to discover that the terror leader had used his house, he told the BBC on Sunday. 

After seeing drone footage of Sinwar’s elimination on Ibn Sena Street in Rafah, southern Gaza, Taha reportedly recognized the home he evacuated in May. 

Eliminated Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar rejected an opportunity to survive and leave the Gaza Strip in exchange for allowing Egypt to negotiate a Gaza ceasefire-hostage deal in Hamas’s place, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, citing US, Arab, and Hamas officials. 

Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign has rejected the claim that she believes the IDF is committing genocide in Gaza.

“That is not the view of the Biden administration or the Vice President,” a Harris campaign official told the Jerusalem Post.

The IAF conducted a series of overnight targeted, intelligence-based strikes against dozens of facilities and sites used by the Hezbollah terrorist organization to finance its terrorist activities against the State of Israel, the Military announced on Monday. The strikes were conducted in the areas of Beirut, southern Lebanon, and deep within Lebanese territory.

The IAF identified and eliminated a terror cell responsible for launching rocket attacks against civilian areas in northern Israel and IDF units eliminated a number of high ranking Hezbollah officials, the military announced on Monday morning. 

UNIFIL told The Jerusalem Post on Monday that reports of Hezbollah terrorists paying its members to use their positions in Lebanon are false. 

Earlier Monday, Israel Hayom reported that Hezbollah terrorists who were captured by the IDF in southern Lebanon testified in their investigations that Hezbollah paid money to UNIFIL personnel to use their bases for operations.

According to the report, Hezbollah also took over UNIFIL security cameras in the compounds near the Israeli border and used them.

This is a developing story.

Security forces arrested a terrorist after he threw Molotov cocktails along with a burning tire at the Migdal Oz settlement in the West Bank, the IDF reported on Sunday night.

Security forces in the area responded swiftly, with a defense force soldier engaging the attacker and successfully apprehending him.

The IDF had intercepted a drone that crossed into Israeli territory from the east, targeting the Jordan Valley area, the IDF reported on Monday overnight.

The report follows alerts that sounded in the area after the drone was identified. The IDF further noted that the incident is under investigation.

This is a developing story.