Israel kills terror cell head, Dermer reportedly to visit US for hostage talks

"The conditions currently being discussed are not relevant to me, and the Prime Minister really does not want Otzma Yehudit to leave the government," Army Radio quoted National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir as saying on Sunday.
 

Maj. (res.) Asaf Dagan is set to receive a military burial in a civilian cemetery, the High Court of Justice ruled on Sunday. 

IDF troops, Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), and Border Police officers mapped for destruction the home of the terrorist who carried out the shooting terror attack near the West Bank settlement of Ariel on Friday, the military said on Sunday. 

IDF Arabic spokesperson, Col. Avichay Adraee, warned residents of some southern Lebanon localities against returning to their homes in a Sunday morning post to X/Twitter. 

An Israeli air force aircraft struck a number of terrorists in the Jenin area of the West Bank, the IDF said on Sunday morning.

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Sirens sounded in multiple areas across central Israel following a missile launch from Yemen, the IDF announced early on Sunday morning.

More details are to follow, the IDF added.

The leader of the Salafi-Islamist group that attacked the city of Aleppo yesterday may have been killed in a Russian airstrike, according to Arab media reports on Sunday morning.

Abu Mohammad al-Julani, who heads the group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which invaded Syria, has had pictures of himself have been circulating on social media, which appear to show his dead body.

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Hamas published a video on Saturday of Israeli-American hostage Eden Alexander entitled "Soon...Time is running out" on the Telegram channel of its military wing, the Izzadin al-Qassam Brigades.

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The White House responded to the video on Saturday evening, calling it a "cruel reminder of Hamas's terror against citizens," in an official statement. 

It also added that it has "been in touch with Eden's family" and said that the "suffering of Gazans would end immediately — and would have ended months ago — if Hamas agreed to release the hostages."

While it noted that Hamas has refused to release the hostages, it also emphasized that US President Joe Biden said last week, "We have a critical opportunity to conclude the deal to release, stop the war, and surge humanitarian assistance into Gaza."

The White House continued, saying that a hostage deal was currently on the table and that Biden and the US would "continue to work around the clock to secure the release of our citizens, including through diplomatic efforts and by increasing pressure on Hamas terrorists through sanctions, law enforcement actions, and other measures."

The mother of Israeli hostage Edan Alexander hugs an organizer at a pro-Israel rally, nearly one year after Hamas' October 7, 2023 attack in southern Israel, in the Manhattan borough of New York City, US October 6, 2024. (credit: REUTERS/Stephani Spindel)

"On behalf of the Alexanders and all the families of the hostages still being held by Hamas, we will never cease in our efforts to secure their immediate release," the statement concluded. 

The content of the released video 

Alexander speaks in the video in a mix of Hebrew and English. There are subtitles in Arabic and in English or Hebrew, depending on the language he is speaking.

The video begins with Alexander introducing himself and stating that he has been a prisoner of Hamas for over 420 days.

It then switches to footage of Alexander covering his face with his hands and crying.

In a message to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Hebrew, Alexander says, “I heard you speaking to the people of Israel on the news, and I am very disappointed. I heard that you will give $5 million to whoever brings us back alive. The prime minister is supposed to protect his citizens and soldiers, and you neglected us.”

He says that their guards gave them instructions in case the Israeli military reaches them.

“The fear is at its peak, and we are dying a thousand times every day that passes, and no one feels for us. The people of Israel: Do not neglect us. We want to return home with a full mind,” Alexander continues.

“Fear and isolation are killing us. Please do not forget us. It is unreasonable that we pay the price for a mistake made by the government. Please, people of Israel, go out to demonstrate every day and pressure the government. It is time to put an end to this nightmare.”

Message to Trump

In a message to “President Trump” in English, Alexander says, “Please use your influence and the full power of the United States to negotiate for our freedom. Every day here feels like an eternity, and the pain from inside grows from day to day. Please do not make the mistake Biden has been doing. The weapons he has sent are now killing us, and the unlawful sieges are now starving us. I do not want to end up dead like my fellow US citizen Hersh [Goldberg-Polin].”

The video concludes with Alexander telling his parents and grandparents to be strong and that it is only “a matter of time until this nightmare ends.”

Hostages Families Forum responds to video

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum called the video “shocking” in a statement released Saturday evening. They said that it is “definite proof that despite all the rumors – there are living hostages, and they are suffering greatly.”

“One year after the first and only deal, it’s clear to everyone: returning the hostages is only possible through a deal. After more than 420 days of continuous abuse, starvation, and darkness, the urgency of bringing home all 101 hostages cannot be overstated,” the statement reads.

Netanyahu spoke with Alexander’s family, telling them that he “really feels the anguish that Edan, the hostages, and their families are going through,” according to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office.

The statement added that the prime minister reassured the family that “Israel is working resolutely and in every way possible” to bring about the release of the hostages “who are in the hands of the enemy.”

The rebel attacks in Syria were part of a US-Israeli plan to destabilize the region, Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araqchi told Russia's FM Sergei Lavrov in a phone call on Saturday.

In a statement from the Iranian foreign ministry, the Syrian rebel attacks were referred to as "a sinister phenomenon of terrorism."

The Iranian minister added that Iran considered the recent movements of "terrorist groups in Syria" as part of "the plan of the Zionist regime and the United States to destabilize the West Asian region."

The foreign ministers of Iran and Russia also voiced support for Syria during the attacks by rebel groups and stressed the need for cooperation between Iran, Russia, and Syria, according to the statement.

Syrian opposition fighters stand in front of University of Aleppo, after rebels opposed to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad said they had reached the heart of Aleppo, Syria November 30, 2024. (credit: REUTERS/Mahmoud Hasano)

The ministers said they "firmly supported the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria and the government and army of this country in confronting terrorist groups."

Joint efforts

According to a statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry about the call, both sides "expressed extreme concern about the dangerous escalation of the situation in Syria due to the terrorist offensive by armed groups in the Aleppo and Idlib provinces."

Earlier on Saturday, Russia's Lavrov reportedly spoke on the matter with his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan.

Reuters contributed to this report.

The Islamist attack on Aleppo is “ostensibly good news for Israel,” Daniel Rakov, a senior research fellow for the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, said in a Saturday post to X/Twitter.

Rakov is known in the JISS for being an expert on Russian policy in the Middle East and is also a reserve lieutenant-colonel in the IDF. In his post on X, he said that “the fall of northern Syria to the rebels damages the infrastructure of the Iranians and Hezbollah there and will make it difficult for them to work to restore Hezbollah.”

הנפילה של העיר הגדולה בסוריה, חלב, הלילה לידי מיליציית HTS מביכה מאד את מוסקבה, וצפויה להשפיע על הרלבנטיות שלה ביחס להסדרה בלבנון.
הרוסים הופתעו מההתקדמות המהירה של המורדים מאדליב, וניסו בימים האחרונים לעשות מהלכים שהם רגילים לעשותם - לתקוף מהאוויר, להמריץ את אסד, להפעיל לחץ… pic.twitter.com/qMt8IRHPDc

— Daniel Rakov (@rakovdan) November 30, 2024

Syrian President Bashar “Assad will be more defensive, and as he fights for the survival of his regime, ostensibly helping Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon are of secondary interest,” Rakov said, implying that Israeli freedom of action in Syria will likely expand.

He also said that the attacks were “very embarrassing for Moscow,

the Russians were surprised by the rapid advance of the rebels from Idlib, and that the few military sources Russia has in the country will also serve its best interests, as opposed to assisting Iran and Hezbollah.”

Rakov said that Russian forces in Syria “have tried to make moves that they are used to making – attacking from the air, applying diplomatic pressure on the Turks to restrain the rebels, and spreading information that minimizes the incident and exaggerates...Assad's ability to deal with it."

Syrian opposition fighters stand in front of University of Aleppo, after rebels opposed to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad said they had reached the heart of Aleppo, Syria November 30, 2024. (credit: REUTERS/Mahmoud Hasano)

The Russian policy expert also claims that Moscow is not addressing recent reports that Assad met with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Moscow to ask him for help, and then cites another report saying that glide bombs have been transferred to the Russian-operated Khmeimim Air Base in Syria.

The Israeli researcher also stated that Russian state media is largely ignoring the conflict in Aleppo while claiming that Russian commentators on global conflicts said that Moscow is not responsible for the defense failure of the Syrian city, saying that Russia had very few forces there and the incident was a huge failure for the Assad regime.

Rakov notes that Russian commentators have also said that Turkey is not responsible for Aleppo’s security failure either and that the security arrangements in northern Syria were based on agreements between Russia and Turkey but that the latter country had been distancing itself from the former.

Additionally, Ukraine, while fighting against Russia and its invasion of the country, reportedly sent aid to Syrian rebels in recent months, but it was difficult to determine how significant that aid was, he noted.

An opportunity for Israel to strike Syria?

Rakov then entertains the idea of Israel having the opportunity to attack Syria due to the weakness demonstrated by the Assad regime. He also says that the regime could be prone to attacks by Kurdish forces, rebels in southern Syria, or ISIS due to what he claims is Syria’s newfound vulnerability, with all this being terrible timing for Russia as it has set its sights on Ukraine, he argued.

“Assad’s loss of Aleppo damages Russia’s image as a power capable of projecting influence outside the post-Soviet space and threatens an important strategic asset of Putin’s, which is the bases in Syria,” he wrote. “This also reflects negatively on Russia’s image in the region.

“The Russians, as we can learn from the Ukrainian offensive in Kursk, are in no hurry to get hysterical, but the speed with which Aleppo fell will require them to respond quickly,” he wrote.

The JISS researcher concluded his post by saying that while the unstable situation in Syria may cause Assad and the Russians to open the gates more strongly for the entry of Iranian military forces, the collapse of the Assad regime may create a scenario for the growth of significant military threats against Israel.