Important Takeaways:
- Chemical tanker ‘is hit by drone from Iran off the coast of India – as Tehran threatens to close Strait of Gibraltar and Mediterranean Sea unless Israel stops bombing Gaza
- The US has accused Iran of being behind a drone attack on a chemical tanker in the Indian Ocean.
- The attack on the Chem Pluto on Saturday resulted in a fire, though no casualties were reported.
- Though Iran has not commented on the attack, the US military said the ‘one-way attack’ was delivered by a ‘drone fired from Iran.’
- It is understood to be the first time the US has accused Iran of targeting a ship directly. It is also believed to be the furthest attack undertaken by Iran from its own soil.
- The accusations come as Iran has threatened to close off the Strait of Gibraltar and the Mediterranean Sea if Israel and its allies continue to commit ‘crimes’ in Gaza.
- Iran, which has backed Hamas, accused the US and other western states of propping up Israel’s alleged war crimes committed during its ground offensive in the Gaza Strip, where more than 20,000 people have died since October 7.
- ‘They shall soon await the closure of the Mediterranean Sea, (the Strait of) Gibraltar and other waterways,’ Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Naqdi, a senior member of the country’s Islamic Revolutionary Corps, said on Saturday.
- While Iran has no direct access to the Mediterranean itself and it was not clear how the Guards could attempt to close it off, Iran-backed proxies in Lebanon and Syria have access to these waterways, which carry around a fifth of the world’s maritime trade.
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Important Takeaways:
- The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced the securing of a vast Hamas tunnel network inside Gaza. The progress comes as several Iranian proxies are stepping up their attacks on Israel and in the region.
- The tunnel runs under what is called the “Elite Quarter” of Gaza City, including Palestine Square.
- “You can see behind me, the community college. You can see there the Atfaluna Society for Deaf Children, you can see government buildings, you can see civilian buildings. From outside, everything looks normal – everything looks like a major city,” he said.
- The square is the center of the strategic tunnel network and a connecting point to some key Hamas leadership strongholds. It joins the underground infrastructure near the Rantisi Hospital and the Shifa Hospital, uncovered earlier.
- Tunnel shafts are located in residences and offices of senior officials, allowing for covert descent, and enabling Hamas operatives to escape and remain in hideouts for long periods of time.
- In the north, Israel struck Hezbollah infrastructure and IAF jets flew low over Beirut and the southern Lebanese town of Marjayoun as a warning, after the Iranian-backed terror group fired a rocket barrage that hit the Israeli city of Kiryat Shemona overnight, causing damage but no injuries.
- To the south of Israel, another Iranian proxy, the Houthi rebels in Yemen, are threatening to target American warships after the U.S. announced an international force in the region to protect global shipping from Houthi attacks.
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Important Takeaways:
- IDF Uncovers Massive Tunnel Complex Built by Hamas Leader’s Brother
- The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) revealed Sunday that it had discovered a massive tunnel complex built by Hamas just inside the Gaza border, 50 meters underground, wide enough to drive through at some points, and filled with weapons for attacking Israel.
- The stunning find included a trove of intelligence materials, including videos — taken by Hamas itself — of the construction of the tunnel complex, which shows the massive amount of equipment and manpower devoted to the task, instead of Gaza’s own needs.
- The construction was reportedly overseen by Muhammad Sinwar, the brother of Gaza-based Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. One portion is near the Erez Crossing, which was used by Palestinian workers to enter Israel, and was attacked by Hamas October 7.
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Important Takeaways:
- First images ‘show Israel preparing to flood Hamas tunnels with sea water as troops set up pipes and pumps in Gaza’
- Images have emerged appearing to show Israeli forces preparing to flood the labyrinth of tunnels used by Hamas under the Gaza Strip with sea water.
- Israel is said to have completed installing at least five pumps about a mile north of the Al-Shati refugee camp that could move thousands of cubic meters of water per hour – meaning they could flood the 300-mile network of tunnels within weeks.
- Their plan would be to drive out the terrorists from the tunnels and make them inoperable by flooding the system with seawater from the Mediterranean Sea.
- The tactic would enable Israel to destroy the tunnels and kill any Hamas terrorists hiding within them, the officials told the Wall Street Journal.
- It was not clear whether Israel would consider using the pumps before all the Israeli hostages captured by Hamas terrorists on October 7 as any move to flood the tunnels would prove fatal for the captives.
- The Hamas terrorists operate in a complex network of reinforced tunnels, some of which are buried up to 40ft underground and all of which could conceal an ambush, be booby-trapped – or worse – filled with explosives and primed to cave in.
- This means Israel can bomb Gaza all it likes and launch bunker-busting munitions to clear out some tunnels – but the IDF would still need to deploy thousands of troops to sweep through the ‘Gaza Metro’ to neutralize every last Hamas fighter.
- But that is no easy task. Subterranean fighting is notoriously lethal work, especially when Israeli soldiers are fighting against heavily armed Hamas terrorists who know every hiding place and have access to a stash of rockets, grenades and guns.
- US officials said they didn’t know how close Israel was to carrying out the plan, which isn’t being ruled out by Israel.
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Important Takeaways:
- Israel-Hamas War Day 56: Rockets rain down on Israel’s South
- Hamas in Gaza began firing rockets at Israel in the early hours of Friday morning, marking an end to the week-long ceasefire.
- Over an hour before the ceasefire was set to end at 7 a.m., a rocket was fired from Gaza toward southern Israel, with a second round of rocket fire reported a few minutes before the end of the ceasefire. The rocket fire continued throughout the day, with over 45 rockets fired into Israel as of Thursday afternoon.
- Three IDF soldiers were moderately wounded and two others were lightly wounded after a mortar fell near them near Nirim on Friday morning as the ceasefire ended
- After the ceasefire ended, intense clashes were reported in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City in northern Gaza, with Palestinian media reporting Israeli airstrikes throughout Gaza as well. The clashes expanded to additional areas in northern and central Gaza and Israeli airstrikes continued throughout the Strip.
- On Friday afternoon, the IDF stated that, in the wake of the Hamas initiated resumption of fighting, the IDF hit over 200 targets in Gaza since 7:00 a.m. that morning
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Important Takeaways:
- Quick Facts
- Over 1,400 Israelis (392 soldiers) have been killed, and over 7,000 have been injured.
- The IDF has notified families of 240 being held hostage in Gaza.
- The IDF has struck over 15,000 Hamas targets.
- Over 9,500 Rockets have been fired by Hamas toward Southern and Central Israel from Gaza (over 500 failed launches have fallen inside Gaza), with Lebanon and Syria also firing from the north.
- His visit came during the four-day fire pause in the fighting, part of a deal with Hamas to release Israeli hostages.
- “We are here in the Gaza Strip with our heroic soldiers,” Netanyahu said.
- “We are making every effort to return our hostages, and in the end, we will return them all. We have three goals in this war: Eliminate Hamas, return all of our hostages, and ensure that Gaza will not go back to being a threat to the State of Israel.”
- These comments came just hours before seventeen more hostages were released by the terror organization Hamas on Sunday evening and transported by the International Red Cross to the Israeli border.
- One of the hostages, 84-year-old Alma Abraham, was evacuated by a helicopter to Soroka Hospital in Beersheba directly from the border, reportedly in serious condition.
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Important Takeaways:
- Israel Approves Deal To Get 50 Hostages Back From Hamas: ‘We Will Continue The War Until We Achieve The Goals’
- Israeli officials voted on Wednesday morning local time to approve deal in which dozens of hostages kidnapped by Hamas will be let go in exchange for Israel releasing some Palestinian women and minors convicted of crimes from prisons inside Israel.
- Hamas will release 12-13 hostages a day for four days in exchange for a ceasefire during that period of time, The Times of Israel reported. Israel will release about three times that number to return to their homes in Judea and Samaria and East Jerusalem.
- Israel also reportedly agreed to allow fuel to go into Gaza, as well as a “significant amount of humanitarian aid,” the report said. Israel’s military and security agencies all reportedly supported the deal. It’s not clear when the ceasefire will go into effect.
- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly demanded that some of the conditions include the possibility for further hostages to be released after the four day pause, a commitment by Hamas to locate and find hostages held by other terror groups inside Gaza, and a refusal to release Palestinians from Israeli prisons who have been convicted of murder, the report noted, adding that Israel believes Hamas can help locate 30 additional women and children who were taken hostage by other terrorist groups.
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Important Takeaways:
- ‘Miracle’: Muslim Men in Gaza Seek Christ After Over 200 Dream of Jesus on Same Night
- More than 200 Muslim men in Gaza have converted to Christianity after reportedly seeing Jesus in their dreams, said Christian professor Michael Licona.
- Licona teaches New Testament studies at Houston Christian University…
- In a recent Facebook post, Licona said he received a report from “underground Christian ministries” in the Middle East that detailed the miraculous conversions.
- “God is working in the midst of war!” his post began.
- “Over the past two days, we have ministered to hundreds of fathers who have lost most, if not all, of their children in the war. As we moved these men to safety, we fed them, washed their clothes, and began to read the Bible to them — sharing the way of peace through Jesus.
- “Then, a big miracle happened. Last night, Jesus appeared to more than 200 of them in their dreams! They have come back to us to learn more from God’s Word and are asking how to follow Jesus,” the report said
- About a month before the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack, Assemblies of God News reported that Muslims around the world were dreaming of Jesus and converting to Christianity at an unprecedented rate.
- “I would even say it’s the normal experience,” said Dick Brogden, a missionary for the Assemblies of God, a Pentecostal Christian organization. “It would be accurate to say that Muslims are responding to Jesus in levels we have never seen, not in 1,400 years!”
- “So many Muslims reject Islam, but know that to follow Jesus will cost them everything. Dreams of Jesus encourage them along the way and give them the comfort that Jesus will be with them — though it cost them everything to follow Him.”
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Important Takeaways:
- Erdogan blasts Israel as a ‘terrorist state’ intent on ‘total destruction’ of Gaza
- Erdogan told the Turkish parliament that “the Israeli government has been continuously committing war crimes for the last 40 days, they are bombing hospitals, streets and mosques, and are aiming for all these places intentionally, implementing a strategy of total destruction of a city and its people.”
- “They [Israel] have been speaking about murdering all those people using nuclear weapons, so let me call on Benjamin Netanyahu — do you have nuclear weapons or not? Explain this, if you have the courage.”
- “You are threatening people with atomic bombs, nuclear bombs. It does not matter what you have, you are a goner,” he said.
- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hit back at Erdogan hours later.
- “He calls Israel a terror state, but in his actions he supports the terror state of Hamas,” said Netanyahu, in comments released by his office. “He himself shelled Turkish villages within the borders of Turkey — we will not accept his preaching.” Netanyahu was likely referring to Turkish military action against Kurdish areas of the country in recent years.
- In 2019, Amnesty International found Turkey to have displayed “a shameful disregard for civilian life, carrying out serious violations and war crimes, including summary killings and unlawful attacks that have killed and injured civilians.”
- Hamas has been allowed to flourish inside Turkey for over a decade and has run operations from an office in Istanbul, although Turkey insisted it only hosted the group’s political wing.
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Important Takeaways:
- Forty days after the savage Hamas atrocities of October 7, the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) on Wednesday passed a resolution demanding a ceasefire and calling for “the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages held by Hamas and other groups, especially children.” The resolution did not condemn the Hamas atrocities that started the war
- The resolution passed the 15-member UNSC by a vote of 12-0 on Wednesday. The United States, United Kingdom, and Russia abstained from the vote.
- S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the United States abstained because it could not vote for a resolution that failed to condemn the Hamas atrocities or restate the right of U.N. member states to protect their citizens against terrorist attacks. She expressed approval of the call for Hamas to release its hostages, however.
- “What are they afraid of?” she asked of UNSC members who refused to condemn the October 7 attacks. “Let’s be crystal clear: Hamas set this conflict in motion.”
- UK Ambassador Barbara Woodward supported the call for a humanitarian pause, but also regretted that UNSC still could not bring itself to condemn the Hamas atrocities.
- Tuoro Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust director Anne Bayefsky immediately criticized the Biden administration for failing to block a resolution
- “The Council resolution said the hostages were ‘held by Hamas and other groups’ – not that they were raped, mutilated and kidnapped by Hamas. It never mentioned Israel’s U.N. Charter right of self-defense. It refers only to civilians ‘in Gaza’ and never in Israel. It never mentions ongoing rocket attacks against Israelis. And yet the Biden administration refused to veto it,” Bayefsky told Fox News.
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