Important Takeaways:
- Israel’s foreign minister warned time’s running short to find a diplomatic solution to the presence of Hezbollah fighters along the country’s northern border with Lebanon.
- Hezbollah, a Shiite militant group backed by Iran, and Israeli forces have exchanged fire almost daily since the Israel-Hamas war erupted on Oct. 7. While those skirmishes have killed scores of people and forced almost 100,000 Israelis and thousands of Lebanese to evacuate their homes, neither side has escalated its operations.
- Israel has said, though, that it’s prepared to open another front with a military attack on southern Lebanon if Hezbollah doesn’t move back to about 20 miles (32 kilometers) from the border, as per the terms of a long-standing United Nations resolution.
- Hezbollah has expressed solidarity with Hamas and fired missiles, mortars and rockets into Israel. The Israeli military has responded with artillery fire and also assassinated senior Hezbollah figures.
- Hezbollah is the most powerful militia in the Middle East. It has an arsenal of more than 100,000 rockets and missiles, according to Israeli intelligence estimates, far bigger than what Hamas could muster before Oct. 7.
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Important Takeaways:
- On Thin Ice With God: The Growing Betrayal of Israel And Obsession With Dividing Jerusalem
- This is just the beginning of the world’s obsession with Jerusalem and the Land of Israel (see Zechariah 12:1-4). In Joel 3:1-3, the Lord refers to the efforts of the nations to divide up His Land as a reason for His judgment of them in the final climatic battle, which is likely His destruction of the world’s armies at His Second Coming. God will severely judge those who seek to divide His Land.
- One website lists over a dozen occurrences of God displaying His displeasure at the attempts of the American government to facilitate deals that would divide up the Land of Israel. In each of the instances, calamities struck somewhere in the U.S. Some claim that these are merely “coincidences,” but it has happened far too many times for it not to be a warning from the Lord.
- That’s why I say the Biden administration is skating on remarkably thin ice with its devious support of solutions that would endanger the welfare of the people of Israel.
- I don’t know when the ice will break for the Biden administration or for other nations seeking to enforce the two-state solution upon Israel, but the Bible warns that it most certainly will not end well for them.
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Important Takeaways:
- Top Israeli minister says Iran is a ‘legitimate target’ for missile strikes as fears grow of an all-out war between the countries
- Iran is now a ‘legitimate target’ for missile strikes, a top Israeli minister has said, as fears grow of an all-out war between the countries.
- Israel’s economy minister, Nir Barkat, told The Telegraph that Palestinians from the West Bank would never be permitted to work in the country again and imported foreign workers would take their place.
- He also argued that the war against Hamas has not been aggressive enough
- Barkat, who is the favorite to take over from Benjamin Netanyahu as head of the ruling Likud party, said Israel has the means to pursue the conflict and open up a new front with Lebanon.
- Barkat told the newspaper: ‘Iran is a legitimate target for Israel. They will not get away with it. The head of the snake is Tehran.
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Important Takeaways:
- U.N. Chief Guterres Warns Israel: Rejection of a Two-State Solution Threatens World Peace
- Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s rejection of a two-state solution indefinitely prolongs a conflict that threatens world peace and emboldens extremists everywhere, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned Tuesday.
- AP reports Guterres told a ministerial meeting of the U.N. Security Council “the right of the Palestinian people to build their own fully independent state must be recognized by all, and a refusal to accept the two-state solution by any party must be firmly rejected.”
- The alternative of a one-state solution “with such a large number of Palestinians inside without any real sense of freedom, rights and dignity … will be inconceivable,” he further warned, adding to his previous comments on the matter.
- On Sunday the European Union’s top diplomat claimed a two-state solution for Israel-Gaza has “the whole international community” behind it, as Breitbart News reported.
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Important Takeaways:
- Israeli hospitals near Lebanon border preparing for ‘desert island’ scenarios
- A massive attack by Hezbollah could leave the medical centers for days without access to equipment, medicine or food, as well as staff in the reserves
- The Israeli Health Ministry ordered hospitals in the north to be ready to receive thousands of wounded, under extraneous conditions, as fighting intensifies on Israel’s border with Lebanon, according to a report by Kan.
- The Ziv Hospital in Safed and the Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya started preparing for what has been described as a “desert island” situation, meaning days without equipment, medicines or food in the event of a massive Hezbollah attack.
- The hospitals in Safed and Nahariya have also been instructed to prepare for the transfer of patients to other medical centers. Furthermore, the Health Ministry advised an increased vigilance and preparedness in all hospital systems and health insurance funds across the country.
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Important Takeaways:
- Khirbat Ikhza’a is just slightly southeast of Khan Yunis, making it an important strategic location for cutting off Hamas forces from maneuvering.
- It is also only a few kilometers from the Jewish kibbutz of Nir Oz and was one of Hamas’s invasion launch points to take over that kibbutz on October 7, along with Nirim and Ein Hashlosha.
- The IDF’s 5th Brigade destroyed hundreds of terror positions and killed dozens of Hamas terrorists to achieve operational control both above and below ground.
- In addition, IDF forces found a variety of personal items, such as challah covers, bicycles, agricultural items that Hamas stole from Nir Oz residents, and some clues relating to Israelis who were kidnapped on October 7.
- Further, the IDF seized a sizable number of mortars, rocket launchers, grenades, and guns. Also, IDF sources said every other house had weapons or terror-related items.
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Important Takeaways:
- King Abdullah of Jordan warns Antony Blinken there will be ‘catastrophic ramifications’ if Israel keeps dropping bombs on Gaza – as secretary of state tells Israel displaced Palestinians must be allowed to return to war-torn Strip
- King Abdullah II of Jordan has warned Antony Blinken there will be ‘catastrophic ramifications’ if the war in Gaza continues.
- During a meeting in Amman on Sunday, the Jordanian leader told the US Secretary of State there needed to be an end to ‘the tragic humanitarian crisis in the Strip.’
- Blinken is back in the region to speak with Arab leaders about a joint mission to contain the violence of the ongoing Israel-Gaza war.
- After speed round visits to Greece, Turkey, Jordan, and Qatar, Blinken will continue his visits later this week with stops in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, the West Bank, Egypt, and Israel before heading back to Washington.
- At the press conference, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani conveyed the country’s desire for stability in the region, which requires an immediate ceasefire, the release of the Israeli hostages, and continued aid into Gaza.
- Israel has not agreed to a ceasefire, and the US has largely not pushed Netanyahu’s government on the point, rather, advocating for temporary humanitarian pauses in the fighting to allow aid to be delivered.
- Several weeks back, Israel opened Kerem Shalom up as a second entry point for aid to Gaza.
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Important Takeaways:
- Israel’s Defense Minister Releases Plan for Next Stage of War, ‘Day After’ Hamas Defeated
- Gallant’s plan could therefore be a trial balloon — one distributed by the Netanyahu government but not formally adopted by it.
- It begins with a description of the next stage (“Phase III”) of the war: “Fighting will continue until the goals of the war are achieved: (1) the return of the hostages, (2) the dismantling of Hamas’ military and governing capabilities and (3) the removal of military threats from the Gaza strip.”
- In the northern Gaza Strip, where Hamas has largely been eliminated, Gallant suggests that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will scale down operations, but will continue with “raids, the destruction of terror tunnels, aerial and ground activities, and special operations.”
- In the southern Gaza Strip, where fighting is still intense, Gallant says that “operational efforts [will] focus on eliminating Hamas leadership and enabling the return of the hostages,” and that the IDF will continue to fight there “for as long as is deemed necessary.”
- In “Phase IV,” or “The Day After,” Gallant suggests that Hamas will not control Gaza; that the Israeli military will have “operational freedom” in Gaza; that there will be no Israeli civilian resettlement in Gaza; that local “non-hostile” Palestinians will govern; and that the U.S. will lead a multinational “task force,” together with European and Arab nations, to rebuild the area. Israel will also retain the ability to inspect all goods entering Gaza, and Egypt will have a consultative role.
- Crucially, the Palestinian Authority is completely excluded from the plan.
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Important Takeaways:
- How Israel’s war with Hamas is spiraling across the Middle East: As terror group’s deputy leader is killed in Beirut drone strike and targets are hit in Syria, fears grow of much wider regional conflict
- Israel’s assassination of Hamas deputy leader Saleh al-Arouri in a drone strike in Lebanon’s capital Beirut on Tuesday has raised fears that the war in Gaza could spread beyond the Palestinian enclave and engulf the Middle East.
- Arouri, 57, was the first senior Hamas political leader to be assassinated since Israel launched a brutal air and ground offensive against the group almost three months ago on the heels of the ruthless October 7 attacks on Israeli towns.
- Lebanon’s heavily armed Hezbollah group, a powerful Hamas ally, previously vowed to strike back against any Israeli targeting of Palestinian officials in Lebanon, and said of the attack: ‘This crime will never pass without response and punishment.’
- Hezbollah and the Israeli military have been exchanging fire almost daily over the Israeli-Lebanese border since Israel’s military campaign in Gaza began, but so far the Lebanese group has appeared reluctant to dramatically escalate the fighting.
- A significant response now could send the conflict spiraling into all-out war on Israel’s northern border.
- Meanwhile, Nasser Kanaani, spokesperson for the foreign ministry of Iran – the chief backer of Hamas and Hezbollah – said Arouri’s killing would ‘undoubtedly ignite another surge in the veins of resistance and the motivation to fight against the Zionist occupiers.
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Important Takeaways:
- Day 84, 1,400+ Israel’s Killed, 129 Hostages still being held
- Israeli Official Warns Time Running Out For Lebanon To Stop Hezbollah, Raising Fears Of 2nd War Front
- “The hourglass for a political settlement is running out,” Gantz told reporters.
- “If the world and Lebanon’s government will not work to stop the shooting at Israel and to distance Hezbollah from the border, the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) will do so.”
- Hezbollah, a heavily militarized terrorist organization, holds a strong grip over southern Lebanon and began firing rockets into Israel a day after Hamas’ deadly October 7 attack.
- At least 11 Israelis, including four civilians, have been killed by the strikes.
- Around 150 Lebanese — mostly Hezbollah terrorists and 17 civilians — have been killed by Israeli counterstrikes. Thousands of civilians have been displaced on both sides of the border.
- Gantz’s warning came after Hezbollah launched its most expansive assault yet on Wednesday, firing more rockets and drones at Israel than in any other single day since the assaults began.
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