Author: mackenzie

The IDF will permanently seize parts of the Gaza Strip if Hamas doesn’t release the hostages held in captivity, Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a substantial yet vague escalatory threat on Friday, March 21. “I have instructed the IDF to seize additional areas in Gaza, evacuate the population, and expand security zones around Gaza to protect Israeli communities and IDF soldiers. The more Hamas persists in its refusal to release the hostages, the more territory it will lose, which will be annexed to Israel,” Katz said. “If the hostages are not released, Israel will continue to take more and…

Senior Hamas official Salah al-Bardawil was killed overnight between Saturday and Sunday, March 22-23, in an Israeli airstrike on his tent in the humanitarian zone of al-Mawasi, near Khan Younis. The strike left a massive crater at the site. According to Qatar-based media, 23 people were killed in Israeli strikes across Khan Younis and nearby Rafah since midnight. IDF Arabic-language spokesperson Lt. Col. Avichay Adraee issued an urgent evacuation warning to residents of the Tel al-Sultan neighborhood in Rafah. “The IDF has begun operations targeting terrorist organizations. The area you are in is an active combat zone and extremely dangerous.…

Despite mounting pressure on Hamas, Israel estimates that talks about a new ceasefire and hostage deal are stuck at the moment, leaving military operations as the only lever to pressure the terror group currently. According to Channel 12 News, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Israel Katz, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir and other senior defense establishment officials held a limited security consultation on Wednesday evening to decide on the next steps. Since the ceasefire’s first phase ended without an agreement on a continuation, Israel has gradually applied pressure on Hamas, first by cutting aid and electricity, before…

Two ballistic missiles were launched at Israel on Thursday by the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen and were successfully intercepted by air defenses, according to the Israel Defense Forces. “Following the sirens that sounded a short while ago in several areas in Israel, two missiles launched from Yemen were intercepted prior to crossing into Israeli territory,” the military said in a statement. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage in the attack. Sirens sounded across central Israel, in Jerusalem and numerous surrounding towns, as well as in several West Bank settlements. The Houthis quickly claimed responsibility for launching the…

Hamas has allegedly told mediators that they are willing to accept any proposal to release Israeli hostages if it includes a resumption of a ceasefire, according to UK-based Qatari news organization Al-Araby Al-Jadeed’s report on Thursday. The Hamas sources also claimed that the terror group did not reject US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff’s ceasefire-hostage framework but rather accepted it on the condition that it would lead to a resumed ceasefire. Witkoff, however, reportedly rejected this, surprising Hamas, according to the Al-Araby Al-Jadeed. Continue reading this article on www.jpost.com

The Shin Bet security agency and Israeli Police announced that they thwarted a car-ramming attack targeting Israel Defense Force soldiers. The suspect, Jihad Zariqat, a resident of Kafr Kanna identified as a Hamas sympathizer, was apprehended in February. During his arrest, investigators discovered incriminating evidence in his possession, including hand-written wills, Hamas manuals detailing methods for carrying out attacks, and various nationalist documents. According to authorities, the investigation revealed that Zariqat “had made the decision to carry out a car-ramming attack against Israeli soldiers and even attempted to put his plan into action.” The North District Prosecutor’s Office is expected…

The IDF announced Thursday it had killed several senior Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) operatives in targeted airstrikes in Gaza, as fighting between Israel and terror factions continued to intensify. Meanwhile, the families of hostages held in Gaza urged military officials to prioritize their rescue, warning that increased military pressure could put their loved ones at greater risk. Israeli airstrikes overnight killed Ayman Atsalih, the head of Hamas’ General Security apparatus in Khan Younis, and Rashid Jahjuh, who led the organization’s General Security Forces in Gaza, the military said. In a separate strike, Israeli forces also eliminated Ismail Abd…

Eli Sharabi, 53, who was held hostage by Hamas in Gaza for 491 days before being released in the most recent hostage deal, addressed the United Nations Security Council on Thursday, delivering a harrowing account of his captivity. “I have come back from hell,” Sharabi said. “I was kept underground, starved, beaten and chained like an animal. For 491 days, I begged for food, begged to use the bathroom—begging became my existence.” Sharabi, a resident of Kibbutz Be’eri, was abducted on October 7, 2023, when Hamas terrorists stormed his home, murdered his wife, Lianne, and their daughters, Noiya and Yahel,…

Sirens sounded in central Israel early Thursday afternoon, following rocket launches from Gaza. The rockets are the first launched from Gaza since the first stage of the ceasefire deal between Israel and the Hamas terror group expired on March 1. Israel waited for Hamas to agree to extend the first stage, but returned to fighting earlier this week after the terror group insisted on full IDF withdrawal from Gaza as a condition for the hostages’ release. “Following the sirens that sounded a short while ago in the areas of Gush Dan and HaShfela, three projectiles were identified crossing from southern…

Every day, from 5 a.m. to midnight, the guards holding Israeli hostage Tal Shoham used an electric demolition hammer to dig further into the soft Gaza clay, Shoham revealed in a recent interview with ABC. Released last month during the first phase of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, Shoham explained that the tunnel-building teams worked in nine-hour shifts. Since the terrorist organization’s surprise attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, Hamas has survived Israel’s heavy airstrikes by expanding its intricate network of tunnels under Gaza, known to Israeli officials as “the Metro.” For over 200 days, Shoham and three other…