Browsing: War in Israel

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…

The Israeli military and police forces have discovered the largest arms cache in Judea and Samaria in years, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit reported on Wednesday. The cache, which was uncovered in a village close to the Palestinian Authority capital Ramallah, reportedly included explosives, various rifles, pistols, a hand grenade, thousands of rounds of ammunition and a remote detonation device. It also contained gold jewelry and cash that would likely be used for financing various terrorist attacks. Israeli authorities arrested 12 Palestinian suspects amid growing concerns about terror attacks during the Muslim holiday of Ramadan this month, according to an IDF…

Israel struck a Hamas terror cell in southern Syria and a command center of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terror group in Damascus this week, Israeli media reported. The Hamas cell was struck by Israel Defense Forces (IDF) overnight between Tuesday and Wednesday after planning to carry out terror attacks in the Israeli Golan Heights, Channel 12 News reported Wednesday evening. On Thursday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz confirmed that a Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) target in Damascus was struck. The IDF stated that the site was used for planning and coordinating terrorist activities against Israel. “Wherever terrorist activity is…

The family of Avinatan Or (32) received a sign of life from one of the returning hostages, Channel 12 News reported on Wednesday. Or’s family had not received any sign of life since his capture by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7, 2023, and they were not sure he was still alive. The indication that Or was alive came from interviews with a released hostage, who reported being held with him in harsh conditions, deprived of food and given very little water. According to the information received, Or is being held in the central camps in the Gaza Strip. His brother…

Israel has halted the humanitarian aid entering the Gaza Strip, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) announced on Sunday, March 2, shortly after the hostage-ceasefire deal expired. An Israeli official told Israeli media that the move came in full coordination with the Trump administration. “With the completion of the first phase of the hostage deal and in light of Hamas’s refusal to accept the Witkoff framework for continuing negotiations — which Israel had agreed to — Prime Minister Netanyahu has decided that, as of this morning, the entry of all goods and supplies into the Gaza Strip will be halted,” the…

Israel’s new IDF chief of staff, Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir, has vowed to achieve an Israeli military victory over its enemies despite many existing challenges. “Enemies near and far have sought to destroy us. They mistakenly believed that our spirit was weak and our ranks were fractured,” Zamir wrote in his first official order to IDF soldiers. He openly admitted that the Israeli military failed to protect the Israeli border communities during the Hamas Oct. 7, 2023, attack. “The Israel Defense Forces did not fulfill its mission on October 7. We will not hide it, nor will we cover it up,” Zamir pledged.…

Liri Albag is one of the female lookouts who survived the Hamas terror attack at the IDF base where she was serving on October 7th. In an interview to be broadcast on Channel 12, Albag shared the horrors she experienced that day and the feeling of fear that took over her. “Since October 7th I have been living in one long nightmare, waiting for someone to wake me up, to tell me, ‘It was all a dream; it didn’t really happen,’ but unfortunately it did,” she said sadly. On the moment when the terrorists infiltrated the base, she said: “There was a look…