Israel-Hamas War Day 178: What is going on in Gaza, Lebanon?

Only 59% of Israelis believe their nation has a responsibility to ensure the safety of Jews worldwide, marking a slight decrease from the previous year, according to a new survey.

This statistic emerges alongside a compelling expectation from the Israeli public: A striking 95% insist that Diaspora Jews should support Israel during conflicts, displaying a contrast of opinions on this issue.

The survey, conducted by the Diaspora Ministry, is part of the Diaspora Engagement Index, designed to explore Israelis' attitudes towards the Jewish diaspora. It revealed a landscape of hope, expectation, and concern, reflecting on the deep ties that bind the global Jewish community, particularly against the backdrop of increasing challenges and the Israel-Hamas War.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak spoke to his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu in a call on Tuesday and demanded "a thorough and transparent independent investigation" into the deaths of aid workers in Gaza, the prime minister's office said.

“He (Sunak) said he was appalled by the killing of aid workers, including three British nationals, in an airstrike in Gaza yesterday and demanded a thorough and transparent independent investigation into what happened," a Downing Street spokesperson said.

“The Prime Minister said far too many aid workers and ordinary civilians have lost their lives in Gaza and the situation is increasingly intolerable."

IAF jets targeted on Tuesday a terror cell in the Wadi Hamoul area, which had fired launches at Western Galilee earlier on Tuesday, the military said.

In addition, artillery forces struck several areas, including Rmeish and Maisat, to remove threats. 

The United States is "outraged" over the strike that killed seven World Central Kitchen aid workers in Gaza, White House spokesman John Kirby said on Tuesday.

"We were outraged to learn of an IDF strike that killed a number of civilian humanitarian workers yesterday from the World Central Kitchen," Kirby said.

In mid-June, many more details will emerge, but there is already a relatively definitive account of how Israel failed to prevent Hamas’s October 7 invasion.

Leaks appeared in the Arab media about Hamas’s operational timeline and preparations, along with special security steps Hamas took to prevent even its leader in Qatar, Ismail Haniyeh, from knowing about the invasion until hours before the attack.

But on Tuesday, former IDF intelligence chief and INSS Director Tamir Hayman gave the fullest account yet of what most likely shifted Gaza Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar from an apparent state of deterrence to risking everything on a one-day rampage of mass murder and kidnapping.

Hayman noted from the outset that although Sinwar was extremely “successful” at the first stage, he made a “huge strategic mistake” since he did not even come close to anticipating that his attack would lead to a sustained six-month and running Israeli invasion of Gaza.

Seaborne aid for the population of Gaza is returning to Cyprus following the killing of seven aid workers of World Central Kitchen, Cypriot officials said on Tuesday, after the US-based charity said it would pause work in the besieged Palestinian enclave.

World Central Kitchen (WCK) staff had just finished offloading 100 tons of food aid from a barge that sailed from Cyprus when their vehicle convoy was attacked overnight Monday in an Israeli airstrike.

The barge was part of a four-vessel flotilla that set sail from Larnaca, Cyprus, on March 30. Another vessel still loaded with 240 tonnes of food, the Jennifer, was heading back to Cyprus on Tuesday with the empty barge, a salvage boat, and a tugboat after WCK suspended operations.

"They only managed to offload the barge," a Cypriot official told Reuters. One-third (of the aid cargo) was delivered, and two-thirds are coming back."

Monday's attack was a severe setback in attempts to expedite aid into Gaza, where international agencies say many are on the verge of famine as a result of the Israeli assault.

"The tragic events must not discourage us. We need to double down on efforts to get aid to Gaza," Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides said after a meeting with European Parliament President Roberta Metsola.

Almost six months after the first Houthi missile attack aimed at Israel and six months after the first of many recurring Houthi attacks targeting international shipping routes in the Red Sea, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant signed a decree designating the Ansar Allah Movement, also known as the Houthi movement, as a formally recognized terror organization.

The Israeli move comes two years after the previous attempt at designating the organization as a terror group. In January of 2022, former MK and chair of the Foreign Relations and Security Committee of the Knesset, Tzvi Hauser, issued a call to then Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Defense Minister Benny Gantz, and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, urging them to designate the organization, citing almost prophetically the Islamic Republic’s supplying of the Houthis with long-range cruise missiles and maritime capabilities featuring intelligence gathering and potential hostilities against naval targets.

Speaking to The Jerusalem Post, Hauser noted that, by that point, the Biden Administration had canceled the Trump Administration’s designation of the Houthis, reminding that the call aimed to urge Israel to spearhead the fight against terrorism in the Middle East against the backdrop of the Houthi attacks against the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

“The Iranians don’t love dying, but it is very easy for them to send others to die,” then education minister Naftali Bennett said at the Herzliya conference in 2018.

“While we're shedding blood fighting their tentacles, the octopus's head is lounging in its chair enjoying itself,” Bennett continued. The time had come, he declared, for Israel “to aim at the head of the octopus and not its tentacles.”

Israel, according to foreign reports and Iranian accusations, did just that on Monday, killing Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander Mohammad Reza Zahedi in Damascus. Zahedi was the most senior Iranian official killed since the American strike on IRGC Quds force commander Qassem Soleimani in 2020.

The Wall Street Journal termed the killing of Zahedi “the first real price” that Iran has paid “for its proxy warfare in the Middle East.”

In other words, going for the head of the octopus.

The United Arab Emirates is pausing humanitarian aid efforts to the Gaza Strip through the maritime corridor pending further safety guarantees and a full investigation, a UAE official told Reuters.

An Israeli strike killed seven people working for the World Central Kitchen (WCK) aid group in Gaza on Monday.

The UAE has been the main financier for aid through a maritime corridor to Gaza and WCK had arranged the missions.

Israel reportedly drafted new proposals for a hostage deal, according to the Saudi state-owned al-Arabiya channel on Tuesday. 

According to sources, Israel offered to create three safe corridors in northern Gaza to enable Palestinians to return to their homes in stages.

In addition, Israel allegedly required that it be notified via mediators of the situation of the hostages detained in Hamas captivity.   

The delegation of Mossad, Shin Bet, and IDF officials who went to Cairo for hostage release and ceasefire negotiations was set to return to Israel on Tuesday afternoon, according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office.

As part of the talks, the mediators formulated a new proposal to present to Hamas.

"Israel expects the mediators to work harder with Hamas to promote negotiations in favor of a deal," said the PMO.