The United States has raised concerns with Israel over its strikes in Beirut in past weeks, the State Department said on Tuesday, adding that strikes have diminished in recent days and Washington would continue to watch very carefully.
State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said while there are strikes the US would consider appropriate for Israel to carry out, the US made clear to the government of Israel it had concerns with the nature of the bombing campaign seen in the past few weeks, largely due to the civilian toll.
Go to the full article >>The IDF released a graphic on Tuesday showing the eliminated members of Hezbollah's senior military leadership.
The fates of two members remain unknown, according to the graphic.
Hezbollah Operations Council head Hashem Safieddine's possible survival contradicts a statement from Prime Minister Netanyahu last week when the prime minister claimed Safieddine had been killed.
Go to the full article >>The Israel Air Force successfully intercepted a drone that approached Israeli territory from the east, the IDF stated Tuesday.
The drone was intercepted before crossing into Israeli territory.
Go to the full article >>The IDF retaliatory strike on Iran should target the country’s oil fields because of the negative impact that would have on the Islamic Republic’s economy, Yesh Atid Party head and leader of the opposition, Yair Lapid, told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday.
“We should start with the oil fields,” Lapid said as he sat in his Tel Aviv office. He spoke as Israel had reportedly ceded to a US request not to target Iran’s oil fields or nuclear sites during its anticipated retaliation for Iran’s ballistic missile attack on the Jewish state on October 1.
Go to the full article >>US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin wrote a letter to Israel on Sunday to make clear Washington's concerns about the levels of humanitarian assistance that have been arriving to Gaza, the State Department said on Tuesday.
State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters at a regular news briefing that the US knows it is possible to get humanitarian aid into Gaza and that bureaucratic and logistical obstacles can be surmounted.
"We need to see further changes by the government of Israel," Miller said, adding that there are implications under US law and Washington hopes that Israel will make the changes outlined in the letter.
The Pentagon said on Tuesday a letter co-authored by US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to Israeli officials about the humanitarian situation in Gaza was "private correspondence" and declined to discuss it in detail.
Go to the full article >>Former IDF air defense chief Brig. Gen. (res.) Ran Kochav told the Jerusalem Post that the two keys to beating the drone defense problem highlighted by the Golani base disaster on Sunday are better identification and a wide range of tailored shootdown solutions.
Speaking to the Post shortly after the incident, Kochav said, “We need to find solutions. It’s a big challenge for the country. We need major moves to do it. The biggest issue is identification” of the drones as they fly into Israeli airspace.
Go to the full article >>Israel is opposed to a unilateral ceasefire with the Iranian proxy group Hezbollah in Lebanon that does not address the security dangers facing Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday.
“Israel is working against the terrorist organization Hezbollah so that it no longer threatens its citizens on the northern border and so those residents in the north can return home safely,” Netanyahu told Macron in a phone conversation, according to read out of the call from the Prime Minister’s office.
Go to the full article >>IDF special intelligence Unit 504 revealed on Tuesday night that one of the Hezbollah fighters it had captured and interrogated said that "they all fled...after the assassination of [Hezbollah chief Hassan] Nasrallah, I did not see any of them."
Unit 504 is known as "the IDF's Mossad", and its activities are generally highly secretive, with even its top commander's name not being revealed.
Go to the full article >>The High Court of Justice issued a conditional order stating that the government must explain why it is not allowing the evacuation of uninvolved wounded people from Gaza to a third country, Ynet reported on Tuesday.
The court clarified that these are cases where there is no security obstacle to the transfer of the wounded.
The government reportedly must respond to the High Court's inquiry within a month.
Go to the full article >>In a sign Israel may expand its ground operations against Hezbollah while bolstering its own defenses, its troops have cleared landmines and established new barriers on the frontier between the Golan Heights and a demilitarized strip bordering Syria, security sources and analysts said.
The move suggests Israel may seek to strike Hezbollah for the first time from further east along Lebanon's border, at the same time creating a secure area from which it can freely reconnoiter the armed group and prevent infiltration, the sources said.
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