Amid ongoing ceasefire negotiations in Qatar, the Gaza-base terrorist group Hamas unleashed a barrage of rockets at Israel. On Saturday afternoon, Israeli air defense systems intercepted two long-range Hamas rockets over Jerusalem.
“According to the IDF, two rockets were launched from Beit Hanoun in the Gaza Strip towards Jerusalem before being successfully intercepted,” the Jerusalem Post reported. “Earlier on Saturday, additional rockets from the strip activated sirens in the Gaza border communities of Mefalsim and Nir Am in southern Israel.”
The Israeli news website YNET reported the latest escalation by Hamas:
Two rockets fired Saturday evening from Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza toward the Jerusalem area were successfully intercepted by Israeli Air Force defense systems, the IDF. (…)The rockets were fired from a location approximately 300 meters from IDF forces. Following the rocket fire, IDF Arabic-language spokesperson Lt. Col. Avichay Adraee issued an evacuation warning to Beit Hanoun residents via social media.”This area has been repeatedly warned in the past,” Adraee wrote. “The IDF is operating there with force. You must evacuate immediately.” (…)The IDF estimates Hamas still possesses long-range rockets capable of reaching Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Beit Hanoun, located near the Israeli city of Sderot, has been a frequent site for rocket storage and launches. Despite repeated military operations in the area, long-range rockets continue to be uncovered.
After repeatedly stalling hostage negotiations for more than a year, the Gaza-based terrorist group laid down additional demands at ongoing ceasefire talks in Qatar’s capital, Doha, while refusing to give the names of Israeli hostages still alive in its captivity. “Negotiations for the release of Israeli hostages are still ongoing, yet Hamas is raising new demands regarding wounded hostages and refuses to provide a list of living hostages,” the Israeli TV channel i24NEWS reports Friday.
Hamas is holding 100 Israeli hostages in Gaza, including 13 women and two children below the age of five. Israeli security services believe that at least 36 of them have been murdered by Hamas and its terrorist allies since October 7, 2023.
According to Israeli media reports, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants Hamas to reveal the names of the hostages still alive in its captivity before Israel could agree to a ceasefire in Gaza — something the Biden administration, the United Nations, and several European countries have been pressuring Israel to sign up on.
“I’m not prepared to enter a deal without knowing what I’m making a deal over and who I’m getting in return,” Netanyahu reportedly said.
The Times of Israel reported Thursday:
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told aides this week that he will not agree to a hostage deal with Hamas without receiving a list of the names of living abductees, Walla reports, citing two sources familiar with the details.The report says Netanyahu told a meeting this week — following the return of negotiators from talks in Qatar — that “we can’t get any names out of Hamas and I’m not prepared to enter a deal without knowing what I’m making a deal over and who I’m getting in return.”According to the Hebrew-language outlet, Netanyahu also said in meetings after the return of negotiators from Doha on Tuesday night that he won’t move forward without knowing who exactly the terror group will release in the first phase of a deal.
The IDF is stepping up its ground operation in the northern Gaza area of Beit Hanoun, from where the latest round of long-range rockets was fired at Israel. IDF’s “Nahal Brigade” has begun “operating overnight against terror targets in the area of Beit Hanoun,” the Israeli military announced Saturday.
The operation was launched “[f]ollowing prior intelligence regarding the presence of terrorist infrastructure and operatives in the area.” the IDF disclosed. “Before the entry of the troops into the area, the IAF and IDF artillery struck terror targets in the area, including a terrorist meeting point and additional Hamas terror targets.”
“IDF troops are enabling civilians still in the area to move away for their own safety from the combat zone via designated routes,” the Israeli military added.
The Iranian proxy Houthis also continued firing missiles at Israel from their terror bases in Yemen. A Houthi missile was intercepted on Saturday before it could enter Israel airspace, military sources said.
“Following the sirens that sounded a short while ago in the areas of Jerusalem and the Dead Sea, a missile launched from Yemen was intercepted by the IAF prior to crossing into Israeli territory,” the IDF said in a statement Saturday morning.
The Yemeni jihadist group, which has fired over 400 missiles and drones at Israel since the October 7 massacre, has stepped up its aerial attacks in recent days. The Israeli air defenses intercepted most of the Houthi drones and missiles before they could reach the country’s territory. Earlier this week, Israel, for the very first time, intercepted a Houthi missile using the U.S.-made THAAD air defense system.
As the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire entered its first month, the IDF continued to dismantle Hezbollah’s terrorist buildup along Israel’s northern border.
Israeli ground troops located and destroyed a terror tunnel belonging to Hezbollah’s Radwan Forces in southern Lebanon. The military “dismantled a 100-meter-long underground tunnel route that led to a Radwan Forces terrorist hideout” in southern Lebanon,” the IDF said in a press release Saturday.
The IDF uncovered a huge weapons cache in the Hezbollah tunnel. Israeli “troops located rifles, machine guns, anti-tank missiles, and observation systems inside the tunnel. All the equipment was confiscated and destroyed, as well as the underground tunnel route itself,” the military disclosed. “An anti-tank missile stockpile and heavy machine gun positions aimed at IDF posts were also found in the vicinity of the tunnel.”
“The underground tunnel route also led to a Hezbollah command center containing rocket launchers which had been used to fire at Israel during the war, along with a large number of explosives,” the IDF added.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY