Israel, on Friday night, launched a large-scale military operation in Gaza aimed at freeing the remaining hostages and destroying Hamas after the Gaza-based terror group rejected the latest ceasefire offer presented at the talks being held in Doha, Qatar.
“IDF has announced shortly before midnight on Friday that over the past day, it had begun extensive strikes and moved forces to seize dominating positions in Gaza as part of the opening moves of Operation ‘Gideon’s Chariots’ and the expansion of the campaign in Gaza,” the Israeli news website Ynetnews reported.
The operation was announced after Hamas rejected another ceasefire proposal presented by Steve Witkoff, the special envoy to the Middle East — further stalling negotiations for the release of the remaining hostages in its captivity since October 7, 2023.
“Sources familiar with the matter said that Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, attempted to break the deadlock in the Doha talks with a small deal for hostage releases in exchange for a month-long ceasefire,” the news outlet added.”However, there is currently no agreement, as Hamas still insists on a permanent end to the war.”
Amid the ongoing IDF operation, Hamas appears to have changed its tune and agreed to return to the table in Doha, media reports on Saturday afternoon suggest.
The Jerusalem Post reported Saturday:
Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Saturday that as the IDF expands its operations in Gaza, the Hamas delegation in Doha has announced its intention to resume negotiations on a hostage deal.”This is in contrast to the uncooperative position they had taken up until this moment,” he added.Hamas confirmed this new round of talks with Israel was underway in Qatar’s Doha, group official Taher al-Nono told Reuters.
The Gideon’s Chariots appear to be a massive operation. Israel mobilized ‘tens of thousands’ of reservists in the run up to the push. The Times of Israel reported May 3 that the IDF “was sending out tens of thousands of call-up orders to reservists, as the military was set to significantly expand its offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.”
The IDF seeks to expand the area under its control. Israeli troops already hold 30 percent of the enclave, driving a wedge between north and south Gaza and controlling the border with Egypt. “Over the past day, the IDF has begun conducting extensive strikes and mobilizing troops to achieve operational control in areas of the Gaza Strip, as part of preparations to expand operations and fulfill the objectives of the war — including the release of hostages and the dismantling of the Hamas terrorist organization,” the Israeli military said in statement late night Saturday.
“IDF troops will continue to operate in order to protect Israeli civilians and achieve the objectives of the war,” the statement added.
The Israeli Air Force, on Friday evening, hit three ports in Yemen used by Iran to supply weapons to the Houthi Islamic terrorist group.
The operation took place after Israel issued an evacuation order for the ports days ahead of the strike. “Five days after the warning to evacuate the ports, the IDF has begun launching airstrikes on Hodeidah, Ras Issa, and Salif. Saudi Al-Hadath reports at least 10 airstrikes so far,” the i24NEWS reported.
Israel issued prior warnings aimed at minimizing civilian casualties. “A short while ago, the IDF struck and dismantled terrorist infrastructure sites belonging to the Houthi terrorist regime in the Hudaydah and Salif Ports in Yemen,” the military revealed Saturday evening.
These ports have been used by Iran to deliver weapons, including missiles and drones, to the Houthis. The Yemen-based terrorist group has been using this arsenal to launch strikes on Israel and impose an illegal embargo by hijacking and sinking Western-owned cargo ships.
“These ports are used to transfer weapons and are a further example of the Houthi terrorist regime’s systematic and cynical exploitation of civilian infrastructure in order to advance terrorist activities,” the IDF explained. “The strikes were conducted after numerous advanced warnings issued by the IDF to the population in the area in order to mitigate the risk of harm to civilian population in the areas of these sites. Any hostile activity in these ports will continue to be prevented.”
Besides the Lebanon-based Hezbollah and Iran, the Houthis joined Hamas’s terrorist war against Israel after October 7, 2023. In the past 19 months, Houthis, an Iranian terror proxy, have “launched dozens of missile and drone attacks on commercial ships,” the BBC noted recently. “They have sunk two vessels, seized a third and killed four crew members.”
“Over the past year and a half, the Houthi terrorist regime has been operating under Iranian direction and funding in order to harm the State of Israel and its allies, undermining regional stability and disrupting global freedom of navigation,” the IDF statement added. “In light of the Houthi terrorist regime’s use of these ports for terrorist activity, the IDF continues to warn individuals in the area of the ports to evacuate.”
In a separate statement Saturday night, the military disclosed that “15 fighter jets carried out strikes and dropped over 30 munitions on targets belonging to the Houthi terrorist regime.”
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