Israel News for 5-6-2024
News Update
Yesterday, Hamas fired rockets at an IDF staging area in the Kerem Shalom crossing, which is at the southernmost tip of the Gaza-Israel border. Four soldiers were killed in the attack and 10 others wounded.
The soldiers killed in the attack were:
Staff Sgt. Ruben Marc Mordechai Assouline, 19 of the Givati Brigade’s Shaked Battalion, from Ra’anana.
Staff Sgt. Ido Testa, 19, of the Givati Brigade’s Shaked Battalion, from Jerusalem.
Staff Sgt. Tal Shavit, 21, of the Nahal Brigade’s 931st Battalion, from Kfar Giladi.
Sergeant Michael Ruzal, 18, of the Nahal Brigade’s 931st Battalion, from Rishon LeZion.
Israel responded to the attack with multiple airstrikes in Rafah. The IDF also dropped leaflets urging civilians to evacuate from eastern Rafah to an expanded humanitarian zone in west and center of Khan Yunis.
Israel’s war cabinet approved the first phase IDF operation in Rafah and Defense Minister Gallant informed US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin that Israel had no choice but to proceed with the operation after Hamas sabotaged the hostage negotiations and attacked Israeli forces. Israeli officials reportedly said that the Rafah operation was limited in nature and could be halted if Hamas agrees to a deal. Dozens have been killed in the airstrikes thus far. CIA Director William Burns arrived in Doha yesterday to attempt to salvage the negotiations.
[It’s interesting that just as news of a possible deal that would result in the normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel, Hamas launches their attack to force Israel into responding against Rafah, destroy the negotiations and torpedo chances of peace in the Middle East. Sounds like a familiar playbook orchestrated by puppet master Iran. Will the West, including the U.S., fall for it again?]
In the north, Hezbollah launched a drone attack on Metula that wounded two, and launched numerous rockets at the Galilee and Golan. The IDF responded with strikes against Hezbollah targets including 15 buildings in a base used by Hezbollah’s Radwan force in Lebanon.
The government voted to ban Al Jezeera from operating in Israel.
In the wake of the Turkish ban on trade with Israel, Turkish and Israeli companies are circumventing the boycott by trading via third countries. For more, click here.
