Israel News for 5-8-2024
News Update
Israel reopened the Kerem Shalom border crossing to humanitarian aid trucks this morning, despite Hamas firing mortars at the crossing yesterday. The opening comes after a phone call between President Biden and Prime Minister Netanyahu last night.
Civilians are evacuating eastern Rafah. The Abu Youssef al-Najjar Hospital in Rafah is being evacuated of patients and staff. The IDF is striking terror targets in easter Rafah and in Gaza City.
A senior official in the Biden administration confirmed that the U.S. delayed a weapons shipment to Israel last week. He stated that “a shipment of bombs was stopped to signal to Israel the American opposition to the action in Rafah.” The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that the U.S. is delaying a $260 million shipment to Israel, which includes, among other items, about 6,500 JDAM kits (“Joint Direct Attack Munition”) that transform ordinary air bombs into “smart bombs” and are target-guided.
Regarding the Hamas ceasefire proposal, Prime Minister Netanyahu said, “The Hamas proposal yesterday was designed to torpedo the entry of our forces into Rafah. That did not happen. As the War Cabinet unanimously determined, the Hamas proposal was very far from Israel’s core demands.”
On a visit with troops in Gaza, Defense Minister Gallant said, “We are ready to compromise in order to bring back hostages, but if that option is not available we will go and intensify the operation, it will happen across the Strip – in the south, the center, and the north. Hamas only understands force and therefore we will intensify our operation, and the military pressure will lead to the destruction of the Hamas organization.”
IDF jets struck Hezbollah targets in 6 areas of southern Lebanon.
