🎗️Lonny's War Update- October 240, 2023 - June 2, 2024 🎗️

  

🎗️Day 240 that 125 of our hostages in Hamas captivity
**There is nothing more important than getting them home! NOTHING!**

“I’ve never met them,

But I miss them. 

I’ve never met them,

but I think of them every second. 

I’ve never met them,

but they are my family. 

BRING THEM HOME NOW!!!”

There is no victory until all of the hostages are home!

‎אין נצחון עד שכל החטופים בבית

Red Alerts - Missile, Rocket, Drone (UAV - unmanned aerial vehicles), and Terror Attacks and Death Announcements

*7:50pm last night- north- rockets/missiles Bustan Hagalil, Acre

*12:10am- north- rockets/missiles Arab Al aramsha

*8:15am-north- multiple hostile aircraft intrusion alerts Golan, Upper Galilee

*8:20am-north- multiple hostile aircraft intrusion alerts Golan, Upper Galilee

*8:25am-north-hostile aircraft intrusion alerts Golan, Upper Galilee - at least 3 UAVs, one shot down

*11:00am- north/missiles - rockets Kibbutz Margaliot

*11:30- Jerusalem - A terrorist who planned to carry out a stabbing attack in the area of the Old City of Jerusalem was arrested while in possession of a knife. The terrorist, a Palestinian resident of the West Bank illegally staying in Israel, turned himself in to officers of the David District. Following the investigation, his accomplice, another terrorist who planned to carry out a shooting attack toward the settlement of Beit El, was also arrested. After the conclusion of their interrogation by the police, they are expected to be indicted.

*2:50pm- north = rockets- Katzrin

*2:55pm - north - hostile aircraft intrusion - Gesher Haziv, Nahariya, Saar, Evron, Shavei Tzion, Mazra'a, Regba, Lochamei Haghetto'ot

*3:00pm- north - hostile aircraft intrusion - Acre, Shomerat, Sheikh Danon, Bustan Hagalil, Nahariya

*4:10- North - rockets/missiles - Kiryat Shemona, Tel Hai, Kibbutzim Misgav Am, Kfar Giladi 

*4:55pm- north - rockets/missiles Kiryat Shemona

*7:20pm- north- hostile aircraft intrusion - Ben Ami, Gesher Haziv, Nahariya, Saar, Evron, Shavei Tzion

*7:30pm- north - rockets/missiles Snir

*8:00pm- north - Hostile Aircraft intrusion - Achziv, Betzet, Leeman, Metzuba, Rosh Hanikra, Shlomi,Ben Ami, Gesher Haziv, Nahariya, Saar, Evron, Shavei Tzion

##notice that I have added missiles to the alerts on the north. Hamas doesn't have missile. They have various types of rockets and anti tank shells. Hizbollah, however, have been launching various types of rockets and anti-tank shells throughout the war. Lately, they have been launching more dangerous missiles that are capable of larger explosive heads, such as the Burkan is a short range missile which can carry a warhead of 500 kg (over 1000lbs) with a range of 10 kilometers (6 miles). The Burkan 2 is a ballistic missile has a range of 1000-1400 kilometers. Because the Burkan 1 is not a ballistic missile, our air defenses cannot properly defend against it as it has a direct trajectory. A ballistic missile trajectory is parabolic which allows our defenses to detect and destroy. It is likely that the ballistic missiles fired by the Houthis were Burkan 2 and therefore were successfully shot down.

Hostage Updates 
Today is Matan Zanguaker's 24th birthday -Matan Zangauker, 24, and Ilana Gritzewsky, 30, were abducted from their Kibbutz Nir Oz home on October 7 as Hamas terrorists waged a massacre on the kibbutz during the group’s terror onslaught on southern Israel, killing or kidnapping one in four residents on what has become known as the Black Shabbat.  Ilana Gritzewsky was released on November 30 as part of an extension of a temporary ceasefire deal brokered by Qatar and the United States between Hamas and Israel. Her partner, Matan Zangauker, is still captive.

Zangauker’s mother, Einav Zangauker, said after Ilana’s release that they had no information about Matan, except for “a sign of life.” She added that he is strong and a survivor, and can live on rationed food and water.  “Matan, as you were robbed of life, you will return to life, we’re fighting for you,” said Zangauker. 

Zangauker is very close with his mother, who lives in nearby Ofakim and was in touch with her on the morning of October 7. When the sirens began sounding early that morning, he told her to relax — they were in their bedroom, which is the safe room.

As the situation worsened in the kibbutz, Zangauker wrote to his mother that the terrorists were in their house. “Everything will be okay, my prince,” wrote his mother.
Then Matan wrote, “I love you, don’t cry.”
And finally, “Here. Here. Here.”

Zangauker’s parents divorced when he was young and Matan often took care of his younger sisters. He is known as an independent, mature person, always available for support and understanding.

Gritzewsky, Zangauker’s girlfriend, made aliyah from Mexico 14 years ago, on the Na'ale program. Her parents and sister later immigrated to Israel.

• A senior adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is quoted as saying that there are “a lot of details to be worked out” in the latest hostage release and ceasefire deal presented by US President Joe Biden last night.
  “There are a lot of details to be worked out and that includes there will not be a permanent ceasefire until all our objectives are met,” Ophir Falk tells the British Sunday Times.
  He is also quoted as saying Biden’s address was “a political speech for whatever reasons.”  -- Immediately after Shabbat ended, Ben Gvir and Smotrich let Netanyahu know that they will bolt the coalition if Netanyahu backs the ceasefire deal. They both said that if the goals of the war are not met (destroying Hamas' terror capabilities and governing Gaza, preventing future threat from Gaza to Israel - Smotrich mentioned the hostages, Ben Gvir didn't), they would dismantle the government. Yair Lapid, head of the opposition, once again told Netanyahu that his party would provide a safety net and support the deal enabling the government to continue to function but would demand elections. Netanyahu is in a precarious position. He does not want the government to fall which means new elections; something that he has been fighting since October 7, as he will likely lose the premiership and his legacy will be destroyed. Biden's deal is basically built off of the deal the Israeli negotiating team presented to the Egyptians and Qataris, which is also an outline and does not contain real details. But the proposal was the most far reaching to come from the Israeli negotiating team. Netanyahu felt backed into a corner when he approved it going forward, but, in my opinion, he knew he had a way to back out. Months ago, he deliberately made the public move to state that the larger cabinet had to approve any deal and not just the War Cabinet. In doing so, he knew he had Smotrich and Ben Gvir who would not support any deal that would end the war, which is Netanyahu's ulterior motive. Therefore, even though he approved the negotiating team to present the proposal, he had a guaranteed way of backing out. That, of course would force Benny Gantz to pull his party out of the government, something that was likely to occur in the coming week in any case and has no impact on Netanyahu's coalition of 64 without Gantz and party. Some see Netanyahu in a position of rock and a hard place due to Biden's surprise speech which they informed Netanyahu of just 3 hours earlier. He is feeling Biden's pressure but he has ignored it in the past in order to push back ending the war and ending his coalition. On the other hand, he was just provided with a bipartisan invitation to address the US Congress which gives him a position of strength against the pressure of the White House. If the invitation was only from the Republicans, the situation would be different. Although Netanyahu has long sided with the Republicans as opposed to all his predecessors who were very careful to keep Israel a bipartisan ally, he would be very worried that Biden could still win this year's election and have a very bad impact on Netanyahu and his relations with the White House going forward. I hope that I am very wrong and Netanyahu will finally do the right thing and push the Biden proposal and bring home the hostages even at the costs of ending the war and releasing thousands of Palestinian prisoner. Unfortunately, I don't have any faith that Netanyahu will do the right thing if he sees that he will pay a political price.
• THE OFFICIAL HAMAS RESPONSE TO BIDEN'S SPEECH : A summary of the highlights of the interview with Hamas leader Osama Hamdan on Al Jazeera this Saturday evening:
  ⭕ Hamdan: Principles alone are not enough to reach an agreement. They are a road map, but they are not the picture that can be agreed upon. We want a complete ceasefire. This was proposed by President Biden, but how? The timing and mechanism of this?
  ⭕ Hamdan: We want a complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. This must be specific within well-defined steps. We also want there to be comprehensive shelter and relief for the Gaza Strip, reconstruction, and an end to the siege. We want a fair exchange deal. All these details must be agreed upon.
  ⭕ Hamdan: I expected President Biden to adopt the paper that was presented to the Hamas movement at the beginning of last May as a paper submitted by the mediators, and approved by his representative in the mediation, CIA Director William Burns.
  ⭕ Hamdan: The statement reflects a serious attempt by the mediators to reach an agreement. It remains to be seen precisely what is proposed, and what is the true nature of the Israeli position.
  ⭕ Hamdan: We have not received anything specific yet, and we are not about to return to the zero point of negotiation. There is a proposal that was presented to the mediators. I believe that the statement could be an introduction to resubmitting the same proposal to the Israeli side and for the Israelis to accept that.
  ⭕ Hamdan: There is no initiative. President Biden talked about ideas, and general ideas do not mean reaching an understanding. They are a general framework, many details, and many details were discussed over the past four months.
  ⭕ Hamdan: Talking about the mediators’ desire to reach a good and acceptable modern agreement, and Hamas did not hesitate and took the decision when it agreed to the paper presented by the mediators, and it is now the mediators’ turn to put pressure on the Israeli side to accept the same paper, which I believe achieved the principles proposed by President Biden. 
  ⭕ Hamdan: Hamas announced its approval of what the mediators presented, but “Israel” did not agree. It was the one who announced its rejection. The side that has been stubborn over the past months is the Israeli side, and the side that met Hamas’ approval and the efforts of the mediators by invading Rafah and occupying the Philadelphia axis and the Rafah crossing is the Israeli side. 
  ⭕ Hamdan: The Israeli side is required to explicitly and clearly declare its commitment to reaching an agreement that achieves a comprehensive ceasefire, a complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, the unconditional entry of relief to shelter and relieve the displaced, the reconstruction of Gaza, the lifting of the siege on it, and the achievement of a fair prisoner exchange deal. 
  ⭕ Hamdan: What Netanyahu wrote on the website 
  ⭕ Hamdan: I think that the one to whom pressure should be directed is the Israeli side, which has so far failed all efforts, and President Biden’s speech so far has been met with Israeli rejection. 
  ⭕ Hamdan: The Palestinian resistance is still on the position it committed to, and has taken the decision, while Netanyahu is still obstructing and obstructing all efforts and refusing to accept a ceasefire.
• Tens of thousands of anti-government protesters demonstrated in Tel Aviv on Saturday, calling on the government to advance a deal to release hostages held by terrorists in Gaza since October 7, and for the dismissal of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and early elections. Attendees of Saturday’s protest said that it was the largest since Hamas’s October 7 massacre, with protest organizers estimating that some 120,000 demonstrators attended the Tel Aviv rally. Similar demonstrations were held at numerous locations around the country.

  

  
  

  The first speaker at the demonstration was Shaul Meridor, the former head of the Finance Ministry’s budget department, who entered the public eye in 2020 for resigning in protest of then-finance minister Israel Katz’s budgetary conduct. “A step away from a victory that will never come, we’re surrounded by enemies, the whole world’s against us,” Meridor said, referring to Netanyahu’s repeated claims throughout the war that Israel is close to achieving its objectives. “Last night, we received a reminder of what a real leader looks like, who cares for Israel’s future and not his own. Thank you President Biden,” he added, referring to the US president’s speech on Friday in which he outlined Israel’s proposal for a deal leading to a ceasefire and release of hostages, urged the Israeli government to stand behind it and called on Hamas to accept it. 
  

  Gal Pichovich, an activist and resident of the so-called Gaza Envelope region, also referred to Biden’s address, saying, “Last night, in an exceptional speech, the US president spoke to us, the Israelis. The US president told us to wake up. The leader of the free world said our government must stop running out the clock. “Will we let Netanyahu, [National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir], and [National Security Council head Tzachi Hanegbi] keep wasting time and abandon the hostages in Gaza, or are we going to let them know that it’s over and that they’re bringing them all home now?” she continued.
  “This isn’t just a struggle for the hostages, it is a struggle for the country, a struggle for renewing the contract between the government and the citizens, a struggle for the north, the south, security, the economy, the peace that there could be here the day that Netanyahu and the extremists will leave our lives,” said Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan Zangauker, 24, is held captive in Gaza.

Gaza 

• Egypt will host Israeli and American officials on Sunday to discuss the reopening of the Rafah crossing, a vital conduit for aid into the Gaza Strip, Egyptian state-linked media said.

  Al-Qahera News, which has links to Egyptian intelligence, quoted on Saturday an unidentified senior official as saying Cairo was demanding “a total Israeli withdrawal” from the terminal on Gaza’s southern border with Egypt.

  “An Egyptian-American-Israeli meeting is scheduled for [Sunday] in Cairo to discuss the reopening of the Rafah crossing,” the official said.

• The Givati Brigade's combat team has been operating under the 162nd Armored Division in recent days in the Yibna neighborhood area of Rafah. As part of the activity, the fighters located numerous combat means in the area, including an anti-aircraft machine gun, vests, magazines, Kalashnikovs, and a system for remotely activating explosives. Additionally, fighters from Battalion 9 located rocket launching pits near the Philadelphi Route. In one incident, 4 militants were identified firing at the forces and were neutralized.

• Forces from the 162nd Armored Division located numerous combat means during their activity in the Rafah area and neutralized armed militants. In a rapid closure by Nachal Brigade forces in cooperation with the Air Force, a launch site was destroyed minutes after launches towards the forces were identified from it. There were no IDF casualties in the incident.

  Simultaneously, forces from the 99th Armored Division continue operating in the central Gaza Strip. Over the past 24 hours, fighters from the 2nd Brigade, in cooperation with the Air Force, struck militants who posed a threat to the forces. In an operation by the multi-dimensional unit, the forces, together with the Air Force, struck a militant cell present in a military compound threatening the maneuvering forces in the area. Over the past 24 hours, IAF fighter jets struck over 30 terror targets, including military infrastructure, ammunition depots and armed militant cells that threatened ground forces.

• Galant: "We Are Advancing an Alternative Governing Authority to Hamas, We Will Bring in Other Forces"
  Defense Minister Yoav Galant held an operational discussion today at the Southern Command headquarters, where he said after an assessment: "In any process of ending the war, we will not accept Hamas rule. We are advancing an alternative governing authority to Hamas, in which we will isolate areas, remove Hamas people and bring in other forces that will allow a different government."
  According to him, "These two actions - on one hand military action and on the other hand the ability to change the government, will achieve two goals of this war - the collapse of Hamas rule and its military power, and the return of the hostages. At any stage, in any process of ending the war, we will not accept Hamas rule in Gaza."
  Galant also said: "The operation in Rafah is advancing above and below ground, the forces are fighting with great determination and destroying the oxygen pipeline connecting the Gaza Strip to Egypt. We are going and strangling Hamas and not allowing it to continue existing - it will not have the ability to reinforce, build up strength and rearm itself."

Northern Israel - Lebanon/Hizbollah

• Sirens One After Another in the North, Fires Broke Out in the Katzrin Area: "Walls of Fire and Smoke";  Incessant Launches Toward Northern Communities, Including Nahariya, Kiryat Shmona and Acre. Dozens of Fire Hotspots Erupted in the Local Council in the Golan Heights, as Mortar Shells Crossed into Israeli Territory

  

  Control has not yet been achieved over the fire hotspots that broke out in the Katzrin area following the strikes in the region. Danielle Shaul, a Katzrin resident, recounted: "There are walls of fire and smoke around the western and southern sides of Katzrin, in neighborhoods that are currently in the infrastructure laying stage. It felt overhead from the house, I heard 5-6 booms together with the siren and there was no time to run anywhere. The footage shows Gilboa Street and the buildings of the Gamla elementary school. The school is not operating during these hours, but its buildings do not appear to be in danger."

  She added: "My home has a secure room, but half the homes in Katzrin don't have shelters unless you invested 200,000 shekels. The situation is certainly endangering us, and there was already a strike inside Katzrin during the attack from Iran, and no one was hurt, but it was close to a kindergarten. Given what's happening in the Galilee, there is a sense of complacency in Katzrin so far. It's worth noting that although there are no shelters, there are plenty of bomb shelters, right at the entrance to every alley and street, and they are innovative and in excellent condition."

  

• Reports in Lebanon: IDF strikes on various targets, in which two were killed in Houla. According to an Al-Manar correspondent, Israel has been alternately striking with artillery since the morning hours the towns of Al-Naqoura, Al-Dahira and Yarin in southern Lebanon. Al-Mayadeen is reporting artillery strikes in Houla in southern Lebanon. Footage of the damage from the strike in Bint Jbeil has been posted on social media.

  

  
  
• **After Downing the Israeli UAV in Lebanon: IDF Struck Hezbollah Military Compounds** 

  Fighter jets struck terror targets in Lebanon overnight, in response to the launches toward northern Israel and the downing of an IDF drone operating in Lebanese airspace. The drone was downed by an anti-aircraft missile fired by the Hezbollah terror organization. In the overnight activity, Israeli Air Force fighter jets struck a military compound used by the Hezbollah terror organization in the Bakaa area. Additionally, another military building of the organization was struck in the Bint Jbeil area of southern Lebanon, along with Hezbollah command centers in the Kana and Rashaya areas of southern Lebanon.
  
  
• The IDF spokesman informed that the fire brigade of the 91st Division in cooperation with the Air Force detected today, using an aircraft, a terrorist entering a Hizbollah weapons warehouse in the area of ​​Miss al-Jebel in southern Lebanon. Shortly after, fighter jets attacked the military warehouse where he was staying the terrorist

  After the attack, secondary explosions were detected indicating the presence of many weapons in the warehouse. Earlier today, a number of launches were detected that crossed from Lebanese territory to the Margaliot area, the air defense fighters successfully intercepted all of the launches.

West Bank

• IDF, Shin Bet, and Border Police forces arrested six wanted individuals overnight throughout The West Bank. In the Menashe Brigade, Haruv Reconnaissance Battalion fighters arrested two wanted individuals during an operation in the village of Jaba. In another incident, two militants threw a firebomb at a military vehicle in the area of the Etzion Brigade overnight, and in a rapid closure the forces arrested the suspects. Additionally, in Dahariya in the Judea Brigade and in Ma'adma in Samaria, the fighters arrested two wanted individuals who incited carrying out terror attacks. Since the start of the war, around 4,000 wanted individuals have been arrested throughout the Judea and Samaria Division and the Jordan Valley and Valleys Brigade, around 1,700 of them affiliated with the Hamas terror organization.
  
  

• Two Palestinian teenagers were killed by Israeli troops overnight in the West Bank, the Palestinian Authority health ministry said Sunday.

  The ministry said a 16- and a 17-year-old were killed west of Aqabat Jaber refugee camp, near Jericho.

  One teen was shot in the head and the other in the chest, the ministry said Ashraf Hmedat was killed during an Israeli raid on the refugee camp on Saturday, the official Wafa news agency reported.

  Mohammed Al-Baytar, 17, was also injured and arrested in the incident. He was taken to a Jerusalem hospital in critical condition, where he subsequently died of his wounds, Wafa said.

  The Israel Defense Forces did not confirm the deaths but said two suspects had hurled Molotov cocktails toward the nearby settlement of Vered Yeriho, endangering civilians and property.

  “(Israeli) soldiers in the area responded with live fire toward the suspects. Hits were identified,” the military said.

  The West Bank has seen a surge in violence for more than a year, particularly since the Israel-Hamas war erupted on October 7.

Politics and the Region

• Shin Bet chief refused ministers’ demand to act against protesters: National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Justice Minister Yariv Levin have reportedly demanded that the Shin Bet use its tools against activists in anti-government protests and were refused by the security agency’s chief Ronen Bar, who said it would “not become a secret police.”

  According to a report published by the Haaretz newspaper on Thursday, Bar made the comment at a recent meeting that was also attended by Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, State Prosecutor Amit Aisman, and Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai. Bar reportedly responded to the ministers’ demand by saying it was the police’s job to maintain public order.

  Throughout the meeting, Haaretz said, the ministers berated the law enforcement officials for “selective enforcement” in favor of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s detractors.  An official who was present at the meeting was quoted as saying, “In internal meetings, they express an expectation that the Shin Bet use its tools against parts of the protest [movement]… They want to turn it into a thought police.”
  

  The article also quoted a senior official as saying that Bar has been strongly advised, by his predecessors among others, not to resign from his post over the failings of October 7 until after the prime minister has left his role, “for fear that Netanyahu will appoint a collaborator instead.”

  Referencing months of tensions between Ben Gvir and the heads of the police and prison service, the senior official was quoted by Haaretz as saying, “The horror going on in the police and the prison service could happen there, too.”

• Nine-justice High Court panel hears petitions calling for immediate Haredi draft: AG says government ‘violating express rules of the court’ in its treatment of new legal situation on ultra-Orthodox conscription; 3,000 could be called up to IDF by end of year.  A nine-justice panel at the High Court of Justice began hearing petitions demanding immediate conscription of ultra-Orthodox men to the Israel Defense Forces on Sunday morning.

  Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara came out in support of the petitions on Thursday, writing in the state’s response that the government was acting “without authority,” “violating express rules of the court,” and “undermining the rule of law” in the manner it is addressing the new legal situation regarding ultra-Orthodox Jews, also called Haredim, who are eligible for conscription.

  The government has sought private representation in the High Court instead of that of the attorney general, since the latter opposes its position in which it seeks to continue funding ultra-Orthodox yeshivas and not enforcing military conscription on young Haredi men until it passes a new law allowing for ultra-Orthodox service exemptions.  

• Israeli doctors threaten to leave country if haredi draft exemption is approved

  The inequality caused by haredim not serving in the IDF and proposed lengthening of reservist service is causing doctors to begin leaving Israel.

  Swathes of doctors have threatened to leave Israel due to the refusal by ultra-Orthodox Jews (haredim) to be drafted into the IDF, according to a document published on Sunday. The document was written and signed by a thousand senior doctors, most of whom are the heads of medical centers or departments, and called on the government and members of Knesset to take action for equality by drafting haredim into the IDF. 

  They described the refusal of Israel's ultra-Orthodox community to serve in the military as "destructive to our future." They called for the implementation of a new national socio-economic strategy to help put the country back on a sustainable path to the future. 
  
  What did the doctors' warning say?
  The letter stated: "Even in the State of Israel's darkest hour, the health system continues to be a strong pillar of support, working tirelessly to ensure the health and well-being of Israeli citizens. But... the resilience of Israel's economy and public services are now in question due to the growing inequality in the burden of military service, public service, and tax payments. The state's continued existence, in light of the security threats and domestic challenges it faces, depends to a large extent on the participation of all demographics in sharing the burden of civic duties."  
  
  "We, senior doctors in the Israeli health system, strongly oppose the legislative initiative that will perpetuate inequality in sharing this burden, and significantly increase the number of reservist duty days for the Israeli public that does serve in the military," the statement continued. "According to the recently submitted bill, the number of annual reserve duty days is expected to increase significantly – up yo 42 days per year for those serving till the age of 45, and up 55 days for officers up till the age of 50 and doctors up till the age 52."  "About half of medical students, interns, and residents are active reservist personnel," the doctors continued. "They are the backbone of Israeli society, and the healthcare system in particular. Normally, they contribute their time and energy to promoting a better and fair society. In times of crisis, they put themselves in danger for the greater good. Extending their reservist duty will severely harm the availability of expert doctors and impair the training of medical students and interns." 
  "Equality in sharing the burden is a cornerstone of a just and democratic society and is a necessary condition for social solidarity and the existence of the State of Israel. This new bill is destructive. In recent months... we are witnessing doctors leaving the country." 
  The document also warned about the long-term effects on the healthcare system which are already starting to slowly manifest. 
  
  

  "This is a 'quiet' phenomenon but is felt strongly in the corridors of the healthcare system and outside of it – in business, tech, and academia. There is a real danger that those who stay in Israel will be less educated and less productive, and the subsequent downward spiral will encourage the working and educated public to emigrate until the state is drained of the human resources necessary for its continued existence."  
  The doctors concluded in their warning: "We call on the government, the Knesset, and all leaders in the country to immediately cease any actions detrimental to our future here, and to act to implement a national socio-economic strategy to put Israel back on a sustainable path to the future." 

• Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman said on Sunday that he had been approached with a proposal that he take over the post of defense minister, currently held by MK Yoav Gallant, as the Netanyahu government faces threats of dissolution from all directions.

  The proposal came from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu inner circle and with the prime minister’s knowledge, claimed Liberman, whose right-wing party is in the opposition. Netanyahu’s Likud party denied that any such proposal had been made.

  Gallant, the current defense minister, gave a speech last month criticizing Netanyahu and accusing him of dithering on plans for a post-Hamas government in Gaza. The prime minister has long sought his ouster.  Speaking to the Ynet news site, Liberman asserted that he would not accept such an offer, stating unequivocally that the country needs elections at this time. “It isn’t possible to fix it anymore,” the MK said.

• Yemen’s Houthis conducted six operations targeting a US aircraft carrier, a US destroyer and three vessels in the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, the Iranian-backed group’s military spokesperson Yahya Saree says.
  

The Houthi militia, which controls the most populous parts of Yemen, has attacked ships off its coast for months, saying it is acting in solidarity with Palestinians amid the ongoing war in Gaza.

The group “targeted the American aircraft carrier, the Eisenhower, north of the Red Sea, with a number of missiles and drones,” Saree says, adding it was “the second targeting operation against the carrier during the past 24 hours.”

The spokesperson also adds that the other operations have targeted a US destroyer and the ABLIANI ship in the Red Sea, along with “the MAINA ship that has been targeted twice in the Red Sea and in the Arabian Sea as well.”

Additionally, “the ship ALORAIQ has been targeted in the Indian Ocean,” he added.

The Houthi fighters’ drone and missile strikes have been aimed at the Bab al-Mandab Strait and the Gulf of Aden, forcing shippers since November to re-route cargo on longer and more expensive journeys around southern Africa.

• A drone and two missiles launched by Yemen’s Houthi rebels have been shot down in two separate incidents over the southern Red Sea yesterday, the US military says.
  No injuries or damage was reported by any ships in the busy trade route after the incidents, US Central Command (CENTCOM) says in a social media post.
  The Iran-backed Houthis, who control much of Yemen, have launched dozens of drone and missile strikes into the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden since November, describing their attacks as a campaign of support for Palestinians in Gaza amid Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas.
  The drone was shot down during the day, the CENTCOM post says, adding that two other drones had crashed into the water.
  Later in the evening, CENTCOM forces “successfully engaged” two anti-ship ballistic missiles over the Red Sea, according to the post. 
  The missiles “were fired in the direction of USS Gravely and were destroyed in self-defense, with no damage or injuries reported,” it says, referring to a US Navy missile destroyer. 
  The rebel attacks have prompted reprisal strikes by US and British forces and the formation of an international coalition to protect the vital shipping lanes through the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea.

• 
  

Acronyms and Glossary

COGAT - Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories

ICC - International Criminal Court in the Hague

IJC - International Court of Justice in the Hague

UAV - Unmanned Aerial vehicle, Drone. Could be used for surveillance and reconnaissance, or be weaponized with missiles or contain explosives for 'suicide' explosion mission

PA - Palestinian Authority - President Mahmud Abbas, aka Abu Mazen

PMO- Prime Minister's Office

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