Day 259 — Friday, June 21

Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) on Thursday sent a letter to US President Joe Biden, criticizing the Biden administration for withholding weapons and ammunition from Israel as it continues to battle Hamas.

In the letter, Cotton requested that the administration provide a complete list of all weapons and ammunition Israel has requested, as well as explanations for the delays.

“I write regarding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s public statement this week that your administration has been withholding weapons and ammunition from Israel and hampering its war effort against Hamas—a serious accusation from a trusted US ally,” wrote Cotton, a reference to Netanyahu’s video from this week, in which he expressed astonishment at moves from the Biden administration to hold up munitions shipments to Israel during the war against Hamas.

“Your administration responded by claiming that aid is flowing normally, with one official asserting, ‘We genuinely do not know what he’s talking about,’” added Cotton, in a reference to White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre’s response to Netanyahu’s video.

“You claim that the only hold or delay is on the 2,000-pound and 500-pound bombs you refused to deliver earlier this year. But you’re deliberately misleading the American people and insulting a key ally,” charged the Senator.

“Your administration is engaged in bureaucratic sleight-of-hand to withhold this crucial aid to Israel during a shooting war. As you are aware, the Arms Export Control Act requires the administration to notify Congress before sending weapons to a foreign country. Your administration has manipulated this requirement by withholding this formal notification to Congress of approved weapons sales, including F-15s, tactical vehicles, 120-mm mortars, 120-mm tank rounds, joint direct attack munitions, and small diameter bombs. Your administration can then claim that the weapons are ‘in process’ while never delivering them,” he wrote to Biden.

“You’re playing politics with the nation’s honor and our ally’s security. Worse still, your administration lacks the honesty to communicate its true policy to the American people, instead preferring to hide behind weasel words and bureaucratic process,” continued Cotton.

He added, “Any delays to military support to Israel blatantly disregard Congress’s bipartisan mandate to supply Israel with all it needs to defeat the Hamas terrorists and other Iranian-backed groups. Our ally is under sustained threat, and we must use all available resources to expedite military aid. Please provide the following information no later than July 1, 2024:”

“What weapons and ammunition are being withheld from Israel? Include any weapons or ammunition delayed more than two weeks beyond their original delivery date.”

“Provide a list of all foreign military and direct commercial sales requested by Israel and the status of each request. Provide explanation for any delays.”

“Provide a list of any weapons or ammunition Israel has requested be expedited, the status of each request, and an explanation for that status.”

“What issues are hampering you from expediting the delivery of weapons and ammunition to Israel? What, if any, legislative relief is required to address those issues?”

“How much of the recent supplemental funding passed by Congress has your administration expended to deliver weapons and ammunition to Israel?”

Arutz Sheva

Day 258 — Thursday, June 20

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah threatened an invasion of Israel’s Galilee region and an attack on Cyprus during a televised address on Wednesday concerning the terror group’s war against the Jewish state.

It marked the first time that the Iranian proxy steeped in Lebanon has directly threatened the Eastern Mediterranean island nation.

Nasrallah said Cyprus would be considered “a part of the war” if Nicosia continued to allow Israel to use its airports and bases for military exercises.

According to the Cyprus Mail, it is believed that the airports and bases refer to the Royal Air Force Akrotiri, a permanent military base that supports ongoing operations in the region and support for the Sovereign Base Areas on Cyprus.

“Opening Cypriot airports and bases to the Israeli enemy to target Lebanon would mean that the Cypriot government is part of the war, and the resistance will deal with it as part of the war,” he said.

Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides responded to Nasrallah’s threat, saying these “statements that do not reflect reality. Cyprus remains uninvolved in any military conflict, and positions itself as part of the solution—not as a problem,” the Cyprus Mail reported.

Nasrallah warned that Israel, not Hezbollah, should be fearful and that nowhere in Israel would be safe in the case of a wider war, which he said that Hezbollah is not seeking, with the terror army fighting with “no rules” and “no ceilings.”

The terror group has been pounding northern Israeli communities since joining the war in support of Hamas just one day after the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks. Tens of thousands of Israelis have been evacuated from border communities, and the Hezbollah rockets and drones have resulted in dozens of deaths and injuries, in addition to widespread physical destruction and of late, major fires, on the Israeli side.

Israel has responded with airstrikes on Hezbollah terror targets and operatives throughout Lebanon. However, the conflict has not blown into a full-scale war.

JNS

Day 258 — Thursday, June 20

Iris Haim became an Israeli icon in the events that followed Oct. 7 and now she’s taking a message of love and unity to the world. Her son Yotam was one of the three hostages who managed to escape Hamas captivity, only to be shot by IDF soldiers before they were identified a moment too late. 

For a nation reeling from the worst invasion and terror attack in Israel’s history, the tragedy that took place in Shejaiya last December was almost too much to bear. But then the mother of Yotam spoke up publicly, forgiving the young soldiers for her son’s death.

“I am Yotam’s mother,” her voice came in a recorded message. “I wanted to tell you that I love you very much, and I hug you here from afar. I know that everything that happened is absolutely not your fault, and nobody’s fault except that of Hamas, may their name be wiped out and their memory erased from the earth…”

She continued: “I want you to look after yourselves and to think all the time that you are doing the best thing in the world… Nobody’s going to judge you or be angry. Not me, and not my husband Raviv. Not my daughter Noya. And not Yotam, may his memory be blessed. And not Tuval, Yotam’s brother. We love you very much. And that is all.” 

This message of forgiveness stunned the nation and was transformative for the traumatized soldiers involved. Her words were like a healing balm to the broken country, but that was not all.

Now Haim is taking her ointment of her message of love and reconciliation beyond the borders of Israel, and out to the world ripped apart by this war.

She arrived in California this week to speak up for Israel at a time of great hostility.

Starting in Toronto, Canada, Haim began a tour of lectures and fundraisers to advocate for Israel three weeks ago. San Francisco and San Diego are next on her itinerary, where she will speak up for the Jewish state. 

“It’s hard to explain,” she said in an interview with the Times of Israel, “but after what happened it became clearer to me how much I love Israel. Before October 7, I was entrenched in my own camp; I knew only people like me, who think like me, who talk like me, who look like me… Then my boy was kidnapped into Gaza and all of Israel stood up to help us.”

“Something had opened up inside me. I can see the humanity in everyone; the good intentions of every person… Now I see everyone’s contribution. I am coming now with a perspective that is very different. Okay, there are other voices [that you hear in the media], but that doesn’t tell the real story of Israel. We know what we went through on October 7, we remember and won’t forget, and now we’re looking for a new way… No more “us versus them,” right versus left, secular versus Haredi; I am bringing a new voice of hope, of togetherness, and there is a very large demand for this message.”

Haim said that she’s received a lot of responses from Israelis supporting her message of unity, and said that focusing on what’s wrong “weakens us as a state, and Hamas exploits it.”

Haim took the extraordinary step of inviting the soldiers who accidentally killed her son to eat with her at her table.

“She invited the IDF soldiers to her house and she hugged them and she had them for dinner”, reported ILTV’s Ariella Lahyani. “It was so insightful and inspiring at a time where  so many people are against us is such a time we don’t turn our back on each other.”

All Israel News 

Day 257 — Wednesday, June 19

In a video and series of tweets attributed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli leader expressed frustration over the reported delay in the supply of weapons and ammunition from the United States to Israel. Amid the ongoing conflict with Hamas, Netanyahu emphasized the importance of receiving these “tools” to expedite the resolution of hostilities.

According to the prime minister, during a recent meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, he conveyed his “deep appreciation” for the US support since the beginning of the war on Oct. 7, when Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israeli towns and bases that included horrific atrocities, including rape. However, he also voiced concern over the administration’s alleged withholding of weapons and ammunition over the past few months, a decision he deemed “inconceivable” considering Israel’s status as America’s closest ally and its fight against Iran and other common adversaries.

Quoting a famous remark by Winston Churchill during World War II, Netanyahu stated, “Churchill told the United States, ‘Give us the tools, we’ll do the job.’ And I say, give us the tools and we’ll finish the job a lot faster.”

The Prime Minister further revealed that Secretary Blinken assured him the administration was working tirelessly to remove these bottlenecks hindering the arms supply. “Secretary Blinken assured me that the administration is working day and night to remove these bottlenecks,” Netanyahu said. “I certainly hope that’s the case. It should be the case.” Netanyahu expressed hope that this would indeed be the case, reiterating the urgency of Israel receiving the necessary weaponry while engaged in a struggle for its survival.

Highlighting Israel’s position as America’s closest ally and its fight against Iran and other common adversaries, the prime minister questioned the rationale behind such a decision. “Israel, America’s closest ally, fighting for its life, fighting against Iran and our other common enemies,” he remarked.

Shortly after the video was published, Blinken said the administration was still reviewing one shipment of large bombs for Israel over concerns that they could be used in densely populated areas. Biden mentioned the shipment several months ago in an interview with US media, citing concern for potential collateral damage it could create.

Israel Hayom

Day 257 — Wednesday, June 19

I received another email recently from someone claiming that current Israel is not biblical Israel. The writer further stated that the people we call the Jews today are not Jews at all. The typical rant ensued about the wickedness of modern Israel, Zionism, the Mossad, and the Ashkenazi Jews who control the world. Normally embedded in the rant is some expletive about Israel controlling America.

I receive these types of emails berating me for being so naïve, blind, deceived, and several other things I can’t print, all because I support the modern state of Israel and its right to exist in her land without constant threat of terrorism.

By the tone and content of most of these emails I wonder if the authors are saved, born-again, spirit filled believers in Jesus Christ. The biggest reason for my concern for these individuals is their denial of what the Bible says and their belief in what the Bible doesn’t say. Let me explain.

Nowhere in the Bible does it say that God will establish a fake Israel in her ancestral land. As hard as some people work to argue that modern Israel is not biblical Israel, they cannot formulate a convincing defense of their belief. The reason is clear – arguing against what the Bible declares God will do in the end of days is a losing argument every time. The same is true for the people we call the Jews. Elaborate arguments are offered that seek to destroy any belief that the Israelites of today are biblical Jews. Again, the argument is not supported biblically.

These same individuals assign no significance to the rise of the nation of Israel in 1948. According to these people, this modern miracle was not the handiwork of God in fulfillment of His many promises to return His people to their land just before He destroys His enemies. They attribute the entire event to conspiracy. It was the global banking cartel headed by the Rothschilds. Modern Israel is the brainchild of evil Zionists who seek to control the world. It was the result of wicked dispensationalists such as Darby, Scofield, and Moody.

The truth is that the modern state of Israel is biblical Israel.

Day 256 — Tuesday, June 18

For months, Israel has stressed that claims of “starvation” in Gaza are a myth or a hoax. Nevertheless, media outlets, international organizations and courts continued to spread the narrative that Israel was allegedly preventing food from the population in Gaza.

They largely based their accusations upon a report issued by a UN-affiliated body called the IPC (Integrated Food Security Phase Classification) in March. Now that the same group published a new report concluding that famine was not plausible – it is being widely overlooked.

What is the IPC saying?

The IPC is a partnership of NGOs and UN bodies that assess global food security and it was the main source behind the Gaza famine claim. The group’s report from March 18 warned that hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were experiencing famine and that many more faced imminent risk, according to their projection for the next months.

That report was discredited in an Israeli Health Ministry review which raised “serious concerns that the IPC’s own guidelines and principles were not adhered to, including the commitment to transparency of the process, methodology and sources of information.”

Despite being globally cited, Israel slammed the report’s reliance on small sample sizes, undisclosed data sources, a lack of transparency, and a lack of references to publicly available sources. Therefore, the report’s conclusions and projections were deemed unreliable and made a recommendation for the next IPC issue.

“The next IPC report on Gaza, which is expected to be published in early-mid June, should avoid repeating these failures and include an acknowledgment and a correction of mistakes made in the previous report,” Israel’s Health ministry stated.

The group’s report from June 4 appears to have somewhat implemented the advice.

It further noted that the new analysis by the Famine Review Committee (FRC) concluded that “famine” was not “plausible” with no “supporting evidence.” Moreover, it admitted the evidence presented in the previous report was not consistent with the “famine” classification.

“The FRC does not find the FEWS NET analysis plausible given the uncertainty and lack of convergence of the supporting evidence employed in the analysis. Therefore, the FRC is unable to make a determination as to whether or not famine thresholds have been passed during April,” read the latest IPC analysis. “Indeed, in the current circumstances, given the increase in food supply, a reduction in acute malnutrition might also be considered possible.”

Israel: There is no ‘famine’ in Gaza

Israeli officials repeatedly said that there is no policy to prevent food from the population in Gaza. On the contrary, they claim that authorities have gone above and beyond to facilitate the entry of nearly 700,000 tons of food and humanitarian aid into the Palestinian enclave.

More food has been entering Gaza daily since Oct. 7 than before the war began, they insisted. More than 3,000 calories per capita per day, according to COGAT, the Israeli body responsible for the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories.

Nevertheless, international media outlets and organizations continue to push the “starvation” narrative. 

Cindy McCain, the executive director of the World Food Programme, said last month she believes there is a “full-blown famine” in northern Gaza. The accusations of Israel by the widow of late Senator John McCain were echoed by many worldwide.

Israel’s Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer blasted these charges in TV interviews he did in late May.

“There has never been famine in Gaza. That is a false story,” Dermer said in a heated discussion on Sky News.

While speaking to the BBC, he added: “The claim of full-blown famine in northern Gaza is full blown nonsense. It is just factually wrong. Prices of basic food items in the northern part of Gaza are down around 90%. This is simply a libel against Israel. The idea that there is food in the southern part of Gaza and famine in the north, and people won’t walk a few kilometers to get food is absurd.”

Perhaps the most incriminating evidence against McCain’s accusations was an exchange that her own organization’s representatives allegedly held with Israeli authorities in early May.

On May 5, COGAT posted on ????: “In talks between Israeli and UN representatives, including @WFP, none of the entities indicated a risk of famine in northern Gaza. They noted that the humanitarian situation is improving and that there is a variety of goods in both warehouses and markets in the north. Noting the improved situation, int’l orgs stated last week that the volume of goods transported to northern Gaza must be reduced since the quantities are too high in relation to the population.”

The “improved situation” was also highlighted by the United Nations.

“Since the FRC review conducted in March 2024, there seems to have been a significant increase in the number of food trucks entering northern Gaza,” read the latest IPC report.

It also supported a claim often leveled by Israel’s COGAT against the UN, adding, “The FRC notes that the overall number of trucks entering the Gaza Strip and available food that FEWS NET used for its analysis is significantly less than reported by other sources.”

Throughout the war, Israel insisted that there were significant gaps in the amount of aid trucks counted and presented by the UN. It blamed the UN for the backlog in aid distribution in Gaza.

“The content of 1,000 aid trucks is still waiting to be collected from the Gazan side of Kerem Shalom,” COGAT tweeted in recent days, urging the UN to do a better job. 

All Israel News

Day 256 — Tuesday, June 18

The Israel Defense Forces said Monday it has dismantled about half of Hamas’s fighting force in Rafah, killing at least 550 gunmen in the area, as the operation against the terror group in the Gaza Strip’s southernmost city continued.

The IDF’s 162nd Division has been fighting in Rafah for more than 40 days, first taking control of the city’s eastern outskirts and the border crossing with Egypt in early May. In the second stage of the operation, about a week and a half later, the division captured the Brazil neighborhood.

The third stage of the Rafah offensive saw the IDF take control of the entire Egypt-Gaza border, known as the Philadelphi Corridor, and push into the city’s northwestern Tel Sultan neighborhood.

The IDF said it has killed at least 550 gunmen in the Rafah operation — that is, those it was able to physically identify following battles. Many more terror operatives were killed in strikes against buildings and tunnels, it has assessed. Additionally, an unknown number of terror operatives fled the Rafah area as the military began its offensive there.

Of the four battalions in Hamas’s Rafah Brigade, two — Yabna (South) and East Rafah — are considered to be almost completely dismantled, while the capabilities of the other two — Shaboura (North) and Tel Sultan (West) — are somewhat degraded due to IDF operations.

Along the Philadelphi Corridor, the IDF said it located hundreds of rockets, including dozens of long-range projectiles aimed at central Israel. Also in the border area, more than 200 tunnel shafts have been located, leading to many underground routes.

The IDF said it located at least 25 “long” tunnels that reach the border with Egypt, some of which likely cross into Sinai and had been used by Hamas to smuggle weapons. The military said it was investigating these tunnels further.

Times Of Israel

Day 255 — Monday, June 17

Israel on the verge of a third full-blown war against Hezbollah because of the Lebanese organization’s constant firing of deadly missiles, drones and rockets, the differences and similarities between Hezbollah and Hamas are now under the microscope. 

The Islamic Republic of Iran finances the Mideast terrorist movements Hamas and Hezbollah, who have declared war on Israel and who are also responsible for committing numerous terrorist attacks against American civilians and military service personnel.

Fox News Digital contacted experts for a tale-of-the-tape analysis on Hamas, which is situated in the southern Gaza Strip, and Hezbollah, which is the de facto ruler of the Lebanese state on Israel’s northern border. Israel has fought two wars against Hezbollah, in 1982 and in 2006.

“Hezbollah is the crown jewel in the Iranian empire of terror and evil and is by far the most powerful Iranian proxy equipped with nation state capabilities and even with more firepower than several European militaries have today,” Jonathan Conricus, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and a former IDF spokesman told Fox News Digital.

Despite widespread poverty and economic instability in Iran, the Islamic Republic is also a generous funding source of Hezbollah, providing the Lebanese terrorist organization with over $700 million a year, according to the Israel Defense Forces and the U.S. State Department. Joint military cooperation between Iran’s regime and Hezbollah has been a longstanding feature in Lebanon, Syria and throughout Europe with respect to terrorism and war planning.

“In a military comparison, Hezbollah is far more powerful than Hamas across the board in every military metric. In terms of the amount of rockets they have, the range, the accuracy or the payload or size of the warhead, also in terms of the amount of personnel, armed fighters, their training and their equipment,” Conricus added.

Hezbollah has amassed a massive arsenal of an estimated 150,000 rockets and missiles that are aimed at the Jewish state. The IDF has degraded Hamas’ supply of 20,000 rockets and missiles since the start of the war. However, Hamas was capable of launching eight rockets from the city of Rafah into Israel two weeks ago. Fox News Digital reported last week that Hezbollah launched over 200 missiles, rockets and drones into Israel.

The economics of Hamas and Hezbollah have similarities and differences in the scope of funding and military training from Tehran. 

“Hezbollah and Hamas are both terror organizations funded mainly by Iran. Hezbollah’s loyalty is only to Iran. Hamas is for everyone who helps it,” said Edy Cohen, a Lebanese-born Israeli scholar of Hezbollah.

Cohen, a researcher at the Eitan, the Israeli Center for Grand Strategy, said “Hamas is under a sea blockage and cannot fly to other countries and cannot receive goods or arms easily. Hezbollah can.”

The number of terrorists fighting for both organizations varies. The IDF has reduced Hamas’ terrorist force by nearly 50% since the start of the war to between 9,000 and 12,000 combatants.

“Under the guidance of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, the group boasts a troop strength of 20,000 to 25,000 full-time fighters, with additional tens of thousands in reserves,” the IDF wrote on its website. “Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Unit is particularly noted for its combat proficiency and strategic importance in conflicts across the region. This particular unit … was established with assistance from Iran’s Quds force.”

Fox News 

Day 254 — Sunday, June 16

Eight Israeli soldiers were killed in a blast in southern the Gaza Strip’s Rafah on Saturday morning, the military announced, in what marked the deadliest incident for the Israel Defense Forces in the enclave since January.

Only one of the soldiers was named as of Saturday afternoon: Cpt. Wassem Mahmoud, 23, a deputy company commander in the Combat Engineering Corps’ 601st Battalion, from the northern Druze-majority town of Beit Jann.

The families of the other seven slain soldiers were notified, and their names were due to be released later on Saturday, the military said.

According to an initial IDF probe, the troops were all killed inside a Namer armored combat engineering vehicle (CEV). There were no survivors.

The soldiers had been driving in a convoy at around 5 a.m. on Saturday following an overnight offensive against Hamas in the northwestern areas of Rafah’s Tel Sultan neighborhood, during which troops under the 401st Armored Brigade killed some 50 gunmen, according to the IDF.

The convoy was heading to buildings captured by the army, for the troops to rest following the overnight operation.

The Namer CEV was the fifth or sixth vehicle in the convoy, and at some point, it was hit by a major explosion.

It was not immediately clear if it was a bomb planted ahead of time or if Hamas operatives had approached the vehicle with an explosive device and directly placed it on the CEV, the probe found.

Later Saturday, IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said the military was also investigating the possibility that the CEV was hit by an anti-tank missile.

The military was also investigating the possibility that explosives stored on the outside of the CEV contributed to the massive blast. Normally, the mines and other explosives stored on the outside of a CEV would not manage to cause injuries to troops inside if they detonated.

There was no gunfire amid the incident, and the vehicle was not at a standstill when the blast occurred, the probe found. The disabled CEV was later towed to a safe location in the Strip.

“Following this difficult incident, a team of experts of the Defense Ministry and IDF will examine the armored vehicle and all the details of the incident, until we reach findings,” Hagari said in a press conference.

The deadliest incident for the IDF in Gaza occurred in January, during which 21 soldiers were killed in a blast following Hamas RPG fire that collapsed two buildings.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his “deep mourning” for the deaths of the soldiers, but insisted that “despite the heavy and staggering cost, we must stick to the goals of the war.”

He said their deaths were a “heartbreaking price in our just war of the defense of the homeland.”

Times Of Israel

Day 253 — Saturday, June 15

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Friday ruled out joining an initiative promoted by French President Emmanuel Macron in which France, the United States and Israel would form a contact group to work on defusing escalating tensions with Hezbollah on the northern border.

“As we fight a just war, defending our people, France has adopted hostile policies against Israel,” Gallant said in a statement. “In doing so, France ignores the atrocities committed by Hamas against Israeli children, women and men.”

“Israel will not be a party to the trilateral framework proposed by France,” he wrote.

Gallant’s remarks were made after Macron announced the three countries had agreed to work together to step up efforts to push forward a roadmap presented by Paris earlier this year to de-escalate the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, which has been growing in intensity since the Lebanese terror group began attacking the north following Hamas’s October 7 massacre in southern Israel.

The defense minister did not specify what prompted this stance, but his statement came after French authorities last month banned Israeli defense firms from exhibiting at one of the world’s largest defense fairs, amid growing calls to limit arms sales to the IDF and divest from Israeli defense companies on the backdrop of the ongoing war in Gaza.

Times Of Israel

Day 253 — Saturday, June 15

The leader of the Iran-backed Yemeni terrorist group Ansarallah, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, warned neighboring Saudi Arabia on Thursday that any normalization deal would “disgrace” the country, implying his terrorists would consider the Saudis a legitimate target.

Ansarallah, known commonly as the “Houthis” after the family that runs the organization, has been embroiled in a bloody civil war with the legitimate government of Yemen since 2014. The Saudi government backed the legitimate Yemeni government against the Houthis for years, turning the civil war into a proxy war with Iran. The Houthis responded by directly targeting Saudi territory for years, bombing oil depots and other civilian facilities in the country.

Those attacks largely stopped after peace talks in September 2023. The Houthis have since redirected their ire towards Israel, supporting fellow Iran-backed jihadist organization Hamas’s siege of Israel on October 7 with a war declaration and a campaign of attacking commercial ships in the Red Sea. The Houthis claim they only target ships with ties to Israel and top allies America and Britain, but have routinely attacked ships with no obvious ties to any of those countries and, in some cases, attacked ships associated with allies such as Iran and China.

Al-Houthi expressed disgust with longstanding rumors of a potential normalization in ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel in his weekly address to Yemenis on Thursday. According to al-Khabar al-Yemeni, an Arabic-language site associated with the Houthis, Houthi addressed some of his comments to Muslim-majority Arab nations generally, not just Saudi Arabia – which would include nations that have already normalized relations with Israel such as the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

“We do not have any hostile intentions towards any Arab country, but we will not accept any Arab regime causing harm to our people in service of Israel and obedience to America,” the Houthi-linked outlet quoted the leader as saying. “Any Saudi position against our people at this time is definitely serving the Israeli enemy and supporting it in obedience to America.”

Al-Houthi reportedly ranted against reports generally that Saudi Arabia would consider normalized ties to Israel at all.

“What drives you to prioritize befriending Israel, turning the tragedy of Gaza into a normalization deal, and then turning hostile against the Yemeni people?” he reportedly asked. “Befriending Israel is not in your interest or the interest of your people, but rather a service that harms you and disgraces you.”

Houthi concluded that his terrorists would “not accept an equation where our people are suffocated and starved, while others harm them and enjoy comfort and prosperity without any harm coming to them,” apparently referencing Saudi Arabia.

Al-Mayadeen, a propaganda outlet affiliated with the Iran-backed Lebanese terrorists Hezbollah, reported that al-Houthi claimed that “some Arab countries” were preparing military drills with Israel, without citing any reference for that news. It also quoted Houthi declaring that the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, a campaign he called “Promised Victory and Holy Jihad,” had been greatly successful and beneficial to the Hamas cause in Gaza.

“He noted that the number of targeted ships has now reached 145, all connected to the Israeli occupation, the United States, and Britain,” al-Mayadeen relayed. “He explained that this escalation is part of the fourth phase and is progressing into more significant stages.”

The claim that all the ships the Houthis have attacked are connected to Israel, America, or Britain is provably false. The Houthis have attacked Chinese-owned ships, ships carrying Russian oil cargo, and ships carrying grain to Iran. The Houthis have attacked several ships previously owned by American or British entities, however, suggesting that they were using outdated information in their targeting.

Breitbart

Day 253 — Saturday, June 15

Hamas’s history shows a pattern of failure to maintain ceasefires. So many ceasefires have been established and promptly violated that the term no longer means much.

The pattern is clear: (1) Hamas unleashes terrorism on Israel; (2) Israel responds with military action after days, weeks, or months of escalated rocket attacks; (3) the news media condemns Israel for targeting Hamas bases and launch sites; (4) Israel faces international pressure to end military operations; (5) a ceasefire is brokered between Israel and Hamas; and (6) Hamas breaks the ceasefire. Wash, rinse, repeat.

In 2008, in response to several years of Hamas rocket attacks, the IDF initiated Operation Cast Lead, a 22-day conflict in Gaza. Egypt brokered a ceasefire; and almost immediately, Hamas resumed rocket attacks, violating the truce. In 2012, another escalation of rocket fire from Gaza forced the IDF into another conflict, Operation Pillar of Defense. After eight days, a ceasefire was established; but it eroded as Hamas continued terrorizing Israel. Then, Hamas breached several short-lived ceasefires during the 2014 Operation Protective Edge and the 2021 Operation Guardian of the Walls.

Israel’s current objective is to eliminate Hamas, ensuring it can no longer govern or operate within Gaza. Ceasefires have proven to be a one-sided deal favoring Hamas. They only give the terrorists time to regroup and rearm, providing breathing room to double down on their efforts to destroy the Jewish state.

The international community urging Israel to embrace a ceasefire cannot ignore October 7. As long as Hamas is in power, the threat of another massacre looms large.

Psalm 83 is a prayer asking God not to remain silent as Israel’s enemies try to eliminate Israel and the Jewish people. The enemies say, “Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation, that the name of Israel may be remembered no more” (v. 4). As pressure mounts on Israel, we must remember that God will act.

Day 259 — Friday, June 21

Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) on Thursday sent a letter to US President Joe Biden, criticizing the Biden administration for withholding weapons and ammunition from Israel as it continues to battle Hamas.

In the letter, Cotton requested that the administration provide a complete list of all weapons and ammunition Israel has requested, as well as explanations for the delays.

“I write regarding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s public statement this week that your administration has been withholding weapons and ammunition from Israel and hampering its war effort against Hamas—a serious accusation from a trusted US ally,” wrote Cotton, a reference to Netanyahu’s video from this week, in which he expressed astonishment at moves from the Biden administration to hold up munitions shipments to Israel during the war against Hamas.

“Your administration responded by claiming that aid is flowing normally, with one official asserting, ‘We genuinely do not know what he’s talking about,’” added Cotton, in a reference to White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre’s response to Netanyahu’s video.

“You claim that the only hold or delay is on the 2,000-pound and 500-pound bombs you refused to deliver earlier this year. But you’re deliberately misleading the American people and insulting a key ally,” charged the Senator.

“Your administration is engaged in bureaucratic sleight-of-hand to withhold this crucial aid to Israel during a shooting war. As you are aware, the Arms Export Control Act requires the administration to notify Congress before sending weapons to a foreign country. Your administration has manipulated this requirement by withholding this formal notification to Congress of approved weapons sales, including F-15s, tactical vehicles, 120-mm mortars, 120-mm tank rounds, joint direct attack munitions, and small diameter bombs. Your administration can then claim that the weapons are ‘in process’ while never delivering them,” he wrote to Biden.

“You’re playing politics with the nation’s honor and our ally’s security. Worse still, your administration lacks the honesty to communicate its true policy to the American people, instead preferring to hide behind weasel words and bureaucratic process,” continued Cotton.

He added, “Any delays to military support to Israel blatantly disregard Congress’s bipartisan mandate to supply Israel with all it needs to defeat the Hamas terrorists and other Iranian-backed groups. Our ally is under sustained threat, and we must use all available resources to expedite military aid. Please provide the following information no later than July 1, 2024:”

“What weapons and ammunition are being withheld from Israel? Include any weapons or ammunition delayed more than two weeks beyond their original delivery date.”

“Provide a list of all foreign military and direct commercial sales requested by Israel and the status of each request. Provide explanation for any delays.”

“Provide a list of any weapons or ammunition Israel has requested be expedited, the status of each request, and an explanation for that status.”

“What issues are hampering you from expediting the delivery of weapons and ammunition to Israel? What, if any, legislative relief is required to address those issues?”

“How much of the recent supplemental funding passed by Congress has your administration expended to deliver weapons and ammunition to Israel?”

Arutz Sheva

Day 258 — Thursday, June 20

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah threatened an invasion of Israel’s Galilee region and an attack on Cyprus during a televised address on Wednesday concerning the terror group’s war against the Jewish state.

It marked the first time that the Iranian proxy steeped in Lebanon has directly threatened the Eastern Mediterranean island nation.

Nasrallah said Cyprus would be considered “a part of the war” if Nicosia continued to allow Israel to use its airports and bases for military exercises.

According to the Cyprus Mail, it is believed that the airports and bases refer to the Royal Air Force Akrotiri, a permanent military base that supports ongoing operations in the region and support for the Sovereign Base Areas on Cyprus.

“Opening Cypriot airports and bases to the Israeli enemy to target Lebanon would mean that the Cypriot government is part of the war, and the resistance will deal with it as part of the war,” he said.

Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides responded to Nasrallah’s threat, saying these “statements that do not reflect reality. Cyprus remains uninvolved in any military conflict, and positions itself as part of the solution—not as a problem,” the Cyprus Mail reported.

Nasrallah warned that Israel, not Hezbollah, should be fearful and that nowhere in Israel would be safe in the case of a wider war, which he said that Hezbollah is not seeking, with the terror army fighting with “no rules” and “no ceilings.”

The terror group has been pounding northern Israeli communities since joining the war in support of Hamas just one day after the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks. Tens of thousands of Israelis have been evacuated from border communities, and the Hezbollah rockets and drones have resulted in dozens of deaths and injuries, in addition to widespread physical destruction and of late, major fires, on the Israeli side.

Israel has responded with airstrikes on Hezbollah terror targets and operatives throughout Lebanon. However, the conflict has not blown into a full-scale war.

JNS

Day 258 — Thursday, June 20

Iris Haim became an Israeli icon in the events that followed Oct. 7 and now she’s taking a message of love and unity to the world. Her son Yotam was one of the three hostages who managed to escape Hamas captivity, only to be shot by IDF soldiers before they were identified a moment too late. 

For a nation reeling from the worst invasion and terror attack in Israel’s history, the tragedy that took place in Shejaiya last December was almost too much to bear. But then the mother of Yotam spoke up publicly, forgiving the young soldiers for her son’s death.

“I am Yotam’s mother,” her voice came in a recorded message. “I wanted to tell you that I love you very much, and I hug you here from afar. I know that everything that happened is absolutely not your fault, and nobody’s fault except that of Hamas, may their name be wiped out and their memory erased from the earth…”

She continued: “I want you to look after yourselves and to think all the time that you are doing the best thing in the world… Nobody’s going to judge you or be angry. Not me, and not my husband Raviv. Not my daughter Noya. And not Yotam, may his memory be blessed. And not Tuval, Yotam’s brother. We love you very much. And that is all.” 

This message of forgiveness stunned the nation and was transformative for the traumatized soldiers involved. Her words were like a healing balm to the broken country, but that was not all.

Now Haim is taking her ointment of her message of love and reconciliation beyond the borders of Israel, and out to the world ripped apart by this war.

She arrived in California this week to speak up for Israel at a time of great hostility.

Starting in Toronto, Canada, Haim began a tour of lectures and fundraisers to advocate for Israel three weeks ago. San Francisco and San Diego are next on her itinerary, where she will speak up for the Jewish state. 

“It’s hard to explain,” she said in an interview with the Times of Israel, “but after what happened it became clearer to me how much I love Israel. Before October 7, I was entrenched in my own camp; I knew only people like me, who think like me, who talk like me, who look like me… Then my boy was kidnapped into Gaza and all of Israel stood up to help us.”

“Something had opened up inside me. I can see the humanity in everyone; the good intentions of every person… Now I see everyone’s contribution. I am coming now with a perspective that is very different. Okay, there are other voices [that you hear in the media], but that doesn’t tell the real story of Israel. We know what we went through on October 7, we remember and won’t forget, and now we’re looking for a new way… No more “us versus them,” right versus left, secular versus Haredi; I am bringing a new voice of hope, of togetherness, and there is a very large demand for this message.”

Haim said that she’s received a lot of responses from Israelis supporting her message of unity, and said that focusing on what’s wrong “weakens us as a state, and Hamas exploits it.”

Haim took the extraordinary step of inviting the soldiers who accidentally killed her son to eat with her at her table.

“She invited the IDF soldiers to her house and she hugged them and she had them for dinner”, reported ILTV’s Ariella Lahyani. “It was so insightful and inspiring at a time where  so many people are against us is such a time we don’t turn our back on each other.”

Day 257 — Wednesday, June 19

In a video and series of tweets attributed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli leader expressed frustration over the reported delay in the supply of weapons and ammunition from the United States to Israel. Amid the ongoing conflict with Hamas, Netanyahu emphasized the importance of receiving these “tools” to expedite the resolution of hostilities.

According to the prime minister, during a recent meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, he conveyed his “deep appreciation” for the US support since the beginning of the war on Oct. 7, when Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israeli towns and bases that included horrific atrocities, including rape. However, he also voiced concern over the administration’s alleged withholding of weapons and ammunition over the past few months, a decision he deemed “inconceivable” considering Israel’s status as America’s closest ally and its fight against Iran and other common adversaries.

Quoting a famous remark by Winston Churchill during World War II, Netanyahu stated, “Churchill told the United States, ‘Give us the tools, we’ll do the job.’ And I say, give us the tools and we’ll finish the job a lot faster.”

The Prime Minister further revealed that Secretary Blinken assured him the administration was working tirelessly to remove these bottlenecks hindering the arms supply. “Secretary Blinken assured me that the administration is working day and night to remove these bottlenecks,” Netanyahu said. “I certainly hope that’s the case. It should be the case.” Netanyahu expressed hope that this would indeed be the case, reiterating the urgency of Israel receiving the necessary weaponry while engaged in a struggle for its survival.

Highlighting Israel’s position as America’s closest ally and its fight against Iran and other common adversaries, the prime minister questioned the rationale behind such a decision. “Israel, America’s closest ally, fighting for its life, fighting against Iran and our other common enemies,” he remarked.

Shortly after the video was published, Blinken said the administration was still reviewing one shipment of large bombs for Israel over concerns that they could be used in densely populated areas. Biden mentioned the shipment several months ago in an interview with US media, citing concern for potential collateral damage it could create.

Israel Hayom

Day 257 — Wednesday, June 19

I received another email recently from someone claiming that current Israel is not biblical Israel. The writer further stated that the people we call the Jews today are not Jews at all. The typical rant ensued about the wickedness of modern Israel, Zionism, the Mossad, and the Ashkenazi Jews who control the world. Normally embedded in the rant is some expletive about Israel controlling America.

I receive these types of emails berating me for being so naïve, blind, deceived, and several other things I can’t print, all because I support the modern state of Israel and its right to exist in her land without constant threat of terrorism.

By the tone and content of most of these emails I wonder if the authors are saved, born-again, spirit filled believers in Jesus Christ. The biggest reason for my concern for these individuals is their denial of what the Bible says and their belief in what the Bible doesn’t say. Let me explain.

Nowhere in the Bible does it say that God will establish a fake Israel in her ancestral land. As hard as some people work to argue that modern Israel is not biblical Israel, they cannot formulate a convincing defense of their belief. The reason is clear – arguing against what the Bible declares God will do in the end of days is a losing argument every time. The same is true for the people we call the Jews. Elaborate arguments are offered that seek to destroy any belief that the Israelites of today are biblical Jews. Again, the argument is not supported biblically.

These same individuals assign no significance to the rise of the nation of Israel in 1948. According to these people, this modern miracle was not the handiwork of God in fulfillment of His many promises to return His people to their land just before He destroys His enemies. They attribute the entire event to conspiracy. It was the global banking cartel headed by the Rothschilds. Modern Israel is the brainchild of evil Zionists who seek to control the world. It was the result of wicked dispensationalists such as Darby, Scofield, and Moody.

The truth is that the modern state of Israel is biblical Israel.

Day 256 — Tuesday, June 18

For months, Israel has stressed that claims of “starvation” in Gaza are a myth or a hoax. Nevertheless, media outlets, international organizations and courts continued to spread the narrative that Israel was allegedly preventing food from the population in Gaza.

They largely based their accusations upon a report issued by a UN-affiliated body called the IPC (Integrated Food Security Phase Classification) in March. Now that the same group published a new report concluding that famine was not plausible – it is being widely overlooked.

What is the IPC saying?

The IPC is a partnership of NGOs and UN bodies that assess global food security and it was the main source behind the Gaza famine claim. The group’s report from March 18 warned that hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were experiencing famine and that many more faced imminent risk, according to their projection for the next months.

That report was discredited in an Israeli Health Ministry review which raised “serious concerns that the IPC’s own guidelines and principles were not adhered to, including the commitment to transparency of the process, methodology and sources of information.”

Despite being globally cited, Israel slammed the report’s reliance on small sample sizes, undisclosed data sources, a lack of transparency, and a lack of references to publicly available sources. Therefore, the report’s conclusions and projections were deemed unreliable and made a recommendation for the next IPC issue.

“The next IPC report on Gaza, which is expected to be published in early-mid June, should avoid repeating these failures and include an acknowledgment and a correction of mistakes made in the previous report,” Israel’s Health ministry stated.

The group’s report from June 4 appears to have somewhat implemented the advice.

It further noted that the new analysis by the Famine Review Committee (FRC) concluded that “famine” was not “plausible” with no “supporting evidence.” Moreover, it admitted the evidence presented in the previous report was not consistent with the “famine” classification.

“The FRC does not find the FEWS NET analysis plausible given the uncertainty and lack of convergence of the supporting evidence employed in the analysis. Therefore, the FRC is unable to make a determination as to whether or not famine thresholds have been passed during April,” read the latest IPC analysis. “Indeed, in the current circumstances, given the increase in food supply, a reduction in acute malnutrition might also be considered possible.”

Israel: There is no ‘famine’ in Gaza

Israeli officials repeatedly said that there is no policy to prevent food from the population in Gaza. On the contrary, they claim that authorities have gone above and beyond to facilitate the entry of nearly 700,000 tons of food and humanitarian aid into the Palestinian enclave.

More food has been entering Gaza daily since Oct. 7 than before the war began, they insisted. More than 3,000 calories per capita per day, according to COGAT, the Israeli body responsible for the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories.

Nevertheless, international media outlets and organizations continue to push the “starvation” narrative. 

Cindy McCain, the executive director of the World Food Programme, said last month she believes there is a “full-blown famine” in northern Gaza. The accusations of Israel by the widow of late Senator John McCain were echoed by many worldwide.

Israel’s Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer blasted these charges in TV interviews he did in late May.

“There has never been famine in Gaza. That is a false story,” Dermer said in a heated discussion on Sky News.

While speaking to the BBC, he added: “The claim of full-blown famine in northern Gaza is full blown nonsense. It is just factually wrong. Prices of basic food items in the northern part of Gaza are down around 90%. This is simply a libel against Israel. The idea that there is food in the southern part of Gaza and famine in the north, and people won’t walk a few kilometers to get food is absurd.”

Perhaps the most incriminating evidence against McCain’s accusations was an exchange that her own organization’s representatives allegedly held with Israeli authorities in early May.

On May 5, COGAT posted on ????: “In talks between Israeli and UN representatives, including @WFP, none of the entities indicated a risk of famine in northern Gaza. They noted that the humanitarian situation is improving and that there is a variety of goods in both warehouses and markets in the north. Noting the improved situation, int’l orgs stated last week that the volume of goods transported to northern Gaza must be reduced since the quantities are too high in relation to the population.”

The “improved situation” was also highlighted by the United Nations.

“Since the FRC review conducted in March 2024, there seems to have been a significant increase in the number of food trucks entering northern Gaza,” read the latest IPC report.

It also supported a claim often leveled by Israel’s COGAT against the UN, adding, “The FRC notes that the overall number of trucks entering the Gaza Strip and available food that FEWS NET used for its analysis is significantly less than reported by other sources.”

Throughout the war, Israel insisted that there were significant gaps in the amount of aid trucks counted and presented by the UN. It blamed the UN for the backlog in aid distribution in Gaza.

“The content of 1,000 aid trucks is still waiting to be collected from the Gazan side of Kerem Shalom,” COGAT tweeted in recent days, urging the UN to do a better job. 

All Israel News

Day 256 — Tuesday, June 18

The Israel Defense Forces said Monday it has dismantled about half of Hamas’s fighting force in Rafah, killing at least 550 gunmen in the area, as the operation against the terror group in the Gaza Strip’s southernmost city continued.

The IDF’s 162nd Division has been fighting in Rafah for more than 40 days, first taking control of the city’s eastern outskirts and the border crossing with Egypt in early May. In the second stage of the operation, about a week and a half later, the division captured the Brazil neighborhood.

The third stage of the Rafah offensive saw the IDF take control of the entire Egypt-Gaza border, known as the Philadelphi Corridor, and push into the city’s northwestern Tel Sultan neighborhood.

The IDF said it has killed at least 550 gunmen in the Rafah operation — that is, those it was able to physically identify following battles. Many more terror operatives were killed in strikes against buildings and tunnels, it has assessed. Additionally, an unknown number of terror operatives fled the Rafah area as the military began its offensive there.

Of the four battalions in Hamas’s Rafah Brigade, two — Yabna (South) and East Rafah — are considered to be almost completely dismantled, while the capabilities of the other two — Shaboura (North) and Tel Sultan (West) — are somewhat degraded due to IDF operations.

Along the Philadelphi Corridor, the IDF said it located hundreds of rockets, including dozens of long-range projectiles aimed at central Israel. Also in the border area, more than 200 tunnel shafts have been located, leading to many underground routes.

The IDF said it located at least 25 “long” tunnels that reach the border with Egypt, some of which likely cross into Sinai and had been used by Hamas to smuggle weapons. The military said it was investigating these tunnels further.

Times Of Israel

Day 255 — Monday, June 17

Israel on the verge of a third full-blown war against Hezbollah because of the Lebanese organization’s constant firing of deadly missiles, drones and rockets, the differences and similarities between Hezbollah and Hamas are now under the microscope. 

The Islamic Republic of Iran finances the Mideast terrorist movements Hamas and Hezbollah, who have declared war on Israel and who are also responsible for committing numerous terrorist attacks against American civilians and military service personnel.

Fox News Digital contacted experts for a tale-of-the-tape analysis on Hamas, which is situated in the southern Gaza Strip, and Hezbollah, which is the de facto ruler of the Lebanese state on Israel’s northern border. Israel has fought two wars against Hezbollah, in 1982 and in 2006.

“Hezbollah is the crown jewel in the Iranian empire of terror and evil and is by far the most powerful Iranian proxy equipped with nation state capabilities and even with more firepower than several European militaries have today,” Jonathan Conricus, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and a former IDF spokesman told Fox News Digital.

Despite widespread poverty and economic instability in Iran, the Islamic Republic is also a generous funding source of Hezbollah, providing the Lebanese terrorist organization with over $700 million a year, according to the Israel Defense Forces and the U.S. State Department. Joint military cooperation between Iran’s regime and Hezbollah has been a longstanding feature in Lebanon, Syria and throughout Europe with respect to terrorism and war planning.

“In a military comparison, Hezbollah is far more powerful than Hamas across the board in every military metric. In terms of the amount of rockets they have, the range, the accuracy or the payload or size of the warhead, also in terms of the amount of personnel, armed fighters, their training and their equipment,” Conricus added.

Hezbollah has amassed a massive arsenal of an estimated 150,000 rockets and missiles that are aimed at the Jewish state. The IDF has degraded Hamas’ supply of 20,000 rockets and missiles since the start of the war. However, Hamas was capable of launching eight rockets from the city of Rafah into Israel two weeks ago. Fox News Digital reported last week that Hezbollah launched over 200 missiles, rockets and drones into Israel.

The economics of Hamas and Hezbollah have similarities and differences in the scope of funding and military training from Tehran. 

“Hezbollah and Hamas are both terror organizations funded mainly by Iran. Hezbollah’s loyalty is only to Iran. Hamas is for everyone who helps it,” said Edy Cohen, a Lebanese-born Israeli scholar of Hezbollah.

Cohen, a researcher at the Eitan, the Israeli Center for Grand Strategy, said “Hamas is under a sea blockage and cannot fly to other countries and cannot receive goods or arms easily. Hezbollah can.”

The number of terrorists fighting for both organizations varies. The IDF has reduced Hamas’ terrorist force by nearly 50% since the start of the war to between 9,000 and 12,000 combatants.

“Under the guidance of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, the group boasts a troop strength of 20,000 to 25,000 full-time fighters, with additional tens of thousands in reserves,” the IDF wrote on its website. “Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Unit is particularly noted for its combat proficiency and strategic importance in conflicts across the region. This particular unit … was established with assistance from Iran’s Quds force.”

Fox News 

Day 254 — Sunday, June 16

Eight Israeli soldiers were killed in a blast in southern the Gaza Strip’s Rafah on Saturday morning, the military announced, in what marked the deadliest incident for the Israel Defense Forces in the enclave since January.

Only one of the soldiers was named as of Saturday afternoon: Cpt. Wassem Mahmoud, 23, a deputy company commander in the Combat Engineering Corps’ 601st Battalion, from the northern Druze-majority town of Beit Jann.

The families of the other seven slain soldiers were notified, and their names were due to be released later on Saturday, the military said.

According to an initial IDF probe, the troops were all killed inside a Namer armored combat engineering vehicle (CEV). There were no survivors.

The soldiers had been driving in a convoy at around 5 a.m. on Saturday following an overnight offensive against Hamas in the northwestern areas of Rafah’s Tel Sultan neighborhood, during which troops under the 401st Armored Brigade killed some 50 gunmen, according to the IDF.

The convoy was heading to buildings captured by the army, for the troops to rest following the overnight operation.

The Namer CEV was the fifth or sixth vehicle in the convoy, and at some point, it was hit by a major explosion.

It was not immediately clear if it was a bomb planted ahead of time or if Hamas operatives had approached the vehicle with an explosive device and directly placed it on the CEV, the probe found.

Later Saturday, IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said the military was also investigating the possibility that the CEV was hit by an anti-tank missile.

The military was also investigating the possibility that explosives stored on the outside of the CEV contributed to the massive blast. Normally, the mines and other explosives stored on the outside of a CEV would not manage to cause injuries to troops inside if they detonated.

There was no gunfire amid the incident, and the vehicle was not at a standstill when the blast occurred, the probe found. The disabled CEV was later towed to a safe location in the Strip.

“Following this difficult incident, a team of experts of the Defense Ministry and IDF will examine the armored vehicle and all the details of the incident, until we reach findings,” Hagari said in a press conference.

The deadliest incident for the IDF in Gaza occurred in January, during which 21 soldiers were killed in a blast following Hamas RPG fire that collapsed two buildings.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his “deep mourning” for the deaths of the soldiers, but insisted that “despite the heavy and staggering cost, we must stick to the goals of the war.”

He said their deaths were a “heartbreaking price in our just war of the defense of the homeland.”

Times Of Israel

Day 253 — Saturday, June 15

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Friday ruled out joining an initiative promoted by French President Emmanuel Macron in which France, the United States and Israel would form a contact group to work on defusing escalating tensions with Hezbollah on the northern border.

“As we fight a just war, defending our people, France has adopted hostile policies against Israel,” Gallant said in a statement. “In doing so, France ignores the atrocities committed by Hamas against Israeli children, women and men.”

“Israel will not be a party to the trilateral framework proposed by France,” he wrote.

Gallant’s remarks were made after Macron announced the three countries had agreed to work together to step up efforts to push forward a roadmap presented by Paris earlier this year to de-escalate the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, which has been growing in intensity since the Lebanese terror group began attacking the north following Hamas’s October 7 massacre in southern Israel.

The defense minister did not specify what prompted this stance, but his statement came after French authorities last month banned Israeli defense firms from exhibiting at one of the world’s largest defense fairs, amid growing calls to limit arms sales to the IDF and divest from Israeli defense companies on the backdrop of the ongoing war in Gaza.

Times Of Israel

Day 253 — Saturday, June 15

The leader of the Iran-backed Yemeni terrorist group Ansarallah, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, warned neighboring Saudi Arabia on Thursday that any normalization deal would “disgrace” the country, implying his terrorists would consider the Saudis a legitimate target.

Ansarallah, known commonly as the “Houthis” after the family that runs the organization, has been embroiled in a bloody civil war with the legitimate government of Yemen since 2014. The Saudi government backed the legitimate Yemeni government against the Houthis for years, turning the civil war into a proxy war with Iran. The Houthis responded by directly targeting Saudi territory for years, bombing oil depots and other civilian facilities in the country.

Those attacks largely stopped after peace talks in September 2023. The Houthis have since redirected their ire towards Israel, supporting fellow Iran-backed jihadist organization Hamas’s siege of Israel on October 7 with a war declaration and a campaign of attacking commercial ships in the Red Sea. The Houthis claim they only target ships with ties to Israel and top allies America and Britain, but have routinely attacked ships with no obvious ties to any of those countries and, in some cases, attacked ships associated with allies such as Iran and China.

Al-Houthi expressed disgust with longstanding rumors of a potential normalization in ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel in his weekly address to Yemenis on Thursday. According to al-Khabar al-Yemeni, an Arabic-language site associated with the Houthis, Houthi addressed some of his comments to Muslim-majority Arab nations generally, not just Saudi Arabia – which would include nations that have already normalized relations with Israel such as the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

“We do not have any hostile intentions towards any Arab country, but we will not accept any Arab regime causing harm to our people in service of Israel and obedience to America,” the Houthi-linked outlet quoted the leader as saying. “Any Saudi position against our people at this time is definitely serving the Israeli enemy and supporting it in obedience to America.”

Al-Houthi reportedly ranted against reports generally that Saudi Arabia would consider normalized ties to Israel at all.

“What drives you to prioritize befriending Israel, turning the tragedy of Gaza into a normalization deal, and then turning hostile against the Yemeni people?” he reportedly asked. “Befriending Israel is not in your interest or the interest of your people, but rather a service that harms you and disgraces you.”

Houthi concluded that his terrorists would “not accept an equation where our people are suffocated and starved, while others harm them and enjoy comfort and prosperity without any harm coming to them,” apparently referencing Saudi Arabia.

Al-Mayadeen, a propaganda outlet affiliated with the Iran-backed Lebanese terrorists Hezbollah, reported that al-Houthi claimed that “some Arab countries” were preparing military drills with Israel, without citing any reference for that news. It also quoted Houthi declaring that the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, a campaign he called “Promised Victory and Holy Jihad,” had been greatly successful and beneficial to the Hamas cause in Gaza.

“He noted that the number of targeted ships has now reached 145, all connected to the Israeli occupation, the United States, and Britain,” al-Mayadeen relayed. “He explained that this escalation is part of the fourth phase and is progressing into more significant stages.”

The claim that all the ships the Houthis have attacked are connected to Israel, America, or Britain is provably false. The Houthis have attacked Chinese-owned ships, ships carrying Russian oil cargo, and ships carrying grain to Iran. The Houthis have attacked several ships previously owned by American or British entities, however, suggesting that they were using outdated information in their targeting.

Breitbart

Day 253 — Saturday, June 15

Hamas’s history shows a pattern of failure to maintain ceasefires. So many ceasefires have been established and promptly violated that the term no longer means much.

The pattern is clear: (1) Hamas unleashes terrorism on Israel; (2) Israel responds with military action after days, weeks, or months of escalated rocket attacks; (3) the news media condemns Israel for targeting Hamas bases and launch sites; (4) Israel faces international pressure to end military operations; (5) a ceasefire is brokered between Israel and Hamas; and (6) Hamas breaks the ceasefire. Wash, rinse, repeat.

In 2008, in response to several years of Hamas rocket attacks, the IDF initiated Operation Cast Lead, a 22-day conflict in Gaza. Egypt brokered a ceasefire; and almost immediately, Hamas resumed rocket attacks, violating the truce. In 2012, another escalation of rocket fire from Gaza forced the IDF into another conflict, Operation Pillar of Defense. After eight days, a ceasefire was established; but it eroded as Hamas continued terrorizing Israel. Then, Hamas breached several short-lived ceasefires during the 2014 Operation Protective Edge and the 2021 Operation Guardian of the Walls.

Israel’s current objective is to eliminate Hamas, ensuring it can no longer govern or operate within Gaza. Ceasefires have proven to be a one-sided deal favoring Hamas. They only give the terrorists time to regroup and rearm, providing breathing room to double down on their efforts to destroy the Jewish state.

The international community urging Israel to embrace a ceasefire cannot ignore October 7. As long as Hamas is in power, the threat of another massacre looms large.

Psalm 83 is a prayer asking God not to remain silent as Israel’s enemies try to eliminate Israel and the Jewish people. The enemies say, “Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation, that the name of Israel may be remembered no more” (v. 4). As pressure mounts on Israel, we must remember that God will act.