News Digest — 10/23/24
IDF Says Intercepted 2 Lebanon Rockets After Sirens Sound In Northern, Central Israel
The Israeli Air Force (IAF) intercepted two rockets fired from Lebanon that crossed into Israeli territory, the IDF reported Wednesday morning (23rd).
One projectile was shot down over the Gush Dan region, which includes Tel Aviv, and another over the Galilee area in northern Israel.
Parked cars in Herzliya, north of Tel Aviv, were damaged by falling interception fragments. No injuries were reported.
Earlier, rocket alert sirens sounded across several cities, including Tel Aviv, Ramat Gan, Ramat Hasharon, Bnei Brak, Petah Tikva, Givat Shmuel, Herzliya, Kiryat Ono and Ra’anana in the Gush Dan and Sharon regions. Sirens were also activated in the Lower Galilee area.
Also Wednesday morning (23rd), the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a pro-Iranian militia, claimed responsibility for drones launched from the east toward the southern Israeli resort town of Eilat.
Two drones launched from the east crossed into the sovereign waters of the State of Israel in the area of Eilat at around 5: a.m., the military reported. Both UAVs were shot down by the IAF. No alert sirens were activated “according to protocol,” the IDF said.
Less than an hour later, the IAF intercepted a drone heading toward Israel while it was in Syrian airspace, according to the IDF. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq later claimed it launched a drone toward “a vital target in the Golan Heights.”
Gallant To Blinken: ‘Even after Operation Ends, We’ll Continue To Strike Hezbollah’
Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant hosted US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday (22nd) at the MOD Headquarters.
The Minister and Secretary held a one-on-one discussion as well as a wider bilateral meeting with professional staff. The Israeli party included the IDF Chief of the General Staff, Director General of the Ministry of Defense, Director of the Policy Bureau, Chief of Staff to the Minister , and the Military Secretary to the Minister.
During the meeting, Minister Gallant and Secretary Blinken discussed the operational progress made by the IDF in the various arenas. In this respect, Minister Gallant emphasized the obligation to ensure the return of the hostages still held in Gaza and to promote the replacement of Hamas as a governing authority by other regional and local entities.
Minister Gallant also briefed the Secretary on the progress made in Israel’s mission to destroy Hezbollah’s attack infrastructure in the border region. He further emphasized that Israel will continue striking the terrorist organization’s infrastructure even once the targeted operations are complete and that this will continue systematically until it is possible to ensure: the safe return of Israel’s northern communities to their homes, and the withdrawal of Hezbollah forces from southern Lebanon.
In their discussion about Iranian aggression and its terrorist activities via proxies spread across the Middle East, the Minister highlighted the importance of the US standing with Israel following Israel’s attack on Iran. “This will strengthen regional deterrence and weaken the ‘axis of evil,’” Gallant stated.
Hezbollah Claims Responsibility For Drone Strike On Netanyahu’s Caesarea Residence
More than 72 hours after the incident, Hezbollah claimed responsibility on Tuesday (22nd) for launching the drone at Prime MInister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Caesarea residence on Saturday (19th), with officials later confirming that the drone had indeed struck the prime minister’s house. Footage from the scene showed the extent of the damage.
The direct hit on the house precisely struck the bedroom window. All three drones launched that day were reportedly intended to target the prime minister’s residence. The impact scattered drone debris across the swimming pool and yard.
Earlier, Hezbollah claimed responsibility for the assassination attempt on Netanyahu. The group’s media chief, Mohammed Afif, stated during a press conference. “We take full and exclusive responsibility for targeting the criminal’s house.” Afif issued a threat to Netanyahu, warning that Hezbollah would attempt another assassination.
Netanyahu and his wife Sara were not at the residence during the strike. Following the launches targeting his residence, Netanyahu recorded a video saying: “We are moving forward, nothing will deter us. I am proud of the IDF soldiers.” Meanwhile, Iran’s UN mission rejected reports of Iranian involvement in the attempt to strike Netanyahu’s residence, stating: “The operation was carried out by Hezbollah in Lebanon.”
According to initial investigation findings of the drone launch toward the Netanyahu family residence, a helicopter that was dispatched failed to identify the aircraft, and sirens were activated in military areas but not in Caesarea. Meanwhile, some in Netanyahu’s circle believe Iran should face harsher retaliation following the drone strike. Not only did Netanyahu’s associates define the drone launch as an assassination attempt, but security officials also stated, “This is an attempt to harm the prime minister.”
Iran Says It’s Planning To Hold First Joint Military Drills With Saudi Arabia In Red Sea
TEHRAN, Iran – Iran and Saudi Arabia are planning to conduct joint military exercises in the Red Sea, according to an Iranian report not confirmed by Riyadh, in what would be a first for the regional heavyweights.
The two Middle East rivals, which have long backed opposing sides in conflict zones across the region, severed diplomatic ties in 2016.
However, Shiite Muslim-dominated Iran and Sunni-majority Saudi Arabia resumed relations last year under a surprise China-brokered deal.
“Saudi Arabia had asked that we organize joint exercises in the Red Sea,” the commander of Iran’s navy, Admiral Shahram Irani, was quoted as saying by the Iranian news agency ISNA.
“Coordination is underway and delegations from both countries will hold the necessary consultations on how to conduct the exercise,” he added, without providing details including a timeline.
Since November, Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels have waged a campaign of attacks against ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden in what they say is a show of solidarity with the Palestinians during the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
The Houthis also have launched missiles targeting Israel, drawing retaliatory airstrikes from the Israelis late last month that targeted Houthi infrastructure in western Yemen.
The Houthis have been fighting a Saudi-led coalition since 2015, months after they seized the capital Sanaa and most of Yemen’s population centers, forcing the internationally recognized government south to Aden.
Saudi Arabia, which has backed the Aden government, has engaged in a delicate balancing act, as the world’s biggest oil exporter tries to extricate itself from the war on its doorstep.
Saudi Arabia did not join a US-led naval coalition to deter Houthi attacks.
Efforts by the Saudi Kingdom to broker a Yemen peace deal also faltered in the wake of the Houthi attacks on ships.
Saudi Arabia did not immediately confirm whether It would be holding joint exercises with Iran.
What Yahya Sinwar’s Death Revealed About Hamas’ Waning Capabilities – John Spencer
• Last week , Israeli forces eliminated the leader of Hamas and the mastermind of the Oct. 7 massacre, Yahya Sinwar. The atrocities of Oct. 7 caused deep psychological trauma for Jews, along with a loss of personal security that will be felt for a long time. The closure that Sinwar’s death provides Israel’s population is important for their moving forward and healing as a nation.
• The details of Sinwar’s death tell us a lot about the state of Hamas. Much like when U.S. forces discovered Saddam Hussein cowering in a hole, the myth about Sinwar has been busted. He was not found looking defiant and capable, surrounded by an elite bodyguard force in one of the luxury bunkers in Gaza.
• Sinwar was killed looking desperate, dirty and disheveled, living in fear, running from tunnel to tunnel, rubbled house to rubbled house, with only a couple of other men, in a district he had hidden in because the world told the IDF they could not go there. He was not commanding a military force with any capability. He oversaw nothing.
• Hamas is clearly broken. It is clearly operating without leadership, on autopilot and functioning as separate, disconnected guerrilla gangs. Fanatical members of Hamas may still believe they can survive and one day win the war against Israel. But peace only ultimately comes if Hamas is prevented from regaining political or military power in Gaza.
• This could be the beginning of the end, though a lot still must happen. If Hamas refuses to let the remaining 101 hostages go, the war will continue. If Hamas still has the guns and coercive power to include primary control of humanitarian aid distribution in Gaza, the war will continue. If Hamas believes they can survive as a political or military power in Gaza, the war will continue.
• Wars are won when the enemy loses the means and will to continue fighting. There will be no cease in the violence without the full military and political defeat of Hamas. But the death of Yahya Sinwar is a major moment that signals to Hamas, Israelis and Gazans that there could be paths to end the war.
The writer is chair of urban warfare studies at the Modern War Institute at West Point.
Israel Should Press The Advantage To Defeat Hamas In Gaza – Col. Richard Kemp
The final moments of Yahya Sinwar’s malevolent life are an allegory for the current balance of military power in Gaza. The once mighty terrorist leader was filmed skulking into a building in Rafah like the fugitive he was. Where were his layers of security, the bodyguards to whisk him away when danger loomed? All gone, shattered by Israel’s assaults, with even Hamas’ most senior terrorist forced above ground by the IDF’s progressive destruction of his protective tunnels.
Hamas’ organized structure has been decimated and its military campaign reduced to small-scale guerrilla operations with the priority on survival rather than offensive action. Many of the senior terrorist commanders have been killed. In latter days, Sinwar could no longer exercise meaningful control over his troops.
He was the embodiment of Hamas’ “resistance” against Israel, the architect of the greatest achievement the organization has ever had or is now likely to have. For the Hamas terrorists who have survived until now, he has been an inspiration and an example. His death, therefore, will be a major psychological blow, which in some will undermine the will to continue to fight.
Plenty of terrorists, however, will remain defiant, galvanized to fight on. The end of Sinwar is not the end of Hamas. He will be replaced like other terrorist leaders, but with its terror army badly weakened. U.S. demands that Israel stop fighting rather than calling for Hamas’ surrender give hope and strength to the terrorists, and to their Iranian masters, and help prolong the bloodshed. Instead, with Hamas reeling, now is the time to intensify the fight and drive home the advantage.
Netanyahu’s policy of attrition against the terror armies while eliminating their leadership, whether in Gaza, Lebanon or Iran, is certainly working. What would not work in any of these places is the Western obsession with ceasefires, peace deals and de-escalation. Against jihadist enemies, all such appeasement of those dedicated to your annihilation can at best only store up the same threat for another day, or an even greater one. Optimism is not a strategy.
The writer, a former commander of British forces in Afghanistan, was chairman of the UK’s national crisis management committee, COBRA..
