Israel is carrying out unprecedented attacks on Iranian arms shipments to regional allies in Syria, Israeli media reported today.
Citing six sources, including a military intelligence officer and a commander in a regional alliance that supports Damascus, Reuters said attacks have intensified in Syria since the start of the Israeli-Palestinian Hamas war on October 7.
The Israeli military is attacking trucks, infrastructure and operatives more often and the attacks are more deadly, anonymous sources said.
Soldiers used to fire warning shots next to the truck and target the truck when the passengers got out.
"It's over now. Israel is now launching deadlier, more frequent airstrikes against Iran's arms transfer and air defense systems in Syria. They're bombing everyone directly. They're bombing to kill," the anonymous commander said.
For years, Israel has attacked Iranian-backed organizations in Syria, including areas where the Lebanese Hezbollah is active, and now the tacit "rules of the game" have been abandoned and the Israeli army is no longer cautious and does not care how many members of that organization die.
Increased attacks have killed 19 Hezbollah members in Syria in three months, more than double the number in the rest of last year.
More than 130 Hezbollah fighters were killed in Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon during the same period.
The Israeli army did not respond to a question about the escalation of the attack.
A senior Israeli official told a press briefing on condition of anonymity that Hezbollah had sparked new conflicts with the Oct. 8 attacks and that Israel's strategy was revenge.
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The Palestinian Islamist organization Islamic Jihad released a video today of a live Israeli hostage, one of 132 still held in the Gaza Strip since the October 7 attack on Israel.
In that video, the Israeli, speaking in English and Hebrew, specifies that he is speaking on January 5, he is asking the Israeli authorities to work on his release and to work on an exchange with Palestinian prisoners.
The family of the hostage, captured in Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, asked the media not to broadcast the footage. About 75 people were kidnapped in this kibbutz near the Gaza Strip.
Two Palestinian Islamist movements have taken about 250 people hostage, of whom 132 are still being held in Gaza, according to Israeli authorities. According to Israel, several of them died and their bodies are still in the territory.
Since the war broke out, 23.084 people, mostly women, children and teenagers, have been killed in the tiny Palestinian territory, according to the latest figures released by Hamas today.
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US President Joseph Biden said today, as protesters briefly interrupted his speech calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, that he was "discretely working" to get Israel to "significantly reduce" its presence in the Palestinian territory.
Biden spoke at a church in Charleston, where nine people, including a priest and congregants, were killed in 2015 in one of the worst racist attacks in the US.
"If you really care about the lives lost here, then you should call for a ceasefire in Palestine," shouted one protester.
The US president, a staunch supporter of Israel, has so far refused to call for a cease-fire in Gaza, as he believes it would mainly benefit Hamas.
He is, however, trying to achieve a de-escalation in Gaza and prevent the spread to Lebanon.
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Palestinian statistics show that in the war between Israel and Hamas that broke out on October 7, every hundred Palestinians were killed, CNN reported.
The Ministry of Health of the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank, announced today that at least 22.835 people were killed in Gaza, and the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics said that this is one percent of the total population of the territory.
As stated, 58.416 Palestinians were wounded, which is more than 2,6 percent of the population, that is, more than one in 40 people. The ministry receives data from hospitals in Gaza, which is ruled by Hamas.
The Hamas health ministry, which tends to report slightly higher casualty numbers than the ministry in Ramallah due to delays in sending information, announced today that 23.804 people were killed and 58.926 wounded.
Israel claims that more than 8.000 extremists have been killed in the war against Hamas.
The Ministry of Health in Ramallah says that more than 5.300 women and more than 9.000 children were killed, which together make up almost two-thirds of the victims.
King Abdullah II of Jordan warned today that the conflict in Gaza has created an entire generation of orphans.
"More children died in Gaza than in all other conflicts around the world last year. Of those who survived, many lost both parents - a whole generation of orphans," said the king who met with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinkenon in Amman on Sunday.
They agreed to "continue close cooperation for continued humanitarian assistance in Gaza," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Sunday.
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US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken criticized today, as he said, the "irresponsible" and "inflammatory" statements of Israeli ministers and deputies who called for the displacement of Palestinians out of Gaza.
Blinken assessed that Palestinian civilians must be allowed to return "home as soon as conditions allow".
"They cannot and must not be pressured to leave Gaza," Blinken said today at a joint press conference with Qatar's Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Muhammad bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, CNN reported.
Recent statements by Israel's finance and national security ministers have sparked outrage as they advocated the displacement of Palestinians.
Blinken is meeting today with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia as part of a visit to the region aimed at avoiding the escalation of the conflict between Israel and Hamas from Gaza.
He will then travel to Israel, and will also visit the West Bank and Egypt. It is his fourth visit to the region since the start of the devastating war on October 7, and has also included Turkey, Greece, Jordan, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
In Abu Dhabi, Blinken spoke with the President of the Emirates, Mohammed bin Zayed, about the situation in Gaza, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said, France Press reported.
Blinken stressed the "importance of an immediate response to humanitarian needs in Gaza" and thanked the Emirates for "an important contribution to the delivery of humanitarian aid to civilians", the spokesman said.
Blinken insisted, the spokesman said, "on the need to prevent further escalation of the conflict and reiterated Washington's commitment to ensure a lasting peace that guarantees Israel's security and promotes the establishment of an independent Palestinian state."
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The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said today that he is "deeply concerned about the large number" of Palestinian journalists killed in the Gaza Strip, following the killing of two reporters on Sunday.
"The killing of all journalists, including Hamza Wael Dahduh and Mustafa Turaja in a strike attributed to the Israeli military, must be thoroughly and independently investigated to ensure strict adherence to international law, and violations must be prosecuted," the High Commissioner's office said on the platform. X.
At least 79 journalists and media workers, the vast majority of them Palestinians, have been killed since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
Al Jazeera television announced on Sunday that two of its Palestinian journalists were killed in an Israeli strike on their vehicle in the Gaza Strip, accusing the Israeli military of targeting Palestinian journalists.
Hamza Wael Dahduh, journalist of Al-Jazeera channel and his colleague Mustafa Turaja, freelance videographer who worked for the Qatari channel, cooperated with France Presse and other international media, were killed while driving in a car in the south of the Palestinian territory.
The third journalist, Hazem Rajab, who was in the vehicle with them, was seriously wounded.
The Israeli army announced to France Press that it "hit the terrorist who was piloting the flying device threatening the soldiers" and added that it was "aware of the information that, during the strike, two other suspects in the same vehicle were also hit."
The Committee to Protect Journalists said that "journalists in Gaza face particularly high risks as they try to cover the conflict during the Israeli ground offensive, including devastating airstrikes, disrupted communications, supply shortages and prolonged power outages."
In addition, it was warned that journalists are civilians doing important work in times of crisis and warring parties must not target them, CNN quoted Sherif Mansour, CPJ's program coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa, as saying.
As stated, the committee is investigating all reports of journalists and media workers being killed, wounded and missing in the war, which has led to "the deadliest period for journalists since CPJ began collecting data in 1992."
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reservists that Israel prefers to restore security in the country's north on the border with Lebanon without going to war with Lebanon's Hezbollah, but added that his country is ready to do so.
"Hezbollah misunderstood us very much in 2006 and even now they misunderstand us very much," Netanyahu said in the northern Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona, alluding to the month-long war against Hezbollah that year.
The leader of Israel said that he sees "enormous power, the unity of the people, the determination to do everything necessary to restore security in the north" and added that this is his policy.
Netanyahu addressed the soldiers several hours after an anti-tank missile hit Kiryat Shmona.
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The Gaza Health Ministry said a total of 23.084 Palestinians were killed and 58.926 injured in Israeli attacks on the area since October 7.
As reported by Reuters, the Ministry added that around 249 Palestinians were killed and 510 wounded during the previous 24 hours.
Since the start of the Israel-Hamas war on October 7, pro-Iranian Hezbollah has exchanged fire with Israel on the border almost daily in support of its Palestinian ally in the Gaza Strip. Those clashes are causing fears of a regional conflict, and concerns are growing in Lebanon as well.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) announced today that they carried out a series of airstrikes against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon during the night.
The IDF said it targeted a military compound in the city of Marwahin and Hamas infrastructure facilities in Ait al-Shabaab.
For those attacks, the army used fighter jets while using a drone to target a rocket launcher used by Hezbollah for the attacks, The Times of Israel reported.
The IDF helicopter hit the location from which an anti-tank rocket was fired at northern Israel, the statement said.
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