A second round of talks between negotiators to reach an agreement on a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages began in Doha, Qatar, on Thursday afternoon. A source familiar with the matter said that “the parties hope to make progress within the next 24 hours and so far the negotiations have been fruitful and have taken place in a positive atmosphere.” Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani reportedly held a conversation with Iranian leaders on Thursday evening, urging them to carefully consider the consequences of a possible attack on Israel, which could jeopardize ongoing negotiations for a truce between Israel and Hamas. According to a report by the Ynet news site, citing a source “from one of the mediating countries” – Qatar, Egypt and the United States – al-Thani told his Iranian interlocutors that “you must carefully consider whether it is appropriate for you or Hezbollah to attack Israel right now when there is progress like this.” The report suggests that the call may have had some effect, as officials from one of the mediating nations learned that Hezbollah had temporarily postponed a planned action against Israel, as anticipated in a story published Thursday by the Washington Post.
This morning, the terrorist organization Hezbollah released a propaganda video of what it claims is an underground missile base in a terror tunnel under Lebanon. The facility, called Imad 4, is said to be used to store the terrorist organization’s precision missiles. In the video, the organization’s terrorists can be seen riding motorcycles through the tunnels, on whose walls are depicted Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and senior officials from the Hezbollah leadership who have been eliminated. The text of the video is a threat to Israel: “Israel will face a fate and a reality that it did not expect from one day to the next. The war with us extends to all of Palestine, from the Lebanese border to the Jordanian border. To the Red Sea, to Kiryat Shmona, to Eilat.” The voice of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah can also be heard in the video, boasting about the terrorist group’s missile capabilities.
As the Times of Israel writes, shortly after the video was published, the Israeli Air Force struck a military facility used by Hezbollah terrorists in the Aitaroun area of southern Lebanon, the IDF reported. In addition, in the same area, Israeli artillery shelled the localities of Blida and Kfarkela. A hostile drone was also spotted in the Beit Jann area. No injuries were reported as a result of these operations. Also on the subject of Lebanese terrorists, senior security officials warned ministers yesterday that an attack by Iran and Hezbollah against Israel could manifest itself through the assassination of high-profile figures, the Ynet news site reported. According to the report, security officials informed the security cabinet that Hezbollah and Iran could respond to the assassinations of Fuad Shukr in Beirut and Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran by targeting ministers, parliamentarians, IDF officers, or senior officials of the Shin Bet or Mossad, rather than resorting to missile and drone strikes.
Meanwhile, the war in Gaza continues, and this morning the IDF issued a new evacuation order for Palestinians in northern Khan Younis and eastern Deir al-Balah, further reducing the borders of the humanitarian zone designated by Israel. Some neighborhoods in northern Khan Younis will no longer be included in the humanitarian zone, as the IDF has stated that it intends to conduct operations against Hamas activities in that area: “Due to numerous acts of terrorism, the use of the humanitarian zone for terrorist purposes, and the launching of rockets at the State of Israel from neighborhoods in northern Khan Younis, remaining in this zone has become dangerous,” the IDF said. The army claims that the modification of the humanitarian zone is based on “precise intelligence information indicating that Hamas has positioned terrorist infrastructure in the area previously designated as humanitarian.” According to the Israeli military, the early warning is intended to reduce harm to civilians: “The IDF is about to operate forcefully against terrorist organizations and therefore calls on the population remaining in the northern neighborhoods of Khan Younis and eastern Deir al-Balah to temporarily evacuate to the modified humanitarian zone,” the army said. Deir al-Balah is one of the few areas in Gaza where the IDF has not conducted large-scale ground operations to date. The appeals to the population are being broadcast through leaflets dropped from aircraft, text messages, phone calls and television broadcasts.
