Saturday 18 / May / 2024
Israeli special forces are operating inside Nasser Hospital in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, the military said, adding it had credible information that the bodies of hostages taken on October 7 may be in the facility.
"We conduct precise rescue operations — as we have in the past — where our intelligence indicates that the bodies of hostages may be held," the military said in a statement.
In a video posted online, an IDF representative said they had "credible evidence" that Hamas had held hostages inside the hospital.
At the same time, the IDF said on its Hebrew-language X account that the operation was based on intelligence information indicating activity by Hamas in the hospital, and its goal was to reach operatives, including those suspected of involvement in the October 7 massacre. The military added that a number of suspects were arrested.
The raid came a day after the army sought to evacuate thousands of displaced people who had taken shelter at the hospital. The city of Khan Younis has been the main target of Israel's offensive against Hamas in recent weeks. Israeli ministers reject Palestinian statehood as part of post-war plan.
Top Israeli ministers have rejected Palestinian statehood in the wake of a Washington Post report that Israel's main ally, the United States, is advancing plans for the establishment of a Palestinian state.
"We will in no way agree to this plan, which says Palestinians deserve a prize for the terrible massacre they carried out against us: a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital," Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
"A Palestinian state is an existential threat to the State of Israel as was proven on October 7," he added, referring to the Hamas terror attacks on that day.
National Security Minister Ben Gvir said "the establishment of a Palestinian state means the establishment of a Hamas state."
"1,400 are murdered and the world wants to give them a state. Not going to happen," wrote Ben Gvir on X.
Both ministers are extreme right-wing settlers who live in the occupied West Bank.
Palestinians and the international community largely consider the Israeli settlements in the West Bank as illegal. Israel says it killed Hezbollah commander in Lebanon strike
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said they killed a Hezbollah commander of the group's Radwan Force in southern Lebanon on Wednesday.
Ali Muhammad al-Debas, his deputy and another fighter were killed "in a precise air strike carried out by an IDF aircraft on a Hezbollah military structure in Nabatiyeh," the IDF said in a statement on Thursday.
The IDF claimed al-Debas helped orchestrate a roadside bombing in northern Israel last March and had been involved in cross-border fighting.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency said an explosion was reported near a ship off Yemen's Red Sea coast on Thursday.
UKMTO said there was "an explosion in close proximity to the vessel" east of Yemen's Aden.
It added both the vessel and crew were safe.
Yemen's Houthi rebels have targeted vessels in the Red Sea over Israel's war in Gaza against Hamas.
Houthi representatives did not claim responsibility for Thursday's incident, but the group's leader vowed to continue attacks on Red Sea shipping,
"Our operations have a big impact on the enemy which constitute a great success and a real triumph," Abdulmalik al-Houthi said in a televised address, Reuters news agency reported.
A US-led coalition has carried out strikes on targets in Yemen in retaliation for the Houthi attacks.
