In response to the attack toward the Golan Heights on Saturday, IDF fighter jets struck terror infrastructure sites in Syria. Earlier today IDF said two launches were identified from Syria toward Israeli territory that fell in open areas.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the progress of the war in the Gaza Strip on Saturday saying "The war against Hamas-Islamic State is advancing at full force, with one goal: victory. There is no substitute for winning.
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During a press conference with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Knesset Member and part of the war cabinet Benny Gantz, all three criticized French President Emmanuel Macron's criticism: "This is wishful thinking; we don't need moral lectures."
Netanyahu also spoke about the day after the war saying "Gaza will be demilitarized, and there will be no more threat from the Gaza Strip to Israel. To ensure such a threat is eradicated, whenever necessary, the IDF will maintain security-wise control in the Gaza Strip to prevent terrorism from emanating. The tragedy on October 7 finally proved that wherever there is no Israeli security control, terrorism returns and takes root, ultimately striking us. This has been evident in West Bank as well, and therefore, I will not compromise on security control under any circumstances."
"Security control includes the ability to enter whenever needed to eliminate terrorists who may resurface," clarified Netanyahu later. "There will be no Hamas; there will be no civil authority there indoctrinating their children to hate Israel, to kill civilians, and to destroy the State of Israel."
Netanyahu addressed allegations of international pressure for a ceasefire: "Occasionally, there are voices seeking concessions because, in some countries, there are individuals exerting pressure on leaders. I say to them, 'Do not yield to pressure. Our war is your war as well. We must win for our sake and yours.' No international pressure, no false accusations against IDF soldiers and our state will change our belief in the justice of our cause and our duty to defend ourselves."
The IDF announced on Saturday the death of five soldiers who died during the battles in the Gaza Strip a day earlier.
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From top left clockwise: Maj. (res.) Moshe Yedidyah Leiter, Master Sgt. (res.) Matan Meir, Sgt. Maj. (res.) Yossi Hershkovitz, Master Sgt. (res.) Sergey Shmerkin, Master Sgt. (res.) Netanel (Nati) Harush
(Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit, Nati Levi)
The soldiers are: Maj. (res.) Moshe Yedidyah Leiter, 39, a company commander in the 551st Brigade’s 697th Battalion, from Ein Tzurim, Sgt. Maj. (res.) Yossi Hershkovitz, 44, a soldier in the 551st Brigade’s 697th Battalion, from Gevaot, Master Sgt. (res.) Matan Meir, 38, a soldier in the 551st Brigade’s 697th Battalion, from Odem, Master Sgt. (res.) Sergey Shmerkin, 32, a soldier in the 551st Brigade’s 697th Battalion, from Kiryat Shmona, Master Sgt. (res.) Netanel (Nati) Harush, 34, a soldier in the Givati Brigade’s logistics unit, from Jerusalem.
The soldiers from the 697th Battalion were killed by a blast originating from a booby-trapped tunnel shaft in the Beit Hanoun area. The troops were not inside the tunnel at the time of the incident.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gave a speech during an Arab-Islamic summit in Saudi Arabia on Saturday calling to "uncover Israel's nuclear weapons."
"The West didn't call for a cease-fire. Those who stay silent in the face of this atrocity are accomplices to it. Israel must pay for her crimes," he added.
Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, called for the release of hostages and stated, "We condemn the war that the Palestinian people in Gaza are exposed to. We have made efforts to protect civilians in Gaza and to halt the war. It requires collective effort and active measures from us to end the situation. We demand an immediate cessation of military activities and the opening of a humanitarian corridor to Gaza."
The military reported Saturday that troops and Air Force units have eliminated Ahmed Siam, a company commander of Hamas' Naser Radwan Company who held an estimated 1,000 Gazan civilians in the Rantisi Hospital and prevented them from evacuating southwards for their safety.
"Ahmed Siam was killed while hiding in the 'al Buraq' school, where additional terrorists under this command were also hiding and were killed," the IDF said in a statement.
The Palestinian Health Ministry reported Saturday that the Shifa hospital has lost all electricity due to a lack of fuel and is not operational. The hospital's spokesperson told Arab news network Al Jazeera that medical supplies and water were also in short supply, adding that "Patients are dying every minute. The hospital is surrounded."
Gaza’s governmental press office claimed Saturday morning that IDF forces "are surrounding the Shifa, Rantisi and Al-Ayoun hospitals, preventing civilians from accessing them.”
The Wall Street Journal reported that amid IDF strikes in the heart of Gaza City and calls for civilians to relocate south, doctors at Shifa Hospital said that about 2,000 displaced people and around 700 patients remained at the medical facility, which is used by Hamas as its command center in the northern Gaza Strip.
The report notes that the medical staff remaining at the hospital had significantly diminished. One of the doctors said, "At least 2,500 patients left the place yesterday. We are in a war zone, waiting for the moment the army reaches us."
There has been progress in Qatari-mediated talks to secure the release of Israeli hostages from Hamas captivity in Gaza, an Arab diplomat familiar with the details of the ongoing talks held in Doha told the Washington Post Saturday.
According to the report, the two-day talks involving Mossad Director David Barnea, CIA Director William Burns and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, focused on releasing up to 20 women and children in exchange for a three-day humanitarian cease-fire and aid delivery to northern Gaza.
However, the emerging agreement depends on the situation in the Gaza Strip, where IDF forces are highly active.
Meanwhile, rocket fire from the Gaza Strip resumed Saturday morning after a 15-hour lull, with two rocket launches triggering air raid alarm sirens in Kibbutz Kissufim near the Gaza border.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that approximately 30,000 people evacuated from the northern Gaza Strip to the south on Friday, using the safe corridor opened by the IDF along Salah al-Din road operational between 10 AM and 2 PM.
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Saturday that his organization was "extremely disturbed" by reports of Israeli airstrikes in the vicinity of Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.
"Many health workers we were in contact with have been forced to leave the hospital in search of safety. Others report being unable to move due to grave insecurity," he wrote on X. "Many of the thousands sheltering at the hospital are forced to evacuate due to security risks, while many still remain there."
Thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators flooded the streets of New York City on Saturday in one of its largest protests since the war began.
The protesters first gathered at Columbus Circle near Central Park, then marched toward Times Square, where they blocked the entrance to the New York Times offices - a focal point of mass protests just the day before.
They continued toward Grand Central Station, where they attempted to breach the entrance but were met by a large police presence that arrested some of them.