Yisrael Beiteinu party chairman Avigdor Lieberman called to overthrow the regime in Iran, in an interview with public radio Reshet Bet on Sunday.
“We must focus on only one goal – the overthrow of the regime in Iran,” he said. “Within two to three years, the Iranians will be equipped with thousands of ballistic missiles. The last attack involved dozens, so if there are hundreds of ballistic missiles, one can expect what will happen within Israel.”
Lieberman accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of continuing the war for political reasons. “Netanyahu is not interested in ending the war before the elections, and he is deliberately prolonging it,” he said, adding that “It is impossible to defeat Hamas without returning all the hostages at once.
The Israel Defense Forces issued an immediate evacuation notice to all found in the southwestern area of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, including those residing in tents in the area.
In the notice issued by the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, he wrote that the IDF is operating “with great force” in an area it had not yet operated in.
The U.S. Special Envoy for Syria, Tom Barrack, called on the conflicting factions in Syria to “immediately lay down their arms, cease hostilities and abandon cycles of tribal vengeance.”
“Syria stands at a critical juncture – peace and dialogue must prevail, and prevail now,” he said.
According to the envoy, the decision made by U.S. President Donald Trump to lift sanctions on Syria was a “principled step, offering the Syrian people a chance to move beyond years of unimaginable suffering and atrocities.”
Expressing the international community’s cautious optimism over the new al-Saraa regime in Syria, Barrack decried the warring factions, which he said “undermine the government’s authority and disrupt any semblance of order.”
Here are the latest updates on day 653 of the war:
■ The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and the Israel Defense Forces denied reports of at least 30 Palestinians being killed and more than 100 wounded by IDF fire while waiting to receive humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip.
■ The Israel Defense Forces said a combat engineering officer and a reservist in the Infantry Corps training brigade were severely wounded on Saturday, during combat in the southern Gaza Strip.
■ Israel and Syria have agreed to a cease-fire with support from the U.S., Tom Barrack, the U.S.’s Special Envoy for Syria, said on X.
■ Incidents of exchange of fire and clashes in several locations in Sweida between Bedouin tribes and Druze militias have been reported, despite statements given by all parties committing to the cease-fire announced Wednesday.
■ U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that if Syrian authorities wish to preserve any chance of achieving “a unified, inclusive and peaceful Syria – free of ISIS and free from Iranian domination,” they must take immediate action to stop the violence in the country’s south.
■ The IDF said Saturday it had killed a member of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force in Khiam, southern Lebanon, near the border with Israel.
■ Right-wing protesters surrounded and attacked a vehicle in which Arab-Israeli MK Ayman Odeh was sitting, as he arrived to give a speech at a protest in central Israel’s city of Nes Tziona.
■ The IDF said that 14-year-old Amro Kabah, who was killed in the northern West Bank on Friday, was a “terrorist who threw an explosive device at the soldiers.”
■ Israel’s Ministry of Health announced it is preparing to transfer medical equipment and medicines to a hospital in Sweida, Syria, to assist Druze wounded in fighting in the area.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned Saturday that if Syrian authorities wish to preserve any chance of achieving “a unified, inclusive and peaceful Syria – free of ISIS and free from Iranian domination,” they must take immediate action to stop the violence in the country’s south.
“That means deploying their security forces to prevent ISIS and other violent jihadist elements from entering the area and carrying out massacres,” Rubio said in a statement. “It also means holding accountable anyone guilty of atrocities, including members of their own forces.”
Rubio said the United States has remained “heavily engaged over the past three days with Israel, Jordan and authorities in Damascus” in response to what he called “the horrifying and dangerous developments” unfolding in southern Syria.
He said that “the rape and slaughter of innocent people – acts which have occurred and continue to occur – must end immediately.”
Rubio concluded, “The fighting between Druze and Bedouin groups within the conflict zone must cease at once.”
Brig. Gen. (res.) Giora Even Epstein, a legendary Air Force fighter pilot and top jet ace, died on Saturday at the age of 87. Throughout his military career, Epstein shot down 17 enemy aircraft in aerial combat – 16 fighter jets and one helicopter.
The Israel Defense Forces magazine, Bamahane, wrote that his record “applies not only to the Israeli Air Force but to the entire world.” The Air Force’s official website described him as “a true legend in every sense of the word, admired for decades by every air force pilot.”
Epstein was born in 1938 on Kibbutz Negba in southern Israel, where he was also raised. His parents, Hillel and Chaya, immigrated from Poland in the 1930s.
He enlisted in the Israel Air Force flight course in August 1956, but his training was interrupted by the Suez crisis (also known as the Sinai campaign). He subsequently transferred to the IDF’s Paratroopers Brigade, where he carried out his mandatory military service.
Read more on the famed Air Force legend here
A political official involved in the negotiations for a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip and the release of the hostages told Haaretz on Saturday that Israel, for the first time, is including the possibility of ending the war in Gaza in its talks with Hamas.
“This negotiation is different than the ones that brought about the previous deals,” he admitted. “While the previous deals dealt with the release of the hostages and the release of murderers, this deal touches on the issue of ending the war. Therefore, everything is interconnected. This is a very complex deal,” he clarified.
“This deal involves a lot of issues that relate to the great potential within the 60 days during which negotiations will take place,” he added, referring to the time frame in which the negotiations toward ending the war are expected to be conducted, while a cease-fire is maintained and ten living Israeli hostages are released.
According to the source, “This negotiation touches on issues of how the war will end or continue, what will happen in Gaza and how all the hostages will be returned. Within the framework of the deal, there is an entire clause that deals with issues to be discussed regarding the end of the war. Both parties can add topics, and they will be discussed within the 60-day cease-fire.”
The official noted that “the Israeli delegation embarked to Doha with a broad scope of action and a satisfactory mandate. There is enough flexibility to reach an agreement, without compromising on issues such as Israel’s security needs.”
Israel’s Ministry of Health announced it is preparing to transfer medical equipment and medicines to a hospital in Sweida, Syria, to assist Druze wounded in fighting in the area.
Israel’s Health Minister Uriel Busso said that the “brotherhood with the Druze community is strong, and we are determined to stand shoulder to shoulder with them. I have instructed the health system to quickly mobilize to provide assistance in light of the developments in Syria.”
According to the ministry’s statement, the equipment and medicines will be transferred to the hospital by security officials and the Israel Defense Forces.
The IDF apparently long ago ceased to see the death of unarmed children, women, and men as a moral, ethical, or professional problem. Still, the citizens of Israel are entitled to know if anyone is considering the other damages caused by this relentless killing.
The growing alienation of segments of Israeli society towards the military (this week, boys and girls set their draft orders on fire in Tel Aviv); open and covert boycotts against the State of Israel, the security system, academia, and Israeli industry; the slogan “Death to the IDF” that was born at a concert in England is spreading on social networks, and the patience of foreign journalists for the explanations Israel gives them – is getting shorter.
All these do not even describe the tip of the iceberg of the damage that this reckless fire policy will cause to Israeli society. The price will also be paid in the trauma and post-trauma of soldiers; in violence, cruelty, and insensitivity to the suffering of others, which will seep into Israeli society from within. Is anyone in the IDF considering all this before ordering another attack intended to kill a minor Hamas activist or an insignificant official in the Hamas government? Do these attacks contribute to security?
Read the full story here
