JERUSALEM, Israel – The Israeli government says it eliminated some Hamas military leaders in Tuesday’s air strikes, including some involved in the October 7th terrorist attacks inside Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited U.S. troops at a base in southern Israel on Wednesday, and he met with the top U.S. military leaders in the region, saying the shared goal with the United States is to create a “different Gaza” that no longer poses a threat to Israel. He stressed that Israel has the ability to act in Gaza as threats arise.
Israel says Netanyahu informed President Trump of the strikes before they were launched, attacking Hamas positions after an Israeli soldier was killed in a sniper attack.
Hamas continues to delay the return of 13 hostage bodies in Gaza, as Israel’s foreign minister warns there will be “no compromise” on the Issue.
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, meanwhile, shed new light on President Trump’s Gaza peace plan. Speaking Wednesday night at a conference on “The Future of Judea and Samaria” in Jerusalem, Sa’ar admitted that there are concerns in Israel about the plan. He also suggested that U.S. officials have reservations as well.
“We have doubts. The Americans have doubts, but they think we should give it a try,” Sa’ar remarked. “We are giving the plan a chance. It is reasonable to do that.”
Sa’ar also told the conference, sponsored by the Friends of Judea and Samaria and Jewish News Syndicate, that Israel is in better shape than before the ceasefire began, and he cautioned that Israel was not prepared to compromise on the issue of Hamas returning the bodies of deceased hostages. He accused the terror group of “playing” with the issue.
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Meanwhile, ultra-Orthodox protesters shut down roads and schools to protest against a government crackdown on ultra-Orthodox draft dodgers. Hundreds of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews, or Haredim as they are known in Israel, blocked the entrance to Jerusalem in a show of unity on Thursday that forced city authorities to close roads and schools ahead of time. The protesters are angry about the arrest of some 870 Haredi youths who refused to report for the military draft.
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Netanyahu, accompanied by a group ot top Israeli military and security officials, visited the joint U.S.-Israeli Civil-Military Communications Center (CMCC) in the southern Israeli city of Kiryat Gat, not far from the Gaza Strip. The prime minister met with U.S. CENTCOM Commander Brad Cooper and General Patrick Frank concerning future action on the president’s 20-point plan for Gaza.
“They are working together with us on a plan to achieve a different Gaza, a Gaza that will no longer pose a threat to Israel,” Netanyahu stated.
He added, “The first component, of course, is security, and the security responsibility for maintaining our forces and our freedom of action. This is an accepted matter, and we are doing it. It is important; it is a fundamental component.”
“In the same measure,” he said, “We want to bring it about that in the end, the goal that President Trump and we agreed on – the disarming of Hamas and the demilitarization of Gaza – will be achieved. We are working on this in stages, together with other components of the plan.”
