Update Oct 12th (Day 372)

UPDATES ON THE WAR – Day 372 (Oct 12^th):

*We are one Day 372 (Oct 12^th).

*MORE BIG NEWS and developments in the conflict including a large attack from Iran on Israel (180 ballistic missiles) and a ground offensive in Lebanon killing more Hezbollah leaders (see below)…

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* We will now be updating this blog bi-weekly. Below is a summary below of the last several week’s important points.

Headlines:

• The IDF announced that it killed the commander of Hezbollah’s long-range rocket unit, Hassan Nazer, in a strike in Beirut (Sept 30^th), as well as the leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Nadal Abdel-Alel, and the leader of Hamas in Lebanon, Fateh Sherif Abu Al-Amin. All three organizations confirmed the commanders’ deaths. The IDF said it also struck dozens of Hezbollah targets in Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley.
• The IDF announced Monday night (Sept 30th) that it had launched a “focused and limited” ground operation against Hezbollah in several villages in southern Lebanon, later reporting “intense fighting” with Hezbollah militants, who it said were “using the civilian population as human shields.”
• IRAN STRIKES ISRAEL: Iran launched around 180 ballistic missiles into Israel (Oct 1^st), killing one West Bank Palestinian and wounding two Israelis, in what Iran called retaliation for assassinations of leaders of allied proxy groups Hezbollah and Hamas. Israel’s defense system, supported by the US Navy, intercepted most missiles. Loud explosions were heard in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and the south of the country.
• The IDF said on Thursday (Oct 3^rd) that it is preparing for a significant attack on Iran after the major Iranian strike, in which over 180 missiles were fired at Israel, earlier this week.
• Sky News Arabia reported that Hashem Safieddine, the front-runner to succeed Hezbollah’s deceased former chief Hassan Nasrallah, was killed in an Israeli strike overnight into Friday on Beirut (Oct 4th)
• Lebanon’s National News Agency reported that Israel attacked Beirut’s southern suburb of Dahiyeh over 30 times overnight into Sunday (Oct 6^th), calling it “the most violent night yet” since the beginning of the war.
• Israel says it has killed at least two unnamed, would-be successors to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah; Hezbollah has not commented.
• The Israeli army said on Tuesday (Oct 8^th) that 180 rockets were fired at Israel from Lebanon over the past day. A drone launched from the east was later intercepted, as well as two surface-to-surface missiles launched from Lebanon. Two people, a man and woman, were killed in the northern Israeli city of Kiryat Shmona and several were wounded in Israel’s north as Hezbollah launched dozens of rockets throughout Wednesday (Oct 9^th), including a barrage of 90 rockets fired within a space of eight minutes.
• The Israeli army also said that over the past day (Oct 9^th), the Israeli air force attacked around 185 Hezbollah positions in Lebanon and about 45 Hamas targets in Gaza.
• The IDF said Israeli fighter jets struck Ahmad Mustafa Al-Hajj Ali, the Hezbollah commander of the Hula region, adding that he was responsible for hundreds of rocket and anti-tank missile launches towards the Kiryat Shmona area.
• At least 110 rockets were fired from Lebanon at Israel on Thursday (Oct 10^th), according to the IDF and local municipalities.
• Lebanese caretaker PM Najib Mikati said that Hezbollah agrees to implement UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which mandates the withdrawal of its forces from southern Lebanon. Mikati added that Lebanon will ask the UN Security Council for a resolution calling for a cease-fire with Israel, and that he has discussed efforts for a truce with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken (Oct 11^th).
• Over 90 rockets were fired at Israel’s north throughout Yom Kippur, according to the IDF. Two people were lightly wounded by a rocket that landed in the northern Israeli town of Jadeidi-Makr. The Israeli army also said it intercepted two drones that were headed toward Israel from Lebanon on Saturday (Oct 12^th).

OUCH:

• More than half a million people are now displaced in Lebanon, with 285,000 having left the country, 40 percent of whom are Lebanese citizens, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on Saturday (Oct 5^th).
• UNIFIL reported two explosions near its headquarters Friday morning (Oct 11^th), the second incident in 48 hours, adding that two of its peacekeepers were wounded. A UN source told Reuters the IDF fired on an UNIFIL observation post in south Lebanon. Canada’s Foreign Ministry called the incident “alarming and unacceptable,” and called “for the protection of peacekeepers and humanitarian workers, and for all parties to comply with international humanitarian law.” Lebanese caretaker PM Mikati also condemned the event as a crime.
• Israel declared war after Hamas killed at least 1,200 Israelis and wounded more than 3,300 on October 7. In Gaza, the Hamas-controlled health ministry reports that at least 42,126 Palestinians have been killed. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad hold hostage more than 120 soldiers and civilians, dead and alive, including foreign nationals.

YEAH:

• The U.S. announced $336 million in humanitarian assistance to support Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.
• The U.K. said it would provide an additional 10 million pounds ($13 million) of humanitarian support to Lebanon to help the country deal with the mass displacement of people.
• S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday the U.S. will provide some $157 million in “new U.S. humanitarian assistance to support populations affected by conflict in Lebanon and the region,” which “will also support those fleeing to neighboring Syria.”
• Humanitarian pauses have been agreed to allow a second round of polio vaccinations targeting 590,000 Gazan children under the age of 10 to start on October 14, the head of UNICEF said.

JERUSALEM:

• Demonstrations demanding the return of the hostages, marking one year since their abduction to Gaza, are set for Saturday evening (Oct 5^th) across Israel, following the Home Front Command’s emergency restrictions. At the same time, a separate protest against the government is also planned to take place outside Netanyahu’s home in Caesarea.
• A year after October 7, 53 percent of Israelis believe the time has come to end the war in Gaza, according to a survey by the Israel Democracy Institute. Most of the respondents cite the risk that the fighting poses to the hostages Hamas is holding, as well as a need to focus on battling Hezbollah on the northern front.
• Hundreds of Israelis gathered at 6:29 A.M., the time which Hamas attacked a year ago (Oct 7^th), outside Netanyahu’s home in Jerusalem to call for a hostage/cease-fire deal.

IN THE NORTH (LEBANON):

• The IDF said that at least 70 rockets were fired at northern Israel from Lebanon on Monday (Sept 30^th). Fires broke out in several locations in the Western Galilee after a barrage from Lebanon.
• Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told armored corps soldiers at Israel’s northern border that in order to return Israeli citizens to their homes in the north, “We will deploy whatever is needed – you, other forces, from the air, from the sea, and from the land.” Gallant also said that the assassination of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah was “a very important step, but that’s not all.”
• Israeli special forces have been conducting targeted raids in southern Lebanon ahead of a potential ground offensive that could begin as early as this week, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources who said that “the timing of any ground action could change,” as “Israel is under heavy pressure from the U.S. not to carry out a major invasion.” The report added that it wasn’t immediately clear how long Israel would aim to hold territory in Lebanon, or whether the incursion would resemble a series of raids.
• Lebanon’s caretaker PM Najib Mikati said that his government is ready to implement UN Resolution 1701 and send the Lebanese army to the south of the country, to ensure that the region remains demilitarized up to the the Litani River.
• Speaking publicly for the first time since Nasrallah’s assassination, Hezbollah’s Deputy Secretary-General Naim Qassem said that Hezbollah “is appointing replacements for senior officials who have been killed,” adding that the organization knows that the campaign against Israel could be long, and that “if the enemy enters by ground, our fighters are ready to resist them.”
• The Lebanese Health Ministry reported that 109 people were killed and 364 wounded in Israeli strikes across Lebanon on Sunday (Sept 29^th).
• More than 100,000 people have crossed into Syria from Lebanon since the escalation between Israel and Hezbollah began earlier this month, the UN’s refugee agency chief said. The WHO warned that Lebanon’s health system remains impacted and overstretched, and that displaced people were at increased risk of diseases.
• The IDF’s Arabic-language spokesperson called on residents of two dozen southern Lebanese villages and towns to evacuate north of the Awali River, dozens of kilometers north of the Israeli border. Earlier the IDF called on southern Lebanon residents to “avoid traveling south of the Litani River by vehicle.”
• Hezbollah fired at least 45 rockets at northern and central Israel on Tuesday (Oct 1^st), the IDF said. A 54-year-old man suffered moderate wounds from interceptor shrapnel that fell on a main throughway in central Israel.
• Some 100 rockets were fired from Lebanon at northern Israel on Wednesday (Oct 2^nd), according to local councils and the IDF. Ten houses were damaged in the northern town of Metula following a rocket barrage, its local council head David Azoulai said, adding “this is a difficult morning that follows a tough night.”
• The IDF struck in Chouaifet, a southern suburb of Beirut near the Dahiyeh area, the Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Mayadeen and the Aljadeed network reported. Four residential buildings in Beirut’s Dahiyeh neighborhood were destroyed in Israeli airstrikes overnight into Wednesday (Oct 2^nd), Al-Arabiya reported.
• More than 200 Chinese citizens have been safely evacuated from Lebanon by the government, China’s official Xinhua news agency reported.
• The IDF announced it killed Hezbollah’s communications commander Mohammed Rashi Sakafi in a strike in the Beirut area on Thursday (Oct 3^rd), and said that 250 Hezbollah operatives, including 21 commanders, have been killed since ground operations in southern Lebanon began on Tuesday.
• Residents of 35 towns in southern Lebanon were warned by the IDF’s Arabic spokesperson to evacuate their homes immediately and move north of the Awali River, dozens of kilometers from the border with Israel. The message also said that the army will update residents “when it is safe to return home.”
• Israeli strikes sealed off Lebanon’s main border crossing with Syria early on Friday (Oct 4^th), Lebanese Transport Minister Ali Hamieh said. Concurrently, the IDF said it struck an underground tunnel crossing from the Lebanese border into Syria that enabled the transfer and storage of large quantities of weapons.
• On Friday (Oct 4^th), at least 180 rockets had been fired from Lebanon into Israel by evening. On Thursday, 230 rockets were fired from Lebanon into Israel. Ten firefighting teams fought to extinguish a forest fire that broke out on Friday in the Upper Galilee following rocket fire from Lebanon. A rocket hit a building in Kiryat Shmona in northern Israel, causing a fire.
• Dozens of rockets were launched from Lebanon at northern Israel on Saturday (Oct 5th), with some intercepted and some falling in open areas. A rocket struck a building in northern Israel’s Deir al-Asad, wounding three people, and barrages sparked fires throughout the north. Hezbollah said it launched rockets on Saturday morning at the Ramat David Airbase, located near the northern Israeli city of Haifa.
• The IDF said it killed in a strike in southern Lebanon a Hezbollah company commander allegedly responsible for anti-tank fire that killed two Israelis in northern Israel last January. Air force fighter jets attacked a series of Hezbollah targets in Beirut, the IDF said, adding that warnings were issued to civilians in the area prior to the strike.
• Some 40 rockets were fired from Lebanon at Israel since midnight (Oct 6^th), the IDF said, adding that it intercepted a drone off the coast of central Israel and two off the coast of northern Israel. Emergency services said that a rocket directly hit a building in a northern Israeli city, causing fires in the area.
• Over 170 rockets were fired from Lebanon at Israel on Monday (Oct 7^th), including a barrage of 30 missiles targeting the northern Israeli city of Haifa. A woman was lightly wounded in northern Israel following a rocket barrage. Seven people were wounded overnight into Monday after Hezbollah targeted major cities in northern Israel, including Haifa, Tiberias and Carmiel.
• The IDF on Tuesday (Oct 8^th) said it discovered a tunnel from Lebanon that crosses about 10 meters (32 feet) into Israeli territory, though it does not have an exit point on the Israeli side. Weapons, explosives, and anti-tank missiles were found inside, the army said.
• Senior Hezbollah officer Wafiq Safa was seriously wounded in an Israeli strike on Beirut on Thursday (Oct 10th), Sky News in Arabic reported.
• Over 70 rockets were fired at northern Israel from Lebanon on Friday (Oct 11^th), the IDF said.
• Hezbollah has not yet used its most powerful missiles, including precision missiles, in the current conflict with Israel, sources familiar with the organization’s activities told Reuters, adding that Hezbollah wants to save its stock of precision weapons in the case of a prolonged war and would like to avoid encouraging Israel to expand its attacks.
• The IDF’s Arabic-language spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, called on residents in a number of villages in southern Lebanon to evacuate their homes on Saturday and move north of the Awali River ahead of IDF operations in the area. The Israeli army warned that “Anybody who is situated near Hezbollah weapons or facilities is endangering their life.”

GAZA (NORTH/CENTRAL):

• The IDF said it struck a Hamas operation center located inside a school in northern Gaza.
• The IDF said the air force attacked Hamas members hiding at a school in central Gaza. Later on Wednesday (Oct 2^nd), it said fighter Jets attacked Hamas militants operating in a former school in Nuseirat, also in central Gaza.
• The IDF said that its 162nd Division resumed operations in the northern Gaza refugee camp of Jabalya, following intelligence that Hamas was trying to rebuild its infrastructure in the area, adding that it is expanding the area designated as a humanitarian zone for Gazans evacuating from the north of the Strip.
• The IDF said it struck a former school in Deir al-Balah that was sheltering displaced people because Hamas militants were operating inside, adding that “prior to the strike, numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of precise munitions, aerial surveillance, and additional intelligence.” The Palestinian Red Crescent said 28 people were killed in the attack and 54 were wounded.
• The Israeli army’s Arabic-language spokesman, Avichay Adraee, called on residents in an area of northern Gaza to evacuate on Saturday ahead of IDF operations there. IDF strikes on Gaza overnight killed at least 19 Palestinians, medics said on Saturday, while forces continued to push deeper into the Jabalya area, where international relief agencies say thousands of people are trapped.

GAZA (SOUTH):

• Senior U.S. officials told the New York Times that while there is “no definitive proof of life,” they believe Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar is alive and is still making critical decisions for Hamas. Communications between Sinwar and the outside world has been cut off as of late, leading a number of Israeli officials to question whether he is still alive.
• The IDF called on residents of Beit Hanoun, Jabalya and Beit Lahia in northern Gaza to evacuate southward to the humanitarian zone in Al-Mawasi (Oct 7^th).
• Hamas has decided to “continue a long and painful war of attrition” against Israel, its military wing said, adding that the killing by their captors of six hostages at the end of August could be repeated “due to the policies of Netanyahu and his government.”
• Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar is alive and has made contact with the organization’s leadership in Qatar in the last few days, the Saudi news outlet Al Arabiya reported.

POST WAR GAZA / PALESTINIAN STATE:

• PALESTINIAN STATE: On the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said the Arab world would guarantee Israel’s security if an independent, sovereign, Palestinian state is established along the 1967 borders.

WEST BANK:

• The U.S. Treasury sanctioned the settler organization Hilltop Youth, “a violent extremist group that has repeatedly attacked Palestinians and destroyed Palestinian homes and property in the West Bank.” The statement added that “Hilltop Youth is actively destabilizing the West Bank and harming the peace and security of Palestinians and Israelis alike.”
• At least 18 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli strike on the Tul Karm refugee camp in the West Bank, the Palestinian Health Ministry said on Thursday. The IDF said the air force had killed the head of Hamas’ network in Tul Karm, Zahi Yaser Abd al-Razeq Oufi, in the strike. The IDF and Shin Bet later said the strike killed seven terrorists who were preparing to carry out a terror attack within the coming days.
• The Palestinian Health Ministry announced that Hebron resident Ziad Abu Halil, 66, was attacked and killed by IDF soldiers in his home. Abu Halil, a prominent figure among West Bank Palestinians, won local recognition for a 2015 video in which he was documented confronting soldiers and justifying the act of throwing stones at them.
• Seven people were wounded Wednesday (Oct 9^th) in a stabbing attack across four different locations in the central Israeli city of Hadera. The assailant, a 36-year-old resident of the Israeli-Arab town of Umm al-Fahm, was shot in the leg and arrested. — Hamas said in a statement that “The attack in Hadera is a message that the criminals of occupation will not go unpunished” and called for more “blows that hurt the occupation and to ignite all fronts by all means.”
• The IDF said it killed the leader of Palestinian Islamic Jihad branch of the Nur Shams refugee camp in the West Bank in an airstrike along with another militant from the group (Oct 11^th). The Palestinian Health Ministry said the other man killed in the attack is 31-year-old Ouad Jamil Omar.

TEL AVIV/SOUTHERN ISRAEL:

• Six people were killed and 10 others were wounded when two assailants opened fire toward the light rail station in Jaffa, next to Tel Aviv, emergency services reported. Five of those wounded are in serious condition, and a child was lightly wounded.
• Hezbollah said it fired a “Fadi 4″ rocket at a military intelligence base and Mossad HQ near Tel Aviv ‘dedicated’ to the memory of its leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli strike in Beirut last week.
• The IDF said several air force bases were damaged in the Iranian attack, but that no weapons, soldiers or aircraft were hit, adding that damage to infrastructure and property in civilian areas were “only minor” and likely caused by shrapnel from interception missiles.
• Tuesday night’s terrorist attack in Jaffa – which left seven dead, including a mother who used her body to shield her 9-month-old baby – was largely swallowed up by reports that Iran’s second retaliatory strike on Israel was “”
• Activists from a group of mothers against the war protested outside the Defense Ministry HQ in Tel Aviv. They displayed the number 724 on the road, the number of Israeli soldiers killed since October 7.
• Two women in their 30s were lightly wounded by rocket shrapnel in central Israel following a barrage from Gaza, for which Hamas claimed responsibility. The IDF shot down two drones over the central Israeli city of Rishon Letzion early Monday morning (Oct 7^th), after sirens were activated in the area, the IDF said.
• The Shin Bet security service said it arrested five Arab Israelis from Taybeh who are suspected of planning a terror attack at a mall in Tel Aviv (Oct 10^th).
• Five men who allegedly joined ISIS after Hamas’ October 7 attacks were indicted on Friday for planning to detonate a truck bomb at Tel Aviv’s Azrieli Mall. The suspects, who are from the Arab-Israeli city of Taibeh, face charges of membership in a terrorist organization, alongside additional crimes.

IN THE EAST (JORDAN/IRAQ/SYRIA/IRAN):

• IRAN: The Shin Bet security service said it thwarted attempts by Iran to assassinate senior Israeli officials inside Israel, with some attempts being in the advanced stages of planning and close to execution. The agency warned of an increase in these attempts in recent weeks, noting that Iran is working to recruit Israeli citizens to carry out these assassination plans in exchange for payment.
• Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, will lead Friday prayers in Tehran (Oct 4^th) and is expected to deliver a sermon that will “set the tone for Iran’s strategy against Israel,” the Times reported, adding that “Khamenei only leads the Friday prayer under extraordinary circumstances…The last time was 2020 after Iran launched ballistic missiles against an American base in Iraq following the killing of Iran’s top general, Qassem Soleimani.”
• Syria’s state media reported three people killed and nine wounded in an Israeli attack in Damascus, adding that one of the state media’s news presenters, Safaa Ahmed, was among those killed.
• Syrian state media said seven people were killed in an Israeli strike on Damascus on Tuesday. A Syrian military source said that Israel had launched three missiles from the Golan Heights. The Saudi outlet Al-Hadath later reported that Iranian state TV denied the claims that members of the Revolutionary Guards were in the building that was struck.
• Israel conducted strikes on the Syria-Lebanon border (Oct 10^th), the Saudi news channel Al-Hadath reported.

IN THE SOUTH (RED SEA) / HOUTHIS:

• HOUTHIS: A spokesperson for the Iran-backed Houthis said that the group struck Tel Aviv and the southern city of Eilat with attack drones. The IDF said it intercepted a drone over the Mediterranean Sea, dozens of kilometers west of central Israel’s coast.
• The U.S. and U.K. struck Houthi-controlled airports in Yemen’s Sana’a and Hodeidah, Al Masirah TV, the main television news outlet run by Iran-backed Houthi movement, reported.
• A ground-to-ground missile launched from Yemen targeting Tel Aviv was intercepted by the Air Force, the IDF said (Oct 7^th).

NEGOTIATIONS – HOSTAGE RELEASE – CEASE FIRE:

• Ilan Siegel, whose father Keith was taken hostage by Hamas on October 7, told a News source that “Sometimes, I feel like there’s nothing more we can do. I don’t know what will help anymore. All I have left is the belief that my father is waiting, that he believes this will end, and that we’re doing everything we can to stay strong.”
• Iran’s Foreign Minister Araghchi, in Beirut, said that Tehran will back efforts for a cease-fire in Lebanon on the condition that they also include a cease-fire in Gaza as well.
• Israeli officials are examining the possibility of exiling Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and other senior organization officials to Sudan with their consent as part of a cease-fire/hostage deal.
• The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement that “It’s inconceivable that a full year has passed since the horrific Saturday of October 7, when so many were murdered, injured, and kidnapped. It’s inconceivable that 101 hostages – our loved ones, our family members, our children, our parents, our grandparents – remain captive in the hands of the terror organization Hamas,” and called on the world to “maintain pressure on Hamas to accept a deal for the release of all hostages.”
• In a letter addressed to Israel’s cabinet ministers and the IDF chief of staff, 130 Israeli soldiers warned that they will no longer serve unless the government works to obtain a hostage/cease-fire deal. “It is now clear that continuing the war in Gaza does not only delay the hostages’ return from captivity, but also endangers their lives,” the letter said.
• A Hamas official said Hamas and Fatah leaders will hold further unity talks in Cairo on Wednesday (Oct 9^th). The Hamas delegation is led by Khalil Al-Hayya, the group’s chief negotiator and Hamas’ second-in-command, currently based in Qatar.

GLOBAL RESPONSE & INVOLVEMENT:

• The U.S. is sending an additional “few thousand” troops to the Middle East to bolster security and to be prepared to defend Israel if necessary, the Pentagon said.
• French Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Noel Barrot again urged Israel not to undertake any ground invasion of Lebanon, adding France will step up its support for the Lebanese army.
• S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at the opening of a ministerial meeting that “Hassan Nasrallah was a brutal terrorist, whose many victims included Americans, Israelis, civilians in Lebanon, civilians in Syria, and many others as well…Lebanon, the region, the world are safer without him.” Blinken added that the U.S. will continue to work toward a “diplomatic resolution that provides real security to Israel, to Lebanon, and allows citizens on both sides of the border to return to their homes.”
• Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanani said that Iran will not send forces to Lebanon, AFP reported, adding that Lebanon and the Palestinians “have the capability and strength to defend themselves against the aggression.” He also said Iran is closely monitoring the escalation between Israel and Hezbollah with Lebanese authorities, and added that the country will not leave any of “the criminal acts of the Zionist regime”
• Iran said it launched dozens of missiles at Israel, and that it will attack again if Israel responds. Tehran mission to the UN said that the attack was “legal, rational, and legitimate response” to Israel’s “terrorist acts,” adding that “Should the Zionist regime dare to respond or commit further acts of malevolence, a subsequent and crushing response will ensue.”
• A U.S. National Security Council spokesperson said that “the Israelis will be conducting limited operations to destroy Hezbollah infrastructure that could be used to threaten Israeli citizens. This is in line with Israel’s right to defend its citizens and safely return civilians to their homes,” adding that “ultimately, a diplomatic resolution is the only way to achieve lasting stability and security across the Israel-Lebanon border.”
• Lebanon’s caretaker PM Najib Mikati and UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Lebanon Imran Riza launched a $426 million appeal to help civilians affected by the escalating conflict, the UN said.
• Israel is demanding the international community deepen Iran’s isolation by imposing sanctions severe enough to disrupt daily life there, the source added, and is also urging countries to declare the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organization.
• K. PM Keir Starmer said that the U.K. stands with Israel and recognizes its right to self-defense, adding that Iran “must stop these attacks.” According to Sky News, Starmer spoke to Netanyahu and Jordan’s King Abdullah after the attack.
• German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said “Iran is risking setting the entire region on fire — this must be prevented at all costs. Hezbollah and Iran must immediately cease their attacks on Israel,” adding that Germany and its partners will continue to work towards a cease-fire. French President Emmanuel Macron said he strongly condemns Iran’s attacks on Israel, adding that in a sign of its commitment to Israel’s security, France has mobilized its military resources in the Middle East on Wednesday.
• European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen condemned the Iranian attack “in the strongest terms,” saying that “such actions threaten regional stability and escalate tensions in an already extremely volatile situation.” Von der Leyen also reiterated the EU’s “call for a cease-fire across the border with Lebanon, and in Gaza, and for the release of all hostages” held by Hamas.
• EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell also condemned Iran’s attack against Israel, adding that “the dangerous cycle of attacks and retaliation is at risk of spiraling out of control. An immediate cease-fire across the region is needed. The EU remains fully committed to contributing to avert a regional war.”
• UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called for a cease-fire to stop the “escalation after escalation.” The UN Security Council will convene Wednesday (Oct 2^nd) to discuss the Iranian attack against Israel.
• Iran told the U.S. not to get involved following its missile attack on Israel, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said, according to Tasnim.
• S. President Joe Biden said on Friday that “the Israelis have not concluded what they’re going to do in terms of a strike” in response to Iran’s major missile attack on Tuesday. He added: “If I were in their shoes, I’d think about alternatives other than striking oil fields.” The U.S. and several European nations are attempting to prevent Israel from targeting Iran’s oil facilities, and the Biden administration is particularly concerned that such an attack could destabilize global oil markets and negatively impact the world economy, especially with U.S. presidential elections just a month away.
• French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said that “force alone cannot guarantee the security of Israel,” adding that the “French-U.S. proposal for a Lebanon cease-fire remains on the table, and we continue to work on it.”
• S. President Joe Biden said his administration “will never give up until we bring all of the remaining hostages home safely,” adding that the U.S. “supports Israel’s right to defend itself against attacks from Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis, and Iran.”
• Biden added that he believes that “history will also remember October 7 as a dark day for the Palestinian people because of the conflict that Hamas unleashed that day. Far too many civilians have suffered far too much during this year of conflict — and tens of thousands have been killed, a human toll made far worse by terrorists hiding and operating among innocent people.” He added that “We will not stop working to achieve a cease-fire deal” to return the hostages, deliver aid to Gaza, assure Israel’s security and end the war.
• The Biden administration is seeking to use Israel’s offensive against Hezbollah to end the group’s dominance of Lebanon and elect a new Lebanese president, U.S. and Arab officials told the Wall Street Journal, with Saudi officials specifically saying this initiative has Riyadh’s support.
• Gulf states are lobbying the U.S. to stop Israel from attacking Iran’s oil sites because they are concerned their own oil facilities could come under fire from Tehran’s proxies if the conflict escalates, three Gulf sources told Reuters.
• Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar tried to convince Hezbollah and Iran to join the group’s October 7 attack, according to a New York Times article citing minutes from 10 secret meetings that it obtained. The minutes show that Hamas began planning the attack in 2022, delaying it because of the effort to recruit Hezbollah and Iran.
• S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Lebanon’s caretaker PM Najib Mikati and with Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri, and “reiterated the United States’ commitment to a diplomatic resolution to the conflict across the Blue Line that implements United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701 and allows displaced citizens” in Israel and Lebanon to return to their homes, the State Department said.
• Nicaragua’s government announced on Friday that it is breaking off diplomatic relations with Israel, calling the Israeli government “fascist” and “genocidal.”
• Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi is urging countries to impose an arms embargo on Israel to pressure it to end the war in Gaza and Lebanon. His call follows similar ones by France and Spain.

OPINIONS/THINGS TO THINK ABOUT:

• “If Iran abandons the diplomatic route and chooses to continue the war, it will give Israel and the United States an excuse to hit assets that are dear to the regime’s heart and threaten it with destruction from without and an uprising from within. The decision is now in Khamenei’s hands” – Aluf Benn
• “This week, Israel laid its toughest traps yet against two sovereign states: Iran and the United States. These countries now face tremendous dilemmas. Each is trapped between two highly fraught options, like sharp-toothed jaws closing around them. Their choices will determine the fate of the region both for the short term and for years to come” – Dahlia Scheindlin
• “Some in Lebanon believe that the best way to defend their country is to pressure Iran not to forsake its proxy. These same voices feel vindicated by Tuesday’s Iranian attack on Israel, which they attribute to their pressure. Given the Arab world’s conflicting interests, its dependence on the U.S., and the divisive issue of Iran, many Lebanese worry no Arab country will come to their aid – leaving them to a fate similar to that of the Palestinians in Gaza. Many wonder why the Arab League has so far held no emergency summits – which, despite being largely declarative, would present a common front against Israel” – Jack Khoury

 

Holy Land Scripture Series

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QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER:

What should Israel do in order to secure peaceful borders and relations with the Palestinians and other Arab neighbors as well as facilitate the release the hostages still being held in Gaza?   

Who Should Lead the Palestinians after the Gaza War, and How?

*We know the questions are MANY and the issues deep and complex. We hope the information shared on this blog will help you process all the information and issues.

 

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