Situation at a glance: Netanyahu: All war goals will be achieved

According to Palestinian reports, dozens of people were killed in an Israeli airstrike in the north of the Gaza Strip. A residential complex in the town of Beit Lahia in which civilians were located was destroyed, reported the Palestinian news agency Wafa. 73 people were killed and numerous people were injured. After an initial review, Israel’s army described the figures as exaggerated. The information provided by both sides cannot be independently verified.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced further strikes against the enemies of the only Jewish state after a drone attack attributed to the Lebanese Hezbollah militia, which the government said was aimed at Netanyahu. “I say to Iran and its proxies in its axis of evil: Anyone who tries to harm the citizens of Israel will pay a heavy price,” Netanyahu said. “Israel is determined to achieve all of its war goals and transform the security situation in our region for generations to come.”

Iran, considered Hezbollah’s main backer, denied involvement in the drone attack, which occurred in the coastal town of Caesarea, where Netanyahu’s private home is located. “This operation was carried out by Hezbollah,” Iran’s UN mission in New York said, according to Mehr news agency.

The Shiite militia’s attempt to “murder” him and his wife was a serious mistake, Netanyahu wrote on According to the army, no one was injured.

Sirens are wailing again in Israel

After the killing of Hamas leader Jihia al-Sinwar in the Gaza Strip, which became known on Thursday, Hezbollah announced an expansion of its attacks against Israel, which began over a year ago. Shortly before Sinwar’s death, four soldiers were killed in a militia drone attack on an Israeli army base near the city of Binjamina. More than 50 soldiers were injured in the attack 60 kilometers north of Tel Aviv. An Israeli army spokesman then stated that they would learn from this and be better prepared in the future.

According to new information from the army late in the evening, Hezbollah fired around 200 projectiles from Lebanon into Israel over the course of the day. Warning sirens wailed again at night in northern Israel. Israel’s military, for its part, again attacked the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital Beirut. The Lebanese news agency NNA reported that there had been a whole series of impacts again in the suburb of Haret Hreik. Israel’s military said the attacks targeted weapons depots and a Hezbollah intelligence headquarters.

Israel continues to attack Lebanon

Israel’s military always emphasizes that it is taking measures to protect civilians. However, innocent people are always killed or injured. The US government, as its most important ally, recently criticized Israel unusually clearly for the attacks in the Beirut area and called for consideration. Israel’s military accuses Hezbollah of deliberately setting up weapons depots and production facilities under residential buildings in Beirut in order to use civilians as human shields.

Waiting for Israel to retaliate

After Iran, which is allied with Hezbollah and Hamas, fired around 200 ballistic missiles at Israel two weeks ago, Netanyahu’s government announced retaliation. When and how Israel will strike back remains an open question.

According to media reports, US authorities are investigating the publication of alleged US intelligence information about Israel’s plans for the retaliatory strikes. The top secret documents, dated October 15th and 16th, have been circulating online since Friday and were initially published on the Telegram platform, reported the US broadcaster CNN. A person familiar with the matter confirmed the authenticity of the documents. According to the news portal “Axios,” they “describe in detail measures that have been carried out at several Israeli air force bases in recent days.”

Meanwhile, Israel’s army continues to take action against militant Islamists in the Gaza Strip. According to Palestinian information, all three hospitals there had to cease operations after attacks in the Jabalia refugee camp in the north of the sealed-off coastal area. Two of them were directly attacked on October 18, criticized the UN emergency relief office Ocha. Over the past two weeks, Israeli forces have increased pressure on these hospitals to evacuate them, it said. However, patients had nowhere to go and were injured, as were medical staff and displaced people.

Military: Footage shows Sinwar before the massacre

Israel’s military, meanwhile, released additional video footage that is said to show Hamas leader Sinwar on the eve of the massacre carried out by terrorists from Hamas and other Islamist groups in Israel on October 7, 2023. Sinwar is believed to be the mastermind of the unprecedented attack in which the terrorists killed around 1,200 people and took 250 hostages. In the footage, you can see a gray-haired man repeatedly walking barefoot up and down a narrow tunnel and carrying bags or water bottles. According to the Jerusalem Post, the recordings were seized in Gaza a few months ago.

At the beginning of the compilation of the scenes, two boys lead the way through the tunnel, which is completely dark in places, towards the camera. Behind the man are a girl and a woman – according to the army, they are Sinwar’s family. Sinwar and one of the boys carried a television into his hiding place a few hours before the massacre. Army spokesman Nadav Shoschani wrote on X: “He takes his television into his tunnel, hides among his civilians and prepares to watch his terrorists murder, kidnap and rape.”

The terrorist attack in October triggered the Gaza War, as a result of which the armed conflict between Israel and Hezbollah escalated. Since then, according to Palestinian figures, more than 42,000 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip. It is not clear how many of them are civilians, and the information cannot be independently verified. According to the UN, the numbers are largely credible and most of those killed are women and children.