KEY POINTS
- Ceasefire deal negotiations expected to begin in Egypt in the coming days, report says
- Hamas official warns Netanyahu's rejection is the doom of remaining hostages
- IDF releases footage of southern Gaza tunnel believed to have held around 20 hostages
The war in Gaza has entered its 108th day, and tensions in the Middle East continue to simmer as Hamas allies and pro-Iranian groups attack Israeli and American assets.
Two U.S. Navy Seals who went missing while boarding an Iranian ship in the Gulf of Aden that allegedly carried advanced conventional weapons were declared dead Sunday following an "exhaustive" 10-day search, the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said.
- 'No chance' hostages will return after Netanyahu's Hamas demands rejection: Official
- PIJ has not received hostage release proposal since Hamas deputy leader killed: Official
- EU to discuss Netanyahu's rejection of Palestinian statehood: Report
- Large blast heard at industrial complex in Iran's Semnan province: State media
- European Union wants a two-state solution: Borrell
In the heated Israeli-Lebanese border, two Hezbollah members were killed and several others injured in an Israeli drone strike in Kafra, southern Lebanon, Lebanese security sources said. The strike was carried out after the Iran-backed terror group fired a missile toward northern Israel.
To improve the protection of commercial shipping lanes in the turbulent Red Sea from continuing attacks by Iranian-backed Yemeni Houthi rebels, the United Kingdom said it will upgrade its air defense system in the area.
Back in Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "outright" rejected Hamas' demands for a ceasefire-hostage deal. He said the Palestinian militant group's demands, which include the withdrawal of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) from the enclave, meant that Hamas would remain "intact."
Israel has vowed to eliminate Hamas following the terror group's invasion of Israel wherein its operatives murdered more than 1,200 people and abducted over 240 others, around 130 of whom are still in captivity in the Gaza Strip.
Despite increasing pressure from allies and the international community to halt the fighting, Netanyahu remains unmoved as he draws from a frenzied history of the Israel-Palestine conflict that ultimately blew up during Hamas' Oct. 7 massacre.
Hamas base in Khan Yunis destroyed: IDF
Multiple raids over the past days in Khan Yunis, Gaza's second-largest city, resulted in the seizure of weapons and the destruction of Hamas infrastructure, including a military base, the IDF said Monday.
"We found a military base, we found a lot of enemy infrastructure, we destroyed them," an Israeli officer said as per a statement from the IDF. Tunnel shafts and other underground infrastructure were also destroyed during the raids, and terror group members were eliminated.
