KEY POINTS
- Hezbollah expected to halt northern Israel attacks if Hamas OKs Gaza truce
- Iran 'terror plot' kills militant in premature explosion
- Senators question Biden's Yemen strategy, demand congressional authorization
It's the 145th day of the ongoing war in Gaza, and Hamas, which has not fired rocket barrages toward southern Israel in recent weeks, claimed it fired 40 missiles toward sites belonging to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Wednesday.
Eyes are on the Israel-Lebanon border, where tensions have intensified dramatically. Iranian-backed Hezbollah raised alarm as it continued to fire toward northern Israel, targeting sites and assets of the Israeli army.
- 160 food and medical packages airdropped into southern Gaza
- 2 IDF Givati Brigade officers fall in northern Gaza
- Hamas showing flexibility in ceasefire talks: Haniyeh
- UK-based broadcast journalists demand 'unfettered access' to Gaza
- IRGC-linked Iranian hackers use fake 'Bring Them Home' site for phishing: Mandiant
- Hamas knows international cost of unified post-war Gaza government: Palestinian FM
Fire exchanges between the Israeli army and Hezbollah intensified in recent weeks, resulting in casualties on both sides, as the powerful militant organization vowed to continue attacking Israel until the Gaza war ends.
In the Red Sea, a rocket was sighted on the starboard side of a merchant ship off the Houthi-controlled Al Hudaydah, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said.
U.S. aircraft and a coalition "warship" shot down multiple Houthi assets in the Red Sea that originated from Houthi-held areas of Yemen, the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said.
Back in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army continued to operate in Khan Yunis. It is southern Gaza's main city and the known hometown of Yahya Sinwar, Hamas' most senior leader in the enclave. Khan Yunis is located near Rafah, the overcrowded city that the IDF is preparing to enter in a ground operation – but not without international opposition.
Despite international pressure to reach a ceasefire deal with Hamas in light of the humanitarian situation in Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he has been working since the war started to block pressure "designed to end the war prematurely."
Netanyahu's steadfastness regarding the fighting draws from decades of violence in the history of the Israel-Palestine conflict that has made Israeli and Palestinian civilians alike pay a deadly price.
The live update has ended.
Hamas understands why it can't be part of post-war Gaza government: FM
Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Maliki said Wednesday he believes Hamas knows it can't be part of a new government for Gaza and Palestinian territories after the war ends.
"The time now is not for a government where Hamas will be part of it, because, in this case, then it will be boycotted by a number of countries, as happened before," he said. Al-Maliki said Palestinians don't want to be shut out by the international community. "We want to be accepted and engaging fully" with the rest of the world, he said.
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