KEY POINTS
- Belgium to summon Israeli envoy over alleged bombing of development agency offices in Gaza
- US reportedly considered sanctioning Israel's Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich
- US President Joe Biden issued an executive order targeting Israeli settlers in the West Bank accused of violence
The Israel-Hamas war is now on its 119th day, and tensions in the Middle East are fast reaching a problematic high as Yemeni Houthi rebels, just one of many militias backed by Iran, continue to threaten shipping activities in the Red Sea.
Houthi spokesperson Yahya Sare'e said the Yemeni rebel militia "targeted a British commercial ship in the Red Sea" that was en route to Israel Thursday.
- Israeli missile attack killed Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) adviser: Report
- Turkey arrests 7 accused of selling information to Israel's Mossad: State news
- Israeli air force elite force platoon commander killed in Gaza
- Iran-backed Al-Nujaba vows continued attacks on US troops
- Iran's intel ministry says 'massive operation' launched against Mossad: Iranian semi-official news
Qatari mediators on Thursday said Hamas has given its "initial" approval of a ceasefire proposal that could see the release of more Israeli hostages who have been held in Gaza since the war started.
The U.S. has approved a series of retaliatory strikes to be launched against an Iran-backed militia following the killing of three American servicemen in Jordan, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced. The strikes are expected to target militants in Syria and possibly, in Iraq.
The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) shot down a drone over the Gulf of Aden and conducted strikes on a Houthi explosive unscrewed surface vehicle (USV) in the Red Sea.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant declared that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will continue its military campaign and move toward Rafah, an area that has particularly become more dense as Palestinian civilians sought shelter amid intense fighting.
Violence in the Gaza Strip stems from the long history of the Israel-Palestine conflict that erupted on Oct. 7, when Hamas militants invaded Israel, killing more than 1,200 people and abducting some 240 hostages, around 130 of which are still being held in Gaza.
In the tension-packed Israeli-Lebanese border, Hezbollah, another Iranian-backed paramilitary group, said it attacked IDF assets at the Shebaa Farms, a contentious land area claimed by Lebanon.
The live update has ended.
Iran claims 'massive operation' against Mossad: Iranian semi-official media
Iran's intelligence ministry said Friday that it carried out a "massive operation" targeting Israel's spy agency, Mossad, the Iranian government's semi-official Mehr news reported.
In the supposed operation, "a unique and unprecedented collection of information was obtained," and dozens of individuals affiliated with Israel were identified, as per the report.
This comes after Turkey detained seven people accused of selling information to the Mossad.
Iran-backed Iraqi militia pledges continued attacks on US troops
Al-Nujaba, an Iranian-backed militant group in Iraq, on Friday pledged that it will continue attacking American forces until all troops leave Iraq and Israel's military campaign in Gaza ends, multiple outlets reported.
Israeli air force elite platoon commander falls in Gaza
Maj. Yitzhar Hoffman, a platoon commander in the Israeli Air Force's (IAF) premier Shaldag unit, was killed in battle in the northern Gaza Strip Wednesday, the IDF announced Thursday.
He is one of a growing number of IDF officers who have fallen in Gaza since the war started.
What a hero!
— Arsen Ostrovsky 🎗️ (@Ostrov_A) January 31, 2024
Meet Major (res.) in the @IDF, Yitzhar Hofman.
On Oct 7, Hoffman courageously fought for 3 days the Hamas terrorists who invaded Kibbutz Be'eri, where nearly a quarter of residents were either murdered or abducted to Gaza.
When residents of the Kibbutz and the… pic.twitter.com/j1IwuwYaDX
Israeli troops locate rocket shell production complex in central Gaza
Israeli ground troops with the 646th Brigade's combat team located "a complex for the production of rocket shells based on civilian and multi-purpose machines, which were converted by Hamas for hostile sabotage activities," the IDF said in an operation update published Friday.
Yiftah Brigade fighters also raided "Hamas safes" where they found 100,000 NIS (approximately $27,300) and documents with information on the Palestinian terror group's fund transfer activities.
השמדת מתחם לייצור פגזי רקטות, פשיטה על כספות של החמאס ואיתור אמצעי לחימה רבים: תיעוד מפעילות אוגדה 99 במרכז רצועת עזה
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) February 2, 2024
אוגדה 99 נלחמה במרחב מרכז רצועת עזה. לוחמי האוגדה חיסלו מחבלים רבים ופגעו בתשתיות טרור רבות.
לכל הפרטים:https://t.co/IvLwvdbpYX pic.twitter.com/9jwaXpQrcS
Turkey detains 7 accused of spying for Mossad: State news
Turkish police on Friday arrested seven people accused of selling information to Mossad, Israel's intelligence service, state-run Anadolu reported.
The detained individuals allegedly passed on information to the Mossad through private detectives and were arrested in cooperation with the Turkish counterpart of Mossad, MIT, as per the report.
There were nine suspects in total, but two are thought to have been taken into custody earlier.
IRGC adviser killed in Israeli attack: Semi-official Iranian sites
Saeid Alidadi, an adviser of Iran's IRGC, was killed Friday in an Israeli missile attack south of Damascus, Syria's capital, Reuters reported, citing semi-official Iranian media.
Alidadi's specific rank at the IRGC was not disclosed by the Iranian news sites.
The Israeli army has yet to confirm if it carried out an attack Friday in Damascus, but multiple outlets reported earlier Friday, citing Syrian state news agency SANA, that several Israeli missiles were launched from the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights.
Iranian media names the killed IRGC advisor in an alleged Israeli strike in Damascus as Saeed Alidadi, “a fighter of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.” https://t.co/0cvnloeuJJ pic.twitter.com/kUXndtdpSd
— Ariel Oseran (@ariel_oseran) February 2, 2024
White House considered sanctioning two top Israeli ministers: Report
The Biden administration had considered sanctioning Israel's national security minister and finance minister as part of the executive order targeting West Bank violence initiated by Israelis, Axios reported, citing two U.S. officials.
Ben-Gvir is known for his inflammatory remarks against Palestinians and more recently, for calling on Palestinians to voluntarily resettle outside the Gaza Strip. Smotrich has called for the same voluntary emigration that drew criticism from the U.S.
The Israeli ministers were ultimately left out of the list of sanctioned individuals as the White House decided to focus on Israelis who specifically perpetrated attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank.
Belgium summons Israeli envoy over alleged 'bombing' of offices
Belgium has summoned the Israeli ambassador "to clarify" what Belgium's foreign minister Hadja Lahbib said was the "bombing" of Gaza offices under the country's development agency, Enabel.
"Targeting civilian buildings is unacceptable," Lahbib said in a Google-translated post on X.
Les bureaux d'Enabel, l'agence belge de développement, à Gaza ont été bombardés et détruits.
— Hadja Lahbib (@hadjalahbib) February 1, 2024
Viser des bâtiments civils est inacceptable.
Avec @carogennez, nous convoquons l'ambassadrice d'Israël pour faire toute la clarté. pic.twitter.com/uj5NUXp6ni
Hezbollah claims attack on IDF asset at Shebaa Farms
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah on Thursday said the Lebanese terror group attacked "spy equipment at the radar site" of the Israeli army in the disputed Shebaa Farms.
The said land area is occupied by Israel and is being claimed by Lebanon. The United Nations recognizes the territory as Syrian, but Hezbollah has used the land dispute as a reason for its supposed "resistance" attacks toward Israel in the past years.
Biden targets violent Israeli settlers in West Bank in executive order
The U.S. president on Thursday issued an executive order that targets Israelis that participated in or encouraged violence in the West Bank. He said violence in the Israeli-occupied territory "has reached intolerable levels and constitutes a serious threat to the peace, security and stability."
Four people were sanctioned under the executive order, freezing assets the sanctioned hold in the U.S. The said individuals, who also got slapped with visa bans, are accused of attacking Palestinians in the territory.
Read the full story here.
IDF will march toward Rafah: Israel's Gallant
The Israeli defense minister on Thursday said the IDF will continue military operations in Gaza, this time, in Rafah, an area where many Palestinian civilians moved to amid intense fighting in the north and central parts of the territory.
He said greater pressure on Hamas "brings us closer to the return of the abductees, more than anything else," as per a Google translation of his statement on X. He went on to echo the Netanyahu government's stance over the fighting, saying the Israeli army "will continue until the end; there is no other way."
הערכת מצב בח׳אן יונס עם סגן הרמטכ״ל ומפקד אוגדה 98
— יואב גלנט - Yoav Gallant (@yoavgallant) February 1, 2024
חטיבת ח׳אן יונס של ארגון החמאס מפורקת, נשלים את המשימה שם ונמשיך לרפיח.
הלחץ הכביר שהכוחות מפעילים על יעדי החמאס מקרב אותנו להשבת החטופים, יותר מכל דבר אחר.
אנחנו נמשיך עד הסוף, אין דרך אחרת. pic.twitter.com/6Lt9gLgjFV
US downs Gulf of Aden drone, destroys Houthi USV
U.S. forces shot down an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in the Gulf of Aden Thursday, and destroyed "an Iranian-backed Houthi explosive" USV in the Red Sea. The USV was heading "toward the international shipping lane" and was determined to present an imminent threat to U.S. Navy warships and commercial shipping operations in the region.
The attack on the USV was carried out "in self-defense," CENTCOM said, adding that secondary explosions resulted from the attack. No injuries or damage were reported from the operation, the U.S. military noted.
CENTCOM Update to Events in the Red Sea
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) February 1, 2024
On Feb. 1, at approximately 5:00 a.m. (Sanaa time), U.S. Central Command forces engaged and shot down one UAV over the Gulf of Aden. There were no injuries or damage reported.
Later the same day, at approximately 10:30 a.m. (Sanaa time),… pic.twitter.com/Ufdq5gQPPE
US approves 'multi-tier response' to troops' killing in Jordan: Austin
The U.S. defense secretary said during a Pentagon media briefing Thursday that the White House has approved retaliatory strikes against an Iranian-backed militia after three American troops were killed in a drone attack in Jordan Sunday.
LIVE: @SecDef Lloyd J. Austin III briefs the news media at the Pentagon. https://t.co/5XvZVE9Arz
— Department of Defense 🇺🇸 (@DeptofDefense) February 1, 2024
"We will have a multi-tier response and we have the ability to respond a number of times depending on the situation," he said.
He did not provide specific details about the U.S. response, but noted that "we will respond at a time and place of our choosing."
The U.S. has blamed Iran and militant groups it supports for the deadly drone attack in Jordan at a base called Tower 22.
Hamas has given 'initial' confirmation of Israeli-approved truce proposal: Qatar
Qatar's foreign ministry spokesman, Majed al-Ansari, on Thursday raised hopes for a new ceasefire in Gaza, when he said mediators now "have an initial positive confirmation from the Hamas side" over a truce proposal that Israeli had already approved.
However, a source close to Hamas told AFP that "the Qatari statement is rushed and not true" as the Palestinian terror group had not yet agreed to the "framework" of the proposal.
Read the full story here.
Houthis claim attack on British merchant vessel
The Houthis on Thursday claimed to have targeted a British merchant ship in the Red Sea that was on its way to Israel, as per a post by Sare'e on X (formerly Twitter). The attack was carried out "with appropriate naval missiles," he added.
While the rebel paramilitary group did not identify the ship it claims to have attacked, Sare'e said the operation was "in retaliation to the American-British aggression against our country."
Britain has yet to confirm if a merchant vessel in the area was attacked.
This comes after the U.S. and United Kingdom carried out joint strikes on Houthi assets in Yemen, saying the strikes were implemented professionally and in self-defense.
Read the full story here.
