JERUSALEM, Israel – Israel says it targeted a number of terrorist leaders embedded in a Gaza humanitarian area who were directly involved in planning the October 7th terror attack and are still fighting Israel. Meanwhile, experts say an expanded war against Hezbollah in Lebanon is imminent.
Israel says it targeted and killed top Hamas terrorists who were operating from a command and control center embedded in a humanitarian area of Khan Younis. According to the Israel Defense Forces, the terrorists carried out attacks against IDF troops from the control center and were directly involved in the execution of the October 7th massacre.
Hamas claimed at least 40 people were killed in the strike on the tent encampment, and later downgraded that number to 19, but Israel insists the Hamas numbers do not align with what it knows, and that it took numerous steps to reduce the risk of harming civilians.
Attorney Yifa Segal from the Israel Defense and Security Forum contends the terrorists have one aim.
"You have a death cult of jihadist terrorists who literally wake up in the morning every day and try to figure out a way to bypass your defense mechanisms and to find a way to finally destroy you and kill and rape and destroy the state of Israel," she said. "All these people. And I've been – we've been – saying for years, we sounded crazy, but we saw it on October 7th."
The IDF and Israel's Secret Service arrested three terrorist suspects, one of them along Israel's major north-south highway. They were planning what was described as an "imminent attack."
Against the backdrop of ongoing protests, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu emphasized that he hears the cries of family members to bring their loved ones home.
"My wife and I go to heart-breaking meetings that just break our hearts to pieces," he shared. "I hear, I listen, I don't judge either, and I am doing everything to return the hostages and to win the war.”
Amir Avivi, founder of the Israel Defense and Security Forum, believes Israeli society is more united than it appears to be.
"I think that most of the Israeli society understands how crucial is winning the war," Avivi told CBN News. "The society wants to be united. The society is resolute. We have a small group that still is in the mindset of the sixth of October and not the seventh, but this is not representative of the most of the Israeli society."
Earlier, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant restated Israel's goals of destroying Hamas and bringing the hostages home while speaking to troops in Gaza. "We are looking at all of the fronts, and this means that while you are fighting here in Gaza we are preparing for everything that could happen in the north," he declared.
In northern Israel, Hezbollah continues to launch hundreds of rockets and drones into the Galilee region. While roughly 60,000 Israelis are displaced from their border homes, another 200,000 are within the daily striking range of Hezbollah.
Sarit Zehavi of the Alma Center claims Israel has already been at war with Hezbollah since October 8th. She advocates hitting Hezbollah harder in Lebanon.
"Same war of attrition in the past 11 months," she said. "The only difference is that we see more shootings to areas that are not evacuated, like where I live. And today, there was a hit of a drone in, in a building of 13 floors."
The drone struck in the middle of the day, damaging the building but causing no injuries.
At the same time, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accuses Israel of wanting to take over the Middle East and he's called for a coalition of all Islamic states.
“They (Israel) are already declaring that they will not be satisfied with occupying Gaza alone, that is why we say that Hamas is resisting on behalf of all Muslims. That is why we say that Hamas is defending not only Gaza but also the lands of Islam and Turkey,” Erdogan asserted.
Yet, Zehavi says the world needs to understand who is really behind the war and what it's about.
She told us, "I want to see the world understand what we are facing. I think that's the basis of everything. Okay? I want to see everybody understand that it is not about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It's not about a two-state solution. It's not about Gaza, Palestinians. There is a campaign that was launched by Iran, (the) Islamic Republic of Iran against the West, and (its) representative in the Middle East, which is the State of Israel."
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