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Israeli battle tanks are deployed along the border with the Gaza Strip and southern Israel on Jan. 2, 2024.
AFP
It’s the 91st day of the war in Gaza, and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it eliminated a senior official of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), a Hamas ally, two days after the assassination of Hamas’ deputy leader, Saleh al-Arouri in Lebanese territory.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday night said he was seeking a “fundamental change” on the northern border with Lebanon after Iran-backed Hezbollah vowed that Arouri’s killing would not go unanswered.
The blasts in Iran during the commemoration of top Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani’s fourth death anniversary on Wednesday stoked fears of a wider Middle East conflict. Islamic State has since claimed responsibility for the explosions that killed scores of Iranians.
In the Houthi-disrupted Red Sea, a drone boat launched by the Yemeni rebel militia that carried explosives detonated in the Red Sea Thursday, as per a senior U.S. military officer.
Back in the Gaza Strip, Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant said Palestinians would be responsible for the enclave after the war. His remarks were made amid mounting international criticism over the call of two Israeli ministers for voluntary Palestinian migration.
The migration of Palestinians is a sticking point in the violent Israel-Palestine conflict history that blew up on Oct. 7 when Hamas militants invaded Israel in a surprise attack that killed more than 1,200 people.
During the Oct. 7 massacre, Hamas operatives took more than 200 individuals hostage, of which around 130 are still being held in the Gaza Strip.
