Live Updates
Fighting in the Gaza Strip continues, 146 days since Hamas launched a deadly surprise invasion of Israel.
AFP
It’s the 146th day of the war in Gaza, and New Zealand has joined several other countries in designating Hamas as a terror entity, but it also sanctioned some Israeli settlers it described as “extremist.”
In the greater Middle East, tensions remain high as Yemeni rebel Houthis risk global supply chain disruption due to attacks on commercial shipping lanes in the Red and Arabian Seas and the Gulf of Aden.
Israel reportedly carried out strikes in the vicinity of Syria’s capital, Damascus. There were reports of a huge explosion in the Sayeda Zainab neighborhood, which is known as a heavily fortified area where a Shi’ite shrine is located. There are also reports of an airstrike targeting a vehicle in western Syria Thursday.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Thursday said it shot down a suspicious aerial target near Haifa in northern Israel. This comes amid continuing rocket salvos from Lebanese territory by Iranian-backed Hezbollah.
Back in war-torn Gaza, Hamas’ top official in the Strip, Yahya Sinwar, reportedly said the Palestinian militant group has now put Israelis “exactly where we want them.” This as the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said the war death toll has now passed a grim milestone of 30,000.
Meanwhile, the loved ones of some 130 hostages still in captivity in Gaza are on their second day of a four-day march to call for the abductees immediate release. There is mounting pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to prioritize freeing hostages over eliminating Hamas.
The raging war in Gaza stems from a long and violent Israeli-Palestinian conflict that has drawn attacks toward Israel from Iranian-backed militias. Decades of bad blood reached a devastating high for Israel when Hamas operatives raided Israel on Oct. 7, murdering more than a thousand people and abducting some 250 hostages.
