The war continues with unabated intensity in the Gaza Strip, with Israeli forces constantly attacking the Hamas terrorists by land and air in an attempt to annihilate their resistance, destroying it completely.
Killer Israeli air and ground attacks are causing death in Gaza
At least 10 people are said to have been killed in raids on a UN school in Khan Younis and homes in southern Gaza in the last 24 hours.
Palestinian telecommunications companies say services have been disrupted once again in Gaza due to Israeli attacks, hampering rescue efforts.
For its part, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says that troops from the 188th Armored Brigade captured and destroyed the headquarters of Hamas' Shejaiya battalion.
Meanwhile, Israel completed a 60-hour raid on Jenin, killing 11 Palestinians, while its forces carried out overnight raids in the occupied West Bank.
According to Palestinian sources, at least 18,787 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since October 7. The death toll in Israel stands at 1,147, following the death of a soldier during fighting in the southern Gaza Strip yesterday.
Shock - Israeli soldiers occupied a mosque in Jenin and chanted a Jewish prayer over the loudspeaker!
The Israeli Army recalled soldiers who chanted Hanukkah songs and a Jewish prayer from the loudspeaker system of a mosque in Jenin during an operation there, a move that National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir considers shameful.
Specifically, Ben Gvir, accuses Defense Minister Yoav Gallant of saying that he "brings politics to the IDF" and that the soldiers are "heroes" who "risked their lives for us in Operation Jenin."
The IDF said the soldiers' actions were "serious and completely contrary to its values."
The above incident offends the religious sentiment of Muslims and is expected to have repercussions.
Mossad chief Barnea meets US National Security Advisor Sullivan
Mossad Chief David Barnea met with US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan yesterday at Mossad headquarters in Tel Aviv, the Prime Minister's Office said.
Sullivan is in Israel for meetings with top Israeli officials.
The two discussed efforts to return hostages to Gaza, increased cooperation and regional challenges posed by Iran through its nuclear program, expansionism and support for terrorism, the statement said.
Israel urges US not to talk publicly about two-state solution
Israeli leaders are privately urging the Biden administration to refrain from talking publicly about the two-state solution , four Israeli and US officials told the Times of Israel this week.
The message is not only being expressed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose appeal is more limited since Washington is convinced that he has engaged in a "politically motivated campaign" on the issue, a US official said.
Other members of the war cabinet, including Benny Gantz and even opposition chairman Yair Lapid, have also expressed discomfort with the Biden administration's revival of rhetoric about the need for a two-state solution since the war broke out, according to two Israeli officials.
Israelis reject 2-state solution after Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack
"A two-state solution after what happened on October 7 is a reward for Hamas," one of the Israeli officials said, referring to the terror group's shock attack in which 1,2000 were slaughtered and some 240 taken hostage in Gaza.
"Netanyahu is the one who says it loud and blunt, but there really is no appetite right now in Israel across the political spectrum for the idea of two states," the official added.
Even before the war, Gantz spoke of a "two-entity solution," carefully avoiding the use of the term "state" to describe the Palestinian entity to which he would agree.
"It is clear both to us and to our partners that the old concepts and the reality of the past decades must change and be future-oriented," he said in a speech on Thursday night.
Netanyahu-Biden rivalry soars - US sticks to 2-state solution
Over the past month and a half, Netanyahu has gradually stepped up his rhetoric against the Palestinian Authority, telling MPs last week that the only difference between it and Hamas is that the latter wants to destroy Israel immediately while the former just wants to do it gradually.
The campaign against Ramallah has angered the Biden administration, which has provided Israel with enormous military and diplomatic support since the war, and argues that the effort to remove Hamas should pave the way for an eventual return of the Palestinian Authority to Gaza followed by a renewed effort to negotiate a two-state solution.
Netanyahu is "a good friend, but I think he needs to change," Biden said at a campaign rally Tuesday. "You can't say there won't be a Palestinian state at all in the future."
"We continue to deliver on the promise and vision of a two-state solution," White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on Thursday.
At the State Department, spokesman Matt Miller echoed the message, saying:
"The October 7 attacks should have been a wake-up call for everyone that there must be a solution that addresses the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people while providing security for the Israeli people.
We believe that the best way to achieve this is through the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. We make that clear privately, we make that clear publicly, and it is something we will continue to work with the Israeli government on."
A U.S. official confirmed to the Times of Israel that there has indeed been a multi-pronged effort to persuade the Biden administration to tone down the public rhetoric about the need for a two-state solution, but said Washington has no intention of backing down .
