Secretary of State Antony Blinken was among the millions of people throughout Israel forced into bomb shelters this morning, as Hezbollah launched long-range rockets at Tel Aviv.
Throughout the day, as Israelis welcomed the holiday of Simchat Torah, Hezbollah continued to bombard northern and central Israel with more than 130 rockets and missiles. Iranian-backed terrorists in Iraq launched three drones at Israel today, targeting Eilat and the Golan Heights.
Most of the rockets, missiles and drones were intercepted, but there are reports that one struck near Tel Aviv and that falling shrapnel caused damage in the Herzliya area. One Palestinian in the West Bank was reportedly injured this evening by a Hezbollah rocket. A video of the impact in the West Bank can be seen here:
In Lebanon, Israel is continuing its operations to destroy Hezbollah’s terrorist infrastructure. The IDF announced today that it had killed around 70 Hezbollah terrorists in airstrikes and ground operations over the past 48 hours. One of the terrorists killed was Khalil Muhammad Amhaz, a member of Hezbollah’s aerial forces — known as Unit 127 and responsible for drone attacks on Israel — who the IDF described as a "central source of knowledge" for Hezbollah’s drone attacks.
On the ground in Lebanon, IDF troops found a Hezbollah weapons cache in a mosque — confiscating rifles, ammunition, RPGs, anti-tank missiles, and other weapons. Watch a video of what the IDF found in and around the mosque:
Meanwhile, IDF troops on the Gaza border remain on high alert today, based on intelligence that Hamas could try to attack Israel on Simchat Torah, the Hebrew anniversary of October 7.
Blinken arrives in Saudi Arabia
Blinken departed Israel today for Saudi Arabia, where he met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman.
In addition to regional security issues, Blinken was expected to discuss a potential U.S.-Saudi-Israel agreement, which the Biden administration has pursued for several years.
Blinken is next expected to visit Qatar and then Britain, where he will meet with more Arab leaders, according to the State Department.
Al Jazeera "journalists" exposed as Hamas, Islamic Jihad terrorists
The IDF released documents from Gaza today that show six Al Jazeera journalists were members of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
The six employees at the Qatari-owned outlet held positions in Hamas including platoon commander, head of a rocket launching squad, and a member of Hamas’ elite Nukhba Force, which led the October 7 massacre.
The documents — which "unequivocally prove" these individuals were terrorists, the IDF said — include "personnel spreadsheets, lists of training courses, telephone books, and salary documents."
These documents are just the latest of many examples of Al Jazeera journalists operating as terrorists.
Anniversary of U.S. Marine Barracks bombing
On this day 41 years ago, Hezbollah carried out a terrorist bombing of the U.S. Marine Corps Barracks in Beirut — killing 241 U.S. military personnel.
The Iranian-backed terrorist attack on the Marine Barracks remains to this day the single deadliest day for the U.S. Marine Corps since the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II.
Picture of the Day: Kfir Bibas in a sukkah days before being kidnapped by Hamas
Israel’s Channel 12 published photos of hostages and victims of October 7 celebrating Sukkot and Simchat Torah one year ago.
One photo shows then-nine-month-old Kfir Bibas being held in the Kibbutz Nir Oz sukkah. Kfir was kidnapped into Gaza by Hamas on October 7 alongside his four-year-old brother Ariel and parents Shiri and Yarden, where all four remain in captivity.
The war in Gaza ends today if Hamas surrenders and frees the 101 hostages, including seven Americans.
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