Israel is simultaneously increasing the military pressure on Hamas, working with America on a deal to end the war, and surging aid to Gaza civilians.
Today, the IDF announced that it killed a deputy commander of Hamas' elite Nukhba unit who "infiltrated Israeli territory during the brutal October 7 massacre... and took part in the abduction of [Israeli hostages] Ron Sherman, Nik Beizer, and Tamir Nimrodi."
The bodies of Sherman and Beizer have been recovered from Gaza, while Nimrodi is still held in captivity.
Also today, during a visit to IDF positions in southern Lebanon, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir announced that the IDF had "approved plans for the conquest of Gaza."
Zamir highlighted that in addition to operating in Gaza and Lebanon, the IDF is "operating in Syria, Yemen, [the West Bank], and monitoring events in Iran. We are in a multifront war."
Meanwhile, there are reports that Israel may send negotiators to Qatar this week for talks on a new hostage-ceasefire deal.
According to Israel's Channel 12 news, negotiations may be for a comprehensive deal that would include the release of all hostages, an end to the war, and a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed once again yesterday that Hamas, not Israel, is the obstacle to an agreement: "We have given many flexible arrangements, backed by Israel, to Hamas, and unfortunately, Hamas has never agreed."
But as Hamas continues to reject any hostage-ceasefire agreement, Israel continues to surge aid into Gaza.
119 pallets of humanitarian aid were airdropped into Gaza today.
Israel also brought 320 aid trucks and three fuel tankers into Gaza yesterday, in addition to airdropping 97 pallets of aid.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, meanwhile, has delivered over 120 million meals to date, including more than 1.5 million today alone.
"Each day, our team works tirelessly to ensure food reaches the people of Gaza safely, quickly, and directly.... We continue urging the humanitarian community to join us so that together, we can feed the Palestinian people and bring relief to families who are depending on us," GHF Executive Director John Acree said.
While Israel works to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza, Hamas is prolonging the suffering of Israelis and Palestinians alike.
The United States must stand with Israel and increase the pressure on Hamas and its sponsors in Qatar, Turkey and Iran to release all 50 hostages still held in captivity.
U.N. agency lowers standards to target Israel
The U.N.-affiliated Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) that recently declared a famine in Gaza "quietly changed one of its key reporting metrics while doing so, making it easier to formally declare that there is a famine in the Hamas-controlled territory," the Washington Free Beacon reports.
The IPC's latest report used a metric not historically used to determine whether a famine is taking place and lowered the threshold for malnourishment by half.
Former National Security Council staffer and Foundation for Defense of Democracies Senior Adviser Richard Goldberg said that "this is one of the greatest frauds ever perpetrated... we have the United Nations changing the rules to fit the desired political outcome."
In response to the report, the IDF issued a statement calling it "highly concerning" and criticizing "the IPC's persistent lack of transparency, double standards and methodological issues in its reports on Gaza throughout the war."
Hamas praises Australia as Huckabee slams Western countries' Palestinian statehood push
Hamas praised a recent announcement from the Australian government that it intends to recognize a Palestinian state, with the terror group saying it views the decision as "a positive step."
Israeli opposition figure MK Benny Gantz responded to the news, saying that "Hamas views the unilateral recognition of Palestine as its own victory, not defeat. It views the buckling to internal pressure at the hands of disinformation & media manipulation not as failure, but as its success - fruits of October 7th."
Meanwhile, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, in an interview with The Times of Israel yesterday, also slammed the recent moves from various Western countries to recognize a Palestinian state.
While Huckabee says that it's "perfectly acceptable" for allies to disagree with some of Israel's policies, just as he does with some of Britain's and France's, "if you do have a disagreement with them, you bring it to them quietly. You don’t hang them out to dry in a public forum. You don’t join with and aid and abet their sworn adversaries, those who are trying to kill them, who literally are trying to kill them."
Huckabee added that the French and British announcements about recognizing a Palestinian state "ended [hostage release] negotiations with Hamas. Just destroyed it. That was it. That was the end of it. Because [Hamas] looked at it and said, 'We’re winning. This is great. The result of October 7th is going to be a Palestinian state.'"
In a video message to the Iranian people yesterday, Prime Minister Netanyahu blamed the regime for Iran's current water crisis and offered to help Iran.
If the Iranian people rise up to demand peace with Israel, Netanyahu said, "Israel’s top water experts will flood into every Iranian city bringing cutting-edge technology and know-how. We will help Iran recycle water, we’ll help Iran desalinate water."
This comes amid reports that Iran is facing a severe crisis as its drinking water reserves dry up, with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian even saying that "if we cannot manage and people do not cooperate in controlling consumption, there won't be any water in dams by September or October."
One key dam northwest of Tehran now contains just 6% of its usable water volume, and another has fallen below 10%.
Satellite images show the significant reduction in surface area at one dam between 2020 and 2025:
PHOTO OF THE DAY
South Africa and Iran Deepen Ties
Yesterday, Iranian Maj. Gen. Amir Hatami, chief of staff of Iran’s army, met in Tehran with Gen. Rudzani Maphwanya, the chief of the South African National Defense Force.
During a joint press conference, Hatami emphasized the strong political alignment between Tehran and Pretoria, including South Africa's "special position" in Iran’s broader strategy in Africa.
He expressed hope that this partnership, particularly their shared military capabilities, would soon lead to tangible joint projects.
IDF chief of staff talks to U.S. counterparts
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir spoke yesterday with U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine and the new head of CENTCOM, Adm. Brad Cooper, who just recently assumed command.
The military chiefs discussed "the importance of cooperation between the United States Armed Forces and the IDF" and the IDF's commitment to working with the U.S. to improve regional stability.
The mission of AIPAC is to encourage and persuade the U.S. government to enact specific policies that create a strong, enduring and mutually beneficial relationship with our ally Israel.
