Israel asks residents in Ma'alot-Tarshiha town to 'stay home, lock doors' over possible infiltration attempt

Israel has asked residents in northern town Ma'alot-Tarshiha to stay home, lock doors after reports of suspected infiltration.

The advisory came after Israeli military said it received reports of suspected infiltration from Lebanon into Israeli air space.

Jonathan Conricus made the statement in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. His words appeared to go further than those of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu said Sunday that his security cabinet had made the decision to destroy Hamas’ ability to govern in a way that posed a threat to Israeli civilians.

Amid the war in Israel and Gaza, EAM S Jaishankar on Wednesday spoke to his UAE counterpart Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan where the duo discussed the ongoing crisis in West Asia and vowed to to stay in touch.

Gaza’s only power plant ran out of fuel Wednesday afternoon, forcing it to shut down after Israel cut off supplies, the Energy Ministry said. That leaves only generators to power the territory — but they also run on fuel that is in short supply.

Jennifer Zeng, an independent blogger, has put forth an allegation suggesting that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and President Xi Jinping had played a critical role in orchestrating the latest Hamas attack against Israel. 
"Xi Jinping promised unlimited, UNRESTRICTED, and FULL RANGE support to Hamas, while Commander Mohammed Deif was also groomed by CCP," she claimed in an X post.

The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees told the AP on Wednesday that nine of its staffers have been killed in airstrikes since the the start of the Israeli bombardment on Gaza on Saturday, with several killed late Tuesday. “The protection of civilians is paramount, including in times of conflict,” said Juliette Touma, director of communications of the agency, known as UNRWA. “They should be protected in accordance with the laws of war.”

The death count from terror group Hamas’s shock attack on Israel on Saturday surpassed 1,200 on Wednesday, with over 3,000 injured and the fate of an estimated 150 people abducted and taken to the Gaza Strip still unclear, Times of Israel reported.

On the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict, Shashi Tharoor says, "First of all the entire situation has been provoked by the surprise attack by Hamas during the national holiday in Israel... It was a terror operation. They killed innocent civilians, children, elderly people, and youth attending a music festival. It really was impossible to accept any justification for what Hamas did. I certainly join in the condemnation of the terrorist act... At the same time while we understood the Prime Minister standing up for Israel showing solidarity at this time of great grief and this horror that has been visited upon them. At the same time, we felt that his statement was incomplete..."

The first shipment of advanced US weapons and equipment have landed in Israel to boost the US ally in its war with Hamas, the Israel Ministry of Defence said on Wednesday.
The video footage and images released by Israel's Ministry of Defence showed the landing of a cargo plane that delivered the initial shipment of equipment procured and brought to the country through a joint operation.

“A respected expert in international law was visiting family in Gaza when an Israeli airstrike struck his home in central Gaza City late Tuesday and killed everyone inside, authorities said. Saeed al-Dahshan was on his way to Cairo, where he primarily lives. Health officials did not immediately give a number of those killed but al-Dahshan’s friends said that his entire immediate family along with his brother and his family were killed, with Hamas official Bassem Naim estimating the death toll to be at least 30 people.

Gaza's power authority says its sole power plant will fun out of fuel within hours, leaving the territory without electricity after Israel cut off supplies. Israel said it would cut off all electricity to the territory after Hamas' bloody rampage over the weekend. All of Gaza's crossings are closed, making it impossible to bring in fuel for the power plant or the generators on which residents and hospitals have long relied. The power authority said Wednesday that the plant would shut down in the afternoon.

As the war escalated further on the fourth day, Collapsed buildings, mangled infrastructure, and streets turned into fields of rubble. Scenes of violence and destruction in the long-blockaded Gaza Strip have filled the world's airwaves throughout four wars and countless rounds of hostilities between Israel and Hamas militants. But this conflict, Palestinians say, is different.

Watch the full video and story here.

The Israel Defense Forces says an anti-tank guided missile was fired from Lebanon at a military post near the northern village of Arab al-Aramshe, Times of Israel reported. The IDF says it will provide further information soon. It does not immediately report injuries.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Tuesday that a small group of US special operations forces is now working with the Israelis to help with planning and intelligence in their counteroperations against Hamas.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro angered Jewish groups after he compared the Gaza strip to a World War II concentration camp. Responding to a video where Israel’s Defense Minister announced a “complete siege” of Gaza, that includes cutting off electricity and water supplies to the enclave, Petro wrote on his X account Monday that “no democrat in the world should accept that the Gaza strip be turned into a concentration camp.”

The death toll in the Israel-Hamas conflict crossed over 3,600 on Wednesday. According to the Israeli authorities, at least 1,200 were dead and 3,418 injured. In Gaza, the authorities claimed 950 dead and 5,000 injured.

As airstrikes are reported nonstop in the Karama district north of Gaza city, many dead and injured are stuck under rubble that Gaza lacks the equipment to handle, officials said on Wednesday.

Israeli airstrikes since Saturday have resulted in 900 deaths in Gaza, including 260 children and 230 women, with an additional 4,500 individuals wounded, the Ministry of Health in Gaza said on Tuesday.

US intelligence did not pick up signs of the Hamas attack on Israel, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Tuesday. “We did not see anything that suggested an attack of this type was going to unfold any more than the Israelis did,” Sullivan told reporters. As other White House officials have done in recent days, Sullivan also reiterated that the U.S. government has also not seen any direct linkage between Iran and the Hamas attack over the weekend.

There are 20 Thai nationals feared dead, 13 injured and 14 kidnapped, the country’s Foreign Affairs Ministry said Wednesday during a news briefing, citing reports from workers and their employers.
About 30,000 Thais have been working as low wage laborers in Israel, especially engaged in farm work. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Kanchana Patarachoke says 5,019 have registered so far to be evacuated back to their homeland.

Dozens of Israeli Air Force fighter jets struck over 200 targets in the Al-Furqan neighborhood—a terrorist hotspot from which Hamas devises and executes their attacks

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Secretary of State Antony Blinken would travel in the coming days to deliver a message of solidarity and support. He said Blinken will also “talk about what additional resources we can give them.” Blinken will leave Wednesday and is expected to arrive Thursday.

As the war entered its fifth day on Wednesday, an IDF Spokesperson LTC (res.) Jonathan Conricus provides a situational update on all fronts.

The Israeli military said it shelled Syria on Tuesday after rockets hit open land in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights. The military did not accuse any group of the rocket attack. The Syrian government did not comment. However, Britain-based opposition war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says a Palestinian faction conducted the rocket attack from Syrian territory.

A plane carrying advanced armaments “designed to facilitate significant military operations” landed Tuesday evening at the Nevatim Airbase in southern Israel, the Israel Defense Forces said. “We are grateful for the US backing and assistance to the IDF, and to the State of Israel in general, during this challenging period. Our common enemies know that the cooperation between our militaries is stronger than ever, and is a key part of ensuring regional security and stability,” the IDF said in a statement.