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Fighting in Gaza resumes as Israel-Hamas ceasefire ends after 7 days
(JTA) — The war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza has restarted after a weeklong ceasefire ended at 7 a.m. local time, with Hamas firing rockets into Israel and Israel resuming its military campaign to dismantle the terror group.
The truce, which began on Friday, Nov. 24, saw Hamas release more than 100 of the hostages it held, nearly all of them women and children, in exchange for a pause in the fighting and the release of Palestinian security prisoners. Originally set to last four days, it was extended through international mediation. But efforts to continue the truce fell short as Hamas did not provide Israel with a list of 10 hostages it would have released Friday in return for one more day of quiet.
“Upon the resumption of fighting, we emphasize: The Government of Israel is committed to achieving the goals of the war: Releasing the hostages, eliminating Hamas and ensuring that Gaza never again constitutes a threat to the residents of Israel,” read a statement Friday morning from the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office.
The war began on Oct. 7 when Hamas invaded Israel, killing 1,200 and taking more than 240 people hostage. Israel’s counterattack aims to depose Hamas from its control of Gaza and has included airstrikes and a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip’s northern half. According to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, more than 14,500 Palestinians have been killed in the fighting, a number that does not distinguish between civilians and combatants and does not denote casualties from misfired Palestinian rockets. The ministry said dozens of Gazans had been killed in the hours after the truce ended.
Israel vowed to continue the fight following the truce and is expected to expand its operations against Hamas into the southern half of the Gaza Strip, where most of the territory’s population has fled.
Visiting Israel on Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Israeli leaders that they had to take increased measures to protect civilian life in the next stage of the war. The Biden administration has supported Israel’s vow to resume fighting in the face of mounting international pressure for a ceasefire.
But in a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Blinken also reportedly said Israel may only have “weeks” left to fight, rather than months. He also pledged to continue efforts to retrieve Israeli hostages, an estimated 137 of whom remain in Gaza.
“The way Israel defends itself matters,” he said, according to the Times of Israel. “I made clear that before Israel resumes major military operations, it must put in place humanitarian, civilian protection plans that minimize further casualties of innocent Palestinians. That means taking more effective steps to protect the lives of civilians, including by clearly and precisely designating areas and places in southern and central Gaza where they can be safe and out of the line of fire.”
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The post Fighting in Gaza resumes as Israel-Hamas ceasefire ends after 7 days appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Israeli Strike on Tehran Kills Bodyguard of Slain Hezbollah Chief
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi lays a wreath as he visits the burial site of former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, on the outskirts of Beirut, Lebanon, June 3, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
A member of Lebanese armed group Hezbollah was killed in an Israeli air strike on Tehran alongside a member of an Iran-aligned Iraqi armed group, a senior Lebanese security source told Reuters and the Iraqi group said on Saturday.
The source identified the Hezbollah member as Abu Ali Khalil, who had served as a bodyguard for Hezbollah’s slain chief Hassan Nasrallah. The source said Khalil had been on a religious pilgrimage to Iraq when he met up with a member of the Kataeb Sayyed Al-Shuhada group.
They traveled together to Tehran and were both killed in an Israeli strike there, along with Khalil’s son, the senior security source said. Hezbollah has not joined in Iran’s air strikes against Israel from Lebanon.
Kataeb Sayyed Al-Shuhada published a statement confirming that both the head of its security unit and Khalil had been killed in an Israeli strike.
Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli aerial attack on Beirut’s southern suburbs in September.
Israel and Iran have been trading strikes for nine consecutive days since Israel launched attacks on Iran, saying Tehran was on the verge of developing nuclear weapons. Iran has said it does not seek nuclear weapons.
The post Israeli Strike on Tehran Kills Bodyguard of Slain Hezbollah Chief first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Hamas Financial Officer and Commander Eliminated by IDF in the Gaza Strip
Israeli soldiers operate during a ground operation in the southern Gaza Strip, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, July 3, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), in cooperation with the General Security Service (Shin Bet), announced on Friday the killing of Ibrahim Abu Shamala, a senior financial official in Hamas’ military wing.
The operation took place on June 17th in the central Gaza Strip.
Abu Shamala held several key positions, including financial officer for Hamas’ military wing and assistant to Marwan Issa, the deputy commander of Hamas’ military wing until his elimination in March 2024.
He was responsible for managing all the financial resources of Hamas’ military wing in Gaza, overseeing the planning and execution of the group’s war budget. This involved handling and smuggling millions of dollars into the Gaza Strip to fund Hamas’ military operations.
The post Hamas Financial Officer and Commander Eliminated by IDF in the Gaza Strip first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Report: Wary of Assassination by Israel, Khamenei Names 3 Potential Successors
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei waves during a meeting in Tehran, Iran, May 20, 2025. Photo: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
i24 News – Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei named three senior clerics as candidates to succeed him should he be killed, the New York Times reported on Saturday citing unnamed Iranian officials. It is understood the Ayatollah fears he could be assassinated in the coming days.
Khamenei reportedly mostly speaks with his commanders through a trusted aide now, suspending electronic communications.
Khamenei has designated three senior religious figures as candidates to replace him as well as choosing successors in the military chain of command in the likely event that additional senior officials be eliminated.
Earlier on Saturday Israel confirmed the elimination of Saeed Izadi and Bhanam Shahriari.
Shahriari, head of Iran’s Quds Force Weapons Transfer Unit, responsible for arming Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, was killed in an Israeli airstrike over 1,000 km from Israel in western Iran.
The post Report: Wary of Assassination by Israel, Khamenei Names 3 Potential Successors first appeared on Algemeiner.com.