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Hamas, Hezbollah Fighting Continues for Israel on Multiple Fronts Amid Iran Attack Fallout
Israeli soldiers operate at the Shajaiya district of Gaza city amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian terror group Hamas, in the Gaza Strip, Dec. 8, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Yossi Zeliger
While the world shifted its attention to Israel’s potential retaliation against Iran for its massive attack on the Jewish state over the weekend, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) continued its fight with Hamas to the south and Hezbollah to the north.
The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit released a statement on Monday afternoon reporting that four soldiers were wounded by an explosion the prior night near Israel’s northern border, which Hezbollah terrorists have been targeting daily from their home base of Lebanon since Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel.
“During an operational activity in the border area in the north of the country last night, an IDF soldier was seriously injured, two IDF soldiers were moderately injured, and another soldier was slightly injured by an explosion of unknown origin,” the statement read. “The incident is being investigated.”
The soldiers were evacuated to receive medical treatment at a hospital, and their families were informed of the situation.
Hezbollah later claimed responsibility for planting an explosive device near the border, saying it exploded when the IDF soldiers were close and was monitoring Israeli troop movements.
Tensions have been escalating between Israel and Hezbollah for months, fueling concerns that the war in Gaza — the Palestinian enclave ruled by Hamas, to Israel’s south — could escalate into a regional conflict.
Tens of thousands of Israelis have been forced to flee their homes in northern Israel due to constant Hezbollah attacks.
News of the latest attack in northern Israel came about a week after the IDF pulled most of its troops out of southern Gaza “to recuperate and prepare for future operations” and at a time when foreign news reports said that Hamas was slowly regaining civilian control over parts of Gaza that were still habitable.
Meanwhile, in northern Gaza, where the IDF finished the bulk of its operations some months ago, reports have indicated Palestinian terrorists have regained a level of control in places such as the Jabaliya market, where last week rockets were launched targeting a kibbutz in Israel.
Concerns of Hamas regaining territory, coupled with the terrorist group’s resistance to a ceasefire deal that releases all the hostages it seized on Oct. 7, have led Israeli leaders to push for reentering areas in Gaza the army already left, and to continue to expand the fighting in Rafah, the last Hamas stronghold.
Due to the situation, some fighting units have returned to Gaza. IDF Chief Spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said on Sunday that the military was “calling up approximately two reserve brigades for operational activities on the Gazan front.”
The latest developments in Gaza and northern Israel came amid fallout from Hamas and Hezbollah’s main international sponsor, Iran, launching an unprecedented direct attack against the Israeli homeland on Saturday. Israel, with the help of allies including the US, repelled the massive Iranian drone and missile salvo. World leaders, especially in the US and Europe, have been urging Israel to show restraint in its response and to de-escalate tensions.
Both Hamas and Hezbollah are backed by Iran, which provides the Islamist terrorist groups with weapons, funding, and training.
With so much global focus now on Iran, Israel assured the public it has not forgotten about the war in Gaza.
“Even while under attack from Iran, we have not lost sight, not for one moment, of our critical mission in Gaza to rescue our hostages from the hands of Iran’s proxy Hamas,” Hagari said.
The post Hamas, Hezbollah Fighting Continues for Israel on Multiple Fronts Amid Iran Attack Fallout first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.