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Hamas Kills IDF Soldiers: Is Israel at War or Not?
Palestinian Hamas terrorists stand guard on the day of the handover of hostages held in Gaza since the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attack, as part of a ceasefire and a hostages-prisoners swap deal between Hamas and Israel, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, Feb. 22, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Hatem Khaled
Hamas attacked several IDF positions in Gaza in the last few days, including with anti-tank missiles, killing (as of the time of writing this) at least two Israeli soldiers and wounding one. Israel responded with strikes on Hamas positions throughout Gaza.
As I described in a prior post, the Gaza “peace agreement” was never truly “peace” but it’s still significant. Here’s how it’s playing out.
- Hamas “denied” attacking IDF positions, but the terror group also claims it had “lost contact” with its operatives in the area. So in effect, Hamas actually admits to the attacks, but essentially claims the Hamas terrorists who carried them out don’t count as the “real” Hamas — whatever that means.
- The IDF responded with strikes on Hamas positions throughout Gaza, without attempting to figure out who is the “real” Hamas and who isn’t. Israel referred to its strikes as “punishment” for violating the ceasefire, but not an actual return to combat.
- As I mentioned, President Trump seemed to accept the Hamas explanation.
So everyone is essentially conveying the same message: that some version of Hamas attacked Israel, but we’re still in a ceasefire: one that includes, well … firing.
Clever phrasing aside, there is actually a meaningful difference between the current limited strikes versus the IDF’s major combat efforts of just a few weeks ago. That difference seems to be leading the parties toward the “Lebanon Model.”
What is the Lebanon Model?
After a series of operations in which the IDF devastated the Hezbollah terror organization late last year, Israel and Lebanon entered a “ceasefire” agreement in November 2024. Under the terms of this “ceasefire” Israel retained the right to continue firing against Hezbollah as necessary.
Why?
Any agreement requires enforcement. After the Israel-Lebanon war of 2006, Israel trusted a UN peacekeeping force called “UNIFIL” to enforce that particular ceasefire.
The result? Under UNIFIL’s watchful “supervision”:
- Hezbollah positioned some 250,000 Iranian controlled rockets and missiles, aimed at Israeli communities;
- Hezbollah developed its “Radwan” force, a special commando unit designed and trained to carry out an October 7 style attack – but on a vastly larger scale; and
- Just since October 7, 2023, Hezbollah fired thousands rockets and missiles on Israelis, displacing some 60,000 residents from their homes, and killing 45 civilians, among them 12 Druze-Israeli children on a soccer field.
This is what UN “peacekeeping” looks like.
Not surprisingly, Israel finally concluded that it may not “out-contract” its security.
Indeed, since the November 2024 ceasefire, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes against Hezbollah, which are in complete compliance with the terms of the ceasefire agreement.
What is the Gaza model?
This month’s “peace” agreement in Gaza was meant to occur in essentially two phases: first, the return of all Israeli hostages (living and deceased), an Israeli pullback to certain positions (called the “yellow line”), and the release of a massive number of convicted terrorists from Israeli prisons.
The subsequent phases were described in a vague outline, with the details to be negotiated later, including: Hamas disarming, additional Israeli pullback, reconstruction in Gaza, and some kind of international force.
The relevant parties agreed to Phase 1 and on October 13, all 20 living Israeli hostages returned home. Israel fulfilled its part by ceasing combat operations, moving back to the “yellow line” and releasing convicted terrorists from Israeli prisons. Hamas, however, breached the agreement by failing to return the bodies of most deceased hostages, or even to halt its attacks on both IDF soldiers and Gaza’s civilians, as we’ve seen in the last two days.
In effect we remain in a “ceasefire,” but Israel retains the right to continue firing as Hamas continues to breach the deal.
From here there are two major possibilities:
- Gaza stabilizes, non-Hamas powers begin to take control, and Israel continues limited strikes as necessary, in other words: the Lebanon Model; or
- The parties return to full combat.
If option #2 comes to pass, there will be one major difference from before: there are no live Israeli hostages in Gaza. Israel now has the capacity to strike Hamas positions without concern for endangering the hostages’ lives, or the need to strike a deal before the hostages die from starvation and abuse.
In other words, this would be a “reboot” of Israel’s previous “Gideon’s Chariot” operation which was meant to take Gaza City and destroy Hamas, except without hostages.
As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated last month from the White House, “This can be done the easy way or it can be done the hard way, but it will be done,” a sentiment President Trump later echoed more bluntly, saying “If Hamas continues to kill people in Gaza, which was not the Deal, we will have no choice but to go in and kill them.”
Daniel Pomerantz is the CEO of RealityCheck, an organization dedicated to deepening public conversation through robust research studies and public speaking.
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Cuba Defiant After Trump Says Island to Receive No More Venezuelan Oil or Money
A view shows part of Havana as U.S.-Cuba tensions rise after U.S. President Donald Trump vowed to stop Venezuelan oil and money from reaching Cuba and suggested the communist-run island to strike a deal with Washington, in Havana, Cuba, January 11, 2026. REUTERS/Norlys Perez
US President Donald Trump on Sunday said no more Venezuelan oil or money will go to Cuba and suggested the Communist-run island should strike a deal with Washington, ramping up pressure on the long-time US nemesis and provoking defiant words from the island’s leadership.
Venezuela is Cuba’s biggest oil supplier, but no cargoes have departed from Venezuelan ports to the Caribbean country since the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro by US forces in early January amid a strict US oil blockade on the OPEC country, shipping data shows.
Meanwhile, Caracas and Washington are progressing on a $2 billion deal to supply up to 50 million barrels of Venezuelan oil to the US with proceeds to be deposited in US Treasury-supervised accounts, a major test of the emerging relationship between Trump and interim President Delcy Rodriguez.
“THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA – ZERO! I strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Sunday.
“Cuba lived, for many years, on large amounts of OIL and MONEY from Venezuela,” Trump added.
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel rejected Trump’s threat on social media, suggesting the US had no moral authority to force a deal on Cuba.
“Cuba is a free, independent, and sovereign nation. Nobody dictates what we do,” Diaz-Canel said on X. “Cuba does not attack; it has been attacked by the US for 66 years, and it does not threaten; it prepares, ready to defend the homeland to the last drop of blood.”
The US president did not elaborate on his suggested deal.
But Trump’s push on Cuba represents the latest escalation in his move to bring regional powers in line with the United States and underscores the seriousness of the administration’s ambition to dominate the Western Hemisphere.
Trump’s top officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, have made no secret of their expectation that the recent US intervention in Venezuela could push Cuba over the edge.
US officials have hardened their rhetoric against Cuba in recent weeks, though the two countries have been at odds since former leader Fidel Castro’s 1959 revolution.
CUBA DEFENDS IMPORT RIGHTS
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said in another post on X on Sunday that Cuba had the right to import fuel from any suppliers willing to export it. He also denied that Cuba had received financial or other “material” compensation in return for security services provided to any country.
Thirty-two members of Cuba’s armed forces and intelligence services were killed during the US raid on Venezuela. Cuba said those killed were responsible for “security and defense” but did not provide details on the arrangement between the two long-time allies.
Cuba relies on imported crude and fuel mainly provided by Venezuela, and Mexico in smaller volumes, purchased on the open market to keep its power generators and vehicles running.
As its operational refining capacity dwindled in recent years, Venezuela’s supply of crude and fuel to Cuba has fallen. But the South American country is still the largest provider with some 26,500 barrels per day exported last year, according to ship tracking data and internal documents of state-run PDVSA, which covered roughly 50 percent of Cuba’s oil deficit.
Havana produce vendor Alberto Jimenez, 45, said Cuba would not back down in the face of Trump’s threat.
“That doesn’t scare me. Not at all. The Cuban people are prepared for anything,” Jimenez said.
It’s hard for many Cubans to imagine a situation much worse. The island’s government has been struggling to keep the lights on. A majority live without electricity for much of the day, and even the capital Havana has seen its economy crippled by hours-long rolling blackouts.
Shortages of food, fuel and medicine have put Cubans on edge and have prompted a record-breaking exodus, primarily to the United States, in the past five years.
MEXICO BECOMES KEY SUPPLIER
Mexico has emerged in recent weeks as a critical alternative oil supplier to the island, but the supply remains small, according to the shipping data.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum last week said her country had not increased supply volumes, but given recent political events in Venezuela, Mexico had turned into an “important supplier” of crude to Cuba.
US intelligence has painted a grim picture of Cuba’s economic and political situation, but its assessments offer no clear support for Trump’s prediction that the island is “ready to fall,” Reuters reported on Saturday, citing three people familiar with the confidential assessments.
The CIA’s view is that key sectors of the Cuban economy, such as agriculture and tourism, are severely strained by frequent blackouts, trade sanctions and other problems. The potential loss of oil imports and other support from Venezuela could make governing more difficult for Diaz-Canel.
Havana resident and parking attendant Maria Elena Sabina, a 58-year-old born shortly after Castro took power, said it was time for Cuba’s leaders to make changes amid so much suffering.
“There’s no electricity here, no gas, not even liquefied gas. There’s nothing here,” Sabina said. “So yes, a change is needed, a change is needed, and quickly.”
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NATO Should Launch Operation to Boost Security in Arctic, Belgian Minister says
Belgian Defence Minister Theo Francken speaks to journalists as he arrives to an informal meeting of European Union defence ministers in Copenhagen, Denmark, August 29, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Tom Little
NATO should launch an operation in the Arctic to address US security concerns, Belgium’s defense minister told Reuters on Sunday, urging transatlantic unity amid growing European unease about US President Donald Trump’s push to take control of Greenland.
“We have to collaborate, work together and show strength and unity,” Theo Francken said in a phone interview, adding that there is a need for “a NATO operation in the high north.”
Trump said on Friday that the US needs to own Greenland to prevent Russia or China from occupying it in the future.
European officials have been discussing ways to ease US concerns about security around Greenland, an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark.
Francken suggested NATO’s Baltic Sentry and Eastern Sentry operations, which combine forces from different countries with drones, sensors and other technology to monitor land and sea, as possible models for an “Arctic Sentry.”
He acknowledged Greenland‘s strategic importance but said “I think that we need to sort this out like friends and allies, like we always do.”
A NATO spokesperson said on Friday that alliance chief Mark Rutte spoke with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio about the importance of the Arctic for shared security and how NATO is working to enhance its capabilities in the high north.
Denmark and Greenland‘s leaders have said that the Arctic island could not be annexed and international security did not justify such a move.
The US already has a military presence on the island under a 1951 agreement.
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IDF Strikes Hezbollah Weapons Sites in Lebanon After Army Denied Its Existence
Israeli strikes targeting Hezbollah’s terror infrastructure. Photo: Via i23, Photo from social media used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law.
i24 News – The Israel Defense Forces carried out airstrikes on a site in southern Lebanon that the Lebanese Army had previously declared free of Hezbollah activity, Israeli officials said on Sunday, citing fresh intelligence that contradicted Beirut’s assessment.
According to Israeli sources, the targeted location in the Kfar Hatta area contained significant Hezbollah weapons infrastructure, despite earlier inspections by the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) that concluded no military installations were present.
Lebanese officials had conveyed those findings to international monitoring mechanisms, and similar claims were reported in the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar.
Israeli intelligence assessments, however, determined that Hezbollah continued to operate from the site.
During a second wave of strikes carried out Sunday, the IDF attacked and destroyed the location.
Video footage released afterward showed secondary explosions, which Israeli officials said were consistent with stored weapons or munitions at the site.
The IDF stated that the strike was conducted in response to what it described as Hezbollah’s ongoing violations of ceasefire understandings between Israel and Lebanon. Military officials said the targeted structure included underground facilities used for weapons storage.
According to the IDF, the same site had been struck roughly a week earlier after Israel alerted the Lebanese Army to what it described as active terrorist infrastructure in the area. While the LAF conducted an inspection following the warning, Israeli officials said the weapons facilities were not fully dismantled, prompting Sunday’s follow-up strike.
The IDF said it took measures ahead of the attack to reduce the risk to civilians, including issuing advance warnings to residents in the surrounding area.
“Hezbollah’s activity at these sites constitutes a clear violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon and poses a direct threat to the State of Israel,” the military said in a statement.
Israeli officials emphasized that operations against Hezbollah infrastructure would continue as long as such threats persist, underscoring that Israel retains the right to act independently based on its own intelligence assessments.