Israel at war: latest news and analysis

Published: 15 October 2024

Last updated: 15 October 2024

War in the north: Israeli soldiers, UN peacekeepers and Hezbollah fighters killed

Since late last week:

Four soldiers were killed and dozens wounded in a Hezbollah drone strike on an IDF base on Sunday. The army is investigating why no sirens were sounded and why interception attempts failed.
Four UN peacekeepers were wounded by Israeli troops in two separate incidents, sparking strong international backlash. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called on the UN to remove its forces from harm’s way, but the UN says peacekeepers will remain in position.
More than 300 rockets were fired at Israel by Hezbollah during Yom Kippur. Three people were lightly hurt by rocket fire and another 12 while running to shelters. One Hezbollah drone hit a retirement home in Herzliya late Friday, causing damage but no injuries.
Israel struck 280 terror targets and killed 50 Hezbollah fighters.
Israel published footage showing how Hezbollah is storing weapons inside civilian homes.

Gaza: evacuations and food aid blocked in northern Gaza

The Israeli military is carrying out a widespread operation in northern Gaza:

Israel has told Gazans living in the ‘D5’ area of northern Gaza to move south to the humanitarian zone. Hamas told northern Gazans not to move. It said the south is just as dangerous and they will not be allowed back.
The World Food Program says no food has entered northern Gaza since the start of October, putting one million people at risk of starvation.
Commentators have accused Israel of beginning the “surrender or starve” plan proposed by former Israeli generals earlier this month. In a phone call on Sunday, Israeli Minister of Defence Yoav Gallant told US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin Israel would not implement the plan.
Israeli security officials have accused the government of neglecting hostage negotiations with Hamas, instead prolonging the war as part of a possible plan to seize and resettle part of the Strip. Netanyahu has denied any plan to annex Gaza.
European countries have expressed concern that Israel is trying to bring about the collapse of the UN’s aid organisation for Palestinians. "Israel has justified criticism against UNRWA", a Western diplomat said. "But if Israel brings about the collapse of this organization, it must present a convincing alternative" or else it will be left responsible for thousands of Palestinians.

Responding to Iran: Israel says it won’t attack nuclear targets

The Middle East is still bracing for Israel’s response to the Iranian attack on October 1:

Netanyahu has informed the US that Israel will not attack oil or nuclear facilities when it responds Iran’s October 1 missile attack.
Iran has warned it will retaliate against Israel and the US has sent a missile interceptor system to Israel in preparation for Iran's response.
US Vice President Kamala Harris said “all options are on the table” to prevent Iran from going nuclear, a phrase that is understood as encompassing potential military action.
Israel’s Property Tax Authority estimated the Iran strike caused losses to civilian property of up to $53 million, making it the most severe missile attack on Israel since the Israel-Hamas war began.

West Bank: extremist attacks as oil harvest begins

Palestinian olive growers in the West Bank have faced numerous incidents of violence by extremist settlers in the last two weeks, since the beginning of the harvest season, the Yesh Din organisation reported.
Security service officials have accused Avishai Mualem, commander of the police's central unit for Judea and Samaria of failing to acknowledge or act against increased Jewish terror in the West Bank, complaining that he “sounds like [extremist Itamar] Ben-Gvir”.

ANALYSIS

A regional war is brewing in the Middle East, and the US has no strategy (Zvi Bar’el, Haaretz)
Since last October, the Biden administration has failed to implement a consistent policy. While the world waits for an Israeli attack in Iran and things escalate on the Lebanese front, the Americans appear like mere advisers.

Israel is finding Hezbollah's next move hard to predict, just like its lethal drones (Allison Kaplan Sommer, Haaretz)
Reading Hezbollah is a challenging task these days. While eliminating its top tier of commanders has clearly damaged the organization, it also makes its moves harder to detect and predict – along with its wider strategy.

As US presses for Lebanon ceasefire, what might Israel's security list include? (Yonah Jeremy Bob, Jerusalem Post)
Defence sources listed potential terms that Israel may demand to agree to a ceasefire with Hezbollah.

READ MORE

Lebanon

Four soldiers killed, dozens wounded in Hezbollah drone strike on IDF base (Haaretz)

Israel firing on UN peacekeepers in Lebanon raises international alarm (Axios)

US urges Israel to quickly pivot from military offensive to diplomacy in Lebanon (Times of Israel)

Gaza

After mulling siege plan, Israel ramps up military push in northern Gaza (CNN)

Israeli attack on northern Gaza hints at retired general's 'surrender or starve' plan for war (BBC)

Military officials said to accuse government of seeking Gaza annexation over hostage deal (Times of Israel)

Israel won't impose "starvation plan" in Gaza, defence minister tells US (Axios)

European, Arab countries concerned over Israeli actions against UNRWA (Haaretz)

Iran