GNITN - Special Edition

Israel At War – Day 288

Israel Hits Houthis

Quid Pro Quo

Yesterday the Houthi rebels in Yemen sent a drone that attacked Tel Aviv. The Israel Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant vowed Israel would respond and we read in an article from The Times Of Israel that they did respond:

Israel’s attack in Yemen today “makes it clear to our enemies that there is no place that the long arm of Israel will not reach,” says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a video statement released on Saturday evening, shortly after the end of Shabbat. He praises the IDF and the IAF for “a determined, precise and successful operation. It struck targets 1,700 kilometers from our borders,” he notes.

Netanyahu made it clear about anyone attacking Israel in the future:

“I have a message for Israel’s enemies – don’t be mistaken about us,” Netanyahu says, a day before he is scheduled to fly to Washington DC. “We will protect ourselves in every way, on every front. Anyone who harms us will pay a very heavy price for his aggression.”

He then called for the rest of the world help address the evil they face:

Netanyahu also calls on the international community to enhance its measures against Iran and its proxies: “Anyone who wishes to see a stable and safe Middle East needs to stand against Iran’s axis of evil, and support Israel’s fight against Iran and its proxies – in Yemen, in Gaza, in Lebanon, everywhere.”

The PM made it clear that the counter attack was a response to the attack on Tel Aviv and explained that the port they hit wasn’t random:

Netanyahu underscores that the strike on the al-Hudaydah port, which was used by the Houthis as an entry point for its weapons supplies, was a “direct response” to Friday’s deadly drone attack in Tel Aviv launched by the Houthis in Yemen in which an Israeli citizen was killed, and to the Houthis’ “aggression against Israel since the start of the war.”

“The port we attacked is not an innocent port,” Netanyahu emphasizes. “It was used for military purposes, it was used as an entry point for deadly weapons supplied to the Houthis by Iran. And they used that weaponry to attack Israel, to attack the states of the region, and to attack some of the world’s most important shipping lanes.”

He also briefly mentioned that the Houthis are far from innocent:

“For the past eight months,” Netanyahu says, “the Houthis have launched hundreds of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones against Israel.”

Netanyahu then said he was grateful for help in fighting the rebels and encouraged more people to help in the fight against terrorism:

Netanyahu thanks the US and other countries for their help in intercepting Houthi projectiles throughout this period.

“Like Hamas and Hezbollah,” says Netanyahu, “the Houthis are an integral part of Iran’s axis of evil. This axis works not only against Israel; it threatens the peace of the entire world.

“And Israel expects the international community to increase its efforts against Iran and its proxies, to thwart Iran’s aggression and to protect international freedom of navigation.”

IDF Provides Evidence

While the IDF continues to complain about how Hamas delays proof of Mohammed Deif being taken out in an attack, they released proof of their own as seen in an article from the Jewish News Syndicate:

According to telephone conversations recorded by the IDF, people inside Gaza are praising the deaths of Hamas “military” leader Mohammed Deif and his deputy Rafa’a Salameh, who were targeted by an IDF airstrike on July 13

The deputy was confirmed dead right after the strike, but Deif’s condition appears to be hidden as if to soften the blow. The US though feels Deif is pushing up daisies:

While Salameh’s death has been confirmed by Israel, Deif’s has not. However, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew has stated in public that there are “indications” that the latter is in fact dead.

The audio footage has people praising Deif’s death and even hoping that Yahya Sinwar is also killed:

In the recordings, which were published on Thursday evening Israel time, and then later shared on X, people are overheard praising Deif’s death in Arabic and saying they hope Israel will kill Hamas leader in Gaza Yahya Sinwar as well.

Not only do the recording confirm Deif’s demise it also shows that not everyone wants Hamas to survive:

Col. Avichay Adraee the IDF spokesperson for Arabic media, published the recordings on X and said: “These original voices from deep within the Gaza Strip indicate the feelings of the residents of the Strip towards the leaders of Hamas and their wishes for their elimination so that the war will end.”

While the recordings do not prove that Deif died in the airstrike, it shows that there are at least some people in Gaza who are against the leadership of Hamas and wish for the war to end.

More videos online seem to confirm those feelings:

Other posts on social media show videos of boys from the Strip who also ask that the IDF finish off Hamas and take out Sinwar.

There is no concrete evidence of Deif’s death, but these recordings point to it and that Hamas is hiding it since it would be a huge blow to their cause with some even say it would put the last nail in their coffin:

No Israeli leader has yet officially said that Deif is dead as there has been no evidence of his body discovered in the ruins of the building that was struck, nor has Hamas made any claim confirming his death. On the contrary, according to a report in the Associated Press, a spokesperson for Hamas told the press agency on Sunday, the day after the attack, that Deif is in good health.

Two Weeks Away

In a report from The Times Of Israel we learn that the US Secretary of State thinks that Iran is very close to having nuclear weapons:

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday warned Iran can now produce the necessary fissile material for an atomic bomb in as little as a week or two, but has yet to take steps to assemble a weapon.

While having the material is important, it’s not like they can’t assemble weapons for it. Reform to guarantee the nuclear material will only be used for commercial reasons isn’t likely:

Speaking at the Aspen Security Forum, Blinken indicated he was not optimistic about the chances for reform in Iran despite the recent election of a relatively more moderate candidate, as Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is still the one who “calls the shots.”

“When this administration came in, we tried to pursue again, nuclear diplomacy with Iran, because if you could at least take one problem off the board, which is Iran potentially with a nuclear weapon, that’s inherently a good thing,” he said.

The Secretary of State then rebutted President Trump’s assertions in his RNC acceptance speech:

Blinken blasted Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, which the former president defended in his speech to the Republican National Convention Thursday night, saying Tehran “was broke” when he was in office but is now “very close to having a nuclear weapon.” Blinken, however, seemed to argue it was Trump’s approach that led to Iran being on the cusp of nuclear breakout capabilities.

“Instead of being at least a year away from having the breakout capacity of producing fissile material for a nuclear weapon, it is now probably one or two weeks away from doing that,” he said, clarifying that Iran has not yet produced a weapon itself, which would take far more time.

Israel won’t let Iran get those nuclear weapons and Blinken agrees:

Blinken reiterated that the US would not allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon, adding the administration still prefers a diplomatic route to preventing this scenario.

“What we need to see, if Iran is serious about engaging, is actually pulling back on the work that it’s been doing on his program.”

“Second, we have been maximizing pressure on Iran across the board. We’ve imposed more than 600 sanctions on Iranian persons and entities. We haven’t lifted a single sanction,” he asserted.

But have they enforced them? That’s the question Blinken won’t answer. The report addressed that Iran’s intentions are not good:

Since the collapse of the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers following the US’s unilateral withdrawal from the accord in 2018, Iran has pursued nuclear enrichment just below weapons-grade levels. Western powers say there is no credible civilian reason for that. Iran says its aims are entirely peaceful, but officials have recently said the Islamic republic could change its “nuclear doctrine” if it is attacked or its existence is seen as threatened by Israel. That has prompted alarm at the International Atomic Energy Agency and in Western capitals.

Still the US wants to trust Iran again:

Reports last month before the presidential election indicated Iran’s leadership was considering whether to go ahead with producing a nuclear weapon. Iranian president-elect Masoud Pezeshkian, who Blinken referred to Friday, has called for “constructive relations” with Western countries to “get Iran out of its isolation” and favors reviving the 2015 deal.

Prime Minister Netanyahu however is working with the international community to keep Iran from getting nuclear weapons:

Amid recent concerns, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was said to reestablish a series of working groups last month to deal with Iran’s nuclear program.