Israeli embassies on high alert, IDF chief warns of Iran retaliation

On Thursday, residents in the central region of Israel reported GPS disruptions in location-based applications such as Waze, Google Maps, and Moovit.

According to the reports, the location displayed is in Lebanon's capital city, Beirut. Similar GPS disruptions have occurred since the beginning of Israel's war with Hamas, experienced by many residents of Israel's northern and southern regions.

Another report claimed that the location displayed on mobile devices was in the Egyptian capital of Cairo.

IDF soldiers have continued strikes in both Gaza and Lebanon, resulting in the elimination of both an armed terrorist cell in central Gaza and key terrorist infrastructure near the Southern Lebanon village of Kfarkela, the IDF said on Thursday morning.

In central Gaza, IDF troops identified the armed terrorist cell inside a building. They immediately targeted the structure with a fighter jet and an IAF aircraft, resulting in both the cell's elimination and the destruction of the terrorist infrastructure.

While in Southern Lebanon, IAF fighter jets struck both Hezbollah launch posts and other terrorist infrastructure in the areas of Khiam and Kfarkela.

Further IDF action in Gaza

Further IDF action in Gaza has occurred in the area of Al Amal in Khan Yunis,  where IDF troops eliminated several terrorists and located weapons.

The US military said on Wednesday that it destroyed one inbound anti-ship ballistic missile and two drones launched by Iranian-backed Houthis from Yemen toward the Red Sea.

US Central Command said no injuries or damage was reported.

"Additionally, during this timeframe CENTCOM forces destroyed a mobile surface-to-air missile system in Houthi controlled territory," it said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Hezbollah fired an anti-tank missile at Metula in Israel's North late Wednesday night, prompting rocket sirens. No one was reported killed or wounded.

The fire came shortly after sirens sounded in the Gaza border area following the launch of two rockets toward the city of Sderot. One was intercepted, and the other landed in an open area.  

The United States said on Wednesday that establishing an independent Palestinian state should happen through direct negotiations between the parties and not at the United Nations.

The Palestinian Authority on Tuesday asked for renewed consideration of a 2011 application to become a full member of the United Nations. It currently has de facto recognition of the sovereign state of Palestine after the United Nations granted it the status of a non-member observer state in 2012.

The position of the US, Israel's most important ally, mirrors the Israeli stance on the issue.

An application to become a full US member needs to be approved by the 15-member US Security Council - where the United States can cast a veto - and then at least two-thirds of the 193-member General Assembly.

The United States is open to removing the Ansar Allah movement, more commonly known as the Houthis, from its list of designated terrorist organizations if the Iranian-backed jihadist group ceases its attacks on cargo ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. 

The Houthis are currently holding captive the 25 crew members of the Japanese cargo ship the Galaxy Leader, which the group hijacked in November. 

Tim Lenderking, the United States special envoy for Yemen, said to reporters on Wednesday that releasing the sailors would "show good faith" and an "intent to de-escalate" on the part of the Houthis, according to Bloomberg News.

The United States, Britain and France on Wednesday opposed a Russian-drafted UN Security Council statement that would have condemned an attack on Iran's embassy compound in Syria, which Tehran has blamed on Washington's ally Israel.

Press statements by the 15-member council have to be agreed by consensus. Diplomats said the US, backed by France and Britain, told council colleagues that many of the facts of what happened on Monday in Damascus remained unclear and there was no consensus among council members during a meeting on Tuesday.

"This serves as a clear illustration of the double standards employed by the Western 'troika' and their actual, rather than declarative, approach to legality and order in the international context," Russia's deputy UN Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy said in a post on X.

Politicians from the Liberal Democrats Party and the Scottish National Party as well as a former UK national security adviser are pressuring United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to suspend arms sales to Israel, British media reported on Wednesday. 

The pressure came after an Israeli airstrike mistakenly killed seven aid workers in Gaza, including some British nationals.

Last week, before the strike, a group of more than 130 Members of Parliament from multiple parties, and peers, reportedly wrote to Foreign Secretary David Cameron calling for an immediate suspension of export licenses for arms sales to Israel.

A US district court in DC found Iran and Syria liable for the 2018 death of American Ari Fuld who was fatally stabbed by a Hamas terrorist in the West Bank, according to court documents obtained by the Jerusalem Post. 

Judge Royce Lamberth determined Iran and Syria owe Fuld's family a total of $191 million for their material support of Hamas. 

On Sept. 16, 2018, Fuld was shopping in the Gush Etzion Junction in the West Bank when he was targeted by a Hamas terrorist wielding an eight-inch blade, court documents said. After stabbing Fuld multiple times in the back and neck, the teenage terrorist attempted to harm a woman at a nearby shop. However, Fuld managed to chase and shoot the terrorist, according to court documents. 

On Wednesday night Cent Com said it conducted a combined humanitarian assistance aid drop into Gaza with the Royal Jordanian Air Force, according to a Cent Com post on X. 

Cent Com said the food was provided by Jordan and the airplanes were American.