Israel-Hamas War Day 193: What's going on in Gaza, Lebanon?

Six rockets struck the northern Israeli city of Kiryat Shmona during the barrage there Tuesday night, and two fell in open areas nearby. There were no casualties.

Some damage was done to infrastructure and property, including several vehicles damaged by shrapnel.

The US State Department will ask Israel for more information about the January death of 6-year-old Palestinian Hind Rajab in Gaza, spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Tuesday, calling for a full investigation into the matter after a Washington Post report cast doubt on Israel's earlier explanation.

The terrified girl trapped in a car in Gaza with her dead family had begged for help in a phone call to rescuers, in which gunfire could be heard as she described Israeli forces drawing near.

Israeli ambulance service Magen David Adom (MDA) has established community-based emergency response teams that will provide medical treatment to wounded individuals when terrorists block access to hospitals, they announced on Tuesday. 

The initiative, known as the Magen Project, was designed to address future military-style terror attacks.  

The emergency response teams were developed in the wake of both the mass Iranian aerial attack and Hamas’s October 7 attack – in which terrorists murdered over 1200 people and kidnapped over 250 more.  

The Israel Air Force attacked a three-story building in Rafah on Tuesday night, killing seven and wounding several others, Israeli media reported early Wednesday morning.

New sanctions targeting Iran and sanctions against entities supporting the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Iran's Defense Ministry will be imposed in the coming days, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said in a statement on Tuesday evening. 

"Following Iran's unprecedented air attack against Israel, President Biden is coordinating with allies and partners, including the G7, and with bipartisan leaders in Congress, on a comprehensive response," Sullivan said. 

It's anticipated that US allies and partners will soon be following with their own sanctions, according to the statement.

Sullivan said the White House continues to work through the Department of Defense and US Central Command to "further strengthen and expand" the successful integration of air and missile defense and early warning systems across the Middle East to "further erode the effectiveness of Iran's missile and UAV capabilities."

(JTA) – The artist representing Israel at one of the world’s foremost contemporary art exhibitions is shutting down her exhibit until a deal for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages is reached.

Ruth Patir, whom Israel selected as its official representative at the Venice Biennale, closed her country’s pavilion on Tuesday with her artwork fully installed inside. To the door she affixed a note reading, “The artist and curators of the Israeli pavilion will open the exhibition when a ceasefire and hostage release agreement is reached.” 

Protests in the art world over Israel’s war with Hamas have become commonplace since Oct. 7, and some artists unsuccessfully pushed for Israel’s exclusion from the Biennale because of the war. Patir’s action is unusual because she is an Israeli publicly rebuking her government on the world stage.

The US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Wednesday its forces successfully engaged two unmanned aerial (UAV) vehicles in areas controlled by Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen on April 16.

"There were no injuries or damage reported by US, coalition, or commercial ships," CENTCOM said in a statement.

The IDF on Tuesday announced it had assassinated a senior Hezbollah commander for the Lebanon coastal region, equivalent to the rank of an Israeli brigade commander.

According to the IDF, Ismail Yusef Baz had served for decades with Hezbollah in a variety of posts before becoming coastal commander.

Among his various roles was managing both rocket and anti-tank missile attacks from the coastal region into Israel.

In addition, Baz masterminded various terror operations against Israel.

Baz continues the list of close to a dozen senior Hezbollah officials whom Israel has killed during the war, with a smaller number of those being as high as the rank of brigade commander.

A drone carries a Hezbollah flag, May 21, 2023 (credit: REUTERS/AZIZ TAHER)

The attack also comes following Iran's failed attempt to strike Israel with around 350 aerial threats and as Jerusalem contemplates the severity of its expected response.

Two explosive drones from Lebanon fall in Israeli territory 

The IDF has decided how it will counter-strike Iran and its proxies but has not yet settled on the timing; multiple sources told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday.

Because the timing is still variable and because of all the necessary complex preparations, the current decision could change.

However, the very development of a decision shows the severity and determination of Israel’s leadership to strike back, though all indications are that Jerusalem still seeks to tamp down the attack to avoid spiraling into a regional war.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi hinted that the timing of the attack was not very imminent during a visit to the Arrow air defense battery of Battalion 136.

He said, “We are enabling a home front policy to at least give citizens this Passover week to live almost like normal because we completely trust you and your readiness.”

IRAN’S SUPREME Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei waves during a prayer marking the end of Ramadan, in Tehran, in April. (credit: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/West Asia News Agency/Reuters)

It is also possible that Halevi, Home Front command policies, and other officials keeping their regular schedules are part of a clever fake-out to get Iran and its proxies to lower their guard.

It has been a problem for years, which spiked in February 2023 and has again spiked repeatedly during the current war. Though Palestinian terror against Israel is immeasurably larger than Jewish terror against Palestinians, the IDF and law enforcement are weak on cracking down on whatever limited Jewish terror there is.

Since the weekend, there have been at least three significant incidents. While the IDF or the police are both said to be investigating, it is unclear what efforts were made to prevent Jewish extremists’ actions, and the follow-up to date appears ineffective as usual.

In contrast to the battlefield, where the IDF has robust, if imperfect, mechanisms for reviewing errors or rogue actions against Palestinian civilians, preventing or prosecuting Jewish attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank often falls into a black hole or limbo area of sorts.

Over Friday and Saturday,  the IDF said dozens of Jews and Palestinians had been injured in altercations in the West Bank following the Palestinian terrorist murder of 14-year-old shepherd Binyamin Achimair.

Though he was murdered on Friday, his death was only confirmed Saturday afternoon, with the subsequent violence between Jewish extremists and Palestinians being declared the largest battle in the area not involving IDF forces since February 2023.

In February 2023, dozens or more extremist Jews burned large swaths of Palestinian property in Huwara in the West Bank, injured a number of Palestinians, and killed at least one Palestinian.

Israeli soldiers near the scene of a shooting, near the West Bank settlement of Shavei Shomron, on October 11, 2022 (credit: NASSER ISHTAYEH/FLASH90)

The IDF said it had significantly beefed up its forces in the area to try to maintain order. Still, it was on a significant delay after multiple rounds of attempts by Jewish extremists to take revenge on nearby Palestinian villages. However, these extremists did not have any specific information about who might have committed the murder.