Heavy Israeli airstrikes pounded Gaza City on Monday night after consecutive days of demolishing high-rise buildings and as hundreds of thousands of residents continued fleeing southward, Palestinian media reported. Minutes later, witnesses said Israeli tanks appeared on al-Jalaa Street in the city center, sparking a mass flight of civilians from the area. Palestinians described a “belt of fire” stretching across the city’s northwest, with footage circulating online showing Israeli forces firing illumination rounds and carrying out artillery barrages in northern Gaza. According to Gaza-based media, 37 strikes were launched within 20 minutes, some from combat helicopters. Around 10 p.m., loud blasts from the bombardment were felt in central Israel and the Sharon region. Displacement accelerated overnight as thousands fled northwest Gaza toward the coast and further south. “The road south is very crowded, traffic is slow, many families are struggling to find transport and prices have surged sharply,” residents reported. Dermer said Hamas remained interested in negotiations despite Israel’s attempted strike on its leadership in Qatar and insisted that Doha still wanted to mediate. During the meeting, Zamir also estimated that an assault to capture Gaza City could result in dozens of Israeli soldiers being killed, though he avoided giving precise figures. Netanyahu countered that most assessments showed a ground offensive would intensify pressure on Hamas and could bring the war closer to a decisive outcome. On Tuesday morning, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum requested an urgent meeting with Zamir after his warnings to the Knesset Intelligence Subcommittee about the risks of the planned operation, dubbed Operation Gideon's Chariots II. In a letter, the families expressed deep fears for their loved ones, warning that the assault could result in the deaths of living hostages or the loss of remains of those already killed. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/r1tbe18igx#autoplay New intelligence reports reveal that Hamas has strategically moved Israeli hostages above ground in Gaza City as part of a calculated effort to restrict Israeli military operations and exploit civilian casualties for international sympathy. This disturbing development represents one of the most egregious violations of international humanitarian law in the ongoing conflict. According to reports from Israel’s Kan public broadcaster, Hamas has deliberately relocated hostages from underground tunnels to residential homes and tents above ground ahead of Israel’s anticipated ground operation in Gaza City. Palestinian sources in Gaza confirmed to Kan that some hostages are being held in houses while others are confined to temporary shelters, strategically positioned to serve as human shields. Beyond the immediate physical danger, the use of hostages as human shields constitutes a form of psychological warfare against both the hostages themselves and their families. Parents like Merav Gilboa-Dalal endure the unbearable knowledge that their children are being deliberately placed in harm’s way as bargaining chips. The psychological impact extends beyond individual families to Israeli society as a whole. The knowledge that military operations to eliminate Hamas infrastructure might inadvertently harm hostages creates a paralyzing moral dilemma that Hamas exploits to maintain operational freedom and international sympathy. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Ambassador Mike Huckabee inaugurated the Pilgrimage Road, the ancient street leading to the Temple in the time of Jesus, in Jerusalem’s City of David on Monday. The 2,000-year-old road served pilgrims ascending to the Temple from the south, and has been excavated in a lengthy and controversial process, as the around 600-meter-long route runs underneath houses in the Arab-majority neighborhood of Silwan, in east Jerusalem. After years of excavation and construction, the route was opened end-to-end on Monday. “This was an event of historical and cultural importance for the Jewish People. Prime Minister Netanyahu noted at the event that it attested to the city being ours and that it would never be redivided, nor would there be a Palestinian state,” the PMO stated. “It’s one of the most important archaeological sites in the world,” Rubio stressed. “Tonight, the stones are crying out. The crowds may say it, but the stones absolutely and 100% validate that the Jewish people not only belong here now, but they have belonged here for 4,000 years since the time God said to Abraham, ‘this is yours’,” Huckabee said. Military-grade weapons are being smuggled by drone into Israel from Egypt on a daily basis and are disappearing to unknown locations around the country, warns the head of security for the Eshkol region in southern Israel. Eshkol Regional Council Security Chief Keith Ilan Isaacson said that cross-border smuggling is taking place on a daily basis, with many drones evading detection. Military correspondent Roy Sharon put the number of drones crossing into Israel from Egypt at a minimum of more than 100 a month, but it could be much higher, as there are no official estimates, he noted. In a statement to Channel 11, the IDF said it is aware of these developments “and is actively working on the matter to improve operational deterrence in the area.” The problematic border is 150 miles of mostly uninhabited rough terrain on the Israeli side. The smugglers are equipped with all-terrain vehicles that can outrun those of the army and other security forces. Even if a package is caught, the smugglers rarely are. And more troubling, no one knows where the shipments are headed. “Most probably those weapons are going to Judea and Samaria,” Isaacson surmised, adding, “There’s a lot of things we don’t know.” Smuggling of all types over both the Egyptian and Jordanian borders has plagued Israeli security for decades. Israel has diplomatic ties with both countries, which have fought together to thwart smuggling attempts. However, the use of drones has leveled up the smugglers’ capabilities. With drones, they are able to haul more and larger equipment in a shorter amount of time. They are also able to evade detection themselves – the smugglers can simply bail if the army spots the drone and arrives first. “Just last week we caught a drone with four machine guns,” Isaacson said. “Big machine guns, usually used by a bigger soldier.” All of this forebodes what Israel’s Defense and Security Forum (IDSF) warned about even before Oct. 7, 2023: The war over the land of Israel. “It seems that Bedouins and Arabs are arming themselves..." https://allisraelnews.com/israels-8th-war-front-daily-weapons-smuggling-across-egyptian-border [One hour, five minutes] 
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‘God’s promise is eternal’: PM Netanyahu, Marco Rubio & Amb Huckabee inaugurate ‘Pilgrimage Road’ in Jerusalem’s City of David:
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