According to AXIOS: About half of the Democratic members of the House of Representatives and about half of the Democratic members of the Senate did not attend Netanyahu’s speech. The other half applauded for four minutes as he entered Congress. Once again, the US was not united on the Israel-Hamas issue.
Benjamin Netanyahu to Congress: We are witnessing a clash of civilisations. We will win! Israel and the US must stand united against barbarism: if we stand united, we will win. I promise you, we will win. Netanyahu on the ammunition crisis with the US: ‘Give us the tools we need faster and we will win’.
Kamala Harris has already received a letter from the Jewish lobby in the US for welcoming Volodymyr Zelensky to Congress rather than Benjamin Netanyahu. Wall Street closed with its worst day since December 2022.
According to Israel’s Channel 14, ‘According to the information we received from the delegation and what we know, Netanyahu has received full legitimacy in the US to wage war in Lebanon. It is expected that when he arrives in the country he will go to Kirya (an area in the centre of Tel Aviv consisting of the city’s military base) and from there he will start the war in Lebanon’.
There are also problems for Israelis abroad: the day before the opening of the Paris Olympics, Foreign Minister Israel Katz told the French Foreign Minister: ‘We have assessments that terrorist affiliates of Iran and other terrorist organisations are trying to carry out attacks against members of the Israeli delegation and Israeli tourists.
On the hostage crisis in Gaza, the Israeli army, acting on new intelligence, has found the bodies of five more hostages, including at least one soldier. These are the bodies of murdered hostage Maya Goren and the fallen soldiers Staff Sergeant (Res.) Oren Goldin, Staff Sergeant Tomer Ahimas and Sergeant Kiril Brodski in Khan Yunis. The rescue was carried out yesterday by ISA and IDF soldiers from the Commando Brigade, the ‘Yahalom’ Unit and the Egoz Unit under the command of the 98th Division.
On 25 July, as he does every Thursday, Commander Abdul Malik Badr al-Din al-Houthi spoke live about developments in Gaza and regional developments. The Mujahideen in Gaza were able to hit and destroy 500 Israeli tanks, a large number, as well as other vehicles. The Israeli army gives an official statistic of 9,250 wounded among its soldiers, and the number may be small compared to the realistic figure’.
And again Abdulmalik Badr al-Din al-Houthi says: ‘The signing of an agreement by the Palestinian factions in China is very important to improve the state of cooperation. It helps and confronts the enemy and is a step towards ending the divisions’. He then spoke of Hezbollah: ‘Hezbollah operations have been intense this week in northern Palestine and the Golan, targeting new settlements to expand the scope of operations. Hezbollah released a new recording showing the reconnaissance of a Hudhud aircraft at the Ramat airbase in full detail, without the enemy being able to detect or target the aircraft. Sego that: The Israeli enemy was unable to protect the airspace of a military airbase, which shows Israel’s inability and great weakness.
Then Abdulmalik Badr al-Din spoke about the Islamic Resistance in Iraq: ‘He announced the implementation of several operations in Haifa and Eliat with the new and advanced Arqab missile. The course of Yemeni joint operations with the Iraqi resistance will witness an important development, last weekend we launched the fifth phase of escalation in the Jaffa operation in occupied Jaffa. The Jaffa drone covered a distance of over 2,200 km, penetrating all the walls and cordons where the enemy takes refuge from its protectors and those who recruit to support it. Targeting ‘Tel Aviv’ means that occupied Palestine no longer has a safe place for Israelis’.
Finally, he reiterated: ‘The Israeli aggression in Hodeidah will have no deterrent effect to prevent operations in support of Gaza, and the Israelis know this’.
And now a look at the escalating situation between Israel – Hamas – Hezbollah until 3.00 pm. According to an IDF release, the commander of the Israeli air force met with the heads of local authorities in the north. General Tomer Bar, together with other commanders of the IAF and the Northern Command, met with the heads of the local authorities at the ‘Ramat David’ airbase.
Bar: ‘We are ready for war. The Israeli Air Force is fully responsible for carrying out all operational plans. And there will be a knockout blow, as deadly as possible, against an enemy we know, and there will be surprises. Who was the target of the strike against the Houthis? It was the whole Middle East, both Nasrallah and Iran. I will tell you that throughout the war we have maintained and are maintaining the capability that if war breaks out in the north and with Iran, we will be all in. Nine months and we will be ‘all in’, we will never let our guard down because we understand justice and I am leaving here after the conversation with you has strengthened, we are ready.
Hezbollah issued a statement saying it had fired anti-aircraft missiles at Israeli planes at low altitude, forcing them to leave Lebanese airspace. According to al-Mayadeen TV: A surface-to-air missile was fired at an Israeli fighter jet that violated Lebanese airspace.
Two anti-tank missiles hit Shatula in northern Israel, one of which damaged a kindergarten in the village. Another anti-tank missile hit Kibbutz Menara, causing no injuries. Three rockets fell in an open-air car park, but there were no casualties. Morning total: The IDF responded by striking targets in southern Lebanon.
The IDF clarifies: During the night (Wednesday), the IAF struck Hezbollah infrastructure in the areas of Odaisseh, Meiss El Jabal and Chihine in southern Lebanon. In addition, the IDF targeted Hezbollah military sites in the Khiam area.
Between the night of 24 July and the early afternoon of 25 July, sirens went off in Malkia, Hanita, Kibbutz Bar’am and Yir’on, Rehaniya and Kerem Ben Zimra in northern Israel.
IDF forces continue to operate in the areas of Khan Yunis, Rafah and the central Gaza Strip. In recent days, during IDF operations against Hamas infrastructure and operatives in the Khan Yunis area, troops eliminated dozens of Hamas operatives and dismantled approximately 50 terrorist infrastructure sites.
The IDF continues to operate in the Rafah area. During an incident in the area, IDF forces identified two Hamas operatives and ordered an IAF aircraft to eliminate them. The IDF continued its operational activity in the central Gaza Strip, in coordination with the IAF, Hamas infrastructure was dismantled by IDF forces. On 24 July, the IAF struck over 60 terrorist targets throughout the Gaza Strip, including military sites and infrastructure used by Hamas.
The Al-Qassam Brigades claimed to have hit a Merkava tank with a ‘Shawaz’ device in the Sheikh Nasser area of the city of Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip. The Al-Aqsa Brigades claimed to have targeted Israeli soldiers and vehicles with mortar fire in the Al-Taqaddum axis, north-east of Khan Yunis. The Al-Qassam Brigades Mujahideen, in coordination with the Al-Quds Brigades Mujahideen, claimed the destruction of an enemy forces’ position near the Al-Zalal Mosque, east of the city of Khan Yunis, using large calibre mortar shells.
According to the IDF, two soldiers were wounded in a shooting attack near the West Bank village of Nabi Ilyas on 25 January. The soldiers were patrolling Highway 55 at the time of the attack. One soldier was moderately wounded and the second is in satisfactory condition. The third soldier was treated at the scene for minor injuries. The IDF says it is searching for militants and is reinforcing its forces in the area and surrounding Palestinian towns.
Hamasi’s men fired from a passing vehicle at IDF soldiers securing a passage through the area. The soldiers were evacuated to hospital.
Antonio Albanese e Graziella Giangiulio
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