Middle East Conflict: US Reportedly Holds Off Sanctioning Embattled Israeli Army Battalions

Vehicle attacked in Lebanon: Reports

Multiple outlets in Lebanon reported Friday that a strike hit a vehicle in the western Lebanon Valley. A photo published by local Israeli media shows the supposed car in flames.

Rafah invasion to happen unless Hamas agrees to ceasefire-hostage deal soon: Israel

Israeli officials who spoke with Egyptian truce mediators told the mediating delegation that Israel is prepared to give Hamas a final chance to reach a ceasefire-hostage deal. If no progress is made "soon," Israel will push through with a ground raid of Rafah, Axios political reporter Barak Ravid wrote on X Friday, citing two senior Israeli officials.

The news comes as Israel prepares to launch a ground incursion into the overcrowded southern Gaza city. The Netanyahu government has repeatedly said the raid was necessary to eliminate Hamas battalions operating from within the city.

Israel and Egypt have yet to deny or confirm the report.

Rafah raid will only trigger larger conflict: Aid group chief

Jan Egeland, the Secretary-General of the Norwegian Refugee Council, told Reuters Friday that Israel's impending ground raid of Rafah will only open the doors to a wider conflict.

"[Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu, stop this. It is a disaster not only for the Palestinians, it would be a disaster for Israel. You will have a stain on the Israeli conscience and history forever," he said.

Egypt's intel chief in Israel for hostage deal talks

A high-level delegation of Egyptian officials led by Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel, were sent to Israel Friday in hopes of restarting stalled talks to achieve a ceasefire-hostage deal in Gaza, the Associated Press reported, citing two officials.

The discussions will focus on a "new vision" for a long-term ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, but will initially discuss a limited hostage-prisoner exchange as well as the return of norther Gaza residents to their homes, one Egyptian official revealed.

US holds off sanctions on IDF units over alleged West Bank hostilities: Report

The U.S. will not yet sanction three Israeli army battalions that the Biden administration found had committed "gross human rights violations" against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank, ABC News reported Friday.

Details of the assessment and the decision to not sanction the IDF units for now were laid out in an undated letter by Blinken to House Speaker Mike Johnson and was obtained by the outlet.

Also, the units in question were still eligible to receive Washington's assistance in Israel's war against Hamas.

IDF removes debris from Iran's aerial attacks

The Israeli army on Friday morning removed debris of a surface-to-surface missile that Israel's defense system intercepted during the massive aerial attacks launched by Iran toward Israel on April 13.

The process of removing the debris was "complex" but the clearing operation was a success with help from the Israel Air Force (IAF) and the Home Front Command, the IDF said.

Former senior IDF intel official calls out Yoav Gallant for Hezbollah statements

Raphael Jerusalmy, a former senior official in the Israeli army's intelligence unit, told local i24 News in an interview published Friday that he wasn't particularly a fan of the way Israeli Defense Minister Gallant's revelations about Israeli deterrence on Hezbollah. In fact, he believes "there's absolutely no effect of deterrence despite all the heavy strikes of the IDF" toward Hezbollah posts in the past weeks.

He explained that this is due to the fact that the Iranian-backed paramilitary organization, which is much larger and with more weapons than Hamas, continues to fire toward northern Israel and IDF bases.

Gallant said Wednesday that half of Hezbollah's southern Lebanon brigade commanders have been assassinated. For Jerusalmy, the "bragging, threatening" should be left to the militants since it's what they're known for.

"I don't think Israelis should have that kind of tone of speech," he argued, adding that he doesn't believe "it's the right thing to come and say that we've succeeded where we haven't."

Blinken urges China to use its influence to 'calm tensions' in Middle East

The U.S. Secretary of State on Friday urged China, the world's second-largest economy, to use its influence in the Middle East to "calm tensions" in the area and "to prevent escalation, avoid the spread of the conflict."

He also revealed that Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has agreed to communicate with Washington continuously regarding the Middle East conflict.

US State Department's Arabic language spokesperson resigns

Hala Rharrit, the U.S. State Department's Arabic language spokesperson, has resigned from her position as the Biden administration continues to support Israel in its battle against Hamas, albeit with emerging differences regarding the IDF's military offensive in the devastated Palestinian territory.

"I resigned April 2024 after 18 years of distinguished service in opposition to the United States' Gaza policy," Rharrit wrote on LinkedIn as per multiple outlets.

Israeli army intensifies Rafah strikes ahead of looming raid

The Israeli army on Friday intensified bombardment of Rafah, a southern Gaza city that has become home to more than a million Palestinians since the war started, multiple outlets reported.

Israel is preparing to enter the city despite warnings from the international community, including its ally, the U.S., regarding a ground raid of Rafah having dire consequences to the civilian population in the overcrowded city.

Hostages' loved ones demand hostage deal in front of Israeli minister's house

The loved ones and supporters of hostages still being held in Gaza by Hamas and other Palestinian factions on Friday staged a protest outside Gantz's house, saying that "if there is no deal, leave the government," Israel's national broadcaster Kan reported.

Protests for hostages have intensified this week after Hamas published a video of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, one of the abductees during the Palestinian terror group's Oct. 7 massacre in Israel. The video shows that Goldberg-Polin's left arm has been amputated.

Famine still imminent in northern Gaza: Deputy WFP chief

Skau said the northern part of Gaza is still headed toward famine and Israel needs to be more consistent in the way it processes humanitarian aid trucks seeking entry into the Gaza Strip.

"We certainly welcome those commitments and some of them have been partly implemented, he said, but "it's far from enough" since the war-torn territory needs "volume and we need diversity of goods and we really need consistency."

Houthis fire missile toward Gulf of Aden: CENTCOM

The Yemeni rebel militia on Thursday morning fired an ASBC toward the Gulf of Aden, the U.S. military said Friday. There were no injuries or damage reported by coalition forces and merchant ships in the area.

In the afternoon of Thursday, CENTCOM forces successfully engaged and destroyed an unmanned surface vessel (USV) and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in Houthi-held areas of Yemen, CENTCOM added.

The U.S. and its allies have been intercepting and destroying Houthi paramilitary assets in the Red and Arabian Seas and the Gulf of Aden since November that posed a threat to commercial shipping lanes and coalition maritime assets in Middle Eastern waters.

Egypt renews mediation efforts for Gaza ceasefire: Report

Egypt, a major mediator alongside Qatar in discussions for a ceasefire in Gaza has reached out to Israel for follow-up talks, Reuters reported late Thursday, citing two Egyptian security sources.

There were remote and in-person meetings between U.S., Israeli and Egyptian officials Wednesday that aimed to break weeks of stalled talks for a truce that could free more hostages and allow more aid to enter the Gaza Strip, as per the report.

Egypt's renewed efforts to push for a ceasefire agreement came after Egyptian mediators reportedly deemed that Israel had shown more willingness to allow displaced northern Gaza residents to return.

Israeli civilian killed in Hezbollah missile attack

An Israeli civilian identified by local media as Sharif Suad has died as a result of wounds he sustained after an anti-tank missile attack by Iran-backed Hezbollah in the Mount Dov area near the Israeli-Lebanese border Thursday night, the IDF said Friday.

The Israeli army said Suad was carrying out "infrastructure activity" in the area when the missile struck.