Statement by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, this evening (Wednesday, 31 July 2024), at the Kirya in Tel Aviv [translated from Hebrew]: “Dear citizens of Israel, good evening. Since the beginning of the war, I have made it clear that we are in a fight against Iran’s axis of evil. This is an existential war against a stranglehold of terrorist armies and missiles that Iran would like to tighten around our neck. In my address to Congress several days ago, I noted that the three main arms of this axis of evil are Hamas, the Houthis and Hezbollah, the three H’s. We have recently struck crushing blows on each one. Three weeks ago, we attacked the Hamas chief-of-staff, Muhammad Deif.

Beginning Thursday, United Airlines, Delta Airlines and British Airways have canceled all further flghts to and from Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Iranian media outlets are reporting that one of Hamas leader Ismail Hanieyh’s bodyguards is the one who conveyed information to the operatives who eliminated him. The reports added that the missile fired at Haniyeh was not only fired from within Iran but was fired from a nearby building. The operatives launched an Israeli-made Spike short-range missile into the room where  Haniyeh was staying at an IRCG “guest house” in northern Tehran. According to the reports, it is possible that more than one of Hanieyh’s bodyguards assisted the “operatives’ in the elimination. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

Hamas chief Ismael Haniyeh has been assassinated in Iran, according to a statement from the Iran Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) aired on Press TV. According to initial reports, Haniyeh was killed along with his bodyguard at his home in Tehran. Further details were not immediately available. Hamas confirmed that Haniyeh is dead. The terror leader had been in Iran to participate in the swearing-in ceremony of the country’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian. Press TV, which reported the news, is an Iranian state-owned news network that broadcasts in the English and French languages owned by Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, the only organization legally able to transmit radio and TV broadcasts in Iran. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)  

The IDF has announced that in a targeted, intelligence-based operation, Israeli Air Force fighter jets eliminated the Hezbollah terrorist organization’s most senior military commander and the head of its Strategic Unit, Fuad Shukr “Sayyid Muhsan”, in the area of Beirut. Fuad served as Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah’s right-hand man and was Nasrallah’s adviser for planning and directing wartime operations. Fuad Shukr has directed Hezbollah’s attacks on the State of Israel since October 8th, and he was the commander responsible for the murder of the 12 children in Majdal Shams in northern Israel on Saturday evening, as well as the killing of numerous Israelis and foreign nationals over the years.

Israel’s military said Tuesday it carried out a strike on Beirut targeting the terror commander allegedly behind the deaths of 12 children and teens in a rocket attack on the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights over the weekend. “Hezbollah crossed a red line,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant posted on the platform X shortly after Tuesday’s strike. The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not immediately release a statement, but minutes after the strike sent a photo of the prime minister with his national security advisor and other officials. Multiple media outlets report that the Hezbollah commander targeted in the recent Israeli airstrike in Beirut is Fuad Shukr, also known as Hajj Mohsin. Shukr is a senior adviser to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

In a shocking revelation, it was revealed on Tuesday that IDF prosecutors called Hamas terrorists who were held at Sde Teiman and later released to Gaza and asked them if they had any testimony against IDF soldiers regarding their stay at Sde Teiman. The soldiers were arrested based on these terrorists’ testimonies, leading to a “revolt” by protesters who stormed two IDF bases. More details of the outrageous case are slowly being revealed. The terrorist who made the alleged claims was a Hamas commander in Jabaliya who took part in the October 7 massacre.

The IDF soldiers who were arrested on Monday for allegedly abusing a terrorist held at the Sde Teiman detention camp were held overnight and are being brought for a hearing on Tuesday afternoon, where military police will ask for an extension of their arrest. The soldiers’ arrest led to widespread anger and an unprecedented “revolt” – with protesters, including ministers and MKs, storming the Sdei Teiman facility and later the Beis Lid military police base, where the soldiers were interrogated and held. Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich revealed shocking details about the behavior of the Military Prosecution in the case.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu spent the past Shaboos in Washington, D.C., staying at the Watergate Hotel. During his stay, Netanyahu participated in tefillos with the Israeli delegation at the hotel. During Shacharis, Netanyahu made a Mi Sheberach for each of the more than 100 hostages held captive by Hamas. Midway through it, Netanyahu had to abruptly leave the shul upon receiving urgent news about the Hezbollah attack on Majdal Shams, which killed 12 Druze youths playing on a soccer pitch. An attendee of Shacharis that morning shared with Bchadrei Charedim that during the Krias Hatorah, Netanyahu requested to recite Mi Sheberachs for the hostages. “Prime Minister Netanyahu emotionally read each name with great pain.

As Lebanon awaits Israel’s response to Hezbollah’s rocket fire on Majdal Shas, the terror group has begun making preparations for a counter-response. An official with a Lebanese group told The Associated Press that Hezbollah has started moving some of its smart precision-guided missiles to use if needed but doesn’t want a full-blown war with Israel. Meanwhile, two Israeli sources were quoted by Reuters as saying that Israel intends to carry out a significant retaliatory attack against Hezbollah but is not interested in an escalation to an all-out war. Other Israeli officials told Reuters that Israel is preparing for several days of fighting following the strike. Residents of the north, including Haifa, are preparing to enter their shelters in case of war.