Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant stated Monday that IDF forces will stay and keep fighting in the Gaza Strip until Israel’s dual goals of the destruction of Hamas and the return of the Israeli hostages have been achieved, the Times of Israel (TOI) reports.

A recently released Israeli who was kidnapped to Gaza by Hamas on Oct. 7 has said that he was held captive in an attic for nearly 50 days by a teacher from UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, the Jerusalem Post reports.

The Israeli military has verified the expansion of its ground operation into the southern region of the Gaza Strip, vowing to maintain the campaign’s intensity at the same level as observed in northern Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated at the weekend that the Palestinian Authority (PA) which governs part of the West Bank cannot take over leadership of Gaza once the war with Hamas is over because the PA itself rejects Israel’s right to exist, the Times of Israel (TOI) reports.

In alleged Israeli airstrikes that targeted sites near Damascus, the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed two of its officers were killed, the IRGC announced on Saturday.

The Jewish sabbath was marred by bloodshed after a week-old truce between Israel and Hamas collapsed, with the Israeli army saying they struck over 400 “terror targets” in the Gaza Strip, including a controversial mosque.

Israel’s intelligence services are preparing to assassinate Hamas leaders globally after the war in the Gaza Strip has ended, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) restarted its military campaign in the Gaza Strip on Friday following a week-long ceasefire.  Hamas, a terrorist organization, violated the ceasefire by launching rockets into Israel and failing to submit a list of hostages intended for release by 7 a.m.

On Thursday, Hamas released eight Israeli hostages, constituting the seventh group of individuals freed by the terrorist organization as part of a ceasefire agreement with Israel.

Hamas said Thursday that 10 more Israeli hostages would be released from the Gaza Strip late Thursday, two of them also holding Russian citizenship, as part of a one-day truce extension.

At least three people, including a rabbi, were killed and five others wounded in a shooting attack at the entrance to Jerusalem for which Hamas claimed responsibility.

After spending 54 days in captivity, Hamas released a total of 16 hostages on Wednesday. The released individuals comprise 12 Israelis and 4 Thai nationals who were freed from Gaza.

The European Union and the heads of a number of Arab states agreed on Monday that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict should be resolved through a two-state solution, with EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell adding that the Palestinian Authority should rule the Gaza Strip once the Hamas terror group has been removed from power there, Reuters reports.

The US has informed Israel that if it resumes its ground offensive to dismantle Hamas in Gaza, it must operate with greater precision to avoid “significant further displacement” of Palestinian civilians in the southern part of the Strip, the Associated Press reports.

Israel said Tuesday that Hamas had released 12 more hostages, including 10 Israeli citizens and two Thai nationals.