By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
JERUSALEM (Worthy News) – Israel’s Security Cabinet was due to authorize the prime minister and defense minister to respond to last week’s Iranian missile attack while Israeli forces struck Gaza in an attack that allegedly killed dozens.
The Security Cabinet’s meeting came as an Israeli strike “killed at least 28 people” and injured some 54 others in the Rafidah school of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, said the Palestinian Red Crescent. Those figures could not immediately be verified.
The Israeli military said it targeted “terrorists” inside the building after Israel was attacked by Hamas rockets on the first anniversary of the October 7 Hamas massacre of 1,200 people in Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant were also expected to order a retaliation to last week’s Iranian missile attack. The Security Cabinet was due to vote on the issue Thursday.
Jerusalem has vowed a significant retaliation for Tehran’s second-ever direct attack on the Jewish state, in which some 200 rockets were fired in two waves on October 1.
The Israeli military, backed by the United States and Jordan, shot down most of the missiles, but a Palestinian man from Gaza was struck by missile debris and died near Jericho in the Jordan Valley, officials said. Additionally, military sites reportedly suffered damage.
POWERFUL RESPONSE
On Wednesday, Gallant reportedly said Israel’s response “will be powerful, precise and above all—surprising,” adding that “the Islamic Regime will not understand what happened and how it happened.”
He was due to unveil plans during the Security Cabinet meeting. It came after U.S. President Joe Biden held a “direct,” 30-minute phone call with Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu — their first conversation in weeks, the White House confirmed.
Washington has expressed concern that Israel will hit nuclear sites, but Jerusalem has publicly declined to rule out anything. Tehran has threatened with a brutal retaliation if Israel attacks Iran, but the Israeli military seemed undeterred by these threats.
As preparations for attacking Iran were underway, Israel also further extended the ground operation in Lebanon, where it battles Hezbollah fighters.
The United Nations claimed that two of its peacekeepers were injured when an Israeli tank fired at its headquarters in southern Lebanon.
The U.N. also said Israeli soldiers fired on another of its positions, damaging vehicles and communications.
There was no immediate response from Israel, but the government has expressed concerns about at least some U.N. personnel working with “terrorists,” including in Gaza.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
Latest News from Worthy News
The Russia-Ukraine war rapidly escalated Sunday as more than 800 Ukrainian drones targeted Russia in Ukraine’s largest such attack this year, killing at least seven people, officials said.
Firefighters backed by Dutch military helicopters battled Belgium’s largest wildfire on record Sunday as flames swept through nearly 3,000 hectares (7,400 acres) of nature reserve and threatened areas near the German border, while deadly blazes raged elsewhere in Europe, including Greece.
Iran-backed Hezbollah threatened to retaliate after Israel said Saturday it had killed a commander of the group in an attack that killed at least 11 people.
Kevin Rideout, an American missionary pilot kidnapped by suspected Islamist militants in Niger’s capital, Niamey, in October last year, has been released and is in U.S. custody, U.S. President Donald J. Trump confirmed Friday.
Concerns are mounting over increasing violence against Christians and churches across Europe after dozens of churches, religious symbols and worshipers were targeted in July, including cases involving bodily waste, arson and the stabbing of a woman praying in an Irish Catholic church.
Hungary’s former ruling Fidesz party suffered a legal setback Friday after the Constitutional Court rejected its challenge to the dismantling of controversial foundations holding vast amounts of state assets, while separate scrutiny intensified over billions of forints in public money spent on former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s social-media operation.
The United States is rapidly approaching another historic fiscal milestone, with the national debt now nearing $40 trillion as Washington continues running massive annual deficits and interest costs consume a growing share of federal spending.