Israel-Hamas War Day 226: What's happening in Israel, Gaza?

Rocket and hostile aircraft intrusion sirens sounded in northern Israel on Sunday morning.

Rocket sirens sounded in Gaza border communities on Sunday morning.

Sirens sounded in the communities of Sderot, Ibim, and Nir Am.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan met to discuss a broad bilateral agreement and Israel's war in Gaza, the Saudi state news agency reported on Sunday.

The meeting in the Saudi city of Dhahran reviewed "the semi-final version of the draft strategic agreements between the two countries, which are almost being finalized," a statement read.

Washington and Riyadh have been discussing US security guarantees and civilian nuclear assistance as part of a broader deal that the US hopes would lead to normalizing Saudi-Israeli relations.

The IDF released the names of two fallen soldiers on Sunday morning.

Staff-Sergeant Nachman Meir Haim Vaknin, aged 20, was from Eilat and served in the Givati Brigade.

Staff-Sergeant Noam Bittan, aged 20, was from the Yad Rambam moshav and served in the Givati Brigade as well.

Both the soldiers fell in combat while fighting in southern Gaza. According to Israeli media reports, the two were killed while scanning a tunnel shaft that contained a hidden explosive within it. 

Two other soldiers wounded in the incident

Two other IDF soldiers were seriously wounded during the incident, according to reports. 

IDF troops launched targeted raids into Rafah, aiming to destroy and disrupt terror infrastructure, according to an IDF statement on Saturday.

Soldiers from the 401st Brigade's combat team launched raids deep into eastern Rafah.

The troops targeted terror infrastructure and buildings used by Hamas to fire on IDF troops.

About 50 Hamas fighters were eliminated in the fighting.

Dozens of tunnel shafts are being explored and mapped in preparation for their destruction.

Hundreds of pieces of terror infrastructure have been destroyed, including weapons production sites and rocket launching sites.

In a move likely to aggravate political tension at the highest levels of government, Minister-without-portfolio Benny Gantz gave Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a deadline of June 8 to agree to a comprehensive strategic plan for the “day after” Hamas in Gaza and threatened to leave the government if this did not happen.

“Lately, something has gone wrong,” Gantz said. “Essential decisions were not made. Essential leadership decisions to ensure victory were not done. A small minority has taken over the command bridge of the Israeli ship of state and is steering her toward the rocks,” Gantz said, referring to Netanyahu’s far-right political partners, who repeatedly threatened in recent weeks that they would bring down the government if he made concessions that Gantz supported.

“Personal and political considerations have infiltrated the holy of holies of Israeli security,” Gantz said.

Gantz listed six objectives that Netanyahu must adopt or face his withdrawal from government:

1. Return the hostages.

What National Unity party leader and war minister Benny Gantz did on Saturday night was to force Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reveal his true war and post-Hamas strategy.

Gantz, as well as Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and the IDF high command, have made it clear that winning the war requires removing Hamas from power.

They believe that removing Hamas from power requires choosing a replacement to manage Gaza and that this replacement should be a mix of the US-EU-Arab allies and the Palestinian Authority.

In order to avoid returning to large battles in Jabalya, Shifa Hospital, Zeitoun, and other locations in northern Gaza which were supposed to be cleared, injecting a new Gaza manager must happen at the same time as fighting any Hamas insurgency.

Gallant and the IDF had predicted needing to fight a three to nine month low-grade Hamas insurgency from January-February until later in 2024.

The body of Ron Binyamin, 52, was recovered from Gaza by the IDF after being held there since his murder by Hamas on October 7, the IDF confirmed on Saturday, one day after the military announced the recovery of three other Israeli hostages’ bodies.

IDF spokesperson, R.-Adm. Daniel Hagari announced that Binyamin’s body was recovered at the same time as the three other hostages’ bodies rescued on Friday, but the process of identification and notification of the family took longer.

“Based on verified intelligence in our possession, Ron Benjamin was murdered during the October 7 Massacre at the Mefalsim Intersection, and his body was seized and brought to Gaza by Hamas terrorists,” Hagari said.
The operation was “based on precise Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) intelligence obtained during the interrogations of terrorists who were apprehended in the Gaza Strip, as well as intelligence from the IDF Intelligence Directorate,” he said.

Comments on the recovery

Shortly afterward, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum provided the following statement:
“The Families Forum bows its head and mourns upon receiving the difficult news of the murder of Ron Benjamin by Hamas terrorists and the taking of his body to Gaza as a hostage.”

The Biden administration pledged it would never abandon the remaining 128 hostages, alive or dead, as its National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan was due to arrive in Israel on Sunday in an effort to reenergize talks.

“The United States continues to press ahead with negotiations to bring the hostages home,” US Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew told protesters at Hostage Square, as he addressed them for the second time in the last seven months.

“Today marks 225 days since innocents were ripped from their loved ones, children from their parents, parents from their children,” he stated.

“I stand with you here to reaffirm the commitment of the United States – we will not stop working every day to bring all the hostages home,” Lew said, as he recalled that eight of those held in Gaza were US citizens.

“To the family members of those held hostage, I say we hear you. We stand with you."

An explosive drone landed near Kibbutz Yiftah in Israel's North following a heavy sequence of sirens, the IDF announced on Saturday.

In the announcement, the IDF stated, "Following the sirens that sounded in northern Israel regarding a hostile aircraft infiltration, the incidents concluded and no injuries or damages were reported. Additionally, an explosive drone fell in the area of Yiftach earlier today. No injuries were reported.