Israel-Hamas War Day 256: What is happening in Gaza, Israel's North?

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the US withholding of weapons in a statement on Tuesday. 

"When Secretary Blinken was recently here in Israel, we had a candid conversation. I said I deeply appreciated the support the US has given Israel from the beginning of the war," he said. 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressing the US withholding of weapons (credit: Prime Minister's Office)

Multiple hostile aircraft intrusion alerts sounded in northern Israel at around 3:10 p.m. on Tuesday.

The military later stated that it had successfully intercepted three suspicious aerial targets. 

The IDF also noted that rocket alerts had sounded for fear of shrapnel falling. 

Yaakov Bardugo's claim that IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi supports the continuation of Hamas's rule in Gaza "is a serious lie and lacks any basis," the IDF said on Tuesday.

"The Chief of Staff has said himself countless times, also publicly, that Hamas's control of Gaza should not be allowed to continue," the IDF added. "At the same time, the government is the one who determines policy, and the IDF implements the directives as such. Other claims, as raised by the reporter in recent days, are complete lies and attempts to harm the IDF and the Chief of Staff who heads it, who leads the IDF in fighting against Hamas with great determination and with significant results."

Bardugo is a political commentator for Channel 14.

Hamas continues its attacks on the IDF in Gaza eight and a half months into the war. Increasingly, several other terror groups in Gaza are also seeking to carry out daily attacks on Israeli forces.

This is clear from claims made by the groups to pro-Iranian media. For instance, on June 18, an article at Al-Mayadeen lists six terrorist groups, in addition to Hamas, that have carried out attacks in the last day.

Hamas is increasingly competing for space in these reports, even though its attacks are listed first. For instance, Hamas claimed that its Al-Qassam brigades carried out an attack using Yassin 105 shells targeting the IDF in Tal al-Sultan. They also claimed to use mortars. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s Al-Quds Brigades also claimed they carried out an attack in Rafah. In addition, the same PIJ units said they used a drone to target IDF forces near Kerem Shalom.

In the same Al-Mayadeen article, the Mujahideen Brigades, which are part of the Palestinian Mujahideen Movement, said they fired rockets towards Reim in Israel. “The Mujahideen Brigades broadcast footage of monitoring and targeting gatherings and the route of the Israeli occupation forces south of the Zaytoun neighborhood in Gaza with Type 107 missiles,” the pro-Iran media outlet claimed.

Meanwhile the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades said they carried out an attack targeting the Netzarim corridor. The Martyr Omar Al-Qasim unit, which is part of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, said they used an RPG to target an IDF armored personnel carrier in Rafah.

 The Martyr Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine also said they used 60mm mortars in an attack in the Al-Zaytun neighborhood near Gaza city. They said they cooperated with the DFLP.

Israel has dropped out of the top ten countries to which millionaires immigrate for the first time in several decades, according to the 2024 wealth migration report released Tuesday morning by international investment migration advisory firm Henley & Partners.

This represents a "major turnabout," according to the report. "This seismic shift underscores how swiftly conflict can unravel a country’s appeal to the world’s wealthy and globally mobile," said Senior Client Advisor at Henley & Partners Israel, Dan Marconi.

France has cancelled its Saturday ban on Israeli delegates, intermediaries, and companies from attending an international arms exhibition, Kan reported on Monday.

The original ban was put in place to prevent Israel from making arms deals at the Eurosatory exhibit, due to accusations of "war crimes" in Gaza.

An IDF fighter jet, operating at the direction of troops on the ground, eliminated the commander of a Palestinian Islamic Jihad sniper cell, the IDF said on Tuesday morning.

Ground troops also identified and eliminated a terrorist cell advancing on their position.

Separately, in the Rafah area, IDF soldiers continued operational activities, eliminating terrorists in several close-quarters engagements, the IDF added.

In one such encounter, the military reported that Israeli troops identified two terrorists with an explosive device. An aircraft subsequently targeted and killed the insurgents.

Dr. Omer Dostri, a research specialist at the "Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security," the "Eytan Center" and the "Israel Defense and Security Forum," spoke with Maariv and addressed the future of fighting against Hezbollah and the level of preparedness of the Israeli home front.

Vice President Kamala Harris screened “Screams Before Silence” at the White House on Monday, in part to refute denialism of Hamas’ sexual violence as exposed in the documentary produced by Sheryl Sandberg.

“We cannot look away and we will not be silent,” Harris said ahead of the screening, to a room packed with representatives of women’s and human rights groups. “My heart breaks for all these survivors and their families and for all the pain and suffering from the past eight months in Israel and in Gaza.”

Sandberg, the former chief operating officer of social media giant Meta, produced the film to counter denialism of sexual violence that took place on Oct. 7, when Hamas terrorists massacred more than 1,200 people in Israel, and the sexual assault endured by some of the hostages Hamas terrorists abducted that day.

Over one thousand humanitarian aid trucks languished on the Gazan side of the Kerem Shalom border crossing, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on Monday, adding that UN officials claimed that looting of trucks made the distribution of the aid too dangerous.

On Sunday, Israel announced a “tactical pause of military activity” along the road stretching from the Kerem Shalom crossing to the Salah al-Din Road before continuing north.

The IDF noted that the pause, which took place from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. local time, was part of a joint effort with the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) to increase the amount of humanitarian aid going into Gaza.