Israel-Hamas War: What happened on day 338?

IDF kills Hamas commander in Gaza • Hezbollah hits Israel's North • Thousands of Israelis call for hostage deal at protests around the country

 Police at the scene where three Israelis were killed in a terror shooting attack at Allenby bridge, a crossing between West Bank and Jordan, September 8, 2024
Police at the scene where three Israelis were killed in a terror shooting attack at Allenby bridge, a crossing between West Bank and Jordan, September 8, 2024
(photo credit: REUTERS/AMMAR AWAD)

Police: If IDF shared intel on Oct. 6, Nova partiers might have survived - report

ByYONAH JEREMY BOB
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The site of the Nova music festival massacre, in Re'im, southern Israel, June 9, 2024
The site of the Nova music festival massacre, in Re'im, southern Israel, June 9, 2024
(photo credit: Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Some police officials have accused the IDF and the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) of withholding security threat information overnight between October 6 and 7, which, if it had been shared with the police, could have saved the lives of 364 civilians who were killed at the Nova party and the 44 hostages who were taken.

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Gaza death toll since Oct. 7 reaches 40,972, Hamas-run Gaza health min. says

ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF
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Jpost_Image
(photo credit: MOHAMMED SALEM/REUTERS)

The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry stated on Sunday that the death toll in Gaza has reached 40,972 since the war started on October 7 of last year.

A further 94,761 have thus far been wounded in the conflict, the Gazan ministry added.

The number has not been independently verified, and the ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its toll.

The Hamas-run ministry has also been repeatedly criticized for distorting casualty figures.

In May, departing from Hamas’s reported figures, the UN halved the number of women and children it had previously reported had been killed thus far in the war.

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WATCH: Israel Air Force strikes Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip

ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF
Israel Air Force strikes Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip. September 8, 2024. (Credit: IDF Spokesperson's Unit).

IDF kills Hamas commander Raef Omar Salman Abu Shab in Gaza strike

ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF
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 IDF troops operate in the Gaza Strip. September 8, 2024.
IDF troops operate in the Gaza Strip. September 8, 2024.
(photo credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)

An Israel Air Force (IAF) aircraft killed Hamas commander Raef Omar Salman Abu Shab in an airstrike in the Gaza Strip last week, the military said on Sunday. 

Shab was reportedly the commander of the Rocket Launching Platoon in Hamas's Eastern Khan Yunis Battalion.

The IDF noted that the platoon commander had been in charge of the rocket barrages fired at southern Israel from the Khan Yunis area since the onset of the Israel-Hamas War.

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Security cabinet to convene to discuss hostage deal negotiations

ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF
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breaking news
(photo credit: JPOST STAFF)

The security cabinet is set to convene on Sunday evening, according to Israeli media reports. 

The discussions are set to focus on the hostage deal negotiations, among other topics. 

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Ben-Gvir's Otzma Yehudit joins UTJ in threat to boycott Knesset votes

ByELIAV BREUER
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National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir at a conference called "Israel's Return to the Temple Mount," at the Knesset on July 24, 2024.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir at a conference called "Israel's Return to the Temple Mount," at the Knesset on July 24, 2024.
(photo credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)

Israel's parliament (Knesset) will convene on Monday and Thursday this week in order to amend the 2024 budget by increasing government spending by approximately NIS 3.4 billion.

The increase in spending will go towards a number of war-related issues, including funding for evacuees and released hostages and their families until the end of 2024; funding for businesses affected by the war; increased funding for combat reservists and their families; and more.

The increase in funding will not require an update to the legal 2024 budget deficit of 6.6%, since it will be based on larger-than-expected state tax income, finance minister Bezalel Smotrich has said.

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US suggests Lebanon-Israel land swap in bid to end border conflicts - Al-Jarida

ByMAARIV ONLINE
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 Israeli soldiers guard in Metula, on the border between Israel and Lebanon, northern Israel, on May 14, 2021, after Lebanese protesters crossed the Israeli border fence.
Israeli soldiers guard in Metula, on the border between Israel and Lebanon, northern Israel, on May 14, 2021, after Lebanese protesters crossed the Israeli border fence.
(photo credit: BASEL AWIDAT/FLASH90)

American officials recently proposed, in a virtual meeting with their Israeli counterparts, a land swap between Lebanon and Israel as part of a comprehensive agreement to end the border conflicts and resolve the land dispute between the two countries, the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Jarida reported on Sunday.

The report follows Saturday night's rocket attacks, which involved about 50 launches from Lebanon toward Kiryat Shmona and Western Galilee.

According to the report, the Israeli side reiterated its main demand for a complete military withdrawal of Hezbollah to 10 km away from the border, a demand that the organization currently rejects.

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Terrorist released in November deal re-arrested after attacking mother, sister

ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF
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(photo credit: JPOST STAFF)

A terrorist released in the November ceasefire-hostage deal was arrested on Sunday after he broke his sister's nose and allegedly threatened to behead her, according to an indictment cited by KAN News. 

The suspect also allegedly broke his mother's hand.

The released terrorist had reportedly attacked his female relatives with broken glass following an argument. 

"He approached his little sister and threatened to slaughter her, cut off her head, [and] bring a knife and a gun and kill her while slapping her and hitting her in all parts of her body," police said, according to KAN. 

The terrorist was reportedly sentenced in June 2023 at age 16 to two-and-a-half years in prison for throwing Molotov cocktails at a car of Jewish Israelis in east Jerusalem.

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Israel-Hezbollah conflict: All-out war remains unlikely despite tensions, expert says

BySHAKED SADE
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 Ali Khamenei
Ali Khamenei
(photo credit: AFP PHOTO)

The chances of Israel nearing an all-out confrontation with Hezbollah shortly are below 50%, Middle East expert professor Amatzia Baram told Maariv on Sunday. 

He added that both sides exercise significant restraint to avoid a full-scale war. Baram explained that the relationship between Israel and Hezbollah is delicate, with both parties escalating military operations cautiously and incrementally.

Despite frequent tensions that might suggest an imminent conflict, Baram emphasized that neither side genuinely seeks war.

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Yemen’s Houthis claim to shoot down multi-million dollar US MQ-9 drone

ByDANIELLE GREYMAN-KENNARD
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An MQ-9 Reaper remotely piloted drone aircraft performs aerial maneuvers over Creech Air Force Base, Nevada, US, June 25, 2015.
An MQ-9 Reaper remotely piloted drone aircraft performs aerial maneuvers over Creech Air Force Base, Nevada, US, June 25, 2015.
(photo credit: US AIR FORCE/SENIOR AIRMAN CORY D. PAYNE/HANDOUT VIA REUTERS)

The Iran-backed Houthi terror group in Yemen claimed on Sunday to have shot down a US-made MQ-9 drone, according to the Associated Press and ABC News, citing a pre-recorded message published by Houthi military spokesperson Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree.

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Israel-Hamas War: What you need to know
  • Hamas launched a massive attack on October 7, with thousands of terrorists infiltrating from the Gaza border and taking some 240 hostages into Gaza
  • Over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals were murdered, including over 350 at the Re'im music festival and hundreds of Israeli civilians across Gaza border communities
  • 101 hostages remain in Gaza
  • 48 hostages in total have been killed in captivity, IDF says