Israel-Hamas War: What happened on day 363?

Over the last three months, troops of the IDF's 252nd Division have eliminated over 450 terrorists in the Gaza Strip, the IDF reported on Thursday afternoon.

The terror operatives were reportedly killed via a combination of close-quarters combat engagements and airstrikes.

Further, over the previous weeks, 252nd Division troops have conducted targeted raids in central Gaza, the IDF added.

Russia has started evacuating its citizens from Lebanon, the Russian emergency ministry said on Thursday, Interfax news agency reported.

Nearly 3,000 Russian nationals have expressed their intention to leave Lebanon, Russian news agency TASS reported on Thursday, citing a source.

Iran responded to the G7 condemnation of its attack on Israel by saying it is "biased and irresponsible," Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said in a statement on Thursday.

The Lebanese army said on Thursday one soldier was killed and another injured in an Israeli strike while carrying out an evacuation and rescue mission with the Lebanese Red Cross in the southern town of Taybeh.

IDF spokesperson in Arabic Avichay Adraee accused Hezbollah on Thursday of smuggling weapons from Syria through the Masnaa border crossing.

This is a developing story. 

Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy stated in a French media interview that if France were in a situation like Israel’s, it would respond in a similar way to how Israel has in its war against Hamas and Hezbollah.

"I can never rejoice at someone's death," Sarkozy said about Nasrallah's assassination. "But Israel was attacked. It's the tragedy of October 7 by Hamas, and it's Hezbollah that led to a massive displacement of the population from northern Israel."

He continued, saying, "Israel has the right to defend itself. It has the duty to defend itself. If we, the French, were in the same situation, we would need to defend ourselves. A country must stand tall, and Israel has the right to live standing tall, to live, period, and to live standing tall. From this perspective, I say they were right."

Hezbollah said that it confronted an attempt by the IDF to advance on the Fatima Gate at the Lebanese border on Thursday morning.

According to the terror group, it used artillery shelling in its attempt to halt the Israeli forces.

The IDF announced the death of Rawhi Mushtaha, head of the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip, on Thursday.

"Mushtaha, alongside Yahya Sinwar, established Hamas's General Security Mechanism," the military stated. They served a prison sentence together in an Israeli jail. Mushtaha was considered to be the most senior figure in the Hamas political bureau in the Gaza Strip and, during the war, maintained civil control of the Hamas regime while simultaneously engaging in terrorist activity against Israel. Mushtaha was Sinwar's right-hand man and one of his closest associates."

The IDF also noted that Mushtaha had been one of Hamas's most senior operatives and was a key decision-maker in how the terror organization deployed its fighters and assets.

IDF Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee announced that more than 20 villages across southern Lebanon were being called on to evacuate as the military's ground operation against Hezbollah continued.