Israel at War Day 574: What happened in Israel, Gaza, West Bank?

"There is nothing new that can be negotiated" to achieve a ceasefire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas, an Egyptian official involved in negotiations told Hezbollah-affiliated newspaper Al Akhbar on Saturday. 

"There are no more concessions that can be forced on Hamas. The real crisis lies in the lack of Israeli-American will to end the war, ” he added. 

Al Akhbar reported that an Egyptian official emphasized that the root of the impasse is a lack of political will from both the US and Israel to end the war, describing Washington’s reliance on Israeli military pressure to shift Hamas’s stance as a “misguided bet.”

United Airlines announced that starting May 28, 2025, flight attendants will only be allowed to wear pins of the United States flag on their uniform, Israeli public broadcaster KAN News said on Saturday. 

Kan noted that since the October 7 massacre, United Airlines has come under criticism for allowing flight attendants to wear pins with Palestinian flags. 

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Saturday said that as a founding signatory to the NPT (Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Treaty), Iran has every right to possess the full nuclear fuel cycle.

Regarding reaching a nuclear deal through talks with the US, he said, "A credible and durable agreement is within reach. All it takes is firm political will and a fair attitude."

Egypt is reportedly resisting pressure from the United States to allow the US and Gulf countries a new stronghold in the Red Sea amid escalating threats from the Iran-backed Houthi terror group, Egyptian and American officials told the independent Egyptian newspaper Mada Masr this week.

Egypt rejected to support the US project financially and militarily, Egyptian sources claimed.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have reportedly piled pressure on Egypt to join those acting against the Houthis.

The Houthis are planning to attack the USS Carl Vinson in the coming days while it's based in the Arabian Sea, a source within the terror group told Hezbollah-affiliated Lebanese newspaper Al Akhbar on Saturday. 

The Houthis agreed to use a new strategy against the US and employ new weapons during an April 20 meeting, the source claimed, telling Al Akhbarthat such weapons had already been employed during attacks on Israel. 

While the Houthis claim to have targeted a military base in Haifa on Friday, the IDF confirmed it intercepted the attack.

Sirens sounded in a number of areas in Israel on Saturday morning following a missile launch from Yemen, which was intercepted by the IDF. 

The IDF announced only moments before that it had identified the launch of a missile from Yemen toward Israeli territory and that aerial defense systems were operating to intercept the missile.

The security cabinet agreed on Friday night to expand operations in Gaza.

Several IDF reserve brigades will be mobilized and the 8th Infantry Division will be deployed.

Israel is currently not planning a full-scale maneuver in hopes of securing another hostage deal to see the 59 captives returned home. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier in the week that it is currently believed that fewer than 24, less than half the number of hostages being held, are still alive.

Israeli strikes targeted the vicinity of Syria's Damascus countryside and Hama late on Friday, Syrian state news agency SANA reported on Friday, without providing further details.

Israel's repeated strikes on Syria act as a warning to the new Islamist rulers in Damascus, which Israel views as a potential threat on its border.

The IDF later confirmed it had struck a military site, anti-aircraft cannons, and surface-to-air missile infrastructure in Syria.

The IDF has previously said it targeted Syria's military infrastructure, including headquarters and sites containing weapons and equipment, since mainly Sunni Muslim Islamist fighters toppled President Bashar al-Assad in December.

"Hamas can be defeated in a few weeks," former Israeli Ground Forces Commander, Major General (Res.) Yiftach Ron-Tal said, advocating for a clear military timetable to bring the conflict to a close in the final stages of the war.

He argues that prolonged conflict will only undermine Israel’s strategic goals and that a defined end to the war is critical for the nation’s future.

Over the past year and a half, Ron-Tal has met several times with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. These meetings were brief, taking place during the height of the war, when Ron-Tal shared his security views with Netanyahu.

The United States, Israel and representatives of a new international foundation are close to an agreement on how to resume the delivery of humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza without it being controlled by Hamas, Axios reported on Friday, citing two Israeli officials and one US source.

The report cited Israeli officials saying that this new system of aid delivery will weaken the terrorist organization because the aid delivery will "deny it the revenue and decrease the population's dependence on the group."

Operations into this new aid delivery initiative would be led by an internationally governed foundation, led by humanitarians. Some compounds would be built inside Gaza and civilians would be able to go there once per week for an aid package sufficient for that week per one family, Axios cited Israeli officials as saying.