IDF strikes Hamas terrorists, Netanyahu says Israel will control Gaza

The IDF allowed humanitarian aid to start to enter Gaza on Monday after a two-and-a-half-month pause dating back to early March, at almost the same time that it significantly escalated the new invasion of five divisions into the Strip.

In addition, the IDF carried out a special operation in Khan Yunis in southern Gaza early Monday, which, among other things, led to the death of senior Palestinian terror operative Ahmad Sarhan.

Regarding humanitarian aid, reports indicated that only minimal aid, possibly as few as 20 trucks, had been entered by press time.

Thousands of Gazans evacuated Khan Yunis following a warning from the IDF earlier on Monday.

However, this triggered several spontaneous protests with dozens calling for an end to the war, according to local reports cited by Israeli media.

Protesters reportedly chanted anti-Hamas slogans, including "Stop the war and the expulsion," and "Hamas, out, out!" N12 reported.

The Civil Administration, in coordination with the IDF, demolished a four-story building and an additional construction site in the village of Bruchin on Monday, near the road where Tzeela Gez was murdered in a terrorist attack last week, the military said on Monday. 

Early Monday morning, officers from the Ephraim District Coordination and Liaison office, the Civil Administration’s inspection unit, and IDF troops from the Ephraim Brigade demolished several illegal structures along route 466.

For over a year and a half, Israel has been fighting the Hamas terrorist organization. Massive amounts of explosives have been dropped on the Gaza Strip, all in response to a massive attack staged by Hamas that stunned Israel on October 7th, 2023, and catapulted the Jewish state into its longest war to date.

And now, long after the war began, reports over the weekend indicated that talks between the two rivals are in their “critical” hours. The latest push to reach a deal that would see a ceasefire and a partial release of Israeli hostages comes after Israeli warnings that it will ratchet up its attacks in Gaza to pressure Hamas.

It wasn’t the first time the talks had been labeled “critical” and on the brink of either collapse or success.

"No aid will reach Hamas. Period. Anyone who says otherwise is simply lying," Religious Zionist Party chairman and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said during a press conference on Monday. 

In his statement following the cabinet's decision to renew aid into Gaza later on Sunday night, Smotrich that that aid "will not reach Hamas.

"It will allow civilians to eat, our friends around the world to continue providing us with an international protection umbrella at the Security Council and The Hague, and us to keep fighting, God willing, until victory."

White House envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff delivered an updated proposal to Israel and Hamas a few days ago for a deal to release the remaining hostages and to implement a ceasefire in Gaza, and is putting pressure on both sides to accept it, according to a senior Israeli official and a separate source familiar with the details.

The Israeli security cabinet decided to allow the resumption of humanitarian aid into Gaza on Sunday night.

The decision was made without holding a vote, with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and other ministers being against the move.

Former hostages have faced a wave of online abuse since returning home, N12 reported on Sunday.

According to the report, analysts have found that most of the hate is spread not by bots, but by real users, and that this phenomenon is growing.

Sylvan Adams, the newly appointed president of the World Jewish Congress (WJC) - Israel Region, warned on Sunday against renewed diplomatic appeasement of Iran’s nuclear program. Speaking at the opening gala of the WJC’s 17th Plenary Assembly in Jerusalem on Sunday, Adams called for Jewish unity, bold leadership, and decisive action.

The event at the Museum of Tolerance Jerusalem brought together more than 300 Jewish leaders and delegates from over 70 countries. It marked the start of the WJC’s highest decision-making forum and a new chapter in global Jewish advocacy, according to the organization.

The IDF has increased the pace of its Gaza invasion over the weekend, expanding its operations in the enclave, killing dozens of Hamas terrorists, and striking 670 Hamas targets, it announced on Sunday.

IDF Spokesperson Brig.-Gen. Effie Defrin said on Sunday that five IDF divisions were operating in Gaza, which is the first time since late 2023 to early 2024 that such a large volume of soldiers is inside the enclave.