Israel at War day 602: What's happening in Israel, Gaza, Lebanon?

Israel reportedly struck a target in Syria's Jableh town in Latakia, the pro-government Syria TV reported on Friday.

IDF troops in the Gaza Strip, operating under the Southern Command, have destroyed a tunnel under a building that previously served as a school in Khan Yunis, and discovered explosives in another building that previously also operated as a school in Shejaia, the IDF said Friday evening. 

The explosives found in the former school were hidden inside UNRWA sacks. 

Over 800 explosive devices and other weapons that had been hidden in courtyards and buildings throughout Gaza have been found and confiscated. 

Dozens of tunnels have been unearthed, investigated, and destroyed, according to the military. 

"Hamas terrorists systematically plant explosive devices in building courtyards, with the intent to harm IDF forces operating in the area," the military said in its statement.

Troops have been operating across the strip to destroy terrorist infrastructure.

IDF is operating with full force throughout Gaza, Katz says

Defense Minister Isarel Katz said earlier on X/Twitter that the IDF is operating with "full force" to achieve the goals of the war, which include releasing all the hostages in Gaza and destroying Hamas. 

Katz said that in every location the IDF operates, after it clears the area of terrorists and infrastructure, it remains there to hold the position. 

A critical juncture has been crossed on the way to achieving the objectives of the latest operation in Gaza.

Thursday night was one of the most intense since the beginning of the IDF's "Gideon's Chariots" operation in Gaza, according to testimonies from Israeli soldiers on the ground. 

Amir Bohbot contributed to this report.

US President Donald Trump said on Friday that Israel and Hamas are close to making a deal. 

"They're very close to an agreement on Gaza...I think we have a chance of making a deal with Iran also...If we could have a deal without bombs being dropped all over the Middle East, that would be a very good thing," Trump said, adding that the White House will have more details later Friday or on Saturday.

Earlier, Hamas said it was consulting with Palestinian factions on a ceasefire deal proposed by US Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff in a statement on Friday evening. Hamas received the proposal through mediators, it added.

On Thursday, an unnamed Hamas official told the BBC on Friday that the terror group is expected to reject the latest hostage deal-ceasefire proposal by Witkoff.

Hamas had said that it does not accept the outline of US envoy Steve Witkoff’s proposed ceasefire and hostage deal at face value and demands certain changes, according to people familiar with the matter.

(Illustrative) US Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff over a backdrop of Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip. (credit: REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/Pool REFILE , ABED RAHIM KHATIB/FLASH90)

Hamas feels deceived by the US administration, believing it has been “screwed over” with a pro-Israel proposal that does not guarantee an end to the war, an informed source familiar told The Jerusalem Post.

The information provided by the sources conflicts with reports published in Saudi newspaper Al-Hadath, which indicated that Hamas will shortly agree to a 60-day ceasefire in exchange for the release of 10 living hostages and the bodies of 18. As part of the proposal, the report claimed that 125 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences and 1,111 prisoners arrested after October 7, would also be released, and aid would be increased to the Gaza Strip.

The proposal also requires all hostages to be returned to Israel within a week, leaving Hamas without further leverage, the source said.

Ben-Gvir spoke out against the deal

"Mr. Prime Minister, after Hamas rejected the deal proposal again, there is no longer any excuse, for anyone, to continue with this shuffling in Gaza,"  National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir wrote on X/Twitter.

"We have already missed enough opportunities. It is time to go in with all our might, to destroy, kill and defeat Hamas."

אדוני רה״מ, אחרי שחמאס דחה שוב את הצעת העסקה, אין שום תירוץ יותר, לאף אחד, להמשיך עם הדשדוש הזה בעזה. פספסנו כבר מספיק הזדמנויות. זה הזמן להיכנס בכל הכוח, להשמיד להרוג ולאבד את החמאס.

— איתמר בן גביר (@itamarbengvir) May 30, 2025

Hamas said the new proposal was more biased in favor of Israel than previous proposals, and that Witkoff accepted most of the demands presented by Ron Dermer in a meeting with him on Tuesday, a source close to Hamas told Walla.

Furthermore, the new proposal does not provide a clear American guarantee that the temporary ceasefire will lead to a permanent one, the source said. The proposal does not specify that if negotiations extend beyond 60 days, the ceasefire will also continue, and Israel will not be able to unilaterally violate it as it did in March, Walla quoted the source as saying.

According to a senior Israeli official, “Contrary to reports, the Witkoff agreement proposed in recent days did not determine the new deployment line of the IDF, nor the manner in which aid would be distributed within the framework of a ceasefire.”

Hamas said in a statement: “The Hamas Movement’s leadership has received the new Witkoff proposal from the mediators and is reviewing it responsibly to serve the interests of our people, provide them relief, and achieve a permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.”

Hamas political bureau member Basem Naim later added, "The agreement that Israel agreed to does not meet our demands. The Hamas leadership is responsibly considering its response to Wittkoff's proposal."

Witkoff's new proposal

The new proposal would include the release of 10 living hostages along with 18 deceased. The hostage release would take place in two rounds, a source told the Post.

Additionally, both sides would agree to a 60-day ceasefire that can be extended after the deadline if Hamas and Israel agree.

Lastly, the IDF would withdraw from areas in Gaza, and the United Nations would take over the distribution of humanitarian aid, the source said.

The Israeli response to the Gaza ceasefire offer presented by US President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff has failed to meet Hamas' demands, the group's senior official Basim Naim told Reuters on Thursday.

"The Witkoff proposal was still under discussion," he added.

Western powers are preparing to push the UN nuclear watchdog's board at its next quarterly meeting to declare Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations for the first time in almost 20 years, a move bound to enrage Tehran, diplomats said.

More than 250,000 Palestinians were evacuated from Jabalya to the shelter area in the past few hours, security sources said on Friday. 

According to estimates, in addition to announcements urging Palestinians to quickly move to the humanitarian shelter areas, the forces are using air and ground fire to kill terrorists in the area.

A critical juncture has been crossed on the way to achieving the objectives of the latest operation in Gaza.

According to testimonies from soldiers in the field, Thursday night was one of the most intense since the beginning of the operation.

Defense Minister Israel Katz said on X/Twitter that the IDF is continuing its operations in "full force, striking and dismantling Hamas strongholds, while evacuating the local population from every combat area and attacking the territory from the air, land, and sea on an unprecedented scale to maximize the protection of our soldiers as maneuvering forces enter each area and throughout the operation.

An Israeli military vehicle patrols the Israel-Gaza border, as seen from Israel, May 29, 2025. (credit: REUTERS/AMIR COHEN)

"Our foremost commitment is to the protection of our brave soldiers, both in regular service and in the reserves, above all other considerations," Katz continued.

He said that in each place, after killing terrorists and clearing the area, the IDF remains in the position and holds it. 

"The Hamas murderers will now have to choose: Accept the terms of the 'Witkoff Deal' for the release of the hostages, or be annihilated," Katz concluded.

צה"ל ממשיך את פעילותו בעזה במלוא העוצמה ומכה ומפרק את מאחזי חמאס, תוך פינוי האוכלוסייה המקומית מכל אזור לחימה ותקיפת השטח מהאוויר, מהיבשה ומהים בהיקפים חסרי תקדים להגנה מקסימלית על חיילינו לקראת כניסת הכוחות המתמרנים בכל אזור ובמהלך התמרון.

אנחנו מחויבים בראש וראשונה להגנת…

— ישראל כ”ץ Israel Katz (@Israel_katz) May 30, 2025

All of the IDF’s troops in the Gaza Strip advanced to their targets set by IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir, according to defense sources.

Regarding the sentiment that the military is advancing at a slow pace, sources said on Friday that the divisions in the field are carrying out the mission thoroughly, including performing extensive engineering activity, so that terrorist cells will not be able to return to the terror infrastructure above and below ground.

In addition, Zamir stressed that the safety of the troops is more important than the speed of the operation.

Hostage deal talks continue amid operation

Estimates in Israel suggest that the weight of the decision-making process regarding the deal to release the hostages has shifted from the Gaza Strip to abroad, especially after the elimination of Mohammad Sinwar several weeks ago, beneath the hospital in Khan Yunis.

The leadership situation is causing Hamas's decision-making to slow down.

At this stage, the IDF is ignoring the hostage deal negotiations and is acting in accordance with the operational plans and timelines set by the chief of staff while preparing to make adjustments according to directives from the political echelon.

"There is no humanitarian blockade [in Gaza]. That is a blatant lie," the Israel Foreign Ministry wrote on Twitter/X on Friday, in response to comments made by French President Emmanuel Macron earlier in the day.

"President Macron's campaign against the Jewish state continues. The facts do not interest Macron," the post added.

President Macron’s Crusade Against the Jewish State Continues.
The facts do not interest Macron.
There is no humanitarian blockade.
That is a blatant lie.
Israel is currently facilitating the entry of aid to Gaza through two parallel efforts.

In the first effort, nearly 900 aid… pic.twitter.com/cUr3xthnRK

— Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) May 30, 2025

Within the past week, Israel has facilitated the entry of nearly 900 aid trucks into Gaza, with hundreds more ready for UN collection and distribution, and the Gaza Humanitarian Fund has provided Gazans with two million meals and tens of thousands of aid packages, the MFA wrote.

The distribution of aid directly to Gazans, sidestepping Hamas, has "already changed the situation on the group," according to the MFA.

GAZA RESIDENTS carry aid supplies which they received from the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, near the Netzarim Corridor, yesterday. (credit: Ramadan Abed/Reuters)

Yet, instead of "applying pressure on the jihadist terrorists, Macron wants to reward them with a Palestinian state," and is looking to impose sanctions on Israel, the statement added. 

Hamas has praised Macron's statements in response, it concluded.

Aid distribution disrupting Hamas control in enclave

The early success of the American-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation-run aid centers has the ability to significantly dent Hamas’s control over food distribution in the coastal enclave, The Jerusalem Post learned Friday.

Aid has been flowing into the enclave, IDF spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin confirmed in a video on Friday morning, while at the Kerem Shalom crossing. "The responsibility now falls on the UN and international organizations to ensure its proper distribution."

"Two centers are operating so far and the third will be ready in the coming days," Defrin said.

"The aid is coming in, but UN organizations prefer to cooperate with Hamas than with us," he added.

Macron willing to impose sanctions if alleged aid blockade continues

Macron on Friday said that France could harden its position on Israel if it continues to block humanitarian aid to Gaza and reiterated that Paris was committed to a two-state solution to resolve the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

"The humanitarian blockade is creating a situation that is untenable on the ground," Macron said at a joint press conference in Singapore with Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.

"And so, if there is no response that meets the humanitarian situation in the coming hours and days, obviously, we will have to toughen our collective position," Macron said, adding that France may consider applying sanctions against Israeli settlers.

"But I still hope that the government of Israel will change its stance and that we will finally have a humanitarian response."

France stands behind a two-state solution

French President Emmanuel Macron said in April that France could recognize a Palestinian state in June, adding that, in turn, some countries in the Middle East could recognize the state of Israel.

"We need to move towards recognition [of a Palestinian state]. And so over the next few months, we will. I'm not doing it to please anyone. I'll do it because at some point it will be right," he said during an interview on France 5 television.

"And because I also want to take part in a collective dynamic that should also enable those who defend Palestine to recognize Israel in their turn, something that many of them are not doing," the French president declared.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot delivered a speech on Wednesday, reiterating the country's stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, urging "the implementation of a two-state solution." Barrot also announced that France will co-host, alongside Saudi Arabia, a United Nations conference in June regarding this topic. 

The American embassy argued in response that the implementation of a two-state solution would constitute a "reward for Hamas' shocking attack on Israel," in reference to the Washington shooting attack at the Jewish Museum in which Elias Rodriguez killed two Israeli embassy staffers, Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim. 

Reuters contributed to this report.

The early success of the American-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation-run aid centers has the ability to significantly dent Hamas’s control over food distribution in the coastal enclave, The Jerusalem Post learned Friday.

However, distribution of aid through the GHF has become a tumultuous point in current ceasefire negotiations and has raised many questions.

IDF sources have confirmed that at least four food distribution centers have already begun partial operations — three in the south and one in central Gaza — providing over 1.2 million meals through an estimated 3,550 to 5,000 boxes. Each package can feed a family of five for five to seven days.

This initiative, carried out largely through convoys of more than 30 trucks each carrying at least 1,000 packages, is seen by some as a potential blow to Hamas’s longstanding control over food supplies. Analysts suggest that while Hamas remains the dominant armed presence in Gaza, its political grip, especially in controlling vital resources, could be significantly undermined.

A source said the IDF currently inspects around 60,000 aid packages every day to ensure proper distribution. It is expected to take about two weeks before all four centers reach full operational capacity. Plans are also underway for at least four more centers to open in the future.

A US-backed hostage deal is currently in limbo as Israel has agreed to the terms, while Hamas has currently rejected them without fully walking away from negotiations. The current deal proposal includes returning the distribution of the humanitarian aid in Gaza to the UN.

A gunman secures a truck carrying aid for Palestinians, following a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, January 21, 2025. (credit: REUTERS/MOHAMMED SALEM)

Analysts believe that the fact that Hamas included a stipulation of removing aid distribution from the GHF further shows that the terror group fears that the initiative will undermine its control in Gaza.

Meanwhile, organized crime and local gangs, separate from Hamas, have reportedly hijacked food shipments. “Sometimes it’s Hamas, sometimes it’s just desperate people,” one official explained. “Sometimes it’s local gangs not connected to Hamas at all.”

The humanitarian crisis has been worsened by the movement of nearly 900,000 Palestinians from northern Gaza into the densely populated Gaza City following the latest wave of fighting.

This concentration of displaced residents is placing enormous strain on aid efforts, with only a single food center currently operating in the central region.

IDF debunks UN accusations of halting, impeding aid delivery

Adding to the tension are strong accusations from the IDF that the UN has acted as if it lacks the capacity to move food to northern Gaza, thereby stalling hundreds of aid trucks at the Kerem Shalom crossing point. Earlier this week, Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) said that the UN is reducing cooperation with Israel’s food initiative, complicating the distribution of aid and effectively playing into Hamas’s hands.

On Monday, Tom Fletcher, the UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, said there are 10,000 aid trucks on the Gaza border, cleared and ready to go.

“We’ve got 10,000 trucks on the border right now, cleared [and] ready to go, and we’ll do everything to get them in and save lives,” Fletcher told CNN’s Christine Amanpour on Monday.

When she repeated the number back to him incredulously, Fletcher nodded and replied, “Full of food.”

COGAT posted a clip of the interview on X/Twitter, saying, “Look, it’s @UNReliefChief with another libelous lie.”

“There are no 10,000 trucks waiting to go into Gaza. What there are, are hundreds of trucks’ worth of aid the UN hasn’t picked up from the Gazan side over the last few days, after we gave you plenty of routes you can use to safely distribute the aid throughout Gaza.”

On Thursday, COGAT accused UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric of lying about Fletcher's recent visits to Gaza and the UN's framing of the Gaza humanitarian aid issue. 

COGAT noted that while Dujarric claimed Fletcher had seen Gaza "with his own eyes a few weeks ago," the UN official had actually not visited the enclave since February.

"Let's stop focusing on aid that might be in the pipeline, and start collecting the content of the 550 trucks already waiting for you inside Gaza," COGAT wrote. "For a full week now, we’ve been offering you alternative routes to facilitate pickup. These are areas with active military activities, and coordination is for your own safety.

Mathilda Heller contributed to this report.

UN aid chief Tom Fletcher expressed regret for his recent claim that 14,000 babies could die within 48 hours in Gaza without aid - a claim the UN retracted - in an interview with the BBC on Friday.

Fletcher acknowledged a need to be "precise" with language, admitting that when he made the comments, “we were desperately trying to get that aid in.”

"We were being told we couldn't get it in, and we knew that we'd probably have a couple of days, a window to get as much aid in as possible, and that was being denied, and we were desperate to get that in. And so yes, we've got to be utterly precise with our language, and we've clarified that," he said

France could harden its position on Israel if it continues to block humanitarian aid to Gaza, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday, reiterating that Paris was committed to a two-state solution to resolve the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

"The humanitarian blockade is creating a situation that is untenable on the ground," Macron said at a joint press conference in Singapore with Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.

"And so, if there is no response that meets the humanitarian situation in the coming hours and days, obviously, we will have to toughen our collective position," Macron said, adding that France may consider applying sanctions against Israeli settlers.

The new Witkoff Proposal's "apparent irrelevance" may actually be the reason Israel should accept it, Lt. Col. (res.) Amit Yagur, former deputy head of the Palestinian Arena in the IDF Planning Directorate, suggested in an interview with Maariv on Friday.

"Yesterday, we opened with headlines that the US and Hamas are close to agreeing on the Witkoff Framework, which includes a new proposal. Without delving into the specifics, it involves a ceasefire, the release of about half the hostages, the release of prisoners in exchange, and guarantees for continued negotiations,” Yagur said.

“However, a framework that was appropriate and useful a month or two ago, focused on the military-security aspect, now operates within a completely different strategic context in Gaza—a civilian one."