Middle East Conflict: Israeli Missile Attack Reportedly Kills Iranian Revolutionary Guards Adviser

Iran claims 'massive operation' against Mossad: Iranian semi-official media

Iran's intelligence ministry said Friday that it carried out a "massive operation" targeting Israel's spy agency, Mossad, the Iranian government's semi-official Mehr news reported.

In the supposed operation, "a unique and unprecedented collection of information was obtained," and dozens of individuals affiliated with Israel were identified, as per the report.

This comes after Turkey detained seven people accused of selling information to the Mossad.

Iran-backed Iraqi militia pledges continued attacks on US troops

Al-Nujaba, an Iranian-backed militant group in Iraq, on Friday pledged that it will continue attacking American forces until all troops leave Iraq and Israel's military campaign in Gaza ends, multiple outlets reported.

Israeli air force elite platoon commander falls in Gaza

Maj. Yitzhar Hoffman, a platoon commander in the Israeli Air Force's (IAF) premier Shaldag unit, was killed in battle in the northern Gaza Strip Wednesday, the IDF announced Thursday.

He is one of a growing number of IDF officers who have fallen in Gaza since the war started.

Israeli troops locate rocket shell production complex in central Gaza

Israeli ground troops with the 646^th Brigade's combat team located "a complex for the production of rocket shells based on civilian and multi-purpose machines, which were converted by Hamas for hostile sabotage activities," the IDF said in an operation update published Friday.

Yiftah Brigade fighters also raided "Hamas safes" where they found 100,000 NIS (approximately $27,300) and documents with information on the Palestinian terror group's fund transfer activities.

Turkey detains 7 accused of spying for Mossad: State news

Turkish police on Friday arrested seven people accused of selling information to Mossad, Israel's intelligence service, state-run Anadolu reported.

The detained individuals allegedly passed on information to the Mossad through private detectives and were arrested in cooperation with the Turkish counterpart of Mossad, MIT, as per the report.

There were nine suspects in total, but two are thought to have been taken into custody earlier.

IRGC adviser killed in Israeli attack: Semi-official Iranian sites

Saeid Alidadi, an adviser of Iran's IRGC, was killed Friday in an Israeli missile attack south of Damascus, Syria's capital, Reuters reported, citing semi-official Iranian media.

Alidadi's specific rank at the IRGC was not disclosed by the Iranian news sites.

The Israeli army has yet to confirm if it carried out an attack Friday in Damascus, but multiple outlets reported earlier Friday, citing Syrian state news agency SANA, that several Israeli missiles were launched from the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights.

White House considered sanctioning two top Israeli ministers: Report

The Biden administration had considered sanctioning Israel's national security minister and finance minister as part of the executive order targeting West Bank violence initiated by Israelis, Axios reported, citing two U.S. officials.

Ben-Gvir is known for his inflammatory remarks against Palestinians and more recently, for calling on Palestinians to voluntarily resettle outside the Gaza Strip. Smotrich has called for the same voluntary emigration that drew criticism from the U.S.

The Israeli ministers were ultimately left out of the list of sanctioned individuals as the White House decided to focus on Israelis who specifically perpetrated attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank.

Belgium summons Israeli envoy over alleged 'bombing' of offices

Belgium has summoned the Israeli ambassador "to clarify" what Belgium's foreign minister Hadja Lahbib said was the "bombing" of Gaza offices under the country's development agency, Enabel.

"Targeting civilian buildings is unacceptable," Lahbib said in a Google-translated post on X.

Hezbollah claims attack on IDF asset at Shebaa Farms

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah on Thursday said the Lebanese terror group attacked "spy equipment at the radar site" of the Israeli army in the disputed Shebaa Farms.

The said land area is occupied by Israel and is being claimed by Lebanon. The United Nations recognizes the territory as Syrian, but Hezbollah has used the land dispute as a reason for its supposed "resistance" attacks toward Israel in the past years.

Biden targets violent Israeli settlers in West Bank in executive order

The U.S. president on Thursday issued an executive order that targets Israelis that participated in or encouraged violence in the West Bank. He said violence in the Israeli-occupied territory "has reached intolerable levels and constitutes a serious threat to the peace, security and stability."

Four people were sanctioned under the executive order, freezing assets the sanctioned hold in the U.S. The said individuals, who also got slapped with visa bans, are accused of attacking Palestinians in the territory.

Read the full story here.

IDF will march toward Rafah: Israel's Gallant

The Israeli defense minister on Thursday said the IDF will continue military operations in Gaza, this time, in Rafah, an area where many Palestinian civilians moved to amid intense fighting in the north and central parts of the territory.

He said greater pressure on Hamas "brings us closer to the return of the abductees, more than anything else," as per a Google translation of his statement on X. He went on to echo the Netanyahu government's stance over the fighting, saying the Israeli army "will continue until the end; there is no other way."

US downs Gulf of Aden drone, destroys Houthi USV

U.S. forces shot down an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in the Gulf of Aden Thursday, and destroyed "an Iranian-backed Houthi explosive" USV in the Red Sea. The USV was heading "toward the international shipping lane" and was determined to present an imminent threat to U.S. Navy warships and commercial shipping operations in the region.

The attack on the USV was carried out "in self-defense," CENTCOM said, adding that secondary explosions resulted from the attack. No injuries or damage were reported from the operation, the U.S. military noted.

US approves 'multi-tier response' to troops' killing in Jordan: Austin

The U.S. defense secretary said during a Pentagon media briefing Thursday that the White House has approved retaliatory strikes against an Iranian-backed militia after three American troops were killed in a drone attack in Jordan Sunday.

"We will have a multi-tier response and we have the ability to respond a number of times depending on the situation," he said.

He did not provide specific details about the U.S. response, but noted that "we will respond at a time and place of our choosing."

The U.S. has blamed Iran and militant groups it supports for the deadly drone attack in Jordan at a base called Tower 22.

Hamas has given 'initial' confirmation of Israeli-approved truce proposal: Qatar

Qatar's foreign ministry spokesman, Majed al-Ansari, on Thursday raised hopes for a new ceasefire in Gaza, when he said mediators now "have an initial positive confirmation from the Hamas side" over a truce proposal that Israeli had already approved.

However, a source close to Hamas told AFP that "the Qatari statement is rushed and not true" as the Palestinian terror group had not yet agreed to the "framework" of the proposal.

Read the full story here.

Houthis claim attack on British merchant vessel

The Houthis on Thursday claimed to have targeted a British merchant ship in the Red Sea that was on its way to Israel, as per a post by Sare'e on X (formerly Twitter). The attack was carried out "with appropriate naval missiles," he added.

While the rebel paramilitary group did not identify the ship it claims to have attacked, Sare'e said the operation was "in retaliation to the American-British aggression against our country."

Britain has yet to confirm if a merchant vessel in the area was attacked.

This comes after the U.S. and United Kingdom carried out joint strikes on Houthi assets in Yemen, saying the strikes were implemented professionally and in self-defense.

Read the full story here.