Day Thirty-Two Of Swords Of Iron
Israeli premier Netanyahu signals open-ness to 'tactical little pauses' in war on Hamas.
A red rectangle denotes a Hamas rocket launcher found in residential area of Gaza. IDF handout.
8:13 pm
Hundreds of family members of hostages held in Gaza by Hamas terrorists joined supporters beside the Western Wall in Jerusalem to call for the release of their loved ones. The evening even was one of several held around Israel to mark one month since the murderous Oct. 7 Hamas attack, in which more than 1,400 people were killed and around 240 taken captive.
8:04 pm
Israeli PM Netanyahu stated tonight that there will be no fuel admitted to Gaza and no laborers admitted to Israel, and no ceasefire until all hostages are released by Hamas.
The IDF released video today showing Israeli infantry and armored vehicles and tanks capturing a block of Al-Rasheed Street along the coast of Gaza near Gaza city. This means the IDF have penetrated deeper into the western suburbs of Gaza City, and northern Gaza, than previously known.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said tonight at a press conference: “The pressures on us will increase, we may soon be forced to make difficult decisions. For me, fighting can not be stopped until its achievements are reached. No going back, no stopping - just going forward.”
The Iron Dome defensive system intercepted rockets over Tel Aviv.
Reportedly, the IDF has made strikes against Hezbollah terrorists targets in southern Lebanon, at Naqoura, Ayta ash Shab, Kafrkila, and Chebaa.
7:50 pm
President Biden told Israeli PM Netanyahu that a 3-day ceasefire would help release hostages held by Hamas, according to Ynet.
7:45 pm
Hamas leaders worth staggering $11B revel in luxury — while Gaza’s people suffer. While their people languish in poverty and are treated as human shields, the leaders of Hamas live billionaire lifestyles. The terror group’s three top leaders alone are worth a staggering $11 billion between them and enjoy a life of luxury in the sanctuary of the emirate of Qatar. The emirate has long welcomed the leaders of the terror group and installed them in its luxury hotels and villas at the same time as hosting a vast American military presence.
3:15 pm
Israel-Gaza war: Assassination attempt on Palestine president Mahmoud Abbas kills one
One of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' bodyguards was shot dead in an assassination attempt on the leader after he was given a 24-hour ultimatum by the "Sons of Abu Jandal" to declare a "global war" against Israel.
2:32 pm
The International Committee of the Red Cross said a humanitarian convoy came under fire in Gaza City. The convoy of five trucks and two Red Cross vehicles was carrying supplies to health facilities when it was hit, an ICRC statement said. Two trucks were damaged and a driver was lightly wounded. It is not clear who fired at the convoy. Israel has previously accused Hamas gunmen of hitting civilians attempting to evacuate to the Strip’s south.
US to Israel: no governance of Gaza
The United States opposes Israel resuming long-term control of the Gaza Strip. “Our viewpoint is that Palestinians must be at the forefront of these decisions and Gaza is Palestinian land and it will remain Palestinian land,” State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said. “Generally speaking, we do not support the reoccupation of Gaza and neither does Israel,” he said. Israel captured Gaza from Egypt during the 1967 Six Day War, but abandoned it later. In 2005, it imposed restrictions around Gaza's border after the Hamas terror group seized control of the territory and used it to fire rockets at Israeli population centers. Patel says that the United States agrees “there is no returning to the October 6 status quo,” referring to the day before Hamas’s massive onslaught. “Israel and the region must be secure and Gaza should and can no longer be a base from which to launch terror attacks against the people of Israel or anyone else,” Patel says.
Netanyahu told ABC News on Nov. 6 that Israel will assume “overall security” over Gaza “for an indefinite period” after the war.
Air raid sirens sounded in central Israel and Tel Aviv and its suburbs, as well as the Sharon area, Ashdod and the Gaza border area. There were no immediate reports of impacts or injuries.
IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari says there will be no ceasefire as the IDF pushes its ground offensive in the Gaza Strip. “Hamas terrorists tell themselves that there will be a ceasefire. There won’t be one. We are moving forward,” he said. The IDF has struck more than 14,000 targets in Gaza, destroyed more than 100 tunnel entrances, and captured 4,000 weapons — including rockets — hidden in civilian infrastructure.
The IDF said fighting continued in Gaza as infantry were assisted by rotary-wing aircraft to strike Hamas operatives. The Nahal Brigade directed aircraft to strike Hamas terrorists who had taken shelter in a mosque and sought to flee via a tunnel in northern Gaza,
Separately, Hamas launched anti-tank guided missiles at IDF infantry from several locations, including adjacent to hospitals. An IDF helicopter provided suppressing fire to extract the troops.
Also, IDF infantry killed several Hamas combatants and discovered rocket launchers and other weapons inside a school. The IDF says the school was used by Hamas as a base for mortar and rocket fire on Israel. Today, IDF also struck numerous mortars and anti-tank missile launching positions.
'With God's help, we will win'
Israeli PM Netanyahu says the IDF has gone deeper into Gaza than Hamas had ever imagined. He warned Hezbollah of Lebanon that it would be making the “greatest mistake of its life” if it opens a new full-on war front. Speaking from military headquarters in Tel Aviv, Netanyahu updated the Israeli public about the war. “In the south, the war is moving forward with force that Hamas has never seen,” he says. “Gaza City is surrounded. We are operating within it, we are deepening the pressure on Hamas every hour, every day.”
Netanayu claimed that the IDF has eliminated thousands of terrorists, above ground and in tunnels, including many of those who planned and carried out the slaughter committed on Oct. 7. Ground operations have destroyed “countless” Hamas command centers, positions and tunnels, he said. “Hamas is discovering that we are reaching places they thought we would never reach,” he said.
Netanyahu said IDF troops are learning lessons inside Gaza which they are passing on to troops training inside Israel ahead of their entry into Gaza. He also praises the troops’ faith and determination to defend the country. In the north, Netanyahu says, the IDF is both defending and attacking. He said Israel will not accept Hezbollah or Hamas in Lebanon “harming our communities and our citizens.”
“We will respond with heavy fire to any of their attacks against us,” he vowed. If Hezbollah enters the war, Netanyahu said repeatedly “it will be making the greatest mistake of its life.”
Regarding the hostages held in Gaza, Netanyahu says he spoke with the president of the Red Cross and demanded that it work to secure their immediate release, “as required by international law.” He also demanded that the Red Cross visit all the hostages and establish their well-being, again as international law requires. “There will not be a ceasefire without the return of our kidnapped,” Netanyahu stresses, delivering this declaration “to our enemies and our friends alike.” He adds that the ground operation is a vital part of the effort to get the hostages home.
Netanyahu said Israel is working to give the IDF diplomatic room to maneuver. He has been telling foreign leaders that if Israel does not win, their countries are next. But Israel will win, he promises. He said he told President Biden that he appreciates support from the White House and from the American people. He vowed that Israel “will destroy Hamas’s military and governance capabilities… Gaza will no longer constitute a threat to Israel.”
Netanyahu reiterated his calls on Gazans to leave the north and move south — “you are already doing it, complete it, because we will not stop,” he said. He again pledge that no fuel will be allowed into Gaza, “and no ceasefire without the return of our hostages.”
Netanyahu promised that the Israeli government will fund the rehabilitation of southern communities devastated by the Oct. 7 attack, no matter the cost. “We will fight together, and with God’s help, we will win together,” concluded. Netanyahu. He did not take questions.
Netanayahu told ground forces officers at the Tze’elim base in southern Israel,
that they are “saving the state.”
The ongoing IDF operation in Gaza, he said, “is an incredible success. I’m telling you, the Americans were here. They came and explained what happened at Fallujah… They are astounded by our achievements… Of course, there are painful losses, but overall the success is phenomenal.”
Activists held a special prayer service at the Western Wall for peace and the return of hostages held in Gaza.
Sophie Pommier, a former training advisor in the Middle East department of the French Foreign Ministry was caught tearing down posters of Israeli hostages held by Hamas. As she tore them down in Paris, she shouted "Israel assassin” as she was confronted by several passersby. “Although this person has no longer had contractual relations with this ministry since last summer, an administrative investigation will be carried out from today at the request of Minister Catherine Colonna into the conditions of her recruitment,” wrote Mathieu Hedoin, a French diplomat based in Israel. He said she could be prosecuted by the French courts. “The video released today shows a totally unworthy attitude, behavior and comments, which completely disqualify this person from maintaining any working relationship with the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs,” Hedoin wrote.
Turkey’s parliament announced it is boycotting companies that support Israel, saying their products won’t be sold in any of its restaurants, cafeterias, or teahouses. According to the Turkish Grand National Assembly, parliament speaker Numan Kurtulus made the decision in support of the “public sensitivities” regarding the sale of products from companies that have allegedly “openly declared their support to Israel’s war crimes.” However, the names of the companies was not announced. Last week, Turkey recalled its ambassador to Israel for consultations despite recent efforts to normalize ties, as it consolidates its ties with the Hamas terror group despite its murderous October 7 massacres in Israel.
More than 400 Americans and their family members evacuated from Gaza over the past week, since Egypt’s Rafah crossing was opened to civilians for the first time since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war. “We have assisted more than 400 US citizens, lawful permanent residents, and other eligible individuals to depart Gaza,” State Department principal deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel says in a statement.
11:36 am
British PM Sunak appeared before the House of Commons and provided an update about Israel and Gaza. He stressed his support for Israel’s right to defend itself. Sunak said 100+ Britons have now left Gaza. His government, he said, will "not stand for the hatred and antisemitism we have seen on our streets”. He went on: "It sickens me to think that British Jews are looking over their shoulder in this country that children are going to school covering up their school badges for fear of attack. This government will do whatever it takes to keep the Jewish community safe."
The British chief of the general staff, Gen. Sir Patrick Sanders, said the British Army is “posturing” itself for the possibility of a “non-combatant evacuation operation” in the Middle East in the event the Israel-Hamas conflict expands. He said: "I don’t think it’s likely that we are going to find ourselves drawn into combat or conflict in the region, or certainly we would seek to avert that."
Sanders added, "At the moment, the role we’re playing is a combination of exploiting the network we have, so for example we have our special operations forces, the rangers, in Lebanon. They have been there for many years and they have built up a very close relationship with Lebanese armed forces and through that that provides an insight and influence onto Lebanese decision-making and seeing things from the other side of the northern border which clearly concerns Israel." While discussing “contingency” options, he said: "Clearly there is a prospect if the conflict does expand of a non-combatant evacuation operation in some parts of that region. We’re posturing ourselves for that."
11:17 am
The Times of Israel reported:
German Air Force Chief Commander General Ingo Gerhartz visits Sheba Medical Center near Tel Aviv today. While at the hospital — Israel’s largest — he takes the time to donate blood. “I have done so much with the Israeli Air Force, and especially the people living here in the last years,” Gerhartz says. “Now as you fight a war with Hamas, it is an honor for me to be here and show solidarity with your country and people and donate blood in case you need it.”
US envoy Amos Hochstein said at a press conference in Beirut: “The United States does not want to see conflict in Gaza escalating and expanding into Lebanon.” He spoke after meeting Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati.
Thais have proof of life
Thai Foreign Minister Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara says has proof that Thai captives are alive in Gaza, and assurance from officials in Qatar and Egypt that Thailand’s 24 hostages will be the next to be released since they have “nothing to do with the war,” The New York Times reports.
US colleges under scrutiny
The US Education Department issued a statement to American public schools and colleges that they risk losing federal funds if they fail to uphold their legal obligation to address antisemitism and Islamophobia. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona told CNN that incidents of antisemitism and Islamophobia are increasingly reported to his department’s Office of Civil Rights, with eight or nine complaints coming in since October 7. Cardona said that withholding funds is not the first response his office will take, but will be if the department is ignored. “I would want to provide support for these universities, provide guidance. And if there are egregious acts, I want to make sure that we’re investigating,” Cardona said. “Ultimately, if we have to withhold dollars from a campus refusing to comply, we would.” “We want to promote free speech and, to be frank with you, college campuses are where students should be able to express different opinions. But when it comes to antisemitism or Islamophobia, that has no place on our college campuses or in our schools,” Cardona says.
IDF reported that 20 rockets launched from Lebanon into Israel's northern region. Sirens wailed in the Golan area and northern Galilee. IDF troops responded with artillery fire toward the sources of the rockets. There are no reports of injuries or damage.
At Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazilian nonprofit Rio de Paz planted 1,400 Israeli flags in honor of those killed by Hamas one month ago, and 34 photos of the children and teenagers who were taken hostage.
Reports of Hamas attack: 'thrown out of proportion'
Roger Waters, formerly of the Pink Floyd rock group, refused to condemn Hamas's terrorist onslaught of Oct. 7. He refused to acknowledge that it happened, and said he has gone down a "rabbit hole" of conspiracy theories about Israel's failure to prevent the massacre. “Didn’t the Israeli army… hear the bangs when they blew up whatever they had to blow up to get across the border? There’s something very fishy about that,” he told a podcast. He was asked whether the attack was justified, and answered that “we don’t know what they did do,” and added: “Was it justified for them to resist the occupation? Yeah. They’re absolutely legally and morally bound to resist the occupation since 1967.”
Hamas has said countless times that its goal is to destroy Israel in all its borders, from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, not just drive it away from the West Bank and Gaza which the Jewish state seized in 1967 in a defensive war. Widely criticized for earlier antisemitic and anti-Israel remarks, Waters said, “If war crimes were committed, I condemn them.” He avoided making reference to the overwhelming evidence that Israeli were overrun and that entire families were butchered and at a music festival, saying that "the thing was thrown out of all proportion by the Israelis making up stories about beheading babies.”
Israel has produced horrifying visual evidence of that claim.
oreign Minister Eli Cohen will go to Brussels on Nov. 8 in the company of relatives of Israeli hostages, where he will speak in front of the European parliament. Cohen will also meet with European Parliament head Roberta Metsola and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
11:15 am
The Montreal Gazette reported that a synagogue and Jewish community center in the West Island area were firebombed. Damage was minor and no human injuries were reported.
11:12 am
Jewish members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees have filed a human rights claim against their union alleging discrimination and antisemitism, including recent messages seen as cheering for the deadly Hamas attacks on Israel.
11:00 am
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) shared concerns Monday over the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, saying he’s had to consider whether it could escalate into a global conflict amid rising tensions across the Middle East.
“I have had to answer a question from people that I never had to answer in 30 years of public life which is: Could this be World War III?” Kaine said in an interview with “The Hill” on NewsNation on Monday.
The Guardian reported that water cisterns, solar panels, roads, and buildings are frequently demolished by Jewish residents of the West Bank Area C. "One Palestinian resident, Alaa Hathleen, told the Guardian he and his neighbours were under threat. Over the past three weeks, he says, settlers have burned down homes and attacked Palestinians residing there, as violence from Israeli settlers and IDF forces has intensified in the aftermath of the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October."
The first group of Canadian passport-holders left Gaza through the Rafah border crossing into Egypt this morning, according Canada’s international development minister Ahmed Hussen. Hussen said: "They are now safe and sound in Egypt and we’re very, very happy." An approved evacuation list from Gaza’s border authority listed about 80 people connected to Canada who were granted permission to cross into Egypt.
WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said 10,000 people have been killed over the course of a month of “intense bombardment” in Gaza, more than 4,000 of them children, adding: "How long will this human catastrophe last?" Reiterating his call for a ceasefire, and immediate release of hostages held by Hamas, he called for a "lasting peace," and added: "History will judge us all by what we do to end this tragedy.
A Hezbollah lawmaker said today that his terrorist group will respond “double” to any Israeli attacks on civilians after a strike that allegedly killed three children and their grandmother in south Lebanon. “The resistance will respond double to any aggression that targets civilians,” Ali Fayyad said at the funeral of the four Lebanese people killed in the south on Nov. 5. The family wept over the four coffins draped in the flags of Lebanon. A banner of the three girls, who were aged between 10 and 14, said they were martyrs and featured the emblem of Hezbollah.
10:52 am
More than 100 French nationals and their dependents have been evacuated from Gaza through the Rafah border crossing into Egypt, according to a report by The Guardian. “Two groups of French nationals, officials and rights holders were able to leave” on Monday and Tuesday and were now “in safety in Egypt”, the French Foreign Ministry said. The departures “bring the number of exits organized by France to more than 100 people”, the ministry said. It added, "In the coming days, we will continue our efforts so that all our countrymen, our officials and their families who want to leave Gaza are able to do so." Hundreds of foreign passport holders were seen waiting at the Rafah gate seeking to cross from Gaza to Egypt.
British deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden will chair a meeting of the Cobra emergency committee today “to coordinate the government’s response to the situation in Israel and Gaza”, according to a spokesperson of the PM's office. The spokesperson added, "It will look at a wide range of areas but it’s obviously particularly focused on the impact of the terrorist attack on the UK domestically and how we can address some of the importance around community cohesion particularly." This comes as fears grow in the UK, especially London, for pro-Palestinian marches planned for Armistice Day November 11, as well as rise in "antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents in Britain," The Guardian reported.
10:48 am
New York city residents turned out on the evening of November 6 to commemorate those killed in Israel on Oct. 7 by Hamas terrorists. JTA reported:
The 30-day mark after death is a meaningful moment in the Jewish calendar of grief. It is when a secondary period of ritual mourning – following shiva, which lasts for seven days beginning with burial — is lifted for anyone who has lost a spouse, sibling or child. (People who have lost a parent mourn for a whole year.)
9:00 am
Germany released $97 million in for UN Palestinian refugee agency, following a review after Hamas launched its attack on Israel on Oct. 7. On Oct. 8, Germany suspended development aid for Palestinian areas pending the review, though it had kept up humanitarian aid. Germany's Development Ministry says it hasn’t yet completed the review, but said the review focused on UN agency UNRWA. It says that “as a first partial result” it has decided to release 71 million euros already earmarked for UNRWA and to add 20 million euros in new funding.
Development Minister Svenja Schulze announced the funding after meeting in Jordan with the head of UNRWA. The aid is intended to provide basic services -– particularly drinking water — to displaced people in Gaza and Jordan.
According to the Jerusalem Post, an Israeli-Bedouin family is offering a $1 million bounty for information leading to the killers of their son, Osama Abu Assa, who was attending a music/peace festival where hundreds were murdered by Hamas terrorists.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky cancelled a visit to Israel after news of his travel plans were leaked over the weekend. However, Israeli diplomatic sources claim Zelensky is expectto make a visit, but no date has been set. “If President Zelensky comes, he will be welcomed with open arms,” an Israeli official said Sunday.
Britain's King Charles III, wearing the Imperial State Crown and the Robe of State,appeared during the State Opening of Parliament in London today. the speech was read out by the prime minister. It was the first King's Speech to open parliament in 70 years. Charles said the British government will address the most important security matters, including “the consequences of the barbaric acts of terrorism against the people of Israel, facilitating humanitarian support into Gaza and supporting the cause of peace and stability in the Middle East.”
Charles said the British government is “committed to tackling antisemitism.” He said that planning for the Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre in Victoria Tower Gardens will be moved through parliament.
Israel air defense destroyed a “suspicious aerial target” detected on the Lebanese border before it entered into Israeli airspace, according to the IDF.
In addition, an IDF post near the Bedouin village of Aramsha in the Western Galilee sustained gunfire, according to a military statement. Troops responded with artillery fire at the source of the gunfire in Lebanese territory. There were no reported casualties.
Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen welcomed new US ambassador to Israel Jack Lew in Jerusalem. According to the ministry, the two men discussed the war, Iranian support for terrorism, and how to preserve the Abraham Accords of 2020. They also discussed efforts to liberate hostages held by Hamas in Gaza since October 7. “The unequivocal American solidarity and support moves many in Israel and strengthens us in the fight against the terrorist organization Hamas,” Cohen said.
Hundreds of Gazans, some with their arms raised and some carrying white flags, moved on foot toward the southern part of Gaza along the north-to-south Salah a-Din road that had been opened by the IDF. IDF troops protected the Gazans as they fled. Israeli forces again opened the humanitarian corridor and called on Gazans yet again to evacuate northern Gaza and head south. The IDF announced that the Salah a-Din road would be open for Palestinians to evacuate to southern Gaza between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. today. “If you care about yourself and your loved ones, head south according to our instructions. Rest assured that Hamas leaders have already taken care of themselves,” the spokesman said.
The IDF has urged Gazans to leave the northern sector for weeks and evacuate southward, warning them of its military campaign directed at the main base of Hamas operations in the north. On Nov. 4, Hamas launched mortars and anti-tank guided missiles at Israeli troops opening the Salah a-Din road. Israel has repeatedly accused Hamas of preventing Gazans to escape northern Gaza in order to utilize civilians as human shields.
Rocket sirens wailed in Israeli southern communities of Mivtahim, Talmei Eliyahu, Amioz, Sde Nitzan, Zohar, and Ohad, near the Gaza border. There are no immediate reports of injuries or damage.
Israeli Foreign Ministry appointed Israel’s incoming ambassador to New Zealand Alon Roth-Snir to efforts to free hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. He will lead international efforts to pressure Hamas to release at least 241 Israelis and foreigners they kidnapped on October 7. Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said the appointment is meant to “advance international efforts in a number of forums that will assist in the speedy release of all the hostages.”
Shuli Davidovich, the Foreign Ministry’s coordinator for captives and missing, will continue serving as the ministry representative on the team led by Gal Hirsch, including heading the team’s meeting with foreign diplomats who come to Israel. They are the contact points for the families of hostages.
8:30 am
Israeli PM Netanyahu said Israel may consider “tactical little pauses” in the the war on Hamas terrorists to allow aid to enter Gaza or for hostages to leave Hamas's captivity. He again rejected the notion of ceasefire. He was asked by ABC News who should govern the enclave after the war. He said: “Israel will for an indefinite period … have the overall security responsibility [in Gaza] because we’ve seen what happens when we don’t have that security responsibility.”
The IDF announced the capture of a Hamas stronghold and to have detonated a weapons depot “in a civilian area” adjacent to al-Quds hospital. The IDF has repeatedly said the terrorist use hospitals as depots and staging areas for military purposes. Israeli forces have severed northern Gaza, which has Hamas's biggest underground network, from the rest of Gaza. The IAF conducted multiple air strikes against the north on November 6.
Today, Israel observed a moment of silence to mark the 30 days since the Hamas attack on Israel in which 1,400 people were killed. An evening vigil was held in Jerusalem during which a candle lit to commemorate each victim. Family members of the murdered went to the Wailing Wall to mark a month of mourning.
UN High Commissioner Volker Türk began a visit to the Middle East today to meet government officials and others to discuss human rights violations taking place during Israel's campaign in Gaza. “It has been one full month of carnage, of incessant suffering, bloodshed, destruction, outrage and despair,” Türk said in a statement.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres reaffirmed civilian safety “must be paramount” in the conflict and warned Gaza is becoming “a graveyard for children”. Israeli FM Eli Cohen responded, saying: “Shame on you.”
According to the Hamas-controlled health authority in Gaza, 10,000+ Palestinians have been killed by Israeli military action in Gaza since Oct. 7. The total number of deaths now stands at 10,022, including 4,104 children; these figures have not been independently verified.
IDF spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari has said today that Israel fired again into Lebanon in response to fire received.
According to Haaretz, a Palestinian woman was shot today in the West Bank after approaching Israeli security forces with a knife and a Hamas flag.
Secretary of State Blinken arrived in Japan to meet with the Group of Seven foreign ministers, where they are expected to discuss the Israel-Hamas war.
Russia called today for “humanitarian pauses” in Israel’s military operation in Gaza, describing the humanitarian situation there as “catastrophic”. According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, Russia will continue its contacts with Israel, Egypt, and Palestinians to ensure that humanitarian supplies can be delivered into Gaza. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, on the other hand, has killed nearly 22,000 civilians, according to UN figures.
The Russian foreign ministry released a statement saying that Israeli Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu's "openness" to the possibility of an Israeli nuclear strike on Gaza has raised many questions. Spokesperson Maria Zakharova said “it turns out that we are hearing an official statement about the presence of nuclear weapons? Accordingly, the next questions that everyone has are – where are the international organisations, where is the IAEA, where are the inspectors?”Eliyahu has since been suspended from PM Netanyahu's war cabinet.
Israel has never conducted a public nuclear test or stated in public that it has nuclear weapons. However, international observers believe it has a stockpile of 80-90 warheads.