BICOM

What’s happened: the IDF has said that it launched “extensive” strikes on over ten sites in southern Lebanon in response to a barrage of over 50 rockets being fired at the Golan Heights town of Katzrin.

• Israeli Air Force jets have targeted Hezbollah weapon depots, buildings, and a rocket launcher, according to an update from the IDF.
• This morning, the IDF confirmed that a drone strike destroyed a cell of Hezbollah operatives planning to launch rockets at Israel in the southern Lebanon’s Tayr Harfa.
• Several projectiles were also fired at Israel from Lebanon, most likely targeting Mount Meron where a sensitive Israeli military air traffic control centre is located. At least one projectile was intercepted while two others landed on the mountain. No injuries were reported.
• The IDF has announced that it conducted over 30 airstrikes on targets in the Gaza Strip killing dozens of gunmen. These targets included Hamas compounds, weapon depots, and rocket launching positions. Ground operations continue in Khan Yunis, Deir al-Balah, Rafah, and central Gaza’s Netzarim Corridor. An Israeli soldier, Sergeant Ori Ashkenazi Nehemya was also killed in Rafah by anti-tank missile.
• The IDF has killed two Palestinians in a drone strike on the West Bank city of Tulkarem. The strike was carried out against a cell of gunmen during a joint raid being conducted by the IDF, Shin Bet, and Border Police. No Israeli casualties were reported.
• Despite the near breakdown of ceasefire and hostage release talks and dwindling expectations of an imminent breakthrough, Israeli negotiators have returned to Cairo.
• According to Channel 12, Netanyahu sent Israel’s negotiators to Cairo with updated maps showing a reduced IDF deployment along the Philadelphi Corridor, indicating some willingness to compromise on this matter.

Context: Israeli strikes in Lebanon follow statements by PM Netanyahu hinting at Israel’s offensive capabilities and intent to use them at a visit to the Ramat David IAF base near Haifa.

• Netanyahu said that Israel is “ready for any scenario, both on the defensive and on the attack” and referred to the air force as “our iron fist that can strike the soft underbelly of our enemies”.
• During her speech at the Democratic National Convention where she accepted the party’s presidential nomination, Vice President Harris reaffirmed her support for Israel and her commitment to supporting its right to self-defence, while also acknowledging the humanitarian toll of the war in Gaza and calling for an immediate hostage-ceasefire deal to end the fighting and return those held captive by Hamas.
• These comments come as the US continues to press for a ceasefire and hostage release agreement between Israel and Hamas.
• An unnamed Egyptian official criticised part of the American approach. “The Americans are offering promises, not guarantees…Hamas won’t accept this, because it virtually means Hamas will release the civilian hostages in return for a six-week pause of fighting with no guarantees for a negotiated permanent ceasefire.”
• The US has now deployed a second aircraft carrier to the region. The USS Abraham Lincoln and its accompanying strike group arrived in the Middle East on Wednesday, and will join the USS Theodore Roosevelt.

Looking ahead: negotiations for a ceasefire and hostage deal continue in Cairo.

• The status of the Philadelphi Corridor which runs along the Egyptian-Israeli border in Gaza, is understood to be a central sticking point. Netanyahu believes that an Israeli presence remains vital to preventing Hamas from re-arming, while Hamas says Israeli forces must withdraw entirely.
• Hamas is also reportedly concerned by Israel’s insistence on keeping troops deployed in the Netzarim Corridor, an east-west strip Israel cleared during the current war that prevents Palestinians’ (including Hamas operatives) free movement between north and south Gaza.
• Egypt has reportedly rejected the presence of Israeli troops on the Philadelphi Corridor, but is willing to take more security measures to secure the border. Egyptian sources reportedly believe that Hamas is prepared to consider an arrangement whereby international forces are deployed both at the Philadelphi Corridor and at the Netzarim Corridor separating the south of the strip from the north.
• Hamas meanwhile continue to reject various proposals put to them by Egyptian and Qatari mediators and failed to attend the most recent round of talks held in Doha.
• An Israeli official has told the Times of Israel that while a normalisation deal with Saudi Arabia was not possible before November’s US presidential elections, it could still be inked during the “lame duck period” between November and January. The official suggested that it will be too difficult for Congress to authorise a bilateral US-Saudi security pact Riyadh is seeking as part of any normalisation deal pre-election, and it would become significantly easier for all parties after November, whatever the election’s outcome