Israel at war day 551
- Around 75% of Hamas's tunnels in Gaza not destroyed by IDF - N12 reports. Significant number of smuggling tunnels crossing from Egypt to the Gaza strip are still intact.
The IDF has only destroyed about a quarter of Hamas’s tunnels in Gaza, security sources told N12 on Wednesday.
- Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian Khamenei approved only indirect talks with the US because we do not trust the other side.
- Indonesian President: Indonesia Will Take in Gazans:Reuters news agency reports that the Indonesian president said that his country would be willing to take in a first wave of 1,000 Gazans from among the "war victims."
- IDF intends to turn the entire Rafah area (20% of the Gaza Strip) into a buffer zone. The new buffer zone is between the Morag and Salah al-Din (Philadelphi) highways. This is the first time the IDF has placed an entire large city in a buffer zone.
-For the first time in IDF history, all soldiers are now allowed to grow beards without special approval, marking a major shift in military regulations.
- Hezbollah said ready to discuss disarmament if Israel withdraws from south Lebanon
Unnamed senior Hezbollah member tells Reuters that Israel must also ‘halts its aggression against Lebanese’ before Iran-backed terror group will hold talks on its arms caches.
-Washington Post: ME Envoy Steve Witkoff may not travel to talks with Iran in Oman if they are indirect rather than direct. On the other hand, Witkoff may also come to Tehran if invited there.