IDF says two Palestinians killed after trying to harm Israeli soldiers (2024)

Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei thanked the country's armed forces for their operation against Israel, and urged them to "ceaselessly pursue military innovation and learn the enemy's tactics," Iran's official news agency reported on Sunday.

Tehran openly targeted Israel for the first time on April 13 with more than 300 missiles and drones in what it said was retaliation for Israel's suspected deadly bombing of its embassy compound in Damascus on April 1.

"How many missiles were launched and how many of them hit their target is not the primary question, what really matters is that Iran demonstrated its will-power during that operation," Khamenei said on Sunday.

Early on Friday, explosions echoed over the Iranian city of Isfahan in what sources said was an Israeli attack, but Tehran played down the incident and said it had no plans for retaliation - a response that appeared gauged towards averting region-wide war.

■ The IDF reported that two Palestinians were killed after one tried to stab soldiers and the other shot at the soldiers at the Bet Einun Junction near Hebron.

■ Sabah Haniyeh, the sister of Ismail Haniyeh, the chairman of Hamas' political bureau, was charged of inciting and sympathizing with a terror group.

■ Israel's military police are investigating the death of a Red Crescent ambulance driver, who was shot on Saturday during a confrontation between settlers and Palestinians while evacuating people from the conflict area in the village of Al-Sawiya, south of Nablus.

■ A house in Kibbutz Merav in northern Israel was hit by gunfire after several rounds were fired from the direction of the Palestinian village of Jalbun. No one was hurt in the incident. As Israeli forces searched for suspects in Jalbun, a bomb was thrown at the soldiers, but there were no casualties.

■ The IDF reported that two launches fell in Shlomi, in northern Israel, and that there were no casualties.

■ An Israeli was lightly wounded by an explosive device that was set off as he kicked down a Palestinian flag near the Malachei HaShalom outpost in the West Bank.

■ The head of Hamas' political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, said Israel refuses to accept Turkey and Russia as guarantors of an agreement between the Israelis and Hamas – something Hamas insists on.

■ The Iran International website, affiliated with the exiled Iranian opposition, published satellite images showing the damage caused to Iran's air defense radar in the Israel-attributed strike on Friday on Isfahan.

Sabah Haniyeh, the sister of Ismail Haniyeh, the chairman of Hamas' political bureau, has been charged of inciting and sympathizing with a terror group.

Haniyeh, 57, a resident of the Israeli town of Tel Sheva, is charged with sending messages to numerous contacts, including her brother, two days after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7. The messages contained "words of praise, sympathy and encouragement to the Hamas' actions and its part in the mass atrocities they committed."

The Gaza Health Ministry, run by Hamas, updated the number of Palestinians killed in Gaza since the beginning of the war to 34,097, and the number wounded to 76,980.

Additionally, rescue workers in Khan Yunis reported on Sunday that they removed 190 bodies from mass graves at Nasser Hospital in the city. Most of the dead have not yet been identified. Footage from Sunday morning showed members of the rescue forces digging at the site to locate more bodies.

According to the rescue services, the estimate of the number of missing people from the city is around 500. Hamas' Information Ministry reported that 700 people are estimated to be buried in the mass graves in the compound.

Israel's military police are investigating the death of a Red Crescent ambulance driver, who was shot on Saturday during a confrontation between settlers and Palestinians. Muhammad Awad Allah Musa, 50, was wounded while evacuating people from the conflict area in the village of Al-Sawiya, south of Nablus. A medic who was with him said that he was shot by soldiers.

Residents of the village said that settlers threw stones at Palestinian cars near the village, and later an army force arrived in the area and opened fire. One person told Haaretz that "The settlers fled because about 100 people came from the village to drive them away, so that they wouldn't harm the houses and people. About ten minutes later, soldiers and settlers arrived and stood on the mountain, and the soldiers started shooting at us. It was like in war, the settlers attacked and the soldiers helped them."

A house in Kibbutz Merav in the Gilboa Regional Council was hit by gunfire. The kibbutz reported that several rounds were fired from the direction of the Palestinian village of Jalbun, adjacent to the kibbutz, and that a window on the house was hit. The family that resides in the house was there at the time of the shooting, but no one was hurt.

The IDF reported that forces began searching for suspects and blocked roads in the area. The army added that while searching Jalbun, a bomb was thrown at the soldiers. There were no casualties.

Minister and member of the war cabinet Gadi Eisenkot came out against the U.S.'s intention to impose sanctions on the Netzah Yehuda Battalion.

"The idea of imposing sanctions on a combat battalion in the IDF is fundamentally wrong. We will work together to prevent the decision, because if there are complaints, they should be directed to the political leadership and the military and not to the commanders," Eisenkot wrote in a post on X. "This is also further proof of the importance of the full and detailed investigation and independent legal and law enforcement systems in Israel."

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich also commented on the decision to impose sanctions on the IDF while Israel is fighting for its existence as "absolute madness," and alleged that it was part of a plan "to force Israel to agree to the establishment of a Palestinian state."

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