IDF troops ready for Operation 'Little Gaza Plan': announcement today

Demonstrations against the government and for an end to the war resumed at the end of Shabbat.

During the protest in Tel Aviv, Einav Tsangauker, mother of the hostage Matan, accused Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu of leading the country towards a further military escalation that endangers the lives of hostages in Gaza.

"Netanyahu intends to call up the reservists for another offensive that will only lead to the death of our loved ones," he said, demanding the government's removal. Other demonstrations were held in Haifa, Jerusalem, Beer Sheva and Ofakim, attended by relatives of the 7 October victims. The demonstrators demanded the return of the hostages, an end to the war and the establishment of a commission of enquiry.

Hamas released a video depicting a hostage held in Gaza, identified by Israeli media as Maxim Herkin. There is no date or montage, howeverthe man refers to Israel Independence Day, which took place last week, and identifies himself as one of the 59 hostages in Gaza.

The Palestinian militant group has regularly released videos of hostages in the course of the war. In the past, Israeli officials have dismissed these videos as propaganda, designed to put pressure on the government.

Meanwhile, in a special operation an Israeli Air Force helicopter transferred humanitarian aid to the Druze in the province of As-Suwayda, in southern Syria: a security official confirmed this to the Israeli press, pointing out that it is the first time a military vehicle has operated 70 kilometres from the border. The operation was approved at the political level. For Israel, the Druze area is part of the security space in southern Syria. There were no new clashes between Druze and jihadists near Damascus. (ANSA).

The security cabinet overnight approved expanding military operations in the Gaza Strip, also calling up several brigades of reservists and mobilising the Eighth Infantry Division. The Jerusalem Post writes.

The Civil Defence in the enclave reports that eleven people, including three young children, died in an overnight Israeli attack on the Palestinian refugee camp in Khan Younis, in the south of the Gaza Strip.

The US, Israel and representatives of a new international foundation are close to an agreement on how to resume delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza, preventing it from falling under Hamas control. Axios reports this, citing two Israeli officials and a US source familiar with the plan. The sources claim that during and prior to the ceasefire, Hamas managed to take control of most of the aid that entered the Strip and sold some of the aid using the millions of dollars in revenue to pay militiamen in its military wing.

After the Gaza ceasefire agreement collapsed two months ago, Israel halted all deliveries of food, water and medicine to the enclave, exacerbating the humanitarian crisis. UN humanitarian agencies say that food supplies in Gaza will run out within days. Israeli officials claim they will be completely exhausted in three to four weeks. The suspension of aid deliveries on 2 March plunged the enclave into a chaotic situation that led to widespread looting. Israeli officials claim that the new aid delivery system will weaken Hamas because it will be excluded from the governance of Gaza.

Meanwhile, Israeli sources announced that President Donald Trump plans to hold a summit with the leaders of the Gulf countries during his official visit to Saudi Arabia in 10 days' time. This was reported by the Israeli website Walla, which is usually well informed about Middle Eastern dossiers. Saudi Prince bin Salman plans to invite to the summit the leaders of all the Gulf Cooperation Council countries: the Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar. Trump is expected in Riyadh on 13 May, the summit is scheduled for the 14th. Sources say a visit to Israel is not planned as there will be no agreement soon on the release of the abductees and the truce in Gaza.

On the Yemeni front, pro-Iranian Houthi rebels reported several US air raids on Yemen, including the capital Sanaa, which the rebels control. This was stated by the Shiite rebel news agency Saba, also quoted by the Israeli media, which did not provide further details, except for the locations hit: Sanaa, and the neighbouring districts of Bani Hashish and Khab al-Shaaf.

The US has since 15 March launched a air military counter-operation against the Houthis called 'Rough Rider' to counter attacks by rebels allied with Teheran against Israeli and Western ships in the Red Sea and against Israel itself. Sirens sounded in Israel, where overnight the IDF claims to have shot down a missile launched from Yemen.

The spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Esmail Baghaei, condemned the US attacks against the Houthis. "The US military aggression is a clear violation of Yemen's sovereignty and territorial integrity as well as the UN Charter and international law," he said, adding, "The attacks are considered war crimes and crimes against humanity because they target residential areas and vital infrastructure in Yemen." Baghaei also expressed regret at the UN's 'inaction' in the face of the US attacks, which he said had caused growing insecurity in the Middle East.

He said, finally, that the countries in the region have a shared responsibility to counter the 'warmongering and illegal attitude' of the US, Irna reports.