Israel army says Hamas holding hostages in Gaza’s Rafah

• Country has come a long way since first building surveillance drones during the Iran-Iraq War
• Attack on Israel showed UAVs deployed en masse are vulnerable to sophisticated air defense systems

• The ruling was a significant reversal of fortune for Haftar

• Israel used its seaborne missile defense system for the first time on Tuesday to shoot down a drone approaching from the Red Sea that had set off sirens in the port city of Eilat, the military said

• Israel has killed more than 33,686 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry

• An Iranian source briefed on the matter said Iran had informed the US through diplomatic channels that included Qatar, Turkiye and Switzerland about the scheduled day of the attack, saying it would be conducted in a manner to avoid provoking a response
• Israel has killed more than 33,700 Palestinians in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory

• The move comes just days after the army pulled out all troops from southern Gaza’s main city of Khan Yunis, leaving just one brigade to carry out operations across the Palestinian territory

JERUSALEM: Israel said Sunday that Hamas is holding hostages in Rafah in southern Gaza, where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to launch a ground invasion despite international outcry.

“Hamas is still holding our hostages in Gaza... We also have hostages in Rafah, and we will do everything we can to bring them back home,” Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said at a briefing.

In a separate statement, the army said it was calling “approximately two reserve brigades for operational activities on the Gazan front.”

It did not specify whether the brigades would be deployed inside Gaza.

The move comes just days after the army pulled out all troops from southern Gaza’s main city of Khan Yunis, leaving just one brigade to carry out operations across the Palestinian territory.