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Two parallel efforts are underway as Israel attempts to make progress toward a deal with Hamas that would see the release of hostages in Gaza, according to Israeli officials.

Mossad Director David Barnea has been pushing a broad deal that would bring both the war in Gaza and the expanding IDF campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon to an end, alongside the release of all Israeli hostages, an Israeli official told The Times of Israel.

At a security cabinet meeting Sunday evening, meanwhile, ministers heard initial details about a different proposal, that would offer Hamas a two-week ceasefire in exchange for the release of five hostages, the Ynet news site reported.

According to the report, as the war went on, Sinwar accepted that he was likely to be killed ... In a message to prepare for his possible death, Sinwar warned that Israel would offer concessions if he was killed but that Hamas should not give in.

Israeli airstrikes targeted Hezbollah financial sites across Lebanon overnight Sunday, including in Beirut.

According to the Israel Defense Forces, dozens of facilities and sites used by the Iranian proxy to fund its terrorist activities against the Jewish state were attacked.

The United States is investigating the leak of a pair of highly classified intelligence documents describing Israel’s preparations for a retaliatory strike on Iran, House Speaker Mike Johnson said on Sunday.

The documents appear to have been prepared by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, describing US interpretations of Israeli Air Force and Navy planning based on satellite imagery from October 15-16.

They began circulating last week on the Telegram messaging app. Israel has been planning a response to a ballistic missile barrage carried out by Iran on October 1, its second direct attack on Israel in six months.

The Palestinian Authority is pressing the United Nations Security Council to approve a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, as the UN warned that the humanitarian crisis in the enclave had intensified.

“We will be pressing for as quickly as possible for a resolution, demanding an immediate ceasefire” in Gaza, Palestinian Authority ambassador Riyad Mansour told reporters in New York on Saturday.

Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar visited Cairo on Sunday to discuss the attempted revival of hostage deal negotiations after the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in Gaza last week, an Israeli official told the Times of Israel.

Sinwar, who was seen as a major obstacle to a hostage deal, was killed Wednesday in an encounter with IDF troops operating in southern Gaza’s Rafah.

His death has sparked hopes of a renewed opportunity to revitalize the long-stalled negotiations for the release of 101 hostages held by Hamas and for an end to the fighting between Israel and the Palestinian terror group that has reduced much of the enclave to rubble over the past 12 months.

A drone fired from Lebanon that exploded in the central seaside town of Caesarea early on Saturday targeted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s private home, his office said. The premier and his wife were not present and no injuries were reported.

The short statement from Netanyahu’s office came after the IDF said that “a building had been hit” in the upscale town famous for its swanky villas and Roman ruins and amphitheater.

It was not immediately clear if the home suffered any damage.

In a rare public tiff between the countries, Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister took issue on Friday with remarks by the speaker of Iran’s parliament, who said Tehran was ready to negotiate with France on implementing a UN resolution concerning southern Lebanon, where Israeli ground troops are battling Hezbollah.

“We are surprised by this position, which constitutes a blatant interference in Lebanese affairs and an attempt to establish a rejected guardianship over Lebanon,” a government statement quoted Prime Minister Najib Mikati as saying.

The speaker of Iran’s parliament, Mohammad Ghalibaf, made his comments in an interview published on Thursday with French daily Le Figaro.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Saturday met with a Hamas delegation in İstanbul, followed by a meeting with his Turkish counterpart. 

The Hamas delegation was headed by Muhammad Ismail Darwish, the Head of Hamas Shura Council and included members of the jihadist group's politburo. A well-placed source told i24NEWS Darwish was the strongest man in Hamas following the assassination of the group's leader Yahya Sinwar in Gaza. 

Hamas’s military structure has been decimated to the point where it is no longer possible for the terror group in Gaza to carry out another October 7-style attack, US National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby told reporters during a virtual briefing on Friday.

“They are absolutely incapable, as you and I are speaking here today, of conducting another attack on the scale of October 7,” Kirby said.

He spoke one day after the IDF announced that it had killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, a step which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that his death marks the beginning of the end of the war and a renewed opportunity for a hostage deal, but that the military campaign against Hamas in Gaza must still continue. 

Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana thanked his US counterpart Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) for his “personal involvement in assisting Israel throughout the war” in a Friday morning phone call, according to a spokesperson for Ohana. 

Ohana updated Johnson on “details regarding the elimination of Sinwar and discussed the expected implications.”

According to Ohana’s office, the Knesset speaker also discussed the letter sent from Biden administration officials earlier this week which warned the Israeli government of a 30 day timeline to improve humanitarian conditions in Gaza before military aid implications could have to be reconsidered under US and international law.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken is already communicating with Hamas's mediators, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, to rekindle ceasefire negotiations after they stalled when Yayha Sinwar pulled away from the road-blocked discussions. 

Blinken spoke with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud from aboard Air Force One on Thursday as US officials awaited confirmation from Israel of Sinwar's death, State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters on Thursday afternoon.

Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was killed by the IDF in Tel Sultan in Rafah on Wednesday in an unplanned operation, sources close to the matter confirmed to The Jerusalem Post Thursday evening, several hours after rumors arose that he had been killed earlier Thursday.

Shortly after, around 7:45 p.m., confirmations came out from the IDF, Shin Bet, Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz, and others, that Sinwar was in fact dead.

"In the building where the terrorists were eliminated, there were no signs of the presence of hostages in the area."

Sinwar orchestrated the October 7 Massacre, which led to the deaths of over 1,200 people, including Israelis and other nationalities alike, and took hostage over 250 people, of which 101 remain in Gaza.

As the assessment that Israel has killed Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar grows, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant tweets, “We will reach every terrorist and eliminate them.”

Quoting the biblical book of Leviticus, Gallant adds, “You will pursue your enemies, and they will fall before you by the sword.” 

US long-range B-2 stealth bombers launched airstrikes early Thursday morning targeting underground bunkers used by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, officials said.

It wasn’t immediately clear what damage was done in the strikes.

However, there are no previous reports of the B-2 Spirit being used in the strikes targeting the Houthis, who have been attacking ships for months in the Red Sea corridor over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, as well as launching direct attacks on Israel.

... in Jerusalem and throughout the world, Jews are celebrating the Feast of Booths or Tabernacles, known as Sukkot in Hebrew.

They build small sukkahs or booths, following the scriptures, to remember how God provided for and protected the Israelites during their 40-year journey in the wilderness before entering the Promised Land. Israelis are not letting the ongoing war in Gaza and northern Israel affect their celebrations.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Friday entered a war of words with French President Emmanuel Macron, after Israeli companies were banned from displaying their wares at a top defense industry show. 

"French President Macron’s actions are a disgrace to the French nation and the values of the free world, which he claims to uphold. The decision to discriminate against Israeli defense industries in France a second time - aids Israel’s enemies during war. This builds on the decision to place an arms embargo on the Jewish State. "

"France has adopted, and is consistently implementing a hostile policy towards the Jewish people. We will continue defending our nation against enemies on 7 different fronts, and fighting for our future - with or without France."

A top Biden administration official told humanitarian aid groups that Israel is too close of an ally for the US to suspend arms over blocking food and medicine entering Gaza, POLITICO reported on Wednesday. 

Lise Grande, the administration’s special envoy for Middle East humanitarian issues, reportedly told leaders of over a dozen aid organizations at an August 29 meeting that the US would resort to other tactics to make Israel allow aid into the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, such as international pressure through the UN.

She repeatedly stressed that the Biden administration's support for Israel was unchanged and that the administration would not halt weapons shipments.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned UN chief Antonio Guterres that Tehran is ready for a “decisive and regretful” response if Israel attacks his country in retaliation to the almost 200 ballistic missiles at Israel on October 1.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said last week that Israel “will soon respond” to the missile attack, vowing it will be “precise and deadly.”

Iran’s atomic energy agency spokesperson Behrouz Kamalvandi said on Wednesday that the probability of an Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear sites was “low” but any potential damage would be “quickly compensated,” according to Nournews.

Israel carried out airstrikes in the Beirut area on Wednesday morning after a five-day pause in attacks on the Lebanese capital.

The Israeli Air Force hit targets in the Hezbollah stronghold of Dahiyeh south of Beirut, striking strategic weapons stockpiled in an underground storage facility, according to the military.

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Before the strike, the Israel Defense Forces emphasized that many steps were taken to reduce the risk of harm to civilians, including advancing warning to the population in the area.

A day after a US threat to curb missile supplies if aid to Gaza is not increased was publicized, Israel says that 50 trucks carrying supplies entered northern Gaza earlier today.

The US told Israel that it would impose an arms embargo on the Jewish state if it does not resolve the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, N12 reported on Tuesday.

The White House reportedly expressed deep concern over the "deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Gaza in recent weeks" and called for urgent steps within the next month to reverse this trend. 

Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant received a letter from the Biden Administration outlining American positions on Gaza, N12 noted.

The decision to respond to Iran’s missile attack against Israel will be “based on Israel’s national security needs,” according to a statement released by the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu overnight Monday.

“We listen to the American government’s thoughts, but will make our final decisions based on Israel’s national security needs,” the statement continued.

The statement was an apparent response to a Washington Post report on Monday that Netanyahu had informed U.S. President Joe Biden that Israel’s retaliatory strike on the Islamic Republic would avoid oil and nuclear installations and instead focus on military sites.

The Israel Defense Forces is preparing to conduct a “precise and deadly” retaliation to Iran’s unprecedented Oct. 1 ballistic-missile attack on the Jewish state, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Tuesday.

Israel “will soon respond,” Gallant said during a meeting with the Heroism Forum, which represents bereaved military families and has urged the government and IDF to fight until victory against Iran and its proxies.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told the United States that Israel is willing to strike Iranian military targets and not nuclear or oil facilities, the Washington Post reports, citing two officials familiar with the matter.

Netanyahu made the comment to Biden when the two spoke by phone last week...

One official is quoted telling the paper that the Israeli premier had agreed to plot the attack in a way that won’t impact the upcoming US election...

According to the official, an Israeli retaliatory action will come before the November 5 election to avoid the perception of weakness.

Foreign Minister Israel Katz has told his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi that Iran is a threat to the Middle East and the entire world, his office says.

Katz tells Wang during a phone call that Israel will respond to the Iranian missile attack. They discuss fighting against Iran’s proxies, Hamas and Hezbollah, says Katz’s office.

It is the first phone call between Katz and Wang, who last spoke to an Israeli top diplomat — Eli Cohen — in October 2023.

Rockets fired by Hezbollah continued to pummel Israel throughout Monday, setting off sirens as far south as Ness Ziona, as Israel continued to strike in Lebanon, after a drone strike a day earlier killed four IDF soldiers.

Dozens of rockets targeted Israel throughout the day, as fierce fighting continued in southern Lebanon between IDF troops and Hezbollah, while the Israeli Air Force carried out a rare strike in northern Lebanon and the IDF set a goal of completely eliminating the terror group’s drone operations.

Mid-morning, around 10 rockets were fired at the Haifa area, and the IDF said that most were intercepted and some fell in open areas. Not long afterward, a barrage of rockets set off sirens in Netanya, Baqa al-Gharbiyye and several dozens surrounding towns. The IDF said it intercepted all of the rockets fired from Lebanon, and no injuries were reported.

The THAAD defense system is one of the US military’s most powerful anti-missile weapons, capable of intercepting ballistic missiles at ranges of 150 to 200 kilometers (93 to 124 miles) and with a near-perfect success rate in testing.