The IDF continues the aerial bombardment of Gaza today. The targets of these strikes include but are not limited to, Abasan al-Jadida, Khan Younis, Gaza City, Abasan al-Kabira, Rafah, and Jabaliya. One strike in Jabaliyah hit a UNRWA health facility, killing several civilians, including children.

The Watson Institute’s Costs of War project released a report yesterday that found 232 journalists in total were killed in Gaza since the outbreak of war, making it the deadliest conflict ever for journalists. Moreover, it has proven more deadly for journalists than World War I, World War II, the Yugoslav Wars, the Vietnam War, and the Afghanistan War combined. The deliberate targeting of journalists constitutes a war crime.

PM Netanyahu has arrived in Hungary today for a four-day visit. The move is primarily seen as a show of political defiance to the ICC, not wholly dissimilar to Putin’s visit to Mongolia in September of last year. The ICC has issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu, and Hungary, a signatory to the ICC, is legally obligated to enforce this warrant. Still, Hungarian PM Orban publicly declared his opposition to the ruling and that he would not arrest Netanyahu.

Israeli National Security Minister Ben Gvir sparked severe criticism today following his visit to the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City today. The site is considered the third holiest place in Islam, and by law, non-Muslims are only allowed to visit the site at certain times and cannot pray or display religious imagery there. Jordan, the nominal steward of the mosque, asserted the minister’s visit was “an unacceptable provocation.”

The IDF executed three strikes on Naqoura in southern Lebanon. The Health Ministry has yet to report any casualties. Israeli DM Katz announced that the remaining IDF posts south of Lebanon do not have a timeline for withdrawal: “We are here without a time limit. It doesn’t depend on time. It depends on the situation.” Many analysts find these posts don’t provide as much strategic value as Israeli security officials claim and, therefore, might be primarily a strategy to pressure Beirut into disarming Hezbollah.

In a further reversal of his position before the war, FPM leader Bassil claimed today that Hezbollah no longer has an acceptable military role in the country, adding, “We had an understanding, but it no longer exists. This has greatly weakened our relations, but it is still a Lebanese party and we have to talk to them just like we talk to all the other parties.”

The White House’s special envoy to the Middle East, Morgan Ortagus, will reportedly arrive in Beirut tonight for talks with Lebanese officials regarding the disarmament of Hezbollah and normalization talks with Israel. However, the new reformist government in Lebanon has ruled out disarmament by force and any normalization of ties with Israel, with President Aoun insisting that a diplomatic option must be taken for the implementation of UNSCR 1701 regarding the removal of Hezbollah and the IDF from southern Lebanon, though taking neither policy to the extent intended by the Trump Administration. Hezbollah is unlikely to willingly disarm with no effective enforcement from an authority respected by the Lebanese people.

Iraqi PM al-Sudani has extended an invitation to meet Lebanese President Aoun in Baghdad. Talks will likely pertain to Iraq’s aid in supporting Lebanon’s energy grid and the related outstanding debt on oil sales. No official date for the meeting has been set yet.

The Spanish Civil Guard, with cooperation from German authorities, arrested today in Barcelona an operation tasked with procuring spare drone parts to deliver to Hezbollah in Lebanon that could be assembled into complete drones.

In response to reports of a coming Turkish military buildup in Syria, the IDF executed several strikes on Syria today, including a scientific research center in the Barzeh neighborhood of Damascus and the T4 army airbase in Hama.