Tel Aviv [Israel], November 3 (ANI): Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday told the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that he will not halt the fight against the Hamas terror group without “the release of our hostages”. Netanyahu also quashed all the reports of Israel allowing entry of fuel to Gaza and said, “We will not enable the entry of fuel to Gaza.”

He said he told Blinken that “Israel refuses a temporary ceasefire that does not include the release of our hostages. Israel will not enable the entry of fuel to Gaza and opposes sending money to the Strip.”

In a brief televised statement before the start of Shabbat (the Jewish Day of Rest), promised that the victory would be “sharp and clear” and would “resonate for generations.” Netanyahu also said that Israel’s enemies aim to destroy the country and will fail and affirmed that Israel won’t stop until victory, he said, specified that this means “to destroy Hamas, return of the hostages and the restoration of security for our citizens and children.”

Hailing Israeli troops, he also warned Israel’s “enemies in the north” not to make the costly mistake of escalating the war. “You cannot imagine how much this will cost you.” “Our forces are working in all the arenas. We will be loud and clear. Our enemies will be defeated and we will not stop until victory and achieving all our goals… In the north, I say to our enemies: don’t make a mistake. A mistake will cost you dearly,” Netanyahu said.

Speaking even as Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah issues a prolonged statement in Lebanon, Netanyahu warns Israel’s “enemies in the north” not to make the costly mistake of escalating the war. “You cannot imagine how much this will cost you.”

Regarding Blinken‘s visit, he said he appreciates it and values the support of President Biden and the US. He added that he showed Blinken footage of Hamas atrocities, which the secretary mentioned in his press conference earlier.

He noted that Israel has lost hundreds of civilians and soldiers on and since October 7 — wonderful fighters, incredible Israelis… people who blocked these monsters with their bodies.” “We are trying to fight with minimal danger to our warriors, but we will do whatever is needed to defeat our enemies,” he stated.
US State Secretary Antony Blinken on Friday met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the third time since Israel declared war on the terrorist organisation Hamas.

“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken are meeting for the third time since the outbreak of the war, at the Kirya in Tel Aviv,” read a post on the official X handle of the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office.

Blinken and Netanyahu met privately before holding an extended meeting together with the War Cabinet.
“At the start of the expanded meeting, Prime Minister Netanyahu showed @SecBlinken and his delegation clips of the footage prepared by the IDF Spokesperson which depict the horrors and the massacre perpetrated by Hamas on October 7th,” the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office posted from its X handle.

Meanwhile, Israel Air Force (IAF) said that many terrorists who fired at IDF forces were eliminated in cooperation with ground forces and the Air Force. IDF fighters identified a terrorist squad that came out of a tunnel shaft and directed an Air Force aircraft that attacked and eliminated the squad.(ANI)

Israeli military units demolish Gaza terror tunnels

Tel Aviv [Israel], November 3 (ANI/TPS): Israeli forces exposed and destroyed several Hamas tunnels in a special operation inside the Gaza Strip, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Friday.

The IDF said on X, formerly Twitter, that “soldiers uncovered shafts, planted explosives, and booby-trapped and destroyed tunnels.”

The IDF also released footage from the operation. (ANI/TPS)

Hamas still holds 241 Israeli hostages; says IDF

Tel Aviv [Israel], November 3 (ANI): Israel Defence Forces (IDF) spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari on Friday revised the number of hostages being held by the Hamas terror group after the October 7 barbaric attack, The Times of Israel reported.

Hagari said that Hamas still holds 241 Israeli hostages in Gaza and revised the number from 242. He added that the number is not final as military investigations are going on in the region.

The Times of Israel reported that the number does not include four released hostages and an Israeli soldier who was rescued by the IDF.

Meanwhile, the IDF announced the death of another soldier, Staff Sgt. Itay Saadon who was killed in fighting in the northern Gaza Strip. The Times of Israel reported that the soldier was a tank commander in the 401st Armoured Brigade’s 52nd Battalion, from Har Halutz.
https://x.com/IDF/status/1720340333899153467?s=20

The IDF’s toll since the beginning of the ground operation in the Gaza Strip last week has risen to 24, The Times of Israel reported.

Additionally, the IDF also shared a video of Israeli troops discovering a tunnel and blowing up another.
Moreover, IDF on Friday said that their security forces eliminated the Hamas battalion commander during overnight operations who was directed by Mustafa Dalul and held key positions in the Hamas Gaza city brigade.

IDF also shared an audio, citing a source in the Gaza healthcare system that Hamas is stealing fuel from Gazan civilians, storing it under Shifa Hospital and using it for terror.
In a separate post on X, IDF released a video of showing troops discovering a tunnel and blowing up another.
https://x.com/IDF/status/1720393036402696528?s=20
“The troops uncovered shafts, planted explosives… and neutralized the tunnels,” the IDF said.
IDF troops uncovered tunnel shafts, rigged them with explosives, and neutralized Hamas’s terrorist tunnels during special operations inside Gaza.

The Times of Israel reported that the Israel Defence Forces says troops in the elite Yahalom combat engineering unit have been working to demolish Hamas tunnels discovered during ground operations in the Gaza Strip.

Yahalom troops, members of the Combat Engineering Corps’ 7107th Battalion, along with infantry forces of the Nahal and Negev brigades, as well as tanks, have uncovered several tunnel entrances in northern Gaza, the IDF says. (ANI)