https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/11/05/us/elections/results-president.html

#Netanyahu fires #Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant, after months of clashes over war and #politics. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has fired Defence Minister Yoav Gallant after months of clashes over domestic politics and Israel’s war efforts.

In a recorded statement Tuesday evening, Netanyahu said that “trust between me and the minister of defence has cracked.”

Israel Katz, currently the foreign minister, will become defence minister. Gideon Sa’ar will replace Katz as foreign minister, the prime minister’s office said Tuesday. Neither has extensive military experience, though Katz has served in the cabinet throughout the war.The move came as voters in the United States, Israel’s most important ally, voted for their next president. Gallant is a close interlocutor for the U.S. administration, and has been said to have daily conversations with U.S. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin.

The reshuffle happened at a crucial moment for Israel, which is fighting bloody wars in Gaza and Lebanon while awaiting a potential retaliatory attack from Iran.

Gallant responded to the decision shortly after it was made public, posting on X that the “security of Israel has been and will always be my lifelong mission.” In a televised statement, he said his dismissal was the result of a dispute over three things: the issue of ultra-Orthodox military services, the abandonment of hostages in Gaza, and the need for an official inquiry into Hamas’ October 7 attack.

“There isn’t and won’t be forgiveness for abandoning the hostages,” he said. “This will be a ‘mark of Cain’ that the Israeli society bears, as well as those leading through this wrong path.”

Netanyahu said Tuesday he had “made many attempts” to bridge differences with Gallant, but that they “kept widening” and “came to the public’s knowledge in an unacceptable manner.” He continued: “Worse than that, they came to the knowledge of the enemy - our enemies enjoyed it and greatly benefited from it.”

Israel’s political class has long speculated that Netanyahu would fire Gallant and replace him with a political ally to shore up his domestic power. Netanyahu has struggled to maintain a hold over his fragile, right-wing governing coalition and its muddle of competing interests, whose collapse could spell the end of his leadership.

When Netanyahu first sought to fire Gallant last year, over his opposition to proposed judicial reforms, it led to mass nationwide demonstrations. Minutes after Netanyahu made the announcement, opposition leaders called for Israelis to take to the streets in protest.

Demonstrations erupted in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Protestors outside Netanyahu’s residence in Jerusalem shouted “shame!” In Tel Aviv, protesters blocked a main highway while families of hostages held in Gaza chanted “Bibi is a traitor,” using the prime minister’s nickname.

Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan is still in Gaza, said in a statement that firing Gallant “during a war and appointing a yes-man, who lacks security related experience, in his place, is sending a clear message – no one will stand up to Netanyahu and prevent him from torpedoing deals and prolonging the war.”

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid called it an “act of madness.”

“Netanyahu is selling out Israel’s security and IDF (Israel Defense Forces) soldiers for his despicable political survival,” Lapid posted on X Tuesday.

The #Ukrainian armed forces lost over 150 #troops in the Kursk area in the past day, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

Ukraine’s total losses since fighting began in the region have exceeded 29,250 troops.

Russia’s Battlegroup North repelled three Ukrainian counterattacks towards the settlements of Malaya Loknya, Novoivanovka and Plyokhovo.

TASS has gathered the main information about the situation in the region.
Operation to wipe out Ukrainian units

- Units of Russia’s Battlegroup North continued offensive operations in the past day, defeating the forces of the 21st, 22nd, 41st and 115th mechanized brigades, the 17th Tank Brigade, the 82nd and 95th air assault brigades, the 36th Marine Brigade, and the 112th and 129th territorial defense brigades of the Ukrainian armed forces near Daryino, Leonidovo, Nokolayevo-Daryino, Novoivanovka and Plyokhovo.

- The battlegroup’s units repelled three enemy counterattacks towards Malaya Loknya, Novoivanovka and Plyokhovo.

- Russian aircraft, artillery units and missile forces continued to hit Ukrainian troops and equipment in the Kursk Region.
Strikes on Ukrainian reserves

- Russian tactical aircraft and missile forces struck the reserves and the gathering points of the 21st, 22nd, 41st, 47th, 61st and 115th mechanized brigades, the 95th air assault brigades, the First Special Forces Brigade, the 103rd, 106th and 129th territorial defense brigades in the Sumy Region.
Ukrainian losses

- The Ukrainian armed forces lost over 150 troops in the past day, as well as an infantry fighting vehicle, an electronic warfare station and five motor vehicles.

- Since the start of fighting in the Kursk area, the enemy has lost more than 29,250 troops, 180 tanks, 106 armored personnel carriers, 102 infantry fighting vehicles, 1,063 armored combat vehicles, 785 motor vehicles, 255 artillery pieces, and 40 multiple launch rocket systems, including eleven US-made HIMARS launchers and six MLRS launchers, as well as ten missile launchers, seven transport-loading vehicles, 59 electronic warfare systems, 12 counterbattery radars, four air defense radars, and 25 pieces of engineering equipment.

#Israel unearths #Hezbollah's web of tunnels in southern Lebanon. Israeli forces have spent much of the past year destroying Hamas’ vast underground network in Gaza. They are now focused on dismantling tunnels and other hideouts belonging to Hezbollah militants in southern Lebanon.

Scarred by Hamas’ deadly raid into Israel last year that sparked the war in #Gaza, Israel says it aims to prevent a similar incursion across its northern border from ever getting off the ground.

The Israeli military has combed through the dense brush of southern Lebanon for the past two weeks, uncovering what it says are Hezbollah’s deep attack capabilities — highlighted by a tunnel system equipped with weapons caches and rocket launchers that Israel says pose a direct threat to nearby communities.

Israel’s war against the Iran-backed militant group stretches far inside Lebanon, and its airstrikes in recent weeks have killed more than 1,700 people, about a quarter of whom were women and children, according to local health authorities. But its ground campaign has centered on a narrow patch of land just along the border, where Hezbollah has had a longstanding presence.
Hezbollah has deep ties to southern Lebanon

#Hezbollah, which has called for Israel’s destruction, is the Arab world’s most significant paramilitary force. It began firing rockets into Israel a day after Hamas' attack. After nearly a year of tit-for-tat fighting with Hezbollah, Israel launched its ground invasion into southern Lebanon on Oct. 1 and has since sent thousands of troops into the rugged terrain.

Even as it continues to bolster its forces, Israel says its invasion consists of “limited, localized and targeted ground raids” that are meant to destroy Hezbollah infrastructure so that tens of thousands of displaced Israelis can return home. The fighting also has uprooted more than one million Lebanese in the past month.

Leaked documents show U.S. #intelligence on Israel's plans to attack Iran: CNN sources. The U.S is investigating a leak of highly classified U.S. intelligence about Israel’s plans for retaliation against Iran, according to three people familiar with the matter. One of the people familiar confirmed the documents’ authenticity.

The leak is “deeply concerning,” a U.S. official told CNN.The documents, dated Oct, 15 and 16, began circulating online Friday after being posted on Telegram by an account called “Middle East Spectator.”

They are marked top secret and have markings indicating they are meant to be seen only by the U.S. and its “Five Eyes” allies — Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

They describe preparations Israel appears to be making for a strike against Iran. One of the documents, which says it was compiled by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, says the plans involve Israel moving munitions around.

Another document says it is sourced to the National Security Agency and outlines Israeli air force exercises involving air-to-surface missiles, also believed to be in preparation for a strike on Iran. CNN is not quoting directly from or showing the documents.

A U.S. official said the investigation is examining who had access to the alleged Pentagon document. Any such leak would automatically trigger an investigation by the #FBI alongside the Pentagon and U.S. intelligence agencies. The FBI declined to comment.

The leak comes at an extremely sensitive moment in U.S.-Israeli relations and is bound to anger the Israelis, who have been preparing to strike Iran in response to Iran’s missile barrage on Oct. 1.

“If it is true that Israeli tactical plans to respond to Iran’s attack on Oct. 1 have been leaked, it is a serious breach,” said Mick Mulroy, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East and a retired CIA officer.

Mulroy added that “the future coordination between the U.S. and Israel could be challenged as well. Trust is a key component in the relationship, and depending on how this was leaked that trust could be eroded.”

The National Security Council referred CNN to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Pentagon for comment. The Pentagon and National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency declined to comment. CNN has reached out to the National Security Agency for comment.

#SEOUL, October 4. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said he would not hesitate to use all offensive capabilities at his disposal if his country comes under attack, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.

According to the report, Kim Jong Un mentioned the possibility of using nuclear weapons if other countries attempt to infringe upon his North Korea’s sovereignty.

"If the enemy, seized with extreme foolishness and recklessness, attempt to use armed forces encroaching upon the sovereignty of the #DPRK, full of excessive ‘confidence’ in the #ROK-US alliance in disregard of our repeated warnings, the #DPRK would use without hesitation all the offensive forces it has possessed, including nuclear weapons," the agency quoted the North Korean leader as saying.

He also described South Korean leader Yoon Suk Yeol as a "puppet" and said that his country’s southern neighbor has developed "the delusion of persecution" by North Korea.

In his words, the threatening rhetoric by hostile countries will not stop North Korea’s military #buildup

TEL AVIV, October 1. #Iran has launched a missile attack on Israel, firing nearly 500 missiles, The Jerusalem Post reported.

Previously, the newspaper said that at least 400 missiles had been fired at #Israel.

Earlier, the Israeli army said that Iran had launched a missile attack on the country. An air-raid warning has been sounded throughout the country. Israeli civilians have been ordered to urgently take refuge in shelters