Israel at War Day 574: What happened in Israel, Gaza, West Bank?

The IDF arrested two suspects overnight between Friday night and Saturday morning in the Nablus and Tubas areas in the West Bank for incitement on social media, including calls for continued arson and terrorist attacks, the military said.

The two had also shared content expressing joy and wishes to amplify the recent wildfires on the outskirts of Jerusalem.

The Nablus resident published posts about the wildfires, where he "expressed support for the murder of Jews," while the Tubas resident called for escalations of violence, expressed open support for the Hamas terrorist organization, the military said.

The IDF is sending out call-up orders for tens of thousands of reservists starting Sunday, on the road toward widening the Gaza invasion.

Despite the mass call-up, the numbers will still fall far below the call-up of hundreds of thousands of soldiers in October 2023.

Part of the reason why US President Donald Trump dismissed National Security Adviser Michael Waltz was due to behind-the-scenes coordination with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on possible military action against Iran, without the president’s full knowledge or approval, The Washington Post reported on Saturday.

According to the report, which cited multiple senior administration officials, tensions between Waltz and Trump had been mounting for weeks. Waltz allegedly worked closely with Netanyahu to prepare military options in advance of a February Oval Office meeting — a move he reportedly made without informing the president.

“Waltz wanted to take US policy in a direction Trump wasn’t comfortable with,” one official said. “It got back to Trump, and the president wasn’t happy.”

Hamas released a propaganda video on Saturday that shows signs of life of hostage Maxim Herkin, an Israeli-Russian citizen abducted from the Nova music festival on October 7.

This is the second video of Herkin. The previous one also included hostage Elkana Bohbot

Herkin’s name had previously come up in February, when Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh told Russia’s TASS news agency that Moscow’s request to release him would be “taken into account” during the second phase of a potential deal. “It depends on whether Israel sends a delegation to Doha,” Haniyeh said at the time. The Hamas leader was then assassinated in Tehran in July of last year.

Multiple strikes were carried out against military targets in the Hama area in western Syria on Saturday, Hezbollah-affiliated network Al-Manar reported. 

Al-Manar attributed the strikes to Israel. 

This is a developing story.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi has said that Iran has the right to “possess the full nuclear fuel cycle.” This in essence, means Iran believes it should be allowed to keep enriching uranium, even if there is a deal with the US. Iran is a signatory of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). “As a founding signatory to the NPT, Iran has every right to possess the full nuclear fuel cycle,” Araqchi wrote on his X social media account on Friday.

The Iranian noted that “there are several NPT members which enrich uranium while wholly rejecting nuclear weapons…This club includes several Asian, European, and South American nations.” He went on to say that “I generally refrain from airing arguments on key negotiation elements through the media.” He then said that any US “maximalist” position would not work in the talks. This likely refers to claims in media that some voices want Iran to completely dismantle its nuclear program. “A credible and durable agreement is within reach,” the Iranian diplomat said. “All it takes is firm political will and a fair attitude.”

Iran is slowing down the talks with the US. The next talks were supposed to happen on Saturday, May 3, as they had the last three Saturdays. However, now the talks are postponed. Iran says it is being responsible in choosing diplomacy. However, it also feels the US is not being as forthcoming. Iran has reached out to the UN Secretary-General António Guterres with its concerns. Iran’s top diplomat has complained about "the contradiction between US statements and practices, coupled with the continued sanctions and threats against the Iranian people, deepens the lack of trust and raises doubts about Washington's seriousness in adhering to the diplomatic path.”

The Iranian-backed Houthis have shown that they are resilient despite a month and a half of US airstrikes, following the three long-range missiles fired at Israel on Friday and Saturday. The terror group is currently facing attacks by two US aircraft carriers. 

The conflict involving Israel, the Houthis, and the US also has ramifications across the Middle East and impacts US and Israeli policy.

The fact that the Houthis tolerate and continue to target areas in Israel illustrates the difficulty that Israel and the US might have in confronting Iran.

Israel has carried out two sets of airstrikes on Syria over the last two days. In the first hours of Saturday morning the IDF said that “a short while ago, the IDF struck a military site, anti-aircraft cannons, and surface-to-air missile infrastructure in Syria.” On Friday, the IDF said “IDF fighter jets struck adjacent to the area of the Palace of Hussein al-Sharaa in Damascus.”

Both rounds of strikes were carried out amid tensions between Damascus and Druze in southern Syria. Israel has said it will support the Druze in Syria in the past. The IDF has said “the IDF will continue to operate as necessary to defend Israeli civilians.”

Israel’s decision to use airstrikes as a policy is not new in Syria. During the Syrian civil war, Israel used airstrikes against Iranian weapons that were being trafficked via Syria to Hezbollah. These strikes also targeted Iranian entrenchment in Syria. This was a use of airstrikes as policy.

Five Syrian-Druze civilians were evacuated Friday overnight to receive medical treatment in Israeli territory, the IDF announced on Saturday.

They were evacuated to the Ziv Medical Center in Safed after sustaining injuries in Syrian territory.

The military stated that it deployed soldiers in southern Syria and is prepared to prevent hostile forces from entering the area, including Druze villages. 

In addition, the Army Radio confirmed 16 Syrian-Druze citizens treated in Israel in recent days. 

The Maltese government responded to the organizers of the 'Freedom flotilla' to Gaza, who accused it of refusing to allow the vessel to dock, asserting that no violations of Malta's territorial or maritime sovereignty had occurred during the incident, KAN News reported on Saturday.

A vessel carrying humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip was reportedly targeted by a drone strike off the coast of Malta, leading the vessel to issue an SOS signal, as stated by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) in a social media post on Friday.

Unconfirmed Arab media reports attributed the strike to Israel, which did not comment on the reports.