Before the expected assault, Israel bombs the Syrian capital and orders the evacuation of Rafah: Principal points

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has instructed the military to devise a strategy to evacuate residents from Rafah in advance of an anticipated assault of the heavily populated southern Gaza City, more than four months into the Israel-Hamas conflict. Israel has moved more than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million inhabitants toward the Egyptian border with its military onslaught.

Over 27,840 Palestinians have died in the conflict, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, and 25% of the population is malnourished.

WAR BETWEEN ISRAEL AND HAMAS: Following Israeli attacks on Syria’s capital city of Damascus, the nation announced some “material” damage. The Times of Israel stated that Syria’s official news agency, SANA, said the attacks were carried out from the Golan Heights, citing a military source.

Later, in the wee hours of Saturday, Syrian state television said that several Israeli missiles fired toward the countryside outside Damascus were intercepted by Syrian air defenses.

The IDF was instructed to create a strategy “for evacuating the population and destroying” four Hamas battalions that were allegedly stationed in Rafah, according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Following the invasion, over a million Palestinians prepared for Israel to finish evacuating them and begin a ground offensive against Hamas in the southern Gaza metropolis.

Relief organizations issued alerts indicating that the Israeli attack may result in many civilian deaths, and the UN Palestinian refugee agency said it was unsure of how long it could continue operations “in such a high risk operation.”

With Republican resistance in both houses of Congress, the US Senate has moved closer to enacting a measure that would provide $95.34 billion in assistance for Taiwan, Israel, and Ukraine. However, the package’s chances of becoming law are still dubious. The proposal gets advanced by the Senate with a 64-19 majority, marking one stage in a series of preliminary votes that may go into next week. With the backing of 14 Republicans, the bill passed the simple majority requirement in Friday’s vote.

The foreign minister of Iran has sworn to continue backing the terrorist organization Hezbollah, claiming that Lebanon’s security impacts Iran’s and the region’s security. Iran would “continue its strong support to the resistance in Lebanon, as we consider Lebanon’s security as the security of Iran and the region,” according to Hossein Amirabdollahian.

Iran, a major sponsor of extremist organizations, has been pleading with the US to put pressure on Israel to halt its assault in the Gaza Strip.

Israel’s credit rating has been reduced by Moody’s, which cited significant political and financial concerns for the nation stemming from its conflict with Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist organization. For the foreseeable future, the battle will exacerbate political risk and erode Israel’s legislative and executive branches as well as its budgetary stability, according to Moody’s, which started the process of downgrading the country on October 19.

“While fighting in Gaza may diminish in intensity or pause, there is currently no agreement to end the hostilities durably and no agreement on a longer-term plan that would fully restore and eventually strengthen security for Israel,” Moody’s stated in a press release.