Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah warned of a "new phase" in the Israel-Hamas war to mourners at the funeral of a commander from the Lebanese group on Thursday. ...

"Do [the Israelis] expect that Hajj Ismail Haniyeh be killed in Iran and Iran will remain silent?" Nasrallah said in the video speech, according to AP. "Laugh a bit and you will cry a lot," the Hezbollah leader said, referring to people who celebrated the two killings.

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Israel is in a state of “high readiness” against any scenario, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday as the United States intensified efforts to prevent an all-out war amid threats of a direct attack against the Jewish state by Iran and Hezbollah.

“Israel is in a state of very high readiness for any scenario – on both defense and offense. We will exact a very high price for any act of aggression against us from any quarter whatsoever,” Netanyahu said.

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After two days of tense silence, a barrage of dozens of rockets fired from #Lebanon by #Hezbollah towards villages in northern #Israel. pic.twitter.com/3e0UkKYkrl

— Ori Miller🇮🇱 (@orielishamiller) August 1, 2024

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IDF closed an account with the launcher that launched dozens of rockets earlier tonight.

Hezbollah launcher erased. https://t.co/mGoOQ8gXqP pic.twitter.com/GSGlx1fpux

— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) August 1, 2024

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On Wednesday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Katy Tur Reports,” Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) stated that Israel’s killing of a Hezbollah leader, which it says was in response to a rocket attack that killed children in Israel and its reported assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh make “it harder to accomplish a ceasefire. And that’s what we should be focused on is getting those hostages released, making it safe for those civilians again. That should be our north star in all of this.”

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Though the younger generation dusted themselves off and took the fight to the terrorist group that had slaughtered an estimated 1,200 and kidnapped another 250 of their fellow citizens, their government did not display the same discipline or resolve. The Netanyahu government made promises—the return of the hostages and the defeat of Hamas—but offered no coherent strategy of how to achieve those aims. If anything, Netanyahu appeared to be fighting on Iran’s terms. 

That may have changed on Tuesday night. Israel is regaining some of its swagger. If the military and intelligence services can continue to strike the leaders of the Iranian axis, the momentum may continue to shift. The Iranians can still be convinced that the price of continuing to fight this war is higher than what they were willing to pay at the beginning.

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For our child to come home, we need more than chants and statements and words of sympathy. We need action and political will. Based on a framework that Israel has agreed to, President Biden brokered a deal that if accepted by Hamas would bring the hostages home and bring relief to the region. 

However, after meeting with the Israeli prime minister last week, we question his sincerity, as well as his sense of urgency. We understand the reality of politics — but the reality is that there is no more time. The hostages are dying and many are already dead. Omer’s life, and the lives of every other living hostage depends on all parties making a deal. That needs to happen now. Not in a week, or a month, or another year. 

Now.

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Israel is defending both Western civilization and Judeo-Christian values, according to former Trump administration U.S. ambassador to Israel David Friedman, who slammed current Western leaders, and the Biden administration in particular, accusing them of being “feckless” in their handling of Iranian threats. ...

“No other civilized nation goes through this. None. Only Israel,” Friedman remarked, underscoring Israel’s unique role in defending the West.

Referring to the Jewish state as “the tip of the spear in defense of Western civilization,” Friedman lamented the current state of Western leadership while expressing hope the day will come when “the West will thank Israel for its defense of Judeo-Christian values.” 

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Behind the scenes: The U.S. intelligence community started receiving clear indications on Wednesday that Iran is going to retaliate, a U.S. official said.

• Two U.S. officials said it could take the Iranians and their proxies a few days to coordinate and prepare an attack on Israel.
• Another U.S. official said the Pentagon and U.S. Central Command are taking similar preparations to those they made ahead of the attack in April.
• The official said the preparations involve U.S. military assets in the Gulf, the Eastern Mediterranean and the Red sea.
• "We expect a few rough days," the official said.