IsraelAM July 7 2025
Prime Minister Netanyahu is meeting President Trump today at the White House. The President is optimistic that a ceasefire and hostage release deal can be reached within the week. Israel sent a high level delegation to Qatar to take part in proximity talks with Hamas. Netanyahu said that Israel's goals in Gaza were: The release and return of all the hostages, the living and the fallen; the destruction of Hamas's capabilities to kick it out of there, and to ensure that Gaza will no longer constitute a threat to Israel.
Israeli air and naval forces struck Houthi terror infrastructure at the ports of Hodeidah, Al-Salif, and Ras Issa, along with the Ras Katib power station and the Galaxy Leader vessel, which the Houthis seized nearly two years ago and have since used for hostile activity in the Red Sea. This comes after the Houthis continue to fire missiles at Israel. Defense Minister Katz said, "Yemen will face the same consequences as Iran. Anyone who threatens Israel will suffer, and those who strike at us will be struck down. The Houthis will continue to pay dearly for their aggression." The Houthis fired 2 missiles at Israel today.
IDF air and ground forces struck over 130 Hamas targets throughout Gaza over the past day. Sgt. Asaf Zamir, 19, from Dimona and a member of the 53rd Armored Battalion of the 188th Brigade, was killed on Friday during combat in the Khan Younis area. Four other soldiers we're wounded in the incident.
The IDF and Shin Bet confirmed that Qassem Al-Husseini, a Lebanese terrorist affiliated with Iran's Quds Force, was killed in an Israeli airstrike near Beirut. He played a key role in smuggling Iranian weapons through Syria into Lebanon and the West Bank, and was involved in planning terror attacks. IDF forces struck multiple Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon today. US envoy Thomas Barrack is in Beirut for meetings with Lebanese officials on a proposal to disarm Hezbollah.