Massive Explosions Reported In Syrian Strikes, Airbase Runway Destroyed
The Israeli Air Force carried out extensive airstrikes Wednesday evening (2nd) on multiple military targets in Syria, including sites near Damascus, the T-4 airbase near Homs, and the military airport in Hama, where large explosions were reported.
The strikes targeted strategic infrastructure and weapons stockpiles left behind by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s military, including runways, fuel depots and radar systems.
According to a military statement, Israel attacked military compounds in Hama and T4, as well as additional infrastructure in the Damascus area, as part of efforts to maintain Israeli air superiority in the region.
Israeli intelligence had been monitoring weapons and strategic capabilities at Syrian military bases in Tadmor and T4 in recent weeks. Security officials also claimed that Turkish elements were involved in attempts by Syrian rebel groups to establish weapons production infrastructure at the T4 base. Israeli officials conveyed direct warnings to the regime of Syrian leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, affirming that Israel would continue to act to protect security interests across the Golan border.
The pro-Iranian Iraqi news agency Sabereen reported that several aircraft were damaged at the Hama airbase and that the runway was completely destroyed. Saudi outlet Al Hadath reported nine separate strikes with casualties at the scene. While Syrian site Voice of the Capital cited sources saying weapons depots, fighter jets and hangers were targeted in the Hama attack.
Netanyahu: ‘We Are Taking Control Of The Morag Corridor In Gaza
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a statement on Wednesday (2nd) about Israel’s intensifying operations in the Gaza Strip and announced that Israel will take control of an additional corridor.
“Tuesday night (1st), in the Gaza Strip, we changed gears. The IDF is taking territory, hitting terrorists, and destroying infrastructure. We are also doing something else. We are seizing the Morag Corridor. This will be the second Philadelphi, an additional Philadelphi Corridor.”
He explained that the reason for this is that “we are now dividing the Strip and increasing the pressure step by step, so that they will give us our hostages. And as long as they do not give them to us, the pressure will increase until they do.”
Netanyahu affirmed: “We are determined to achieve the war’s goals , and we are working without rest and with a clear motive, and clear objective. And with G-d’s help and the help of our heroic soldiers – we will achieve it.”
The corridor that Netanyahu announced is named for the now destroyed Jewish village of Morag, which was situated between Rafah and Khan Yunis. If the new corridor runs through the same area, it will separate southern Gaza’s two major cities.
Hamas Admits 72% Of Deaths Are Combat-Aged Men As It Quietly Reduces Civilian Death Toll – Report
Hamas quietly removed the names of thousands of Palestinians it had previously alleged were killed during the Israel-Hamas war, Salo Aizenberg, from the US-based non-profit organization Honest Reporting told the Telegraph on Tuesday (1st) after analyzing Hamas’ March 2025 casualty update.
Hamas has previously claimed that 70% of casualties have been women and children, a claim no longer reflected in their recently updated lists, according to the research. Approximately 72% of fatalities between the ages of 13-55 are men – the demographic category aligns with Hamas combatants.
“Hamas’ new March 2025 fatality list quietly drops 3,400 ‘fully-identified’deaths listed in its August and October 2024 reports – including 1,080 children. These ‘deaths’ never happened. The numbers were falsified – again,” Aizenberg asserted.
A similar report by the Henry Jackson Society in December also concluded that Hamas had inflated the numbers of casualties in the war.
“We knew there were rafts of errors in their reporting,” report-author Andrew Fox said. “The lists are so unreliable that the world’s media shouldn’t be quoting them as reliable.”
“The UN also just takes Hamas’ figures and publishes them with a note stating the figures are unconfirmed.”
Hamas will “have gone through the list, trying to make it as convincing as possible. They’ve been accepting names onto that list with no evidence whatsoever,” Fox explained. “So what I’m guessing they’re trying to do is thin out the names they cannot substantiate at all.”
“Salo’s research would be looking for names that were on previous lists but have now disappeared,” Fox explained. “Hamas releases lists as PDFs, so it’s harder to do comparisons but we transfer names to an Excel sheet to do a mass comparison this way.”
Ignoring ICC Arrest Warrant: Netanyahu Visiting Hungary
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is slated to depart for Hungary on Thursday (3rd), kicking off a four-day state visit to the European Union member state, defying the International Criminal Court’s call for his arrest.
Netanyahu is scheduled to meet with his Hungarian counterpart, Prime Minister Viktor Orban – a staunch ally of Israel – during his visit.
Hungary, a founding member state of the International Criminal Court, is required by the terms of the ICC’s Rome Statute to adhere to the 2024 arrest warrant issued by ICC chief prosecutor Karim Kahn.
However, Orban has in the past rejected the ICC arrest warrant, and indicated it will not be enforced against the Israeli premier.
According to a report by The Times Of Israel, Hungary will drop out of the Rome Statute, disassociating itself from the ICC, during Netanyahu’s visit – thus ending its legal obligation to enforce the arrest warrant.
Netanyahu is scheduled to meet with Orban Thursday morning (3rd) in Budapest in a ceremony at the Buda Castle.
The Israeli premier’s trip to Hungary will be his second abroad since Khan issued arrest warrants against him and his then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant last November.
In early February, Netanyahu visited the United States – which like Israel is not a member of the ICC’s Rome Statute – to meet with President Donald Trump.
Orban, a critic of the ICC, invited Netanyahu for a state visit last November, one day after the court issued its arrest warrant against Netanyahu.
Some have suggested Netanyahu’s trip – and Orban’s invitation – are part of a calculated effort to weaken the ICC.
Netanyahu is “trying to visit as many countries as possible to show that the ICC is a paper tiger and cannot enforce the arrest warrant against him,” the University of Amsterdam international law lecturer Mathias Holvoet told the German daily Die Welt.
Western Wall Cleared Of Thousands Of Visitor’s Notes Ahead Of Passover
Thousands of notes and messages left by visitors from Israel and across the world in the past months were removed from the Western Wall in Jerusalem on Wednesday (2nd), days ahead of the Jewish holiday of Passover that begins April 12.
The staff of the Western Wall Heritage Foundation, which manages the holy site, cleared the spaces between the millennia-old stones. The pieces of paper were transferred for ritual burial in a geniza site on the Mount of Olives. Jewish law requires that documents bearing the Hebrew name of God be disposed of by burying them in a designated area in a Jewish cemetery or synagogue.
The cracks between the Wall’s stones are cleared every six months, ahead of Passover and Rosh Hashanah.
“This year, we have many prayers and wishes by soldiers, the wounded, bereaved families and families who went through the terrible catastrophe of the Simchat Torah festival on October 7, 2023, and the ensuing war,” Western Wall Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz said in a video statement. “Hundreds of them visited here, while many sent them to us.”
Also, The Foundation allows people to send messages to be inserted into the Western Wall through its website. According to them, this year, they received tens of thousands of notes by people all over the world, including countries that are at war with Israel, such as Iran, Yemen and Lebanon.
Located in the heart of Jerusalem’s Old City, the Western Wall is the last intact vestige of the Jewish Temple, which was destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE.
Israel-Turkey Tensions Mounting Over Air Bases In Syria – Howard Altman
Israeli military leaders are concerned about Turkey potentially building up a presence at air bases in Syria, a senior Israel Defense Forces official said. “The establishment of a Turkish Air Force base in Palmyra, Syria, could heighten regional tensions and increase the risk of conflict with Israel. Given Israel’s ongoing efforts to prevent hostile military entrenchment in Syria, any significant Turkish military presence, especially in strategic locations like Palmyra, could be perceived as a threat to Israeli security interests.”
“Recently, Israel has conducted airstrikes against military infrastructure in the region, including the T-4 airbase near Palmyra. While there have been no direct confrontations between Israel and Turkish forces so far, the situation remains sensitive and requires close monitoring.”
In addition, the Syrian North Press Agency reported that “Turkish forces have begun constructing a military base inside Menagh Military Airbase in the northern Aleppo countryside in northwestern Syria in recent days. Turkish forces started transporting massive concrete slabs and logistical materials using large transport vehicles into Menagh Military Airbase, approximately six km. south of Azaz, to establish an air defense center.” There are additional claims that Turkey is building a base in northwestern Syria near the town of Manbij.
Being able to operate from bases in Syria would place Turkish warplanes closer to Israel. If they bring air defenses as well, the combination could create far less permissible skies than the Israel Air Force now enjoys over Syria. (The War Zone)
(twz.com)
UNHCR Passes Resolution Denying Israel’s Right To Self Defense
The United Nations Human Rights Council passed another resolution on Wednesday (2nd) condemning Israel and accusing the Jewish state of human rights violations and illegal actions.
The resolution, titled “Human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and the obligation to ensure accountability and justice,” declares all Israeli presence in Judea and Samaria, including eastern Jerusalem, “unlawful and illegal.”
It claimed that Article 51 of the UN Charter, which states, “Nothing in the present Charter shall impair the inherent right of individual or collective self-defense if an armed attack occurs against a Member of the United Nations, until the Security Council has taken measures necessary to maintain international peace and security.” It does not apply “to cases where a threat originates from a territory over which Israel exercises control,” in effect denying Israel’s right to self-defense from terrorist attacks originating from Judea and Samaria and eastern Jerusalem, as well as Gaza.
The resolution also condemned Israel for its alleged treatment of Palestinian Arab prisoners, including condemning the arrests of minors regardless of whether they were engaged in violent attacks, claiming that “any arrest, detention or trial of Palestinian children by Israel is in violation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.” No similar statement was made to condemn Hamas or any of those in Gaza who held, tortured, and murdered Israeli hostages, including children and babies.
Israel was condemned for alleged sexual crimes, while the sexual crimes committed against Israeli victims on October 7 and against Israeli hostages were not mentioned.
Only two paragraphs in the entire nine-page document condemned or criticized attacks against Israeli civilians, the firing of rockets at Israeli cities, and the October 7 massacre. The taking of hostages was not directly condemned, though the resolution did call for the release of all hostages.
The Hamas terrorist group was not mentioned once in the resolution.
The resolution passed 27-4 with 16 abstentions. Czechia, Germany, Ethiopia, and North Macedonia voted against it.
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oren Marmorstein condemned the resolution as a piece of Hamas propaganda.
“The Hamas Ministry of Propaganda – also known as the UN Human Rights Council – has produced yet another completely false and distorted resolution against the Jewish state,” Marmorstein stated.
“In the Council’s despicable resolution, there’s no condemnation of Hamas for the October 7 massacre or its ongoing terror attacks against Israel, and there is no mention of the horrific sexual crimes committed by Hamas, nor the fact that 59 hostages are still being tortured by Hamas. What the resolution does contain is a collection of baseless lies against Israel, promoted once again by a biased and anti-Semitic body.”
“If anyone still wonders why this twisted institution must cease to exist, today they received another clear and unequivocal answer. Israel thanks all the countries that did not lend their support to this disgraceful resolution,” Marmorstein said.
