Israel News Tuesday Nov 18

Day 744

- Lebanese officials  report that a Israeli strike targeting Hamas operatives in Lebanon has left 13 people dead.

- Netanyahu: "We have hit the terror axis of Iran in 360 degrees over the past two years - and our hand is still extended, and it is also required

- Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will tell US President Donald Trump in their private meeting today, “Yes to normalization with Israel, but not now,” Channel 12 reports, citing an official with knowledge of the details.

MBS will say that normalization is a strategic goal for Saudi Arabia, but the conditions are not right, the network reports. MBS wants to see that the Gaza ceasefire instituted last month doesn’t fall apart, and is demanding a commitment to a pathway to a Palestinian state from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who rejects Palestinian statehood.

-Trump on the sale of F-35 planes to Saudi Arabia: The Israelis want us to provide them with less advanced planes. We are considering it. But I think these two countries are close allies of ours and should receive the best planes.

- Victim of today’s terror attack in Gush Etzion is named Aharon Cohen HY”D, 71, from Kiryat Arba. 

- Terror attack Man stabbed to death in terror attack at Gush Etzion Junction by 2 Arab  terrorists 

A man in his 30s was stabbed to death in the terror attack at the Gush Etzion Junction in the West Bank, Magen David Adom says.

MDA says it is taking three other victims to hospitals in Jerusalem  a woman in her 40s in serious condition and a man in his 30s and a 15-year-old boy in moderate condition

The attack was carried out by at least two palestinian terrorits who accelerated their vehicle into pedestrians at the junction, before one got out and tried to stab victims, according to preliminary findings. Both terrorists were shot dead by security forces.

The military says multiple explosive devices were found inside the vehicle used by the terrorists in the ramming and stabbing attack.

- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the United Nations Security Council's vote to implement US President Donald Trump's Gaza peace plan, thanking Trump and his team for their efforts to secure the deal, the Prime Minister's Office posted "The State of Israel and PM Netanyahu applaud President [Donald Trump] and his tireless and devoted team"The courage and sacrifice of our brave soldiers, along with President Trump’s diplomatic efforts, helped bring home all of the living hostages and most of the deceased ones.

- PM  Netanyahu far-right allies up in arms over US plan’s offer of path to Palestinian statehood

The revival of diplomatic efforts to secure a normalization deal with Saudi Arabia has triggered intense criticism from Israel’s far-right ministers and West Bank settlement authorities, who pressured Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday evening to reject any proposal perceived as advancing Palestinian statehood. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich accused Netanyahu of “silence and diplomatic disgrace” on the issue, arguing that the prime minister had failed to respond forcefully to recent unilateral recognitions of a Palestinian state by several countries.

-Negotiations between Israel and Syria over a potential security agreement have stalled over Syria’s insistence that Israel retreat entirely from areas captured by the IDF following the downfall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime.