As details emerge of the deal the U.S. is about to cut with Iran — a deal that would not dismantle a single Iranian centrifuge and would leave Tehran in striking distance of rapidly building an arsenal of nuclear weapons — leaders of moderate Arab states in the Persian Gulf are horrified. They deeply fear a nuclear-armed Iran and have long pressed the White House to do everything necessary to stop this from happening. Now they fear they are being betrayed.

“A deal with Iran would be like discovering your partner of many years is cheating on you with someone he or she claims they hate,” a senior Arab official from a U.S. ally in the region told the Wall Street Journal.

The Saudis, reportedly, are in the process of purchasing nuclear warheads from Pakistan, so convinced they have become that the Obama administration has no idea how to stop Iran.

Watch for more leaks of this nature in days ahead.

The Journal reported that “U.S. allies in the Persian Gulf, particularly Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, are also all warily watching the unfolding agreement in Geneva. The U.S. has forged close alliances with these countries over the past three decades in an effort to create a bulwark against Iran in the Middle East. Washington has showered billions of dollars of sophisticated weapons on the Gulf nations and stationed key U.S. naval and air assets there. Bahrain, Qatar, and the U.A.E. have also developed successful financial and trade centers in the Gulf, fueled, in part, by Iran’s isolation from international economy. A detente between Washington and Iran could significantly shake up Washington’s security calculations in the Mideast and challenge these countries’ long-term interests, according to regional diplomats. This, in part, explains these Gulf Arab states’ strong pushback against the Obama administration’s diplomacy.”

“Saudi Arabia and the U.A.E. have also strongly criticized the U.S. backing away from expected military strikes in August against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime,” the Journal article noted. “Arab diplomats believed such strikes could have helped topple Mr. Assad, Iran’s closest ally in the region. Instead, the U.S. and Russia forged a deal with the Syrian government to dismantle its chemical-weapons program, which the Saudis and Emiratis now fear is providing Mr. Assad with new legitimacy. The Iranian and Syrian deals in such a short time have disrupted the long-standing U.S. alliances. Mr. Kerry visited Riyadh this week and is scheduled to travel to Abu Dhabi on Sunday. But U.S. officials acknowledged they needed to do more to bring the Gulf countries behind their Iran diplomacy.”

According to The (UK) Telegraph, these are the contours of the “first step” deal the U.S. is offering Iran:

1. Iran would stop enriching uranium to the 20 per cent level that is close to weapons-grade – and turn its existing stockpile of this material into harmless oxide. 
2. Iran would continue enrichment to the 3.5 per cent purity needed for nuclear power stations – but agree to limit the number of centrifuges being used for this purpose. There would, however, be no requirement to remove or disable any other centrifuges. 
3. Iran would agree not to activate its plutonium reactor at Arak, which could provide another route to a nuclear weapons -capability, during the six-month period. Iran may, however, continue working on the facility. 
4. Iran would agree not to use its more advanced IR-2 centrifuges, which can enrich uranium between three and five times faster than the older model. 
5. In return, American would ease economic sanctions, possibly by releasing some Iranian foreign exchange reserves currently held in frozen accounts.
6. In addition, some restrictions affecting Iran’s petrochemical, motor and precious metals industries could be relaxed. 

“However, a [U.S.] senior administration official made clear that only “reversible” sanctions would be eased — and they could be re-imposed if Iran were to break any deal,” reported the Telegraph. “Hopes of reaching a ‘first step’ agreement of some kind were rising yesterday, with one Western diplomat in Geneva describing the talks as ‘lengthy, constructive and substantial.'”

“David Albright, the director of the Institute for Science and International   Security, a think tank which monitors Iran’s nuclear ambitions, cautioned   against an agreement that would not genuinely freeze the programme,” noted the Telegraph. “If Iran stopped enrichment to 20 per cent purity and converted its existing stockpile, this would be ‘nowhere near enough’ he said. Any interim agreement would be also undermined if Iran was still able to manufacture centrifuges, including the old IR-1s and the more advanced IR-2Ms. If so, Iran could then ’emerge if the deal fell apart with several thousands IR-1s and IR-2Ms to be deployed rapidly in Natanz, and possibly even a third centrifuge plant,’ said Mr Albright. ‘I think it is quite reasonable to ask Iran to stop centrifuge manufacturing, but I’m not sure the US is going to go there.'”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) shakes hands with US Secretary of State John Kerry during a meeting on November 6, 2013 in Jerusalem (AFP Photo/Jason Reed)

(Washington, D.C.) — In the negotiations between the U.S. and Iran over Iran’s nuclear program, it appears the Obama administration has just blinked.

“On the eve of a new round of talks between world powers and Iran, a senior Obama administration official said Wednesday that the United States was prepared to offer Iran limited relief from economic sanctions if Tehran agreed to halt its nuclear program temporarily and reversed part of it,” reports the New York Times. “The official said that the suspension of Iran’s nuclear efforts, perhaps for six months, would give negotiators time to pursue a comprehensive and far more challenging agreement.”

“Put simply, what we’re looking for now is a first phase, a first step, an initial understanding that stops Iran’s nuclear program from moving forward for the first time in decades and that potentially rolls part of it back,” the official told reporters.       

“The long-stymied talks with Iran were re-energized after Hassan Rouhani, the new Iranian president, took office in August and declared that he wanted to resolve longstanding concerns about the country’s nuclear program so that punishing economic sanctions could be lifted,” the Times noted.

Israel’s leader, however, made clear immediately he rejects such a deal.

“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a conference in Jerusalem on Thursday that Israel completely rejects the proposal being discussed with Iran vis-à-vis its nuclear program in Geneva,” reports Haaretz.”It will be a historical mistake,” he said.

“A U.S. official in Geneva said Wednesday that the powers want Iran to halt its nuclear program for six months in exchange for temporary sanctions relief,” Haaretz noted. “Netanyahu said that accepting the compromise will allow Iran to continue developing its nuclear program.”

“The Geneva proposals are weakening the pressure on Iran. Iran’s concessions are non-concessions,” he said.

“Meanwhile, Iran’s deputy foreign minister said Thursday that stopping the enrichment of uranium was a red line that his country would not cross,” the Israeli newspaper reported. “Speaking in Geneva during a two-day round of nuclear talks, Abbas Araghchi said both sides agree there is an historic opportunity for Iran and the six world powers to reach an agreement, and that this would involve each side taking the first step together.

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• Follow Joel on Twitter — @joelcrosenberg
• Order Damascus Countdown (last in the trilogy) – now available in paperback online and in bookstores nationwide
• Listen to Damascus Countdown as an audio book.
• Order the paperback of The Tehran Initiative (second in the trilogy)
• Order the paperback of The Twelfth Imam (first in the triology)
• Learn more about The Joshua Fund (www.joshuafund.net) – educating and mobilizing Christians to bless Israel and her neighbors in the name of Jesus, and caring for the poor and needy with food and other humanitarian relief – and make a tax deductible contribution

“Saudi Arabia has invested in Pakistani nuclear weapons projects, and believes it could obtain atomic bombs at will, a variety of sources have told BBC Newsnight,” the BBC reports. “While the kingdom’s quest has often been set in the context of countering Iran’s atomic programme, it is now possible that the Saudis might be able to deploy such devices more quickly than the Islamic republic.”

“Earlier this year, a senior NATO decision maker told me that he had seen intelligence reporting that nuclear weapons made in Pakistan on behalf of Saudi Arabia are now sitting ready for delivery,” reports the BBC. “Last month Amos Yadlin, a former head of Israeli military intelligence, told a conference in Sweden that if Iran got the bomb, ‘the Saudis will not wait one month. They already paid for the bomb, they will go to Pakistan and bring what they need to bring.’ Since 2009, when King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia warned visiting US special envoy to the Middle East Dennis Ross that if Iran crossed the threshold, ‘we will get nuclear weapons,’ the kingdom has sent the Americans numerous signals of its intentions.”

“Gary Samore, until March 2013 President Barack Obama’s counter-proliferation adviser, has told Newsnight: ‘I do think that the Saudis believe that they have some understanding with Pakistan that, in extremis, they would have claim to acquire nuclear weapons from Pakistan.'”….

…..”Having warned the Americans in private for years, last year Saudi officials in Riyadh escalated it to a public warning, telling a journalist from the Times ‘it would be completely unacceptable to have Iran with a nuclear capability and not the kingdom,'” notes the BBC. “But were these statements bluster, aimed at forcing a stronger US line on Iran, or were they evidence of a deliberate, long-term plan for a Saudi bomb? Both, is the answer I have received from former key officials. One senior Pakistani, speaking on background terms, confirmed the broad nature of the deal — probably unwritten — his country had reached with the kingdom and asked rhetorically ‘what did we think the Saudis were giving us all that money for? It wasn’t charity.’ Another, a one-time intelligence officer from the same country, said he believed ‘the Pakistanis certainly maintain a certain number of warheads on the basis that if the Saudis were to ask for them at any given time they would immediately be transferred.'”

————————

• Follow Joel on Twitter — @joelcrosenberg
• Order Damascus Countdown (last in the trilogy) – now available in paperback online and in bookstores nationwide
• Listen to Damascus Countdown as an audio book.
• Order the paperback of The Tehran Initiative (second in the trilogy)
• Order the paperback of The Twelfth Imam (first in the triology)
• Learn more about The Joshua Fund (www.joshuafund.net) – educating and mobilizing Christians to bless Israel and her neighbors in the name of Jesus, and caring for the poor and needy with food and other humanitarian relief – and make a tax deductible contribution

Image capture from Forbes magazine.

Just days after Vladimir Putin was named by Forbes magazine as the “world’s most powerful person,” Israel has announced Prime Minister Netanyahu will head to Moscow to meet with Putin. The meeting is set at the Kremlin for November 20th.

Russia’s alliances with Iran and Syria are likely to top the agenda. “Netanyahu and Putin last met for emergency talks at the Black Sea resort of Sochi in mid-May to discuss the situation in Syria, amid concerns that Moscow could soon provide Damascus with a cutting-edge missile defense system,” reports the Times of Israel. “At the time, Moscow’s overriding message to Netanyahu was one of restraint, urging political, rather than military, means of resolving the almost-three-year conflict. While Putin and Netanyahu acknowledged that the ongoing violence in Syria is detrimental to the entire region, the Russian president said that the only way to resolve the crisis was ‘the soonest end to armed conflict and the beginning of political settlement,’ Russia’s Interfax news agency reported.”

“Vladimir Putin has usurped President Obama as the Forbes’ Most Powerful Person in the World this year for the first time in Obama’s presidency,” reported ABC News on October 30th. “The magazine published its annual list today and noted that the Russian president had overtaken the American one in part because of Russia’s role in the Syria conflict this summer.”

“Putin has solidified his control over Russia and anyone watching the chess match over Syria has a clear idea of the shift in the power towards Putin on the global stage,” Forbes wrote. “The ex-KGB strongman–who controls a nuclear-tipped army, a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council and some of the world’s largest oil and gas reserves – is allowed to serve another six-year term, which could keep him in office until 2024.”

“Putin has flaunted his power over the past year, including during heightened tensions with the U.S. over Syria when he penned an Op-Ed critical of Obama and published it in The New York Times,” ABC noted. “As Russia and the U.S. came to agreement over disarming Syria, Putin was also touting the fact that he provided refuge for Edward Snowden, the intelligence leaker sought by the U.S. for publishing National Security Agency’s secrets. As Russia prepares to host the Olympics early next year, Putin used his clout to change the official launch date of the Soyuz spacecraft so that it could take with it the Olympic torch for a spacewalk, making Russia the country that netted the torch the most miles before an Olympics.”

Iranian students seized the U.S. embassy in Tehran on November 4, 1979.

A Time cover story in 1979 on the hostage crisis in Tehran.

>> Largest anti-American protest in years underway outside former U.S. embassy in Tehran. Iranians shout, “Death To America!”

The following are excerpts from my non-fiction book, Inside The Revolution (2009):

Dawn had not yet broken in Washington.

It was Sunday morning, November 4, when an urgent “Flash Traffic” message from Embassy Tehran arrived in the State Department’s top-secret communications center: “Demonstrators have entered embassy compound and have entered the building.”

More than three thousand Radicals, most of them students, had climbed over the embassy’s walls, penetrated the compound’s internal security fences and doors, disarmed the Marines (who had been ordered by their superiors not to shoot), and were holding sixty-six Americans hostage while rifling through whatever files they could get their hands on.[1]

Staffers in the White House Situation Room immediately awoke the president at Camp David with a phone call at 4:30 a.m. The president spoke with Brzezinski, just back from Algiers, and Secretary of State Cyrus Vance. Both were concerned, to be sure, but neither was overly worried, believing the situation would be corrected quickly, as it had been on Valentine’s Day. The president, therefore, went back to sleep. It was the last half-decent sleep Carter would get until after he left office on January 20, 1981.

U.S. intelligence officials soon had a translated copy of the students’ first communiqué, which blasted “the world-devouring America” and stated, “We Muslim students, followers of the Imam Khomeini, have occupied the espionage embassy of America in protest against the ploys of the imperialists and the Zionists. We announce our protest to the world; a protest against America for granting asylum and employing the criminal shah while it has its hands in the blood of tens of thousands of women and men in this country.”

Top officials at the CIA and State all expected Khomeini to order the students to free the Americans and their compound in short order. It never happened.

To the contrary, the ayatollah quickly issued a statement praising the students. He then appointed his son, Ahmad, to serve as the liaison with the students holding the embassy.

Ahmad would later write that his father expected “thunder and lightning” from Washington, a quick and fierce military operation that would both rescue the embassy staffers and punish the new regime. But weeks turned into months without such a response. Instead, in Ahmad’s view, the Carter White House churned out feckless, limp-wristed statements and showed no serious interest in a military confrontation. President Carter’s envoy to the United Nations, Ambassador Andrew Young, publicly implored the ayatollah to show “magnanimity and compassion.”

Khomeini smelled weakness. He mocked the Carter administration as acting “like a headless chicken,” and exploited Carter’s indecision to the fullest.

HUMILIATION

For well over a year and a half, fifty-two American citizens were subjected to torture, interrogation, and all manner of physical and psychological abuse at the hands of Islamic Radicals.

Some of the hostages were blindfolded and paraded before the Iranian media in pictures that would be flashed around the world. Others were repeatedly kicked and beaten. Some had guns put to their heads while students threatened to blow their brains out if they did not open safes or answer questions. At other times, the students played Russian roulette with them. At one point, a group of students forced a diplomat to the floor. One pulled out a knife, positioned it mere centimeters from the diplomat’s face, and threatened to cut out his eyes, one by one, if he refused to divulge classified information. And all the while, the Ayatollah Khomeini gave his full approval to such activities, and his son oversaw the terrorists’ day-to-day operations.

Back home, Americans felt a growing sense of humiliation and outrage as they saw the crisis in Iran play out on the evening news night after night with seemingly no light at the end of the tunnel. Most people did not understand the motivation of the Radicals who had seized the embassy or the ayatollah whom they apparently worshiped. Nor did they understand why President Carter looked so weak in the face of such a serious threat to U.S. national security. All they saw were millions of Iranians chanting, “Death to America! Death to Israel!” and violent, fanatical mobs burning the American flag and burning President Carter in effigy. As the crisis worsened, Carter’s approval rating plummeted to a mere 25 percent.

Muslims around the world—Sunnis and Shias alike—were stunned by such a dramatic turn of events. Radicals were energized. Reformers were horrified.

Officials in Washington were stupefied. In less than a year, the White House, the State Department, and the Central Intelligence Agency had missed the Islamic Revolution in Iran, the rise of Khomeini, the fall of the shah, and the takeover of the U.S.’s own embassy in a country central to its national security and sharing a 1,600-mile border with the Soviet Union.

Admiral Stansfield Turner, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency under President Carter, would later admit in his memoirs, “We in the CIA served the president . . . badly with respect to our coverage of the Iranian scene. . . . We had not appreciated how shaky the Shah’s political foundation was; did not know the Shah was terminally ill; did not understand who Khomeini was and the support his movement had; did not have a clue as to who the hostage-takers were or what their objective was; and could not pinpoint within the embassy where the hostages were being held and under what conditions. . . . We were just plain asleep.”

Dear Ayatollah Khamenei —

We are hearing reports that you may be in poor health. I hope this is not true, but either way I want you to know that I am praying for the God of the Bible to heal and comfort you. I am also praying that God will open your eyes and grant you repentance that you may receive Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord and have eternal life. In addition, I am asking Christians around the world to pray for you, as well.

Allow me to take a moment to share with you two very important truths, that I recently shared via Twitter with President Rouhani, whom I am also praying for:

First, the Bible makes clear that God loves all the people of the world, including the people of Iran.

The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob loves Persians. Jesus Christ loves you. He loves all Muslims. He wants to forgive you and your people and save you and adopt you and your family into His family to be His children and to go to heaven forever and ever.

The Lord Jesus Christ said, “For God so loves the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16).

Anyone who truly repents and receives Christ by faith as Savior and Lord will be saved. “But as many as received Him [Christ], to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name.” (John 1:12)

This is the Gospel, the good news.

Second, the Bible also warns that judgment is coming to the Iranian regime in the last days.

Speaking of “Elam,” an ancient name for the nation we know today as Iran, the prophet Jeremiah wrote: “That which came as the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam, at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying: ’Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Behold, I am going to break the bow of Elam, the finest of their might.  I will bring upon Elam the four winds from the four ends of heaven, and will scatter them to all these winds; and there will be no nation to which the outcasts of Elam will not go.  So I will shatter Elam before their enemies and before those who seek their lives; and I will bring calamity upon them, even My fierce anger,” declares the Lord, “And I will send out the sword after them Until I have consumed them. Then I will set My throne in Elam and destroy out of it king and princes,” declares the Lord. ^“But it will come about in the last days that I will restore the fortunes of Elam,” declares the Lord.’” (Jeremiah 49:34-39)

The prophet tells us that there is coming a day when the Lord will have “fierce anger” against “the king and princes” of Iran and “will bring calamity upon them.”

When will this judgment come? I cannot say for certain.

But in the name of Jesus Christ, I urge you to take these and all the Scriptures to heart. I implore you embrace God’s love, repent of your sins, and receive Christ as Savior and Lord by faith.

More Iranians have left Islam and come to faith in Christ since 1979 than at any time in the last 14 centuries. More than one million Iranian Muslims have become Christians in the last three decades.

I pray that you will become one of them. Time may be short. Do not delay.

“Behold, now is ‘the acceptable time,’ behold, now is ‘the Day of Salvation,’” says the Bible. (2 Corinthians 6:2)

I recently gave an address explaining God’s love for the people of Iran, and explaining the prophecy of Jeremiah 49 concerning the people of Elam (Iran). My prayer is that you will take time to listen to it to understand the prophecy and its implications more fully.

My family and I are praying for you, sir. Many Christians are, as well.

>> What does Bible prophecy say about the future of Iran? Click here to listen to an address I delivered to the “Iran Alive Ministries” banquet.

The Ayatollah Khamenei with new President Hassan Rouhani, standing near photo of the late-Ayatollah Khomeini.

“As experts from Iran and the P5+1 met in Vienna to prepare the next round of high-level nuclear talks in Geneva, reports Thursday suggested that Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s health may have taken a turn for the worse,” reports the Times of Israel. “The 74-year-old Khamenei, who has not been seen in public since giving an address in Tehran three weeks ago, was said by Iranian sources to be suffering from increasingly acute health problems.”

“Citing Iranian sources, The Times of London reported Thursday that Khamenei, who has served as Supreme Leader since 1989 and who has yet to appoint an heir, may have suffered a relapse of a chronic illness and that he was convalescing after collapsing during a private meeting,” the Times noted. “The Times quoted Iranian journalist Hossein Rostami, who runs the website Amariyoun, as saying that ‘it is not good news coming our way from our master.’ He urged Khamenei loyalists to ‘pray deeply for him.’

“Rostami was reportedly asked by Iranian authorities not to discuss Khamenei’s health online,” noted the Times. “On Wednesday, however, he shared Khamenei’s photo on Facebook, along with a poem on health by renowned Persian poet Hafez. The religious leader reportedly failed to send out his customary greeting to Iranian pilgrims departing for Mecca two weeks ago and didn’t give an address on the central Shi’ite holiday of Ghadeer last week, rousing concern that he was gravely ill.”

Let us pray for the Ayatollah, that God would truly open his eyes and he would come to faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. The Bible commands us to pray for our enemies. Now is the time to pray for him, for his family, for all the leaders of Iran, and for all the people of Iran.

>> An historic Christian awakening is under way in Iran. I discuss the inside story in this 20 minute interview with Dr.  Hormoz Shariat.

The Obama administration is moving to pressure Congress not to pass new sanctions on Iran. But the question is, “Why?” Now is precisely the time to ratchet up the pressure on Iran, whose economy is staggering due to the combined impact of the international sanctions that have been imposed in recent years.

Iran is dangerously close to reaching breakout capacity to build nuclear weapons. Iran has finally come to the negotiating table. But time appears to be running out. If the regime in Tehran has any interest in cutting a genuine deal to truly give up its uranium enrichment program (which I personally doubt, but would love to see) in return for a lifting of the sanctions, wonderful. If they don’t, war could come. So Iran should be sent a clear message via more sanctions that the world is not about to be beguiled by their “charm offensive.”

Let’s be praying for a major breakthrough, and praying for the Lord to give wisdom to U.S. and Israeli leaders on how best to proceed. Meanwhile, let’s keep praying for the persecuted Christians inside Iran, and praying that the Lord opens the eyes of many more Iranians — including within the regime — to come to faith in Jesus Christ.

“Vice President Joe Biden led a high-powered delegation to Capitol Hill on Thursday to try to persuade US lawmakers to hold off on any more sanctions against Iran and let delicate diplomatic talks over Tehran’s nuclear program unfold,” reports Ynet News. “President Barak Obama is convinced that there is the potential for an international deal to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon but worries that congressional pressure for additional sanctions could complicate negotiations.”

“Biden, Secretary of State John Kerry and Treasury Secretary Jack Lew held a closed-door session with Senate Democratic leaders and Republican and Democratic members of the Senate Banking Committee to update them on major power talks with Iran,” notes Ynet. “A new round of negotiations is set for next week in Geneva. An official in Biden’s office said the administration’s message was that there may come a point when more sanctions are needed, but now may not be the best time for Congress to act. But the appeal to wait is a tough sell in Congress, which tends to take a harder line on Iran than the administration. Several lawmakers said after the meeting they had not been convinced, and that fresh sanctions are needed to discourage Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.”

“I’m not ready to commit” to further delay, Robert Menendez, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a member of the Banking Committee, told reporters.

“Republican Senator Mark Kirk, who strongly opposes any move to hold off on sanctions, said that if the banking committee delays its vote, he would seek to add more Iran sanctions to a defense authorization bill that could come to the Senate floor in November,” Ynet reports.

A firefight broke out overnight between IDF forces and Palestinian terrorists along the Gaza border. Please pray for healing and comfort, and for calm to be restored on the border.

“Five Israeli soldiers were wounded in an attack late Thursday while on an operational mission to destroy a tunnel dug by Palestinians in the Gaza Strip,” reports Haaretz. “The force was taking part in a joint operation by the Golani infantry brigade and the Combat Engineering Corp to destroy a part of a tunnel network discovered in the southern Gaza Strip last month. In the course of the operation, an explosive device was detonated against the soldiers, wounding five, a statement from the Israel Defense Forces Spokesperson’s Unit said.”

“One of the five sustained serious wounds, another was moderately wounded and the three others sustained light injuries,” noted Haaretz. “They were all evacuated by helicopter to the Soroka Medical Center in Be’er Sheva for treatment and their families were notified. The seriously-wounded soldier was operated on overnight, while the others — one of them a lieutenant colonel — may require surgery at a later date. In response to the attack, the troops opened fire at terrorists identified nearby, the IDF statement said, reporting that hits were identified. Hamas said one Palestinian was killed in the incident and another was wounded. Later, the Israel Air Force bombed another tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip, which, according to the Israel Defense Forces, could have been used to carry out a terrorist attack in Israel. The IDF reported that it identified that the target was hit. Hamas said three Palestinians were killed in this attack.