Overview
- Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman said on Wednesday that roughly 50 members of Hamas’s elite Nukhba unit rehearsed a raid on an Israeli community and that field commanders asked to strike but were told not to.
- Channel 12 reported that the IDF detected unusual activity near the Gaza fence, raised its alert level and rushed forces to the border but did not carry out strikes following instructions from the political echelon.
- The IDF spokesperson and the Likud party disputed parts of Liberman’s account, saying intelligence found no organized tactical threat, rules of engagement did not change and force deployment along the Yellow Line remains in place.
- More explosive claims by Liberman — that a Board of Peace transfer of $400 million would funnel about 40 percent back to Hamas and that forward IDF positions have been fully withdrawn to the Purple Line — are included in his statement but have not been independently verified in the reporting.
- Liberman has asked the Diplomatic-Security Cabinet to be informed and blamed growing U.S. involvement for constraining Israeli decisions, a dispute that could heighten civil–military tension, raise public concern in Gaza-border communities and prompt demands for oversight.