War Summary, Day 540: Artifacts of hostage’s body found in Gaza, troops in Gaza come under mortar fire in a first since new maneuvers, Hamas tortures a protest leader, weapons smugglings thwarted at Jordan and Egypt borders, rocket fire from Lebanon targets Israeli border towns and Kiryat Shemona, In a first since November: IDF strikes Beirut, heavy bombing in Yemen, and Iran threatens U.S.
By Mrs. Bruria Efune
59 held captive in Gaza.
35 hostages confirmed murdered held in Gaza.
147 living hostages rescued.
49 hostage bodies rescued.
1,828 Israelis killed.
413 fallen soldiers and police in the battle in Gaza.
87 fallen soldiers in Northern Israel.
18 fallen soldiers and police in Judea & Samaria.
30,695 estimated projectiles fired at Israel.
20,000 Israelis estimated displaced from their homes.
1 Jewish nation united in prayer, charity, and good deeds.
Top Headlines:
– Hamas agrees to Hamas hostage-ceasefire proposal
– Israel returns with counter proposal
– Artifacts of a hostage’s body found in Gaza
– IDF further expands security buffer zone in Southern Gaza
– Troops in Gaza come under mortar fire in a first since new maneuvers
– Hamas cracks down, tortures a protest leader
– More terrorist arrests in Judea & Samaria
– Weapons smugglings thwarted at Jordan and Egypt borders
– Rocket fire from Lebanon targets Israeli border towns and Kiryat Shemona
– In a first since November: IDF strikes Beirut
– Heavy bombing in Yemen
– Iran threatens U.S.
Hostages:
Hamas agreed to the Egyptian hostage-ceasefire proposal. This proposal releases 5 living hostages, in exchange for a ceasefire starting before Eid al-Fitr this Sunday evening, and until after Passover (or according to some reports, for a full 50 days). During the ceasefire, humanitarian aid will flow into Gaza, and an unknown number of terrorists will be released from Israeli prisons. In addition, during the ceasefire, there will be talks in an attempt to bring about a permanent ceasefire and the release of all hostages.
Israel returned a counter-proposal to Hamas, which according to Ynet, includes a demand that 10 living hostages be released. Further details remain unknown.
There is significant skepticism that an agreement could be reached before the start of Eid al-Fitr, but there does seem to be high likelihood of some sort of agreement before Passover.
Edan Alexander, an IDF hostage who has dual Israeli-American citizenship, is expected to be amongst those released in the deal. Arab media report that as a “gesture of goodwill” to America, Hamas gave the mediators information on Edan’s current medical condition.
The IDF announced that in recent days, in an intelligence-based operation, troops located and returned “artifacts” associated with the body of (Manny) Goddard, who was murdered and kidnapped by the PIJ on October 7th. After identifying the artifacts at the National Center for Forensic Medicine, Goddard’s family was notified. His body is still being held by Hamas.
Hamas published yet another cruel propaganda video taken of hostage Elkana Bohbot, who is still being held in Gaza.
Gaza:
The IDF slightly expanded the security buffer zone to include the Al-Jenina neighborhood in Rafah, which is adjacent to the Philadelphi Corridor. During operations, troops destroyed Hamas infrastructure in the neighborhood.
The IDF now has added much of three neighborhoods in Rafah, suburbs of Khan Younis, parts of Beit Lahiya, and Beit Hanoun to the buffer zone. This is in line with the threat to take Gazan territory every day that the hostages aren’t returned. The IDF appears to have taken a little over 10% of Gaza for the buffer zone by now.
Most of the battle in Gaza is still limited to airstrikes, which are not at full force. On Friday, the IDF hit 25 terror targets in Gaza, and a similar amount on Shabbat. Targets include weapons depots, rocket launchers, military buildings used by the terrorists, and other terrorist infrastructure. The IDF also eliminated a number of terrorists in airstrikes.
Shabbat saw two of the first serious incidents in fighting in Gaza since the resumption of battles. In one instance, Hamas fired three mortars at IDF troops who were operating just outside Khan Younis. In another instance, an IDF D9 bulldozer hit an explosive device. Thank G-d, no soldiers were injured in either incident. (FYI, our ongoing fundraiser is for these soldiers.)
Following the mortar fire, the IDF issued an immediate evacuation warning for the area in Khan Younis from where it was fired, and then carried out heavy airstrikes targeting the launch site.
A Wall Street Journal report says that Israel estimates Hamas to have 10-15% of their rocket arsenal remaining, having started the war with a stockpile of 20,000. That leaves about 2,000, of which we’re seeing very few fired.
Hamas has begun cracking down on the protests against them in Gaza (although there are still suspicions of who is behind them). Hamas arrested Uday Nasser Saadi al-Rabai, a 22-year-old leading voice in the protests against them, and tortured him to death. At his burial today, his extended family called for revenge against Hamas: “We call on all the people of the Gaza Strip to mobilize in revenge for the blood of the martyr Uday al-Rubai. Every member of the Qassam Brigades (Hamas’s army) will be a legitimate target for our guns.”
News 12 shared information found in a classified document from Israel’s Defense Ministry, which was authored by Major General Ghassan Alian, head of COGAT (Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories).
The document, which was authored just days before the October 7th attack, addressed a “hudna” (long-term truce) proposed by Egypt, at the request of Hamas. The truce essentially recognized the Hamas terror group as the sovereign government of Gaza. The IDF Chief of Staff and Shin Bet director, as well as head of COGAT all endorsed the plan, agreeing that it would steer Gaza to a more stable trajectory. The generals and Shin Bet director recommended that Israel send a negotiation team (which they did), assessing that Hamas wanted stability and no more war.
It turns out that this proposal was just another tactic of Sinwar to lull Israel into a sense of complacency on the Gaza border, not believing Hamas would want war.
Judea & Samaria:
IDF troops arrested eight wanted terrorists in the Jenin area during counterterrorism operations on Friday night. A weapon and ammunition found with one of the terrorists was confiscated. Two more terrorists were arrested in the villages of Walaja and Tsurif.
On Friday, troops prevented an attempted smuggling from Jordan. They confiscated 12 pistols, 25 cartridges, and other weapons parts. The Jordanian border has long been a problem for Israel, with smugglers importing a low of weapons to terror groups in Judea and Samaria.
Lebanon:
On Friday morning, two rockets were launched from Lebanon, activating sirens in Margaliot, Misgav Am, Kiryat Shmona and Tel Hai. One launch was intercepted, and the other fell short into Lebanese territory.
The Lebanese Army later reported finding the launcher in the Qaaqaait al-Jisr area, near Nabatieh, which is just north of the Litani River. No terror group has taken responsibility for the attack.
In response to the attack, the IDF issues an evacuation warning for a building in the Dahiyeh district of Beirut, before destroying it in an airstrike. The IDF says that the building stored Hezbollah’s attack drones, illegally, in the heart of a civilian population. This was the first attack in Beirut since the ceasefire began in November.
Further airstrikes hit Hezbollah targets in Southern Lebanon, including squad headquarters, military infrastructure, launchers, and targeted eliminations of Hezbollah terrorists who were illegally operating in southern Lebanon.
Defense Minister Katz in a statement: “As I said, the fate of Kiryat Shmona is the same as Beirut. If there is no quiet in Kiryat Shmona and in the Galilee communities, there will be no quiet in Beirut. For any attempt to harm the Galilee communities, the roofs of homes in Beirut’s Dahiyeh district will shake. I send a clear message to the Lebanese government: If you do not enforce the ceasefire agreement, we will.”
Residents of these towns had just begun returning home, and are now growing nervous about the choice. The Mayor of Metula, Israel’s Northern fingertip which was targeted a week earlier, stated: “This is exactly what we feared. The drizzles like they have been in the south for 23 years. We will not allow this and we will not accept it. The government should announce today the cancellation of the 1701 agreement and announce that they are continuing to eliminate all terrorist organizations in Lebanon, headed by Hezbollah. If the Lebanese government does not help, we will also attack the Lebanese army and the state. The October 7 disaster began with these [rocket] drizzles and we will not allow this in the north. It is urgent to act today.”
Yemen:
The U.S. is still bombing the Houthis daily, after two weeks straight. Today saw the heaviest bombing with 70 strikes on Houthi strongholds.
Iran:
The Telegraph reported that Iran issued a warning: If U.S. President Trump attacks Iran, Tehran will retaliate with strikes on the joint U.S. & U.K. naval base on Diego Garcia, in the Chagos Islands.
The base is currently hosting at least 5 strategic B-2 bombers, multiple C-17 cargo planes, and KC-135 refueling tankers. Most of these planes were brought in the last week, in what the U.S. does not confirm or deny is a preparation to attack or warning to Iran.
Other:
Yet again, IDF troops caught a drone that was smuggling weapons into Israel via the Egyptian border. The drone was found to be carrying 9 rifles.
Israel is sending a delegation of 21 search-and-rescue experts to Thailand following the devastating earthquake. The team will assist in building an intelligence picture to locate missing and trapped people, and engineering work to safely rescue them.
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