War Summary, Day One Hundred: U.S. and British forces carried out a second attack against the Houthis in Yemen. 3 heavily armed terrorists from Chevron broke into the town of Adora, and injured one man, before they were eliminated by security forces.
By Bruria Efune
War Summary, Day One Hundred
136 held captive in Gaza.
110 hostages freed.
11 hostage bodies rescued.
33 hostages confirmed murdered in Gaza.
1,300+ Israelis murdered.
187 fallen soldiers in the battle in Gaza.
5 fallen soldiers in Northern Israel.
2 fallen soldiers in Judea & Samaria.
8,000 injured.
12,850 rockets fired at Israel.
187,533 Israelis displaced from their homes.
1 Jewish nation united in prayer, charity, and good deeds.
Hostage Updates:
A 24 hour rally is being held in Tel Aviv, to mark 100 days since the hostages were taken into Hamas captivity.
On Friday the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office announced that an agreement was made through Qatari mediation to transfer prescription medicine to the hostages held in Gaza, along with a significant increase in the medical supplies for Gaza’s hospitals. The medicine will be delivered through the Red Cross.
The medications for the hostages include essential treatments such as inhalers for asthma patients, medications for diabetics, insulin injections, glucometers, medications for heart disease and blood pressure, as well as treatments for intestinal infections and thyroid gland imbalances.
Gaza Front Updates:
Since Friday, Hamas fired four times at communities in the Gaza Envelope area, and once at Ashdod and Nitzan. No injuries were reported.
The IDF announced the name of one hero who fell in battle in Gaza yesterday: Dan Wajdenbaum, 24, from Ra’anana.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave a press conference today, and stressed that despite pressure, Israel will continue the war to destroy Hamas and return the hostages. “No one will stop us – not even The Hague. The hypocritical attack at The Hague is a moral low in the history of nations. Our forces found copies of Hitler’s ‘Mein Kampf’ in Gaza.”
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi says the military will continue fighting and increase military pressure on Hamas. He asserts that this is the only way to bring about the release of the hostages, either via forcing Hamas to concede to negotiations, or by locating the hostages. In his statement, Halevi hinted at other methods under wraps:
“Tomorrow we will mark one hundred days since the beginning of the war. A hundred days in which the hostages are still being held in Gaza by the cruel Hamas terrorists. We are working by all means, mostly covert, in order to return them and will continue to do so until we return them all. This task is not yet complete.”
As heavy international pressure mounts, Halevi also stressed that the IDF will “not allow attempts to blackmail a ceasefire that apparently will not bring about real results.”
The Chief of Staff also mentioned that although many reservists were sent home after the IDF took control of the north of Gaza, they’ll still be needed and called back at some point during the year, hopefully this time with more notice and time to prepare.
The IDF continues to focus heavily on the center and north of the Gaza Strip, where many munition manufacturing plants were found already, and even more were found today. The IDF asserts that the only way to find and destroy all Hamas weapons, including the seemingly endless supply of rockets which are fired at Israeli civilians, is through the troops on ground searching for and locating each factory and storage cache.
In the Central Gaza Strip today, troops found two Hamas rocket launching sites, each with launchers ready and loaded to fire at Israeli civilians. The launchers were promptly destroyed. Launchers were also found and destroyed in Northern Gaza, which is already under IDF control.
Reports in the Gaza Strip showed Gazans evacuating from Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Hospital in Deir al-Balah, Central Gaza, in anticipation of the IDF forces approach.
In Khan Younis, the troops located several Hamas gunmen, and called in airstrikes or artillery fire to eliminate them. The troops also destroyed a tunnel shaft that l ed into a building used as a weapons depot.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Israel has informed Egypt of its plan to operate on the Gaza side of the Philadelphi Corridor (also known as the Salah al-Din Axis), which is a strip of land along the border of Gaza and Egypt. There are concerns that Hamas may use smuggling tunnels in this area to move the terrorist leadership out under the border and into the Sinai, and possibly take hostages with them.
The New York Times reports that the CIA is collecting information on senior Hamas officials and the location of the hostages in Gaza, and is providing this intelligence to Israel.
Gaza Humanitarian Efforts Updates:
No aid was transferred to Gaza today, after UNRWA requested a pause so that they can catch up on delivering the aid that arrived this week. The IDF is transferring aid to Gaza at a rate faster than the international organizations (who complain about it not being enough) can even handle.
Northern Front Updates:
Most of Hezbollah’s fire in the last two days landed in open areas in Israel, though one missile made a direct hit on a home in Shtula. No casualties were reported.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi says that Hezbollah has “chosen to act as a ‘Hamas shield’ under Iran’s directives, and we are exacting an ever-increasing price from it.”
“The security reality in the north is already taking shape these days. We are keeping the Radwan terrorists away from the border and damaging Hezbollah’s capabilities that it has built up over the years. We operate freely in Lebanon’s airspace and strike any threat we detect. The south Lebanon region is a combat zone, and it will remain so, as long as Hezbollah operates from it. Hezbollah may turn the entire country of Lebanon into a combat zone, this will have a heavy price.”
The IDF carried out a wave of airstrikes on several Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon, including an anti-tank missile squad in Yaroun, and two other terrorist squads.
Houthi War Front Updates
The U.S. and British forces carried out a second attack against the Houthis in Yemen, on Friday night.
President Joe Biden said the United States had sent a private message to Iran about the Houthi attacks, but he did not elaborate.
While the Pentagon said on Friday that the U.S.-British strikes had “good effects,” Mohammed Abdulsalam, a Houthi spokesperson, told Reuters that the strikes had no significant impact on the group’s ability to prevent Israel-affiliated vessels from passing through the Red Sea and Arabian Sea.
Another representative of the Houthis said in an interview with the al-Arabi network that the militia will find the “appropriate means” to respond to the US attacks.
Judea and Samaria Updates:
On Friday, three heavily armed teenage Palestinians from Chevron (Hebron) broke into the small town of Adora, and injured one man, before they were caught and eliminated by security forces. The injured man is a 34-year-old reservist who was on patrol, and is currently listed in good-to-moderate condition.
The are reports of Israeli security forces currently operating in Qalqilya and other cities in Judea and Samaria. Local Palestinians report that many forces are raiding the homes of terrorists and making arrests.
Since October 7th, Israel has not allowed Palestinians to enter Israel for work, for security reasons. Many Palestinians enjoyed working in Israel where salaries are significantly higher than they receive at home. Israel also largely depended on these workers, especially for construction. In response to inquiries about their return, Prime Minister Netanyahu said, “The issue of the entry of workers from the Palestinian Authority is complex. We are considering a pilot test for their entry into isolated places and under security. I understand the concern people have in light of 73% of the Palestinians supporting the massacre [on October 7th].”
International Updates:
The Shin Bet and Mossad released details on the Hamas network in Europe, which is commanded by Hamas leaders in Lebanon. The network had attempted to attack Israeli and Jewish targets in Europe, including Israel’s embassy in Sweden, before their plans were uncovered in December, and arrests were made in Germany, Netherlands, and Denmark.
General Updates:
The IDF has begun an investigation of the military failures on October 7th. IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi explained that this is not a political investigation, nor a look at what led to the events—both of which will happen after the war, when the country is ready. The ongoing investigation is of the actual response, to understand how the IDF needs to improve in protecting citizens who live in the border communities.
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