War Summary, Day One Hundred and One: More than 9,000 Hamas terrorists were eliminated since the beginning of the war. A mother and son were killed when a Hezbollah fired anti-tank missile hit a family home.
By Bruria Efune
War Summary, Day One Hundred and One
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:
United States President Joe Biden sent a message to mark the 100 days of captivity of the Israeli hostages, “We continue our efforts with Qatar, Egypt and Israel to bring about the release of the hostages. On this terrible day, I repeat my commitment to all the hostages and their families – we are with you. We will not stop to try to bring you home.”
Hamas released a video showing three hostages: Noa Argamani, Yossi Sharabi, and Itay Svirsky.
There is no information indicating when the videos were filmed. The video contains a threat to the hostages.
Hamas videos like this one are psychological warfare, and the IDF and Israeli government ask that people not watch or share them, as they only help Hamas.
Gaza Front Updates:
Hamas fired rockets onto the Gaza Envelope communities, Ashdod, and Yavne today. No casualties were reported. Hamas fired over 9,000 projectiles into Israel since the beginning of the war, around 1,500 more fell short into the Gaza Strip.
The IDF announced the name of one hero who fell in battle in Gaza yesterday: Sgt. First Class (res.) Andu’alem Kabeda, 21, from Kiryat Gat.
According to data published by the IDF today, more than 9,000 Hamas terrorists were eliminated by the IDF inside Gaza since the beginning of the war, and over 1,000 more were eliminated inside Israel on October 7th and the days following. Of these, two were Hamas brigade commanders, 19 were battalion commanders or the equivalent rank, and over 50 were Hamas company commanders or the equivalent rank.
Two things are immediately visible from this data:
- Hamas has around 30,000 fighters, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) has 8,000. This means that Israel has so far neutralized around 25%-30% of Gaza’s terror armies, and still has a long way to go.
- According to Hamas, over 23,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza. Hamas certainly inflates these numbers by huge proportions, and counts their own terrorists amongst those numbers. Even so, if 10,000 of the dead are terrorists, that’s a remarkably low civilian death toll for urban warfare. While every innocent life lost is sad, this is a reflection of the IDF’s unprecedented caution for civilian life.
The IDF also says that the Military Intelligence Directorate has interrogated around 2,300 Palestinian suspects inside the Gaza Strip, of which some were arrested and brought to Israel for further questioning.
Since the beginning of the war, the IDF struck 30,000 Hamas military targets in the Gaza Strip, of which 3,400 were discovered by the IDF troops on ground.
Also notable data, a total of 295,000 IDF reservists have been serving since the beginning of the war, of them, around 45,000 had received an exemption from duty but showed up to serve anyway.
Inside Gaza, the IDF is continuing to close in on the Central area—primarily Maghazi, and Khan Younis. In Maghazi, troops continue to take out the local battalion. In Khan Younis, they are also eliminating many terrorists, while finding significant weapons caches, tunnel shafts, and gathering intelligence.
The IDF does not release any information about ongoing operations inside tunnels, but it is known that there are underground battles, and tunnels being searched. The tunnel searches are done with camera systems, robots, trained canines, and other detection systems.
In the north of Gaza, where the IDF has gained full control, troops continue to search for remaining holdouts and more weapons and rocket launchers. Today, in the al-Atatra neighborhood, the troops discovered and destroyed several rocket launchers which were used to fire onto Israeli civilians recently.
Despite pressure, the IDF Spokesman reiterated that there is no intention to withdraw from Gaza until Hamas is dealt with and the hostages are returned home.
Gaza Humanitarian Efforts Updates:
237 humanitarian aid trucks were inspected and transferred to the Gaza Strip today.
Since the beginning of the war, 7,653 trucks of humanitarian aid were inspected and delivered to the Gaza Strip, carrying a total of 137,920 tons of aid.
The IDF has also made incredible efforts to encourage Gaza civilians to evacuate from conflict areas, with 79,000 phone calls, 7.2 million dropped leaflets, 13.7 million text messages, and 15 million automated calls telling Gaza civilians what areas to move to in order to be safe.
Northern Front Updates:
Hezbollah continues to fire their deadly anti-tank missiles from Lebanon into Israel’s far north, evading the air-defense radars. Missiles were fired into the small towns of Zar’it, Shomera, and Yuval. Rockets were launched into Misgav Am and Goren.
In Yuval, an anti-tank missile hit a family home with no warning, and killed Mira Ayalon, 76, and her son Barak Ayalon, 45. Barak’s father, who is 74 was lightly hurt.
Since the outbreak of the war, 2,000 projectiles have been fired from Lebanon into Israel, and around 30 from Syria.
The IDF carried out strikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, including a command center, a military target, and other Hezbollah assets. Since the beginning of the war, the IDF has hit over 750 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.
In a hint to a wider operation to come, IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari says that the IDF will further respond to the Hezbollah attack on the Ayalon family, “The price for this will be exacted not only tonight but also in the future. We will be measured by actions. We are determined to act to change the security situation in the north.”
Early Sunday morning, four Hamas terrorists from Lebanon broke into Israeli territory, in the Mount Dov area. The terrorists were spotted by an IDF patrol, and a gun battle ensued. The four terrorists were eliminated. Five IDF soldiers were evacuated to the hospital in light to moderate condition.
The IDF has eliminated more than 170 terrorists in Lebanon since October 7th, most from Hezbollah.
Hassan Nasrallah, the secretary-general of Hezbollah, gave another speech, in which he threatened: “The one who should be afraid of war is Israel and not Lebanon. We have been ready for war for ninety-nine days and we will not be afraid of it and we will fight without borders or limitations.”
It is becoming clear that a diplomatic solution in the north will be near impossible, and a full war is inevitable.
Houthi War Front Updates
Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, spoke at a press conference in Egypt at the end of a meeting with Egyptian President Sisi and publicly called on Egypt to “Put an end to attacks on civilian vessels in the Red Sea.”
Reports indicate that today the British and American forces attacked the Houthis in the Al Hudaydah region of Yemen, in what would be the third strike against the Iranian-backed terror group.
Judea and Samaria Updates:
Two Palestinian terrorists opened fire from inside their car at IDF troops after breaching a roadblock near Metzad. The soldiers returned fire, reportedly killing one and injuring the second. No Israelis were hurt in the attack. After the attack, IDF troops searched the car and found the gun used in the attack, additional ammunition, and an axe.
In a separate incident, two Palestinian terrorists threw explosive devices at an army base near Ramallah, and were promptly eliminated by the soldiers on guard. No IDF soldiers were hurt.
In counter-terrorism raided last night, the IDF arrested 16 wanted persons across Judea and Samaria, for involvement in terror groups.
Since October 7th, the IDF has arrested more than 2,650 wanted Palestinians from the Judea and Samaria areas, including more than 1,300 who are affiliated with Hamas. The IDF has done 40 heavy duty raids of terror enclaves, and demolished 14 homes belonging to Palestinians who carried out murderous terror attacks.
Can we have updates on the developments in the icj?