War Summary, Day Ninety: IDF continues to advance inside Gaza, heading towards the south; Hezbollah does nothing in response to yesterday’s assassination.
By Mrs. Bruria Efune
War Summary, Day Ninety
128 held captive in Gaza.
110 hostages freed.
11 hostage bodies rescued.
33 hostages confirmed murdered in Gaza.
1,300+ Israelis murdered.
175 fallen soldiers in the battle in Gaza.
5 fallen soldiers in Northern Israel.
8,000 injured.
12,500 rockets fired at Israel.
187,533 Israelis displaced from their homes.
1 Jewish nation united in prayer, charity, and good deeds.
Hostage Updates:
Earlier this month, the IDF notified the family of hostage Sahar Baruch that he had been killed in Gaza. Today the IDF told the family that he had been killed during an attempt to rescue him.
Hostage negotiations have been frozen by Hamas, after the assassination of Saleh al-Arouri in Beirut.
Gaza Front Updates:
Hamas fired two rounds of rockets into the Gaza Envelope communities. No injuries were reported.
The IDF announced the names of one hero who fell in battle in Gaza:
Sgt. First Class Meiron Moshe Gersch, 21, from Petah Tikva
The IDF is continuing to advance inside Gaza, heading towards the south. As I type, I can hear heavy air traffic above from the Israeli Air Force.
In Gaza City, the IDF completed the demolishing of the tunnel network underneath Shifa Hospital. The tunnels, which were used as Hamas headquarters and for a time held some of the Israeli hostages, ran 250 meters in length, and connected to several Hamas sites in the area. Combat engineers blew up the tunnel, nit no damage was done to the hospital.
In Gaza City’s Daraj and Tuffah neighborhood, the battle for complete control of the city is coming closer to completion. Today IDF troops identified a Hamas cell operating drones in the area to observe IDF positions. The soldiers fought fire with fire, and called in a drone strike, eliminating the terrorists.
In Khan Younis, in the home of a Hamas Nukhba operative, IDF soldiers found weapons and a safe with hundreds of thousands of shekels inside. Troops also located and destroyed a weapons manufacturing plant belonging to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Yesterday the IDF carried out a precision strike against a Palestinian Red Crescent headquarters building in Khan Younis. According to the Red Crescent,14,000 people are sheltering in the building, and five people were killed and three others were wounded in the strike. The IDF is carrying out a probe into the incident, but insiders explain that Hamas terrorists were utilizing the building to attack IDF soldiers.
In Khuza’a, outside Khan Younis, troops found a tunnel shaft, along with laminated photos of weaponry. They also found and destroyed Hamas observation points and missile launching positions.
Gaza Humanitarian Efforts Updates:
172 humanitarian aid trucks were inspected and transferred to the Gaza Strip today, 70% of the trucks carried food, the rest carried water, medical supplies, and shelter equipment.
The IDF’s division responsible for the transfers of aid emphasized that there is no limit to the amount of humanitarian aid that can enter the Gaza Strip—it is only up to the UN, WHO, and other world organizations to deliver.
Northern Front Updates:
Exchange of fire continued in the north today, with no change of pace since yesterday’s assassination of Saleh al-Arouri, a senior Hamas leader in Beirut.
A senior Hezbollah official told “Al-Arabi Al-Jadeed” that the terrorist organization will respond to the assassination, somehow. “The members of the resistance are ready and their hand is always on the trigger,” said the source, “but the response will be calculated because Hezbollah does not want the enemy to get what it wants.”
In an interview with CNN, Abdullah Bou Habib—the Foreign Minister in the interim government of Lebanon—said that his country is not interested in war with Israel. “I am afraid that we are really approaching a regional war. I pray that there will be no reaction [by Hezbollah]. A regional war is a bad thing for everyone.”
Hezbollah announced the death of nine of their terrorists today, bringing their number up to 147 dead. The IDF estimates that this number is much higher.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi visited the area, and in an assessment, said, “We are in a very strong state of readiness in the north under my impression. I visit here a lot, I think readiness is at its peak. We are very well prepared in all areas, and we are currently focusing on fighting Hamas.”
Halevy explained that the horrific attack, and the ensuing war, brought an opportunity to significantly change the volatile security situation. He said that the defense routine will be changed, and forces will be on the border for at least the next year, in order to create something stronger, so that the events of October 7th cannot repeat itself.
While the IDF has not yet published intentions for a ground invasion, inside sources imply that it is in the plans for once Hamas is under control in Gaza.
Additional War Fronts Updates:
The US military updated that yesterday evening the Houthis launched two ballistic missiles towards the southern Red Sea. The missiles did not hit the vessels found in the area.
The Houthis claim they attacked a ship that was on the way to Israel.
Two blasts in the Iranian city of Kernan left at least 103 people dead, and 188 injured near the burial site of former head of the Revolutionary Guards’ Quds Force, Qasem Soleimani, on the fourth anniversary of his assassination.
The blasts were not in the style of Israel, and analysts and experts suspect domestic terrorism from anti-Khameini groups.
Iran’s interior minister announced that on the orders of Khamenei, Iranian security and military bodies were ordered to prepare for a response to explosions.
Judea and Samaria Updates:
The Palestinian news agency “Shahab” reported that overnight the Israeli security forces operated extensively in several locations in the territories of Judea and Samaria, among others in Chevron (Hebron), Shchem (Nablus), Tulkarm, and the nearby Nur al-Shams. According to the reports, clashes and exchanges of fire developed in some of the arenas.
IDF soldiers found a large tunnel in the Mount Chevron area. The IDF is investigating the source of the tunnel. There is a high probability that it is not a terror tunnel, but rather created to trap and store rainwater.
International Updates:
The media in Argentina reported the arrest of three men, Syrian and Lebanese in origin, on suspicion of involvement in terrorism. Evidence was obtained which connected them to a suspicious package weighing 35 kilograms that was supposed to arrive in the country from Yemen.
When asked at a press conference about South Africa’s lawsuit claiming that Israel is committing genocide, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby responded strongly that it is “meritless, counterproductive, and completely without any basis in fact whatsoever.”
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