War Summary, Day Seventy Nine: Soldier killed by rocket fire from Lebanon, over 200 terrorists taken prisoner in past week, and WSJ reports that President Biden convinced Netanyahu not to act proactively against Hezbollah.
War Summary, Day Seventy Nine
By Mrs. Bruria Efune
129 held captive in Gaza.
110 hostages freed.
11 hostage bodies rescued.
20 hostages confirmed murdered in Gaza.
1,300+ Israelis murdered.
144 fallen soldiers since entering Gaza.
7,800 injured.
11,580 rockets fired at Israel.
187,533 Israelis displaced from their homes.
1 Jewish nation united in prayer, charity, and good deeds.
Hostage Updates:
Kibbutz Nir Oz announced that Gadi Haggai, 73, was determined to have been killed by Hamas when he was abducted on October 7th. Hamas is still holding his body. Gadi, who is a father of four and grandfather of seven, was taken hostage with his wife, Judith, who is believed to have been wounded in the attack, and is still being held by Hamas.
Gaza Front Updates:
After almost 48 hours of quiet, Hamas fired four rounds of rockets at the Gaza Envelope communities, and one at Ashkelon. No injuries were reported.
Since Friday, the IDF announced the names of seven heroes who fell in battle in Gaza:
- Lt. Shai Ayeli, 21, from Ashkelon.
- Sgt. First Class (res.) Tal Shua, 31, from Be’er Sheva
- Staff Sgt. Nir Rafael Kananian, 20, from Beit Keshet
- Staff Sgt. Birhanu Kassie, 20, from Beit Shemesh
- Master Sgt. (res.) Shay Termin, 26, from Rosh Pina
- Warrant Officer (res.) Alexander Shpits, 41, from Karmiel
- Cpt. Oshri Moshe Butzhak, 22, from Haifa
IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari says that the IDF is almost at full “operational control” of the north of Gaza. Troops are fighting the last standing Hamas battalion in Gaza City, in the Daraj and Tuffah neighborhoods, as well as a few other areas in Northern Gaza which are less intense.
In the south of Gaza, Hagari says that the IDF is continuing ground operations in Khan Younis, and preparing to advance to additional areas in the south, with a heavy focus on uncovering Hamas’s tunnel infrastructure.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant commented on the IDF operations in Khan Younis, and the mission to catch the head of Hamas’s terror wing. ”One thing is clear, Yahya Sinwar now hears the IDF [troops] above him, the Air Force bombs, and the IDF’s operations. He will also meet the barrels of our guns soon.”
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi visited Khan Younis to assess the IDF’s action in Southern Gaza, and is quoted calling an “impressive offensive, we still have a lot of work to do.”
The IDF and Shin Bet say more than 200 Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists were captured in the Gaza Strip over the past week and taken for interrogation by the Shin Bet and Military Intelligence Directorate’s Unit 504. This makes for a total of 700 terrorists captured to Israel since the beginning of the ground operation.
Also since the beginning of the operation, ground forces have destroyed or seized around 30,000 explosives, including anti-tank missiles and RPGs, across the Gaza Strip.
While the IDF is nearing full control of Northern Gaza, there are still small terrorist cells spread around that remain to be taken care of.
In Gaza City neighborhoods of Daraj and Tuffah, troops found a cache of weapons in a school, including many explosive devices, rockets, and “strategic” capabilities belonging to Hamas’s Navy, which could have been used against the Israeli Navy presence.
In Southern Gaza City, IDF troops opened fire in a way that fooled dozens of Hamas terrorists into taking cover in a nearby Hamas command center, which the IAF then struck, eliminating the bunch.
Also in Southern Gaza City, the IDF published videos of another large Hamas tunnel network. The network is hundreds of meters long, and includes command rooms, large rest areas, and storage rooms, all with electricity, communication lines, and water. The tunnels were found after soldiers battled and eliminated a number of Hamas terrorists in the area. The tunnel was first searched and mapped out, and then destroyed.
In central Gaza, the IDF says troops found a cache of weapons in a preschool, including mortars, RPGs and other explosives.
On Friday, the IDF began to call on civilians in Bureij, in Central Gaza, to evacuate south to shelters in Deer al-Balah.
The IDF announced that an airstrike in Rafah, in the far south of Gaza, eliminated the Hamas terrorist in charge of Hamas’s weapons supply. Hassan al-Atrash directed the supply and production of weapons for Hamas, and also smuggled weapons from other countries into Gaza. Al-Atrash was also involved in the supply of weapons to terrorists in Judea and Samaria.
Following reports on the tension between Hamas political leader, Ismael Haniyeh, and military head, Yahya Sinwar, sources in Hamas told the Lebanese newspaper “Al-Akhbar” that “there are no disagreements in the leadership of Hamas and there is a consensus on not giving up on [the demand for] a ceasefire.”
According to the sources, “all the talk about differences of opinion between the internal and external leadership (referring to Sinwar in Gaza and Haniyeh in Qatar) are baseless.” It was also reported that any case of disagreement was dealt with after the Hamas leadership abroad received assurance about the situation of the forces on the ground in Gaza. According to the report, this was after the military and political leadership in Gaza (Sinwar and Dief) sent a message to the leadership abroad (Haniyeh) according to which the organization’s terrorism capabilities in the field is still well-established and is able to survive for a long period of time and “not in a hurry.”
This comes after several of the captured Hamas terrorists told IDF interrogators that Sinwar is “delusional” and out of touch with the losses above ground.
Gaza Humanitarian Efforts Updates:
A field hospital in Rafah operated by the Red Crescent is expected to begin treating patients in the coming days. With a capacity of 50 beds and a personnel of 120, the hospital includes 6 intensive care units and 3 operating rooms.
Four additional field hospitals are in the process, expected to be operational in the coming days.
The first phase of establishing a water line from mobile desalination facilities located on the Egyptian side to the Rafah area was complete. This project is carried out by the United Arab Emirates and is designed to supply water to approximately 150,000 people.
In line with the agreement made with the UN, the Kerem Shalom and Nitzana crossings will be closed on Saturdays. This measure is to facilitate the UN’s distribution of accumulated goods on the Gazan side of Kerem Shalom and the reception of goods on the Egyptian side of Rafah.
On Friday, 49 humanitarian aid trucks, and 4 tankers of cooking gas designated for the operation of essential infrastructure, were inspected and transferred to the Gaza Strip. Additional equipment and personnel for the UAE and Jordanian field hospitals entered the Gaza Strip.
Today the IDF paused operations in the Tel Al-Saltan neighborhood of Rafah from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. in order to enable movement of humanitarian aid.
Northern Front Updates:
Hezbollah fired a moderate but deadly amount of rockets into the far north of Israel.
On Friday the IDF announced that a soldier was killed and another was seriously wounded by Hezbollah rocket fire from Lebanon near the town of Shtula, in northern Israel. The hero is named as:
Sgt. Amit Hod Ziv, 19, from Rosh Haayin
Another soldier was moderately wounded near Menara on Shabbat.
The IDF shelled Hezbollah targets near the border with artillery, and with fighter jets struck targets further into Lebanon, including a Hezbollah military headquarters, a military compound, and other terror infrastructure.
Hezbollah announced another terrorist eliminated in southern Lebanon by the IDF. Since the beginning of the war, the terrorist organization announced 122 dead terrorists.
According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, U.S. President Joe Biden convinced Netanyahu not to act proactively against Hezbollah about two months ago. Both Netanyahu and Biden claim this story is false.
Houthi War Fronts Updates:
The British Maritime Traffic Center reported that a ship was attacked by a UAV off the coast of India, in the Arabian Sea. No casualties were reported. This is the first time a ship was struck so far out from the Red Sea.
In the Red Sea, the Houthis continue to harass passing ships, although no direct hits were reported in the last couple days.
The White House announced intelligence which indicates that Iran is directly involved in the Houthi attacks.
International Updates:
Antonio Guterres, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, responded to criticism that he justified the actions of Hamas on October 7th. He wrote, “Nothing can possibly justify the horrific terror attacks launched by Hamas on 7 October, or the brutal abduction of some 250 hostages. I repeat my call for all remaining hostages to be released immediately and unconditionally.”
Guterres also claimed that “even though it seems difficult at the moment, the required solution to the situation in Gaza is a two-state solution” and “any other proposal will harm the human rights, dignity and hope of the Palestinian people.”
This is only the second time the UN Secretary-General has mentioned the hostages. The first time was on October 12th, a full five days after they were taken to Gaza.
A large Hamas tunnel network in Southern Gaza City. The network is hundreds of meters long, and includes command rooms, large rest areas, and storage rooms, all with electricity, communication lines, and water. The tunnels were found after soldiers battled and eliminated a number of Hamas terrorists in the area. The tunnel was first searched and mapped out, and then destroyed.
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A huge thank you to all 406 readers who donated a total of $75,668, to put 360 degree surveillance cameras on IDF armored vehicles. Thanks to all of you, we will now be able to equip every single armored vehicle going into Gaza, and more. All further donations will be used for systems that are saving IDF lives in the tunnel operations, according to direct requests from high ranking commanders in Yahalom.
Another thank you goes to all the private donors who contacted me directly with significant donations, which all went straight to use.
Due to popular request, here’s the link to the campaign. All further donations are going to systems urgently needed for tunnel operations, managed under direct requests of commanders from Yahalom and the 551st Brigade:
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