War Summary, Day One Hundred and Thirty-Two: Kibbutz Nir Oz confirmed the death of Yair Yaakov who was killed on Simchat Torah and his body taken hostage, the Biden administration are rushing to push a detailed plan for a Palestinian State into the hostage release negotiations, and IDF troops entered Nassar Hospital in Khan Younis for a targeted operation.
By Mrs. Bruria Efune
War Summary, Day One Hundred and Thirty-Two:
134 held captive in Gaza.
112 hostages freed.
11 hostage bodies rescued.
32 hostages confirmed murdered in Gaza.
1,400+ Israelis murdered.
232 fallen soldiers in the battle in Gaza.
6 fallen soldiers in Northern Israel.
3 fallen soldiers in Judea & Samaria.
8,000 injured.
13,300 rockets fired at Israel.
186,000 Israelis displaced from their homes.
1 Jewish nation united in prayer, charity, and good deeds.
Hostage Updates:
Kibbutz Nir Oz announced that they learned about the death of Yair Yaakov, father of former child hostages, Or and Yigal Yaakov. They were told that Yair was killed by Hamas on October 7th, when they took him hostage.
Yair was known as a humble and gentle man who had many friends. His son Or, who is 16-years-old, said, “Father, I have no other words to describe it like this, but watch over me from heaven. I love you, I will never forget you, you will always be in my heart.”
Yigal recently turned 13, and was waiting for his father’s return to celebrate his Bar Mitzvah.
According to the Washington Post, the Biden administration with small number of Middle East partners, are rushing to push a detailed plan for a Palestinian State into the hostage release negotiations. They hope to take advantage of a pause in fighting to announce a recognize Palestinian State within the next several weeks, in a clear signal that mass terrorism and hostage taking works. According to the report, the group will add in a peace agreement with Saudi Arabia in order to make a two-state agreement more “tempting” to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
While U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken talked about setting “a practical, timebound, irreversible path to a Palestinian state living side-by-side in peace with Israel,” Netanyahu spoke in an interview with ABC News about the dangers of an armed Palestinian State that continues to educate its children for terrorism and annihilation of Israel.
Netanyahu and U.S. President Biden had a 40 minute phone call today. After the call and a meeting with his cabinet, Netanyahu wrote on Twitter/X:
“At the cabinet meeting, I clarified my position regarding the recent talk of imposing a Palestinian state on Israel.
My position is summed up in the following two sentences:
- Israel outright rejects international dictates regarding a permanent settlement with the Palestinians. Such an arrangement will be reached only through direct negotiations between the parties, without preconditions.
- Israel will continue to oppose the unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state. Such recognition in the wake of the October 7 massacre would give a huge reward to unprecedented terrorism and prevent any future peace settlement.”
According to reports in the Wall Street Journal, Netanyahu has withdrawn Israeli representatives from the hostage release negotiations, in which Hamas are demanding a complete withdrawal of IDF forces for Gaza. The American official who spoke to the journal also mentioned an extremely tense relationship between the White House and Netanyahu. While this is visible from the outside too, it is clearly not only about the war in Gaza, but part of negotiation methods to push Israel into talks for a Palestinian State, which would be seen as a monumental accomplishment for the Biden administration, in perfect timing for U.S. elections.
Gaza Front Updates:
No rockets were successfully fired from Gaza onto Israeli civilians today.
The IDF announced the name of a hero who fell in battle in Southern Gaza:
Staff Sgt. Rotem Sahar Hadar, 20, from Kfar Aviv
After providing several warnings, IDF troops entered Nassar Hospital in Khan Younis for a “targeted operation.” As they entered, IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari announced that the IDF has “credible intelligence” suggesting that Hamas used the hospital as a command center, and held hostages the hospital, indicating the possible presence of bodies of hostages within the facility. He stressed that the IDF has a commitment to dismantle Hamas and bring all the hostages home.
The IDF later released footage of an interrogation of a Hamas terrorist, in which he says that at least 10 hostages were held at Nassar Hospital. Some of the previously released hostages also testified that they had been held at the hospital.
Hagari said that the operation was carefully prepared to ensure the safety of the patients and medical staff, and to allow the hospital to continue functioning and treating civilians. He said that sheltering civilians who were not patients were urged to evacuate, and were given a safe route to do so. The IDF also facilitated medical supplies and communication with hospital staff to safeguard innocent civilians during the operation.
Hagari later updated that the troops searched the hospital and made several arrests, among them a Hamas “ambulance” driver who had participated in the October 7th massacre, another terrorist who admitted to participating in the massacre, and a PFLP terrorist. In the hospital, troops found a command room, an intelligence and interrogation complex, and a police station, as well as weapons and explosives.
The IDF also continued other operations in Khan Younis, to eliminate the remaining terrorists and terror infrastructure. Amongst the many operations, elite Ragland and Egoz commando units raided the homes of relatives of Senior Hamas commanders, which had been used as terror hubs to attack IDF soldiers. The troops eliminated and arrested many terrorists in the area.
Over the past day, the IDF carried out several air strikes against Hamas targets across the Gaza Strip, including tunnels, rocket launch sites, and other Hamas infrastructure. In one air strike, the IDF eliminated Ahmed Ghoul, a commander in Hamas’s Shati Battalion who had taken part in the October 7th massacre, and had been responsible for guarding hostage Cpl. Noa Marciano, who was later killed by Hamas at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.
The IDF completed a two-week-long raid in Gaza City’s Shati neighborhood, after having previously captured it and withdrawn. This offensive aimed to target Hamas terrorists and dismantle their infrastructure. The IDF gained control of the area in mere hours—a sign of Hamas’s weakened presence. The operation utilized offensive raids, resulting in the seizure of intelligence materials, the destruction of Hamas sites, and the elimination of numerous terrorists. It was during this raid that the IDF located and destroyed the Hamas data center under UNRWA’s headquarters. During the raid, troops on ground received support from Air Force and Navy, for a total of 150 strikes.
The IDF also continued operations in Central Gaza, where troops eliminated several Hamas terrorists over the past day, some with the assistance of the Navy.
The last IDF reserve unit has been withdrawn from Gaza, leaving only active duty soldiers. While most reservists were sent home, many were told that they’d be returning shortly, either back to Gaza before the entry into Rafah, or to the north.
Muhammad Dahlan, who has been mentioned as a candidate to rule Gaza after the war, met with Hamas leader Haniyeh recently – according to senior Hamas official Muhammad Nazal who was interviewed by Al-Arabi this evening.
Gaza Humanitarian Efforts Updates:
Dozens of protesters, among them mothers of IDF soldiers from the “Mothers’ March” organization, arrived today at the Nitzana crossing to block the entry of Hamas trucks into the Gaza Strip. Shortly after the protesters’ arrival, the IDF responded to the protest and closed the crossing. Sima Hasson, mother of two combat soldiers in Gaza, said: “Not a grain of aid will enter Gaza, we will stop it with our bodies.”
Despite yesterday’s protests, the IDF’s COGAT division announced that 106 trucks carrying humanitarian aid were inspected and transferred to the Gaza Strip Yesterday (Feb. 15), of which 15 trucks had been inspected at Nitzana and transferred via the Rafah Crossing, and 91 were inspected and transferred via Kerem Shalom. Also yesterday (Feb. 14), 4 tankers of cooking gas designated for the operation of essential infrastructure in Gaza entered the Gaza Strip.
The IDF shared photos of the content of 500 trucks of humanitarian aid waiting on the Gazan side of Kerem Shalom, after Israeli inspection, waiting to be picked up and distributed by UN organizations. The IDF says that it is the third day in a row that hundreds of trucks are not picked up, and that the UN needs to scale up their operations.
In an interview on Sky News, Martin Griffiths, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, was asked about the IDF’s decision to eliminate Hamas and remove them from any talks about the future of Gaza. In Griffith’s response, he claimed that according to his organization, Hamas is not a terror group.
Northern Front Updates:
Hezbollah launched huge barrages of missiles and an attack drone into Israel’s far northern communities today, especially into the city of Kiryat Shemona. Several rockets landed in the city, causing damage, but no injuries. Rockets in the area of Margaliot downed a power line, causing an outage.
The IDF struck many Hezbollah targets in Southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah today announced that eight more of their terrorists had been eliminated by the IDF, bringing their count to 203. Amongst the three was a targeted assassination by the IDF of Ali Muhammad al-Debes along with his deputy, Hassan Ibrahim Issa. Al-Debes was a commander in Hezbollah’s elite Radian Force, and was amongst the planners of a bombing attack at the Megiddo Junction in northern Israel in March 2023 (in which a Hezbollah terrorist breached the border and seriously injured one Israeli), as well as several other attacks since October 7th.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced that the IDF has raised its attacks against Hezbollah by “one level out of ten” in response to Hezbollah raising theirs by “half a step.” Gallant warned that the Air Force planes now have heavier bombs for more distant targets.
Gallant said that the IDF is still hoping to reach a diplomatic agreement to return safety to the northern border, but that if there is no choice, the IDF will reach as far as Beirut, if needed.
Gallant’s statements came during a war simulation exercise by the preparedness committee, in which the government, defense, and civilian groups stimulated a scenario of war in the north with possible disaster scenarios, such as many downed power lines, difficulties with transporting food, and complex medical evacuations.
Houthi War Front Updates:
US Central Command seized an Iranian arms shipment destined for the Houthis in Yemen. More than 200 packages containing intermediate-range ballistic missile components, explosives, unmanned underwater/ground components, communications and network equipment, and launcher assemblies were seized.
Judea and Samaria Updates:
The IDF, Shin Bet, and Border Police (Magav) forces arrested 12 wanted persons across Judea and Samaria tonight for their association with Palestinian terror groups. They also found and confiscated six instruments for the production of weapons. The arrested wanted persons and the confiscated weapons were transferred to further processing by security forces.
This was a great synopsis of a dark time in the history of Israel. You are not forgotten and those who love the Holy One loves his people. Prayers go up daily for the hostages and their families.