War Day 150: PIJ Who Fired Rockets Killed, Shin-Bet Prevents Attack

War Summary, Day One Hundred and Fifty: The IDF says they have evidence that more than 450 UNRWA employees were Hamas and PIJ terrorists, Shin-Bet prevented massive attack and arrested four terrorists who prepared 100 bombs with the guidance of ISIS abroad, the PIJ members who fired rockets towards Hatzerim IDF troops in Central Gaza were spotted and killed thirty minutes after their attack.

By Mrs. Bruria Efune

War Summary, Day One Hundred and Fifty:

134 held captive in Gaza.
112 hostages freed.
11 hostage bodies rescued.
33 hostages confirmed murdered in Gaza.
1,400+ Israelis murdered.
246 fallen soldiers in the battle in Gaza.
6 fallen soldiers in Northern Israel.
3 fallen soldiers in Judea & Samaria.
14,900 injured.
13,500 rockets fired at Israel.
160,000 Israelis displaced from their homes.
1 Jewish nation united in prayer, charity, and good deeds.

Hostage Updates:

It’s currently unclear where negotiations are going. Hamas has so far rejected proposals brought forth by the negotiators and agreed to by Israel, and refuses to provide a list of hostages who will be returned alive in any deal. They also insist on the release of some arch-terrorists who are a red line for Israel.

Some suspect that Sinwar wants the war to continue into Ramadan, and is banking on the Palestinians in Judea and Samaria to join in with riots, and hoping that Hezbollah will pick up too. Sinwar has said that he wants an IDF entry into Rafah, because the high civilian casualties will be good optics for Hamas.

Other say that Hamas sees that they have strong ground, and will pull for whatever they can get, and only agree to a deal at the very last minute before Ramadan. One of Hamas’s dangerous requests is a return of Gaza civilians to Northern Gaza, which would allow Hamas to re-embed themselves in the area.

Gaza Front Updates:

Hamas fired one barrage of rockets at Israeli communities in the Gaza Envelope area today, including at Sderot, where the children attended their second day back to school since the start of the war.

Thank G-d, the IDF did not announce any fallen heroes today.

The IDF said that on Saturday night, when the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) fired rockets towards Hatzerim near Be’er Sheva, and Kibbutz Be’eri, IDF troops in Central Gaza immediately spotted the terrorist cell who had fired, and the Air Force struck and eliminated them within 30 minutes of the attack.

The same troops eliminated over 15 active terrorists in Central Gaza over the last day, through sniper fire, tank shelling, and calling airstrikes.

In Southern Gaza, the IDF continued operations in the small Hamas town, just north of Khan Younis. The town has significant Hamas infrastructure, and many terrorists fled to hide there, likely in the assumption that the IDF would skip over the Qatar-built town.

The IDF’s first move upon capturing the town was to evacuate civilians, and sort out the terrorists while doing so. This far the IDF says it arrested around 80 terror suspects, both from Hamas and the PIJ. The terrorists are being interrogated by the troops, and the IDF says that they are providing important information for the continuation of the fighting. In addition to arrests, the IDF soldiers are also raiding Hamas’s weapons depots, hideouts, and other infrastructure in the town.

In West Khan Younis, the IDF says it has so far arrested around 1,200 terrorists in West Khan Younis.

Gaza Humanitarian Efforts Updates:

The IDF released even more evidence of UNRWA employees, including many teachers, taking part in the October 7th massacre, and shared a recording of an UNRWA teacher showing off that he kidnapped Jewish women. The IDF says they have evidence that more than 450 UNRWA employees were Hamas and PIJ terrorists.

Yesterday alone, the IDF transferred 4,160 tons of food to Gaza— a total of 5,580 tons of humanitarian aid all together, including food, water, medical supplies, and shelter equipment.

Northern Front Updates:

Hezbollah fired very heavily on Israel’s far north today, with various rockets and missiles, and attack drones. One attack on the border town of Maragaliot killed a man in his 30s and injured seven others—two seriously. The victims are Thai nationals who were working in an orchard. This is the 7th civilian death from Hezbollah missile fire, in addition to 6 IDF casualties.

Other missiles took out electricity for several towns in the far north.

The IDF carried out many airstrikes against Hezbollah targets in Southern Lebanon, including on targets where Hezbollah terrorists were spotted, and also shelled Hezbollah positions along the border.

Hezbollah announced three deaths today, bringing their number of terrorists eliminated by the IDF to 232 since the beginning of the war

Houthi War Front Updates:

The Houthis attacked a container ship under the flag of Liberia, which they allege to have ties to Israel. The attack caused an explosion on board, leading to a fire, which caused damage but no injuries.

Three Red Sea underwater data cables have been cut, reducing connection bandwidth between select areas in Asia, Africa, and Europe.

Judea and Samaria Updates:

The Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security agency, announced that it recently prevented a massive attack by ISIS-inspired terrorists from Palestinian-controlled Tarqumiyah, near Chevron (Hebron). The Shin Bet arrested the terror cell of four last month, after they prepared 100 improvised bombs which they created under the guidance of ISIS terrorists abroad. The cell also had assault rifles and makeshift submachine guns. The group had planned to attack IDF troops in Judea and Samaria.

The IDF was reported to be active today and tonight in Tulkarm and Shechem (Nablus), where exchanges of fire occurred. In Shechem, IDF forces destroyed the apartment of one of the terrorists from the attack at the Hamra Junction, in which three members of the Dee family were murdered.

The IDF says that they completed a 6-hour counter-terrorism operation in Al-Amri, in which they arrested several persons wanted for their association with terror groups, and interrogated them for information to prevent attacks. Some the beginning of the war, the IDF arrested approximately 3,400 wanted persons, of which 1,500 are associated with Hamas, and the rest with other terror groups.

The Chief of Staff, the head of the Shin Bet, and the Commissioner held a joint assessment last night of the situation ahead of Ramadan in order to strengthen the coordination between the security bodies and the operational readiness for all scenarios, alongside the desire to allow freedom of worship for Israeli Arabs under security and safety restrictions.

International Updates:

A UN investigation reported that there were “reasonable grounds to believe” that Hamas committed mass acts of gender-based violence on October 7th.

Israel’s foreign minister, Israel Katz, announced that due to attempts at the UN to silence the report, he ordered Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, to return to Israel for immediate consultations. This is a very extreme move that has not been done before. Katz wrote, “Despite the authority granted to him [Erdan], the UN Secretary General did not order the convening of the Security Council in view of the findings, in order to declare the Hamas organization a terrorist organization and impose sanctions on its supporters. Our daughters are not abandoned. Whoever harmed them will pay.”

Jordan has asked Israel to renew the doubled water supply deal. A 1994 peace treaty between the two countries included an agreement in which Israel supplies Jordan with 50 million cubic meters of water annually in exchange for electricity. In 2021, at the Kingdom of Jordan’s request and desperate need, Israel signed a deal to supply them double – 100 million cubic meters annually.

This deal is set to expire in May, and Jordan, who has been happily dabbling in extreme antisemitism over the last few months, still needs it. Israel has reportedly made several requests to Jordan in exchange for renewing the agreement, including moderating the statements of Jordanian officials, reducing incitement in the kingdom and restoring full relations, and returning ambassadors to Amman and Tel Aviv.