War Summary, Day Two Hundred and Twenty Five: Troops have so far found 50 tunnels that cross into Egypt, and nearly 700 tunnel shafts that were used to smuggle weapons and terrorists, Gantz, has given Prime Minister Netanyahu an ultimatum- he threatened to leave the coalition and war cabinet by June 8th if Netanyahu doesn’t develop a strategy to achieve six specific goals, and the U.S. built floating pier connected to an IDF built port in Gaza has begun operations.
By Mrs. Bruria Efune
War Summary, Day Two Hundred and Twenty Five:
132 held captive in Gaza.
41 hostages confirmed murdered in Gaza.
112 hostages freed.
16 hostage bodies rescued.
1,513 Israelis killed.
275 fallen soldiers in the battle in Gaza.
14 fallen soldiers in Northern Israel.
5 fallen soldiers in Judea & Samaria.
13,900 estimated rockets fired at Israel.
90,000 Israelis displaced from their homes.
1 Jewish nation united in prayer, charity, and good deeds.
Top Headlines:
- Bodies of 4 hostages found
- Sirens in Sderot, Ashkelon, and more
- IDF soldier fell in battle in Gaza
- Of the most intense battles in Jabaliya
- 50 tunnels found, crossing from Gaza to Egypt
- Over a million already evacuated Rafah
- Escalation: hundreds of rockets from Hezbollah daily
- IDF airstrike on Jenin terror center
- Israel presents at the ICJ
- Gantz gives Netanyahu an ultimatum
Hostage Updates:
The IDF announced that they found the bodies of four hostages:
Itzhak Gelerenter, Amit Buskila, Shani Louk, and Ron Benjamin.
All four had been killed near Mefalsim, Itzhak, Amit, and Shani had fled there from the Nova Festival, and Ron had been on his way back from a planned bike trip. Their bodies were found in Northern Gaza.
Gaza Front Updates:
Over the last two days, Hamas fired rockets along the Gaza border, including at the city of Sderot, and two barrages at the larger city of Ashkelon.
On Friday the IDF announced the name of one hero who fell in battle in Gaza:
Sgt. Ben Avishay, 20, from Nahariya
Over Shabbat, the IDF more than 70 Hamas targets in Gaza, including terror bases, weapons storages, and armed terrorists. There are unconfirmed reports that Dr. Azmi Abu Daqa, who headed the Center for Chemical and Biological Analysis at the Islamic University, was killed in the IDF airstrikes in Khan Yunis.
Three divisions of IDF troops are currently operating in Gaza: the 98th in Northern Gaza’s Jabaliya, the 99th along the Netzarim Corridor and Central Gaza, and the 162nd in Rafah.
In Jabaliya, the battles are some of the most intense and violent seen since the start of the war. The operation began after a significant amount of Hamas and PIJ terrorists were seen regrouping in Jabaliya, after the IDF left the general area. The terrorists are primarily in the Jabaliya “camp” neighborhood, which is dense and full of apartment complexes and narrow alleyways. The IDF did not enter the camp area during the initial sweep through Jabaliya.
The terror operatives in Jabaliya have been firing heavy barrages of RPGs at IDF tanks and armored vehicles. In most instances, the Merkava’s Trophy aerial defense system manages to defend the troops inside, but there have been a few casualties. The terrorists are firing primarily from in and next to humanitarian shelter for which the IDF has issued evacuation warnings. Today the IDF widened the evacuation warning even further.
Troops in Jabaliya have so far eliminated over 200 armed terrorists. Around 20 were arrested inside a shelter. There are estimated to be several hundred more. Troops also located a large amount of rocket launchers, including some that were already primed and ready to fire at Israeli civilian communities.
The IDF released drone footage of terrorists firing from atop a building, after gun battles with soldiers inside. The terrorists were eliminated by IDF snipers after being spotted from above.
In Central Gaza, IDF troops continue to control the Netzarim Corridor, where they are under constant attack by Hamas, who are not happy about the IDF controlling such a vital area, and holding three well-established bases along it.
The IDF added that in the recent operation in Zeitoun, IDF troops found and eliminated a Hamas cell which had been firing RPGs at them, and demolished a tunnel, rocket launchers, weapons manufacturing sites, and command rooms. 150 terrorists were eliminated in the raid.
In Rafah, operations have slightly expanded, and there are now four brigades of Division 162 operating in Rafah. Troops have so far found 50 tunnels that cross into Egypt, and nearly 700 tunnel shafts. Israeli Justice Ministry official Gilad Noam told the ICJ that these tunnels were used for smuggling weapons from Egypt into Gaza, and could have been used to smuggle out hostages or senior Hamas terrorists.
Civilians in Rafah have been complying with IDF instructions to evacuate in neighborhoods where they were told to. According to UNRWA, over 800,000 civilians have evacuated Rafah since the IDF entered—this is in addition to the 250,000 who evacuated before that, meaning only 300,000 remain in Rafah. These results remove legitimacy from the U.S., Egypt, and other country’s claims that the reason they don’t want the IDF in Rafah is because it’s too hard to evacuate the civilians.
The IDF soldiers on ground are optimistic that they’re finally able to choke Hamas by cutting their supply line. In addition to finding tunnels and intelligence, troops eliminated over 150 terrorists, found weapons—including anti-aircraft machine guns, and demolished over 100 terror sites.
On Friday, an unexploded Israeli Air Force bomb was found in Yated, and Israeli community in the Gaza border. The bomb had fallen off a fighter jet and landed very close to civilian homes, but miraculously didn’t explode. It was later safely removed by troops.
Gaza Humanitarian Efforts Updates:
The JLOTS project, which includes a U.S.-built floating pier connected to an IDF-built port in Gaza, has begun operations, and today 310 pallets of humanitarian aid were brought into Gaza via the pier.
In the last week, over 160,000 liters of fuel, hundreds of pallets of humanitarian aid (via the floating pier), and over 1,000 humanitarian aid trucks (through the Erez and Kerem Shalom Crossings) were brought into Gaza.
Northern Front Updates:
Hezbollah in Lebanon has intensely escalated in their attacks on Israeli communities and IDF bases in Israel’s far north, with hundreds of rockets, missiles, and attack drones launched daily, including a barrage of around 75 rockets all at once on Friday. Most of the projectiles which were headed to populated areas were intercepted. Two people were injured in the attacks, and were evacuated to the hospital in good condition. 80% of Israeli civilians remain evacuated from the area.
On Friday, the IDF used a drone airstrike on a vehicle in eastern Lebanon’s Majdal Anjar, eliminating Sharhabil Sayed, who was a senior al-Jama’a al-Islamiyya operative, and worked together with Hamas in Lebanon, and directed many attacks against Israel.
The IDF also carried out many airstrikes against Hezbollah targets in Southern Lebanon, and shelled Hezbollah positions along the border.
Many IDF reservists will begin reporting with their units along the Lebanon border this week, while people wonder if the IDF will try to hold off a wider war until school is out at the end of June, or be compelled to start sooner.
Houthi & Iraqi War Front Updates:
The Houthis launched a missile that hit a Greek-owned tanker – no casualties were reported.
An oil tanker sailing under the flag of Panama was hit by a missile in the Red Sea. According to a Reuters report, a fire broke out in the area of the steering facility. The incident took place about 16 kilometers southwest of the city of Moka in Yemen.
Judea and Samaria Updates:
The IDF carried out an airstrike in Jenin, against a command center belonging to a local terror group, which was behind a series of shooting attacks. Several terrorists were in the room and eliminated in the attack, including Islam Khamayseh, who was wanted for his role in the attack which killed Meir Tamari in May 2023, and another attack in June 2023, which injured four soldiers and a civilian. Jenin is a top hotbed for terror groups in the Palestinian Authority region.
International Updates:
South Africa brought a fourth request to the ICJ to issue additional orders against Israel, requiring Israel to cease military operations in Rafah in a forced ceasefire under accusations of genocide. The ICJ opened a short hearing, to which Israel sent a delegation to defend its actions.
Israeli Justice Ministry official Gilad Noam revealed about the smuggling tunnels to Egypt which troops found in Rafah, and the necessity for Israel to enter the area in order to protect its civilians. Noam called the genocide accusation “completely divorced from facts and circumstances.”
After pointing out that Hamas has vowed to repeat the October 7th atrocities over and over, Noam asked, “at what point do we say enough to South Africa’s repeated attempts to exploit the provisional measure procedure of this court in such a vile and cynical manner?”
Foreign Ministry deputy legal adviser, Tamar Kaplan Turgeman, detailed to the court Israel’s extensive humanitarian and medical aid efforts in Gaza throughout the war.
The court asked Israel to provide information about the current humanitarian conditions in the evacuation zones, and how Israel is providing safe passage to these zones, with ongoing assistance. Israel is expected to answer in detail tonight.
Austria announced that it will renew funding to UNRWA, despite heavy evidence that the organization works hand-in-hand with, and employs Hamas terrorists.
General Updates:
Unity War Cabinet Minister, and former opposition member, Benny Gantz, has given Prime Minister Netanyahu an ultimatum. In a public address, he threatened to leave the coalition and war cabinet by June 8th, if Netanyahu doesn’t develop a strategy to achieve six specific goals:
- Return the hostages.
- Completely topple Hamas rule in Gaza, demilitarize Gaza, and ensure Israeli security control.
- Establish an American-European-Arab-Palestinian civil administration to manage civilian affairs in Gaza, and lay the foundation for an alternative in the future that is neither Hamas nor the PA’s Mohammad Abbas of Fatah.
- Allow the safe return of Israeli residents of the north to their homes by September 1st, and renew and revitalize life in the Western Negev.
- Promote normalization with Saudi Arabia as part of a wider defense plan to create an alliance with the Arab world and the west, against Iran.
- Adopt a general outline for s military reform, which will lead to a compulsory draft for all Israeli populations alike—including Charedim and the Arab populations, whether in military or social services.
Gantz’s demands come as a majority of Israelis are showing frustration with the slow pace of the war, whether in support of Netanyahu or not, as well as strong rumors of frustration in the higher echelons of the IDF in the lack of a replacement strategy for Hamas.
Mossad head Dadi Barnea has said that he believes that in order to bring out a hostage release deal, the military pressure on Hamas must include a replacement government which is strong enough to take over. This is supposed to crash Hamas’s military leader, Yahya Sinwar’s hope of retaking control of Gaza once the IDF leaves.
Gantz’s ultimatum led to a public back-and-forth between his office’s and Netanyahu’s. In short, Netanyahu’s accused Gantz of playing politics at a vital time, instead of focusing on defeating Hamas in Rafah, and said that his demands will lead to a disastrous Palestinian Authority rule in Gaza, and Two-State solution reward for October 7th. The office also said that the unity War Cabinet is vital for the success of the war (in other words, Netanyahu needs Gantz). Gantz’s office replied that he had want dot enter Rafah two months ago, that with the right support there can be a peaceful non-PA government in Gaza, and that the Saudis are not demanding a Two-State as a condition for normalization.
Political commentators have noted that no European force will agree to join a civil administration in Gaza, which would put their forces at risk, and therefore, Gantz’s core demand is not doable—meaning he possibly already intends to leave the unity war cabinet.
Israel must end Hamas totally after what they did and threats they will do it again. Then Israel needs to eliminate Iran who is the mastermind behind all the attacks on Israel. The United States needs to back Israel up and let them destroy Irans Nuclear facilities. Once that is done then maybe there will be a chance for peace although that is highly unlikely.
The need to send the large earthshakers the geological/oil companies use to scan down into the earth to map out where co2, and oil deposits lay. Those huge earthshakers would cave in the tunnels that are everywhere. Those sand peoples are worse than gophers. The earthshakers would collapse those tunnels. We are talking about sand, not rock.
Who does he propose is able to govern once Hamas is gone? Who in the Arab world isn’t brainwashed to want to kill Jews??