War Summary, Day 316: Lebanon’s last operational power plant shut down today due to ongoing financial struggles, Hussein Ibrahim Kassab, a commander in Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force was eliminated while riding a motorcycle, and UK Foreign Minister Lammy made repeated requests to coordinate a meeting with PM Netanyahu, who reportedly refused to meet with him due to Britain’s withdrawing its objection to the ICC prosecutor’s request for a warrant for Netanyahu’s arrest.
By Mrs. Bruria Efune
War Summary, Day 316:
115 held captive in Gaza.
41 hostages confirmed murdered in Gaza.
116 living hostages rescued.
24 hostage bodies rescued.
1,621 Israelis killed.
334 fallen soldiers and police in the battle in Gaza.
19 fallen soldiers in Northern Israel.
9 fallen soldiers in Judea & Samaria.
20,750 estimated rockets fired at Israel.
88,000 Israelis displaced from their homes.
1 Jewish nation united in prayer, charity, and good deeds.
Top Headlines:
- U.S. presents a “bridging proposal” for ceasefire and hostage release
- “Cautious optimism” of deal by the end of the week
- Iran continues to threaten, but seems to be waiting on negotiations
- Two fallen soldiers in Gaza
- IDF continues to expand evacuation notices to wherever Hamas fires from
- 17,000 terrorists eliminated in Gaza since the start of the war
- 50 smuggling tunnels destroyed this week
- Heavy Hezbollah fire on North, soldiers injured
- Senior Hezbollah terrorists eliminated
- Heavy Hezbollah fire on North
- Airstrikes eliminate terrorist commanders in Judea and Samaria
- PM Netanyahu refused to meet with UK Foreign Minister Lammy
Hostage Updates:
In another form of psychological terror, Hamas published a photo of the body of an Israeli hostage. The IDF says that the photo is of a hostage whose remains had already been returned to Israel at the end of November. The IDF did not name the hostage.
After two days of negotiations in Doha, between Israel and the mediating countries (Egypt, Qatar, and the U.S.A.), at which Hamas is not present, the U.S. has presented a “bridging proposal,” meant to meet halfway. The negotiations and bridging proposal are based on the May 27th proposal.
The primary negotiations revolve around the Netzarim Corridor (which divides the north from the south of Gaza) and the Philadelphi Corridor (which lines the Gaza-Egypt border. Israel wants to maintain control over both, to prevent armed Hamas terrorists from returning to Northern Gaza, and prevent Hamas from rearming, by smuggling weapons in from Egypt. Hamas is insisting on a full IDF withdrawal. According to Israel Hayom’s sources, the U.S. has offered “creative outlines that allowed Israel room for flexibility,” on the issues. The source also insisted that Israel will remain in the Philadelphi Corridor (and seemingly not Netzarim), although other sources says that it’s being negotiated and the U.S. is pressuring Israel to soften demands on that point.
Israel Hayom also reports that PM Netanyahu insists that Israel be able to fulfill both goals of the war—which includes completely overthrowing Hamas—and therefore, the IDF needs to be able to continue fighting as soon as the deal is over. It appears that Israel is banking on the deal only making it through the first phase of 6 weeks.
Israel is also demanding a list of the hostages who will be released in the deal, and the order in which they’ll be released. Reportedly, the U.S. is backing that demand. In the first phase, the women (including female soldiers) will be released first, followed by the elderly and ill. Walla news reports that Israel is also offering to lower its number of vetos on high-profile terrorists who Hamas want released from prison, in exchange for a larger amount of hostages released each week of the deal.
Channel 12 reports that Ethiopian Israeli Avera Mengistu and Bedouin Israeli Hisham al-Sayed, who have been held hostage in Gaza for over a decade, will also be released in the first phase, in exchange for the release of 47 terrorists from Israeli prison, who were previously in Israeli jail and released in the 2011 Gilad Shalit deal, and since then rearrested for terror activity.
An Israeli delegation is remaining in Doha for negotiations, and will soon meet for a second intensive session in Egypt, on Wednesday. According to Axios, a senior U.S. official said that unlike past rounds of talks, the Israeli team was “empowered” by Netanyahu to negotiate in real-time with more autonomy.
The U.S. has expressed “cautious optimism” over the talks. Netanyahu’s office released a statement also indicating optimism for the deal adding “It is hoped that the heavy pressure on Hamas by the United States and the mediators will remove its opposition to the American proposal and will lead to a breakthrough in the talks.” However, Hamas has not yet seen the proposal, didn’t even show up to the negotiations, and there still includes items that Hamas says they won’t agree to.
The optimism sources from heavy indications that Hamas is desperate for a ceasefire, and/or is a display to slow down or halt Iran and Hezbollah from launching a war.
According to Wallah and Ynet News, the IDF estimate that Iran os very concerned about the severe damage done to their proxies in Gaza and Lebanon, with Hamas in it’s dying breaths, and Hezbollah having lost significant assets to IDF bombing in Southern Lebanon.
Negotiators are hoping that a deal will be reached before the end of the week.
Iran & Proxies Attack Updates:
Homefront Command directives for civilians in Israel remain the same.
While it appears that Iran has agreed to wait on the Gaza negotiations, they also continue with heir threats. Acting Iranian Foreign Minister, Ali Bakri Keni, threatened, “Iran has the legitimate right to respond to the elimination of Heniyah, and we will keep it.”
On Friday, the Israeli Air Force says it “simulated a long-range flight deep in enemy territory, while conducting aerial refueling several times in short periods.” The dramatic exercise involved a number of F-35i and F-15 fighter jets, and a Boeing 707 refueling plane. The exercise, and video documentation released by the IDF, was a clear signal to Iran of what the IDF is capable of and preparing for, in case of an attack.
Gaza Front Updates:
On Friday, Hamas fired a barrage of rockets at Kibbutz Nirim, which is adjacent to the Gaza border. No physical injuries were reported.
The IDF announced the names of two heroes who fell in battle in Gaza:
Maj. (res.) Yotam Itzhak Peled, 34, from Rosh Haayin
Sgt. Maj. (res.) Mordechai Yosef Ben Shoam, 34, from Geva Binyamin
The two were part of a logistics team, and were en route to an IDF base in Gaza to deliver essential needs to troops, when a roadside bomb in the Netzarim Corridor, planted by Hamas terrorists, exploded and killed them.
Four divisions of IDF troops are currently operating in Gaza: the 252nd Division along the Netzarim Corridor, and on pinpoint operations in Central and Northern Gaza; the Gaza Division in the buffer zone; the 98th Division in Khan Younis; and the 162nd Division in Rafah and along the Philadelphi Corridor. The IAF struck over 40 Hamas targets throughout Gaza over the past day, including terrorist squads, and a recently used rocket launcher.
IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari says the IDF has eliminated more than 17,000 terrorists in the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the war.
The IDF is continuing with the new policy to immediately call for evacuations from any area in which Hamas terrorists fired rockets at Israel, or any weapon at IDF troops, naming the area a “war zone,” and immediately beginning operations. On Friday, the IDF issued new evacuation orders for Gaza civilians in north Khan Younis and east Deir al-Balah, and on Shabbat called for evacuations in the Maghazi area of central Gaza—after Hamas terrorists began operating from those neighborhoods. These evacuations have decreased the size of the designated humanitarian zone. The IDF has not yet carried out full-scale maneuvers into Central Gaza’s Deir al-Balah or Maghazi.
Troops in the Netzarim Corridor continue to spot and eliminate terrorists, and today was assisted by the Israeli Navy, who shelled terrorists in Central Gaza who “posed a threat to the forces in the area.”
Operations in Khan Younis have expanded, with IDF troops eliminating dozens of terrorists daily, and destroying dozens of Hamas sites.
In Rafah, troops are working through the Tel Sultan neighborhood, where ver the last day, they eliminated several terrorists and destroyed Hamas sites.
Over the last week, IDF troops in the Philadelphi Corridor demolished over 50 tunnels. The IDF doesn’t specify how many of the tunnels entered Egypt, but all tunnels in that area were used for smuggling. Troops are rushing to locate and destroy any possible smuggling infrastructure remaining in Rafah, ahead of a possible ceasefire deal.
Gaza Humanitarian Efforts Updates:
1,000 blood units were transferred to Gaza yesterday via Jordan. So far, the IDF facilitated the delivery of 3,500 blood units to hospitals in Gaza.
In addition to the regular hospitals in Gaza, there are now 11 field hospitals, with 3 additional ones in the process of being established.
Northern Front Updates:
Hezbollah fired heavy barrages of missiles and launched several attack drones on Israel’s north, reaching as far as Tzfat (Safad), and targeting several towns and cities which have not been evacuated. Two soldiers were injured in a drone attack, and are now in moderate condition. At least 10 wildfires broke out as a result of the fire, including one which caused power outages in parts of Tzfat.
In Kiryat Shemona and other towns near the Lebanon border, civilians were warned by the municipality to stay near shelter, and avoid walking around outside unecesarily.
The IDF continued with targeted airstrikes against Hezbollah positions in Southern Lebanon, and eliminated a large number of terrorists. Amongst them was Hussein Ibrahim Kassab, a commander in Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force, who was eliminated while riding his motorcycle.
This past week, the Israeli Navy’s Haifa Naval Base conducted a joint drill simulating war in Lebanon. The exercise involved several IDF units, Israel Police, and Rambam Hospital, focusing on defending the northern maritime border, evacuating wounded under fire, and other emergency scenarios.
Lebanon’s last operational power plant shut down today, leaving widespread power outages to critical locations across Lebanon. This has nothing to do with the war, but with Lebanon’s ongoing financial crisis.
Houthi & Iraqi War Front Updates:
In the past 24 hours, U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) forces successfully destroyed one Iranian-backed Houthi unmanned surface vessel (USV) in the Red Sea.
Since October 2023, there have been 195 Houthi strikes against Israel, the United States and other targets,
Judea and Samaria Updates:
On Thursday, an IDF drone strike eliminated two terrorists in Balata, near Shechem (Nablus), after they opened fire and hurled explosives at IDF troops operating in the area. Amongst the two was Wael Mashah, who had previously been in Israeli jail, and was released in the November hostage deal.
An IDF drone strike in Jenin this evening, eliminated Ahmed Abu Ara and Raafat Dawasi, two terrorists who had been involved in the Jordan Valley attack last week, which killed Yonatan Deutsch. Dawasi was a commander in Hamas’s local wing in Jenin, and Ahmed Abu Ara was a senior Hamas operative. The due had been involved in a few other recent deadly terror attacks.
On Thursday evening, in an unusual incident, dozens of masked Israeli extremists rioted in the Palestinian Authority village of Jit, torching four homes and six vehicles. The IDF and Israeli police have since detained a few of the attackers. Prime Minster Netanyahu strongly condemned the incident, and reminded Israeli civilians that it must be left to the IDF only to deal with Palestinian terrorism.
International Updates:
UK Foreign Minister Lammy arrived in Israel for a visit on Friday. His office made repeated requests to coordinate a meeting with PM Netanyahu, who reportedly refused to meet with him, due to Britain’s withdrawing its objection to the ICC prosecutor’s request for a warrant for Netanyahu’s arrest.
The Telegraph reported that Hamas had planned to dig up and remove the bodies of British soldiers from cemeteries in the Gaza Strip in order to blackmail the British government in exchange for their return.
On Friday, the Israeli Air Force says it “simulated a long-range flight deep in enemy territory, while conducting aerial refueling several times in short periods.”
Over the last week, IDF troops in the Philadelphi Corridor demolished over 50 Hamas smuggling tunnels.
The Israeli protests against the Arabs are unusual as we are mostly peaceful while the Arabs riot and burn everything in site
It was a response to continued aggression. IDF refused to act, like October 7, so they acted themselves. They did a good job.
Just pointing out: Hamas published the photo of the body of a hostage in connection to its claim (mentioned in the update of War Day 311) that one of the hostages was killed. At the time, the IDF couldn’t confirm or deny that. But it appears (to me, at least,) that it was just psychological warfare and not true.
When Hamas first announced this on August 12, they added: “A committee has been formed to find out the details and will be announced later.” Later on August 15 they announced the results of the “investigation” that the Hamas guard who killed an Israeli hostage acted in revenge and against instructions after he heard news that his two children had been killed in an Israeli strike. In connection with that, they posted a photo of a killed hostage.
But it turns out that the photo of the hostage they say was just killed, was identified by the IDF to be a hostage who in reality had been murdered a while ago, and whose body was already brought back to Israel for burial. So I’m hoping that it’s just fake news. Let’s hope for real news – good news.