War Day 391: Knesset Bans UNRWA, Hezbollah Command Center Destroyed

War Summary, Day 391: Five soldiers fall in Gaza, aid is supporting Hamas, law passed banning UNRWA, Hezbollah rocket hits UNIFIL headquarters, captured Hezbollah terrorists reveal locations, Hezbollah appoints new leader, no anti-task missiles being fired at northern communities, Interior Ministry cuts ties with Haaretz, new ceasefire plans being proposed for Lebanon, and Iran may attack before US elections from Iraq.

By Mrs. Bruria Efune

101 held captive in Gaza.
36 hostages confirmed murdered held in Gaza.
117 living hostages rescued.
37 hostage bodies rescued.
1,736 Israelis killed.
368 fallen soldiers and police in the battle in Gaza.
68 fallen soldiers in Northern Israel.
14 fallen soldiers and police in Judea & Samaria.
29,000 estimated projectiles fired at Israel.
88,000 Israelis displaced from their homes.
1 Jewish nation united in prayer, charity, and good deeds.

In a speech at an IDF officers graduation ceremony today, Netanyahu framed where we hold:
“We are changing the face of the Middle East. But to be clear—we are still in the eye of the storm. Great challenges are still ahead of us, and I do not underestimate our enemies.”

The IDF has made huge accomplishments, most of which Israel was told would not be possible. Thank G-d, Iran’s main proxies have been greatly diminished, and Iran itself has become a sitting duck. However, it’s far from over, and today saw the deadliest day for Israeli civilians since July.

Hostages:

While there are several proposals for a deal being floated around, Hamas officials have stated that they will only agree to a deal that brings about a complete IDF ceasefire and withdrawal. The Hamas officials who are negotiating do not live in Gaza, and are primarily in Qatar.

Gaza:

The IDF announced the names of five fallen heroes in the battle in Northern Gaza:

Maj. Guy Yaacov Nezri, 25, from Atlit
Cpt. Yehonatan Joni Keren, 22, from Moledet
Staff Sgt. Nisim Meytal, 20, from Hadera
Staff Sgt. Aviv Gilboa, 21, from Neve Tzuf
Staff Sgt. Naor Haimov, 22, from Rosh Haayin

Troops are continuing to clear our Jabaliya and Beit Hanoun, in Northern Gaza. Smaller operations continue along the Netzarim Corridor and in Rafah.

There are still areas in Central Gaza where Hamas is largely untouched and continues to maintain full control.

The IDF continues to facilitate the transfer of hundreds of trucks of aid into Gaza daily, in compliance with American pressure. It’s widely agreed amongst the military that the aid is what is keeping Hamas from complete collapse, and needs to be halted, at least in select areas.

Despite international pressure, the Knesset overwhelmingly voted a law banning UNRWA activity in Israel. UNRWA knowingly hired Hamas terrorists, many of whom were involved in the October 7th attack, and allowed them to use UNRWA facilities. Even after an entire year of warning, UNRWA did nothing to correct the issue, and instead only asked for immunity for their employees who were terrorists. UNRWA’s school system is also known to teach Jew hatred and terrorism.

Lebanon:

The IDF announced the name of one hero who succumbed to his wounds from battle in Lebanon:
Master Sgt. (res.) Yedidia Bloch, 31, from Mevo Horon

Hezbollah has been firing around 150 projectiles daily, with an increasing number of attack drones. The rockets reach up to the Haifa area. On average, most are intercepted or land in an empty area, and a few make impact, usually causing damage and a few light to moderate injuries. On Wednesday, a drone incident kept residents of the north in bomb shelters for nearly an hour, while Israeli air defenses worked to locate and intercept the drones.

On Tuesday, several rockets impacted in Ma’alot-Tarshiha, and killed Israeli civilian Mohammad Naim, 24.

Today (Thursday) had the highest number of civilian casualties since the Madjal Shams attack, with 7 killed. An impact in Metula killed an Israeli man and four foreign workers, all of whom were working in a farm. An impact in a field near Kiryat Ata killed a mother and son who were picking olives.

The Israeli victims were named as:
Omer Weinstein, 47, from Kibbutz Dafna
Mina Hasson, 60, and Karmi Hasson, 21, from the Arab city of Shfaram

Since October 8th, 2023, Hezbollah attacks have killed 39 Israeli civilians.

On Wednesday, a Hezbollah rocket aimed at IDF troops in Southern Lebanon, hit UNIFIL’s headquarters in Naqoura, lightly wounding eight Austrian UNIFIL soldiers.

Hezbollah announced the appointment of Naim Qassem as Hassan Nasrallah’s successor. Qassem was formerly Nasrallah’s deputy, and was not a first choice for replacing the Secretary General, but seems to be the only choice for now. After the announcement of his appointment, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant wrote on X (Twitter) “Temporary appointment. Not for long.”

An average of 28 Hezbollah terrorists are confirmed eliminated daily (the real number is likely higher). The most senior terrorist killed over the last three days was Mustafa Ahmad Shahadi, who served as the deputy head of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force.

The IDF announced that troops captured Hassan Aqil Jawad, the commander of Hezbollah’s forces in Ayta ash-Shab, Lebanon, about two weeks ago. He was found in an underground command center, and captured along with several other terrorists. In interrogations, Jawad gave extensive details about Hezbollah’s infrastructure in his region, which allowed the IDF to quickly and efficiently dismantle it. There are more such captured Hezbollah terrorists which the IDF has not yet revealed about.

Troops have been capturing huge amounts of Hezbollah ammunition and explosives in every village, and locating and destroying many tunnels. Yesterday troops demolished a Hezbollah command center which was built 8 meters underground.

Today, the IDF again issued strong evacuation warnings for the Baalbek region and Nabatieh, before launching heavy airstrikes. Amongst targets in Baalbek was a Hezbollah fuel depot, used for vehicles involved in smuggling weapons into Lebanon. The IDF says that the fuel was provided by Iran. The hit on the depot resulted in a massive explosion.

Israeli fighter jets also targeted Hezbollah facilities inside Syria.

Hezbollah now maintains 20% of the rocket and missile capabilities they started off with, and Iran’s ability to resupply them is no longer reliable. Hezbollah is also less organized, due to most leadership being eliminated, and is therefore less capable of organizing heavy barrages and long-distance launches.

IDF troops have nearly completed the capture and clearing operations in the front line of villages along the Lebanon-Israel border, and are now advancing to the next line. The front line posed the greatest risk to Israeli civilians, since it was from there that Hezbollah launched guided anti-tank missiles into Israeli border towns, and from where Hezbollah prepared and stockpiled for a massive invasion into the Galilee.

While Hezbollah’s abilities are greatly diminished, and their army is severely demoralized, they still pose a threat to Israel, and have not given up on their goal of destroying Israel. Given time, they could regroup, and will definitely make the effort to do so.

America sent a delegation with envoy Amos Hochstein to Lebanon and then to Israel, to negotiate a ceasefire. The government of Lebanon wants a ceasefire, and Hezbollah has agreed to negotiate a ceasefire without taking Gaza into the equation (which they refused to do before). The Israeli government and IDF are showing strong interest in a sort of ceasefire now, likely due to the shortage of combat soldiers, and the need to operate more heavily in Northern Gaza.

The discussion on the table includes some kind of plan which would:

1. Push Hezbollah north of the Litani River (from where it’s more difficult to attack Israel)
2. Implement an extended version of UN Resolution 1701
3. Establish an international enforcement mechanism beyond the UNIFIL forces, likely including England, France, and Germany
4. Prevent Hezbollah from rearming—and allow Israel to act when the mechanisms in place are not.

Russia has reportedly expressed willingness to play a role in preventing Hezbollah from rearming via Syria. Russia has a friendship with both Iran and Syria, so their reliability is being questioned by many, but PM Netanyahu seems interested on the basis of reducing the U.S.’s role in the region, and Israel’s dependence on them. Since Syrian President Assad has been trying to separate his army from Hezbollah in recent weeks, he may cooperate on the issue, at least so long as Israel continues to show the same level of strength.

The agreement would begin with a 60-day adjustment period, during which IDF troops would stay in parts of Southern Lebanon. After that, Israel reserves the right to act whenever the Lebanese army and international forces do not.

While reports yesterday indicated that a deal may be coming soon, today there were signs of it being less likely. The biggest obstacle is that Hezbollah is not yet entirely defeated, and although they may pretend to, they will not actually follow the terms of any agreement. The UNIFIL forces have proven not only to be useless, but to assist Hezbollah by accepting bribes and allowing them to use their equipment. While the agreement is supposed to allow Israel to attack whenever needed, there will definitely be pressure on Israel not to.

Many Israeli analysts say that the deal will only buy a few years of quiet, before Israel needs to carry out a large-scale operation or war again, and have Northern Israel under Hezbollah fire again.

Iran:

According to reports in CNN and the NYT, Iran is preparing to attack Israel within the next few days, and before November 5th elections in the U.S. The attack may be launched from Iraq. Iran hopes that if they don’t launch the attack from their own soil, the U.S. will pressure Israel not to respond. Attacking from Iraq also means less flight time for attack-drones and ballistic missiles.

The attack is expected to be heavy. Iran will do their best to hide preparations for the attack, so that Israel doesn’t destroy the launchers first.

Some suspect that the attack will happen on Shabbat.

After taking out Iran’s air defenses, Israel now has much more freedom to take action in Iran, and strike any location. In a speech today, Netanyahu stressed that “Stopping Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons is our highest priority.” He also said “We treat the arms of the octopus and at the same time hit the head of the octopus – in Iran.”

IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi warned that if Iran attacks Israel again, Israel will respond with abilities not used in the previous strike, hitting places that were left aside last time.

Other:

Israeli special forces eliminated Hamas member Hussam al-Malah in Tulkarem, Samaria, who was allegedly planning imminent terror attacks. Al-Malah was reportedly part of a Hamas network planning a major attack on October 7, along with two other terrorists, Islam Odeh and Zahi Oufi, both recently eliminated by Israel. Following their deaths, al-Malah took over leadership of the network and continued planning attacks.

An attack drone launched by the Houthis in Yemen triggered sirens in Ashkelon, before it impacted in an open area, causing no harm.

The IDF has announced a new division under Central Command to defend Israel’s eastern border, focusing on security along Route 90 while maintaining cooperation and peace with the Jordanian army. The division will address operational needs and strengthen defenses against terrorism and weapons smuggling from Jordan.

Iraqi militia , backed by Iran, continue to launch 1-3 attack drones at Israel daily.

For the second time in recent weeks, The IDF foiled an attempt to smuggle weapons into Israel from Egypt via a drone.

The Israeli Interior Ministry announced ties cut with the Haaretz newspaper after the publisher called Hamas terrorists “freedom fighters.”

The Defense Ministry’s Rehabilitation Department released a report:

• 12,000 soldiers have received treatment since the start of the war, for both physical injuries and PTSD.
• 5,200 (43%) of those treated are suffering from PTSD.
• 14% have moderate-to-severe injuries, including 23 with severe head injuries, 60 amputees, and 12 who lost their eyesight.
• 66% of the injured are reservists.
• 1,500 are in treatment for the second time during this war—meaning they were injured, recovered, and then went back to battle (despite being dismissed for injury), and were injured a second time.
• The department is also working with 62,000 wounded veterans from previous wars.