War Day 499: Trump in Full Coordination with Israel, IDF Airstrikes Deep in Lebanon

War Summary, Day 499: Netanyahu said he and Trump are working in “full coordination” and have a strategic plan, speculation grows over Phase Two and preparations for war, armed Hamas police were seen approaching IDF positions in Southern Gaza, the IDF conducted airstrikes deep in Lebanon, Hezbollah’s new leader complained about Lebanon’s complicity with Israel, and Rubio stated that Iran is not negotiating while affirming that Israel will act in its own interests.

By Mrs. Bruria Efune

73 held captive in Gaza.
36 hostages confirmed murdered held in Gaza.
141 living hostages rescued.
41 hostage bodies rescued.
1,821 Israelis killed.
413 fallen soldiers and police in the battle in Gaza.
87 fallen soldiers in Northern Israel.
18 fallen soldiers and police in Judea & Samaria.
30,683 estimated projectiles fired at Israel.
70,000 Israelis displaced from their homes.
1 Jewish nation united in prayer, charity, and good deeds.

Top Headlines:

– Netanyahu said he and Trump are working in “full coordination” and have a strategic plan
– Speculation over Phase Two and preparations for war
– Armed Hamas police approach IDF positions in Southern Gaza
– IDF releases intercepted Hamas communications, confirming desperation over food
– U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Prime Minister Netanyahu in Jerusalem
– PA reportedly paying families of October 7th Nukhba terrorists
– IDF airstrikes deep in Lebanon
– IDF preparing locations for Feb 18 withdrawal, including strategic bases
– Hezbollah’s new leader complains about Lebanon’s complicity with Israel
– Concern over Egypt’s military build-up
– Rubio says Iran not negotiating, Israel will act in its own interests

Hostages:

Sagi Dekel-Chen, who was released from Hamas captivity yesterday told his family: “It’s nice to say 498 days, but we were there for over 43 million seconds of hell. We don’t count days, we don’t count minutes. We count seconds in this hell.”

The mother of Sasha Tropanov said it’s a miracle that he is alive, and walking on his two feet—after Hamas shot him in both legs on October 7th. Sasha told his girlfriend, Sapir Cohen who had campaigned relentlessly for his freedom, that he didn’t think he would ever leave alive. He was so sure that he prayed she would be able to move on and find someone else to love. Today, Sasha put on tefillin to pray for the first time since his capture, together with Russia’s Chief Rabbi Berel Lazar.

At a cabinet meeting today, Prime Minister Netanyahu said that the U.S. and Israel are working in full coordination, with a join strategy—which began even before Trump announced his vision for Gaza. Netanyahu alluded to Trump’s “all hostages by Saturday noon” threat, and said that it was also coordinated.

“I can’t go into all the details,” Netanyahu said. “But we have a joint strategy, including when and how the gates of hell will open if all of our hostages, all of them, are not released and don’t come back home.”

When President Trump was asked about the deadline by a reporter today, he answered that he’s leaving it up to Netanyahu to decide what to do next.

What everyone is wondering now is whether Israel will move onto Phase Two of the ceasefire agreement, which requires withdrawal from the Philadelphi Corridor, free movement for Gazans (including Hamas) throughout Gaza, and the start of reconstruction. Netanyahu insists he won’t withdraw from the Philadelphi Corridor. If he does, in addition to going back on his promises, he will lose his government coalition.

Phase Two also requires Hamas to give up control of Gaza, something which they’re giving conflicting statements over whether they’d do or not. It’s most likely they won’t agree to this, or will try to find a way to agree without doing it.

What’s more likely (but not definite), is that Israel is aiming to get more hostages released in Phase One, and once that’s maxed out, will return to war. Hamas may choose to take each day they can get, because each day means around 600 more trucks of food, water, and fuel, and a few hundred more Hamas combatants returned from Israeli prison.

Gaza:

Hamas is still playing with the buffer zone—and escalating. In most incidents today, Gazans approaching the buffer zone retreated after troops fired warning shots. However, a group of armed Hamas police approached an IDF position in Southern Gaza, and ignored warning shots. The IDF then hit them with a drone strike, eliminating three.

Another drone strike in Central Gaza warned suspects in a vehicle to turn around, after they attempted to cross into Northern Gaza via an unproved route, in order to avoid security inspections.

In other news, the IDF released intercepted communications between Hamas terrorists from the early days of the war. The communications, which were published on News 12, confirm Rafael Hayoun’s earlier report, although does not appear to be the same communications he referenced.

In the newly released recordings, Hamas militia commanders can be heard complaining about the lack of food and water, and threatening the Hama military leadership. They also complain about the leadership acting as cowards and taking care only of themselves, while the combat terrorists experience heavy daily casualties from the IDF. The leadership in turn abuses the wives of the commanders in an attempt to silence them–something which doesn’t work.

What does eventually silence the complaints, is when at the end of December, under American pressure, Israel begins to allow massive amounts of “humanitarian aid” into Gaza. In more recordings, Hamas can be heard directly coordinating with UNRWA, who deliver the aid directly to Hamas.

Rewind one month to November, when Hamas agreed to release 50 hostages in exchange for the release of 150 “light” terrorists from prison. Recordings show Hamas’s real motivation: they were in desperate need of food and water. The release agreement brought in 250 trucks of aid each day.

Bottom line: without the humanitarian aid, Hamas would have either returned the hostages and surrendered, or the lower command would have turned on the higher command and then surrendered.

In contrast, while the IDF is preparing for a return to war in Gaza, in which “the gates of hell will open,” 600 trucks of humanitarian aid (with food, water, and fuel) are being delivered to Gaza per day—all controlled by Hamas. While it wasn’t reported anywhere, several trucks of electric workers were seen entering Gaza from Israel, to reconnect electricity in parts of Gaza (on Israel’s dime).

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Prime Minister Netanyahu in Jerusalem today. Their primary topics were Iran, the hostage deal, and the Lebanon ceasefire. In public discourse, Netanyahu heavily focused on Trump’s plan for voluntary immigration from Gaza, and the creation of another Gaza, elsewhere.

Netanyahu told his cabinet that this is an opportunity that Israel never dreamed of, that creates tremendous hope for the future of Israel and the Jewish people. Speaking at a conference of Jewish leaders in Jerusalem, Netanyahu said he believes that Trump’s plan is the most realistic plan, and the only plan he think can work.

Judea & Samaria:

Operation Iron Walls is ongoing in Samaria, though the IDF did not report any updates today.

Chanel 14 News reported that the Palestinian Authority is not only paying salaries to families of terrorists under its own jurisdiction, but is also sending salaries to the families of Hamas’s elite Nukhba terrorists who were killed while massacring Israelis on October 7th.

Lebanon:

The IDF carried out airstrikes deep in Lebanon today, targeting active Hezbollah facilities in the Baalbek District in northeastern Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley. The facilities were used to store rocket launchers and other weapons. Hezbollah was actively working in the facilities to rearm.

As the February 18th deadline approaches for further IDF withdrawal, Hezbollah supporters are again attempting to approach IDF positions in the border villages. In Houla, a group, including woman, approached troops, and only retreated after several warning shots from IDF troops. Lebanese media reports one woman killed in the fire, though the IDF says it’s unaware of any hits being made.

Lebanese media also report that the IDF detained three civilians who had entered their positions, and approached the border. The IDF has not commented on the report.

As the withdrawal deadline approaches, IDF troops in Lebanon are very busy. In several Hezbollah-dominated towns, where weapons and tunnels were found everywhere (such as Kafr Kila, Nakora and Mis al-Jabal), troops are blowing up dozens of houses. In Kfar Kila, where the border gets extremely close to the Israeli town of Metula, the troops are adding an expanded iron fence on the Lebanese side, to keep residents further from the border. In Khayam troops expanded the IDF outpost, moving dirt to create lookout hills with above-ground trenches.

The IDF is expected to remain in five strategic locations in Lebanon even after the withdrawal date on the 18th, in order to ensure the safety of Israel’s Northern border towns.

Hezbollah’s new Secretary General Naim Qassem is not happy about this. In a televised speech today, he said: “Israel must fully withdraw from the territory it invaded in Lebanon on February 18 and not remain in five positions. Lebanon must act exclusively to ensure this so Israel does not remain in one position.”

Passim is not either happy that Lebanon is blocking Iranian planes (with suitcases of cash for him) from landing in Beirut. Lebanon is afraid that the IDF will bomb the airport if they allow the flights to continue. Qassem complained, “The Lebanese Prime Minister decided to prevent Iranian planes from landing at Beirut airport in order to avoid Israeli attacks, and we ask, where is the sovereignty? I call on the Lebanese authorities to reconsider the decision regarding the Iranian plane as a sovereign decision.”

Egypt:

Israeli political commentator, Ariel Kahana, is raising the red flag about Egypt’s growing activity in the Sinai. Egypt now has tens of thousands of soldiers and tanks in the Sinai, in a direct violation of the Camp David Accords. Dr. Yagil Henkin, an Israeli military expert, says that Egypt’s military slowly returned to the Sinai in small steps, in what he calls “creeping annexation.”

In addition to the soldiers and tanks, the Egyptian military built bridges, roads, and tunnels, which allow them to quickly deploy entire divisions to the Sinai. Egypt has also been making mass purchases of weaponry from a wide variety of countries, including the U.S., Russia, China, India, Italy, and the U.K.

Kahana says it’s important to understand that the military in Egypt operates as a state of its own, even controlling most food markets. The military is not fully under diplomatic control.

Egypt has not declared that they are planning for war with Israel, but has not either publicly ruled it out. Egyptian officials have threatened to cancel the peace treaty with Israel if the U.S. cuts the annual $1.5 billion aid package to Egypt.

The speculation is that Egypt’s primary concern is losing control of the Rafah crossing, and Gazans being relocated to Egypt. Egypt sees the Gazans as radicalized and undesirable, and sees Trump’s plan as a “zionist plot” with which they must not cooperate.

Kahana raises concern that Israel’s leadership is complacent on the issue. He says that the IDF does not have a contingency plan or even budget in case of an Egyptian invasion, and the security cabinet has not raised the issue.

Some officials worry that if the IDF does carry out exercises in preparation for war with Egypt, it would provoke Egypt into actual conflict. (In contrast, Egypt regularly holds military exercises simulating an IDF attack.) Some say that it it the U.S.’s responsibility, since the U.S. signed as a guarantor in the Camp David Accords, and promised to keep the Egyptian military out of the Sinai.

In other Egyptian news, IDF troops once again shot down a drone which crossed into Israel from the Egyptian border. The drone was carrying a rifle and bullets in a smuggling attempt. Smuggling from the Egyptian border has long been a problem, though until now has been less sophisticated, and mostly focused on drugs.

Iran:

Secretary of State Marco Rubio in an interview said that Iran has shown no interest in negotiating a deal: “There has been zero outreach or interest to date from Iran. I would love to wake up one day and hear the news that Iran has decided not to pursue a nuclear weapon, not to sponsor terrorism, and reengage in the world as a normal government. We’ve had no indication of any of that, not just now, but for 30 years.”

When asked whether the Trump administration will support an Israeli strike on Iran, Rubio responded, “Israel will always have to act in what they believe is their national interest and their national defense, so I’m not going to speak about whatever strategies they may [have] on this or any other topic.”

(Interesting to note, in Lebanon, Gaza, and Iran, this administration speaks very differently about Israel. The previous administration openly stated what they expected of Israel. This administration says that Israel needs to make its own decisions.)

While Israel has gone quiet on the topic of Iran, preferring to keep plans in secret, Defense Minister Katz today gave an outline of Israel’s current priorities, with Iran on top:

1. Prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons
2. Free all hostages & eliminate Hamas in Gaza
3. Peace deal with Saudi Arabia

Other:

– The Israeli cabinet officially voted to confirm Maj. Gen. (res.) Eyal Zamir as the next IDF Chief of Staff, allowing him to take the position on March 5.
PM Netanyahu, at the start of the cabinet meeting today praised Zamir, and expressed his confidence that Zamir will lead the IDF to a total victory in all arenas of the war. Netanyahu described, “I first met Eyal Zamir when I interviewed candidates for the position of Military Secretary. I was impressed by his commitment to the country and to the IDF, as well as by the fact that he has an aggressive approach.”

– The Defense Ministry announced that a shipment of heavy bombs from the United States, which had been held up by the previous administration and was released by Trump a month ago, has arrived in Israel: “Overnight, a ship carrying numerous MK-84 2,000-lbs munitions arrived at Ashdod port and was unloaded. The bombs were then loaded on dozens of trucks and taken to Israeli airbases.”

Today’s update was sponsored by Lori Ruland. Am Yisrael Chai!