War Day 507: IDF Flies Over Nasrallah Funeral, Failed Rocket Launches From Gaza

War Summary, Day 507: Hamas fooled two hostages into thinking they’d be freed, two failed rocket launches from Gaza, gag order on Bat Yam bombing: plans were far worse than public knows, IDF evacuates Jenin, brings in tanks, Hezbollah planned to launch rockets at Israel during Nasrallah funeral and IDF destroyed launchers first, IDF flies over Nasrallah funeral, IDF protecting Syrian Druze, and two caught infiltrating from Jordan.

By Mrs. Bruria Efune

63 held captive in Gaza.
36 hostages confirmed murdered held in Gaza.
147 living hostages rescued.
45 hostage bodies rescued.
1,825 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:

– Hamas fooled two hostages into thinking they’d be freed
– Negotiations for second phase ongoing, but not expected to succeed
– Israel working on 42 day extension of phase 1, to bring more hostages home
– Two failed rocket launches from Gaza
– Gag order on Bat Yam bombing: plans were far worse than public knows
– IDF evacuates Jenin, brings in tanks
– IDF expected to stay on Jenin for a year
– All restrictions lifted in Israel’s far north, evacuated residents begin to return this Sunday
– Hezbollah planned to launch rockets at Israel during Nasrallah funeral, IDF destroyed launchers first
– IDF flies over Nasrallah funeral
– Multiple airstrikes against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon
– IDF expects Syria to keep weapons away from entire area south of Damascus
– IDF protecting Syrian Druze
– US CENTCOM commander visiting Israel, raising suspicions of upcoming events
– Two caught infiltrating from Jordan

Hostages:

On Friday, Hamas send Israel the body of Shiri Bibas, after sending the body of an anonymous Gazan woman killed in an airstrike instead. The body was confirmed to be Shiri.

Skip this paragraph if you are sensitive.
Yarden Bibas, the father, asked that the world be told what Hamas did to his children. Forensic sciences can determine the cause of death, even in an aged body. The doctors at the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute, who studied the bodies of Shiri Bibas and her babies, found that they were killed by their captors around ten days into captivity. The children were killed by hand. The doctors who studied the children’s bodies were horrified and deeply traumatized by what was done to them—and these are the same professionals who already worked on the bodies of October 7th victims.

The Gazans who kidnapped and killed the Bibas family will now be hunted down by NILI, a special task-force which was founded after October 7th to hunt down all the worst terrorists.

Hamas returned six hostages to Israel on Shabbat, in three separate shifts. Two shifts were brought on stage for sickening “release ceremonies” (in which the Red Cross participated). Hisham Al-Sayid, a Bedouin-Israeli hostages, was not brought on stage, and was instead released quietly.

All six hostages appeared weak and severely emaciated—despite a few weeks of Hamas feeding them to improve their appearance.

Tal Shoham was reunited with his wife and two children, who had also been taken hostage, and were released in November 2023.

Avera had entered Gaza unintentionally in 2014, during a difficult struggle with his mental health. After a decade of mental torture, Hamas brought Avera on stage, where he looked terrified and in an extremely unwell state.

Omer Shem Tov, 22, Omer Wenkert, 23, and Eliyah Cohen, 27, were released next.

In a horrific act, Hamas told two additional hostages that they would also be freed with them, only to then tell them that they weren’t, and instead were made to watch the others go free. The hostages, Eviatar David and Guy Gilboa-Dalal, were forced to watch the release ceremony and publicly beg for their own release.

Eliyah Cohen told his family that he had been chained up for 500 days. He was unchained shortly before his release, and had to learn how to walk all over again. Eliyah had been shot multiple times on October 7th, and had bullets in his body. A Hamas doctor operated on him without giving him any anesthesia.

Hisham Al-Sayid, who suffers from a mental health condition, had entered Gaza and was taken hostage over 10 years ago. His father, Shaaban al-Sayed expressed rage at Hamas, saying that Hisham came back emotionally and mentally destroyed, unable to even talk. As a Muslim-Israeli, Shaaban says he didn’t imagine that Hamas would be so cruel.

After Hamas sent the wrong body for Shiri, acted horrifically cruel to two hostages, and again held a cruel hostage release ceremony, Israel responded by delaying the release of the 602 terrorists in exchange for the hostages. The terrorists were already on busses when they were sent back to the prison. They still have not yet been released, while new negotiations take place.

Negotiations are ongoing for a second phase of the deal, however, stronger emphasis is on lengthening phase one, to get more hostages freed without withdrawing from the Philadelphi Corridor along Gaza’s border with Egypt. It is unlikely that the second phase will happen. Instead, Kann News reports that Israel may extend the ceasefire for a full 42 days, while working to get more hostages out of Gaza.

Hamas is still expected to release the bodies of four more hostages in this phase of the deal.

Gaza:

Today (Monday), a rocket was launched from Rafah, but fell short, and landed in Gaza. The IAF then struck the rocket launcher and another launcher that was set up nearby.

The attempted launch of rockets from Gaza indicates that either (a) there are terrorists in Gaza who want the ceasefire to end, or (b) Hamas believes they can push Israel to the limits.

Israel’s lack of response other than destroying the launchers indicates that Israel is actually desperate for the ceasefire to continue for now, and for more hostages to be returned.

The IDF is still in full preparedness to return to war, with plans to bring all hell to Hamas. Meanwhile, Hamas is doing their best to show control in Gaza, in every aspect of life.

Bat Yam Bombings:

There is still a gag order on the Bat Yam bus bombings. While many rumors spread, there is one thing that is approved for the public to know: The terrorists had planned something far worse than has been revealed to the public. Thank God, disaster was averted, and hundreds of lives were saved.

Following an assessment, counterterrorism operations and security in Judea and Samaria drastically increased, with certain areas closed off from crossing into Israeli-controlled territories.

Have in mind: over the course of the hostage-ceasefire deal, many Second Intifada terrorists were released from prison. These include bus bombing architects and engineers.

Judea & Samaria:

For the first time since the Second Intifada, IDF tanks are seen in the streets of Jenin. IDF troops have taken over the city, where they are operating to remove all terror infrastructure.

Defense Minister Katz says the IDF will remain for at least a year, adding: “40,000 Palestinians have so far evacuated from Jenin, Tulkarem, and Nur Shams, and are now empty of residents. UNRWA activity in the area has also been stopped.”

Last week, IDF troops arrested 90 terrorists in Samaria, and confiscated dozens of weapons.

Lebanon:

The IDF Home Front Command lifted all remaining restrictions on Israel’s far northern communities. Residents of evacuated border towns are set to begin returning this Sunday, on March 2nd.

The new Lebanese government is now afraid of allowing Hezbollah to attack Israel, and Hezbollah is no longer committed to fighting battles for the Palestinians. However, Hezbollah had not entirely given up on fighting Israel, and only appears to be pausing for now, while they regroup.

Over the last few days, the IDF carried out around two airstrikes against Hezbollah targets per day—mostly in Southern Lebanon, but some deep into northern Lebanon, or in the Beqaa Valley. Targeted sites were actively being used by Hezbollah. Most were weapons warehouses, but one was primed rocket launchers pointed at Israel.

On Sunday, Hezbollah held a massive funeral ceremony in Beirut for former leader, Hassan Nasrallah. During the funeral, IDF fighter jets flew over the crowd, as a warning and reminder.

Hezbollah Political Council Member, Gleb Abu Zeinab, claimed: “We were prepared to launch rockets from the south of the country towards Israeli territory after the funeral of the martyr Nasrallah, but the entity [Israel] thwarted it at the last minute.”

Syria:

During an IDF graduation ceremony, Netanyahu stated: “We will not allow the forces of the HTS organization or the new Syrian army to enter the area south of Damascus. We demand the complete demilitarization of southern Syria – in the provinces of Quneitra, Daraa and As-Suwayda – from the forces of the new regime.”

Israel is putting in huge efforts to keep this large part of Syria, which borders with Israel, demilitarized. There are there primary reasons for this:

1. To avoid the entry of small militia (even from the new HTS government) into the area, from where they could turn their efforts to be against Israel.
2. Syria has become a de-facto protectorate of Turkey. The president of Turkey has expressed interest in attacking Israel, and now could do so via Syria.
3. To protect the large Druze community in the area, with whole Israel has positive civil relations.

The IDF now has nine posts in Syria; two in the Syrian Hermon, and seven in the buffer zone. Defense Minister Katz says that the IDF will remain there indefinitely.

In recent weeks, IDF troops in Syria have carried out dozens of raids. The raids focus on capturing weapons left by the previous Syrian regime, to ensure that they don’t fall into the hands of anti-Israel militia.

Other:

– U.S. CENTCOM commander, General Kurilla, arrived in Israel on Monday for a non-publicized visit. This visit, combined with Netanyahu’s calendar being cleared tomorrow, has led many to suspect that something big is on the horizon—perhaps an attack on Iran, or a return to war in Gaza.

– Two suspects were arrested in the Dead Sea area, after infiltrating Israel from Jordan.

Dedicated by an anonymous reader on behalf of the Jewish People around the world in honour of the Bibas family.

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