War Summary, Day Fifty Two: Israel’s emergency call line for the police and ambulances faces cyber attack, silence from the Hezbollah in the North, and Elon Musk visits the stricken settlements.
By Bruria Efune
War Summary, Day Fifty Two:
160 held captive in Gaza.
73 hostages freed.
3 hostage bodies rescued.
1,200+ Israelis murdered.
70 fallen soldiers since entering Gaza.
7,771 injured.
10,500+ rockets fired at Israel.
187,533 Israelis displaced from their homes.
1 Jewish nation united in prayer, charity, and good deeds.
Hostage & Injured Updates:
Today was the fourth day of the hostage release deal. In the morning, Israel received a list of the hostages Hamas planned on releasing today, and saw that it included only children, without any parents, and two elderly women. According to the agreement, Hamas is not supposed to separate mothers from their children. New negotiations carried on through the day, until the problem was resolved, and shortly before 10:00 p.m., 9 children with two mothers were released.
Six foreign workers from Thailand were also released, but the Thai government requested that their names not be published, so as not to interfere with the negotiations for the remaining hostages.
Videos emerged of Gaza civilians chasing after, and jumping on the Red Crescent vans that were carrying the young hostages out of Gaza.
Soroka Hospital, where 84-year-old Alma Avraham, who was released from Hamas captivity yesterday, is still in very serious condition, being treated in the ICU. Despite her family begging the Red Crescent to bring medication to Alma while she was in captivity, nothing of the sort happened, and her body started to go into failure.
Dr. Amir Notman, deputy director of Wolfson, spoke about the elderly women who he treated, who had been kept hostage in Gaza. He said that most of them weren’t in an emergency state of danger but they were experiencing severe malnutrition after barely receiving any food for 50 days.
As part of the hostage release agreement, Israel released 33 security prisoners, either female or juvenile male or female, who had been arrested for acts of terrorism short of successful murder. One of the released prisoners, is Nofuz Hamad, a resident of Sheikh Jarrah in Jerusalem, who stabbed her neighbor, Moriah Cohen in 2021, and has been detained since then. At just 16 years old, Hamad is the youngest security prisoner imprisoned in Israel.
The ceasefire plan was for a four day agreement, with the possibility of extended for up to three more days, by releasing 10 additional captives each day. An agreement has been made so far to extend by an extra two days, bringing the release of 20 additional hostages.
Hamas has not yet released the Bibas family, which includes 10 month old baby Kfir, and 4 year old Ariel. Reports indicate that Hamas may have handed them into the care of the PFLP or another terrorist group in Gaza.
Minister of Defense Yoav Galant met with heads of the Mossad, Shin Bet, and IDF intelligence to discuss information related to uncovering the locations of the remaining suspects in order to rescue them by force.
One of the released hostages told her family that arch-terrorist and planner of the October 7th attack, Yahya Sinwar, met with abductees who were taken to a tunnel in the Gaza Strip in the first days of the war. According to her, he said to the abductees in the tunnel: “Hello, I’m Yahya Sinwar. You are the most protected here, nothing will happen to you.”
The background here is important: This was after killing many of their extended family and friends, burning down their homes, and brining them underground where they only had plastic chairs to sleep on, and occasional rice to eat. His appearance was a form of psychological terrorism.
Roni Krivoli, who was released yesterday, told family that at the beginning of the war, the building he was in was bombed by the IDF, and he managed to escape. He then wandered around for four days trying to get to the border with Israel. However, as soon as Gaza civilians noticed him, they caught him and turned him in to Hamas.
Gaza Front Updates:
Defense Minister Galant met with Givati and Armored soldiers who fought in Gaza, and reassured them, “When we return to battle, it will be with greater force, and it will be all over the Gaza Strip.”
According to reports in Gaza, Hamas is using the ceasefire to reposition their elite Nukhba forces in Northern Gaza, and study IDF positions.
A video on social media appears to show three masked Gaza civilians who have grown tired of Hamas corruption. They share a video of them beating a Hamas policeman who had stolen food, and say that there is more to come.
Gaza Humanitarian Efforts Updates:
Four diesel fuel tanks and four cooking gas tanks were transferred from Egypt to UN humanitarian aid organizations in the Gaza Strip, through the Rafah crossing. In addition, about 200 trucks of food and medical supplies were transferred to the international aid organizations in Gaza.
Northern Front Updates:
There was no exchange of fire with Hezbollah today.
The Northern Command Forum and the Air Force commanders held a joint situation assessment session at the Northern Command headquarters. They discussed operational plans as part of the army’s preparations for various scenarios in the northern arena and the defense of the northern settlements.
Additional War Fronts Updates:
Israel’s emergency service hotline, including police and ambulance, were hit by a cyber attack on Monday night. Israelis were told that if they have an emergency before the hotline is back up and running, they should send a text message to 052-2020100, or use the website chatbot at https://did.li/moked110.
The US Navy prevented the Houthis from attempting another takeover of an Israeli-owned ship, arresting five of them.
Judea and Samaria Updates:
The IDF forces arrested 20 wanted persons last night, including 15 Hamas terrorists. In two brigade operations around Shechem (Nablus), and in the village of Naama B’Ephraim against Hamas operatives, about 10 wanted persons were arrested and weapons were confiscated.
So far, about 2,000 wanted persons have been arrested in Judea and Samaria since the beginning of the war, of which over half belong to Hamas. Hamas published a statement of mourning for the death of Muhammad Hamada, the organization’s spokesman for the Jerusalem area.
International Updates:
The President of Germany visited Kibbutz Be’eri, and announced that the German Parliament will contribute about 7 million euros for the reconstruction of the Kibbutz Bari gallery, and that that he would officially participate in its restoration.
The American Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, plans to visit Israel, the Palestinian Authority, and the United Arab Emirates this week. This is his third visit to the region since October 7.
Billionaire entrepreneur, Elon Musk, visited Israel, met both Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Herzog, and visited the ruins of Kibbutz Be’eri. At the end of his visit, Musk emphasized that all those who want to kill Israelis need to be eliminated, and the education in Gaza needs to be radically changed, to remove the antisemitism and anti Israel indoctrination.
Separately, Musk agree not to provide internet to Gaza via Starlink, because Hamas would use it.
The emergency lines were not hacked. It was allegedly from a malfunction. Now they are working.