War Day 520: Flash Drills at IDF Bases, Houthis Threaten Israel

War Summary, Day 520: Trump envoy Adam Boehler, who spoke with Hamas terrorists, gives series of interviews and calls the terrorists “actually pretty nice guys,” Israel turns off electric supply to Gaza and may turn off water supply, Hamas terrorists back at planting roadside bombs, Hezbollah still finding terrorist bodies, Houthis again threaten Israel, Qatar warns against attacking Iran, unrest in Syria, new IDF appointments, and flash drills at IDF bases.

By Mrs. Bruria Efune

59 held captive in Gaza.
35 hostages confirmed murdered held in Gaza.
147 living hostages rescued.
49 hostage bodies rescued.
1,828 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:

– Trump envoy, Adam Boehler, who spoke with Hamas terrorists gives series of interviews
– Boehler liked Hamas proposal which only promised 5-10 years of quiet
– Boehler called the terrorists “actually pretty nice guys”
– Growing concerns that Israel is being forced into a bad deal
– Israel turns off electric supply to Gaza, which wasn’t much anyway
– Israel may turn off water supply
– How the pressure on Hamas could unfold
– Hamas terrorists back at planting roadside bombs
– Free movement of vehicles from south of Gaza to north
– Hezbollah leader claims they still have capabilities to attack Israel
– Hezbollah still finding terrorist bodies
– Houthis again threaten Israel
– Iran negotiating opened to negotiations
– Qatar warns against attacking Iran
– Unrest in Syria
– New IDF appointments
– Flash drills at IDF bases

Hostage Negotiations:

US President Trump’s hostage envoy, Adam Boehler, who conducted direct talks with Hamas terrorists in Qatar, gave interviews today on Fox News in the U.S. and four separate Israeli news channels. In the interviews he gave a few extremely controversial and unsettling statements. He also outlined what he negotiated, and what he expects moving forward.

On Israel’s Kahn News, Boehler said that in direct talks, Hamas terror leaders offered a deal which included:

1. An exchange of all terrorists from Israeli prisons (or at least a very significant number) for the remaining hostages.
2. A five to ten year truce, during which Hamas will temporarily lay down their weapons.
3. During the truce, the U.S. and other countries would ensure that there were no tunnels in Gaza, and “nothing taken on the military side” (I don’t know what that last part means).
4. Hamas wouldn’t be involved in politics going forward.

This deal does not include the permanent demilitarization of Hamas, and still leaves them as a powerful entity in Gaza, with the ability to retake full control in the future, and return to terror.

Asked when he thinks a deal to bring all hostages home will come, Boehler said that if he’s optimistic, within weeks.

Boehler’s more problematic statements came from his Fox News interview, when he was asked about negotiating directly with the terrorists. Boehler attempted to humanize the terrorists behind the horrific October 7th attack, saying, “they don’t have horns growing out of their heads. They’re actually pretty nice guys; guys like us.”

(Just two weeks ago, Boehler wrote on X: “The U.S. does not negotiate with terrorists. We eliminate them.”)

In response to questions about going against Israel’s requests not to speak with the terrorists, Boehler said “the US is not an agent of Israel.” He also admitted that the deals being negotiated are terribly unfair to Israel, stating (on Channel 13) that the U.S. wouldn’t accept the same deal which Israel is being pushed to accept. Adding insult to injury, he repeatedly mixed up words throughout his interviews, referring to the hostages as prisoners, and the terrorist prisoners as hostages.

Following extensive criticism from Israel, and some from the U.S., Boehler wrote on X: “I want to be CRYSTAL CLEAR as some have misinterpreted. Hamas is a terrorist organization that has murdered thousands of innocent people. They are BY DEFINITION BAD people. And as [President Trump] has said, not a single Hamas member will be safe if Hamas doesn’t RELEASE ALL HOSTAGES IMMEDIATELY.”

Amit Segal, Israel’s foremost political commentator, had harsh criticism for Boehler. However, he cited inside sources for the following points:

– Boehler’s direct talks failed.
– Israel does not believe that the US will attempt it again.
– Trump still believes that Hamas must be completely destroyed, which is why their proposal won’t succeed.
– The delegation leaving to Qatar will not be discussing Hamas’s proposal to Boehler.
– The negotiations will revolve around Witkoff’s proposal (half the hostages in exchange for two months ceasefire with negotiations for a second phase—if talks are successful, then the remaining hostages go free). Steve Witkoff, who is senior to Boehler, will be at the talks.

Amit Segal also pointed out that its no wonder Hamas doesn’t seem afraid of the “gates of hell” threats, when they have the direct ear of Trump’s special envoy. Hamas even feels that they are gaining international legitimacy through these talks, since they are, for the first time, being addressed directly by the United States.

There are growing concerns in Israel that whatever deal is being negotiated won’t be a good one, with too many terrorists let free. Channel 13 cited senior Israeli officials who are concerned that the Trump team is forcing Israel into a bad deal, which Netanyahu will be unable to refuse.

The Pressure on Hamas:

Israel’s electric company announced that they cut off electric supplies to Gaza. This sounds dramatic, but at closer glance, doesn’t add up to much. Pre-October 7th, there were ten power lines supplying electricity to Gaza. Through the war, they all got destroyed. As part of international agreements, Israel began supplying diesel to Gaza, and Gaza began to produce most of its electricity through diesel-powered generators, and some from solar panels (some of which existed beforehand).

However, there was one area which Israel did reconnect power during the war: a wastewater treatment plant. The reason Israel chose to reconnect it, is because when it wasn’t working, the Hamas-led government just dumped the sewage into the ocean. This brings a high risk of contaminating Israel’s beaches, particularly in Zikim and Ashkelon. This was the only known electricity being supplied to Gaza, and this is what was cut off today.

Israel has threatened to slowly increase the pressure on Hamas, until they agree to a hostage deal. Currently, the pressure on Hamas is not high at all, though if it continues, it will soon be felt.

Here’s the breakdown:

Food: Israel stopped the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza, but the warehouses are still full. Milk and eggs may run out within two weeks. Other food may last for between 4-6 months—though there are indications that Hamas is not handling the food supplies well and may run our sooner.

Water: Today the electricity was cut to the wastewater treatment plant in Northern Gaza, which supplied 20% of the water, mostly used for agriculture.
Israel is threatening to begin cutting off the remaining supply of water next. This water is supplied by Israel, and paid for, in part, by the Palestinian Authority. The first supply to be cut off would be in Northern Gaza, and would trigger mass relocation again, back to Central and Southern Gaza.

Electricity: Most of Gaza’s electric supply comes from local diesel-powered generators and solar panels. Since the aid stopped coming in, it’s estimated that they have enough diesel to continue powering Gaza for a mother month or two, before the lights go out. Hamas can be expected to hoard fuel for their remaining tunnels to keep powered for a little longer. Small areas may still have limited power from whatever solar panels are still functioning.

War: Despite a previous policy of only negotiating under fire, Hamas is currently enjoying a chill Ramadan and de facto ceasefire in exchange for nothing. Not only is there no war, but the IDF is no longer stopping cars from illegally driving to Northern Gaza without inspection—allowing Hamas to bring weapons right back in. Hamas feels no pressure here, and doesn’t seem to believe the “gates of hell” threats. It’s unclear how much longer Hamas has to enjoy the quiet.

In summary: In 2-3 weeks Gaza will feel a shortage of milk and eggs. In 1-2 months, power might go out for most of Gaza. In 4-6 months, food will run out. Sometime soon, water supply might be cut off from Northern Gaza, leading people to evacuate southward.

The question is—does Hamas believe that Israel will continue with the pressure long enough for any of this to happen? Or will Hamas be saved by worldwide pressure at the last moment, again? The hostages will only be freed if Hamas believes that the pressure will last this time.

(Credit to Tamir Morag of News 14 for significant information behind this breakdown, as well as Israel Hayom for the details on the electric supply.)

Gaza:

Early in the morning, air raid sirens were triggered in Kibbutz Holit, on the Gaza border. The IDF determined that it was a false alarm, activated due to activity of IDF forces in the area.

For the second day in a row, the IDF spotted Hamas terrorists attempting to plant roadside bombs in the ground, in an area near the buffer zone. The Air Force attacked the terrorists, and eliminated the threat. Hamas reports two dead.

Times of Israel reports that Israel’s Minister of Strategic Affairs, Ron Dermer, is still lobbying to move Gazans to the Sinai—and Egypt is still fiercely opposing it.

Judea & Samaria:

The IDF gave little details about counterterrorism operators in Samaria today.

In an unrelated incident, IDF forces spotted a number of Palestinian Authority (PA) residents attempting to illegally cross the fence into Israel, near Tarkumiya. After the suspects ignored warning shots, troops opened fire on the suspects, and some were injured. It appears that the suspects were not breaking into Israel for terrorism, but for work. Hundreds of PA residents sneak into Israel illegally every day for better paying jobs. Before October 7th, around 150,000 PA residents had permits to work in Israel.

Lebanon:

Naim Qassem, the new leader of Hezbollah, gave his first televised interview today in his new position. In the interview, he claimed that Hezbollah still has some remaining capabilities to attack Israel, which were operational right up until the ceasefire began, and still exist now.

In Southern Lebanon, particularly in the villages bordering Israel, Hezbollah is still finding bodies of eliminated terrorists. Today they held a mass funeral to bury around 50 terrorists found in and around Kfar Kila.

Yemen:

The Iranian-backed Houthis continue their threats, now giving two more days until they restart their attacks, unless Israel restarts sending aid to Gaza.

Iran:

The U.S. is slowly raising pressure on Iran. Today the Trump administration revoked Iraq’s exception which allowed them to purchase oil from Iran despite the sanctions on Iran.

The Iranian embassy to the UN stated that they would be open to negotiations around their military nuclear operations, but will never discuss dismantling their “civilian” nuclear program.

The Prime Minister of Qatar in an interview warned that attacking Iran’s nuclear facilities would entirely contaminate the waters of the Gulf, which would threaten water supply to Qatar the UAE, and Kuwait. This warning is specifically about Iran’s nuclear power plant which is located the Gulf coast at Bushehr. Iran’s Uranian enrichment facilities, which are the key to building atomic weapons, are located further inland.

Syria:

IDF Chief of Staff, Maj. Gen. Eyal Zamir, visited IDF positions in southern Syria for a situational assessment.

Following the weekend massacres, al-Julani (aka al-Sharaa) the President of Syria, is attempting to restore calm. He made a speech calling for unity, and then ordered the establishment of a seven member independent investigation committee to look into the incident.

There are reports that pro-Assad groups have again tried to launch new attacks in Damascus, and may be acting with support from foreign entities, such as Iran.

While Israel continues to hold a protectorate for the Syrian Druze in and near the buffer zone with Israel, Defense Minister Katz announced that Israel will soon allow the Syrian Druze to enter Israel for work in the Golan Heights.

Other:

Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir appointed Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin as the new IDF spokesman. Defrin is a war hero who was seriously injured in the second Lebanon war. After rising in ranks as a combat commander, he shifted to head the IDF’s international cooperation unit, known as Tevel. In his position at Level, he gained international respect from foreign militaries.

Another new appointment, Maj. Gen. Yaniv Asor, will begin his new role on Wednesday, as head of the IDF Southern Command. He is replacing Maj. Gen. Yaron Finkelman, who is resigning over his part in the failures that led to Hamas’s October 7 massacre.

Eyal Zamir launched a snap drill this morning, simulating infiltration attacks against IDF bases and posts. Israel’s northern Air Force base joined in the drill.

YNet reports that Turkey blocked Israel’s usual participation in the annual NATO exercise, insisting that NATO not cooperate with Israel until the war in Gaza is over.

Sponsored by Attalie Watts, in honor of the people of Israel and the kibbutz who welcomed me as a guest and treated me like family. Am Israel Chai!