War Day 529: Hamas Taken by Surprise, Houthi Missile Intercepted

War Summary, Day 529: Renewed fire in Gaza came after zero outlook of progress in hostage negotiations, new negotiations will only take place under fire, Israel threatens to annex Gazan territory if hostages are harmed, Hamas’s Gaza Prime Minister eliminated along with other senior terrorists, over a dozen terrorists arrested in Judea and Samaria, IAF targets weapons in Syria for the first time, and sirens in southern cities due to Houthi ballistic missile.

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.
30,684 estimated projectiles fired at Israel.
50,000 Israelis estimated displaced from their homes.
1 Jewish nation united in prayer, charity, and good deeds.

Top Headlines:

– Renewed fire in Gaza came after zero outlook of progress in hostage negotiations
– New negotiations will only take place under fire
– Israel threatens to annex Gazan territory if hostages are harmed
– Hamas taken by surprise, in state of shock
– Hamas’s Gaza Prime Minister eliminated, along with other senior terrorists
– Firepower to increase, gates of hell not yet open
– Over a dozen terrorists arrested in Judea and Samaria
– Elite police forces come under fire during operation
– IAF targets weapons in Syria
– For the first time, IDF forces in Syria come under fire
– Sirens in Be’er Sheva, Dimona, and more southern cities, due to Houthi ballistic missile
– The Houthis plan to keep firing

Hostages:

After weeks of failed negotiations, the security establishment (including the Mossad, Shin Bet, and IDF leadership) recommended a return to the fighting in order to pressure Hamas.

Two offers had been on the table, and failed.

The first was planned by the Biden administration, and would have been a phase two of the original ceasefire agreement. The main problem is that Hamas refused to disarm and step down from control of Gaza—which was a requirement of the second phase. Another requirement of the phase was for Israel to evacuate the Philadelphi Corridor, which stretches along the Gaza-Egypt border. Israel could not do this with the knowledge that Hamas was prepared to immediately begin smuggling in more weapons and rockets through Egypt.

(New research published by the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, revealed that Hamas had built a concrete plan in coordination will Hezbollah and Iran, and genuinely believed that they would destroy Israel. The research, which was based on classified Hamas documents found in Gaza, indicated that if left alone, Hamas will retry the plan.)

The second offer was the Witkoff framework, in which half of the living hostages and the bodies of half of the murdered hostages would immediately be released, in exchange for a ceasefire until after Ramadan and then Pesach. Hamas refused to accept this offer, or nay offer which didn’t include a permanent ceasefire and complete IDF withdrawal, while leaving Hamas armed and in power.

To be clear: There was no progress at all in the negotiations, and no hope going forward for any deal that wouldn’t allow Hamas to very quickly carry out another attack and kidnap more Israelis. Hamas didn’t even accept offers which the Americans said were crazy for Israel to accept.

Moving forward, Prime Minister Netanyahu outlined new rules:

– Military pressure will gradually increase, until Hamas agrees to release the hostages.
– Negotiations will only take place under fire.
– Netanyahu has not yet announced, but Amit Segal (Israel’s leading journalist) says that Israel passed the message: Israel is threatening to annex territory for any hostage harmed by Hamas.
– The only offer Israel will accept is the Witkoff framework, with at least half the living hostages returned immediately.

While Netanyahu and other ministers said that the renewed fighting aims to achieve all the goals of the war, “the release of all our hostages, the elimination of Hamas, and a promise that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel,” it appears that the main focus is still the release of the hostages.

After the renewed IAF bombing began, a senior Hamas official claimed that one hostage was killed, and two others injured. Senior Israeli officials do not think this report is true, and say that Israel is not bombing areas where hostages are thought to be held. However, they did not deny the possibility of errant intelligence, since the Shin Bet did miscalculate in the past where some of the hostages were held.

There are reports and signs that Hamas is unnerved by the renewed attacks, and wants to return to negotiations. Hamas seems to have believed that they would get a free ceasefire until the end of Ramadan. A Hamas spokesman told Reuters that they returned to talks to implement a ceasefire agreement. However, based off reports in Al-Arabiya, Hamas and the Egyptian mediators are trying to get a deal which only releases a few hostages, in exchange for further negotiations under quiet. Israel will no longer accept this, since Hamas will simply use this method to drag out negotiations and get a de facto ceasefire forever.

Gaza:

The IDF named the overnight surprise operation in Gaza “Strength and Sword.” The IDF and Shin Bet began preparing for the operation weeks ago. The operation was a flash surprise: Almost entirely within 10 minutes, the Air Force struck around 80 targets, and eliminated hundreds of terrorists, including dozens of field commanders, and a handful of high ranking Hamas terrorists.

The operation intended to give the same shock and destabilization to Hamas as the beeper operation did for Hezbollah. In the weeks prior to the operation, the Shin Bet identified dozens of Hamas terrorists to target, and began tracking their locations. The launch time was chosen in advance as the ideal time to catch all of them at once. Each terrorist had a bomb with their name on it, and an IAF aircraft to target them at the exact time.

In the strikes following, the IDF targeted mid-level commanders, terror cells, rocket launch sites, weapons, and other Hamas military infrastructure. The shock set in: 24 hours later, Hamas still hasn’t managed to launch a single rocket or mortar at Israel.

So far, we know of five prominent terrorists eliminated:

• Essam al-Da’alis was the de facto Hamas Prime Minister in Gaza, after his predecessor, Ruhi Mushtaha, was eliminated in July 2024. He was responsible for keeping Hamas functional as the reigning terror government of Gaza—including by integrating Hamas’s terror army to both control the population and carry out terror attacks against Israel.
• Mahmoud Marzouk Ahmed Abu-Watfa, the Minister of the Interior in the Hamas government. He was responsible for the internal security mechanisms of Hamas, and their use for terrorist purposes.
• Bahjat Hassan Muhammad Abu-Saltan, head of the internal security apparatus of Hamas, and its use for terrorist purposes.
• Ahmed Omar Abdullah Al-Hata, the Minister of Justice in the Hamas government, who used everything in his power for terrorist activity.
• Naji Abu Saif, aka, Abu Hamza, the infamous spokesman for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), known for his never-ending threats of rockets and terror attacks against Israel.

While powerful, the are airstrikes are not yet the “gates of hell” Israel promised Hamas. Israel has been very clear that it’s just the beginning, and the intensity will only increase.

Following the initial airstrikes, the IDF issued evacuation warnings to Gazans in areas on the edges of Gaza, and specifically in two locations: the Beit Hanoun area in Northern Gaza, and the suburbs of Khan Younis in Southern Gaza. The IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, Col. Avichay Adraee, announced, “The IDF has launched a strong offensive against terror organizations. These designated areas are considered dangerous combat zones. For your own safety, you must evacuate immediately to known shelters in western Gaza City and in Khan Younis.”

Following the announcement, a mass exit of Gazans from Northern Gaza was reported.

Israel’s Homefront Command updated directives. A wider zone around Gaza, including the Gaza border communities, will be able to open school tomorrow—so long as the children are able to reach shelter in time.

In a press conference today, PM Netanyahu asked that everyone in Israel adhere to the instructions of the Homefront Command, as it saves lives. He added that the work is far from done, and as Israel still has to hit the remaining Iranian axis of evil. In his now traditional closing line, he stated, “With God’s help, together we will do it, and together we will win.”

Judea & Samaria:

Security forces carried out intense counterterrorism operations in Shechem (Nablus) last night. During operations, the forces arrested three wanted terrorists, interrogated dozens of suspects, and confiscated illegal weapons.

In other areas of Judea and Samaria, ten additional wanted terrorists were arrested, and more weapons were confiscated.

During an operation by the elite Gideonim police unit in Qalqilya, forces eliminated one terrorist, and injured additional terrorists. The officers had set out to arrest wanted terrorists, when they came under fire. The elite forces returned fire and eliminated one of the terrorists, injured four, and arrested the remaining two. Thank G-d, no Israeli officers were harmed.

Syria:

The IDF announced that Air Force aircraft targeted artillery in the Khan Arnaba area in southern Syria. The IDF restated that Israel will not accept Syrian weaponry in Southern Syria near the border with Israel, as it threatens the safety of Israel.

Mendi Rizel of Kol Berama reported that a few days ago, IDF forces in Syria were shot at—fir the first time since entering Syria in December. Thank G-d, no IDF soldiers were hurt. The incident occurred during a nighttime operation, in which IDF troops destroyed a weapons cache in the Khan Arnaba area, just a few kilometers from the border. The troops returned fire at the source of the shooting in a nearby village. The IDF is concerned that this could be a first attack that leads to more.

Yemen:

For the first time since the ceasefire in Gaza, the Houthis in Yemen fired a ballistic missile towards Israel. Air raid sirens were activated in the Negev areas between Dimona, Be’er Sheva, Ofakim, and Yeruham.

The missile was intercepted by the Arrow defense system long before entering Israel, and over Saudi airspace. (The sirens are still activated in case the interception fails, or since large shrapnel can continue on the trajectory after the missile is destroyed outside the atmosphere.) Thank G-d, no injuries or damage was reported.

The Iranian-backed Houthis stated that they targeted the Nevatim Air Force base in southern Israel.

In response to threats from the U.S. and Israel, which included threats directed at Iran, the Houthi Foreign Minister told Reuters that “There will be no talk of any dialing down of operations before ending the aid blockade in Gaza.”

On Tuesday night, the U.S. launched a fourth wave of airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen.

Sponsored in honor of my dear friend Bruria and her dedication to Klal Yisrael. May you share much good news and share the ultimate good news with Am Yisrael! With love, Chanie Klein.