War Day 530: Senior Terrorists Eliminated, Turkish Embargo Failed

War Summary, Day 530: The war is still focused primarily on pushing Hamas to release hostages, two senior Hamas terrorists eliminated, IDF begins to retake Netzarim Corridor, IDF prepares to move into Southern Gaza as well, 20,000 Gazans already left Northern Gaza, Netanyahu warns that Judea and Samaria could be larger front than Gaza, Houthis launch ballistic missile at Central Israel, American attacks against Houthis continue, and report that Trump gave Iran two months warning.

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.
30,685 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:

– No progress in hostage negotiations
– The war is still focused primarily on pushing Hamas to release hostages
– The war has not yet entered full force, will escalate gradually
– Two senior Hamas terrorists eliminated, amongst others
– IAF struck prepared Hamas launching sites
– IDF begins to retake Netzarim Corridor
– IDF prepares to move into Southern Gaza as well
– 20,000 Gazans already left Northern Gaza
– Netanyahu warns that Judea and Samaria could be larger front than Gaza
– Houthis launch ballistic missile at Central Israel
– American attacks against Houthis continue
– Report: Trump gave Iran two months warning

Hostages:

Hamas is asking for a ceasefire, but has not moved their demands. They still want a phase two of the previously proposed deal—but in which Israel does their part, and Hamas doesn’t of theirs. In other words, they demand that Israel completely evacuate Gaza (including the Philadelphi Corridor), and end the war, but allow Hamas to remain armed and with the ability to control Gaza going forward.

Many people are claiming that Israel could’ve negotiated a second phase of the deal to release the remaining hostages, so I’m going to say this again: There is no second phase without leaving Hamas in power, fully armed, able to smuggle in weapons via Egypt, and able to prepare another attack and kidnapping under a guaranteed 10 year ceasefire from Israel (which Hamas will gladly break first when they are ready).

Being that Hamas won’t agree to disarm, Israel is now only accepting the Witkoff framework. Hamas refuses to agree to it. (The Witkoff Framework gives a 5-6 week ceasefire, with humanitarian aid and terrorist releases, in exchange for half the living hostages and the bodies of half the murdered hostages.)

They also say that they will not leave Gaza and are against any Gazans leaving “except to Jerusalem.”

As of now, this means no deal is imminent.

Gaza:

Hamas has still not managed to fire any rockets at Israel.

The IDF attacks in Gaza continued, though far from full force. The goal is still clearly to push Hamas to agree to release more hostages.

Overnight (Tuesday-Wednesday), the IDF attacked over 20 targets in Gaza, including terror squads and launch sites from where Hamas was preparing to launch rockets at Israel.

The air strikes focused on Northern Gaza, with some targets along the coast hit by the Navy. The goal of the strikes was to damage Hamas’s political and military capabilities.

One of the buildings targeted, was the headquarters for Hamas’s Daraj and Tuffah Battalion, from where many attacks against Israel were planned. Contrary to reports, the IDF did not strike a UN compound in Deir al-Balah. The IDF didn’t even operate in that area.

Dozens of terrorists were eliminated, including two top targets:

• Yasser Muhammad Harb Musa, a top member of Hamas’s politburo, who headed Hamas’s security portfolio and development ministry. As part of his job, Musa promoted and directed terror attacks against Israel. He was a close associate of Hamas’s leadership, including Yahya Sinwar.
• Muhammad Jamasi, chairman of the Hamas’s emergency committee. Over the years, James played a key roe in planning terror attacks against Israel with the Hamas leadership.

Occasional airstrikes also continued throughout the day, targeting terrors squads and infrastructure.

After a night of airstrikes, IDF forces began to retake the Netzarim Corridor, which divides Gaza between the north and south. The troops reached up to the center, taking control of the main highway crossing. Until Tuesday, foreign security contractors stayed in the corridor to prevent Hamas from transferring arms to Northern Gaza. The security left when the airstrikes began.

The IDF’s Golan Brigade forces were stationed near Southern Gaza, ready to enter when needed.

Gaza – What to Expect Next:

The next moves in Gaza are divided into stages. Progress into each stage will be approved by the government, depending if Hamas is cooperating in hostage negotiations or not. The first phases will manly include airstrikes. Once the IDF moves into any area, they will not leave. It’s unclear whether they will leave if Hamas agrees to the Witkoff deal, but appears unlikely.

Defense Minister Katz warned Gazans that soon Israel will issue evacuation notices, and everything will get much more difficult. Referencing the Sinwar brothers—Yahya who was killed, and Mohammad who took over as military leader, Katz said, “The first Sinwar destroyed most of Gaza, and the second Sinwar will completely destroy it. Soon, the evacuation of the population from the battle zones will begin again, and the rest will be much more difficult, and you will pay the full price. Return the hostages and destroy Hamas—the alternative is destruction and annihilation.”

Sources in Gaza say that over 20,000 residents already evacuated Northern Gaza. Across social media it’s become apparent that the tone amongst Gazan civilians has gotten extremely angry towards Hamas, in ways that was never expressed before. Gazans are demanding that Hamas release the hostages so that the war end. (Note: not because they thing its bad to hold the hostages. Many even say “release the pigs.” They just don’t want to lose everything again.)

Israel’s next moves will be to retake the second half of the Netzarim Corridor, and call for evacuations in Northern Gaza. Expect each place to be completely destroyed once the evacuation deadline is up. There might be action from the south as well, early Thursday morning already saw some heavy airstrikes in Rafah.

Israel might create new humanitarian zones, which require a security check to enter. Hamas will not be allowed to hide in it this time.

Meanwhile, Hamas is struggling. They recruited thousands of new terrorist fighters, but these are mostly teenagers who received little to no training, and pennies in payment. It appears that Hamas does not have a significant amount of weapons, and is having difficulty finding and launching whatever remaining rockets they have.

Judea & Samaria:

PM Netanyahu visited IDF special forces in Judea and Samaria, where he made an interesting comment: “While we are waging a fierce war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, we are aware of the possibility that a larger and more powerful front could open up here in Judea and Samaria.”

Reminder: There is still a gag order on the February Bat Yam bus bombing incident, which was rumored to have been a part of a much larger attempted attack.

Yemen:

Early Thursday morning (around 4:30 am), sirens were activated in Central Israel, in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and the wide surrounding areas, sending millions of Israelis to shelter.

The ballistic missile launched by the Houthis was intercepted shortly before entering Israeli airspace. No direct casualties were reported, although a small number of people were injured while running to shelter, or suffered from anxiety attacks after being woken up to the attack.

The U.S. continued heavily bombing Houthi targets in Yemen for the fifth day in a row. President Trump said the Houthi terrorists “will be completely annihilated.”

He added a harsh warning to Iran, expressing that while they slowed down weapons supply to Yemen, they are still sending a large amount, and must stop immediately.

Iran:

Axios reported that when Trump sent a letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, it included a two-month deadline for a nuclear deal.

It’s unclear when the two months begin—from when the letter was sent (around 1-2 weeks ago), or from when negotiations begin (not yet).

Khameini dismissed the hard letter as “deception,” but left the door open for talks if they focus on preventing nuclear weaponization, but not dismantling Iran’s nuclear program (which he claims is for civilian use). Trump demanded that Iran fully abandon their nuclear program.

Iran has enough 60% enriched uranium to produce six bombs, once fully enriched to 90%.

It seems unlikely that an agreement can come about in less than two months—the original JCPOA agreement took two years to form, and lacked key elements needed to prevent Iran from achieving their goal.

Currently, there is too huge a gap between the U.S.’s minimum expectations and the maximum Iran will agree to. Iran has turned to Russia and China, hoping that they will help move Trump’s demands. Iran knows that Trump still prefers a deal over military action.

We are yet to see if Israel will wait until the end of the two months to attack Iran, or if an attack will happen immediately after the two months end.

Other:

Walla News reported that according to new data, the year-long Turkish embargo on exports to Israel failed to make an impact. The Israeli economy easily found replacements, or created workarounds by exporting via third parties (which in many cases, the Turkish companies were happy to help organize, since they need their Israeli clients.)

Sponsored by Jeremy Bier In memory of his father Elliott Bier, a proud: Jew, Zionist, and US Navy veteran whose kindness and warmth touched so many. His legacy of strength and compassion will always be remembered.