War Day 533: Israel to Begin Gaza Relocation, Fire from Three Fronts

War Summary, Day 533: Rockets fire from all three fronts: Gaza, Lebanon, and Yemen, Hamas refuses to disarm, Katz threatens to permanently take increasingly more Gazan territory if hostages aren’t returned, Israel to begin Gaza relocation plan, notorious Hamas intelligence leader eliminated, IDF soldier seriously injured in Shechem, IDF retaliates with heavy bombing of Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, strikes in Syria, Saudi Arabia takes on Houthi missiles, and notes from Steve Witkoff’s interview.

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.

Over the last two days, Israel’s Air Force carried out strikes against more than 200 terror targets in Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria.

Top Headlines:

– Rocket fire from three fronts: Gaza, Lebanon, and Yemen
– Hamas interested in negotiations, still refuses to disarm
– Katz threatens to permanently take increasingly more Gazan territory if hostages aren’t returned.
– Israel to begin Gaza relocation plan
– Notorious Hamas intelligence leader eliminated
– Hamas senior politburo eliminated
– IDF soldier seriously injured in Shechem
– IDF retaliates with heavy bombing of Hezbollah targets in Lebanon
– Strikes in Syria
– Saudi Arabia takes on Houthi missiles
– Notes from Steve Witkoff’s interview

Hostages:

Hamas is showing motivation to return to negotiations, due to the pressure from Israel returning to war. However, it is still not significant enough to come to an agreement.

In response to comments from Steve Witkoff about the need for Hamas to disarm, Husam Badran, a Senior Hamas official said: “As long as the occupation exists, this proposal is meaningless. The weapons of resistance are the weapons of the Palestinian people.”

The military operations in Gaza are still focused primarily on exerting pressure on Hamas to release the hostages. Late after Shabbat, already early Sunday morning, Israel’s security cabinet voted to move to the next phase of war in Gaza, exerting more pressure on Hamas.

Earlier, Defense Minister Israel Katz threatened that Israel will continuously expand the buffer zone around Gaza, cutting more and more into Gazan land—if Hamas continues its refusal to release the hostages. The buffer zone is under IDF control, and Katz says that the expansion will be permanent.

“As long as Hamas continues its refusal, it will lose more and more land that will be added to Israel,” Katz said.

According to Katz, the military campaign will expand on ground, the population of Gaza will be evacuated to the south of the strip, and Israel will begin implementing Trump’s voluntary migration plan for Gaza residents.

Gaza:

On Friday afternoon, Hamas fired two rockets at Ashkelon. They were intercepted by the Iron Dome, and no injuries were reported.

The rockets were fired from the Al-Farqan area in Northern Gaza, right near the humanitarian zone. After taking steps to avoid harming civilians, the IDF used a prison bomb to strike the launch site. Civilians were then called to evacuate the extended neighborhood, and given a final warning before heavy IDF action begins in the area.

On Friday, the IDF destroyed the former Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital. The hospital, which was located near the Netzarim Corridor in Central Gaza, had been converted into a Hamas military building over a year ago. There were no patients in the building, but Hamas terrorists were residing in it at the time of its demolition.

The airstrikes in Gaza over Friday and Shabbat continued to be very controlled and targeted. Over 100 terrorists were eliminated in the strikes, including several senior Hamas terrorists.

Most notably, Osama Tabash, the head of Hamas’s military intelligence in Southern Gaza was eliminated on Friday. He also headed Hamas’s Surveillance and Targets Department, and was once a company commander in the Khan Yunis Brigade. He is responsible for directing many deadly terror attacks over the last two decades, including the killing of at least two Shin Bet officers. Ahead of October 7th, Tabash planned the targets for rocket fire and raids for the massacre. During the ensuing war, he tracked IDF movement, and directed Hamas terrorists on firing at the IDF, and when to evacuate positions ahead of IDF fire. His elimination is a heavy blow to Hamas’s capabilities.

In addition, Hamas media reports that an airstrike eliminated Salah al-Bardaweel, a senior member of Hamas’s politburo.

Ahead of an expected escalation in the war, residents of Sderot were warned that they may hear loud explosions at night, as a result of IDF activity in Gaza.

There are early unconfirmed reports that Israel’s security cabinet voted to establish the Gaza Emigration Directorate. The directorate will help Gazans who want to leave Gaza, by escorting them on safe routes out of the country. The IDF estimates that around 50% of Gaza residents are eager to leave.

Judea & Samaria:

Counterterrorism operations in Schechem (Nablus) at the end of the week lead to the arrest of 15 terrorists, many weapons confiscated, and dozens of suspects interrogated. During Friday operations, troops came under fire, and one IDF reservist was seriously injured.

Lebanon:

Shortly after 7:30 a.m., 6 rockets were launched from Lebanon towards the Israeli border town of Metula. Three rockets fell short, and the other three were intercepted by Israel. Hezbollah denied launching the rockets—and no terror group took responsibility yet.

Immediately after the launch, the IDF fired artillery at the source of the launch. Then, the Air Force began two rounds of heavy bombing of Hezbollah targets throughout Lebanon. Targets included rocket launchers, weapons depots, command centers, and local Hezbollah headquarters.

Over 70 targets were struck. While most targets were south of the Litani River (including the city of Tyre), the IDF also struck some targets north of the river, including Hermel and Baalbek.

Israel pinned the responsibility for the rocket launches on the State of Lebanon, since under the ceasefire agreement, they are responsible for reigning in Hezbollah and other terror groups.

Lebanon isn’t doing a great job—since the beginning of the ceasefire, the IDF had to eliminate over 100 terrorists and target over 120 sites where Hezbollah was rebuilding and rearming past the Litani River.

Syria:

On Friday the IDF carried out extensive airstrikes on the Palmyra military airport and the nearby T-4 airbase in central Syria, to destroy strategic military capabilities from the previous Syrian regime.

On Shabbat, Syrian media reported an Israeli airstrike near the town of Najha, outside of the capital Damascus.

Yemen:

On Friday night, at 10:30pm, air raid sirens were activated in the wide Tel Aviv and Jerusalem areas, sending millions of Israelis to bomb shelters. The ballistic missile, launched by the Houthis, was intercepted before entering Israeli airspace, and no injuries were reported.

Around 6pm on Shabbat, there were reports that a Houthi ballistic missile launched at Israel fell short and landed in an empty area in Saudi Arabia. Later, at 9pm, reports came that the Saudis intercepted a missile over its airspace which was launched from Yemen towards Israel.

The U.S. has now been bombing Houthis sites in Yemen for more than a week straight. Saudi media reports that the latest strikes are the heaviest yet (this report could just be to reassure a nervous or angry population). Israel is not taking part in these strikes, at the U.S.’s request.

Steve Witkoff Interview:

U.S. President Trump’s envoy to the MidEast, Steve Witkoff, gave an interview to Tucker Carlson. From his interview it is strongly apparent that part of his strategy is to speak and think kindly about everyone he is involved in negotiations with, on both sides. So I won’t dive into the overly kind words he had for Qatar (or Putin for that matter).

Here are a few notable points from the interview, which give a picture of what’s going on now, from his perspective, by category:

Negotiations:

The last round of negotiations ended when Hamas turned down a very generous offer. Witkoff’s team was suppose that they turned it down. The U.S. supported Israel’s return to war, since there was nothing coming from the negotiations.

The return to war seems to be working at getting Hamas willing to compromise. Military pressure works.
Netanyahu is motivated to bring the hostages home.

Netanyahu is determined to get rid of Hamas and make sure they can’t do another October 7th. This sometimes clashes with the effort to bring the hostages home, because Hamas won’t release them all without a guarantee that they can remain armed and in power.

Trump’s policy is that Hamas cannot continue to exist in Gaza.

The plan to relocate Gazans is out of necessity. It will take 15-20 years to rebuild Gaza, and right now it is not safe to live in. The Gazan people should live somewhere safe where they can have a future. Trump is serious about this idea.

There is still openness from the Trump administration to hear alternative plans, so long as Hamas will not have military power anymore, cannot attack Israel anymore, and the people of Gaza can have a normal future.

Iran:

Witkoff credits Netanyahu with getting rid of Nasrallah (head of Hezbollah), and decapitating both Hezbollah and Hamas. He says that this gives higher strategic ground, and makes Iran more reluctant to use proxies.

Iran cannot go nuclear.

Trump strongly prefers negotiations, and told Iran that. He does not want war.

Iran showed interest in negotiations, though third party messengers.

Witkoff thinks there is a possibility of an agreement.

Trump will use military action to prevent war, if necessary.

Abraham Accords:

Witkoff believes that Lebanon may agree to full normalization with Israel.

He also believes that Al-Julani, of Syria’s new regime, may be a changed man from his Al-Qaeda youth, and may also come to normalization with Israel.

Saudi Arabia wants normalization with Israel, but needs a solution in Gaza first, or the Saudi youth who are online and have sympathy for Gazans may protest and destabilize the region.

He also dreams of Iran normalizing with Israel.

Sponsored by Miriam, for an iluy neshama of my grand parents, Chava Rachel bas R Shmuel, Susman HaLevy ben Yitzchak Yehezkel, and Sarah bas David, who all passed away in Adar – May Amalek be defeated completely and may Moshiach come immediately.