War Day 534: US Hostage Envoy Duped by Hamas, Targeted Eliminations

War Summary, Day 534: Witkoff says he was duped by Hamas, IDF maneuvers further into Gaza, prepares for major advance, four significant eliminations in Gaza announced, 20 terrorists arrested in Judea and Samaria overnight, targeted elimination in Lebanon, concerns over Turkey nearing Israel’s border in Syria, and ballistic missile from Yemen targets Yerushalayim and Tel Aviv areas.

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.
30,690 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:

– Witkoff says he was duped by Hamas
– IDF maneuvers further into Gaza, prepares for major advance
– Four significant eliminations in Gaza announced
– 20 terrorists arrested in Judea and Samaria overnight
– Targeted elimination in Lebanon
– Concerns over Turkey nearing Israel’s border in Syria
– Ballistic missile from Yemen targets Jerusalem and Tel Aviv areas

Hostages:

There are quiet reports that Hamas is beginning to crumble from the military pressure, but it does not appear that they are dropping the unreasonable demands yet.

In a Fox News interview, US envoy, Steve Witkoff, says he was “duped” by Hamas in the last round of negotiations.

“I was I was in, Doha. I met with, many of the Arab leaders at the Arab summit. I thought we had a deal, an acceptable deal. I I even I even thought we had an approval from Hamas. Maybe that’s just me getting, getting, you know, duped, but, but I thought we were there, and evidently, we weren’t.

“So this is on Hamas. The United States stands with the state of Israel. There’s just, that’s that’s a 100% commitment, and we’ve expressed that. Hamas had every opportunity to demilitarize, to accept the bridging proposal that would have given us a forty or fifty day cease fire where we could have discussed demilitarization and a final truce. There were all kinds of opportunities to do that, and they elected not to.”

Gaza:

Hamas did not succeed in firing any rockets into Israel today.

Thank G-d, no IDF heroes fell in battle.

Homefront Command further relaxed the guidelines for Israeli communities near Gaza.

Since Hamas has not yet agreed to release the hostages, the IDF is moving the pressure up another level.

The Gaza Division (143) and 252nd Division have begun to maneuver in several areas inside Gaza now. The 36th Division is preparing to enter Southern Gaza soon. The 36th Division is typically used when the IDF wants to move quickly and take over a significant area, which might see an intense battle.

In Northern Gaza, troops are in Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun. In Central Gaza, they are in the eastern half of the Netzarim Corridor. In Rafah, Southern Gaza, troops are in the Shaboura neighborhood, and have completed the encirclement of the Tel Sultan neighborhood.

These areas are all adjacent to the buffer zone, which was created along the perimeter of Gaza to prevent further attacks. Recent statements from the Defense Minister indicate that the IDF intends to hold at least some of these areas permanently, adding them to the buffer zone.

In each of these areas, troops eliminated terrorists, and destroyed new infrastructure laid by Hamas during the ceasefire, including rocket launchers and weapons caches. Before the troops entered on ground, the Air Force bombed out any known dangers, and then, when necessary, D9 (bulldozer) drivers cleared paths of mines. The Air Force also works closely with troops after they enter, striking targets whenever they need assistance.

While a large number of regular terrorists are being eliminated daily, the heavy focus has been on the political leadership, and the mid-level terror military commanders. The IDF announced three more high-profile terrorist eliminations today:

• Salah Bardawil, a senior official in Hamas’s Political Bureau who led Hamas’s strategic and military planning. He was eliminated while hiding in a tent in the Khan Younis section of the humanitarian zone.
• Ahmed Salman Och Shamali, the deputy commander of the Gaza Brigade. Shamali was in charge of operations and was responsible for preparing the offensive plan and building the brigade’s strength in preparation for the October 7th massacre. Additionally, during the war, he was responsible for deploying forces and preparing the Gaza Brigade to fight IDF forces in the region.
• Jamil Omar Jamil Wadia, commander of the Shajaiyah Battalion, after replacing the terrorist Wassam Farhat, who was eliminated in December 2023. Wadia was responsible for deploying the battalion’s force against IDF forces, and worked to rehabilitate and reorganize the battalion.

Later in the evening, Defense Minister Katz confirmed another high-profile hit:

• Ismail Barhoum, the new Prime Minister of Gaza, who took the role just a few days ago, after the previous Prime Minister was eliminated. Barhoum was eliminated in a precision strike which destroyed only the room he was hiding in, on the second floor of the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, Southern Gaza. The IDF went to extreme lengths to minimize any harm to nearby civilians while targeting the arch-terrorist. Barhoum was previously Hamas’s Head of Finance, and worked to get the funding for Hamas’s terror machine.

At the start of the war, Israel stated that it would eliminate all twenty members of Hamas’s Political Bureau. With three having been eliminated in the last week alone, the IDF has now gotten 11 out of 20. Of the nine still living, three are in Gaza, and six are abroad.

Gaza is shocked at the sudden fast pace of eliminations, of both terrorist politicians and commanders. What likely happened here is twofold: Ahead of the ceasefire, the IDF left a lot of hidden surveillance equipment all over Gaza. They also had surveillance drones over Gaza. The Gaza leadership had to come out of hiding during the ceasefire, to do their duties and try to prove that they could still run Gaza. The IDF was able to track them all. In addition, more than a thousand terrorists were released from IDF prison. During their time in prison, it’s likely that at least some flipped and agreed to pass intel on to the IDF once back in Gaza.

Expect more big news tomorrow. Massive airstrike are ongoing overnight in Central and Southern Gaza. With the 36th Division in position, things might start moving more quickly.

Judea & Samaria:

Overnight, IDF, police, and Shin Bet forces carried out several counterterrorism operations in Judea and Samaria. Forces arrested 20 wanted terrorists, interrogated suspects, and confiscated weapons.

Also last night, female surveillance soldiers spotted weapons smugglers near the village of A-Ras, as they were hiding weapons a bush. Forces searched the area, and confiscated the weapons.

Lebanon:

The IDF struck and eliminated a Hezbollah terrorist in Southern Lebanon, in a targeted strike.

In violation of the ceasefire agreement, Hezbollah terrorists are returning to the southern border villages, in plain clothes. The IDF is tracking them, and reporting them to the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), who are supposed to remove them. In accordance with the agreement, the IDF can only strike after giving fair warning to the LAF, or if danger to Israel is imminent. So the IDF tracks the terrorists, and only once they are seen repeatedly carrying out activities to rearm, the IDF strikes.

Syria:

There are reports that the Syrian regime is in talks with Turkey to take military control of the Tadmur region, in central Syria. While the region doesn’t border Israel, there is growing concern in the defense establishment that Israel could end up in direct clashes with Turkey, a NATO member. Plans are being made in preparation for this possible scenario.

In other concerning news, which validates the IDF presence in Southern Syria, both Hamas and the PIJ are reportedly working to set up terror cells in Syria, to be able to attack Israelis and IDF positions in Northern Israel (Ynet).

Yemen:

Around 7:30 a.m., sirens were activated in most of Central Israel, due a the launch of a ballistic missile from the Houthis in Yemen. The missile was intercepted before entering Israeli airspace.

The U.S. is continuing to heavily bomb the Houthis in Yemen, to stop them from attacking ships in the sea.

i24 News presented a fascinating interview with Ali Al-Bukhaiti, a former Houthi spokesman. Bukhaiti presented his opinion that the airstrikes won’t do much to stop the Houthis, whose compounds are too well hidden, but they will escalate to give the U.S. an excuse to bomb Iran. Asked what would stop the Houthis, he said only action on ground to overthrow them, or direct consequences to Iran, serious enough to stop them from funding and arming the Houthis.

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.