War Day 54: Ceasefire Set to End, IDF Operates in Jenin

War Summary, Day Fifty Four: With just hours left until the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is set to end, all eyes are on the ongoing negotiations to free more hostages, while the IDF prepares to resume their work.

By Mrs. Bruria Efune

War Summary, Day Fifty Four

145 held captive in Gaza.
102 hostages freed.
3 hostage bodies rescued.
1,200+ Israelis murdered.
70 fallen soldiers since entering Gaza.
7,776 injured.
10,500+ rockets fired at Israel.
187,533 Israelis displaced from their homes.
1 Jewish nation united in prayer, charity, and good deeds.

Hostage & Injured Updates:

At 4:00 p.m. Hamas announced that they transferred two abductees with Russian citizenship over to the Red Cross. The dual Israeli-Russian citizens were released as a goodwill gesture to President Vladimir Putin, for his support of Hamas.

At 11:00 p.m., the sixth set of Israeli hostages were released to the Red Cross as part of the temporary ceasefire deal. The group included ten Israelis and four Thais. A large mob of Gaza civilians surrounded the hostages and jeered at them as they were being handed over, and then chased after and banged on the Red Cross vans to intimidate them—a practice they’ve been doing during every release.

Prof. Itai Pesach, director of the Safra Children’s Hospital in Sheba announced that several of the women hostages that they admitted yesterday are suffering from complex illnesses and injuries sustained when they were kidnapped. Their medical condition is complex, but not current life-threatening.

Ichilov Hospital reported that the released child hostages in their care lost between 10-17% of their body weight, and are suffering from malnutrition from not only the small lack of food, but the lack of necessary nutrients and sunlight. The hospital noted that the children will need intensive recovery plans, both physically and emotionally.

In disturbing news reported by Channel 12, one of the hostages who was released said they were held for fifty days in the attic of a house belonging to a UNRWA teacher. During this time, the URWA teacher, and father of ten, barely provided the hostage with food, and did not provide needed medicine. Another child hostage was held by a Gaza civilian doctor, who continued to treat patients, but abused and starved the Israeli child. A released Thai hostage said that when he was held together with Israeli hostages, he saw that they were being treated far worse, and were beaten with electric cables.

Hamas is still holding four child hostages: The Bibas children, Kfir (10 months) and Ariel (4-years-old) who were taken hostage with their parents, Shiri and Yarden from Kibbutz Nir Oz; and siblings Bilal Ziyadne (18-years-old), and Aisha Ziyadne (17-years old), from the Bedouin areas near Rahat, who were kidnapped with their father Youssef, 53, and older brother Hamza, 23, while working in the fields near Kibbutz Holit.

Hamas has not said a word about Bilal and Aisha. Today Hamas announced that the Bibas family were killed. The IDF is not taking their word at face-value, and is examining the reliability of the information.

Hamas has not yet allowed the Red Cross to visit the remaining hostages, which is a clear violation of the ceasefire agreement. The United States asked Qatar to put pressure on Hamas to allow these visits.

Head of Mossad, Dedi Barnea, travelled to the Emirates with the head of the CIA to work on a new hostage release agreement that would allow for men to go home too.

Reports indicate that Hamas wants to extend the truce by four days, however, they’re demanding much more for their release, including requests the IDF will not approve. Aside from the unreasonable requests being unanimously vetoed anyway, the Israeli government cabinet needs to vote to approve any deal with different conditions, or any extension that would go over a total of 10 days.

Amidst speculation and rumors, the Prime Minister’s secretary, Yossi Fuchs, commented, “I will give you a rule of thumb in these tense days to know how to distinguish between news and fake news. Any news about a hostage release deal that leads to the end of the war or a prolonged ceasefire = fake news.”

The Israeli War Cabinet has not yet decided if they Weill agree to extend the ceasefire deal, which otherwise ends early in the morning. Reports in Israel indicate that Hamas didn’t yet submit an acceptable list of prisoners to free.

Thirty Palestinian security prisoners—female and juvenile—were released as part of the deal. Included amongst them is Ahed Tammy, who was arrested after October 7th, for promoting violence against Jews.

Gaza Front Updates:

After Hamas terrorists broke the ceasefire several times last night, the IDF soldiers eliminated 3 of them.

Reports indicate that Hamas has been taking advantage of the ceasefire to reposition their terrorists, and set up traps.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu again strongly emphasized that the IDF will return to battle and wipe out Hamas completely. In a statement he said, “There is no way we are not going back to fighting until the end. This is my policy, the entire cabinet stands behind it, the entire government stands behind it, the soldiers stand behind it, the people stand behind it – this is exactly what we will do.”

Defense Minister Yoav Galant echoed similar statements and said, “These tanks are already in the hands of the forces after they have been taken care of. I am saying here, soon the tanks, The Nemer APCs and all the other weapons of war will return to action all over Gaza. If anyone has any doubts, very soon we will continue, we will maneuver and we will reach the defeat of the enemy, and the return of the kidnapped to their homes.”

Gaza Humanitarian Efforts Updates:

Four diesel fuel tanks and four cooking gas tanks were transferred from Egypt to UN humanitarian aid organizations in the Gaza Strip, through the Rafah crossing. In addition, about 200 trucks of food and medical supplies were transferred to the international aid organizations in Gaza. Multiple Field Hospitals are being set up in Southern Gaza.

The humanitarian pause was also used to coordinate the repair of civilian infrastructure, such as waterlines and telecommunications sites. Today the main waterline was restored, and is supplying civilians again.

Judea and Samaria Updates:

Last night the IDF continued the campaign to remove terror groups from Jenin. They were the most active in Jenin, where they eliminated the commander of the (PIJ) Jenin Battalion, Muhammad Zabeidi. During the operation, Jenin terrorists opened fire, and gun battles broke out, resulting in several dead and injured. No injuries to our soldiers were reported.

So far, 100 operations and activities have been carried out in terrorist strongholds in Judea and Samaria, and throughout Israel, and more than 2,000 wanted persons have been arrested

International Updates:

The U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken landed in Israel ahead of his meetings tomorrow with Prime Minister Netanyahu and members of the War Cabinet.

Today Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu met with the management of AIPAC, at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem, and thanked them for their deep and consistent support for the State of Israel.