War Summary, Day 560: Morag Corridor expanded and being paved, Gazans trying to figure out how to leave, Lebanese talking about peace with Israel, new Syrian regime intercepts weapons en route to terror groups, U.S. CENTCOM chief coming to Israel to talk Iran, and Israel boosting air defense systems in case of Iran attack.
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.
30,715 estimated projectiles fired at Israel.
10,000 Israelis estimated remain displaced from their homes.
1 Jewish nation united in prayer, charity, and good deeds.
Top Headlines:
- Morag Corridor expanded and being paved
- Methods of pressuring Hamas
- IDF hoping Gazans turn on Hamas
- Gazans trying to figure out how to leave
- Lebanese talking about peace with Israel
- New Syrian regime intercepts weapons en route to terror groups
- U.S. CENTCOM chief coming to Israel to talk Iran
- Israel boosting air defense systems in case of Iran attack
Hostages:
While the last proposal fell through, negotiations are quietly continuing. Hamas is showing more flexibility than previously, but still holds on to its ability to remain armed. Even in agreements to give control to a new government, Hamas only agrees for this to be temporary, for five to ten years.
IDF operations in Gaza remain focused on pressuring Hamas into agreeing to a deal. Hamas believes that they have time on their side, and will win if they drag things out for long enough, and tire Israel out. To combat this, and have Hamas feel urgency at the negotiating table, Israel’s current method is to take more Gazan land for the buffer zone every day, and insist that Gaza won’t get it back.
Gaza:
Thank G-d, today brought no rockets on Israel, or fallen heroes in Gaza.
The last few days saw heavy IDF action in Gaza, though the IDF chooses to remain ambiguous and not share details in order to keep Hamas on edge. Over the last 72 hours, the Air Force struck 200 terror targets across Gaza. Heavy airstrikes continue through the night (our windows are shaking here in Be’er Sheva).
Dozens of terrorists were eliminated today, amongst them, Ahmed Mansour, a member of the PIJ’s rocket formation who infiltrated Israel and participated in the October 7th massacre.
The buffer zone around Gaza has now doubled in depth, and in most parts covers a full 2 kilometers into Gaza.
Division 252 continues to operate in Northern Gaza, where today they found a group of terrorists hiding in a building which had underground tunnel infrastructure. The troops called an airstrike to get rid of the terrorists.
The IDF’s Gaza Division is still operating in the Shaboura and Tel Sultan neighborhoods of Rafah, working with an extreme thoroughness not achieved before. While the troops search for rocket launchers, weapons caches, and terrorists, the real hunt is for undiscovered tunnel routes where terrorists may be hiding or moving through the area unseen.
Troops are building a road on the Morag Corridor at an extremely fast pace—so far, 6 out of 12 kilometers of the road from Israel to the sea have been paved. The corridor was also expanded to include a two-kilometer buffer zone and security wall, to keep terrorists on the Khan Younis side at a distance.
The entire city of Rafah is intended to become part of the buffer zone, or an “expanded Philadelphi Corridor” with a 5-kilometer depth. So far, 250,000 Gazans have evacuated from the city, though some remain. The IDF is coordinating with the Red Cross to evacuate the remaining civilians out of the combat zone.
Two underground tunnel routes, which stretched from Rafah to Khan Younis, were recently discovered and destroyed. The IDF hopes that there are no more and that whichever terrorists remained in Rafah are now trapped, with no way to cross the Morag Corridor.
While Hamas is taking a heavy beating on the battlefield, they continue to recruit and add thousands more untrained terrorists to its military. These untrained fighters mainly work by hiding mines in IDF areas of operation. Since Hamas isn’t too concerned over the loss of life, and feels they have an endless supply of young boys to recruit, some assess that their real defeat will only come when the people in Gaza completely reject and turn on Hamas.
Gazans are increasingly turning on Hamas, with protests growing, despite local Hamas-controlled media doing their best to ignore it. By now, angry Gazans have executed a handful of Hamas members, and the trend is only increasing. The Gazan anger comes from Hamas’s failure to provide for the needs of the civilians, and from Hamas’s visible corruption and theft. As Hamas continues to refuse deals that would bring significant humanitarian aid into Gaza, and the Gaza supermarket shelves slowly empty, the locals get increasingly angry.
Hamas is also losing control because the IDF eliminated most of the local government and many of the police chiefs.
The IDF’s new department to help Gazans who want to migrate to a third country is operating very quietly, mostly in order to keep Hamas and their supporters from stopping Gazans from leaving. But many in Gaza are desperate to leave. They see entire families disappear, and don’t know how they did it, or who to contact. Many Gazans have turned to social media, where they are frantically trying to figure out how to get in touch with the program. At least two major Gazan influencers posted on their social media accounts asking for information on who to call, because they are eager and ready to get out.
Judea & Samaria:
The IDF operated throughout Judea and Samaria overnight, and arrested 20 terror suspects, 6 of whom are suspected of stone throwing. A cache of explosives was found in Nur a-Shams.
Lebanon:
The ALMA institute published an analysis of Israeli strikes in Lebanon since the start of the ceasefire on November 27, 2024, until April 18, 2025.
Out of 313 airstrikes, 46% occurred in the area south of the Litani River, where Hezbollah continues efforts to rebuild and prepare to attack Israel again.
Approximately 53% of the airstrikes were conducted north of the Litani River, in the Beqaa region, which is Hezbollah’s smuggling center.
There are subtle winds of change in Lebanon. In the past, most Lebanese were afraid of speaking about peace with Israel. Now it’s becoming increasingly accepted to publicly state a wish for normalization, and hope for Hezbollah to disarm.
Syria:
Syrian police in Daraa stopped a truck that was carrying a large number of weapons and munitions on its way to al-Suwayda province. The truck contained machine guns, Grad rockets (likely Iranian-made), and ammunition crates and steel boxes. The shipment was likely meant for terrorist militia in Syria, or to be further smuggled into Lebanon for Hezbollah.
Iran:
Israel remains on edge as U.S.-Iran negotiations continue. Messages as to the direction of the talks are mixed, some saying that the U.S. will agree to a dangerous deal, while others say that the U.S. will stick to the Libya model, which Israel approves of.
U.S. CENTCOM Chief Kurilla will be visiting Israel this week, to ensure that Israel and the U.S. are aligned on Iran. Kurilla has been a strong ally to Israel, and is in support of striking Iran’s nuclear program.
Since April 10, 26 U.S. heavy transport aircraft have landed in Israel’s Nevatim Air Force base, with supply shipments. The shipments reportedly contained many THAAD interceptors, in preparation for a possible Iranian attack. They also reportedly contained bunker busters, which could be used in an attack against Iran.
Other:
The new U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee presented his credentials to Israel’s President Herzog today, marking the start of his new role. Huckabee told Herzog: “We care deeply, Mr. President, about the threats that face Israel, because those are also the threats that face our country. I never want Americans to think that we Americans are not greatly benefited by our partnership with our ally Israel. We benefit dramatically in the sharing of intelligence, the sharing of technology, and the sharing of agricultural innovation, in which Israel has led the world.”
Sponsored in zchus of Moshiach coming right now. We should win didan notzach, and may everyone be reunited with their loved ones. Thank you Hashem, thank you Rebbe, and thank you to the Efune family! With love, the Weiss family & Living Chassidus
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