War Summary, Day 607: Hostage bodies recovered, Iran orders missile materials from China, Houthi missile intercepted near Yerushalayim, Israeli airstrikes hit Hezbollah underground sites in Beirut, Hezbollah drone engineers trained in Iran, secret militia deal exposed by Israeli politician, Macron threatens Israel, and Israel-Germany finalize $4.3B Arrow 3 deal.
By Mrs. Bruria Efune
56 held captive in Gaza.
33 hostages confirmed murdered held in Gaza.
148 living hostages rescued.
51 hostage bodies rescued.
1,850 Israelis killed.
425 fallen soldiers and police in the battle in Gaza.
88 fallen soldiers in Northern Israel.
18 fallen soldiers and police in Judea & Samaria.
30,733 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:
– Bodies of two hostages retrieved
– IDF advances in Khan Younis
– Israel arming Gazan clan
– Thousands of Gazans rebel against Hamas and line up at GHF
– Missile from Yemen
– Iran ordered massive supplies from China
– Israeli airstrikes in Beirut
Hostages:
In an overnight operation (Wednesday-Thursday), the IDF recovered the bodies of Judy Weinstein-Haggai (70) and Gadi Haggai (72), from the Khan Younis area in Gaza.
Judy and Gadi were killed on October 7th, in Kibbutz Nir Oz, and their bodies were taken hostage to Gaza. They were murdered and held by the Kataeb al-Mujahideen terror group—the same terror group that murdered Shiri Bibas and her two babies.
The IDF found the bodies of Judy and Gadi after a terrorist was captured and interrogated in Gaza, and gave the information. No other hostages were at risk during the rescue operation.
Gaza:
Thank G-d, no fallen soldiers were announced today!
Five divisions continue to operate in Gaza: Division 162 is operating in Northern Gaza, with Division 252 pushing into Gaza City and the Netzarim Corridor. Division 36 is in southern Khan Younis, while Division 98 is in the north and center of Khan Younis. The Gaza Division (143) is holding the Rafah area, Morag Corridor, and buffer zone, while continuing to clear and expand the areas.
In the last couple of days, forces destroyed thousands of terror infrastructures, including many tunnels and entryways which were previously undiscovered or abandoned.
Significant advancements were made in Khan Younis on both sides, but particularly by Division 98, which has entered the heart of the city, giving them strategic control.
Amongst the many airstrikes today, the IDF targeted a Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) command and control center, which was in the courtyard of the Al-Ma’amdani Hospital in the Gaza City area.
Prior to the attack, steps were taken to reduce the chance of harming civilians, including the use of precision weapons, aerial observations, and additional intelligence information.
**
Israel has been arming Yasser Abu Shabab (the clan leader I reported about yesterday—be sure to go back and read it if you didn’t yet). Originally, the IDF intended to keep this secret, in order not to harm the operation, but Israeli politician, Avigdor Liberman, outed the secret today.
Israel provided Abu Shabab’s militia with Kalashnikov rifles which had been taken from Hamas. The militia is operating in Rafah, in an area under IDF control.
The IDF is using Abu Shabab to help fight Hamas, and will soon have his militia keeping Hamas out of new humanitarian zones in Rafah. In the short-term, Abu Shabab’s men can do a more efficient (and ruthless) job at keeping Hamas out of Rafah, which will mean less IDF soldiers lives put at risk.
It’s the longterm that raised controversy in Israel. On the one hand, since clans like Shabab’s are less ideologically-driven, they may be easier for Israel to work with, and less likely to attack Israel of it doesn’t suit their interests. However, once armed and empowered, there’s no knowing what the small militia can turn into, and it could be very hard to drive them back.
I24 news reports that an unidentified Arab county is involved in in training Shabab’s militia, and that the Palestinian Authority maintains direct ties with him.
Humanitarian Aid:
88 trucks carrying humanitarian aid entered the Gaza Strip through the Kerem Shalom Crossing following inspection yesterday, (June 4). The trucks carried food aid and flour for bakeries.
The Gaza Humanitarian Fund (GHF) opened its fourth distribution center today. There are now three in Rafah, and one in Central Gaza. Over 49,700 boxes of food were given out today, an equivalent of nearly 1.5 million meals.
This means that nearly 50,000 Gazans showed up today to receive a box of food, despite threats from Hamas, and a declaration that anyone who goes to the GHF sites will be branded as a traitor.
**
The IDF released an audio recording of a phone call, in which a Gazan tells the IDF’s COGAT division that Hamas is shooting at civilians who attempt to receive aid from the GHF.
In the phone call, the Gazan testifies: “Those who shot were Hamas members, they don’t want people to receive aid, they want to overthrow the plan so that the aid goes to them, so that they can steal, they have completely gone bankrupt.”
Yemen:
Around 9:50 pm, sirens were activated in the extended Jerusalem area, due to a ballistic missile launched by the Houthis in Yemen.
The missile was, thank G-d, successfully intercepted.
Iran:
The Wall Street Journal reported that Iran ordered thousands of tons of missile materials from China. The shipments, which includes tons of ammonium perchlorate (a missile propellant), are expected to arrive in Iran in the coming months. The materials could support the production of up to 800 ballistic missiles, some of which would be sent to the Houthis in Yemen, and other Iranian allies.
According to an Axios report, Israel has assured the White House that it will not attack Iran’s nuclear facilities until Trump signals that the talks with Iran have failed.
Lebanon:
After issuing evacuation warnings, the IDF struck several targets in the Dahiya district of Beirut, and in Southern Lebanon.
The IDF targeted Hezbollah’s Air Unit (127), which was responsible for over a thousand drone attacks against Israel during the war.
The targets were underground production sites, where Hezbollah was working to manufacture thousands of UAVs for attacking and spying on Israel. The production was sponsored and directed by Iran. The IDF identifies that Hezbollah engineers had travelled to Iran for training to manufacture the drones—even after the ceasefire agreement went into affect.
According to the ceasefire agreement between Lebanon and Israel, Hezbollah is not allowed to act to rearm, and the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) must stop them if they attempt to do so. While Hezbollah was blatantly violating the agreement, the LAF made no significant effort to stop them.
Israel’s Minister of Defense, Israel Katz, said that Israel will continue to enforce the ceasefire agreement, while holding the Lebanese government fully responsible for any terror activity in their territory which targets Israel.
Other:
French Prime Minister Emmanuel Macron is continuing to threaten Israel, and now says that France will decide in the coming days whether to take concrete measures against Israel.
Meanwhile, Germany’s Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul voiced an opposing view, and stated that the European Union should uphold its cooperation agreement with Israel. He stated that recognizing a Palestinian state at this time would send the wrong message.
The foreign minister added that Germany will continue to supply arms to Israel.
Meanwhile, Israel and Germany are finalizing a historic $4.3 billion deal, to provide Germany with the Arrow 3 missile defense system.
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