War Day 610: Imminent Terror Attack Prevented, Hostage’s Body Recovered

War Summary, Day 610: Body of hostage Pinta Nattapong retrieved, four fallen heroes in booby trapped building, Hamas’s main command center explored, Mujahideen terror leader eliminated, two “journalists” eliminated were PIJ terrorists, Hamas forces GHF to close for a day, Iran’s time may be running out, Trump says zero enrichment, and an imminent terror attack prevented.

By Mrs. Bruria Efune

55 held captive in Gaza.
33 hostages confirmed murdered held in Gaza.
148 living hostages rescued.
52 hostage bodies rescued.
1,854 Israelis killed.
429 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:

– Body of hostage Pinta Nattapong retrieved
– Cruel psychological terror from Hamas
– Tragic: four fallen heroes
– Hamas’s main command center explored
– Mujahideen terror leader eliminated
– Two “journalists” eliminated were PIJ terrorists
– Hamas forces GHF to close for a day
– Iran’s time may be running out
– Trump says zero enrichmentImminent terror attack prevented
– Key terrorists arrested in Samaria operations

Hostages:

The IDF recovered the body of hostage Pinta Nattapong, from Thailand.

Pinta came to Israel for work, in order to support his family in Thailand. He was taken hostage alive in Kibbutz Nir Oz, on October 7th, by the Kata’ib al-Mujahideen terror group.

While there was concern for his life, there was no confirmation that Pinta had been killed in captivity, until now. His body was found in Rafah, following intelligence received from a terrorist captured in the area.

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Hamas has attempted yet another twisted form of psychological terror, and a desperate attempt at stopping the IDF from advancing. I usually don’t share the details of these, but this time the background is important to understand. Skip to the next section if you are extra sensitive.

Hamas released a photo of hostage Matan Zangauker, with the caption “He will not return alive.”

Hamas’s spokesman wrote that Israeli forces are surrounding the location where hostage Matan Zangauker is held. He declared that Israel :will not recover him alive,” and that the IDF will bear responsibility if Matan is killed during a rescue attempt.

The IDF says that there is currently no operation to rescue Matan Zangauker.

Hamas has published far more photos and videos of Matan Zangauker, compared to any other hostage. During the last ceasefire, when hostages were released, Hamas sent a cruel “gift” to his mother: an hourglass with the words “time is running out.”

Matan’s mother, Einav Zangauker is a very public and outspoken figure in the protests for the release of the hostages, who gained significant attention for demanding a hostage deal and ceasefire at all costs, and blaming Prime Minister Netanyahu for her son’s continued languishing in Hamas tunnels.

Obviously there should be no criticism, and only empathy, for a mother desperate to bring her son home. However, since Hamas specifically wants Israelis to rally for a deal “at all costs,” and sees Einav as the lead voice calling for it, they have chosen to torment her in particular, as a prod for more such protests. Today’s cruel publication got the exact response they hoped for.

Pray for Matan ben Einav to quickly be freed from Hamas captivity, alive, and to have a complete recovery.

Gaza:

The IDF announced the names of four heroes who fell in battle in Gaza:

Sgt. Maj. (res.) Chen Gross, 33, from Gan Yoshiya
Staff Sgt. Yoav Raver, 19, from Sde Warburg
Sgt. First Class Tom Rotstein, 23, from Ramat Gan
Staff Sgt. Uri Yhonatan Cohen, 20, from Neve Yarak

The soldiers had entered a building in Khan Younis, in order to clear it of terror infrastructure—including tunnels. Tragically, the building was boob-trapped, and a massive explosion caused the building to collapse. In addition to the four killed, five others were injured, including one seriously.
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On Friday, the IDF Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, approved plans for the continuation of the operation in Gaza.

Five divisions continue to operate in Gaza: Division 162 is operating in Northernmost 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.
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Division 36 reached the European Hospital in Khan Younis, and entered Hamas’s infrastructure and tunnels underneath the hospital. This is the same tunnel where Hamas’s last leader in Gaza, Muhammad Sinwar, was eliminated in an attack with multiple heavy bombs.

In the tunnel, forces found Hamas’s main command and control room, weapons, and valuable intelligence artifacts. Troops also found several bodies of terrorists, whose identities are now being checked.

While not published, I can tell you that the IDF knew about this tunnel already at the very beginning of the war, but did not approach it due to the presence of hostages. There were no longer any hostages in the tunnel when it was bombed.
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The IDF confirmed that two “journalists” killed in an airstrike in Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City were in fact registered Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorists. Suleiman Hani Saliman Hajaj was the deputy commander of an engineering cell in the PIJ, and Samir al-Rifai was a regular ranking PIJ terrorist.

Both terrorists posed as journalists in order to carry out acts of terror, lay booby traps, and move around terrorists and their weapons. Their deaths brought international condemnation for “targeting journalists.”
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In two separate attacks, the IDF eliminated the head of the Kata’ib al-Mujahideen terror group, and one of the Mujahideen terrorists who held Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir Bibas.

Asaad Abu Sharia headed the small but horrible terror group, and was one of the leaders of the raid and massacre in Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7th.

The Mujahideen kidnapped the Bibas family, Judy Weinstein-Haggai and Gadi Haggai, and Pinta Nattapong. Abu Sharia was directly involved in the killing of Shiri Bibas and her children, as well as of Pinta Nattapong. The terror group is closely allied with Hamas, and took part in the war in Gaza, as well as in coordinating attacks against Israel, both from within Gaza, and through terrorists recruited in Judea and Samaria.

The second eliminated terrorists was Mahmoud Muhammad Hamed, who took part in the massacre in Kibbutz Nir Oz, and then took part in holding Shiri Bibas and her children captive.

The Mujahideen took part in Hamas’s October 7th massacre without knowing Hamas’s plans, but simply in support of Hamas’s terrorism against Israel.

Humanitarian Aid:

In the last week, 350 trucks carrying humanitarian aid entered the Gaza Strip through the Kerem Shalom Crossing. The trucks carried food aid, including flour for bakeries.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) announced that it was unable to distribute aid to the people in Gaza today. In the clear words of the announcement:

“Hamas is the reason hundreds of thousands of hungry Gazans were not fed today. The group issued direct threats against GHF operations. These threats made it impossible to proceed today without putting innocent lives at risk.

“Hamas wants to return to a broken system it once controlled and exploited—diverting aid, manipulating distribution, and putting its own agenda ahead of the Palestinian people’s basic needs. However, GHF will not be deterred. We remain committed to safe, secure, and independent aid delivery. We are actively adapting our operations to overcome these threats and fully intend to resume distributions without delay.”

Yemen:

Friday and Shabbat passed with no attacks from Yemen, thank G-d.

Iran:

Around five days remain until the end of U.S. President Trump’s original two-month time limit for nuclear talks with Iran.

The Iranian regime is still insisting that they will continue to enrich uranium, which they claim is for “civilian purposes.” (Civilian purposes needs just around 3%, Iran is enriching to 60%.)

When asked about Iran’s enrichment today, Trump told a reporter: “They won’t enrich. If that happens, we’ll have to do it the other way. And I really don’t want to do it the other way, but we’ll have no choice. There won’t be enrichment.”

Israel feels that time is running out, but has told Trump that they won’t attack Iran without his green light.

Judea & Samaria:

Over the past 24 hours, Israeli security forces, including the Shin Bet, IDF, Yamam, and undercover Border Police, thwarted an imminent terror attack and arrested seven key terrorists in and around Jenin as part of ongoing counterterror operations in northern Samaria.

This morning, forces operated in Wadi Burqin in the Jenin, area to arrest Muslam Masarwa, a key operative in the Jenin terror organization. Two other wanted terrorists from the same terror cell were arrested with him.

In a separate operation yesterday evening, elite security forces operated to arrest a terrorist who was planning an imminent attack. As the forces approached the targeted building, two terrorists fled. The firsts shot the terrorists in their lower body. One was arrested, along with four additional wanted terror suspects.

This operation followed a recent operation at the end of May, in which forces arrested three terrorists in the Jenin area, who were planning an imminent attack. During that mission, two M16 rifles and loaded magazines were found, believed to be intended for the planned attack.

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Sponsored by Merle Solomon, in merit of a refuah sheleimah for Naomi bat Rut.

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