War Day 629: Paranoia in Tehran, Iran Agent Scatters Nails

War Summary, Day 629: Renewed hostage talks, Netanyahu gives IDF 24 hours to build new aid plan after Hamas seen hijacking aid trucks, America tries to get Iran back to the negotiation table, Israel will strike again if Iran tries to rebuild nuclear program, Houthis fail to attack Israel, Hezbollah money guy eliminated, Netanyahu & Trump may be moving towards a deal which includes a path to a Palestinian state, and Egypt control in Gaza.


By Mrs. Bruria Efune

50 held captive in Gaza.
28 hostages confirmed murdered held in Gaza.
148 living hostages rescued.
57 hostage bodies rescued.
1,892 Israelis killed.
439 fallen soldiers and police in the battle in Gaza.
88 fallen soldiers in Northern Israel.
18 fallen soldiers and police in Judea & Samaria.
32,345 estimated projectiles fired at Israel.
18,000 Israelis estimated remain displaced from their homes.
1 Jewish nation united in prayer, charity, and good deeds.

Top Headlines:

– Renewed hostage talks
– Tragedy in Gaza, 7 fallen soldiers
– Gaza clan fights Hamas in Nassar Hospital
– Netanyahu gives IDF 24 hours to build new plan, after Hamas seen hijacking aid trucks
– Confirmation: Iran’s nuclear plants are gone
– America tries to get Iran back to the negotiation table
– Signs of a very shaky ceasefire
– Israel will strike again if Iran tries to rebuild nuclear program
– Paranoia in Iran
– Houthis fail to attack Israel
– Hezbollah money guy eliminated
– Netanyahu & Trump may be moving towards a deal which includes a path to a Palestinian state, and – Egypt control in Gaza

Hostages:

U.S. President Trump told media that there is progress in a deal to free the hostages and end the war in Gaza. However, there remains a major clash between Israel’s needs and Hamas’s demands.

Taher al-Nunu, a member of Hamas’ political bureau who lives in Qatar, said that talks have intensified, but Hamas’s demands remain the same:

• A complete and permanent ceasefire (not like in Lebanon, where the IDF can prevent Hezbollah from rebuilding).
• A complete withdrawal of IDF forces from Gaza (including the Philadelphi Corridor, which runs along Gaza’s border with Egypt and allows Hamas to smuggle weapons into Gaza).
• A free flow of “humanitarian aid” to Gaza, and reconstruction plan.
• A significant number of terrorists released from Israeli prisons in exchange for the hostages. In the past, Hamas only agreed to release the hostages gradually, over an extended period of time, with some only released after several years of quiet.

Israel’s conditions in the past included:

• A complete demilitarization of Gaza (which Hamas refused).
• Exile of top Hamas leaders from Gaza.
• Israel retains the buffer zone and Philadelphi Corridor, to prevent new attacks against Israeli civilians.
• The release of 10 living hostages and 18 bodies in the first couple days of the ceasefire, and the remaining hostages after 60 days.

i24 News reports that Prime Minister Netanyahu may soon meet with Trump, to promote a hostage deal, and expand the Abraham Accords—more of that in the “Other” section below.

Gaza:

In a horrific tragedy, 7 IDF heroes fell in Gaza on Tuesday, their names:

Lt. Matan Shai Yashinovski, 21, from Kfar Yona
Staff Sgt. Ronel Ben-Moshe, 20, from Rehovot
Staff Sgt. Niv Radia, 20, from Elyakhin
Sgt. Ronen Shapiro, 19, from Mazkeret Batya
Sgt. Shahar Manoav, 21, from Ashkelon
Sgt. Maayan Baruch Pearlstein, 20, from Eshhar
Staff Sgt. Alon Davidov, 21, from Kiryat Yam

The seven are all from the 605th Combat Engineering Battalion. They were killed in Khan Younis, inside a Puma combat engineering vehicle, after a Hamas terrorist planted a bomb on its outside. (I don’t know why the CEV didn’t have a 360 surveillance camera system installed, which could have prevented the horrific tragedy.)

In a separate incident, two soldiers from the same battalion were injured by RPG fire, one lightly and one seriously.

**

The IDF has withdrawn the 252nd Division, which has been operating along the Netzarim Corridor in central and northern Gaza for the last four and a half months. The division did great work demolishing dozens of Hamas infrastructures, locating and demolishing 6 kilometers worth of tunnels, and eliminating numerous terrorists.

The 99th Division is now being sent to replace them.

According to information published by the IDF, there are now four divisions operating in Gaza:
Division 162, which has made significant progress in northern Gaza, and is now working through Jabaliya.
Division 99, which is just entering Gaza now, along the Netzarim Corridor that divides the north of Gaza from the center.
Division 36, which is pushing forward in Khan Younis, having begun on the southern edge.
Division 143 (the Gaza Division) in Khan Younis, the buffer zone, and other missions throughout Gaza.

In each area, after fighting off terrorists, the troops march for hidden rockets, tunnels, and explosive traps, and demolish every building with evidence of being used by Hamas (which is 99% of buildings). The IDF knows where the hostages are being held, but still takes precautions before demolishing infrastructure, to be certain of their safety.

The Divisions generally build corridors wherever they operate, to divide and separate Hamas factions, and add roads to enable IDF troops to travel quickly through Gaza, and easily reach their destination.

**

As Hamas weakens, they are losing control of the civilians in Gaza. The Hamas Arrow unit was created to suppress rebellion from within Gaza. A few days ago, they killed members of the Barbah clan—a very large family clan in Gaza, with strong alliances. The Barbah clan swore revenge, and is now fighting against Hamas. On social media, they posted intimidation videos with what appears to be around a hundred armed men.

Hamas’s Arrow unit went into hiding in the Nassar Hospital, in Khan Younis. The clan chased them into the hospital. Videos emerged with scenes of fire, gunshots, and destruction inside the hospital complex. Some report 20 casualties in the battle, as well as damage to three ambulances and trucks used by Hamas. (Sources: the FDD, and the “Palestinian Eagle.”)

Humanitarian Aid:

The Gaza Humanitarian Fund (GHF) continues to operate aid distribution sites in Gaza, where they distribute aid directly to civilians, without allowing Hamas to profit off it. Hamas continues to spread false rumors of violence at GHF distribution sites, and GHF intelligence says that Hamas is planning to attack their sites directly.

The GHF distribution sites are managed by armed American contractors with military experience. The IDF also provides a layer of defense from the outter perimeter.

Today the GHF distributed 38,880 boxes of aid, across three distribution sites in central and southern Gaza.
Approximately 46,589,422 meals distributed have been to-date via roughly 830,400 boxes.

**
Yesterday videos emerged of armed militia on humanitarian aid trucks which were being delivered to Northern Gaza (where the GHF does not operate). Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett shared the video on social media, and said that Hamas is continuing to steal trucks of aid delivered to Gaza by Israel, and is profiting off of it.

In response, PM Netanyahu and Defense Minister Katz gave the IDF 24 hours to come up with a new plan to deliver aid to northern Gaza without it getting into Hamas hands.

Some reports question if the armed militia seen in the video are Hamas, or other tribal clans who are emerging in Gaza in clashes with Hamas, and are trying to prevent Hamas from taking the aid. Since neither Hamas nor the clans wear military uniforms, there’s no way for the unfamiliar eye to know.

Iran:

As more reports come out, a consensus is emerging: Fordow was destroyed, as was all of Iran’s centrifuges.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir in a video statement says: “According to the assessment of senior officials in the IDF Intelligence Directorate, the damage to the nuclear program is not a localized blow, but a systemic one. The accumulated achievement allows us to determine that the Iranian nuclear program suffered severe, broad, and deep damage and was pushed back by years.”

Zamir also added that: “We will not allow Iran to produce weapons of mass destruction.”

A new International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) assessment determines that the entrifuges used to enrich uranium at all of Iran’s nuclear facilities have been completely destroyed.

Trump said that Israeli agents went to inspect Fordow after the bombing, and described it as “total obliteration.”

A Pentagon report gave more details, explaining that a U.S. intelligence duo have been working on a plan to destroy Fordow since 2009. The two studied maps of Fordow, and helped create the GBU 57 bomb used to destroy Fordow. The bomb was tested many times on accurate replicas, to ensure success. This wasn’t just a bunch of bomb dropped with fingers crossed—it was 15 years of in-depth research and development for this specific purpose.

Even CNN, which previously reported that the damage was minimal, now said that Fordow is inoperable, probably forever.

**

In an interview with channel 13, Defense Minister Israel Katz revealed that he wanted to eliminate Khameini, but “there was no operational opportunity.”

For the first time since the war, Khameini delivered a prerecorded video speech, in which he declared total victory. If you compare his appearance and body language in the new video to videos from just before the war, you’ll notice that he’s visibly more pale, weak, and looks completely broken.

**

The U.S. is now making efforts to resume talks with Iran, and bring about a new deal to prevent Iran from restarting their nuclear program. Oman offered to host talks next week, which the U.S. agreed to. Iran has not yet responded.

Iranian Foreign Minister Araqchi said today that Iran is “reviewing whether or not to return to negotiations with the United States.”

Counter to negotiations, Iran’s parliament voted to suspend cooperation with the IAEA, and the law has officially taken effect.

Responding to statements from Israel, that the IDF will attack again if any efforts to renew nuclear projects are made, Araqchi threatened, “Iran is not Lebanon. Israel will not attack whenever it wants, otherwise our response will be cruel.”

According to CNN, Trump is offering Iran a deal, which includes:

• No uranium enrichment in Iran
• $30 billion aid package for a civilian nuclear program, (likely funded by Qatar and other Gulf allies)
• A new nuclear site, without enrichment capabilities
• Release of frozen $6 billion belonging to Iran

(Iran would only accept such a thing if they really do want nuclear energy for civilian purposes only, which is highly unlikely.)

At a NATO conference, Trump acknowledged that the ceasefire is shaky, and that renewed fire between Israel and Iran is a possibility, saying, “It could happen one day. Maybe even soon.”

Security sources told me that they don’t believe it’s over yet with Iran, and unless the regime is overturned from within Iran, a second operation will be needed—and is already planned for. The question is not if, but when.

**

Reports are emerging of chaos, paranoia, and major crackdowns in Iran. CBC reports that the regime has set up checkpoints, especially around Kurdish areas. At the checkpoints, people are forced to hand over their phones for searches, and any hint of criticism of the state leads to arrest. At least 700 people have been arrested so far, and three executions were recorded.

A video emerged tonight of an apartment in a high riser on fire. Iranian state TV reported that an unknown drone strike targeted and eliminated two senior IRGC officials and a nuclear scientist. There is no evidence that this is true, and that it’s not just a regular house fire, but it’s clear that there is panic and fear of the Mossad operating within Iran.

**

Interesting to note: Israel Hayom reported that the during the 12 day war with Iran, American refueling aircraft assisted in refueling Israeli fighter jets.

**

In a rather bizarre event, the Shin Bet and Israel Police arrested Bashar Qassem Moussa, a student at Ben-Gurion University, and resident of Deir al-Asad, who carried out tasks under instruction of the Iranian regime.

Among other things, he is accused of:
Attempting to harm by scattering nails on a main road in Be’er Sheva, and encouraging divisive discourse.

Funny enough, just yesterday my husband found a nail in our tire (we live in Be’er Sheva). It took about 10 minutes to fix the puncture, but we could have stayed all day for the mechanic’s great stories. I rate this terror attack with a 1/10 for effectiveness, and 10/10 for amusement.

Yemen:

The Houthis in Yemen fired one missile towards Israel on Wednesday and another on Thursday. Both fell short outside of Israel. No sirens were activated, as the missiles didn’t even come close enough to be deemed a threat.

Lebanon:

In an airstrike on Tuesday, the IDF eliminated Haytham Abdullah Bakri, who headed the Al-Sadiq currency exchange. The exchange was to store and transfer money from the Iranian Quds Force to Hezbollah.

Last week the IDF eliminated Behnam Shahriyari in Iran, who headed the Quds Force’s Unit 190, responsible for the clandestine transfer of weapons to Iran’s proxy groups, especially Hezbollah. The elimination of these two combined makes for a severe blow to Hezbollah’s financing routes.

Two Hezbollah terrorists were eliminated today: one commander of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force, and another from Hezbollah’s observation array. Both were active in promoting Hezbollah activity in Southern Lebanon, in direct violation of the ceasefire agreement.

Other:

Ariel Kahana of Israel Hayom reports that Netanyahu and Trump are on the verge of signing a significant deal, perhaps within two weeks.

The general principals:

• The end of combat in Gaza within two weeks. After which, four Arab nations, including the UAE and Egypt, will administer the Gaza Strip in place of Hamas. The remaining Hamas leadership will be exiled to other countries, and the hostages will be freed. (For decades, Egypt turned a blind eye, or even assisted Hamas in smuggling weapons into Gaza, in exchange for bribes.)
• Multiple countries will absorb the many Gazans who wish to leave the strip.
• The Abraham Accords will expand to include Syria, Saudi Arabia, and other Muslim countries who will recognize Israel and establish official relationships.
• Israel will declare willingness for a conflict resolution akin to the “two states” concept, contingent on Palestinian Authority reforms.
• The U.S. will acknowledge Israeli sovereignty in some areas of Judea and Samaria.

Israel Hayom cites significant pressure on Israel to wrap up the war in Gaza.

While Netanyahu didn’t outright confirm this report, he did confirm efforts to expand the Abraham Accords, saying: “We fought powerfully against Iran and achieved a great victory. This victory opens up an opportunity to dramatically broaden the Abraham Accords. We are working on this vigorously. Along with freeing our hostages and defeating Hamas, we have a window of opportunity that cannot be missed. We cannot waste even one day.”

Sponsored anonymously, in honor of all those fighting to protect Israel, and in memory of all lives lost since October 7.

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