War Summary, Day 662: Israel may annex parts of Gaza if hostages aren’t returned, UK’s Prime Minister threatens to recognize a Palestinian State, UN conference on two-state solution, Qatar behind false famine media campaign, massive effort to distribute aid, popular “Palestinian activist” killed after throwing stones at Israeli workers, and Hezbollah is on its dying breath.

By Mrs. Bruria Efune

50 held captive in Gaza.
28 hostages confirmed murdered held in Gaza.
148 living hostages rescued.
57 hostage bodies rescued.
1,916 Israelis killed.
459 fallen soldiers and police in the battle in Gaza.
88 fallen soldiers in Northern Israel.
18 fallen soldiers and police in Judea & Samaria.
32,357 estimated projectiles fired at Israel.
1 Jewish nation united in prayer, charity, and good deeds.

Top Headlines:

Apologies for the recent lack of updates—I was recovering from an awful virus. Hopefully we’re back, thank G-d!

• Israel may threaten Hamas with annexation of parts of Gaza, if hostages aren’t returned
• UK’s Prime Minister to reward Hamas by recognizing a Palestinian State, if Israel doesn’t stop the war—even without the release of the hostages
• UN conference talks about steps towards a two-state solution
• Gulf states call on Hamas to return the hostages and give up arms
• 3 fallen heroes in Gaza
• Progress in Gaza, along with stalling
• Qatar may be behind the famine media campaign
• Massive effort to distribute aid in Gaza
• NYT and other media shares false images of famine
• 30th victim succumbs to wounds from Iranian missile
• Popular “Palestinian activist” killed after throwing stones at Israeli workers
• Hezbollah on its dying breath

Hostages:

Prime Minister Netanyahu told families of hostages that he is still trying to get a hostage deal made—even after U.S. President Trump and envoy Witkoff said that Hamas totally sabotaged talks and made it clear that they don’t want to release the remaining hostages. He told the families that Israel is still communicating with mediators, including Qatar, and will “continue to do everything we can in one way or another. We are committed to their return.”

In a government cabinet meeting today, ministers discussed the possibility of annexing parts of Gaza, if Hamas doesn’t return the remaining hostages (Israel Hayom). Kan News says that Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer already got the U.S. backing to do so. Annexation is a big deal, and very difficult to reverse (in today’s government, it would be near impossible to undo). However, the discussion did not yet lead to a conclusion, and will be continued tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the U.K.’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced that England will recognize a Palestinian State by September “unless the Israeli government takes substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza.”

Critics point out that since the war won’t end until Hamas agrees to release the hostages and disarm, Starmer is effectively telling Hamas that if they don’t release the hostages, then the UK will recognize a Palestinian State.

Unlike Starmer, some European countries might secretly understand what they’re doing wrong: Foreign Minister Gideon Saar says that “more than one European foreign minister” has told him they realized the letter demanding Israel make a ceasefire was a mistake. It was counterproductive and only emboldened Hamas to harden its stance in ceasefire talks.

**

France and Saudi Arabia co-hosted a UN conference to advance the “two-state solution,” and recognize a Palestinian State. The U.S. boycotted the conference, calling it “unproductive and ill-timed,” and “a slap in the face to the victims of October 7th and a reward for terrorism.”

At the conference, the countries planned concrete steps toward the establishment of a Palestinian State, and stated that UNRWA (known for its many Hamas employees) is essential to Gaza.

The countries, including Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt, also called on Hamas to release the hostages and give up their arms.

**

Gaza:

On the weekend, the IDF announced the names of three heroes who fell in battle in Gaza:

Cpt. Amir Saad, 22, from Yanuh-Jat
Sgt. Inon Nuriel Vana, 20, from Kiryat Tiv’on
Sgt. Maj. (res.) Betzalel Yehoshua Mosbacher, 32, from Avnei Eitan

The three were killed in two separate incidents after their vehicles were hit by roadside bombs in Khan Younis, Southern Gaza.

There are five IDF divisions operating in Gaza. From north to south:

The 162nd Division has been hard at work in Jabaliya, which now appears to be under full operational control (though not yet declared). Troops are destroying buildings which contain booby-traps, Hamas weapons, and tunnel shafts—which is most buildings. Recently, they found and destroyed a 400 meter long tunnel.

Division 99 has been spread thin between The Netzarim Corridor, Beit Hanoun, and the Shejaya and Daraj & Tuffah neighborhoods of Gaza City.

Beit Hanoun now seems largely under control, with over half of the buildings reduced to rubble and more in the process. In addition to eliminating many terrorists, the troops found and destroyed many tunnels, most recently one that was around 500 meters long.
Last week, the troops found a tractor in Beit Hanoun which had been stolen on October 7th from farmers in Kibbutz Kfar Aza. The troops returned the tractor back to the kibbutz farmers.

In Shejaya, troops are pushing towards the strategic Salah-a-Din road, which crosses through the center of Gaza City, in a south-north direction. In Daraj and Tuffah, troops are mainly fighting booby-traps, while about a dozen terrorists are estimated to be hiding between tunnels in the area.

The 98th Division was thought to be headed into Deir al-Balah, but the IDF seems to have pulled back from the area. Previously they were operating in Beit Hanoun (with the 99th) and the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City.

The 36th Division is mid south, in Khan Younis, where they are mostly focusing on the area of the new Magen Oz Corridor—finding many weapons and tunnels, and destroying Hamas infrastructure (which again seems to be in almost every building).
Today the IDF released footage of the a Hamas tunnel the troops found, which stretched over a kilometer ling, and lay 15 meters below ground. The tunnel was full of Hamas weapons and RPG missiles.

The Gaza Division (143) is primarily operating in Rafah. Interestingly, there is one neighborhood in eastern Rafah where the IDF left most buildings standing—this is Abu Shabab’s village. The IDF has been working with Gaza rebel, Abu Shabab, who has moved back into the village with his Bedouin tribe, the Tarabin, who have lived there for a few generations. In an op-ed in the WSJ, Abu Shabab says that his “popular front” fighters have been successfully keeping Hamas out of their village, and now feel like for them, the war is over. They have homes, food, and water, and are beginning to rebuild their lives.

Shabab hopes that more Gazans will be able to move into Eastern Rafah, and leave Hamas behind. He does not talk about peace with Israel, but of working with Israel “out of necessity.”

Humanitarian Aid:

After a massive media campaign spread false reports that Israel is starving Gaza, the Israeli government and IDF began implementing multiple steps, to force more food into Gazan civilian hands.

1. Humanitarian Corridors and pauses: Until Friday, the contents of over 900 trucks worth of humanitarian aid sat waiting at a designated pickup spot in Gaza, for UN aid organizations to distribute. The IDF gave the UN five protected routes to drive through, but the UN refused to. So the IDF went to the extreme, and announced designated humanitarian corridors, where the IDF won’t operate, and humanitarian pauses during the day in most areas along the Gazan coast, so that aid organizations can distribute aid without any combat in the vicinity. This means that Hamas will be able to operate freely during these times, and in the places, without IDF strikes. Included in the humanitarian pause area is Deir al-Balah, for which the IDF very recently gave an evacuation order, but now withdrew.
2. Humanitarian aid drops: In collaboration with the UAE, Jordan, and Egypt, the IDF began dropping humanitarian aid with parachutes over civilian areas in Gaza. So far 4 drops have been done, with between 20-52 pallets of aid dropped in each. Many Gazans complain about these drops, as being below their dignity. The UN has called for them to stop.
3. The IDF reconnected power supply (from Israel’s grid) to central Gaza’s desalination plant, which will supply approximately 20,000 cubic meters of water per day, up from the 2,000 cubic meters supplied until now, to serve about 900,000 residents in the area.
4. The UAE, in collaboration with Israel, began to construct a water pipeline from a desalination facility in Egypt to the Al-Mawasi area along the coastline in Gaza. The pipeline is intended to serve approximately 600,000 residents in the area and will operate independently of Israel’s water pipelines.

Aid is pouring into Gaza, at nearly the same speed as Hamas had been demanding in a hostage-ceasefire agreement. On Monday:

• Over 200 trucks of food were collected and distributed by the UN and international organizations.
• An additional 260 trucks entered Gaza and are now awaiting collection and distribution, along with hundreds of others still queued for UN pickup.
• 4 tankers of UN fuel entered for the operation of “essential humanitarian systems.”
• 20 pallets of aid were airdropped in cooperation with the UAE and Jordan.

None of the above aid has any guarantees that it is not all being stollen by Hamas.

Separately, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation continues to distribute an average of 2 million meals per day. This aid does not reach Hamas.

**

PM Netanyahu and the IDF are adamant that there was and is no famine in Gaza. There may have been some small pockets with food shortage—particularly in the areas in Northern Gaza where civilians were warned to evacuate a long time ago. Food variety has been limited, and prices did rise drastically (before falling back down this week), due to the UN barely delivering the aid, and Hamas stealing most of it.

The media has been full of false information and deception about famine in Gaza. Two pictures of extremely emaciated children went viral, with claims that they starved because of an Israeli blockade.

The first child was Osama al-Rakab. The IDF’s COGAT division clarified that Osama suffers from a serious genetic illness unrelated to the war—and isn’t even in Gaza anymore. On June 12th, COGAT coordinated Osama’s exit from Gaza with his mother and brother through the Ramon airport. He is now receiving treatment in Italy.

The other child was 18-month-old Mohammed Zakaria al-Mutawaq, who graced the New York Times front page. The NYT claimed that he was dying of starvation because of the IDF. Days later, the paper issued a small note explaining that they found out that the child had pre-existing health problems, unrelated to famine. In the published photos, the NYT had cropped out al-Mutawaq’s healthy looking brother.

The NYT also claimed that there is no evidence of Hamas stealing humanitarian aid. The IDF published a video of armed Hamas gunmen violently hijacking and looting aid trucks in Gaza. We’ve already seen several other such videos, and a recent video of Gazans breaking into a Hamas warehouse, where they found literal tons of flour being hoarded. The IDF also shared many photos of Hamas terrorists in tunnels with excessive piles of food in bags labeled as UN aid.

**

News 12 reports that Israel suspects that Qatar is behind the massive “Gaza is starving” campaign, having coordinated and funded it in order to gain leverage for Hamas. Hamas is celebrating the massive success.

Iran:

On Monday, an 85-year-old man died of his wounds, after his home in Rechovot was hit by an Iranian missile during the 12-day war. The man’s name was not published. This brings the total number of casualties from Iranian missiles to 30.

Yemen:

Yemen fired a missile towards central Israel this evening (Tuesday). Sirens were activated in the extended Jerusalem and Tel Aviv areas. The missile was successfully intercepted.

Judea & Samaria:

In counterterrorism operations over the last month, Israeli security forces arrested 36 wanted individuals, of which 12 were terrorists planning imminent terror attacks in Judea and Samaria. In addition, the forces located and confiscated numerous combat means, including improvised explosive devices and weapons.

**

On Thursday, a terrorist rammed his car into a bus stop at the Beit Lid junction in central Israel, wounding eight soldiers. The terrorist was found and arrested on Shabbat, while hiding at a construction site in Kfar Yona. He was an Israeli-Arab resident of Taybeh.

**
On Monday, a group of “Palestinian activists” came to the edge of the Jewish community of Carmel in the Mount Hebron area, and began throwing stones at Jewish workers.

Footage shows dozens of rioters surrounding the vehicle of an Israeli who was working (legally) in the area. The local government reports that the rioters in the video soon began throwing stones at the Israelis, threatening their lives.

One of the Israeli workers fired his gun in self defense, killing one of the rioters, who turned out to be a famous “Palestinian activist” who starred in a recent film about their activism.

According to IDF protocol, throwing stones at civilians or cars is terrorism, and the stone throwers are therefore treated as active terrorists.

**

On Monday night, a terrorist threw a Molotov cocktail at IDF forces who were operating in Hebron. Forces fired at and neutralized the terrorist. No soldiers were harmed.

Later, terrorists threw heavy stones at Israeli vehicles traveling on a central civilian route near the village of Luban a-Sharqiya in Samaria. There were no casualties, but several vehicles sustained damage.

IDF forces quickly arrived at the scene, and after searches, detained three suspects, one of whom was armed with a knife. IDF forces later entered the village for further searches in the area.

Lebanon:

On Sunday, the IDF eliminated two senior terrorists from Hezbollah’s elite Radwan forces, who were attempting to rebuild Radwan infrastructure in the Debaal area of southern Lebanon.

On Monday, the an IDF airstrike eliminated an active Hezbollah terrorist in the Bint Jbeil area of southern Lebanon.

All three were acting in direct violation of the ceasefire agreement.

**

Veteran journalist, Ron Ben-Yishai, reports that the IDF has identified that Hezbollah is again formulating plans to try and break into Israel in order to take an Israeli hostage.. having learned from Hamas that this is more effective than anything else.

Israel Hayom reports that the IDF assessment is that Hezbollah may be on the way to complete disarmament, as a result of the IDF’s action since the November ceasefire.

The IDF has maintained 5 outposts at strategic points in southern Lebanon. Since the ceasefire began in November, the IDF carried out over 500 airstrikes in southern Lebanon, eliminating well over 230 terrorists, and destroying over 90 rocket launchers, thousands of rockets and missiles, five weapons production sites, and many other terror infrastructures. The IDF has also quietly been carrying out hundreds of ground operations in southern Lebanon, mostly near the five strategic points.

In Lebanon, there are now growing calls for Hezbollah to hand over their weapons. According to Reuters, the U.S. is pushing for Hezbollah disarmament as a precondition to diplomatic negotiations.

According to the “Sawat Beirut” paper, Hezbollah is facing an unprecedented financial collapse. The U.S. sanctions, Israeli strikes on its financial institutions, blocked smuggling routes in Syria, and a sharp drop in Iranian, funding have crippled Hezbollah’s operations.

Hezbollah has now cut vital benefits to families of dead terrorists, delayed salaries, and slashed social services — even in its Beirut stronghold. The terror group is struggling to rebuild homes in both Beirut and southern Lebanon, leading to a mass exodus of former loyalists.

Hezbollah appears to be on its dying breath, unless they manage to do something to become relevant again.

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