War Summary, Day 678: Egypt attempting to broker a new hostage deal, IDF troops move forward in Zeitoun, terrorists pose as WCK aid workers in fake WCK car, humanitarian aid floods Gaza which Hamas takes for themeslves, IDF foils a Hamas hijacking in northern Gaza, UN organization modified classification metrics for famine in order to declare one in Gaza, Houthis launched 6 UAVs at Israel which all failed, dozens of terrorists throw large stones at off-duty IDF soldier, and police capture terrorist from Tulkarem hiding in Ranana, preparing an attack.

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.
32,367 estimated projectiles fired at Israel.
1 Jewish nation united in prayer, charity, and good deeds.

Top Headlines:

– Egypt attempting to broker a new deal
– Egypt’s proposal may bring all hostages home, but is unlikely to remove Hamas from power
– IDF troops move forward in Zeitoun
– Terrorists pose as WCK aid workers in fake WCK car
– Humanitarian aid floods Gaza, Hamas keeps it all
– IDF foils a Hamas hijacking in northern Gaza
– UN organization modified classification metrics for famine, in order to declare one in Gaza
– Houthis launched 6 UAVs at Israel, all failures
– Dozens of terrorists throw large stones at off-duty IDF soldier, ignore warnings
– Police capture terrorist from Tulkarem hiding in Ranana, preparing an attack

Hostages:

Hamas is afraid of Israel taking over the rest of Gaza, and has turned to Egypt for help shaping a deal that will save them.

Israel Hayom (quoting Al Arabiya and Sky News) reported that Egypt is working on a new ceasefire proposal with Hamas, which they want to implement by the end of August.

In the proposal is a 60-day interim ceasefire, during which:

1. All 50 hostages are gradually released.
2. An unspecified number of terrorists are released from Israeli prison.
3. Hamas will “freeze” military/terror operations, and won’t use weapons.
4. The IDF withdraws to new deployment lines under Arab-American supervision.
5. Discussions for a comprehensive agreement regarding Hamas weapons and governance, and a full IDF withdrawal from Gaza.

The main flaw: Hamas wants guarantees that the ceasefire will turn permanent, regardless of whether they agree to disarm and leave government control, or not. Until now, Hamas has stated that they will never disarm.

Compare this to the conditions for ending the war which Prime Minister Netanyahu outlines earlier this week:

1. Hamas disarmed – unlikely
2. All hostages freed – yes
3. Gaza demilitarized – unlikely
4. Israeli overriding security control – no
5. Non-Israeli peaceful civilian administration in Gaza – maybe

Gaza:

Thank G-d, the IDF did not announce any fallen heroes!

Today, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, approved the main concept for the IDF’s operational plan in the Gaza Strip, including the takeover of Gaza City.

**

In a targeted airstrike, the IDF eliminated Abdullah Albagin, a Hamas Nukhba terrorist who took part in the abduction of soldiers Ron Sherman obm, Nik Beizer obm, and Tamir Nimrodi, on October 7th.

Yesterday, a strike in the Deir al-Balah area of central Gaza targeted several Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorists.

**

Four IDF divisions remain active in Gaza.

Division 162 and 99 are operating in northern Gaza. In recent weeks, they operated in Jabaliya and the Daraj and Tuffah neighborhoods of Gaza City. While most buildings in these areas were destroyed smelling still remain standing. There are indications that the troops are moving forward into the Zeitoun neighborhood.

Division 99 is also operating in the Netzarim Corridor in the center of Gaza, from where they are launching smaller campaigns in Deir al Balah and other Central Gaza areas.

Division 36 is operating in Khan Younis, and the Gaza Division (143) is in Rafah, Khan Younis, and other areas in Gaza in and near the buffer zone.

***

Last week, the IDF noticed that five armed terrorists were dressed up as World Central Kitchen (WCK) aid workers—complete with yellow vests—and were driving around in a car falsely labeled as a WCK vehicle. The IDF verified with the WCK that the vehicle and passengers were not related to the aid organization. The IDF then targeted the vehicle and terrorists in an airstrike while they were in the Deir al-Balah area.

Humanitarian Aid:

On August 12:

Close to 320 trucks of humanitarian aid entered Gaza through the Kerem Shalom and Zikim crossings.
Close to 320 trucks were collected and distributed by the UN and international organizations.
3 tankers of UN fuel entered for “the operation of essential humanitarian systems.”
97 pallets of aid were airdropped in cooperation with the UAE, Germany, Belguim, Italy, and France.

Separately, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) distributed 26,784 boxes of aid of aid today, providing 1.5 million meals distributed in just one day.

In under three months, the GHF distributed more than 120 million meals, without allowing Hamas to steal any. Despite Hamas’s best efforts, no one was killed

**

Hamas continues to easily hijack the trucks carrying humanitarian aid, particularly while they are in the Central Gaza and al-Mawasi areas where the IDF promised the UN pauses fighting during the day.

Hamas has a harder time stealing aid from trucks that enter from the far north of Gaza, through the Zikim crossing. Several non-Hamas Gazans have previously hijacked those trucks, but yesterday Hamas cracked down and threatened whoever would try. Today, a group of armed Hamas terrorists hijacked the trucks entering from Zikim, and the IDF promptly eliminated them.

**

The Washington Free Beacon reported that the UN discreetly modified its classification metrics so that it could declare a famine in Gaza.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a UN-backed group, reported to international media that the IDF was causing a famine in Gaza. But, the IPC did not disclose that they changed some major metrics of measurement, in order to classify the situation in Gaza as a famine.

In the past, the IPC has declared famine only after finding that 30% of children in an area are suffering from acute malnutrition, as measured by comparing their weight to their height. But for Gaza, the IPC lowered the threshold to just 15%, and instead of getting accurate weight and height measurements, they just measured the circumference of children’s arms—a method known to be far less precise.

This is in addition to the fact that the IPC relied heavily on the Hamas-run Gaza “Health Ministry” for data.

Yemen:

On Tuesday, the IDF intercepted a UAV (attack drone) launched towards Israel by the Houthis in Yemen.

The Houthis later claimed that they launched six UAVs at Israel, and hit “vital targets” in Haifa, the Negev Desert, Be’er Sheva, and Eilat. In reality, they may have launched six drones, but most failed before reaching Israel, and the one remaining was quickly intercepted.

Judea & Samaria:

This morning, during civil engineering work near the village of Duma in Samaria, dozens of local terrorists threw stones at an off-duty IDF soldier and an Israeli civilian who were at the location.

The soldier responded by firing warning shots into the air, but the terrorists continued throwing stones. The civilian and soldier were lightly injured.

The soldier then fired to neutralize the threat, and hit and eliminated a terrorist. The remaining terrorists then attempted to steal the soldier’s weapon.

Upon receiving a call, additional IDF forces rushed to the location, and the incident was resolved.

**

Also today, Israeli police officers arrested a resident of Tulkarm at a construction site in Ra’anana, on suspicion that he was involved in planning a terror attack in Israel.

The police began the search and found the terrorist after receiving a tip that he was planning to commit a terror attack.

Lebanon:

IDF Chief of Staff Zamir carried out an assessment on the northern front today. He noted that since the ceasefire, more than 240 terrorists have been eliminated, and the IDF carried out about 600 air strikes in Lebanon (mostly southern Lebanon).

Iran:

Netanyahu noted to media that the 400 kg of enriched uranium in Iran has not been damaged, and Israel is closely monitoring the situation.

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