War Day 89: Hamas Leader Killed in Beirut, Lebanese Citizens Evacuate

War Summary, Day Eighty Nine: The IDF eliminated Saleh al-Arouri, a senior Hamas, 72,436 Lebanese residents were evacuated due tensions on the border, and South Africa submitted an application for an order declaring that Israel is violating the UN’s Genocide Convention.

By Mrs. Bruria Efune

War Summary, Day Eighty Nine:

128 held captive in Gaza.
110 hostages freed.
11 hostage bodies rescued.
33 hostages confirmed murdered in Gaza.
1,300+ Israelis murdered.
174 fallen soldiers in the battle in Gaza.
5 fallen soldiers in Northern Israel.
8,000 injured.
12,500 rockets fired at Israel.
187,533 Israelis displaced from their homes.
1 Jewish nation united in prayer, charity, and good deeds.

Hostage Updates:

Sources for the Saudi channel “A-Sharq,” announced that “Hamas and Islamic Jihad informed Cairo of the end of negotiations with Israel. Hamas informed Cairo that the assassination of al-Aaruri blew up all mediation efforts.” Read about the assassination in the Northern Front section.

Hours earlier, there had been rumors that Hamas was beginning to show signs of possibly agreeing to a hostage release deal without a full ceasefire, although Islamic Jihad was not yet ready to go along with it. The deal may have included the possibility of evacuating the top Hamas from Gaza.

Gaza Front Updates:

Hamas fired two rounds of rockets today, at the Gaza Envelope communities. No physical injuries were reported.

The IDF announced the names of one hero who fell in battle in Gaza:

Staff Sgt. Sufian Dagash, 21, from the Druze village of Maghar.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant toured the Salah a-Din road in the central Gaza Strip, and responded to rumors that the IDF is slowing operations in Gaza.

“The sense that we are stopping is wrong,” Gallant told troops of the 99th Division. “You are on the corridor, the meaning of this is that on both your sides, operations of a different kind will soon take place.”

Gallant explained that in Northern Gaza, the IDF eliminated 12 Hamas battalions, although some terrorists still remain—an estimated three thousand out of the original 15-18 thousand that were in the area. Most were eliminated, some fled to the south of Gaza. The IDF will remain active in the north of Gaza, and continue with smaller operations to root out and eliminate the last terrorists.

In the south of Gaza, the reality is different. Gallant explained that here the IDF is focusing on Khan Younis, where they are taking out Hamas infrastructure that is above the tunnels where Hamas leaders are hiding. The IDF will soon reach them underground, he said, and hinted that this is already happening.

Gallant emphasized that the war in Gaza will not be over until Hamas is no longer able to function politically or military.

The IDF provided updates and information of some of the activity in the various areas where troops are currently active.

The Navy: The Israeli Navy identified Hamas terrorists as they were planting explosives along the coast, and in nearby buildings. The Navy and ground troops struck and eliminated the terrorists, and detonated the explosives.

In Northern Gaza: Operations are focused on the few holdouts in these areas. Over the past couple of days, the IDF troops eliminated dozens of Hamas terrorists in Jabaliya. These terrorists were each caught while busy attempting to plant explosives, operating drones, or armed and driving towards IDF troops.

In Gaza City, in the Daraj and Tuffah neighborhoods, troops raided the home of Hamas’s Gaza City Brigade commander, where they found Hamas weaponry and other infrastructure. During the battles in the area, IDF troops eliminated dozens of Hamas terrorists, located several tunnel shafts, and found caches of weapons and intelligence materials. Some of the intelligence findings link the main mosque of the Daraj and Tuffah neighborhoods to the activities involved in Hamas’s October 7th massacre.

The home of the Hamas commander was destroyed after the battle and search.

The IDF shared information about a battle last week, which led to the IDF’s capture of a Hamas stronghold in the Gaza City Sheikh Radwan neighborhood. This stronghold, called the “Eastern Outpost,” was based inside 37 buildings in the center of the civilian population—surrounded by residential buildings, a school, a hospital, and a mosque which was used for Hamas meetings. Hamas commanders directed fighting across all of the Gaza Strip from this outpost.

The troops located an underground bunker for Hamas commanders, as well as extensive equipment, and five tunnel shafts. Battles ensued both inside a main building, and underground in the tunnels. All Hamas terrorists were eliminated. Unfortunately, three IDF soldiers fell in this battle, and several wounded were evacuated under fire.

The tunnel was later destroyed by Yahalom combat engineers.

In Central Gaza, aka the “camps,” IDF troops continue to make progress in eliminating terrorists and Hamas infrastructure, including a weapons lab, mortars, long-range rocket launchers, rockets hidden inside an UNRWA school, and rockets hid inside residential homes—including rockets capable of reaching a 20 kilometer distance.

The rockets were destroyed and the other weapons were confiscated to Israel.

In Khan Younis, in the south of Gaza, the IDF is continuing raids and searches, and located many Hamas weapons, as well as eliminated many Hamas terrorists, some in close-quarter combat. Several Hamas terrorists who were hiding amongst civilians were arrested and brought to Israel for questioning, and confessed to participating in the October 7th massacre inside Israel.

Gaza Humanitarian Efforts Updates:

190 humanitarian aid trucks were transferred to Gaza today. 64% of the trucks carried food, the rest carried water, medical supplies and shelter equipment.

Northern Front Updates:

An explosion in the Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh eliminated Saleh al-Arouri, a senior Hamas official, and deputy to Ismael Haniyeh, along with six other Hamas terrorists, including senior commanders Samir Fandi and Azzam Al-Aqraa.

While Israel hasn’t publicly taken credit for the assassination, Israeli intelligence has been trying to kill al-Arouri for years and the United States has had a 5 million dollar bounty on him since 2015. Many in Hamas considered him to technically be the leader of the terror group, because of his military history, and because he is the one who managed the negotiations for the Gilad Shalit deal, which led to the release of over a thousand of Palestinian terrorists, including Yahya Sinwar.

IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari responded to inquiries about the assassination without denying or confirming involvement. He said, “The IDF is at a very high level of readiness, in all arenas, in defense and offense. We are in high state of readiness for any scenario. The most important thing to say tonight is that we are focused and remain focused on fighting Hamas.”

According to a report from Reuters, American officials say that Israel is responsible for the attack.

About a month after the outbreak of the war, Defense Minister Yoav Galant said at one of the press conferences he held that “If they hear that we attacked in Beirut – you will know that Nasrallah has crossed the red line.” It’s unclear how to interpret this so long as Israel isn’t publicly taking credit for the attack.

Hours after the attack, Hezbollah put out an official statement, saying “We see the killing of al-Arouri as a serious attack on Lebanon, its people, its security, its sovereignty and its resistance. The crime will not go unpunished.”

Hezbollah claimed responsibility for ten missile and drone attacks on the far north of Israel today, four of them in the hour after announcing al-Arouri’s death. Two IDF soldiers were lightly wounded in one of the attacks.

This morning two Hezbollah anti-tank missiles hit the city of Shlomi. One missile exploded near a high-rise building causing minor property damage. The air-raid siren does not work against anti-tank missiles. Shlomi council head Gabi Naaman stated, “This is a very serious incident and it’s a miracle no physical harm was done to the residents. The shooting this morning illustrates the great danger in the current situation for the residents of Shlomi. We will not agree to live in this situation in any way.”

Last night, the IDF carried out airstrikes in Damascus, on sites belonging to the Syrian Army, in respose to Syrian rocket attacks on Israel yesterday.

The Israeli Air Force also struck Hezbollah positions in Lebanon, close to the border.

72,436 Lebanese residents were evacuated from their homes in southern Lebanon due to the security tensions on the border between Israel and Lebanon, caused by Hezbollah’s attacks on Israel.

Judea and Samaria Updates:

During a counter-terrorism raid in the Palestinian town of Azzun, terrorists opened fire on IDF forces, and a battle ensued, resulting in the elimination of four terrorists. One IDF reservist was moderately wounded in the din of the battle. The IDF seized three makeshift submachine guns.

Vigilance levels have been raised in the communities of Judea and Samaria following the assassination of Salah al-Aruri, who was responsible for carrying out many terrorist attacks in the area.

International Updates:

Turkey arrested 33 suspects on suspicion of alleged ties to the Mossad. The Chief Prosecutor’s Office in Istanbul issued arrest warrants for 46 suspects. Usually such arrests are fabricated, and made in an attempt to both dissuade people from getting involved with Israel, and to pretend they government is proactive and in control against Israel.

Spokesman for the Prime Minister’s office, Eylon Levy, announced that Israel will challenge South Africa’s “blood libel” in The Hague. South Africa submitted an application for an order declaring that Israel is violating the UN’s Genocide Convention in its war against Hamas, and committing “genocide” against Palestinians in Gaza.

“In giving political and legal cover to the October 7 massacre and the Hamas human-shields strategy, South Africa has made itself criminally complicit with Hamas’s campaign of genocide against our people,” Levy said.