Hostages:
A joint meeting was held today between Ronen Bar, the head of the Shin Bet; David Barnea, director of the Mossad; IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi; and the IDF’s hostage director, Maj. Gen. (res.) Nitzan Alon; and later by Defense Minister Israel Katz.
The meeting focused on advancing the efforts to return the hostages. This was the first meeting of such intensity in months on the topic of the hostages. A possible new plan was later presented to Prime Minister Netanyahu.
There are unconfirmed reports that Hamas leaders have left Qatar for Turkey.
Gaza:
Since Wednesday, the IDF announced the names of three heroes who fell in battle in Gaza:
Sgt. First Class (res.) Idan Kenan, 21, from Ramat Gan
Cpt. Yogev Pazy, 22, from Giv’ot Bar
Staff Sgt. Noam Eitan, 21, from Hadera
Cpt. Pazy is nephew of Knesset Member and former IDF General Gadi Eizenkot. He has now lost a son and two nephews in battle in Gaza.
Hamas fires two rockets at the border city of Sderot, they were both intercepted by the Iron Dome.
The IDF is operating in three main areas in Gaza: In an area of Northernmost Gaza which includes Jabaliya, Beit Lahiya, and Beit Hanoun; in the Netzarim Corridor, from where they launch occasional small operations in Central Gaza and Gaza City; and in parts of Rafah and the Philadelphi Corridor, in the southernmost end of Gaza.
In Northernmost Gaza, troops are continuing to battle out remaining terrorists, and clear the area of any remaining Hamas infrastructure. Over 1,000 terrorists were captured from the area, and most report that morale crashed and they gave up after Sinwar was eliminated. The northernmost section of Gaza remains cut off from the rest of the strip, so that no one can re-enter.
However, many Hamas terrorists still hold out in Central Gaza (where the IDF barely operated), and many have moved into the designated humanitarian zone. A large number more moved back into Gaza City, after the IDF left it earlier this year. Last week, after issuing an evacuation warning, the IDF used a precision airstrike to target a primed rocket launcher that Hamas hid in a civilian area in the humanitarian zone. More recently, the IDF hit a Hamas command center in a former school, the the Shati neighborhood of Gaza City.
The Shin Bet is continuing to work with the IDF to locate and eliminate every terrorist who participated in the October 7th attack, and a few more were eliminated in airstrikes these last few days. The IDF also eliminated the PIJ commander responsible for its Gaza City rocket firing array.
The IDF is continuing to facilitate donation of humanitarian aid into Gaza, and photos from markets across Gaza show fully stocked shelves. Hamas continues to take an estimated 80% of the humanitarian aid, and keeps some, while selling most at a higher price and making a profit. Hamas only sells to friends and loyalists, thus making it imperative to survival for civilians to show support for Hamas.
Lebanon:
Since Wednesday, the IDF announced the names of eight heroes who fell in battle in Lebanon:
Cpt. Itay Marcovich, 22, from Kohav Ya’ir
Staff Sgt. Sraya Elboim, 21, Mehola
Staff Sgt. Dror Hen, 20, from Gan Haim
Staff Sgt. Nir Gofer, 20, from Dimona
Sgt. Shalev Itzhak Sagron, 21, from Sderot
Sgt. Yoav Daniel, 19, from Nahariya
Lt. Ivri Dickshtein, 21, from Eli
Sgt. Ori Nisanovich, 21, from Jerusalem
Hezbollah’s rocket fire has decreased from an average of 150-200 daily, down to between 50-80 daily. Since Wednesday, a handful of civilians sustained moderate injuries. Most rockets and drones were either intercepted, or landed in empty areas, but a few buildings were damaged from direct hits or fallen shrapnel from midair interceptions.
Three IDF divisions are operating inside Southern Lebanon now, and have advanced further, past the front row of villages. The IDF hasn’t detailed their locations. Troops are still operating in the front row as well, where they’re finding weapons, rocket launchers, and tunnels. Hezbollah’s methods of hiding in civilian homes have proven to be even more extreme than Hamas. In some villages, almost every home had Hezbollah weapons inside.
For the first time since the launch of the ground offensive in Lebanon, the IDF Artillery Corps crossed the border with self-propelled M-109 howitzers, and began operating from within Southern Lebanon, which increased their artillery range.
The IAF has been targeting Hezbollah in Beirut very heavily lately, likely as a pressure tactic to gain an upper hand in negotiations. Since Wednesday, the IAF struck over 400 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, including over 60 in Beirut. Most other airstrikes were in Southern Lebanon, including Nebatiyeh and Tyre. The airstrikes were all preceded by an evacuation warning, except for a handful of targeted assassinations.
The Israeli Navy also took part in launching missile strikes from the sea, and in some of the assassinations this week.
Amongst the IDF’s top assassinations in Lebanon since Wednesday:
– The chief of Hezbollah’s media relations, Mohammad Afif, targeted while in Beirut—a top level official.
– Muhammad Musa Salah, commander of Hezbollah’s forces in the Khiam region of southern Lebanon.
– Ayman Muhammad Nabulsi, commander of Hezbollah’s anti-tank missile unit in the Hajjar regional unit, responsible for attacks on northern Israel’s Ramim Ridge region.
– Hajj Ali Yussef Salah, commander of Hezbollah’s forces in the village of Kfar Tebnit.
– Saeed Atallah Ali, a Senior Hamas commander in Lebanon.
– Ali Barakat, a top commander in Hezbollah’s aerial forces, known as Unit 127, responsible for drone and cruise missile attacks on Israel.
The IAF also heavily bombed Hezbollah smuggle routes in Syria, including border crossings to Lebanon, storage sites, and even shipments on the way to Lebanon from Syria.
There are reports that Lebanon and Hezbollah are coming closer to agreeing to terms for a ceasefire agreement. The agreement would rely on international forces and the Lebanese army (of which part is controlled by Hezbollah) to force Hezbollah passed the Litani River. In the agreement, Israel reserves the right to act in any part of Southern Lebanon, if Hezbollah is spotted returning or rearming. However, it appears that the agreement may have a drawn out reporting mechanism required of the IDF before acting.
UNIFIL forces in Lebanon have not only proven useless until now, but have been found to be accepting bribes from Hezbollah, and even aiding them. In the last week alone, there have been at least two reported incidents of UNIFIL forces “wandering in” to areas with active combat between the IDF and Hezbollah, inadvertently giving cover to Hezbollah terrorists. Hezbollah has also launched long-range rockets at Israel from within Lebanese Army property. Any deal counting on these two parties to keep Hezbollah in check, is clearly not a longterm plan.
Iran:
Iran appears to have decided to delay their attack on Israel until after discussions with incoming U.S. President Trump.
There are unconfirmed reports that Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, is in a coma. Khamenei has been terminally ill for a while (years even). If this were true, it’s likely that his son, Mojtaba Khamenei, would take over. The junior Khamenei was closely mentored by his father, and isn’t expected to be any different.
As reported earlier, it’s now confirmed that in Israel’s last attack on Iran, the IAF targeted a nuclear research facility, and set the regime back significantly in the ability to obtain nuclear weapons.
Other:
– On Wednesday, the Yamam counter-terrorism unit carried out an operation in Tulkarem, Samaria.
– The Iranian-backed militia in Iraq continue to attack Israel, with between 3-5 attack drones daily. They target the full length of Israel, though mostly in the north, southern Arava desert, and Eilat. A less usual launch today was intercepted above the Bezeq communications antenna farm near Rechovot, in Central Israel.
– The Houthis in Yemen claimed to have launched 5 attacks on Tel Aviv on Sunday, though the IDF saw none of them. The IDF did however intercept a Houthi drone above the Red Sea, off the coast of Eilat.
– A Palestinian terrorist rammed his car into two IDF soldiers near Dayr Qadis. The (female) soldiers were lightly injured. The terrorist tried to escape, but was captured.
– Despite the ongoing war, Israel’s economy grew by 3.8% in Q3 of 2024, exceeding expectations. This is in part due to a rise in exports of 5.2%
