Hostage Updates:
The IDF announced that they retrieved the body of a soldier who had been killed on October 7th, and was being held hostage by Hamas. The family requested that his name not be released. Intel from a captured Hamas terrorist led troops to find the body, where it was buried in the ground in Gaza.
Farhan al-Qadi, who was rescued on Tuesday, was released from the hospital this morning. Despite having lost about a third of his body weight, Farhan is in relatively good condition. For most of his time in captivity, Farhan had been held underground in tunnels, and was given only one slice of bread to eat each day.
Far had been shot in the leg on October 7th, before he was taken hostage by Hamas. In Gaza, he was given field surgery to remove the bullet from his leg, but with no anesthesia. He also experienced psychological torture, and cried as another hostage held with him slowly deteriorated and died.
Farhan had been held in a very complex tunnel, with many rooms, and around 25 terrorist guards. When the terrorists heard the IDF nearing, they fled, leaving Farhan alone with a few slices of bread. The IDF troops had intel that there might be a hostage in the tunnel, as well as booby traps. They used several methods (ncluding equipment sponsored by our readers) to search the tunnel before finding and rescuing Farhan.
Farhan, as a Bedouin Israeli, is fluent in Arabic, and became “friendly” with one of the terrorist guards. Upon his rescue, Farhan was able to provide troops and the Shin Bet with valuable intel that he had gathered.
As the IDF digs deeper into Hamas’s tunnels, it’s possible (but not certain) that there are a small number more of hostages abandoned by their terrorist guards, and the IDF is on a race against time to find them.
Negotiations for a hostage deal have been ongoing, though Hamas still hasn’t sent anyone to the negotiations, only refuses every offer. Their are unconfirmed rumors that a new compromise was drawn up with minimized IDF presence in the Philadelphi Corridor (Gaza’s border with Egypt), and international forces patrolling to prevent Hamas smuggling operations.
Israel is largely working off the assumption that the deal will fall through after 6 weeks, and the IDF will be able to return to battling Hamas at that point. This means that not all hostages will be returned—only around 20, and specifically women, injured, and elderly. Many are skeptical that the IDF will be able to easily return to battle after 6 weeks, especially since it would be at the height of U.S. elections, and not in the Biden-Harris administration’s interest to lose the ceasefire.
According to CIA Deputy Director, the deal is now all up to Hamas agreeing to it. However, Hamas, now led in entirety by Sinwar, continues to insist on a complete IDF withdrawal and lasting ceasefire, or nothing, while hoping for an all-out war with Hezbollah and Iran joining in.
Gaza Front Updates:
Over the last week, we lost nine heroes in battle in Gaza, on various missions:
Sgt. Ori Ashkenazi Nechemya, 19, from Ashkelon
Sgt. First Class (res.) Evyatar Atuar, 24, from Rosh Haayin
Sgt. First Class (res.) Danil Pechenyuk, 27, from Bat Yam
Sgt. First Class (res.) Nitai Metodi, 23, from Ashkelon
Sgt. Maj. (res.) Yaniv Itzhak Oren, 35, from Ein Gedi
Staff Sgt. Amit Tsadikov, 20, from Beit Dagan
Master Sgt. (res.) Shlomo Yehonatan Hazut, 36, from Ashdod
Staff Sgt. Amit Friedman, 19, from Or Yehuda
Master Sgt. (res.) Yohay Hay Glam, 32, from Netanya
Four divisions of IDF troops are currently operating in Gaza: the 252nd Division along the Netzarim Corridor, and Gaza City; the Gaza Division in the buffer zone; the 98th Division in Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah; and the 162nd Division in Rafah and along the Philadelphi Corridor.
The IDF has continued with the new policy of calling for evacuation from any area from where a rocket is launched into Israel, and declaring it an “active combat zone.”
Combat activity is up in Gaza, at a high intensity, with mostly pinpoint operations based on intelligence, locating previously missed tunnels. In Deir al-Balah, troops are battling the last standing Hamas battalion.
Over the last few months, the IDF has been working on expanding the Netzarim Corridor, reaching up to the outskirts of the Zeitoun neighborhood in Gaza City, and the Wadi Gaza stream in the south. There may be another corridor in the making, further south, in between Khan Younis and Rafah.
The IDF announced today that a 3km tunnel under the Netzarim Corridor was recently demolished. The tunnel had been destroyed in part during the 2014 war, but Hamas had since worked to rebuild it.
In Rafah, troops are still locating more tunnels and Hamas smuggling infrastructure.
Gaza Humanitarian Efforts Updates:
The IDF has created a new role within the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) unit to oversee humanitarian activities in the Gaza Strip. Col. Elad Goren will take on this role as “head of the humanitarian-civil effort in the Gaza Strip” and will be promoted to brigadier general. This new position will focus on coordinating and implementing humanitarian efforts in Gaza while ensuring Israel’s security interests. T
25,100 vials of the specialized polio vaccine have been brought in for 1,255,000 people.
216 trucks carrying humanitarian goods were transferred to Gaza today. Trucks carried food and medical equipment, including supplies for the logistic operation of the polio vaccination campaign.
6 tankers of cooking gas designated for the operation of essential infrastructure were transferred.
Northern Front Updates:
Hezbollah continues to fire heavily on Israel’s far north, although appears to be deterred from firing further into Israel. 80,000 frustrated residents of evacuated northern communities are preparing to open the new school yer away from home.
This past week we lost one hero who was guarding Northern Israel, and was sadly hit by shrapnel from an Iron Dome missile:
Petty Officer First Class David Moshe Ben Shitrit, 21, from Geva Binyamin-Adam.
While the IDF has been back to focusing on hitting targets in Southern Lebanon, since last week’s preemptive strike, there have been a couple of airstrikes deeper into Lebanon lately, on what appears to be weapons storage sites, or trucks delivering weapons. Hezbollah announced their 431st terrorist eliminated by the IDF today, although the number is likely much higher.
Defense Minister Gallant says that Hezbollah is still in shock from Israel’s preemptive attack, and is still trying to regroup and understand the extent of it.
Deterring from the usual silence inSyria, the IDF confirmed that it had carried out a drone strike in Syria today, near the border between Lebanon and Syria. The attack eliminated Fares Qasem, a senior Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorist.
“Qasem was tasked with building operational plans for the PIJ terror organization in Syria and Lebanon, and took a central part in the recruitment of Palestinian terrorists to the Hezbollah terror organization, for the purpose of carrying out terror operations from Lebanon against the State of Israel,” the IDF says.
Judea and Samaria Updates:
Terror groups have been gaining strength in certain areas of Judea and Samaria, especially as Hamas begins dying out in Gaza, and is grappling to build up in other areas. Khalid Mashal, a Hamas leader who lives in Qatar, threatened that the terror group will begin sending out suicide bombers again, as they had during the Second Intifada. There is growing concern that the area may turn into another Gaza, if nothing is done to stop it, asap.
The IDF has begun a serious crackdown, and yesterday launched a new operation called “Summer Camps” focused primarily in Tulkarem, and also in Jenin and Far’a. These area, although build up with apartment buildings and other permanent infrastructure, are called “refugee camps,” likely lending to the operation name. The operation, which is one of the largest since the intifada, is expected to last for at least several days.
So far, at least 14 terrorists were eliminated, including several gunmen in drone strikes and during clashes with IDF troops. The IDF targeted command rooms used by local terror groups, neutralized many explosive devices, and seized weapons. Additionally, a mosque in the Far’a camp, used by terrorists as a command center and storage for explosive devices, was destroyed.
Over the last three weeks, a total of 5 “low risk” terrorists who had been released in the first hostage deal in November were eliminated in Judea and Samaria, after they were seen firing at troops.
Iran & Proxies Attack Updates:
International news outlets and other official “leaks” continue to say that Iran is prepared to attack within a couple days.
