Hostage Updates:
Negotiation attempts are still ongoing for a deal that will bring hostages home, however Hamas continues to demand a complete IDF withdrawal including from the Philadelphi Corridor, and indicates that it prefers to continue in a “war of attrition” style, for as long as possible. Hamas leader, Yahya Sinwar sent messages to the Houthis and Hezbollah, encouraging them to continue attacking Israel—he would much rather see an escalation with additional fronts, than a ceasefire agreement.
Senior Hamas official, Khaled Mashal, who is living in Qatar, told the New York Times in an interview that Hamas is not in a hurry to make a deal at any cost. “Hamas has the upper hand,” said Meshaal, “we have dragged the Israeli army into a war of attrition. We will not give up on our main demands for the end of the war and for Israel to withdraw from Gaza. The United States recognizes Hamas and understands that it is not going anywhere.”
Gaza Front Updates:
Hamas did not fire any rockets into Israel today.
Thank G-d, the IDF did not announce any fallen heroes.
Three divisions of IDF troops are currently operating in Gaza: the 252nd Division along the Netzarim Corridor, and pinpoint operations in Central Gaza and Gaza City; the 162nd Division in Rafah and along the Philadelphi Corridor; and the Gaza Division in the buffer zone.
The IDF redeployed the 5th Brigade to the Netzarim Corridor, increasing the amount of troops under the 252nd Division in Gaza. There are indications that further increases will begin in the coming weeks.
A precision drone strike in the designated humanitarian zone in Khan Younis eliminated Ahmed Ayesh Salama al-Hashash, the commander of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) rocket array in Rafah. The IDF says he was a significant source of knowledge for the PIJ and Hamas, in the science of directing rockets at Israel.
Other IDF airstrikes were reported in Beit Lahiya, Al-Bureij, and Gaza City.
Gaza Humanitarian Efforts Updates:
Despite strong evidence that Hamas is profiting massively off the humanitarian aid brought into Gaza, and that it is keeping Hamas alive, the aid continues. The last update comes from Monday, when:
168 trucks carrying humanitarian goods were transferred to Gaza, 141 through the Kerem Shalom Crossing to South and Central Gaza, and 27 via the Erez Crossing to Northern Gaza.
136 trucks were collected from the Gazan side of Kerem Shalom,116 by the private sector and only 20 by UN aid agencies, and 25 trucks were collected on the Gazan side of the Erez Crossing.
Approximately 470 trucks worth of aid are waiting in total for collection, 460 of which are the UN’s responsibility.
6 gas tankers designated for the operation of essential infrastructure in Gaza, entered Gaza yesterday.
2 mobile clinics entered Gaza, to be used by the Jordanian Field Hospital.
Northern Front Updates:
On Monday Hezbollah fired heavily on Northern Israel, including a direct hit which completely destroyed a home in Metula. On Tuesday the fire continued right up until Hezbollah pagers started exploding before 4:30pm. The quiet lasted until 4:30 a.m., when a single drone set off sirens in towns around the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) and city of Tiberias.
The IDF continued attacking Hezbollah targets in Southern Lebanon as usual over the last two days, with one airstrike Tuesday morning deeper into Lebanon, targeting a vehicle in the Baalbek District, and a slight uptick of airstrikes after the pager explosions.
Early Tuesday morning, Israel finally updated the goals of the ongoing war to include returning the residents of the north home in safety.
Also Tuesday morning, the Shin Bet announced that they foiled a Hezbollah attempt to assassinate a former senior Israeli security official in the coming days. The attack was planned by a Hezbollah network with contacts in Israel, and intended to use a Claymore-like explosive device which had a remote detonation system with a camera and cellular connection.
The Shin Bet says the plan came from the same Hezbollah network who bombed Tel Aviv’s Yarkon park in September 15th last year, with an identical bomb and zero casualties, and that the Shin Bet has been monitoring the network for a while. The targeted official was made aware, but his identity was not released for the public.
Around 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, thousands of pagers belonging to Hezbollah terrorists across Lebanon, and some in Syria, beeped and then exploded. In the evening, the Lebanon Health Ministry announced 4,000 injured, before revising the number to 2,800, with 400 in critical condition, and 9 dead. Some reports include 500 who lost their eyesight. Hospitals were completely overwhelmed, with wounded patients sitting on the hallway floors.
Amongst the injured is the Iranian ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani. The Iranian regime say he was only lightly injured by pagers in his body guard’s pockets, but other reports say that he lost one eye and severely damaged his other after checking his own Hezbollah pager shortly before it exploded. Others injured include top Hezbollah commanders and advisors.
Hezbollah so far announced 9 terrorists eliminated, amongst them is the son of a prominent Hezbollah member of parliament.
There are conflicting reports as to where Hezbollah got the pagers from, either Iran (SkyNews) or Taiwan (NYT), around five months ago. The NYT sources American officials who say that Israel secretly placed explosive materials inside the shipment before it reached Hezbollah. SkyNews Arabia and Al Jazeera say that the devices contained 20 grams of PETN, which is a powerful explosive material, and that Israel hacked all the beepers simultaneously to heat up the batteries, which then caused a joint explosion of the battery and PETN. It is unlikely that Israel will take credit for the attack, at least for many years to come, so reports will be speculation or unverifiable leaks for a while.
The Biden administration was not warned of the plan ahead of time.
Hezbollah released a statement that they blame the pager attack on Israel, and vow to respond, somehow. School was cancelled across Lebanon on Wednesday. The Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs says they “have started preparing a complaint to submit to the UN Security Council about the Israeli cyber attack.”
Many intense security meetings were held throughout Tuesday day and night between the Prime Minister, Defense Minster, IDF Chief of Staff, Mossad head, and related top officials. The IDF says that at the moment there are no changes to Home Front Command directives, but that Israelis should remain vigilant.
It is not known if this will be the start of a wider war with Lebanon, or if Israel will wait until the negotiations with Hamas officially fall through (which the Biden administration seems intent on dragging out at least until after elections). The White House released a statement that “the United States continues to believe that the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah should be resolved diplomatically.” Hezbollah will have to face their damaged sense of pride, while debating if it’s worth escalating against Israeli after being so heavily beaten time and again.
For almost a year now, Israel has evacuated 43 communities located up to five kilometers from the Lebanese border—a total of about 61,000 citizens, as Hezbollah fires an average of 40 deadly projectiles at Israeli communities per day. Several thousand more people from the surrounding communities decided to evacuate independently. According to the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, since October 7, 189,000 dunams (46,703 acres) have been scorched in hundreds of locations across northern Israel. Israel’s response has largely remained tit-for-tat while holding off escalation to avoid fighting a war on two major fronts at once.
Houthi & Iraqi War Front Updates:
A senior Houthi official claimed that the U.S. offered to recognize the Houthi government in Sanaa, Yemen, in exchange for a halt in their attacks. U.S. officials say the claim is false.
The U.S. State Department continues to resist bipartisan pressure from lawmakers to reclassify the Houthis as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO), despite the Iran-backed group’s ongoing attacks on Israel and Red Sea shipping lanes. In a letter to Rep. Ritchie Torres on Tuesday, a State Department official stated that the administration opposes reinstating the FTO designation, arguing that it could hinder organizations needing to engage with the Houthis to deliver essential humanitarian supplies in Yemen.
General Updates:
23,183 new immigrants arrived in Israel between January and August 2024. The newest citizens include 76% more from France and 55% more from the U.S. compared to last year.
