Hostages:

Hamas, now abandoned by Hezbollah, is indicating that they are open to an agreement that doesn’t include a full end to the war. Renewed negotiations are ongoing, and this time the proposed deals may look different.

Gaza:

The IDF announced the names of two fallen heroesL

Sgt. First Class Yona Betzalel Brief, 23, from Modi’in
Sgt. Tamer Othman, 21, from Kafr Yasif

Yona had been injured during a heroic battle in Kfar Aza on October 7th, and sadly succumbed to his wounds this week, after more than 400 days of bravery.

The IDF is continuing to clear out the northernmost section of Gaza, and has expanded its position. According to reports, troops are now being assisted by Gazan men in orange vests to evacuate scared civilians who still remain in the area.

A few more terrorists who participated in the October 7th massacre were tracked down and eliminated. The commander of Hamas’s East Jabalia Battalion’s rocket unit was eliminated.

Troops raided a former school in Jabaliya, which had been used as a shelter. In the building, they located terrorists and engaged in close-quarters combat, and called in airstrikes for assistance. Many terrorists were eliminated in the raid.

Hamas terrorists launched anti-tank missiles at troops from within the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahiya.

Lebanon Pre Ceasefire:

At 4am, on Thursday morning, a ceasefire went into effect. Here’s the lead-up:

Thank G-d, no fallen heroes were announced in Lebanon.

On Sunday, Hezbollah launched a huge 250 rockets, missiles, and drones at Northern Israel, with one barrage at Central Israel. Several rockets made it through air defense systems, amongst them were direct hits on buildings in Nahariya, Haifa, and Rinatya. The four-story building in Haifa was soon after demolished, due to fears that it would collapse onto adjacent buildings. At least 5 people were injured.

Monday saw a decrease in rockets to around 80, though an elderly woman in Nahariya was severely injured from an impact. On Tuesday an IDF soldier was seriously injured from a Hezbollah drone attack in the Hermon. While Hezbollah did launch several large barrages at Northern Israel right before the ceasefire took effect, it was nothing compared to what was expected.

In the last few days before the ceasefire, the IDF went at full force, both on ground, and in air.

On Tuesday, the IDF published that troops had reached the Litani River, 4 km from the eastern side of the border, and the Wadi Saluki, which is 10 km in. Troops battled Hezbollah terrorists at the river, and then located significant weapons caches, including hundreds of rockets, and dozens of primes rocket launchers.

Heavy airstrikes continued across Southern Lebanon. An airstrike in Tyre on Tuesday eliminated Ahmed Subhi Hazima, head of operations in Hezbollah’s coastal region of southern Lebanon. He became the commander just last week, after the previous commander was eliminated by the IDF.

Another strike destroyed a massive 1.4-kilometer-long underground weapons manufacturing site in Eastern Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley. The underground site was found using precise intelligence, and was used by Hezbollah to manufacture precision-guided missiles.

The IDF hit over 330 Hezbollah sites across Lebanon on Tuesday, including 42 in Beirut (80 since Sunday), in a race to take out as many essential Hezbollah positions as possible. The last airstrikes took place just minutes before the ceasefire went into effect.

In one round on Tuesday night, the IDF hit 20 Hezbollah targets in Dahiyeh in just 2 minutes. The IDF also gave evacuation warnings for several buildings in central Beirut for the first time (the few airstrikes in central Beirut until now were targeted assassinations with no warning).

In the last hours before the ceasefire, the IDF targeted Hezbollah’s financial system and quasi-bank, the Al-Qard al-Hasan association. At least 9 branches were hit in Beirut, Sidon, Tyre, and the Beqaa Valley. A strike in Beirut also hit a branch of the al-Insaf exchange company, which had been transferring funds to Hezbollah.

Since the start of the war, the IDF hit over 360 Hezbollah targets in the Dahiyeh District of Beirut (compared to 140 during the 2006 war), and a total of 12,500 Hezbollah sites in Lebanon. Sources close to Hezbollah estimate that 4,000 Hezbollah terrorists were eliminated in Lebanon over the last year.

Lebanon Ceasefire:

Behind closed doors, Netanyahu reportedly told cabinet members that the Biden administration threatened that if Israel didn’t agree to the ceasefire deal, then the UN would pass a resolution calling for a unilateral ceasefire, which would greatly harm Israel. Additionally, the U.S. would halt most weapons transfers to Israel, including urgently needed supplies. The ICC ruling also came into play, with the possibility that France will remove its support for the ruling if Israel agrees to the ceasefire.

All but one cabinet member voted for the ceasefire. Most cabinet members agree that it is not ideal, but better than the alternative.

Hezbollah is left at 15% their starting firepower, with almost the entire top leadership eliminated, and their financial system in shambles. Hezbollah also gave up on Nasrallah’s insistence that they won’t stop until Israel leaves Gaza, and didn’t get any prisoners back. Still, this reduced strength is at about the same level as before the Second Lebanon War in 2006, and with around 16,000 fighters remaining. With enough time, Hezbollah can regroup and fire at Israel again. As usual, Hezbollah is claiming that they won.

The ceasefire agreement starts with a 60-day period of clearing Hezbollah from Southern Lebanon. Israel has not yet withdrawn, but has halted airstrikes and is no longer advancing. The Lebanese Army is now expected to begin clearing out Hezbollah, starting at the Litani River, and moving southward, until they reach the IDF’s positions. Once they reach the IDF positions, if they have fully cleared out Hezbollah from the area, then the IDF will withdraw.

After the 60-day period, if the IDF sees Hezbollah terrorists in Southern Lebanon, or sees Hezbollah importing weapons in Lebanon, then it will direct the Lebanese Army to remove it. If the Lebanese Army doesn’t act, then the IDF will. If the threat is imminent, the IDF may act before involving the Lebanese Army. An American-led committee will adjudicate complaints about any ceasefire violations. If the Lebanese Army keeps its part of the deal, then it in essence will be acting as an IDF proxy (although removing Hezbollah is good for Lebanon too).

Defense Minister Israel Katz has chosen not to open up schools in the far north yet, due to uncertainty of whether Hezbollah will hold the truce. While IDF troops hold positions in Southern Lebanon, the IAF is also continuing to patrol the skies.

The IDF strongly warned Lebanese people not to return south of the Litani River yet, however, immediately after the ceasefire went into effect, heavy traffic to the south began. Many of the cars returning south waved Hezbollah flags. IDF troops were instructed to act forcefully against anyone entering areas help by the IDF.

Clips uploaded to social media, show Lebanese people reaching the frontline border villages, and even walking right up to the border between Kfar Kila in Lebanon, and Metula in Israel. The IDF later announced that four Hezbollah terrorists were detained in the village. IDF troops also shot at several suspected terrorists in Meiss al-Jabal.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi reiterated, “The fighting in Lebanon was very determined, the enforcement of the agreement will be even more determined.” He added that the IDF is “preparing and getting ready in case this [ceasefire] doesn’t work.”

Troops were prepared for the possibility of several small battles in the coming weeks, in order to enforce the “ceasefire” agreement.

Simultaneously, the IDF is continuing to target Hezbollah smuggling operations inside Syria, and damaging the roads and crossings, in order to prevent imports to Lebanon.

Hezbollah in Syria:

After years of keeping it an open secret, the IDF officially acknowledged and explained the workings of its long-running operations against Hezbollah’s Unit 4400. This unit, established in 2000, manages weapons smuggling from Iran through Syria to Lebanon, and has developed extensive smuggling routes along the Syria-Lebanon border, facilitating the transport of weapons via thousands of trucks and hundreds of planes.

Recent IDF strikes during the war have:
* Eliminated key Unit 4400 leaders: Muhammad Ja’far Qassir in Beirut and his successor Ali Hassan Gharib in Damascus.
* Destroyed significant infrastructure, including a 3.5km cross-border tunnel (built 2009-2019) between Syria and Lebanon.
* Disrupted Hezbollah’s ability to replenish its weapons stockpile.

The IDF emphasizes that these operations are part of a years-long campaign, not just recent wartime efforts, aimed at preventing Iranian weapons from reaching Hezbollah in Lebanon. These strikes will likely continue, and won’t be affected by the ceasefire.

Judea and Samaria:

The Shin Bet (Israel’s security agency) revealed that it stopped Iran from sending weapons to terrorists in Judea and Samaria. Working together with the IDF, they caught a big weapons shipment heading to Jenin, and found a hidden stockpile of Iranian weapons buried in the ground.

The weapons the Shin Bet found included:
– 73 explosive devices
– 33 RPG launchers and rockets
– 20 mortars and 2 launchers
– 50 guns and rifles of various kinds

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards were behind this operation, specifically their intelligence and special operations units (Units 4000, 18840, and 840).

Other:

– Iranian-backed militia in Iraq are still launching 1-3 attack drones daily, most of which get intercepted before reaching populated areas. The drones typical come through the Golan Heights or Dead Sea area.
– At the directive of new Defense Minister Israel Katz, the Defense Ministry has begun planning for construction of a new and reliable fence along the border with Jordan, to prevent smuggling, and possible infiltrations.
– For the third time, the IDF foiled an attempt to smuggle weapons into Israel from Egypt using a drone.

– The Medical Corps reports that 5,300 wounded soldiers have been treated since the start of the ground offensive in Gaza, and 700 in Lebanon. This is significantly less injuries than in past wars, where during much shorter periods 709 soldiers were treated in the 2014 Gaza War, and 833 soldiers in the Second Lebanon War.

The percentage of fatalities per injury (CFR) also decreased significantly, with just 6.9% in Gaza and 7.1% in Lebanon, compared to 9.2% in the 2014 Gaza war, and 14.8% in the Second Lebanon War. The Medical Corps attributes much of the decline to innovations in the field, including onsite blood transfusions, and to quicker evacuations.

– Israel renounced the authority of the ICC, but also submitted a notice of intention to appeal.