Hostages:
The Israeli Ministry of Health released a new report about the treatment of hostages who have since been rescued from Gaza. I will not detail the horrors here, but just note that it is way worse than originally thought.
A source familiar with the hostage negotiations says that despite the difficulties, there is reason to believe that a deal could be signed before President-elect Trump comes to office. He gives two reasons:
1. The Hamas leadership outside of Gaza is concerned about Trump’s threats. While the inside leadership is less impressed, the outside leadership are trying to lay pressure on them. (It is unclear where Qatar stands on this, since they know how to put on two faces.)
2. After new efforts by the IDF, Hamas inside Gaza is now having a much harder time hijacking humanitarian aid trucks, and is beginning to face shortages of food for their terror army. The fear that it will be even worse once Trump is in, might motivate them to get moving on a deal.
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad Deputy Secretary-General, Muhammad al-Hindi, claims that the negotiations are serious and are working on fine details, but insists that Israel must give up on the demand for a full list of the living hostages.
Gaza:
Thank G-d, the IDF didn’t announce any fallen heroes.
On Friday, Hamas fired a rocket which triggered sirens in Kibbutz Nir Am, on the Gaza border. The rocket landed in an open area near Sderot.
On Shabbat day, in a very unusual attack, Hamas fired two long range rockets at Jerusalem, triggering sirens in the area, including Beit Shemesh. Both rockets were successfully intercepted by Israeli air defenses. There rockets were fired from Northern Gaza’s Beit Hanoun.
There are currently three divisions operating in Gaza. The 162nd Division is in Northernmost Gaza, particularly the Jabaliya area. The 99th Division is in the Netzarim Corridor, which is used to launch small-scale operations in Gaza City, Central Gaza, and Khan Younis. The 143rd Division (aka the Gaza Division) in Beit Hanoun, as well as in Rafah, along the Philadelphi Corridor, and in the buffer zone which stretches along the length Gaza’s border with Israel.
We’re back in Beit Hanoun, again: Hamas keeps returning to the northernmost city to try and rebuild. The Nahal Brigade returned on Friday for a new operation, with heavy air support destroying many targets. The rocket launched from Beit Hanoun towards Jerusalem came after the IDF began the operation. Hamas seemingly decided to fire it before they’d lose it. The IDF called on any remaining civilians to leave the city, before heavier bombing begins.
Another operation began on Friday, and was completed today, this one in Beit Lahiya, also Northernmost Gaza, in the Kamal Adwan Hospital. This raid was extremely successful, and followed a similar doctrine to the Shefa Hospital raid last year—the IDF allowed the terrorists to feel comfortable hiding in the hospital, and let large numbers gather inside.
After the 401st Armored Brigade quickly secured the hospital’s perimeter, the IDF’s COGAT Division evacuated 350 patients, caregivers, and medical staff to other facilities, and supplied the hospital with fuel, food, and medical supplies. During the raid, an additional 95 medical personnel and patients were moved to the Indonesian Hospital, which received 5,000 liters of fuel, two generators, and medical equipment. Hundreds of civilians were also safely evacuated through designated routes.
Many terrorists tried to hide amongst the evacuees, including inside ambulances, but the IDF weeded them out. The elite Shayetet 13 commandos conducted precise operations inside. A total of 240 terrorists were arrested, including 15 terrorists who participated in the October 7th massacre, and the hospital director, who is suspected of being a high-ranking Hamas terrorist. Many weapons caches containing grenades, handguns, and ammunition were found in the hospital.
During the operation, terrorists launched RPG and anti-tank attacks against IDF forces from near the hospital. A drone strike also took out a group of terrorists attempting to flee the area. Thank G-d, there were zero casualties to IDF forces.
Numerous terrorists who were arrested confessed to operations run from inside the hospital, and already began giving away other valuable intel.
Reports inside Gaza say that the IDF has arrested the director of the Hamas Civil Defense in the northern Gaza Strip, Ahmed Hassan al-Kahlot. If so, this is a significant catch, which could lead to a lot of valuable intel.
Similar reports say that an airstrike in the Shati neighborhood of Gaza City eliminated a high-ranking Hamas police commander.
Smaller operations and clashes were reported in Rafah, Nuseirat, and Deir al-Balah.
Terror Attack:
A terrorist stabbed and murdered Ludmila Lipovsky, 83, in Herzilya. Ludmila was waiting outside for her daughter to drive her to a medical appointment.
The terrorist was a former Shin Bet informant, who the Shin Bet says had previously helped uncover terror networks in Judea and Samaria. When the informant’s cover was blown, he was transferred to Israel for rehabilitation. He had gone through testing, including a polygraph just the day before, to ensure that he was safe to let free inside Israel. The terrorist was shot and detained at the scene of the attack, and is still alive.
Yemen:
Early Friday morning, after launching a ballistic missile at Tel Aviv, which was intercepted by Israeli air defenses, the Houthis claimed that “the missile succeeded in reaching its target despite the enemy’s censorship, and the operation resulted in casualties and the cessation of navigation at the airport.”
Obviously this isn’t true. They also claimed to have fired a drone that hit at a target in Tel Aviv, but no such drone was seen.
At 2:00 AM on Shabbat, the Houthis fired a missile, triggering sirens in the areas of the Dead Sea and Arad, Judea (including Hebron), and Jerusalem. The missile was successfully intercepted before entering Israeli airspace. The Houthis say they targeted and hit the Nevatim Air Force base.
Sources told the Saudi Al-Hadath channel that last night (Friday), the US coalition carried out attacks in northwestern Yemen against a weapons production workshop and the airport.
Lebanon:
IDF forces remain in Southern Lebanon, in the villages bordering Israel. The 60-Day ceasefire agreement ends in late January, after which the IDF is expected to withdraw if Lebanon kept its side of the deal, and removed Hezbollah from Southern Lebanon. However, Hezbollah is begging to hint that the ceasefire agreement might collapse.
The IDF has revealed footage of a recently discovered and destroyed Hezbollah Radwan force tunnel in southern Lebanon. The 100-meter tunnel system contained weapons caches, surveillance equipment, and military supplies, and connected to a Hezbollah command center. Inside the command center, troops found rocket launchers that had been used to attack Israel, along with multiple explosive devices. Combat engineering units demolished the tunnel after clearing and investigating it.
Judea & Samaria:
On Friday night, IDF forces operated in al-Jalzoun, north of Ramallah.
Currently, IDF forces are operating in Shechem (Nablus).
Clashes continue between the Palestinian Authority (PA) and terror groups in Samaria. On Friday, terrorists in Jenin killed a PA officer. This evening, the pro-terror website “Quds” published footage of members of the PA security apparatus abusing detained terror suspects from Judea and Samaria, with both psychological and physical torture. Both these events will only fuel further clashes, as concerns about a civil war in the area rise.
