Hostages:
On Shabbat, Hamas released a cruel propaganda video showing signs of life from hostage Liri Albag, 19. Her family has asked that people do not share the video or photos from it.
Reuters reported on Hamas’s word that they gave Israel a list of 34 hostages to be released in a deal. Israel says this is not true, no such list was received. Channel 12 says that Hamas did give a list, but wouldn’t say who on the list is alive, and who not.
This comes after optimistic reports that a deal was very close, and Hamas simply had to agree.
In an interview with New York Times, U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken confirmed a few things: Hamas pulled back from negotiations [I.e., added new unrealistic demands) every time they saw heavy pressure on the Israeli government to make a deal. He also said that Hamas was always the ones to ruin talks (never Netanyahu), and that the U.S. saw the negotiations to bring the hostages home as the quickest way to get to a ceasefire and end the war—in other words, the main motivation was not to get the hostages home, and definitely not to get rid of Hamas, but just to end the war.
Gaza:
On Friday Hamas launched a surface-to-air missile towards an IDF helicopter (they didn’t come close to it). The launch triggered sirens in Kibbutz Be’eri, on the Gaza border. The rocket was launched from Bureij and immediately after, the IDF gave an evacuation notice for civilians in the area.
Later, two rockets were launched towards the city of Sderot, near the Gaza border. One landed in an open area, the other near Kibbutz Nir Am. No injuries or damage was reported.
On Shabbat, a Hamas rocket hit the Erez border crossing, from where humanitarian aid is transferred into Northern Gaza. No injuries were reported.
This made a recored 10 days in a row of rockets from Hamas, during which at least 20 rockets were fired. Most came from areas where the IDF is operating heavily.
Over the weekend, the IAF struck more than 120 Hamas positions, including staging grounds and command centers, and rocket launchers. Some of these were unsurprisingly inside schools or shelters. The IDF used precision strikes to avoid harm to civilians. Dozens of terrorists were eliminated in the strikes.
On Friday night, an airstrike targeted armed Hamas terrorists who were on the Salah a-Din road, which is used to transport humanitarian aid. Another airstrike hit terrorists in a vehicle in Deir al-Balah, Central Gaza.
On Sunday the IDF struck two areas in the humanitarian zone which Hamas was using as launching positions—one in Khan Younis, and one in Deir al-Balah.
Troops are now in the second week of operations in Beit Hanoun. The city has long been a Hamas stronghold, with terror infrastructure hidden everywhere. The IDF soldiers are searching for and destroying traces of Hamas throughout the city, and have so far eliminated dozens of terror cells, demolished Hamas infrastructure—including tunnels, and located large amounts of weapons including rocket launchers and RPGs.
Some areas are beyond help: In Beit Hanoun is an area called “the officers’ neighborhood,” named for its resident Hamas terrorist officers. It is made up of high-rise buildings, which overlook Israel’s Sderot. The entire neighborhood is rigged with explosives, and full of Hamas launching and sniper positions. It is also full of hideouts, and strategic positions for Hamas. There was no use combing through this area—IDF combat engineers simply destroyed the entire neighborhood, along with all the terror infrastructure in it.
In Jabaliya, a PIJ commander who participated in the October 7th massacre, was eliminated in close-quarters combat. The terrorist attempted to sneak up on IDF troops while hiding in a blanket, and taking advantage of rain and nighttime dark. The PIJ commander was spotted by troops and eliminated. A terrorist who was with him chose to surrender instead.
In Central Gaza, troops located and destroyed a Hamas tunnel which contained a weapons manufacturing plant. Before destroying the tunnel, the soldiers searched it, and found valuable intelligence materials.
There are unconfirmed reports that IDF troops found over a dozen more tunnels in Rafah, some of which open up deep into the Sinai. (I’m wondering if these are newly found tunnels, or if they are tunnels which were kept secret until now.)
UNRWA is preparing to close down operations in Gaza and Judea and Samaria, ahead of January 28, when a new law will go into effect, banning Israel from having any contact with the organizations.
Lebanon:
Trouble with the ceasefire: Lebanon is not keeping their side of the deal. They were supposed to deploy 10,000 troops to the south of the Litani River, from where the’d work on removing and disarming Hamas. They only deployed a quarter of the soldiers, and have done almost nothing to remove Hezbollah. Instead, Hezbollah has been reorganizing under their watch, and smuggling in weapons and money.
Hezbollah spokesperson Wafik Safa is quoted saying: “Our capabilities are fully restored, and we are prepared to face any attack. Hezbollah is now stronger, tougher than steel, and more powerful than ever before.”
Defense Minister Israel Katz threatened that the ceasefire agreement will fall through due to Lebanon not keeping their part: “If this condition is not met, there will be no agreement, and Israel will be forced to act independently…”
U.S. envoy, Amos Hochstein, is on his way to Lebanon. Lebanese TV reports that he plans to suggest extending the ceasefire agreement by 60 or 90 days—in other words, Israel stays in Southern Lebanon for longer, while the Lebanese Army is given more time to do their part (which they show no sign of trying to do). If he Lebanese Army fails to deploy all 10,000 soldiers, Hochstein might suggest that a supervisory committee will have to do it instead.
Yemen:
At 4:30 Friday morning, the Houthis launched a ballistic missile at Central Israel. Sirens sounded in the wider Tel Aviv and Jerusalem areas, sending millions from Israel’s two largest cities to shelter. It was intercepted over Israel and shrapnel was reported to have fallen in Modiin.
No direct injuries were reported, but 12 people were treated for injuries sustained while running to shelter. Waking up in the middle of the night to a siren, and running to shelter, often grabbing children on the way, is very disorienting and frequently leads to injuries.
Later on Friday morning, a Houthi attack drone was shot down before reaching Israel’s borders. No sirens were triggered.
At midnight after Shabbat, the Houthis launched another ballistic missile, but this time there were only sirens in the small town of Talmei Elazar, which is near Hadera. The missile was intercepted before entering Israel.
Judea & Samaria:
In Meithalun, near Jenin, undercover Border Police tried to arrest a wanted terrorist, who in turn opened fire and attempted to flee. The police then eliminated him. The police found two guns on his body, and in his home found a hunting rifle, pipe bombs, gun parts, and 96,000 ILS in cash—all this, and an explosives manufacturing lab, which they demolished.
Throughout Judea and Samaria on Saturday night, 19 other wanted terrorists were arrested.
Near Shechem (Nablus), troops stopped and searched a car, in which they then found 20 handguns.
Syria:
IDF troops carried out a series of targeted raids of former military posts in the Syrian Hermon, where they found and destroyed mines, explosive devices, anti-tank missiles, rockets, and launchers.
More Syrian weapons depots mysteriously exploded, suspected to be due to IDF airstrikes or other arrangements.
Other:
– Israel’s Channel 14 reported that Israel is growing concerned about Egypt’s military buildup in the Sinai, which now includes ant-tank barriers. This may be a violation of Egypt’s ceasefire agreement with Israel.
