BICOM Background Briefing: Continued rocket fire on northern Israel via BICom

Continued rocket fire on northern Israel

What’s happened: Hezbollah rocket and drone attacks have continued, with air raid sirens heard across northern Israel.

• On Tuesday afternoon around 60 rockets were launched towards the Galilee. An Israeli reserve soldier was severely injured and evacuated to hospital following a direct hit on Kibbutz Dan in the Upper Galilee. No warning siren was triggered prior to the strike. 
• The IDF announced that it “will continue to operate against the threat of the Hezbollah terrorist organisation in order to defend the State of Israel.”
• In the West Bank a Palestinian drove a gas tanker truck directly into a military post at the Giv'at Asaf Junction in the West Bank hitting and killing an IDF soldier, Geri Gideon Hanghal. 
• In central Gaza, the Israeli Air Force struck a Hamas command and control centre in Nuseirat. 
• The command-and-control centre, which was embedded inside a compound that previously served as the Al Jaouni School, was used by Hamas to plan and execute attacks against IDF troops and Israel.
• Prior to the strike, numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of precise munitions, aerial surveillance and additional intelligence. 
• Defence Minister Gallant revealed a document from a senior Hamas commander warning of significant losses to the organisation. The letter was written by the former commander of Hamas’s Khan Younis Brigade in Southern Gaza, Rafa’a Salameh, and addressed to Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and his brother Muhammad. 
• Salameh, one of the masterminds of the October 7massacre, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza in July that also killed senior Hamas commander Muhammad Deif.
• In the letter, Salameh warns that Hamas has, “…lost 90-95 percent of our rocket capabilities; and we have lost some 60% of our personal weapons; we have lost at least 65-70% of our anti-tank launchers and rockets. Most importantly, we have lost at least 50% of our fighters between those who are martyred and wounded, and now we are left with 25%. The last 25% of our people have reached a situation where the people do not tolerate them anymore, broken on a mental or physical level.”
• Visiting the Jordan Valley, following the terror attack at Allenby Border Crossing, Prime Minister Netanyahu talked about the increasing challenges, and said he is committed to work with Amman to boost border fence. Netanyahu said that “there is an attempt to smuggle both terrorists and weapons across the Jordan into Judea and Samaria and into the cities of Israel,” adding that Israel was working in cooperation with all parties to stop this.
• Kan News reports that Prime Minister Netanyahu formed a new limited war cabinet. The members of this small forum include:  Minister of Defence Gallant, Minister of Justice Levin, Minister of Finance Smotrich, Minister of Strategic Affairs, Ron Dermer, Minister of Foreign Affairs Katz, and MK Aryeh Deri.

 
Context: While Iran has not yet launched a direct attack on Israel as it threatened, it is using its bases in Syria and the drugs running networks to bring in weapons into Jordan and from there to the West Bank. They are also using Muslim Brotherhood infrastructures in Jordan to mobilise terrorists.

• On Sunday, a Jordanian terrorist, Maher Dhiab Hussein, from Udhruh managed to pass through Jordanian security checks at Allenby Crrossing. Exiting his truck at the inspection terminal on the Israeli side, Hussein opened fire, murdering three Israelis before he was shot and killed by Israeli security officers.
• The Bedouin clan to which the terrorist belonged warned it would continue to oppose Israel and support the Palestinian cause.
• The Israel Police has been running an operation called Emergency Brake, an effort to crack down on arms smuggling from Jordan. These operations are an essential component of preventing weapons from reaching terrorists in the West Bank, as well as criminal elements.
• On Monday, Israeli police made a significant interception at the southern Rabin Border Crossing, discovering 74 Glock handguns and 61 ammunition magazines hidden inside a vehicle. The vehicle was attempting to enter Israel from Jordan, and two suspects, Israeli Bedouin residents of Bir Hadaj and the Yeruham area, were arrested. According to the police, the weapons were likely destined for criminal or terrorist use in Israel.
• Senior Israeli security officials continue to warn about escalation in the West Bank which might lead to the ‘death of hundreds of people’. The IDF believes that, with the ongoing war in Gaza, it doesn’t have enough resources to operate in this area. 
• Netanyahu’s comments about cooperation with Jordan – with whom Israel shares a long border – underline the importance of relations between the countries. 
• Salameh’s note to Sinwar is important evidence that Hamas’ military capacity has sustained a significant blow. However, the language of the letter still speaks to the defiance and hardline attitude of Hamas not to give in to Israeli demands. Sinwar is known to not be overly influenced by casualties. The Wall Street Journal revealed a message in which he approvingly cited civilian losses in national liberation conflicts such as Algeria, explaining them as ‘necessary sacrifices.’
• Along with destroying its military structure and its fighting, the IDF has captured thousands of documents that will help them to understand how Hamas has been operating 

 
Looking ahead: The UN Security Council is scheduled to convene next Monday to discuss the humanitarian situation in Gaza and Israel is bracing itself for a diplomatic blitz by the Palestinians in the UN. These may culminate in a draft resolution before the UN General Assembly calling for an arms embargo and sanctions to be imposed against Israel.

• The Americans are still contemplating whether to bring a bridging proposal, with fears that the two sides are too far apart to agree. Nevertheless some talks are ongoing. MK Gantz and some families of hostages met with the Qatari PM in Paris, while a Hamas negotiating team also met the Egyptian General Intelligence Directorate Director Abbas Kamel.