Israel continues to fight across multiple fronts via BICom

Gaza Strip: The IDF continues to operate in the northern, central, and southern Gaza Strip against Hamas combatants and its terror infrastructure.  

• In Khan Yunis the IDF announced Tuesday, “troops are continuing intensive operations in western Khan Yunis and killed dozens of terrorists over the past day.”  
• The air force struck a “Hamas weapons storage facility in Khan Yunis. During the strike, secondary explosions were identified at the site, indicating that large quantities of weapons were stored at the site.”
• “In the central Gaza Strip, IDF troops are continuing to operate and have killed a number of terrorists over the past day.”  
• In Gaza City in the north, IDF troops conducted a “targeted raid in the Zaytun area... During the activity, terrorists were killed, and numerous weapons were located.”
• On Tuesday night, the IDF revealed “large quantities of weapons inside a building adjacent to a UN school in Khan Yunis. The school had been used as a humanitarian shelter for Gazan residents. The weapons found by the IDF include AK-47s, warheads, grenades, RPGs and ammunition. The terrorists used a gap in the school wall as a passage to the adjacent building, from which they took their weapons to use in attacks on IDF soldiers.”
• “In parallel, the soldiers worked to evacuate the civilian population from the combat zone for their safety. Approximately 60 terrorists who were hiding among the civilian population and tried to take advantage of the evacuation process to escape, were detained by the IDF.”
• In the last two days two more IDF soldiers have been killed in action, taking the total to 237 since the ground operation begun.

Lebanon: Hezbollah has kept up its daily attacks across northern Israel, firing rockets, anti-tank missiles and launching drones.

• At least two Hezbollah drones have successfully penetrated Israeli air space. One landed in the garden of Mateh Asher Regional Council Head Moshe Davidovitch’s home. Another one fell near Tiberias on Monday. Neither incident resulted in casualties.
• Israel continues to strike Hezbollah target. Over the last few day,s Israel has carried out strikes in Nabatieh and Blida and has also begun to attack Hezbollah targets deeper into Lebanon, including in Sidon.
• Defence Minister Gallant visited troops in the north on Tuesday and told them, “Every day, the IDF is winning and Hezbollah is losing… Nasrallah’s method of equations has collapsed. The IDF operates in Damascus, in Beirut, in Nabatieh and every place necessary.”

Syria: Syrian media reported this morning that Israel fired a number of missiles at a high-rise apartment building in a Damascus neighbourhood, with reports suggesting two people were killed.  

• According to a Syrian official, the target of the attack was an Iranian man who had been in the building.

West Bank: Israeli security forces arrested 40 wanted men across the West Bank Tuesday night.

• In a counterterrorism operation in Jenin, troops arrested a number of suspects and killed terrorists, including by air strikes.
• According to Palestinians sources, Araf Kadumi, the commander of Fatah's al-Aqsa Martyrs Battalions in Qalqilya was killed. Kadumi also served in the past as part of the Palestinian Authorities Security Forces.
• Palestinians are claiming he is the 400^th casualty in the West Bank since the war began. The vast majority seem to be armed gunmen, or assailants attempting terror attacks.  

Context: The IDF’s latest assessment is that around 12,000 of Hamas’s estimated 30,000 combatants have now been killed since the war begun, whilst Hamas has admitted for the first time that 6,000 of their fighters have been killed.

• In addition it’s likely that several more thousand more have been seriously wounded and no longer able to fight.
• The IDF also revealed that the air force have carried out over 31,000 strikes, including over 1,000 in Lebanon and dozens in the West Bank.
• Israel continues to hunt the senior Hamas leadership that has so far managed to evade capture. There is growing speculation over the location of Hamas leader Sinwar who is considered the mastermind of the October 7^th attacks and the highest priority target.
• According to a Saudi media report, Sinwar has escaped from the Gaza Strip into the Sinai and may have taken hostages with him.
• The report could be part of a campaign to delegitimise his leadership in the eyes of the Gazan population. However, Israeli sources say they have no intelligence to support the claim.
• For Israel, he is still most likely hiding in the tunnel network either under Khan Yunis or Rafah.
• Last week, Israel released captured CCTV footage from earlier in the war reportedly showing Sinwar and his family fleeing their home in a tunnel. The release of that footage was also meant to depict him as a coward in retreat.
• On Tuesday, a strategic assessment written by Minister Eisenkot to his partners in the war cabinet was revealed on Channel 12 News. According to the report, Eisnkot gave the following assessments:
  • Stripping Hamas of its military and governmental capabilities—partially achieved.
  • Freeing the hostages—partially achieved.
  • Securing an end to the war in which no threat is posed to Israel from Gaza—not achieved.
  • Restoring security to the residents of the Gaza periphery communities—partially achieved.
  • Improving Israeli citizens’ sense of personal security and national resilience— not achieved.
• Eisenkot included harsh criticism of the war cabinet writing, “In practice, for the past three months no impactful decisions have been made. The war is being run on the basis of tactical achievements, without meaningful efforts to secure the attainment of strategic objectives.”
• For the third time since the war began, the US vetoed a motion at the UN Security Council calling for an immediate ceasefire. The UK once again abstained.   

Looking ahead: In parallel to the military campaign, there are efforts to renew talks over a deal to releases the hostages. Israeli negotiators could return to talks in Cairo in the days ahead.

• The IDF is still preparing plans to launch a ground operation into Rafah, but first needs to facilitate another humanitarian corridor for the non-combatants to be evacuated. 

via BICom