Operation Iron Swords - Day 58 - 03 December 2023
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NEW - Operations NEW - By-Standers NEW - Axis of Resistance NEW - Allied for Democracy UPDATED - Oasis of Martyrs UPDATED - Hostages |
Yemen’s Houthis (armed by Iran) attacked a U.S. warship and multiple commercial ships in the Red Sea as they seek to choke a vital artery for international commerce. The United States military was aware of reports on Sunday that an American warship and commercial vessels were attacked in the Red Sea. "We are aware of reports regarding attacks on the USS Carney and commercial vessels in the Red Sea and will provide updates as they become available," the Pentagon said.
Houthi "Ansar Allah" group announced that its naval forces targeted two Israeli ships this morning in Bab al-Mandab, the "Unity Explorer" ship and the "Number Nine" ship. The group's spokesman, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, said in a statement broadcast on Al-Masirah TV that this targeting "came in implementation of the directives of Commander Abdul-Malik Badr al-Din al-Houthi, and in response to the demands of our great Yemeni people and the calls of the free people of our Arab and Islamic nation to stand fully with the choices of the Palestinian people and their proud resistance." He added: "The naval forces of the Yemeni Armed Forces, with the help of God Almighty, carried out this morning a targeting operation against two Israeli ships in Bab al-Mandab, which are the "Unity Explorer" ship and the "Number Nine" ship, where the first ship was targeted with a naval missile and the second ship with a naval drone.
Saree continued: “The Yemeni armed forces continue to prevent Israeli ships from navigating the Red and Arab Seas until the Israeli aggression against our steadfast brothers in the Gaza Strip stops.” He added: "The Yemeni Armed Forces renew their warning to all Israeli ships or those associated with Israelis that they will become a legitimate target if they violate what was stated in this statement and previous statements issued by the Yemeni Armed Forces."
The US Department of Defense said in a statement, “An American warship and several commercial ships were attacked on Sunday in the Red Sea , which may represent a major escalation in a series of naval attacks in the Middle East linked to the war between Israel and Hamas.” The British Army had previously said that there had been a drone attack and explosions in the Red Sea, without going into details.
Yemen's Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for attacking two vessels, the Unity Explorer and Number Nine, but made no mention of attacking a US Navy ship. The guided-missile destroyer USS Carney is an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer. According to senior US officials who spoke to various news outlets, including ABC News and NBC News, a ballistic missile fired by Houthi rebels in Yemen landed close to a merchant vessel in the Red Sea.
The USS Carney was nearby and responded to the ship's distress call. While heading to assist, the Carney shot down a Houthi drone and had previously destroyed another Houthi drone, according to the official. The Houthis said they attacked the ships because they were linked to Israel and were targeted after they rejected warnings. The Iran-backed militia have launched several missile and drone attacks on Israel since the start of the war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist militant group Hamas. Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said the two ships that came under attack had had no connection to the state of Israel.
Al Jazeera's analysis of satellite images revealed a series of developments in terms of operations carried out by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip and the placement of its military vehicles in the main axes. The analysis was based on images obtained by Al Jazeera, taken by satellites on November 24 and 30, of various areas of the Gaza Strip.
Pictures taken on November 24 show Israeli forces digging a trench starting from the Juhr al-Dik area (east of the central region of the Gaza Strip) with a length of approximately 1.8 kilometers. Excavation work has progressed, bringing the length of the trench to 2.7 kilometers, according to photos from November 30. The purpose of digging the trench is not yet known. The Israeli trench is similar to the Russian trenches that were spotted in various areas of the Russian-controlled Crimean Peninsula during the war on Ukraine in recent months. The trench extends from the Juhr al-Dik area for a length of 2.7 km.
The pictures also showed the Israeli army constructing a road that cuts through the entire center of Gaza, from the entrance to Juhr al-Dik in the east to the seashore in the west. The Israeli forces paved the road to facilitate faster movement of vehicles. Currently, a large number of vehicles are concentrated outside the sector, east of the entrance to Juhr al-Dik. These vehicles may be part of the armored vehicles that withdrew during the truce, and they may be in the process of preparing for any possible new operations.
Pictures taken on November 30 showed a number of tents that were likely used to shelter soldiers west of Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip. Regarding the deployment of forces, photos from November 30 showed a decrease in the number of military vehicles inside the Gaza Strip by an approximate rate of between 35% and 40%, as follows:
- The number of vehicles in the Beit Hanoun axis decreased from 78 vehicles on November 24 to 37 vehicles on November 30.
- The number of vehicles in the Beit Lahia axis decreased from 287 vehicles on November 24 to 164 vehicles on November 30.
- The number of vehicles in the Wadi Gaza axis decreased from 371 vehicles on November 24 to 215 vehicles on November 30.
There was also a decrease in the number of heavy vehicles compared to an increase in the number of light vehicles. The map of the Israeli incursion shows the expansion of the forces in the northern and central Gaza Strip, and the expansion of the scope of their operations to remove buildings or agricultural greenhouses and bulldoze lands in search of Palestinian resistance tunnels.
The possibility of an Israeli military attack on the southern Palestinian Strip spread an atmosphere of terror in Gaza, as 4 out of every 5 people fled their homes into crowded shelters, schools, tents, and hospital corridors, according to media reports. After the end of the week-long ceasefire, much of the south is under intense bombardment, with up to 1.5 million civilians facing a second exodus from places that Israel initially said would be safe.
The map of residential areas published by the IDF came as an Israeli response to an American request to provide safe areas in the southern Gaza Strip, and to take measures to protect civilians during its military operations, which appear to be expanding in the southern regions, especially in the city of Khan Yunis.
The map for all areas of the Gaza Strip limits the options of more than two million people in the small coastal strip, and pushes them little by little towards areas with no access to the city of Rafah, which is squeezed between the sea to the west and the Israeli security fence to the east and the border with Egypt to the south.
The map, according to which the Strip was divided into hundreds of small, contiguous residential squares, caused a state of confusion among the people of Gaza, whose conversations were dominated by the question, “What is your block?” That is, what is your residential square number according to this map, while others disparaged the map and denied the occupation’s claims that its goal was to protect civilians.
The IDF claimed that this map aims to enable Palestinians to know the places of evacuation according to the division, give the residential blocks numbers and plan their borders accurately, so that it is easier for them to move to safe places according to the military instructions that will be issued in the coming days.
One of the areas designated for evacuation included several towns in eastern Khan Yunis (Al-Qarara, Khuza’a, Abasan, and Bani Suhaila), whose residents were ordered to move south to Rafah. These areas represent 19% of the area of the Gaza Strip (69 square kilometers) and were home to about 350,000 people before the war. The Israeli army also warned residents of the eastern parts of Gaza City (Al-Shuja'iya, Al-Zaytoun, and the Old City) and Jabalia in the north of the Strip to evacuate. The designated areas cover about 6% of the Gaza Strip and are home to about 415,000 people.
Before the new evacuations, the Gaza Strip recorded more than 1.8 million displaced people suffering from massive overcrowding and poor sanitary conditions in shelter centres, including significant increases in diseases such as hepatitis, infectious conditions such as diarrhea and acute respiratory infections, and hygiene-related conditions. In addition, there are concerns about the lives of vulnerable groups of people in difficult shelter conditions, such as people with special needs, pregnant, newly born or breastfeeding women, people recovering from injuries or surgeries, and those with weakened immune systems.
The Israeli side did not explicitly announce its intention to transfer the Palestinians to Sinai, but the first to raise this issue was the army spokesman, Richard Hecht, when he said days after the start of the war: “The Rafah crossing is still open (..) and I advise anyone who can leave to do so.” This statement aroused apprehension from the Egyptian side and it was read as a prelude and confirmation of Israeli intentions in this regard, which prompted it to issue warnings against any scenario related to the displacement of Gazans to Egyptian territory.
Despite the statement correcting Hecht's statement, Cairo continued its position and escalated its rejection of the "plan to resettle Palestinians from the Gaza Strip in Egypt."
The Israeli army spokesman, Avichay Adraee, said in a statement calling for movement towards areas in Rafah, “We published a map of the areas that divide the territory of the Gaza Strip into areas and neighborhoods that you know, in an effort to help you in the next stages of the war, to understand and realize the directives issued and to move from the locations.” precisely defined if necessary to preserve your security.” He pointed out that "Israel does not ask the residents of Gaza to leave the Strip, but rather to leave the places where military operations are taking place, and evacuation from combat zones is done in order to distinguish between civilians and militants."
However, the Palestinian analyst, Ashraf Al-Akka, confirmed in statements to the Al-Hurra website that Israel’s invitation to the residents to head towards Rafah “means moving forward with the process of displacement towards Rafah and later Sinai, and the process takes place under the weight of hunger, siege, disease and bombing.”
The French newspaper "Liberation" said Saturday that the Israeli army is using artificial intelligence techniques to wage a comprehensive war in the Gaza Strip , in which it can estimate the number of civilian casualties in the bombing, saying that the algorithms developed by Israel or private companies are one of the most destructive and deadly methods of bombing in the 21st century. The French newspaper quoted the Israeli newspaper "Jerusalem Post" that the Israeli army claimed to lead what it called the first "artificial intelligence war", using 3 algorithms, which are "Alchemist", "The Bible", and "Depth of Wisdom", and mentioned another military system it uses called "Fire Factory".
The Israeli military uses these algorithms to analyze a large number of intelligence data and quickly estimate the effects of different potential strategic options. The newspaper reported that the Israeli army uses two tools in particular in its war on the Gaza Strip: the “Bible” and the “fire factory.” The first aims to suggest the most relevant targets for attack, within a given perimeter. The second is used to improve attack plans for aircraft and drones depending on the nature of the chosen targets, and the algorithms are also responsible for calculating the amount of ammunition needed, according to the newspaper.
The newspaper added that the Israeli army's artificial intelligence systems are operated by operators who must verify and approve targets and raid plans, which means that these systems will not make a direct decision to open fire, although part of the process will be automated. The newspaper said that the "Bible" algorithm takes civilian casualties among the elements it considers in identifying new targets for bombing.
The newspaper quoted Israeli media as saying that the use of these technological solutions explains how the Israeli army was able to bomb the Gaza Strip at such a frantic pace. According to Israeli army, the “Bible” algorithm automatically allowed it to identify “targets at a rapid pace.” The newspaper reported that the Israeli army said that the "Bible" algorithm recorded 100 targets per day for bombing, while the army was placing 50 targets annually in Gaza to bomb them, and former army officers described the algorithm as a "mass assassination factory."
Artificial intelligence techniques are usually used to identify targets and avoid collateral damage, but the Israeli occupation army does not care about this feature. In fact, it may be keen on the opposite, as its program to monitor its targets in the Gaza Strip depends on quantity, not quality. The Israeli army announced that it is using artificial intelligence technology to determine the targets it wants to bomb in Gaza at an accelerated rate, and described this technology as a factory that works around the clock to generate potential targets.
The program, called "Gospel" in English and "Bible" in Arabic, and which the occupation uses to monitor its targets in the Gaza Strip, has eportedly identified 40,000 suspects to be assassinated. The program relies on information and images from drones and information coming from intercepted communications. It also uses watchtower data to monitor the movements of targeted individuals, then gives instructions on targets that should be attacked, and the number of people likely to be killed in the bombing.
An Israeli official explained to Bloomberg in mid-June that two models are being used to build a data set based on algorithms regarding specific targets, in order to calculate potential ammunition, set priorities, assign thousands of targets to aircraft, and propose a schedule for raids. According to the same official, the two systems are subject to human operators who examine and approve targets and air strike plans. It is noteworthy that the program does not take the decision itself, but rather leaves it to the unit commander, who presses the destroy button after he receives the list from the Targets Unit, which was established in 2019.
The occupation’s use of artificial intelligence to determine its goals sparked widespread interaction, part of which was reported by the Shabakita program (12/3/2023), including what Muhammad Al-Saray wrote: “The danger of intelligence lies in the negative use of it by murderers, criminals, or oppressors!! Mercy and eternity for the Palestinian martyrs."
Yalmqa Al-Baraa tweeted: “No to justify the group genocide that occurred under any name... Where is the artificial intelligence and the Unity Intelligence Corps (8200) since the beginning of the Al- Aqsa flood ?! Where is the artificial intelligence in the indiscriminate bombing of hospitals, mosques, churches and schools?! Where is the Shin Bet in the massacres and killing of innocents? And where??
Iman Hassan agreed with him, writing: “It is not intelligence, technology, or anything.. They control everything in front of them. America gives them bombs and they throw them everywhere.. How many kilograms did they throw at them? All the bombs in the world, to the point that Ukraine votes and does not find a weapon. Gaza He throws more weapons at it than Russia and says you are smart!” As for Shadia Saadawi, she said, “What will change the matter? The owner of the land is always the victor and the owner of the right. If he is with God, God is with him, then he is above the throne and they are under the throne.”
This unit had so far targeted more than 15,000 targets in Gaza during the first 35 days of the war, while Israel used to identify an average of 50 targets per year before the introduction of this unit, but with the help of new technology, it is now bombing 100 targets daily, which has doubled the number of victims, 15 times more than the IDF operation against Gaza in 2014.
Sources told the British newspaper " The Guardian " that Israel's next attack on the southern Gaza Strip "is based on intelligence information derived from hundreds of militants who were arrested during the fighting in the northern Gaza Strip, which will allow the Israeli army to find and kill Hamas leaders."
Politicians and generals in Israel believe that eliminating senior leaders - especially the movement's leader in the Gaza Strip, Yahya Sinwar - constitutes the "best opportunity" to eliminate the movement, which is deeply rooted in Gaza, after nearly two decades of its complete control over the Strip.
Two military officials with knowledge of the strategy for the next phase confirmed to the British newspaper that “there will be an intense focus on using new intelligence information to target the leaders of the Hamas movement,” which is classified as a terrorist organization in the United States and other countries. Critics of the Israeli military operation say the new strategy "will do little to reduce the high cost in civilian lives" killed in Gaza.
The Guardian said, “Under pressure from the United States regarding the killing of civilians in Gaza, the Israeli army sees that a comprehensive campaign to assassinate the Hamas leadership is its best hope for achieving its goals of destroying the movement... and forcing it to return the Israeli hostages on acceptable terms, and ending the conflict.”
In this regard, analyst and former Mossad official, Yossi Alef, said: “We are subject to increasingly stringent American pressure.” He continued: "America supports getting rid of Hamas, but on the condition that many civilians are not killed. Therefore, perhaps the movement's leaders can be attacked, which will lead to the dismantling of Hamas without killing many people."
In the first phase of the fighting inside Gaza, Israeli forces were able to destroy large Hamas infrastructure in the northern Gaza Strip, but Israeli military officials previously told the Observer newspaper that “despite the killing of large numbers of mid-ranking field commanders, the Israeli army did not "haves access to any of the top leaders so far."
Kobi Michael, an expert at the Institute for International Security Studies in Tel Aviv, explained that “the Israeli army learned lessons from its campaign” before the truce. He continued: “The next goal will be to target the leaders in order to reach a better agreement regarding the release of the hostages,” adding: “It is likely that any information will be entered into an artificial intelligence-based system called Habsura (Gospel) to identify targets at a rapid pace.” Some experts doubt that AI-based systems have underestimated civilian harm, pointing to the widespread destruction of entire neighborhoods in Gaza.
In the last day, the naval forces attacked with hundreds of shells terrorist targets of Hamas and targets of assistance to the ground forces in their activities. Among these goals; Military infrastructures, vessels associated with the Hamas naval force, weapons and more.
The Israeli newspaper Maariv reported that Tel Aviv sent several warships and an advanced submarine to the Red Sea. It indicated that this step was taken to monitor Iran's activities in the region. Israel is coordinating its movements with the United States, whose ships are in the Red Sea.
Four Palestinians were martyred by fire from the IDF and extremist settlers in various areas in the occupied West Bank during the past 24 hours, while the Israeli army stormed Jenin , Qalqilya and Hebron and arrested dozens of Palestinians. The West Bank is witnessing a wave of tension and field confrontations between Palestinians and the Israeli army, coinciding with a devastating war launched by Israel on the Gaza Strip , which left massive infrastructure destruction and tens of thousands of martyrs, most of them children and women, in addition to an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe.
The Ministry of Health said that a Palestinian died from his wounds in the village of Al-Jalama, northeast of Jenin. A young man was also martyred and others were injured by bullets from settlers and Israeli occupation forces in the town of Qarawat Bani Hassan, west of Salfit. Groups of extremist settlers stormed the town under the protection of the occupation forces, and carried out a series of attacks on citizens and their property.
In the city of Qalqilya, Al Jazeera's correspondent reported that a young Palestinian man died as a result of his wounds after the occupation forces shot him. The reporter reported that Israeli occupation army forces stormed several neighborhoods in the city amid heavy gunfire.
The IDF also killed a young man in the village of Tal, south of the city of Nablus, at a military checkpoint last night.
In turn, the Palestinian Ministry of Health condemned the Israeli forces’ beating and arrest of the driver of the Health Directorate in Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank. Palestinian Minister of Health, Mai Al-Kaila, said in a statement that the occupation forces assaulted the car driver and his colleague (whom she did not name), and searched the directorate’s car and destroyed its contents, as the crew was heading from the Bethlehem Governorate to the central ministry’s warehouses in Nablus to bring the vaccines.
Al-Kaila stressed that the occupation is increasingly escalating its deliberate attacks on treatment centers and teams in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank every day, and is bombing and storming hospitals and arresting the wounded and medical personnel, and does not care about international laws, rights, or conventions. The United Nations and international human rights organizations and institutions called for immediate intervention to provide protection for treatment centers, personnel working in the health sector, and ambulance crews and vehicles.
In Hebron Governorate, occupation soldiers, accompanied by a group of settlers, attacked a Palestinian family in the Khallet Taha area, west of the town of Dura. A video clip showed an Israeli soldier assaulting the head of the family, Noah Al-Haroub, with his rifle, while he was tending his sheep with his family. One of the soldiers and settlers also threw stones at family members. In a phone call with an Al Jazeera correspondent, Noah Al-Haroub said that he had been subjected to these types of attacks for days, in addition to being prevented from reaching his land.
In another attack, a surveillance camera showed that masked settlers attacked, with stones and sticks, a restaurant owned by a Palestinian in the town of Al-Sawiya, Nablus Governorate. The settlers - who took advantage of the lack of residents in the area - destroyed the restaurant’s equipment and facilities. The town of Al-Sawiya is constantly exposed to attacks from settlers who settle in settlements near the town.
Israeli forces continued their incursions into many Palestinian areas in the West Bank. Homes were raided in the city of Jenin and the Askar camp east of Nablus, the city of Jericho in the Jordan Valley, Jabal Al-Tawil in the city of Al-Bireh, and several villages south of Nablus and the city of Hebron.
The Prisoners' Affairs Authority and the Palestinian Prisoners' Club announced in a joint statement that the Israeli occupation forces arrested 60 Palestinians, including 5 girls and former prisoners, last night and this morning, before releasing some of them in the morning. The statement added that the arrests were concentrated in the Hebron and Ramallah governorates, while the rest were distributed in the Jericho, Jenin, Salfit, and Bethlehem governorates. The statement denounced the occupation forces' raids on homes, assaulting their residents by beating and abusing them, and subjecting them to field investigation, before taking them to detention centers.
This brought the number of detainees in the West Bank to about 3,500 since October 7th.
The Israeli forces also stormed the Al-Sowaneh neighborhood in occupied Jerusalem, and notified the residents of a building in which the preacher of Al-Aqsa Mosque, Sheikh Ikrimah Sabri, lives , of the decision to demolish it under the pretext of building without a permit. In this context, the Israeli forces demolished this morning a floor in a building in the town of Sur Baher, south of Jerusalem, under the pretext of not having a permit. The building owner reported in a phone call to Al Jazeera that the demolished apartment housed five members of the family of the daughter of the freed prisoner Jihad Attoun.
On a daily basis, the Israeli army carries out storming campaigns into villages and towns throughout the occupied West Bank, accompanied by confrontations, arrests, and shooting and tear gas bombs at Palestinians.
A source in the Al-Qassam Brigades told Al Jazeera that 70% of the occupation forces withdrew from the north, while the Palestinian resistance factions clashed on several fronts in the Gaza Strip with the occupation forces and ambushed about 60 Israeli soldiers, destroyed 3 vehicles, and bombed settlements around the Gaza Strip , while the Israeli government announced... The army began a ground operation north of Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip.
The leading source in the Al-Qassam Brigades said that the Israeli ground operation is currently concentrated in the south of the Gaza Strip, coinciding with limited maneuver operations in the north, stressing that 70% of the Israeli forces have withdrawn from the north of the Gaza Strip as a result of the failure of their operations and because of resistance strikes. He added that the withdrawal of the occupation forces from the northern Gaza Strip began with the temporary humanitarian truce that ended Friday, and he added that the withdrawal accelerated with the resistance strikes in the last two days.
The resistance factions reported that they killed a number of Israeli soldiers during clashes and attacks, while the Israeli army did not publish the total number of those killed since the start of its ground operations in Gaza on October 27, but said that the number of injured people in Gaza reached about a thousand injured.
The Al-Qassam Brigades announced that they had targeted 4 tanks of the occupation army in Beit Lahia, north of the Gaza Strip, with an “Al-Yassin 105” shell, destroying 3 of them, in addition to blowing up the opening of one of the tunnels with a group of Israeli soldiers east of Beit Lahia after booby-trapping it with explosive devices.
The Brigades reported that they targeted an Israeli special force inside a building in Beit Hanoun with a TPG shell, and that they killed a number of their soldiers. They said that she blew up a powerfully booby-trapped tunnel belonging to the occupation in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, then targeted the Israeli rescue forces with mortar shells.
The Al-Qassam Brigades said that they targeted an Israeli tank and a troop carrier with "Al-Yassin 105" shells, and targeted an Israeli D-9 bulldozer with a Tandom shell north of the city of Khan Yunis, and detonated a minefield with an Israeli force of 8 soldiers, and killed off those who remained alive from point zero north. East of Khan Yunis. The Al-Qassam Brigades reported earlier that they bombed a gathering of occupation soldiers east of Khan Yunis with mortar shells.
In the center of the Gaza Strip, the Al-Qassam Brigades said that they killed a large number of occupation soldiers after detonating explosive devices at their position of 60 soldiers east of Juhr al-Dik. It added that it bombed a gathering of Israeli soldiers with heavy-caliber mortar shells, and targeted 5 occupation vehicles east of Deir al-Balah with Al-Yassin 105 shells, and announced the destruction of 3 of them. he Al-Qassam Brigades also announced that it had bombed the Avishalom settlement with a missile salvo, and that it had bombed Ashkelon with a missile salvo in response to the Israeli massacres against civilians. It added that it bombed the Amitai settlement with a 114 mm short-range “Rajum” missile system, and targeted the Re’im military base with a missile salvo, in addition to Sderot and Israeli crowds east of the Magin settlement.
The Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of Islamic Jihad , reported that they engaged in fierce clashes with Israeli soldiers in the Sheikh Radwan axis. For its part, the Al-Quds Brigades said that they clashed with an Israeli foot force in the Abu Haddaf area, northeast of Khan Yunis, and bombarded it with mortar and RPG shells. The Al-Quds Brigades said that its members detonated an explosive device with an infiltrating Israeli tank near the Hajjaj Mosque in the Al-Mughraqa area, and engaged in fierce clashes with Israeli soldiers in the Al-Nasr neighborhood in Gaza City.
The Al-Quds Brigades reported that they bombed Beersheba, Sufa, Halit, Sderot, and the settlements of Sufa, Nir Ishaq, Kfar Saad, and Kfar Izza with concentrated missile barrages, in addition to bombing the occupation bases in Ra'im and Miftahim. It also said that it bombed the industrial zone in Ashkelon with a concentrated missile salvo. Al Jazeera's correspondent confirmed the sound of sirens in Ashkelon and the northern Gaza Strip.
For his part, Al Jazeera's correspondent reported that an Israeli drone was shot down in the northern Gaza Strip, but no resistance faction has so far claimed responsibility for shooting it down.
The Israeli army spokesman said that the Air Force continued to launch raids in Gaza, targeting tunnel openings, command headquarters and weapons depots, while the occupation aircraft bombed inhabited homes throughout the Strip, resulting in the death and injury of dozens. The Israeli government spokesman stated that their military operation is now focused on Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip, while Israeli Army Radio said that the army has begun a ground operation north of Khan Yunis.
The official Palestinian News Agency confirmed that Israeli vehicles entered Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip, starting from the eastern border area in the Al-Qarara area, northeast of Khan Yunis, towards Salah al-Din Street. It added that the occupation vehicles are stationed near the Al-Mahathin Junction, amid heavy fire coverage from warplanes and shelling from tanks, artillery, and reconnaissance aircraft. The Israeli government claims that the leadership of the Hamas movement is located in Khan Yunis, after claiming that the movement’s leadership is concentrated in Al-Shifa Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip, which it stormed and arrested a number of people.
The Al Jazeera military and strategic expert, Major General Fayez Al-Duwairi, said that the Khan Yunis ground battle differs in form from the attack in the northern Gaza Strip , stressing that it will be more ferocious than the first phase, explaining that “the hand of the resistance will be supreme.” Al-Duwairi added that 40% of the occupation army’s losses in the 2014 war between the resistance and Israel were in Khan Yunis, stressing that the Al-Qassam Brigades - the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) - in this region is one of the strong points, and it is very experienced.
Al-Duwairi’s comment coincided with an announcement on the occupation army radio that the army had begun a ground operation north of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, after violent fire belts focused on the city in addition to Deir al-Balah in the center. The occupation army - according to Al-Duwairi’s military reading - plans to divide the center and south into 3 sections: the first includes Deir al-Balah and the Nuseirat, al-Bureij, and al-Maghazi camps, the second is the Khan Yunis area, and the third is the Rafah border city with Egypt. Al-Duwairi added that if the occupation plan succeeds, "the Gaza Strip will be divided into 4 operational areas, each with forces allocated to the occupation army and another to the defending forces."
He stressed that the attack on Khan Yunis differs in form from the Gaza operation, which he besieged and then began storming, as he will proceed in the south to complete each stage, then develop it to move to the next stage. He stated that the separation lines between the governorates “are considered weak points for the defending forces,” but he expressed great confidence that the Palestinian resistance has overcome this dilemma.
Returning to the clashes in Gaza and its north, the military expert confirmed that the areas entered by the occupation army are areas of engagement and not control. He added that the occupation army is trying to benefit from its previous experiences and build on them, but it is facing violent resistance.
The military expert pointed out that the occupation transferred part of the forces that were allocated to the northern Gaza Strip to the southern region and added them to the operational and strategic reserve forces in the Al-Qarara area, northeast of Khan Yunis. In his speech, he touched on the operations of the Al-Qassam Brigades - today, Sunday - in the areas of Juhr al-Dik, east of the central region, the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in Gaza, and Beit Lahia in the north, and said that they targeted tanks, troop carriers, and bulldozers, while confirming that a disaster befell the soldiers of the occupation army in Juhr al-Dik.
Al-Duwairi stressed that October 7, 2023 is a turning point in the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict, in his comment on Israel’s revelation for the first time of the Qassam naval landing on the beaches of Zikim on the first day of Operation “ Al-Aqsa Flood .”
Since the beginning of the ground maneuver in the Gaza Strip, IDF forces have located over 800 shafts of Hamas underground tunnels, of which approximately 500 have been destroyed by a variety of operational methods, including explosions and blockades. Some of the shafts located connected Hamas strategic assets through the underground medium. In addition, many kilometers of tunnel route were destroyed. The shafts were located in civilian spaces, and many of them were located near or inside buildings such as educational institutions, kindergartens, mosques and playgrounds. In some of the shafts, IDF forces located many weapons that were left inside.
Le Monde said that it had analyzed video clips broadcast by the Israeli army since it occupied the Shifa Hospital building in Gaza, which showed the presence of a tunnel, but it was not of a size that would make it a broad operational center for the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) as presented by the Israeli armed forces. The French newspaper explained that the spokesman for the Israeli armed forces appears wandering through a tunnel, pointing to a kitchen, toilet, or a small empty room, in video clips that allegedly prove the existence of a huge underground operations center used by Hamas under the hospital complex.
Thanks to the unedited sequence of these video clips, Le Monde was able to reconstruct maps of this underground passage, which is about 130 meters long. “We notice arrangements there, but they do not amount to an operational and strategic center, nor to a large weapons cache,” she said. The Israeli army claims. The newspaper pointed out that the Israeli army had previously accused Hamas of taking a command center under the Shifa Hospital complex, displaying three-dimensional images of a center with 5 meeting rooms several days before it stormed the complex, but the images it broadcast did not resemble the tunnel it showed.
The Iraqi Hezbollah Brigades announced that they targeted the American “Kharab al-Jir” base in northeastern Syria, and directly hit their targets. It said in a statement, "In response to the crimes committed by the enemy against our people in Gaza, the Mujahideen of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq targeted the American occupation base, Kharab al-Jir, in northeastern Syria, with a large missile salvo, and directly hit its targets." This is the second targeting of the day , after the Islamic Resistance in Iraq announced in a statement at dawn that an American base at Erbil Airport was targeted and a direct hit was achieved.
American forces have been subjected to more than 73 attacks since October 17 in Iraq and Syria, resulting in the injury of more than 60 American soldiers, according to the Pentagon. Pentagon officials said earlier that they were frustrated by the escalation of attacks on American forces in Iraq and Syria, according to the Washington Post, while the Islamic Resistance in Iraq announced its readiness to escalate its military operations inside and outside Iraq in support of the Palestinian people.
Bystanders
Israeli voices appeared, demanding that Egypt receive the Palestinians of Gaza in Sinai temporarily until the end of combat operations, but Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi strongly opposed such a measure and considered the displacement of Palestinians from Gaza to Sinai a “red lin.” for Egyptian national security. In its statement on the “X” platform, the Israeli army called on residents of neighborhoods in Khan Yunis to head towards the areas of “Shaboura Camp, Tal Al-Sultan, and Al-Fakhari,” which are areas in the far south of the Gaza Strip, near the Egyptian border.
The Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, warned that the fighting in the southern Gaza Strip "will provide a high possibility that they (Gazans) may want to flee to the far south and cross the border."
Commenting on such a scenario, former Secretary-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, wrote via X: “I hope that we will be aware of the treacherous Israeli plan to forcibly displace the people of Gaza, which violates all laws and values, and that we will do what we can to stop it...and I believe that we have what we can do to do it."
Axis of Resistance
Iran’s support for Gaza and Palestine is in total compliance with the Constitution, which has obligated the Islamic government to back the oppressed, Raisi said in an address to a conference on the implementation of the Constitution, held in Tehran. He noted that supporting the rights of the Palestinian nation has been a fundamental principle of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s foreign policy since the victory of the Revolution in 1979.
Describing the issue of Palestine as the Muslim world’s top priority, the president underlined that international political developments or the interests of certain regional parties won’t change this basic tenet of Iran’s foreign policy by any means. He also noted that massive worldwide rallies in solidarity with Palestine and Gaza indicate that the blood of the oppressed Palestinian people has overcome the arrogance system’s media empire. Raisi also expressed confidence that the Zionist regime, which has the blood of over 6,000 Palestinian children on its hands, is going to collapse and vanish.
Allied for Democracy
Professor of political science at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Meir Masri, pointed out that Israel does not have “expansionist ambitions neither in the Gaza Strip nor in any of the neighboring countries... We are not interested in emptying the Gaza Strip of its population... The claim that Israel has a plan aimed at displacing the population The Gaza Strip to the Sinai Peninsula is a figment of the imagination of the Nasserist press, which is addicted to lies and slander.”
Regarding the discussion of the idea of displacement by Israeli officials and politicians, he confirmed in his interview with Al-Hurra website that what is meant is “temporary displacement, as Poland and Ukraine’s neighboring countries did with the Ukrainians.” He continued: “I hope that Egypt will show a greater degree of cooperation with us in order to remove civilians from war zones, until we end military operations, but the Egyptian leadership does not seem concerned with the security and safety of the Palestinians. We helped it in its war against ISIS in Sinai, and it refuses to cooperate with us against ISIS in Gaza. Cairo’s position is incomprehensible and not at the level of the event.”
"Although the idea of displacing Palestinians - in Gaza to Sinai, and in the West Bank to Jordan - seems superficial from a realistic standpoint, it should be noted here that the extreme right-wing movement that rules the occupying state today is not a secular movement in large part, but rather there is a large part belongs - in fact - to the Salvationist religious movement, which believes in end-time prophecies, the descent of Christ the Savior, and other religious fundamentalist narratives that govern the movement of the followers of this movement. Today, this movement is enthusiastically participating in this battle. Because he considers it a prelude to the end-of-the-world battle that will bring about Christ the Savior!" noted Abdullah Amarouf. Professor of Jerusalem Studies and former media and public relations officer at Al-Aqsa Mosque, Istanbul University.
"Recently, an unknown group appeared and began publishing messages on the ground in the West Bank, and in sponsored advertisements on Facebook - which is considered the most followed in the Palestinian territories - all of which call on Palestinians in the West Bank to immigrate to Jordan as a better solution for both parties.
This work has several goals: Among them is exploiting the various calls published by individuals and officials in the occupation government to displace the residents of the Gaza Strip to Sinai to spread the idea and mix up the cards, in order to create a major shock among the Palestinian community in the West Bank that prevents it from participating forcefully in the current war. Fearing the “fate” of the population in Gaza, whether through destruction, killing, or displacement.
It appears that those responsible for these calls belong to newly formed extremist right-wing religious groups, as these groups follow new methods of work. Individuals from these groups also appear to be active activists in extremist temple groups operating in the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem as well....
"Itamar Ben Gvir has been constantly arming West Bank settlers since the beginning of the war on Gaza, thus forming an armed militia of settlers parallel to the occupation army in the West Bank. Here we should not forget that he had stipulated on Netanyahu in the first government formation talks that he be allowed to form an armed security apparatus for West Bank settlers called the “National Guard....
”This actually means that the religious Zionist movement is working to form its own army in its areas of influence in the West Bank, and in the event that the political and societal rift in Israel worsens, it has the possibility of being independent of itself from the Israeli army, and carrying out its own wars, the direct goal of which is, of course, an attempt to implement its vision of displacing Palestinians from the West Bank to Jordan, and perhaps establish their own entity in the region.
"We repeat here that someone might say; The scenario of displacement from Gaza to Sinai - as an example of any similar scenario in the West Bank - is illogical and practically inapplicable. This is true from a practical standpoint, but it should be noted that settler groups do not view the issue in the same way. These groups still control the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of National Security through Smotrich and Ben Gvir.
"Although Ben Gvir is known for his extreme recklessness and his ridiculous populist speeches, even within Israel, a person like Smotrich has a clear vision of how to carry out the displacement process, in a more profound and dangerous way than Ben Gvir, and this raises the level of danger of these plans....
"Therefore, this scenario should not be ruled out; Because we are simply not dealing here with balanced personalities, but rather they are religiously motivated personalities towards a devastating collision, and therefore we need someone to ring the bell and look at every little and big thing in the scene deeply before it is too late."
Netanyahu's popularity has never been so low, and he now finds himself facing the most difficult crisis in his political life, in light of the ongoing war between his country and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, according to a report by the American newspaper The New York Times . Netanyahu is currently facing an increasingly violent backlash due to his government's failure to prevent the October 7 attacks.
v The New York Times report also indicated that there was "strong criticism of his (Netanyahu's) handling of the war in the Gaza Strip," adding that "people in his government or aspiring to succeed him agree that he did not have such a low level of popularity on the Israeli street." Analysts explained that despite this, and due to complications in the Israeli parliamentary system and the circumstances of the ongoing war in Gaza, “there are only a few paths to remove Netanyahu from office in the near future,” and they added that “his long political career and legacy depend greatly on how he managed things during the period.” "The coming days."
The New York Times noted that "the memorial vigils for the dead Israelis in recent days and weeks have turned into protests against Netanyahu's leadership, with calls demanding that he bear responsibility for the intelligence failure that preceded the Hamas attack, turning into demands for his resignation."
The Israeli government is also facing pressure from the United States recently to work to reduce the number of civilian deaths in the Gaza Strip. With the collapse of the truce that lasted for seven days, and witnessed the release of more than 100 hostages in exchange for the release of 240 Palestinian prisoners, Netanyahu searched for a solution, including “the possible assassination of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, a move that could satisfy his government coalition, silence his critics, and satisfy citizens.” Angry because of the hostage issue,” according to the newspaper.
Two Israeli officials, one of whom is a former, said that Netanyahu "privately informed his aides that he is pushing the army toward assassinating Sinwar." Major Israeli spy agencies are working on plans to hunt down Hamas leaders living in Lebanon, Turkey, and Qatar, where the movement's political bureau has been based for a decade, according to Israeli officials who spoke to the Wall Street Journal.
The two officials added to the American newspaper that Netanyahu "believes that the assassination of Sinwar will be enough to convince Israeli public opinion that he has achieved a major victory against Hamas, and that the war can end." While the newspaper quoted Israeli political analysts, that the killing of Sinwar “could calm the wave of anger, but it will not bring about feelings to the contrary in favor of Netanyahu.”
Anshel Feffer, a writer for the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, said: “If the Israeli army succeeds in assassinating a prominent figure in Hamas, I expect Netanyahu will try to take credit for it.” But Feffer noted that "despite the many previous scandals that damaged Netanyahu's reputation, he has always managed to protect his political career."
In Britain, opposition leader Keir Starmer also warned Israel of a war in southern Gaza that would be as bloody as its campaign in the north. He continued: "We cannot return to the way the first phase of this war took place. Many innocent people lost their lives, whether in Israel or throughout Gaza. We have to look at this phase as a different phase."
US Vice President Kamla Harris confirmed, on Saturday, in a speech she delivered at the COP28 conference, that the United States will not allow “under any circumstances” the forced transfer of Palestinians from Gaza or the West Bank. She added, "The United States is clear in its support for Israel and also in its keenness to protect the civilian population."
US Defense Secretary Austin: 'We will not let Hamas or Putin win.' U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin criticized those endorsing "an American retreat from responsibility" at the Reagan National Defense Forum.
Secretary Austin considered protecting civilians a “moral responsibility and strategic necessity” for Israel. "If you push civilians into the arms of the enemy, you are trading tactical victory for strategic defeat," Austin told a defense forum in Simi Valley, California. Austin - who pledged that the United States would stand by Israel as its closest friend in the world - added that he pressured Israeli officials to significantly expand humanitarian access to Gaza.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin made his strongest statements yet about the need for Israel to protect civilians in Gaza, describing them as the center of gravity in Israel's war with Hamas and warning of the dangers of their extremism. "In this type of combat, the center of gravity is the civilian population," Austin said. Relying on his experience as a four-star general who fought the battle against ISIS, he added, "Therefore, I have always made clear to Israel's leaders that protecting Palestinian civilians in Gaza is a moral responsibility and a strategic necessity."
Austin said in statements during the annual Reagan National Defense Forum in Simi Valley, California, that he personally urges Israeli leaders to avoid civilian deaths and injuries, stop “irresponsible rhetoric,” and prevent settler violence in the West Bank. He added that he also urges Israel to significantly expand the scope of humanitarian aid entering Gaza, adding that he expects more aid to be delivered “in the coming days.”
Israel faced increasing American calls to avoid killing Palestinian civilians, while hundreds demonstrated in New York City and Washington, D.C., demanding an end to renewed Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip. US Vice President Kamala Harris said that a very large number of innocent Palestinians were killed in Gaza. Harris added - in a press conference on the sidelines of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai - that Israel has the right to defend itself, but international and humanitarian law must be respected and work to stop targeting innocent Palestinians. Harris told reporters, "Frankly, the extent of civilian suffering and the images and videos coming from Gaza are heartbreaking."
Butcher's Bill / Oasis of Martyrs
Palestinian armed group Hamas launched thousands of missiles at Israel and deployed its militants to infiltrate Jewish settlements near the country’s border with Gaza on 07 October 2023. The 1,200 Israelis killed on the first day would be the equivalent of 36,000 Americans killed in an attack, as a proportion to Israel’s population of 9.3 million people (compared to 332 million in the USA). Israeli President Isaac Herzog stated: “Not since the Holocaust have so many Jews been killed in one day". PM Netanyahu stated "On October 7th, Hamas murdered 1,400 Israelis. Maybe more. This is in a country of fewer than 10 million people. This would be equivalent to over 50,000 Americans murdered in a single day. That’s twenty 9/11s. That is why October 7th is another day that will live in infamy."
It is the second largest loss inflicted on the Israeli forces after the 1973 war, as the Palestinian resistance killed more than 1,200, wounded more than 5,132 others, and captured more than 250, most of them military personnel, some of whom were high-ranking officers in the army.
The HAMAS Ministry of Health in the besieged sector announced that the number of victims of the Israeli operation its beginning had risen to about 16,000 martyrs. Gaza's health ministry had a day earlier registered the deaths of over 18,000 Palestinians, a major jump from the "about 15,000" reported a few days earlier. The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Observatory reports that it had "counted up to this moment about 17,500 dead Palestinians". The count included about 6,150 children killed in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza since October 7, the Gaza Press Office said. The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. The Hamas-run government said more than 4,000 women were among the dead.
The number of injured had risen to "more than 41,000" with varying injuries, up from 36,000 two days earlier [which was up by 3,000 from the previous report]. The Palestinian Government Media Office in Gaza said the number of missing people had risen to more than 7,500 [ double the 3,750 previously reported], including 1,800 children still under the rubble, including 4,700 children and women. The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced that the number of wounded as 36,000 [previously announced as about 32,000 wounded], 75 percent of them children and women.
Israel revised down the death toll from the October Hamas attacks in southern Israel from 1,400 to 1,200. IDF had said previously it was holding 1,500 bodies of terrorists, a total that now would increas to about 1,700.
The number of Israeli soldiers that the IDF admitted were killed in ground battles with the Palestinian resistance reached 75, while the death toll for the Israel forces had risen to 395 soldiers since the beginning of Operation al-Aqsa Flood. At least 7,771 Israelis were injured.
The Hebrew newspaper Haaretz revealed that the number of soldiers who were injured since the start of the war reached about a thousand soldiers, noting that 202 soldiers were seriously injured. The army rarely referred to casualties when talking about the deaths of soldiers during battles. According to the same newspaper, this policy differs from what was prevalent in previous wars and military campaigns, during which the army also published the number of its wounded, in addition to publishing other details. The IDF previously announced that more than 260 soldiers had been injured since the start of the ground operation in the Gaza Strip, including 100 in serious condition.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry released its first official casualty numbers in fighting, saying 77 people were killed and 251 wounded since the start of the war on Gaza.
Hostages
Deputy Head of the Political Bureau of the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ), Saleh Al-Arouri, announced that the movement’s official position requires that prisoners not be exchanged before the aggression stops, and he told Al Jazeera, “There will be no exchange of prisoners until after the war stops.”
Al-Arouri stressed - in an interview with Al Jazeera - that “there will be no exchange of prisoners until the end of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip and a comprehensive and final ceasefire,” stressing that “our Zionist prisoners will not be liberated until all our prisoners are liberated and after the ceasefire.”
The Hamas leader revealed that the remaining prisoners in the Gaza Strip are soldiers and civilian men who served in the occupation army, although the occupation insists that the resistance still has women and children, pointing out that the elderly men detained served in the army and some of them are still in it. In the same context, Al-Arouri confirmed that the movement said it was ready to exchange bodies for the bodies of martyrs, but it needed time to exhume the bodies of the Israelis. “We need time to exhume the bodies of the Israelis who were killed in the occupation raids in Gaza.”
Regarding the extent of the Palestinian resistance’s readiness to continue the battle with the occupation after the collapse of the truce, Al-Arouri responded, “The resistance is prepared for all Israeli military scenarios, whether land, air, or other wars.” He stressed that it is equipped and reinforced with a popular incubator, and “it is all resistance,” stressing, “There is no fear or anxiety over The resistance will win." On the other hand, he said that the Israeli occupation will fail again to achieve the goals it set for itself, "liberating prisoners and what he calls the elimination of Hamas," accusing the United States of America of covering up the crimes carried out by Israel in the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli Broadcasting Authority quoted informed sources as saying that Israel informed the mediators that it wanted to return to calm in the Gaza Strip for one day, while the White House said that it had expectations of the possibility of declaring a new truce in the Strip. Israel wants a one-day truce in exchange for the release of more women and children detained in Gaza, according to the Israeli Broadcasting Authority. But the sources told the Broadcasting Corporation that the possibility of a return to calm tonight is slim, and that there is a chance of reaching an agreement within two or four days.
With negotiations to renew the truce faltering, the head of the Mossad orders his men to return from Qatar. The Israeli Mossad announced that the negotiating team that was in Qatar had received an order to return to Israel, after negotiations with Hamas on extending the truce reached a "dead end." A rare statement issued by the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on behalf of the Mossad said: “Due to the impasse in the negotiations, and on instructions from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Mossad Chief David Barnea ordered the negotiating team in Doha to return home.”
The statement added that Hamas "did not fulfill its obligations under the agreement, which included the release of all women and children on the list submitted to Hamas." The statement concluded, "The head of the Mossad thanks the head of the CIA, the Egyptian Minister of Intelligence, and the Prime Minister of Qatar for their partnership and tremendous mediation efforts that led to the release of 84 women and children detained in Gaza, in addition to 24 foreign citizens."
According to Israeli media, the return of the Mossad team from Qatar and the full resumption of fighting in Gaza is considered a message that “there will be no negotiations without a full return to the agreed upon plan, that is, the release of women and children.”
Israeli government spokesperson Eylon Levy told reporters that Hamas still held 137 captives. The resistance released 10 Israeli detainees, 4 Thais and 2 Russian women, who were released outside the agreement. Over the course of 6 days, Israel has received 102 detainees, women and children, including 78 Israelis, in exchange for the release of 234 Palestinian prisoners, women and children,
Eylon Levy, the Israeli government spokesperson, told reporters 01 December 2023:
- Hamas still holds 137 hostages from the October attacks, in addition to four others who went missing before the war
- The hostages include two children aged four and 10 months, who, Hamas now claims, are dead
- 117 male hostages are still kept in Gaza, including the two children, as well as 20 females
- 126 hostages are Israelis, and 11 others are foreign nationals
- Foreign nationals are eight Thais, one Nepalese, one Tanzanian and one French Mexican citizen
- Ten of the remaining hostages are 75 and older. There are seven missing people since the October 7 attack
- Hamas has released 110 hostages so far – 86 Israelis and 24 foreign nationals.
The Al-Qassam Brigades announced the death of an Israeli woman and her two children who were detained by them as a result of a previous Israeli bombing of Gaza. The Israeli army confirmed the deaths of five hostages held in Gaza, saying their families had been informed, and the body of one of them returned to Israel. “In recent days, the IDF and Israel police notified the families of the hostages Eliyahu Margalit, Maya Goren, Ronen Engel and Arye Zalmanovitz about their deaths,” army spokesman Daniel Hagari said. He also said troops had brought back the body of a fifth person that he identified as Ofir Tsarfati. Hagari said Gaza militants were still holding “136 hostages, among them 17 women and children.”
Before the release of the sixth batch of Israelis detained in Gaza, Israeli government spokesman Elon Levy said that 161 Israelis are still detained in the Strip [al-Jazeera reported "more than 100 prisoners" remain with the resistance]. Levy added that Israel has prepared a list of 50 Palestinian detainees to be released if Hamas continues to release detainees. At least 76, and possibly more than 80, hostages had been released by Hamas over six days of a cease-fire. During the pause, Hamas fighters released 60 Israeli women and children. In return, Israel released 180 security detainees from its prisons, all of them women and minors under the age of 19. Hamas also separately released 19 foreign hostages, most of them Thai farm workers, under separate agreements parallel to the truce agreement.
Thirty children held by Gazan terrorists have been released as part of a four-day ceasefire deal with Hamas that began Friday, but 10 still remain in the Strip. The terror group has said it planned to release 20 more hostages as part of a two-day extension to the deal. U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said the Biden administration believes eight or nine more Americans are still being held but the U.S. does not have "solid information on each and every one of them." Perhaps 100 are Israeli civilians. Some of the rest are soldiers, seized when Hamas raided military bases in Israel. They may end up being held the longest. The Israeli military had not specified how many soldiers were captured, nor their ranks.
By one account
- 236 confirmed abducted civilians and IDF soldiers.
- 18 of the abductees are elderly people aged 75 and older.
- 121 of the abductees have foreign citizenship (including dual citizenship).
Conflicting estimates were provided regarding the number of Thai nationals still in captivity. The Wall Street Journal reported 25 November 2023 that Hamas is interested in releasing 23 Thai citizens during the four days of the ceasefire, mediated by Iran. On the other hand, the Thai Foreign Ministry claimed 20 more citizens who are held captive by Hamas, and that four of the ten who were released were not included in the number initially estimated.
According to some estimates, Hamas was initially holding nearly 210 of the 240 hostages, while Palestinian Islamic Jihad was holding the remaining 30. About 40 Israelis remained missing. More than 40 hostages taken from Israel into Gaza on October 7th are not currently in the custody of Hamas, the group responsible for the attack, according to a CNN report based on a diplomatic source briefed on the negotiations, CNN's prior reports had indicated that an estimated 40 to 50 hostages were held by Palestinian Islamic Jihad or other unidentified groups or individuals.
Abu Ubaida, the spokesperson for the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, said on Hamas’ telegram account that 23 bodies of the 60 missing Israel hostages were trapped under the rubble. “It seems that we will never be able to reach them due to the continued brutal aggression of the occupation against Gaza,” he said.
Since the start of the war on October 7, at least 3,400 people had been detained, according to the Palestinian Prisoners Society. Israel said that, since the beginning of the war, about 2,100 wanted persons have been arrested throughout the IOS Division and the Bekaa and Emekim Brigade, about 1,100 of them are affiliated with Hamas.
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