Operation Iron Swords - Day 93 - 07 January 2024
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NEW - Operations NEW - Operations Maps NEW - By-Standers NEW - Axis of Resistance NEW - Allied for Democracy UPDATED - Oasis of Martyrs UPDATED - Hostages |
The spokesperson said Israeli forces have now completely dismantled Hamas’s “military framework” in northern Gaza after killing about 8,000 fighters, and will now end major combat operations. Hamas fighters “without a framework and without commanders” are still present, he continued, and scattered fighting is to be expected, along with rockets sporadically being launched towards Israel. But Hamas no longer operates in an organised manner in the area, he asserted.
The military did not address troop deployments in northern Gaza going forward, but the spokesperson said it will “continue to deepen the achievement” in the area. However, the onslaught in the rest of the enclave, including the south, to which Israel previously pushed Palestinians labelling it a safe area, is set to continue. “We are now focused on dismantling Hamas in the centre of and south of the strip,” the spokesperson said.
As of December 30, 2023 Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor had estimated Gaza Strip deaths as 30,034 total and civilian deaths at 27,681 which would mean about 2,353 militant deaths. There was no direct evidence that indicated that 8000 Hamas fighters were killed.
The clashes in Gaza were concentrated in the center and south of the Strip, with the resistance factions announcing new operations against the occupation soldiers, while the Israeli army said that it had found tunnel openings in the center of the Strip, and the Israeli Soroka Hospital announced the arrival of 8 soldiers injured in the Gaza battles during the past 24 hours.
Al Jazeera's correspondent reported that clashes took place between the resistance and the occupation in the town of Al-Zawaida and the Nuseirat camp, in the central Gaza Strip.
For its part, the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ), announced that its fighters bombed the occupation forces penetrating the Maghazi camp in the central Gaza Strip with heavy-caliber mortar shells. Al-Qassam said that its fighters targeted two Merkava tanks and a military bulldozer with " Al-Yassin 105 " shells east of the Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, and confirmed that the fighters killed and wounded the soldiers in the two tanks.
It added that its fighters also reported the explosion of two tunnels in the occupation soldiers and a minefield in a foot force consisting of 7 soldiers. It also broadcast scenes of the destruction of a troop carrier in the Maghazi camp, which is besieged by the occupation, amid reports of random shooting at civilians.
In turn, the Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad Movement, said that they bombed a position of occupation vehicles and soldiers in the Al-Maghazi camp axis with a barrage of mortar shells. It also bombed towns around the Gaza Strip with simultaneous missile attacks. For its part, the Al-Quds Brigades said that they bombed crowds of Israeli occupation soldiers and vehicles with a barrage of mortar shells in the Al-Katiba area in central Khan Yunis.
In the southern Gaza Strip, Al-Qassam said that it bombed the Israeli army crowds penetrating the Al-Mahatta area in the city of Khan Yunis with mortar shells.
In the area of Beit Lahia, forces from the Nahal Brigade's combat team identified the source of the launch from which rockets were fired this week into the area of the city of Ashkelon and began raids on the area from which the launches were identified. Yesterday (Saturday), during the raids, the fighters located a compound containing dozens of launchers, after locating the engineering forces destroyed the the compound.
As part of the activities of the combat team fighters of the Kafir Brigade in Khan Yunis, dozens of terrorists were eliminated and over a hundred terrorist targets were destroyed among them; Terrorist infrastructures, observation posts and anti-tank posts. In addition, the forces destroyed several underground shafts and tunnels in the area.
During the operation of the forces in one of the locations in the 'Bnei Suhila' neighborhood, the fighters encountered a squad of five terrorists. The forces directed an Air Force aircraft and combined firepower eliminated the squad. After the exchange of fire, the forces destroyed terrorist infrastructures that were nearby, where the terrorist squad that was watching the forces in the area was hiding. During the raids, the forces located many weapons including, among others, weapons, grenades, explosive charges and RPG missiles. The weapons were used by the terrorist organization Hamas and some of them were hidden in UNRA bags.
The battle team of the Nahal Brigade operating under Division 162 has been operating in the last few weeks in the Darj Tupah area in the northern Gaza Strip. During their activities and under the intelligence guidance of the Intelligence Division, the fighters of the battle team, together with special forces, located a strategic Hamas shaft leading to a 100-meter-long tunnel and A site for the production of weapons.
In Al Borij, the assault cell of Golani's brigade combat team detected four Nohba terrorists putting weapons in a vehicle, a remotely manned aircraft detected the squad entering the vehicle, attacked the terrorists and destroyed the weapons. An armed terrorist was detected by drones of IDF fighters advancing towards forces that were in the area, the terrorist was attacked and eliminated by the attack cell of the Golani brigade combat team.
In the center of the Gaza Strip, during the activity of the 646th Brigade Combat Team, a weapons lathe factory was located by the fighters. The forces uncovered two shafts inside a building in the area and near it, engineering fighters destroyed the shafts. During the activity of the forces in the area, a number of terrorists were identified and eliminated. In the Al Maazi camp, IDF fighters from the Golani Brigade located a shaft containing many weapons.
A shooting attack took place near the "British police" intersection in the Binyamin Brigade where an Israeli citizen was murdered. The IDF fighters who were rushed to the point and additional forces who were jumped began chasing the terrorists and blocking roads in the area. During the operation of the security forces tonight in the Jenin refugee camp, an MGB military vehicle ran over an IED, as a result, an MGB female soldier was killed and several other soldiers were injured in various ways. During the operation, an aircraft attacked a terrorist squad that dropped charges on the forces operating in the area and endangered them. 6 terrorists were killed in the attack. In addition, in the activity of IDF fighters in Tarkomia, a wanted person was arrested and weapons were confiscated by the force.
IDF spokesman, Brigadier General Daniel Hagari said "Since the beginning of the war with Hamas, Hezbollah has decided to join the fighting on behalf of Iran and without any reason. Due to the deep damage to Hamas in recent weeks, including the arenas, Hezbollah fired yesterday at the IDF bases in the north.
"The northern air control unit on Mount Miron was hit by the gunfire. It is important for me to emphasize to the public - the damage will be repaired. Thanks to advance preparation, the unit continues to function even now and is backed up by additional systems. We are investigating the incident in order to learn, improve and strengthen the defense systems in the area. There were no casualties in this attack. Yesterday we attacked significant Hezbollah military assets, including a compound used by Hezbollah's surface-to-air missile unit, and yesterday we eliminated 7 terrorists, some of whom fired into our territory. Before the shooting and after the shooting, and some of them did not have time to launch and were eliminated.
"Today, we continued strongly throughout the day. These attacks significantly harm Redwan forces. Our focus on Hizbollah's Radwan in southern Lebanon, results in its removal from the border. We are determined to continue creating a different security reality in the north, one that will ensure security for the residents. I want to say to the public: we have a challenge in the north, and we are ready for it. We are deployed all along the border and at a very high level of readiness, in defense and attack."
"Hezbollah fired at the control unit on Mount Miron," said the IDF spokesman in his statement this evening , "We are investigating the incident at the control unit and we eliminated seven terrorists yesterday. We have a challenge in the north - but we are deployed along the entire border with a very high level of readiness." "The reserve forces in IOS have carried out over 40 proactive operations," he continued, "the forces in Gaza are focusing on dismantling Hamas' capabilities in the center of the Gaza Strip."
" We need to strengthen the defense in the area, our attacks in Lebanon are very significant. One of the arrays that we are taking and dismantling is the surface-to-air missiles, and those air units that Hezbollah over the years has built in order to attack the air superiority of the State of Israel. The picture of the situation today, we will present it later, that we took a lot of capabilities from him designed to reduce our air superiority. As we speak here, Air Force planes are operating freely in Lebanon, with complete superiority, attacking, damaging and thwarting all terrorist threats against the State of Israel, and we will continue to do so....
"We have another challenge, to keep Radwan away from the border, to create a different security reality, this is our focus, it is not a competition, we have a challenge to create a different reality on the northern border, and we will continue to do it systematically." The Chief of Staff in his assessment of the situation in IOS: "They are charging an increasing price from Hezbollah. If we come to war, we will fight with distinction." The combat team fighters of the Yeftah Brigade (11) in cooperation with armor, intelligence and engineering forces, raided terrorist infrastructures in the Shejaiya area, with the aim of locating and destroying tunnel shafts of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad organization. for all the details .
IDF fighters attacked a terrorist cell that was identified in the area of Marvin. In addition, the IDF attacked several military targets of the Hezbollah terrorist organization, including buildings in which secondary explosions were detected, indicating the presence of weapons, in the areas of Lavona, Maj. Del Zon and Bint Jebel in southern Lebanon. Air defense fighters intercepted a hostile aerial target that entered Israeli territory from Lebanese territory in the Ibn Menachem area.
In a related development, the Israeli Soroka Hospital said that it received 8 soldiers wounded in the Gaza battles during the past 24 hours. The hospital added that since the beginning of the war, it had received 2,478 wounded, 14 of whom are in serious condition, and it continues to provide treatment to 35 soldiers who were injured in Gaza. The Israeli army announced earlier this month that the 669 Rescue Unit had evacuated more than a thousand wounded people since the start of the ground operation in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari said that their forces found two tunnel openings in one of the buildings in the central Gaza Strip, and a tunnel opening in the Maghazi camp in the central Gaza Strip that contained combat means, according to him. The military spokesman added that the army forces destroyed a missile launch complex yesterday, Saturday, in the Beit Lahia area, north of Gaza. He continued that an Israeli drone bombed 4 members of the elite forces of the Hamas movement, and killed a fifth member who was advancing towards the forces, according to what he said.
Hagari also said that the Israeli army will focus its operations on the central and southern Gaza Strip in a different way than they did in the north, without clarifying its meaning, announcing the “dismantling” of the military leadership structure of the Hamas movement in the northern Gaza Strip, according to him.
Meanwhile, Israeli Channel 12 quoted Defense Minister Yoav Gallant assuring the families of the captured soldiers that the war will not end until all the prisoners are returned. The Israeli government criticized the army for its inability to achieve the goals of the war in Gaza, especially since it was unable to recover any prisoner during military operations, some of which resulted in the death of prisoners.
Military and strategic expert Major General Fayez Al-Duwairi said that Israel’s request from Egypt to place sensors along the Philadelphia axis with the Gaza Strip is aimed at cutting off communication between Gaza and the world. Al-Duwairi explained - in his military analysis for Al Jazeera - that the Israeli request appears to be an excuse to prevent the Al -Qassam Brigades - the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) - from digging deep tunnels into the Sinai Peninsula in order to smuggle food and weapons. He added that Israel's fundamental goal is represented by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 's statements about the necessity of controlling the Philadelphia Axis (Salah al-Din Axis), which practically means cutting off communication between the Gaza Strip and the outside world.
The American Wall Street Journal quoted senior Egyptian officials as saying that Tel Aviv had asked Cairo to install sensors along the Philadelphia axis to alert Israel if Hamas tried to rebuild the tunnels. The newspaper adds that Israel also wants to be allowed to send reconnaissance drones to the region to deal with the matter, revealing Egypt’s response that it will look into the matter, but approving the drones would be a violation of Egyptian sovereignty.
Late last year, Netanyahu said in a press conference, “The Philadelphia axis must be under our control. It must be closed. It is clear that any other arrangement will not guarantee the disarmament we seek.” Netanyahu's statements came to confirm what was reported in the Israeli media during the past weeks regarding the Israeli government's intention to reoccupy the border strip between Gaza and Egypt and establish a buffer zone.
Maps
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All maps are lies. But it is impossible to comprehend the war in Gaza without reference to maps, otherwise the entire conflict is reduced to an endless series of meaningless acts of random violence and the suffering of civilians. The first characteristic of guerrilla warfare is the loss of a front line. Evidently, different mappers have different ideas of how to depict the war in Gaza, notably those that seek to depict Israeli progress in the ground campaign. Part of the problem is latency. The news that forms the basis of the maps takes time to filter out to mappers, and the cartographers take time in crafting their maps, and it takes time to curate them. Thes processes are uneven among mappers, so their maps may differ in detail. Probably there is some ideological bias, or at least thematic apperception, which is understandable in wartime. It may come as no surprise that al-Jazeera maps depict rather less Israeli territorial progress than other sources. Finally, there remains the epistemological question of just exactly what are the colored in areas depicting. Naively, this might be understood as areas of Israeli control, that are no longer contested by the HAMAS. Or possibly these are areas of Israeli presence, in many of which the possibility of an RPG-wielding HAMAS militant popping out of a tunnel unexpectedly remains a live possibility. With the "zero-range" combat characterized by small unit tactics on both sides, maps may be prey to a fallacy of misplaced concreteness. |
Bystanders
The UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health Tlaleng Mofokeng, asserted that Gaza is confronting "deliberate starvation, not famine," referring to the Israeli regime’s use of starvation as a method of warfare in the Gaza Strip. Emphasizing the urgent need for an immediate ceasefire, Mofokeng, an independent UN human rights expert, responded to a warning from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres regarding the imminent threat of famine in Gaza. Guterres, in a report submitted to UNSC members, highlighted the looming crisis of widespread famine in the enclave, as reported by Al Jazeera Arabic's Rami Ayari from the UN.
The international press continued to shed light on the developments in Israel's war on the Gaza Strip and the difficulties facing its forces there, as well as the possibility of the confrontation expanding to other fronts in the region. An article in Foreign Policy magazine questioned Israel's ability to win what it called the "battle of the tunnels," noting that destroying the Gaza tunnel network is a cumbersome and slow process. The article pointed to questions that began to be raised by experts and analysts that cast doubt on the success of the Israeli occupation army in its struggle with the tunnels, and called for drawing lessons from this “campaign.”
The French newspaper Le Monde said, in a report from occupied Jerusalem, that the extreme right in Israel is confusing the war government, making it unable to determine options other than continuing a war that seems to have no end. The newspaper added that the past few days have brought to light all the contradictions of Benjamin Netanyahu's government, pointing to the intensity of pressure from nationalists in the government on Netanyahu, which forced him to cancel some meetings.
In an article in the Israeli newspaper The Jerusalem Post, writer David Brin said that the most important lesson in the Gaza war is that absolute victory is no longer possible as was the case in 1967. Brin added that Israel's opponents today have become very strong and the geopolitical conditions are very complex. He continued, saying, "It is unfortunate that the next day for Israel in Gaza means the beginning of dealing with Lebanon as the next battlefield."
In turn, Amos Harel saw in an article in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz that military confrontation may be the only remaining option in the north. The article warned that the situation on the northern front is no less complicated than in Gaza, and that it is likely to deteriorate further, “not only because Hezbollah and the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) will seek to avenge the killing of Saleh Al-Arouri , but also because Israel is in an already complicated situation, which may "It pushes it to take broader military action."
As for the American newspaper, The Wall Street Journal, it quoted a senior American official - whose name was not mentioned - in his comment on the tension in the Red Sea that Washington is walking on a tightrope in the region. The official called on regional actors to use their influence to avoid escalation, stressing that the United States will defend its ships and crews crossing the region. He expected his country's talks with Israel regarding Gaza to be difficult, reiterating the existence of differences between the two parties regarding who will rule the Gaza Strip after the war.
As for the British Economist magazine, it analyzed what it called the confusion of European diplomacy regarding the war in Gaza, and its analysis concluded that Europe is divided, and that this happens whenever the European Union needs to deal with a crisis outside its space. It said that what is worse than the division in opinion is the inability of Europeans to make their voices heard, and "the war in Gaza has once again reminded them of this fact."
Axis of Resistance
Lauding the growing capabilities of the Palestinian resistance forces in the struggle against the Zionist regime, an IRGC general said the Palestinian forces will sooner or later ward off the Israeli aerial bombardment with air defense weapons. Addressing a conference in commemoration of the fourth anniversary of the martyrdom of Lt. General Qassem Soleimani, the top adviser to the commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Quds Force hailed the growing trend in the military power of the Islamic resistance forces across the region.
“Today, the Palestinians are fighting with the use of missiles, but one day they will acquire the capability to prevent even the Zionist bombardments and will obtain air defense weapons,” Iraj Masjedi said. The IRGC Quds Force commander’s adviser highlighted the Israeli army’s weakness in the face of Palestinian combatants, saying Israel’s so-called Golani brigade, declared to be a special military force for the war against Palestinians, received so many blows from the resistance forces that it got an order to retreat, just like five other brigades of the Zionist army. “The regional resistance forces will fracture the hand of enemies with the support of Iran’s resistance force,” Masjedi, Iran’s former ambassador to Iraq, stated.
In remarks in October 2023, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei pointed to the "irreparable defeat" of the Zionist regime in the epic that was created by the Palestinian youth, saying, “The cause of this destructive storm was the continuous brutality and ferocity of the fake usurper regime against the Palestinian nation. This regime cannot conceal its monstrous and devious face in the attack on Gaza and the massacre of Gazans through the act of lying or by playing the victim. By speaking nonsense, it cannot attribute the bravery of the Palestinian youth and their intelligent plans to non-Palestinians.”
Allied for Democracy
Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported that the Israeli army failed to achieve the goals of the war on the Gaza Strip despite entering its fourth month, amid a record economic cost of nearly 60 billion dollars. This came in an extensive report by the newspaper under the title, “The most costly war and Israel’s goals have not yet been achieved...a picture of the situation after 3 months.”
The report said that according to updated figures, the cost of the war has already risen to about 217 billion shekels ($59.35 billion), and the cost includes both the army’s combat budget and extensive aid to the economy in all areas. The report indicated that the cost of the Israeli army's combat day last October, including the recruitment of 360,000 reserve soldiers at the beginning of the war, amounted to one billion shekels ($270.35 million). It added that due to the mass demobilization of tens of thousands of soldiers in recent days, the cost currently amounts to 600 million shekels ($164.11 million) per day.
Israel continued to pay an amount of 300 shekels ($82) daily until the end of 2024 for each reservist soldier recruited, noting that these payments alone have so far reached about 9 billion shekels ($2.46 billion). At the civil level, compensation already amounts to tens of billions of shekels, and the state is expected to pay companies affected by the activity cycles in the first three months of this year about 10 billion shekels ($2.74 billion).
According to estimates, the value of the damage to property in the border settlements with Lebanon amounts to between 5 and 7 billion shekels ($1.37-1.91 billion), in addition to between 15 and 20 billion shekels ($4.10 and 5.47 billion), the initial value of the damage to property in Gaza envelope area.
The report pointed out that global support for Israel diminishes every day the war continues, and said that extremist left-wing organizations, along with supporters of the Palestinian cause, who led the speech of support on social media networks, caused the outbreak of hatred towards Israel and Jews around the world. It said that all of this is being exploited by China and Russia, which are working to weaken the West, and that the Russians in general are celebrating, because for weeks there has been no talk of invading Ukraine and the new problem is the lawsuit that South Africa submitted to the court in The Hague.
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.
Regarding what is happening in the West Bank and occupied Jerusalem, Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) representative Osama Hamdan said that the Israeli aggression there left 313 martyrs and injured more than 3,000, which is a continuation of the plans of the Netanyahu government.
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 22,722 martyrs, and the killing of nearly 10,000 Palestinian children and 6,600 women killed. The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
The number wounded was 58,166. The Palestinian Government Media Office in Gaza had said much earlier that the number of missing people had risen to more than 7,500, including including 4,700 children and women, and this number had not changes in recent weeks.
The spokesman for the HAMAS Ministry of Health in Gaza, Ashraf Al-Qudra, stated that 326 health personnel were martyred in the Israeli aggression, and 104 ambulances were destroyed and taken out of service. He confirmed that the occupation deliberately targeted 150 health institutions and put 30 hospitals out of service, in addition to continuing to arrest 99 health personnel in inhumane conditions.
Lebanese Hezbollah announced the killing of one of its members in southern Lebanon during confrontations with Israeli forces, bringing the party's death toll to 134 since last October 8. The statement said, "With greater pride and honor, the Islamic Resistance mourns the martyr, the Mujahid, Ali Ahmed Saad Jibril, from the city of Bint Jbeil in southern Lebanon, who rose as a martyr on the road to Jerusalem," according to the official Lebanese News Agency.
The Israeli bombing led to the killing of a number of civilians, and 3 journalists.
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 officially announced number of deaths among the Israeli army since the start of the ground incursion on October 27th to 178, and 510 deaths since the Al-Aqsa Flood operation on the 7th of the same month. Among them are 56 with the rank of platoon commander, 43 with the rank of company commander, 9 with the rank of battalion commander, and 5 with the rank of brigade commander. These officers constitute 23% of the total deaths of the Israeli army in the war on Gaza.
Israeli media reported that 27% of the Israeli military casualties in the war were officers. In detail, the media highlighted that three brigade commanders, four battalion commanders, and other senior officers have been killed in the war so far.
The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation reported that 29 of the army's deaths were caused by "friendly fire" and operational incidents since the start of the ground war in Gaza, late last October. The Israeli authority explained that "18 army soldiers were killed by friendly fire, two were killed as a result of gunfire (without explanation), and 9 Israeli soldiers were killed in ammunition, weapons, or run-over accidents." The Jerusalem Post newspaper revealed that 15 soldiers were killed in the Strip without their bodies being found.
The Israeli army reported that 2,324 soldiers - including 355 seriously injured - have been injured since the beginning of the war on Gaza, including earlier reports of 576 moderate, and 1,161 minor. The number of wounded since the start of the ground operation in the Gaza Strip on October 27 had risen to 1,020.
At least 12,387 Israelis were injured, according to i24 TV.
Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper had reported that 5,000 soldiers had been wounded since the beginning of the war on October 7, and that the Ministry of Defense had recognized 2,000 soldiers as disabled so far.
According to some reports statistics indicate that 20% of the Israeli losses were due to friendly fire. Because the nature of the battle has become completely different from what was expected, and it lacks a front line.
An estimate by the Israeli Ministry of Defense expected that the number of soldiers with disabilities in the war taking place in the Gaza Strip since October 7 of last year would reach 12,500 soldiers. The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth said that the Soldiers' Rehabilitation Department of the Ministry of Defense has dealt with 3,400 soldiers who were classified as disabled in the army since last October 7.
Hostages
Israel had previously estimated there were 116 living hostages in Palestinian custody. Israel declared 19 out of 135 people in Gaza captivity dead in absentia, after announcing its forces had recovered the bodies of two hostages. Israel considers those still held by Hamas to be hostages regardless of whether they are dead or alive.
Israeli government spokesperson Eylon Levy earlier had 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 held 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 had released 110 hostages so far – 86 Israelis and 24 foreign nationals.
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.
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.
The Palestinian Prisoners' Club revealed on Wednesday that about 11,000 arrests were carried out by the Israeli occupation army during the year 2023 in the West Bank , including occupied Jerusalem , in addition to arrests from the Gaza Strip before the seventh of last October. The Prisoners' Club explained that arrests after the 7th of October amounted to more than 5,660, in contrast to the detainees in Gaza after the 7th of the same month. The Prisoners' Club stated that cases of arrest among women amounted to (300), and this toll includes women from the occupied interior detained after October 7, while the number of cases of children reached 1,085.
Israel said that, since the beginning of the war, approximately 2,570 wanted persons have been arrested throughout the Judea and Samaria Division and the Bekaa and Valleys Division, approximately 1,300 of whom are affiliated with Hamas.
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