Israel-Hamas War – Week 10 commencing December 10, 2023

We present here a diary of reported news from Israel and elsewhere about the Israel-Hamas war of 2023, known in Israel as Swords of Iron. Our sources include the IDF Spokesman, Israeli Kan TV/radio service, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office on Twitter/X (@IsraeliPM) and other sources considered reliable…

Saturday December 16, 2013:

• Situation: The Israel-Hamas war continues.
• Disaster: The IDF admitted mistakenly shooting and killing three Israeli hostages in Gaza – Yotam Haim, Samer Talalka, and Alon Shamriz. Israelis are stunned and relatives of hostages stepped up their protests. The IDF has apologized and promised a full investigation. The IDF Spokesman announcing this on TV dodged a reporter’s question why the IDF didn’t try speaking to them first in Hebrew…..And the soldier(s) concerned ignored a white flag.
• Suez traffic: Two major international shipping companies Maersk of Denmark and Hapag-Lloyd announced they are suspending all shipping through the Bab al-Mandab Strait into the Red Sea. This follows attacks on their ships. It affects both ships heading for the Suez Canal and Europe and the Israeli port of Eilat. Affected countries especially include China and Egypt and many others. An international task force of over 40 countries led by the US is reportedly being set up (Many news agencies).
• Sullivan: US National Security Advisor met Palestinian Authority (PA) president met Mahmoud Abbas and called for reforms at the PA. He declined to specify which reforms. Earlier he met Israeli leadership and said “We’re not here to tell anybody ‘You must do X, you must do Y’ (New York Times).
• What Sullivan wanted: “Sullivan reemphasized President Biden’s longstanding vision for a more peaceful, integrated, and prosperous Middle East region, and ultimately a path to a two-state solution” (White House website): Comment: Sounds like a back-peddling of the two state solution. Here’s our take: https://israelok.com/the-day-after-the-gaza-war/
• Boobytraps: In an attempt to ambush IDF troops, Hamas terrorists connected dolls to speakers playing crying sounds and childrens’ backpacks and set them up in an area rigged with explosives. The IDF exposed the ambush (IDF/Twitter).
• UN: Israeli ambassador Gilad Erdan told the United Nations General Assembly that Israel had protected the Al-Aqsa Mosque, a holy site for Muslims in Jerusalem, from a missile attack using the Iron Dome ant-missile system (Jerusalem Post).
• Netanyahu: PM Netanyahu thanked the United States for their support and explained that the policy we the Israeli people want is to continue to the end and eliminate Hamas, before they eliminate Israel. After that, Gaza will be demilitarized and Lebanon will be dealt with diplomatically or not diplomatically. (Televised speech).
• Gallant: Defense minister Gallant accepted ultimate responsibility for yesterday’s tragedy in which the IDF mistakenly shot dead 3 Israeli hostages, it happened in a tough neighborhood – Shejaia. (Televised speech).
• Hostages: The head of the Mossad David Barnea, met with the Prime Minister of Qatar, Mohammed Bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani, in Europe this weekend, to discuss the continued negotiations for a deal to release the hostages in Gaza (Kan and others).
• West Bank: The problem on the West Bank is the big quantity of weapons, especially in Jenin, according to Defense Minister Gallant. All this was after the Oslo Accords under the rule of the Palestinian Authority (PA). He knows because he was the Jenin IDF Commander that handed over Jenin free of weapons to the PA in the 1990s (Televised speech).
• Qatar: Israel has complaints against Qatar regarding money passed to Hamas over the years which was intended for humanitarian purposes, But Israel is now talking both to Qatar and Egypt (Televised speech).

Friday Dec 15, 2023:

• Situation: The IDF’s ground campaign in North and South Gaza continues. Growing skirmishes continue on the Israel-Lebanon border. Hamas continues to fire missiles daily at Israel.
• Tunnels: “The tunnels were built by skilled and knowledgeable engineers who considered all possible attacks from the occupation, including water pumping. The tunnels are an integral part of the resistance, and all potential consequences and expected attacks have been taken into account,” said Osama Hamdan, Hamas spokesman, in a press conference held in Beirut (Jerusalem Post/CNN)
• Retrieved: The IDF found and retrieved the bodies of 3 hostages in Gaza: Elia Toledano, Cpl. Nik Beizer, Sgt. Ron Sherman (Times of Israel and others).
• French citizen: France is in ‘immense pain’ over the news that Elia Toledano, a young man and French citizen who had been held hostage in Gaza amid the conflict with Israel, has died, Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said on Friday.(Jerusalem Post and others)
• Sullivan – Israeli report: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the members of the War Cabinet met with US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan. The two sides reiterated their commitment to bring about the release of all of the hostages remaining in Gaza, which include American citizens. Parallel to achieving these goals, the sides discussed the continuation of humanitarian assistance to the non-combatant population. Also discussed were the threats by Hezbollah from the north, those of the Houthis from the south and ways to meet these challenges. Mossad Director David Barnea also met with US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan (Israeli PM Office X/Twitter)
• Sullivan – US report: Mr. Sullivan was briefed in detail on the State of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, including its objectives, phasing, and setting conditions for shifts over time from high intensity clearing operations to lower intensity surgical operations against Hamas remnants (White House Website).
• Comment: Various Israeli press reports interpret this to mean the US wants Israel to wipe out Hamas, however long it takes, but to use the air force less. To Israelis this is like riding a bike with one hand….
• Red Cross: PM Netanyahu met with International Committee of the Red Cross President Mirjana Spoljaric. PM Netanyahu: “My goal is to see how we can help the remaining hostages. You have every avenue, every right and every expectation to place public pressure on Hamas.” (Israeli PM Office X/Twitter)
• UN: Representatives of families of Israelis held hostage in Gaza met with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres in New York. According to Channel 12, Ye’ela David, whose brother Eviatar is held in Gaza told Guterres: “If you want peace that’s fine, but you can’t say something that justifies the massacre… You need to come to the kibbutzim …and see what our loved ones went through. That’s what a real leader does.” On conducting a visit, Guterres asserted he had made overtures but was not receiving a response from the Israeli government. Guterres told the families he expresses “full solidarity” with them, calling the abductions “a terrible crime” (Times of Israel, Channel 12 and others)

IsraelOK.com Thur Dec 14, 2023:

• Situation: The IDF’s ground campaign in North and South Gaza continues. Growing skirmishes continue on the Israel-Lebanon border. Hamas continues to fire missiles daily at Israel.
• Treating enemy wounded: A Hamas terrorist, wounded in battle against IDF forces in the Gaza Strip, was admitted to Rabin Medical Center – Hasaharon Hospital in Petach Tikvah due to injuries to his limbs.The terrorist was hospitalized in the surgical department of the hospital after undergoing surgical procedures before being transferred to a POW facility at a military base in the south of the country. Officials at the hospital said that there is a directive from the Health Ministry that all hospitals in Israel must admit terrorists on a rotating basis. (Jerusalem Post).
• Phone chit chat: During yesterday’s debate at the UN General Assembly during the call for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas War, Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan waved a picture of Yahya Sinwar, while presenting the terror leader’s phone number. “For a Ceasefire Dial: +970-599373765, Ask for Yahya Sinwar ” was written next to the photo. In response to the publication of Sinwar’s number, the terrorist organization responded and distributed the ambassador’s number. Most of the abuse Erdan received was sent from an Indonesian phone number. (Jerusalem Post and others).
• No $6bn for Iran: In August this year, under a US-Iran rapprochement deal, the US facilitated South Korea transferring $6b. to Qatar over several weeks. Had Hamas waited to launch its attack on Israel for another month, that $6b. probably would have already been in Iranian hands. But Hamas jumped the gun, and the US slapped a freeze on Qatar giving the funds to Tehran, as it held the Islamic Republic partially responsible for the Gaza terrorist group’s attack on Israel and for destabilizing the region with Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen (Jerusalem Post).
• US softens its comments: White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby suggested Wednesday that some of the steps the Israeli military has taken to prevent civilian casualties in Gaza might go further than what the US would have done if it were in Israel’s place. His comments appeared to soften the blow of a critique by US President Joe Biden who said a day earlier that Israel was losing global support in the war against Hamas due to “indiscriminate bombing”. Kirby highlighted the map the IDF published earlier this month alerting civilians as to which neighborhoods it is planning to attack so that they can evacuate ahead of time. “That’s basically telegraphing your punches. There are very few modern militaries in the world that would do that. I don’t know that we would do that,” Kirby also said Israel has reduced its airstrikes in the south, relying more on ground forces than it did in northern Gaza. “We think that was an output of some of the advice and counsel we provided them about urban warfare.”(Times of Israel).
• Biden: “I just sat down with the loved ones of Americans taken hostage by Hamas to hear their stories. I reassured them that I will continue doing everything possible to secure the release of their family members. And that we will not give up hope.” (President Biden on X/Twitter)
• Saudi Arabia: National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met today with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. They discussed a number of bilateral and regional matters, including ongoing efforts to create new conditions for an enduring and sustainable peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Finally, they discussed areas of deepening bilateral cooperation in the fields of security, commerce, space exploration, and advanced technologies, including open radio access (O-Ran) networks (White House Website). Comment: Watch this space.
• Tanzanian student killed: With great sorrow…learned of the murder of Joshua Loitu Mollel, a Tanzanian student who arrived in Israel to participate in the Agricultural Internship program. He was kidnapped to Gaza on Oct. 7 & murdered by Hamas terrorists. May he rest in peace…(Israeli Foreign Office X/Twitter).
• Lord David Cameron, UK Foreign Minister: Extremist settlers, by targeting and killing Palestinian civilians, are undermining security and stability for both Israelis and Palestinians. Israel must take stronger action to stop settler violence and hold the perpetrators accountable. We are banning those responsible for settler violence from entering the UK to make sure our country cannot be a home for people who commit these intimidating acts (X/Twitter). Comment: Tit for tat…..
• Denmark: A planned terror attack on Jews in Denmark was averted today by Danish, German and Israeli security agencies (Kan).
• Unknown persons boarded a commercial ship, belonging to registered in the Marshall Islands with a Hong Kong flag, off Yemen in the Indian Ocean. The ship is apparently now headed for a port in Yemen (Kan News)
• Jenin: An IDF operation there continues. 10 terrorists were eliminated, 8 IDF soldiers were lightly injured, around 10 tunnels were uncovered (YNet).
• “Pilot” over: After testing its pumps, the IDF is ready to flood tunnels with sea water. Israeli TV viewers also saw footage of Hamas terrorists in a tunnel being caught by surprise alive, then dead. No details were revealed how it happened (IDF Spokesman and Kan).
• Not Ukraine: Putin today commented: “Everyone here and around the world can see – look at the “special military operation” (in Ukraine) and what is happening in Gaza – feel the difference. Nothing similar in Ukraine” (Kan).
• Try them: Israel has captured many Hamas terrorists including some who took part in the October 7 horrors in Southern Israel. The Israeli Ministry of Justice is now preparing to prosecute them in court (Kan).
• Benny Gantz, war cabinet minister, said on Israeli TV that the war will continue and expand. “We won’t end the war with quiet in return for quiet”. After the war, Israel must retain full security oversight of Gaza and start a long process of normalization. This was his message today, he said, to US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.

Wednesday December 13, 2023

• Situation: The IDF’s ground campaign in North and South Gaza continues. Growing skirmishes continue on the Israel-Lebanon border. Hamas continues to fire missiles daily at Israel.
• Shejaia, Gaza: Nine IDF soldiers, including a battalion commander, were killed yesterday evening in a fierce battle in the ruins of a building complex after being ambushed by terrorists. The remaining soldiers announce their comrades were cut off, so reinforcements and three new battalion commanders were rushed to the scene. The battle lasted 3 hours and the IDF took the building complex (Kan, IDF X/Twitter and others)
• Red Sea: Four new Sa’ar 6-class corvettes sailed for the first time to the Red Sea, joining the Israeli Navy’s operational activities (IDF X/Twitter).
• What PM Netanyahu said yesterday: “I am insisting that there will be no force that educates for terrorism, pays for terrorism and supports terrorism. It will not be. I have said this and I reiterate: Neither Hamastan nor Fatahstan. Not the one and not the other. We will insist on this together.” (Israeli PM Offuce X/Twitter):
• What Biden said yesterday: And so, we got a lot of work to do, but we’re not going to — in the meantime, none of it is going to walk away from providing Israel what they need to defend themselves and to finish the job against — against Hamas. And, folks, look, if you think about it, one of the things that Bibi understands, I think, now — but I’m not sure Ben-Gvir and his War Cabinet do, who I’ve spoken to several times — is that Israel’s security can rest on the United States, but right now it has more than the United States. It has the European Union, it has Europe, it has most of the world supporting it. But they’re starting to lose that support by the indiscriminate bombing that takes place. It was pointed out to me — I’m being very blunt with you all — it was pointed out to me that — by Bibi — that “Well, you carpet-bombed Germany. You dropped the atom bomb. A lot of civilians died.” I said, “Yeah, that’s why all these institutions were set up after World War Two to see to it that it didn’t happen again — it didn’t happen again. Don’t make the same mistakes we made at 9/11. There was no reason why we had to be in a war in Afghanistan at 9/11. There was no reason why we had to do some of the things we did.”(https://www.timesofisrael.com/full-text-of-biden-remarks-on-bibi-ben-gvir-and-bringing-israel-together/):
• Fake news: Myth: The meager supplies that Israel has been allowing into Gaza have littke effect in the face of the overwhelming needs of an entire population (UNWRA X/Twitter). Correction: Has there been food, water, or medical supplies you have asked for us to facilitate, and we have refused? The answer is no. Blaming us won’t change the fact that the UN just needs to do better. Whatever you can bring (and distribute), we can clear (IDF X/Twitter).
• Shejaia, Gaza: Israeli are upset by the death of 9 IDF Golani soldiers yesterday. The question is whether the American pressure prevented the Israeli air force cleaning up the area before ground troops went in. Kan Israeli TV denied this, without saying what their source is.
• Competition: Qatar and Egypt are peddling different ceasefire or peace proposals. They appear to be competing for the “honor”. Israel is puzzled who to listen to (Kan TV).
• After the war: West Bank Arabs think Hamas does a better job of governing than the Palestinian Authority (PA), and Hamas should continue governing Gaza. This is according to an opinion poll cited on Kan TV News. Comment: This means neither the Israelis nor the Palestinians want the PA to rule Gaza after the war. Biden and Blinken should take note.

Tuesday December 12, 2023

• Situation: The IDF’s ground campaign in North and South Gaza continues. Growing skirmishes continue on the Israel-Lebanon border. Hamas continues to fire missiles daily at Israel.
• Rafah: The IAF has bombed a tunnel at Rafah on the Gazan side of the Egypt border with a view to stopping Hamas terrorists escaping into Egypt and taking Israeli hostages with them. In Israel there is disappointment that tunnels between Egypt and Gaza enabled Hamas to import war supplies over the years.
• Flooding: Israel has reportedly started pumping sea water into the Gaza tunnel system (Kan quoting Wall Street Journal). Apparently the force of the water may burst open heavy steel doors in the tunnels or at least stop terrorists opening the doors from inside the tunnel. Israel also uses dogs, robots, explosive gel and soldiers on occasion inside the tunnels.
• Data as of 7pm Dec 12, 2023: 1,299 Israelis killed of whom 865 are civilians and 434 are IDF. Hostages: 135 hostages are still in Gaza, 21 hostages were murdered, 115 hostages were released.
• Steven Spielberg and a holocaust fund of University of Southern California he set up are to start collecting testimony of witnesses from survivors of the October 7 massacre (Kan and others).
• After the war? PM Netanyahu said Israel cannot support the Palestinian Authority ruling in Gaza. President Biden replied that Netanyahu will need to change his government and accept that the continuation of the war is reducing Israel’s international support (Kan and others). Comment: The mood in Israel is that Biden is a friend of Israel but under electoral pressure now to go for a quick stop to the war which will be difficult: The IDF cannot be rushed, every building is proving to be weaponized. October 7 cannot be allowed to recur.
• UN Vote: In favour 153, against 10, Abstentions 23, UN General Assembly adopts a resolution demanding a humanitarian ceasefire, the protection of civilians and the immediate unconditional release of all hostages and humanitarian access (X/Twitter): Comment: Not binding, no mention of Hamas.
• The IDF retrieved the bodies of Eden Zechariah and IDF Warrant Officer Ziv Dado, two of the Israelis taken hostage by Hamas on October 7, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said on Tuesday (Jerusalem Post and others)

, Monday December 11, 2023

• Situation: The IDF’s ground campaign in North and South Gaza continues. Growing skirmishes continue on the Israel-Lebanon border. Hamas continues to fire missiles daily at Israel.
• Quote about Hamas: “This is a group of lunatics that Sinwar leads. They destroyed the Gaza Strip; they set it back 200 years.” (Former communications minister Yosef Almansi to the Shin Bet on Ynet, Jerusalem Post, Kan)
• Numbers (Unaudited): The IDF say that about 7,000 terrorists had been killed in the two northernmost governorates of Gaza. The Hamas-governed Health Ministry in Gaza says about 18,000 Palestinians have been killed. (Jerusalem Post and others). Comment: It seems the 18,000 includes the 7,000 terrorists. The 11,000 are therefore human shield fatalities.
• Palestinian workers: After the Israeli government’s economic Cabinet rejected letting West Bank Arab labor work in Israel, the matter passed to the War Cabinet for a final decision. In the end, due to deadlock, the vote was postponed a day. Today the War Cabinet decided to continue banning West Bank Palestinian workers from Israel (Kan, Jerusalem Post).
• No oxygen: Margalit Moses, a 77-year-old woman from Kibbutz Nir Oz said in a video message that “I was kidnapped and taken down to the tunnels in Gaza. At night, I must be connected to an oxygen device, and I took it with me to Gaza so that I could sleep. One of the terrorists who got angry at me took the device away, even though I told him that it was my oxygen. I spoke with him in Arabic, and he understood the meaning but he didn’t care” (Kan, Jerusalem Post).
• Eliminated: Emad Krikae—commander of Hamas’ Shejaiya Battalion. After the elimination of the previous commander of Hamas’ Shejaiya Battalion Krikae assumed the position. Previously, he was Deputy Commander of Hamas’ Shejaiya Battalion and responsible for anti-tank missile training in the Gaza City Brigade.(IDF X/Twitter).
• Rebuilding plan: Prime Minister’s Office-Tekuma Authority announced that the Israeli Government approves outline of the Tekuma Authority multi-year NIS 18 billion plan, which will lead to the growth and prosperity of the area adjacent to the Gaza Strip (https://www.facebook.com/IsraeliPM/posts/pfbid0B7Hnw3M9Hu5x5mFA9FYJiKA4tS7jxEF2yWMk7v1fiQVPubuJM5ifS6XfHCmgW15nl).
• Scumbag of the month: International Red Cross according to Jerusalem Deputy Mayor for not visiting Israeli hostages or taking them medicines among other things (Israeli Foreign Ministry X/Twitter)
• Khan Younis: The IDF Chief of Staff and the Head of the Shin Bet visited Khan Younis in South Gaza today to see close up the fiercest fighting with Hamas.
• Data: Day 66, 137 hostages remain in Gaza, 118 hostages returned, 118 missile alerts in Israel. The IDF took 500 Hamas prisoners in the last month (Ynet, Kan)
• Report: Following a report in the Washington Post, the IDF acknowledged using white phosphorus in Lebanon, but only for legal purposes. That apparently means lighting up or camouflage not attacking with it (Kan, Ynet and others).
• Houthis: Less than a day after the Houthis announced they would prevent the passage of all ships to Israel through the Red Sea, the French Navy said it had intercepted two drones from Yemen toward the destroyer (Ynet).

Sunday December 10, 2023

• Situation: The IDF’s ground campaign in Gaza continues. Growing skirmishes continue on the Israel-Lebanon border. Hamas continues to fire missiles daily at Israel.
• Surrendering: Several groups of Hamas terrorists have now surrendered in Gaza – why is that? Because they were surrounded and didn’t receive orders. It seems Hamas leaders underground are too busy protecting themselves to care about others on the ground. This is starting to cause resentment among Gazan terrorists and civilians. And why were the surrendered terrorists seen stripped to their underwear? In case of weapons concealed in their clothes (Kan and others). Comment: Could it be the beginning on the end of the war?
• Tactics: Israeli journalists embedded in IDF units in Gaza have been reporting on TV and radio about how the IDF are doing. They are going methodically one building at a time because most, including schools, are booby trapped, are used to store weapons, have tunnel shafts and terrorists lying in wait. One journalist’s unit spotted a group of terrorists and decided to go round and get them from behind (Kan, Galei Tsahal and others). Comment to the US (etc): Unlike Hollywood movies, this movie cannot be edited to finish on time.
• Hospital transfer: “Today, following a request from the Al-Ahli Hospital, we coordinated an ambulance convoy to assist in the voluntary evacuation of patients to the UAE Field Hospital in Rafah. We are committed to supporting any initiative that provides humanitarian relief to the people of Gaza.” (IDF X/Twitter)
• David Cameron in the US: The UK Foreign Secretary “visited Washington DC to continue the work with our closest strategic ally.” What did they discuss? Anthony Blinken’s X/Twitter account isn’t saying.
• Tomorrow: Anthony Blinken told CNN: “Hamas has decisions to make…It could get out from hiding behind civilians tomorrow. It could put down its arms tomorrow” (Kan/CNN).
• Progress: 7000 Hamas terrorists eliminated, hundreds taken prisoners, thousands of tunnels and shafts attacked (Kan).
• Palestinian workers: The Israeli government’s economic Cabinet voted against letting in West Bank Arab labor to work in Israel. The matter now passes to the War Cabinet for a final decision. The issue is whether making a living will calm them or not (Kan )
• Putin and Netanyahu had a difficult phone conversation today. Putin is for Hamas but against civilian casualties. This apparently refers to Gaza not Ukraine….(Kan TV).
• Stripped: The IDF spokesman explained why Hamas prisoners are stripped to their underwear – in the past many wore suicide bomb vests. Nevertheless the IDF will refrain from using such footage in future.
• Cyprus: “Announcement by the Prime Minister’s Office on Behalf of the Mossad: The Cypriot security and law enforcement agencies, in cooperation with the Mossad, thwarted an Iranian terrorist infrastructure that planned to carry out attacks against Israeli and Jewish targets in Cyprus.” (X/Twitter)