ICJ: The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague will today hear arguments alleging that Israel has violated the Genocide Convention, to which it is a signatory.

• The hearings are a result of an urgent appeal, lodged by South Africa, designed to have the court force Israel to “immediately suspend” its military operations in Gaza.
• The hearings will focus on the request to issue a provisional order against Israel, while Israel’s arguments will be heard tomorrow.
• South Africa’s application alleges that Israel has violated several articles of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide during the war, including committing genocide, incitement to genocide, attempted genocide, and failure to punish incitement to genocide.
• The president of the court is Judge Joan Donoghue from the United States. Other judges are from France, Germany, Australia, India, Slovakia, Jamaica, Japan, Brazil, Russia, China, Morocco, Somalia, Lebanon and Uganda.
• Both South Africa and Israel have sent judges who were nominated as ad hoc members of the panel. Israel’s judge will be former Supreme Court president Aharon Barak. Israel’s principle legal representative in the court will be British attorney Malcom Shaw.
• Isaac Herzog yesterday dismissed the case as “atrocious” and “preposterous.” Visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in Tel Aviv on Tuesday that the charge of genocide brought by South Africa in the ICJ is “meritless,” and called it “particularly galling” because “Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis and their supporter Iran continue to openly call for the annihilation of Israel and the mass murder of Jews.”
• US State Department spokesman Matt Miller also said in a statement that “allegations that Israel is committing genocide are unfounded. In fact, it is those who are violently attacking Israel who continue to openly call for the annihilation of Israel and the mass murder of Jews… Genocide is one of the most heinous acts any entity or individual can commit, and such allegations should only be made with the greatest of care. Israel has the right to defend itself against Hamas’ terrorist acts — acts that Hamas has vowed to repeat again and again until Israel is completely destroyed. Israel is operating in an exceptionally challenging environment in Gaza, an urban battlespace where Hamas intentionally embeds itself with and hides behind civilians.”

Hostages: After a delegation of the hostages’ families returned from Qatar, a new Qatari proposal for a deal was put to Israel which the war cabinet discussed.

• Mossad Director David Barnea, who recently spoke with the Qatari prime minister, shared that information with the security cabinet. The deal reportedly calls for the release of all the hostages in a number of stages, in exchange for the IDF’s complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and the exile of the Hamas leaders.
• Israeli officials told Kan Radio that it was their understanding that the Qatari proposal, had not been coordinated with the Hamas leadership.
• Hamas leader Ismail Haniya in Qatar said that Israel will never get its hostages back unless it releases all the prisoners who are in jail, which also appears to be Yahya Sinwar’s position.
• President Joe Biden sent his envoy Brett McGurk, who played a major role in reaching the last hostage deal, to Qatar.
• Minister Benny Gantz said yesterday: “The most urgent thing is the hostages’ return. That has priority over any course of action in the fighting. If there are any hostages who are watching us now, it is important that you know—we are doing everything for you to return to your loved ones, who have never stopped fighting for you. There is no channel that they are not working on, there is no path that they haven’t trod for this to happen. Be strong.”
• IDF Spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said the army had located a tunnel in Khan Yunis in which hostages had been held. “The troops located a tunnel in which hostages were held in harsh difficult conditions below ground. We brought international correspondents into them today for them to reveal to the world the crimes that Hamas commits against humanity. The hostages are the supreme effort. In the past too, there were quite a few operations that we did not report [to rescue them]. There were also operations that we stopped.”

Jerusalem/West Bank: The police and Shin Bet announced that they had arrested two individuals suspected of belonging to ISIS and of planning to carry out an attack against security forces. The two were allegedly planning to make explosive devices, inspired by videos published by the Islamic State which they watched online. The suspects, aged 21 and 23, are residents of Jabel Mukaber in East Jerusalem. The police said they found paedophilia material on one of the individual’s mobile phones, initiating an investigation into the matter.

Context: The South African case rests on the large number of Palestinian deaths in Gaza, its allegations that food, water, and medical care available to the Gazan population has been restricted, and statements by Israeli government ministers about Palestinians in Gaza it alleges amount to incitement to genocide.

• Israeli Justice Ministry officials believe there is a real chance the ICJ will agree to South Africa’s demands and will issue some kind of injunction against Israel.
• At the same time, it is not expected to call for a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip,
• The court can also instruct Israel to allow Humanitarian Aid in the Strip, to establish an independent inquiry, or to allow displaced Palestinians to return to northern Gaza.
• Such provisional instructions do not rely on the court concluding that the case brought has been proven, only that it is plausible. The bar to establish plausibility of genocidal actions is much lower than a final definitive determination.
• Prime Minister Netanyahu, meanwhile, made it clear yesterday that “Israel has no intention of permanently occupying Gaza or displacing its civilian population. Israel is fighting Hamas terrorists, not the Palestinian population. And we’re doing so in full compliance with international law.”
• Senior Israeli officials reiterated yesterday that any proposal to free the hostages that includes a demand to end the war and to withdraw IDF troops as a precondition for negotiations is unacceptable and would not be given positive consideration. Yahya Sinwar does also not appear to be prepared to go into exile.
• The mediators hold their talks with Hamas’s political leadership, which is not based in the Gaza Strip. That leadership is headed by Ismail Haniya, who lives in Qatar. The degree of influence he has over Sinwar is uncertain.
• Hamas’s overseas leadership did not formally respond to the idea of exiling Hamas’s [Gaza] leadership, but did say that Yahya Sinwar and his brother Muhammad and Mohammed Deif and Marwan Issa would “scornfully dismiss the idea of leaving the Gaza Strip.”
• The United States has been exerting massive pressure on Qatar to advance a deal: one channel with Qatar is being run by CIA Director William Burns, whereas Biden personally dispatched his envoy Bret McGurk. An Israeli delegation is also scheduled to leave for Cairo in the next few days to continue the talks.
• Hamas had previously rejected similar proposals and had insisted that any release of Israeli hostages must be met with the release of Palestinian prisoners.

Looking ahead: Initial ICJ rulings are expected in the next few weeks with a final ruling likely to take years.

• Israel is due to approve in the next few days the entry of 400 trucks carrying Humanitarian Aid into Gaza every day, instead of the 200 that enter today. Reports suggest that a promise was made to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in meetings in Israel yesterday that this number would increase further.
• Amos Hochstein will meet with officials in Beirut later “in an effort to advance discussions to restore calm” along the border between Lebanon and Israel. A US National Security Council spokesperson said: “The United States has made clear it does not support the ongoing conflict spreading into Lebanon and continues to exhaust all diplomatic options to see Israeli and Lebanese civilians return to their homes and live in security and stability.”

The north: Hezbollah has confirmed that the commander of its Radwan force was killed yesterday morning in a strike attributed to Israel.

• Wissam al-Tawil’s (also known as Jawad) car was attacked in the village of Khirbet Selm, about 15 kilometres from the Israeli border in southern Lebanon.
• Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said that Israel “took responsibility for the operation, it is part of our war,” while Hezbollah said that al-Tawil had died a “martyr on the path to Jerusalem”.
• Al-Tawil was responsible for the for the ambush in 2000 in which the soldiers Adi Avitan, Benny Avraham and Omar Suwayed were killed and kidnapped, and for the 2006 kidnapping and killing of Israeli soldiers Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser, a precipitating factor in the start of the Second Lebanon War. He was also behind last year’s explosive attack near Megiddo in northern Israel, and planned an invasion of northern border communities.
• The IAF also attacked a military compound, infrastructure and rocket launchers in the northern Lebanese villages of Marwahin and Aita-al Shaab last night.
• Tawil’s killing takes the number of Hezbollah fighters killed since October 7^th to at least 151, while reports this morning suggest that three Hezbollah members have been killed in a targeted strike on their vehicle in the town of Ghandouriyeh.
• Israel announced yesterday that it had also killed Hassan Hakashah, the central figure behind Hamas rocket attacks from Syria in a strike on Beit Jinn.
• “We will not allow terrorism from Syrian territory and hold Syria responsible for all activity emanating from its territory,” the military said.
• Air raid sirens sounded this morning across northern Israel, and rockets were fired into the Ramat Naftali area. Safed residents have been told to remain in safe rooms after an Israeli interceptor was fired at a suspicious target that apparently infiltrated from Lebanon.

Gaza Strip: This morning it was announced that four more IDF soldiers were killed in action yesterday in the Gaza Strip, taking the total to 180 since the start of the ground campaign.  In addition, six more soldiers were hospitalised in serious condition.

• In southern Gaza, the IDF is expanding its operations inside Khan Yunis. According to the IDF Spokesperson’s office over the last day, “approximately 40 terrorists were killed. In addition, significant terror tunnel shafts were located, as well as a variety of weapons, including twelve AK-47 rifles, four loaded RPG launchers, dozens of grenades, cartridges, and military vests.”
• Also in Khan Yunis the IDF exposed another tunnel shaft near a school and found evidence of students training with weapons.  They also found, “explosives, weapons, grenades, communications devices and large quantities of intelligence documents.”
• The IDF added, that during the operations, “several RPG missiles were shot at the forces. The forces engaged in close-quarters combat and eliminated the terrorist cell that carried out the shooting with both tank fire and airstrikes.”
• In central Gaza yesterday troops uncovered, “the largest weapons production site found since the beginning of the war.” According to the IDF, they found:
  • Components for long-range rockets capable of reaching northern Israel.
  • Underground long-range rockets manufacturing facilities.
  • Explosives and mortar shells accuracy enhancers.
  • Tunnel shafts reaching approximately 30 metres underground.
  • Light weapons and UAVs.
• Despite IDF advances, Hamas continue to fire rockets out of Gaza into Israel. 14 rockets were fired towards southern Israel early Monday evening. In total Hamas and other terror organisations have launched over 13,000 rockets and mortars since the war began.

Context: Al-Tawil is thought to have been a close associate of Qasem Soleimani, the former commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force killed in a US strike in early 2020.

• Al-Tawil’s death comes as Hezbollah has intensified attacks on northern Israel in the wake of last week’s assassination of Hamas official Saleh al-Aruri in Beirut.
• Hezbollah fired more than 60 rockets at the Mount Meron base as an initial response to the killing, causing significant damage to a sensitive strategic air traffic control base.
• Prime Minister Netanyahu met yesterday with soldiers on the northern border, pledging to do anything to “restore security to the north and to let Hezbollah “know that we cannot be messed with.”
• “Hezbollah made a big mistake with us in 2006 and is making a big mistake with us now. They thought we were cobwebs, and suddenly they see we are a spider… We showed the organisation what’s happening to its friends in the south, and that’s what’s going to happen here in the north. We will do everything we can to restore security.”
• Merom Galil Regional Council Chairperson Amit Sofer warned Kan Radio this morning that Israel was not prepared for an escalation in fighting in the northern theatre. “Precious time is being wasted [that could be used] to prepare for the major scenario of missile fire,” he said. “I think we have use this time to prepare. There are huge fortification gaps [shortfalls] here in the area of shelters. We aren’t talking about some huge project. With a few million, we could save lives.”
• The US fears that all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah could trigger a wider regional conflagration, and is determined to see a diplomatic solution which would ensure that Hezbollah personnel and infrastructure are moved sufficiently north of the Litani river to allow for the safe return home of Israel’s evacuated northern residents.
• Both Secretary of State Blinken and Amos Hockstein, the diplomat who brokered the 2022 maritime deal between Israel and Lebanon are working to this effect. The French have also been involved in trying to prevail on the Lebanese government to act to move Hezbollah north beyond the Litani.
• Israeli officials are increasingly pessimistic about the chances of success of these diplomatic moves, and fear that only a military solution can restore security to the northern envelope.
• The conventional wisdom was that Hezbollah, too, wished to avoid all-out war, and that its Iranian patron was holding the organisation’s extensive 150,000 missile and rockets arsenal back for use should Israel mount an attack on Tehran’s nuclear programme.
• US Secretary of State Blinken arrived in Israel last night, for his fifth visit since the war began.
• For the US benefit and in an effort to maintain international legitimacy, Israel declared that it was transitioning to the third stage of its war in the Gaza Strip.
• The third stage currently seems to apply to the northern part of the Gaza, where the IDF is reducing its heavy concentration of troops. This next stage is expected to feature pinpoint raids and strikes on Hamas targets that would be carried out from Israeli territory.
• There is criticism in Israel that the announcement of the transition to the third phase appeared first in English, in the US media and not to the Israeli public.
• Secretary Blinken is expected to press Israel to allow Gazans from the north to return to their homes, however Israel is looking to condition their return for progress in the release of the remaining hostages.
• These events are being interpreted in Israel as the coming to fruition of the conflicting timetable which have been identified for some time: between Israeli military estimates of a total defeat of Hamas which might be very bloody and take many months, and of US expectations for a much swifter end to intense fighting in Gaza.
• The IDF remains convinced that strong military pressure on the southern Gazan city of Khan Yunis remains crucial to the release of more Israeli hostages held by Hamas.

Looking ahead: The IDF has still not conducted any ground operations along the Egyptian border.  The vast amount of weapons that Hamas has attests to the scale of the ability to smuggle in weapons though this route and makes it a key issue to end the war and ensure Hamas cannot rearm.

• Families of the hostages are planning to protest at Kerem Shalom, the entry point of Humanitarian Aid into Gaza.
• In parallel, Arabic media sources are reporting an Israeli delegation is in Cairo for indirect talks to renew negotiations for the release of hostages.

The High Court of Justice: On Monday evening the court announced its ruling on petitions challenging the amendment to Basic Law: The Judiciary that was passed into law in July. The court ruled in an 8:7 majority vote to strike down the amendment in its entirety.

• Twelve of the fifteen justices ruled that the Supreme Court possesses the authority to exercise judicial review of Israel’s basic laws, and to intervene in exceptional and extreme cases in which the Knesset has exceeded its authority as the branch of government empowered to legislate the provisions of the constitution through the passage of basic laws.
• Former Supreme Court President Esther Hayut who is about to retire wrote: “In my view, it is not possible to square the amendment to the Basic Law on the Judiciary and the principle of the separation of powers and the principle of the rule of law, which are two of the most important characteristics of our democratic system. Such a violation at the very heart of our founding narrative cannot stand.”
• Justice Isaac Amit wrote that “the State of Israel is in need of additional engines to strengthen democratic government. But the amendment to the basic law that eliminated reasonableness grounds with respect to anything related to decisions of the cabinet and its ministers moves in the opposite direction and further strengthens the power of the executive branch.”
• Justices Noam Sohlberg and David Mintz dissented from the majority on the issue of the court’s jurisdiction to exercise judicial review of basic laws and of the court’s jurisdiction to rule on the issue. They argued that there is no source of authority under Israeli law for such judicial review. They added that even if such authority exists, the court should not have overturned the reasonableness amendment to the basic law because the case does not meet the criteria that the majority laid down for disqualification of a basic law.
• The ruling was criticised by the government. Justice Minister Yariv Levin said “The judges’ decision to publish the decision during a war is the opposite of the spirit of unity needed at this time for the success of our fighters on the front.” He described the ruling as creating a “situation in which it is even impossible for the Knesset and the government to legislate basic laws or to make decisions without the judges’ approval.” The Likud party said that the Supreme Court’s decision “opposes the will of the people for unity, especially during wartime.”
• Leader of  the Opposition Lapid praised the ruling. “The Supreme Court fulfilled its duty today in safeguarding Israeli citizens, and we give it full backing.” Minister Gantz called for broad agreement. “After the war, we will have to formalise the relationship between the powers and legislate a Basic Law: Legislation that will anchor the standing of basic laws. We will do that with broad agreement, with open discussion, thoroughly and with stateliness while maintaining respect between all citizens of Israel.”

Context: The Knesset’s decision to cancel the ‘reasonability standard’ in July was the first of the government’s planned judicial reforms to actually be passed into law.

• The amendment to Basic Law: The Judiciary sought to cancel the court’s ability to use reasonability as grounds for striking down government decisions and appointments.
• The government argued that the court possessed no legal or constitutional basis to review Basic Laws, seeing as they have quasi-constitutional status. During the hearing, the Likud  party stated that “The Knesset receives its authority from the people. The government receives its authority from the Knesset. The court receives its authority from the Basic Laws enacted by the Knesset.”
• Opponents argued that Israel’s democratic culture is unique – the country possesses no second chamber, nor a written constitution, and the list system (which concentrates power over MKs to party leaders, as opposed to their being parliamentarians answerable to their constituency) ensures that the executive is generally able to exercise de facto control over a majority of the Knesset.
• In this context, the existing system provides a vital separation of powers and an independent judiciary – with partial capacity for overruling the legislature and executive – provides a crucial brake on executive power and functions as an essential guarantor of liberal democratic norms and minority rights.
• There is currently no distinction between the way the Knesset passes a Basic Law and a regular law (both require only a basic majority), leaving the special status of Basic Laws open to different interpretations and legal ambiguity.
• Following the court’s announcement, the IDF Spokesperson Brig. Gen. Hagari was asked how Israel’s internal divisions could have influenced Hamas’s decision to launch its attack on October 7. Hagari said, “things will be clarified in the in-depth inquiry,” he added. “presumably the feature of a rift, the military’s readiness, maybe in its perception that is one of the features that is linked to this.”
• He added that contrary to Hamas’s assumptions, the IDF was now fighting with full unity in its ranks, which he said reflected the strength of Israeli society.

Gaza Strip: The IDF continues its operations against Hamas military targets in the south, centre and north of the Gaza Strip.

• On Monday the IDF announced another reservist killed in action, by an explosive device in the northern Gaza Strip. Another 11 soldiers were wounded in the incident, two of whom are hospitalised in serious condition.
• The IDF also revealed that 29 of the 170 soldiers killed in the ground operation, were killed either in accidents or as a result of friendly fire. Eighteen were killed by friendly fire as a result of misidentification; two were killed by friendly fire in incidents in which troops fired in excess of restrictions; and nine were killed in other accidents.
• On Sunday the IDF confirmed that another Hamas Nukhba commander was killed in an airstrike.  Adel Mesmah was the commander of the forces that targeted Kibbutz Kissufim on October 7. He also sent terrorists into other kibbutzim, including Beeri and Nirim. He then went on to command Hamas forces inside the Gaza Strip until his death.
• Also in northern Gaza, the IDF located and destroyed the tunnels of Hamas’ general headquarters. According to the IDF Spokesperson, “in the tunnels was an electricity network, ventilation and sewage infrastructure, prayer rooms and resting rooms.” The tunnel was connected to an apartment used by Hamas leader Sinwar. The IDF added they, “discovered that a strategic tunnel shaft was located on the basement floor… apparently used by the senior officials of Hamas’ Military and Political Wing. The apartment is part of a long and branching tunnel network…The tunnel was built so that it would be possible to stay inside it and conduct combat from it for long periods of time.” Footage of the tunnel can be seen here.
• Despite the continued fighting, the IDF has begun to reduce the number of troops deployed inside the Strip. Two reservist brigades have been discharged, and three standing army brigades have been sent back into training.
• In parallel, Hamas continue to fire rockets into Israel. At midnight, as 2024 began they fired at least 20 rockets towards central Israel, at least 10 were intercepted.
• The head of Southern Command Maj. Gen. Yaron Finkelman met with the troops in central Gaza, and said, “The combat will continue in a range of methods, a range of intensities and shifting forms.”

Northern border: Hezbollah continues its attacks on military and civilian targets close the northern border.

• In response the IDF have continued to target the cells that launch the attacks as well as Hezbollah infrastructure.
• In one incident five soldiers sustained light injuries after coming under fire from Lebanon.
• Hezbollah announced that another fighter was killed last night, taking their total to 138.
• In addition, five rockets were fired into Israeli yesterday from Syria, they all landed in open areas on the Golan.
• Syrian sources accused the IDF of attacking targets in Syria in retaliation. According to Syrian media, the IDF attacked a number of targets in the suburbs of Damascus early this morning.
• Israel has not officially commented, but this is thought to be the sixth attack inside Syria, ascribed to Israel in the past week.

Looking ahead: Israeli media report that the IDF has drafted a plan to empower local clans in Gaza to  distribute Humanitarian Aid. The plan, which will be presented today to the security cabinet, would divide Gaza into regions and sub-regions, each one of which is to be governed by a clan. In addition to distributing Humanitarian Aid entering from Egypt and from Israel, the clans will be tasked with overseeing civilian affairs in Gaza for an interim period.

• Prime Minister Netanyahu told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee that if the Palestinian Authority wants to participate in governing the Gaza Strip on the day after, it must undergo fundamental change and to prove it has done so in the way it governs in the West Bank.
• Minister of Defence Gallant has suggested the displaced communities, within a range of four to seven km north of the Gaza strip, will soon be able to return home.
• In an unprecedented move, Israel intends to send a representative to the International Court of Justice at The Hague and to demand that the court dismiss the motion that was filed by South Africa asking the court to issue an interim injunction instructing Israel to desist from all military action in the Gaza Strip.
• National Security Council Director Tzahi Hanegbi told Yediot Ahronot, “The State of Israel has been a signatory of the Genocide Convention for the past six decades, and we certainly won’t boycott the hearing. We will be there and will repel the absurd suit, which constitutes a blood libel. The Jewish people has experienced on its own flesh more than any other nation what genocide is. Six million of our people were slaughtered with boundless brutality. Similar brutality was used against the citizens of Israel in the October 7 massacre, but this time we have the ability to defend ourselves against those who rise up to annihilate us. The absurd suit against  the victim’s right to self-defence is a disgrace, and our expectation from all civilized countries is to show solidarity with that assertion.

UK and allies condemn Iran

Iranian threat: The UK along with France, Germany, and the US condemned Iran for its latest nuclear steps that were reported earlier this week by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

• The IAEA report stated Iran had reversed a months-long slowdown in the production rate of highly enriched uranium up to 60 percent purity at its Natanz and Fordow nuclear plants.
• In the joint statement, the countries described the IAEA findings as representing “a backwards step by Iran and will result in Iran tripling its monthly production rate of uranium enriched up to 60 percent” and that they “add to the unabated escalation of Iran’s nuclear programme.”
• Iranian decisions demonstrate the country’s “lack of good will towards de-escalation and represent reckless behaviour in a tense regional context.”
• The countries concluded that they “remain committed to a diplomatic solution and reaffirm our determination that Iran must never develop a nuclear weapon.”
• The IAEA report raises fears that the Islamic Republic is slowly advancing towards achieving nuclear weapons capacity. In June, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameini said, “the West could not stop Iran from building nuclear weapons if Tehran wanted a pursue a nuclear arms programme.”
• The joint statement by Western powers emphasised that “the production of high-enriched uranium by Iran has no credible civilian justification.”
• Foreign Secretary David Cameron described Iran as a “thoroughly malign influence in the region and in the world” and that the Iranian leadership and its proxies needed to be sent an “incredibly clear message that this escalation will not be tolerated”.

Lebanon: Hezbollah launched around 50 rockets and missiles as well as two drones at Israel yesterday.

• Repeated drone infiltration and rocket alert sirens sounded throughout the day including in Haifa, Acre, Kiryat Shmona and other towns in the Upper Galilee. One drone was intercepted near Haifa that entered from Lebanon.
• The IDF carried out widespread strikes in southern Lebanon in response.
• Syria sources have claimed that Israel attacked several targets from the air in the area of Damascus and southern Syria. Among the targets was the Damascus Airport that Syria has claimed had been struck on numerous occasions. Israel sees the airport as a significant hub of Iranian efforts to transport advanced weapons to Hezbollah and their Syrian proxies.
• In an unusual incident, late Wednesday evening a suspected explosive-laden drone crashed in the southern Golan Heights, with an Iran-backed Iraqi militia taken credit for launching the attack.
• Attacks along the northern border from Lebanon since October 8 have caused the death of four civilian deaths and nine IDF soldiers. Israeli responses in Lebanon and Syria have killed 129 members of Hezbollah, 16 Palestinian terror operatives, a Lebanese soldier, and at least 19 civilians.
• Also Wednesday, an Israeli strike in Syria killed Razi Mousavi, an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) operative, with a rank of Brig. Gen who was involved in arms smuggling operations from Iran, arms production in Syria and channeling money to Hezbollah and other Shiite militias.
• His assassination suggests Israel has escalated its battle against Iranian proxies to also target Iranian operatives themselves.
• Earlier this week, Defence Minister Gallant, speaking at meeting of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee, said Israel was in a seven front war and had acted in six of them. “We are being attacked from seven different arenas: Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, [the West Bank], Iraq, Yemen, and Iran.” He added that “We have already responded and acted in six of these areas [not Iran], and I say here in the clearest way: Anyone who acts against us is a potential target, there is no immunity for anyone.”

Gaza Strip: This morning, as the IDF continues intense fighting across the Gaza Strip, they announced another soldier has been killed, taking the total in ground operations to 168.

• The IDF remains in active manoeuvres in three areas:
  • Completing their takeover of the final two neighbourhoods (Darj and Tifah) in Gaza City.
  • Extending into the Bureij area in the centre of the Gaza Strip.
  • Targeted operations in the southern city of Khan Yunis.
• In all these areas, whilst encountering difficult combat above ground, thousands of tunnel shafts have been exposed, many in Mosques, schools and UN facilities. These will require several more weeks or even months to completely decommission.
• The only remaining area that the ground troops have not yet reached is the southern most area of Rafah and the Philadelphia Corridor along the Egyptian border.

Rafah and the Philadelphia Corridor: Prior to October 7, Rafah had a population of about a quarter of a million people. There are now 1.25 million people in Rafah.

• The corridor is 13km long and runs from the sea to Kerem Shalom and bisects the city of Rafah into two; a Gazan and an Egyptian town.
• Rafah and the corridor have long been the main smuggling route for Hamas and it is considered essential to disrupt this channel in order to prevent further rearmament in the future.
• So far the Israeli Air Force has carried out targeted strikes, but no ground forces have operated in the area.
•  The high population density and the close proximity and sensitivity of Egypt further complicates any prospective military action.
• The Egyptians are wary that any IDF ground incursion could create more pressure of Gazans looking to flee into Egypt.
• One idea, thought to have been explored with Egyptian and US officials, is to build a deep underground barrier along the Egyptian side of the border fitted with technological devices similar to those that were installed on the Israel – Gaza border.
• Unlike the overground wall that was breached so significantly on October 7, the underground barrier has so far been fully effective. The technology included the ability to provide indication as to whether any digging is being done in the vicinity.
• A new barrier could be built on the Egyptian side, which would help avoid direct IDF confrontations with Hamas.
• The new proposal would see the establishment of a joint Israel – Egyptian control room to monitor any future digging attempts.
• Israel is also keen to establish a monitoring mechanism to inspect legal above ground aid and goods entering Gaza from Egypt.
• In parallel, Israel along with Cyprus and the UK are exploring the establishment of a sea corridor for the efficient entry of Humanitarian Aid and supplies.