Gaza Strip: The IDF has continued to expand its ground operations, targeting Hamas strongholds.

• In northern Gaza, troops have continued their campaign against Hamas battalions in Jabalya and Shajaiya. They are considered large and powerful Hamas strongholds. In additions, hundreds of Hamas fighters fled there during the pause from other strongholds that the IDF had already conquered.
• Over Sunday night, the IDF attacked approximately 200 Hamas targets.
• The ground battles have also began on the outskirts of Khan Yunis in the south.
• In parallel, the IDF has continued to call on civilians to evacuate areas due to be targeted. The IDF has dropped leaflets, sent text messages  and even called residents’ phones. In addition, the IDF is using an interactive “evacuation map”, which divides the Strip into 2,300 zones, meant to help guide the civilian population to safety.
• It is unclear to what extent the residents are heeding these calls to evacuate. So far there has been only a slow flow of people leaving Khan Yunis
• Even in the north, despite significant IDF warning, there remains a civilian population that did not move to the south and stayed in both Jabalya and Shajaiya, posing further challenges.
• On Sunday night, the IDF announced that the commander of Hamas’s Shati Battalion, Haitham Khuwajari, had been killed. According to the IDF, he ordered Hamas terrorists into Israeli territory on October 7. Khuwajari was also in charge of Hamas’s security activity in Shifa Hospital and was in command of the fighting against IDF troops in the Shati camp.
• Also over the weekend, IDF combat jets killed the commander of Hamas’s Shajaiya battalion. Wassim Farhad was responsible for sending the Nukhba fighters who raided Kibbutz Nahal Oz and the nearby army outpost on October 7.
• Speaking on Sunday night, IDF Chief of Staff Halevi said, “as we fought hard and thoroughly in the northern Gaza Strip, so shall we now in the southern Gaza Strip. Yesterday, today, we killed battalion and company commanders, and many operatives, and yesterday morning we began the same course of action in the southern Gaza Strip. It will be just as powerful and will get just as many results, and Hamas’s commanders will find the IDF in a very powerful position everywhere.”
• This morning, the IDF announced three more soldiers have been killed, taking the total to 74 since the ground incursion began.

Context: The IDF campaign is continuing to target what remains of Hamas military positions in northern Gaza, but also in the south.

• There is now significant focus of air strikes on Khan Yunis, where it is thought the top Hamas leadership, including Yahya Sinwar, is located.
• This stage of the war is particularly complex due to the increased population density in Khan Yunis as a result of people having left the north.
• Khan Yunis is the second largest city in the Strip. Before this conflict it had a population of around 200,000 which is now thought to have doubled.
• It is further complicated due to the likely location of the remaining hostages.
• A significant part of the campaign has targeted Hamas’s network of tunnels. On Sunday, the IDF announced that since the beginning of ground operations they have located over “800 shafts.” Adding, “about 500 of the tunnel shafts have been destroyed using a variety of operational methods, including with explosives and blocks. Some of the tunnel shafts connected Hamas’ strategic assets via the underground tunnel network. In addition, many miles of the tunnel routes have been destroyed. The tunnel shafts were located in civilian areas, many of which were near or inside civilian buildings and structures, such as schools, kindergartens, mosques and playgrounds. IDF soldiers located large quantities of weapons inside some of the shafts. These findings are further proof of how Hamas deliberately uses the civilian population and infrastructure as a cover for its terrorist activity inside Gaza.”
• “After locating the shafts, IDF troops carry out thorough investigations in order to understand the characteristics of the tunnels and then prepare the underground route for its destruction.”
• Despite a total of 110 returned captives, there remain 137 hostages inside Gaza – two children, nine Thai nationals, 20 Israeli women and 106 men.
• Based on information garnered from those released, Israel has confirmed that six hostages are dead and their bodies are being held in Gaza. They include Col. Assaf Hamami, the commander of the southern brigade in the Gaza Division, who was killed on October 7 and his body taken to Gaza. He is the third division commander killed that day.
• During the pause, Israel facilitated the entrance of over 1,200 trucks of aid, around 200 day. Despite a resumption of fighting, 55 trucks of food and medical supplies entered on Sunday.
• Despite IDF advances, as a result of the pause Hamas were able to replenish rocket supplies and have continued to fire on the Israeli home front. Over 10,000 rockets have been fired out of Gaza since October 7.

Northern front:  As soon as Hamas broke the ceasefire in the south on Friday morning, so Hezbollah resumed their strikes in the north.

• On Sunday, there were several attacks including close to Bet Hillel about four km from the Lebanon border with 11 people reported injured.
• Again, there was sustained mortar fire towards Mount Dov and other areas close to the border. The IDF responded by attacking Hezbollah positions on the Lebanese side.
• There are continued diplomatic efforts led by the US and France to financially induce the Lebanese government to act to move Hezbollah fighters away from the border.

Looking ahead: The British Royal Air Force will soon begin to conduct surveillance flights over Gaza to help Israel locate hostages. According to the MOD, “surveillance aircraft will be unarmed, do not have a combat role, and will be tasked solely to locate hostages. Only information relating to hostage rescue will be passed to the relevant authorities responsible for hostage rescue.”

• The IDF estimates that it will take another 10 days to complete this second stage of the war in the northern Gaza Strip.
• The campaign in the south will take longer, but once the north is subdued it will free up additional forces.
• Kan News revealed a recording of Shin Bet Director Ronen Bar saying that Israel’s objective is to kill the Hamas leaders, even in “Lebanon, Qatar and in Turkey. It will take years, but it is our generation’s mission, our Munich.” (Munich is a reference of the killing of 11 Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics in 1972. It took almost 20 years to target all the Palestinian terrorists responsible).

What’s happened: As of midday local time, thirty rockets have been fired – initially towards the Gaza periphery, before extending towards Ashkelon.

• In response, the IDF also renewed operations, both on the ground in northern Gaza and from the air, with strikes targeting Hamas positions in Khan Yunis and Rafah in the south.
• Palestinian sources are reporting fatalities including a cell firing anti-tank missiles on an IDF position in northern Gaza, and as a result of airstrikes in the south.
• Before the fighting resumed, eight hostages were released yesterday as part of the seventh round. In exchange, Israel released 30 prisoners.
• The eight hostages released were named, four were from Kibbutz Nir Oz; Shani Goren, 29, Nili Margalit 41, Ilana Gritzewsky Kimchi 30 and Sapir Cohen 29.
• Bilal Zaidna, 18, and her brother Aisha, 17, who were working in Kibbutz Holit’s cowshed when they were captured, were also released, though their father and brother are still missing.
• Also released earlier in the day were Mia Shem 21, from Modiin, kidnapped from the Nova festival, and Amit Soussana, 40, from Kibbutz Kfar Aza.
• According to the Qataris, the two hostages with dual Israeli-Russian citizenship that were released on Wednesday were considered part of the seventh phase, allowing Israel to insist on the equation of receiving at least 10 in each round.
• Yesterday US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Israel, meeting the leadership and attending the security cabinet, reinforcing the US position that, “Hamas cannot remain in control of Gaza.  It cannot retain the capacity to repeat that carnage.”
• However, Channel 12 News reported on leaked transcripts from the security cabinet meeting, highlighting disagreements:
  • Blinken warned, “you can’t operate in southern Gaza in the way you did in the north… be more accurate in the attacks, not hit UN facilities, and ensure that there are enough protected areas.”
  • IDF Chief of Staff Halevi responded, “we follow a number of principles, proportionality, distinction, and the laws of war. There were instances where we attacked on the basis of those principles, and instances where we decided not to attack, because we waited for a better opportunity.”
  • Defence Minister Gallant added that, “the goal is dismantling Hamas, even if it takes months.”
  • Blinken replied, “I don’t think you have the credit for that.”
• At a later press conference Blinken elaborated on his expectations, “taking more effective steps to protect the lives of civilians, including by clearly and precisely designating areas and places in southern and central Gaza where they can be safe and out of the line of fire. It means avoiding further significant displacement of civilians inside of Gaza. It means avoiding damage to life-critical infrastructure, like hospitals, like power stations, like water facilities. And it means giving civilians who’ve been displaced to southern Gaza the choice to return to the north as soon as conditions permit. There must be no enduring internal displacement.”
• Earlier, in their meeting Defence Minister Gallant reaffirmed, “we are going to fight Hamas until we prevail, no matter how long it takes.”

Context: With the completion of the seventh day of a pause, Israel has managed to extract 104 hostages – 80 Israelis and 24 foreign nationals. However, 143 hostages remain in captivity.

• Talks broke down last night when Hamas claimed they only had 7 hostages and 3 bodies to exchange under the present deal. Israel had long anticipated Hamas was trying to buy more time and reduce the price. Israel has insisted it will not exchange live prisoners for hostages’ bodies.
• As part of Hamas’s ongoing psychological warfare, last night they released another hostage video. This time a recording of Yarden Beibas, who was told his wife and two children Ariel, 4, and Kfir, 9 months (when captured), were all dead. Their death has not been confirmed on the Israeli side.
• The Beibas mother and children, including the youngest hostage, who were pictured being kidnapped have become a symbol of the war, both in terms of the depth of the Israel’s failure to protect their citizens as well as the extent of Hamas’s brutality.
• The overwhelming majority of the remaining hostages are men, including injured and elderly, and male and female soldiers, for which Hamas are expected to demand a higher price for their return.
• As fighting resumes, there is heighted alert that Hamas used the pause to replenish munitions and other supplies, reorganise, as well as potentially lay traps and plant more explosives.
• The IDF were also able to give troops some leave and review their own battle plans.
• There is an expectation that Israel will need to launch a ground incursion into the south, particularly into Khan Yunis and Rafah. There is speculation that the Hamas senior leadership are in Khan Yunis, as well as significant remnants of their fighting force, making the city a crucial battleground. However they will need to employ different tactics due to the even higher population density.
• To compound this, Hamas have deliberately encouraged Gazans from the north to populate public buildings in Khan Yunis instead of the designated safe zone on the southern coast.
• An operation is Rafah is also viewed as militarily essential to prevent weapons smuggling routes being reopened after the war is over. Rafah is also a sensitive location, due to its proximity to Egypt.
• Blinken’s fourth visit to Israel and his attendance at the security cabinet attests to the continued close coordination between the US and Israel. However, there are clearly gaps in their views of how the war should be prosecuted.
• There was also discussion in the cabinet meeting about the day after. Blinken reportedly said, “you don’t want the Palestinian Authority on the day after. We understand that. The best way to kill an idea is to bring a better idea. The other states in the region need to know what you are planning.”
• Prime Minister Netanyahu responded, “as long as I’m sitting in this chair, the Palestinian Authority, which supports, educates and finances terror, will not rule Gaza on the day after Hamas.”
• On a visit to the UAE today, Israeli President Herzog met with King Charles and asked him “to use all his diplomatic clout to advance efforts to bring the kidnapped daughters and sons back home.”

Other fronts: There is ongoing concern over growing motivation to carry out terror attacks from other areas, as Hamas took responsibility for Thursday’s shooting attack at the entrance of Jerusalem.

• A fourth victim was announced as 38 year old Yuval Doron Kastelman. He was driving into Jerusalem, left his car and helped kill both terrorists, before then being mistakenly shot by soldiers. Video footage shows Kastelman kneeling after letting go of his pistol and raising his hands. The soldiers thought he was a terrorist and shot him. Six other people were wounded in the attack.
• Police forces raided the home of the two terrorists, brothers from Tzur Bahar in East Jerusalem, identified with Hamas, and who were previously imprisoned in Israel.
• Also on Thursday, two IDF reservists were lightly wounded in a car ramming attack in the Jordan Valley. The assailant was shot.
• Israel is also gearing up for the possible resumption of attacks from Hezbollah and Palestinian terror groups operating from southern Lebanon. That front remained quiet during the week long pause, with concern that attacks could now resume imminently.
• In the south, the Houthis did not abide by the pause. Again on Wednesday, A US navy vessel intercepted an Iranian drone in the Red Sea that took off from an area controlled by the Houthis in Yemen.

Looking ahead: Whilst the fighting has resumed, it is also anticipated that negotiations will continue in parallel in order to explore a new deal to release the remaining hostages. Israel hopes that a combination of military pressure and diplomacy will yield further results.

• A special investigations unit will begin collect testimonies, intelligence and forensic evidence from the hostage. The evidence will help Israel prosecute terrorists who participated in the massacre and the kidnappings and will provide further proof of Hamas’s war crimes.

What happened: On Tuesday night, nine Israeli women and one teenage girl, and two Thai nationals were freed from Hamas captivity.

• Those released included three members of the Leimberg family, Gabriela Leimberg (59), Mia Leimberg (17), Clara Marman (63).
• In addition, seven Israeli women – Tamar Metzger (78), Ditza Heiman (84), Noralin Babadila (60), Ada Sagi (75), Ofelia Adit Roitman (77), Rimon Kirsht (36), Meirav Tal (53).
• Images showed the Israeli captives escorted by terrorists from both Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad before they were handed over to the Red Cross.
• Similar to previous releases, those released were transferred to Israeli hospitals where they were evaluated physically and mentally and reunited with their families.
• Yesterday, Hamas breached the agreed ceasefire, according to the IDF: “three explosive devices were detonated adjacent to IDF troops in two different locations in the northern Gaza Strip, violating the framework of the operational pause. In one of the locations, terrorists also opened fire at the troops, who responded with fire. A number of soldiers were lightly injured during the incidents. In both incidents, the troops were located in positions as per the framework of the operational pause.”
• In parallel, negotiations resumed in Qatar to extend the current arrangement between Israel and Hamas. The director of Mossad David Barnea held talks alongside head of Egyptian intelligence Abbas Kamel, CIA Director William Burns, the Qatari prime minister and their head of intelligence.

Context: So far 61 Israelis and 20 foreign nationals have been released since last Friday. In addition, prior to the pause four were released and one was rescued. The bodies of two hostages were also recovered inside Gaza. There remain an estimated 146 in captivity, with a further ten expected to be released later today.

• According to Yediot Ahronot, and based on Israeli military intelligence, 5,300 Hamas operatives have been killed. This included three Hamas brigade commanders, 14 battalion commanders and dozens of company commanders. Overall, Israel estimate that around 15,000 Palestinians have been killed in total.
• In the latest rounds of negotiations, the Egyptian, Kamal Abbas, joined the US and Israeli officials in Qatar. It is hoped having them all in the room together (not Hamas) will facilitate a smoother, more efficient process.
• Part of the speculation around the talks includes the idea that the Qataris and Egyptians are proposing a deal that might end the war and free all of the remaining Israeli hostages. In exchange the Gaza Strip would be demilitarised and Israel will release thousands of Palestinian terrorists. Israel would also need to agree not to target senior Hamas officials. One option could see them leave Gaza, similar to Arafat leaving Lebanon in 1982.
• While more often it is the mediator that travels in order to facilitate dialogue, in this instance all the parties are prepared to travel to Qatar. This can partly be explained by the fact that Qatar is expected to pay a significant portion of the required funds to rehabilitate Gaza the day after. This also provides a major challenge, as Qatar still supports the continued rule of Hamas, placing them squarely at odds with the Israeli agenda, supported so far by the US.
• The Israel consensus remains that this is a pause and fighting will resume in order to end Hamas’s control of the Strip and their ability to launch attacks in the future.
• Last night, White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said the US would, “not be able to support further Israeli military operations in the southern Gaza Strip before Israel can guarantee that it would not displace civilians.”
• The IDF is using the pause in fighting to review operational performances and learn lessons ahead of the anticipated resumption of fighting.
• More details have emerged of the conditions in which the hostages were held. Some were treated reasonably, whilst others were subjected to extensive violence; tied up for hours and subjected to humiliation and beaten. They were denied food and water for long periods of time and they were not allowed to use the lavatory. (More details in Israeli media summary below).

Looking ahead: US sources suggest that there are still women and children held captive that could allow for an additional two day extension under the existing framework. AFP claim there is agreement for an additional four days.

• Both Prime Minister Netanyahu and Minister Benny Gantz have again publicly committed to renew the military campaign. Netanyahu said, “we are committed to completing our missions, freeing all the hostages, destroying that terror organisation above ground and below ground and, obviously, that Gaza not revert to what it was and that it not pose a threat to the State of Israel.”
• The security cabinet will convene this evening to discuss prolonging the pause by a number of days.

What happened: 11 Israeli hostages, all children and mothers, and 6 Thai nationals, were released yesterday in the fourth group of hostages released so far. They were taken to Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv, where doctors announced that all were in stable condition.

• The release comprised five families from Kibbutz Nir Oz, all of whose fathers remained held hostage in the Gaza Strip.
• In line with the deal reached with Hamas, 33 Palestinian prisoners were released by Israel yesterday.
• The hostage release was delayed due to Hamas breaking terms of the agreement by initially excluding two mothers from the list, despite commitments not to separate mothers and children. This included the exclusion of a mother of 3-year-old twins (whose father remains captive).
• Israel insisted the mothers return with the children, and with US pressure (reportedly from President Biden himself), and with backing from Qatar and Egypt who also supported the Israeli position, Hamas eventually relented.
• Before the release, the Israeli cabinet authorised an agreement between Israel and Hamas extending the pause in fighting for a further two days, starting tomorrow, with 10 Israeli hostages set to be released each day and 60 further Palestinian prisoners released.

Context: In the second round of releases, Hamas reneged on an agreement that all children released would be accompanied by their mothers. 12-year-old Hila Rotem was released without her mother Raya, despite saying after her release that she had been held alongside her mother throughout her period in captivity, and separated only two days before her scheduled release.

• The Bibas family – 9-month-old Kfir, his 4-year-old brother Ariel, and parents Yarden, 34, and Shiri, 32 – had been widely expected to be part of the release, but were not.
• The family is thought to have been kidnapped by Hamas on October 7th before being transferred to another group. They are currently being held in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis.
• Hostage negotiations are complex and elongated due to the need to pass on messages through a series of mediators.
• On this occasion, Israel also held up the delivery of the daily entrance of 200 trucks of aid, only allowing it to enter in the evening, to correspond with the release.
• More details have emerged from some of the other captives. They include one woman who said that early on in the war she met Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar who told her in fluent Hebrew that they were in the safest place (in an underground tunnel) and would not be harmed.
• Sinwar learnt Hebrew while serving five life sentences in Israeli prison. He was one of the most prominent terrorists released in the deal to free Gilad Shalit in 2011.  This is being interpreted in Israel as the latest example of Sinwar’s sadism.
• In another instance, Hamas published a “thank you letter” written by Danielle Aloni to her captors, a day before she was released with her daughter. Hebrew readers were quick to notice clear language that native Israelis would never use, and seen as further proof of Hamas looking to cleanse its image.
• Roni Krivoi, a 25 year old dual Israeli-Russian citizen was released as part of a Hamas goodwill gesture towards President Putin. His family relayed that in one of the bombings, he managed to escape and survived for four days alone in Gaza, before he was captured by Gazans and returned to Hamas.
• Hamas is thought to be keen to prolong the ceasefire beyond the additional two days so far agreed and is reportedly prepared to discuss the release of men and soldiers, albeit under different equation to the women, children and elderly.
• This places Israel in a dilemma over the price of releasing terrorists and murders from prison in exchange.
• Divisions among the top Israeli echelons remain regarding the wisdom of agreeing to an extension to the pause in fighting. Defence Minister Gallant and some in the IDF leadership are known to favour a quicker return to the fighting. Gallant’s coalition partners Gantz and Eisenkot, along with the intelligence leadership, have favoured the pause to release hostages.
• Despite impressive IDF performance, Hamas remains in place in parts of the northern Gaza Strip such as Sajaiya, Jabalya and parts of Rimal. Israeli forces will have to clear these areas of Hamas forces, likely reinforced during the pause, before tackling the southern part of the Strip.
• Operations in the south are set to be complicated, involving dense urban warfare further compounded by the movement south of hundreds of thousands of northern Gazans escaping the earlier fighting in the north.
• Adding to the complex calculations of military planners, there still remains an estimated 163 hostages being held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Looking ahead: Israel has received the list of names for tomorrow’s scheduled release. The list is being reviewed and families of the hostages notified.

• US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is set to return to the region this week, in his third trip since October 7th, with the US thought to be keen to extend the pause even further.
• Despite concerns that it will be difficult to restart fighting after a pause set to last a minimum of four days, Israel insists it will resume its operation.

Hostages deal: After several tense hours, the second batch of hostages were eventually released late Saturday night.

• 13 Israeli citizens and four Thai nationals were released.
• Of the Israelis, eight were children. 12 of the hostages were from Kibbutz Be’eri and one was kidnapped from the Nova music festival.
• On Friday afternoon, the first batch of 13 Israelis (12 of them from Kibbutz Nir Oz) were released along with 11 foreigners, ten Thai citizens that worked in the Kibbutzim and one hostage from the Philippines who was a carer for an elderly man on Kibbutz Nir Oz, killed by Hamas terrorists on October 7.
• Last night, the hostages were handed over to the Red Cross who took them into Egypt and then handed them over to Israeli officials. They were then taken to the Kerem Shalom crossing into Israel, and onto to an Air Force base to undergo a short medical checkup. They were then flown to other medical facilities in the centre of country and reunited with their families.
• In parallel, Israel has released two batches of Palestinian prisoners, 39 each day. All the released prisoners were female or juvenile offenders, imprisoned on terror offences, and charges of attempted murder.

West Bank: Reports from the West Bank say that five Palestinians have been killed in a strike by an IDF unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in Jenin. A sixth Palestinian was killed in the Nablus area.

• In the ongoing operations in Jenin, troops arrested Osama Bani Fadl, the terrorist who murdered Shai Nigaker and his son Aviad Nir in a shooting attack in Huwara three months ago.
• A senior Israeli security official said, “we are applying intense pressure with a series of operations not seen in the region for years. The armed terror group in the Jenin refugee camp will disband and be neutralised.”
• Elsewhere in the West Bank, Palestinian militants affiliated with Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade executed two men accused of collaborating with Israel in the city of Tulkarem on Friday night. The men were identified as Hamza Mubarak, 31, and Azam Juabra, 29.
• Crowds stomped on their bodies and the militants attempted to hang them from an electrical tower before ultimately throwing them over the walls of a UN school.

Threat from Yemen: There were reports early evening yesterday of aerial explosions and air defence activity over Eilat, in southern Israel.

• The IDF confirmed that two “suspicious aerial targets” were intercepted over the Red Sea, and that “the possibility that this is a false identification is being investigated.”
• Eilat has come under attempted rocket fire from the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen and from Syria on multiple occasions since October 7^th.

Context: The delay in the release of the second batch has largely been interpreted as a Hamas power play, and proof that they are still in control in Gaza.

• That Hamas would jeopardise the pause in the fighting by failing to bide by the terms of the hostage release is being interpreted by some as an indication that its state of desperation has been exaggerated.
• During the afternoon, Hamas had claimed that Israel had not allowed the agreed amount of aid trucks to enter into Gaza, this claim was rejected by the Egyptians and the Red Cross that monitored their entry.
• Hamas also claimed that a proportion of the trucks must also reach the northern part of the Strip. International mediators acknowledged that this happened, though it should be noted that Israel is not present in the southern half, so not in control of truck movements there.
• Hamas also disputed the priority order of the prisoners released, claiming they had expected the longest serving prisoners to be released first.
• Hamas flags were prominently seen in celebrations of the release of the Palestinian prisoners, despite Hamas being outlawed in the West Bank as opponents of the ruling Palestinian Authority.
• On the Israeli side, one of the children was released, but without her mother. This is a breach of the agreement, that Israel had insisted mothers and their children would not be separated.
• There remains concern that Hamas will try further attempts to manipulate the agreements.
• One of the released hostages, 9-year-old Emily Hand, has dual Israeli-Irish citizenship. Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar has been widely criticised in Israel for his comment that “an innocent child who was lost has now been found and returned, and we breathe a massive sigh of relief.”
• Although Prime Minister Netanyahu announced that the deal would also include Red Cross representatives visiting all those that remain in captivity, this has not yet happened. Israeli commentators are speculating whether this had been agreed by Hamas or is just wishful thinking on the Israeli side.
• If the Red Cross were to be given access, this would potentially provide valuable intel on the hostages’ condition and locations.

Looking ahead: The third batch of released hostages are expected to be released this afternoon.

• Negotiators are still working to see if more hostages can be released beyond the forth batch and if the pause in fighting can be extended for another day or two.
• Amid concerns that it will be difficult to restart fighting after a pause which is set to last a minimum of four days but which could last much longer if more hostages are released, Israel insists it will resume its operation.
• IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said “the pause we have now—we’re using it to study, we’re using it to better prepare our capabilities and also to rest a bit. And we’ll revert immediately upon the end of the ceasefire to attacking Gaza, to manoeuvring in Gaza. We’ll do that both in order to dismantle Hamas and to create very great pressure to bring home as quickly as possible as many hostages as possible.”

What’s happened: The temporary ceasefire came into effect at 0500 UK time this morning.

• Fifteen minutes in, a single rocket was fired out of Gaza, which was intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defence. Israel has not responded and since then there has been quiet.
• Foreign Secretary Lord David Cameron was in Israel yesterday. In his meeting with President Herzog, Cameron explained his motivation behind the visit, “I wanted to come, and I wanted to go to the south of the country to see for myself some of the horrific acts that were carried out by Hamas, by these terrorists when they came into your country. I went to Kibbutz Be’eri and I won’t forget what I saw. It makes a very deep impression, and it’s important that people know that.”
• Cameron added, “you have our support. We stand with the people of Israel at this difficult time.”
• He continued, “of course, all hostages must come out because hostage taking is immoral, and wrong and a terrorist tactic. And some of them are British hostages – so we have a strong interest with you. But I think this humanitarian pause is also an opportunity to get aid into Gaza. And we want to help you with that by increasing the aid we send by helping with the logistics, by helping in any way that we can. I think it is vitally important that we demonstrate to the Palestinian people, to the world, that we want to help. Those people need food, they need water, they need medicine. They need fuel, because it’s essential to be able to get the aid around Gaza to work desalination plants, to make sure that hospitals can run. So I think there’s a real opportunity to use this pause to help deliver that, and I hope that can go ahead.”
• Herzog also related to the humanitarian situation in Gaza, noting, “we are very much aware… we are taking major steps in order to alleviate, to increase the support and the assistance that goes to the citizens of Gaza. Rest assured that we are committed to whatever is necessary, according to the basic rules of international humanitarian law.”
• Cameron also met Prime Minister Netanyahu who told him that after the ceasefire, Israel would continue to “eradicate Hamas,” explaining, “because Hamas has already promised that they will do this again and again and again. They’re a genocidal terrorist cult. There’s no hope for peace between Israel and the Palestinians, between Israel and the Arab states, if we don’t eradicate this murderous movement that threatens the future of all of us.”
• Netanyahu continued “it’s a larger battle of civilisation against barbarism… Israel sustained proportionately twenty 9/11s. It’s as though 50,000 Americans were slaughtered in a single day and 10,000 were held hostage, including a nine-month-old baby. He can’t walk, he can’t talk, he’s a hostage. What kind of people do this? The answer is these are not people; these are monsters. These monsters have to go. They’ll go. We’ll pursue the battle until that goal is achieved, and we give a different future for Gaza and for us.”
• Earlier in the day, whilst accompanying Cameron in Kibbutz Be’eri, Foreign Minister Eli Cohen asked him, as a member of the UN Security Council, “to act on the implementation of Resolution 1701 in order to prevent the expansion of the war to the northern region.”
• This morning, as part of the humanitarian pause, 200 trucks are entering Gaza, including four diesel tanks (130,000 litres of fuel) and four with cooking gas.

Context: The next few hours will be fraught as Israel waits to see if Hamas will honour its commitment to release the first batch of 13 hostages, children and mothers, at 1400 UK time.

• Yesterday, the IDF ground operation continued in northern Gaza. Fighting focused on the remaining pockets of Hamas military forces in Jabalya, Nusseirat and Beit Lahiya.
• In Jabalya, troops exposed more examples of terror infrastructure embedded within civilian population, including large quantities of weapons found under children’s beds and six more tunnel shafts, including one inside a Mosque.
• Shortly before the ceasefire came into effect the IDF destroyed the section of tunnel found underneath Shifa hospital.
• Israel will try to extract as many hostages as possible through the current mechanism, but sees it as essential to then return to fighting so as to complete the mission and remove Hamas from power. It will be impossible to do this without an operation in southern Gaza.
• Last night, the Israeli Air Force carried out a significant airstrike in southern Gaza, killing the commander of Hamas’s naval force in Khan Yunis, Amir Abu Jalala, along with another fighter from the naval force. Jalala was responsible for numerous infiltration attempts via the sea.
• The IDF also targeted Hamas weapons warehouses, tunnels, training areas and lookout positions.
• In the north, yesterday saw particularly heavy fire from Hezbollah, with over 50 rockets fired into northern Israel.
• The IDF retaliated by attacking numerous Hezbollah targets, including two cells responsible for the rocket fire.
• Lebanese sources have claimed that Hezbollah will also abide by the ceasefire, and so far this morning the north has remained quiet. However, Israel has not committed to a cessation in the north.

Looking ahead: At 1400 UK time today, the first 13 hostages are expected to be handed over to the IDF via the Red Cross.

• They will be taken to an isolated medical compound, to be reunited with their family and medically assessed.
• If the deal goes to plan, 50 hostages are due to be released over the next four days, whilst Israel will release 150 female and teenage Palestinian prisoners.
• Israel expects every day to receive a list of those to be released the following day.
• The talks via US and Qatari mediation are expected to continue, with the aim of extending the pause in fighting for an extra day for each additional 10 hostages released