BICOM

Gaza Strip: The IDF announced that eight soldiers were killed yesterday as fighting continues in north and south Gaza.

• The soldiers were named as Lieutenant Colonel Tomer Grinberg, the commander of the Golani Brigade’s 13th Battalion; Major Roei Meldas; Major Moshe Avram Bar On; Major Ben Shelly; Captain Liel Hayo; Staff Sergeant Oriya Yaakov’ Sergeant First Class Rom Hecht; and Sergeant Achia Daskal.
• Seven of the soldiers fell in battle in the Shajaiya neighbourhood in northern Gaza. Hamas terrorists opened fire at a Golani force that was operating in the area. When the soldiers approached the source of the shooting, an explosive device was detonated which wounded several soldiers. Israeli forces who arrived to rescue the soldiers, assisted by air force and artillery, were hit by another bomb that was detonated. A third force that tried to locate the disconnected soldiers was also injured in the fighting.
• Prior to the incident in Shajaiya, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant held a situation assessment meeting at the 162nd Division’s forward command post. Gallant said at the meeting: “The operation is very serious, very resolute, and the results speak for themselves. Gaza City is gradually breaking, and we will shortly destroy Hamas’s entire infrastructure in Gaza City.”
• The Wall Street Journal reported that Israel had recently begun pumping seawater into Hamas’ vast labyrinth of tunnels underneath Gaza, in a process that would likely take weeks.
• Israel declared 19 of 135 hostages still in captivity in Gaza dead in absentia on Tuesday, after announcing its forces had recovered the bodies of two hostages.
• The IDF said it has repatriated the bodies of Eden Zacharia, 28, and First Sergeant Ziv Dado, 36. Zacharia was kidnapped from the party near Re’im.
• Egyptian sources told Sky News Arabia that Israel asked Egypt and Qatar to help mediate another cease-fire agreement with Hamas. There was no confirmation from Israel.

The West Bank: The Palestinian Health Ministry said seven Palestinians were killed in an IDF drone attack in the West Bank targeting members of Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, which is considered a part of the Palestinian Fatah organisation’s military wing.

• This comes as the Israeli government continues to weigh whether to allow entry to Israel of work permit holders from the West Bank. The security and defence establishments support the move, in a bid to prevent the West Bank spiralling into further violence.
• A “reformed” Palestinian Authority (PA) – of which Fatah is largest faction – remains the US’s preference for taking control of Gaza after the defeat of Hamas.

Israel-US: President Biden laid out his thoughts on the fighting in Gaza and the future for the Strip at a US fundraiser yesterday.

• “We continue to provide military assistance to Israel as it goes after Hamas,” he said. “We’ll continue leading the world in delivering humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian civilians as well to emphasise to our friends in Israel the need to protect civilian life. And they understand it, the vast majority of the population.”
• He later added what the US needs to do: “First and foremost, do everything in our power to hold Hamas accountable — every single thing in our power. They’re animals. They’re animals.”
• “Secondly, we have to work toward bringing Israel together in a way that provides for the beginning of the option of… a two-state solution.”
• Speaking of the current Netanyahu government’s position, President Biden said, “You cannot say there’s no Palestinian state at all in the future.” The president also warned that Israel was beginning to lose international support because of “indiscriminate” bombing.
• US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Tuesday that he would soon be discussing with Israel officials their timetable for the war in Gaza.
• With military officials estimating that achieving the operation’s goals in Gaza could take months, maintaining US support is crucial to Israel being able to withstand international pressure to cease its operation before then.
• PM Netanyahu also clarified that Israel and the US “have differences regarding ‘the day after Hamas.'” Following Biden’s comments, Netanyahu posted a video in which he said, “I won’t allow Israel to repeat the mistake of Oslo. I won’t allow, after the immense sacrifice made by our citizens and fighters, for us to put [into power] in Gaza people who teach terrorism, support terrorism, finance terrorism. Gaza won’t be either Hamastan or Fatahstan.”
• This is Netanyahu’s second reference to the Oslo process in the last few days. He made a similar connection to the US’s proposed steps towards a two state solution after the defeat of Hamas at a meeting of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee on Monday.
• Netanyahu has publicly confirmed that his government has no intention to reoccupy the Gaza Strip in the long term, nor to allow Israeli resettlement there. However, the prospect of a post-Hamas interim in which Israel retains a security presence in the Strip is likely to put the US and Israel at loggerheads.
• Partially responding to Biden’s comments, Daniel Hagari said that the IDF makes every effort to prevent civilian casualties, adding: “Even when things get said, the right thing to do is to show and explain with facts. We know how to explain exactly how we act with precision, based on intelligence, even when we are operating on the ground against Hamas’s centres of gravity in a way to differentiate the civilians, who aren’t involved in terrorism, from the terrorist objectives.”
• The IDF has opened the Nitzana and Kerem Shalom crossings to enable security screening of aid. This includes trucks containing water, food, medical supplies and shelter equipment that will then be forwarded to the international aid organisations. The goods will continue to enter via the Rafah crossing from Egypt.

The north: Following mortar and antitank fire against Israel, the IDF launched a series of attacks on Hezbollah positions in Lebanon.

• The IDF also identified three launches from Syria – two of which fell inside Syrian territory and one which landed in an open area in Israel.
• According to a statement issued early Wednesday, Israeli tanks and attack helicopters targeted Hezbollah missile launching sites and other terrorist infrastructure in Lebanon, as well as military infrastructure and positions belonging to the Syrian army.
• Israel maintains that the pre-October 7^th status quo on the northern border cannot be returned to, and that that Hezbollah, and its elite Radwan force in particular, must be moved north of the Litani river, as called for by UN Resolution 1701.
• The US and France have made efforts to induce the Lebanese government to act to remove Hezbollah fighters from the border area, but Israel has also affirmed that if diplomatic initiatives fail it will be forced to take military action to secure the north.

The international arena: The United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday demanded an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war. The resolution garnered 153 votes in favour, while 23 countries abstained from the vote. General Assembly resolutions are non-binding. This follows the US vetoing a Security Council vote, which would have been binding, on Friday calling for a ceasefire.

• Israeli Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan said “not only does this resolution fail to condemn Hamas for crimes against humanity, it does not mention Hamas at all. This will only prolong the death and destruction in the region, that is precisely what a ceasefire means,” he said.
• He added that the only intention of Hamas is to destroy Israel and that the group has declared that it will repeat its atrocities again and again until Israel ceases to exist. Erdan said that a ceasefire means one thing only – “the survival of Hamas.”
• Both Austria and the US tabled amendments that failed to pass. Austria’s inserted the phrase, “held by Hamas and other groups” in relation to the hostages still being held in Gaza as well as inserting the word “immediate” in reference to ensuring humanitarian access. The US amendment called for wording to be inserted “unequivocally” rejecting and condemning “the heinous terrorist attacks by Hamas that took place in Israel starting October 7^th 2023 and the taking of hostages” as the first operative paragraph. The Austrian draft amendment secured 89 for, 61 against and 20 abstentions while the US draft amendment saw 84 in favour, 62 against and 25 abstaining. Both failed under the two-thirds rule.
• Hamas welcomed the UN vote and urged the international community to pressure Israel to abide by decision.