BICOM

Gaza Strip: On Monday the IDF confirmed that, “Over 500 Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists were apprehended by the IDF and Shin Bet over the past month and transferred for further questioning.”

• “Since the end of the operational pause, the IDF and Shin Bet apprehended approximately 140 Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists in the Gaza Strip.”
• “In the past month, a total of over 350 Hamas terrorist operatives were apprehended by the IDF and Shin Bet. In addition, over 120 Islamic Jihad terrorist operatives were apprehended.”
• Some of the detainees surrendered, whilst others were captured.
• In addition to the 500, those that were identified as non-combatants were released to the safe zone in the south.
• On Monday evening IDF Spokesperson Hagari said the IDF are “intensifying their combat in the main Hamas strongholds in the Gaza Strip.”
• To emphasise their control on the ground, IDF Chief of Staff Halevi alongside head of the Shin Bet Bar held a situational assessment in the centre of Khan Yunis.
• Halevi said, ״there is big pressure here. I think that the surrendering, the people coming out and raising their hands, is also a break in their spirit. It accelerates our accomplishments, in the end, we want to progress quickly. We are securing our accomplishments in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, the entrance in the southern part of the Strip, and also deep down into the ground – all of these places, all of these intensifications, are very important for our accomplishments.”
• Defence Minister Gallant related to the fighting on Monday evening saying, “the Hamas battalions in Jabalia and Shajaiya in the north of the Gaza Strip are on the verge of being disbanded. Hundreds turn themselves in, including terrorists who participated in the massacre in the communities surrounding the Gaza Strip. The terrorists who turn themselves in tell of a lack of weapons and food and of the betrayal of their commanders and senior Hamas officials who took care of themselves and abandoned the military operatives to die in battle. The dismantling of Hamas will also continue in Khan Yunis. Terrorists have two choices: surrender or die.”
• In northern Gaza, the IDF hit more sites where rockets had been launched. In Jabalya, they exposed a site that had been firing rockets toward Sderot. The IDF announced that following a raid they found, “approximately 250 rockets, shells, and RPGs that were ready for use, as well as other weapons and military equipment. IDF troops also struck a weapon production factory where they located hundreds of grenades, rockets, and M72 LAW rockets.”
• In the southern Strip, four IDF reservists were killed when an explosive device was detonated during a raid on a “terror infrastructure sites” close to a school.
• In parallel to the fighting, in an effort to increase humanitarian aid into Gaza Strip the IDF opened the Nitzana and Kerem Shalom crossings to enable security screening of the aid. This includes trucks containing water, food, medical supplies and shelter equipment that will then be forwarded to the international aid organisations. The good will continue to enter via the Rafah crossing from Egypt.

Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee: Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke yesterday at a meeting of the Knesset committee, where he pushed back against demands from his left to pursue a two state solution, and from his right to reoccupy and resettle the Gaza Strip once Hamas has been defeated.

• Labour leader Merav Michaeli asked Netanyahu about post-war planning and the need for a two-state vision, to which he replied, “Oslo was the original sin. After Oslo there was an identical number of people killed. The problem isn’t in the agreement but rather brought the most anti-Zionist and anti-Jewish element to the heart of the country.”
• Far-right MK Limor Sonn Har Melech’s (Jewish Power) demanded that Israel reoccupy Gaza, to which Netanyahu said “we can occupy, we can annex—but at what cost? So we will have settled, let’s say. You’ve got to think of the cost.”
• Netanyahu stated that his goal was for the military operation to defeat Hamas and disarm the Strip, and for the Arab world and Gulf states to take charge of Gazan rehabilitation. “I believe that the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia will support the rehabilitation of the Strip,” he said, despite neither state having given any public indication it will.
• The humanitarian situation in the Strip was discussed, with MKs from the right taking a hard line. Tally Gotliv (Likud) criticised the Israeli acceptance of American demands. “Why isn’t there a siege on Gaza,” she asked. “Why are we such defeatists? Why do we take the United States into account?”
• Likud MK Danny Danon once more raised the prospect of the international community re-homing Gazans who chose to leave.
• The US has made repeatedly clear its insistence that a Palestinian entity assume control in Gaza after Hamas (its preference is for a “reformed” Palestinian Authority) and that reoccupation is unthinkable. There is international consensus that forcing or encouraging Gazans to leave the Strip is also unthinkable, and no Israeli moves have been made in this direction.

Lebanon border: There were further exchanges of fire in the north.

• Shooting was reported towards the town of Ma’a lot, Metula and Shtula. The IDF responded with targeted fire to the source as well as striking Hezbollah infrastructure posts.
• On Monday night Hagari warned, “terrorist organisations will pay a very heavy price in Lebanon for any attack on civilian communities. We will strike with force and determination and will not allow this firing to continue towards civilians. This is how we will continue to operate in the north and will exact a price from terrorist organizations, especially the Hezbollah terrorist organization, which bears responsibility for this.”
• More than 100,000 Israelis have been forced to leave their homes in the north. Defence Minister Gallant recently made clear Israel’s refusal to return to the status quo, and that Hezbollah, and its elite Radwan force in particular, must be returned beyond 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.
• Hezbollah is equipped with a rocket and missile arsenal of around 150,000, some ten times Hamas’s stockpile.

Israel-US: US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and War Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz spoke by phone yesterday, Gantz telling Blinken that “the international community must act against the state of Lebanon to stop the aggression in the border area.”

• Gantz also conveyed to Blinken his “profound appreciation” over the US using its UN Security Council veto last week to defeat a resolution calling for a ceasefire.
• According to the State Department, the two also discussed “ongoing efforts to facilitate the safe return of all remaining hostages, further increase levels of humanitarian assistance and prevent the conflict from expanding.”
• Blinken also stressed “the urgent need for affirmative steps to de-escalate tensions in the West Bank and reiterated that Israel must take all possible measures to avoid civilian harm” and “emphasised that the United States remains committed to advancing tangible steps towards the realisation of a Palestinian state.”
• It is the latest example of Blinken sidestepping his opposite number, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, by choosing to deal with other senior government figures instead.
• US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan is expected to be the next senior US official to visit Israel.