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Gaza Strip: Over the weekend, the fighting continued to focus on Shajaiya and Jabalya in the north as well as Khan Yunis in the south.

• According to the IDF, they are conducting raids on “terrorist strongholds, eliminating terrorists, and locating and destroying terrorist infrastructure. In addition, IDF naval troops are operating off the coast of the Gaza Strip, supporting IDF ground troops and striking terror targets from the sea.”
• The IDF announced last night that the new commander of the Shajaiya battalion was killed in an air strike, a few days after his predecessor was killed.
• On Sunday night, IDF Spokesperson Hagari declared that the IDF had completed its takeover of Palestine Square in the heart of Gaza City. He said: “Palestine Square is where Yahya Sinwar’s office is located, it is where government offices are located, it is where senior Hamas leaders’ assets are located and that’s where a terrorist network of tunnels is located. These are strategic tunnels in the sense that they run from northern Gaza City to Shifa Hospital.”
• Since the end of the operational pause, the Israeli Air Force has struck over 3,500 targets in the Gaza Strip and overall over 22,000 Hamas targets.
• Despite IDF advances, Hamas are still firing rockets into southern Israel.

Lebanon border: Over the weekend, fighting has continued in a similar pattern, with Hezbollah firing rockets, anti-tank missiles and launching UAVs into northern Israel.

• Yesterday IDF Chief of Staff visited the northern border and told troops, “for the return to all the communities, both in the south and in the north – first, we need to return to a different situation, and return to both safety and a sense of security. There is a military way to do this, the beginning of which is also what you are doing here, to damage, to deter, to kill Hezbollah operatives, to demonstrate our superiority.”
• On Sunday night, Hezbollah launched several rockets. According to the IDF, “one of the rockets was launched from 20 metres away from a United Nations compound.”
• “In doing so, the terrorist organisation endangers the lives of UNIFIL soldiers and continues to systematically violate UNSC Resolution 1701. The UNIFIL Head of Mission and Force Commander was notified of the incident.”
• This morning eight rockets were launched into northern Israel, six were intercepted, two landed in open areas
• The IDF continues to return fire to the source, and also target Hezbollah compounds from where their fighters emerge.
• Hezbollah has publicly confirmed 100 of its fighters killed since October 7^th, though the IDF believes the number could be higher.
• Overall, six IDF soldiers and four Israeli civilians have been killed in the north.

Context: In Gaza, the IDF is making significant progress in its ground offensive but appears still far from achieving its two main objectives of removing Hamas from power and returning the remaining 137 hostages.

• The latest estimate is that 7,000 Hamas fighters have been killed, including half of Hamas’s battalion and company commanders.
• As a result of the intense fighting, the IDF announced the deaths of another four soldiers this morning, taking the total since the beginning of the land incursion to 101.
• On Friday, the debate at the UN Security Council underlined once more how reliant Israel is on the US when they vetoed a motion demanding a ceasefire. The UK abstained, whilst all 13 other counties supported the motion.
• Prime Minister Netanyahu called on other countries to recognise that it is a contradiction in terms to support the destruction of Hamas while also calling for a ceasefire. He said Israel would continue its just war to eliminate Hamas and to achieve all the other war objectives.
• Placing Israeli flags and other symbols inside Gaza serves a short term purpose for confirming the IDF are in control and is part of their psychological warfare against Hamas, but should not be construed as an Israeli statement to remain there in the long term.
• There is also significant debate in Israel over the wisdom of releasing the images of Palestinian prisoners in their underwear.
• Security officials have explained the operational necessity for them to remove their clothes to ensure none of them are wearing an explosive suicide vest, but that does not mean they need to be photographed at that moment, or that once checked they cannot put their clothes back on.
• The arrested men were captured in northern Gaza, and once arrested they were questioned. So far around 40 per cent were found to be terrorists or members of Hamas. The remaining 60 per cent were released into the safe zones in southern Gaza.
• Some of the arrested Hamas men are thought to hold valuable information.
• The fighters who have surrendered attests to the erosion of Hamas’s fighting capabilities, however, there is still thought to be a vast network of fighters underground.
• Another significant issue on the political agenda is whether to allow Palestinians from the West Bank with work permits to re-enter into Israel. It is understood that the prime minister and the security establishment support a limited return, primarily over concerns that exacerbating economic hardship that could lead to increased violence. However, there was almost no support for this in the socio-economic cabinet.
• The issue will soon be discussed in the security cabinet.

Looking ahead: The IDF could complete the takeover of the Shajaiya and Jabalya strongholds in the next few days, but the operation in Khan Yunis could still last several weeks.

• The timing will be determined both by operational considerations and the extent of the US providing diplomatic support.
• Even if the operation in Khan Yunis is completed, it is currently unclear if the IDF will be able to extend the ground operation to other areas in central Gaza or Rafah in the south.
• IDF Spokesperson Hagari maintains that the IDF will target all members of Hamas’s leadership. On Sunday night he said, “Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif, Marwan Issa—that trio—we’ve got to reach them. That’s our job. And we intend to reach them. However long it takes, we will reach them. Them, and the other Hamas leaders.