General Assessment:
IDF fighter jets are continuing to strike Hamas terror infrastructure in the Gaza Strip, including military command centers and rocket launch posts. More than 250 Hamas targets were attacked in the past 24 hours. The terrorists are continuing to shoot rockets at South and Central Israel. IDF Ground forces are deployed along the Gaza border prepared for the IDF ground maneuver.
IDF soldiers led by the Givati Brigade conducted a targeted operation employing tanks in northern Gaza Strip territory tonight to prepare the area for the next stages of warfare. As part of the operation, the forces tracked down and attacked numerous terrorists, destroyed terrorist infrastructure and ATGM positions, and worked to prepare the battle space. After the mission, the forces exfiltrated from the area back into Israel.
Over the past day, IDF fighter jets struck over 250 Hamas terror targets in the Gaza Strip, including terror infrastructure, operational command centers, tunnel shafts, and rocket launchers placed in the heart of civilian areas that fired toward Israeli territory throughout the war. In addition, Israeli naval soldiers struck a Hamas surface-to-air missile launch post in the Khan Yunis area. The post is located adjacent to a mosque and kindergarten, which is further proof that Hamas deliberately uses civilian sites for terror purposes.
In the north, most of today was quiet, except for a single ATGM attack toward Israeli forces near the community of Yiftah (18:55). Overall, the IDF is handling these ATGM strikes well.
– So far, according to the IDF since Saturday morning Oct. 7, 1,400 Israelis were killed, among them 309 fallen soldiers. 3,900 Israelis wounded. 224 confirmed abducted, and many more missing. Since the beginning of hostilities, more than 7,000 rockets have been launched into Israel.
Operational Updates:
Northern Arena:
-Last night air defense fighters intercepted a surface-to-air missile launched from Lebanon at an IDF UAV. The IAF retaliated by striking the launch site in Lebanese territory.
– Today’s first event occurred at 18:55 with a single ATGM attack toward Israeli forces near the community of Yiftah (18:55). The IDF eliminated an anti-tank squad on the Lebanese border and it is unclear if it was the same ATGM squad that engaged or a separate squad moving in to attack.
-Hezbollah reported the total count of Hezbollah terrorists killed since the beginning of hostilities stands at 46.
Iran:
Commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, Hossein Salami: “If the Zionists launch a ground attack in Gaza, they will be swallowed up. If the enemies think that the Muslims will watch these crimes from the sidelines, they are gravely mistaken.”
Gaza and Southern Israel:
-Israeli forces are continuing to attack and destroy Hamas terrorist hideouts, infrastructures, and command posts, killing Hamas operatives. The IDF has repeatedly urged Gaza City inhabitants to move to a safe humanitarian zone in the Gaza Strip’s southwest, in the Al-Mawasi area, where international aid is supplied via the Rafah crossing. Simultaneously, Hamas terrorists attempt to impede their evacuation through persuasion or force, to exploit these civilians as “human shields.” Today IDF forces attacked those Hamas positions impeding the civilians from moving south. A recording of a conversation between an officer in Unit 504 of the Intelligence Division and a resident of the Gaza Strip was revealed, in which the resident of the Gaza Strip details the actions taken by Hamas to prevent residents from moving south. In the recorded conversation the Gazan explained that Hamas operatives at the roadblocks are turning the people around telling them to return to their homes.
The Givati Brigade and other forces from Division 162 carried out a planned and proactive raid last night, part of our preparation for the next stages of combat. The mission lasted several hours, and the forces left after completing the objective, with no casualties to our forces. In the northern sector, the IDF eliminated 5 squads that attempted to shoot at them.
Fighter jets guided by intelligence information from the ISA and Intelligence eliminated the commander of the North Khan Yunis rocket firing array of the Hamas terrorist organization, Hassan al-Abdallah.
The IDF and the ISA killed the deputy head of Hamas’s intelligence department, who together with Yahya Sinwar planned the murderous raid on Israel. Fighter jets, guided by accurate intelligence information from the Intelligence Branch and the ISA, today killed the deputy head of Hamas’s intelligence department, Shadi Barud.
Directorate of Borders and Buffer Zone in the Ministry of Defense and the Technological and Logistics Directorate (J4) have been working non-stop since the beginning of the war, while under fire, to repair and return to service the sites that were damaged in the area around the security fence. As part of the joint effort known as “Returning Eyes to Gaza”, the sites were searched and cleared of explosive devices alongside the installation of new systems in the area. The operations on the collection and cyber capabilities are almost fully completed.
Rafah crossing – 12 trucks of humanitarian aid crossed through the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip today carrying, medicine, medical equipment, and food to Gaza. In Israel, it is noted that all the equipment is checked by the security forces before its entry into the Gaza Strip.
-Since the beginning of the war, the IDF has identified hundreds of failed Hamas rocket launches that fell inside the Gaza Strip. The Hamas terrorist organization uses the residents of the Gaza Strip as human shields and launches rockets from civilian infrastructure, areas, and buildings in the Gaza Strip.
Judea and Samaria:
Many IDF, ISA, and Border Guard soldiers were deployed tonight in various locations around the Judea and Samaria Division to combat terrorism, arresting 68 people suspected of being involved in terrorist activity. 58 of them are members of the terrorist group Hamas.
International Arena:
– Russia and China vetoed on Wednesday a U.S.-drafted U.N. Security Council resolution, underlining Israel’s inherent right to self-defense in regard to the war between Israel and Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip. Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh praised the Russian-Chinese stand.
-The American House of Representatives voted by a vote of 412 to back Israel in its fight against Hamas. This is the first resolution passed since Mike Johnson was elected Speaker; only ten legislators voted against it.
– Another pro-Iranian militia rocket attack on the US Army base within Abu Hajar Airport in northeastern Syria was reported earlier today.
– The Russian Foreign Ministry: A Hamas delegation led by Musa Abu Marzouk arrived for a visit to Moscow. The delegation met in Moscow with the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, Mikhail Bogdanov. After the meeting, it was reported that the delegation “praised the position of Russian President Putin and Russia’s diplomatic efforts.”
