The IDF has entered Rantisi Hospital and has discovered a vast labyrinth of Hamas tunnels and terrorist infrastructure. The IDF spokesperson himself has reported at the scene to explain the discovery. One disguised tunnel shaft leads 20 meters down to bulletproof blast doors. Inside Rantisi Hospital itself was a full armory of grenades, RPGs, assault rifles, suicide bomb vests, and strong evidence that the basement was used to hold the hostages. Evidence includes a motorcycle from the October 7th massacre and abduction, an improvised bathroom, a chair with tie-downs, a baby bottle, diapers, clothes, a guard shift list, and a hidden room for filming.
General:
Over the past few days, there has been a significant escalation of attacks along the Lebanese border and from within Syria between the IDF and Hezbollah, Hamas Lebanon, and other Iranian proxy forces in the north, which has coincided with the Gaza conflict. It seems that as the frequency and severity of assaults emanating from Gaza diminish, there is a corresponding increase in the quantity, caliber, and prevalence of assaults orchestrated by Hezbollah and its allies. Hezbollah is lengthening the range of its launched missiles and escalating the conflict through an expansion of its attack vectors and scope beyond military objectives. The organization has also introduced new armaments, including heavy-armed rockets and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Israel retaliates vigorously to Hezbollah’s assaults, targeting terrorist squads and infrastructures while killing scores of terrorists.
IDF troops are continuing to operate in the Gaza Strip. IAF aircraft and ground forces have conducted 4300 strikes, struck hundreds of anti-tank missile launch posts, approximately 300 tunnel shafts, approximately 3,000 terrorist infrastructure sites, including over 100 structures rigged with explosives, and hundreds of Hamas command and control centers. Most of the activity is taking place on the outskirts of the Al-Shati Refugee Camp.
– Since Saturday morning Oct. 7, 1,185 Israeli civilians were murdered, 361 IDF soldiers were killed in action and some 7,262 Israelis wounded. 239 confirmed abducted civilians and IDF soldiers. Since the beginning of hostilities, 9,500+ rockets have been launched into Israel. To date, an estimated 200,000 Israelis have been displaced, required to leave their homes in the communities and towns adjacent to the northern frontier and the Gaza Strip, and have since been placed in different locations across the country. Israeli IDF reservists recruited 360,000.
– Efforts to identify the victims continue: 846 civilians murdered in the war have been identified so far by the Israel Police.
Operational Updates:
Northern Arena:
The death of the 56-year-old Israeli civilian electric company worker was announced today. The attack took place yesterday near the Israeli community of Dovev when Hezbollah terrorist launched an ATGM toward the work crew, killing him and injuring his co-workers.
– During the night, IDF forces attacked an armed terrorist cell identified in Lebanese territory in the area of Biranit, a hit was detected.
– Today, five occurrences occurred in the northern sector.
08:50, Sirens were sounded in the area of Gornot HaGalil in northern Israel, two mortar launches that crossed from Lebanon into Israeli territory were identified. The launches fell in open areas. No injuries were reported. IDF artillery attacked the sources of the launches.
Around 10:30, an alert was sounded in Aramashah due to the launching of rockets from Lebanon that fell into an open area. The incident resulted in no injuries.
At 11:30, an anti-tank missile was fired at the community of Moshav Natua near the Lebanese border. The IDF used artillery to attack the source of the attack.
At 14:45, IDF warplanes attacked a number of terrorist infrastructures and military sites of the terrorist organization Hezbollah, in response to launches in the past day. Among the targets attacked, were terrorist infrastructures, compounds where various weapons were stored, and an operational headquarters used by the organization.
At 18:15, a terrorist cell that attempted to launch anti-tank missiles toward the area of Shtula in northern Israel was struck by an IDF tank.
Furthermore, the IDF foiled an anti-tank squad’s attempt to fire on Shtula. The IDF also reported that six terrorist squads were killed in Lebanese territory during the day.
– Since the commencement of the conflict, Hezbollah has sustained a total of 74 casualties.
Gaza and Southern Israel:
– In the Gaza Strip, The IDF continues its campaign against Hamas terrorists. IDF soldiers are continuing to conduct raids on the outskirts of the Al-Shati Camp, targeting terrorist infrastructure located in central governmental institutions in the heart of the civilian population, including schools, universities, mosques, and residences of terrorists. The terrorist infrastructures of Hamas are strategically positioned within civil structures, such as the “Abu Bakr” mosque and the “Al-Quds” University. Numerous combustible materials and explosive devices were discovered within a section of the mosque that was breached by the soldiers. Dozens of weapons, military equipment, and operational plans that belonged to the Hamas terrorist organization were confiscated by the troops throughout the operation.
Upon entering the residence of a senior Islamic Jihad terrorist, IDF ground troops discovered a substantial quantity of weapons concealed within the children’s room. Throughout an additional operation in the vicinity of Beit Hanoun, IDF forces discovered a terror tunnel shaft, munitions, and intelligence materials belonging to the terrorist organization.
– Since the commencement of hostilities, Israeli Navy personnel assigned to the Unit for Underwater Missions (“Yaltam”) have discovered dozens of underwater and aboveground munitions and military devices in the Gazan maritime region. During its search operations, the Unit for Underwater Missions discovered a significant quantity of weaponry that had been utilized by Hamas terrorists in its attempts to breach Israeli territory. The Hamas attempts were averted by the Israeli Navy Forces. A variety of military apparatus and armaments were present, including explosive belts, ammunition, inflatable boats, and more. The special forces of the “Yahalom” Combat Engineering Unit collaborated in the effort to neutralize the weapons that were believed to be carrying explosives.
– During the IDF’s 188th Brigade’s operations, small weapons and RPG fire were directed at the soldiers from the neighborhood of the Al-Quds Hospital in Gaza City. The attack was carried out by a terrorist squad that had embedded itself within a group of civilians at the entrance of the hospital. The troops spotted a terrorist squad with two RPG launchers among the civilians. As a result of the terrorists’ fire, a tank was damaged. The IDF opened fire on the terrorists. During the exchange of fire, civilians were seen departing the hospital, as additional terrorists emerged from nearby structures and hid among them before starting their attack. After shooting RPGs, the terrorists returned to the hospital to find cover. With the assistance of the Air Force, the combat team of the 188th Brigade, which included infantry, engineering, and armored forces, responded with fire and fired in the direction of the attackers. During the incident, the IDF forces suffered no injuries and killed roughly twenty-one terrorists. This incident further exemplifies the persistent utilization of civilian infrastructure, such as hospitals, by Hamas for the purpose of executing attacks.
– On the last day, the IDF, under the direction of the ISA, eliminated Yaakov Ashur, the head of the anti-tank array in the Khan Yunis Brigade of the Hamas terrorist organization. Ashur was a battalion commander in the array and then the head of the anti-tank array in the brigade. As part of his role, he took part in leading and directing attacks against IDF forces.
In addition, Muhammad Hamis Dababesh, a senior Hamas terrorist, who served, among other things, as Hamas head of military intelligence, was eliminated. In the last two years, he served as the secretary of the person in charge of the national relations portfolio in the Political Bureau and served as a representative of Hamas at the gathering of the terrorist factions in the Gaza Strip.
In the past 24 hours, three more Hamas senior terrorists were eliminated: Tahsin Maslam served as commander of the combat assistance company who was in charge of the special forces in Beit Lahia, Jahad Azzam, an investigative officer of the military intelligence of Hamas in Zaytun and Monir Harb, the head of the information system in the Rafah Brigade.
Eliminating the command ranks and focusing on thwarting terrorist infrastructures and the sub-terrain: The IDF continues to thwart and damage Hamas battalions. The IDF, under the direction of the Intelligence Division, works continuously to harm the organization’s terrorists, both junior and senior, and to bring significant damage to its capabilities. Hamas has so far suffered significant damage to its base of command, its junior command, and its combat and intelligence arrays. On the eve of the fighting, Hamas counted about 30,000 terrorists in the territory of the Gaza Strip, divided into 5 regional brigades, 24 battalions, and about 140 companies.
Each brigade has military skills that include anti-tank weapons, sniping and engineering, and in addition, there are air, sea, and long-range fire formations operating. Each battalion sector has a number of strongholds and military outposts, which are used by the organization’s terrorists. So far, the IDF has focused the fighting of its ground forces in the north of the Gaza Strip. In this framework, the IDF forces are combating in the areas of several battalions. Hamas battalions have suffered significant damage to their operational capability and in fact, the military frameworks of Hamas in the northern Gaza Strip have ceased to operate as an organized system.
Humanitarian aid:
It should be noted that under the Rules of War, Israel is under no obligation to supply for the needs of its enemy, Hamas.
-Rafah crossing on the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip remains open for the flow of humanitarian aid carrying, medicine, medical equipment, and food. Israel has agreed to allow 100 trucks a day. The IDF emphasizes that all equipment is checked before entering the Strip.
– According to the Israeli Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), over 905 trucks of food, water, and medicine or medical supplies have entered via Rafah since October 21, when Israel first began allowing the tightly controlled shipments. Furthermore, Israel has opened two water pipelines to the south of the Gaza Strip, supplying about 28 million liters of drinkable water each day.
It should be emphasized that the apparently low number of aid trucks that have entered the Gaza Strip thus far is due to donor countries failing to supply the required amount of aid that they themselves demand to be brought into the Gaza Strip. All humanitarian assistance is dependent on these donor countries. Israel on its part is ready to allow 100 aid trucks a day.
– Humanitarian corridor: The IDF continues to urge 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. Hamas terrorists are attempting to impede their evacuation through persuasion or force, to exploit these civilians as “human shields.”
-According to foreign sources, more than 800 foreign citizens left Gaza yesterday through the Rafah crossing to Egypt. This is the largest number of civilians that passed through the crossing in one day since the evacuations from the Strip began.
– According to estimates: in the last week more than 200 thousand Gazans evacuated south through the humanitarian corridors.
In recent days, a senior officer in Israel’s Coordination and Liaison Administration to Gaza spoke with the manager of the Shifa Hospital multiple times and presented him with possible passages from the hospital. The IDF is enabling a passage from the Shifa, Rantisi and Nasser hospitals.
– The IDF Spokesman in Arabic, Lt. Col. Avihai Adrei, announced that the Salah al-Din route is also open today between 9:00 and 16:00 for the passage of residents to the south. At the same time, he announced that the route of the coastal road in Gaza – is also open for passage south during those hours and that there is a pause in the fighting in Rafah between 14:00 and 10:00, for humanitarian purposes.
–Fuel into Gaza: Hamas requires diesel fuel to power its terror tunnels’ ventilation and electrical systems. For this reason, Israel refuses to allow the transfer of fuel into the Gaza strip.
However, 2 nights ago, the IDF coordinated the transfer of fuel for urgent medical use to the Shifa Hospital. Early in the morning, IDF troops endangering themselves deep in enemy territory arrived near the entrance of the hospital and placed 300 liters of fuel for urgent medical purposes. Later, the IDF received evidence that Hamas officials prevented the hospital from receiving the fuel.
There are voices in Israel protesting the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, despite the fact that Israel receives neither humanitarian help or information about the abductees and hostages held by Hamas. Despite repeated requests to the Red Cross, which claims to have no power over Hamas, nothing has been done.
Judea and Samaria:
– IDF security forces arrested 36 wanted persons tonight throughout the Judea and Samaria Division and the Bekaa and Amakim Brigade, of which 14 are Hamas terrorists. Offices used by Hamas were sealed and terrorist equipment and funds were confiscated. In addition, in the counter-terrorism operation in the Bekaa and Amakim Brigade, four Hamas operatives were arrested.
IDF forces acting in the area of the city of Nablus confiscated printing equipment used for printing incitement material. During searches for weapons in Menasha and Benjamin, many weapons were discovered.
Jordan:
– King Abdullah of Jordan rejected any plan by Israel to occupy parts of the Gaza Strip or create security zones within it. Furthermore, the King was quoted saying: “There is no military or security solution to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. “
International Arena:
On November 12th, the United States conducted a third sortie of airstrikes on Iranian-backed militias in eastern Syria as a consequence of targeting US forces in Iraq and Syria with kamikaze drones, rockets, and missiles. It is reported that several Iranian proxy militiamen have been killed in attacks on Al Bukamal and Deir ez Zur region in the destruction of a command and control center.
Five Special Operations soldiers in the US military were killed in a helicopter crash in the eastern Mediterranean over the weekend. CNN emphasized that they were part of the buildup of forces in the region following the war between Israel and Hamas.
