Note to reader: We wanted to give you a trigger warning on what you may read below. We have chosen, as with every night of these briefings, to not share horrific images, however we want to alert you as sensitively as we can to the reports coming out of Israel and Gaza.
What you need to know today:
• Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron visits Kibbutz Be’eri and meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
• Hostage deal delayed till Friday, hostages expected to be released at 14:00
• Tunnel complex uncovered beneath Shifa Hospital, powered by its electricity. Sheikh Zayed tunnel discovered – as deep as half a football field
• Items found confirming pre-calculation of October 7th massacres, including IDF armoured vehicle, Gaza security fence replicas
• 1,338 Hamas rockets misfired since October 7th, landing within Gaza, striking hospitals, schools, gas facilities
Foreign Secretary visits Kibbutz Be’eri
Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron met with Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and toured the southern kibbutz of Be’eri today, one of the sites of the atrocities committed by Hamas on October 7th.
“We stand with the people of Israel”, said Lord Cameron. He also stated that “it’s very important” to witness the “true nature of the horrific attacks” committed by Hamas.
“We’ll continue with our war aims, namely to eradicate Hamas”, Netanyahu told Cameron, after the terror group carried out “the worst savagery perpetrated on Jews since the Holocaust”.
“Just as the world united” to “vanquish” the Nazis, al-Qaeda and ISIS, “we have to unite to vanquish Hamas”, he said, calling the war part of “a larger battle of civilization against barbarism”.
“We thank Great Britain for its firm stand by Israel’s side since the beginning of the war and its support for our right to protect our citizens”, said Cohen.
Last night, Lord Cameron called the temporary truce “an important opportunity to get the hostages out and more aid into Gaza to help the Palestinian people”, during a meeting which he chaired with Arab and Islamic leaders in London.
Former Attorney General: FA “shamed” for not lighting Wembley Stadium after October 7th
Former Attorney General, the Rt Hon Sir Michael Ellis KC MP, made clear his view in the House of Commons, that the Football Association (FA) has been “shamed by their antisemitic decision not to light up [Wembley Stadium] when [1,200] Jews were murdered in the pogrom of the 7th October”, despite doing so “for numerous causes and campaigns”.
The FA today announced that they will not light up the stadium again “for any non-entertainment reason”.
Leader of the House of Commons Penny Mordaunt said that the Culture Secretary “expressed her disappointment” to the FA at the time, and recommitted the ten billion pounds of combined funds that the Government announced for combatting antisemitism in the Autumn Statement yesterday.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak commits to a “secure future” for the Middle East
The Prime Minister recommitted to finding a “peaceful, more secure future for everyone” living in the Middle East, during Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday.
The commitment came in response to the Rt Hon Dr Liam Fox MP, who urged precision in language for “setting strategic aims in the Middle East”. “Peace is not just the absence of war of conflict, but the freedom from the fear of conflict or oppression or terror”.
Peace requires “mutual respect, freedom from persecution and living without fear of destitution” with “self determination and liberation from arbitrary justice”, Fox said, asking if the Prime Minister agrees that only when “all the people of the Middle East” achieve this reality can there be talk of achieving peace.
Hostage Deal Delayed
The hostage deal, which has been agreed by Israel’s War Cabinet and the terror group Hamas, is being delayed to Friday morning after initial reports that it would begin today.
The first group of 13 hostages are set to be released at 2pm (4pm Israel time) tomorrow. A spokesperson for the foreign ministry in Qatar said that the temporary truce will go into effect tomorrow morning at 5 am (7am Israel time).
Israel has received the list of civilian names that Hamas will release in the presumed first of around four groups.
The Iranian foreign minister landed in Beirut today. Hezbollah, the Lebanese terror group backed by Iran, told Al Jazeera that it will abide by the temporary truce. Israel’s Prime Minister said that Hezbollah will be judged “by its actions”.
Hamas tunnel complex uncovered beneath Shifa Hospital, Sheikh Zayed
A “full subterranean complex, complete with a dormitory, kitchen, bathroom, and more” have been discovered within underground tunnel systems underneath Shifa Hospital, the IDF reported after breaching the tunnel’s blast door.
“The scale of this tunnel, parts of which Hamas worked to bury, is absolutely incredible”, said Lt. Col. Richard Hecht. The tunnel’s electricity was “provided” by Shifa Hospital, according to IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari.
A separate tunnel, 160 feet deep and 23 feet wide, was discovered beneath Sheikh Zayed yesterday – as deep as half a football field. Tunnel entrances have been found beside schools, mosques and hospitals.
The IDF, so far, has exposed and destroyed around 400 tunnel shafts.
Hamas terror infrastructure uncovered, targets struck
The IDF uncovered terror items and infrastructure confirming that Hamas’ brutal October 7th massacres were pre-planned.
A scaled-down model simulating an IDF armoured vehicle, wall simulating Gaza’s security fence, rocket manufacturing facility, underground rocket launching pits and assorted weapons were discovered by the Givati Brigade at the Sheikh Zayed area of Gaza.
The soldiers found a vehicle with weapons used for the Hamas-led massacres on October 7th, before destroying the outpost during the operation.
The IDF discovered four “significant” tunnels in the peripheries of the Jabaliya area of Gaza today. A stash of weapons was also found in the home of a senior Hamas official. Additional weapons were recovered from under Hamas officials’ children’s beds and their wardrobes.
Documents and battle plans were also found, which have been passed to Israeli intelligence for examination.
During targeted raids in the area of Beit Hanoun yesterday, the IDF located weapons including AK-47 rifles and ammunition in a civilian building.
Israel eliminated a number of terrorist cells in Beit Hanoun and Sheikh Zayed yesterday. Israeli Navy forces destroyed a sniper outpost, together with several other military targets along the Gaza coast. Yesterday in Lebanon, Israel’s Air Force and an IDF tank destroyed multiple Hezbollah outposts after rocket attacks toward the Netu’a, Zar’it and Yiftah areas of Israel.
Hamas rockets strike Gaza in misfires
1,338 Hamas rockets have landed within Gaza since October 7th, out of the 10,726 fired at Israel, according to new IDF reports.
In past conflicts, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) misfires have been as high as 20% of all rockets fired.
Hamas cynically uses these misfires to promote baseless propaganda against Israel. Recently, the terror group has claimed that Israel struck Al Ahli Ma’madani Hospitals. IDF investigations have proven that there have not been any strikes made against Al Ahli Ma’madani Hospital.
The IDF operates in accordance with international law with efforts made to minimise civilian casualties, whilst Hamas uses Palestinian civilians as ‘Human Shields’.
