Foreign Minister Lord Ahmad has condemned Hamas’ use of “abhorrent acts of violence against Israeli women and girls and other civilians” during the barbaric attacks on 7th October, late last week.
The terror group’s actions will leave “brutal and lifelong scars on victims, their families, and communities”, he said, adding that the Government calls for “the immediate, safe and unconditional release of those still held”.
He redoubled the Government’s unequivocal condemnation of sexual violence “without exception” and called for a full investigation into the gendered violence perpetrated by Hamas and its allies. The abuses may “constitute a violation of international humanitarian law such as a war crime”, and called on the international community to “be clear in condemning sexual violence wherever it occurs, including in Israel”.
While hailing with the UK’s “Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict programmes and dedicated funding totalling £60 million”, he said an “urgent solution to end the conflict”, is needed. “A sustainable, long-term resolution… can only be achieved through the delivery of a two-state solution”.
Israeli officials meet for talks, Hamas leadership in Cairo
“I can reiterate the fact that Israel is ready for another humanitarian pause and additional humanitarian aid in order to enable the release of hostages. And the responsibility lies fully with [Hamas’ Gaza chief Yahya] Sinwar and the leadership of Hamas”, Israel’s President Isaac Herzog said to around 80 ambassadors yesterday.
Israel has expressed a willingness to agree to a temporary ceasefire of at least a week for no less than 40 hostages in a reported proposal made through Qatar to Hamas.
However, during Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh’s first visit to Egypt in more than a month for talks on the release of hostages, a Palestinian official said, “Hamas’ stance remains: they don’t have a desire for humanitarian pauses. Hamas wants a complete end to the Israeli war on Gaza”.
Director of Mossad David Barnea met with Director of the CIA Bill Burns and Qatari Prime Minister and Mohammed bin Abdulrahman in Warsaw this week, where Abdulrahman said that Hamas’ condition on the renewal of negotiations is the cessation of the war.
1500 Hamas tunnels uncovered, IDF shifts to subterranean warfare
1500 terror tunnel shafts have been uncovered since the onset of the Israel-Hamas war, according to the IDF. The IDF has shown signs of changing its tactics toward a subterranean military strategy.
Israel’s operations beneath ground have utilised “breakthrough capabilities” that “allow us to achieve significant accomplishments, including killing terrorists underground”, according to IDF Chief Spokesperson Rear Adm Daniel Hagari. The IDF had previously committed to destroying the tunnels from the outside, using explosives and other technologies.
At a joint press conference with U.S. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin yesterday, Israel’s Defence Minister Gallant said that “we will be able to transition gradually to the next phase and start working on bringing back [Gaza’s] local population”.
“The decision to send the soldiers into tunnels at this juncture may indicate that the IDF believes that it is closing in on high-value targets or Israeli hostages”, said Senior Director of Foundation of Defence of Democracies Israel Programme, Enia Krivine.
IDF prepares for Hamas attacks from West Bank
Amid the proliferation of Hamas tactics employed in the Gaza Strip by Iran-backed terror groups across the West Bank, the IDF have carried out multiple combat scenarios in the territory. The exercises follow the devastating Hamas attacks on 7 October resulting in 1,200 people killed and over 240 taken hostage.
The Palestinian Authority (PA) has lost control of some of the regions’ largest cities, such as in Jenin and Nablus. As a result, Iran-backed terror groups have begun to take advantage of the power vacuum in the northern West Bank by importing military tactics employed by Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Developments – including the local manufacturing of weapons and advanced explosive devices, excavating tunnels, rocket launches and factional cooperation- have caused the coordinated violence to resemble the tactics of Hamas when they first seized control of Gaza from the PA in 2007.
Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad have openly declared their funding and strategic direction from the Islamic Republic of Iran, which has supported at least 19 terror groups across Israel’s borders. Iranian state media said the terror factions “are acting in all seriousness to spread these brigades in all the Palestinian cities, and they are becoming a fact on the ground”.
PIJ Secretary-General Ziyad Al-Nakhaleh reportedly praised Jenin as a model to replicate and has also said that the armament of the West Bank was directed by Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who proposed a plan to “smuggle arms into the area, or buy them from the Israelis themselves” in 2014.
Troops have arrested over 2,400 wanted Palestinians across the West Bank, including more than 1,200 affiliated with Hamas since the onset of the war.
Two hostages appear in Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) propaganda video
Two Israeli hostages, Gadi Mozes and Elad Katzir, have been seen for the first time since being kidnapped on 7th October, in a PIJ propaganda video.
“Dad is really skinny, you can see he is exhausted”, the son of Gadi Yair Mozes said, adding that “he’s not in a good physical situation, there’s no doubt.” The two hostages spoke under duress in separate clips.
Mozes’ wife Efrat and Katzir’s father Rami were murdered on 7th October. Katir’s mother Hanna was kidnapped and then freed in the hostage deal Israel struck with the terror group.
“Retrieving them is a top goal”, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said of the 129 hostages still kept in captivity across the Gaza Strip. “I’ve just sent the head of Mossad to Europe twice to advance a process for the release of our abductees. I will spare no effort on the matter”.
The release of the videos follow Hamas’ recording of three elderly hostages published yesterday and come as the terror groups’ leadership engage in talks of a hostage deal. Israeli media does not generally cover the videos to combat the damaging psychological effects intended by their circulation.
8,000 – 10,000 Palestinian workers to return to jobs in Israeli companies, in first since October 7
Between 8,000 and 10,000 Palestinians living in the West Bank will return to their jobs in Israeli settlements and businesses in the coming days.
Although some industrial factories have reportedly already began to allow several thousand Palestinians back to work on a localised level, Israeli employers will also now receive workers if the business meet tighter security conditions than those enforced before 7th October.
Many of the terrorists that infiltrated the south of Israel used data retrieved over years of working within Israel, according to reports. Over 150,000 West Bank Palestinians have been mostly unable to enter Israel or its settlements for work.
Separately, Jews and Arabs from different professional backgrounds in Haifa have reportedly volunteered to assist the Arab town of Baqa al-Gharbiya to aid agriculture. The farmers have been facing a labour shortage since the onset of the war and resulting reduction in workers from oversees. Arabs with citizenship account for around 20 percent of Israel’s population.
Operational and other updates
Hamas rocket fire into Israel has lulled today, without a single rocket attack over the last 17.5 hours. The respite has resulted from reported Israel Defence Forces (IDF) pressure, as their area of control has reduced places for Hamas to fire from. Hamas has also reportedly run low on ammunition.
The IDF have carried out strikes across Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon today. Sirens in north Israel sounded as surface-to-air missiles were launched at an Israeli plane and the Israeli towns of Goren and Menara were targeted.
Syrian President Bashar Assad declared this week that there is no evidence that six million Jews were targeted in the Holocaust, and that the historical genocide was a fabrication. Syria is accused of committing war crimes in his persecution of the Syrian Civil War and the country cooperates with Iran to facilitate its network of terror proxies operational in the country.
On Monday, the IDF seized five million shekels worth of cash. “The funds were found in suitcases alongside numerous weapons”, the IDF stated, adding that they struck a site where weapons were located.
