Israel at War: What happened on day 15?

The air force chief said he “wouldn’t want to swap places with our enemy and face an IDF division or brigade,” as the army continued with its plans for an invasion of Gaza.

Maj.-Gen. Tomer Bar’s comments were made on Saturday during a briefing of squadron commanders in preparation for the invasion.

At the briefing, Bar also said the Israel Air Force has struck Hamas with thousands of missiles.

“We will come in with full force and strike them as if [it was] the first day of the battle,” Bar said. “Our role is to ‘embrace’ the land forces and say: ‘The enemy you are about to encounter met us before’” – meaning that the air force had worn down Hamas before the ground forces had to enter.

IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi said, “Gaza is densely populated; the enemy has prepared a lot [for our invasion], but we are also preparing,” during a visit to Golani troops.

Israel Air Force drills with foreign forces in the ''Blue Drill'' exercise in October 2021. (credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his inner war cabinet, along with National Unity Party leader and war minister Benny Gantz, also met on Saturday. The content of the meeting is classified.

Earlier Saturday, IDF Spokesman Brig.-Gen. Daniel Hagari said one-fifth of the rockets fired by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad have misfired in the last day, landing inside Gaza and killing civilians.

Over the course of the conflict, 550 rockets have been misfired into Gaza by the terror groups. “They are killing their own people,” he said.

The announcement came only a few days after Hamas accused Israel of firing a rocket that struck Gaza’s Al-Ahli Arab Hospital, killing dozens of people. The accusation was quickly dispelled by the IDF and independent, international investigators who found the rocket emanated from a PIJ misfire.

Weekend rockets with few hits

Over the weekend, Hamas continued its rocket fire on Tel Aviv and the Gaza corridor, but with even less success in hitting Israelis or disturbing daily life as compared to many other days in recent weeks.

Hagari said, however, that Israel is continuing to attack Hamas military targets in the northern Gaza Strip in preparation for an imminent ground invasion. Israel planned to enter Gaza last week, but delayed due to a variety of factors, including evacuating civilians, US pressure on humanitarian issues, tactical concerns about Hezbollah’s intention, and traps that Hamas might be setting. He said 700,000 residents had already moved to the southern Gaza Strip.

Hagari also updated the number of soldiers killed and hostages taken. He said Israel had been in touch with the families of 307 fallen soldiers so far. He also raised the number of hostages to 210, noting that the country constantly gathers intelligence and informs families as soon as they know something new.

“That number will continue to change, and we will update you every time we tell a new family” that their loved one has been kidnapped.

On Thursday, Maj.-Gen. (res.) Nitzan Alon said a complex array of factors meant that the IDF had high certainty about a majority of its estimates, but that there were dozens or more cases that still required more examination of evidence, DNA testing, and other issues.

Some 765 civilians murdered by Hamas since the start of the war have so far been identified, the police said on Saturday.

The police, the IDF, and volunteers from ZAKA at the casualty identification station in Camp Shora have been working to identify the victims of Hamas’s massacre in the South for the past two weeks. They said the 765 victims who have been so far identified comprise approximately 75% of the Israeli civilians who were killed in the conflict.

Meanwhile, the IDF and the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) on Saturday arrested 89 wanted terrorists in Judea and Samaria overnight, including 68 members of the Hamas terrorist organization.

Among those arrested were prominent and close associates of Saleh al-Arouri, who, from outside the area, manages military-terrorist networks in the West Bank. These included al-Arouri’s brother and cousin – both members of Hamas – and Abraham Suleiman from Nablus, a prominent Hamas operative and former prisoner.

In addition, the IDF demolished the home of Hamas terrorist Maher Shalon, who carried out the Almog junction shooting attack in February, which killed Israeli-American Elan Ganeles.

During the operation, several suspects threw stones at the forces and fired explosives, prompting the troops to respond with fire. Injuries were reported.

In addition, the army and Shin Bet said forces located and confiscated materials used for manufacturing weapons in the village of Qusra.

Since the start of the conflict on October 7, there have been 670 wanted individuals arrested throughout the Judea and Samaria region, as well as in the Jordan Valley and the Bekaa region, with over 450 affiliated with Hamas, the army said.

Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report. 

Immigrants to Israel from Bergen County, New Jersey have officially been listed among the missing Hamas-held hostages in Gaza, according to a statement made earlier this week by Governor Phil Murphy, according to US media. 

Governor Murphy spoke at a Hoboken vigil, hoping for the "swift, safe return" of Edan Alexander from Tenafly, New Jersey. Alexander was serving in the IDF near the Gaza border during the attacks, local media reported. 

Alexander was one of multiple North Jersey residents who are believed to be among the 200 hostages held in Gaza by Hamas terrorists, according to the New Jersey Attorney General, Matthew Platkin. Those Bergen County residents are also believed to be among the dead.

New Jersey Jewish community gathering at Jewish Community Center

A-G Platkin spoke to those gathered at the Kaplan JCC on the Palisades to show support for Israelis following the attack, according to US media. 

Platkin addressed the crowd: "It was terrorism plain and simple. There were two Bergen County men who are missing. Let us demand their return."

People call on the release of Israelis held hostage by Hamas militants in Gaza, outside the Ministry of Defense in Tel Aviv, October 18, 2023. (credit: Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

National security adviser Jake Sullivan told media that 20 or more Americans are still yet to be accounted for, which could include the dead and missing still yet to be identified.

"It was terrorism plain and simple. There were two Bergen County men who are missing. Let us demand their return."

Matthew Platkin

The state's A-G left without identifying the identities of the suspected hostages, nor of the confirmed dead or missing. However, reports show former New Jersey residents like Laor Abramov, 20. Abramov has been missing since he called his family from a party that was disrupted by gunfire, according to reports by CBS and other US media outlets.

Local New Jersey outlets reported that Nancy Dubin, a cantor with Temple Beth Rishon in Wyckoff, said in an interview at the JCC event that she hasn't heard from her son Ari, an active duty soldier in the IDF since Saturday.

A blast at a Gaza hospital was not the result of an Israeli missile strike, but likely caused by a misfiring Palestinian rocket, the French military intelligence directorate (DRM) said on Friday.

Palestinian officials said 471 people were killed in the blast at Al-Ahli al-Arabi Hospital on Tuesday. Gaza's health ministry blamed an Israeli air strike, while Israel said the blast was caused by a failed rocket launch by militants.

"There is nothing that allows us to say that it is an Israeli strike, but the most likely (scenario) is a Palestinian rocket that had a firing incident," the DRM said.

An unclassified US intelligence report seen by Reuters on Thursday said it judged that Israel was not responsible for the blast and estimated the death toll at 100-300 people.

According to the DRM, the impact crater was too small to have been caused by an Israeli missile.

People are assisted at Shifa Hospital after many Palestinians were killed in a blast at Al-Ahli hospital in Gaza on October 18, 2023. (credit: REUTERS/MOHAMMED AL-MASRI)

"The most likely hypothesis is a Palestinian rocket, which exploded with a charge of about 5 kilos," the DRM told reporters, adding that Palestinian groups had small-caliber rockets with that sort of explosive charge.

Contrasting accounts

The DRM does not usually release such information, but on the instruction of President Emmanuel Macron decided to make its findings public given the contrasting accounts about who is responsible.

It ruled out various possibilities, including fragments from Israel's Iron Dome air defense system or intercepted missiles being the cause.

Part of the analysis was based on open-source material ranging from the light structural damage at the hospital, including some broken windows, few destroyed vehicles and the relatively limited presence of civilian belongings at the blast site.

The DRM could not give the exact departing point of the failed rocket and did not place blame on any specific group.

It declined to estimate the death toll, but said that it was likely to be fewer than 471 given the impact.

Israel has responded to an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas terrorists who killed 1,400 Israelis by vowing to destroy the group, putting the 2.3 million people living in Gaza under siege. Strikes against the enclave have killed more than 4,100 people and left more than a million homeless.

Israel is also preparing a ground offensive.

An estimated 20.3 million people watched US President Joe Biden's Thursday night prime time speech advocating wartime aid to support Israel and Ukraine, according to Nielsen.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant arrived near the Gaza border on Friday night to meet with IDF officials.

He closely monitored the readiness of the Israeli forces for a possible ground invasion of Gaza.

This is a developing story.

US President Joe Biden and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday discussed plans to begin moving humanitarian assistance into Gaza from Egypt, the White House said in a statement, as the UN seeks access for aid as soon as possible.

The two leaders also discussed ongoing efforts to secure the release of hostages taken by Hamas and to provide for safe passage for US citizens and other civilians in Gaza, the White House added.

The spokesperson for the Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya announced on Friday that they informed the BBC that the British media giant would not be welcome on the premises.

"At this time, and until further notice, Galilee Medical Center is suspending the entrance of BBC for coverage within its premises," the spokesperson told the BBC.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Friday that a visit by US President Joe Biden to Israel this week amounted to US approval of the destruction in Gaza, and added this was "noted by history".

Speaking to state broadcaster TRT Haber, Fidan said Israel had "changed the narrative" about its involvement in a blast at a Gaza hospital on Tuesday, and added he hoped a summit in Cairo on Saturday would yield an agreement to stop Israel's offensive.

"Of course, Biden coming there under these circumstances and being in a position, in a way, of approving the destruction in Gaza, is being noted by history," Fidan said. "For many, this is not a surprise, but it creates a perception that may cause many different outcomes for America."

He also said Turkey was proposing a guarantorship system to counterparts to find a lasting solution to the conflict, adding Turkey was ready to be a guarantor for the Palestinian side. He also called on other regional countries to be involved in this.

The Palestinian Red Crescent announced on Friday that they received a warning from Israeli forces to 'immediately evacuate' Gaza's Al-Quds hospital, which currently houses over 400 patients and 12,000 displaced civilians.

The Palestinian Red Crescent issued an urgent appeal to the international community, saying: "We call on the world to take immediate and urgent action to prevent a new massacre like the one that occurred on the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital."

Two American-Israeli hostages, Judith and Natalie Raanan, who were held by Hamas since Saturday, October 7, have been handed over to the Red Cross, a source familiar with the negotiations confirmed on Friday. 

They are “on their way out,” the source said. They are being released on “humanitarian grounds” because the mother is in poor health.

Representatives of their family in Israel have received this information and are making their way to the captives' location. It is unclear whether they are being released to Egypt or Israel.

An Israeli source told KAN News that the release of the captives is intended to pressure Israel to delay its ground entry into Gaza.

Natalie, 17, just graduated from high school, according to her aunt Saray Cohen. She was studying Torah in Israel. Judith is an artist and was working in several hospitals in the Chicago area. They were in Israel together to celebrate the 85th birthday of Judith's mother.

The Red Cross confirmed their release, Israeli media report. Hamas put out a statement on its Telegram channel.

"In response to Qatari efforts, Al-Qassam Brigades released two American citizens (a mother and her daughter) for humanitarian reasons, and to prove to the American people and the world that the claims made by Biden and his fascist administration are false and baseless," Hamas wrote.

More than 200 still in captivity

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum headquarters responded to the announcement by the reminding the world that the Raanan's are just two of the more than 200 hostages being held by Hamas. 

"The continued holding of hostages is a war crime," a statement by the headquarters said. "Many leaders in Arab states have tremendous influence over its leaders and must act to immediately release all the hostages and missing held in Gaza. We call on world leaders and the international community to exert their full power in order to act for the release of all the hostages and missing."

Families approach Red Cross in Geneva

On Friday morning, several families of those taken hostage traveled to Geneva to lobby for their loved ones' release. They met with Mirjana Spoljaric, head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

The Red Cross had offered to visit and help the hostages in any way and work towards their release.

Reuters contributed to this report.