Israel at War - What happened on day 27?

Over 130 terrorists have been killed by the IDF during recent ground operations in Gaza, the IDF Spokesperson's Unit said on Thursday.

The IDF also took out terror infrastructure in Gaza and destroyed many weapons caches alongside Hamas operating bases.

"IDF fighters continue to wage fierce battles against Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip," the IDF spokesperson said.

The IDF struck Hamas bases using a combination of air, ground and sea forces.

The Instagram account @FuckJerry has shared a video of a young Jewish man going undercover at a pro-Palestine protest.

It is unclear if the video was made by the account or just shared by the Instagram account, which boasts a massive following of 16.9 million users.

The video shared on the page on November 1, shows a Jewish man in a hoody and a mask at a rally in the United States. It is captioned "Are these protests about peace...or antisemitism?"

The short clip has already accumulated nearly 120,000 likes but, unlike other videos from the channel, has had the comments switched off. The content is also uncharacteristic for the page, as all other posts seem to be non-political or controversial memes. 

“I’m a Jew going undercover at a Free Palestine rally to see what they’re really about,” the host starts. 

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A post shared by FUCKJERRY (@fuckjerry)

The United States pushed to prevent regional spillover from the Gaza War and to secure an agreement for a humanitarian “pause,” as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was scheduled Friday to land in Israel for the second time since the fighting began on October 7.

“We are determined to prevent escalation on any of these fronts whether it is in southern Lebanon, the West Bank or anywhere else in the region,” he told reporters before leaving the US on Thursday, in a trip that would also include stops in Jordan and Turkey.

“We’re making sure that this message gets through. It’s not in anyone’s interest for this to escalate and some of the other parties involved recognized that, but we’re going to work on that every single day.”

He spoke as eyes were turned to Lebanon, where Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is expected to deliver his first public address since the war, as violence on Israel’s northern border increased as the IDF kept its major focus on Gaza in the south.

France's Defense Minister said a second French helicopter would be sent off the coast of Gaza, as it works with Israeli and Egyptian authorities to find a way to provide medical assistance to people affected by the bombings in the besieged area.

Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu spoke to France Info radio on Thursday in Lebanon, where he visited the French unit of the United Nations' mission in the country. He said messages has been passed to both Hezbollah and Israel urging them not to do anything that would make it impossible for the mission to carry out its mandate.

The White House is concerned about attacks on Israeli forces by Hezbollah, as they exchange fire and violence spikes at the Lebanese border, but there is no indication the Iran-backed group is ready "to go in full force," national security spokesperson John Kirby said on Thursday.

"We're concerned about continued attacks on Israeli forces there in the north, as are the Israelis, but I don't believe we've seen any indication yet specifically that Hezbollah is ready to go in full force," he told reporters at a briefing.

IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said that a ceasefire with Hamas is not on the table at all, according to him, the IDF will act with deeds and not words.

Earlier, the White House said it was exploring the idea of pauses in the Israel-Hamas conflict to help civilians in Gaza and is working with Israel to minimize casualties, as per national security spokesperson John Kirby.

"What we're trying to do is explore the idea of as many pauses as might be necessary to continue to get aid out and to continue to work to get people out safely, including hostages," he told reporters at a briefing.

Around five dozen individuals associated with Hamas, boasting more than 100 million social media followers, have been waging a propaganda campaign against Israel on various social media platforms since the start of the Swords of Iron war.

These influencers, who identify as independent journalists, are often seen sporting blue press vests and helmets. They have also reportedly found refuge in Al-Shifa hospital, which the IDF recently disclosed serves as a Hamas command and control center, providing them with access to electricity and the internet.

While these individuals may appear to be speaking independently, they effectively act as the mouthpiece for the terrorist organization. Furthermore, they frequently feature in interviews and are quoted in mainstream media, causing their lies to spread.

The Jerusalem Post has located some of these influencers through inside and open sources. It plans to reveal their identities in the coming weeks.

Israelis trust the IDF significantly more than they trust Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israel Democracy Institute said in its latest Israel Voice Index released on Tuesday, which focused on the war with Hamas.

The survey covered several areas of importance from trust in the military to inter-communal relations, to support for exchanging prisoners for hostages.

Leftist and centrist Israelis overwhelmingly trust the heads of the IDF, at 80% and 74% respectively.

Rightists, on the other hand, are far less likely to trust the heads of the IDF at only 41%, they are also more likely to believe that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could be trusted with the war at 10%. 29% trusted both the same amount.

A large majority of the public (70%) believe that the "Black Shabbat" massacres committed by Hamas on October 7 occurred due to internal disagreements about judicial reform, although there is significant divergence on the topic between Jews and Arabs, with Jews at 75% and Arabs at 46%.

Bahrain said on Thursday the Gulf state's ambassador to Israel had returned home and the Israeli ambassador in Manama had left "a while ago," confirming an earlier statement by parliament.

The government statement did not however confirm that economic ties had been severed, as the parliament had earlier stated, citing a protest over the war in Gaza.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that “the US has intelligence that the Wagner Group, the Russian paramilitary group, may provide an air defense system to Hezbollah.”

Hezbollah already has an impressive arsenal. The addition of air defenses beyond its existing surface-to-air missiles would appear to make the group more of a threat. 

The report says that “the system in question is the SA-22, which uses antiaircraft missiles and air defense guns, to intercept aircraft.” The report says that a US official could not confirm if the system had been sent. “Wagner has personnel in Syria, where Hezbollah fighters have also been present.” 

It’s worth looking at the context here. Iran has sought to supply Hezbollah with air defenses in the past. In addition, a report at Asharq al-Awsat said in July that Hezbollah has already improved its air defenses. This included a reference to SA-8 and SA-22 systems. In addition, a report at Ynet in 2018 said Iran had tried to move its 3rd Khordad system to T-4 base in Syria.

This was the same base Iran used for drones. Iran backs Hezbollah and Hezbollah operates in Syria.