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.

Lebanon's Hezbollah said it had used two drones packed with explosives to attack an Israeli army command position in the disputed Shebaa Farms area at the Lebanese-Israeli border on Thursday.

In a statement, the Iran-backed group said the drones were filled with "a large quantity of explosives" and had hit their targets.

In response, the IDF struck several Hezbollah terror targets in southern Lebanon.

Israel targeted several Hezbollah terrorist infrastructures along the border, killing many terrorists, the IDF said.

The Israeli Air Force, as well as artillery forces, were placed on high alert to respond immediately to any Hezbollah attacks from inside Lebanon.

A house in Elad took a direct hit from a Hamas rocket fired at central Israel earlier today.

No injuries were reported, the occupants of the house a man and woman in their 70s entered the shelter in their home and waited. They were not injured and did not need medical attention, according to Magen David Adom.

"If they had not entered the shelter, this event could have ended in tragedy," an MDA spokesperson said.

Kiryat Shmona hit

Another hit was reported in Kiryat Shmona and has reportedly set fire to a building as well as cars in the city.

Four fire brigades arrived to help fight the fire and rescue the people trapped in the building.

A 25-year-old man was moderately wounded by shrapnel to the stomach, and a 40-year-old man was lightly wounded by shrapnel, the pair were taken to Ziv Hospital for medical treatment.

Hamas in Lebanon took responsibility for the attack which saw 12 rockets fired from southern Lebanon. 

IDF St.-Sgt. Yair Nifousy =fell during fighting in Gaza on Thursday, the Israeli military announced. Nifoussy died from his wounds suffered on Wednesday.

A representative for the Hamas group in Lebanon said Germany's ban on the group's activities showed that the country was in partnership with Israel on crimes against Palestinian people.

"This prompts us to question whether the German political mentality is a Holocaust mentality that affects all peoples and is not limited to one party or another," Osama Hamdan, the Hamas representative in Lebanon, said in a news conference on Thursday.

Germany will ban the activities of Hamas, already a designated terrorist organisation in the country, as well as pro-Palestinian group Samidoun, the interior minister announced on Thursday.

The Defense Ministry is preparing for the second month of fighting. The war against Hamas began on October 7 and is now on its 27th day.

"The mission of the Defense Ministry is to allow breathing space and functional continuity for the IDF and the security forces to win in an ongoing multi-arena campaign, and to support the war effort on the civilian home front,” Director General of the Defense Ministry, Major General (Ret.) Eyal Zamir said on Thursday. 

He and top officials provided an insight into the war so far and also what is being prepared for the next round. “All employees and employees of the Defense Ministry are mobilized to work around the clock. The IDF and the security establishment have all the capabilities and means to win the war,” Zamir said.

The Ministry is tasked with a plethora of work during the war, everything from making sure the people evacuated from almost 100 communities in the north and near Gaza are provided for, to repairing areas on the border, acquiring defensive gear, shelters and more munitions, to planning for the future. The Ministry noted that more than 3,000 tons of combat equipment have been brought to Israel on cargo planes and ships. 100 flights of cargo planes have been made and 5 ships have been used. The equipment involves vehicles, ceramic plates for soldiers, and other systems.  

Since October 7, administrative detention of Palestinians has spiked to 2,070, up from 1,319 last month, according to information the Israel Prisons Service (IPS) has provided to the HaMoked NGO.

In addition, Israel has declared 105 Palestinians as “unlawful combatants,” which under Israeli law (and American law after 9/11) refers to enemy forces who are viewed as not entitled to the prisoner of war status under Article four of the Third Geneva Convention.

Further, there are an estimated 4,000 Gazan workers (out of the 21,000 who had permits to work in Israel before October 7) who recently “disappeared” into special military detention camps, probably at Anatot and Ofer.)

Altogether, Israel now holds 6,704 “security” prisoners, which includes the administrative detainees as well as another 2,321 detainees facing criminal charges, and another 2,313 prisoners who are serving sentences following convictions in the Israeli military courts, according to HaMoked and the IPS.

The Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Ministry will invest NIS 10 million in a global hasbara campaign, the ministry announced during a Foreign and Hasbara Sub-Committee that discussed the essential nature of Hasbara in a meeting on Wednesday.

The program is aimed at encouraging organizations and companies worldwide to engage in advocacy for Israel, and will be expanded in the near future to allow the companies and organizations to be paid for having volunteers who work in hasbara on their behalf.

The strong need for civilian hasbara was discussed in the meeting which was chaired by National Unity MK Ze'ev Elkin.

Lebanon's Hezbollah said it had used two drones packed with explosives to attack an Israeli army command position in the disputed Shebaa Farms area at the Lebanese-Israeli border on Thursday.

In a statement, the Iran-backed group said the drones were filled with "a large quantity of explosives" and had hit their targets.