Israel at War: What happened on days 35-36?

Rocket sirens were heard in Kissufim.

Rocket sirens were heard in Kissufim.

The IDF and Hezbollah exchanged several rounds of attacks over the weekend, while the terror group’s chief Hassan Nasrallah, and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant exchanged threats.

Nasrallah noted that “Israel has not achieved any accomplishment that it can present to its citizens; they are still unable to present an image of ‘victory’ or an image of ‘defeat’ to the resistance.”

This echoed a similar statement Nasrallah made last week, “The war has expanded to more than one front – we salute the armies of Iraq and Yemen that have entered this blessed battle. There is no more legitimate and justifiable battle from a humanitarian, moral, and religious perspective than the battle against the Zionists.”

Earlier, three IDF soldiers were seriously injured by an anti-tank missile fired into the Manara region.
Gallant warned Hezbollah on Saturday that if it escalated fighting along the border it would be making a historic mistake.

“Hezbollah is close to making a grave mistake – the residents of Beirut could end up just like the situation in Gaza, where they are already raising the white flag and fleeing their houses,” said the defense minister.

Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah addresses his supporters via a screen during a rally marking Prophet Mohammed's birthday, in Beirut suburbs, Lebanon October 2, 2023. (credit: MOHAMED AZAKIR/REUTERS)

Israel strikes back

Late Saturday night, the IDF attacked Hezbollah targets in Lebanon and targets in Syria. This came after a Hezbollah terrorist cell attempted to launch anti-tank missiles toward Israeli territory in the area of Aramshe on Saturday afternoon and after two rockets were fired from Syria into Israel Saturday night.

In addition, an IDF tank struck the cell in Lebanon which fired at Israel on Saturday afternoon, the military and the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) said.

Earlier in the day, an aerial object was identified crossing into Israeli territory in the area of Kabri, northern Israel, and was shot down.

Two other suspicious aerial targets were intercepted in the area of the border with Lebanon.

Two mortar shell launches and anti-tank missiles were fired from Lebanon toward IDF posts in northern Israel. IDF artillery struck the source of the launches alongside a Hezbollah terror infrastructure.

Mid-morning, sirens sounded in northern Israel warning of a suspected hostile aircraft intrusion. However, no aircraft were ultimately identified as having infiltrated Israeli airspace, the IDF said.

Earlier in the morning, a rocket was fired from Lebanon into Israel. However, the projectile fell into an open area in the Margaliot area. A building in Kiryat Shmona was hit.

Overnight Friday, a missile from Lebanon targeted an IDF aircraft operating in the border area. An Israeli UAV hit the launcher that fired the missile.

Overnight, a missile launch was identified toward an IDF aircraft operating in the Lebanese border area, but an IDF UAV struck the launcher.

Also overnight, the IDF said that Israeli fighter jets struck several Hezbollah infrastructure installations in Lebanon, including a launcher from which missiles were fired at the area of Margaliot in northern Israel.

In other remarks Saturday night, Nasrallah slammed the US, “The one who can stop the aggression is the one who manages it – the United States. The one who manages and decides this battle is the American government, and all pressure must be directed towards the Americans.”

Maariv contributed to this report.

In weekend fighting, the IDF killed 150 Hamas terrorists in one extended battle in Gaza, along with additional senior Hamas figures, and captured key Hamas positions.

By Friday night, the IDF announced that the 401st Brigade had destroyed Outpost “Badr” of Hamas’s Shati Battalion, killing 150 terrorists in the stronghold.

However, six soldiers were killed in other fighting in the Gaza Strip, the IDF announced. Four were in the 551st Brigade – Maj. (res.) Moshe Yedidya Leiter; Warr. Ofc. (res.) Yossi Hershkovitz; St.-Sgt.-Maj. (res.) Matan Meir; and St.-Sgt.-Maj. (res.) Sergey Shmerkin.

The other two soldiers killed over the weekend were St.-Sgt.-Maj. (res.).  Netanel “Nati” Harush of the Givati Brigade and Yehonatan Samo.

In the attack on Hamas’s Shati Battalion, The Jerusalem Post has learned that the mix of integrated attacks from air force, tank, and artillery units led to the remarkably one-sided result regarding the main outpost of the Shati Battalion located near a refugee camp and civilian buildings.

IDF's 401st Brigade clearing Outpost ''Badr'' in the Northern Gaza Strip, November 10, 2023. (credit: IDF SPOKESMAN’S UNIT)

1,500 Hamas killed in the first week

Though the IDF has said it has killed thousands of Hamas gunmen including 1,500 in the first week of the war, this was the largest single number the IDF has announced for any single battle in Gaza.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad’s combined forces are estimated at between 15,000-50,000.

IDF sources have not claimed that they are anywhere close to killing or arresting a majority of Gazan terror forces, suggesting the IDF will still need to intensify its activity still more to topple Hamas’s broader military apparatus.

Some have said Hamas will not fall before its Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar, and its military leader Mohammed Deif, are killed or arrested.

As part of the weekend raid on the large outpost, the forces of the 401st Brigade destroyed various military headquarters and launch positions. Before it was destroyed, the outpost had been the last remaining outpost on the Shati border.

The IDF also found and destroyed a site for the production of munitions, launch stations, and an underground network.

The division operated at the “Blue Beach” hotel located on the northern coast of the Strip.

About 30 Hamas terrorists barricaded themselves in this hotel and fired several anti-tank missiles at IDF forces. After the takeover, it was found that they had  used the hotel rooms as a protective shelter and to plan attacks above and below ground.

The battle over this large military position contributed to the IDF’s success in seizing control of 11 large military positions held by Hamas since the conflict began, the IDF said Saturday morning.

The military said that ground troops had struck terrorists, infrastructure, and weapons specifically belonging to Hamas’s Zabra Tel Elhua Battalion.

These activities were a part of the joint intelligence effort of the IDF and the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) to significantly degrade the battalion, including the elimination of the battalion’s commander, announced on November 3.

IDF troops also conducted raids, which included extensive battles in the southern area of Sheikh Ijlin, in western Gaza City, where a significant number of Hamas operatives were located. During those raids, the troops eliminated numerous terrorists and their infrastructure, including rocket launchers, weapon depots, observation posts, and terror tunnels.

Meanwhile, the army expanded the fight into the Shati  (Beach) refugee camp on the northern outskirts of Gaza City, which is also near Shifa Hospital. More than 10 gunmen were killed in those battles while hundreds of civilians fled the camp.

Soldiers from the Nahal Brigade identified and destroyed an underground tunnel apparatus near a school. The coordinated attack by Brigade 215 identified a group of terrorists moving towards IDF soldiers from the Givati Brigade and, using aerial assets, neutralized the group.

Overnight Friday, naval forces attacked structures used by Hamas against IDF forces in the northern Gaza Strip, including storage facilities of naval equipment.

Separately, a granddaughter of Ismail Haniyeh the political head of Hamas, was killed in an IDF attack in Gaza, according to Palestinian media reports. Haniyeh lives in Qatar.

The IDF eliminated Ahmed Siam, a company commander of Hamas’s Naser Radwan Company. Siam was responsible for holding approximately 1,000 Gazan residents hostage in Gaza’s Rantisi Hospital preventing them from evacuating south to safety, the IDF said on Saturday.

The assassination was coordinated by the IDF and the Shin Bet, including ground and air forces.

Though announced Saturday, IDF aircraft struck Siam two days ago. He was killed while hiding in the “al Buraq” school, where additional terrorists under his command were also hiding and were killed.

“Siam demonstrates once again that Hamas uses the civilians of the Gaza Strip as human shields for terror purposes,” the IDF said.

The World Health Organization said on Saturday it has lost communication with its contacts in Al Shifa hospital in northern Gaza, and expressed "grave concerns" for the safety of everyone trapped there by the fighting while calling for an immediate ceasefire.

The spokesperson for the Gaza health ministry said that operations in Al Shifa hospital complex, the largest in the Palestinian enclave, were suspended on Saturday after it ran out of fuel.

WHO said it has "grave concerns for the safety of the health workers, hundreds of sick and injured patients, including babies on life support and displaced people who remain inside the hospital," and reiterated its call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

Rocket sirens were heard in Sderot, Ibim, Nir Am, Gavim, and Sapir College.

A hostile aircraft intrusion was detected in Erez and Or HaNer, the intrusion was intercepted by the IDF a few minutes later.

The Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades, armed wing of the Palestinian terrorist Hamas group, said on Saturday they had completely or partially destroyed more than 160 Israeli military targets in Gaza in the past 48 hours, including more than 25 vehicles.

"The confrontation is unequal, but it frightens and terrifies the most powerful force in the region," said spokesperson Abu Ubaida.

Hamas has lost control of the northern Gaza Strip, IDF spokesperson R.-Adm. Daniel Hagari said in a statement Saturday night.

"Hamas is committing a war crime in its use of hospitals and has been spreading false messages that we are attacking Shifa hospitals," Hagari added. "This is false, we are only fighting terrorists near the hospital."

This is a developing story.

Rocket sirens went off in the Golan Heights Saturday night after two rockets were fired into Israel from Syria, the IDF Spokesperson's Unit said.

The two rockets fell in open areas. 

The IDF is currently attacking the launch sites in Syrian territory.

IDF troops managed to find a cache of weapons, ammunition, and explosives in a kindergarten in Gaza's Beit Hanoun, the IDF Spokesperson's Unit announced Saturday night as the ongoing war with Hamas continues.

The discovery was made by the 551st Brigade, a group of reservist commandos and paratroopers who had been carrying out operations against Hamas in the area. 

Photos and footage of the weapons were shared by the IDF Spokesperson's Unit, as well as footage of the brigade's operations in the Gaza Strip.

Striking Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip

The 551st Brigade has been operating in the area for the past two weeks as part of Operation Swords of Iron, and has been working alongside air, engineering, and armored forces to eliminate Hamas terrorists and find weapons. 

As part of their recent actions, the soldiers were able to find and destroy dozens of Hamas tunnel openings and secure locations where Hamas had stashed weapons, maps, and intelligence files.