Israel at war: What happened on day 44?

Many players, whether representatives of the Israeli government, the army, or the many volunteers and Jewish leaders, have been trying to organize private showings of the IDF Spokesperson’s documentation of Hamas’s terrible massacre on October 7, for influencers around the globe. 

The film, some 40 minutes long, has caused parliamentarians worldwide to burst into tears after seeing it. It shows the most graphic videos and photos that display the brutality carried out by the Hamas terrorists, whether by raping women after shooting them in their knees to ensure no resistance or the murder of children and babies in the most horrifying ways.

The IDF film, titled “Hamas Massacre – Collected Raw Footage, Oct. 7, 2023,” features a combination of footage from various sources, including GoPro body cameras worn by the terrorists themselves, dashcams from the cars of both terrorists and civilians, closed-circuit television recordings, cellphone footage, and more. The footage has been skillfully edited to provide different perspectives on the same event as the day unfolded.

The film has also been widely regarded as highly impactful; three hours of discussion followed one screening for Americans. The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit acted swiftly and intelligently in assembling this compelling evidence of heinous acts, driven by antisemitism and pure evil.

The IDF on Sunday unveiled its military moves and intelligence process which led to revealing Hamas’s 55-meter-long tunnel at Al-Shifa Hospital.

According to the IDF, close to the time when the IDF was weighing entering Al-Shifa, there was Shin Bet and IDF intelligence which indicated that Hamas forces were in the Qatar facility and the MRI facility of the complex.

Eventually, the IDF would find many items of terror infrastructure in many places, but the IDF Shaldag special forces’ original mission was to get to those two facilities as quickly as possible, starting with the Qatari facility.

How the IDF entered Al-Shifa Hospital

The IDF entered the complex by blowing through a side wall, as opposed to the main entrance, near a booby-trapped pickup truck to get to the Qatar facility as quickly as possible.   

Eventually, a mix of drones and special units searching for the tunnel found a suspicious-looking small covered structure.

Russia and Iran's foreign ministers on Sunday called for a ceasefire in Gaza and said that urgent assistance must be given to the civilian population there.

Russia said Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke to Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian at the request of Tehran.

"During the conversation, main attention was focused on the current situation in the zone of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict," Russia's foreign ministry said.

"General concern was expressed about the ongoing armed confrontation in the Gaza Strip," it said. "The need for an early ceasefire and urgent assistance to the affected civilian population was stressed."

The Iranian-backed Houthis have openly threatened Israel numerous times since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7. This is part of a wider campaign across the region by Iranian-backed proxies to threaten Israel. Iranian proxies in Iraq and Syria have attacked US forces 60 times.

The Houthis have launched drones, cruise missiles, and a ballistic missile at Israel over the last month and a half. Now the Houthis have attacked a ship in the Red Sea. 

The hijacking of a ship in the Red Sea with two dozen crew is a new escalation by Iran and its proxies. Iranian media is bragging about the Houthi attack. Tasnim News in Iran and the pro-Iranian Al-Mayadeen have both focused on the hijacking of the Galaxy Leader ship in the Red Sea.

In the past, Iran had mined ships and also hijacked ships using helicopters and small boats.  

The IDF on Sunday evening released the names of two more soldiers who fell during fighting in the northern Gaza Strip, bringing the total of Israeli casualties from the weekend to 11.

Lt. (Res.) Adir Portugal, 23, and St.-Sgt. Gal Mishaelof, of the IDF's Givati Brigade, fell in battle.

The IDF's Home Front Command has lifted the latest education restrictions on central Israel. Studies can actually take place as usual regardless of proximity to a protected space.

However, it is still unclear whether cities in the central region are expected to open classes tomorrow without restrictions, or whether they will wait another day or more before that.

Currently, there is still no obligation to have full face-to-face studies even if there are no restrictions so it is still up to the local mayors.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Sunday that he was "deeply shocked" that two UN schools were struck in less than 24 hours in the Gaza Strip, killing and injuring dozens of people – many women and children – "as they were seeking safety in United Nations premises."

"Hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians are seeking shelter at United Nations facilities throughout Gaza due to the intensified fighting. I reaffirm that our premises are inviolable," Guterres said in a statement.

He said the war between Israel and Palestinian Hamas terrorists, who run Gaza, was causing a "staggering and unacceptable number of civilian casualties" and again called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.

The first mixed male-female battalion is operating in the heart of Gaza's combat zones, including in the Shati neighborhood, performing both rescue missions and engineering missions.

Besides being mixed at the rank-and-file level, the commander of one of the battalions is herself a female, Lt. Col. "Yarden."

Joining Division 162 and Brigade 460, the battalion has been critical in inspecting areas for hidden lairs, weapons, terror infrastructure, and tunnels for approximately the last 10 days.

In a hotel used by Hamas as a headquarters, the mixed unit assisted an IDF commando unit in breaking through certain structures to facilitate the commandos' fluid movements.

Also, in the process, the mixed unit found a hidden underground floor with Hamas weapons and intelligence items.

Over 30 premature babies were safely transferred on Sunday from Shifa, the central hospital in the Gaza Strip, to another hospital in the south, and from there they will be transferred to Egypt - medical officials said.

While dozens of other seriously injured remain stuck in the hospital, days after IDF forces entered the compound from which Hamas terrorists operated.

The fate of the premature babies at the Shifa Hospital caught the world's attention after pictures were released showing doctors trying to warm them up.

Palestinian officials reported that a power outage disabled incubators and other equipment in Shifa, while food, water, and medical supplies ran out, in the shadow of fighting between IDF forces and terrorists outside the hospital.

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, wrote on social media that the "very sick" babies were evacuated from Shifa, along with six health workers and ten staff members.