Israel at war: What happened on day 45?

There are a little more than 1,200 Americans, legal permanent residents and family members still in Gaza and at least six US citizens have been killed since the Oct. 7 rampage into Israel by Hamas, the US State Department said on Monday.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told a briefing that around 800 Americans, legal permanent residents and family members had left Gaza via the Rafah crossing to Egypt and "there are a little over 1,200 left."

Six Americans have died since Hamas' Oct. 7 attack, he said, comprised of five Israeli troops - four killed in Gaza and one killed in northern Israel - and a national police border officer.

President Joe Biden's energy security adviser Amos Hochstein visited Israel on Monday as the US pushed to contain the cross-border violence with Hezbollah on the IDF Israel’s northern border and the budding conflict with the Houthis in Yemen and the Jewish state. 

Hochstein arrived on the 45th day of the Gaza war between the IDF and Hamas, after a visit to Lebanon and Qatar. He is expected to brief Israelis about his efforts.

“We don’t want to see this [Gaza] war escalate we don’t want to see it widen,” US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters in Washington.

“We certainly don’t believe it’s in anyone’s interest to have a second front in the north,” he said, adding that the US is doing everything it can “to prevent that scenario from happening.”

Hochstein was in the region to speak with Lebanese and Israeli officials to prevent such an escalation, he said, as a Hezbollah rocket damaged an IDF base in the north.

Galaxy leader seizure adds headache

The US has also moved additional “force posture” into the region to send a message to regional state and non-state actors not to widen the conflict, Kirby said. 

He spoke one day after the Iranian proxy group in Yemen, the Houthis, seized the ship Galaxy Leader, which it believed was linked to Israel in the southern Red Sea. The group has threatened to hijack Israeli ships in the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait.

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters in Washington on Monday that the ship’s seizure was a “flagrant violation of international law. We demand the immediate release of the ship and its crew and we will consult with our allies and UN partners as to appropriate next steps."

The Houthis have also been launching long-range missile and drone salvoes at Israel in solidarity with the Palestinian Hamas militants fighting in the Gaza Strip.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed Iran for the attack.

Iran denied Israeli claims that it was involved in the seizure of the ship, which is actually British-owned and Japanese-operated cargo ship.

Two commercial ships that diverted their course in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden were connected to the same maritime group whose vessel was seized by Yemen's Houthis, according to shipping data and British maritime security company Ambrey.

Japan's top government spokesperson on Monday confirmed the capture of the Nippon Yusen-operated ship Galaxy Leader, adding that Japan was appealing to the Houthis while seeking the help of Saudi, Omani and Iranian authorities to work toward the swift release of the vessel and its crew.cms

A Houthi fighter stands on the Galaxy Leader cargo ship in the Red Sea in this photo released November 20, 2023 (credit: Houthi Military Media/Reuters)

Two other ships also listed as commercially managed by Ray Car Carriers, Glovis Star and Hermes Leader, diverted their sailing routes on Sunday, Ambrey said on Monday.

The Hermes Leader had set a course to sail south of Nishtun in Yemen when it diverted its journey.

"The vessel continued to sail back to where it had come from, providing a new AIS destination as Hambantota, Sri Lanka," Ambrey said. "The vessel incurred a minimum four-day business disruption and sailed an additional 1,876 nautical miles."

The Glovis Star drifted for a number of hours in the Red Sea before continuing its journey, AIS ship tracking data showed on Monday.

Isle of Man registered Galaxy Maritime Ltd, which is the registered owner of the Galaxy Leader, said in a statement on Monday that the vessel "was illegally boarded by military personnel via a helicopter" on Nov 19.

When asked about the other two vessels diverting, a company spokesperson said it was not commenting further on "political issues."

US maritime administration MARAD in an advisory said the Galaxy Leader had been hijacked approximately 50 miles west of the Houthi-controlled port of Hodeidah, adding that ships should "exercise caution when transiting this area."

"We saw yesterday a new record - for the first time we saw (an) official announcement of pirates taking over a ship on the high seas, which I think is a major threat to international law and order," Israeli President Isaac Herzog said in comments on Monday, referring to the Galaxy Leader.
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A video that has taken social media by storm has asked the painful question: Who would you prefer to care for your child, a trained professional or a Hamas terrorist?

Creators Barak Rivkind and Dani Schoffman, Jerusalemites who have been volunteering for the Hostage and Missing Families Forum since the October 7 massacre, were looking to create a video for World Children's Day to highlight the struggle of those whose kids were kidnapped.

That is when they came up with the idea for a job interview-style video. An array of applicants for a babysitting job sit down on the couch in turn, laying out their credentials proudly, each more qualified than the one before.

FLAGS, CANDLES, flowers, and a teddy bear with a sign that reads ‘Return the hostages home immediately!’ are placed at Dizengoff Square in Tel Aviv. ( Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

"I'm happy to teach the child piano," one says.

"I'm currently getting my Masters in child development," another says.

The video then cuts to the question, "Who would you choose?" at which point a man clad in Hamas terrorists' garbs sits on the couch. 

"The parents of 40 children still held hostage by Hamas didn't have that choice," the video says. 

The video was made in cooperation with the Hostage and Missing Families Forum, whose slogan, "Bring them home now," is sprawled across the screen at the end of the video.

Indeed, many mothers in Israel are currently experiencing the worst nightmare imaginable: not knowing if their children are dead or alive while being held hostage by armed terrorists.

'Basic moralities of humanity'

"It's still hard to believe that people still think that a lot of what's going on is fake," Schoffman said. "Specifically related to children, it's a subject that... every parent can relate to. Who's taking care of your child?"

Rivkind explained that he sees the global public's approach to the war in the region as a disagreement on "the basic moralities of humanity.

"People are questioning whether or not... Hamas is a terrorist organization," he explained. "Other outlets are calling them militants or fighters. There is no agreement on basic facts."

Of the children currently being held hostage by Hamas, Schoffman said, "It's not like they're in jail or that the Red Cross is going to see them. One is still nursing, another has asthma.

"The parents don't even know if they're getting their medication, if they're still wearing the same clothes they were taken in."

White House Spokesman John Kirby spoke on Monday about the release of hostages that are still being held in Gaza by Hamas terrorists.

"We are still continuing to work on the release of the abductees," Kirby said. "We are close and hope that a deal can be reached, but there is still work to be done."

Kirby also mentioned that the number of US citizens that have been able to be moved out of Gaza through the Rafah crossing is now at 800 people.

Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh, spoke with the secretary general of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Ziad Nachala on Monday evening about war developments and the hostage deal issues, according to Israeli media.

This is a developing story.

What is IDF intelligence Unit 504, which on Monday disclosed its critical involvement in helping learn about Hamas’s abuse of Gazan hospitals specifically, and in helping IDF ground forces be effective in Gaza more broadly?

And what is the difference between its role and that of the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) and the Mossad?

First, historically the IDF was always the juggernaut, and all of its arms, including human spying, were large and had a tremendous impact on Israel’s ability to attack and defend.

After the 1973 Yom Kippur War disaster in which IDF intelligence took the lead for the blame for failing to foresee that Egypt and Syria would launch a surprise attack on Israel, the government started to more significantly empower the much smaller Shin Bet and Mossad.

IDF soldiers are seen working as part of the Israeli military's Gaza battlefield intelligence collection unit. (IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)

The idea was that more voices with more analytical and intelligence collection tools were needed so that even if one agency missed a large threat because of groupthink and being stuck in obsolete assumptions, one of the other agencies would think differently and catch the threat.

For decades – at least until October 7 – this probably worked well, encouraging more debate and diverse views among Israeli intelligence agencies.

At one point these changes meant that both the Mossad and the Shin Bet were heavily involved in Lebanon, even as Unit 504 had been deeply involved in Lebanon for a long time.

However, at a later point, the Mossad became more focused on Iran and international terrorism more widely.

Likewise, at some point, the Shin Bet developed a greater expertise in Gaza.

What all of this meant was that at some point, Unit 504 took larger responsibility for Lebanon, while the Mossad – which always was supposed to have a more global focus – left Lebanon more to Unit 504.

As it became more focused on Lebanon, Unit 504 left more of the human spying work in Gaza to the Shin Bet, even if IDF intelligence continued to use a variety of technological and aerial surveillance tools to collect intelligence.

Unit 504 back down south

On Monday, Unit 504 announced that this change had been reversed.

As soon as October 7 hit, Unit 504 built a makeshift southern headquarters, doubled the size of its ranks, and reinvested deeply into Gaza.

Unit 504’s goals tend to be less big-picture strategic than the Mossad and the Shin Bet and pertain more to ongoing military operations.

This means that Unit 504 might question many arrested Palestinian terrorists or sympathetic Palestinian civilians with little to no preparation, on the frontlines, in order to help troops on the same block advance the next few blocks, while avoiding ambushes and boobytraps.

In contrast, the Shin Bet is more likely to spend a longer period of time recruiting sources and is more likely to interrogate detainees at its secure facilities, both in order to acquire bigger picture strategic information.

The Shin Bet and Unit 504 do sometimes overlap in handling intelligence issues with some of the countries on Israel’s borders. But even as it has grown compared to 50 years ago, the Shin Bet is known for being able to specialize more for unusually complex missions, while Unit 504 is known to be able to bring a larger critical mass of operatives and human resources to address a threat or problem.

Meanwhile, the Mossad has also gotten much larger than it once was, and runs agents, collection, and operations across the globe, with a special focus on Iran.

Still, when a larger number of combat operations personnel are needed for a covert operation, Unit 504 along with some other IDF special forces units, is likely to at least supplement the Mossad, even sometimes beyond its standard envelope.

Another interesting move in the current war has been using Unit 504 to warn and help evacuate Palestinian civilians in Gaza. The unit performed very well in Syria during the 2010s to help convince anti-Assad-regime forces and other Syrian civilians to avoid friction with the Jewish state.

Will Unit 504’s reestablishment in Gaza lead to a larger post-war role, especially given that the Shin Bet and other IDF technological intelligence units missed Hamas’s invasion plans?

On the other hand, leaked intelligence to date has indicated that a miniscule number of Hamas leaders – only at the very top – knew the full scale of the terror group’s October 7 plans, so maybe Unit 504 would not have helped.

Still, the public will demand changes to the intelligence establishment once probing the war’s failures begins, and Unit 504, which was clearly not involved, may get another new shot in the spotlight.

Israel has recalled for consultations its ambassador to South Africa following the "latest statements from South Africa", Israel's Foreign Ministry said on Monday.

South Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC) party on Thursday had said it would support a parliamentary motion calling for the Israeli embassy in South Africa to be closed.

South Africa, which is highly critical of Israel's campaign in Gaza against Hamas, has recalled its diplomats from Israel. Hamas terrorists rampaged through southern Israel on Oct. 7., sparking the war in Gaza.

At least 13,300 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Oct. 7, according to a statement published by Gaza's Hamas-run government media office on Monday.

The death toll includes 5,600 children and 3,550 women, the statement said, adding that at least 6,500 people have been reported as missing, 4,400 of whom are women and children.

IDF fighter jets struck Hezbollah military infrastructure in response to attacks from the Lebanese terror group on Monday, the IDF announced.

Sirens were sounded throughout northern Israel on Monday evening after possible enemy aircraft intrusions from drones.

Additionally, earlier on Monday, IDF soldiers struck a terror cell in the Metula area. 

A new settlement to be built in the Negev was chosen to be named after Ofir Liebstein, the former head of the Saar Negev Regional Council, murdered during the October 7 massacre. 

The decision was made by the prime minister and the housing minister with the intention of "honoring the memory of our friend. It is still hard to comprehend that he is not at our table."