Israel at war: What happened on day 46?

A Qatar-mediated agreement between Israel and Hamas is in its "final stages" and is "closer than it has ever been," a source briefed on the talks told Reuters on Tuesday.

The deal is for a multi-day pause in hostilities, the release of around 50 civilian hostages by Hamas and the release of Palestinian women and children from Israeli custody, the source briefed on the talks said.

IDF soldiers in the Maglan unit has executed precision missile strikes and successfully confronted terrorist threats in the Gaza Strip, according to an IDF statement.

Solders employed cutting weaponry, including the Gil missile and the "Steel Trap" guided missile, marking its inaugural use in combat.

The Maglan unit's primary mission involves the identification and elimination of enemy targets, coupled with seamless coordination between air, sea, and ground forces. The fighters have located and destroyed over 70 targets, encompassing enemy observation posts, terrorist hideouts often embedded within civilian areas, rocket launchers, and terrorist cells. They have also successfully neutralized a number of terrorists.

In a recent ground operation within the Shati region of the northern Gaza Strip, Maglan fighters conducted a raid on a terrorist's residence, revealing an extensive cache of weapons. The unit also searched a nearby school, uncovering two tunnel shafts.

According to senior Israeli officials, there is a strong possibility that the details of a hostage deal will be finalized in the coming hours, Israeli media reported.

The proposed agreement involved the release of approximately 50 Israeli children and their mothers in exchange for a four-day ceasefire. It will take place in a 1:3 format, three Palestinian prisoners for each hostage.

Under the terms of the deal, Hamas has committed to locating the remaining children and mothers. In return, Israel has agreed to release women and minors from Israeli prisons who were involved in acts of terror.

Additionally, both parties are expected to confirm the provision of fuel and monetary assistance in the Gaza Strip.

According to a CNN report, American officials hope that among the hostages that will be released is a 3-year-old American citizen.

The IDF announced the names of an additional two soldiers killed in combat in Gaza on Tuesday morning.

The soldiers were named as Cpt. (res.) Arnon Moshe Avraham Benvenisti Vaspi, 26, from Yesud HaMa'ala, and St.-Sgt. Ilya Senkin, 20, from Nof HaGalil.

Additionally, two reservists, an officer, and two soldiers were seriously wounded in combat in northern Gaza.

 Hamas officials are "approaching a truce agreement" with Israel and the group delivered its response to Qatari officials, the leader of the Palestinian group, Ismail Haniyeh, said in a statement sent to Reuters by his aide.

There were no further details about the terms of the potential agreement.

It’s erroneous to accuse Israel of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters in Washington on Monday.

“This word genocide is getting thrown around in a pretty inappropriate way by lots of different folks,” Kirby said.

He spoke out after a journalist asked to a response to those who have started to call US President Joe Biden, “genocide Joe.”

Kirby charged that it is Hamas, not Israel, that is guilty of genocide. He referred to the terror group’s October 7 infiltration of southern Israel in which Hamas killed over 1,200 people and seized over 239 hostages. Among the its attack site was a music festival at the Gaza border.

“What Hamas wants, make no mistake about it,  is genocide,” Kirby charged. “They want to wipe Israel off the map. They have said so, publicly on more than one occasion. “They have said they are not going to stop,” Kirby stated.

White House National Security Council Strategic Communications Coordinator John Kirby speaks during a press briefing at the White House in Washington, U.S., November 20, 2023. (credit: REUTERS/LEAH MILLIS)

Kirby: if they aren't stopped, Hamas will repeat Oct 7

Unless steps are taken to stop Hamas, “What happened on the 7th of October is going to happen, again, and again and again,” he stated.

“What happened on the 7th of October?,” he asked, as he explained that the attack included “murder, slaughter, of innocent people in their homes or at a music festival.” “That is genocidal intentions,” he added.

He referenced the Palestinian casualties as a result of the IDF’s military campaign to oust Hamas from Gaza. Hamas has asserted that over 13,000 Palestinians have been killed.

“Yes, there are too many civilian casualties in Gaza. And yes the numbers are too high. Yes, too many families are grieving. Yes, we continue to urge the Israelis to be as careful.

“But Israel is not trying to wipe the Palestinian people off the map, Israel is not trying to wipe Gaza off the map. Israel is trying to defend itself against a genocidal terrorist threat.”

“If we are going to start using that word [genocide], fine, lets use it appropriately.” 

MK Mansour Abbas, leader of the Ra'am party, met with families of some of those held hostage in Gaza. He received from them a petition from Nobel laureates and a legal document signed by legal experts calling for the immediate release of the more than 30 captive children. Attached with the petition and the legal document was a letter from the families.

The letter, signed "Families of abducted children in Gaza," speaks about the more than 30 children who were abducted into Gaza on October 7. "These children are our own," the parents say, "as vulnerable as a 9-month-old baby, a 3-year-old girl, an 8-year-old boy, in dire circumstances.

"This letter is not about fighting terrorism," they said. "It's not about the war or the conflict, it's not about politics. It is about our shared humanity at [its] very core." 

Abbas said that he delivered the materials to the Emir of Qatar, to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, and to US President Joe Biden.

Families of Israelis held hostage by Hamas militants in Gaza set a Shabbat table with more than 200 empty seats for the hostages, at the ''Hostages Square'', outside the Art Museum of Tel Aviv, October 20, 2023. (credit: GILI YAARI /FLASH90)

Abbas: Islam cannot accept this situation

At the meeting, Abbas expressed his sorrow and said that he shared in the families' pain. He added that all citizens of Israel, Jewish and Arab, must take care to be inclusive and understanding in order to protect their shared future. 

At the end of the meeting, Abbas vowed to take action. "Children are not part of war and they must not be held captive for one day," he said. "A two-year-old child is not a bargaining chip and is not part of the deal. Islam cannot accept this situation, and we will do everything possible to help the families and bring the children home." 

The Iran-backed Houthi militia's seizing of a merchant ship in international waters represents an attack "not just [on] Israel but the international order," said President Isaac Herzog in a post on X Tuesday evening. 

The Iran-backed militia, based in Yemen, captured the ship on Sunday, November 19. Some 25 crew members of different nationalities, including Ukrainians, Bulgarians, Filipinos, and Mexicans were onboard the ship. No Israelis were present on it.

The United States denounced the ship's seizure as a breach of international law and demanded the immediate release of the vessels and its crew.

Herzog called the incident "further proof" that "Iran's network of terrorism and chaos is threatening the world." Israel's president underscored that the Houthis "announced their intent ahead of time and publicized footage glorifying the attack." The "international community," Herzog charged, "watched and did nothing." 

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)

Herzog: Tehran is a "clear and present danger to all of us" 

"The forces of chaos and barbarism which attacked Israel on October 7," his post continued, "[are] violating not just our borders and our citizens but every norm dear to the civilized world,...not just Israel but the international order."

"This new outrage," he said, "should make clear to the world that the engine of evil and hate, the regime in Tehran, is a clear and present danger to all of us."

"The international community must take forceful action to respond to this threat," the post concluded. "All nations who value order and freedom must find their voice and act decisively - now." 

Reuters contributed to this report.

The head of the research division in the IDF's Intelligence Directorate personally warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the political and societal crisis surrounding the judicial reform was encouraging Iran, Hezbollah, and Hamas to risk attacks against Israel, including joint attacks, Haaretz reported on Monday evening.

"We see a debate over whether to sit on the fence and let Israel continue to weaken itself or to take initiatives and further exacerbate the situation," wrote Brig.-Gen. Amit Sa'ar in letters sent to Netanyahu in March and July. The two letters are at the heart of the controversy concerning warnings by the IDF about the defense consequences of the judicial reform.

In the past year, former and current defense officials issued a number of public and private warnings concerning the ramifications of the judicial reform on the defense establishment. Shortly before the vote on the reasonableness standard in July, Netanyahu refused to meet with IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, despite a request by the IDF to hold the meeting before the vote.

Sa'ar's first letter to Netanyahu was sent on March 19, a week before the first attempt to approve the first part of the judicial reform and the attempted removal of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. The second letter was sent on July 16, a week before the vote on the reasonableness standard. The two letters included an appendix of raw intelligence information, including a short analysis warning of the imminent danger of military escalation.

Haaretz and Yedioth Ahronoth reported about the letters earlier this year, with Haaretz's new report revealing the contents of the letters.

Brig.-Gen. Amir Sa'ar, the head of the Research Department in the IDF's Intelligence Directorate. (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)

The first letter was titled "Things you see from there - how is Israel perceived in the system?" Sa'ar noted in the letter that "all the players in the system point to the fact that Israel is in an acute, unprecedented crisis that threatens its cohesion and weakens it (this sentence was bolded in the letter). For our main enemies - Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas - this weakness is an expression of a linear process that will end in the collapse of Israel, and the current situation is an opportunity to accelerate and deepen its hardships."

Sa'ar warned of harm to Israel's deterrence, the potential of multiple fronts joining together, an opportunity to damage cohesion in Israel, and harm to Israelis on the legal and international fronts. "This analysis is not an interpretive view of reality, but the basis for the assessment of the situation by the leadership, intelligence personnel, and communication systems. It is already leading to changes in decision-making and risk-taking by the various players, who analyze and draw consequences from Israel's internal situation."

"The internal crisis creates significant constraints for Israel that cause it to try to avoid a security escalation, and that make it possible to increase the risks it faces,"  wrote Sa'ar. "Added to this is the assessment that American and European support for Israel is eroding in a way that reduces its ability to deal with a broad security crisis."

The intelligence official additionally warned that "an opportunity was identified to create a perfect storm, an internal crisis, a broad escalation in the Palestinian arena and a challenge from other arenas, which created multidimensional and continuous pressure. In our understanding, this insight underlies the high motivation of Hamas to carry out attacks from the north at the present time, and it also encourages Iran to push its agents to promote terrorist attacks against Israel."

Parts of Iran Axis thought Israel might strike to distract from judicial reform

Sa'ar warned as well that Israel's enemies saw an opportunity to use psychological warfare to deepen the division in Israel. He also noted that "other elements in Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas, and the [Palestinian] Islamic Jihad think that Israel, in its weakness, could try and divert public attention to the security situation, and therefore initiate an escalation."

The intelligence official stressed as well that the Palestinian Authority was attempting to use the opportunity to increase the pressure on Israel in legal and political forums.

Gallant's call to stop the judicial reform came just a few days after the first letter by Sa'ar was sent, with Netanyahu announcing a day later that he had fired the defense minister, sparking widespread protests and the cancellation of the decision to fire Gallant.

In his second letter, Sa'ar warned that "the worsening of the crisis deepens the erosion of Israel's image, exacerbates the vulnerability of Israeli deterrence, and increases the likelihood of escalation. While at the beginning the regional players debated whether this was another round of the ongoing political crisis, as time passes and the events worsen - they estimate that this is a deep crisis that has put Israel in one of its weakest points since its establishment," according to Haaretz.

"[The situation] creates damage to the three pillars that make up deterrence: the alliance between Israel and the US, the cohesion of Israeli society, and the strength of the IDF," added Sa'ar. "The connection between the crises establishes an insight among some players that Israel's internal situation, at the very least, will prevent it from taking significant military initiatives, with an emphasis on an attack in Iran, operations in Lebanon, and even a significant move against Hamas in the Gaza Strip."

Sa'ar noted, however, that there had been no change concerning military operations in the West Bank and Syria.

The intelligence researcher pointed to a string of attacks and provocations by Hezbollah along the northern border in the past year, saying that this behavior could not be disconnected from the weak points in Israel. "It is impossible to separate the anti-tank fire from Lebanon and the increased efforts to smuggle powerful explosive charges into the West Bank from the feeling that this is the time to challenge Israel."

Sa'ar described Hezbollah as the main threat in the immediate future, considering the terrorist movement's escalation in the past year.

US President Joe Biden said he believed a hostage deal was close to completion as the war cabinet met in Tel Aviv on Monday night with family representatives of the over 239 people Hamas seized when it infiltrated southern Israel on October 7.

“I believe so,” Biden told reporters on Monday when asked if a hostage deal was near. Then he amended his answer and answered, “Yes.”

The war cabinet meeting with family representatives of the hostages ended, however, without any public announcement regarding a deal.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated after the meeting that "the return of the captives is a sacred mission. We are deeply obligated to it and we deal with this matter every day. We will not cease our efforts until we have completed the mission."

"I say on behalf of all of us: we are committed to this. I am responsible, together with my associates, for the return of the hostages,” Netanyahu said.

Families of Israelis held hostage by Hamas terrorists in Gaza hold up photographs of their abducted family members, at ''Hostage Square'', outside the Art Museum of Tel Aviv, October 21, 2023 (credit: TOMER NEUBERG/FLASH90)

At the White House, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters, “We’re closer than we have ever been, but nothing is done until it’s done.”

US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters, “We have been engaged in intense negotiations over this matter,” including Biden and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Qatar, which has close ties with Hamas, has played a mediator role. Miller said that the US has spoken with Qatari and Israeli officials as part of their efforts to secure a hostage release. Some of those help have US citizenship.

Unconfirmed reports say deal revolves around women and children

International Committee of the Red Cross president Mirjana Spoljaric traveled to Qatar on Monday to meet with the Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh to “advance humanitarian issues,” the Geneva-based body said in a statement.

According to unconfirmed reports, the deal in the works could include only 50 of the hostages, women and children, who would be freed in exchange for the release of Palestinian females and minors jailed for security concerns.

Among the sticking points has been the Hamas request for a five-day pause in the fighting, a step Israel is reluctant to take as it continues its military campaign to oust Hamas from Gaza. It fears that a temporary pause could become a permanent one or that it could allow Hamas to regroup and rearm.

Kirby said that one would need some form of a temporary pause, even a localized one so that hostages could be safely moved out of Gaza.

Kirby: Hamas has a genocidal goal, Israel does not

Israel continued to come under intense public security on Monday, particularly for the Palestinian death toll in Gaza, which Hamas asserts is over 13,000 due to war-related violence. The phase of the campaign in which it has entered Gaza hospitals, where Hamas has operated, and held arms and hostages, has sparked accusations that it is committing war crimes.

Kirby pushed back at such criticism, noting that the US had evidence that Hamas had used the Shifa Hospital in Gaza as a command node.

He also has harsh words for those who accuse Israel of genocide for its campaign against Hamas, in the aftermath of the group’s brutal attack on Israel on October 7 in which it killed over 1,200 people.

“This word genocide is getting thrown around in a pretty inappropriate way by a lot of folks, what Hamas wants is genocide, they want to wipe Israel off the map and they have said they are not going to stop, that what happened on October 7 will happen again,” Kirby stated.

Premature babies were evacuated to Egypt

In Gaza, 28 prematurely born babies evacuated from Gaza’s biggest hospital were taken into Egypt for urgent treatment on Monday, while Palestinian authorities and the WHO said 12 people were killed at another Gaza hospital encircled by Israeli tanks.

The newborns had been in north Gaza’s Shifa, where several others died after their incubators were knocked out amid a collapse of medical services during Israel’s military assault on Gaza City.

Live footage aired by Egypt’s Al Qahera TV showed medical staff carefully lifting infants from inside an ambulance and placing them in mobile incubators, which were then wheeled across a car park towards other ambulances.

The babies were transported on Sunday to a hospital in Rafah, on the southern border of Hamas-ruled Gaza, so their condition could be stabilized ahead of transfer to Egypt. The head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said 12 had been flown on to Cairo.

The Palestinian news agency WAFA said the facility in the northeast Gaza town of Beit Lahia had been hit by artillery rounds. Hospital staff denied there were any armed militants on the premises.

WHO chief Tedros said he was “appalled” by the attack that he too said had killed 12 people, including patients, citing unspecified reports.

The IDF said troops had fired back at fighters in the hospital while taking “numerous measures to minimize harm” to non-US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, speaking to reporters during a trip to Ukraine, reaffirmed the position of the United States, Israel’s strongest ally, on the need to get humanitarian aid to Gaza civilians.

“We have said every step of the way that our expectation is that Israelis conduct their operations in accordance with the law of armed conflict,” Austin said. “They must do everything, or should do everything, that they can to get humanitarian assistance to the people in Gaza.”

The UN said 69,000 liters of fuel entered Gaza from Egypt on Sunday after Israel confirmed it would start allowing the daily delivery of about 70,000 liters, “which is well below the minimum requirements for essential humanitarian operations.”

Like all other health facilities in the northern half of Gaza, the Indonesian Hospital has largely ceased operations but is still sheltering patients, staff and displaced residents.

Israel has ordered the evacuation of the north, but thousands of civilians remain. Food, fuel, medicines and water have been running out.

Reuters and Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.