Israel-Hamas war: What happened on day 47?

Air defense systems were activated in the Damascus area against "hostile targets," reports from Syria stated on Wednesday. 

Israel has allegedly targeted Iranian-proxy groups based in Syria, but the IDF rarely acknowledges strikes or other attacks in the Arab republic. 

United Airlines, a USA-based airline, suspended one of their pilots, Ibrahim Mossallam, after he praised the Hamas October 7th attacks, referring to their actions as brave.

Pilot Ibrahim Mossallam also wrote that "the mass media is manipulated in a political and biased way to show a non-conquering narrative of Palestine."

He continued to say that the October 7 attacks, in which babies were seen being burned alive and more than 1,000 Israelis and foreigners were brutally massacred, were not "without provocation from the other side."

The statement of the pilot who supported Hamas on social media (credit: Maariv Online)

United Airlines responds

After causing an uproar in the United States, United Airlines announced that he had been suspended from his job.

"As of these moments, the pilot has been removed from service with continued payment of his salary. We are looking into the matter and his continued work at the company," the airline said in a statement.

A document prepared by the Welfare Ministry ahead of Israel's prospected ceasefire and hostage deal with Hamas details how IDF soldiers who first encounter child hostages should correctly deal with them. The children have been in Hamas captivity for over 6 weeks and the conditions of their general health are unknown. 

Some 40 children and 13 mothers are held hostage, but not all of them will be included in the initial group slated for release because Hamas claims that it does not know the location of all the hostages, including the children. Palestinian Islamic Jihad holds several hostages.

It’s expected that the initial release will include 30 children, eight mothers, and 12 other women, including the elderly whose lives are at risk.

People carry placards during a protest calling for the immediate release of hostages held in Gaza who were seized from southern Israel on October 7 by Palestinian Islamist group Hamas gunmen during a deadly attack, at a square in Tel Aviv, Israel, November 11, 2023. (photo credit: REUTERS/AMMAR AWAD)

 "This briefing deals with the return of minor abductees, which was written at our request by Prof. Carmit Katz and a team of selected professionals from the Harov Institute," reads the opening of the document.

The instructions were also sent to the IDF personnel who will be the first to take in the children after the exchange takes place.

"When the soldier meets the child," the document reads, "he will introduce himself as follows: 'Hello, my name is... I am a soldier in the Israel Defense Forces and I am accompanying you to get home. You are in a safe place. I am here to take care of you, you are safe."

Questions soldiers should ask the children

Also listed is a set of questions that soldiers should ask the kidnapped children:

"Are you cold or hot?", "Are you thirsty?"

If the soldier identifies that a child has difficulty walking, he should ask him: "Can I give you a hand? Is it okay if I pick you up and help you walk?"

The soldiers were also instructed on how to deal with difficult questions such as the unknown fate of family members after the October 7 massacre. "The children will ask questions such as 'Where is my mother? Where is my father?' The soldiers must not answer these questions, even if they know the answers," the document states.

"Each question must be answered along the lines of "I'm sorry, I don't know. My job is to bring you to Israel, to a safe place, where people you know will be waiting for you and answer all your questions.'"

There is also a a direction to soldiers to, "Take care of yourself: the meeting with the child may trigger an experience of emotional flooding in you as well, and perhaps along with the excitement, even distress and a reminder of all the difficult and traumatic events have taken place. You must use the help of a professional to be a safe and enabling anchor for the child when you meet them."

There is a growing estimation amongst Israeli authorities that Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in Gaza, intends to exploit a humanitarian crisis in the southern Gaza Strip. The outcome of this strategy would be substantial international pressure that could deter the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) from intensifying its operations in the Khan Yunis area, which serves as Sinwar's main command center. The concern is that the Israeli forces might settle for a relatively limited operation, one that would not significantly harm Hamas's vital assets.

Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in Gaza, is believed to be planning to delay the resumption of ground operations after the ceasefire, according to current assessments in Israel.

Within the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) and the Foreign Ministry, there is a belief that several Arab and European countries are planning to bolster the southern Gaza Strip with humanitarian aid. Their aim is to assist more than a million refugees residing in the region.

YAHYA SINWAR, leader of Hamas in Gaza, gestures on stage during a rally in Gaza City on May 24 (credit: ATIA MOHAMMED/FLASH90)

Officials from both of these bodies share the view that Hamas will wait for the arrival of the French field hospital, and the entry of international aid organizations and logistics forces from various countries. They anticipate that these events will trigger a campaign highlighting a humanitarian crisis in the region.

"Sinwar isn't merely biding his time," explained a knowledgeable source. "He's actively seeking momentum. This is the trap he's setting. The longer time passes, the more he will publicize images of a tent city to depict the southern Gaza Strip as an area experiencing an international humanitarian crisis. In this way, he intends to exert pressure on the IDF and thwart its attempts to intensify operations in the south."

What might the IDF decide to do?

In such a tense situation, the IDF might opt for a relatively limited operation. Instead of targeting Khan Yunis or Rafah, it's possible that the Israeli forces will focus on central camps, such as Nusseirat, Al-Burayj, and Deir al-Balah.

Alternatively, they might conduct limited operations in areas within the southern Gaza Strip that are not classified as humanitarian zones. However, such actions are unlikely to exert significant military pressure on Hamas and will, therefore, not contribute to the release of additional hostages.

To apply direct pressure on Sinwar, the IDF would need to position tanks in the immediate vicinity of his command center, such as in Khan Yunis. If Sinwar does not perceive forces in control of the areas close to his location, he may doubt that the IDF intends to escalate operations in Khan Yunis. In such a scenario, the entry of maneuvering forces into an area housing a million refugees is considered particularly problematic.

There is a growing concern that diplomatic pressure could halt the IDF's momentum. For instance, Jordan has already refused to open a Jordanian hospital in the vicinity of Shifa Hospital. This, to a large extent, constitutes the honey trap that Sinwar is preparing for the IDF, and it remains to be seen how Israel will navigate this situation, both militarily and diplomatically.

Around 400 tunnel shafts were located and destroyed since the start of Israel's ground operation in Gaza, according to a statement by the IDF Spokespersons unit.

Documentation and intel collected by fighters in the IDF's Yahalom unit helped expose the tunnel shafts, with fighters destroying them by various means, according to the statement.

Hamas uses civilian infrastructure as a base to build their tunnels under. 

Using civilian infrastructure for terrorist gain

Underground terrorist infrastructure has been found in the heart of civilian neighborhoods. Tunnels have been found near or directly under residences, schools, hospitals, cemeteries, and different agricultural spots.

Tunnels have also been uncovered and destroyed near an amusement park in Gaza. An underground shaft and warehouse of weapons was found near a university, filled with RPGs and grenades along with other weapons.

Senior Hamas official Hamas Musa Abu Marzouk announced that the ceasefire between the Gaza terror group and Israel will come into effect Thursday at 10:00 AM.

The ceasefire is part of the deal includes a pause in the Gaza war in exchange for a release of up to 80 out of over 239 people seized by terrorists during Hamas’s infiltration of southern Israel on October 7. It was approved by the Israeli government in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

The Kremlin on Wednesday hailed a ceasefire agreement in Gaza as the "first good news for a long time" in the Israel-Palestinian conflict and said humanitarian pauses were the only way to build efforts for a sustainable settlement.

Israel's government and Hamas agreed earlier on Wednesday to a ceasefire in Gaza for at least four days, to allow in aid and release at least 50 hostages captured by terrorists in exchange for at least 150 Palestinians jailed in Israel.

Pope Francis on Wednesday met separately with Israeli relatives of hostages held by Hamas and Palestinians with family in Gaza and said the conflict had gone beyond war to become "terrorism."

Speaking in unscripted remarks at his Wednesday general audience in St. Peter's Square shortly after the early morning meetings in his residence, Francis said he heard directly how "both sides are suffering."

Airstrikes by the IDF were conducted in southern Lebanon, according to a report by Israeli media.