Israel-Hamas war: What happened on day 47?

Despite the impending hostage deal and war pause, the fight against Hamas will continue, IDF Spokesman R.-Adm. Daniel Hagari said on Tuesday.

“This is a long war, with many rounds,” he said. “It has set goals and it will take a long time to get to them. We will get ready for the next stages,” emphasizing that any pause would be temporary and not a real long-term ceasefire.

He said the goals set for the IDF by the government were destroying Hamas, establishing more defensible borders than before the war, and deterring all of Israel’s enemies in the region.

While no officials have gone on record, a number have talked about the ground invasion of Gaza lasting somewhere between at least a few more weeks to the end of January.

The next stage after that, combating an anticipated insurgency and trying to establish a basis for new governance in Gaza, could take much longer, with estimates running to at least another six months or much longer past the formal end of large-scale military operations.

Israeli military spokesperson R.-Adm. Daniel Hagari shows what he says is the house of a senior Hamas naval commander located next to a school at a location given as Gaza, in this still image taken from video released November 13, 2023 (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)

All of this could be adjusted based on how long the impending pause runs.

Hagari also said the IDF will ensure that its soldiers remain safe, that any invasion achievements are maintained, and that violations of the pause are deterred, should the pause go through.

The spokesperson also showed off new photos of IDF soldiers having broken through doors blocking their progress in inspecting a large tunnel in the Shifa Hospital area.

IDF sources said more findings of Hamas’s operation in the Shifa area may still come to light as inspections continue.

Gallant's assessment at the Gaza Division

Earlier Tuesday, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant arrived at the Gaza Division and held a situational assessment with Southern Commander Maj.-Gen. Yaron Finkelman and Brig.-Gen. Avi Rosenfeld.

“We will have to make difficult decisions in the coming days – to defeat Hamas step by step and to bring back the hostages,” Gallant said.

Likewise, Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi spoke about the hostages in a conversation with reserve soldiers inside the Gaza Strip.

“Our maneuver creates better conditions for the return of the hostages, and we will continue with this pressure,” he said.

“You’re doing an excellent job, you came in here strong and there’s very serious damage done to Hamas. There’s still a long road ahead, but we are determined to follow this road and bring our achievements to the maximum. That means also to dismantle Hamas – both military and governmental, to create security around the region, and also to return the hostages. All of these things fall in together.”

As of Tuesday morning, soldiers in the Maglan unit had executed precision missile strikes and successfully confronted a number of terrorist threats in Gaza.

Soldiers employed cutting-edge 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.

The IDF also updated the public on Tuesday that two more soldiers had fallen in battle in Gaza: Capt. (res.) Arnon Moshe Avraham Benvenisti Vaspi, 26 from Yisod Hamaalah, and St.-Sgt. Ilya Senkin, 20 from Nof Hagalil.

Late Tuesday night, a rocket fired by Hamas from Gaza as part of a salvo of rocket attacks, impacted Highway 431 near Rishon Lezion, KAN reported.

There were no reported casualties at press time.

The government approved early Wednesday morning a partial hostage deal that 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’ infiltration of southern Israel on October 7.

“We have a difficult decision before us tonight, but it is a correct decision,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the start of the meeting.

Opponents of the deal warned that it will harm Israel’s ability to secure the release of all the hostages and complicate Israel’s military campaign to oust Hamas from Gaza. They also warned that it will be difficult to resume the war once it has been temporarily halted.

Netanyahu dismissed those charges explaining that the IDF planned to resume the war once the deal was executed.

“I want to clarify. We are at war and will continue to be at war until we obtain all our objectives, to destroy Hamas and to return all our captives and missing persons,” he said.

“We will also ensure that there won’t be any entity in Gaza that will threaten Israel,” Netanyahu stated.

A supporter of the families of hostages who are being held in the Gaza Strip after they were seized by Hamas gunmen on October 7 prepares missing signs posters depicting hostages, in Tel Aviv, Israel November 21, 2023. (credit: REUTERS/AMIR COHEN)

He recalled how he and the war cabinet had met with the families of the hostages the previous night.

"I told them that the return of the hostages is a sacred and primary mission that I swore to complete,” Netanyahu said.

“This war has phases and so does the return of the hostages,” he said. 

The entire security establishment fully backs this deal, he said. This agreement will allow the IDF to better prepare for the rest of the war, Netanyahu said, adding that neither the lives of the soldiers nor the intelligence gathering apparatus would be harmed in that period.

Netanyahu said he had spoken with US President Joe Biden. As a result of that talk, Biden had intervened and secured better terms for the deal, Netanyahu explained.

The deal, mediated by Qatar, will create the first long-term pause in the fighting since Israel embarked on its military campaign to oust Hamas from Gaza. It comes amid increased international pressure for a ceasefire.

Under the broad contours of the deal, 50 hostages will be released, within the first four days in exchange for a pause in the fighting during those 96 hours. 

Some 40 children and 13 mothers are held hostage. The approved deal includes 30 children, eight mothers, and 12 other women.

The 50 hostages will be freed in smaller groups during those days and not all at once. 

Israel will in exchange release some 150 Palestinian women and minors held in its jails on security related offenses, but none of them would be those directly involved in terror attacks with fatalities.  

There is a possibility for the release of an additional 30 hostages held in Gaza should the pause in the fighting be extended for up to another four days.

All those slated for release are alive and have Israeli citizenship.

Hamas could release Thai citizens

Separately Hamas may unilaterally free those among the hostages who have Thai citizenship. It’s also possible that other governments may work out other deals for their citizens held in Gaza.

During the government meeting, Netanyahu clarified that the deal also included an agreement by which representatives from the International Committee of the Red Cross could visit the hostages who would remain in captivity and supply them with medicine.

As part of the deal, fuel can enter Gaza during the pause in the fighting. Israel has objected to the entry of fuel to the enclave out of fear that Hamas would seize it for military use.

There will be a six-hour window each day during which IDF aerial surveillance of Gaza will be halted.

"There are other intelligence-gathering capabilities. We will not be blind in those 6 hours when there are no drones and balloons in the air," an Israeli official told reporters.

Those Palestinians who fled northern Gaza for the south during the last weeks of fighting will not be allowed to return home during the pause, given that the IDF is expected to resume its military campaign once the pause is ended.

The IDF, the Mossad, and the Shin Bet were in favor of the broad outline of the deal.

The deal has sparked sharp debate within the Israeli public and among coalition politicians, even as the government was expected to pass it.

The Religious Zionist party headed by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and the Otzma Yehudit party headed by Public Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir stated before the meeting that they planned to oppose the deal, although the Religious Zionist party ultimately voted in favor of the deal early Wednesday morning.

Such an agreement is “bad for Israeli security, bad for the captives, and bad for the IDF soldiers,” the RZP stated before the meeting.

It noted that obviously, its heart went out to the families and that it, like them, wanted to see all the captives safely returned.

“It is precisely for this reason that the deal should not be approved,” the RZP said.

The pressure exerted by the IDF’s military campaign is working or Hamas would not have agreed to this initial proposal, it said.

Israel should continue to exert that kind of pressure until Hamas agrees to release all the hostages rather than prematurely making a deal, it stated. 

Hamas is “desperate” for a pause in the fighting so that it can restrengthen its forces and be better prepared to battle the IDF, the Religious Zionist Party stated.

This deal also abandoned the majority of the hostages and ensures that Hamas will demand a higher price for their release, the RZP said. It could even allow for Hamas to more successfully hide them within Gaza, it stated.

Then there is the issue of the IDF soldiers in Gaza who will be exposed to potential attacks and kidnapping attempted during the temporary truce, it said.

Such a step increases the risk of additional kidnappings both in Israel and around the globe, the RZP explained.

The party said it planned to stand firm “like a wall” against any attempt to discontinue the military campaign as it insisted that Hamas must be ousted from Gaza and all the hostages returned.

Labor Party leader Merav Michaeli, who is not a member of the government, said she supported the deal.

“My heart goes out to the families of the hostages for the grief that the politicians of the messianic right are causing them, and I stand with all those from the security establishment that support the deal.”

“The opposition of Smotrich and Ben Gvir exposes their long-standing scam: for them, the State of Israel is the Messiah's donkey, which in the end is to be a theological state for which Jewish lives must be sacrificed,” she stated.

“Therefore, they have no problem sacrificing the lives of the hostages; they know that a deal will bring the end of the fighting closer and the return to the Gush Katif settlements will be further away. These are people who need to be distanced from the government and from public life to save not only the hostages but also the State of Israel,” Michaeli said.

Hamas welcomes agreement, says they'll 'keep their hands on the trigger'

Hamas welcomed the agreement early Wednesday morning, stating "after difficult and complex negotiations for many days, we announce, with the help and success of God Almighty, that we have reached a humanitarian truce agreement (temporary ceasefire) for a period of four days, with persistent and appreciated Qatari and Egyptian efforts."

Hamas stated that the agreement includes the entry of hundreds of trucks of humanitarian aid and fuel to all areas of the Gaza Strip, including the north. The terrorist movement added that all IAF activity over the southern Gaza Strip would cease for the entirety of the ceasefire, while air traffic over the northern Strip would be halted from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day.

"The terms of this agreement were formulated in accordance with the vision of the resistance and its determinants, which aim to serve our people and strengthen their steadfastness in the face of aggression, and it was always mindful of their sacrifices, suffering and concerns, and it conducted these negotiations from a position of steadfastness and strength in the field, despite the occupation’s attempts to prolong and procrastinate the negotiations," said Hamas.

The terrorist movement warned that they would keep "their hands on the trigger."