Israel at War: What happened on day 39?

The IDF is currently undergoing operations on Al-Shifa Hospital early Wednesday morning, according to an IDF statement.

"Based on intelligence information and an operational necessity, IDF forces are carrying out a precise and targeted operation against Hamas in a specified area in the Al-Shifa Hospital," the IDF statement said.

"The IDF forces include medical teams and Arabic speakers, who have undergone specified training to prepare for this complex and sensitive environment, with the intent that no harm is caused to the civilians," the statement continued.

"The operation was preceded by an effort to evacuate the hospital from the sick and homeless and even opened a special passageway from it. The hospital management was informed ahead of time about the (IDF) entrance to the complex... Incubators, medical equipment, and baby food are expected to be transferred to the hospital," the statement continued.

Smoke rises following an Israeli strike near the Indonesian Hospital that ran out of fuel and electricity, in the northern Gaza Strip, November 12, 2023. (credit: REUTERS/Anas al-Shareef)

Gaza's health ministry spokesperson warned early Wednesday morning of a potential Israeli raid on the enclave's Al Shifa hospital complex, saying Israel informed Gaza health officials that its forces would raid the facility – something the IDF statement seemed to confirm.

Al-Shifa Hospital's terror infrastructure

United States National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters aboard Air Force One on Tuesday that Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad have used some Gaza hospitals to store weapons, hold hostages, and are prepared to fight the IDF from medical facilities.

“We have information that Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad used some hospitals in the Gaza Strip including Al-Shifa and tunnels underneath them to conceal and to support their military operations and to hold hostages,” Kirby said.

“Hamas and the PIJ members operate a command and control node from Al-Shifa in Gaza City. They have stored weapons there and they are prepared to respond to an Israeli military operation against that facility," Kirby continued.

Sirens sounded in the Israeli city of Eilat as Israeli air defense shot down an 'aerial threat' aimed at the southernmost city, the IDF confirmed Tuesday.

The threat did not enter Israel's airspace, the military added.

This is a developing story.

When Hamas Terrorists stormed southern Israel on Oct. 7 and rocket sirens pierced the early morning quiet across the country, Israel's premier museums went into war mode, rushing to protect their most precious artwork and artifacts.

The Dead Sea Scrolls. Ancient dedication plaques on loan from the Louvre. A 1916 masterpiece by Austrian painter Gustav Klimt. These and other treasures were quickly taken off display and brought to special bunkers to ensure they are not damaged during the war.

"To take off an exhibition is something that usually is not done because we trust the building, we trust the safety of the showcases. But this is a different situation so we have to act accordingly," said Hagit Maoz, curator of the Shrine of the Book at Jerusalem's Israel Museum.

The iconic building, shaped like the lids of the jars in which the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, is usually packed with visitors eager to glimpse the collection of ancient religious texts. Today the eight display cases lining the walls have paper notes saying "temporarily removed."

The last time the museum removed the display, Maoz said, was during the 1991 Gulf War when Iraq fired missiles at Israel.

Two anti-tank missiles were fired from Lebanon toward IDF posts in northern Israel, with the IDF responding with artillery fire toward Lebanon, according to Army Radio. Hezbollah later took responsibility for the attack in a statement published by the terrorist movement on Telegram.

According to the Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Manar news outlet, IDF artillery targeted sites near Naqoura, Maroun al-Ras, Meiss al-Jabal, Blida, Tayr Harfa, and Markaba in southern Lebanon. Additionally, an IDF drone strike reportedly targeted a building near Blida and another site near Meiss al-Jabal.

Earlier on Tuesday morning, the IDF said it had intercepted a "suspicious object" off the coast of Acre in northern Israel.

Hezbollah will fully enter war if Hamas is 'completely destroyed'

On Monday, Ahmed Abdul Hadi, a Hamas representative in Beirut, told NBC that Hezbollah will only fully enter the war with Israel if Hamas is completely destroyed in Gaza.

“Now is not the time,” said the Hamas representative. “The red line for Hezbollah would be the full destruction of the resistance in Gaza.”

Rocket sirens sounded in Eilat on Tuesday afternoon. The background of the sirens is as of yet unclear.

This is a developing story.

Two people were lightly wounded after two rockets fell in Ashkelon on Tuesday morning, according to Magen David Adom. 

People trapped inside Gaza's Al Shifa Hospital are planning to start burying dead bodies within the hospital compound on Tuesday without Israeli approval because the situation has become untenable, two sources at the hospital said.

Dr Ahmed Al Mokhallalati and Gaza health ministry spokesman Ashraf Al-Qidra said in separate telephone interviews from within the compound that more than 100 dead bodies had accumulated there, creating an acute sanitary crisis.

"We are planning to bury them today in a mass grave inside the Al Shifa medical complex. It is going to be very dangerous as we don't have any cover or protection from the ICRC, but we have no other options, the corpses of the martyrs began to decompose," said

"The men are digging right now as we speak," he said.

The IDF confirmed on Tuesday that Noa Marciano, 19, a soldier in the Border Defense Force, had been killed while being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza.

On Monday, Hamas published footage showing Marciano's body. The circumstances of her death remain unclear.

A representative of the IDF visited Marciano's family on Monday after Hamas released the video of the captive soldier.

"Our hearts are with the Marciano family whose daughter, Noa, was brutally kidnapped by the Hamas terrorist organization,” the military stated. “The IDF and all the relevant bodies will continue to support her family, as well as all of the families of the hostages and missing persons. We are using all means, both intelligence and operational, to bring the hostages home.”

The West should accept Gazan refugees who want to leave, Likud MK Danny Danon and Yesh Atid MK Ram Ben Barak wrote in a joint op-ed that was published in the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday.

Danon and Ben Barak explained in their piece that Hamas's October 7 attack endangered the lives of the two million residents of Gaza as it led to the current war.

They also added that the Gazans are further endangered by Hamas believing that it bears no responsibility for the people it rules and by Hamas's theft of humanitarian deliveries such as food, medical supplies, and fuel.

"Last month, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution calling for an 'immediate, durable, and sustained humanitarian truce' and demanded that all parties allow 'continuous, sufficient, and unhindered' provision of essential supplies and services into the Gaza Strip," the two MKs wrote. "As the war continues, however, UN resolutions are doing nothing tangible to help Gaza's residents."

As such, Danon and Ben Barak suggested that countries around the world, particularly Western countries, accept limited numbers of refugees who want to leave.

France's Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu is being dispatched as of Tuesday to the Middle East to discuss the Gaza situation and regional security issues at the request of French President Emmanuel Macron, Lecornu said on X.

"This trip will start in Egypt and will continue in the Gulf region. It will end Friday in Israel, the first time a French Defense minister visits the country since 2000," he said.