Israel-Hamas War - What happened on day 68?

Four IDF soldiers were lightly wounded by controlled explosions and friendly fire during a widespread IDF, Shin Bet and Border Police operation in the West Bank, the Israeli military said Monday.

The four were injured during a raid of the Jenin refugee camp. They were treated at the scene and rushed to a nearby hospital for further treatment, the IDF said.

The IDF continued operating for over 30 hours in Jenin, Hebron and other sites used by Palestinian terrorists across the West Bank.

Mohamed Ali al-Houthi, head of Yemen's Houthi supreme revolutionary committee, posted a message on X on Tuesday with guidance on how cargo ships can comply with their naval blockade against Israel while traveling through the Red Sea.

The Houthi warning includes a restriction on travel towards "occupied Palestinian territories", adding that all ships that pass through Yemen should keep radios turned on, must bear the proper flag, and quickly respond to Houthi attempts at communication.

Al-Houthi also advised against cargo ships from "falsifying their identity" or raising flags different from the country belonging to the cargo ship owner.

Houthi naval blockade against Israel

The Houthis have waded into the Israel-Hamas conflict - which has spread around the region - attacking vessels in vital shipping lanes and firing drones and missiles at Israel more than 1,000 miles from their seat of power in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa.

On Saturday, they said that to protest the Gaza war, they would target all ships heading to Israel, regardless of their nationality, and warned international shipping companies against dealing with Israeli ports.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushed back at United States plans to place a reformed Palestinian Authority in Gaza once Israel’s military campaign to oust Gaza is finished.

"Gaza will be neither Hamastan nor Fatahstan,” he said on Tuesday.

Netanyahu spoke as United States President Joe Biden has faced increased pressure to pressure Israel to halt the Gaza war, sparked by Hamas’ infiltration of southern Israel and the killing of over 1,200 people and seizure of some 250 hostages.

The US has backed Israel’s military campaign, sending military and financial assistance. It vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for a humanitarian ceasefire that failed to condemn Hamas.

Israel's ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan held a sign showing the phone number of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar’s Hamas office at a UNGA meeting on Tuesday.

"You want a real cease-fire?” Erdan declared as he admonished the members of the UNGA as he held up a sign depicting Sinwar's office phone number and told them to ask him directly, as Sinwar and Hamas bear the true responsibility for the current conflict. 

בדיון הדחוף בעצרת הכללית הבהרתי לכל השגרירים לפני ההצבעה: אם אתם רוצים הפסקת אש אמיתית, תתקשרו למשרדי חמאס בעזה ותבקשו את יחיא סינוואר. תגידו לו שכאשר חמאס יניחו את נשקם, יסגירו את עצמם ויחזירו את כל החטופים, אז תהיה הפסקת אש אמיתית שתימשך לתמיד.

צפו ורטווטו>> pic.twitter.com/1KDWtEm11R

— Ambassador Gilad Erdan גלעד ארדן (@giladerdan1) December 12, 2023

“Call… and ask for Yahya Sinwar. Tell Hamas to put down their arms, turn themselves in, and return our hostages. This will bring a complete ceasefire that will last forever,” said Erdan.

The United Nations General Assembly called for a Gaza ceasefire in a 153-10 vote Tuesday, with 23 countries abstaining hours after US President Joe Biden warned Israel it was losing support for its military campaign to oust Hamas from the enclave.

The resolution, whose passage was greeted with applause, marks the second time the UNGA has called for a cease-fire since Hamas sparked the Gaza war with its October 7 infiltration into southern Israel.

The United States and Israel opposed the measure, as did Austria, the Czech Republic, Guatemala, Liberia, Micronesia, Nauru, Papa New Guinea, and Paraguay.

The vote revealed a drop in support for Israel in the two months since the war began. On October 28 the UNGA voted 120-14 for a ceasefire.

The clock is ticking on Israel’s military operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, as it is unclear how much progress the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has made in eliminating the terrorist organization. The ambitious goal was set out by the Israeli government in the immediate aftermath of Hamas’ surprise offensive on Oct. 7. According to Israeli officials, approximately 1,200 Israelis were killed in the attack and 251 people were abducted by Hamas on that day. So far, 114 of the hostages, some of them foreign nationals, have been released. The rest remain in Gaza, and the Israeli government has promised to secure their release.

According to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip, more than 18,000 Palestinians have been killed as a result of Israel’s retaliation on Gaza, with another 50,000 injured.

After over two months, there is increasing international pressure to end the war. Over the weekend, the US vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that called for an immediate cease-fire. While the Biden Administration has maintained that Israel will be the one to determine the end of the war, there have also been American insinuations that Israel’s credit is limited.

The IDF is now in a race against time to achieve its directive—stripping Hamas of its military capabilities and essentially removing it from power.

The IDF published footage on Tuesday of a soldier confronting two Hamas terrorists in close quarters in Shejaia in the Gaza Strip as the IDF continues operations in the neighborhood of Gaza City.

In the video, the reservist soldier in the Yahalom unit can be seen in an intense firefight with one Hamas terrorist during which a grenade was thrown at the soldier, wounding him. 

The soldier succeeded in taking out the terrorist before entering the room and killing a second terrorist at point-blank range.

The soldier soon received medical treatment, according to Israeli media, and his condition was reported as stable. 

Intensive fighting continues in Shejaia

Shejaia, a Hamas stronghold, has been the scene of intensive clashes between Israeli forces and Hamas terrorists in recent days. Photos from the neighborhood have shown large groups of Hamas terrorists surrendering to Israeli forces.

The IDF has begun pumping seawater into Hamas' tunnel complex in Gaza, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday citing unnamed US officials, adding that the process would likely take weeks.

Some Biden administration officials have said the process could help destroy the tunnels, where Israel believes the terrorist group is hiding hostages, fighters and munitions, the Journal reported. Other officials have expressed concerns the seawater would endanger Gaza's fresh water supply, the newspaper reported.

The flooding process began after the IDF added two pumps to five pumps which had been installed for the purpose of flooding the tunnels last month, the US officials told the Journal. The first five large pumps had been assembled north of the al-Shati refugee camp during the last month, with each one capable of pumping thousands of cubic meters of seawater into the tunnels.

In 2015, Egypt flooded tunnels between the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula with seawater, sparking complaints that the method damaged the soil in the area.

The names of eight IDF soldiers who died in battle in the Gaza Strip were released for publication Wednesday morning. 

- Lt. Col. Tomer Grinberg, 35 years old, Malmog, commander of the 13th Battalion, Golani Brigade, was killed last night in a battle in the northern Gaza Strip.

- Major Roei Meldasi, 23 years old, from Afula, a company commander in the 13th Battalion, Golani Brigade, was killed last night in a battle in the northern Gaza Strip.

- Major Moshe Avram Bar-On, 23 years old, from Ra'anana, a company commander in the 51st Battalion, Golani Brigade, was killed last night in a battle in the north of the Gaza Strip.

- Sergeant Achia Daskal, 19 years old, from Haifa, a fighter in the 51st Battalion, Golani Brigade, was killed last night in a battle in the northern Gaza Strip.

- Captain Liel Hayo, 22 years old, from Shoham, a platoon commander in the 51st Battalion, Golani Brigade, was killed last night in a battle in the northern Gaza Strip.

- Major Ben Shelly, 26 years old, Makdaron, commander of a platoon of fighters in the Special Rescue Tactical Unit (669), was killed last night in a battle in the northern Gaza Strip.

- Major Rom Hecht, 20 years old, from Givatayim, a fighter in the Special Rescue Tactical Unit (669), fell last night in a battle in the northern Gaza Strip.

- Sergeant Oriya Yaakov, 19 years old, from Ashkelon, a fighter in Battalion 614, the School of Combat Engineering, was killed yesterday in a battle in the north of the Gaza Strip.