Israel at War: What happened on Day 74?

Hamas rejects holding negotiations over exchanging prisoners during the Israeli war, but is open to any initiative to end it, a senior official from the terrorist group said in a statement on Tuesday.

"We affirm our position of categorically rejecting to hold any form of negotiations over prisoners exchange under the continuing Israeli genocidal war", Basem Naem said.

"We are, however, open to any initiative that contributes to ending the aggression on our people and opening the crossings to bring in aid and provide relief to the Palestinian people," he added.

Kamal Adwan Hospital director Ahmad Kahlot of Jabalya in northern Gaza has confessed to the Shin Bet that Hamas took over his hospital as a military operations center, it was revealed on Tuesday.

Kahlot told his interrogators that he joined Hamas in 2010 at the equivalent rank of a brigadier general.

Next, he said that many of the hospital staff double as members of Hamas’s al-Qassam brigades. These include doctors, nurses, paramedics, and other staff.

More specifically, he said that the hospital had 16 staff members who doubled as terror operatives for Hamas.

Men holding raised weapons are led out by Israeli soldiers near Kamal Adwan hospital, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, in Jabalya in the northern Gaza Strip, in this handout photo released December 14, 2023. (credit: IDF/Handout via REUTERS)

Kahlot was arrested on December 12 and since then has explained in detail how Hamas concealed its weapons and wove its operations into the workings of the hospital.

Hostage IDF soldier held in hospital

In addition, he confessed that Hamas brought one of the IDF soldier hostages to the hospital and used ambulances for moving around Israeli hostages’ bodies.

Further, he described Hamas as having its own separate offices, ambulances, and equipment with different colors and signs.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi discussed the Houthi threat to maritime security, with Modi stressing that the freedom of navigation is an essential global necessity that must be ensured.

The two also discussed bringing foreign workers from India to Israel. Netanyahu thanked Modi for India's support of Israel.

Modi posted on X afterwards that he "had a productive exchange of views with PM Netanyahu on the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, including shared concerns on the safety of maritime traffic" and "highlighted India’s consistent stand in favour of early restoration of peace and stability in the region with continued humanitarian assistance for the affected."

IDF soldiers conducting raids in the Gaza Strip have found weapons production sites, stockpiles, explosives, and missiles and rockets, the IDF said in a statement on Tuesday.

In the home of one Hamas operative, soldiers found a map showing a "significant" tunnel route.

They also found intelligence materials, and photos of armed children in Hamas uniforms.

In another building, soldiers found a rocket lathe with hundreds of missiles, as well as a truck designed for transporting the launchers, the statement said.

Police in New York City “insisted” that Elisha Wiesel put away an Israeli flag on Tuesday, as Weisel, son of the late writer and Holocaust survivor Elie Weisel, attempted to counterprotest a hundreds-strong pro-Palestinian demonstration in the city’s Penn Station, Wiesel said on X.

The protest was organized by Within Our Lifetime, an activist group that has led near-daily protests since October 7, when Hamas attacked Israel’s south, initiating the ongoing war between Israel and the terror group that has controlled Gaza since 2006. 

The US has announced a new initiative to provide security for the Red Sea. Countries in the region are now watching this initiative to see what may come next. “This is an international challenge that demands collective action,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in Bahrain. The US Fifth Fleet is based in Bahrain. Austin announced the establishment of Operation Prosperity Guardian, “an important new multinational security initiative,” on Monday.

While some forty countries could have joined the new initiative, the US has been able to secure commitments from key partners such as the UK, Canada, and France, as well as Bahrain, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Seychelles, and Spain.

Key Arab countries in the region have continued to help Gaza’s civilians amid the war. With more than 1.4 million people displaced by fighting, these countries are stepping up to continue to aid those in need. They have been doing this since the beginning of the conflict.

For instance, Jordan has conducted air drops over Gaza. The UAE has established a field hospital. According to Arab News, “Saudi Arabia sent on Tuesday its 33rd plane with aid for the embattled people of Gaza.”

Israeli security forces eliminated a number of terrorist squads in Gaza, and seized significant weapons, including a bomb that was found in a Shejaia medical clinic near a school, the IDF said on Tuesday.

The statement came with a video showing the device, found in a garbage can near the door to the clinic.

The Iran-backed Houthis have responded to the announcement that the US will back a new naval force in the Red Sea. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced the establishment of Operation Prosperity Guardian, a new multinational security initiative, while traveling in Bahrain on Tuesday.

The goal of the force, which involves key countries, such as the UK, France, the US and Italy, is to provide security in the Red Sea. The Yemen-based jihadist movement attacked numerous ships and escalated its attacks in recent weeks.