Israel-Hamas War - What happened on day 77?

The IDF destroyed a Hamas tunnel network in southern Gaza City’s Issa district during operational activity in the area over the last few weeks, the IDF said on Friday.

The demolished tunnel network served as a subterranean post for the Gaza-based Islamist terror organization, the IDF added. Other buildings being used as Hamas headquarters were also reportedly destroyed.

The news comes a day after the IDF announced the troops from the Yahalom special operations unit of the IDF’s Combat Engineering Corps, along with the 401st Brigade combat team, destroyed an extensive tunnel network used by senior Hamas leadership beneath Gaza City's Shejaia neighborhood.

As part of the Israeli forces hitting Hamas in the south of Gaza City, the Yiftah Battalion, along with combat engineering forces, targeted the Hamas headquarters in the area.

During their raid on the infrastructure, the IDF troops observed a terrorist squad attempting to launch an attack on the Israeli soldiers. The troops subsequently engaged and successfully eliminated the terrorists in close-quarters combat, the IDF continued.

Throughout the operational activity, the IDF also reported that many other terrorists, buildings used for terror activities, and weapons were destroyed.

Concurrently, troops of the IDF Paratroopers Brigade operating in the Issa area uncovered a number of shafts descending into the since-razed underground tunnel network.

Examination reveals the massive extent of the subterranean tunnel network 

Additional troops from Yahalom and the Oketz K-9 Unit assessed the tunnel complex beneath what the IDF has dubbed the "Issa" post, revealing a multi-level subterranean structure.

The IDF noted that the various floors of the structure were used for storage, hideouts, command and control, and to facilitate the movement of terrorists between different locations in that area of the Gaza City.

Subsequently, after employing a variety of technological capabilities with the aid of 99th Division’s combat engineering forces to further investigate the tunnel system, the troops destroyed it, the IDF said.

The tunnel network, which was reportedly hundreds of meters long, was documented with footage obtained by the Marom Brigade's Oketz K-9 Unit's dog cameras.

Dogs are regularly used by the IDF to act as the head of an advancing force. Earlier this week, Golani forces sent a camera-equipped dog ahead of them into a suspicious area. The dog was subsequently shot by Hamas terrorists.

The footage, which has been released by the IDF, recorded the terror infrastructure located in the tunnels.

The facilities were equipped with concrete bunkers, water, and electricity.

The K-9 units and their dogs have been active since the start of the war gathering intelligence that allows soldiers to enter Gaza’s various tunnel networks.

Justin Trudeau, in an interview with CBC on December 21, said that Israel’s war against Hamas could threaten international support for a Jewish state.

"The voices from Israel's strongest friends, like Canada, like Australia, especially like the United States ... are becoming increasingly concerned that … the short-term actions being taken by Israel are actually putting at risk the long-term safety and even support for a Jewish state into the future," Trudeau told CBC.

The comments were made after an increased international push to install a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas. Hamas rejected a ceasefire offer which would have seen increased humanitarian aid into Gaza and a week pause in fighting in exchange for 40 hostages kidnapped during their massacre on October 7.

Trudeau insisted that, despite his comments, Canada’s support for Israel was unchanged. He maintained that Canada supported a two-state solution and that Hamas should not be involved in negotiations pertaining to bringing about a Palestinian state.

“We've changed how we've articulated our position. But the position itself hasn't changed, he said. We've always said that Israel has a right to defend itself in accordance with international law. We have always called for the protection of civilians.”

An Israeli combat helicopter shoots flares above the Israeli border with the Gaza Strip, December 21, 2023. (credit: Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Trudeau did not expand on what “short-term actions” he took issue with, but did say that Israel had to “be careful on the impact on civilians.” Many international bodies have accused Israel of violating international law based on the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry's claims that the war has cost the lives of over 20,000 Palestinian civilians. Israel has repeatedly denied this accusation and the statistics provided by Hamas’s ministry cannot be independently verified.

“It is our position that working towards a sustainable ceasefire requires the conditions of Hamas laying down its arms, releasing all hostages, [ending the use of] human shields and understanding there is no role for Hamas in the future governance of Gaza,” the prime minister continued.

Butting heads over Palestinian statehood

Trudeau further insisted that he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had a conversation over Netanyahu’s earlier comments that he was “proud that I prevented the establishment of a Palestinian state.”

“I very much shared with him our deep belief that Canada is unflinching — and has been for many years — that a two-state solution is the only way to move forward. That we have to have a free, secure, viable Israel, alongside a free, secure, viable Palestinian state,” Trudeau said.

“That's a point in which I have a very clear disagreement with Prime Minister Netanyahu. But we're going to continue to work for that two-state solution in every conversation we have.”

IDF Spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari hailed the resolution passed by the UN Security Council on Friday, stating that it included a demand of the unconditional immediate release of the hostages held by Hamas.

“A UN resolution passed a few hours ago and was adopted by the Security Council. It includes a demand for the unconditional immediate release of the hostages held by Hamas and to allow humanitarian access to address their medical needs," Hagari said. "We call on the international community and international organizations to enforce this resolution.”

The Palestinian terrorist group Hamas issued a statement on Friday saying the UN resolution that was recently passed to help bring more humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip was an "insufficient step" for meeting the impoverished enclaves' needs.

"During the past five days, the US administration has worked hard to empty this resolution of its essence, and to issue it in this weak formula... it defies the will of the international community and the United Nations General Assembly in stopping Israel's aggression against our defenseless Palestinian people," the statement said.

The IDF discovered and raided a tunnel built by Hamas in the southern part of Gaza City, an IDF spokesperson said on Friday.

The tunnel was used as an underground outpost by the terror group, and buildings nearby where Hamas operated in the south of the city were destroyed. IDF soldiers identified a terror squad that attacked and promptly eliminated them.

A number of shafts leading to an underground multi-level route were located and uncovered, whose floors were used for the purposes of command, control and movement for Hamas between different sectors for storage and accommodation. Israeli forces destroyed the underground route.

IDF provides video documentation via a dog

Video documentation that was equipped to a dog showed the terror tunnel which was hundreds of meters long, which included command and communication rooms, residence halls that are tens of meters in area, concrete dumps, as well as water and electricity infrastructure.

The video can be seen below:

Dozens of tunnels have been scanned by the unit's fighters and dogs.

U.S. President Joe Biden's national security team does not expect the diversion of vessels from the Suez Canal to affect the availability of holiday products, his top economic adviser said on Friday.

Lael Brainard, director of the White House National Economic Council, told reporters that the U.S. economy was proving resilient, with inflation having come down faster than even the more optimistic forecasts had indicated and growth remaining solid.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Friday that the way Israel is conducting its military operation in the Gaza Strip is "creating massive obstacles to the distribution of humanitarian aid" inside the Palestinian enclave of 2.3 million people.

He also urged "Israeli authorities to lift restrictions on commercial activity immediately."

The United Nations Security Council on Friday approved a toned-down bid to boost humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip and called for urgent steps "to create the conditions for a sustainable cessation of hostilities" after a week of vote delays and intense negotiations to avoid a veto by the United States.

Amid global outrage over a rising Gaza death toll in 11 weeks of war between Israel and Hamas and a worsening humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian enclave, the US abstained to allow the 15-member council to adopt a resolution drafted by the United Arab Emirates.

The remaining council members voted for the resolution except for Russia which also abstained.

Following high-level negotiations to win over Washington, the resolution no longer dilutes Israel's control over all aid deliveries to 2.3 million people in Gaza. Israel monitors the limited aid deliveries to Gaza via the Rafah crossing from Egypt and the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing.

But a weakening of language on a cessation of hostilities frustrated several council members - including veto power Russia - and Arab and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation states, some of which, diplomats said, view it as approval for Israel to further act against Hamas for a deadly Oct. 7 attack.

Members of the UN Security Council vote on a proposal to demand that Israel and Hamas allow aid access to the Gaza Strip, December 22, 2023. (credit: REUTERS/David Dee Delgado)

The adopted resolution "calls for urgent steps to immediately allow safe, unhindered, and expanded humanitarian access and to create the conditions for a sustainable cessation of hostilities." The initial draft had called for "an urgent and sustainable cessation of hostilities" to allow aid access.

Earlier this month the 193-member UN General Assembly demanded a humanitarian ceasefire, with 153 states voting in favor of the move that had been vetoed by the United States in the Security Council days earlier.

The US and Israel oppose a ceasefire, believing it would only benefit Hamas. Washington instead supports pauses in fighting to protect civilians and free hostages taken by Hamas.

Aid monitoring

Last month the United States abstained to allow the Security Council to call for urgent and extended humanitarian pauses in fighting for a "sufficient number of days" to allow aid access. The move came after four unsuccessful attempts to take action.

Washington traditionally shields its ally Israel from UN action and has already twice vetoed Security Council action since an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas terrorists in which Israel says 1,200 people were killed and 240 people taken hostage.

Israel has retaliated against Hamas by bombarding Gaza from the air, imposing a siege and launching a ground offensive. Some 20,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to health officials in Hamas-ruled Gaza.

Most people in Gaza have been driven from their homes and UN officials have warned of a humanitarian catastrophe. The World Food Programme says half of Gaza's population is starving and only 10% of the food required has entered Gaza since Oct. 7.

A key sticking point during negotiations on the resolution adopted on Friday had been an initial proposal for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to establish a mechanism in Gaza to monitor aid from countries not party to the war.

A toned-down compromise was reached to instead ask Guterres to appoint a senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator to establish a UN mechanism for accelerating aid to Gaza through states that are not party to the conflict.

The coordinator would also have responsibility "for facilitating, coordinating, monitoring, and verifying in Gaza, as appropriate, the humanitarian nature" of all the aid.

The council also called for the warring parties "to adhere to international humanitarian law and ... deplores all attacks against civilians and civilian objects, as well as all violence and hostilities against civilians, and all acts of terrorism."

Gilad Erdan's response

Israel's ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan harshly criticized the Security Council for their silence in the face of the October 7 massacre.

He stated that he "thanks the United States and President Biden for standing firmly by Israel's side throughout the negotiations on the decision and maintaining the red lines that were defined. The decision maintains Israel's authority to monitor and inspect aid entering Gaza.

"On the other hand, we must not ignore the fact that the Security Council as a body has not yet condemned the the October 7 massacre. This is a disgrace that reveals the irrelevance of the UN in connection with the war in Gaza. The UN's focus only on the aid mechanisms for Gaza is unnecessary and disconnected from reality - Israel in any case allows the introduction of aid on any necessary scale. The UN should have focused on the humanitarian crisis of the hostages."

Barak Ravid/Walla contributed to this report.

IDF Sergeant Amit Hod Ziv, 19, from Rosh Ha'Ein and soldier in the 71st Battalion, fell during in northern Israel as a result of Hezbollah rocket launches from Lebanon towards the Shtula area, the IDF stated on Friday.

Another IDF soldier was injured by Hezbollah rocket fire in Israel's north on Friday.