Israel-Hamas war: What happened on day 81?

IDF Chief-of-Staff Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi on Tuesday said that it could even take months to arrest or kill Hamas's top leaders and "many months" to finish fighting Hamas.

Halevi implied that he recognized the broader diplomatic and political context will not allow a full all-out war for that long and said that the IDF would adjust itself to different intensity levels of fighting as needed.

Israel warned the United Nations that it would not work with those of its officials and staff members who support Hamas propaganda against the Jewish state.

“Israel will stop working with those who cooperate with the Hamas terrorist regime’s propaganda machine,” government spokesman Eylon Levy told reporters on Tuesday.

He spoke hours before the UN announced it had appointed former Dutch finance and deputy prime minister Sigrid Kaag to the newly created position of Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza to help monitor and oversee aid to the enclave.

“In this role, she will facilitate, coordinate, monitor, and verify humanitarian relief consignments to Gaza,” the UN said in a statement to the media. “She will also establish a United Nations mechanism to accelerate humanitarian relief consignments to Gaza through States which are not party to the conflict.”

She enters her position at a time of increased tensions between the UN and Israel.
Levy, in talking to reporters, had harsh words for what he termed the “deeply problematic involvement of the UN in this conflict.”

EYLON LEVY: ‘I think it’s important sometimes that when questions imply genuinely atrocious insinuation, you cannot treat it as a normal question.’ (credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)

UN employees complicit partners to Hamas

“In failing to condemn Hamas for hijacking aid, and in failing to condemn it for waging war out of hospitals, they have been complicit partners in Hamas’s human shield strategy

“They have let the world down, we are demanding global accountability,” Levy said.
Moving forward, he added, “Visa requests by UN employees will no longer be granted automatically and will instead be considered on a case-by-case basis.”

The UN said in response: “Visas for UN officials to Israel have always been issued on a case-by-case individual basis, just like any other member state. We will continue to work with Israel on this issue.”

Tension between Israel and the UN have only increased since the start of the war on October 7, particularly around the issue of aid delivery to Gaza, made more complicated by the conflict.

Israel initially closed its crossing once the war started, forcing the entry of goods into the enclave through Egypt’s crossing at Rafah, which is not designed to handle such traffic

This month, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories temporarily reopened the Kerem Shalom crossing to help increase the flow of supplies. But this is only part of the challenge.

Israel’s military campaign to oust Hamas from the enclave has caused the collapse of Gaza’s communications, transportation, and distribution systems. The UN has not been able to overcome the logical difficulties created by the situation.

Kaag, who stepped down from those two posts in July, had previously served as the country’s foreign minister.
Her new post was created last week by the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2720, which had called to expedite humanitarian aid into Gaza and set out several procedures for that to occur.

Kaag has also held several positions at the UN, including Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Assistant Secretary-General with the UN Development Program, the UN International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), and the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNWRA) for Palestinian refugees since 1948.

The UN said that Kaag “brings a wealth of experience in political, humanitarian, and development affairs, as well as in diplomacy.”

When Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7 and inflicted what is considered to be the Jewish state's worst intelligence and military failure in recent years, Iran's leadership celebrated the opening act of a wider regional conflict. 

As Israel’s archenemy, Iran has repeatedly called for the destruction of the Jewish state throughout the past decades and has helped fund and train Hamas in the Gaza Strip. 

The IDF announced on Tuesday evening three names of another three soldiers who were killed in Gaza.

St.-Sgt.-Maj. Maor Levi, 33, a soldier in the 450th Battalion and from Susya, was killed in central Gaza.

Maj. Shay Shamiz, 26, from Merkaz Shapira and a commander in the 931st Battalion, was killed in battle in northern Gaza.  

Capt. Shaul Greenglick, 26, from Ra'anana, an officer in the 931st Battalion, was also killed in battle in northern Gaza.  

IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi toured the Gaza Strip on Tuesday and spoke with commanders and soldiers, after which he said that the IDF is "close to completing the dismantling of the Hamas battalions in the northern Gaza Strip."

However, he added that "the fighting will continue for many more months."

Nine soldiers were wounded by gunfire at Israel's northern border on Tuesday, Walla reported, with one in serious condition.

The rest were either moderately or lightly wounded.

In response, IAF planes attacked Hezbollah infrastructure in Lebanon, including attacking a building where a terrorist who launched an anti-tank missile was hiding.

A rocket launched toward Dovev in the Upper Galilee was launched from near the mosque located in the village of Yaroun in southern Lebanon. In addition, in the last few hours, several launches were fired at the Yiftah area and Mount Dov.

The IDF responded with tank and artillery fire from the sources of the shooting.

A drone exploded in Ramim Ridge in Israel's North on Tuesday, injuring seven.

The injured were all brought to the Galilee Medical Center, which reported that they sustained shrapnel injuries or head injuries.

Two of them, one in serious condition and the other in moderate condition were taken into surgery once their condition was stabilized. 

On Thursday, December 28, the newly formed organization Doctors Against Genocide (DAG) plans to demonstrate at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC, to protest Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, calling it a “genocide.”

The group called on anti-Israel activists to obtain free entry tickets to the museum so they could protest inside and disrupt the museum’s activity. At 3 p.m., the protesters are scheduled to move the protest to the White House. 

IDF reservists will get the salaries and compensation they deserve for their efforts during Operation Swords of Iron, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a post on X on Tuesday.

"Our reservists give it their all and deserve it all," he said. "The policy we established is clear: All reservists will receive - in pay and compensation - everything they deserve for everything they do for us. The government ministries will act accordingly to implement this policy."