Israel-Hamas war: What happened on day 82?

The IDF on Wednesday utilized explosives to destroy a network of strategic tunnels multiple kilometers long beneath and around Rantisi Hospital and the nearby Ramaz Fahrah School in northern Gaza.

Some of the tunnel shafts descended dozens of meters, with the tunnel under the school descending 20 meters, including an elevator and significant electrical connections and capabilities for use as a command center. 

On November 13, IDF Spokesman R.-Adm. Daniel Hagari revealed Hamas's underground command center under the Rantisi Hospital, which not only contained suicide vests, rocket-propelled grenades, and a variety of weapons but also signs, such as baby bottles, that Hamas had held Israeli hostages there.

How elite IDF intelligence units uncovered the Rantisi tunnel network

At some later date, intelligence collected by interrogations of Hamas forces performed by IDF Unit 504 led to the military discovering the tunnel under the school, which hooked up with the tunnel network under Rantisi.

Further, tunnels led between the school and another nearby school, and tunnels from Rantisi hooked up with other parts of Gaza City, including with the hidden headquarters of Hamas's naval commander.

Israeli military spokesperson R.-Adm. Daniel Hagari shows what he says is the house of a senior Hamas naval commander located next to a school at a location given as Gaza, in this still image taken from video released November 13, 2023 (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)

The IDF's Yahalom and Unit 14 Engineering units worked on exposing the full extent of the tunnel network as well as planning its destruction.

In order to take over the Rantisi area, Brigades 401 and 460, along with navy seals Shayetet 13, had previously killed dozens of Hamas terrorists.

IDF claims evidence of Rantisi Hospital's use on October 7

Back in mid-November, Hagari said there was evidence and independent separate intelligence that Hamas terrorists had returned directly to Rantisi Hospital after their attacks and mass murders of Israelis on October 7.

He also noted that an IDF robot found additional terror tunnels, including electricity being siphoned off from the hospital for use by the terrorists underground.

A video showed the basement of the hospital, which showed a location disconnected from the rest of the hospital where the significant terror explosives and armaments were kept.

The October 7 massacre in southern Israel was a response to the 2020 assassination of Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Qassem Soleimani, according to Al Jazeera citing an IRGC statement on Wednesday morning. 

عاجل | الحرس الثوري الإيراني: عملية طوفان الأقصى كانت إحدى الردود على اغتيال قاسم سليماني

— الجزيرة - عاجل (@AJABreaking) December 27, 2023

The rest of the IRGC statement addressed the assassination of a senior IRGC adviser in Damascus on Monday, which local security sources and Iranian state media claimed was carried out by Israel. 

Some 18 rockets were fired from Lebanon toward Israel's Kibbutz Rosh Hanikra on Wednesday morning, according to local media. The IDF did not confirm an exact number of projectiles, but acknowledged the launches. 

The Iron Dome intercepted several of the rockets, and others landed in open areas. There were no casualties and no significant damage to any civilian infrastructure. 

Furthermore, according to the IDF, an Israeli fighter jet struck a Hezbollah military site in Lebanon overnight on Tuesday. The IDF struck additional areas in Lebanon on Wednesday morning. 

Israeli security forces were highly active in central and northern Gaza overnight on Tuesday and into Wednesday morning, according to a Wednesday IDF statement. 

The IDF announced Wednesday the names of three soldiers who fell in battle in the northern Gaza Strip on Tuesday.

The three were named as Lt. Yaron Eliezer Chitiz, 23, from Ra'anana; Staff-Sgt. Itay Buton, 20, from Petah Tikva; and Staff-Sgt. Efraim Yachman, 21, from Neve Daniel.

Hamas could not have developed its capabilities to the extent that it did without the billions of dollars it received from around the world, according to Dr. Udi Levy, former head of the Mossad's Economic Warfare Division and currently a senior researcher at the Jerusalem Institute of Strategy and Security.

In an interview with The Media Line, Levy explains that his unit alerted the Israeli government in 2014 about Hamas' significant financial support, primarily from Qatar, after more than a decade of monitoring its financial activities.

He notes that the government, led then and now by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, adopted a policy of permitting this influx of funds, believing it would temporarily ease the security tensions between Israel and Hamas.

Without substantial funding, particularly from Qatar, Levy says, Hamas could not have constructed extensive tunnel networks, acquired numerous rockets, and, crucially, paid its personnel.

Suitcases of cash found in the home of a senior Hamas member in Gaza. December 18, 2023 (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)

Military defeat insufficient to stop Hamas

Levy warns that military defeat alone is insufficient against groups like Hamas; halting their funding is crucial for victory.

While the war has weakened Hamas' financial system, the group continues to have sources of income. He reveals that substantial funds are still accessible to the group in Turkish banks and that humanitarian aid intended for Gaza is being diverted to the organization.

This is not solely an Israel-Palestinian issue, Levy says, but a global concern. He cautions that if the global community does not halt funding to radical groups, liberal Western nations may soon discover they have inadvertently allowed terrorist ideologies to proliferate within their own borders.

A three-stage Egyptian initiative to stop the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas was dead on arrival.

This initiative proposes a phased approach to end the war, starting with a two-week, extendable truce and leading to a Palestinian national dialogue.

Egypt did not formally present the plan, and it was not officially rejected by either side.

However, both Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad reportedly rejected the Egyptian proposal that would see Hamas give up control of the Gaza Strip in return for a permanent ceasefire with Israel.

A Hamas delegation led by Ismail Haniyeh, the group’s chief, arrived in Cairo last Wednesday to discuss the prisoners and other issues related to the Gaza Strip, including relief aid, reconstruction, and what sources described as “ending the division.”

A Hamas terrorist stands in front of a picture of the group's top leader Ismail Haniyeh during his visit at Ain el Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp in Sidon, Lebanon September 6, 2020 (credit: REUTERS/AZIZ TAHER)

However, they left without achieving any breakthrough, with Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar reportedly rejecting the plan.

Hamas is unwilling to engage in any prisoner exchange until Israel completely halts the war as it considers the presence of Israeli hostages in Gaza as an “important pressure card” on the Israeli government to end the war.

Izzat al-Rishq, a Hamas political bureau member, reiterated his group’s position that “there can be no negotiations without a complete stop to the aggression.”

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made his position abundantly clear on Monday, repeating the Israeli assertion that Israeli forces will not stop fighting in the coastal enclave until it has toppled Hamas.

“We are not stopping. Anyone who talks about stopping — no, we’re not stopping. This war is going to go until the end. Until we finish them. No less than that.”

Speaking at a Knesset session on Monday, Netanyahu said Israel was making “every effort” to retrieve hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza, saying that doing so requires “military pressure” to succeed.

“We won’t stop fighting,” he said during the special parliamentary session, adding “we need time” even while hostages’ family members attending the session booed and shouted as he spoke.

“We aren’t stopping, and we won’t stop until victory because we have no other land and no other path,” Netanyahu said to boos from the hostages’ families.

Israel not interested in ceasefire

“Israel is not interested [in a ceasefire] because the decision is to continue with the war,” said Professor Efraim Inbar, president of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security.

Inbar told The Media Line that Egypt’s plan doesn’t address Israel’s main concerns. “It’s not a starting point because it will eventually leave some role for Hamas to play in the future, and that’s unacceptable for the Israeli government,” said Inbar.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a senior Palestinian Authority official in Ramallah told The Media Line that talks about reaching a temporary truce are “hard” and “will require a lot of patience.”

“It’s definitely an ambitious plan, but it’s doable,” said the official.

Egypt proposed a “vision” rather than a concrete plan, which is also backed by Qatari mediators. It comprises three stages that would involve a humanitarian truce in exchange for the release of between 30 to 40 hostages. In return, Israel would release 120 Palestinian prisoners. During this truce, hostilities would cease, Israeli tanks would withdraw from the Gaza Strip, and food, medical aid, fuel, and cooking gas would flow into the enclave.

“I believe that the Egyptian brothers presented what they saw as objective, but the problem is that the Israeli wall, which is made up of stupidity, arrogance, wrong assessments, and a tendency toward murder, kills any initiative,” former Palestinian Minister Nabil Amr told The Media Line.

The proposal also includes a future permanent ceasefire and a leadership overhaul in Gaza, currently under Hamas.

Egypt suggested elections to initiate a Palestinian national dialogue under its sponsorship with the aim of “ending the division,” and forming a government of technocrats that will supervise humanitarian relief issues, the Gaza Strip reconstruction file, and paving the way for Palestinian general and presidential elections.

The deal proposes assurances to Hamas that its members would not face prosecution. However, the Islamist group rejected any concessions other than hostage releases, sources said.

More than 100 hostages are still believed to be held in Gaza.

“I believe what Egypt has presented deserves to be taken seriously, and that we work on developing it,” said Amr.

Amr claims that the Israeli premier is disinterested in negotiations that could end the war; rather, he only cares about his political interests. Therefore, said Amr, prolonging the war is in Netanyahu’s interest.

The third phase of Egypt's proposal will usher in a complete and comprehensive ceasefire and a significant prisoner exchange.

The final stage entails Israeli withdrawal from Gaza's cities, allowing the displaced to return home, including in the northern part of the Strip.

Netanyahu dispatched his confidant, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, to Washington to discuss Gaza war's next phase.

“He’s Bibi’s man, and he’s in Washington to find out exactly what the mood in Washington is about the continuation of the war,” said Inbar, acknowledging that there exist differences in opinion between the US and Israel regarding the war.

“There are differences between the two allies, of course. First of all, regarding how to fight the war. The US wants Israel to use less firepower. Also, the debate about the day after.”

Continued Inbar: “I think Americans have much leverage and because of our dependence on US weapons, they are likely to use it as a pressure card,” he said.

However, Amr argued that Israel's policy “is not consistent or compatible with the White House's policy, so the problem is Israel.”

“What will affect Israel is internal pressure, the course of the war, and American pressure. The ability of external influence on Israel is almost non-existent, especially in light of the absolute American support, despite the isolation and diplomatic criticism it causes for America,” Amr concluded.

US President Joe Biden phoned Qatar Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to discuss the latest developments in Gaza and current joint mediation efforts.

They spoke as Israsel’s Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer was in Washington on Tuesday to discuss the Gaza war and the hostages held in the enclave.

Qatar and Egypt are attempting to media a second deal to secure the release of 129 hostages held in Gaza in exchange for a pause to the war, which they hope would lead to a permanent ceasefire.

Netanyahu continued to insist on Tuesday that the IDF was determined to continue its military campaign in Gaza until it had destroyed Hamas. IDF Chief of Staff Herzl Halevi said the war could go on for months.

In a video issued after viewing satellite intelligence in Tel Aviv, Netanyahu said, “We have soldiers on the ground. Sometimes they are also underground, and we have eyes in the sky.”

EMIR OF QATAR Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani in Doha (credit: NASEEM ZEITOON/REUTERS)

“We say to the Hamas terrorists: we see you, and we will get to you. We are continuing the war, deepening the fighting in the southern Gaza Strip and elsewhere.”

“We fight to the end and with the help of the most advanced technology,” Netanyahu said.

US and Israel at odds over fighting, and Gaza on the day after

Despite Netanyahu’s words, the US is looking to Israel to shift its military campaign in Gaza from a high-intensity to a low-intensity one, particularly given the pressure on Biden from the Democratic Party over the high fatality count in Gaza. Hamas has asserted that some 21,000 Palestinians have been killed in war-related violence. Israel has claimed that over 8,000 of those fatalities are combatants.

Dermer was expected to meet with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. Blinken also held a call with Dermer earlier this month.

There has been an upsurge in the war this week, particularly in a central area just south of the seasonal waterway that bisects the Gaza Strip.

Israel launched fresh air strikes against central Gaza on Tuesday, where the United Nations said it was alarmed by an intensification of Israeli attacks that killed more than 100 Palestinians in one part of the enclave since Christmas Eve.

Dermer arrives in Washington as an Egyptian plan for a three-phased plan to release the hostages held in Gaza and end the war faltered, with Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad appearing to reject it outright.

The plan called for the creation of a technocratic government to govern Gaza after the war and for plans to be held for Palestinian elections. Netanyahu has insisted that Hamas must not be allowed to govern Gaza, that the enclave must be demilitarized, and that it would not pose a terror threat to Israel.

The US and Israel are also at odds over their visions for Gaza once the war is over, with Israel dismissing Biden administration plans for the Palestinian Authority to rule Gaza. 

The Gaza war was sparked by Hamas’ infiltration of southern Israel on October 7, in which it killed 1,200 people and seized 250 hostages. Some 110 hostages have since been released.

Reuters contributed to this report. 

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.”

Yemen's Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said on Tuesday the group launched an attack with missiles on a MSC United commercial ship in the Red Sea after it rejected three warning calls.

Sarea also said the group carried out drone attacks on the southern Israeli city of Eilat "and other areas in occupied Palestine."

The Iran-aligned Houthis, who control much of Yemen, have disrupted world trade for weeks with attacks on ships passing through the Bab al-Mandab Strait at the southern end of the Red Sea in what they say is a response to Israel's war in Gaza.