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.

Almost half of the university students from Israel’s periphery (46%) and students who have been called up to serve as reserve soldiers cannot afford to pay tuition for their academic studies, a new survey by Israeli Channel 13 has found. 

After the October 7 massacre, Israel called up more than 350,000 reservists to help fight Hamas in Gaza and protect Israel against Hezbollah in the North. Approximately 35,000 of them are university students. 

The survey also found that 35% of the students from Israel’s periphery are experiencing economic difficulties as a result of the war, and that 56% of them are entitled to additional financial assistance beyond what they are owed as reserve soldiers.

Photos of more than a thousand people abducted, missing or killed in the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7, 2023 in southern Israel, are displayed in the Smolarz Auditorium at Tel Aviv University, on October 22, 2023 (Credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)

Bar-Ilan University is one of Israel’s leading institutions of higher education, serving a diverse population of students from all over the country. 

The university has over 20,000 students studying in nine faculties and over 50 departments.

Most Bar-Ilan students work during the year to help offset tuition and pay their rent. However, the school year is now slated to start December 31. The breaks between semesters have been reduced, meaning the academic workload is expected to be more significant, and many will not succeed at doing both. 

"Under this complicated condition, we are trying to help them," university president Prof. Arie Zaban said. "We want to provide them the support they need so they do not drop out of university for financial reasons. It would be a real shame for promising students - Israel's future - to kill their dreams and their contribution to the country because of the war."

Bar-Ilan is finding solutions for students with all types of challenges: Reservists and active duty soldiers; families of reservists and soldiers - especially those that have children; new immigrants (olim); students from the South and the North.

"We want them to be able to concentrate on what they are doing now: win the war against Hamas," Zaban said. "We want them to know they can focus on their current mission, and we will take care of their future.

“No one will be left behind,” the president added.

This article was written in cooperation with Bar-Ilan University.