Israel-Hamas War: What happened on day 85?

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a stern warning to Iran and Hezbollah and confirmed that the Gaza war could continue for months, amid a push to bring to fruition a Qatari proposal to secure the release of additional hostages.

“On the northern border - we are landing heavy blows against Hezbollah, eliminating many terrorists and destroying the enemy's capabilities,” Netanyahu said in a press conference in Tel Aviv on Saturday night.

He spoke as Israel continued its military operation to destroy Hamas in Gaza even as it thwarted Hezbollah violence along its northern border, working to contain the situation from escalating into a full-fledged war.

Netanyahu said that diplomacy was the best option to restore security to that border, but noted that Israel would not hesitate to act against the Iranian proxy group Hezbollah should those options fail.

“We approved operational plans for the continuation of the fighting. If Hezbollah expands the war - it will receive blows it never dreamed of, and so will Iran. We will act in any way until we restore security to the residents of the north,” Netanyahu stated.

“Iran leads the axis of evil and aggression against us on the various fronts,” Netanyahu stated.

“This aggression is directed not only against Israel but against the entire free world. We act against Iran all the time, everywhere, in every way,” Netanyahu said, as he declined to provide details to back up his statement.

Israel's security cabinet discussed on Thursday a Qatari proposal that would see the release of more hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. The proposal is still in its early stages as of Friday.

According to the proposal's outline, the first phase will include a humanitarian exchange deal that will include the release of 40-50 hostages in exchange for a complete ceasefire of a few weeks, according to three senior Israeli officials.

The second phase is expected to be more complex, its details are not yet completely clear, but the direction is to arrange a withdrawal of IDF troops from the area.

Hamas 'agrees in principle' to restart hostage release negotiation

Despite the cabinet discussing the proposal, neither Israel nor Hamas have yet responded to the offer. However, a report from Walla! stated that the Hamas terror organization "agrees in principle" to resume such negotiations.

Senior Israeli officials said that this is only an initial message and Israel hopes to get clarification on it at the end of the week, the Walla! report said. 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chairs a cabinet meeting at the Kirya military base, in Tel Aviv, Israel, December 24, 2023 (credit: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS)

However, one official said that it was a positive development because, for the first time since the previous agreement, Hamas is signaling that it is ready to resume negotiations. "We have moved from a frozen standstill to just a very cold situation," said the official.

Another senior Israeli official said that Israel has not yet received a detailed proposal from the Qataris and is waiting to hear more details. "In any case, the gaps are still big," he said.

The efforts to renew negotiations are still centered around the proposal presented by the head of the Mossad, David Barnea, a few weeks ago in a meeting in Warsaw with the head of the CIA, Bill Burns, and with the Prime Minister of Qatar, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman. The proposal discussed included the release of 40 hostages, which include women who remain captives of Hamas, men over the age of 60, and those who need urgent medical treatment.

Mossad chief forbidden by Netanyahu to attend operational discussions

Regarding Barnea, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu forbade the Mossad head as well as the head of Shin Bet Ronan Bar from participating in an operational discussion with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, N12 reported on Friday.

This was following reports that the prime minister prevented Gallant from holding discussions on the issue of releasing the hostages.

The discussion was so sensitive that even the military secretaries of the heads of the defense establishment were not supposed to participate, the report noted. According to sources familiar with the matter, the military secretariat felt uncomfortable with Netanyahu's order.

N12 quoted the Prime Minister's Office's response to the controversy, stating that "Netanyahu does not limit the head of the Mossad. He can attend any discussion subject to his schedule. The war management cabinet is the forum that outlines policy and determines regarding the prisoners and the missing, and there is no interruption."

The IDF struck targets in Syria on Friday after launches identified as having originated in the Arab Republic fell in an open area, the IDF said. Israel also targeted Hezbollah in Lebanon on Friday.

The rockets crossing from Syria triggered alarms in northern Israel. The IDF retaliated by striking the sources of fire, the military stated.

Also on Friday, the Israeli army hit Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure inside Lebanese terrority, the IDF added. An IDF aircraft also struck a Hezbollah post from which rockets had been fired at Israel.

Two Islamic Jihad terrorists eliminated

Earlier in the day, the Israeli news outlet, Maariv, reported that the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization announced that two of its members were killed on Thursday in an Israeli airstrike.

According to the report, the IDF had targeted Hezbollah terrorists in the village of Ayta ash Shab in southern Lebanon.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz held a phone call with Israeli minister and war cabinet member Benny Gantz on Friday in which Scholz underscored the need to protect civilians and avoid regional conflict, the German federal government said in a statement.

Gantz informed the chancellor of the latest developments in Gaza and on Israel's northern border, the statement said.

Eleven leaders of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) were killed in an airstrike targeting Damascus International Airport on Thursday evening, Saudi media reported the following morning.

The commander of the Revolutionary Guards in eastern Syria, Nur Rashid, was injured in the airstrike, Saudi media channel Al-Hadath reported.

IRGC commanders were reportedly at the airport to meet with high-ranking delegates.

IRGC spokesman Sardar Ramzan Sharif denied on Friday reports that 11 of its leaders were killed in an airstrike in Damascus International Airport the night before, Iranian media quoted them as saying, as he said that such claims are "baseless."

Other strikes on Syria this week, foreign media also claims were done by Israel

Syrian media also claimed on Thursday evening that Israel had targeted sites in southern Syria and near Damascus with airstrikes in two separate waves. Syrian air defenses were activated in the Damascus area during the strikes. The country's media quoted one Syrian military source as saying that the alleged airstrike carried out by Israel came from the "occupied Syrian Golan Heights."

Damascus International Airport (credit: IGOR BUBIN (GFDL 1.2 http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/fdl-1.2.html)/VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS)

Earlier this week, Iran vowed that Israel would "pay" for the killing of Sayyed Reza Mousavi, another IRGC commander who was killed by an alleged Israeli airstrike last Monday in the vicinity of Damascus.

Shortly after the strike that killed Mousavi occurred, footage on social media showed smoke near the Damascus airport, as Iranian proxies have often used the location.

Tzvi Joffre contributed to this report.

The IDF's 14th Reserve Brigade combat team located and destroyed one of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar's hiding places in recent weeks, an apartment located in Gaza City, the IDF announced on Friday evening.

An investigation revealed that a tunnel shaft was located on the apartment's basement floor, where Israeli forces discovered a tunnel that was used by the terror organization.

The apartment is part of a long and branching network of tunnels that were constructed by the terror organization, where senior members moved and operated, an IDF spokesperson said.

IDF: Sinwar stayed in tunnel shaft below Gaza City apartment

The shaft below the apartment where Sinwar had stayed was 218 meters long and 20 meters deep in the northern Gaza Strip.

Infographic of the tunnel route under the Gaza City apartment where Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was staying. (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)

Video documentation of the exploration and discovery of these Hamas tunnels can be found below:

The IDF's Yahalom Unit also found in the tunnel an electrical network, ventilation, sewage infrastructure, and restrooms - all of which were destroyed by the IDF.

They were built so that it was possible to stay inside and conduct terror operations there for long periods.