Israel-Hamas War: What happened on day 86?

The IDF must look ahead to the future as it operates in the Gaza Strip, Israeli military spokesperson R.-Adm. Daniel Hagari said in a Sunday evening briefing.

Earlier on Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted that discussions about what would happen to the Gaza Strip "the day after" the war ends would need to wait until Hamas was defeated.

Netanyahu: Israel can only discuss day after when Gaza war ends

Speaking in a Sunday cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said that the "day after must get here first."

"In order to talk about the day after, it needs to get here first. Only the IDF will have control," the prime minister said.

"Obviously, the Strip will be demilitarized. There will be no power except Israel," said Netanyahu.

IDF Spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari (credit: IDF)

A barrage of rockets was fired at Israel shortly after midnight on Monday, triggering rocket alarms in the Gaza border area and central Israel.

The IDF intercepted a drone that infiltrated from the direction of Syria into the Golan Heights on Sunday evening, setting off sirens in Keshet and Qatzrin, according to the IDF Spokesperson's Unit.

Iran-backed militias based in Iraq claimed responsibility for launching the drone.

On Sunday morning, the IDF dropped leaflets in the Quneitra area near the Syrian-Israeli border, warning soldiers and officers of the Syrian Army that Israel considers them "responsible for terrorist acts emanating from Syrian territory," according to Syrian reports.

"We will continue to respond as long as rockets continue to be fired towards Israel," warned the leaflets.

Tensions continue to rise on Lebanese border

Exchanges of fire continued along the Lebanese-Israeli border as well on Sunday, with the IDF striking a series of Hezbollah targets as Hezbollah fired several projectiles toward northern Israel.

Former UK prime minister Tony Blair was positioned to take a mediator position in post-war Gaza which will include "examining" the acceptance of Palestinian refugees by Western nations, N12 reported on Sunday evening.

Blair was reportedly in Israel last week for undisclosed meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and war cabinet Minister Benny Gantz.

In the meeting, the idea of the former British prime minister serving as a mediator was floated, with his work revolving around the issue of displaced Palestinians, serving as a liaison communicating Israel's security needs to the Western world.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir published a statement on Sunday, welcoming the reports of Bliar "heading a task force that will promote the emigration of Gaza residents to other countries around the world.

"This is a morally just step to take, first and foremost for Gaza border residents, and for all of Israel," the minister said, adding that such initiatives are a "necessary component of the real solution to the 'day after,' which Otzma Yehudit has been leading."

Tony Blair denies discussions on Palestinian 'displacement'

Blair denied N12's report, writing in a response that "claims made over Blair's connection to displacement [of Palestinians] are incorrect.

"There never was such a discussion, and Blair would not discuss such a proposal," a source close to the former PM said.

Two people were lightly wounded in a stabbing attack in Ma'ale Admumim on Sunday evening, according to Magen David Adom. The suspected terrorist was apprehended.

This is a developing story.

IDF tanks and Israeli Air Force fighter jets struck three Hezbollah terror cells operating in Lebanese territory, the Israeli military reported Sunday.

In addition, Israeli artillery struck the source of two rocket launches into Israel from southern Lebanon.

במהלך היום טנקים של צה"ל ומסוקי קרב של חיל האוויר תקפו שלוש חוליות מחבלים שפעלו בשטח לבנון.

כמו כן, זוהו שני שיגורים משטח לבנון לעבר שטח ישראל. צה"ל תקף בארטילריה את מקורות הירי pic.twitter.com/CvQzFgjBvu

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) December 31, 2023

The IDF has brought down Hamas's rocket fire substantially in recent weeks since the temporary ceasefire expired and the invasion of Khan Yunis began.

The week of December 1-7, Hamas still managed to fire 75 rockets per day, itself down from hundreds of rockets per day earlier in the war.

However, by December 8-14, the number of rockets from Gaza per day had dropped to 23.

From December 15-21, the average number of rockets dropped to 16, with the number remaining relatively steady December 22-27.

As of 7:00 p.m. on Sunday, no rockets had been fired by Hamas.

The IDF has put into full swing its process to return a substantial number of reservists to their civilian lives, with two additional full brigades set to return home later this week.

Earlier in December, Division 252 was released from service for the time being, having completed its mission in northern Gaza.

But the release of two additional brigades, the 551st and 14th Brigades, is part of a broader rollout that is expected to add additional brigades to return from duty, possibly on a weekly, if not monthly, basis.

The military expects that it will regularly evaluate what the impact is on the IDF's continued ability to take apart Hamas as an effective fighting force as it decides when and how quickly to release additional brigades.

Seven brigades still fighting Hamas in Khan Yunis

But even as the IDF draws down on its reservist soldiers, there are still seven brigades fighting Hamas in Khan Yunis in southern Gaza, up from an original four.

Essentially, the IDF is keeping maximum forces fighting in southern Gaza, maintaining its forces to deal with central Gaza, but is emptying out many of its northern Gaza forces, keeping only sufficient forces to hold back Hamas from returning in force.

One of the senior figures in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing coalition called on Sunday for Palestinian residents of Gaza to leave the enclave, making way for Israelis who could "make the desert bloom."

The comments by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who has been excluded from the war cabinet and discussions of day-after arrangements in Gaza, appear to underscore fears in much of the Arab world that Israel wants to drive Palestinians out of the land where they want to build a future state, repeating the mass dispossession of Palestinians when Israel was created in 1948.

"What needs to be done in the Gaza Strip is to encourage emigration," Smotrich told Army Radio. "If there are 100,000 or 200,000 Arabs in Gaza and not 2 million Arabs, the entire discussion on the day after will be totally different."

He said if the 2.3 million population were no longer there "growing up on the aspiration to destroy the state of Israel," Gaza would be seen differently in Israel.

"Most of Israeli society will say, 'Why not, it's a nice place, let's make the desert bloom, it doesn't come at anyone's expense.'"

Israeli prosecutors filed criminal charges on Sunday against a man accused of impersonating a soldier to join the Gaza war, of stealing munitions and, according to media, of posing for a frontline picture with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Israel was blindsided by Hamas's October 7 massacre, with security forces often organizing themselves spontaneously in the field to repel the infiltrators and mount a counter-offensive.

בלעדי: רועי יפרח הנאשם בהתחזות ללוחם וגנבת נשק - תועד חמוש לצד רה"מ נתניהוhttps://t.co/n6oy02pVn9 | @guypch2news pic.twitter.com/0xnPB6tvcQ

— החדשות - N12 (@N12News) December 31, 2023

According to the indictment served in Tel Aviv District Court, defendant Roi Yifrah never served in the Israeli military but nonetheless managed to make his way into the war zones by pretending to be a member of an elite Shin Bet combat unit.

The top-rated Channel 12 TV aired a photograph of what it said was the 35-year-old, in full battle gear, posing with other soldiers alongside Netanyahu in a helicopter landing site.

The Prime Minister's Office did not immediately reply to a request for comment.