Israel-Hamas war: What happened on day 87?

Evidence on the mass rape of women, three months after the October 7 Massacre, 7 is still being collected. On Sunday, The Telegraph reported that the full extent of Hamas’s sex crimes may never be known for a variety of reasons. 

In an interview with Haim Otmazgin, a ZAKA volunteer and first responder, The Telegraph details barriers to uncovering the evidence of mass rape and sexual abuse on October 7. 

Otmazgin says he was not looking for evidence of sexual abuse when he joined the mission to recover the dead, murdered, and mutilated victims of the Hamas attack, but he found it when he entered Be’eri, one of the worst hit Kibbutzim on the border of Gaza. 

“I typically don’t pay attention to details. We work like machines to pick up the bodies…but something went through my mind.”

One of the barriers outlined in this report is that only some of the evidence Otmazgin collected that day is reaching the public domain now, partially due to the panicked initial response from authorities and volunteers.

Zaka personnel work at a field with destroyed cars from the October 7 massacre, near the Israel-Gaza border, November 23, 2023. (credit: Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

While Otmazgin was collecting the bodies in the field, the IDF base was receiving the corpses. Shari Mendes was one of the individuals receiving the bodies. 

She said, “Many young women arrived in bloody shredded rags or just in underwear, and their underwear was often very bloody. Our commander saw several female soldiers shot in the crotch or the breast. There seemed to be systematic genital mutilation of a group of victims.” Forensic reviews of video footage, interviews, and these images illustrate a pattern of sexual violence perpetrated against women in Hamas’s attacks. 

IDF continues operations in Shejaia, Khan Yunis

In operations in northern Gaza's Shejaia, Israeli forces struck several terror targets including a "compound for conducting warfare" used by Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. 

In the same operation, IDF troops raided a command and control center near a nearby mosque, locating and seizing large quantities of weapons used by the terrorist organizations. 

The Israeli Navy was also active in the Gaza Strip on Monday, striking terror targets across the Strip.

In Khan Yunis, fighter jets under the direction of soldiers on the ground targeted and killed a terrorist launching rockets at Israel.

Israeli forces killed Adil Mismah, a commander in Hamas's Nukhba force who helped lead and direct the October 7 massacre of southern Israeli communities, the IDF said Monday morning.

Mismah, the Company Commander of Nukhba's Deir al-Balah brigade, led Hamas terrorists into the ravaged Kibbutz Kissufim and directed Hamas gunmen to other devastated communities, such as the kibbutzim of Nirim and Be'eri.

Following October 7, Mismah was heavily involved in fighting with Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip, the IDF said.

As per the Israeli military, the Nukhba commander was killed in an Israeli Air Force airstrike directed by Israeli ground troops.

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 later stated on X, formerly Twitter, that Hamas had launched the rockets, adding that there is no “'happy' New Year" until all of the hostages held by the Gaza-based terror organization had been returned home.

A Hamas statement posted on the group's Telegram channel one minute after midnight also confirmed Hamas's responsibility.

"Now... Al-Qassam Brigades are bombarding the city of 'Tel Aviv' and its outskirts with a barrage of 'M90' rockets in response to Zionist massacres against civilians," the statement read.

A barrage of rockets is fired at Israel as the new year begins. January 1, 2024. (credit: SCREENSHOT/X)

🫡@COLRICHARDKEMP https://t.co/LQpXqeHV4H pic.twitter.com/qhAhywtziQ

— Lt. Col. Richard Hecht (@LtColRichard) December 31, 2023

Following the rocket attacks, the MDA spokesman noted that the emergency medical service did not receive any calls regarding casualties from the incident.

*Happy New Year from Israel. This is the time 00:00 in Tel Aviv.*

Yes, that's Iron Dome shooed own rockets. Happy New Year everyone. pic.twitter.com/TeCoyYfWBX

— (((IsraelMatzav))) (@IsraelMatzav) December 31, 2023

The American aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford is set to depart the Mediterranean Sea, close to three months since it was deployed to the area in the wake of Hamas's October 7 massacre on Israel and fears of a multi-front war, ABC News reported Sunday night.

The USS Gerald Ford, the latest, largest, and most formidable addition to the US Navy's nuclear carrier fleet, possesses the capability to independently launch strikes on Lebanon, Syria, or Iran. 

It is supported by US Air Force refueling planes from the Emirates and sails with a battle group of five destroyers.

USS Gerald R. Ford set to return 'as originally scheduled'

According to ABC, citing an unnamed senior US official, the carrier and "other surface ships that make up the strike group" will return to the United States "as originally scheduled so it could prepare for future deployments."

"The carrier's return will keep to that schedule and that even with the Ford's departure, the United States will still have a lot of military capability in the region and flexibility," ABC quoted the official as saying.

As per the report, American military presence in the region will continue to be boosted by the deployment of cruisers and destroyers in the Mediterranean. a US Defense Department spokesperson said, "We have nothing to announce today," when contacted by ABC for comment.

The IDF announced on Monday that around 17% of its soldiers' war-related deaths since around the end of October and the invasion of Gaza have been accidents.

Some of these accidents have been "friendly fire" incidents, while some have been tanks driving over soldiers they did not see or cables, walls falling on soldiers, or errors with explosives during demolition preparations against Hamas.

In absolute numbers, 29 out of 170 killed soldiers have been from mistakes in the field.

Friendly fire incidents in Gaza

Broken down, 18 of the deaths were from "friendly fire", two from "exceptional fire incidents," and nine from accidents.

Most of the dead are from the Gaza invasion, including two, three, six, and four per week from October 29 - November 25.

Another five, two, four, and three died per week during the Gaza invasion from December 3 until December 30, with none dying during the temporary ceasefire.

Two soldiers also died in the North due to accidents during late October-early November and two soldiers died during the first week of the war in the Central Command, one from an exceptional shooting circumstance and one from an accident.

To date, the Jerusalem Post had been told these numbers on background, but they had been kept under wraps from the Israeli public.

Their release suggests the IDF is rolling out a wide variety of transitional messages as it draws down on how many reservists are serving, hopes for continued reduced rocket trends, and generally moves toward lower-intensity conflict from a full-scale war.

National Missions Minister Orit Struck came under fire in a Sunday morning cabinet meeting after suggesting that some Israeli Air Force fighter pilots refuse to aid IDF troops on the ground due to "conscientious concerns."

Speaking in a cabinet military briefing after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu detailed the fighting with Hezbollah in Israel's North, Struck raised the question to IDF general Eliezer Toledano, claiming to have seen "reports" on the issue.

Toledano rejected Struck's assertion, answering, "No. This is a terrible question in my view, the answer is no.

"If you ask forces on the field, they will give you the same answers," Toledano said. Struck responded to Toldeano, arguing she can "ask whatever she wants." 

The prime minister later chimed in, telling Toledano that his answer was "correct," though his reaction to Struck's question was "inappropriate."

EVEN NATIONAL Missions Minister Orit Struck knows that closing one junction is not what will stop a future attacker, says the writer. (credit: OREN BEN HAKOON/FLASH90)

 The Likud released a statement following the publication of the quotes, writing that "there is no room for slander by ministers aimed at IDF fighters operating with full force against Israel's enemies.

"Every minister should focus on their work rather than on baseless slander that weakens our troops."

IDF: No incident in which ground force was not backed up

On Sunday evening, IDF spokesperson R.-Adm. Daniel Hagari appeared to directly address Struck's claims, stating in a Sunday evening briefing that "there has been no incident in which a ground force was not backed up from the air." 

IDF aircraft and artillery struck terror targets in central Gaza overnight, the Israeli news organization, Walla, reported on Monday morning.

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

Dozens of rocket alarms sounded in Israel's central region alone.

🫡@COLRICHARDKEMP https://t.co/LQpXqeHV4H pic.twitter.com/qhAhywtziQ

— Lt. Col. Richard Hecht (@LtColRichard) December 31, 2023

Following the rocket attacks, the MDA spokesman noted that the emergency medical service did not receive any calls regarding casualties from the incident.

*Happy New Year from Israel. This is the time 00:00 in Tel Aviv.*

Yes, that's Iron Dome shooed own rockets. Happy New Year everyone. pic.twitter.com/TeCoyYfWBX

— (((IsraelMatzav))) (@IsraelMatzav) December 31, 2023

The IDF intercepted a drone that infiltrated from the direction of Syria into the Golan Heights, as well as a drone that was heading toward Israeli territory, but did not enter Israeli territory, from the east on Sunday evening, according to the IDF Spokesperson's Unit.

Iran-backed militias based in Iraq claimed responsibility for launching at least one of the drones. The IDF did not clarify where the drone which was shot down outside Israeli territory was shot down.

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.

The IDF struck several sites belonging to Hezbollah near Ramyeh in southern Lebanon on Sunday, noting that Hezbollah operates in the area of the village and uses it as a terrorist center for observation efforts and terrorist operations.

"[Hezbollah] fires at Israeli territory, exploiting the civilian population in the village area and using it as a human shield," said the IDF Spokesperson's Unit. The IDF also struck several terrorist squads in southern Lebanon.

Maronite Patriarch Al-Rai stressed that he rejects the extension of the war between Israel and Hamas to southern Lebanon in his Sunday sermon.

"It must be stopped, and the Lebanese people, their homes, and their livelihoods must be protected, as they have not yet emerged from the disastrous results of the Lebanese war. We demand the removal of any rocket launcher planted between homes in southern towns that would require a devastating Israeli response," added al-Rai.

The patriarch called on everyone to "respect Security Council Resolution 1701 with all its provisions for the good of Lebanon."

Hezbollah deputy leader: Israel is not in a position to impose its choices

Naim Qassem, deputy secretary-general of Hezbollah, insisted on Sunday that the war between Israel and Hamas will "establish a new phase in our region."

"We do not see it now, but rather we see devastation and devastation, but the Al-Aqsa flood, after the current state of war subsides, will establish a new phase based on cultural and political advancement, the change of convictions at the global level, the spread of the language of resistance, and the ability of those with the right to have their voices louder and their capabilities better, and the rally around the resistance and its support will expand."

The Hezbollah deputy leader claimed that the "pain and bitterness" caused by the ongoing war would "feed" the "next generation."

Qassem also referred to efforts to reach a diplomatic solution to the escalating violence along the Lebanese-Israeli border, saying, "Israel is not in a position to impose its choices...Israel cannot return the settlers to the north in the heart of the battle, and it cannot obtain any gain either in this battle or at its end."

The deputy secretary general added that the conflict would end only when the war in Gaza ends. "We have made our decisions to be in a state of war and confrontation on the southern front facing Israel, but in a proportionate manner consistent with the requirements of the battle. If Israel persists, the response to it will be stronger."