Israel-Hamas War: What happened on day 104?

The French Council of State, which acts as the French government's legal advisor, ruled in favor of blocking a French woman from receiving an exit pass from Gaza, on Wednesday, due to her conviction of funding terrorist organizations.

Yasmine Znaïdi was sentenced to six years imprisonment in absentia in 2019 for embezzling funds for terrorist organizations, according to Le Figaro.

Funds meant to provide medicine and medical equipment for Syrian civilians, were instead redirected to help jihadists in the Idlib region of Syria. 

She was also accused of having provided funding for Hamas and Islamic Jihad between 2012 and 2013.

Znaïdi has had an international arrest warrant in her name since 2016, when she fled to Gaza where she has since lived, according to the AFP.

HAMAS LEADER Ismail Haniyeh (right) and Palestinian Islamic Jihad chief Ziyad al-Nakhalah attend a meeting of Palestinian factions, in Beirut, in 2020. (credit: AZIZ TAHER/REUTERS)

French court orders consulate to comply

When the war broke out in October she requested a consular pass to leave Gaza via Egypt. She requested the pass for herself and her three-year-old son, her other two children were killed in the bombing, according to Le Figaro.

In December a Parisian court ordered the French consulate to give her a pass as to do otherwise would violate the rights of her son, saying "The failure of the French State constitutes a serious and manifestly illegal attack on the dignity of the human person and the rights of their child."

The French Council of State ruled in favor of the French Foreign Ministry, canceling the decision of the Parisian court due to the lack of French jurisdiction saying "Inclusion on the list of names of people to be evacuated must be handed over to the Israeli and Egyptian authorities to be validated by them, such steps do not fall within the sole competence of the French State but 'require the engaging in negotiations with foreign governments or are inseparable from them'."

This case is similar to the case of Shamima Begum, the British schoolgirl who joined ISIS and lost her citizenship as a result. In that case, there were similar considerations about violating the rights of her child, however, all of her children died before any ruling was made.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu unilaterally delayed and backtracked on agreed-upon outlines for the release of hostages without consulting the cabinet, according to Israeli media sources on Wednesday.

In recent days, the political leadership in Israel discussed potential conditions for a new and proactive negotiation that could eventually lead to a hostage deal. The negotiations were expected to be pushed forward by a mediator.

However, Netanyahu delayed the talks and increased the demands that had been agreed upon, according to reports.

Discussions over the conditions were held with political echelon leaders, namely Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Ministers Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot. These discussions eventually brought about agreed-upon conditions that would guide the advancement of negotiations, which would later lead to a deal with Hamas when the political leadership had already reached conclusions about what Israel could give as part of that deal.

Without any warning

However, a few days after the conclusion of discussions in the war cabinet, and after the conditions that would guide Israel in the current course of action were agreed upon, Netanyahu delayed the outline and increased the demands without coordinating with the ministers of the war cabinet.

According to reports, the ministers involved in the discussions found out about this later, and some of them even confronted the prime minister to express their anger.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and MKo Benny Gantz, holds a news conference in Tel Aviv on Saturday night. (credit: Abir Sultan/Reuters)

Sources within the government said that Netanyahu is "missing out on an opportunity to advance a hostage release deal."

On the other hand, political sources said that "they are still working on an Israeli outline; It has not been stopped."

Yair Lapid weighs in on the situation

Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid commented on these developments, stating, "The reports about the defense minister's separation from security decisions that affect the continuation of the fighting and the lives of the hostages are further evidence that Israel has an incompetent prime minister with an incompetent government. Israel needs a change now."

The father of Sgt. Adir Tahar, who fell on October 7, told Channel 14 that Gazans tried to sell his son's head for $10,000.

In an interview given to Channel 14's show Now, David Tahar told the hosts about the journey he went on to bring his son's remains home for burial.

David began by describing his son's final moments in combat saying "His death was very very difficult."

"They fired a rocket at him and 3 grenades, according to the autopsy I received his whole body was filled with shrapnel."

"Unfortunately, his body was abused after his death," continuing "The terrorists, they call them barbarians this is complimenting them, they just beheaded him and took his head back to Gaza with them."

Fallen soldier Sgt. Adir Tahar. (credit: IDF SPOKESMAN’S UNIT)

"Over the course of two and a half months, I turned the world upside down to try and understand where the head was."

Interrupting him the host asks, "You received a body without a head?"

"I received a body without a head and I pleaded with the army to see the body, because, at a certain point, you lose faith in the army."

"They tried to explain to me that I shouldn't see it." 

"But I'm the type of dad who has to know everything about his kids."

"Half an hour before the burial, the body arrived at Mount Herzel. My nephew and I were the only ones present. I opened the coffin, looked inside, and immediately understood what I was burying."

"Could you identify him?" asks the host.

"It was not possible to identify him [physically], we had to identify him from the DNA test. At the funeral, I already knew I was burying a son who was missing an important part of his body. Then began the search for his missing body part."

The search begins

"Every person I met for the next two months plus, I would ask for information. At the very least I could understand where it was."

David watched as much footage from the aftermath of October 7 as possible to try and help understand what had happened to his son's head. He eventually found the footage of his son, where he could see his son had been beheaded.

"Three weeks ago a miracle happened. I'm calling it a miracle because it is not something simple."

"The Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), through an interrogation with arrested terrorists, discovered that one of the terrorists had tried to sell his head."

"He tried to sell a soldier's head for $10,000. It's simply a terrifying level of barbarity."

"Special forces combined with armored brigades entered Gaza and in an ice cream store in Palestine Square, just so you understand where they put it. In a duffel bag, next to some of the terrorist's documents and tennis balls, they found my son's head."

"Did they manage to return it?"

"They returned what remained after two and half months."

"It appears to have undergone abuse there too."

"We took the bones that remained, and they did a DNA and dental test to make sure it was really his head. I buried what remained in coordination with the Rabbinate."

In his memory, his family wants to start a center in his name to help at-risk youth in Jerusalem, they have also begun the writing of a Torah scroll in his name.

The US announced its designation of the Houthis as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist group on Wednesday, according to a statement from Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, which will take effect in 30 days. 

Today's announcement comes after the US and UK, with support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada, and the Netherlands, struck Houthi targets in over 100 airstrikes across Yemen within the past week, the Post reported. 

The State Department previously issued the Foreign Terrorist Organization designation to the Houthis, but revoked it in February 2021 due to the dire humanitarian situation in Yemen, a move Moammar Al-Eryani, information minister of the Republic of Yemen, heavily criticized in a 2021 editorial in the Post. 

At separate news briefing Wednesdays, both State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller and White House National Security spokesman John Kirby said the removal of the FTO designation in 2021 was not a mistake. 

"The previous designation was FTO, Foreign Terrorist Organization, which doesn't have quite the measure of flexibility in terms of humanitarian assistance," Kirby said. "So a big reason why we delisted them literally on day one was to address a dire, dire humanitarian situation on the ground."

WHITE HOUSE National Security Council spokesman John Kirby answers questions during a daily press briefing, earlier this month. (credit: REUTERS/EVELYN HOCKSTEIN)

The humanitarian situation remains dire, Kirby said, and the Houthis are more concerned with gaining weapons capabilities and attacking ships in the Red Sea. 

Miller said the US will continue to make it clear to the Houthis that their attacks against commercial vessels must stop, and that the US will remain prepared to take additional actions if necessary. 

Miller said the US is aware of the "grave humanitarian" situation in Yemen and is working to mitigate the adverse impacts of the designation on the people of Yemen, by ensuring that food, fuel, essential commercial goods, and humanitarian aid can reach civilians. 

Miller said the US chose to use the Specially Designated Global Terrorist designation instead of the FTO designation as the latter ran the risk of having a deterrent effect on aid groups. 

"We saw when there was previously an FTO designation in place, it did have a deterrent effect on aid groups," Miller said. 

At the White House on Wednesday, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the designation takes effect 30 days from now in order to allow the US time to work with aid organizations to ensure that groups understand the ramifications of the designation. 

Houthis changed since 2021

According to Miller, the circumstances surrounding the Houthis have changed in the last few years as the group was not launching attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea in 2021. 

Miller said the US is also taking military actions that it was not taking in 2021 because it's a different situation now. 

The designation will allow the US to deny the Houthis access to the US financial system, according to Miller, and enable sanctions on "other bad actors who support them."

Miller said the designation generally gives the US more tools to go after the Houthis access to funds it wants to deny them. 

Both Miller and Kirby were questioned on statements from Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister who on Tuesday said the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea are connected to the war in Gaza. 

Miller said this linkage is "a bit absurd" as commercial ships attacked by the Houthis are not flagged as Israeli or US ships. 

"Which is the point that we have tried to make clear in marshaling this international coalition to impose consequences on the Houthis," Miller said. "So the message to Iran is the same as it was to the Houthis, which is attacking unarmed civilian vessels that are just sailing through international waters, has nothing to do with the conflict in Gaza, and we will do what we need to do to deter those attacks."

"Now, we don't think it's in Iran's interest to see any escalation, and we think Iran should send a very clear, deliberate message to all of its proxies to stand down, to stop fomenting instability across the region," Miller said. 

CNN anchor Jake Tapper shared a clip on X on Wednesday showing Hamas beheading Israelis and engaging in other ISIS-like tactics.

Tapper shared a clip from his show The Lead, where Hamas's tactics were shown to mirror ISIS's tactics.

pic.twitter.com/MpHk47P44j

— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) January 17, 2024

The clip showed still images from a security camera in Kibbutz Nir Oz, where a Hamas terrorist can be seen wielding a knife and "sawing" at the necks of the victims of the attack.

"Evidence of beheadings, cementing an Israeli view that Hamas is now akin to jihadi groups like al-Qaeda and ISIS," says Matthew Chance reporting for CNN.

Chance goes on to describe the similarities between Hamas's tactics and those of ISIS saying "[ISIS] which also used beheadings, torture, and sexual violence against their captives."

"While the two groups use similar brutal tactics, their goals remain different."

An ISIS flag seen at Israel's kibbutz Sufa following a massacre by infiltarting Hamas terrorists, pictured on October 11, 2023 (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)

Hamas-ISIS: key similarities and differences

Peter Neumann, Professor of War Studies at King's College London, tells CNN that although Hamas and ISIS are both Islamist groups there are key differences. 

He highlights that Hamas's principal enemy is Israel, while ISIS wishes to establish a global transnational caliphate and thus considers every country in the world its enemy.

Another difference is that Hamas doesn't seek out foreign fighters, instead focusing on recruiting Palestinians.

Chance then asks, "Is Hamas becoming more like ISIS?"

Neumann answers "Ideologically it is not becoming more like ISIS, but tactically and strategically it is."

He says that Hamas is considering widening its area of operations including committing acts of terror abroad, Chance then notes that Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands all just recently arrested several people suspected of being members of Hamas cells in Europe.

Neumann says that groups such as ISIS are now drawing on Israel's response to the attacks to recruit people for terrorism in the West.

Chance says that although previously Western governments had been resistant to treating Hamas as they had treated ISIS, there is a shift currently underway.

The IDF could not confirm the cause of death of killed Gaza hostages Ron Sherman and Nick Beiser, the military confirmed in a Wednesday statement.

IDF representatives arrived at the families of the kidnapped soldiers, Sgt. Ron Sherman and Cpl. Nick Beiser, in order to inform them of the findings regarding the circumstances of their deaths in Hamas captivity late Tuesday night.

Their bodies were retrieved from a Hamas tunnel by the IDF in Jabalya on December 14, 2023, together with the body of Elia Toledano. Also, on December 12, 2023, the IDF recovered the bodies of Aden Zakaria and Ziv Dado from the same area.

Close to where the bodies were found, the IDF attacked a tunnel in which the commander of the northern division of Gaza, Ahmad Al Ghandour, was killed. The investigation shows that at the time of the attack, the IDF did not know about the presence of hostages in the area. Also, the forces who found their bodies during searches in the tunnel did not have prior intelligence about their presence.

The entrance of a Hamas tunnel shaft found by IDF soldiers in Gaza. (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)

Ron Sherman’s mother, Maya, published a post yesterday in which she accused the IDF of mistakingly killing her son.

“The results of the investigation: Ron was indeed murdered,” she wrote. “Not by Hamas. Think more in the direction of Auschwitz and the showers but without Nazis and without Hamas as the cause. No accidental shooting, no report, premeditated murder, bombings with poisonous gases.”

According to her, the IDF filled the tunnel in which he was held with gas, and his son was poisoned to death.

“Ron was kidnapped because of the criminal negligence of all the senior officials of the army and the damned government who gave the order to eliminate him in order to settle a score with some terrorist from Jabalya.” The mother claimed that “they found that he also had several crushed fingers, apparently due to his desperate attempts to get out of the poison grave that the IDF buried in him when he tried to breathe air, but he only breathed IDF poison. There is no future for this country if this is what they did to you after they abandoned you that Saturday. What was the decision if Bibi’s son was there in the terrorist’s tunnel or Gallant’s grandson? Or the son of Hertzi Halevi? Would they also have been poisoned with gas bombs?”

Findings of the reports

According to a statement released by the IDF, the pathology report shows that no signs of injury or gunshots were found on their bodies, so they were not killed as a result of a direct hit from the attack.

The statement continues, “Due to the condition of the bodies, it is not possible to determine the cause of death. At this stage, it cannot be ruled out or confirmed that they were killed as a result of suffocation, poisoning, or residual aspects of an IDF attack or a Hamas operation. Samples were taken to carry out further toxicological testing, which may reveal more details later. As mentioned, at this stage, it is not possible to determine the cause of death.”

The IDF and its commanders have promised to continue to update them with any verified information and new findings.

The original story

The bodies of three Hamas hostages – Nick Beiser (28), Ron Sherman (19), and Elia Toledano (19) – were recovered in Gaza by the IDF in mid-December. Soldiers from the 551st Brigade and Unit 504 in the Intelligence Division, under the command of Division 162, helped rescue the bodies from Hamas captivity.

Cpl. Nick Beiser, from Beersheba, was kidnapped while serving as a driver at the Gaza Coordination and Liaison Administration on October 7.

Sgt. Ron Sherman, from Lehavim, was kidnapped while serving as a coordination and liaison officer at the Gaza Coordination and Liaison Administration on October 7.

When Sherman was kidnapped, he was not on duty. Sherman woke up to explosions outside his base and went to a bomb shelter in shorts and a t-shirt, without a weapon.

Elia Toledano was kidnapped from the Re’im music festival on October 7 alongside his girlfriend Mia Schem, who was released from captivity last month as a part of the hostage-prisoner exchange deal between Israel and Hamas. Schem had appeared in a propaganda video released by Hamas where her right arm appeared to be injured. After she was released, she appeared in a number of interviews with major Israeli news networks, detailing her captivity.

An identification procedure was carried out by medical officials, military rabbis, and forensic experts.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Wednesday said during a visit to the Shayetet 13 Israeli Navy seals base in the northwestern city of Atalit that the IDF needs to double the number of killed Hamas terrorists from 9,000 to 18,000 or more.

Gallant said, "There is only one legal response for actions like those perpetrated on the seventh of October – elimination of the organization. Hamas has more than 9,000 dead, we need to double that number, and even that will not be enough."

Given that the rate at which the IDF is killing or arresting Hamas terrorists has dropped significantly in the last month, it was unclear how Gallant thought Israel would accomplish this.

The defense minister also responded to implicit calls by his fellow war cabinet ministers Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot, as well as calls by Opposition Leader Yair Lapid and many media commentators to put returning Hamas’s Israeli hostages ahead of completely defeating Hamas.

'I hear the rumors - we will continue fighting until victory'

He stated, "I hear the rumors [about a hostage exchange deal with Hamas without full victory] – [but] we will continue fighting until victory. Not near, not almost, not basically - but until we smite the Hamas organization, take away all of its significant military capabilities, and remove it from power in Gaza.”

As long as there are hostages in Gaza, he said, “we have no right to stop the fighting,” adding that “the only way to bring the hostages home is military pressure.

Minister of Defence Yoav Galant and IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi seen during a tour on near the border with Lebanon, northern Israel, March 16, 2023. (credit: DAVID COHEN/FLASH 90)

Gallant continued, "What is being done in the northern area of Gaza is a dismantling all of the capabilities, the frameworks of their battalions, and as a result, IDF brigades can maneuver from place to place, including Beit Lahia, Beit Hanoun, and Jabalia, and the same is true for the eastern part central Gaza, and we will get there in Khan Yunis as well.”

He also promised Hamas it would see unspecified “surprises” regarding the hostages.

Halevi: 'IDF committed to bringing back security to the North' 

Also on Wednesday, IDF Chief-of-Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said, “I do not know when the war in the North will be, but I can tell you that the probability of it happening in the coming months is much greater than it was in the past.”

Further he said that he believed that the IDF would start such a war in a much stronger position militarily. In recent days, the IDF revealed that it has destroyed 750 Hezbollah targets in the last three months, moving back many of the terror group’s forces from the border with Israel.

Halevi said the IDF is committed to returning a real sense of security to the northern border so residents from evacuated villages will come back having been evacuated in October.

On one hand, Halevi’s statement seemed tailored to work in parallel with an unusually large IDF series of dozens of attacks on Hezbollah all in Wadi Saluki Village on Tuesday.

On the other hand, Halevi and other top Israeli officials have been making strident threats against Hezbollah for months without there being any clear end game or timing of when the IDF would launch a much larger attack if Jerusalem’s patience for a diplomatic solution runs out.

Meanwhile on Wednesday, the IDF killed the Hezbollah terrorists responsible for rocket fire toward Rosh Hanikra earlier in the day, the Israeli military said.

Earlier on Wednesday, several launches were detected from Lebanon to northern Israel. One of the Hezbollah launch teams that fired rockets at Rosh HaNikra was identified immediately after the launch by an IDF aircraft that followed and attacked it.

Later, Air Force fighter jets attacked a number of active rocket launch teams and terrorist infrastructure in southern Lebanon.

This is in addition to IDF artillery strikes in other areas in southern Lebanon.

For its part, Hezbollah also fired a number of anti-tank missiles on Israel.

In Gaza, a joint operation conducted by the IDF and the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), Bilal Nofal, Hamas;s chief of counterintelligence, which put him in charge of interrogating Palestinians suspected of espionage on behalf of Israel, was eliminated by an IDF air strike.

Nofal played a crucial role in advancing Hamas's research and development processes, and his elimination is expected to significantly degrade the organization's capacity to adjust and adapt new lessons from the war in real time.

The operation comes in the wake of a rocket attack on the city of Netivot on Tuesday when 50 rockets were fired at the southern Israeli city. Following that attack, IDF troops successfully located the launch compound within the Gaza Strip, from which the rockets were fired.

The troops discovered three launchers, each equipped with ten barrels, some of which were loaded with rockets. The compound and the launchers were promptly destroyed by the IDF, thwarting potential future attacks.

In order to destroy the launchers and the compound, the IDF killed a number of terrorists and captured seven others who had been involved in Tuesday’s rocket attacks.

In Khan Yunis, IDF forces identified three terrorists attempting to escape to a building after firing mortar shells at the troops. A helicopter was deployed to strike and eliminate the three terrorists.

Meanwhile, in the outskirts of Sheikh Ijlin in central Gaza, IDF troops identified and targeted two terrorists with the assistance of an IAF aircraft. The operation also led to the discovery of large quantities of weapons in the area.

Also, the IDF announced the death of St.-Sgt. Oriya Ayimalk Goshen and St.-Sgt.-Maj. (res.) Anwar Serhan on Wednesday.

Oriya Ayinalk Goshen, 21, was a Sayeret Givati soldier from Jerusalem. He fell in combat in the southern Gaza Strip.

Anwar Serhan was 26 years old from Hurfeish and a soldier in the 910th Battalion. He was killed in a car crash during operations in Gush Etzion, the IDF said.

Earlier on Wednesday, it was announced that two IDF soldiers were killed in action in the northern Gaza Strip.

Maj. (res) Zachariah Pesach Haber, 32 years old, from Jerusalem, an armored fighter, and Sergeant Maj. (res) Yair Katz, 34 years old, from Holon, a fighter, both in the 87th Battalion, 14th Strike Brigade, fell in a battle in the northern Gaza Strip.

In addition, a reserve fighter in the 52nd Battalion, Iron Footprint Formation (401), was seriously injured in a battle in the northern Gaza Strip, and a reserve combat medic in the 6261st Brigade, Brigade 261, was seriously injured near the Gaza border.

An IDF reservist was wounded during an overnight operation in Tulkarm when terrorists threw explosives and began shooting at IDF forces, according to an IDF statement.

The reservist was seriously wounded after being hit by gunfire. The soldier was taken to hospital for medical treatment, and his family has been notified.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a series of statements that according to recent assessments of the ongoing Hamas war, the conflict could continue for months and possibly into 2025, N12 reported on Wednesday.

Netanyahu announced the possibility of continuing into 2025 while speaking with heads of the authorities of the Gaza border communities.

He made further statements about the continuation of the war while visiting the Navatim Air Force base in the south of the country.

At the beginning of the visit, the Prime Minister arrived at Squadron 116, which operates the F-35 aircraft.

The Prime Minister received an operational report from the base commander, Brigadier General Yotam Sigler, and the commander of the 116 squadron, Lt. Col. D, on their activities so far in combat in all the arenas and on the various missions they perform, including assisting forces that are operating in Gaza, conducting strikes in the northern arena, and detection and interception of hostile air targets.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is shown an F-35i aircraft January 17, 2024 (credit: KOBI GIDON / GPO)

After the initial briefing, Netanyahu addressed the state of the war to them. "The war continues, and it will continue until the end until we complete all our goals: the return of the hostages, the elimination of Hamas, and the promise that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel."

"To make clear so that no one will be mistaken, We will continue to fight on land, at sea, and in the air, until complete victory," he concluded.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said on Wednesday that Tehran shared intelligence with Iraq about what it said were activities of the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad in Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region.

Iran has said its Revolutionary Guards attacked Israel's "spy HQ" in Iraq in the city of Erbil on Monday. Iraq later denied that there was any such spy center in the country.

What happened in Erbil “had to do with the elements and agenda of the Mossad of the Israeli regime,” Amirabdollahian said as he explained that Iran acted in retaliation for its attacks against Iran during a public interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland conducted by journalist Fareed Zakaria. 

“Any kind of action that is carried out by the Zionist regime against our people, the Republic of Iran will respond to it vigorously,” Amirabdollahian said.

Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian attends a press conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, August 17, 2023. (credit: AHMED YOSRI/ REUTERS)

“We hit the Mossad base in one spot in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, and we hit it with precision missiles. This doesn’t mean that we hit and targeted Iraq. We targeted Israel, which remains a common enemy of both of us,” Amirabdollahian stressed.

“Our security people are examining the matter and sharing information with the security advisors of Iraq. Our information confirmed that the spot belonged to the Mossad, and there was no mistake that was made by us,” he said.

Iran has a legitimate right to defend itself against Israel, which is taking advantage of the Kurdistan region to act against Tehran, Amirabdollahian said. He spoke amid heightened tensions between Israel and Iran over the Gaza war and attacks by the Iranian proxy group the Houthis against Red Sea Cargo ships.