Israel-Hamas War: What happened on day 106?

An Israeli strike in southern Lebanon on Saturday killed two members of the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas as they were traveling in a car, three security sources in Lebanon told Reuters.

Israel has been carrying out air strikes in southern Lebanon against Palestinian terror groups based there as well, namely Hezbollah, a powerful armed group which has fired rockets across the border at Israel.

The dual objectives of rescuing the hostages and destroying Hamas are incompatible, four senior IDF commanders told the New York Times in an article published on Saturday.

The commanders spoke to the New York Times under the condition of anonymity because they are not permitted to speak publicly about their personal opinions.

They told the NYT that a drawn-out battle intended to fully dismantle Hamas would most likely cost the lives of the Israeli hostages held in Gaza since October 7.

The strategic difficulties have been made even worse by the indecisiveness of Israel's political leadership, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's comments regarding the post-war plan being cited as part of the difficulty.

They told the Times that without long-term post-war plans for Gaza, the army was unable to make short-term tactical decisions about how to capture the parts of Gaza that remained in Hamas's hands.

IDF soldiers operating in the tunnel used by Yahya Sinwar's brother in the Gaza Strip (credit: BENJAMIN WEINTHAL)

Three of the commanders said that Egypt was unwilling to involve itself with Israel's operation without postwar guarantees.

The commanders also expressed their belief that further deterioration in foreign relations due to the war would impact their ability to keep Israel safe and sufficiently supplied.

A diplomatic solution is fastest way to rescue hostages

A diplomatic solution would be the fastest way of returning the Israelis who remain in captivity, according to three of the commanders.

They also told the NYT that Hamas's military infrastructure was more sophisticated than imagined, with estimations of Hamas's tunnel network being nearly four times larger than previously thought.

They added that they worried that any attempt to rescue the hostages would lead to their deaths in the tunnel network.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated on X, formerly Twitter, on Saturday evening that he would not compromise on complete Israeli security control over the entirety of the land of Israel, including the West Bank.

He emphasized that this decision is not conducive to the formation of a Palestinian state.

"I will not compromise on full Israeli security control over all the territory west of Jordan," Netanyahu wrote. "And this is contrary to a Palestinian state."

לא אתפשר על שליטה ביטחונית ישראלית מלאה על כל השטח ממערב לירדן - וזה מנוגד למדינה פלסטינית.

— Benjamin Netanyahu - בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) January 20, 2024

A Joint Jewish-Arab peace demonstration was held in Haifa on Saturday afternoon, according to MKs from Hadash.

MKs Ofer Cassif and Youssef Atauna both posted their attendance on X (formerly Twitter).

"From the demonstration now in Haifa, Arabs and Jews together, call for an end to the war on Gaza, a prisoner deal - all for all - and a political horizon to end the conflict," posted Atauana.

מההפגנה עכשיו בחיפה, ערבים ויהודים ביחד, קוראים לעצור את המלחמה על עזה, עסקת שבויים - כולם תמורת כולם - ואופק מדיני לסיום הסכסוך pic.twitter.com/rxv7psfg8P

— يوسف العطاونة| יוסף עטאונה | Yousef Atawna (@yousefataw) January 20, 2024

Cassif stated, "We were in Haifa today to raise a different voice and cry out loud 'Enough!' enough of the bloodshed, enough of killing children, enough of the abductions, enough of sacrificing the soldiers on the altar of peace for Netanyahu and his gang!"

היינו בחיפה היום בכדי להשמיע קול אחר ולזעוק בקול גדול "די!", די לשפיכות הדמים, די להרג ילדים, די להפקרת החטופים, די להקרבת החיילים על מזבח שלום נתניהו וחבורתו!

״כן!״ להפסקת המלחמה, להחלפת שבויים ושחרור החטופים, "כולם תמורת כולם", כן לסיום הכיבוש ולעצמאות פלסטינית וכן לשלום… pic.twitter.com/sqNxVsSD7H

— Ofer Cassif עופר כסיף عوفر كسيف (@ofercass) January 20, 2024

Israel pounded targets across the Gaza Strip on Saturday while its planes dropped leaflets on the southern area of Rafah urging Palestinians seeking refuge there to help locate hostages held by Hamas, residents said.

In Rafah, where over a million Palestinians are taking shelter, Israel dropped leaflets showing photos of 33 hostages, their names written in Arabic, urging the displaced to make contact. "Do you want to return home? Please make the call if you recognize one of them," the leaflets read.

"They are asking people's help because they are unable to get to their hostages because of the resistance," said Abu Ali, one north Gaza resident. "End the war, Netanyahu, and get your people back," he told Reuters.

More than 100 of the hostages seized by Hamas were freed during a short-lived November truce. Israel says 132 remain in Gaza, 27 of whom have been killed in captivity.

Soldiers from the 55th brigade uncovered and destroyed additional rocket launchers and terror infrastructure in Khan Yunis, the IDF announced on Saturday.

According to the announcement,  over the past few days, soldiers from the 55th brigade engaged in combat with the the eastern battalion of Hamas's Khan Yunis brigade. During operations, the brigade encountered numerous smaller terrorist squads and eliminated them.

Rocket launchers and rockets found by soldiers of the 55th brigade in Khan Yunis January 20, 2024 (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)

The soldiers also searched a central operating area belonging to Hamas. They dismantled an underground tunnel route in the area, as well as successfully locating and destroying observation posts.

Additional terror structures were raided

With guidance from the intelligence corps, the soldiers raided additional terrorist infrastructures. As a result, they discovered dozens of rocket launchers, shells and intelligence documents. The rocket launchers  were successfully destroyed.

The IDF has reported that during one of the battles, a fighter from the 71st Battalion fell and three other fighters were injured.

An Israeli missile strike on Syria's capital Damascus on Saturday killed a member of Iran's Revolutionary Guards and wounded others, a security source in the regional pro-Syria alliance told Reuters.

Syrian state media said a likely Israeli attack had targeted a building in the Mazzeh neighborhood of Damascus, without giving further details. Other local media in Syria reported explosions heard across the Syrian capital.

The security source, part of a network of groups close to Syria's government and its major ally Iran, said the multi-story building was used by Iranian advisers supporting President Bashar al-Assad's government, and that it was entirely flattened by "precision-targeted Israeli missiles."

Israeli has not taken responsibility for strike 

There was no immediate confirmation from Israel.

Essam Al-Amin, head of the Al-Mowasat Hospital in Damascus, told local Syrian outlet Al-Watan Online that his hospital had received one corpse and three wounded people, including a woman, following Saturday's attack.

Gunmen stand during the funeral of two Palestinian Islamic Jihad gunmen who were killed in an Israeli raid, in Jenin refugee camp, in the West Bank May 10, 2023. (credit: RANEEN SAWAFTA/REUTERS)

A spokesman for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad told Reuters that no members of their group were wounded in the strike, following reports that some were at the bombed-out building.

Israel has long pursued a bombing campaign against Iran-linked targets in Syria. But it has shifted to deadlier strikes in the wake of the October 7 attack on Israel by terrorists of the Iranian-backed Palestinian Islamist group Hamas from Gaza.

In December, an Israeli strike killed two Guards members, and another on Dec. 25 killed a senior adviser to the Guards who was overseeing military coordination between Syria and Iran.

The Jordanian Armed Forces (JAF) claimed on Friday that the IDF struck the Jordanian Field Hospital in Khan Yunis, which also encompasses the Nasser Hospital.

Condemning the alleged attack, JAF's claim states that the attack included direct fire from tanks and vehicles, while also saying that the attack targeted the hospital's bunker where the staff is committed to work.

The JAF accusation also states that the position of the Israeli tanks was near the hospital. One had blocked the gate and fired on facilities. 

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi called the alleged attack a "flagrant violation of international law" on X. He also stated that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "rejects the two-state-solution, defying the international community" and accused him of "dooming region to more conflict."

IDF response

Regarding the attack, the IDF said, citing their systems, that Hamas carried out a launch attack on soldiers from within the Nasser Hospital earlier this week. Hamas also has a record of operating within Gazan hospitals in the past.

IDF soldiers operate in the Gaza's Khan Yunis on January 9, 2024 (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)

JAF, however, stated that Hamas was not active in the area, stating that it was "deliberate targeting of the Jordanian Field Hospital is consistent with Israel's approach to targeting hospitals in Gaza."

One JAF officer and one Gazan receiving treatment were injured in the attack, the JAF said. The injured officer was then evacuated back to Jordan.

This is the fourth time that a Jordanian field hospital has been targeted inside the Strip since the beginning of the war, according to the JAF.

A British civil servant has sparked outrage after she signed a petition that described the sexual violence perpetrated by Hamas on October 7 as "propaganda" used to justify Israel’s "genocide" against Palestinians, according to the Jewish Chronicle.

The Gender and Equalities Department worker signed a petition that alleged that the New York Times article, which confirmed the testimony of the victims of sexual violence on October 7, cited “no evidence.”

Dimpy Sanganee has what's been described as an "instrumental" role in tackling violence against women and girls particularly in fighting against female genital mutilation.

Following the JC's claims, the petition that she had signed disappeared from the website Change.org. The petition was originally posted by the Egyptian feminist group SpeakUp.

The petition claimed that even if there was sexual violence committed on October 7, there was "no evidence to support the occupation’s allegations" that they were committed by Hamas, instead, it deflected the blame towards the IDF.

People attend the 'We Stand With Israel' rally to express solidarity with the country on the 100 day anniversary since the October 7 attack by Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Trafalgar Square in London, Britain, January 14, 2024. (credit: REUTERS/Belinda Jiao)

A Foreign Office spokesperson told the JC that they would be investigating the incident saying, "We have a zero-tolerance approach to antisemitism. Allegations of discrimination of any kind are taken very seriously and will be fully investigated. The UK Government remains resolute in its support of Israel after the worst terrorist attack in its history."

Indoctrination of government workers?

This has fed into recent claims that the UK's Foreign Office workers have been receiving anti-Israel indoctrination at university courses meant to help educate them about counter-terrorism.

This claim was most recently made by Anna Stanley in the Fathom Journal a former civil servant who received such training at Kings College London (KCL) where she alleges she was taught that "Condemning terrorism is to endorse the power of the strong over the weak."

This was part of a series of what she claims are anti-Israel beliefs which are taught to the civil servants. She claims that Israel was the main example used to refer to when considering the question of whether a state can commit terrorism.

"Condemning terrorism is to endorse the power of the strong over the weak," this is another phrase Stanley claims was placed on one of the slides, she claims these inherently set up civil servants to have an anti-Israel bias.

She also claimed that one lecturer wished to see the suppression of Douglas Murray and Joe Rogan, saying "Concluding his talk, the lecturer told a room full of government professionals, ‘So, society needs to find other ways to suppress them.’"

Although, for context, Murray appears to be in a bit of a public feud with the same professor at KCL when he directly called out the professor on the British channel TalkTV, telling them that he has sent numerous legal letters to KCL and called for him to be suspended.

The professor, Peter Neumann, hit back against Murray in a letter sent to the Times. He told them "I am a center-right liberal and, as such, am highly critical of ‘cancel culture’, whether from the right or left. My strong belief is that, when it comes to politically controversial ideas, it is the job of society, not governments or lawmakers, to engage with and — if necessary — debunk them."

A KCL spokesperson told the JC: "This private, invite-only course for civil servants was delivered on behalf of the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office, and as with all our courses, attendees were taught by eminent experts using impartial and evidence-based resources in an environment where different theories, concepts, and questions are shared to prompt discussion".

IDF reserve soldiers, Border Police, and Shin Bet, all under the command of the Menashe Territorial Brigade, located over 400 explosives in the West Bank city of Tulkarm, according to a military update on Friday.

Explosives uncovered were discovered planted under roads to harm Israeli forces.

27 weapons and a lot of military equipment were confiscated during the operation. Additionally, five charge-manufacturing laboratories and four observation posts were destroyed by Israeli forces.

Footage of IDF activity can be seen below:

How many were eliminated and arrested?

Approximately 1,000 buildings were searched and hundreds of suspects were interrogated by Israeli forces. Overall, just 37 wanted persons were arrested in the city, some of them being senior members operating in terror infrastructures in Tulkarm. 

Explosives, weapons, and military equipment confiscated by Israeli forces in Tulkarm on January 19, 2024. (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)

An additional four terrorists, who threw explosives at Israeli soldiers, were eliminated by an aircraft directed by IDF's Unit 636.

One IDF reservist was injured by enemy forces since the beginning of the operation on Wednesday. Soldiers of the reservist's battalion reached the terrorists later in the operation, eliminated, and arrested some of them. Four weapons and cartridges were found on the arrested terrorists.