Israel-Hamas War: What happened on day 111?

IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi held a situational assessment with military generals and reservists in the southern Gazan city of Khan Yunis on Thursday.

Following the assessment, Halevi stressed his "massive appreciation" for reservists operating on the ground in Gaza, telling troops that they are carrying out "historically significant" operations against the enemy, "with the number of problems per squared kilometers...the level of fighting was extremely high.

On IDF reservists who were withdrawn from the Strip this week, Halevi said: "Even when everyone is out [of Gaza], they must be taken care of, and after they are taken care of, we will resume fighting.

"Send them home knowing they are returning in peace. Together, we will take care of everything we need," he told commanders in Gaza.

US Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns will meet with Israeli, Egyptian and Qatari officials in Europe in the coming days for talks on a potential Gaza hostage deal, the Washington Post reported on Thursday, citing officials familiar with the matter.

A recent joint operation involving the IDF, Shin Bet, and Magav fighters was carried out in a comprehensive effort across the West Bank to counter potential terrorist activities, according to the IDF Spokesperson's Unit on Thursday.

The operation resulted in the arrest of 16 wanted suspects, the destruction of concealed explosives, and the neutralization of a terrorist threat.

The operation was widespread, taking place in multiple cities.

In Jenin, seven wanted individuals were arrested overnight. IDF reserve fighters, employing engineering tools, uncovered explosive charges strategically placed under roads intended to wound and kill IDF soldiers. Additionally, a firefight broke out between Israeli forces and terrorists in the nearby village of Bir al-Basha, in which one assailant was eliminated, and weapons were confiscated.

In Nablus, Israeli security forces successfully apprehended two wanted individuals. Additionally, a 3D printer used for weapon manufacturing was confiscated, mitigating potential future threats in that area.

SECURITY FORCES at the scene following the terror attack in the City of David, in eastern Jerusalem, on January 28. (credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)

 In Bethlehem and Kfar Harmela, Duvdevan soldiers arrested two wanted suspects. The apprehended individuals, along with confiscated weapons, were transferred to security forces for further processing.

So far, since the beginning of the war, approximately 2,700 wanted suspects have been arrested throughout the West Bank, over 1,300 of whom are associated with Hamas.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to insult Qatari efforts to negotiate a ceasefire and hostage deal with Hamas was "puzzling," former Mossad director Yossi Cohen told Walla on Thursday.

Cohen, who was previously groomed as a potential successor to Netanyahu in the Likud, criticized the prime minister and warned that Doha might choose to leave the negotiating table if Netanyahu's attacks persist.

"It is puzzling to me," the former Mossad chief admitted. "When I was present in discussions in the first days [of the war], I recommended maintaining our relationship with Qatar to the fullest extent possible.

"My real worry is that, if we don't do that, we will reach a crisis too large to overcome," Cohen continued. "Qatar would escape from the negotiating table, and we would be left without effective mediating," he warned.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, and Qatar Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari, right. (credit: REUTERS/IMAD CREIDI, RONEN ZVULUN/REUTERS)

Former Mossad chief calls for total disengagement from Gaza

Cohen, speaking on the day-after plans for Gaza, proposed what he called a "total" disengagement.

"I would like to argue for a total disengagement from Gaza," Cohen further told Walla. "We may have already disengaged, but not truly," he said.

"There is not a soldier, officer, woman, or child in the Gaza Strip..we gave them the entire 365 squared kilometers. The responsibility for the Gazan population's well-being rests in our hands. That must change," Cohen added.

Earlier on Thursday, the families' campaign to free the hostages accused Netanyahu and his associates of intentionally stoking tensions with Qatar by leaking a tape in which he insulted Doha’s efforts to negotiate a deal.

"All conversations that take place in meetings with the Prime Minister are recorded by his office and his associates present at the meeting,” the campaign’s spokesperson, Haim Rubinstein, said.

“The decision whether to leak information concerning the deal and its intermediaries is the Prime Minister's office,” Rubinstein stated.

Tovah Lazaroff contributed to this report.

Israel has declassified more than 30 secret orders made by government and military leaders in order to rebuke claims that it has committed genocide in Gaza, according to a New York Times report on Thursday.

The aim of the released documents, according to the report, was to show Israeli efforts to diminish civilian deaths among Palestinians.

Declassified documents suggest Israel makes serious efforts to preserve life

Among the documents revealed to the ICJ are dossiers from cabinet meetings and emails between military officers and aid workers in order to prove that Israel is making active efforts to preserve civilian lives in the strip.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, flanked by Defense Minister Yoav Gallant (left) and IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi, holds a security assessment in Tel Aviv. (credit: HAIM ZACH/GPO)

If the court deems this sufficient, it would go against claims that Israel has the intent to destroy Palestinian presence in the strip entirely.

This report comes following the ICJ case earlier this month in which South Africa accused Israel of committing genocide during the current war.

The ICJ has confirmed that it will submit its ruling about placing provisional measures on Israel this Friday.

The targeting of ships linked to Israel will continue until aid reaches the Palestinian people in Gaza, Yemen's Houthis leader Abdel-Malek al-Houthi said on Thursday in a televised speech.

"Our country will continue its operations until food and medicine reach the people of Gaza," he said.

The group's leader added that the results of the latest US and British escalation would be counterproductive and would not affect "our will and determination."

The IDF on Thursday attacked a key Hezbollah-Iran airstrip at Kilat Jaber for launching aerial attacks against Israel in a major escalation between the sides.

In September 2023, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant revealed pictures showing the joint Hezbollah-Iranian terror base in southern Lebanon only 20 kilometers from the border with Israel.

Gallant said at the time that at the airport, one can see Iran’s flag flying on the runways from which the ayatollahs’ regime is using to plot against Israel.

The defense minister also said, “Put differently, the land is Lebanese, the control is Iranian, the target is Israel.”
He said Israel must “remain aware and at [the] ready, with our eyes set on the binoculars and our fingers on the trigger.”

Gallant added that Iran remains the greatest threat to Israel, though sometimes it uses Hezbollah and other proxies to fight its wars against the Jewish state.

Smoke and flares during an exchange of fire between the IDF and Hezbollah terrorists on the border between Israel and Lebanon, November 12, 2023. (credit: AYAL MARGOLIN/FLASH90)

If Hezbollah “goes toward a conflict with us, they will pay a high price.”

“We will not allow Iran to turn Syria into a Hezbollah 2.0” with powerful rockets, he said.

Previous IDF strikes

Only last week, the Jerusalem Post was present when top defense officials were asked about when the base would be struck, and they dropped hints that such an attack might not be far off, without committing to any timeframe.

The air force also attacked a series of Hezbollah targets in the areas of Tzur and Ma'ira in the territory of Lebanon.

Earlier Thursday, Hezbollah launched two "hostile aerial objects" into Israel which fell near Kfar Blum, the IDF said in extremely vague terms regarding whether IDF defenses functioned properly.

In addition, the IDF attacked other Hezbollah locations in Lebanon using artillery and mortars.

The military added that no one was hurt and no damage was caused.

Calling his fellow IDF soldiers heroes, Fauda actor and singer Idan Amedi, 35, spoke emotionally on Thursday as he was released from Sheba Medical Center after being seriously injured on duty in Gaza on January 8.

“I want to share a hug with the grieving families. As someone who knows the loss up close, I know there are no words that will comfort the heart. It is important for me that you know your sons and daughters are my heroes until the end of my days,” he said at a press conference with senior hospital officials.

“ Over the past three months, I met them on various fronts – we laughed together, we went out on operations together… we allowed ourselves to cry together.”

Amedi thanks both the medical staff at Sheba and 669, the Israeli Air Force’s tactical rescue unit, for saving his life. Amedi arrived at the hospital sedated and intubated, burned and covered in soot so that he was unrecognizable, tagged as he described it, “unidentified, 22 years old.” Now, two-and-a-half weeks later, he is ready to speak. He’s wearing all black, one arm in a sling and the opposite hand bandaged.

Idan called the press conference to spread a message about those injured in war

One reason he called a press conference, Amedi says, is to share “the deep understanding of someone injured in war.” He emphasizes that if there is something “good” that has happened as a result of his injury, it is his ability to be a messenger.

Fauda star, Idan Amedi, is one of the wounded soldiers in Gaza (credit: YES STUDIOS)

During his stay at Sheba, Amedi has met with other injured patients and sees this as an opportunity to share the difficulties and challenges that they face – himself included – as he begins a lengthy outpatient rehab. “They are people like us, who are used to being independent, are used to being strong. This in itself is a challenge. To digest that, there are things that will take months to renew. And to accept that there are things that will not be again ever.”

One of the things Amedi asks of the public is that they are there for the injured. “As you supported me, support them – including when they are released from the hospital. Let them express their pain, and hug and support them. Those who ran first and didn’t hesitate – out of their love for the people and the land – into the fire, they need you now.” Their injuries are not only physical, Amedi reminds his followers, but mental.

Idan honored his fallen "brothers-in-arms"

When discussing his nine “brothers-in-arms” killed during the operation on January 8th, Amedi is emotional. “Two of the soldiers killed were friends on my team” (Sgt. Maj. (res.) Akiva Yasinskiy, 35, and Sgt. First Class (res.) Gavriel Bloom, 27).

“Gavri was a professional soldier… I was given the privilege to get to know him during the war, to fight next to him, he was a person with an inner strength and a happiness for life…”

“Akivush,” he pauses to collect himself. “Akiva and I have known each other since the age of 19… how do we part from you?”

“To the families of Gavri and Akivush, I want to say to you I am sorry that I didn’t succeed in my mission as a commander to bring them safely home….” Amedi cries.

This is as personal as it gets, and every word Amedi says comes from the heart. “The day will come, and I will talk about everything,” he adds.

In addition to talking about the war’s injured, Amedi discusses his involvement in efforts to return Israel’s hostages, not just in this war but over the last few years. He notes that what was once an issue for a few families has grown into an issue for many. “The most important message that I want to come out of this is we cannot abandon the hostages again.”

Regarding Fauda, Amedi says he hopes to be back for a fifth season once he recovers. But he closes by referring back to what might be his biggest role as a spokesperson for the people. “People are saying, ‘You are a hero, you are a symbol,’ so it is important for me to emphasize: I am part of those thousands of injured. I am a reserve soldier. That is how it was from the first moment, and I hope also after I recover, that is how it will be in the future.”

Norway has agreed to act as an intermediary to help unfreeze tax funds earmarked for the Palestinian Authority (PA) that are held by Israel, the Norwegian foreign minister said on Thursday.

Under interim peace accords reached in the 1990s, Israel's finance ministry collects tax on behalf of the Palestinians and makes monthly transfers to the PA. But no payments have taken place since November following the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas terrorists based in the Gaza Strip in October.

On Jan. 21, Israeli officials said the Israeli cabinet had approved a plan for frozen tax funds earmarked for the Gaza Strip to be held by Norway instead of transferred to the PA.

On Thursday, Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said Norway had agreed to act as an intermediary for the transfer of the tax funds but that the specifics were still being worked out.

"Work is now underway to try to establish the framework for such a solution. We are in dialog with both the Israeli and Palestinian authorities and other stakeholders," Barth Eide told Reuters, without giving further details.

PRIME MINISTER Benjamin Netanyahu and PA head Mahmoud Abbas shake hands at the funeral of Shimon Peres on Mount Herzl, in Jerusalem, in 2016. (credit: AMOS BEN GERSHOM/GPO)

He said he was deeply concerned about the PA's financial situation, which he described as "grave."

This revenue is necessary for the survival of the PA

In addition, the freeze "endangers the (PA's) ability to provide basic services, like paying salaries to health workers and teachers, among others," he said.

Accessing this revenue is key to the survival of the PA, which exercises limited self-rule in the West Bank.

Several Western countries, including the United States, want the PA to play a role in the administration of the Gaza Strip should the war come to an end.

Norway is part of an international effort to build a broad, Palestinian unity government, with Western nations aiming for the PA to play a key role in it.

The country served as a facilitator in the 1992-1993 talks between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization that led to the Oslo Accords in 1993.

On Nov. 2, Israel said it would proceed with a tax revenue transfer to the PA in the West Bank but would withhold funds bound for Gaza, ruled by Hamas but where the PA helps cover public sector wages as well as medicine and social assistance programs.

But on Nov. 6, the PA said it wanted the money in full and would not accept conditions that prevent it from paying its staff. It is estimated to spend some 30% of its budget in Gaza.

The United States and Britain will impose new sanctions on leaders of the Iran-aligned Houthi group, which will include at least four senior figures being subject to asset freezes and travel bans, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the plan.

Senior ministers in the Houthi administration in Yemen would also be sanctioned, with an announcement as early as Thursday, the report added.

This is a developing story.