Israel-Hamas War: What happened on Day 115?

Following reports of an upcoming hostage deal, Hamas has rejected the proposal, Israeli media reported on Monday. 

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant spoke to IDF troops in the Gaza border communities and said, "A quarter of the Hamas terrorists were eliminated, and at least another quarter were wounded," Israeli media reported on Monday.

Foreign Minister Israel Katz said he directed Foreign Ministry workers to cancel any meetings with UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini, Israeli media reported on Monday.  

In addition, Katz called on Lazzarini to resign, according to the media. 

This comes amid reports suggesting the involvement of UNRWA workers in the October 7 attacks. 

Rocket sirens sounded on Monday in Tel Aviv and across central Israel.

The European Commission has called for an investigation into the United Nations Relief and Works Agency Gaza staff to ensure that they did not participate in the October 7 Hamas-led massacre of 1,200 people in southern Israel.

“A review of all UNRWA staff should be launched soonest to confirm that they did not participate in the attacks,” the European Commission said as it raised concerns over Israeli allegations that 190 UNRWA staff members had been part of that attack.

UNRWA fired nine of the accused staff members and has launched an investigation into the complaint, which includes a charge that a staff member kidnapped an Israeli woman, according to information published in the New York Times.

190 UNWRA staff members part of Oct. 7 attack, Israel alleges

European Union member states have been split on how best to respond to the allegations. Some eight of its 27-member bloc suspended already pledged funding for the 2024 budget pending the results of a UNRWA-led investigation.

Ireland and Norway have argued that funding should continue for the agency that has been the main provider of humanitarian aid to Gaza during the Israel-Hamas war and which has lost 152 staff members in that war.

The EU Commission, however, stopped short of declaring that it was suspending funding, stating instead that “Currently, no additional funding to UNRWA is foreseen until the end of February.”

A Palestinian student sits on a motorcycle as he watches a protest at the gate of the headquarters of UNRWA in Gaza City (credit: REUTERS)

It explained that the “EU is one of the largest donors of humanitarian and development aid to Palestinians in Gaza,” the commission stated. It assured the Palestinians that “humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank will continue unabated through partner organizations.”

Austria and Romania on Monday added their names to the growing list of some 15 countries that have suspended payments to UNRWA.

The Austrian Foreign Ministry stated that “Until all of these allegations have been clarified and the consequences drawn from them are clear, Austria, in coordination with international partners, will temporarily suspend all further payments to UNRWA.” 

Thirteen other countries have issued similar declarations: Australia, Canada, Estonia, France, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. 

Those declarations, if not rescinded, are expected to severely cripple the agency which provides services to 5.9 million Palestinian refugees in Gaza, the West Bank, east Jerusalem, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria.

At issue is the country's pledges toward the agency's 2024 budget, which is expected to top $1.6 billion. At stake already are some $363 million in pledges. 

UNRWA which is already challenged by meeting the humanitarian needs of Palestinians impacted by the Gaza war, the Syrian civil war, and the economic crisis in Lebanon has said it might not be able to provide basic vital services past February unless the donors rescind the monetary suspensions.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry called on more donor countries to suspend funding to UNRWA, which it charged on Monday was “a front for Hamas.” 

It has long been argued that UNRWA is associated with incitement against Israel and terror activity. UNRWA has denied those claims.

IDF soldiers in Gaza in the last months, however, reported finding weapons in facilities associated with UNRWA and charged that Hamas was able to expropriate the agency’s humanitarian aid.

Late last week Israel provided UNRWA with information alleging that 190 of its staff members participated in the October 7 attack, in which 1,200 people were brutally killed and another 253 were seized as hostages. The UN 
has since fired nine of the staff members in question and has opened an investigation into the allegations.

It has not made that information public. On Monday the Foreign Ministry tweeted that there are “reports of two Israeli hostages being imprisoned in the home of a UNRWA teacher.”

It also charged that some “300 UNRWA employees” had “praised the October 7th massacre.”

Israel has given some of the incriminating data on the 190 UNRWA employees to the New York Times, which published an article on it Monday.

Hundreds of UNRWA employees accused of supporting terrorism

“Seven of the accused were … said to be teachers at UNRWA schools, instructing students in subjects like math and Arabic. Two others worked at the schools in other capacities. The remaining three were described as a clerk, a social worker, and the storeroom manager,” the Times wrote.

In one case, a UNRWA school counselor from Khan Younis was accused of working with his son to kidnap a woman from Israel, the Times wrote.

It pointed, to another example, in which a UNRWA social worker from Nuseirat allegedly helped bring the body of a dead soldier into Gaza.

Israel agreed to the hostage deal as agreed in the Paris summit, Maariv reported on Monday. 

This is a developing story. 

The White House said on Monday that talks to secure a new release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza were constructive and promising, but there was still a lot of work to be done.

A series of negotiations in recent days involving CIA Director William Burns and US Middle East envoy Brett McGurk focused on securing the release of hostages as well as a humanitarian pause in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

"I think it's fair to describe them as constructive," White House national security spokesman John Kirby said on CNN.

"We think there's a framework here for another hostage deal. That could really make a difference in terms of getting more hostages out, getting more aid in and actually getting the violence to come down."

Protesters call for a ceasefire and an end to US military funding in the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, as they demonstrate inside the Rotunda of the US Capitol in Washington DC, December 19, 2023. (credit: REUTERS/ELIZABETH FRANTZ)

'Very good discussions with Qataris, Egyptians and Israelis'

US President Joe Biden has been trying to facilitate the release of the more than 100 hostages who remain captive after the deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israel by militants from Hamas, which rules Gaza.

Burns met with the head of Israel's Mossad intelligence service and Qatar's prime minister along with the head of Egyptian intelligence on Sunday in talks described as constructive by Israel, but with significant gaps in positions.

Kirby said there have been very good discussions with the Qataris, the Egyptians and the Israelis.

"We're not over the finish line right yet," he said on CNN. "But we feel pretty good about the discussions and where they're going and the promise of something potentially pretty significant."Some 1,200 people were killed and 253 abducted in Hamas' cross-border rampage on Oct. 7, according to Israeli officials. The attack ignited Israel's war to eliminate Hamas, unleashing a torrent of strikes on Gaza that have flattened most of the Palestinian enclave and killed more than 26,000 people, Palestinian health officials say.

Tensions have surged around the Middle East since Israel began its aerial and ground offensive, with Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi forces striking US and other targets in the Red Sea in attacks that have disrupted global shipping.

In a major escalation, three US service members were killed and at least 34 wounded in a drone attack by Iran-backed militants on US troops in northeastern Jordan near the Syrian border, US officials said on Sunday.

Troops of the 98th Division raided an underground tunnel located under the Bani Suheila cemetery in the heart of Khan Yunis,  the IDF reported on Monday. While inspecting the tunnel, the fighters found explosives and sliding doors and eliminated terrorists who were inside.

Inside the tunnel, the Israeli forces unearthed the office of the eastern Battalion commander from the Khan Yunis Brigade, from where he directed the October 7 attacks, according to the IDF. 

In addition, troops found operation rooms, a battalion combat war room, and bedrooms of senior officials of the Hamas terrorist organization.

Hamas reportedly used this tunnel to carry out their fight against Israeli forces above and underground.

Inside of the Khan Yunis tunnel. January 29, 2024. (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)

The tunnel is part of an underground labyrinth dug by Hamas terrorists. It is about a kilometer long, some 20 meters deep, and contains several complexes. the IDF noted.

Tunnel destroyed by engineering forces

At the end of the examination, the tunnel was destroyed by engineering forces.

Lt.-Col. Barak, operation branch officer at the 98th Division, said of the find, “We are in the center of the town of Bani Suheila, here in the Gaza Strip, right below the cemetery of Bani Suheila, and we are actually standing at the entrance to a cynical Hamas tunnel, which we are going to enter, you pass under the entire cemetery complex.

"From here is a wide tunnel with rooms, with electricity and running water and all the enabling infrastructure. Behind me is a kitchen complex. The kitchen we are in includes all the appliances.

"We see a wide kitchen in which those cursed terrorists planned to stay during the fighting. This space under the cemetery, tens of meters underground, would have enabled them to live long-term here.

"We know now that in the Guardians of the Walls Operation, this is where the seniors sat and actually managed the fighting," he added.

"We arrived at this complex that is under the cemetery, the same cynical use of a tunnel under a cemetery, just like the same cynical use of tunnels and trapped compounds – in mosques, In schools, in kindergartens."

Hamas claimed that its terrorist members do not harm civilians, "especially children, women and elderly," in a message sent out on one of the terror group's Telegram channels on Monday.

Despite well-documented, self-filmed evidence to the contrary, Hamas stated that "Avoiding harm to civilians, especially children, women, and elderly people is a religious and moral commitment by all the Al-Qassam Brigades’ fighters. The Palestinian fighters were keen to avoid harming civilians despite the fact that the resistance does not possess precise weapons. In addition, if there was any case of targeting civilians; it happened accidently."

A screenshot from a Hamas Telegram channel. January 29, 2024. (credit: Screenshot/Hamas Telegram)