Israel at war: What happened on day 120?

Soldiers of the IDF's 5th Reserve Brigade combat team, operating in northern Gaza under Division 162's command, last week discovered and destroyed a tunnel shaft that led to a Hamas hideout apartment, which also contained an underground elevator, Maariv reported on Saturday, citing the IDF.

The demolition of the tunnel shaft took place in the al-Shati neighborhood in the Gaza Strip and was done so in cooperation with the Israeli air force.

Video of the operation can be seen below:

Location of intelligence documents and weapons

The brigade's soldiers located many weapons and intelligence documents, the latter of which were confiscated, and rocket launchers, which were destroyed. The soldiers were also stationed in defense missions in the surrounding area and later fought in the depths of the Strip as well.

Launchers that were discovered by the IDF in northern Gaza. (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)

The 5th Brigade's combat team completed its mission and will be replaced by other Israeli forces in the area.

Turkey's National Intelligence Agency (MIT) chief Ibrahim Kalin met Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Qatar's capital Doha, Turkish state broadcaster TRT said on Saturday.

Kalin and Haniyeh discussed efforts for a ceasefire in Gaza, the Israeli hostages held in the enclave, and the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza, according to TRT.

The IDF, Shin Bet, and Border Police operated overnight in central Israel and the West Bank on Friday, making six arrests, the IDF stated on Saturday.

During the activities of the Israeli forces in the Palestinian city of Nablus, the IDF reported that the security forces arrested an individual who was carrying a firearm.

Also in Nablus, the Israeli personnel reportedly located and destroyed an explosive device.

To the north, in the Palestinian city of Tubas, located in the Jordan Valley Division, Israeli forces arrested a wanted individual.

The individual was detained alongside military equipment, which was also confiscated.

IDF soldiers demolish the home of terrorist Osama Tawil in Nablus. (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)

Arrested individuals transferred for questioning

The half dozen individuals who were arrested over the duration of the activities were later transferred for further interrogation by security personnel, the IDF added. No injuries were reported among the Israeli forces.

According to the IDF, roughly 3,000 wanted individuals have been arrested in the West Bank since October 7. Nearly half of these individuals (over 1,350) are reportedly affiliated with Hamas.

The US Central Command said on Saturday that US forces engaged and shot down several unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) over the Red Sea on Friday, and also destroyed four drones that Houthi forces were preparing to launch from Yemen.

"US forces identified the UAVs in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen and determined that they presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and the US Navy ships in the region," a Centcom statement said.

Israeli fighter jets struck several targets in southern Lebanon on Saturday, destroying Hezbollah infrastructure, the  IDF spokesperson's unit said.

Among the Hezbollah infrastructure targeted by the IDF were military headquarters and outposts.

During the operation, the IDF struck two military outposts near the towns of Marwahin and Ayta ash Shab, as well as a military headquarters in the area of Yaroun, the Israeli military reported.

On the same day three missile launches were detected coming from Lebanon falling in open areas near Bar'am and Zar’it, no casualties were reported.

Members of Hezbollah attend the funeral of Wissam Tawil, a commander of Hezbollah's elite Radwan forces in Lebanon, January 9, 2024 (credit: REUTERS/AZIZ TAHER)

Intermittent northern skirmishes

Intermittent skirmishes in the north have led to the evacuation of over 80,000 residents of the North since October 7, with over 80 houses taking direct hits from Hezbollah missiles.

An internal Justice Ministry memo leaked on Thursday recommended increased preparations in the north for worsening conditions, including possible blackouts.

The Iraqi foreign ministry on Saturday summoned the US chargé d'affaires in Baghdad to deliver a formal memorandum of protest over US airstrikes in Iraq, the state news agency INA reported.

Iran's foreign ministry on Saturday condemned overnight US airstrikes in Iraq and Syria as "violations of the sovereignty and territorial integrity" of the two countries.

In Tehran's first response to the US strikes, ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said in a statement that they represented "another adventurous and strategic mistake by the United States that will result only in increased tension in instability in the region."

The US military launched airstrikes against more than 85 targets linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) and the militias it backs, in retaliation for last weekend's drone attack in Jordan that killed three US troops.

While the strikes did not target sites inside Iran, they signaled a further escalation of conflict in the Middle East from Israel's nearly four-month war on Hamas-ruled Gaza.

The Israel-Hamas war

Kanaani said the US attacks were designed "to overshadow the Zionist regime's crimes in Gaza." He did not indicate if Iran would take any action in response.

A plane preparing to take off as part of the joint airstrike operation by the British, French and US militaries in Syria, is seen in this picture obtained on April 14, 2018 via social media (credit: COURTESY FRENCH MILITARY/TWITTER/VIA REUTERS)

He urged the UN Security Council to prevent "illegal and unilateral US attacks in the region."

Before the US retaliatory strikes on Friday, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said Iran would not start a war but would "respond strongly to anyone who tries to bully it."

Kanaani said "the root cause of tensions and crises in the Middle East is Israel's occupation and genocide of Palestinians with America's unlimited support."

Members of the "Together with the Kippur 73 veterans" association have embarked on a new public campaign, calling on the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to bear public responsibility for his guilt in not preventing the October 7 massacre, to set the nearest date for new elections and to establish a state commission of inquiry as soon as possible.

Yom Kippur War veterans state in their new campaign, "Netanyahu has been at the helm for 14 years, he is responsible and he is guilty of the failure in 2023. His refusal to bear responsibility, as Golda Meir did after the failure in 1973, has created a serious crisis of confidence that necessitates going to the elections and establishing a state commission of inquiry now."

The veterans, who warned several times during the past year that the failure that occurred in 1973 could happen again in 2023, strongly condemned Netanyahu's attempt to escape from his responsibility for the failure on October 7, and place it only on the Chief of Staff and the heads of the IDF and Shin Bet, despite the fact that some of them have already bore responsibility.

The campaign also called on Netanyahu to act immediately to stop the incitement and the poisonous discourse against them in the media and social networks.

THOUSANDS OF protesters rally in Tel Aviv against the judicial reform plans of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government in February. (credit: GILI YAARI/FLASH90)

The Kippur campaign includes a series of activities throughout the country, and opened with videos entitled "You are the leader, you are guilty!"

The campaign accuses Netanyahu of a plethora of offenses

Among the articles of the indictment against Netanyahu in the campaign include, strengthening Hamas politically economically, and militarily, approving the transfer of billions of dollars that went to terrorism and tunnels, freeing Sinwar and making him a legitimate leader, refusing to listen to the repeated warnings of the Minister of Defense, the Chief of Staff, the Shin Bet and the head of the Security Council about the danger of war, the failure to convene the Security Cabinet, the dismissal of the Defense minister, and more.

As they said in the past, the foundation states today, "There is no choice, we must go to the elections and establish a state commission of inquiry that will investigate in depth all the reasons for the 2023 failure. The elected officials must come to an agreement on this now. This is the only way to heal the rifts in the nation, and to bring about a real restoration of society and to rebuild."

The United Arab Emirates has allocated $5 million in support of efforts of the chief United Nations Coordinator for the UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA), Sigrid Kaag, towards the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, state news agency WAM reported on Saturday.

Major donors to UNRWA earlier suspended funding after allegations emerged that around 12 of its tens of thousands of Palestinian employees were suspected of involvement in the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel by Hamas.

Dozens of terrorists have been eliminated all over the Gaza Strip, including by female combat soldiers, over the past day, according to the latest batch of updates announced by the IDF Saturday.

During targeted raids in the northern and central Gaza Strip over the last day, IDF troops from the Nahal brigade and the 401st brigade killed dozens of terrorists and destroyed numerous anti-tank missile launchers.

During a targeted raid on an office building used by Hamas, the troops located military equipment, weapons, and Hamas documents. 

Female combat soldiers stopped Hamas from transporting weapons

Separately, during an incident in the Shati area, female combat troops from the 414 Field Intelligence unit identified a number of Hamas terrorists who attempted to covertly transport weapons hidden in bags. In response, the troops directed an aircraft to the scene, which  promptly struck and eliminated the terrorist cell. 

In the western Khan Yunis area,  troops from the Givati Brigade killed approximately 20 terrorists. During one of the operations, a terrorist cell fired an anti-tank missile at an IDF vehicle. The troops quickly responded with live fire toward the three terrorists who were responsible, killing them. 

IDF soldiers raid a building in the Gaza Strip, February 3rd, 2024 (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)

Furthermore, in the area of Khan Yunis, IDF fighter jets struck a Hamas compound used to conduct combat, which was also harboring tunnel entrances. Additionally, soldiers from the 646th Brigade located AK-47 rifles, explosive devices, and additional weapons used by Hamas.

West of Khan Yunis, but not inside the city, soldiers from the Paratrooper Brigade killed several terrorists. During a targeted raid on a site near the area of the city, the troops located weapons, RPGs, grenades, military equipment, and scuba diving equipment used by Hamas for attempted infiltrations from the sea.