Israel-Hamas War: What happened on day 151?

A new document issued by the Al-Qassam Brigades of Hamas reveals that the terror organization has been spying on the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, according to a post on X (formerly Twitter) by the IDF spokesperson in Arabic, Avichai Edri, on Tuesday.

#عاجل 🔴 حماس ضد الجهاد الإسلامي: وثيقة صادرة عن الاستخبارات العسكرية لكتائب القسام تكشف عن تجسس حماس على منظمة الجهاد الإسلامي الإرهابية وعملها على التأثير على المضامين الدعائية الصادرة عنها

⭕️ حماس تعترف في الوثيقة بشكل رسمي بعمليات الإطلاق الفاشلة للقذائف الصاروخية من قبل… pic.twitter.com/9zrzk7BfKs

— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) March 5, 2024

Written in Arabic, the post says that the document, dated in 2022, says that Hamas officially acknowledges failed rocket launches by the PIJ in August 2022. 

The document, which, according to the post, was recovered by IDF soldiers during ground operations in Gaza, also indicated that Hamas was dissatisfied with media content that was produced by the PIJ.

The report allegedly referred to three specific pieces of media content that the PIJ was producing: propaganda pieces meant to raise support for the organization's terror activities.

يتحدثون عن غرفة عمليات مشتركة للفصائل، وينشرون الأفلام الدعائية المشتركة، ويحاولون التظاهر بمظهر وحدة المنظمات، بيد أنه وراء الكواليس تتجسس حماس على الجهاد الإسلامي وتعمل على التأكد من عدم رفعه لرأسه، وتعترف بكذبها السافر حينما ساعدت المنظمة على إشاعة الأكاذيب بشأن عمليات إطلاق… pic.twitter.com/ZeApepLaam

— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) March 5, 2024

The report implicates an Al-Jazeera presenter as working with the two terror organizations

Additionally, the report indicated that Al-Jazeera presenter and host of the program "The Tip of the Iceberg" Tamer Almisshal was a point of contact between the two organizations and that members were to reach out to him to confirm that the spokesperson's office of Hamas's military wing approved of the propaganda material that it received from the PIJ.

Finally, the translated portion of the report also indicates that Hamas demanded that the PIJ doesn't exhaust its rocket capabilities, after it expended many rockets in August 2022, where many of the PIJs rockets misfired into Gaza and killed Palestinian Citizens.

An attack on March 4 killed one person and injured nine in northern Israel. The victim was Pat Nibin Maxwell, a thirty-one-year-old from India. He was working in Israel. His wife is seven months pregnant, India Today reported. “The incident happened near Israel's northern border community of Margaliot, targeting agricultural workers, the Israeli Embassy later confirmed,” the report said.

The attack on March 4 harmed numerous workers. It’s not known if they were the target, but Hezbollah has shown that it is cold and calculating in its attacks. Even though it has launched thousands of unguided rockets, it has also used anti-tank guided missiles to target many specific locations on the border. It has damaged 500 buildings in this war since it began the attacks on October 8, supporting the Hamas massacre the day before.

Hezbollah is only showing a small piece of its power. In this, it is showing the threat that could emerge in a larger war. This is a threat that has been enabled by the international community over the last two decades. Israel left Lebanon in 2000, and as a reward, in a sense, Hezbollah became exponentially more powerful. This is similar to what happened in Gaza after Israel left.

In both instances terror groups were moved closer to Israel’s border and with the backing of Iran and connivance of other countries, the groups became massively powerful. In essence, Hamas today is like Hezbollah was a decade ago. Hezbollah is considered the stronger of the two groups. However, Hamas showed on October 7 that it poses an existential threat. We now know the number of Hamas tunnels was underestimated. In addition, we know Hamas likely pushed messages via third countries that were designed to lure Israel into a false sense that Hamas was “deterred.”

No mixed messages from Hezbollah

On the positive side regarding Hezbollah, there are no mixed messages here. Hezbollah is a large threat. However, there are many problematic trends taking place. US envoy Amos Hochstein arrived in Lebanon this week and is pushing for diplomacy as the “only way” to stop the Hezbollah attacks. It’s important to remember that back in October 2022, Israel was pressured into a maritime deal with Lebanon.

Hochstein and the US at the time claimed that this deal would somehow reduce tensions by demarcating the maritime border. Oddly, Israeli leaders at the time bought this, even though the deal was only achieved after Hezbollah threatened war. Basically, someone thought that letting Hezbollah threaten war and then get rewarded was a good way to make a deal.

The United States and Jordan carried out a new airdrop of humanitarian aid to Gaza on Tuesday, delivering more than 36,800 meals to Palestinians, the US military said.

The Israeli military operation in Gaza, which is supported by the United States, has displaced much of the enclave's 2.3 million people and led to shortages of food, water, and medicine.

This is a developing story.

The IDF announced on Tuesday that it discovered a Hamas weapons cache inside a warehouse next to a school in Khan Yunis during its continued operations in the Gaza Strip.

According to the announcement, counter-terrorism soldiers have been conducting special operations in the heart of urban areas in Khan Yunis with the assistance of the 7th Brigade over the past few days.

After recieving intelligence gathered by the IDF, the soldiers entered a warehouse next to a school that originally served as a shelter for citizens, and discovered a weapons cache belonging to Hamas.

Weapons and explosives were found in civilians areas

The warehouse contained weapons, ammunition, grenades, and even ready-to-launch mortars and rocket heads.

Part of the munitions discovered by the IDF that Hamas attempted to hide/dispose of in UNRWA bags, March 5, 2024 (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)

The soldiers located another weapons cache in a nearby civilian neighborhood, also containing weapons, grenades, ammunition, and rockets, however, some of the munitions had been attempted to be hidden or disposed of, in URNWA bags or in holes dug in the ground.

A stabbing attack was carried out near the Yitzhar Junction in the West Bank on Sunday afternoon, the IDF Spokesperson's Unit.

Israeli media reported that a soldier was stabbed in the attack. The IDF said that the details are currently being investigated.

This is a developing story.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on Tuesday the continuing tension with Hezbollah terrorists at the border with Lebanon was moving the situation nearer to a military escalation.

"We are committed to the diplomatic process, however Hezbollah's aggression is bringing us closer to a critical point in the decision-making regarding our military activities in Lebanon," he said in a statement following a meeting with US Special Envoy Amos Hochstein.

Earlier on Tuesday, an unmanned aerial vehicle that infiltrated the Golan Heights from Syria was intercepted by an Israeli fighter jet, according to Israeli media, as rockets continued to be fired onto Israel's northern border towns from Lebanon.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant seen with Amos Hochstein in Israel on March 5, 2024 (credit: SHACHAR YURMAN/DEFENSE MINISTRY)

Indian citizen killed in Hezbollah rocket fire in northern Israel named

It was further announced that Patnibin Maxwell, 31, from India, was killed by anti-tank fire in Margaliot in northern Israel on Monday, Israeli media reported the following day.

He came to Israel in December of last year to work in agriculture. Another two Indians were seriously wounded in the Hezbollah attack.

Patnibin Maxwell, 31, was killed by Hezbollah fire in northern Israel on March 4, 2024. (credit: Via Maariv)

India's embassy in Israel on Tuesday advised its nationals working in Israeli border areas to move to safer parts of the country.

The United States must pressure Israel to reach a ceasefire and hostage deal agreement with Hamas, a senior official from the Gazan terror group told NBC on Tuesday.

"It is now in the hands of the Americans if they are serious about achieving a ceasefire before Ramadan," NBC quoted the official as saying in a voice note, "to exercise enough pressure on the Israelis."

Hamas negotiators will remain in Cairo for another day at the request of mediators, keeping ceasefire talks going after two days with no breakthrough, another official from Hamas said on Tuesday.

The Cairo talks have been billed as a final hurdle to reach the first extended ceasefire in the war between Hamas and Israel- a 40-day truce during which Israeli hostages would be freed and aid pumped into Gaza - ahead of Ramadan, which is due to begin at the start of next week.

Hamas official: Group negotiators to stay in Cairo for ceasefire talks

"The delegation will remain in Cairo on Tuesday for more talks; they are expected to wrap up this round later today," a Hamas official told Reuters. Egypt's Qahera television also reported the talks had been extended for a third day but said they were "facing difficulties."

Gadi and Reuma Kedem, parents of Tamar, a victim of the October 7 attack on Israel by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas who died along with her husband and children, take part in a protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel an (credit: CARLOS GARCIA RAWLINS/REUTERS)

Earlier, senior Hamas official Bassem Naim told Reuters the terrorist group had presented its proposal for a ceasefire agreement to the mediators and was now waiting for a response from the Israelis, who have stayed away from this round.

"(Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu doesn't want to reach an agreement, and the ball is now in the Americans' court" to press him for a deal, Naim said.

A senior Israeli official asked about Naim's comments that Israel was holding up the deal, said: "The claim is incorrect. Israel is making every effort to reach an agreement. We are awaiting a response from Hamas."

The IDF and Shin Bet arrested on Tuesday night 21 wanted persons suspected of involvement in terrorist activity throughout the West Bank, the IDF stated.

One who was arrested was Muhammad Tanji, a key operative in a terror infrastructure in the Balata refugee camp on the outskirts of Nablus. Tanji had been planning, along with others, to carry out a terror attack in the near future.

Israeli forces operated in the village of Kafr Dan, where they demolished the home of Abed Massad, an accomplice of a terrorist attack in Huwara last August, early Tuesday morning.

In the town of Kobar, forces arrested four wanted persons. In Kafr Yatta, the forces arrested a wanted person and confiscated terrorist funds.

In the Ein as-Sultan camp, the forces arrested three wanted men and confiscated weapons. In Kafr Jamal, the forces confiscated two Carlo-type rifles and military equipment.

Demolition of the home of the terrorist who committed the terror attack in Huwara last August. (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)

Aftermath of the West Bank operation

The wanted persons who were arrested and the weapons confiscated were transferred to the security forces for further questioning, Israeli officials said. There were no Israeli casualties in the operations.

Since the beginning of Operation Swords of Iron, about 3,450 wanted individuals have been arrested throughout the West Bank, with approximately 1,500 of them being associated with the Hamas terrorist organization.

United Nations organizations said on Tuesday that child malnutrition levels in northern Gaza were "particularly extreme" and about three times higher than in the south of the Palestinian enclave where more aid has been available.

Richard Peeperkorn, World Health Organization (WHO) representative for Gaza and the West Bank, said that one in six children under two years of age were acutely malnourished in northern Gaza. "This was in January. So the situation is likely to be greater today," Peeperkorn added, referring to when the data was recorded.

UNICEF spokesperson James Elder said malnutrition rates for children under five in northern Gaza, where access to aid has been highly limited since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas on October 7, were three times higher than those in Rafah in the south. Elder said this showed that "when that trickle of aid can come in, it does make a life-saving difference."

At least 15 children have died over the past few days from malnutrition and dehydration at Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, the health ministry in Gaza said on Sunday.

Demanding that Israel take action to remedy the humanitarian crisis in Gaza

Calls for Israel to do more to address the humanitarian crisis have grown louder since the deaths of Palestinians lining up for aid in Gaza last month. Gaza health authorities said 118 people were killed, attributing the deaths to Israeli fire and calling it a massacre. Israel, which says many people were trampled or run over, has pledged to investigate.

Trucks carrying humanitarian aid for Palestinians, are seen on the day of Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly's visit to the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Rafah, Egypt, October 31, 2023. (credit: REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany/File Photo)

Adding to hunger, there is a growing risk from infectious diseases, with nine in ten children under the age of five - around 220,000 - falling sick over the last weeks, according to Elder.

"That becomes the spiral that we are so fearful of: infectious diseases, lack of food, a desperate lack of clean water, ongoing bombardment, and incredulously continued discussions of an offensive into Rafah, which is a city of children," Elder told reporters in Geneva, referring to Israel's stated aim of rooting out Hamas battalions it says are hiding there.

"Rafah has about three-quarters of a million children living there," Elder said. Israel last month intensified its bombardment of Rafah, where about 1.5 million people are estimated to be crammed, most of them having fled their homes further north to escape Israel's military onslaught.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has said that a quarter of the population - 576,000 people - are one step from famine, nearly five months after Israel's assault on Gaza began.

The IDF destroyed on Tuesday the largest terror tunnel that was uncovered in northern Gaza since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war, the military announced on that morning.

The tunnel extends about four kilometers long and ends near the Erez crossing but does not cross into Israeli territory. It was initially discovered in mid-December of last year.

Over the past few weeks, the IDF has been investigating the tunnel, and the route was located and destroyed in a joint effort by the engineering unit of the IDF's Gaza Division, the Yahalom unit, the IDF's Southern Command, and the Defense Ministry's engineering and construction division.

The IDF carried out exploration operations of the tunnel route, which reached a maximum depth of about 50 meters. The nearest shaft of the tunnel is located about 400 meters from the Erez crossing, which has been used for the passage of workers and patients for medical treatment in Israel in recent years.

Route has several branches

The route has several branches, forming a wide and branched network of tunnels. Along the route, there are sewerage, electricity, and communication infrastructures, as well as the top doors, which were designed to prevent the entry of IDF forces. The tunnel allows the movement of vehicles inside it, and many weapons of the terrorist organization Hamas were found in it.

IDF preps to destroy largest terror tunnel found in Gaza since the beginning of Operation Swords of Iron. (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)

The ground maneuver, through intelligence operations in the field, provided a lot of information about the Hamas terror tunnels project and helped deepen the knowledge and mapping of it. Since the beginning of the war, the IDF has been working to locate and destroy dozens of attack tunnel routes as part of the systematic dismantling of Hamas infrastructure. The tunnel construction project included a team of dozens of terrorists who came especially for its construction from Khan Yunis to the north of the Gaza Strip.

Maariv reported that the use of special digging machines smuggled into the Strip was found within the tunnel's construction.

Additionally, according to estimates, Hamas has invested millions of dollars in the underground layout throughout the Strip, and Maariv noted that offensive actions against Israeli troops have been staged from within the now-demolished tunnel.

A few days ago, terrorists were also identified inside the tunnel, who were eliminated by the IDF forces.