Israel-Hamas War: What happened on day 162?

The IDF launched a new operation in the Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza early Monday morning, in light of intelligence showing that senior Hamas officials were using the hospital to command terrorist operations, according to the IDF Spokesperson's Unit.

IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari stated that the operation was targeting limited areas within the hospital complex based on "concrete intelligence that demanded immediate action."

Hagari added the senior Hamas terrorists had regrouped inside the hospital and were using it as a command center for attacks against Israel.

◾ تغطية صحفية: ":حزام ناري كثيف وقذائف صاروخية بشكل هستيري محيط مستشفى الشفاء." pic.twitter.com/jkhqikJMdK

— المركز الفلسطيني للإعلام (@PalinfoAr) March 18, 2024

"Our targeted mission isn't just an operational necessity; it's a global imperative," said Hagari.

A suspicious aerial object fell north of Eilat after crossing into Israeli territory near the Dead Sea on Sunday, the IDF Spokesperson's Unit said on Sunday night.

No damage or casualties were reported in the incident. The object was being monitored by the Air Force.

The security cabinet agreed on Sunday night to send a high-level delegation to continue hostage negotiations in Qatar, giving the delegation a general mandate to conduct the talks, according to Israeli media.

Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli has vehemently criticized the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, demanding the immediate and permanent expulsion of Professor Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian for her controversial comments about Israel. Chikli accused the professor of supporting terrorism and the university of becoming an antisemitic entity.

"Merely four days - that was the extent of the suspension by the Hebrew University for an individual who dishonored the memory of the victims of the atrocious acts of murder and rape on October 7th," Chikli expressed, highlighting the inadequacy of the university's response to the professor's incendiary remarks.

Government minister's concerns about antisemitism 

In his statement on X (formerly Twitter), Chikli decried what he saw as the university's alarming shift away from Zionist values towards anti-Semitism. "We've gradually come to accept the transformation of Hebrew University into a post-Zionist entity. However, witnessing its evolution into an antisemitic institution is something we must staunchly resist," he declared.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh met with Wang Kejian, an envoy of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, in Qatar on Sunday to discuss the war in Gaza, Hamas announced on Sunday night.

Keijan visited Israel and the Palestinian Authority last week, meeting with diplomats and discussing the war in Gaza. According to Hamas, Haniyeh told the Chinese diplomat that the war needs to be ended quickly, the IDF needs to withdraw from Gaza, and an independent Palestinian state needs to be established.

A Canadian Parliament opposition motion to officially recognize a Palestinian state is set to be debated and voted on in the house on Monday.

The New Democratic Party motion sponsored by its leader Jagmeet Singh calls on the government to "officially recognize the State of Palestine and maintain Canada’s recognition of Israel’s right to exist and to live in peace with its neighbors," and to "advocate for an end to the decades-long occupation of Palestinian territories and work toward a two-state solution."

The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) criticized the motion on Sunday, saying that it would call for the immediate recognition of the Palestinian polity "without any negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, and without removing Hamas from power in Gaza.

American Jewish organizations criticized Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer after he denunciated Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and called for Israel to hold elections.

The American Jewish Committee said that while the Jewish Democratic New York senator was a staunch defender of Israel and the Jewish people, it was inappropriate for a US official to dictate an ally’s electoral future.

“Israel is a sovereign democracy in the midst of a war of self-defense against a terrorist organization bent on massacring Jews and destroying Israel,” the AJC said after Schumer’s speech. “The Israeli people will decide their own political path.”

Without directly naming Schumer, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) said on social media that as an independent democracy, Israel “decides for itself when elections are held and chooses its own leaders” and that the US needed to continue to stand by its ally.

The IDF’s just campaign to destroy Hamas in Gaza does not justify the Palestinian suffering due to that war, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said as he urged Israel to refrain from a military operation in Rafah.

“No matter how important the goal, can it justify such high costs or are there other ways to achieve your goal?” he asked during a joint press conference with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Germany has been one of Israel's top allies amid its war with Hamas 

Germany has been one of Israel’s staunch allies in its war against Hamas.

In a manner akin to the Biden administration, Scholz has a stern message for Netanyahu about the IDF’s conduct during the war, particularly its failure to ensure the distribution of aid, which has led to a hunger crisis in Gaza.

“We cannot stand by and watch Palestinians risk starvation. That’s not us; that is not what we stand for together. Much more humanitarian aid is needed continuously, reliably,” Scholz said.

Some of the residents of the Gaza Envelope, including survivors of the October 7 massacre, decided to establish a new apolitical civil movement called "Future for the Envelope," whose goal is to help in the rehabilitation and rebuilding of Gaza-bordering communities after realizing that these communities 'can't rely on other actors for ensuring their prosperity,' according to the movement.

After the October 7 massacre, which claimed the lives of hundreds of civilians and still leaves tens of family members, neighbors, and friends of the residents of the envelope captive in Gaza, the residents decided to rise from the pain and unite under one movement to ensure community, rehabilitation, change, and a different future for them.

According to a survey conducted by a polling institute, 70% of the residents of the surrounding area intend to return to their homes. Twenty percent are in doubt, and eleven percent do not intend to return at all. This means about eight thousand residents have no plan of returning to the Gaza envelope.

As a result, the founders of "Future of the Envelope" began to establish their own leadership and teamed up in cooperation with Sapir College, the only college located in the Gaza envelope.

Despite anonymous Hamas sources cited in a KAN News report on Sunday and strongly implied Israeli support last week for the idea that the terror group’s No. 3, Marwan Issa, was killed by the IDF on March 9, multiple defense sources say that whether he is living is still an open question.

On Sunday, KAN News cited anonymous Palestinian sources that privately, Hamas was ready to acknowledge that Issa, the deputy to Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif, had not survived the Israeli strike on March 9.

This came after multiple defense sources, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, all hinted on March 11 that he was killed in Nuseirat, in central Gaza, while hiding in one of Hamas's tunnels.

The anonymous Palestinian sources further told KAN that his body was still buried underneath the rubble.

Why is the IDF chief refusing to confirm Issa's death?

However, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi explicitly refused to confirm his death on Sunday night.

Halevi did say that the operation to attack him, whether it had killed him or almost killed him, had been a significant intelligence coup because it led to a precise hit on Issa in an underground tunnel.

Marwan Issa circled in red. (credit: SCREENSHOT VIA YOUTUBE)

In reality, when Halevi suggests that Hamas is working hard to conceal Issa’s fate under the large amount of rubble, he seems to imply that the issue with knowing his fate is the rare fact that Issa was hit while underground.

Still, it was unclear if the IDF and other defense sources were refusing to confirm his death until Hamas or someone unearthed his body as a technical matter or because they had some actual specific suspicion of their being a ruse to cover up Issa having survived.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Sunday said that it was ongoing field intelligence information that the IDF continued to gather in its operations in northern and central Gaza, which led to the successful locating of Issa.