Israel-Hamas War: What happened on day 177?

Iranian-backed militias in Iraq claimed credit for two attacks on Israel this week. The “Islamic resistance” in Iraq claimed that it struck a “vital target deep in the occupied Palestinian territories,” according to the pro-Iranian Al-Mayadeen media.

“The Islamic Resistance in Iraq announces that its mujahideen attacked, Monday morning…with appropriate weapons,” the report claimed. The report appeared to link the claims to an incident in Eilat overnight. The targeting of Eilat from Iraq is a major escalation by Iranian-backed groups and follows other incidents and escalation.

This came a day after the same group in Iraq, which represents several pro-Iranian militias that possess drones and missiles, claimed to have targeted the Christian village of Eilaboun in the Galilee.

A high-ranking Israeli Air Force officer accidentally pressed a button and accidentally fired from an Apache helicopter, almost hitting IDF soldiers in the Gaza Strip, Israeli media reported on Monday.

According to the reports, the officer was on a mission to accompany the soldiers in the strip and provide extra aerial protection when he pressed the wrong button in the cockpit. The resulting fire landed near IDF soldiers and posed a high threat to their lives.

Luckily, no soldiers were reported to be injured.

Israeli security forces arrested the sister of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tel Sheva on suspicion of having ties to Hamas and engaging in incitement and support for terror, Israeli media and the Israel Police reported on Monday morning.

The police statement identified the detained suspect as a close relative of a senior member of Hamas. Media reports noted that the relative was 57-year-old Zebah Abdel Salem Haniyeh.

The operation, dubbed “Early Dawn,” was conducted via a multi-department effort. The police-Shin Bet joint operation culminated in the arrest of Haniyeh in an early morning raid carried out by police, border police, IDF, and the Israel Police aerial unit.

During the raid of Haniyeh’s home compound, security forces reportedly found documents, media, phones, and other evidence indicating her participation in serious security offenses.

Israeli security forces arrested the sister of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tel Sheva on suspicion of having ties to Hamas and engaging in incitement and support for terror, Israeli media and the Israel Police reported on Monday morning.

The police statement identified the detained suspect as a close relative of a senior member of Hamas. Media reports noted that the relative was Zebah Abdel Salem Haniyeh.

This is a developing story.

The IDF has begun withdrawing from al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza after two weeks of operating at the site, Arab media sources reported on Monday morning.

The Hamas-affiliated Safa News Agency later reported that clashes between Israeli forces and terrorists could be heard in the hospital's vicinity.

The Gaza-based Palestinian news organization also claimed that the hospital had sustained widespread burning and destruction and had consequently been rendered totally out of service.

A week into the operation at Shifa, IDF spokesperson R.-Adm. Daniel Hagari reported that Hamas had fired mortars at the hospital complex. In an update posted on its Telegram channel, Hamas corroborated the statement shortly thereafter.

Citizens warned to keep away from Shifa Hospital

The Hezbollah-affiliated Al Mayadeen added that a local correspondent noted that emergency committees were warning civilians not to visit the hospital out of concern for ongoing military activity on the premises.

Israel and the US are expected to hold a virtual meeting on Monday to discuss the Biden administration's alternative proposals for an IDF ground invasion of Rafah, four senior Israeli and American officials told Walla.

The meeting scheduled initially for last week has transformed into a focal point of political and diplomatic tension between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden.

Last week, Netanyahu decided to cancel the delegation's trip to Washington in protest against the US not vetoing a decision in the UN Security Council calling for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of all hostages. However, a day later, Netanyahu began sending discreet messages to the White House expressing his desire to reschedule such a meeting.

After the White House publicly revealed Netanyahu's request, the Prime Minister denied that he had approved the delegation to Washington.

The Biden administration emphasized that an operation in Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians reside, could lead to mass casualties of innocent civilians and worsen the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, March 27, 2024. (credit: BASSAM MASOUD/REUTERS)

Netanyahu's close advisor, Strategic AffAIRS Minister Ron Dermer, has told him several times in the past few days that he must send the delegation to Washington as soon as possible to avoid exacerbating the crisis with President Biden.

Staff-Sergeant (St.-Sgt.) Nadav Cohen, 20, from Haifa, of the 77th Battalion was killed in battle in the southern Gaza Strip, the military said on Monday. 

Staff sergeant (St.-Sgt.) Nadav Cohen was killed in battle in the southern Gaza Strip. April 1, 2024. (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)

A hostile aircraft infiltrated from Jordan on Sunday night and fell in the area of Eilat, the military said.

The aircraft caused minor damage to a building and no casualties were reported, the IDF added.

Earlier on Sunday night, hostile aircraft intrusion sirens sounded in Eilat and its surroundings.  

Three people were stabbed in a terror attack on Sunday night in Gan Yavne, near a shopping center, according to Israeli media citing Magen David Adom (MDA).

The three people sustained serious wounds, according to MDA. 

MDA paramedics arrive at the scene. March 31, 2024. (credit: MAGEN DAVID ADOM)

 Terrorist used two knives to carry out attack 

The police said the terrorist had been killed. 

Police Spokesperson said Israel Police Commissioner Yaakov (Kobi) Shabtai was on his way to the scene.

The police later said in a statement, "Following reports of a stabbing terror attack in the commercial area in Gan Yavne, a terrorist who arrived at the scene stabbed three civilians, injuring them moderately to severely (according to medical sources), using two knives with which he was armed." 

The police further said a police officer and a municipal officer from Gan Yavne had heard cries for help and had found and neutralized the terrorist.

"The terrorist went upstairs towards the gym, saw an exerciser come out and stabbed him. After that, he ran into the gym. Several people fled into an inner room. The terrorist managed to catch one of them and stab him, the one who was seriously wounded," police noted. 

The police added that near a coffee shop, the terrorist stabbed an additional person. 

MDA Senior EMT Yihya Buga and MDA EMT Heli Geller recounted what they had seen upon arrival at the scene, "We arrived and saw a disturbance. A 17-year-old male was lying on the pavement near the mall. He was fully conscious, with bleeding and stab injuries all over his body. The other two casualties were lying 100 meters away, near one of the cafes. We provided the youth with life-saving treatment and evacuated him to the hospital while fully conscious and in serious condition.”

According to Israeli media, the terrorist was a 19-year-old illegal alien from Hebron who worked in Israel without a permit. 

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir arrived at the scene and said, "We have policemen on alert, there is a war, there is an enemy, and we have to mow them down in Rafah as well." 

Soldiers killed several Hamas senior officials in face-to-face combat at Gaza's Shifa Hospital on Saturday, the IDF said.

Forces from the elite Shayetet 13, Duvdevan, and Nahal Brigade Reconnaissance units conducted a targeted raid where intelligence officials determined the terrorists were located. At the targeted location, armed terrorists came out of the emergency room to fire on the soldiers.

Several terrorists were eliminated in the raid, including senior Hamas leader Ra’ad Thabat, as well as Mahmoud Khalil Ziqzouq, who was the deputy head of the rocket unit in Gaza City.

In addition, terrorists Fadi Dewik and Zakariya Najeeb were eliminated in an encounter in the maternity ward. Dewik, who carried out a shooting attack in the Adora settlement in 2002 in which four people were murdered, was released in the Gilad Schalit deal of 2011.

Najeeb was a senior operative in Hamas’s West Bank headquarters and was responsible for linking the West Bank and Gaza Strip in directing terror attacks. He, too, was released in the Schalit deal.

The terrorists eliminated

Forces from the army’s 401st Brigade and Shayetet 13, under the 162nd Division’s command, have been continuing to operate in the area of the hospital to fight Hamas terrorists using the medical facility.

They have reportedly been operating under intelligence provided by the Military Intelligence Directorate and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), which revealed the presence of the senior Hamas members in the hospital.

Israeli forces also located many weapons, including sniper weapons, Kalashnikov rifles, cartridges, and grenades.

In the last few days, Israeli forces have encountered terrorists outside the hospital building, who were thwarted by troops from the Shaked Battalion.

The IDF and Shin Bet said they are operating in the area while preventing harm to civilians, patients, medical teams, and medical equipment.