Israel-Hamas War Day 266: What is happening in Gaza and in the north?

Throughout the current war, a running theme has been abrasive criticism of Israel’s holding up its end of facilitating humanitarian aid to Gaza’s around 2.3 Palestinian civilians.

The Jerusalem Post’s journey earlier this week embedded with IDF units from the Kerem Shalom Crossing to the Rafah Crossing was an up-close look at the humanitarian aid story, but also highlighted some critical issues which most of the world has ignored and some dilemmas which Israel ignores at its peril.

These crossings have been the key points for humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians during most of the war, but there have been significant ups and downs in their use.

When Israeli critics claim that the IDF prevented aid from coming through from Kerem Shalom, they are partially right and partially wrong.

Rocket sirens sounded in Gaza border communities on Friday evening.

Hostile aircraft intrusion sirens sounded in northern Israel on Friday evening.

The IDF announced on Friday that it struck targets in southern Lebanon after several anti-tank missiles were identified crossing from Lebanon toward Israel.

No injuries were reported as a result of the anti-tank missiles.

IDF troops identified terrorists operating a Hezbollah military structure in the area of Kfarkela in southern Lebanon. T The air force subsequently struck the structure and terrorists.

An additional Hezbollah military structure was struck in the area of Chihine in southern Lebanon, while throughout the day, IDF artillery struck targets in the area of Naqoura. 

The families of the American hostages held in Gaza expressed their great disappointment in the failure of both US President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump to make “direct mention of Israel’s hostages in Gaza” during the presidential debate on Thursday evening.

During the presidential debate, both candidates were asked by moderator and CNN anchor Dana Bash about the hostages.

To Biden, she said, “In October, Hamas attacked Israel, killing more than a thousand people and taking hundreds of hostages. Among those held and thought to still be alive are five Americans. Israel’s response has killed thousands of Palestinians and created a humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Earlier this month, Hezbollah released a video filmed by drone showing military and civilian locations in Haifa, in an attempt to communicate the group’s ability to strike northern Israel’s largest city.

The release of that video contributed to a widespread sense of fear among Israelis, who have been on edge since the October 7 attacks and as tensions with Hezbollah continue to rise.

The potential targets shown by Hezbollah in the video included power infrastructure, raising fears of nationwide blackouts. The situation intensified when a senior state electricity official warned that Hezbollah could cripple Israel’s power grid, making life “impossible” after 72 hours without electricity.

IDF soldiers located a 'Snakes and Ladders' board game intended for children that was being used to convey information about key targets for terrorist attacks on Israeli cities, the military reported on Friday, along with images of the finding. 

Soldiers of the Nahal Reconnaissance Battalion found the board game while operating in the Rafah area of Gaza. 

The board game shows pictures of missiles and tanks on top of different locations throughout the country.

Mounds of trash rotting in the heat are piling up close to where displaced people are sheltering in Gaza, a UN official said on Friday, raising fears about the further spread of disease.

Hundreds of thousands of Gazans who had fled to southern Gaza earlier in the more than 8-month conflict have been uprooted again since Israel expanded its military operations against Hamas to the southern city of Rafah in early May.

Louise Wateridge, an aid worker with United Nations Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA), said that a pile of waste weighing an estimated 100,000 tonnes was building up near people's tents in central Gaza.

"It's among the population and it's building up without anywhere to go. It just keeps getting worse. And with the temperatures rising, it's really adding misery to the living conditions here," she told journalists via video link from Gaza.

Israel has refused repeated requests to allow UNRWA to empty the main landfill sites, she said, meaning temporary ones are emerging, she added. Even if permission is granted, Wateridge said UNRWA's humanitarian missions such as trash collection have all but halted due to Israeli refusals to allow fuel imports.

The Jordanian Foreign Ministry issued a travel warning for Lebanon and asked Jordanian citizens to register entry/exit to the country on the embassy's website.
 

A fire broke out on a military base near Kfar Etzion in the West Bank, Israeli media reported on Friday.

Some 20 fire crews and six planes subsequently attempted to bring the blaze under control.