Israel-Hamas War day 286: What happened in Gaza?

Although many experts have claimed that the Gaza Health Ministry’s numbers are absurd, they have been adopted by the UN, many Western media outlets - and have even reached The Hague. So why hasn't Israel managed to do anything about it? 

PM Netanyahu emphasized the need for the IDF to retain control of the Philadelphi Corridor and promised to address the hostage deal during his visit to Washington, DC, while speaking to IDF soldiers in Rafah.
 

The IDF on Thursday night released multiple recordings obtained by IDF intelligence of Gazans praising Israel’s assassination strike on Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif.

Efraim Ben Amram, a 25-year-old reservist in the 188th Brigade, died of his wounds approximately two weeks after he was seriously wounded in a UAV attack at a base in the Golan Heights.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant approved sending out around 1,000 draft orders to haredi men, marking the first since the June ruling ending their long-standing exemption. 

Former Sephardi chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef called for an immediate hostage release deal, saying that it falls under the Jewish law of Pikuach Nefesh, which states that saving a human life overrides any other commandment.

A civilian expert committee, announced by the families of the October 7 victims, Kibbutzim representatives, and civil society groups, will investigate the events leading to the security failure on October 7.

The IDF and Shin Bet eliminated two Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists on Thursday, one of which was a senior member of the organization, and the other participated in the October 7 massacre.

The terrorist Mohammed Jabra was eliminated in the western Beqaa Valley in Lebanon, Saudi news media reported on Thursday.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, published Wednesday, former Israeli counterterrorism officer Shir Peled discussed Israel’s undercover operations in Gaza and in the West Bank, notably Operation Arnon, resulting in the rescue of four hostages, and the undercover hospital raid in Jenin in January.

Peled is one of the first female officers to work with Yamas, a specialist unit within the Israeli Border Police.

“Our job as undercover fighters is to always come up with new tactical methods to fight in and to blend in the fields,” Peled said. 

Undercover operations have been part of Israel’s arsenal for decades, however, these operational efforts expanded during the Second Intifada, when security forces worked to stop Palestinian terrorists from attacking Israelis in suicide bombings or stabbing attacks. This was when the undercover unit of the Border Police was established.

Mista‘arvim, is the name sometimes used for certain units in the IDF, Israel Border Police, and Israel Police that blend into local Arab populations to operate undercover while gathering intelligence or conducting law enforcement, hostage rescue, and counter-terrorism operations, according to the Wall Street Journal report.

Shir Peled with Rona-Lee Shimon (credit: Shay Yehezkel)

Peled said that in these operations, forces must “blend in like a set of a movie, and be very quiet, and be very chill in order to get to our targets and drop off our costumes and become soldiers and fighters.” She also discussed how she had to get used to being out of control and “learn how to work in big uncertainty.” 

Those in undercover units rely on intelligence gathered from Palestinian informants and Israeli undercover agents, and during operations, there are generally thousands of soldiers on standby just in case. 

Hostage rescue operation

The two main undercover operations Peled discussed in the interview was the hostage rescue operation, titled Operation Arnon, in which Noa Argamani (25), Almog Meir (21), Andrey Kozlov (27) and Shlomi Ziv (40) were rescued from captivity, as well as the undercover operation in a Jenin hospital, which targeted a terror cell and thwarted a large terror attack that was being planned. 

Israel declined to discuss the use of civilian vehicles during the hostage rescue operation, however eyewitnesses said that a commercial truck was used to transport agents into the area of the Nuseirat refugee camp, where the operation took place. Peled said that vehicles are like costumes. “It's not enough to find the right vehicle, but you need to disguise it so it will work in this specific territory.”

Many of the operations that Division 98 had been carrying out in central Gaza and Nuseirat since the middle of the previous week were part of an elaborate decoy to make the Hamas terrorists feel like the IDF was nearby but did not know where the hostages were while allowing security forces to set up a close-by rescue operation secretly.

Although the four hostages were rescued, there were many casualties, including dozens of civilians. 

Jenin hospital undercover operation

In January, Israeli counterterrorism forces foiled an October 7-inspired terror attack, targeting a cell hiding and planning the attack from the Ibn Sina hospital in Jenin, the West Bank.

Hamas terrorist Mohammad Jalamna was killed during the operation, along with two fellow terrorists who hid alongside him at the hospital. 

Jalamna, a resident of the Jenin refugee camp, was in direct communications with Hamas leadership abroad and was responsible for transferring weaponry and ammunition to Hamas terrorists across the West Bank for shooting attacks targeting Israelis.

The Israeli forces entered the hospital dressed as Arab doctors, patients, and nurses, as seen in CCTV footage shared on social media. Peled said in the interview that the accessories used in the undercover operation were essential to the disguise, such as a wheelchair one operative was carrying.   

Peled said this operation was unusual because they do not usually go inside buildings unless necessary. 

Other instances in which undercover agents posed as Palestinians include at demonstrations, mainly because there can be so much going on. Those there do not focus on what the undercover agents are doing, so the agents have more of an element of surprise. Peled added that the element of surprise is crucial.