Israel-Hamas war day 320: What happened in Israel, Gaza?

Sergeant Ori Ashkenazi Nechemya was killed in battle while fighting in the Gaza Strip, the IDF announced on Thursday.

The IDF announced on Thursday that Sergeant Ori Ashkenazi Nechemya from Ashkelon, who served in the IDF's Armored Corps, was killed in the southern Gaza Strip. 

Three terrorists were killed, and laboratories producing explosives were destroyed by the IDF over the course of a 14-hour operation in Tulkarm, the military said on Thursday. 

An Israeli team is in Cairo for negotiations on the hostage deal, while the security cabinet is set to meet in Tel Aviv, and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed Al-Thani is expected to head to Iran early next week.

Israel and other democracies must transform their concept of how to defend against multi-tiered threats, former IDF air defense chief and IDF chief spokesman Brig. Gen. Ran Kochav has written in a journal article exclusively obtained by the Jerusalem Post.

For the first time since being rescued from Hamas captivity in Gaza, Noa Argamani, one of the symbols of the October 7 massacre, spoke of her experience: "I had cuts on my head; they [Hamas] beat me all over my body, and no one came to give me medical help. Nobody. Until I was rescued,” she said.

Israel’s air force is prepared for both defensive and offensive maneuvers, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday after the IDF said it had bombed Hezbollah weapons storage facilities in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley overnight.

“The Air Force is our iron fist that knows how to hit the soft underbelly of our enemies,” Netanyahu said as he visited the Ramat David Air Force base in the North.

“They prove it time and time again, and if we have to – we will prove it again and again,” he said.

He spoke as strikes and counterstrikes between Hezbollah and Israel in the North heated up, including aerial attacks by the Iranian proxy group in the area of Katzrin and Kibbutz Amiad. It’s estimated that some 50 projectiles were launched at Katzrin, damaging homes and injuring one person. Photos showed smoke and fire rising from streets with residential homes.

Israel also said on Wednesday it had killed Khalil Hussein Khalil al-Maqdah in the Sidon area, southern Lebanon, who worked with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps and Hezbollah.

Israel Air Force (IAF) pilots and crew who took part in the strike on Yemen during Operation Outstretched Arm. (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON UNIT)

The IAF airstrike in the Bekaa Valley killed at least two people and injured 19, according to security sources, but it was not immediately clear if those killed were civilians or fighters.

Netanyahu said “I am here, at the air force base, to closely monitor our preparations against threats both near and far. We are prepared for any scenario – both a defensive and offensive one.”

Foreign Minister Israel Katz warned that Hezbollah was “leading Lebanon into darkness – both literally and figuratively.”

“While the people of Lebanon suffer through endless blackouts and a crumbling infrastructure, Hezbollah diverts their resources to ignite the region with violence and terror,” he wrote in a post on X.

“The Lebanese people deserve a future of peace, dignity, and a Lebanon free from the grip of terror,” Katz wrote. He attached a video in English with a similar message aimed at the people of Lebanon.

The IDF and Hezbollah have engaged in a low-intensity war that has run concurrently with the Gaza War that began on October 7.

Hopes that a hostage deal would end low-scale war in northern Israel

The United States has hoped that a Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal would put an end to the IDF-Hezbollah low-intensity war, which has made it impossible for thousands of civilians on both sides of the border to live in their homes for over 10 months.

The stakes have been raised since Israel killed senior Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr at the end of last month. Hezbollah has threatened reprisal attacks, which have yet to be launched as it waits to see if a ceasefire deal would be reached.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Minister for the Negev and the Galilee Yitzhak Wasserlauf, both of the Otzma Yehudit Party visited Katzrin and called on the IDF to launch a large-scale attack on Hezbollah, urging it not to miss this opportunity.

“The fate of Katzrin is the fate of Tel Aviv,” he said, as he called on Netanyahu to give him a spot on a condensed war cabinet.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Israel’s outgoing head of military intelligence took responsibility for his country’s failures to defend its border on Oct. 7 at his resignation ceremony on Wednesday.

Major General Aharon Haliva, a 38-year veteran of the military, announced his resignation in April and was one of a number of senior Israeli commanders who said they had failed to foresee and prevent the deadliest attack in Israel’s history.

“The failure of the intelligence corps was my fault,” Haliva said at the ceremony on Wednesday, and he called for a national investigation to study and “understand deeply” the reasons that led to the war between Israel and Hamas.

“On October 7, that bitter day that I carry with me on my conscience and on my shoulders, and will carry with me until my last days, we did not uphold the sanctity of our oath. I chose to dedicate my entire adult life to the security of the State of Israel. I have always done my utmost as a soldier and as a commander to serve the country with devotion.”

Haliva will be replaced by Maj.-Gen. Shlomi Binder, who was most recently head of the operations division. This appointment has been met with criticism from families of October 7 victims who claim that his part in the October 7 failure has not been sufficiently investigated.

Incoming commander of the IDF Military Intelligence Shlomi Binder speaks during a replacing ceremony held at the IDF Intelligence Command headquarters in Glilot, August 21, 2024. (credit: TOMER NEUBERG/FLASH90)

Halevi's speech at the ceremony

At the ceremony, Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi said, “If we have experienced successes over many years and then failed, it means that through a true investigation, we will be able to distinguish between success and failure and learn how to act to reduce the chances of failures in the future. Correction is a vital condition for the existence of our country.”

Halevi also said Binder is the right person to take over the position.

The IDF stated Binder's response to his new position, in which he said that the country  "must constantly examine the reality around us. Listen, change, adapt. Know how to be bold, ask questions, and also listen."

"Where we have failed, we will investigate and improve; where there were mistakes, we will learn and change; where gaps have opened, no matter how large, we will insist on fixing and mending - we will do so with the intention of rebuilding trust," Binder added. 

The Oct. 7 attack badly tarnished the reputation of the Israeli military and intelligence services, previously seen as all but unbeatable by armed Palestinian groups such as Hamas.

In the early hours of the morning of Oct. 7, following an intense rocket barrage, thousands of fighters from Hamas and other groups broke through security barriers around Gaza, surprising Israeli forces and rampaging through communities in southern Israel.

Some 1,200 Israelis and foreigners were killed in the attack, most of them civilians, and about 250 were taken into captivity in Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. Some 109 hostages are believed to still be in Gaza, around a third of whom are thought to be dead.

The head of the armed forces, Lieutenant-General Herzi Halevi, and the head of the domestic intelligence agency Shin Bet, Ronen Bar, both accepted responsibility in the aftermath of the attack but have stayed on while the war in Gaza has continued.

Hamas and the Islamic Jihad placed the responsibility on Israel for not reaching a ceasefire deal following negotiation meetings in Qatar late on Wednesday night, the official Telegram of the Hezbollah-affiliated Al Mayadeen news channel shared the joint statement. 

"The leadership of Hamas and Islamic Jihad hold the occupation [Israel's] leaders responsible for thwarting the ceasefire negotiations and for denying what was done in previous stages," the statement by the terror groups said. 

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and drones have become an increasingly important part of warfare in the 21st century, in particular since the start of the Ukraine War in 2022 and the Israel-Hamas war.

Several IDF UAV operators spoke about their experiences to Israeli media on Wednesday, detailing everything from operational differences to the emotions in the trailer during combat. 

Most of the IDF's drones and UAVs are operated remotely from a trailer far from the battlefield, where they can control drones across the multi-theatre war.

Drones are currently in use across all theatres of the war, from the West Bank to Lebanon to Gaza.

IDF drone operators at their desks monitoring drones across several theaters of war. (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON UNIT)

Drone operations

"It's a crazy role that has no definition; you can do everything. And everything - changes in an instant," Lt. D. said.

Discussing the differences between the different theatres, Lt. D. said, "Gaza is characterized by dense buildings and a civilian population with terrorists hiding in it and, of course, our forces as well."

"In Lebanon, on the other hand, there are many open and very mountainous areas."

"In the West Bank, the story is different - attacking in controlled territories, when the nests of terror are in areas where there are also non-involved people, such as in the Jenin and Tulkarm refugee camps."

Operators are often required to handle drones in multiple theatres at once. Lt. D said they work closely with ground troops in the area in order to receive intelligence guidance.

"The trailer, from which we operate the UAVs, is in close contact with unit commanders to understand the location of our fighters and, based on that, to build the most effective attack outline," Lt. D. explained, "After that, we will always make sure that the information we have is accurate, using cameras."

"As soon as you hear the famous '2-3 strike' call - armaments are in the air, silence overcomes the trailer, and everyone concentrates on the attack," he describes.

"There is always this rush of adrenaline, a little excitement in the heart, especially when going on a big operation. We don't really have a moment to pause, but despite this, the sense of meaning and the understanding that we are doing something important - is right in front of our eyes."