Israel-Hamas War - What happened on day 66?

Many of the Hamas terrorists surrendering to the IDF were involved in the October 7 massacre, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant stated on Monday evening during a televised address. 

"Hamas is on the verge of dissolution, the IDF is taking over its last strongholds," Gallant said.

He added that Israel has no intention to maintain a permanent presence in the Gaza Strip. 

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov demanded the release of hostages held in Gaza in telephone calls on Sunday and Monday with Hamas and other Palestinian factions, the Russian foreign ministry said.

The statement followed a series of meetings and calls between President Vladimir Putin and Middle East leaders in the past week.

The ministry said Bogdanov's conversations highlighted the military and humanitarian situation in Gaza, where Russia "confirmed its principled position on the need to cease hostilities and urgently resolve all humanitarian problems that have arisen, including the release of hostages."

IDF fighter jets destroyed a Hezbollah military site in a targeted airstrike in Lebanon, the IDF Spokesperson's Unit announced Monday.

The airstrike was carried out in response to rockets fired from Lebanon at towns in the Western Galilee region of Israel's North. 

This also follows a number of other rocket launches from Lebanon at IDF positions in the North. The IDF has responded by attacking where areas where the launches originated.

The IDF has stated that it is currently in the second phase of the war with Hamas, focusing on offensive activity in Khan Yunis and continuing its progress in the northern Gaza Strip.

However, the start date for the third phase, which involves operational control of all areas, has yet to be determined. The IDF acknowledges that one of the challenges faced is within Hamas, with forces in the field not complying with orders from the military wing. 

According to the IDF, control of Gaza is split, with there being areas where the Hamas leadership has no control and areas where the IDF has yet to conduct ground operations, relying only on airstrikes. These areas include parts of Khan Yunis and Rafah. In addition, the IDF estimates that approximately 50% of Hamas's military wing has been eliminated.

Animated infographic on the subject of senior members of the terrorist organization Hamas in the northern Gaza and Gaza divisions who were eliminated by the IDF and the Shin Bet. 10.12.23 (credit: IDF SPOKESMAN’S UNIT)

As long as the second phase continues, reservist soldiers will be required to serve in large numbers. It is only in the third phase that reservists will be released. The IDF's goal remains to destroy Hamas, although they acknowledge that some guns and rockets may remain in the Gaza Strip.

Therefore, 2024 will be officially designated as a year of war. To date, the IDF has attacked 22,000 targets and numerous Hamas terrorists have been killed by the IDF. Despite the local Palestinian population having moved considerably to the South, there are still significant numbers residing in various parts of Gaza.

A soldier captured at the Hamas military headquarters in Gaza (credit: IDF SPOKESMAN’S UNIT)

In addition to their operations in Gaza, the IDF has also conducted targeted countermeasures and attacks in Syria, including actions against Hezbollah's aerial capabilities.

Efforts are underway to reshape the Lebanese border to change operational methods, fire policies, and enhance infrastructure and troops in the region.

The IDF revealed in the foreign media: Hamas is launching rockets from humanitarian areas towards Israel December 7, 2023 (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON UNIT)

How the IDF will bolstering security in 2024

The IDF emphasizes the need to neutralize Hamas capabilities and disband their battalions, leading to a phase referred to as "mowing the lawn," where divisional and battalion operations will focus on preventing future terrorist actions.

The IDF's efforts in the war have significantly diminished Hamas's rocket capacity through warehouse bombings, military presence, and rocket use reduction.

With the declaration of 2024 as the year of war, all current reserve battalions will be required to serve one month. This service will involve ground operations in addition to airstrikes. The IDF believes that what they achieve in the Gaza Strip will impact Hezbollah's actions and Middle Eastern dynamics.

Should Hezbollah fail to heed the message conveyed through the Gaza war and Israeli strikes on their targets in southern Lebanon, the IDF does not rule out the possibility of a major operation in that North. Meanwhile, the IDF has suspended offensive operations against the Houthis in Yemen, focusing on bolstering defenses and organizing a multinational force to address actions that threaten global interests, particularly maritime trade routes.

 The only thing Iran and Israel share is that both do not believe in a two-state solution, Iran's foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said on Monday via translation at an international forum in Doha.

During the forum, Amirabdollahian reiterated Iran's proposal that a referendum be held to determine the fate of Palestine, with only descendants of those who lived there prior to 1948 being permitted to vote.

Most countries publicly support the creation of a separate Palestinian state alongside Israel. Critics of Israeli policy say its actions are intended to make this impossible.

France, Germany, and Italy called for the European Union to set up a special sanctions scheme to target Hamas as EU foreign ministers met on Monday to consider possible next steps in response to the Middle East crisis.

Among the possible measures up for discussion at the meeting are a crackdown on Hamas’s finances and travel bans for Israeli settlers responsible for violence in the West Bank.

In a letter to EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, the foreign ministers of the bloc's three biggest countries said it was important the EU take "all necessary measures against the terrorist group Hamas and its supporters."

"This implies a stronger European commitment both to combating Hamas's infrastructure and financial support and to isolating and delegitimizing Hamas internationally, which in no way represents the Palestinians or their legitimate aspirations," said the letter, seen by Reuters.

European Union Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell speaks on the tensions between the neighbouring Western Balkan nations in Brussels, Belgium, August 18, 2022. (credit: REUTERS/Johanna Geron)

Hamas is already listed by the European Union as a terrorist organization, meaning any funds or assets that it has in the EU should be frozen.

It was not immediately clear from the brief letter the details of how sanctions would be broadened or tightened. If EU members agreed in principle, the next step would be for experts to draw up the legal framework to figure out which individuals or entities would be targeted.

The EU said on Friday it had added Mohammed Deif, Commander General of the military wing of Hamas, and his deputy, Marwan Issa, to its list of terrorists under sanction. It is also considering adding Hamas Gaza chief Yahya Sinwar to the list, according to diplomats.

The letter said a separate sanctions scheme targeting Hamas would send a "strong political message" about the EU's commitment against Hamas.

WEST BANK

Such a scheme was one of a number of options outlined in a discussion paper from the EU’s diplomatic service.

France, Germany and Italy have already been pushing such a scheme behind the scenes but the letter from France's Catherine Colonna, Germany's Annalena Baerbock and Italy's Antonio Tajani increases pressure on other EU countries to back it.

Senior EU officials such as Borrell have also expressed alarm at rising violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

The paper suggests an EU response could include bans on travel to the EU for those responsible and other sanctions for violation of human rights. The issue was not mentioned in the joint letter to Borrell, which spoke of "our solidarity with Israel."

France said last month the EU should consider such measures and Colonna told reporters on Monday that Paris was considering domestic sanctions against such individuals.

A Belgian government spokesperson has said Belgium will seek to add violent settlers to the Schengen information database to deny them entry.

Diplomats said it would be hard to achieve the unanimity necessary for EU-wide bans, as countries such as Austria, the Czech Republic and Hungary are staunch allies of Israel.

But some suggested a decision last week by the United States, Israel’s biggest backer, to start imposing visa bans on people involved in violence in the West Bank could encourage EU countries to take similar steps.

A man was lightly wounded by rocket shrapnel in Holon on Monday afternoon, according to Magen David Adom.

IDF Maj. (res.) Roman Bronshtein, 46, Cpt. (res.) Eliya Yanovsky, 24, and Master-Sgt. Ari Yehiel Zenilman, 32, fell in battle in the southern Gaza Strip on Sunday, the IDF Spokesperson's Unit said on Monday.

IDF Sgt.-Maj. (res.) Ben Zussman, who fell in battle in the Gaza Strip last week, asked his family to turn the shiva mourning period for him into "a week of friends, family and fun," in a letter he wrote before leaving for base in case he fell in battle, KAN news reported on Monday.

"I'm writing you this message on the way to the base. If you're reading this, something must have happened to me. As you know about me, there's probably no one happier than me right now. It's not just that I was really happy for the realization of my dream soon. I'm happy and grateful for the privilege to protect our beautiful land and the people of Israel."

"Even if something happens to me, I'm not permitting you to sink into sadness. I had the benefit to fulfill my dream and my purpose and you can be sure that I'm watching you and smiling a huge smile. I will probably sit next to grandpa and bridge some gaps, each of us will talk about our experiences and what changed from war to war. Maybe we'll also talk a little politics, we'll ask him what he thinks."

"If, god forbid, you sit shiva, make it a week of friends, family and fun. There should be food, meat of course, beers, sweet drinks, seeds, tea, and of course mother's cookies. Make jokes, tell stories, meet all my other friends you haven't met yet. Wow? Jealous of you. I'd like to sit there and see them all."

Sussman added in his letter that if he was taken captive he did not want his family to campaign for his release or for any deal to be signed for his release. "I'm not prepared for terrorists to be released in exchange for me in any way, shape, or form. Please don't violate this."

Family and friends of First Class (res.) Ben Zussman mourn at his funeral at the Mount Herzl Military Cemetery in Jerusalem on December 4, 2023, he was killed during a ground operation in the Gaza Strip. (credit: ARIE LEIB ABRAMS/FLASH 90)

"I'll say it again, I left the house without even being called to the reserves. I'm full of pride and a sense of mission and I've always said that if I have to die, I hope it will be in defense of others and the country. Jerusalem, I have entrusted guards, one day I'll be one of them."

'He freed us from many doubts'

Sarit Zussman, the soldier's mother, told KAN on Monday morning that the family received the letter two days after Ben fell in battle.

"He freed us from many doubts. He left with a full heart, out of great love. He strengthened us and asked us to be happy. There is something liberating in this clarity that allows you to breathe."

"We had the opportunity to meet all his sweet friends, the ones we didn't get to meet and only heard stories about," added Sarit.

"When we went up to the grave at the end of the seven days, his friends put a shirt with his picture on it, a few cigarettes next to the grave, Hapoel Jerusalem stickers and bottles of beer. When we finished the ceremony I opened one bottle. We all said 'cheers' and the bottle was passed between us all. We will be sad forever, but we will try to enjoy the pleasures of the little things in life."

A Hezbollah MP warned that Israeli airstrikes which caused widespread damage in the town of Aitaroun near the Israeli-Lebanese border on Sunday were a "new escalation," adding that Hezbollah would continue its attacks on Israel in a statement to Reuters.

Hezbollah MP Hassan Fadlallah warned that the terrorist movement would respond to the "escalation" in new ways, be it "in the nature of the weapons (used) or the targeted sites."

Lebanese media portrayed the IDF's response to Hezbollah attacks on Sunday as a significant escalation compared to other clashes along the border in recent weeks.

On Monday morning, at least six rockets were fired from Lebanon toward northern Israel and were intercepted by the Iron Dome, according to the IDF Spokesperson's Unit. The IDF responded to the rocket fire with artillery fire targeting several locations along the Lebanese border.

Additionally, on Monday, the Lebanese Nidaa al-Watan newspaper reported that a gradual escalation had been taking place in recent days, coinciding with a demand by Israel that Hezbollah withdraw to north of the Litani River in Lebanon in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 1701.

Smoke rises from areas in Lebanon during strikes by Israeli warplanes, October 9, 2023 (credit: David Cohen/Flash90)

The Nidaa al-Watan report noted that the strike on Aitaroun was the first in which "an entire neighborhood has been destroyed in a southern town," saying that this raised concerns that "the Gaza war model of widespread destruction...is beginning to rear its head on the Lebanese front."

Hezbollah announced on Monday morning that two members of the movement were killed amid the intensifying clashes. Over 90 members of the terrorist movement have been killed since Hezbollah launched attacks on northern Israel on October 8.

Diplomatic efforts being pursued, military option being prepared

Last week, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told the leaders of communities near the northern border that Israel was attempting to reach a diplomatic solution in which Hezbollah would retreat to the Litani River, but was also prepared to remove Hezbollah through military means from the area near the border.

On Sunday, KAN news reported that Israel was preparing to set a deadline for a diplomatic solution and that Israeli officials believe the chances of such a solution are low.

During a visit to Israeli forces along the Lebanese border on Sunday, IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi stressed that security needs to be restored to the northern front, adding "there is a military way to do this, the beginning of which is also what you are doing here, to strike, to deter, to kill Hezbollah operatives, to show our superiority, and it can also come in the form of an offensive and an attack and a war."

"The State of Israel has never gone and said war is the first solution we will try, but we understand that in the situation here it should end in a very, very clear change of the situation," added Halevi.

Ali Damush, the deputy chairman of Hezbollah's Executive Council, rejected statements by Israeli officials saying that Hezbollah "will not allow the equations to be changed."

On Saturday afternoon, a watchtower inside a UNIFIL position in the proximity of Ibel Qameh in southern Lebanon was hit by shelling causing damages to the structure.

Fortunately, no one was injured. The origin of the fire is under investigation.

— UNIFIL (@UNIFIL_) December 10, 2023

On Sunday, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said that a watchtower inside a UNIFIL position near Ibel Qameh in southern Lebanon was hit by shelling on Saturday afternoon. No injuries were reported in the incident.

"Any targeting of UNIFIL positions and any use of the vicinity of our positions to launch attacks across the Blue Line is unacceptable," said UNIFIL. "After over two months of active shelling along the Blue Line, the potential for a miscalculation that could trigger a wider conflict is increasing."