Israel at war: What happened on days 28-29?

Israeli forces will reach Hamas terror leader Yahya Sinwar and will kill him, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant vowed on Saturday evening briefing on developments in Operation Swords of Iron.

Further, Gallant said that "by the end of the war, there will be no Hamas in Gaza. There will be no threat to Israeli civilians from the Strip."

Israel intensified its ground operation in Gaza over the weekend, successfully targeting and dismantling vital Hamas elements, including their critical infrastructure and personnel.

Israeli leaders, from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on down, have pledged to hunt down all Hamas terrorists involved in the October 7 massacre to the ends of the earth.

Former Mossad head Yossi Cohen thinks that the circle should be widened to include any Iranians involved in the attack as well.

“I think we have to find any and every single Iranian from the Ministry of Intelligence, from the army, from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, whose filthy hands were on the [October 7] operation directly and indirectly and pursue them,” he told The Jerusalem Post in an interview on Tuesday.

“This is something that the Mossad and others should do immediately,” he added.

And Cohen knows something about pursuing Iranians. During his tenure as head of the Mossad from 2016 to 2021, Israel carried out several interventions inside Iran, including the stealing of its nuclear archives, aimed at setting back its nuclear program.

COHEN ATTENDS the funeral of IDF soldier Pedayah Mark in Jerusalem, on Wednesday. (credit: OREN BEN HAKOON/FLASH90)

Also during his tenure, Iran’s top nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, was assassinated. In a television interview in 2021, just before stepping down from his Mossad position, Cohen – when asked about the assassination of Israel’s enemies – said, “If the man constitutes a capability that endangers the citizens of Israel, he must stop existing.”

While Cohen did not think the Iranians “micro-planned” the savage attack on Simchat Torah, nevertheless he did say the Islamic Republic is “all over Hamas.”

“They recruit the people, they train the people, they support them financially, they support them with ammunition and armaments, they transfer technology to Hamas people so they can locally produce rockets, precision-guided kits, and rockets and missiles,” he said.

“We see evidence that Iran is trying to enhance its capacities abroad against Israelis and Jewish people. This is something Iran has to be held accountable for,” he said.

Cohen added that while he does not know whether the Iranians had prior knowledge of the attack, they were updated after it took place.

“After the attack, Iran was updated, and, of course, they are very happy this is what happened,” he said.

Israel has no choice but to use Qatar to talk with Hamas about hostages

COHEN SPOKE to the Post on Tuesday, the morning after the IDF announced that commandos had rescued Pvt. Ori Megidish from Hamas captivity, and soon after Cohen returned from Qatar, where he was engaged in discussions with the Qataris over arranging a deal that would free the hostages. According to media reports, current Mossad head David Barnea was in Qatar at the same time.

“Hamas can offer us different structures for different types of deals that we will have to react to,” he said when asked what he thought of an idea floated by some family members of the 240 hostages being held that Israel should consider a deal whereby it would release all Hamas prisoners in Israeli jails for a release of all the hostages.

“I have to say with a great sense of sorrow this is not only about what Israel wants or declares. The bastards on the other side, Hamas, the killers on the other side, have their own wishes. And we react to their offers,” he said.

Cohen said he does not know of any concrete offer currently on the table. “You don’t know what the prices will be, what they are willing to do, who is going to be released under which conditions,” he said.

The former Mossad head turned sarcastic when asked about criticism leveled against him for negotiating with the Qataris, who over the years have given Hamas substantial financial, diplomatic, and – via Al Jazeera – media support.

“If you want to release hostages with Hamas, a designated terrorist organization worldwide, who would be your negotiator?” he asked.

“I suggest the Swiss or the Swedes. I think you could approach them. If not, try the Norwegians. If that doesn’t work, I am sorry to be cynical about that, go to Qatar. This is the only country, the only one, that could speak with Hamas. They are the only ones on earth who could speak to Hamas. Who would you choose?”

Cohen said that part of the time during his meeting with the Qataris was spent “transmitting that this was a massacre, that they killed us, they butchered us.” His interlocutors, he said, were skeptical of what even happened on October 7 and questioned him about the Hamas brutality displayed. There were questions, he said, such as “are you sure they did this and that?”

Asked whether he thought the Qataris could deliver, Cohen replied that they could deliver messages to and from Hamas but do not have the type of leverage over the organization that Iran has. At the same time, they could “push” the terrorist organization on the issue, he said.

Cohen praised the security forces for the rescue of Megidish, saying that it shows both the determination of the army “to bring people home,” but even more than that, it shows that “we are willing to risk our soldiers and special forces to do that.”

While this operation will obviously cause Hamas to guard the hostages they have more carefully, “it is hard to predict” whether this successful operation will make it more difficult to carry out other such missions.

“Let’s hope that our security forces and special forces are better than Hamas, and that hopefully whenever they see a chance to free a hostage, they will do that,” he said.

COHEN, WHO played a critical behind-the-scenes role in forging relations with Gulf countries that led to the Abraham Accords, was not overly concerned that the war in Gaza would lead to a downgrade of ties with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, or Morocco.

“Countries that have been in peace treaties with us for some years will not eventually downgrade relations only because of a war against a terror organization that they do not appreciate,” he said.

Despite his confidence, however, Jordan – one country with which Israel has had a peace treaty since 1994 – recalled its ambassador on Wednesday to protest the war and requested that Israel not to send back to Amman its ambassador, Rogel Rachman, who temporarily left Jordan for security reasons.

Cohen said that leaders with whom he is in contact in the Arab world are not telling him they are considering cutting or downgrading their ties with Israel. “But let’s wait and see, the more the war continues, the more pressure on Israel will grow.”

Cohen said that, in general, the Arab world is looking at what happened on October 7 and this war through the prism of the long-term conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. “If you listen to them, that is what they say: that there is a conflict, and this is a part of it.” He said that in this manner, they agree with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’s problematic statement that the October 7 attacks did not happen in a vacuum.

The Arab world, he said, is viewing this as “another round of violence. And I hope they will not reverse our relationship because of a round of violence.”

Asked whether he thought that the war has rendered normalization with Saudi Arabia “dead in the water” at this time, he replied, “a little bit.”

He did not sound overly concerned about the Turkish reaction, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan using vitriolic rhetoric to lambaste Israel at an anti-Israel rally on Saturday. Israel responded to Erdogan’s comments by recalling its remaining diplomats in Turkey for a reassessment of ties.

“This is the usual reaction by Erdogan,” he said. “There is no surprise on that end.”

Cohen dismissed out of hand speculation in some circles that Russia, which hosted a high-level Hamas delegation last week, was somehow involved in the October 7 attack. “I have never had any evidence of Russian involvement with this terror organization. Not today, not ever; I never saw it. I’ve known in the past who is involved with Hamas and who is collaborating, and Russia was not part of it, never.”

As to US President Joe Biden’s strong support for Israel, including the dispatch to the region of two aircraft carrier strike groups, Cohen termed that “very important.”

“This is a super-strong message coming from the superpower,” he said, “and it is a strong message on two layers.”

First, he said, it sends an important message to Israelis that they are not alone. Second, it sends a powerful message to the region that if Israel comes under tremendous threat, the US will be there to help the Jewish state survive. Cohen added that while this is not the only reason Hezbollah and Iran have not ignited a full-blown war in the north, it is part of the reason.

Nevertheless, he said, “We have to be super ready in the north to make sure that they do understand that it would be devastating for them to enter the war, and that [if they do enter the war], there will be a repeat of the destruction in Beirut, and Dahieh [the Beirut neighborhood that headquartered Hezbollah in 2006], and all other important facilities in Lebanon that happened during the Second Lebanon War.”

Zvika Klein contributed to this report.

The United Nations humanitarian office said on Friday the cost of meeting the needs of people in Gaza and the West Bank was estimated at $1.2 billion.

"The cost of meeting the needs of 2.7 million people - that is the entire population of Gaza and 500,000 people in the occupied West Bank - is estimated to be $1.2 billion," said Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

That sum covers the humanitarian needs in Gaza and part of the West Bank until the end of the year.

The situation is growing increasingly desperate 

On Oct. 12, OCHA had initially appealed for $294 million to support nearly 1.3 million people.

"The situation has grown increasingly desperate since then," Laerke added.

An aid truck arrives at a UN storage facility as the conflict between Israel and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas continues, in the central Gaza Strip October 21, 2023 (credit: REUTERS/MOHAMMED SALEM)

OCHA said its revised appeal for funding will outline the need for food, water, health care, shelter, hygiene and other urgent priorities.

"We urge donors to promptly make resources available for the response," Laerke said.

"Our ability to ease the suffering of the Palestinian population will depend on adequate funding, safe and sustained access to all people in need, wherever they are, sufficient flow of humanitarian supplies, and - importantly - fuel."

Aid supplies to Gaza have been choked since Israel began bombarding the densely populated enclave in the wake of attacks by Hamas gunmen in southern Israel on Oct. 7, with aid organizations saying it is nowhere near matching the needs of its residents.

The number of Israelis and other civilians held hostage by Hamas decreased from 242 on Thursday to 241 on Friday, according to IDF Spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, who cited the receipt of additional intelligence as the reason.

While Hagari didn't specify the source of this intelligence, it likely includes the analysis of pieces of flesh, bones and ashes left behind by Hamas in several kibbutzim following Hamas's brutal acts. Forensic teams at Shura and Abu Kabir facilities have been working diligently to identify these remains, allowing the country to determine the status of individuals who could be kidnapped, missing, or deceased.

He also said that 338 soldiers had died in battle since the massacre on October 7.

"We are attacking Gaza from the land, sea, and air," Hagari said Friday morning. He said the IDF was continuing to dismantle Hamas infrastructure and kill terrorists in their tracks.

Heinous acts by Hamas against its citizens 

At the same time, the IDF is working to unveil to the public the brutal acts by Hamas against its citizens, such as showing that the terrorists are stealing fuel from Al-Shifa Hospital and using it to carry out violent acts against Israel. 

Hamas terror base built under main Gaza hospital (credit: MAXAR TECHNOLOGIES/HANDOUT VIA REUTERS)

On Friday, the IDF released a recording in which healthcare workers were heard discussing the alleged siphoning of fuel from the hospital by Hamas. In this conversation, the officials estimated that Hamas had acquired between half a million and a million liters of fuel.

In the North, the IDF slammed strategic Hezbollah locations on Thursday in response to a barrage of rockets fired by the organization at Israeli towns and cities, causing damage. 

"We are ready to respond to any confrontation – now and in the future," Hagari stressed.

A proxy war

He added that Iran was sending weapons to proxies in the region to use against Israel and distract the country from its war against Hamas. However, Hagari assured, Israel is staying laser-focused on the goal of destroying Hamas militarily and politically and bringing the hostages home. 

In the West Bank, the IDF operated overnight in Jenin, killing several terrorists and stopping terror activity.

He reminded the public to follow the rules of the Homefront Command and not to become complacent.

The commander of Hamas’s Sabra Tel al-Hawa Battalion was killed in an airstrike Thursday night, the IDF and Israel Security Service (Shin Bet) announced in a joint statement on Friday morning.

IDF fighter jets, acting on precise military intelligence, killed Mustafa Dalul, the commander of the Sabra Tel al-Hawa Battalion, who played a large role in Hamas's fight against IDF troops in the Gaza Strip. Dalul also held a number of positions in the Hamas battalion and brigade of Gaza City over recent years.  

Large weapons cache located

In addition, IDF fighter jets and artillery killed several Hamas terrorists who operated against the ground troops. During searches in the area of Beit Hanun in northern Gaza, IDF soldiers located weapons, intelligence material, an AK-47 rifle, submachine guns, magazines, grenades, explosive devices, RPG, communication means, and maps. 

Weapons located by IDF troops in the Beit Hanun area, northern Gaza, November 3, 2023 (IDF Spokesperson's Unit)

Additionally, the Israeli Navy struck a number of buildings from which shots were fired at IDF troops along with anti-tank missile launchers.

The United States has been flying surveillance drones over Gaza in search of hostages taken by Hamas when the Palestinian terror group attacked Israel on Oct. 7, two US officials said on Thursday.

The two US officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the US was flying intelligence-gathering drones over Gaza to assist with hostage location efforts. One of the officials said they had been carrying out the drone flights for over a week.

US officials have said 10 Americans who remain unaccounted for may be among the more than 200 people taken as hostages into Gaza, where they are believed to be held in Hamas' extensive tunnel network.

Israeli forces on Thursday encircled Gaza City - the Gaza Strip's main city - in their assault on Hamas, which resisted with hit-and-run attacks from underground tunnels.

The city in the north of Gaza has become the focus of attack for Israel, which has vowed to annihilate the Islamist group's command structure and has told civilians to flee to the south.

IDF soldiers on ground operations in Gaza, November 3, 2023 (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON UNIT)

Hamas terrorists launched a surprise attack into Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,400 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli officials, in the deadliest day of the nation's 75-year history.

More foreigners due to evacuate 

The Rafah crossing from Gaza to Egypt was due to open for a third day on Friday for limited evacuations under a Qatari-brokered deal aimed at letting some foreign passport holders, their dependents and some wounded Gazans out of the enclave.

According to border officials, more than 700 foreign citizens left for Egypt via Rafah on the two previous days. Dozens of critically injured Palestinians were to cross too. Israel asked foreign countries to send hospital ships for them.

Over a third of Gaza's 35 hospitals are not functioning, with many turned into impromptu refugee camps.

"The situation is beyond catastrophic," said the charity Medical Aid for Palestinians, describing packed corridors and many medics who were themselves bereaved and homeless.

The judicial system is considering establishing special courts to try the Hamas terrorists who took part in the October 7 massacre, KAN news reported on Friday.

The attorney general, the State Attorney's Office, the Courts Administration, and the State Prosecutor's Office believe that a normal court is not the correct procedure for trying the terrorists involved in the massacre.

The Justice Ministry is examining legislation that would authorize a special court to try the Hamas terrorists.

The judicial system intends to use the trial in order to present to the world the goals of the assault, the roots of the attack, the financiers behind the attack, and the operations of the terrorist organization.

The Justice Ministry told KAN in response to the report that "For obvious reasons, it is not possible to refer to the publications in relation to the investigative and legal activities that are being carried out these days."

The destruction caused by Hamas terrorists in Kibbutz Kissufim on October 7, 2023, near the Israeli-Gaza border, in southern Israel, November 1, 2023. (credit: ERIK MARMOR/FLASH90)

Another trial aimed at bringing international attention to crimes against humanity

The trial may be intended to replicate the trial of Adolf Eichmann, which was broadcast on television internationally to bring attention to the crimes of the Nazis.

Eichmann was tried under the 1950 Nazis and Nazi Collaborators Law, which made people who had committed crimes against the Jewish people, crimes against humanity, and war crimes liable to the death penalty and other penalties.

Since the horrific events of October 7, several websites have been built to consolidate information and educate the global population on the details of Hamas's brutal attack. 

Israel's official X account recently shared www.hamas-massacre.net, a site with dozens of gruesome photos and videos of the slaughter. The site itself appears to still be under construction but can be navigated effectively.  

Users can see testimony from social media, showing the carnage left in the wake of the Nova Festival ("The Nova Party Massacre") and the invasions into kibbutzim ("Murdered in Their Home"). They can also see videos of Israelis being taken to Gaza as hostages ("Abduction to Gaza") and footage of Gazan rocket fire striking civilian targets ("Rockets Striking Civilians"). 

The testimony of survivors

Another site, www.october7.org, is focused on the firsthand testimony of the survivors. Entitled "Eyewitness stories from inside the massacre," the site aims to "[stand] as a testament to the unwavering spirit of the survivors who [bore] witness to the unspeakable terrors of October 7th, horrors that continue to haunt the hearts and minds of countless souls across the land of Israel."

A view shows a destroyed home riddled with bullets, following the deadly October 7 attack by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip, in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, southern Israel November 2, 2023. (credit: EVELYN HOCKSTEIN/REUTERS)

The site was built by Israeli volunteers who felt moved to create a universally accessible database of the memories of October 7. 

As of Friday, the site has 118 stories which the website's creators say are "authentic and unedited." They are in English and some are translated into Spanish and French. Some are from the Nova Festival, others are from residents of the kibbutzim that were pillaged. Yael, the only lookout soldier stationed at Nachal Oz who survived the massacre, also posted her story there.  

The stories, according to the site's own warning, describe "war crimes involving violence, rape, and brutality."

Interactive map

Finally, there is the interactive site www.oct7map.com, in which users can see a visual representation of each murdered and kidnapped person from October 7 accompanied by an explanation of the day's events. Per the website's own explanation, visitors are encouraged use it to "visit the different sites, listen to the facts, and witness the horrors."

Users can flip through different parts of the interactive map, beginning with Re'im, moving onto Be'eri, Kfar Aza, Netiv HaAssara,  Ofakim, Nir Oz, Nirim, Sderot, the Re'im army base, the Nahal Oz army base, and finally the hostage situation in Be'eri.

At each stage, the site zooms in on the relevant place on the map which is littered with red dots signifying murders. Some also have black dots signifying those who were kidnapped and grey for missing or injured. Each dot has a name next to it. There is also a short explanation on the side of the page for each event and a tally of the total murdered, kidnapped, missing, and injured. 

oct7map.com uses several sources to piece together its information, including october7.org, AP News, the National Review, Reuters, Wikipedia, Times of Israel, and ZAKA Search and Rescue. 

All of these websites continue to add information daily as more people come forward with testimony and more information comes out about the whereabouts of still-missing people. 

Hamas is taking the fuel reserves of the Shifa hospital in Gaza and using it for terrorist operations, the IDF said on Friday, publishing a recording it said was of an official in the healthcare system in Gaza.

The official can be heard in the recorded call saying that Hamas has fuel reserves of over half a million liters under the hospital and that if further fuel was brought into the Strip, Hamas would take it as well.

In response to fire from Lebanon toward Israel on Thursday, the IDF struck a terrorist cell inside a Hezbollah compound and struck Hezbollah terror infrastructure in Lebanon, the IDF Spokesperson's Unit announced on Friday morning. 

Overnight, a terrorist cell that attempted to launch anti-tank missiles from Lebanon toward Israel in the Har Dov area was struck by IDF tanks.

One IDF soldier was moderately injured and a reservist soldier was lightly injured on Thursday after a UAV hit an IDF post in the Mount Dov area. The soldiers were evacuated to hospital to receive medical treatment. Their families have been notified.