Israel at War: What happened on Day 62?

Israel's Knesset rallied in support of Minister Gadi Eisenkot from National Unity after his son Gal was killed in action in Gaza on Thursday.

National Unity leader Minister Benny Gantz sent his condolences to Eisenkot and his family, saying that everyone was committed to continue fighting for the cause for which Gal had died.

Israel is focused on defeating Hamas in Gaza. The Hamas threat has to be defeated due to the extensive crimes the group committed on October 7. Leaving any part of Hamas intact would send a message to the region that Israel is not willing or able to destroy a group that massacred 1,200 people in Israel and still holds 138 hostages.

However, a larger shadow continues to fall over northern Israel. The Hezbollah threat in the north not only continues to exist but there is a lack of clarity on how to remove it from the border.

After the Hamas attack on October 7, it was clear that Israel could face a multi-front war, if Hezbollah chose to attack as well. In addition, Iran has proxies in Syria and Iraq and Iran backs the Houthis in Yemen. Iran has also sought to inflame the West Bank via support for Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Iran sees all these groups as a series of fronts against Israel and it seeks to “unify” them. 

This is something Iran has worked on for years. Today this threat has been manifested through Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea as well as near-daily attacks by Hezbollah and even threats from Iranian-backed militias in Syria. Israel’s Chief of Staff Herzi HaLevi also said this week that Israel has detained 1,200 Hamas operatives in the West Bank since October 7.

This week IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said that the Israel Air Force “attacked a series of Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon today, including posts and military sites where weapons were stored and terrorists of the organization operated.” The IDF has sought to “improve” the situation in the north. “We are working on this around the clock and attacked in Lebanon today for this purpose.”

PALESTINIANS LIVING in Syria wear Hezbollah flags at a demonstration in Damascus marking the annual al-Quds Day. (credit: FIRAS MAKDESI/REUTERS)

Hezbollah threat persists, despite losses

Hezbollah has suffered losses, up to 100 men injured and killed. But Hezbollah continues its threats daily. It’s not clear if Iran wants Hezbollah to do more. During the pause in fighting in Gaza, Hezbollah also paused its attacks. This seems to show that the group would accept “quiet for quiet.” 

However, we noted in a report on December 6 that Defense Minister Yoav Gallant met with northern community authorities from evacuated communities and asserted that Hezbollah would need to choose between a negotiated process and backing away from Israel’s border, or the IDF would take action. He said, “There is one possibility that we will reach a different deal…with international negotiators that they will respect our presence here…the second possibility is that we will be forced to do it by force.”

There was also discussion this week that some kind of new border deal could take place, backed by the US. The US helped broker a maritime deal with Lebanon in 2022. However, the deal led to increased Hezbollah provocations. Hezbollah is not deterred. In fact, with winter coming, it’s possible Hezbollah even feels empowered after two months of low-level conflict. 

There’s no evidence that the Lebanese government or international community can get the organization to leave the border. Hezbollah thrives and profits by occupying southern Lebanon. After the 2006 war, it wasn‘t supposed to restock its arsenal and take over southern Lebanon, but it did.

The international community has done the same thing with Hezbollah that it did with Hamas, essentially enabling these illegally armed groups to grow into terror armies. Many countries and agendas are served by these groups. 

Iran is one example, but Hamas is also hosted by Qatar; Russia has not condemned Hamas and doesn’t seem to mind Hezbollah. China, which also works with Iran and Russia, doesn’t seem to want to invest in stability in the region by condemning these groups. It appears many anti-western countries see Hamas, Hezbollah, and other groups as useful against the West. 

Iran exploits this to get countries to see the Gaza war as a regional conflict between Israel and the US. The Houthis have also increased their attacks and are being appeased. What this means is that the chances of Hezbollah leaving the border appear slim. At the same time, Israel doesn’t want to accept a situation where it sits on the border and threatens to commit an attack similar to October 7.

There are no good options here. The Iranian ability to push its proxies closer to Israel over the last decade has been successful. Despite Israel waging the Campaign Between the Wars in Syria to prevent Iranian entrenchment; Iran has moved other pawns across the board. One pawn is PIJ in Jenin. Another was Hamas in Gaza. Others include the Houthis and militias in Syria. 

Some of these pawns are now so large in terms of threats, that they have been traded in for rooks. Israel may have been focused on “third circle” threats or “depth” in the region; including the Abraham Accords and other issues; but Iran was focusing on the meat and potatoes of terrorism.

Iran’s proxies move slowly and continuously forward. They erode states and carve out areas of chaos and destabilization. The Palestinian Authority, in the West Bank, for instance, would be challenged by administering Gaza, if it can’t get a hold of the chaos in Jenin.

In essence, this is how the north of Israel remembers its role in this conflict in Gaza. While Israel must defeat Hamas, the real threat remains in the north and other areas.

The IDF named Sgt.-Maj (Res.) Maor Gershoni as fallen in battle on Thursday.

Gershoni, 24, from Yokneam Illit, was a commander in Battalion 8173, 'Etzioni' Brigade, and was killed on Wednesday in a battle in the north of the Gaza Strip.

Amnesty International said on Thursday that Israeli strikes that killed Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah and injured six others in south Lebanon on Oct. 13 were likely a direct attack on civilians that must be investigated as a war crime.

Human Rights Watch, in a separate statement, said the two Israeli strikes were "an apparently deliberate attack on civilians and thus a war crime."

A Reuters investigation published on Thursday found an Israeli tank crew killed Abdallah and wounded the six other reporters by firing two shells in quick succession from Israel while the journalists were filming cross-border shelling from a distance.

Israeli Air Force fighter jets struck targets belonging to the Hezbollah terror organization inside Lebanese territory, the IDF said Thursday.

The IDF said it struck sources of rocket fire from Lebanon at northern Israeli border towns. In addition, it struck Hezbollah terror infrastructure ranging from launch sites to military posts across southern Lebanon.

The IDF released photo evidence on Thursday morning of Hamas terrorists launching rockets at Israel from launchers directly adjacent to tents used by fleeing Gazan civilians, as well as a UN facility.

The IDF dated the rocket launch to 3:59 p.m. on Wednesday.

.@UN, hear a loud noise yesterday?

That was the sound of 12 Hamas rockets launched toward Israeli civilians in southern Israel.

Hamas is the enemy of humanity and makes itself a threat to the entire world. pic.twitter.com/0RDeUfH5j7

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) December 7, 2023

Hundreds of IDF soldiers fighting Hamas terrorists in Gaza suffered severe ophthalmologic injuries, with some even losing their vision in one or both eyes, KAN News reported late on Wednesday.

According to KAN, most of the eye injuries sustained were caused by IDF fighters not wearing protective gear, namely eye protection equipment, as required during battle.
 
The eye injuries were sustained mostly through close contact with bullet shrapnel, and recoil, although some fighters suffered direct hits from Hamas terrorists, the report added.

'Close to 15% of eye injuries among soldiers resulted in vision loss'

Alarmingly, some 10-15% of the injuries sustained resulted in the loss of eyesight in one or both eyes.

KAN further reported that some 40 soldiers with eye injuries were hospitalized at Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba since October 7. Further, five soldiers arrived at the hospital with severe injuries earlier this week. Two of the five reportedly underwent surgery in the past 24 hours.

Eyesight (illustrative) (credit: REUTERS)

Last month, the Jerusalem Post reported that ophthalmologists from Soroka produced a short video to raise the military’s awareness of the need to wear protective goggles at all times.

IDF: There is no lack of protective equipment for soldiers

The IDF responded to KAN's report, reaffirming that there is no lack of eye protection equipment within the Israeli military's ranks.

"The IDF is working to eliminate incidents in which soldiers who are required to wear protective goggles do not do so by regularly explaining [the importance]," KAN quoted the IDF's Spokesperson's Unit as saying.

Israeli forces continued operations across the Gaza Strip on Thursday, clashing with Hamas terrorists in raids on the Jabaliya refugee camp and the southern city of Khan Yunis, the IDF said.

In Khan Yunis, a Hamas terrorist was seen escaping the ruin of a tunnel destroyed by an IDF drone while holding a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) launcher in footage shared by the IDF.

IDF fighters from the 71st Battalion directed the drone and struck the terrorists down.

Forces from the IDF's 98th Division, accompanied by Air Force aircraft, struck and downed dozens of terrorists and terror targets in Khan Yunis. A Duvdevan special force last night destroyed a tunnel shaft in the city after encountering a terror cell seen exiting the tunnel.

The IDF operates in the Gaza Strip on December 7, 2023 (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)

IDF raids Hamas military post, training complex inside refugee camp

In Jabaliya, the 460th Brigade raided Hamas's Beisan military outpost located inside the refugee camp. Israeli forces located a network of underground tunnels leading in and out of the post, as well as a hidden military training complex and a warehouse used for storing weaponry.

In addition, Israeli Navy forces struck Hamas terror bases using precision-guided munitions and mortar fire.

The age of retirement for Israelis serving in reserves and active duty will be temporarily raised by one year to maintain the IDF's operational preparedness during wartime, KAN News reported on Thursday.

As per the report, Defense and Justice ministries officials are drawing up a temporary bill that will raise the age of retirement for reservists from 40 to 41. In addition, IDF officers' retirement age will be raised from 45 to 46, or from 49 to 50, subject to their specific role's requirements.

US energy envoy Amos Hochstein said on Thursday his country has always wanted to see normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel.

Hochestein said he did not think hope should be lost and that the goal remains the same, adding that the US remains committed to regional integration but it has to be broader than Saudi-Israel.