Israel at war: What happened on day 26?

Israel's Shin Bet released footage on Wednesday of a Hamas terrorist describing his actions in the south of Israel during the October 7 massacre.

"The mission was simply to kill," said Hamas operative Omar Abu Rusha. "We weren't supposed to kidnap. Just kill."

Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian warned on Wednesday during a news conference with his Turkish counterpart of "harsh consequences" if attacks continue on the Gaza Strip.

At least 8,796 Palestinians, including 3,648 children, have been killed in Israeli strikes since Oct. 7, the  Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said on Wednesday.

Egypt prepared on Wednesday for injured Gazans and some foreign passport holders to start arriving through the Rafah crossing after Qatar brokered a deal between Egypt, Israel, and Hamas to allow for limited evacuations from the Gaza Strip.

A first group of injured evacuees entered Egypt in ambulances, Egyptian media and a source at the border said at around 0935 GMT.

Israel responded with a total blockade of Gaza, heavy bombardment and a ground operation after Hamas fighters attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7.

A Palestinian border authority source and two Egyptian security sources said 81 injured people would enter Egypt for treatment on Wednesday.

500 foreign passport holders to pass through the Rafah crossing on Wednesday

In addition, up to 500 foreign passport holders will pass through the Rafah crossing on Wednesday, an Egyptian security source said, adding that about 200 people were waiting on the Palestinian side.

Trucks carrying humanitarian aid for Palestinians, are seen on the day of Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly's visit to the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Rafah, Egypt, October 31, 2023. (credit: REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany/File Photo)

A second source with knowledge of the deal said there was a list of up to 500 who would leave Gaza but not all were expected to make it out on Wednesday.

Medical sources in Egypt's Sinai region, which borders Gaza, said a field hospital of four tents, each containing 20 beds, and 12 medical caravans had been set up in Sheikh Zuweid, 15km (9 miles) from Rafah.

Hospitals in Sheikh Zuweid and Al-Arish, a town a little further away, were also preparing to admit Gazan patients, with more difficult cases expected to be sent further out to Ismailia, the sources said.

A source at the border said 40 ambulances were at the crossing to take part in the evacuation operations.

In addition, 70 aid trucks were in the Rafah area, going through the process of checks required before they can go into Gaza, under an existing agreement with Israel.

The Hamas attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7 killed about 300 soldiers and 1,100 civilians, according to Israeli figures, and more than 200 hostages were taken.

At least 8,525 Palestinians, including 3,542 children, have been killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza since Oct. 7, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in the Gaza Strip.

The Rafah crossing, controlled by Egypt, is the main entrance and exit point to Gaza from Egypt and is in a region tightly controlled by the Egyptian military, which battled an Islamist insurgency there that peaked after 2013 and has now been largely suppressed.

With Egypt wary of insecurity near the border with Gaza, only people who have obtained security clearance from Egyptian authorities are allowed close to the Rafah crossing.

The first group of injured evacuees from the Gaza Strip entered Egypt on Wednesday via ambulances through the Rafah crossing, Egyptian local media and a source at the Egyptian border told Reuters.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu joined other Israeli leaders on Wednesday in expressing condolences for the soldiers killed fighting Hamas in Gaza.

"We are in a tough war. This will be a long war. We have important achievements, but also painful losses," Netanyahu said. "We know that every one of our soldiers is an entire world. All of Israel embraces you, the families, from the bottom of our hearts. All of us are with you during this time of mourning. Our soldiers fell in a war where there was no justice, a war for our home. I promise you, the citizens of Israel: we will complete the task - we will continue until victory."

Second Lieutenant Pedaya Mark was killed in combat against Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip while serving as an officer in Givati, the IDF announced on Wednesday morning. Mark was the son of the late Rabbi Michael (Miki) Mark, who was murdered in a shooting attack near the Hebron Hills in 2016.

פדושק, אחי האהוב
הקטן אבל הגדול
גבר בין 5 בנות- אחיות מעריצות
שרד את הפיגוע
סיירת גבעתי כי זה פדיה
נלחם להיות קצין
ונפל בקרב בגבורה יחד עם חייליו בעזה

והלב, מה איתו?
אבא, שלומי, אלחנן- כולם מקבלים שם את פניו פדושקה.
ואנחנו? נותרנו ריקים וחסרים.
כבר אין בי מילים
"ארץ אל תכסי דמך" pic.twitter.com/SOXc5HxiQA

— אורית מרק אטינגר (@Oritmark1) November 1, 2023

"We were always taught to go to combat service in the IDF, but after [my father's] murderous attack I felt that I understood how important it is," Mark told The Jerusalem Post's sister publication Maariv on June 29, 2022, in an interview. Six years after the murderous shooting attack on Route 60 and three years after his late brother Shlomi, who was also a combat soldier in Givati, was killed in a car accident, Pedaya continued the family legacy and completed the training course as a combat soldier. In an interview with Maariv, Mark talked about the painful days after the terror attack, and about his decision to serve as an infantryman and commander in the brigade.

Family of Rabbi Michael Mark at his funeral in Jerusalem, 2016 (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)

"I grew up in Otniel and about six years ago I drove with my father, mother, and sister Tehila to my grandmother's in Jerusalem. About five minutes after the start of the trip, a car overtook us and terrorists fired about 30 rounds at us from a Kalashnikov rifle. Our car overturned." Mark said of the attack. "My sister and I managed to free ourselves from our seat belts and immediately realized that it was a terror attack. When the car was upside down, I looked for a knife and Tilah tried to look for my parents' cell phone, who were unconscious. One of the terrorists got out of the car to make sure we were killed. We saw the terrorist's legs and then by chance a Palestinian car drove by, which stopped and the terrorists fled."

In the Palestinian vehicle were a man and a woman, who tried to help. "At the beginning, we were very worried that they might be terrorists and when they told me and Tehila to get into their car, we kept our feet outside the door to be safe. We asked them for a cell phone to call and report the attack. At the same time we found out that Tehila was wounded by a bullet in the stomach and the Palestinian woman began to help stop the bleeding. Then, an IDF patrol jeep followed by lots of soldiers," Pedaya shared.

'I see IDF service as a calling'

Mark's personal turning point after the terrible experience came in the twelfth grade. "I realized that I would either let life pass me by or I would live it and I chose to live. I started doing matriculation [exams] and getting back on track." While he was recovering, another heavy disaster befell the Mark family. "My brother Shlomi was a soldier and a company commander in Givatay. After finishing his service in the IDF, he worked in the security system and about three years ago was killed in a car accident on Route 6 at the Kiryat Gat interchange. He left behind a wife and three children aged three months, five, and nine years."

Pedaya decided to follow in his brother's footsteps for significant combat service in the IDF. "I enlisted in March 2021. At first, I did the entrance tests to get into Sayeret Matkal, and then I enlisted in Givati. Family members came to the closing ceremony of the training course in Givati ​​and we were all so excited. It was very exciting. I will be a training officer for new recruits at the Givati ​​training base. I hope to continue as an officer and see service in the IDF as a calling," said Mark last year.

Another disaster in the family came on October 8, when Elhanan Clemenzon, a 43-year-old resident of Atniel and a relative of the Mark family, fell in the Gaza Strip while rescuing civilians from the October 7 massacre by Hamas terrorists.

The death of Pedaya is the fourth disaster in the family in recent years. In a statement issued on behalf of the Otniel, it was written: "Baruch Dayan Ha'emet. With sadness that cannot be described in words, Beit Otniel announces the death of Pedaya Mark in a heroic battle against Hamas terrorists."

The IDF announced the names of ten IDF soldiers who were killed in clashes in the northern Gaza Strip amid the IDF’s ongoing ground operation on Wednesday morning.

The soldiers named were Lt. Ariel Reich, 21, from Jerusalem; Cpl. Asif Luger, 21, from Yagur; Sgt. Adi Danan, 20, from Yavne; Staff-Sgt. Halel Solomon, 20, from Dimona; Staff-Sgt. Erez Mishlovsky, 20, from Oranit; Staff-Sgt. Adi Leon, 20, from Nili; Cpl. Ido Ovadia, 19, from Tel Aviv; Cpl. Lior Siminovich, 19, from Herzliya; and Staff-Sgt. Roei Dawi, 20, from Jerusalem; and 2nd-Lt. Pedaya Mark, from Otniel.

Also yesterday, two soldiers from the 77th Battalion were killed when their tank drove over an anti-tank device.

According to reports, an RPG hit the building where soldiers of the Sayeret Givati Battalion were based, killing two of the soldiers. 

IDF soldiers operate in the northern Gaza Strip. (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)

IDF soldiers were killed, wounded in anti-tank missile attack

On Tuesday morning, anti-tank fire hit a Namer armored personnel carrier in the northern Gaza Strip, killing seven Givati Brigade soldiers and seriously injuring four more.

On Tuesday evening, it was announced that Staff-Sgt. Roei Wolf and Staff-Sgt. Lavi Lipshitz were killed amid clashes in the northern Gaza Strip as well.

In total, over 320 IDF soldiers have been killed since Hamas launched its assault on Israel on October 7. 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu joined other Israeli leaders on Wednesday in expressing condolences for the soldiers killed fighting Hamas in Gaza.

"We are in a tough war. This will be a long war. We have important achievements, but also painful losses," Netanyahu said. "We know that every one of our soldiers is an entire world. All of Israel embraces you, the families, from the bottom of our hearts. All of us are with you during this time of mourning. Our soldiers fell in a war where there was no justice, a war for our home. I promise you, the citizens of Israel: we will complete the task - we will continue until victory."