Israel at War: What happened on Day 74?

Rocket sirens sounded across central Israel on Tuesday afternoon, in the biggest rocket barrage the region has seen in several days. 

Sirens heard across a large area of central Israel just now. I saw what looked like an interception pic.twitter.com/8NKNRpqMk7

— Seth Frantzman (@sfrantzman) December 19, 2023

Affected areas included: 

Yavne, Kiryat Ono, Rehovot, Ramat Gan, Be'er Yacov, Lod, Ness Ziona, Ramla, Tel Aviv - Jaffa, Or Yehuda, Bnei Brak, Givat Shmuel, Givatayim, Holon, Yehud-Monosson, Mikveh Israel, Savyon, Gan Raveh, Hevel Modi'in, Gezer, Sdot Dan, Brenner, Ganei Tikva, Rehovot, Nesher Industrial Zone (Ramla), Ahisemech, Irus, Be'er Yacov, Beit Hanan, Beit Oved, Ginaton, Gan Sorek, Yashresh, Lod, Matzliach, Neta'im, Nir Zvi, Ness Ziona, Ayanot, Ramla, Zrifin Industrial Zone, Achiezer, Ganei Hadar, Zeitan, Hemed, Yagel, Kfar Bilu, Mishmar HaShiva, Na'an, Sitria, Kiryat Ekron, and Ganot.

The IDF attacked several locations in Lebanon with artillery fire this morning, the IDF said in a statement.

Some time later, a projectile, launched from inside Lebanon, landed in an open area near Metula, the statement said, adding that forces had fired on the source of the launch.

Subhi Ferwana, who helped transfer tens of millions of dollars to benefit the Hamas terror organization, was recently killed in an IDF airstrike in Gaza, according to a Tuesday IDF statement.  

In an operation in the city of Rafah, an IDF warplane under the guidance of the Shin Bet and the Military Intelligence Directorate took out the Hamas financier. 

Turkey said it had reviewed the financial activities of a company whose shareholders were sanctioned by the United States on the grounds of providing aid to Hamas and found there was no abuse of its financial system.

The United States issued sanctions aimed at the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas on Oct. 27, with three primary shareholders of Turkish real estate investment fund Trend GYO, including its chairman and a board member, among those targeted.

The IDF will open an "in-depth investigation" after a video on social media showed an IDF tank nearly shelling a soldier who appears to be standing in the line of fire, the army said in a statement Tuesday.  

"The incident seen in the video is serious and completely deviates from the IDF's safety instructions," the statement says. "There will be an in-depth investigation, and penalties will be imposed. There were no casualties in the incident."

Member of Knesset Moshe Tur-Paz of Yesh Atid on Tuesday called for the annexation of "a few kilometers" of the Gaza Strip beyond the "security strip" previously proposed in order to convey a message to Hamas and Gaza following the attack of October 7. 

This statement was made in an interview with Israel's Channel 2. 

Israeli security forces arrested ten wanted persons throughout the West Bank, including four affiliated with Hamas, the IDF said in a statement on Tuesday. Those arrested were taken in for further questioning.

The IDF also confiscated NIS 100,000 worth of terrorist funds in the town of Karawat Bani Hassan, 40 vehicles in the village of Tsurif, and an M-16 rifle in the village of Beit Umar, the statement said. 

There were no IDF casualties.

Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis will not change their stance on the Gaza conflict due to the establishment of a multinational naval alliance to safeguard shipping in the Red Sea, top Houthi negotiator Mohammed Abdulsalam told Reuters on Tuesday.

The naval alliance led by the United States was "essentially unnecessary", he said, adding that all the waters adjacent to Yemen were safe except for Israeli ships, or ships heading to Israel, because of the "unjust aggressive war on Palestine".

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced the creation of a multinational operation to safeguard commerce in the Red Sea following a series of missile and drone attacks on shipping by the Houthis.

Israeli security forces destroyed the home of the terrorist who carried out the shooting attack in Huwara on August 19, the IDF said in a statement on Tuesday.

Shai Nigerkar, 60, and his son Aviad, 29, were killed in the attack.

The apartment was in the village of Akbara in the West Bank.

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III traveled to Israel to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and the Israel War Cabinet for his second trip since October 7, according to a Tuesday statement from the US Defense Department. 

In his meeting, Austin reiterated unwavering US commitment to Israel's right to defend itself against terrorism, called for the immediate return of all hostages, and underscored the need for concerted efforts to protect civilians and ensure humanitarian aid delivery in Gaza, urging further action.