Israel-Hamas War: What happened on day 111?

Israeli Air Force jets attacked a series of military targets of the terrorist organization Hezbollah in the area of Tzur and Ma'ira in the territory of Lebanon, according to the IDF on Thursday.

Among the targets attacked were military buildings and sites used by Hezbollah's aerial forces. One of the sites contained a military airstrip and infrastructure fitted by Hezbollah to conduct attacks on northern Israel.

The target was the Iranian-operated airstrip based only 20 kilometers away from Israeli land, revealed by Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in September.

Earlier on Thursday, two hostile projectiles from Hezbollah fell near Kfar Blum. There were no casualties in the incident, and no damage was caused.

In addition, the IDF attacked several other areas in southern Lebanon with artillery fire and mortars

Israel voiced confidence on Thursday that the International Court of Justice would throw out South African allegations that the Gaza war amounts to genocide against Palestinians, which an Israeli government spokesperson described as without basis.

"We expect the ICJ to throw out these spurious and specious charges," the spokesperson, Eylon Levy, said in a briefing ahead of the court's scheduled convening on Friday to announce whether it will grant emergency measures against Israel.

Soldiers from Egoz and Maglan of the Commando Brigade conducted high-precision eliminations and raided intelligence headquarters belonging to PIJ and Hamas in Khan Yunis in the Gaza Strip, the IDF announced on Thursday.

The announcement stated that the Commando Brigade continued the attack in the Khan Yunis area and deepened the operational control over the Hamas stronghold. The Commando fighters, who specialize in guerrilla warfare, engaged in combat in particularly challenging terrain, showcasing their experience and operational skills, the IDF said.

Egoz used precision fire and missiles for accurate eliminations

The advance of the forces in the area was met with a lot of resistance from Hamas terrorist squads, which were eliminated through sniper fire, accurate missile targeting, and tank fire. In one of the cases, fighters from the Egoz unit identified three armed terrorists and launched a precision "steel sting" missile at them, eliminating all three of them. In addition, Egoz fighters eliminated four terrorists in short-range encounters during a raid on a building in the area.

Soldiers from the Commando Brigade operating in Khan Yunis, in the Gaza Strip, January 25, 2024 (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)

The statement also said that snipers from the Egoz unit registered several eliminations over the course of several hours using methods adapted to fight enemies that hide underground. 

Maglan took control of key command centers

Additionally, fighters from the Maglan unit operated vigorously in the field and eliminated many terrorists in fierce battles, raided terrorist infrastructure, and uncovered many weapons.

The fighters raided the military headquarters belonging to the commander of the intelligence system of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, as well as command centers of Hamas, the IDF added. Therein, they reportedly located large quantities of ammunition, weapons, tactical radios, night vision equipment, maps, and valuable intel.

The IDF killed dozens of terrorists in Khan Yunis during raids on military sites and eliminated terror cells in central and northern Gaza, the IDF reported on Thursday morning.

According to the IDF, troops of the Paratroopers Brigade carrying out activities in Khan Yunis conducted operations targets in the city’s Al-Amal neighborhood, killing many terrorists in the area with sniper fire.

The IDF added that it also destroyed terror infrastructure and weapons in the area.

Additionally, the Paratroopers Brigade fire array identified a group of four armed combatants advancing on their position. The troops subsequently directed an IAF aircraft strike, successfully eliminating the squad, the IDF stated.

Separately, soldiers of the Commando Brigade’s artillery unit reportedly identified an additional squad of six terrorists wielding RPGs. The unit also directed air force aircraft to eliminate the cell.

IDF troops on patrol in Gaza. January 25, 2024. (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)

Terrorists eliminated in close-quarters combat

In another operation, IDF Maglan troops engaged and killed terrorists in close-quarters combat during raids on terror targets, which reportedly included military command posts.

The Israeli troops also located military gear, including weapons, during the raid, the IDF added.

In central Gaza, soldiers of the Yiftah Brigade also targeted military structures. During the course of one of the raids, the brigade’s reconnaissance platoon identified terrorists operating out of a building and firing at Israeli troops.

The troops subsequently directed a combat helicopter, eliminating the opposing force, the IDF said.

Finally, in northern Gaza, the IDF’s 5th Brigade also killed a number of terrorists and located combat geat in the area, the military reported.

Australian mining giant BHP Group BHP.AX is diverting almost all of its shipments from Asia to Europe away from the Red Sea, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

BHP was not immediately available for comment.

Strikes on shipping in the Red Sea by the Iran-aligned Houthis who control much of Yemen have stymied trade between Europe and Asia. The Houthis say they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians as Israel strikes Gaza.

In response, some shipping companies have instructed vessels to instead sail around southern Africa, a slower and, therefore, more expensive route.

Reports concerning a possible infiltration into Israel through the country’s border with Lebanon were mistaken, the IDF affirmed on Thursday morning.

A Wednesday NBC report echoed recent assessments that the IDF is likely closing in on Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar, but experts differed in their estimations of when Sinwar expects to meet his end and on what terms. 

The report comes after the IDF found cages deep under Khan Yunis in which hostages are believed to have been held, a possible indication of the whereabouts of the terrorist leader, who is believed to have surrounded himself with hostages as human shields.

“It is a fair assumption that Sinwar and Hamas leadership were close to where those hostages were kept— and then they all moved on,” said Jonathan Conricus, a former IDF spokesman who is now a fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies thinktank. “I think being close to hostages has saved his life more than once.”

The article noted, however, that “Israeli forces… cannot rule out the possibility that [Sinwar] may have crossed into Egypt through a tunnel.”

The Kfir Brigade operates in Khan Yunis in the Gaza Strip January 22, 2024 (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)

Does Sinwar want to make it out alive? 

Different defense analysts and Israeli leaders gave different assessments of Sinwar’s end-game with respect to his own life and the lives of the hostages.

“He’ll keep some of the hostages forever,” Jacob Nagel, a former national security adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is quoted as saying. “This will be his insurance policy that no one will kill him.”

Gershon Baskin, the Israeli diplomat and former mediator between the Jewish State and Hamas, said he is more inclined to expect a fight to the death.

“This is not Yasser Arafat in 1982 escaping to Beirut with the Palestinian Liberation Organization,” Baskin said, citing Hamas’s religious fundamentalism. 

“I believe Sinwar knows he will die a martyr,” he added. “This is Hamas’s distorted version of Islam. Life on earth is short, and paradise is eternal.” 

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said he told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that more aid trucks must be able to enter Gaza and an immediate humanitarian pause is needed to help those trapped in a "desperate situation."

Cameron, who is on a visit to the Middle East and met separately with Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday, announced Britain and Qatar are working together to get more aid into Gaza, with a first joint consignment containing tents being flown into Egypt on Thursday before traveling by road to Gaza.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry (not pictured) and British Foreign Secretary David Cameron hold a press conference, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Cairo, Egypt, December 21, 2023. (credit: REUTERS/MOHAMED ABD EL GHANY)

Cameron: "the scale of suffering in Gaza is unimaginable"

"The scale of suffering in Gaza is unimaginable. More must be done, faster, to help people trapped in this desperate situation," Cameron said. "We have trebled our assistance for Gaza ... But our efforts will only make a difference if aid gets to those who need it most."

"As I said to PM Netanyahu ... far more trucks need to be able to enter Gaza and more crossings need to open. We need an immediate humanitarian pause to get aid in and hostages out, followed by a sustainable ceasefire."

Cameron pushed Israeli leaders for the port of Ashdod to be used for the delivery of aid into Gaza, his office said.

"When we entered this government, we defined our partnership as for the war period, and we didn't stand there with stopwatch in hand," Minister Gideon Sa'ar (National Unity Party) told Maariv this week, in an interview that will be published on Friday. "What matters to the public is that we win the war, which will profoundly affect our global and regional standing for a long time."

Sa'ar said he believes that "Netanyahu is centrally responsible for the mishaps in Gaza and the 'Black Saturday' events. A state inquiry committee should investigate, to establish responsibility and extract lessons. It was a multi-dimensional failure — political, operational, and intelligence-wise. However, now is not the time for elections. At this stage, I'm prioritizing the war against our enemies over a renewal of [internal conflicts]." 

"At this moment, it would be a mistake to disband the emergency government, but if I come to the conclusion that the government is moving in the wrong direction, I will reassess my stance."

MK Gideon Sa'ar speaks at a conference of Haaretz newspaper, Zolt Institute and the New Israel Fund in Tel Aviv on February 23, 2023. (credit: TOMER NEUBERG/FLASH90)

Sa'ar on a constructive vote of no confidence: 'the likelihood seeems nearly nonexistent'

As the former head of various ministries, Sa'ar added, "The battle in Gaza continues, and we must keep applying military pressure. Withdrawing from the government to reignite internal political warfare isn't the right move."

Answering a question on the possibility of government restructuring through a constructive no-confidence vote, Sa'ar expanded, "The likelihood seems nearly nonexistent. Right now, my focus isn't politics. I won't counsel Netanyahu on resigning." He concluded that despite no resignations from those running the country during October 7, "from Bibi to defense heads, it doesn't absolve them of responsibility."

Regarding the 2024 budget, Sa'ar explained, "My vote against it was due to its inadequacy. In times of economic emergency, when public mobilization is expected, the government failed to lead by example. Revenue-wise, unlocking corporate profits and encouraging dividend distribution with favorable tax terms were necessary. Salary cuts for high-earners in public sectors and a wage freeze could have generated substantial savings. The government's reluctance to shut unnecessary ministries and trim coalition finances shows a lack of urgency in addressing the crisis."

The full interview with Sa'ar will be published in Maariv on Friday.

The Palestinian Authority is suspicious of US President Joe Biden’s continued calls for the creation of an independent Palestinian state and also of the possibility of that happening while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is still in office.

Speaking exclusively with The Media Line, Fatah Central Committee Deputy Chairman Mahmoud Al-Aloul scoffed at the concept of the United States as an “honest broker” and said that Netanyahu’s main agenda is to keep the war going so that he does not have to face trial in Israel.

The Fatah party rules the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, and Al-Aloul has often been mentioned as a potential successor to PA President Mahmoud Abbas.

On Friday, President Biden spoke with Netanyahu for the first time in nearly a month about their differences over a future Palestinian state, as well as about Israel’s ongoing offensive in Gaza, where the Palestinian death toll has surpassed 25,000, according to local health authorities.

PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY head Mahmoud Abbas meets with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Ramallah last month. The PA is ill-suited to take over responsibility for the Gaza Strip, says the writer. (credit: NASSER NASSER/REUTERS)

Palestinians: 'Not enough pressure on Israel'

Palestinians say the Biden Administration is not applying enough pressure on Israel to end the conflict, and that his talk of a two-state solution rings hollow.

“If Biden wanted, if the United States wanted something else, it would have forced him to speak in a completely different way. Netanyahu’s agenda is completely different. His main agenda is more war, destruction, and killing so that there is additional time to continue ruling so that he does not go to prison,” Al-Aloul said.

US: A 'supporter of Israeli occupation'

Speaking of the US, he said: “Honest broker? Who said that? Certainly it’s not an honest broker. It is not only a supporter and supporter of the Israeli occupation. At all stages, it is an accomplice of the occupation in all its crimes against the Palestinian people.”

Netanyahu has repeatedly rejected calls for Palestinian sovereignty, insisting that Israel’s security needs are incompatible with Palestinian statehood.

“I greatly appreciate US support for Israel and I also expressed this to President Biden,” Netanyahu said after their phone call. “However, I will strongly insist on our vital interests. I emphasized to Biden our determination to achieve all of the goals of the war, and to ensure that Gaza never again constitutes a threat to Israel. Therefore, I insist that after we achieve total victory, after we eliminate Hamas, there will be no entity in Gaza that finances terrorism, educates for terrorism, or sends terrorists.”

He also rejected Hamas’ terms for ending the conflict, which the group said means the remaining Israeli hostages being held in Gaza will not be released.

“I am working on this around the clock,” Netanyahu said. “But let it be clear: I utterly reject the Hamas monsters’ capitulation terms. Hamas is demanding, in exchange for the release of our hostages, the end of the war, the withdrawal of our forces from Gaza, the release of the murders and rapists of the Nukhba, and leaving Hamas in place.”

The Biden Administration has said it wants to see the PA rule the Gaza Strip after the war ends, but President Biden has demanded that the PA administration “rejuvenate.”

“By making this request, they are evading the basic entitlements. The basic entitlement now is to stop the fire. The basic entitlement now is to stop the war of extermination that is taking place in the Gaza Strip. They were not able to create that with the Israelis so that they would retaliate against us. To tell us about the next day. We told them we are looking. About the last day, not the next,” Al-Aloul said.

“We do not have a problem with renewal and that there is a need for such a thing,” he said, but added that the Americans are demanding this to escape their responsibility to pressure Israel to stop the aggression in Gaza.

“I think it is time for the United States to take a more solid stance in confronting the occupation,” Al-Aloul said.

He also said the PA did not need to “return” to Gaza because it had never really left it.

“We will not return to ruling the Gaza Strip for a basic reason: First, we were not outside the Gaza Strip, in order to return to it. We are basically there. The Palestinian National Authority was the one that ran life in the Gaza Strip: education, the Health Ministry, hospitals and energy. We want a new political climate, a new political horizon to manage the Palestinian state in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and Jerusalem,” Al-Aloul said.