Israel-Hamas War: What happened on day 139?

Egypt has warned Israel against attempting to launch more rescue operations to free hostages in the Gaza Strip, Lebanese media al-Akhbar reported on Thursday morning.

As per the report, Egyptian officials told their Israeli counterparts that there will be fewer, if any, opportunities to launch another operation as Hamas and other Palestinian terrorrists have successfully transferred the hostages.

According to the officials cited by the report, the hostages were taken to "locations that Israel was not able to reach even during previous incursions" in the Gaza Strip.

Israel warned to "prepare for consequences" of Rafah invasion

The officials further told Israel to "carefully study any step" before launching a military offensive into Rafah. 

Egypt, which is reported to be "disturbed" by a perceived lack of communication from the United States on Israeli plans to invade the southern Gaza city, was said to be intent on "disrupting" IDF invasion plans.

The officials told their Israeli counterparts that encroaching into Rafah would "increase the risk to the lives of" the 132 hostages remaining in Gaza, and called on the IDF to "prepare to bear the consequences" of such invasion.

The IDF deepened its operations in Hamas areas of control across the central and northern Gaza Strip on Thursday, with forces killing some 20 terrorists in Zeitoun over the past 24 hours.

The Israeli military targeted several Hamas terror infrastructure in the Zeitoun area. Ground forces directed fighter jets and aircraft to strike some 10 locations from which attacks were carried out against Israeli forces in Gaza.

One strike targeted a Hamas military site that was still in use by the Gazan terrorists, the IDF said. One terrorist was killed by IDF troops in close combat battles after being identified by soldiers as carrying an RPG.

In the central Gaza Strip, Israeli forces located and destroyed a boobytrapped site from which rockets were most likely launched into Israeli territory, the IDF said.

Israeli forces operate in the Gaza Strip on February 22, 2024 (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)

Israeli forces destroy Hamas, Islamic Jihad ships in Gaza

Israeli forces also operated in Gaza's south, destroying various terror infrastructures in Khan Yunis. The IDF killed some 15 terrorists in targeted raids across the southern Gaza city, seizing AK-47s, grenades, and additional military equipment.

In addition, Israeli naval forces destroyed vessels used by Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in the southern Strip overnight on Wednesday.

One Israeli was killed, and eight Israelis were wounded, including three severely, after gunshots were fired on Highway 1 near Ma'ale Adumim in central Israel, Israel Police confirmed early Thursday morning.

Three terrorists were killed on the scene of the attack by armed civilians, police said. They have been identified as Palestinians, and according to an initial probe, two of them are from Bethlehem. 

Initial reports stated that the terrorists took advantage of a traffic jam on the highway. They came in two separate vehicles fully armed with an M-16 rifle, a Carlo submachine gun, grenades, and cartridges.

They then exited their vehicles and began to shoot toward people sitting inside their cars.

The two terrorists who began shooting and were neutralized, while a third who tried to escape was later located.

Police at the scene of the shooting outside of Maale Adumim, two terrorists were killed on the scene (Credit VIA MAARIV)

Paramedics are currently on the scene providing treatment for the wounded.

The scene of a shooting attack on Highway 1, near Ma'ale Adumin, on February 22, 2024 (credit: ISRAEL POLICE)

MDA said the wounded included two women aged 23 and 30, along with a 23-year-old man in critical condition and two men, aged 40, in moderate condition. 

United Hatzalah volunteer EMT Avraham Becker reported: "There were injured people at several locations. I provided initial treatment to two women who suffered gunshot injuries and another woman who suffered from emotional shock. Other United Hatzalah EMTs worked at the other scenes and provided assistance to several more people who were in various conditions."

Taking advantage of the traffic jams

According to the Head of Efrat local council, Oded Revivi, who commented on the attack, the highway outside of Maale Adumin is known for its constant morning traffic jams.

"For a long time now, we have been contacting the National Security Ministry, the Security Ministry, the IDF, and the police, warning them of the conduct at the tunnel checkpoint. These traffic jams are a recipe for plotting an attack against Israelis who stand in the traffic jam. We initially appealed in various meetings and through letters, and we even initiated a discussion in the National Security Committee in the Knesset. All the calls so far have unfortunately fallen on deaf ears," said Revivi.

This is a developing story.

An anti-tank missile from Lebanon caused damage to a home in the northern Israeli border town of Kfar Yuval, the Upper Galilee Regional Council said on Thursday morning.

Another missile launched from beyond the northern border landed in an open field in Kiryat Shmona.

The IDF was reportedly responding to the launches with artillery.

Eight Israelis were wounded, including three severely, after gunshots were fired on Highway 1 near Ma'ale Adumim in central Israel, Israel Police confirmed early Thursday morning.

Three terrorists were killed on the scene of the attack by armed civilians, police said.

Initial reports stated that the terrorists took advantage of a traffic jam on the highway, exiting their vehicles and beginning to shoot toward people sitting inside their cars.

Paramedics are currently on the scene providing treatment for the wounded.

This is a developing story.

The IDF is prepared to carry out a military operation in Gaza’s Rafah during the Ramadan holiday, which begins in March, unless a hostage deal is reached, warned Minister Benny Gantz, as France confirmed that medications designed for the captives had been received.

“If there is no hostage deal, we will operate during Ramadan,” Gantz told reporters on Wednesday night, even as he said that there were early signs that a deal could be in reach after a week of stagnation.

“There are attempts these days to promote a new framework [for a deal] and there are initial signs that indicate the possibility of moving forward,” Gantz said.

As part of that movement forward, the French Foreign Ministry confirmed that medications had finally been received by 45 of the 134 hostages in Gaza.

IDF operations in the Gaza Strip. (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON UNIT)

“We will not stop looking a path forward. We will not miss any opportunity to bring the [hostages] home,” said Gantz, who is a member of the war cabinet.

In the interim, he said, the IDF is preparing for a military operation in Rafah, which will begin after Palestinian civilians are evacuated from the area.

Such an evacuation is necessary so that the IDF can move against the Hamas forces in that area, he said.

He spoke as US Middle East envoy Brett McGurk is in the region to hold talks in Egypt and Israel as part of a push to close a deal that could see a pause in the fighting by the start of the month-long Ramadan holiday.

Hamas said on Tuesday that a delegation headed by its leader Ismail Haniyeh was in Cairo for hostage talks, along with the Deputy Chairman of Hamas in Gaza, Khalil al-Hayya. The Saudi newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat said that an Israeli delegation was also due in Cairo.

Ayelet Samerano, the mother of 21-year-old Yonatan Samerano who was brutally murdered on October 7, gave a heart-wrenching testimony and public plea to the UN on Tuesday, The Hostages and Missing Families Forum Headquarters said in a statement.

"A UNRWA worker kidnapped my son's body. How can a social worker for an organization that claims to promote good in this world do something so cruel and inhumane? How can the UN pay this man who dragged my son’s limp body on the ground, and then picked him as if he was a trophy back to Gaza?" Samerano pleaded. 

Video footage was also shown depicting the horrific kidnapping of Yonatan's lifeless body by Hamas terrorists at Kibbutz Be'eri, the location he had fled to from the NOVA music festival to seek safety. One of the terrorists involved in Yonatan’s death and kidnapping was later confirmed to be a UNRWA employee by a Washington Post investigation.

“How many more lives have been ruined by this person hauling my son like he is not even a human being into a UNRWA vehicle? Does the UN hold my son? Do they know where he is? Bring him back to me. Are there any other hostages held by UN employees even as we speak?" declared Samerano.

The UK could suspend arms exports to Israel if it enters Rafah, although no decision has been made yet, according to a report by the Guardian on Wednesday.

Ministerial sources told the Guardian that no decision had been made regarding the suspension of arms exports to Israel, but that should the government receive legal advice that Israel was in breach of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) they would be able to respond quickly.

However, any decision to suspend arms exports looks unlikely as the UK's High Court of Justice dismissed a case urging the suspension of arms sales to Israel on Tuesday, according to British media.

The court ruled against Palestinian human rights group Al-Haq and its UK-based partner Global Legal Action Network (GLAN), who argued the government had ignored its own rules on arms exports which could be used to violate IHL.

The decision is likely to be appealed to the UK Supreme Court, the case is only one of several cases being brought against the UK government over arms exports to Israel.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Wednesday told the Conference of Presidents at a meeting at the ministry's headquarters in Tel Aviv that, “Our goal is simple – victory. Only victory against Hamas will allow us to achieve normalization and regional integration.”

Gallant was providing a security situation assessment to 50 leaders of the top North American Jewish organizations and prominent communities. 

The defense minister's point was that, contrary to what some argue, continuing the war to destroy Hamas will advance, not derail, normalization with countries like Saudi Arabia.

He explained that normalization would be part of making a truly new Middle East and that such a transformed region cannot emerge as long as a terrorist force like Hamas continues to try to drag Israel, other neighbors, and history backwards into war all of the time.

Hamas has "softened its positions" in the negotiations for a hostage deal, Saudi newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat reported on Wednesday, citing diplomatic sources.

According to the report, an Israeli delegation was expected to arrive in Cairo ahead of the talks. 

Earlier this week, it was announced a Hamas delegation headed by Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh and Deputy Chairman of Hamas in Gaza, Khalil al-Hayya, had arrived in Cairo for discussions. 

Gantz: 'initials signs indicate deal moving forward'

Minister-without-portfolio Benny Gantz said in a press conference on Wednesday, "There are attempts these days to promote a new outline for a deal, and initial signs indicate the possibility of moving forward."

"We will not miss any opportunity to bring the girls and boys home," he noted.

He added that "without an outline for a deal, Israel would operate during Ramadan." 

Gantz referred to Israel's plans for after the war, stating that Israel was acting "to strengthen the moderate axis vis-à-vis Iran and establish a regional administration that would help the Palestinians build a different government in Gaza.