Israel-Hamas War: What happened on Day 143?

Senior Houthi leader Mohammad Ali al-Houthi offered to return a British-owned cargo ship abandoned due to damage in exchange for more aid being sent to Gaza, in an X post on Sunday. 

The ship was abandoned last week after being struck by a Houthi missile, NBC News reported.

“The sunken British ship could be towed in exchange for bringing relief trucks into Gaza. This is an offer that can be studied,” al-Houthi wrote.

بالامكان أن تسحب السفينة البريطانية الغارقة مقابل إدخال شاحنات للاغاثة إلى غزة
هذا عرض قابل للدراسة

— محمد علي الحوثي (@Moh_Alhouthi) February 24, 2024

The captured ship has created several environmental concerns, as it is now leaking oil off Yemen’s coast.

In one of numerous engagements with terrorists in western Khan Yunis, fighters of the Egoz Unit of the Commando Brigade employed what the military dubbed the “pressure cooker” procedure to eliminate a squad of entrenched terrorists, the IDF reported on Sunday.

The terrorists had previously taken up a defended position inside a building being used as Hamas infrastructure and fired at IDF troops.

The following battle dragged into a prolonged siege on the structure before the troops managed to eliminate the embedded terrorists, the IDF added.

A stockpile of weapons found at the site

After the terrorists were defeated, the Egoz Unit troops searched the premises.

The IDF personnel subsequently discovered many weapons, including Kalashnikovs, grenades, and ammunition.

IDF troops operate in Western Khan Yunis. February 25, 2024. (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)

In another encounter, employing a drone, Egoz Unit troops identified an additional two terrorists who had barricaded themselves inside a house in the area.

The troops advanced on the terrorist’s position and threw grenades at them, eliminating them. Following the defeat of the entrenched Palestinian combatants, the Israeli forces searched the house. The IDF did not specify if anything of interest was found inside the structure.

The mayor of Kiryat Shmona warned all residents who were still in the northernmost Israeli city to leave immediately, as Hezbollah is escalating its operations along Israel's northern border.

In a recorded message, Avichai Stern warned residents to "not take any excess risk. For anyone still in the city, this is the time to make a phone call and leave.

"Another day of massive fire with three rockets fired at our city," Stern said. "To our delight, all rocket launches toward our city only resulted in landings in open fields."

ראש העיר מקרית שמונה, אביחי שטרן:
״אני קורא לתושבים שנשארו בעיר לעזוב עוד היום את העיר.."

הישמרו מאוד לנפשותיכם pic.twitter.com/z2MbEWQJME

— miri barbi 64,000🇮🇱🇮🇱🇮🇱🇮🇱🟢 (@MiriBarbi) February 25, 2024

Terror cell exits Hezbollah compound, eliminated in airstrike

Israeli fighter jets targeted and eliminated a Hezbollah terror cell in the area of Blida in southern Lebanon shortly after the cell exited a military compound, the IDF said on Sunday.

Two other military compounds in the area were also targeted.

Earlier, the IDF's Aerial Defense Array brought down a suspicious aerial target after it had penetrated into Israeli airspace over the Upper Galilee from Lebanon, the military added,

Additionally, over the past hours, Israel identified launches coming from Lebanon that were directed toward the areas of Margaliot, Har Dov, Kiryat Shmona, Menara, and Malkiya in Israel's north. The IDF responded by striking the sources of rocket fire. 

Border Police detectives arrested three suspects on Route 6, illegal residents, who had broken into and robbed homes and businesses in Israel's north, the Israel Police stated on Sunday with an accompanying video of the arrest.

Detectives additionally arrested another suspect for assisting the squad of burglars.

It was reported that a terrorist who was arrested overnight in the Gaza Strip attempted to attack Israeli security forces while they were transferring him for interrogation in Israeli territory. 

The terrorist, bound by plastic handcuffs, began to attack an IDF soldier as well as a female soldier from the military police as they tried to re-handcuff him with metal handcuffs after the initial interrogation.

The combat unit present at the scene opened fire and eliminated the terrorist.

The incident is under review

According to military sources, the incident is under investigation. Further, procedures regarding the arrest of terrorists in Palestinian territory and their subsequent transfer to the military police in Israeli territory are under review.

Israeli soldiers at the Jabalya refugee camp, in the northern Gaza Strip, during an Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip, December 12, 2023. (credit: Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

"A terrorist who was arrested during operational activity in the Gaza Strip attempted to attack an IDF soldier while being transferred to Israeli territory,” the IDF stated. “The combat team accompanying the detainee engaged him, opened fire, and killed the terrorist. There are no casualties to our forces. The circumstances of the case are under investigation."

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich will oppose any hostage deal agreed upon under the new reported outline, he told a conference in Jerusalem on Sunday afternoon, as per Israeli media.

"The negotiations are being conducted in a ridiculous manner," he was quoted by N12 as saying. "I will vote against any deal with the current outline as it was reported."

War cabinet minister Benny Gantz, speaking during a visit to Israel's northern front, stressed that the government is pushing to advance the outline of a deal to bring hostages home as fighting in Gaza continues.

"The road is still long," Gantz said in a recorded address. "My message to the Israeli public is - we do not stop until they are brought home. We will not stop fighting until our hostages return. 

"And," the National Unity head added, "we do not end the battle until all residents are returned safely to their homes and the threat of Hamas on Israelis' security is removed.

The United States, Egypt, Qatar, and Israel have come to an understanding of the "basic contours" of a hostage deal for a temporary ceasefire in Gaza, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told CNN on Sunday.

The deal is still under negotiation, said Sullivan, who added there would have to be indirect discussions by Qatar and Egypt with Hamas.

Prime Minister Netanyahu on Sunday said it was not clear yet whether a hostage deal would materialize from ongoing talks, declining to discuss specifics but saying the Islamist terrorist group Hamas needed to "come down to a reasonable situation."

IDF operations in Gaza

Netanyahu, speaking in an interview with CBS News, added he was meeting with staff later on Sunday to review a dual military plan that included the evacuation of Palestinian civilians in Gaza and an operation to destroy remaining Hamas battalions.

"If we have a deal, it will be delayed somewhat, but it will happen. If we don't have a deal, we'll do it anyway," he told CBS.

THE SCENE of an Israeli air strike in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Thursday: Israel must continue the war until the goals are achieved, the writer asserts (credit: ATIA MOHAMMED/FLASH90)

US President Joe Biden has not been briefed on Israel's plan for military operations in Rafah but believes civilian life must be protected, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Sunday in an interview on NBC's Meet the Press program.

"We do not believe that an operation, a major military operation, should proceed in Rafah unless there is a clear and executable plan to protect those civilians, to get them to safety and to feed, clothe and house them," Sullivan said.

Sgt. Oz Daniel, a 19-year-old IDF soldier captured and taken hostage by Hamas on October 7, died in Gaza captivity, the IDF confirmed on Sunday.

According to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, Daniel, whose body is still being held by Hamas in Gaza, was initially kidnapped along with the rest of his tank crew. 

The Israeli military on Sunday additionally confirmed the names of two other soldiers who fell in battle in the Gaza Strip on Saturday.

Staff-Sgt. Narya Belete, 21, of Shavei Shomron, a soldier in the Givati reconnaissance unit, was killed in combat in southern Gaza.

Later, the IDF published the name of Staff-Sgt. Eli Zrihen, 20, from Jerusalem. Also of the Givati reconnaissance unit, he also fell in southern Gaza.

On Saturday evening, the IDF announced the death of Major Eyal Shuminov, a 24-year-old company commander in the Shaked Battalion of the Givati Brigade.

From left to right, fallen IDF soldiers Ido Eli Zrihen, Eyal Shuminov, and Narya Belete. (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)

Daniel always "made everyone laugh"

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum released a statement on Daniel, noting the fallen soldier's love for life, "sense of humor, and a giant smile."

"We share in the heavy sorrow of the Daniel family and send our condolences to his parents, Mirav and Amir, and his twin sister, Hadar," the forum stated.

The statement also noted that Daniel was a skilled guitar player who loved the rock band Guns N' Roses.

"He was surrounded by many friends and was always the one who made everyone laugh," the forum added. "His friends recount that it was impossible to ignore the moral person he was."

Hamas official Mousa Abu Marzouk claimed that Hamas did not anticipate Israel’s response to its October 7 massacre, according to a translation of an interview given to Egypt’s Alghad TV on Thursday by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).

“When the [al-Qassam] brigades did what they did on October 7," the interviewer asked, "did they have any expectations regarding the consequences of the attack?” Marzouk responded that nobody had anticipated Israel’s response. 

“Nobody in the whole world expected them to be so barbaric,” Marzouk said. “And in such violation of all international laws, treaties, and norms. Nobody expected the [Israeli response] to be so barbaric because, ultimately, the resistance fights soldiers. It is not fighting civilians with planes and tanks.”

The same Hamas official claimed in October that terror tunnels had been constructed to protect Hamas terrorists and that it was Israel's and the United Nation's responsibility to protect Palestinian civilian lives.

The IDF has been forced to fight on Gazan terrain as Hamas has a large amount of military infrastructure built within civilian areas of Gaza. Notably, terror tunnels used by Hamas have been located under hospitals and the UNRWA headquarters. 

An Israeli soldier walks in what the military described as a Hamas command tunnel running partly under UNRWA headquarters, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in the Gaza Strip, February 8, 2024. (credit: DYLAN MARTINEZ/REUTERS)

Despite evacuations in Gaza, the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry has claimed that over 30,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel began operations. 

Senior Hamas Official Mousa Abu Marzouk: Nobody Could Have Anticipated the Consequences of October 7; We Did Not Expect a Barbaric World War against Us, in Violation of International Law #Hamas #Palestinians #October7massacre pic.twitter.com/H9x95vPk5b

— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) February 25, 2024

The interviewer prompted again, asking “What would you have done if you had expected these consequences?”

Ignoring the question, which seemed to ask Marzouk if Hamas would have attacked on October 7 if it had known that Israel would respond the way it has, Marzouk said, “Nobody expected that the Western powers, the US and Britain, would wage a war against civilians. Nobody had expected that.

Taking the initiative, Marzouk asked the interviewer: “Do you think that anyone in the world could have expected there to be a world war? In the sense that America, Germany, Britain, France, Italy, and Spain – all of them would gather armies, and the US would send two of the largest aircraft carriers to the Mediterranean Sea, all in order to fight a movement?

“By what logic could anyone have expected that the US and the entire West would unite without exception to wage war against a movement? Who could have expected this?"

Western response to October 7

Only a day after Hamas launched its massive terror attack, where they murdered over 1200 people and kidnapped over 240 more, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced that the US would move a carrier strike group closer to Israel. This strike group included US would move a carrier strike group closer to Israel. This strike group included the USS Gerald Ford carrier. 

The Gerald Ford, spanning 333 meters in length and 78 meters in width, is the first completely new US aircraft carrier in four decades, Walla! reported. It'sIt is designed with enhancements to reduce radar signature and to boost efficiency. 

The mass Western response to October 7, which Marzouk claimed could not have been anticipated, may also be connected to the large number of foreign nationals killed and kidnapped during the attack. 

One now-released hostage, 3-year-old American citizen Abigail Idan, had drawn significant attention from US President Joe Biden, who discussed her captivity with Qatar's Emir. Abigail’s parents Roy and Smadar were murdered on October 7, and she made one of 40 children abducted to Gaza.

In December, the White House confirmed that America estimates that eight US citizens are still being held in Gaza, according to Reuters.

Talk of a hostage deal continues to bring optimistic hope to Israel, hope that things may be progressing in the right direction. But for Iran’s proxies – like Hezbollah – questions remain about what their goals are and how they may be shifting as optimism leaks through.

Hezbollah continues to suffer losses in its confrontation with Israel, having not achieved much in its constant rocket fire and use of anti-tank missiles and drones; the terrorist group has seen diminishing returns.

The diminished returns look like this: Hezbollah achieved success in the beginning by getting the border evacuated from its residents. This unprecedented decision left a security zone inside Israel, essentially letting the Lebanese-based terrorist group close off northern Israel to civilians.

Hezbollah has fired thousands of rockets, damaged 500 buildings, and continues to wreak havoc – but it hasn’t achieved much more over time.

What it has achieved is that it is now firing more rockets than Hamas. However, it appears that Hezbollah has let the genocidal perpetrators of the October 7 massacre down by not committing to a larger attack.

A Hezbollah flag flutters in the southern Lebanese village of Khiam, near the border with Israel, Lebanon July 28, 2020 (credit: REUTERS/AZIZ TAHER)

Now, Hezbollah must ask itself whether it will abide by a looming ceasefire. Israel also has to ask itself if the continued aggression by the terrorist group will stand or whether there will be escalation. These two variables are important, for Iran’s proxies have linked themselves to Hamas.

Escalation on multiple fronts 

After October 7, Iran operationalized the Houthis in Yemen to antagonize Israel by attacking cargo shipping containers, and Hezbollah began its attacks the next day on October 8. In addition, Iranian-backed proxies in Iraq and Syria have attacked US forces around 200 times since October, killing three American soldiers in Jordan in late January.

What is the balance in this Iranian trigger-pulling? Hezbollah wanted to draw a new equation in the North, and the equation is one in which it has impunity to attack, and Israel responds in proportion. It has said that Israelis will not return home until the war in Gaza ends.

As such, the Houthis, Hezbollah, and the whole region in a sense – some 5,000 miles of frontline on seven fronts – are all harnessed to Hamas, the mule that is now being forced to carry all this along. As long as the war in Gaza continues, all these proxies of Iran are entwined in this conflict.

So far, Iran appears to be concerned about emerging from this war with a win. If all Tehran has accomplished so far is to show that it can get its proxies to carry out many attacks but not change any of the arenas it fought in, then it is unclear what exactly the Islamic Republic has achieved.

One thing it did achieve was to show that it had the impunity to carry out attacks across a long frontline. As the ceasefire talks progress, Iran may seek to change the “equation” again – or it may breathe a sigh of relief that it got through this round relatively unscathed.