Live updates day 511: What happened in Israel, Lebanon, and Gaza?

While there are a near limitless number of failures which led to the inability to stop and mitigate Hamas’s invasion of southern Israel on October 7, including the extreme delay in sending reinforcements, two key stunning reasons clarified by the IDF probes on Thursday were denial by commanders that they had been beaten - and utter chaos at IDF headquarters.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed the hostage-ceasefire deal delegation to leave for Cairo to engage in talks regarding the continuation of the ceasefire on Thursday.

The delegation will be led by Coordinator for the Hostages and the Missing Persons, Brig.-Gen. (Res.) Gal Hirsch, as well as "M," an anonymous officer from the Shin Bet. M is the former deputy of Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, who is reportedly no longer part of the hostage deal negotiating team.

In a Thursday meeting with Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský in Jerusalem, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar said "Our delegation will depart for Cairo to assess whether there is common ground for extending the framework in exchange for the return of more hostages."" 

Israeli officials told the the Jerusalem Post that Israel wants and is willing to continue phase one of the deal. This would mean that three hostages would be continued to be released each week, in return for humanitarian aid and the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jail.

Hamas has also recently stated that the only way the remaining hostages will be freed is through a commitment to a ceasefire deal.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) canceled the arrest warrant against Hamas leader Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri, also known as Mohammed Deif, on Wednesday after confirming that he had been killed last July, having obtained “sufficient and reliable information” from the prosecution.

The ICC issued arrest warrants for Deif, along with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant in November 2024.

An arrest warrant was issued for Deif, even though Israel confirmed he had been killed in an Israeli airstrike back in Auguat, and Hamas had informed Arabic newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat that Deif was killed in early November. This seemed to suggest that the arrest warrant for Deif was issued in an attempt to preserve some level of even-handedness between the sides of the conflict.

The court stated in November that it was not in a position to determine whether Deif had been killed or remained alive and, therefore, issued a warrant of arrest. 

Now that the ICC has canceled Deif's arrest warrant, only the warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant remain.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed the hostage deal-ceasefire delegation to leave for Cairo to engage in talks regarding the continuation of the ceasefire.

Israeli officials told the Jerusalem Post that "right now, we want and are willing to continue the first phase" of the deal.

This is a developing story.

Iranian officials flocked to Lebanon for the funeral of Hassan Nasrallah this week.

Before leaving Lebanon, Iranian IRNA state media said, “Parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi have met with the Secretary General of the Lebanese Hezbollah resistance movement, Sheikh Naim Qassem, on the last day of their trip to Beirut.”

This is important because it shows how Iran still has great expectations for Hezbollah. Hezbollah has been defanged to some extent by Israel during two months of fighting from September to November 2024.

Nasrallah’s funeral was expected to be a show of force for Hezbollah on February 23. It brought together pro-Iranian supporters from all over the region, including what Hezbollah media estimated was 200,000 Iraqis who went to Lebanon.

According to forensic findings, slain hostages Ohad Yahalomi, Tsachi Idan, and Itzhak Elgarat were murdered in Hamas captivity, and Shlomo Mantzur was killed on October 7, the Prime Minister's Office announced on Thursday morning.

Hamas released the remains of the four hostages on Wednesday night, and the confirmation of their identities was announced on Thursday morning.

Israel Police released footage on Thursday of the moment Israeli security forces prevented an imminent terror attack by armed gunmen who were also in possession of a 100kg explosive meant to harm IDF soldiers in the West Bank.

The announcement was made earlier this week. However, the terror attempt and subsequent arrest were on January 11.

During the operation, forces arrested Ahmad Ali Zakarnah and Tariq Abu Zaid in Nablus while they were en route to carry out an attack. Two loaded M16 rifles, bulletproof vests, face masks, and a large quantity of ammunition were found in their vehicle.

A resident of Petah Tikva was arrested by the Shin Bet and Israel Police for carrying out missions for Iran, the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) and Israel Police announced on Thursday.

The Shin Bet and Tel Aviv District Police arrested Daniel Ki Tov, 26, after conducting an investigation which revealed that Ki Tov was in contact with an Iranian entity for months and graffitied areas of Petah Tikva and Rosh HaAyin for payment.

The suspect was asked to photograph the head of the Shin Bet's house, and he allegedly offered to photograph MK Benny Gantz's house as well.

Hamas terrorists have repurposed unexploded material into improvised explosive devices and scanned properties for listening devices left behind by the IDF to track their movements, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

According to the report, Hamas is monitoring Gaza for potential spies and has designated a separate unit to detect and counter any Israeli infiltration, Arab officials told the WSJ.

In addition, Hamas’s armed wing has appointed new commanders and begun repairing its underground tunnel network in preparation for the possibility of returning to war with Israel, according to officials.

Murdered hostage Tsachi Idan was returned to Israel on Wednesday night, his family confirmed via the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.

Tsachi was on the list of 33 hostages to be released in the first stage of a hostage-ceasefire deal. He was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nahal Oz as his 18-year-old daughter, Mayaan, was murdered on October 7. 

"We are still waiting for the much-needed certainty, which we can only receive after his arrival in Israel and after all necessary examinations are conducted by the authorized state authorities," his family said in a statement on Wednesday.