Israel at war: What happened on days 28-29?

Israeli forces will reach Hamas terror leader Yahya Sinwar and will kill him, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant vowed on Saturday evening briefing on developments in Operation Swords of Iron.

Further, Gallant said that "by the end of the war, there will be no Hamas in Gaza. There will be no threat to Israeli civilians from the Strip."

Israel intensified its ground operation in Gaza over the weekend, successfully targeting and dismantling vital Hamas elements, including their critical infrastructure and personnel.

Rocket debris was found in the water near a Haifa beach, prompting an immediate police response at the scene and evacuation of beachgoers, according to a Friday statement by Israeli Police.

Police received reports of a large piece of explosive in the water near the Meridian Hotel, prompting an immediate investigation. The IDF and Haifa police cleared a 2km radius while they worked to clear the explosive.

President Isaac Herzog called on Israelis to light memorial candles on Sunday at 6 p.m. to mark 30 days since the October 7 massacre.

Herzog's message included the hashtag #האור_ינצח (Light will win).

A post by President Isaac Herzog encouraging Israelis to light memorial candles on the 30-day anniversary of the October 7 massacre. (credit: PRESIDENT'S RESIDENCE)

"[Russia] has crossed all the red lines already," said journalist, professor, and former Knesset member Ksenia Svetlova in an interview with CNN on Thursday. 

CNN correspondent Bianna Golodryga spoke with Svetlova about the recent Wall Street Journal report claiming that Russia's Wagner Group may supply Lebanese terror organization Hezbollah with an air-defense system. 

Svetlova, a Russian-Israeli with expertise in Middle East affairs, said Russia was a "main beneficiary" of the current war in the Middle East. 

"Even this diplomatic embrace of the Hamas team that visited Moscow recently - it meant a lot," Svetlova continued, touching on the recent visit taken by a Hamas delegation to Moscow in late October. "Perhaps there is even more to this relationship than we know."

No weapons transferred yet

She also emphasized that there is currently no indication that any anti-aircraft weapons have been transferred from Russia to Hamas. 

Senior Hamas officials Bassem Naim and Moussa Abu Marzouk, and Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov meet for talks on the release of foreign hostages, at a location given as Moscow, Russia in this handout image released on October 26, 2023 (credit: Hamas Handout/Handout via REUTERS)

Golodryga brought up the close relationship between Russia and Iran, and the fact that Hezbollah, backed by Iran, poses a threat on Israel's northern border. 

"Israel is very much concerned about the 'official opening' of the second front in the North," said Svetlova. "Because the capacity of Hezbollah is so much more robust than those of the Hamas. [They also have] precision rockets. That's why, for all those years, Israel went to such great lengths to prevent Iran from helping Hezbollah with its precision rocket project."

"Right now," she continued, "they have enough to inflict great damage on the Israeli population."

Svetlova concluded, saying: "Israel cannot live safely when on its borders you have two terrorist entities."

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed IDF soldiers in a letter on Friday, expressing admiration for their efforts in the fight against Hamas.

"We constantly remember the sights of the horrific massacre on Shabbat Simchat Torah, October 7, 2023. Before our eyes stand our brothers and sisters who were murdered, wounded, kidnapped, or were IDF soldiers or security personnel who fell in battle," wrote Netanyahu.

"In their name and on their behalf we embarked on a campaign, the purpose of which is the destruction of the cruel and murderous enemy Hamas-ISIS, the return of our abductees, and the return of security to our country, our citizens, and our children."

"This is the war between the sons of light and the sons of darkness. We will not let up on our mission until the light overcomes the darkness - the good will defeat the extreme evil that threatens us and the entire world."

"Dear IDF soldiers and personnel in the security forces, wherever you are - on land, in the air, and at sea, in the assembly areas and in the depths of the terrain, in the intelligence, armament, logistics, and medical directorates - new pages in Israel's history are being written by you. Your valor, your devotion to the goal, and your courage are hugely inspiring."

A number of Swedish citizens have died in Gaza in the last month, Sweden's foreign ministry said on Friday, citing information it had received from local authorities.

"The Foreign Ministry received the information after Oct. 7. Sweden's general consulate in Jerusalem is dealing with the cases," the ministry said in an emailed statement.

Sweden gave no further information about the number of dead or under what circumstances they had died.

Hamas-run Gazan health authorities say at least 9,061 people - many of them women and children - have been killed since Israel started its assault on the enclave of 2.3 million people in retaliation for deadly attacks by Hamas terrorists on southern Israel.

Israel says the Iran-backed Hamas killed 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and took more than 240 hostages in the attacks on Oct. 7, the deadliest day of its 75-year history.

The IDF published the names of five soldiers who fell in battle in the northern Gaza Strip on Friday, bringing the total of IDF soldiers killed in combat in the ground offensive in Gaza to 23.

The soldiers were named as Cpt. Beni Wais, 22, from Haifa, a platoon commander in the 195th Battalion, 460th Brigade; Maj. (res.) Uriah Mash, 41, from Talmon, an soldier in the 52nd Battalion, 401st Brigade; Maj. (res.) Yehonatan Yosef Brand, 28, from Jerusalem, an armored fighter in the 52nd Battalion, 401st Brigade; Sgt.-Maj. Gil Pishitz, 39, from Harish, a tank driver in the 9th Battalion, 401st Brigade; and Staff-Sgt. Itay Saadon, 21, from Har Halutz, a tank commander in the 52nd Battalion, 401st Brigade.

Some 339 IDF soldiers have been killed since Hamas launched its attack on Israel on October 7.

IDF soldiers on ground operations in Gaza, November 3, 2023 (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)

IDF completes encirclement of Gaza City

The IDF completed its encirclement of Gaza City on Thursday. Over 130 Palestinian terrorists were killed in clashes in Gaza on Thursday evening, according to the IDF Spokesperson's Unit.

A number of military headquarters used by senior Hamas leaders were targeted by the IDF.

The United Nations rights office on Friday described the situation in the West Bank as "alarming," saying Israeli forces were increasingly using military tactics and weapons in law enforcement operations there.

"While much attention has been on the attacks inside Israel and the escalation of hostilities in Gaza since the 7th of October, the situation in the occupied West Bank, including east Jerusalem, is alarming and urgent," said Liz Throssell, spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday for the third time since the Hamas massacre and the start of the Swords of Iron war.

He came against the backdrop of the US pushing to prevent regional spillover from the Gaza war and its aiming to secure an agreement for a humanitarian “pause" to fighting in Gaza.

 "It's always good to see you, even on difficult days," Netanyahu told Blinken before they held a private meeting. He also showed Blinken and his delegation parts of the film prepared by the IDF spokesperson, depicting the horrors and massacres carried out by Hamas.

In the afternoon, they were expected to hold an expanded meeting with members of the war cabinet. Blinken was also expected to meet with National Unity Party Chair Benny Gantz.

“We are determined to prevent escalation on any of these fronts whether its in southern Lebanon, the West Bank, or anywhere else in the region,” he Blinken reporters before leaving the US on Thursday, in a trip that would also include stops in Jordan and Turkey.

“We’re making sure that this message gets through. It’s not in anyone’s interest for this to escalate and some of the other parties involved recognized that, but we’re going to work on that every single day.”

He spoke as eyes were turned to Lebanon, where Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is expected to deliver his first public address since the war, as violence on Israel’s northern border increased as the IDF kept its major focus on Gaza in the South.

Hezbollah said it had mounted 19 simultaneous strikes on IDF positions on Thursday using guided missiles, artillery, and other weapons, coinciding with what it called strikes using two explosive drones.

Us Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, October 12, 2023. (credit: CHAIM TZACH/GPO)

Nasrallah's speech is expected to indicate whether the group will expand the violence into an all-out war.

In Washington, US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said the White House was concerned by the strike but had not seen evidence Hezbollah was ready to launch an all-out war with Israel.

Blinken is set to arrive as the United States’ strategy to boost Israel’s existing regional allies and to expand its alliances, appeared to be buckling under the pressure of the war.

Bahrain said on Thursday the Gulf state’s ambassador to Israel had returned home and the Israeli ambassador in Manama had left “a while ago,” confirming an earlier statement by its parliament.

The government statement did not however confirm that economic ties had been severed, as the parliament had earlier stated, citing a protest over the war in Gaza.

On Wednesday, Jordan recalled its ambassador as did Colombia and Chile. Bolivia cut its ties with Israel all together.

Biden heckled by pro-ceasefire Jewish person

Top US officials, including Blinken and President Joe Biden have been beset by protesters calling for a ceasefire.

Biden was speaking to about 200 people in Minnesota late Wednesday when the heckler shouted: “As a rabbi, I need you to call for a ceasefire right now.”

Biden responded: “I think we need a pause. A pause means give time to get the prisoners out.”

The White House later clarified that Biden was referring to the hostages – not prisoners –held by Hamas.

Kirby told reporters that the US would like to see pauses in the fighting to allow for the safe passage of foreign nationals to exit Gaza, a move that began on Wednesday. It’s estimated that there are some 7,500 foreign passport holders, including Americans, who would like to leave. In addition, Hamas is holding 242 hostages.

“We’re not talking about one pause, what we are trying to do is to explore the idea of as many pauses as might be necessary to continue to get aid out and to continue to work to get people out safely, including hostages,” Kirby said.

He noted that Biden had already secured one such pause last month when Hamas released two American hostages.
“That is what we are looking at,” Kirby said, as he explained that these pauses would be to meet certain goals. Each pause will require negotiation and diplomacy, Kirby stated.

He noted that 55 humanitarian aid trucks had gone into Gaza through the Egyptian crossing at Rafah and that more would continue to be sent into the Strip.

But human rights experts have warned that food and medicine are not enough to prevent a humanitarian crisis as the number of Palestinian casualties rose to over 9,000, according to Hamas data.

A number of UN human rights experts accused Israel of genocide with its bombing. The IDF has said it’s going after Hamas terror targets that are hidden within civilian areas, including under hospitals.

Blinken told reporters that “Israel has not only the right, but the obligation to defend itself and to take steps to make sure that this [the October 7 attack] never happens again.”

He cautioned, however, “How Israel does this, matters.”

Maayan Hoffman and Reuters contributed to this report.