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.

Turkey has decided to recall its ambassador from Tel Aviv for consultations following Israel's "refusal of calls for a ceasefire and continuous and unhindered flow of humanitarian aid," Ankara's foreign ministry said Saturday.

This is a developing story.

IDF Combat Engineering Corps have been working inside the Gaza Strip, creating access routes, clearing the area of explosive devices, and neutralizing Hamas terror infrastructure and terrorist cells found in the area, the IDF said on Saturday.

Furthermore, combat engineering and infantry soldiers located and struck military compounds used for planning and executing terror activities, the IDF said, sharing documentation of the Combat Engineering Corps’ activities.

WATCH: IDF combat engineers clear Hamas booby traps | https://t.co/Gn7THjGbqo@MaayanJaffe pic.twitter.com/BdeDsEQ6WY

— The Jerusalem Post (@Jerusalem_Post) November 4, 2023

Whatever is needed to win

“While doing our work, we came upon terrorists who used civilian roads to harm us,” said the commander of Battalion 603 in a video statement. “Of course, we attacked and killed them.”

He added that the unit would do whatever is needed to win.

So far, more than 330 soldiers have been killed since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, including around three dozen since the start of the ground invasion in Gaza. 

Armored Corps fight 15 terrorists at once

Earlier in the day, the IDF reported that soldiers from the Armored Corps and Intelligence divisions had been operating in an area of the Gaza Strip where numerous attempts were made to attack IDF forces through tunnel systems and Hamas military facilities. In one battle, the soldiers faced 15 Hamas terrorists at once.

The soldiers eliminated several of them, and targeted tanks destroyed three Hamas observation posts.

The IDF and Shin Bet conducted an operation against Hamas terrorists in the West Bank overnight Friday, the IDF said on Saturday.

During the operation, IDF and Shin Bet arrested a number of individuals suspected of involvement in terrorist activities throughout Gush Etzion, including four who are associated with Hamas.

In the area of the Palestinian town of Beit Umar, Israeli security forces detained dozens of suspects and found military equipment during searches.

Violent clashes break out

During the operation, the Israeli forces were confronted by roadblocks and individuals throwing stones.

The IDF responded with live fire. Several injuries were reported among the stone-throwers.

In the Palestinian town of Jaba, an explosive device was thrown at IDF and Shin Bet personnel.

In al Fawar, weapons, including a rocket and ammunition, were confiscated. More weapons in Bethlehem, including a rifle, a homemade submachine gun, and ammunition were likewise confiscated along with a stolen motorcycle.

The IDF and Shin Bet noted that, since the beginning of the current conflict, over 1,300 have been arrested in the West Bank, including 800 with ties to Hamas.

Nearly 40 French citizens and their families have been evacuated from Gaza to Egypt where they are being looked after by the French Embassy, the foreign ministry said on Saturday.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told reporters that Gaza must be part of an independent, sovereign Palestinian state once the Israel-Hamas war is over, adding Ankara would not support models "gradually erasing Palestinians from history."

Speaking to media on a return flight from Kazakhstan on Friday, Erdogan also said his intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin was in contact with Israeli and Palestinian authorities, as well as Hamas, broadcaster Haberturk and others reported.

He said he would not take Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a counterpart, but added Ankara would not sever its ties with Israel either, according to Haberturk.

The Israeli military said it would enable Palestinians to travel on a main Gaza Strip highway on Saturday as part of its three-wee-old efforts to encourage civilians to evacuate southward away from areas that are the focus of its war with Hamas.

In a social media post in Arabic, the military said the Salah a-Din road could be used between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. (1100 GMT and 1400). "If you care about yourself and your loved ones, heed our instruction to head south," it added.

Honduras's government recalled its ambassador to Israel for consultations due to the humanitarian situation affecting Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, the country's top diplomat announced on social media on Friday, sparking a strong response from the State of Israel.

"Amid the grave humanitarian situation the Palestinian civilian population suffers in the Gaza Strip, the government of President Xiomara Castro has decided to immediately call Mr. Roberto Martinez, Ambassador of the Republic of Honduras in Israel, to consultations in Tegucigalpa," Foreign Minister Enrique Reina said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Israel's Foreign Ministry responded to the decision by issuing a statement on Saturday saying that "The Honduran government's decision to recall its ambassador ignores Israel's right to defend itself against the Hamas terrorist organization, which is worse than ISIS. Hamas terrorists murdered over 1400 people, kidnapped 240, among them children, babies, women and the elderly, and is still holding them hostage.

"Israel will fight Hamas terrorists until Hamas is eliminated from the Gaza Strip," the ministry said. "We expect the Honduran government to condemn Hamas, to support Israel's right to defend itself, and not to take decisions that provide support to Hamas' terrorism." 

Not the first

Castro's decision follows similar moves from like-minded peers in the region earlier in the week.

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Lior Haiat, at the Foreign Ministry's office in Jerusalem. (credit: THE MEDIA LINE)

Chile's Gabriel Boric and Colombia's Gustavo Petro also recalled their countries' ambassadors to Israel for consultations over events surrounding the conflict in Gaza. At the same time, Bolivia moved to sever diplomatic ties with Israel.

Honduras, however, has historically been a close ally of Israel. It moved its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in June 2021 under President Juan Orlando Hernández, making it the fourth embassy in Jerusalem, following the United States, Guatemala, and Kosovo.

Hernández is an Evangelical Christian. He was extradited to the United States on charges of drug trafficking in 2022. Castro took office in January 2023.

Policy on Israel was already shifting

In August last year, Honduras's Foreign Ministry announced it was considering moving its embassy back to Tel Aviv.

"The issue of moving the embassy to Tel Aviv has already been discussed with President (Castro) and is a topic of interest to her, as well as maintaining a balanced relationship with the other Arab countries and Israel," Honduran Foreign Minister Enrique Reina said in a statement at the time.

However, until now, the embassy has remained in Jerusalem.

US Special Envoy David Satterfield said on Saturday that between 800,000 to a million people have moved to the south of the Gaza Strip, while 350,000-400,000 remain in the north of the enclave.

Talking to reporters in the Jordanian capital Amman, he said that there were no recorded instances of Hamas interdicting or seizing aid.

"Fuel in depots in Gaza has been accessed by UNRWA for aid trucks, de-salinisation and hospitals in the south of Gaza," he noted.

The death toll of French citizens killed as a result of Hamas' attacks in Israel has risen to 39, with nine other French nationals still missing, France's foreign ministry said on Saturday.