Israel at war - what happened on Day 33?

The Israeli army is likely to remain in Gaza in the immediate aftermath of the war until such time as a security architecture is drawn up for the enclave, US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters on Wednesday.

“In the immediate aftermath of conflict, it’s certainly plausible that at least some period of time, Israeli defense forces are still going to be in Gaza to manage the immediate aftermath [of the war] and the security situation,” Kirby said.

“But it shouldn’t be the long-term solution. It should not be about the IDF reoccupation of Gaza as a long term governance solution.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told ABC earlier this week that “Israel will, for an indefinite period, have the overall security responsibly, because we have seen what happens when we do not have it.” 

The White House and the State Department have clarified, however, that the territory must eventually be controlled by Palestinians, possibly the Palestinian Authority, in a situation where both Gaza and the West Bank are unified under one government.

A move towards a peace-loving leadership in Palestine is the most desired outcome in the Israel-Hamas conflict, British foreign minister James Cleverly said on Wednesday, reiterating Britain's support for a two-state solution.

"In the short term, it is inevitable that Israel, because they have the troops in Gaza, will need to have a security responsibility," Cleverly said at the G7 summit in Japan.

"But our view is as soon as practicable, a move towards a peace loving Palestinian leadership is the most desired outcome."

IDF Sgt.-First Class Jonathan Chazor, 22, a soldier in the Shaldag Unit from Katzir, was killed in clashes in the northern Gaza Strip on Tuesday, the IDF Spokesperson's Unit said on Wednesday.

A senior Hamas commander told the UK's Daily Mail that Hamas leaders Ismail Haniyeh and Yahya Sinwar had "destroyed" the lower levels of the terrorist movement by ordering the October 7 attack, according to a report by the British newspaper on Sunday.

The commander, calling himself Abu Mohammed, told the newspaper in an interview over Telegram that originally the plan was to kidnap a few Israeli soldiers, but the orders were changed at the last minute by Hamas military leaders to conduct the massacre which ended up taking place on October 7.

"Our reason to speak is that we want to raise our voice to the world. My dear Gaza is under bombardment. The problem is because of our leadership."

The commander pointed to the fact that Haniyeh and other leaders live in splendor abroad while he's sustaining himself on some dates and olive oil.

Abu Mohammed also accused Sinwar of "acting like a street fighter," saying Hamas terrorists were told to "do what they like" when attacking Israel.

Blood in houses when Hamas terrorists infiltrated Kibbutz Be'eri, and 30 other nearby communities in Southern Israel on October 7, killing more than 1400 people, and taking more than 200 hostages into Gaza, near the Israeli-Gaza border. (credit: EDI ISRAEL/FLASH90)

Hamas commander says contact lost with leaders

The commander additionally stated that contact had been lost with Hamas's political bureau, saying "We don’t know what direction to go in next. We don’t know which path to take. They destroyed us."

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant spoke about the disconnect between the Hamas leadership and the lower levels of the terrorist group as well recently, saying that Sinwar has been completely cut off from the rest of the organization and that Hamas's command structure is collapsing.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday that Israel cannot run Gaza, but there may be a transition period following the end of the current conflict.

"Gaza cannot be continued to be run by Hamas. That simply invites repetition of October 7 ... It's also clear that Israel cannot occupy Gaza," Blinken told reporters after a G7 foreign ministers meeting in Tokyo.

"Now, the reality is that there may be a need for some transition period at the end of the conflict ... We don't see a reoccupation and what I've heard from Israeli leaders, is that they have no intent to reoccupy Gaza."

The head of Hamas's Weapons and Industries Department, Mahsan Abu-Zina, was eliminated by the IDF in an airstrike in the Gaza Strip, the IDF and Shin Bet said on Wednesday.

Abu-Zina was one of the leaders in Hamas for producing weapons for the terrorist organization and specialized in the production of strategic ammunition and rockets.

The weapons production leader is the latest in a series of senior Hamas members killed amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, sparked by Hamas's massacre in southern Israel on October 7.

Terrorist cells in Gaza hit overnight

The IDF also struck a terrorist cell which was planning to fire anti-tank missiles at Israeli forces overnight, as well as another cell which was firing rockets toward Israel.

UNRWA claimed on Wednesday that a school belonging to the organization had been hit by the IDF in northern Gaza. UNRWA has reported in the past that its schools in the Gaza Strip have been used for military purposes, including storing rockets and containing openings to the tunnel system used by Hamas.

One of the hottest trending Google searches in Hebrew on Wednesday in Israel is "Gaza ancient synagogue," and the reason is than Israeli Defense Force (IDF) soldiers prayed there, the first time in close to two decades that a Jew was allowed to pray at this holy site.

Michael Freund, who established the Shavei Israel organization tweeted on X: "For the first time in decades, Israeli soldiers prayed in the ancient synagogue in Gaza which was built in the 6th century and where a beautiful mosaic floor depicting King David was unearthed years ago. Jews have returned to Gaza!!"

A number of tweets suggest that soldiers prayed at the ancient synagogue, yet no photos were shared on social media, due to the fact that there are very strict instructions on documentation during combat.

The ancient synagogue of Gaza, dating back to 508 CE during the Byzantine period, was unearthed in 1965. Situated in what was once the bustling port city of Gaza, known as "Maiumas" at the time, this historical site now resides within the Rimal district of Gaza City. The Egyptian archaeologists initially identified it as a church, but a remarkable mosaic featuring King David playing a lyre, labeled in Hebrew, was subsequently found.

This mosaic, measuring 3 meters in height and 1.9 meters in width, provided insight into the art and culture of the era. Curiously, it was first mistaken as depicting a female saint playing the harp but was later associated with Orpheus, a figure from Greek mythology, with ties to Jesus or David in Byzantine art.

Synagogue mosaic of King David (credit: AVISHAI TEICHER/WIKIPEDIA)

Property damage on historical pieces

Sadly, the main figure's face was damaged shortly after its discovery. Following Israel's capture of the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Six-Day War, the mosaic was moved to the Israel Museum for restoration, where it remains a testament to the rich history of the region.

Nowadays, visitors can marvel at the mosaic floor of the synagogue in the Museum of the Good Samaritan, located near the Jerusalem-Jericho Road close to the Israeli settlement of Ma'ale Adumim. One of the most renowned panels in the mosaic floor portrays King David, identified by a Hebrew inscription reading "David", as he plays the lyre with a gathering of docile wild animals before him. 

United States Vice President Kamala Harris spoke early Wednesday with President Isaac Herzog on the one month anniversary of the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel. The two discussed the latest developments in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank.

Harris reiterated her support for Israel's right to protect its citizens and fight terrorism following the bloody October 7th attack, and emphasized her and President Biden's focus on securing the release of the hostages held by Hamas.

In addition, she emphasized the importance of protecting civilian lives and respecting international humanitarian law and the necessity to further increase the provision of life-saving humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza. She also raised the need to increase stability and security in the West Bank and hold extremist settlers accountable for acts of violence.

Harris further emphasized the importance of setting conditions for peace and security with equal measures of security, prosperity and freedom for Israelis and Palestinians.

Several loud booms pierced the air and thundered in my ears despite the earplugs I was given to reduce the sensory impact.

But these were no Hamas rocket booms – the most common noise Israelis have been hearing since the October 7 Israel-Gaza war started.

Rather, The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday was embedded with a naval unit while it fired numerous shells against Hamas forces in Gaza City while they were trying to ambush IDF Unit 400.

The IDF is regularly moving its forces through deep parts of northern Gaza urban areas, even reaching the coast, but these forces regularly encounter ambushes.

To thwart the ambushes, ground troops are regularly accompanied by aircraft, drones, tanks, artillery, and, in some cases, even naval vessels.

Israeli Navy hits a target in Gaza, during the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, from an unspecified location on the sea October 14, 2023 in this still image from handout video. (credit: IDF/Handout via REUTERS)

Going with the IDF Navy along the Gaza coast

Leaving from a base near Ashdod, the Post sailed on a Dvora-class fast patrol boat alongside a missile boat.

Within less than 10 minutes of Unit 400 forces radioing that they were under attack, the information was passed through various military pipelines to the naval forces, and a precise naval attack was carried out.

In some cases, the navy has successfully attacked Hamas forces within 30 seconds of ground troops encountering resistance or attacks.

Later during the naval patrol, naval forces used ship-to-ship gunfire to neutralize a potential threat from a floating explosive device.

There were at least four rounds of gunfire at the device, with Col. Eitan Paz ordering his weapons officers to continue additional rounds of fire as he observed to decide if the threat had been neutralized.

The navy has attacked hundreds of targets, including more than 200 Hamas terrorists.

Naval officers pointed out that our vessel was traversing the exact spot where seven Hamas naval commando vessels had invaded Israel via Zikim Beach on October 7.

Paz said his forces were engaged in fighting the seven Hamas ships from almost the start of the invasion, even before 7 a.m. This is in contrast to many IDF land forces, which only arrived hours later. Part of the reason for their early involvement was that their ships were already at sea for two days at the time.

Other naval combat fighters said that on October 7 they had continued fighting Hamas forces for almost 11 hours straight.

Out of the seven ships, Paz’s forces immediately destroyed three, but four initially got through to the Zikim Beach.

Around 11 Hamas naval commandos landed at Zikim Beach with three of them being killed by IDF naval forces near the landing.

Regarding the additional eight Hamas naval commandos, four were killed when they arrived at the nearby Zikim kibbutz.

The kibbutz’s local security team had been warned in advance by the navy and, therefore, were ready for the commandos and able to push them back.

Two more Hamas naval commandos were killed later that day by regular IDF forces, who encountered them in a car.

Further, the last two were killed by Maglan special forces around five or six days later.

The IDF suffered one dead and two wounded from the Hamas naval commandos’ invasion.

IDF sources acknowledged that they had underestimated how much Hamas had built up its naval forces despite the IDF having significantly harmed those forces during the May 2021 Gaza conflict.

After confronting that invasion, the IDF naval forces in the Ashdod area started “to hunt” any exposed Hamas forces it saw in the sea or maneuvering on land.

Over 20 hours, those IDF naval forces killed around 28 additional Hamas terrorists.

Since then, there have been at least three other serious attempts at amphibious assaults, all of which were fully thwarted by the IDF’s naval forces.

For example, on October 25, Hamas naval commandos used a complex trajectory and series of maneuvers to try to outwit Israel’s naval defenses.

IDF naval forces pursued them with determination until they were killed, and IDF ships also destroyed the mosque on the coast that the Hamas forces were using as cover for sneaking out to sea.

Besides patrol forces, there are regular IDF forces guarding the country’s natural gas rigs, and some naval forces control their own drones that can perform both surveillance and attack activities.

In addition, the IDF used underground robots to search for bodies and weaponry left behind by Hamas when its forces were attacked and underground methods of attack to pound Gaza maritime forces.

Naval forces strike a balance between approaching close to the coast to improve the probability of striking Hamas targets, versus mostly remaining out of range of Hamas’s anti-tank missiles.

The terror group has tried to fire numerous times on IDF naval vessels but has not reached them to date.

Paz said, “The navy has acted in full cooperation with the maneuvering ground forces since the invasion of the Gaza Strip. Each separate division is accompanied by a parallel naval force, including fast patrol boats, missile boats, and Shayetet 13 naval commandos, assisting with firepower and surveillance.”

The Post and the naval forces may have been beyond Hamas’s anti-tank missile range but were not entirely safe.

Just before the ships were about to sail, a rocket warning siren blared and everyone in the area ran for cover in the base’s safe rooms.

If at home, this writer is used to five or 10 persons in a small safe room, the IDF experience included dozens with almost no room to move.