The IDF released new details on how its troops encountered Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and several other Hamas members in southern Gaza on October 16. Israel’s defense minister called on Hamas to surrender and for Gazans to release the 101 hostages still held in captivity. The IDF continued operations in Jabaliya in northern Gaza.
Sinwar was the mastermind behind the October 7, 2023, assault on Israel and was perhaps the most wanted Hamas terrorist by Israel. A veteran of Hamas since the 1980s, Sinwar established the group’s security service and rose to lead Hamas in August 2024 after his predecessor was assassinated in Tehran, Iran.
The 162nd Division of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has been fighting in Jabaliya in northern Gaza for 10 days and found weapons and explosives during the operation. There have also been clashes with terrorists, and Hamas fighters have been eliminated. The IDF transferred 30 trucks of humanitarian aid into northern Gaza amid concerns about civilians.
Israel commemorated the anniversary of the October 7 massacre as Hamas fired more than 135 rockets at southern and central Israel, Iraqi militias targeted Israel with drones, and the Houthis launched a long-range missile at central Israel. The IDF’s top general met with the head of US Central Command on October 6. A third IDF division began operations in Lebanon as the Israeli Air Force hit 120 Hezbollah targets.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched a new operation in northern Gaza directed at Hamas terrorists in Jabliya, an area the IDF has cleared three times during the war. The new operation, launched as Israel prepares for the anniversary of the October 7 attack, began after the Israeli military detected evidence that Hamas was seeking to rebuild its forces there.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan aims to play a central role in post-war Gaza. However, the West should closely scrutinize Turkey’s involvement, especially given Erdogan’s reliance on SADAT, Turkey’s premier private military company, and its Islamist ideology and ties to terrorist organizations.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) deployed the 5th Brigade to central Gaza’s Netzarim Corridor, according to an IDF statement on September 16. The reserve infantry brigade recently completed training in Israel’s southern Negev Desert, in which it prepared for ground operations on the kind of terrain it will face in central Gaza. Deploying reserve units has become routine as the IDF rotates forces into central Gaza.
The IDF carried out an airstrike on three Hamas commanders who had set up a command-and-control center in the humanitarian zone in Gaza, the IDF said on September 10. In addition, the IDF targeted a Hamas battalion commander and three of his company commanders in southern Gaza. The strikes illustrate a wider campaign by the IDF to target Hamas’ remaining command-and-control centers.
Two rockets were fired at the Israeli city of Ashkelon from Gaza. The IDF operated in the Zeitoun neighborhood near Gaza City to eliminate terrorist threats. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant visited the Netzarim Corridor on September 8 and vowed the IDF would eliminate Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. In southern Gaza, the IDF continued to clash with Hamas terrorists in Rafah and carried out airstrikes against Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad targets.
The Israel Defense Forces’ 162nd Division eliminated 200 terrorists in battles near Rafah and the Philadelphi Corridor in southern Gaza during the last week of August. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to keep control of the key area to prevent Hamas from re-arming.
The IDF’s Gaza Division, which faced the brunt of Hamas’s attack on October 7 and will play a key role in the future security of the border, received a new commander on September 2. The IDF’s head of Ground Forces resigned on September 3. The leadership changes come as Israel intends to maintain control over the Philadelphi Corridor.
The Israel Defense Forces rescued Qaid Farhan Alkadi, a hostage held in Gaza since the Hamas attack on October 7, from a tunnel in southern Gaza. Alkadi was flown by helicopter to an Israeli hospital in Beersheba, where he met members of his family and spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The IDF expanded operations in the outskirts of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza and said Israeli forces eliminated dozens of terrorists and found weapons and a tunnel. Hamas launched a rocket at central Israel on August 25, and Israel hit the launch site with an airstrike.
Israel is waging a campaign of targeted eliminations against members of various terrorist groups who are orchestrating violence in the West Bank.
On August 21, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant visited the Philadelphi Corridor in southern Gaza and met with commanders of the 162nd Division, which has been fighting Hamas in Rafah since May. Gallant said the Hamas Rafah Brigade has been defeated. The IDF continued to expand operations in Khan Younis and central Gaza, and one Israeli soldier was killed, the IDF said on August 23.
The Islamic Republic has scaled back its rhetoric against Israel by exercising “strategic ambiguity” and “tactical retreat” while claiming that “time is on [Tehran’s] side.” Israel’s ongoing onslaught against Iran-backed groups in Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon suggests otherwise.
On August 20, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced recovering the bodies of six hostages in Khan Younis in southern Gaza. In addition, Israeli forces found a tunnel in Gaza that stretches for more than a mile.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad took credit for a suicide bombing attack in Tel Aviv on Sunday evening. In the aftermath, Palestinian social media became rife with propaganda lauding the bomber and encouraging copycat attacks against Israeli civilians.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) called on Palestinian civilians to evacuate several neighborhoods in southern Gaza after receiving continued rocket fire and detecting terrorist activity. Hamas attempted to target Tel Aviv with two long-range rockets on August 13. The IDF struck 30 targets in Gaza between August 10 and 11, and the continued fighting in southern Gaza comes amid Iran’s threats to target Israel in a broader attack.
Following the elimination of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31, Hamas announced the selection of Yahya Sinwar as the group’s head on August 6.
Hezbollah launched a barrage of rockets targeting the western Galilee on the evening of August 1. Iran and Hezbollah have vowed to retaliate against Israel for the killing of a senior Hezbollah commander in Beirut and Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. The IDF continues to operate in Gaza, targeting Hamas operatives hiding in a school and a man the IDF accused of being a terrorist who used journalism work as a cover.
The Israeli Security Agency (ISA) and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed on August 1 that a July 13 airstrike had successfully killed Hamas’ military commander, Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri, also known as Muhammed Deif.
The Israeli military carried out an airstrike on the southern suburbs of Beirut Tuesday evening, killing Fuad Shukr, a top Lebanese Hezbollah commander.
The IDF’s 98th Division wrapped up a week-long battle in Khan Younis against Hamas. The division recovered the bodies of five hostages, and the IDF said it eliminated an estimated 150 terrorists. The week-long operation is one of several raids the IDF has launched since May to eliminate militants who returned to previously cleared areas.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) began a new operation in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis due to Hamas activity and rocket fire from the area. The IDF’s 98th Division led the raid with tanks, paratroopers, and commandos. The IDF also announced the deaths of two more Israeli hostages in Gaza and asked civilians to evacuate western Khan Younis.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) carried out precision airstrikes on several Hamas members in Gaza and targets in Lebanon. Israeli forces also eliminated a Hezbollah member in a Lebanon strike, part of a growing pattern of targeting individual terrorists. In addition, the IDF said an RPG attack in Gaza wounded a soldier.
Israel’s Minister of Defense recently held important talks with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, CENTCOM head General Michael Kurilla, and White House Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa Brett McGurk. Gallant spelled out Israel’s current strategy in Gaza and discussed threats from Iran and Hezbollah.
The Al-Nasser Salah al-Din Brigades, an ally of Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist organizations, announced that it has disavowed Liwa al-Tawhid, a longtime affiliate. While the reasons for the split are not clear, the division may present an opportunity for Israeli anti-terrorism efforts.
An Israeli airstrike on July 13 targeted Hamas military leader Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri, aka Muhammed Deif, and Khan Yunis Brigade commander Rafa’a Salameh. The pair were targeted above ground in an area between al-Massawi and Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
Two Israelis were killed in a Hezbollah rocket barrage targeting the Golan Heights on July 9. Hezbollah claimed the attack was in response to the killing of one of its members. Israel faces multi-front threats, including from the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen and Iranian-backed militias in Iraq. The IDF uncovered six tunnels in the Shejaiya neighborhood in north Gaza and demolished them, the IDF said on July 9.