At least 11 rockets were fired Saturday evening from the Gaza Strip to central Israel, including Tel Aviv area, as most of them were intercepted by the Iron Dome.
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The IDF Spokesperson's Unit reported Saturday that following precise IDF and ISA intelligence, IAF fighter jets eliminated Hamas’ Shejaiya Battalion Commander, Wessam Farhat.
Farhat began his command over the battalion in 2010 and commanded it during Operation “Protective Edge” - during which he ordered terrorists to target IDF soldiers in Shejaiya, including a dual attack that resulted in the deaths of six IDF soldiers.
He took part in the planning of the October 7th massacre, during which, he directed Hamas “Nuhkba” terrorists to infiltrate the Nahal Oz Kibbutz and IDF post. In addition, Farhat was one of the masterminds of the 2002 terror attack on Mechinat Atzmona, in which five Israeli civilians were killed. Moreover, he was one of the masterminds of the anti-tank missile terror attack on a civilian bus in Nahal Oz in 2011, in which an Israeli child was killed.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Saturday that Hamas broke the ceasefire agreement, and "refused to release 15 women, and 2 children" still held captive in the Gaza Strip.
Gallant added that no military in the world brought back 110 captives alive from a terror group, and as Israel deepens its ground offensive in Gaza, Hamas will agree to release more captives.
The IDF reported Saturday that Colonel Asaf Hamami, Commander of Gaza Division’s southern brigade, fell on October 7, and his body is held by the Hamas terror group in the Gaza Strip.
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Colonel Asaf Hamami, fell on October 7, body held by Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip
(Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
Hamami, 41, left behind a wife and three children, and his funeral is expected to take place on Monday at 11 am, in the military section of the Kiryat Shal Cemetery in Tel Aviv.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant held Saturday a situation assesment at the Gaza border, and stated that Israel is operating in areas where it hasn't operated in the past month. According to him, "This will continue to intensify until the complete dismantling of Hamas."
The IDF said Saturday afternoon that several clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinian terrorists have been recorded in the northern Gaza Strip throughout the day.
The army also said that Israeli troops uncovered dozens of rockets hidden under crates belonging to the United Nations in the northern Gaza Strip.
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Israeli troops uncover dozens of rockets in UN-provided supplies to Gaza
(Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
Additionally, about 30 10-kilometer Grad rockets, among other munitions, were found under the crates, belonging to UNRWA, the UN agency that supports the relief and human development of Palestinian refugees.
Furthermore, during searches in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, Israeli forces found numerous weapons and military equipment, including grenades and explosives, weapons parts, knives, vests and reconnaissance equipment.
Palestinian media reported that over 100 people were killed Saturday in an IDF airstrike on a residential building in the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip that was housing displaced persons.
They also reported widespread destruction in Israeli airstrikes in the municipality of Bani Suhila near Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip.
At 4pm on Saturday, sirens blared were heard in a host of central and southern Israeli communities, including in Kfar Bilu, Rehovot, Gan Shlomo, Givat Brenner, Ashdod, Bnei Darom, Nir Galim, Beit Elazari, Gedera, Kedron, Beit Gamliel, Benaya, Kfar Mordechai, Mishor, Aseret and Shdema.
Aftermath of Israeli airstrikes in Bani Suhila
Meanwhile, under the instruction of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Mossad chief David Barnea directed representatives of the Israeli intelligence agency in Qatar to return to Israel following a deadlock in negotiations with Hamas to renew the truce in Gaza.
Israeli sources said that the recall of the negotiations team and the full resumption of combat operations in Gaza serve as a clear signal that there will be no compromise on the previously agreed framework, which includes the release of women and children from captivity.
Two Iranian Revolutionary Guards members who served as military advisers in Syria have been killed in an attack Iranian state media on Saturday attributed to Israel, in the first reported Iranian casualties during the ongoing war in Gaza.
A Revolutionary Guards statement did not give details of the attack. Syria earlier said its air defenses repelled an Israeli rocket attack against targets in the vicinity of Damascus early on Saturday.
IDF Arabic spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Avichay Adraee on Saturday called on residents of northern Gaza Strip neighborhoods, including Jabalia, Zeitoun and Shuja'iyya, to evacuate to "recognized shelters and schools" in the northeastern and western districts of Gaza City.
Residents of Bani Suheila and Al-Qarara, near Khan Yunis, also received instructions to evacuate.
The IDF reported Saturday morning that Israeli forces have struck over 400 terror targets across the Gaza Strip since the truce expired the day before.
According to Arab media reports, strikes heavily focused overnight on the eastern parts of the city of Khan Yunis in the Palestinian enclave's south, destroying several residential buildings.
Al Jazeera reported that most strikes were focused on agricultural areas, suggesting that the IDF is preparing for ground operations in these regions, akin to those in the northern Strip.
Aftermath of IDF strikes in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip
"They start with artillery on the ground alongside aerial bombings to pave the way for the entry of Israeli ground forces," Al Jazeera reported.
The Qatari-owned news network added that "the Israeli strikes in southern Gaza have not stopped in the last 24 hours and have even intensified during the night hours."
Gaza’s Health Ministry claimed that the death toll from IDF bombings in the day since the cease-fire expired has risen to 240, with more than 650 people injured.
Meanwhile, by 4:20pm on Saturday, sirens blared across Gaza border communities ten times. This comes after a nine-hour lull in rocket fire from Gaza overnight. Air raid alarms sounded off throughout the day in the cities of Sderot and Ashkelon, as well as in the border communities of Sufa, Holit, Kissufim, Magen, Nir Oz, Ein HaShlosha, Ein Habesor, Mivtachim, Amioz, Yesha, Tzohar, Ohad, Sde Nitzan, Ibim, Zikim and Karmia.
The IDF reported that at least two mortar shells fired from Lebanon landed in unpopulated areas near Moshav Shomera in Western Galilee. In response, the IDF targeted the origin of the launches and deployed artillery fire at several locations within Lebanese territory.
The army reported earlier that Israeli forces struck overnight a terrorist cell that fired rockets from Lebanon into Israeli territory on Friday.
The army also reported that several rockets were fired into northern Israel overnight Saturday and crashed in unpopulated areas. Israeli forces responded with artillery fire and an Israeli aircraft eliminated the terrorist cell responsible for the rocket fire.
Lebanese media reported that three people were killed in IDF attacks in southern Lebanon on Friday, including Hezbollah operative Muhammad Mazraani, who was killed alongside his mother in their home in Houla, and another Hezbollah operative who died in an attack in Jibbain.
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IDF strikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, Friday
(Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the chance for peace in Gaza after the humanitarian pause was lost for now due to Israel's uncompromising approach, broadcaster NTV reported on Saturday.
Speaking to reporters on his way back from the United Arab Emirates, Erdogan also said that he is not losing hope for a lasting peace in the conflict adding that Hamas cannot be excluded from its potential solution, according to NTV.
Libyan authorities released on Friday four Hamas operatives arrested in 2016 for smuggling weapons to the Gaza Strip. The four – Marwan Al-Ashqar, his son Baraa, Moeed Abd and Naseeb Chubair – were arrested in Tripoli in October 2016.
In February 2019, they were sentenced to extended prison terms ranging from 17 to 22 years for arms trafficking and espionage.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reported late on Friday that since the outbreak of the war, at least 61 journalists and media workers have been killed, 54 of them Palestinians, four Israelis and three Lebanese nationals.
"CPJ is investigating all reports of journalists and media workers killed, injured, or missing in the war, which has led to the deadliest month for journalists since CPJ began gathering data in 1992," it said.
The group told CNN that Montaser Al-Sawaf, a freelance cameraman working for Turkish news agency Anadolu, was the latest media worker killed in the war. He was reportedly killed in "Israeli airstrikes."
Two Syrian Hezbollah-affiliated militants were eliminated in strikes attributed to Israel on Hezbollah-linked sites near the Syrian capital of Damascus, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a London-based opposition war monitor, reported Saturday morning.
Syrian state media reported that air defenses repelled an "Israeli rocket attack" against targets in the vicinity of Damascus early on Saturday, adding defenses shot down most of the missiles.
"The Israeli enemy carried out an air aggression from the direction of the occupied Syrian Golan, targeting some points in the vicinity of the city of Damascus," the Syrian state news agency said, citing a military source. There were only material damages, it added.
First published: 08:11, 12.02.23