Israel SitRep: Feb. 15, 2024

Today’s Issue: In Targeted Killing in Lebanon, IDF Eliminates Senior Hezbollah Commander | IDF Carries Out Operation in Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis | IDF Operations in Shati Refugee Camp Area in Past Two Weeks | In West Bank Raids Wednesday and Overnight Last Night, IDF Troops Arrest 22 | Latest FDD Analysis

In Targeted Killing in Lebanon, IDF Eliminates Senior Hezbollah Commander: On Wednesday night, the Israeli Air Force carried out a targeted assassination, striking a Hezbollah military building in Nabatieh in southern Lebanon and killing Ali Muhammad al-Dabs, a senior commander in Hezbollah’s Radwan Force. His deputy, Hassan Ibrahim Issa, was also killed, along with another operative. According to the IDF, al-Dabs was one of the masterminds behind a March 2023 attack at Megiddo Junction in the north of Israel. He also planned and carried out numerous terrorist operations, especially during the war. The IDF statement also noted that earlier today, fighter jets attacked a Hezbollah military building in the area of Blida and another building in the area of Maroun al-Ras. During the day on Wednesday, rocket attacks from Lebanon believed to have been launched by Hezbollah killed an Israeli soldier, Staff Sgt. Omer Sarah Benjo, and wounded eight in the northern Israeli city of Safed.

IDF Carries Out Operation in Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis: The IDF announced on Thursday that it was carrying out an operation against Hamas in Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, adding that troops had arrested several suspects there. IDF Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee stated that the army is in possession of reliable intelligence, some of it from released hostages, indicating that Hamas held hostages at the hospital and that the bodies of some of the hostages may be there. The operation aims to find terrorists, including some who took part in the October 7 massacres. Adraee added that prior to the operation, the IDF made efforts to evacuate people from the hospital in order to limit harm to uninvolved civilians, which included opening a corridor to evacuate the civilian population in the area of the hospital. According to the spokesman, IDF troops operating in the area have received training that includes a focus on avoiding harm to civilians, patients, and medical staff and damage to equipment. The army estimates that Hamas has used more than 85 percent of medical facilities in Gaza for terrorist activities.

IDF Operations in Shati Refugee Camp Area in Past Two Weeks: The IDF on Thursday published a report on operations by its 162nd Division in the past two weeks in the area of the Shati Refugee Camp in northern Gaza. The Division’s 5th Reserve Infantry Brigade, Nahal Infantry Brigade, and 401st Armored Brigade took part in the operation, along with special forces, crossing Gaza City within two hours and gaining control of the Shati area in a few hours, which the report says is a result of weakened Hamas control in northern Gaza. The report notes that during the operation, soldiers killed many terrorists, located intelligence, raided terror infrastructures, and seized weapons. They also found and destroyed a Hamas data center under UNRWA headquarters. Some 150 targets were hit, and infrastructures, rockets, and weapons were destroyed.

In West Bank Raids Wednesday and Overnight Last Night, IDF Troops Arrest 22: IDF forces on Wednesday arrested 10 wanted persons throughout the West Bank, and in an overnight operation last night, they arrested another 12. In the village of Bitunya, forces found six lathes for producing weapons, while in Ramallah, they confiscated equipment from two print shops that were printing inflammatory material for Hamas. In the village of Illar, troops arrested four wanted persons, found weapons, and seized funds used for terrorism, and in Nablus, they found weapons as well as explosive devices ready for use. Since the war began, more than 3,100 wanted individuals have been arrested in the West Bank, over 1,350 of them with connections to Hamas.

Latest FDD Analysis:

“Sinwar agonistes,” Clifford D. May, The Washington Times

“Israeli forces renew efforts to solidify defeat of Hamas,” Seth J. Frantzman, FDD’s Long War Journal

“Tunnel Footage Shows Sinwar on the Run,” FDD Experts, FDD Flash Brief

“One Killed and Eight Wounded in Hezbollah Attack on Northern Israel,” FDD Experts, FDD Flash Brief

“Another Gaza Hospital Evacuated as New York Times Confirms Hamas Use of Al-Shifa,” FDD Experts, FDD Flash Brief