Israel SitRep: March 5, 2024

Today’s Issue: IDF Continues Attacks on Hamas Targets in Gaza, Striking Terrorists, Weapons Depots, Tunnel Shafts | In Overnight West Bank Raids, Troops Arrest Terrorist Planning Imminent Attack | IDF Releases Audio of October 7 Phone Call by UNRWA Employee Who Participated in Attacks | IDF Destroys Largest Hamas Tunnel Found to Date, Fills Part With Concrete | Latest FDD Analysis

IDF Continues Attacks on Hamas Targets in Gaza, Striking Terrorists, Weapons Depots, Tunnel Shafts: The IDF on Tuesday is continuing operations to surround the Hamad Town complex in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, conducting raids on terrorist infrastructure and finding a large quantity of weapons. The 7th Armored Brigade is evacuating residents of the area and has also arrested dozens of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad members in the past day who were attempting to flee with the neighborhood’s residents. In central Gaza, Nahal Brigade soldiers eliminated some 20 terrorists in the past day through sniper fire, tank shelling, and a remotely piloted aircraft. In Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza, soldiers from the Northern Brigade spotted a terror cell operating a drone and had a fighter jet attack the cell, killing its members. The Israeli Air Force is continuing to attack Hamas targets throughout the Gaza Strip, including rocket launch positions, tunnel shafts, and weapons depots, and has struck more than 50 targets in the past day.

In Overnight West Bank Raids, Troops Arrest Terrorist Planning Imminent Attack: This morning, forces from the Yamam police counter-terrorism unit and the IDF, guided by the Shin Bet, arrested Muhmmad Tanji, a significant terror operative in the Balata Refugee Camp, based on intelligence indicating that he and others were planning an imminent attack. According to the IDF, Tanji has been one of the major figures in Balata’s terrorist infrastructure over the past year. In overnight raids, the IDF, Shin Bet, and Border Police arrested a total of 21 individuals suspected of involvement in terrorist activity. In Kafr Dan, soldiers destroyed the home of Abed Massad, who took part in the attack in the West Bank village of Hawara on August 19, 2023, that killed a father and son. In Kafr Kubar, troops arrested four wanted persons, and in Yatta, they arrested one wanted person and seized terrorist funds. Troops arrested three wanted individuals and confiscated a Carlo submachine gun in Ein as-Sultan and Aqbat Jabr, while in Kafr Jamal, they seized two Carlo submachine guns and military equipment.

IDF Releases Audio of October 7 Phone Call by UNRWA Employee Who Participated in Attacks: In a Monday press briefing, IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari discussed a phone call the IDF intercepted between Yusef Zidan Suleiman Al-Hawajara, a Hamas terrorist who worked as a teacher in an UNRWA elementary school in Gaza and participated in the October 7 attacks, and another terrorist. In the call, made about seven hours after the start of Hamas’s invasion of Israel, Hawajara boasts about his “sabaya,” which Hagari says is an Arabic term referring to a female captive, adding that it is “a term in Islam that describes women and children as the property of a Muslim man.” The other man on the call then boasted about his “noble horse,” presumably referring to a woman he captured. Hagari also announced the names of additional UNRWA employees who participated in the October 7 attacks, including Bakr Mahmoud ‘Abdallah Darwish, a counselor at an UNRWA school, and Mamdouh Hussein Ahmad al-Qak, a teacher at an UNRWA elementary school and a member of Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Hagari stated that more than 450 UNRWA employees are “military operatives in terror groups in Gaza,” adding: “This is no mere coincidence, this is systematic.”

IDF Destroys Largest Hamas Tunnel Found to Date, Fills Part With Concrete: The IDF on Monday announced that it has destroyed the largest terror tunnel found so far in Gaza, whose existence was revealed in December 2023. The tunnel, which was nearly four kilometers long and reached a maximum depth of some 50 meters, was dug from the northern part of Gaza in the direction of Israel and ended near the Erez crossing but did not cross into Israeli territory. It has several branches. Senior Hamas officials, including Yahya Sinwar, made use of the tunnel. The IDF has been working over the past few weeks to explore the tunnel and destroyed it in a cooperative effort that included the Gaza Division’s engineering unit and Northern Brigade, the Yahalom unit, the IDF’s Southern Command, and the Defense Ministry’s engineering and construction unit. After sections of the tunnel were blown up, troops pumped concrete into the remaining sections.

Latest FDD Analysis:

“Biden Administration Foreign Policy Tracker: March,” edited by John Hardie, FDD Tracker

“Ballistic Missiles Allow Iran to Act More Boldly,” Behnam Ben Taleblu, The Wall Street Journal

“Analysis of the IAEA’s Iran NPT Safeguards Report – February 2024,” David Albright, Sarah Burkhard, and Andrea Stricker, Institute for Science and International Security

“Israeli Air Force has been vital amid the war against Hamas,” Seth J. Frantzman, The Jerusalem Post

Israel’s naval patrol boats: A key to defeating terrorism,” Seth J. Frantzman, The Jerusalem Post

“Do US airdrops in Rafah affect Israel’s potential Gaza operation?” Seth J. Frantzman, The Jerusalem Post

“Palestinian Islamic Jihad calls for Ramadan to be ‘month of terror’,” Seth J. Frantzman, The Jerusalem Post

“Houthi sinking of Rubymar ship off Yemen is a blow to the West,” Seth J. Frantzman, The Jerusalem Post

“Rocket fire by Hamas, Hezbollah targets Israel on two fronts,” Seth J. Frantzman, FDD’s Long War Journal

“Hezbollah Attack on Northern Israel Kills One, Injures Nine,” FDD Experts, FDD Flash Brief

“Houthis Sink First Commercial Ship in Red Sea,” FDD Experts, FDD Flash Brief

“Israel SitRep: March 4, 2024,” FDD Experts, FDD Israel at War Situation Report