Israel SitRep: March 22, 2024

Today’s Issue: Shifa Hospital Raid: More Than 500 Arrested, including Senior Hamas and PIJ Officials | IDF Continues “Targeted Fighting” at Shifa Hospital, Operations Ongoing Elsewhere in Gaza | COGAT Update: More Than 7 Million Pounds of Food Delivered to Gaza on Thursday | Palestinian Gunman Shoots at Israeli Minibus in West Bank, Killed After Hours-Long Pursuit | Latest FDD Analysis

Shifa Hospital Raid: More Than 500 Arrested, including Senior Hamas and PIJ Officials: In a Thursday press briefing, IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari gave an update on the IDF’s operation at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. According to Hagari, the IDF has captured more than 500 suspects, 358 of them affiliated with Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. He added that they are providing the IDF with “very valuable and important intelligence.” Hagari mentioned high-ranking PIJ officials apprehended in the operation: Muhammad Jundia, who commanded the PIJ’s Shejaiya Battalion; Samir Ziad Abd Abu Odeh, commander of the Al-Shati sector in the PIJ rocket unit; and Ahmad Samara, who is in charge of PIJ tunnels in northern Gaza. The IDF has also arrested figures from Hamas’s West Bank headquarters, including Hamdallah Ali, who directed Hamas terrorism in the Qalqilya area; Omar Azida, who directed Hamas terrorism in Nablus; and Mahmoud Kwasma, who planned the 2014 kidnapping and murder of Israeli teenagers Eyal Yifrach, Naftali Fraenkel, and Gilad Shaer.

IDF Continues “Targeted Fighting” at Shifa Hospital, Operations Ongoing Elsewhere in Gaza: On Friday, the IDF published additional details of its operation at Shifa Hospital, where the 401st Armored Brigade, the Nahal Brigade, and the Shayetet 13 naval commandos are continuing targeted fighting. In addition to killing some 150 terrorists and arresting hundreds, troops have been finding weapons and terror infrastructure. On Thursday, fighter jets struck an “operational shaft” and a military building after a projectile launched from the central Gaza Strip toward Kibbutz Be’eri was intercepted. In central Gaza, in the past day, the Nahal Brigade eliminated several terrorists, and the IAF struck about 40 targets. In the Khan Younis suburb of Al-Qarara, the 7th Brigade combat team is continuing attacks, working closely with the Israeli Air Force, destroying terrorist infrastructure, including two booby-trapped buildings and two buildings with tunnel shafts.

COGAT Update: More Than 7 Million Pounds of Food Delivered to Gaza on Thursday: In a Friday update, COGAT, the Israeli body coordinating humanitarian aid to Gaza, stated that more than 7 million pounds of food entered Gaza on Thursday, along with water, shelter equipment, and medical supplies. A total of 208 trucks with aid were inspected and entered Gaza on Thursday, 125 of them at the Kerem Shalom crossing, and 83 at Nitzana. In addition, during the IDF’s operations at Shifa Hospital, the army delivered humanitarian aid. COGAT also said that 157 packages of aid, each weighing one ton, were airdropped over northern Gaza on Thursday, and seven World Food Programme trucks entered northern Gaza as well. In addition, 21 bakeries are operating in Gaza, producing more than 2 million loaves of bread, rolls, and pita a day. Four tankers with cooking gas designated for operating essential infrastructure also entered Gaza on Thursday. The statement notes that the IDF is pausing operations in Rafah in the Al-Salam neighborhood between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. today to allow humanitarian aid to be transferred.

Palestinian Gunman Shoots at Israeli Minibus in West Bank, Killed After Hours-Long Pursuit: Early Friday morning, a Palestinian gunman shot at an Israeli minibus near the settlement of Dolev in the West Bank, damaging the vehicle but causing no injuries. The man then escaped and hid in a thickly wooded area near the site of the attack. The IDF’s pursuit lasted about four hours and included exchanges of fire. The IDF scrambled a helicopter and drones during the search, and the gunman was eventually killed by a helicopter strike. According to an Israeli media report, the man spent time in an Israeli jail and served as a member of the Palestinian Authority’s Presidential Guard. At least seven were wounded in the exchanges, one critically.

Latest FDD Analysis:

Today at 8:30am (ET): “FDD Morning Brief,” featuring Jonathan Schanzer and Amb. Michael Oren, FDD Event

“The Growing List of Al Jazeera Terrorists,” Jonathan Schanzer, Commentary

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“How Turkey’s opposition media empowers Erdoğan,” Sinan Ciddi, Global Voices

“Al Jazeera should report, not inflame, the Gaza war,” Hussain Abdul-Hussain, Asia Times

“Iran-backed Iraqi terrorists claim to target Israeli power plant,” Seth J. Frantzman, The Jerusalem Post

“Jordan commemorates battle of Karameh against Israeli forces, echoing today’s war,” Seth J. Frantzman, The Jerusalem Post

“Egypt hosts Blinken and key Arab foreign ministers,” Seth J. Frantzman, The Jerusalem Post

“Looking into Kfar Aza, five months after the October 7 massacre,” Seth J. Frantzman, The Jerusalem Post

“IDF: Hezbollah Stores Weapons in Lebanese Civilian Areas,” FDD Experts, FDD Flash Brief