Israel SitRep: March 27, 2024

Today’s Issue: IDF Confirms Hamas Official Marwan Issa Killed in Israeli Airstrike Earlier in March | IDF Arrests at Shifa Top 500, Army Releases Footage of Terrorist Interrogations | IDF Arrests 10 in West Bank Operations | Hezbollah Rocket Barrage Kills Israeli Man in Kiryat Shmona

IDF Confirms Hamas Official Marwan Issa Killed in Israeli Airstrike Earlier in March: In a press briefing on Tuesday, IDF spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari confirmed that Marwan Issa, deputy head of Hamas’s military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, was killed in an Israeli airstrike. The strike took place in the Nuseirat refugee camp at night between March 9 and 10, but the IDF waited for incontrovertible evidence to make the announcement. Hagari stated that Ghazi Abu Tama’a, former commander of Hamas’s Central Camps Brigade, who was in charge of weapons and procurement for the group, also died in the strike. According to an IDF tweet, Issa, Hamas’s number three man in Gaza, planned the October 7 attacks and was also involved in planning and carrying out the 2006 kidnapping of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who was held by Hamas for more than five years before being released in a prisoner exchange. Tama’a was a senior figure on the Hamas military council and participated in “planning the war against Israel.”

IDF Arrests More Than 500 at Shifa, Army Releases Footage of Terrorist Interrogations : On Tuesday, the IDF gave an update on Hamas and PIJ operatives captured during the army’s operation in Shifa Hospital. More than 500 terrorists have been arrested, including Bakr Ahmed Bakr Qanita, who headed Hamas’s Security and Protection Unit; Hashem Muhammad Hasan Albatash, deputy head of finance for Palestinian Islamic Jihad; and Radwan Younes Kamal Tafesh, who served as head of department in the PIJ Manufacturing Unit. IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari noted in a Tuesday press briefing that “Bakr Ahmed mentioned that the terrorists chose to try and escape to hospitals because ‘no one is supposed to touch them.’” Hagari added: “We intend to operate wherever Hamas terrorists are found, especially the commanders and leadership.” Also on Tuesday, the IDF released a report on interrogations conducted by Unit 504 of the Military Intelligence Directorate of terrorists captured in Shifa, including a Hamas commander and a PIJ operative. The Hamas commander stated that the group conducted its activities from the hospital’s administration building and maternity ward, adding that 600 to 1,000 Hamas operatives had been hiding in Shifa. According to the PIJ member, “the operatives are in all the buildings [of the hospital], scattered everywhere.”

IDF Arrests 10 in West Bank Operations: The IDF, Border Police, and Shin Bet made 10 arrests in overnight operations last night in the West Bank. In Jenin, troops arrested two men in a vehicle in which they found explosive devices ready for use, and combat engineers then destroyed the vehicle. In addition, two armed terrorists were eliminated in an airstrike in Jenin. Troops also killed a terrorist who threw explosive devices and arrested another suspect and confiscated weapons. Engineering forces uncovered explosives buried under roads. In Karawat Bani Hassan, troops arrested a wanted man and confiscated weapons. Some 3,600 wanted persons have been arrested since the start of the war, some 1,600 of them affiliated with Hamas.

Hezbollah Rocket Barrage Kills Israeli Man in Kiryat Shmona: An Israeli man was killed in a Hezbollah rocket barrage on Wednesday morning in Kiryat Shmona. Zaher Bashara, 25, a resident of the Druze village of Ein Kiniyye, was in a building that took a direct hit from a rocket, causing a fire. He was declared dead at the scene. Another man was rescued from the building unharmed. According to the IDF, about 30 rockets were launched in the barrage. While some were intercepted by the Iron Dome defense system, at least three hit Kiryat Shmona. A home in the city also took a direct hit. Hezbollah claimed that its rocket attacks were in response to an overnight Israeli airstrike in Habbariyeh in southern Lebanon, a few miles from the border with Israel, which the IDF says targeted a military building and killed a major figure from al-Jama’a al-Islamiyya as well as several other terrorists in the building.

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

“Bring them home . . . or not — Biden just sold out Israeli hostages at the United Nations,” Richard Goldberg, New York Post

“Why is the U.S. helping Hamas?” Joe Truzman and Bill Roggio, Generation Jihad (by FDD’s Long War Journal)

“Hamas launches rockets at major Israeli cities,” Seth J. Frantzman, FDD’s Long War Journal

“Israel Hits Hezbollah Deep in Lebanon,” FDD Experts, FDD Flash Brief

“Israel Intercepts Advanced Iranian Weapons En Route to West Bank,” FDD Experts, FDD Flash Brief

“Iranian Rial’s Depreciation Persists Into Persian New Year,” FDD Experts, FDD Flash Brief

“Senior Israeli Officials Cancel Upcoming Trip to Washington,” FDD Experts, FDD Flash Brief

“Israel Quits Doha Hostage Talks After Hamas Rejects Deal,” FDD Experts, FDD Flash Brief