Israel SitRep: March 29, 2024

Today’s Issue: Senior Hamas Commander Ra’ad Thabet Eliminated in IDF Operation in Shifa Hospital | IDF Releases Footage of Interrogation of Terrorist Who Raped Kibbutz Resident on October 7 | IDF Continues Operations Near Shifa and in Other Parts of Gaza | Israeli Airstrike Kills Hezbollah Missile Unit Deputy Commander | Latest FDD Analysis

Senior Hamas Commander Ra’ad Thabet Eliminated in IDF Operation in Shifa Hospital: The IDF on Thursday announced that Ra’ad Thabet, a senior Hamas operative in the organization’s Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, was eliminated at Shifa Hospital. Thabet was one of the top 10 commanders in the military wing, serving as its chief of supply and manpower, and was close to Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar; military wing commander Muhammed Deif; and Marwan Issa, deputy head of the military wing, who was recently killed in a targeted IDF assassination. Thabet was killed while attempting to flee into the hospital’s courtyard, along with two other terrorists, by IDF soldiers from the Shayetet 13 naval commando unit along with troops from the Shaked Battalion, the Duvdevan commando unit, and the Nahal Reconnaissance Battalion. According to the IDF, this attempted escape was “part of a planned attack on IDF soldiers.” The army is in the process of identifying the other two men.

IDF Releases Footage of Interrogation of Terrorist Who Raped Kibbutz Resident on October 7: The IDF on Thursday released footage of the interrogation of Palestinian Islamic Jihad operative Manar Mahmoud Muhammad Kasem, who took part in the October 7 attacks. During his interrogation by the Military Intelligence Directorate’s Unit 504, Kasem, who says he is part of the PIJ’s naval unit, states that he entered Israel on October 7 through an opening in the border fence between the towns of al-Fukhari and Khuza’a, armed with two grenades and a handgun. He says that upon reaching a kibbutz, he went into the nearest house, where he found a woman. According to Kasem, “I took her and threw her on the couch… The devil took over me, I laid her down, started undressing her and did what I did.” When pressed to be more specific, he stated: “I raped her.” Later, asked about when he used his handgun, he replies: “I pulled out the handgun, I shot one [man] and he fell to the floor, one hid, then I threw a grenade and left the kibbutz.”

IDF Continues Operations Near Shifa and in Other Parts of Gaza: The IDF on Friday gave an update on operations in Gaza. According to the report, troops from the 401st Armored Brigade and the Nahal Brigade, along with Shayetet 13 naval commandos, are continuing “targeted fighting” near Shifa Hospital and have continued to kill terrorists and find weapons and terror infrastructure in the area. In central Gaza, the Nahal Brigade is fighting and working with the Israeli Air Force. It eliminated a number of terrorists in the past day, also destroying a number of rockets that were aimed at Israel. In one attack, after troops spotted a terror squad in a nearby building, an airstrike killed the squad members. Other terrorists were shot and killed. In the area of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, soldiers from the 98th Division, working with the IAF, are continuing operations in the neighborhoods of Al-Amal and Al-Qarara. In the past day, they raided terror infrastructures and killed terrorists, some with airstrikes.

Israeli Airstrike Kills Hezbollah Missile Unit Deputy Commander: On Friday, the Israeli Air Force announced that an IAF strike in the area of Bazouriye in southern Lebanon killed the deputy commander of Hezbollah’s rocket and missile unit, Ali Abdel Hassan Naim. According to the IAF, Naim was a leader in the field of heavy-warhead rockets. Hezbollah also announced his death, along with the deaths of five members of the group apparently killed in an overnight airstrike in Aleppo, Syria, presumably carried out by Israel: Ibrahim al-Zein from Chehour; Ahmed Shehimi from Markaba; Mustafa Makki from Tebnine; Mustafa Nassif from Haffir; and Ali al-Haf from Halloussiyeh. According to Hezbollah, they were killed “on the road to Jerusalem,” a term the group uses for members killed by Israel. This brings to 260 the Hezbollah death toll since the Gaza war began.

Latest FDD Analysis:

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

“Warning Sirens Over South Africa,” Orde Kittrie, The Wall Street Journal

“Washington Fails — Again — To Gauge Iran’s Nuclear Threat,” Andrea Stricker and Behnam Ben Taleblu, 1945

“Training begins in northern Israel to prepare forces for ‘offensive plans,'” Seth J. Frantzman, FDD’s Long War Journal

“Hamas and Iran Celebrate Israel’s Isolation at UN,” FDD Experts, FDD Flash Brief

“Palestinian Shoots Up Israeli School Buses and Cars in West Bank’s Jordan Valley,” FDD Experts, FDD Flash Brief

“Palestinian Terrorist Confesses to October 7 Rape,” FDD Experts, FDD Flash Brief

“Iran Makes Progress on Constructing Underground Nuclear Site,” FDD Experts, FDD Flash Brief

“Israel to Send Delegation to Washington to Discuss Rafah Operation,” FDD Experts, FDD Flash Brief