Israel SitRep: September 13, 2024

Today’s Issue: | IDF: Hamas’s Rafah Brigade Dismantled | IDF Finds Tunnel in West Bank, Near Israeli Towns and Highway 6 | Alleged Israeli Strike in Masyaf, Syria: Additional Details | IDF Soldiers Detain Two Israeli Civilians Attempting to Enter Gaza | Latest FDD Analysis

IDF: Hamas’s Rafah Brigade Dismantled: The IDF announced on Thursday that the 162nd Division, which has been operating in the Rafah area for about the past three months, has dismantled Hamas’s Rafah Brigade, eliminating more than 2,000 terrorists and demolishing some 13 kilometers of tunnels. In the past few weeks, troops from the Givati Brigade, the Nahal Brigade, the Yahalom combat engineering unit, the 401st Armored Brigade, and the Shayetet 13 naval commando unit have been fighting in the Tel Sultan neighborhood in northwestern Rafah, killing more than 250 terrorists, including Tel Sultan Battalion Commander Mahmoud Hamdan, along with most of the battalion’s chain of command. The troops destroyed 80 percent of the tunnels discovered near and under the Philadelphi Corridor, and engineering troops and Yahalom unit soldiers are continuing to demolish tunnels and other terrorist infrastructures. Brig. Gen. Itzik Cohen, commander of the 162nd Division, stated that “the Rafah Brigade has been defeated,” adding: “Their four battalions have been destroyed, and we have completed operational control over the entire urban area.”

IDF Finds Tunnel in West Bank, Near Israeli Towns and Highway 6: On Friday, Itay Blumental, military correspondent for Israel’s Channel 11, reported that IDF forces in Tulkarem in the West Bank have found the entrance to what appears to be a short tunnel. Since no exit from the tunnel has been discovered, it is possible that the tunnel is still under construction. The tunnel entrance was found during the past few days by the IDF and Border Police during Operation Summer Camps, the IDF’s current operation in northern Samaria in the West Bank. The IDF is investigating and so far has not found any indications that the tunnel was being used by terrorists or for terrorist activity. The tunnel, some 10 meters (11 yards) in length, is located near the Thabet Thabet Government Hospital in Tulkarem, a little over one kilometer (just under a mile) from the “seam zone,” not far from Israel’s Highway 6 or from Israeli towns. It did not cross into Israeli territory.

Alleged Israeli Strike in Masyaf, Syria: Additional Details: On Friday, the Alma Research and Education Center published additional information about the airstrikes in Masyaf, Syria, carried out overnight between September 8 and 9, reportedly by Israel, which targeted Institute 4000 of the Scientific Studies and Research Center (CERS). According to Alma, Institute 4000 is responsible for developing and manufacturing rockets, missiles, drones, and bombs. Its facilities are dispersed around the Masyaf area, and the attack targeted several Institute 4000 locations near Masyaf. The report states, based on recent satellite imagery and photos from the ground, that the attack also targeted several access roads and other sites around the main site, which is reported to be underground and has been hit with airstrikes on several occasions in the past few years. It also targeted parts of a power plant 10 kilometers (about six miles) north of Masyaf. According to a report yesterday in Axios, the airstrikes that night were in fact cover for an Israeli ground operation in Masyaf carried out by troops from the Shaldag special forces unit of the Israeli Air Force, which destroyed an underground precision missile factory that both the United States and Israel say was built by Iran.

IDF Soldiers Detain Two Israeli Civilians Attempting to Enter Gaza: The IDF announced on Friday that two Israeli citizens who were spotted attempting to enter Gaza through a gate in the Gaza security barrier were detained by soldiers and returned to Israel. They have been handed over to the Israel Police. The IDF emphasized that the two did not enter Gaza, adding that approaching the buffer zone is dangerous and interferes with activity by security forces in the area. The announcement does not indicate the reason the two attempted to enter Gaza. Once a person enters the buffer zone, there is only a barbed wire barrier standing in the way of entering Gaza. Since the war began, there have been several incidents in which Israeli civilians attempted to enter Gaza.

Latest FDD Analysis:

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

Video, audio, and transcript: “Strategic Planning in Chaos: The Future of the U.S.-Israel Security Partnership,” Major General (Ret.) Amir Eshel, Eyal Hulata, RADM (Ret.) Mark Montgomery, Jonathan Schanzer, and Katie Pavlich, FDD Event

“After 9/11, We Went to War Against the Terrorists. The Terrorists Won.” Will Selber and Bill Roggio, The Bulwark

“Hamas murder of Israeli Hostages threatens Canadian interests,” Tzvi Kahn, Macdonald-Laurier Institute

“Iranian President Pezeshkian’s visit to Iraq boosts economic ties and diplomacy,” Seth J. Frantzman, The Jerusalem Post

“What does Hezbollah hope to achieve with its war of attrition?” Seth J. Frantzman, The Jerusalem Post

“Turkey’s ‘Islamic’ offensive against Israel grows as Gaza war rages,” Seth J. Frantzman, The Jerusalem Post

“Israel faces surge in security incidents as threats rise on all fronts,” Seth J. Frantzman, The Jerusalem Post

“23 years since 9/11,” Bill Roggio, Will Selber, and Beth Bailey, Generation Jihad (by FDD’s Long War Journal)

“IDF targets Hezbollah’s Radwan Force commander,” Seth J. Frantzman, FDD’s Long War Journal

“IDF Names Hamas Terrorists Killed in Strike on Gaza School,” FDD Experts, FDD Flash Brief

“WHO Reports Polio Vaccine Targets in Gaza Achieved,” FDD Experts, FDD Flash Brief

“Israel Eliminates Three Palestinian Islamic Jihad Members in Tulkarem,” FDD Experts, FDD Flash Brief