Israel SitRep: March 13, 2024

Today’s Issue: IDF Has Struck More Than 4,500 Hezbollah Targets Since War Began | Hamas Confirms Death of Lebanese Operative in Airstrike | Stabbing Attack Thwarted at Checkpoint near Jerusalem, IDF Arrests Seven in Overnight West Bank Raids | IDF Continues Operations in Southern Gaza’s Khan Younis and in Central Gaza | Latest FDD Analysis

IDF Has Struck More Than 4,500 Hezbollah Targets Since War Began: The IDF says that in in the past five months, its forces have struck more than 3,100 Hezbollah targets from the ground and more than 1,200 from the air in Lebanon and Syria. The targets included operational headquarters, military buildings for Hezbollah attacks, and weapons depots. In addition, since the war began, Israeli forces have killed more than 300 terrorists and wounded more than 750, among them five senior commanders. The IDF has also struck dozens of terror squads that fired or directed rockets and anti-tank missiles at Israel. According to the IDF statement, the army aims to push the terrorist group out of southern Lebanon so that Israelis living in the north of the country can safely return to their homes. The announcement includes footage of Israeli strikes in Lebanon and Syria.

Hamas Confirms Death of Lebanese Operative in Airstrike: On Wednesday morning, an airstrike was carried out in south Lebanon near the Rashidiyeh Palestinian refugee camp against a vehicle driving between Tyre and Naqoura. According to the Alma Research and Education Center, which cited local reports, the driver was Hamas military branch member Hadi Ali Mustafa, who worked as a teacher of Islam. Hamas later announced his death. According to the IDF, Hadi directed terrorist activity and was involved in attacks against Israeli and Jewish targets around the world. On Tuesday, after more than 100 rockets were launched at northern Israel, Israeli Air Force fighter jets struck and destroyed three launchers, from which 70 of the 100 rockets had been fired. Later in the day, fighter jets hit a Hezbollah terror infrastructure in the area of Odaisseh and a Hezbollah military building in the area of Ayta ash-Shab. After a number of projectiles were fired from Lebanon toward Zar’it, Shtula, and Rosh Hanikra in Israel, the IDF responded with artillery fire at the source of the launches, also striking other areas in Lebanon. Also on Tuesday, the IDF struck two Hezbollah military infrastructures on the Syrian front.

Stabbing Attack Thwarted at Checkpoint near Jerusalem, IDF Arrests Seven in Overnight West Bank Raids: On Wednesday morning, a teenager carried out a stabbing attack at the tunnel checkpoint on Route 60 at the entrance to Jerusalem and was shot by IDF troops. Two people were lightly wounded, a civilian guard and a woman serving in the IDF Military Police, and the attacker was later declared dead. In overnight operations in the West Bank, forces from the IDF, the Shin Bet, and the Border Police arrested seven suspects. In Jenin, they destroyed explosives buried under roads and arrested one wanted man. In Bet Ummar, troops arrested three wanted persons and confiscated weapons. In Nablus, they arrested one wanted person, and in Kharas, they arrested two more. Since the start of the war, some 3,500 wanted persons have been arrested in the West Bank, about 1,500 of them affiliated with Hamas.

IDF Continues Operations in Southern Gaza’s Khan Younis and in Central Gaza: The IDF’s 98th Division is continuing operations in several areas in and around Khan Younis in southern Gaza: the Hamad Town residential complex, Abasan, and Al-Qarara. Over the past day, forces from the Egoz commando unit exchanged fire with a squad of seven terrorists hunkered down in a building in Hamad Town. The troops eliminated several terrorists, then called in an airstrike that killed the remaining squad members. In addition, soldiers from the Commando Brigade’s Maglan unit seized weapons in the neighborhood. The Israeli Air Force struck and killed a terrorist responsible for launching a large number of rockets at Israel, including on October 7, and the Gaza Division directed extensive IAF strikes on Deir al Balah, destroying numerous terror infrastructures, including tunnel shafts, anti-tank missile launching positions, and areas where terrorists assembled. Nahal Brigade soldiers are fighting in central Gaza, and when they spotted a man holding a suspicious object who was entering a home known to belong to a Hamas operative, they called in an airstrike, killing him.

Latest FDD Analysis:

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

“U.S. Should Tap Remaining Aid Authority for Ukraine,” John Hardie and RADM (Ret.) Mark Montgomery, FDD Policy Brief

“When Iran Goes Nuclear,” Eric S. Edelman, Reuel Marc Gerecht, and Ray Takeyh, The Dispatch

“Red lines, ceasefires, and humanitarian aid piers,” Joe Truzman and Bill Roggio, Generation Jihad (by FDD’s Long War Journal)

“Another Israeli-U.S. National Killed by Hamas,” FDD Experts, FDD Flash Brief

“Hamas Warns Gazans Against Cooperating With Israel on Aid Delivery,” FDD Experts, FDD Flash Brief

“New Maritime Humanitarian Corridor Opens for Gaza,” FDD Experts, FDD Flash Brief

“Iranian Official Calls to Expel Israel From Women’s Rights Conference,” FDD Experts, FDD Flash Brief

“Israel Thwarts Suicide Attack in West Bank,” FDD Experts, FDD Flash Brief