IDF Continues To Advance in Gaza as Hamas Stalls Biden-Brokered Terrorists-for-Hostages Deal
IDF Chief of the General Staff: “We are not ending the war, we will continue until we are victorious”
Israeli armed forces intensified their strikes on terrorist targets as Hamas stalled the hostage ransom deal brokered by President Joe Biden and the government of Qatar, the leading Arab benefactor of the Gaza-based Islamic terror group.
Hamas postponed the release of hostages set for Thursday to Friday. “A Gaza ceasefire and hostage release will commence on Friday morning and 13 women and children will be released later in the day, Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesman said,” the UK newspaper Telegraph reported Thursday afternoon.
The terrorist group had previously agreed to free 50 Israeli women and children hostages in return for 150 prisoners, most likely convicted terrorists and murderers, and a four-day cease fire.
Having secured release of its fellow terrorists and halting of IDF ground operation, Hamas is making additional demands, news reported on Thursday suggest. The BBC on Thursday afternoon cited “an Israeli government source” saying that “Hamas has made additional demands to the deal – though it’s not clear what those demands are.”
IDF uncovers more tunnels in Gaza amid ceasefire delay
📹 — @jregevi24news pic.twitter.com/apMiZBOYbM
— i24NEWS English (@i24NEWS_EN) November 23, 2023
IDF Chief of Staff: ‘We will continue until we are victorious’
Almost four weeks into the ground offensive in Gaza, the military is relentlessly going after the Hamas’s leadership and its terrorist infrastructure spanning across the terror-infested territory. “IDF ground troops continued striking terrorists, locating underground sites and striking terror infrastructure in the Gaza Strip,” the Israeli military revealed in a statement Thursday.
The IDF ridding Gaza of Hamas tunnels, one at a time. pic.twitter.com/1boC6Q3EIf
— Hillel Fuld (@HilzFuld) November 23, 2023
With Hamas failing to honor the Biden-backed ransom deal, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi vowed that the military is “not ending the war,” and the ground operation in Gaza will continue until a complete victory over Hamas.
“We are trying to connect the goals of the war, so that the pressure from the ground operation brings about the ability to also achieve the goal of this war, to create the conditions for the release of the abducted hostages,” Lt. Gen. Halevi said in a statement released Thursday’s morning.
“We are not ending the war. We will continue until we are victorious, going forward and continuing in other Hamas areas. I’m very proud of you, you are doing an outstanding job,” he added.
On Monday, “aerial strikes were carried out on over 300 Hamas terror targets, including military command centers, underground terror tunnels, weapon storage facilities, weapon manufacturing sites, and anti-tank missile launch posts,” the IDF reported Tuesday.
The IDF says its 215th Artillery Regiment struck several targets in northern Gaza's Jabaliya. A drone strike was also carried out against a group of Hamas operatives moving toward Israeli forces, and an observation post was targeted with a guided munition, the IDF says.
In… pic.twitter.com/yHdRfsyTTU
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) November 23, 2023
The IDF reported the ongoing counter-terrorism operation in a press release on Thursday morning:
IDF troops are striking terror targets in the area of Jabalya. With the direction of IDF troops, an IDF UAV targeted armed terrorists who approached IDF troops and struck an observation post that posed a threat to IDF troops using precise munitions.
Furthermore, an IDF UAV and tanks eliminated a number of terrorist cells in the northern Gaza Strip, with the direction of IDF ground troops. IDF soldiers also located a tunnel shaft inside a mosque.
Additionally, in an agricultural area in Beit Hanoun, IDF troops located and struck a terror tunnel shaft. IDF soldiers also located numerous weapons and a terror tunnel shaft inside a civilian residence in the area.
https://twitter.com/YaariCohen/status/1727690771875123205
Meanwhile, the mainstream media continues to find new ways to smear Israel as the country responds to the horrific October 7 massacre:
The first question that left me speechless (but only for a second): pic.twitter.com/P4Bh0SKtl9
— Eylon Levy (@EylonALevy) November 23, 2023
IDF arrests Shifa hospital director over collusion with Hamas
The Israeli military arrested the director of the Hamas-controlled al-Shifa hospital after mounting evidence, including medical facility’s CCTV footage, showing hospital staff willingly cooperating with Hamas terrorists.
Following indisputable evidence indicating the Shifa Hospital served as a Hamas command and control center, the director of the hospital was apprehended and transferred for questioning by the ISA.
Not only did Hamas exploit the hospital's electricity and resources to build and…— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) November 23, 2023
Al Shifa, Gaza’s largest hospital with more than 500 beds, has been used by Hamas to hoard weapons and explosives as well as a safe haven its terror commanders as they directed attacks on IDF ground forces and order rocket barrages on Israeli cities. A recently released footage by the IDF shows Hamas terrorists forcing Israeli hostages in the hospital shortly after the October 7 massacre in which nearly 240 Israelis were taken captive, and over 1200 were murdered, many of them raped, beheaded, mutilated and burned.
Everyone at Shifa hospital in Gaza who participated in kidnapping innocent hostages and hiding them in underground tunnels beneath the hospital are complicit in terrorism.@MSF_USA and @ICRC told us the medical teams didn’t know about it— they lied. All of them are complicit. pic.twitter.com/eUoJso8W1g
— Hen Mazzig (@HenMazzig) November 19, 2023
The BBC confirmed the arrest of Shifa’s director on Thursday afternoon:
We’ve now had confirmation that the director of Gaza City’s largest hospital, al-Shifa, is being held by Israeli security services.
Earlier we reported that Abu Salamiya had been detained – citing a doctor at al-Shifa who spoke to BBC Arabic – but the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Israel Security Agency (ISA) have now confirmed that Salamiya has been “apprehended and transferred for ISA questioning”.
In a joint statement, officials say they’ve found “evidence showing that Shifa, under [Salamiya’s] direct management, served as a Hamas command and control centre”.
Underneath Gaza’s Al-Shifa hospital complex. pic.twitter.com/NO2TdOwaJX
— Trey Yingst (@TreyYingst) November 22, 2023
IDF hits Hezbollah targets after renewed rockets attacks
Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorist militia continues to fire rockets and missiles into northern Israel. With IDF controlling large parts of Gaza, Lebanon-based Hezbollah has stepped up attacks in the north in a desperate bid to ease pressure on its allies terrorist group.
The IDF responded with retaliatory strikes, the Jerusalem Post reported Thursday:
Dozens of rockets were fired toward northern Israel from Lebanon on Thursday morning, with the IDF responding by striking Hezbollah rocket and anti-tank missile launchers in southern Lebanon.
While the IDF said about 35 rockets were fired toward Israel, Hezbollah said that it had launched 48 Katyusha rockets in an attempt to hit a base near Safed.
Hezbollah additionally claimed that it had conducted 11 attacks, including several anti-tank missile attacks, against a number of IDF positions near the border on Thursday morning.
Earlier on Thursday morning, the IDF said it struck an anti-tank missile cell near Zarit and that several projectiles had been fired from Lebanon toward Israel.
It’s 10:35 AM, and Hezbollah has already fired 50 (!!!!) rockets into Israeli cities in the north, with the hopes of killing as many Jews, innocent Jews, as possible.
The war between Israel and Hezbollah has not officially begun, but when it does, when Israel retaliates, don’t… pic.twitter.com/Lv1qyt8zSA
— Hillel Fuld (@HilzFuld) November 23, 2023
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Arrest as many as possible and try them in front of the world. The evidence is overwhelming. Then mete out justice accordingly.
Although caught by surprise on October 7, the IDF has likely been planning action against Hamas for a long time. They have no real choice other than to finish what Hamas started.
Nowhere have I seen any evidence for “proof of life” of the Israeli hostages. Is there and I just missed it? I can imagine the last minute foot dragging / delay is because there are no hostages – as it seems almost daily another is reported dead – their body recovered – as if taken out of storage and left for the IDF to find. It wouldn’t surprise me if it’s all a psyop to inflict more hurt on Israel, since Hamas is losing in the hot war.
indeed. And since Israel agreed to the cease-fire, Hamas HAS to put up. And they cannot. I am glad that Israel is not sitting around waiting for Hamas to uphold their end.
There have been a few videos released by Hamas so some hostages were alive at least at the time the videos were taken. The proof will be when they are free from the monsters.
Just a few thoughts on the pause.
As the famous quote goes “war is just politics by another means”. There is no way that Israel could have resisted the internal and external pressure for a hostage deal. If they would have rejected any deal until Hamas was totally destroyed the government would have fallen and parties more sympathetic to Hamas would have gained power.
The IDF has been in constant combat since Oct 7 much of it urban combat in buildings and tunnels. Even though the IDF has much larger forces than Hamas I suspect that the troops engaged in the tough urban warfare are a small subset of elite highly trained soldiers. Although the pause will allow Hamas to relocate units and replenish the IDF will be doing the same. Pulling guys off the line after 45 days of intense combat to rest and recharge is not all bad.
Despite the restrictions on air surveillance included in the terms I also believe that the IDF can and will use human assets and high-altitude observation to monitor movements.
The agreement calls for about 50 hostages released in the next few days, with another 30 possible to be released for various pauses. It also calls for the Red Crescent to have access to the hostages for humanitarian purposes. If both of these scenarios take place the IDF and will have a far better idea of the condition of the remaining hostages and the possibility of rescue attempts.
There might not be 50 still alive
Sorry to say this but I imagine that the large majority of the hostages taken on Oct. 7th are now dead and that’s why Hamas terrorists are now delaying the “cease fire” they so desperately wanted so that they could regroup, rearm, and attempt to find reinforcements. Because they simply cannot come up with the 50 live hostages they promised to release. And if that’s the case then the IDF should show no mercy to the Hamas terrorists or their supporters and continue the efforts to wipe Hamas off the face of the Earth.
When Hamas fails to come through with live hostages, the IDF will renew its offensive. This will be played as “Israel is the aggressor,” having secured a ceasefire and then being responsible for renewed combat.
Yeah, we saw this with the cease fire push-messaging starting late yesterday: misleading headlines sounding like Israelis violated a cease fire that doesn’t exist yet.
That message didn’t take, either.
Hamas put themselves in a pickle by engaging in any hostage swap at this point. No way this plays out is a good look for them.
So I have thoughts.
1) Israel HAS to end Hamas if there is to be peace in the region. I am not glad that Oct 7 happened, but I am glad that there is an excuse to wage unconditional war on Hamas.
2) I was upset that Israel agreed to the ceasefire in order to get their hostages back. If it were me taken, I would hope that my loved ones would know that I would rather die than make an exchange facilitating more hostages and more pain another day. The families seem selfish (if I can say that) in their pain to want their people back knowing that the exchange will damage more individuals and families in the future.
2a) Israel values life. Israel values the individual. It is part of the Judeo-Christian ethic to value the individual over the group, and to value saving life over death. And so I get the need for Israel to agree to the ceasefire terms. And as I thought about this, I realized that the God in which I believe values this as well. And I believe that as Israel ACTS on its beliefs of life, God will bless them
2b) God WILL keep His promises to His Chosen People. His promises come in His time, but they do come, especially as they act in accordance with His precepts and will.
3) If Israel agrees to the terms, and Hamas actually follows through, I believe that God will honor that and He will fight the battles for Israel. He has done it before, and He, being unchanging, can ABSOLUTELY do it again.
Hamas is death cult, not possible to negotiate anything.
Ecstatic to see Hamas sticking a finger in Brandon’s eye, regardless of whether it’s deliberate or just because their bluff has been called.
One thing that irks me about media reports is verbage. The MSM generally refer to the Israeli hostages as ‘captives’ and the convicted violent criminals Israel is going to trade for them as ‘civilians’ or ‘prisoners’ Must be part of the AP stylebook, like calling terrorists ‘gunmen’
Hamas operatives on X say that Hamas is claiming unlimited ‘humanitarian’ aid will come in as well.
Doesn’t matter. Israel needs to wage unconditional war against Gaza. It doesn’t matter to me how many ‘innocents’ die as Israel scrubs Gaza of terrorists. Just win.
If Israel wiped all the palestinians off the face of the earth my only response would be – do hezbollah next.
Son of Hamas Co-Founder Speaks Out Against Terror Group in Blistering Speech to UN-‘If Israel Fails in Gaza, All of Us Will Be Next’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjOEJumoABg&t=1812s
How long will it be before the US and UK Media deniers spin the IDF’s latest videos that clearly prove Hamas has underground tunnels leading to subterranean command centers located beneath hospitals?
Media: those aren’t tunnels shown on the IDF’s videos, they are part of a smart subway system without trains for walkers because Gaza used its Inflation Reduction Act funding to go green and save the planet.
US regime media has been using Hamas-approved language since about 10-10. Brandon’s FCC Interwebz content-throttler isn’t quite installed yet, so they keep getting end run by info via other channels.