Israel Update: Day 632

The Gaza Strip

The IDF now maintains operational control over approximately 57% of the entire Gaza Strip according to Ben Tzion Macales (up from 52% just one week ago)

Amit Segal writes: For Both Hamas and Israel, Time Is Running Out

• Deep concern, bordering on panic, has spread through Hamas’ upper ranks, according to senior Israeli officials, after the extent of the damage to Iran became clear. The organization’s strategic rear, its training base and source of power, has been significantly weakened at a critical moment.
• The main shift in the Gaza operation, under the current command, is in the emphasis within the IDF’s framework of infrastructure-territory-terrorists.
• …the emphasis is on territory and infrastructure. The IDF is staying in every area it conquers, destroying the tunnels underneath and all houses above. The rationale is this: Gaza will never lack young men filled with hate, nor will it lack Kalashnikovs. But if the Philadelphi Corridor remains blocked, a destroyed tunnel can’t be rebuilt, and a demolished house will no longer serve as a hideout for a Hamas cell.
• …75 percent of Gaza’s population is now concentrated in 25 percent of the strip’s territory, and the operation is not even halfway complete.
• Three things are deeply worrying Hamas’ leadership — or at least what’s left of it — these days.
  • First, the distribution of aid by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
  • Second, Palestinian clans have begun approaching the IDF to discuss local governance. Not thousands, not even hundreds — but the early signs are visible.
  • Hamas’ final worry is the IDF’s intelligence breakthrough, as demonstrated by the retrieval of eight hostages’ bodies in recent weeks. Evidently, Israel has uncovered crucial information — and the results are tangible.
• Hamas’ hope is that the price in blood — 19 IDF soldiers have been killed since the beginning of June — will sour the Israeli public on the operation and force a hostage release deal on Hamas’ terms. Some in Hamas have even concluded from the war with Iran that now, of all times, Trump will pressure Israel to end the fighting in Gaza.
• Either way, Hamas’ time is running out — as is Israel’s time to complete the operation.

Operation Rising Lion Related Articles

The Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA) published a new interactive infographic explaining the impacts of U.S.-Israeli strikes against Iran’s nuclear weapons program, and illustrating Iran’s potential covert pathways to a bomb that may have survived the recent conflict. You can view the infographic here.

Additionally, the Institue for the Study of War has given this update:

• Iran has made the recognition of its right to enrich uranium a precondition for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to be able to inspect Iranian nuclear facilities.
• Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei reiterated on June 26 that Iran will not “surrender” to the United States during his third televised message to the Iranian public since June 12.
• Israeli strikes targeted senior Iranian military and security officials across multiple branches, likely in an effort to degrade Iran’s command and control structure. The IDF estimated on June 27 that it killed between 200-300 IRGC and Basij members in strikes targeting IRGC headquarters in Tehran in the 24 hours before the ceasefire went into effect
• International Atomic Energy Agency Director Rafael Grossi stated on June 26 that centrifuges at the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant (FFEP) are “no longer working” due to the US and Israeli strikes on the site.
• US and Israeli airstrikes on the Esfahan Nuclear Technology Center (ENTC) between June 12 and 24 reportedly destroyed components of Iran’s nuclear program that would be necessary for weaponization. The strikes destroyed the Uranium Metal Conversion Plant at the ENTC, which Iran could have used to transform uranium gas into dense metal in a process called metallization. This process is one of the last steps required to form the explosive core of an atomic bomb.
• Iranian Supreme Leader Adviser Ali Shamkhani called on regime officials to resolve “disputes” with the Iranian population through “mutual understanding” in an interview on June 28. Shamkhani claimed that nuclear negotiations with the United States are a “deceptive plan” that seeks to “provoke unrest” and “prepare the atmosphere inside Iran” for protests. Shamkhani’s statements come as the Iranian regime has taken steps to securitize the country since the Iran-Israel ceasefire went into effect on June 24.

They Predicted World War III. They Were Wrong by Eli Lake with The Free Press: Tucker Carlson and his allies claimed to speak for the MAGA rank and file on Iran. But they’re at odds with the voters—and reality.

• After the video of Sahar Emami, the Iranian news anchor in full chador diving for cover mid-rant as an Israeli bomb struck her studio, the most viral clip of the 12-day war was brought to you by a man who did his damnedest to prevent it: Tucker Carlson.
• In the run-up to the war, Carlson predicted nothing short of World War III if Israel or America attacked Iran.
• The Islamic Republic of Iran folded like a cheap suit after the U.S. joined Israel’s war on Saturday. In 12 days, Iran has lost the heart of its nuclear program along with the top commanders of its fearsome revolutionary guard and regular military. Meanwhile, none of Tehran’s vaunted allies came to its aid. The regime is now left vulnerable. Israel established air supremacy over the country in fewer than 48 hours.
• Israel absorbed the brunt of Iran’s response: barrages of ballistic missiles aimed at apartment buildings and residential neighborhoods. As for the Iranian response to U.S. bombers taking out the nuclear facilities in Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan, no Americans or Qataris were injured or killed in Monday’s attack. Damage to the U.S. base was minimal.
• President Donald Trump even thanked Iran for giving the U.S. military and Qatar advance notice.
• Opposing Israel and America’s war against Iran’s nuclear program led some far-right influencers to attack Trump himself.
• A Reagan Institute poll of self-identified MAGA Republicans conducted before the Israel-Iran war found that for 74 percent, preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon “matters a great deal.” A YouGov/CBS poll conducted this week found that 85 percent of Republicans and 94 percent of MAGA Republicans approved of Trump’s strike.
• Vice President J.D. Vance, the leader of the restrainers inside the Trump administration, posted on Tuesday, “We are seeing a foreign policy doctrine develop that will change the country (and the world) for the better: 1) clearly define an American interest; 2) negotiate aggressively to achieve that interest; 3) use overwhelming force if necessary.”
• It wasn’t just that Carlson and the restrainers got the short war all wrong. It was that they tried to spin a tale that the leader of their movement, Donald Trump, was a chump, easily manipulated by the world’s only Jewish state.
• Trump proved them wrong on that as well. On Tuesday morning he lashed out at Israel for planning a counterattack to a final Iranian missile strike. Israel turned its jets around after the president made his disfavor known to the world. So much for the argument that he was just Netanyahu’s puppet.
• Link: They Predicted World War III. They Were Wrong

Is the Islamic Republic Starting to Crack? The Signs to Watch by Holly Dagres with The Washington Institute for Near East Policy

• Well before President Trump’s June 22 social media post about regime change in Iran, Israel was already entertaining the idea.
• While he and other Israeli leaders appear focused on a strategy of degrading the Islamic Republic’s military capabilities and nuclear program, they also seem hopeful that these actions might trigger a popular uprising and, ultimately, regime collapse.
• Such statements and iconography suggest a messaging strategy aimed directly at the roughly 80 percent of Iranians who oppose the regime.
• The question is whether Iranians will actually rise up again as they have numerous times in the past.
• When the latest conflict with Israel first erupted, countless videos showed traffic jams stretching for miles as Iranians fled the capital.
• Despite this climate of fear, it is hard to imagine that millions of Iranians—especially in the capital—would take to the streets in protest right now when so many are focused on basic survival.
• Historically, when mass protests achieve a certain size, their impact on regime stability is a virtual certainty.
• Some have speculated that a more radical development—such as the targeted killing of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei—could tilt the balance definitively toward regime change.
• Today, however, the IRGC security establishment has lost many top brass to Israeli attacks, and even their replacements have been killed in many cases.
• All of this suggests that despite internal rot from systemic corruption and deep Israeli infiltration, the Islamic Republic is surviving for now—but that it would become increasingly vulnerable under certain conditions. The most important markers for regime vulnerability include the following, most of which fall under the category of defections:
  • If security forces cannot mobilize effectively or, worse, begin to desert their barracks and bases.
  • If public divisions emerge among political elites.
  • If officials publicly declare their defections
  • If Iranians begin to protest again and security forces refuse to fire at them (either because they believe “the ship is sinking” or because their friends and family members may be among the protesters).
  • If ordinary citizens begin storming military and government buildings or carrying out revenge killings.
  • If Iranians in major industries like oil go on strike.
  • If widespread shortages of food, fuel, or basic goods take hold.
  • If senior officials and their families flee to allied countries like Russia. It is hard to imagine Khamenei himself ever leaving, since he would rather die a “martyr.” Moreover, the number of foreign escape routes is quite limited, since there are no publicly known off-ramps in the West for Iranian officials attempting to defect.
• None of these signs have materialized yet. Most citizens are holding their breath and waiting to see if the ceasefire is able to hold.
• The longer the war lasts—especially if its trajectory evens out and becomes predictable—the greater the chance for regime adaptation and survival.
• At the same time, U.S. policymakers should keep in mind that developments in Iran are rapidly changing…conventional assumptions often do not carry weight there.
• Link: Is the Islamic Republic Starting to Crack? The Signs to Watch

US-Israeli misdirection was the masterstroke—now comes the reckoning by Adam Scott Bellos with Y-Net News

• Over two weeks, everything changed. It began with Israel. In a premeditated, sovereign strike, over 200 Israeli jets crossed into Iranian airspace, executing one of the most audacious military operations in modern Middle East history. Over 100 targets were hit—drone factories, missile silos, nuclear enrichment facilities, radar stations. At least 20 of Iran’s senior military commanders were eliminated.
• For the first time in history, the United States followed. In a joint offensive, U.S. bombers struck three major Iranian nuclear sites, transforming what had seemed like unilateral Israeli preemption into a coordinated, declarative alliance. America didn’t just support Israel in theory. It acted alongside Israel in the war.
• For weeks, the headlines told a different story. Trump and Netanyahu were feuding, Washington was uneasy and Israel was alone. That was the illusion. The strategic misdirection. It wasn’t a fracture. It was a cover. It was camouflage.
• While the media debated diplomatic distance, the IDF was already moving. Behind closed doors, the American military infrastructure was repositioning. The illusion became the cloak under which the alliance realigned itself—not in press releases but precision-guided weapons systems.
• What we witnessed is the first open step toward the Abraham Doctrine—a military-religious-political alignment among Western, Sunni and Jewish powers. Israel’s strike was not only directed at Iran—it was a message to Riyadh, Abu Dhabi, Manama, Amman and Cairo: When Israel leads, it leads for all of us. America’s follow-through made that message gospel.
• This joint operation signaled to the Sunni world that the axis of power is real, intact and willing to use force to protect regional stability. Quiet coordination has become visible alignment.
• Since October 7, the Diaspora has already faced a historic surge in antisemitic violence, particularly in English-speaking countries. In the U.S., incidents spiked 361%. In the UK, Australia and Canada, synagogues have been firebombed, schools defaced and Jews assaulted on public transit.
• Now that America has entered the battlefield on Israel’s side, the backlash will multiply. Jews will no longer be scapegoated solely for Israel’s actions. They will be blamed for American wars.
• A new form of antisemitism is gaining traction—elegant, media-savvy and blame-coded. It doesn’t shout. It insinuates. It is country club antisemitism rebranded for the algorithmic age—and it is targeting Diaspora Jews as the visible faces of global Jewish power.
• Now the question becomes: what does it mean to be a Jew in a world where Israel leads and America follows? This joint strike marked a turning point in Jewish history. The sovereignty dreamed of in 1948 just became the sovereignty shared responsibility for in 2025.
• The world saw something it hasn’t seen in generations: A Jewish nation that struck first. A Western superpower followed. And a global people who now must decide if they are spectators or stewards.
• The illusion is over. The alliance is real. And now comes the reckoning.
• Link: US-Israeli misdirection was the masterstroke—now comes the reckoning

[WOW! MUST READ] Inside ‘Operation Narnia,’ the Daring Attack Israel Feared It Couldn’t Pull Off by Dov Lieber with the WSJ

• The combination of intelligence information and military precision that enabled the attack surprised people around the world. But it wasn’t the only improbable success at the outset of Israel’s 12-day campaign.
• Another key part of the initial attack—considered so fantastical by even its planners that it was called “Operation Narnia,” after the fictional C.S. Lewis series—successfully killed nine top Iranian nuclear scientists almost simultaneously at their homes in Tehran.
• Israel took a huge risk in launching the attack. Either Israel would hit the human targets all at once, or they would scatter. If they did, Iran’s retaliation would’ve been far more severe, and its nuclear ambitions intact
• The operation’s origins stretch back to the mid-1990s…Israeli intelligence began building an extensive network of agents inside Iran to facilitate a sabotage campaign, which included causing explosions twice at one of Iran’s main enrichment sites and assassinating some scientists. But Israeli officials ultimately determined those activities weren’t enough, and that they would eventually need to destroy Iran’s nuclear program, and the Iranian nuclear brain trust, from the air.
• Pilots would have to learn how to fly in formations of six to 10 aircraft around a single tanker plane, taking turns to refuel…They’d also have to learn how to position their planes perfectly so that their missiles, when dropped, would land within 15 to 20 seconds of each other for maximum effectiveness.
• In 2008, in what was called Operation Glorious Spartan, more than 100 Israeli F-15s and F-16s flew more than 1,000 miles to Greece, testing their ability to fly far enough to hit Iran’s nuclear facilities. Such exercises would become more frequent.
• …Israeli spy networks inside Iran were extensive enough to track the movement of its military leaders and set up drone bases inside the country that could play a crucial role in knocking out Iran’s air defense systems during the attack.
• In November 2024, the military gathered 120 intelligence and air force officials together to decide who and what would be in their crosshairs when fighting began…the conference drew up a list of over 250 targets, including the scientists the Israelis wanted to kill, nuclear sites, Iranian missile launchers and military officials.
• Its agents spent months smuggling in parts for hundreds of quadcopter drones rigged with explosives—in suitcases, trucks and shipping containers—as well as munitions that could be fired remotely from unmanned platforms. Small teams armed with the equipment set up near Iran’s air-defense emplacements and missile launch sites, ready to take out the defense systems once Israel launched its attack.
• Netanyahu’s team knew they would have to disguise their plans to make sure the Iranians didn’t take precautionary actions, such as dispersing their scientists and military leaders.
• Netanyahu’s office announced he would be taking off work soon for a holiday weekend, followed by the wedding of his son Avner on Monday, June 16.
• …Israeli officials were leaking reports to the media suggesting a split between Netanyahu and President Trump over whether to launch an attack. The leaks included details of a phone call between Netanyahu and Trump four days before the operation began, in which Trump told the Israeli leader he wanted diplomacy to run its course before turning to military options.
• The day of the attacks, Trump told reporters that the U.S. and Iran were “fairly close to an agreement” and that he didn’t want the Israelis “going in.”…In reality, generals were already making last minute preparations for the attack.
• The key to the deception, said a security official familiar with the planning of the operation, was the idea implanted in the minds of the Iranians that Israel wouldn’t strike without U.S. authorization and participation.
• A key part of the final plan was to take out the leadership of Iran’s armed forces all at once—the effort known as Red Wedding.
• As the Israeli aircraft approached, however, a problem surfaced. The leadership of the Iranian air force was suddenly on the move…But to the amazement of the Israeli high command, rather than scattering, the Iranian air force leaders gathered together in one place—sealing their fate. Israeli missiles started to fly.
• In around four hours, the opening operation was over.
• Link: Inside ‘Operation Narnia,’ the Daring Attack Israel Feared It Couldn’t Pull Off

The IDF confirmed the elimination of 11 Iranian nuclear scientists. FDD’s Andrea Stricker and Bridget Toomey wrote about the first nine: The 9 Iranian Nuclear Scientists Israel Has Eliminated

• Tehran has long denied that it ever had a nuclear weapons program, but the evidence clearly shows otherwise. The effort was initially known as the Amad Plan, but amid fear of discovery in 2003, the clerical regime downsized and dispersed the program’s activities to preserve them while allowing the work to progress on a more limited scale.
• All nine of the scientists killed by Israel this week were involved in the Amad Plan, and some were currently working on weaponization efforts, according to Western government sources who shared information with FDD. Between 2007 and 2012, Israel assassinated five other nuclear scientists who were part of the Amad Plan or subsequent activities.
• In addition, according to the Western government sources that shared information with FDD, Ali Shamkhani, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s key national security advisor, was leading Tehran’s weaponization effort alongside Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces. Khamenei directed the weaponization effort to continue despite ongoing nuclear negotiations with the United States. According to Israel, it eliminated both Shamkhani and Bagheri.
• Link: The 9 Iranian Nuclear Scientists Israel Has Eliminated

Antisemitism

The War Against the War Against the Jews, by Danielle Pletka with Commentary Magazine

• The challenge of fighting anti-Semitism felt simpler on October 8, 2023. The worst mass murder of Jews since the Holocaust had just taken place. Young and old, man and woman, soldier and noncombatant—all had been attacked, many raped, some tortured, many killed, and from the living and dead in the aftermath, 251 were kidnapped into Gaza.
• Twenty months on, the horror has largely evanesced outside the Jewish and staunchly pro-Israel community, and a sullen, angry, and viral anti-Semitism has taken its place. Jews the world over who believed that education, outreach, and compassion would dissipate the stench of Jew-hatred were proved wrong in the most horrible of ways.
• In the United States alone since October 7, there have been more than 10,000 reported anti-Semitic incidents, a rise of nearly 300 percent, according to the Anti-Defamation League. Those attacks have included murder, maiming, desecration of religious sites, and harassment of Jews in the streets, at schools, restaurants, places of worship, and at peaceful demonstrations.
• Canada, it’s been even worse, with a recorded 562 percent increase in anti-Semitic incidents, a quarter of which were violent. The United Kingdom experienced a 450 percent increase, with nearly 2,000 incidents in the first half of 2024.
• From October 7, 2023, through the end of the 2023–24 academic year, student governments and faculty or staff unions at U.S. colleges and universities reviewed at least 86 resolutions connected to the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement that recommends ending all economic investment not only in Israel but in companies that do business with the Jewish state. Of these, 77 were approved, and nine failed.
• The United Nations General Assembly has passed 17 Israel-related resolutions since October 7 but only six regarding the entire rest of the world.
• Donald Trump tore into the question of both American and international anti-Semitism with immediacy and ferocity. Nine days into his second term, Trump signed Executive Order 14188, instructing federal agencies to report to the White House on their current measures to combat anti-Semitism; urging the Department of Justice to take rapid legal action against acts of pro-Hamas vandalism and intimidation, particularly on campuses; ordering the deportation of noncitizens breaking laws on anti-Semitic harassment or support for terror groups; and launching investigations into colleges and universities for failing to protect Jewish students.
• Trump also signed EO 14282, “Transparency Regarding Foreign Influence at American Universities.” This executive order instructs the Department of Education to redouble enforcement of Section 117 of the Higher Education Act, which requires universities to disclose foreign funding.
• The White House has also created a Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism, a multi-agency, university-focused group that has prompted a cut in federal funding from universities such as Columbia and Harvard; launched investigations into multiple other schools, including the University of California system; and weighed in legally to support Jewish students’ lawsuits over campus anti-Semitism.
• In addition, the Trump administration has slashed funding for rabidly anti-Israel international organizations, including UNRWA, and withdrawn completely from the UN Human Rights Council. It has also backed the creation of the Gaza Aid Foundation, founded to supplant both UNRWA and the UN system’s operations in Gaza.
• Qatar’s role in fanning the flames of anti-Semitism has been well documented. The emirate’s influence and cash have helped ensure the closure of university centers that were studying Islamist extremism and suffocated new inquiries. They have underwritten NGOs promoting pro-Hamas narratives and skewed American university (and middle- and high-school) curricula to promote an anti-Israel agenda…In 2019 and 2020, a Qatari royal invested about $50 million in conservative news outlet Newsmax, securing a significant minority stake. And following the 2024 U.S. presidential election, Qatar significantly ramped up its outreach to other conservative media outlets; the Washington Examiner reports that Department of Justice records show a more than 50 percent increase in such efforts.
• The Anti-Semitism Awareness Act codified a 2019 Trump executive order expanding Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to include discrimination on the basis of religion, charging federal agencies tasked with Title VI enforcement to use the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism.
• After opposition from Republicans on First Amendment and religious-freedom grounds, and Democrats over free-speech concerns, the bill eventually passed the House in May 2024, only to die in the Senate.
• Since Trump’s election and the GOP takeover of the Senate, efforts to codify IHRA have not fared much better.
• Like the Antisemitism Awareness Act, there have been several important pieces of legislation introduced relating to foreign donations to universities, including additional restrictions for so-called countries of concern; support for terrorism by nonprofits and organizations such as Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP); additional reporting requirements for student-visa holders engaging in anti-Semitic or pro-terror activities; and more.
• Congress’s failure to enact laws to address the proliferation of anti-Semitic activities in the United States, on and off campus, means that, just as was the case during the Trump-Biden transition in 2021, any future cross-party transitions will see a slew of reversals of executive branch executive orders, as well as rules and regulations promulgated while Donald Trump was in office.
• The voices of Jew-hatred still screech. And the physical danger in which Jews on American soil find themselves is growing.
• Before October 7, the malign agenda of foreign agitators and anti-Semites at home was largely obscured from view. Jews believed that the era of overt Jew-hatred was in the past. There is no one who believes that today. We know what the problem is, we know what needs to be done, and, while it will take time to institutionalize the kinds of protections imperative to keeping Jews safe in America, it will happen if we have perseverance and courage. We have seen anti-Semitism weaponized to murder and harass Jews around the world and at home. The time has come to turn the tables, and to weaponize anti-Semitism against its perpetrators and sponsors.
• Link: The War Against the War Against the Jews

U.S. Strikes in Iran Lead to “Jews Control the Government” Conspiracies: Data from Robert Kraft’s: The Foundation to Combat Antisemitism

• Over the 12 days of escalations between Israel and Iran, the Command Center has tracked an 890% increase in antisemitic posts claiming that Jews control the U.S. government (compared to the previous 12 days). The largest spike was registered in the hours following the U.S. strikes on three of Iran’s nuclear facilities.
• A 347% increase in posts claiming that the U.S. military was being sent to “die for Jews” or “die for Israel.”
• An 823% increase in mentions of the phrase “United States of Israel,” a term that suggests misplaced national loyalty, framing U.S. actions as serving Israel rather than American interests.
• A 504% increase in posts using the phrase “Israel first,” a cynical take on the “America first” political agenda, as can be gleaned from an X user, ironically named “Apolitical,” who wrote, “This is what he was put in office to do. Israel first.”
• A 558% increase in posts explicitly alleging that Jews, Zionists, or Israel control the U.S. government, such as this post on X: “not Trump joining when he could mind his business it wasn’t even his fight to begin with…. Zionists truly own the entire American government.”

[WATCH] StopAntisemitism highlights singer Bob Vylan (legal name Pascal Robinson-Foster) who performed at Glastonbury Festival yesterday chanting “Death, Death to the IDF, Death Death to the IDF”

• He chants: “Death, Death to the IDF, Death Death to the IDF” and was broadcast live by the BBC
• He’s coming to the U.S. this fall as part of the Inertia Tour.
• The BBC called punk-rap band Bob Vylan’s performance “deeply offensive”, but failed to implement standard broadcast delays.

Hostage Update (no change)

• There are now currently 49 hostages taken on 10/7 currently in captivity in Gaza (there are 50 hostages remaining in total)
• Of the 50 hostages still theoretically in Gaza
  • 28 hostages have been confirmed dead and are currently being held in Gaza
  • Thus, at most, 22 living hostages could still be in Gaza. It has been reported that only 20 are actually alive.
  • Hamas is now holding the body of 1 IDF soldier who was killed in 2014 (Lt. Hadar Goldin’s body remains held in the Gaza Strip)
• 20 hostages remain in captivity and have not been declared dead.
  • 2 hostages are Americans: Meet the Two American Hostages Still Held By Hamas:
    • Itay Chen died on October 7 defending civilians living in an agricultural area near the Gaza borde
    • Omer Neutra was killed when his team drove two miles to the border, where Hamas militants ambushed his tank with rocket-propelled grenades.

• On October 7^th, a total of 251 Israelis were taken hostage.
• During the ceasefire deal in November of 2023, 112 hostages were released.
• 38 hostages were released in the first phase of the 2025 cease fire agreement (including 5 Thai nationals)
• 202 hostages in total have been released or rescued
  • The bodies of 47 hostages have been recovered, including 3 mistakenly killed by the military as they tried to escape their captors.
  • 8 hostages have been heroically rescued by troops alive

Casualties (+1)

• Sgt. Yisrael Natan Rosenfeld, 20, was killed by an explosive device during operations in the Kafr Jabalia area in the Gaza Strip

1,930 Israelis have been killed including 880 IDF soldiers and police since October 7th

• Iran: 28 Israelis have been killed in Israel from missiles attacks from Iran
• The South: 441 IDF soldiers during the ground operation in Gaza have been killed. The toll includes three police officers (two of which were killed in a hostage rescue mission) and two Defense Ministry civilian contractors.
• The North: 133 Israelis (85 IDF soldiers) have been killed during the war in Northern Israel
• The West Bank: 66 Israelis (27 IDF and Israeli security forces)
• Additional Information (according to the IDF):
  • 6,029 (+17 since Wednesday) IDF soldiers have been injured since the beginning of the war, including at least 895 (no change since Wednesday) who have been severely injured.
  • 2,743 (no change Wednesday) IDF soldiers have been injured during ground combat in Gaza, including at least 528 (no change Wednesday) who have been severely injured.

• The Gaza Casualty Count: According to unverified figures from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry, 56,412 total deaths have been reported, with a civilian/combatant ratio: 1:1.
  • [MUST READ] Report: Questionable Counting: Analysing the Death Toll from the Hamas-Run Ministry of Health in Gaza by Andrew Fox with The Henry Jackson Society

Regular sources include JINSA, FDD, IDF, AIPAC, The Paul Singer Foundation, The Institute for National Security Studies, the Alma Research and Education Center, Yediot, Jerusalem Post, IDF Casualty Count, algemeimer, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Institute for the Study of War, Tablet Magazine, Mosaic Magazine, Commentary, The Free Press, The Jewish Institute for Strategy and Security, and the Times of Israel