Operation Iron Swords (Updated to 1 p.m., November 12, 2023)

Overview^[1]

• The southern arena: The IDF integrated maneuver in Gaza City and the northern Gaza Strip continued. Since the beginning of the war, the forces have attacked more than 15,000 terrorist targets in Gaza, destroying and confiscating about 6,000 weapons. The IDF also took control of 11 posts belonging to Hamas’ military-terrorist wing. Over the past few days, Israeli Air Force aircraft, with the help of the ground forces, attacked about 5,000 targets. Two rockets launched from Syria at fell in open areas, and a number of UAV launches at the Eilat-Arava region were identified, at least one of them from Syria. Senior Hamas terrorists still claim they have the upper hand in the campaign.
• According to an unofficial estimate, since October 7 approximately 1,200 Israeli civilians and security personnel have been killed, 361 of them soldiers and officers; 239 civilian and military abductees are held by the terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) sources accuse Israel of delaying a deal to release the abductees.
• The Gaza Strip: According to reports, the situation in the Gaza Strip is difficult, mainly in the hospitals. The Shifa Hospital has allegedly stopped functioning. The migration of residents from the northern Gaza Strip and Gaza City southward continues. Turkey offered to evacuate the wounded to its territory. Jordan sent another aircraft with humanitarian aid.
• Hamas: For the first time, signs Hamas is cracking may have been detected, because Abu Obeida, spokesman for Hamas’ military-terrorist wing, used the term “betrayal,” apparently in connection with the military support they were expecting from outside the Gaza Strip.
• The northern arena: Hezbollah continued attacking IDF posts and Israeli cities, towns and villages near the Lebanese border. The IDF responded with artillery fire and airstrikes on Hezbollah targets, including an attack deep inside Lebanese territory. Hezbollah announced that nine of its operatives had been killed, and the Amal movement announced the death of one operative in an IDF attack. Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah secretary general, in a speech dealing with the war in the Gaza Strip, elaborated on what he called the “support front,” claiming that Hezbollah had introduced additional weapons into the campaign and that the front would remain active.
• Judea and Samaria: The Israeli security forces continued their counterterrorism activities. Hamas complained about Israel’s escalating its detentions and the treatment of detainees and prisoners in prisons. Support demonstrations continued in Judea and Samaria.
• The Arab arena: On November 11, 2023, a summit meeting of Arab League leaders was held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, combined with an emergency summit meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. The conference called for the cessation of hostilities and the dispatch of aid to the Gaza Strip. Hamas and PIJ spokesmen criticized the call as “insufficient.” Meetings were held on the sidelines of the summit to discuss the events in the Gaza Strip.
• The international arena: The UN Security Council held a session to discuss the situation, at the end of which no resolutions were issued.

The Combat Arena

IDF activity

• The integrated ground maneuver: IDF forces continued operating in Gaza City and the northern Gaza Strip, destroying terrorist operational headquarters and command and control rooms, rocket facilities and launch sites, munitions and logistics warehouses, government and intelligence targets and terrorist tunnels. Terrorists were killed, including nukhba terrorist operatives who participated in the October 7 massacre (IDF spokesman, November 10-12, 2023).
• Since the beginning of the war, the forces have attacked more than 15,000 terrorist targets in the Gaza Strip, destroying and confiscating about 6,000 weapons, including anti-tank missiles, anti-aircraft missiles, rockets, IEDs ammunition and explosives (IDF spokesman, November 10, 2023). In addition, from the beginning of the ground maneuver, the IDF has taken control of 11 posts belonging to Hamas’ military-terrorist wing (IDF spokesman, November 11, 2023).

      
Weapons found near a kindergarten in Beit Hanoun (northern Gaza Strip) (IDF spokesman’s website, November 11, 2023)

• So far, the security forces in the Gaza Strip have killed about twenty terrorist operatives from various organizations, mainly Hamas, most of them released in the Gilad Shalit exchange deal, who were responsible for directing terrorist attacks. Half of them belonged to the West Bank Headquarters, in charge of recruiting terrorists from Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem and financing and managing their terrorist activity. In addition, more than ten targets were attacked where Hamas operatives were staying, who were released in the Gilad Shalit exchange deal had continued to engage in terrorist activity, especially financing and planning terrorist attacks in Judea, Samaria and Israel.
• The recent key events (IDF spokesman, November 10-12, 2023):
  • After neutralizing terrorist facilities and ridding the Gaza City area of terrorists, IDF infantry, armored and engineering forces, with the assistance of the Air Force and special forces, entered Hamas’ “security quarter” in the heart of the city near the Shifa Hospital, waging battles in which about fifty terrorists were killed. Intelligence documents were found and ammunition, tunnels, sites for the production of weapons and anti-tank launchers were destroyed (November 10, 2023).
  • The IDF forces took control of Hamas’ Badr post and attacked the “ship” post, where they located and destroyed a site for the production of weapons, launch positions and an underground network. The forces also operated at the Blue Beach Hotel on the coast in the northern Gaza Strip, where about 30 terrorists fired anti-tank missiles at the forces. The hotel rooms were used for shelter and planning attacks above and below ground (November 10, 2023).
  • The fighters raided the office of Muhammad Sinwar, the brother of Yahya al-Sinwar, head of the Hamas political bureau in the Gaza Strip, and confiscated terrorist equipment and combat instruction books (November 10, 2023).
  • IDF forces destroyed a container located on the seashore inside of which were about twenty rocket launchers. A rocket launcher was located near residential buildings in the Sheikh Ajlin neighborhood (November 10, 2023).

    
Right: An operating and calibration system for anti-aircraft rockets found in a Hamas military outpost. Left: Additional weapons (IDF spokesman’s website, November 10, 2023)

• • Fierce battles were waged in the south Sheikh Ajlin neighborhood in the west of Gaza City, in which IDF forces killed terrorists from the Izz al-Din Qassam Brigades’ Sabra Battalion. The forces located and destroyed terrorist tunnel shafts and tunnels, rocket launchers, weapons warehouses and observation posts (November 11, 2023).
  • On November 11, 2023, fierce fighting took place in the Shati refugee camp. In one of the battles, where civilians were identified in a building, the forces allowed them to evacuate along a secure route. During the evacuation, terrorists fired at the security forces (IDF spokesman, November 12, 2023).

     
Activities of IDF forces in the Gaza Strip (IDF spokesman website, November 11, 2023)

    
Documenting the forces’ activities (IDF spokesman website, November 10, 2023)

• Aerial activity: In recent days Israeli Air Force aircraft, with the assistance of the ground forces, attacked approximately 5,000 terrorist targets in the Gaza Strip. About 3,300 strikes were carried out by fighter jets, about 860 by helicopter gunships and over 570 out by UAVs (IDF spokesman, November 11, 2023).

     
Attacking targets in the Gaza Strip (IDF spokesman website, November 10, 2023)

   
Attacking targets in the Gaza Strip (IDF spokesman website, November 12, 2023)

     
Right: An attack near the Indonesian Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip. Left: Israel Air Force attack in the al-Saftawi area in the northern Gaza Strip (QudsN X account, November 11, 2023)

   
Night strikes. Flares light the sky (Wafa YouTube channel, November 12, 2023)

• Naval activity: On the night of November 10, 2023, Israeli Navy forces attacked buildings used by Hamas in the northern Gaza Strip, including warehouses where the Hamas naval force stored equipment. Under the direction of infantry forces, naval forces attacked buildings in the Shati refugee camp (IDF spokesman, November 11, 2023). Since the beginning of the fighting, Israeli Navy vessels have attacked hundreds of terrorist targets, including observation posts, anti-tank squads, vessels, posts and military facilities. As of November 10, forces at sea and on land had killed approximately 200 terrorists, among them Hamas naval commando operatives. In addition, Shayetet 13th forces carried out special operations and raids (IDF spokesman, November 10, 2023).

Reactions to IDF activity

• Abu Obeida, spokesman for Hamas’ military-terrorist wing, in a speech broadcast live, said that [IDF] tanks were indeed advancing over the ruins, but were facing “violent resistance and fierce clashes” forcing them to retreat and change their “invasion methods.” He claimed that during the last 48 hours, they had documented successful attacks on 25 IDF vehicles and promised they would “publish the documentation soon.” He also claimed that Hamas fighters [terrorist operatives] were coming up from underground, emerging at ground level and from the ruins, and alleged that Israel’s only achievement was “killing children, women and civilians and attacking hospitals” (al-Aqsa, November 12, 2023).
• At a press conference held in Beirut, senior Hamas operatives Osama Hamdan and Bassem Na’im read a statement on behalf of the movement, stating that Israel had expanded its attacks to most hospitals in Gaza City and the northern Gaza Strip, and that more than 64 hospitals and health centers were no longer functional. Osama Hamdan falsely claimed that the losses suffered by the IDF had caused it to form a new tank battalion of old model Merkava tanks, which were waiting to be retired from service, and that the number of IDF casualties was several times greater than reported (Hamas Telegram channel in Judea and Samaria, November 10, 2023 ).
• Muhammad al-Hindi, deputy PIJ secretary general, held a press conference in Beirut where he claimed that today’s events were one round of the “struggle” and would lead to further rounds until total victory had been achieved. He claimed the “crazy war” ended with the attack on October 7,and with the great shock that it caused, and it would remain engraved in the mind of the world. He noted that the morale of the “resistance” [terrorists] in Gaza was still high and if the Israeli forces got out of their tanks [the “resistance”] would fight a guerrilla war against them, and if the IDF remained in Gaza, they would wage a war of attrition against it (al-Mayadeen TV website, November 10 2023).

Rocket fire

• There has been a significant decrease in the number of rocket and mortar shell launches since the IDF ground forces entered the Gaza Strip. On the evening of November 11, 2023, there were two incidents in which suspicious aerial targets were identified crossing into Israeli territory from the northern Gaza Strip. The Iron Dome aerial defense system successfully intercepted them (IDF spokesman, November 11, 2023).

Rockets from Syria

• On November 11, 2023, two rocket launches at Israel from Syrian territory were detected. The rockets fell in an open area. The IDF attacked the sources of the rocket fire in Syrian territory (IDF spokesman, November 11, 2023).

UAVs launched at Eilat

• On the afternoon of November 10, 2023, a UAV hit a civilian building in Eilat, Israel’s southernmost city. Later, examination revealed that the UAV had been launched from Syria (IDF spokesman, November 10, 2023). On the night of November 10, 2023, the IDF attacked several targets in Syria (IDF spokesman, November 11, 2023). According to reports, the IDF attacked Syrian army and Hezbollah positions east of Homs and seven Hezbollah operatives and four Syrian army soldiers were killed (North News Agency, November 11, 2023).
• On the evening of November 10, 2023, Israeli air defense fighters used a Patriot system to intercept a suspicious target in the Arava area. Earlier, a missile was detected and successfully intercepted in the Red Sea area, using the Hetz long-range defense system. The target did not enter Israeli territory (IDF spokesman, November 10, 2023).
• The Hezbollah-affiliated al-Mayadeen network and the Sabarin News Telegram channel, which is affiliated with the pro-Iranian militias in Iraq, reported that an unknown organization claimed responsibility for launching two unmanned aircraft towards the city of Eilat. The report did not specify from where or when the aircraft were launched (al-Mayadeen and Sabarin News, November 12, 2023). Meanwhile, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq claimed responsibility for attacking a target in Eilat “with appropriate weapons” (Telegram channel of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, November 12, 2023).
• Since the beginning of the war about 9,500 rockets and mortar shells have been fired at Israel from the Gaza Strip. On the first day of the war, more than 3,000 rockets were launched. About 12% of them were failed launches that fell in the Gaza Strip and the sea. Israel’s air defense system intercepted about 2,000 launches and dozens of unmanned aircraft which tried to penetrate Israeli airspace (IDF spokesman, November 10 and 11,2023).

Israeli casualties

• According to an unofficial estimate, since October 7, approximately 1,200 Israeli civilians and security personnel have been killed, 361 of them soldiers and officers; 239 civilian and military abductees are held by the terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip, 35 children and adolescents under the age of 18, 32 over the age of 65. Five abductees were released.

The issue of the abductees

• At a press conference in Beirut, Senior Hamas terrorist Bassem Na’im claimed Hamas was ready to release the civilian hostages if [the terrorists] were guaranteed safe passage in the Gaza Strip. He claimed Hamas was working with the mediators to reach an agreement with Israel, but was encountering an unprecedented lack of response. Na’im claimed the Israelis acted as if the issue did not bother them (AP, October 11, 2023).
• Muhammad al-Hindi, deputy PIJ secretary general, claimed Israel was procrastinating on the issue of the abductees and sabotaging the negotiations, and that was why the deal had stalled. He claimed that eventually Israel would be forced into a deal for the exchange of its military abductees, which would mean emptying Israel’s prisons (al-Mayadeen TV website, November 10, 2023).

The Gaza Strip

Palestinian casualties

• Hamas’ media information bureau in the Gaza Strip reported that as of 8 p.m. on November 11, 2023, the number of dead in Gaza stood at 11,100 and the number of wounded at 28,000 (Hamas media information bureau, November 11, 2023). With the exception of the number of casualties, which is updated daily by the ministry of health in Gaza, authorities in the Gaza Strip do not often publish information about them.
• The IDF spokesman reported the killing of Ahmed Siam, the commander of the regional company for the al-Nasser and Sheikh Radwan neighborhoods, who held about a thousand residents of the Gaza Strip as hostages in the Rantisi Hospital and prevented them from evacuating to the south. He was killed while hiding in the al-Buraq School; a number of Hamas terrorist operatives who were under his command were killed with him (IDF account X, November 11, 2023).
• On November 10, the death of Ra’a Hamam Isma’il Haniyeh, the granddaughter of Isma’il Haniyeh, head of Hamas’ political bureau, was reported. Taher al-Nunu, Ismail Haniyeh’s media advisor, confirmed she had been killed along with twenty other members of her family and relatives in the attack on the al-Buraq school. He claimed the members of the Haniyeh family had moved from their home in the al-Shati refugee camp to the school where many Palestinians took refuge (Masbar website, November 11, 2023). Ra’a had recently returned from Qatar to study medicine at the Islamic University (Muhammad Haniyeh’s X account, November 10, 2023; X account of Bilal Nizar Riyan, November 10, 2023).
• Al-Qaradaghi, the secretary general of the International Union of Muslim Scholars, a radical Islamic organization based in Qatar, sent his condolences to Haniyeh, calling it an example of the families of true leaders whose family did not flee and whose grandchildren clung to their land (Al-Qaradaghi’s X account, November 10, 2023). The same position was taken by many people on the web, who wrote that Ra’a’s death was an answer to the “detractors” and people wondering where the leaders and their families were while the residents of Gaza were being killed (Note: Ismail Haniyeh and his immediate family are in Qatar).

     
Right: Ahmed Siam (IDF spokesman’s Facebook for the Arab media, November 8, 2023). Left: Ra’a Haniyeh (Bilal Nizar Riyan’s X account, November 10, 2023)

• IDF forces killed a number of the nukhba terrorists who participated in the October 7 massacre, among them Ahmed Musa, commander of a nukhba company, and Omar al-Hindi, commander of a platoon entrenched in western Jabaliya. Ahmed Musa was one of the commanders of the raids on the Zikim base, Kibbutz Zikim and the Yiftach post. He recently led an offensive against IDF forces in western Jabaliya. Muhammad Kahlout, head of the Hamas sniper unit in the Izz al-Din Qassam Brigades’ Northern Battalion, was also killed (IDF account X, November 11, 2023).
• Bara’ Nizar Riyan, Ahmed Musa’s cousin, confirmed the news of his death. He wrote that Ahmed Yasser Harb Musa, one of the commanders of the nukhba forces in the Izz al-Din Qassam Brigades, was the son of Yasser Harb Musa, a member of Hamas’ political bureau, and the grandson of Abd al-Rahman Tamraz, a member of Hamas’ founding generation and who co-founded the military wing under the supervision of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin at the beginning the 1980s. Ahmed’s brother, Muhammad Yasser Musa, was also killed during the war (Bilal Nizar Ryan’s X account, November 10, 2023).

The situation in Gaza

• The passage of thousands of residents of the northern Gaza Strip and Gaza City towards the south continued, urged by the IDF, despite the difficulties posed by Hamas. According to the IDF spokesman, 200,000 people have been evacuated in recent days. However, Hamas published videos on social media claiming that contrary to the IDF’s reports, the northern Gaza Strip had not been emptied and many residents were still in the area (QudsN X account, November 10, 2023). Senior Hamas terrorist Ghazi Hamad denied that Hamas fighters had opened fire on residents trying to leave the city or the hospital. He falsely said the reports were “lies,” and claimed Hamas did not have guards at the hospital gates to prevent people from entering or leaving (Los Angeles Times, November 11, 2023).

   
Residents from Gaza City and the northern Gaza Strip evacuate to the south (al-Ghad TV, November 12, 2023)

• Sources in Hamas warned about the conditions in Shifa Hospital and warned about the consequences of the escalation in the nearby area, which they claimed had been attacked five times in 24 hours. They said the United States government bore full responsibility for the ” heinous crime against a hospital.” They called on the UN and the Arab countries to intervene immediately (Shehab, November 10, 2023. Dr. Ashraf al-Qidra, spokesman for the Hamas-controlled ministry of health in the Gaza Strip, falsely reported that the Shifa Hospital was no longer functioning because the fuel supply had run out, causing a power outage (al-Ghad TV, November 12, 2023).
• On the evening of November 11, 2023, the Ma’an New Agency (considered one of the most prominent Palestinian media) published an article entitled “The occupation continues intense attacks around the Shifa compound.” Attached to the report were three photos testifying to the alleged damage to the hospital (Ma’an, November 11, 2023). However, the photos were not from the Shifa Hospital, but photos from the damage done by the PIJ’s failed rocket launch near al-Ahli Hospital on October 17, 2023. At the time Israel proved, with a recording of a conversation between two Hamas operatives, that the rocket which caused the damage had been fired by the PIJ.

• The Palestinian Authority (PA) foreign ministry strongly condemned the attacks on the hospitals. It called for a firm international humanitarian stance which would force Israel to immediately stop its attacks, stop attacking hospitals, ensure protection for the residents, provide all their basic humanitarian needs, and protect the medical staff and the patients (Wafa, November 10, 2023).
• Regarding the hospitals, the IDF announced that it was allowing the evacuation of civilians from the Shifa, Rantisi and Nasser hospitals and had opened an additional secure road to allow the population of the Gaza Strip to move south on foot and by ambulance. Officers from the Gaza Strip’s coordination and liaison directorate of the Gaza Strip recently spoke with the director of Shifa Hospital and showed him the possible routes for leaving the hospital (IDF spokesman, November 12, 2023).

Aid for the Gaza Strip

• Turkish President Erdogan said that Turkey was prepared to receive wounded Palestinians in its hospitals. He called for increased pressure on Israel to ensure the passage of the wounded from the Gaza Strip. He said that during the November 6, 2023, visit of United States Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to Ankara, he had discussed with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan the possibility of the daily transfer of 500 trucks of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. He said that they were trying to stop “the bleeding wound” in the Gaza Strip, and stopping Israel would be easier if the United States cooperated with them (Reuters, November 10, 2023).
• A “military source at the Jordanian [Armed] Forces Command” reported that for the second time since the start of hostilities, a Jordanian Air Force aircraft had delivered equipment and medical aid to the Jordanian field hospital in the Gaza Strip. The operation was carried out in cooperation with the Israeli Air Force and Qatar, and its objective was to improve the capabilities of the hospitals in the Gaza Strip and the resources available to the medical staff (Jordan Army website, November 12, 2023).

Hamas

• Ismail Haniyeh, chairman of the political bureau of Hamas, arrived in Egypt for a visit which lasted several hours. He was accompanied by Khaled Mashaal, chairman of “Hamas abroad,” and Khalil al-Haya, head of Hamas bureau of Arab-Islamic relations. They met with Abbas Kamel, head of Egyptian General Intelligence (Hamas Telegram channel in Judea and Samaria, November 9, 2023). “An Egyptian source” said they discussed the issue of releasing a number of foreign hostages in exchange for a temporary respite of up to two days. According to the source, the delegation claimed Hamas was open to Egyptian mediation efforts, and noted the need to bring fuel into the Strip as quickly as possible during the humanitarian ceasefire which Egypt and Qatar were working to achieve. According to “the source,” Haniyeh stressed Hamas’ continued opposition to the displacement of residents anywhere outside of Gaza, and warned that the continued attacks on public facilities in the Gaza Strip would force a large number of residents to turn towards the border to meet their urgent humanitarian needs. “The source” noted that the senior officials in Cairo emphasized Egypt’s opposition to most of the concepts regarding the management of the Gaza Strip after the war, a position that was welcomed by the members of the Hamas delegation (al-Araby al-Jadeed, November 9, 2023).
• For the first time, there might be signs Hamas is cracking. Abu Obeida, spokesman for Hamas’ military-terrorist wing, gave a speech on November 11, 2023, in which he said “Our people! The pain that afflicts us and our people due to the heinous crimes committed by the enemy will not hide from the world the pride that fills you in the midst of betrayal and in the midst of [Israeli] aggression (Hamas Telegram channel in Judea and Samaria, November 11, 2023). Hundreds of web users noted it was the first time that Abu Abeida had used the word “betrayal:”
• “This is perhaps Abu Obeida’s first speech where he did not mention anything outside of Gaza, and that they were engaged in a campaign of betrayal and aggression” (Mohamed Hamed Alaila’s X account, November 11, 2023).
• “For the first time, Abu Obeida used the word ‘betrayal’ in his speech, referring to the [Muslim] nation. He also did not begin his speech with his usual, ‘O masses of our Arab and Islamic nation’ (Sayid Ziyad’s X account, November 11, 2023).

The Northern Arena

Lebanon

• Between November 10 and 12, 2023, the attacks on IDF posts and cities, towns and villages near the border continued. The attacks included the launching of mortar shells and anti-tank missiles, small arms fire, rocket launches, UAVs and shooting at IDF UAVs (IDF spokesman, November 10-12, 2023). Hezbollah claimed responsibility for the attacks.

    
Three Hezbollah suicide UAVs were launched to attack the Yiftah area and Ramot Naftali areas (Telegram channel of Hezbollah’s combat information unit, November 10, 2023)

• IDF forces responded with artillery and tank fire at the sources of the attacks, including an airstrike on Hezbollah targets and infrastructure inside Lebanon about 25 miles from the Israeli border. Among the targets attacked were terrorist compounds and facilities, observation posts and technological means used to direct terrorism. Squads that launched or attempted to launch anti-tank missiles were eliminated (IDF spokesman, November 10, 2023).

   
The IDF targets in Lebanon (IDF spokesman’s website, November 11, 2023)

   
The IDF attacks Hezbollah targets in Lebanese territory (IDF spokesman’s website, November 11, 2023)

Hezbollah and Amal casualties

• Hezbollah announced the death of nine operatives who were killed as “martyrs on the way to Jerusalem” without specifying the time or location of their death. The dead are (Telegram channel of Hezbollah’s combat information arm, November 10, 2023). Apparently at least seven of them were killed in an attack carried out by Israel in Syria. The dead are:
  • Ali Khalil al-Ali, aka Khader, from the town of Malih in south Lebanon.
  • Muhammad Ali Abbas Assaf, aka Jawad, from the town of Boudai in the Lebanon Valley.
  • Abdellatif Hassan Suweidan, aka Safi, from the town of Yatar in south Lebanon.
  • Muhammad Qassem Tallis, aka Abu Ali, from the town of Brital in the Lebanon Valley.
  • Jawad Mehdi Hashem, aka Abu Saleh, from the town of al-Khayam in south Lebanon.
  • Jaafar Ali Sirhan, aka Mehran, from the town of Mashara in the Lebanon Valley.
  • Qassem Muhammad Awada, aka Malak Ghannam, from the town of Jwaya in south Lebanon.
  • Hussein Ali Harb, aka al-Mukhtar al-Thakfi, from the town of Sahmar in the Lebanon Valley.
  • Abbas Nazir al-Rashaini, aka Abu Zahraa’, from the town of Sahmar in the Lebanon Valley.

• The Amal movement announced the death of Ali Jamil al-Hajj Daoud, from the town of Malih, who was killed in an IDF attack on an Amal post in Rab Thalathine in southern Lebanon (al-‘Ahed News website, November 11, 2023). Following his death, a video was published on behalf of the Hani bin Arva unit of the Amal movement, which claimed he had been its commander (Jamal Chaiito’s X account, November 11, 2023).

    
Right: Ali Jamil al-Hajj Daoud (al-‘Ahed News website, November 11, 2023). Left: Ali Jamil Daoud from the Amal video, (Jamal Chaiito’s X account, November 11, 2023)

• Following reports that an Israeli bomb hit an ICU at the Meiss al-Jbeil Hospital in south Lebanon, causing damage and injuring a doctor, Abdullah Bou Habib, the Lebanese foreign minister, accused Israel of attacking the hospital and claimed that it was a “crime against humanity” (al-Nashra, November 10, 2023).

Hezbollah

• Hezbollah officers reported two achievements to Hezbollah since it began operating against Israel: the first is that the IDF is busy on the Lebanese border, and the second is that it is blind in terms of intelligence because of the damage to observation towers, communications, electronic warfare and other IDF technical equipment along the northern border. According to Hezbollah officers, the IDF’s two most important outposts are Dvoranit outpost in the western sector and Tsiporen outpost in the eastern sector. According to the officers, Hezbollah’s basic achievements are destruction by damaging military equipment, especially tanks, and launching guided missiles (al-Mayadeen, November 10, 2023).
• A field commander codenamed “Ali,” referred to as a “senior Hezbollah official,” said in an interview that if they felt there was a 50% chance that Hamas would be destroyed, they would go to war against Israel. He said they were playing with the Israelis using Kornet missiles, but more powerful weapons were already ready for use, and it was only a matter of time before they use them as well. He said a decision on the matter would be made in accordance with events on the ground (The Times, November 11, 2023).

Nasrallah’s speech

• Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah gave a Shaheed Day speech entitled “Life on the Way to Jerusalem.” The subject was the war in the Gaza Strip. Nasrallah described the war as a campaign that was becoming more difficult for Israel due to changes in world public opinion, increasing international pressure, the intensity of resistance from the various arenas operating against Israel, and domestic pressures due to the economic damage, displacement of people from their homes in the north and south, and pressure from the families of the abductees. He called for continued pressure on Israel to prevent it from achievements.
• According to Nasrallah, in recent days Hezbollah has escalated its activity against Israel by using Burkan rockets, assault UAVs and rocket fire, and has penetrated deeper into Israeli territory, in accordance with the equation Nasrallah had set forth in his previous speech, according to which an escalation in Lebanon or Gaza would lead to escalation on his part. He also mentioned the “support front” of Arab and Iranian elements operating against Israel.

The Lebanese government

• Abbas Ibrahim, former director of the General Security Directorate, said the objective of the October 7 attack was the release of some 5,000 Palestinian prisoners imprisoned in Israel. He said he had been asked to be involved in the mediation for the release of the prisoners, and met in Qatar with Ismail Haniyeh, head of Hamas’ political bureau. Regarding Amos Hochstein, President Biden’s energy advisor and special envoy to the Middle East, Ibrahim said the purpose of his visit to Lebanon was to ensure that Hezbollah would remain out of the war. Regarding the Lebanese army, Ibrahim noted that it was fulfilling its role and that there was no country in the world whose border was completely secured. He added that Hezbollah was not responsible for preventing rockets from being fired at Israel by Palestinian organizations from Lebanon, but that it was Lebanon’s responsibility. According to him, Israel aspires to a regional war, while Hezbollah acts in a militarily calculated manner. Iran may join the war given the gradual escalation (al-Anbaa, November 10, 2023).

Judea, Samaria, and the Palestinian Authority

Terrorist attacks

• Hamas’ military-terrorist wing claimed responsibility for the shooting attack carried out on November 2, 2023, on the road between Shavei Shomron and the community of Einav, near Beit Lid in Samaria, in which an Israeli was murdered. A video was also released documenting the attack and another attack, in which operatives burned a vehicle near the town of Bal’a, east of Tulkarm, to lure IDF forces to the area. When the forces arrived, IEDs were activated against them that had been placed in advance near the vehicle (Palinfo, November 11, 2023;  al-Mayadeen TV website, November 11, 2023).^[2]

     
Photos from the video: Soldiers inspect the vehicle and IEDs explode
(al-Mayadeen TV X account, November 11, 2023)

Preventive and counterterrorism activities

• The Israeli security forces continued their extensive counterterrorism activities in Judea and Samaria. Since the beginning of the war in the Gaza Strip, more than 1,560 wanted Palestinians have been detained, over 930 of them Hamas operatives (IDF spokesman’s website, November 11, 2023). The ministry of health in Ramallah reported (as of November 11, 2023, at 3:00 p.m.) that 183 had been killed since the beginning of the war and over 2,500 wounded (ministry of health in Ramallah Facebook page, November 11, 2023).
• In the early morning hours of November 10, 2023, Israeli security forces in Hebron demolished the homes of two Hamas operatives who carried out the shooting attack (August 21, 2023) in the southern Mount Hebron in which Batsheva Negri was killed (IDF Spokesman’s X account, November 10, 2023). During another activity in Hebron, Israeli security forces sealed a printing press and confiscated equipment used to print Hamas incitement materials (IDF Spokesman’s X account, November 10, 2023).

         
Weapons found in counterterrorism activities (IDF website, November 11, 2023)

• Hamas issued a statement stressing that Israel was escalating the “arbitrary detentions” of more Palestinians in Judea and Samaria and that it was using “all forms of torture and humiliation” against them, and that the Israel Prison Service, under the orders of “terrorist” Ben Gvir, was stepping up violations against the prisoners in a desperate attempt at revenge. It called on all human rights organizations and humanitarian institutions around the world to take urgent action to expose the “crimes” against the prisoners in prisons and the massacres in the Gaza Strip and bring the perpetrators to justice before the international courts (Hamas’ Telegram channel in Judea and Samaria, November 10, 2023).
• Nabil Abu Rudeina, spokesman for Mahmoud Abbas’ office, referred to the events in Judea and Samaria in which 15 Palestinians were killed, saying that Israel was escalating its war against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, Judea and Samaria. He said Israel was striving to kill the largest number of Palestinians, uproot them and eliminate the Palestinian cause (Wafa, November 10, 2023).

Support for the Gaza Strip

• Throughout Judea and Samaria marches in support of the Gaza Strip continued. Many events took place after Friday prayers, following Hamas’ call to turn the day into a “day of revolution and uprising” at all friction points in Judea and Samaria, Jerusalem and Israeli territory, under the slogan “Stop the genocide and starvation… Freedom for Palestine.” Marches were held, among others, in Ramallah, Jenin, Tulkarm, Hebron and Nablus. The demonstrators waved Hamas flags, chanted slogans of support for Hamas’ military-terrorist wing and called for an escalation of the “resistance” in Judea and Samaria (Hamas’ Telegram channel in the West Bank, November 10, 2023; Hurriya News, November 10, 2023).

    
Right: A march in Ramallah. Fatah and PFLP flags can also be seen (QudsN X Account, November 10, 2023). Left: A march in Nablus (@Sa7atPlBreaking X account, November 10, 2023)

• The Bani Abu Jandal^[3] network, which claims to have dozens of PA security apparatus operatives as its members, published a second list (the first was published on November 6, 2023) of 13 operatives and officers in the PA’s security forces in Ramallah, al-Bireh and Nablus, who announced they were stopping to obey orders because of the PA’s policy regarding the war in the Gaza Strip (arabi21 website, November 11, 2023).

Palestinian Authority

• On November 9, 2023, PA Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh participated in the International Conference on Humanitarian Aid to the Gaza Strip in Paris. In a speech given to the conference, he called for an immediate end to the war in the Gaza Strip. He said the international courts should try Israel for its actions. He called for humanitarian aid to be transferred everywhere in the Gaza Strip, not just to the south. He also condemned Israel’s decision to deduct NIS 600 million from Palestinian tax revenues for the PA’s aid to the Gaza Strip (Muhammad Shtayyeh’s Facebook page, November 9, 2023).
• On November 9, 2023, French lawyer Gilles Devers,^[4] a member of the team representing Palestinian victims before the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, filed a petition with the Office of the Prosecutor General to include the “crime of genocide” committed in Gaza in the investigation into “Palestine.” The team of lawyers headed by him met with the head of the Victim Department at the ICC and its team. In the meeting, the legal team expressed reservations about the way the court worked and the slowness and complexity of its procedures. Before the meeting, a press conference was held in which it was noted that the current ICC investigation was examining the war crimes, and that the “crime of genocide” should also be examined (Facebook page of AFD International, November 11, 2023; Anadolu News, November 9, 2023).

Iran

• On his return from an economic summit in Uzbekistan, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said severing political and economic ties with Israel could play a deterrent role in stopping the “crimes of the Zionist regime.” At a press conference in Tehran, Raisi said that in his meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, he stressed that declarations regarding Palestine were not enough, but that practical steps had to be taken against Israel, including severing all ties with it (Fars, November 9, 2023).
• Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Iranian foreign minister, spoke with his Qatari counterpart, Mohammad bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, to discuss developments in the Palestinian arena, political ways to stop Israel’s attacks and send humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, and ceasefire initiatives. Abdollahian said that “due to the increasing intensity of the war against civilians in the Gaza Strip, expanding the scope of the war has now become inevitable” (Mehr, November 9, 2023).
• IRGC Commander Hossein Salami told a conference in Tehran that the world was united today more than ever against the United States and Israel. He noted that Zionism could not continue to exist and could not survive in a sea of strong-willed enemies. He added that despite all the means and systems at Israel’s disposal, at least 1,500 young Palestinian fighters had attacked the strongest line of defense in the world without a single shot being fired. According to him, Israel’s deterrence was broken, and the United States could not save it or provide it with artificial respiration. The “Zionist regime” has no roots in the region and there is no doubt that it will collapse (Fars, November 10, 2023). 

Activity of pro-Iranian militias

Iraq and Syria

• UAV attacks against American bases in Iraq and Syria continued. Two attacks were reportedly carried out against the al-Harir base in Erbil, in Iraq’s Kurdish region, and an armed drone was intercepted near the Ayn al-Assad base in western Iraq (Reuters, November 10, 2023; Sabarin News, November 11, 2023).
• The Islamic Resistance in Iraq claimed responsibility for attacking the Ayn al-Assad base three times and for attacking the al-Harir base (Resistance Telegram channel, November 10, 2023). It also claimed responsibility for attacking the Ramilan American base and the al-Tanf American base in Syria (Resistance Telegram channel, November 10, 2023).
• The Pentagon spokeswoman said that following the airstrikes carried out by United States forces in Syria, militias coordinated with Iran, had stepped up their attacks against American military forces in Iraq and Syria. She stressed that they believed there were no casualties as a result of the attack they had carried out. Since the beginning of October, she said, American forces had been attacked 46 times, an American destroyer had been attacked in the Red Sea, and an American drone had been shot down in Yemen. A total of 56 soldiers sustained minor injuries in those events (The Wall Street Journal, November 10, 2023).
• Abu Alaa al-Wala’i, secretary-general of the Sayyid al-Shuhada Shiite militia, confirmed the steadfastness of the resistance in Iraq alongside Palestine and said they would not stop the Islamic resistance’s activities in Iraq if the attacks on the Gaza Strip did not stop (Abu Alaa’s X account, November 10, 2023).

Yemen^[5]

• At the same time as an alarm sounded in Eilat, Houthi political bureau member Hizam al-Assad wrote on an X account in Arabic and Hebrew, “What is happening in Eilat?” Yahya Saria, spokesman for the Houthi armed forces in Yemen, later announced that the forces had fired several ballistic missiles at “various sensitive targets in southern Israel, including military targets in Eilat.” He noted that although Israel concealed it, the operation achieved its goal and caused direct hits. He said the forces continued to carry out military operations for the Palestinian people (al-Masirah, November 10, 2023).

The Arab Arena

Summit of Arab and Islamic heads of state

• On November 11, 2023, the Arab League leaders’ summit was held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, combined with the emergency summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). During the summit, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman called for lifting the siege on the Gaza Strip and threatened that Israel would bear responsibility for “crimes” in the war. He called for a solution based on the two-state solution. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi called for an international investigation into “Israel’s violations,” and Jordan’s King Abdullah II said that “preventing food and medicine from entering Gaza is a war crime.” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan claimed the West was hypocritical, saying that “whoever is silent about the oppression of the Palestinians is complicit in it” (al-Jazeera, November 11, 2023).
• In a speech given by Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, he accused the United States of full responsibility for all the events in the Gaza Strip because of its support for Israel. He said they would work to punish Israel for its actions in international courts (Wafa, November 11, 2023).
• Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi claimed the United States was responsible for Israel’s actions and encouraged it to commit its crimes. He called for a series of measures, including a ceasefire, lifting the siege on the Gaza Strip and sending humanitarian aid to its residents, severing political and economic ties between Islamic countries and Israel, imposing a commercial boycott on Israel, especially in the field of energy, designating the IDF as a terrorist organization, establishing an international tribunal to hear the crimes of Israel and the United States, establishing a fund for the reconstruction of Gaza, and arming the Palestinian people by Muslim countries. He stressed that if the summit did not take steps to save the Palestinian people, it would increase frustration among the Muslim nations, and they might act on their own (Mehr, November 11, 2023).

   
Right: The Arab Islamic Summit in Riyadh (Wafa, November 11, 2023). Left: Mahmoud Abbas giving a speech (Mahmoud Abbas’ Facebook page, November 11, 2023).

• The concluding statement of the conference noted the participants’ concern “over the humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip” and stressed the need to stop military operations and protect civilians in accordance with international law. They also stressed the importance of the international community’s role in exerting pressure on Israel to stop the attacks and the “forced expulsion” of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, which was a blatant violation of humanitarian and international law. Moreover, they also stressed the need to enable international humanitarian organizations, and UNRWA in particular, to fulfill their role in providing assistance to the Palestinian people.
• Senior Hamas figure Osama Hamdan said the concluding statement was the result of agreement, not a vote, and that was the problem with summits. He added that the announcement as a whole, which included an insinuation, rather than an explicit accusation due to the different positions of the summit participants, that the United States was a partner in the war, was a progressive position, but they expected it (the announcement) to be implemented. He noted that if the 57 Arab and Islamic countries sent secured aid convoys, the United States would not be able to prevent their arrival and would pressure Israel to stop the fighting (al-Mayadeen TV X account, November 11, 2023).
• In response to the resolutions, the PIJ said it was shocked by the announcement, especially in light of the haste of some countries to normalize relations with Israel, and that the announcement reflected the Arab countries’ collective renunciation of their duty to defend national security and the abandonment of “Palestine” and the Palestinian people (PIJ Telegram channel, November 12, 2023).
• On the sidelines of the summit, a number of meetings were held between heads of state, some of which were taking place for the first time.

Egypt

• On the eve of the Arab League summit, an Egyptian source familiar with the efforts to reach a ceasefire, gave details about a meeting held between Jibril Rajoub, secretary of Fatah’s Central Committee, and Director of Egyptian General Intelligence Abbas Kamel in Cairo. According to him, messages were conveyed at the meeting from Egyptian President el-Sisi to Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, according to which the PA should not respond to Western or Arab discourse regarding the management of the Gaza Strip at the end of the war and should first adhere to the need for a ceasefire. The source said that at the Arab League summit, Egypt would reject any step aimed at separating Judea and Samaria from the Gaza Strip, any transfer of residents of Judea and Samaria to Jordan and residents of the Gaza Strip outside it (al-Araby al-Jadeed , November 10, 2023).

Qatar

• Tamim bin Hamad, Emir of Qatar, visited Egypt and met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. The sides said they would continue joint consultations to stop the escalation and bloodshed (Egyptian presidential website, November 10, 2023).
• Mohammed bin Abdulrahman, Qatari prime minister and foreign minister, spoke with American Secretary of State Antony Blinken and discussed the need for a ceasefire agreement and the opening of the Rafah crossing for humanitarian treatment for residents (Qatari foreign ministry X account, November 12, 2023).

United Arab Emirates

• The Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad, met with UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed in Abu Dhabi. The two discussed efforts to de-escalate the situation. They stressed the need for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip for humanitarian purposes (UAE News Agency, November 10, 2023). In this context, citing its sources, Reuters reported that despite international protest against the war in the Gaza Strip, the UAE planned to maintain diplomatic relations with Israel and hoped it would have a moderating influence on the Israeli campaign, while preserving its interests (Reuters, November 11, 2023).

The International Arena

United Nations Security Council

• The UN Security Council convened to discuss the situation in the Middle East and the Palestinian issue. The conference began with a minute of silence in memory of the Palestinians and Israelis killed. Chinese representative Zeng Jun said regarding the war in Gaza that the world had to speak with one voice and call for a cessation of hostilities. The Russian representative noted that there was no safe zone in the Gaza Strip. The American representative stressed that the two-state solution had to be applied (UN website, November 10, 2023).
• Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the World Health Organization, called for a ceasefire to save lives and speed up the delivery of necessary aid. He noted that medical teams continued to struggle to manage the growing needs of the residents of the Gaza Strip and that the organization was very concerned about the health of Israeli abductees, many of whom were elderly and children with urgent medical needs. Marwan Jilani, director general of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, said the health sector in the Gaza Strip was under attack and called on the council to act to end the violence, ensure international humanitarian law was upheld, and open safe routes for aid (UN website, November 10, 2023).

France

• French President Emmanuel Macron said Israel had to stop “killing babies and women in the Gaza Strip” and that attacks against civilians were not justified. According to him, attacks are not the best way to defend Israel, they create resentment that will only prolong the conflict. According to Macron, France recognizes Israel’s right to defend itself, but is calling on it to stop its attacks in the Gaza Strip. He also stressed that France clearly condemned Hamas and its terrorist activities (BBC, November 10, 2023).

Demonstrations in support of the Palestinians

• On November 11, 2023, pro-Palestinian demonstrations of support were held around the world, including events in Johannesburg, London and Brussels (al-Jazeera, November 11, 2023).

Global Jihad

• ISIS’s weekly al-Naba published an editorial titled “Until they make you abandon your religion.”^[6] According to the article, the recent events in “Palestine” prove once again that Jews and Christians are hostile to Muslims and that the struggle between Muslims and non-Muslims is a religious rather than a national, ideological or economic one (al-Nabā’ weekly, Telegram, November 9, 2023).

^[1] Click https://www.terrorism-info.org.il/en to subscribe and receive the ITIC's daily updates as well as its other publications. ↑
^[2] This is a modus operandi that has been used many times by ISIS around the world. ↑
^[3] Abu Jandal, Yusuf Ahmad Rayhan, a former officer in the national security forces, became wanted after shooting at an IDF force near Rachel's Tomb, and was commander of the Battle of Jenin in 2002. ↑
^[4] Gilles Devers has been a member of the Lyon Bar since 1985; Doctor of Law; Lecturer and licensed to conduct research at the Faculty of Law of the University of Lyon. He is the editor-in-chief of the journal Droit, Déontologie et Care. For the past 30 years, he has been sharing his activities between the health and social sectors, and the protection of minorities, in France and abroad. In 2014, he filed a complaint on behalf of the Palestinian Authority with a prosecutor at the International Criminal Court in The Hague following Operation Protective Edge (website of Gilles Devers’ office). ↑
^[5] For further details on Houthi activity against Israel since the beginning of the war, see the ITIC's Information Bulletin from November 3, 2023, "The Houthis and Operation Iron Sword" ↑
^[6] From the Qur'an, Surah al-Baqarah, verse 217, in which it is said that the infidels will not stop fighting Muslims until they abandon their religion. The verse expresses an all-out war waged by the infidels against Islam. ↑

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