Israel-Hamas war: What happened on day 79?

The IDF on Sunday night disclosed the full background behind its finding of five bodies of hostages held by Hamas in an underground strategic-size tunnel near Jabalya in northern Gaza.

Around December 12, the IDF found two bodies, and around three days later, it found three more bodies in another area nearby. At the time, it only announced the finding of the first two bodies.

Hamas on Sunday evening claimed to have arrested a group of Palestinians who "collaborated" with Israel to collect intelligence in the Gaza Strip in the immediate aftermath of Hamas's October 7 massacre, Palestinian media reported, citing a source in Hamas's al-Majd internal security forces, part of the Qassam Brigades.

Per Palestinian media outlet Shehab, one of the "collaborators" admitted to being assigned by the Shin Bet to monitor the homes of Hamas leaders across the Strip. In addition, it was claimed that they were ordered to report on any movement observed by Hamas terrorists in the area.

Israel is considering the possibility of requesting the expulsion of Hamas leaders in exchange for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, KAN News reported on Sunday evening citing an Israeli security source.

This possibility had been discussed among the political and military echelon, the source told KAN, adding that no concrete proposal to do so is curerntly on the table.

"The expulsion of Hamas's leadership is not contradictory to Israel's war goals," the source was cited by KAN as saying. "There are many countries that can accept them, such as Qatar."

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed as “erroneous” a Wall Street Journal report that the IDF halted plans to preemptively attack Hezbollah in Lebanon in the first days after the start of the Gaza war in October.

“I have seen erroneous reports to the effect that the US prevented, and is preventing, us from operational actions in the region; this is incorrect. Israel is a sovereign state,” Netanyahu said on Sunday.

Israeli forces from the 401st Brigade and the elite naval commando unit Shayetet 13 completed a raid of schools in Gaza City's Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, uncovering hundreds of weapons hidden by Hamas inside the schools.

During the raid, several terrorists hiding in the schools were killed by Israeli forces. 

Israel will keep fighting in Gaza until a complete victory over the Hamas terror group is achieved, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday amid reports of a 14-day ceasefire proposal by Egypt.

"We are deepening the fighting in the Gaza Strip," the prime minister said in a recorded message.

Maj. Aryeh Rein, 39, a tank commander in the 79th battalion of the 14th "Mahatz" Brigade, fell in combat in the northern Gaza Strip, according to a Sunday IDF statement. 

Hezbollah has begun withdrawing its special Radwan forces from southern Lebanon over the weekend, amid fears over a surprise IDF attack and escalation of the conflict in Israel's northern border, according to Israeli media.

The IDF received intelligence suggesting that Hezbollah forces were partially moved from Lebanon's south to its north, mostly due to the high number of casualties suffered by the Lebanese terror organization since October 8, when it started targeting northern Israeli border towns in the wake of the October 7 massacre.

Egypt proposed a new outline for a hostage release deal on Sunday that would see Hamas release 40 Israelis taken into the Gaza Strip in exchange for a 14-day truce, Israeli and foreign media reported.

As per Cairo's proposal, the IDF would halt all military and intelligence operations in the Strip for two weeks in exchange for the release of 40 hostages. 

The IDF has killed close to 8,000 Palestinian terrorists in the Gaza Strip since October 7, and the subsequent launch of Operation Swords of Iron, Gen. Eliezer Toledano told the cabinet, which convened in Jerusalem on Sunday.

According to Toledano, 7,842 terrorists have been killed in fighting since October 7. He said this figure was drawn based on accounts of targeted strikes and battlefield tallies.