Israel-Hamas war: What happened on day 84?

Israel's security cabinet discussed on Thursday a Qatari proposal that would see the release of more hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. The proposal is still in its early stages as of Friday.

According to the proposal's outline, the first phase will include a humanitarian exchange deal that will include the release of 40-50 hostages in exchange for a complete ceasefire of a few weeks, according to three senior Israeli officials.

The second phase is expected to be more complex, its details are not yet completely clear, but the direction is to arrange a withdrawal of IDF troops from the area.

Hamas 'agrees in principle' to restart hostage release negotiation

Despite the cabinet discussing the proposal, neither Israel nor Hamas have yet responded to the offer. However, a report from Walla! stated that the Hamas terror organization "agrees in principle" to resume such negotiations.

Senior Israeli officials said that this is only an initial message and Israel hopes to get clarification on it at the end of the week, the Walla! report said. 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chairs a cabinet meeting at the Kirya military base, in Tel Aviv, Israel, December 24, 2023 (credit: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS)

However, one official said that it was a positive development because, for the first time since the previous agreement, Hamas is signaling that it is ready to resume negotiations. "We have moved from a frozen standstill to just a very cold situation," said the official.

Another senior Israeli official said that Israel has not yet received a detailed proposal from the Qataris and is waiting to hear more details. "In any case, the gaps are still big," he said.

The IDF struck targets in Syria on Friday after launches identified as having originated in the Arab Republic fell in an open area, the IDF said. Israel also targeted Hezbollah in Lebanon on Friday.

The rockets crossing from Syria triggered alarms in northern Israel. The IDF retaliated by striking the sources of fire, the military stated.

Also on Friday, the Israeli army hit Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure inside Lebanese terrority, the IDF added. An IDF aircraft also struck a Hezbollah post from which rockets had been fired at Israel.

Two Islamic Jihad terrorists eliminated

Earlier in the day, the Israeli news outlet, Maariv, reported that the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization announced that two of its members were killed on Thursday in an Israeli airstrike.

According to the report, the IDF had targeted Hezbollah terrorists in the village of Ayta ash Shab in southern Lebanon.

Israeli air force and ground troops attacked terror targets in the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis, the Israeli news organization Walla, reported on Friday evening.

The IDF has been operating in Khan Yunis throughout the month of December.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has approved the sale to Israel of 155 mm artillery shells and related equipment without congressional review, the Pentagon said on Friday.

Blinken determined that an emergency exists that requires the immediate sale to Israel, thereby waiving congressional review requirements, according to the Pentagon.

The sale comes as Israel intensifies its offensive in the Gaza Strip. The US has pressed Israel to minimize civilian casualties in Gaza and has called for it to scale down the war in the coming weeks.

The Pentagon said Israel has requested that fuzes, primers, and charges be included in a previous request for 155mm shells. The estimated total value of the sale is $147.5 million.

This is the second time this month that the Biden administration has skipped a congressional review of a weapons sale to Israel. On December 9, the administration used the emergency authority to allow the sale of about 14,000 tank shells to Israel.

Israeli forces identified and killed a Palestinian terrorist who attempted to hurl an explosive device at an IDF military post near Abu Dis, in the West Bank, the IDF said Friday night.

There were no casualties among Israeli forces.

Israel has completed a series of extensive strikes against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, a military spokesperson said on Friday, attacks which have impacted the Iran-backed group's positioning near the border.

"We continue intensive strikes to hit Hezbollah's deployment close to the northern border," military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a televised statement. "It no longer looks as it did on October sixth, nor will it."

Hezbollah has been trading fire with Israel at the border since its Palestinian ally Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, igniting a conflict that has drawn in the heavily armed group and other Iran-aligned factions across the Middle East.

But the violence has largely been contained to areas at the border, shaped by what observers have called unwritten rules of engagement between adversaries that have long threatened each other with catastrophic damage in the event of war.

Israel has said it is not seeking to open a front in the north. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned that Beirut would be turned "into Gaza" if Hezbollah started an all-out war.

Hagari said the targets of the recent air, tank, and artillery strikes included launch pads, military compounds and militant squads

The Islamic Jihad terrorist organization announced on Friday that two of their men were killed the day before in an Israeli airstrike in the village of Ayta ash Shab in southern Lebanon, Maariv reported.

This is a developing story.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz held a phone call with Israeli minister and war cabinet member Benny Gantz on Friday in which Scholz underscored the need to protect civilians and avoid regional conflict, the German federal government said in a statement.

Gantz informed the chancellor of the latest developments in Gaza and on Israel's northern border, the statement said.

The IDF is continuing to exert all of its military power in the Gaza Strip, IDF spokesperson R.-Adm. Daniel Hagari said in a Friday evening briefing.