Israel-Hamas war: What happened on day 87?

Five rockets were fired from Syrian territory into Israel on Monday, the IDF stated. The rockets reportedly fell in open areas. Separately, Hezbollah said the four of its fighters were killed in southern Lebanon.

An earlier report regarding the rocket attacks noted that the rockets landed on a road near two communities in the Golan Heights. In response to the attacks, the IDF reported that it had targeted the sources of the rocket fire.

Also on Monday, the IDF said that it had struck Hezbollah infrustructure.

Miracle: a rocket by Hezbollah crashed in an open field right near a vehicle in the Golan pic.twitter.com/22pOCH9Xzf

— Mossad Commentary (@MOSSADil) January 1, 2024

The IDF stated that the Hezbollah position had been used earlier in the day to fire rockets toward Adamit, an Israeli community located less than a kilometer from the border with Lebanon.

Four Hezbollah terrorists killed in southern Lebanon

Late on Monday night, Reuters reported that Hezbollah had updated its toll of fighters killed in southern Lebanon to four.

The statement was reportedly released to the Lebanon-based Iranian proxy's Telegram channel.

Reuters reported that the terrorist group said its fighters "were martyred on the road to (liberate) Jerusalem" but did not specify how they had been killed.

The international news agency added that security sources had reported the first three were killed in an Israeli raid on two houses in the town of Kafr Kila in southern Lebanon.

This comes after the IDF said on Saturday that Israeli Air Force fighter jets struck Hezbollah terror infrastructure in the town.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Interrogation of terrorists in an investigation by the IDF's Unit 504 has exposed tactics used by Hamas to exploit Gazan civilians, a report by the IDF revealed.

Two terrorists from different factions within Gaza - Hamas, and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad - have divulged details on Hamas threatened residents of Gaza to meet the needs of the terrorist organizations. 

Zohadi Ali Zahadi Shahin, a Hamas terrorist in their Shati Battalion, admitted during the investigation that Hamas not only stopped Gazans fleeing south towards Rafah and relocated them back north to Shifa Hospital. There, civilians were kept while Hamas terrorists waited in hiding under the hospital in tunnels.

Shortly after realizing that the IDF would be on the hospital grounds, he said that the terrorists went to the ground floor where the civilians were being hosted. 

Entering homes without permission

Shahin spoke about Hamas terrorists would overtake civilian homes and make them their own, plant explosives next to doors in homes where small children were staying, and tell the residents that they could "leave if [you] have a problem with it." 

Displaced Palestinians gather at Al Shifa hospital where they take shelter, amid the ongoing conflict between Hamas and Israel, in Gaza City, November 8, 2023. (credit: REUTERS/DOAA ROUQA)

He added that a Hamas operative threatened him and said, "If you don't like it, I'll put the bomb between you and your wife."

Muhammad Darwish Amara, an Islamic Jihad operative from the group's Gaza Brigade admitted that Hamas terrorists planted a bomb in his home, where his children were staying, to coerce him into participating in their terrorist actions. 

Amara described the feeling of being used as human shields for Hamas' gain. 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is holding discussions about a ‘day-after’ plan for Gaza, in advance of a possible visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

He discussed the issue with the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee’s sub-group on intelligence and secret services on Monday, the details of which are confidential.

The Security Cabinet and the War Cabinet are expected to discuss the day after on Tuesday. Parliamentarians will also hold a conference to discuss day-after plans in the Knesset that same day.

According to KAN, the IDF has a first phase plan by which portions of Gaza where Hamas is no longer present will be governed by local Palestinians who would also help oversee humanitarian aid distribution.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits IDF soldiers in northern Gaza, December 25, 2023 (credit: GPO/AVI OHAYON)

A series of rockets were launched toward the Golan Heights on Monday night from Syrian territory.

The rockets landed on a road near two area settlements.

The IDF announced the death of Sgt.-Maj. (Res.) Amichai Yisrael Yehoshua Oster on Monday, who fell in battle in the Gaza Strip.

Oster, 24, was from Karnei Shomron in the West Bank and the son of a Cleveland, Ohio family who made aliyah to Israel. 

He served in the IDF's 7020 reserve battalion and fell in battle in northern Gaza. 

"When talking about an amazing, Zionist, and values-driven youth who would leave everything and run to the fire for the defense of the land, we talk about young people like Amichai," Karnei Shomron Mayor Igal Lahav wrote on Facebook. "Amichai was traveling the world when he received Order 8 on October 7 and immediately boarded a flight back to the country, even being captured on camera by the journalist accompanying the young people's flight.

"Unfortunately, about two hours ago, IDF representatives informed the Oster family about his death and the loss dear to them of a charming, intelligent, smiling young man who would do everything for the sake of the land. A few days ago, he went on a short vacation to be with his family, and unfortunately, today, the heavy burden fell on his duty for the sake of the land."

Houthi rebels in Yemen attacked an American warship in the Red Sea, Israeli media reported. 

The two groups engaged in an intense exchange of fire on the scene. 

Lebanon's Hezbollah terrorist organization said on its Telegram account on Monday that three of its fighters were killed in southern Lebanon.

The statement gave no detail about how the three were killed but said they "were martyred on the road to (liberate) Jerusalem".

The Israeli military said on Monday it struck a series of targets in Lebanon, including 'military sites' where Hezbollah was operating.

It said that earlier five soldiers were wounded by cross-border fire from Lebanon.

The military said that its troops and aircraft "struck a series of targets in Lebanon, including terrorist infrastructure, military sites in which Hezbollah terrorists were operating, and launch posts."

A pending lawsuit from the survivors of the Nova music festival in Re'im will place responsibility on the Israeli government for the events of the festival and is seeking NIS 200 million for damages for survivors, Israeli media reported.

Some 42 survivors of the Nova music festival - which was the site of a massacre by Hamas terrorists in the early morning hours of October 7, murdering and sexually assaulting a slew of victims - presented claims of negligence at the hands of the IDF, Shin Bet, and Israel Police. "The disaster could have been avoided at so many points in time," representatives for the survivors told Israeli media.

The lawsuit, which was filed Monday, is the first tort lawsuit of its kind filed against these Israeli security agencies, calling for them to take responsibility for the events of the terror attack.

"One phone call separated the plaintiffs' lives and the integrity of their bodies and souls from the destruction of their lives," the 42 victims involved in the lawsuit wrote. 

The lawsuit highlights gross negligence regarding the management of the events at the nature party, Israeli media reported. 

Israeli soldiers inspect the burnt cars of festival-goers at the site of an attack on the Nova Festival by Hamas gunmen from Gaza, near Israel's border with the Gaza Strip, in southern Israel, October 13, 2023. (credit: REUTERS/AMIR COHEN)

The largest lawsuit of its kind against Israeli security forces

This is the largest tort claim ever filed in Israel against the state, the IDF, the Israel Police and the Shin Bet for their omissions and negligence, Israeli media reported. Of those who signed, all were reportedly injured physically and/or mentally. Those impacted include young men and women whose lives are changed forever based on their experiences at the nature festival that day.

Their claims were supported by medical opinions to provide evidence for their claims. "All the defendants had to do was make a phone call to the responsible parties on their behalf in order for them to disperse the party in view of the notifications received on the night between 6/10/23 - 7/10/23,” the lawyers said.

The lawsuit listed but was not limited to the licensing and approval of the party and its location, the failure to issue an order close to the party, and other claims regarding the warnings of a serious security incident in the area received hours before the massacre.

Israeli media reported that the lawsuit also said that senior officers in the Gaza Division of the IDF expressed concerns about a large gathering so close to the Gaza border, which still resulted in the approval of the event’s location.

It was also noted that a senior operations officer of the Gaza Division opposed the holding of the "Nova" party because it was an unnecessary security risk and even emphasized that the IDF would have difficulty securing the party throughout the weekend, because it was the Simchat Torah holiday and many soldiers went home.

Despite his warnings and warnings of additional officers needed, permission to hold the party. According to the prosecutors, no one in the IDF or the police informed the approximately 3,500 participants of the Nova party about security concerns.

The lawsuit also claimed that since security forces were reportedly aware of the development of an unusual security situation on the night of October 6th and the early morning hours of the 7th, participants were still not sent home from the event. 

"It is incomprehensible," the court wrote, "how the defendants did not order the party to be dispersed immediately."

Despite the threat of terrorist infiltration, the party was still not dispersed nor did the security response/equipment match the extremity of the situation.

In their counsel, the plaintiffs emphasize in the lawsuit that "the lawsuit does not come to replace the state investigation committee that will be established, and that the lawsuit refers specifically to the omissions and negligence that preceded the party, including the approval and licensing of the party, the failure to issue an order to disperse the Nova party participants to their homes despite the warnings received. We expect the court to go into the thick beam and compensate the plaintiffs who are in a very difficult situation."

Maariv contributed to this report.