Israel-Hamas War: What happened on day 163?

During the IDF and the Shin Bet's reinvasion of Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza on Monday, they killed Hamas's Interior Ministry Operations Chief Faack Mabhough.

Mabhough has been in charge of all of Hamas's internal security forces both during the war and during peacetime.

Israeli forces killed Mabhough during an exchange of gunfire when he resisted arrest and had been trying to hide within the Shifa complex.

In the room next to his hiding spot, significant Hamas weaponry was located.

The security cabinet agreed on Sunday night to send a high-level delegation to continue hostage negotiations in Qatar, giving the delegation a general mandate to conduct the talks, according to Israeli media.

The general mandate given to the delegation is limited on some matters which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant will be the deciding voices on.

Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli has vehemently criticized the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, demanding the immediate and permanent expulsion of Professor Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian for her controversial comments about Israel. Chikli accused the professor of supporting terrorism and the university of becoming an antisemitic entity.

"Merely four days - that was the extent of the suspension by the Hebrew University for an individual who dishonored the memory of the victims of the atrocious acts of murder and rape on October 7th," Chikli expressed, highlighting the inadequacy of the university's response to the professor's incendiary remarks.

Government minister's concerns about antisemitism 

In his statement on X (formerly Twitter), Chikli decried what he saw as the university's alarming shift away from Zionist values towards anti-Semitism. "We've gradually come to accept the transformation of Hebrew University into a post-Zionist entity. However, witnessing its evolution into an antisemitic institution is something we must staunchly resist," he declared.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh met with Wang Kejian, an envoy of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, in Qatar on Sunday to discuss the war in Gaza, Hamas announced on Sunday night.

Keijan visited Israel and the Palestinian Authority last week, meeting with diplomats and discussing the war in Gaza. According to Hamas, Haniyeh told the Chinese diplomat that the war needs to be ended quickly, the IDF needs to withdraw from Gaza, and an independent Palestinian state needs to be established.

American Jewish organizations criticized Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer after he denunciated Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and called for Israel to hold elections.

The American Jewish Committee said that while the Jewish Democratic New York senator was a staunch defender of Israel and the Jewish people, it was inappropriate for a US official to dictate an ally’s electoral future.

“Israel is a sovereign democracy in the midst of a war of self-defense against a terrorist organization bent on massacring Jews and destroying Israel,” the AJC said after Schumer’s speech. “The Israeli people will decide their own political path.”

Without directly naming Schumer, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) said on social media that as an independent democracy, Israel “decides for itself when elections are held and chooses its own leaders” and that the US needed to continue to stand by its ally.]

The IDF’s just campaign to destroy Hamas in Gaza does not justify the Palestinian suffering due to that war, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said as he urged Israel to refrain from a military operation in Rafah.

“No matter how important the goal, can it justify such high costs or are there other ways to achieve your goal?” he asked during a joint press conference with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Germany has been one of Israel's top allies amid its war with Hamas 

Germany has been one of Israel’s staunch allies in its war against Hamas.

In a manner akin to the Biden administration, Scholz has a stern message for Netanyahu about the IDF’s conduct during the war, particularly its failure to ensure the distribution of aid, which has led to a hunger crisis in Gaza.

Last week, there was strong support in Israel for the idea that Hamas’s third in command, Marwan Issa, was killed by the IDF last Saturday on March 9. Yesterday, KAN News cited an anonymous Hamas report that indicated the same. And yet, multiple defense sources have said that whether or not he is living remains an open question.

On Sunday, KAN cited anonymous Palestinian sources saying that privately, Hamas was ready to acknowledge that Issa, the deputy of Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif, did not survive the Israeli strike.

Two days after the strike, multiple defense sources, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant all hinted that he was killed in Nuseirat in central Gaza, hidden in a tunnel.=

IDF officer Captain Daniel Perez was killed on October 7, and his body was taken to Gaza, the IDF announced on Sunday.

Perez was 22, from Yad Binyamin, and a Division Commander in the 77th battalion of the 7th "Storm from the Golan" formation.

Perez was originally from South Africa but moved to Israel in 2014 with the rest of his family.

Daniel's father, chairman of World Mizrahi, Rabbi Doron Peretz, has previously interviewed with the Jerusalem Post and described his bravery on October 7, as well as the events surrounding his captivity.

On October 7, Daniel immediately ran to his tank and fought valiantly, saving the lives of many of his fellow soldiers, as well as civilians. Eventually, terrorists surrounded his tank, and he was taken hostage, according to his father, Doron, in an interview with the "Post."

IDF officer Captain Daniel Perez (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)

For three weeks, Daniel’s family received no information on whether he was even alive until additional evidence suggested that he had been abducted and was being held hostage in Gaza. Circumstantial evidence from his cellphone location, along with other indications, such as blood found near his tank’s location, were enough to declare that Daniel had been taken hostage.

Since then, Perez's family hadn't received any update about his well-being until the IDF informed the family of his death before making the announcement to the public.

Friends of the  Perez family share their prayers

Rabbi Danny Mirvis, Acting CEO of World Mizrahi, in response to the news about the death of Daniel Peretz when he was kidnapped by Hamas, said:

"It is with immense pain and deep sadness that I share with you that the Perez family were informed this evening that Captain Daniel Perez, 22 years old, has been declared as a fallen soldier, captured by a terror organization. A funeral is being planned for tomorrow, to be followed by Shiva.

Over the past 163 days, we have desperately davened for better news. Throughout that time, the Perez family has inspired and strengthened us as we have sought to strengthen them. The global prayer for his well-being will now become global wishes of comfort.

This news came to the family on 7 Adar, the yahrzeit of Moshe Rabbeinu, whose burial place is unknown. As such, 7 Adar has become a date associated with mourning for all those whose burial places are unknown. As we have prayed and hoped for Daniel’s return until now, we continue to pray and hope for his return to Kever Yisrael.

May Hashem comfort Rav Doron, Shelley, and the entire family amongst all mourners of Zion and Yerushalayim, and may we see every single hostage return home."