Israel-Hamas war: What happened on day 201?

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Wednesday told the IDF Northern Command that they had succeeded in eliminating half of Hezbollah's commanders in southern Lebanon.

The Jerusalem Post clarified that he was referring to brigade-level commanders as opposed to battalion-level commanders.

Recently, the IDF said that it had killed six Hezbollah brigade-level commanders and over 30 battalion-level commanders.

Hezbollah: Five brigade commanders for 35,000-40,000 forces

Hamas has five brigade commanders for about 35,000-40,000 of its forces.

Yoav Gallant. April 24, 2024 (credit: MAARIV)

Hezbollah is estimated to have between 50,000-100,000 forces when adding together its various weaker militias as well as its elite Radwan force, which had around 6,000 fighters in southern Lebanon alone at the start of the war in October 2023.

Germany said on Wednesday it plans to resume cooperation with the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), signaling a resumption of funding that was frozen after Israel accused 12 UNRWA staff of participating in the Hamas-led October 7 attack.

The allegations prompted 16 donor states, including the biggest, the United States, to freeze some $450 million of funds, a blow to UNRWA's operations as it grapples with the humanitarian crisis unleashed by Israel's assault on Gaza.

Germany's move, UNRWA's second-biggest donor, followed the publication on Monday of a review by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna into UNRWA's procedures for ensuring adherence to humanitarian principles of neutrality.

Palestinian employees of United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) take part in a protest against job cuts by UNRWA, in Gaza City September 19, 2018. (credit: REUTERS/IBRAHEEM ABU MUSTAFA)

Germany publishes official statement 

Hamas's chief in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, exited the terrorist movement's tunnels and met with the movement's forces aboveground recently, a senior source in Hamas told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed on Wednesday.

Sinwar "recently inspected areas that witnessed clashes between the resistance and the occupation army, and met some of the movement's fighters on the ground and not in the tunnels," said the source.

The source claimed that Sinwar is "not isolated from reality" where he's hiding, adding that "talk that Sinwar is isolated in the tunnels is nothing but a claim on the part of Netanyahu and his agencies to cover up his failure to achieve the goals declared to the Israeli street and to his allies."

Yahya Sinwar highlighted in a video published by the IDF on February 13, 2024 (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)

Hostage families say they've found claims Sinwar emerged from tunnels are 'reliable'

The IDF has recruited two reserve brigades to continue the defense and attack mission in the Gaza Strip under the command of Division 99, the IDF announced Wednesday.

The 2nd Reserve Brigade of the 146th Division and the 679th Reserve Brigade of the 210th Division will be transferred from the north of Israel, at the Lebanon border, to the Gaza Strip.

In the meantime, the soldiers will continue combat training prior to their transfer. 

The 2nd Brigade conducted a training exercise in the North, during which the brigade's combat team practiced various scenarios led by the National Center for Ground Training. 

Anti-tank missiles launched from Lebanon hit two houses in Avivm in the Upper Galilee, Kan 11 stated Wednesday morning. There were no casualties reported. 

A terrorist attempted to stab an IDF soldier from the 92nd Battalion at the Ofakim junction near Hebron, Walla reported Wednesday morning. 

The IDF soldier was lightly wounded in the attack. The terrorist was neutralized, and there were no additional casualties at the scene. 

The soldiers engaged in close combat and opened fire toward the assailant, who wielded a knife and rushed toward the force, the IDF reported. 

A senior Hamas official claimed to the Qatari Al-Arabi Al-Jadeed in an exclusive interview on Wednesday that the organization offered to release 40 hostages in the first phase of the deal, not 20, as claimed in Israel.

The official also claimed that the number of hostages still alive is much greater than reported, although the exact number cannot be stated.

Iran and Pakistan called on the United Nations Security Council to take action against Israel, saying it had "illegally" targeted neighboring countries and foreign diplomatic facilities.

The comments, which accused Israel of a "major escalation in an already volatile region," came in a joint statement released on Wednesday by Pakistan's foreign office following a three-day visit of Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi.

British maritime security firm Ambrey said on Wednesday it is aware of an incident southwest of Yemen's port city of Aden.

This is a developing story.

There’s a high risk of famine in northern Gaza despite steps Israel has taken to improve the entry and distribution of humanitarian assistance into that enclave, US Envoy for Middle East Humanitarian Issues David Satterfield told reporters in Washington on Tuesday.

“More must be done, though, to ensure that assistance is effectively and efficiently moved” not just in southern and central Gaza, but also “in the north,” Satterfield said.

“The population in the north is in particular threat of malnutrition, wasting famine – and there, all too little aid had come in until the last several weeks,” he said.