Israel at war: What happened on days 56-57?

The IDF 551st Brigade combat team completed a mission in Jabalya, in the Gaza Strip, on Saturday, having killed Hamas terrorists and destroyed terror infrastructure, the IDF said.

The neutralized infrastructure included tunnels and subterranean structures.

During the operation, which had began before the initiation of the now-ended cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, IDF troops identified and destroyed a Hamas terror tunnel which extended tens of meters below the surface of the earth.

A Hamas tunnel in a school

The tunnel had been located in the courtyard of a school compound.

Another tunnel was located and destroyed in the home of a Hamas naval force activist, the IDF stated.

Soldiers of the 551st Brigade, along with Israeli special forces, also worked to eliminate subterranean infrastructure north of Jabalya, where Israeli troops subsequently Isolated and secured a an area to facilitate further IDF activity.

Also, along with the air force and artillery units, IDF troops destroyed numerous pieces of Hamas combat equipment, including weapons, explosives, launchers, and ammunition.

The entry of aid and fuel trucks for the Gaza Strip at Egypt's Rafah crossing halted on Friday, Egyptian security and aid sources said, as Israel resumed its military action following a week-long truce.

The quantity of aid delivered through the Rafah crossing had increased during the truce, though aid officials said it was still far less than what was needed.

Rafah has been the only entry point for humanitarian relief destined for Gaza, with deliveries beginning on Oct. 21, two weeks after the start of the war.

The Biden administration has informed Israel that Washington will impose visa bans in the next few weeks on Israeli extremist settlers engaged in violence against Palestinian civilians in the occupied West Bank, a senior State Department official said.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his war cabinet have let them know that the United States will take its own action against an undisclosed number of individuals.

Hamas claimed that it was only holding three more Israeli women and children hostage and that Israel had rejected offers to extend the ceasefire to receive them on Friday morning.

Senior Hamas member Khalil al-Hayya told Al-Jazeera that Israel rejected several offers to extend the ceasefire by agreeing to additional exchanges of hostages held by Hamas for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

Hayya claimed that Israel was "trying to be cunning and clever" by demanding that female soldiers be considered in the same deal as civilian women. He additionally claimed that Hamas offered to release elderly hostages in exchange for elderly Palestinian prisoners and that Israel had rejected these offers.

"The occupation’s rejection of all offers and proposals is a clear indication that it was preparing to resume crimes in Gaza."

On Friday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Hamas had told Egyptian officials that they were facing difficulties accessing four women held hostage by other terrorist groups in Gaza.

Aryeh Zalmanovitch, a resident of Kibbutz Nir Oz in his 80s, was killed after being kidnapped to Gaza on October 7, according to a statement from the kibbutz on Friday morning. 

This is a developing story. 

A suspected price tag attack targeted the Palestinian village of Jalud near Shilo in the northern West Bank, according to Palestinian reports.

صور تظهر آثار هجوم المستوطنين على قرية جالود جنوب نابلس واعتدائهم على السكان وإشعال النيران في عدد من السيارات#الأخبار #حرب_غزة pic.twitter.com/gw5FkydBI5

— الجزيرة فلسطين (@AJA_Palestine) December 1, 2023

According to the reports, Israelis entered Jalud and vandalized the homes and vehicles of a number of residents.

Israeli forces arrested 15 suspected terrorists throughout the West Bank on Thursday night, according to the IDF Spokesperson's Unit.

The IDF, Shin Bet, and Border Police found materials used to prepare explosives in Arraba. During the raid, Palestinian terrorists fired and threw explosives at Israeli forces.

Israeli forces also found and confiscated military equipment and incendiary materials in the southern West Bank, as well as an M-16 firearm and NIS 5,000 in terrorism funds.

Israel struck a military facility belonging to the Iran-backed Houthi militia in Sanaa in Yemen, the Saudi al-Hadath TV reported on Friday.

On Thursday, an explosion was reported at a military facility in Sanaa. While Saudi media reported that the explosion was caused by an airstrike, a senior Houthi official claimed that the explosion was caused by the detonation of old munitions which set dry trees on fire.

Gaza's Hamas-run Health Ministry reported that at least 32 Palestinians were killed and others had been injured in Israeli airstrikes throughout the Gaza Strip on Friday morning.

Israel accused Hamas of breaking the agreement by which Israel paused the Gaza War on November 22nd.

Hamas “violated the deal” and did not live up to its duty to release all the female captives today,” the Prime Minister’s Office said, adding the terror group had also “launched rockets at the citizens of Israel.”

“With the resumption of the war we will emphasize: the Israeli government is committed to achieving the goals of the war.”

These goals are “to eliminate Hamas and ensure that Gaza will never again pose a threat to the residents of Israel.”