Israel at war - what happened on Day 33?

The Israeli army is likely to remain in Gaza in the immediate aftermath of the war until such time as a security architecture is drawn up for the enclave, US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters on Wednesday.

“In the immediate aftermath of conflict, it’s certainly plausible that at least some period of time, Israeli defense forces are still going to be in Gaza to manage the immediate aftermath [of the war] and the security situation,” Kirby said.

“But it shouldn’t be the long-term solution. It should not be about the IDF reoccupation of Gaza as a long term governance solution.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told ABC earlier this week that “Israel will, for an indefinite period, have the overall security responsibly, because we have seen what happens when we do not have it.” 

The White House and the State Department have clarified, however, that the territory must eventually be controlled by Palestinians, possibly the Palestinian Authority, in a situation where both Gaza and the West Bank are unified under one government.

Italy will send a hospital ship near the coast of Gaza to help treat victims of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said on Wednesday.

The ship is leaving on Wednesday with 170 staff, including 30 people trained for medical emergencies, the minister said, adding that was also working to send a field hospital to Gaza.

Education Minister Yoav Kisch wants to establish a national center to collect and research information on October 7, he announced on Wednesday during an opening ceremony for the first school for displaced children.

Kisch said he would bring his plan to a government meeting for approval soon and that the center would be in charge of researching everything to do with both Hamas's attack and the stories of heroes who protected Israelis that day.

The research center would be led by professionals, and the long-term aim would be to educate future generations.

As well as research, Kisch wants the center to have a museum, a memorial, an information center, and a website.

The 7th Brigade of the IDF's Armored Corps encountered and successfully neutralized terrorists who had been launching attacks from a well-coordinated position in Gaza Strip, the IDF announced in a statement.

The encounter began when the soldiers of the Brigade identified an anti-tank missile and observation station that had been in use by Hamas terrorists. It was discovered that this station was connected via an underground tunnel to a larger cache of weaponry.

Upon this discovery, the IDF wasted no time in calling in an airstrike, resulting in the damaging of the terrorist infrastructure.

Terrorists eliminated after trying to escape

As the operation unfolded, terrorists attempted to escape the initial strike by fleeing to the rooftop of a nearby building. However, their attempt to escape came to a quick end as they were targeted and eliminated in a subsequent airstrike, ensuring that they could not pose any further threat.

Belgium's deputy prime minister called on the Belgian government on Wednesday to adopt sanctions against Israel and investigate the bombings of hospitals and refugee camps in Gaza.

“It is time for sanctions against Israel. The rain of bombs is inhumane," deputy prime minister Petra De Sutter told Nieuwsblad newspaper. “It is clear that Israel does not care about the international demands for a ceasefire,” she said.

Israel struck at Gaza in response to a Hamas raid on southern Israel on Oct. 7 in which gunmen killed 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and took about 240 hostages. The war has descended into the bloodiest episode in the generations-long Israel-Palestinian conflict.

De Sutter said the European Union should immediately suspend its association agreement with Israel, which aims at better economic and political cooperation.

German defense export approvals to Israel so far this year have risen nearly tenfold from last year, with Berlin treating permit requests as a priority since Hamas militants attacked Israel last month, a German government source said on Wednesday.

As of Nov. 2, the German government has approved the export of close to 303 million euros' ($323 million) worth of defense equipment to Israel. By comparison, 32 million euros' worth of defense exports were approved in all of 2022.

Increasing exports in light of terrorism

The majority of individual export permits - 185 out of 218 - were granted after the October 7 attack on Israel.

"Following the terrorist attack by Hamas on Israel, applications for the export of military equipment to Israel are being prioritized and approved by the federal government," said the source.

Two IDF soldiers were wounded in Hezbollah anti-tank fire toward Israeli forces at the northern border, the Israeli military said Wednesday.

The IDF responded with artillery fire toward the source of the rockets and struck a Hezbollah launch site in southern Lebanon.

Two Israeli soldiers were lightly and moderately wounded, respectively.

The IDF said it would open a civilian evacuation corridor on Salah al-Din Street in the Gaza Strip from north to south Gaza from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Wednesday.

"For your safety, take advantage of the time to move south beyond Wadi Gaza. The northern Gaza Strip area is considered a fierce combat zone, and time is running out to evacuate it. Join hundreds of thousands who have responded to calls and moved south in recent days," said the IDF spokesperson to Arabic media, Avichay Adraee.

The IDF released footage of Palestinians heading south along the evacuation route, saying thousands of people had evacuated on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, the IDF published footage showing civilians evacuating along the route as an IDF tank protected them. In recent days, the IDF said that Hamas had fired at civilians attempting to evacuate in an effort to force them to stay in northern Gaza.

Hamas working to prevent civilians from evacuating

Since the war began, Hamas has made repeated efforts to prevent civilians from evacuating to southern Gaza, calling IDF warnings to civilians to evacuate "propaganda."

Hamas claims that at least 10,569 Palestinians including 4,324 children, have been killed and 26,457 wounded in Israeli strikes on Gaza since Oct. 7, according to a statement.

🚨For the 4th day in a row, the @IDF opened an evacuation corridor for civilians in northern Gaza to move southwards. Since 10:00 am today, thousands of Gazans passed through.
The corridor will be open until 14:00 so that Gazans in the north can evacuate for their safety. pic.twitter.com/VTin4VduPW

— COGAT (@cogatonline) November 8, 2023