Israel-Hamas War: What happened on day 152?

The IDF operated in the Khan Yunis area in the Gaza Strip, where troops killed Nukhba forces and other terrorists who were involved in the Nir Yitzhak massacre on October 7, the IDF reported on Wednesday.

In Beit Hanoun, an Israel Air Force fighter jet eliminated terrorists who fled to a nearby military building. The IAF worked in coordination with the Northern Brigade of the Gaza Division to complete the operation. 

Fighter jets attacked two terrorists complicit in the massacre of Nir Yitzhak on October 7 who hid in a military structure. The IDF was successful in killing two platoon commanders and a squad commander from the Nukhba Force, Hamas's elite unit. 

Troops from the Nahal Brigade operated in the central Gaza Strip and killed approximately 20 terrorists in the last day through sniper fire, remotely manned aircraft, and IAF fighter jets. 

Coordination among ground troops, IAF, and intelligence

In one particular attack, as part of a sniper ambush initiated by IDF, troops killed 15 terrorists. In another, the brigade's fire complex, alongside the IAF and guided by military intelligence, attacked terrorist infrastructure from which terrorists launched anti-aircraft fire at IDF troops. After this operation, explosions were seen, indicating that large amounts of ammunition were stored in the area, the military noted.

Soldiers from the Givati Brigade operated in the Hamad neighborhood in Khan Yunis, where they identified several terrorists that were promptly eliminated by a combat helicopter. Later, IDF troops identified a terrorist approaching them, who was killed.

IDF troops operate in the Gaza Strip, March 6, 2024 (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)

Additionally, soldiers from the IDF Commando Brigade continued to search the buildings of the Hamad neighborhood and eliminate terrorists. On one such search, troops found weapons caches containing Kalashnikovs and cartridges. While searching the same neighborhood, soldiers from the 7th Brigade found more weapons and military equipment. 

During an ambush, soldiers from the Bislach Brigade identified five armed terrorists and killed them with short-range fire. 

Hamas terrorists complicit in Kibbutz Kfar Aza massacre arrested 

In other developments, IDF troops arrested Hamas terrorists who took part in the October 7 massacre, who were handed over for investigation by security officials, Walla! reported. One such terrorist was complicit on October 7, who had entered Kibbutz Kfar Aza and managed to escape back to the Gaza Strip. 

According to military sources, Israel holds approximately 230 Hamas terrorists suspected of taking part in the October 7 attacks. Fifty have completed the investigation and are defined as "participants in the massacre" who will undergo criminal investigation. Another 140 are currently under investigation, and the rest are at varying stages of investigation, Walla! stated. 

There are rising questions of who would be given the task of indictment and prosecution, the military or the civilian judicial system, with rising criticisms about the under-preparedness of the IDF in dealing with the task. A possible hostage deal would also raise issues in relation to a prisoner exchange. 

Staff-Sergeant (St.-Sgt.) David Sasson, 21, from Ganot Hadar, was killed in combat in the southern Gaza Strip, the IDF announced on Wednesday. 

Sasson was a soldier in the Oketz Unit. 

David Sasson, 21, killed in combat in Gaza on March 6, 2024. (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)

The IDF and the Shin Bet announced on Wednesday night that they had assassinated Hamas’s top rocket commander in central Gaza.

According to the IDF, Amar Atia Deruyash al-Adini has been a critical part of Hamas’s rocket firing apparatus since the 2008-9 Gaza conflict.

A statement said that he was intimately involved with directing rocket fire both on the Tel Aviv area and on Israel’s South.

Israeli Foreign Ministry Israel Katz published a post on X on Wednesday, calling on female leaders worldwide to voice their disapprobation following the findings of the UN report on sexual violence committed by Hamas terrorists. 

The post appealed to “Distinguished women leaders,” stating that “following the publication of the UN report on sexual violence committed by the Hamas terror organization, it is critical to hear your voice as international women leaders in order to put an end to the atrocities that Israeli women are going through in the captivity of the Hamas."

Distinguished women leaders,
Following the publication of the @UN report on sexual violence committed by the Hamas terror organization, it is critical to hear your voice as international women leaders, in order to put an end to the atrocities that Israeli women are going through… pic.twitter.com/LRmQM3jQMK

— ישראל כ”ץ Israel Katz (@Israel_katz) March 6, 2024

UN envoy for sexual crimes in war Pramila Patten met with IDF officers and surviving hostages, January 2024 (credit: FOREIGN MINISTRY)

Patten's report finds evidence of Hamas sexual violence

The post tagged some 33 female leaders, including US Vice President Kamala Harris, Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni, Former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, Michelle Obama, and Hillary Clinton. 

The report was published earlier this week by Pramila Patten, UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, following her visit to Israel in the two first weeks of February, in which she met with eyewitnesses of the October 7 massacre, women who returned from Gaza captivity, family members of soldiers still in Gaza, and workers at the Shura camp who identified the bodies of those raped and murdered by Hamas terrorists.

The report found evidence of Hamas crimes, including sexually torturing and raping Israeli women.

Since the October 7 massacre perpetrated by Hamas, Palestinian civilians who wanted to escape Gaza to Egypt have encountered difficulties doing so, as the cost to do so is from 6,000-7,000 dollars per person, according to a Tuesday N12 report.

The report claims that getting past the Rafah crossing is a "desire shared by many Gazan families, but for most of them is an unattainable fantasy." However, some people who have managed to get to the other side have been Hamas terrorists and their families, N12 said, as the report claims that money is not an issue for the terrorist organization's relatives. 

Escapees include nephews and nieces of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, and according to the list obtained by N12, the children of Sinwar's sister were smuggled through the Rafah crossing only recently.

Jordanian newspaper Rai-al-Youm reported on Wednesday that the deputy of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar delivered a comprehensive cease-fire agreement to the head of Egyptian intelligence.

The submitted agreement by Hamas is the final answer given to mediators. 

According to reports, the ceasefire would begin a week before releasing the Israeli hostages held in Gaza, would see the release of prisoners released in the Shalit deal, as well as 160 prisoners with "blood on their hands," including the notorious Marwan Barghouti, Maariv noted.

The initial report by Maariv was obtained from Arabic-language news sources.

This is a developing story. 

European Commission president Usrula von der Leyen is due to travel to Cyprus later this week as the bloc is working towards establishing a possible humanitarian corridor in support of the population in Gaza through the Mediterranean island, her spokesperson said on Wednesday.

"Our efforts are focussed on making sure that we can provide aid to Palestinians," the spokesperson said during a briefing with journalists, adding: "We all hope that this opening (of the corridor) will take place very soon."

More food trucks entered Gaza per day in the last two weeks than before since the start of the war, KAN11 reported on Wednesday morning.

In the past few weeks, an average of 102 aid trucks entered Gaza each day, with most bringing in food supplies. This contrasts the average of 70 trucks entering Gaza per day before the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war on October 7. This is an increase of approximately 50% in the number of trucks bringing in food to Gaza over the past few weeks.

Despite the increase of humanitarian aid and food trucks through international efforts, Hamas has projected an alternative narrative to the world, claiming that Israel is conducting a "starvation campaign" as part of its "genocide" against Palestinians in Gaza, KAN noted.

Hamas: "starvation campaign" initiated by Israel

According to Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, the terror organization is "grateful for any initiative to help them [the hungry people in Gaza] and the duty and urgency of reaching sustainable, effective, and influential aid bridges that will end their suffering.

"It is the duty of the Arab and Islamic nation, for the brothers of the besieged and occupied Palestine, to initiate the breaking of the starvation campaign in the northern Gaza Strip."

U.S. Air Force drops humanitarian aid for Gaza residents, in this screengrab from a video released on March 5, 2024. (credit: US Central Command via X/Handout via REUTERS )

Much of Hamas's narrative stems from even before the humanitarian aid truck disaster last week in northern Gaza, whereby Palestinians ambushed an aid truck, leading to several Palestinians being trampled to death, KAN reported.

This incident served as Hamas fodder to further implicate Israel in the humanitarian crisis and put pressure on the United States, which has, in recent days, airdropped aid and called on Israel to open additional border entry points for additional aid.

Increasing delivery of aid 

Much of the humanitarian aid delivered to the Gaza Strip comes through aid trucks entering through Egypt or airdrops, much of which is supplied by international organizations and coalitions of states.

Aid is becoming increasingly necessary, as the local capacity to produce food, water, and medical supplies has diminished as a result of the war, and is also a result of Hamas terrorists taking control of aid trucks, leading to little distribution to Palestinians in need of dire aid. 

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who met in recent days with Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz, urged Israel to exponentially increase the access and distribution of humanitarian aid in the backdrop of additional ceasefire talks.

Foreign Secretary David Cameron is expected to tell Israeli cabinet minister Benny Gantz that the UK is running out of patience with the lack of humanitarian aid delivered to the people of Gaza in a meeting between the two in London on Wednesday, the Guardian reported. 

Cameron argued that since Israel is the 'occupying power,' it has a duty to supply aid under international humanitarian law. “We are facing a situation of dreadful suffering in Gaza,” Cameron said in a foreign affairs debate on Tuesday. “We’ve had a whole set of things we’ve asked the Israelis to do, but I have to report that the amount of aid they got in in February was about half what they got in January.” 

Cameron argued that “too many” essential goods are not approved for delivery because they qualify for “dual use,” even though they’re “absolutely necessary for medical and other procedures.” 

First steps and solutions 

He also stated that in terms of a long-term ceasefire, Hamas leadership must be removed from Gaza, as well as all terrorist infrastructure. 

Regarding a two-state solution, Cameron added, “I don’t think that should happen when we’re starting the process because I think that takes all the pressure off the Palestinians to reform, but it shouldn’t have to wait till the end. We shouldn’t give Israel veto power, which is the effect of the American policy at the moment. Recognition can become part of the unstoppable momentum we need to see towards a two-state solution.” 

TRUCKS CROSS at Kerem Shalom, the main passage point for goods entering the Gaza Strip from Israel. (credit: ABED RAHIM KHATIB/FLASH90)

On this subject, the foreign secretary stated, “if we allowed Russia any form of win in Ukraine, Moldova would be at risk and some of the Baltic states would be at risk.”

The Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas said on Wednesday that it will continue negotiating through mediators until it reaches a ceasefire agreement with the Israelis.

In the statement, the Islamist group claimed it was showing flexibility with negotiations, but charged Israel with avoiding the required stipulations that would are prerequisite to such an agreement.