Today’s Issue: IDF and Shin Bet Retrieve Bodies of Three Men Killed on October 7 | IDF Continuing Operations in Northern, Southern, and Central Gaza | IAF Airstrike Kills Hezbollah Weapons-Production Operative | IDF Eliminates Commander of Hamas’s Beit Hanoun Battalion | Latest FDD Analysis
IDF and Shin Bet Retrieve Bodies of Three Men Killed on October 7: The IDF on Friday announced that in an overnight operation by the IDF and Shin Bet in Jabalya, the bodies of three men killed on October 7 were brought back to Israel. The IDF says that “according to reliable intelligence information in our possession,” the three were murdered on October 7 and their bodies taken to Gaza by Hamas terrorists. Until recently the IDF did not have information about the three — Michel Nisenbaum, 59, Hanan Yablonka, 42, and Orión Hernández Radoux, 30 — and believed them to be alive. The operation relied on “precise intelligence information that was received and analyzed in the past few days.” Hernández Radoux was the boyfriend of Shani Louk, whose body was recovered from Jabalya last week. Both were at the Supernova music festival, as was Yablonka. The 7th Armored Brigade’s 75th Battalion discovered the tunnel shaft where the three bodies were being held, based on recent intelligence. The tunnel shaft, located in the yard of a home, was close to the compound from which four bodies were retrieved last week.
IDF Continuing Operations in Northern, Southern, and Central Gaza: The IDF on Friday published an update on fighting in Gaza. In Jabalya in the north of the strip, the 98th Division is continuing operations. The 7th and 460th armored brigades, along with paratroopers, have eliminated dozens of terrorists in targeted raids of terror infrastructures in the area and destroyed dozens of launch positions. Troops found a large quantity of weapons, including IEDs, mortar shells, AK-47s, and sniper rifles. In Rafah in southern Gaza, the 162nd Division is continuing to operate. In the past day, troops from the Nahal Brigade, the Givati Brigade, and the 401st Armored Brigade have been searching for weapons and Hamas infrastructures in the area and have found and destroyed weapons depots as well as tunnel shafts. Troops from the 99th Division are continuing operations in central Gaza, and in the past day, in cooperation with the Israeli Air Force, they eliminated a terror cell that was shooting projectiles at IDF soldiers in the area.
IAF Airstrike Kills Hezbollah Weapons-Production Operative: On Thursday, an Israeli Air Force airstrike killed Muhammad Ali Nasser Faran, who, according to the IDF, was responsible for Hezbollah’s weapons-production infrastructure in southern Lebanon and worked in recent years on producing Hezbollah’s “unique strategic weapons.” The army added that his elimination is part of efforts by the IDF and security forces to strike at Hezbollah’s buildup of guns and weaponry intended to be used against the Israeli home front. The Alma Research and Education Center added some details and analysis, stating that Faran, who also taught physics at the high school in Nabatieh, was killed while driving his car near the village of Dajjal, south of Nabatieh. According to Alma, there are two “axes” in targeted assassinations, one for “military commanders who exercise Hezbollah’s military power in southern Lebanon” and the other for “professional knowledge centers that build and develop Hezbollah’s military power in southern Lebanon.” According to Alma’s analysis, Faran was part of the second axis.
IDF Eliminates Commander of Hamas’s Beit Hanoun Battalion: The IDF announced on Thursday that it eliminated Hussein Fiad, commander of Hamas’s Beit Hanoun Battalion, who was “responsible for launching anti-tank missiles along with extensive mortar fire toward Israel.” Fiad was killed in a tunnel in the Jabalya area by the 98th Division and the Yahalom unit. According to the announcement, Fiad “was responsible for a large number of anti-tank missiles fired at Israel during the war and for firing many mortars at communities in the northern Gaza envelope.” His killing is part of the 98th Division’s efforts “to find and destroy tunnel networks and eliminate terrorists hiding in them.”
Latest FDD Analysis:
Today at 8:30am (ET): “FDD Morning Brief,”featuring Jonathan Schanzer and Amb. Yoram Ettinger,FDD Event
“Maximum Support: A New Strategic Direction for U.S. Iran Policy,”Behnam Ben Taleblu, Saeed Ghasseminejad, Cameron Khansarinia, and Andrew Ghalili,FDD and NUFDI Memo
“Lawmakers Urge Blinken to Hold Turkey to Account for Assault on U.S. Citizens,”Sinan Ciddi Link ,FDD Policy Brief
“Erdogan’s Turkey: Champion of Hamas, and an adversary of the West,”Sinan Ciddi,Kathemerini
“How to ensure humanitarian aid gets to the right people in Gaza,”Seth J. Frantzman,The Jerusalem Post
“Uprooting Hamas: How the IDF is dislodging Hamas from Jabalya,”Seth J. Frantzman,The Jerusalem Post
“Egypt’s relationship with Hamas: What does history tell us?”Seth J. Frantzman,The Jerusalem Post
“Did Raisi’s outreach to Arab states pave the way for Oct. 7?”Seth J. Frantzman,The Jerusalem Post
“Nascent Afghan resistance grows in strength but not a threat to Taliban rule,”Will Selber,FDD’s Long War Journal
“Israel confronts continued Hezbollah drone threats,”Seth J. Frantzman,FDD’s Long War Journal
“U.S. Lawmakers Slam ICC Prosecutor’s Bid for Unjust Arrest Warrants Targeting Netanyahu, Gallant,”FDD Experts,FDD Flash Brief
“Israeli Tunnel Warfare Specialists Kill Hamas Commander Underground,”FDD Experts,FDD Flash Brief
“Terrorist Rockets Discovered Next to Gaza’s Border With Egypt,”FDD Experts,FDD Flash Brief
“Egyptian Blockade of Aid to Gaza Earns Rebuke from U.S.,”FDD Experts,FDD Flash Brief
“Hamas Terrorists Attack Kerem Shalom Aid Crossing for Fourth Time in May,”FDD Experts,FDD Flash Brief
