Newsdeck

Newsdeck

Israel Latest: Israel Says Key Planner of Oct. 7 Attacks Killed

Israel Latest: Israel Says Key Planner of Oct. 7 Attacks Killed
Israeli soldiers patrol along the border with southern Gaza, in Israel, 26 October 2023. The Israeli army confirmed it carried out an overnight ‘targeted raid’ into northern Gaza on 26 October. More than 6,500 Palestinians and at least 1,300 Israelis have been killed, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Palestinian health authority, since Hamas militants launched an attack against Israel from the Gaza Strip on 07 October, and the Israeli operations in Gaza and the West Bank that followed it. EPA-EFE/ABIR SULTAN

Israel’s military said it had killed Hamas’s deputy head of intelligence, who it accused of being responsible for helping plan the Oct. 7 attacks that killed some 1,400 people. The army overnight also made a limited ground raid into northern Gaza with infantry and tanks.

A small number of humanitarian aid trucks reached Gaza Thursday but there have been no indications of fuel being supplied. The United Nations, which has said the fuel shortages risk it halting relief operations, is seeking to ration its existing reserves for its facilities, including bakeries and health centers.

Meanwhile, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Washington is weighing additional sanctions on Hamas to hamper its ability to access money.

(All time stamps are Israeli time)

US Is Sending 900 Troops to Bolster Deployments (11:15 p.m.)

The US is deploying 900 troops to the Middle East as regional tensions grow amid the Israel-Hamas war. Brigadier General Pat Ryder, a Pentagon spokesman, said the personnel include Thaad and Patriot air defense operators. None of the troops, which are already deployed or are being sent, are going to Israel, Ryder added.

He also disclosed what he called an unsuccessful attack Thursday aimed at US forces at the Erbil air base in Iraq, which he said resulted in no casualties. Overall, US and coalition forces have been attacked 12 times in Iraq and four times in Syria from Oct. 17 through Oct. 26, he said. He said US personnel “received minor injuries due to drone attacks at Al-Asad air base in Iraq and Al-Tanf garrison in Syria.” This included traumatic brain injuries, although all of the personnel have returned to duty, Ryder said.

Yellen Says US Weighing Further Hamas Sanctions (9:43 p.m.)

The US is weighing additional sanctions on Hamas as part of efforts to constrain the militant group’s ability to access money, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said.

“We are certainly looking at further opportunities we see,” Yellen said in an event at Bloomberg’s Washington office on Thursday. “We’re all over this and are likely to do more.”

Yellen declined to comment on specific measures but said the US has taken several steps over the last year to cut Hamas’s ability to access money. She said that Treasury officials are traveling this week to work with European and Middle East allies and look for new ways to target the group, which has been under severe sanctions since the US designated it a terrorist organization in 1997.

Iran Says Hamas Ready For Prisoner Swap (9:17 p.m.)

Iran’s foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said Hamas is prepared to swap civilian hostages for Palestinian prisoners.

“According to our negotiations, Hamas is ready to release civilian prisoners. On the other hand, the world should support the release of 6,000 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons,” he said in an address to the United Nations in New York.

UN Says It’s Rationing Fuel Supplies to Gaza Facilities (9:04 p.m.)

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency is trying to stretch its existing fuel reserves in Gaza. “We are rationing the outgoing amounts and prioritizing hospitals, bakeries and water filtering stations,” Adnan Abu Hassna, spokesman for the UN Relief and Works Agency, told Bloomberg.

“If fuel doesn’t enter in the coming hours or two days, Gaza will not only run out of fuel, but will run out of life,” he said. In addition to the halting of vital services, he pointed out that UNRWA’s trucks won’t be able to distribute aid shipments that trickle in from the Egyptian border. Stéphane Dujarric, spokeswoman for the UN secretary general, said in a briefing Thursday that UNWRA’s fuel supplies are expected to last only a “very short amount of time.”

Separately, a spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces, Richard Hecht, said in a briefing that there is fuel in Gaza and it’s up to Hamas to decide whether it wants to use it for its own operations or give it to hospitals.

Israel Says It Killed Key Planner of Oct. 7 Attacks (6:28 p.m.)

The Israeli military said it killed in an air strike Thursday the deputy head of the Hamas intelligence directorate, Shadi Barud. It said in a statement that he was responsible for the planning of Oct 7 attacks with Yahya Sinwar, the top Hamas leader in Gaza. Hamas hasn’t publicly commented on the claim.

Israel also said it killed three commanders from the Daraj Tuffah Battalion of Hamas’s Gaza City Brigade, who it said also had significant roles in the Oct. 7 attacks.

Israel Is Using Spyware to Track Hostages (3:45 p.m.)

Israel is asking for the help of spyware companies, including the maker of the controversial Pegasus software, to track hostages in the Gaza Strip, people familiar with the matter said.

NSO Group and Candiru, both blacklisted by the US, are among several companies asked to quickly upgrade their spyware capabilities to meet needs laid out by the country’s security forces. They, together with several other software firms, are collaborating on the requests.

Read: Israel Is Using Pegasus Spyware Maker to Track Hostages in Gaza

Turkey’s Erdogan Steps Up Rhetoric Against Israel (2:38 p.m.)

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan lashed out against Israel Thursday for “carrying out a cruel massacre” of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, as part of a speech where he also targeted the EU and the UN Security Council.

“How many more children should die for the EU Commission to urge a ceasefire? How many more tons of bombs should be dropped on Gaza for the UN Security Council to act?”

Erdogan had also criticized Israel on Wednesday, when he said he was canceling a planned visit to the country later this year and put energy cooperation on pause. He has also slammed the US, a NATO ally, for the deployment of warships to the eastern Mediterranean.

EU Leaders Seek Unity to Call for ‘Pauses’ in the War (2:15 p.m.)

EU leaders are moving closer to calling for a humanitarian pause that would allow aid to reach Gaza in bigger quantities. Member states wrangled over the wording of a joint statement due to be signed off by the leaders, according to people familiar with the issue.

The latest version calls for “continued, rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian access and aid to reach those in need through all necessary measures including humanitarian corridors and pauses,” according to a text seen by Bloomberg.

Read: EU Leaders Seek Unity on Urging Aid ‘Pauses’ in Israel-Hamas War

Israel Says 60 Arrests Made in the West Bank (1:05 p.m.)

Israeli defense forces said that more than 60 arrests were made in the West Bank last night, according to a post on X. It added that 46 of those detained were Hamas operatives, bringing the total number of arrests in the area, which is governed by the Palestinian Authority, to over 1,000 since the war started.

Some Aid Trucks Enter Gaza (1:02 p.m.)

The Palestine Red Crescent Society said it received 12 trucks of aid from its Egyptian counterpart, according to a post on X. The trucks, which entered Gaza through the Rafah border crossing, contained water, food and and medical supplies. Fuel has not been allowed to enter yet.

The UN has also warned that its shelters are overwhelmed by almost 600,000 Palestinians fleeing their homes, and that it might have to halt humanitarian operations if no fuel is delivered. A total of 74 aid trucks have been allowed into the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, short of the circa 100 trucks of humanitarian supplies per day a UN official estimated last week were needed.

Israel Says 309 Soldiers Killed in Conflict So Far, 224 Hostages Held in Gaza (11:50 a.m.)

The families of 309 soldiers have been notified by the Israel Defense Forces that they were killed since the Oct. 7 infiltration by Hamas, spokesman Daniel Hagari said in a televised statement. The military also updated the number of hostages who are believed to be held in Gaza to 224.

Police said that 808 civilians who died following the attack by Hamas have been identified, or 84% of the bodies that were recovered.

Gallery

Comments - Please in order to comment.

  • Allan Wolman Wolman says:

    The cutting of water, power and fuel, announced almost 3 weeks ago, when the Hamas health authority advised that they had 3 days fuel supply for their hospitals. This raises the question of the continued rocket attacks we experience as I write, (from Tel Aviv). My ‘alert app’ advises that there have been well over a hundred rocket attacks in various parts of the country almost daily since that awful October 7th.
    These missiles require both fuel (petrol) and water in order to activate the propellant as well as fuel and chemicals (which can be used for medical purposes) for the explosive charge in head in the rocket.
    It seems that there is sufficient fuel and water denied to the civilian living there
    Why aren’t Egypt allowing more aid into Gaza? Is Egypt an autonomous state able to make it’s own policies? or perhaps they don’t kill their brothers from across rather sealed border? Who is causing the ‘humanitarian disaster’

    • Cunningham Ngcukana says:

      Egypt is not the occupation force of the Palestinians and the obligation of humanitarian aid entering Gaza lies with the Israel occupiers. To try and shift the responsibility to Egypt is drivel. You are also justifying the criminality of Israel of denying electricity, water and fuel to the citizens of the Gaza strip that has been under the Israel blockade for the 15 years of the 56 years of occupation. To seek to exculpate the Israel criminal called the Netanyahu who has torn into shreds the Oslo accords to destroy any notion of a two state solution is ingenious on your part. Egypt has no responsibility except Israel and those who created the Nakbah in the US and the UK. The disaster has been there for the last 56 years and in particular the last 15 years. The atrocities in Gaza by Israel did not start after the 7th of October as Netanyahu has been committing them daily . Do not distort what are facts and known conduct of the ultra right wing government of Netanyahu. The tide is turning against the US and UK political leaders who are supporting the Criminality of Israel.

  • Jacci Babich says:

    There is no place in the world for barbaric terrorists. With the deadly destruction of the beautiful blue planet that sustains us we should all be working side by side to rescue it.

Please peer review 3 community comments before your comment can be posted

A South African Hero: You

There’s a 99.8% chance that this isn’t for you. Only 0.2% of our readers have responded to this call for action.

Those 0.2% of our readers are our hidden heroes, who are fuelling our work and impacting the lives of every South African in doing so. They’re the people who contribute to keep Daily Maverick free for all, including you.

The equation is quite simple: the more members we have, the more reporting and investigations we can do, and the greater the impact on the country.

Be part of that 0.2%. Be a Maverick. Be a Maverick Insider.

Support Daily Maverick→
Payment options