War Summary, Day 696: Head of Hamas propaganda department confirmed eliminated, IDF chief vows that Hamas leaders abroad will be next, reports emerge of IDF support for anti-Hamas militias in Gaza, a drone smuggling weapons from Egypt into Israel was intercepted, and schools in Gaza border communities are reopening today for the first time since the Simchas Torah attack.

By Mrs. Bruria Efune

48 held captive in Gaza.
26 hostages confirmed murdered held in Gaza.
148 living hostages rescued.
59 hostage bodies rescued.
1,918 Israelis killed.
461 fallen soldiers and police in the battle in Gaza.
88 fallen soldiers in Northern Israel.
18 fallen soldiers and police in Judea & Samaria.
32,374 estimated projectiles fired at Israel.
1 Jewish nation united in prayer, charity, and good deeds.

Top Headlines

– Deal or battle: the dispute broken down
– Hamas’s chief spokesperson confirmed gone
– IDF chief threatens Hamas leaders abroad; they’re next
– Troops in Gaza City advancing through Jabaliya to Sheikh Radwan
– Efforts to get Gazans to evacuate Gaza City war zone
– Rumors of a new militia-controlled Hamas-free zone in Shejaiya
– Massive humanitarian efforts in southern Gaza
– Houthis threaten retaliation against Netanyahu and Katz
– IDF still operating in Lebanon – from the air and on ground

Hostages & Ceasefire Debate

There is a vague option for a “partial hostage deal” on the table. Hamas seems inclined to agree to it, out of fear of the IDF taking Gaza City. The offer is based off the original Witkoff framework, and there is significant debate in Israel as to whether it should be accepted or not.

Details aren’t clear, and are yet to be agreed on, but it appears to look something like this:

– The agreement is for a 6 week ceasefire, which is supposed to lead to a permanent ceasefire agreement.
– Half of the living hostages, and half of the bodies of hostages will be released gradually over the 6 weeks.
– The IDF will withdraw from most of Gaza, remaining along the inner perimeter.
– A significant number of terrorists will be released from Israeli prison.

Caveats

– Hamas wants guarantees that the first 6 weeks will lead to a permanent ceasefire with a complete IDF withdrawal.
– Hamas refuses to disarm or give up their “right to resistance.”
– Hamas has never given any indication that they will release all of the remaining hostages in a second phase (except for in a gradual process after years of ceasefire).
– Israel will only agree to a lasting ceasefire if Hamas disarms and loses control of Gaza, and all the hostages are released.

According to reports from Ynet and the news sources, IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir and Mossad Director Dadi Barnea believe that Israel should try to get a deal now. Zamir has been trying to convince the government to support the deal, but at the same time, made it abundantly clear that the IDF will follow the government’s decision with full strength.

According to the reports, the main reasons Zamir wants the deal are:

– This may be the best chance to get at least 10 hostages out alive (without a miraculous high-risk operation).
– The planned operation in Gaza may risk the lives of the hostages.
– The planned operation risks the lives of IDF soldiers.
– Zamir believes that if talks for a lasting ceasefire fall through, the IDF can then complete the job in Gaza, with less hostages in the way of heavy force.
– Zamir fears that the plans forward will lead to a longterm IDF occupation of Gaza. This will put a significant strain on the army—both in terms of manpower, and risk to the lives of soldiers.

On the opposite end, Prime Minister Netanyahu and most (all?) of the government cabinet are against taking a partial deal. The main reasons:

– It will not achieve the goals of the war, since Hamas refuses to return all the hostages, and refuses to disarm.
– Netanyahu does not believe that Israel will have diplomatic support to return to war if talks fall through, not even from U.S. President Trump who wants things to finish up quick.
– It will take much longer to complete the job in Gaza after a ceasefire, since the IDF will have to rework through all the areas they withdrew from before getting to Gaza City. This includes making all civilians evacuate again.
– Netanyahu does not want any slow option, because he believe that two things are at risk when the war drags out: The lives of the hostages, and support from President Trump and his government.
(As explained in the previous report, Israel is still very reliant on American support in order to purchase necessary munitions.)

Eyal Zamir has proposed an alternative option to the current plan, if a hostage deal isn’t a possibility now. In the alternative plan, the IDF would surround Gaza City and carry out smaller raids to reduce Hamas’s power, and put pressure on them. This plan could reduce the risk to the lives of the IDF soldiers and the hostages. Netanyahu doesn’t support this option, because it will take longer—risking lives of hostages and American support.

For now, it looks like the plan to take over Gaza City will move ahead. On Tuesday, around 50,000 IDF reservists will report for duty, and after some preparation and training, the escalation will begin.

Gaza

Thank G-d, no fallen heroes in the last two days.

**

On Sunday, the IDF confirmed that Hudhayfa al-Khalti, aka “Abu Obeida” was successfully eliminated. Obeida was one of the last survivors of Hamas’s senior leadership from October 7th.

Obeida headed Hamas’s propaganda departments, and acted as spokesperson for Hamas. He inspired Gazans to terrorism, and glorification of the October 7th massacre. Throughout the war, Obeida was responsible for releasing horrific videos of the Israeli hostages, and threatening their murder.

The elimination of Abu Obeida has a significant psychological effect on Hamas members and supporters in Gaza, all of whom saw him as an unbreakable leader.

Following the successful elimination, IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir made an explicit threat to Hamas leaders abroad, most of whom are in Qatar. Zamir stated: “In the Gaza Strip, we struck yesterday at one of Hamas’s senior figures, Abu Obeida, after most of Hamas’s leadership has been eliminated—and the hand is still outstretched. Most of the remaining Hamas leadership is sitting abroad, we will reach them too.”

**

Divisions 99 & 162 are continuing to operate in northern Gaza, including the north and eastern outskirts of Gaza City. The south of Gaza City remains clear of conflict, in order to allow civilians to evacuate.

The current front in Gaza City is in the Jabaliya neighborhood, moving towards Sheikh Radwan. The IDF is following the Gideon’s Chariots method, and completely destroying all buildings used by Hamas for any purpose.

While many civilians have followed warnings to evacuate Gaza City, a significant number still remain. Troops are now using creative methods to encourage the civilians to leave before the area becomes too dangerous for them.

Late night reports emerging from the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City claim that IDF troops used drones to drop explosive bombs on the market, in order to set it on fire. This is done at an hour when the markets are empty, and gives a clear signal to the locals that it is time to go.

Division 36 is continuing work in Khan Younis, with the focus on consolidating areas which they have taken control of, and closing gaps. They are still eliminating terrorists daily, and finding and destroying many kilometers of Hamas tunnels.

**

An interesting report is emerging from Gazans. At this point it is very difficult to verify, but worth mentioning.

The rumors claim that local armed militias who are anti-Hamas are taking control of the Shejaiya neighborhood of Gaza City, in coordination with the IDF.

Shejaiya was one of the largest neighborhoods in Gaza City, and is located on the eastern side, already taken by the IDF. While the neighborhood once had over 90,000 residents, it is now mostly turned to rubble, since Hamas had booby-trapped almost every building.

According to the rumors, the militia is attempting to create another Hamas-free zone, similar to Abu Shabab’s in Rafah. They are recruiting anti-Hamas fighters and their families to move in, and have full IDF support.

If this is true, the IDF is likely to keep it quiet, in order to protect the effort, and will prefer it stay as just a rumor.

Humanitarian Aid

On August 31:

– Close to 320 humanitarian aid trucks entered Gaza through the Kerem Shalom and Zikim crossings.
– Close to 170 trucks were collected and distributed by the UN and international organizations. A majority of the trucks were looted by Hamas or other militia, who sell the contents for profit.
The contents of hundreds of trucks are still awaiting collection on the Gazan side of the crossings.
– An undisclosed number of tankers of UN fuel entered for the “operation of essential humanitarian systems.”
– The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) distributed over 1.5 million meals for free, with additional supplements of fresh potatoes and onions. Hamas is not able to profit off GHF aid, which is distributed for free.

**

The IDF’s COGAT Division announced several recent humanitarian operations in order to improve living conditions for Gazans evacuating to the south of the strip.

Water and electricity

– A UAE-funded pipeline has started bringing water from Egypt to Al-Muwasi, providing 15 liters per person daily for about 600,000 people.
– Work is underway on the Bani Suhaila and Birkat Sa’id lines, which will add 28,000 cubic meters of water per day to southern and central Gaza.
– Fuel deliveries are being coordinated to keep desalination plants and water wells running.
– The Kela Power Line has been linked to the southern desalination facility to support water production.

Medical

– Local and international teams, under IDF surveillance, have begun work to resume operations at the European Hospital in Khan Younis.
– More than 1,000 tons of medical equipment and medicines have been brought in to Gaza over the last two weeks, to strengthen the healthcare systems in southern Gaza.
– COGAT held discussions with medical officials in northern Gaza to formulate plans for relocating medical infrastructure from the north to the south.

Shelters

– More than 3,000 family-size tents and tarpaulins have been brought into the southern humanitarian zones.
– Thousands of additional tents were recently purchased by aid organizations and are expected to enter southern Gaza during the coming week.

Food

– Most trucks carrying humanitarian aid are now being directed to southern Gaza, for an average of over 300 per day. 80% of the trucks contained food.

Yemen

The Houthis confirmed that their Prime Minister and most government ministers were eliminated in the IDF strike on Shabbat. However, the fate of the Defense Minister and Chief of Staff are still unknown. It’s assumed that they were at least injured in the strike.

Houthiland is not a democracy. Many of the ministers are seen as mere puppets to the Houthi leader, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi. He is on the top of the IDF’s hit list.

The Houthis have threatened to retaliate by targeting Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Katz. While the threat is laughable, the Shin Bet have boosted security around the two.

**

On Monday afternoon, the IDF intercepted a Houthi UAV (attack drone) before it entered Israeli territory. No sirens were activated.

Lebanon

Sunday was a busy day in southern Lebanon. The IDF announced three successful missions:

– In an overnight operation, IDF troops operated in Aita al-Shaab, inside southern Lebanon, to destroy a structure used by Hezbollah for terror activity. The structure had previously been the home of a Hezbollah terrorist, who the IDF eliminated last week after he was identified in an attempt to rebuild local Hezbollah terror infrastructure.
– An airstrike destroyed an underground Hezbollah bunker in the area of the Beaufort Ridge in southern Lebanon. The strike came after Hezbollah was seen rebuilding military capabilities in and around the bunker.
– A drone strike eliminated a busy Hezbollah terrorist in the Nebatieh area, who, like all the others, was in violation of the ceasefire agreement.

Other

– Once again, the IDF intercepted a drone which was smuggling weapons from Egypt to Israel.
– Students across Israel went back to school today! In the Gaza border communities, many schools reopened for the first time since October 7th, and children returned to their old stomping grounds.

WATCH:

Kfir Brigade’s Activity in Khan Yunis: Elimination of Dozens of Terrorists and Destruction of Underground Tunnels with a Total Length of Approximately 8 Kilometers