Tzvika Lavi, an IDF reservist who was seriously wounded a few weeks ago in the Gaza Strip, died of his injuries on Monday.
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Lavi, a resident of the settlement of Eli, is survived by his wife Talia and their three young children - Shaked, 4, Amitai, 3.5, and Aviv, 1.
Hezbollah fired on Monday an anti-tank missile at the Israeli town of Metula in the northern part of the country. No injuries were reported. In response to the attack, the IDF has struck several targets of the terrorist organization in Lebanon.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi and Shin Bet Director Ronen Bar held a situational assessment in the Gaza Strip on Monday with the Southern Command chief, the Division 98th commander and the Commando Brigade commander.
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IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi and Shin Bet Director Ronen Bar in Khan Younis, Gaza
(Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
"We are deepening our achievements in the northern Gaza Strip, in the south and underground," said Halevi.
"I am pleased to meet here, on the streets of Khan Younis, both coordinators and our fighters working together with you. There is no force that can stand against this combination," Bar added.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Monday evening that Hamas terrorists are surrendering en masse as Israeli forces tighten the screws on the Islamist group’s last strongholds in the Gaza Strip’s Jabaliya and Shijaiyah, including some who took part in the October 7 attacks.
"The hard cores, long prepared to battle us, are nearing collapse. The volume of surrenders reveals the situation. Emerging from bunkers, they admit to lacking weapons and food,” he told a press conference. “Among those surrendering are terrorists involved in the events of October 7."
Gallant added that the organization's forces in the northern Gaza Strip, which has seen over a month of extensive IDF ground operations, are "nearing a breaking point." He said that the IDF, which is also operating in Gaza's south, will expand its operations to other parts of the territory it still has not reached and reiterated his call on Hamas operatives to "either surrender unconditionally or die."
The defense minister also dismissed reports that the United States was exerting pressure on Jerusalem to end the war, saying that "the war will end after its objectives are achieved."
Earlier, nine rockets were fired from southern Lebanon toward the Kiryat Shmona and Manara area. Four of them landed in open areas, and five were intercepted by the Iron Dome air defense system. Sirens later blared in the border community of Shtula.
The IDF said earlier that Israeli fighter jets struck a Hezbollah military site in response to an attack on Israeli communities in Western Galilee. The army added that several military outposts were attacked throughout the day, and Israeli forces responded with fire at the sources of the attacks.
Israeli fighter jets strike a Hezbollah military site in Lebanon
(Video: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
Meanwhile, the Lebanese state news agency reported that the mayor of the south Lebanese village of Taybeh was killed by an Israeli strike on Monday.
Citing local security authorities, Al Jazeera identified the man as 80-year-old Hussein Mansour, who was in his home when a shell landed nearby, according to the report.
Lebanese Al-Manar journalist Ali Shuaib reported that Mansour was the brother of former parliament member Nazih Mansour. He stated that Mansour was injured by an unexploded Israeli shell that fell near the house he was in.
Meanwhile, in southern Israel, one rocket fell into the sea off the coast of Ashdod, where no siren was activated. Shortly thereafter, Incoming air raid alarms were triggered in the Gaza border communities of Nir Yitzhak, Mivtachim, Amioz and Yesha.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that the ongoing fighting against Hamas in the Gaza Strip does not distract Israel from the threat posed by Iran.
"For me, there is no diversion of attention on this matter - the Iranian regime needs to be dealt with, and beyond that, I won't elaborate here," Netanyahu said in response to a lawmaker’s question at a meeting of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.
"If Iran becomes armed with nuclear weapons, it will be a long-term problem for Israel. Our commitment to this should primarily be national - we cannot compromise on this."
Fire and rescue services received a report of a direct rocket impact on a building in Holon. Magen David Adom CEO Eli Bin said that, according to a preliminary report, it appears heavy damage was caused at the site. In addition to the building, damage was caused to cars, and a person was slightly to moderately injured. MDA teams evacuated him to Wolfson Hospital in the city.
Rocket fired from Gaza hits in Holon
Two reserve officers and a reserve soldier were killed Sunday by an improvised explosive device in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, the IDF announced on Monday afternoon. The slain soldiers, all from the 5th Brigade’s 8111th Battalion, are: Major (res.) Roman Bronshtein, 46, from Bat Yam, a training officer; Cpt. (res.) Eliya Yanovsky, 24, from Jerusalem, a platoon commander; Master Sgt. (res.) Ari Yehiel Zenilman, 32, from Jerusalem.
The Israel Defense Forces announced early Monday morning the deaths of three soldiers killed in battle in the Gaza Strip and another soldier who was killed in a military car accident. Sgt. Maj. (res.) Gideon Ilani, 35, of Asa’el, who served in the 55th Paratroopers Brigade, fell in battle in Gaza; Sgt. Maj. (res.) Etay Perry, 36, of Modiin, who served the Kiryati Brigade’s 8111st Battalion, was killed in battle in southern Gaza; Maj. (res.) Eviatar Cohen, 42, from Kfar Saba, who served in the Kiryati Brigade’s 8111st Battalion, fell in battle in southern Gaza; Maj. Gal Becher, 34, from Oranit, who served in the Northern Command’s 36th Division, was killed in a military traffic collision in southern Israel. In addition, a reserve fighter in the 8111 Battalion, 5th Brigade, was seriously injured in a battle in the southern Gaza Strip.
So far, 104 soldiers have died in the Gaza ground operation.
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Major (res.) Roman Bronshtein, Cpt. (res.) Eliya Yanovsky, Master Sgt. (res.) Ari Yehiel Zenilman
(Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
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Killed in Gaza war: Sgt. Maj. (res.) Gideon Ilani, Sgt. Maj. (res.) Etay Perry, Maj. (res.) Eviatar Cohen, Maj. Gal Becher
Following the escalation in recent days on the northern border, and amid rocket interceptions carried out Monday in the Ma'alot-Tarshiha area in the Upper Galilee, the municipality announced the "cancellation of all educational activities today, including Hanukkah camps and all informal education activities and all clubs." The municipality also announced the "opening of hotlines in several languages of the psychological-educational and welfare service and holding a comprehensive discussion regarding the preparation and future feasibility of evacuation."
The Sderot municipality spokeswoman announced after the rocket alert sirens in and around the city Monday morning that seven interceptions were carried out, and that no rockets fell in the city. The municipality also stated that "there are no known casualties or damage to property."
Members of the United Nations Security Council are expected to make a controversial visit to the Egyptian side of the Rafah Crossing on Monday to get a first-hand impression of the difficult humanitarian situation in Gaza and the UN's aid activities for the residents of the Gaza Strip, Ynet has learned. The visit, in which 16 U.N. ambassadors and deputy ambassadors are expected to participate, was initiated by the United Arab Emirates, which serves on the council as the representative of the Arab League, and was organized without any coordination with Israel.
"The biased visit of the Security Council is a new low that proves that the council only cares about the residents of Gaza and completely ignores the residents of the south and the abductees," Israel's UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan said in response. "The distorted visit eliminates all legitimacy for the council's decisions regarding the war in Gaza. It's a disgrace."
Rocket launches detected from Lebanese territory toward Israeli territory triggered rocket alert sirens in several communities near the northern border on Monday morning. Six of the launches were intercepted by air defense systems. IDF forces are attacking the sources of the fire with artillery. According to reports in Lebanon, the IDF attacked several areas in the south of the country.
In a briefing for the British newspaper Daily Mail published on Monday, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that "Hamas underestimated the value of Israel's retaliatory action" after the October 7 massacre.
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Defense Minister Yoav Gallant meets families of hostages held in Gaza
(Photo: Ariel Harmoni/Defense Ministry)
"It is difficult to lead democracies to fight wars, but once we are in one we are much stronger because we are fighting to protect our values," Gallant said. "In the north of the Gaza Strip, Hamas is suffering huge losses and we are achieving our military goals. Hamas terrorists have two options: die or surrender."
Gallant said that Hamas is benefiting from the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and the claims made by the residents of the Gaza Strip toward the terrorist organization recently should be a warning sign to Britain and the world about its true nature. "Hamas' propaganda affects universities and protests, and money pours in that activates terrorist networks around the world, Gallant said. He added that Israel is fighting "on the front line of the free world against terrorism."
Online search giant Google on Monday morning published the list of the most searched terms for 2023 in 60 countries. In Israel, concepts related to the Swords of Iron War received the most searches this year, with the top two being "home front command" and "color red" followed by "obtaining a gun license." IDF spokesman Brig. Gen. Daniel Hagari, who has become a familiar figure in every home in Israel following the start of the war, came in sixth place in the war category, and fourth place on the list of the most searched people.
U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan will visit Israel, his first visit since the outbreak of the war. Sullivan will meet with senior officials in Jerusalem to discuss, among other things, increasing humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.
The 193-member United Nations General Assembly is likely to vote Tuesday on a draft resolution demanding an immediate humanitarian cease-fire in the conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, diplomats said on Sunday. The move comes after the U.S. vetoed on Friday a UN Security Council demand for an immediate humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza. The General Assembly in October adopted a resolution - 121 votes in favor, 14 against and 44 abstentions - calling for "an immediate, durable and sustained humanitarian truce leading to a cessation of hostilities."
The meeting of the political-security cabinet ended early on Monday morning, and in the end there was no vote on the issue of allowing Palestinian workers from the West Bank back into the country. This, according to participants in the debate, is because Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not have a majority for this due to opposition from ministers. The security establishment, the IDF, the Shin Bet and the coordinator of government operations supported increasing the number of West Bank Palestinian workers, but the police opposed. It was agreed that various solutions would be examined, with an emphasis on increasing the number of foreign workers in the economy. In addition, Netanyahu removed from the agenda the issue of transferring funds to the Palestinian Authority.
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Sara Netanyahu meets with IDF outpost observer Ori Megidish, who was rescued from Hamas captivity by IDF forces
The Prime Minister's wife Sara Netanyahu met on Sunday in Kiryat Gat with IDF outpost observer Ori Megidish, who was rescued from Hamas captivity by IDF forces. Ori told Mrs. Netanyahu that her physical and mental health was excellent, that the state is closely involved, and that she already aspires to return to full military service.
Ori said that throughout her being held hostage, she said to herself: "I will not allow anyone to defeat me" and added, "Even when I was there, I was not afraid of them."
First published: 09:42, 12.11.23