Daily Recap: Hamas - Israel War October 18th, 2023 (19:00) - Day 12

Overview

• Rocket fire from the Gaza Strip toward Israel continued. In one notable case, an Islamic Jihad rocket misfired, hitting a Hospital in the Gaza Strip.
• The IDF continues to prepare air, sea and land forces for intensification of operations against Hamas in Gaza.
• Attacks along Israel’s northern border continued, with a number of anti-tank missiles fired toward Israeli territory. After each attack, the IDF responded towards the sources of fire. 

Key Links

• See our full preliminary report on the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital, including a statement by Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari
• Video of IDF strikes on a Hezbollah observation post and military infrastructure, following Hezbollah attacks on Israel
• The IDF called on the residents of the northern Gaza Strip and Gaza City to evacuate towards a humanitarian zone in the area of Al-Mawasi, south of Wadi Gaza.

Field Notes from Richard

Yesterday, a rocket fired by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad at 18:59 slammed into the parking lot of the Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza. In itself, a Gazan rocket landing in Gaza is tragic but, unfortunately common. Nearly five hundred of the almost 7,000 rockets fired at Israel - at Israeli civilians - during the course of this war have landed in the Gaza Strip.

This time, however, was different.

Hamas immediately went on a media blitz. The headlines soon followed, in the best case followed by a caveat of “says Gaza Ministry of Health”.

Make no mistake. The Gazan Ministry of Health is Hamas. And Hamas’ credentials should be poor, to say the least. The organization is recognized to be a terrorist organization by Australia, Canada, the European Union, Israel (of course), Japan, Paraguay, the United Kingdom and the United States. 

In the past two weeks alone, Hamas has gone on a murderous rampage and brutally butchered some 1,400 Israelis and abducted some 200 men, women and children into Gaza. It’s stolen fuel from the UN. It has used roadblocks to physically prevent civilians from evacuating Gaza, a city that it armed to the teeth and now shields with residents. It has engaged in psychological warfare with hostages and fired rocket after rocket at civilians. 

But it appears that these bonafides were still sufficient enough to make headlines. 

After spending hours reviewing the data - and only then - the IDF provided an initial aftermath report that refuted Israeli involvement in the strike.

In today’s wars, where Western values face off with radical organizations eager to exploit those same values as weaknesses, accuracy is key. There’s a direct tension between the accuracy we need and the speed we crave, but in a war on misinformation, settling on speed is a victory for misinformation and terrorism.

 The IDF has invested - heavily - to adapt to the terrorist tactics on display by Hamas. The media must too.

Arena Overview

Activity in Gaza

Twelve days since Hamas’ horrific attacks on Israel, the IDF continued to strike dozens of targets in the Gaza Strip, continuing to focus on Hamas military and civil leadership. Over the past 24 hours, two senior Hamas terrorist operatives were killed: Muhammad Awdallah the commander of Hamas’ anti-tank missile system in the Gaza City Brigade; and Akram Hijazi, a terrorist from the Hamas naval forces, and an arms and terror funds dealer.

Other targets included operational command centers, a number of terrorist staging grounds, anti-tank missile and rocket launch sites, military infrastructure, and Hamas tunnels.

Rocket fire from the Gaza Strip continued. In one notable case, Islamic Jihad terrorists in Gaza launched a rocket that misfired and hit a parking lot of the Al Ahli hospital in Gaza. See here for more information on the IDF’s preliminary operational and intelligence review, as well as intelligence and radar evidence

Since Hamas’ initial attack on Israel, Hamas has continuously used civilians in the Gaza Strip as human shields, regularly launched barrages of rockets and used civilian compounds for military purposes.

The IDF continues to call on the residents of the northern Gaza Strip and Gaza City to evacuate towards the area of Al-Mawasi, south of Wadi Gaza. Hamas continues efforts to prevent civilian evacuation from the area, including roadblocks, confiscating car keys, and more.

Homefront

Rocket fire continued to be fired towards the Israeli homefront. Over the past day, sirens sounded across southern Israel, Tel Aviv, and even further north. The IDF and Ministry of Defense continue the evacuation of residents in both southern Israel and those living in the area between 0-2 kilometers near the Lebanese border to evacuate to state-funded guesthouses.

After several days of combat and the mobilization of hundreds of thousands of reservists with the support of an extensive logistical effort, IDF forces continued to prepare to implement a wide range of offensive plans. Multiple reserve battalions were mobilized for defense missions in the communities in the area surrounding the Gaza Strip. One example is the 252nd Sinai Division, which is currently making preparations for wider combat operations. So far, the percentage of those reporting for duty among the reservists in the division is around 120%.

The IDF continues the difficult job of identifying casualties from the attacks on Israel. To date, 306 families have been notified about their kin falling in action. 

Northern Israel

Attacks from Lebanon along the border with Israel continued throughout the day. This included a UAV attempting to enter Israeli airspace and anti-tank missiles fired into Israel. The IDF responded to the attacks by firing at the source of the fire.