Press Briefing by IDF Spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari November 17th, 20:15

Good Evening and Shabbat Shalom,

IDF troops directed by precise intelligence from the ISA, located the body of Noa Marciano, may her memory be a blessing. Noa was kidnapped by the Hamas terror organization on October 7th and her body was found in a building near the Shifa hospital. Finding the bodies of Noa and Yehudit, was made possible by the operation of the forces on the ground who relentlessly pursued their mission, putting themselves at risk, to locate the hostages. Tonight, our hearts are with the Marciano family, as they are with all the families of all the hostages. I can’t imagine the extent of the pain and uncertainty the families are going through. Our hearts are with you and our hearts are with your loved ones. We have a deep moral obligation to continue to act and do everything, everything, to bring the hostages home and to uncover any new detail regarding them. We promise that when we have any new details or information regarding them, we will inform the families and afterwards inform the public through the press. We will not withhold any information, we will share all the information we have.

We continue our operational activity in the Shifa hospital to locate underground infrastructure. Today we located additional underground terror infrastructure and we continue to gather information regarding the hostages. Our forces are operating in the area and investigating the operational terror shafts that were found in the hospital. Over the past day, we secured the Al-Burkan outpost. The Al-Burkan outpost is a Palestinian Islamic Jihad outpost with a factory for production of rockets and weapons. Inside the outpost, our forces located a very large rocket, of the Bader 3 type, parts of UAVs, alongside intelligence materials and many weapons. We destroyed all the terror infrastructure, destroying the outpost, killing the terrorists inside it.

Fighting in Gaza requires combat in a complex environment, which requires time. We are determined and continue to advance to kill terrorists and continue to destroy underground terror infrastructure and to demolish all remaining underground terror infrastructure of the Hamas terror organization in the area.

In the north, fighter jets struck military targets belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organization in Lebanon. These included terror infrastructure, a weapons storehouse, and a military building. This was in response to fire that burned two houses in Manara, injuring four people. We also struck a terror cell we detected in Lebanese territory, and we struck the origin of the launches towards our territory. We are alert and on a very high level of preparedness, ready to respond to anything in the north.

In Judea and Samaria, IDF troops are positioned throughout the region and are thwarting terror both defensively and offensively. IDF reservists killed two terrorists that fired towards them in the Hebron area.

I emphasize: the Home Front Command instructions must be complied with. The instructions save lives. Please continue to follow the instructions and be updated regarding the instructions on all the various sites.

So far, we have notified the families of 372 IDF fallen soldiers who fell in combat. May their memories be a blessing. We will continue to accompany and to embrace the families. Over the past days, and especially leading up to the weekend, there has been an increased logistical effort in the IDF to supply the forces in the Gaza Strip with all the necessary equipment: hot and fresh food, new uniforms, winter equipment, personal hygiene necessities, and personal equipment. The Logistical and Technological Directorate, together with the Southern Command, are working together to protect and to provide whatever they can to ensure the forces on the ground have the best conditions possible, also on Erev Shabbat (the Eve of the Sabbath). On Erev Shabbat, as families in Israel sit around the sabbath table, IDF soldiers mark the sabbath in the Gaza Strip. They are fighting for our home, thanks to your incredible resilience, the strong families on the Home Front.