Israel SitRep: August 16, 2024

FDD | August 16, 2024

Today’s Issue: | IDF Spokesman: Army Has Improved Readiness, Preparing to Strike in ‘Lebanon, and in All Arenas’ | IAF Destroys Some 30 Gaza Targets in Past Day | Analysis: IDF Making Significant Progress in Destroying Hamas Military Capabilities | COGAT: 11 Field Hospitals Operating in Gaza, Three More Being Established | Latest FDD Analysis

IDF Spokesman: Army Has Improved Readiness, Preparing to Strike in ‘Lebanon, and in All Arenas’: In a Thursday evening press briefing, IDF spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari stated that the IDF is gathering intelligence and is preparing to strike “in the skies of Lebanon, and in all arenas,” adding that the military has “improved and increased” its readiness in the past week. He noted that as of now, there is no change in Home Front Command guidelines, adding that if there is, the army will provide an immediate update. Turning to Gaza, Hagari mentioned that IDF operations are ongoing in central Gaza and in Khan Younis and Rafah, both in southern Gaza. In the past week, Hagari said, the IDF destroyed some 50 tunnels near the Philadelphi Corridor, which runs along the border between Egypt and Gaza. Some, he said, are not “active tunnels,” and some are “very old,” but the IDF is working to destroy them all. In addition, the IDF has so far eliminated more than 17,000 terrorists in Gaza.

IAF Destroys Some 30 Gaza Targets in Past Day: The IDF reported on Friday that over the past day, the Israeli Air Force has destroyed some 30 targets throughout the Gaza Strip, among them terrorist infrastructures and terror squads. In addition, last night, troops from the 98th Division, operating in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, used artillery fire against the area from which rockets were fired yesterday at Kibbutz Kissufim, near the Gaza border. Paratrooper Brigade soldiers who raided a building in the area found weapons, including explosives and shoulder-launched missiles. In a joint operation between the IAF and the 98th Division, drone strikes eliminated several terrorists, including drone operators. In central Gaza, the Israeli Navy killed several terror operatives who posed a threat to soldiers, while troops from the 10th (Harel) Brigade eliminated several terrorists in a drone strike and located tunnel shafts in the past day.

Analysis: IDF Making Significant Progress in Destroying Hamas Military Capabilities: In an analysis published on Friday, Nir Dvori, defense correspondent for Israel’s Channel 12, writes that according to defense sources, the military is making significant progress in weakening Hamas’s hold in Gaza and destroying its military capabilities. According to the IDF’s most recent figures, some 17,000 Hamas operatives have been killed, which Dvori says is “critical damage” to the group’s combat capabilities. He notes that senior Hamas figures are among those killed, including Muhammad Deif and Marwan Issa, adding that their deaths are a blow that will likely make it much harder for Hamas to regroup. Dvori states that 22 of the 24 Hamas battalions in Gaza have been almost completely dismantled, adding that this “reflects the depth of the IDF’s penetration of the complex defense systems the group built over the years.” In addition, according to intelligence estimates, Hamas’s weapons stockpile is now less than 10 percent of the pre-war figure, which “substantially changes the balance of power.”

COGAT: 11 Field Hospitals Operating in Gaza, Three More Being Established: On Thursday, COGAT, the Israeli entity coordinating humanitarian aid for Gaza, wrote that 11 field hospitals have been set up in the strip and three more are being established. The International Committee of the Red Cross established a field hospital in May, which has treated 18,584 patients, carried out nearly 800 surgeries, and delivered close to 100 babies. COGAT noted on Friday that the previous day, 26 people requiring medical treatment left Gaza for Jordan through the Kerem Shalom and Allenby Bridge crossings, in a move initiated by the U.S. government in cooperation with Jordan. As of Wednesday, 3,397 sick people from Gaza had gone abroad for treatment.

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