Israel SitRep: June 26, 2024

June 26, 2024 | Israel at War Situation Report

By Jonathan Schanzer, FDD

Today’s Issue: | IAF Eliminates Hamas Weapons Smuggler Wissam Abu Ishaq in Southern Gaza | IAF Kills ‘Significant’ PIJ Operative in Gaza City Airstrike | IDF Announces Arrest of Tulkarem Resident for Shooting Attacks Against Bat Hefer | Urban Warfare Expert John Spencer: ‘Israel is Winning’ | Latest FDD Analysis

IAF Eliminates Hamas Weapons Smuggler Wissam Abu Ishaq in Southern Gaza: The IDF on Wednesday announced that the Israeli Air Force, with intelligence from Aman military intelligence, carried out a targeted strike yesterday against Wissam Abu Ishaq in the southern Gaza Strip. According to the IDF, Ishaq was involved in weapons smuggling for Hamas and in recent years, conducted smuggling through the Rafah crossing and through tunnels. The IDF also reported Wednesday that overnight, IAF aircraft, directed by the Southern Command, carried out a strike in Rafah against a launch site where rockets ready for launch were being stored. In addition, IAF drones and fighter jets struck dozens of terror targets in Gaza over the past day, including terrorist squads, military buildings, and tunnel shafts.

IAF Kills ‘Significant’ PIJ Operative in Gaza City Airstrike: On Tuesday, the Israeli Air Force, directed by the Southern Command and Aman military intelligence, launched a drone strike in Gaza City against Fadi Jihad Muhammad al-Wadiya, who the IDF says was a Palestinian Islamic Jihad operative involved in missile development. According to the IDF, Wadiya possessed “unique knowledge” in electronics and chemistry. After the medical aid group Doctors without Borders (Médecins sans frontières, or MSF) announced that Wadiya worked for the organization and condemned the attack, the IDF responded, stating that Wadiya “was a significant terrorist in Islamic Jihad” and adding: “He is just another case of terrorists in Gaza exploiting the civilian population as human shields.”

IDF Announces Arrest of Tulkarem Resident for Shooting Attacks Against Bat Hefer: The IDF on Wednesday announced that on June 5, the army, in a joint operation with the Border Police undercover unit and the Shin Bet, arrested Amar Nasrallah, a resident of the Tulkarem refugee camp in the West Bank. Nasrallah is suspected of involvement in shooting attacks in May against the Israeli town of Bat Hefer, which is separated from Tulkarem by the security barrier. During his interrogation by the Shin Bet, Nasrallah confessed to being a member of a terror cell that carried out shooting attacks against Israeli towns located close to the security fence and provided information on other cell members.

Urban Warfare Expert John Spencer: ‘Israel is Winning’: John Spencer, an urban warfare expert who serves as chairman of Urban Warfare Studies at West Point’s Modern War Institute, published an X post on Wednesday analyzing the state of the Gaza war. According to Spencer, “Israel is Winning,” which he says “is measured by the ability of both sides to achieve their political goals.” In Israel’s case, he writes, the strategic goals are returning the hostages, destroying Hamas, and securing the borders. Spencer points out that Israel has brought home more than half of the 240 hostages. He adds that it has also “dismantled Hamas’s vast military capability,” as 22 of Hamas’s 24 battalions can no longer “conduct organized operations,” Hamas’s “rocket supply & production capability” has been destroyed, and many tunnels have been demolished. Lastly, he notes that Israel has secured its border with Gaza. According to the analysis, “Israel is close to bringing Hamas’s military to a completely disorganized group solely reliant on small guerrilla operations with minimal weapon supplies.” Spencer acknowledges that Israel must replace Hamas as Gaza’s governing power but adds that “Hamas has not succeeded in getting the international community to force Israel to stop.” He concludes: “Hamas is losing. War is not measured in ideologies, sentiments, or in effects.”

Latest FDD Analysis:

“The looming war so gruesome it would make Gaza look like child’s play,” Mark Dubowitz, Daily Mail

Today at 8:30am (ET): “FDD Morning Brief,” featuring Jonathan Schanzer and Saeed Ghasseminejad, FDD Event

“Day after tomorrow in southern Lebanon?” Joe Truzman and Bill Roggio, Generation Jihad (by FDD’s Long War Journal)

“Israel’s operations in Gaza are headed for a new phase,” Seth J. Frantzman, FDD’s Long War Journal

“Biden Administration Allows Iran to Run Absentee Voter Stations on U.S. Soil,” FDD Experts, FDD Flash Brief

“IDF Strikes Gaza’s Islamic University After Hamas Uses It to Launch Missiles,” FDD Experts, FDD Flash Brief

“Expert Panel Says ‘Imminent’ Famine in Gaza Never Materialized,” FDD Experts, FDD Flash Brief

“Rumors Swirl Over Hamas Move From Qatar to Iraq,” FDD Experts, FDD Flash Brief

“Hamas, Fatah Trade Blame for Postponement of Unity Talks,” FDD Experts, FDD Flash Brief

“Israeli Victims of Hamas October 7 Atrocities File Lawsuit in New York Against UNRWA,” FDD Experts, FDD Flash Brief