Yesterday (Saturday) afternoon, an IDF drone carried out a targeted attack on a vehicle north of the city of Sidon in Lebanon. The target – a senior Palestinian official linked to Hamas and operating in Lebanon – was wounded, but at least two of his collaborators were killed. What distinguishes this attack is its great accuracy and distance from Israel – over 50 kilometers from the border, which signals to Hizbullah that there is no safe place in Lebanon from the IDF’s strength. This signal is especially important at this period, as border fire exchanges are escalating, and overall war seems to be inevitable.
This also echoes the IDF’s actions in Rafah over the past two days, with extensive aerial strikes against targets and individuals of all kinds and levels. Hamas and the Gazan population are with their backs to the wall in Rafah, and it is clear that for Israel the mission will not be completed before the city is filtered through by invasion and maneuver, as Prime Minister Netanyahu made clear this morning in an interview with ABC news. The action in Rafah is expected to be challenging both on the part of the civilian population and on the part of the great international pressure exerted on Israel to avoid this action – especially on the part of Egypt, which has threatened in a way that has not done for many years. We must choose and examine our actions wisely, and there is no reason to expect the IDF to storm directly from Khan Yunis into Rafah; this will have to be done at the appropriate time and circumstances for Israel.
At the same time yesterday, the IDF exposed Hamas’s “server farm,” which served as the basis for electronic action to preserve knowledge and intelligence, and for attack operations (cyber). Its finding and destruction is a mortal blow to Hamas’ technological capabilities, and has dragged the terrorist organization back in this arena by many years. The servers were located in a tunnel in the (formerly) prestigious Rimal neighborhood, near UNRWA headquarters in the Gaza Strip. It is almost impossible that the organization’s members did not notice Hamas’ actions in their back yard, which adds to the accumulation of accusations against the organization, along with the participation of its employees in terrorist activities, as has been revealed worldwide in the past two weeks.
Negotiations for the release of the hostages also hit a standstill, with Israel refusing to move forward in relation to Hamas’ excessive demands – especially the end of the siege on Gaza (including the end of the entire war), the cessation of Jewish vists to the Temple Mount, and the release of almost all terrorists imprisoned in Israel. Barnea, The chief of the Mossad, was instructed by the government to stop the discussions, and not even to attend meetings that were supposed to take place this week in Cairo, before Hamas will withdraw its demands. Israel also has red lines, and it is good to see that we stand by them.
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