Overnight (Thursday), the IDF eliminated Muhammad Hasham Zahedi Abu Al-Rus, a Nukhba force terrorist who took part in the Nova festival massacre on October 7th, at the direction of IDF and Shin Bet intelligence.
In other joint IDF and ISA activities over the last day, the IAF conducted strikes against approximately 50 terror targets across the Gaza Strip, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists, military compounds, weapons storage facilities, launch posts, weapons manufacturing sites, and observation posts.
The IDF took numerous steps prior to the strikes to mitigate the risk of harming civilians and civilian infrastructure, including the use of aerial surveillance, precise munitions, and additional intelligence.
The hostage deal which is meant to include a ceasefire of a month and a half in its first phase is now stuck in limbo, as Hamas has reportedly made new demands regarding the identity of prisoners to be released as a condition for the release of 33 of the hostages.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he was informed of this new effort to add last minute demands early this morning by the negotiating team in Doha. President Herzog said that this new condition involved "stubborn negotiation" over a "very significant" element of the proposed hostage deal.
The mediators to the hostage deal have told press outlets that the problem is "solvable," and the Qatari Prime Minister, who declared the start of the hostage deal, has even flown out to a visit with the Syrian leader Julani, in a sign of confidence that the deal has been secured.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Netanyahu is in "fevered" talks with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to try and keep his and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir's party from leaving the government and the coalition over the deal, which would leave him dependent on a precarious "safety net" of votes from opposition parties.
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