A three-man terror cell had infiltrated the Judea community of Adora; all three terrorists were killed by Israeli forces.

(JNS)

An Israel Defense Forces soldier was shot and moderately wounded on Friday in the Jewish community of Adora in Judea.

According to the military, a reservist guarding the community had responded to an alert in the community’s industrial zone.

“When the soldier arrived, he was hit by the terrorists’ gunfire,” the IDF said.

The victim, aged 34, sustained a bullet wound to the leg and was evacuated to the hospital fully conscious and in stable condition.

After a short manhunt, security forces tracked down and killed the three Palestinians, all of them teenagers with no prior security offenses.

Security forces found a M-16 rifle, several knives and fire bombs on the bodies of the terrorists.

“We have been warning about this scenario for several months already. Entire communities are located close to nests of terror, without sufficient security barriers,” said Yesha Council chairman and head of the Gush Etzion Regional Council Shlomo Ne’eman.

“There are unfenced communities without security elements, and we can’t always rely on miracles…. Therefore, the most important issue at the moment is to include the budget for security and reinforcement in Judea and Samaria in this year’s core budget,” he added.

Image: An Israel Defense Forces soldier was shot and moderately wounded during the infiltration by three Palestinian terrorists of the Jewish community of Adora, located in Judea, Jan. 12, 2024. Credit: TPS.

IDF intelligence: Hamas spent ‘tens of millions’ on Gaza terror tunnels

“We will never let the world forget the hostages being held by Hamas since Oct. 7,” the IDF spokesman said.

(JNS)

Hamas spent tens of millions of dollars, which was intended for the Gaza Strip, building underground terrorist infrastructure, the Israel Defense Forces said on Thursday evening, citing intelligence findings.

Hamas “opted to invest precious resources in building terrorist infrastructure used to harm Israeli civilians and IDF forces, while cynically exploiting the civilian population in the Gaza Strip,” the military said.

An analysis of tunnel shafts discovered since the start of Israel’s ground operation in the coastal enclave last year shows that Hamas diverted at least 6,000 tons of concrete and 1,800 tons of metal to build “hundreds of kilometers” of underground infrastructure, added the statement.

The IDF’s search for terror tunnels is aided by a trove of intelligence seized by soldiers, including 65 million digital files and half a million physical documents, the IDF said late last year.

In some cases, soldiers found large sacks belonging to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The sacks were filled with sand, possibly intended to stabilize tunnels before concrete layers were added.

In a seven-minute video summary of the first three months of its military offensive, the IDF noted that “with the outbreak of the war, representatives from Israel, the United States, Egypt and the United Nations convened to create a large-scale humanitarian aid operation focused on maximizing the amount of aid transported into Gaza.”

“Israel is fully committed to facilitating and supporting all humanitarian efforts by the international community, while working to free the Israeli hostages and dismantle Hamas, and with it, bring hope for a better future for the people of the Middle East,” per the video.

Earlier on Thursday, the IDF said it expanded its operations in the southern Hamas stronghold of Khan Yunis in the past 24 hours, exposing a vast tunnel network used by the terrorist group to hold hostages.

“The tunnel was connected to an extensive underground tunnel network beneath a civilian area in the city,” the army said. “Millions of shekels are estimated to have been invested in excavating the tunnel and equipping it with air ventilation systems, electrical supply and plumbing.”

Following an investigation, the IDF confirmed that some Israeli hostages had been held captive in the tunnel. They were held in cages, some 60 feet underground, per a CNN report that cited Brig. Gen. Dan Goldfus, commander of the IDF’s 98th Division.

During his daily press briefing on Thursday evening, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the IDF spokesman, switched to English, as he addressed the plight of the 136 hostages still held by terrorist organizations in the Strip.

“We will never let the world forget the hostages being held by Hamas since Oct. 7. ‘Never again’ is our call to action. Because ‘Never again’ is now,” Hagari told reporters.

“It is important to remember that we are fighting a just war like no other—a war that the enemy started by choice and knowingly, during which he committed crimes against humanity and cruel acts that the Western world has not seen for decades,” he added.

Some 3,200 Israeli troops serving in Gaza have required treatment in the field by IDF Medical Corps soldiers, the army said on Thursday, noting that more than 400 nurses, 53 of whom are women, are participating in the ground operation, as of last week.

IDF medics applied at least 470 combat tourniquets, gave 60,150 units of blood and approximately 100 plasma transfusions, in addition to evacuating hundreds of soldiers, the IDF said.

Image: Israel Defense Forces soldiers operate in the Gaza Strip, Jan. 9, 2024. Credit: IDF.

More than 300 tunnel shafts were located in the Hamas stronghold in southern Gaza.

(JNS)

The Israel Defense Forces expanded its operations in Khan Yunis both above and below ground in the past 24 hours, exposing a vast terror tunnel beneath the southern Gaza City used by Hamas to hold hostages.

“The tunnel was connected to an extensive underground tunnel network beneath a civilian area in the city. Millions of shekels are estimated to have been invested in excavating the tunnel and equipping it with air ventilation systems, electrical supply and plumbing. After investigating the tunnel, it can be confirmed that Israeli hostages had been inside the tunnel,” the IDF said on Thursday morning.

To date, the official number of hostages still being held by Hamas is 136, some of whom are believed to have been killed in captivity. The terror group abducted 240 people during the bloody Oct. 7 rampage across the northwestern Negev in which 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were murdered and thousands more wounded. One hundred and ten hostages, mostly women and children, were released in November as part of a ceasefire agreement.

Hamas’s senior leader in the Strip, Yahya Sinwar, who masterminded the Oct. 7 massacre, is believed to be hiding in the Hamas stronghold of Khan Yunis, where he has reportedly surrounded himself with a large number of living hostages.

More than 300 tunnel shafts have been located in Khan Yunis since the start of the IDF’s ground operation on Oct. 27, some of which lead to significant tunnels, tactical shafts, weapons storage facilities and combat areas, according to the army.

“So far, more than 100 tunnels have been destroyed and put out of use, in which, among other things, terrorists were eliminated,” the army said.

After two weeks of intense fighting, IDF troops on Wednesday gained control over the southern Gaza town of Khirbat Ikhza’a, a strategic focal point of Hamas terrorist activity near Khan Yunis, the military said.

Located less than a mile from the border with Israel, Khirbat Ikhza’a served as the staging area from which Hamas terrorists attacked the communities of Nir Oz, Nirim and Ein Hashlosha on Oct. 7.

Soldiers of the IDF’s 5th Brigade combat team destroyed Hamas infrastructure and killed dozens of Hamas terrorists during “Operation Oz and Nir,” which was launched in late December. In addition, some 40 attack tunnels were discovered and destroyed, the IDF said.

Nir Oz, a once-thriving community of 400 people, was among the hardest hit on Oct. 7. One in every four residents was either killed or kidnapped.

Image: Israeli forces during Gaza ground operations, Jan. 11, 2024. Credit: IDF.

“That’s shocking,” Jake Tapper said of the health organization’s response to a request to get medication to Israeli captive Doron Steinbrecher.

(JNS)

CNN anchor Jake Tapper interviewed Dor Steinbrecher, the brother of hostage Doron Steinbrecher, a nurse and veterinarian from Kibbutz Kfar Aza, who told him that a Red Cross worker had dismissed a concern from their mother for needed medication, rebuking the family that they should be more concerned about Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

On Monday, Steinbrecher described his 30-year-old sister’s experience on the morning of Oct. 7. He told Tapper how she called their mother and cried, saying she was lying under her bed in a safe room after attempting to barricade the door. “She thought it would be enough; it wasn’t,” Dor said.

“Have you any evidence that she’s still alive? Are there photographs or other hostages that have been freed who saw her?” Tapper asked.

“No, unfortunately, no,” answered Dor, who lives outside the kibbutz. “All the hostages who came back, no one [has seen] her in Gaza. We didn’t have any sign of life for her.”

Tapper responded, “Well, that doesn’t mean she’s not alive … they’re all separated. Your sister takes medication daily, and I know your parents reached out to the Red Cross to help ensure that she’s able to get that medication. What did the Red Cross have to say?”

Dor said that his sister needs her medication daily and suspected that she has not taken it since Oct. 7. “My mom had a few minutes with the Red Cross and she told them my sister need[s] to get her medicine. And they told her that we should care more about Arab people on the other side.”

Tapper asked to clarify the Red Cross statement saying that the Steinbrecher family “should care more about the people in Gaza.”

Dor responded: “Yeah. And less about our beloved one who didn’t get her medicine.”

Tapper then sought to confirm the story, saying “Wait a second. So your sister takes medication every day. She was taken hostage. She’s a civilian; she was taken hostage by Hamas three months and a few days ago. … And your parents told this to the Red Cross in the hope they would be able to get the medication to her. … And their response was, ‘You should be more concerned about the people of Gaza?’”

Dor affirmed Tapper’s summary, prompting the CNN anchor to say, “That’s shocking,” leaving himself speechless for a moment.

Tapper concluded the interview on another note, asking Dor for his message to individuals around the world, particularly in the United States, who tear down posters of the hostages.

“I want them to know not just about my sister, each one of the hostages in Gaza, they are just citizens, most of them pulled out of their beds on Saturday morning, and taken to Gaza, with no reason,” Dor said before he paused for a moment. “I want them to try and imagine that all of the hostages in Gaza—the babies, the woman, the grandfathers—it’s their family members, their family beloved ones which need their help. And then think about why they did with the hostages posters.”

Image: Dor Steinbrecher is interviewed by Jake Tapper on “CNN,” about his sister, 30-year-old Doron Steinbrecher, who is being held captive in the Gaza Strip by Hamas, Source: Screenshot.