Operation Iron Swords (Updated to 1 p.m., November 14, 2023)

Overview^[1]

• The southern arena: The IDF integrated maneuver in the Gaza Strip continued. It focused on the Shati refugee camp and the Rantisi Children’s Hospital, where the IDF exposed a basement used by Hamas terrorist operatives and where Israeli hostages may have been held. Hamas still claims its operatives are inflicting losses on the IDF and that they have the upper hand. Damage to the headquarters of Qatar’s National Committee for the Reconstruction of Gaza provoked a wave of reactions from Qatar and other Arab countries.
• According to an unofficial estimate, since October 7 approximately 1,200 Israeli civilians and security personnel have been killed, 365 of them soldiers and officers; 239 civilian and military abductees are being held by the terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip. Hamas officials continue to claim that they are ready for a deal to exchange “captives” and accuse Israel of delaying it.
• The Gaza Strip: Sources in the Gaza Strip continue to report the situation is difficult. According to UNRWA, fuel reserves are running out. The Iranian Red Crescent reported financial aid from Iranian citizens to the Gazans of more than $2 million.
• The northern arena: Hezbollah attacks and IDF responses continued in the northern Israel. Hezbollah claimed Israel shot at journalists who came to cover the events. Opposition figures in Lebanon warn that Hezbollah will drag Lebanon into war.
• Judea and Samaria: Counterterrorism activities continued. One stabbing attack was carried out and another, in Tel Aviv, was prevented.
• Jordan: A call was heard to reexamine relations with Israel.

The Combat Arena

IDF activity on the ground

• The integrated ground maneuver: During the past day, IDF’s focal points included the Shati refugee camp and the Rantisi Children’s Hospital. The IDF spokesman reported that Hamas’ military-terrorist wing had established a base of in the hospital where they stored a large quantity of weapons. Several items were found in the hospital basement which could testify that abductees had been held there (IDF spokesman, November 13, 2023).
• During the IDF activity at the entrance to the al-Quds Hospital in Gaza City, a terrorist squad embedded in a group of civilians fired RPGs and small arms at the forces. During the exchange of fire, a large number of civilians left the hospital and other terrorists left nearby buildings and mingled with civilians. About twenty terrorists were killed in the incident (IDF spokesman’s website, November 13, 2023).
• IDF fighters took control of a number of symbolic government buildings, including the Hamas legislature, the government compound, Hamas police headquarters and an engineering faculty which developed and manufactured weapons. The fighters also took control of a compound that housed training complexes, operational headquarters, and interrogation and detention facilities, and where weapons and training materials were found (IDF spokesman, November 14, 2023).

   
Right: A terrorist holding an RPG launcher walks towards the hospital. Left: IDF tank attacked from the hospital (IDF spokesman’s website, November 13, 2023)

• During the ground maneuver, a tunnel shaft located in a mosque was exposed (IDF spokesman, November 14, 2023). On the morning of November 14, 2023, IDF forces raided the headquarters of Ayman Nofal, a Hamas brigade commander who was killed in IDF strikes in the Gaza Strip a few days previously (IDF website, November 14, 2023).

     
Right: Weapons found in the hospital basement. Left: A hidden tunnel in the home of a senior Hamas terrorist leading to the hospital (IDF spokesman’s website, November 13, 2023)

     
Activities of IDF forces in the Gaza Strip (IDF spokesman’s website, November 14, 2023)

• Aerial activity: During the past day, Israeli Air Force aircraft attacked about 200 Hamas terrorist targets, including operatives, weapons production sites, anti-tank missile launch sites and military headquarters (IDF spokesman, November 14, 2023). A number of Hamas operatives were killed in a targeted airstrike, including Yaqoub Ashour, head of the anti-tank unit in the Khan Yunis Brigade; Muhammad Hamis Dababesh, head of Hamas’s military intelligence and for the past two years secretary in the international relations department of Hamas’ political bureau; Tahsin Maslam, a combat support company commander in charge of the special forces in Beit Lahia; Jihad Azzam, an investigative officer of “military intelligence” in Zeitoun and Muneir Harb, head of media information in the Rafah Brigade (IDF spokesman, November 13, 2023).

     
The IDF attacks terrorist targets in the Gaza Strip
(IDF spokesman’s website, November 14, 2023)

   
The IDF attacks Hamas terrorist targets in the Gaza Strip
(IDF spokesman’s website, November 13, 2023)

• Naval activity: Israeli Naval forces attacked a military camp used by the Hamas naval units for training and weapons storage (IDF spokesman, November 14, 2023).

     
The weapons found in the camp of the Hamas naval units
(IDF spokesman’s website, November 14, 2023)

Reactions to IDF activity

• Abu Obeida, spokesman for Hamas’ military-terrorist wing, claimed Hamas continued to attack IDF forces by blowing up tanks and armored vehicles with mortar shells (Hamas Telegram channel, November 13, 2023).
• Khalil al-Haya, a member of the Hamas political bureau and head of Hamas bureau of Arab-Islamic relations, claimed the IDF had not yet recorded any real, clear military achievement, nor would it succeed in achieving one. He claimed the “resistance” [terrorist operatives] continued to attack, and what they were planning for the IDF was worse. The IDF would face “resistance fighters” [terrorists] waging guerilla warfare from alley to alley until, defeated, the IDF would be expelled, and would find Palestinians who stood behind the “resistance” and “refused to wave a white flag.”
• In response to the IDF spokesman’s statement about evidence found in Rantisi Hospital, he claimed every thinking person would ridicule the IDF spokesman’s [alleged] lies. He claimed Rantisi Hospital had been surrounded by IDF tanks and the people inside had been taken out at gunpoint. He claimed the hospital’s basement was used for “medical purposes,” and there were local residents staying in the hospital who had been displaced from their homes. He claimed the IDF spokesman had not presented any proof that the site was used for non-medical purposes. He presented weapons of unknown origin, and if there had been armed men in the basement of the hospital, as the IDF spokesman claimed, they would have taken the weapons with them. He also claimed that the IDF spokesman had indicated a place where there was a tunnel, but the tunnel was absolutely not inside the hospital, which the IDF spokesman also admitted. Khalil al-Haya said they again demanded that international officials come to the hospitals to inspect them (al-Jazeera, November 14, 2023).
• In response to the evidence presented by the IDF spokesman, senior Hamas terrorist Bassem Na’im claimed that from the beginning, Hamas had said it was prepared to have a “neutral international commission” come and inspect all the hospitals in the Gaza Strip and prove they were “free of any political or military activity.” According to Bassam Na’im, the IDF spokesman’s “false claims” would not stand up when international commissions of inquiry testified. He also claimed that the “resistance,” whose [alleged] goal was to protect the Palestinians, had “decided not to turn safe havens for Palestinians,” such as hospitals and schools, into places which threatened their security (al-Jazeera Mubasher TV website, November 14, 2023).
• Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum claimed Israel was trying to market “imaginary progress” in the Gaza Strip and wage psychological warfare against the Gazans. However, he claimed, the “resistance” was becoming stronger and waging the campaign with full awareness, understanding and ability, and “dominated the field.” He claimed that the presence of Israeli tanks in specific sites did not mean that they controlled the area, adding that the “resistance” consistently carried out “high-quality, creative operations,” destroyed tanks and APCs and was killing soldiers on all the combat fronts (Palinfo, November 13, 2023).

Reactions to the attack on the headquarters of Qatar’s National Committee for the Reconstruction of Gaza

• Hamas claimed the IDF attacked the headquarters of Qatar’s Committee for the Reconstruction of Gaza, located in the west of Gaza City. The Qatari foreign ministry condemned the attack, calling it a “flagrant violation” of international law, claiming it was part of Israel’s policy of attacking people, especially when relating to headquarters that worked to alleviate the Gazans’ suffering. The ministry emphasized the need for global mobilization to force Israel to bear responsibility for its [alleged] “crimes” and to obey international law (X account of the Qatari foreign ministry, November 13, 2023).
• Other reactions included:
  • Ahmed Abu Ziyad, spokesman for the Egyptian foreign ministry, said that Egypt condemned the Israeli attack on the headquarters of Qatar’s Committee for the Reconstruction of Gaza, claiming it was a continuation of Israel’s violations of international law. He claimed it violated “humane principles” and could not be justified. Abu Ziyad emphasized Egypt’s support for Qatar and called on the international community to take action to stop Israel’s attacks in the Gaza Strip (X account of the foreign ministry spokesman, November 14, 2023).
  • The UAE also condemned the attack, adding that preserving the lives of residents and introducing humanitarian aid were top priorities. It called on the international community to take action to prevent violence in the area (UAE News Agency, November 14, 2023).
  • The foreign ministries of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Oman condemned the attack, calling it a continuation of Israel’s ‘violations.’

Rocket fire

• Since the entry of the ground forces into the Strip there has been a significant decrease in the number of rocket launches. During the past day, several rockets were fired at the Israeli cities, towns and villages near the Gaza Strip. In the evening, a barrage of rockets was launched towards the center of the country.

     
Right: Palestinian documentation of rocket fire at Israel (Shehab X account, November 13, 2023). Left: A direct rocket hit on a house near Ashkelon (QudsN X account, November 13, 2023)

• Since the beginning of the war, about 9,500 rockets and mortar shells have been launched from the Gaza Strip at Israel. On the first day of the war, more than 3,000 rockets were fired, about 12% of them failed and fell inside the Gaza Strip and in the sea. The Iron Dome aerial defense system intercepted about 2,000 launches and dozens of unmanned aircraft which attempted to penetrate Israeli airspace (IDF spokesman, November 10 and 11,2023).

Israeli casualties

• According to an unofficial estimate, since October 7, approximately 1,200 Israeli civilians and security personnel have been killed, 365 of them soldiers and officers; 239 civilian and military abductees are being held by the terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip, 35 children and adolescents under the age of 18, 32 over the age of 65. Five abductees were released.

The issue of the abductees

• Abu Obeida, spokesman for Hamas’ military-terrorist wing, claimed Qatar was making efforts to achieve a deal to exchange Israeli abductees for 200 Palestinian children and 75 women. However, Israel asked to release a hundred women and children. He claimed that Israel was delaying a truce for the release of hostages which would include a ceasefire and permission to bring aid into the Strip (Hamas Telegram channel, November 13, 2023).
• In response to Abu Obeida, Khalil al-Haya claimed that for the past three weeks the Qataris, in cooperation with Egypt, had been conducting serious negotiations, but Israel’s delaying tactics were undermining progress. He claimed Israel back-pedaled three times when the parties were very close to signing an agreement. He also said that a list of 100 names of abductees had been given to Hamas, but they “only knew 50 of the names,” and “needed security and an end to the attacks to look for them and hand them over to the Red Cross.” He claimed Hamas was serious, and stood by its offer to release 50 minors and women in exchange for Palestinian women and children, and the number could be more than 50. It would include everyone they found with the other [terrorist] organizations and parties. Asked what was necessary to complete the deal, he said that Israel had to stop delaying and meet the following demands: a normal and secure situation in which they could “search for the abductees and hand them over to the Red Cross;” delivering aid, medicine and all the needs of the entire Gaza Strip, including the northern Gaza Strip; IDF tanks has to stay away from places where there were civilians so that a truce could last without collapsing on the first or second day. He also claimed that they would be ready to complete the deal as early as tomorrow if their demands were met (al-Jazeera, November 13, 2023).

The Gaza Strip

Palestinian casualties

• The Hamas-controlled government media information bureau reported that as of 8:30 p.m., November 13, 2023, the number of dead in Gaza stood at 11,240 and the number of wounded at 29,000 (Hamas-controlled government media information bureau in Gaza, November 12, 2023).

The situation in Gaza

• Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA general commissioner, reported that their fuel reservoirs were completely empty and their request to the IDF for fuel had gone unanswered. He stated that the current situation would worsen and that the lack of fuel might stop the operation of ambulances and hospitals in the coming days, as well as other essential services such as water desalination and waste removal (Reuters, November 13, 2023).

   
Residents of the northern Gaza Strip continue to evacuate to the south
(Wafa YouTube channel, November 13, 2023)

Aid to Gaza

• Wahid Salimi, head of the Iranian Red Crescent volunteer organization, said that the amount of financial aid provided by the citizens of Iran to the Palestinians at the end of the fifth week of the war in Gaza was more than 873 billion rials (more than $2 million). He stated that the funds were deposited in the Red Crescent accounts in two Iranian banks, whose details he provided (IRNA, November 14, 2023).

Hamas

• Isma’il Haniyeh, head of Hamas’ political bureau, spoke with Najib Mikati, the prime minister of the interim government in Lebanon. They discussed the importance of stopping Israeli “aggression” and providing rapid humanitarian aid for the residents of the Gaza Strip (Hamas Telegram channel, November 13, 2023).
• Hamas welcomed the dismissal of the British Home Secretary following her criticism of the conduct of the police at the pro-Palestinian demonstrations. According to Hamas, her dismissal after she condemned the pro-Palestinian demonstrators, was a victory for the “popular movement” in Britain, which sympathized with the “feeling of oppression” and opposed the “crimes of Israel” in the Gaza Strip. Hamas called on the free peoples of the world to escalate their activities and exert pressure on the decision makers to stop the “war of genocide” in the Gaza Strip (Hamas Telegram channel, November 13, 2023).

The Northern Arena

Lebanon

• Hezbollah’s activity continued on the northern border. In the afternoon, two IDF posts were attacked. On the night of November 13, 2023, several launches were identified from Lebanese territory at an IDF post near the border. One of the launches was intercepted by air defense fighters and the rest fell in an open area (IDF Spokesman, November 13 and 14, 2023). Hezbollah claimed responsibility for the attacks (Hezbollah’s combat information Telegram channel, November 13, 2023).
• IDF forces responded with artillery fire, attacked a launching post and a terrorist who shot at Israel. An IDF tank attacked a squad attempting to launch anti-tank missiles. In the evening and night, Israeli Air Force aircraft attacked Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure in Lebanese territory. Among the targets attacked were compounds where weapons were stored and a headquarters (IDF spokesman, November 13, 2023).

• According to Lebanese media reports, two people were killed and one was wounded in an Israeli attack in the village of Aynata in the Bint Jbeil area. The fatalities were reportedly civilians, passersby (LBCI Network; Lebanon 24 website, November 13, 2023).

Hezbollah fatalities

• Hezbollah announced the death of Ali Mahdi Saif al-Din, aka Dhu al-Fiqar, from the town of Halabta and a resident of Baalbek in the Beqa’a Valley, who was killed as a “shaheed (martyr) on the way to Jerusalem” (Hezbollah’s combat information Telegram channel, November 13, 2023).

• Lebanese media reported that Israel had attacked an area where several journalists were staying in Yaroun, south Lebanon, and that the attack caused severe damage, but there were no casualties (al-Akhbar X account, November 13, 2023). Hezbollah condemned the attack on members of the media while they were on a pre-arranged public tour in the town of Yaroun in south Lebanon. According to Hezbollah, their objective was to document Israel’s attacks and the attack against them was intended to prevent the media from showing Israel’s [alleged] “terrorist activity and crimes” (Simia, November 13, 2023).

   
The attack on journalists in the town of Yaroun in south Lebanon (al-Akhbar Telegram channel, November 13, 2023)

• Residents of the town of Ibel al-Saqi, about 9 kilometers (about .6 miles) northeast of Metulla, saw a drone suspended in trees in the town. Lebanese army soldiers and UNIFIL forces arrived at the scene to inquire about the aircraft (Lebanese News Agency, November 14, 2023).

Lebanese opposition

• Opposition sources in Lebanon continue to accuse Hezbollah of wanting to drag Lebanon into a war which the country would not be able to afford. They said it was unacceptable that the destruction in the Gaza Strip would be repeated in Lebanon and Hezbollah could not be allowed to drag the country into war at the expense of the Lebanese. They accused Hezbollah of implementing Iran’s interests under the guise of an imaginary identification with the Gaza Strip. They reiterated that solidarity with Gaza did not mean sacrificing Lebanon. Therefore, according to the sources, their message to the Arab summit was that Hezbollah had to be deterred; the organization’s hold in Lebanon had to be lifted; and they had to be committed to international resolutions, particularly Security Council Resolutions 1559, 1680 and 1701, and keep Lebanon free of conflicts (al-Joumhouria, Lebanon, November 14, 2023).

Judea, Samaria, and the Palestinian Authority

Stabbing attack

• On November 14, 2023, a Palestinian attempted to stab IDF soldiers at a military post at the Beit Einun junction, north of Hebron; he was shot and killed (Judea and Samaria Rescue, November 14, 2023). The Palestinians reported the death of Muhammad Abd al-Majid al-Halaiqa, 20 years old, from Shiyukh (northeast of Hebron) (Wafa, November 14, 2023).

Terrorist attack prevented

• On November 2, 2023, a stabbing attack near the Savidor train station in Tel Aviv was prevented. Two 14-year-old schoolboys from Umm al-Fahm, armed with knives, were arrested by police after raising suspicion. Questioning revealed that they had left their home with school bags on the morning of the incident and boarded a bus to Tel Aviv with the intention of stabbing soldiers. They got off the bus in the Namir Road area, put their school bags aside and hid the knives on their bodies (Israel Police Force spokesman’s unit, Israeli media, November 13, 2023).

Preventive and counterterrorism activities

• Israeli security forces detained 36 Palestinians, 18 of them Hamas operatives. During the activity, a violent disturbance ensued, during which rocks and burning tires were thrown at the forces, who responded with gunfire (IDF website, November 13, 2023). Since the beginning of the war in the Gaza Strip, about 1,700 wanted Palestinians have been detained, about 950 of them Hamas terrorist operatives (IDF spokesman’s website, November 14, 2023). In the past day, the Palestinians reported eight fatalities, seven of them were in the Tulkarm refugee camp and one at the Beit Einun Junction (north of Hebron) (Wafa, November 14, 2023).
• Israeli security forces operated in the Tulkarm refugee camp, where they uncovered IEDs placed along the roads intended to attack the forces. During the activity. IDF aircraft attacked an armed terrorist squad that shot at them and threw IEDs (IDF spokesman’s website, November 14, 2023). The Palestinians reported seven dead and 12 wounded during exchanges of fire and clashes with Israeli security forces (ministry of health in Ramallah Facebook page, November 14, 2023).

     
Right: The activity of the Israeli security forces in the Tulkarm refugee camp (Shehab X account, November 14, 2023). Left: An IED detonated during an Israeli security force activity in the Tulkarm refugee camp (QudsN X account, November 14, 2023)

• Before dawn on November 14, 2023, Israeli security forces demolished the apartment of Muhannad Shehadeh, a Hamas terrorist operative who was involved in the shooting attack at the gas station near Eli on June 20, 2023, in which four Israelis were killed (IDF spokesman’s website, November 14, 2023).

    
Right: Demolition of the terrorist’s house (IDF website, November 14, 2023). Left: Attack on the terrorist squad in Tulkarm (IDF website, November 14, 2023)

Death of a pri∞soner

• The Israel Prison Service reported the death of a security detainee who felt ill and was evacuated to the prison clinic for examination. The detainee, born in 1990, a resident of Samaria, arrived in prison in February 2023 (Walla! website, November 13, 2023). In response, Zaher Jabarin, who holds the prisoners’ portfolio in Hamas, issued a statement claiming that Israel was committing “serious crimes” against the prisoners in the prisons, which have reached the point of “execution”, and that minister Ben-Gvir included the execution of prisoners in his plans (Palinfo, November 13, 2023).

     
A demonstration in Ramallah demanding a boycott of Israeli products, attended by senior Fatah figure Sabri Sidam (QudsN X account, November 13, 2023)

Palestinian Authority

• Riyadh Mansour, the Palestinian Authority’s representative to the UN, sent three identical communiqués to the UN secretary general, the president of the Security Council and the president of the General Assembly, in which he stressed that “Israeli aggression” had to be stopped. He also said it was important for the Security Council to unite and demand a ceasefire and an end to “the forced expulsion and collective punishment against the Palestinian people” (Wafa, November 14, 2023).
• Mahmoud al-Aloul, deputy chairman of Fatah, claimed that the Israeli government had created the war and was now taking revenge on the Palestinians. He also said they had warned the international community about the current Israeli government. Al-Aloul also said that it made no sense to discuss what would happen after the war before talking about ending it (Mahmoud al-Aloul’s Facebook page, November 13, 2023).

Iran

• Fada-Hossein Maliki, a member of the Majles National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, said in an interview that the Arab and Muslim countries had to unite and impose a ceasefire on Israel as soon as possible. Maliki called the Arab-Muslim summit in Riyadh “important and unprecedented,” but noted that the summit discussions were insufficient and practical steps had to be taken to protect the Palestinians and their rights in international forums (Mehr News Agency, November 14,2023).
• Ramazan Sharif, Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps spokesman, said Israel’s attempt to present a hospital to public opinion as Hamas headquarters and claim that it had taken over the organization’s headquarters after taking over the hospital was a joke. He said the United States bore the main responsibility for the continuation of the Israeli attacks and for the inability to establish a ceasefire and deliver humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. He claimed the presence of American military advisers and British media advisers alongside Israel in the war could not be denied (Tasnim, November 14, 2023).

Activity of pro-Iranian militias

Iraq and Syria

• The attacks on American military bases continued. In two separate announcements, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq claimed responsibility for an attack on a base in the Omar oil field area in Syria and a drone attack on the al-Qarya al-Khadraa base in Syria (Islamic Resistance in Iraq Telegram channel, November 14, 2023).
• Akram al-Kaabi, secretary general of the pro-Iranian Nujaba (“nobles”) militia in Iraq, congratulated the “heroes of the Islamic resistance in Iraq” who attacked Eilat and hit their target. He said Israel and its partners needed to know that they were capable of more and that they would pay the price for their “crimes against the people of the Gaza Strip” (Akram al-Kaabi’s X account, November 13, 2023).
• According to an “American military source,” during the past day, American Army forces in Syria were attacked at least four times by drones and rockets. The source noted there were no casualties and only minor material damage had been caused (Reuters, November 13, 2023).

Yemen

• Abd al-Malik al-Houthi, leader of the pro-Iranian Houthi movement, claimed that missiles and drones had been launched at Israel, stressing that if the Yemenis had a direct border with Israel, hundreds of thousands of Yemenis would have stormed Israel. “The Israeli occupation is committing the cruelest crimes against the Palestinian people,” he claimed. He also condemned the Arab League and the countries of the recent Islamic summit in Saudi Arabia, claiming they had been “uninterested” and unable to take serious action against Israel (al-Mayadeen, November 14, 2023).

The Arab Arena

Jordan

• Ahmed al-Safadi, speaker of the Jordanian parliament, called on his country’s judicial committee to reexamine the agreements signed with Israel. The Jordanian parliament approved the call “unanimously.” Al-Safadi demanded that the committee file a complaint with the International Court of Justice to investigate Israel’s “war crimes” in the Gaza Strip (al-Mamlaka, November 13, 2023).
• Ayman al-Safadi, Jordanian foreign minister, said in an interview that Hamas did not create the conflict, but rather it was the conflict that had created Hamas. He also said the war would not bring Israel security or bring peace to the region, and the longer it lasted, the greater the possibility that it would spread (al-Mamlaka, November 13, 2023).

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