Results of the war between Israel and Hamas: what happened on the 391st day? – Israel News

On a deadly day in the north on Thursday, Hezbollah killed seven people in two separate rocket attacks in open areas.

In the first incident five people An Israeli farmer and four foreign workers were killed in the agricultural region of Metulla. A sixth person was seriously wounded by shrapnel.

In the second incident A 60-year-old woman and her 30-year-old son were killed by shrapnel in an olive grove near the Gilam junction west of Haifa. A man in his 70s suffered minor injuries.

Those wounded from both attacks were evacuated to the Rambam Medical Center in Haifa.

In total, Hezbollah fired about 25 rockets, the IDF said.

The attacks came as the IDF tried to portray its latest efforts to reduce the threat of Hezbollah drones in a more positive light.

Magen David Adom (MDA) paramedics treat a wounded man hit by shrapnel from an intercepted Hezbollah rocket in northern Israel, October 31, 2024. (Photo: MDA REPRESENTATIVE)

Reducing Hezbollah’s firepower

The military said this happened destroyed about 70% of the group’s dronesmainly after the escalation of attacks in mid-September.

They also claimed to have killed a full 10% of Hezbollah’s drone operators, as well as the commander of the entire unit. The IDF further stated that it killed a Hezbollah drone commander in the North Litani area and destroyed 54 positions where the drones were held.

It also said it destroyed 24 detection or operational support facilities associated with Hezbollah drone units, as well as dismantled eight drone assembly centers, six underground bases associated with drones, and seven drone storage centers.

Despite these significant numbers, the IDF shoots down drones at a lower rate than missiles, and drones have killed and wounded a large number of soldiers and civilians over the course of the war, with 231 out of 1,300 not being shot down.

Stay up to date with the latest news!

Subscribe to the Jerusalem Post newsletter

Although this percentage of kills exceeds 80%, the percentage of missiles shot down is closer to 90%.

All of these developments with Hezbollah take place against the controversial backdrop of growing expectations for a ceasefire, on the one hand, as well as escalating IDF airstrikes against Hezbollah in Baalbek, several kilometers into Lebanon, on Wednesday and Thursday.

Although the IDF had carried out periodic targeted airstrikes in the Baalbek area since early 2024, this was only the second time the IDF called for a mass evacuation and then bombed the area.

To date, the IDF’s main focus has been on southern Lebanon, and parts of Beirut have also been heavily damaged since mid-September.

The Israel Defense Forces also announced Thursday that it had obtained vital information during interrogations at Unit 504 of hundreds of Gaza terrorists last month, as well as from an unspecified number of Hezbollah terrorists.

The Jerusalem Post further learned that the defense establishment as a whole wants to move closer to a ceasefire on both fronts, not believing much more can be achieved militarily and is frustrated by the daily loss of soldiers.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant have increased pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to negotiate a ceasefire in Gaza that will return the remaining 101 living and dead Israeli hostages held by Gaza terrorist groups.

Speaking at the officers’ graduation ceremony, both senior defense officials said time is of the essence for the return of the hostages, which most officials believe will happen, if at all, through the deal with Hamas.

At the same time, defense sources still want to confirm that Hezbollah will – at least publicly – commit to withdrawing north of the Litani River, which has been Israel’s main position since the start of the war.

In addition, Israel will want to ensure that it has the right to independently violate such a withdrawal without the need to obtain permission from UNIFIL, which has been considered extremely ineffective for about 18 years.

Separately, six Lebanese medical workers were killed and four wounded in Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon on Thursday, Beirut’s health ministry said.

The total number of medical workers killed by Israel since October 2023 has risen to 178 and 279 wounded, the ministry added.

The IDF had not yet responded to the allegations at the time of publication, but had alternately denied some such incidents or confirmed some incidents, accusing Hezbollah of deliberately fighting and attacking Israeli civilians.

The air force also struck weapons depots used by Radwan Hezbollah forces in Syria’s Qusayr region, near the Syrian-Lebanese border, the military said on Thursday.

The statement said the attack was specifically organized by IDF intelligence.

The military said it was carrying out the strikes to cut the flow of weapons from Iran to Hezbollah via Syria.

The IDF noted that Hezbollah’s ammunition unit recently intensified its activities in the border town as part of efforts to establish logistics infrastructure in the area.

The military said its strike in Syria was part of a wider operation to target the terrorist group’s 4400 unit, which involved transfers of weapons from Iran.

“With the support of the Syrian regime, the terrorist organization Hezbollah is endangering the safety of Syrian and Lebanese civilians by establishing command centers and forces in civilian areas in both countries,” the IDF said.

Earlier on Thursday, Reuters reported that civilians were wounded in a suspected Israeli strike in the area, which targeted the city’s industrial zone as well as residential areas.

Last week, the air force struck Hezbollah infrastructure at the Syrian regime-run Jusieh border crossing in the northern Bekaa region of Lebanon.

In Gaza, the IDF continued to conduct various airstrikes, and Divisions 162 and 252 continued to fight small groups of Gazan terrorists, especially in Jabaliya in northern Gaza.

With the IDF still attacking Gaza terrorists in northern Gaza, it was unclear what agreement had or had not been reached between the US and Israel regarding the humanitarian situation there.

In mid-October, the United States threatened to freeze arms sales if the humanitarian situation in northern Gaza did not improve significantly.

Reuters contributed to this report.