War Day 559: IDF Holds Control in Gaza, Gunfight at Samaria Cave

Summary: April 17, 2025

• Hamas Rejects Ceasefire Proposal: The terrorist organization Hamas has declined the most recent ceasefire offer, prolonging hostilities and humanitarian concerns in Gaza.
• Hamas Facing Financial Collapse: Due to sustained military pressure and isolation, Hamas is reportedly unable to pay its operatives, signaling a significant weakening of its operational infrastructure.
• IDF Gains Ground: The Israel Defense Forces now exercise full control over approximately 30% of Gaza, reflecting continued strategic advances.
• Rafah’s Strategic Role: Israel plans to include Rafah in a long-term buffer zone post-conflict, citing its importance in preventing future terror activity and arms smuggling.
• Counterterror Success in Samaria: Israeli forces eliminated high-profile terrorists during a gunfight in a Samaria cave, marking a notable counterterrorism achievement.
• U.S.-Israel Intelligence Leak: A significant leak has revealed sensitive cooperation between the U.S. and Israel concerning Iran, raising diplomatic and security concerns.
• Shift in Military Tactics: Israel has opted to halt commando raids in favor of a sustained, weeklong aerial bombing campaign, reflecting a change in operational priorities.

59 held captive in Gaza.
35 hostages confirmed murdered held in Gaza.
147 living hostages rescued.
49 hostage bodies rescued.
1,828 Israelis killed.
413 fallen soldiers and police in the battle in Gaza.
87 fallen soldiers in Northern Israel.
18 fallen soldiers and police in Judea & Samaria.
30,715 estimated projectiles fired at Israel.
10,000 Israelis estimated displaced from their homes.
1 Jewish nation united in prayer, charity, and good deeds.

Top Headlines:

• Hamas turns down latest ceasefire offer
• Hamas encouraged by letters, thinks they can get a full ceasefire on their own terms
• Hamas suffering—can no longer pay salaries
• IDF operating with full control in 30% of Gaza
• Rafah to remain part of buffer zone, even after war
• Fifth Shejaiya commander eliminated, along with other terrorists
• Gun fight at a cave in Samaria eliminates notorious terrorists
• Lebanon says to be workmen to disarm Hezbollah
• Major leak about Israel-U.S. cooperation over Iran
• Leak says Trump paused attacks for negotiations
• Israeli shelved commando raids in favor of weeklong bombing operation

Hostages:

Hamas rejected the latest ceasefire proposal. The basis of the proposal was the release of 10 living Israeli hostages, in exchange for a 45-day ceasefire, humanitarian aid, and terrorists released from prison.

Hamas said they won’t accept anything short of a complete IDF withdrawal from Gaza, and permanent ceasefire, which would leave Hamas armed and able to control Gaza.

Eliot Levy of Kan 11 says Hamas offered a counter-proposal matching their wishes: the release of all 59 remaining hostages, in exchange for an end to the war and large number of terrorists released from prison. While Hamas was ready to crack, they received a new bout of encouragement from a series of (mostly former) IDF reservists who signed petitions calling on Israel to accept a deal to end the war on Hamas’s terms, in order to release the remaining hostages.

In an intensive meeting, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, who is leading Israel’s negotiations, told families of hostages (in the Tikva Forum) that he assesses that it will take 3-6 months to free the remaining hostages.

Gaza:

It’s been a month since the end of the ceasefire, and return to war in Gaza. The IDF still has not entered a “full war” scenario, and is still focusing on pressuring Hamas to release the remaining hostages.

In the last month, the IDF estimates that it eliminated 350 Hamas terrorists, including 40 senior Hamas political officials and mid-level military wing commanders. During this time, the Air Force struck over 1,200 terror targets across Gaza.

Hamas is suffering from the lack of humanitarian aid to sell, and the high-level eliminations. Several of the political figures who were eliminated had been in charge of smuggling money into Gaza. There are reports that Hamas is no longer able to pay the salaries of its government officials and military terrorists.

The IDF is actively operating, and in full control of 30% of the Gaza Strip.

The buffer zone, aside from in Rafah, has nearly doubled in depth, now going around 2 kilometers into Gaza. Troops are currently working on expanding the area in the outskirts of Gaza City, where the buffer zone will now include the neighborhoods of Shejaya, Daraj, and Tuffah.

The IDF is only operating in half of the Netzarim Corridor, leaving the coastal side open for Gazans to move freely between the north and south of the strip. The IDF says they can take the remaining section at any moment.

The Morag Corridor is much bigger. IDF troops are working on widening the new corridor, which separates Rafah from Khan Younis. Rafah is now fully surrounded, and troops are working to thoroughly clear it of terrorism infrastructure. Several tunnels were found and destroyed in and near the Morag Corridor in recent days, as well as a Hamas training complex. The entire Rafah will be added to the buffer zone, up until the Morag Corridor. Defense Minister Katz says that this will be permanent, even once the war is over.

The IDF asserts that there is no civilian starvation in Gaza, and that the IDF won’t allow the situation to cone to that. Defense Minister Katz says that while there are currently no plans to bring aid into Gaza, in the future the IDF will likely set up a mechanism to deliver food directly to the civilians, without allowing Hamas to benefit.

In the last two days, the IDF hit 110 terror targets throughout Gaza. Troops located and destroyed rocket launchers, tunnels, weapons, and terrorists. While

Over the last few days, the IDF eliminated several Hamas terrorists. Some highlights include:

• Muhammad al-Ajlah, who just took her as the new commander of the Shejaiya battalion, became the 5th Shejaiya commander to be eliminated since the start of the war.
• Yahya Fathi Abd al-Qadir Abu Shaar, head of Hamas’s weapons smuggling infrastructure.
• Mazen Ibrahim Mahfouz Fara, a major PIJ terrorist who directed significant attacks on Israeli territory.
• Mahmoud Ibrahim Hassan Abu Hatzira, a Nukhba terrorist and personal military aide and right-hand man of the commander of Hamas’s Gaza Brigade. Abu Hatzira also took part in the July 2014 tunnel attack on Israel, in which 5 IDF soldiers were killed.

Judea & Samaria:

In a dramatic operation, Israeli special forces eliminated Muhammad Zakharena. Zakharena took part in the deadly January terror attack which killed three Israelis. He was found hiding in a cave near the village of Mesilia in Samaria with several other terrorists. A gun battle broke out between the terrorists and the Israeli forces—which included the terrorists launching shoulder-fired missiles at the troops. A wanted PIJ terrorist who had been released in the last hostage deal, was eliminated with Zakharena. Two other armed terrorists were taken to Israel for interrogation.

The IDF is cracking down on instances of stone-throwing. On Wednesday, terrorists threw large stones at a tourist bus in Samaria. Two American citizens were lightly injured. On Thursday the IDF eliminated two and injured one terrorist who was throwing stones.

Lebanon:

The IDF has been carrying out 1-3 airstrikes in Lebanon per day, targeting Hezbollah terrorists who violate the ceasefire agreement and pose a risk to Israeli security, and other Hezbollah infrastructure.

Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun announced that an agreement was made with the Speaker of Parliament (who is Shiite) about disarming Hezbollah. Now they need to agree on a mechanism to do so. He noted that Hezbollah won’t be absorbed as an independent division in the army—but individual terrorists can apply to join the army, and go through all the basic training.

Of course, Israel remains skeptical about Aoun’s claims, and will wait to see how it plays out.

President Aoun visited Qatar, where he met the ruler, and was promised that Qatar will be salaries for Lebanese soldiers for an additional $60 million and that Qatar will provide another 160 military vehicles to Lebanon.

Yemen:

As of today, the IDF will give an advanced warning of 3-5 minutes before a siren is activated for incoming missiles from Yemen. The warning will come through the Home Front Command app on people’s phones.

U.S. airstrikes in Yemen have intensified further. Today the U.S. hit the Houthi’s port for fuel supplies.

Iran:

The New York Times reported a leak about Israel’s plans to attack Iran. According to the report, Israel was preparing to attack in May, but U.S. President Trump halted it for negotiations.

The attack was originally planned to include Israeli commando raids in underground Iranian nuclear factories, while the U.S. bombed above ground to create distractions and give cover to the Israeli commandos. This plan was reportedly shelved, and instead plans were made for a week-long heavy bombing campaign.

The NYT says that Netanyahu’s trip to Washington in early April was to discuss the plans, and was when Trump told Netanyahu to hold off the attack on Iran, so that he could try to negotiate a deal instead.

Israeli officials told the Jerusalem Post that the leak is “one of the most dangerous leaks in Israel’s history.”

Kann News reports that Israel was surprised by the NYT report, and believes that the U.S. negotiating team may have leaked it in order to pressure Hamas into a nuclear deal.

In response to the report, and murmurs around it, PM Netanyahu’s office released a statement: “The Prime Minister has led countless overt and covert operations in the campaign against Iran’s nuclear program; it is only due to these operations that Iran does not currently possess a nuclear arsenal. These actions have delayed Iran’s nuclear program by approximately a decade, thanks to Prime Minister Netanyahu’s persistence in withstanding great opposition both at home and abroad to his vigorous policy toward Iran. As the Prime Minister has made clear more than once: Israel will not allow Iran to obtain nuclear weapons.”

His statement does not deny the report.

When Trump was asked by reporters if the reports is true, that he waved off an attack on Iran, Trump said: “I wouldn’t say waved off. I’m not in a rush to do it. Because I think that Iran has a chance to be a great country, and to live happily without death, and I’d like to see that, that’s my first option. And if there’s a second option, I think it would be very bad for Iran. And I think Iran is wanting to talk. I hope they’re wanting to talk. It’s going to be very good for them if they do. I’d like to see Iran thrive in the future.

The second round of U.S. negotiations are set to take place this Shabbat. According to Iran International, Iran has proposed a three-stage nuclear deal to the US:

Phase 1:

• Iran would temporarily reduce uranium enrichment from the current 60% to 3.67% (down to the same level as 2015 deal)
• US would allow Iran to access frozen financial assets and export oil.
  Phase 2:
• US would lift additional sanctions and prevent snapback of UN sanctions
• Iran would allow IAEA to resume nuclear site inspections and implement the “additional protocol” permitting surprise inspections of undeclared sites.
  Phase 3:
• Iran would transfer enriched uranium stockpiles to a third country
• US Congress would approve the nuclear deal
• Trump administration would lift primary and secondary sanctions

However, diplomatic sources claim that Iran’s Supreme Leader Khamenei only agreed to talks in order to “buy time” to rebuild air defenses and missile capabilities damaged by Israeli airstrikes in October.

US envoy Witkoff initially welcomed Iran’s proposal but later hardened his position, stating any agreement would require Iran to “stop and eliminate its nuclear enrichment and weaponization program.”

Meanwhile, it appears that preparations for a potential attack against Iran’s nuclear sites are still ongoing. Over the last couple days, 9 U.S. cargo planed carrying hundreds of heavy bombs arrived in Israel, including bunker busters that can be used for Iran’s underground factories.

Israel will also prepare for the possibility of an independent strike against Iran, without U.S. help, if necessary.

Other:

Smuggling issues at the Egypt-Israel border continue. Today IDF soldiers caught a drone that entered Israel from Egypt, and contained four assault rifles. Similar is occurring at the Jordan-Israel border.

This update is dedicated anonymously to bring the hostages home and in honor of the IDF.

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