Israeli soldiers killed more than 15 Hamas terrorists and arrested 10 Palestinian Islamic Jihad operatives in northern Gaza, the IDF said on Wednesday morning, Jan. 31.

The Islamic Jihad terrorists were detained during a “significant targeted raid” on terrorist infrastructure embedded at a school that the operatives were using as a hideout.

Soldiers also found five rockets ready for launch in the area. The rockets and their launchers were destroyed.

In the central Gaza Strip, soldiers killed 10 armed Palestinian terrorists in less than an hour, then killed several others spotted in the area.

In the Fati Shati area of northern Gaza and in Khan Yunis in the south, Israeli aircraft struck terrorist squads seen operating close to Israeli ground forces. Afterward, in Fati Shati, soldiers who searched nearby buildings found many weapons, military equipment and documents belonging to Hamas.

Also, in Khan Yunis, soldiers attacked a military structure Hamas used to ambush Israeli forces.

Three Soldiers Slain

The IDF death toll since the start of the Gaza ground offensive on Oct. 27 rose to 223 on Wednesday with the announcement of three additional soldiers killed in action the previous day.

Maj. (res.) Netzer Simchi, 30, from Masad in the Lower Galilee, fell in battle in the northern Gaza Strip; Capt. Gavriel Shani, 28, from Eli in the Binyamin region of Shomron, and Sgt. Maj. (res.) Yuval Nir, 43, from Kfar Etzion in Yehuda, were killed in fighting in southern Gaza.

Since the start of the war on Oct. 7, 560 IDF soldiers have been killed on all fronts.

Policeman Killed on Oct. 7,
Taken to Gaza

The Israel Police said on Wednesday that one of its officers was murdered by Hamas during the Oct. 7 terrorist invasion and his corpse was taken to the Gaza Strip.

Sgt. First Class Ran Gvili of the Yasam Special Patrol Unit in the police’s Negev district died while battling terrorists in the northwestern Negev kibbutz of Alumim.

His death brings the number of police officers slain in the war to 61.

Ceasefire Talk

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged on Tuesday not to free large numbers of Palestinian terrorists or withdraw troops from Gaza as part of a hostage deal with Hamas.

“We will not withdraw the Israel Defense Forces from the Gaza Strip and we will not release thousands of terrorists. None of this will happen,” Netanyahu told students and staff during a visit to the Bnei David pre-military academy in Eli in Shomron’s Binyamin region.

“I hear talk about all kinds of deals. I would like to make it clear: We will not conclude this war without achieving all of its goals. This means eliminating Hamas, returning all of our hostages and ensuring that Gaza never again constitutes a threat to Israel,” the premier said.

Military Admin Then Int’l Coalition Floated as ‘Day After Hamas’ Plan

Numerous ideas for the “day after” the war against Hamas have been floated by people both in and outside Israel’s government, but Maariv claims that a plan which has the prime minister’s approval involves a temporary military administration to be eventually replaced by a multinational coalition.

According to Maariv columnist Ben Caspit, the staged plan would start with a full Israeli military government in the Gaza Strip, which would manage both security and civilian affairs and take care of the transfer of humanitarian aid to the Arab population.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told lawmakers on Tuesday that the IDF will retain full security control over the Gaza Strip after the war ends, giving it the freedom to operate there similarly to the way it does in Yehuda and Shomron.

“After the war, when it’s over, I think it’s completely clear that Hamas won’t control Gaza. Israel will control [it] militarily, but won’t control it in a civilian sense,” Gallant told members of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee during a briefing at his Tel Aviv office.

“When we’re talking about military freedom of operation, look what happened tonight in Jenin,” said Gallant, referring to an IDF raid on Ibn Sina Hospital in the Shomron city on Monday. During the raid, Israeli forces killed three members of a Hamas cell planning imminent terrorist attacks, according to the IDF.

“This is military freedom of operation at the highest level, and yet we don’t control the area in a civilian sense,” said Gallant, adding that this is achievable in Gaza as well.

Per Caspit, the military administration would then be phased out in favor of an international coalition of Arab countries including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Morocco, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

The coalition would be part of a regional normalization agreement.

“It will stand behind the establishment of a new body that will be called the ‘New Palestinian Authority,’” Caspit reported.

Palestinian officials not associated with Hamas and not directly identified with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas would be employed in administrative duties.

Israel would reserve the right to act militarily in Gaza, just as it does in Yehuda and Shomron, to prevent terrorism.

After the stabilization of the Gaza Strip and the “new Palestinian Authority” proves itself, the P.A. in Yehuda and Shomron would be reformed, meaning an end to its incitement to terrorism in schools and its “pay-for-slay” program that rewards terrorists and their families.

If this phase goes well, Israel would recognize a demilitarized Palestinian state in the areas of the P.A. and even transfer additional territories to that state, provided it doesn’t require the evacuation of Jewish communities.

Last month, Netanyahu, speaking during a stormy discussion in the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Security Committee, said there is no way the Palestinian Authority would be allowed to rule the Gaza Strip in a post-Hamas world.

“Oslo was the mother of all sins. The difference between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority is only that Hamas wants to destroy us here and now, and the P.A. wants to do it in stages,” the prime minister said.

Netanyahu’s stance against a P.A.-controlled Gaza Strip is at odds with that of the Biden administration, which has taken the position that the P.A. is the best alternative.

The prime minister also said that Israel would control the Philadelphia Corridor—the border between Gaza and Egypt—and that the IDF would impose a buffer zone within the Strip between the Palestinian populations and Israeli communities.

Reconstruction of the enclave would be done by “Abraham Accords” countries, including Saudi Arabia, Netanyahu said.

Also in December, Netanyahu presented conditions for peace between Israel and the Palestinians: 1) the destruction of Hamas; 2) the demilitarization of Gaza and 3) the deradicalization of Palestinian society.