Israel At War Monday Nov 20

 Israel at war day 45  refresh page

11:00pm

- 2 more soldiers killed in Gaza bringing death total to 68. Identified as Arnon Moshe Avraham Benvenisti Vaspi, 26, from Yesod HaMa'ala, and  Ilya Senkin, 20, from Nof HaGalil, 

- Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh to Reuters: We are approaching reaching truce agreement and Hamas has delivered its response to Qatari officials

- Mark Levin: The Israeli government is becoming too accommodating of Biden and Blinken. The Israelis were horribly brutalized. Their girls were raped. Their babies were murdered. And although there’s a lot of lip service from the Biden regime that it stands with Israel it does not. Indeed, the outcome they seek is to reward the Palestinians with another state but one that includes not just Gaza but Judea and Samaria. This is a grotesque exploitation of the Jewish state. Israel is not fighting to give the Palestinians another country carved out of Israel’s ancestral land. And the antisemitic US State Department does not give a damn about Israel’s sovereignty and borders. The Israeli government must push back. 

And by the way, Biden and Blinken gave visas to the Iranian government killers and the Chinese government killers to come to our country but now target the “settlers” in Judea and Samaria, threatening them that they won’t receive visas to come to the US if they defend themselves.

- United airlines suspends pilot withbpay while investigationbis foing on after the "Stop antisemitism" social media posted about Ibrahim R Mossallam is a United Airlines pilot who stated on an October 7th Facebook post the massacre in Israel that left 1400 people dead, women raped, and babies burned alive was "resistance by brave people". This is abhorernt @united - how can Jewish passengers feel safe… (DansDeals)

- The IDF  has seen a number of incidents of so-called “friendly fire” during fighting in the Gaza Strip, some of them with deadly results, according to Israeli security sources who spoke with Times of Israel. There are currently thousands of infantry forces, tanks, and other troops, operating in Gaza City’s dense neighborhoods. The military has said it is constantly assessing the ongoing fighting, including the cases of friendly fire, and quickly implementing lessons learned.

- A meeting took place between the families of the kidnapped hostages with the War Cabinet some family members said it was "A huge disappointment. We were told clearly that the two goals of destroying Hamas and the return of the hostages go together and there is no prioritization."

- IDF allowing reservists to head back home

- Red cross official meets hamas in Qatar ahead of hostage deal

White House spokesperson John Kirby says, “We’re closer now to a hostage deal than we’ve been before,” with regard to reaching a deal to secure the release of some 240 hostages of all ages from Gaza. Kirby declines to elaborate any further regarding the details. US President Joe Biden affirmed earlier today that he believes a deal is closer than had been possible previously as well.

- Hostage deal details include the release of 6-70 israeli citizens women and children Hamas claims they are not holding all hostages and will work on finding their locations when Israel will hold a 5 day ceasefire. Israel will release over 100 prisoners 

- Yemen's Houthis have released footage of yesterday's hijacking of a civilian ship in the southern Red Sea with a helicopter landing on the ship as terrorists get out with guns holding up the crew

- Israel will be operating in southern Gaza soon, but the operations in southern Gaza will be more "targeted.": Israeli official tells ABC news

- Massive rocket barrage being fired over southern and central Israel right now.

- IDF says it probed 300 terror suspects and that other Gazans offering intel willingly

-Germany prepares to take in refugees from the Gaza Strip

- IDF base in north damaged by rocket fire; military hits Hezbollah targets in Lebanon

- Sirens sound in a number of southern cities and towns, warning of incoming rocket fire. It is the first time in 24 hours that long-range rockets have been fired from the Gaza Strip. That previous barrage also targeted Ashkelon.

- Three more soldiers killed in the northern Gaza Strip, bringing the death toll in the ground offensive against Hamas to 66.

 Eytan Dishon, 21, from Yerushalayim, Dvir Barazani, 20, from Yerushalayim, Yinon Tamir, 20, from Pardes Hanna-Karkur HY"D

-Israeli warplanes are likely to intensify bombing of Khan Younis and Rafah, the south’s densely packed urban areas believed to be honeycombed with Hamas tunnels, like Gaza City in the north. That will likely be  followed with ground troops advancing from multiple directions, isolating Hamas strongholds and slowly clearing them of fighters above ground (wsj)

- Negotiations continue for a hostage deal Hamas will release up to 50 hostages in small groups through the Rafah crossing that will include all children in return Israel will release 140 prisoners with a pause in the war