From the Liveblog of
Sunday, January 14, 2024
IDF says it has killed more than 9,000 Hamas operatives in Gaza since start of war
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
The Israel Defense Forces has published a large data set with information on its operations in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and Lebanon, from the number of terror operatives killed, to the number of sites struck.
According to the data, more than 9,000 Hamas operatives and fighters of other terror groups have been killed by the IDF in the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the war, in addition to some 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7. The Hamas-run health ministry has said over 23,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, which includes both civilians and Hamas members.
The IDF’s data says the military has killed two Hamas brigade commanders and 19 battalion commanders and other senior officials with an equivalent rank. More than 50 Hamas company commanders and operatives with a similar rank have also been killed, according to the data.
In Lebanon, the IDF says it has killed more than 170 terror operatives, mostly members of the Iran-backed Hezbollah.
Some 30,000 targets have been struck in the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the war, including more than 3,400 that were discovered as Hamas sites during the fighting. In Lebanon, some 750 Hezbollah positions have been hit, according to the IDF’s data.
Since the beginning of the war, some 9,000 projectiles fired from Gaza crossed the border into Israel, another 2,000 from Lebanon, and around 30 from Syria.
The IDF says the Military Intelligence Directorate’s Unit 504 has interrogated some 2,300 Palestinian suspects in the Gaza Strip, some of whom were arrested and brought to Israel for further questioning.
A total of 7,653 trucks ferrying humanitarian aid entering the Gaza Strip have been inspected by Israeli authorities at the Nitzana and Kerem Shalom crossings. The IDF says the trucks have carried a total of 137,920 tons of aid.
The IDF has also made 79,000 phone calls, dropped 7.2 million leaflets, sent 13.7 million texts and 15 million recorded calls to Palestinians in Gaza with evacuation warnings.
Since October 7, in the West Bank, the IDF says troops have arrested more than 2,650 wanted Palestinians, including more than 1,300 affiliated with Hamas. It says 40 brigade-level raids have been carried out, and 14 homes of Palestinians accused of terrorism have been demolished.
According to the IDF’s data, a total of 295,000 reservists have been called up since the beginning of the war. Of them, around 45,000 are serving despite receiving an exemption from reserve duty.
The IDF says the nearly 300,000 reservists have been on duty for an average of 61 days.
Men make up 81 percent of the reservists, with the other 19% women. 115,000 of the reservists are fathers, and some 3,000 are mothers. Half of the reservists are between the ages of 20-29, with 31% being between the ages of 30-39. Another 13% are aged 40-49, 5% aged 50-59, and 1% aged 60-69.
A total of 522 soldiers, reservists and local security officers have been killed and another 2,536 have been wounded since October 7. Of them, 188 were killed and 1,113 were wounded during the ground offensive in Gaza.
The IDF has also listed 19 soldiers killed due to friendly fire in Gaza, and another 36 by accidents during the war, including car crashes and military-related incidents.
