Israel News for 1-16-2024
News Update
At least 50 rockets were fired at the southern city of Netivot today. Some damage was caused, but no injuries. The rockets were fired from an area in central Gaza, from where IDF troops withdrew just yesterday.
IDF Soldiers killed in Gaza:
Sgt. First Class (res.) Nitzan Schessler, 21, 55th Brigade’s 7155th Battalion, from Hadera.
Sgt. Major (res.) Noam Ashram, 37, Reconnaissance Platoon 5352 of Brigade 179, from Kfar Saba.
The French Embassy in Israel announced that Qatar and France have begun a joint operation to transfer medication to 45 hostages. The medications are limited to treatments for chronic diseases.
Hamas said that hostages Yossi Sharabi and Itay Svirsky were dead, claiming that they were killed by IDF fire. The IDF denies the claim. The 2 hostages appeared in a video released by Hamas a couple of days ago, which also included hostage Noa Argamani.
IDF troops engaged in a gunfight with 20 drug smugglers attempting to cross the Egyptian border from Sinai. One smuggler was killed and several others hit, all on the Egyptian side of the border. One IDF soldier was lightly injured.
According to the Association of Contractors and Builders in Israel, almost 50% of the building sites in the country are shut down because of a severe shortage of labor. Around 100,000 Palestinians worked in the industry, but they have been barred from entering Israel since Oct. 7. Also, several thousands of foreign workers, mainly from Moldova and China, have left the country since Oct. 7. For more, click here.
