War
IDF soldiers on Gaza street torn up to neutralize hidden bombs
The war in Gaza continues into the fourth month. So far 227 Israeli soldiers have died since Israel’s incursion into Gaza on Oct 27th. Israel was responding to a Hamas invasion of Israel on Oct 7th when some 3,000 Hamas soldiers and supporters swept into Israel at 22 locations in a well-planned and well-executed attack that knocked out Israeli communications, and eight defense positions.
The Hamas soldiers then raided kibbutzim, moshavim and Israeli cities near the border leaving over 1200 massacred, some left headless, some raped and burned, and taking over 240 hostage.
Israel called up reserve soldiers but was overwhelmed by the number of reserve soldiers who appeared at their units without receiving the ‘tzar shomna’ the call up announcement. Over 360,000 soldiers were put in the field to fight Hamas in the South and also rushed to the North to insure that the Iranian back Hezbollah militia in the north did not invade from Lebanon.
According to the IDF spokesman’s office, Israel has destroyed 18 out of 24 Hamas brigades in Gaza as well as destroying their means of communications.
Israel is reportedly wrapping up actions in the north and center of Gaza and will now focus on the Rafah area in the south.
The move into Rafah is touchy since it borders Egypt. Egypt is concerned that Gaza refugees pushed into Rafah will pour into the Egyptian Sinai. A move, according to Ynetnews, that may endanger the Egyptian-Israeli peace agreement.
In a report in The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was "especially alarmed" by reports of a possible offensive in Rafah.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Israel has informed Egypt that there are still 12 smuggling tunnels from Egypt into Gaza, something that Israel said it will not allow to continue since these tunnels are used to supply Hamas with arms and supplies.
Rafah has UN tent camps housing hundreds of thousands of refugees who have fled the battles in north Gaza.
According to military sources, the war in Gaza is expected to last “a long time."
Gaza
Rooms in Gaza tunnel, left with weapons, center tunnel, right holding cell.
According to the IDF spokesman, and reports on Israeli Media, the IDF has found tunnels beneath Khan Younis that were described as Hamas’ strategic headquarters. Also found were safes with documents outlining Hamas plans, lists of members, and financial accounts. Some of the members in the lists were UNRWA employees. And records were discovered showing that Iran had provided over $160 million to Hamas.
Bag of Israeli Shekels found in Gaza tunnel office
According to the Times of Israel, IDF spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari says that in the same underground complex, troops located a safe and additional bags containing more than NIS 20 million ($5.5 million) in cash.
Hagari also said that troops have found millions of dollars in Hamas sites across the Gaza Strip. Also found were envelopes with Hamas’ Gaza head Yeheh Sinwar’s name on them.
One analysts wondered why the money wasn’t used to buy food and medicines for the residents of Gaza rather than claiming poverty and that the Gazans were starving.
Another pundit asked why Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas’ Politburo who resided in luxury in Qatar and was reportedly worth over $5 billion, didn’t help alleviate the problems of hunger and poverty in Gaza with some portions of his vast wealth.
A conundrum was pointed out by Ynetnews, reporting that one of Haniyah’s nieces had gone to Soroka hospital in Beer Sheva to give birth. Reportedly, the wasn’t the first Haniyeh relative to make use of the Israeli health system. Other sisters and nieces of Haniyeh have also been listed as patients.
In a raid on an apartment in Khan Younis the IDF found a UN vest worn by UNRWA workers, and two rifles used by Hamas, in a closet.
Protesters against aid to Gaza at Kerem Shalom crossing
Aid to Gaza residents is also still a factor. But families of the hostages have been mounting a concerted campaign to prevent aid shipments from entering Gaza. One protester said, ‘Why should they have aid? Let them release the hostages, and we’ll stop our protests.”
Gen (ret.) Giora Eiland told Israel Radio that he sided with the protesters. He thought it against a successful strategy to allow aid to the enemy.
South
Rockets fell along the Gaza border settlements on Thursday, the first time in three days. Rockets also fell in the town of Sderot. No property damage or injuries were reported.
According to a Channel 12TV interview with Gaza settlement representative Chaim Yalin, without schools and municipal services the residents would not return to the settlement block. This, even though those evacuated over four months ago are yearning to find a better solution than staying in hostels and hotels, no matter how luxurious the accommodations. Most of the evacuees were assigned one room per family.
North
Soldiers walk along Lebanese border fence
Hezbollah continues firing from Lebanon into the upper Galilee, which has been largely evacuated. This week rockets again hit the city of Kyriat Shmona, the resort town of Metulla, and a number of kibbutzim and moshav along the border. Representatives of the residents say they will not return until they feel safe in their homes.
A channel 12TV mini-documentary showed reserve soldiers in the elite Golan Alexandroni battalion, made up exclusively of reserve soldiers. Many of the soldiers interviewed have been in the north since Oct 7th, and are still on duty.
Some of those interviewed were self-employed and have lost their businesses. Almost all are married. One soldier interviewed had six-children at home, including a newborn. According to IDF regulations he could have opted out of reserve duty with that many children, but didn’t.
All said they were there for as long as it took. One soldier said that the morale was high. The soldiers all believed they were there protecting Israel from a Hamas-like raid from the North that would result in hundreds if not thousands of Israelis killed.
The conditions were difficult. Soldiers tread through mud on their patrols, slept in two-man tents, the kind campers used, barely off of the mud with tarps covering a few tents in a group.
“We had a big army tent. But Hezbollah hit us with a missile. One of the squad was killed. Since them we’ve spread out.”
The TV reporter asked, “Didn’t they mind the cold, the mud, the difficult conditions? “No,” a few answered. “That’s what we have to do to protect our people, so that’s what we do.”
When asked if they were concerned about a possible order to cross into Lebanon and confront Hezbollah head-on, the soldiers said they were looking forward to the encounter. “We want to go on the offense,” one said, “not stay on the defense.”
The IDF has said that once the war in Gaza is over then the government would turn their forces onto driving Hezbollah back beyond the Litani river. Even if that meant going to war with Hezbollah.
According to Israel Radio’s Reshet Bet, Hezbollah fired two rockets at Mt. Hermon on Thursday, one taken out by the Iron Dome, one fell in open space. Ynetnews reported that according to the Army Spokesman’s Office, rockets were fired into the upper Galilee town of Kyriat Shmona. Three IDF reserve soldiers were reported injured, one seriously.
According to the Times of Israel, the Kan public broadcaster, that includes Channel 11TV and Reshet Bet radio among other stations, notes that the reports of Israeli fighter jet and drone activity over the Lebanese capital comes as General Hassan Awde was named as the new chief of staff of Lebanon’s military.
Hezbollah commander’s car hit near Lebanese border
And, according to the Times of Israel, Hezbollah commander Abbas al-Debes and two companions were in a car hit by an armed drone, assumed to be Israeli, seven kilometers from the Lebanese/Israeli border. There is no confirmation of the condition of those inside the vehicle.
Also, in Baghdad, a US drone strike hit a car in the Iraqi capital Wednesday night, killing three members of the powerful Kataeb Hezbollah militia, including a high-ranking commander. This reportedly was in retaliation for an armed drone strike on a US base that killed three US soldiers.
Hostages
Families of hostages demonstrating in Tel Aviv
Cease-fire talks are reportedly going on in Cairo between Israel and Hamas. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken returned to Israel on Wednesday for the seventh time since the war began. This visit came on the heels of a counter-offer by Hamas with demands needed to be met before more hostages were released.
According to Reuters, this offer was in response to a proposed outline sent last week by Qatari and Egyptian mediators and backed by the United States and Israel.
Hamas now demands a 135-day three stage ceasefire, the release of 1500 Palestinian prisoners including Hamas operatives captured in the war, and 500 prisoners serving life sentences. All leading up to an Israeli commitment to end the war.
In exchange Hamas would slowly release hostages over the 135-day period. Israel’s response was that many of the Hamas conditions were unacceptable. PM Netanyahu called the counter-offer ‘delusional.’
Netanyahu and the IDF believe that only military pressure will secure the release of the Israelis being held captive in the Gaza Strip.
According to Israel Radio’s Reshet Bet on Thursday, a Hamas spokesman has said that the offer was reasonable but was open to negotiations.
Zvika Mor, father of hostage Eitan Mor said Israel should not make a deal with Hamas at any cost. He is part of the Tikva group of hostages that he says represents more than 50 percent of the families. He said they first wanted proof of life before any agreement is reached.
However, the IDF reported on Wednesday that they’d discovered that 32 of the 136 hostages held by Hamas were no longer alive. A New York Times reported said they’d discovered that an additional 20 hostages were also dead, bring the number of hostages still alive to about 80.
Families of the hostages demonstrate daily saying that every day brings the danger of another hostage dying. One mother pitched a tent on the Ayalon highway in central Tel Aviv and said she wouldn’t leave until her son was brought home. The police appeared on the scene but decided to allow her to stay, blocking a lane, by setting up barricades to protect her.
Another mother interviewed said she wanted her son to return alive not in a body bag.
The IDF released footage on Wednesday showing what they called the quarters of “Senior” Hamas operatives in the tunnels beneath Khan Younis.
The quarters included cells where hostages were held twelve at a time.
The USA is also strongly suggesting that a revised Palestinian authority replace the one now in Ramallah run by 87-year-old Mohammed Abbas. And the establishment of a Palestinian state including Gaza and the West Bank.
West Bank
Israel keeps up the pressure on terrorism in the West Bank, trying to prevent a new Intifada (uprising) with frequent raids on refugee camps, cities, and villages, searching for and arresting wanted terrorists.
An IDF raid in the Nur-al-Shams refugee camp near Tulkarem on Wednesday led to a firefight in which two terrorists were killed.
Meanwhile, the US has slapped sanctions on four Israeli settlers accused of violent behavior towards Palestinians. The sanctions included the freezing of any assets in the United States and freezing bank accounts in Israel.
Settlers watching fires in Huwara
According to Ynetnews, Israel’s banks agreed to the sanctions because of a concern that “anyone who assists someone subject to sanctions may themselves be considered a violator of the sanctions. The consequences for a bank considered to be violating sanctions can be disastrous, such as being cut off from the international payment system.”
One of the four sanctioned was David Chai Chasdai. He reportedly led a settler rampage on the town of Huwara following the terrorist shooting of two Israelis driving through the town. Chasdai appeared to confirm the reports that his account at Bank Hadoar was frozen, telling the Walla news site he was ‘happy to be on the US black list’ but that he hoped the bank would “correct the injustice and release my money.”
According to the Times of Israel, “The sanctions imposed on the four Israeli settlers represent a significant escalation in the Biden administration's policy against Israel, marking the first time the U.S. has imposed sanctions on Israeli citizens for actions taken in Israel, which should have been addressed by Israel's legal authorities.
The implication is that the United States is expressing a lack of confidence in Israel's ability to enforce the law in the West Bank autonomously. Imposing sanctions sends an extremely problematic message to Israel, as it suggests that its law enforcement system in the West Bank is ineffective.”
Also, according to the Jewish Telegraph Agency, Arik Ascherman, an American-born Reform rabbi and former longtime leader of the group Rabbis for Human Rights, has been indicted for obstructing troops in the West Bank.
Ascherman has reportedly clashed for years with Israeli security personnel and right-wing settlers, and has himself been the victim of attacks. Ascherman was escorting a Palestinian shepherd from his village to a nearby West Bank city when he was stopped by soldiers who refused to allow the shepherd to pass.
According to the charging document, one of the two soldiers Ascherman is accused of obstructing is Hanoch Ganiram. Ganiram himself was charged in 2015 with an arson attack on Jerusalem’s Dormition Abbey in addition to other acts of arson and violence against Palestinians.
Ascherman called the indictment “a chance to clear my name… and also a chance to shine the spotlight on what is really going on more than ever before in terms of cooperation between security forces and settlers in the West Bank.”
He said the incident occurred at the beginning of the war when Israeli soldier’s “passions were off the charts."
Red Sea
US warship firing at Houthi targets
According to the US Department of Defense, U.S. and British forces launched a series of proportionate strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen in response to continuing attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
The Houthis have launched more than 30 attacks on commercial vessels and naval vessels since mid-November, according to the Department of Defense.
The combined forces hit 36 Houthi targets across 13 locations in Yemen in response to the Houthis' attacks against international and commercial shipping, as well as naval vessels transiting the Red Sea. "These precision strikes are intended to disrupt and degrade the capabilities that the Houthis use to threaten global trade and the lives of innocent mariners,” according to the Department of Defense communique.
Analysts say that now these allies must wait to see if Iran will respond to their attacks on Iranian-backed Houthis. “They’re calling Iran’s bluff,” said one analyst.
Anti-Semitism
French ceremony marking Oct 7th massacre
France held a ceremony commemorating those Israelis lost on Oct 7th. Ynetnews reported that “In a solemn address in the courtyard of the majestic Invalides Memorial building in Paris, French president Macron described the October 7th attack as "barbarism... which is fed by antisemitism" and vowed not to give in to "rampant and uninhibited antisemitism".
And Javier Milei, the new President of Argentina, arrived in Israel on Tuesday in support of Israel. He wore “Bring Them Home” dog tags as he exited the plane at Ben Gurion airport.
Later the Argentinian president met with PM Netanyahu, and announced he was moving the Argentinian embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Also, a rabbi who had been involved with the British Jewish community said that King Charles was very much in favor of Israel and the Jewish community. The rabbi related how then Prince Charles gave an emotional speech at a gathering in a London synagogue even quoting Ramam and other sources. The rabbi only hoped that King Charles survived his recent cancer diagnosis since it seemed that his next in line, Prince William, did not share King Charles’ positive feelings towards the Jewish people and Israel.
British lawmakers with ‘Bring Them Home’ dog tags.
And on Wednesday, according to the Times of Israel, Dozens of British parliamentarians wore dog tags calling for the release of hostages held by Hamas during the Prime Minister’s Questions in the House of Commons
Politics
Secretary of State Blinken meets PM Netanyahu
Prime Minister Netanyahu needs the war to keep going, said one pundit, otherwise he’d have no excuse not to appear in court and face his trial of three indictments for fraud, corruption and breach of trust. Netanyahu’s attorneys have successfully argued he can not take off time from his pressing duties managing the war to appear in court.
Also, during the recent visit of Secretary of State Blinken, Blinken reportedly asked to meet with Israel’s Chief of Staff Herzi HaLevi. Netanyahu’s office told the Chief of Staff he was not to meet with Blinken.
Also on Wednesday, PM Netanyahu told a press conference that ‘Absolute victory is within reach.”
However, during his visit, Sec. of State Blinken held a press conference and said that, “Israelis were dehumanized in the most horrific way on October 7th …the hostages have been dehumanized every day since. But that cannot be a license to dehumanize others.”
The US has been critical of civilian deaths in the war on Gaza.
Recently, former Chief-of-Staff Gen. Gadi Eisenkott, second to Gen. Benny Gantz in the National Unity party, both observers in Netanyahu’s war cabinet, has called for early elections.
Netanyahu has not been in favor of this move since even Eisenkott’s poll numbers show he would defeat Netanyahu in a new election. Gantz and Eisenkott’s party, with other like-minded parties, would bring nearly 70 seats to a new Knesset compared to Netanyahu’s 42 seat coalition.
According to Kan radio on Thursday, Eisenkott told his National Unity party colleagues that “The prime minister is procrastinating…he does not consult and he does not make decisions on crucial issues,” Eisenkott said. Adding that Hamas was benefiting from this inaction.
“Netanyahu is not deciding who will replace Hamas and this is leading to the fact that about 60% of the aid [entering Gaza] is ending up in the hands of Hamas,” Eisenkott said.
Public Opinion
One observer said to a friend that he thought that Hamas had won the war as soon as they broke through the Israeli border fence on Oct 7th. However, he conceded that Israel might still win the war “if they can lay their hands on Sinwar.”
Why only Sinwar? asked the friend. What’s with (Hamas leaders) Haniyeh in Qatar and Mashal in Lebanon?
Good point, said the observer. Maybe this will be like going after Eichman, or the murderers of the Munich Massacre. Time will tell.