π️Lonny's War Update- October 246, 2023 - June 8, 2024 π️
π️Day 246 that 120 of our hostages in Hamas captivity
**There is nothing more important than getting them home! NOTHING!**
“I’ve never met them,But I miss them. I’ve never met them,but I think of them every second. I’ve never met them,but they are my family. BRING THEM HOME NOW!!!”
There is no victory until all of the hostages are home!ΧΧΧ Χ Χ¦ΧΧΧ Χ’Χ Χ©ΧΧ ΧΧΧΧΧ€ΧΧ ΧΧΧΧͺ
In a very daring and dangerous operation, 4 hostages were rescued from captivity in Gaza- Noa Argamani, Almog Meir Jan, Andrey Kozlov and Shlomi Ziv- It's been a long time since we had such good news. They have all been reported in good health.
The Police and Border Police announced that Commander Arnon Zmora of the Elite 'Yamam' Anti Terrorism Special Forces of the Police was wounded in the operation and died of his injuries. May his memory be a blessing.
Red Alerts - Missile, Rocket, Drone (UAV - unmanned aerial vehicles), and Terror Attacks and Death Announcements
*8:25pm last night - north - hostile aircraft- western Galilee*1:15am- north - rockets/ missiles Netua, Shtula*5:30am - north - rockets/missiles - Birya, Tsfat, Norther Golan Heights*5:30am- north- hostile aircraft - upper Galilee*10:45am - north - rockets/missiles Zra'it and Upper Galilee*11:40am - north - hostile aircraft - Avivim, Baram, Yiron*4:30pm - north - A “suspicious aerial target” identified off the coast of Nahariya in northern Israel was successfully intercepted by air defenses, the military says.
No sirens sounded “according to protocol,” and there are no reports of damage or injuries, the IDF adds.
*5:30pm - north- rockets/missiles- Mevo'ot Hermon, Ramot Naftali
*7:15pm - north -rockets/missiles- Kiryat Shemona, Tel Hai, Kfar Yuval, Maayan Baruch, Hagoshrim
Hostage Updates
The Hostage and Missing Families Forum commends the IDF on their “heroic operation” to rescue four hostages from the Gaza Strip.
The heroic operation by the IDF that freed and brought home Noa Argamani, Shlomi Ziv, Andrey Kozlov, and Almog Meir Jan is a heroic triumph. Now, with the enormous joy all over Israel, the Israeli government must remember its commitment to bring back all 120 hostages still held by Hamas - the living for rehabilitation, the murdered for burial. We continue to call upon the international community to apply the necessary pressure on Hamas to accept the proposed deal and release the other 120 hostages held in captivity; every day there is a day too far. link
Noa Argamani reunited with her family. She later went to Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv to be reunited with her mother, Liora who is suffering from Stage 4 brain cancer. Liora's only wish was to see her only daughter again before she dies.
Rescued hostage Almog Meir Jan raises his hands in celebration as he is escorted from an IDF helicopter on arrival at Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, June 8, 2024. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)An Israeli military helicopter with released Israeli hostages arrives at Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, June 8, 2024 (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
The stories of the four rescued hostages
Here is a look at the four hostages rescued this morning in a special military operation in central Gaza.
Noa Argamani, 25, was seen in a famous video screaming in fear as she was abducted to Gaza from the Supernova party on a motorbike. Her mother, who is terminally ill, had repeatedy begged to see her before she died.
Almog Meir Jan, 21, was released from army service three months before his capture. He too was taken from the party.
Andrey Kozlov, 27, was working as a security guard at the rave when he was captured. He is a new immigrant to Israel, having moved here about a year and a half ago.
Shlomi Ziv, 40, was also working as part of the security detail at the desert party. Ziv had gone to the party with two others, Aviv Eliyahu, his wife’s relative, and Jake Marlowe, a friend. Both were killed.
At least 50 Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes on Nuseirat and other areas in central Gaza amid the rescue of the four Israeli hostages, a health official in the Hamas-run enclave tells Reuters. The IDF carried out the daring rescue operations under intensive fire. There is no immediate word on how many of the Palestinians reported killed were terror operatives.
Senior Hamas official, Sami Abu Zuhri, tells Reuters that “regaining four captives after nine months of fighting is a sign of failure not an achievement,” in response to the military operation rescuing hostages in the Gaza Strip.
It is the third time security forces have managed to rescue hostages alive in the Gaza Strip.
Four Israeli hostages were rescued alive from Hamas captivity Saturday in a daring daylight operation in the central Gaza Strip, the military announced.
Noa Argamani, 26, Almog Meir Jan, 21, Andrey Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 40, had been abducted from the Supernova music festival near the community of Re’im on the morning of October 7, when some 3,000 Hamas-led terrorists killed 1,200 people and took 251 hostages in a murderous rampage in southern Israel.
Officers of police’s elite Yamam counter-terrorism unit, along with Shin Bet agents, simultaneously raided two Hamas buildings in the heart of central Gaza’s Nuseirat, a joint statement said. Argamani was rescued at one site, while Meir Jan, Kozlov, and Ziv were at the second location. Hundreds more soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces participated in the operation, according to the military.
Israel Defense Forces Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said the hostages were rescued by special forces while “under fire.” A Yamam officer was seriously wounded, police said.
Amid the operation, heavy airstrikes were carried out in the area against Hamas sites and in support of the ground troops, the military said. Hamas health authorities reported at least 50 Palestinians were killed, without noting how many were combatants.
The rescued hostages, who had been in Hamas captivity for eight months, were all in good condition, according to initial medical assessments. They were taken by helicopters from the Strip to hospitals in Israel for further evaluation. “During the operation, we struck… threats to our forces in the area. These threats were struck from the land, air, and sea… for us to extract our forces [and the hostages],” Hagari said in a press conference. Nuseirat is one of the few areas of Gaza where ground troops had not yet maneuvered into during the IDF’s ground offensive against the Hamas terror group.
Hagari said that the rescue had been in the works for “many weeks,” with “quality intelligence and complex operational planning.” “The intelligence for this operation was very complex to obtain,” he said.
It was the third successful operation of its kind since October 7. The first was the rescue of soldier Ori Megidish in late October. In early December, the IDF attempted to rescue another hostage, but he was killed. And in February, hostages Fernando Marman, 61, and Louis Har, 70, were rescued from southern Gaza’s Rafah. link This was a magnificent operation and one that we needed so badly but this should not be viewed as the model for bringing home the rest of the 120 hostages. In 8 months, we have only had 7 hostages brought home by military operations. The only was we can get the other 120 hostages home is with a hostage deal.
Families of abductees in a statement at Shaar Begin Lakria: "There are still 120 abductees in the hell of Gaza. The only way to return them all is only through a deal!" • Matan Tsengauker's mother on the operation to free the 4 abductees: imagine what will happen when they all return • Ila Metzger, the late Yoram's daughter-in-law: until this moment we have not had a visit or a phone call from the Prime Minister - the abductees don't have time, we can't release them all in the operations, we have to Go to a deal that will save a life
Here is a look at the four hostages rescued this morning in a special military operation in central Gaza.
Noa Argamani, 25, was seen in a famous video screaming in fear as she was abducted to Gaza from the Supernova party on a motorbike. Her mother, who is terminally ill, had repeatedy begged to see her before she died.
Almog Meir Jan, 21, was released from army service three months before his capture. He too was taken from the party.
Andrey Kozlov, 27, was working as a security guard at the rave when he was captured. He is a new immigrant to Israel, having moved here about a year and a half ago.
Shlomi Ziv, 40, was also working as part of the security detail at the desert party. Ziv had gone to the party with two others, Aviv Eliyahu, his wife’s relative, and Jake Marlowe, a friend. Both were killed.
At least 50 Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes on Nuseirat and other areas in central Gaza amid the rescue of the four Israeli hostages, a health official in the Hamas-run enclave tells Reuters. The IDF carried out the daring rescue operations under intensive fire. There is no immediate word on how many of the Palestinians reported killed were terror operatives.
Senior Hamas official, Sami Abu Zuhri, tells Reuters that “regaining four captives after nine months of fighting is a sign of failure not an achievement,” in response to the military operation rescuing hostages in the Gaza Strip.
It is the third time security forces have managed to rescue hostages alive in the Gaza Strip.
Four Israeli hostages were rescued alive from Hamas captivity Saturday in a daring daylight operation in the central Gaza Strip, the military announced.
Noa Argamani, 26, Almog Meir Jan, 21, Andrey Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 40, had been abducted from the Supernova music festival near the community of Re’im on the morning of October 7, when some 3,000 Hamas-led terrorists killed 1,200 people and took 251 hostages in a murderous rampage in southern Israel.
Officers of police’s elite Yamam counter-terrorism unit, along with Shin Bet agents, simultaneously raided two Hamas buildings in the heart of central Gaza’s Nuseirat, a joint statement said. Argamani was rescued at one site, while Meir Jan, Kozlov, and Ziv were at the second location. Hundreds more soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces participated in the operation, according to the military.
Israel Defense Forces Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said the hostages were rescued by special forces while “under fire.” A Yamam officer was seriously wounded, police said.
Amid the operation, heavy airstrikes were carried out in the area against Hamas sites and in support of the ground troops, the military said. Hamas health authorities reported at least 50 Palestinians were killed, without noting how many were combatants.
The rescued hostages, who had been in Hamas captivity for eight months, were all in good condition, according to initial medical assessments. They were taken by helicopters from the Strip to hospitals in Israel for further evaluation. “During the operation, we struck… threats to our forces in the area. These threats were struck from the land, air, and sea… for us to extract our forces [and the hostages],” Hagari said in a press conference. Nuseirat is one of the few areas of Gaza where ground troops had not yet maneuvered into during the IDF’s ground offensive against the Hamas terror group.
Hagari said that the rescue had been in the works for “many weeks,” with “quality intelligence and complex operational planning.” “The intelligence for this operation was very complex to obtain,” he said.
It was the third successful operation of its kind since October 7. The first was the rescue of soldier Ori Megidish in late October. In early December, the IDF attempted to rescue another hostage, but he was killed. And in February, hostages Fernando Marman, 61, and Louis Har, 70, were rescued from southern Gaza’s Rafah. link This was a magnificent operation and one that we needed so badly but this should not be viewed as the model for bringing home the rest of the 120 hostages. In 8 months, we have only had 7 hostages brought home by military operations. The only was we can get the other 120 hostages home is with a hostage deal.
Families of abductees in a statement at Shaar Begin Lakria: "There are still 120 abductees in the hell of Gaza. The only way to return them all is only through a deal!" • Matan Tsengauker's mother on the operation to free the 4 abductees: imagine what will happen when they all return • Ila Metzger, the late Yoram's daughter-in-law: until this moment we have not had a visit or a phone call from the Prime Minister - the abductees don't have time, we can't release them all in the operations, we have to Go to a deal that will save a life
Gaza
Shortly after Israeli forces freed hostages Noa Argamani, Andrey Kozlov, Shlomi Ziv, and Almog Meir on Saturday, Hamas published a statement from the terror organization’s leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in which the arch-terrorist asserted that Hamas would not surrender.
“Our people will not surrender, and the resistance will continue to defend our rights in the face of this criminal enemy,” Haniyeh reportedly said. “And if the occupation believes that it can impose its choices on us by force, it is delusional, and the movement will not agree to any agreement that does not achieve security for our people first and foremost.”
In the statement, the Hamas leader asserted that the Israeli military was engaging in massacres of the Palestinian people in Gaza. link Haniyeh, of course did not mention the rescue of the 4 hostages in Hamas' continued efforts to make Israel look bad and them look like the saviors of the Palestinian people.
The IDF says it is bolstering forces to secure the US-built floating pier on the coast of the central Gaza Strip, known as JLOTS, which is due to resume operations in the coming days. The pier is used to bring humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, though it has seen several setbacks, including falling apart last month.
During operations in the southern Gaza Strip, the IDF says troops raided and demolished a Hamas training compound in west Rafah’s Tel Sultan neighborhood. Also in the Tel Sultan area, the IDF says troops killed several terror operatives, located tunnels and seized weapons. Tel Sultan is one of four Hamas battalions in the terror group’s Rafah Brigade. So far, as IDF operations have focused along the Egypt-Gaza border, the Yabna Battalion, located in the south of the city, has sustained the most damage.
Meanwhile, the IDF says its operation in east Deir al-Balah and east Bureij in the central Gaza Strip continues, with strikes being carried out against dozens of sites used by terror groups and cells of gunmen. One strike against a group of terror operatives adjacent to a tunnel shaft resulted in several rockets being fired. The IDF says the rockets impacted near the tunnel and there were no injuries among Israeli forces.
Troops also continue to operate in the Netzarim Corridor in the central Gaza Strip. The IDF says a strike was carried out in the area recently against a mortar-launching cell.
Shortly after Israeli forces freed hostages Noa Argamani, Andrey Kozlov, Shlomi Ziv, and Almog Meir on Saturday, Hamas published a statement from the terror organization’s leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in which the arch-terrorist asserted that Hamas would not surrender.
“Our people will not surrender, and the resistance will continue to defend our rights in the face of this criminal enemy,” Haniyeh reportedly said. “And if the occupation believes that it can impose its choices on us by force, it is delusional, and the movement will not agree to any agreement that does not achieve security for our people first and foremost.”
In the statement, the Hamas leader asserted that the Israeli military was engaging in massacres of the Palestinian people in Gaza. link Haniyeh, of course did not mention the rescue of the 4 hostages in Hamas' continued efforts to make Israel look bad and them look like the saviors of the Palestinian people.
The IDF says it is bolstering forces to secure the US-built floating pier on the coast of the central Gaza Strip, known as JLOTS, which is due to resume operations in the coming days. The pier is used to bring humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, though it has seen several setbacks, including falling apart last month.
During operations in the southern Gaza Strip, the IDF says troops raided and demolished a Hamas training compound in west Rafah’s Tel Sultan neighborhood. Also in the Tel Sultan area, the IDF says troops killed several terror operatives, located tunnels and seized weapons. Tel Sultan is one of four Hamas battalions in the terror group’s Rafah Brigade. So far, as IDF operations have focused along the Egypt-Gaza border, the Yabna Battalion, located in the south of the city, has sustained the most damage.
Meanwhile, the IDF says its operation in east Deir al-Balah and east Bureij in the central Gaza Strip continues, with strikes being carried out against dozens of sites used by terror groups and cells of gunmen. One strike against a group of terror operatives adjacent to a tunnel shaft resulted in several rockets being fired. The IDF says the rockets impacted near the tunnel and there were no injuries among Israeli forces.
Troops also continue to operate in the Netzarim Corridor in the central Gaza Strip. The IDF says a strike was carried out in the area recently against a mortar-launching cell.
Analysis finds flaws
in Hamas data, drop in rate of Gazan women, children killed: Such reported deaths were 64% in October, but fell to 38% in April;
Hamas-run health ministry still claims most deaths are women and kids,
contradicting its own daily figures.
The proportion of Palestinian women and children being killed in the Israel-Hamas war appears to have declined sharply, an Associated Press analysis of Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry data, which cannot be verified, has found. This trend coincides both with Israel’s changing battlefield tactics and contradicts the Hamas-run ministry’s own public statements.
The trend is significant because the death rate for women and children is the best available proxy for civilian casualties in the conflict. In October, when the war began following Hamas’s October 7 onslaught, it was above 60 percent. In April, it was below 40%. Yet the shift went unnoticed for months by the United Nations and much of the media, and the Gazan health ministry has made no effort to set the record straight.
Israel faces heavy international criticism over the level of reported civilian casualties in Gaza and questions about whether it has done enough to prevent them in an eight-month-long war that shows no sign of ending. Jerusalem vehemently denies the charges, saying it is taking unprecedented measures to reduce civilian casualties, and that the combatant-to-civilian ratio is relatively low even according to the unverified figures issued by Hamas-run authorities. full article In past military operations between Israel and Hamas, the Hamas casualty reports were found to be close to accurate when investigated by third party bodies. That is the reason that most reporting has relied on the Hamas run Gaza Ministry of Health during this war. However, from the very beginning of the war, Hamas has been using its very well oiled propaganda machine to turn the world against Israel and forget about the atrocities it committed on October 7, and they have, unfortunately succeeded beyond anyone's imagination. The fact that their exaggerated casualty numbers are not being more heavily scrutinized and found to be false will do little in the reporting and outrageous world support of Hamas.
Hamas hopeful of
retaining influence over Gaza in upcoming talks with Fatah: China next week to
host 3rd meeting between Palestinian factions since October 7; experts say
terror group set to demand technocratic government it can influence behind the
scenes
Rival Palestinian groups Hamas and Fatah are due to sit down in China for reconciliation talks in mid-June, according to five unnamed sources who spoke to Reuters this week.
The meeting follows two recent rounds of talks, one in Russia in March and one in China in April. China’s foreign ministry declined to comment on reports that it will also host the next round.
Hamas understands it cannot be part of any internationally recognized new government of the Palestinian territories when fighting in the enclave eventually ends, one of the sources said Wednesday. Nonetheless, it wants Fatah to agree to a new technocratic administration for the West Bank and Gaza as part of a wider political deal, the source added.
Senior Hamas official Basim Naim, who attended the previous round of China talks, said in an interview quoted by Reuters that the goal of the talks is to achieve “political partnership and political unity to restructure the Palestinian entity,” but that Hamas does not expect to remain in the power seat.
“Whether Hamas is in the government or outside it, that is not a prime demand of the movement and it doesn’t see it a condition for any reconciliation,” Naim said. Meanwhile on Wednesday, the prime minister of the Palestinian Authority — which is dominated by PA President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah party — said in Baghdad that the PA is ready to re-establish “unified” Palestinian leadership after the Gaza war.
“We are ready, as Palestinians, to assume our responsibilities from the day after [the Gaza war ends] in order to help… restore the unity of the Palestinian people and leadership,” Mohammed Mustafa said during a news conference with Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein. “We also need to be well prepared for the creation of a [Palestinian] state and the responsibilities that this entails,” he added.
Attempts at reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah have been ongoing for years, The latest round of negotiations before October 7 was held in Egypt in late July 2023. At the time, the prospect of a joint government was a remote possibility.
However, following Hamas’s shocking October 7 onslaught in southern Israel, in which terrorists killed some 1,200 people and took 251 hostage, it is today practically unthinkable that the terror group will retain any official role in the enclave.
“Hamas knows that what was valid before the war in the context of the intra- Palestinian reconciliation process is not valid any more,” said Nidal Foqaha, director of the Palestinian Peace Coalition, a partner organization of the Tel Aviv-based Geneva Initiative, in a conversation with The Times of Israel.
“They also know the stance of several regional and international players who are unwilling to see Hamas part of any future Gaza administration.”
Still, the terror group enjoys widespread support in Palestinian society. A recent poll has shown that 59% of Palestinians (64% in the West Bank and 52% in the Gaza Strip) would like to see Hamas remain in power in Gaza. Consequently, many experts believe that the terror group is likely to remain a political player and will attempt to shape the postwar order in the Palestinian territories and influence decisions.
“Hamas would like to see a Palestinian technocratic government, in which it would contribute to nominating some of the members, in order not to be vetoed or obstructed in Gaza,” Foqaha surmised.
Despite Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s war goal of destroying the Iran-backed group, most observers agree Hamas will exist in some form after a ceasefire. An offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, the movement has a deep reach and ideological roots in Palestinian society.
“Hamas will never give up its control over Gaza,” Michael Milshtein, head of the Palestinian Studies Forum at Tel Aviv University, told The Times of Israel. “It’s the most important strategic achievement in the history of the movement.”
While governance of the Strip may not remain nominally in its hands, Hamas will lurk “behind the scenes,” Milshtein said. “It will have broad military and civil infrastructure and will undoubtedly be the hegemonic party in Gaza, Hezbollah-style,” he said, referencing the control exerted by the Shiite terror group over southern Lebanon.
“Let’s not develop the utopian illusion that Hamas will leave the Gaza Strip, the way the PLO did in Lebanon in 1982,” he added, referencing the year when thousands of members of the Palestine Liberation Organization were driven out of Beirut by the IDF and moved their headquarters to Tunisia. full article There have been so many attempts at reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas since the armed civil war in Gaza that saw Hamas rout Fatah from Gaza after the Israeli withdrawal in 2005. They have all failed due to major differences between the blocs. As Hamas is willing to give up municipal governing of Gaza but retain its terrorist military may present their best gambit for reconciliation and then being able to control the governing body behind the scenes. We must realize that this is a tactic and not their strategic plan. Hamas has proven to be very adaptable, agile and patient in its strategic plans. They recognize that the world, including the Arab States, won't accept them as the governing body. They most likely see this as a temporary situation and are willing to give it up for the meantime and make their moves down the road when the world will no longer care who governs Gaza. And they are right. The world memory of conflict and destruction is sadly, very short. Hamas is playing the long game and a technocratic government in Gaza serves their purposes at this time, but that will change drastically unless things change in Gaza and especially with regard to Israel/ Palestine relations. If a real alternative will come about promising the Gazans and Palestinians as a whole, a better future and a state of their own, Hamas can lose its standing and even be viewed by the majority of the Palestinians as a danger to their future. But this cannot happen as long as Netanyahu has a say in what happens in Gaza. Hopefully, that won't continue for very long.
Analysis finds flaws
in Hamas data, drop in rate of Gazan women, children killed: Such reported deaths were 64% in October, but fell to 38% in April;
Hamas-run health ministry still claims most deaths are women and kids,
contradicting its own daily figures.
The proportion of Palestinian women and children being killed in the Israel-Hamas war appears to have declined sharply, an Associated Press analysis of Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry data, which cannot be verified, has found. This trend coincides both with Israel’s changing battlefield tactics and contradicts the Hamas-run ministry’s own public statements.
The trend is significant because the death rate for women and children is the best available proxy for civilian casualties in the conflict. In October, when the war began following Hamas’s October 7 onslaught, it was above 60 percent. In April, it was below 40%. Yet the shift went unnoticed for months by the United Nations and much of the media, and the Gazan health ministry has made no effort to set the record straight.
Israel faces heavy international criticism over the level of reported civilian casualties in Gaza and questions about whether it has done enough to prevent them in an eight-month-long war that shows no sign of ending. Jerusalem vehemently denies the charges, saying it is taking unprecedented measures to reduce civilian casualties, and that the combatant-to-civilian ratio is relatively low even according to the unverified figures issued by Hamas-run authorities. full article In past military operations between Israel and Hamas, the Hamas casualty reports were found to be close to accurate when investigated by third party bodies. That is the reason that most reporting has relied on the Hamas run Gaza Ministry of Health during this war. However, from the very beginning of the war, Hamas has been using its very well oiled propaganda machine to turn the world against Israel and forget about the atrocities it committed on October 7, and they have, unfortunately succeeded beyond anyone's imagination. The fact that their exaggerated casualty numbers are not being more heavily scrutinized and found to be false will do little in the reporting and outrageous world support of Hamas.
Hamas hopeful of
retaining influence over Gaza in upcoming talks with Fatah: China next week to
host 3rd meeting between Palestinian factions since October 7; experts say
terror group set to demand technocratic government it can influence behind the
scenes
Rival Palestinian groups Hamas and Fatah are due to sit down in China for reconciliation talks in mid-June, according to five unnamed sources who spoke to Reuters this week.
The meeting follows two recent rounds of talks, one in Russia in March and one in China in April. China’s foreign ministry declined to comment on reports that it will also host the next round.
Hamas understands it cannot be part of any internationally recognized new government of the Palestinian territories when fighting in the enclave eventually ends, one of the sources said Wednesday. Nonetheless, it wants Fatah to agree to a new technocratic administration for the West Bank and Gaza as part of a wider political deal, the source added.
Senior Hamas official Basim Naim, who attended the previous round of China talks, said in an interview quoted by Reuters that the goal of the talks is to achieve “political partnership and political unity to restructure the Palestinian entity,” but that Hamas does not expect to remain in the power seat.
“Whether Hamas is in the government or outside it, that is not a prime demand of the movement and it doesn’t see it a condition for any reconciliation,” Naim said. Meanwhile on Wednesday, the prime minister of the Palestinian Authority — which is dominated by PA President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah party — said in Baghdad that the PA is ready to re-establish “unified” Palestinian leadership after the Gaza war.
“We are ready, as Palestinians, to assume our responsibilities from the day after [the Gaza war ends] in order to help… restore the unity of the Palestinian people and leadership,” Mohammed Mustafa said during a news conference with Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein. “We also need to be well prepared for the creation of a [Palestinian] state and the responsibilities that this entails,” he added.
Attempts at reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah have been ongoing for years, The latest round of negotiations before October 7 was held in Egypt in late July 2023. At the time, the prospect of a joint government was a remote possibility.
However, following Hamas’s shocking October 7 onslaught in southern Israel, in which terrorists killed some 1,200 people and took 251 hostage, it is today practically unthinkable that the terror group will retain any official role in the enclave.
“Hamas knows that what was valid before the war in the context of the intra- Palestinian reconciliation process is not valid any more,” said Nidal Foqaha, director of the Palestinian Peace Coalition, a partner organization of the Tel Aviv-based Geneva Initiative, in a conversation with The Times of Israel.
“They also know the stance of several regional and international players who are unwilling to see Hamas part of any future Gaza administration.”
Still, the terror group enjoys widespread support in Palestinian society. A recent poll has shown that 59% of Palestinians (64% in the West Bank and 52% in the Gaza Strip) would like to see Hamas remain in power in Gaza. Consequently, many experts believe that the terror group is likely to remain a political player and will attempt to shape the postwar order in the Palestinian territories and influence decisions.
“Hamas would like to see a Palestinian technocratic government, in which it would contribute to nominating some of the members, in order not to be vetoed or obstructed in Gaza,” Foqaha surmised.
Despite Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s war goal of destroying the Iran-backed group, most observers agree Hamas will exist in some form after a ceasefire. An offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, the movement has a deep reach and ideological roots in Palestinian society.
“Hamas will never give up its control over Gaza,” Michael Milshtein, head of the Palestinian Studies Forum at Tel Aviv University, told The Times of Israel. “It’s the most important strategic achievement in the history of the movement.”
While governance of the Strip may not remain nominally in its hands, Hamas will lurk “behind the scenes,” Milshtein said. “It will have broad military and civil infrastructure and will undoubtedly be the hegemonic party in Gaza, Hezbollah-style,” he said, referencing the control exerted by the Shiite terror group over southern Lebanon.
“Let’s not develop the utopian illusion that Hamas will leave the Gaza Strip, the way the PLO did in Lebanon in 1982,” he added, referencing the year when thousands of members of the Palestine Liberation Organization were driven out of Beirut by the IDF and moved their headquarters to Tunisia. full article There have been so many attempts at reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas since the armed civil war in Gaza that saw Hamas rout Fatah from Gaza after the Israeli withdrawal in 2005. They have all failed due to major differences between the blocs. As Hamas is willing to give up municipal governing of Gaza but retain its terrorist military may present their best gambit for reconciliation and then being able to control the governing body behind the scenes. We must realize that this is a tactic and not their strategic plan. Hamas has proven to be very adaptable, agile and patient in its strategic plans. They recognize that the world, including the Arab States, won't accept them as the governing body. They most likely see this as a temporary situation and are willing to give it up for the meantime and make their moves down the road when the world will no longer care who governs Gaza. And they are right. The world memory of conflict and destruction is sadly, very short. Hamas is playing the long game and a technocratic government in Gaza serves their purposes at this time, but that will change drastically unless things change in Gaza and especially with regard to Israel/ Palestine relations. If a real alternative will come about promising the Gazans and Palestinians as a whole, a better future and a state of their own, Hamas can lose its standing and even be viewed by the majority of the Palestinians as a danger to their future. But this cannot happen as long as Netanyahu has a say in what happens in Gaza. Hopefully, that won't continue for very long.
Northern Israel - Lebanon/Hizbollah
A drone launched from Lebanon, likely by the Hezbollah terror group, impacted in an open area in the Jezreel Valley, near Nazareth, in northern Israel on Friday afternoon, the Israeli military said.
It took the Israel Defense Forces eight hours to provide an update on the incident, during which an interceptor missile was launched and sirens had sounded in towns adjacent to Nazareth.
According to the IDF, it carried out a failed attempt to intercept the drone before the aircraft impacted in an open field, causing no injuries or major damage. Residents of the area reported seeing an Iron Dome missile launch. The incident potentially marked the deepest Hezbollah attack in Israel amid the war, with the projectile hitting an area some 40 kilometers (24 miles) from the border. The previous deepest attack occurred last month, when a Hezbollah drone struck a military facility some 35 kilometers (21 miles) from the Lebanon border.
Hezbollah did not immediately claim responsibility for Friday’s drone.
At the same time as the incident near Nazareth, a second drone struck an area near the border community of Shomera, the military added. No injuries were caused by either drone. link
A car bombing killed two pro-Iran fighters in the eastern Syrian city of Deir Ezzor, a war monitor says.
An explosive device went off in an SUV near the Iranian cultural center, killing two Iran-backed fighters, says the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has been criticized for inflating regime losses in the past.
Government forces and Iran-backed groups imposed a security cordon around the site of the attack, says the Observatory, a Britain-based organization with a network of sources on the ground in the war-torn country.
It is unclear who was behind the attack in Deir Ezzor city, a stronghold of Tehran that is home to Iranian advisers, institutions, and the cultural center.
A drone launched from Lebanon, likely by the Hezbollah terror group, impacted in an open area in the Jezreel Valley, near Nazareth, in northern Israel on Friday afternoon, the Israeli military said.
It took the Israel Defense Forces eight hours to provide an update on the incident, during which an interceptor missile was launched and sirens had sounded in towns adjacent to Nazareth.
According to the IDF, it carried out a failed attempt to intercept the drone before the aircraft impacted in an open field, causing no injuries or major damage. Residents of the area reported seeing an Iron Dome missile launch. The incident potentially marked the deepest Hezbollah attack in Israel amid the war, with the projectile hitting an area some 40 kilometers (24 miles) from the border. The previous deepest attack occurred last month, when a Hezbollah drone struck a military facility some 35 kilometers (21 miles) from the Lebanon border.
Hezbollah did not immediately claim responsibility for Friday’s drone.
At the same time as the incident near Nazareth, a second drone struck an area near the border community of Shomera, the military added. No injuries were caused by either drone. link
A car bombing killed two pro-Iran fighters in the eastern Syrian city of Deir Ezzor, a war monitor says.
An explosive device went off in an SUV near the Iranian cultural center, killing two Iran-backed fighters, says the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has been criticized for inflating regime losses in the past.
Government forces and Iran-backed groups imposed a security cordon around the site of the attack, says the Observatory, a Britain-based organization with a network of sources on the ground in the war-torn country.
It is unclear who was behind the attack in Deir Ezzor city, a stronghold of Tehran that is home to Iranian advisers, institutions, and the cultural center.
West Bank
Politics
Israel, Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad have been added to the United Nations’ so-called “list of shame,” which is attached to an annual report released by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’s office that documents alleged rights violations against children in armed conflict, sparking outrage in Jerusalem.
This is the first time that Israel and Hamas have been included on this list, joining the ranks of Russia, the Islamic State, al-Qaeda, Boko Haram, Afghanistan, Iraq, Myanmar, Somalia, Syria and Yemen.
Israel is believed to be the first democratic country included on the list. Last year, Russia was added to the list for the first time over its treatment of children in the war against Ukraine. The report will not be released until next Friday, but Guterres’s office called Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan on Friday to formally inform him of the decision to include Israel in it. The UN Security Council will hold a hearing on June 26 to discuss the report.
Previous reports included chapters on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which accused Israel of grave rights violations against children. However, Israel was never included in the annex at the end of the report of “listed parties that have not put in place measures during the reporting period to improve the protection of children.” This annex is what has become known as the blacklist or “list of shame.”
The decision has set off alarm bells in Jerusalem, given that the report is regularly cited by UN officials and will likely be used to further taint Israel’s image in the international community.
The practical implications of Israel’s inclusion include the establishment of a “monitoring and reporting mechanism” by the office of Guterres’s special representative for children and armed conflict Virginia Gamba, the Argentinian diplomat who compiled the report. The MRM will be responsible for holding talks with Israeli officials, setting benchmarks for them to meet to ensure that alleged rights abuses against children are being addressed and providing progress reports to the Security Council.
In the section on Palestinian terror groups, who have also been included on the “list of shame,” the leaked draft highlights some of the atrocities committed against children during the Hamas-led October 7 terror onslaught.
Jerusalem fumed over its inclusion on the blacklist with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying, “The UN has put itself on the blacklist of history today when it joined the supporters of the Hamas murderers. The IDF is the most moral army in the world and no delusional decision by the UN will change that.” full article
Israel, Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad have been added to the United Nations’ so-called “list of shame,” which is attached to an annual report released by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’s office that documents alleged rights violations against children in armed conflict, sparking outrage in Jerusalem.
This is the first time that Israel and Hamas have been included on this list, joining the ranks of Russia, the Islamic State, al-Qaeda, Boko Haram, Afghanistan, Iraq, Myanmar, Somalia, Syria and Yemen.
Israel is believed to be the first democratic country included on the list. Last year, Russia was added to the list for the first time over its treatment of children in the war against Ukraine. The report will not be released until next Friday, but Guterres’s office called Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan on Friday to formally inform him of the decision to include Israel in it. The UN Security Council will hold a hearing on June 26 to discuss the report.
Previous reports included chapters on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which accused Israel of grave rights violations against children. However, Israel was never included in the annex at the end of the report of “listed parties that have not put in place measures during the reporting period to improve the protection of children.” This annex is what has become known as the blacklist or “list of shame.”
The decision has set off alarm bells in Jerusalem, given that the report is regularly cited by UN officials and will likely be used to further taint Israel’s image in the international community.
The practical implications of Israel’s inclusion include the establishment of a “monitoring and reporting mechanism” by the office of Guterres’s special representative for children and armed conflict Virginia Gamba, the Argentinian diplomat who compiled the report. The MRM will be responsible for holding talks with Israeli officials, setting benchmarks for them to meet to ensure that alleged rights abuses against children are being addressed and providing progress reports to the Security Council.
In the section on Palestinian terror groups, who have also been included on the “list of shame,” the leaked draft highlights some of the atrocities committed against children during the Hamas-led October 7 terror onslaught.
Jerusalem fumed over its inclusion on the blacklist with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying, “The UN has put itself on the blacklist of history today when it joined the supporters of the Hamas murderers. The IDF is the most moral army in the world and no delusional decision by the UN will change that.” full article
The Region
- Pro-Iranian militias in Iraq have claimed responsibility for drone attacks on Israel this morning. It is unclear whether the drone that hit an open area in northern Israel earlier indeed originated in Iraq.
Acronyms and Glossary
ICC - International Criminal Court in the Hague
IJC - International Court of Justice in the Hague
MDA - Magen David Adom - Israel Ambulance Corp
PA - Palestinian Authority - President Mahmud Abbas, aka Abu Mazen
PMO- Prime Minister's Office
UAV - Unmanned Aerial vehicle, Drone. Could be used for surveillance and reconnaissance, or be weaponized with missiles or contain explosives for 'suicide' explosion mission
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