π️Lonny's War Update- October 277, 2023 - July 9, 2024 π️
π️Day 277 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
Red Alerts - Missile, Rocket, Drone (UAV - unmanned aerial vehicles), and Terror Attacks and Death Announcements
*6:00pm yesterday - north - rockets Shtula, Netua, Fasuta*6:30pm yesterday - north - rockets Beit Hillel, Dafna, Hagoshrim, Kfar Giladi, Kiryat Shemona, Tel Hai, Kfar Yuval, Maayan Baruch*8:20pm yesterday - north - rockets Yesdod Hamaaleh, Gadot*9:40am - north - rockets Yiftach*9:45am - north - rockets Dishon, Malkia, Mevo'ot Hermon, Ramot Naftali, Yiftach*12:20pm - north - Rockets Avshalom, Yavul, Yated*12:55pm - north -rockets Misfav Am, Margaliot* 2:45pm - north - Two explosive-laden drones heading toward Israel from Lebanon were shot down by air defenses a short while ago, the IDF says. The drones did not enter Israeli airspace, according to the military.
Hostage Updates
Holding a Sinwar victory pic, Smotrich pans hostage deal;
Lapid to PM: We’ll back it
Warning against ‘a defeat and
humiliation’ as negotiations resume, Religious Zionism leader insists: ‘We will
not be part of a deal to surrender to Hamas’
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich
on Monday warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against agreeing to a
hostage deal, arguing that to do so would constitute “a defeat and
humiliation.”
I'm loath to put any pictures of Smotrich and Ben Gvir, but the context is important here.
Addressing reporters in the
Knesset ahead of the Israeli negotiating team’s departure for further hostage
deal talks in Cairo and Doha later this week, the hardline Religious Zionism
party chief claimed that the agreement being negotiated “will sentence to death
90 hostages who are not part of the deal and will lead to thousands of murdered
people who will die in the next massacre by Sinwar and Hamas.”
“This is the
picture we will see in Gaza if we, God forbid, sign this irresponsible deal,”
he said, holding up a poster of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar flashing victory
signs. “Mr. Prime Minister, this is not absolute victory. This is complete
failure,” Smotrich continued, directly addressing Netanyahu — who on Sunday
presented a list of what he said were non-negotiable Israeli demands — and calling the deal “a
defeat and humiliation for Israel and a victory for Sinwar.”
Netanyahu’s statement, at a
crucial phase ahead of the resumption of talks, sparked anger, both in Israel
and among mediators, with some accusing him of attempting to sabotage hard-won
progress to extend his own political survival.
“We will not be part of a
deal to surrender to Hamas,” Smotrich insisted, hinting at his oft-repeated
threat to bolt the coalition if a deal is signed.
The Israeli-drafted outline for a hostage deal and truce in Gaza
that US President Joe Biden presented at the end of May proposed a phased
process that would include a “full and complete” six-week ceasefire and the
release of a number of hostages, including women, the elderly, and the wounded,
in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian security prisoners.
The renewed negotiations in
both Egypt and Qatar come after the Hamas terror group said on Saturday that it
was ready to discuss a hostage deal and an end to the war in Gaza without an
upfront commitment by Israel to a “complete and permanent ceasefire.” That
statement constituted a shift in the position Hamas has held in all previous
negotiations since November.
Both Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir,
who heads the ultranationalist Otzma Yehudit party, have repeatedly threatened
to bolt the coalition in recent months in an effort to prevent Jerusalem from
agreeing to a ceasefire in Gaza.
In April,
Smotrich criticized the government for making what he said were
dangerous “strategic concessions” in order to secure the release of Israeli
hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, declaring that he was “ready to pay the
political price” to prevent an “existential threat” to the State of Israel —
even if it means going to the opposition.
Two months later, Smotrich
and Ben Gvir threatened to bring down the government to prevent a
ceasefire, stating that a deal would spell the end of the war without the
completion of Israel’s central aim of destroying Hamas.
The two parties won 14 seats
when running together in the 2022 elections and are crucial to the governing
majority of Netanyahu’s core 64-strong coalition.
While Smotrich railed against
the potential deal on Monday, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid offered to provide
Netanyahu with a political lifeline in order to advance a potential hostage
deal, despite the opposition of the premier’s far-right allies.
“There’s a hostage deal on
the table. It is not true that Netanyahu has to choose between the hostage deal
and his continued tenure as prime minister. I promised him a safety net, and I
will keep that promise,” Lapid told reporters ahead of his Yesh Atid party’s
weekly faction meeting.
“This is not an easy statement, and it is not
an easy decision. Netanyahu is a bad, failed prime minister, and he is to blame
for the October 7 disaster, but the most important thing is to bring the
kidnapped people back home,” he said. “The hostage deal has a large majority of the people [in
favor], it has a large majority here in the Knesset, it has to happen. We are
coming back and offering Netanyahu a political safety net to make the deal —
now.”
Lapid has spent
the past half a year offering Netanyahu backing for a deal, going so far as to offer to enter the government to replace Otzma Yehudit
and Religious Zionism if that is what is needed to secure the release of the
hostages from Gaza.
“I told the
prime minister — I am not interested in portfolios, I was foreign minister, I
was finance minister, I was prime minister. I am interested in one thing —
returning the hostages,” Lapid said in February.
“And if he needs a safety net
of any kind from me — by entering the government, from the outside, in any way
— just tell me. Because the important thing is to return the hostages,” he said
at the time. link Smotrich and Ben Gvir are the destroyers of Israel and Netanyahu has given them the power. If not for them, the hostages would be home. It is, of course in Netanyahu's hands entirely and in his weakness and desperation to remain prime minister, their refusals cause Netanyahu to put himself before the hostages and the entire country every single time and with every single decision.
Hamas warns that Israel’s expanding military operations in Gaza City and the displacement of thousands of residents could have “disastrous repercussions” for talks aimed at a ceasefire and the release of Israeli hostages.
The terror group says in a statement Monday that its top political leader Ismail Haniyeh warned mediators of the “collapse” of the negotiations, saying Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli army would bear “full responsibility.”
In an earlier statement, Hamas said Netanyahu” continues to place more obstacles in front of the negotiations.” Hamas accuses Netanyahu of escalating “his aggression and crimes against our people,” in what it said were “attempts to forcibly displace them in order to thwart all efforts to reach an agreement.” link Obviously, Hamas is saying that the continued attacks are going to harm negotiations. This is not new and we shouldn't be bothered by this too much. What could truly harm negotiations is Netanyahu's statements and his holding back the negotiating team from actually being able to make a deal. Netanyahu is the obstacle as he has been since day 1 of the war.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant tells family members of the hostages being held in Gaza that Israel needs to translate the gains of its military pressure into a deal that will bring the captives home.
The entire defense establishment sees the return of the hostages as the main goal to be pursued, to do everything we can to take advantage of the situation that has been created,” he says. “The military pressure has created conditions that allow us to move forward with a deal, the military will know how to halt and how to return to combat as needed,” Gallant says. “We need to take advantage of the military pressure to push forward with a deal and not to miss it.”
His comments come after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday said Israel would not accept a deal with Hamas unless it was guaranteed to allow the IDF to return to fighting after the first phase. Critics saw Netanyahu’s comments, on the eve of the resumption of talks, as a bid to sabotage the progress.
- Two unnamed officials tell the Kan public broadcaster they were “shocked” by the announcement yesterday by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of of what he said were nonnegotiable Israeli demands for a potential hostage and ceasefire deal.
“Negotiations should be conducted inside the room, and not in announcements to the media, certainly not just before the start of a meeting that will determine the continuation of the negotiations,” sources familiar with the discussions tell the outlet.
An unnamed security official tells the Ynet news site that the statement by Netanyahu’s office was “inappropriate conduct that will harm the chance of bringing the hostages back home.” Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi and US CIA Director William Burns discussed efforts to reach a ceasefire and hostage deal in the war between Israel and the Hamas terror group, the Egyptian presidency says.
“The president affirmed the Egyptian position rejecting the continuation of military operations in the Gaza Strip,” the Egyptian presidency says in a statement.
Senior US officials are in the region to push for a ceasefire and hostage deal, but Hamas has said a new Israeli military operation threatened the talks at a crucial moment, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced “non-negotiables” ahead of the discussions.
An Egyptian security delegation will head to Doha tomorrow “on a mission to bring viewpoints closer between Hamas and Israel in order to reach a truce agreement as soon as possible,” Egypt’s state-affiliated Al-Qahera News cites a senior source as saying.
Egypt and Qatar have been leading mediating efforts in the nine-month war between Israel and Hamas in hopes of ending the fighting and securing the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
* 2:45pm - north - Two explosive-laden drones heading toward Israel from Lebanon were shot down by air defenses a short while ago, the IDF says. The drones did not enter Israeli airspace, according to the military.
Hostage Updates
Holding a Sinwar victory pic, Smotrich pans hostage deal; Lapid to PM: We’ll back it
Warning against ‘a defeat and humiliation’ as negotiations resume, Religious Zionism leader insists: ‘We will not be part of a deal to surrender to Hamas’
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Monday warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against agreeing to a hostage deal, arguing that to do so would constitute “a defeat and humiliation.”I'm loath to put any pictures of Smotrich and Ben Gvir, but the context is important here.Addressing reporters in the Knesset ahead of the Israeli negotiating team’s departure for further hostage deal talks in Cairo and Doha later this week, the hardline Religious Zionism party chief claimed that the agreement being negotiated “will sentence to death 90 hostages who are not part of the deal and will lead to thousands of murdered people who will die in the next massacre by Sinwar and Hamas.”
“This is the picture we will see in Gaza if we, God forbid, sign this irresponsible deal,” he said, holding up a poster of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar flashing victory signs. “Mr. Prime Minister, this is not absolute victory. This is complete failure,” Smotrich continued, directly addressing Netanyahu — who on Sunday presented a list of what he said were non-negotiable Israeli demands — and calling the deal “a defeat and humiliation for Israel and a victory for Sinwar.”
Netanyahu’s statement, at a crucial phase ahead of the resumption of talks, sparked anger, both in Israel and among mediators, with some accusing him of attempting to sabotage hard-won progress to extend his own political survival.
“We will not be part of a deal to surrender to Hamas,” Smotrich insisted, hinting at his oft-repeated threat to bolt the coalition if a deal is signed.
The Israeli-drafted outline for a hostage deal and truce in Gaza that US President Joe Biden presented at the end of May proposed a phased process that would include a “full and complete” six-week ceasefire and the release of a number of hostages, including women, the elderly, and the wounded, in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian security prisoners.
The renewed negotiations in both Egypt and Qatar come after the Hamas terror group said on Saturday that it was ready to discuss a hostage deal and an end to the war in Gaza without an upfront commitment by Israel to a “complete and permanent ceasefire.” That statement constituted a shift in the position Hamas has held in all previous negotiations since November.
Both Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who heads the ultranationalist Otzma Yehudit party, have repeatedly threatened to bolt the coalition in recent months in an effort to prevent Jerusalem from agreeing to a ceasefire in Gaza.
In April, Smotrich criticized the government for making what he said were dangerous “strategic concessions” in order to secure the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, declaring that he was “ready to pay the political price” to prevent an “existential threat” to the State of Israel — even if it means going to the opposition.
Two months later, Smotrich and Ben Gvir threatened to bring down the government to prevent a ceasefire, stating that a deal would spell the end of the war without the completion of Israel’s central aim of destroying Hamas.
The two parties won 14 seats when running together in the 2022 elections and are crucial to the governing majority of Netanyahu’s core 64-strong coalition.
While Smotrich railed against the potential deal on Monday, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid offered to provide Netanyahu with a political lifeline in order to advance a potential hostage deal, despite the opposition of the premier’s far-right allies.
“There’s a hostage deal on the table. It is not true that Netanyahu has to choose between the hostage deal and his continued tenure as prime minister. I promised him a safety net, and I will keep that promise,” Lapid told reporters ahead of his Yesh Atid party’s weekly faction meeting.
“This is not an easy statement, and it is not an easy decision. Netanyahu is a bad, failed prime minister, and he is to blame for the October 7 disaster, but the most important thing is to bring the kidnapped people back home,” he said. “The hostage deal has a large majority of the people [in favor], it has a large majority here in the Knesset, it has to happen. We are coming back and offering Netanyahu a political safety net to make the deal — now.”
Lapid has spent the past half a year offering Netanyahu backing for a deal, going so far as to offer to enter the government to replace Otzma Yehudit and Religious Zionism if that is what is needed to secure the release of the hostages from Gaza.
“I told the prime minister — I am not interested in portfolios, I was foreign minister, I was finance minister, I was prime minister. I am interested in one thing — returning the hostages,” Lapid said in February.
“And if he needs a safety net of any kind from me — by entering the government, from the outside, in any way — just tell me. Because the important thing is to return the hostages,” he said at the time. link Smotrich and Ben Gvir are the destroyers of Israel and Netanyahu has given them the power. If not for them, the hostages would be home. It is, of course in Netanyahu's hands entirely and in his weakness and desperation to remain prime minister, their refusals cause Netanyahu to put himself before the hostages and the entire country every single time and with every single decision.
Hamas warns that Israel’s expanding military operations in Gaza City and the displacement of thousands of residents could have “disastrous repercussions” for talks aimed at a ceasefire and the release of Israeli hostages.
The terror group says in a statement Monday that its top political leader Ismail Haniyeh warned mediators of the “collapse” of the negotiations, saying Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli army would bear “full responsibility.”
In an earlier statement, Hamas said Netanyahu” continues to place more obstacles in front of the negotiations.” Hamas accuses Netanyahu of escalating “his aggression and crimes against our people,” in what it said were “attempts to forcibly displace them in order to thwart all efforts to reach an agreement.” link Obviously, Hamas is saying that the continued attacks are going to harm negotiations. This is not new and we shouldn't be bothered by this too much. What could truly harm negotiations is Netanyahu's statements and his holding back the negotiating team from actually being able to make a deal. Netanyahu is the obstacle as he has been since day 1 of the war.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant tells family members of the hostages being held in Gaza that Israel needs to translate the gains of its military pressure into a deal that will bring the captives home.
The entire defense establishment sees the return of the hostages as the main goal to be pursued, to do everything we can to take advantage of the situation that has been created,” he says. “The military pressure has created conditions that allow us to move forward with a deal, the military will know how to halt and how to return to combat as needed,” Gallant says. “We need to take advantage of the military pressure to push forward with a deal and not to miss it.”
His comments come after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday said Israel would not accept a deal with Hamas unless it was guaranteed to allow the IDF to return to fighting after the first phase. Critics saw Netanyahu’s comments, on the eve of the resumption of talks, as a bid to sabotage the progress.
- Two unnamed officials tell the Kan public broadcaster they were “shocked” by the announcement yesterday by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of of what he said were nonnegotiable Israeli demands for a potential hostage and ceasefire deal.
“Negotiations should be conducted inside the room, and not in announcements to the media, certainly not just before the start of a meeting that will determine the continuation of the negotiations,” sources familiar with the discussions tell the outlet.
An unnamed security official tells the Ynet news site that the statement by Netanyahu’s office was “inappropriate conduct that will harm the chance of bringing the hostages back home.” Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi and US CIA Director William Burns discussed efforts to reach a ceasefire and hostage deal in the war between Israel and the Hamas terror group, the Egyptian presidency says.
“The president affirmed the Egyptian position rejecting the continuation of military operations in the Gaza Strip,” the Egyptian presidency says in a statement.
Senior US officials are in the region to push for a ceasefire and hostage deal, but Hamas has said a new Israeli military operation threatened the talks at a crucial moment, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced “non-negotiables” ahead of the discussions.
An Egyptian security delegation will head to Doha tomorrow “on a mission to bring viewpoints closer between Hamas and Israel in order to reach a truce agreement as soon as possible,” Egypt’s state-affiliated Al-Qahera News cites a senior source as saying.
Egypt and Qatar have been leading mediating efforts in the nine-month war between Israel and Hamas in hopes of ending the fighting and securing the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
Gaza
- My brother's column in The Times of Israel- (this is a very important article to read to understand where we have been and where we can still go if we have the right leaders): The Path Not Taken Israel’s so-called leaders, in the coalition and the opposition, would like us all to believe that Israel must live by the sword forever or perish. This has been the basis of Israel’s failed strategic position for 76 years. Now on the basis of that failed strategy, Israel is digging in to remain in Gaza for a long time. Thirty-eight years of occupying Gaza from 1967 until 2005 wasn’t long enough to teach Israel any lesson.
The unilateral disengagement from Gaza by Israel after Prime Minister Sharon refused to coordinate the transfer of Gaza to the Palestinian Authority or, God forbid, negotiate with Mahmoud Abbas on the establishment of a Palestinian state next to Israel in two phases starting with Gaza, was another abysmal failure of Israeli policies. The unilateral disengagement by Israel empowered Hamas and every Arab in the world will tell you that Israel ran away from Gaza because of constant Hamas attacks.
The narrative of violence dominated the narrative of failed peacemaking through diplomacy and negotiations. We all know that once Hamas won the elections in 2006, and in 2008 when Mahmoud Abbas and Ehud Olmert, although close to an agreement, failed to reach the final peace destination, Netanyahu was brought back to power and has dominated our lives since then.
When in 2009 Netanyahu returned to power the Netanyahu doctrine went into full force. This is the doctrine of keeping Hamas in power in Gaza while constantly and systematically weakening Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. This was enough for Netanyahu to convince the people of Israel and the world that there is no Palestinian partner for peace and the chances of the two states solution went into a deep coma while Israel deepened and widened the occupation with a massive increase of settlement building and infrastructures of control and domination by Israel. This is the same doctrine that led to October 7, 2023.
In the north of Israel, the Israeli army unilaterally disengaged from Lebanon in 2000 after an 18 years stay costing the lives of hundreds of Israeli soldiers. During that time, Hezbollah grew into a formidable fight force which increased significantly over time. The second Lebanon war in 2006 ended with a sense of loss in Israel but left the north of Israel quiet for 17 years. UN Security Council Resolution 1701 provided a formula for a diplomatic end to the war but over the years the implementation of the Resolution dwindled and the mandate of the UNIFIL forces was less than satisfactory. Since then, Hezbollah has managed to create mutual deterrence with Israel which has so far prevented a full-scale war between Israel and Lebanon.
Now the Israeli (non)strategy is to target Hezbollah assets for each rocket or drone shot over the border from Lebanon. The constant targeted killing of high-ranking Hezbollah officers promises that the north of Israel is continually hit with barrages of rockets and drones that are burning down the entire north of Israel and the south of Lebanon. These targeted killings have nothing strategic about them. They don’t change anything; they are tactical acts of continued madness with no plan for tomorrow. While this continues, tens of thousands of Israelis have become refugees in their own country. This insanity and lack of strategic thinking is present in the backdrop of the statements made by Hezbollah that as soon as there is a ceasefire in Gaza, there will be a ceasefire in the north of Israel. This is what happened during the short ceasefire in November 2023. There can be a diplomatic victory for Israel and Lebanon but only after a new strategy is developed and launched which changes the entire Israeli-Arab dynamic.
For 76 years Israel’s strategy vis-a-vis the Palestinians has been based on the same “Iron Wall” concept proposed by Jabotinsky from 1923. Except after a brief period of the Oslo peace process, until the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, Israeli policy has never been based on recognizing the legitimacy of the Palestinian right and claim for self-determination. Even Rabin did not come to that conclusion during his lifetime. Over time the failed Israeli strategy changed form but not really its essence. Israeli strategy and policies for decades has been to be in conflict at all times.
The Netanyahu doctrine also was a strategy that guaranteed continued conflict and periodic wars. The one strategy that has never been adopted and tried by Israel is that one of recognizing that the Palestinian people exist and that they too have the right to live as a free nation in their land. There are extremist Palestinians who reject the idea of accepting a state on only 22% of the land that they call Palestine. Just as there are extremist Israeli Jews who reject the idea of accepting that the State of Israel will exist on only 78% of the land that they call the Land of Israel. But there is a potential majority of probably more than 70% of Israelis and Palestinians who would accept this formula if they believed that the other side was sincere about its willingness to live in peace. That is the key – believing that the other side is sincere in its willingness to live in genuine peace.
Just as Oslo began with an attempt at mutual recognition – it was a failed attempt that was not really mutual. Yasser Arafat wrote to Yitzhak Rabin: “The PLO recognizes the right of the State of Israel to exist in peace and security” but Rabin wrote to Arafat: “the Government of Israel has decided to recognize the PLO as the representative of the Palestinian people”. This was not mutual recognition. A new Israeli strategy must begin with mutual recognition which states clearly that both peoples recognize each other’s right to exist in peace and security in a state of its own on the basis of agreed borders between the two states on the land between the River and the Sea.
The realization of the two states solution, learning from the failures of the past is the best way to create a regional defense alliance backed by the United States and probably a who group of other European countries. It is the best way to start on a course of negotiating peace with Lebanon where some minor border disputes are really the only issue in conflict between the two countries. It is also a guaranteed path to full normalization and peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia. It is also the best way to lead to the demilitarization of Gaza, in agreement with the region and the people of Palestine as well as to a non-militarized Palestinian state that will govern both the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem.
Once the mindset of Israel is focused on the strategy of making peace with all of its neighbors rather than constructing more Iron Walls (which can be penetrated as we saw on October 7) we will open up the possibilities of putting a final end to the Israeli-Arab conflict. The heart and soul of the Israeli-Arab conflict since 1948 has always been the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Palestinians and most of the Arab neighbors have never really believed that Israel was willing to make peace with the Palestinians. That is true until this very day.
There is no guarantee that the Palestinian people would ever truly agree to make peace with Israel, but they have never really been exposed and challenged by the possibility. For a brief period from September 13, 1993 when the Oslo agreement Declaration of Principles was signed on the White House lawn, young Palestinians who a day before were throwing stones at Israeli soldiers, emerged from the refugee camps and all around the West Bank and Gaza and offered flowers to the Israeli soldiers instead of stones. Shortly afterwards, hundreds of Palestinians who were serving time in Israeli prisoners accused and convicted of terrorism emerged from those prisons and became high officials in the new Palestinian Authority – many of them officers in the Palestinian security forces, working side-by-side by Israeli officers who they fought against. Many of them have close Israeli friend until today.
A good friend of mine, the late Samir Siksik who had been an officer with the rank of Brigadier General in the Palestine Liberation Army was charged by Arafat to enter Gaza in the first wave of Palestinian security officers when the Palestinian Authority was established. Samir was to accompany a number of Armed Personnel Carriers brought from Libya, across Egypt and into Gaza.
When he arrived to Gaza without the APC’s, the Israeli officers asked him what happened – where were the APC’s? Samir explained that they were old and broke down in Sinai. The Israelis asked for their exact location and coordinated with the Multi-National Force in Sinai to pick them up. Samir had never met the enemy face-to-face and he was sure that the Israelis were going to confiscate the APC’s and use them against the Palestinians. Several weeks later, the Israelis called Samir to send people to pick them up. The Israel army repaired the APC’s and returned them probably better than new. Samir was shocked. He told me later “who are these people? Are these the same people we spent years trying to kill?”
Samir became one of the strongest advocates of Israeli-Palestinian peace that I have ever known. Unfortunately, he died of cancer years ago. Samir was a welcome guest in my home, as I visited him in his home both in Gaza and in Amman with his family.
When the option of peace will become real, and it will become real, because we cannot go on killing each other. This war must be the last Israeli-Palestinian war. The region is prepared to help us. We must be smart enough to build peace cautiously and not naively. We must ensure that agreements are implemented before we take on risks which are too dangerous. We must understand that no one will agree to live in a cage and therefore borders will have to be open, but regulated. We must understand that peace must pay – people have to feel the benefits of peace in their own lives – and the positive change must come quickly. We cannot have a genuine peace unless the public tone towards each change from the very beginning. That means addressing what we teach our children and it means addressing incitement – from religious and political leaders as well.
This is all possible and probably the key to it all is the emergence of leaders on both side who begin speaking the language of peace and demonstrate their willingness and the political sophistication by reaching out – even if they are not presently in power. link
- IDF launches new operation in Gaza City, troops raid UNRWA compound used by Hamas
The unilateral disengagement from Gaza by Israel after Prime Minister Sharon refused to coordinate the transfer of Gaza to the Palestinian Authority or, God forbid, negotiate with Mahmoud Abbas on the establishment of a Palestinian state next to Israel in two phases starting with Gaza, was another abysmal failure of Israeli policies. The unilateral disengagement by Israel empowered Hamas and every Arab in the world will tell you that Israel ran away from Gaza because of constant Hamas attacks.
The narrative of violence dominated the narrative of failed peacemaking through diplomacy and negotiations. We all know that once Hamas won the elections in 2006, and in 2008 when Mahmoud Abbas and Ehud Olmert, although close to an agreement, failed to reach the final peace destination, Netanyahu was brought back to power and has dominated our lives since then.
When in 2009 Netanyahu returned to power the Netanyahu doctrine went into full force. This is the doctrine of keeping Hamas in power in Gaza while constantly and systematically weakening Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. This was enough for Netanyahu to convince the people of Israel and the world that there is no Palestinian partner for peace and the chances of the two states solution went into a deep coma while Israel deepened and widened the occupation with a massive increase of settlement building and infrastructures of control and domination by Israel. This is the same doctrine that led to October 7, 2023.
In the north of Israel, the Israeli army unilaterally disengaged from Lebanon in 2000 after an 18 years stay costing the lives of hundreds of Israeli soldiers. During that time, Hezbollah grew into a formidable fight force which increased significantly over time. The second Lebanon war in 2006 ended with a sense of loss in Israel but left the north of Israel quiet for 17 years. UN Security Council Resolution 1701 provided a formula for a diplomatic end to the war but over the years the implementation of the Resolution dwindled and the mandate of the UNIFIL forces was less than satisfactory. Since then, Hezbollah has managed to create mutual deterrence with Israel which has so far prevented a full-scale war between Israel and Lebanon.
Now the Israeli (non)strategy is to target Hezbollah assets for each rocket or drone shot over the border from Lebanon. The constant targeted killing of high-ranking Hezbollah officers promises that the north of Israel is continually hit with barrages of rockets and drones that are burning down the entire north of Israel and the south of Lebanon. These targeted killings have nothing strategic about them. They don’t change anything; they are tactical acts of continued madness with no plan for tomorrow. While this continues, tens of thousands of Israelis have become refugees in their own country. This insanity and lack of strategic thinking is present in the backdrop of the statements made by Hezbollah that as soon as there is a ceasefire in Gaza, there will be a ceasefire in the north of Israel. This is what happened during the short ceasefire in November 2023. There can be a diplomatic victory for Israel and Lebanon but only after a new strategy is developed and launched which changes the entire Israeli-Arab dynamic.
For 76 years Israel’s strategy vis-a-vis the Palestinians has been based on the same “Iron Wall” concept proposed by Jabotinsky from 1923. Except after a brief period of the Oslo peace process, until the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, Israeli policy has never been based on recognizing the legitimacy of the Palestinian right and claim for self-determination. Even Rabin did not come to that conclusion during his lifetime. Over time the failed Israeli strategy changed form but not really its essence. Israeli strategy and policies for decades has been to be in conflict at all times.
The Netanyahu doctrine also was a strategy that guaranteed continued conflict and periodic wars. The one strategy that has never been adopted and tried by Israel is that one of recognizing that the Palestinian people exist and that they too have the right to live as a free nation in their land. There are extremist Palestinians who reject the idea of accepting a state on only 22% of the land that they call Palestine. Just as there are extremist Israeli Jews who reject the idea of accepting that the State of Israel will exist on only 78% of the land that they call the Land of Israel. But there is a potential majority of probably more than 70% of Israelis and Palestinians who would accept this formula if they believed that the other side was sincere about its willingness to live in peace. That is the key – believing that the other side is sincere in its willingness to live in genuine peace.
Just as Oslo began with an attempt at mutual recognition – it was a failed attempt that was not really mutual. Yasser Arafat wrote to Yitzhak Rabin: “The PLO recognizes the right of the State of Israel to exist in peace and security” but Rabin wrote to Arafat: “the Government of Israel has decided to recognize the PLO as the representative of the Palestinian people”. This was not mutual recognition. A new Israeli strategy must begin with mutual recognition which states clearly that both peoples recognize each other’s right to exist in peace and security in a state of its own on the basis of agreed borders between the two states on the land between the River and the Sea.
The realization of the two states solution, learning from the failures of the past is the best way to create a regional defense alliance backed by the United States and probably a who group of other European countries. It is the best way to start on a course of negotiating peace with Lebanon where some minor border disputes are really the only issue in conflict between the two countries. It is also a guaranteed path to full normalization and peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia. It is also the best way to lead to the demilitarization of Gaza, in agreement with the region and the people of Palestine as well as to a non-militarized Palestinian state that will govern both the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem.
Once the mindset of Israel is focused on the strategy of making peace with all of its neighbors rather than constructing more Iron Walls (which can be penetrated as we saw on October 7) we will open up the possibilities of putting a final end to the Israeli-Arab conflict. The heart and soul of the Israeli-Arab conflict since 1948 has always been the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Palestinians and most of the Arab neighbors have never really believed that Israel was willing to make peace with the Palestinians. That is true until this very day.
There is no guarantee that the Palestinian people would ever truly agree to make peace with Israel, but they have never really been exposed and challenged by the possibility. For a brief period from September 13, 1993 when the Oslo agreement Declaration of Principles was signed on the White House lawn, young Palestinians who a day before were throwing stones at Israeli soldiers, emerged from the refugee camps and all around the West Bank and Gaza and offered flowers to the Israeli soldiers instead of stones. Shortly afterwards, hundreds of Palestinians who were serving time in Israeli prisoners accused and convicted of terrorism emerged from those prisons and became high officials in the new Palestinian Authority – many of them officers in the Palestinian security forces, working side-by-side by Israeli officers who they fought against. Many of them have close Israeli friend until today.
A good friend of mine, the late Samir Siksik who had been an officer with the rank of Brigadier General in the Palestine Liberation Army was charged by Arafat to enter Gaza in the first wave of Palestinian security officers when the Palestinian Authority was established. Samir was to accompany a number of Armed Personnel Carriers brought from Libya, across Egypt and into Gaza.
When he arrived to Gaza without the APC’s, the Israeli officers asked him what happened – where were the APC’s? Samir explained that they were old and broke down in Sinai. The Israelis asked for their exact location and coordinated with the Multi-National Force in Sinai to pick them up. Samir had never met the enemy face-to-face and he was sure that the Israelis were going to confiscate the APC’s and use them against the Palestinians. Several weeks later, the Israelis called Samir to send people to pick them up. The Israel army repaired the APC’s and returned them probably better than new. Samir was shocked. He told me later “who are these people? Are these the same people we spent years trying to kill?”
Samir became one of the strongest advocates of Israeli-Palestinian peace that I have ever known. Unfortunately, he died of cancer years ago. Samir was a welcome guest in my home, as I visited him in his home both in Gaza and in Amman with his family.
When the option of peace will become real, and it will become real, because we cannot go on killing each other. This war must be the last Israeli-Palestinian war. The region is prepared to help us. We must be smart enough to build peace cautiously and not naively. We must ensure that agreements are implemented before we take on risks which are too dangerous. We must understand that no one will agree to live in a cage and therefore borders will have to be open, but regulated. We must understand that peace must pay – people have to feel the benefits of peace in their own lives – and the positive change must come quickly. We cannot have a genuine peace unless the public tone towards each change from the very beginning. That means addressing what we teach our children and it means addressing incitement – from religious and political leaders as well.
This is all possible and probably the key to it all is the emergence of leaders on both side who begin speaking the language of peace and demonstrate their willingness and the political sophistication by reaching out – even if they are not presently in power. link
Residents say fighting in area is some of the heaviest since war’s start; IDF says it killed dozen of terror operatives in past day during combat in Shejaiya and Rafah
The Israel Defense Forces launched a new operation early Monday morning in southern neighborhoods of Gaza City, following what it said was intelligence of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad infrastructure and terror operatives in the area.
Palestinian media outlets reported that Israeli ground forces advanced into Gaza City’s Tel al-Hawa neighborhood, following a large wave of airstrikes. Tel al-Hawa is located in the south of Gaza City, close to the Netzarim Corridor, where the military maintains a semi-permanent presence.
The corridor, built around a road south of Gaza City, enables the IDF to carry out raids in northern and central Gaza while allowing it to control access to the north for Palestinians seeking to return after fleeing south. It also enables Israel to coordinate deliveries of humanitarian aid directly to northern Gaza.
After nine months of war, much of Hamas’s tunnel network is still in a “good functional state” in many parts of Gaza, and Hamas still has the capacity to organize raids close to the border with Israel and possibly even across it, Channel 12 news reports, citing what it says is a recently written IDF assessment.
The Hamas tunnels are in good shape in the refugee camps of central Gaza, most of Rafah in the south, and Shejaiya in the north, the TV report says.
In Khan Younis, in the south of the strip, many tunnels that were targeted by the IDF have been fixed up, as have the factories in the area that produce the concrete to build the tunnels. Even though the IDF has been focused on tackling Hamas in Rafah in recent weeks, functional tunnels in the area enable Hamas to get close to the Israeli border, and only a few routes have been destroyed on the Philadelphi Route along the Gaza-Egypt border, the report says.
Tunnels in Gaza City are in a medium to good state, and enable Hamas to gain proximity to the Israeli border, it adds.
Overall, were the war to end now, the report says, “Hamas still has the capacity to organize an incursion close to the border and perhaps even across it, [albeit] not on the scale of the past.”
The report notes that the IDF remains heavily focused on tackling the Hamas tunnel network, and is gradually destroying it, including near the border, but says that the heads of the civil defense squads for communities along the border who have read the document are troubled by its findings, and want the work of neutralizing the tunnels done as a first priority. Nonetheless, it notes that Israel’s military chiefs, “given the achievements to date” in the war, still say that if a deal can be negotiated with Hamas, “it is right to stop now to get back the hostages.”
Senior Israeli defense officials in January assessed that Hamas’s Gaza tunnel network was between 350 and 450 miles long, an astounding figure given that the enclave is only some 140 square miles in total size. link This is horrendous news. After 9 months of fighting and indescribable destruction in the Gaza Strip, hundreds of soldiers killed, we are still facing a strong Hamas with seemingly unending infrastructure that exists to hurt and destroy us. I don't know what the answer is, but I hope that we hear some kind of strategy from both our totally ineffective political leaders and from the military.
- IDF says it struck Hamas, PIJ operatives gathered at school in central Gaza
After nine months of war, much of Hamas’s tunnel network is still in a “good functional state” in many parts of Gaza, and Hamas still has the capacity to organize raids close to the border with Israel and possibly even across it, Channel 12 news reports, citing what it says is a recently written IDF assessment.
The Hamas tunnels are in good shape in the refugee camps of central Gaza, most of Rafah in the south, and Shejaiya in the north, the TV report says.
In Khan Younis, in the south of the strip, many tunnels that were targeted by the IDF have been fixed up, as have the factories in the area that produce the concrete to build the tunnels. Even though the IDF has been focused on tackling Hamas in Rafah in recent weeks, functional tunnels in the area enable Hamas to get close to the Israeli border, and only a few routes have been destroyed on the Philadelphi Route along the Gaza-Egypt border, the report says.
Tunnels in Gaza City are in a medium to good state, and enable Hamas to gain proximity to the Israeli border, it adds.
Overall, were the war to end now, the report says, “Hamas still has the capacity to organize an incursion close to the border and perhaps even across it, [albeit] not on the scale of the past.”
The report notes that the IDF remains heavily focused on tackling the Hamas tunnel network, and is gradually destroying it, including near the border, but says that the heads of the civil defense squads for communities along the border who have read the document are troubled by its findings, and want the work of neutralizing the tunnels done as a first priority. Nonetheless, it notes that Israel’s military chiefs, “given the achievements to date” in the war, still say that if a deal can be negotiated with Hamas, “it is right to stop now to get back the hostages.”
Senior Israeli defense officials in January assessed that Hamas’s Gaza tunnel network was between 350 and 450 miles long, an astounding figure given that the enclave is only some 140 square miles in total size. link This is horrendous news. After 9 months of fighting and indescribable destruction in the Gaza Strip, hundreds of soldiers killed, we are still facing a strong Hamas with seemingly unending infrastructure that exists to hurt and destroy us. I don't know what the answer is, but I hope that we hear some kind of strategy from both our totally ineffective political leaders and from the military.
A group of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad operatives gathered at a school in central Gaza’s Nuseirat were struck by Israeli fighter jets earlier this evening, the IDF says. According to the military, the operatives were carrying out “terror activity” from within the school and “using it as a shield for terror.” The IDF says it used precision munitions in the strike to mitigate harm to civilians.
US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller says Israel’s military operation in Rafah has not been as destructive and harmful to civilians as its operations in Gaza City and Khan Younis were, earlier in the war.
While acknowledging that the Gaza health ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants, Miller points to a relatively smaller rise in the Hamas authorities’ death count during the Rafah operation.
He clarifies that no number of civilian deaths is acceptable and that the US assessments of the damage in Rafah are still coming in.
In April, US officials told The Times of Israel that the US and Egypt were in talks to build an underground wall along the Philadelphi Corridor between Egypt and Gaza that would thwart Hamas smuggling from the Sinai Peninsula. Miller is asked about reports from earlier today recirculating that idea, but declines to confirm them.
“We do believe that smuggling across the border from Egypt into Gaza is a very real problem that needs to be addressed. It’s one of the ways that Hamas was able to arm and fund itself, and that presented a legitimate security challenge to the government of Israel and also made it difficult to ever achieve peace for the Palestinian people,” Miller says. “We have been working on proposals with the governments of Egypt and Israel on how you can address that challenge.”
Israel, Egypt, and the US are meeting in Cairo today to discuss reopening the Rafah Crossing and preventing weapon smuggling across the Egypt-Gaza border, according to the Walla news site.
The US team is led by White House Middle East czar Brett McGurk and CIA director Bill Burns. Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar is leading the Israeli delegation.
Yesterday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that in any hostage deal, it was essential that “weapons smuggling to Hamas from the Gaza-Egypt border will not be possible.”
The head of the main UN agency providing aid to Gaza says half its facilities in the territory have been destroyed since the war began. Philippe Lazzarini also said more than 500 people have been killed in those attacks, including employees and displaced people sheltering there.
The commissioner-general of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees spoke at a news conference with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelaty, who reiterated Egypt’s support for the agency, known as UNRWA.
Israel has accused UNRWA of turning a blind eye or collaborating with Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza, and of perpetuating the decades-old Palestinian refugee crisis, accusations the agency denies.
His comments came as the IDF announced it was operating at UNRWA headquarters, located near the Rimal neighborhood in Gaza City, where the IDF previously found significant Hamas tunnel infrastructure and killed and captured numerous gunmen.
35 minutes to take control of the area, 6 significant tunnels destroyed
More than 150 terrorists who tried to escape from Shuja'iyya under the cover of civilians were eliminated • Fighters destroyed six offensive tunnels about six km long, and located weapons and intelligence documents left behind by the terrorists • This is how the IDF has been fighting in Shuja'iyya for 12 days
Division 98 has been fighting in Shuja'iyya with combat teams from the Paratroopers Brigade, 7 and the Yahalom unit. This is the second time the army has entered the neighborhood to allow freedom of operation in the area and to destroy infrastructure - those that Hamas is trying to return and rehabilitate while the IDF is not in the area.
In a week of fighting in Shuja'iyya, the forces eliminated more than 150 terrorists who tried to escape, destroyed terrorist infrastructure and encountered booby-trapped buildings and explosives that were destroyed. The current operation in Shuja'iyya has two main objectives. The first is to continue hitting Hamas wherever it tries to create repetition and rebuild capabilities, while maintaining operational flexibility and as much freedom of action as possible for the army. The second goal relates to underground aspects - the space from which and within which Hamas terrorists operate.
In the operation in the last week and a half, several tunnels were located and destroyed on the Shuja'iyya front, most of them approach tunnels - those that reach close to the fence in order to carry out raid plans on the surrounding settlements and kibbutzim. Division 98 opened the operation in Shuja'iyya with a storm: a vanguard force stormed into the area and reached high operational control within 35 minutes at one of Hamas's command and control centers in the western part of the neighborhood. In the rapid entry, several small terrorist cells of about three terrorists were caught in a pocket between the division's forward force and the rear force, and were eliminated after short battles. Just for comparison, in the IDF's first entry into the area, a few months ago, the rate of progress was much slower and more cautious. Now, after already operating against the battalions there, the IDF's freedom of action is made possible with greater ease.
Blowing up a major tunnel link to videoImmediately upon entering the area, a mass escape of about a thousand people began from the area of the command and control complex. Among them were about 150 terrorists who fled to the Zeitoun and Daraj Tufah neighborhoods, leaving behind weapons and much equipment. The rapid arrival and surprise of the terrorists led to significant and qualitative intelligence achievements that can assist in the continuation of the fighting in terms of discovering additional enemy infrastructure above and below ground, and also shed light on Hamas's force-building processes and the situation regarding its attempts to return and control the Strip.
As mentioned, the second goal of the operation in Shuja'iyya is locating underground: infrastructure and offensive tunnels, infrastructural tunneling used for survival, staying and movement in the area. The forces also located the Islamic Jihad's flagship tunnel in Shuja'iyya - a tunnel almost 2.5 km long containing command and control positions, RPG missiles, explosives and intelligence documents left behind by the terrorists.
So far, the forces have managed in a relatively short time to hit the centers of gravity of Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Among other things, six offensive tunnels about six km long were hit. There are more tunnels that will be dealt with and destroyed soon, in an attempt to reduce the possibility of carrying out an attack plan against Israel from the underground of the area.
The fact that the forces are there and not for the first time allows for a learning graph and constant improvement - both in patterns of action and in the effectiveness of the action. Among other things, mutual learning was done from additional fronts in the Strip regarding the underground, and a special team was even set up to locate and destroy infrastructure.
But not everything was calm in the last week and a half in Shuja'iyya. At the beginning of the fighting, there was intense resistance to the forces, resistance that unfortunately also claimed casualties. But from the Shuja'iyya battalion, considered one of the strongest battalions in the Strip, many terrorists fled to other places and left the area to try to hit the forces in other ways and not in face-to-face battles where the IDF has a clear advantage.
Thus, in this way, the fighters eliminated more than 20 terrorists who were engaged in operating mortars on the forces as well as operating surveillance drones and drones dropping explosives. These actions were carried out from the Zeitoun and Daraj Tufah area after the escape from Shuja'iyya. link
- Dozens of gunmen have been killed by Israeli troops so far in a new operation launched yesterday in Gaza City, the IDF says.
Amid the raid, carried out by the 99th Division, the military says forces also located weaponry.
The IDF said yesterday it launched the operation in southern and western neighborhoods of Gaza City after identifying Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad infrastructure and operatives in the area.
Meanwhile, the 98th Division continues to operate in the eastern Shejaiya neighborhood of Gaza City, where over the past day the IDF says troops killed gunmen, located weapons, and demolished a tunnel.
In Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, dozens more terror operatives were killed over the past day, in close-quarters combat and in airstrikes, the military says.
Across Gaza, the Israeli Air Force struck numerous targets over the past day, including buildings used by terror groups, tunnel shafts, and other infrastructure, according to the IDF.
US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller says Israel’s military operation in Rafah has not been as destructive and harmful to civilians as its operations in Gaza City and Khan Younis were, earlier in the war.
While acknowledging that the Gaza health ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants, Miller points to a relatively smaller rise in the Hamas authorities’ death count during the Rafah operation.
He clarifies that no number of civilian deaths is acceptable and that the US assessments of the damage in Rafah are still coming in.
In April, US officials told The Times of Israel that the US and Egypt were in talks to build an underground wall along the Philadelphi Corridor between Egypt and Gaza that would thwart Hamas smuggling from the Sinai Peninsula. Miller is asked about reports from earlier today recirculating that idea, but declines to confirm them.
“We do believe that smuggling across the border from Egypt into Gaza is a very real problem that needs to be addressed. It’s one of the ways that Hamas was able to arm and fund itself, and that presented a legitimate security challenge to the government of Israel and also made it difficult to ever achieve peace for the Palestinian people,” Miller says. “We have been working on proposals with the governments of Egypt and Israel on how you can address that challenge.”Israel, Egypt, and the US are meeting in Cairo today to discuss reopening the Rafah Crossing and preventing weapon smuggling across the Egypt-Gaza border, according to the Walla news site.
The US team is led by White House Middle East czar Brett McGurk and CIA director Bill Burns. Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar is leading the Israeli delegation.
Yesterday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that in any hostage deal, it was essential that “weapons smuggling to Hamas from the Gaza-Egypt border will not be possible.”
The head of the main UN agency providing aid to Gaza says half its facilities in the territory have been destroyed since the war began. Philippe Lazzarini also said more than 500 people have been killed in those attacks, including employees and displaced people sheltering there.
The commissioner-general of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees spoke at a news conference with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelaty, who reiterated Egypt’s support for the agency, known as UNRWA.
Israel has accused UNRWA of turning a blind eye or collaborating with Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza, and of perpetuating the decades-old Palestinian refugee crisis, accusations the agency denies.
His comments came as the IDF announced it was operating at UNRWA headquarters, located near the Rimal neighborhood in Gaza City, where the IDF previously found significant Hamas tunnel infrastructure and killed and captured numerous gunmen.
35 minutes to take control of the area, 6 significant tunnels destroyed
More than 150 terrorists who tried to escape from Shuja'iyya under the cover of civilians were eliminated • Fighters destroyed six offensive tunnels about six km long, and located weapons and intelligence documents left behind by the terrorists • This is how the IDF has been fighting in Shuja'iyya for 12 days
Division 98 has been fighting in Shuja'iyya with combat teams from the Paratroopers Brigade, 7 and the Yahalom unit. This is the second time the army has entered the neighborhood to allow freedom of operation in the area and to destroy infrastructure - those that Hamas is trying to return and rehabilitate while the IDF is not in the area.
In a week of fighting in Shuja'iyya, the forces eliminated more than 150 terrorists who tried to escape, destroyed terrorist infrastructure and encountered booby-trapped buildings and explosives that were destroyed. The current operation in Shuja'iyya has two main objectives. The first is to continue hitting Hamas wherever it tries to create repetition and rebuild capabilities, while maintaining operational flexibility and as much freedom of action as possible for the army. The second goal relates to underground aspects - the space from which and within which Hamas terrorists operate.
In the operation in the last week and a half, several tunnels were located and destroyed on the Shuja'iyya front, most of them approach tunnels - those that reach close to the fence in order to carry out raid plans on the surrounding settlements and kibbutzim. Division 98 opened the operation in Shuja'iyya with a storm: a vanguard force stormed into the area and reached high operational control within 35 minutes at one of Hamas's command and control centers in the western part of the neighborhood. In the rapid entry, several small terrorist cells of about three terrorists were caught in a pocket between the division's forward force and the rear force, and were eliminated after short battles. Just for comparison, in the IDF's first entry into the area, a few months ago, the rate of progress was much slower and more cautious. Now, after already operating against the battalions there, the IDF's freedom of action is made possible with greater ease.
Immediately upon entering the area, a mass escape of about a thousand people began from the area of the command and control complex. Among them were about 150 terrorists who fled to the Zeitoun and Daraj Tufah neighborhoods, leaving behind weapons and much equipment. The rapid arrival and surprise of the terrorists led to significant and qualitative intelligence achievements that can assist in the continuation of the fighting in terms of discovering additional enemy infrastructure above and below ground, and also shed light on Hamas's force-building processes and the situation regarding its attempts to return and control the Strip.
As mentioned, the second goal of the operation in Shuja'iyya is locating underground: infrastructure and offensive tunnels, infrastructural tunneling used for survival, staying and movement in the area. The forces also located the Islamic Jihad's flagship tunnel in Shuja'iyya - a tunnel almost 2.5 km long containing command and control positions, RPG missiles, explosives and intelligence documents left behind by the terrorists.
So far, the forces have managed in a relatively short time to hit the centers of gravity of Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Among other things, six offensive tunnels about six km long were hit. There are more tunnels that will be dealt with and destroyed soon, in an attempt to reduce the possibility of carrying out an attack plan against Israel from the underground of the area.
The fact that the forces are there and not for the first time allows for a learning graph and constant improvement - both in patterns of action and in the effectiveness of the action. Among other things, mutual learning was done from additional fronts in the Strip regarding the underground, and a special team was even set up to locate and destroy infrastructure.
But not everything was calm in the last week and a half in Shuja'iyya. At the beginning of the fighting, there was intense resistance to the forces, resistance that unfortunately also claimed casualties. But from the Shuja'iyya battalion, considered one of the strongest battalions in the Strip, many terrorists fled to other places and left the area to try to hit the forces in other ways and not in face-to-face battles where the IDF has a clear advantage.
Thus, in this way, the fighters eliminated more than 20 terrorists who were engaged in operating mortars on the forces as well as operating surveillance drones and drones dropping explosives. These actions were carried out from the Zeitoun and Daraj Tufah area after the escape from Shuja'iyya. link
Amid the raid, carried out by the 99th Division, the military says forces also located weaponry.
The IDF said yesterday it launched the operation in southern and western neighborhoods of Gaza City after identifying Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad infrastructure and operatives in the area.
Meanwhile, the 98th Division continues to operate in the eastern Shejaiya neighborhood of Gaza City, where over the past day the IDF says troops killed gunmen, located weapons, and demolished a tunnel.
In Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, dozens more terror operatives were killed over the past day, in close-quarters combat and in airstrikes, the military says.
Across Gaza, the Israeli Air Force struck numerous targets over the past day, including buildings used by terror groups, tunnel shafts, and other infrastructure, according to the IDF.
Northern Israel - Lebanon/Hizbollah/Syria
Buildings used by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon’s Maroun al-Ras were struck by Israeli fighter jets a short while ago, the military says. Additional Hezbollah infrastructure was struck in Ayta ash-Shab and Houla, the IDF adds.
Meanwhile, a barrage of nine rockets was fired from Lebanon at the Upper Galilee a short while ago. The IDF says all the projectiles struck open areas and no injuries were caused. Sirens had sounded in the communities of Gadot and Yesud Hama’ala, during the attack. Earlier this evening, 10 rockets were fired at the Kiryat Shmona area, and a further five were launched at the Upper Galilee. Some of the rockets were downed by air defenses, and no injuries were caused, according to the IDF.
A member of Hezbollah’s rocket unit was killed in a drone strike overnight in southern Lebanon’s Qlaileh, in the Tyre District, the IDF says.
According to the IDF, Mustafa Salman was involved in planning and carrying out several attacks against Israel as part of his role in the terror group’s rocket and missile array. It publishes footage of the strike. video
Lebanese media report an Israeli airstrike against a vehicle on the Beirut-Damascus highway, near a checkpoint between Lebanon and Syria. Unconfirmed reports suggested the strike was carried out on the Syrian side of the border. No further details are immediately available.
The Hezbollah terror group has published a new propaganda video showing drone footage of Israeli military bases in the Golan Heights.
The end of the video also shows an Israeli city, which Hezbollah says will be featured in an upcoming clip. Weeks ago, Hezbollah published a similar video of Israeli sites in the Haifa area.
The IDF has not yet commented on the footage. It is unclear when the video was made. Hezbollah has launched hundreds of drones at Israel amid the ongoing fighting, many of them laden with explosives but also some used for surveillance. Hizbollah Drone video of IDF installations
Buildings used by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon’s Maroun al-Ras were struck by Israeli fighter jets a short while ago, the military says. Additional Hezbollah infrastructure was struck in Ayta ash-Shab and Houla, the IDF adds.
Meanwhile, a barrage of nine rockets was fired from Lebanon at the Upper Galilee a short while ago. The IDF says all the projectiles struck open areas and no injuries were caused. Sirens had sounded in the communities of Gadot and Yesud Hama’ala, during the attack. Earlier this evening, 10 rockets were fired at the Kiryat Shmona area, and a further five were launched at the Upper Galilee. Some of the rockets were downed by air defenses, and no injuries were caused, according to the IDF.
A member of Hezbollah’s rocket unit was killed in a drone strike overnight in southern Lebanon’s Qlaileh, in the Tyre District, the IDF says.
According to the IDF, Mustafa Salman was involved in planning and carrying out several attacks against Israel as part of his role in the terror group’s rocket and missile array. It publishes footage of the strike. video
Lebanese media report an Israeli airstrike against a vehicle on the Beirut-Damascus highway, near a checkpoint between Lebanon and Syria. Unconfirmed reports suggested the strike was carried out on the Syrian side of the border. No further details are immediately available.
The Hezbollah terror group has published a new propaganda video showing drone footage of Israeli military bases in the Golan Heights.
The end of the video also shows an Israeli city, which Hezbollah says will be featured in an upcoming clip. Weeks ago, Hezbollah published a similar video of Israeli sites in the Haifa area.
The IDF has not yet commented on the footage. It is unclear when the video was made. Hezbollah has launched hundreds of drones at Israel amid the ongoing fighting, many of them laden with explosives but also some used for surveillance. Hizbollah Drone video of IDF installations
West Bank and Jerusalem
- Retiring General Fox: "Nationalist crime has raised its head, leadership is deterred and not acting against it"
The outgoing Central Command commander, who is retiring from the IDF after 37 years, said in a stern speech on the parade ground that nationalist crime has raised its head under the cover of war, adding: "Silence in the face of it is not Judaism in my eyes" • Fox stood by the Chief of Staff: "I am ashamed and embarrassed by the wild attacks you are experiencing" • Chief of Staff to Fox: "I thank you also on behalf of the minority who doesn't know how to appreciate, who chose to attack you"
The outgoing Central Command commander, Major General Yehuda Fox, said this evening (Monday) at the command change ceremony that in recent months nationalist crime against Palestinians in the West Bank "has raised its head," and that the local and spiritual leadership is not acting against it. Fox turned to Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi and stood by him: "I am ashamed and embarrassed by the attacks you are experiencing - and then comes a weak apology." Major General Avi Bluth, who served as commander of the Judea and Samaria Division, took his place.
Fox noted in his retirement speech that "unfortunately, in recent months as well as in the last week, nationalist crime has raised its head, and under the cover of war and the urge for revenge, has sown chaos and fear among Palestinian residents who posed no threat. To my regret, the local leadership and most of the spiritual leadership did not see the threat as we did. It is deterred and cannot find the strength to come out openly and act according to the Jewish values it educates its children by."
Fox added that "even if the rioters are a minority, those who remain silent in the face of their crimes do not exclude them and their actions from the general public, thus bringing criticism upon everyone. This is not Judaism in my eyes. At least not the one I grew up with in my father and mother's house. This is not the way of the Torah. It's about adopting the enemy's ways and following their laws. It was my responsibility to act. And here too, unfortunately, I didn't always succeed."
The outgoing command general turned to Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi and said that he is "ashamed and embarrassed as a commander but first and foremost as a citizen" from the attacks on him. "This is a method that some have adopted here as well: terrible things are said, and then comes a weak apology or strengthening and embracing the IDF forces, until the next wild and irresponsible attack."
Fox: "We depend on the existence of a strong Palestinian Authority"
Fox emphasized the security need, in his view, for a strong Palestinian Authority: "The ability of the Central Command to stand by its missions also depends on the existence of a functioning and strong Palestinian Authority, with effective security mechanisms that maintain law and order. Deliberate undermining of the security reality in this arena endangers the security of the State of Israel."
Chief of Staff Halevi addressed Major General Fox: "I take this opportunity to thank you also on behalf of the minority - the minority that doesn't know how to be grateful, that doesn't know how to appreciate, that chooses to constantly condemn those who deal with public needs faithfully. A minority that chose inappropriately to attack you, Yehuda, time and time again, even though you never ceased your constant efforts to defend. You acted with a stable moral compass and according to the law, which some want to bend and some want to forget."
Bluth: "We will show zero tolerance towards manifestations of violence of any kind"
The incoming Central Command commander Avi Bluth said that "the multi-arena campaign threatens to spill over into the command's area." According to him, "So far the axis of evil has failed to realize what it is plotting. This complexity requires different thinking. The winds from the east are bad, and we as a command can certainly influence the way and the spirit that will prevail in our regions. It will be a spirit of victory, initiative and offensiveness, and it will require great courage and strength." The incoming command commander also referred to nationalist crime in Judea and Samaria: "We will not blink on this issue and will do what is good and right for the State of Israel - we will win and remain human, and show zero tolerance towards manifestations of violence of any kind."
Esti and Shalom Yaniv, parents of Hallel and Yagel who were murdered in a terrorist attack in Huwara last February, responded to Fox's words: "We are very saddened that Major General Fox, under whose command our children were murdered in a deadly terrorist attack, chooses to lash out at marginal acts that do not represent even a minority of Judea and Samaria residents. Instead of taking responsibility for one of the hardest periods in Judea and Samaria under his command and talking about terrorism that raises its head time and time again, Fox chose to ignore this issue. We can only regret Fox's words and hope for better days." link Fox and Halevy refer to the extreme settlers who are nothing less than criminals and get away with their violent and vile crimes because this is a government that, not only tolerates these crimes but encourages them. These are the same crimes that are being presented to the IJC in the Hague and are the reasons that multiple western allies have placed sanctions on the criminals and organizations involved in these crimes since our government does nothing
Israeli troops are carrying out a raid in the West Bank’s Nur Shams camp, near Tulkarem.
According to a military source, troops have so far located 12 explosive devices and neutralized a booby-trapped car.
The operation was launched overnight.
Israeli troops are carrying out a raid in the West Bank’s Nur Shams camp, near Tulkarem.
According to a military source, troops have so far located 12 explosive devices and neutralized a booby-trapped car.
The operation was launched overnight.Politics and the War (general news)
- Canada urges the Israeli government to reverse a decision to approve new settlements in the West Bank, saying the move was in contravention of international law.
“Canada firmly opposes the government of Israel’s decision to approve new settlements in the West Bank. Unilateral actions, such as financially weakening the Palestinian Authority and expanding settlements is in contravention of international law,” the Canadian foreign ministry says in a statement on social media X.
France “strongly condemns” in a statement Israel’s recognition of five new settlements, the approval of the construction of thousands of new homes in the West Bank, and the declaration of thousands of acres of land in the Jordan Valley as state land.
The statement says that the moves are “extremely serious” because of their implications for the stability of the West Bank and the region.
“Israeli colonization of the Palestinian Territories, including East Jerusalem, constitutes a violation of international law,” says France.
“In addition to being a major obstacle to any just and lasting peace, this policy fuels tensions on the ground as violence perpetrated by settlers increases against the Palestinian population.”
“Canada firmly opposes the government of Israel’s decision to approve new settlements in the West Bank. Unilateral actions, such as financially weakening the Palestinian Authority and expanding settlements is in contravention of international law,” the Canadian foreign ministry says in a statement on social media X.
France “strongly condemns” in a statement Israel’s recognition of five new settlements, the approval of the construction of thousands of new homes in the West Bank, and the declaration of thousands of acres of land in the Jordan Valley as state land.
The statement says that the moves are “extremely serious” because of their implications for the stability of the West Bank and the region.
“Israeli colonization of the Palestinian Territories, including East Jerusalem, constitutes a violation of international law,” says France.
“In addition to being a major obstacle to any just and lasting peace, this policy fuels tensions on the ground as violence perpetrated by settlers increases against the Palestinian population.”
The Region and the World
- Yemen’s Houthis says that they carried out a joint military operation with the Iraqi Islamic Resistance targeting Israel’s port city of Eilat, using “a number of drones.”
Early this morning, the IDF said a suspected drone heading toward Israel from the direction of the Red Sea was shot down by a fighter jet.
Residents of the southernmost city of Eilat reported hearing a blast at the time of the incident.
The Iranian Navy frigate Sahand entirely sank in shallow waters in the southern port of Bandar Abbas, Nournews agency says, after it was briefly repositioned following its initial capsizing on Sunday.
“The Sahand warship, which was rebalanced on the water with great difficulty on Monday, has now sunk after the rope holding the ship broke,” says Nournews, a news agency affiliated to the Supreme National Security Council.
On Sunday, state media said the ship had capsized during repairs at a wharf due to water ingress and that efforts were being made to rebalance it.
The Iranian-built stealth warship was first launched in 2018 and is equipped with a flight deck for helicopters, torpedo launchers, anti-aircraft and anti-ship guns, surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles and electronic warfare capabilities according to local media.
Iran has developed a large domestic arms industry in the face of international sanctions and embargoes that have barred it from importing many weapons.
It launched its first locally made destroyer in 2010 as part of a program to revamp its navy equipment, which dates from before the 1979 Islamic Revolution and is mostly US-made.
In 2021, the Iranian Navy ship Kharg sank after catching fire in the Gulf of Oman during a training mission, without causing casualties.
Personal Stories
Early this morning, the IDF said a suspected drone heading toward Israel from the direction of the Red Sea was shot down by a fighter jet.
Residents of the southernmost city of Eilat reported hearing a blast at the time of the incident.The Iranian Navy frigate Sahand entirely sank in shallow waters in the southern port of Bandar Abbas, Nournews agency says, after it was briefly repositioned following its initial capsizing on Sunday.
“The Sahand warship, which was rebalanced on the water with great difficulty on Monday, has now sunk after the rope holding the ship broke,” says Nournews, a news agency affiliated to the Supreme National Security Council.
On Sunday, state media said the ship had capsized during repairs at a wharf due to water ingress and that efforts were being made to rebalance it.
The Iranian-built stealth warship was first launched in 2018 and is equipped with a flight deck for helicopters, torpedo launchers, anti-aircraft and anti-ship guns, surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles and electronic warfare capabilities according to local media.
Iran has developed a large domestic arms industry in the face of international sanctions and embargoes that have barred it from importing many weapons.
It launched its first locally made destroyer in 2010 as part of a program to revamp its navy equipment, which dates from before the 1979 Islamic Revolution and is mostly US-made.
In 2021, the Iranian Navy ship Kharg sank after catching fire in the Gulf of Oman during a training mission, without causing casualties.
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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