🎗️Lonny's War Update- October 332, 2023 - September 2, 2024 🎗️

  

🎗️Day 332_ that 101 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!!!”

We’re waiting for you, all of you.
A deal is the only way to bring
all the hostages home- the murdered for burial and the living for rehabilitation.

#BringThemHomeNow #TurnTheHorrorIntoHope

There is no victory until all of the hostages are home!

‎אין נצחון עד שכל החטופים בבית

Red Alerts - Missile, Rocket, Drone (UAV - unmanned aerial vehicles), and Terror Attacks and Death Announcements

*6:40pm yesterday- north - rockets Misgav Am

*8:00pm yesterday- north - Zra’it, Horfeish, Matat, Meron Field School, Elkosh, Faust’s, Netua, Avirim, Netua, Shtula, Even Menahem, Sasa, Tzivon- over 20 rockets with die t hit on a house in Netua and a chicken coop
*4:30am - West Bank - terrorist car bomb identified and defused

* 10:05am - north - rockets - Matat
*2:30pm - north - rockets - Gaton, Ein Yaacov, Zra'it, Shomera

Hostage Updates 

• Excellent interview with my brother with the Jerusalem Press Club interview on Youtube

  
  
• Thousands attend funeral of murdered hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin
  Before the funeral, thousands of mourners accompanied the family's convoy on foot in a march up to the cemetery.
  

  Rachel Goldberg-Polin and Jon Polin, the parents of 23-year-old dual national Hersh, have campaigned tirelessly since he was taken hostage from the Nova music festival on October 7, only recently heading in the convoy of families to the Gaza border to speak messages via loudspeaker. 

  

  
  

  Rachel and Jon are set to speak to the crowd of thousands who gathered to pay their respects.

• The United States, Qatar, and Egypt are working on a final proposal between Israel and Hamas, which has been in the works prior to the news of the murder of the six hostages.

  The United States, Qatar, and Egypt were drafting a final proposal for a ceasefire and hostages return deal between Israel and Hamas, the Washington Post reported on Monday overnight. 

  The proposal was drawn prior to the news of the murder of the six hostages, the report noted. However, according to the source who spoke with TheWashington Post, this knowledge "only adds to the urgency of the matter. You can't negotiate forever." After months of pushing for a cease-fire and hostage release deals, US officials were faced with a renewed urgency on Sunday after Israeli forces recovered the bodies of six hostages, including Israeli American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, the report further noted. 

  According to TheWashington Post, the United States, Egypt, and Qatar have been finalizing the details of one final deal that the team plans to present to Israel and Hamas, telling both parties that they can “take it or leave it.” 

  If the two sides fail to accept this final deal, we may be looking at the end of the American-led negotiations, an anonymous senior administration official said.  

  The Biden administration said it was not clear whether the retrieval of the six hostages would make it more or less likely that an agreement could be reached in the coming weeks. 

  “You can’t keep negotiating this. This process has to be called at some point,” said the senior official, who said that the proposal had been in the works since before the hostages were found dead in a tunnel in southern Gaza. “Does it derail the deal? No. If anything, it should add additional urgency in this closing phase, which we were already in.” 

  IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari stated in a press conference that the six hostages, “were brutally murdered by Hamas terrorists a short while before we reached them,” an assessment that has been upheld by the senior administration official said the United States holds a similar assessment. CIA Director William J. Burns, State Secretary Antony Blinken, and White House Middle East Coordinator Brett McGurk are just a few members of the Biden administration who have flown to the Middle East numerous times in the past year. During these visits, the White House officials met with Qatari and Egyptian negotiators to find an agreement that would see the release of the remaining living hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, according to the Washington Post.  Additionally, the discussions included a proposal for a temporary cease-fire in the Gaza Stip that they hoped would lay the groundwork for a permanent end to the war.  
  Inside Israel

Simultaneously, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing increased pressure from the hostages’ families, demanding that he address the nation. Thousands of citizens participated in a nationwide protest Sunday night, and the country’s largest labor union has threatened to shut the country down with a general strike on Monday until an agreement could be reached to bring the remaining hostages home. 

The Israeli Embassy did not immediately respond to The Washington Post’s request for comment Sunday. 

“For now, [Sinwar] will wait to see whether the general strike in Israel leads to a softening of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s conditions,” Dennis Ross, former American envoy to Israel,  said in an interview. “The strike, the likely massive protest, is in support of the hostage families and their view that Netanyahu’s strategy both in the negotiations and increasing IDF increase pressure on Hamas has failed.” Hamas, in a statement, blamed Israeli bombings for the deaths, stating that, “if President Biden is concerned about their lives, he must stop supporting this enemy with money and weapons and pressure the occupation to end its aggression immediately.” 

Last week, US officials were primarily focused on which hostages would be exchanged for specific Palestinian prisoners held in Israel, some of whom were detained without trial, according to one of the senior officials. 

With last week’s plan, the remaining women, elderly, and wounded hostages were named the first phase – which would have seen the release of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who's left arm was blown off by a grenade during the October 7 attacks. Two Israeli women, Carmel Gat and Eden Yerushalmi, whose bodies were also recovered by the IDF on Saturday, were also on the list of those who would have been released in the first phase, the senior official said. 

In light of these bodies being retrieved, senior administration officials told The Washington Postthat the painstaking deliberations over which hostages will be released in exchange for specific Palestinian prisoners must now be renegotiated. 

“Rhetoric aside, Netanyahu has never prioritized freeing the hostages. For now, he will be under a lot more domestic pressure to accept a cease-fire deal that saves the remaining hostages,” said Frank Lowenstein, a former State Department official who helped lead Israeli-Palestinian negotiations in 2014. “And if he waits this out, over time fewer living hostages could mean fewer Palestinian prisoners to release and what he sees as a more favorable negotiating position.” 

In an effort to, ‘advance an agreement that guarantees the release of all remaining hostages,’ the White House has confirmed that President Biden, along with Harris, will meet with negotiators to discuss the latest hostage deal and cease-fire proposal. Link

• Autopsy finds 6 hostages were shot multiple times at close range in last 48-72 hours

  Findings indicate captives were executed by Hamas guards as IDF troops closed in on Rafah tunnel complex; IDF chief visits site where bodies were found

  The six dead hostages recovered from the Gaza Strip over the weekend were killed 48 to 72 hours before their autopsy, meaning between Thursday and Friday morning, the Health Ministry said Sunday.

  The ministry added that an examination carried out by Abu Kabir Forensic Institute found that all six hostages were shot multiple times from close range, indicating they were executed.

  The IDF had said that Hamas terrorists murdered the hostages relatively shortly before troops located their bodies on Saturday afternoon in a tunnel in Rafah.

  The hostages brought back were Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Eden Yerushalmi, Ori Danino, Alex Lobanov, Carmel Gat, and Almog Sarusi.

  On Sunday morning, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen Herzi Halevi visited the site where the bodies were found and held an assessment at the scene.

  Halevi was joined by the head of the IDF Southern Command, Maj. Gen. Yaron Finkelman, and hostage point-man Maj. Gen. (res.) Nitzan Alon. was joined by the head of the IDF Southern Command, Maj. Gen. Yaron Finkelman, and hostage point-man Maj. Gen. (res.) Nitzan Alon. Channel 12 reported that security officials fear that Hamas executed the six hostages due to the terror group’s concerns that a hostage who was rescued alive from a nearby tunnel last week would divulge details about where the other captives were being held.

  Hostage Farhan al-Qadi, 52, was safely rescued by IDF special forces from Hamas captivity in one of the terror group’s tunnels in the southern Gaza Strip. He was found alone after his captives fled.

  IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said earlier that the six were “brutally murdered” by Hamas shortly before troops arrived.

  “According to an initial assessment… they were brutally murdered by Hamas terrorists a short while before we reached them. They were abducted alive on the morning of October 7 by the Hamas terror group,” Hagari said in a press conference.

  “Their bodies were found during the fighting in Rafah, in a tunnel, about a kilometer away from the tunnel from which we rescued Farhan al-Qadi a few days ago,” he said. The IDF said that it did not have the exact location of the hostages but had indications of a general area where the six could be held, and was therefore operating carefully in the area.

  “Since Farhan was found, troops were given an emphasis on operating carefully even more than usual, because of the understanding that additional hostages might be in the area. We did not have information on the exact location of the hostages,” Hagari said.

  Troops began to search a tunnel complex, some 20 meters underground, on Saturday and found the hostages, dead, in the afternoon. Their bodies were extracted from Gaza overnight and brought to Israel for identification.  Full article

• Netanyahu's Clarifications Document: "This is the 'Document of Blood' - It Sealed the Fate of the Six Hostages Who Were Killed"

  In May, Israel proposed an agreement to return the hostages and lead to a ceasefire. To the government's surprise, Hamas agreed to most of the terms. Within weeks, a new document was prepared, which officially included "clarifications" but, in practice, contained changes that torpedoed any chance of an agreement. An Israeli official stated, "This document is steeped in the blood of the six hostages who were killed."

  On the afternoon of Saturday, July 27, Israel completed a seven-page document in English. The central part, the first two pages, was sent that evening to the three countries mediating between Israel and Hamas - the United States, Qatar, and Egypt. The following day in Rome, the entire document, including appendices, was presented by Mossad chief David Barnea to the CIA chief, the Prime Minister of Qatar, and senior Egyptian intelligence officials.

  The document begins with two pages of text, followed by three pages of maps and two pages with tables – a list of some hostages in Gaza, categorized. "History will judge this document harshly one day," says a senior security official frequently quoted here, who has been tragically accurate in his predictions about the war and the hostages. At the top of the document, it is labeled as a "Clarifications Document," but in my opinion, the most fitting name is "Document of Blood" – because its pages are stained with the blood of the six hostages who were killed in the tunnel in Rafah, he says. "The names of four of them are listed in the appendix at the end of the document. Had it not been for the deliberate sabotage in the document designed to prevent a deal, there was a good chance they would have been released a month ago and would be here with us alive."

  "A Document Born of Sin"

  According to the senior official, whose statements are supported by additional conversations with other officials involved in the negotiations and based on further documentation from the negotiation process, "This document was born of sin – an attempt by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to sabotage the positive moment in the negotiations when it seemed possible to reach an agreement, to write and produce it. Instead, the Israeli public was flooded with disinformation, if not outright lies. The document is soaked in the blood of the six hostages and who knows whom else it will end up killing tomorrow, in a week, or in a month. This, along with other severe damage it might cause to Israel and the entire region. One thing it will certainly not bring about, because it was specifically created to prevent it – is a hostage deal," he says. 

  It was born of sin because it was created after it became clear that Hamas accepted most of the terms Israel presented in the latest draft of the hostage/ceasefire agreement on May 27. When positive initial reactions were received in Israel, and the day before Hamas submitted its response, Minister Bezalel Smotrich explained that Yahya Sinwar might respond positively to the proposal and argued that this was a sign of weakness on his part, and because of that weakness, Israel should reject the outline it itself proposed. Thus, even before the response arrived in Israel, it was already defined in the Prime Minister's Office as "Hamas's blatant refusal." Meanwhile, the Israeli intelligence community and senior negotiation team members thought this was a very positive development, and that the deal was moving in the right direction.

  When the Prime Minister's Office saw there was a chance for a deal, they decided to "reverse course" and sent Mossad chief Dedi Barnea to Doha to convey the message. "You could see how distressed he was presenting these things," said a senior official from one of the mediating countries about Barnea's mission, who came to update the Qatari Prime Minister that Netanyahu had "clarifications."

  In her testimony to the civil investigation committee, Einav Tsangor, the mother of hostage Matan, claimed that shortly before, Barnea told her that Netanyahu was sabotaging the negotiations for political reasons. Barnea denies having said this, although others are sure they heard both him and other members of the negotiation team express similar, and sometimes much more blunt, sentiments. The Qataris were surprised.

  In any case, Barnea, who was official and loyal to his role, did not say anything further in that conversation with the Qatari Prime Minister, who told him that "these are surprising things" – and asked him to consolidate all the discussed issues in writing and to send them in a consolidated form to the mediators. He added that until Israel does this, there is no point in continuing. The Qatari was right in his demand, but it is uncertain whether the hostages have the time to wait – the two weeks that passed until the document was submitted, and another two weeks until the already doomed summit in Doha to discuss it, given that it was clear the document would be rejected by Hamas.

  In Israel, the formulation of the document was delayed in the hope that pressure from the Israeli negotiation team, which would be augmented by additional pressure from President Biden in the Washington meeting, would lead Netanyahu to retract the additions. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister's Office collaborated with members of the negotiation team to sell a fabricated story to the public and the hostage families who were angry at Netanyahu for traveling to Washington: that a team was going to Qatar to continue the talks. This was a promise with no kernel of truth. Such a meeting was never scheduled. It evaporated like the hopes from the Biden meeting, which left little remaining in what the official termed the "Document of Blood."

  This document is called a "Clarifications Letter," but clarifications are not the prominent features of it. The few who have been exposed to it so far – the Israeli negotiation teams who were involuntarily involved in its drafting, and the mediating countries' teams – immediately understood that most of it consists of innovations, additions, and changes to the outline that Israel had previously submitted, meaning the outline Israel had said could be signed. Possible? Not really, because even before several issues that remained unresolved, even after Hamas removed most of its objections, the "Clarifications Letter" landed and torpedoed everything. This is where the saga that now stalls the negotiations begins: the issue of the Philadelphi Route. In the original Israeli proposal, it was promised that the IDF would withdraw from the entire strip. Hamas was told verbally by the mediating countries that the withdrawal included the Philadelphi Route, but the maps attached to the "clarifications" revealed that IDF forces would remain there. "Out of the six points written on half a page of the clarifications document – five were meant to sabotage the negotiations in the most severe way and ensure that it would never succeed," says a member of the negotiation team.

  For instance, the Nitzanim Route, a topic where Israel retracted its agreement and reopened the issue of how to inspect those crossing; the Rafah crossing which emerged as a new topic; and other difficulties. For months, the issue of the release lists delayed the negotiations, a demand Netanyahu raised and Hamas refused. In the end, Israel dropped this demand, whose delay cost the lives of several hostages, but it was reinstated in the clarifications document: Israel included in the second appendix a list of those it believed should be included in the first stage of releases, the humanitarian stage.

  "The Netanyahu Trick"

  "Netanyahu's trick," said a security official familiar with the details at the time, "is that there is a dispute over who is defined as 'sick'. Hamas can argue that a certain person is not sick in its view, or not sick enough to be included in the list, and voila – you are stuck again for weeks or months of disputes." This appendix mentions the names of four of the six hostages who were killed. At least three of them, Carmel Gat and Eden Yerushalmi, and Rosh Goldberg-Polin who had his hand severed, could not have been disputed. They would have been released if the deal had gone through.

  It is important to note: it is unknown how Hamas would have acted had Israel managed differently, other than intelligence assessments suggesting that the primary interest of the terrorist organization is to achieve a permanent ceasefire in the strip – the key condition it has demanded from the beginning of the war to enter a comprehensive deal, and therefore there is a reasonable chance it would have agreed since this condition was included in the original proposal. However, in the existing situation, no one examined Hamas because the Document of Blood was prepared, and there was also a cabinet meeting where Netanyahu insisted – contrary to Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, the intelligence community, and military leaders – on making the Philadelphi Route a thorn in Egypt's side and the burial site of the agreement. Now, the burial site has added six more hostages. The senior official also criticizes his colleagues in the security system. He says, "When they received instructions they were convinced were wrong, driven by foreign political considerations, and likely to result in the deaths of soldiers – senior officials should have expressed their opinions in the most severe terms and then handed in their resignation so they would not have to carry out these orders."

  Many heard the heads of the negotiation teams express strong opposition to the Document of Blood, reaching a peak in their statements against Netanyahu, who they believe is ruining any chance of an agreement. However, they were careful not to say these things openly to the public, did not resign, and even if they did so under protest at times – they ultimately acted according to Netanyahu's dictates, despite knowing that they greatly increased the risk to the lives of hostages.

  Chief of Staff Herzl Halevi also faces criticism. "He is one of those responsible for October 7, and therefore should have overturned the table with Netanyahu to release the kidnapped due to his failure," says the source link

• Masses protest across Israel in flood of grief, anger after Hamas executes 6 hostages
  Almost 300,000 rally in Tel Aviv in largest protest since Oct. 7, later clashing with police, blocking highway for hours; demand PM reach hostage deal; 200,000 more rally nationwide
  

  Hundreds of thousands of Israelis gathered in Tel Aviv and elsewhere in the country on Sunday evening in the largest protests since October 7, expressing pain and anger and demanding a hostage-ceasefire deal after the army recovered six bodies of hostages executed by the Hamas terror group.

  Organizers estimated that 300,000 people gathered in Tel Aviv and an additional 200,000 took part in protests across the country. The Crowd Solutions firm estimated that some 280,000 people participated in the Tel Aviv demonstration, in what would be the largest rally in almost 18 months. There were no official numbers from police.

  The Tel Aviv protest began with a march from Dizengoff Street to the Begin Gate of the IDF headquarters, carrying six “symbolic coffins” to symbolize the six bodies that were recovered on Saturday night

  

  Demonstrators chanted “Now! Now!” as they demanded Netanyahu reach a ceasefire with Hamas to bring the remaining captives home. Others chanted: “We want them back alive.”

  Protesters carried Israeli flags, yellow ribbons in honor of the hostages, and signs apologizing to the six dead hostages.
  

  “We really think that the government is making these decisions for its own preservation and not for the lives of the hostages, and we need to tell them, ‘Stop!’” said Shlomit Hacohen, a Tel Aviv resident.

  Ramping up pressure on Netanyahu, Histadrut Labor Federation chief Arnon Bar-David declared a general strike for Monday over the government’s failure to secure the release of hostages held in Gaza.

  Speakers at the Tel Aviv protest included relatives of hostages still in Gaza, as well as Bar-David and Lior Simcha, the secretary general of the Kibbutz Movement.

  

  Lior Rudaeff‘s son, Nadav, spoke at the Tel Aviv protest where he said the government had violated its contract with the people of Israel. Rudaeff was killed on October 7 and his body was taken to Gaza.

  “If you hadn’t sabotaged a deal again and again, 26 hostages who were murdered in captivity would be here today with us, alive. Six of them survived until last week in a hell that most of you MKs wouldn’t have survived for one day,” he charged.

  Einav Zangauker, mother of hostage Matan Zangauker, said: “Matan is alive. My son is still alive. But every day is a Russian roulette.” Netanyahu, she said, will play it “until they’re all dead, [but] we won’t let him.” She said the six murdered hostages died “on the altar of the Philadelphi [Corridor] spin,” referring to the Gaza-Egypt border, where the premier has insisted Israel must retain control in order to prevent Hamas from smuggling in arms through tunnels.
  

  The six could have been saved, and the rest of the hostages can still be saved, she argued.

  To the newly bereaved families, Zangauker said: “You are not alone. The people of Israel embrace you. The blood of your loved ones won’t be in vain. We’ll do everything to get all the hostages home.”

  

  “The history books will not have sufficient space to record the magnitude” of the disaster Netanyahu has wrought, she asserted. “Your time is up,” she said. “I, Einav Zangauker, a Likudnik from Ofakim, tell you it’s over.”

  She concluded: “This is the time to act. To shake the nation until there is a deal. Go to the streets, people of Israel. Go to the streets!”

  Matan Zangauker’s girlfriend, Ilana Gritzewsky, who was also taken hostage and released in November as part of a deal, said she knew what the hell of captivity looked like.

  Netanyahu “doesn’t know what it’s like to have death hovering over you all day, he doesn’t know what it’s like to be in captivity and hear the prime minister say that the war is going to be long,” she said.

  

  Union chief Bar-David vowed that “the entire country will stand still tomorrow” and accused the government of forsaking the whole country.
  

  “The key word here is abandonment” of the hostages, as well as of the country’s south, north, and the “unbelievable abandonment of the economy,” while “coalition funds are funneled to unnecessary government offices,” he charged.
  

  Bar-David said he had promised hostage families to use his power to shut down the economy “when the time comes.”

  “That time is now,” he said.

  Following the Tel Aviv protest, thousands descended to the Ayalon Highway where they blocked traffic for three hours, with some setting off fireworks, lighting fires on the road, and placing rocks, fences, nails and metal objects on the road. Some chanted, “Bibi is murdering the hostages,” using Netanyahu’s nickname.

  Police said in a statement that they were “forced” to declare the protest on the Ayalon illegal and then “used crowd control measures to disperse the rioters.”

  
  
  

  Around 30 protesters were arrested in Tel Aviv, in addition to five in Jerusalem and others elsewhere around the country.

  Police clashed with some of the thousands of protesters on the Ayalon Highway as they attempted to clear the road, including by using water cannons. At least four stun grenades were thrown by cops, lightly hurting several people including Labor MK Naama Lazimi and her adviser, and knocking them down on the road.

  “There was then another blast that was close and almost hit us directly,” Lazimi recounted later on X, adding that a police officer had then noticed what was happening and pulled them away, and that “miraculously, nothing happened beyond a few superficial bruises.” She argued that no friction had been going on when the grenades were hurled “completely by surprise and without any warning.”
  

  Lazimi claimed police were “endangering the public’s safety” and acting illegally to serve far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who is in charge of police.

  Police said an officer lost consciousness during a “riot” and was hospitalized, without detailing what had happened to her.

  A 51-year-old demonstrator was moderately injured and hospitalized after falling from a height of 2.5 meters, the Ynet news site reported.
  

  The protests, which took place across the country, kicked off with thousands gathering to protest outside the Prime Minister’s Office near the Knesset in Jerusalem during an emergency meeting of the security cabinet.

  Many of the protesters blew whistles and trumpets to disrupt the meeting, causing deafening noise. Half an hour into the rally, the crowd observed a minute of silence to honor the hostages. After the minute passed, the crowd erupted again into loud whistles and shouts.

  “This was the last minute of silence you will have,” shouted one of the organizers in a bullhorn, as he proceeded to read out the names of ministers. “We will not give this security cabinet a moment of quiet until all the hostages are released!”
  

  In Jerusalem, demonstrators also later blocked a key entrance to the city where they clashed with police trying to clear the roads.

  Thousands also demonstrated at dozens of bridges, highways and cities around the country in what were likely the largest protests since October 7.

  Hostage Naama Levy‘s grandfather, Shaul Levy, participated in a protest in Beersheba and said that the current social and political situation made the hostages’ families feel hopeless.

  “When Netanyahu says he wants to destroy Hamas, it won’t happen. What is really happening is that he’s destroying us,” he said.

  Opposition politicians had also urged the public to take to the streets and took part in the demonstrations.
  

  “They were alive. Netanyahu and the death cabinet decided not to save them. There are still live hostages there, a deal can still be made. Netanyahu is not doing it for political reasons,” Opposition Leader Yair Lapid charged, claiming that the prime minister was prioritizing preserving “the coalition with [far-right ministers Bezalel] Smotrich and [Itamar] Ben Gvir over the lives of our children.”

  “Out of love for the Israeli state and society, out of real anxiety for our future, I will come to the protest in Tel Aviv tonight, and I call on all of you to show up with Israeli flags,” said National Unity leader Benny Gantz in a video to the public earlier Sunday.

  “Come and make your voices heard. Let’s call for unity and true commitment to our hostages, our fighters, our children, and the future of the country,” he added.

  

  He also called on Israelis to join the strike on Monday.

  It is believed that 97 of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 33 confirmed dead by the IDF.

  Hamas released 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released before that. Eight hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 37 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the military as they tried to escape their captors.

  Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers who were killed in 2014.
  
  

• **The Explanation Behind the Claim: Why the Current Maneuver Might Endanger Hostages**

  
  

  A former head of Military Intelligence explained that the IDF's tactical experience and strong capabilities in underground maneuvering could actually increase the risk to the lives of the hostages. The weak point lies in the underground areas that have not yet been cleared and dealt with by the IDF and are located close to the operational zones. "Sometimes it ends well, like in the case of Farhan, and sometimes it ends very badly," explained Tamir Hayman.
  The issue of hostage safety and the fear of harm to their lives is growing stronger, especially after the murder of the six hostages by Hamas terrorists in tunnels in Rafah over the weekend. Even before all the details are known, there is a growing assessment that the IDF's military maneuver, which has often led to good results, is actually what might endanger the lives of the hostages who are still held by Hamas.

  
  

  Major General (Res.) Tamir Hayman, former head of Military Intelligence and current director of the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), demonstrated on Sunday in the main edition that the longer the IDF's military campaign drags on, the greater the likelihood of harm to the lives of the hostages held in the tunnels. "As the campaign progresses, there is a very difficult tension between the areas that have not yet been cleared and where there is no military pressure, compared to the risk to the hostages," Hayman explained. He noted that the IDF has succeeded in narrowing down the operational space to very small dimensions, but precisely in those areas, the military pressure increases, as does the risk to the hostages' lives.

  
  

  In Rafah, for example, where the IDF monitors the underground layout consistently and effectively, a conflict could arise in areas where hostages are held. "All the underground areas are connected—between offensive tunnels, smuggling tunnels, and tunnels located under built-up areas."

  

  A tunnel found in Rafah

  
  

  Hayman explained that the IDF's good tactical experience and its capabilities to maneuver below ground are precisely what increase the risk to the hostages' lives in areas where maneuvers have not yet been conducted. "Things are dynamic, they move, people gather in places—sometimes it turns out well like in the rescue of Farhan al-Qadi, and sometimes it turns out very badly like in the case of the murder of the six hostages. The room for flexibility is shrinking, and we're reaching a point where the exhaustion of this matter becomes evident."
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Gaza 

•  Polio Vaccination Campaign in Gaza Strip: Over 72,000 Children Vaccinated in One Day

  Yesterday (Sunday), alongside the horrific news of the murder of six Israeli hostages, a large-scale polio vaccination campaign began in the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian Ministry of Health, controlled by Hamas, announced that 72,600 children were vaccinated yesterday. The UN hopes to vaccinate 640,000 children in the first phase. The vaccination campaign is taking place in the central part of the Strip until Wednesday, from where it will continue to the north and south of the Strip.
  

  In Israel, it was stated that the vaccination campaign will continue until September 9, operating eight hours each day. To enable the campaign, the IDF agreed to temporary humanitarian pauses in the areas where the campaign will be focused at each stage, from 6:00 AM to 2:00 PM. The campaign is divided into three stages, each lasting three days, with the possibility of extending each stage by an additional day. The campaign will start tomorrow in the central Gaza Strip, then move south, and finally reach the north. The IDF stated that "at the end of each regional vaccination campaign, a situation assessment regarding the area will be conducted."

  Therefore, the brief ceasefire in central Gaza ended yesterday afternoon, according to Israel's announcement. The Prime Minister's Office clarified over the weekend that "reports of a general ceasefire to facilitate polio vaccinations in Gaza are false. Israel will only allow a humanitarian corridor through which the vaccination personnel can pass, and designated safe areas will be established for brief periods to administer the vaccines. Israel sees the prevention of a polio outbreak in the Gaza Strip as important, including the goal of preventing the spread of epidemics in the entire region."

  The goal of the vaccination campaign, led by the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and UNRWA, is to vaccinate 640,000 children under the age of 10 across the entire Gaza Strip, both in and outside the humanitarian evacuation areas. Each child will receive two drops in the first dose, and after four weeks, a further large-scale vaccination campaign will be necessary to provide a second dose. 1.3 million vaccines (an inactivated virus given orally) have already been transferred through the Kerem Shalom crossing to a storage facility in Deir al-Balah, where they are kept refrigerated, and an additional shipment of 400,000 more doses is expected to arrive soon.

  According to the Gaza Health Ministry, vaccinations are being conducted at 160 different locations throughout the Strip, including hospitals and schools. Most of these sites are in the Khan Yunis area in the south and Deir al-Balah in the center, where hundreds of thousands of refugees are currently located, and the number of children is the highest. UNICEF noted that more than 2,000 volunteers will transport the vaccines to the different sites.

  The World Health Organization reported last week the first case of a polio type 2 patient in the Gaza Strip in 25 years: a 10-month-old infant was left paralyzed in the lower part of his left leg as a result of the virus. Although his condition is currently stable, the case is causing great concern given the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza. The WHO's announcement comes a week after the Gaza Health Ministry reported the case. It was also reported last week that two other Palestinians in Gaza might have contracted the virus.

  "We fled from death, now there are diseases."

  The vaccination campaign in Gaza poses a significant challenge to health authorities and aid organizations. Approximately 90% of Gaza's population of 2.3 million people have left their homes during the war. Hundreds of thousands are crowded into tent camps. Sanitation conditions are poor, with sewage flowing in the streets of Gaza, promoting disease outbreaks. The WHO estimates that more than 150,000 residents of the Gaza Strip suffer from dysentery (severe diarrhea), pneumonia, skin diseases, and other illnesses.

  "We fled from death with our children, moving from place to place for them, and now we have these diseases," said Wafa Obeid, who brought her three children to be vaccinated at the "Martyrs of Al-Aqsa" hospital in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza. The Guardian reported that hundreds of other families also arrived at schools in Deir al-Balah that have been turned into vaccination centers. Nour al-Shabrawi, a mother of three, brought her children for vaccination: "At first, I was afraid because of rumors (that the vaccine is experimental), especially since it came from Israel. So, initially, I did not accept the idea. But the Gaza Health Ministry reassured us, so I decided to vaccinate my children."

  UNICEF spokesperson Ammar Ammar called on both sides to respect the ceasefire meant to allow the vaccinations: "This is the first stage. There is no alternative to a ceasefire, as not only polio threatens the children of Gaza, but also other factors like malnutrition and inhumane living conditions." UNICEF spokesman Salem Oweis told the BBC that "so far it’s going well and the vaccination rate is really good."

Northern Israel - Lebanon/Hizbollah/Syria

• Israeli fighter jets struck buildings used by Hezbollah in five areas of southern Lebanon overnight, the IDF says.

  The strikes were carried out in Yaroun, Ayta ash-Shab, Hanine, Tayr Harfa, and Blida, according to the military.

  It publishes footage of the strikes. video

  
  

• A Hezbollah anti-tank guided missile attack wounded three Israelis, including a civilian who was seriously hurt and a member of a northern border community’s local security team who was moderately injured, the military and a hospital said Sunday.

  Following the targeting of Kfar Yuval, the civilian, a man in his 40s, was brought to Rambam Medical Center in Haifa by helicopter, after initially being taken to Ziv Medical Center in Safed.

  Ziv Medical Center said the security team member and a third person injured in the attack were in good to moderate condition and were being treated at the hospital. 
  

  Meanwhile, 30 rockets were launched at Israel from Lebanon on Sunday, including a barrage of 10 rockets at the Misgav Am area and another 20 at Matat, according to the IDF.

  There were no injuries in the rocket attacks.

  The IDF also said that throughout the day it had struck Hezbollah rocket launchers in Ayta ash-Shab and Bint Jbeil, as well as buildings used by the terror group in Beit Lif, Taybeh and Odaisseh, among other infrastructure.
  

  Hezbollah later announced the death of a member killed “on the road to Jerusalem,” its term for operatives slain in Israeli strikes, identifying him as Hussein Moussawi.

  As the attacks from Hezbollah continued, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant vowed on Sunday that “the price we are paying in the north won’t be in vain” as he visited schools near the border with Lebanon on the first day of the school year. At an elementary school in the northern Druze village of Majdal Shams, where 12 children were killed in a Hezbollah rocket attack on a soccer pitch in July, Gallant spoke with teachers and students who knew the victims, a statement by his office said.

  “This is the place that took the hardest hit, and it’s the place we are sending the message — the suffering and pain won’t be in vain,” Gallant said during the visit, according to his office. full article

West Bank and Jerusalem and Terror attacks within Israel

•     The IDF says it carried out a drone strike against a group of Palestinians hurling explosive devices at troops during an ongoing operation in the West Bank city of Jenin.

• **Car Bomb Neutralized at the Entrance to Atarot: "This is a Great Miracle"**

  The vehicle, which had two large gas canisters connected to a triggering mechanism, was identified as suspicious around 4:30 AM, and bomb disposal experts were called to neutralize it. According to the police, the vehicle’s windows were tinted: "A major attack was prevented thanks to the vigilance of a citizen." This comes amid fears of explosives terrorism, and after two car bomb attacks were thwarted over the weekend in Gush Etzion.

  Security forces and the Binyamin Regional Council announced this morning (Monday) that a booby-trapped vehicle, with two large gas canisters connected to a triggering mechanism, was located and neutralized at the entrance to the Atarot settlement. Police and military bomb disposal experts were called to handle the car bomb, which was identified as suspicious around 4:30 AM. A security source stated that a major attack was averted thanks to the vigilance of a citizen.

  The head of the Binyamin Regional Council and Chairman of the Yesha Council, Israel Gantz, said: "A great miracle happened this morning in Binyamin. Terror in Judea and Samaria requires military action just like in Gaza and Rafah. We need to mobilize the population and destroy the terrorist neighborhoods and infrastructure to dust."

  A security source commented on the thwarted attack: "We are putting tremendous pressure on terrorist organizations. In northern Samaria, the Jordan Valley, and the Hebron area, about 30 terrorists have already been neutralized. This morning, a major attack was prevented through the vigilance of a citizen and cooperation between the civilian security system and the military forces, who acted quickly and prevented harm to civilians."

  The IDF stated regarding the incident that a report was received about a suspicious vehicle near the Atarot settlement in the Binyamin Brigade, and that a patrol and military unit on routine patrol identified the vehicle and secured the area. "IDF forces and bomb disposal experts are currently at the scene," said the military statement. The police added that the military unit that arrived at the scene was unable to identify the contents of the vehicle because its windows were tinted, but Border Police bomb disposal experts who arrived at the scene recognized that it was a car bomb and began working to neutralize it.

  The neutralization of the booby-trapped vehicle comes against the backdrop of increasing fears of explosive terrorism in Judea and Samaria, and after a double bombing attack in Gush Etzion was thwarted on the night between Friday and Saturday, involving two booby-trapped vehicles. The first vehicle exploded, reportedly due to a "work accident," at a gas station at the Gush junction, and the terrorist who managed to escape was later neutralized by forces at the scene. Another terrorist then infiltrated the nearby settlement of Karmei Tzur with a second booby-trapped vehicle but was also neutralized by a security patrol who pursued him with their vehicle, even colliding with the booby-trapped car.

  The thwarted attack this morning comes exactly one day after a shooting attack in the Hebron area, in which three police officers were killed: Sgt. Major Hadass Baratz, Inspector Arik Ben Eliyahu, and Sergeant Roni Shakuri. The shooting attack occurred on Route 35, near the Tarkumiya checkpoint north of Hebron, and hours later the IDF neutralized the terrorist who carried out the attack, Mohand Al-Assouda, who had previously served in President Abbas's presidential guard. The IDF and Shin Bet surrounded the house where he was hiding and neutralized him with an anti-tank missile after a pressure-cooker operation. An M-16 rifle was found near the terrorist. link

Politics and the War (general news)

•  **Cabinet Ministers Attack Gallant: "We Must Not Create an Equation of Murdered for Concessions"**

  Gallant argued that the cabinet should reverse its decision on Philadelphi, and was attacked for it. Smotrich stated, "If we surrender, we've lost the war." Amsalem questioned, "Why should we change the decision? What has even happened?" The Defense Minister responded, "Don't teach me about concessions. If we want the hostages alive, there's no time."

  The political-security cabinet convened this afternoon (Sunday) for a discussion following the announcement of the murder of six hostages and the return of their bodies to Israel. In a heated debate, ministers attacked Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who called to reverse the decision to keep forces on the Philadelphi route. Minister Dudi Amsalem wondered why the decision should be changed: "What has even happened?"

  Even before the discussion, Gallant called to "immediately convene the cabinet and overturn the decision made on Thursday. It is too late for the hostages who were brutally murdered. We must bring back the hostages still in Hamas captivity."

  Following his statements and with the convening of the cabinet, Justice Minister Yariv Levin said: "On October 7th, a terrible thing happened to us, but we must not give up. We need patience and determination to continue the war until all its goals are achieved. I saw what the Defense Minister tweeted on Twitter. As a citizen, I didn't understand."

  "Even if we made a wrong decision on Thursday, as you suggest, we must not create a reality where there is an equation of 'murdered for concessions.' Where will that lead?" Levin criticized. "What will this do to negotiations? It doesn't take much imagination. How can we operate if everyone tweets their opinions from the cabinet? When the cabinet makes a decision, we show unity and stand behind it. It is clear to all of us that the murder of the hostages requires a sharp and clear response - without compromises."

  Foreign Minister Israel Katz added, "We need to exact a heavy price from Hamas instead of offering concessions. We must not create an equation of 'hostages murdered = concessions'. We should act proactively as we did in Yemen, in Beirut, and elsewhere."

  Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich joined in: "Hamas wants us to surrender. We can't take an entire country hostage. If we give in to Hamas's demands, as Gallant wants, we've lost the war." Minister Dudi Amsalem said, "Why should we change the decision? What has even happened?" Minister Gila Gamliel responded, "Six hostages were murdered, that's what happened."

  After being attacked, Gallant replied, "We will not achieve the war goals we set for ourselves because the cabinet's decision is an unnecessary constraint we are imposing on ourselves, and it is secondary to the hostage deal." He added, "The decision made on Thursday was under the 'there is time' procedure, but if we want the hostages alive - they have no time."

  Gallant criticized the ministers: "Don't teach me about concessions. We have risked soldiers for decades for one person; how can we now disregard the lives of 30? This is a moral failure. We grew up and were taught not to leave the wounded in the field, and in the decisions we make, we need to see what values guide us. On Thursday, we decided to stay in Philadelphi even at the cost of leaving hostages there."

  Gallant said, "I suggest the speakers here do as I have done in dealing with terrorism and then speak."

  About half an hour later, Prime Minister Netanyahu responded, "I was wounded to release hostages. What you're suggesting is to withdraw from Philadelphi. They will smuggle the hostages to Sinai and then to Iran. The U.S. agreed, so why are you opposing?" Gallant added, "We're talking about small numbers and they're dwindling. Creating conditions for release means they need to give up something, and we also need to give up something."

  Smotrich said, "They must pay a price. Take territory from the strip for every hostage murdered." Minister Ben Gvir added, "Until today, you argued not to pass the death penalty law for terrorists because they would murder hostages. Now it is proven that they are murdering hostages regardless of what we do. This is an opportunity to deter them - Hamas should pay a price and understand we are not flinching." Katz demanded, "Bring operational plans." Minister Eli Cohen added, "If we back down, the equation is that they murder hostages, and we give in."

• US continued failure to curb Qatar over nationals in Hamas captivity
  Over 20 US citizens were kidnapped by Hamas on October 7 while the leaders of Hamas resided in Doha’s luxurious residencies.
  

  The blame for their murder and their kidnapping lies on the shoulders of Hamas and its militia, the Izzadin al-Qassam Brigades. But blame and responsibility don’t always overlap. Every country is responsible for the lives and well-being of its citizens – or so the social contract in democracies goes.

  The social contract in Israel has been broken. The failures and mistakes that led to the October 7 massacre, as well as the broken management of civil affairs during the war, will prompt lengthy discussions. But many of the hostages also held foreign citizenship, which leads to the question: could they have done more for their citizens?

  The case of the USA

  The Biden administration’s general stance on Middle Eastern affairs has not proven to be a source for regional stability. From the hasty and clumsy withdrawal from Afghanistan to the ill-treatment of Saudi Arabia and the attempts to appease the Islamic Republic, the administration has not acted in a way that preserves its allies. Instead, it emboldened its adversaries and alienated its regional partners, pushing them to search for other opportunities abroad.

  The US’s persistent ingratiation with Qatar is one of the most striking issues. Doha is one of the main funders of Hamas’s extensive tunnel system, a key element to hide hostages and smuggle weapons; it is also a main instigator of feuds within the US. Today, almost 11 months since October 7, Qatar has failed to stand up to its duty and recognize its responsibility for the massacre and the hostages, essentially blaming Israel and the US for trusting the royal Al-Thani family regime in the first place.

  Sitting front row at Haniyeh's funeral

  Over 20 US citizens were kidnapped by Hamas on October 7 while the leaders of Hamas resided in Doha’s luxurious residencies. As previously reported by The Jerusalem Post, the Qatari Emir and his father sat in the first row at Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh’s funeral in Doha while Hersh Goldberg-Polin and seven other US nationals were subject to agony and torture under Haniyeh’s subordinates.

  So far, the US has failed to hold the custodians of Hamas accountable. There were no sanctions against Doha, the US lease of the Al Udeid base in Qatar was renewed, and the US keeps treating Doha, which provides safe asylum to the leaders of those who kidnapped its own citizens, as a precious ally instead of pointing to it as the terror greenhouse it is.

  Seeing as the US opted not to send boots on the ground to fight Hamas and release its nationals held in captivity, nor to pressure the terrorist’s sponsors in any way, the question remains whether the United States of America even remembers its part in the social contract.

  An estimated seven US citizens remain in the hands of Hamas. Despite the much-appreciated military and diplomatic aid to Israel, the current administration has failed time and time again in discerning friend from foe. Doha is yet another failure.

  Let this be a call not only to US decision-makers but also to the families of the hostages: the current strategy is failing; the Qatari problem must be addressed and amplified. link
  
  

• Netanyahu’s so-called ‘supreme effort’ for a hostage-ceasefire deal has been skewed, inadequate
  

  Netanyahu’s so-called ‘supreme effort’ for a hostage-ceasefire deal has been skewed, inadequate

  Could Hamas’s latest act of barbarism, murdering six more of the hostages, have been prevented? Possibly. Could the PM and his government have done more to try to avert it? Yes

  In a video statement issued hours after the IDF announced it had recovered, from a tunnel in Gaza, the bodies of six hostages — six young women and men who were murdered just days ago by their Hamas captors — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the nation that his government has been conducting “intensive negotiations” in a “supreme effort” to reach a deal with Hamas to release all the hostages while ensuring Israel’s “security and existence.”

  It agreed to a proposal in May that was backed by the United States, he recalled in a video statement. And when the US updated that framework last month, Israel agreed again. But Hamas refused both those offers and, he charged, “refuses to conduct real negotiations.”

  “He who murders hostages does not want a deal,” Netanyahu summarized.

  Only Hamas — and specifically Yahya Sinwar, the demonic architect of the October 7 slaughter and abductions — knows whether there were and are any terms for a deal, short of a full and irrevocable Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and the internationally guaranteed permanent cessation of any action against it, that the terror group would accept.

  But Israel’s “supreme effort” has not been unstinting; Netanyahu’s own defense minister and security chiefs have made clear for months — in numerous closed-door security consultations and sometimes publicly — their belief that the prime minister could and should have been more flexible in his efforts to draw Hamas into an agreement. Some of them have also credibly charged that the prime minister has been influenced by his own political considerations, amid warnings from his far-right partners that they would bring down his government if he cut what they consider to be a reckless deal.

  Israel will have to battle Hamas for a long, long time to come, the security chiefs have argued. But time is running out for the hostages. And while the IDF has heavily degraded Hamas’s capabilities, the fact is that only eight hostages have been extricated alive from Gaza during almost 11 months of war. The weeklong truce last November, by contrast, saw the release of 105. Bringing home the maximal number of living hostages — from captors with reported standing orders from Hamas to kill them if they fear that Israeli troops are approaching — requires a deal.

  On Thursday night, Netanyahu pushed through a vote at the key decision-making security cabinet endorsing maps drawn up at his request — and already conveyed by the mediators to Hamas — that provide for keeping IDF troops at the Philadelphi Corridor, the 14-kilometer route along the Gaza-Egypt border, during the first, six-week phase of the deadlocked potential deal.

  Blindsided by the vote, a horrified Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, according to widely leaked transcripts of the meeting, argued that it risked torpedoing the deal and thus dooming the hostages. “The significance of this is that Hamas won’t agree to it, so there won’t be an agreement and there won’t be any hostages released,” Gallant reportedly told the ministers.

  Netanyahu replied: “This is the decision.”

  Gallant, though isolated in a forum dominated by Netanyahu loyalists along with the far-right ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, tried again: He reportedly told his ministerial colleagues that, if they approved the maps, they would be choosing to maintain the IDF’s deployment on the Philadelphi Corridor for six more weeks at the price of failing to bring home hostages. “Does this seem logical to you?” Gallant reportedly asked. “There are living (hostages) there!”

  The cabinet endorsed the maps, by eight votes to one (Gallant’s).

  In yet another back-and-forth, Gallant — who was temporarily fired from his defense minister post by Netanyahu in March 2023 and is plainly prepared to risk a repeat — reportedly asked the prime minister whether, with the lives of 30 hostages set to be freed in that first phase of the deal at stake, he nonetheless regards retaining control of the Philadelphi Corridor as the greater priority, even though the IDF is adamant that it can be swiftly retaken if needed.

  Said Netanyahu: “I’m staying on the Philadelphi. Only resolute negotiations will force [Sinwar] to fold.”

  In his brief video statement on Sunday, after the killings by Hamas of six hostages, four of whom — Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Almog Sarusi, Eden Yerushalmi, and Carmel Gat — were likely set to have been freed in the first phase of a deal — Netanyahu declared that Israel is “fighting on all fronts against a cruel enemy who wants to murder us all.”

  That assessment is all too true. But this government and its leader have developed no strategy to meet the external challenge. And Netanyahu and many of his coalition colleagues are fueling domestic division — to the point where simple empathy for the hostages and their families is far from unanimous nationwide, and some on the far right depict them as unpatriotic architects of their plight. All this when internal cohesion is a vital, core component of Israel’s “security and existence.”

  The Gaza war rumbles on. Hezbollah fires relentlessly across the northern border, where tens of thousands of Israelis cannot live in their homes. Iran is orchestrating attacks by the Houthis and other proxies, has directly attacked Israel itself, and is building up growing stocks of enriched uranium as it moves toward nuclear weapons. Terrorism in and from the West Bank is escalating — with recruitment made easier by extremist settler rampages and by  Ben Gvir’s provocative encouragement of Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount, a spectacularly emotive issue that runs the risk of stoking hostility among Israel’s Arab citizens.

  Again, there is no telling what Hamas would or could agree to. But a deal and even temporary ceasefire offers the potential for either the calming of the north or a redirection of Israel’s finite military resources to that front. Gallant and the US administration argue that it also offers the best chance of averting a full-scale regional conflict.

  Most importantly, it would show Israel’s leadership prioritizing its fundamental obligation to redeem the hostages — many of them civilians, whom the state failed to protect on that terrible Shabbat morning. As things stand, as the toll of hostages killed since October 7 mounts, the prime minister’s predictions of “total victory” become ever more untenable, offensive, and disconnected from Israel’s reality.

  “Our efforts to free the hostages continue all the time,” Netanyahu said in his video statement. But Thursday’s security cabinet meeting tells a rather different story. And Sunday’s terrible tidings show what is at stake — that every passing day brings the risk of more deaths that, just possibly, could have been avoided.

  Could this latest act of Hamas barbarism have been prevented? Possibly. Could and should Netanyahu and his government have done more to try to avert it? Yes. link

• **Military Pressure Not Only Frees Hostages, It Also Kills Them**

  Hamas killers are the ones pulling the trigger in cold blood, but Israel’s actions are a major contributing factor to the deaths of its citizens and soldiers. 

  **By Ofer Shelah, Commentary**

  The heartbreaking news about the deaths in captivity of six hostages, who were murdered by terrorists after ten months of suffering and found in a tunnel 20 meters deep, joins a string of bitter reports from the past week. Almost every day, soldiers are killed in Gaza, the West Bank, and the North. The number of living hostages is dwindling. And the most dreadful truth—Hamas killers are the ones pulling the trigger, but Israel's actions significantly contribute to the deaths of its citizens and soldiers. One by one, the illusions that the Prime Minister, the security establishment, and media echo chambers have been trying to sell us for at least six months are shattering. Military pressure is not leading to the release of hostages, but to their deaths.

  Since October 7th, eight hostages have been returned to Israel alive through military operations. Dozens have been killed as a result of these operations, either by their brutal captors or by IDF fire. Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Hirsch Goldberg-Polin, Almog Sarusi, Alex Lubanov, and Uri Danino (may they rest in peace) would still be alive today were it not for the IDF’s operations; some would already be home had Israel not halted the only hostage deal that existed so far for so-called "professional" reasons, and had another deal, which has been on the table for over a month, been signed. The IDF is not close to defeating Hamas, destroying it, or achieving any other meaningless objective. The Rafah Brigade may have been dismantled, but its remnants are waging a guerrilla war that resembles Lebanon in 1983 more than anything else. Every day, soldiers are killed by explosives, snipers, or encounters with terrorist cells that ambush forces aimlessly wandering or stationed in the field.

  Every day, we move closer to the vision of Bezalel Smotrich and his ilk: de facto Israeli responsibility for the fate of two million people, while Hamas rebuilds itself as the strongest civilian force in the lives of Gazans, even in areas the IDF has conquered more than once. This is happening on both sides of the Nitzanim axis, the new totem of senseless Israeli securityism. Along with it, the remnants of Israel’s international legitimacy and the U.S.'s willingness to remain in the region will be lost. The IDF will be further eroded, both in regular and reserve units. Northern residents will not return to their homes today (Sunday), September 1st. Those fantasizing about a decisive campaign in Lebanon are welcome to imagine it, but should at least do so with an understanding of the actual facts. The IDF can bomb Lebanon to rubble and advance up to the Litani River, but it will not stop Hezbollah's fire, which will cause unprecedented damage to many areas in Israel. To allow residents to return home, many forces would need to remain in southern Lebanon (there is no SLA today, which actually held most of the security zone) indefinitely and would be subject to the same type of attacks we saw there for 15 years.

  Despite all the fiery rhetoric, no one at the top of the political or security leadership really wants this, as we clearly saw in the response to the assassination of Fuad Shukur about two weeks ago.

  All of this aligns with Benjamin Netanyahu's supreme interest—the prolongation of the war. This leads to the fulfillment of Smotrich's and Orit Strock's fantasies of a state in perpetual war, where its citizens are perpetual soldiers serving a messianic vision that demands human sacrifices. Simultaneously, this is entirely contrary to what made Israel a strong state, with legitimate actions and a unified and victorious army. This is exactly the kind of attrition (occasionally accompanied by intense attacks on several fronts) that, according to the visions of Khamenei and Nasrallah, will bring about our collapse.

  There is one way to change all this: to declare that Israel is ready to halt the war in Gaza in its current format and to redeploy its forces. Perhaps then there would indeed be a deal, and a ceasefire in Gaza would also bring calm in the North, with an arrangement that would allow residents there to return to their homes. We must fully pursue the "Biden Plan" to create a regional coalition that would establish an alternative to Hamas's rule in Gaza and a counterbalance to the axis throughout the region. It is not easy, and it is not without problems and gaps. It will not solve the Hamas or Hezbollah issues, nor will it eliminate the need to confront the "Resistance Axis," including militarily. It will allow Sinwar to celebrate a victory, though likely only a temporary one. It does not even mean that Sinwar, who understands that each day brings him closer to realizing his vision of igniting the entire region, will agree to a deal. But the alternative, which is entirely certain, is much worse.

  There's no point in talking about Netanyahu. He has a conflict of interest with the state he leads, and the continuation of the war as it stands serves him. The question is where the security establishment stands, and whether we will continue to hear from the Defense Minister and the Chief of Staff statements about the need for a deal and a death sentence for the hostages, without a clear declaration that the fighting in Gaza in its current form has run its course and must stop. Until we hear and see that, both in word and deed, Israel's leadership and army are not only complicit in abandoning the hostages and soldiers, not only bringing about their deaths, but also abandoning Israel's entire interest.

  >>> Ofer Shelah is a Senior Researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies link

The Region and the World

•    As tanker keeps burning in Red Sea, projectiles hit another ship off Yemen coast
  
  This handout satellite image taken on August 29, 2024, and released by Maxar Technologies, shows fire on the deck of the Greek-flagged oil tanker Sounion, located in the Red Sea. (Maxar Technologies / AFP)

  UK military group says no injuries aboard merchant vessel, which is heading to next port of call, as efforts ongoing to salvage million barrels of crude on still-blazing Sounion

  A suspected attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels targeted a ship in the Red Sea on Monday, authorities said, just north of where crews hope to salvage a tanker loaded with oil and still ablaze after another assault by the group.

  Monday’s attack marks the latest in the Iranian-backed terror group’s campaign that has disrupted the $1 trillion in goods that pass through the Red Sea each year, as well as halted some aid shipments to conflict-ravaged Sudan and Yemen.

  Meanwhile, the efforts to salvage the still-burning Sounion seek to head off the potential ecological disaster posed by its cargo of 1 million barrels of crude oil.

  In Monday’s assault, two projectiles hit the vessel, and a third explosion occurred near the ship, the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said.

  “Damage control is underway,” the UKMTO said. “There are no casualties onboard and the vessel is proceeding to its next port of call.”

  The timing of the attack and coordinates offered by the UKMTO corresponded to the reported path of the Panama-flagged oil tanker Blue Lagoon I, now traveling south through the Red Sea to an unlisted destination. The Blue Lagoon I was coming from Russia’s port of Ust-Luga on the Baltic Sea and had been broadcasting that it had Russian-origin cargo on board.

  
  
  

  In recent months, the Blue Lagoon I traveled to India, which gets more than 40% of its oil imports from Russia despite Moscow’s ongoing war on Ukraine and the international sanctions it faces over it.

  The Greek-based firm operating the ship could not be immediately reached.

  The Houthis did not immediately claim responsibility for the attack. However, it can take the group hours or even days to acknowledge their assaults.

  The Houthis have targeted more than 80 vessels with missiles and drones since Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza started in October. The group seized one vessel and sank two in the campaign that also killed four sailors. Other missiles and drones have either been intercepted by a United States-led coalition in the Red Sea or failed to reach their targets.

  The terror group maintains that they target ships linked to Israel, the US or the UK to force an end to Israel’s war on Hamas. However, many of the ships attacked have little or no connection to the conflict, including some bound for Iran.

  Meanwhile Monday, a salvage effort appeared to be underway to tow away the Sounion oil tanker, which was earlier hit by the Houthis and abandoned by its crew. Jamel Amer, an official with the Houthis, wrote online Saturday that tug boats assigned to pull the Sounion away should arrive Sunday. However, NASA fire satellites showed a blaze at the site of where the Sounion had been abandoned on Monday morning.

  The Sounion was carrying some 1 million barrels of oil when the Houthis initially attacked it on Aug. 21 with small arms fire, projectiles and a drone boat. A French destroyer operating as part of the European Union’s Operation Aspides rescued the Sounion’s crew of 25 Filipinos and Russians, as well as four private security personnel, after they abandoned the vessel and took them to nearby Djibouti.

  Last week, the Houthis released footage showing they planted explosives on board the Sounion and blew them up in a propaganda video, something the rebels have done before in their campaign. link

   

   

Personal Stories

  

Acronyms and Glossary

COGAT - Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories

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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