Operation Iron Swords - Day 13 - 19 October 2023

Palestinian armed group Hamas launched thousands of missiles at Israel and deployed its militants to infiltrate Jewish settlements near the country’s border with Gaza on 07 October 2023. The 1,200 Israelis killed on the first day would be the equivalent of 36,000 Americans killed in an attack, as a proportion to Israel’s population of 9.3 million people (compared to 332 million in the USA). Israeli President Isaac Herzog stated: “Not since the Holocaust have so many Jews been killed in one day". PM Netanyahu stated "On October 7th, Hamas murdered 1,400 Israelis. Maybe more. This is in a country of fewer than 10 million people. This would be equivalent to over 50,000 Americans murdered in a single day. That’s twenty 9/11s. That is why October 7th is another day that will live in infamy."

The Gaza health ministry said at least 3,785 people had been killed in Gaza and more than 12,000 wounded in Israeli air raids. About 1,300 people across, Gaza are believed to be buried under the rubble, alive or dead, according to health authorities, including 600 children. The Occupied West Bank saw 69 killed and 1,300 wounded, while Israel numbered 1,403 killed and 3,800 wounded. At least 306 Israeli soldiers had been killed since war started. The IDF The military spokesman added that the army had confirmed information about 203 persons detained in Gaza and about 100 missing person.

The Palestinian resistance confirmed that it was prepared for a long battle, and that it would turn the sands of Gaza into a graveyard for the Israeli occupation forces. The head of the Political Bureau of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), Ismail Haniyeh, called on the masses of the nation for a general mobilization on Friday under the slogan “Let the aggression against Gaza stop, not for displacement or an alternative homeland.”

Haniyeh stressed - in his speech - that the entire world is still following the “legendary steadfastness” recorded by the Palestinian people in Gaza, “the proud and steadfast,” and the recordings of the Palestinian resistance managing this battle ably, as he put it. He also stressed that the resistance began its resounding strategic strike, and is still controlling the rhythm of this battle despite the "brutality" of the occupier, his crimes, his random killing, and the deliberate bombing of homes. Haniyeh added that these crimes are being followed by the entire world, and they once again record the nature of the enemy, the “Nazi, fascist, murderous monster,” who left hundreds of children, women, and the elderly martyred.

Abu Ubaida, the military spokesman for the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), threatened the Israeli occupation with a “long battle” and said that they were ready for it, calling on the Arab peoples to “mobilize and march” to the borders of Palestine.

Hamas's military spokesman confirmed - in a recorded speech - that "the resistance is fine and is still controlling the events of the field" and that it "knows where and when to mount and strike, and when and how to strike." He added, "We are prepared for a long battle with this occupier, as sacred and great as our goal in this battle is," which is to defend Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque, respond to its desecration, and make the occupation pay the price for its crimes. Abu Ubaida stressed that “the bill of reckoning with this enemy will be harsh and painful, and he will pay the price for his crimes against Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Palestinian people,” vowing that the resistance will not tolerate these crimes.

ABC News reported that Israeli Economy Minister Nir Barakat has said captive and civilian casualties will be secondary to destroying Hamas, “even if it takes a year”. “We shall do all efforts to bring our hostages, to bring our hostages [back] alive,” he told the US news outlet. But the “first and last priority”, Barakat said, is destroying Hamas.

Professor of Political Science at Kuwait University, Dr. Abdullah Al-Shaiji, spoke about the difficulty of the ground operation for the occupation, because the fighting will take place between regular forces and irregular forces, and no army in the world has succeeded in defeating irregular forces, as evidenced by the fact that American forces did not defeat the Taliban movement.

The researcher in Israeli affairs, Sultan Al-Ajlouni, he expected that the Israeli invasion would be “tactical” in certain areas, and not a complete invasion, because the occupation realizes that the Hamas movement is not an army, but rather an idea and ideology, and that eliminating it requires a complete invasion and remaining for many years in the Strip. Al-Ajlouni expected that the Israeli ground invasion would be limited, and that it would be followed by international pressure to stop this invasion under the pretext of humanitarian reasons. Israel would find a way out and say that it stopped the war for humanitarian reasons.

Nearly 500 people were reportedly killed in an explosion at al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City at around 7.30pm on 17 October 2023, the deadliest single incident since war broke out between Hamas and Israel on October 7. The US intelligence community estimates that 100–300 people were killed in the hospital blast. This is lower than the number initially cited by Hamas of more than 500. Al Jazeera’s Sanad Agency investigated the Israeli claim that the bombing of Gaza’s al-Ahli Arab Hospital was the result of a rocket misfire from Palestinian Islamic Jihad and not a result of Israel’s relentless bombing of the Gaza Strip since October 7. Sanad’s investigation analysed time-coded footage from several sources, including a live broadcast by an Al Jazeera journalist at the time.

The investigation reveals that Israeli statements seem to have misinterpreted the evidence to build a story that one of the flashes recorded by several sources was a rocket misfire. Based on a detailed review of all videos, Sanad’s analysts conclude that the flash Israel attributed to a misfire was in fact consistent with Israel’s Iron Dome missile defence system intercepting a missile fired from the Gaza Strip and destroying it in mid-air.

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller at the US State Department says he does not believe an investigation into the deadly Gaza hospital bombing is “appropriate at this time”. “The Israeli government has released a great deal of evidence to support their contention that this was a misfire rocket attack from inside Gaza that unfortunately landed on this hospital and killed it looks like hundreds of civilians,” he told reporters.

Hezbollah, while attacking the Israeli positions on the border, was also concentrating on hitting some communication apparatuses, tools like cameras that are used to take pictures of the whole border, and also communication tools that are used to intercept calls. It appeared Hezbollah is trying to draw more [Israeli] reinforcements to the north.

Abdelhamid Siyam, a researcher from Rutgers University, also told Al Jazeera it would be dangerous for Israel to engage with Hezbollah in the north, while it prepares to invade Gaza to the south. “To engage Hezbollah in a full-scale war, it’s a very risky thing,” said Siyam said. “It is not popular among the Lebanese people first and it has to have a green light from the Iranian regime, because that might create a new dynamic in the Middle East. A decision of that scale, it has to be cleared by both the Iranian leadership and the Syrians, as well.”

Sultan Barakat, professor in conflict and humanitarian studies at the Qatar Foundation’s Hamad Bin Khalifa University, says that Lebanese group Hezbollah is unlikely to enter into a full confrontation with Israel. “Hezbollah today is very different to the Hezbollah of 2006 when it had a 34-day war with Israel. Since then, Hezbollah has entered a war in Syria; and Israel has systematically undermined its chain of supply from Iran and Syria and assassinated many of its leaders. The group has been structurally challenged.

“In terms of its legitimacy within Lebanese society, it has been in trouble. During the explosion of the port in 2020, accusations were levelled against it around its involvement in the explosion. So domestically, it’s not in its best shape to take on Israel, as well.

He added that it all boils down to what Iran decides, and if Iran was interested in entering the conflict, it would have already done so.

Iranian writer Jafar Qanad Bashi considered that the crime committed by the Israelis by targeting the children’s hospital in Gaza had mobilized the public feelings of the peoples of the region and the world, to the point that it could no longer be easily controlled. It had also saddened people’s consciences and caused intense anger towards Israel.

In his article in the reformist newspaper “Etemad”, the writer added that this incident ignited fires in countries of the region and many countries of the world, as protesters in Jordan burned the Israeli embassy, and the American and Israeli embassies in Turkey were attacked, and even at Harvard University in the United States there was There are protests against Israel.

The writer continued: “This event will have serious consequences on regional developments, and on many changes in the world, and Biden will lose the elections after this cowardly attack on the children’s hospital, and the consequences of this crime will bring the region and the world into a new era.”

Iranian writer Saadullah Zarei saw the Baptist Hospital massacre as the true beginning of Israel’s demise. In his editorial in the fundamentalist Kayhan newspaper, Zarei recalled the decline in the power of the United States in the world, as the main supporter of Israel, the changes in the global balance of power and the growing power of Iran and the axis of resistance, which accelerates the decline of the old world order and the emergence of a new order that will not be Israel. It is present in it, in the opinion of the writer.

Zarei pointed out that Israel pursued two projects, political and security, for what he called “organizing the region on the basis of the survival of Israel.” The political project was to normalize relations with the Arab countries in the region, for which the Abraham Accords were prepared, noting that Tel Aviv was able, with special American assistance, to To normalize its relations with four weak Arab governments.

The writer added: “As for the security approach, it consists of directing a strong blow to the axis of resistance, as Israel considers this issue to be a vital and strategic issue for its existence. Therefore, it intensified its successive attacks on Syria, considering that Syria is the middle link in the chain of resistance. If it separates, the resistance near Israel will be weakened. But these attacks on Syria did not bear fruit and did not have any real impact."

In turn, the head of the Cultural Committee in the Iranian Parliament, Morteza Agha Tehrani, confirmed that the “Al-Aqsa Flood” operation paved the way for the collapse of Israel. In an article in the fundamentalist Asr Iranian newspaper, Agha Tehrani said that the Baptist Hospital massacre showed the height of Israel’s brutality, stressing that the time has come for global humanitarian unity against this delusionary and hateful regime.

According to the writer, the crime of Baptist Hospital is one of the most heinous crimes of the human community, and the international community and the Islamic world in particular should not remain silent about these attacks. The Iranian parliamentarian continued: “The issue of Palestine will never be resolved with slogans, unless all Muslims of the world stand up and go out to the square to support the oppressed people of this country and express their hatred for the United States and Israel."

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi met King Abdullah II of Jordan for a closed-door discussion about the escalating conflict and deteriorating humanitarian situation. The two leaders condemned Israel’s policy of “collective punishment” against Palestinians in Gaza and its efforts to displace “Palestinians from their lands to Egypt or Jordan”, Egypt’s presidential office said in a statement.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has warned that the conflict in Gaza risks spilling into a regional crisis, saying efforts to pin blame on Iran were adding fuel to the fire, according to Russia’s Interfax news agency. The remarks by Russia’s top diplomat came days after President Vladimir Putin said he believed no major actors wanted the war between Israel and Hamas to escalate. Moscow offered a delayed statement affirming Israel’s right to defend itself after Hamas’s attack, which also killed at least 16 Russian citizens, but denounced Israel for responding with “cruel methods”.

Russian propaganda is presented Ukraine’s support for Israel as a position hostile to Muslims and to the countries of the Global South, dictated by Kyiv’s dependence on its Western patrons/partners. Tying Kyiv to the pro-Israel “imperialist” camp is intended to destroy the results of the efforts of Ukrainian diplomacy to establish relations with the countries of Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, whose voices are important in the UN General Assembly and other international forums. The accusation of the Ukrainian authorities of excessive sympathy for Israel is designed to outrage Ukrainian Muslims who feel solidarity with the Palestinians, but not with terrorists.

The anti-Semitic move, traditional for Moscow, has also been used. Against the backdrop of pro-Israel statements by official Kyiv, propaganda promotes conspiracy theories about supposedly secret obligations to Jews. The fake “New Jerusalem” reanimated by propaganda is one of the variations of such a “Jewish conspiracy.” Its essence lies in the fact that with the support of the Ukrainian authorities, the Jews allegedly plan to buy or otherwise seize part of the territory of Ukraine and settle it. Posts about “uncovering a conspiracy” are spread on Telegram, X. The fake news is promoted as aggressively as possible on TikTok, where many new video messages from bloggers and excerpts from old interviews of conspiracy theorist Igor Berkut appeared in October.

NATO is in a difficult position: the alliance may not have enough funds and equipment to support Ukraine and Israel. The North Atlantic Alliance may face unprecedented challenges: providing assistance to two close partners - Israel and Ukraine, located in close geographical proximity, and fighting off the enemy. NATO does not want to get directly involved in conflicts. However, arms supplies to partners are necessary. The topic of “competition for resources” has been discussed on the sidelines of the alliance for “several days”. The question is who gets what when things get tense.

The German government wants to prioritize weapons deliveries to Israel amid its conflict with Hamas, the DPA news agency reported on Wednesday, citing sources. According to unnamed government officials interviewed by the outlet, “commercial applications from companies for arms exports will be processed and approved with priority given the current situation” in the Middle East. However, the agency did not provide further details on the new policy.

The report came after Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed support for Israel in its conflict with Hamas, saying that “there is only one place for Germany — that place is at Israel’s side.” “Our own history, our responsibility arising from the Holocaust, makes it a perpetual task for us to stand up for the security of the state of Israel,” he said last week.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said that there is no competition between Ukraine and Israel in obtaining assistance from the West. He expressed his point of view in an interview with ZDF television. “Absolutely not, since the demands from Israel are completely different and so far very small and in other areas than what Ukraine needs and what it receives from us,” Pistorius said, answering the question of what Western support for Israel means for Ukraine . “For this reason, I don’t see this competition now,” the minister emphasized. At the same time, the head of the German defense department indicated that we must not forget about what is happening in Ukraine.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. The British PM said: "I want to share the deep condolences of the British people and stress that we absolutely support Israel’s right to defend itself in line with international law, to go after Hamas, to take back hostages, deter further incursions and to strengthen your security for the long-term. Now, I know that you are taking every precaution to harming civilians in direct contrast to the terrorists of Hamas which seek to put civilians in harm’s way.... And we also recognize that the Palestinian people are victims of Hamas too. That is why I welcome your decision yesterday that you took to ensure that routes into Gaza will be open for humanitarian aid to enter. I’m glad that you made that decision. We will support it. We are increasing our aid to the region and we will look to get more support to people as quickly as we can. The last thing for me to close on is this. You described this as Israel’s darkest hour. I am proud to stand here with you in Israel’s darkest hour."

The United States deployed another navy ship from its homeport in the central Italian coastal city of Gaeta to support US operations in the eastern Mediterranean Sea amid the escalating conflict in the Middle East, the US Sixth Fleet said. "The US 6th Fleet Blue Ridge-class command and control ship USS MOUNT WHITNEY LCC 20 departed Gaeta, Italy, Oct. 18, 2023, in support of US operations in the eastern Mediterranean Sea," the statement said. The amphibious command ship would be dispatched to the US European Command area to engage with allies and partners and support maritime operations there, the statement added. The US has deployed two aircraft carrier strike groups to the region to bolster deterrence efforts in response to the Hamas attacks on Israel. On October 10, the USS Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group arrived in the Eastern Mediterranean, where it will be joined by the Dwight D Eisenhower carrier strike group.

The first strike group includes the US Navy aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford, the Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser Normandy and the Arleigh-Burke class guided missile destroyers Thomas Hudner, Ramage, Carney and Roosevelt. The Dwight D. Eisenhower strike group comprises the US guided-missile cruiser Philippine Sea, guided-missile destroyers Gravely and Mason, as well as Carrier Air Wing 3 with nine aircraft squadrons.

The US will give Israel tens of thousands of 155mm artillery shells that were originally set aside for Ukraine, Axios reported. The Israeli military reportedly told the Pentagon that it needed the shells to prepare for a ground invasion of Gaza. The US maintains a stockpile of ammunition at a facility in Israel, which only US forces have access to. Earlier this year, the US began taking shells from this facility and another stockpile in South Korea in order to meet Ukraine’s massive demand for ammo. Israeli officials told the news site that the US will now be refilling this stockpile with ammunition from its own stocks that had been earmarked for Ukraine, at the direct request of the Israeli government. The officials said that the shells will arrive in Israel in the coming weeks.

President Joe Biden was reportedly trying to convince an increasingly Ukraine-skeptic Republican Party to okay $60 billion in military and economic aid for Kiev by tying it to a $10 billion package for Israel, which the GOP would traditionally be more amenable to supporting. Israel had not yet made heavy use of artillery in its war against Hamas, opting instead to pound Gaza with airstrikes while artillery and tanks engage in sporadic exchanges of fire with Hezbollah militants in Lebanon and the Golan Heights.

Defense Department Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder confirmed that a US Navy warship shot down three missiles launched by Houthi militants in Yemen that were possibly headed toward Israel. "The crew of the guided missile destroyer USS Carney operating in the northern Red Sea earlier today shot down three land attack cruise missiles and several drones that were launched by Houthi forces in Yemen," Ryder said during a press briefing. "This action was a demonstration of the integrated air and missile defense architecture that we have built in the Middle East and that we are prepared to utilize whenever necessary to protect our partners and our interests in this important region."

Josh Paul, a director in the US State Department’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, resigned over Washington’s decision to boost military aid to Israel, saying the US-supported Gaza war would lead to more suffering for both Israelis and Palestinians. The Department of State official wrote in a note published online that the administration of President Joe Biden was repeating the same mistakes Washington has been making for decades.

“The response Israel is taking, and with it the American support both for that response and for the status quo of the occupation, will only lead to more and deeper suffering for both the Israeli and the Palestinian people,” he wrote. “I fear we are repeating the same mistakes we have made these past decades, and I decline to be a part of it for longer,” he said, adding that the Biden administration’s “blind support for one side” was leading to policy decisions that were “shortsighted, destructive, unjust and contradictory to the very values we publicly espouse”.

In an interview with The New York Times, Paul also said that “continuing to give Israel what he described as carte blanche to kill a generation of enemies, only to create a new one, does not ultimately serve the United States’ interests”. “What it leads to is this desire to sort of impose security at any cost, including in cost to the Palestinian civilian population,” he told the US publication. “And that doesn’t ultimately lead to security.”