Operation Iron Swords - Day 42 - 17 November 2023

Al Mayadeen's correspondent in Gaza reported at dawn on Friday that information regarding the events in the northern Gaza Strip was not available after all means of communication were cut.

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."

It is the second largest loss inflicted on the Israeli forces after the 1973 war, as the Palestinian resistance killed more than 1,200, wounded more than 5,132 others, and captured more than 250, most of them military personnel, some of whom were high-ranking officers in the army.

Butcher's Bill / Oasis of Martyrs

The HAMAS government media office in Gaza announced that with the number of casualties increasing daily in the Strip, the statistics departments were unable to complete an accurate and final statistic of the martyrs and wounded. The office usually issues almost daily updates on the toll of martyrs and wounded.

More than 12,000 Palestinians, including 5,000 children have been killed in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza since October 7, the Gaza Press Office said. The Hamas-run government said 3,300 women were among the dead, with 30,000 more people wounded. The Palestinian Government Media Office in Gaza said the number of missing people had risen to more than 3,750, including 1,800 children still under the rubble. The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced, this Friday evening, that the number of martyrs has risen to 11,675 martyrs, and the wounded to about 32,000 wounded,

According to a UN official, there have been "likely much more" casualties in "Israel's" war on Gaza than the previously reported total of over 11,000, because there have been insufficient updates since the area's communication networks collapsed. Martin Griffiths, under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator expressed during a General Assembly meeting that as casualty numbers continue to climb, "The actual total, however, is likely much higher as figures have not been updated for five days due to a collapse of communication networks in Gaza."

Israel revised down the death toll from the October Hamas attacks in southern Israel from 1,400 to 1,200. IDF had said previously it was holding 1,500 bodies of terrorists, a total that now would increas to about 1,700.

The Israeli army reported the death of 371 soldiers and officers, 55 of them were killed since the start of the ground operation in the besieged Gaza Strip. At least 7,771 Israelis were injured. The IDF previously announced that more than 260 soldiers had been injured since the start of the ground operation in the Gaza Strip, including 100 in serious condition.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry released its first official casualty numbers in fighting, saying 77 people were killed and 251 wounded since the start of the war on Gaza.

Hostages

Some 240 hostages are being held by HAMAS in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli military said 03 November 2023. About 40 Israelis remained missing.

Abu Ubaida, the spokesperson for the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, said on Hamas’ telegram account that 23 bodies of the 60 missing Israel hostages were trapped under the rubble. “It seems that we will never be able to reach them due to the continued brutal aggression of the occupation against Gaza,” he said.

The Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ), said that it transferred a number of Israeli prisoners to care centers in the Gaza Strip to receive treatment due to the seriousness of their health condition and to preserve their lives. This came in response to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's allegations of the presence of Israeli prisoners in hospitals in the Gaza Strip, which was also a pretext for the siege and storming of hospitals in northern Gaza.

The Al-Qassam Brigades added in a statement that they transferred a prisoner to intensive care, and after he recovered, he was returned to his place of detention, but he died due to panic attacks as a result of the repeated bombing around his place of detention. Al-Qassam also published a video clip documenting the killing of the Israeli prisoner after receiving treatment, following panic attacks.

Abu Ubaida, spokesman for the Al-Qassam Brigades, had previously announced the killing of about 60 prisoners as a result of the indiscriminate Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip that has continued since the seventh of last October. The Al-Qassam Brigades reported that the number of prisoners in the Gaza Strip is about 250.

The Palestinian Prisoners' Club announced on Friday that the Israeli army arrested 47 Palestinians, bringing the total number of detainees in the occupied West Bank to 2,800 since last October 7, including 1,050 activists from Hamas.

Negotiations continue, with Qatari-American mediation, to release about 50 detainees, in exchange for a three-day ceasefire, Israel’s release of some Palestinian women and children from its prisons, and an increase in the amounts of humanitarian aid it allows to enter Gaza.

Operational Update

Apart from the raids on the hospitals, there has been very little movement on the ground for almost a week now. Big Israeli columns are dug in awaiting orders, but nothing indicates when they might advance further, nor in what direction and by what means. Hamas has also been very quiet. It had put up some resistance to the initial Israeli advance, but kept it limited to opportunistic attacks that were intended more to probe the enemy and show the flag than to really stop the army before it got to the city.

The Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas movement, announced the destruction of Tel Aviv, this Friday evening, with a missile salvo, demonstrating once again its ability to strike deep into the Zionist entity on the 42nd day of the Al-Aqsa Flood Battle. The Al-Qassam Brigades said in a military statement: It was the target of the missile attack in response to the Zionist massacres against civilians. Media reported that the rockets fell on the areas of Be'er Yaakov, Petah Tikva, and Shoham, northeast of Tel Aviv. Earlier, the Qassam Brigades bombed Kibbutz “Nirim” with a number of mortar shells. The resistance, led by the Al-Qassam Brigades, continues to confront the occupation’s aggression and its ground incursion from several fronts in the Gaza Strip, amid heroic epics, the destruction of tanks, and zero-range clashes.

The military spokesman for the Martyr Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas (Abu Ubaida), said that every blow directed at the side of the Zionist enemy in its war against our people and people is a painful and impactful blow. Abu Ubaida added in an audio speech broadcast tonight by the Al-Qassam Brigades: “We salute the striking arms of our people and their fighters in the West Bank and of our nation’s fighters who rose to engage in the battle of Al-Aqsa Flood in an escalating and continuous action.”

He continued, saying: "We call on the people of our nation to escalate the painful strikes against this criminal Nazi enemy on all fronts and arenas. Every strike directed at the flank of this enemy in its war against our people and our people is a painful and influential strike that will make the enemy realize that it is fighting one people and one nation that rejects it and is working to resist it and sweep it away." Our land and our sanctities.

Abu Ubaida revealed that during the last 4 days, the Al-Qassam Mujahideen were able to damage 62 military vehicles and put them out of service, including tanks, troop carriers, and bulldozers. He also revealed that the Qassam Brigades had finished off all the Zionist enemy soldiers stationed in a building in Beit Hanoun. He added: We killed nine "Israeli" soldiers, destroyed two military vehicles, destroyed an apartment in which enemy soldiers were holed up, and killed those who were in it.

He said: During the last four days, the Qassam mujahideen were able to damage and destroy 62 Zionist military vehicles and put them out of service, which varied between Merkava tanks and tankers. Soldiers and bulldozers, by targeting them with anti-tank missiles of the Yassin 105 type, strobe charges, and guerrilla action charges.

Abu Ubaida pointed out that the Al-Qassam mujahideen were able to target, with explosive devices, medium weapons, and sniper weapons, gatherings and individuals of the enemy forces on foot or holed up in some buildings. Abu Ubaida explained that the Al-Qassam mujahideen were able, in two separate operations three days ago, to eliminate at least nine Zionist soldiers outside their vehicles, and our mujahideen northwest of Beit Lahia on Thursday morning destroyed two enemy military vehicles with anti-tank missiles. Also, the destruction of an apartment in which enemy special forces were holed up in Beit Hanoun, by targeting it with anti-fortified and anti-personnel shells, which led to the killing and wounding of everyone holed up there.

A member of the Supreme Political Council of the Ansar Allah movement in Yemen, Muhammad Ali Al-Houthi, said that the United States of America and other countries must prove the validity of their claims by intercepting missiles and marches sent from Yemen towards occupied Palestine in support of Gaza. Al-Houthi confirmed on the “X” platform that the missiles reach their targets, saying, “Our missiles and aircraft reach their targets, to support Gaza and the oppressed of Palestine .” He added that what the United States or others claim about its downing is not true, continuing: “We tell them, show us the scenes of the downing, as the heroes did in Yemen by photographing the MQ9 plane.”

Iranian Al-Alam's correspondent in occupied Jerusalem reported on the news circulating in the Hebrew media about the killing of General Daniel Sha'aa, commander of the Rapid Intervention Squad and the storming of complex fortifications, and a number of soldiers were either killed or wounded, as they were targeted by the Zwari Qassamiya suicide plane while they were gathering in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip. The correspondent said that after this large amount of participation of international, American and British intelligence and all American supervision of the campaigns and war on the Gaza Strip , the resistance remains steadfast and continues to surprise everyone and the enemy with this legendary steadfastness and performance.

Israeli troops again entered the al-Shifa Hospital, but their searches so far appear to have failed to uncover the alleged Hamas underground command centre that the Israeli side adamantly insists lies below the medical facilities. One of Israel’s main claims, obviously intended to justify the attacks against Gaza hospital compounds, was that Hamas had nullified the protected status of medical facilities, using them for military purposes. Most experts believe that such a “Palestinian Pentagon”, is indeed ticking somewhere under Gaza. But apparently, maybe even certainly, not under al-Shifa Hospital.

Soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) refused to allow journalists to examine the Al-Shifa hospital in the north of the Gaza Strip, writes The New York Times. "NYT journalists were allowed to see only part of the vast Al-Shifa complex. The military refused to allow them to tour the hospital or see or interview patients or staff who remained in the facility," the publication said. According to the newspaper, reporters were told that Hamas fighters may still remain inside the complex . Israeli soldiers led reporters inside through a destroyed building on the edge of the complex because they said it was too dangerous to go through the main entrance.

IDF troops continued operating overnight in the Gaza Strip and fighter jets struck numerous terror targets in the Gaza Strip. Based on IDF intelligence, IDF troops took control of a stronghold of the commander of the Islamic Jihad's northern command area. The stronghold contains offices of senior terrorists of the organization and a strategic manufacturing site for weapons. During the raid, the troops located heavy-weight rockets, UAVs, and additional weapons. The troops struck the post. In addition, IDF troops conducted activity inside a school in which Hamas terrorists were hiding. During the activities, the troops killed the terrorists and located a large number of weapons inside the school.

Following the report regarding sirens that sounded in Arab al-Aramashe and Adamit in northern Israel, a number of mortar shells launched from Lebanon toward Israel fell in open areas. The IDF struck the source of the launch in Lebanon. IDF fighter jets struck several Hezbollah terror targets in Lebanon, including terrorist infrastructure, a weapons storage facility and a military structure. In addition, the IDF struck a terrorist cell identified in Lebanon in the area adjacent to Arab al-Aramshe. Furthermore, several launches toward the areas of Malkia and Manarain in northern Israel were identified. The IDF responded with fire toward the sources of the launches.

The commander of the Southern Command carried out a situation assessment at Shifa Hospital following the focused and prolonged activity of the IDF forces under the command of Division 36 and special forces from the Sheldag unit. In recent hours, another underground infrastructure of the terrorist organization Hamas continues to be exposed in the area of the hospital.

In the parade ground of the 'Kativa' outpost in the heart of Gaza City, where terrorists of the terrorist organization Hamas were trained, fighters of the 13th and 51st Battalions of the Golani Brigade performed a combat ceremony in memory of their comrades who fell in the battles since the beginning of the fighting. In the parade grounds of the outpost, terrorists of the terrorist organizations Hamas and GAP held parades and ceremonies, and near it, Hamas terrorists left for the massacre on the morning of October 7.

Israeli forces killed 7 Palestinians in the Jenin and Hebron governorates in the West Bank . The Israeli forces arrested dozens of Palestinians and tightened restrictions on prayer in the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque. The Palestinian Ministry of Health reported that 3 citizens were killed and 15 others were injured in the city of Jenin, including 4 whose injuries were described as serious. The Israeli forces withdrew from the city and its camp, after a military operation that lasted about 10 hours. During the operation, the Israeli forces bombed 3 sites with missiles from a drone. Which resulted in the death of 3 young men, including a commander in the “Jenin Battalion”, affiliated with the Al-Quds Brigades. The Israeli forces arrested 7 young men, surrounded Ibn Sina Hospital, demanded through loudspeakers that the hospital be evacuated, forced a number of paramedics to leave the hospital, subjected them to field inspection and investigation, and arrested a number of them. The Israeli bulldozers destroyed the infrastructure in the city and the outskirts of the camp, bulldozed the streets, and blew up a number of vehicles.

In the occupied city of Jerusalem, for the sixth Friday in a row, the Israeli forces imposed severe restrictions on worshipers, preventing them from performing Friday prayers in Al-Aqsa Mosque. The Israeli forces suppressed a number of worshipers in the Wadi al-Jouz neighborhood in East Jerusalem who tried to perform prayers in the roads surrounding Al-Aqsa after erecting barriers and deploying hundreds of police officers on them, who suppressed the worshipers with gas bombs and waste water.

Telecom services have been partially restored in the Gaza Strip after the entry of a limited quantity of fuel through UNRWA, Gaza’s main telecommunications companies Paltel and Jawwal said in a statement on Friday. Some 17,000 liters (about 4,500 gallons) of fuel entered Gaza Friday through the Rafah crossing with Egypt, a Palestinian border official said, the first shipment since Israel’s war cabinet said it would allow regular deliveries. The Palestinian official said the fuel was “for the telecommunications company” Paltel, which on Thursday confirmed a total communications blackout in Gaza after it ran out of fuel.

Muammar Orabi, a member of Israeli human rights NGO B'tselem, the task facing the Israeli authorities extends beyond combating armed groups. "These incursions also have a symbolic significance: this is a war for land, but also for memory. During its incursions, the Israeli army is systematically destroying all Palestinian symbols. During the incursion into the Tulkarm camp [on November 14], the Israeli army destroyed a statue of the former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat (who died in 2005). It also knocked down a gate called the "Gate of Return" (in reference to the Palestinian right of return, which is one of the Palestinians' main demands in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In 1948, when the State of Israel was created, around 700,000 Palestinians were forced to flee their homes).

"In Jenin, the statue of the horse, one of the most important symbols of Palestinian nationalism, was also destroyed by the Israeli army on October 30. The statue was built in 2003 from parts of cars destroyed by the occupying army. Its head is pointing towards the city of Haifa, as the camp's refugees are originally from this region. They fled in 1948, during the Nakba (a term meaning "catastrophe" in Arabic, referring to the 1948 exodus). For the Palestinians, it's like the Statue of Liberty. So the objective of the Israeli authorities is to shock psychologically, to kill not only the resistance, but the very idea of resistance."

Bystanders

The World Health Organization (WHO) chief has termed Israel’s unilateral proposal for a so-called "safe zone" in Al Mawasi in southern Gaza a "recipe for disaster." "Attempting to cram so many people into such a small area with such little infrastructure or services will significantly increase risks to health for people who are already on the brink," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a virtual address to a UN General Assembly meeting on Gaza in New York. Tedros underscored that the WHO will not participate in the establishment of any so-called "safe zone" in Gaza "without broad agreement, and unless fundamental conditions are in place to ensure safety and other essential needs are met, and a mechanism is in place to supervise its implementation."

Despite the ongoing Israeli threats for Palestinians to "evacuate" the northern region of the Gaza Strip, the HAMAS Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics confirmed that 807,000 Palestinians continued to reside in the Gaza Governorate, including its northern area. Palestinians have not left their homes in the northern Gaza Strip, remaining steadfast and showing their willingness to die proudly in their ancestral lands, especially amid Israeli propaganda claiming that "many" Palestinians have left their homes there. According to the bureau, the population residing in Gaza and North Gaza governorates until November 11 amounted to 807,000 individuals, representing about 152,000 families out of the 1.2 million Palestinians who initially lived in those regions.

A new poll from the Arab World for Research and Development (AWRAD) based out of Ramallah West Bank Palestine was published on 14 November 2023. The big highlight from this poll 75% of Palestinians support "the military operation carried out by the Palestinian resistance led by Hamas on October 7th". The Poll ran from October 31 to November 7 with 668 respondents, face-to-face interviews, with equal gender and socioeconomic representation, proportionately distributed across the West Bank and Gaza. The margin of error is (±) 4%.

A significant majority of Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza say that they don’t envision a future where they can coexist peacefully alongside Israel, Some 90% of respondents believe that “coexistence [with Israel] is increasingly impossible” given the scale of its military action in Gaza. The poll, conducted between October 31 and November 7, also found that 98% reported they will “never forget and never forgive” Israel.

Elsewhere in the AWRAD poll, 100% of respondents said that there is no “safe space” in Gaza, while 65% view Israel’s offensive as a “war against all Palestinians” and not solely against Hamas. It also found that almost half of people, 48%, said that their homes had been destroyed or partially damaged and that 90% supported a ceasefire. A total of 91% of respondents said that they had no trust in information provided to them by the Israeli military.

Table 11 Now, has your conviction in the possibility of achieving a peaceful solution with Israel increased or decreased?

• 9% said increased
• 86.7% said decreased

Table 13: Now, has your support for the two-state solution (Palestinian state and Israeli state) as a final solution increased or decreased?

• 22.9% said increased
• 68% said decreased

Table 17: Now, has your conviction in the possibility of coexistence between the Palestinian and Israeli peoples increased or decreased?

• 7% said increased
• 89.5% said decreased

Table 25: Do you believe that Palestine or Israel will emerge victorious from this war?

• 72.6% believe Palestine will defeat Israel
• 3.1% believe Israe will defeat Palestine

Table 27: How much do you support the military operation carried out by the Palestinian resistance led by Hamas on October 7th?

• 59.3% Extreme Support the actions of Hamas on 10/7
• 15.7% Somewhat Support the actions of Hamas
• 10.9% Neither Support nor Oppose the actions of Hamas on 10/7
• 5.4% Somewhat do not support the actions of Hamas on 10/7
• 7.3% Extremely Against the actions of Hamas on 10/7
• 1.3% Don't Know or Didn't Answer.

Axis of Resistance

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian revealed that his country had received two messages from the American side regarding developments in the region. While Pentagon spokesman Patrick Ryder announced that sending the Gerald Ford aircraft carrier to the region “is a message to Iran and Lebanese Hezbollah not to think about interfering in the battle between Israel and Hamas,” regional public opinion was surprised by Washington’s agreement to extend the exemptions granted to Iraq from Sanctions related to dealing with Iran.

Meanwhile, the Washington Free Beacon website reported that the United States may allow Iraq to transfer $10 billion in frozen Iranian assets to Iran’s accounts in Europe and Oman, by extending Baghdad’s exemption from Tehran’s sanctions compliance. This coincides with the escalation of tension between the Iranian and American sides, following their political positioning regarding developments in the Middle East and the increasing attacks on American bases in Iraq and Syria.

Meanwhile, Iranian observers read that their country’s Foreign Minister, Hossein Amir Abdollahian, and his assistant for political affairs, Ali Bagheri Kani, separately visited Geneva in the context of indirect negotiations with the American side to contain tension in the Middle East. Al Jazeera Net learned from a source close to the Iranian Foreign Ministry - who preferred to remain anonymous - that indirect negotiations between Tehran and Washington had been proceeding in full swing since the first days of the outbreak of the war on Gaza through 3 regional mediators.

The source added that the American side sought in its messages to reassure Tehran that it does not want to expand the war, and will not allow the Israeli government to cross the red lines in Gaza, including eliminating the Hamas and Islamic Jihad movements , and demanded that Tehran not get involved in the battle and to defuse the attacks of the movements allied with it on its bases in Region.

The source continued to Al Jazeera Net that, in return, the Islamic Republic considered stopping the aggression a condition for demanding its regional allies to exercise restraint and not attack American targets, adding that Tehran also demanded the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and the lifting of the siege on the Strip.

The same source confirmed that “messaging diplomacy contributed greatly to the decline in American support for the Israeli entity, containing the tension between Tehran and Washington, and removing the specter of a regional war that was on its way to set fire to large areas of the region, starting from the Bab al-Mandab Strait, then Bahrain, the Red and Mediterranean Sea, all the way to "Opening many fronts against the Israeli enemy."

When he pointed out the admission of American officials that there is no evidence of Iran’s involvement in the recent developments in the region, the Iranian source saw the participation of Tehran’s allies, led by the Lebanese Hezbollah and the Houthi group, in the battle of Gaza and the other attacks on American targets in the region as a clear message indicating the cohesion of the axis of resistance. And his position on any aggression that might be imposed on his allies.

In the same context, political researcher Mehdi Shakibai revealed that since the prisoner exchange deal last August between Tehran and Washington, the latter has actively sought to move the waters in the nuclear negotiations in order to save the nuclear agreement even before its scheduled presidency in 2024.

Speaking to Al Jazeera Net, Shakibai confirmed that “the Zionist entity has more than once obstructed the relative approaches resulting from American concessions to the Iranian side, especially regarding the sale of oil and the release of frozen funds,” adding that Tel Aviv sees the ongoing Gaza battle as an opportunity to eliminate any possible rapprochement. Between Iran and America, but rather seeks to involve the latter in a war with Tehran, as he put it.

He saw the American extension of the exemption period granted to Iraq from sanctions related to dealing with Iran for an additional 4 months, in the midst of the Israeli war on Gaza and Iranian threats to open new fronts, but a message indicating Washington’s lack of intention to submit to Israeli allegations, and that its support for Tel Aviv will not be open in the future. The war on Gaza.

Meanwhile, strategic researcher Abu al-Fadl Fateh said that the Israeli war on Gaza had exacerbated tension in the region and raised the possibility of expanding the scope of the war. However, the behavior of both the Islamic Republic and the United States actually contributed to containing the tension and reducing the possibility of the battle turning into a comprehensive war. In his article under the title “Israel is no longer immune,” which he published in “Etemad” newspaper, he saw that the chances of sporadic battles erupting in the region are still high, despite the efforts being made to contain the tension, describing any development that might lead to an expansion of the war as “dangerous.”

The Iranian researcher pointed out that developments in the events in the West Bank and the southern Lebanon front contributed to putting the Israeli entity in front of a dead end, in addition to the global reactions condemning the Israeli attacks on Gaza. In another article under the title “The Resurrection of Gaza” published in the same newspaper, Fateh saw that US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken was buying time for Israel, and the Iranian researcher advised Islamic countries not to put the military option aside, until the Israeli aggression against Gaza stopped. The same researcher concluded that any real confrontation between the Islamic Republic and the United States would be devastating for both sides, and that it would be in the interest of the Israeli entity, so he withdrew. He also urged his country not to fall into the Israeli trap.

The events in Gaza and the war launched by Israel on the Strip surpassed the Ukrainian war in terms of importance and volume of coverage in the Russian media, for the first time in almost two years, that is, since the launch of what Russia calls the “special military operation.” It has become remarkable how intensely the Russian media follows developments in Gaza around the clock , but what is more noticeable is the volume of interaction of ordinary citizens with these events, especially through social media, which is an unprecedented phenomenon in dealing with events taking place outside Russia and the former Soviet space. Generally or outside of one of them.

In parallel, the narrative promoted by some Russian media outlets at the beginning of the events, which tried to suggest that the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) was the one that started the war against Israel, and that what Israel was doing was self-defense, quickly declined, as the compass turned after that. To highlight the Western media's "bias" towards Israel and its coverage of the crimes it commits against the Gaza Strip's residents and infrastructure.

It is also worth noting that the media in Russia focused on these data for several reasons, including clarifying the starting points and reasons for the Russian position, especially in the corridors of the United Nations and other international institutions, in addition to revealing the bias of the media in the West towards Israel, and in the process provided “evidence.” New", although these outlets were always biased in their coverage of the war in favor of Kiev.

But the approach and interaction seem more powerful away from the official media, where there are restrictions and political considerations, specifically in social media, which has turned into a real digital battlefield between supporters of the Palestinians on the one hand and supporters of Israel on the other.

Many samples of published materials, and the volume and direction of comments on these means, indicate that the percentage of support for the Palestinians is clearly increasing and has become the largest.

This is not limited to the positions of the residents of the Islamic-majority republics in Russia, where forms of solidarity with the Palestinians have gone beyond the margins of moral and rhetorical interaction and supportive comments, moving to new forms on the ground, and even in the positions of large segments of non-Muslim Russian citizens.

For his part, political affairs analyst Sergei Bersanov explains the change in Russian public opinion for a number of reasons, most notably the role played by the “horrible” clips showing the brutality of the Israeli army in attacking civilians and targeting infrastructure, especially hospitals and places of worship, which the mind cannot accept. In any case, he said.

Bersanov points out, in an interview with Al Jazeera Net, that the older generations have a “broader” knowledge of history and a greater ability to understand political events, given that they lived through the era of Soviet media propaganda, which for decades was hostile to Zionism and supportive of the Palestinian cause.

Among the matters that the same political analyst pointed out was Israel's position on the war in Ukraine and the unprecedented deterioration in relations between Moscow and Tel Aviv that arose as a result of it, which is no longer a secret or a "taboo."

This comes despite the fact that most of the workers in the Russian press are from the generation of the “nineties” who are intellectually close to Western positions, according to the Russian analyst, who also referred to those with “preconceived nationalist positions” who for many years formed a barrier to the Russian recipient’s knowledge of the truth about the situation in the Palestinian territories. The occupiers, and "they deliberately and innocently mixed, which continued for many years, between national liberation movements and terrorist organizations."

Speaking about the forms of popular interaction in Russia with the situation in Gaza, it must be noted that Russian individuals and groups have translated documentaries and interviews with Arab and foreign officials and experts from foreign languages ??into the Russian language that address and clarify the historical path of the emergence of the Israeli occupation.

Examples of comments show that large numbers of participants acknowledged that - for the first time - they were exposed to viewpoints and facts that differed from those they had previously grown up with, and most of which were almost identical to the Israeli narrative.

Social psychology researcher Vladimir Koshul, in his conversation with Al Jazeera Net, points to a group of reasons that contributed to influencing the opinion of the average recipient and formulating his positions, including what relates to the principle of the right to self-determination, as the majority of Russians - according to his estimation - believe that what they are suffering from The people of the Gaza Strip meet in this part what the residents of the Donbas have been suffering for many years, and therefore the resistance of the people of the Gaza Strip to the Israelis is considered legitimate from their point of view.

Vladimir Koshul also points out “the professional and moral fall of Western media,” and how it left its mark on the Russian recipient, which was broadcasting false or false news and video clips, such as the claim that resistance members beheaded Israeli children, before it was revealed that the incident was a forgery. The facts and systematic policy of these media outlets have not only implicated the president of the most powerful country in the world (Joe Biden) in believing lies, but also caused Western news sources to lose their credibility.

Moreover, Koshul believes that the link between the Ukrainian and Western media alike between the war in Gaza and the war in Ukraine played a reverse role for the “neutral or indifferent” Russian recipient, part of whom began to base his position on the events in Gaza on the saying “the enemy of my enemy is my friend".

Allied for Democracy

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attacked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after the latter decided to allow fuel to enter the Gaza Strip. Smotrich called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to change the composition of the war government after the decision to allow the entry of fuel into the Gaza Strip.

A new opinion poll in the Israel showed that the majority of Israelis do not want Benjamin Netanyahu, as voices calling for his removal from office began to grow louder, even in light of the current war on the Gaza Strip, which has entered its 42nd day. The results of the survey were published by the Maariv newspaper in cooperation with the Lazar Research Center. When the participants were asked who is better to head the government, Netanyahu or the minister in the war government, Benny Gantz , the results were as follows: Benny Gantz 50%. - Netanyahu only 29%. - 21% answered that they did not know. The poll showed that the Likud Party , led by Netanyahu, declined to 17 seats in the Knesset (Parliament), after it had 18 seats in the last elections.

A former Israeli political advisor tried to explain how Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is undermining US President Joe Biden 's "day after" strategy in Gaza and Netanyahu's motives for this undermining. Nimrod Novik, a member of the "Israeli Policy Forum" and chief foreign policy advisor to former Prime Minister Shimon Peres , focused in an article published by "Time Magazine" on clarifying that Netanyahu, in his quest to undermine Biden's strategy, declared his opposition to the main element of the strategy, and he took The Palestinian Authority administers the Gaza Strip.

The writer said that Netanyahu's opposition to Washington's strategy has nothing to do with the future of Gaza, the Palestinian Authority, or the West Bank , but rather with something more important to Netanyahu, which is his "legal dilemma." After Novick enumerated the elements of Biden's strategy, which he described as "win-win: Palestinians and Israelis" after the Gaza war, he said that Netanyahu dropped a political bomb by declaring his firm objection to the Palestinian Authority's management of Gaza, destroying the cornerstone of the strategy that US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken was trying to garner regional support fo its.

The writer said that Washington's strategy would relieve Israel of the need to rule 2.2 million Palestinians in Gaza with no way out in sight, and provide a "reliable" political horizon for the Palestinians, thus preventing the West Bank from sliding into a crisis similar to Gaza, in addition to preparing the authority. Palestinian efforts to control Gaza in the future, as well as building and strengthening a strong regional coalition led by the United States to curb the regional interference of Iran and its proxies, while reviving talk of normalization with Israel.

Novick added that American efforts to persuade Israel to consider the context, and not just the military dimensions, of the Gaza operation ended in frustration. Likewise, Secretary of State Antony Blinken's shuttle diplomacy in the Middle East and a meeting in the Jordanian capital, Amman, with Arab foreign ministers the week before ended in disappointment.

He explained that Netanyahu, using his usual method of diverting attention, had involved Blinken in an endless debate about the number of trucks entering Gaza, what their cargo might contain, and the duration and frequency of humanitarian stops, noting that all of this was aimed at avoiding discussing the situation of Gaza the next day.

The writer pointed out that Netanyahu repeatedly told a frustrated President Biden, an astonished Defense Secretary, and Secretary Blinken, “Not now... Now we are focusing on destroying Hamas.”

The writer said that some in Washington justify to Netanyahu that he is not convinced of the necessity of preparing from now for the next day, and others know him better, and they say that he is more convinced than the majority of them, but they justify that he is afraid that the next day’s discussion will reveal the necessity for Israel to change its course regarding the Palestinian issue. Since Netanyahu's partners in the far-right coalition will not allow this, pushing such measures will be a sure cause of crisis for the government coalition.

However, the writer says that what is at stake is not the cohesion of the ruling coalition, because partners can be replaced without the need for new elections, and wartime certainly justifies such emergency measures.

Novick concludes that what is at stake is something more important for Netanyahu: his “legal quandary,” and that unlike these far-right coalition partners, their potential replacements will not give him a way out, legislative or otherwise, before his trial on corruption charges runs its course. A judicial ruling is issued against him.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appealed to visiting US lawmakers, urging them to expedite emergency military assistance for "Israel", a request currently stalled due to political deadlock in Washington, Punchbowl news reported. "Prime Minister Netanyahu said, 'I need ammo, ammo and ammo – yesterday,'" House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Mike McCaul told Punchbowl News. As part of a bipartisan delegation, McCaul, who was visiting, said "It’s urgent, and it needs to happen soon. They were a little anxious, but we reassured them that this was going to pass. It’s just going through a political process." Netanyahu made a specific request for the replenishment of Iron Dome missile defense interceptors, precision-guided weapons, and 155 mm artillery shells, the report noted.

The American website "Axios" reported that dozens of Democrats in the House of Representatives, led by their Jewish colleagues, called on the administration of President Joe Biden to pressure Israel to allow the transfer of fuel shipments to the Gaza Strip . The website said that lawmakers stressed, in a letter to Secretary of State Anthony Blinken , “the urgent need to supply relief groups working in the Gaza Strip with large quantities of fuel through vetted international or non-governmental organizations.” Lawmakers warned that the lack of sufficient energy to operate hospitals, desalination plants and wastewater treatment facilities "will lead to a potentially massive public health crisis."

The website explained that this call is led by Jewish Democratic Representative Susan Wild, Democrat Jamie Raskin, and Democrat Jan Schakowsky. It noted that the number of signatories to the letter was 48 prominent progressives such as Representatives Jim McGovern, Pramila Jayapal, Seth Moulton, and Susie Lee. He added that several members represent swing districts, including Wild, Rep. Matt Cartwright, Jahana Hayes, Val Howell and Chris DiLuzio.

British journalist Jonathan Cook said that the White House is facing a dilemma, and that despite its ability to stop the death and destruction caused by Israel in Gaza at any time it wants, it has chosen not to do anything. He commented in his column on the Middle East Eye website that the United States is determined to support its “puppet state” to the fullest extent, which gives Israel a mandate to destroy the small coastal strip, whatever the cost - it seems - in Palestinian lives.

Cook pointed out that the declared Israeli war on the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) had turned into an open war on Gaza’s hospitals , which was accompanied by an increase in the anger of Western public opinion, and that the Western allies were finding it more difficult to hide and justify their complicity in the indisputable Israeli crimes against humanity. . The writer pointed to French President Emmanuel Macron's departure from the line at the end of the week, when the BBC frankly summarized his message as follows: "Macron calls on Israel to stop killing women and children in Gaza."

The war on Gaza could cause the Democratic Party to lose the support of younger voters, who have a far higher pro-Palestine stance than other age groups according to a new Quinnipiac survey. When compared to a similar survey conducted last month, the percentage of voters who sympathize more with Palestinians rose from 13 to 24 percent.

Respondents under 35 overwhelmingly stated that they disapprove of "Israel's" actions since October 7, and feel more sympathy towards Palestinians, with 50% stating they believe the US supports the Israelis too much. In October, young voters' sympathies were more evenly split, but since then, they have reverted to a long-term trend that has caused division within the party, shifting from 26% of them to 52% of them in favor of Palestine. The percentage of young voters who supported "Israel" over Palestine dropped from 41% to 29% in just one month.

Politicians and party strategists are already concerned that the Democratic Party's backing of "Israel", spearheaded by President Joe Biden, will hurt them in the election. Rep.Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) during an October march for Palestine vowed that Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Georgia, all "important stars" for Biden, would not forget. During a recent press conference, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) admitted that Biden was “taking a hit” for the position.

Voters over 65 were significantly more likely to support "Israel" and about two-thirds support providing "Israel" with additional military aid. Furthermore, 65% of older voters stated that they had greater sympathy for Israelis than for Palestinians. Meanwhile, in regards to military aid, 48% of Democrats were against sending more aid and one-third of them expressed that the US was "too supportive" of the occupation. Republicans overwhelmingly approved of Israeli actions following October 7 and 71% of them supported additional aid.

According to a new Reuters/Ipsos survey, popular support in the United States for "Israel's" war on Gaza, under the guise of fighting Hamas, is weakening, and most Americans believe "Israel" needs to implement a ceasefire. A total of 1,006 American adults participated in the countrywide online Reuters/Ipsos poll, and only 32% of respondents in the two-day opinion survey answered "the US should support Israel," when asked about the US role in the matter.

This is in stark comparison to an October survey where 41% believed the US should support the occupation. In October, 27% of respondents believed the US should "play a neutral mediator," while in the most recent survey, 39% expressed this opinion. The poll's results were similar to one month ago: 4% of respondents thought the US should help the Palestinians, and 15% said the US shouldn't get involved at all.

“Not in our name,” was chanted by the voices of many Jews around the world - especially in the United States of America - who were keen to condemn Israel’s massacres in Gaza , and expose the Zionist movement’s methods of “brainwashing” them and convincing them of false ideas about the history of the conflict in occupied Palestine.

It was noteworthy that these people resorted to the “Tik Tok” application to make their positions public at this time, as they confirmed that the American and Western media refuse to convey their point of view, and insist on highlighting one point of view on the issue of Palestine.

If a book about the Sabra and Shatila massacre was what changed the position of the famous American Jewish activist Chatzi Weisberger (1930-2022) towards Israel and the Zionist movement, then the ongoing war in Gaza currently are what made many Jews raise their voices, rejecting those massacres, and revealing the methods of propaganda. The misleading methods practiced by the Zionist movement against them to guide their convictions.

The “Christian Zionism” doctrine believes in the necessity of the Jewish people returning to their “promised land” in Palestine, and the establishment of a Jewish entity there that paves the way for the second return of Christ and his establishment of the thousand-year kingdom.