Operation Iron Swords - Day 46 - 21 November 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."

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

ither a martyr or a projected martyr.. This is the condition of the people of the Gaza Strip.

At least 14,128 Palestinians, including more than 5,840 children, have been killed in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza since October 7, the Gaza Press Office said. The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. The Hamas-run government said 3,920 women were among the dead, with more than 33,000 more people wounded. The Palestinian Government Media Office in Gaza said the number of missing people had risen to more than 6,800 [nearly doubl the 3,750 previously reported], including 1,800 children still under the rubble. The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced that the number of wounded as 31,000 [previously announced as 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 had reported the death of 375 soldiers and officers, 58 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.

Israeli army (IDF) announced 19 November 2023 the death of five of its soldiers during ground battles in the Gaza Strip, bringing the total number of casualties since October 7th to 378 and raising the number of troop deaths there to 64 since the ground war began.

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

According to some estimates, Hamas is holding nearly 210 of the 240 hostages, while Palestinian Islamic Jihad is holding the remaining 30. About 40 Israelis remained missing.

The main points known about the hostage deal so far:

• Minimum of 53 hostages will be released, mostly children and their mothers, with potential of the total number released reaching 8p hostages
• 10 hostages will be released every day
• 4-day ceasefire in the Gaza Strip
• 150 Palestinian prisoners will be released, mostly women and minors
• The first hostages would be released on Thursday.
• hostages to be released does not include foreigners who do not have Israeli citizenship.
• the Israeli army will refrain from flying over the Gaza Strip for six hours each day, during the first days of the truce, in order to allow Hamas to locate the other hostages who are being held by Hamas terrorists and Islamic Jihad.
• Israel will release approximately 150 Palestinian prisoners, women and children, held in its prisons, and who do not have Jewish blood on their hands.
• The agreement would also include the entry into the Gaza Strip, including in the north, of 100 to 300 trucks of food and medical aid as well as fuel.

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.

Hamas previously announced that the number of prisoners it held was between 200 and 250 Israelis, and others of other nationalities, during the “ Al-Aqsa Flood ” battle launched by the Al-Qassam Brigades on the 7th of last October. Hamas indicated that among the detainees were “high-ranking military personnel” and that it wanted to exchange them for more than 6,000 Palestinian prisoners, including children and women, in Israeli prisons, but Tel Aviv did not show seriousness in concluding such a deal. The movement released 4 female prisoners “for humanitarian reasons”, two women holding American citizenship, in response to Qatari mediation efforts, and two Israelis, with Egyptian-Qatari mediation.

The Palestinian Prisoners Information Office reported that the number of administrative prisoners has surpassed 2,200 prisoners, marking the highest count since the establishment of the Captive Movement. The Office attributed this to the mass arrest campaigns carried out by the Israeli occupation since October 7. It added that the number of arrests has surpassed 3,000, pointing out that the occupation has put a significant number of arrestees in administrative detention without any charges filed.

Since last October 7, the Israeli army had launched an arrest campaign in the West Bank , including the occupied city of Jerusalem, during which it arrested about 3,000 Palestinians, in addition to more than 5,000 detainees before that date, according to institutions concerned with prisoner affairs. So far, since the beginning of the war, more than 1,850 wanted persons have been arrested throughout the Judea and Samaria Division and the Bekaa and Emekim Division, about 1,100 of whom are affiliated with Hamas. During the night, the security forces operated in Bayoush and the Bekaa and arrested 26 wanted persons, seven of whom are affiliated with Hamas.

Abu Hamza, the spokesperson for al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement, announced the death of an Israeli captive, Hanna Katsir, held by the Resistance group, asserting that the delay tactics of the Israeli occupation were the cause of her death. In a statement released through his official channel on Telegram, Abu Hamza announced her death, stressing that the Zionist entity bears full responsibility for this incident. He further stressed that the Israeli occupation is responsible for the lives of Israeli captives, especially in light of "the brutal and relentless bombing on every inch of the Gaza Strip."

A Palestinian official in the Palestine Liberation Organization accused Israel of acting like a "gang" due to its abusive and retaliatory practices against Palestinian prisoners in occupation prisons. The head of the organization’s Prisoners’ Affairs Commission, Qaddoura Fares, said in an interview with Anadolu Agency that the occupation’s measures to abuse prisoners inside prisons have nothing to do with the state of war and have nothing to do with security, and are only for revenge, which was and still is the master of the situation. He pointed out that Israel, since the Battle of Al- Aqsa Flood on October 7, has been pursuing a policy of starving prisoners and confiscating belongings, blankets, mattresses and pillows.

Fares pointed out that "the most dangerous" is the physical assault on prisoners, where they are beaten with batons by about 10 jailers on all parts of the body, regardless of their health status or age. He added that the jailers have a green light to abuse prisoners, and if one of them is killed, no jailer will be subjected to accountability, investigation, or investigation.

He added, "The Israeli government has released the special prison units who enter the departments with their machine guns for the first time in the history of the prisoner movement." Qaddoura pointed out that the prisoners have a feeling that they are being lured into a group confrontation in order to be justified in shooting and killing them.

Fares pointed out that the prisoner's rooms are crowded with detainees without mattresses or blankets, some of whom sleep on the floor with the onset of winter. He explained that each room contains about 10 prisoners, while its capacity is 6 people, and they are provided with food that is barely enough for just two people. He pointed out that the majority of the prisoners have lost 5 to 10 kilograms of their weight since October 7, and are prohibited from shaving their heads or chins. He stated that any prisoner who objects to something is isolated and severely beaten, adding, "There are prisoners who suffered fractures and wounds and no treatment was provided to them, including those who needed 15 stitches and were not given painkillers or wound disinfectant."

Among the punitive policies, according to Fares, is that the Prison Service confiscates all the prisoners’ possessions, books, photos, and memories, and throws them in the garbage. Social media pages have circulated clips many times showing the Israeli authorities treating prisoners by beating, insulting, and stripping them of their clothes. Fares says, “This is documentation by the soldiers themselves, all of which was collected and delivered to international bodies, ambassadors, and consuls, in order to expose Israel’s practices and stop these violations.”

Regarding the position of the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Palestinian official said, “The silence of the International Committee disturbs us.” He added, "We told them that since Israel prevents you from carrying out your role, you must speak out and issue a statement explaining who is preventing you, or you must leave and announce that there is no need for your presence because Israel prevents you from carrying out your mission." He stressed that issuing an explanatory statement from the Red Cross might attract international public opinion and put pressure on Israel, but the International Committee has remained silent so far.

Regarding the prisoners of the Gaza Strip, Fares says, “Israel keeps the matter secret, as there is no information about it. This is the behavior of the gang, and it may have hidden intentions, such as exposing the Gaza prisoners to a harsh investigation, then killing them, and claiming that they were killed on the battlefield and kept their bodies.”

The head of the Hamas political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh , confirmed that reaching a truce agreement with Israel was imminent. Haniyeh said in a statement, “The movement delivered its response to the brothers in Qatar and the mediators, and we are close to reaching a truce agreement,” without further details. For his part, Hamas leader Izzat al-Rishq told Al Jazeera that the details of the agreement will be revealed in the coming hours, explaining that "the brothers in Qatar are the ones who will announce the details of the truce agreement."

Member of the Political Bureau of the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ), Khalil Al-Hayya , said that the movement submitted its response to the latest proposal regarding a truce in the Gaza Strip yesterday to Qatar and Egypt , and that the movement is awaiting the response of the Israeli side, indicating that if the occupation does not want this truce, it will place hundreds of obstacles in front of it.

Al-Hayya explained - in a press conference - that the occupation "continues to lie and fabricate plays to justify targeting hospitals and infrastructure in Gaza," saying that "the occupation's announcement of the existence of tunnels in Al-Shifa Hospital is a farce that no one believed." The Hamas leader added that the occupation seeks to push the people of Gaza to move south and then out of the Strip towards Egypt, stressing, “There will be no displacement or departure, and our people in Gaza are clinging to their land,” calling for the Rafah crossing to remain open to bring in all the necessities of life into the Strip .

Regarding the field battles and confrontations with the occupation army, Al-Hayya said, “The enemy did not achieve any field achievement on the ground other than committing war crimes and horrific massacres,” adding, “Netanyahu and the Israeli army will not be able to achieve any achievement and we are confident of their defeat.” Al-Hayya stated that the food supplies entering Gaza do not equal 10% of the Strip’s needs, and added that the occupation forces are working to put the health system in northern Gaza out of service.

Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir sharply criticized the prisoner exchange deal to be concluded with the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ), considering that it will bring disaster to Tel Aviv. “I am very upset because they are talking about a deal that could bring us disaster,” said Ben Gvir, leader of the far-right Jewish Power party. He continued that rumors say that the State of Israel will once again make a very big mistake in the "Shalit deal" method, referring to the exchange deal with Hamas that took place in 2011, and included more than 1,200 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for soldier Gilad Shalit .

Ben Gvir added, "You remember that we released Shalit, and we released the leader of Hamas in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar , and his friends, and we brought this problem to ourselves." Ben Gvir continued that, unfortunately, Minister in the War Council Benny Gantz and “Minister Without Portfolio” Gadi Eisenkot are dragging the government into a bad area. It is noteworthy that Ben Gvir is not a member of the Israeli Military Ministerial Council.

The Israeli media has increasingly covered the issue of prisoners in the Gaza Strip , and what the occupation army achieved in its ground operation in the Strip, as a former reserve general expected that the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) would dictate its conditions regarding the expected prisoner deal, while a political analyst believes that the army’s failure turned out to be greater than Expected.

Channel 12 quoted Reserve General Mehran Brozanvir, who was an economic advisor to the former chief of staff, as saying that he is not sure that the head of Hamas in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar , is under pressure, as some are trying to portray, adding that if there is a deal, it will be planned. To her, “I fear that he is the one dictating his conditions to us.”

He stressed that the army must double the pressure on Hamas and begin an attack towards the south, as he believes that Hamas has not been broken, adding, “If we give Sinwar a chance to dictate his conditions in the first deal, we will have a lot ahead of us (..) We are facing a difficult matter, and it is not easy at all.” Especially since we are dealing with an organization that will not hesitate to kill those who kidnapped us.”

Meanwhile, Channel 14 quoted him as saying that there is a very large information gap regarding “the kidnapped persons and those who arrest them,” and that while Hamas is concluding the first deal regarding a number of detainees, it is not only thinking about it, but also thinking about the next deal, and this means providing the opportunity For her to regain her strength.

In the same context, Adi Karmi - a former senior employee in the Israeli internal security service ( Shin Bet ) - said that anyone who thinks that Hamas will soften its positions or move towards a political solution if we do not start the battle is wrong, noting that the negotiations with Hamas to complete the Gilad Shalit deal took 5 years. Years of “manipulation and psychological tricks,” as he put it.

For his part, political analyst Yotam Zimri strongly criticized the Israeli occupation army, and said in an interview with Channel 14 that the matter did not stop at the major intelligence failure related to assessing the enemy’s capabilities, but rather it was gradually discovered that there was a major failure regarding the army’s capabilities and qualifications.

Like him, former head of the operations department, Reserve General Giora Eiland, believes that the army has not yet succeeded in neutralizing the tunnels in Gaza, adding, “As long as there can be saboteurs in the hundreds and perhaps more, and as long as there is combat equipment underground, this is a challenge that must be met.” Find a way to overcome it.”

Another speaker believed that the goal of eliminating Hamas’ military force would not be achieved without dismantling “lower Gaza,” in reference to the tunnels. He added, “Certainly, we do not want to reach a direct confrontation between a fighter from the IDF and an elite terrorist face to face inside the tunnel.” According to his expression.

Meanwhile, military correspondent Alon Ben David believes that his country will be a country waging a war for months, and perhaps years, to come.

The Hannibal Protocol (also called the Hannibal Directive), a procedure used by the Israeli army to prevent the capture of its soldiers, even if it means killing them, so this protocol allows the bombing of the positions of captured soldiers . It was drafted by 3 high-ranking officers, and it remained a secret protocol until its adoption in 2006. The Israeli army is considered the only one in the world that uses this procedure, despite the repeated internal criticism it faces, which believes that it does not provide protection for its forces in the field.

The "Hannibal" Protocol sparked widespread controversy in the Israeli entity, as its opponents describe it as a "brutal option" that risks the lives of prisoners who could be saved. Israel has implemented the Hannibal Directive on numerous occasions since 1986, and the most devastating implementation was in Rafah in 2014. Of the 11 Israelis to whom the protocol was applied on 7 occasions, only one soldier survived.

Opinions differ on whether this military protocol was called “Hannibal,” and on who specifically coined the term. There are those who believe that the term is applied to the way in which the historical leader of Carthage, Hannibal Barca, ended his life, when he chose to poison himself rather than fall prisoner into the hands of the Romans.

Its development and formulation dates back to the conclusion of the prisoner deal called “Galilee” between “Israel” and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine movement led by its Secretary-General Ahmed Jibril in 1985, during which he exchanged 3 Israeli soldiers for 1,150 Palestinian prisoners.

After that, the “Hannibal Directive” system was officially introduced in 1986, 5 months after the Lebanese Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers (Youssef Fink and Rafael Al-Sheikh), and the ensuing prisoner exchange operations were described as “unbalanced”, and the soldiers were thus directed Israelis must obstruct the kidnapping of their colleagues at all costs.

The protocol was drafted - at the time - by Yossi Peled, head of the IDF's Northern Command, in cooperation with a committee consisting of retired General Uri Or, former IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi, commander of the IDF's Northern Command, Amram Levin, and former National Security Advisor General Colonel Yaakov. Amidror. For more than a decade, military censors prevented journalists from reporting on this protocol, or even discussing its subject, and the full text of the directive was never published, claiming that doing so might weaken the morale of the Israeli people.

From the IDF's point of view, the concept of "better a dead soldier than a captured soldier" was the core of the Hannibal Protocol doctrine. The directive specified the steps the army should take in the event of a soldier being kidnapped, and its stated goal was to prevent soldiers from falling into enemy hands, even If necessary, kill them.

Operational Update

Statement by the IDF spokesman, Brigadier General Daniel Hagari : "We have a moral and ethical obligation towards the families of the abductees. We have the upper hand in every battle, we will continue to eliminate Hamas terrorists everywhere. We will continue to expose more hospitals in Gaza. In the north, we eliminated several anti-tank squads that tried to fire missiles into our territory. We are in high readiness for defense and attack."

Fighters of the Magellan unit fight in the Gaza Strip and attack using weapons and precision missiles such as the Gil missile and the guided weapon 'Steel Sting' which was used for the first time in combat.

The gradual advance of two Israeli armored divisions, the 162nd and the 36th, continued into the Jabalya refugee camp, the Zeitun neighborhood and other neighborhoods in the north and east of Gaza City. Hamas battalions in these areas had been degraded less during the fighting thus far and therefore the resistance there was fiercer. Concurrently, the sniper and RPG fire against IDF units continued,

As part of ongoing IDF ground operations in the Gaza Strip, the 162nd Division, in collaboration with the IAF, operated in preparing the battlefield in the area of Jabalia. The attacks on terror targets included support from fighter jets and UAVs. During the battle, the division struck three tunnel shafts in the area of Jabalia, in which terrorists were hiding. Division 162 completed the encirclement of Jabalia tonight (Tuesday) and is prepared for the continuation of the attack. Terrorists were eliminated and infrastructure was destroyed.

The 401st Brigade engaged terrorists in the northern Gaza Strip, during which they killed terrorists and directed aircraft to attack from the air. In addition, the forces located and destroyed rocket launchers. The troops from the Nahal Brigade killed dozens of terrorists over the past few days with support of tanks and UAVs.

Additionally, combat squads of the 551st Brigade, in collaboration with special forces, operated north of Jabalia in order to eliminate the terror targets in the area and clear a path for divisional forces and neutralized terrorist targets in the area. During the operation, troops killed dozens of terrorists with air support, captured enemy weapons in various locations, including private houses and children’s bedrooms, and located and destroyed tunnel shafts.

As part of the IDF's activities in the Gaza Strip, IDF aircraft attacked about 250 targets of the terrorist organization Hamas in the last day. Among the targets are dozens of terrorists, missile launchers and various terrorist infrastructures. During the night, the fire canopy of the Gaza Division directed a combat helicopter that destroyed a rocket launching station, which launched rockets into the Gush Dan area yesterday (Sunday). The position was placed near a residential area of a civilian population.

IDF aircraft identified and struck three armed terrorist cells in the area of the border with Lebanon. In addition, IDF fighter jets struck a number of Hezbollah terror targets, including military infrastructure and structures used for directing terrorist activity. A short while ago, terrorists fired mortar shells at an IDF post in northern Israel. No injuries were reported. IDF artillery is currently striking the source of the fire. Three anti-tank missile launches from Lebanese territory toward the area of Metula in northern Israel were identified. No injuries were reported. In response, IDF soldiers are striking toward the source of the fire in Lebanon.

In addition, combat team fighters of the Harel Brigade located a cache of weapons in the house of a Nakhaba terrorist in the Gaza Strip, and a combat team of the 14th Brigade located an anti-tank missile hidden under a baby bed.

From the early hours of the morning, reserve forces operated under the direction of the Shin Bet in an operation to counter terrorism in the Balata refugee camp in Nablus. During the operation, engineering vehicles and IDF forces breached roads and roadblocks, revealing charges on the sides of the road intended to harm our forces. In addition, at the end of searches, weapon parts and ammunition were found, and suspects will be interrogated. The forces arrested a wanted man, a military operative in the Balata camp who is suspected of trafficking weapons. During the activity, suspects threw stones and threw explosives at the forces, who responded by firing.

In addition, reserve forces also operated in an operation to thwart popular terrorism in the village of Burka in the Binyamin Brigade. As part of the operation, the forces are interrogating many suspects, and have arrested a number of wanted persons active in Hamas. So far, the forces have confiscated dozens of illegal vehicles and also located many weapons, including an air gun, David's slingshot, batons, spikes, laser and knives. In addition, the forces located incendiary and propaganda materials of the terrorist organization Hamas. The forces continue their activity in the village at this time as well.

In Kfar Hussan in the Etzion Brigade, two wanted men suspected of throwing stones at vehicles near Beitar Illit were arrested a few days ago. During searches for weapons in Kfar Sabah El Khir in the Menashe Brigade, an M16 rifle, an improvised explosive device sniper weapon, ammunition and military equipment were found. In addition, in an operation to arrest Wanted in Kabatia in the Menasha Brigade directed by the Shin Bet, six wanted were arrested, including those suspected of shooting at IDF forces and of being active in Hamas.

The Islamic Resistance in Lebanon - Hezbollah launched a series of operations against Israeli military targets in northern occupied Palestine as the entity continues its war on Gaza and expands its crimes in Lebanon. During the day, the Islamic Resistance group released separate statements announcing a series of operations against Israeli military bases and targets along the Lebanese-Palestinian border. Hezbollah reiterated that the operations are in support of Gaza and Palestinians, as well as in retaliation for a list of Israeli crimes in Lebanon and against civilians in the country.

Starting with one of the most significant operations since the start of the round of confrontations on October 8, the Lebanese Resistance targeted at 4:15 pm a site of an Israeli military giant, specialized and responsible for developing the entity's most sophisticated anti-air systems. In a first of its kind, Hezbollah targeted a Rafael systems' production plant in "Shlomi" with undisclosed weapons, in response to an Israeli aggression targeting an aluminum factory in Nabatieh, south Lebanon, last week.

The weapons firm is a co-producer and creator of the Iron Dome, David's Sling, Trophy for military vehicles, and the newly introduced laser-based system, the Iron Beam. The Resistance confirmed that the site received direct hits, with smoke seen rising from the location.

Hezbollah started the operations at around 6:40 am, targeting using appropriate weapons a house in the "Metulla" settlement where an Israeli intelligence force was stationed. The Resistance confirmed direct hits. Moreover, the Hadab al-Bustan Israeli base was attacked with appropriate weapons at 9:50 am, the Islamic Resistance said in a statement, confirming that the operation was successful.

Around two hours later, at 11:45 am, Hezbollah announced targeting al-Raheb Israeli military site using appropriate weapons, adding that direct hits were achieved. The Resistance continued its operations during the day, targeting Jal al-Deir and al-Malikiyah Israeli bases, at 2:30 pm and 3:50 pm respectively, in addition to targeting a Merkava tank near "Netu'a" military site at 4:05, all using appropriate weapons. Hezbollah said in three separate statements that all launches succeeded in hitting their targets.

Hezbollah fighters also attacked a gathering of military soldiers in Bayad Bliad base at 4:50, while the Resistance confirmed direct hits.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq announced it targeted the US bases of Ain al-Assad and al-Shadadi in Iraq and Syria respectively, using appropriate weaponry. The Resistance confirmed that both bases were directly hit. In a statement, the group emphasized that the operations against the two bases come in response to the crimes committed by the Israeli occupation against the people of Gaza, as the brutal aggression on the Strip continues for the 46th consecutive day.

Ain al-Assad base was targeted for the first time with a ballistic missile, according to a security source in the Islamic Resistance in Iraq. The source said, "Ain al-Assad base was hit by a ballistic missile carrying highly explosive materials." The Islamic Resistance in Iraq issued a statement confirming that its targeting of the American occupation base in the west of the country came in response to the crimes committed by the enemy against our people in Gaza.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq launched missile and drone attacks in recent weeks on American bases in Syria and Iraq. The Iraqi resistance had previously confirmed that these attacks came to express its support for the Palestinian people and because of America's involvement in massacres and crimes against the people of Gaza.

Military and strategic expert Major General Fayez Al-Duwairi - in his analysis to Al Jazeera - said that the Israeli occupation army may turn Gaza City and its north into cantons, so that it can allocate forces to each region after securing its two sides in each region. Al-Duwairi explained that this matter is one of the scenarios proposed, but it depends on the course of the ground battle currently taking place in light of the intensification of battles from zero distance in the Beach camp, west of Gaza City, and elsewhere.

He stressed that the Al-Qassam Brigades - the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) - had prepared its defense plan based on the worst scenario of dividing Gaza and its north into cantons, before confirming that the occupation army was awaiting “more fierce and ferocious battles” in the Jabalia camp, Hay al-Tuffah and “Gaza.” "The Old Battle of Gaza" was called the decisive battle.

He referred to the Israeli advance that took place in Ezbet Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip and its arrival in the Sheikh Zayed Towers area, pointing out that the vehicles were forced to stop upon reaching populated areas, and were trying to search for side streets to avoid advancing along Salah al-Din Street.

According to Al-Duwairi, the strike forces of the Al-Qassam Brigades are located in the Al-Shuja’iya and Al-Tuffah neighborhoods, east of Gaza City, and are considered one of the strongest defensive formations, which prompts the occupation army to avoid taking this main road as a path for vehicles and tries to make its advance on it calculated. The matter also applies to the western area of Salah al-Din Street, in the presence of the Jabalia camp, which is known for the strength of its fighters and constitutes a weak point for Israeli vehicles.

He pointed out the need for the Al-Qassam Brigades to pay attention to the activity of the occupation army during the truce period - the announcement of which is imminent - as the latter seeks to strengthen and restore the forces, replace others in their place, and compensate for its shortages, as well as searching for and reaching tunnels. He stressed the need for the resistance in Gaza to take all measures to prevent any of these actions that the occupation army is seeking during the truce, "even if it requires breaking the temporary ceasefire."

He agreed with the statements of IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari about the presence of fierce resistance in the Shati and Jabalia camps, but he did not agree with him regarding the announced numbers of killing only 16 officers and soldiers within 3 days, while Al-Qassam spokesman Abu Ubaida said that the brigades destroyed 60 military vehicles within 72 hours.

As for the Shawaz device that Abu Ubaida spoke about in his last speech, Al-Duwairi explained that it was a local manufacture for the Al-Qassam Brigades and was developed repeatedly until it reached the seventh generation, which is smaller and more effective, and is characterized by light weight and ease of transportation. He explained that it works using an electrical circuit and penetrates steel by 38 centimetres, as it contains 3.5 kilograms of explosives.

Regarding the missiles that struck various areas in Israel from Gaza and southern Lebanon, he pointed out that it was a new confirmation by the Al-Qassam Brigades to manage the battle according to its vision and conditions, and to force Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to a temporary truce that includes a partial exchange of prisoners. He stressed that in asymmetric warfare, “if the weak party does not lose, it is victorious, and if the strong party does not win, it is defeated.”

Satellite images obtained by Al Jazeera showed that the Israeli occupation army forces had taken schools sheltering the displaced as a concentration area and barricaded vehicles, at a time when fighting was intensifying and Palestinian resistance operations in Gaza against the invading forces were increasing. According to photos dating back to November 14, Israeli forces took the Carmel and Beach schools as a positioning point for vehicles, each of which is 400 meters away from Al-Shifa Medical Complex .

Regarding the reason for this, the military and strategic expert, Major General Fayez Al-Duwairi, says that all the schools of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees ( UNRWA ) have turned into shelters for the displaced, and that is why the occupation forces deliberately place their vehicles near them.

He added that the aim of this was to prevent the fighters of the Al-Qassam Brigades , the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement " Hamas " from attacking vehicles and tanks due to the presence of large numbers of Palestinians, indicating that the latter did not attack the Rantisi Children's Hospital until after it had been evacuated of the displaced and turned into a positioning point for the occupation forces.

Regarding the pictures that showed the presence of a concentration of vehicles at the intersection of Omar Al-Mukhtar and Al-Jalaa Streets in Gaza, as well as dirt barriers near the wastewater treatment plant, Al-Duwairi suggested that the goal was to choose an area where there would be freedom of vision and movement, and freedom of safety, in addition to using them in any new situation.

As for the specific Al-Qassam attack that targeted Al-Rantisi Hospital and the introduction of the martyrdom unit, the military expert explains that field data determine the type of attacks, pointing out that the hospital square has become a mobilization point for Israeli forces at the level of vehicles and individuals. He added that Al-Qassam fighters monitored these Israeli vehicles and determined their types, before launching several different attacks after completing the intelligence information. He stressed that the nature of the target and field conditions required this number of fighters.

In his latest words, Al-Qassam spokesman Abu Ubaida revealed that 25 fighters from the Al-Qassam elite forces carried out a complex attack targeting the occupation forces at Al-Rantisi Hospital in Gaza, where they finished off 4 soldiers who got off a troop carrier near the hospital from zero distance.

As for the breakthrough made by the IDF in Izbat Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip and their arrival to the outskirts of Jabalia, Al-Duwairi downplayed the step because the distance they entered, which was approximately two kilometers, was considered soft land and there were no buildings there.

Regarding the launching of rockets towards Tel Aviv, which was described as one of the largest attacks targeting the city, the military expert stated that the area covered by the sirens exceeded 2,000 square kilometers, which is equivalent to 7 times the area of ??the Gaza Strip. He stressed that the message that Al-Qassam wanted was twofold: the first was military, that the General Staff was still capable of managing the battle despite the destruction, and the second was political, stating that negotiations regarding the issue of prisoners detained in Gaza were being conducted from a standpoint of equality and the ability to extract rights.

Regarding the IDF, the military expert said that Tel Aviv mobilized 5 military divisions for the Gaza battle, which means 45% of the combat capacity of the occupation army, compared to 25% for the northern front with Lebanon, while 30% remains, of which 10% is allocated to the West Bank and the rest is a strategic reserve.

It is estimated that there are 3 Israeli divisions in Gaza, with each division having 350 combat vehicles, which means the presence of between 1,000 and 1,100 various vehicles, including tanks and troop carriers, reinforced by the Givati, Golani, and paratroopers brigades. He pointed out that Al-Qassam announced the complete or partial destruction of 290 Israeli vehicles, meaning that the occupation lost 80% of the equipment of one of the three military divisions and it was out of service. Regarding the implications of the Lebanese Hezbollah attack on one of the occupation army barracks in the north, Al-Duwairi believes that the party wanted to convey a message that it is immersed in fighting by using the Burkan missile, which has a strong effect.

Israel is circumventing international humanitarian law to justify its bombing and targeting of civilian facilities and hospitals during the war it is waging in the Gaza Strip.It does this by presenting unproven evidence claiming that weapons and combat equipment were seized in these institutions, which were transformed into military barracks for the Palestinian resistance, according to the Israeli army’s claims.

In light of the Israeli air force and artillery bombardment of civilian facilities in Gaza, the Israeli military establishment says that it is doing so in accordance with what is permitted by international humanitarian law. The terminology and interpretations of this law are exploited, which permit, if solid evidence and evidence are available, the targeting of any civilian facility or hospital if it loses its civilian character and is used for military purposes.

Durgham Saif, professor of international law and lecturer at Al-Quds University Abu Dis, explains that international law, which includes many flexible and imprecise terms, allows in rare cases to target civilian facilities and hospitals in times of war. This will happen "if these facilities lose their civilian character and are used by the armed resistance for military purposes, provided that the state and its army prove this with conclusive evidence," and this case does not apply to what the Israeli army is doing in the Gaza Strip.

Saif told Al Jazeera Net: "The Israeli army is bombing hospitals, institutions and civilian infrastructure in Gaza, without proving with conclusive evidence that they have been turned into resistance barracks or are being used for military purposes, and it is targeting them without losing their civilian character."

He added, "Not only that, but during the war on Gaza, Israel continues to bomb and destroy residential squares and populated areas, without proving the presence of military personnel and gunmen inside them, in accordance with international humanitarian law, which emphasizes the necessity of adopting the criterion of proportionality regarding civilians in residential neighborhoods and the possibility of the presence of military personnel among them."

To clarify what international humanitarian law stipulates regarding dealing with populated areas in times of war, Saif asks, “Let us assume, for the sake of argument, that in a residential neighborhood there is a soldier, is it permissible to bomb and target him? According to the criterion of proportionality, if there is one soldier among thousands of civilians, the attacking army has no right to He bombed the residential neighborhood, under the pretext of achieving military objectives.”

The professor of international law pointed out that the Israeli army takes advantage of loopholes and interpretations in international humanitarian law to carry out its attacks on populated areas, civilian facilities and hospitals in Gaza, since there are no determinants in terms of proportionality and numbers between what is civilian and what is military, and when is permitted and when bombing and raids are prohibited according to the criterion of proportionality.

He confirms that Israel is carrying out its air and ground operations in civilian areas in the Gaza Strip under the pretext of military needs. In the context of the Israeli army’s approach to circumventing international law and the Rome Statute from 1998 during war and battles, and to justify continuing to target civilian facilities, he says that Israel is promoting that it has proof and evidence “whose authenticity and credibility are already questionable.”

He added that the Rome Statute is considered the bible adopted by the International Criminal Court in granting powers to the Public Prosecutor to open investigations against any country committing war crimes and crimes against humanity. He explained that Israel seeks to circumvent these conventions by claiming that these facilities have lost their civilian character and are being used for military purposes and have been transformed into headquarters for the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ).

In the war on Gaza, the professor of international law says, “The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court will have to open an investigation against Israel for committing war crimes against humanity and the crime of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, as it became clear through military operations that there are latent intentions on the part of Israel to eliminate part of the people of the Gaza Strip.”

In anticipation of the scenario of opening international investigations and avoiding international trial and accountability, Dargham Saif revealed that Israel has formed special military judicial units that accompany army forces during the course and developments of the war on Gaza. He attributed this measure to the fact that "Israel seeks to protect its forces participating in the war by providing them with local legal cover and avoiding appearing before the International Criminal Court, by claiming that it will investigate and prosecute any soldier who committed any crime in Gaza."

With this expected action by Israel, which is preparing a scenario for a mock trial of a group of its soldiers on charges of committing crimes in Gaza and violations of international law, Saif says, “Israel will continue to circumvent international law until after the war to close the door to prosecuting and trying its soldiers in front of the court, claiming that it brought them to trial.”

The international law professor believes that any trial of any Israeli soldier before the Israeli judiciary will be formal and sham, and that the penalties issued by the Israeli judiciary will be so. He explained that this measure comes in the context that if a country brings its soldiers to trial for committing war crimes, the International Criminal Court cannot prosecute them in international forums.

Saif reinforced this proposition with the press briefings conducted by the Israeli army spokesman daily, stressing that they are directed primarily to the International Criminal Court, and carry messages stating that this army has evidence and proof to reinforce its claims regarding the bombing of civilian facilities and hospitals under the pretext that they have lost their civilian character due to their use for military purposes.

He questioned this evidence that justifies targeting populated areas, hospitals, and civilian facilities, and described the allegations of seizing weapons, weapons, and videos of the presence of groups of Israeli detainees in the Al-Shifa Complex, as weak and ridiculous. The international law professor stressed that Israel has not proven with conclusive evidence that the Shifa Complex was used as a military barracks, and that the alleged weapons seized inside the complex were used by the resistance, and that the presence of Israeli detainees in the medical complex for treatment is considered a positive point in favor of Hamas in its treatment of detainees in accordance with what international conventions stipulate.

He stressed that, according to the provisions of international humanitarian law, claiming to have seized weapons in any civilian facility or hospital is not enough to justify targeting and bombing it. The army is required to prove with conclusive evidence the validity and credibility of this evidence. Saif stressed that all Israeli evidence is weak and the International Criminal Court cannot adopt it as evidence that allows the Israeli army to target civilian facilities and hospitals in Gaza.

) The Swiss newspaper Le Tan said that since the beginning of its operation in the vicinity of Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza, Israel has regularly published pictures and video clips with the aim of proving the presence of Hamas in the place, but military analyst Jean-Marc Rikli from the Geneva Center for Security Policy calls for caution and confirms that Israel finds it difficult to convince. , especially in the current climate of uncertainty.

Although Israel showed what it said was a video from a surveillance camera in the hospital dating back to October 7, showing members of the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) transporting two hostages in Shifa, a Nepalese and a Thai, it confirmed that Hamas had dug a tunnel 55 meters long and 10 meters deep. meters below the hospital, but that is not evidence.

Jean-Marc Rikli says, “This channel (i.e. the tunnel) remains very mysterious, and the pictures taken by the Israeli army show a tunnel leading to a door, but we do not know what is behind it,” as he put it.

This does not mean that there is nothing under this hospital - as the newspaper says in a report by Alain Jacotier - but “so far we have not seen the command center that the Israelis were telling us so much about,” and therefore there are only pictures of the bags containing assault rifles and grenades on display. Army.

The report added, “In international law, whoever attacks a protected place such as a hospital, under the pretext that the enemy is using it for his operations, must prove that his action is legitimate,” as the expert explains, who estimated that the evidence provided by Israel in Al-Shifa Hospital is not conclusive.

Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak admitted that Israel was the one that built the shelters and dug the tunnels under Al-Shifa Hospital 40 or 50 years ago, in an interview on the American CNN channel. This came in response to the questions of broadcaster Christiane Amanpour, who asked him about Israel’s claims that there is a headquarters for the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) under Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza.

Barak answered these questions by saying that it has been known for many years that there are shelters built by Israeli contractors under Al-Shifa Hospital and used as a headquarters for Hamas, and the intersection of several tunnels is part of this system, as he put it. In response to Barak, Amanpour said: Are you saying that this place was built by Israeli engineers? Did I make a mistake? Barak replied, "We helped build these shelters probably 40 or 50 years ago (during the periods of occupation control over the former Gaza Strip), to provide more space for hospital operations within the limited area of the university campus."

Bystanders

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell warned on Tuesday that the Union was facing increasing feelings of hostility from the Islamic world and beyond due to accusations of bias towards Israel and double standards towards the war in Gaza , which could harm its reputation. Borrell said that the European Union must show more sympathy regarding the losses suffered by Palestinian civilians in the Israeli war. He added that this can be achieved by sending stronger calls to deliver aid to Gaza and renewing the effort to establish a Palestinian state within the framework of the two-state solution . The European Union faced accusations of bias from Arab countries as it did not deal with Israel's war on Gaza with the same standards that it applied to Russia's war in Ukraine, and did not condemn the Israeli war in the same way it condemned Russia's war.

Borrell responded to these criticisms, saying that human lives have the same value in all places, and that the European Union unanimously urged immediate humanitarian truces to deliver aid to the Palestinians in Gaza, and quadrupled its humanitarian aid to the Strip. Borrell's statements came after a 5-day tour in the Middle East, during which he visited Israel, the West Bank, Jordan, Bahrain, and Qatar.

The European Commission confirmed that there is no evidence that its development aid funds to the Palestinians go to the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ), while the European Union gave the green light to continue providing development assistance. The Commission stated that its program to provide development aid to Palestine and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Refugees ( UNRWA ) will continue without delay.

However, a European official stated that projects worth a total of 75 million euros, related to infrastructure for drinking water distribution in Gaza, could no longer be implemented due to the ongoing war in the Strip.

This came after the European Commission suspended development aid to Palestine worth 691 million euros in the wake of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, under the pretext of not funding the Hamas movement “directly or indirectly.” Valdis Dombrovskis, Executive Vice President of the Commission, said, “The reviews did not find any indications that Hamas benefited from European Union funds.”

Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also said that “the review was necessary in the wake of Hamas’ attack on Israel,” adding that they are working to determine their future support for the Palestinians in light of the changing and evolving situation, she said.

Le Monde newspaper said that two million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip , who have been living for 16 years under a merciless siege, and for 6 weeks under bombardment and operations by the Israeli army, find themselves deprived of everything and doomed to wandering, and demanded an end to this destruction. The newspaper pointed out that no one cares about the fate of these people, and even Israel's Western allies do not disagree with it in considering that the price these residents pay in the end is "acceptable."

The newspaper explained - in its editorial - that evidence of the elimination of the leaders of the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ), the declared Israeli goal, has not yet emerged, even though the Israeli army has taken control of areas in the northern half of Gaza. As for the pictures of the destruction, they are visible to everyone who wants to see them. Everywhere Israel reached there was a destroyed infrastructure, in addition to the deaths of thousands of people, to the point that the American administration no longer denied the casualty figures.

Despite the sabotage of water and electricity networks, roads, schools, hospitals and all aspects of life, the Israeli authorities confirm that there is no “spirit of revenge” in what they are doing, denying the possibility of the presence of a “terrorist” or a tunnel to destroy. The newspaper wondered how to describe this systematic action carried out by Israel, which threatens a new phase of its operation, if this time it targets the large city of Khan Yunis in the south of the Gaza Strip, and always under the heading of chasing Hamas leaders who turned out to be not in the northern region, which has turned into Fields of rubble where thousands of people were trapped.

Le Monde concluded that civilians, deprived of everything, were left alone and lost, tragically, in temporary camps, making them recall once again the trauma of the Nakba, which was represented by their forced displacement that began in 1948.

Axis of Resistance

The Commander-in-Chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Iran, Major General Hossein Salami, said that the Zionists are waiting for a ceasefire because they are in a crisis, but the Americans do not allow this. During a speech before the meeting to mobilize university professors in Tehran, the Commander-in-Chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps referred to the events in Gaza and the crimes of the Zionists, saying that the Al-Aqsa Flood operation destroyed everything that America, the West, and the Zionists had, stressing that what America did was by using soft war and the media to impose Its false values on the world collapsed after the Al-Aqsa flood.

He continued: The true identity and nature of America, the West, and the Zionists were revealed to the whole world in the events after the Al-Aqsa flood. The Zionists are waiting for a ceasefire because they are in a crisis, but the Americans do not allow that. The inflammation and anxiety among the Zionists is more deadly than what you see in Gaza, and the people of Gaza are in peace and do not fear anything.

Major General Hossein Salami said : America, the West, and the enemies thought that Iran would suffer an imbalance without recovery, but this year everyone witnessed how the balance has returned and the extent to which the Islamic Republic enjoys power. The Commander-in-Chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps affirmed: No matter how much they try to change the system of the Islamic Republic, their attempts will fail, and the system is quickly regaining its balance, and this is an integral part of this system.

Major General Salami said: Today, Iran is the focal point of political developments in the region, and all eyes are directed to it to see how it manages this game, and this is the basic element of our strength. He continued: Achieving power is achieved through science, and wisdom and knowledge are the basic elements of our progress, and no country will gain the respect it deserves until it becomes a cradle of thought and science.

Allied for Democracy

A senior Israeli official indicated, according to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, that “warnings reached Netanyahu this year, stating that internal tensions in Israel will encourage Iran, Hezbollah, and Hamas to launch military attacks.” The newspaper reported that Major General Amit Sa'ar, head of the research unit of the Military Intelligence Service "Aman," appealed to Netanyahu on March 19 to stop passing the judicial amendments in the Knesset (Parliament), one week before these amendments were passed, which were later retracted.

But the decline was temporary, and Netanyahu returned to approving the amendments in batches. The second time Israeli intelligence warned Netanyahu was last July 16, that is, a week before the “reasonableness” clause was passed. This clause means that the Supreme Court will not be able to overturn the government’s decisions, as it used to do in the past when it overturned decisions that it considered “unreasonable.” Critics considered this clause, and opponents accused Netanyahu of trying to make the Hebrew state “tyrannical.”

An article in the American New York Times stated that attacks by Jewish settlers, which are becoming more violent day by day on villages in the West Bank , have forced at least 16 Palestinian communities, containing more than a thousand people, to flee their homes since the attack by Izz Brigades fighters. Al-Din Al-Qassam, the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ), attacked Israel on October 7th.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Israeli settlers have launched more than 250 attacks in the West Bank. So far, 200 Palestinians have been martyred, 8 of them at the hands of settlers and the others during clashes with Israeli forces.

In the article in the American newspaper, Ali Awad - a Palestinian writer residing in the West Bank - narrated part of the suffering of his family and the people of his village of Tuba, south of the city of Hebron , inhabited by 80 Palestinians. He said that over the years they have been suffering from repeated attacks by Israeli settlers on their village “to force us to leave our land,” adding that these attacks have increased in intensity since the Hamas attack on Israel last month, so much so that he no longer knows how long he and the rest of the residents will be able to live there.

Under the guise of the ongoing war on the Gaza Strip , settlers have begun to storm West Bank villages, threaten Palestinians, demolish their homes, and target their sources of livelihood. Awad went on to recount the incidents that the people of his village and other neighboring villages were exposed to, saying: “The settlers were raiding homes and harassing us relentlessly, sometimes several times a day.”

Less than a week after the war, according to a video clip published by the Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem, an armed settler came to the village of Al-Tuwani in the South Hebron Hills, approached a group of unarmed Palestinians who were walking after Friday prayers and shot them. Awad confirmed this in article. Villagers were quoted as saying that the settlers threatened to shoot the residents if they did not evacuate their homes within 24 hours. On October 30, settlers set fire to several homes in Khirbet al-Safai, a village less than a mile east of Tuba.

The Palestinian journalist said that the people of the village of Umm al-Khair, adjacent to his village, informed human rights activists that armed settlers wearing military uniforms detained people there at gunpoint, forced them to condemn Hamas, and threatened to kill them if they did not raise Israeli flags in the village. Awad explains that the attacks they are exposed to are part of a long series of attempts to force them to leave their homes, and that the threat is not limited to settlers only, but that successive Israeli governments have also tried to get rid of them over the past decades.

Awad stated that the Israeli army classified his village, and other villages in the Masafer Yatta area, as land designated for military training called “Firing Range 918.” He pointed out that there is a government document indicating an intention to displace the residents living there. He continued that Israel tried various methods to force them to leave, "including enacting policies that prevent us from building homes in our village and not allowing us to connect to the main electricity grid or water infrastructure."

He expressed his belief that the settlers living near his village were the ones who stabbed his uncle, attacked his cousins ??with stones, and set fire to a stock of fodder sufficient for their flocks of sheep for a year. He said that the Supreme Court in Israel issued a ruling last year allowing the state to evacuate about 1,200 Palestinians from their homes, including residents of his village. He added that they remained steadfast in the face of the pressures exerted on them, and refused to give up their land and way of life. But he added in a sad tone that the settlers' attacks in recent weeks had weakened their resolve, and "we have always felt that the army's actions, by demolishing our homes and preventing us from freedom of movement, were closely linked to the settlers' harassment."

With the start of the war more than a month ago, it seemed as if the settlers and the military had merged into one entity. “The settlers, whom we knew from years of harassment in our villages, suddenly turned into soldiers in the reserve forces or civilian security teams affiliated with the Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir .” It appears that the new reserve soldiers in the region - and the Palestinian journalist is still talking - are now receiving their orders from local settler soldiers or security teams, as they conduct joint patrols in Palestinian villages.

The author of the article revealed that Israeli government ministers are working to fan the flames. In the last five weeks alone, residents of 5 villages in the South Hebron Hills were forced to pack their belongings and flee their homes. If the situation does not change, Awad says, he fears that the next turn will be against his village, Tuba.