Operation Iron Swords - Day 82 - 27 December 2023
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NEW - Operations NEW - Operations Maps NEW - By-Standers NEW - Axis of Resistance NEW - Allied for Democracy UPDATED - Oasis of Martyrs UPDATED - Hostages |
There is "no difference" between what Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu is doing in the months-long attacks on Gaza and what Nazi leader Adolf Hitler did decades ago, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said. At a science awards ceremony in the capital Ankara, Erdogan asked: "How do you (Netanyahu) differ from Hitler? They will make us think that Hitler is less evil. Is there anything Netanyahu does that is less than Hitler? No."
The Turkish president drew a comparison between the treatment of scholars worldwide who dare to decry oppression and persecution today and in Nazi Germany 80 years ago. A "witch hunt" has been initiated against anyone criticising Israel, including students, in many internationally renowned educational institutions, Erdogan said. He stressed that academics in the US and elsewhere are being fired or censured for standing up for Palestinians, as well as facing pressure and threats, just as those who stood up for the Jewish people decades ago.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: "Erdogan, who is committing genocide against the Kurds and who holds the world record for imprisoning journalists who oppose his regime, is the last person who can preach morality to us. The IDF, which is the most moral army in the world, is fighting to eliminate the most abhorrent and brutal terrorist organization in the world, Hamas-ISIS, which has committed crimes against humanity, and which Erdogan has praised and whose leaders he hosts."
Netanyahu reiterated in an article in the American newspaper "The Wall Street Journal" that "Hamas must be destroyed, Gaza must be disarmed, and extremism must be eradicated from Palestinian society" in order to achieve peace "with the Palestinian neighbors."
Operational Update
The Palestinian factions continue the process of confronting the Israeli forces invading several axes in the Gaza Strip, and the Al-Qassam Brigades and the Al-Quds Brigades announced the killing of a number of soldiers and the destruction of many vehicles.
In terms of military operations, the Al-Qassam Brigades , the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ), announced that it had targeted an Israeli force barricaded in a house in Jabalia al-Balad (northern Gaza Strip) with an RBOA missile for the first time, which led to the death and injury of all its members.
The Brigades also said that they targeted 7 Israeli vehicles with “ Al-Yassin 105 ” missiles in Jabalia Al-Balad, killing and wounding a number of soldiers, and confirmed that they targeted a helicopter with a “SAM 18” missile in the Al-Saftawi area, north of Gaza City. In the north of Khan Yunis, in the south of the Gaza Strip, its fighters targeted a troop carrier, two tanks, and four Israeli bulldozers, and bombed two gatherings of occupation vehicles and soldiers in the same axis with heavy-caliber mortar shells. They also sniped an Israeli soldier east of the city. In the center of the Gaza Strip, the Al-Qassam Brigades destroyed a troop carrier, targeted a tank with Al-Yassin 105 shells, and bombed crowds of the occupation east of the Bureij camp.
The Al-Qassam Brigades announced for the second time that it had targeted an Israeli helicopter with a Sam-18 missile east of the Jabalia refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. For the second time in hours..Al-Qassam Brigades target an Israeli helicopter with a SAM-18 missile north of Gaza City Al-Qassam said in a statement published on its Telegram channel: “Al-Qassam Brigades targeted a helicopter with a Sam-18 missile east of Jabalia Camp in the northern Gaza Strip.” Earlier today, Al-Qassam announced in a statement that it had targeted an Israeli helicopter with a Sam-18 missile in the Al-Saftawi area, north of Gaza City.
On October 15 and 25, the Al-Qassam Brigades fired a “Mutabar” missile toward an Israeli “Hormuz 450” drone in the sky of the city of Khan Yunis, in an operation that is not the first of its kind since the start of Operation “Al-Aqsa Flood.”
The Al-Qassam Brigades announced the use of the RPO-A anti-fortification missile for the first time in the ongoing battles on several fronts in the Gaza Strip since October 7. The RPO-A missile, also known in Russian as “Shmil” (flamethrower), is a Russian-made shoulder-fired launcher. It is a thermobaric missile shell filled with a pyrotechnic mixture. During the Afghanistan War, it earned the nickname “the devil’s weapon,” and it resembles the work of a launcher. Lao anti-tank.
The missile is used to attack hidden enemy firing positions, or to target infantry forces, and to disable light armored vehicles and cars. In terms of high-explosive effect, the 93-mm “flamethrower” on the main types of targets is not inferior to artillery shells of caliber 122-155. mm. During the explosion, the high temperature pulse is accompanied by a sharp drop in pressure resulting from the explosion of the fuel-air mixture, which causes the elimination of all living organisms with a volume of up to 80 cubic meters, and in open areas it destroys an area of 50 square meters, in confined spaces - up to 80 meters. Square.
The RPO-A was developed in 1984, and the mechanical valves were developed by the Scientific Research Technological Institute named after Pavel Ivanovich Snegirev in Balashikha.
For its part, the Al-Quds Brigades , the military wing of the Islamic Jihad Movement , announced that its fighters clashed with an Israeli foot force of 10 soldiers, killing and wounding them in the battalion axis in Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip. The brigades also announced that they had taken control of an Israeli plane that was carrying out intelligence missions east of Gaza and showed a video clip of the plane. It also confirmed that it was engaged in fierce clashes with machine guns with Israeli forces on the front lines of Gaza City. In the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in Gaza City, sounds of violent clashes were heard between the resistance and Israeli forces.
The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation quoted a security source as saying, “The Israeli army already has estimates regarding Sinwar’s whereabouts.” Three weeks before that, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that his army was besieging Sinwar’s location, while Defense Minister Yoav Galant stated, “Sinwar now hears the sounds of Israeli army vehicles and bulldozers above him, air force bombs, and the work of the Israeli army, and he will meet the nozzles of our rifles soon.”
Social media pioneers - in their tweets and comments, some of which were quoted in the episode (12/27/2023) of the "Shabakat" program - mocked the Israeli army's announcement of reaching Sinwar's location. Hassan Ali wrote, “Do you mean, do they know the location of Sinwar, but do they not know the location of their captives?” In reference to the Israelis. Mona, she commented: If Israel had known Sinwar’s whereabouts, it would not have waited and declared, “Rather, it would have assassinated him to end the situation and stop the war, as it imagined, because it is in great trouble as a result of the lofty statements it made.”
According to an opinion poll conducted by the newspaper "Israel Hayom" a few days ago, 66% of Israelis "want their army to assassinate Sinwar first before any other leader of the Hamas movement, while Muhammad al-Deif , commander-in-chief of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades - the military wing of the Hamas movement - came second on the list." Desired assassinations by 19%.
The Israeli army said that it is continuing its military operations in the Gaza Strip by land, air and sea against targets affiliated with the Hamas movement. He added in a statement that the Air Force raided 100 targets in the southern Gaza Strip, noting that his forces in Jabalia clashed with “militants who tried to plant an explosive device” near a tank, then one of his fighters targeted the building in which “militants were holed up.”
The Israeli army also indicated that its aircraft launched air strikes in Khan Yunis, which resulted in the killing of dozens of Palestinian militants, he said. The Israelin army said that it began an attack on the camps in the central Gaza Strip, starting from the Bureij camp, under the leadership of the “36th Armored Division.”
The Israeli army claimed that these camps constitute a fortified stronghold for the Hamas movement, according to its description. According to an army statement, the occupation forces in the Bureij camp found a tunnel opening leading to a large-scale underground path, in addition to finding a Hamas training complex containing many combat means. The Israeli army added that its forces took operational control of the neighborhoods of Al-Zaytoun, Al-Shuja'iya, Al-Rimal, and Al-Shati Camp in the northern Gaza Strip, which it said constitute a center of gravity and control for Hamas.
IDF spokesman, Brigadier General Daniel Hagari : "There is a very high readiness for the expansion of fighting on the northern border. Fighting in the Al Buraij area and expanding the operation in Khan Yunis, we have begun another effort in Khirbat Khazeia, which is close to the Israeli border. We have begun destroying the underground infrastructure near Biya." H. Rantisi, the forces uncovered 3 shafts near the Rantisi hospital, including in a nearby school. They are engaged in finding and eliminating Mohammad Daf - it will take as long as it takes." In the area of "Rantisi" hospital and at a depth of tens of meters: 3 shafts of a Hamas terrorist tunnel leading to Gaza City were destroyed.
The White House said that Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer was discussing with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan the conflict in the Gaza Strip. Israeli officials told Axios that the Israeli minister's discussions would address plans to reduce the war and move to a low-intensity operation in Gaza. The website added - quoting Israeli officials - that Tel Aviv is expected to begin reducing its operation in Gaza by the end of next January.
For his part, Israeli Army Chief of Staff Herzi Halevy said that the war launched by Israel on the Gaza Strip will likely continue for several months. Halevy added that the army is close to completing the dismantling of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades in the northern Gaza Strip, and that they are currently focusing their efforts in the south, specifically the city of Khan Yunis and the central camps, as he put it.
The IDF issued a new order to evacuate the residents of Al-Bureij camp (central) and its surroundings. A number of residents of the areas affected by the procedure fled to Rafah, where they arrived with their luggage piled on the roofs of their vehicles.
In the Shejaiya neighborhood of Gaza City, IDF troops directed airstrikes to hit terrorists spotted moving between buildings in a known terrorist command hub. As part of the ground activity of Yiftach (11) TDF fighters in the area of Shejaiya, the fighters identified terrorists passing between buildings within a combat zone of the terrorist organization Hamas, from which shots were fired at Israeli forces. In cooperation with the fire and intelligence complex, the forces directed Air Force aircraft that attacked and eliminated the terrorists. The attack resulted in additional secondary explosions indicating that the area was cordoned off, with the aim of harming the IDF fighters.
The fighters of the 261st Brigade Combat Team (Bahad 1) identified two terrorists who entered a vehicle. The vehicle in which the terrorists arrived at a building known as a weapons warehouse, the forces directed an Air Force aircraft that attacked and eliminated the terrorists, an Air Force fighter jet attacked a middle warehouse the fighting.
During an encounter with the forces of the Nahal Brigade's combat team in the Mamulkad area, which is a stronghold of Hamas terrorists in Darj Tupah, the fire complex of the Nahal Brigade directed a combat helicopter which accompanied the forces. The combat helicopter, directed by the commander of the battalion and the force in the field, fired at the structure remove the threat and eliminate the terrorists. Infantry and armored forces from the 50th Battalion's combat team, operating under the 460th Brigade's combat team, raided an area of orchards where they located five attack shafts and numerous launch pits.
During the operation in Pardes, the fighters encountered a number of terrorists who fired RPG missiles and small arms fire at them, the forces eliminated the terrorists with accurate fire.
During the attack, armored forces identified two terrorists in the area crawling with weapons towards the forces and eliminated them by firing a tank shell. In addition, during the encounter, an anti-tank missile was fired at the force which did not hit the tank, the armor fighters identified the source of the fire and eliminated the terrorist who tried to attack the force.
Military and strategic expert Major General Fayez Al-Duwairi confirmed - in his daily analysis on Al Jazeera - that the Palestinian resistance in the Gaza Strip is still capable of managing its battle effectively, and has more patience than the Israeli occupation army. Al-Duwairi said that what is taking place in the center and south of the Gaza Strip are “bone-breaking” battles, and whoever wins them will decide the battle and force the other side to submit to its conditions. He reiterated that the occupation army did not achieve the goals it set, and the only thing it accomplished “skillfully and with great ability” was the systematic destruction and bombing of hospitals. And schools.
Al-Duwairi expected that Israeli forces would begin a withdrawal from the southern Gaza Strip within 3 weeks at most, unless major changes occur, stressing that what is taking place in the south is a “bone-breaking battle.” Al-Duwairi said that losing one battle could end all the gains achieved by one of the parties since the start of the war, noting that the occupation forces located in the south of the Gaza Strip changed their positions during the past few days for the purpose of destruction and not for military necessity.
Satellite images obtained by Al Jazeera showed a change in the positions of Israeli forces in a number of areas in the southern Gaza Strip between December 17 and 24, with a large part of the buildings disappearing during the same period. Al-Duwairi pointed out that this destruction caused by the occupation forces during their temporary stop for support and assistance does not achieve any goal from a military perspective, and is nothing more than a form of revenge, as he put it.
The military expert based his statement on the fact that the forces only moved tens of meters, a distance that is not necessary from a military standpoint, indicating that pushing large forces into the Hamad area aims to encircle Khan Yunis. He said that if the Israeli forces succeeded in encircling Khan Yunis, they might open the Al-Fukhariya corridor south of Suhaila and meet the forces coming from the direction of the city of Aleppo, to avoid entering deep into the city.
He spoke about the confusion faced by the occupation army, saying that it was asking the residents of the northern section of the Gaza Strip to leave for the central and southern regions, and the plan was to create a buffer zone from the Gaza Valley to the north, approximately 120 square kilometers.
However, the occupation army began to withdraw from the areas it entered due to its inability to continue, as the military analyst pointed out. After that, Israeli calls began for the Palestinians to head to Deir al-Balah (central), then Khan Yunis (south), then Rafah (south), and now into Sinai. Al-Duwairi stressed that the Palestinians will not leave their land, “and the olive tree will not belong more to the soil of Palestine than the son of Palestine.”
Commenting on the news of the Israeli soldier returning from Gaza who opened fire and wounded his comrades, Al-Duwairi said that the matter is not surprising, as two weeks ago the Israelis themselves revealed that 7% of the army members who participated in the attack on Gaza suffer from psychological disorders, and their number may now range from between 10 and 12%.
Israeli Channel 12 reported that a soldier from the Paratroopers Brigade returning from Gaza opened fire - after waking up from a nightmare - and wounded his comrades. She explained that the soldier’s incident was referred for investigation by the Ministry of Defense, and it was decided not to investigate him due to his health condition.
Bakr Abu Safiya, a surgeon at Al-Awda Hospital, told Anadolu Agency that he has been acting as hospital director, Ahmed Muhanna, since he was arrested by Israeli forces about 6 days ago. He stated that during the siege period, the Israeli army asked males over the age of 16 to go out in their underwear only. He said, "86 people left at the request of the army, and after several hours, everyone returned except for 12 people who were arrested by the occupation, including the hospital director, Ahmed Muhanna." Doctor Abu Safiya explained that among the detainees were 4 displaced persons, one injured person suffering from an amputation in his leg, one of the companions, and the rest were medical staff at the hospital.
. The Islamic Resistance in Lebanon, Hezbollah, warned Israel that any harm to civilians in Lebanese territory would be reciprocated, in light of Israel’s bombing of the funeral ceremony for the party’s dead in Aita al-Shaab. Hezbollah's military media announced the number of military operations carried out by members of the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon against Israeli army positions and troop concentrations since "the beginning of the aggression against Gaza" until the 14th of this month, and "they amounted to 509 operations targeting 58 sites and barracks." hostile military.”
A member of the “Loyalty to the Resistance” (Hezbollah) bloc in the Lebanese Parliament, Hassan Fadlallah, confirmed that they are “ready for all possibilities, and that each stage has its requirements and methods, whether at the political or military level.” Representative Hassan Fadlallah said: “Hezbollah’s capabilities have developed greatly, especially after 2006 (the July war between Israel and Hezbollah), and there is a strong will, readiness in the field, precision and control,” continuing: “The sacrifices we are making in southern Lebanon are part of the great battle to prevent... Israel is able to achieve its goals.
Fadlallah added: "We are working on two goals. The first is to support Gaza, and the second is to defend our land and prevent catastrophic results if the Israelis achieve their goals." The Lebanese representative for Hezbollah continued: "The equation is completely different. For the first time, Israeli positions on the border become daily targets as the Israeli army becomes exhausted."
He said: "We are ready for all possibilities, and each stage has its requirements and methods, whether on the political or military level. Israel has nothing but defeat in Lebanon, and we have the capabilities, and most importantly, we have a tremendous will."
On the front with Lebanon, the Israeli army announced that 9 soldiers and a civilian were wounded as a result of missiles launched by Hezbollah . It also announced launching raids and shelling with tank and artillery fire targets belonging to Hezbollah, which mourned two of its members who were killed on Tuesday by Israeli bombing.
Israeli Chief of Staff Herzi Halevy confirmed that the Israeli army and the Northern Command are witnessing a very high level of readiness and are ready for an attack. The Israeli Army Chief of Staff approves the plans of the Northern Command: We are ready to attack.. The army is on a very high state of alertHalevy to reserve soldiers on Israel's northern border: We will not accept a return to the situation as it was before the war
Halevy's statements came during a visit to the Northern Command Center, where he conducted an assessment of the situation and approved plans at the Regional Command Headquarters, accompanied by Commander Uri Gordin and other commanders. The Israeli Chief of Staff said: “Our first mission is to return the citizens to their homes safely, which will take more time. Today we have approved various plans for the subsequent stages, as we must be ready to attack if necessary.”
Halevy stressed, "The IDF, including the Southern Command, is witnessing a very high level of readiness, and so far the battle here is being conducted correctly and in a calm manner, and this is how the situation must continue. We will not return the residents without providing safety and before they feel safe."
On a previous visit to the border with Lebanon, Halevy said in a speech he delivered to the soldiers: “We will not accept a return to the situation that previously prevailed before the war. We must push the enemy back, consolidate the situation, and return the population to the border strip area in a safer situation.”
Former Israeli Security Minister Avigdor Lieberman said "What is happening in the North is extremely dangerous." He said that all the settlements adjacent to the fence look like the Jabalia refugee camp, destroyed by Israeli occupation forces. "Half of the houses are destroyed, hundreds of thousands of people have become refugees and have nowhere to return, and they continue to systematically demolish more houses," he said.
In reference to the challenging situation in the North, Lieberman stated that "200,000 citizens have become refugees, with 100,000 people in the North alone." Lieberman stated that resolving the situation in the South would be a prolonged process, highlighting that opening a war in the North is not feasible "until we conclude matters in the South." He further underscored the precariousness of what he termed "Israel's security and national honor."
He also highlighted that the threat from the North is much bigger than that they are facing in the South, adding that someone in the cabinet decided to forsake al-Jalil. Also addressing the situation in northern occupied Palestine, Israeli war cabinet Minister Benny Gantz said it "requires change". “The hourglass for a diplomatic arrangement is running out,” he added, pledging that the Israeli army will take action to "push Hezbollah away from the border" if Lebanon and the international community fail to take action.
The Israeli newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth, reported that several regional council heads of northern settlements have convened to discuss the dire conditions that the settlers in the north are going through. The newspaper's correspondent in the north explained that the talks regarding the battle there primarily focused on retaliating against Hezbollah and catering to the tens of thousands of displaced settlers.
They also observed that, in addition to the severe economic losses, there is a regional sense of distress and anxiety following the events of October 7 and, most importantly, uncertainty about when the residents will be able to return. The correspondent reported that local authorities in the north have been requesting budgets for years to protect tens of thousands of settlers on the front lines along the Lebanese border.
Despite having long feared the moment of truth, the correspondent added that they did not anticipate facing a battle like this. For 80 days, the northern settlements have been on edge, anticipating an imminent war, the correspondent reported. They dread the war because they understand the tremendous risks that the war holds.
Mayor of "Kiryat Shmona", Avihai Stern, said they were not surprised by the events of October 7 but had rather experienced the manifest danger of a threat they had long dreaded, Yedioth Ahronoth quoted him saying. On his part, Arkadi Bomrani, the mayor of the "Ma'alot-Tarshiha" settlement, which is located about 6.5 km away from the Lebanese border and inhabited by about 26,000 settlers, said that after evacuating all the surrounding settlements, "Ma'alot-Tarshiha" became the front line of fighting in the area.
Bomrani said that despite not being in a state of war, a general mood of despair has gripped the settlements in light of this limbo state of war anxiety. "We sit in the shelters, knowing that we have to hide. This an intolerable unsustainable situation."
According to the Palestinian Prisoners' Club, arrest operations were concentrated in the governorates of Hebron, Bethlehem, Ramallah, and Tulkarm, which witnessed a widespread raiding and sabotage operation. The arrest campaign was accompanied by widespread raids and harassment, attacks against detainees and their families, field investigations, in addition to widespread sabotage and destruction of citizens’ homes.
Attacks attributed to pro-Iranian factions against American forces in Iraq and neighboring Syria have also increased. The United States carried out strikes against 3 sites used by these factions in Iraq, resulting in the death of one person.
On the southern front, the Houthis said that they targeted the MSC United ship with naval missiles after its crew “rejected the naval forces’ call,” as well as launching “a number of drones” at areas in southern Israel. The Israeli army confirmed that one of its fighter planes “successfully intercepted earlier today (Tuesday) in the Red Sea region a hostile air target that was on its way to Israeli territory.” Explosions were heard off the coast of the southern Egyptian Sinai Peninsula on Tuesday, while eyewitnesses reported that they saw an object falling into the Gulf of Aqaba.
Shipping giants Hapag-Lloyd and Evergreen Line told CNN that their vessels will continue to avoid the Red Sea and sail around Africa, despite the US announcing a 20-nation maritime coalition to repel Yemeni operations targeted at Israeli ships and vessels heading to the occupation entity. Meanwhile, MSC followed in Hapag-Lloyd's footsteps of avoiding any route via the Red Sea. “At the moment we still consider the situation too dangerous to pass,” a spokesperson for German Hapag-Lloyd stated. “We continuously assess the situation and plan a next review on Friday.” The company stated “Our first priority remains protecting the lives and safety of our seafarers, and until their safety can be ensured MSC will continue to reroute vessels booked for Suez transit via the Cape of Good Hope”.
France said it will not be operating under Washington's orders and will limit its operations to protect EU vessels, and Spain declared it will not participate entirely. However, this did not stop Maersk from announcing that it is preparing to resume transit via the Red Sea, citing the launch of the OPG as a reason behind the decision. "With the OPG initiative in operation, we are preparing to allow for vessels to resume transit through the Red Sea both eastbound and westbound. We are currently working on plans for the first vessels to make the transit and for this to happen as soon as operationally possible," the company stated.
According to an analysis by Michael Horton in Responsible Statecraft, the Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF) attacks in the Red Sea are not only "creating a global shipping crisis" but are also "paying hefty political and even strategic dividends" for the Yemenis. Around a week had passed since the Pentagon announced the launching of Operation Prosperity Guardian, which will include contributions from 20 nations. However, it continues to be haunted by the reluctant participation of its members and uncertainty behind the operation's objectives.
Additionally, the leader of the Ansar Allah movement, Sayyed Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, warned the US on December 20 against attacking Yemen, stressing that American battleships and vessels would become a target for Yemeni missiles in the event of any attack. Support had grown in Yemen and other Muslim countries as many now see that Ansar Allah is "standing against Israeli aggression."
Yemeni sources told Horton that not only are Yemeni citizens rushing to join Ansar Allah, but numerous Yemeni businesses and citizens are also contributing to the effort financially, which increases the regional power of the YAF.
Horton notes that despite the hefty price the Yemeni people will pay due to Yemeni import disruptions, they are still "hardwired for resilience and adaptability." He recalls their numerous years of war and how it further aided their war-fighting capabilities. This is in addition to their acquisition of various weapons originally brought into the country via Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
He argues that they have tight control over their arsenals, weapons manufacturing sites, government departments, and Yemen's rising economic empire. Northwest Yemen has never had a more efficient administration than the one currently in power. The author explains that while the US and its allies focus on costly "defensive measures", Ansar Allah has "factories, many of which are located in hard-to-target dense urban areas, which can manufacture — supplies permitting—dozens to hundreds of low-end drones per week."
The author claimes that all of their drones and missiles are built in Yemen [a claim that seems improbable], they are focused on tweaking and adapting Iranian designs for missiles and drones to meet their specific needs. Horton adds that all this taken into consideration, Ansar Allah has only used a fraction of its drones and has not yet used its more advanced longer-range missiles.
Horton expresses that while the US and its friends have enough power to repel the YAF in the short term, he believes such a campaign will need to be sustained for months and be extremely costly to everyone involved. He notes that Ansar Allah are "masters of asymmetric warfare," emphasizing that the group will respond to attacks by possibly targeting Saudi and UAE energy infrastructure, which is one of the reasons why Saudi Arabia did not join the maritime coalition.
While US and coalition warships would most certainly be able to protect themselves, commercial shipping, particularly tankers, will become increasingly susceptible. Many multinational maritime corporations have already been essentially shut out of Bab al-Mandeb, and higher-intensity confrontations could mean Red Sea traffic is reduced, if not completely halted for months.
The author admits that the Yemeni Armed Forces "largely achieved their objectives" of harming "Israel" and its allies economically, as well as showing off their regional reach and increasing support within Yemen. He believes that the US has "no good options" when it comes to their response apart from actively putting an end to "Israel's unrelenting offensive in Gaza."
In a post on his account on X, Mohammad Ali al-Houthi said that US warships are fighting shadows and foolishly threatening international navigation to demonstrate their compliance in protecting Israeli vessels, enabling the occupying Israeli entity to continue committing crimes and massacres against the people of Gaza without any hindrance.
Houthi attacks targeting Israel and sea shipping lanes “threaten” peace efforts and opportunities in Yemen, which has been suffering from an ongoing civil war for nine years, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis. Mediation efforts between the Houthis and the Saudis resulted in an “unofficial road map” for about three years, which the United Nations hopes will become the basis for a long-term and sustainable solution to the conflict, according to what the newspaper quoted American, Saudi, Yemeni, and United Nations officials.
If successful in ending the conflict, this will allow US President Joe Biden to say that his foreign policy has been successful, especially by appointing a special envoy to lead peace efforts and freezing arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The newspaper notes that the talks were heading towards greater success this year, but "the war in Gaza threatens to upend the sensitive negotiations between the parties to the conflict."
In recent weeks, the Houthis, who are supported by Iran, had intensified their attacks near the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait, which separates the Arabian Peninsula from Africa. These attacks, which threaten to disrupt global maritime trade flows, prompted the United States to establish a maritime protection force that includes more than 20 countries to protect navigation in the Red Sea.
An unnamed American official told the newspaper, "We have long supported efforts to end the conflict in Yemen, and we welcome progress toward a permanent ceasefire under the auspices of the United Nations." He added that Washington is "concerned by the reckless and dangerous attacks launched by the Houthis on civilian ships in vital maritime shipping lanes around Yemen."
Participants in the peace efforts expected that a plan to end the fighting would be announced before the end of the year, but the pressures imposed by the Houthi attacks put the negotiations at risk, as “any peace agreement now may raise criticism of the Biden administration for negotiating with the Houthis... at a time when they are intensifying their attacks.” "On Israel and the main world trade method."
There are no complete details about the peace agreement between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia, but once it is signed, “the agreement will call on Saudi forces to leave Yemen within six months,” according to what officials familiar with the agreement revealed. The newspaper indicated that this agreement with Saudi Arabia is unlikely to lead to peace in Yemen, as it is still facing multiple potential divisions. Government forces, supported since 2015 by a Saudi-led military coalition, have been confronting the Houthis, who control the capital, Sanaa, and vast areas in the north and west of the country.
The United Nations envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg, said in his last statement, “The two parties have taken an important step,” referring to movement toward a ceasefire and preparation for a renewed political process. He did not specify full details, as there may still be “fundamental differences between the combatants and even within the internationally recognized Yemeni government,” including the Southern Transitional Council, a faction supported by the UAE that controls the southwestern coast of the country and wants to establish a separate state there.
The newspaper stated that ending the conflict within the current situation "will lead to the failure of the efforts of the Saudi Crown Prince, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, in achieving his goal of removing Houthi fighters allied with Iran from power, and depriving them of their ability to launch deadly air attacks against the kingdom."
Saudi Arabia and the UAE welcomed the UN envoy's statements, and Riyadh said, "It is keen for the Yemeni parties to reach a comprehensive end to the conflict," while the UAE said, "It supports all efforts made to find a political solution."
The conflict in Yemen, the poorest country in the Arabian Peninsula, has led to one of the worst humanitarian tragedies in the world, the impact of which the truce has somewhat mitigated, according to humanitarian organizations. The war in Yemen caused the death of more than 377 thousand people directly or indirectly, according to the United Nations, meaning that they died either in bombing and fighting or as a result of the indirect repercussions of the war such as hunger, disease, and lack of drinking water.
The administration of US President Joe Biden is facing criticism and questions about the quantity and quality of bombs it provides to the IDF army in its aggression against the Gaza Strip, including the percentage it provides from its “secret” warehouses in the “occupied Palestinian territories.”
The warehouses, which were established in the 1980s with the aim of supplying US forces with weapons and ammunition in the event of any future conflicts breaking out in the region, were surrounded by a kind of secrecy, and the nature of the weapons or ammunition they contained was largely unknown. According to what The Guardian newspaper reports, the warehouses are under scrutiny as pressure mounts on the Biden administration regarding supplying weapons and ammunition to Tel Aviv, especially in light of the increasing number of civilian martyrs due to the IDF army’s use of unguided bombs called “ stupid bombs .”
The newspaper quotes a number of former American officials as saying that the stock of weapons in American warehouses allows them to be transferred quickly to the Israeli army while avoiding public and Congressional oversight. A senior official in the US Department of Defense (the Pentagon) points out that these American ammunition and weapons are intended for American use, and adds, “Who can say that we will not give Israel the keys to the warehouses in the event of an emergency?” While a former American official said, “When it comes to ammunition, we will provide They have everything they need."
Lawmakers in the United States of America previously raised concerns about White House proposals that would ease rules related to the types of weapons in warehouses, and give the Ministry of Defense greater flexibility to transfer a large part of them. Josh Ball, who recently resigned from the State Department to protest continued US aid to Israel, said the proposed changes to the stockpile were part of the Biden administration's campaign to find new ways to supply weapons to Tel Aviv. He added that he was concerned about the urgent process of transferring ammunition from the warehouses because it may exceed the controls imposed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, noting that “there is no review of human rights, nor of the regional balance, nor of the policy of transferring conventional weapons that was usually done.”
On the other hand, former US Department of Defense lawyer Sarah Harrison said that Israel's access to the stockpile is limited, adding, "Israel is not allowed to take ammunition for free, as there must be legal authority for every transfer of equipment."
The full contents of the warehouses have not been publicly disclosed, although former officials say the Pentagon provides Congress with an annual analysis of what's in them. "The warehouses are full of stupid munitions, including thousands," a former military commander said in an article earlier this year when he visited. of iron bombs.
The IDF relies heavily on these unguided, low-accuracy munitions in its war on the Gaza Strip. Weapons experts say that the Israeli army's use of these munitions undermined the Israeli army's claims that it worked to reduce civilian casualties.
Israel denies the use of unguided munitions, which pose a great risk to civilians when used in densely populated areas, although its air force has more than once shared pictures on social media showing the use of “dumb bombs.” US intelligence estimates, according to CNN, indicate that between 40% and 45% of the munitions used by the IDFwere unguided.
According to The Guardian, there is little transparency about the categories and quantities of weapons that the United States provides to the IDF, but one transfer from the warehouses in October appeared to contain large quantities of unguided munitions, including 155 mm artillery shells. Former UN war crimes investigator Mark Garlasco says each 155 mm shell releases 2,000 deadly fragments, and its accuracy deteriorates with distance, increasing the possibility of civilians and civilian infrastructure being hit by errant shells.
Maps
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All maps are lies. But it is impossible to comprehend the war in Gaza without reference to maps, otherwise the entire conflict is reduced to an endless series of meaningless acts of random violence and the suffering of civilians. The first characteristic of guerrilla warfare is the loss of a front line. Evidently, different mappers have different ideas of how to depict the war in Gaza, notably those that seek to depict Israeli progress in the ground campaign. Part of the problem is latency. The news that forms the basis of the maps takes time to filter out to mappers, and the cartographers take time in crafting their maps, and it takes time to curate them. Thes processes are uneven among mappers, so their maps may differ in detail. Probably there is some ideological bias, or at least thematic apperception, which is understandable in wartime. It may come as no surprise that al-Jazeera maps depict rather less Israeli territorial progress than other sources. Finally, there remains the epistemological question of just exactly what are the colored in areas depicting. Naively, this might be understood as areas of Israeli control, that are no longer contested by the HAMAS. Or possibly these are areas of Israeli presence, in many of which the possibility of an RPG-wielding HAMAS militant popping out of a tunnel unexpectedly remains a live possibility. With the "zero-range" combat characterized by small unit tactics on both sides, maps may be prey to a fallacy of misplaced concreteness. |
Bystanders
‘Until the world accepts that UNRWA is not a helpful organization, and it really is Hamas in another form, we won’t see any change in the situation’ Lt. Col. (Res.) Maurice Hirsch explained what needs to be done by the International community to help Gaza civilians.
For its part, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed “deep concern about the continuing bombing of central Gaza by Israeli forces,” adding that “all attacks must strictly comply with the principles of international humanitarian law, including distinction, proportionality and taking precautions.”
In the face of the harsh conditions experienced by the civilian population in Gaza, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus once again called for an "immediate ceasefire." He added that aid is still arriving in insufficient quantities, and that humanitarian efforts "do not come close to meeting the needs of the people of Gaza."
The United Nations announced the appointment of Dutch Minister Sigrid Kaag as Coordinator for Humanitarian Affairs and Reconstruction in Gaza, to begin her duties on January 8, following a UN Security Council resolution calling for increased aid to the Strip, and creating a position to bring much-needed humanitarian relief to Gaza. In this role, she will facilitate, coordinate, monitor, and verify humanitarian relief consignments to Gaza. She will also establish a United Nations mechanism to accelerate humanitarian relief consignments to Gaza through States which are not party to the conflict. Since 10 January 2022 she had served as Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister in the fourth Rutte Government.
Kaag held a wide range of senior positions in the United Nations system. From 2015 to 2017, she was the United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon, and from 2013 to 2015, she was Special Coordinator of the Joint Organization for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and the United Nations Mission in Syria. She served as Assistant Secretary-General with the United Nations Development Programme from 2010 to 2013 and as Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Jordan from 2007 to 2010. Prior to that, Ms. Kaag served in several senior positions with UNICEF, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.
She won praise for her role in the Syrian disarmament of chemical weapons, which the Syrian regime agreed to in 2013. For nine months, Kaag led the international inspectors' mission responsible for the destruction of the chemical materials acknowledged by Damascus.
In 2015 she received an honorary doctorate from the University of Exeter. She was awarded the Carnegie Wateler Peace Prize in 2016 in recognition of her efforts and the results of her work in the Middle East.
“Israel’s right to exist and its right to defend itself is self-evident to us. But in these dark times, it is important that acts of war comply with international law and the humanitarian law of war in order to avoid innocent civilian victims and enable adequate humanitarian aid to be provided in time,” she said.
The United States welcomed the announcement by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres of the appointment of Ms. Sigrid Kaag of the Netherlands as Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza. The USA looked "forward to coordinating closely with Ms. Kaag and the UN Office for Project Services on efforts to accelerate and streamline the delivery of live-saving humanitarian relief to Palestinian civilians in Gaza."
After the announcement, Israeli media was quick to highlight that the Dutch diplomat is married to a Palestinian. Kaag is married to Anis al-Qaq, a senior Palestinian Authority (PA) official who served as deputy prime minister in Yasser Arafat's government and as the Palestinian Ambassador to Switzerland. Sigrid Kaag was well-known for her pro-Palestinian sympathies while serving at the United Nations in various roles in the Middle East.
Kaag had been involved in controversies related to Israel. Her Ministry paid salary to the murderers of Rina Shnerb. In 2019, the young woman was killed by a roadside bomb while hiking in the West Bank. Netherlands later suspended aid to the group that employed suspected Palestinian terrorists. Additionally, Kaag previously commented on Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's policies saying that his “way is of soundbites with racist, demagogic overtones about the Palestinian peace partner, his Arab peace partner, who are being sidelined.”
France strongly renewed its call for an immediate truce leading to a ceasefire, and expressed its concern about the Israeli authorities’ announcement of the intensification and prolongation of the fighting in Gaza, while the systematic bombing operations - according to a statement by the French Foreign Ministry - caused many civilian casualties. It called for respect for international humanitarian law at all times and in all places. The French Foreign Ministry also called on Israel to take concrete measures to protect the lives of the civilian population in Gaza, and to facilitate the delivery of aid throughout the Gaza Strip. France expressed its "deep concern over the Israeli authorities' announcement of the intensification and prolongation of the fighting in Gaza" and renewed its "call for an immediate truce leading to a ceasefire."
Further details emerged about the proposal the head of the Egyptian Intelligence Service, Abbas Kamel, presented to the Hamas delegation, which recently visited Cairo and was headed by the head of the movement’s political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh , an Egyptian initiative for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, and reaching an agreement regarding the exchange of Israeli detainees in the Gaza Strip, and Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons from 3 days ago. Stages as follows:
The first stage includes a humanitarian deal extending from 7 to 10 days during which Hamas will release all of its civilians, including women, children, the sick, and the elderly, in exchange for Israel releasing an appropriate, agreed-upon number of its Palestinian prisoners, as follows:
- A - Complete ceasefire in all areas of the Gaza Strip on both sides, redeploying Israeli forces away from the vicinity of population centers, and allowing the freedom of movement of citizens from south to north, as well as the movement of cars and trucks, at a time when Hamas is committed to stopping all forms of operations against Israel.
- B - Cease all forms of Israeli air activity, including drones and reconnaissance aircraft, in all areas of the Gaza Strip.
- C - Intensifying the entry of humanitarian and relief aid (medicines, medical supplies, fuel, and food) into all areas of the Gaza Strip, especially between Gaza and the northern Gaza Strip.
The third level, during which negotiations will take place for a period of one month about Hamas’s release of all its Israeli recruits, in exchange for Israel’s release of a number agreed upon by both sides of the Palestinian prisoners inside Israeli prisons, provided that during this stage the Israeli forces are redeployed outside the borders of the Gaza Strip, with the continuation of the ceasefire. All air activities, and Hamas’s commitment to stop all military activities against Israel.
After their summit in Cairo, King Abdullah II of Jordan and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi rejected any Israeli move to liquidate the Palestinian cause, or to displace the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank outside their lands, or to displace them internally. The two leaders said in a statement that the international community must pressure Israel to agree to an immediate ceasefire, and allow the entry of aid in the necessary quantities, sizes and speed that will make a real difference in alleviating the suffering of the people of Gaza, while pushing seriously towards a political path for a just and comprehensive settlement that leads to the establishment of... Palestinian state.
The talks between the King of Jordan and the Egyptian President discussed developments in the regional situation, especially in the Gaza Strip, and the humanitarian tragedy facing the Strip, which left thousands dead and wounded and hundreds of thousands displaced, as well as the widespread destruction that befell the infrastructure and facilities in the Strip.
The Israeli newspaper Israel Today revealed that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is working to "achieve the voluntary displacement of the residents of the Gaza Strip to other countries." The newspaper referred to statements by Netanyahu in this regard that came in response to Likud Party MP Danny Danon, a member of the Foreign Affairs and Security Committee in the Israeli Knesset , during a meeting - last Monday - held by the party bloc led by Netanyahu, who said, “Our problem is the countries that are prepared to absorb refugees, and we are working on solve it".
Egyptian officials have repeatedly expressed their rejection of the idea of displacing Gazans to Egypt, especially at the beginning of the Israeli war in the Strip.
The Palestinian Council of Ministers heard a report from the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Riyad Al-Maliki, about “the intensive diplomatic moves made to stop the genocide to which our people are exposed in the Gaza Strip, and to allow humanitarian aid to be sent to the Strip, as well as developments in the pleadings submitted to the International Court of Justice regarding the advisory opinion on the occupation.” "The Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories, the participation of the State of Palestine in the work of the sixth session of Arab-Russian cooperation held in Marrakesh, and the condemnation issued by the participating countries for the crimes committed by Israel in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including the city of Jerusalem."
Al-Maliki referred to the so-called water corridor that was recently agreed upon between Israel and Cyprus, under the slogan of transferring aid to the Gaza Strip. The Council affirmed its rejection of this corridor due to the risks it poses targeting the demographic situation in the Gaza Strip, in light of the killings, starvation, and cutting off the lifeline to the Strip.
The Council of Ministers demanded that aid be brought in "through the five crossings that connect the West Bank to the Gaza Strip, and not through corridors bearing a humanitarian banner to cover up the passage of plans consistent with the objectives of the war of genocide that Israel is committing against our people in the Strip."
The Minister of Foreign Affairs was assigned to communicate with the Cypriot government to inform it of the rejection of this waterway.
Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides discussed with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken Cyprus' initiative to establish a sea corridor to deliver humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip and Cyprus' role in evacuating foreigners from Gaza. It is worth noting that Christodoulides had announced the initiative to establish a humanitarian sea corridor to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza safely and without obstacles during the European Union summit held on October 26 and 27.
A very important aspect in the context of extrapolating Arab public opinion about what is happening in Gaza was revealed by a poll by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy about the opinion of the Saudis about what is happening. This is under the title... Most Saudis believe that 'Israel is weak and divided'... The Washington Institute poll says that ninety-one percent of Saudis support the idea that the Gaza war is a victory for Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims...
Ninety-six percent of Saudis support the idea of Arab countries severing their relations with... 'Israel'... Of course, this opinion about severing relations includes those political, diplomatic, and economic, and at whatever level they are on the issue of resistance. Ninety-five percent of Saudis say that the resistance did not kill civilians in Operation Al-Aqsa Flood. In connection with this, forty percent support the Hamas movement. This percentage was only ten percent last August.
On the other hand, the average support rate for Hamas reached sixty-six percent in Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Qatar, Kuwait, and Bahrain. As for the Palestinian Authority, only fifteen Saudis said that the authority was acceptable to them. As for the Israeli entity, eighty-seven percent of the Saudis believe that recent events have shown that “Israel” is internally fragile. The same percentage believes that “Israel” is divided internally and that its defeat is possible. In addition, eighty percent of the Saudis do not support allowing the establishment of economic and sports relations with... 'Israel'
How does the war in Gaza change Arab views?.. The question was posed by Foreign Affairs in its article about the events in Gaza. The high costs in Gaza reaffirm the prominence and strength of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in regional politics.. If the Arab countries have the same shifts in opinion, and the fighting may escalate more. In all likelihood, anger towards 'Israel' is increasing in the countries closest to the conflict. Therefore, the potential for further violence is dangerous.
The simple truth is that the Palestinian issue remains of vital importance to the Arab world, and Israel cannot hope to defeat it simply with bombs. This issue has not lost its importance for the new generation. Despite what Western (and some Arab) capitals may assume, 'Israel' will not be able to make peace with its neighbors as long as the Palestinians do not have a state.
Therefore, Foreign Affairs concludes: If 'Israel' and the United States seek real peace with the Arab world, they must change their policies. They need to find a way to end the ongoing conflict, specifically a two-state solution. It is the only way to change the hearts and minds of the neighboring population and put an end to the cycle of violence.
Axis of Resistance
Giora Eiland, retired major general and former head of the National Security Council in the Israeli occupation entity, said that Hamas has proven its ability to quickly replace martyred leaders with others of equal competence and dedication, in a statement quoted by the American newspaper “New York Times”.
Eland said in a statement to a lengthy article for the American newspaper in which he addressed security doubts about the occupation’s ability to achieve the declared goal of the war on the Gaza Strip by destroying the Hamas movement : “From a professional point of view, I must praise their ability to withstand.” He added: “I cannot see any signs of the collapse of Hamas’ military capabilities nor its political strength to continue leading Gaza.”
The newspaper also quoted another former Israeli intelligence officer as confirming that the statement that “Hamas is collapsing is not true, as the Israeli army faces difficult battles every day.” Michael Milshtein, a former senior intelligence officer , criticized statements by some Israeli leaders that portray Hamas as having reached a breaking point, saying that this could create false expectations about the length of the war. “They have been saying this for a while, that Hamas is collapsing,” Milstein said. “But this is not true. “Every day, we face difficult battles.”
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard spokesman, Ramadan Sharif, said that the attack launched by the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades on October 7th of last year on Israeli settlements and military headquarters was one of the revenge operations for the assassination of the former Iranian Quds Force commander, Qasem Soleimani. The Iranian official warned Israel of the possibility of a second “October 7” in response to the killing of Brigadier General in the Revolutionary Guard, Radhi Mousavi, who was killed in an Israeli air strike that targeted the Sayyida Zeinab suburb of the Syrian capital, Damascus.
The Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) denied the validity of what was stated by the spokesman of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard regarding the motives of the “ Al-Aqsa Flood ” operation, stressing that it came in response to the occupation and its continued aggression against the Palestinian people.
Hamas said, in a statement, that it had repeatedly emphasized the motives and reasons for Operation “Al-Aqsa Flood,” most notably the dangers threatening the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, and stressed that “all Palestinian resistance actions come in response to the presence of the occupation and its continued aggression against the Palestinian people and their sanctities.”
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard clarified its spokesman’s statements that “Operation Al-Aqsa Flood was one of the Axis of Resistance’s retaliatory operations against the Zionists for the martyrdom of the late Major General Qassem Soleimani.”
“After the misunderstanding that occurred in part of the words of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard spokesman regarding the Al-Aqsa Flood operation,” the Guard spokesman, Brigadier General Ramadan Sharif, said: “Injustice, crimes, and occupation that has continued for more than 70 years are among the reasons for the occurrence of the “Al-Aqsa Flood,” and this "The process is purely Palestinian."
The head of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) abroad, Khaled Meshaal, said that Hamas's strategy now is to stop the war, withdraw the Israeli entity, and allow humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip. In an interview with the French newspaper Le Figaro, Meshaal said: “At the present time, we are ready to negotiate all issues indirectly with Israel, that is, through mediators.” Regarding Hamas’ recognition of the Israeli entity, Meshaal said, “In 2017, Hamas joined other Palestinian factions in the issue of establishing a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders, without raising the issue of recognition of Israel.” He added: "When the time comes, at the appropriate moment to establish a Palestinian state, we will discuss the issue of recognizing Israel," he said.
Palestinian factions said that their position is unified with regard to stopping the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip and reaching an exchange deal on the basis of all for all. This came in a statement issued by the Central Command of the Palestinian Forces Alliance, at the conclusion of a meeting it held in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, to discuss developments in the aggression against Gaza.
Representatives of the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ), Islamic Jihad , the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (General Command), the Popular Struggle Front, the Palestine Liberation Front, the vanguards of the Popular Liberation War (Thunderbolt Forces), and the Fatah Intifada Movement participated in the meeting, according to the statement.
The statement explained that the attendees affirmed the unified position of the resistance on the necessity of stopping the aggression against Gaza first, withdrawing the occupation forces from the Gaza Strip, bringing in humanitarian and relief aid and fuel, taking the wounded out for treatment abroad, and conducting an exchange deal on the basis of all for all. The factions called on the Arab and Islamic nations and the world to take further steps to support the people’s steadfastness and resistance, according to the statement. The attendees also stressed the necessity of rearranging the Palestinian house after stopping the Israeli aggression on Gaza.
The Palestinian factions held the American administration fully responsible for the massacres against the Palestinian people, calling on the international community to pressure Israel to stop its aggression and bring in aid.
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel considered the genocide committed by Israel in the Gaza Strip to be terrorist and aimed at humiliating all of humanity. Cannell wrote on the “X” platform: “The genocide committed by the terrorist state of Israel in Gaza is a humiliation for all of humanity. How long will this impunity continue, and how long will there remain complete freedom to kill?” He added: "Cuba will never be one of those who turn a blind eye to these crimes. It will continue to defend Palestine and the rights of the Palestinian people at the top of its voice." It should be noted that the Cuban President is a staunch defender of the Palestinian people, and last month he marched at the forefront of the demonstrators who organized a march in support of Palestine in the Cuban capital, Havana.
Allied for Democracy
Israeli Channel 13 revealed disagreements within the occupation government regarding the continuation of the next stages of the war on the Gaza Strip, and these disagreements have intensified among the highest political circles concerned with managing the war.
After the crisis of judicial amendments, the level of fears of a civil war rose, and then came the war against HAMAS, to reinforce this feeling and internal divisions. This conflict revolves around several axes, namely the dispute that constantly interacts between the families of Israeli prisoners and the Netanyahu government; On the one hand, they are pressing to conclude an exchange deal. They accuse Netanyahu of putting their lives in danger with every day of delay.
In the other axis; A crisis of confidence has surfaced in the heart of the occupation war government and between its three leaders, Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, former Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz , and a member of the 'emergency government'. Netanyahu prevented the heads of the intelligence services from holding talks regarding prisoners with Gallant without his presence.
The Israeli arena witnessed more disagreement regarding the war on the Gaza Strip . While Netanyahu insists on continuing the war for personal interests linked to holding him accountable, opposition leader Yair Lapid calls for Netanyahu’s resignation, stopping the war, and paying what he described as “heavy prices” for the return of the prisoners.
Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued instructions to the head of the Mossad, David Barnea, and the head of the Shin Bet, Ronen Bar, not to participate in discussions with Defense Minister Yoav Galant about the hostage deal, stressing that any discussions must take place in his presence in the war council and not separately with the Defense minister.
Yedioth Ahronoth also revealed that Netanyahu has a grudge against Gallant, as those close to Netanyahu blame Gallant and his men for leaks about preventing a pre-emptive strike against Hezbollah at the beginning of the war, which was supported by the Minister of Defense. As for the leader of the Israeli opposition, Yair Lapid, he continues his attack on Netanyahu, pointing out that the October 7 attack occurred due to the weakness of the political leadership, which is the worst in the history of Israel, according to his description, adding that he would have resigned if he had been prime minister at the time.
Since the beginning of this year, Netanyahu had tried to dismiss Yoav Gallant because of his position on judicial reform, but he failed. The Times of Israel staff analyzes the bad relationship between them. Official Israeli sources indicated that Netanyahu prevented Defense Minister Gallant from discussing the hostage issue with Mossad chief David Barnea individually. The source added a comment to Netanyahu: The Military Cabinet is the body that sets policy and decides on the issue of hostages and missing persons.
Channel 12 News reported that Netanyahu cannot prevent Gallant from meeting with senior military and security officials. But Netanyahu prevented Gallant from including Barnea when he was not present. Gallant had invited Barnea to attend meetings and received letters from Netanyahu's office indicating that the latter did not agree to them. The reason for Netanyahu's anger was that Gallant summoned Barnea immediately after his return from his secret trip to Paris to discuss the hostage release deal before Netanyahu was informed of the details. However, the Prime Minister's Office denied that there were any such restrictions on Gallant or Barnea.
The cracks in the relationship between Netanyahu and Gallant are still visible despite claims that they are working in harmony. Reports indicate that Gallant pushed hard to wage war against Hezbollah in Lebanon at the beginning of the war, but Netanyahu thwarted the attempt. A few weeks ago, Netanyahu and Gallant held a separate press conference, and when Netanyahu was asked about the reason, he said: I offered Gallant a joint conference, but he decided what he decided. While Gallant said: Sometimes we hold joint conferences and sometimes separately.
At the beginning of the year, Netanyahu tried to dismiss Gallant from his position after he opposed the government’s decision regarding the judicial reform law, but the dismissal decision was met with very strong opposition from political circles, which forced Netanyahu to retract the dismissal decision. What will this tense relationship between the two men lead to?
The Al-Alam News Channel correspondent in Ramallah said: The Israeli media has become more critical of the war and of Netanyahu personally because they believe that he is still insisting on continuing the war even though everyone around him, the security establishment, the Israeli media and everyone has become convinced that this battle is a solution and that they are entering and will not exit as a solution. from him easily.
The Al-Alam correspondent added that one of the most important figures who wrote a critical article today is General Yitzhak Brill , who is close to Netanyahu and who sat with him for a long time during the war. He wrote a long article today in which he talked about the error of ground war, and that he warned Netanyahu from the beginning against this war, which is proceeding in this way without... The results will lead to a bigger crisis.
He pointed out that there are Israeli military analysts who said that the battle is not, as Netanyahu says, it can end within a month or two, but rather it requires long months of fighting until results are reached, represented by the return of prisoners, the elimination of Hamas, or the undermining of its military capabilities.
The Al-Alam Channel correspondent confirmed that 70% of the Israeli media turned in a very strange way against the continuation of the war, after it was initially strongly motivated towards the battle, and today it calls for the opposite, and what is published in the press regarding the number of military deaths is a number that is not normal for the Israelis.
A senior White House official revealed details behind the meeting that took place between Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, from one side, and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US National Security Advisor, from another, during Dermer's visit to Washington. During the meeting, the US and Israeli delegations discussed "the transition to a different phase of the [Israeli war on Gaza] to maximize focus on high-value Hamas targets," the official who spoke on condition of anonymity revealed.
Dermer is known to be Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's closest confident, and the visit comes at a time when the Biden administration is looking to change the course of the Israeli aggression on Gaza, according to a report published earlier by Axios. The US is reportedly pushing the Israeli political command to opt for "surgical operations" within the Gaza Strip, rather than a full-fledged attempt to advance to the cities of the Gaza Strip.
Israeli and American officials took the chance to further clarify, their perceptions of governance in the Gaza Strip, the White House official confirmed. Dermer and the US delegation discussed "governance and security in Gaza, a political horizon for the Palestinian people, and continued work on normalization and integration," according to the official.
Earlier it was revealed that Israeli authorities have planned to impose a "Reformed Palestinian Authority (RPA)" to run "civilian affairs" in the Strip, supposing that a floundering Israeli military achieves victory in Gaza. On the other hand, the US has publicly announced its support for a Mahmoud Abbas-led Palestinian Authority governing the Gaza Strip, but its officials have refused to comment on the Israeli-proposed RPA.
The official claimed that the meeting provided the two allies an opportunity to talk about pathways to improve the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and minimize harm to civilians.
However, Washington had previously announced its "unwavering support" for the occupation, which has translated into tons of bombs and munition used to target Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. A large amount of this munition is unguided "dumb bombs", clocking in at around 40-45% of the total of air-launched munitions. In fact, such bombs have been used to level inhabited neighborhoods in the Gaza Strip. Even precision-guided munition have been utilized to target homes killing entire families in one go.
Moreover, the supposed US diplomatic efforts to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza, have failed to relieve the Strip from a strict and brutal Israeli siege. This is not to mention other crises that Israeli occupation forces have caused in the Strip, including the disabling of the health sector and mass forced displacement.
Former Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Yossi Beilin said that the conflict in the Gaza Strip may end within weeks. This came in an interview between Beilin, who served as Minister of Justice from 1999-2000, with the Spanish newspaper "Vanguardia" , in response to a question about whether the conflict could end soon, as the politician indicated that small forces from the Israeli army may continue to... The Hamas movement is fighting in the Gaza Strip , but "it is possible to consider the conflict over."
Beilin believes that the war “cannot last forever,” and continued: “The end of the conflict may be a matter of weeks. Small forces may continue to fight the remnants of (Hamas) or something like that, but it will not be a war. The war will end very soon.” . The politician announced the impossibility of holding negotiations between the Israeli authorities and the Hamas movement, and said: “It is impossible to eliminate (Hamas), but we cannot sit together at the negotiating table in order to reach an agreement. They do not want to talk to us and acknowledge our presence in the region.” "The only way out seems to be fighting."
This evening, Israeli Channel 7 conducted an interview with General Yitzhak Brick, former head of the complaints committee in the Israeli army, who explained that the administration of President Joe Biden did not give Tel Aviv all the weapons it requested, and that the weapons stores in his country are almost empty.
General Yitzhak Brik stressed that the Israeli army depends mainly on the United States of America, and the continuation of the war in Gaza means the Biden administration’s continued transfer of weapons to Tel Aviv, warning that the military situation will be much more complicated if “Israel” enters into a multiple war. Fronts or regional war.
General Brik explained, “The Israeli army admits for the first time that the Hamas movement has not been defeated at this stage of the war, and that the army will change its strategy or prepare to make a strategic change in the Gaza Strip,” pointing out the difficulty of eliminating Hamas because this matter will not be achieved. “This could have been understood a long time ago,” he said.
The American newspaper The Washington Post said that the world is looking forward to establishing a truce in the Gaza Strip , while Israel vows to continue fighting. It indicated in a report that the UN Security Council called for an “urgent and extended” humanitarian truce in Gaza to allow more aid to enter the Strip, while the United States - which is “Israel’s best friend” - says that it wants its ally to move from the stage of aerial bombardment that destroys the Gaza Strip. residential buildings on the ground, to carry out operations targeting the leaders of the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) more precisely.
But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and military leaders recently announced that the pace of violence with which they are waging the war - one of the most destructive wars ever in this century - will continue and intensify, according to the American newspaper report. Israeli air strikes since Christmas Eve have injured or killed hundreds of Palestinians, many in refugee camps, according to Palestinian and international health officials. 19 Israeli soldiers were killed in fighting with Palestinian resistance elements during the past four days, in one of the bloodiest battles for Israel since it began its campaign, which it says aims to eliminate the Hamas movement. Relief officials say that the few hospitals still providing treatment in Gaza are working beyond their capacity.
The newspaper quoted Netanyahu as saying in statements published by his Likud party, that they will work to "expand the scope of the fighting in the coming days, and this will be a long battle." In turn, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant warned on Tuesday that Israel has been under attack from “seven different arenas” - Gaza, the West Bank , Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Iran - since the beginning of the war, and that it has “acted and responded” to 6 of them. Before the Foreign Affairs and Security Committee in the Knesset (Parliament), Galant vowed, “Everyone who works against us is a target,” and “no one is safe” from being targeted.
Netanyahu had written an article published by the American Wall Street Journal on Monday in which he stated that the Gaza war will end when Israel wins and not before that. He said, "Hamas must be destroyed, Gaza must be disarmed, and extremism must be eradicated from Palestinian society." For his part, Chief of the General Staff of the Israeli Army, General Herzi Halevy, said, “There are no magic solutions or shortcuts to the radical dismantling of a terrorist organization, other than continuous and determined fighting, and we are fully determined” to implement that.
The Washington Post reported that a senior Israeli official and a close advisor to Netanyahu traveled to Washington, where he held closed meetings with Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. It quoted a White House official - who requested anonymity - as saying that the talks covered “moving to a different phase of the war to achieve maximum focus on high-value Hamas targets,” taking practical steps to improve the humanitarian situation, efforts to return prisoners, and planning for... After the war in Gaza.
While Israeli Chief of Staff Herzi Halevy warned that “the goals of the war are not easy to achieve” and that it will continue “several more months,” the specter of expanding the scope of the conflict still looms on the horizon, especially with the exchange of bombing on the Israeli-Lebanese border, and the attacks launched by the Houthis in Yemen on ships linked to Israel in the Red Sea and Arabian Sea.
Reports about the refusal of the administration of US President Joe Biden to approve Israel’s request to purchase Apache attack helicopters surprised many American commentators, especially in light of the great support that Washington has provided to Israel since the start of Operation “ Al- Aqsa Flood ” on October 7. As of 20 December 2023, Washington had provided more than 230 cargo planes and 20 ships loaded with various types of weapons, ammunition and military equipment to Israel, with the Biden administration pledging to provide support to Israel no matter what it takes.
Reports indicated that Israel submitted its request regarding Apache helicopters weeks ago, a request that was returned and submitted by the Israeli government to US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin during his visit to Israel earlier this month.
News of the American refusal came at a time when the Chief of Staff of the Israeli army, Herzi Halevy, suggested that the war launched by Israel on the Gaza Strip would continue for several months. The Biden administration wanted Israel to move quickly to the third phase of the aggression, thereby reducing the number of casualties after the number of martyrs exceeded 20,000, in addition to the injury of more than 50,000 others.
In an interview with Al Jazeera Net, Ambassador David Mack, former US Assistant Secretary of State for Middle Eastern Affairs, indicated that “the United States has limited quantities of these main aircraft for our armed forces, and in addition, there may be a priority in planning to supply Ukraine with these aircraft for an attack” possibly next year.
He added, "Given that the Israeli Air Force is killing Palestinians in Gaza as well as West Bank cities, it is logical for the Biden administration to stop providing offensive weapons. Moreover, we do not want to encourage Israel to open a new front against Lebanon, where Apache planes armed with Hellfire missiles will be an addition." key to the Israeli arsenal.
Although some reports have stated that the US Department of Defense (the Pentagon) has categorically rejected the Israeli request, there are those who say that no decision has been made regarding a final and strict rejection. For his part, former American diplomat, Wolfgang Pusztai, considered that “if this is the final decision - and the decision has not yet been made according to my information - this is certainly another strong sign that Washington is not satisfied with the way Israel is managing the war, especially with regard to the large number of civilian casualties.
In an interview with Al Jazeera Net, Postztay indicated, "There will be no immediate impact of this decision on the battlefield in Gaza, because helicopters will certainly not be available to Israel in the coming weeks or months."
Reports indicate that there are not a sufficient number of pilots to fly Apache helicopters in Israel, which forced the army to call up retired pilots in the 54-55 age group for active service, even though their age is higher than 51 years, which is the traditional maximum for flying this helicopter.
Analysts believe that Biden's refusal came as a result of strong criticism of Washington's support for the war in Gaza. Washington's refusal to give Israel more Apache helicopters, despite continuing to provide military aid to Israel without stopping since the outbreak of the conflict, represents an indication of Washington's disagreement with Israel's continued aggression in the same ways that have continued since the "Al-Aqsa Flood."
Sources in Washington indicated that the issue of the planes was raised during a meeting between Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer, a key advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan at the White House. Dermer was Israel's ambassador to the United States from 2013 to 2021.
In an interview with Al Jazeera Net, David De Roche, a former officer and currently an assistant professor at the Pentagon’s National Defense University, said that he believes that “the Biden administration is trying to persuade the Israelis to take Washington’s request to reduce civilian casualties seriously, especially as it continues to be ignored.” "The Israelis are calling on Washington to reduce the severity of their attacks."
For his part, Director of the Gulf States Studies Foundation, Giorgio Cafiero, told Al Jazeera Net that the rejection of "the Biden administration may have come in response to the rejection of broad currents within the Democratic Party and liberal voters who strongly criticize the White House's strong support for the Israeli genocidal war on Gaza."
The Apache attack helicopter has enjoyed great popularity among the military since its first combat appearance in 1986. It is manufactured by Boeing, and its average price is about 52 million dollars. Reports indicate that Israeli Apache 64-AH attack helicopters participated in direct attacks against Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) fighters using a 30 mm chain gun and Hellfire missiles. Since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, Israel has received 2,000 laser-guided Hellfire missiles for use by Israeli Apache helicopters, along with 36,000 rounds of 30 mm ammunition.
Israel has two squadrons of Apache helicopters (48 aircraft), stationed at Ramon Air Base in the Negev Desert. The Israeli Air Force still relies heavily on the most advanced helicopter in the world in its daily strikes against the Gaza Strip, and against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
Butcher's Bill / Oasis of Martyrs
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.
The HAMAS Ministry of Health in the besieged sector announced that the number of victims of the Israeli operation its beginning had risen to about 21,110 martyrs, and the killing of more than 7,700 Palestinian children. The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
The number wounded was 55,243. The Palestinian Government Media Office in Gaza had said many days earlier that the number of missing people had risen to more than 7,500 [double the 3,750 previously reported], including including 4,700 children and women.
Palestinian Ministry of Health has announced that the total number of Palestinians killed in the occupied West Bank by the Israeli occupation this year had reached 505 people, including 111 children. The Palestinian Ministry of Health earlier explained that the death toll in the West Bank since the beginning of this year has risen to 465, including 257 martyrs since last October 7.
The Israeli bombing led to the killing of 126 Hezbollah members, a number of civilians, and 3 journalists. Lebanon’s Health Ministry released an official casualty numbers in fighting, saying 77 people were killed and 251 wounded since the start of the war on 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 announced that an officer and two soldiers were killed in battles in the northern Gaza Strip, and Israeli media said that the dead were from the Shaked Battalion in the Givati Brigade. This brings the officially announced number of deaths among the Israeli army since the start of the ground incursion on October 27th to 170, and 498 [503?] deaths since the Al-Aqsa Flood operation on the 7th of the same month. The Israeli army indicated that 468 officers and soldiers have been killed since the beginning of the war on October 7th. This number does not include the 60 policemen and 10 members of the General Security Service (Shin Bet) who were announced dead since the beginning of the war.
It was also announced that 43 others were injured, including 9 seriously, in the battles in the Gaza Strip during the past hours. The Israeli army reported that 2,066 officers and soldiers have been injured since the beginning of the war, and that 329 of these wounded were seriously injured, 576 moderate, and 1,161 minor. Since the start of the ground incursion, the number of wounded rose to 874. The Israeli army reported that 198 of the wounded soldiers had serious injuries, 327 moderate injuries, and 349 minor injuries.
Israeli media reported that 27% of the Israeli military casualties in the war were officers. In detail, the media highlighted that three brigade commanders, four battalion commanders, and other senior officers have been killed in the war so far.
At least 12,016 Israelis were injured, according to i24 TV. The IDF updated the number of soldiers injured in the war and attacks on October 7 to 1,683.
Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper had reported that 5,000 soldiers had been wounded since the beginning of the war on October 7, and that the Ministry of Defense had recognized 2,000 soldiers as disabled so far.
According to some reports statistics indicate that 20% of the Israeli losses were due to friendly fire. Because the nature of the battle has become completely different from what was expected, and it lacks a front line.
Scenes of decomposing corpses have become common in the Gaza Strip in light of the ongoing Israeli operation since the seventh of last October. Al Jazeera monitored the bodies of Palestinian martyrs decomposing in the streets of Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip , where the people were unable to bury them due to the intensity of the Israeli bombing and the inability of ambulances and civil defense to arrive. For its part, Anatolia Agency quoted eyewitnesses and local sources as saying that these bodies remained in the streets since the start of the Israeli ground attack on Gaza on October 27 last year. Before that, there were testimonies about other bodies left on the roads and parts of them mauled by dogs.
Special photos from Al Jazeera also showed the bodies of martyrs in the streets of the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in the northern Gaza Strip, and the Palestinians were unable to bury them either. At the end of last November, a reporter transmitted shocking pictures from Al-Nasr Children’s Hospital, showing the decomposed bodies of children in the care unit, which the occupation army prevented them from being removed and buried.
At that time, the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Observatory confirmed that it had documented the discovery of 5 infants dead and in a state of decomposition in the nursery of Al-Nasr Hospital after they had been left to their fate for 3 weeks, in what “may amount to a horrific execution and a crime against humanity.” The Observatory called for the formation of an independent international investigation committee into the incident.
Scientifically, corpses pose a minimal health risk and are not a source of epidemics, and they usually do not spread diseases among the public. But this applies if there are health and care services and employees who handle it and bury it in a proper way. As for Gaza, this is not the case, as the Israeli army destroyed the health sector and targeted medical personnel, and the bodies remain dumped in the streets for days and weeks, and no one can pull them out and bury them.
People who handle dead bodies (rescue workers, morgue staff, etc.) have a slight risk of contracting tuberculosis, hepatitis B and C, and diarrheal diseases. However, these diseases do not last more than two days in a corpse. Workers can reduce risks by wearing rubber boots and gloves and practicing basic hygiene (such as washing their hands). But in Gaza, there is a shortage of equipment such as gloves, face masks, sterilizers, and hygiene supplies such as soap, and therefore there is a greater risk of infection for those working in transporting and burying bodies.
Excretions often leak from corpses, which may contaminate rivers or other water sources with diarrheal diseases. Rainwater can wash bodily fluids and pollutants from dead bodies, which may contaminate water sources that people rely on for drinking, cooking, and bathing, leading to the spread of diseases, especially diarrheal diseases. In Gaza, the combination of increasing numbers of decomposing bodies, severe water shortages, lack of hygiene and sanitation services, and lack of medical care is increasing the risk of cholera , a disease whose symptoms include diarrhoea.
Unburied corpses can attract insects and rodents that can carry disease-causing organisms. Insects and mice can spread the infection. The corpses may also attract other animals that may feed on them, especially in the absence of food, such as cats and dogs. Decomposing gases and particles can travel through the air, which can cause respiratory problems for people in the vicinity.
The sight and smell of unburied bodies can have psychological effects on communities, causing psychological trauma.
The causes of diarrheal diseases include infection due to bacteria, viruses or parasites, most of which are spread through water contaminated with feces. Infection becomes more common when there is a scarcity of clean water for drinking, cooking, and cleaning. Rotavirus and Escherichia are the most common and most important causes of diarrhea. Water sources contaminated with human feces, for example from sewage, toilets and dead bodies. Animal feces also contain microbes that can cause disease.
On 18 November 2023, the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Observatory warned that a health catastrophe was looming in the Gaza Strip, where bodies were still scattered in the streets and under the rubble of buildings destroyed by the Israeli aggression. The human rights organization pointed out the danger of the spread of diseases such as cholera and immune system disorders throughout the Strip. The Geneva-based human rights organization said that the Gaza Strip lacks the basic services necessary to search for bodies under the rubble, whether due to the lack of heavy machinery and equipment needed by rescue and civil defense teams, or the complete paralysis of ambulances and medical teams. In addition, power outages make it difficult to place bodies in the morgue, leading to improper burials.
Prolonged "public decomposition" of dead bodies leads to the transmission of serious diseases, including blood-borne viruses and tuberculosis. The Euro-Med said that gastrointestinal infections such as cholera can also spread easily, through direct contact with corpses leaking feces, dirty clothes, or contaminated tools or vehicles. Improper burial and random burial of bodies in mass graves may lead to various diseases such as cholera, which may spread due to the presence of bodies near or in water sources. The human rights organization said that the presence of bodies near or in water sources is extremely disturbing.
This can lead to health problems such as diarrhea and other diseases because the bodies may leak feces and contaminate water sources. In addition, some bacteria and viruses may remain active in the body for a period of time after death, such as hepatitis and tuberculosis. The organization added that some animals, including birds, rodents and insects, can feed on corpses and spread diseases, such as mosquitoes that cause malaria.
Fears of the spread of epidemics in Gaza are increasing, in light of the continued Israeli aggression and systematic destruction of the medical sector and targeting of hospitals, including Al-Awda Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip, which turned into a theater of Israeli military operations during the past days, after being targeted several times and imposing a siege on it, killing, wounding and arresting it. A number of its medical teams, employees, wounded and displaced people inside.
Al Awda Hospital has not received any medical or food aid for more than two months, and it exhausted most of its stock of these materials during the past weeks before it went out of service and contented itself with providing modest medical care to its wounded.
Hostages
Israel had previously estimated there were 116 living hostages in Palestinian custody. Israel declared 19 out of 135 people in Gaza captivity dead in absentia, after announcing its forces had recovered the bodies of two hostages. Israel considers those still held by Hamas to be hostages regardless of whether they are dead or alive.
Israeli government spokesperson Eylon Levy earlier had told reporters that Hamas still held 137 captives. The resistance released 10 Israeli detainees, 4 Thais and 2 Russian women, who were released outside the agreement. Over the course of 6 days, Israel has received 102 detainees, women and children, including 78 Israelis, in exchange for the release of 234 Palestinian prisoners, women and children.
Eylon Levy, the Israeli government spokesperson, told reporters 01 December 2023:
- Hamas still held 137 hostages from the October attacks, in addition to four others who went missing before the war
- The hostages include two children aged four and 10 months, who, Hamas now claims, are dead
- 117 male hostages are still kept in Gaza, including the two children, as well as 20 females
- 126 hostages are Israelis, and 11 others are foreign nationals
- Foreign nationals are eight Thais, one Nepalese, one Tanzanian and one French Mexican citizen
- Ten of the remaining hostages are 75 and older.
- There are seven missing people since the October 7 attack
- Hamas had released 110 hostages so far – 86 Israelis and 24 foreign nationals.
Some of the rest are soldiers, seized when Hamas raided military bases in Israel. They may end up being held the longest. The Israeli military had not specified how many soldiers were captured, nor their ranks.
According to some estimates, Hamas was initially holding nearly 210 of the 240 hostages, while Palestinian Islamic Jihad was holding the remaining 30. About 40 Israelis remained missing. More than 40 hostages taken from Israel into Gaza on October 7th are not currently in the custody of Hamas, the group responsible for the attack, according to a CNN report based on a diplomatic source briefed on the negotiations, CNN's prior reports had indicated that an estimated 40 to 50 hostages were held by Palestinian Islamic Jihad or other unidentified groups or individuals.
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 Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) and the Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs Commission released a new tally of Palestinians detained by "Israel", revealing that the number of Palestinian prisoners in the West Bank has risen to 4,795. Some 150 women have been arrested thus far, both from the West Bank and the Palestinian territories occupied in 1948. Additionally, more than 255 children had been arrested. Israel said that, since the beginning of the war, approximately 2,550 wanted persons have been arrested throughout the Judea and Samaria Division and the Bekaa and Valleys Division, approximately 1,300 of whom are affiliated with Hamas.
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