Operation Iron Swords - Day 89 - 03 January 2024
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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 |
The Times of Israel’s Hebrew sister-site Zman Yisrael reports that Israeli officials have held clandestine talks with the African nation of Congo and several others for the potential acceptance of Gaza emigrants. “Congo will be willing to take in migrants, and we’re in talks with others,” a senior source in the security cabinet tells Shalom Yerushalmi. Yerushalmi quotes Intelligence Minister Gila Gamliel saying at the Knesset yesterday: “At the end of the war Hamas rule will collapse, there are no municipal authorities, the civilian population will be entirely dependent on humanitarian aid. There will be no work, and 60% of Gaza’s agricultural land will become security buffer zones.”
The British Foreign Office said that Gaza is occupied Palestinian territory and will be part of a Palestinian state in the future. The people of Gaza must not be forced to be displaced or move to other areas. "We strongly reject any proposal to resettle Palestinians outside Gaza."
The German Foreign Ministry rejected in the “strongest terms” the statements of Israeli government ministers regarding the displacement of Gaza’s residents, describing them as unhelpful, while the French Foreign Ministry denounced those “provocative” statements. German Foreign Ministry spokesman Sebastian Fischer said, “The Palestinians should not be expelled from Gaza, nor should the area of the Strip be reduced,” pointing out his country’s commitment to the two-state solution because it is “the only sustainable model of coexistence between Palestinians and Israelis,” as he put it.
This comes after statements by the Israeli Ministers of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, and Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, calling for the displacement of Palestinians out of the Gaza Strip.
The Germsn spokesman explained that such statements do not help solve the problem, and said, "We strongly reject the statements of Ben Gvir and Smotrich." Fischer pointed out that Berlin's position on this issue was clarified during the G7 foreign ministers' meeting in Tokyo , and that forced removal from Gaza and reducing the area of the Strip should remain out of the question.
For its part, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs today condemned the statements made by the two Israeli ministers to displace Palestinians from the Gaza Strip and rebuild settlements on those Palestinian lands. The ministry said - in a statement - that "France condemns the statements of Ministers Smotrich and Ben Gvir," calling on Tel Aviv to "refrain from such provocative statements that are considered irresponsible and fuel tensions," as it put it.
Israeli Ministers of Finance and National Security, Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir , criticized the United States for describing their statements regarding the displacement of Gaza residents as “irresponsible.” The official Israeli Broadcasting Corporation quoted Smotrich as saying, “More than 70% of the Israeli public supports a humanitarian solution to encourage the voluntary immigration of Gaza Arabs and their absorption in other countries.” He added, adhering to his position, that "Israeli society will not agree to the continuation of this reality in Gaza. We are required to rethink and participate with our friends in the international community."
Smotrich claimed that a million people in Gaza wake up every morning with a desire to destroy Israel, and explained that the context would be different if there were 100,000 or 200,000 Arabs in Gaza instead of two million. Smotrich, the leader of the far-right Religious Zionism party, is a settler in the West Bank and supports settlement. In 2005, he opposed Israel's unilateral withdrawal from Gaza, and in recent weeks he has expressed support for re-settlement in the Strip.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said that the solution to the issue of the “day after” the war in Gaza lies in the voluntary transfer (deportation) of Palestinians from Gaza to Egypt and back to Gush Katif, in reference to Gaza. He said, according to the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper: “It is time to try something else and allow, through the efforts of the entire international community, to reach a humanitarian solution for the residents of the Gaza Strip in other countries of the world. By the way, this has happened to millions of refugees in recent years in conflict areas.” "Globally, in the war in Syria, and now in Ukraine and elsewhere. In addition to encouraging immigration, Israel will permanently control the territory of the Gaza Strip in order to ensure security. It is time for us to understand and comprehend this matter after many years."
Meanwhile, the hardline Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, referred to the voluntary migration of Gaza residents and the resettlement of Israelis in Gush Katif. In the south of Gaza, Gush Katif was a block of 17 towns populated by 8,800 Jews in fully built communities with roads, infrastructure, industry, even state of the art greenhouses, much of which had been there for decades. But the cost of maintaining a force of thousands of soldiers in Gaza to protect a relatively small Jewish population no longer made sense.
Ben Gvir said at a meeting of his party bloc: “The pressure on Hamas must not be eased until it is destroyed. We must encourage a solution to encourage the migration of Gazans. It is a correct, just, moral and humane solution. I call on the new Prime Minister and Foreign Minister to seize the opportunity to coordinate a project Immigration Now, a project to encourage population migration from Gaza to countries around the world.” Israeli opinion polls, anecdotal evidence and conversations with Israeli military experts, suggest some form of resettlement of the 21 Jewish communities in Gaza dismantled and evacuated in August 2005 is seen as a realistic option and enjoys a certain amount of support — particularly among Israelis who define themselves as right wing.
Both Education Minister Yoav Kisch and Transportation Minister Miri Regev had blamed the 2005 disengagement from Gaza for the October 7 attack, but have refrained from calling for a renewal of settlement there. Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu of the Otzma Yehudit party, a minister in Netanyahu’s government openly advocates for the return of Jewish settlements to Gaza. Eliyahu is infamously known for recently bringing up the idea of dropping a nuclear bomb on Gazans.
US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller announced that the United States denounces the statements issued by the two Israeli ministers that called for the settlement of Palestinians outside the Gaza Strip. Miller described the statements made by the two ministers as "inflammatory and irresponsible." He stressed that the Israeli government itself has repeatedly demonstrated that these statements do not express its policy.
Smotrich and his friend Ben Gvir, leader of the far-right "Jewish Power" party, openly called for the displacement of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip. Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir criticized the United States after describing his statements about the displacement of Gaza residents as “irresponsible,” stressing that Israel is not “another star on the American flag.” He added in a tweet on the X platform that the United States is Israel’s best friend, but above all, the Israelis will do what is best for them. He believed that the migration of hundreds of thousands from the Strip would allow the residents of the Gaza Strip (settlers) to return to their homes and live in safety.
The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs denounced the extremist Israeli statements, which called for the displacement of the residents of Gaza, the reoccupation of the Strip, and the construction of settlements. The Foreign Ministry statement said: “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expresses the Kingdom’s condemnation and categorical rejection of the extremist statements of two ministers in the Israeli occupation government, who called for the displacement of the people of Gaza, the reoccupation of the Gaza Strip, and the construction of settlements.”
The Hamas movement confirmed in a statement that the Israeli leaders’ statements about displacing our people from Gaza are just daydreams. The statement said: “The statements of the leaders of the fascist occupation government about the displacement of our Palestinian people, the latest of which was the talk of the terrorist Minister Ben Ghafir about displacing our people from the Gaza Strip and establishing settlements there, are daydreams that will not find a way to be implemented, in the face of the steadfastness of our Palestinian people and their valiant resistance, which... I rubbed the nose of this failed enemy into the soil of Gaza during the Battle of Al-Aqsa Flood.”
Operational Update
The White House announced that Hamas still has "significant capabilities" inside Gaza, nearly 3 months after the war between Israel and the Palestinian movement. White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said: “Eliminating the military threat posed by Hamas is an “achievable goal” for Israel, but it may not be able to “wipe the group out of existence.”
The IDF Chief of Staff held an assessment of the situation on the northern border with the commander of the Northern Command, Major General Uri Gordin and the commander of Division 210, Brigadier General Zion Ratzon, the commanders of the brigades and reserve battalions defending the sector.
"We are in very strong readiness in the north in my impression, I visit here a lot," said the chief of staff, "I think the readiness is at its peak. There is a great deal of knowledge, there is good ability and there is a high spirit. We are very well prepared in all sectors and we are currently focusing on fighting Hamas," he emphasized, "this war started at a difficult point."
"I think we talked about it a previous time in the meeting, we won't dwell on it now. But it also creates in these very difficult circumstances some kind of opportunity to change the situation in a very significant way. Also in the south, also in the north, also in general in the regional situation.'
"First of all, we are looking ahead, we are going to change the defense routine, we are going to have at least in the next year much more SDF at the borders, and we will reach something that is much stronger", noted Colonel Halevy. "This event, as difficult as it is, and we will talk a lot more, it cannot repeat itself, that's for sure."
"We need to give a very, very strong response in this matter," added the Chief of Staff, "I tell you, in our decisions, I know that there is a trained, well-informed, correct force here. We're going with it, it's our security, we don't have anything stronger than that," he concluded, "that's the most."
The fighters of the Givatay Brigade Combat Team identified a terrorist who was trying to attach a bomb to a tank, and directed an aircraft that eliminated him and three other terrorists who were in the area. The fighters also located weapons and a safe with hundreds of thousands of shekels in it in the house of a terrorist in Noh'ba. In addition, an Air Force fighter jet attacked a munitions manufacturing complex in Khan Yunis that belongs to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist organization directed by the fire support complex of the Kafir Brigade.
In recent weeks, the fighters of the Yalam unit under the command of the combat team of the 7th brigade in the 36th division and with the cooperation of special forces, destroyed the significant tunnel route of the terrorist organization Hamas that was exposed under the Shifa' hospital. Now, the route destruction documentation has been revealed. for all the details.
In Kherbat Ahzaza, the forces of the 5th Brigade's combat team continue to fight, the fighters, including armored and engineering forces, raided central locations in the area, where they located a tunnel shaft and photos of weapons in a school. The brigade's fire complex attacked terrorist targets, including observation posts and anti-tank launching positions.
In the Tupah rank, the fire complex of the Nahal Brigade detected a terrorist squad that was operating drones to observe Israeli forces in the area. In a quick closing of the circle and in cooperation with artillery forces and the forces in the field, an IDF remote manned aircraft attacked the squad, eliminating the terrorists.
The IDF revealed documentation proving that the terrorist organization Hamas educates and incites the children in the Gaza Strip to terrorism. From a young age, they are taught to hate Israel and Jews, and already in schools, youth movements and summer camps, the children undergo theoretical and practical military training.
IDF forces attacked a terrorist cell in Lebanese territory. In addition, an Air Force fighter jet attacked a Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure in Lebanese territory. A number of launches from Lebanese territory into Israeli territory were detected, the IDF attacked the sources of the fire with artillery. Fighter jets of the Air Force attacked several targets of the Hezbollah terrorist organization in the Lebanon area, including terrorist infrastructure and a military structure. In addition, an IDF tank attacked a terrorist cell identified in Lebanese territory.
In an extensive brigade operation to counter terrorism in the Noor al-Shams refugee camp in Manasha, dozens of suspects were detained for questioning, six wanted persons were arrested so far, and military equipment was confiscated. During the operation, an IDF aircraft attacked terrorists who threw explosives at the forces and endangered them, injuries were detected.
In a divisional operation in the city of Kalkilia in the Ephraim division, the forces arrested four wanted persons and confiscated weapons. The wanted persons who were arrested and the weapons confiscated were transferred to the security forces for further processing.
The HAMAS government media office in Gaza announced in a statement that the Israeli army bombed the Gaza Strip with more than 45,000 missiles and bombs weighing more than 65,000 tons of explosives. The statement said: “The Israeli occupation aircraft dropped more than 45,000 missiles and giant bombs on the Gaza Strip during the comprehensive genocidal war, some of which weighed 2,000 pounds of explosives. The occupation deliberately bombed them on entire residential squares, which led to hundreds of martyrs in one bombing.”
It continued: "The weight of the explosives dropped by the occupation army from its planes on the Gaza Strip exceeded 65,000 tons of explosives, which is more than the weight and power of three nuclear bombs such as those dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima." It added: "Nearly two-thirds of the bombs and missiles dropped by the Israeli occupation aircraft on the Gaza governorates were unguided and inaccurate bombs or so-called stupid bombs, which indicates the occupation's intention to carry out indiscriminate and unjustified killing , which is a clear and clear violation of international law and various international agreements."
The HAMAS government media office explained: “The most prominent internationally banned weapons used by the occupation army against civilians, children, and women in the Gaza Strip: BLU-113 bunker-busting bombs, BLU-109 bunker-busting bombs, SDBS bunker-busting bombs.” American GBU-28 bombs, Halper missiles, GPS-guided bombs aimed at destroying infrastructure, internationally banned white phosphorus bombs, stupid or unguided bombs, and JDAM smart bombs.
From the first moment of the assassination of Saleh Al-Arouri , Deputy Head of the Political Bureau of the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ), questions have been raised about the form and place of the response to his assassination, and whether the Lebanese Hezbollah will participate in the response or not, as it previously vowed to respond. On any assassination in Lebanon.
In their analysis of the response options, the estimates of analysts in separate conversations with Al Jazeera Net about the response scenarios ranged between targeting the internal arena with specific operations, especially in the West Bank and inside Israel, and the external arena with assassinations of Israeli figures, which correspond to Al-Arouri in weight. However, one of them said that it is not necessary for Hamas to respond, given that the conflict continues with the occupation, adding that any external response will change the rules of engagement.
Retired Major General Youssef Al-Sharqawi believes that the possibility of a response is very likely, and it may be limited to the Hamas movement, without the participation of Hezbollah. The Major General also suggested that the military response would be from Hamas and in occupied Palestine only, in the West Bank, Gaza, and the 1948 territories, and with military operations and not missiles. The retired Major General did not rule out the option of missiles, “if they are against a valuable target with guaranteed and feasible results. Hamas has surprised the world by saying that it has something to do, and may explore hunting a valuable target: a military or political figure.” Al-Sharqawi believes that there are Hamas sleeper cells in the West Bank that could carry out a response “with a valuable goal.” As for the timing of the response, he said that it is “subject to field conditions and the value of the target.”
For his part, Ayman Youssef, professor of political science at the Arab American University, says that Hamas’ response is possible in several ways, one of which is the response from the West Bank. “The West Bank is a region and an open space, and there is a presence of Hamas and other resistance factions.” The professor added, "It could be in the West Bank, and it is not a condition specifically set by Hamas. Perhaps other factions will participate in the response, given that Al-Arouri is a unionist figure with a long history and strong relations with everyone."
Therefore, according to the words of the same political science professor, the West Bank front “contains targets such as settlers and soldiers, through which it is possible to infiltrate the Palestinian interior and carry out operations.” At the same time, he did not rule out that the response would come from Gaza, such as launching rockets or specific operations against some army concentrations. "Even though she is under pressure." Regarding the Lebanon front, Ayman Youssef suggested that Hezbollah would take care of it, “The Lebanon front and the foreign front may be left to Hezbollah and Iran if there are responses.”
Unlike his colleagues, the writer and political analyst Ahmed Abu Al-Hija believes that the Hamas movement does not necessarily have a response to Al-Arouri’s assassination, “because the conflict continues with the occupation, and the movement does not deal with the logic of reaction and revenge.” Abu Al-Hija added, “If the response is part of a plan that serves the resistance project, there will be a response, but if the response is merely a reaction without a plan, there will be no response. This is the prevailing logic of thinking in my estimation.” He continued that if there was a response and it was limited to Hamas, "there would be no fundamental change in the conflict, including operations in the West Bank or some responses from Lebanon."
Here, Abu Al-Hija refers to another option, which is “Hamas going to break the rules of engagement with the occupation outside the occupied territory by carrying out some assassinations, and if it is given valuable hunting in a country where the action does not pose harm to the resistance, it may go in this direction, or towards carrying out joint action.” outside". However, it is likely that the West Bank from which Al-Arouri hails, and where the military action began, “has the duty to respond, and thus the possibility of some actions occurring.”
The same spokesman referred to “Hezbollah’s ambiguous position,” as he issued a statement in which he did not clarify the form of the response, adding that the party is on alert and obligated to respond, in cooperation with or without Hamas, “and if it does not do so, the occupation’s appetite will open for more assassinations, all the way up to the party’s Secretary General.” Hassan Nasrallah. The occupation forces assassinated Al-Arouri and 6 of his companions in an apartment in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, years after he was placed on the Israeli assassination list. It is noteworthy that Al-Arouri (57 years old) contributed to the establishment of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, and spent 18 years in occupation prisons, and Israel accused him of being behind many operations carried out by the resistance in the West Bank.
A state of anticipation prevailed in Lebanon and the region, following the Israeli assassination of Saleh Al-Arouri. According to analysts, the assassination of Hamas leaders deep inside Lebanon, coinciding with the continuation of the war on Gaza and the confrontations in southern Lebanon, constitutes an unprecedented escalation and portends a major confrontation that may extend throughout the entire region, between the axis of resistance and Israel.
In an interview with Anatolia, Lebanese political analyst Qassem Kassir said that the assassination of Al-Arouri is a large and very dangerous operation, aiming to take the region towards a major confrontation. He added that there is no information about the nature of the response to the assassination yet, but he suggested that there will be an escalation in the confrontation regardless of the situation. Fronts.
For his part, the director of the Yabous Center for Studies, Suleiman Bisharat, said that the assassination puts the conflict at a crossroads, the first of which is the expansion and extension of the conflict to include all arenas, and the expansion of the scope of confrontation. The second, according to Bisharat, is that this assassination will be a price for Israeli acceptance at a high price. Political for Hezbollah and the resistance in Gaza.
Following the assassination, Hezbollah issued a statement in which it mourned Al-Arouri and his companions, threatening that this crime “will never pass without response and punishment.” The party considered the assassination a dangerous attack on Lebanon and its people, and a dangerous development in the course of the war between Israel and the axis of resistance.
In turn, political analyst Tony Boulos said that the assassination of Al-Arouri is considered the most violent targeting in the Lebanese interior since the 2006 war, which means that Israel has dropped what was known as the rules of engagement, and no longer has red lines towards confronting Iran in the region, which portends greater targeting.
He stressed that the assassination of Al-Arouri in the southern suburb of Beirut put Hezbollah at a “very dangerous” crossroads, as it was forced to respond to save its face, but at the same time there is a problem that lies in the fact that it does not have an Iranian green light, given that Iran has not yet responded to the killing of the Revolutionary Guard leader,according to Paul.
Israeli media reported that concerned circles have estimates that the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) will respond to the assassination of Saleh Al-Arouri, deputy head of its political bureau, from the Lebanese side, with moderate participation from Hezbollah likely. The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation said that estimates indicate that since those who were killed in Beirut, are practically responsible on a daily basis for Hamas’ shooting from Lebanon, this means that the movement will prepare a response to the assassination, and this may take some time. It added, "In Israel they estimate that there will be a response from Hamas from Lebanon in all forms and possibilities in response to yesterday's assassination. At least they will try."
Regarding the Hezbollah issue, the source continued, “The assessment in Israel at the moment is that despite the fact that the attack on Al-Arouri was in the heart of the suburb, they will most likely look for some kind of middle response that will show shooting, but will not lead to war or Large-scale event. The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation warned that police officers in various police directorates were instructed to increase vigilance in anticipation of attacks after Al-Arouri's assassination. It indicated that special preparations are being made throughout Israel.
The Israeli Walla news website had quoted an unnamed Israeli official as saying that Israel is preparing for a major retaliatory response by Hezbollah to the assassination of Al-Arouri, including launching long-range missiles at targets in Israel. The Lebanese News Agency said, “An air strike with three missiles from an Israeli drone targeted a Hamas headquarters in the southern suburb of Beirut, resulting in 7 martyrs and the injury of 11 others,” while Hamas mourned in a statement Al-Arouri and the leaders of the Al-Qassam Brigades, Samir Effendi and Azzam Aqra’. And 4 others from the movement.
The Hebrew newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth said that shortly after the assassination in Beirut, Hezbollah fired an anti-tank missile at the Moshav Margaliot area on the Lebanese border.
Last August 28, Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah warned that “any assassination on Lebanese soil that targets a Lebanese, Palestinian, Syrian, Iranian, or others will have a strong reaction, and we will not allow the Lebanese arena to be opened to assassinations.” The assassination in Beirut comes at a time when Lebanon's southern border has witnessed daily confrontations and bombing between Hezbollah and the Israeli occupation army since last October 8, resulting in dozens of deaths and injuries on both sides of the border.
A senior official in the Biden administration said that another warning should not be expected from the United States and its allies to the Houthis who launch attacks on ships in the Red Sea. The official's statements came after Washington and its allies issued a joint statement warning of the consequences if the Houthis refuse to stop their attacks.
The Wall Street Journal, citing American officials, said that the US military has prepared options to strike the Yemeni Ansar Allah Houthi group that attacks Israeli ships or those heading to Israel in the Arabian Sea and the Red Sea. The newspaper quoted the US Central Command as saying that the Houthis had carried out 24 attacks on commercial ships since mid-November. It also quoted American officials as saying that one of the most important challenges of striking Houthi targets is that many of their weapons systems are mobile.
For his part, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said that the Houthis must stop their "destabilizing" attacks, pledging to take measures to defend freedom of navigation in the Red Sea. British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps also stated that his country will not hesitate to do what is necessary if the Houthis continue to endanger innocent lives and threaten the world economy, as he put it.
On the other hand, the United States informed the UN Security Council that the Houthi attacks in Yemen on commercial ships threaten “navigational rights and freedoms” in the Red Sea and constitute a “global challenge” that requires a “global response.” Chris Low, the US representative to the United Nations, told the council at its first meeting in 2024 that the United States believes the situation in the Red Sea is “at a turning point.”
UN Assistant Secretary-General Khaled Al-Khayari called at a UN Security Council meeting for the immediate release of the Galaxy Leader ship, which was seized by the Houthis last November. Al-Khayari said: "We stress the importance of ensuring the safety of navigation in the region, and in this regard we also call for the immediate release of the Galaxy Leader and the ship's crew who were captured by the Houthis on November 19."
Last November 19, the Houthis took control of the Israeli ship "Galaxy Leader" and took it and its crew to the Yemeni coast. Also on November 25, a Yemeni march attacked the "Calandar" ship owned by the Israeli company ZIM. Two days ago, a Yemeni march bombed two Israeli ships in the Red Sea. The Houthis said in a statement, "The Yemeni armed forces continue to prevent Israeli ships from navigating the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden until the Israeli aggression against our steadfast brothers in Gaza stops."
As a result, Israel and the United States are considering forming a special operations force in the Red Sea, in response to these attacks, according to reports in the Israeli media. According to reports, Tel Aviv approached countries, including Britain and Japan, to form a special operations force to operate in the Red Sea, with this force working within the framework of a multinational coalition in Bab al-Mandab.
The United States and 11 allies jointly warned Yemen's Houthi militants of unspecified consequences unless they halt attacks on cargo vessels sailing through the Red Sea. "Let our message now be clear: We call for the immediate end of these illegal attacks and release of unlawfully detained vessels and crews," the countries said in a statement released by the White House. "The Houthis will bear the responsibility of the consequences should they continue to threaten lives, the global economy and free flow of commerce in the region's critical waterways," the 12 countries said. Signatories on the statement include Britain, which issued its own warning to the Houthis of "direct action," as well as Australia, Canada, Germany and Japan.
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
European Union foreign policy official Josep Borrell said that if what he described as the ongoing tragedy in Gaza does not end soon, the situation may end up igniting in the entire Middle East, calling for "imposing a solution from outside" to settle the conflict. Borrell said, in a speech he delivered during a diplomatic conference in the Portuguese capital, Lisbon, that "what we have learned over the last thirty years and what we are learning now from the tragedy in Gaza is that the solution must be imposed from the outside."
He added that peace will not be achieved permanently "unless the international community engages intensively to achieve it and impose a solution," referring to an effort in which the United States, Europeans, and Arabs participate, he said. A day after Saleh Al-Arouri, deputy head of the political bureau of the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ), was assassinated in an attack in the southern suburb of Beirut, Borrell - who was planning to go to Lebanon on Thursday - indicated that he might cancel this visit.
He added in a press conference following his speech, "What happened yesterday with the killing of a Hamas leader is an additional factor that may cause the conflict to escalate." Media outlets in Israel - which did not officially claim responsibility for Al-Arouri's assassination - said that its forces and security institutions were on high alert in anticipation of a major revenge operation by the Palestinian resistance or Lebanese Hezbollah .
Axis of Resistance
The commander of the Quds Force of the Revolutionary Guard, General Ismail Qaani, confirmed that agents of Israel and the United States were the ones who carried out the terrorist attack near the shrine of General Qassem Soleimani in the city of Kerman. Qaani said in a speech during the ceremony commemorating Hajj Qassem Soleimani: “This year, as we commemorate the martyrdom of Hajj Qassem, Palestinian fighters carried out the Al-Aqsa Flood operation in a coordinated action.”
He continued: "We say to the enemies of the resistance and the Israeli entity, after this widespread propaganda, it has become clear how long you will withstand the resistance. Palestine attacked you once, but all the pillars of your government collapsed." He added: "You claimed to be the largest army in the Middle East, but one resistance movement defeated you, and that is why America stood behind you with all its might. God willing, the day will come when America will be forced to pay the consequences of its support for Israel more than today."
He stressed, "When we look at these events, we understand why the leader of the revolution said that the martyr Soleimani filled the hands of the resistance. Today, there is no place in Gaza for tanks to enter. This land that is floundering under bombardment made you mobilize all your forces 89 days ago, but Gaza stood in the face of all that." "I was very active in the war."
He pointed out that "the enemy's losses are increasing day after day, and the resistance will endure as long as necessary, and the one who will leave the field defeated is Israel ." He added: "We are united to learn the path of the martyr Soleimani well, and we congratulate and offer condolences to the families of the martyrs of the Kerman terrorist incident , which was carried out by agents of the Zionists and America. Those like the martyr Al-Arouri are those who can walk on this path of light, and his martyrdom and that of Mr. Radhi shows the enemy's inability."
Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Mardawi said in a statement to the Egyptian “Cairo 24” website that there is confusion in the Israeli war council and the security and intelligence services of the Israeli army. Mahmoud Al-Mardawi stated that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Galant were trying to export a scene of revenge and revenge against their fighters, which led them into severe confusion, which became apparent after a while. He added: "There is no doubt that this resulted in their retreat and their redefinition of the military objectives behind the operation."
Al-Mardawi continued, saying: “On the other hand, we see that Eizenkot is less committed than them to these slogans through which they want to achieve political and military gains. He supports the American point of view and the importance of achieving successes in the prisoners’ file and considers it a priority for Israel at this time instead of continuing the military operation.”
Lebanese Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah explained that "the great leader Sheikh Saleh Al-Arouri spent his youth and life in jihad, resistance, work, fighting, captivity, migration and jihad." He stressed: “Whoever thinks about war with us will regret it, and war with us will be costly, even if we have so far been managing Lebanese interests.”
Allied for Democracy
Over the two decades prior to the “ Al-Aqsa Flood ” attack by the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) last October 7 , the Israelis did not care much about the operations launched by the Palestinians, according to an article on the World Politics Review website. The article - written by Amir Asmar, who was a senior executive and Middle East analyst at the US Department of Defense - stated that in the absence of any real threat, the Israelis set aside negotiations aimed at resolving the conflict with the Palestinians, and many of them, especially right-wing supporters, promoted Extremist, for saying that there is no Palestinian partner in peace negotiations.
The writer added that it has been proven over time that what was mentioned was a clear lie, and some even convinced themselves that any agreement with the Palestinians “is no longer necessary.” According to the article, the Palestinian resistance attack on Israel on October 7 put an end to those illusions. The events of the past three months were a "painful reminder" that the realities of this conflict do not go away simply by ignoring them. He adds that recognizing the facts of the conflict is necessary to avoid the recurrence of violence, and requires taking concrete steps towards reaching a solution that reduces killings in the future.
In his article, Asmar believes that there are 5 facts worth focusing on in particular:
The peak of violence between Palestinians and Jewish immigrants “who later became Israelis” dates back, according to the author of the article, to a century ago. After the League of Nations placed Palestine under a British mandate in 1920, the authorities there began to promote the Palestinian territories as a national homeland for the Jews, thus paving the way for largely unrestricted Jewish immigration, regardless of the extent to which that policy affected the Arab population already living there.
Since 1920, the British Mandate authorities began promoting the Palestinian territories as a national homeland for the Jews. This policy resulted in an imbalance in Palestinian economic and social life, which raised signs of Palestinian nationalism. Secularists and Islamists participated together in opposition to Zionism and efforts to achieve an independent Palestinian state. Since then, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict has continued to this day, and “will continue” in the future in the absence of a peace process that allows Israelis and Palestinians to coexist, whether side by side or isolated.
For long periods, the Israelis remained convinced that the Palestinians had accepted the patch of land that had been allocated to them. But the reality is that as long as there is no independent Palestinian state that fulfills the Palestinian aspiration for self-determination, acts of “violence” will erupt in which Israelis will be killed. Saying that Israel can ignore the conflict, use its army to restrain the Palestinians, and implement whatever policies it sees in the Palestinian territories without paying attention to the escalation of violence, is simply an “unrealistic idea.”
Many in Israel - including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - say that normalization with Arab countries in the region is possible without reaching a peace agreement with the Palestinians. This idea was strengthened by the conclusion of the Abraham Accords in 2020 and 2021 between Israel on the one hand and the UAE , Bahrain , Morocco and Sudan on the other hand.
This hypothesis has always been questionable. As soon as Israel began its war on the Gaza Strip , after the October 7 attack, the Gulf states called in a statement for a permanent ceasefire, the immediate release of civilian prisoners and detainees, and a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Protests also spread to other Arab countries.
As for the Israelis, they must keep in mind that normalization with Arab countries will not make the Palestinians disappear or abandon their goal of establishing their state, which means that the possibility of violence similar to what is happening today will continue. All evidence indicates that Israel's "Arab peace partners" will support the Palestinians, at least rhetorically, in any resulting confrontation.
Regardless of the inherent violence of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict that remains unresolved, the current conditions under which Palestinians live are “unacceptable.”
Perhaps it goes without saying that peace is made by a person with his enemy, and this applies to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Unless the Israelis decide to lift the siege on the Gaza Strip and withdraw completely from the West Bank without preconditions, there must be a negotiation process to establish the terms and conditions of an agreement that would allow the Israelis and Palestinians to coexist in peace, or at least with a largely low-level rate of violence.
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.
Regarding what is happening in the West Bank and occupied Jerusalem, Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) representative Osama Hamdan said that the Israeli aggression there left 313 martyrs and injured more than 3,000, which is a continuation of the plans of the Netanyahu government.
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 21,978 martyrs, and the killing of more than 7,700 Palestinian children. The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
The number wounded was 57,697. The Palestinian Government Media Office in Gaza had said much earlier that the number of missing people had risen to more than 7,500, including including 4,700 children and women, and this number had not changes in recent weeks.
The spokesman for the HAMAS Ministry of Health in Gaza, Ashraf Al-Qudra, stated that 326 health personnel were martyred in the Israeli aggression, and 104 ambulances were destroyed and taken out of service. He confirmed that the occupation deliberately targeted 150 health institutions and put 30 hospitals out of service, in addition to continuing to arrest 99 health personnel in inhumane conditions.
Lebanese Hezbollah announced the killing of one of its members in southern Lebanon during confrontations with Israeli forces, bringing the party's death toll to 134 since last October 8. The statement said, "With greater pride and honor, the Islamic Resistance mourns the martyr, the Mujahid, Ali Ahmed Saad Jibril, from the city of Bint Jbeil in southern Lebanon, who rose as a martyr on the road to Jerusalem," according to the official Lebanese News Agency.
The Israeli bombing led to the killing of a number of civilians, and 3 journalists.
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 officially announced number of deaths among the Israeli army since the start of the ground incursion on October 27th to 177, and 505 deaths since the Al-Aqsa Flood operation on the 7th of the same month. Among them are 56 with the rank of platoon commander, 43 with the rank of company commander, 8 with the rank of battalion commander, and 5 with the rank of brigade commander. These officers constitute 23% of the total deaths of the Israeli army in the war on Gaza.
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.
The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation reported that 29 of the army's deaths were caused by "friendly fire" and operational incidents since the start of the ground war in Gaza, late last October. The Israeli authority explained that "18 army soldiers were killed by friendly fire, two were killed as a result of gunfire (without explanation), and 9 Israeli soldiers were killed in ammunition, weapons, or run-over accidents." The Jerusalem Post newspaper revealed that 15 soldiers were killed in the Strip without their bodies being found.
The Israeli army reported that 2,234 soldiers - including 355 seriously injured - have been injured since the beginning of the war on Gaza, including earlier reports of 576 moderate, and 1,161 minor.
At least 12,387 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.
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' Club revealed on Wednesday that about 11,000 arrests were carried out by the Israeli occupation army during the year 2023 in the West Bank , including occupied Jerusalem , in addition to arrests from the Gaza Strip before the seventh of last October. The Prisoners' Club explained that arrests after the 7th of October amounted to more than 5,500, in contrast to the detainees in Gaza after the 7th of the same month. The Prisoners' Club stated that cases of arrest among women amounted to (300), and this toll includes women from the occupied interior detained after October 7, while the number of cases of children reached 1,085.
Israel said that, since the beginning of the war, approximately 2,570 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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