Operation Iron Swords - Day 92 - 06 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 |
He explained that underlying sentiments and grievances, foreign interference, the absence of a regional security process, and the continuing weakness of local diplomacy all favor proliferation. He pointed out that, just days after the attack by the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) on October 7, a large-scale Israeli attack against Hezbollah in Lebanon was averted through American pressure. Since then, Syria , Lebanon and Yemen have become targets and launching pads, adding that the most surprising geopolitical development is the Houthis’ success in disrupting maritime traffic in the Bab al-Mandeb Strait .
The writer said that the past 10 days show how close the region is to the brink of abyss. He referred to Israel's assassinations of Radhi Mousavi, the "Supreme Iranian Leader" in Syria, and Saleh Al-Arouri, deputy head of Hamas's political bureau in Lebanon, and before the United States killed an Iraqi leader supported by Iran. The apparent slide toward US-led intervention against the Houthis in Yemen may be a sign of acceleration. Hakim said that one can rule out an explosion in the region based on the fact that the 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel, and the previous American and Israeli assassinations of Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iranian leaders did not spark a broader conflict.
But he also said that the context, scope, pace and perception are different now, with more senior leaders being assassinated and more significant attacks being launched across more theaters in a short period. Meanwhile, the Israeli attack on Gaza continues , antagonizing the region's residents. Hakim explained that it is not surprising that Iran and Israel will decide whether the conflict will become an all-out war or whether it will remain a competition for regional influence. While Tehran fears the erosion of its credibility and deterrence, Tehran still views its ultimate goals as best achieved through “thousands of small steps rather than costly direct confrontation.”
The writer continued that, after 3 months of Israel's war on Gaza, the diplomatic picture appears to be in a state of chaos, as the foreign ministers of Arab and Islamic countries who formed a delegation to visit major capitals did not succeed in creating much diplomatic momentum. Efforts to free Israeli detainees are losing steam, and “well-intentioned” ideas for a so-called day after the war are meaningless if Israel considers Gaza an active zone of military operations, whoever governs it, and refuses to join a process leading to the establishment of a Palestinian state. Arab governments are doing little to protect maritime navigation. Once again, it is the responsibility of the United States to mobilize a coalition for this purpose, which will inevitably exacerbate anti-US sentiment in the region.
The writer returned to say that the United States deserves “some credit” for preventing a comprehensive regional war so far, but it appears devoid of ideas and unable to spread influence. It seems that the European Union 's foreign policy official , Josep Borrell, is the only one who sets clear goals for a peace settlement. But he has no real mandate and little influence over key players.
Hakim concluded his article by saying that the war in Gaza is a reminder that conflicts cannot be frozen and ignored, as has become painfully clear in the past few decades, and that wars cannot be won on the battlefield alone, but must be resolved justly, no matter how complex these conflicts are, and no matter how hard they are to do so. Frustratingly solved.
Operational Update
Israeli forces continued bombing the Gaza Strip , focusing on the center and south of the Strip. While it admitted the killing of a senior officer during the battles in northern Gaza, the resistance announced the killing of a number of occupation soldiers from zero distance.
The resistance factions led by the Al-Qassam Brigades , the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ), were able to inflict new losses on the occupation army in terms of soldiers and equipment. The Al-Qassam Brigades announced that its fighters eliminated an Israeli force of 8 soldiers from zero distance, after setting them up in a tight ambush in the center of Bani Suhaila, east of Khan Yunis.
Al-Qassam added that one of the occupation soldiers was also executed while entering a house, and clashed with the rest of the force with weapons and bombs in Khan Yunis, explaining, “We surrounded a Zionist force of 9 soldiers yesterday, and we clashed with them in Bani Suhaila, east of Khan Yunis, and we caused them to be killed and wounded.”
For its part, the Al- Quds Brigades - the military wing of the Islamic Jihad Movement - announced that it had bombed military concentrations in the station area in central Khan Yunis with heavy-caliber mortar shells. In addition, the Al-Quds Brigades announced their bombardment of Sderot, Niram, and the settlements surrounding the Gaza Strip with a missile salvo.
The "Islamic Resistance in Iraq" announced that it attacked with drones two American bases in Syria in response to the Israeli massacres in the Gaza Strip. It said - in a statement that it targeted “ Al-Tanf base and Al-Shaddadi base deep inside Syria,” stressing that it would continue “to destroy enemy strongholds,” according to the statement.
This came amid American fears of the outbreak of a broad regional conflict as a result of the Israeli war on Gaza . An American official said that American forces in the Middle East have been subjected to about 115 attacks since last October 17.
An American drone attack led to the killing of Talib Ali Al-Saidi, a leader in the Al-Nujaba movement , which is affiliated with the Popular Mobilization Forces factions. The Pentagon said that Al-Saidi was killed in a raid on Baghdad, because he "posed a threat and planned attacks against American military personnel in Iraq and Syria."
On the other hand, Iraqi Prime Minister Muhammad Shia al-Sudani condemned the attack and considered it a "dangerous escalation and assault on Iraq," blaming the US-led international coalition responsible for this "unjustified" targeting of an Iraqi security body. Al-Sudani also announced - the formation of a committee to arrange the end of the presence of international coalition forces in the country, stressing Baghdad’s “steadfast and principled” position to achieve this.
About 2,500 American soldiers are deployed in Iraq and 900 others in Syria as part of what the United States says is a mission to provide advice and support to local forces.
The amazing War Stream reported in the Northern parts of Gaza Strip is where some of the most fierce fighting is ongoing, Bet Lahiya has been under attack by the IDF from every direction after they were able to get the encirclement completed. Now the IDF continues to look for booby traps and small tunnel entrances but most of the fighting has in general subsided in this sector which is mostly under IDF control. The resistance that IDF is facing in this area remains mostly small arms exchanges. The IDF is clearing booby traps, tunnels and buildings that they know that Hamas was operating in and around.
In the central and the southern parts of Gaza City IDF has been able to make major advances in these neighborhoods. The IDF had been pushing from the southern part in this sector, from the eastern part near the border and from the Northwestern part. In the past several days IDF has been able to establish quite a bit of control in this southern part of Gaza City. Many neighborhoods have been cleared but IDF remains in this sector clearing booby traps and there are still small arms exchanges.
IDF troops have moved in and are establishing forward operating bases in the southern part of Gaza City but at the same time they are clearing houses and tunnels in Central parts of Gaza City where the operations and the battle continue as IDF is moving down Salah al-Din Road [the main north-south highway of the Gaza Strip] wich remains one of the main priorities of IDF operating inside Gaza City and in this northern part of the Gaza Strip itself. This is a major road to take control of and this could affect HAMAS supply lines.
The IDF hasn't been able to establish full perimeter control in those neighborhoods where Hamas is holding holding positions where they're exiting from their tunnel infrastructure. The IDF is hitting those targets overnight and over the day with artillery with Naval support and air strikes. IDF armor operating and troops operating in this sector so the fighting remains extremely hot. IDF is pushing in from every direction with a big focus on Salah al-Din Road. once they're able to get this road the fighting in the central areas of Gaza City is going to be simplified, as the IDF are not going to have to worry about their flank and they can continue to maintain pressure on every single axis that they pened up on this sector.
Gaza City itself will fall soon but the southern parts of Gaza Strip are still heavily defended by Hamas and the militant factions that are operating down there that are affiliated with Hamas. The southern part of Gaza Strip saw a lot of bombing from the Israeli side. This is another area that has reported extremely Fierce fighting. IDF was finally able to get a breakthrough in a sector that continues to remain also extremely hot, IDF is they're probably going to push to the coastl the fighting remains very fluid and IDF is putting a lot of pressure.
Another sector that remains extremely extremely hot is east of Khan Yunis which has seen some of the fiercest fighting inside the Gaza Strip.
IDF is mounting a major push to get the encirclement completed from the southern troops and from the the northern troops that they've moved in here. There is a lot of Israeli armor operating in the sector. There was IDF armor and troops moving in from the Northeast as well as the Northwest and putting a lot of pressure from the southern front that theye recently opened near Khan Yunis IDF troops were mounting Recon attacks in this Northern parts but they haven't attempted to control any neighborhoods in this northern part. Most of the fighting on this area on this front is sectored on the Eastern sector near Khan Yunis over near Beni Suheila with IDF artillery working with helicopters, armor and infantry support working in this sector. IDF is trying to wrap around to the Northeast to meet up with the southern troops when they take this town.
Rafa Camp has been pretty clear and there haven't been any pushes towards Rafa camp.
The American network NBC News quoted sources confirming that Israel is behind the assassination of Saleh Al-Arouri , deputy head of the political bureau of the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ), noting that Tel Aviv is planning to carry out a series of assassinations over several years. The network reported on Saturday that Israel has not officially claimed responsibility for the assassination of Al-Arouri, but this operation may be the first step in an assassination campaign in response to the attack of last October 7, in reference to the Al-Aqsa Flood operation launched by the Palestinian resistance against the occupation.
The network quoted Israeli officials as saying that the intelligence services formed a joint mission under the name “Indigo” to pursue Hamas leaders and cadres in several countries. Al-Arouri was martyred along with 6 Hamas members, including two commanders in the Al-Qassam Brigades , the movement’s military wing, following an air strike that targeted the movement’s office in the southern suburb of Beirut. Following his assassination, the Palestinian factions called in a joint statement to respond to Israel in all arenas and fronts, as they put it.
The head of the Israeli Internal Security Service ( Shin Bet ), Ronen Bar, spoke of government directives to pursue Hamas leaders everywhere. In a recording broadcast by the Israeli Broadcasting Authority in early December, Bar said that the security services are seeking to eliminate Hamas “in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Turkey and Qatar. It may take a few years.”
Hamas responded by saying that such threats reflect “the political and field impasse that the occupation is experiencing, and represent a violation of the sovereignty of sisterly countries,” stressing that the threats do not frighten any of the movement’s leaders whose “blood and the blood of their families are mixed with the blood of the patient sons of the Palestinian people.”
A report published by Time magazine explained that after half a century, it was confirmed that assassinations would never be a solution to the “Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” explaining that every person who is assassinated - even if he is a senior leader - is compensated by another leader. The report was prepared by Yossi Melman, an analyst for military and security affairs at Haaretz newspaper, and Dan Raviv, a former correspondent for the American CBS channel, both of whom wrote a book entitled “Spies Against Armageddon: Inside Israel’s Secret Wars.”
The publication of the report came against the backdrop of the assassination of the martyr Saleh Al-Arouri , Deputy Head of the Political Bureau of the Islamic Resistance Movement “ Hamas ”, in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, on the evening of January 2, 2024. The TIME report continued that the old Mossad members are still convinced that assassinations should remain a rarely used tactic, noting that the various Israeli security services have assassinated many figures over the years inside and outside the occupied territories, without result.
The report recalled the assassination of the martyr Fathi Al-Shaqaqi , the founder of the Islamic Jihad movement on the island of Malta, and stressed that after his assassination the movement became larger in size and more dangerous to Israel. He also talked about the attempt to assassinate Khaled Meshal via poison in Jordan, but he survived, while some Israeli agents were arrested and released after providing the antidote to Meshal.
After the failed assassination attempt, Khaled Meshal turned - the report adds - into a prominent leader in the movement, one of its most prominent names, and head of its political bureau for years. Among the results of the failed operation was the formation of an investigation committee and the resignation of Mossad director at the time, Danny Atom, and some of his subordinates, one of whom became mentally ill and threatened to kill his comrades.
In 2008, the Mossad assassinated the prominent leader of the Lebanese Hezbollah, Imad Mughniyeh , in the Syrian capital, Damascus, but the party’s power continued to grow and escalate, and the operation hardly affected it as Israel had hoped. The Time report confirmed that intelligence and army leaders in Israel are trying to develop a strategy to carry out assassinations, but without relying on it as a means to “achieve comprehensive victory,” but rather as a tactical step that solves some problems in the short term. Among them may be restoring deterrence after the “October disaster” ( the Al-Aqsa flood ), and intimidating Israel’s enemies.
Suhaib Gohar wrote that since the assassination of Ezzedine Khalil in Damascus in 2004, and after him Imad Mughniyeh in Beirut in 2008, it can be said that Israel has embarked on a different path for security assassinations, which it carries out against leaders in Hezbollah, or the Hamas movement. Later, Israeli assassinations continued. There is no room to mention all of them, up to the assassination of prominent Iranian leaders, those responsible for the nuclear file, and the assassination of Qasem Soleimani and Reza Mousavi.
All of these operations - which targeted prominent security and military officials in the axis of resistance - remained without a response commensurate or parallel to the scale of the operations by Iran or the party, and the responses were in their military or security sense, but without achieving the goals of killing Israeli officials at the same level.
This matter has basic explanations, first; Hezbollah's opponents say: The weakness of a balanced response implies weakness and meager capabilities that do not rise to the level of targeting. Secondly, Hezbollah itself says: Any of these officials is essentially a martyr project, and therefore the calculation is paid in advance. Most importantly, any assassination will not affect the course of operations carried out by the resistance, with regard to developing its capabilities and completing its project, Gohar concluded.
Cristina Galindo reported in El Pais that "The impact on freight rates has been astronomical: they have almost tripled since the attacks... Freight booking platform Freightos.com calculates that carrying goods in a 40-foot container (12 meters long, 2.3 meters wide and 2.4 meters high) from Asia to northern Europe now costs $4,000, a 173% increase from mid-December, Bloomberg reports. For cargoes from Asia to the Mediterranean, the price rises to $5,175, and some companies are charging as much as $6,000 on routes due to depart in mid-January. From Asia to the U.S., rates are up less, by 55%, to $3,900.... the Shanghai Containerized Freight Index (SCFI), which measures rates for transporting imported goods from China, has risen 161% since December 15, from $1,029 to $2,694.... All these prices are roughly double those of 2019, before the pandemic hit global trade, but still well below coronavirus peaks. During the height of that year’s collapse, SCFI index prices exceeded $5,000, double today’s levels.... Goldman Sachs has just raised its recommendation to buy Maersk shares, which are up 30% in the last month. In the case of Hapag-Lloyd, shares have risen by almost 50% in the same period... In the first days of the year, traffic in the Suez Canal has fallen by 28% compared to the same period in 2023... In other words, 3.1% of world trade is being redirected from the Red Sea to other routes. "
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
Axis of Resistance
In a familiar scene in Iranian culture, the authorities responsible for the famous Jamkaran Mosque in the city of Qom , south of the capital, Tehran, raised the “red flag of revenge” above its blue dome, seeking revenge for the victims of the Kerman bombings, which symbolizes the duty of revenge.
Coinciding with the funeral of the 89 victims, the Persian press yesterday, Friday, circulated scenes of raising the “red flag of retribution,” four years after it was raised following the assassination of the former commander of the Quds Force, General Qassem Soleimani , who was killed in an American raid on the road to Baghdad airport in January. January 2020. For its part, the Tehran municipality hastened to replace the giant mural in Vali Asr Square in the center of the capital, with the slogan “Difficult revenge, God willing” in the center of the new painting on a red background.
Red is one of the colors of Iranian national identity, and symbolizes strength in combat and courage. It is one of the colors of the Iranian flag, under the two colors: green, which symbolizes Islam, and white, which symbolizes peace. In ancient Iranian culture, red flags were raised over the homes of people of blood, and were not lowered until revenge was taken. During the past years, red flags were raised in funeral marches for symbols of those killed “unjustly” and over the domes of mosques and thresholds, as a sign of national grief and the duty of revenge.
Although the authorities - over the past years - have continued to raise the flag bearing the slogan “Oh, the revenge of Hussein” following the “terrorist” operations that targeted the country’s security, to indicate their intention to take revenge, the latest step was met with widespread reaction from the mourners of the victims, who chanted for revenge against the perpetrators of the two bombings.
Political researcher Hassan Hanizadeh reads the scene of official threats and popular demands for revenge as “a necessary warning of revenge,” adding that his country “has previously carried out military operations during the past few years against targets outside the borders, in retaliation for destabilizing its national security, and retribution for those who caused the bloodshed of Iranians.”
Speaking to Al Jazeera Net, Hanizadeh confirmed that “despite the Islamic State (ISIS) claiming responsibility for the Kerman bombings, the Iranian authorities do not pay attention to the statement, and are only thinking about settling scores with the drivers of such terrorist groups,” as he put it, describing Washington. And Tel Aviv are “the most affected by Tehran’s support for Palestinian resistance factions.”
When referring to the developments in the Al-Aqsa Flood Battle, and the targeting of a number of symbols and forces of the Axis of Resistance in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and the Red Sea, the Iranian researcher said, “The Kerman bombings can only be read in the context of the series of assassinations and military operations in the geography of the Axis of Resistance.”
Hanizadeh believed that "American political leaders had previously revealed their country's role in forming terrorist groups, led by ISIS," noting that "the ISIS group not only did not carry out any operations against Zionist-Western interests, but did not even condemn the Israeli aggression against Gaza." He concluded that "the security data and information available to his country show tireless efforts made by the United States over the past two years to rehabilitate the ISIS group in the region."
While Iranian circles agreed on the necessity of responding to the parties behind the Kerman bombings, to limit the recurrence of such bloody operations inside the country, a group of Iranians warn of the consequences of involvement in a direct response to American and Israeli interests. Iranian estimates - during the past three months - have often indicated that Tel Aviv is seeking to lure Tehran into the Gaza battle, to put it facing the United States and NATO, but a second segment of Iranian circles believes that there is no escape from confrontation, and directing painful strikes, to stop the series of assassinations. And targets against Iran and its allies in the region.
In light of the popular uproar demanding revenge for the victims of the Kerman bombings and the official threats of revenge, the two recent bombings have created a “dualism of response and silence” within Iranian circles, between those who hold an approach between direct response and playing according to the Israeli will, and others who believe that silence and waiting will increase popular anger against Iranian authorities.
Ali Nejat, a researcher at the Middle East Institute for Strategic Studies, says that his country is forced to take action in retaliation for the victims of the Kerman bombings, and it is convinced that a direct response is not in its interest at the present time.Speaking to Al Jazeera Net, he believes that the limits of the Iranian response do not exceed the three scenarios below:
- Direct response by targeting American and Israeli interests in their homes, and this is the weakest possibility.
- Direct response by targeting the interests of the Islamic State group or American or Israeli sites on the territory of other countries, similar to targeting “terrorist” headquarters in Syria or the Iraqi Kurdistan region during the past years. This is an option available to the Iranian authorities to interact with popular demands for revenge.
- Responding through allies is the strongest possibility, through escalation against US interests in Iraq and Syria, or against Israel through Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthi group in Yemen.
Al Jazeera Net learned from an informed Iranian source (who requested that his name not be mentioned) that his country decided to adopt a smart policy “avoiding responsibility for what it will do on the one hand, and flexing its muscles to Iranian public opinion on the other hand, by maneuvering against the losses that will befall the enemy front.” He concluded that "the response to the Kerman bombings will be through the soft flank of the Israeli enemy," without providing further clarifications.
Among the possible scenarios and the decision that this informed source talks about, the majority of Iranian citizens are anticipating what things will turn out after the two recent bombings, while others are betting on the weakness of the collective memory of society, whose economic concerns have preoccupied it from carrying out revenge for the “terrorist” incident that targeted the shrine of the “Shah” Religious shrine in Shiraz last summer.
European Union foreign policy official Josep Borrell met during his visit to Lebanon with a Hezbollah delegation headed by MP Mohamed Raad. Hezbollah informed Borrell that it was not possible to discuss the Lebanese file and developments in the south before stopping the war on Gaza.
The Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) condemned the occupation's exhumation of Palestinian cemeteries in Gaza and the theft of the bodies of the martyrs from them, and their transfer to an unknown destination. The movement said that this "heinous crime expresses the brutality of this fascist army," calling on countries, governments, and concerned human rights and international institutions to "stand up to their humanitarian and moral responsibilities, and take serious and urgent action to condemn and expose these escalating crimes."
The government media office in Gaza revealed that the Israeli occupation army exhumed approximately 1,100 graves in the Al-Tuffah neighborhood cemetery, east of Gaza City, adding that the occupation mechanisms “razed them and removed the bodies of the martyrs and the dead from them.” The office explained in a statement that after exhuming the graves and bulldozing the cemetery, the occupation army stole approximately 150 bodies of the martyrs that had been recently buried, then transported them to an unknown destination.
The media office condemned “in the strongest terms this heinous crime that demonstrates the brutality of the immoral occupation,” expressing its astonishment at the “silence” of international organizations. He pointed out that this crime "raises suspicions again about another crime, which is the crime of stealing the organs of martyrs, which we referred to in previous statements."
He also pointed out that the occupation repeated this crime more than once, the last of which was the delivery of 80 bodies of former martyrs that it had stolen from the Gaza and North Gaza governorates, tampered with them, and delivered them mutilated and buried in Rafah, refusing to provide any information about them, according to the statement.
The Turkish newspaper "Hurriyet" revealed, in a report, that the Turkish National Intelligence Service carried out its fourth major operation against the Israeli intelligence service ( Mossad ) since 2021. The newspaper continued that after the “Mutiny” operation, which witnessed the arrest of 29 people in October 2021, the “Neublaz” operation, during which 68 agents were arrested in December 2022, and the “Nikbat” operation, which targeted 17 agents in April 2023, Turkish intelligence launched the “City of the Dead” operation, targeting 46 people.
The author of the report, Nedim Shinar, said that this operation is considered a strong response to both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Mossad, which threatened to carry out assassination operations in Turkey. The General Directorate of Intelligence, in cooperation with the Ministry of the Interior, launched Operation “Necropolis,” which means “City of the Dead” in ancient times, and “Spy” was adopted by the Ministry of the Interior to classify agents. Thus began Operation "Spy/Necropol" against 46 Mossad agents.
According to the writer, the 2021 operation targeted foreign individuals recruited by the Mossad as “agents,” and the 2022 operation was against private investigators and tactical personnel and targeted 58 foreigners and 39 Turkish citizens, for a total of 97 people.
Turkish intelligence was able to decode the structure of Mossad elements in the field, as well as their methods of work that threaten Turkey. The writer explained that the Mossad uses citizens and foreigners in Turkey on a tactical basis, that is, agents who work for a short period. The Mossad also provides elements for use in actions against Palestinians and their families in Türkiye.
The Mossad posts job advertisements or links without providing details on social media sites or in chat groups, allowing the right people to contact them. People who respond to these ads and links are given different tasks to prepare them for the final task. After the first contact, the Israeli intelligence service continues to contact its members using the Telegram and WhatsApp applications, and communicates with them only in writing.
As for the money to be paid to its clients, the Mossad uses an intermediary and a direct agent. He tries to hide the trace of money using cryptocurrencies and a money transfer system. The writer pointed out that the Mossad deals with intermediaries or direct agents through advertisements that it places on social media. People are persuaded to participate in money transfers by telling them that it is illegal gambling or betting money.
The writer explained that the Mossad assigns its members, who are associated with it at the tactical level, to perform small and scattered tasks, including collecting information, research, photographing targets and recording them on video, tracking, installing GPS devices in targeted vehicles, physical assault, theft, sabotage, threats, and extortion. It also supervises disinformation activities, such as creating and managing websites, designing online newspapers, and spreading fake news.
In addition, the Mossad conducts electronic activities such as collecting IP addresses of targeted persons or institutions, exposing or hacking cameras in targeted areas, and generating data on foreign persons in Turkey. Besides the tactical elements, the Mossad has been found to meet with people it believes have the necessary qualifications for its previous operations abroad to avoid being targeted by Turkish intelligence and to ensure the safety of its agents.
The writer added that the Mossad provides the first contact with these people, whom it reaches through social media and recruitment sites, using camouflage appropriate to their needs and interests in order to prevent the person who has been recruited from feeling like a traitor, and through large financial payments. The members are accommodated in comfortable hotels during their foreign trips, invited to luxurious restaurants, and included in special excursion programs. Mossad also subjects recruited agents to lie detector tests.
The writer pointed out that the people who were detained within the scope of the operation are divided into two groups, the first of which includes people who have telephone contact with the Israeli intelligence service. The second group includes people with financial ties to the Mossad, who are believed to have been assigned work on a tactical basis.
Allied for Democracy
Axios said that it obtained a copy of a cable issued by the Israeli Foreign Ministry that included instructions to its embassies to pressure diplomats and politicians in their host countries to issue statements against the case brought by South Africa before the International Court of Justice , in which Israel is accused of committing genocide in Gaza.
The cable outlines the Israeli diplomatic plan of action before next week's "International Justice" session, by exerting international pressure on the court not to issue a judicial order ordering Israel to suspend its war on Gaza. South Africa filed the case last week, and says - in its 84-page report - that the military campaign in Gaza violates Israel's obligations under the 1948 Genocide Convention.
That convention defines genocide as “acts committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group,” stressing that Israel’s actions in Gaza “are considered to be of a genocidal character because they aim to destroy a large portion” of the Palestinian population in the Strip.
Israel immediately rejected the case as “unfounded,” but unlike previous cases in international courts, it decided to appear before the court because it is a signatory to the Genocide Convention, and there it will be represented by British lawyer Malcolm Shaw.
South Africa has asked the court to take urgent interim measures, including ordering Israel to suspend its military campaign in Gaza, for the duration of the case.
It is clear from the Israeli Foreign Ministry’s cable that Israel’s “strategic goal” is for the court to reject the request to issue a judicial order, refrain from determining that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, and acknowledge that the Israeli army operates in the Strip in accordance with international law.
The cable stated that “the court’s ruling may have major political, economic and security repercussions, not just legal,” and therefore it confirms that “we request an immediate and unequivocal public statement along the lines of the following: that you say publicly and clearly that your country rejects the outrageous, ridiculous and baseless accusations against "Israel."
The cable says that under the 1948 convention, genocide is defined as the creation of conditions that do not permit the survival of a population with the intention of exterminating it. Hence, emphasizing Israel's efforts to increase humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza and reduce the number of civilians killed is "critical."
In the cable, Israeli embassies were instructed to ask diplomats and politicians at the highest levels to “publicly acknowledge that Israel is working to increase humanitarian aid to Gaza, as well as reduce harm to civilians, and that it is acting in self-defense.”
Israeli ambassadors were also instructed to work urgently to obtain such statements before the session starting on January 11, and were told that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would send messages to dozens of world leaders along the same lines.
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said, "We view this offer as baseless and counterproductive, with no basis in reality at all," but countries that support the Palestinians, including Turkey and Jordan, have backed the issue.
Although International Justice orders are binding, they are difficult to implement, especially since Russia rejected a court order last year to stop its invasion of Ukraine.
At a time when a special campaign was launched calling for the overthrow of the Israeli government headed by Benjamin Netanyahu , due to the failure of the war on Gaza and the failure to achieve any of the declared goals, the Israeli political and partisan arena is witnessing behind-the-scenes movements to overthrow Netanyahu during the war and form an alternative government.
The campaign - which was launched from the Knesset Square, entitled “No confidence now... a pillar of fire to bring down the government” - was accompanied by calls for periodic demonstrations and protests, in addition to the ongoing sit-in by the families of Israeli detainees in front of the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem.
The protest campaign expanded in the wake of the disagreements within the emergency government, the debate in the war council regarding the day after this war, as well as the noisy session of the Ministerial Council for Political and Security Affairs (the Cabinet), and the attacks of the ministers of what is classified as the “extreme right” on the Chief of Staff of the Army, Herzi Halevy, following his decision to form An investigation team into the failure to prevent the “ Al-Aqsa Flood ” attack.
Readings by military and political analysts indicate that the deliberations of the War Council suggest that the Israeli army has not achieved any of its goals in Gaza so far, as Hamas’ governmental and military capabilities are still present, its military leadership is alive and working, the majority of the tunnels have not been destroyed, and half of the Israeli detainees remain. In the sector.
Analyzes agree that the joining of the “National Camp” led by Minister Benny Gantz to the emergency government was the reason for the war on Gaza, out of a sense of responsibility towards the future of the “national homeland of the Jewish people.” However, due to the approach and practices of Netanyahu and the “extreme right” ministers in the government, analysts agree on “It is the responsibility that now forces them to move away from the nightmare of the Netanyahu government and bring it down.”
Analysts agree that the so-called “day after the war” is also the day in which the signal will be given for the political and civil battle to overthrow the Netanyahu government, but this battle is still within a scope that does not dominate public Israeli discourse.
Analysts suggested that it is difficult to plan the political battle, just as it is difficult to determine the date of the "mass volcanic eruption" in Israel, even though the protests are flowing and escalating, in light of the campaigns demanding early elections, and calls for Netanyahu's dismissal.
With ministers and cabinet members attacking the army chief of staff, and voices calling for Netanyahu’s departure, party affairs analyst for Haaretz newspaper Yossi Verter believes that Gantz, who “entered the emergency government out of national responsibility,” must withdraw from the government that “employs... The war is for coalition goals and narrow personal and partisan interests of Netanyahu and his partners.”
Werther pointed out that the slander of the ministers - appointed by Netanyahu - against the Chief of Staff during wartime is only the first introduction to what is expected in the coming months, saying, “No one will be saved from the poisons that Netanyahu is spreading, and it will affect everyone, and therefore it seems that the emergency government is on the verge of exploding and collapsing.”
The party affairs analyst says, "The clear conclusion from the far-right ministers' attack on the army commanders at the Ministry of Security headquarters in Tel Aviv is that the prime minister and the ministers of the right-wing parties have no intention but to cling to their seats, even if that means setting the country on fire."
According to the same source, Werther’s other conclusion is that “the popular struggle to overthrow the government must begin and expand immediately. Every moment that these people are present, in government offices, and at decision-making points, constitutes a clear and immediate danger to Israel’s security, and the protests must expand.” It is located opposite the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem, and the request must be immediate elections.”
The same political analyst believes that Gantz, Gadi Eisenkot, and Gideon Saar from the “National Camp” have exhausted their membership in the emergency government, saying that “their continued participation in the broad forums of the government, the cabinet, and the war council does not contribute to the unity of the Israeli people. It only helps this group of right-wing ministers.” "Extremist extremists continue to rampant abuse and poisoning."
In a scenario that reflects the possibility of the "National Camp" leaving the emergency government and withdrawing from the war council, political analyst for the "Israel Hayom" newspaper, Matti Tutfeld, revealed the presence of movements in the political and party arena, in order to overthrow Netanyahu during the war, and form an alternative government without heading to early parliamentary elections.
The same political analyst reviewed these movements led by the head of the "Israel Our Home" party, Avigdor Lieberman , who refused to join the emergency government or the war council, and justified this by saying that Netanyahu is exploiting the war for his personal and political goals, in order to remain in the prime minister's chair, as he called for Netanyahu's removal from office. Likud presidency, and expressed his readiness to join any government that does not include Netanyahu.
Tutfeld pointed out that Lieberman, with the formation of the emergency government and the expansion of the war, renewed his relations with his old friend, Shas party leader Aryeh Deri , in a joint attempt to formulate a step to replace Netanyahu in the current Knesset and form an alternative government. Tutfeld adds, “At some point, figures linked to Minister Bezalel Smotrich, opposition leader Yair Lapid, and several members of the Knesset from Likud were involved as well, but without achieving any fundamental progress, but it has become clear to everyone that this involvement is only the first step, and so is Netanyahu, who has become "He also realizes the approaching political storm."
Peace Now spokesman Adam Clare believes that “procrastinating the war and arguing about the future of Gaza is a good approach for almost everyone in the Israeli political scene, and not just for Netanyahu, as it also serves Gantz and Lapid.” Clare told Al Jazeera Net, "There are aspects of the issue of the day after the war that the majority in Israel does not accept and even strongly opposes. No one in the Israeli political and party structure supports any political settlement with the Palestinians, in anticipation of early parliamentary elections, for fear that the Israeli voter will hold him accountable."
Clare, an activist in the protest campaign to overthrow the Netanyahu government, explained, “There is an Israeli political consensus that rejects the position of the American administration, which calls for starting a settlement with the Palestinians the day after the war, and pushing for a settlement of the conflict through the establishment of a Palestinian state that includes Gaza and the West Bank, with safe passage between them.”
The same spokesman believes that “when the time comes for a real and fundamental discussion regarding the nature of the future settlement with the Palestinians, on the basis of international resolutions and the two-state solution, a large portion of the left and the center will lean several degrees to the right,” explaining that this is “not only because of the fear of losing voters’ votes.” “But because of a real change in perceptions among the Israelis after the Battle of Al-Aqsa Flood.”
During his visit to Lebanon on Saturday European Union foreign policy official Josep Borrell stressed the need to avoid regional escalation, while Hezbollah announced the implementation of an “initial response” to the assassination of Saleh Al-Arouri , deputy head of the political bureau of the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ), in the southern suburb of Beirut.
Borrell stated after his meeting with Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Foreign Minister Abdullah Bou Habib that he saw “a worrying intense exchange of fire across the Blue Line ,” referring to the line dividing Lebanon and Israel. The European official stated that he told Israel that “no one will win if a regional conflict breaks out,” stressing the need to avoid dragging Lebanon into such a conflict.
For his part, the Lebanese Prime Minister said, "We are peace seekers, not warmongers... and we are making the necessary contacts in this regard, because any large-scale bombing in southern Lebanon will lead the region to a comprehensive explosion." Mikati called for "a cessation of Israeli violations of Lebanese sovereignty and withdrawal from Lebanese territory," stressing his country's commitment to implementing UN Security Council Resolution No. 1701 .
In the same context, the Lebanese Foreign Minister stated that he discussed with Borrell the implementation of Resolution 1701, which was issued by the Security Council in August 2006 and related to arrangements to stop the fighting between Lebanon and Israel. On the other hand, Lebanese Hezbollah announced Saturday morning that it had fired more than 60 missiles toward an Israeli “air control base,” in response to the assassination of Saleh Al-Arouri.
The party explained in a statement that its fighters targeted the Meron air control base with 62 missiles of various types “as part of the initial response to the assassination of the great leader Sheikh Saleh Al-Arouri and his brothers, the martyrs, in the southern suburb of Beirut.” The statement added that the missiles "caused direct and confirmed hits" at the base. The base is located on top of Mount Jarmaq, and includes a military facility that handles surveillance operations for the Israeli Air Force.
Al-Arouri was martyred along with 6 Hamas members, including two commanders in the Al-Qassam Brigades, the movement’s military wing, in an air strike that targeted the movement’s office in the southern suburb of Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold, in the first attack of its kind in the Lebanese capital since the start of the war on Gaza .
The academic and independent American presidential candidate Cornel West called for a huge demonstration on January 13, in Washington, to pressure the administration of US President Joe Biden to stop the Israeli war in the Gaza Strip. West said that the Biden administration is complicit in the genocide and ethnic cleansing committed by the Israeli occupation in the Gaza Strip. He added that everyone who has “morals and conscience,” regardless of their affiliations, must demonstrate to put pressure on the Biden administration to end the war on Gaza.
West had previously criticized the US administration's position in support of Israel, which he described as "immoral", as well as "the double standards with which the American media deals with war victims."
It is noteworthy that Harvard University President Claudine Gay announced a few days earlier that she would step down from her position after being subjected to pressure and criticism. Because of her opinion that demonstrations against Israel on campus fall within the scope of “freedom of expression,” after pressure from the Israeli lobby.
West, a philosopher and academic, resigned from Harvard University in 2021 because of what he described as its “acquiescence to bias” against the Palestinians, saying at the time that the university was experiencing a state of “spiritual decay and decay.”
The US states witnessed massive demonstrations in support of the Palestinians, demanding an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, and aiming to pressure the Biden administration to end unconditional military support, with the worsening humanitarian tragedy and rising numbers of casualties in the besieged Strip.
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 22,722 martyrs, and the killing of nearly 10,000 Palestinian children and 6,600 women killed. The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
The number wounded was 58,166. 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 178, and 510 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, 9 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 2,324 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. The number of wounded since the start of the ground operation in the Gaza Strip on October 27 had risen to 1,020.
At least 12,387 Israelis were injured, according to i24 TV.
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.
An estimate by the Israeli Ministry of Defense expected that the number of soldiers with disabilities in the war taking place in the Gaza Strip since October 7 of last year would reach 12,500 soldiers. The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth said that the Soldiers' Rehabilitation Department of the Ministry of Defense has dealt with 3,400 soldiers who were classified as disabled in the army since last October 7.
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 5,660, 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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