Operation Iron Swords - Day 95 - 09 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 newspaper "Le Parisien" said that the Israeli army announced that it had removed all threats and took control of the northern third of the Gaza Strip, and the war is now expected to enter its "third phase", with targeted operations focused on the rest of the Gaza Strip , as demands to reduce the intensity of combat is more urgent. The newspaper explained - in a report written by Leo Agesi - that a major chapter of the Israeli attack had ended with the war entering its fourth month on Sunday, and the Israeli army announcing that it had “finished dismantling the military structure of Hamas in the northern Gaza Strip,” after it destroyed entire neighborhoods and displaced people. 85% of the population, causing an unprecedented humanitarian crisis.
Some areas in the northern Gaza Strip, representing about 15%, are still outside the control of the Israeli army, according to the American Institute for the Study of War, but they are “within firing range,” and Hamas “should not risk them,” as former officer Guillaume Ancel assumes. Middle East affairs expert Sebastien Bossois says, "Even if fighters were able to appear there, the Israeli army issued a decree that the remaining structures were no longer able to harm it, and the army withdrew several military units from this part of the territory."
Ansel adds, “To maintain control over this war-torn area, of which only ruins remain, the Israeli army must make it a buffer zone by creating a small force responsible for ensuring that no one enters it, and making it a no-go zone, as it appears that "The return of the displaced population is out of the question at this stage."
It is assumed that the clashes will now be concentrated in the center and south of the region in the city of Khan Yunis, as Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant confirmed in an interview with the Wall Street Journal that the Israeli army “will begin the third phase of the war in the Gaza Strip,” and will abandon extensive and extensive operations range to take advantage of more targeted attacks.
The third phase of the war, for which Israel's allies who fear the outbreak of a regional conflagration are pressing, is represented by "less lethal" operations, called for by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, who is visiting Israel, urging "the protection of Palestinian civilians" and the implementation of targeted operations. To combat terrorism. Guillaume Ancel explains that the characteristics of this “third phase” are supposed to reduce the number of casualties on both sides, “demobilize part of the Israeli army, reduce bombing, and provide massive humanitarian aid.” But “the transition to the third stage will take at least a few more weeks,” said David Khalfa, co-director of the North Africa and Middle East Observatory of the French Jean Jaurès Foundation.
Operational Update
The Hebrew newspaper "Israel Hayom" claimed that the location of the leader of the Islamic Resistance Movement "Hamas" in the Gaza Strip, Yahya Sinwar, is precisely known to the IDF. It added that the obstacles to targeting Sinwar lie in the fact that he is surrounded by a large number of living Israeli prisoners. Last November, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an interview with Fox News that “ Hamas leaders , including Yahya Sinwar , are still in Gaza City or in tunnels underneath it,” adding: “They are there. We will get to them.” “According to his claim. A senior US administration official said last December that he was confident that "the days of the leader of the Hamas political bureau in the Gaza Strip are numbered," as he put it.
The Wall Street Journal quoted the Israeli Minister of Defense in the Israeli government, Yoav Gallant, saying that his point of view is that "Israel is fighting an axis, not a single enemy." Gallant added that Iran is "building its military power to use it against Israel." The Minister of Defense in the Israeli government stated that his immediate source of concern is the "northern border," emphasizing that the current priority is "not to engage in a war with Hezbollah." Gallant emphasized that the safe return of 80,000 settlers to their homes must be ensured, pointing out that if an agreement is not negotiated to make this possible, "Israel will not back down from military action."
An American official confirmed to the Washington Post that Israel has so far withdrawn several thousand of its forces from the Gaza Strip, and in particular has organized a “major withdrawal” from the north of the Strip. The American official, who refused to reveal his identity in a discussion of sensitive military issues, indicated that citizens of the northern Gaza Strip said that the level of violent fighting had decreased. Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari said yesterday, Monday: “Operations will continue in the north, but on a different scale, and the war will continue in 2024, but in a different way.” “The reservists will be demobilized, and we will act in different ways according to the needs of the operational space.""
The Israelis have informed Washington that they intend to significantly reduce operations in the next phase of the military campaign in Gaza, according to US officials, and will rely on fewer troops and reduce the type of intense aerial bombardment that has destroyed high-rise buildings and leveled the city. Instead, the Israelis say they will deploy special forces to eliminate Hamas leaders and destroy its tunnels and military infrastructure. But American officials acknowledged that many of these guarantees had not been achieved previously, and they hope that this time will be the actual beginning of reducing the number of forces - the first since the start of ground operations - an indication that Israeli officials are finally yielding to American pressures, in addition to the economic pressures resulting from transferring... Tens of thousands of manpower into reservists.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant said that the Israeli army "will intensify its operations in Khan Yunis in Gaza, and they will continue until reaching the leaders of Hamas and returning the prisoners." In addition, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant received Secretary of State Anthony Blinken in his office in Kirya. Gallant told Blinken that “changing the fighting in the northern Gaza Strip will push Israel towards achieving its war goals,” stressing that “the operation will intensify in Khan Yunis and will continue until it reaches the leaders of Hamas and returns the prisoners.”
Al Jazeera military and strategic expert Major General Fayez Al-Duwairi said that the missile attacks towards Tel Aviv launched by the Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) - on the 94th day of the war on the Gaza Strip - coincided with the arrival of US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken there, and they carry a message for him and the Prime Minister. Israeli Benjamin Netanyahu and for Israeli society.
Al-Duwairi explained that the messages of these political attacks are superior to their military goals, as they are a message to the American administration represented by Blinken, who arrived in Tel Aviv, that despite the unprecedented military and material support you provided to the Israeli occupation, it did not achieve its goal, and the resistance is still working. It manages the battle efficiently and its missiles reach the heart of occupied Palestine.
He added that the attack also carried a message to Netanyahu, who is still talking about continuing the war until the Hamas movement is eliminated, telling him: You are living in daydreams and do not acknowledge reality, and for the sake of personal interest you want to destroy the Gaza Strip, as well as destroy the entity of the Israeli occupying state.
According to the military expert, this salvo also carried a message to the families of Israeli detainees held by the resistance in Gaza and those demanding an end to the war, that your country’s leaders are lying to you about what they claim is eliminating Hamas’ capabilities in the northern Gaza Strip, where one of the salvoes came from.
In light of the repeated talk about eliminating the Qassam missile capabilities and discovering its factories, this attack confirmed that the Qassam still has stocks and the ability to use and employ them in the place and time decided by its leadership, and that the occupation army’s withdrawal from the north was not to achieve its goals by eliminating Hamas’ capabilities, but rather to He was forced to do so.
Al-Duwairi expected that this message would prompt the US Secretary of State to ask the occupation leadership about their achievements and to stress the necessity of ending the ground operation as soon as possible, in light of the approaching presidential elections in the United States, as the current administration will not waste the Democratic Party in order to save Netanyahu’s neck from prison. As he says.
He pointed out that the occupation army is in a stage of retreat and confusion in Gaza, and its losses are increasing, as evidenced by what was revealed by Israeli media about the killing of 9 officers and soldiers and the wounding of others in two separate attacks during battles in Gaza in the past 24 hours, and that Monday was the “hardest” day on the occupation army since the beginning of the war. This war.
Al-Duwairi pointed out that these losses also come in light of unprecedented insults directed at the Army Chief of Staff, Herzi Halevy , by people with no military history, which is unusual in the occupying state, which prompted 169 former military commanders to send a letter to Halevy, in which they expressed their support for him. In the face of this attack.
He pointed out that the occupation's admission of deaths in the Gaza battles came days after it limited its daily losses to casualties without talking about deaths, which confirms that the occupation army is paying heavy prices that it cannot fully disclose, reiterating that the real numbers of losses are greater than what is announced. Regarding the remarkably high number of Israeli deaths among officers, Al-Duwairi attributes this to their incompetence and failure to prepare them for such confrontations, and it also reflects the failure of the leadership of this army to manage the battle as required.
The combat team fighters of the IDF paratrooper brigade fight in the heart of Khan Yunis, eliminating terrorists in face-to-face battles and through sniper fire and locating many weapons including weapons, grenades and ammunition. During an offensive activity of the 101st Battalion Combat Team, terrorists opened fire from buildings in the area. The fighters directed airstrikes and tank attacks to eliminate the terrorists. After that, the fighters carried out scans in the area in order to rule out the presence of additional terrorists. As part of scanning one of the buildings, the fighters of the 101st Battalion encountered terrorists barricaded in the building. The fighters strived for contact and eliminated the terrorists who were deployed in the area. During the encounter, a "Stinging Unit" mililtary working dog was killed and seven IDF human fighters were wounded in various ways.
The fighters of the commando formation are operating in the heart of the Khan Yunis area , raiding terrorist infrastructures and underground compounds and deepening the operational grip in the south of the Gaza Strip. During their activity, the forces uncovered dozens of shafts. While they were scanning a shaft in the area, a squad of terrorists came out of the shaft and threw charges at the force, the fighters returned fire and eliminated the terrorists.
The brigade combat teams fighting under the 98th Division expanded the maneuver in the depth of Khan Yunis and carried out attacks during which approximately 40 terrorists were eliminated, a wide variety of weapons were located and significant shafts were located. Among the weapons found by the fighters of the paratrooper brigade's combat team were 12 Kalashnikov rifles, four loaded RPG launchers, dozens of grenades, and cartridge vests.
During an activity of the Golani Brigade's combat team in the Al Ma'azi area in the center of the Gaza Strip, through intelligence guidance, a force of Unit 636 identified terrorists from the Central Camps Brigade in the area. The forces directed an air force aircraft that attacked and eliminated the squad.
Reserve soldiers from the Negev Brigade , from the 551st Brigade, and Yehlam fighters, located a number of tunnels inside a residence in civilian territory in the Beit Hanon area. Capt. (Res.) R., nephew of the head of the Shaar HaNegev Council, the late Ofir Liebstein: "I want to dedicate this explosion to Ofir as an act of defense for the homeland; One of the efforts to return the Gaza Envelope to 100% paradise."
A fighter jet attacked a squad of about 10 terrorists in cooperation with fighters from the Nahal's brigade combat team who identified the squad and directed the attack. Later the fighters identified an anti-tank squad operating near them and directed another aircraft that attacked the squad.
In addition, the fire complex of Division 36 located a number of terrorists of the terrorist organization Hamas, who had barricaded themselves in a building near Al-Quds Hospital and from where they planned to launch an attack. The fighters directed an aircraft to attack the terrorists. The attack led to significant secondary explosions that indicated the presence of a weapons depot of the Hamas terrorist organization in a civilian environment.
An explosion that occurred in a truck loaded with explosives in the middle of the Gaza Strip killed 6 soldiers and wounded 30 others, according to Hebrew media. The 6 Israeli army soldiers were killed in the Gaza Strip, when a truck loaded with their explosives exploded in the Bureij camp (central), according to the army statement, while the Walla website reported that the number of people wounded as a result of the same explosion was 30 soldiers. The truck exploded while soldiers were preparing to blow up a tunnel in the Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. Israeli Army Radio said “With regard to the disaster of detonating explosive materials in Bureij, the army is investigating whether Israeli tank fire was what caused the massive explosion.” For its part, the official broadcasting authority said that the army’s estimates indicate that the incident is related to the safety rules of the Israeli forces.
The broadcasting authority said that the army is still unable to determine whether the explosion that occurred in the truck and in the tunnel that the soldiers wanted to destroy was caused by the explosion of explosive materials out of control, or because the explosives that were placed in the tunnel ignited. Out of control by some spark or charge that was there. It added that one of the possibilities that was also investigated was that a tank opened fire on a nearby building, which led to the ignition of explosives.
Al Jazeera military and strategic expert Major General Fayez Al-Duwairi said that the investigation that concluded that an Israeli tank was behind the bombing of an ammunition truck in the middle of the Gaza Strip confirms the failure of the occupation leaders to read the military scene as the war enters its fourth month. Al-Duwairi explained that transporting 30 Israeli officers and soldiers on a truck loaded with explosives is an unparalleled stupidity, stressing that it is not possible to transport explosives with soldiers according to military custom.
He pointed out that the person who fired the missile was suffering from mania, indicating that the tank commander - who is an officer - was haunted by terror, as happened when the occupation army killed 3 of its prisoners who were speaking Hebrew. In an attempt to clarify the scene further, the military expert asked, “Does the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ), have a military truck carrying fighters?”, before answering, saying that they are “fighting individuals emerging from the tunnels.”
He added that Israeli tanks are equipped with the latest technologies when moving, as they have the ability to aim while the shell follows the target, stressing that what is happening is an insult and challenge to the qualifications of the Israeli army. Al-Duwairi stated that he expected - before the initial investigation of the occupation army - that the truck had been targeted by one of the Qassam fighters who came out of the tunnels and found valuable hunting, adding that attributing the event to the Qassam would have been more honorable to the Israeli army than the results of its initial investigation.
In the villages of Atara in the Binyamin Brigade and Habla in the Ephraim Brigade, the forces located and confiscated a number of weapons. In an operation in Kfar Zurif in the Etzion Brigade, the forces arrested two wanted persons and interrogated many suspects. An activist of the Kotla, the student cell of Hamas, was arrested in Kfar Ein Matsbah in the Binyamin Brigade. The arrested wanted persons and the confiscated weapons were transferred to the security forces for further treatment, there are no casualties to Israeli forces. So far, since the beginning of the war, more than 2,600 wanted persons have been arrested throughout the Judea and Samaria Division and the Bekaa and Emekim Division, about 1,300 of whom are affiliated with Hamas.
Since the beginning of hostilities, the Navy has operated in the southern naval arena in defensive, offensive, and relief efforts. Vessels attacked hundreds of terrorist targets, among them, observation posts, anti-tank squads, vessels, outposts and military infrastructure. The forces have so far eliminated about 200 terrorists at sea and on land, including many terrorists from the Hamas naval commando. In addition, 13 special operations and raids by naval forces were carried out in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli media said that the Chief of Staff of the Israeli Army and a number of senior officers warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the situation in the West Bank and its cities is on the verge of explosion. This is due to the state of tension resulting from the economic hardship and the failure to bring Palestinian workers into Israel. Things may lead to a new intifada and an additional front, which Israel will have to deal with with great force. Many security agencies participated in issuing this warning, including the Public Security and Intelligence services, the Shin Bet Interior Ministry.
And despite the Israeli economy suffering from a severe labor shortage due to the ban on Palestinian workers and the conscription of Israelis into the reserve forces, Benjamin Netanyahu did not put forward the proposal to allow the return of Palestinian workers to Israel due to disagreements between the ministers of the security government, including hard-line settlement supporters who say Doing so would pose a major threat.
According to Channel 12 news, Israeli Army Chief of Staff Herzi Halevy and other senior military commanders conveyed these warnings, and said that Israel risks opening a new front in the West Bank amid the war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip and the ongoing clashes on the northern border with Hezbollah. In addition to Netanyahu, the report said that other members of the war cabinet, Defense Minister Yoav Galant and Minister Benny Gantz, were also warned of the possibility of major unrest in the West Bank.
The report stated that the growing concern comes in the wake of Israel’s withholding of hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenues belonging to the Palestinian Authority, in addition to the refusal to allow about 150,000 Palestinian workers to return to their jobs in Israel and the settlements, noting Netanyahu’s refusal to hold a vote in the security cabinet. To cancel the two decisions, under pressure from his partners in the far-right coalition.
Israeli army commanders were quoted as saying: “We may end up with a third intifada (in the West Bank) due to discontent resulting from economic difficulties and the lack of entry of workers into Israel.”
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that "Israeli forces are fighting an invisible enemy on the northern front." The newspaper quoted Alon Britan, a platoon commander, as saying: "There is a feeling that we are sitting ducks because the average soldier does not understand big-picture tactics." The IOF reportedly does not have a plan for the future of the reservists, which has been the cause of growing dissatisfaction among their ranks. "The results will be dire if the authorities do not find solutions for the reserve soldiers and there will be less willingness to report for reserve service," a reserve soldier was quoted as saying.
According to Israeli Walla! military commentator, Amir Bohbot, "Reserve officers are displeased with the fact that, despite their continued reserve service for a period ranging from 80 to 90 days on average, no general plan has been presented to them for the coming year." In a similar vein, Bohbot underlined that not one senior Israeli official "has spoken to the reserve officers about their upcoming combat role, and as a result, their families are left in suspense, and so are companies, educational institutions, and so on."
A report published in The Washington Post addressed the crisis faced by Israeli settlers amid the military escalation on the northern front with Hezbollah in Lebanon for about three months, which has led thousands of them to evacuate their settlements, fearing Resistance operations. "This is not an official war zone. Yet explosions from Israeli artillery and Hezbollah missiles echo across the rock-strewn mountains nearly every day," the report read.
David Shtift, an Israeli settler in Kibbutz "Eilon", was quoted as saying, "What happened in the south [i.e in Gaza] was exactly what we were saying could happen here [in northern Palestine], and still could." The report claimed that at least 70,000 Israeli settlers had evacuated settlements in the north in the wake of the operations of the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon, turning the area into a closed military zone. It noted that several Israeli battalions comprising thousands of soldiers have been deployed there instead.
Tensions escalated on the southern Lebanese border with the escalation of mutual bombing operations between Hezbollah and the Israeli army. Hezbollah announced that it targeted, with guided missiles, a gathering of Israeli soldiers in the vicinity of the Admit barracks, and caused direct casualties among their ranks. The party also stated that it targeted, with guided missiles, “modernized spy equipment” at the Israeli military site Bayad Blida.
As part of the mutual bombardment between the party and the IDF, Hezbollah stated that it also attacked the Israeli site of Al-Malikiyah off the southern border of Lebanon with appropriate weapons, confirming that it had achieved a direct hit. The party also announced that it had targeted the Yiftah Barracks, a gathering of soldiers near the Admit Barracks, and the Al-Malikiyah, Al-Baghdadi, and Hanita sites. Al Jazeera's correspondent reported that missiles were fired from southern Lebanon towards Israeli positions in the occupied Shebaa Farms and Kfarshouba hills.
The IDF claimed to have eliminated Ali Hossein Barji, commander of the southern Lebanon region of Hezbollah's air unit, using an air force aircraft. Ali led dozens of operations using explosive and collection drones against Israel and the IDF forces, and even the attack on the headquarters of the Northern Command earlier in the day. Before its elimination, a launch squad from the air unit in Hezbollah was also eliminated that was on its way to launch an explosive drone toward targets in Israel.
The Lebanese Hezbollah issued a statement in which it revealed the truth about the news circulated by the media and the Israeli army about the assassination of “the commander of the southern Lebanon region in the Hezbollah air unit.” Hezbollah's media relations said in its statement: "The Zionist entity's broadcasting authority and the military spokesman for the Israeli occupation army claimed that the enemy assassinated what he sometimes called the official of the Hezbollah marching unit or the air force official at other times." The statement added: "Hezbollah's media relations categorically deny this false allegation, which has absolutely no truth, and confirms that the Mujahid brother in charge of the marching unit in Hezbollah was never subjected to any assassination attempt as the enemy claimed."
The Lebanese Resistance, Hezbollah, announced retaliation for the assassination of martyr Sheikh Saleh al-Arouri, and his brothers, who were assassinated in Beirut, as well as the assassination of the martyred Hezbollah leader Wissam Tawil (Hajj Jawad). In the statement announcing the operation, Hezbollah said that they targeted the headquarters of the Northern Command of the enemy's army in the occupied city of Safad (Dado Base) with a number of assault drones.
The headquarters of the Northern Command of the Israeli Ground Forces, or “Dado” base, is responsible for commanding the two divisions currently concerned with operations on the Lebanese front, namely: The 91st Division (whose leadership was targeted by the Resistance in previous operations) opposite the eastern axis, and the 146th Division opposite the western sector of the southern Lebanese border. The base contains a large number of command and control systems concerned with coordinating operations along the front with Lebanon. It is located at a depth of 12 km from the Lebanese border. The center is located in the occupied city of Safed, and the entire base's surrounding is inhabited by employees of the Northern Command.
When commenting on the operation carried out by the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon against the headquarters of the Northern Region Command, the Israeli Kan channel confirmed that the targeting was "a dramatic event, and it should not be taken lightly."
The first operation was conducted at 9:30 am (local time) where Hezbollah targeted the Israeli-occupied al-Malikiyah site using the appropriate weapons, with direct hits recorded The third operation was conducted at 9:35 am (local time) where Hezbollah targeted the Israeli al-Baghdadi military site using appropriate weapons, scoring a direct hit.
The fourth operation was conducted at 9:40 am (local time) where Hezbollah targeted the "Yiftah Kadesh" barracks using the appropriate weapons, resulting in a direct hit. The fifth operation was conducted at 1:00 pm (local time) where Hezbollah targeted the "Hanita" site using appropriate weapons, resulting in a direct hit.
In turn, Al Mayadeen's correspondent in southern Lebanon reported earlier that two rockets were launched from the Lebanese territories; more specifically from the direction of Upper al-Jalil. Israeli media recorded the launching of more than 20 missiles from Lebanon toward al-Jalil, noting that "Hezbollah launched a number of drones and rockets" toward northern occupied Palestine.
Israeli Air Force aircraft attacked a number of Hezbollah military infrastructures in the area of the village of Yaron in southern Lebanon and IDF artillery fired at various areas in southern Lebanon. During the day, a number of launches from Lebanese territory to Israeli territory were detected. Also, following the warning about the infiltration of hostile aircraft in the north of the country, several hostile aerial targets were identified that crossed into Israeli territory from Lebanese territory, one of them was successfully intercepted by the air defense fighters and all the incidents ended.
Al Jazeera's correspondent said that an Israeli cruise missile targeted a car in the vicinity of the town of Ghandouriya in Nabatieh Governorate, killing 3 people. The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation claimed that the official of the Hezbollah unit was liquidated in an Israeli bombing inside southern Lebanon. Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz acknowledged responsibility for the assassination of Tawil, a member of the Radwan unit, by targeting his car with a missile. Israeli warplanes also launched a series of raids on the town of Kafr Kila in the eastern sector, while Israeli artillery bombed the surroundings of the town, in addition to the surroundings of the towns of Maroun al-Ras, Yaroun, Aitaroun, and Mays al-Jabal.
The correspondent reported that 3 Israeli interceptor missiles exploded in the airspace of the town of Aitaroun. Al Jazeera's correspondent had previously reported that an Israeli drone targeted the town of Khirbet Selm in southern Lebanon with a missile while organizing the funeral of Hezbollah leader Wissam Tawil, who was killed yesterday, Monday, in an Israeli raid. The reporter added that the bombing targeted a car and resulted in 4 casualties in the vicinity of the funeral area.
The Civil Defense in southern Lebanon also reported that one person was killed and two injured in the bombing of an Israeli car in the town of Khirbet Selm during the funeral of Hezbollah field leader Wissam Tawil, who was killed yesterday in an Israeli march on his car. Hezbollah said, "3 of its fighters were martyred in an Israeli raid that targeted a car in the town of Ghandouriya."
The party had announced that it had attacked the headquarters of the Northern Command of the Israeli army in the city of Safed with a number of bomb-laden drones. On the other hand, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz confirmed that more than half of the homes in the town of Manara in the Upper Galilee were damaged by anti-tank missiles fired from Lebanon.
The confrontations between the two sides escalated following the assassination of Tel Aviv , the deputy head of Hamas’s political bureau, Saleh Al-Arouri, in the southern suburb of Beirut on January 2, and the prominent Hezbollah field commander, Wissam Tawil.
In the context of not entering into a direct confrontation and expanding the scope of the war between Hezbollah and Israel, Naim Qassem, Deputy Secretary-General of Hezbollah, said that the party does not want to expand the war, but if Israel does so, “we will continue the resistance, we will make it stronger, we will arm it more, and it will remain permanently ready.”
This coincided with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati confirming his country’s readiness to enter into negotiations to achieve stability in the south. In the same context, Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati affirmed his country’s readiness to enter into negotiations to achieve a long-term stabilization process in the south of his country and to adhere to international resolutions, the armistice agreement, and Resolution 1701. This came during his meeting with United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, in Beirut, and Mikati reiterated his call on the international community to stop the Israeli aggression.
On August 11, 2006, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution No. 1701, which called for a complete cessation of hostilities between Lebanon and Israel, and called for the creation of an area between the Blue Line (separating Lebanon and Israel) and the Litani River in southern Lebanon, free of any armed men and military equipment and weapons, except for those belonging to the Lebanese Armed Forces and UNIFIL.
Retired Vice Admiral Robert Murrett, professor of practice at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School and deputy director of the Institute for Security Policy and Law wrote: "The ongoing attacks in the by Houthi fighters Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, increased activity by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon and the steady attacks on U.S. and coalition forces in Syria and Iraq represent a clear risk of escalation throughout the region. As U.S. and allied nations have largely been limited to defensive operations, a wide range of other military courses of action are available as events unfold....
"While Iran and Iranian-backed surrogates increase pressure at all of these points, it is not clear that Tehran really desires to have hostilities move to the next level. Moreover, it should be noted that there are still several different factions in the Iranian leadership with varying interest in raising tensions throughout the Middle East. As this dynamic continues to unfold, it is likely that Iran will attempt to control the level of conflict, although the risks associated with this overall approach are considerable."
Many shipping companies continued to avoid the Red Sea for fear of being exposed to harm as a result of the Yemeni Houthi group threatening Israeli ships or those carrying Israeli goods, in support of the Gaza Strip , which has been subjected to continuous Israeli aggression for more than 3 months, and instead took the Cape of Good Hope route. Which costs more time and wages.
A spokesman for the German company "Hapag-Lloyd" (the fifth largest container ship company in the world) announced on Tuesday that the company will continue to avoid the Red Sea and the Suez Canal and divert its ships towards the Cape of Good Hope route in southern Africa, attributing the matter to security reasons. The spokesman said, "We consider that the situation is still dangerous. We re-evaluate the matter on a daily basis, and we will take the following decisions on Monday, January 15."
Two days ago, media reported that the giant state-owned Chinese shipping company COSCO had stopped sailing to Israeli ports. The Chinese company - which is the fourth largest container shipping line in the world and contributes about 11% of global trade - explained that it took this step due to escalating tensions in the Bab al-Mandab Strait and the Red Sea. COSCO's decision is considered sensitive to Israel because it cooperates with the Israeli shipping line "Zim", which will have to operate more ships on Far East routes, which may lead to higher sea shipping costs with a shortage of ships.
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. These 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
World Health Organization officials expressed their concern about the possibility of the collapse of hospitals in the southern and central Gaza Strip , with many medical personnel and patients fleeing for their lives. Only approximately one-third of Gaza's hospitals are functioning, and some of them are only partially functioning, as a result of the Israeli bombing that has continued for months on the Strip. The fighting is intense in central and southern Gaza, increasing pressure on overburdened hospitals that remain open. Sean Casey, coordinator of the World Health Organization's emergency medical teams in Gaza, told a press conference in Geneva via video link, "What we are seeing around Al-Aqsa Hospital and the intensification of hostilities very close to the Gaza European Hospital and Nasser (Hospital) raises real concern."
During his visit to Al-Aqsa Hospital in central Gaza two days ago, Casey discovered that 70% of his employees had left their jobs. He said that hundreds of patients who were well enough to escape did the same thing that same night.
He added that many workers at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis also joined hundreds of thousands of Gazans crowded into shelters in the far south of the Strip. He said there was only one doctor for more than 100 burn patients there. He added, "We still see that the health system is suffering, and health workers cannot go to their workplaces to care for patients because they fear for their lives... Patients and their families are afraid to go to hospitals because they may die on the way."
Rick Peppercorn, the representative of the World Health Organization in the occupied Palestinian territories, said in the same press conference that delivering medical aid into Gaza has become difficult for the organization. He added, "We are witnessing a complex and shrinking humanitarian field due to the extension of hostilities to the south and the difficulty of working there."
Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud chaired the session held by the Council of Ministers in Riyadh. The Council confirmed its categorical rejection of the Israeli statements about the displacement of the population of Gaza.Prince Mohammed bin Salman stresses to Blinken the importance of stopping military operations in Gaza. The Saudi News Agency, SPA, reported that at the beginning of the session, the Council of Ministers was briefed on the content of the two letters that the Saudi King and his Crown Prince, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, received from Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, and they relate to bilateral relations and ways to support and enhance them in various fields.
In his statement to SPA, the Minister of Information, Salman bin Youssef Al-Dosari, explained in his statement that the Council subsequently followed up on regional and international developments, especially developments in the situation in the Palestinian territories, expressing categorical rejection of the Israeli statements about displacing the population of Gaza, reoccupying the Gaza Strip, and building settlements, and affirming The importance of concerted efforts by the international community to activate accountability mechanisms against the occupation government’s continued violation of the rules of international legitimacy and humanitarian law.
The Foreign Ministry statement said: “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expresses the Kingdom’s condemnation of the extremist statements by two ministers in the Israeli occupation government who called for the displacement of the residents of Gaza, the reoccupation of the Gaza Strip, and the construction of settlements, and its categorical rejection of them.”v Earlier, Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir confirmed that he encourages the displacement of the residents of the Gaza Strip to countries around the world. Ben Gvir said in a recorded clip that he posted on his page on the “X” platform: “We must move towards a solution to encourage the migration of the people of Gaza. It is the correct, just, moral and humane solution.”
Axis of Resistance
"The resistance is still achieving victory despite the huge loss of innocent civilian lives, and the evidence of this is no more than the enemy resorting to the risk of assassinating some of the leaders of the resistance axis despite its certainty of the harsh response that the resistance axis will respond with. The enemy's search for victory failed, and the morale of the fighters and even the popular movements is still high. They see in the testimony of the leaders a repetition of a moment in history in which the leaders of the Islamic Arab Army were martyred in the Battle of Mu'tah, but that battle was the key to all the victories that that army would achieve in battles that would make one of the greatest countries in the history of the region." wrote Imad Al-Hataba.
The head of the political bureau of the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ), Ismail Haniyeh, said that Operation Al-Aqsa Flood came after an attempt to marginalize the Palestinian issue. Haniyeh added - in his speech at a conference of the International Union of Muslim Scholars - “The role of the nation and its scholars must be great in supporting the resistance, while we see that the countries of the world are pouring weapons into the occupation via air bridges and aircraft carriers, and the time has come to support the resistance with weapons, because this The battle of Al-Aqsa, and not the battle of the Palestinian people alone.”
Israel has set three goals: eliminating the resistance, recovering the prisoners, and displacing them from Gaza towards Egyptian territory. He explained that the Israeli occupation delineated 4 stages of the war: aerial bombardment, ground entry, focused operations against the resistance, and the political stage. Haniyeh stressed that despite the high price, the massacres, and the war of extermination, the Israeli occupation army failed to achieve any of its goals in the war on the Gaza Strip , and its losses and deaths on the battlefields were greater than what it announced.
The head of Hamas's political bureau also added that the occupation army failed, after about 100 days of war, bombing, spy planes, and search efforts, to recover any detainee. Haniyeh stressed that the Israeli occupation will never be able to recover those detained by the resistance unless all Palestinian prisoners in the occupation prisons are released.
Regarding the occupation's goal of displacing the people of Gaza, Haniyeh said, "The goal fell due to the steadfastness of our people and their implantation in our land, as the people of Gaza who were stuck outside it returned to it, and its residents did not leave it during the war and remained clinging to it." Haniyeh touched on the ongoing escalation in all areas of the West Bank , and said that the Israeli occupation forces are abusing the people of the West Bank daily, and the developments there are very dangerous, as more than 350 Palestinians have been martyred in the West Bank since the “Al-Aqsa Flood.”
Abu Hamza, spokesman for the Al-Quds Brigades - the military wing of the Islamic Jihad movement - said that the elimination of the Palestinian resistance will not be achieved even if the war continues indefinitely, stressing that the losses of the occupation army are too great to be documented, and that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will go groveling, forced to historical defeat. He added in a recorded speech that the Battle of Al-Aqsa Flood was the result of an accumulation of raids on Al-Aqsa Mosque, blatant attacks, and the continuation of the siege on the Palestinians in the West Bank and occupied Jerusalem. He stressed that Israel's goal of eliminating the resistance "will not be achieved even if the war continues indefinitely," adding, "And whoever wants to disarm us, we will disarm his soul."
Abu Hamza said that the Palestinian people are “larger and stronger than all the miserable attempts at liquidation,” adding, “Our fighters are still repelling the enemy on all fronts, and what is happening in the field at the hands of the mujahideen is much greater than the resistance cameras can document.” Abu Hamza confirmed that Israeli intelligence planes were recently shot down in the skies of Khan Yunis, and that their important information stock was greatly benefited in the field.
He added that the Mujahideen then closed in on the enemy forces with mortar shells, missiles and appropriate weapons, in addition to finishing off a special force holed up in a building and achieving certain casualties, the confirmation of which will be presented later. Abu Hamza saluted the fighters of the Al-Quds Brigades in Jenin, Tulkarm and all areas of clashes in the West Bank, and said that they inflamed the occupation and turned its vehicles into "scrap."
The spokesman addressed the settlers of the Gaza envelope , saying, “Netanyahu’s promise that you will soon return to the envelope is a continuation of selling illusion and mirage, and our decision is that there is no return or stability as long as war, killing, and displacement continue,” stressing that the resistance “will have its effect.”
The spokesman for the Al-Quds Brigades said that the most prominent achievement of the enemy army was the destruction of stones and people with tons of American explosives, which exposed the falsehood of the world and its claim to believe in human rights. He concluded by saying, "Netanyahu will have no choice but to accept what the field requires and go submissively, forced into his resounding historical defeat." He concluded by saying that the resistance jihad continues and its operations continue.
Lebanese Hezbollah fighters sent a message to the party’s Secretary-General, Hassan Nasrallah, as part of the war with Israel. Hezbollah fighters addressed Nasrallah in their letter, saying: “Your Eminence of Love, O title of truth and sincerity, O Father of the Mujahideen and martyrs, you have all our greetings and honor, all peace and prayers are yours, all love and loyalty are yours from us...You began with greetings and peace and dedicated us.” Through supplication, it provided us with support and assistance in the field and relieved us of the fatigue of nights and days.” The message added: “O our master... O God’s true promise and His witnessing might... Your soldiers have lent God their skulls... O our master, O our beloved, O master of love and defeat from you, you have taught us courage and courage.” The Hezbollah mujahideen added: “We promised you and our loyal people that we would remain faithful in keeping the will of the martyrs... Your soldiers are at your command so that God may punish the enemies with their hands and heal the hearts of a believing people.”
Allied for Democracy
Axios said that Israel does not oppose the return of Palestinians to the northern Gaza Strip, but will condition this with the liberation of hostages held by Hamas. The website wrote, citing two senior Israeli officials: “Israel is not fundamentally opposed to allowing the Palestinians to return to northern Gaza. Israeli officials will inform Secretary Anthony Blinken that the decision on such a step should be part of a new hostage deal.”
According to one source, Israeli officials believe that the issue of the return of the Palestinians constitutes a dangerous pressure tool in the hands of Israel, and it is not prepared to abandon it without progress in negotiations to release the hostages held by Hamas. The source added that the possibility of reaching a new deal will become clear within a few weeks.
According to another Israeli official, the United States and Israel realize that the return of Gaza residents will take a long time due to the ongoing fighting and conditions there. Axios sources believe that Blinken will be informed during his visit to Israel that the Israeli side is ready to begin planning with the United States and the United Nations for the return of the Palestinians to the northern Gaza Strip or to temporary shelters provided by international organizations.
Yedioth Ahronoth titled the first article on its front page, "How do we get out of the hole into which we fell?" highlighting the high costs of war in the Gaza Strip and wondering if a compromise will be worth it, or if a continuation of the war is more righteous. The article criticized the Israeli government, saying "after three months of news of death [of Israeli occupation soldiers] that drips on our heads every day, like Chinese torture, all they know how to promise us is more and more war."
"Getting out" meant "returning the kidnapped, restoring the destroyed settlements and the security and sense of security of the residents in the south and north, releasing the reservists home and trying to end the war," according to the article which also emphasized that all the talks about "the destruction of Hamas" by the occupation government "do not reflect reality." To that end the article also stressed that the Israeli occupation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has created expectations with "no way to realize them" and thus "condemning us [Israel] to an endless war."
This shows a contradiction between what it means to "get out of the pit," which entails realizing a sense of "security" for settlements bordering the Gaza Strip, and being deluded that the status quo that existed prior to October 7, which was enforced by deterrence established upon the occupation of Palestine, is something that the occupation, "Israel", could return to. The article also underscored that "the October 7th strike requires rethinking not only in relation to Hamas, Hezbollah and the Palestinian Authority," but also "regarding Iran," noting that "there, in Iran, the big failure begins."
The article most significantly noted that "the reckoning with Hamas will have to be postponed until the moment Sinwar violates the agreement that will be reached" because despite the "difficult to digest" offer of Hamas to end the war and return Israeli captives, the "all for Hamas" deal is the way. Thus, the defeat of "Israel" is to come because the occupation, predominantly, is "not currently prepared to open a front in the north," and the occupation will have to pay a very high price for now.
Former head of the Israeli intelligence service ( Mossad ) Ephraim Halevy said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to subjugate the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) and should leave now. Halevy confirmed in statements to the British newspaper The Times that the head of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Yahya Sinwar, and Hamas fighters have not lost the will to fight, and that is why they refuse to negotiate. He indicated that he believes Israel's losses are "painful," explaining that he was invited to meet with the current Mossad chief, David Barnea, several times.
In a related context, Nahum Barnea, chief analyst for the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, said that any statements from those responsible for the defeat of Hamas “do not reflect reality.” Barnea wrote, "For 3 months, we have been hearing news about the destruction, defeat, and elimination of Hamas, but unfortunately, they do not reflect reality." He considered that Netanyahu's decisions and policies had condemned Israel to an "endless war."
He explained that there is a huge discrepancy between what was achieved in the Gaza Strip and the elimination of Hamas, noting that Netanyahu set “expectations that there is no way to achieve.” He emphasized that blowing up any tunnel in Gaza is an achievement, but this does not mean “destroying all the military and governmental capabilities” of the Hamas movement.
In the context of trying to understand what happened in the Al-Aqsa flood battle that affected Israeli society, Barnea described what happened at that time as saying that Israel “fell into a deep hole, and since that day we have been standing at the bottom of the hole and asking many questions: how far have we fallen, why have we fallen, Where is the enemy that brought us down, and how will we destroy it?
In his attempt to answer these questions, he pointed out that “getting out of this hole means “returning the kidnapped people (prisoners of the resistance), restoring security and a sense of security to the residents of the south and north, releasing reserve soldiers to their homes, and trying to end the war.”
He called for postponing the reckoning with Hamas and stopping the war to return the prisoners, because their death “will be an indelible stain on the conscience of Israeli society and its cohesion, and because we are not currently ready to open a front in the north (a war with Hezbollah ), and because we depend on America, the reckoning with agitation".
According to the writer, Hamas' condition of stopping the war and releasing Palestinian prisoners means the continuation of Hamas' rule in the Gaza Strip, considering that for Israel this constitutes an "unspeakable and complete defeat."
Netanyahu said that his government would stop the evacuation and demolition of random settlements in the West Bank during the war. Netanyahu decides to stop the demolition of random settlements in the West BankIsrael prevents Palestinians from entering the Gush Etzion settlements. The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth quoted Netanyahu as saying: “We will stop the evacuation and demolition of the homes of fighters and reserve soldiers in Gush Etzion during the war.”
According to a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office: “Benjamin Netanyahu assumed that as long as the war continues, the eviction and demolition of the homes of fighters and reservists in the settlements of Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) must be halted,” and according to the office, this comes “to prevent the recurrence of events like what happened today in Gush Etzion.
The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth said that the Israeli army evacuated buildings erected in the Gush Etzion settlement. The newspaper quoted the settlers who were evacuated from their homes, saying: “Around us are hundreds of illegal Arab homes that were built with one goal: to create the infrastructure for a Palestinian state on the ground, and the Supreme Commander does not touch it,” according to their expression.
Maariv newspaper reported that Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir launched a violent attack on Defense Minister Yoav Galant, due to the evacuation of homes in the Gush Etzion settlement. The far-right Israeli minister added: “Instead of stopping and destroying the illegal Palestinian seizure of land, Gallant chose to put his finger in the eyes of the settlers and fighters. This is a continuation of the concept of turning the lover into the enemy and the enemy into the lover.”
British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said that he was concerned that Israel may have taken action in Gaza that might constitute a violation of international law. Cameron pointed out before the parliamentary foreign affairs committee that some of the developments he witnessed during the war in the besieged Palestinian Gaza Strip were "deeply worrying."
"Am I concerned that Israel has taken action that might violate international law because this particular place was bombed or something else? Yes, of course," he said while taking questions from the Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee. The Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs is responsible for monitoring the work of the British Foreign Ministry, to which Cameron was suddenly appointed late last year.
In response to a question from Conservative MP Bob Seeley whether government lawyers indicated that Israel might be vulnerable to facing the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Cameron said: “The situation is close to that.” But he pointed out that there are question marks regarding this issue, which requires greater oversight, especially from lawyers.
In a strongly worded speech delivered in the British Parliament on Monday, Jeremy Corbyn, former leader of the Labour Party, called upon the UK government to back South Africa's genocide case against the Israeli occupation. Corbyn emphasized the urgent need for accountability as he drew attention to the ongoing suffering of Palestinians who have endured savage attacks by Israel since October 7.
"People are dying of starvation and thirst in the Gaza Strip. Cannot the government understand the anger around the world when they watch this happening in real-time?" Corbyn questioned passionately. Additionally, Corbyn highlighted the devastating consequences, particularly the spiking death toll of children due to a severe lack of medical care and food security.
Corbyn expressed his support for South Africa's initiative to take the matter to the International Court of Justice (ICJ). "So many people are very pleased that the government of South Africa has taken an initiative in going to the International Court of Justice in order to hold Israel to account for the deaths of so many wholly innocent people in Gaza. Cannot the government understand that and at least support South Africa's process?"
In the political arena, criticizing Zionism had become taboo if not forbidden, hence in the British Labour Party, the leadership of Keir Starmer purged those who did not conform to his foreign policy vision, with the press having waged a smear campaign under the pretenses of “anti-Semitism” to undermine his predecessor, Jeremy Corbyn.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken began talks in Israel focusing on the future of the war on Gaza and preventing the expansion of the conflict in the region, at a time when Israel spoke of a new phase in which military operations in the Gaza Strip would be less intense. Blinken met today with his Israeli counterpart, Yisrael Katz, and President Isaac Herzog, and will later meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the War Council. He arrived yesterday evening in Tel Aviv on his fifth visit since the outbreak of the war early last October, as part of a tour that also includes Turkey, Greece, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, the occupied West Bank and Egypt.
In conjunction with the start of the talks, the Associated Press reported statements by the US Secretary of State - which he made to journalists accompanying him on his tour - that the leaders of Turkey, Jordan, Qatar, the UAE and Saudi Arabia agreed to help Gaza stabilize and recover and chart a future political path, and that these countries will consider participating in “today.” The next war in Gaza.
Blinken added that these leaders are ready to make the necessary commitments to make difficult decisions and achieve all these goals, noting that he will present what he called “Arab commitments” to Netanyahu, his war council, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas before presenting them to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. He continued that everywhere he went, he found leaders determined to prevent the expansion of the conflict in the region.
The American minister had said before his arrival that he “will convey what he heard from the leaders of the countries he visited to Israeli officials,” and that he “will speak with Israeli leaders about the future direction of their military campaign in Gaza and about his vision for the future of the region and Israel.”
Blinken added before his departure from Saudi Arabia that he found the leaders of the region in the countries he visited determined to prevent the expansion of the conflict between Israel and the Hamas movement in Gaza, explaining that everyone he spoke to understood the magnitude of the challenges, and no one believed that anything would happen overnight.
On the other hand, Israeli officials said that they would inform the US Secretary of State that the Palestinians would not return to the northern Gaza Strip unless Hamas released more of its detainees.
NBC quoted a senior American official as saying, “Blinken will inform Israel of the need to end the military campaign in Gaza as soon as possible,” adding that “he will ask it to resort to focused military operations to reduce civilian casualties.”
In the same context, Israeli officials expressed to their American counterparts their hope that the Arab countries would agree to send a peacekeeping force to Gaza, but they did not formally ask Washington to pursue the idea of forming a multinational international force in the Strip, because they know that that is unlikely to happen. American officials proposed retraining members of the Palestinian Authority security forces in order to provide security in the Gaza Strip in the medium and long term.
Before the American minister arrived in Tel Aviv, Israeli statements were made about the continuation of the war for more months, but at a slower pace. The New York Times quoted Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari as saying, "The army has begun a new, less intense phase of fighting in the Gaza Strip," adding that "the new phase will include fewer ground forces and air attacks." Hagari added that Israel will continue to reduce the number of forces in Gaza, a process that began earlier this January, he said.
Hagari claimed that the intensity of operations in the northern Gaza Strip has already begun to decline, and said, “The Israeli army will now focus on the strongholds of the Hamas movement in the center and south of the Strip, especially around Khan Yunis and Deir al-Balah,” noting that the fighting in these areas is complex, and will continue throughout the entire period. This year. The New York Times quoted American officials as saying that Israel had begun to shift from a large-scale ground and air campaign in the Gaza Strip to a more targeted phase, noting that Israeli officials informed their American counterparts that they hope to complete the transitional phase by the end of this January, but they indicated However, the timetable is not fixed.
American officials expected that the Israeli transitional process in the Strip would rely more on what they described as "surgical missions" carried out by smaller groups of elite Israeli forces moving in and out of population centers in Gaza to find and kill Hamas leaders, rescue "hostages" and destroy tunnels. They pointed out that the number of Israeli forces in the northern Gaza Strip decreased to less than half of the approximately 50,000 soldiers who were present until last December during the height of the campaign.
Butcher's Bill / Oasis of Martyrs
Palestinian armed group Hamas launched thousands of missiles at Israel and deployed its militants to infiltrate Jewish settlements near the country’s border with Gaza on 07 October 2023. The 1,200 Israelis killed on the first day would be the equivalent of 36,000 Americans killed in an attack, as a proportion to Israel’s population of 9.3 million people (compared to 332 million in the USA). Israeli President Isaac Herzog stated: “Not since the Holocaust have so many Jews been killed in one day". PM Netanyahu stated "On October 7th, Hamas murdered 1,400 Israelis. Maybe more. This is in a country of fewer than 10 million people. This would be equivalent to over 50,000 Americans murdered in a single day. That’s twenty 9/11s. That is why October 7th is another day that will live in infamy."
It is the second largest loss inflicted on the Israeli forces after the 1973 war, as the Palestinian resistance killed more than 1,200, wounded more than 5,132 others, and captured more than 250, most of them military personnel, some of whom were high-ranking officers in the army.
The HAMAS Ministry of Health in the besieged sector announced that the number of victims of the Israeli operation its beginning had risen to about 23,210 dead [down from 23,840 martyrs the previous day], 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 59,167 [up from 58,926 the previous day]. 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.
More than 130 Hezbollah fighters were killed in Lebanon during exchanges of bombing operations with Israel.
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 180, and 514 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.
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.
According to the latest data published by the army, the number of wounded soldiers and officers has risen to 1,042 since the start of its ground attack on Gaza on October 27, including 228 seriously wounded, while the total number has reached 2,438 wounded since the outbreak of the war on the 7th of October.
The Israeli army reported that 2,438 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 1,042.
At least 12,957 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.
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.
The Israeli army revealed that about 9,000 of its soldiers have received “psychological assistance” since the beginning of the war on the Gaza Strip on October 7, and about a quarter of them have not returned to combat. This came according to a new statement revealed by the Army Medical Corps, according to Channel 12 and the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth. According to the statement, nearly 9,000 soldiers have applied for psychological assistance since the beginning of the war, and approximately a quarter of them have not returned to combat.
The statement continued, "In total, about 13,000 regular and reserve soldiers required accompaniment or medical treatment at some level during the fighting, and thousands of them were injured in the battles."
Al Jazeera military and strategic expert Major General Fayez Al-Duwairi expressed his conviction that the numbers of dead and wounded announced by Israel “cannot represent the truth,” due to a discrepancy between the Israeli army’s data and the Walla website, which is close to the army itself.
Hostages
Israel had previously estimated there were 116 living hostages in Palestinian custody. Israel declared 20 out of 136 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 that about 11,000 arrests were carried out by the Israeli 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 5,755, 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 On 09 January 2024 that, since the beginning of the war, approximately 2,600 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. On 08 January 2024 it was reported that more than 1,350 wanted persons had been arrested throughout the Judea and Samaria Division and the Bekaa and Valleys Division, more than 870 of whom are associated with the terrorist organization Hamas.
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