Operation Iron Swords - Day 100 - 14 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 Axios news website reported that US President Joe Biden hung up the phone on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during their last call, in new evidence of the expansion of the dispute between them as a result of the ongoing Israeli war on the Gaza Strip for 100 days. The website indicated that the last time Biden and Netanyahu spoke was on December 23, and the aforementioned incident occurred. The website indicated that Biden had not spoken with Netanyahu for 20 days following a tense call on December 23, which a frustrated Biden ended by saying: “The talk is over.”
Axios reported that before Biden hung up the phone, Netanyahu rejected his request that Israel release the Palestinian tax revenues it is withholding. The website quoted American officials as saying that Biden and senior officials in his administration are frustrated with Netanyahu because he rejected requests from Washington related to the war on Gaza. There is increasing evidence that Biden is beginning to lose his patience with the Israeli official, stressing that the US administration is concerned that Israel will not adhere to its schedule for moving to less severe operations in Gaza.
This position of Netanyahu is disturbing the administration of US President Joe Biden , as Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported that those close to Biden believe that Netanyahu is prolonging the war in Gaza for political and personal reasons. While the Israeli "Wala" website quoted American officials as saying that US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken's recent visit to Israel exacerbated frustration within the White House and the US State Department, as Blinken explained to Netanyahu and the War Cabinet that Israel's plan for the next day is a dream that cannot be achieved.
Biden said two weeks ago that Israel had begun to lose global support because of what he described as its indiscriminate bombing of Gaza, but he reiterated that Tel Aviv could rely on American support and stressed that he supported its “right to defend itself.” The US President hinted at the existence of differences in his relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, stressing that the latter is in a "difficult position."
Operational Update
An American-British attack targeted Jabal Jida in al-Luhayyah District in the coastal province of Hodeidah, western Yemen, the Yemeni news agency SABA, based in Sanaa, reported. This marked the third consecutive attack carried out by the United States and the United Kingdom since Friday dawn, with strikes targeting the capital Sanaa, Taiz, al-Hajja, and Hodeidah.
Commenting on the earlier aggressions, the Yemeni Supreme Political Council of the Sanaa government declared that now "all American and British interests have become legitimate targets for the Yemeni Armed Forces." The Yemeni Armed Forces announced the martyrdom of 7 servicemembers in the strikes.
IDF spokesman, Brigadier General Daniel Hagari: "We will not allow harm to civilians and will exact a price from Hezbollah over time." "We are exerting our full efforts to return the abductees, every minute has a critical meaning." "The action in Khan Yunis must be precise, there is no magic here - you need time and determination."
The Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades , the military wing of the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ), published video clips of the bombing of the town of Ashdod in the Gaza Strip with a missile salvo, on the 100th day of the start of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip. The Al-Qassam Brigades said that it bombed Ashdod with a "Maqadma M75" rocket salvo in response to the Israeli massacres against civilians. The video also carried a title saying: “100 days of battle, Ashdod is under the line of fire and we have more,” and pictures of the missiles before and after they were launched from their platforms towards the Ashdod settlement.
The Palestinian resistance launched its rocket salvo a day after the Israeli army announced in its latest statement yesterday that it had managed to destroy about 700 platforms for launching Palestinian missiles towards Israel. Qassam rockets and the resistance are disturbing the Israeli settlers, especially those living in the Gaza Strip who have left their homes since the beginning of the war, although in recent weeks the Israeli government has been urging and encouraging them to return.
For its part, the Israeli army said that sirens sounded in the coastal city of Ashdod, and the occupation army did not provide details about the damage or injuries. Israeli media reported that sirens also sounded for rocket attacks in the nearby towns of Gaffni and Ben Sakai. It was reported that the debris of one of the missiles fell over the city of Ashdod, and there were no casualties.
After 99 days of war, battles were still continuing in the northern regions of the Gaza Strip, and the Palestinian resistance is still showing a high ability to confront and confront the Israeli occupation forces in the field. Moreover, the resistance - adds the Al Jazeera correspondent - is still capable of launching rockets towards the towns surrounding Gaza and even towards the Israeli depths, and determining the place, time and range for launching the rockets, in addition to causing deaths and injuries among the ranks of the occupation forces and destroying its military vehicles.
He pointed out that columnists, analysts and military observers in Israel, acknowledge that their army did not achieve the objectives of the battle and was unable to "subjugate the Hamas movement, which did not surrender and did not raise the white flag."
Arab experts and analysts believe that what achieved victory after 100 days of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip is the Palestinian resistance, with its steadfastness in the field. While the occupation did not achieve any of the goals it set, what is more is that today it is being dragged to the International Court of Justice in The Hague because of its crimes in Gaza.
The military and strategic expert, Major General Fayez Al-Duwairi, begins his assessment of the course of the war after the 100th anniversary of the field reality, which he said invalidates the occupation’s claims. In the northern region of the Gaza Strip, the occupation claimed that it achieved goals and destroyed 700 missile launching bases, and killed 9 thousand resistance fighters, as the bombardments were nullified. The rocket fired by the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades - the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) - Israeli claims.
In the central region of the Gaza Strip - Al-Duwairi continues - the fighting is still raging, but it is stagnating, and the same is true for the southern region, for which Israel mobilized 7 initial units, but it did not provide what it had hoped for. The Palestinian resistance was able to withstand throughout 100 days of aggression and imposed its will to manage the battle, and the military expert is not surprised - as he says - that the resistance was able to direct its missiles towards Haifa and Eilat Airport.
Referring to what happened in the Battle of Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7, 2023, Al-Duwairi confirms that the Hamas movement practiced a strategic deception similar to the strategic deception carried out by the Egyptian army in 1973.
Journalist and expert writer in Israeli affairs, Wadih Awawdeh confirmed that in contrast to what the Palestinian resistance achieved after 100 days of war, the Israeli army suffered continuous failure, which makes Israeli analysts, military observers, and influencers rise up against their army and government, and demand seeking the return of those detained by the resistance in Gaza until the war stops.
He points out that opinion polls in Israel show a decline in Israeli confidence in the ability of the army and the government to resolve the battle in the Gaza Strip, especially since after 100 days it turned out to be a human cost and did not achieve its goals. Awawdeh notes that there are Israeli commentators who have begun to praise the steadfastness of the Palestinian resistance, and say that it succeeded in practicing a “clever deception” on October 7th.
A prominent political commentator was quoted as saying, "If it were not for American weapons, we would be forced to fight Hamas and the Lebanese Hezbollah with sticks and stones." From the point of view that the journalist and expert in Israeli affairs confirms, Israel’s sitting in the chair of the accused in the International Court of Justice means that it has suffered painful and distressing losses at the level of image and awareness in the world, even if Western governments are still supporting Israel, which he said is terrified of A precautionary decision may condemn it, or call on it to cease fire in Gaza.
In the city of Nablus, in the Samaria Division, three wanted persons were arrested and materials for making explosives and a drone were confiscated. Also, during a proactive activity in the city, a suspect vehicle that tried to escape from the forces was stopped and a loaded M4 weapon was found inside. The two suspects who were driving the vehicle were arrested. In addition, in the village of Umm Zefa and in the city of Hebron in the Yehuda Division and in the village of Mazraa El Kabalia in the Ephraim Division, the forces located and confiscated weapons, terrorist funds and other means of warfare.
An IDF force patrolling the Mount Dov area encountered a squad of terrorists who had crossed from Lebanese territory towards the territory of the State of Israel. The force made contact and during the exchange of fire eliminated three terrorists. During the battle the IDF fired artillery and mortars into the area.
Air force fighter jets completed a wave of attacks in Lebanese territory. Among the targets attacked, terrorist infrastructures and operational headquarters of the terrorist organization Hezbollah in Lebanese territory. Also, the Air Force attacked infrastructure and other assets of the terrorist organization Hezbollah in Lebanon from noon. Air Force fighter jets attacked two terrorist infrastructures, an operational headquarters and one military target of the Hezbollah terrorist organization in Lebanese territory. During the day, a number of launches from Lebanese territory toward the territory of the State of Israel were detected in the area of ??the settlements of Misgav Am and Goren that fell in open areas.
The "Islamic Resistance in Iraq" announced that it had targeted three occupation bases in Iraq and Syria with missiles and drones. The movement said: “In continuation of our approach to resisting the American occupation forces in Iraq and the region, and in response to the Zionist entity’s massacres against our people in Gaza, the Mujahideen of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq attacked, using missiles and drones, three occupation bases in Iraq and Syria, namely the Kharab al-Jir base and the airport base.” Erbil and Koniko base. The Islamic Resistance confirmed that it would continue to “strike the enemy’s strongholds.”
Pentagon spokesman Patrick Ryder reported last Thursday that the number of attacks on US military bases in Iraq and Syria had reached 130 since October 17 of last year.
Iraq escalated its official and political positions against the international coalition and American forces in the country after the attack that targeted the headquarters of the "Al-Nujaba Movement" in Baghdad, and resulted in the killing of the special operations commander of the faction, which Washington accuses of carrying out attacks against military bases in Iraq and Syria.
Washington deploys 2,500 military personnel in Iraq and about 900 in Syria within the framework of the so-called “International Coalition to Combat ISIS,” the formation of which was announced in 2014.
Washington gave the Houthis what they wanted, which was to fight. Michael Mulroy, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Middle East Affairs during the administration of former US President Donald Trump, said that “the Pentagon must prepare for additional military action,” and added: “The United States must begin planning to increase our response to more attacks in the Red Sea.” Or Syria and Iraq. The former American official called for "the necessity of including the Iranian Revolutionary Guard among those goals."
Gerald Feierstein, a former US ambassador to Yemen, said he believed that “the United States gave the Houthis exactly what they wanted, which was to fight,” and added: “They were confident that they could withstand anything we would do. They saw that they had popular support.” Feierstein said: “At the regional level, this strengthens the image of the Houthis. It places them in the first row of Iranian followers in the ‘axis of resistance’. We should not give the Houthis what they want, and that is exactly what we did.”
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
Axis of Resistance
head of the Supreme Political Council in Yemen, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi praised the Yemeni support for the people of Palestine. According to Mohammad Jamshidi, Raisi praised the support that Yemen has offered to Gaza and both leaders discussed international maritime security. Al-Mashat affirmed that Yemeni actions are targeting the oppressive Zionist regime, according to Jamshidi. The two also discussed Yemen's relations with Saudi Arabia, he added.
Raisi reiterated that unwavering support for Palestine is the official stance of the Islamic Republic of Iran and emphasized that the oppression of the Israeli occupation will end with the victory of the Palestinian people.
According to the website of the Iranian Presidency, Raisi called the Israeli occupation a "genocidal regime" that has committed crimes against tens of thousands of oppressed Palestinian civilians, including women and children, and this has been condemned by many nations around the world. The Iranian President also condemned the US role in attacking the Yemeni people, calling its actions a revelation of its true aggressive nature and accused it of violating human rights.
Speaking at the Al-Aqsa Flood and Awakening of Human Conscience conference, held by the World Forum for Proximity of Islamic Schools of Thought, Raisi said the Palestinian cause evolved into the most prominent humanitarian issue today and remains a top priority within the collective consciousness of both people and governments. He added that "the Palestinian people have been resilient and steadfast against the Zionist occupation from the beginning," affirming that "the end of the Zionist entity is inevitable."
Raisi highlighted the ineffectiveness of normalization and peace talks, such as "Camp David, Sharm El Sheikh, and Oslo." He emphasized that the underlying issue at hand is global hegemony, stating that hegemony cannot be relied upon due to its failure to uphold commitments. The Iranian President reaffirmed his country's dedication to "sustaining support for the people of Gaza and the Resistance factions that have advanced their military capabilities, employing sophisticated missiles and drones."
The leader of the Ansar Allah movement, Sayyed Abdul Malik al-Houthi, earlier warned that "any American aggression against Yemen will not go unanswered," emphasizing that Sanaa is "ready for any confrontation with Washington." He ensured that such actions undertaken by the US will be condemned by the "freedom-seeking nations in the world."
On his end, al-Mashat confirmed that Yemen would remain steadfast in its confrontations against the Israeli occupation in support of the people in Gaza, expressing hope that the Muslim world will continue to shed light on the ongoing atrocities and war crimes committed by the "Zionists and their backers."
The al-Aqsa Martyrs' Battalions declared the establishment of a unified military council with factions across Samaria, preparing for the defense of Palestine. They insist all factions will be under the Fatah organization's military council. A warning is issued to the Palestinian Authority, urging them to cease arrests and security coordination, emphasizing the need for unity in facing a major war on all fronts.
Abu Ubaida, spokesman for the Al-Qassam Brigades - the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) - said that the brigades targeted and removed 1,000 Israeli military vehicles during the 100 days of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip. Abu Ubaida revealed - during an exclusive speech broadcast by Al Jazeera - that the Al-Qassam Brigades have inflicted - and are still inflicting - the Israeli occupation with heavy losses greater than what they incurred on October 7, 2023, in reference to Operation “ Al-Aqsa Flood .”
He pointed out that " most of the ammunition and weapons we targeted the enemy with were from the military industry of the Al-Qassam Brigades," stressing that the Battle of Al-Aqsa Flood is the battle of the Palestinian homeland in which the people and the resistance fight in one trench. He praised "the creativity of Al-Qassam fighters despite the huge difference in the balance of power, and despite the deplorable crimes of genocide and massacres they commit."
He stressed that most of the weapons used by the faction's fighters were homegrown weapons, which included improvised explosive devices, rocket-propelled grenades, claymores, explosively formed penetrators, sniper rifles, and bullets, among other equipment. However, Abu Obeida emphasized that these weapons would have been futile were it not for the "most crucial [locally produced] product," which is Palestinian fighters, who creatively utilized these tools to bravely confront occupation forces, despite the harsh conditions. "Al-Qassam Brigades and these [weapons] would not have been of any benefit against the dirty American arsenal were it not for the most crucial product, which is the Palestinian fighter, whose will and determination stand as an unstoppable force on the ground."
He stressed that any talk other than stopping the aggression against the Palestinian people has no value, indicating that the occupation failed to achieve its goals, or free any prisoner held by the resistance. He also mocked his claims about destroying the resistance’s capabilities, its missiles, and its network of tunnels.
He said that the fate of many Israeli prisoners had become unknown during the past weeks, before adding that many of the prisoners - in most cases - had been killed and the occupation bore responsibility for their fate. Al-Qassam spokesman saluted the resistance in Lebanon, Yemen and Iraq, noting that the resistance in Gaza had received messages from these parties to expand its operations in the coming days as the aggression against Gaza continued.
Abu Ubaida touched on the Israeli crimes during the war, saying that it is the resistance’s duty to inform the two billion Muslims in the world that the occupation destroyed most of the mosques in the Gaza Strip. It is noteworthy that the speech of Al-Qassam Brigades spokesman Abu Ubaida was the first in audio and video since last November 23, which preceded the temporary humanitarian truce that lasted for a week.
Hamas' al-Qassam Brigades received messages from its allies in Lebanon, Iraq, and Yemen, in which Resistance factions have revealed their intent to intensify military operations against the Israeli occupation, Abu Obeida, stated. In a broadcast videotaped address, marking the 100th day of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip, Abu Obeida emphasized that the Battle of Al-Aqsa Flood is a critical point in the history of the Palestinian people and the Ummah, saying it is a "scream that resonated [deeply], freeing the [entire] nations and colonized people."
The spokesperson highlighted great disparities between the Resistance and the Israeli occupation, in terms of military capabilities, in which the Palestinian Resistance was able to overcome these difficulties and deal heavy blows to the occupation. He stressed that the operation launched on October 7 came as a response to the Israeli "massacres that sought to crush our people."
Abu Obeida said the Resistance in the Gaza Strip inflicted significant losses on the enemy and continues to do so. He said that the losses incurred by the occupation, throughout its invasion of the Gaza Strip, surpass those inflicted on it on October 7. He added that the ground operations conducted by the Resistance fighters, in the context of the ongoing battle, "will go down in our Ummah's history as one of the greatest and holiest struggles."
The Secretary-General of the Lebanese Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, presented an assessment of the progress of the Israeli war against Hamas, stressing that Israel “did not achieve any of its declared and undeclared goals.” Nasrallah said in a speech on “the anniversary of the week of the martyr Wissam Hassan Tawil,” today, that “Israel is mired in failure and is in a deep hole, as its analysts confirm, and it has not achieved any victory. It has not achieved any of its declared and undeclared goals, according to the consensus of the Israelis themselves.”
He added: "The occupation's losses add to its confusion, the latest of which is the discovery of 4,000 disabled people among its army within a hundred days, and the number may reach 30,000." Nasrallah stressed that "the enemy defeated many Arab armies in 6 days, but in 100 days, resistance factions are fighting in the northern Gaza Strip and in Khan Yunis, which have resistance capabilities and a broad and strong faith."
He continued, "The enemy is still fighting to achieve 'some achievement' before moving to the third phase of the war in which it will redeploy its forces... The enemy was not able to eliminate the resistance, not even the Hamas government. Today, all the areas evacuated from the northern Gaza Strip are run by a government." agitation". He said: “The greatest disaster in Israel will be when the war stops and what will befall this entity and what the resistance will do to it, primarily in Gaza and other resistance fronts.”
He considered that "if the current path continues on the Gaza, West Bank, Lebanon, Yemen and Iraq fronts, the enemy government will accept the conditions of resistance."
Hezbollah's chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah described the US-UK aggression on Yemen as "reckless," stressing that US President Joe Biden will soon realize that the attack on Yemen was a "foolish mistake." He explained that if Washington assumes the Yemenis will now stop their operations in support of Palestine, then "they don't know Yemen, and they don't know Yemenis."
"The Americans believe that Yemen will back down after the aggression, they are mistaken and ignorant," he said, warning that "the American aggression will lead to the continued targeting of Israeli ships and ships heading to the occupied entity." Sayyed Nasrallah also addressed the militarization of the Red Sea by the United States and its allies.
He noted that, while previously 95% percent of shipping through the waterway was safe and secure during Yemen's operations, that number has plummeted to almost 0 after the US and its allies got involved militarily and attacked Yemen. This proved that the US is contradicting itself; while the US is claiming it does not the Israeli war on Gaza to "expand," it is the one expanding it, Sayyed Nasrallah added.
Allied for Democracy
As the war in Gaza entered its 100th day, disagreements increased within the Israeli government headed by Benjamin Netanyahu , while voices calling for him to step down began to grow louder. The head of the Yisrael Beytenu party , Avigdor Lieberman, said that the current Israeli government is no longer capable of leading the people, indicating the necessity of forming a new government. Lieberman pointed out that Defense Minister Yoav Galant's abandonment of the war government is a low level that the government has never reached before. Lieberman was referring to Gallant leaving the war cabinet meeting due to his office director being prevented from attending, amid increasing tension within the council. Gallant's position coincided with increasing tensions and disagreements within the War Council, and Israeli Channel 13 reported that Gallant asked Netanyahu not to "disrupt" his work within the government. During recent months, the Israeli media has repeatedly touched on ongoing disagreements between Gallant and Netanyahu, related to how to manage the aggression on the Gaza Strip and the aftermath of the war, in addition to Netanyahu’s repeated attempts to hold the army responsible for the war on Gaza.Netanyahu's problems did not stop at his dispute with his Defense Minister. In a remarkable scene, Benny Gantz , head of the State Camp Party and a member of the War Council, participated in a demonstration in central Tel Aviv , to demand the return of Israeli prisoners from the Gaza Strip. Gantz is considered the most prominent man in Netanyahu's government and constitutes a guarantee for the government's survival, as he allied with Netanyahu after the Al-Aqsa flood battle , and rejected the demands of many Israeli politicians to resign in order to overthrow Netanyahu and his government.
An opinion poll conducted by the Israeli newspaper Maariv showed that 29% of Israelis believe that Netanyahu is most suitable to head the Israeli government. Maariv indicated in its poll last Friday that 42% of Israelis said that Gantz is most suitable for the position. These tensions in the government coincide with the demonstrations taking place in various areas in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem , and Haifa, demanding that the Israeli government conclude a deal to release prisoners held by the resistance in Gaza. These demonstrations are part of ongoing activities since yesterday evening, Saturday, coinciding with the 100th day of the war.
But Netanyahu, whose political future depends on the outcome of the war, has shown indifference to growing calls for an end to the fighting. Yesterday, he said in a press conference coinciding with the 100th day of the war, "We will continue the war until the end... until complete victory." He added at the conference that “no one can prevent Israel from fighting until victory in Gaza, whether it is The Hague or what he called the axis of evil.”
Israeli President Isaac Herzog indicated that the present time is the most appropriate for holding responsible discussions to preserve the “unity of the country,” adding that any return to polarization will endanger Israel’s security and the lives of its citizens. Herzog indicated, in statements he made to the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation, that the war broke out at a time when Israel was experiencing an unprecedented state of polarization in its history, noting that the Israelis nevertheless chose unity immediately, according to his claim. An opinion poll revealed that 53% of Israelis believe that Tel Aviv did not win the war, while 30% said that Israel lost the war, while 8% confirmed that Israel suffered a crushing defeat.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant said that the presence of a strong Palestinian authority is in Israel's security interest, warning of an explosion in the situation in the West Bank as a result of the continued prevention of entry of Palestinian workers into Israel and the continued prevention of the transfer of Palestinian clearing funds since last October 7.
Gallant said that delaying the resolution of these two issues may harm the achievement of the war’s goals, noting - in another context following a meeting he held today to assess the situation in the West Bank - that “the Israeli army will not stop its war until it defeats Hamas and wins this war.”
These statements by Gallant come within the context of the discrepancies and disagreements within the ruling sphere in Israel, as his position on the Palestinian Authority is the opposite of what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeats and insists on .
Netanyahu had said that Israel was ready to fight the Palestinian Authority's security forces in the West Bank, stressing that the Gaza Strip would remain under Israeli security control after the war. Netanyahu added - according to statements leaked by Israeli media about him to the Foreign Affairs and Security Committee in the Knesset - that Israel is ready for a scenario in which it turns the barrels of rifles and directs them towards the authority forces.
The Palestinian presidency denounced Netanyahu's statements about his far-right government's readiness for the possibility of waging war against the Palestinian security forces in the West Bank, and considered them evidence of his intention to ignite the West Bank.
Former head of the Israeli Shin Bet security service, Yaakov Peri, said on Sunday that the current head of the agency, Ronen Bar, intends to resign from his position after the war. Perry, who held this position in the late 1980s and early 1990s, added in an interview with Israeli Army Radio: “I spoke to him directly about what is expected and I have no doubt that he will be one of the first to hand over the keys after the war.”
The former head of the Israeli security service explained that Bar explained this in the corridors of the Shin Bet. He stated that the head of the agency stressed that “the price of failure must be paid,” and the intention to pay is “to leave the position.” The head of the Shin Bet said, more than a week after the surprise attack by Hamas on October 7, that he bears responsibility.
On the other hand, Shin Bet officials said that the only statement on this subject made by the head of the service to service personnel was in the first week of the war, according to what was reported by the Hebrew Walla website . In addition, Hebrew media said that the Israeli security service warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of a dramatic scenario and imminent escalation in the West Bank.
The Hebrew Channel 13 said that the Israeli General Security Service issued a strong warning to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of an escalation in the West Bank in the wake of unemployment and the failure to transfer funds to Ramallah.
IDF published a large data set with information on its operations in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and Lebanon, from the number of terror operatives killed, to the number of sites struck.
According to the data, more than 9,000 Hamas operatives and fighters of other terror groups have been killed by the IDF in the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the war, in addition to some 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7. The Hamas-run health ministry has said over 23,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, which includes both civilians and Hamas members. The IDF's data says the military had killed two Hamas brigade commanders and 19 battalion commanders and other seniors with an equivalent rank. More than 50 Hamas company commanders and operatives with a similar rank have also been killed, according to the data.
In Lebanon, the IDF says it has killed more than 170 terror operatives, mostly members of the Iran-backed Hezbollah. In Lebanon, some 750 Hezbollah positions had been hit, according to the IDF's data, though other sources stated that since the start of the war on Gaza, it had bombed 3,400 targets in Lebanon.
Some 30,000 targets had been struck in the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the war, including more than 3,400 that were discovered as Hamas sites amid the fighting.
THe IDF said since the beginning of the war, some 9,000 projectiles fired from Gaza crossed the border into Israel, another 2,000 from Lebanon, and around 30 from Syria. Israeli Channel 12 indicated that 11,000 rockets have been launched at Israel since last October 7, including 9,000 from Gaza and 2,000 rockets from Lebanon.
The IDF said the Military Intelligence Directorate's Unit 504 has interrogated some 2,300 Palestinian suspects in the Gaza Strip, some of whom were arrested and brought to Israel for further questioning.
A total of 7,653 trucks ferrying humanitarian aid entering the Gaza Strip have been inspected by Israeli authorities at the Nitzana and Kerem Shalom crossings. The IDF says the trucks have carried a total of 137,920 tons of aid. The IDF has also made 79,000 phone calls, dropped 7.2 million leaflets, sent 13.7 million texts and 15 million recorded calls to Palestinians in Gaza with evacuation warnings.
Since October 7 in the West Bank, the IDF says troops have arrested more than 2,650 wanted Palestinians, including more than 1,300 affiliated with Hamas. It said 40 brigade-level raids had been carried out, and 14 homes of Palestinians accused of terrorism had been demolished.
According to the IDF's data, a total of 295,000 reservists had been called up since the beginning of the war. Of them, around 45,000 were serving despite receiving an exemption from reserve duty. The IDF says the nearly 300,000 reservists have been on duty for an average of 61 days. Men make up 81-percent of the reservists, with the other 19% being women. 115,000 of the reservists are fathers, and some 3,000 are mothers. Half of the reservists are between the ages of 20-29, with 31% being between the ages of 30-39. Another 13% are aged 40-49, 5% aged 50-59, and 1% aged 60-69.
A total of 522 soldiers and reservists have been killed and another 2,536 have been wounded since October 7. Of them, 188 were killed and 1,113 were wounded during the ground offensive in Gaza. The IDF evacuated 970 soldiers by helicopters, and about 1,700 by ambulances, who were wounded during battles with Palestinian resistance factions. The IDF has also listed 19 soldiers killed due to friendly fire in Gaza, and another 36 by accidents amid the war, including car crashes and military-related incidents.
White House Strategic Communications Coordinator John Kirby announced that Washington believes that the time has come for Israel to reduce the intensity of hostilities in the Gaza Strip, and this matter will be discussed with Tel Aviv. Kirby told CBS: “I can say that US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has just returned from the region, and we are actively discussing with them the transition to less intensive operations. We consider that now is the appropriate time for this transition. We consider that the time has come.” for this transformation.
US Senator Bernie Sanders called for US Congress to "start moving to protect children in Palestine," calling the Israeli assault on Gaza "worse than what took place in Dresden over a two-year period." During an appearance with CNN's State of the Union, Sanders offered a resolution to investigate the "humanitarian cataclysm…done with American bombs and money." He called the killing of nearly 24,000 Palestinians and injury of over 60,000 a "humanitarian catastrophe" and emphasized that two-thirds of those killed were women and children, lamenting the 70% of homes demolished by Israeli strikes.
"If I use the word Dresden, Germany, to you, you think about the horrific destruction during World War II of that city. What is going on in Gaza now in three months is worse than what took place in Dresden over a two-year period. This is a catastrophe…" Last month, an article published by the Financial Times revealed that the damage caused by Israel's bombing campaigns in the Gaza Strip has approached the UK and US's years-long bombing of German cities in the Second World War.
Although Sanders maintained that the Israeli occupation has a right to "respond" to Operation Al-Aqsa Flood launched on October 7, he expressed that it did not have the right to wage war against "an entire people, women and children." He called for the US Congress to act to bring an end to the destruction since it was being executed "with military weapons supplied by the US." "We cannot turn our backs on it. Congress has got to start moving to protect children in Palestine.”
In November 2023, Sanders' stance stood out differently. He expressed that he does not seek to defund "Israel" despite the ongoing genocide, but rather put some laws in place so that it practices occupation and ethnic cleansing within some set boundaries. Calling the Palestinian Resistance movement Hamas a "corrupt terrorist organization," Sanders outright ignored the right of citizens facing an occupation to bear arms and fight said occupation.
Meanwhile, Sanders asserted that the actions of the Israeli occupation in Gaza violate "every code of human decency" and must come to an immediate halt. The pro-Israeli Senator put five conditions in place for the continuation of aid to "Israel", and they are as follows:
- Cessation of indiscriminate bombings - Sanders called for an end to the indiscriminate bombing that has resulted in the loss of thousands of civilian lives. He urged for a significant pause in military operations to allow for massive humanitarian assistance to reach the region.
- Right to return for the displaced - Sanders insisted on recognizing the right of displaced Gazans to return to their homes.
- No long-term re-occupation, blockade - The Senator demanded a commitment to avoiding long-term Israeli re-occupation or blockade of the Gaza Strip.
- End to settler violence, freeze on settlement expansion - He called for an end to settler violence in the West Bank and a freeze on the expansion of Israeli settlements.
- Commitment to peace talks for a "two-state solution" - Sanders emphasized the need for a commitment to broad peace talks, aiming for a "two-state solution" after the brutal war on Gaza is over.
Butcher's Bill / Oasis of Martyrs
Ashraf al-Qudra, the spokesperson for the HAMAS Ministry of Health in Gaza, provided a detailed account of the victims of the Israeli brutal aggression and genocide against the people of Palestine in Gaza, marking the 100th day of "the genocide". Al-Qudra stated that during the 100 days of the heinous Israeli aggression on Gaza, the Israeli occupation has deliberately destroyed the healthcare system and its infrastructure, leading to its complete collapse.
The spokesperson further added that the occupation has also intentionally targeted 150 health facilities, rendering 30 hospitals and 53 health centers inoperative, and destroyed more than 121 ambulances. Al-Qudra pointed out that the occupation has killed 337 healthcare professionals and detained, under harsh circumstances, about 99 others. Al-Qudra highlighted that the occupation committed 12 massacres against Palestinian families in Gaza in the past 24 hours, killing 125 and injuring 265.
In total, the occupation committed over 2,000 massacres against Palestinian families in the Gaza Strip. Additionally, the occupation, through bombing and destruction, forced approximately 2 million Palestinians to flee in harsh conditions, facing the risk of famine, the spread of diseases, and epidemics, according to the spokesperson for health in Gaza.
Al-Qudra urged international institutions to "take effective and focused interventions to prevent the humanitarian and health disaster among Palestinian refugees." He pointed out that after 100 days, the international community has failed to provide a safe humanitarian corridor to ensure the flow of medical aid and the evacuation of the wounded away from the restrictions imposed by the Israeli occupation.
The spokesperson also called on the free people and nations of the world to "take effective steps capable of stopping the aggression on Gaza," emphasizing that international parties should "provide new mechanisms to ensure the entry and flow of medical aid, medical teams, field hospitals, and the departure of the wounded and patients for treatment abroad."
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 Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Observatory revealed shocking numbers resulting from 100 days of the ongoing Israeli war on the Gaza Strip , noting that “100,000 Palestinians were killed and injured.” The Observatory said in a statement, “There are 100,000 Palestinians killed, wounded and missing on the 100th day of the Israeli genocide against the Gaza Strip.”
It added, "Israel committed horrific war crimes that killed an average of 1,000 Palestinians from the Gaza Strip every day, in the bloodiest statistic in the modern history of wars." It continued, "About 92% of the victims in Gaza were civilians, including 12,345 children, 6,471 women, 295 health workers, 41 civil defense members, and 113 journalists."
According to the Observatory, “two million and 955 thousand Palestinians were forcibly displaced from their homes and residential areas in the Gaza Strip, without the availability of safe shelter for them, meaning 85% of the total population.” It accused Israel of "deliberately destroying and causing serious damage to infrastructure facilities in the Gaza Strip, and making it an uninhabitable area for residents."
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 23,968 dead, 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 60,582. 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 IDF intensified its military operations in the West Bank, and increased the pace of incursions and raids into cities, towns, and camps, resulting in the martyrdom of 342 Palestinians, the injury of about 3,950, and the arrest of 5,780, according to official HAMAS sources.
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 193, and 522 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 2,523 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
Al-Qassam Brigades publishes a video clip of Israeli prisoners and hostages: “Tomorrow we will inform you of their fate.” In the clip, the prisoners called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stop the war in order to return them to their families. An Israeli prisoner said in the clip: “Stop this madness and return us to our families.”
Earlier, Abu Ubaida, spokesman for the Al-Qassam Brigades, said in an audio recording, “The fate of many of the enemy’s prisoners and detainees has become unknown in recent weeks, but the rest have all entered the tunnel of the unknown due to the Zionist aggression.” He added, "Most likely, many of them will have been killed recently, while the rest are still in imminent and great danger every hour, and the enemy's leadership and army bear full responsibility."
Abu Ubaida continued, "We were informed from several parties on the resistance fronts that they are seeking to expand their strikes against the enemy in the coming days in light of the continued aggression against Gaza." He declared, "After a hundred days of battle, confrontation, and confrontation of aggression, this is the enemy's leadership swallowing pain and wading through the mire of failure and failure."
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. By another count, 132 of them are still being held in Gaza, and 25 of them have been confirmed dead. 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 total number of prisoners in Israeli prisons is 8,800, as documented by the club until the end of December 2023. The Prisoners' Club explained that arrests after the 7th of October amounted to more than 5,975, 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. The arrest campaigns affected all groups, including women and children, as the number of women who were arrested reached about 200, while the number of arrests among children until the end of last December exceeded 355 children. The number of administrative detainees in Israeli prisons reached more than 3,290, which is the highest percentage since the years of the 1987 Intifada.
Israel said on 14 January 2024 that, since the beginning of the war, approximately 2,650 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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