Operation Iron Swords - Day 108 - 22 January 2024

Contents

NEW - Operations NEW - Operations Maps NEW - By-Standers NEW - Axis of Resistance NEW - Allied for Democracy UPDATED - Oasis of Martyrs UPDATED - Hostages

The US called the attacks in Yemen "Operation Poseidon Archer", accoring to CNN. The United States and the United Kingdom have carried out a new round of strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen as the Iran-aligned armed group continues to target commercial shipping in the Red Sea. The Houthis, who control much of Yemen, have attacked dozens of ships in the major waterway since November, disrupting international maritime trade and raising concern about the impact on the global economy.

The US and UK said they had carried out eight strikes, with support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada and the Netherlands, targeting a Houthi underground storage site as well as missile and surveillance capabilities. “These precision strikes are intended to disrupt and degrade the capabilities that the Houthis use to threaten global trade and the lives of innocent mariners,” the joint statement said. Grant Shapps, Britain's defense secretary, said that the attacks are another blow to the Houthis' ability to threaten global trade, and that Britain will continue to support regional stability throughout the Middle

The US Central Command also stated, "The attacks were aimed at areas in Yemen controlled by the Houthis who routinely attack international trade ships and ships of the US Navy, and are intended to damage the ability of the Houthis to continue their attacks." The targets included missile systems and launchers, air defense systems, radars and weapons storage facilities."

Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip witnessed difficult hours as a result of it being subjected to an unprecedented and intense Israeli bombardment that left more than 160 martyrs and wounded, amid explosions and Israeli attempts to penetrate the western axis of the city, and fierce clashes waged by the resistance that led to the killing of at least three occupation officers and the injury of dozens of others. At a time when the occupation army announced the expansion of its operations in Khan Yunis and spoke of 7 brigades operating underground and above ground, the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) said that Israel had committed a new crime against the displaced by bombing 5 shelter centers in the governorate. This resulted in dozens of martyrs and wounded.

Israeli media confirmed the killing and wounding of more than 20 officers and soldiers in the city of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, and Likud Party Minister Tali Gottliff called on the army to issue an official statement clarifying this news.

Israeli sources told Axios "Israel" has presented The Palestinian Resistance with a plan through Qatari and Egyptian mediators that includes up to two months of a pause in the war as part of a multi-phase settlement that would also involve the release of all remaining captives in Gaza. The proposal would have a pause of up to two months but had no mention of a permanent ceasefire, as the Israeli genocidal war against the Strip has claimed the lives of 25,295 Palestinians with the number of injuries reaching a staggering 63,000 since October 7.

Brett McGurk, President Biden's assistant, visited Egypt on Sunday and will then go to Qatar for discussions aimed at making progress in the negotiations to free Israeli captives while disregarding the thousands of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.

Israeli officials told Axios they are awaiting a response from Hamas regarding the potential deal, which includes the release of all remaining captives and a return of the bodies of those who have died. The officials explained the first phase would involve the release of women and men over the age of 60, and captives with serious medical conditions.

The next steps would entail the release of female IOF troops, non-military individuals under the age of 60, Israeli male troops, and bodies of captives. The Israeli occupation and Hamas would agree on the number of Palestinian prisoners to be released, followed by separate discussions on the identities of these detainees, according to the Israeli proposal.

Additionally, the idea involves redeploying the IDF such that some are relocated out of Gaza's key population centers, as well as enabling Palestinian people to gradually return to Gaza City and the northern Gaza Strip when the accord is executed. According to Israeli authorities, the plan clearly states that Israel would neither agree to halt the war nor free all 6,000 Palestinian inmates held in Israeli jails, which are among the main conditions of the resistance to initiate any captives exchange agreement.

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich believes that the claim that Israeli captives in Gaza can be released and then "Israel" could go back to fighting and eliminate Hamas is "science fiction." The Knesset Channel quoted Smotrich as saying that he would not agree to a deal that includes a ceasefire with Hamas, adding: "You can say that releasing the captives and going back to fighting and eliminating Hamas is science fiction." It is worth noting that Smotrich and Israeli Police Minister Itamar Ben Gvir always urge in their extremist statements to continue fighting and continue the war with the declared aim of destroying the Gaza Strip.

Former Israeli Reserve General Yitzhak Brick has said that Israel will not be able to achieve its main war objectives of ending Hamas and its political and military capabilities or retrieving the captives, and this failure would impose on the occupation entity paying a very heavy price. US National Security Council Spokesperson John Kirby told reporters earlier that US President Joe Biden "still believes in the promise and the possibility of a two-state solution."

The mother of Israeli soldier Ron Sherman (19 years old), who was detained by the Palestinian resistance in the Gaza Strip , accused the Israeli army of deliberately killing her son during the assassination of the commander of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades - the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) - Ahmed Al-Ghandour in Jabalia, north of sector last November. Sherman's mother said that the army knew where her son and two other hostages were being held with him, but the army chose to sacrifice him to eliminate the commander of the Hamas Northern Brigade.

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz called for the opening of an independent investigation into the killing of three Israeli detainees with poison gas thrown by the Israeli army inside a tunnel in Gaza, according to what the mother of one of the detainees said. The newspaper asked, "Did the Israeli army use poison gas in Gaza to kill people in the tunnels? And if it used such a tactic, is this legal under the laws of war to which Israel is bound?" It continued, "Are the lives of the hostages taken into account when making decisions about the tunnels?"

Operational Update

Al Jazeera military and strategic expert, Major General Fayez Al-Duwairi, said that the method of managing the battle in the northern Gaza Strip differed significantly, as the defensive approach of the resistance became based on lone wolves undertaking the task of monitoring and passing information to reach movement and fire, while he described the Israeli-discovered tunnel in Khan Yunis in the south as for public service purposes. Al-Duwairi explained that the first approach was based on large-scale attacks by pushing the Israeli forces deep into Gaza City, but now the number has become limited at its highest level and is estimated at a brigade.

He pointed out that the battle now boils down to a battle of movement, as the Israelis seek to make incursions, and the speed of its movement depends on the corresponding measures taken by lone wolves distributed over more than one region. He pointed out that the mission of these wolves is to distract the invading Israeli forces by distributing their members in a systematic manner consistent with the nature of the land, as areas have been prepared for luring and killing, adding that “if the occupation forces stop and retreat, they will be closed in, and if they advance, they will be confronted.”

Regarding what was reported by the Israeli newspaper "Yedioth Ahronoth", 130 Israeli commanders and officers who participated in the Gaza war sent a letter to the Council of Ministers and the Chief of Staff, in which they demanded rejecting the return of the displaced to the northern Gaza Strip before the return of the prisoners. Al-Duwairi described the step as an "immoral barter."

Al-Duwairi explained that the message expresses the state of crisis that the IDF has reached, and includes the conviction that it will not be able to defeat the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) militarily, stressing that the process of systematic displacement is still at the core of Israeli plans.

Al-Duwairi believes that the satellite images - which were broadcast by Al-Jazeera and showed small numbers of Israeli vehicles on the Gaza coastal strip - have limited implications and do not portend any future step, because they did not depict the positioning of the Israeli army in the main areas. The military expert stated that the main body of the Israeli forces is located in the areas not covered by the pictures, as he said that it was supposed to focus on the Gaza Valley area, where there are two brigades, and which is a concentration area for forces, as well as the eastern area of Gaza City.

As for the video published by the Israeli army about a tunnel it discovered in Khan Yunis in the south, which it claimed was used to detain prisoners, Al-Duwairi described the tunnel as having good finishes, but it is classified as public service tunnels and not combat and strategic tunnels. He added that this discovered tunnel does not lead to a network of branched tunnels that were built according to specific standards, and in which certain types do not overlap with other types, while he said that the Israeli march, which was controlled by the Al- Qassam Brigades - the military wing of Hamas - will be used in reverse engineering to develop the Al-Zawari and Ababil marches.

Regarding what was reported by the Israeli media that the form of the battle in the Gaza Strip will change, Al-Duwairi pointed out that in the ongoing wars (the World War - the Vietnam War - the Afghanistan War - the Iraq War) it was necessary to make a change in the plans to fit the changes on the ground. He stressed that the Israeli army suffered an intelligence, operational and tactical failure in Gaza, as “failure” was the title of the Israeli intelligence work system despite the huge size of the forces in the Gaza Strip, pointing out that the goals of the war were not achieved, stressing that the military is the one who determines the change in the form of the battle.

As for expectations for the future of the Gaza battles, Al-Duwairi revealed that war is one of the means of politics, “and the one who controls the pace of the battles is the political decision, and the military implements the political decision, which in turn seeks to prolong the war.”

The Al- Quds Brigades - the military wing of the Islamic Jihad Movement - broadcast scenes that it said were from the artillery attack on Israeli enemy concentrations, soldiers and vehicles on the frontlines of the advance in the center of Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip. The video stated that after controlling an Autel Evo Max 4t reconnaissance aircraft, Al-Saraya fighters carried out “an artillery take-up operation based on the important information they obtained from the controlled aircraft.”

In the video broadcast by Al Jazeera, Al Saraya showed scenes from the plane, which it said was used to create three-dimensional flight paths, equipped with a laser finder to determine coordinates with high accuracy, and equipped with a high-resolution thermal imaging camera. It contains a GPS device. It also showed scenes from the aerial survey from the controlled plane and from field monitoring after analyzing the aerial survey coordinates, in addition to scenes from enemy helicopters landing to evacuate the dead and wounded.

Commenting on the scenes shown by Al Jazeera, the military and strategic expert, Major General Fayez Al-Duwairi, suggested that the plane from which the Al-Quds Brigades obtained important information did not go down, but was descended in order to obtain information. Al-Duwairi mentioned - in his daily military analysis - that the landing operation provided more than one benefit to the Palestinian resistance, first that it provided information about the locations of the Israeli army forces, and that the areas identified by this plane were bombed with mortars, in addition to that the resistance will benefit from these planes. In developing its capabilities for drones and others.

Fighter jets of the Air Force attacked terrorist infrastructure and observation posts of the terrorist organization Hezbollah in the area of the villages of Laida and Itarun in southern Lebanon. In addition, the IDF attacked a military structure of the organization in the Majdal Salem area. Fighter jets of the Air Force attacked a military building in the Maroon al-Ras area where terrorists from the terrorist organization Hezbollah were staying. After the attack on the building, many sub-explosions can be seen, indicating the invention of weapons on the spot. In addition, three observation posts and a military structure of the Hezbollah terrorist organization were attacked in the areas of Marvin, Shehin, Taiba and Tir-Kharfa in southern Lebanon. Also, IDF forces attacked several other areas in southern Lebanon.

The fighters of the 401st Brigade combat team destroyed a training post of the terrorist organization Hamas in Derj Tupah. The outpost had, among other things, a facility for training in an underground route, a simulator for firing mortars and a swimming pool for training in preparation for a naval raid.

In the battle in which the late Major David Alfasi, the late Major Ilay Levy and the late Captain Eyal Meborech Toito fell, another soldier from the 202nd Battalion, the Parachute Brigade was seriously injured. In addition, two fighters in the 603rd Engineering Battalion, 'Saar Megolan' formation (7), were seriously injured in a battle in the southern Gaza Strip. The injured were evacuated to receive medical treatment at the hospitals, their families were informed.

In recent weeks, the Kafir brigade combat team has been operating in the Khan Yunis region. During the fighting, the forces eliminated dozens of terrorists, raided dozens of terrorist infrastructures and took control of Hamas headquarters. In recent days, the battle team of the Kafir Brigade has been operating in the Kasbah in Khan Yunis in the 'Bnei Suhila' neighborhood. The forces located in the Kasbah many weapons, weapons, explosives, grenades, cartridges and rockets. In one of the raids, a home lathe that was used to create weapons was found and destroyed.

"During the fighting, we searched considerable areas in the area of ??the Kasbah and the neighborhoods and the other locations," described Major General Duchifat, Lt. Col. Sahar, "We found a military base, we found a lot of enemy infrastructure, we destroyed them all. The fighting was carried out with quite a few professional engineering forces, which In partnership, we destroyed shafts, destroyed underground infrastructure, and eliminated terrorists."

The brigade combat team began to operate with the beginning of the maneuver in the northern area of the Gaza Strip in the neighborhood of Shajaiya and then in the south in Khan Yunis. This is the first time that the brigade is maneuvering in cooperation with the armored, air and engineering forces, working shoulder to shoulder in face-to-face battles against terrorists, above and below ground.

The fighters of the Kafir Brigade's combat team left the Gaza Strip last night for several days to refresh and improve their skills and were replaced by other forces in Khan Yunis, after which the brigade will continue operational activity according to the assessment of the situation.

As part of the activity of the battle team of the 'Yiftah' brigade in the center of the Gaza Strip, a terrorist squad that approached the forces was eliminated. Later, a number of terrorists were identified who tried to ambush the fighters in the area and in further cooperation with the Air Force, the fighters directed an aircraft that eliminated the terrorists.

In the north of the Gaza Strip, forces from the 5th Brigade Combat Team identified a squad of armed terrorists. The fighters responded by firing and killed one terrorist, directed an Air Force aircraft that killed the rest of the terrorists and a fighter plane that destroyed the military building where the squad was operating.

The Palestinian resistance confirmed the targeting of members of the Israeli army in various locations in the Gaza Strip, and Israeli Radio said that the army deepened and expanded its operations in Khan Yunis, south of the Strip. The Al -Qassam Brigades - the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) - broadcast images showing an Israeli spy drone, which it said it had captured in an intelligence operation in the northern Gaza Strip.

Pictures obtained by Al Jazeera showed scenes of battles fought by Al-Qassam on the outskirts of Gaza City, and showed the brigades targeting Israeli soldiers and vehicles in the Al-Daraj and Al-Tuffah neighborhoods. The Al- Quds Brigades - the military wing of the Islamic Jihad Movement - said that its fighters targeted, with a "Badr 1" missile, a gathering of Israeli soldiers east of the Maghazi camp in the central Gaza Strip. The brigades also bombed with mortar shells a site where Israeli soldiers are stationed, east of the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood in Gaza City, and targeted an Israeli military vehicle with an RPG shell in the center of Khan Yunis.

For his part, Al Jazeera's correspondent confirmed that the resistance is confronting the Israeli forces with machine guns in the Sheikh Radwan and Al-Nasr neighborhoods in Gaza City, and said that violent clashes are taking place southwest of the city following an attempt by the Israeli forces to advance. The Israeli army announced the killing of two soldiers in battles yesterday in the Gaza Strip, bringing the total number of its deaths to 532 since the seventh of last October.

On the other hand, Israeli Radio said that the army deepened and expanded its operations in Khan Yunis, and explained that there are 7 brigades active underground and above ground in the region.

The Battle of Khan Yunis is approaching its third month without the Israeli army being able to tighten its control over the governorate, which the Israeli army commanders see as the most important militarily center for the resistance.

The Israeli forces published - earlier - pictures showing a tunnel that they said was housing prisoners in Khan Yunis, and the video clip showed the path of a tunnel extending hundreds of meters and a number of rooms, and the Israeli army spokesman, Daniel Hagari, announced - on Saturday - that the army had found this tunnel underneath. One of the houses in Khan Yunis, confirming that they had obtained evidence indicating that it was used to detain Israeli kidnappers at different periods, adding that the depth of the tunnel reached 20 meters, and included 5 cells and a central courtyard.

More than 50 days after the start of its ground invasion, Israeli vehicles reach the vicinity of Al-Amal Hospital, west of Khan Yunis, and Nasser Hospital, the main hospital there. As for eastern Khan Yunis, the clashes and artillery shelling did not subside for nearly two months of fighting.

Bani Suhaila was the second point of the ground incursion, specifically from the Al-Fokhari area, where Israeli vehicles entered under heavy fire cover and fire belts that burned everything, and continued their march until they reached Bani Suhaila, east of Khan Yunis. Israeli forces also penetrated from the Zinna area and from the New Abasan side until the areas east of Khan Yunis were completely separated from the areas west of the governorate. After separating Khan Yunis from the central areas of the Gaza Strip and isolating the eastern areas of the governorate from its west, Israeli forces move to completely separate Khan Yunis from Rafah, south of Gaza.

The Israeli army says that in Khan Yunis it is fighting above and below the ground, but it seems surprised by the ferocity of the resistance on the fighting fronts there, which is what Chief of Staff Herzi Halevy indicated by saying that they are fighting an enemy that has been preparing for a very long time to defend itself in a very organized manner, and that the fighting is taking place in a very complex geographical area.

The Hebrew media described what happened in Khan Yunis as a “difficult event,” explaining that an explosion rocked two buildings with soldiers inside. The "Journalists Without Censorship" channel said on "Telegram": "Friends, there is a difficult event unfolding in Gaza. We write very carefully. Two buildings exploded with our force inside them. One of the buildings collapsed on a reserve battalion. So far there are definitely 8 dead, and 10 missing who have not been confirmed." "Identify any one of them, and 6 are trapped." The city of Khan Yunis is witnessing violent bombardment in conjunction with the Israeli army’s attempts to penetrate the city center, and the Palestinian factions confirm their continued confrontation with the army forces. The Hebrew media also described this day inside the Gaza Strip as the most brutal since the outbreak of the war.

The "Al-Qassam Brigades" announced on Monday that it targeted four Israeli "Merkvah" tanks with an "Al-Yassin 105" shell, and targeted an infantry force with an anti-personnel shell, leaving them dead and wounded. Al-Qassam also targeted an Israeli "D9" bulldozer with a "Tandum" shell. West of the city of Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip.

In recent days, fighting has escalated significantly in the areas of central and southern Gaza Strip, especially in the refugee camps in central Gaza and the city of Khan Yunis, and Israeli warplanes are launching violent raids on Khan Yunis amid ground forces trying to advance deeper into it.

For their part, the Palestinian resistance factions continue their fierce fighting against the Israeli army, and announced several times during the day the killing and destruction of Israeli vehicles in the areas of the incursion into Khan Yunis.

The New York Times reported that American, British and European officials are putting pressure on Israel to allow humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip through the port of Ashdod. The newspaper quoted sources as saying that US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken raised this issue earlier in January during negotiations with representatives of the Israeli authorities in Tel Aviv.

According to the Western plan, the goods will be delivered from Cyprus to the port of Ashdod, and from there they will be transported to the Kerem Shalom checkpoint and to Gaza, with the aim of having a “practical alternative to aid supplies via Egypt” that meets Israel’s requirements regarding verification procedures. The newspaper indicated that the most that was achieved in this direction was Israel's agreement to allow the supply of flour to the Palestinian population via Ashdod. The Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, has stated on more than one occasion that the capacity of the Kerem Shalom and Rafah inspection crossings is not sufficient to meet the needs of the residents of the Palestinian Strip and solve the humanitarian catastrophe.

The Times of Israel newspaper quoted the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs as categorically denying Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz’s offer to displace the residents of Gaza to an artificial island, and said that what the minister offered was to build a port for Gaza on an artificial island. Media reports quoted the Israeli minister during his meeting with his counterparts in the European Union to discuss the next day after the war on Gaza, as saying on Monday: “We presented the idea of an artificial island that would be an alternative homeland for the Palestinians.”

The minister said that the island would be 5 kilometers from the coast of Gaza, and a port and airport could be established on it to be a commercial center similar to Singapore, as he put it. He added that Israel will control what enters and exits the island and connects it to the mainland via two bridges. Sources told Al Jazeera that some European ministers expressed their concern about this Israeli perception of displacing the Palestinians. Many ministers in Benjamin Netanyahu 's government had spoken since the beginning of the war on Gaza about the displacement of Palestinians from the Strip, and one of them said that what we are witnessing now is the "Gaza Nakba."

Al Jazeera's correspondent reported that the Israeli forces continued their nightly arrest campaigns in the cities and towns of the occupied West Bank, arresting a number of young Palestinians, and others were injured as a result of being shot or subjected to severe beatings. The Israeli forces stormed the town of Kafr Ain, north of Ramallah in the West Bank, and wounded a young Palestinian man with live ammunition during the storming operation. Local Palestinian platforms published video clips documenting the Israeli forces raiding the home of prisoner Rami Barghouti during their storming of the town.

Israeli forces stormed the town of Beitunia, west of Ramallah, and local Palestinian accounts circulated scenes of the Israeli forces' incursion into the town, and also stormed the towns of Al-Mazraa Al-Sharqiya and Silwad, east of Ramallah. The Israeli forces also stormed the town of Zawata, west of the city of Nablus in the West Bank. Local Palestinian platforms published video clips documenting this raid. They also stormed the town of Sebastia in Nablus, as well as the western neighborhood of the town of Beita, south of Nablus.

In Tulkarm , a young Palestinian man was shot by the Israeli forces during their storming of the Shweika suburb, north of the city. The young man was in his car trying to avoid the foot force that was patrolling the suburb, but they opened fire on him and hit him with two bullets, which led to his car swerving and colliding with an electricity pole. In Jenin, in the northern West Bank, two young Palestinians were injured after being severely beaten by Israeli soldiers in the town of Yaabad, southwest of the city. Foot soldiers from the Israeli army also stormed the village of Faqoua, northeast of Jenin, according to local sources.

Also in Jenin, Al Jazeera's correspondent said that Palestinian resistance fighters opened fire on the Israeli military checkpoint in Al-Jalama, north of the city. He added that the Israeli forces stormed the village of Al-Jalama, north of Jenin, after the military checkpoint came under fire, and launched a massive combing operation to search for the resistance fighters. Meanwhile, confrontations and clashes broke out in the town of Nahalin, west of Bethlehem, where the Israeli army fired live bullets and tear gas bombs at Palestinian homes, closed shops, and sent military reinforcements to the town after Palestinian youths repelled the intrusion.

Palestinian accounts on social media showed video clips documenting the Israeli forces’ storming of the town of Beit Ummar, north of the city of Hebron , in the southern West Bank. Al Jazeera's correspondent said that the Israeli forces also stormed the city of Al-Dhahiriya, south of Hebron, amid live bullets, and raided a number of homes, and also stormed the Al-Aroub camp, north of Hebron. The Israeli forces also stormed the Shuafat camp, north of occupied Jerusalem , and arrested a young man from the camp. Local Palestinian platforms published a video clip documenting the arrest of the young man.

The Israeli police, accompanied by municipal crews and a military bulldozer, stormed the town of Silwan on Sunday afternoon, deployed in the Al-Thawri neighborhood, closed the road leading to it, and began demolishing the wall of the house without notifying the family. The Israeli forces arrested 15 Palestinians, including freed prisoners, in an operation that continued until yesterday, Sunday, in various parts of the West Bank. Among the detainees were 3 young men from the Shweiki family in the Al-Thawri neighborhood, south of Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem. The Israeli forces beat the young men while they were trying to demolish a wall surrounding their house under the pretext of opening a street surrounding the neighborhood.

The Lebanese Hezbollah announced the killing of two of its members and bombed several Israeli military sites. The Israeli army responded by bombing towns and villages in the south, while the majority of residents of northern Israel expressed their fear of returning to their homes. A party statement mourned Ali Saeed Yahya from the town of Taybeh in southern Lebanon, and had previously mourned Sameh Asaad Asaad, from the town of Kafr Kila in the south, who were killed in confrontations with the Israeli army in southern Lebanon, raising the number of party members killed since October 8. /Last October to 146.

In the context of the confrontations between Hezbollah and the Israeli army, the party said that its members targeted an Israeli army force in the Israeli Abu Dajj Heights with appropriate weapons. Hezbollah had announced, in two previous separate statements, that its members had targeted an Israeli force in the vicinity of the Zarit barracks with missile weapons, at midnight yesterday, Sunday. He also announced that his members targeted a gathering of Israeli soldiers in the vicinity of the monk site, opposite the town of Aita al-Shaab in southern Lebanon, with appropriate weapons and achieved a direct hit. The party stated that it repelled an attack by Israeli forces off the southern border, at a time when they intended to strike targets inside Lebanese territory.

On the other hand, the Israeli army targeted residential buildings in several towns and villages in southern Lebanon with air strikes and artillery shelling using phosphorus shells. The official Lebanese news agency reported that Israeli artillery targeted the town of Kafr Kila with phosphorous shells , amid a sweeping operation with machine guns from Metulla towards the town. It pointed out that the Israeli raid on the town of Taybeh caused major damage to the town’s high school, and the high school director and members of the educational staff survived the bombing.

It indicated that an Israeli drone fired a missile at a residential room inside an agricultural project in the Abel al-Qamh locality, outside the town of Wazzani, without recording any casualties. An Israeli drone also fired a missile behind the "Khiam Detention Center" in the town of Khiam, south of Lebanon, and artillery bombed Al-Awaida Hill from the Taibe side. The agency said that this afternoon, Israeli warplanes carried out an air attack, targeting with an air strike the home of the citizen “S. Yaghi” in the town of Tayr Harfa, firing two air-to-surface missiles at him, causing significant damage.

It is noteworthy that the Israeli bombing caused the displacement of more than 83,000 Lebanese from their homes, according to data from the International Organization for Migration. The border areas in southern Lebanon have witnessed increasing security tension and an exchange of fire between Hezbollah and the Israeli army since the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip , where 200 people were killed on the Lebanese side, including 146 from Hezbollah and 25 civilians, including 3 journalists and two paramedics, in addition to a Lebanese soldier and 20 fighters. From the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and the Islamic Jihad Movement.

On the Israeli side, it was announced that only 9 soldiers and 6 civilians were killed, knowing that Israel imposes military censorship on this information and no independent party can verify the accuracy of these numbers.

In a related context, an Israeli academic study showed that about 60% of the settlers who were evacuated from the northern regions feared returning to their homes. While about 40% of those who remained in their homes confirmed that they experienced “post-traumatic stress” symptoms without receiving organized psychological support from the state, according to what was reported by Israeli Channel 13. The study also showed that post-traumatic feelings increased three times among the residents of the Eastern Galilee, compared to the period before the Al-Aqsa Flood battle .

The publication of the study coincided with the announcement that the Israeli army was preparing a plan for the possible shelter of about 100,000 people on the northern border. The Israeli Walla website reported that the aforementioned shelter plan comes in preparation for their evacuation in light of the possible escalation. In turn, the mayor of Haifa said that the city's residents should stock up on food in the event of a war with Lebanon.

The deteriorating situation among Israelis in the north prompted Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant to stress that even if Hezbollah stops its operations, Israel will not stop until the security situation on the northern border changes. Galant added, during his meeting with French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu, that war with Hezbollah would be harsh on Israel and devastating for Hezbollah and Lebanon, as he put it.

Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant hosted French Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu at the Ministry of Defense headquarters in Tel Aviv. On the northern front, he expressed gratitude to Minister Lecornu for France's commitment to altering the security dynamics in southern Lebanon. Of particular importance is the effort to push Hezbollah forces away from the border, reducing potential threats to Israel. "A war in the north will be challenging for Israel, but devastating for Hezbollah and Lebanon. Israel will not cease fire until it can guarantee the safe return of the northern communities to their homes, following a change in the security situation along the border,” Gallant declared in the meeting.

Against the background of the ongoing tensions on the northern border and the reports of an Israeli proposal for a unilateral ceasefire - the Lebanese media is in a frenzy. The editor of a newspaper affiliated with Hezbollah commented yesterday (Monday) morning on the reports about the proposal of senior officers in the north and wrote that "things are moving towards a big war". In the meantime, in the political system in Lebanon that does not belong to Hezbollah, there is harsh criticism of the conduct that leads to war in the country.

"It is true that Hezbollah does not want to start a large-scale war, but that does not mean at all that it is willing to pay high prices in exchange for not entering the war," wrote Ibrahim Al-Amin, the editor of the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar, which is affiliated with the terrorist organization, in his article. "This is an inevitable reaction, even if it leads to things rolling towards a major war. Therefore, the ball is back in Israel's court."

"The war will stop if it stops its aggression in Gaza," he continued. "Otherwise, she has no choice but to exist together with the existing reality in Lebanon and the other resistance fronts. She is the one who will bear the responsibility for what will happen if she continues her stubbornness." In his words, the editor responded to the reports published in recent days, according to which senior officers proposed to create a "new equation" with Hezbollah, and to initiate a unilateral 48-hour ceasefire, and if Hezbollah does not abide by it - Israel will launch an extensive campaign in the framework of which it will attack thousands of the organization's targets south of the river Litani. In the Lebanese newspaper A-Diyar, they commented on the report and wrote that it was: "trapped and failed from the beginning". According to the sources in the newspaper, Hezbollah's position is "clear and decisive", and the organization's Secretary General Nasrallah announced that the only option is to end the war in Gaza. "Israel violates the sovereignty in Lebanon, so the responsibility falls on both sides"

Even in the political system on behalf of Hezbollah, they responded to the reports by canceling them. "The enemy sends threats and messages in many ways, but we are fully prepared for any possibility," said Hassan Fadlallah, a member of the Lebanese parliament on behalf of Hezbollah. "All the options are on the agenda. Everything that Israel offers will not change the equation and our choice is to continue the resistance. The equation is to stop the aggression in Gaza in order to open doors to other matters."

Other politicians in Lebanon who are not from Hezbollah, criticized the conduct of the army in the country which allowed tensions to rise. "Hezbollah decided to open a front in support of Gaza and violated Resolution 1701," said the chairman of the Lebanese Phalange Party, Sami Al-Jamail. The solution is for Lebanon to restore its sovereignty and enforce the implementation of Resolution 1701 with the deployment of the army along the entire border in cooperation with UNIFIL.

"The Unity of the Arenas is a violation of the Lebanese people's right to self-determination, and this is evidence that there is a 'team' that decides on behalf of the Lebanese that all of Lebanon should be part of a regional war led by Iran," he added. The chairman of the Christian Lebanese Forces party, Samir Jaja, also referred to the failed conduct of the army in the country. "Lebanon is in the eye of the storm," he said. "If the Lebanese army were deployed along the southern border, we would prevent Lebanon and its inhabitants from what is happening now".

The field escalation continues between the Israeli forces and the Lebanese Hezbollah on the border with Lebanon, while the Israeli targeting circle appears to be expanding day after day until it exceeds a few kilometers north of the Litani River. The IDF focused its precise operations and assassinated prominent figures in Hezbollah’s field cadre, most notably Hussam Tawil (Hajj Jawad), one of the leaders of the “Al-Radwan Force,” who was assassinated on January 8, 2024.

The IDF also withdrew from the Gaza Strip all elements of the 36th Division, which includes the Golani Brigade , the 188th Brigade, and the 7th Brigade of the Armored Corps, Artillery and Engineering Corps. The military correspondent for the “Wala” website, Amir Bouhbut, linked this to the IDF ’s efforts “to maintain the efficiency of the forces in light of the threats on the northern front.” With Lebanon." Although Hezbollah is balancing between maintaining the level of deterrence without going to open war, the repercussions of the “ Al-Aqsa Flood ” operation last October 7 reinforce the IDF’s fears of a repeat of the event on its northern front, and thus lead it towards more and more confrontation.

Talk about a possible confrontation between Hezbollah and the Israel raises many questions, perhaps the most prominent of which are related to the dangers that Tel Aviv fears during any confrontation in the north at the operational and strategic levels.

In a research paper entitled “The Day After the War,” the Israeli Institute for National Security Studies believes that this confrontation would impose on Israel new and more difficult challenges than those it experienced in its ongoing war on Gaza, or in previous confrontations with Hezbollah, which will affect The nature of war if it breaks out.

Iran has exploited its growing influence in Iraq and Syria to enhance the traditional capabilities of the “axis of resistance,” independent of its nuclear capabilities. In recent years, this axis has become a cohesive alliance of entities with great military capabilities, spearheaded by Hezbollah and working in integrated coordination with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.

Hezbollah is considered one of the most powerful quasi-governmental organizations in the world, and in the last decade it has acquired large and diverse fire capabilities. The Institute for National Security Studies estimates Hezbollah's stock of missiles at about 150,000 short-, medium- and long-range missiles, which can cover almost all of occupied Palestine.

This threat has increased recently as a result of Hezbollah's efforts to develop a precision missile project, including ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, surface-to-sea missiles, and attack drones, some of which Hezbollah revealed through its war media. The Israeli newspaper "Jerusalem Post" spoke of "serious tactical errors" that contributed to the success of Hezbollah's attacks since the start of the "Al-Aqsa Flood" battle. It mentioned, among other things, the dilemma of anti-armor guided missiles, which the party has begun to use as a sniper weapon, while the Iron Dome is unable to intercept them, as they fly at a low altitude and in a straight line towards the target.

On the other hand, the IDF sought to stop the growth of Hezbollah's power through the "battle between wars" strategy, by targeting its warehouses and supply lines through Iraq and Syria. It also focused on the assassination of the figures active in this project, most notably Sayyed Radhi Mousavi, one of the senior generals of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard , who was assassinated in Damascus last month, followed by the assassination of Al-Quds Force intelligence official Haj Sadiq and his deputy in an Israeli raid on a residential building in the Mezzeh neighborhood in Damascus a few days ago. But it seems that this strategy has not yet prevented the party from developing and accumulating its capabilities.

Hezbollah has also made efforts to develop its ground attack options by raising the efficiency of the “Radwan Force,” an elite, well-trained division that includes thousands of fighters, according to the BBC. Al-Radwan gained great experience as a result of its participation alongside the Assad regime in confronting the factions of the Syrian revolution.

Despite the IDF's discovery and destruction of many tunnels along the northern front during Operation Northern Shield in January 2019, the main mission of the "Radwan" fighters - according to the BBC article - is to enter the Galilee, where its main focus is, This is similar to what the Qassam elite did in the “Al-Aqsa Flood.” In January 2023, Hezbollah's Combat Information Unit published training scenes of the party's fighters simulating their infiltration into the occupied territories.

Iran's presence near the Syrian border with occupied Palestine, through its advisors and groups loyal to it, constituted a major strategic change. Despite the repeated targeting within the “battle between wars,” which enabled Israel to undermine Iran’s efforts to establish military bases in the Syrian arena, it did not prevent it from deploying surface-to-surface missile batteries and attack drones, as well as dozens of Iranian advisors and tens of thousands of fighters loyal to it. According to Farzin Nadimi, a researcher specializing in Iranian affairs at the Washington Institute for Studies.

This coincided with efforts made by Hezbollah, also with Iranian support, to establish sites on the outskirts of the Syrian Golan , and to form local groups affiliated with it. As well as other groups affiliated with the Palestinian resistance, which are likely behind some of the missile and drone attacks on the Golan Heights last December.

Israel fundamentally fears a multi-front war, which would involve simultaneous fighting in near and far arenas. In its war on Gaza, the IDF is able to determine the battle axes, its primary and secondary fronts, determine its priorities, and distribute attention and resources. But in a large-scale war, he will find it difficult to control the borders and duration of the war, and if open war breaks out in the north, he will not be able to prevent “Axis of Resistance” groups stationed in other arenas from joining the battle.

In such a confrontation, Hezbollah, for example, will try to operate from the Syrian Golan, and pro-Iranian groups may then intervene in Syria and perhaps in western Iraq as well. In these circumstances, Iran may try to drag the Syrian regime into the fighting as well. This scenario is taken into account by the IDF, as it conducted ground maneuvers north of the Golan Heights in July 2023, that is, 3 months before the “Al-Aqsa Flood” operation!

Another major challenge that Israel will face in the next war, according to the Institute for National Security Studies, is the threat posed by Hezbollah and other Iranian proxies against the Israeli home front as well, where it is expected to suffer widespread damage, at least in the first phase of the war. This damage includes Israel's vital capabilities, by striking, for example, the main Israeli army installations (headquarters, air force bases, reserve force mobilization centers), strategic infrastructure and vital services (sea and air ports, energy, water and transportation facilities). In addition to targeting the headquarters of the Israeli government, economic facilities and population centers, such tactics will aim to undermine the Israelis’ sense of security and ability to remain in the occupied territories.

Israel may resort to steps that are both “proactive” and “cautious,” especially since the field failure in Gaza cost its army a lot at all levels. In the face of these challenges, it will primarily maintain its current strategy to delay and disrupt the accumulation of power by Hezbollah in Lebanon and other Iranian proxies in Syria through the “battle between wars.” However, the failure of diplomatic efforts raises the possibility of launching a military operation inside Lebanon to reduce the level of threat posed by Hezbollah, while risking the situation deteriorating into a broader war.

On 18 January 2924, the Washington Post quoted Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant as confirming to his American counterpart, Lloyd Austin, that “Israel is approaching the point of decision-making in Lebanon as long as Hezbollah continues its attacks in the northern border region.” He stressed the Israeli commitment to returning the settlers of the north to their homes. The Israeli Broadcasting Authority also said that Tel Aviv informed Washington that it would carry out military action in Lebanon unless the “Radwan Force” was removed from the border.

Despite many rational calculations that are supposed to keep Israel away from such steps, the internal crisis that Netanyahu, his government, and the leaders of the Israeli army are going through may push them towards reckless steps, which they believe may give them certain achievements to compensate for their failure in Gaza.

The "Islamic Resistance in Iraq" showed scenes of it launching a drone towards the port of Ashdod in Israel. The military media of the "Islamic Resistance in Iraq" published a video clip showing "scenes of it launching a drone towards the usurping Zionist entity... the port of Ashdod." This came after the "Islamic Resistance in Iraq" issued a statement in which it said that it attacked "the port of Ashdod in the occupied territories, with drones, and the Islamic Resistance confirms its continued destruction of enemy strongholds."

The "Islamic Resistance in Iraq" announced that "for the third time on Monday," its fighters attacked the American "Coneco" base in Syria with missiles. Earlier, the "Islamic Resistance in Iraq" confirmed that it had attacked "a military target in the occupied Golan with drones." It also indicated in November that it had targeted the Israeli city of Eilat. The resistance factions in Iraq had warned the United States that it would increase the number of armed operations in Syria and Iraq , in response to “Washington’s continued provision of military assistance to the Israeli army, which is killing civilians in the Gaza Strip and southern Lebanon.”

The "Islamic Resistance in Iraq" targets American military sites and bases in Syria and Iraq, against the backdrop of the war launched by the Israeli army on the Gaza Strip and the American support that Israel receives. US Department of Defense spokesman Patrick Ryder also previously announced that the number of attacks on US military bases in Iraq and Syria has reached 130 attacks since October 17, 2023, indicating that US military bases in Iraq were subjected to 53 attacks, while bases in Syria were subjected to 77 attacks.

National Interest magazine said that the world is wondering how the Houthis in Yemen will respond to the series of devastating strikes launched by the United States and Britain on their targets to deter their attacks on ships in the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait. Will they, for example, target the American naval base in Djibouti?

In a report by Emily Milliken, the magazine recalled the US-British attacks aimed at weakening the Houthis’ capabilities and acting as a deterrent to future attacks, suggesting that the Houthis will remain able to launch naval attacks, and that these strikes will encourage them to intensify their attacks on the United States, Israel and their allies in the short term.

Shortly after the raid on the radar site, Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdel Salam said that the American attack would not deter the group from targeting ships linked to Israel. Another Houthi official said that the group had drawn up a list of targets that included American bases in the region, which could include American bases in Saudi Arabia. Jordan, the Emirates, Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait and Syria.

However, one of the obvious targets was not mentioned, which is the US Navy base Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti, although it is located 80 miles from Yemen, and it is the primary base for US African Command (AFRICOM) operations in the Horn of Africa, and hosts about 4,000 soldiers from the United States. The United States and allied countries, and it has been used for operations against the Houthis for years. In addition to the Camp Lemonnier base, the Houthis - who claim to have a liquid-fueled missile with a range of up to 1,200 miles - can target the nearby Chabelle Airport, where the army has operated Predator and Reaper drones since their transfer from Lemonnier in 2013.

However, if there is something that keeps Djibouti safe from Houthi attacks - according to the writer - it is its government’s fierce support for Palestine since the Al- Aqsa Flood operation on the seventh of last October and long before the attack, as the Prime Minister confirmed that Djibouti will not allow the United States The United States has decided to deploy missile launchers in the country or use it as a base for operations against the Houthis, because it considers the group's naval attacks to be "legitimate relief for the Palestinians." Moreover, Djibouti announced that it is reluctant to participate in the US-led naval coalition in Operation Prosperity Sentinel to fight the Houthis, and was one of the five countries that called on the International Criminal Court last November to investigate Israeli war crimes in the Palestinian territories.

Maps

All maps are lies. “Not only is it easy to lie with maps, it is essential,” wrote cartographer Mark Monmoneir in his book How to Lie with Maps. He showed that condensing complex, three-dimensional spaces onto a two-dimensional sheet of paper is bound to be reductive. 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

European Union foreign policy official Josep Borrell intends to present a plan to establish a Palestinian state, in light of Netanyahu and his ministers’ statements over the past few days rejecting the two-state solution . At the same time, Borrell said that the way Israel is trying to destroy Hamas is wrong and will not succeed, as he put it.

For her part, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said - before attending the European ministerial meeting - that the two-state solution is the only solution to the ongoing conflict, as she put it. She added: “All those who say they do not want to hear anything about such a solution have offered no alternative,” and also called for an urgent “humanitarian halt” to the war in Gaza.

On the other hand, the foreign ministers of Palestine, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the Secretary-General of the Arab League are participating in meetings in Brussels on the sidelines of the European Union foreign ministers’ meeting. Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi denounced the Israeli government's "extremist racist agenda" and said it defies the world by refusing to accept a two-state solution to end the conflict. He added, in his statements to reporters, that "the only way out of this tragedy is the two-state solution... They are challenging the entire international community, and it is time for the world to take a stand."

The European Union's diplomatic corps sent a discussion paper to member states proposing a road map for peace between the Palestinians and Israel in light of the ongoing aggression against the Gaza Strip for more than 3 months. The distribution of the internal document drawn up by Brussels' foreign affairs arm came ahead of the monthly meeting of European Union foreign ministers on Monday, which this time was attended by the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and the Secretary-General of the Arab League.

The meeting's talks focused mainly - according to statements by Union officials - on the repercussions of the "Al-Aqsa Flood" battle launched by the Palestinian resistance on settlements in the Gaza Strip on October 7, the ongoing Israeli war on the Strip since that date, and other files such as the Ukraine war. The 12-point plan calls for a “preparatory conference for peace” organized by the European Union, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the League of Arab States, while also inviting the United States and the United Nations to participate in its holding.

The conference will be held "even if the Israelis or Palestinians refuse to participate." But the document also indicates that both parties will be consulted at every step of the talks as delegates seek to develop a peace plan. “It is unrealistic to assume that Israelis and Palestinians will participate directly in bilateral peace negotiations in the near future,” the document stated. Instead, the EU proposed parallel talks with the United States, the United Nations, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the Arab League, and the document threatened “consequences” against Israel if it refused to participate.

The document, which was distributed to European capitals, says that “the Palestinians will need a renewed political alternative to Hamas , while the Israelis will need to find the political will to participate in meaningful negotiations towards a two-state solution.” According to the document, “Therefore, it is the responsibility of external actors such as the European Union to assist the parties to the conflict by paving the way for comprehensive peace”.

The proposed peace plan stressed that "there is no comprehensive and reliable solution other than the establishment of an independent Palestinian state living side by side with Israel." It added, "One of the core elements of the peace plan must be the development of strong security guarantees for Israel and the future independent state of Palestine, conditional on full mutual diplomatic recognition and integration of both Israel and Palestine into the region."

The internal document indicated that the Union would move forward with peace talks to end the war in the Gaza Strip even without Israel’s participation. The document says EU member states must be prepared to "identify the consequences they intend to attach to participation or non-participation in the peace plan." The document did not mention what these consequences are, at a time when the European Union has several potential aspects of influence.

The European Union is a major provider of economic aid to the Palestinians, and has a wide-ranging cooperation agreement with Israel that includes a free trade zone. Some officials privately suggested that this could be used to influence Tel Aviv, according to Reuters.

Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, participated in a meeting hosted by the European Union foreign ministers in Brussels in the presence of Josep Borrell, the High Representative for European Foreign Policy, and the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan. Aboul Gheit, said that the meeting between the foreign ministers of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan, with the foreign ministers of the European Union, confirmed the existence of a great convergence of views. Aboul Gheit: There is a great convergence of views with the European Union regarding the rapid transition to a political path to a two-state solution"Axios": Biden seeks to normalize Israeli-Saudi relations on the condition of establishing a Palestinian state

In his account on the “X” platform, Ahmed Aboul Gheit wrote after the meeting: “The meeting today between the (foreign) ministers of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan and the Secretary-General, with the foreign ministers of the European Union, confirmed the existence of a great convergence of views, not only about the necessity of... Stopping the Israeli war on Gaza, but also about the necessity of a rapid transition to a political path that leads to the implementation of the two-state solution without wasting years as happened in the past. We will need more dialogue at different levels to reach the required Arab-European consensus.”

The official spokesman for the Secretary-General, Jamal Rushdi, stated that the meeting addressed the necessity of working immediately to stop the aggressive Israeli war on the Gaza Strip and deal with the effects of the humanitarian catastrophe that the residents of the Strip are experiencing. The spokesman explained that the meeting witnessed broad agreement between the Arab and European sides that the two-state solution remains the only way to settle the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and that every attempt to delay the implementation of this solution or evade it exposes the security and stability of the region to danger.

The spokesman added that Aboul Gheit, along with the Arab ministers, listened to some serious European ideas for launching a credible peace process based on the two-state solution, and reaching a final settlement based on implementing this solution, by ending the occupation and establishing an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders. The spokesman quoted Aboul Gheit as saying that many European ideas contain positive aspects regarding the political horizon required to end the conflict, and that what is required now is to combine words with action, calling on European countries to take a necessary initial step, which is to recognize the Palestinian state.

In a related context, Rushdi explained that Aboul Gheit met on the sidelines of the European meeting with Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tiani, where the latter listened to the vision of the Secretary-General of the Arab League for the situation in Gaza and the necessity of stopping the war and launching a political path leading to the establishment of a Palestinian state. The two parties also expressed their deep concern. Regarding the state of escalation in the region, especially in the Red Sea.

Axis of Resistance

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian commented on the possibility of the Gaza war expanding amid the tensions that the region has witnessed recently, such as the mutual bombing with Pakistan and the tense situation in southern Lebanon and in the Red Sea. In an interview with CNN, the interviewer said: “In a previous interview we conducted with you on October 29... you said that you do not want the war to expand and do not want escalation. Since then, Hezbollah has launched attacks against Israel, and the Houthis are attacking... Ships in the Red Sea. You attacked Iraq , and you attacked Pakistan . It certainly seems that the actions of Iran and its allies do not indicate that you are trying to prevent this war from expanding. It seems that you are encouraging escalation.

Hussein Amir Abdullahian replied, saying: “I agree with you...in West Asia now we are witnessing the expansion of the crisis and tensions, but the roots of these tensions are not what happened on October 7th. Hamas is a Palestinian liberation group fighting against the occupation in order to liberate the lands of Palestine.” The occupiers, they carried out an operation... Of course we do not approve of the killing of women and children anywhere in the world, but I want to tell you that the roots of that are not what happened on October 7th... The roots of that go back 75 years when the Israeli regime occupied Palestine, Since the beginning of the Israeli genocidal war in Gaza, which followed the October operation. He added: "We warned that if the attacks, war crimes and genocide against Gaza and the West Bank do not stop, the war will expand and become more comprehensive, and this does not mean that we wanted to play a role in this expansion."

Earlier, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian confirmed that "the activity of Iranian military advisors in combating terrorism and securing the region will continue strongly." This is after the Iranian Revolutionary Guard confirmed the killing of 5 Iranian military advisors in Syria, the fifth of whom died of his wounds following the Israeli attack on Saturday morning on Damascus. The Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip and clashes between the Israeli army and Hamas continue for the 118th day, in light of a humanitarian and health catastrophe in the Strip.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said the Zionist regime has resorted to blind assassination attacks to compensate for its failure in achieving the objectives of the war on Gaza. In a meeting in Tehran on Sunday, Amirabdollahian and the head of the parliamentary friendship group of Kuwait and Iran, Marzouq Al-Hubaini, discussed a range of regional issues and bilateral cooperation.

The Iranian foreign minister praised the position and role of the Kuwaiti parliament and government in supporting the oppressed Palestinian nation. Evaluating the current developments and events in Gaza, he pointed to the continuation of the Zionist regime's criminal actions in killing women, children, and the defenseless people of Palestine. "Although the Zionist enemy has destroyed Gaza on a large scale and martyred tens of thousands of people, it has not achieved any of its goals. So, it tries to compensate for its failure by resorting to blind terrorist actions," Amirabdollahian noted, the Foreign Ministry’s website reported.

The Israeli regime’s crimes against Iran won’t go unpunished, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said. Asked about the Israeli assassination of Iranian military advisers in Syria, Kanaani said at a presser on Monday, “The usurping Zionist regime’s crimes against the Iranian government have never gone and won’t go unpunished.” The spokesman warned that Iran will respond to the Israeli crimes “in its own way”.

Dismissing the Israeli prime minister’s threat of military action against Iran, he said such rhetoric reveals the aggressive nature of the Zionist regime and the degree of the threats that it poses to regional and world security. “The essence of this (Israeli) regime is in contradiction to peace. This regime has always tried to seize every opportunity to promote insecurity in the region and the world,” he stated. The spokesman refuted Netanyahu’s “hollow rhetoric”, reaffirmed Iran’s right to respond to the threats, and said the Zionist regime had better think about survival from the quagmire of Gaza.

Allied for Democracy

Israeli officials and analysts agree - in their discussions of the repercussions of the war on the Gaza Strip - in their rejection of the establishment of a Palestinian state, in a position identical to the position of their Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu , who contradicted the American desire in this context.

Gideon Sa'ar, a minister in the War Council, spoke of his opposition to the establishment of a Palestinian state, saying, "It is not possible to establish a demilitarized Palestinian state unless Israel has security control, as it does in the West Bank and intends to do in the Gaza Strip." He added in a discussion session on Israeli Channel 14, “The lands that we hand over to the Palestinians will become a base for aggression against Israel.” The minister revealed that when he took the decision to unite between his “New Hope” party and the “Blue and White” party led by Benny Gantz, they had a clear agreement to reject the establishment of a state. Palestinian.

According to Michael Sheams, a political affairs correspondent for Channel 11, the Prime Minister is using the story of the Palestinian state as a kind of political campaign, stressing that large sectors of Israelis oppose the establishment of this state. Gil Tamari, Channel 13's international news editor, explained that US President Joe Biden bypasses Netanyahu, and directly tells the Israeli public, "I'm offering you a dream plan," which means, "You get a big reward now and you pay the price at some point in the future."

He added, "What is the return? Complete normalization with Saudi Arabia and 6 additional Muslim countries, and an unprecedented security umbrella that Israel will enjoy? The price will be a declaration of intent that will lead to a future path to the establishment of a Palestinian state that will be demilitarized and without an army." He commented, saying, "This is what the Americans are proposing to the Israeli public because they realize that Netanyahu is not a partner."

As for the journalist on Channel 12, he believed that even if Gantz (a minister in the War Council) became prime minister, it would be difficult for him to provide the American president with a response other than that offered by Netanyahu, which is that “the chances of establishing a Palestinian state are non-existent.” Netanyahu had previously revealed that he had informed the United States of his opposition to the establishment of a Palestinian state “within the framework of any post-war scenario” in Gaza, contrary to the American desire.

According to Arab observers and experts, Benjamin Netanyahu ’s government failed to neutralize Israel’s economy and spare it losses like previous wars, especially since the area that caused the Al-Aqsa flood battle ( the Gaza envelope ) is responsible for supplying the Israeli economy with about 75% of the agricultural crops that the occupation needs, but the war It transformed it from an agricultural area into a closed military area.

The Jordanian economist, Dr. Amer Al-Shobaki, painted a bleak picture of the reality and future of the Israeli economy in light of the continuation of the war on the Gaza Strip. He said in his interview with Al-Jazeera Net that the total direct and indirect economic losses of the occupation in its war - which it has been waging against Gaza since the seventh of last October - It reached 165 billion dollars.

Al-Shoubaki added that what is announced by Israel is a small part of the real military losses. The operational cost of this war has reached 280 million dollars per day, the equivalent of 28 billion dollars in the first 100 days of the battle, in addition to the cost of the military vehicles that the resistance announced had been destroyed. Which exceed a thousand armored vehicles and tanks, and these are military losses that the occupation has not announced yet.

Al-Shoubaki summarizes the occupation’s losses in its war on Gaza as emptying many sectors of Israeli workers, so that they become reserve soldiers in the Israeli army, and their number exceeds 300 thousand employees working in various vital sectors, the most important of which is the technology sector, which supplies Israel with half of its exports, and this sector has suffered losses exceeding 20 billion dollars. Foreign investments became idle as a result of the war on Gaza, causing huge losses, reaching $15 billion, which takes a long time to recover, in addition to stopping the tourism sector, which was damaged - according to what was announced - by 75%, and this sector was generating approximately 20%. Billion dollars to the Israeli treasury annually.

Sheltering and compensating families displaced as a result of the war in the Gaza Strip and in the northern border areas with Lebanon, whose number is estimated at one million settlers, currently living in 280 hotels. This requires huge sums of no less than $10 billion, and compensating them for their commercial and industrial losses that they suffered as a result of the war. Compensating and treating war-wounded civilians and war-wounded soldiers, in addition to compensating the families of dead soldiers, treating the wounded and disabled as a result of the war, and compensating those whose homes were damaged as a result of being hit by Palestinian resistance missiles and Hezbollah missiles, which increases additional costs to the occupation treasury. In the short and long term.

The migration of more than 400,000 Israelis - so far - who hold dual nationalities to the European and American continents, which is reflected in a decrease in government and taxpayer revenues. The loss of Palestinian labor in the construction sector in the territories occupied in 1948, and the flight of Thai labor in agricultural facilities around the Gaza Strip for fear of war, which adds new burdens to the Israeli economy, as a result of the complete cessation of this vital sector.

The navigation crisis continues in the Red Sea, with the Houthi group preventing ships coming towards Israel, or Israeli ones, from sailing through Bab al-Mandab, which has stopped maritime traffic in the Israeli port of Eilat by 95%. The occupation has also become dependent on ships coming from the Mediterranean, which has raised the cost of shipping and caused a sharp rise in the prices of consumer goods and vehicle prices within the occupying state.

The chief economist of the Ministry of Finance in Israel, Shmuel Abramson, expected that the economy would contract by 1.5% if the war on Gaza continued until the end of the current year, after he had expected growth of 2.7% for the year 2024 before the start of the war, according to a report carried by the Israeli economic newspaper “Globes”.

Economic expert Hossam Ayesh did not stray far from Al-Shoubaki, as he confirmed that Israel did not plan for its war on the Gaza Strip to extend for more than 100 days, because the occupation suffered huge losses on the economic level due to the war, and entered into a real dilemma as a result of the high debts it needs to spend on. Military operations, in addition to its suffering from a severe budget deficit due to the decline in revenues, which means that its credit rating declined from stable to negative, with expectations that it will face a government deficit of 5.3% during the years 2023 and 2024, given the large defense spending imposed by the war.

Ayesh told Al Jazeera Net: "The economic, military and technological damage incurred by the occupation during the past 100 days exceeded 100 billion dollars, adding that the more the war increased, the greater the percentage of loss." He continues that the technology sector, which represents the backbone of the Israeli economy - due to its superiority in this field - has begun to decline, noting that tax revenues related to this sector have declined by 80%. Ayesh said, "The Israeli military reserve called up a large portion of the workers in this sector, accompanied by the state of uncertainty resulting from this war, and all of this has caused particularly heavy losses."

Earlier, the Accountant General of the Israeli Finance Department, Eli Rotenberg, expected that the proportion of public debt would increase to 62.1% of the gross domestic product in 2023 as a result of the financial repercussions of this war, after expectations indicated a decline of 1% on an annual basis to 59% before the Al-Aqsa Flood operation. According to Globes newspaper. Official data also showed that the budget deficit is expected to rise from 2.25% to 6.6% of GDP during the current year.

According to these data, the financial impact of the war is estimated at about 150 billion shekels ($40.25 billion) for the period 2023-2024, assuming the war ends in the first quarter of this year.

The economic expert, Ayesh, pointed out that the Netanyahu government is hiding the truth about its economic losses in order not to disrupt the course of the battle in the Gaza Strip. However, the Western media - especially the American ones - recently published the truth about the losses that the occupation has incurred since more than 100 days of aggression against the Gaza Strip. This comes - according to Ayesh - despite the fact that Israel’s budget for the year 2023 - before the war - amounted to 130 billion dollars, which is the largest budget in its history. However, with the outbreak of the war, it was forced to approve an additional budget of 8.1 billion dollars, to meet the war’s military needs. Which will lead to an increase in the fiscal deficit to 3.7% of GDP last year, then to 5% in 2024.

He explained that although the Central Bank of Israel allocated $45 billion to protect the shekel’s exchange rate, its value deteriorated, recording the longest series of losses in 39 years, while the Central Bank’s loss amounted to $7.3 billion from its foreign currency reserves. It is noteworthy that the Governor of the Central Bank of Israel had estimated the cost of the war on Gaza at about 210 billion shekels ($56 billion) for defense and compensation for those displaced from their homes in the south, due to Palestinian resistance operations, or the north, due to the missiles targeting them from Lebanon.

The center-left French newspaper Liberation, a newspaper of record in France, said that protests are increasing in Israel 3 and a half months after the start of the war on Gaza , and that the opposition has begun its preparations in conjunction with calls from more Israelis to hold early elections in the hope of ousting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The newspaper - in a report by its correspondent from Tel Aviv, Nicolas Roger - began by criticizing former General Gadi Eisenkot - a member of the war cabinet - publicly and surprisingly of Netanyahu’s policies, saying: “What is happening in Gaza today is that the goals of the war have not been achieved, those who talk about... The complete defeat of Hamas . They are not telling the truth.” He added, “No,” when the journalist asked him, “Are the decision makers honest with the public?”

Eisenkot's comments sparked some criticism, but the former chief of staff cannot be touched, because his son and nephew were killed in Gaza, and he is more capable than others - as the correspondent believes - of understanding the reality and repercussions of Israeli military actions. Therefore, when Eisenkot says that elections are necessary “in the coming months,” it is a clear message that the opposition will not wait for the end of the war, which will be long - as Netanyahu promised - to force the country to go to the polls.

The correspondent explained that the Prime Minister is trapped in what appears to be a growing turmoil reminiscent of the months preceding last October 7, from protests by hostage families in front of his house to thousands of people demanding his departure in the streets of Tel Aviv, in addition to the torrent of criticism of the new budget.

On the main street that surrounds Tel Aviv from the east, new billboards say, “We need elections,” in a campaign that appears expensive and of unknown origin. In the background - as the reporter sees - there are “veterans who participated in the demonstrations against judicial reform and a number of people from Technology.

Ronen Koehler of the “Brothers in Arms” leadership believes that “there is no point in the campaign as long as Benny Gantz is still in government,” adding, “What we want is to rebuild the democratic space by encouraging our members to join civil life. Our liberal secular values ??must return.” To the forefront and fight for the hearts of Israelis.” It is an ambitious project - according to the correspondent - and it is almost ideal to reverse what the extreme Israeli settler right has done over the past 15 years to the point that, although it represents only 5% of the population - as Kohler insists - it has become the one that determines the content of political debate, even in times of war.

As for Netanyahu and his partners, they launched their election campaigns early last December, while the opposition was very late, despite the great anger at Netanyahu, whose opinion polls indicate his loss every time, even though he is the only one who proposes a simple and coherent project for the next day, according to the correspondent. He confirms that there is no going back. To the world before October 7, and therefore no concessions to the Palestinians who are being killed in Gaza.

The reporter concluded that Benny Gantz is the one who will become prime minister if the elections are held today, and he will be at the head of a warlike right-wing government without a clear political project, which indicates that the Israeli opposition still believes that getting rid of Netanyahu will change everything, and that this is the key to a new beginning.

While the Guardian newspaper ruled out the success of attempts to eliminate the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) and its leaders in the Gaza Strip , the Independent newspaper wrote about “clear rifts” between Israel and its allies, the United States and Britain. As part of their coverage of developments in the war in the Gaza Strip, international newspapers and magazines focused on the ongoing debate regarding the future of the Gaza Strip, and the disputes it creates between Israel and its allies, in addition to US-Iranian relations in light of the current developments.

While ruling out the success of attempts to eliminate Hamas and its leaders, an article in The Guardian newspaper expects that Israel's plans regarding the future of the Strip will lead to the movement's continued activity, "which may shift to other arenas that Hamas has been avoiding, and thus its danger will not diminish." The author of the article believes that "the most realistic solution is to think about how to integrate Hamas into the authority that governs Gaza after the war, instead of thinking about eradicating it."

For its part, The Independent newspaper focused on the "clear rifts" between Israel and its allies the United States and Britain, which are reflected in officials' statements regarding the establishment of a Palestinian state. The newspaper wrote that the rifts come at a time when the voices of thousands of Israelis are rising, demanding the liberation of those detained by the Palestinian resistance in Gaza and the holding of new elections, and amid clear divisions within the War Council over the future of the conflict and post-war plans in Gaza.

For its part, other newspapers and magazines discussed the issue of US-Iranian relations, as The Economist magazine wrote that the attacks and assassinations bring the two countries closer to war. The magazine expects that pressure will increase on US President Joe Biden "to respond to Iran and its agents in the Middle East so that America does not appear weak... He then risks entering a new war in the election year." In the same context, Le Monde newspaper published a lengthy investigation in which it stated that the United States, along with other powers, is today paying the price for its neglect of the Houthis’ growing capabilities, so that they have turned today into active players in the conflict in the Middle East.

Writer Owen Jones in The Guardian newspaper said that Western political and media elites are complicit in the Gaza nightmare , and that they have lost the last vestiges of moral authority forever. The writer explained that US President Joe Biden gave a specific answer last week in the statement he issued on the occasion of the 100th day since the start of the “current terror,” in which he showed his true sympathy with the plight of the prisoners of the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ), and with their shocked families, but he did not issue a response. There is no mention of the Palestinians about him.

However, the lack of interest by politicians and the media in concealing their contempt for Palestinian life will have major consequences, even though it is not a new thing, as the writer believes; If the powerful countries of the world had not so impudently ignored three quarters of a million Palestinians who were expelled from their homes 76 years ago, with about 15,000 of them violently killed, the seeds of this bitter harvest would not have been sown today. Owen Jones wondered how many people knew that 234 Palestinians were killed last year, just before October 7, by Israeli forces in the West Bank alone. He continued that if there was some value to the lives of Palestinians, perhaps decades of occupation, siege, illegal settlement, apartheid, violent repression and mass massacres would not have occurred. Some may have expected that after this deadly massacre, the dam would eventually collapse, because violently killing 10,000 children, amputating legs, or removing the kidneys of others without anesthesia would arouse strong feelings, just as performing caesarean sections without anesthesia and the death of premature infants due to low blood pressure. Body heat and diarrhea would provoke unstoppable disgust.

Although predictions that a quarter of Gaza's population might die within a year due to Israel's destruction of the health care system alone should lead to a loud call to end this injustice, no one has taken action. According to the writer, underestimating the value of Palestinian life is not a hypothetical matter, but rather a statistical fact, as a new study of coverage in major American newspapers says that Israeli deaths are mentioned at a rate of 16 times more than Palestinian deaths, and that human terms such as “mother” or “husband” were used much less often to describe Palestinians, while emotional terms such as "massacre" were used for Israeli victims.

All of this will have a profound impact, as the writer sees; We must forget any future Western claims regarding human rights and international law, because a large part of the world views this self-justification with contempt, and considers it merely a trick to advance the strategic interests of countries that have become rich at the expense of the rest of the world, after centuries of colonialism characterized by genocide and pigeons. Recent bloodshed such as the Iraq War, and even arming and supporting Israel as it engages in mass murder in Gaza.

He continued that Western political and media elites should not panic about the condition of other countries, but rather about the moral collapse occurring in their countries, because the refusal to treat the Palestinians as human beings has made today’s nightmare inevitable, and has permanently torn apart the moral claims used to justify Western hegemony over the world. Consequences that will not be understood until it is too late.

A report on the British University of Portsmouth website confirmed that former US President Donald Trump's victory for a second term in the upcoming presidential elections will mean a return to the policies he followed in his first term under the slogan "America First." The report explained that if Trump wins a second term in the upcoming presidential elections , it is unlikely that Joe Biden will continue attempts to ease Israeli operations in Gaza, as Trump has been a long-time ally of Israel and has become the first American president to officially and controversially recognize Jerusalem as its capital. In 2017.”

It added that Trump will return to the policies he followed in his first term under the slogan “America First,” which means withdrawing from military spending and paying attention to internal affairs, which means stopping the free flow of money and weapons from the United States and its proxy wars in Ukraine. “A potential Republican candidate winning a second term would have disastrous effects on international diplomacy,” according to Le Monde columnist Sylvie Kaufmann: “The G7 and NATO summits will once again turn into unpredictable circus moments.”

The report added, “In continuation of the focus of his first presidency, Trump pledged to transfer thousands of American troops stationed abroad, FBI agents, and Drug Enforcement Administration officials to address the migration crisis on the Mexican border, and this will not only affect the American military presence in various parts of the world.” "It will also have a devastating impact on Mexico, which will have to deal with an increasingly problematic border with the United States."

The report continued, "One important difference this time is that Trump and his allies have been planning his next term since he left the White House. He will be surrounded exclusively by his loyalists, will be free from any constrained rational voices, and will be more organized than his first term, so he is unlikely to continue... Trump and Biden's attempts to ease Israeli operations in Gaza.

The report noted, "Although much of the concern is focused on Trump's potential re-election, his two main rivals for the Republican nomination, Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis, have identified support for aggressive immigration policies and support for Israel as key goals if they win."

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 25,295 martyrs, and the killing of nearly 10,000 Palestinian children and 6,600 women killed. The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

The number wounded was 62,681. The Palestinian Government Media Office in Gaza had said much earlier that the number of missing people had risen to more than 8,000, including including 4,700 children and women, amid expectations that the toll will be double thi figures.

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. As of 17 January 2023, the Israeli escalation in the West Bank led to the death of 360 Palestinians, the injury of nearly 2,200, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, and the arrest of about 6,000, according to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club.

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 was 198, and 534 deaths since the Al-Aqsa Flood operation on the 7th of October. Among them were at least 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 1,152 since the start of its ground attack on Gaza on October 27, including 228 seriously wounded, while the total number has reached 2,602 wounded since the outbreak of the war on the 7th of October.

The Israeli army reported that In addition, 2,659 officers and soldiers were injured, including 407 who are still receiving treatment for their injuries in the Gaza battles, and the condition of 48 of them is serious, while 405 were seriously injured, 692 were moderately injured, and 1,562 were described as having minor injuries since the start of the war.

At least 13,599 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.

In an interview with RT, Military strategist retired Tunisian Brigadier General Tawfiq Didi said that the number of Israeli army deaths in the Gaza battles is much greater than what Israel announces. Didi explained in an interview with the “Best Saying” program on RT channel, “The number of people killed in battles can be easily known, as the equation in wars is that for every 3 wounded there is a dead person, and the numbers now in Israel hover around 12,500 wounded and disabled people, and when we divide by Three, we find that the death toll exceeds 4,000, especially after eliminating more than a thousand tanks and armored vehicles, and I know what happens when Kornet missiles hit a tank. Its ammunition explodes and no one is left alive.”

He added, "The Israelis announce their dead only of those of Jewish origin and of the first race, meaning all Arabs, Falash, and those who are among them. They are not counted because they are of the second category. So I am sure that the number exceeds 4 thousand dead, and this is a very easy military calculation." He pointed out, "The Palestinian resistance documented everything it did, unlike the Israelis. The resistance documented shooting at tanks and armored vehicles and destroying the houses in which the Israeli soldiers were holed up, and we saw them being killed... We saw the Kornet hitting the tanks, we saw Al-Yassin 105, so the difference is clear."

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. 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 number of people arrested by the occupation in the West Bank since that date has exceeded 6,000. 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 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.