Operation Iron Swords - Day 124 - 07 February 2024

Contents

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

"Hamas’s offer is intended to deepen the crisis in Israeli public opinion on hostage negotiations while stopping the IDF’s momentum in Gaza and alleviating the international pressure on it to release the hostages is intended to help Hamas return to the levels of control it held on October 6." According to former Israeli intelligence Official Avi Melamed.

"Regardless of the internal and external pressures, it’s unlikely any Israeli government, let alone Netanyahu’s current coalition, would ever accept this deal. Most likely, the IDF will continue its operations in Khan Yunis and its advance towards Rafah, where there are already reports that indicate the probability that Hamas leaders and the hostages they are using as human shields are likely hiding. As the IDF does so, Israel and the U.S. Administration will revert back to Hamas and its allies with their counterproposal, fighting the war as if there are no negotiations, and negotiating as if there is no war, which has been a hallmark of the Israeli response to Oct. 7.”

Defense Minister Gallant told the US Secretary of State Blinken during the extended meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu and the heads of the defense establishment that Hamas's negative response to the outline for the release of the abductees will lead to the expansion of the IDF's ground operation in the Gaza Strip. "Your position will lead to the continuation of the war, and our forces to other places in Gaza, soon," Gallant said

PM Netanyahu delivered a statement responding to Hamas’s proposal: "The achievements of the IDF are unprecedented within a matter of four months the IDF killed and wounded 20,000 terrorists that's half of the Hamas combat operatives we've managed to eradicate 24 battalions and we are continuing to kill terrorists and we are systematically exposing the network of tunnels where Hamas is hiding....

"The obliteration of battalions cleansing and getting rid of the terrorists and to continue to destroy the underground tunnels we will continue to do so I wish to reemphasize there is no other solution except for absolute Victory. If the Hamas continues to operate in Gaza it's only a matter of time until the next Massacre and the axis of evil led by Iran and its proxies will continue. Only absolute Victory will bring back security to Israel both in the north and in the South and ultimately obliterating Hamas will project onto the entire Middle East and will allow us to expand the circle of peace with our neighbors. Today I said to Secretary of State Blinken "we are ever so close to Absolute Victory which will be a victory of the entire free world not just Israel's Victory."

"And now I'd like to address the families of the hostages and I would like to tell you your loved ones are always our first consideration always I look at you in your eyes I see their pictures and my heart is torn we are not stopping to act for their release not for one minute even right now and I'm saying very sincerely to them and to all of you what I believe in continued military pressure is a necessary condition for releasing the hostages succumbing to the insane demands of Hamas will merely summon another Massacre, a terrible disaster to the state of Israel that none of our citizens is willing to accept and it will definitely not lead to the release of the hostages.

"As for the day after I would like to say the day after means the day after Hamas not part of the Hamas not half of Hamas all of Hamas and today I said to Secretary of State Blinken that after we obliterate Hamas we will make sure that Gaza will be demilitarized forever. History has proven that there is only one force that can guarantee such a demilitarization - the state of Israel with the IDF and our security forces. The meaning is that Israel will operate in Gaza at any place and at any time necessary in order to make sure that terrorism will not raise its head again. The civilian management of the Gaza Strip cannot be carried out by those who fund terrorism and carry out and educate for terrorism and this means we will have to replace UNRWA."

War Termination

Al Jazeera obtained details of the response of the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) to the proposal for the framework of the truce agreement in Gaza, which it presented to the mediators. Sources explained to Al Jazeera that the movement agreed to a framework agreement to reach a complete and sustainable truce in 3 stages, each stage lasting 45 days, and including: agreeing on the exchange of prisoners and the bodies of the dead, ending the siege, and reconstruction.

Hamas demanded that the complete truce talks be completed before the start of the second phase, and that Israeli forces be ensured outside the borders of the Gaza Strip, and that the reconstruction process begin. According to the same sources, in the first phase, Hamas offered to release Israeli detainees, including women, children, the elderly, and the sick, in exchange for 1,500 prisoners, including 500 who received life sentences and high sentences, in addition to all the women, children, and elderly people in the occupation prisons.

The movement also stipulated a "complete cessation" of military operations on both sides, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from residential areas in all areas of the Gaza Strip, and the entry of no less than 500 trucks per day of aid and fuel into all areas of the Gaza Strip during the first phase. The sources explained that in the first phase, Hamas also demanded the return of the displaced to their places of residence, the guarantee of freedom of movement between the north and south of the Strip, and the opening of the crossings.

The movement’s response included the necessity of approving the introduction of at least 60,000 temporary homes and 200,000 shelter tents into the Strip during the first phase, in addition to approving a plan for the reconstruction of homes, economic facilities, and public facilities that were destroyed, within a period not exceeding 3 years.

The first phase also includes restarting hospitals and restoring damaged medical facilities. The second phase includes Hamas handing over Israeli military prisoners, with Tel Aviv releasing a certain number of Palestinian prisoners, in addition to the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from all areas of the Strip. Within this stage, according to what was reported by Anadolu Agency, Hamas demanded the completion of talks on a complete cessation of the war, and the continuation of all humanitarian measures applied in the first stage, in addition to the actual start of the reconstruction process.

According to the movement's vision, the third stage includes the exchange of bodies and remains of the dead on both sides, after identifying them. The demands raised by the Hamas movement included: stopping the settlers’ storming of Al-Aqsa Al-Sharif, and returning the conditions in the blessed mosque to those before 2002.

The movement stressed the need to complete legal procedures to prevent Israel from arresting the prisoners released as part of the deal, and also requested that Qatar, Egypt, the United States, Turkey, and Russia be guarantors of the implementation of this agreement.

On the other hand, Israeli media reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will lead discussions regarding Hamas’ response. Channel 13 quoted an unnamed official as saying, “There are many points in Hamas’ response that cannot be accepted, and the dilemma at the present time is whether to reject the demands directly, or enter into negotiations in an attempt to mitigate them, and the decision will be made at the end of the discussion with Hamas.” prime minister". On the other hand, the Ynet website quoted Israeli officials - whom it did not name - as saying, “We cannot accept the demand to end the war.” It also spoke of objection to the demand to release 1,500 Palestinian prisoners, including those sentenced to life imprisonment.

In this context, writer and political analyst Majed Ibrahim said that Hamas' response comes after the movement said that it consulted its partners in the resistance and completed its internal consultations to try to achieve the greatest possible achievement that reaps the price of the enormous sacrifices made by the Palestinian people. He added - in exclusive statements to Al Jazeera Net - that the response comes within the framework of a positive response to the efforts of the mediators, who contributed to reaching the agreement, and an attempt to throw the ball in the Israeli court.

Ibrahim pointed out that what Al Jazeera obtained from Hamas’ response to the Parisian framework document with its detailed demands is consistent with the general principles announced by Hamas when it submitted its response. He also pointed out that Netanyahu himself is under pressure from his partners to complete a deal that leads to the release of all prisoners, which prompts him to put pressure on his partners, Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich , to agree to a deal after introducing amendments to it, otherwise proceeding with the deal may expose Netanyahu’s government to danger.

Axios quoted Israeli officials and informed sources as saying that the United States , along with Britain, France, Germany, and Italy, aspires to announce agreed-upon steps within a few weeks, pledged by Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah, with the aim of reducing tension on the border. Axios sources reported that the five Western countries are expected to announce potential economic benefits to boost the Lebanese economy, with the aim of facilitating a deal with Hezbollah.

The website explained that Hezbollah is not expected to be asked to move all of its fighters north of the Litani River, but rather what is required will be only 8 to 10 kilometers from the border. Under the understanding, the Lebanese army will deploy between 10 and 12 thousand soldiers along the border with Israel. Axios revealed that the United States requested that Israeli fighter flights be halted in Lebanese airspace, and Israel did not reject the request.

Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdullah Bou Habib said that his country seeks to fully implement International Resolution 1701. He added after his meeting with French Foreign Minister Stephane Ségournet in Beirut that Lebanon is ready to reach an agreement to stabilize its internationally recognized southern border. Bou Habib stressed that any escalation by Israel and launching a war against Lebanon would not be a desirable option and would lead to the outbreak of a regional war.

The French Minister held talks in Beirut with senior Lebanese officials. The media office of Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati quoted Sigourney as saying that his visit to Lebanon comes within the framework of a tour of a number of countries, in the context of international efforts to stop the aggression against the Gaza Strip , preserve stability in Lebanon, remove dangers from it, and stop military actions on the southern border.

In the same context, the source stated that Amos Hochstein, one of President Joe Biden's closest advisors , met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Galant last Sunday to discuss his proposal regarding new understandings regarding the borders. He explained that the truce proposal between Israel and Hezbollah "will resemble the understandings that ended the round of fighting in 1996."

Since the beginning of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, the Lebanese-Israeli border has witnessed tension and intermittent exchanges of fire between the Israeli army on the one hand and Hezbollah and Palestinian factions on the other hand. These events resulted in deaths and injuries on both sides. On the ground, Hezbollah announced the implementation of 9 operations against Israeli sites in the Upper Galilee and the occupied Shebaa Farms. The party said that it targeted the headquarters of the Beit Hillel Battalion, affiliated with the Eastern Regional Brigade “769.”

The party added that its fighters bombed, with “Barkan” and “Falaq 1” missiles, and rocket weapons, the Ramim barracks and a gathering of soldiers in its vicinity and the vicinity of the Jal al-Alam site. They also bombed with artillery and missiles the sites of al-Marj, Ruwaisat al-Alam, al-Samaqa, and Ramtha. On the other hand, Israeli aircraft launched raids on the towns of Hula. Marwahin, Tair Harfa, and the Labouneh area, and several border towns were subjected to Israeli bombing.

Operational Update

The biblical holidays for the Jews this year intersect with the second week of Ramadan and Tarawih prayers, which may open the door to a new battle in Al-Aqsa Mosque. Ramadan is celebrated Mar 10, 2024 – Apr 9, 2024. Tarawih, also known as Taraweeh, is a voluntary (nafl) night prayer performed by Muslims during the Islamic month of Ramadan. Tarawih prayers are a sunnah of the Prophet, which means that it was his practice to perform them. Purim is a Jewish holiday that celebrates the survival of the Jewish people from annihilation in the 5th century BCE. The story is told in the Book of Esther and is known as the Feast of Lots. Purim dates are March 23–24, 2024.

Yair Golan, former deputy chief of staff of the Israeli army and current member of the Knesset from the Meretz party, said that when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tells the Israeli public that he is capable of killing all the leaders of the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) and saving all the Israeli hostages at the same time, he is lying to them.

Golan explained, in an interview at Reichmann University that the Israeli government must return the hostages first, and then hope only later to reach Hamas, provided that its primary goal remains to prevent Hamas from returning to control the Gaza Strip. The retired Major General in the Israeli army considered that Netanyahu's policy was based on weakening the Palestinian Authority and providing a kind of stability to Hamas since 2009, and he said that this was one of the basic factors that led to Israel's failure in the October 7, 2023 operation.

Golan pointed out that the Palestinian Authority, especially in 2009, was working better, and its security coordination with Israel was better, while “Hamas was at its lowest levels after Operation Cast Lead,” he claimed. He added that Netanyahu, in return, worked to change the balance of power because a “weaker Palestinian authority” would allow the construction of more settlements, according to him.

Regarding the post-war stage, Golan says that Israel cannot hand over Gaza directly to its residents, adding, “I do not believe that we have a partner in Gaza. We will start with very strong international cooperation, and only after that will we find among the residents of Gaza those who can manage their own lives,” suggesting that The Palestinian Authority is responsible for managing the border crossings in the Gaza Strip, at least in the first phase, with its role increasing later.

Regarding the situation in northern Israel, Golan said that if he were in Netanyahu’s place, he would have called on most of the residents of the north to return to their homes already, even without a diplomatic agreement with Hezbollah, adding that some villages very close to the border will need to wait a longer period, and he said that cities like Ras Naqoura It lies outside the range of anti-tank missiles, and its residents must return because it is no more threatened than Nahariya, which has not been evacuated. Golan expected that there would not be a large-scale war between Israel and Hezbollah because the United States and Iran do not want it, and Washington will deter Israel, while Tehran will deter Hezbollah, according to his vision.

It seemed interesting that the Palestinian resistance factions in the Gaza Strip announced - during the past few days - an increasing pace of joint bombing operations against the Israeli occupation army in various combat axes. In this context, the military and strategic expert, Major General Fayez Al-Duwairi, says that the increase in joint operations by the resistance factions in Gaza comes as a translation of the activation of the “joint operations room,” which means that planning is joint and implementation is joint.

He pointed out that the circumstances of the battle, which has passed its 123rd day, impose the necessity of complete harmony and economy of effort, at the expense of skill and quality, in light of the stifling siege imposed. Accordingly, Al-Duwairi adds, the fighters of the resistance factions must make optimal use of their capabilities, noting that coordination in the south seems greater. Due to the presence of elite forces of the rest of the factions in Khan Yunis. Regarding the killing of the deputy commander of the 601st Battalion of the Israeli Engineering Corps in the battles in northern Gaza, the strategic expert pointed out that the occupation army is the only occupation army in the world that employs the use of bulldozers to fight in built-up areas. He pointed out that the Engineering Corps has specific duties, including: dealing with the Gaza tunnel network, “therefore there is an Israeli battalion specialized in tunnels that underwent training for a long period on similar tunnels in the Beersheba area,” in addition to accompanying military units to build roads, remove rubble, and build earthen berms.

He stressed that the Gaza war is one of the harshest wars fought by the Israeli army, and the number of casualties and deaths among its ranks is among the highest, questioning at the same time the numbers announced by Israel, stressing that they are much higher.

The Palestinian resistance factions waged fierce battles with the Israeli occupation army in the vicinity of the industrial zone in Gaza City and in several areas of the city of Khan Yunis. As the Israeli operation in Gaza entered its fifth month, Al Jazeera’s correspondent reported that fierce battles were taking place between the resistance factions and the Israeli army around the industrial area in Gaza City, where the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ), announced that it had targeted two troop carriers with “ Al-Yassin 105 ” shells. In the passport area, it sniped an officer and a soldier in the university area, west of Gaza City.

Al-Qassam also indicated that it killed and wounded a group of occupation soldiers after targeting them inside a house with a TPG shell west of Khan Yunis, and destroyed a tank in the same area. The Al-Qassam Brigades broadcast images of its fighters, in conjunction with the Al-Quds Brigades , the military wing of the Islamic Jihad Movement , targeting crowds of occupation forces with missiles on the fighting frontlines in Gaza City.

The Al-Qassam Brigades also broadcast scenes of what it said was an Israeli march that was captured during an intelligence mission in the city of Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip. For its part, the Al-Quds Brigades said that its fighters engaged in fierce clashes with the Israeli army with machine guns and missiles in the center, west and south of Khan Yunis.

It added that its resistance members blew up an Israeli military vehicle with a "Thaqib" barrel bomb in the vicinity of Haidar roundabout. The Al-Quds Brigades indicated that its resistance fighters targeted an Israeli Merkava tank in the Al-Amal neighborhood, west of Khan Yunis, with an RPG shell.

Israeli occupation forces stormed the cities of Tulkarm and Jenin in the West Bank at dawn, reinforced with dozens of military vehicles and bulldozers, amid clashes with Palestinian resistance fighters and the start of bulldozing operations of streets and facilities in the areas they entered. The occupation army also launched raids in Aqabat Jabr camp in the city of Jericho and near the city of Hebron. Al Jazeera's correspondent reported that dozens of occupation military vehicles, reinforced with bulldozers, stormed the city of Tulkarm in the north of the occupied West Bank from its western axis all the way to Nour Shams camp.

The reporter quoted the Palestinian Red Crescent as saying that 3 people were injured in a bomb explosion in Tulkarm camp. Local Palestinian platforms published video clips documenting the first moments of the occupation forces storming the city of Jenin and its camp in the West Bank. The clips document the deployment of the occupation forces in the city's neighborhoods, the incursion of their vehicles into its neighborhoods, and the start of bulldozing operations of streets and facilities, with the sound of clashes being heard between the resistance fighters and the occupation soldiers. Sirens sounded in the city of Jenin and its camp as the occupation forces and vehicles stormed the city from the Al-Jalama checkpoint and the Al-Muqaybla crossing from its northern axis, passing through Haifa Street and Al-Ahmadin Roundabout.

Meanwhile, the occupation forces raided, at dawn, a number of Palestinian homes in the Aqabat Jabr camp in the city of Jericho, east of the West Bank, under the pretext of searching for wanted persons. They searched it and tampered with its contents. The occupation forces and vehicles stormed the camp, besieged neighborhoods inside it, and raided the homes of families of prisoners and martyrs in the camp.

In Hebron, Al Jazeera's correspondent said that the occupation forces stormed the town of Al-Samou', south of the city, raided some homes, and detained Palestinians after stopping their vehicles. This comes at a time when settlers prevented Palestinian farmers from reaching their lands located south of the town, where such attacks have been escalating since Operation Al-Aqsa Flood and the ongoing Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip for 4 months.

Meanwhile, the occupation forces installed a military tower on Palestinian lands in the Umm Al-Shaqhan area in Musafer Yatta, south of Hebron, under the pretext of protecting the Avigal settlement established on Palestinian lands. Palestinian lands near the Avigal settlement are subject to settlement expansion, especially after the occupation authorities legalized the settlement last year. The occupation forces detained children from the Shawaheen family while they were tending to sheep in Khallet Al-Adra in Musafer Yatta.

A young Palestinian man was killed by bullets from the occupation army near the Beit Furik military checkpoint, east of the city of Nablus in the West Bank. The Palestinian Ministry of Health reported that the young man, Muhammad Titi, was martyred near the checkpoint, and that the occupation forces detained his body. The occupation army claimed in a statement that its forces killed the young man after he shot her, and that they found a pistol and a knife in his possession. Video clips showed that the occupation soldiers prevented the martyr’s mother from reaching him to see him.

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 [in old days] 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. Indeed, by late January 2024 mappers were rather less exuberant in their depictions of IDF advances. While by the end of 2023 maps suggested that it was "mission accomplished" in North Gaza which was depicted as entirely pacified, by late January 2024 enclaves of IDF elements were depicted at the margins of Gaza City, much of North Gaza was now depticted as either HAMAS-controlled, or "contested". Another noteworthy cartographic ambiguity was found to the south of Khan Yunis in the stretch of Salah Al-Deen avenue running north from Al-Nasr through al-Fukhari to the vicinity of Tawhid Mosque in the environs of Khan Yunis proper. By the end of 2023 some cartographers indicated that a large swath of territory centered on this avenue had been liberated by the IDF, while other cartographers professed no knowlege of an IDF presence in that part of the Strip. By late January 2024 there are suggestions that while the avenue itself was an IDF permissive corridor for nearly the full length of the Strip, much of adjacent territory was not. By 29 January 2024 Al-Jazeera had finally come around to some of the cartographic conventions of other mappers, indicating "occupied areas", and even providing a map of IDF ORBAT in the Strip.

Bystanders

The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that the Kingdom will not establish diplomatic relations with Israel unless the Palestinian state is recognized, the Israeli aggression against Gaza is stopped , and the occupation withdraws from it. The Saudi Foreign Ministry said - in a statement - that the Kingdom informed its firm position to the US administration that “there will be no diplomatic relations with Israel unless the independent Palestinian state is recognized on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital , the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip is stopped, and all members of the occupation forces are withdrawn.” Israeli from the Gaza Strip.

In response to statements by US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby regarding the path to Arab-Israeli peace, the Saudi Foreign Ministry said, “The Kingdom’s position is firm regarding the Palestinian issue and the necessity of the brotherly Palestinian people obtaining their legitimate rights.” The Saudi Foreign Ministry called on the international community - in particular the permanent members of the Security Council - to "accelerate the recognition of the Palestinian state so that the Palestinian people can achieve their legitimate rights and achieve a comprehensive and just peace for all."

International relief organizations denounced the suspension of funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees ( UNRWA ), which is the pivotal body in providing aid to the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip , warning of the occurrence of an imminent humanitarian crisis that contradicts the recommendations of the International Court of Justice , and obstructs the implementation of its recommendations, which demanded the arrival of... Humanitarian aid. The British Action Aid Foundation described the decision to stop support as a “death sentence” for the Palestinians in Gaza and the region, which caused some human rights centers to warn that those who made this decision may be tried on charges of complicity in war crimes.

Since the mid-eighties, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees ( UNRWA ) has been subjected to a systematic campaign run by the governments of the Israeli right and its research circles, with the open complicity of the administrations of US Presidents Donald Trump and Joe Biden, in the service of broader political agendas. . This was something that was not possible in the first years of the agency’s founding, with a resolution issued by the United Nations General Assembly, No. 302, on December 8, 1949, and on the basis of a mandate that was renewed every three years for the purpose of providing relief to about 750,000 Palestinian refugees.

American John Davis, director of UNRWA, in 1959, summarized his vision of the agency’s role in that early era as “a low cost paid by the international community in exchange for not solving the political problems of the Palestinian refugees.”

Israel's position on UNRWA began to change in the second half of the 1980s with the outbreak of the first intifada in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 1987, taking the form of questioning its neutrality. Israel claimed that some UNRWA employees were members or supporters of Palestinian resistance organizations, claimed that UNRWA vehicles were used to transport fighters and weapons, and demanded that it be given permission to search the agency's vehicles. On the other hand, UNRWA then invoked diplomatic immunity for its employees, and objected to the inspection of its vehicles.

After the establishment of the Palestinian Authority in 1994 in implementation of the Oslo Accords, the situation changed, as researcher Hilmi Moussa noted. He said that talk about refugee rights increased, "and the agency began to be seen as having perpetuated the refugee issue and not erasing it. The falsehood of the Zionist slogan that the old die and the young are forgotten has become clear. Talk about eliminating UNRWA has become a declared goal, in cooperation with America." On the other hand, during times of war and crises, Israel increased its accusations against UNRWA, according to the spokesman, “with the clear intention of making the Palestinians feel that they have no refuge from it and that they have no international protection.” He added, "Of course, this contributes to the Palestinians' despair of continuing the struggle for their rights."

In 2014, the tone of incitement against UNRWA increased in the Israeli media, as the editor-in-chief of the “Times of Israel” website, David Horovitch, published an article on August 1, 2014 entitled: “The Problem with UNRWA,” in which he pointed out that the agency “operates under a different definition.” According to the definition of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, assistance is provided not only to those who are still alive among the refugees of 1948, and to those who lost their homes and means of livelihood after the 1967 war, but also - and this is the crucial point - to their descendants. Therefore, “instead of the problem of refugees numbering in the tens of thousands, there are now between 5 and 6 million Palestinian refugees - as he wrote - waiting in vain to return to Israel, and their health care, social services and education are funded through UNRWA.” Accordingly, UNRWA, as the agency established to solve the Palestinian refugee problem, became the agency that “feeds this problem.”

Starting in 2017, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - who took power successively after the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin in 1995 - began to publicly incite against UNRWA by adopting Horovitch’s call to place Palestinian refugees under the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and to end the presence of UNRWA, which he considered to be working for the benefit of the Palestinian refugees. Palestinians and perpetuate the refugee issue.

A study published by the Institute for Palestine Studies on 12 June 2023 indicates that Netanyahu saw, after Donald Trump arrived at the White House on January 20, 2017, that the opportunity had become ripe for him to express this desire openly and on a large scale. In a meeting of his government held on June 11 of that year, he called for the dismantling of UNRWA and the merging of its institutions within the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and indicated that he informed the American ambassador to the United Nations, Haley, of the necessity of working in this direction.

The same study says that “the year 2018 witnessed an escalation in the intensity of the Israeli campaign against UNRWA, which was increased in momentum at that time by the positions adopted by the administration of US President Donald Trump, which began explicitly calling, after its recognition of the city of Jerusalem as the “capital” of the State of Israel and the transfer of the US embassy there, to end the work of In this context, UNRWA took a decision to stop the financial support it had allocated to it, which is estimated at approximately $300 million annually, in preparation for weakening its financial resources.” This happened on August 31 of the same year.

The decision to cut funding to UNRWA was not a surprise to the American media because it came after Foreign Policy magazine in August 2018 revealed leaked emails, showing how Trump’s son-in-law and envoy to the Middle East, Jared Kushner, pressured other officials in the administration to engage in “ "A serious effort to restrict UNRWA."

According to American media reports, the decision to stop funding was taken during a meeting between Kushner and then Secretary of State Mike Pompeo , while US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley played an important role in adopting the decision.

The decision was also intended - according to the assessment of the position of the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies - to liquidate the issue of Palestinian refugees, given that it came in the context of decisions that aimed in the same direction, the most important of which was: Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel in December 2017, and then moving the American embassy to it. In May 2018, as part of what was called the “Deal of the Century.” The decision to stop funding UNRWA was accompanied by another decision taken by the Trump administration, which was to withhold relief, medical and development aid worth $200 million, which was supposed to be disbursed this year in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

In his speech before the UN Security Council on May 22, 2019, President Donald Trump’s envoy to the Middle East, Jason Greenblatt, considered that UNRWA constitutes a “bandage,” and that the time has come for refugee-hosting countries and non-governmental organizations to receive the services provided by the international agency. "The UNRWA model has failed the Palestinian people," Greenblatt told the council.

UNRWA fell into financial distress as a result of Trump's measures, given that the American contribution ($360 million) to UNRWA's budget constitutes a third of its annual revenues. This nightmare did not end until Trump’s arch-rival, Joe Biden, was declared the winner of the presidency in November 2020, prompting the Italian Director-General of UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini, to quickly declare in a tweet, “Congratulations... Congratulations from UNRWA to President-elect Biden and his vice president, Kamala Harris. We hope very much.” Working together, and resuming the old American tradition of support.”

Four months after Biden assumed power, what Lazzarini expected happened, as the new American president ordered the resumption of the aid that his predecessor had withheld from UNRWA. Newly appointed US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said on April 7, 2021, “US aid will include $75 million for economic and development assistance in Gaza, $10 million for peacebuilding programs through the US Agency for International Development (USAID), and $150 million.” From humanitarian aid to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).

The resumption of American support contributed to alleviating the severity of UNRWA's financial crisis, and it is no longer the talk of the hour, but the Israeli incitement against the agency has not stopped. In January of the same year, researchers at the Badin Center for Middle East Policy Studies, Ron Schleifer and Yehuda Brachin, published an article on the Hebrew “News One” website, in which they said that “UNRWA seeks to perpetuate the refugee problem, which it was asked to solve, and instead UNRWA has gradually transformed into a short-term, semi-governmental organization to assist human development, providing social welfare services in the areas of medical care, shelter, and education.” They pointed out that, “With the passage of time, UNRWA assumed responsibilities that were usually in the hands of government institutions, such as education, health, and social care, and began to manage its refugee camps based on its sovereignty over them, despite the fact that most of the Palestinian residents of these camps are known for their political activity and connections to armed organizations.” The Palestine Liberation Organization and the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).

The two Israeli researchers pointed out that “the partnership has existed between UNRWA and Palestinian organizations for decades, and its clear bias against Israel increases doubts about its self-image as a non-political organization, the necessity of its continued existence, and in fact, the legitimacy of its existence in general, because UNRWA has turned the issue of Palestinian refugees into a project.” Through it, large sums of money are pumped from Arab regimes and Western supporters are motivated.”

During the two years prior to the “Al-Aqsa Flood” operation on October 7, 2023, these allegations did not find support or anyone to adopt them outside Israel, despite their conformity with the narrative of the ruling Israeli right. With Israel declaring a state of war on October 8, 2023, and its army launching an unprecedented retaliatory attack on the Gaza Strip starting on the same day, UNRWA, with its 13,000 employees, continued its role as a relief organization for all Palestinians in the Strip, including refugees and newly displaced people. The courtyards of hospitals and UNRWA schools - which provide medical and relief services - turned into a haven for those fleeing the violence of the bombing, for which the United States of America organized an air bridge to reinforce the arsenal used in it.

A report published on the official UNRWA website at the end of January 2024 stated that “an estimated 1.9 million displaced people (are now) residing either in 154 UNRWA shelters or near these shelters.” Note that the virtual international immunity is what prompted the residents of the Gaza Strip to seek refuge in UNRWA centers after receiving evacuation orders from the Israeli occupation army in preparation for the bombing or invasion of their camps or neighborhoods.

Despite this, displaced persons and refugees heading to UNRWA centers were being targeted and killed by marches or bombing from land, sea and air. The UNRWA website reports that its buildings and the people inside them have been exposed to 278 incidents since the start of the war, some of which have witnessed multiple incidents affecting the sites themselves, including at least 28 incidents of military use and/or interference in UNRWA facilities. 147 different UNRWA facilities were affected by these incidents.”

UNRWA reports estimated the number of deaths among the displaced people who have sought refuge in its headquarters since the start of the war at 376, and the number of wounded at 1,365. The number of UNRWA employees killed as of January 31 reached 152, while 3,000 others continue their work, “and they are the backbone of humanitarian relief operations” in the Strip.

As the war entered its fifth month, and the Israeli army isolated the governorates of the northern Gaza Strip from its south, UNRWA remained the focus of the relief effort for the residents of the stricken Gaza Strip. A statement published on February 1 says that “a total of 354,411 families have been reached so far.” Thomas White, Director of UNRWA Affairs in Gaza and Deputy UN Coordinator for Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, said in a recorded statement that UNRWA staff, who were themselves forced to flee their homes, “continued to provide food and tents to the newly displaced people around them.”

In the north, where famine looms, UNRWA has had very limited access since the war began. According to White, “UNRWA has received reports that people in the area are grinding bird feed to make flour.” He stressed that the agency continues to "coordinate with the Israeli army so that we can go to the north, but this has not been allowed to a large extent." "When our convoys are finally allowed to go to the area, people rush to the trucks to get food and often eat it right away," he said.

The impending famine in the Gaza Strip was not on the minds of Israeli security decision-makers as they considered possible scenarios to obstruct UNRWA's relief and humanitarian role during the war. According to identical sources, the Mossad prepared a 6-page report that included accusations against 12 agency employees in Gaza, including teachers and two women, of participating in the attack of last October 7, and it was handed over to UNRWA officials in mid-January. The report said that about 10% of the 13,000 employees in Gaza are linked to the Hamas and Islamic Jihad movements.

In conjunction with the International Court of Justice judges issuing a ruling ordering Israel “to prevent genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, and to ensure the provision of basic services and humanitarian assistance,” UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini revealed in a statement that the Israeli authorities provided UNRWA with information about the alleged involvement of a number (without specifying) Agency employees in the horrific attacks on the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023. He continued, “To protect the Agency’s ability to provide humanitarian assistance, I have taken the decision to immediately terminate the contracts of these employees and begin an investigation in order to find the truth without delay.” The statement added, "Any participation by any UNRWA employee in terrorist acts exposes him to accountability, including criminal prosecution."

Dr. Mahmoud Al-Ali, coordinator of the Right of Return Coalition in Lebanon (Returns), links the motives of the American-Israeli campaign to exclude UNRWA during the Gaza War to it being “the living and basic witness that the United Nations intended to establish to provide assistance to Palestine refugees until they return to their land and national soil from which they were displaced in 1948,” and says According to Al Jazeera Net, this effort "is not very separate from the tireless efforts made by the United States of America to pass the Deal of the Century, which aims to end the right of return and establish the principle of settling Palestine refugees."

International relief organizations denounced the suspension of funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees ( UNRWA ), which is the pivotal body in providing aid to the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip , warning of the occurrence of an imminent humanitarian crisis that contradicts the recommendations of the International Court of Justice , and obstructs the implementation of its recommendations, which demanded the arrival of... Humanitarian aid. The British Action Aid Foundation described the decision to stop support as a “death sentence” for the Palestinians in Gaza and the region, which caused some human rights centers to warn that those who made this decision may be tried on charges of complicity in war crimes.

The United Nations Rapporteur for Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese, said that Israel has not implemented the International Court of Justice ’s decision to prevent genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip . Albanese explained in an interview with Al Jazeera that Israel ignored the Court of Justice's order - late last month - to stop killing civilians, and at the same time stressed the need to take all measures to prevent genocide in Gaza. She added, "It is shocking that member states of the court attacked the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees ( UNRWA )."

She stressed that Tel Aviv has never respected international law and has been allowed to violate the law since 1967, noting that Israel is still practicing ethnic cleansing in Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem . She indicated that countries that deal with Israel commercially can stop this dealing to put pressure on it, stressing that there is a strong possibility for the international community to stop the ongoing massacres in the Gaza Strip.

Regarding field developments, the UN rapporteur said, “The more aid is delayed and the ceasefire is delayed, the more the death toll will increase in the Gaza Strip,” stressing that the disaster has already occurred in Gaza and the only witnesses there are international employees. She pointed out that civilians are being killed daily in Gaza, “and this is a source of concern to us,” adding that the famine suffered by the residents of the Gaza Strip is unparalleled in the entire world.

Axis of Resistance

The prisoner exchange deal between the Palestinian resistance and Israel dominated discussions on Israeli media channels, and former media figures, officials and security personnel focused on analyzing the personality of the head of the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) in the Gaza Strip, Yahya Sinwar. The discussion took place on Channel 12 about the exchange deal and the expected response from the Hamas movement. The political affairs correspondent on the same channel said, “Sinwar is manipulating Israel. Let us tell the truth.” He added: “We are in a state of waiting and this is clear to everyone. Sinwar is playing with all of us at this stage."

The latest news indicates that the Hamas movement presented its response to the mediators to the proposed framework for the truce agreement in Gaza. For his part, Micha Kobi - a former Shin Bet officer - described Sinwar as "a misleading man who will never surrender and will do everything that hurts the State of Israel." This former officer - who had interrogated Al-Sinwar for dozens of hours while he was imprisoned - claimed that he knew Al-Sinwar well, and said: “I read him, saw him, sat with him, and ate with him, and I know his behavior.”

For its part, the Channel 14 anchor asked what Israel should do in order to solve the mystery of Sinwar, who she said refuses to release Israeli prisoners. Brigadier General (res.) Betty Lahat, former head of intelligence at the Prison Service, responded to the broadcaster’s question by saying: “Israel must eliminate this man...nothing else, and we must not negotiate with him.” Lahat, who supervised Sinwar in prison, added: "He knows us well and knows our sensitivities and weaknesses. He uses our weaknesses, and he has studied the psychology of the Israeli street."

She revealed that she was among the senior Israeli army commanders who she said tried to formulate an action plan seeking to reduce the list of Palestinian prisoners in the Shalit deal , and recalled Sinwar’s statement at the time: “Nothing will make us back down from what we decided... nothing.” The former head of intelligence at the Prison Service confirmed, "All those prisoners were promised by Sinwar on the day of his release that they would be on the next lists when he conducted these negotiations with Israel."

It is noteworthy that Israel released Sinwar in 2011, and he was one of more than a thousand prisoners who were freed in exchange for the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit as part of what was called the “Loyalty to the Free” deal.

Allied for Democracy

Russian writer Igor Subbotin reported that Israel's invasion of the southern Gaza Strip - Rafah - would become a trap for Tel Aviv by exposing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government's relations with the United States and Egypt to tension. The writer pointed out, in a report published by the newspaper "Nezavisimaya", that Egypt threatened to sever its relations with Israel in the event of an influx of refugees and their entry into the Sinai Peninsula .

He said that Egypt opposes the implementation of the ground operation in Rafah for fear of exacerbating the humanitarian crisis along the border. Cairo fears that the attack, especially along the Philadelphia Corridor - a narrow buffer zone between Egypt and the Palestinian Strip - will lead to a large influx of refugees into Sinai. The Egyptian authorities had directly informed Israel that implementing such a scenario would force the Egyptian leadership to cut off bilateral communications, even though it has traditionally played the role of mediator in negotiations with the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) alongside the State of Qatar .

The writer stated that the battle to control Rafah requires strength. According to Israeli military commanders, the form of the operation in this region will follow the model of the war in Khan Yunis . Therefore, the implementation of such plans is expected to exacerbate the humanitarian catastrophe in Rafah, where approximately 1.3 million of Gaza's 2.2 million people live. A large portion of Palestinians arrived there from the northern regions.

The report quoted the American newspaper "Politico" as saying that this situation increases US President Joe Biden's lack of confidence in the Israeli Prime Minister. In private conversations, Biden described Netanyahu as a “bad man,” expressing his fears that the Israeli Prime Minister’s struggle to save his political career would drag the United States into a large-scale conflict in the Middle East after the Pentagon had already taken exceptional measures, including the bombing of Yemen .

The report explained that one of the motives for Israel's expected campaign in the southern Gaza Strip is the desire to dismantle the Hamas tunnel network , after the occupation army took control of a large part of the strategic tunnel system in Khan Yunis, where the Israeli hostages and the senior leadership of the Palestinian resistance are located.

The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth said that Israel is still far from strategic victory in Gaza , 4 months after the start of the war, despite achieving tactical gains against the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ). In a report entitled “Four months after the outbreak of the war, the end is approaching in Khan Yunis ... achievements and goals waiting to be achieved, and strategic disappointment,” the newspaper wrote that the army has achieved many gains, but has not yet succeeded in achieving one of its main goals, which is eliminating senior Hamas leaders.

The newspaper added that the army, upon reaching Khan Yunis, was now facing the western branch of the local Hamas battalion, and estimates indicate that it will be able to achieve its goal within a week and complete the second phase, that is, the invasion of the southern Gaza Strip, then move to the third phase, which will also include Khan Yunis, but two goals. Two essentials that he identified in the city itself were not fulfilled. The senior Hamas leaders were not eliminated, led by Yahya Al-Sinwar and Muhammad Al-Deif , and the place where the prisoners were being held was not determined and they were not rescued.

The newspaper says that the Israeli army claims that intense military pressure through ground forces alone is sufficient to push Hamas to complete another deal, but the reality shows that the indications that it is approaching the detainees’ sites - even if they accumulate daily - have not led to them being captured alive.

The army’s primary goal in the first and second phases - the newspaper recalls - was to eliminate the command and control capabilities possessed by “Hamas” and to destroy its bases above and below the ground, but in addition to the daily tactical achievements - such as reaching and destroying weapons manufacturing workshops - Israel remains completely far from strategic victory. The government refuses to discuss the next day in the Gaza Strip to find out who will rule its two million residents. Hamas has exploited the existing vacuum, and there are signs of the return of its authority in areas where the army had moved.

Yedioth Ahronoth quoted the Israelis as estimating that between 17 and 24 Hamas brigades had been eliminated, and what remained intact was moving in areas that the Israeli army had not entered by a deliberate decision, such as Deir al-Balah and Nuseirat in the center, and south of the explosive Rafah on the Philadelphia smuggling axis weapons from Sinai.

According to the newspaper, the plans to enter Rafah and eliminate the Hamas battalion there - where the movement’s leaders are likely holed up after their departure from the north and center, according to Yedioth Ahronoth - have most likely been completed, but their implementation requires one of two conditions: Egypt’s approval , which may force Israel to show flexibility. On the issue of bringing in humanitarian aid, or Israeli approval for a Palestinian body ruling Gaza instead of Hamas, in addition to the evacuation of a million Palestinians who fled from the north and are now in the refugee camps surrounding Rafah.

The newspaper talks about another condition that it considers less important, which is the continued availability of international legitimacy under American auspices, which allows Israel to return to strong military action in Gaza, but renewing this “legitimacy” - which was made available under the shock of last October 7 - may be difficult because American distrust of the buffer zone plan and because of the destruction of thousands of homes, not to mention Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ’s insistence on refusing to discuss the future status of the Strip and handing it over to “moderate” elements from outside “Hamas,” and the right-wing in his government controlling most of the decisions, and this wing’s demand for settlement. Gaza.

Butcher's Bill / Oasis of Martyrs

On 7 October 2023, Hamas and other armed groups present in the Gaza Strip carried out an attack in Israel, killing more than 1,200 persons, injuring thousands and abducting some 240 people, many of whom continue to be held hostage. It was the second largest loss inflicted on the Israeli forces after the 1973 war. Palestinian armed groups launched thousands of missiles at Israel Following this attack, Israel launched a large-scale military operation in Gaza, by land, air and sea.

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."

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant considered 05 February 2024 that half the number of Hamas militants were killed or seriously injured by Israeli army forces. The HAMAS Ministry of Health in the besieged sector announced that the number of victims of the Israeli operation its beginning had risen to 27,585 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 66,978. 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 380 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 total number of Israeli deaths had risen to 563 [557?] since the start of the war on October 7, including 233 [220?] killed since the ground invasion as a result of the ongoing clashes with the Palestinian resistance. 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.

It was announced that soldiers wounded in the Gaza Strip battles numbered to 2,815 since the beginning of the war, including 1,296 who had been wounded since the start of the ground attack on October 27, 2023.

The Israeli army reported that 407 who are still receiving treatment for their injuries in the Gaza battles, and the condition of 48 of them is serious. The number of injured among the Israeli army since the start of the ground operation in the Gaza Strip on October 27 included 602 minor cases, 430 moderate cases, and 264 critical cases.

The Israeli army published new data about those wounded in the military operation in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli army announces that 540 soldiers were injured in the Gaza StripThe Gaza government announces that the Israeli army committed a “horrific massacre” in an area it claimed was safe According to army data, 540 soldiers, including 27 seriously injured, were injured in operational incidents since the start of the bombing of the Gaza Strip. There were also 21 accidental shooting incidents in the Gaza Strip, 54 bilateral shooting incidents and 31 traffic accidents. In addition, 388 incidents occurred, including ramming anti-tank rifles, anti-aircraft guns, weapons and machine guns.

At least 13,794 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

Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari announced on that 31 hostages detained in Gaza had died. He added in a press conference, "We informed 31 families that their detained relatives had died, and thus we announce their deaths."

Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed have been held as hostages in Gaza since 2014 and 2015, respectively. Unlike the roughly 240 people kidnapped in the Hamas October 7 terrorist attacks, the campaign for the release of Mengistu and al-Sayed has received little publicity. Mengistu is known to suffer from what HRW deemed "serious" mental health issues. "Avera crossed one of the safest borders in the world, under the eyes of the security services," recalled Gil Elias, a relative. "We're talking about a mentally ill person who got lost." The calls for the release of Mengistu and al-Sayed have been barely audible during the many years they have been held captive in Gaza.

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 Israelis in the West Bank since that date has exceeded 6,870. The total number of prisoners in Israeli prisons is 8,800, as documented by the club until the end of December 2023. Palestinian prisoner institutions said more than 3,290 administrative detainees, which is the highest percentage since the years of the 1987 Intifada, and 661 who were classified as “unlawful combatants” from Gaza, and this is the number available only as a clear given. 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.

Israel said on 14 January 2024 that, since the beginning of the war, over 2,960 wanted persons have been arrested throughout the Judea and Samaria Division and the Bekaa and Valleys Division, over 1,350 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.

The institutions added in the statement that “the occupation arrested 210 women during the aforementioned period, and this statistic includes women who were arrested from the territories in 1948, and more than 355 children,” pointing out that “the outcome of the arrest campaigns includes all those who were arrested from homes, and through military checkpoints, Those who were forced to surrender themselves under pressure, and those who were detained.” It explained that "the number of arrests among journalists reached 50, of whom 35 remain in detention, and 20 of them were transferred to administrative detention."

The announced numbers of detainees do not include those who were arrested from Gaza since the start of the operation in the Gaza Strip, as there is no accurate census of these numbers.

Israel has rejected international legal adaptations since 1967, and has treated the Palestinians as criminals, and tried them before military courts and not as prisoners of war. Because the POW is not tried, but is released when the war stops, or as a result of a political agreement.

But international humanitarian law sets clear conditions relating to the Palestinians, whether as prisoners of war or organized groups with one leadership and carrying a unified slogan, and these conditions apply to Palestinian resistance fighters, specifically armed groups. International law, through the Third Geneva Conventions, which relate to prisoners of war and armed conflicts, and the Fourth Geneva Convention, which relates to civilians under occupation; Provide full protection to Palestinian prisoners and groups, including resistance factions.

The obstacles imposed by the Israeli occupation authorities became very different after the seventh of last October. They decided to cancel all trials in order to double the sentences issued against detainees, and now The scope of arguments before lawyers is very limited, due to military orders, and not according to legal data.