Operation Iron Swords - Day 129 - 12 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 |
This comes at a time when Israeli forces continue their fighting in the city of Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip, and are preparing for a possible ground operation in Rafa’a on the border with Egypt, a step that has raised widespread international warnings, as more than a million people have fled to the border city, fleeing the fighting in the rest of the country. The besieged Palestinian sector.
News 12 commentators on the implications that Operation "Yad Zahav" brings to the continuation of the fighting - and the release of the hostages. The fact that the "Golden Hand" operation to rescue the abductees from Lev Rafih ended without casualties is amazing, and it is certainly not obvious. We saw how fragile everything is and can change in seconds, like a hair's breadth, between success and failure.
Nir Debori noted In such an operation, very accurate intelligence that will allow planning the entry of the forces without being revealed is a critical thing. The Shavora refugee camp in Rafah is so crowded and so complex, there is no way that someone enters and the environment does not understand that he is an exception and a foreigner. To arrive in a secret and precise way, you do it on foot and not on horseback from a very long distance.
Starting at the point of breaking through by blowing up the locked door with a charge, the power is actually exposed, and from that moment a lot of things can go wrong. The force has a few seconds to reach the abductees before the abductors shoot them - this is the Hamas commissioner, the captors are instructed to kill the abductees as soon as they think someone is coming to rescue them.
In such an operation, there is no improvisation. During the planning and training for it, all scenarios and reactions are taken into account, and then at the moment of truth it takes seconds to run up the staircase, kill the three armed guards in the foyer, turn right and enter the room where the kidnapped are and report "they are safe and sound, they are in our hands".
The extraction point is critical as well, and requires split second decisions. As soon as the fighters left the building with the abductees, the street woke up and started accurate shooting at the troops. They decided to bring the abductees back into the building and shot from there. Additional forces entered, this time already with APCs with Marine Commando fighters and backed up by tanks to open another rescue corridor.
In order not to endanger the abductees, the fighters rescued the abductees using abseiling ropes from the second floor to the bottom, and from there they were transferred to the NMRs. They put helmets and protective gear on them, but also protect them with their bodies. They had to bring them home alive, even at the cost of getting hurt themselves.
Yair Sharky said in our mind - we are once again feeling capable. It's amazing to see what it does to the uplifting of the Israeli spirit, to the IDF, to the public and also to the families of the abductees.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel "will not waste any opportunity to free more hostages" in Gaza, and described continued military pressure until "complete victory" over Hamas is achieved as "necessary to fully recover the hostages." Netanyahu wrote on the “X” platform, saying: “I salute our brave warriors for the bold action that led to their liberation,” referring to the Israeli army.
The IDF's successful operation embarrassed Hamas so much that it led them to state in one of their statements that the freed hostages were not held by Hamas, but by Gazan citizens. In other words, the failure is not of the military arm of Hamas. Leader of the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ), Osama Hamdan, said that field press accounts confirm that the two Israeli prisoners whom the occupation claimed to have liberated in the Shaboura camp in Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip , were not in the possession of the movement, but rather in the possession of a civilian family, stressing the necessity of waiting for the resistance’s account of the incident.
The Al-Qassam Brigades announced the killing of 3 of the eight Israeli detainees who were announced yesterday to have been seriously injured in the Israeli raids on the Gaza Strip. It added in a statement: We will postpone announcing the names and photos of the dead for the coming days until the fate of the rest of the wounded becomes clear. Yesterday, the Al-Qassam Brigades announced the killing of two Israeli prisoners and the serious wounding of eight others by Israeli occupation fire, and said that the continuous Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip during the last 96 hours; It caused the death and injury of prisoners . The Brigades added through their account on the Telegram application that the conditions of the prisoners are becoming more dangerous in light of the inability to provide them with appropriate treatment. It also held the Israeli entity fully responsible for the lives of those injured in light of the continued bombing and aggression.
War Termination
Former Israeli intelligence official and regional analyst Avi Melamed said a deal between Israel and Hamas that sees a pause in hostilities and the release of hostages is within reach, and likely to be renegotiated and signed in the near term.
“A deal between Israel and Hamas that sees a pause in hostilities and the release of hostages is within reach, and likely to be renegotiated and signed in the near term. Both parties are likely more amenable to renewed negotiations, Hamas living under the threat of Israel’s advancement on its final stronghold in Rafah and having been given a two-week ultimatum by Egypt over the weekend. Israel, despite the success of last night’s hostage rescue operation, has come under fire for the collateral damage reportedly wrought during the daring escape which saw two hostages returned to Israel.
"Last week we saw traded “unsingable” drafts. Because of Israel’s impending advance on Rafah, the border area with Egypt and Hamas’s last stronghold in the Gaza Strip, Egypt has set an ultimatum to Hamas of two weeks to negotiate and implement a deal. Egypt does not want Gazans to violate its sovereignty in their fleeing Israel’s advancement and has reinforced its border to avoid it being overrun as it has been historically when Gazans are fleeing danger, including those posed by Hamas itself. For Hamas, last night’s Israeli mission also sends the message that Israel is prepared to secure the release of the hostages, either through what Israel feels is a reasonable trade, or through kinetic military operations.
"Egypt remains the most potentially powerful advocate with Hamas’s Gaza-based leadership because it serves as the gateway to Gaza, controlling the flow of aid and evacuees going into and coming out of Gaza and can potentially limit the flow of people out of Gaza on Hajj during Ramadan.
"For Israel, despite the success of last night’s operation, the international outcry over the Hamas-reported collateral damage is presenting Israel with added pressure to negotiate a deal, while Hamas is likely reshuffling where they are detaining their hostages rendering previously acquired intelligence inoperable, while the military likely weighs the chances for success in future hostage rescues against a hostage negotiation agreement which guarantees the safety of the hostages being released (whereas rescue missions present inherent risks to the hostages during the operation).
Melamed concluded "All in, it’s likely the pressure weighing on both sides, is leading towards renewed negotiations and an agreement that sees a pause in fighting and the release of hostages just over the horizon.”
Israeli media reported, citing estimates from three senior officials, that an Israeli delegation may head to Cairo tomorrow, Tuesday, with the aim of pushing forward negotiations for the release of the hostages. Three senior Israeli officials estimated that "an Israeli delegation may depart for Egypt tomorrow, Tuesday, to hold a meeting with the head of the CIA, the head of Egyptian intelligence, and the head of the Qatari government, with the aim of pushing forward negotiations for the release of kidnapped persons."
The "Wala" website stated, "If the delegation heads to Cairo, the one who will head it is the head of the Shin Bet, Ronen Bar, who is responsible for the file of communications with Egyptian intelligence, and he will be joined by Mossad chief David Barnea and General Nitzan Alon." While the Prime Minister's Office stated that "no decision has been made yet whether a delegation will be sent to Cairo."
Two days ago, officials in Israel indicated that "the delegation's departure is linked to the ability of Egypt and Qatar to make Hamas retract the demands it presented." Axios reported earlier that Israel rejected Hamas' demands regarding the hostage deal, but said it was ready to begin negotiations on the basis of the original proposal.
The White House is urging Israel to pursue a temporary halt in Gaza to secure the release of additional Israeli captives and to expedite the delivery of humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians. According to John Kirby, the White House National Security Spokesperson, there has been some progress in discussions regarding a humanitarian pause, but further efforts are needed. "We continue to support an extended humanitarian pause," Kirby said.
Kirby's remarks came one day after US President Joe Biden conveyed to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that "a military operation in Rafah should not proceed" without a plan to protect civilians. In the same context, the US State Department spokesperson, Matthew Miller, stated that Washington doesn't perceive the Israeli airstrikes in Rafah as the initiation of a comprehensive offensive in the region. "Israeli strikes on Rafah should not have an impact on the hostage negotiations," he said.
He further emphasized that the US would not endorse a "full-scale military operation" in Rafah unless "Israel" presented a credible and executable plan. Miller added that he doesn't believe that cutting US aid to "Israel" would be a more impactful measure than the actions already taken by Washington.
Operational Update
The Al-Qassam Brigades announced the killing of 10 Israeli soldiers from zero distance, and the Al-Quds Brigades said that they ambushed an Israeli force, leaving its members dead and wounded. The IDF confirms that 9 soldiers were injured in battles in the Gaza Strip during the past 24 hours.
Since the beginning of its war, Israel has been pushing the ghosts of a second catastrophe onto the scene of Gaza, after the matter did not succeed in the northern and central Gaza Strip, as it pushed people towards the far south, to the Rafah border, while the equation appeared: “Sinai is in front of you... and death is behind you.”
Al Jazeera military and strategic expert Major General Fayez Al-Duwairi saw Biden’s talk about Rafah as a green light for Netanyahu to move forward, but it is an implicit approval conditional on taking precautionary measures. Al-Duwairi added that Biden and Netanyahu are both lying to each other, and both are lying to the world, “so it is not possible to carry out a military operation in Rafah without committing bloody massacres.”
He pointed out that there are 27,000 Palestinians per square kilometer in Rafah, confirming that any military operation will be remembered in history because of the massacres that will occur in the region because it is crowded with people (1.4 million people).
Regarding his expectations of the expected form of the Israeli invasion of Rafah, Al-Duwairi stated that the nature of the military approach will begin from the eastern and northern sides “to push human masses to flee,” noting that the old Rafah camps constitute defensive nodes for the resistance. He warned that there were preludes to the battle that had begun, as the occupation army intensified its aerial bombardments on Rafah in an attempt to pressure the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) to agree to the Paris Framework Agreement on a possible deal.
He stressed that the Egyptian and American positions are important to curb the right-wing Israeli government. “Cairo has borders with the Gaza Strip and what is happening affects Egyptian dignity and sovereignty, while Washington has been responsible for providing Tel Aviv with a military bridge since the beginning of the war.”
As for the Battle of Khan Yunis, the military expert says that months have passed since the beginning of the Israeli incursion, and the battle is still blurry and the lines of contact have changed in favor of the resistance, not the occupation.
He pointed out that the occupation army's combat plan appeared to be confusing, such as reducing the number of combat brigades in Khan Yunis from 8 to 5 brigades, citing statements by Israeli Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, who said that the battle in the city was long-term, in contradiction to previous statements. He pointed out that the army did not have a clear vision, “and we witnessed successive failures after there was a double attack from the east and a encirclement from the west, but it faltered,” forcing it to adjust its operations in place, time, and direction.
Regarding the nature of the goals achieved by the occupation, Al-Duwairi stressed that they are limited achievements and their size is exaggerated, as the extent of the damage to the resistance factions did not exceed 15%, while the American administration said that the damage did not exceed a third.
The most significant achievements of the IDF so far are the elimination of about 25% of Hamas terrorists (about 10,000 terrorists), the injury and disarmament of another 25%, gaining control of the northern Gaza Strip and the elimination of the bulk of the force in Khan Yunis. In addition, the IDF succeeded in reducing rocket fire from the Strip by about 90% and destroy strategic tunnels, Tomer Almagor reported.
Another significant achievement of the IDF is the return of Hamas from behind - from an army-like organization to a guerrilla organization. 18 and a half of the 24 Hamas battalions in the Gaza Strip have been disbanded, and now the fighters mainly face small squads of terrorists, rather than organized attacks by a company or battalion.
The IDF conducts two types of combat within the Gaza Strip. In Khan Yunis, intense divisional combat is underway under the leadership of the 98th Division, which includes the commando forces and the paratrooper brigade, and in the north of the Gaza Strip, the IDF conducts targeted raids to eliminate and destroy quality targets, such as command and control targets, tunnels and compounds Dispatch.
The focus of the IDF's fighting is in Khan Yunis, in the south of the Gaza Strip. The city is under siege and intense divisional fighting is taking place above and below the ground between IDF forces and terrorists. So far, about 2,800 terrorists have been eliminated in Khan Yunis - a third of the total strength of Hamas in the city, and two of the four enemy battalions in the area have been dismantled. The IDF estimates that Hamas's command and control in the city has been dismantled, and most of the operatives are on the run, and make it clear that the fighting is indeed intense, but the resistance the fighters encounter is far from what it was at the beginning of the fighting in the city, in view of the weakening of Hamas.
The bulk of the heavy fighting is carried out by the 98th Division, which includes the commando units and the paratrooper brigade. In the last two months, significant reserve forces were released, and some of the regular forces were also converted to other missions outside the Strip.
The fighting in Khan Yunis comes after the IDF forces defeated the main Hamas force in Gaza City in the northern Gaza Strip in the first phase of the maneuver. The IDF fighters inflicted significant damage on the Hamas battalions in all areas in the northern Gaza Strip, captured the area and destroyed tunnels and infrastructure. About 7,000 terrorists were killed in the battles in the northern Gaza Strip, including two brigade commanders and 20 generals.
After the Hamas forces in the north of the Gaza Strip were defeated, the IDF left the area and settled in the Netzer Corridor, which borders the north of the Gaza Strip, and in the security area near the northern border of the Gaza Strip. From there, the fighters go on raids to destroy quality targets and eliminate the terrorist pockets that still remain in Gaza City. The main part of the fighting in this area Focuses on the Shatti refugee camp. The IDF's control of the area is not expressed in the presence on the ground, but rather in the ability to operate relatively freely and reach anywhere in the area.
In the two months that have passed since the north of the Gaza Strip was conquered, and after the IDF's focus shifted to Khan Yunis, the security establishment recognizes attempts by Hamas to return to civilian rule in the Gaza City area. The political echelon has not come up with a plan to control the territory and "pass the baton", and dozens of operatives of the terrorist organization are trying to take control of the humanitarian aid that came in and to control the 200 thousand Palestinians who remained in the area.
Almagor concluded that about 20,000 Hamas terrorists remain alive and capable, so the organization's military power has not yet been decided. In addition, the senior members of the organization, including Muhammad Daf and Yahya Sinaver, are still alive, and according to a report in the "Wall Street Journal", about 80% of the Hamas tunnels have not yet been destroyed. These data indicate that the IDF still has a lot of work to do before Hamas is defeated.
Retired Israeli General Yitzhak Brik (75 years old) is called the "Prophet of Anger" in Israel, because he predicted an attack launched by thousands of Palestinian militants on the settlements surrounding the Gaza Strip, similar to the " Al-Aqsa Flood " operation. Brik said that Egypt has been building highways leading to Sinai for years, and Israel is the target, in an interview with the “FM 103” program about the progress of the fighting in the Gaza Strip and the weakening of the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ).
The Jerusalem Post newspaper reported part of what was discussed in the program, where the program presenter, Ariel Segal, said, after mentioning that the head of the Mossad is formulating the Israeli response to the mediators’ proposals, that the Israeli army’s ability to pursue Hamas is diminishing, the level of operational errors is increasing, and the pressure on the government by The detainees' families did not succeed.
In response, Yitzhak Brik said that Hamas still feels very strong, and it does not want to reach an agreement on the hostages, and it has time, because we are not close to weakening its capabilities, “Hamas will continue to exist.” Regarding the fighting in the Philadelphia and Rafah corridor, Brik said that everyone knows that there is a crossing from Sinai under the corridor, and that the Israeli army did not want to remain along this corridor, and it had the ability to do so, but it would cause many casualties, so Israel hoped For the Egyptians to do that.
But today there is a very big problem with Egypt - as the former general says - they are not ready to do that, and they do not agree that we do it from this side of the aisle, and they threaten that if we start doing different things that will lead to large numbers crossing... To Sinai, they will stop peace.
Isaac Brik concluded by saying that Egypt, “although it is a poor country, has the strongest army in the Middle East today with about 4,000 tanks... and hundreds of the most advanced aircraft, and a navy of the best that exists. They have also been building highways leading to Sinai for years. We The goal: They are not building an army for any other party. This means that by making a decision to cancel peace, they become a hostile state, and we do not even have a brigade to stand against them,” he said.
Amnesty International reported that there is new evidence of illegal Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip that caused mass killing of civilians. The organization said in a statement that at least 95 civilians, half of them children, were killed in 4 raids in Rafah, adding that the attacks that led to the killing of civilians in Rafah occurred in the southern governorate, which is supposed to be safe.
Amnesty pointed out that "clashes took place with militants before the forces were able to liberate the two hostages, and that the Air Force launched an intense wave of raids targeting dozens of targets belonging to the Hamas-affiliated Shaboura Brigade to enable the force to move to the special airstrip that was established to return the liberated people into Israel."
Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari said in response to the news about the killing of dozens of Palestinians in the operation to rescue the two prisoners from Rafah : “We attacked Hamas targets. Many terrorists were killed in the operation.” On the other hand, Palestinian media reported that more than 100 people were killed as a result of the Israeli bombing targeting the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. It pointed out that the Israeli raids destroyed 11 homes and two mosques in different parts of the city of Rafah.
Hamza Al-Bashtawi - writer and political researcher - said: We are now facing the necessity of war and the peak of negotiations, and what is happening now is an expression of Netanyahu’s statement that not entering Rafah means losing the war completely, and there is no way to end the war before controlling the Philadelphia axis and taking complete control of the border with Egypt, and now this war has begun on Rafah, which has an area of ??32 square kilometers and where more than 1.5 million Palestinians now live.
He added: This war is a continuation of a basic goal of the war government, and it belongs to the project of the Zionist movement, which does not want to eliminate the resistance, but rather wants to eliminate the resistance and the Palestinian people. He considered that the timing of the talk about liberating two prisoners in the Gaza Strip came to justify the military operation in Rafah and the continuation of the massacres and genocide.
He stressed that what is happening now is a war between the axis of resistance and the axis of genocide, as the axis of resistance is moving on the support fronts in light of the steadfastness and heroism of the Palestinian resistance in all the territories of the Gaza Strip and its teaching of lessons to the occupation, and the ambush that left more than 10 soldiers of the occupation dead in Khan Yunis .
For his part, Saad Nimr - researcher on Israeli affairs - said about the liberation of the two Israeli prisoners : The two prisoners were with a civilian family and were not in the hands of Hamas , and it can no longer bear the burden of their stay, especially since everyone is in a bad situation. Therefore, we cannot say that this is a victory for the Israelis because there are still 134 prisoners held by the resistance, including generals. In the Israeli army.
He added: This issue has no real significance, but it was used by Netanyahu to portray it and consider it a victory, and that it is a delicate and complex process, and this is all nonsense. He added that Netanyahu still insists on the issue of storming Rafah from two points of view, namely that he believes that if he controls the Salah al-Din axis, he will control all the borders between Egypt and Rafah, especially in light of his claim that there are tunnels and he wants to eliminate them.
He warned that he might begin to open loopholes in this wall and push the Palestinians towards Sinai , and this is a dream that still haunts the Netanyahu government, specifically Smotrich, Ben Gvir and Netanyahu, especially since there are no longer safe areas in the Strip and there is no other way. He stressed that Netanyahu is looking for any kind of victory, and this could constitute a victory for him.
The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank warned that the war in Gaza and the associated regional escalation, which affects shipping movement in the Red Sea leading to the Suez Canal, pose a threat to the global economy. IMF Director Kristalina Georgieva explained that the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas since October 7 has already harmed the economy of the Middle East and North Africa region, expressing her fear that its indirect effects will be reflected in the global economy if the fighting lasts for a long time.
“I fear more than ever that the conflict will be prolonged, because if it continues, the risk of its expansion will increase,” Georgieva said during the World Government Summit, an annual gathering of state and business leaders in Dubai. She added: “We are now witnessing in the Suez Canal the danger of its expansion,” referring to the attacks by the Houthi rebels in Yemen on commercial ships in the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea, which affect navigation traffic in the strategic region through which 12% of global trade passes.
Since November 19, the Iranian-backed Houthis have been carrying out attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea that they suspect are linked to Israel or heading to its ports. They say that this comes in support of the Gaza Strip, which has been witnessing a war between Hamas and Israel since October 7. To try to deter them, American and British forces launched waves of strikes on their sites in Yemen since January 12. The US Army alone carries out strikes from time to time on missiles that it says are prepared for launch.
Following Western strikes, the Houthis began targeting American and British ships in the region, considering that the interests of both countries had become "legitimate targets." Late last month, the United Nations Trade and Development Organization (UNCTAD) announced that the volume of trade through the Suez Canal decreased by 42% in January and December. Georgieva warned that if there are “(other) consequences regarding where the fighting takes place, it could be more problematic for the world as a whole.
The Lebanese "Hezbollah" announced that it had targeted sensitive sites, soldiers, and spy equipment of the Israeli army, confirming that direct hits were achieved with missile salvoes. Hezbollah issued four statements in which it confirmed that it had targeted “the spy equipment at the radar site, the Pranit barracks, the Zarit barracks, and a building where soldiers are stationed.”
Hezbollah explained in a statement: “At 2:40 p.m. on Monday, February 12, 2024, the Mujahideen of the Islamic Resistance targeted the spy equipment at the radar site with a guided missile and hit it directly.” It added: "At 3:15 pm on Monday, February 12, 2024, the Mujahideen of the Islamic Resistance targeted the Pranit Barracks with a missile (Falaq 1) and hit it directly."
It confirmed in another statement: “At 3:25 pm on Monday, February 12, 2024, the Mujahideen of the Islamic Resistance targeted the Zarit Barracks with missile launches from (Falaq 1) and achieved direct hits.” He stated in his fourth statement: “In response to the Israeli attacks on villages and civilian homes, the Mujahideen of the Islamic Resistance targeted, at 3:25 p.m. on Monday, February 12, 2024, a building in the Arroun colony where enemy soldiers were stationed, with appropriate weapons.” "They hit him directly."
The spokesman for the Yemen Armed Forces, Brigadier General Yahya Saree , said in a brief military statement that the Navy targeted the American ship Star Iris with a number of appropriate naval missiles, confirming that it was hit directly. Stressing that this operation comes as a victory for the oppression of the Palestinian people and within the response to the American-British aggression against Yemen.
Brigadier General Saree stressed that the Yemeni armed forces will not hesitate to carry out further operations in response to the Zionist crimes against the Palestinians in Gaza. In addition, a member of the Supreme Political Council in Yemen, Muhammad Ali Al-Houthi, confirmed that Yemen’s operations will continue as long as the aggression and siege on Gaza continues, and the occupation warned that any escalation in Rafah or Gaza means that the course of operations of the armed forces will escalate, and if the humanitarian tragedy in Gaza worsens and continues Injustice and mass killing of the people there, operations will expand according to field data and the directives of the leader, Mr. Abdul-Malik Al-Houthi.
This is while the Yemeni House of Representatives denounced the shameful Arab and Islamic failure regarding the operations of the occupying entity in Gaza and the intention of the Zionist enemy forces to launch a military operation in the city of Rafah . The House of Representatives called on the Arab, regional and international parliaments and the free people of the world to move quickly and apply pressure by all available means to enforce international law and deter the Zionist occupation entity from committing more horrific brutal massacres against the Palestinian people and avoid a new humanitarian catastrophe in Rafah that will be added to the Zionist entity’s criminal record.
Houthi rebels announced that they attacked the supply ship The Star Iris, but it was on its way to the Iranian port of Bandar Imam Khomeini, in the north of the Persian Gulf. The Star Iris sailed with the flag of the Marshall Islands and under Greek ownership. However, a simple check on any maritime navigation website would have indicated for them that the ship that left Brazil on January 12 was on its way to the Iranian port of Bandar Imam Khomeini, in the northern Persian Gulf.
A major reason for the difficulties of the Houthis in monitoring sailing in the Red Sea stems from a significant Iranian withdrawal, when the ship "Bashad" left the sea in favor of docking at a Chinese base in Djibouti. Bashad is an intelligence ship of the Revolutionary Guards, which has been subject to American sanctions since 2018 - and assisted the Houthis in the collection activity in the Red Sea.
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.
|
Bystanders
Spokesman for the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Stephane Dujarric, said on Monday that the organization will not participate in the forced displacement of Palestinians in Rafah, and that there is no safe haven in the Gaza Strip to transfer them to. In response to a question about the possibility of the United Nations participating in this evacuation operation, Dujarric stressed the necessity of “full respect for international law and the protection of civilians.”
He added, "We will not participate in the forced displacement of residents in the current situation. There is no safe place in Gaza." He stressed that "citizens cannot be returned to areas filled with unexploded ordnance, not to mention the lack of shelter to seek refuge in," referring to the northern and central areas of the Gaza Strip, which witnessed massive destruction.
Dujarric denounced the scarcity of humanitarian aid entering the Gaza Strip, pointing out that the current stock “may only be sufficient for a few days.” Last week, Dujarric stressed the need to "protect" hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who took refuge in Rafah, stressing that the United Nations "will in no way support forced displacement that contravenes international law."
This came after Israeli government spokesman Elon Levy asked United Nations agencies to cooperate regarding a plan that the army is developing to evacuate civilians from Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. He added that decisions taken by the United Nations and international representatives can now protect civilians.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said that his country is continuing the peace agreement with Israel in light of the Hebrew state’s threat to launch a ground military operation in Rafah. The Associated Press had quoted sources that Cairo threatened to suspend the peace treaty, also known as the Camp David Accords, if Israeli forces were sent to Rafah in light of the Hebrew state’s threat to launch a ground military operation in the border city, south of the Gaza Strip.
The New York Times and Wall Street Journal reported, in two reports on Saturday, that Egyptian officials “warned Israel of the possibility of suspending the peace treaty between the two countries” if Israeli forces launched an attack on Rafah. But Shoukry, in a press conference with his Slovenian counterpart, reported by Cairo News, said: “I do not have many comments regarding those sources who speak in the media about this matter. Over the past forty years, there have been normal relations, and we will continue to do more.” "As a way to address the current situation."
He added: "There is a peace agreement between Egypt and Israel, which has been in effect for the past forty years. We deal with confidence and effectiveness, and we will continue to do so in this era. Any comments made by some individuals regarding this matter may have been distorted." He stressed that his country "is working closely and diligently to reach an agreement between Hamas and Israel for the release of prisoners and the entry of humanitarian aid. We will continue these efforts and urge both parties to stress the importance of a ceasefire for the sake of civilians in Gaza."
Press reports indicated that Egypt threatened to suspend its obligations under the peace treaty with Israel, which raised questions about whether Cairo was able to take that step in light of an expected Israeli operation in the city of Rafah, in the far south of the Strip, on the Gaza border with Egypt.
He added: "Palestinian civilians should not deal with all this tragedy of lack of food and nutrition," noting that "there are 200,000 Palestinians still in the northern Gaza Strip."
He stressed that "the Rafah area is extremely crowded with Palestinian civilians, and there must be some solutions to confront this difficult humanitarian situation." He stressed the need for there to be a permanent solution to the Palestinian issue, "This is not the first conflict that has occurred, and this war has continued for a long time, and there must be a permanent solution to this matter."
He added: "There must be some actions in order to provide safety not only for the Israeli side, but also for the Palestinian side, which must enjoy its legitimate rights and this must be implemented on the ground. The two-state solution must be declared and the independent Palestinian state must be declared on the 1967 borders." In order for the two sides to live in security and peace.”
A Dutch appeals court ordered the government to ban all exports of F-35 fighter spare parts to Israel within 7 days. The court said, according to Reuters: “It cannot be denied that there is a clear possibility that exported F-35 spare parts will be used in serious violations of international humanitarian law.” Regarding the same judicial decision, Agence France-Presse indicated that the lawsuit heard by the court was submitted by human rights organizations.
The organizations pointed out that "providing these parts to Israel contributes to the supposed violations of international law committed by (Israel) in its war against Hamas." Also, the court considered that maintaining good relations with the United States and Israel involved in this case, according to the Dutch state, “does not constitute a good justification for continuing the export of spare parts.”
The case concerns spare parts owned by the United States and stored in the Netherlands, from where they are sent to partner countries, including Israel, under export agreements. Thus, the court annulled a ruling issued by the court of first instance in this case. The court ruled in December that the decision to hand over these pieces was primarily “political” and that the judiciary should not interfere in it.
Axis of Resistance
The foreign minister of Iran praised the Syrian leader and nation for playing a vital role in supporting Palestine, saying Syria is indeed at the forefront of the resistance axis. In a meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus on Sunday, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian conveyed the greetings of Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to Syria and handed Assad an invitation from the Iranian president to visit Tehran.
Referring to the close relations between the two presidents, Amirabdollahian considered it a very good opportunity for enhancing the bilateral relations. He regarded Assad's upcoming visit to Iran as a foundation for closer relations.
The top Iranian diplomat deemed the Gaza issue as the most crucial matter at both regional and international levels, saying, “Fortunately, the two countries share a common position and a practical approach in supporting the Palestinian cause. During the past four months, consultations between the two countries have been underway.”
Referring to the extensive diplomatic efforts of Iran in the past four months to support the Palestinian nation and halt the war against Gaza, Amirabdollahian said, "We have consistently declared our firm position regarding Palestine and the current crisis in Gaza. In response to messages and positions from the US and in the course of negotiations with the British foreign secretary, we have emphasized that the war in Gaza is not the solution, and the genocide of Palestinians must cease immediately."
"If the US is sincere in its claims that it does not seek to expand the scope of the war in the region, it should cease supporting the Zionist regime. If America stops supporting the Zionist regime, this regime will not be able to continue the war against Gaza even for a single day," he added, the Foreign Ministry’s website reported.
Amirabdollahian noted that by supporting the Zionist regime in the war against Gaza, the US and certain countries are seeking political plans for post-war Gaza. "We believe that the leaders of the Palestinian groups and the Palestinian nation can decide how to manage Gaza and the post-war West Bank." The Iranian foreign minister emphasized that the resistance in Palestine is strong, and added, “Those who initially sought to destroy Hamas have now included Hamas as a reality in their political strategies and as a negotiating party in the ceasefire talks.”
Amirabdollahian considered the Palestinian resistance strong in the field and having constructive initiatives in the political field as well. "Our assessment is that the Palestinian nation and resistance groups will not succumb to the pressures and excessive demands of the Israeli regime or any other parties. The Palestinians have ideas for the post-war Gaza and West Bank, and are able to determine their own future,” Amirabdollahian stated.
The top Iranian diplomat hailed Syria for being at the forefront of the axis of resistance, lauded the prominent role of Bashar al-Assad in Syria, the region and the Arab world, and appreciated Syria's historical support for Palestine and the resistance.
The Iranian Foreign Minister indicated during a meeting with Palestinian faction officials in Damascus that the Zionist entity and America did not achieve any of their goals, and said: Now they are forced to negotiate politically with Hamas, which they wanted to eliminate. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian met with about 15 officials from various Palestinian factions residing in Damascus, and discussed with them the latest developments in the situation in Palestine and how to end the war on Gaza and stop the genocide of Palestinians by the Zionist entity.
The officials of the Palestinian factions participating in this meeting congratulated the leader of the revolution, the government and the people of Iran on the anniversary of the victory of the revolution and the National Day of the Islamic Republic of Iran. They expressed their satisfaction with the meeting with the Foreign Minister coinciding with the anniversary of the victory of the revolution and described the role of the Islamic Republic of Iran in comprehensive support for the Palestinian cause as fundamental and central.
The attendees praised the support of the Islamic Republic of Iran for the people and the Palestinian cause, and described the victory of the Iranian Islamic Revolution as a victory for the Palestinian people, and added that Iran’s support for the Palestinian cause has always been distinguished, practical and real. From the point of view of the Palestinians participating in this meeting, the current battle in Gaza is one of a series of battles that the Palestinian people have been waging against the occupiers since the beginning of the occupation of this land, and it will not be the last battle either. This heroic struggle will continue until Palestine is completely liberated from occupation.
The attendees pointed out that the Zionist entity claimed that it would dominate and defeat the resistance in Gaza within a few days. Today, more than 4 months have passed since the beginning of the war on Gaza, and despite the comprehensive American support for the Israeli entity, it has only succeeded in brutally killing Palestinian citizens, children and women.
They stressed that this is not a battle between Hamas and the Zionist entity, but rather an unequal battle between the oppressed Palestinian people as a whole and the Israeli entity and its supporters. The Palestinian people have won this battle with faith in divine help, and nothing remains of the Netanyahu government, and the Zionist entity sees itself in a battle of life or death.
The attendees stressed that despite the martyrdom of tens of thousands of Palestinian people, the painful martyrdom of thousands of Palestinian children, women and elderly, and the widespread devastation and devastation that Gaza witnessed during more than 4 months of Zionist crimes against the Palestinian people, what was achieved was a great victory for Palestine and the axis. The resistance and the killing and destruction carried out by the Zionist entity so far cannot affect this great victory.
For his part, Amir Abdullahian expressed his satisfaction at meeting again with the leaders of the various Palestinian resistance factions in Damascus. He said, despite the difficult days that Palestine is going through, I congratulate you for several reasons. The Israeli entity collapsed completely after the Al-Aqsa flood, and had it not been for America’s full entry into the field in support of the Zionist entity and its attempts to revive and save it, this collapse would have been completely visible.
He added; What has helped the Palestinian people defeat the Israeli entity until this moment is the struggle of the resistance factions, as well as the patient resistance and sacrifices of the people of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, and that the resistance axis has demonstrated its practical unity in supporting Palestine and standing against the Israeli entity.
Amir Abdullahian praised the support of the resistance of Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq and Syria for the Palestinian people, as well as the widespread support of the peoples of the world and some independent and courageous governments for the Palestinian people. He added that the issue of Palestine today has become the world’s first issue, and October 7 and the Al-Aqsa flood showed that Palestine is alive and will not surrender to the will of the entity. Zionist and arrogant powers, including the American government.
Amir Abdullahian pointed out that Imam Khamenei said out loud in the first days of the war on Gaza that the end of this war is undoubtedly the victory of the Palestinian people, and he added; In our diplomatic conversations with various countries of the world, as well as our findings from our conversations with elites around the world, we clearly hear this opinion and assessment that the Israeli entity and the American government have not achieved any of their stated goals since the beginning of the war on Gaza, and are now forced to negotiate politically . With Hamas, which they were raising the slogan of eliminating, and they expressed their satisfaction with Hamas’ response to their proposals and political plan.
The Foreign Minister stressed that, thanks to God and the blood of the martyrs, none of their evil goals have been achieved and will not be achieved. He said, during our conversations with a good number of Western countries, all of them recognized the victory of the resistance, and believe that war is not the solution and that a political solution must be found, and now their main question in the last two or three months is who will manage Gaza after the war?
He added; Now they put forward different political ideas for Palestine, Gaza, and the West Bank after the war, and they ask us about our opinion directly or indirectly, and our answer was and still is that the Palestinian leaders must sit down and agree on the basis of their interests and the interests of the Palestinian people, and the world must support the Palestinians’ plan and decision.
He pointed out that Netanyahu today is beating the drums of war more than ever before. He said, if the Israeli entity succeeds, it will certainly continue and expand the war, but Israel has never been hated to this extent in the world before.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs confirmed; Today, there is a need for Palestinian unity more than ever before, and today the Palestine arena needs a unified and collective voice for the Palestinians and all Palestinian factions, and what has helped Palestine in defeating the Israeli entity until this moment is trust in God, the steadfastness of the people of Gaza and the West Bank, their sacrifices, and support for the axis of resistance, and if you unite The world will submit to your will.
The Secretary-General of Hezbollah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, received the Secretary-General of the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine, Ziad Nakhalah. During the meeting, the latest developments in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank were reviewed on the field, popularly, and politically, and the conditions of the support and support fronts provided by the resistance axis in various arenas, and discussions took place about existing possibilities and expected developments, whether at the field level or political communications. The two parties stressed the need to remain steadfast and continue working forcefully to achieve the promised victory, God willing.
The leader of the Hamas movement, Osama Hamdan, considered that the Israeli entity, through its response to Paris’s proposals, confirms that it is not serious, through the prisoner exchange equations it presented. Hamdan said during a press conference held in Beirut regarding the developments of the Al-Aqsa flood battle and the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip: We are making every effort and endeavor, engaging in difficult talks on multiple tracks, and dealing with all responsibility with all initiatives that meet the aspirations of our people.
He added: We deal with all initiatives that meet the aspirations of our people in order to stop the aggression, rebuild and liberate prisoners, and Netanyahu is determined to continue with the Holocaust that he is creating in Gaza through a war of extermination that focuses on targeting civilians and destroying infrastructure.
Hamdan continued: The complex crime against the two children, Hind and Layan, and the paramedics is a disgrace that time will not erase. The world followed the story of the child Hind, who called for help from the ambulance crews and was eventually martyred.
He said: The occupation army continues its siege of the Nasser Medical Complex and targets its staff. We condemn what the director of Al-Shifa Hospital, Dr. Muhammad Abu Salamiya, is being subjected to, and we call on the international community to assume its responsibilities in protecting the Nasser Medical Complex. The Nazi occupation continues its violations against prisoners and detainees in prisons.
Regarding the proposals to stop the fighting and exchange prisoners, Hamdan said: During the meeting with the movement’s delegation in Cairo, our response to the Paris proposals was discussed, and the equations presented by the occupation for the exchange of prisoners confirm that it is not serious, and its response is a retreat from the Paris proposal and creates obstacles that do not help in concluding an agreement.
Regarding the occupation’s claims of freeing two prisoners in the Shaboura camp in Rafah, Hamdan said that press accounts confirm that the two prisoners were in the possession of a civilian family, not the resistance, and that the occupation’s celebration of the arrival of two prisoners, according to his account, is an attempt to raise morale. The leader of the Hamas movement, Osama Hamdan, held the US administration and its President Biden fully responsible for the continuation of the genocide and the repercussions of the escalation in the region, which will not know stability unless the aggression against Gaza is stopped.
Hamdan appreciated all the Arab, Islamic and international positions denouncing the occupation’s plans to displace the Palestinian people, and said: We praise the efforts of the resistance fighters in Lebanon, Yemen and Iraq who share with our people the epic of the Al-Aqsa flood, and we call on the peoples of our nation and the free people of the world to escalate their mass movement in solidarity with our people and to put pressure on governments until the aggression stops.
Hamdan also called on the International Court of Justice to document the crimes of the occupation in the Gaza Strip. He pointed out that Netanyahu's behavior and positions confirm his continued evasion for personal reasons, and that the occupation does not respond to the demand for the return of the displaced and other basic issues, stressing that the Palestinian people need an end to the aggression and not refugee camps. Hamdan considered that any Israeli attack in Rafah constitutes a continuation of the genocidal war and an expansion of attempts at forced displacement.
Allied for Democracy
Prominent Israeli officials worked “around the clock” on Sunday to “allay” Egyptian fears regarding an imminent Israeli military operation in the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, following reports about “Cairo’s threat to suspend implementation of the Camp David peace agreement” between the two countries.
A report by the Hebrew Channel 12, details of which were reported by the Times of Israel newspaper , revealed that “prominent Israeli officials from the intelligence service (Mossad), the General Security Service (Shin Bet) and the Ministry of Defense communicated on Sunday evening with their Egyptian counterparts to calm their fears,” after the Prime Minister’s statements. Benjamin Netanyahu, that sending forces to Rafah - the border with Egypt - is necessary to win the war against Hamas.
The report added that Israeli security officials “informed their counterparts in Egypt that Israel will not take unilateral measures, and that it will work in coordination with Cairo.” Media reports said that Egypt "threatened to suspend its obligations" under the peace treaty with Israel.
The American newspapers, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, reported in two reports on Saturday that Egyptian officials “warned Israel of the possibility of suspending the peace treaty between the two countries” if Israeli forces launched an attack on Rafah.
Egypt warned on Sunday of "serious consequences" of a possible Israeli military attack on the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, near its border.
Two Egyptian officials and a Western diplomat also told the Associated Press on Sunday that Egypt “threatened to suspend the peace treaty if Israeli forces were sent to Rafah.” Earlier this week, Israeli Channel 12 reported that the Chief of Staff of the Israeli Army, Herzi Halevy, informed Netanyahu that “the Israeli army is ready to work (in Rafah), but it needs the government to first decide what it wants to do with the displaced people from Gaza who have been displaced there.”
In a related context, the channel also quoted the Israeli Army Chief of Staff as saying, “The army also needs to know the government’s plans for the Philadelphia Corridor, which is the 14-kilometre security road along the Gaza border with Egypt.” The Philadelphia Axis, also called the “Salah al-Din Axis,” is located along the border between Gaza and Egypt, within a buffer zone under the “Camp David” peace agreement between Egypt and Israel in 1979. This agreement allows Israel and Egypt to deploy forces that are limited in number and equipment, and are limited to the numbers and types of weapons and mechanisms that are deployed on that axis.
For its part, Egypt sent about 40 tanks and armored personnel carriers to northeastern Sinai during the past two weeks, as part of its moves to enhance security on its border with the Gaza Strip, according to Reuters. Press reports indicated that Egypt threatened to suspend its obligations under the peace treaty with Israel, which raised questions about whether Cairo was able to take that step in light of an expected Israeli operation in the city of Rafah, in the far south of the Strip, on the Gaza border with Egypt. More than 1.3 million Palestinians, or more than half of the population of the besieged Gaza Strip, are gathered in Rafah near the border with Egypt, the majority of whom fled violence in the north and center of the Gaza Strip following the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas on October 7.
Egypt fears a mass influx of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees who may never be allowed to return, while relief groups have warned that the Israeli attack will exacerbate the already disastrous humanitarian situation. Agence France-Presse quoted an unnamed Hamas official as saying that any attack in Rafah would “blow up” the talks mediated by the United States, Egypt and Qatar regarding the exchange of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza and Palestinian prisoners.
Israel and Egypt fought wars before signing the Camp David Accords, a historic peace treaty brokered by the United States, during the era of President Jimmy Carter in the late 1970s. In recent weeks, Israel has tried to push Egypt to accept launching a military operation to secure control of the Egyptian border with Gaza, after it accused Cairo of failing to prevent Hamas from smuggling weapons into Gaza, “The New York Times.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu informed the Cabinet for Political and Security Affairs that “the Rafah operation must be completed before the start of Ramadan,” Israeli media reported. Egypt refuted this accusation, and said through the head of the State Information Service, Diaa Rashwan, that “it must be strictly emphasized that any Israeli move in this direction will lead to a serious threat to Egyptian-Israeli relations.”
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Monday implicitly called on the United States to reconsider its military aid to Israel due to the large number of civilian casualties in the war in Gaza. Borrell pointed out that US President Joe Biden said last week that Israel's response to the attack by the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) on October 7 "went beyond the limit." American officials have repeatedly confirmed that the number of civilians killed in Gaza is very large.
"Well, if you think that too many people are being killed, then perhaps you should reduce arms supplies to prevent that too many people being killed," Borrell told reporters after a meeting of EU development aid ministers in Brussels. He added, "If the international community believes that this is a massacre, and that a huge number of people are being killed, then perhaps we should rethink providing weapons."
Borrell also spoke about a Dutch court that ordered the government to ban all exports of spare parts for F-35 fighter jets to Israel for fear of using them in the Gaza war in violation of international law. Borrell said that it is contradictory for countries to announce many times that Israel is excessively killing civilians in Gaza without doing anything to prevent the killing.
Israel insists that it is taking broad measures to protect civilians, but it is forced to carry out military operations in civilian areas where the Hamas movement involved in the October 7 attack is active. The United States is the most important foreign supplier of weapons to Israel, and provides it with military aid worth $3.8 billion annually. This aid extends from combat aircraft to powerful bombs. Washington has not yet responded to any appeals to reduce aid.
In his statements in Brussels, Borrell also strongly criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying that he does not listen to appeals demanding that he make more efforts to protect civilians. "Everyone goes to Tel Aviv, begging 'Please don't do this, protect civilians, don't kill so many,'" Borrell said, apparently angry and agitated. "How much is considered excessive? What is the standard?"
"Netanyahu does not listen to anyone," Borrell added. He said that Netanyahu calls for the evacuation of Palestinian civilians from the Rafah area in Gaza, which is the last thing remaining for the residents of the Strip to seek refuge in, and the veteran Spanish politician wondered how this could be implemented.
He said, "They will evacuate? Where? To the moon? Where will they evacuate these people?"
NBC, citing informed sources, said that US President Joe Biden recently expressed, in private conversations, his anger at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu because of the latter’s policy in Gaza, but in public he takes a different position. NBC reported that Biden expressed his frustrations to people, some of whom were his campaign funders, about his inability to persuade Israel to change its policy in Gaza, considering Netanyahu the main obstacle to reaching a ceasefire agreement there, according to five people with direct knowledge of the matter.
The sources said that Biden spoke about Netanyahu in recent weeks with a frankness that surprised some of those he spoke with. A source said Biden “feels that enough is enough... This has to stop.”
In response to a question about Biden's statements, a spokesman for the National Security Council said in a statement to the network that the president "was clear about his disagreement with Prime Minister Netanyahu, but this is a relationship that has been going on for decades and is respected in public and in private." The White House said that the US President warned Netanyahu during a phone call that Israel should not conduct a military operation in Rafah without a “credible and implementable” plan to protect civilians.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said that there is a state of panic and despair in the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip at a time when Israel is threatening a ground military operation. Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, was also frank last week, according to NBC, after his meeting with Netanyahu in Israel, when he said that he informed him that the number of Palestinian civilians who die every day due to Israeli military operations “is still very high.”
However, people familiar with Biden's private comments said he told them he thought it would be counterproductive to be too tough on Netanyahu publicly. Biden is facing severe criticism from some wings of his party for his support of Israel's response to the Hamas attack on October 7. NBC said in its report that Biden is secretly criticizing Netanyahu, but he has not significantly changed US policy towards the Gaza war, and the president continues to believe that unequivocally supporting Israel is the right policy.
The American network "NBC" added that Biden described Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the main obstacle to the ceasefire , explaining that he - that is, the American president - is trying to persuade Israel to agree to the ceasefire, but Netanyahu objects to that, and explained that it has become impossible to deal with him.
The sources explained that in recent weeks, Biden spoke specifically about Netanyahu, and his dealings with the Israeli Prime Minister were full of signs of contempt for Netanyahu, and in at least three recent cases, Biden described Netanyahu as a “fool.”
Asked about Biden's own comments about Netanyahu, a National Security Council spokesperson said in a statement that the two have a respectful relationship. The spokesman said: “(Biden) has been clear about his disagreement with Prime Minister Netanyahu, but this has been a relationship that has been going on for decades and is respected in public and in private.”
The American network reported that the bluntness of Biden's private, unfiltered musings about Netanyahu, as well as Netanyahu's failure to change tactics in the Gaza Strip, indicate that the dynamic between the two could be approaching an inflection point.
The bulk of their 45-minute conversation focused on the long-discussed but repeatedly postponed agreement between Israel and Hamas to release prisoners in exchange for a halt to military operations and the release of Palestinian prisoners, according to the White House.
Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock will travel to Israel , a foreign ministry spokesperson said. The stated goal of the trip is to urge for a ceasefire as Israel prepares to advance on the Hamas stronghold of Rafah in the Gaza Strip.
"The distress in Rafah is already beyond belief. 1.3 million people are seeking protection from the fighting in the most limited of space. An offensive by the Israeli army on Rafah would be a humanitarian catastrophe," Baerbock wrote in a post on X on Saturday. Baerbock's visit next week will be her fifth since the outbreak of the war on October 7, when thousands of Hamas terrorists broke into Israel and perpetrated the worst antisemitic massacre since the Holocaust.
"Israel must defend itself against Hamas terror but at the same time alleviate the suffering of civilians as much as possible. That is why another pause in fighting is needed - also in order for hostages can finally be released. I will discuss ways towards that in Israel again next week," she added in a second post.
Butcher's Bill / Oasis of Martyrs
The Al-Qassam Brigades announced on 11 February 2024 that the continuous Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip during the past 96 hours led to the death of 2 prisoners and the serious injury of 8 others. Al-Qassam pointed out in a statement that “the conditions of the wounded prisoners are becoming more dangerous in light of the inability to provide them with appropriate treatment,” holding “the enemy fully responsible for the lives of these wounded in light of the continued bombing and aggression.”
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 28,340 martyrs, "including 12,300 dead children, 8,400 women, 340 medical personnel, 46 civil defense, and 124 journalists." He pointed out that "7,000 people are missing, 70% of whom are children and women, The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
The number wounded was 67,984. 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 announced number of Israeli officers and soldiers killed had risen to 566 since the start of the war on October 7, including 236 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 14,070 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
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.
Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari announced on 07 February 2024 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."
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 exceeds 9,000 Palestinians. Palestinian prisoner institutions said 661 were classified as “unlawful combatants” from Gaza, and this is the number available only as a clear given.
The Palestinian Prisoners' Club said that there has been a significant increase in the number of Palestinian administrative detainees in Israeli prisons since October 7, with 3,484 detainees recorded, including children and women. The club added in a statement that "this number was not actually recorded even during the years of the 1987 uprising."
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 detained 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.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
