Operation Iron Swords - Day 149 - 03 March 2024
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NEW - War Termination NEW - Operations NEW - Operations - Gaza NEW - Operations - Judea-Samaria NEW - Operations - Lebanon NEW - Operations - Yemen NEW - Operations Maps NEW - By-Standers NEW - Axis of Resistance NEW - Allied for Democracy UPDATED - By the Numbers |
According to Israeli media, the fears of the Israeli security authorities regarding the upcoming Ramadan season in the West Bank and occupied Jerusalem are rising, amid warnings from the occupation that Hamas may exploit the most important time for Muslims as an opportunity to ignite the scene. 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.
Hamas called on 28 February 2024 for Palestinians to march to Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque at the start of Ramadan, raising the stakes. “This is a call on our people in Jerusalem and the West Bank to march to Al-Aqsa since the first day of Ramadan,” said Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. “It is the duty of the Arab and Islamic nations to take the initiative to break the starvation conspiracy in Gaza,” Haniyeh said.
War Termination
David Ignatius in The Washington Post wrote that the Biden administration sees the relief truck incident as a summary of what went wrong in Gaza. “Israel has no plan” to maintain the system, a senior administration official told me. Israeli officials “rejected” American warnings about their confused plans “for the next day.” But these recent events indicate that Israel's stated plan for loose control of Gaza by tribes and local leaders is hollow at its core.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last week that future governance in Gaza should be “civilian administration by local groups” not affiliated with Hamas. But as former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak wrote Friday in Foreign Affairs: “In practice, this means empowering a number of powerful families in Gaza, some of whom are involved in organized crime.”
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant said during a visit to the command of the 98th Division on the Gaza Strip border on Sunday that Tel Aviv will not end this war without completely eliminating the Hamas movement. According to the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, after Gallant listened to the commander of the 98th Division, Dan Goldfus, about the progress of the ground maneuver in the Khan Yunis area, the minister told the soldiers: “We are dismantling (Hamas) one alive after another, and in the end the result is clear. There is no one to help the terrorists. "Our decision is only what we will deal with first. We will not end this war without eliminating Hamas. There will be no Hamas as a ruling organization. This will take some time."
In the same context, the Israeli Defense Minister announced in late February that the costs incurred by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip in terms of the dead and wounded are high. Gallant also indicated that his army entered the most sensitive Hamas sites, adding that the intensification of military operations brings us closer to reaching a realistic agreement to return the detainees.
The delegation of the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) had arrived in Cairo, coinciding with the arrival of delegations of Qatari, Egyptian and American mediators. The sources reported that the movement’s meeting with the mediators in Cairo will begin at two o’clock in the afternoon local time (12 GMT), while no information has been received yet about whether the Israeli delegation will head to Cairo to participate in the negotiations aimed at reaching a truce in the Gaza Strip.
Egyptian media had quoted an unnamed high-ranking Egyptian source as confirming that negotiations would resume in Cairo on Sunday, indicating progress in the discussions aimed at declaring a truce in Gaza before the advent of the month of Ramadan, which falls on March 11 astronomically. Sources also told Al Jazeera that two delegations from Hamas and Israel will arrive in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, today, to begin a new indirect negotiating round to reach an agreement.
For its part, Reuters quoted two Egyptian security sources - yesterday, Saturday - that ceasefire negotiations in Gaza are scheduled to resume in Cairo today. The two sources added - according to Reuters - that the parties agreed on the duration of the truce in Gaza and the release of prisoners and detainees, and they explained that completing the deal still requires agreeing on the withdrawal of Israeli forces from northern Gaza and the return of its residents.
The two sources said - according to the agency - that the killing of more than 100 Palestinians by Israeli fire last Thursday while they were seeking aid did not slow down the progress of the talks, but it prompted the negotiators to speed up in order to maintain the progress achieved in the negotiations.
A leading Hamas source told Agence France-Presse on Sunday that agreeing on a truce in Gaza is possible within 24 to 48 hours if Israel “responds” to the movement’s demands. The source, who requested to remain anonymous, said, “Today (Sunday) a round of negotiations begins in Cairo... and if Israel responds, the way will be paved for an agreement within the next twenty-four or forty-eight hours.”
According to a senior Palestinian Resistance source, ceasefire negotiations are being stalled by "Israel," and it is clear to mediators that Israelis and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are intentionally disrupting any serious negotiations. The source told Al Mayadeen that Israeli media was spreading misinformation about the discussions, adding that promoting erroneous information is part of a larger narrative that favors Netanyahu's political interests.
The source explained that Netanyahu opposes discussions that result in a deal that guarantees disengagement from the Gaza Strip, return of the displaced, reconstruction, and the lifting of the siege. Netanyahu is primarily concerned with protecting his political future at the price of Palestinian lives said the source.
Sources in the leadership of the Palestinian Resistance revealed to Al Mayadeen some of the key details in the ongoing mediated negotiations between the Resistance and Israel. The framework for a deal consists of three stages, where the details and clauses behind each stage will be negotiated separately. The duration of the proposed truce ranges between 40 and 45 days each, our sources confirmed.
The proposal submitted by the mediating countries stipulates a cessation of fighting for a period of 6 weeks and the release of 42 hostages held in Gaza, in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons. The mediators hope that an agreement will be reached on the truce before the start of the month of Ramadan on March 10 or 11.
The United States said that a ceasefire agreement was “already on the table” and that Israel had approved it, only requiring Hamas’ approval. But the two warring parties did not provide little information about the extent of progress regarding the agreement. After the arrival of the Hamas delegation, an informed Palestinian official told Reuters that they were not yet close to finalizing the agreement. There was no official confirmation from the Israeli side, even regarding the attendance of the delegation it represents.
An informed source said that Israel may not send any delegation to Cairo unless Hamas first presents a complete list of the names of the hostages who are still alive, a demand that a Palestinian source said Hamas has so far rejected as premature. However, a US official told reporters, "The path to a ceasefire now, literally at this hour, is clear and direct. There is an agreement on the table. There is a framework agreement." Concluding an agreement would lead to the first long truce in the war that broke out five months ago and has only stopped for one week in November, as dozens of hostages held by Hamas will be released in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian detainees.
Aid will also be intensified to the besieged Gaza Strip to save the lives of Palestinians who have been pushed to the brink of famine. The fighting will stop in time to avert a planned large-scale Israeli attack on Rafah, where more than half of Gaza's 2.3 million people are trapped at the Strip's border fence. Israeli forces will withdraw from some areas, and allow Gazans to return to the homes from which they were displaced earlier as a result of the war.
But the agreement will fall short of meeting Hamas's main demand for a permanent end to the war, and will leave the fate of more than half of the remaining hostages, including Israeli men of fighting age who are not included in the agreement, which is limited to freeing hostages of women, children, the elderly, and the wounded.
Egyptian mediators suggest setting aside these issues for the time being, with guarantees to resolve them in later stages. A Hamas source told Reuters that the movement is still committed to reaching a "comprehensive agreement." A source in the Hamas movement said that an agreement is possible if Israel “responds” to the movement’s demands. He explained: “Today (Sunday) a round of negotiations will begin in Cairo... and if Israel responds, the way will be paved for an agreement within the next twenty-four or forty-eight hours.”
Sources affirmed that there has been slight progress in the negotiations and that Israelis have softened their approach to some issues, specifically regarding the issue of returning forcibly displaced Palestinians and the number of prisoners included in a possible exchange deal. They also revealed that Israel agreed to the return of forcibly displaced Palestinians to their homes under the condition that it is limited to women and children and those under 18 years old. Our sources emphasized that Hamas rejected this clause. Regarding the Resistance's demand that Israeli occupation forces withdraw from the Gaza Strip, sources said that Israel still insists on maintaining a military presence in the Gaza Strip during the first stage of the agreement.
It is worth noting that France has hosted multiple meetings of mediators and Israeli, American, Egyptian, and Qatari intelligence officers on multiple occasions, attempting to craft a deal for a prisoner exchange and a ceasefire, which the Israeli side has deliberately obstructed by ignoring calls for a lasting ceasefire. Two major talks occurred this year, however, the latest resulted in what the Resistance described as Israeli "obstruction" of a breakthrough in talks.
Operational Update
“There were 24 regional battalions in Gaza — we have dismantled 18 of them,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told foreign reporters. “Now, Rafah is the next Hamas center of gravity.”
David Ignatius in The Washington Post wrote that at every point in this conflict, there was immediate disagreement over who bore responsibility for the food truck massacre. The Palestinians accused Israeli forces of committing a massacre against civilians, but Israel denied that its forces had any role. According to US officials who spoke Friday with IDF commanders, Israeli forces at a checkpoint at the back of the convoy opened fire, killing about 10 people.
The picture could change as details continue to emerge, but most deaths appear to have been caused by extreme panic. Palestinian civilians have been bombed from their homes, pushed into refugee camps, deprived of food and sanitation, and now clinging to trucks in their struggle to survive, while Hamas hides underground, and Israel protects its forces but not the civilian population.
The backdrop to Thursday's tragedy is a case study of Israel's deeply flawed management of this war. After the first months of brutal fighting, humanitarian aid finally began flowing smoothly early this year, with more than 200 trucks a day distributing aid, according to US officials. But in late January, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir asked police to allow demonstrators to close the main border crossing at Kerem Shalom in protest against Hamas' refusal to release all hostages.
American officials say that with the closure of the crossing, panic began to spread. Food supplies in Gaza quickly became scarce, leading to hoarding and looting. United Nations aid workers were attacked by armed gangs while trying to bring trucks into Gaza. The trucks were accompanied by Gaza police. But the police were affiliated with Hamas, and after Israel started targeting them with drones, American officials told me, the police backed off.
US officials said contractors in Gaza posted a notice of the scheduled delivery on Facebook. For this reason, hundreds of Palestinians gathered before dawn on Thursday to claim their share of what is to come. The line of 30 trucks stretched for one kilometre. As the Palestinians raced alongside the trucks in the dark, the terror began.
Operational Update - Gaza
The military and strategic expert, Major General Fayez Al-Duwairi, said that the " Al-Yassin 105 " Qassam missiles destroyed more Israeli occupation army vehicles - during the current war - than Arab air weapons destroyed in 70 years. Al-Duwairi revealed - during his military analysis segment for Al Jazeera - that the number of Israeli vehicles destroyed by the resistance in Gaza - completely or partially - had increased from 1,108 vehicles to 1,200 according to the latest figures.
He indicated that the Palestinian resistance destroyed approximately 50% of all Israeli vehicles (tanks, personnel carriers, and bulldozers) since the start of the massive ground attack on October 27. Regarding the recent Al-Qassam video related to the battles in the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood, east of Gaza, and the exit of fighters from tunnels before targeting the occupation soldiers and vehicles, Al-Duwairi said that the new scenes prove that the combat tunnels are different from what the occupation published when it said that they were a few tunnels, and they are still a black box.
He stressed that the occupation army suffers from great challenges and dilemmas, especially booby-trapping operations at tunnel openings and luring them to killing areas, despite its intelligence and technical system. He praised the ability of the Palestinian resistance to employ weapons to confront the occupation, and added that anyone who watches a military parade by the occupying army is convinced that Gaza will fall within 48 hours, which did not happen after 4 months of the ground battle.
The Wall Street Journal had quoted the occupation soldiers as acknowledging that the army had not yet found a systematic solution to find and destroy the tunnels of the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) in the Gaza Strip. The newspaper quoted occupation soldiers as saying, “Hamas’ operations are carried out with deceptive ambushes in all buildings in the Strip, as the movement’s tactics attract soldiers to specially prepared ambushes.”
The Israeli army announced the expansion of its operations in Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip . In return, the Palestinian resistance announced the destruction of 6 Israeli tanks and the bombing of the Kissufim site on the Gaza Strip . Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper said that the Israeli army is expanding its operations north of Khan Yunis, and is trying to reach areas that it had not entered before, especially Al-Qarara and Hamad Town.
Al Jazeera's correspondent reported that Israeli occupation aircraft launched dozens of raids and fire belts on the town of Al-Qarara and other areas north of the city of Khan Yunis, which led to significant human and material damage. In turn, Al-Aqsa Channel said that occupation tanks were surrounding the people in Hamad Town, north of Khan Yunis, amid artillery shelling and random shooting.
Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari said that Commando Brigade soldiers continue to fight violent battles west of Khan Yunis, during which they eliminated dozens of what he called terrorists. Hagari claimed that Israeli forces carried out raids on sites, according to specific intelligence information. He added that the "Egoz" unit raided the compound of the head of the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar , where the soldiers found Kalashnikov weapons hidden in the building. The soldiers also raided another compound, where they found a lot of military equipment.
In Rafah , south of the Gaza Strip, an Al Jazeera correspondent reported that 14 people, including 6 children, were martyred, in addition to those injured and missing, in an Israeli bombing that targeted a house for the Abu Anza family in the Al-Jeneina neighborhood, east of Rafah. Regional and international warnings are escalating regarding the Israeli bombing of the city of Rafah, with the occupation declaring its readiness to invade it by land, and the danger this poses to hundreds of thousands of displaced people who have taken refuge there as a last refuge in the far south of the Strip. Al Jazeera's correspondent added that the occupation army intensified its artillery and air bombardment on southern Deir al-Balah in the middle of the Gaza Strip, and that the bombing is still continuing until now. In Gaza City , Palestinian media said that occupation forces continued to fire heavy smoke bombs south of the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood, coinciding with artillery shelling at the place.
Israeli boats also continue to bomb the coastal strip of Gaza City and the northern Gaza Strip from time to time.
Four Palestinians were martyred as a result of an Israeli raid that targeted a home for the Al-Kahlot family on Al-Saftawi Street, north of Gaza City. In the Jabalia camp in the northern Gaza Strip, civil defense teams recovered 10 martyrs and dozens of injuries after the occupation aircraft bombed a house for the Abu Wadi family near Abu Hussein School.
On the other hand, the Al- Quds Brigades - the military wing of the Islamic Jihad Movement - said that it bombed the "Kissufim" military site for the third time with mortar shells. The brigades added - in a separate statement - that they targeted two Zionist tanks in Abasan, east of Khan Yunis, and blew up a building in a Zionist force, leaving them dead and wounded.
As for the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood in southern Gaza, Al Jazeera obtained new scenes of battles between the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades and the Israeli army, and the scenes show tanks being targeted, damaged, and ambushes being set up by Israeli forces.
In turn, Al-Qassam - the military wing of the Hamas movement - said that its fighters seized a Skylark reconnaissance plane that was on an enemy intelligence mission south of the Zaytoun neighborhood. It added that its fighters blew up two Zionist Merkava tanks with strobe charges, and detonated an anti-personnel device in an Israeli foot force southeast of the Zaytoun neighborhood as well. Al-Qassam confirmed that it targeted two "Merkava" tanks with "Al-Yassin 105" shells, southeast of the Zaytoun neighborhood.
Operational Update - Judea-Samaria
The Jerusalem Endowments and Blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque Affairs Department said that it has completed its preparations at Al-Aqsa Mosque to receive worshipers during the month of Ramadan, which falls next week. This was announced by the Director of the Department, Sheikh Azzam Al-Khatib, who briefed the Council of Endowments, Islamic Affairs and Holy Sites and all Islamic authorities and bodies in Jerusalem , on the most important preparations for the month of Ramadan, according to a statement issued by the Council, a copy of which reached Al Jazeera Net.
Among the preparations announced by Al-Khatib are “the daily imamate program for the evening and Tarawih prayers, the sermon, imamate, and Holy Quran recitation program for Friday prayers, Holy Quran recitation programs, and Sharia science lessons throughout the days of the month of Ramadan and Fridays in the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque.” He added that volunteer emergency and medical committees and associations will provide health services to worshipers in the mosque throughout the month of Ramadan, and a group of temporary field clinics will be deployed inside the courtyards of the mosque.
According to a statement by the Council of Endowments, Islamic Affairs and Holy Places, “The seclusion program in the Blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque this year will be as usual, as worshipers spend their time in tahajjud, dhikr, and worship throughout the night until the Duha prayer, on Thursday nights after Friday and Friday after Saturday, and all nights of the last ten nights of Ramadan until... On the morning of the first day of Eid.
Over the past years, preventing seclusion in the mosque sparked a confrontation between worshipers and the occupation forces, who stormed the mosque and forcibly expelled those secluded from it.
On Friday, the Israeli police allowed only the elderly to pass through the gates of the Old City to reach Al-Aqsa Mosque, while the young men were returned to their homes. The Friday preacher, Sheikh Youssef Abu Sneineh, said, “Al-Aqsa Mosque is special for Muslims, and under no circumstances may Muslims be prevented from reaching it to perform their religious rituals.”
In a joint operation by the IDF and the Shin Bet, the terrorist Mahmoud Muhammad Abed Khach was eliminated this morning in the central camps in the Gaza Strip using an aircraft. Hach was trusted in his military role to recruit new operatives for the terrorist organization Hamas and in particular for the Zeyton Brigades. Hach worked in aspects of fundraising and funding for terrorist purposes for the military activities of the terrorist organization Hamas.
Documentation of a divisional operation led by the combat team of the 401st Brigade in the Zeyton region: destruction of an underground route, damage to infrastructure, reinforcement targets and destruction of the enemy. The launch targets, munitions production and the underground where the combat team operated in the Zeyton neighborhood.
The maneuvering forces and the fire center of Division 98 launched an extensive divisional attack in the west of Khan Yunis to deepen the operational achievement, while destroying terrorist infrastructures and eliminating terrorists in the terrorist organization Hamas who operate from civilian facilities in the heart of the built-up area.
The divisional operation began with an opening flight, in the framework of which fighter jets of the Air Force attacked about 50 terrorist targets in 6 minutes with the help of artillery forces. Among the targets that were attacked were underground infrastructures, military buildings, anti-tank firing positions, trapped buildings and gathering points of terrorists who posed a threat to the forces in the area.
The extensive airstrike was designed to create favorable conditions for the ground forces and at the end of it, the brigade combat teams began a surprise assault on the area, during which the fighters raided terrorist targets and eliminated terrorists, the forces continue to operate in the area with intensity.
During the last day, the fighters of the Nahal Brigade's combat team eliminated dozens of terrorists in the central area of the Gaza Strip and located weapons. In one of the activities, the brigade's fire complex detected a squad of terrorists loading weapons and moving towards fighters in the area. In response, an aircraft attacked and destroyed the squad.
Operational Update - Lebanon
Fighter jets attacked a military structure and military infrastructure of the Hezbollah terrorist organization in the area of ??Aita al-Sha'ab. Another military infrastructure of the organization was attacked in the area of Kfar Kila. During the day, a number of launches from Lebanese territory into Israeli territory were detected in the areas of Metula, Reger and Malkiyya.
Lebanese Hezbollah announced on Sunday night that it had targeted two Israeli forces that attempted to infiltrate Lebanese territory, confirming that direct casualties had been achieved. Hezbollah issued two statements saying: “In support of our steadfast Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and in support of their valiant and honorable resistance”: At 11:45 p.m. on Sunday night (Lebanon time): “During an attempt by an enemy Israeli force to infiltrate into Lebanese territory in the Wadi Qatmoun area opposite Rmeish, the Mujahideen of the Islamic Resistance targeted it with missile weapons, and achieved "There are direct casualties."" At 12:15 p.m. on Sunday, Monday: “During an attempt by an enemy Israeli force from the Golani Brigade to infiltrate into Lebanese territory from the direction of Khirbet Zarit, opposite the Lebanese town of Ramia, the Mujahideen of the Islamic Resistance detonated an explosive device.” "The infiltrating force then targeted it with a number of artillery shells and caused direct hits."
Operational Update - Yemen
Theresa Fallon noted "Shipping a 40-foot container from Asia to Northern Europe, one of the routes hit hardest by the Red Sea attacks, cost $4,587 per container last week, 350 percent more than at the end of September."
Maps
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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.
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Bystanders
The UN Security Council adopted a press statement drafted by Algeria expressing its grave concern about the Nabulsi Roundabout massacre in the Gaza Strip , while the number of martyrs of the massacre increased, while continuing to question the account presented by the Israeli army regarding the massacre, in which hundreds were killed, including martyrs and wounded.
The council said in the statement that it was "deeply concerned by reports that more than 100 people lost their lives" and several hundred others were injured, including people with gunshot wounds. The Council stressed the need to take all necessary measures to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, stressing that all parties must comply with their obligations under international law.
The Council called on all parties to refrain from depriving the civilian population of basic services and humanitarian assistance It expressed his deep concern about estimates issued by the Integrated Interim Classification that all 2,200,000 people in Gaza face alarming levels of acute food insecurity. The Council urged Israel to keep the border crossings open for the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
The Russian deputy delegate expressed his regret that the UN Security Council failed once again to clearly call for an immediate ceasefire for humanitarian reasons in Gaza. Al Jazeera's correspondent in New York, Murad Hashem, said that the statement issued by the Security Council came after a difficult struggle and difficulty in agreeing on it, as a result of the American position refusing to condemn Israel, or demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. He pointed out that there will be an emergency session of the United Nations General Assembly next Monday, to discuss the dangerous situation of UNRWA, and the need to revitalize its operations and resume providing aid to it.
Axis of Resistance
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a Conglomeration of almost all Iranian-Backed Militia Groups in Iraq and Syria released a Statement "[In the name of God, the Most Merciful. Permission to those who fight that they have wronged and that God is against their victory is mighty] In continuation of our approach in resisting the occupation, and in support of our people in Gaza and in response to the massacres committed by the usurping entity against the Palestinian civilians of children, women and elders, the Mujahideen of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq attacked the chemical plant in Mina Haifa in our occupied lands and the Islamic resistance confirms its continuation in the strongholds of the enemies. (And what is victory except in the presence of God that God is wise) Islamic resistance in Iraq Sunday 22 - Sha'ban ". Despite this claim, there have been no attacks reported against Haifa recently nor an Air Raid Alerts for the city.
Allied for Democracy
A recent survey by Israeli Channel 13 showed that 53% of Israelis believe Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is actively prolonging the war to stay in power. When asked what Netanyahu's purpose for extending the Israeli war on Gaza was, 35% of voters said it was to ensure 'absolute victory', while a crushing 53% believed it was for his own political interest.
The survey also explored the possibility of cabinet member Benny Gantz staying in government, to which 35% agreed that he and the Israeli opposition should exit, while 46% voted they should remain in government. Israeli media quoted Avigdor Lieberman, chairman of the Yisrael Beiteinu party, in what it called "harsh" claims of Netanyahu using the war in Gaza as a means to stay in power. In detail, Israeli media reported that "Lieberman continues to attack Netanyahu, claiming that the continuation of the war serves him politically."
This comes amid internal Israeli divisions over Netanyahu's political and war conduct, and how he is essentially utilizing the war for his own benefit. The current direction of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the ongoing war on Gaza is "to continue the fighting," Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported.
This approach is marred by a decline in popular support, which initially grew following the operation. However, Netanyahu has now become a source of doubt and concern among Israelis, the report said, adding that "Israel is approaching a dangerous reality of stagnation." Meanwhile, Gantz has been favored internally and internationally. In a previous poll, 15% wanted Netanyahu to remain as Prime Minister, while opposition leader Benny Gantz received support from 23% of respondents. Meanwhile, the Israeli channel Kan reported that senior officials of several Arab countries have been in direct contact with the Israeli minister, Benny Gantz, regarding the Israeli war on Gaza, reflecting their distrust in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The British newspaper "The Sunday Times" said that support for the Palestinian cause in key electoral areas presented an unexpected problem for Labor Party leader Keir Starmer , and the starting point was the Rochdale residents' election of George Galloway by an overwhelming majority, thus ending the Labor Party's control over the seat that he had held since 2010.
Galloway, after a campaign focused squarely on the plight of Palestinians, received a majority of 5,697 votes, with a previously unknown independent candidate in second place, and the Conservatives a distant third, ahead of Labor candidate Azhar Ali, who was abandoned by the party after making objectionable comments. With the Labor Party's line on the attacks of 7 October 2023.
Many Labor MPs and some working in Starmer's office explained that Galloway's victory was unique, even though it highlighted a painful political reality, confirming that opposition to Starmer from within the Muslim community is real, and is unlikely to abate as long as Israel remains in power. Notable case. Galloway (69 years old), a former Labor MP who was expelled from the party because of his opposition to the Iraq war, has a unique personality. He has defended the Palestinian cause since raising the Palestinian flag outside the Dandi Council in 1980.
Galloway was elected to Parliament by campaigning against Western foreign policy, and today against Israel specifically, in Labour-controlled constituencies with above-average Muslim communities; Such as: Rochdale, where 21% of its residents described themselves as Muslims in the last census. Galloway campaigned with his fourth wife, Dutch-Indonesian anthropologist Putri Gayatri Pertiwi, with whom he has three of his six children, and described his religious beliefs as a "personal matter", having previously denied claims by Imran Khan's ex-wife that he had converted to Islam.
Galloway - according to the newspaper - publicly exploited the emergence of the conflict in Gaza with messages directed “to Muslim voters in Rochdale,” saying that a vote for him could help remove Starmer, “a major supporter of Israel,” and that his election “will be heard around the world by North-west England to Palestine.
Starmer's team does not claim to be complacent, and a source said they were "painfully aware" of the Gaza war's potential to damage the party inside and outside Parliament. Starmer had the nerve to finally call for a ceasefire in Gaza, but many in the shadow cabinet felt it was not coming. Until it was too late, and he did not receive any praise because of how hesitant he was.
The newspaper indicated that Starmer was lucky; Because he avoided the test by allowing his party to pass its own amendment on a ceasefire, his MPs would not have had to vote on the proposal put forward by the SNP . If that had happened - according to one participant in the discussions - there would have been a Labor rebellion between 70 and 100 of the party’s 70 to 100 members. They number 199 MPs, representing a major test of Starmer's authority within the Progressive Labor Party.
The newspaper indicated that there is a broader fear that Starmer's position, which was closely linked to the positions adopted by the British and United States governments, would erode his position as the candidate for change, and give anti-status quo votes from left-wing and liberal voters to the Green Party and the Liberal Democrats. Perhaps Labour's best hope - according to the Sunday Times - is for Hamas and Israel to reach a ceasefire agreement, which many believed wais imminent with Qatar's help as Ramadan approaches.
US policy on Israel “looks incoherent because it is incoherent,” argues Matt Duss, former adviser to Senator Bernie Sanders, and this is making the United States look “feckless and weak”. Duss told Al-Jazeera host Steve Clemons that Israel is violating US law by using US-supplied weapons while preventing humanitarian aid. But President Joe Biden “has simply taken the tools of leverage off the table”. Duss, the executive vice president at the Center for International Policy, says there are still no indications that the Abandon Biden movement within the Democratic Party, nor Israel’s war crimes, will lead to a shift in course anytime soon.
US President Joe Biden said that the amount of aid arriving in Gaza is not sufficient and pledged to "continue to do everything in his power" to provide more of it, at a time when hunger is worsening and claiming the lives of dozens of civilians. Biden added that the United States, in cooperation with Jordan, airdropped the first package of aid.
The United States announced the implementation of the first airdrop of aid into the Gaza Strip using three C-130 aircraft. The US Central Command said that the operation was carried out in conjunction with the Jordanian Air Force, and included dropping 66 packages containing 38,000 meals, but the packages did not include medicines or water, according to what CNN quoted officials as saying.
A senior American official said that delivering aid by air and land to Gaza is not an alternative to delivering it via land, pointing out that Washington did not coordinate the landing process with any group on the ground. He added that the biggest problem they face in Gaza is distributing aid and delivering it to those who need it, according to him.
The American official stressed that Thursday's tragic incident underscores the importance of expanding the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza in response to the deteriorating humanitarian situation. He said that Washington is in contact with officials in Israel, Cyprus, and the United Nations regarding the possibility of opening a sea route to deliver aid directly to Gaza by sea.
In addition to the United States, Canada is also considering airdropping aid over the Gaza Strip. Jordan, with the participation of other countries, carried out several airdrops of aid over the Gaza Strip. The United Nations warns that the Gaza Strip is on the brink of famine, while the authorities in Gaza and the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas ) have confirmed the death of at least 13 Palestinian children in the Gaza and northern governorates due to hunger and malnutrition.
The Wall Street Journal said that a majority of American voters believe that Israel exaggerated in its response to the attacks of last October 7. In a poll conducted by the newspaper, 42% of voters believed that the Israeli occupation army’s response to the Al-Aqsa flood was exaggerated.The poll also concluded that 60% of American voters do not agree with the way the administration of US President Joe Biden dealt with the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip .
The poll stated that 33% of voters believe that the United States “does little to help the Palestinians.” Yesterday, the United States carried out the first airdrop of aid into the Gaza Strip using three C-130 aircraft, at a time when hunger is worsening and claiming the lives of a large number of civilians. The United Nations warns that the Strip is on the brink of famine, while the authorities in Gaza have confirmed the death of dozens of children in the Gaza and northern governorates due to malnutrition and hunger.
Operation Iron Swords - By the Numbers
- 71,533 Gazans injured
- 40,000 Gazans killed, including buried under rubble
- 30,320 Gazans martyred
- 14,492 Israelis were injured [i24 TV]
- 12,400 Gazan children martyred
- 12,000 HAMAS combatants killed [IDF]
- 11,000 arrested by Israelis in the West Bank in 2023
- 9,000 Palestinians in Israeli prisons
- 9,000 IDF psychological assistance
- 8,450 Gazan women martyred
- 8,000 Gazans missing
- 7,325 arrested by Israelis in the West Bank since Oct.7th
- 6,000 HAMAS combatants killed [HAMAS]
- 5,500 IDF wounded [reports]
- 4,611 West Bank Palestinians injured
- 3,484 administrative detainees
- 2,976 IDF wounded [IDF]
- 1,609 terrorists killed on the first day
- 1,200 Israelis killed on the first day
- 575 Israeli officers and soldiers killed
- 431 West Bank Palestinians martyred
- 245 Israeli officers and soldiers killed in Gaza
- 202 Hezbollah fighters were killed in Lebanon
- 126 people recovered, including 91 Israelis, 11 bodies, and 24 foreign workers
- 116 living hostages in Palestinian custody
- 50 civilians killed in Lebanon
- 29 IDF deaths were caused by "friendly fire"
- 15 Israelis killed in the West Bank and Israel
The Palestinian resistance says that the losses of the occupation forces are much greater than what is announced. 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."
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.
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