Operation Iron Swords - Day 167 - 21 March 2024

Contents

NEW - War Termination NEW - Operations NEW - Operations - Gaza NEW - Operations - Judea-Samaria NEW - Operations - Lebanon NEW - Operations - Syria / Iraq NEW - Operations - Yemen NEW - Operations Maps NEW - By-Standers NEW - Axis of Resistance NEW - Allied for Democracy UPDATED - By the Numbers

Cancer surgeon Nick Maynard, who is from Oxford and has worked as a volunteer in Gaza for the past 15 years, said he was not prepared for what he saw there. "I saw things in Al-Aqsa Hospital that I still wake up at night thinking about. Horrific injuries, especially among women and children. The most horrific burns are in young children. One child whom I will never forget was burned so badly that you can see the bones of her face. We knew that there was no chance of her surviving." "She was alive but there was no morphine to give her... so she was not only going to die, she was going to die in pain." "What made it worse was that there was nowhere for her to go and die. So she was left on the floor of the emergency department to die. This is just one story, we have all seen multiple stories like this," he added.

Palestinian factions in Jenin announced the execution of an Israeli agent in the West Bank, considering him "the most dangerous agent." Palestinian media said, "The agent had caused the martyrdom of 3 resistance fighters after recently communicating with the occupation." Reports from the West Bank indicated that “the one who carried out the execution was the brother of the spy and agent, who declared his innocence in front of all those present in Jenin Square where the execution took place.”

Jenin Brigade, affiliated with the Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad movement in the Jenin camp, had published the news of finding the person who dealt with the occupation and facilitated the assassination of the three young men, who are members of the battalion, and one of whom is Hamada Barakat, the most wanted person on the Israeli assassination list.

A group from the Monitoring and Tracking Unit, affiliated with the Jenin Battalion, was able to check the surveillance cameras located in the assassination area. "We noticed a strange movement of this person near the car, so we tried to find out his movements after he left the location of the car, and we noticed that he claimed to be injured and that he had entered the hospital to hide and remove suspicions from him. ... the execution decision that was carried out on the agent came after he confessed to identifying the martyrs’ car as the Israeli reconnaissance plane to facilitate tracking it, and that he contributed to providing information for previous assassinations.”

After the confession, it was announced throughout the city of Jenin and its camp that the agent who had caused the assassination of Hamada Barakat and his two companions had been captured, and the death sentence was executed against him by firing squad, in the middle of a large crowd of camp residents, while news pages circulated an audio clip of the agent’s brother, declaring his innocence and the innocence of... His complete family. His brother said in the audio clip, “What Karim did represents him alone, and does not represent me or the rest of my family. As of this moment, I declare that Karim is not my brother, I do not know him at all, and he does not belong to us, and that what the battalion’s youth did by executing him is correct.”

At the moment of execution, the informant’s brother participated in shooting him, confirming his family’s innocence of him, while the people of the camp praised the family’s position, and considered that this guilt befell the informant himself and did not include his family, and that the shame of those who cooperated with the occupation was not general, but only concerned those who dealt with him personally. The mother of one of the martyrs who was bombed by a drone in the Jenin camp had come to the place of the intelligence officer’s execution last night, and stood in front of his body and said, “May God not forgive you, God will not forgive you as you wasted my son and the other young men.”

While the occupation’s raids on cities and villages in the West Bank continue, the Jenin Brigade mourned what it described as a “Shin Bet hunter.” Israeli forces stormed the University neighborhood in the city of Hebron, south of the West Bank, and raided the house of the Etzion operation perpetrator, who was martyred in the operation. Ziad Farhan Hamran had carried out the Etzion operation in the town of Beit Fajjar, south of Bethlehem in the West Bank. The Jenin Battalion said - in a statement - that it "renews the pledge and pledge of allegiance to continue the path of jihad towards victory or martyrdom."

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announced that the United States had submitted a draft resolution to the UN Security Council calling for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. Blinken stated on Wednesday evening during a visit to Saudi Arabia: “We have already submitted a draft resolution and it is now before the Security Council.” He explained that the resolution calls for an immediate ceasefire linked to the release of the hostages, expressing his strong hope that it will receive support from countries.

"Of course, we stand with Israel and its right to defend itself... but at the same time, it's imperative that the civilians who are in harm's way and who are suffering so terribly -– that we focus on them, that we make them a priority, protecting the civilians, getting them humanitarian assistance," Blinken reiterated.

The United States announced that it will present its draft resolution on the necessity of an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip to the UN Security Council for a vote on Friday. Nate Evans, spokesman for the US representative to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said in a statement on Thursday: “The United States has been working seriously with Council members for several weeks on a resolution that unequivocally supports diplomatic efforts aimed at ensuring an immediate halt to the firing in Gaza as part of a hostage agreement.

Russian deputy ambassador to the UN Dmitry Polyanskiy said the US revised resolution for the UNSC could be considered a greenlight for Israel to conduct an operation in Rafah. Polyanskiy called the US revised UN Security Council resolution a "standard American deception," stressing "the draft is still the same, with all the past distortions and unacceptable one-sided 'condemnations,' of which there are many." Moreover, Polyanskiy underscored that the resolution "did not and does not contain any call for a ceasefire," adding "Only a philosophical phrase about its importance has appeared, and even then in connection with the release of the hostages."

War Termination

A source in the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) revealed to Alalam News Network, Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, the reasons for the faltering negotiations with the Israeli occupation in order to reach a prisoner exchange deal within a ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip. The source attributed the faltering negotiations to three reasons,

1. The first lies in the occupation’s refusal to withdraw from the Al-Rashid and Salah al-Din axes, to allow the return of the displaced without conditions and the passage of aid.
2. As for the second reason - according to the source - the Israeli occupation refused to pledge a comprehensive and complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip within the second phase.
3. The Israeli negotiating delegation also showed a lack of seriousness regarding the prisoner issue, and tampered with the exchange equation, as Hamas presented a specific equation and refused to delve into the numbers, because it is not sure of the number of civilians remaining alive. The movement proposed a ratio of 1 to 50 for female soldiers, whose number is estimated at 4 or 5, provided that among those released are a number of prisoners with high sentences, which Israel rejected. The source said that Hamas made a concession on this item when it was insisting on the release of 1,500 Palestinian prisoners, including 500 of those with high sentences.

Another source in the movement told Al Jazeera that the movement showed high flexibility during the round of negotiations held in Doha over the past two days in order to reach a prisoner exchange deal within a ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip. But the Israeli response was negative and did not respond to the movement’s demands. Rather, the Israeli negotiating team returned the negotiations every time to the starting point.

The movement insists that the basic principles upon which its vision of the negotiation file is based are based on five main points: a ceasefire, an unconditional return of the displaced, the withdrawal of the Israeli occupation army from Gaza, the entry of aid and relief materials, and reconstruction, and all of this is within a prisoner exchange deal. In 3 stages, its terms and implementation mechanisms will be agreed upon.

The source stressed that the movement, as usual, presented a complete paper within 3 stages leading to what was called “sustainable calm,” in which it provided full details for the first stage, while providing basic headings for the second and third stages.

Hamas leader Osama Hamdan said that the Israeli occupation’s response to the movement’s proposal regarding ceasefire negotiations and prisoner exchange “was negative and does not respond to the demands of our people,” blaming Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government and those who support him responsible for obstructing efforts to save the exchange deal.

Hamdan said that Hamas presented its vision regarding the prisoner exchange file and showed positivity and high flexibility, noting that the movement is following the course of negotiations through the mediator brothers in Egypt and Qatar. He revealed that the occupation had withdrawn from the approvals it had previously provided to the mediators, "in an attempt to procrastinate, which may lead the negotiations to a dead end."

Israel plans to put anti-Hamas Palestinians in charge of aid entries and the Gaza Strip as a whole, a report by the Wall Street Journal reveals, citing Arab and Israeli officials. Consequently, the Israeli plan incited backlash in the Israeli War Cabinet and from Hamas leadership, at a crucial time during negotiations for a ceasefire proposal.

Amid talks with Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and Jordan, a top Israeli defense official said the goal was to build "regional support for an emerging effort to enlist Palestinian leaders and businessmen who have no links to Hamas in distributing aid." Israel's plan dictated that aid delivered to Gaza by land and sea would be inspected by Israeli forces before entering Gaza, transported to warehouses post-inspection, and then submitted to non-Resistance affiliated Palestinians for distribution. Their duties are not limited to aid distribution. Israel also plans to grant them authority over the Strip, with the support of rich Arab regimes and their security forces, the WSJ stated.

In response, the WSJ quoted a Hamas senior official saying, “We will strike with an iron hand against anyone who tampers with the internal front in the Gaza Strip and will not permit the imposition of new rules." The report also noted that aid deliveries were hampered due to the lack of support from Benjamin Netanyahu, who justified the withholding of aid from Palestinians facing genocide and famine by claiming those who receive aid are affiliated with the Resistance.

Anti-poverty charity Oxfam accused Israel of intentionally preventing the delivery of aid into the besieged Gaza Strip, in violation of international humanitarian law. The non-governmental organization said in a report that Israel continued to "systematically and deliberately block and undermine any meaningful international humanitarian response" in the Palestinian territory. "Israeli authorities are not only failing to facilitate the international aid effort but are actively hindering it. We believe that Israel is failing to take all measures within its power to prevent genocide." Oxfam noted that "unjustifiably inefficient" inspection rules were causing aid trucks trying to get into Gaza to be stuck in queues for 20 days on average.

Moreover, Israel assassinated Fayeq Al-Mabhouh, who cooperated with UNRWA and contributed to the attainment of humanitarian aid for the people of Gaza, particularly in the north, and emerged successful with the help of local clans and popular committees. Al-Mabhouh was staying in Al-Shifa Hospital when Israeli occupation forces stormed the medical complex, demanded his surrender, and then killed him after he refused to succumb to their threats.

Israeli Channel 12 quoted a senior Israeli official as saying that prisoner exchange negotiations with the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas ) are “complex and difficult,” indicating that a deal can still be reached. On the other hand, Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid demanded an immediate deal and an end to the attack on Rafah. The Israeli official added that Tel Aviv's indicators regarding the exchange deal are not good, but it hopes that it will witness a transformation, as he put it.

For its part, the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation quoted a senior Israeli official as saying that there is an opportunity to reach an agreement on a prisoner exchange deal and a ceasefire, and it is possible to bridge the gaps between Hamas and Israel . The official indicated that Tel Aviv is awaiting Hamas' response to the Israeli response, and said that if Hamas does not change its positions, this means that it is wasting time, as he put it.

Israeli Channel 14 said that the Israeli negotiating delegation received instructions not to agree to a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip as part of seeking to reach an exchange deal with Hamas.

In a related context, Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid called on the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reach an immediate agreement with Hamas to return all detainees in the Gaza Strip. In an interview with the official Israeli radio, Lapid warned Netanyahu against launching a ground invasion in Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip, considering that this would jeopardize the exchange deal.

Lapid stressed that Netanyahu should not deliver a speech before the Republican Party in Congress, because that would deepen the crisis with the administration of President Joe Biden, and would constitute interference in the United States elections. Israeli press reports indicate internal tension between the political and military leadership regarding the exchange deal and the implementation of a military operation in Rafah.

Operational Update

The godmother of the settlement movement, Daniela Weiss, renewed her calls for establishing settlements in the Gaza Strip , and said that the Strip will not include an Arab population after the end of the current war. CNN quoted Weiss as saying that 500 families had submitted requests to settle in Gaza, and considered that “returning to Gaza was a priority after the attack of last October 7.”

Weiss was speaking at a media session at her home in the Qarneh Shomron settlement in the West Bank , and discussed with those present plans to revive the Gush Katif settlement bloc in Gaza, which was evacuated by the Israeli army in 2005. Weiss invited those present to register their names on the list of those wishing to move to settlement in Gaza, and stressed that she is completely convinced that this will happen in her lifetime.

Weiss (78 years old) supervises the "Nahala" organization, whose name means "inheritance" and is considered the most famous among the organizations seeking to rebuild settlements in Gaza. One of the organization's members said that they will send a representative to Florida, USA, to collect funds in order to implement settlement plans in Gaza.

CNN describes Weiss as “holding deeply rooted ideas about Jewish exceptionalism, and in her policies there is no room for a two-state solution.” On the wall of her house, Weiss hangs a map that includes six groups of settlements along the Gaza Strip, with no room for any presence of the more than two million Palestinians currently residing in Gaza. “They will not stay there,” she said. “We Jews will be in Gaza.”

She believes that her views, traditionally viewed as extremist in Israel, have become more popular since the October 7 attacks. An opinion poll conducted by the Jewish People's Policy Institute last January found that 26% of Israelis support rebuilding settlements in Gaza after the end of the current war, and the percentage among supporters of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government jumps to 51%, compared to 3% among opposition supporters.

Netanyahu described resettlement in Gaza as an “unrealistic goal” but stopped short of completely ruling out the possibility. Tel Aviv University professor Ofra Goldstein Gidoni said, “I think the majority of people don’t think returning to Gaza is a good idea. I think this is still a good idea. A minority, but still a very powerful minority politically. That's the problem."

Operational Update - Gaza

A senior Israeli official said on Thursday that Israel will control the city of Rafah even if this causes a rift with America, describing the city crowded with refugees in the Gaza Strip as the last stronghold of the Hamas movement and home to a quarter of the movement’s fighters. Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer said, "Israel will take control of Rafah even if this leads to a rift with the United States."

According to what Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper quoted Dermer as saying, “It will be useful not only from a military perspective, but also from a humanitarian perspective.” This will happen even if Israel has to fight alone, even if the whole world turns against us, including the United States.”

Satellite images analyzed by the United Nations Satellite Center showed that 35 percent of the buildings in the Gaza Strip were destroyed or damaged during the Israeli war in the Strip. In its evaluation, the center used high-resolution images taken by satellites and collected on February 29, and compared them with images taken before and after the outbreak of aggression.

He concluded that 35 percent of the total buildings in the Gaza Strip , i.e. 88,868 buildings, were damaged or completely destroyed. He added that 31,198 buildings were completely destroyed, 16,908 buildings were severely damaged, and 40,762 buildings were moderately damaged.

The center added that there was an increase of about 20,000 buildings compared to the previous assessment it conducted based on photos taken in January that showed 30 percent of the total buildings destroyed or damaged. According to the center, the areas of Khan Yunis and Gaza were the most damaged, as Khan Yunis witnessed 12,279 additional buildings damaged and Gaza witnessed damage in 2010, but the greatest damage was in Khan Yunis, where 6,663 additional buildings were destroyed.

This week, the 401st TDF, Sheitat 13, fighters and Shin Bet coordinators under the command of Division 162 led the special operation at Shifa Hospital. The division operates in the northern and central Gaza Strip while significantly damaging the capabilities of the terrorist organization Hamas. For all the details.

IDF and Shin Bet forces continued to fight in the area of Shifa' Hospital. The forces of the 13th Fleet and the 401st Brigade's combat team operate on the spot while avoiding harm to civilians, patients, medical teams and medical equipment. Within the framework of the exchange of fire in the last day, the fighters eliminated over 50 terrorists in the area of the hospital and located terrorist infrastructures and IMD warehouses. Since the beginning of the activity, more than 140 terrorists had been eliminated in the area of Shifa Hospital.

The battle team of the Nahal Brigade continues to operate in the center of the Gaza Strip, as part of the activity, about 20 terrorists were eliminated in the last day. In another attack, two terrorists were spotted on a tank near the troops. In a quick closing of the circle with the Air Force, the terrorists were eliminated in an aircraft attack.

The battle team of the 7th Brigade launched a divisional operation in the north of Khan Yunis, in the Al Karara area, during which the forces are working to destroy the terrorist infrastructure there. The forces eliminated terrorists who approached the force, located weapons, destroyed dozens of terrorist infrastructures and destroyed a launch pit. The brigade operation began with an air force attack in the area and is accompanied by ongoing air support. Aircraft attacked several targets and eliminated terrorists who were in terrorist infrastructures.

IDF spokesman, Brigadier General Daniel Hagari : "The terrorists in Shifa are surrendering, being interrogated and providing quality intelligence. We have arrested the heads of the Islamic Jihad organization and senior officials in Hamas and Shifa. Hamas and Jihad terrorists are barricading themselves in the emergency room, the IDF is working to evacuate the patients. There will be several more days for the operation in Shifa, there will be prolonged fighting."

A joint IDF and Shin Bet raid on the Al-Shifa hospital compound continues for a third day, with an army statement saying 50 terrorists were eliminated on Wednesday. The IDF is continuing operations across the Gaza Strip to eliminate terrorist infrastructure. Israel Defense Forces (IDF) released a statement on Thursday, updating on its progress in an ongoing operation at the Al-Shifa Hospital compound in the Gaza Strip, seemingly catching Hamas off guard with several high-ranking officials arrested.

IDF press release, it was stated that 600 terrorists were arrested during the operation, including senior officials in the terrorist organization Hamas and from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), who had not only been directing activity in the Gaza Strip but also in the West Bank.

The Israeli army announced on Thursday that it had killed “more than 140 Palestinian fighters” in the Al-Shifa Medical Complex and its surroundings in northern Gaza City, which it stormed at dawn on Monday after surrounding it with tanks. “Since the start of the operation, more than 140 terrorists have been eliminated in the hospital area,” the army said in a statement, adding that more than 50 of the deaths occurred during Wednesday’s battles. On Wednesday, it was announced that about 90 militants were killed and 160 were arrested in a raid on the Shifa complex.

Al-Shifa Complex, the largest hospital in the Gaza Strip before the war, became one of the few health care facilities that functioned, even partially, in the north of the Strip, and it also housed displaced civilians. The army said in a statement on Wednesday, “During the past day (Tuesday), the forces eliminated terrorists and found weapons in the complex, while preventing harm to civilians, patients, medical teams and medical equipment.” He also published the names and pictures of two Israeli soldiers killed in the operation.

The Israeli raid on the hospital began in the early hours of Monday morning. The army, which posted video clips of weapons caches inside the complex, said it sent special forces supported by infantry and tanks based on information that gunmen had returned to using the hospital again.

Ismail Al-Thawabta, director of the Hamas government's media office in Gaza, said that all of the dead were wounded and displaced inside the complex. He added, "The Israeli occupation army practices lies and deception in spreading its narrative in the context of justifying its ongoing crimes that violate international law and international humanitarian law and violate the Geneva Conventions and human rights protocols, all of which reject storming hospitals and health institutions and forbid attacking the sick and wounded, killing them, or expelling them in the streets."

Reuters was unable to verify the accuracy of either story. There are conflicting accounts between Israel and Hamas regarding the identity of the detainees in the vicinity of the compound, as the army says that it arrested people linked to Hamas, while Hamas asserts that they have no connection to it, and it was not possible to verify the authenticity of either story.

Israel faced severe criticism last November when forces raided the Shifa compound for the first time. The forces found tunnels there that they said were used by Hamas as command and control centers. Hamas and the medical staff deny using the hospital for military purposes or to house fighters. A member of the Hamas political bureau, Basem Naim, who previously served as Minister of Health, described what is happening at the Shifa complex as a “war crime” and part of a “genocidal war” waged by Israel.

HAMAS Civil Defense spokesman, Mahmoud Basal, confirmed that “the occupation forced dozens of patients in difficult condition to leave the Shifa Complex, and citizens transferred them to the Baptist Hospital in the Old City.”

The HAMAS Government Media Office in Gaza reported that the Israeli occupation forces deliberately killed 13 patients in the al-Shifa Medical Complex and prevented them from receiving medicine and medical solutions. Israeli occupation forces have blown up a specialized building that hosts a specialized medical unit in Al-Shifa Medical Complex in west Gaza, while the IDF continues to lay siege to the complex and attack Palestinians inside for the fourth consecutive day.

Operational Update - Judea-Samaria

A Haaretz newspaper report revealed, on Wednesday, that many Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons died as a result of medical negligence, in addition to the deterioration of conditions in the prisons as a result of them being overcrowded beyond their capacity. The newspaper relied on autopsy reports on the bodies of deceased Palestinians, which revealed signs that some of them had been subjected to violent treatment.

Armed settlers attacked two Palestinian citizens in the village of Burin, south of the city of Nablus in the West Bank. Eyewitnesses reported that settlers in military uniform assaulted a Palestinian shepherd and his brother before kidnapping them and leaving the village. It is noteworthy that this attack is not the first in the village of Burin and other nearby villages. The most recent of which was the martyrdom of a Palestinian yesterday by settlers’ bullets in the village of Aqraba, southeast of Nablus.

A combat helicopter attacked a terrorist cell in the area of Tir Kharfa. In addition, fighter jets attacked three terrorist infrastructures in the areas of Yaron, Yarin and Aita al-Sha'ab, alongside three military buildings in the areas of Mis al Jabal and Kfar Khula.

The soldiers of the IDF, the Shin Bet and the MGB operated tonight in a divisional operation to counter terrorism in Nur a Shams in the Menashe division. During the operation, the soldiers arrested three wanted persons and uncovered explosives under the axles intended to harm the forces. As part of the operation, an Air Force aircraft attacked two terrorists who threw explosives at Israeli forces and eliminated them.

Harov patrol fighters exchanged fire with terrorists, killed two and found an M-4 rifle on them. The fighters arrested a wanted man and confiscated two M-16 weapons in the village of Akab in Benjamin. Another M-16 type rifle was found in Elkhader in the Etzion Brigade. During the night, the forces arrested 18 wanted persons throughout Judea and Samaria.

During the operation of the forces in the city of Ramallah, in the Binyamin Brigade, a violent disturbance developed, during which terrorists threw stones, threw fireworks and explosive charges at the fighters who responded with measures to disperse the protests and by shooting at them, a number of injuries were detected.

During an operational activity, an IDF force fired at a Palestinian who aroused their suspicion at the Elazar junction in the Etzion Brigade, a hit was detected and later the death of the Palestinian was determined. Immediately upon receiving the report about the serious incident, the military attorney's office ordered the opening of an investigation by the military police.

Last night and at dawn on Thursday, the occupation forces launched a campaign of raids and arrests in various parts of the West Bank, including storming homes, searching them, and vandalizing their contents, while the resistance confronted the occupation raids and targeted several military points of the occupation.

In Tulkarm, clashes continue between the resistance fighters and the occupation forces in the Nour Shams camp following a storming that lasted for more than seven hours, including the detonation of explosive devices in several areas. The two clashing resistance fighters, Iyad Nidal Kanouh and Nidal Abu Ubaid, were martyred when the Israeli occupation aircraft bombed a target in the Nour Shams camp, east of Tulkarm.

The resistance forces continue to confront a massive incursion by the Israeli occupation forces into the Nour Shams refugee camp. Resistance fighters targeted occupation vehicles at the Al-Younis roundabout in the city with high explosive devices. Resistance fighters also detonated a number of explosive devices inside Nour Shams camp, coinciding with the outbreak of violent clashes in the camp.

In Nablus, the occupation forces stormed the New Nablus area and arrested the freed prisoner Assem Al-Shami after storming his house, searching it and vandalizing its contents. They arrested the young man Kamel Abu Zant and confiscated a sum of money after storming his house. Resistance fighters targeted the military point established on Mount Gerizim in Nablus with bullets and withdrew from the place, amid an intense deployment of Israeli occupation forces.

In Jenin, resistance fighters targeted the occupation forces with homemade explosive devices during their storming of the town of Jalboun. The Israeli occupation forces stormed the town of Ya`bad, southwest of Jenin, and raided a number of neighborhoods there. In Qalqilya, local sources reported that a large number of military vehicles stormed the city from its eastern entrance and drove their vehicles through a number of the city’s neighborhoods. They stormed the Al-Wad Street area, and the occupation army raided a house in the Al-Naqar neighborhood of the city and wreaked havoc on it.

In Ramallah, the occupation forces arrested the young man, Ahmed Azmi Nofal, after storming his house in the village of Ras Karkar, west of Ramallah. In a related context, a very serious injury to the head area was transferred to the operating room at Ramallah Hospital “Palestine Medical Complex”, where the young man was injured by occupation bullets during the storming of the Umm Al-Sharayet neighborhood in the city of Al-Bireh.

The occupation soldiers brutally assaulted a young man on Al-Quds Street in the city of Al-Bireh, and arrested him. In Bethlehem, the resisting youths threw Molotov cocktails towards the settlement street near the village of Husan, west of Bethlehem, and the occupation opened heavy fire. The Israeli occupation forces stormed the village of Husan, west of Bethlehem, and arrested the two boys, Sami Muhammad Hamamra (16 years old), and Bilal Awad Hamamra (18 years old), while they were passing through the Al-Sharafa area at the eastern entrance to the village.

In Hebron, resistance fighters threw homemade bombs at the Karmei Tzur settlement, which was established on the lands of Beit Ummar, north of Hebron. Resistant youth also targeted the military tower at the entrance to the Arroub camp, north of Hebron, with Molotov cocktails. The occupation forces stormed the Al-Arroub camp in Hebron, and arrested the two young men, Dhafer Al-Jundi and Bahaa Jawabreh, after raiding and searching their homes in the camp.

The occupation forces also arrested the freed prisoner Abi Abu Maria from his home in the town of Beit Ummar, north of Hebron, noting that he was released as part of the recent exchange deal. The occupation also arrested the young man Ammar Saeed Awad from his home in the town of Beit Ummar, and arrested the young man Ibrahim Bassam Al-Badarin from the town of Al-Samou, south of Hebron.

In occupied Jerusalem, confrontations broke out between young men and the occupation forces in the Kafr Aqab neighborhood, north of occupied Jerusalem. The occupation forces also stormed the Jabal al-Sheikh area in the town of Biddu, northwest of occupied Jerusalem.

Operational Update - Lebanon

A number of launches were identified crossing from Lebanon toward various areas in northern Israel. The IDF struck the sources of the fire. In addition, a short while ago, an IDF helicopter struck a terrorist cell in the area of Tayr Harfa. Furthermore, IDF fighter jets struck three terrorist infrastructure in the areas of Yaroun, Yarine, and Ayta ash Shab, as well as three military compounds in the area of Meiss El Jabal and Houla.

A number of launches were identified that crossed the territory of Lebanon towards various areas in the north of the country. IDF forces attacked the sources of the shooting. Fighter jets attacked a military structure of the Hezbollah terrorist organization in the Kfar Kila area. In addition, last night (Wednesday) another military structure of the organization was attacked in the A-Dahira area. During the night, a launch was detected that crossed from Lebanese territory towards the Yaftach area, IDF forces attacked the source of the shooting.

The Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar published a lengthy report in which it revealed details of the discovery of one of the most dangerous spy networks for Israel in Lebanon. The newspaper said that the coincidence led to the discovery of one of the most dangerous spy networks for Israel.

It was reported that members of the Speaker of the House of Representatives’ guard company became suspicious of a car that was roaming the vicinity of the Speaker of the House’s headquarters in Ain al-Tineh in Beirut, and after stopping the car and its driver, “Mohieddin H.” A “highly advanced” electronic device and phones were found in his possession, which included dozens of videos of what appeared to be a comprehensive survey of the area.

Al-Akhbar reported that the detainee was handed over to the Information Branch of the Internal Security Forces to begin investigations that revealed “suspicion of dealing with the enemy” in a technical manner that is unprecedented in terms of its danger. She explained that the defendant’s receipt of $200,000 for this task, which is also an unprecedented amount in employment files, is the most prominent indicator of the seriousness of what he did.

She indicated that the accused was supplied with the other defendant, “Hadi A.” (They are experts in computer and communications engineering) A fictitious American company is most likely a front for Israeli intelligence, with a comprehensive survey of a large number of areas, including Beirut and the southern suburbs, complementing on the ground the survey conducted daily by Israeli aircraft of various areas.

In practice, the two detainees provided the enemy with an “exact copy” of these areas, including the streets, buildings, names of shops, parked and mobile cars, their license plate numbers, and the faces of passers-by, as they were found on the phone of “Mohieddin H.” Over 56 thousand high-quality images. The newspaper explained that the most dangerous was the technical espionage carried out by the two detainees, using highly advanced equipment equipped with a system for scanning radio frequencies related to Internet service providers and the addresses of access points located in homes, institutions, and public places, which facilitates determining the user’s geographical location.

She indicated that they obtained the name of every Wi-Fi device in the areas that were surveyed and the password, which enables them to determine the location of any cell phone user once his phone becomes connected to the Internet service provider. In addition, investigations showed that one of the detainees carried out a sweep on a street in the southern suburb area opposite the apartment in which the deputy head of the Hamas movement, Sheikh Saleh Al-Arouri , was assassinated on January 2. The sweep was conducted about two weeks before the assassination.

Although the detainees denied before the investigating judge that they had prior knowledge that the company that assigned them to work was Israeli, they acknowledged that what was asked of them had nothing to do with the contract concluded with the company to work on a project to develop virtual tourism, and they acknowledged that the data and information they provided the company with was of a sensitive nature.

One of them said that what was asked of them could only be for the benefit of an intelligence agency, and that the data they provided to the alleged American company enables the establishment of a “security surveillance system” in all regions, and makes whoever possesses it able to determine the location of whomever he wants at any time.

The two detainees were referred before the first military investigative judge, Fadi Sawan, who interrogated them and issued two preliminary arrest warrants against them, noting that the government commissioner to the military court, Judge Fadi Akiki, had accused them of “committing crimes of espionage for the benefit of a foreign state and obtaining information that must remain secret in order to ensure the safety of the state.” “And harming the national security of the country, the penalty for which is up to life imprisonment with hard labor.”

Operational Update - Syria / Iraq

A new attack was launched by the Islamic Resistance in Iraq against Israeli targets in the occupied territories in support of the people of Gaza. The Iraqi umbrella group of anti-terror groups said in a statement published on its Telegram channel on Thursday that it carried out a drone attack on an electricity generation station in Tel Aviv.

“The Mujahideen of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq targeted, at dawn today, Thursday, 3/21/2024, by a Kamikaze drone, the electricity generation station in Tel Aviv in occupied territories,” the statement said. “We will continue to destroy enemy strongholds in completion of the second phase of operations to resist the occupation, and to support our people in Gaza, and in response to the Zionist massacres against defenseless Palestinian civilians.”

In response to the Israeli massacres against innocent Palestinian civilians, the second phase of the Resistance's operations has started which include the enforcement of a blockade on Israeli maritime navigation in the Mediterranean and putting Israeli ports out of service. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq says it will continue its attacks on Israeli targets until the regime stops its genocide in Gaza. It has also struck major American military bases in Syria and Iraq amid anger over the US support for Israel’s onslaught on Gaza.

This is the text of the statement issued by the Islamic Resistance in Iraq: In the name of God, the Most Gracious,

the Most Merciful (And God made it nothing but good news and that your hearts may be at peace therein)

The Mujahideen of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq targeted, at dawn today, Thursday, 3/21/2024, by drone, the electricity generation station in Tel Aviv in our occupied territories, stressing that we will continue to destroy enemy strongholds in completion of the second phase of operations to resist the occupation, and to support our people in Gaza, and in response to the massacres. Zionism against defenseless Palestinian civilians.

(And victory is only from God. Indeed, God is Mighty, All-Wise)

Islamic Resistance in Iraq

Thursday 10 - Ramadan - 1445 AH

Operational Update - Yemen

The air defense fighters successfully intercepted a suspicious aerial target that was suspected to have made its way to Israeli territory from the Red Sea. The target did not cross into Israeli territory and the incident ended.

The U.S.-led naval coalition confirmed it destroyed a UAV and unmanned surface vessel in Yemen that CENTCOM said posed an imminent threat to commercial shipping in the Red Sea. A French frigate, thought to be ALSACE D656, intercepted 3 Houthi ballistic missiles over the Red Sea 21 March, sez EU-led Operation Aspides. Missiles were likely Aster 30, making this the 1st combat kills for the Aster missile family.

The United States, on Wednesday, condemned "in the strongest terms" the attacks launched by the Houthis in the city of Al-Radaa in the Yemeni Al-Bayda Governorate, which resulted in the deaths of dozens of civilians. The US Embassy in Yemen said in a statement via X : “The United States condemns in the strongest terms the Houthi attack against civilians in the city of Radaa in Al Bayda Governorate, where the Houthis used explosives to destroy many homes.”

She added, "We express our condolences to the families and loved ones of the civilians who died during this brutal attack, most of whom were women and children." She stressed, "This brutal act reminds us of the ongoing suffering and instability in areas controlled by the Houthis. The Yemeni people deserve to live in a safe environment, free of violence and oppression, and the United States remains committed to supporting peace in Yemen."

The legitimate Yemeni government condemned the Houthi group's bombing of "several houses in the city of Radaa in Al-Bayda Governorate", in the center of the country, resulting in the death of about 32 people, including women and children, according to a provisional toll. The Ministry of Human Rights said in a statement: “We condemn in the strongest terms the brutal attack and crime committed by the Houthi group, on Tuesday, by blowing up a house in Al-Hafra neighborhood in the city of Radaa, Al-Bayda Governorate, on its residents, resulting in the death and injury of a number of civilians.”

The Iran-aligned Houthi group acknowledged responsibility. A spokesman for the group’s Interior Ministry, Brigadier General Abdul Khaleq Al-Ajri, said in a statement, “A mistake occurred by some security personnel while carrying out a security campaign to pursue some saboteurs, as an irresponsible reaction to using excessive and illegal force without returning and taking directions from the security leadership or the knowledge of the Ministry of Interior.”

On Tuesday, the internationally recognized Yemeni government condemned the Houthi group's bombing of several homes in the city of Radaa in Al-Bayda Governorate, in the center of the country, resulting in the death of about 32 people, including women and children, according to a provisional toll.

The statement stated that the explosion resulted in the killing of two security men and the wounding of others, in addition to wounding a number of other residents.

The Yemeni government said that yesterday morning, Tuesday, the Houthis besieged the Al-Naqus house, booby-trapped it with explosives and explosive devices, and blew it up, which led to its complete destruction and the demolition of a number of nearby popular homes on top of their residents, most of whom were children and women who were still under the rubble, including Muhammad’s family. Saad Al-Yarimi, all nine of whom died.

The Ministry explained in its statement that the “criminal” attacks and actions that the Houthi group has been committing against civilians in Al-Bayda Governorate, including “murders, kidnappings, destruction and bombing of homes, looting of property, and systematic intimidation of women and children, constitute serious and dangerous crimes and violations that require the assistance of all international and local organizations concerned with human rights.” Human beings must work to monitor and document it and communicate it to public opinion and all UN bodies in preparation for pursuing this terrorist group.”

The statement affirmed that the Houthi group's continuation of committing these acts confirms to the international community the correctness of the Yemeni government's vision that "the Houthi group is a terrorist entity and organization that practices and commits the most heinous crimes against civilians, including killing, sniping, siege, destruction, and bombing of homes in a hideous manner that Yemen has never witnessed before."

The Ministry of Human Rights called on the UN envoy, the Commission on Human Rights and international organizations to condemn these serious and grave violations committed by the Houthi group against civilians in the city of Radaa and various Yemeni cities and governorates, and to work to provide full protection for civilians.

The leader of the revolution, Mr. Abdul Malik Badr al-Din al-Houthi, confirmed that the missile that targeted Umm al-Rashrash this week was a developed missile that surprised the Israeli enemy and opened a new horizon for the missile force in developing long-range missiles. Mr. Abdul Malik Badr al-Din al-Houthi, in his speech today about the latest developments and updates on the Yemeni, Palestinian and regional arena, indicated that the missile was able to reach Umm al-Rashrash, bypassing all monitoring and interception techniques possessed by the Americans and the Israelis.

Overcoming American and Israeli technologies in monitoring, jamming and interception was considered a major victory and an important development for Yemen’s military capabilities. The leader of the revolution revealed plans of great importance in the future for more effective strikes on the enemy... stressing the continuation of developing military actions and operations more and more, and the options in that regard are becoming more and more.

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

Doctors and relief agencies say that the shortage of food, medicine and clean water in Gaza is worsening, more than five months after the ground and air campaign launched by Israel in response to the Hamas attack on October 7, according to a report published by Reuters. Relief agencies and the United Nations continue to warn of the danger of famine in the Strip, where about 2.4 million people reside. A report prepared by specialized agencies at the United Nations warned that without increasing aid and organizing its distribution, famine will strike 300,000 people in northern Gaza within weeks.

The World Health Organization said that access to the al-Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza was now impossible, noting that there are reports of medical staff being arrested inside.

The organization called on Israel to "open more crossings and expedite the entry of food and medical aid to all parts of the Gaza Strip." For his part, the Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) Philippe Lazzarini said that "blockade, hunger, and disease will soon become the main killer in Gaza." Lazzarini added that "it is still possible to avoid this artificially-created catastrophic level of hunger by flooding Gaza with food and life-saving aid if there is the political will." The UNRWA Commissioner-General stressed that "food should not be used as a weapon of war in Gaza," explaining that "this famine is man-made."

When US President Joe Biden ordered his army to build a floating humanitarian port off the coast of Gaza , researcher François Audet, director of the Canadian Observatory for Crises and the Work of Humanitarian Organizations, denounced what he considered a smokescreen, stressing that armies are equipped and organized organizations, but they are not humanitarian organizations. The expert, who is also the director of the Montreal Institute of International Studies, explained - in an interview with Media Part - that the NGOs originally existed to prevent the same men who launch bombs and attack the civilian population, hypocritically claiming that they want to protect the population, because the two things cannot be combined.

When asked why he was so critical of the temporary port project announced by the United States, the European Union and the Emirates, Francois Audet said that the Canadian phrase “Boucan show,” which means making sounds to hide what is happening behind us, fully applies to this project that will occupy the media and the public in the West, and thus By focusing on an initiative that appears laudable and attractive, it diverts attention away from the role of the West, led by the United States, and its inability to make Israel listen to the voice of reason, and its demand to stop punishing and starving the civilian population.

He pointed out that Western denial consists in not paying attention to its responsibilities and actual capabilities to subjugate the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu , to stop this war, which is closer to revenge, and he said that the West is presenting new projects to hide behind its political impotence.

The Canadian expert stressed that this is great hypocrisy, because the majority of Western countries support Israel politically and militarily, and at the same time announce humanitarian programs, noting that this hypocrisy is particularly clear in the case of the United States, which declares that Netanyahu is doing more harm to Israel than good, and that Israel It has become isolated, and yet President Joe Biden continues to arm it to continue this war.

Given the current situation in the Gaza Strip, the security of the civilian population - according to the expert - must include a ceasefire and the opening of crossings to allow the delivery of food. No humanitarian non-governmental organization has said that this floating port is a good idea. Rather, it appears to be more of a political project than it is. Humanitarian operation.

These political initiatives with the US Army - as the expert believes - will turn into a practical failure, like similar scenarios in Afghanistan, Iraq and Haiti, because armies are not humanitarian organizations, and therefore the priority is to oblige Israel to ensure the security of civilians and their access to health care and food. Audet concluded that what appears glaring in this conflict is the inability of the Western powers to impose the standards they set, such as the Geneva Convention , stressing that “if we do not commit our allies and those who signed those standards, history will repeat itself, and the civilian population will remain the first victim of armed conflicts.”

Axis of Resistance

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei described the Israeli crimes against Gaza as the evidence of the legitimacy of the formation of the Resistance Front in the West Asian region, urging that resistance should be strengthened day by day. On the first day of the Iranian new year on March 20, Ayatollah Khamenei delivered an annual speech in Tehran in the presence of thousands of people from various walks of life.

Congratulating the nation on the occasion of Nowruz, he said that the spring of nature and the spring of spirituality coming together this year are a source for the freshness, growth and prosperity of the human mind, body, and soul. “The art and power of the month of Ramadan is that through the spiritual breeze of fasting, worship, invocations, and supplications, it draws a person who is not neglectful and is on the path of righteousness and servitude toward enthusiasm and effort,” the Leader said.

Ayatollah Khamenei further emphasized that the events in Gaza and the massacre of more than 30,000 women, children, the elderly, and the young in front of the eyes of the so-called civilized world is a demonstration of the oppression and darkness ruling the Western world despite its claims of advocating human rights.

In this regard, the Leader noted that not only did the US and the Europeans fail to prevent the crimes of the occupying regime, but in addition from the very first days, they declared their support for that regime by visiting the occupied territories and supplying them with various weapons and aid for the continuation of these crimes.

The Leader highlighted that the recent events in Gaza serve as evidence of the legitimacy of the formation of the Resistance Front in the West Asian region. “These events have shown that the presence of the Resistance Front in this region is one of the most vital issues. And this front, which was born from awakened consciences in order to confront the 70 years of oppression and occupation imposed by the Zionist criminals, must continue to be strengthened day by day,” he stated.

The Leader considered the demonstration of the Resistance’s power as being the reason for the failure of the US’s calculations and their plans to dominate the countries of the region. “The strength of the Resistance caused their calculations to go wrong. It has shown that not only is the US unable to dominate the region, they cannot even maintain a presence there. They have no option but to leave the region,” he elaborated.

Ayatollah Khamenei considered the exposure of the chaos and crisis that exists in the Zionist regime to the world as being another of the significant events in Gaza. “It has become clear that the Zionist regime is suffering a crisis, not only in terms of protecting itself, but also in terms of coming out of the crisis. Because by entering the war in Gaza, it has become stuck in a quagmire. Regardless of whether it comes out of Gaza or not, it will have failed,” the Leader said, Khamenei.ir reported.

The Leader added that the deep paradoxes and divisions among the officials of the usurping regime are bringing it closer to its collapse. Highlighting that the US chose the worst stance on the Gaza issue, he noted that the widespread demonstrations in support of Palestine across London, Paris, and the US itself are in fact indicative of people’s hatred towards America.

In his analysis of the Gaza incident, Ayatollah Khamenei pointed to America's stance and miscalculations as the root cause of the escalating global antipathy towards it and a tenfold increase in the region's resentment towards the US. “Wherever it is in the region, be it in Yemen, Iraq, Syria, or Lebanon, any measure that is taken by the fighting and brave Resistance forces, the Americans will attribute it to Iran,” he noted. “This shows that the US doesn’t understand the people of the region and the brave, determined youth. This miscalculation will definitely bring the US to its knees,” the Leader added.

He emphasized that the Islamic Republic of Iran applauds and also supports the resistance as much as possible, saying, “In truth, it is the Resistance groups themselves who make their decisions and take action. And they are in the right." Ayatollah Khamenei stressed that the Zionist Regime is the source of immense oppression in the region and must be cut off. “We are on the side and the supporter of whoever becomes involved in this great, human, Islamic jihad of principles. And with the grace of God, we will achieve our objectives.”

Elsewhere in his speech, the Leader emphasized the significance of this year's motto being "A surge in production via people's participation." He stated that by mobilizing the people to participate in economic activities through effective planning and the efforts of the officials, the achievement of the important goal of a “surge in production” is attainable. The Leader spoke of the persistent, determined efforts of the US and its allies to destabilize Iran's economy and bring the nation to its knees. He stated, "With the help of God, they have failed to achieve this goal so far. And also after this, they won’t be able to achieve this due to the efforts, seriousness, and determination of our officials and people."

Ayatollah Khamenei emphasized the importance of continuing economic activities, both domestically and internationally, and he said, “Agreements with other countries should be turned into national executive contracts in order for them to give clear, tangible results.” The Leader described national interests and the country’s bright future as being dependent on faith and hope. He emphasized, “Without hope in the hearts of the people, there will be no progress.”

He highlighted the abundance of various capacities for the country's continued progress, including "the talented younger generation, a nation ready to work, unique natural resources, and a significant geographical location." He said, “Everyone must remain optimistic about the future in order to continue progress.” Ayatollah Khamenei considered the use of various tactics in propaganda and the media to exaggerate weaknesses and deny the progress as being one of the perpetual techniques of the enemy, adding, “The enemy has been employing these tactics for years, but we should not make the same mistake inside our own country.”

The Leader strongly urged the youth to stay ahead of the enemy’s plans and strategies. He stated, “They want you to lose hope, and they want to prevent you from hearing about some of the country’s progress and advancements. However, your work and struggles to bring hope and prosperity should surpass the enemy's attempts to bring a loss of hope."

The leader of the Ansar Allah movement in Yemen, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, said in a speech on Thursday evening about the latest developments and developments, that the genocide practiced by Israel in American partnership is a systematic and deliberate policy. Abdul-Malik Al-Houthi added, "The genocide is a living witness to the ugliness and criminality of the Zionists, and thus they represent a danger to all of humanity."

He declared, "The genocide supported by America testifies to the moral decadence and human bankruptcy of a country that has deceived many by claiming to lead the civilized world." He stated in his speech that "the terrible crimes in Gaza reveal America's ugliness and ring the alarm bell about the danger of its practices towards other peoples."

The following are the most important things mentioned in the speech of the leader of the Ansar Allah movement in Yemen:

"The crimes in Gaza remind those of the world’s population who have forgotten of America’s dark past, which was founded on crime and arrogance. The Gaza tragedy is enough to reveal the truth about America and its protégé, Israel, which has been sucking blood since its illegitimate birth. The Gaza tragedy is a scandal to the international community, a trampling of its international laws and norms, and a disgrace to the Muslim community.

"In a war of starvation, the enemy moves in two directions, obstructing the entry of aid except rarely, and targeting those it reaches. The tragedy in the Gaza Strip is very large and unprecedented in the world, and is currently unparalleled in any country afflicted or in war. The tragic scenes in Gaza are not stories to be told, but rather tragedies and pain that must revive the consciences of those who have a heart left.

"The tragedy in Gaza is a curse on the criminal killers and their supporters, and a disgrace on the foreheads of those who remain silent and bystanders. The American insists on belittling the starvation war despite warning reports from the United Nations, countries and organizations. The health situation in Gaza is catastrophic by all standards as a result of the Zionist enemy’s destruction of the health system. Israel is trying to create an environment ready to impose its agents in the Gaza Strip and control the situation in a way that serves it.

"We pay tribute to the awareness and insight of the people of the Gaza Strip who decisively refused to deal with Israel or its agents. Israel failed to tighten its grip on Gaza or get rid of the militants, recover its prisoners, and obtain an image of victory. There is a crisis in Israel regarding recruitment, and this indicates the difficulty of the battle with the mujahideen in Gaza. Israel lost many dead, wounded, mentally ill, mentally ill, and combat evaders. Israel is trying to compensate for its losses through conscription, but it faces rejection from multiple groups of Israelis.

"Conscription has become a clear crisis and an internal problem for Israel. Israel's internal disputes are aggravated, ongoing, clear and public. "The economic losses that the Israeli Finance Minister describes as a disaster are increasing and their ceiling and numbers are rising. Among the things that affected Israel’s economic situation was the disruption of the port of Umm Rashrash (Eilat). Israeli media say we are in the most dangerous scandal since the founding of the “Army” and the most dangerous failure since the founding of Israel. Israeli media say that the home front is not prepared for a regional war, and it will be thousands of times more difficult and dangerous than the war in the Gaza Strip.

"The Israelis are evaluating the effectiveness of their army in confronting thousands of militants in Gaza with very simple capabilities and under a siege that has extended for many years. The stage is pivotal, historical and fateful, and has its importance and future implications.

"The Lebanon front, which is directly engaged with the Israeli army, continues to harass it and has a great influence on it.

"On the Yemen front, operations were carried out this week with 18 ballistic and winged missiles and drones. One of the most important operations this week that caused great concern in Israel was an operation towards Umm al-Rashrash with a developed missile . The missile was able to reach Umm al-Rashrash, bypassing all monitoring and interception techniques possessed by the Americans and Israelis. The developed missile surprised Israel and opened a new horizon for the brothers in the missile force in long-range development. - Our armed forces carried out operations to target Israeli and American ships in the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea. Our forces carried out an additional new operation in the Indian Ocean this week.

"479 missiles and drones have been launched since the beginning of operations. Yemen was bombed 31 times this week. The total number of raids and naval bombardments carried out by the American-British in support of Israel against Yemen amounted to 407

"There is a clear and tangible development in our capabilities, and the opposite side has noticed it in the use of ballistic missiles for the first time in the history of targeting ships at sea. The developments of the missile that reached Umm Al-Rashrash and the targeting of the Indian Ocean are developments of very great importance. There are larger, more important and influential developments, and we leave room for action first and then for words. Since the Americans and the British participated in supporting Israel in targeting Yemen, they have become unable even to protect their ships.

"One of the success criteria for our forces is the lack of movement of Israeli, affiliated, American, and British ships, except in rare cases. Shipping costs for enemy ships rise many times to high levels. The morale of the US Navy on the battleships and warships entrusted with the mission of supporting Israel is low. Every day Americans are in constant anxiety on their ships."

Allied for Democracy

The respected British weekly "The Economist" chose to dedicate its cover story for the issue that will be published next week, to the political situation in Israel. On the gate is the Israeli flag on a dusty background of Gaza ruins, next to two single words: "Israel alone". In the cover story, which bears the title "At a moment of military strength, Israel appears deeply vulnerable", the prestigious weekly refers, against the background of the war in Gaza, to the fact that a temporary ceasefire and the release of hostages may lead to changes in the Israeli government. This, while noting that "from the ruins, talks on a two-state solution can begin", under the auspices of the US and its allies in the Gulf, as noted.

Nevertheless," the weekly said, "it is equally likely that talks on the ceasefire will fail," it said. "This could leave Israel on the bleakest path in its 75 years of existence, which includes endless occupation, extreme right-wing politics and isolation." It was also noted that "today many Israelis deny this, but eventually a political reckoning will come, which will determine not only the fate of the Palestinians, but also whether Israel will prosper in the next 75 years."

The weekly notes that the US must help Israel as much as possible to "avoid this fate", and that "if it does not succeed, it itself will have to pay a heavy diplomatic price. The best option would be a temporary ceasefire, which would pave the way for talks on a two-state solution."

The Economist cover which featured the Israeli occupation standing alone was the point of discussion for Israeli military affairs analyst Alon Ben David on Channel 13. Ben David provided insights into the potential repercussions of the disruption of the supply chain of armaments on the Israeli occupation's invasion of Gaza.

Ben David lamented the stark reality depicted on the cover, noting the loss of many former friendly nations. While affirming that American arms shipments remain unaffected for now, he underscored emerging concerns regarding other key allies. Specifically, Ben David pointed to reports of a Canadian embargo, clarifying that while Canada refrains from selling complete weapons systems and ammunition to the Israeli occupation, it does supply weapons' crucial parts.

That, he emphasized, could disrupt supply chains for Israeli industries manufacturing combat systems reliant on these components. Similarly, he highlighted the impact of potential disruptions in British supply lines, particularly concerning night vision equipment and various electronic parts.

However, Ben David cautioned that the primary issue stems from viewing these developments as indications of broader international shifts that do not favor Israel all too much. He warned that if left unchecked, such actions could prompt other nations to follow suit, exacerbating the Israeli isolation in the global arms market.

Canada decided earlier this week to halt exports of weapons to the Israeli occupation following months of growing public pressure amid the ongoing genocide in Gaza. While Canada is not a major arms supplier to Israel compared to other countries, the concern is that this move could lead to a larger trend among Western nations who might follow suit, creating a domino effect of countries halting arms sales to the entity, the Israeli Globes website reported. Based on data from the Canadian government, arms exports to the entity amounted to only $15 million in 2022. Over the period from 2019 to 2023, Israeli imports of weapons from Canada accounted for just 0.05% of Israel's total military imports.

By way of comparison, UK arms exports to Israel amounted to $53 million in 2022, while German arms exports reached $35 million in the same year. In contrast, US military aid to the entity in 2022 alone reached $3.3 billion.

The most devastating impact would be if the US decided to suspend deliveries of weapons to "Israel," which has totals of billions per year, and is currently the lifeline for the occupation's war on Gaza. Washington has not enforced any arms restrictions on Israel since 2000, when it declined to sell parts for combat helicopters used in targeted killings during the Second Intifada. But the decision was later revoked and $1 billion in military assistance was added after 9/11. A significant number of American citizens are demanding that weapons to Israel be scrutinzed, or suspended entirely. But the US repeatedly announced that it has "no red lines" regarding arms supplies to Israelis.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Republican members of the Senate on Wednesday that Israel will continue its efforts to defeat the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in the Gaza Strip, after he delivered a speech at a luncheon. "He's going to do what he said he was going to do. He's going to finish what he's doing," Senator Jim Risch said.

The conservative Israeli leader spoke to Republicans via video link nearly a week after Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer delivered a speech in the Senate in which he sharply criticized Netanyahu, calling him an obstacle to peace and urging new elections in Israel. Wednesday's meeting highlighted the partisan polarization in Washington's policies toward Israel. Netanyahu has long sided with Republicans who accused Schumer of seeking to "overthrow" him.

Senator John Barrasso said, "We asked him...for an update and we got it regarding the war, the release of the hostages and the efforts to defeat Hamas. We told him that Israel has every right to defend itself and he said that is exactly what they continue to do." Earlier on Wednesday, US House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson, who belongs to the Republican Party, told reporters that he was considering inviting Netanyahu to address Congress, although such invitations to foreign leaders are usually directed by both Johnson and Schumer in his capacity as majority leader in the Senate.

Democratic leaders face divisions within their party due to the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, five months after a war that began with an attack on Israel by Hamas militants on October 7. A spokesman for Schumer said Netanyahu had offered to talk to Democrats as well, but Schumer declined, saying the talks should not be on a partisan basis. Schumer told reporters, "I care very much about Israel and its long-term future. Making the issue partisan hurts the cause of helping Israel."

Progressives asked Democratic President Joe Biden to put greater pressure on Israel to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where aid groups warn of famine and American officials say more than 30,000 civilians have been killed. Senator Risch, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said that Netanyahu addressed the issue of civilian deaths and the need to bring more humanitarian aid into Gaza. He added that Netanyahu "strongly supports" plans to build a temporary dock and bring aid by sea. Risch went on to say that Netanyahu is "deeply sensitive to the fact that every civilian casualty is a very unfortunate event."

Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader in the Senate, said that Netanyahu made a presentation and then took questions from members. McConnell went on to tell reporters, "I made it clear to him that the United States has no business advising a democratic ally on when elections will be held or what kind of military campaign the ally might launch."

Samantha Power, Administrator of the US Agency for International Development, said that the interim classification assessment represents a “terribly pivotal stage” and called on Israel to open other land routes.

An opinion poll showed that young Americans are more critical than other citizens of the war waged by Israel on Gaza, amid public opinion in general divided over Biden's handling of the crisis. Despite the divisive debate over the war and intense debates in Washington about how it will affect Biden's re-election chances, the Pew Research Center poll also found that many Americans are not following the matter closely or attaching great importance to it, and that 40% said they are not sure. Whether Biden is striking the right balance.

Among Americans between the ages of 18 and 29, 46% of those surveyed said that the way Israel is carrying out its response to the October 7 attack is unacceptable while only 21% said it was acceptable, and the remainder responded that they were not sure. Young people's opinions differed roughly from those of older Americans, with 53% of those aged 65 and over supporting the Israeli response, and 29% of them describing it as unacceptable.

The poll showed that even among Democrats, opinions about Biden's handling of the war in Gaza were mixed, with 34% of them saying that he favored Israel too much and 29% that he was achieving the right balance. The poll, which included 12,693 people, also revealed sharp critical views of Israel among Muslim Americans.

Cornel West, an academic and independent US presidential candidate for the upcoming elections in November, renewed his criticism of the US foreign policy in support of Israel, describing it as “morally bankrupt.” Referring to plans to build a temporary port on the coast of Gaza with the aim of delivering food aid to the stricken Strip, West said, “Just look at how morally bankrupt US policy is. It calls for the establishment of a relief port, while at the same time providing billions and billions of dollars to facilitate genocide.”

In a video clip broadcast by the British website "Middle East Eye" on his YouTube channel, West attributed "that bankruptcy" to "the inability of this administration to confront the right-wing Jewish elites who themselves make the decision to pursue genocide, and America itself creates the conditions for this genocide, and therefore must "Vice President Kamala Harris and others need to acknowledge this."

West continued, addressing the US administration, "I have said this on many occasions. Their own policy makes them war criminals, and providing humanitarian aid will not enable them to alleviate the burden of the war crimes they commit." At the beginning of this year, West called for a huge demonstration in Washington to pressure the administration of US President Joe Biden to stop the Israeli war in the Gaza Strip . He said that the Biden administration is complicit in the genocide and ethnic cleansing committed by the Israeli occupation in the Gaza Strip.

It is noteworthy that West, a philosopher and academic, resigned from Harvard University in 2021, due to what he described as its “acquiescence to bias” against the Palestinians, saying at the time that the university was experiencing a state of “decay and spiritual decay.”

Operation Iron Swords - By the Numbers

Israel detained 20,528 Palestinians in February 2024, that is, 6,000 more prisoners than the prison service’s maximum capacity of 14,500 prisoners. Before October 7, there were 16,000 prisoners detained in Israeli facilities. Within four months, another 5,000 were imprisoned, including members of “Hamas, in addition to security prisoners and criminals,” according to Haaretz. The newspaper said that prison overcrowding has become a serious problem since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, and adds, citing a previous report, which concluded that at least 27 Palestinian prisoners from Gaza died while in the custody of the Israeli army. In response to human rights criticism, the Israeli Prison Service told the newspaper that it “acts in accordance with the provisions of the law, and any allegation regarding the matter must be submitted through the competent channels.”

• 73,934 Gazans injured, 28% adult male
• 40,000 Gazans killed, including buried under rubble
• 33,000 Gaza targets attacked
• 31,988 Gazans martyred
• 20,528 Palestinians in Israeli prisons [Haaretz, 20 Mar 2024]
• 15,000 rocket launched from Gaza
• 14,793 Israelis were injured [i24 TV]
• 13,430 Gazan children martyred
• 13,000 HAMAS combatants killed [N12]
• 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
• 9,000 Gazan women martyred
• 8,000 Gazans missing under the rubble
• 7,500 arrested by Israelis in the West Bank since Oct.7th
• 6,000 HAMAS combatants killed [HAMAS]
• 5,500 IDF wounded [reports]
• 4,700 West Bank Palestinians wounded
• 3,484 administrative detainees
• 3,400 wanted persons arrested throughout Judea and Samaria
• 3,079 IDF wounded [IDF]
• 1,609 terrorists killed on the first day
• 1,500 wanted persons arrested throughout Judea and Samaria affiliated with Hamas
• 1,200 Israelis killed on the first day
• 591 Israeli officers and soldiers killed
• 433 West Bank Palestinians martyred
• 249 Israeli officers and soldiers killed in Gaza
• 222 Hezbollah fighters 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

Many of these numbers fluctate, up and down, with no apparent explanation. This list records the highest number reliably reported for each matter, under the theory that reality with catch up with reports, as is relentlessly the case.

The Palestinian resistance says that the losses of the Israeli 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.

Abraham Wyner, Professor of Statistics and Data Science at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, reported 06 March 2024 that : "While the evidence is not dispositive, it is highly suggestive that a process unconnected or loosely connected to reality was used to report the numbers.... Another red flag, raised by Salo Aizenberg and written about extensively, is that if 70% of the casualties are women and children and 25% of the population is adult male, then either Israel is not successfully eliminating Hamas fighters or adult male casualty counts are extremely low. This by itself strongly suggests that the numbers are at a minimum grossly inaccurate and quite probably outright faked.... Taken together, Hamas is reporting not only that 70% of casualties are women and children but also that 20% are fighters. This is not possible unless Israel is somehow not killing noncombatant men, or else Hamas is claiming that almost all the men in Gaza are Hamas fighters....

"Israel estimates that at least 12,000 fighters have been killed. If that number proves to be even reasonably accurate, then the ratio of noncombatant casualties to combatants is remarkably low: at most 1.4 to 1 and perhaps as low as 1 to 1. By historical standards of urban warfare, where combatants are embedded above and below into civilian population centers, this is a remarkable and successful effort to prevent unnecessary loss of life while fighting an implacable enemy that protects itself with civilians."

This makes perfect sense under a third possibility, namely that the IDF doing a really good job of targeting male combatants, most of whom are in proximity to their families. There are no HAMAS barracks, so everyone lives at home, en famille. Co-habiting extended families are common [hence reports of dozens of family members killed in a single strike]. The HAMAS battalions are organized by neighborhoods, so it would not be surprising that multiple HAMAS combatants live in a single building. So casualties structured as one male combatant, one female cohabitant, and two children are approximately consistent with both expectations and reports.

Lord Roberts of Belgravia (Con) stated 08 February 2024 "My Lords, even if we were to take as accurate Hamas’s statistics and the 27,500 figure — there is no reason why we should; we do not do that with Putin or ISIS — if one subtracts the number of Gazans who have been killed by the quarter or so of the Islamic Jihad and Hamas rockets that fall short, one is left with a less than 2:1 ratio of civilians to Hamas terrorists killed, of whom there have been more than 9,000 so far. War is hell, and every individual civilian death is a tragedy, but — I speak as a military historian — less than 2:1 is an astonishingly low ratio for modern urban warfare where the terrorists routinely use civilians as human shields. It is a testament to the professionalism, ethics and values of the Israel Defense Forces."