Operation Iron Swords - Day 169 - 23 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

“At any point, Hamas could have ended this burgeoning tragedy to

surrender and release every hostage. …

Hamas instigated and owns this humanitarian catastrophe.”

Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA)

Slaughtering the red cow, if achieved, cancels the Chief Rabbinate’s fatwa prohibiting Jews from entering Al-Aqsa. The uproar caused by the arrival of 5 red cows to Israel in late 2022 is still reverberating since the Israeli Channel 12 revealed that they were placed on a secret farm immediately after their arrival from the American state of Texas in preparation for their slaughter, burning, and scattering their ashes to “purify” the Jews and allow them free entry to... The Blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque , which is the most that extremist Temple groups hope to achieve in the first two qiblas in occupied Jerusalem.

The idea of the red cow - according to Abdullah Marouf, professor of Jerusalem studies at Istanbul University on May 29 and former media and public relations officer at Al-Aqsa Mosque - goes back to the texts of the Mishnah (explanations of the Torah), which is part of the book of the Talmud. The idea is summed up in the necessity of the appearance of a pure red cow that does not have two hairs of another color, that has never been used for any service work, that no rope was placed around its neck, that it was raised in the Land of Israel, and that when it reaches two years of age it can be used in a purification process that must take place on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, opposite Al-Aqsa Mosque, where it is slaughtered and then burned ritually and in a special way, and its ashes are used in the process of “purifying the Jewish people.”

After completing this religious ritual - at the end of which the fatwa prohibiting Jews from entering the mosque adopted by the Chief Rabbinate of Israel will be cancelled, due to the presence of the impurity of the dead that prevents them from entering the place according to the Jewish faith - the people will be able to ascend to the temple (Al-Aqsa Mosque) after it has become pure.

After confirming that the red cow must be slaughtered after it enters the third year of its life - which was achieved - the academic Marouf explained that the new thing that must be paid attention to is what was revealed in Jewish law that the cow must be slaughtered on a specific day of the year, which is the second of April. /Nisan in Hebrew, which will fall on April 10 next year, which will most likely fall on the first day of Eid al-Fitr.

Al Jazeera Net first asked Marouf whether this religious ritual would include the slaughter of five cows or one red cow. He replied that the slaughter process would most likely include one cow, because the appearance of a red cow identical to the sacred Jewish texts is considered a rare matter nowadays, and although preparations have been made 5 cows for this dangerous weather, the slaughter will not include all of them.

If this is implemented, the speaker believes that the confrontation with the occupation will move to a completely new level. Marouf said that if the extremist groups were able to implement what they are thinking and planning by performing a purification ritual by slaughtering a red cow, the confrontation will move to a completely different level, because carrying out the purification process will open the way from a religious standpoint to cancel the Chief Rabbinate’s fatwa prohibiting Jews from entering the temple area. According to her vision.

Therefore, this means that the number of those who will be encouraged to join extremist groups in the storming of Al-Aqsa will multiply from 4 to 10 times, and if the extremists have not yet been able to mobilize more than 2,200 settlers to storm the mosque in one day, they will be able to gather between 10 and 20 thousand. settler per day.

“Here is the main source of danger in Al-Aqsa, due to which we may witness confrontations on a much broader level between Muslims and settlers immediately after the cancellation of the fatwa of the Chief Rabbinate in Israel prohibiting Jews from going up to the temple in accordance with their beliefs,” according to Marouf.

Regarding what it means for the implementation of this dangerous religious ritual to coincide with the Israeli war on Gaza, Marouf stressed that the relationship of this event to the war cannot be overlooked, as the extremist Temple groups, which represent the pinnacle of the extremist Kahanist messianic movement in the occupying state, actually control the state, and they are the ones who manage the affairs of the war and are one of them. The most important reasons for its continuation.

Marouf added that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is completely obedient to the will of the religious Zionist movement to which these extremist groups belong, which see that one of the most important manifestations of the victory they seek in this war is to tighten control over Al-Aqsa in response to the Palestinian resistance, which launched its operation under the name of Al-Aqsa and under the slogan of defending it. And maintain it.

The issue of implementation and its timing remains related to the ongoing debate in Israel between those in the security services who do not hide their fear of the recklessness of these right-wing groups and their attempts to drag the region into a religious war, and the religious Zionist movement, which controls important ministries, led by the Ministries of National Security - which controls the police force, led by Minister Itamar Ben Gvir - and the Finance Ministry, which is led by Bezalel Smotrich, is one of the most important pillars of the parties calling for this ritual, as he is committed to the rabbinate’s decision to prohibit storming Al-Aqsa at the present time.

Academic Marouf concluded his speech to Al Jazeera Net by saying that these groups believe that it is in their interest to declare their victory in this war from Al-Aqsa, and Israel, with its current right-wing government, is completely behind it, and therefore the issue will not be related to the occupation authorities allowing the implementation of this ritual or preventing it, but rather to the reaction of the Palestinian people. And the Arab and Islamic worlds towards it.

Reactions are the only thing that can tip the balance in favor of one of the two sides in Israel, whether the trend represented by the intelligence services that fear approaching Al-Aqsa in an effort to avoid spreading the battle to much wider areas, or the trend represented by the police that wants to expand the battle and turn it into a religious direction in an effort to implement the vision of Salvation.

War Termination

There is no doubt that the administration of the Gaza Strip represents a major dilemma for Israel, and perhaps this was clear in the announcement of its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - from the first moments of his aggression against the Gaza Strip - that he would not allow the return of Hamas rule. Since the beginning of the year, an Israeli army plan has been leaked to the media, including dividing the Gaza Strip into areas governed by families and clans, and assuming responsibility for distributing humanitarian aid there. The Israeli government affairs coordinator even contacted some of the notables of the families in Gaza, but they refused to cooperate except in coordination with the security services in the Gaza Strip.

There were also echoes of plans for the Palestinian Authority to return to ruling Gaza, through the head of General Intelligence, Majid Faraj , who was said to have drawn up a list of candidates from Fatah members in the Gaza Strip, to undergo training under American supervision, in preparation for carrying out this mission.

Two political analysts, who spoke to the program “Gaza... What Next?”, downplayed the issue of differences between Washington and Tel Aviv, and considered that they were related to details only, as evidenced by the fact that the United States did not pressure its ally for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, nor its decision in the Security Council. The international resolution regarding Gaza did not stipulate that Israel would be punished for killing more than 30,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Professor of Political Science and International Relations, Dr. Khalil Al-Anani, said that despite the apparent differences between the two parties, unlimited American support for Israel continues politically and militarily.

He explained that Washington and Tel Aviv agree not to repeat the October 7 attacks, that the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) will not emerge victorious from the war, and to disarm the Palestinian resistance in the Gaza Strip. The disagreement between them is about how to implement these goals. The United States, for example - says the professor of political science and international relations - did not want a large-scale ground war in the Gaza Strip, but Israel did not listen to it, nor did it want Israel to re-occupy the Strip again.

On the other hand, Israel believes that there is a need to reoccupy the Gaza Strip to secure the settlements surrounding the Strip. It also wants to carry out a comprehensive military attack on Rafah, south of the Strip, under the pretext of getting rid of Hamas and also in an attempt to displace the Palestinians and push them to move towards Egypt, which Washington rejects.

The Americans and Israelis also differ - Al-Anani added in his interview with the program “Gaza: What’s Next?” - about post-war perceptions, as Tel Aviv believes that everything in Gaza must be completely under its control, while Washington proposes two matters: either restore Rehabilitating the Palestinian Authority again to control the Strip, or establishing a local authority through clans and tribes.

Al-Anani concluded that the American general position requires providing full support to Israel and not confusing it with its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu , stressing that President Joe Biden is betting on Jewish financial support during the upcoming elections. In this context, he stated that the words of Chuck Schumer, the US Senator and leader of the Democrats in the Senate, in which he criticized the Israeli position, were not out of love for the Palestinians, but rather out of fear for Israel’s interests, as he fears for them from Netanyahu. The evidence is that Schumer himself did not reject Netanyahu's invitation to speak before the US Congress.

What confirms American support for Israel is that the recent American draft resolution in the UN Security Council calls for a temporary ceasefire in Gaza, links the ceasefire to the negotiation process, does not clearly demand Israel’s withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and does not stipulate that Israel be punished for killing at least About 30 thousand Palestinians.

In the estimation of the expert in Israeli affairs, Dr. Muhannad Mustafa, Israel’s priority is to continue the war in the Gaza Strip, stressing that the Israeli Prime Minister knows that the strategic alliance between Tel Aviv and Washington revolves around the details. He said that Netanyahu believes that the goals of war and the elimination of Hamas can be achieved through military operations only, while Washington believes that military operations are a tool, and that political and diplomatic steps must be taken in this context.

Regarding US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken ’s statements that the attack on Rafah will not achieve the goal sought by Israel and threatens to isolate it from the world, Mustafa explained that this statement will lead to a political movement within Israel, and is part of the American pressure on Israel.

Operational Update

The Israelis consider the holy month of Ramadan a threat to them and fear its arrival, as the history of the Palestinian resistance indicates that it has often chosen to carry out its strong operations and attacks against the occupation in Ramadan because of its mobilization and jihadi role, confirmed by famous battles and invasions in Islamic history.

Every year, the Israelis cautiously anticipate the steps that the resistance will take during Ramadan, especially since it coincides with Jewish holidays for several years, during which the Jews insist on entering the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque and performing their rituals, in light of the repeated prevention of Muslim worshipers from entering it.

On March 5, 2024, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant warned the Knesset of a possible escalation in the West Bank , especially the city of Jerusalem , during the month of Ramadan, which came this year in the context of an aggression launched by Israel against the Gaza Strip that lasted for months and killed more than 31,000, most of them Of women and children, it completely destroyed the sector and besieged it, causing starvation for its people and residents. In turn, Israeli Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu told Occupation Army Radio, "The term called Ramadan must be erased, and our fear of this month must be erased."

Islamic history is full of conquests and battles that took place in the holy month, and Muslims were keen on many occasions to wage their conquests during it, due to its religious dimension that enhances the spirit of jihad. Among the most important of them are the Battle of Badr , the conquest of Mecca , the conquest of Andalusia, the Battle of the Court of Martyrs , the Battle of Ain Jalut , and the Ramadan War in... October 1973, in which the Arab armies - especially the Egyptian and Syrian - defeated Israel.

Islamic history provided inspiration for the resistance in Palestine, so it was keen to emulate it, and its military wings continued to train their fighters annually on the battlefield at night to protect the Holy Land, achieving many victories and recording successful operations. The most prominent of these operations are:

Ramadan 1413 AH/1993 AD: In Ramadan, the group of the martyr Imad Aqel - along with his two companions, freed captives Muhammad Dukhan and Raed Al-Hallaq - ambushed two Israeli patrols near the martyrs’ cemetery, east of the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, killing 3 soldiers and wounding 4 others.

Ramadan 1422/2001: On Ramadan 16, 1422, corresponding to the beginning of December 2001, martyrdom fighters Osama Bahr and Nabil Halabiya carried out their double operation against an Israeli army position in Jerusalem, killing 11 Israelis and wounding 190 others.

On the anniversary of the Great Battle of Badr, on Ramadan 17, 1422, corresponding to December 2, 2001, the Al-Qassam Brigades , the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ), claimed responsibility for a raid by the resistance fighters Jihad al-Masri and Muslima al-Araj into the “Eli Sinai” settlement north of Gaza, killing an Israeli nuclear scientist and wounding 5. others, before they were martyred.

On the same day, the martyr Maher Habeisha from Nablus carried out a martyrdom operation on a Haifa bus, killing 16 Israelis and wounding 55 others. When his companions brought him breakfast, he refused, saying, “I will break my fast tonight in heaven.”

On Ramadan 28 of the same year, Al-Qassam was able to blow up the “Hardoun” military site (a watchtower) in the Bina neighborhood in Rafah, which is located on the Palestinian-Egyptian border, and completely destroy it, killing and wounding those inside it. The site was targeted with a tunnel 200 meters long.

On Ramadan 10, 1423, corresponding to November 15, 2002, on Ramadan 10, 1423, corresponding to November 15, 2002, resistance fighters from the Al-Quds Brigades - the military wing of the Islamic Jihad movement - Akram Al-Hanini, Walaa Sorour, and Dhiab Al-Muhtasib carried out an “alley operation” against the settlers of “Kiryat Arba” near Hebron, killing 12 soldiers and settlers, and wounding 18 others. In the same year, on Ramadan 16, martyr Sami Abu Hilil from Hebron detonated his explosive belt on Mexico Street in Jerusalem, killing 12 Israelis and wounding 47 others.

Ramadan 1425/2004: The occupation launched an operation on northern Gaza called “Days of Regret” on Shaaban 14, 1425. The resistance responded with the “Days of Rage” battle. The fighting continued for 17 days and ended on the second of Ramadan of the same year. During this battle, the resistance carried out a large number of clashes, storming settlements, ambushes, and missiles. It forced the occupation to withdraw without achieving its goals. On Ramadan 4 of the same year, corresponding to October 18, 2004, two martyrs, Abdel Aziz Al-Jazzar and Abdel Sattar Al-Jaafari, carried out an operation at the Sufa crossing in southern Gaza, wounding 6 occupation soldiers with varying injuries.

Ramadan 1435/2014: The resistance responded to the Israeli "Operation Protective Edge" aggression with the Battle of the "Devouring Storm" and carried out operations behind the lines, capturing a number of occupation soldiers, all of which resulted in the killing of 70 soldiers and settlers, and the wounding of 2,500 others. The resistance launched its missiles towards the cities of Haifa, Jerusalem, and Tel Aviv , and called it Operation “Tenth of Ramadan” on 10 Ramadan 1435, corresponding to July 7, 2014, in dedication to the souls of the martyrs of the Egyptian army in the Battle of the Tenth of Ramadan, October 1973.

The "Jerusalem Brigades" fought alongside the Palestinian resistance factions to repel the aggression on Gaza, and contributed with all their military and missile formations and units. The brigades fired missile salvos, including missiles that reached deep into the occupation in Tel Aviv and Netanya, in addition to vital facilities such as Ben Gurion Airport, the port of Ashdod, the Israeli “Storak” nuclear reactor south of Tel Aviv, and many military sites. It also confronted land invasions by the occupation forces and an attempted sea landing.

On Ramadan 11 of the same year, a special unit of the Al-Qassam Brigades, on the second day of the aggression against the Gaza Strip, carried out a military operation called “Operation Zikim,” during which it stormed the Israeli naval base opposite the Zikim military site, and bombed it with Katyusha rockets. On the 23rd of this holy month, Al-Qassam members crossed a 3,000-metre-long tunnel and were able to ensnare an Israeli military patrol in an ambush at Military Site No. 16. They killed 5 soldiers, including a battalion commander, while 11 Al-Qassam members were martyred after their location was revealed.

Ramadan 1436/2015: During Ramadan this year, a shooting attack occurred near the Dolev settlement in the vicinity of Ramallah, targeting a settlers’ car from zero distance, killing one settler and wounding another. A Palestinian from Hebron carried out a stabbing attack near Damascus Gate in occupied Jerusalem, targeting two Israeli policemen.

Ramadan 1437/2016: On Ramadan 13, 1437, corresponding to June 8, 2016, the resistance carried out ten commando operations, killing 6 Israelis and wounding 15 others. The most prominent of these operations was when Muhammad and Khalil Makhamra - who are cousins ??from the town of Yatta in the West Bank - entered the “Sarona” commercial complex near the headquarters of Ministry of War in Tel Aviv, and opened fire on the settlers, killing 4 and wounding 40.

Ramadan 1438/2017: On Ramadan 21, 1438, corresponding to June 16, 2017, 3 Palestinians from Ramallah , Adel Ankush, Osama Ataa, and Baraa Saleh, carried out a double attack by shooting and stabbing with knives in Jerusalem against occupation soldiers, resulting in the death of a female soldier and the injury of others. On Ramadan 26 of the same year, three residents of the Halamish settlement, in the central West Bank, were killed in a stabbing attack carried out by a young man, Omar Al-Abd, from the town of Kober, north of Ramallah.

Ramadan 1442/2021: In its first battle against the occupation, the Al-Qassam Brigades launched Operation “Jerusalem Sword” and directed missile strikes at the cities of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, in response to Israeli violations in Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of the Holy City, and to settlement calls to carry out a mass storming of Al-Aqsa Al-Sharif. 13 Israelis were killed in the battle and 710 others were wounded.

Ramadan 1443/2022: On Ramadan 6, 1443, corresponding to April 7, 2022, the young man Raad Hazem carried out his operation on Dizengoff Street in Tel Aviv, and opened fire on passers-by, killing 5 people and wounding 6 others. It took 8 hours to search for him until he was martyred on the first Friday of the month of victories.

Operational Update - Gaza

The Director General of the HAMAS Government Media Office in Gaza , Ismail Al-Thawabta, said that the Israeli occupation forces killed more than 100 people inside the Al-Shifa Medical Complex . Al-Thawabta added in statements to Al-Jazeera early on Saturday that the occupation forces executed some medical personnel inside the complex. He continued that 4 patients died inside the largest health facility in the Gaza Strip as a result of the Israeli army preventing their treatment, and described the situation inside the complex as tragic.

The Israeli army continued its storming and siege of the Al-Shifa Complex for the sixth day, and earlier the storming forces arrested hundreds of displaced people and a number of medical staff members inside the complex.

The Ministry of Health in Gaza said that the occupation forces detained about 240 patients, their companions, and 10 health personnel inside the hospital yesterday, Friday. The ministry also said that the occupation bombed several buildings and burned the arterial department in the Shifa Medical Complex. Eyewitnesses reported to Al Jazeera that the occupation army was asking those trapped in the hospital to surrender themselves amid heavy gunfire and the sound of explosions.

Operational Update - Judea-Samaria

Palestinian resistance fighters clashed at dawn on Saturday with Israeli occupation forces as they stormed the city of Tulkarm, while a young man died of his wounds in Nablus in the northern West Bank. At dawn today and last night, the Israeli army carried out new incursions into cities and towns in several areas in the West Bank, as part of an ongoing escalation since the resistance launched the Al-Aqsa Flood Battle on the 7th of last October.

In Tulkarm, which was subjected to a new night raid, armed clashes broke out between resistance fighters and the occupation forces during their incursion into the city. The resistance fighters also detonated a homemade bomb in Israeli vehicles that were driving in one of the city's streets. Al Jazeera's correspondent said that Israeli forces stormed Tulkarm from its western axis.

Also in the northern West Bank, Palestinian sources reported that Israeli occupation forces stormed the western area of the city of Nablus and the town of Zawata near the city, in addition to the town east of Qalqilya. The Israeli incursions also targeted the towns of Deir Ibzi', Kafr Ni'ma and Turmus Ayya in Ramallah, the Aida camp in Bethlehem, the towns of Yatta and Beit Awa, in addition to the town of Al-Ram, north of occupied Jerusalem.

Meanwhile, clashes broke out last night between Palestinian youths and the occupation forces after they stormed the village of Deir Bazi, west of Ramallah. Al Jazeera's correspondent said that Israeli forces stormed the village and raided the house of the martyr Mujahid Mansour, the perpetrator of the armed attack on a settler bus in the area, which resulted in the injury of 7 Israeli soldiers, two of whom were in serious condition.

Earlier, the Israeli army announced that it had killed the attacker after clashes and a chase in a nearby wooded area. In the village of Kafr Ni'ma, west of Ramallah, the occupation forces carried out arrests and raids on homes. Meanwhile, Palestinians mourned the young man Amid Al-Jagoub, who died of his wounds after being shot by Israeli occupation forces last August in the town of Beita, south of Nablus in the northern West Bank. During the funeral, mourners chanted slogans in support of Gaza.

Operational Update - Lebanon

Operational Update - Syria / Iraq

Operational Update - Yemen

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

A vote scheduled for Saturday in the UN Security Council on a new draft resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza was postponed until Monday, prepared by a number of non-permanent members of the Council, after Russia and China used their veto power yesterday Friday against the American draft resolution rRegarding the Gaza war. Diplomatic sources explained to Agence France-Presse that the postponement decision came to allow further discussions on the draft resolution alternative to the American project, which opponents described as politicized, ambiguous, and “frees Israel’s hand.”

After the American draft resolution was rejected, an alternative draft resolution was scheduled to be put to a vote today, Saturday, sponsored by 8 non-permanent members of the Council: Algeria, Malta, Mozambique, Guyana, Slovenia, Sierra Leone, Switzerland, and Ecuador. The draft resolution, which will be voted on on Monday, calls for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire during the month of Ramadan, leading to a permanent ceasefire, the unconditional release of detainees, and the removal of all obstacles to humanitarian aid.

During yesterday's Security Council session, Russian UN delegate Vasily Nebenzia considered that the United States was not making any efforts to restrain Israel, mocking Washington for talking about a ceasefire after "Gaza was effectively wiped off the face of the earth," as he put it. Meanwhile, the US delegate to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield , said that the double veto was “malicious and ridiculous,” and added that Russia and China did not want to vote in favor of a resolution drafted by the United States.

Commenting on the Russian-Chinese veto, the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) said that the American draft resolution, which was rejected in the Security Council, was misleading and complicit with Israel’s goals regarding the ceasefire in Gaza. The movement expressed - in a statement - its appreciation for the Russian, Chinese and Algerian position that rejected the American draft resolution that was biased towards Israel. Algeria said that the American draft resolution, which it voted against yesterday, Friday, did not carry a clear message of peace, and would have allowed the killing of more Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip.

The American draft resolution did not include an explicit demand or call for Israel to cease fire in Gaza, and instead stated that there is an absolute necessity to reach an immediate ceasefire to protect civilians from all parties and allow the delivery of basic humanitarian aid to Gaza. To this end, the draft resolution supported the ongoing international diplomatic efforts to release all remaining detainees, which would ensure reaching this ceasefire, with reference to the talks currently underway in Doha, mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States, for a ceasefire and prisoner exchange between Hamas and Israel. The draft resolution received the support of 11 of the 15 members of the Council, while 3 countries, China, Russia and Algeria, rejected it, and Guyana abstained from voting.

Axis of Resistance

British writer Peter Oburn says that a documentary broadcast by Al Jazeera about the October 7 attack, which was carried out by the Palestinian resistance led by the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ), reveals the false and inflammatory allegations about that attack and how these lies made their way into the mainstream press in Britain. In an article on the British Middle East Eye website, Auburn describes the film, which was produced by the Al Jazeera Investigations Unit, as sober, clear, and accurate. He said that this documentary does not hesitate to detail the actions committed by Hamas, but it shows beyond a reasonable doubt that many of the horrific stories that emerged from Israeli sources were false.

The writer explained that the Al Jazeera film reveals that the highly inflammatory Israeli stories, whether related to allegations of mass rape or the beheading and burning of children, are not supported by evidence and are outright lies. However, they paved the way for the ensuing Israeli attack on Gaza , which the International Court of Justice described as likely genocide .

He pointed out that Al Jazeera painstakingly described how these stories entered the public domain, and its description included a continuous look at the Israeli ZAKA unit, which is Israel's emergency response unit of trained paramedics who deal with "terrorism" incidents and murders. He said Al Jazeera showed how ZAKA provided details of atrocities that never happened, including children being burned and beheaded, which made headlines around the world and were used by Israel to maximum propaganda effect to gain sympathy.

It was reported in the Al Jazeera film that Yossi Landau, a ZAKA employee, told reporters that Hamas burned to death “two piles of 10 children each” in a house on Kibbutz Be’eri. Various media outlets pounced on this narrative, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeated in a conversation with US President Joe Biden : “They took dozens of children, tied them up, burned them, and executed them.” Al Jazeera showed that these accounts were incorrect, such as showing that the list of alleged dead children included only the 12-year-old twins who were tragically killed when police and soldiers stormed the house on Kibbutz Be’eri, and that there was no arson or beheading, and no evidence. Jada supports allegations of widespread and systematic rape. The writer commented that the serious, thoughtful, and lively reports broadcast by Al Jazeera highlight one interesting point: Why was this matter left to Al Jazeera to do?

He wondered: Why couldn't the British media do that? The BBC, Sky News, or the famous investigative unit of the Sunday Times, and the tabloids that carry out campaigns from time to time such as the Daily Mail or the Daily Express, or others? He said that the answer may be simple, which is that the mainstream media in the United Kingdom documented and promoted the fabricated Israeli narrative and leveled accusations of bad faith at those who doubted it. According to one Telegraph headline: “Israel should not have proven that Hamas slaughtered children.”

Oburn went on to say that early reports of arson and beheading presented Hamas members as subhuman barbarians, “like ISIS,” and that these fabricated reports were used to justify Israel’s brutality toward the Palestinian population of Gaza. The Israeli Foreign Minister at the time, Eli Cohen , said at the United Nations : “Tell me, what is the appropriate response to killing children? To raping women and burning them? To beheading a child? The appropriate response to the October 7 massacre is complete destruction, complete destruction, to the last limb.” In Hamas.” US Republican Senator Marco Rubio said: “I do not think there is any way that Israel can be expected to coexist or find some diplomatic relations with these savages.”

Oburn returned to say that the Al Jazeera film did more than just correct the record of events on October 7, as it raises serious concerns about the failure of the British media to question the Israeli narrative, and that these outlets have placed themselves vulnerable to accusation of complicity in stripping the Palestinians of their humanity, Which in turn opened the way for what appears increasingly like genocide in Gaza every day.

Allied for Democracy

The Israeli government announced on Friday the seizure of 800 hectares of land in the occupied West Bank, at a time when US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken was on an official visit to Tel Aviv. According to the Israeli "Peace Now" organization, this seizure is the largest of its kind since the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993.

The Washington Post quoted a White House advisor as saying that the humanitarian situation in Gaza is unbearable, describing it as a stain on the conscience of humanity. The American official added that the humanitarian situation in Gaza pushed the American administration to cross the line into an open confrontation with the Israelis. The newspaper also quoted an informed source that President Joe Biden's aides were distressed by warnings of an imminent famine and reports of children dying due to malnutrition in the Gaza Strip.

The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child had warned that every passing minute risks the death of a new child from starvation in the Gaza Strip, while the world watches. In a statement, the Human Rights Committee renewed its call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, given that children in the northern Gaza Strip face imminent famine. The statement noted that "Gaza's children are starving to death," and added that "food has been cut off from them, and even crumbs are not easy to find."

Operation Iron Swords - By the Numbers

• 74,298 Gazans injured, 28% adult male
• 40,000 Gazans killed, including buried under rubble
• 33,000 Gaza targets attacked
• 32,700 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.