Operation Iron Swords - Day 170 - 24 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)

Israeli officials and diplomats acknowledged that Israel's public diplomacy after its war in the Gaza Strip was "worse than ever," placing the blame primarily on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Government officials admit, according to what was reported by Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper without naming them, that the manifestations of support that Israel received on October 7, that is, after the “Al- Aqsa Flood ” battle, have completely disappeared, and instead the space has been made to focus on the Palestinian side.

According to them, “the situation is getting worse, and the support that the world showed for Israel in the wake of the Hamas attack on October 7 has already been forgotten,” as they put it. The officials added that the severity of the accusations against Israel is increasing, with accusations of Israeli soldiers sexually harassing Palestinian prisoners.

Israeli ministers blamed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the complete neglect of Tel Aviv's public relations, as they said, "There is no leader present, he has been abandoned. A pandemic of sanctions may break out against Israel, and if we do not wake up, it will be like that," as they put it. They add, "There is a need to do something big in terms of public relations. We need to mobilize the Jewish people and launch an international campaign to support Israel."

Former Israeli Army Minister Moshe Ya'alon said of National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich "For them, the return of Christ is near, and the events of last October 7 necessitate celebration. Their slogan is, 'Let's occupy Gaza so that the Jews can settle it. For that, of course, there will be no ceasefire, and the kidnapped will not be released.'" Describing the situation as seemingly crazy e concluded “For them, sacrificing the kidnapped is for the coming of Christ”.

Jewish communities have narrowly escaped catastrophe all too often. More often than not, the plot involves an evil tyrant. Purim is one of the most popular days in the Israeli occupation state, as they celebrate the anniversary of the Jews’ defeat of their enemies in the Persian Kingdom during the fifth century BC. Purim celebrates a story in the Book of Esther, when a Persian king is advised by his minister, Haman, “to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day,” [Esther 3:11 ] The plan is stopped by Queen Esther, who ascended to the crown by marrying the king and hiding her Jewish identity.

Haman is called "the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the Jews' enemy" which seems to denote that he was descended from the royal family of the Amalekites, the "bitterest enemies of the Jews, as Agag was one of the titles of the Amalekite kings. Haman or his parents were brought to Persia as captives taken in war. He was hanged on the gallows "fifty cubits high" which he had erected for Mordecai the Jew, and they hanged Haman's ten sons.

"But the other Jews that were in the king's provinces gathered themselves together, and stood for their lives, and had rest from their enemies, and slew of their foes seventy and five thousand..." [Esther 9:16 ] Literally “lots” in ancient Persian, Purim was thus named since Haman had thrown lots to determine when he would carry out his diabolical scheme, as recorded in the Megillah (book of Esther).

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that he is determined to carry out a military operation in the city of Rafah, saying: “You cannot defeat absolute evil by leaving Rafah... We will enter Rafah.” Netanyahu pledged to liquidate the leader of the Hamas movement in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, as the Prime Minister declared, "We will enter Rafah and achieve complete victory. We have eliminated Haman and we will eliminate Sinwar." The Prime Minister added, "As was the case in ancient times, we will unite, fight and win. We will enter Rafah and achieve complete victory."

Al Jazeera Net reported Al-Aqsa Mosque was subjected to an organized central raid by extremist Jewish Temple groups to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Purim, which falls today, Sunday, and continues until tomorrow, Monday, and intersects with the middle of the holy month of Ramadan. Since the morning hours, groups of settlers began their incursions into the mosque, successively, accompanied by the occupation forces, which were deployed heavily in the courtyards of the mosque. According to local sources for Al Jazeera Net, the occupation police stormed the Al-Qibli prayer hall , yesterday evening, after the end of Tarawih prayers, and evacuated it of its secluded people, then stormed again at dawn today in anticipation of the raids on Sunday and Monday.

According to sources, the raid included searching the prayer hall and tampering with its contents. To prevent any attempt to seclude themselves in the mosque coinciding with the time of the raid, they also imposed restrictions on the doors of the mosque during the dawn prayer and prevented dozens of young men from entering.

It is noteworthy that the raids on Al-Aqsa Mosque, since the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan, have been limited to the morning period (7-11) Jerusalem time, amid continued restrictions on the entry of worshipers, an almost complete prevention of West Bank Palestinians from entering Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa during Ramadan, and the issuance of hundreds of deportation orders against Jerusalemites and Palestinians from the occupied interior. .

War Termination

Chairman of the National Security Committee of the Israeli Parliament ( Knesset ), Zvika Vogel, said that Israel must end its war by settling Jews throughout the northern Gaza Strip , amid escalating calls from Jewish extremists for the necessity of returning settlers to the Strip after the war. Israeli Channel 7 quoted Fogel as saying that the world loves victors. Therefore, the Palestinians must be made to pay the price of last October 7 by not having land in Gaza.

In his previous statements, Brigadier General (res.) Zvika Vogel, who is from the “Otzma Yehudit” party (Jewish Force), did not rule out the presence of “traitors from within” behind the attack of the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) last October 7 on the settlements of Ghalaf in Gaza. On 19 Octover 2023, Vogel stated: "For me, there is no such thing as innocents in the Gaza Strip".

A few days ago, CNN quoted the godmother of the Israeli settlement movement, Daniela Weiss, as saying that 500 families had submitted requests to settle in Gaza, and she considered that “returning to Gaza is a priority after the attack of last October 7.” During a media session at her home in the Qarneya Shomron settlement in the occupied West Bank , Weiss discussed with attendees plans to revive the Gush Katif settlement bloc in Gaza, which was evacuated by the occupation 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. 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.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described resettlement in Gaza as an "unrealistic goal" but stopped short of completely ruling out the possibility.

Indirect negotiations continue between the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) and Israel, in the Qatari capital, Doha , in conjunction with the ongoing battles throughout the Gaza Strip, and the continuing pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to complete an exchange deal. The ongoing round of negotiations in Doha resumed a few days ago with all its tracks, and moved to the stage of technical meetings, as Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majid Al-Ansari said last Tuesday.

Hamas said that the basic principles underlying its vision of the negotiation file, which it presented to the mediators in Egypt and Qatar, 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. HAMAS stressed that these principles and foundations that she presented are considered necessary for the agreement and the prisoner exchange file, and that they will remain biased towards the rights and concerns of the Palestinian people.

The most important provisions of Hamas’ proposal, which according to those sources includes:

• A ceasefire in the Gaza Strip in 3 phases, each lasting 42 days.
• Hamas stipulated that the occupation forces withdraw from Al-Rashid and Salah Al-Din Streets to allow the return of the displaced to the northern Gaza Strip and the passage of aid.
• In exchange for the release of each living female prisoner, HAMAS offered to release 50 Palestinian prisoners whom she would specify, with 30 of them being life sentencers.
• At the start of the second phase, Hamas stipulated that a permanent ceasefire be declared before any exchange of its captured soldiers.
• Beginning the comprehensive reconstruction process for the Gaza Strip and ending the siege with the start of the third phase of the deal.
• A source told Al Jazeera 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.

Despite multiple rounds of negotiation; Before the negotiation round currently underway in Doha, Israel did not reveal any detailed vision or proposals, and was content only - in what was published at least - with announcing a total rejection of the demands of Hamas and the resistance. However, the Israeli delegation participating in the Doha negotiations provided - for the first time, at least according to what was announced - sometimes detailed observations regarding the resistance’s demands.

Below are the highlights of the Israeli response presented in the Doha negotiations:

• The Israeli response to the launch of the agreement remained in three stages, and provided general answers regarding some of the points contained in Hamas’ proposal, and provided more detailed others regarding the exchange of prisoners.
• In its response to Hamas's proposal, Israel rejected a complete withdrawal of its forces from the Gaza Strip.
• Israel also rejected a permanent ceasefire, as proposed in the document submitted by Hamas, which stipulated that the start of the second phase coincide with the declaration of a permanent ceasefire.
• The Israeli negotiating delegation also refrained from agreeing to an unconditional return of the displaced to their areas. Instead, the Israeli response offered a restricted return of two thousand displaced persons per day to the northern Gaza Strip two weeks after the start of the implementation of the agreement, while Hamas stipulated in the first stage the withdrawal of the occupation forces from the two streets. Al-Rashid and Salah Al-Din, to enable the displaced to return to their areas and facilitate the passage of aid.
• The Israeli proposal did not provide any details related to humanitarian aid or ending the siege, while Hamas’ proposal included that the start of the third phase coincide with the start of the comprehensive reconstruction process for the Gaza Strip and the end of the siege.

Reuters reported that within the framework of the truce talks, on Sunday, Israel expressed its openness to allowing the return of displaced Palestinians to the northern Gaza Strip, in apparent response to one of the basic demands of the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas). Hamas wants to allow Palestinians to return to the northern Gaza Strip after they fled Gaza City and its surrounding areas to the south during the first phase of the war, which has been ongoing for nearly six months. Israel initially refused to do so. But an Israeli official familiar with the Doha talks said that Israel had softened its position. The official told Reuters, "We are now ready to discuss the return of some of the displaced," without going into details

Prisoner exchange - the Israeli response provides more details regarding Tel Aviv’s vision, demands, and conditions regarding the prisoner exchange clause, but it keeps the ceiling low and far from what was proposed by the Hamas document. Among the most important points contained in the Israeli response are the following:

• Demanding the release in the first stage of 40 Israeli detainees alive from all categories, while Hamas offered, in exchange for the release of every female captive soldier alive, to release 50 Palestinian prisoners determined by the movement, including 30 prisoners serving life sentences.
• Israel rejected Hamas's request to release 30 life sentencers for every female soldier, and in return, offered to release only 5 to be determined by it.
• Israel also chose to maneuver in another part, as it stipulated - in exchange for the release of the Palestinian prisoners who were released as part of the Shalit deal and were subsequently arrested - that the Izz al-Din al -Qassam Brigades - the military wing of the Hamas movement - release two soldiers it held captive before the current war, namely Hadar. Goldin and Shaul Aron.
• The Israeli response also included Tel Aviv's right to deport out of Palestine the life-sentenced prisoners who will be released during the deal.

The American proposal - It seems that in the face of the difficulty of negotiations and the wide gap between the two proposals, the mediators are trying to bridge the gap and fill the large gaps in the negotiations, as the United States presented a new proposal, and the official Israeli Broadcasting Corporation quoted some of its details from a senior official - it did not name it - and said that Tel Aviv agreed to it, but Waiting for Hamas' response.

• The US proposal includes Tel Aviv's commitment not to assassinate senior Hamas leaders if they are exiled outside the Gaza Strip.
• The American proposal requires that this Israeli commitment be in exchange for an agreement that includes demilitarizing the Gaza Strip and returning all prisoners detained in Gaza.
• The American proposal also includes the withdrawal of Israeli army forces from the Gaza Strip.
• The United States is promoting this proposal as part of the phase that follows the deal to release 40 detainees in Gaza in exchange for a 6-week ceasefire.

The Israeli newspaper " Haaretz ", quoting an unnamed senior Israeli official, said that the Israeli negotiating delegation in Qatar "agreed to an American proposal" regarding the percentage of Palestinian prisoners who will be released in exchange for the release of the Israeli hostages, noting that "Hamas has not yet responded." The proposal includes the release of 40 hostages - who were kidnapped during the October 7 attacks on Israel and held in the Gaza Strip - as part of the deal, according to the Israeli official. He added: "We are still not close to reaching an agreement... but negotiations are continuing."

The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation " Makan " confirmed in a report that, "The United States put an offer at the negotiating table, which Israel agreed to, while Hamas has not yet announced its position on it." Makan said: “There is a belief in Israel that Hamas’s response to the proposals put forward will be presented within 48 hours.”

On Saturday, a Hamas leader told Agence France-Presse that the positions are “very different” in the truce negotiations taking place through mediators, accusing Israel of “deliberately obstructing and blowing them up.” The official, who preferred to remain anonymous, said that Israel "rejected a ceasefire, the return of the displaced, and the entry of aid without restrictions." Hamas demands that UNRWA be responsible for distributing humanitarian aid, considering that “it is the only one that has the ability to immediately enhance its receipt and distribution,” but Israel opposes any organization being “linked to Hamas,” including UNRWA, responsible for distributing humanitarian aid.

The Walla website reported that Israel expressed during the negotiations that took place in Qatar its willingness to release 700 Palestinians from prisons in exchange for the release of 40 hostages held by the Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip. An Israeli official contacted by the website said that among the Palestinian prisoners who could be released by the Israeli side, 100 are serving life sentences on charges of killing Israelis. Walla pointed out that Qatar put forward a similar proposal three weeks ago, but Israel responded with a categorical rejection.

Israel expressed its willingness to be flexible regarding the number of Palestinians to be released after mediation efforts carried out by CIA Director William Burns, who was in contact with the Qatari and Egyptian mediators in the negotiations in Doha this weekend. The website noted that Israeli officials expressed their willingness to discuss American proposals regarding the return of civilians to the northern part of the Gaza Strip. In the first stage, talk revolves around the gradual return of more than two thousand Palestinians to the northern Gaza Strip after the start of the release of the Israeli hostages. Previously, this issue was one of the main points of disagreement between the negotiators, according to the website.

"On Friday, after the cabinet approved in principle the dispatch of the negotiating team to Doha, the discussion ended before all the ministers could express themselves due to the Shabat," Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported. "More importantly, the cabinet did not define the scope and depth of the negotiating team's powers, or in other words, what the team members were allowed to concede, and what they must continue to insist on," Ynet added, noting, "In this case, there was no point in the team going to Qatar at all."

The website pointed out that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "insisted on a series of initial demands from Hamas and did not respond to suggestions from some members of the negotiating delegation to take action." "In this case, in this government, there is no oversight to ensure that the issue of the captives is always at the top of the priorities. We gave up spirit and humanity a long time ago," the newspaper quoted a source familiar with the matter as saying.

According to the website, several senior government and military officials have strongly criticized the decision-making process in both the War Cabinet and the regular one, and even that of the Prime Minister, regarding the prisoner exchange talks. The main criticism stems from the contents of the prisoner swap deal and its ranking among the cabinet's priorities, among other factors, but above all, the "exhausting slowness" it is taking to be dealt with. This is accompanied by allegations that the prime minister is obstructing the process on purpose.

"One must understand that the negotiations this time are not like those that led to the (Gilad) Shalit deal," Ynet said, explaining that "at that time, Israeli representatives were sitting in Cairo, and in neighboring rooms, and sometimes on the other side of the wall, Hamas representatives were sitting there." "In every proposal, every problem, and every counter-proposal, within the framework of the so-called convergence talks, within minutes, and sometimes seconds, it was possible to end things quickly," it added.

However, currently, the ongoing negotiations are about several captives whose lives are in constant danger, the website said. "in the face of the tremendous time pressure, every day that passes for the prisoners - even if they were not killed by an Israeli army bomb - they are living by the sword." According to the report, other senior officials believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu is deliberately trying to sabotage the deal, while the more lenient ones believe Netanyahu when he says that this is a tactic to show that the occupation has the upper hand in order to get Hamas to make concessions in the negotiations. A senior official familiar with the negotiations says it is about "the Israeli government's distraction and misleading of the Israeli media and public opinion as if it was doing everything to get the captives' issue done and over with as quickly as possible."

Israeli forces continue to assassinate members of the clan committees that provide assistance to the people of Gaza in revenge for their refusal to cooperate with the Israeli regime. The Supreme Council for Palestinian Clan Affairs said that the Israeli occupation forces assassinated several clan committee members at the Kuwait Roundabout while they were waiting to receive humanitarian aid and organize its distribution to hunger-stricken civilians in the northern Gaza Strip. The assassinations "express the extent of the fascist occupation's anger toward Palestine and also express the extent of its helplessness and failure to undermine the unity of the Palestinian internal front."

Aakif Al-Masri, the Commissioner General of the Supreme Council for Clan Affairs, said that the Israeli occupation continues to target the clan committees and punish them for not responding to the demands of the Israeli regime to cooperate with it and thwart its plans aimed at forming structures that serve its interests in undermining the Palestinian cause. Al-Masri stressed that the clan's members in the Gaza Strip work as one man and they prohibit any communication with the occupation no matter the cost and the greatness of the sacrifices.

Israel recently 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.

The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation " Makan " said that Israel "is studying a request from Hamas to commit not to assassinate the movement's senior officials if they are exiled outside Gaza, as part of a deal that includes evacuating the Strip of weapons, the return of all kidnapped persons, and the withdrawal of Israeli army forces from Gaza." According to Makan, “The proposal was promoted by the United States, as part of the next phase of the deal to release 40 hostages in exchange for a 6-week ceasefire.”

On Monday, the last round of indirect negotiations between Israel and the Hamas movement began in the Qatari capital, Doha, after the arrival of a delegation led by the head of the Mossad, David Barnea, who returned the next day to Israel to brief the Military Cabinet on the progress of the negotiations. On Friday, the head of the Israeli intelligence service, Mossad, arrived in Doha again, to hold new meetings with mediators, which will continue until Saturday, according to Makan.

A high-ranking Israeli official told the unnamed Israeli Kan channel that an offer was being considered that “includes a commitment not to attack senior (Hamas) officials exiled” from the Gaza Strip. According to the Israeli Broadcasting Authority, Hamas, which is classified as a terrorist organization in the United States and other countries, sent its initial responses to Israel’s reservations within the framework of the negotiations, indicating that they are “not official answers,” but rather “signs” indicating the response of the Palestinian movement.

It quoted a senior Israeli official as saying: “These are the same positive indicators that led to the Israeli delegation traveling to Doha on Friday.” Meanwhile, sources confirmed to Makan that “there is no real progress” in the talks.

Operational Update

When Pierre Gemayel, the founder of the Lebanese Kataeb Party, incorporated the phrase "Lebanon's power rests in its weakness" in Lebanese political literature, he did not regard it from a lens that focused on Lebanon's position in regional conflicts or foreign threats, instead, he considered his own party and leader's position and stance toward these conflicts.

While claiming a Lebanese movement cannot be powerful, for this power would be utilized against other political movements, it would later be revealed that those who preached and promoted the phrase had also been the ones who sought militarization and foreign support to use against other national groups and movements.

Despite the several interpretations that sought to validate its verity, including the contradictions found within the Lebanese reality, having the multi-sects and multi-political movements at their front, the phrase still crumbled. This was an integral consequence of the Israeli occupation's entrance to Beirut in June of 1982, the announcment of Bachir Gemayel as president, and the extension of the May 17 agreement in 1983 with Amin Gemayel, which was guised as surrender, but came as a means of normalization.

The former phase not only proved that "Lebanon's power rests in its weakness", but also aimed at justifying that weakness to serve the interests of foreign agendas that disrupted the country and its security, and sought to occupy and control it. However, it also launched a new counter-phase showing how power, in the right position, is the only correct and ideal way to defend Lebanon, liberate its lands, and interdict any aggression against it.

For over 40 years, the main question has been: What is preventing Israel from attacking and invading Lebanon, and attempting to reach the capital, Beirut? The response lies in another question: What forced Israel to retreat from Beirut, then Saida, then southern areas, to the "Blue Line", then completely withdraw from southern Lebanon and Western Bekaa in 2000?

Proponents claim the power of the resistance gave Lebanon the strength to defend itself and defy its enemies, making "Lebanon's power rests in its strength" the new proven reality, and inscribing it in governmental reports within "Army, People, and Resistance". Its inscription came by popular nature, further imposed by internal power scales. And since power must be developed, strategically, tactically, politically, and militarily, as well as practically and morally, with the enhancement of the enemy's power, it remains primarily bound to the initial project and goal. Protection, repulsion, and defense: these three givens are directly interrelated with the alliances that could be built, and the relations that are being established, not only because of the nature the Resistance is founded on, but also the nature of the Israeli occupation in the region, as part of the extensive American setting in the region, that is capable of striking all that is isolated and detached from its dynamic environment.

The "Unity of the Fronts" is theoretically defined as the institution of an alliance that counters Israeli aggression, that could entail any of these fronts. The definition is based on the development of security and military capabilities of nations within the Axis of Resistance and its organizations, while Israel makes threats of expansion, ambush, and war, consistently with the American institution in the region. If the "Unity of the Fronts" holds the Palestinian cause as its prominent core, then its defensive and defiant effects extend to all its contents. But how is that effectuated?

In his last interview with Politico, the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said his goal was to "bring back all settlers that fled their houses in the north post-October 7, fearing the incursion of Hezbollah across the Palestinian-Lebanese border, and another operation resembling Hamas'." Netanyahu did not rule out the use of military means to achieve that, saying "It would be alright if there were diplomatic means."

His main incentive for plotting any military operation against Lebanon stems solely from the presence of Hezbollah near the Palestinian-Lebanese borders. He, or senior officials in the Israeli occupation government or the "army", do not legitimize their threats by claiming Hezbollah launched fire against Israel in solidarity with Gaza on October 8, because not even a ceasefire in Gaza, which extends to Lebanon simultaneously [as the precedent during the truce in November] is enough for them. Their statements, however, affirmed their need to push Hezbollah away from the borders to a distance of seven to 10 kilometers, reaching north Litani.

On the other hand, Hezbollah ascertained, on several occasions, and with the vow of its Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, that operations will cease on the northern front if a ceasefire is established in Gaza. The promised scenario is concrete but excludes times when the Resistance mobilizes to defend Lebanon according to the size of threats and challenges.

Moreover, the Islamic Resistance's decision to be integrated into this confrontation as a front that supports the Resistance in Gaza fulfills a role in the exhaustion of the Israeli occupation, and prevents it from executing any extensive military occupation against Lebanon, by showcasing its power within specific standards.

Therefore, the north Palestinian front emerges from a multi-front battlefield, both in support of Gaza and defense of Lebanon, and one subjected to "Israel's" threats of a full-scale war that official and popular communities pay the price for if Hezbollah is not pushed away from the border, not when ceasefire fails. There has not been any Israeli official statement declaring that what is demanded is solely a ceasefire from Hezbollah's side or one that demands the separation of the Lebanese South from Gaza in the sphere of the establishment of a ceasefire. On the contrary, Benny Gantz, a member of the Israeli War Cabinet, has announced just days ago, that any truce will not necessarily include Lebanon, and that the Israeli military will proceed with its operations against Hezbollah, regardless of the developments in Gaza.

Although Hezbollah is well aware of Israel's way of thinking, and approach to several matters across different fronts, it did not decide to join the frontlines on its own, or based on reasons it does not want to reveal. Hezbollah only used that obscurity against the occupation, whereas discourse on the topic was left extensive within the Lebanese stage. Regardless, and based on the occupation's threats and its maneuvers on the battlefield after October 7, all parameters raise one question: What has Hezbollah imposed since its intervention on October 8? What are the two possibilities?

First: In case there was an Israeli plot to conduct a military operation against Lebanon, regardless of the Resistance's supportive participation, then Hezbollah revealed through this participation the comprehensive dangers Israel could be exposed to and imposed new specific rules of engagement.

Second: In case no Israeli plot existed following October 7, then Hezbollah's participation forces the occupation to be warier than to seize the moment and launch an attack against Lebanon. In this case, the principle of defensive confrontation is induced against an enemy that does not respect official charters or accords, an enemy that can only be broken by force.

Considering both conjectures, the Wall Street Journal revealed on December 23 that US President Joe Biden convinced Netanyahu to revoke a preemptive strike against Hezbollah in Lebanon after Hamas' operation on October 7, to avoid a regional war.

Israel intending to escalate the situation into a regional war is then established as a fact. However, what is remarkable is the Americans' fear, that compelled Washington to prevent Israel from achieving its plan, not for the war itself, but for a wider confrontation. This confirms that if Israel does launch a military operation against Lebanon, which supports Gaza, then all fronts would intensely intervene to support Lebanon.

At this point, the United States acknowledges that the multi-fronts defend and support one another, centering Palestine in their midst, which should discourage Israel from further escalating the situation [alongside Hezbollah's capabilities and strength]. Consequently, Hezbollah's intervention to defend and protect Lebanon, while backing Gaza, has ignited the United States' fear of confrontations against the Lebanese Resistance, which would soon after transform into a regional confrontation.

Proponents claim this is how Hezbollah protected Lebanon against a wide-scale Israeli operation. The previous hypothesis theorized what would happen if a plot to invade Lebanon existed or not. Moving past that, if an Israeli military operation was carried out against Lebanon, then the occupation would have to face a Resistance force that is prepared and capable of retaliating to the "surprise", which kills in wars.

If it was not, on the other hand, then the rational question to ask would be: "What would Lebanon, Gaza's support, have lost?", noting that the Israeli occupation plots and threatens, not because Lebanon backs Gaza, but because it is by the occupation's borders and possesses all kinds of military capabilities.

Hezbollah operates within this paradigm with Lebanese constituents, not by what it knows and is certain of regarding "Israel's" intentions, but by a framework that reassures these constituents, even if they are not convinced due to the mystery of sensitive information. Proponents claim Lebanon's power rests within its Resistance's power, and the Resistance's power rests within the power of the fronts it is integrated with.

Operational Update - Gaza

Former Israeli Army Minister Moshe Ya'alon said that the Rafah storming is Netanyahu's propaganda campaign, adding that "he will respond by saying that he was restrained by the Americans, and he will accuse them of not enabling him to achieve a decisive victory." Ya'alon added to Israeli Channel 12, "They withdrew the brigades. There are 4 brigades in Gaza now instead of the 28 brigades that were there. Do you think Yahya Sinwar (leader of the Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas in Gaza) does not realize this?"

French President Emmanuel Macron escalated his tone towards Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, reaffirming his “firm opposition” to an Israeli attack on Rafah, and warning that “the forced transfer of residents constitutes a war crime.” During a phone call with Netanyahu, Macron reiterated his call for an “immediate and sustainable ceasefire in Gaza,” and “strongly condemned the recent Israeli announcements regarding settlements.”

Palestinian Resistance affairs expert Hani al-Dali told Al Mayadeen that the occupation had not been able to achieve its goals in the Gaza Strip, the first of which was to eliminate the Palestinian resistance, or even weaken it. He pointed out that the Resistance was still confronting the occupation forces in Beit Hanoun and the north and east of the Strip.

Dali spoke about the occupation's failure to achieve any goal at the al-Shifa Medical Complex despite its best efforts, noting that the resistance's operations were taking place in its vicinity. According to the expert, the occupation was now heading to the al-Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis after its failure to achieve its goal at al-Shifa, which was to pressure the Resistance in the negotiations file related to the Israeli captives. He also underlined that the Israeli occupation forces' allegations about there being progress in the prisoner exchange talks and their waiting for a response from the Resistance is just a ploy to deceive Israeli public opinion.

IDF and Shin Bet fighters launched an operation tonight led by Division 98, in the Al Amal neighborhood in western Khan Yunis, to continue dismantling the terrorist infrastructure and eliminating terrorists in the area. The operation began with an attack flight in which fighter jets of the Air Force destroyed about 40 terrorist targets. Among the targets attacked were military buildings, underground tunnels and other terrorist infrastructures. In a combined coordination, the fighters of the commando brigade, Givati and the 7th brigade are now crowning the area and continue to eliminate terrorists in short-range incidents. The fighters of the combat team of the 7th brigade and the training fighters of the Kafir brigade in a sequence of divisional operations in the north of Khan Yunis in the area of 'Al Karara'. for all the details.

IDF and Shin Bet forces continue targeted fighting in the area of Shifa' hospital. The 401st Brigade Combat Team and the 13th Fleet under the command of the 162nd Division are fighting in the area while avoiding harm to civilians, patients, medical teams and medical equipment. The fighters arrested about 480 people who were verified as terrorists associated with the terrorist organizations Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Also, the forces located weapons and terrorist infrastructure in the area of the hospital.

In the north and center of the Gaza Strip in the last day, Air Force fighter jets attacked about 65 targets as aid to the maneuvering forces. Among the targets, an attack tunnel, military buildings with armed terrorists inside them and other military infrastructure. In the area of Beit Hanon, an aircraft attacked a military structure that posed a threat to the forces operating in the area.

In the center of the strip, the battle team of the Nahal Brigade eliminated a number of terrorists throughout the last day. The forces identified two terrorists in their sector and eliminated them through sniper fire. The fighters of the brigade located and raided a laboratory for the production of drones of the terrorist organizations. The forces encountered the terrorists outside the building and eliminated them.

In the south of the Gaza Strip, fighters of the 7th Brigade Combat Team eliminated a number of terrorists by sniper fire. Under the direction of the brigade's fighters, the combat team's engineering forces located and destroyed a launch pit and another aircraft that attacked a terrorist infrastructure. In Khan Yunis, an Air Force aircraft attacked a terrorist infrastructure that served as a meeting point for several terrorists who were in the building at the time of the attack.

Following accurate intelligence information available in the hands of the IDF and the Shin Bet according to which there are terrorists in the El Amal area who use civilian infrastructure for terrorist purposes, the IDF and the Shin Bet began operating in the area. The IDF will continue to act in the fight against terrorism, and calls on the Hamas terrorists to stop using hospitals and other civilian facilities as a shield for their terrorist activities and thereby harming innocent civilians.

The Israeli forces said that they would not end their operation in the Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza City before arresting the last of the militants, dead or alive, in conjunction with the bombing of residential squares in the vicinity of Al-Shifa and amid calls for help from families trapped under bombardment, and hundreds of displaced people and medical staff being subjected to attacks inside the building.

The commander of the Israeli army's Southern Command, Yaron Finkelman, confirmed that the military operation in the Shifa complex will continue until the arrest of what he described as the last of the saboteurs, whether alive or dead, stressing that the operation achieved great achievements at the military and intelligence levels, as he claimed.

The al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' military wing, announced Sunday that it had struck an Israeli Merkava tank with a Yassin-105 anti-tank RPG west of the Tel al-Hawa neighborhood in Gaza City.

For its part, the al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine (PIJ), said its resistance fighters confronted the invading Israeli occupation forces with machine guns and anti-tank shells on al-Hilal al-Qadeem Street west of Khan Younis.

The Resistance faction's armed wing said in a statement that its fighters fired 60-mm mortar shells at an Israeli assembly point around the al-Shifa Medical Complex west of Gaza before striking an Israeli military vehicle with an RPG shell in al-Ara'isha, near the al-Amal neighborhood west of Khan Younis. They also targeted an Israeli military vehicle with a guided missile at the Abu Saud roundabout south of the al-Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza City.

Al-Qassam published footage of its fighters launching the rockets and artillery munitions that pounded the occupation forces west of Gaza City and the Gaza Strip settlements, showing one of the fighters loading short-range rockets.

As the occupation forces continued their siege of the Shifa Complex for the seventh day in a row, Al Jazeera obtained special photos showing the burning of residential apartments in the vicinity of the medical complex in western Gaza after the Israeli occupation army targeted them with incendiary bombs, at dawn on Saturday. Al Jazeera also obtained scenes documenting the moment the occupation forces bombed Al-Hilu Hospital, which is dozens of meters away from Al-Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza City. The scenes show the condition of the hospital after the bombing and pictures of some of the injured who survived the bombing.

Al Jazeera's correspondent also reported that an Israeli raid targeted a residential building west of the Shifa Medical Complex, and pictures obtained by Al Jazeera showed rising dust columns in the first moments of the Israeli raid. Al Jazeera obtained scenes reflecting the destruction in the vicinity of the Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza City, and the scenes show the occupation forces burning parts of the specialized surgery building after the continuous storming of the complex for 6 days, in addition to the destruction of several buildings in the vicinity of the complex.

The Ministry also said that the wounded have been besieged for 6 consecutive days without water, food, or health services, and added that the medical teams and besieged patients are calling on all UN institutions and the international community to intervene urgently to save their lives. For his part, Salama Maarouf, head of the Government Information Office in Gaza, said in an interview with Al Jazeera that hundreds of detainees inside the Shifa Complex are being subjected to abuse and humiliation by the occupation forces. He added that the occupation committed a massacre at Al-Shifa Medical Complex 5 days ago, and that its aggression includes the entire area surrounding Al-Shifa Medical Complex.

One of the survivors of the executions carried out by the Israeli occupation forces after their release from the Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza City said that all those who were with him were killed by occupation snipers despite being told that they were safe, after the occupation forces arrested them for several hours. The Palestinian Jamila Al-Hassi, who was besieged in the vicinity of the Al-Shifa Complex, told Al Jazeera that the occupation forces forced 65 families to leave the vicinity of the complex, after burning the building in which they were holed up. Al-Hassi added that the besieged people have been appealing to the Red Cross for 6 days to provide water for children and the sick, or to intervene to evacuate them without any harm. Feasibility. She continued, "The occupation forces killed and burned entire families, and also raped and killed women."

In turn, journalist Jihad Abu Shanab, in the vicinity of the Shifa complex, told Al Jazeera that dozens of families have been trapped without water or food for 6 days in homes and neighborhoods near the Shifa complex, and are being exposed to gunfire and violent air and artillery bombardment. They have been appealing for several days to the Red Cross and international organizations to intervene to save them. At the field level, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades , the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ), announced that its fighters targeted 3 Israeli tanks in the vicinity of Shifa Hospital in Gaza City and killed and wounded a number of occupation soldiers south of the complex, after targeting them with a TPG shell. "Anti-fortifications.

The Al-Qassam Brigades also attacked an Israeli military vehicle with a “Yassin 105” shell, and added that it targeted Israeli soldiers and vehicles penetrating the vicinity of the hospital with mortar shells.

Al Jazeera's correspondent reported that Israeli occupation forces stormed Al-Nasr Hospital in Gaza City amid heavy bombardment and heavy gunfire. They also stormed Al-Amal Hospital in Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip , besieged it and carried out extensive bulldozing in its surroundings, according to what was announced by the Palestinian Red Crescent. Medical sources reported that Amir Abu Aisha, a member of the emergency operations room of the Palestinian Red Crescent, was killed by Israeli gunfire while working inside Al-Amal Hospital, west of Khan Yunis.

Israeli military vehicles also suddenly penetrated near the Nasser Medical Complex in the city of Khan Yunis, coinciding with a series of violent Israeli raids that targeted various areas of the city, resulting in the death of a number of Palestinians and the injury of others. The aerial bombardment was concentrated south and east of Nasser Complex and the Batn al-Sameen area, in addition to continuous artillery shelling targeting the same areas, and shooting from helicopters. Thousands of displaced people took refuge in Nasser Hospital, escaping Israeli military operations, and work began inside the hospital gradually in the emergency department after making repairs and providing medical equipment and devices.

On February 15, Israeli forces raided the hospital in a military operation that lasted 10 days, during which they killed dozens of displaced people, medical staff, and patients inside the hospital and arrested hundreds of displaced people there, in addition to carrying out destruction and bombing of various buildings and departments in the hospital, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip. For the seventh day in a row, the Israeli occupation army continues to storm Al-Shifa Hospital, which housed more than 7,000 patients and displaced persons, and carries out widespread arrests among the displaced, and bombs the homes surrounding the hospital, leaving dozens dead and wounded.

The al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' military wing, announced Sunday that it had struck an Israeli Merkava tank with a Yassin-105 anti-tank RPG west of the Tel al-Hawa neighborhood in Gaza City. For its part, the al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine (PIJ), said its resistance fighters confronted the invading Israeli occupation forces with machine guns and anti-tank shells on al-Hilal al-Qadeem Street west of Khan Younis.

The Resistance faction's armed wing said in a statement that its fighters fired 60-mm mortar shells at an Israeli assembly point around the al-Shifa Medical Complex west of Gaza before striking an Israeli military vehicle with an RPG shell in al-Ara'isha, near the al-Amal neighborhood west of Khan Younis. They also targeted an Israeli military vehicle with a guided missile at the Abu Saud roundabout south of the al-Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza City.

A Spanish writer in the newspaper "El Pais" accused Israel of using starvation as a weapon of war in the Gaza Strip , of procrastinating in responding to ceasefire demands, and of clinging to storming the Rafah area despite international pressure. In an opinion article entitled “Hunger is a Weapon of War,” Louis Bassets wrote that Gaza is drowning in death and hunger in a war that has diversified and mixed with Israeli patterns of terror, from the siege and electronic warfare to the drip of humanitarian aid to increase pressure on the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ).

Bassitis wondered if there was anyone in the US administration who could persuade Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to change his position after he turned a deaf ear to calls for a ceasefire. The Spanish writer said that Netanyahu is not responding to the demands to stop the war called for by US President Joe Biden and senior members of his administration, including Secretary of State Anthony Blinken , Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. He also ignored the calls of European officials, humanitarian relief organizations, and international institutions, including the organization Food and Agriculture ( FAO ), the United Nations Children's Fund ( UNICEF ), and of course the General Assembly and UN Secretary-General António Guterres .

Bassets said that it is clear that Israel is using starvation as a weapon of war, as condemned by European Union foreign policy official Josep Borrell, and that everyone has stopped supporting it unconditionally with the exception of former US President Donald Trump, who accuses those of his democratic opponents who condemn it of anti-Semitism, including And especially the Jews. According to the writer, Netanyahu does not care about all of this and clings to storming the Rafah area. If he has not done so yet, it is because of the negotiations to release detainees in Gaza and the truce talks, which he categorically refuses to make permanent.

The Spanish writer added that the ceasefire, if it occurs, will increase the pressure on Netanyahu to abandon the idea of marching on the last area that Israeli forces have not yet entered in the Gaza Strip, but if the truce talks collapse, on the other hand, he will immediately begin the storming operation for which he claims to have prepared in order to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe. In an area overcrowded with residents and the influx of displaced people.

Bassitis considered the Israeli claim of wanting to protect the population ridiculous, and recalled that the last five months have proven that the fate of these people is not the Israeli Prime Minister’s top priority.

Bassits says that President Biden is now publicly expressing his embarrassment at Israeli intransigence, in light of American public opinion that is aware of what is happening in the Gaza Strip, and in light of imminent presidential elections.

He added that Biden knows that Netanyahu has only military goals, and does not have a political strategy for Gaza. He does not want the Palestinian National Authority to manage the Strip, nor does he want a role for the United Nations and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees ( UNRWA ). He rejects the two-state solution, and many fear that his silence is a prelude to the implementation of the plan. Proposals of his extremist ruling partners who wish to expel the Palestinians from Gaza and control it completely.

Bassitis concluded his article by considering that Netanyahu is adept at what has become an Israeli specialty par excellence, which is the game of buying time, which has so far allowed, for example, the continuation of the occupation of Palestinian lands. He is thus waiting for more favorable conditions for Israel, such as if former US President Donald Trump returns to power.

Operational Update - Judea-Samaria

The Jerusalem Brigades - Tulkarm Battalion said that its members ambushed a car carrying an officer and 3 Israeli soldiers north of Tulkarm in the West Bank , killing them all. This came hours after the Israeli army announced the killing of a non-commissioned officer from the commando forces and the wounding of an officer and a soldier in an operation in Deir Bzei’, Ramallah.

The Tulkarm Battalion said in a statement that its fighters set up an ambush at the gate of Deir Al-Ghusun, north of the city of Tulkarm, where they monitored the movements of the occupation army after setting up the ambush. Immediately upon the arrival of a vehicle carrying an officer and 3 soldiers, they opened direct fire on them and finished them off, which led to their vehicle overturning and they withdrew. The resistance fighters left the area safely, according to the statement.

The Al Jazeera correspondent explained that the Deir Al-Ghusun gate is located in a border area northwest of Tulkarm, noting that the resistance fighters were able to bypass the gate and infiltrate into the occupied territories. They crossed the wall that the occupation has been building for several months along the entire occupied West Bank, and infiltrated this area. The military point, monitoring the vehicle, then killing its occupants.

The correspondent added that the occupation army is currently carrying out combing operations in the area, and there is a widespread deployment of its forces throughout the border area in the town of Deir Al-Ghusun, at the gate and the Al-Jarushiya area, and the occupation vehicles and soldiers also stormed some outskirts of Tulkarm. According to the reporter, the Israeli media has not reported anything about this operation until now.

The announcement of this operation comes hours after the occupation army announced the killing of a non-commissioned officer and the serious wounding of another officer and a soldier as a result of the operation carried out by the Palestinian Mujahid Barakat Mansour in the village of Deir Bazi’ near Ramallah in the West Bank, on Friday, who was martyred after clashing with soldiers for hours. The Israeli army said that the non-commissioned officer who was killed belonged to the elite Duvdevan unit.

Al Jazeera's correspondent reported that 7 Israeli soldiers were injured in the clashes that took place the day before yesterday, Friday morning, with the Palestinian gunman who attacked a settler bus in Deir Bazi', west of Ramallah, stressing that the wounds of at least two of the wounded soldiers were serious. The clash continued for hours, as the occupation army was unable to stop Mansour except by targeting him with a helicopter that fired a missile at him, leading to his death, according to witnesses and circulated videos.

Immediately after this operation took place and the identity of the martyr was identified, the occupation forces sent military reinforcements to his hometown of Deir Bazi’, surrounded his father’s house, and began interrogating his family members, according to what the head of the town’s local council, Imad al-Taweel, told Al Jazeera Net. According to Al-Taweel, Mansour was previously a member of the Palestinian National Security Service, submitted his resignation about 7 years ago, and turned to self-employment.

In the same context, Al Jazeera's correspondent said that the occupation forces stormed the city of Hebron, arrested a number of young men, and set up barriers in the Ras Al-Joura area.

Israeli occupation forces arrested at least 16 Palestinians from the West Bank , including a child and former prisoners, while confrontations broke out between the Palestinians and the Israeli forces in various areas of the West Bank. The Prisoners' and Ex-Prisoners' Affairs Authority and the Prisoners' Club explained in a joint statement that the arrest operations were distributed across the governorates of Hebron, Ramallah, Bethlehem, Tulkarm, and Jerusalem, and were accompanied by widespread acts of abuse, severe beatings, and threats against detainees and their families, in addition to widespread acts of sabotage and destruction of citizens' homes.

The statement indicated that the total number of arrests since October 7 has risen to more than 7,755 detainees, and includes those who were arrested from homes and through military checkpoints, those who were forced to surrender themselves under pressure, and those who were held hostage. Local security sources reported that the occupation forces raided the city of Hebron and arrested 4 Palestinians from the town of Beit Awa, southwest of Hebron, after storming their homes, searching them, and tampering with their contents.

The occupation forces also stormed the town of Sa'ir, east of Hebron, and beat the citizen Fadi Al-Mutawar, resulting in him sustaining fractures and bruises. He was transferred to the hospital to receive treatment. The occupation forces raided and searched a number of citizens’ homes in the towns of Sa’ir and Surif. The Israeli occupation forces arrested the boy, Ahmed Hani Suman (17 years old), from the Al-Fawaghra neighborhood in Bethlehem after raiding his family’s home.

Today at dawn, the Israeli occupation forces arrested 4 citizens from the village of Al-Laban Al-Gharbi, west of Ramallah, after they raided their homes and tampered with their contents. Confrontations broke out between young men and the occupation forces after they stormed the village, during which poison gas bombs were fired at citizens, but no injuries were reported. In Jenin, a young Palestinian man was injured by live bullets in the leg during confrontations with Israeli occupation forces in the village of Siris, south of the city. In a related context, the occupation forces stormed the town of Al-Yamoun and raided the homes of citizens and destroyed their contents, while they stormed the village of Fahma and raided the house of the citizen Alaa Muhammad Nawasra, turning its roof into a military point and erecting a military checkpoint at the main entrance.

Operational Update - Lebanon

Fighter jets tonight attacked a workshop containing Hizbullah weapons in the Albakh area. In addition, about fifty launches from Lebanese territory into Israeli territory were detected, a number of launches were intercepted and the rest fell in open areas. In a quick closing of the circle, aircraft attacked the launchers from which some of the launches into Israeli territory were detected.

Air Force fighter jets attacked a Hezbollah military structure in the Ita al-Sha'ab area and another military infrastructure of the organization in the Al-Adaisa area, after fighters from the 869 Battalion identified terrorists operating there. During the day, three anti-tank missiles were detected in the Shatula region and the Ramim ridge, the IDF forces attacked the source of the shooting along with several other areas in Lebanon that were attacked to remove the threat.

Fighter jets attacked a Hezbollah military structure in the area of Leyda in southern Lebanon. In the Miss Al Jabal area, fighter jets attacked an observation post of the organization. Special documentation from Shifa' Hospital: IDF from the Shaked Battalion in a face-to-face encounter with Hamas terrorists.

Lebanese Islamic Resistance continues its crushing operations against the positions of the Zionist enemy in the border areas as well as the depth of the Zionist settlements in the north of occupied Palestine. In this regard, these Hezbollah operations continue since yesterday, Saturday, March 23, 2024, and Lebanese resistance fighters organized several consecutive attacks on enemy positions.

At 12:00 noon yesterday, the "Ramim" barracks of the occupying army were targeted by Hezbollah artillery rockets. A little later at 12:20, the Lebanese resistance fighters with 2 offensive drones organized an attack on the platform of the Iron Dome system of the Zionist army in the military position of Kfar Bloom.

At 13:10 yesterday, the spying equipment of the Zionist enemy was targeted with appropriate weapons in the occupied Sheba fields. At 13:15, the military position of "Bayaz Belida" of the Zionist army was targeted with appropriate weapons and direct damage was caused to this army. At 16:50, the Lebanese resistance fighters targeted the position of "Roisat Al Alam" in the occupied Kafr Shubai hills with artillery rockets and caused direct damage to the enemy. At 17:56 yesterday, the "Al-Malkiyeh" position of the occupying army was the target of Hezbollah attacks with artillery rockets.

Also, this Sunday morning, Hizbullah issued a statement and announced that its fighters are in support of the steadfast people of Gaza and its brave and honorable resistance, as well as in response to the invasion of the occupiers in the city of Baalbek, at 1:10 a.m. this Sunday, March 24, the missile base And the artillery of the enemy army in the Yoav area and the Kila barracks, which was the headquarters of the air and missile defense command of the enemy army, and where forces from the Golani brigade were trained after returning from the Gaza Strip, were targeted with more than 60 Katyusha rockets.

Operational Update - Syria / Iraq

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq said it launched a drone strike early Sunday targeting the headquarters of the Israeli regime's ministry for military affairs in the occupied territories. In a statement released on its Telegram channel, the Iraqi umbrella group of anti-terror factions declared, “The fighters of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq conducted a drone strike at dawn today, targeting the headquarters building of the Israeli ministry for military affairs in the occupied territories.”

“This qualitative operation comes in these blessed nights to confirm our continuation of destroying enemy strongholds and our completion of the second phase of operations to resist the occupation, which will escalate during the blessed month of Ramadan, in support of our people in Gaza, and in response to the Zionist massacres against defenseless Palestinian civilians,” it added.

Recent weeks have seen the Islamic Resistance in Iraq conducting significant operations, including multiple assaults on Ben Gurion Airport, a power plant in Tel Aviv, and key Israeli ports, all in support of Gaza's population. Additionally, the group has vowed to maintain pressure on Israeli targets until the regime ceases its atrocities in Gaza and ends its genocidal campaign against Palestinian civilians.

The resistance's activities have drawn attention not only to Israel but also to the United States, with strikes reported against American military installations in Syria and Iraq. Amid mounting outrage over US backing of Israeli crimes in Gaza, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq remains resolute in its mission to confront aggression against Palestinians.

Abu Alaa Al-Walae, the secretary-general of the Sayyed Al-Shuhada Brigades in Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces, hailed the Islamic Resistance in Iraq as a vital component of the Axis of Resistance, emphasizing its crucial role in opposing Zionist aggression. “The Islamic Resistance has set the most difficult goal within its commitment in the face of the Zionist genocide that Gaza is subjected to, and it will reach it by Allah's will, which is to strike the ports and facilities of the entity in the Mediterranean, including refineries, bases, and airports, as well as power generation stations. Time is in favor of the resistance; indeed, it is the era of resistance,” Al-Walae stated.

Syrian air defense units have intercepted and shot down most of the missiles launched by the Israeli military near the capital city of Damascus. Local Syrian media reports on Sunday stated that Israeli military aircraft conducted an aerial attack from the direction of the occupied Golan Heights, targeting several sites in the Damascus countryside. Syrian air defenses successfully shot down most of the missiles, resulting in no injuries but causing material losses.

Israel frequently conducts airstrikes on military installations in Syria, particularly those belonging to the Lebanese resistance group Hezbollah. Hezbollah has played a significant role in supporting the Syrian army in its battle against terrorists backed by foreign entities. Tel Aviv rarely acknowledges its military actions within Syrian territories, which is often seen as a response to the Syrian government’s success in combating terrorism.

Since the beginning of militancy in Syria in 2011, Israel has been a strong supporter of terrorist factions opposed to the democratically-elected leadership of President Bashar al-Assad. The recent strikes also coincide with increased Israeli aggression against Syria and its ongoing war with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, which has resulted in the deaths of at least 32,142 Palestinians, the majority of whom were women and children.

On Tuesday, Israel attacked several military positions in Syria near Damascus. The Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates accused Israel of attempting to cover up its failures in Gaza by attacking Syrian territory. Syrian observers have described these attacks as a reckless move that could escalate tensions in the region.

Operational Update - Yemen

US Central Command (Centcom) confirmed that a ship was targeted with anti-ship ballistic missiles, adding that US forces clashed with six Houthi drones over the southern Red Sea, and were able to destroy five of them. Centcom said in its statement via X : “From 2:50 to 4:30 a.m. (Sanaa time) on March 23, the Iranian-backed Houthis launched four anti-ship ballistic missiles in the Red Sea near the oil tanker ‘M/V Huang. Pu', a Panama-flagged oil tanker owned and operated by China." It added that "at 4:25 pm (Sanaa time), a fifth ballistic missile was detected and was launched towards the ship 'M/V Huang Pu'."

The US command noted that the ship issued a distress call but did not request help, noting that it suffered "slight damage, and a fire on board was extinguished within 30 minutes. There were no reports of casualties, and the ship resumed its course. The Houthis attacked the ship 'MV Huang'." Although they previously announced that they would not attack Chinese ships.”

It stated, "Between 6:50 and 9:50 a.m. (Sanaa time), American forces, including the USS Carney 'DDG 64', engaged six Houthi drones over the southern Red Sea. Five of them crashed in The Red Sea, and one flew to Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen. Centcom concluded its statement by saying: “It has been determined that these drones represent an imminent threat to the United States, the coalition, and commercial ships in the region. These measures are being taken to protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer and more secure for American, coalition, and commercial ships.”

In the 12th Ramadan lecture by the leader of the revolution, Mr. Abdul-Malik Badr al-Din al-Houthi, Sunday, Ramadan 14, 1445 AH / March 24, 2024 :"As for God, Glory be to Him, He has prepared for you in this life what will cover you, cover your nakedness, conceal your faults, and protect you from disgrace, protect you from being in a bad, disgraceful situation. At the level of covering for man, God, Glory be to Him, is among His greatest blessings on Man: The blessing of clothing and covering. With clothes, a person covers himself and covers his private parts. This is a form of honor for man, and even something that distinguishes him from the rest of the animals, whose private parts are exposed. It is an honor for a person that God gives him clothes with which he covers his private parts.

"And also with covering the private parts, a person adorns himself with the clothes themselves. They are an adornment for the person, and have an aesthetic nature for the person, and God has prepared that for the person, to have clothes available to him, and for them to be of an aesthetic nature, an adornment for the person, and at the same time a protection for the person, a protection for his body. The person longs for clothes. From the cold, from the heat, clothing has evolved in human life, so that they have clothes for many purposes and for multiple tasks: they have clothes - for example - in this era: clothes for diving, clothes for firefighters, space jackets... clothes for various and multiple tasks, The clothes with which a person covers his private parts is a great honor for him. So that it is not like other animals, and at the same time it is a protection for humans, and of an aesthetic nature, and this is something known in the reality of humans. The world of clothing is a very wide world.

"{He will cover your outer garments with feathers} [Al-A’raf: from verse 26]; Because in it is the aspect of adornment, the aspect of beauty, the aspect of concealment, in it is honor for man, {and the garment of piety} [Al-A`raf: from verse 26]; To cover defects, shameful things, bad behavior, immoral acts, reprehensible behavior and morals, vile things, and it is something that is necessary, otherwise the rest of the clothing would have no value or importance. Satan reveals it from a person without the clothing of piety....

"Satan seeks to strip people even of their clothes. Therefore, when a person notices the enormous effort of Satan’s guardians, in their effort to strip people of their clothes, a very great effort, an effort to mislead people at the educational, propaganda, and media levels, and to influence their opinions, their thinking, and their culture; To spread the culture of nudity in the world, among people, they want to strip people of their clothes. They started with women, and they became very successful in many countries, in stripping women of their clothes, exposing their private parts, and revealing places of temptation in the body, and they turned to men, They turned to men as well, and there are also many activities that they carry out in many countries of the world, and occasions in which they go out in a state of complete nudity and full exposure of the body, like the rest of the animals, a plaything in the hands of Satan, an abuse of human dignity, and a denial of the dignity that God granted to man. Oh, a very strange disguise!"

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

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday urged Israel to remove the remaining obstacles to the entry of relief materials to the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip , noting the need to increase crossings and access points for aid. Guterres explained during a press conference in Cairo with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry that the land route is the most effective and efficient in transporting heavy goods, stressing that the entry of aid requires an immediate ceasefire for humanitarian reasons.

Guterres warned of the global repercussions of the war in Gaza, and said that there is a humanitarian catastrophe in the Strip, and the daily assault on the dignity of the Palestinians creates a credibility crisis for the international community. He added that terror and hunger are haunting the residents of Gaza, and any further attacks will make matters worse for the Palestinians, the detainees, and the peoples of the region. At the same time, Guterres called for the immediate and unconditional release of detainees in Gaza, and an end to the suffering in the Strip.

In another context, Guterres said that many workers at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees ( UNRWA ) in the Gaza Strip were killed. Despite this, he stressed the continuation of work to ensure continued support for the agency, indicating that the Israeli accusations will not affect the agency’s work. Yesterday, Saturday, Guterres visited the Rafah crossing from the Egyptian side, noting that there were long queues of trucks waiting in Rafah, while on the other side there were people suffering from famine, stressing that he looked forward to continuing to work with Egypt to facilitate the entry of aid into Gaza.

On the other hand, Egypt announced intensive efforts to reach an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and the exchange of detainees between the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and Israel. This came during the reception of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi at the Ittihadiya Palace with the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

The meeting discussed many international and regional issues, with a focus on developments in the situation in the Gaza Strip. The Egyptian President appreciated Guterres' positions on the ongoing crisis, and his keenness to adhere to the principles of international law and international humanitarian law. He also appreciated Guterres' continued activity to urge the international community to take action to end the war in Gaza and protect civilians, stressing the need for the Security Council to carry out its responsibilities in that regard.

For his part, Guterres praised the Egyptian efforts to push for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, and Egypt's keenness to keep the Rafah land crossing open continuously over the past months. Guterres arrived in the Egyptian city of Al-Arish, adjacent to the Gaza Strip, in his second visit to the Strip since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza on October 7 , and inspected the wounded Palestinians in the city’s hospital.

The French newspaper Le Monde said that the United States was and still is the main supplier of weapons to Israel, followed by Germany, while countries such as Italy and Spain have stopped delivering weapons to Tel Aviv. As for France, it says that it only supplies Tel Aviv with what it needs “to ensure its own defense.”

The newspaper explained - in a report written by Jean-Philippe Leviev - that the issue of arms exports to Israel has never been this highly sensitive, especially for the United States, which has made Israel’s security a supreme interest of the state, and is the largest arms supplier to it ever, just like Germany, which occupies Israel. Second place after that.

After the attack of the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) on October 7, 2023 , Israel initially received almost unconditional support, but it gradually began to fade as civilian casualties increased and accumulated in the Gaza Strip .

Following the order issued by the International Court of Justice on January 26, which ordered Israel “to refrain from committing acts that fall within the scope of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide ,” tension arose between arms suppliers to Israel and part of their public opinion, which prompted countries Many countries, such as Spain and Italy, have decided to suspend their military exports to Tel Aviv.

Canada - Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Jolie announced on March 19 that Canada would stop supplying weapons to Israel, a day after Parliament adopted a non-binding motion in favor of an “immediate ceasefire” asking the government to “stop approving the transfer of weapons to Israel.”

France - For its part, France, which in 2023 became the second largest arms exporter in the world instead of Russia, confirms that it does not supply “lethal” weapons to Israel, but provides Tel Aviv only with what it needs to “ensure self-defense,” according to what was stated in the annual report on exports. Weapons from the Ministry of the Armed Forces in July 2023.

Like 113 other countries, including all European Union countries, France has ratified the Arms Trade Treaty, which prohibits any country from selling weapons if it has “knowledge that these weapons or goods could be used to commit genocide, crimes” against humanity, or human rights violations. serious violations of the Geneva Conventions of 1949, attacks against civilians or civilian objects protected as such, or other war crimes, a ruling that has particular resonance since the order of the International Court of Justice.

The newspaper indicated that we must wait for the publication of the next annual report on arms exports in the summer of 2024, in order to obtain a more accurate idea of the nature and volume of weapons supplied to Israel in 2023, noting that France confirmed that it “scrupulously respects its international obligations in its arms exports to Israel.”

Germany - Federal Germany remained the second supplier to Israel, providing it with 30% of its arms imports between 2013 and 2022 - according to the Stockholm Institute - but delivery permits increased 10-fold between 2022 and 2023, and most of this increase occurred after October 7, and its value amounted to 326 million euros last year, according to the German Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Protection.

Italy - Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani announced on January 21 that Italy had stopped delivering weapons to Israel following October 7, after its exports from it represented 5.9% between 2011 and 2020, making it the third supplier, according to an analysis of Stockholm Institute data.

Netherlands - The Court of Appeal in The Hague ordered the Dutch government on February 12 to stop exporting to Israel components of the F-35 aircraft stored on its soil, and considered that there was a “clear danger” that the F-35 aircraft used by Israel would allow “serious violations of humanitarian law” in Gaza.

Spain - Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albarez confirmed on December 5 that “since October 7, 2023, there has been no arms sale to Israel,” and Spain had delivered ammunition worth approximately one million euros to Israel, on the basis of “licenses granted before October 7.” /October,” and also allowed the export of defense equipment worth 44 million euros to Israel in the first half of 2023, according to the Ministry of Economy.

United kingdom - In 2023, the British government approved the export of military goods worth £42 million to Israel, the same amount as the previous year, and then Defense Secretary Grant Shapps described the matter as “relatively modest”, and information regarding the licenses granted has not been sent since 7 October. October 2023. The British government has approved exports worth £146 million to Israel between 2018 and 2022, but this amount does not take into account materials supplied under “open” licences, which place no limits on the quantity or value of deliveries, the Campaign Against Arms Trade asserts.

Axis of Resistance

An Iranian general condemned the US’ complicity with the Israeli regime in the bloody military campaign against the Gaza Strip. “The aggressive US has started at least three wars and the Zionist regime has also waged at least seven wars in our region in the past four decades,” Commander of Khatam al-Anbia Headquarters Major General Gholam Ali Rashid said on Friday.

The US, the Zionist regime and the arrogant powers have imposed at least 17 attacks on the region during the past 45 days, he said. The general noted that the US has stood by the Zionist regime in all wars and has backed the aggressors against the oppressed nations in various conflicts, such as by supporting former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in the war against Iran in the 1980s. “In the current war in occupied Palestine, the Americans have stood against the oppressed Palestinian nation by providing full support for the Zionist regime and are definitely complicit in the Israeli crimes,” he added.

Allied for Democracy

Yedioth Ahronoth reports that internal reports of Israeli missions in the United States describe a very harsh picture of Israeli coverage in the American media. One of those reports stated that the media was waiting for a signal from the Israeli government to change its policy, but the harsh images from Gaza and the chaos in the Strip unleashed a state of frenzy, publishing continuous harsh criticism against Israel. The report added that pressure on the administration of US President Joe Biden to tighten its position towards Israel and link military aid to changing Israeli policy “constitutes a warning signal for the future.”

He pointed out that there is a change in attitudes even among loyal supporters of Israel, and it is expected that criticism of Tel Aviv will escalate in the media. The internal report of the Israeli diplomatic missions adds that although most media outlets refrained from blaming Israel for intentionally creating the crisis or denying its right to self-defense, opinion articles sparked intense debate regarding the proportionality and morality of the ongoing war on Gaza in its current form.

Moreover, dozens of recent opinion pieces represent a wide range of positions regarding the legitimacy of the Israeli military, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, the ceasefire issue, and the future of US-Israel relations.

Israel is the largest recipient of US foreign aid since World War II, and to date, Washington has provided it with $158 billion in bilateral aid and funding for the Iron Dome anti-aircraft device, the writer says. Since the 1960s, the American administration has been keen to ensure that its ally obtains “qualitative military superiority,” and 69% of weapons imported into Israel between 2013 and 2022 came from the United States - according to the Stockholm Institute - and is partly funded by Washington’s annual military aid to Tel Aviv. Aviv, amounting to $3.3 billion, with half a billion for cooperation in the field of air defense.

In late October, US President Joe Biden asked Congress to approve additional arms sales to Israel worth $14.3 billion as part of a “package” that includes aid to Ukraine and Taiwan. According to the Times of Israel newspaper, Washington delivered to Israel a load of 250 cargo planes and about 20 ships, at the end of January, meaning about 10,000 tons of weapons and military equipment, the nature of which is unknown. In addition, the United States allows the Israeli army to rely on the arsenal it stores in Israel, and the “national emergency” declared by Biden after October 7 allowed the White House to dispense with the parliamentary step to supply the Israeli army with ammunition.

Kamala Harris , US Vice President, said that she does not rule out that there will be consequences for Israel if it continues its military storming of the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip . Harris added in an interview with the American ABC News network broadcast on Sunday: “We have been clear in multiple conversations and in every way that any major military operation in Rafah would be a grave mistake.”

The US Vice President explained that they continue to consider the humanitarian situation in Gaza as one of their priorities, and added: “I studied the maps, and it became clear to me that there is no place for a million and a half people to go.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier this month that he had approved a plan to invade Rafah, an announcement that prompted President Joe Biden to convey what the White House described as “deep concerns” about the safety of many civilians in Rafah.

This was accompanied by the escalation of international and international warnings about the dangers of Israel launching an attack on Rafah, and the consequences of that on Palestinian civilians for whom the city represents a last refuge in light of the Israeli bombing that has affected various areas of the Gaza Strip for the 170th day, leaving tens of thousands of martyrs, wounded and missing amid a humanitarian situation described as catastrophic and famine. looming over the sector.

An article on the American website "The Intercept" accused US President Joe Biden of approving Israel's ultimate goal of exterminating the Palestinians in Gaza , and of actively supporting the "undefined" Israeli goal of eliminating the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ). The author of the article, Ahmed Khan, a political activist and human rights defender, explained that the Biden administration is not only complicit, but also participating in the ongoing genocide in Gaza.

He said that his experience in organizing air transport operations in Afghanistan , assisting on the Ukrainian front, and building roads in Rwanda did not help him deal with the challenges of Gaza, which do not go beyond bringing a few trucks of food and medicine weekly to the Strip, but it led him to conclude that Biden is involved in Everything Israel does in Gaza.

Khan continued to say that the Biden administration’s expression of great concern about the number of civilian deaths in Gaza, while supporting the Israeli war there, raises a disturbing question: Is this administration knowingly complicit in maximizing the killing of civilians in one of the most deadly military campaigns in modern history, or naive? amazing? In both cases, Khan answers, hundreds of thousands of Democratic Party voters have concluded that expressing concern for the fate of the Palestinians and actively participating in their extermination is beyond belief.

He said that the refusal of Biden and his advisors to change the policy related to aid to Israel or to rethink the diplomatic cover it provides to it at the United Nations reveals an American presidency that is concerned with nothing more than expressing concern for civilians in Gaza. He added that the devastating Israeli bombing of Gaza would not have been possible without the tens of thousands of bombs and guided munitions sent by the United States since October 7 , noting that this administration organized more than 100 weapons transfers and notified Congress of only two.

The writer also pointed to the continuous flow of weapons to Israel at the same time that Biden is withholding funding from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA ) , and his support for expensive, dangerous, and impractical methods of transporting aid to Gaza (airdrops), which will not require forcing Israel ends its blockade on food and medicine.

Khan stressed that, in the short term, Biden's aid policies will not provide any meaningful relief to the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, as recent efforts include the US military building a bridge off the coast of Gaza to provide up to two million meals a day. This process implicitly accepts Israel's decision to prevent the passage of food into Gaza through more efficient land crossings. Implementation of the bridge is expected to take two months, a time that will ensure the spread of famine among the most vulnerable residents of Gaza.

US Democratic Representative Alexandria Cortez said on Sunday that Israel is deliberately causing famine in the Gaza Strip , and that targeting the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) “does not justify collective punishment and forcing people to eat grass.” In statements to CNN, Cortez accused Israel of intentionally causing famine in Gaza “acknowledged by governments and employees in our Foreign Ministry,” stressing that forced famine in Gaza is “greater than our ability to deny or justify.”

The Democratic representative explained that Israel's deliberate obstruction of aid delivery in Gaza is horrific, and that Americans must realize that starving a million people, half of whom are children, does not target Hamas, pointing out that Israel's "excuses" are not consistent with what American international and foreign organizations say. Cortez, a member of Congress , called for a suspension of arms transfers to Israel, saying that its leaders are deliberately accelerating famine in Gaza by preventing food and aid, and that “1.1 million innocent people in Gaza are on the verge of famine.”

Earlier yesterday, American lawmakers criticized what one of them described as Israeli arbitrariness in imposing restrictions on humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, which is witnessing a famine that is increasingly difficult and scarce to reach. US Senator from the Democratic Party, Senator Chris Van Hollen , said that the restrictions imposed by Israel on humanitarian aid to Gaza are not consistent with US policy.

The Washington Post also reported that Democratic lawmakers were dissatisfied with the Republicans’ success in stopping funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees ( UNRWA ) in exchange for passing the government funding agreement. According to the newspaper, Democratic lawmakers believe that withdrawing American funding, which represents 30% of UNRWA’s budget, would be disastrous for civilians in Gaza.

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
• 7,740 arrested by Israelis in the West Bank since Oct.7th
• 6,000 HAMAS combatants killed [HAMAS]
• 5,500 IDF wounded [reports]
• 4,750 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
• 595 Israeli officers and soldiers killed
• 433 West Bank Palestinians martyred
• 252 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.