Operation Iron Swords - Day 174 - 28 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)

Israel deployed a large-scale facial recognition tracking program in the Gaza Strip and created a database of Palestinians without their knowledge or consent, according to The Verge, citing a New York Times report. The program, which was created after the October 7 attacks, uses technology from Google Photos , as well as a custom tool designed by Tel Aviv-based Corsight to identify people affiliated with Hamas. The facial recognition program was created in conjunction with the Israeli military offensive in Gaza, according to a New York Times report.

After the October 7 attacks, officers in the IDF's Unit 8200, the IDF's main intelligence unit, identified potential targets by watching security camera footage and videos that Hamas had uploaded to social media. The soldiers also asked the Palestinian prisoners to identify people from their communities who belong to Hamas. Corsight, which boasted that its technology could accurately identify people even if less than 50% of their faces were visible, used these images to build a facial recognition tool that Israeli officers could use in Gaza. In order to further build its database - and identify potential targets - the Israeli army set up checkpoints equipped with facial recognition cameras along the main routes Palestinians use to flee south.

One officer told the New York Times that the goal was to create a “hit list” of people who participated in the October 7 attack. Troopers told the New York Times that Corsight's technology was not always accurate, especially when it relied on grainy footage or images in which people's faces were obscured. In some cases, Corsight mistakenly identified people as being linked to Hamas. One such case involves the Palestinian poet Musab Abu Toha, who was picked up from an Israeli military checkpoint on the central highway in Gaza in mid-November while trying to leave Gaza for Egypt with his family. The IDF had marked Abu Toha as being on the Israeli list of wanted persons. Israeli officers held Abu Toha in a detention center, where he was beaten and interrogated for two days before being returned to Gaza without explanation.

The Israeli army has integrated Corsight's technology with Google Images - which, unlike Corsight, is free to use - the soldiers said in the newspaper's report. Intelligence officers uploaded databases of “known persons” to Google Images and used the image search function to further identify the people. One of the officers said in the report that Google Photos can recognize people even when only a small portion of their faces are visible, making it better than other tools, including Corsight. Corsight executives and financiers have expressed a desire to assist the Israeli military in its ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.

In an op-ed for The Jerusalem Post last October, Aaron Ashkenazi, founder and managing partner of Canadian fund Awz Ventures, which led a $5 million Corsight funding round in 2020, wrote that Awz was providing Israel with “technological tools.” To stop these terrorist attacks." Most of the companies in OZ's portfolio operate in the artificial intelligence and cybersecurity sectors. Last October, some hospitals in Israel began using CorSight's technology to identify patients, Forbes reported at the time.

According to a Forbes report, Corsight's technology was able to take photos of people "whose features have been affected by physical trauma, and find a match between photos sent by the relevant family members." Corsight focuses on selling its products to government, law enforcement, and military uses, according to The Verge. The company said in 2020 that its technology could recognize masked faces. Two years later, Corsight claimed to be developing a tool that could create a model of a person's face based on their DNA. Last year, Corsight worked with the Metropolitan Police in Bogotá, Colombia, to track down suspects in murders and robberies on the public transportation system, according to The Verge.

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War Termination

Israeli N12 TV News reprted the head of the Mossad, Dedi Barnea, informed the cabinet that, despite Hamas' answer, there is a possibility of progress - but the price is flexibility regarding the return of residents to the northern Gaza Strip. Barnea explained that it is necessary and possible to think of a creative solution, and this effort is worth the chance of getting 40 hostages out alive. The position of the head of the Mossad was supported by ministers Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot, along with minister Ron Dermer. In front of them, in an intermediate position, are Defense Minister Yoav Galant and Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi who claim that this is not the time to be flexible - we should advance to Rafah but not announce it publicly, in order to allow another American effort to promote negotiations and give a chance for a deal.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with an extreme position - according to him, the members of the cabinet do not know how to conduct tough negotiations. Therefore, Netanyahu did not accept the position of head of the Mossad in Barnae and ordered to prepare to enter Rafah - and to announce this publicly. Netanyahu also informed his members The cabinet because contrary to what was published - it intends to send a delegation to the White House as early as next week. A political official told News 12: "We have to honestly tell the public - not to submit an Israeli proposal at this time, is to bury the abductees deal for a long time."

US President Joe Biden's administration officials are holding preliminary "talks" about options for stabilizing Gaza after the war, including a proposal that the Pentagon help fund a multinational force or Palestinian peacekeeping team, according to Politico magazine. The magazine reported that the options being considered will not include American forces on the ground, according to two officials from the Ministry of Defense and two other American officials, all of whom requested anonymity. Instead, Defense Department funding will go toward the needs of security forces and supplement assistance from other countries.

In response to a request for comment from the magazine, a senior US administration official said, “We are working with partners on different scenarios for interim governance and security structures in Gaza once the crisis subsides,” refusing to reveal details. "We have had a number of conversations with both the Israelis and our partners about the key elements for the next day in Gaza when the time comes," he added.

It may be weeks or months before Washington and its partners agree to any plan, especially since regional players want to see a commitment to a two-state solution before seriously engaging in options. There are also questions about the feasibility of training a potential Palestinian-led force in time to maintain order in Gaza, which has been devastated after five months of brutal fighting. Israel is reluctant to hold these talks until it defeats Hamas militarily and secures the release of hostages held by the movement. Some officials within the Israeli government have called for Israel to occupy Gaza after the war, a proposal opposed by the United States.

The four officials confirmed to the magazine that the talks include the White House, the Pentagon, the State Department and their foreign counterparts about what a potential post-war security force would look like. Under initial plans being developed, the Defense Department would provide funding for a type of security force that would not include U.S. troops on the ground in Gaza, according to Defense Department officials.

One official added that the aid could be used for reconstruction, infrastructure, humanitarian aid and other needs. The Strip has turned into rubble, and the vast majority of its population of 2.2 million people are displaced due to difficulty accessing food, water and medicine. The Pentagon will likely need to transfer money from elsewhere in the department to pay for the plan. US aid would complement contributions from other countries, according to US officials. As for a potential Palestinian-led peacekeeping team, it remains unclear who will train and equip its members, which could include some of the approximately 20,000 security personnel supported by the Palestinian Authority.

Spokesmen for the Defense Ministry and the Israeli government did not immediately respond to POLITICO's requests for comment.

The Pentagon began considering options to support some sort of multinational force to stabilize Gaza in the new year, when there were expectations that Israel might soon begin winding down its operations, according to the Defense Department official. Then in January, Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Israel to work with regional countries and moderate Palestinians to rebuild, stabilize and govern Gaza once the war ends. “This can only come through a regional approach that includes a path to a Palestinian state,” he said during a visit to Israel. Although American officials have held talks with regional partners about what the composition of such a force would look like, none of them have confirmed participation. Because the plan has not been finalized.

Several countries in the Middle East have told the Biden administration that they will only consider participating when there is a serious plan for a two-state solution. “Although we had conversations on the sidelines with regional partners about what they would be willing to do, contribute to, and accept, this did not receive serious attention from our Israeli partner,” the official said. The official added that Israel "does not set a date for the end of its operations because it has not yet achieved the goals it seeks" in Gaza.

Meanwhile, the Defense Department is focused on increasing the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza, including ensuring the security of the US military’s plan to build a pier to deliver resources by sea to the Strip, and urging Israel to consider “alternatives” to invading Rafah,” the Defense Department official said. The official added that what comes after the talks also includes the possibility of a two-state solution.

Operational Update

Operational Update - Gaza

The Telegraph newspaper quoted an Israeli intelligence source as saying that Tel Aviv believed in the possibility of eliminating the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) due to Washington’s support, but this has changed now. He added that the Israeli army believes that some of Hamas's underground weapons production facilities in Gaza are still intact. He stated that the failure of the Israeli army to enter Rafah in force means that Hamas' survival is the most likely possibility, as he put it.

The Jerusalem Post newspaper quoted sources in the Israeli army as saying that there are currently no indications that the army will be able to rescue more prisoners, or kill more Hamas leaders. The sources added that Hamas can still easily return to the areas that the army had previously controlled, in the absence of a stable plan for managing Gaza after the war. Since last October 7, the Israeli army has been waging a devastating war on Gaza that has left tens of thousands of martyrs and wounded, most of them children and women, according to Palestinian sources, which necessitated the trial of Tel Aviv before the International Court of Justice on the grounds of committing genocide.

Israeli Channel 12 said that the army began preparations to launch an operation in Rafah in the event of the collapse of prisoner negotiations, while Washington asked Tel Aviv to allow the arrival of American officers to participate in developing plans regarding the invasion operation. Channel 12 indicated that the Israeli army has taken actual steps, including beginning to isolate the city and preparing to evacuate civilians. The channel added that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the purchase of 40,000 tents from China to set up in Gaza in preparation for the ground operation in Rafah.

Israeli Channel 13 said that the administration of US President Joe Biden recently asked Israel to allow the arrival of American officers, to make plans regarding Rafah with Israeli army officers. The channel added that American officers are expected to arrive soon, and quoted a senior Israeli official that the United States sending officers to discuss the operation in Rafah is an indication of lack of trust.

Meanwhile, Netanyahu said during his meeting with members of Congress that the northern Gaza Strip has many places where civilians can go during the army’s operation in Rafah. The Israeli Prime Minister added, "We are told that you cannot enter Rafah. If you do, there will be a humanitarian catastrophe and many deaths will occur. This is not true." He continued, "There are many places in the north of the Strip that people can move to. If they were moved to the south, now they can return to the north. They can return with their tents."

In this context, White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said that Netanyahu's office agreed to reschedule the Israeli delegation's visit to Washington to discuss the possible military operation in Rafah. Jean-Pierre added that the White House is working with the Israeli side to set a date for the upcoming meeting, "and this is a good thing." She explained that constructive talks were held with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant during the past two days, noting that the Rafah issue was one of the topics discussed.

The US State Department had confirmed that it had ideas about alternatives to the military operation in Rafah that could lead to the elimination of Hamas brigades there, she said. US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Wednesday in response to a question from reporters whether a limited military operation in Rafah could eliminate the remaining Hamas leaders, Miller said, “Yes.” Regarding the prisoner exchange negotiations, Miller said that Washington still believes that the negotiations on a humanitarian truce in Gaza have not ended and have not reached a dead end, adding that Washington believes that there is a possibility of continuing prisoner release talks with Hamas.

Channel 12 indicated that the Israeli army has taken actual steps, including beginning to isolate the city and preparing to evacuate civilians. The channel added that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the purchase of 40,000 tents from China to set up in Gaza in preparation for the ground operation in Rafah. Meanwhile, Israeli Channel 13 said that the administration of US President Joe Biden recently asked Israel to allow the arrival of American officers, to make plans regarding Rafah with Israeli army officers. The channel added that American officers are expected to arrive soon, and quoted a senior Israeli official that the United States sending officers to discuss the operation in Rafah is an indication of lack of trust.

A report by the American newspaper "The Wall Street Journal" revealed that the meetings held during the past two days between the Israeli Minister of Defense, Yoav Gallant, and senior officials in the White House and the Pentagon, "did not focus on how to prevent" the planned Israeli military operation in Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip. Rather, it is to "protect civilians as the operation begins." The newspaper pointed out that the talks "came in contrast to the American tone during the past weeks," as senior officials explicitly warned Israel against launching a comprehensive operation against Rafah, to which more than a million people were displaced with the start of Israeli military operations in the Strip.

On Tuesday, during his meeting with Gallant, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said that “protecting Palestinian civilians” during the war between Israel and Hamas is a “moral and strategic necessity,” adding that the situation in the besieged Gaza Strip is “a humanitarian catastrophe that is worsening.” US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said on Tuesday that protecting Palestinian civilians during the war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) is a moral and strategic necessity, adding that the situation in the besieged Gaza Strip is a humanitarian catastrophe that is worsening.

Austin added: “In Gaza today, the number of civilian casualties is very high and the volume of humanitarian aid is very low... Gaza is suffering a humanitarian catastrophe and the situation is getting worse,” using his harshest language since the beginning of the crisis. Following the meeting, the Pentagon said that Austin had a “frank and direct” discussion with Gallant. Meanwhile, White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters that the Israeli Defense Minister also met for the second day with White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, who informed Gallant that Israel “needs to allow an increase in the flow of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.”

The Wall Street Journal reported that dealing with Rafah has long been at the heart of the growing dispute between the United States and Israel, which escalated with the United States not using its veto, Monday, to stop a UN Security Council resolution “for an immediate ceasefire and the release of... "All hostages immediately and unconditionally" in Gaza. The newspaper quoted a prominent American defense official as saying that there is a “sequence... where the military aspect should not continue until the humanitarian aspects are fully addressed.”

The two parties agreed on “the necessity of expelling Hamas from Rafah, so that its members cannot return or continue to smuggle weapons into the Gaza Strip, which is a basic condition for ending the war and paving the way towards a new political authority in Gaza, which means trying to find ways to work with Israel on a strategy in Rafah.” “In light of the lack of other options,” according to the newspaper. She also explained that the two sides "discussed ways to confront the smuggling of weapons across the Egyptian border into Gaza," which Israel considers a source of concern, in addition to "the precise targeting of Hamas leaders."

US Department of Defense officials explained to the newspaper that the plans “still have a long way to go before they are formalized, and any convincing plan to transfer civilians from Rafah may take a month.” The Wall Street Journal also confirmed that the talks this week were strikingly “different” compared to what happened last week, when Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned the Israelis that a major ground operation risked “further isolation of Israel around the world.”

US Vice President Kamala Harris also warned Israel that it may face "consequences" if it carries out its threat to launch a ground military operation in Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip. Harris said in an interview with the American network ABC, part of which was broadcast on Sunday: “I do not rule out that there will be American consequences for Israel if it continues to storm Rafah militarily.” She continued: "We made clear to Israel in every way, and in several conversations, that any major military operation in Rafah would be a big mistake."

IDF and Shin Bet forces continue targeted fighting in the area of Shifa' hospital. The combat teams of the 401st Brigade, the Nahal Brigade 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. From the beginning of the activity in the Shifa area until now, about 200 terrorists had been eliminated in the hospital area.

In the last day, terrorists came out of the emergency room at Shifa' hospital and opened fire at the forces operating in the hospital area, this is in addition to the shooting that was carried out at the IDF forces from the emergency room in the last few days. During the operation, the forces evacuated shelters, patients and medical teams to alternative medical complexes that the IDF prepared and established in order to allow proper medical treatment to continue.

The forces of the 98th Division continue to operate in Khan Yunis in the Al Amal area and Al Karara, so far the forces have eliminated dozens of terrorists in the operation in the Al Amal area. The fighters of the combat team of the commando brigade destroyed a terrorist infrastructure where weapons were located. The forces of the 7th Brigade Combat Team located charges and mortar bombs. The combat team of the Givati Brigade identified two terrorists near the forces, the terrorists were eliminated using aircraft and shell fire. In addition, during searches of the area, the fighters located many explosives.

Air Force fighter jets continue to operate in the skies over the Gaza Strip and have attacked dozens of targets in the last day. The Nahal Brigade's combat team continues to operate in the center of the Gaza Strip and eliminated a number of terrorists over the past day. In one of the attacks, a terrorist squad was identified near the forces, in a quick closing circle an aircraft attacked and eliminated a number of terrorists.

"In the last few minutes, we received approval from the General Security Service together with the Intelligence Division for the approval of the assassination of a senior Hamas official who we took out at Shifa Hospital," the IDF spokesman said in his statement this evening , "the senior Hamas official we eliminated is Ra'ed Thabat. Thabet served as the head of the supply and personnel corps of the military arm of Hamas."

"In the past, he served as the head of Hamas's production system, he is a center of knowledge for the organization in all things related to equipping and ammunition," he continued, "Ra'ad was in the top ten of the senior military wing. He is close to Sinwar, Def and Issa."

"He was killed during his escape attempt along with two other terrorists into the hospital plaza," he concluded, "which was also in the plan of an attack on our forces. He was killed by the fighters of the 13th Fleet along with other forces in the area of the Nahal patrol, Shaked, and Dovdvan , along with two other terrorists."

Al Jazeera's correspondent reported that dozens were martyred and injured as the Israeli bombing continued on the north and south of the Gaza Strip , while Israeli Channel 12 said that the army had begun preparations to launch an operation in Rafah in the event that prisoner negotiations collapse. An Al Jazeera correspondent said that an Israeli bombing targeted a house on Al-Beltaji Street in the Al-Shujaiya neighborhood , east of Gaza City, leaving 3 martyrs and wounding 20 others. The reporter confirmed that there were casualties as a result of an Israeli raid that targeted the vicinity of Al-Qassam Mosque in the Beit Lahia project in the northern Gaza Strip.

A citizen was also martyred by Israeli occupation army gunfire in Hamad Town, north of Khan Yunis , south of the Gaza Strip. Al Jazeera's correspondent said that the Israeli occupation launched raids targeting the city of Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip, and other areas north of the Gaza Strip, and another raid targeted the town of Al-Mughraqa, north of Al-Nuseirat, in the center of the Gaza Strip. The reporter pointed out that an Israeli bombing targeted residential buildings in the Al-Rimal neighborhood in central Gaza City .

During the night hours, the occupation forces launched an air strike on Al-Shati camp, west of Gaza City. The occupation also launched an air strike on an electrical appliances center in the center of Jabalia camp, which led to a fire breaking out at the site. He added that Israeli military vehicles were firing in the vicinity of Al-Shifa Medical Complex, west of Gaza City, coinciding with artillery shelling.

On the other hand, the Israeli occupation army announced that one soldier was killed and another was seriously injured in a clash in the southern Gaza Strip yesterday evening, Wednesday. This comes as clashes continue between the resistance factions and the occupation forces in the vicinity of the Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza City, which has been besieged by the occupation for 11 days, while the Israeli army announced that 22 soldiers were injured in Gaza during the past 24 hours.

The Al-Qassam Brigades - the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) - announced that its fighters were able to snipe an Israeli soldier in the vicinity of Al-Shifa Medical Complex. For its part, the Al- Quds Brigades - the military wing of the Islamic Jihad Movement - said that it bombed gatherings of occupation soldiers in the vicinity of the Al-Shifa Complex with 60 mm mortar shells. The Al-Quds Brigades published scenes of the clashes and targeting of the Israeli military vehicle in the vicinity of the Al-Shifa Complex.

The HAMAS government media office in Gaza said that the information available to it indicates that Israeli occupation soldiers executed more than 200 displaced Palestinians inside the Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza City, and arrested about a thousand others. He confirmed that the occupation soldiers are threatening the medical teams and the displaced people inside the complex by bombing and destroying the buildings above their heads, or going out for investigation, torture, or execution.

Director of the HAMAS Government Information Office in Gaza, Ismail Al-Thawabta, said that the Israeli occupation is still controlling and occupying the Shifa complex, killing Palestinians, destroying the homes surrounding it, arresting hundreds of sick, wounded, and displaced people, and interrogating, torturing, and starving them. Al-Thawabta stated that the Israeli forces executed 5 doctors and two nurses, and detained a number of other medical staff. He pointed out that the Israeli army combed residential squares in the vicinity of the hospital, and also destroyed and bombed dozens of homes, completely demolishing them, and committed massacres inside the complex against the displaced and detainees.

Operational Update - Judea-Samaria

It is noteworthy that the West Bank has witnessed a security escalation and incursions by the occupation army since the start of the war on the Gaza Strip on the seventh of last October, which was met with operations launched by members of the Palestinian resistance factions, which caused the death and injury of Israeli soldiers and settlers.

At least three Israelis were injured by fire fired at a settler bus and several vehicles near the town of Al-Auja, north of the city of Jericho in the Jordan Valley, on Thursday morning. The Israeli army said that its forces arrived at the scene, closed the area, and began combing operations in search of the attackers who fled. An Israeli ambulance spokesman reported that the shooting occurred in two close locations in the same area, where the attackers also targeted Israeli cars.

Israeli Army Radio said that the shooting in the Jordan Valley resulted in three people being seriously, moderately, and slightly injured. Shortly after the shooting, the Israeli occupation army closed the entrances to the city of Jericho and began combing the area. Eyewitnesses reported that the occupation army deployed its forces in the area, closed all entrances to the city with military barriers, and prevented the movement of citizens to and from it, and also prevented movement on main streets in the Jordan Valley.

Eyewitnesses said that Israeli drones were roaming the skies of the region. The Israeli authorities also announced the closure of the King Hussein Bridge - also known as the Karama crossing - on the border with Jordan after the operation.

Tonight, the security forces arrested 18 wanted persons throughout Judea and Samaria. "This morning in the early hours," explained the commander of the Dokifat Battalion, Lt. Col. Sahar Moedim, "a terrorist opened fire on several vehicles and wounded several Israeli civilians. From that moment, the battalion, the forces of the Bekaa Brigade and special forces, we all jumped to carry out scans in the area. We are here, and we will continue to be until we find the terrorist, until we locate him and neutralize him."

The combat team of the commando formation raided from several directions on the heart of the Al Amal neighborhood in Khan Yunis; The forces located hundreds of weapons in the neighborhood. A suspect arrived by car at the Bekaa crossing near the village of Taysir. After refusing to be checked by the soldiers who were there, the suspect broke through the barrier. IDF forces started chasing him and arrested him. There were no casualties to Israeli forces and the suspect was handed over to the security forces for further treatment.

Operational Update - Lebanon

Today (Thursday) an exercise was carried out in a surprise format. The purpose of the exercise was to strengthen the IDF's readiness for various scenarios in the northern arena. The multi-armed exercise was led by the Operations Division, and included the commands, arms and wings as well as the General Staff.

The air defense fighters successfully intercepted using the "Yahlom" system a suspicious aerial target in the territory of Lebanon, which is suspected to have made its way towards the north of the country. One of the interceptors launched exploded over the sky of the country, the incident is being investigated. During the day, a number of launches were detected that crossed the territory of Lebanon to various areas in the north of the country. IDF forces attacked the sources of the shooting.

Operational Update - Syria / Iraq

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Operational Update - Yemen

The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) overnight destroyed four long-range unmanned aerial systems launched by Houthis. According to the CENTCOM's statement, the attack targeted a U.S. warship in the Red Sea. Between 2:00 and 2:20 a.m. (Sanaa time) on March 27, United States Central Command successfully engaged and destroyed four long-range unmanned aerial systems (UAS) launched by Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists in Yemen. These UAS were aimed at a U.S. warship and engaged in self-defense over the Red Sea. There were no injuries or damage reported to U.S. or coalition ships. It was determined these weapons presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and U.S. Navy ships in the region. These actions are taken to protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer and more secure for U.S. Navy and merchant vessels.

The leader of the Yemeni Ansar Allah movement, Mr. Abdul-Malik Badr al-Din al-Houthi, confirmed that the tragedy in Gaza is getting bigger, the crimes are becoming more brutal every day, and the criminal Zionist killer is becoming more persistent, persistent, and barbaric, noting that the time of control, colonialism, subjugation and enslavement of peoples through extermination and intimidation to force surrender has passed and ended.

In his speech about the latest developments and developments, Mr. Al-Houthi pointed out that the impudence and insistence of the American partner on supporting and protecting the Zionist crime is increasing, and the responsibility is increasing on Muslims before others and then on the rest of the peoples of human society. Mr. Al-Houthi stated that what is happening in Gaza is a disgrace to all of humanity and a warning to everyone of the Zionist threat and the barbaric American colonialism.

Mr. Al-Houthi addressed the criminal Zionists, saying: Your crimes will certainly take you faster on the path of inevitable demise that God has threatened you with in His books. You are occupiers, and blood is a curse upon you and will sweep you from the land of Palestine, and your injustice will not be forgotten by generations and will be engraved in their consciousness, revenge against you for those who are oppressed, hostility toward you, and discontent with you. Blood flows through the arteries of all free people.

Mr. Al-Houthi stressed that the time of control, colonialism , subjugation and enslavement of peoples through extermination and intimidation to force surrender has passed and ended. Mr. Al-Houthi said: Go back a little to history to remember what happened to you in Vietnam, in Iraq, and in other countries. In this battle, you are in greater trouble and your loss is heavy, as you sacrifice the interests of your people in the service of the Zionists.

Addressing the Americans, Mr. Al-Houthi said: You are being exposed to damage that you will not be able to compensate for for generations, and if you persist, the consequences will be worse, greater, and more dangerous. You will inherit disappointment and defeat from Britain, and the British pamper is the pamper of disappointments, defeats, and failure of your protégé, “Israel,” which you planted in our region. Here is its army actually exposed to a historical scandal.

Mr. Al-Houthi explained that the Israeli enemy army, for half a year, was unable to achieve an image of military victory in the narrowest geographical area, while the enemy army fought a fierce battle for 5 hours, with the participation of a helicopter and drone with one of the Palestinian heroes in Ramallah, where one resistance fighter attacked the enemy soldiers. And his settlers for nearly half a day alone. Mr. Al-Houthi pointed out that the Kuwait roundabout has become a scene for Zionist starvation crimes every week.

He added that behind the landing operation was an American plan, in coordination with the Israelis on the ground, to kill the people in the places where aid was dropped, noting that the American seeks to turn the process of landing aid into causing problems, and that the brutal American practices bring down the flimsy walls that the hypocrites and deceived people have erected before the people’s awareness so that they do not see the truth of America’s brutality as it is. America's brutality in Gaza must bring about an awakening in people's awareness and the falsehood towards it and its agents must be dropped.

He said that the Israeli enemy puts the displaced people between the options of death from starvation, epidemics, or murder, while it declares a safe area, and then when people gather there, it targets it, as happened this week in Al-Mawasi camp, and for the second week in a row, the Israeli enemy continues its storming and siege of the Al-Shifa Medical Complex, again creating a tragedy for patients and staff. Health and displaced people.

Mr. Al-Houthi continued, saying: The Israeli enemy has made hospitals primary targets for its criminal and brutal attack operations, and the Israeli enemy is actively seeking to create a rift between the Mujahideen and the Palestinian tribes with regard to the method of distributing aid. The Israeli enemy has failed and disappointed in causing a rift between the tribes and the Mujahideen due to the tribes’ steadfastness in their position of embracing the resistance. He noted that the continued Israeli failure is also a failure of the American partner in the crime of genocide and comprehensive destruction of Gaza.

Mr. Al-Houthi reminded that the Mujahideen on all fronts of the fighting are inflicting losses on the enemy’s ranks and vehicles, and that after the enemy celebrated the end of the Mujahideen’s missile stock, missiles were launched from areas that the enemy had declared control towards Ashdod, explaining that the recruitment crisis is an ongoing crisis and a witness to the great failure of the Israeli enemy.

Mr. Al-Houthi noted that what testifies to the enemy’s failure and failure is the continued adverse migration from Palestine and the flight of Zionist Jews from there. The enemy’s economic losses are constantly on the rise, and Hezbollah’s operations have had a significant impact on the enemy’s factories in northern occupied Palestine, and Hezbollah continues on its direct and influential front. On the Israeli enemy and inflicts daily losses on the Israeli enemy.

Mr. Al-Houthi stressed, saying: Our front in Yemen in the battle of the promised conquest and the holy jihad, thanks to God and with His success, is an active, continuous and effective front. We hope and pray to God that His Prophet, may God’s prayers be upon him and his family, will show our people in this battle what his eyes will recognize and what the faces of our people will be brightened with on the Day of Resurrection. 10 operations were carried out this week, using 37 ballistic and winged missiles and drones, and 9 ships were targeted this week, bringing the total number of ships targeted to 86 ships linked to the Israeli enemy, America and Britain.

Mr. Al-Houthi explained that the movement of the enemy at sea has become rare and he is trying to camouflage it to the maximum extent, and he is trying to mislead the media and information. The movement of enemy ships is similar to a smuggling operation. However, it fails and the attack is carried out effectively. A missile bombardment was carried out with winged missiles towards Umm Al-Rashrash to target affiliated targets. The Israeli enemy, thank God, has the impact of military operations at sea as well as on Palestine, and the enemy’s inability to stop them is a clear issue that the enemy acknowledges. It is a great blessing that God grants success in effective action on the enemy, starting with his economic situation, which he relies on in his military aggression.

Mr. Al-Houthi pointed out that the only solution is to stop the aggression, crimes, and siege on the Gaza Strip, and that the bad state that the American Navy has reached is the result of American intransigence and failure to accept the correct and fair solution. American intransigence in supporting Zionist crime and aggression against our country has put it in a real dilemma, noting that the bad state What the US Navy has reached is the result of American intransigence and failure to accept the correct and fair solution. American intransigence in supporting Zionist crime and aggression against our country has put it in a real dilemma.

He said that some countries are moving in harmony with the Israeli enemy on the media level and some domestication activities. Our people are embarking on their exit from the standpoint of their faith and sense of responsibility, and they sense the unparalleled suffering of the Palestinian people. In contrast to the magnitude of the tragedy of the Palestinian people, the responsibility is truly greater in taking a serious stand for jihad and taking a stand and taking action in every way. In the areas, if we do not move to support the Palestinian people in an oppression as great as theirs, then when can we move?!! If we do not carry the banner of jihad for the sake of God Almighty against the Israeli, American and British Zionist tyranny and criminality, then against whom and when will we fight?

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

The political pressure on Israel is increasing with another proposal for a cease-fire coming up in the UN Security Council. This is another proposal that Israel opposes, but this time it comes from a Western friend - France, a permanent member of the Security Council, which has begun circulating a draft in favor of an immediate cease-fire during Ramadan. Israel has already made it clear that they will oppose it in the existing version, which includes recognition of a Palestinian state and full membership in the United Nations, condemnation of the violence in the settlements and confirmation that the settlements are illegal from the point of view of the United Nations. Although the text contains a section calling for the release of the abductees and even condemning Hamas, the fear is that this will be one of the first sections to be removed as part of the negotiations on the draft, as is usually the case in discussions on resolutions.

The judges of the International Court of Justice unanimously ordered Israel to take all necessary and effective measures to ensure the entry of basic food supplies to the residents of the Gaza Strip without delay. The court said, in a statement, that the Palestinians in Gaza face difficult living conditions in light of the spread of famine, and it also ordered Israel to take the necessary and effective measures to cooperate with the United Nations without delay.

The Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees ( UNRWA ), Philippe Lazzarini, had revealed that Israel had informed them that it would no longer agree to send food convoys to the northern Gaza Strip, demanding that “these restrictions be lifted.”

In its statement, the court stressed that Israel must urgently provide basic services and humanitarian aid without hindrance on a large scale, increase the capacity and number of land crossing points into Gaza and keep them open for as long as necessary. The International Court of Justice added that Israel must ensure that its army does not commit violations of the rights of Palestinians in Gaza, such as preventing the delivery of aid. It indicated that Israel must submit a report to the court regarding the measures it will take within a month from today’s date.

Commenting on the court’s decision, the spokesperson for the South African team told the Al Jazeera Court of Justice that the new court order for Israel requires it to cooperate with the United Nations, and this includes cooperation with UNRWA. He stressed that Israel would not comply with the court's orders, so its allies must put pressure on it. In this context, the US State Department announced that it currently has no position on the International Court of Justice’s order for Israel to ensure that aid enters Gaza without obstacles.

The Director of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus , said today, Thursday, that 10 hospitals out of 36 are partially operating in Gaza and the health system is barely surviving. He called for an immediate halt to Israeli attacks on hospitals in Gaza, and for the protection of staff, patients and civilians. Ghebreyesus warned of the consequences of the collapse of the health system in the besieged Gaza Strip. He said on the X platform: With only 10 partially functioning hospitals out of 36, the health system in Gaza is barely surviving. He pointed out that the Palestinian Red Crescent Society announced on Tuesday that Al-Amal Hospital in the city of Khan Yunis (south) had stopped working as a result of the ongoing Israeli army attacks on the facility and its environs.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas approved the formation of the new Palestinian government headed by economist Muhammad Mustafa, who retained the foreign ministry, two weeks after his appointment. The Palestinian News and Information Agency (Wafa) reported that the new government, which does not include the names of former ministers except for Interior Minister Ziad Hab Al-Rih, will be sworn in before the president next Sunday.

Abbas issued a decision to grant confidence to the government in accordance with the Palestinian Basic Law (the Constitution), which grants the president this right in the absence of the dysfunctional Legislative Council. The government includes 23 independent and professional ministers, and Wafa Agency explained that the government’s program confirmed that its political authority is the Palestine Liberation Organization , “the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.”

In turn, Mustafa said, “The first national priority is a ceasefire and complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza .” He added, "We will work to develop visions for the reunification of institutions, including assuming responsibility in Gaza." Mustafa, an independent economist, was chosen to form this government to implement reforms in the institutions of the Palestinian Authority that the United States of America and other international bodies have long demanded, in preparation for the stage that will follow the end of the war in the Gaza Strip.

Axis of Resistance

The Saudi newspaper Al-Sharq Al-Ost reported from Palestinian sources that after Hamas lost many operatives and suffered a blow including the military, it decided to change its strategy in order to reach the "day after the war" with fewer losses. The terrorist organization decided to adopt a policy based on limited attacks against IDF forces, in a way that would not pose a danger to terrorists and to "preserve part of its forces", according to the report.

"The organization does not want to lose everything. It wants to keep part of its forces for the day after the campaign. Israel, the US, the Palestinian Authority and the Arab countries have their plans for the day after the war, and Hamas also has its plan," the sources told the newspaper.

A source in the field told Al-Sharq Al-Aust that "the repetition of the abduction operations carried out by Israel in the northern areas of the Gaza Strip and at Shifa, Al-Amal and Nazar hospitals in Khan Yunis shows the way Israel decided to operate in the Gaza Strip, an attempt to replicate what it implements in the West Bank". According to them, this means expanding Israel's security control and carrying out targeted operations from time to time. The newspaper noted that as a result, the terrorist organizations were forced to "also change their tactics and prepare for a longer campaign with fewer losses."

Although Hamas does not have a clear estimate of how and when the war will end, it is betting that the kidnapped card will be the "winning card". The sources stated that "Hamas does not intend to give up this card, because it understands its importance and makes it insist on receiving a commitment to end the war, even at a later stage, before signing a new agreement."

The sources who spoke to the Saudi newspaper confirmed that the military wing of Hamas and other terrorist organizations "have lost most of their rocket power, but they still have a stockpile of rockets that they may use at any moment, especially if the war is nearing its end, in an attempt to achieve a victory image. This is indicated The latest barrages towards Ashdod, Ashkelon and Sderot". They added that Hamas has many missiles to attack IDF forces, vehicles, mortar bombs, explosive charges and other weapons and ammunition.

Allied for Democracy

The High Court issued a decision endorsing a universal draft, including the Haredi sector starting April 1 as a matter of principle, while in practice deferring any enforcement until August 9.

Academics suggested that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will side with his partners in the "extreme right-wing coalition" in the crisis of recruiting ultra-Orthodox Jews, even if it requires the exit of War Council Minister Benny Gantz. The academic and expert on Israeli affairs, Dr. Muhannad Mustafa, said that Netanyahu is facing the biggest political crisis that exceeds his crisis with Washington, believing that he will prefer to go for a law that is largely consistent with the aspirations of the religious parties, even if it costs him the withdrawal of Gantz, who has been a political, social, and international cover for the “right-wing” government since the beginning of the war.

The second scenario - which Mustafa rules out happening - is to adopt a law that is closer to the secular parties, which will lead to the loss of the religious parties and the fall of the government. Netanyahu is also trying to avoid going to early elections, which implicitly means stopping the war on Gaza, in addition to the fall of him and the “right-wing” camp and the formation of an alternative government headed by Gantz, according to the expert on Israeli affairs.

Mustafa confirms that the current crisis comes in the context of the occupation army’s need for reserve soldiers, after neglecting this issue, including the recruitment of Haredim , indicating that Israel has a final opportunity to legislate the law after the Supreme Court overturned previous laws. He adds that Netanyahu's government is obligated to enact this law, "and without it, the government will not be able to exempt the Haredim," and it must present the law to the Knesset next June to vote on it.

In turn, Dr. Hassan Ayoub, professor of political science at An-Najah University in Palestine, confirms that the Haredi recruitment crisis highlights the extent of political opportunism, whether on the part of Netanyahu or his partners in the coalition or the opposition. He confirms that the crisis is not only related to military calculations in light of the army’s need for more manpower, but there is an economic aspect related to the state budget, before summarizing the scene as a crisis defined by the state itself. He believes that the crisis will cast a shadow by creating a rift in Israeli society between the liberal secular side and the religious side, adding that it is difficult to get out of this impasse and stressing the necessity of concluding a new deal.

The Palestinian academic believes that the issue of Haredi recruitment seriously threatens the survival of Netanyahu's government because all parties have become entrenched and extremist in a way that does not seem to have a way out, ruling out that Netanyahu will escape the pressure of this crisis. Regarding the nature of these religious parties, Mustafa explains that the Haredim constitute 13% of Israeli society and are expected to reach 20% in 2050. He added that it is an extremist religious group that does not recognize Zionism and lives in geographically isolated neighborhoods that differ in their dress. It has succeeded in integrating while preserving its political and cultural interests, especially education in closed neighborhoods.

He shows that the Haredi group is one of the highest groups in terms of population growth, as the rate of birth of Haredi women is between 7 and 8 children. They also do not study English, mathematics, and science, and are limited to religious curricula. “Therefore, they are uneducated, uncultured, unproductive, and consuming, and are not integrated into the Israeli economy.”

Haaretz newspaper quoted a letter sent by the Israeli government's judicial advisor, Gali Behrav Meara, to the Israeli Supreme Court, stating that the recruitment of religious Haredim must begin from the beginning of next month. The content of the letter stated that “recruitment authorities must act with regard to the recruitment procedures for those whose service has been postponed according to the law or for those who have reached the Haredi conscription age, leaving the method of implementation for later.” The letter also stated that the government will not be able to transfer budget funds to religious centers and schools for those who do not send a request for conscription and those who are not conscripts.

The newspaper added that the Israeli Attorney General's Office had opposed the attempt of Benjamin Netanyahu's government to extend the deadline for the draft law on conscription of ultra-Orthodox Jews. The Board of Grievances had asked to extend the submission of the application until Thursday afternoon, which the newspaper considered a slap on the part of the judicial advisor to Prime Minister Netanyahu.

The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth previously reported that the religious parties in the ruling coalition threatened to withdraw if a new conscription law was adopted that abolished the exemption enjoyed by religious Jews. The newspaper added that the religious Jewish parties are threatening to withdraw from the government if the percentage of those who will be forced to conscript is determined in the draft law that the government is trying to pass.

For its part, the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation quoted the leaders of the Haredi parties as saying - during a meeting with Netanyahu - that the demands to put an end to the exemption of religious people from military service contradict the agreement to form the coalition. Haredi leaders added that there is a fear that the rabbis will ask them to withdraw from the government if a new law abolishing the exemption is passed.

Netanyahu's right-wing government had sought to enact a law exempting the Haredim from military service, which opened the door wide to interactions in Israel between supporters and opponents, which heralded a crisis within the emergency government. While the religious parties oppose compromising the principle of exempting religious people from military service, ministers including War Council member Benny Gantz, Defense Minister Yoav Galant, and opposition leader Yair Lapid are calling for an end to this exemption.

War Council member Benny Gantz had threatened to withdraw if the Knesset approved a draft law maintaining the exemption of religious people from military conscription, and from Washington, Gallant announced that he would not support the draft law in its current form that maintains the exemption of the Haredim from military service. As for the opposition leader, he attacked Netanyahu and the conscription law in its current form, and Lapid called on members of the Likud Party to oppose the proposed law, which he described as a conscription evasion law. Since 2017, successive governments have failed to reach a consensus law regarding the recruitment of Haredim, after the Supreme Court annulled a law enacted in 2015, which ruled to exempt them from military service, considering that it violates the “principle of equality.”

At a time when Israel insists on continuing its military operations in the Gaza Strip, in pursuit of its declared goals, which are the release of hostages held in the Strip and “eliminating Hamas,” many believe that the country “cannot reconcile” the two goals, which has become clear. The Israelis' positions on this matter differ, according to what the American newspaper " Wall Street Journal " reported. Israelis are divided over how to prioritize the country's two main war goals: "destroying" Hamas, and freeing some 130 hostages, including more than 30 bodies of hostages killed after they were kidnapped nearly six months ago.

Divisions have escalated as Israel negotiates with Hamas, through the United States, Egypt and Qatar, over a ceasefire that could last 6 weeks and see the release of 40 hostages. These hostages will be children, the elderly, the sick and women, including female soldiers. Hamas demands that Israel release thousands of Palestinian prisoners, some of whom are considered "terrorists" in Israel. Hamas also wants Israel to agree to concessions that could preserve the group's control of Gaza, even after the group, designated by the United States as a terrorist organization, planned and carried out the worst attack in Israel's history.

Mitchell Barak, a political analyst at Keyvon Global Research based in Jerusalem, said: “The two goals contradict each other, and both cannot happen,” adding: “No side will be happy here.” Forty-seven percent of Israeli Jews participating in the most recent public poll on the issue, conducted by the Israel Democracy Institute in January, said Israel “should prioritize freeing the hostages,” while 42 percent said it “should put the destruction of Hamas first.” The poll found that those who favored the release of the hostages "largely voted for left or center parties," while those who favored the destruction of Hamas "supported right-wing and religious parties."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has set eliminating Hamas and freeing the hostages as two goals to "win" the war, but analysts say that reconciling them is an "almost impossible task." On the one hand, there are Israelis from the center and left and most of the hostage families, who have become a political force since the war began, and are willing to pay a heavy price for their freedom. They claim, according to the newspaper, that the state “has a fundamental moral duty towards the hostages, which if violated would undermine citizens’ sense of security in the foreseeable future.” They also say that "Hamas can be fought in the future, but the hostages may die in the present."

But Israel's right wing - Netanyahu's political base - "largely opposes, on moral grounds, any agreement that allows Hamas to remain in power and releases thousands of prisoners involved in terrorist attacks, because it would endanger Israel's national security and the lives of future citizens and soldiers." According to the Wall Street Journal. They say the hostages should be released "by forcing Hamas to release them, as a result of military pressure."

The American newspaper reported that social scientists considered that the division between liberals and conservatives in Israel, over the price that must be paid to free the hostages, “reflects their basic views about the relationship between citizens and the state.” “For many religious and right-wing Israelis, the group and the state are above the individual,” said Menachem Mautner, a professor at Tel Aviv University’s Faculty of Law. “The individual is supposed to serve the group.” As for the left movement in Israel, according to Mautner, “the state, first and foremost, is a tool for preserving our (its citizens) lives.”

Former Israeli Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben Ami said that the United States wanted to bend Israel's arm by refraining from announcing a veto against a draft resolution for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip last week, and that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is now convinced that US President Joe Biden wants to overthrow it. In an interview with the Spanish newspaper El Pais, the last Israeli foreign minister in a government led by the Labor Party said that Biden was fed up with Netanyahu and that abstaining from using the veto in the Security Council was “part of a progressive strategy to send signals to Israel that things can change.” The abstention was a severe blow to Netanyahu, and its importance exceeded the importance of other similar steps in recent years.

According to Ben Ami, the change in the American position appeared, for example, in a statement by Biden leaked to the media that Netanyahu had become a burden, but he does not see the abstention from using the veto as a change in the American strategy in the Middle East as much as he sees it as an attempt to twist Israel’s arm, which made Netanyahu convinced that Biden wants to bring him down. Ben-Ami said that although Washington was keen to limit itself to abstaining from voting for the resolution (which was not binding), its step clearly expressed a willingness to go further in the pressure, especially if Netanyahu’s rule continued, which, according to him, would be as embarrassing as it was Biden, and he stated that the close and volatile relationship between the two parties was wise. There are always clear limits, which are not to obstruct American geopolitical interests or the goals of the White House resident .

He explained that Biden cannot launch the election season burdened by the burden of the failure of his strategy in the Middle East, not to mention his need to save face before world leaders. Ben Ami - who was one of the architects of the Israeli-Arab peace processes in the past few decades - added that Israel is living in a state of isolation and described it as "a threat to Western goals in the current cold war between the United States on the one hand and China and Russia on the other hand."

According to the former minister, Biden had a clear strategy in the Middle East, based on a solid alliance with Israel and the Arab countries against Iran , and the great success of the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) was in dragging Netanyahu into a war without clear political goals that removed Israel from the Western alliance that had been established. Recent years, which supports Ukraine against Russia and China.

Ben Ami referred to what he calls the extremely sudden explosion against Israel in the world, the likes of which has never happened before, and according to him this is a great victory for Hamas, and he said that what prevents confronting this explosion is Netanyahu’s extremist government. He also warned Israel against being blind to the major trends present in American society and seeking to distance itself from Israel, whether in the Democratic Party or among young people, and held Netanyahu responsible for the rise in popularity of the more extreme trends in American society, such as evangelicals or “Trumpism.”

The former Israeli minister noted another damage caused by the Prime Minister, which was the rift in American Jewish support. He said that Netanyahu and his extremist government were able to split the ranks of American Jews who have never failed to support Israel, to the point that there is now among them a movement calling for the adoption of a new ideology that ends dependence on Israel.

A US State Department official working in the field of human rights in the Middle East announced her resignation on Wednesday in protest against Washington's support for Israel in its war on Gaza, according to a report published by the Washington Post. Annelle Sheline (38 years old) submitted her resignation from the US State Department, where she had been working as a foreign affairs officer in the Office of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor for about a year.

This is considered the second resignation of US State Department officials in protest against the US policy of supporting Israel in its war on Gaza, after the resignation of Josh Paul, who was responsible for arms transfers to foreign governments. In an article published by CNN , Sheline explained the reasons that prompted her to resign, noting that she strongly believes in her work in promoting human rights in the Middle East.

She added that "as a representative of a government working directly to enable what the International Court of Justice said could be genocide in Gaza, this work has become almost impossible, and due to my inability to serve an administration that allows such atrocities, I have decided to resign from my position in the State Department." “The credibility that the United States had as a defender of human rights has almost completely disappeared since the war began,” Sheline said in her article. She continued that through her public resignation, she knew that she “would likely be deprived of any future work in the State Department,” noting that she had been appointed to a two-year contract, but when she began to tell her colleagues about her position, their response was, “Please speak on our behalf", referring to the dissatisfaction of many State Department employees with Washington's policy of supporting Israel in the war.

Operation Iron Swords - By the Numbers

• 74,980 Gazans injured, 28% adult male
• 45,000 bombs dropped in Gaza
• 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]
• 13,750 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
• 9,920 Gazan women martyred
• 9,000 Palestinians in Israeli prisons
• 9,000 IDF psychological assistance
• 8,000 Gazans missing under the rubble
• 7,820 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
• 3,600 wanted persons arrested throughout Judea and Samaria
• 3,079 IDF wounded [IDF]
• 2,100 Gazan women are missing
• 1,609 terrorists killed on the first day
• 1,600 wanted persons arrested throughout Judea and Samaria affiliated with Hamas
• 1,160 Israelis killed on the first day
• 595 Israeli officers and soldiers killed
• 453 West Bank Palestinians martyred
• 253 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

Not every number is reported every day, so sudden jumps generally reflect reporting artifacts rather than actual upticks. 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.