Operation Iron Swords - Day 190 - 13 April 2024

“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)

Contents

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

War Termination

The Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) announced that it had delivered to the mediators in Egypt and Qatar this Saturday evening its response to the proposal it received last Monday, expressing its readiness to conclude a “serious and real prisoner exchange deal between the two parties.” In a press statement published on its official account on the Telegram platform, Hamas affirmed its adherence to its demands and the demands of the Palestinian people, including “a permanent ceasefire, the withdrawal of the occupation army from the entire Gaza Strip , the return of the displaced to their areas and places of residence, intensifying the entry of relief and aid, and the start of reconstruction.”

Sources close to the negotiations confirmed to Al Jazeera Net that although Hamas adhered to its response presented on March 14, it decided - after consultations that included the internal leadership - to respond again to the Israeli proposals, even though they did not bring anything new. The sources indicated a growing conviction among the Hamas leadership that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is deliberately disrupting the negotiations, and is continuing his media tricks to deceive the families of the prisoners and the Israeli public that he is working to release the prisoners, when in fact he does not want to reach an agreement.

These sources attribute this position of Netanyahu to the fact that reaching an agreement would launch an escalating campaign within the occupation entity to hold elections that would inevitably lead to his downfall and his exposure to trials regarding corruption and failure on the seventh of last October, the date of the Al-Aqsa Flood operation carried out by the Palestinian resistance. The sources revealed that the latest occupation offer did not contain anything new regarding the return of the displaced to their places of residence in the northern Gaza Strip, and that it still requires a return that is controlled militarily and security-wise and within pre-determined numbers, which does not meet the demand for their unconditional return put forward by the movement.

The Israeli proposal does not meet the withdrawal of the occupation forces from the Salah al-Din and al-Rashid axes, and does not include a pledge to withdraw the occupation forces from the Gaza Strip during the second phase in accordance with the divisions of the Paris understandings. In addition, the Netanyahu government is still presenting a limited formula for the exchange of prisoners, and insists on releasing only 100 high-sentenced prisoners, so that it specifies a number from which Hamas chooses, in exchange for 4 to 5 female soldiers held captive by the resistance, while Hamas demands a formula of 1. In exchange for 50, which will lead to the release of 250 prisoners within this category, provided that Hamas determines them in advance. Hamas also rejects the Israeli demand to release 40 prisoners during the first phase, even if the resistance no longer has this number of civilians due to the killing of some of them in Israeli raids.

The occupation demands that this number be supplemented by the category of occupation soldiers, which Hamas still rejects. The Israeli offer, within the first phase, which includes the release of women, children, the elderly, and the sick, in addition to female soldiers, in various equations, will lead to the release of 900 to a thousand Palestinians from occupation prisons.

Hamas had affirmed its position demanding "a permanent ceasefire, the withdrawal of the occupation forces from Gaza, the return of the displaced to their places of residence, freedom of movement of people, relief and shelter for them, and a serious prisoner exchange deal," according to the statement issued by the movement on April 6.

Operational Update

Israel has strengthened its preparations to confront an expected Iranian response to the raid that targeted the Iranian consulate in Damascus at the beginning of this month, and led to the killing of a number of Iranian soldiers, including a prominent commander in the Quds Force of the Revolutionary Guard. The US President repeated in several statements that he would support Israel, anticipating an “urgent” Iranian attack, while Tehran warned Washington of the consequences of any interference.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also confirmed on Saturday that "Israel can rely on Washington in the face of any attacks by Iran and its regional agents," he said. This came during a call Austin made with his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant, “to discuss regional threats,” as the Pentagon put it.

Iranian commandos have stormed an Israeli-operated container ship in the Persian Gulf and taken control of the vessel. Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz condemned the “pirate operation” and called on the West to impose sanctions on Tehran. The MSC Aries was boarded by Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy troops as it transited the Strait of Hormuz around noon on Saturday. Once under the IRGC’s control, it was taken to Iranian territorial waters, Iranian state media reported. Video footage shared online showed IRGC commandos rappelling onto the deck of the ship from a helicopter.

The Portuguese-flagged MSC Aries is operated by Zodiac Maritime, a shipping firm owned by Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer. At the time of the seizure, it was sailing past the Emirati port of Fujairah with its transponder switched off, the Associated Press reported. With Iran controlling the Strait of Hormuz and Yemen’s Houthi rebels attacking Israeli shipping interests in the Red Sea, it is standard practice for Israeli-linked vessels to disable their tracking data when sailing in the region.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz condemned the seizure, accusing Khamenei’s “criminal regime” of “conducting a pirate operation in violation of international law.” “I call on the European Union and the free world to immediately declare the Iranian Revolutionary Guards corps as a terrorist organization and to sanction Iran now,” he wrote on X.

The White House said that Iran must release the detained ship immediately, after the Iranian Revolutionary Guard announced the detention of an Israeli cargo ship in an airdrop near the Strait of Hormuz . Iranian media indicated that the ship was partly owned by an Israeli businessman. The US National Security Council expressed its strong condemnation of Iran's seizure of the ship "MSC Aries" - which it said was British - in international waters. Portuguese-flagged MSC Aries associated with London-based Zodiac Maritime, part of Israel's Eyal Ofer’s Zodiac Group,

Operational Update - Gaza

The 401st and Nahal brigade combat teams and other units under the command of Division 162 continue their activities aimed at eliminating terrorists and destroying terrorist infrastructures in the central Gaza Strip. The fighters of the Nahal Brigade combat team destroyed in the last day terrorist infrastructures of the terrorist organization Hamas in which weapons are stored, and confiscated additional military equipment of the organization.

At the same time, in a targeted operation in the Beit Hanon area, IDF soldiers in command of the Northern Brigade in the Gaza Division located a number of armed terrorists operating in the area using a drone. An Air Force aircraft attacked the terrorists and eliminated them. Over the past day, in a number of targeted attack aircraft, fighter jets and aircraft of the Air Force attacked more than 30 terrorist targets throughout the Strip, including terrorist infrastructures, military buildings and anti-tank launchers.

The military and strategic expert, Colonel Hatem Karim Al-Falahi, believes that the occupation will not launch a military attack on Rafah (south of the Gaza Strip ) before the possible Iranian strike against Israel in response to the attack that targeted its consulate in Damascus ends. While he pointed out the decrease in the severity of the Israeli statements regarding the attack on Rafah, Al-Falahi said that the Iranian threats cause a state of complete paralysis for the occupation army, especially since it does not know where the Iranian strike will be, and whether it will include important and vital targets? Which requires an Israeli response, and thus there will be a further escalation. On this front.

In addition to the Iran issue, there is clear American pressure on Israel regarding the consequences of the attack on Rafah, given the city’s population density, which requires time to evacuate people to safe areas. The military and strategic expert believes that Khan Yunis (south of the Gaza Strip) will remain an important and vital area for the occupation throughout the coming period, because it directly affects Rafah if the battle begins, stressing that the Palestinian resistance will in turn continue its operations in the region until the fate of the Israeli forces is determined, whether they withdraw or remain.

Regarding the inability of the occupation forces to advance towards the Nuseirat camp in the middle of the Gaza Strip, Colonel Hatem Al-Falahi explained that the military operation he is carrying out there is limited, and his forces have penetrated the region in limited sectors, suggesting that their goal is to confront some possible operations by Palestinian resistance factions in Gaza and push them behind the Wadi Gaza.

The Al-Quds Brigades - the military wing of the Islamic Jihad Movement - announced that its fighters bombarded Israeli occupation soldiers and vehicles stationed in the vicinity of the Malik military site north of Nuseirat with mortar shells.

The military and strategic expert reiterated what he said before that the occupation forces do not aim to enter the Nuseirat camp, pointing out that the Netzarim axis is very far from the Nuseirat area, and if he had intended to do so, he would have entered from the buffer zone into the Nuseirat area. He concluded that the Israeli operation is limited to Al-Zahraa and Al-Mughraqa, suggesting that the Israeli sectors will withdraw after the operation. It is noteworthy that the Israeli occupation army continues, for the third day in a row, its ground military operation in camps and cities in the central Gaza Strip, amid intense bombardment of the area with artillery, warplanes, and drones.

Operational Update - Judea-Samaria

The occupation army announced that it had found the body of Binyamin Achimair, the 14-year-old boy who had been missing since yesterday morning. The army stated that preliminary investigations showed that he was killed in what it described as a terrorist operation. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant said that the settlers must "allow the security services to search for who killed the settler." He added that acts of revenge would make it difficult for the security forces to find the saboteurs, as he put it.

Groups of settlers, under the protection of the occupation forces, launched widespread attacks on many towns and villages in the West Bank, where they attacked Palestinian citizens, burned their property, and blocked a number of roads. Israeli Broadcasting Corporation said that the army fears the escalation of confrontations between settlers and Palestinians in the West Bank in light of the current events. It added that the Israeli army decided to summon more of its forces and border guard units to the West Bank after security consultations.

For the second day in a row, the village of Duma, south of the city of Nablus, in the north of the West Bank, is subjected to a widespread attack by settlers, just like the rest of the surrounding villages, especially the village of Al-Mughair, which the settlers have also been targeting since yesterday with storming, assaults, and shooting live bullets directly at the people, which led to the death of a young man and the injury of a young man. Others were seriously injured, and many homes and vehicles were burned.

Under the pretext of searching for the 14-year-old shepherd settler who had been missing since yesterday morning, more than 1,500 settlers launched their attack on Al-Mughayir, and after he was found killed - according to what was reported by Israeli media - in the area between the villages of Al-Mughayir and Duma, the settlers coming from the surrounding settlements attacked The village of Duma again on Saturday afternoon, and opened fire on citizens and burned their homes and vehicles, after they called through their websites to “attack Arab villages and burn them.”

Since yesterday, and immediately after the occupation announced the loss of the settler who was grazing his sheep in the area, the settlers, accompanied by the army, stormed the outskirts of the southern village, especially the Marajem area, and raided citizens’ homes, searched them, tampered with their contents, and assaulted the residents before confiscating the recordings of their home cameras and personal phones.

The occupation forces also completely closed the entrances and exits of the village of Duma, and declared it a closed military zone. Citizens and eyewitnesses from the village told Al Jazeera Net that hundreds of settlers on alert since yesterday stormed the village this afternoon as soon as the missing settler was found, and they penetrated to advanced positions and raided the homes near my neighborhood. Al-Marj and Al-Mehwar, they burned at least 10 homes and smashed the windows of other homes with stones. They also partially and completely burned dozens of vehicles, 4 poultry and cow farms, and a vehicle washing station.

The storming of the settlers, who appeared fully armed with weapons and military equipment, coincided with their heavy shooting at the citizens who tried to confront them, wounding a number of them with live bullets, while one of the settlers stabbed a citizen in the shoulder. Shortly after the settlers' attack, the occupation army stormed citizens' homes, mounted their roofs, and set up snipers who opened fire at the citizens and young men who tried to confront the settlers' attack.

Citizen Obadah Dawabsha stated that “the attack on the village was systematic,” and that the settlers had prepared for it in advance, as they stormed the village in the form of groups and gangs, in the hundreds, and from more than one axis, and some of their leaders were observed guiding other settlers to the sites they wished to target. Dawabsha added to Al Jazeera Net that they They avoided civilian casualties after they became aware of the settlers' rapid intrusion and expelled the citizens from their homes, which the settlers had burned.

The Director of Ambulance and Emergency at the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, Ahmed Jibril, stated that the occupation army prevented them from entering the village of Duma to treat the injured, and that they were able to do so after 3 hours. He stated that 6 citizens were injured by live bullets during the settlers’ attack on the village of Duma, while another citizen was injured in the neighboring village of Al-Mughayir.

The occupation army had announced in a joint statement between the Shin Bet and the Israeli police published in the Hebrew press that the body of the shepherd settler Benjamin Achimeir had been found near the “Malachi Shalom” (Angels of Peace) settlement, located on citizens’ lands in Duma and Al-Mughir, and said that “he was killed in a terrorist act, and that he He tried to resist his killers,” he said, adding that the investigation was still ongoing.

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was quoted as denouncing what he described as the "serious crime" of the settler's killing, and called on the occupation army to reach the settler's killers and arrest them, threatening those who threaten the State of Israel and its security.

The attack on the village of Duma coincided with another attack on the nearby village of Al-Mughayir for the second day, which did not recover from an attack launched by more than 1,500 settlers yesterday, where they killed a young man and wounded more than 50 others, in addition to burning dozens of vehicles and homes. The settlers were also wounded during the attack. Today's attack on Al-Mughir killed 3 citizens, one of whom is in critical condition. Other settlers also launched various attacks on the villages of Deir, east of Ramallah, and the town of Turmus Ayya, north of it. They closed the main streets used by Palestinians and threw stones at them.

In light of the fierce settlers’ attack, the factional coordination committee in the city of Nablus said in a statement, received by Al Jazeera Net, that it “will not allow the settlers to impose a new reality with their attack on Palestinian villages and towns,” and called on the factions to mobilize publicly and declare a state of emergency to confront them, and stressed the necessity of forming and activating Guard committees in those villages, and support these committees both popularly and officially.

The Governor of Nablus, Ghassan Douglas, described the settlers’ attack as “barbaric, armed and protected by the occupation army,” and said that it was “evidence of the settlers’ preparations and preparations for this from time immemorial.” He added to Al Jazeera Net that “these scenarios for which the settlers were prepared aim for something greater, unless there is a pause.” Seriousness from the international community.”

Douglas stated, "Burning homes and vehicles and shooting at citizens is reminiscent of a scene carried out by the Zionist gangs Stern, the Haganah, and others against the Palestinians in 1948, when they expelled them from their villages and towns in historic Palestine." He stated that "this difficult situation, and the increase in settler attacks by more than 208% compared to before the war on Gaza, requires citizens to confront these settlement projects," and he said that this is done by activating the popular guard and resistance committees. The governor did not hide that the settlers’ crimes were increasing and becoming more horrific, and he said, “The opportunity is now more favorable for them in light of the declared war, the silence of the international community, the arming of the settlers, and a government of terrorism and extremism that supports them.”

What happened today in the village of Duma reminds its people of an attack that was no less serious in 2015, when extremist settlers burned the home of Saad Dawabsha’s family, burning him, his wife, and his child, Ali , while his child, Ahmed, was seriously injured. The head of the village council, Suleiman Dawabsha, confirms that “all of this falls within a plan targeting the entire village to displace it,” and he tells Al Jazeera Net that of about 18,500 dunums of village land (one dunum is equivalent to a thousand square metres), Israel classifies more than 95% of it as “Area C.” That is, it is under complete Israeli control, as the owners of the land only own 940 dunams.

This remaining area constitutes the area of the structural plan that is allowed to regulate construction, and the occupation did not allow its expansion, which prompted half of the village’s population of 3,500 people to build outside the structural plan, which exposed them to Israeli demolition that affected dozens of homes, and the authorities also notified more than 200 homes of demolition.

Palestinian resistance factions denounced the widespread settler attacks on towns and villages in the West Bank , following the discovery of the body of a settler east of Ramallah today, Saturday, calling on the masses of people to rise up against these attacks, and for the Palestinian Authority to carry out its duty to protect citizens. The Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) said - in a statement - that the settler attacks are carried out under the direct supervision of the occupation government and with the full protection of its army, describing these attacks as described war crimes aimed at seizing the lands of the West Bank and displacing its people.

The statement called on the people of the West Bank to rise up in the face of these plans, escalate the revolutionary and resistance movement, clash with the occupation and settlers, confront these attacks, and complete cohesion in the battle of the Al-Aqsa flood with the people of Gaza. Hamas added that these dangerous attacks "require the leadership of the Authority and the security services in the West Bank to be on alert and exercise their assigned role to protect our people suffering under the weight of daily incursions, raids, killings, and arrests."

For its part, the Islamic Jihad movement said that the scenes of heavily armed settlers attacking the Palestinian people and committing crimes “reflect the gang mentality that the entity grew up with and its efforts to plunge the West Bank into the furnace of street war.” The movement added - in a statement - that "the resistance forces will perform their duty to defend the Palestinian people with all the means and tools they possess." The Islamic Jihad movement also held the Palestinian Authority responsible for what the situation has reached, after more than 30 years of security coordination policy, according to the statement.

The spokesman for the Palestinian National Liberation Movement ( Fatah ), Munther Al-Hayek, said that the occupation, which is waging a war of genocide in Gaza, is continuing its war on the villages of the West Bank “by instructing the criminal settlers to practice terrorism against the regions and villages, in continuation of the series of forced displacement to eliminate the national project.” Al-Hayek called for "general mobilization and involvement in the popular protection committees to confront settler terrorism and defend the Palestinian presence in every place targeted by terrorists."

In turn, the national and Islamic forces of Ramallah and Al-Bireh Governorate called for “thwarting settlers’ attempts to terrorize Palestinian villages and towns,” stressing the need to maintain a permanent and continuous state of alert and vigilance. These forces indicated - in a statement - that “the necessity is urgent in the face of the horrific scenes in Al-Mughayir, Turmus Ayya, Abu Falah, Silwad and the villages east of Ramallah , in addition to the villages north of Nablus , Bitlo, Kafr Ni’ma and the western villages, which are subjected to repeated attacks by settler gangs.” To put all the capabilities available to our people in order to thwart these plans.” The statement stressed the necessity of "activating the popular guard and protection committees, burning tires at the entrances to villages and towns adjacent to settlements, and bypass streets around the clock, and using mosque loudspeakers."

Operational Update - Lebanon

The Israeli army said that its warplanes bombed Hezbollah targets simultaneously in 4 areas of southern Lebanon, while Hezbollah announced carrying out operations against Israeli military sites and targeting others with missiles. On the other hand, the army claimed in its statement that its forces had opened fire - earlier on Saturday - in order to remove a potential threat in the Rmeish area (Bint Jbeil District), as it described it. The Israeli army concluded its statement by saying, "In addition to the warnings that were activated earlier today in the north of the country for fear of an enemy drone infiltrating, the details are being investigated, and there are no human casualties."

The IDF attacked Hezbollah targets with fighter jets and artillery in the areas of Al-Khariba, Al-Wardia and Kalat Daba in response to the launch of the UAVs towards Kfar Blum and its parking earlier today. Among the targets attacked were terrorist infrastructures and military positions. Fighter jets attacked a number of Hezbollah military buildings in the areas of Tir Harfa, Alma al-Sha'ab, and Yarin in southern Lebanon.

In the same context, the occupation army announced that two drones had penetrated the airspace across the border with Lebanon and exploded in Kibbutz Hanita in the Western Galilee. Later, the Israeli Broadcasting Authority announced that a member of the emergency room in Kibbutz Hanita was seriously injured as a result of the explosion of a march launched by Hezbollah. For its part, Hezbollah said that its fighters attacked with drones a building where occupation soldiers were stationed in the Hanita colony, "and we killed and wounded those inside it."

Following the alerts that were activated in the Hanita area, three missiles were identified that crossed the territory of Lebanon towards Israel, and fell in open areas. In addition, two explosive drones crossed from Lebanese territory towards Israel a short time ago and exploded in a parking area. IDF forces attacked with artillery fire in southern Lebanon.

Israeli Army Radio announced that sirens sounded in a number of settlements in the Upper Galilee region in northern Israel. In breaking news this Saturday evening, Israeli Channel 12 reported monitoring the launching of 4 missiles from southern Lebanon towards the Upper Galilee, without causing any casualties.

Hezbollah announced carrying out operations against Israeli military sites and targeting others with missiles. Hezbollah confirmed that it carried out 7 operations against Israeli sites and bombed with dozens of Katyusha rockets Israeli artillery positions in Zaoura in the occupied Syrian Golan. The party also announced that it had targeted, with drones, the Ramot Naftali base, and bombed the sites of Karantina Hill, Al-Marj, and Misgav Am in the Upper Galilee, and the sites of Ruwaisat Al-Alam and Al-Samaqa in the occupied Kfar Shuba hills. The party added, "We targeted with missiles and artillery the Israeli enemy soldiers in Horsh Hanita and achieved a direct hit."

The frequency of mutual attacks on the border between Lebanon and Israel escalated following threats from Israeli officials to expand attacks on Lebanese territory unless Hezbollah fighters withdraw away from the border with northern Israel. These military confrontations come against the backdrop of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip that has been ongoing for more than 6 months, which has led to the death and injury of tens of thousands, widespread destruction of infrastructure, and an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe.

Operational Update - Syria / Iraq

Operational Update - Yemen

According to the Chinese news outlet Xinhua, citing a "military official allied with Yemen's government" the Houthi group launched several drones against Israeli targets. The Houthis were one of the first groups to take action against Israel after its bombardment of Gaza began, seizing ships in the Red Sea that it says were linked or headed to Israel.

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

Axis of Resistance

Allied for Democracy

Much of the West's criticism of Israel has focused on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu , but experts say his style of warfare has broad support. Tunisian-based independent journalist Simon Speakman Cordal noted that as the Israeli war on Gaza continues, criticism seems to be focusing on the beleaguered Israeli leader Netanyahu, the man facing multiple corruption charges, explaining that one of the manifestations of These criticisms are evident in thousands of demonstrators taking to the streets to demand his departure.

However, the writer quotes analysts who say that discontent with Netanyahu and the far-right instigators in his government should not be confused with the decline in popular support for the war launched by Israel to punish Gaza for the attack led by the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) on October 7, 2023. And to secure the release of the remaining prisoners who were taken from Israel on that day.

Observers say that disagreement with Netanyahu as an individual does not deny that his war aims still enjoy the support of a society that has become increasingly right-wing and religious extremist, and also believes that the Palestinians are “inferior” in one way or another than they actually are. “We have people walking around with automatic weapons, and just saying you're afraid of a Palestinian gives you legal justification to shoot him,” says Haim Bresheth of London, author of "Introducing the Holocaust: An Illustrated Guide" and professor of film studies at Britain's School of Oriental and African Studies. “I think, at the moment, Israeli society is somewhere between fascism and Nazism and no one seems to have noticed,” says Bersheth, who left Israel in the 1970s and whose parents were killed in Auschwitz.

An opinion poll conducted by the newspaper "Israel Today" last January found that the overwhelming majority of those surveyed (81.5%) support the idea that the war in Gaza remains the best way to secure the release of prisoners. Moreover, before the recent ruling by the International Court of Justice, which ordered Israel to allow more aid into Gaza to avoid famine, a poll conducted by the Israel Democracy Institute showed a marked reluctance among Israelis to increase aid to Gaza.

“There have been two parallel trends in Israeli society over the past 20 years or so,” says Merav Zonszin, a senior analyst at the International Crisis Group in Tel Aviv. Israeli society, especially young people, has become more right-wing, and opinion polls indicate this. “We have seen growing support for ultra-Orthodox politics and the far right, which eventually entered not only the government, but also the courts, the army and the education system,” she says.

The current Israeli government, which includes far-right extremist Itamar Ben Gvir , who was convicted of incitement and support for terrorism in 2007, and Bezalel Smotrich , who heads an ultra-Orthodox religious Zionist party, has a mandate that could last until 2026. “Indeed, people complain about the presence of the extreme right and the ultra-Orthodox in power, especially liberals. However, it is important not to confuse these objections, which are often due to their political freedoms, with their concern about the lives of Palestinians,” according to Zonszyn.

v International criticism of the Israeli attack on Gaza has not succeeded in weakening domestic assumptions shaped by decades of political and media narratives about the country's “regional isolation.” After complaining, for many years, of falling victim to the United Nations and accusing the main UN humanitarian agency in Gaza ( UNRWA ) of being infiltrated by the Palestinian Hamas movement, Israeli ministers were quick to reject the request submitted by the Security Council late last March for a ceasefire. .

Other international criticisms - such as the report of UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, which found that Israel was involved in three of the five acts of genocide specified in the 1948 convention - have been dismissed as anti-Semitic by Israel's political and media establishment, as well as by allies. Israel in the United States. Only a few analysts, perhaps, can doubt that Netanyahu did not encourage or benefit from the growth of the extreme religious right, but suggesting that the suffering in Gaza would be less without him is ludicrous, according to Zonszyn. Even before the October attack, the analyst says, Israel was confident of its position as an untouchable regional superpower, and was confident that the leading Arab countries were willing to overlook its expanding settlements and normalize relations with them.

But last October 7 turned these assumptions upside down and dealt a strong blow to all of this. She adds, "October 7, 2023 affected all of Israeli society, from the soldiers who documented the war crimes they committed on TikTok to the politicians who directed them." Zonszyn added, "For years, Israeli society has viewed the Palestinians as the enemy. As for Netanyahu, he can only be reprimanded... and with regard to Gaza, he represents the consensus."

“The extreme right has taken over the Israeli army since approximately 2000,” says Bersheth. He also asserts in his book “An Army Like No Other” that the army shaped and reflects the cultural and political identity of Israel. He added that right-wing recruits entered the army from the lower ranks before gradually getting promoted, and by 2008, and perhaps 2009, they essentially became the army. "Don't get me wrong," Prisheth says. "This was never a completely liberal organization. It was always a very nationalist body." He added, "Ultimately, this is the same army that oversaw the Nakba [the expulsion of about 750,000 Palestinians from their homeland in 1948], as well as the wars that followed. However, this is something new."

Before the current war on Gaza, the arrival of extremist and religious nationalists had hit a wall, says Israeli analyst Nimrod Flashenberg, commenting on the nationalist fervor that Israel has discovered in this conflict. “The extreme right has been strengthening its grip on the state for many years,” Flaschenberg continued. “Since the war, the Israeli public has politically rejected Netanyahu’s path, but it has also wholeheartedly accepted the policy of the right – that is, the war of destruction being waged in Gaza.”

What might happen next in the war is the subject of very intense speculation. As leaders in the West, especially US President Joe Biden , increasingly focus their criticism on Netanyahu, it has become clear that his leadership is more about effect than cause.

Journalist Alison Kaplan Sommer says in her article in Haaretz newspaper that the Israeli army’s interference with the GPS system has created a state of insecurity among Israelis, explaining that it reflects the state of confusion that Netanyahu is experiencing.

Operation Iron Swords - By the Numbers

• 1,900,000 IDPs in Gaza
• 76,309 Gazans injured, 28% adult male
• 70,000 tons of explosives dropped on Gaza
• 70,000 housing units completely destroyed
• 70,000 Israeli IDPs from Lebanon border
• 45,000 bombs dropped in Gaza
• 43,000 Gazans killed, including buried under rubble
• 33,000 Gaza targets attacked
• 33,686 Gazans martyred
• 20,528 Palestinians in Israeli prisons [Haaretz, 20 Mar 2024]
• 15,140 Israelis injured [i24 TV]
• 15,000 rockets launched from Gaza
• 14,520 Gazan children martyred
• 13,000 HAMAS combatants killed [N12]
• 13,000 HAMAS combatants killed [IDF]
• 11,000 arrested by Israelis in the West Bank in 2023
• 10,000 Gazans missing under the rubble
• 9,920 Gazan women martyred
• 9,000 Palestinians in Israeli prisons
• 9,000 IDF needing psychological assistance
• 8,365 arrested by Israelis in the West Bank since Oct.7th
• 6,800 IDF officers and soldiers injured [Channel 12]
• 6,000 HAMAS combatants killed [HAMAS]
• 5,500 IDF wounded [reports]
• 4,750 West Bank Palestinians wounded
• 4,700 sites targetted in Lebanon
• 3,484 administrative detainees
• 3,700 wanted persons arrested throughout Judea and Samaria
• 3,188 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
• 604 Israeli officers and soldiers killed since the start of the war
• 456 West Bank Palestinians martyred
• 363 people [including fighters] killed in Lebanon
• 260 Israeli officers and soldiers killed in Gaza
• 240 Hezbollah fighters killed in Lebanon
• 126 people recovered, including 91 Israelis, 11 bodies, and 24 foreign workers
• 116 living hostages in Palestinian custody
• 70 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.