Operation Iron Swords - Day 224 - 17 May 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

"The bodies of the Israeli abductees Yitzhak Gerlanter, Amit Busikla and Shani Lok were recovered tonight in a special operation by the IDF and the Shin Bet," stated the IDF spokesman, Brigadier General Daniel Hagari. From verified intelligence information in IDF possession, Yitzhak Gelanter, Shani Lock and the late Amit Buskila were murdered during the brutal terrorist attack on October 7 in the Mefalim siege, and their bodies were kidnapped to Gaza by Hamas terrorists.

"Yitzhak, Shani and Amit were at the Nova party and ran away from there to the Mefalim area. There, according to the verified information we have, they were brutally murdered by Hamas terrorists, and their bodies were taken into the Gaza Strip.

"The bodies of the abductees were recovered from the Gaza Strip, in a joint operation of the IDF and Shin Bet forces, including special units of the two organizations that work shoulder to shoulder, this has been going on for a long time already. This is based on the intelligence direction of the Intelligence Division and the Captives and Missing Persons Command which was also based on many investigations carried out by the Shin Bet.

"The forces work with professionalism and determination, in a complex combat environment with risk, to bring murdered abductees back to the burial site of Israel. The recovered bodies were transferred to continue the identification procedure by medical officials at the Institute of Forensic Medicine. After the procedure was completed, IDF representatives notified the families.

"The IDF and Shin Bet share in the grief of the families at this difficult time.

"I call on the public - please refrain from spreading rumors and maintain the security of our forces. Keep our forces safe. Listen to the messages of the IDF spokesperson and the official bodies only. We will update with any information that is available, transparently, first of all the families and then the public through the media.

"The intense fighting in all parts of the Strip continues, and the supreme task of returning the abductees is before the eyes of every commander and fighter in the field. We invest a lot of intelligence and operational efforts, which include fighting in complex places, taking risks, including at this time.

"We will continue to act with all the means at our disposal to create the conditions - to create the conditions - to return the abductees home as quickly as possible. As for the operational activity, I will not elaborate. At this time, I will not expand, I maintain the security of our forces and that is what we will continue to do."

War Termination

Communications Advisor to the US National Security Council, John Kirby, said that Washington does not want Israeli forces to occupy the Gaza Strip, stressing the continuation of efforts to reach a ceasefire agreement. In an interview with Al-Hurra TV on Friday, Kirby confirmed that the American administration does not want to see Gaza occupied, in the context of his response to a question about reports that spoke of a force involving Arab countries to govern the Strip after the war. Kirby refused to delve into the details of reports that said this week that Washington is discussing with Arab countries how to contribute to managing the Strip after the war, stressing that the US administration is discussing the situation in Gaza after the war with regional partners.

The British newspaper "Financial Times" revealed on Wednesday that the US administration is encouraging Arab countries to participate in a peacekeeping force in the Gaza Strip as soon as the war there ends, in order to fill the security vacuum until a Palestinian security apparatus capable of carrying out this role is established. He stressed that the United States does not want Gaza to be as it was before the October 7 attack, when Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar violated the ceasefire and the movement launched a bloody attack on Israel.

Washington wants to achieve what is good for the Israeli people and the Palestinian people, through a different governance model in terms of security and achieving economic stability and security for the Palestinians living there, according to Kirby. He stressed that a reviewed and reformed Palestinian Authority that would meet the expectations of the Palestinian people and truly contribute to the governance of the Gaza Strip in the long term is something that is being discussed with Washington’s regional partners. The goal of the American administration, Kirby says, is to restore calm to the Gaza Strip, protect civilians, and return the hostages to their families so that more aid can be brought in.

The American official said that the floating dock built by the United States is not an alternative to land corridors, and this dock cannot replace everything that can be transported through the corridors. He explained that the role of the dock is complementary and will create a difference, noting the entry of more than 300 aid trucks, a number that the American official expects to double in the coming days.

Amid an exceptional situation in the region, the Arab countries meeting in the Bahraini capital, Manama, issued a statement that mostly focused on the war in the Gaza Strip, the establishment of an independent Palestinian state according to the two-state solution, and the deployment of international forces in the Palestinian territories. Are these calls applicable on the ground? What is Israel's expected response to these recommendations? On Thursday, Arab leaders called for the deployment of international forces “in the occupied Palestinian territory” until the two-state solution is implemented, at the conclusion of the thirty-third Arab summit held in Bahrain.

In the final statement, the 22 Arab countries supported the call of the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, and the King of Bahrain, Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, to “convene an international conference under the auspices of the United Nations, to resolve the Palestinian issue on the basis of the two-state solution.” Egyptian military and strategic expert, Major General Staff Samir Farag, stresses that the Manama summit and the recommendations it issued have “unified the efforts of the Arab countries towards what is happening in the Gaza Strip.” These recommendations proved that there is a “unified Arab position that supports the Palestinian resistance and the people of Gaza,” according to his interview with Al-Hurra website.

In a related context, the Saudi political analyst, Mubarak Al-Ati, believes that the Manama summit statement and the recommendations issued by it are “realistic,” according to the current circumstances, capabilities, and interactions in the Middle East region. The issue in the Middle East is “intertwined with the major powers,” which means that Arab countries can “take decisions,” but what is more important is “the ability to implement them,” according to his interview with the “Al-Hurra” website.

He points out that the recommendations are “very realistic,” but the “strong” statement will clash with the will of other countries. He says: "The one who will stop the fire is Israel, and the one who can put pressure on it is the United States." Al-Ati stresses that the statement “tried to win the Palestinian issue,” but there are major obstacles that may hinder its implementation, given the repercussions and interactions of the issue with “the strategies of other countries.” The Saudi political analyst describes the proposal to deploy UN forces in the Palestinian territories as “ideas that may be applicable.”

But the proposal requires more “explanation and negotiations,” and it must be clarified who will participate in this “multinational” force, whether the United States and Israel will agree to its presence, and who will finance its formation, according to Al-Ati.

As for the Palestinian political analyst and head of the European Council for International Relations and Consultations based in Paris, Adel Al-Ghoul, he describes the Arab summit as “frustrating” and its statement as “extremely weak.” Through the “summit statement,” Israel cannot be forced to “ceasefire, withdraw, enter aid, and rebuild,” according to his talk to the “Al-Hurra” website. However, some provisions of the “Manama Summit” statement can be implemented, and an international peace conference can be held after the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and the ceasefire, and thus discuss the possibility of implementing the “two-state solution,” according to Al-Ghoul. He points out that the deployment of “multinational” international forces to maintain security in the Gaza Strip is “possible,” and there is approval from several Arab countries to participate in this force, and Hamas “does not have any reservations” in this regard, after the end of the war and the ceasefire, but Not before.

For his part, researcher in Middle East affairs, Fadi Eid, confirms that the Arab summit came under “exceptional circumstances and difficult times,” given the developments taking place in the entire region. However, the statement issued by the summit was “ordinary” and did not meet the expectations expected before the meeting, and did not keep pace with “the developments taking place in the region” and did not contain “any firmness or resolution,” according to what he told the “Al-Hurra” website. Calls for deploying international forces in the Palestinian territories are “unrealistic and cannot be implemented on the ground,” and the decision to implement them or not is in the hands of Israel alone, Eid stresses.

In a related context, political researcher at the Middle East Forum in London, Ahmed Atta, believes that some of the items of the statement “tried to meet the requirements of the Arab street,” but “without any effect on the ground.” The demands that came in the statement, most notably the calls to deploy international forces, are “formal and cannot be implemented and came to flirt with the Arab street,” but Israel will not accept to implement them on the ground, according to what he told the Al-Hurra website. Atta points out that “the Israeli response came quickly to the Arab summit,” on the same day that the “Manama Statement” was issued.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is committed to carrying out a "massive attack" on Rafah, which he says is "the last major stronghold of Hamas in Gaza." On Thursday, Israel announced that its army would “intensify its ground operations” in Rafah, which means penetrating deeper into the city where 1.4 million Palestinians have taken refuge to escape the 7-month-long war in the Gaza Strip. On Thursday, Netanyahu said, addressing soldiers in the Rafah area, “The battle in Rafah is decisive.” He added, "Not only is the rest of its (Hamas) brigades (in Rafah), but it (the city) serves as a lifeline for it to escape and resupply," according to a statement issued by his office.

Before that, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant announced that “additional forces will enter” Rafah and “(military) activity will intensify” there. Is the military operation still “limited” or has it become “comprehensive”? Questions accompany the “new evacuation” demands directed by the Israeli army to residents of several neighborhoods in different areas of the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. Why is the scope of these operations expanding? What are the causes and repercussions of this?

In this context, Israeli political analyst, Mordechai Kedar, points out that “only Israel decides when the military operation in the Gaza Strip in general and Rafah in particular will end.” Israel “will never allow” the presence of international forces in the Palestinian territories, and this proposal is in the interest of “its proposers,” but it “is not compatible with the Israeli interest,” according to what he told the “Al-Hurra” website. He added: "With all due respect to everyone, we do not trust anyone except ourselves." Israel acts “according to its security interests and what it deems appropriate according to the circumstances on the ground,” according to the Israeli political analyst.

Major General Faraj points out that “Netanyahu ignored the Arab Summit statement and will not implement the truce and ceasefire,” describing what is happening as “what is expected.” But there must be a “unified Arab response” to what Netanyahu did, provided that “the joint response is through the League of Arab States,” according to the Egyptian military and strategic expert.

For his part, Atta believes that Netanyahu "dropped everything that was stated in the statement of the Arab summit in Manama, and put many Arab countries in a critical historical position."

Leaders of Arab countries previously held an emergency summit in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, in November, which was joint with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. The attendees at the time condemned the Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip, but the summit was “unable” to take direct decisions against Israel, such as expelling ambassadors or cutting off oil supplies, which reflects the “great popular anger” in the Arab and Islamic worlds towards the continuation of the war. Therefore, Al-Ghoul links the implementation of the “summit outcomes” to the presence of “a serious stance and an active Arab approach” to pressure Israel to make concessions regarding negotiations or stop the war and not invade Rafah.

But on the other hand, Kedar stresses that “no one can impose a fait accompli on Israel.” He says: "If they really wanted peace... they would sit with us... and negotiate with us... but we cannot sit in Bahrain and send dictates to us... and we receive them with a warm welcome."

For his part, Eid does not expect "major results" beyond "joint coordination among some Arab countries to provide additional aid to Gaza." The Arabs do not currently have “more than that,” and although they have pressure cards, “there is no desire to use them at all,” according to the researcher in Middle East affairs.

As for Major General Faraj, he stressed that the Arab countries have “many pressure tools (ready to use) through which they can put pressure on Israel,” but he refused to reveal “what those tools are.” There are “limitations that impose on Arab countries not to use pressure tools at the present time,” according to the Egyptian military and strategic expert.

Operational Update

A report was received about dozens of Israeli citizens who attacked and injured an Israeli driver and set fire to his truck in the area of the Kochav HaShahar intersection in the Binyamin Brigade. Upon receiving the report, the IDF force arrived at the scene, and acted to separate the Israeli citizens from the driver and provide the driver with medical treatment. Dozens of Israeli citizens reacted violently towards the force. As a result, two IDF officers and another soldier were slightly injured and treated at the scene. IDF soldiers are deployed in the sector and work to maintain the safety of the residents, law and order. The IDF condemns any display of violence against its soldiers and security forces, and will work to bring justice.

The Palestinian resistance represented by the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas movement, in Gaza, is adopting new tactics in confronting the Israeli occupation, in addition to developing military and tactical capabilities to confront attacks, as well as taking steps to expand its base of popular support and strengthen its partnership with other Palestinian forces. Despite the occupation's efforts to try to suppress the resistance, these new tactics proved effective in complicating Israel's tasks and increasing the cost of Israeli attacks. Despite the air strikes and ground operations carried out by the occupation in an attempt to eliminate Hamas fighters, the battalions continued to resist and confront the attacks. With courage and determination.

The northern areas of the Gaza Strip have witnessed the return of military operations recently, especially in the Jabalia camp and the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood, while the suffering of refugees and residents in this small area of the Strip continues. On May 11, Israeli occupation army spokesman Daniel Hagari announced the start of a new operation in the northern Gaza Strip, after requesting the evacuation of the homes of residents of a number of neighborhoods.

The operation began with an intense aerial bombardment that targeted the homes and property of citizens. The events later developed into a ground incursion, as forces from the Israeli 98th Division advanced to the eastern areas of Jabalia Camp towards its center. At the same time, the Israeli 99th Division continued its operations in the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood, south of Gaza City. While the 162nd Division operates in the city of Rafah.

With the escalation of fighting and aerial and artillery bombardment by the Israeli army, the neighborhoods of Jabalia camp witnessed an increase in displacement, as these attacks caused the martyrdom of dozens of Palestinian citizens.

Hagari claims that the Israeli army's resumption of operations in the Jabalia camp in the northern Gaza Strip is due to "Hamas' attempts to restore its military capabilities in Jabalia." At the same time, the Al-Qassam Brigades and the Palestinian resistance factions announced, in multiple statements, their readiness to repel the advancing Israeli forces and inflict new losses on their ranks. Despite its failure to storm Jabalia Camp in previous attempts, the Israeli occupation claimed that it had succeeded in dismantling the military apparatus of the Hamas movement, when Hagari announced, on January 6, “the dismantling of the military structure of the Hamas movement in the northern Gaza Strip.”

In conjunction with the new invasion of the northern sector, Al-Qassam is adopting new tactics against the Israeli occupation army, aiming to increase pressure on it and complicate its mission in the region. The recent period has witnessed an increasing use by the resistance of bombings as a means of destroying the structures of buildings used by the Israeli occupation forces as military sites or headquarters for military officers.

On May 15, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz said, “Hamas is rapidly restoring its capabilities and re-establishing itself again in other areas of Gaza.” The newspaper reported, quoting a high-ranking Israeli officer - whose identity was not revealed - that "Israel is involved in an 'educational war with Hamas', given the latter's recent change in tactics in the conflict, as Hamas has become more focused on booby-trapping buildings." The newspaper associated with the Israeli left admitted that the recent operations in the Zaytoun neighborhood and other areas revealed the inaccuracy of the army’s estimates regarding Hamas’ infrastructure, stressing that the majority of Israeli soldiers believe that “the military operation launched by the army in Jabalia is an absurd operation.”

Analysis published by the “Al-Mashhad” digital platform, on May 15, reported that “Al-Qassam uses guerrilla warfare tactics against Israeli army armored vehicles, which makes it difficult for the army’s movement and increases its deaths, as a group of 2-5 resistance fighters is able to... Setting up ambushes and eliminating an entire division of the occupation army.”

On May 15, the Wall Street Journal quoted an Israeli reserve soldier from the 98th Commando Division, which is currently fighting in Jabalia, as saying: “Hamas is attacking more aggressively, firing more anti-tank shells at soldiers who are taking shelter in homes and on... Israeli military vehicles daily. The newspaper indicated - according to analysts, security personnel and witnesses in Gaza - that the brigades use hit-and-run tactics and work in smaller groups of militants, which raises fears in “Israel” that the war is sliding towards an “eternal war.”

The Al Jazeera.net website reported last March that one of the most important secrets of the resistance’s steadfastness in the Gaza Strip is what is known militarily as the “passive defense” tactic, which is a combat method that relies on the use of a set of preventive measures to neutralize the resistance’s military installations from enemy targets. And reduce damage. The idea of "passive defense" is based on the use of tactics that mislead the enemy's intelligence and combat weapons, thus reducing their value and effectiveness. One of the resistance cadres demonstrates this with video recordings published by the brigades, where fighters are shown approaching enemy crowds, launching their attacks from close distances, and installing explosive devices. Explosives were placed on Israeli vehicles before they withdrew to their positions without detection.

This does not necessarily mean that the occupation army was unable to inflict losses on the resistance at the level of personnel and equipment, as this is part of the nature of war. However, the continuation of resistance operations despite the massive military force used by the occupation in Gaza shows the success and effectiveness of this tactic in avoiding losses. Great for resistance.

Military expert Hatem Al-Falahi explains that the resistance factions have sufficient fighters, weapons, tools and equipment to enable them to successfully manage this defensive battle. Experience has shown that the military operations carried out by the resistance factions are characterized by very precise planning and confirmed intelligence information obtained through monitoring and control operations. He pointed out, during his conversation with Al-Khaleej Online, that employing military tools, capabilities, and capabilities gives a clear indication that there is a very strong command and control system that works to manage these operations by setting goals, dividing duties, and coordinating military action with the rest of the resistance factions. Al-Falahi pointed out that the results show that the military action led by "Hamas" is very successful, given the occupation army's losses that rose during this period, with the battalions continuing to use new tactics.

For his part, military and strategic analyst Abdul-Jabbar Al-Abo confirms that the tactics used by the brigades are not new, but rather they are methods that were used in a previous period and then abandoned, only to be used again later if the opportunity permits, especially building booby-trapping operations. He added, while speaking to Al-Khaleej Online, that when the Israeli forces expect that the Palestinian fighters have entered a building, without knowing that this building has been booby-trapped by the Phalange in advance, and that at the bottom of this building there are underground passages that connect the buildings, then when the Israeli forces pursue them and enter To this building, it falls into the Palestinian trap, and after that the building is blown up by the Israeli forces that entered it.

The war is still continuing in the southern Gaza Strip, especially in Rafah, where this city recently witnessed violent clashes between resistance forces and the Israeli occupation. Military operations in this region focused on targeting military installations and strategic sites of the occupier, as scenes broadcast by Al-Qassam military media showed them targeting Israeli forces barricaded in homes with machine guns and anti-fortified shells, in addition to targeting Israeli tanks that penetrated east of Rafah, hitting them directly.

On May 10, the Al Jazeera.net website reported that Al-Qassam said that it had placed an Israeli force in a precise ambush after detonating a pre-prepared minefield inside the Saad Sayel barracks site, east of Rafah, noting that members of the force were killed or wounded. These scenes come after Tel Aviv announced, on May 6, the start of military operations in the city of Rafah, which it described as “limited in scope.”

There were statements from some American officials about the possibility of Hamas returning to power in the Gaza Strip, which raised many questions and analyzes about the extent of this impact on the political situation in the region. On May 14, the American newspaper Politico quoted officials as saying, “It is possible to disrupt Hamas, but the things that enable it to form, develop, and grow are still in place.” The newspaper referred to a comment made by US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell during a conference held on May 13, where he stressed that "Israel is unlikely to achieve complete victory" in Gaza.

Four American officials told Politico that this comment is not considered wrong, but rather reflects the administration's assessment of the prospects for the Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip in general. On the other hand, the Israeli government strongly rejected the idea of recognizing or negotiating with Hamas, stressing that the movement represents a threat to Israel's security and calls for its destruction.

Operational Update - Gaza

The 7th Brigade Combat Team led the divisional attack on Jabaliya and is now fighting in the heart of the city. In less than a week of fighting, the forces encountered dozens of terrorists, attempted contact and eliminated more than 60 terrorists from the ground and from the air. Even at this time, the forces are exchanging fire with terrorist squads in the area. The fire complex of the 7th Brigade directed dozens of airstrikes, eliminated terrorists and destroyed terrorist infrastructure. The fighters of the 101st Battalion's combat team located a munitions warehouse with dozens of ready-to-use long-range rockets, dozens of rocket parts, charges and other munitions. The military warehouse is located about ten meters from a shelter complex from which the population was evacuated and about 20 terrorists were captured.

The combat teams of the paratroopers brigades, 7 and 460 under the 98 division, expanded the fighting spaces in Jabaliya during the day and deepened the operational control in the area. Fighter jets and aircraft of the Air Force attacked a munitions warehouse at the direction of the forces and eliminated a number of terrorists who fired explosives at our forces. There are no casualties to Israeli forces. The combat teams of the commando brigades, Givati and Brigade 401 under the command of Division 162, continue the fighting in several areas in Rafah. Fighters of the TDF 401 destroyed a launch area in East Rafah where long-range rocket launchers were located. In the last day, fighter jets and aircraft of the Air Force attacked about 60 terrorist targets in the Gaza Strip, including military buildings, terrorist squads, IDF warehouses, anti-aircraft positions and other terrorist infrastructure.

The Nahal Brigade, the Carmeli Brigade and the Rabbi Mamedit unit raided the Zeyton neighborhood in the center of the Gaza Strip, destroying many terrorist infrastructures, attack tunnels, a lathe for the production of weapons, launch pits and Hamas headquarters that were used by the organization to plan and carry out terrorist activities against Israeli forces. In the last week, the fighters eliminated more than 90 terrorists, located and destroyed many underground infrastructures and weapons. As part of the attack, under the intelligence guidance of the Amman and the Shin Bet, a military headquarters located inside the Ein Jalot school complex was destroyed. The school served as a military headquarters for the terrorist organization Hamas and anti-tank missiles and mortars were fired from it at IDF forces.

The 990th Fire Brigade in cooperation with the Air Force attacked more than 100 targets in the area.

At the same time as the activity in Zeytun, the forces of the 679th Israel Defense Forces operated in the area of ??the corridor of the center of the Gaza Strip and in the neighborhood of Bakshi, the fighters eliminated terrorists, exposed and destroyed underground infrastructures.

This morning (Friday), during an attack by a fighter jet in the Rafah area, a weapon fell in the area of the Yad settlement. The weapon did not explode. This is an unusual event, the circumstances of which will be examined in depth. The attack on the target was completed a few minutes later. Air Force technical teams arrived at the scene and began an in-depth investigation of the incident. The investigation will be presented to the commander of the Air Force. The fallen is now being collected by the IDF forces and will be evacuated later. The public is asked to stay away from the area until the end of the activities of the security forces.

The US Central Command (Centcom) said on Friday that trucks loaded with humanitarian aid began moving to the beach via a temporary floating pier off the Gaza Strip at nine in the morning local time. It was reported that none of the American soldiers landed on the Gaza beach. She added, "These are ongoing, multinational efforts to deliver additional aid to Palestinian civilians in Gaza through a sea corridor whose nature is entirely humanitarian. The aid includes relief materials donated by several countries and humanitarian organizations."

The US Army announced that the first load of humanitarian aid allocated to Gaza via the floating port established by Washington had been unloaded and trucks had begun transporting it towards the besieged Palestinian Strip. The US Army completed the construction of a temporary floating pier on the coast of the Gaza Strip, on Thursday, in preparation for the start of transporting much-needed humanitarian aid in the Strip, which has been besieged for seven months of war between Israel and Hamas. The US Central Command said in a statement on Thursday that some forces installed anchors to connect a temporary floating dock to the shore of the Gaza Strip as part of a mission to deliver humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians.

The regional spokeswoman for the US State Department, Elizabeth Stickney, told Al-Hurra TV that on Friday morning, “humanitarian aid trucks began moving across the temporary floating pier to Gaza, which is considered part of American efforts by air, land and sea to increase the delivery of aid.” Humanity to the people of Gaza. She spoke about the first shipment that arrived on board the British ship, saying, "We know that humanitarian aid goes from Cyprus to the temporary dock on ships from different countries, in addition to the United States."

Regarding the mechanism for unloading the shipments, she added, “The civilians accompanying these shipments are the ones who help in unloading the shipments, and after the shipments arrive in Gaza, the United Nations plays the leading role in distributing aid to the residents of Gaza.” Regarding estimating the volume of aid that will arrive daily through the dock, she said that they "are aware of the scale of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, so they are working to speed up the arrival of shipments in the coming days and increase the volume of aid."

Regarding the Israeli role in the operation, the American official said, “Inspections from the Israeli side take place in Cyprus, and after that the aid goes via ships to the temporary dock.”

She stressed that the sea pier is not an alternative to opening all land crossings into Gaza, explaining that this is the best way to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza, and therefore Washington wants to open all possible crossings to facilitate the process of delivering aid, including the Rafah crossing, and at the same time, it is trying to use every possible means to facilitate the delivery of aid. Currently possible methods of delivering aid by air, land and sea.”

She said, "The United States is coordinating with the Israeli side, the United Nations, the Food Program, and its partners in the humanitarian field in order to protect relief workers in Gaza," explaining that the American government believes that UNRWA is an important partner in distributing humanitarian aid in Gaza.

The US Army completed construction of the temporary naval pier on Thursday. On Friday, US Central Command announced the start of delivering humanitarian aid from the temporary pier established by the United States off the coast of Gaza. “This unique logistics capability facilitates the delivery of life-saving humanitarian aid, providing a common means for the international community to use it to serve the people of Gaza,” US Central Command said on the “X” platform.

Earlier, the US Army announced that the first load of humanitarian aid allocated to Gaza via the floating port established by Washington had been unloaded and trucks had begun transporting it towards the besieged Palestinian Strip. The US Army completed the construction of a temporary floating pier on the coast of the Gaza Strip, on Thursday, in preparation for the start of transporting much-needed humanitarian aid in the Strip, which has been besieged for seven months of war between Israel and Hamas.

The US Central Command said in a statement on Thursday that some forces installed anchors to connect a temporary floating dock to the shore of the Gaza Strip as part of a mission to deliver humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians. The United Kingdom said it had delivered its first aid shipments via the dock, and the United Nations said it was finalizing plans to distribute the aid arriving at the dock. But the United Nations confirmed that truck convoys arriving by land are the "most feasible, effective and efficient" means of delivering aid to Gaza.

Aid groups, the United Nations and Israel's closest allies have demanded that the Israeli government make greater efforts to deliver aid to Gaza, which has been largely destroyed by the military campaign that Israel began last year after the Hamas attack on it on October 7. Israel said it was intensifying its efforts to deliver aid to Gaza. The Israeli army said that 365 aid trucks loaded with flour and fuel passed through the Kerem Shalom and Erez crossings yesterday, Thursday.

Operational Update - Judea-Samaria

A fighter jet attacked in Jenin, in the Menashe Brigade. Confrontations broke out between Israeli occupation army forces and young Palestinians in the town of Kafr Qaddum, east of the city of Qalqilya in the West Bank , while the people of Tulkarm Governorate mourned the body of the martyr Karim Amir, who was martyred by bullets of the occupation army during its storming of the town of Balaa last night. Following the weekly demonstration against settlement and denouncing the crimes of the Israeli occupation in the Palestinian territories and the Gaza Strip , confrontations broke out between Israeli occupation army forces and Palestinian youth.

The occupation forces used tear gas bombs and fired live bullets at the demonstrators to disperse them. Palestinian medical sources reported that a young man was injured by Israeli occupation forces’ bullets in the city of Qalqilya, in the northern West Bank. The occupation forces stormed the city from its southern and eastern axes, reinforced with a number of military vehicles, which led to the outbreak of confrontations between Palestinian youths and the occupation forces, which resulted in the injury of a young man.

In Tulkarm Governorate, people mourned the body of the martyr Karim Amir, who was martyred by Israeli occupation bullets during the storming last night of the town of Balaa, east of the city. The funeral procession started from the government "Martyr Thabet Hospital" in the city of Tulkarm, and traveled through the streets of the city, and the mourners chanted slogans denouncing the ongoing crimes of the occupation against the Palestinian people.

Meanwhile, the Israeli occupation authorities closed the entrances to the town of Sinjel, north of the city of Ramallah in the West Bank, and kept one of them open while installing an iron gate. Settlement resistance institutions reported that this morning, occupation army bulldozers re-closed the main and secondary roads leading to the town, for the third time in weeks. The occupation army kept the iron gate that it controlled closed, obstructing the movement of citizens to enter and exit the town.

Operational Update - Lebanon

The Air Force attacked an infrastructure where terrorists of the Hezbollah terrorist organization were operating, which includes several compounds in the village of A-Najriyah in southern Lebanon. These compounds are used by Hezbollah's air defense system and posed a threat to Israeli aircraft. The organization's air defense system operates in a civilian environment, while risking human lives in southern Lebanon. The IDF will not tolerate a violation of the freedom of air operations and will act in attacks in the face of any threat. We warn the citizens of Lebanon against cooperating with Hezbollah, and emphasize that by doing so they are endangering themselves and their environment.

An aircraft attacked in the Majdal Engr area the terrorist Sharhabil Ali Al-Said, a senior member of the terrorist organization the Islamic Jama'ah in Lebanon. Sharabil, who acted on behalf of the Islamic Jama'ah organization, led and promoted many attacks and acts of terrorism from Lebanese territory against Israel in the eastern sector in recent times, among other things in cooperation with the branch of the terrorist organization Hamas in Lebanon. Its thwarting was carried out in order to damage the organization's ability to promote and carry out terrorist operations that it had planned in the recent period and in the near future against the State of Israel on the northern border.

Fighter jets attacked a launcher in the Deir Sirin area that launched towards the Golan area. In addition, warplanes attacked a military structure and operational infrastructure of the Hezbollah organization in the Kfar Hammam area and the Al Adaisa area in southern Lebanon.

Following the warning in the north of the country, about 75 launches were detected from the territory of Lebanon towards the territory of the country, dozens of them were intercepted. In addition, earlier today, the IDF forces identified a launcher of the terrorist organization Hezbollah in the Yaraon region that was ready to launch launches towards Israeli territory. A short time later, a fighter jet attacked and destroyed the launcher and prevented a large number of launches.

Operational Update - Syria / Iraq

Operational Update - Yemen

The Yemeni capital, Sanaa, and other governorates witnessed new million-man marches in support of the Palestinian people, denouncing the continued Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, and blessing the naval military operations. The demonstrations, which were under the slogan “With Gaza, is a holy jihad and no red lines,” condemned Western complicity and demanded that Arab rulers take practical positions to support Palestine.

A renewed human flood filled dozens of squares in various Yemeni governorates in continuation of the popular movement in solidarity with Palestine. The largest of these demonstrations was in Al-Sabeen Square in Sana’a , where banners were raised denouncing the continued crimes of the Israeli entity in the Gaza Strip, and during which the crowds condemned the attacks on the people of the Strip. An Israeli-American war of annihilation for more than 7 months .

Political activist Karar Al-Marani told Al-Alam channel: With Gaza, it is a holy jihad and there are no red lines. The entire Yemeni people are saying today that they are with Gaza, and it is still continuing as it launches the fifth phase and demands that the Yemeni armed forces carry out more strikes against the Zionist enemy.

The demonstrations that spread throughout Yemen denounced Western complicity regarding what is happening in Palestine, and denounced the Arab and Islamic silence regarding what the people of Gaza are subjected to. Their joint statement also addressed the Arab rulers gathered at the Arab Summit in Manama with the need to move their consciences and take practical and serious positions to support Palestine, the least of which is activating the option Political and economic boycott.

The popular marches carried the slogan “With Gaza, it is a holy jihad and no red lines,” in which the crowds affirmed their readiness for a general mobilization and actual participation in the battle to support the Palestinian people that the armed forces are waging, congratulating the continuation of naval military operations in their fourth phase, and supporting all official escalatory steps in support of Gaza.

These arenas will not calm down, as the crowds say, unless the Israeli aggression on Gaza stops, praising the legendary steadfastness of the Palestinian people and their valiant resistance, and appreciating the jihadist operations of the support fronts in Lebanon and Iraq .

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

Hossam Zidan of Alalam News Network. Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting noted that the Arab Summit in Doha concluded its work, and the final statement was read against the impact of the violent Israeli bombing in the various governorates of Gaza, exploding every bet on it issuing decisive decisions, on the scale of the catastrophe befalling the people of Gaza and the West Bank. But the bet seemed difficult at an Arab summit that came under unusual circumstances, most notably the Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip and its repercussions at the regional level and beyond the borders of the world.

Despite the large number of files that were brought with the Arab leaders to Doha, Gaza imposed the reality on the thirty-third summit held in Bahrain. The final statement of the summit included a call to stop the Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip and the withdrawal of the Israeli occupation forces from all its areas and a call to deploy international protection and peacekeeping forces in The occupied Palestinian territories until the two-state solution is implemented.

The summit, which concluded its work in Manama, came in light of the conflicts and crises that the Arab countries are suffering from. The internal crises in some Arab countries formed part of these files, followed by the internal crises between some Arab countries. The most important files are the regional dangers facing the Arab countries, including the Gaza issue. .

Therefore, for an Arab summit to be held under these harsh circumstances, to begin with, is an achievement for the Arab leaders, and for the Arab leaders to meet after the external aggression, internal crises, and internal disputes that the Arab countries are exposed to, is considered an event that must be taken into account, especially after the spectacle of an agreement on a specific agenda was released. Far from all those crises that we talked about, and that there is an attempt this time to delve into the depth of the crucial and urgent issues in the Arab world, after trying to end the unifying title of the Arab countries, and breaking the will of agreement among the Arab leaders at least after the scene of the great massacre in Gaza, yes, Gaza, which is summed up. Many addresses should have been issued by the summit to the Islamic world and humanity as a whole.

Axis of Resistance

Abu Ubaida, spokesman for the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), said that after 32 weeks since October 7, the people of Gaza and their resistance are waging an unequal war and a legendary defense against the barbarism of the enemy. He said, "For long days, nights and weeks, the enemy and his Nazi government committed the most heinous crimes of genocide against our people."

"The enemy army brags about the crimes it committed in Gaza as military achievements. Intimidation, crime, and systematic destruction is the consistent strategy used by the enemy in Gaza. The enemy also threatened us every time that whenever he aspires to score a victory or achievement, he will find us in front of him. The enemy, in a series of confusion, decided to launch a ground aggression against Rafah, the Zaytoun neighborhood, and Jabalia, thinking that they had become easy targets. The enemy is under the illusion that if he burned the green and dry land for more than 7 months, he would find little resistance there.

The enemy enters hell again and faces stiffer resistance. Within 10 days, our mujahideen were able to target 100 Zionist military vehicles on the fighting fronts in Gaza. In all areas of its incursion, the enemy counts its dead and wounded in dozens and hardly stops extracting its soldiers. The enemy announces part of its losses, but what we observe is much greater. Our mujahideen are confronting the enemy with great momentum with all the weapons they have. We confront the enemy with anti-armor and anti-personnel weapons, bombing buildings, opening tunnels, mine fields, and sniping.

"Despite the war of starvation, destruction and killing, our resistance, and behind it our people, are emerging before the enemy from everywhere. Our mujahideen face a trembling and floundering force, and they return it broken, finding nothing but disappointment. The American weapons used to annihilate our people are causing massive destruction, which is the only achievement of this crisis-ridden enemy. After 224 days, we confirm that the heroic confrontation of our resistance and our people confirms our ability to withstand and fight."

Thousands of Jordanians participated in the massive march that began after Friday prayers in the Jordanian capital, Amman, under the title “Gaza resists, Rafah is the graveyard of the Zionist invaders,” in support of the Palestinian resistance. The participants stressed that the genocide to which the Gazans are being subjected comes with American military, political, and economic support, and that the United States is a partner in that genocide.

In response to the successive victories achieved by the Palestinian resistance factions in Gaza over the Israeli occupation forces, which resonated in the Jordanian capital, Amman, thousands of Jordanians came out to express their continued support for the resistance and their solidarity with the people in the Gaza Strip, stressing that they are partners in blood and destiny with the Palestinian people .

A member of the National Forum for Supporting the Resistance, Saad Al-Alawin, told Al-Alam Channel: As Jordanians, we are part of the resistance, not supporters. We are an essential part of the resistance to liberate Palestine, and the Jordanian people in general consider themselves to have a cause. The Manama Summit statement was not well received by the Jordanian street because, according to their opinion, it did not meet the aspirations of the Arab street. The reason is that it did not go beyond the framework of directing condemnation and would not reach the limits of action regarding what is happening in the Gaza Strip .

The Secretary-General of the Islamic Action Front Party, Murad Al-Adaileh, told Al-Alam Channel: I do not think that an Arab citizen cared about this summit or paid attention to it, nor did the media pay attention to it because it is outside the coverage and outside the truth and the aspirations of the Arab peoples. The participants stressed the need for all Arab peoples to support the steadfastness of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, which is subjected to the worst forms of genocide and forced displacement .

Believing in the unity of destiny, and with the Battle of Al-Aqsa Flood entering its eighth month, crowds of Jordanians are still rising up in the streets of Jordan every day to express their position rejecting the policies of the Jordanian government in dealing with the war launched by the Israeli occupation forces against the people in Gaza, demanding that the Jordanian government must cancel all agreements. With the Israeli occupation, dropping the Wadi Araba Treaty, and stopping the land bridge.

Allied for Democracy

Despite all the international and American pressure and the demands of the hostage families and his political allies, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chose to calm the hard-right in his government for fear of early elections that polls indicate he may lose. Netanyahu (74 years old), who is serving his sixth term as prime minister, heads one of the most right-wing coalition governments in Israel. He is one of three in the war cabinet who have the right to vote on the war strategy in Gaza.

But his approach to managing the war is frustrating his allies, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal , as the United States wants a temporary ceasefire, and Israeli security officials, including the Minister of Defense, want a plan for who will rule Gaza after the war. The families of the hostages want to see their loved ones at home.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant publicly asked Netanyahu to announce a clear strategy for the “next day” in Gaza, revealing deep divisions in the cabinet over the strategic goals of the war. A new division erupted between members of the Israeli War Council, after Defense Minister Yoav Galant issued a clear challenge to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to draw up plans for the “day after” the war in Gaza, pledging to oppose any long-term Israeli military rule over the devastated Palestinian Strip.

But the obstacle standing in the way of Netanyahu achieving these demands is his need to appease two right-wing ministers in his government whose names are not known outside Israel, according to the newspaper. The first is the Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, a West Bank settler who heads the extreme right-wing Jewish Power Party. Ben Gvir (48 years old) opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state and calls for the dissolution of the interim Palestinian Authority government that was formed in the 1990s. The second is Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, a West Bank settler who heads the hardline Religious Zionism party and opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state. Smotrich (44 years old) is pressuring Netanyahu to go ahead with the Israeli attack, even if that means abandoning a truce with Hamas that includes the release of the hostages.

More than seven months into the war in Gaza, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant has publicly asked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to announce a clear strategy for the “day after” in Gaza, revealing deep divisions in the cabinet over the strategic goals of the war. Together, Ben Gvir and Smotrich's parties hold only 14 seats in the 120-seat parliament. However, they have enormous power. Ben Gvir and Smotrich have made clear that they will leave the ruling coalition if Netanyahu surrenders to US demands, a move that would almost certainly lead to the collapse of the government and force new elections.

Opinion polls show that Netanyahu would be defeated if the elections were held now amid the chaos of war, according to the newspaper report. Ben Gvir and Smotrich may also lose power in any new elections, as opinion polls show, but Netanyahu's fear is greater, and he does not want them to withdraw from his coalition and launch early elections, according to Michael Koplow, chief policy officer at the Israel Policy Forum, a think tank in Washington. He advocates the two-state solution.

Michael Oren, the former Israeli ambassador to the United States under Netanyahu, said that the prime minister has come to believe that Israel's survival is fundamentally linked to his survival. This belief “enables him to withstand enormous pressure.” Netanyahu said that his opponents are the ones who play political games during the war by thinking of ways to hold elections. He said he is focused only on achieving a "total victory" against Hamas and the release of the hostages, a goal he says can only be achieved through military pressure.

But frustration with Netanyahu is growing within his government, and on Wednesday, the defense minister, who like Netanyahu is also a member of the Likud party, criticized him for not having a post-war plan for Gaza and called on the Palestinian Authority to oversee the Strip, something the prime minister opposes. Gallant's criticism of the Prime Minister represented a reflection of the demands of the United States, Israel's ally, which seeks to exploit the war to grant a role to the internationally supported Palestinian Authority. Netanyahu rejects this, describes the Palestinian Authority as a hostile entity, and repeated this position in his response to Gallant’s statements.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that he was "not ready to replace Hamastan with Fatehistan," in an apparent response to his Defense Minister, Yoav Galant, who also directed harsh criticism at him on Wednesday, declaring his rejection of any Israeli rule of the Gaza Strip after the war. Netanyahu's opposition to the Palestinian Authority's management of Gaza is shared by many inside Israel, as filling the power vacuum in Gaza now means closing the door to rebuilding settlements in Gaza, which is the goal of Ben Gvir and Smotrich.

The two men were staunch supporters of the settlement movement and considered Israel's decision to leave Gaza in 2005 a grave mistake. Most countries, including the United States, consider the settlements illegal under international law. Almost all of President Joe Biden's demands conflict with the hard-liners in Netanyahu's government. Ben Gvir and Smotrich oppose ending the war. They want Israel to be more aggressive in its military campaign, not less, despite all the warnings, according to the report.

According to the Israeli newspaper " Haaretz ", senior officials in the Israeli Defense Forces and the General Security Service (Shin Bet) had previously issued similar warnings to Netanyahu recently. Amid all these deep divisions in the Council of Ministers over the strategic goals of the war, Israel threatens to intensify its ground attack in Rafah despite international concerns about hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians in the city located in the far south of the Strip.

The US House of Representatives voted, Thursday, in favor of passing a Republican-led bill to force the delivery of defensive weapons to Israel at a time when Republicans are intensifying pressure on President Joe Biden over his handling of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, according to what was reported by CNN. The network ruled out that the bill would be taken up in the Democratic-led Senate, and the White House said that Biden would veto the bill if Congress passed it. The bill prohibits the US President from withholding, stopping, reversing, or canceling arms transfers approved by Congress from the United States to Israel, and requires that any withheld weapons be delivered to Israel within 15 days of the bill’s enactment. The legislation would cut off funds to several key executive branch entities, including the State Department, Defense Department and National Security Council until any seized weapons are sent to Israel.

The vote was by 224 votes to 187 votes. Three Republicans, members of their party, opposed and voted against this measure, while 16 Democrats voted in favor of it, according to CNN. The vote comes as Biden faces opposition from lawmakers from both parties after he said during an interview with CNN last week that he would halt some US arms shipments to Israel if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu orders a major invasion of the city of Rafah, where he has taken refuge. More than a million civilians. Biden said that while the United States would continue to provide defensive weapons to Israel, including the Iron Dome air defense system, other shipments would stop if a major ground invasion of Rafah were to begin.

Operation Iron Swords - By the Numbers

In a recent interview on the Call Me Back podcast with Dan Senor, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu disclosed startling statistics regarding the casualties in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. Netanyahu stated that the ratio of Hamas combatants to Gazan civilians killed is approximately one to one, with around 14,000 Hamas combatants and an estimated 16,000 civilians having lost their lives.

• 1,900,000 IDPs in Gaza
• 79,141 Gazans injured, 28% adult male
• 70,000 tons of explosives dropped on Gaza
• 70,000 Gaza housing units completely destroyed
• 70,000 Israeli IDPs from Lebanon border
• 45,000 bombs dropped in Gaza
• 45,000 Gazans killed, including buried under rubble
• 35,233 Gazans martyred
• 33,000 Gaza targets attacked
• 20,528 Palestinians in Israeli prisons [Haaretz, 20 Mar 2024]
• 15,140 Israelis injured [i24 TV]
• 15,000 terror operatives killed in Gaza [Israeli officials]
• 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
• 9,400 Palestinians in Israeli prisons
• 9,000 IDF needing psychological assistance
• 8,665 arrested by Israelis in the West Bank since Oct.7th
• 7,209 IDF injured admitted to rehabilitation [IDF]
• 6,800 IDF officers and soldiers injured [Channel 12]
• 6,000 HAMAS combatants killed [HAMAS]
• 5,500 IDF wounded [reports]
• 4,800 West Bank Palestinians wounded
• 4,700 sites targetted in Lebanon
• 3,850 wanted persons arrested throughout Judea and Samaria
• 3,600 administrative detainees
• 3,188 IDF wounded [IDF]
• 2,100 Gazan women are missing
• 1,609 terrorists killed on the first day
• 1,650 wanted persons arrested throughout Judea and Samaria affiliated with Hamas
• 1,160 Israelis killed on the first day
• 620 Israeli officers and soldiers killed since the start of the war
• 468 West Bank Palestinians martyred
• 364 people [including fighters] killed in Lebanon
• 274 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.

Some reports claimed that the UN cut in half its earlier estimates of women and children killed in Gaza. Initially, they reported 9,500 women and 14,500 children killed, but later revised it to 4,959 women and 7,797 children on 08 May 2024. The UN acknowledged its inability to independently verify casualty figures. The seeming discrepancy is that HAMAS had about 10K KIA bodies on hand for which they do not have positive ID. It is possible to report the gender and approximate age [ie, juvenile] without knowing the name of the deceased.