Operation Iron Swords - Day 19 - 25 October 2023
Palestinian armed group Hamas launched thousands of missiles at Israel and deployed its militants to infiltrate Jewish settlements near the country’s border with Gaza on 07 October 2023. The 1,200 Israelis killed on the first day would be the equivalent of 36,000 Americans killed in an attack, as a proportion to Israel’s population of 9.3 million people (compared to 332 million in the USA). Israeli President Isaac Herzog stated: “Not since the Holocaust have so many Jews been killed in one day". PM Netanyahu stated "On October 7th, Hamas murdered 1,400 Israelis. Maybe more. This is in a country of fewer than 10 million people. This would be equivalent to over 50,000 Americans murdered in a single day. That’s twenty 9/11s. That is why October 7th is another day that will live in infamy."
Israel said it had dropped over 6,000 bombs on the Gaza Strip since Hamas's attack on October 7, nearly matching the number of bombs the US used in Afghanistan in one year. The IDF had, by its own admission, dropped 4,000 tons of high-explosive bombs on Gaza — a quarter of the explosive power of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. The HAMAS had reportedlly fired about 7400 rockets at Israel. The group said it launched 5,000 rockets in the initial barrage. Israel’s military said 2,500 rockets were fired.
Palestinian Ministry of Health reported that over the past 24 hours, Israeli bombings have killed 756 people, 344 of them children. The Gaza Strip's healthcare system is on the verge of collapse. Within 48 hours, the last supplies of diesel in those hospitals that are still functioning will run out. The Palestinian health ministry said on 24 October 2023 that Israeli airstrikes had killed more than 700 Palestinians in Gaza overnight, and ministry spokesman Ashraf Al-Qidra said it was the highest 24-hour death toll in Israel’s two-week-old siege of the narrow strip.
In a statement released on social media, the Palestinian health ministry said at least 6,546 Palestinians had been killed by Israeli bombardments since October 7 including 2,704 children, with 17,500 injured. Israel launched drone strikes on occupied West Bank. The Palestinian death toll in the West Bank since the start of the current conflict on October 7 has risen to 103, including two in Israeli prisons, according to a count by Anadolu based on official figures.
At least 80 more Palestinians were detained in Israeli raids in occupied West Bank in last 24 hours. 1:34 p.m. - Many forces of the IDF, the Shin Bet and the Israel Defense Forces operated tonight in many locations throughout the Judea and Samaria Division and the Bekaa and Valleys Brigade to counter terrorism and arrested 68 wanted persons suspected of involvement in terrorist activities. 58 of them are active in the terrorist organization Hamas.
The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs claimed that Hamas continues to hold at least 222 abducted persons. Israeli officials were reportedly disappointed with the statements made by the 85-year-old freed Israeli hostage describing her experience during Hamas’ captivity because she had not been prepared ahead of the live interview. Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Yocheved Lifshitz, said that she was beaten on Oct. 7 when Hamas militants stormed Israel and captured civilians but later they treated her “gently,” and had a doctor examine her during her two-week captivity in the Palestinian enclave. Citing Israeli sources, the state-owned Kan News reported that allowing Lifshitz to make a live statement was a “mistake,” adding that they were uncertain if anyone had a “preliminary discussion” with her on the issue.
IDF struck several terrorists and Hamas infrastructure, including terror tunnel shafts, military headquarters, weapons warehouses, mortar launchers and anti-tank missile launchers. Furthermore, the IDF struck Hamas’ emergency operational apparatus, including war rooms, infrastructure and military headquarters. Hamas’ emergency operational apparatus was responsible for setting up blockades that prevented Gazans from evacuating to safer areas in the southern Gaza Strip. Additionally, the IDF struck military infrastructure and command centers of Hamas' security apparatus, which is responsible for overseeing the terrorist organization in the Gaza Strip and arresting and imprisoning Hamas' opponents.
IDF fighter jets struck military infrastructure and mortar launchers belonging to the Syrian Army in response to the launches toward Israel yesterday. IDF warplanes attacked several military targets of the terrorist organization Hezbollah in Lebanon. During the attack, terrorist infrastructures were destroyed, including a military compound and an observation post of the terrorist organization Hezbollah.
Israeli air strikes had forced 70 percent of Gaza’s population to flee their homes amid harsh living conditions, the Palestinian government media office in the blockaded enclave said. “Around 1.4 million Palestinians have been displaced,” Salama Maarouf, a spokesman for the media office in Gaza, said. He said the displaced civilians have taken shelter at 223 spots, including hospitals, schools, churches, and health care centres. WHO documented 171 attacks on health care in occupied Palestinian territory between Oct. 7 and 24, as Israel's war on Gaza continued. The WHO office in the occupied Palestinian territory said on X that 493 people, including 16 health workers on duty, were killed in these attacks. "Health care and civilians must be protected now," it urged. According to the UN health agency, 96 of these attacks occurred in the occupied West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem, while 75 in Gaza.
The Palestine Information Center (Maata), which is specialized in monitoring resistance activities and various confrontations in the West Bank, indicated that the resistance fighters had carried out more than 1,337 resistance and popular actions since the beginning of the Al-Aqsa Flood battle, including 384 shooting operations and 60 specific operations. The confrontations in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem since the start of the battle resulted in the martyrdom of 109 Palestinians, distributed across various governorates in 316 confrontation areas, and the number of prisoners exceeded 1,350, including factional and community leaders and liberated prisoners.
The confrontations were concentrated in the known contact points in the West Bank, starting with the settlement streets and military sites in the vicinity of Jenin and Tulkarm. Resistance groups continued to target settlements and military sites, and in Qalqilya, where Azzun took the lead in the confrontation as usual, and in the areas surrounding Nablus and its countryside, as well as the villages of Ramallah near the settlements and at their northern entrance.
Confrontations also broke out in the neighborhoods of occupied Jerusalem, especially Abu Dis, Al-Issawiya, Jabal Al-Mukaber, the Old City, and Wadi Al-Joz, and were strongly present in Bethlehem and its camps and villages in the western region, such as Husan, Nahalin, and Al-Khader. In Hebron, Beit Ummar, Al-Aroub Camp, Bab Al-Zawiya, and Al-Fawwar Camp topped the scene of the confrontation as it expanded. To other regions. In conjunction with the confrontations, resistance groups in the northern West Bank and other areas in the center and south continued their shooting operations at a higher rate, and on the bypass roads, the rates of targeting settlers’ vehicles increased.
Despite all these activities, the entry of the West Bank into the battle does not seem to have achieved what was “desired” for the resistance in Gaza, although the pace of confrontations and shootings has increased, but analysts and observers point to the absence of “specific operations” in the manner in which they were carried out during the months preceding the battle. All of the above indicates one of the characteristics of the stage that the West Bank is going through, which is the rise and fall of resistance work following the absence of the organizational body that was known in the previous Palestinian struggle experience.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei accused the United States of being complicit in the “crimes” being committed in Gaza by Israel. “The US is definitely the Zionist regime’s accomplice in its crimes against Gaza. In fact, it is the US that is orchestrating the crimes being committed in Gaza,” Khamenei said in a speech remarks from which were posted on his official account on the social media platform X. “The blood of the oppressed children of Gaza is on the US’s hands,” he added. Khamenei contended that the reason for Western leaders’ visits to Israel following the October 7 attack by the Palestinian militant group Hamas was “because they see that the Zionist regime is falling apart.... The Zionist regime has suffered a decisive blow. It has been wounded and is crippled. The West is struggling to keep it on its feet using weapons and bombs.”
Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN Munir Akram said that his country condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. However, under international law, the struggle against occupation, for self-determination, and national liberation is legitimate and cannot be equated with terrorism, he said, according to a transcript released by the Pakistani mission at the UN. "It is the suppression of this struggle, which is illegal," Akram said while referring to Israeli actions in Gaza. "Yet, a state, which is in forcible occupation of a foreign territory, cannot invoke the 'right to self-defence' against those whose territory it has illegally occupied," said the veteran Pakistani diplomat.
At a news conference in West Jerusalem with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Macron stressed Israel's right to defend itself. "The fight must be without mercy, but not without rules," Macron said, because democracies "respect the rules of war," an apparent reference to criticism of Israeli air strikes that have killed thousands of Palestinian civilians in the blockaded enclave.
French President Emmanuel Macron said he believed it would be an ‘error’ for Israel if Israel launched a ‘massive ground intervention’ in Gaza, even though Macron reaffirmed Israel’s right to defend itself. “France recognizes Israel’s right to defend itself. Regarding a ground intervention, if is entirely targeted against terrorist groups, that is a choice that it has...” Macron told reporters. "If it's a massive intervention that would put civilian lives at risk, I think it's an error... for Israel too because it is unlikely to protect Israel in the long term, and because it is incompatible with... international humanitarian law and the rules of law," Macron said after meeting Egypt's Abdel Fattah el Sisi, who also urged Israel to avoid an invasion.
"The international law applies to everyone. France has always supported the universal values of humanism. All lives matter and there is no hierarchy. All victims deserve our compassion, our engagement in a just and sustainable peace in the Middle East," he said. He was responding to claims by Arab leaders who have accused Western nations of overlooking harm to Palestinians.
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said that "specific pauses" are needed in Israel's war on Gaza to allow aid into the clave, but again stopped short of calling for a ceasefire. Facing calls from some opposition lawmakers during weekly questions in parliament to urge Israel to hold a ceasefire, Sunak reiterated it "has the right to defend itself under international law". But the UK leader said London had consistently called for the conditions to allow aid to enter Gaza. "We recognise for all of that to happen there has to be a safer environment which of course necessitates specific pauses as distinct from a ceasefire," he told MPs.
Britain would discuss a humanitarian pause in the conflict in Gaza to facilitate aid shipments, but does not want a wholesale ceasefire as that would only benefit Hamas, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's spokesperson said. "Humanitarian pauses - which are temporary, which are limited in scope - can be an operational tool, and obviously that is something we could consider, and have been discussing," Sunak's spokesperson said.
Former head of British intelligence and former British ambassador to the United Nations, John Sawers, said that Israeli leaders must realize that the idea of invading the Gaza Strip and destroying Hamas may be far-fetched. He added in an article published by the British newspaper "Financial Times" that Hamas has a large political and popular base and broad external support from Iran, and therefore it is better for the long-term goal of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government to be to achieve stability in Gaza and prevent violence from turning into a regional conflict. According to Sawers, Hamas aimed through its “brutal” attack on Israel to instill fear in the hearts of Israelis, draw attention to its cause and provoke exaggerated reaction.
"Therefore, Netanyahu and his war government must review their options more carefully, because urban warfare is difficult and complex, which is what we witnessed in Aleppo and Mariupol, where the two cities were leveled to the ground to defeat the entrenched force." Sawers added that the process of purging the Iraqi city of Mosul from the control of ISIS, which was led by the United States of America, took 9 months and cost thousands of civilian deaths, pointing out that Israel does not have that time.
Sawers confirmed that one of the options that the Israelis are considering is to close the entire Gaza Strip with a double wall, consisting of a new barrier some distance inside Gaza territory, in addition to the current border wall, and closing all crossings into Israel. He continued, "But this solution leaves the question of who will manage Gaza and its citizens, as Israel has no desire to occupy it again, and the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank cannot return to the Strip on the back of Israeli tanks, and Egypt refuses to absorb 2 million refugees." Sawers proposed forming an international administration for the Gaza Strip with a mandate from the UN Security Council, stressing that the United Nations had done so before in Namibia, Cambodia, Bosnia and East Timor.
Despite announcing its imminent launch, Israel has refrained from initiating a ground invasion of Gaza 18 days after the deadliest day in the country’s 75-year-history, a delay that experts attributed to a combination of international pressure, concerns over hostages, and time to train troops before they head to the besieged enclave. This delay came as Israel continues to reel from the deadliest attack ever launched by Hamas, and Gaza continues to be pounded by relentless retaliation bombardments. Israel has vowed to annihilate the Palestinian group, and the continuing conflict has claimed thousands of civilian lives on both sides.
Raphael Cohen, the director of the Strategy and Doctrine Program of RAND Project AIR FORCE, and a senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation, spoke to Al Arabiya English about the delay, saying there are “several factors” at stake. “From the Israeli perspective, they’re concerned about escalation,” he explained. “Once they launch a full-on assault, Israel is committed to a ground war with Gaza.”
A second factor is that Israel has taken groundbreaking action by activating 360,000 reservists and launching a ground offensive. This unprecedented move aims to dismantle Hamas’ military capabilities and end their control over the Gaza Strip. “It is important to know that that mobilization has tripled the size of the Israeli Defense Forces,” said Cohen. “Now if you’re going to do that, so … you want to get them retrained.” While these 360,000 reservists are trained, they still need to be equipped to deal with the expected forthcoming onslaught, said Cohen. “It is easier, than say if this was a Western military because all those 360,000 folks have spent time on active duty. So they are coming in with a higher level of proficiency, but nonetheless, if your day job is working in an office in Tel Aviv, that’s still a far cry from (operating in) tunnels underneath Gaza.”
A third factor, said Cohen, is that reportedly the Biden administration in the US has asked Israel to hold off any ground offensive to allow more time for negotiatons to release civilians held hostage by Hamas. Hamas freed two women, including 85-year-old Yocheved Lifshitz, who said militants beat her as they took her into Gaza on October 7 but was then well-treated during her two-week captivity in the Palestinian enclave. Hamas had also freed American teen hostage Natalie Raanan and her mother after being abducted in Israel. Cohen said reports suggest that the US is pressing Israel to hold back as they buy time to secure the release of more held captive in Gaza.
The Israel-Hamas war was likely to run into “weeks, even months.” Cohen pointed to the 2014 Gaza War, also known as Operation Protective Edge – a military operation launched by Israel on July 8, 2014, in the Gaza Strip – which lasted more than 50 days. That operation, he pointed out, had the “strategic intent of simply containing” Hamas. This is “a far cry” of what Israel said it wants to do nine years on, he said, which is to “destroy Hamas.” “This will be a long and costly war,” he warned.
Patrick Bettane, an intelligence expert affiliated with the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT) in Israel, also said there were factors at play regarding the potential launch of a ground offensive, pointing out that the situation is further complicated by the presence of hostages in the Gaza Strip. “Israel is waiting to see how this problem can be resolved before it acts.”
There is growing pressure emanating from within Israel as well, with the families of hostages urging that the safe return of their loved ones becomes a top priority. Outside the Israeli military’s headquarters in Tel Aviv, some relatives of the captives have coordinated sit-ins, appealing to their armed forces for negotiation.
Israel has imposed a “full siege” on Gaza for the past two weeks, cutting off food supplies, water, electricity and fuel. Humanitarian organizations have criticized the move as a form of collective punishment that may amount to war crimes under international law. The Wall Street Journal reported that Israel decided to postpone the ground operation so that the United States can transfer additional missile defense systems to the Middle East. Washington expects a significant increase in the intensity of shelling of American military bases in Iraq and Syria after the IDF enters Gaza.
Biden stated that he did not make a demand to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to delay the ground invasion of the Gaza Strip, but suggested that they should take any opportunity to secure the release of hostages first. "No. What I have indicated to him is that if that's possible to get these folks out safely, that's what he should do, but I did not demand it. I pointed it out to him," Biden said during a press conference when asked whether he demanded that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delay the planned ground invasion of Gaza.
A recent poll conducted by Harvard University in cooperation with Harris, yielded results that- varied sharply between different age groups, and showed that Americans support Israel by an overwhelming majority (84%), compared to only 16% who prefer the Palestinian resistance movement (Hamas). This overwhelming support for Israel is evident among older Americans over the age of 65, as 95% of them said they support Israel, while only 5% expressed sympathy for Hamas.
Things seemed different when it came to the segment of young people between the ages of 18 and 24, as 52% of them said that they support Israel, while 48% declared their support for the Hamas movement, meaning that almost half of the young people polled declared that they stand with the movement. Perhaps the “most shocking” result - in the opinion of the independent journalist - is that the Harvard-Harris poll revealed that 51% of young people between the ages of 18 and 24 said that Hamas’ violence against Israeli civilians was justified, while only 49% said They don't think so.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, said the Palestinian militant group Hamas was not a terrorist organisation but a liberation group fighting to protect Palestinian lands. "Hamas is not a terrorist organisation, it is a liberation group, 'mujahideen' waging a battle to protect its lands and people," he told lawmakers from his ruling AK Party, using an Arabic word denoting those who fight for their faith. Unlike many of its NATO allies and the European Union, Turkey does not consider Hamas a terrorist organisation and hosts members of the group on its territory. In 2018, Erdogan told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that “Hamas is not a terrorist organization and Palestinians are not terrorists. It is a resistance movement that defends the Palestinian homeland against an occupying power.” There is nothing to suggest that Erdogan’s views have changed.
A digital poster distributed by Hamas resources on social networks featured the inscription "Gaza" at the entrance, three Merkavas, one of which is under the American flag, and the inscription in three languages: "Labyrinth of the arrogant." Satan' s arrogance, on account of which he was dismissed from Allah' s mercy and grace, is related in the Qur' an as a lesson to mankind. This arrogance on the part of Satan is what caused his downfall - In Islam, arrogance is a great sin. The Quran forbids pride and Allah curses those who walk arrogantly on earth. The Prophet Muhammad said that no one will enter paradise if they have even a mote of pride in their heart. The most severe arrogance is being arrogant against Allah Almighty by rejecting submission.
The Quran says in Ayah Luqman 31:18, "And do not turn your nose up to people, nor walk pridefully upon the earth. Surely Allah does not like whoever is arrogant, boastful". The Prophet Muhammad said in a hadith, "Whenever you meet humble people from my Ummah you must meet them with humility and you must behave arrogantly with the arrogant people". Arrogance stems from a false sense of self-importance. It is a direct molestation with Allah's power and a sort of claim to be Allah.
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