Operation Iron Swords - Day 120 - 03 February 2024
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NEW - War Termination NEW - Operations NEW - Operations Maps NEW - By-Standers NEW - Axis of Resistance NEW - Allied for Democracy UPDATED - Oasis of Martyrs UPDATED - Hostages |
Political analyst Andrei Chuprigin confirmed that the situation in the Middle East is so tense that any action, even by mistake, could lead to a major fire. Choprigin said: “It is likely that the Biden administration does not want an escalation that would lead to a major war in the Middle East. A strike against Iran would be risky. This does not mean that it will not happen in the future. The situation in the region now is so tense that any action, even if committed "Accidentally, it could cause a major fire."
Chuprigin believes that "the United States, due to leaks to the media and official statements about preparing to respond, has already warned everyone about the strikes in a way that minimizes the consequences." Choprigin added that the situation when the American base in Jordan was struck was different, explaining: “A fringe group struck the base without warning, and even the Iranians themselves did not expect it.” Chuprigin believes that "the massive strikes on the territories of two countries, such as Syria and Iraq, are the main catalyst that could lead to igniting fire in the region."
In an interview with Israeli news broadcaster Channel 12, Israeli Brig. Gen. Avigdor Kahlani said that the country is presently living through its toughest times since its inception and that every settler is called to have "nerves of steel, for without that we won't last for too long."
Former Shin Bet head Carmi Gilon told Channel 12 on Hebrew television “The (Hamas) movement will remain in power and rule in the Gaza Strip, as long as the vacuum that exists there remains, and if (the candidates) to rule the Gaza Strip are unacceptable to Israel, the only solution is to remain ( Hamas) is in power, according to his statements. He went on to say: “The Turks fled from Gaza, the British also fled this region, the Egyptians also, and we also fled Gaza,” he stressed.
According to him, there is not a single religious Zionist who has most likely not read the book (The King’s Torah), which calls for killing Arabs even when they are children, written by Rabbi Yitzhak Shapira and Rabbi Yosef Elitzior, which Gilon describes as a racist book. No public prosecutor in the Israeli occupation entity allowed extremist rabbis to be investigated and prosecuted for the imminent danger their statements entailed and their impact on their students, and he acknowledged that the agency he headed made a mistake in its dealings with those rabbis.
Political researcher Ammar Khader confirmed that the occupying state is trying to win through negotiations what it was unable to achieve through the field, and while it does not have the capabilities to advance in this direction, the resistance still maintains its cards. In an interview with Al-Alam News Channel for the “With the Event” program, Ammar Khader pointed out that the Israeli conditions stand in the way of Palestinian demands and hinder any progress in this direction.
He pointed out that the occupying state is trying to win through negotiations what it was unable to achieve in the field, and it is trying to achieve a field achievement through negotiations, while on the field and in the battle it is a failure and has been unable to achieve any actual and real achievement. He added: The occupying state is the loser in this round, and does not have the capabilities to advance in this direction, and the resistance is still holding its cards.
He stressed that what was caused by October 7 and the Al-Aqsa flood was a blow to the strategic core of the occupying state and the currently existing government coalition, adding: What was caused by the Al-Aqsa flood was that it restored the issue to its prominence again, and restored to the Palestinians their just demands through the use of force of arms and the logic of force possessed by the resistance.
He concluded by saying that Netanyahu has now collided with the new reality achieved by the resistance and the power it brought through direct targeting, field steadfastness, and not allowing the occupying state to achieve a real achievement.
The spokesman for the Islamic Jihad Movement, Muhammad Hajj Musa, confirmed that it is too early to talk about any deal as long as the basic points are not agreed upon, stressing that the resistance factions dealt with great flexibility in this regard, while the matter clashes with Netanyahu’s intransigence and the division of the decision in the matter.
In an interview with Al-Alam News Channel for the “With Al-Hadath” program, Muhammad Al-Haj Musa indicated that it is too early to talk about any deal as long as the issue has not yet been resolved and the basic points have not been agreed upon. He added: As Palestinian resistance factions, we dealt with the mediators with great flexibility because we wanted to ease the burden on our people and stop this genocide, but Netanyahu, who always raised the ceiling, as well as the entity that did not originally agree on a common goal, is the main reason for the continuation of this confrontation.
The spokesman for the Islamic Jihad Movement said : What we, as resistance factions, emphasize is that we are concerned with a ceasefire , but on the basis that we will be victorious for the blood of our people and not waste it. Muhammad Al-Hajj Moussa pointed out: When the brotherly brothers in Egypt presented us with a paper some time ago, the response from the Palestinian factions was a joint response, and from that moment we emphasized the conditions for a ceasefire, the withdrawal of the occupation forces , the whitewashing of prisons, and guarantees for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip .
But he stressed that nothing has changed at the level of these conditions, adding: We assured the brothers in Qatar and Egypt, and they naturally spoke about it, but the occupation is the one that harms and talks about what comes after the Gaza Strip and after the war and how the sector is managed... and this is empty talk. He stressed that: The occupation did not win, and the resistance still has the ability to control and control, and we prove this with the missiles launched and the clashes in all areas of the incursion.
The spokesman for the Islamic Jihad movement concluded: The field gives us, as Palestinians, points of strength to impose our conditions on the occupation, in addition to a very important point and card of strength, which is the issue of the prisoner soldiers .
Efforts and calls have intensified to reach a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, amid cautious optimism towards concluding a prisoner and detainee exchange deal between the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) and Israel. The head of the Hamas political bureau , Ismail Haniyeh, is expected to visit Egypt again in order to discuss a proposal prepared during a meeting in late January in Paris between CIA Director William Burns and Egyptian, Israeli and Qatari officials.
A source in the movement stated that the proposal includes 3 stages, and in the first stage it stipulates a truce lasting 6 weeks during which Israel will release between 200 and 300 Palestinian prisoners, in exchange for the release of 35 to 40 prisoners detained in Gaza, with the possibility of between 200 up to 300 aid trucks entering daily to Gaza.
However, Israel stresses that it will not permanently stop its war on Gaza until it eliminates the Hamas movement, frees all the prisoners, and receives guarantees regarding security in its lands, as it says.
This truce proposal will be at the heart of a new visit by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to the region starting Sunday, which will include stops in Qatar, Egypt, Israel, the occupied West Bank, and Saudi Arabia. Blinken said on that he seeks during this tour to work on “a lasting peace in the region, including sustainable security for Israelis and Palestinians alike.” This was the fifth time that Blinken has visited the region since the outbreak of the Israeli war in Gaza.
In turn, French Foreign Minister Stephane Ségornet began a Middle Eastern tour that will focus on the political prospects for the post-war period in Gaza. This round, which will include Egypt, Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian territories, and Lebanon, would push forward toward a “ceasefire and the liberation of the hostages” and “open political horizons” based on the two-state solution, with an existing Palestinian state alongside Israel, according to what French Foreign Ministry spokesman Christophe LeMoyne said.
Avigdor Lieberman, an Israeli member of the Knesset and head of the "Israel Our Home" party, considered that "the Egyptians must, in the end, control the Gaza Strip with a mandate from the United Nations and the Arab League." In an interview with the Jerusalem Post newspaper, Avigdor Lieberman, while presenting his vision for the issue of “what Israel’s borders would look like without a Palestinian state,” said: “In the future, Egypt should control Gaza, and Jordan should take responsibility for Area A of the West Bank and part of Small area B.
Lieberman added: “We understand that the idea of a two-state solution (to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict) is dead. It does not exist,” adding: “We need another approach,” as he considered it illogical “to do the same thing for many years and expect different results.” Lieberman explained that he wants to return to the idea of “a confederation between Jordan and the Palestinians,” noting that Area C in the West Bank is divided into three sections. Areas A and B are under the auspices of the Palestinian Authority, and Area C is where All settlements are located under the military and civilian control of the IDF.
Under Lieberman's plan, "all of Area A and a small part of Area B would be under Jordanian control through a confederation, while Israel would apply sovereignty to the rest of Area B and all of Area C."
Lieberman believed that Israel paid a heavy price in Oslo, adding: “Thousands of Israelis were killed and wounded.” He added: "Everyone should ask themselves whether your situation now is better than it was before 1993 or not," pointing out that his answer to this issue is negative.
When it comes to Gaza, Lieberman has often been a loud voice calling on the IDF to restore security control, and when he became defense minister in 2016, he presented Netanyahu with a document warning of a possible October 7 attack. He then resigned from his position in 2018 in protest. On the truce reached between Israel and Hamas after an intense barrage of rockets launched by the movement against Israel.
He now believes that Israel should cut all ties with Gaza, an area that he believes should be returned to Egyptian rule. Lieberman explained, "Ultimately, the Egyptians must control the Gaza Strip under a mandate from the United Nations and the Arab League. We have no other choice. All the other proposals I have seen are not realistic. It is an impossible task."
Lieberman particularly opposes any plans by the Palestinian Authority to regain control of the Gaza Strip after the war, adding: “To speak today as if the Palestinian Authority is capable of controlling Hamas is unrealistic.” Lieberman feels “frustrated by the international community’s calls against the Palestinians heading from Gaza to Egypt, considering that anyone who desires this should be able to at least go to Sinai.
Lieberman explained, "The international community and moderate Arab countries should invest in building a new city for the Palestinians on that peninsula, which could also revitalize the region," noting that "this could be accompanied by the establishment of industrial and manufacturing zones." He added that regardless of who controls Gaza, all goods entering the Strip must pass through Egypt and not through Israel.
The international community and the Palestinians have opposed such a move in the past, in order to preserve the link between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, fearing that linking the enclave to Egypt would harm the possibility of establishing a Palestinian state. Lieberman, whose party belongs to the opposition, spoke at a time when Israel is under intense diplomatic pressure to accept the two-state solution, once the war between Israel and Hamas ends.
Lieberman, a centrist diplomat and political dissident, has always had an alternative vision when it comes to a Palestinian state. Some of his ideas were classic for a right-wing politician. He began his prominent political career in 1993 as Director-General of the Likud Party and then in 1996 as Director-General of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office during his first term. From this position, he was an active opponent of the Oslo Accords, which put Israel on the path toward a two-state agreement.
Lieberman resigned from his position in 1997, believing that Netanyahu had made too many concessions to the Palestinians, and only entered the Knesset in 1999 as head of the Yisrael Beytenu party, which he created. Lieberman took his party out of government in 2004 in protest against the disengagement plan that would have led to Israel withdrawing from Gaza a year later. However, the veteran politician made headlines in 2004 by endorsing a two-state solution, based on a regional map focused on retaining a maximum of Jewish citizens and a minimum of Israeli Arab citizens by redrawing border lines.
Now, eighteen years later, in the wake of October 7, he finds that “this vision was a mistake,” according to the Jerusalem Post.
The Hamas movement said that it had received the general framework proposal issued by the Paris Quartet meeting and that the discussion within the movement was based on a complete end to the aggression against the Palestinian people and a complete withdrawal of the Israeli army.
Hamas leader Osama Hamdan added, in a press statement today, Saturday, that “our study of the proposal is also based on lifting the siege that has been ongoing on the Gaza Strip for 17 years, providing shelter for the displaced, rebuilding what the occupation destroyed, completing a serious prisoner exchange deal, and practical international recognition.” Our people have the right to self-determination and to establish their independent, fully sovereign state with Jerusalem as its capital.”
He said that the movement "appreciates the efforts made by the brothers in Egypt and Qatar to reach a sustainable ceasefire agreement in Gaza on the path to ending the Nazi aggression that continues against our Palestinian people."
He stressed that the Hamas movement “will be where the interest of our Palestinian people is, and that our priority today is to alleviate the suffering of our steadfast people in the Gaza Strip, by reaching a complete and comprehensive cessation of aggression, lifting the unjust siege, protecting our people in the West Bank, protecting Al-Aqsa and the holy sites, and the rights of our people.” The Palestinians are on the path to achieving their hopes and aspirations for return, freedom and independence, and building their free state with Jerusalem as its capital.
It should be noted that Paris hosted a four-way meeting at the end of last month, with the participation of the head of the Israeli Mossad, Dedi Barnea, the head of the Shin Bet, Ronen Bar, reserve Major General Yeatsan Alon, the head of the US Central Intelligence Agency, the CIA, the Qatari Prime Minister, Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani, and the head of intelligence. Egyptian Minister Abbas Kamel.
During the meeting, the participants discussed the issue of prisoner exchange between Hamas and Israel, and the situation in the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli operation in the Gaza Strip enters its 120th day amid continuing battles and clashes between the Israeli occupation forces and the Palestinian resistance, in various areas of the Strip. Despite the withdrawals carried out by the Israeli occupation army in the areas of the northern Gaza Strip, they are not complete, as military and strategic expert Major General Fayez Al-Duwairi confirms , as battles and sniper operations continue in the western neighborhoods of Gaza City. Al Jazeera's correspondent confirmed that violent clashes were taking place between the Palestinian resistance and the occupation forces in the western areas of Gaza City.
Al-Duwairi believes that the Israeli forces that are now clashing with the Palestinian resistance in Tal al-Hawa and the al-Rimal neighborhood in Gaza City are linked to the forces present in the Gaza Valley, and that they were there for several reasons, the first of which is to occupy al-Zaytoun, Tal al-Hawa, and Sheikh Ajlin in Gaza City, and prevent them from providing support to the central region. He said that the Israeli 36th Division failed and the 99th Division was sent in its place, which was able to separate the camps (Al-Bureij, Al-Maghazi, and Al-Nuseirat), but the Israelis were afraid of the resistance moving from the north of the Gaza Valley to its south, so they kept two brigades in that area.
Commenting on the clashes between the Palestinian resistance and the occupation in the vicinity of Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, the military expert explained that the southwestern area of Gaza City is still witnessing clashes, and that forces belonging to the occupation army are present there. He added that the Palestinian resistance poses challenges to the occupation army in the southwestern area of ??Gaza City, and it lures it, especially as it tries to achieve its clear goals, which are searching for tunnels, Israeli prisoners, and Palestinian resistance.
A report by the British Middle East Eye website says that Israel expects its devastating war on Gaza to continue for several months, which means that the crisis will worsen, with potentially catastrophic regional consequences. With this summary, the site presented an in-depth discussion between 6 analysts and researchers, trying to analyze the turbulent geopolitics of this war with no end in sight, and to draw lessons from the first 100 days of this conflict, and what things may turn out to be in the end.
The site reviewed the opinions of the six analysts separately, starting with the opinion of Moin Rabbani, editor of the Jadaliyya website, who started from the fact that the first 100 days of Israel’s war on Gaza changed the face of the Middle East, after it irretrievably shattered Israel’s claims to absolute power and absolute knowledge. And its army is invincible.
Thus - Moin Rabbani says - the Israeli army was forced, for the first time in 75 years, to wage war within its borders, and Israel launched the most intense campaign in its history, leveling a large part of the small Gaza Strip to the ground, and killing Palestinian civilians on a large scale and with a speed that forced it, within 3 months, to appear before the International Court of Justice on charges of genocide , which has been associated with it since its founding as a victim, and for the rest of time as a perpetrator in Gaza.
This war - according to Moin Rabbani - revealed Israel's absolute dependence on the United States for military, political and diplomatic support, and it also destroyed the image of Israel, which constitutes a strong stronghold of Western interests and influence in the Middle East. Although the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) does not constitute a major military force, Israeli leaders have repeatedly referred to this conflict as the conflict that will determine whether or not Israel can continue to exist.
It is impossible at this stage to predict when, how, or even the likelihood that the weapons will fall silent, and until they do, the renewed talk in Western capitals about a “ two-state solution ” remains a mere charade to distract attention, because it is not possible to achieve peace and peaceful coexistence in the Middle East in The existence of an irrational, genocidal state that constantly seeks to resolve political challenges unilaterally through a display of overwhelming force.
In turn, Ghassan Al-Kahlot, director of the Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies and associate professor at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, focused on the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, and saw that it had left an indelible mark on the region, and raised concerns about the meager support provided by Arab countries. For the Palestinians, it demonstrated the glaring absence of tangible support for the besieged residents of Gaza.
Although the official Arab position is not surprising - as the writer sees it - it has taken a worrying turn, as it has gone beyond insufficient support for the Palestinian cause, and has now turned to refusing to sever relations with the occupying state. Some reports even pointed to a trade corridor provided by Arab countries to Israel to mitigate the effects of the naval blockade imposed by the Houthis in Yemen .
As the war approaches the beginning of its fifth month, there is an urgent need - as Al-Kahlot says - for continued popular pressure, at a time when the Arab regimes are trying to “weather the storm” without taking any effective action that truly alleviates the suffering of the people of Gaza, which means that The Arab street should not divert its attention from Palestine.
Tamer Qarmout, assistant professor of public policy at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, addressed the failures of the international system , focusing on the failure of this society, to the point of collusion with Israel, to come to the rescue of Gaza in the ongoing tragedy and the brutal reality that the Palestinians face there, a situation that many have described. It is genocide. It is unfortunate that international law , which represents a beacon of hope for achieving justice and equity, has fallen into the crosshairs of global politics, which has undermined its effectiveness and left those who most need its protection without recourse.
Qarmout pointed out that there is a slight change and improvement in the West’s positions towards Gaza due to internal popular pressure, which may help alleviate the burden on the people of Gaza, noting that there are other actors, such as Turkey , Egypt , the Gulf states, and the Islamic world, that can contribute an effective role.
But it is crucial - according to Qarmout - to understand that any discussions and decisions regarding the reality of governance “the next day” in Gaza must be undertaken exclusively by the Palestinians, regardless of the type of government that may result, because the time has come to realize the mistakes of the Oslo Accords and ensure that Do not repeat it.
Qarmout concluded that the path to peace and justice may be fraught with obstacles, but the collective will of the people, coupled with the strategic engagement of key regional and international players, can pave the way for a lasting solution.
In the context of this discussion, Amina Al-Ashqar, a research assistant at the Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies, raised the ongoing violent conflict in the West Bank that has not been reported, as the Israeli army has engaged in confrontations, not only with existing organizations such as Hamas and the Islamic Jihad movement , But also with newly formed local armed groups.
The period after October 7 was marked by a worrying escalation in violence in the occupied West Bank, where more than 300 Palestinians were killed, including more than 60 children, and thousands more were injured, without mentioning the 2023 toll, which amounted to 480. Martyrs and about 12 thousand injured. With the apparent calm in the West Bank, there is a profound shift in Palestinian sentiment, as revealed in a recent opinion poll, which showed increasing support for Hamas and considering armed struggle as a means to end the conflict.
In his analysis, Mohammed Al-Hamawi, a research assistant at the Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies, focused on the reverberations of the war on Gaza throughout the region, and the anger it led to, especially in Jordan , where the streets of Amman and other cities demonstrated that this genocidal war A reminder that the fate of the peoples of Jordan and Palestine are inseparable.
This feeling was embodied in people’s words and actions. Protests erupted in the streets of Amman on a regular basis, and popular chants called for the opening of the “Jordanian front,” which is unlikely at the present time, but not far-fetched given the growing Israeli hostility to Jordan, especially since the demonstrators have repeatedly tried to... And repeatedly walking towards the border.
This feeling has led people to commit strictly, and at times aggressively, to boycott certain companies that are considered supportive of the occupying state, based on the idea that frequenting any company that supports Israel is tantamount to complicity in genocide in Palestine.
As for Sansom Milton, a senior research fellow at the Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies and an assistant professor at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, he addressed the urgent question about the next step in Gaza, although the future remains uncertain, noting that the first important finding is that The war profoundly changed the political and conflict dynamics of the region.
It is unlikely at the global level - as Sansom Milton believes - that a solution to the situation in Gaza will be reached, especially since the International Court of Justice ruled that there are “reasonable” reasons to consider Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip a case of genocide, but it stopped short of calling for Immediate ceasefire.
While Indonesia and Slovenia will continue to take further measures against Israel through international law, the besieged residents of Gaza will have little hope of legal redress to end the war and lift the blockade when they face an aggressor who has consistently violated international law over decades. Moreover, the recent decision by several countries, led by the United States, to suspend funding to UNRWA in the midst of the world's worst humanitarian crisis; It highlights how Israel's allies are effectively able to dismantle the most effective international tool for achieving peace.
Sansom Milton concluded that even if the war ended today, no one can be certain that Israel would not collapse tomorrow or the day after, because there is little room for certainty about the path the region will take, but what is certain is that it will not return to the situation that existed before October 7th.
A young Palestinian man was injured by bullets from the occupation forces that stormed south of Tulkarm in the occupied West Bank . They also stormed Nablus, Tubas, and the Dheisheh camp in Bethlehem, and two areas in Beit Ummar, north of Hebron. The raids were accompanied by arrest operations that increased the number of detainees since last October 7 to 6500.
The Palestinian News Agency reported that the occupation forces stormed the town of Kafr Jamal in Tulkarm. As a result, confrontations broke out during which gunfire, sound bombs, and tear gas were fired, leading to a young man being wounded by a bullet in his chest. For his part, Al Jazeera's correspondent said that Israeli army forces stormed the city of Tubas, in the northeast of the West Bank, and arrested a number of Palestinians.
The scope of the raids also expanded to the villages of Rujib, Burqa, and Balata camp, in Nablus Governorate, and the village of Jayyus, east of Qalqilya. The occupation forces stormed the Dheisheh camp, in the city of Bethlehem, south of the West Bank, and arrested a number of young men this morning. Local sources reported to Al Jazeera that 18 military vehicles surrounded the camp before storming it, and the occupation forces assaulted the residents and tampered with their property, before arresting those they described as wanted, which led to obstructing students’ access to their schools.
Lebanese Hezbollah announced that its fighters targeted, with "appropriate" weapons, the Israeli "Khirbet Maar" base off the Lebanese border. Al Jazeera's correspondent reported that two missiles were fired from southern Lebanon towards the Israeli military site of Al-Samaqa in the occupied Lebanese "Kfar Shuba" hills. The Lebanese "Hezbollah" also confirmed on the same day, the targeting of the Israeli Ruwaisat Al-Alam site and the deployment of soldiers around it in the Kfarshouba hills and the Lebanese Shebaa Farms. Occupied with missile weapons.
According to the Israeli army, 3 missiles were detected - today, Saturday - that crossed Lebanese territory into the areas of “Baram” and “Zarait” (in the Upper Galilee) and landed in open areas, without causing any casualties. Earlier today, Saturday, Israeli Army Radio announced, “Two missiles were launched from Lebanon, landing in an open area in Zarit, and an anti-tank missile on Kibbutz Baram in the Upper Galilee.”
In this context, Hezbollah announced that it targeted Israeli soldiers in the “Yaroun” settlement off southern Lebanon, causing injuries among their ranks. The party said that it bombed the "Even Menachem" settlement with appropriate weapons and achieved direct hits there. Hezbollah had previously announced that its fighters had targeted the Israeli sites of Ramtha and Al-Samaqa in the occupied Shebaa Farms and had achieved direct hits in them.
The Lebanese "Hezbollah" announced that it had targeted the Israeli Pranit barracks with two "Falaq 1" missiles, confirming that it had been hit directly. “Who said that we are waiting for you to stop or not to stop?” Nasrallah’s deputy responds to the statements of the Israeli Defense Minister Hezbollah said in a statement: “In support of our steadfast Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and in support of their valiant and honorable resistance, the Mujahideen of the Islamic Resistance at 9:50 pm today, Saturday, targeted the Pranit barracks with two Falaq 1 missiles. They hit her directly.”
Fighter jets attacked a Hezbollah military structure in the A-Taiba area. In addition, the IDF attacked additional areas in southern Lebanon during the day with tank and artillery fire. Also, a number of launches were detected that crossed from Lebanese territory to the areas of Har Dov, Ibn Menachem and Ya'raon, there were no casualties. IDF forces attacked the sources of the fire. IDF spokesman , Brigadier General Daniel Hagari on the scope of the fighting on the northern borders: "Since the beginning of the war, Hezbollah has placed itself in the same line as Hamas. Hezbollah operates on behalf of and with the backing of Iran and carries out acts of terror against Israel. The IDF exacts a price from Hezbollah which is growing and deceiving his capabilities in southern Lebanon.
"We are in a new defense effort on the Lebanese border. We have deployed three divisions along the border. So far we have attacked more than 150 squads and eliminated more than 200 commanders and terrorists. Since the beginning of the war, we have attacked more than 3,400 Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon. Hezbollah, like Hamas, places infrastructure His terror is in the heart of the population."
"The security reality in the north is already taking shape these days. We will not return to the security reality as it was on October 6 when Hezbollah threatens the residents of the north. Hezbollah was wrong when it decided to side with child kidnappers and rapists, and to attack Israel without any justifiable reason."
"We have the duty to ensure security at the northern border so that you can return to your homes. It is a complex challenge and there is still a way to go until the security situation allows your return. This is our responsibility. We are determined to meet this task and realize it by any means at our disposal."
For its part, Israeli warplanes launched a series of raids on the towns of Aita al-Shaab and Yaroun, and the Jabal Balat area in southern Lebanon , while Israeli artillery bombed the vicinity of the towns of Rashaya al-Fakhar and Dhahira. Meanwhile, the Israeli army announced that its warplanes carried out raids targeting what it said were Hezbollah sites in Lebanese territory.
He pointed out that he bombed two observation sites in the Marwahin and Aita al-Shaab regions, and a military command headquarters in the Yaron region, saying that the targeting took place while members of the party were working at a rocket launch site, and a site from which rockets were launched into Israel The Israeli army spokesman said that Hezbollah, since the beginning of the war on Gaza, has been seeking to "draw our attention away from Gaza, and we are working to form a new security reality in the north."
The spokesman pointed out that the Israeli army has attacked more than 3,200 Hezbollah sites on Lebanese territory since the beginning of the war. He added that 120 Hezbollah watchtowers on the border had been attacked since the beginning of the war, which they were going to use to attack Israel, in addition to 40 weapons depots and more than 40 command headquarters.
Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV said that "hostile drones fired a missile towards Yaroun, and (there was) Zionist artillery shelling targeting the Al-Kharibah area on the outskirts of Rashaya Al-Fakhar." In the same context, the Lebanese Amal Movement announced, at dawn on Saturday, the killing of two of its members in confrontations with the Israeli army in southern Lebanon, bringing its death toll to 3 since the eighth of last October. The movement said that they were killed "while carrying out their national and jihadist duty in defense of Lebanon and the south."
According to the Lebanese National News Agency, “The enemy intends to paralyze daily life in the southern villages and towns adjacent to the Blue Line, targeting agricultural workshops, civilian cars, and moving mechanical and human bodies, especially at night, in addition to targeting ambulances, media personnel, and the press.” In light of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip , since October 8, the Israeli-Lebanese border has witnessed tension and intermittent exchange of fire between Hezbollah and Palestinian factions on the one hand and the Israeli army on the other, which led to deaths and injuries on both sides, and among Lebanese civilians.
Israeli Channel 12 quoted the former head of the Operations Division of the Israeli military, Reservist Major General Israel Ziv, saying the North takes priority, as he condemned the decision "Israel" has taken in postponing confrontation on the northern front until operations in Gaza are over. He further commented saying, "We previously said the North could wait till the war in Gaza is over, but it keeps spinning like a revolver door," adding, "We won't get to the North, we won't be able to focus our efforts, and we won't be able to solve the problem there."
Ziv also affirmed that the root of all problems is the incompetence and unreadiness of one person to make a call, taking a jab at Benjamin Netanyahu "who refuses to make decisions in advance, despite what all military and security chiefs recommend."
Israeli media reported that the Israeli settler community, especially, is consumed by a general mood of distrust vis a vis the incumbent Israeli government. "The Israeli public doesn't know what this government wants and what it plans for," Israeli media reported. Israeli media quoted the mayor of "Nesher" as saying the "war in the north will be earth-shattering."
A week ago, according to Israeli media, the mayor reportedly left a meeting with the Minister of the "Interior" "extremely concerned." During the meeting, the mayor discussed a horrific scenario in which the battle broke out on the northern front, warning, "We are not ready for war, there is no evacuation plan, we have not attended to the dangerous topic factories, and the public is not told the whole truth."
The Political Bureau of the "Ansar Allah" movement (Houthis) condemned the American attacks on Iraq and Syria, considering them "a barbaric and blatant aggression, a violation of the sovereignty of Iraq and Syria, and a violation of international laws." The Political Bureau said in a statement: “We condemn the American aggression against Iraq and Syria and consider it a barbaric and blatant aggression, a violation of Iraqi and Syrian sovereignty, and a violation of international laws,” adding, “The aggression against Iraq and Syria comes in the context of American support for the Israeli enemy to continue its crimes against the Palestinian people in Gaza.”
Ansar Allah stressed that "the aggressive American actions will drag the region into a broader conflict, and this threatens international peace and security," and added in its statement, "Washington could have forced Israel to stop its aggression against the Palestinian people and lift its siege of Gaza instead of getting involved in targeting the countries and peoples of the region."
The political office of the "Ansar Allah" group affirmed that "our peoples have the right to defend themselves and protect their security and sovereignty from the repeated criminal American attacks," stressing the rejection of "the American narrative that falsely and falsely claims that its aggression against the countries and peoples of the region is merely a reaction, while it is a blatant aggression."
A group of the world's largest shipping lines - including an Israeli shipping software startup - have begun experimenting with new trade routes through the Middle East bypassing the Red Sea. Hanan Friedman, CEO of Trucknet Enterprise, said that it began sending goods, including food, plastics, chemical and electrical goods , from ports in the Emirates and Bahrain, passing through Saudi Arabia and Jordan, towards the Israeli occupation entity and then Europe. Hapag-Lloyd, the fifth largest container transport company in the world, is looking to connect Jebel Ali in Dubai and two ports in eastern Saudi Arabia with Jeddah on the west coast, and among its other options is linking Jebel Ali to Jordan.
Bloomberg claimed, “These routes provide an immediate solution for shipments trying to avoid the tension-filled area controlled by the Ansar Allah movement around the Bab al-Mandab Strait in the southern Red Sea , after missile and drone attacks that lasted for several months forced many commercial ships to shift to... "A longer route around Africa. This subsequently disrupted vital trade flows and increased shipping costs, with negative impacts extending throughout the global economy."
She added that companies were forced to search for viable alternatives. The path proposed by Turknet has not been tried before on a commercial scale due to the tense relations between the Israeli occupation entity and the Arab countries. Although the peace agreement between the UAE, Bahrain and Israel three years ago eased relations between them, attempts to normalize relations between Saudi Arabia and Tel Aviv faltered after the outbreak of war in Gaza.
Friedman explained that goods from India, Thailand, South Korea and China have been sent by truck in recent weeks. While goods destined for Asia move in the opposite direction, which helps reduce overall costs. However, the long-term viability of this route will depend on stability in the region. Also, the quantities that trucks can carry are much smaller than those transported by ships. Friedman said the proposed land route still provides an acceptable alternative for shipping some goods.
For his part, Hapag-Lloyd spokesman Niels Haupt acknowledged that its planned alternative routes are a short-term solution for shipping companies that transport a limited amount of goods “not thousands of containers.” He added that the land corridor is neither quick nor easy, but it may help enhance the flow of trade through other ports in the region, such as Jeddah, which is effectively isolated from its usual links to the global economy.
According to research conducted by S&P Global Market Intelligence published this week, a trip from Jebel Ali port to Haifa (Israel’s first commercial gateway) takes up to four days, compared to a trip of 10 days or more around the Cape of Good Hope in Africa. , which increases the attractiveness of this path. “Although the land corridor transports significant amounts of goods, it will remain a solution limited to a limited number of shipments, especially those destined for Tel Aviv,” said Chris Rogers, head of the organization’s shipping and supply chain research group.
Lebanese academic and political researcher Talal Atrissi said: American President Joe Biden accused Iran a few days ago of being behind the groups that attacked his country’s forces, and that was a threat that Iran would pay the price, but Biden, in terms of regional calculations and the war that could break out, does not want or think about directing a direct strike against Iran, nor He wants to open a battle with Iran, for fear that the war will expand in the region.
He added: Within months, American sites were subjected to dozens of operations, and Biden feels that American prestige must be restored, especially since in Yemen, American prestige has also declined, and Yemeni operations against American and British ships and tankers have not stopped despite the bombing and threats.
Atrisi stressed that these strikes will not change anything in the general goals of the axis and the resistance factions, whether in Iraq or Syria, and these operations will continue, whether against American military barracks or directly against the Zionist occupation, and the crossing of tankers into the Zionist entity will continue to be prevented.
He pointed out that the beginning of operations in Iraq, Syria, or Yemen was completely linked to the aggression against Gaza, and the only declared title was “Stop the aggression against Gaza so that the operations would stop.” If the Americans had taken a decision to stop the war, the other fronts would have stopped, and this escalation and expansion of the circle of engagement would not have occurred at the regional level.
Iraqi political researcher Haider al-Moussawi considered that the axis of resistance is one case, and wherever the threat is, you will find strikes directed from all arenas, and the United States views the countries and components of the axis of resistance as one case, and this is what we witnessed in the case of support for the resistance and the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip when the aggression broke out in the Gaza Strip. . Al-Moussawi added that the Iraqi resistance factions wanted to give room for political action and the Baghdad government, which seeks to remove foreign forces, especially the American ones, from Iraqi territory, and therefore announced the cessation of operations against the American forces, but the United States considered it a retreat and calm, even though the resistance’s statements confirmed that its hand would remain on the trigger.
He stressed that the response was quick and accurate to the American bases after the recent American targeting of the Popular Mobilization Forces and civilians, describing the resistance’s response as painful for the United States, especially since it came in conjunction with the electoral season in America and will end Biden’s order in the upcoming elections.
The risk of the war between Israel and Hamas expanding to the rest of the region has been a concern for several countries, which hastened the deployment of American military ships in the Mediterranean Sea, “a calculated response to provocative strikes carried out for months by Iranian agents in the region,” according to an American analyst. After the bloody attack launched by Hamas on Israel on October 7, Washington provided military support to Israel and strengthened its forces in the region, especially through the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford and other warships.
Nearly four months after the start of the war, the concern of its expansion remains, as the clashes between the Lebanese Hezbollah and the Israeli army on the border have not stopped, while the Houthi rebels’ threats to ships in the Red Sea have doubled, in addition to sporadic attacks in Syria and Iraq on American military bases.
Hezbollah is affiliated with the Hamas and Islamic Jihad movements and the Quds Force, which is responsible for external operations in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, “in a joint operations room,” through which it coordinates its movements. These parties have been coordinating their movements with other anti-Israel groups for years within the framework of the “Axis of Resistance” led by Iran, which “warned” of the expansion of the scope of the conflict in the region due to the heavy Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip.
In the face of attacks by pro-Iranian groups, US military forces responded on more than one occasion, but the response remained at the level of the threat, which “did not amount to posing a threat to the region or the security of Israel,” according to what American analyst Van Chirac said. Washington responded to previous attacks with a series of strikes in Iraq, in particular, targeting groups loyal to Iran.
American forces and international coalition forces in Iraq and Syria have been subjected to more than 165 attacks since October, many of which were claimed by the “Islamic Resistance in Iraq,” an alliance of Iranian-backed armed factions that oppose American support for Israel in the war in Gaza and the presence of American forces in the region.
Will these strikes deter militias close to Iran or will they contribute to expanding the war? In an interview with Al-Hurra website, Chirac said that the answer to this question depends on several factors, the first of which is “we must know the extent of the damage that these groups have suffered from the recent American strikes.” Then he continues, "I think that if these militias feel great pain, they will inevitably reduce their attacks, because they know that they will be facing a major global power... and that there is no room for play," he said.
It is noteworthy that the White House confirmed the success of all air strikes in hitting their targets in Iraq and Syria, as the spokesman for the White House National Security Council, John Kirby, stated that “the facilities that were targeted were used by groups affiliated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard to target American forces in the Middle East.”
On the basis of this, Chirac believes that the statement about the danger of expanding the war as a result of American strikes is “contrary to reality,” as he puts it. This expert in the Middle East believes that the repeated attacks carried out by almost all of Iran's agents since the start of the new war "were what would have expanded the war to the countries where these groups are present." In contrast, Chirac believes that any decision by Washington “other than to strike hard” would certainly have allowed the war to expand “and to be more daring on the part of Iran’s proxies.”
Then he reiterated that the size and strength of the strikes on the Iranian-affiliated militias is the main indicator for making a judgment regarding “whether the American strikes deter the militias close to Iran or not.” In this regard, he says, "In fact, it is difficult to predict because we have not seen the extent of the damage that befell those militias, especially the Quds Force." Then he continues, "Therefore, it is not possible to give a clear answer to this question."
As for the expansion of the war, he says, “The only factor that can expand the war now is Iran’s intervention, and I doubt that it will work to confront the United States. It knows that this is a risk to its entire existence.” Chirac concluded that curbing the groups loyal to Tehran depends on the strength and continuation of American strikes and even the involvement of other allied countries, ruling out the expansion of the war as a result.
It is noteworthy that the American strikes that targeted the positions of the Houthi rebels in Yemen, and its continuous interception of drones targeting their presence in the Red Sea, did not prevent them from continuing to target commercial ships, especially American and British ships. Does this apply to other groups loyal to Tehran in the region?
Jordanian political analyst, Khaled Shneikat, believes that there are several factors that determine whether American strikes will deter pro-Iranian groups or not, “including what is related to those groups and what is related to America itself.” In an interview with Al-Hurra website, he explained that the factors associated with these groups boil down to the ideology that drives them. If they see what they are doing as sacrifices, “it is difficult to say that the strikes will deter them,” pointing to the example of the Taliban movement in Afghanistan.
Then he added that knowing the structure of these organizations and their ability to maintain their sources of funding is also an important indicator of their ability to continue or not in the face of American strikes. As for the factors related to the United States, they are summarized in “the strength, continuity, and intensity of the strikes,” and together, they give a picture of whether these groups will return or not.
Then he stipulated that there be ground intervention in addition to air strikes, in order to neutralize the work of armed groups, giving an example of the success of the United States in defeating ISIS due to the presence of auxiliary forces on the ground, which are the Iraqi forces. Then, he went back to explaining that the images of demolition in Gaza and the dead and wounded civilians are “self-recruitment factors,” and said, “This is what keeps the battle going.”
Maps
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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. Indeed, by late January 2024 mappers were rather less exuberant in their depictions of IDF advances. While by the end of 2023 maps suggested that it was "mission accomplished" in North Gaza which was depicted as entirely pacified, by late January 2024 enclaves of IDF elements were depicted at the margins of Gaza City, much of North Gaza was now depticted as either HAMAS-controlled, or "contested". Another noteworthy cartographic ambiguity was found to the south of Khan Yunis in the stretch of Salah Al-Deen avenue running north from Al-Nasr through al-Fukhari to the vicinity of Tawhid Mosque in the environs of Khan Yunis proper. By the end of 2023 some cartographers indicated that a large swath of territory centered on this avenue had been liberated by the IDF, while other cartographers professed no knowlege of an IDF presence in that part of the Strip. By late January 2024 there are suggestions that while the avenue itself was an IDF permissive corridor for nearly the full length of the Strip, much of adjacent territory was not. By 29 January 2024 Al-Jazeera had finally come around to some of the cartographic conventions of other mappers, indicating "occupied areas", and even providing a map of IDF ORBAT in the Strip.
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Bystanders
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, warned that Israel's statements - regarding military action towards the city of Rafah - are disturbing and constitute a danger to more than one and a half million Palestinians whom it ordered to go there. Turk wrote, in a blog post on the X platform, that the international organization is concerned about the statements of Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant regarding the military move to Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip. Gallant said - in a statement - that the Israeli army is achieving its mission in Khan Yunis, south of Gaza, and that it will reach Rafah.
Turk added that these statements raise the alarm about the occurrence of large numbers of casualties and the further displacement to an unknown location of more than 1.5 million Palestinians who were ordered by the Israeli army to go to Rafah. Rafah currently hosts more than half of Gaza's population, who were displaced by the war, and is also the main route for humanitarian aid to about 2,300,000 people in dire need of it.
Since January 22, the Israeli army has launched a series of intense air and artillery raids on Khan Yunis, and in the vicinity of the hospitals there, amid ground advances by its vehicles in the southern and western areas of the city, prompting thousands of Palestinians to flee from them.
Last week, the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to take all measures within its power to prevent its forces from committing acts of genocide, and to take measures to improve the humanitarian situation of Palestinians in Gaza, in a case brought by South Africa.
The French website "Media Part" saw that "the Israeli massacre in the Gaza Strip continues, and nothing is on the horizon to curb it, despite the decision of the International Court of Justice calling on Israel to do everything in its power to prevent any act of genocide." The website wrote that what it called "political negativity" trumped international law in Israel's war on Gaza, and wondered about the fate of international law, and who would protect the weak, whether states or individuals, after this.
According to the Intercept website, the International Court of Justice’s ruling “did not deter Israel from continuing to commit atrocities in Gaza, thanks to American support,” noting that since the issuance of the Hague ruling, the Israeli army has killed about 900 Palestinians and wounded 1,490.
Axis of Resistance
Naim Qassem, Deputy Secretary General of Lebanese Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, responded to statements by Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant that Israel will not stop its war against the party even if the shooting in Gaza stops. Naim Qassem said at a memorial ceremony: “Hezbollah supported Gaza, the people of Gaza, and the people of Palestine through the confrontation taking place in southern Lebanon, and at the same time protected Lebanon, deterred Israel, and put an end to the ideas that arise in the mind of the Israeli leadership of attempting to attack Lebanon or a widespread assault on Lebanon, and they know that Hezbollah is always ready, even when it gives 5% of its capacity or gives 5% of its jihad activity, but reserves the remaining capacity for the necessary time,” continuing: “The necessary time is when the Israeli expands its aggression so that we can confront this expansion with something greater than it and more influential on it.” He knows full well that the strength of Hezbollah’s youth is very strong and steadfast in the field.”
He added: "No one bets that threats or aggression can discourage us. Rather, we are more emphatic in confrontation and resistance, and we prove that we are superior, God Almighty willing, in success, victory, and achieving goals." Nasrallah's deputy added: "We hear some responsible Israelis saying that they will not stop the war even if it stops in Gaza! And slow down, who said that we are waiting for you to stop or not to stop?! We are in the field. If you attack, we will respond to you, and if you stand aside, we will study how." We deal with this presence in the appropriate way, and if you think about returning the settlers by escalating the war, this means that you are making them lose any hope of returning, because the more the war increases means that the possibility of the settlers’ return will become more difficult.”
the Lebanese Hezbollah issued a statement regarding the recent American strikes on Syria and Iraq, which resulted in the death and injury of a number of people. The party said in its statement: “Hezbollah strongly condemns the blatant American aggression against Iraq and Syria, which targeted several areas in the two brotherly countries, which led to a number of martyrs and wounded.”
The statement added: “What the United States of America has done is a blatant violation of the sovereignty of the two countries, a violation of their security and territorial integrity, and a shameless violation of all international and humanitarian laws,” stressing that “this new aggression contributes to destabilizing the region and creating false justifications and pretexts.” “Because of the continued American occupation of several areas in Iraq and Syria against the will of their people who yearn for freedom and independence.”
Hezbollah continued: “The American aggression against Iraq, Syria and Yemen reveals the falsehood of the American claims that it does not want to expand the conflict in the region. Quite the opposite, it contributes to fueling conflict and tension and escalating wars in the region.” The statement continued: "We believe that this criminal aggression pushes the Iraqi and Syrian peoples to adhere to the path of resistance to liberate their countries from the American occupation and to continue supporting and assisting the oppressed Gaza Strip until the Zionist aggression and its crimes stop."
Allied for Democracy
The Channel 13 poll, regarding the management of the war in Gaza, indicated that 40% of Israelis believe the war was not going in the right direction. According to a poll by Israeli Channel 13, only 40% of Israelis polled believe that the Israeli forces have made serious progress in Gaza. The poll, regarding the management of the war in Gaza, indicated that an equal percentage of Israelis believe the war was not going in the right direction.
After 119 days, 58% of respondents to not trust Benjamin Netanyahu's management of the war, compared to 30% who said they do trust Netanyahu, and 12% had no answer about the current prime minister. Regarding Benny Gantz, 49% believe that Benny Gantz should not leave the government, compared to 24% who believe that he should leave it.
A majority of the respondents, 70%, believe that trucks carrying basic aid to Gaza should be prevented from entering Gaza, compared to only 20% who believe they should not be prevented. Only 10% of Israelis were indifferent to the situation. Regarding the return of Palestinians to Gaza, 51% of respondents are against the return of Palestinians to Gaza while 31% do not oppose it.
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in an interview with the Israeli Channel 12, Olmert considered that on October 7, 2023, Israel suffered its greatest defeat in its history, at the military and national levels. He added, “ The Israeli government has been trying since October 7 to make us forget this defeat, through bragging steps, bragging, and pledges of things that there is no chance of being implemented.” “In the hope that with the passage of time, the bombing, and the strikes, the strength of the blow we received in the beginning will be forgotten.”
Olmert accused the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu , that he “does not want to do what is necessary to return the prisoners,” saying: “We cannot continue to deceive ourselves or that we want to return the prisoners, and then the fighting must stop , otherwise we will not eliminate Hamas and we will not save the prisoners.” Olmert pointed out that Netanyahu made a mistake when he set a goal for the war that could not be achieved, and stressed that “all the achievements achieved by the army do not come close to the declared goal, which is the complete destruction of the Hamas movement.”
The ICJ's scrutiny of rhetorical dehumanization of Palestinians led Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to urge restraint in language once more among members of his extremist cabinet, yet some members continue with provocative remarks, Politico reported. hen the court issued its decision to issue interim orders for the Israeli regime, extremist elements within Netanyahu's government, known for controversial remarks, were explicitly cited. These included Internal Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, among others. Prior to the hearing, Netanyahu cautioned extremists within his coalition to pipe down and "be careful with their words," noting that "every word has meaning when it comes to diplomacy."
Despite calls for caution, Minister Gideon Sa’ar publicly declared that Gaza should be smaller after the war, and those who initiate a war against Israel must inevitably lose territory. Minister of "Heritage" Amihai Eliyahu further sparked international outrage by contemplating the use of a nuclear bomb on Gaza, later claiming it was "metaphorical." After the charges concluded that Israel is indeed engaged in acts of genocide, Ben-Gvir condemned the court's decision as "anti-semitic," while Netanyahu himself called the charges untrue and "outrageous."
Netanyahu is currently faced with serious challenges ahead of the next hearing. A primary issue is his apparent inability to silence genocidal voices within his Cabinet, the Politico report notes. Over the weekend, ministers and lawmakers participated in a pro-settlement conference in occupied Al-Quds, advocating for the building of Israeli settlements in Gaza post-war. This contradicts Netanyahu's claim that "Israel" has "no intention of permanently occupying Gaza or displacing its civilian population." Some observers point out that extremist coalition partners may not want to trigger a coalition collapse but may seek to weaken centrists and force them to leave the war cabinet.
Netanyahu's second challenge involves the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza. With "Israel" throttling back its military aggression, this enabled the resistance to regroup its forces in the North of the Strip. This poses a serious dilemma for Netanyahu as resuming airstrikes to weaken the resistance may exacerbate the humanitarian crisis, putting him once again at odds with the ICJ.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has intensified his citations - despite his apparent secularism - to biblical texts in his statements and speeches about the Israeli aggression on Gaza. This is the practice of many leaders who resort to religious texts in times of war, for the purposes of justification and mobilization.
The genocide claim presented by South Africa was based on a large number of evidence and evidence that Israel committed that crime against the people of the Gaza Strip. Among the evidence were statements of a “biblical religious” nature by senior Israeli officials, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu , who intensified his martyrdoms - despite His apparent secularism - using biblical texts in his statements and speeches about the Israeli aggression on Gaza.
The South African indictment document at the International Court of Justice stated that Netanyahu cited a text from “the Book of Samuel in the fifteenth chapter, where King Saul is told not to spare anyone in attacking Amalek.”
Returning to Netanyahu’s statements, he said in a press conference on October 28, 2023 the following: “Our Holy Book says: Remember what Amalek did to you, and we remember and we fight.” He said about the soldiers in and around Gaza that they “join a series of Jewish heroes, which began 3,000 years ago with Joshua bin Nun, to the heroes of the 1948 war, the Six-Day War, the October 1973 war, and all the wars that were in this country.”
Netanyahu added in a televised speech on October 25, 2023, “We are children of light and they are children of darkness, and light will triumph over darkness, and with deep faith in the immortality of Israel, we will fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah. You will no longer hear about the devastation in your land. We will be a reason for honoring your people. We will fight together and we will achieve it.” "Victory."
These were Netanyahu's statements, so what about the Jewish religious texts that he relied on?
It says in the Book of Samuel: “Now go and smite the Amalekites, and destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, child and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.”
In the Book of Deuteronomy it was stated: “When the Lord your God has given you rest from all your enemies around you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance, to possess it, you shall blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. Do not forget what Amalek did to you on the way when you left Egypt.” In a call to eradicate the Amalekites who They are a nomadic people who lived south of the land of Canaan, the Negev Desert, and northern Sinai. From an Israeli perspective, they are the ancestors of the Palestinians and Arabs.
Here it becomes clear that the official Israeli citation of such religious texts is - in reality - a clear call for the genocide of humans and animals, which came in the form of “Strike or strike Amalek” with an emphasis on killing every living creature, including man, woman, child, infant, sheep, cow, camel, and donkey, in A scene that goes beyond what has been described in modern international law with the term genocide.
As for Netanyahu’s talk about the Israeli “sons of light” and the Palestinian “sons of darkness,” and his mention of the devastation that will spread to Gaza, it is a reference to the text of Isaiah, “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light,” and the other text: “And injustice will no longer be heard in your land (O Israel). ) And there will be no destruction or devastation within your borders.” After that, darkness and devastation will be upon the Palestinians today, as it was upon their ancestors yesterday, according to the religious texts that the Israeli Prime Minister draws from.
In fact, the demonization to which the residents of the Gaza Strip were subjected by Israeli officials and media came to prepare the world to accept the commission of the Israeli crime against them and the justification for targeting them. Moreover, this demonization also has what is rooted in the Jewish Talmudic and biblical heritage, which demonized “the Amalek people” to justify Exterminate them.
Hence the statements of Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant, in which he said: “We are fighting human animals,” which Human Rights Watch said were an invitation to commit war crimes. These statements rely on a huge religious heritage of demonizing and distorting those whom the Israelis consider to be the ancestors of the Arabs and Palestinians, represented by In the people of the Amalekites, whom the Torah mentioned that - according to the Book of Samuel - they are a people who love war and bloodshed, a barbaric people who love to take women captive and raid peaceful cities, and that they are fighting God Himself because they are fighting “the people of God” according to the Book of Numbers, and they also put their hand on “the Throne” “Lord,” which is interpreted biblically as “the people of Israel,” and therefore “the Lord will wage war with Amalek from generation to generation,” according to the texts of the Book of Exodus.
Cori Bush (D-MO), a member of the US Congress, says about Netanyahu’s aforementioned speech, which is based on a biblical legacy, that it is a speech of ethnic cleansing and that it is a picture of what Israel is doing in Gaza in terms of killing children, women and men, while citing texts that talk about “the extermination of the Amalekites,” which are the texts that the Jewish rabbi Elhanan says about. Miller, a left-leaning religious researcher, said, “What the Torah mentions about the Amalekites can be classified as genocide, from the point of view of international law.” This is the opinion of many Jewish writers, clerics, and influencers around the world, as the American Jewish cartoonist repeats that Netanyahu’s citation of texts The Torah about the Amalekites is “an explicit call for genocide,” while many of Israel’s supporters who criticized the speech see it as a speech that gave strong documents against “Israel” before international justice, and that “it was like an indictment that writes itself,” according to what Rabbi Miller quoted from correspondence between him. One of the academics supporting “Israel” stated the same opinion expressed by Bible researcher Anne-Marie Pelletier, who criticized the “vulgar reference” to the Bible in Netanyahu’s speech, stressing that “the one who walks in darkness in the Book of Isaiah is not the ‘enemy’ next door.” Rather, it is the Jewish people themselves, who are “certainly going through a political and spiritual ordeal.”
Despite the attempts of the defense team of "Israel" inside and outside the corridors of international justice to justify the statements of Netanyahu and other Israeli officials, by saying that they were taken out of their contexts, the actions of the occupation army on the ground confirm that what Netanyahu and quite a few Israeli officials said are not just statements, but A policy followed, revealing the truth about the extremist tendencies of the “rabbis’ government” in “Israel”, in conformity with historical biblical dreams, which it is no longer useful to say that they fall within the “conspiracy theory” after Netanyahu himself confirmed that “Israel” will continue to “control the entire region from The River to the Sea” in the context of his rejection of the establishment of a Palestinian state, as a response to an American peace plan, based on stopping the war, normalization with the Arabs, and the reconstruction of Gaza, in exchange for an independent Palestinian state.
Egyptian political analyst Yusri Obaid said in an interview with RT that Israeli political and military leaders are deliberately prolonging the war in the Gaza Strip because they know that its end means their end. Commenting on the intention of 3 Israeli security leaders to resign after the end of the war on Gaza, he added that the security leaders know that after the end of this war, a committee will be formed to investigate what happened on the 7th of October and after the 7th of October, and therefore these leaders are guilty of negligence and of allowing what It happened on October 7, and therefore they are vulnerable to dismissal and trial. They are trying to pre-empt these investigations, knowing full well that the war may be approaching its end without achieving any goals.
He said that it is not only the security leaders who will resign, but also the political leaders, pointing out that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu knows full well that with the end of this war, he, his government, and the extremists in it will be politically finished, and therefore they are trying to greatly prolong this war in order to continue in power because the end of this war. It is the end of the political future of Netanyahu, the extremist ministers, and the security leaders.
He added that they may be accused of negligence and referred to trials such as the “Agranat Committee,” which was formed after the 1973 war, and Golda Meir, the Israeli Prime Minister, and the military and security leaders were also dismissed at that time. He stressed that the current Israeli leaders know full well that they are fully responsible for what happened before and on October 7th, as well as for the major failures of the Israeli army after October 7th.
A study published in the British medical journal The Lancet revealed that the entire population of Israel was exposed, in one way or another, to the repercussions of the Al-Aqsa Flood, which was unprecedented in scope and horror of psychological trauma. The study touched on a “massive national psychological trauma” due to the number of post-traumatic symptoms and cases of depression and distress, which indicates a “noticeable impact” on the mental health of Israelis.
Since the day Hamas carried out its attack, the calls received by the “Eran” emergency line have almost doubled, according to what Sheri Daniels, the official in this telephone and electronic platform for psychological aid, revealed. "Very wide circles of vulnerability have been formed," according to Daniels, who touched on the situation of ambulance personnel, police, and the families of the dead and hostages, and "everyone in Israel sympathizes with the victims."
Daniels pointed to the situation of children who do not leave their families at nightfall, or adults who are so anxious and consumed with remorse for their inability to save their relatives that they are unable to concentrate. Director General of the Ministry of Health, Moshe Bar Siman Tov, revealed that out of an estimated population of 9.7 million, 100,000 have been exposed to accidents that could cause psychological trauma since October 7, and about 200,000 people have been displaced.
Health Minister Uriel Busso, for his part, considered that Israel is simply facing “the largest mental health crisis in its history,” even though the sector was already suffering from a “huge gap.” Today, the actual assessment of psychological needs is still premature, as they only appear after exposure to the trigger and are not taken into account unless they last more than a month, according to what psychologist Milka Adraee of the One Family Association, which provides assistance to the public in Israel, explained.
Adraee pointed out that “Hamas uses intimidation as a weapon of war... by reviving past traumas,” such as those associated with “successive waves of displacement, wars, and the Holocaust.” In light of the worsening needs and the severe shortage of specialists, the Israeli government announced a recruitment campaign and decided in mid-January to grant additional resources to the mental health sector worth 1.4 billion shekels (more than 350 million euros). Civil society is mobilizing to confront this situation. Virtual reality helmets have been used for therapeutic purposes, and Cheri Daniels says, "We are trying to fill the gaps in the system."
The former consul of Israel in New York, Yaki Dayan, confirmed that Washington is currently working to prevent the opening of an additional front in Lebanon, stressing that the Lebanese front is worrying the Americans. In an interview with Israeli Channel 12, he mentioned that even as Washington evaluates its response to Iran, it is carefully considering options to avoid triggering a regional war. This cautious approach is influenced by the upcoming elections, and the potential impact on oil prices is a significant factor in shaping their decisions.
Dayan explained that American voters are likely to base their decisions not solely on President Joe Biden's foreign policy but also on the impact of oil prices. He emphasized that the United States is currently facing a challenging situation, and the window of time it is offering Israel is almost up.
In the same context, the Israeli channel’s correspondent in northern occupied Palestine, Hadar Ghetsis, said that the Americans are trying to persuade Israeli officials to settle with Hezbollah.
A poll by the Associated Press and the NORC Center found that half of American adults believe that Israel has “gone too far” in its 15-week military campaign in the Gaza Strip . According to the poll, which was conducted from January 25 to 28, this result is mainly driven by growing dissatisfaction among Republicans and independent politicians.
In general, the poll shows that support for Israel and President Joe Biden’s administration’s handling of the situation is declining slightly in all areas, as the poll revealed that only 31% of American adults support Biden’s handling of the conflict, and this includes only 46% of Democrats, and this is a significant decline. Compared to the support for Biden's approach after the Al- Aqsa Flood operation last October 7.
The poll also shows that 33% of Republicans now say that the Israeli response to the Al-Aqsa Flood operation went too far, a significant increase from 18% among Republicans last November. 52% of independents see the same thing, up from 39%, and 62% of Democrats feel the same way, the same majority as last November.
Overall, the poll found that 50% of American adults now believe that the Israeli military attack on the Gaza Strip went too far, a significant increase from the 40% shown in a similar poll by the Associated Press and the NORC Center conducted last November.
The results of the new poll include more troubling news for President Joe Biden when it comes to support from his political party, and the lines of division in his Democratic base are growing, with some key Democratic blocs that Biden will likely need if he is to win a second term unhappy with his handling of the conflict.
According to the poll, about 6 in 10 non-white Democrats disapprove of the way Biden is handling the conflict, while about half of white Democrats approve of his approach. It is notable that about 7 out of 10 Democrats under the age of 45 do not approve of Biden's handling of the conflict. This is the opposite of older Democrats, where nearly 6 in 10 support Biden's approach.
About 7 in 10 Democrats who do not support Biden's handling of the conflict also say that it is very important for the United States to help conduct negotiations for a final ceasefire. The poll now shows that only 35% of American adults now describe Israel as an “ally” that shares US interests and values, consistent with views held before October 7, after a brief increase in November to 44%.
36% of American adults say that the United States does not provide sufficient support to the Palestinians, a slight increase from the 31% that was last December. Although about 6 out of 10 Americans describe the recovery of prisoners held by the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) as an important American priority, only 3 out of 10 say that it is very important to provide Israel with military aid to fight Hamas.
Butcher's Bill / Oasis of Martyrs
On 7 October 2023, Hamas and other armed groups present in the Gaza Strip carried out an attack in Israel, killing more than 1,200 persons, injuring thousands and abducting some 240 people, many of whom continue to be held hostage. It was the second largest loss inflicted on the Israeli forces after the 1973 war. Palestinian armed groups launched thousands of missiles at Israel Following this attack, Israel launched a large-scale military operation in Gaza, by land, air and sea.
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."
The HAMAS Ministry of Health in the besieged sector announced that the number of victims of the Israeli operation its beginning had risen to 27,131 martyrs, and the killing of nearly 10,000 Palestinian children and 6,600 women killed. The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
The number wounded was 66,287. The Palestinian Government Media Office in Gaza had said much earlier that the number of missing people had risen to more than 8,000, including including 4,700 children and women, amid expectations that the toll will be double thi figures.
The IDF intensified its military operations in the West Bank, and increased the pace of incursions and raids into cities, towns, and camps, resulting in the martyrdom of 380 Palestinians, the injury of about 3,950, and the arrest of 5,780, according to official HAMAS sources. As of 17 January 2023, the Israeli escalation in the West Bank led to the death of 360 Palestinians, the injury of nearly 2,200, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, and the arrest of about 6,000, according to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club.
More than 130 Hezbollah fighters were killed in Lebanon during exchanges of bombing operations with Israel.
Israel revised down the death toll from the October Hamas attacks in southern Israel from 1,400 to 1,200. IDF had said previously it was holding 1,500 bodies of terrorists, a total that now would increas to about 1,700.
The total number of Israeli deaths has risen to 563 [557?] since the start of the war on October 7, including 233 [220?] killed since the ground invasion as a result of the ongoing clashes with the Palestinian resistance. Among them were at least 56 with the rank of platoon commander, 43 with the rank of company commander, 9 with the rank of battalion commander, and 5 with the rank of brigade commander. These officers constitute 23% of the total deaths of the Israeli army in the war on Gaza.
Israeli media reported that 27% of the Israeli military casualties in the war were officers. In detail, the media highlighted that three brigade commanders, four battalion commanders, and other senior officers have been killed in the war so far.
The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation reported that 29 of the army's deaths were caused by "friendly fire" and operational incidents since the start of the ground war in Gaza, late last October. The Israeli authority explained that "18 army soldiers were killed by friendly fire, two were killed as a result of gunfire (without explanation), and 9 Israeli soldiers were killed in ammunition, weapons, or run-over accidents." The Jerusalem Post newspaper revealed that 15 soldiers were killed in the Strip without their bodies being found.
According to some reports statistics indicate that 20% of the Israeli losses were due to friendly fire. Because the nature of the battle has become completely different from what was expected, and it lacks a front line.
It was announced that soldiers wounded in the Gaza Strip battles numbered to 2,815 since the beginning of the war, including 1,296 who had been wounded since the start of the ground attack on October 27, 2023.
The Israeli army reported that 407 who are still receiving treatment for their injuries in the Gaza battles, and the condition of 48 of them is serious. The number of injured among the Israeli army since the start of the ground operation in the Gaza Strip on October 27 included 602 minor cases, 430 moderate cases, and 264 critical cases.
At least 13,794 Israelis were injured, according to i24 TV.
Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper had reported that 5,000 soldiers had been wounded since the beginning of the war on October 7, and that the Ministry of Defense had recognized 2,000 soldiers as disabled so far.
An estimate by the Israeli Ministry of Defense expected that the number of soldiers with disabilities in the war taking place in the Gaza Strip since October 7 of last year would reach 12,500 soldiers. The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth said that the Soldiers' Rehabilitation Department of the Ministry of Defense has dealt with 3,400 soldiers who were classified as disabled in the army since last October 7.
The Israeli army revealed that about 9,000 of its soldiers have received “psychological assistance” since the beginning of the war on the Gaza Strip on October 7, and about a quarter of them have not returned to combat. This came according to a new statement revealed by the Army Medical Corps, according to Channel 12 and the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth. According to the statement, nearly 9,000 soldiers have applied for psychological assistance since the beginning of the war, and approximately a quarter of them have not returned to combat.
The statement continued, "In total, about 13,000 regular and reserve soldiers required accompaniment or medical treatment at some level during the fighting, and thousands of them were injured in the battles."
Al Jazeera military and strategic expert Major General Fayez Al-Duwairi expressed his conviction that the numbers of dead and wounded announced by Israel “cannot represent the truth,” due to a discrepancy between the Israeli army’s data and the Walla website, which is close to the army itself.
In an interview with RT, Military strategist retired Tunisian Brigadier General Tawfiq Didi said that the number of Israeli army deaths in the Gaza battles is much greater than what Israel announces. Didi explained in an interview with the “Best Saying” program on RT channel, “The number of people killed in battles can be easily known, as the equation in wars is that for every 3 wounded there is a dead person, and the numbers now in Israel hover around 12,500 wounded and disabled people, and when we divide by Three, we find that the death toll exceeds 4,000, especially after eliminating more than a thousand tanks and armored vehicles, and I know what happens when Kornet missiles hit a tank. Its ammunition explodes and no one is left alive.”
He added, "The Israelis announce their dead only of those of Jewish origin and of the first race, meaning all Arabs, Falash, and those who are among them. They are not counted because they are of the second category. So I am sure that the number exceeds 4 thousand dead, and this is a very easy military calculation."
He pointed out, "The Palestinian resistance documented everything it did, unlike the Israelis. The resistance documented shooting at tanks and armored vehicles and destroying the houses in which the Israeli soldiers were holed up, and we saw them being killed... We saw the Kornet hitting the tanks, we saw Al-Yassin 105, so the difference is clear."
Hostages
Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed have been held as hostages in Gaza since 2014 and 2015, respectively. Unlike the roughly 240 people kidnapped in the Hamas October 7 terrorist attacks, the campaign for the release of Mengistu and al-Sayed has received little publicity. Mengistu is known to suffer from what HRW deemed "serious" mental health issues. "Avera crossed one of the safest borders in the world, under the eyes of the security services," recalled Gil Elias, a relative. "We're talking about a mentally ill person who got lost." The calls for the release of Mengistu and al-Sayed have been barely audible during the many years they have been held captive in Gaza.
Israel had previously estimated there were 116 living hostages in Palestinian custody. Israel declared 20 out of 136 people in Gaza captivity dead in absentia, after announcing its forces had recovered the bodies of two hostages. By another count, 132 of them are still being held in Gaza, and 25 of them have been confirmed dead. Israel considers those still held by Hamas to be hostages regardless of whether they are dead or alive.
Israeli government spokesperson Eylon Levy earlier had told reporters that Hamas still held 137 captives. The resistance released 10 Israeli detainees, 4 Thais and 2 Russian women, who were released outside the agreement. Over the course of 6 days, Israel has received 102 detainees, women and children, including 78 Israelis, in exchange for the release of 234 Palestinian prisoners, women and children.
Eylon Levy, the Israeli government spokesperson, told reporters 01 December 2023:
- Hamas still held 137 hostages from the October attacks, in addition to four others who went missing before the war
- The hostages include two children aged four and 10 months, who, Hamas now claims, are dead
- 117 male hostages are still kept in Gaza, including the two children, as well as 20 females
- 126 hostages are Israelis, and 11 others are foreign nationals
- Foreign nationals are eight Thais, one Nepalese, one Tanzanian and one French Mexican citizen
- Ten of the remaining hostages are 75 and older.
- There are seven missing people since the October 7 attack
- Hamas had released 110 hostages so far – 86 Israelis and 24 foreign nationals.
Some of the rest are soldiers, seized when Hamas raided military bases in Israel. They may end up being held the longest. The Israeli military had not specified how many soldiers were captured, nor their ranks.
According to some estimates, Hamas was initially holding nearly 210 of the 240 hostages, while Palestinian Islamic Jihad was holding the remaining 30. About 40 Israelis remained missing. More than 40 hostages taken from Israel into Gaza on October 7th are not currently in the custody of Hamas, the group responsible for the attack, according to a CNN report based on a diplomatic source briefed on the negotiations, CNN's prior reports had indicated that an estimated 40 to 50 hostages were held by Palestinian Islamic Jihad or other unidentified groups or individuals.
Abu Ubaida, the spokesperson for the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, said on Hamas’ telegram account that 23 bodies of the 60 missing Israel hostages were trapped under the rubble. “It seems that we will never be able to reach them due to the continued brutal aggression of the occupation against Gaza,” he said.
The Palestinian Prisoners' Club revealed that about 11,000 arrests were carried out by the Israeli army during the year 2023 in the West Bank, including occupied Jerusalem, in addition to arrests from the Gaza Strip before the seventh of last October. The number of people arrested by the Israelis in the West Bank since that date has exceeded 6,500. The total number of prisoners in Israeli prisons is 8,800, as documented by the club until the end of December 2023. Palestinian prisoner institutions said more than 3,290 administrative detainees, which is the highest percentage since the years of the 1987 Intifada, and 661 who were classified as “unlawful combatants” from Gaza, and this is the number available only as a clear given. The Prisoners' Club stated that cases of arrest among women amounted to (300), and this toll includes women from the occupied interior detained after October 7, while the number of cases of children reached 1,085. The arrest campaigns affected all groups, including women and children, as the number of women who were arrested reached about 200, while the number of arrests among children until the end of last December exceeded 355 children.
Israel said on 14 January 2024 that, since the beginning of the war, over 2,960 wanted persons have been arrested throughout the Judea and Samaria Division and the Bekaa and Valleys Division, over 1,350 of whom are affiliated with Hamas. On 08 January 2024 it was reported that more than 1,350 wanted persons had been arrested throughout the Judea and Samaria Division and the Bekaa and Valleys Division, more than 870 of whom are associated with the terrorist organization Hamas.
The institutions added in the statement that “the occupation arrested 210 women during the aforementioned period, and this statistic includes women who were arrested from the territories in 1948, and more than 355 children,” pointing out that “the outcome of the arrest campaigns includes all those who were arrested from homes, and through military checkpoints, Those who were forced to surrender themselves under pressure, and those who were detained.” It explained that "the number of arrests among journalists reached 50, of whom 35 remain in detention, and 20 of them were transferred to administrative detention."
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