Operation Iron Swords - September 2024
A polio vaccination campaign began in the Gaza Strip under the auspices of international organizations after cases of the virus were recorded, while the occupation continues to refuse to agree to a truce to facilitate its access to all areas. The Ministry of Health in Gaza says it aims to vaccinate 600,000 children in the Strip, but acknowledges that this will be difficult due to the difficulty of accessing areas such as Rafah (south of the Strip), Al-Maghazi and Al-Bureij (central governorate), and others.
The Israeli army confirmed that six hostages had been killed as Israeli troops closed in on the tunnel where they were being held. The bodies of six hostages captured by Hamas militants on October 7 had been retrieved from a tunnel in the Rafah area of southern Gaza, the Israeli military said on 01 September 2024. All the victims have been named. According to the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), Hersh Goldberg-Polin, aged 23, Eden Yerushalmi, 24, Ori Danino, 25, Alex Lubnov, 32, Carmel Gat, 40, and Almog Sarusi, 25 were killed by Hamas a short time before the military found them. Some of them were supposed to be released if a new exchange deal was reached with the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ).
The Israeli Health Ministry said that autopsies conducted on the bodies of the six hostages found in Gaza and then transferred to Israel showed that they were killed "at very close range." "The six hostages were killed by Hamas terrorists who shot them at very close range," spokeswoman Shira Solomon said in a statement. She added that they "apparently died between 48 and 72 hours before the autopsy, that is, between Thursday and Friday morning. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported on Sunday, quoting informed sources, that the autopsies of the bodies of the six hostages who were recovered from Gaza proved that they were all killed by bullets to the head.
The Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) held Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responsible for the lives of the prisoners killed in Gaza on Sunday , after the occupation army announced the recovery of the bodies of 6 detainees after they were found inside a tunnel in the Strip. Hamas said in a statement that it holds Netanyahu fully responsible for the lives of the prisoners killed by Israeli bombing, stressing that US President Joe Biden "should, if he cares about their lives, stop his support for the enemy."
According to activist Mohammed Hassani, a ceasefire and complete withdrawal is the way to bring them back alive. He wrote, “The way to free the prisoners is through a ceasefire, withdrawal, and lifting the siege.” He continued the tweet, explaining his idea, “As for military action, you will not bring them back except as lifeless bodies.” While tweeter Ahmed Al-Husseinawi believes that Israel has certain intentions behind the negotiations and military operations, he said, “Their goal from the deal is to return their prisoners, and then exterminate most of the residents of Gaza after that, because there is nothing to fear after the hostages leave Gaza.” For his part, activist Mohammed Master held the occupation responsible for killing the prisoners and wrote, "This is the result of the Zionist enemy's crimes. If they had agreed to exchange them for Palestinian prisoners instead of bombing Gaza, they would have returned to their families like everyone else."
Netanyahu remained silent for hours. Faced with unprecedented criticism from the opposition camp headed by Yair Lapid, the head of the "National Camp", Benny Gantz, and even from sources in the Likud party, he was forced to issue a video in which he apologized to the families of the kidnapped for not returning them to the country while they were alive. Public anger and resentment against Netanyahu and his government escalated with the revelation of the Israeli army’s initial assessment, which states that “the six kidnapped individuals were killed 24 to 48 hours before Israeli forces found them inside a tunnel in Rafah, about a kilometer from where the kidnapped Kayed Farhan al-Qadi was found.”
Amid these developments and the revelation of information about the army's initial assessment, which revealed the military failure and failure to search for the prisoners and return them alive, calls were raised by former Prime Minister Ehud Barak for civil disobedience, paralyzing the economy, and a strike by the local government, in addition to expanding the scope of protests to include all parts of the country.
The news of the recovery brought calls for “a massive demonstration” from the Hostage Families Forum, which has criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for failing to agree a hostage-for-peace deal with Hamas that had been under negotiation several months. It has demanded “a complete halt of the country and the immediate implementation of a deal to release the hostages.”
The Federation of Trade Unions in Israel [Histadrut] announced a comprehensive economic strike in Israel in response to a call from the Forum of Families of Prisoners and Detainees in the Gaza Strip, to pressure Netanyahu's government. "I will not tolerate abandoning the Israeli prisoners held in Gaza," said Histadrut (Israel's trade union federation) chairman Arnon Bar-David in a statement issued by his spokesman, in an attempt to pressure Benjamin Netanyahu and his government into concluding a prisoner exchange deal with Hamas.
In a related context, the Israel Business Forum, which includes 200 leading businessmen, decided to hold an emergency meeting this evening to support the protests. The forum confirmed, in a statement, its support for the demonstrations of the families of prisoners held in Gaza, calling on the public to "not remain silent" in the face of what it described as "the daily loss of life and the abandonment of prisoners and leaving them to their fate," noting that they could be saved according to the security services' estimates.
The family of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, the 23-year-old American-Israeli who was taken hostage from the Nova music festival on Oct. 7, has announced his death. “With broken hearts, the Goldberg-Polin family is devastated to announce the death of their beloved son and brother, Hersh,” the family said in a statement posted to the Bring Hersh Home Instagram account on Sunday morning. “The family thanks you all for your love and support and asks for privacy at this time.” Rachel Goldberg and her husband addressed the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, holding the convention center in rapt silence and gaining the attention of 20 million TV viewers as they called for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war and she buckled in pain as she addressed Hersh directly.
President Joe Biden acknowledged Goldberg-Polin’s death in a statement, saying, “I am devastated and outraged.” He revealed that Goldberg-Polin and other murdered hostages had been found in a tunnel below the southern Gaza city of Rafah. Praising Goldberg-Polin’s parents as “relentless and irrepressible champions of their son and of all the hostages,” Biden said, “I admire them and grieve with them more deeply than words can express. I know all Americans tonight will have them in their prayers, just as Jill and I will. I have worked tirelessly to bring their beloved Hersh safely to them and am heartbroken by the news of his death.”
US Vice President Kamala Harris stressed that the Goldberg family "will not be alone in grieving this terrible loss." "Hamas is a terrorist organization based on evil," she said. "With these killings, Hamas has more American blood on its hands." Harris said: "The threat posed by Hamas must be eliminated and it cannot control Gaza,"adding that "the Palestinian people have also suffered under Hamas rule for nearly two decades."
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum blamed Netanyahu and said it would mount protests. “Netanyahu abandoned the hostages!” the forum, the largest of several bodies representing the 107 or so hostages believed to be remaining in the Gaza Strip, said on X, in Hebrew. “That is now a fact. Starting tomorrow, this country will quake. We call on the public to get ready. We are bringing the country to a stop! The abandonment is done!”
Israeli news anchor and author Amnon Levy was even more critical of Netanyahu, saying in an article on the Yedioth Ahronoth website, “The truth must be told: the gun that fired the shots belonged to Hamas, but the one who made the killing possible was Netanyahu, who preferred other goals to the lives of the kidnapped.” "Netanyahu left the kidnapped to die. After all, they were still alive until last week, according to the assessment of the IDF spokesman. They remained in the death tunnels for almost a year, and managed to survive the terror, hunger, and fear, until death came to them, due to Netanyahu's procrastination and evasion," he added.
Political affairs analyst at the Walla website, Tal Shilo, who directed harsh criticism at Netanyahu and his management of the prisoner exchange deal negotiations file, and his insistence on fighting and promoting that military pressure is the only guarantee and sufficiency to return the kidnapped Israelis while they are alive. Under the title “The opposite, Netanyahu, the opposite: Military pressure does not bring back the kidnapped, but kills them,” Shilo wrote an article in which she reviewed the repercussions of the “cabinet” vote to keep Israeli forces on the Philadelphi corridor, saying that “in the last 48 hours and up until the news of the bodies being recovered, we finally became certain that Netanyahu simply does not want a swap deal and sacrificed the kidnapped to save his government.” She believes that finding the bodies of the six kidnapped soldiers inside a tunnel reflects another fact, which is that "Netanyahu does not intend to withdraw from Gaza in the next decade, and is preparing for a permanent Israeli military presence in the Strip."
An Israeli security cabinet meeting about the hostage-release and Gaza ceasefire deal erupted on 29 August 2024 and turned into an unprecedented shouting match between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant. At the cabinet meeting Gallant presented the case for moving forward toward a deal as soon as possible, Israeli officials said. The officials said the defense minister said the deal is not merely about the release of the hostages, but it is also a "strategic juncture" for Israel.
Gallant accused Netanyahu of forcing the maps of the IDF deployment along the Egypt-Gaza border on the IDF, despite the fact that the military's position is it can mitigate the risks of withdrawing forces from the area in order to reach a hostage deal. Netanyahu got mad, banged his hand on the table, accused Gallant of lying and announced he was bringing the maps to a cabinet vote on the spot, according to the prime minister's aides.
Gallant responded with a sharp attack of his own. "As the prime minister you are authorized to bring to a vote any decision you want — including executing the hostages," the defense minister told Netanyahu. "We have to choose between Philadelphi and the hostages. We can't have both. If we vote, we might find out that either the hostages will die or we will have to backtrack to release them," Gallant said. In the vote that followed, Gallant found himself isolated. Netanyahu and seven other ministers voted in favor of maintaining full military control over the Philadelphi corridor. Gallant was the only one who voted against the resolution, officials said.
Palestinian factions announced in successive statements that their fighters were engaged in violent clashes in a number of areas in the West Bank, especially in the city of Jenin. The WAFA news agency said that the Israeli forces "shot two young men after opening fire on their vehicle at the entrance to the town, and prevented the Red Crescent crew from providing them with first aid, which led to their martyrdom. They were Abdullah Nasser Hammou and the child Muhammad Mahmoud Hammou, who was in the fifth grade from the town of Yamoun." "The two martyrs were distributing bread to citizens besieged on the outskirts of Jenin before they were assassinated," she said.
The Israeli army evacuated homes in Jenin camp in preparation for expanding the invasion. Witnesses said the army blew up a house near the club in Jenin camp, and also booby-trapped the Al-Ansar mosque in the camp in preparation for blowing it up. "Our fighters are engaged in fierce clashes with enemy forces in the axis of Al-Ansar Mosque, and are showering infantry forces with heavy direct fire," the Al-Quds Brigades (Jenin Battalion) said in a statement. The Al-Quds Brigades (Tubas Battalion) also announced that its fighters "carried out 5 operations to detonate explosive devices against enemy soldiers and vehicles." The Al-Quds Brigades (Tulkarm Battalion) confirmed that its fighters "entrapped a group of enemy foot soldiers in a tight ambush... and shot down a Zionist soldier in a sniper operation during the clashes."
Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir responded to the news of the six prisoners’ deaths with calls for settlement building in Gaza. “Those who blame the Israeli government are repeating Hamas propaganda,” Ben-Gvir wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “In Gaza, too, the price for killing the kidnapped must be the occupation of more land and the establishment of a Jewish settlement in Gaza.”
Netanyahu's considerations are clear in his rejection of any settlement. He is the one who wants to involve American forces in a war with Iran. Netanyahu considers this his historic opportunity that will not be repeated, because the Americans have mobilized their aircraft carriers and submarines in the region, to deter Iran and its allies from waging a large-scale war on Israel. For him, this scenario is a valuable opportunity that will achieve what he has been demanding since 2012, to strike Iran before reaching the point where "regret is of no use" and Tehran has possessed a nuclear bomb.
Anger erupted in Israel over the killing of six prisoners in Gaza, after the Israeli military recovered their bodies. About 300,000 people took to the streets on 01 Septembre 2024 to protest against Netanyahu's government, which they accuse of failing to reach a ceasefire agreement in Gaza. Israel's main labor union called a strike on Monday, bringing the country's economy to a halt for several hours before a labor court ordered strikers to return to work. The general strike — the first nationwide call to stop work since October 7 — represents the latest challenge to Netanyahu’s grip on power in Israel, but analysts say the full impact of the protests and strikes will only be known in the coming days.
The Histadrut (General Organization of Workers in Israel) is Israel's national trade union center, founded in 1920 during the British Mandate for Palestine. It is one of the most powerful and influential institutions in Israel and played a significant role in the development of the Israeli economy, labor movement, and society. Over the years, the Histadrut's economic role has diminished as Israel's economy has become more privatized. However, it remains a powerful trade union federation, representing a significant portion of Israeli workers. In recent years, estimates suggest that the Histadrut represents approximately 25% of Israel's labor force.
In July 2024, a poll showed that 72 percent of Israelis felt Netanyahu should resign over his failure to prevent the Hamas-led operation on October 7. However, Netanyahu’s polls have slowly climbed, and as of the end of August he still held a strong lead over his main rival, Benny Gantz. Netanyahu also retains the support of the far right, whose ministers include National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
The Israeli Prime Minister said, "Whoever demands that we make concessions after Hamas killed 6 of our kidnapped people is encouraging it to kill more," according to his expression. Al-Qassam Brigades spokesman Abu Obeida said on 02 September 2024 that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's insistence on releasing prisoners through military pressure instead of concluding a deal would mean their return in coffins, referring to the six detainees whose bodies were recovered by the occupation. Abu Obeida added that after the Nuseirat incident in the middle of the Gaza Strip, instructions were issued to the prisoners' guards regarding how to deal with them if the occupation army approached.
Mahmoud Al-Mardawi , a leader in the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ), said 02 September 2024 that the conditions of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the ongoing negotiations "will disappear and fall," pledging to impose the will of the resistance and the Palestinian people on him. Al-Mardawi stressed - during an interview with Al Jazeera - that the release of Israeli prisoners in the Gaza Strip will only take place through a prisoner exchange deal, stressing that any agreement will only be reached through a complete Israeli withdrawal from the Netzarim and Philadelphi axes. Al-Mardawi continued, threatening, “We will break Netanyahu, and he will submit to us, and we will force him to act according to our will, and he will not achieve any of his goals.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted that Israeli forces must retain control over the Philadelphi Corridor along the Egypt-Gaza border, vowing "not to give in to pressure" over the issue in Gaza ceasefire talks. "The achievement of the war's objectives goes through the Philadelphi Corridor," he said at a televised press conference on 02 Septembe 2024. "Control of the Philadelphi axis guarantees that the hostages will not be smuggled out of Gaza," he added. Palestinian resistance group Hamas is demanding a complete Israeli withdrawal from the area as part of the stalled talks mediated by the United States, Qatar and Egypt. "I will not give in to pressure," Netanyahu said, referring to the strategic Philadelphi Corridor. In response, US officials involved in negotiating a hostage release-ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas said that Netanyahu torpedoed their efforts, CNN reported. "This guy torpedoed everything in one speech," the source said in an initial reaction.
Hostilities between Israel and Hamas in Gaza flared up when the Palestinian militant group conducted a surprise incursion into southern Israel ten months ago, killing around 1,100 people and taking more than 200 others hostage. Some were later released through prisoner swaps or rescued by the Israeli army. By the end of August 2024, the massive Israeli military response claimed nearly 40,700 lives, while 94,060 people have been wounded, according to Palestinian health officials.
Talks to bring about a truce and secure the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners have been conducted for months with mediation from Qatar, the US, and Egypt. Last month, Hamas rejected a renewed US proposal for a hostage release and ceasefire deal, accusing Netanyahu of sabotaging negotiations, and blaming Washington for supporting him. Israel said it could not accept Hamas’ demand to end the war in Gaza as a condition for a deal. According to Israel, 251 Israelis and foreign nationals were taken during the 7 October raid, and 103 are still being held in Gaza.
While the circle of protests in Israel expanded to demand a prisoner exchange deal, the return of detainees, the overthrow of the right-wing government headed by Benjamin Netanyahu and the move towards early elections, the popularity of the Prime Minister in Israeli society continues to rise shockingly, and opinion polls show that he is the best for his position, despite internal and international pressures demanding an end to the war on Gaza. There is no strong or unified opposition in the Israeli political scene, nor does it present any political alternative to what Netanyahu is presenting, regardless of the war, so it appears clearly that Netanyahu’s political proposal and project is the dominant one in Israeli society.
In contrast to the fragility and weakness of the opposition camp and the lack of harmony between its parties and movements. Netanyahu had a cohesive right-wing government coalition, even if there are some gaps in it, noting that the parties participating in the government refrain from risking the coalition’s collapse, as they are convinced that going to early elections means that such a coalition may not be repeated.
The far-right parties represented by the "Religious Zionism" movement headed by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich , and the "Jewish Power" party headed by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir , have an interest in the cohesion of the government and not dismantling the coalition, as they control the keys to government in Israel and the reins of power, and in their hands are the ministries of finance, defense, settlement, national security, police and civil administration.
Netanyahu continues to hide behind the "existential battle" and "absolute victory", and creates a state of fear and terror among the Israelis, exploiting the state of emergency and endless fighting in order to continue his policy and agenda, without having the courage to face the facts, and refraining from any measures that might threaten the disintegration of the government coalition.
Despite not achieving any of the war's goals, and being accused of obstructing the exchange deal and giving up the detainees for personal and political reasons, Netanyahu was still leading the Likud Party and the right-wing camp that dominates the political scene, amid the decline of the center and the absence of the Zionist left.
The conditions for a ceasefire demanded by Hamas, according to the writer, are that Israeli forces leave the Philadelphi Corridor between Gaza and Egypt, leave Rafah, and stop the war, which means a Hamas victory and Israel’s surrender. Yahya Sinwar, the new Hamas leader, is continuing his strategy of using the ordeal of the detainees as a supreme psychological weapon to force Israel to surrender, to tighten the noose on Netanyahu, who is stirring up more fear and anger among the general public in Israel, which increases the pressure on him to surrender.
Netanyah does not have the courage to acknowledge reality. He set two simultaneous goals for the war: returning the captives and defeating Hamas. But these two goals were always in potential contradiction, and so Israel faced a hideous dilemma: winning the war would likely require killing most of the captives, while prioritizing the release of the hostages would mean Israel’s surrender. Netanyahu made a grave mistake in that he never told the people the truth, which is that his two goals in the war conflicted, and he never told them that he could not sacrifice the country to save the detainees, because he was not the kind of leader who had the moral courage to say that.
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