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In-Depth Issues:
Poll: 64 Percent of Israelis Oppose Establishment of Palestinian State in Return for Saudi Deal ( Jerusalem Post)
64% of the Israeli public stands against establishing a Palestinian state as part of the normalization process with Saudi Arabia, according to a survey by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs in collaboration with the Panels Politics research institute.
The Biden administration's stance that a Palestinian state is the solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict faces unprecedented opposition from the Knesset and Israeli leadership.
Dr. Dan Diker, president of the JCPA, said, "The Israeli government and Knesset have rejected the idea of a Palestinian state as a solution, especially as a reward for Palestinian terror or as a post-Hamas solution."
"Public opinion polls now reflect the Israeli public's understanding of the issue's significance after October 7."
The survey revealed that the Oct. 7 massacre caused a third of respondents who previously believed a Palestinian state could be established under certain conditions, to change their mind - now opposing it entirely.
Danish Parliament Rejects Proposal to Recognize Palestinian State - Louise Rasmussen ( Reuters)
Denmark's parliament rejected a proposal to recognize a Palestinian state on Tuesday, backing the government's view that the necessary conditions were not in place.
Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen had previously said the Danish government could not recognize a Palestinian state because it did not have a single functioning authority or control over its own territory.
Foreign Volunteer Doctor: Hamas Leaders Take Shelter at Hospitals ( Rudaw-Kurdistan)
Dr. Baxtiyar Baram, a Kurdish physician who spent weeks treating the wounded in two hospitals in Gaza, said Tuesday that "I have seen it with my eyes that the hospitals have been used for hiding Hamas leaders. Yes, yes, we saw them and even spoke with them."
Dr. Baram, who works with the Norwegian Aid Committee (NORWAC), was in Gaza from April 28 to May 22.
He said Hamas does not enjoy support among the people of Gaza, believing only 10% of the population follows them.
He added that "Hamas and all Gazans hate Kurds," due partly to Gazans' love for the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, accused of massacring thousands of Kurds decades ago.
During a Visit to Israel, Nikki Haley Signs an Artillery Shell: "Finish Them" - Elisha Ben Kimon ( Ynet News)
Former U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said during a visit to Israel on Tuesday: "I reassure you: America stands with Israel."
"These words are aimed at the Israelis but also at the Americans. We need a strong Israel, and the only way Israel will be strong is when the US supports Israel completely, unapologetically."
Haley visited the Gaza border area on Monday and said, "We will always be friends of Israel. Be strong, stay full of hope and keep the faith - and let's continue to be partners together."
On a tour in northern Israel, she visited an IDF artillery battery, where she signed a shell with the words "Finish Them."
Haley said, "All eyes should be on Lebanon. We are talking about Gaza, but in the north Israel has to repel attacks from Lebanon every day."
"60,000 people were driven from their homes because the region is not safe for them. Israel needs to take care of not only Hamas, but also Hizbullah."
"No war is good, but who started it? Hamas started it. Iran finances it. Where is the world? Israel needs to do what it needs to defend itself....Israel needs to defeat her enemies."
See also Nikki Haley: "A Win for Israel Is a Win for America" ( Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
Former U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday:
"The majority of Americans stand with Israel....A win for Israel is a win for America. Israel is fighting America's enemies."
"Any country that is free and believes in democracy needs to be standing with you."
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Ayatollah Khamenei's Letter to American College Students ( Khamenei-Iran)
Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, wrote an open letter to American college students on May 25, 2024:
"I am writing this letter to the young people whose awakened conscience has moved them to defend the oppressed women and children of Gaza."
"You have now formed a branch of the Resistance Front and have begun an honorable struggle in the face of your government's ruthless pressure."
"The greater Resistance Front, which shares the same understandings and feelings that you have today, has been engaged in the same struggle for many years in a place far from you."
"The support and solidarity of your professors is a significant and consequential development."
"I, too, am among those who empathize with you young people, and value your perseverance."
"The Resistance Front advances...and will attain victory with the permission of God.
My advice to you is to become familiar with the Quran."
Saudi Arabia Reduces Antisemitism in Textbooks - Itamar Eichner ( Ynet News)
A new study by the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-se) in London found that the Saudi Education Ministry made significant changes to remove anti-Israeli content from textbooks.
"Students no longer learn content which defined Zionism as a 'racist' European movement that aims to expel Palestinians, or that Zionism's 'fundamental goal' is to expand its borders and take over Arab lands, oil wells and Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem."
Israel is still not recognized on maps, but in some maps, Palestine, which featured across the entirety of Israeli territory, has been systematically removed.
IMPACT-se CEO Marcus Sheff said, "It is particularly encouraging that Saudi curriculum designers have made additional changes that present Israel in a more positive light. These changes are good news for the future of the entire region."
U.S. Military Pier Temporarily Removed from Gaza Coast for Repairs ( Reuters)
A U.S. military-built pier off Gaza's coast is being temporarily removed after a part of the structure broke off, Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh said on Tuesday.
Singh said a portion of the pier had separated due to bad weather and that the pier would be towed over the next 48 hours to Ashdod port in Israel for repairs.
The pier would take over a week to repair and then returned to its place off the coast of Gaza.
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News Resources - North America, Europe, and Asia:
- Israel Gains Control of Gaza Border with Egypt as Rafah Offensive Advances - Dov Lieber
Israeli officials say the IDF has secured control of Gaza's 9-mile border with Egypt, known as the Philadelphi Corridor. This will allow Israel to prevent Hamas from rearming by smuggling weapons through tunnels that reach into Egypt. Israel had relinquished control of the area in 2005. An Israeli military official said Israel had so far found 20 cross-border tunnels and had informed Egypt about them. Israel has said it hoped to work with Egypt to prevent future smuggling.
Israeli forces in Rafah have largely been focused on taking control of the border area, which isn't as densely populated as other parts of Rafah.
John Kirby, a spokesman for the National Security Council, said Israel's "movements along the corridor did not come as a surprise to us and was in keeping with what we understood their plan to be, to go after Hamas in a targeted, limited way, not in a concentrated way. When they briefed us on their plans for Rafah, it did include moving along that corridor."
Israeli officials and analysts said Israel has avoided crossing Washington's red lines in Rafah by gradually deploying limited numbers of troops, forcing a rapid evacuation of the city, and refraining from a full-scale ground assault.
They note that Washington's concern that it would take months for the over one million Palestinians sheltering in Rafah to evacuate hasn't come to pass. The result has been a Rafah that has far fewer civilians. Israeli officials insist their operations in Rafah aren't tailored to suit Washington's needs, but are carried out according to their own operational and ethical guidelines.
(Wall Street Journal)
See also IDF Takes Control of Philadelphi Corridor on Gaza-Egypt Border - Yoav Zitun
The IDF announced Wednesday it has taken full control over the Philadelphi corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border and can now "cut off Hamas's lifeline for supplies coming in from Sinai." At least 20 tunnels and 82 tunnel shafts have been found. The IDF has also found dozens of loaded rocket launchers only meters away from the Egyptian border.
(Ynet News)
- U.S. Officials Say Rafah Airstrike Did Not Cross Biden's Red Line - Zolan Kanno-Youngs
U.S. officials said on Tuesday that the Israeli strike in Rafah that was followed by a fire that killed dozens of Palestinians was a tragedy but that it did not violate President Biden's red line for withholding weapons shipments to Israel.
John F. Kirby, a White House spokesman, said Israeli tanks were on the outskirts of the city "to try to put pressure on Hamas." "Everything that we can see tells us that they are not moving in in a major ground operation in population centers in the city of Rafah."
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said, "Israel has said that it might have been that there was a Hamas ammo dump near the area where they took the strike." Israeli military spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Israeli jets had fired the "smallest munitions" that they could use and that "our munitions alone could not have ignited a fire of this size." (New York Times)
See also Pentagon: Israel's Rafah Operation Still "of Limited Scope"
"Right now it is still our assessment that what is happening in Rafah, what the (Israel Defense Forces) are doing, it is limited in scope," Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said Tuesday, following a blaze in a camp for displaced people. Israel said Tuesday its munitions alone could not have caused the deadly blaze.
(AFP)
See also Video: IDF Investigates Rafah Tent Fire - IDF Spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari
On Sunday night, we eliminated senior Hamas terrorists in a targeted strike on a compound used by Hamas in Rafah. These terrorists, responsible for orchestrating and executing terror attacks against Israelis, were meeting inside a specific closed structure away from the tent area. Their deaths saved lives.
Sadly, following the strike, due to unforeseen circumstances, a fire ignited, taking the lives of Gazan civilians nearby. As you can see from aerial photos, there are no tents in the immediate vicinity of the structure that we targeted. Our munition alone could not have ignited a fire of this size. We are looking into the option that weapons stored in a compound next to our target, which we did not know of, may have ignited as a result of the strike.
Hamas has been operating from this area since Oct. 7. This satellite image shows that 43 meters from the structure we targeted, you can see Hamas rocket launchers. Hamas fired rockets from these launchers at Israel during their massacre on Oct. 7. Footage documented by Gazans on the night of the strike, posted on social media, appeared to show secondary explosions, indicating that there may have been weapons in the area.
Our signal intelligence intercepted phone calls that raise the possibility that weapons stored in a nearby compound caught fire. As the Hamas terrorists sat in a meeting, the Palestinian speaker said, "they had ammunition, because all of the ammunition that started exploding. Bags of money were flying in the air. Yes, this is an ammunition warehouse. I tell you it exploded. I mean the Jewish bombing wasn't strong. It was a small missile, because it didn't create a large hole. And afterwards a lot of secondary explosions." (IDF Spokesperson)
News Resources - Israel and the Mideast:
- Two IDF Soldiers Killed in Palestinian Car Ramming Attack in Samaria - Emanuel Fabian
Two Israeli soldiers were killed in a Palestinian car-ramming attack near the West Bank city of Nablus on Wednesday night. The troops at a checkpoint had been performing random spot checks on Palestinian cars leaving Nablus when a vehicle further back in line went around the queue and sped at the two troops at the front of the line, hitting them.
The incident unfolded in a matter of seconds and the soldiers did not have time to open fire to attempt to stop the attack. The car then made a U-turn and sped back toward Nablus, where the driver reportedly turned himself in to Palestinian authorities.
(Times of Israel)
- Video: Hamas Terrorists in Palestinian Authority Open Fire on Israeli Community
Hamas terrorists fired at the Israeli community of Bat Hefer, east of Netanya, from the Tulkarm area in the Palestinian Authority on Wednesday. On Tuesday, terrorists from Tulkarm also fired at the community and published footage of the shooting.
(Jerusalem Post)
See also Shots Fired from West Bank at Israeli Communities in Gilboa Region - Israel Moskovitz
Shots were fired from the Palestinian Authority on Wednesday toward the Israeli town of Gan Ner in the Gilboa region. (Ynet News)
- IDF Says Hamas Robbed Gaza Banks - Amir Bohbot
IDF spokesman in Arabic, Lt.-Col. Avichay Adraee, revealed on Wednesday a Hamas document which shows how the organization planned to rob bank safes in Gaza. A month later, over NIS 400 million was stolen from bank branches in Gaza by Hamas. (Jerusalem Post)
Global Commentary and Think-Tank Analysis:
Observations:
- As a basic principle of the international law of armed conflict - as well as basic humanity - attacks against civilian sites are prohibited, unless those civilian sites are used for military purposes. Hospitals have a special level of protection under international law, given that they are places of sanctuary. That is also why international law specifically requires that hospitals not be used to shield military objectives from attack.
- The U.S. Department of Defense law of war manual states that if a hospital is used for "interference, direct or indirect, in military operations, such as the use of a hospital as a shelter for able-bodied combatants or fugitives, as an arms or ammunition store, as a military observation post, or as a center for liaison with combat forces," such uses can lead to a hospital losing its protected status.
- Because of all the special protections surrounding hospitals, they have increasingly been used for military purposes by combatants such as Al-Qaeda in Iraq, Islamic State, and Hamas, who historically do not follow the laws of war and intentionally shield themselves behind protected objects and groups. As a result, the U.S. and many other countries have recently had to conduct operations against enemy forces in hospitals.
- In almost every hospital the IDF has arrived at in Gaza, it has uncovered (and published) military use by Hamas. The terrorist group purposefully and systematically developed a strategy to use Gaza's hospitals for military purposes. It exploits the laws of war and public sensitivity to hamper the IDF's actions and invite international condemnation. Israel has documented Hamas use of Al-Shifa Hospital,
Sheikh Hamad Hospital, Al-Quds Hospital, the Indonesian Hospital, Al-Rantisi Hospital,
Kamal Adwan Hospital and Al-Nasser Hospital.
- When interacting with hospitals, the IDF has provided warning before acting, facilitated evacuation of patients and hospital staff, provided its own supplies to the hospital, and helped provide alternative medical facilities. It has sent doctors, Arabic speakers, and other specially trained staff to assist hospital staff and patients. Most importantly, Israel has refrained from attacking hospitals from the air, even where it would be lawful to do so.
- It is telling that the International Committee of the Red Cross, World Health Organization, and UN have made public statements condemning Israel for searching hospitals and never condemn Hamas for using the hospitals in the first place.
This sends a message to all terrorists that the use of hospitals is an effective, albeit illegal, military strategy.
The writer is chair of urban warfare studies at the Modern War Institute at West Point.
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