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In-Depth Issues:
Israel: 60 Percent of Hamas Fighters Killed or Wounded ( Jerusalem Post)
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told the Knesset on Wednesday that 60% of Hamas terrorists have been killed or wounded in the war.
"The action of the IDF that has so far led to the elimination of over 14,000 terrorists and the collapse of the military frameworks of Hamas is, in fact, the testimony of what I am saying."
Shujaiyya: Hamas's Shattered Stronghold - Neta Bar ( Israel Hayom)
Shujaiyya's easternmost houses are a kilometer from Kibbutz Nahal Oz, which was held by Hamas for 12 hours on Oct. 7, 2023. Hamas killed 12 residents and took others hostage.
The area, once home to one of Hamas's most formidable offensive units, now lies in ruins.
Our entry into eastern Shujaiyya in unarmored Humvees speaks volumes about the IDF's current control. Few buildings remain standing.
Climbing a gutted apartment building, we navigate crumbling staircases to witness an unexpected sight, a relatively intact room serving as the "fire platoon's" forward position.
Drones, batteries, and viewing screens are neatly arranged.
From this makeshift command center, the platoon wages a distinctly 21st-century war.
Platoon commander Paz Buskila explains, "We started with a single drone for reconnaissance. Now, we can not only pinpoint targets accurately but also deploy drone-dropped munitions."
Lt.-Col. Yonatan Schneider, a battalion commander in the Paratroopers Brigade, says, "Many of the terrorists we've eliminated in Shujaiyya - it's thanks to these guys right here."
Israel: Iran Has All the Parts Ready for a Nuclear Bomb, They Just Need to Be Assembled - Shilo Freid ( Ynet News)
IDF Deputy Chief of Staff Maj.-Gen. Amir Baram told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee this week: "The nuclear situation in Iran is like a car with all the parts ready - now they just need to be assembled."
"We might face repeated and direct confrontations with Iran," he added.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant during his visit to the U.S. last month said: "This is the time to fulfill the commitment of all recent U.S. administrations - to prevent a nuclear Iran, which poses a threat to the entire world. Time is running out on this issue."
The Philadelphi Corridor: A Job Only Israel Can Do - Nadav Shragai ( Israel Hayom)
For nearly 20 years, Hamas has smuggled enormous quantities of weapons and building materials through and under the Philadelphi Corridor.
Anyone who still believes the Egyptians were unaware of this is deluding themselves.
The Egyptians not only knew, but for years they were complicit - knowingly ignoring the situation, turning a blind eye, and even actively facilitating it.
Egyptian officials and officers pocketed bribes that allowed the weapons highway to continue.
Proposing to involve them now in any arrangement concerning the Philadelphi Corridor and trusting them is self-deception.
Israel must, therefore, remain in Philadelphi. Neither Egypt, nor other foreign forces, nor cameras will do the job for us there as needed.
EU monitoring forces failed at the Rafah crossing and fled from there in 2007.
Cameras didn't prevent the fall of the Rafah crossing into Hamas's hands. They simply documented the failure.
Follow the Jerusalem Center on:
U.S.-Built Pier Will Be Put Back in Gaza for Several Days to Move Aid, then Permanently Removed - Lolita C. Baldor ( AP-Washington Post)
The pier built by the U.S. military to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza will be reinstalled Wednesday to be used for several days, but then pulled out permanently, U.S. officials said.
The goal is to clear whatever aid has piled up in Cyprus and on the floating dock offshore and get it to a secure area on the beach in Gaza. Once that is done, the Army will dismantle the pier and depart.
The project has been hampered by persistent heavy seas and stalled deliveries due to ongoing security threats.
U.S. troops removed the pier on June 28 because of bad weather and moved it to the port of Ashdod in Israel.
The Portrayal of Jews and Israel in Muslim and Arab Textbooks - Yonatan Negev and Eldad Pardo ( Institute for National Security Studies-Tel Aviv University)
In Muslim and Arab textbooks across the Middle East, Israel is mainly depicted negatively, portrayed as the bane of the Palestinians' existence.
With few exceptions, the textbooks ignore the Holocaust and the history of Jews native to the region.
The more a country deviates from promoting a religiously moderate, inclusive vision that is sensitive to international norms of peace and tolerance, the greater the presence of the delegitimizing rhetoric against Jews and Israel in its textbooks.
Dr. Yonatan Negev is a research associate at the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-se), where Dr. Eldad J. Pardo is research director.
Israelis Show Us How to Fight, How to Live - Kathleen Hayes ( Los Angeles Jewish Journal)
On my first visit to Israel, the ever-emerging stories about Oct. 7 continue to awe and humble me.
Yet Israelis are not stuck in the horror of Oct. 7. They are getting on with living, and fighting the terrorists behind those massacres.
War is an intrinsic part of life: unwanted, unavoidable, but now so clearly just.
At first I'm startled to see so many soldiers and civilians - male and female - toting weapons.
This is what it means to preserve, against all odds, a state for the Jewish people.
Soldiers with automatic weapons at their hips coo over babies in strollers.
Search the Recent History of Israel and the Middle East
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News Resources - North America, Europe, and Asia:
- Biden Administration Agrees to Ship 500-Pound Bombs to Israel - Nancy A. Youssef
The U.S. will soon begin shipping to Israel the 500-pound bombs that the Biden administration had previously suspended, ending a two-month pause, U.S. officials said. The bombs "are in the process of being shipped," and are expected to arrive in Israel in coming weeks, an administration official said. Heavier 2,000-pound bombs that were meant to be part of the same shipment are still on hold. (Wall Street Journal)
- U.S. Intelligence Says Iran Supports, Funds Anti-Israel Protests - David Klepper
The Iranian government is covertly encouraging American protests over Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza, U.S. Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said Tuesday.
Using social media platforms popular in the U.S., groups linked to Tehran have posed as online activists, encouraged protests, and have provided financial support to some protest groups. "Iran is becoming increasingly aggressive in their foreign influence efforts," Haines said.
She noted that Americans participating in protests have a right to express their views, but Americans need to know when foreign actors are trying to meddle in domestic American politics. "Americans who are being targeted by this Iranian campaign may not be aware that they are interacting with or receiving support from a foreign government," Haines said. (AP-Washington Post)
See also Text: Recent Iranian Influence Efforts - Avril Haines (Director of National Intelligence)
- Iranian Officials Acknowledge Role in Planning and Executing Hamas's Oct. 7 Massacres
On several occasions, Iranian officials have revealed that the Iranian regime was involved in the planning and execution of Hamas's Oct. 7 invasion and massacres in Israel - what they call the "Al-Aqsa Flood."
On April 3, 2024, the Coalition Council of Islamic Revolution Forces in Iran published a notice of mourning and appreciation for Gen. Mohammad Reza Zahedi, the IRGC Qods Force commander in Syria and Lebanon who was killed in the April 1 airstrike on the Iranian consulate complex in Damascus that has been attributed to Israel. The statement notes "the strategic role of the martyr Zahedi in consolidating and strengthening the resistance front, and in the planning and execution of Al-Aqsa Flood." (MEMRI)
- Israel Cites Aid Backlog in Gaza - Michelle Nichols
A backlog of 1,150 truckloads of humanitarian aid is waiting to be collected from the Palestinian side of the Kerem Shalom crossing in southern Gaza, Israel said Wednesday. Another 50 aid trucks are awaiting collecting from the Palestinian side of the Erez crossing in northern Gaza.
UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said UN trucks that manage to pick up aid "are doing it often at great cost, because they are being either looted or attacked by criminal elements. Some aid is getting through, but very little."
A top UN aid official, Muhannad Hadi, visited Gaza and "saw groups of men with sticks waiting for trucks to leave the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza. All the trucks that he passed were badly damaged, with broken windshields, mirrors and hoods," Dujarric said. Hadi also saw bags of fortified flour from the World Food Program and UNRWA scattered alongside the road from Kerem Shalom into Gaza.
(Reuters)
News Resources - Israel and the Mideast:
- Kibbutz Couple Killed in Hizbullah Rocket Attack on Golan Heights
Noa and Nir Burns, 46, members of Kibbutz Ortal, were killed after their vehicle sustained a direct hit from a Hizbullah rocket fired from Lebanon at the Golan Heights on Tuesday. They leave behind three children. (Israel Hayom)
- IDF Demolishes 6 Gaza City Tunnels - Emanuel Fabian
Israeli troops operating in Gaza City's eastern Shujaiyya neighborhood have demolished six Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad tunnels in the latest raid there, the IDF said Tuesday. At least three more tunnels have been located and were in the process of being mapped out and demolished. More than 150 gunmen have been killed in Shujaiyya since the start of the latest raid on June 27. Four IDF soldiers have been killed in the operation.
Separately, in Rafah in southern Gaza, dozens more gunmen were killed over the past day, in close-quarters combat and in airstrikes.
(Times of Israel)
See also Video: View Tunnel Containing Weapons before It Was Destroyed on Wednesday (Jerusalem Post)
- IDF Traps Gaza Terrorists in Raid on UNRWA Headquarters - Yoav Zitun
The IDF said Thursday that forces conducted a large raid on an UNRWA headquarters in central Gaza after military intelligence indicated hundreds of Hamas terrorists and senior commanders were using the area to reorganize after fleeing from Shujaiyya. Troops surrounded the compound before creating channels for evacuating the civilians while checking their identities and detained dozens of Hamas terrorists.
The previous dismantling of extensive tunnels below UNRWA's headquarters and the university adjacent to it prevented terrorists from escaping during the operation. (Ynet News)
Global Commentary and Think-Tank Analysis:
The Gaza War
- What Does It Mean to Defeat the Enemy in Gaza? - Herb Keinon
The degrading of Hamas's ability to carry out another Oct. 7 means bulldozing down any structures, industrial or residential, within a kilometer of the border fence. It means destroying city blocks to get to tunnels. And it means uprooting Hamas tunnels - not merely blowing up their shafts, but digging deep down into the earth.
"We are working intensely to destroy all of Hamas's infrastructure to make sure that it will not be able to reestablish itself for years," said Lt.-Col. Gideon Ellastam, deputy commander of the Paratroopers Brigade. "The objective is to create a completely different security situation to enable the Israeli residents of the border communities to return home."
To "defeat Hamas," said Ellastam, who grew up in Talmei Yosef, not far from the Gaza border, means destroying every defensive position it has, clearing the area of terrorists, and destroying all terrorist infrastructure above and below ground to create a situation where "the enemy can no longer operate" from that area.
(Jerusalem Post)
- America's Invisible Hostage Crisis in Gaza - John Ondrasik
In 1979, Islamic radicals in Iran took 52 Americans hostage, holding them for 444 days.
The hostages' plight captured the nation's attention. Across the country people prayed for their release. Tying a yellow ribbon on a tree or lamppost became a public expression of sorrow and concern. Even the White House Christmas tree had one.
On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas killed more than 30 American citizens and took as many as a dozen Americans hostage. Five, we pray, are still alive. Have you seen one yellow ribbon? Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, who was born in Berkeley, Calif., attended the Nova music festival on Oct. 7, where a Hamas grenade blew off his left arm below his elbow.
Other American hostages include Edan Alexander of Tenafly, N.J.; Sagui Dekel-Chen of Bloomfield, N.J.; Omer Neutra of Melville, N.Y.; and Keith Siegel of Chapel Hill, N.C. Frankly, the plight of our hostages doesn't seem to mean much to most Americans. It makes me wonder: Who are we anymore?
(Wall Street Journal)
- Gazan Parents Have Been Programmed to Accept Death as a Blessing - Cookie Schwaeber-Issan
Thousands of Gazan youth have been recruited to be trained by Hamas to shoot at the IDF, to replace the thousands of fighters who have been killed. These kids are expendable props to Hamas, serving public relations' purposes when photos show youth losing their lives on the battlefield as they're pitted against Israel's military might.
All of this is predictable, given what we know about the Hamas death cult, driven by the intense hatred that they are indoctrinated with from birth.
There remains no reasonable explanation as to how mothers of Gazan youth willingly send their sons out to die, often with great pride, claiming that "it is a mother's most glorious duty for their children to kill themselves for Palestine." The Gazan mothers and fathers are fully complicit in sending out their children to die for a cause which is rooted in hatred, terror and evil.
When you listen to an interview, where the wife of a Hamas operative says that she and her husband, as well as their children, all pray that Allah would grant them martyrdom, it makes you wonder. They have literally been programmed to accept death as a blessing. This human tragedy rivals the biblical account of parents who offered up their children to the Canaanite god Molech, a truly homicidal act.
(Jerusalem Post)
Hizbullah
- How the IDF Is Working to Improve Security Against Hizbullah - Yonah Jeremy Bob
To achieve a new and improved security situation in the north, Israel has examined the possibility of keeping at least two full divisions of IDF soldiers on the northern border for many years/indefinitely, instead of the single division which was there pre-Oct. 7. Israel has succeeded in clearing out around 90% of Hizbullah's Radwan special forces and close to 100% of the lookout towers which were in southern Lebanon, including continual airstrikes on later attempts to reconstitute certain lookout positions.
During the current war, the IDF has killed around 500 Hizbullah fighters, including over half of its southern Lebanon commanders, compared to fewer than 30 Israelis killed in the north. By December, the IDF shifted from light proportional responses to disproportionate counterattacks, even 100 km. deep into Lebanon.
Israel has failed to get Hizbullah to stop firing rockets, anti-tank missiles, and drones at the north, but it seems relatively clear that a ceasefire with Hamas would achieve that. During the November 23-30 ceasefire with Hamas, Hizbullah unilaterally stopped firing on Israel.
Based on a series of high-level defense briefings, I maintain that the mega war between Israel and Hizbullah is not going to happen during this current conflict. In two to five years, quite possibly, but not in the coming months. Neither side's military leaders want to have a big war now.
(Jerusalem Post)
Palestinian Arabs
- Why Palestinian Leaders Cannot Make Peace with Israel - Bassam Tawil
Prominent Palestinian politician Mustafa Barghouti has been facing sharp criticism
after he was filmed warmly hugging former Israeli Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami during a recent conference in Italy. Ben-Ami is known for his role in the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians more than two decades ago. He supports the establishment of a Palestinian state.
But for Barghouti's critics, all Israeli Jews, including those who support a two-state solution, are enemies. Some Palestinians even posted a photoshopped image of Barghouti dressed in an Israeli military uniform to back up their charge that he is a traitor. Alarmed by the accusations, Barghouti was forced to apologize for daring to appear in public with an Israeli Jew. He further pledged to continue opposing normalization with Israel.
The smear campaign against Barghouti serves as a reminder of how Palestinian leaders and officials have radicalized their people against Israel to a point where it has become impossible, if not dangerous, even to be seen in the company of an Israeli Jew. Barghouti has long advocated boycotting Israel. He therefore has no right to be upset about the attacks on him.
One can only imagine the consequences for any Palestinian leader who dares even to discuss or consider peace with Israel. This is why Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has refused to return to the negotiating table with Israel for the past decade. (Gatestone Institute)
Other Issues
- Challenges Facing Israel in Relations with the U.S. - Amb. Zalman Shoval
Anyone familiar even to the slightest degree with political realities would acknowledge that the U.S.-Israel relationship is of vital importance. This does not mean that the relationship will always be harmonious. There have been and will always be disagreements resulting from the simple fact that a country has interests of its own that do not necessarily match even those of a close ally. So, the rule for Israeli diplomacy, established by Moshe Dayan, still holds: risk a confrontation, if at all, only on absolutely essential issues.
Yet political, social, and cultural changes currently taking place in the U.S. have already affected America's position in the world and its foreign relations.
More than a few questions arise. Has America given up on its role as the world's leading superpower and leader of the free world? Have America's values, which played a significant role in its relations with Israel, turned hollow? What will the effect of the demographic changes in American society be on Israel and American Jews, and what about the rising antisemitism?
The writer served as Israel's ambassador to the U.S. from 1990 to 1993 and from 1998 to 2000.
(Jerusalem Post)
- It's Not Jews Who Are Waging Jihad around the World - Robert Knight
Israel's Arab neighbors number 22 countries with a combined population of nearly half a billion people on more than 5 million square miles of land. This doesn't include 27 other Muslim-majority nations like Pakistan and Indonesia, or even India, which has more than 170 million Muslims. Islam, the world's fastest-growing religion, comprises more than 1.7 billion people. By contrast, Israel has 9.3 million people on 8,000 square miles and is about the size of New Jersey. Yet much of the world is insisting that it is Israel that has to give up "land for peace."
Likewise, it isn't militant Jews who are waging jihad around the world on Christians, Hindus and anyone else who won't bow to Mecca. The militants have a slogan: "First the Saturday people, then the Sunday people."
The pro-Palestinian side argues that while Arabs have occupied what is now Israel for 3,000 years, Jews are interlopers who were not really in the picture until recently. This contradicts archaeological evidence, such as a slab in Egypt from the 13th century BCE that mentions Israel, a ninth-century Canaanite slab citing King David, and the accounts of Josephus, the Roman Jewish historian. Jews lived in the land for 2,600 years before Muhammad founded Islam around 600 CE. The term "Palestine" was coined by Roman Emperor Hadrian in 135 CE from the term "Philistines," the Jews' ancient enemy. (Washington Times)
- Video: When Progressive Ideals
Become a Luxury - Rob Henderson
This New York Times video attacks the "luxury beliefs" of privileged college students, including the pro-Palestinian demonstrators in the U.S. (New York Times)
Observations:
- The recent British election showed how urgent it is that we fight back to preserve our civic and democratic values. The intimidation started on the streets. On October 7, as Jewish families were being butchered by Hamas terrorists, Islamists celebrated in London. They danced with joy and flew Palestinian flags from car windows. A large group cheered and set off fireworks. No Jew could feel entirely safe anywhere near these celebrations of a racist massacre.
- The regular pro-Palestine marches have also been poisoned by Islamist intimidation. There have been those who have proudly worn Hamas insignia, called loudly for the destruction of the State of Israel, repeated genocidal chants, and ripped down posters of kidnapped children.
- Now the intimidation has moved to the ballot box. In the general election campaign, Jess Phillips MP used her election night victory speech to describe the abuse and intimidation she, her team and her constituents experienced in recent weeks. Campaign activists faced intense harassment. "In my constituency, the humiliation was by men, to women," Phillips explained. We should not be surprised that aggressive misogyny is part of the Islamist political playbook.
- Shabana Mahmood MP described an election campaign that "was sullied by harassment and intimidation" of her family and campaigners, calling the behavior an "assault on democracy itself." Mahmood cited a community meeting that was disrupted by masked men, "terrifying" those in attendance, and was forced to respond to opponents who branded her "an infidel."
- It is reasonable to question why some campaigning to become MPs at this general election seemed to make Gaza their sole focus. It seems that only the war against the Jewish state can provide sufficient motivation for these candidates to stand for Parliament. While democracy means that people can legitimately campaign on a single issue if they want to, the way this campaigning has been conducted falls disturbingly short of the standards we must expect from those seeking to take positions of responsibility or power within our society.
- A peaceful democracy depends on allowing MPs to go about their business safe from intimidation and threats, freedom of movement without fear for all members of society, and a zero tolerance approach to racism and misogyny.
- Beyond this, we must all take note of this growing threat to the democratic and civil values that we hold so dear. It is not just Jews who must be aware of the threat of Islamism. Any movement that is defined by intolerance, sexism and prejudice is a danger to us all and should be treated as such by everyone who wants to preserve a free and peaceful society.
The writer was the director of BBC Television (2013-15).
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