A journalist was killed and another injured, today, Friday, in the bombing by occupation drones of a school housing displaced people in Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip.

Local sources reported that the cameraman of the Qatari Al Jazeera channel, Samer Abu Daqqa, was killed, and the channel’s correspondent and the director of its office in Gaza, Wael Al-Dahdouh, was injured in the hand and waist, in a drone strike on the Khan Yunis Secondary School for Girls (Farhana), which houses displaced persons, while they were covering the situation in the school. After being exposed to a previous Israeli bombing this morning, they were wearing helmets and protective armor indicating that they were journalists.

The sources indicated that a number of citizens and medical teams were also injured in the Israeli bombing.

The Journalist Al-Dahdouh was transferred to Nasser Medical Hospital in Khan Yunis, where his condition was described as mild to moderate, while medical teams and ambulances were unable to reach the injured journalist, Abu Daqqa, in light of the intensification of the occupation artillery shelling on the school and its surroundings, and the interruption of communications, leaving him bleeding for more than 5 hours.

With the death of the journalist Abu Daqqa, the number of killed journalists since the start of the aggression on October 7 has risen to about 75 journalists, including 9 female journalists, according to the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate.

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar announced the failure of issuing a call for a ceasefire in Gaza during the European Union summit due to the lack of consensus among members.

This came in a statement to journalists today, Friday, at the conclusion of the two-day European Union leaders' summit in Brussels.

“My view, and the view of others, is that if we cannot reach a consensus on calling for a ceasefire (in Gaza), then there is no point in proposing some kind of temporary ceasefire or temporary pauses,” Varadkar said.

He added, "The position of the overwhelming majority of European Union countries is that there must be a ceasefire now" in Gaza.

It is noteworthy that the European Union leaders, who met in an extraordinary summit on October 17th, and an ordinary summit on the 26th and 27th of the same month, were unable to agree on calling for a ceasefire in Gaza for the third time.

Since last October 7, the Israeli army has been waging a devastating war on Gaza that, as of Thursday evening, left 18,787 dead and 50,897 injured, most of them children and women, massive destruction of infrastructure and an “unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe,” according to Palestinian and UN sources.

The facts in Gaza and the world did not change the Israeli mood. All the victims and this huge amount of destruction did not seem to push the Israelis to peace. This was confirmed by Dalia Sheindlin, a researcher from Tel Aviv at the Washington-based Century International Center for International Research and Policy, based on recent polls conducted inside Israel and others she conducted herself because she is an opinion poll expert and researcher at the Israel Democracy Institute.

Sheindlin wrote in Foreign Affairs: For more than twenty years, the right-wing parties that dominate Israel's political scene promised voters that the country was safer than it would be under any other policy, and most of them supported them. But on October 7, a Hamas attack shattered this idea. However, Israel has not changed. Although Israelis blame the country's leaders for the disastrous security failures surrounding the attacks, their basic political orientation is unlikely to change.

Israeli coup after the war

Scheindlin considered that the Israelis turning against their leaders during wartime is not a new thing. They were often angry with their government after the outbreak of war, regardless of the political orientation of the ruling parties. In 1973, Prime Minister Golda Meir was blamed for failing to anticipate the attack launched by Egypt that led to the outbreak of the Yom Kippur War and was eventually removed from office. As for the second intifada, or the violent Palestinian uprising that began in 2000, it led to the collapse of the government of Prime Minister Ehud Barak, who lost to Ariel Sharon by about 25 percentage points in 2001. Israel's war against the party in 2006 is another example. By August of that year, 63% of Israelis felt that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had failed to manage the war properly and should resign. At the beginning of 2007, Olmert was facing corruption investigations, and more than three-quarters of Israelis were dissatisfied with his performance, the same percentage that now wants Netanyahu to relinquish power (Olmert resigned in 2008 due to corruption accusations).

Despite widespread anger over Netanyahu government's judicial reform plan, majority of Jewish voters continue to identify with the right in opinion polls, according to survey

The expert who conducts the ongoing joint Israeli-Palestinian public opinion poll in cooperation with the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research ruled out that Netanyahu will remain in his position. She pointed to an opinion poll conducted on November 22 and 23, after the government announced a hostage release deal that could have strengthened its position, which showed that the ruling coalition would lose 23 of its 64 seats in the Knesset (out of 120 seats). She pointed to another poll which showed that Likud would lose nearly half of its 32 seats in the Knesset, and that more than three-quarters of Israelis believe that Netanyahu should resign, after or even during the war. Last April, only 37% of Israelis supported the prime minister. Since the attacks, that number has dropped to 26 percent. By mid-November, nearly 52% favored former IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz, Netanyahu's main political rival and current partner in the emergency war government.

Netanyahu's departure will not bring about change

Scheindlin stressed that Netanyahu's departure will not bring about a fundamental change in Israeli policy.

She added: “Repeatedly, in times of war or extreme violence, Israelis have moved to the right. When Israel elected the right-wing Likud Party for the first time in 1977, it legitimized nationalist and ultra-Orthodox ideologies as an important force in Israel. During the 1980s, two major conflicts helped push further. From Israelis to the Right: The 1982 War and the First Intifada, which began in 1987. This shift is reflected in poll numbers: in 1981, poll researchers found that among Jews (no general polls included Arabs at the time) 36% of respondents said they intended to support a right-wing party. By 1991, the percentage had risen to about half of all Jewish Israelis. The 1992 elections were the last time Israelis voted left after a conflict with the Palestinians. Despite the signing of the government of Labor leader Yitzhak Rabin The Oslo Accords with the Palestine Liberation Organization led by Yasser Arafat, but extremists on both sides quickly thwarted the process. 

Before Rabin's assassination in November 1995, about half of Israeli Jews said they were right-wing, compared to 28% who said they were left-wing, and 23% described themselves as Centrists. In the 1996 elections, although opinion polls showed sympathy after the assassination for Rabin's successor, Shimon Peres, voters went on to elect Netanyahu, who ran on a right-wing populist platform opposed to the "peace process."

Scheindlin added that during the first decade of this century, Israelis shifted more to the right. It was characterized by suicide bombings, Israel's re-conquest of Palestinian cities in Operation Defensive Shield, then the 2006 war in Lebanon, Israel's withdrawal from Gaza that contributed to Hamas' victory in the Palestinian elections, its violent takeover of Gaza in 2007, and Israel's blockade of the Strip. Rocket fire from Gaza into Israel became more frequent, culminating in Operation Cast Lead, Israel's massive invasion of Gaza in 2008-2009. The Israelis then voted to reinstate Netanyahu, and the Likud Party took an increasingly nationalist, populist direction.

By 2011, more than half of Israeli Jews described themselves as right-wing, more than three times the number who said they were left-wing, a number that had fallen to 15%.

Scheindlin stressed that Netanyahu's departure will not bring about a fundamental change in Israeli policy

During the 2000s, as Israel engaged in numerous conflicts with Hamas, including its expanded operation in Gaza in 2014, Israeli Jewish voters' support for right-wing ideology steadily increased. The index was around 50% in the middle of the decade, and had reached 60% by 2019. At this point, Israeli Arabs, about 20% of the Israeli population (but about 17% of adult voters), were polled regularly, and declining levels of Their support for right-wing ideology led to a decrease in the overall average. However, even including Israeli Arabs, about half of the total Israeli public consider themselves right-wing. (Israeli Arabs have boosted the overall left to about 18% of the total population in most polls in recent years.) The years preceding the current war reinforced this path.

Despite widespread anger over the Netanyahu government's judicial reform plan, a majority of Jewish voters continued to identify with the right in opinion polls, according to a survey conducted by the Hebrew University's aChord Center for Social Psychology Research, just five days before the Hamas attacks, which found that Two-thirds of Israeli Jews identify with the right (either “hard right” or “moderate right”), while ten percent identify with the left. This means that for every left-wing Israeli Jewish voter, the trend was towards approximately seven right-wing voters. It would therefore not be surprising if Israelis move more to the right in the wake of the worst episode of violence against Israelis since the country's founding. Despite massive popular dissatisfaction with Netanyahu's leadership, concerns about political instability are likely to allow him to remain in power for now. Even if Netanyahu is eventually removed from power, the pollster rules out that Israel will take a different ideological path.

According to a poll on November 24, it was found that if the elections were held now, the center-right National Unity Party led by Gantz would obtain 43 seats, that is, 11 more seats than Likud in the 2022 elections and more than double what Likud will get now. Sheindlin concluded by saying that one of the reasonable outcomes of the current crisis is Israel's transition to a new government led by Gantz, who, with his long military record and the presence of former members of the Likud Party in his party, enjoys the legitimacy of the right and will want to preserve it.

American writer and political analyst Thomas Friedman affirmed that any Gulf Arab country will not contribute to the reconstruction of Gaza in the absence of a legitimate and effective Palestinian partner for Israel and unless the latter commits to negotiating a two-state solution one day, describing “any Israeli official who claims otherwise as delusional.”

Friedman’s words came after his recent visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates for a week, during which he met with a number of their senior leaders, noting that “when the war in Gaza ends, Saudi Arabia remains committed in principle to resuming the normalization negotiations with Israel that were ongoing before October 7.” (October)".

Hamas and Israel: Who implicated whom?

In his article in the New York Times, Friedman wrote: “I was concerned from the beginning that Israel launched its invasion of Gaza to eliminate Hamas without a plan for what to do with the Strip and its people in the wake of any victory.” Having just spent a week in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates Tracking the pulse of this important corner of the Arab world, I now feel even more concerned. Hamas has planned and executed a barbaric campaign that seems to drive Israel crazy and act without thinking about the next day. And that is exactly what Israel did. Today, after nine weeks, we can now see the next day. In In its effort to dismantle the Hamas military machine and eliminate the movement's senior leaders, Israel killed and wounded thousands of innocent civilians in Gaza. Hamas knew this would happen and did not care at all. While Israel should care. It will inherit responsibility for a massive humanitarian catastrophe that will take years to resolve. A global coalition can fix and manage it.”

Friedman also noted “the difficulty of an Israeli government, even a moderate one, committing to reviving this Saudi-American-Israeli-Palestinian dialogue at the present time.”

Friedman added: “This effort will cost billions of dollars and will take several years, and based on my conversations in the Gulf, no Gulf Arab country (in addition to the European Union countries or the US Congress) will come to Gaza with bags of money for its reconstruction unless, and even this is not certain.” "Israel does not have a legitimate and effective Palestinian partner and unless it commits to negotiating a two-state solution one day. Any Israeli official who claims otherwise is delusional. He pointed to the statement of the UAE Ambassador to the United Nations, Lana Nusseibeh, in a press conference: "We need to see a two-state solution plan.” "A viable roadmap... a serious roadmap before talking about the next day and rebuilding the infrastructure in Gaza."

The fate of normalization

Regarding the path of normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel through the American mediator, Friedman said, “When the war in Gaza ends, Saudi Arabia will remain committed in principle to resuming the negotiations that were ongoing before October 7. The negotiators were discussing the possibility of concluding a security treaty between the United States and the Kingdom and normalizing relations between the Kingdom.” And Israel, provided that the latter undertakes specific steps to work with the Palestinian Authority towards achieving a two-state solution.”

Thomas left Saudi Arabia with “a very strong impression that Saudi Arabia wants the Americans to end the Gaza war as quickly as possible, because the death and destruction in Gaza is radicalizing its youth, alienating foreign investors and preventing it from focusing on Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Vision 2030 plan to transform the country.” In terms of education, infrastructure and women’s empowerment.” He said that although “Saudi leaders do not sympathize with Hamas, they doubt Israel’s ability to eliminate it, and are concerned that the damage to Gaza in its attempt to do so will lead to bad consequences.”

Friedman also pointed out “the difficulty of an Israeli government, even if it is moderate, committing to reviving this Saudi-American-Israeli-Palestinian dialogue at the present time, so how can that be with the group of fanatics who are currently running Israel, and who are committed to annexing the West Bank and Gaza Strip as well. Given what happened on 7 October “Many Israelis are unwilling to consider, let alone accept, ceding control of the territories to any Palestinian ruling authority.”

He said: “Netanyahu is currently campaigning to retain his position by trying to prove to his far-right base that he is the only leader willing to say to the Biden administration that his country will never achieve the minimum requested by the United States: to help establish a reorganized Palestinian Authority and provide a long-term political horizon.” For a Palestinian state by developing a Palestinian partner who can one day rule Gaza liberated from Hamas and Israel.”

Today, Friday, settlers attacked a citizen’s vehicle with stones, west of Salfit.

Local sources reported that settlers attacked with stones the vehicle of Iyad Al-Qaq, from the town of Kafl Haris, north of Salfit, and smashed all its windows, while those with him miraculously escaped injury, while he was passing near the town of Burqin, west of the city.

Earlier today, the Israeli occupation forces destroyed a citizen’s vehicle, during their storming of the town of Deir Istiya, northwest of Salfit.

Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported, Friday, December 15, 2023, quoting Israeli officials it described as “senior,” saying that China refuses to send any workers to Israel as the war continues in the Gaza Strip, and that this reflects Chinese alignment with Russia. Against Washington and Tel Aviv.

China's position on the aggression against Gaza

China and Russia took a position opposing the Israeli occupation state in its aggression against the Gaza Strip, and their leaders demanded in several statements a ceasefire.

On December 6, 2023, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Pei said that “the ceasefire and stopping the war are the top priorities” in Gaza, noting that “the major countries in particular must strive to calm tensions to prevent humanitarian disasters.” big".

He stressed that "any solution to the current crisis in Gaza cannot deviate from the two-state solution," explaining that Beijing believes that "the essence of the solution is respect for Palestine's right to establish a state and self-determination."

On November 20, 2023, China hosted a delegation from Arab and Islamic countries to discuss the situation in the Gaza Strip and press for a ceasefire.

During the meeting, the Chinese Foreign Minister warned of “an unfolding humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza,” stressing that what is happening affects all countries around the world, and urged the international community to act urgently and take effective measures to prevent the worsening of what he described as a tragedy.

Tel Aviv is making great international efforts to increase the number of foreign workers entering it, in light of the ongoing Israeli war with the Palestinian resistance in the Gaza Strip.

Since the beginning of Operation “Al-Aqsa Flood” on October 7, 2023, 10,000 foreign workers in a variety of industries have entered or returned to the Israeli occupation state, including 2,900 workers in the construction sector (yesterday another group of 200 workers arrived in Israel from Moldova ), and 1,200 agricultural workers.

Two additional groups from Malawi are scheduled to be sent to Africa this week to work in agriculture, and by the end of this month, another 4,500 agricultural workers from Sri Lanka are supposed to arrive in the Israeli occupation state.

At the same time, Tel Aviv is holding talks with the Thai government, to persuade it to allow thousands of its workers to join the agricultural sector in “Israel,” but Pankon is postponing the decision.

Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen received 200 new foreign workers from Malawi, most of whom are expected to work in southern Israel.

The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that among the countries that are already sending workers after signing agreements with them are Sri Lanka, which is expected to send 300 workers weekly, Malawi with 200 workers, 600 nursing workers from Moldova, and 800 trainees from a variety of countries with the help of the National Aid Agency. Israeli, especially to work in the fields of agriculture.

According to the Israeli newspaper, there are other countries that Tel Aviv is already contacting in order to bring in more workers: Uganda, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, and Rwanda.

In recent weeks, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through its embassies around the world, has made contacts with 55 countries in order to encourage the bringing in of foreign workers and trainees to bring greater stability to the Israeli economy.

Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said that Tel Aviv is working on "the political front to maintain the strength of the Israeli economy, and in recent weeks, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has strengthened agreements and cooperation with many countries in order to allow the Israeli economy to continue moving forward, along with the war on Hamas."

Since the start of the aggression on Gaza, the Israeli economy has been facing a major crisis, represented by the collapse of the foreign labor project, on which large sectors of the Israeli occupation state depend.

Israeli data indicate that about 17,000 foreign workers have left the occupying state since Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, including 9,855 Thai workers in the agricultural sector, along with 4,331 workers in the construction sector and 2,997 in the nursing sector.

The Hebrew newspaper Haaretz attacked the head of the occupation government, Benjamin Netanyahu, and considered that he represents the main problem currently in everything that is happening.

The newspaper said in its editorial that Israel can cover its ears and close its eyes. Indeed, the Israeli media hardly broadcasts images of destruction and devastation in Gaza, but Biden described things as they are.

She pointed out that Biden, in describing the situation in Israel, did a favor to Netanyahu, when he pointed out the necessity of change, and that his government is the most extremist in the history of Israel, but the truth is much worse than that, as Netanyahu’s government is not conservative, but rather a right-wing, radical, messianic, upheaval.

The newspaper added: “Netanyahu is not working for the benefit of Israel, but for his political survival.” It continued to address Biden: “The problem is not with Ben Gvir and others like him, but rather with Netanyahu himself.”

The Guardian's diplomatic editor, Patrick Wintour, said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu challenged President Joe Biden and told Israeli domestic public opinion that he would not concede, in a way that put the American president in a dilemma as he tried to limit Israel's actions.

Wintour pointed out that Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s statements on Thursday that Israel would not complete its military operations until after several months were a blow to America’s efforts to influence the Israeli government, along with the security intelligence assessment that half of the bombs that Israel fired into Gaza were “dumb bombs.” Gallant spoke of his expectations for a long operation in front of the camera and in front of Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser who visited Israel, where his face was stiff.

Sullivan came to Tel Aviv with a message about the necessity of changing the military operation, and ending it, if possible, within weeks. Galant's statements were confirmed by Prime Minister Netanyahu, who said that Israel would not stop until victory was achieved.

Wintour said that the leak about the use of ammunition contradicted the US State Department's statement that it was not concerned, in addition to its assessments that the Israeli bombing cannot be classified as a violation of international law.

The two topics, ammunition and changing the course of the campaign, revealed in a clear way the nature of American influence regarding the Israeli political and military response to the Hamas attacks on October 7.

  Until recently, the White House's preferred narrative was that this war was justified, self-defense, and with an achievable goal. It was necessary for the United States to strongly embrace the shocked Israel, guide decision-making, and prevent the war from expanding into a regional conflict.

In its repeated press conferences and briefings, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was keen to provide examples confirming that Israel was listening to American advice, whether opening crossings for humanitarian aid and establishing safe zones or modifying the aerial bombing campaign and post-war planning.

However, the narrative began to unravel and on the brink of disagreements that emerged between the United States and Israel, not between methods but rather goals.

On Monday, after two days of international criticism over Washington's use of its veto in the UN Security Council to prevent a resolution calling for a ceasefire, the State Department spokesman took blows in defense of Israel, and said in one of the briefings that the United States was "interacting" with Israel over the killing of a Reuters journalist, Issam Abdullah, the infuriating pictures of Palestinian detainees who were stripped of their clothes, and the “disturbing reports” about the use of white phosphorus, which were revealed and detailed by the Washington Post.

Late that day, Joe Biden described his commitment to Israel as unwavering, but added, “They have to be careful. World opinion may have shifted overnight and we cannot allow this.” On Tuesday, in what was interpreted as his clearest comments about Israel’s conduct in the war, Biden said Israel risked losing international support over its “indiscriminate” bombing of Gaza. He criticized Netanyahu's extremist government, which he said did not "want anything even remotely close to a two-state solution." It is not a discovery that Netanyahu and his government oppose the two-state solution, but this is ignored.

With Biden, it is not possible to know whether what he is saying is a deliberate communication strategy or what Middle East Institute researcher Brian Katulis calls “modified diplomacy,” or something that pushes politics a little. Whatever the case, it is not a great policy for the president, as in one of his electoral districts there is criticism that he “allows Israel to kill 18,000 Palestinians” and there is an impression that Israel takes his weapons but does not listen to his advice. The newspaper says that Biden has become part of Netanyahu's survival plan, as the latter is running an election campaign, expected next year, and not a war. The argument is that he wants to use unwanted American interference in Israel's security as a tool in his campaign.

In a short video in Hebrew, Netanyahu claimed that he is the only one capable of thwarting the desire of the United States and the Arab countries to revive the two-state solution. “I will not allow this, and the matter is in Israel’s hands, and it must not repeat the mistakes of Oslo,” and “I will not allow it, and after all the great sacrifices made by our citizens and fighters, we will not put [In authority] in Gaza, there are people teaching terrorism, supporting it, and financing it. “Gaza will neither be Hamastan nor Fatahstan.”

Hence, the Prime Minister tried to prevent the Western solution to hand over control of Gaza to the renewed National Authority as well as the West Bank. The remaining solution is for Israel to administer the Palestinian territories, something the United States has said will not happen. Biden's dilemma is how to deal with Netanyahu and his government after the differences become public. It is better to invest in another Israeli leader and try to reach some kind of understanding with the Arab leaders in a way that pressures Netanyahu to accept, which is normal for the differences of allies during the war, but a complete disagreement over the long goal of the war must be avoided.

Danger in the West Bank

In its editorial, the newspaper focused on warning of the dangers of what is happening in the West Bank and that the suffering of the Palestinians extends far beyond Gaza. It said, “The scale of the war and its massive atrocities in Gaza have captured the world’s attention, but the increasing violence in the occupied West Bank should also cause concern. Last year was the bloodiest since 2005, and this year is worse.”

It referred to what Volker Turk, the United Nations human rights official, said about the situation as “potential for explosion,” warning of the intensity of violence and serious discrimination against Palestinians. According to United Nations data, more than 450 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces and settlers this year. 28 Israelis were killed in the West Bank in 2023. Raids on the Jenin camp continued until Thursday, and there is a fear that health care will not be available to the camp’s residents, according to charitable organizations. Continuous raids led to the death of civilians, including journalist Sherine Abu Aqla.

At the beginning of the year, Human Rights Watch warned of “organized impunity” for the killing of Palestinian children. The new wave of armed resistance has emerged in recent years amid the failure of the Palestinian leadership, anger over security force violations, settler violence, despair over the ongoing occupation, the decline in the perspective of a two-state solution, and settlement expansion. Thousands of Palestinians have been arrested during the past two months.

On Thursday, two members of the Freedom Theater in the West Bank were arrested without charges, and there are increasing reports of violations against detainees. At the same time, settler violence has forced many communities to leave their homes, and Palestinians face hunger, increasing danger, and humiliation. Thousands of them lost their jobs or had their salaries frozen after Israel decided to withdraw their work permits. The National Authority does not receive the import tax money on which it depends. Farmers were prevented from picking olives that were left to rot on the trees.

The newspaper commented on the British government’s announcement of preventing extremist settlers from entering Britain, but the real problem is not extremism, but rather that the Israeli government helps and encourages extremism. Benjamin Netanyahu gave broad authority to Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who wants to double the number of settlers and claims that “there is no such thing” as the Palestinian people. Itamar Ben Gvir, Minister of Security and the person convicted of incitement to racism, provided weapons to the settlers or “security teams.” The Biden administration was said to have delayed a deal of 20,000 rifles because of this.

The newspaper said that what is happening in the West Bank is important for the future of all Palestinians, and the National Authority no longer has confidence, and it will certainly not survive the economic collapse. This week, the Israeli Ambassador to Britain, Tesvi Hotovely, responded to a question about the two-state solution, saying: “Absolutely not” to the two-state solution, and her position is not strange because her Prime Minister is committed to killing the perspective of a Palestinian state and told a number of representatives this summer of the necessity of “removing” the Palestinian state, but the way the ambassador responded and her disdain for the question is shocking.

The newspaper wonders about Netanyahu's vision for the Palestinians. He denied the allegations that he wants to expel the Palestinians from Gaza, and the option is a permanent status for them as second-class citizens in one state. Human rights organizations such as the Israeli B'Tselem, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights said that the Palestinians are subjected to an apartheid regime. 

It said that talk about a two-state solution remained a matter of ambition to cover up the inaction of the international community and is no longer present. Today, it appears to be a theory, and in light of the current situation, it must become the center of diplomatic action.

Source: Sama News

“Like the Americans, the army and the Ministry of Defense also believe that it is important to think from now about the next day. Paradoxically, and contrary to the declared goals of the war, maintaining a certain civilian capacity for Hamas will facilitate the performance of the sector in the future.”

The Israeli security leadership agrees with the view of US President Joe Biden about the necessity of developing visions for solutions in the Gaza Strip after the end of the current war, a period that has become known as “the day after.” On the other hand, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu still refuses to hold any deliberations about “the next day.” Netanyahu's position will lead to the fact that even if the Americans achieve strategic transformations that are in Israel's favor, Netanyahu will fail, according to military analysts in newspapers published today, Friday.

Tal Lev Ram, a military analyst in the Maariv newspaper, pointed out that “the gaps in the perceptions of the Israeli security leadership - from the army to the Minister of Defense, Yoav Galant - are much narrower than the gaps that Netanyahu seems to be seeking to market abroad, and these appear to be internal political considerations vis-à-vis his voters. Netanyahu had to realize that he was in a war on multiple fronts, and Israel had to align itself with the United States and not the other way around."

During a press conference in Tel Aviv today, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan explained the shape of the American plan to continue the war on Gaza. He said that the war will move from the stage of intense Israeli bombing and extensive ground maneuvers, to a less intense stage, and will focus on targeting the leadership of Hamas, and that in this context the United States agrees that the war will continue for many months. He added, "Control in the Gaza Strip must be transferred to the Palestinians." This is conditional on a political process the “next day,” which Netanyahu opposes.

Lev Ram considered that "the prime minister's attempt to follow a strict line against the American administration would harm Israeli interests in managing the war." But he pointed out that until now, and as was the case in the past, the relations between the Israeli and American security services “are what allow obstacles to be overcome when they arise in the (political) field.”

He pointed out that American support for Israel in the international arena, by supplying unprecedented quantities of weapons, “is of decisive importance to Israel’s ability to manage a war for two and a half months. A crisis in relations with the Americans is the last thing that Israel needs now, and Netanyahu’s words and performance, which did not prevent the Americans are indifferent, the overwhelming majority of war cabinet ministers oppose it.”

According to Lev Ram, “Just like the Americans, the army and the Ministry of Security also believe that it is important to think from now on the next day. This does not mean that they agree on everything, but they are looking for solutions.”

He added that the solutions that the Israeli security apparatus is talking about are for the Gaza Strip to be demilitarized, preventing the increasing strength of the resistance factions "and preserving freedom of military action." In addition, “there is a realization that an authoritarian alternative to Hamas rule must be built in the Gaza Strip, and that it should at least be able to manage the needs of the population there. They wanted the security apparatus to conduct this effort vis-à-vis Egypt, but they realize that various operations will be needed against the remnants of the corps.” A careerist who is not affiliated with Hamas and whom Israel has worked with in the past.”

Lev Ram continued that the Israeli security apparatus attaches importance to American attempts to reach a specific settlement in Lebanon. “If this fails, the path to another escalation (i.e. war) will be very short. The Israeli leadership prefers the American effort to remove Hezbollah from the border as part of an attempt to settle other issues (the land border demarcation agreement and withdrawal from the Shebaa Farms), over a war against Hezbollah.” .

The military analyst in the newspaper "Haaretz", Amos Harel, pointed out that "the 'Next Day' crew formed by Netanyahu does not aim to develop solutions, but rather to procrastinate. In practice, even if the military operation passes successfully, Netanyahu's political performance may fail to benefit." “One of its achievements is to create a better strategic reality.”

According to Harel, Israel and Egypt “deliberately discussed the next day’s settlements in the Gaza Strip. Among the matters discussed were new settlements in the Philadelphia axis and the Rafah crossing, and a study was made to build the Radgha Wall against the tunnels, deep in the ground, like the one that was built on the border between Israel and Israel.” And Egypt. This concept collapsed on October 7 when Hamas carried out its attack above ground and ignored the underground wall.”

He added that the Israeli side held deliberations with Egypt about the situation inside the Gaza Strip, "during which interim solutions were searched for that would not clash with the strict conditions set by Netanyahu, that is, without the Palestinian Authority."

He continued, "There are currently preliminary field coordination processes, in order to solve local problems, in exchange for businessmen, local families, international organizations, and sometimes with individuals from civil organizations, indirectly linked to the Palestinian Authority."

According to Harel, “the security forces fear entering into two traps in the long term: the collapse of civilian systems that would lead to the restructuring of Israeli military rule, or massive chaos similar to Somalia, in which there will be no basis for coordination in the Strip.”

Harel pointed out that, "Paradoxically, and contrary to the declared goals of the war, maintaining a certain civilian capacity for Hamas will facilitate the performance of the Gaza Strip in the future."

Source: Arab48

The Ministry of Health said that the number of dead has risen to 18,987, and more than 55,000 wounded, since the start of the Israeli aggression against our people in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

The Health Ministry said in its report, today, Friday, that 18,700 Palestinian killed in the Gaza Strip, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics, and more than 51,000 were wounded, while the number of killed in the West Bank reached 286, and 3,431 others were wounded.

It added that the vast majority of the dead, i.e. 70%, were women and children, while thousands are still missing.

It indicated that about 300 health sector workers were killed, in addition to 32 civil defense crews, 86 journalists, and 135 UNRWA crews.

It explained that Israeli tanks raided, for the third day in a row, Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, north of Gaza City, and also forced all 2,500 internally displaced persons who took refuge in hospitals to leave, and forced the remaining wounded and medical staff to go out to the lands. Hospitals.

It stated that the Israeli occupation army prevented medical teams from providing support to 12 children in intensive care, and ten wounded in the emergency department, which led to the death of two of them.

The Health Ministry said that more than 70 medical workers, including the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, are still detained in an unknown location.

The Ministry announced that vaccinations had run out in Gaza, which led to catastrophic health repercussions for children and the spread of diseases, especially among the displaced in overcrowded shelter centers. 360,000 cases of infectious diseases were documented, although the actual number is believed to be higher.

It was reported that Al Awda Hospital in Jabalia, north of the Gaza Strip, is still besieged by the occupation forces, and reportedly, 250 doctors, patients, and individuals are trapped inside the hospital.

It said that only 11 hospitals out of 36 in the Gaza Strip are partially operating and are able to accept new patients, despite limited services, while there is only one of these hospitals in the north, according to the World Health Organization.

It added: The two main hospitals in southern Gaza are operating at three times their clinical capacity, while facing a severe shortage of basic supplies and fuel. Occupancy rates now reach 206% in inpatient departments and 250% in intensive care units, in addition to these hospitals providing shelter for thousands of internally displaced people.

The Ministry of Health indicated that the number of internally displaced people in the Gaza Strip is estimated at approximately 1.9 million people, or about 90% of the population. About 1.2 million of these displaced persons have been registered in 154 UNRWA facilities throughout the Strip, including one million people registered in 94 centers. UNRWA shelter in the south.

It indicated that more than 60% (approximately 280 thousand housing units) were destroyed in the Gaza Strip, completely or partially, noting that the final number of destroyed units and buildings is not available due to the continued Israeli bombing.

In the West Bank, attacks by the Israeli occupation army and colonizers continued, attacks on hospitals, and obstruction of the work of ambulances.

The Ministry of Health confirmed that it had documented 331 attacks by the colonialists on our people since the beginning of the aggression, which led to the injury of 84 citizens and damage to citizens’ property. The Israeli occupation forces also injured 3,431 citizens, including no less than 535 children.

A photojournalist was injured in the head, and 7 people were arrested today, Friday, after the Israeli occupation forces beat worshipers in the Wadi al-Joz neighborhood in occupied Jerusalem, who were prevented from entering to perform prayers in the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Local sources reported that the occupation forces severely beat photojournalist Mustafa Al-Kharouf in Wadi Al-Joz, causing him to suffer head injuries. They also arrested 7 people whose identities are not yet known.

The occupation forces obstructed the work of the press crews, and prevented them from arriving to check on their colleague Al-Kharouf after he was transferred into an ambulance to receive treatment, before he was transferred to the hospital.

The attack occurred during a group of Palestinians gathering to perform prayers in the Wadi al-Joz area near Al-Aqsa Mosque due to Israeli restrictions on prayer in Al-Aqsa Mosque for 10 weeks.

The Israeli forces first pulled weapons on the photojournalist, Mustafa Al-Kharouf, then threw him to the ground and kicked him.

The photographer suffered bruises and wounds to his face and body as a result of the strong blows he was subjected to, which required him to be transported by ambulance to Al-Maqasid Hospital.

The Israeli police also attacked photographer Fayez Abu Rumaila, who was standing next to photographer Al-Kharouf.

In this context, the Islamic Endowments in Jerusalem said that only 7,000 worshipers performed prayers in the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, due to the Israeli occupation preventing hundreds of people from entering.

Residents of the Old City of Jerusalem were only allowed to pray in the mosque, and the occupation forces attacked a number of elderly people who tried to enter Al-Aqsa near Lions Gate, forcing many of them to perform it in the neighboring Wadi al-Joz and Ras al-Amud neighborhoods.

Today, Friday, Israeli occupation artillery bombed several towns in southern Lebanon.

The occupation artillery targeted, with intense bombardment, the towns of Labouneh, Markba, Kunine, Mays al-Jabal, Tayr Harf, Zibqin, Naqoura, Aita al-Shaab, al-Jabain, Hula, Kafr Kila, al-Khiyam and Shihin.

Journalists Wael Al-Dahdouh, Al Jazeera's correspondent, and Samer Abu Daqqa, the channel's cameraman, were injured while covering an Israeli bombing that targeted a school in Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip, while appeals were made to evacuate the trapped and injured people from the place.

Al Jazeera correspondent Heba Akila said that two colleagues, Wael and Samer, were injured while working in the vicinity of a school targeted by the occupation forces on Friday morning.

She added that the two colleagues were injured by fragments of a missile fired by an Israeli reconnaissance plane.

She explained that colleague Wael was injured in the arm and was transferred to Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Yunis to receive treatment, while colleague Samer Abu Daqqa is still trapped inside Farhana School, as ambulance teams were unable to evacuate the wounded from the school.

Targeting journalists

About 90 journalists have been killed since the start of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip on October 7, amid journalistic and human rights associations denouncing what they describe as the direct targeting of journalists and photographers for the purpose of obscuring the facts.

Source: Al Jazeera Channel

President Mahmoud Abbas received, at the presidential headquarters in Ramallah, today, Friday, US National Security Advisor Jack Sullivan.

During the meeting, the President stressed the need to stop the ongoing Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people through an immediate ceasefire and the genocidal war, especially in the Gaza Strip, in order to spare civilians from the scourge of bombing, killing and destruction carried out by the Israeli killing machine.

The President reiterated the need to open all crossings, double the entry of relief, medical and food supplies, provide water, electricity and fuel as quickly as possible, and provide the necessary aid so that hospitals and basic facilities can resume their work in treating thousands of wounded and providing their services to our people.

The President stressed the need for the American administration to intervene as well, to compel Israel to stop its aggression against our people in the West Bank, including occupied Jerusalem, represented by the invasions of Palestinian cities and camps, the killing of civilians, the destruction of infrastructure, and to stop attacks on Islamic and Christian sanctities, and crimes of ethnic cleansing and other crimes. .

Mr. President touched on the abusive and repressive measures taken by the occupation authorities against our detainees, demanding that the occupation government be obligated to immediately stop these measures and violations against the detainees and our people.

The President reiterated his rejection of the forced displacement of the Palestinian people and its prevention, whether in the Gaza Strip or in the West Bank, including Jerusalem, noting that the West Bank is witnessing forced displacement and silent annexation of Palestinian land by terrorist colonizers and the occupation army, stressing the need for there to be intervention. The American administration is taking this seriously to prevent such policies that violate the resolutions of international legitimacy and international law.

The President stressed that the Gaza Strip is an integral part of the Palestinian state, and it is not possible to accept or deal with the plans of the occupation authorities to separate it or any part of it, stressing the need to release Palestinian clearance funds, and that our people in the Gaza Strip will have priority, and will not be abandoned. They are the responsibility of the State of Palestine, and we did not leave the Gaza Strip to return to it.

The President stressed our comprehensive political vision and the necessity of the State of Palestine obtaining full membership in the United Nations, and convening an international peace conference, stressing that peace and security cannot be achieved except through the implementation of the two-state solution, based on international legitimacy resolutions, which includes the entire territory of the State of Palestine in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip, and recognition of the State of Palestine, and that security and military solutions have proven their failure and will not achieve security and stability for the region.

The US State Department reiterated its emphasis on the "two states for two peoples solution" as the only solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

The official spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Matthew Miller, said in response to a question regarding the statements of the Israeli ambassador in London to “Sky News” that there will not be a Palestinian state in any form and that Israel will never allow the establishment of another state between the Jordan River and the sea.” In what appears to be a public challenge to the policies of American presidents (40 years ago), Miller said, “We have seen a number of different statements from different officials within the Israeli government regarding the two states. We will continue to clarify what our policy is and what we believe is the appropriate policy moving forward. “I say this as an appropriate policy not only in the interest of the Palestinian people, but in the interest of the Israeli people, and in the interest of Israel’s long-term stability and security.”

Miller said, "The October 7 attacks should be a wake-up call to everyone that the status quo that has existed for several years is not in Israel's interest, and that there must be a solution moving forward that meets the legitimate aspirations of Israel and the Palestinian people while providing security for the Israeli people." "We believe that the best way to achieve that is to establish an independent Palestinian state. We have made that very clear. We are making that clear privately, we are making that clear publicly, and this is something that we will continue to work with the Israeli government on."

Regarding Washington’s continued full support for Israel, militarily, politically, and financially, despite its challenge to the United States, and whether that represents a major contradiction between words and deeds, Miller said, “So, I do not think you can draw this conclusion at this stage. We support Israel in its campaign to ensure that the October 7 attacks are not repeated. But that does not mean that we do not have disagreements with them along the way. We are a sovereign state, and Israel is a sovereign state. We do not agree on everything.”

Miller added, "One of the things you heard President (US Joe Biden) say is that we have a long-standing relationship with Israel in that we are close friends. And as close friends, we can have very frank, frank and sometimes very difficult conversations. And we will continue to do so on this topic, and I Sure on many other topics.”

During the past few days, US President Joe Biden directed a torrent of criticism at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which was met with responses from Netanyahu and his allies in the right-wing movement in Israel, stressing that they would not back down from their goals of eliminating Hamas, and that they refused to re-present the “two-state solution” scenario. Or what Netanyahu described as the “Oslo mistake.”

From day one, Washington has supported the devastating bombing campaign launched by Israel on the Gaza Strip since October 7, followed by a ground attack, in response to an unprecedented attack by Hamas on Israel, which resulted in the killing of 1,200 Israelis, of whom Israel says 311 soldiers, and the rest are civilians.

The Israeli attacks on Gaza resulted in the deaths of approximately 18,800 people, 70 percent of whom were women and children, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza.

The high number of civilian deaths has prompted Washington to change its tone slightly in recent days, with many officials stressing the need to reduce the burden of the war on Palestinian civilians.

Statements from American and Israeli officials appear from afar as if they were disagreements over the vision of the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, while experts believe that any disagreements or positions do not mean Washington abandoning Israel or stopping support for it in any way.

US President Biden said on Thursday that he wants Israel to focus on saving civilian lives, when asked whether he wants Israel to reduce the scope of its attack on Gaza by the end of this year.

Biden said in response to a question from a journalist: “I want them to focus on how to save civilian lives, not to stop pursuing Hamas, but to be more careful.”

In his recent statements, the US President reiterated his criticism of the collateral damage resulting from the Israeli military attack on Gaza, which resulted in the death of more than 18,000 Gazans, caused the displacement of the population, and an unprecedented deterioration on the humanitarian front.

The British newspaper The Economist published a report, in which it said that despite the intensification of fighting between the Israeli army and the Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip, it is certain that the current attack is the last large-scale Israeli operation in this war, although Tel Aviv has not You get the "image of victory" that the Israelis seek, pointing out that US pressure on Israel has been secretly escalating recently.

The newspaper’s report explained that the occupation army sent an entire division to and around the city of Khan Yunis in the south of the Gaza Strip, while 3 other divisions from the Armored Corps are still continuing their operations in the northern Gaza Strip.

The next phase of the war

The newspaper quoted a security official as saying that the Israeli army has been at the height of its deployment for more than two months, and that "the next stage will be a less intense mobile campaign."

The Economist also asked in its report what it described as the most important question about whether this shift - to a reduced campaign - would frustrate the main goal of the war, which is to destroy the military capabilities of the Hamas movement.

According to the report, Israel has little choice but to reduce its operations, in light of the United States’ insistence - its main ally and arms supplier - on reducing the level of firepower to avoid continuing this killing of civilians, as well as in light of the increasing pressure on the Israeli economy resulting from the mobilization of 360,000 reserve soldiers.

According to the newspaper, with the end of the most violent phases of the military operation approaching, Israel is trying to give its citizens the impression that the Hamas resistance is collapsing and that the army now controls a large area of the Gaza Strip. However, despite everything it did for that, it did not obtain the “image of victory” that the Israelis seek. .

The Economist also reported that the Israeli army may have eliminated half of Hamas's force, which the newspaper estimated at about 30,000 fighters, but it confirmed that the movement still has thousands of fighters, who continue to emerge from tunnels and ambush Israeli soldiers, in addition to dozens of Israeli prisoners. They are still in the grip of the movement and under the threat of the continuing Israeli bombing of Gaza.

The newspaper's report highlighted that Tel Aviv was unable to eliminate Hamas' leadership or destroy its infrastructure. Although it killed a number of field commanders, it did not succeed in eliminating the movement's leader in Gaza, Yahya al-Sinwar, or the commander of the Qassam Brigades, the movement's military wing, Muhammad al-Deif, or His deputy, Marwan Issa.

Washington pressure

In addition, the newspaper indicated that there is no public indication that it is putting pressure on Israel, especially after the veto that it used in the Security Council on the eighth of this month to block a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, and it also provides it with more weapons, a shipment of about 14,000 tank shells was approved in recent days.

But pressure is increasing in secret, according to the newspaper, as it quoted several sources as confirming that US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken told officials during his recent visit to Israel that they must end the military operation by next year.

Differences between the American and Israeli governments also began to emerge regarding arrangements for governing the Gaza Strip after the fighting subsided.

This comes while the two sides are already discussing, behind the scenes, plans in which the Palestinian Authority would play a role in managing the Strip, but in all the scenarios presented, the Israeli army may maintain a large presence there for a period of time, and it is possible that Hamas will also maintain control over parts of the Strip, according to the newspaper. 

Source: Arabic Post

The UK and partners call on Israel to take immediate and concrete steps to tackle record high settler violence in the occupied West Bank.

Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, the European Union, Finland, France, Ireland, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom call on Israel to take immediate and concrete steps to tackle record high settler violence in the occupied West Bank.

Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, the European Union, Finland, France, Ireland, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom express their grave concern about the record number of attacks by extremist settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank. 

Since the start of October, settlers have committed more than 343 violent attacks, killing 8 Palestinian civilians, injuring more than 83, and forcing 1026 Palestinians from their homes.

We strongly condemn the violent acts committed by extremist settlers, which are terrorizing Palestinian communities. We reiterate our position that Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank are illegal under international law and remind Israel of its obligations under international law, in particular Article 49 of Geneva Convention IV.

This rise in extremist settler violence committed against Palestinians is unacceptable. Israel, as the occupying power, must protect the Palestinian civilian population in the West Bank. Those responsible for the violence must be brought to justice. Israel’s failure to protect Palestinians and prosecute extremist settlers has led to an environment of near complete impunity in which settler violence has reached unprecedented levels. This undermines security in the West Bank and the region and threatens prospects for a lasting peace.

While we welcomed the Government of Israel’s statement on this issue on 9 November where it conveyed that action would be taken against violent perpetrators, proactive steps must now be taken to ensure the effective and immediate protection of Palestinian communities. Words are important, but must now be translated into action.

By Andrew Mitrovica

The Biden administration and its smug surrogates remain determined to disfigure reality to obscure their complicity in Israel’s crimes against Palestinians.

More than two years after his death, the odious spirit of Donald Rumsfeld has been resurrected. It is not surprising. Every US administration has its share of banal bureaucrats who, in exchange for an important job with an impressive title, are willing to forfeit their integrity and jettison the truth in the “service” of country.

And so, since early October, the world has seen and heard a lot from Rumsfeld’s hideous heir, National Security Council spokesperson, John Kirby.

Like Rumsfeld, the former career naval officer speaks in a high-pitched monotone befitting his dour, monochromatic character.

Like Rumsfeld, Kirby is obliged to spout state-sanctioned bromides in defense of the wholesale destruction of innocent civilians – casualties all of America’s familiar kill-first, think-later foreign policy.

Like Rumsfeld, Kirby is the darling of Beltway pundits who, as a rule, defer to authority and genuflect before power.

On cue, the Washington Post described Kirby earlier this week as a “star” whose skill and experience have translated into “a commanding presence” during press briefings where he keeps the White House’s “messaging” on Gaza “clear”. Kirby, the Post wrote, is “direct, plain-spoken and unmistakably supportive of the administration’s pro-Israeli policies”. 

Oh, that he is. 

But just as the establishment media’s cleansing of Rumsfeld’s wretched record could not save the late defense secretary from history’s harsh and lasting judgement, Kirby will be remembered – if this pedestrian apparatchik is remembered at all – for his obscene apologia of the obscenities Palestinians have had to endure at the culpable hands of America’s proxy, Israel. 

I thought it impossible that Kirby could outdo his doddering boss, US President Joe Biden who, memorably, trafficked in fabrications about beheaded babies, and questioned the number of killed Palestinian children, women and men. Silly me. Looking ever so commanding in a crisp, black suit, with a white handkerchief jutting fashionably out of his breast pocket, Kirby insisted that Palestinians – among many myopic others – should, at the least, pause to acknowledge America’s generosity in the midst of a genocide. “Look, we certainly share the concerns that so many others have … about the humanitarian situation in Gaza,” Kirby said last week from a rostrum at the White House flanked by the Stars and Stripes. “Tell me, name me, one more nation, any other nation, that is doing as much as the United States to alleviate the pain and suffering of the people of Gaza. You can’t. You just can’t.” I should let that astonishing paragraph stand as Kirby’s sorry epitaph since it demonstrates how prepared the Biden administration and its smug surrogates are to disfigure reality to promote a revolting lie. But Kirby’s deplorable admonition requires a reply. Decency demands it.

Much of Gaza and 18,600 Palestinians – the bulk of them children and women – have been erased and buried in mass graves with the help of America’s lethal largesse. Thousands more have been maimed, traumatized or remain entombed beneath the pancake-like rubble – the shattered remnants of once-vibrant homes, businesses, schools, mosques and hospitals. Bit by inevitable bit, the occupied West Bank is also being invaded and erased. Hundreds of Palestinians have been arrested or worse, summarily executed, for being Palestinian or expressing solidarity with their besieged brothers and sisters in Gaza.

Millions of Palestinians have had to make forced marches in a futile quest for refuge from Israel’s incessant attacks. Denied food, water and fuel, countless Palestinians are starving. Disease and sickness are spreading in makeshift, mud-soaked refugee camps where flimsy tents dot the apocalyptic landscape. Young and old Palestinian men have been rounded up like cattle, blindfolded, stripped near-naked and ordered to kneel in streets or barren fields. The sinister aim: to humiliate and degrade. 

All of it – every cruel, inhumane and ruthless ounce of it – is being perpetrated with the explicit approval and consent of Biden and complicit company. Kirby’s revisionism cannot obscure the plain facts that the rest of us can see. Nor can it mask Biden’s cynical strategy to circumvent a largely prostrate Congress in order to continue to feed Israel with weapons and ammunition to kill and maim Palestinians wherever it wants to, for as long as it wants to, by whatever means it wants to. The nauseating corollary of Kirby’s rebuke is that Palestinians have been, in effect, ungrateful in the face of America’s phantom efforts to “alleviate the pain and suffering of the people of Gaza”. Rather than condemning America’s collusion with a genocidal campaign, Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank and beyond should instead be thankful for America’s benevolence. America is a friend, not a foe. This is, of course, the definition of double-speak that performative hacks like Kirby are trained and expected to peddle. War is peace. Harm is healing. Bombs are bouquets. Still, Kirby, the human weathervane, will do as he is told. I suspect that, soon enough, he will be instructed to change tack and parrot the new lines offered up by a rattled president.

Speaking recently at a political fundraiser, Biden complained that Israel’s retributive pursuit of Hamas may have gone too far by killing too many Palestinians, too quickly and, as a result, was draining “support” among the international community. “They’re [Israel] starting to lose that support by the indiscriminate bombing that takes place,” Biden said. 

Then, remarkably, Biden suggested that a mild form of regime change ought to be in the offing in Israel. “This is the most conservative government in Israel’s history,” the president said. “He [Netanyahu] has to change this government. This government in Israel is making it very difficult.” Biden’s calculated volte-face is motivated by parochial, not principled, considerations and interests. Having incensed and alienated crucial domestic constituencies that he needs to remain commander-in-chief next November, Biden is now trying to distance himself from a reactionary Israeli cabinet that he has enabled rhetorically, diplomatically and militarily. Kirby will spin like a Ferris wheel to square that hypocritical circle. He will fail. The grotesque damage that the US has done to Palestinians yesterday, today and tomorrow cannot be undone by malleable “messaging”. That malicious legacy will be forever fixed in our memory.

By Michela Haddad

With the entry of the first Russian tank into Ukraine, the world entered the whirlwind of transformation from a unipolar system to a multipolar system.

So the difficult question was: When will the moment come when we officially see the decline of American influence and the beginning of the new regime?

The answer came from Gaza.

The issue goes beyond the borders of Gaza, and is more dangerous than political Islam regaining its momentum in the region, because chaos in all cases will be the title of the next stage if a settlement to the conflict is not cooked soon.

It is in the interest of the Russian and Chinese presidents to support the Palestinians in this brutal war, and to take an advanced step in the interest of the Palestinians. Why?

Ukraine's loss of the war has become almost a foregone conclusion, and America will not tolerate another defeat for its ally, Israel.

The loss of Ukraine means a severe blow to Washington and behind it, 50 countries from the Western bloc, who spent hundreds of billions of dollars of taxpayer money, in a war that was known from its beginning to be lost because it is existential for the Russian bear.

As for defeating Israel strategically, regardless of the definition of defeat here, it would mean a severe blow to Biden, after he took Netanyahu into his arms and lavished him generously with money, weapons, military experts, and others.

What does it mean when the most powerful country in the world is unable to protect its allies?

What does it mean to repeat the rosary of losses after the resounding American exit from Afghanistan?

What does it mean for the leader of the free world to be unable to protect his interests and positions of influence as is the case today?

Congress, under pressure from militia attacks, discusses the exit of American forces from Syria.. American bases are exposed to dozens of attacks on a daily basis.. Al-Houthi is loose and having fun in the Red Sea, and Iran is closely watching Washington’s confusion between this front and that and its hesitation in responding militarily.

Iran is not the only one watching, as Long breathing China may soon unleash its dragon in Taiwan as well.

If America fails in Ukraine and fails to support Israel, what guarantees that it may succeed in supporting Taiwan?

It is the ideal time for China to move militarily towards the rebellious island, especially since the US Congress does not find the money to allocate to finance two simultaneous wars, the first in Ukraine and the second in Israel, so how can it find money to finance Taiwan?

But China will not do it because it seeks to subjugate Taiwan without firing a single shot, and avoid falling into the trap of a war that will open the fire of Western sanctions.

Except that Israel remaining in a state of security confusion will not allow the Americans to pass the Indian trade line parallel to the new Chinese Silk Road.

In the face of these transformations, it has become certain that Gaza has turned back the clock to the era of World War II, in the wake of which the UN Security Council was formed, as the last session showed that it is no longer acceptable for one country to control the destinies of peoples, especially when the majority of countries support stopping the Israeli killing machine. 

It is the hour of truth. It is time to declare a new world order and lay new foundations for the only international body that is supposed to guarantee international peace and security and human justice. The question remains: how and at what cost?

Source: Aqlam Horra

According to the poll, 23% support subjecting the Gaza Strip to the rule of “moderate Arab countries”; 18% support the rule of an international power; 11% support the rule of the Palestinian Authority; And 8% support holding elections. 

* Another poll: 43% see Netanyahu’s performance versus Biden as “not correct.”

A public opinion poll in Israel regarding who should rule the Gaza Strip after the current war waged by Israel stated that 22% support the imposition of Israeli military rule, and 23% support the Strip to be governed by “moderate Arab countries.”

This poll was conducted by the Truman Institute at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and was published by the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper today, Friday, and included a sample representative of the adult population in Israel, which included 1,534 Jews and 334 Arabs.

In their response to the question, 18% considered that the Gaza Strip should be annexed to Israel, and 18% said that the Strip should be governed by an international force, while 11% supported that the Gaza Strip be subject to the rule of the Palestinian Authority, and 8% said that elections should be held in the Strip.

In another poll published today by Maariv newspaper, 43% considered that the performance of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu versus US President Joe Biden was “not correct” in everything related to the war on Gaza.

However, 36% said that Netanyahu's performance was "correct," while 18% responded that they had no opinion about that.

63% of Likud Party voters said that Netanyahu’s performance was “correct,” and 12% considered that his performance was “not correct,” but in the view of 95% of “National Camp” voters, Netanyahu’s performance was “not correct.” Likewise, in the opinion of 68% of Yesh Atid voters.

Today, Friday, hundreds of people were killed and wounded in the ongoing Israeli bombing of several areas in the Gaza Strip.

This morning, the Israeli bombing focused on Gaza City, where the largest number of dead, as local sources confirmed that at least 15 killed and dozens of injuries were reported in the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood, east of the city, as a result of Israeli drones firing at citizens in the streets, a large number of whom were civilian children and women, noting that ambulances were unable to reach the dead and wounded, as a result of the continued bombing.

The occupation artillery also bombed six inhabited homes in the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood, which led to dozens of dead, ten of whom were transferred to Al-Baptani Hospital. The occupation artillery also fired dozens of shells at homes in Al-Zaytoun near Salah Al-Din Street, leaving dozens injured.

In the Shujaiya neighborhood, east of Gaza City, Israeli warplanes destroyed the popular stall market, in addition to ten inhabited homes, resulting in 9 dead and 25 wounded.

In the Al-Daraj neighborhood in Gaza City, the occupation artillery shelled, for the second time, Fahmi Al-Jarjawi School, where four dead and nine wounded, most of them children.

The Al-Sahaba area in the Al-Daraj neighborhood in Gaza City was subjected to missile bombardment from warplanes and artillery from tanks, which led to the death of 20 dead and dozens of others. The occupation forces also arrested 25 citizens between the ages of (15-55 years), after the occupation forces ordered them to take off their clothes.

In the Al-Nasr and Sheikh Radwan area, north of the city, a number of persons died after the neighborhood and its inhabited homes were exposed to heavy fire from drones, missile strikes from warplanes, and artillery shelling, at a time when none of the ambulance vehicles were able to reach them as a result of the continued bombing.

In the Palestine Mosque Square area in Gaza City, according to eyewitnesses, the occupation army carried out field executions, executing at least 5 citizens, including an elderly man, and arrested 15 citizens, after stripping them of their clothes.

In the Jabalia camp in the northern Gaza Strip, a number of people were killed and a number of citizens were injured, as the occupation warplanes bombed several inhabited homes in the vicinity of Kamal Adwan and Al-Awda hospitals. Tanks also stormed the UNRWA school square in Jabalia, and opened indiscriminate fire towards citizens, resulting in dozens of casualties. Injuries, and the occupation army transported dozens of displaced people, including children.

In the Sheikh Zayed Towers area in the town of Beit Lahia, artillery bombed with dozens of shells a number of buildings, residential apartments and surrounding houses, which led to a large number of dead and dozens of injuries.

Five were killed and dozens were injured, at dawn on Friday, in an Israeli bombing that targeted a school housing displaced people in Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip.

At dawn today, at least 4 martyrs, including children, were killed, and others were injured in the occupation bombing of the Abu Nasr family home in the Western Camp, west of Khan Yunis. They were transferred to Nasser Hospital in the city.

The occupation artillery shelling since last night and dawn today on several neighborhoods in the city of Khan Yunis also resulted in dozens of killed and wounded.

The occupation aircraft also bombed a residential square near the Kuwaiti Hospital in Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip, resulting in dozens of killed and wounded, who were transferred to Abu Youssef Al-Najjar Hospital in the city.

The occupation aircraft bombed residential neighborhoods and homes in Deir al-Balah, Gaza, Nuseirat, and Jabalia, resulting in a number of injuries.

The number of killed as a result of the ongoing Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip since the seventh of last October has risen to 18,787 dead and about 50,900 wounded, an infinite toll.

Various comments were quick to welcome President Joe Biden's criticism of Benjamin Netanyahu's government, Israeli crimes, and what the US president called "indiscriminate bombing" in the war on Gaza. Israeli retaliation in response to the Hamas operation, which led to the killing of 1,200 Israeli civilians and soldiers, exceeded all the rules of “self-defense,” and Biden was forced to say that these actions were beginning to harm Israel’s image in the world and make it lose international sympathy.

The comments went in search of motives for Biden’s criticism, and whether it stems from concern for the image of Israel and its Prime Minister Netanyahu, or is it from concern for the image of the United States, whose position in support of Israel has faced international criticism, as was evident from its isolation in the United Nations General Assembly after it voted against a resolution “Not binding” on the ceasefire, and it was the only country that voted with a veto on the same resolution in the Security Council, and it became accused by broad Arab circles of “participating” in the war on Gaza through its full support and provision of weapons to Israel.

Biden expressed full sympathy for the Israeli operation in Gaza, and supported its goals of eliminating the Hamas movement and recovering the hostages that the movement took in its attack on October 7, despite the acknowledgment by American strategic experts who served in previous administrations of the difficulty of recovering the hostages without a ceasefire, as well as the difficulty of eliminating Hamas based on the experiences of past wars with it. Biden also provided Israel with the weapons and ammunition it requested and requested additional exceptional budgets from Congress for this.

That political and military cover is what made it easier for Israel to continue the war. During the past two months, it was clear the extent of the destruction being inflicted on the Gaza Strip, and the high numbers of civilian casualties, most of whom were women and children, who the Israeli newspaper Haaretz estimated constituted two-thirds of the death toll. The goals of the Netanyahu government were known and declared in this war, which were not limited to revenge against Hamas or the recovery of hostages. Netanyahu openly aimed to empty the Gaza Strip of its residents and displace them to Egypt via the Rafah crossing, a goal that was not achieved as a result of the Egyptian government’s courageous and strong stance against this plan. Netanyahu’s positions rejecting the establishment of a Palestinian state and his boasting that he was the only politician in Israel capable of preventing it were well-known, and President Biden knew them just as he knew Netanyahu’s rejection of the Oslo Accords, and the insistence of his government, which includes fascists and extremists, to expand settlement in “Judea and Samaria” so as to ensure the impossibility of establishing it. Palestinian state.

Therefore, it is difficult to say that it was new policies of the Israeli government that prompted Biden to direct his recent and frank criticism of its racist members, whom he described as the most extremist in the history of Israel. For this reason, Biden's statements seem directed at the voting base in the United States in the last year of his term, and as part of his preparation for the renewal battle against Donald Trump, more than they aim to rescue Netanyahu from his predicament and seek a solution to the long conflict with the Palestinians. The reactions to the war in Gaza and to the images of child victims, the destruction of homes, and people being thrown into tents in the rain, all of this began to push the ranks of the Democratic Party in the United States to raise their voice against the support provided by Biden and his administration for Israel’s campaign against Gaza. Polls indicate that 63 percent of Democratic Party voters reject Biden's policy, while some of them tend to abstain from voting, or vote for independent candidates, or for Trump, which constitutes a major loss for Biden in states where Arab and Muslim communities constitute a significant size of the voters, such as Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Florida, and others.

It is difficult for Biden's recent statements to change the positions of members of these communities, especially since it is unlikely that his criticisms will fall on deaf ears among Israelis. Netanyahu, his foreign minister, and military leaders were quick to confirm that the war on Gaza was continuing “with or without international support.” They know that Biden is in the final year of his term, and that he needs Jewish votes in the United States more than they need him, even though prominent figures among the American Jewish community criticize Netanyahu’s policies, and are aware of the extent of the harm they are causing to Jews with the rising wave of indiscriminate anti-Semitism. (Like all racist waves) among Jews who support Netanyahu or those who sympathize with the Palestinian cause from a moral and humanitarian standpoint.

Moreover, Biden's calls for the establishment of a Palestinian state or the revival of a negotiation process between the Palestinians and Israel do not constitute a concern for Netanyahu and his group. This is because Biden has not been concerned with this issue since he entered the White House, and his argument was that the Barack Obama administration, in which he was second-in-command, did not succeed in any positive action in this regard after Obama collided with Netanyahu and decided not to press for any settlement, Contrary to what previous Democratic presidents, such as Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, did.

Adding to Israel's lack of concern about any pressure that Biden could exert is that he is in the final year of his term, and pressure from American lawmakers has begun to surround him due to accusations that he used his position as Vice President during the Obama era to facilitate business deals and commissions for his son Hunter in China and Ukraine.

Hence, Biden's criticism seems directed at investing in the Democratic voter in the United States, who is dissatisfied with the absolute support for the war on Gaza. As for Israel's leaders, they are the last to be concerned about these criticisms, as Netanyahu said: "We will continue with what we are doing, and we do not care about all of that."

American and Western officials have raised concerns that Occupation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may turn his personal problems into a regional nightmare, according to what was reported by the American network “NBC” on Thursday, December 14, 2023.

American and Western officials told the network their concerns that “Israel does not have a coherent position or political plan once the military campaign ends.”

While the network confirmed that “the American intelligence community believes that Iran is not seeking a direct war with Washington,” it fears that Netanyahu will drag it into this confrontation.

Earlier Thursday, an opinion poll conducted by the Hebrew newspaper Maariv revealed that 43% of Israelis do not approve of the actions of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with America regarding the management of the war.

According to Maariv newspaper, “36% of Israelis consider Netanyahu’s behavior toward America to be correct.”

Visit of an American official

On Thursday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant informed US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan that dismantling Hamas “needs more than a few months.”

This came during their meeting in Israel, where Sullivan arrived for a two-day visit.

The Hebrew Channel 13 quoted Gallant as telling Sullivan: “Dismantling Hamas will take more than a few months, and it will be a long war.”

For his part, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, in a statement, a copy of which was sent to Anadolu, that Netanyahu met with Sullivan in Tel Aviv.

Sullivan is scheduled to meet later in the day with the Israeli Military Ministerial Council in Tel Aviv, according to the same source.

According to a statement issued by the White House on Wednesday, Sullivan will also meet with Israeli President Isaac Herzog.

According to multiple reports, Sullivan is expected to convey to the Israeli government the vision of the administration of US President Joe Biden regarding the high casualties among Palestinian civilians and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip as a result of the Israeli attacks.

On Tuesday, Biden said that Israel had begun to lose international support due to its “indiscriminate bombing” of the Gaza Strip, and called on Netanyahu to change his government, because it “does not want a two-state solution.”

Since the start of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip on October 7, the Biden administration has provided Tel Aviv with the strongest possible military and diplomatic support, and used its veto in the UN Security Council to prevent the issuance of a resolution calling for a permanent ceasefire.

As of Thursday, the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip has resulted in 18,787 deaths and 50,897 injuries, most of them children and women, massive destruction of infrastructure and an “unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe,” according to Palestinian and UN sources.

Source: Arabic Post

This is not the first speech by the head of the Hamas Political Bureau, since October 7, but it is the most important among all previous speeches, not only because of the phrases it contains with important connotations, but because of the circumstances and developments that have occurred since the start of the war, until now, and the changes that have occurred on international positions towards the Israeli aggression on Gaza.

Aside from the traditional phrases that are consistent with the state of aggression, and the bitter talk about the images of suffering that the Palestinian people are going through in Gaza, under killing and bombing, the most important phrases that Haniyeh said are related to the desire to engage in a deep political dialogue about the future of the Palestinian issue.

The Movement is ready

The speech of the highest-ranking political official in the Hamas movement included the following:

“We affirm that we are open to discussing any ideas or initiatives that could lead to an end to the aggression, and putting the Palestinian house in order at the level of the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and all Palestinian institutions, leading to a political path that secures the right of the Palestinian people to their independent state, with Jerusalem as its capital.”

Aside from the language and the various meanings it can carry, this phrase - and in the context of the surrounding events and developments - carries a message that says: The movement is not nihilistic, and it is ready to embark on a political path after the noise of battles subsides and the clamor of armed clashes stops.

It is likely that Haniyeh wants to give the United States, and President Biden in particular, a strong card to wave in the face of his stubborn ally Benjamin Netanyahu and his extremist government, especially after Biden announced positions rejecting this government and its extremist positions, and its inability to deal positively with the vision of the United States of America to solve the Palestinian issue, which adheres to the two-state solution.

It is certain that Ismail Haniyeh and the Hamas leadership are thinking, for their part, about the day following the cessation of the aggression against Gaza, and how the conditions of the Strip, which was subjected to a barbaric campaign that focused on spreading death and destruction throughout the Strip, and making it an uninhabitable place for life, will be arranged, making it the responsibility of managing the Strip - and its reconstruction, dealing with the disastrous state it has reached is a worry for Hamas, as well as for all followers and observers, and all countries interested in resolving the Palestinian issue and ending the bloody conflicts.

This comes in light of the heroic epic waged by Hamas and its armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, which impressed the entire world with its ability to withstand and inflict the heaviest losses on the ranks of the Israeli occupation, which did not succeed in achieving any of its goals that it set before the start of the aggression, despite seventy days of bombardment: air, ground, and sea, as well as continuous incursions and systematic destruction operations.

Haniyeh's confidence in the defeat of aggression

Perhaps this is what makes Haniyeh confident that the aggression will be defeated, and to point out repeatedly and strictly that it is an illusion to talk about any arrangements in Gaza without Hamas or the resistance. These are not just empty words, rather they are based on undeniable facts, as the resistance is still inflicting huge losses on the ranks of the enemy and its invading vehicles.

Also, international patience - especially the American one with the atrocities committed by the occupation against children and civilians - is beginning to run out, and President Biden’s statements - in this regard - do not bear interpretation, and the enemy’s home front is no longer able to bear an endless war.

If the issue of prisoners is added to this, which is the strongest card held by Hamas and the resistance in this battle, the outcome of all of this leads to an almost certain result, which is that the stage of searching for political and negotiating alternatives is about to begin.

Perhaps this is exactly what Ismail Haniyeh wanted to precede by saying: The movement is ready to discuss any ideas, and at the same time it is also a message to the Palestinian interior that Hamas will not allow its political opponent - who is located in the Ramallah, and who sits by watching the massacre in Gaza - to take the lead in talking about post-aggression arrangements, or post-Hamas even if he tried to appear to reject the aggression and refuse to exclude Hamas.

Source: Aljazeera

The scenario of a ceasefire based on a truce agreement - as happened in previous wars on the Gaza Strip - does not seem realistic at all in the context of the final scene of the “Al-Aqsa Flood” battle. No political leadership in Israel dares to sign an agreement or grant a commitment - even through a third party - that would result in understandings with the party carrying out the events of October 7. There is a huge psychological complex and dimensions that Israel cannot bear, and one of its consequences would be to recognize the other party in any agreement.

The final scene of this crazy war on the Gaza Strip is complicated by the impossibilities that cannot be achieved. The Israeli army achieving a clear victory over the Hamas movement - according to what the leaders of the occupation army say - is impossible, whether the military operation lasts long or short.

This is due to operational reasons and not emotional readings. Hamas's handing over of its prisoners - without an exchange deal that meets the Palestinian ambition to whitewash the prisons - is impossible, and it is unimaginable for Hamas to take such a step, even if the prisoners became missing.

Also, turning this war into a war of liberation at this stage is considered the third impossibility, as the West Bank did not benefit from the battle of “Al-Aqsa Flood” in building a deliberate movement for it in light of this situation, or breaking the stalemate in the West Bank towards a real project to confront settlement and occupation. At this point at least.

As for the fourth impossibility, it is that every war has an end. If we are talking about the fact that Gaza is not Ukraine - whose area exceeds 600 thousand square kilometers - then Israel is also not Ukraine, as its existence cannot tolerate long wars with an unclear end.

In the event that no fundamental achievement is achieved for Israel, it has no choice to save face but to resort to the scenario of a unilateral cessation of hostilities without a ceasefire, while retaining the right to persecute and assassinate, and without the cessation of hostilities entailing any obligations.

In the face of these current impossibilities, there is only one realistic scenario, which is Israel declaring, in agreement with the United States of America, a cessation of hostilities without declaring a ceasefire, and without reaching a truce, with regional approval. This option is ripe for either the Law of coincidence or the complexities of the facts on the ground.

There is no possibility on the horizon for any other scenario for the next stage. This option seems to be the most acceptable, as Hamas will not accept any truce that does not guarantee a clear lifting of the siege and a full pledge to clean up the prisons.

The law of coincidence reinforces the approach to this realistic scenario through what Israel has become accustomed to in previous wars and in its previous conflict with the Palestinians, waiting for what is called: the “golden mistake” or “golden information.” During the prolongation of its military operations and its intense attack, it is waiting for information to arrive by chance, through an error resulting from the use of technology, or being forced to change locations, or other means, about a leader or leaders in the first row to be eliminated. This is considered a major moral achievement for the Israeli army.

Then Israel can go to stop hostilities, while offering a meal of achievements to its audience, and then reserves the right to assassinate, and to carry out rapid military operations as necessary after that, thus keeping in the minds of the Israelis that the war has not ended and that the slogans it raised are still proceeding according to a well-thought-out plan.

As for the realistic scenario - which will lead to the same result - it is that the current zero-sum equation must stop at some point, and therefore, even though it is not clear what the time limit granted by the American administration to Israel is, in all cases it has approached, and all indications indicate it will not exceed a few weeks, no more.

In the event that no fundamental achievement is achieved for Israel, it has no choice to save face but to resort to the scenario of a unilateral cessation of hostilities without a ceasefire, while retaining the right to persecute and assassinate, and without the cessation of hostilities entailing any obligations.

This scenario is not considered bad for Hamas at all, as it means that it will not have any obligations, and it is implicitly understood that the flame of resistance will continue. What happened is considered a prelude to a long liberation war, and in the context of the natural state of resistance factions with their enemy, which is intermittent or continuous clashes, hit and run and work as much as possible in the entire occupied territory of Palestine.

This scenario also lays the foundation for building a cumulative state of resistance and struggle against the occupation without any other obligations, which is the state of mind closest to Hamas’ combat doctrine and the natural logic of things. But it is certain that the fragility of the situation in this case will be regionally worrying, especially for Egypt, as it will sustain the thunderbolts of explosion.

In such a scenario, it would be easier to achieve an honorable prisoner exchange deal, much more than in any other scenario. The two parties will complete this deal in light of a cessation of fighting, but without ceasefire obligations. Which means the scenario of the possibility of returning to fighting, and this is acceptable, is consistent with the Hamas movement’s decision not to negotiate over prisoners under fire, and also with the movement’s official position of calling for an exchange deal, then returning to fighting if the occupation is determined to return to completing the war.

However, this more realistic path has multiple scenarios, some bad and some good, and they are as follows: for Israel to stop hostilities unilaterally and maintain its control over parts of the Gaza Strip. This does not require approval or rejection from the other party, which is the Hamas movement. Because the announcement will be one-sided.

But this means that the period of calm will be limited to take a breath, and fighting will soon be renewed until the last soldier leaves the sector through hit-and-run operations, whether the matter is related to a limited presence on the border strip in agricultural lands - which is the closest to reality scenario - or the presence inside residential areas in the northern Gaza Strip, where the situation will be more complicated.

The occupation army also has a high ambition to stop hostilities, as it is in control of what is called the “Philadelphia axis”, which is the border strip of the Gaza Strip with Egypt. While emphasizing that nothing in the outcome of the battles is impossible, achieving this is very difficult, and it is closer for the imagination, even if the occupation forces reach it at some point, the resistance cannot make them settle there.

The cessation of hostilities without a ceasefire may result in political understandings, and may not be in the three basic files for any understandings, which are: governance in Gaza, prisoners, and weapons.

There are two assumptions for Hamas that it cannot give up: giving up its weapons and being complacent in the exchange deal, while Hamas is very flexible on the third topic, which is ruling Gaza. Quite the opposite, one of Hamas’ undeclared goals in this war may be getting rid of civilian rule in the Gaza Strip. Hamas movement put this scenario on the table, and previously discussed it with the Palestinian Authority and the factions, but did not receive a response.

A number of its leaders also issued clear statements in this war that the responsibility of civilians in the Gaza Strip is the responsibility of UNRWA and the United Nations.

Hamas has been aspiring for years to emulate the Lebanese model of separating the resistance from the government, but it does not want a government that stabs it in the back, and this is the thorny issue in the Palestinian situation.

The formation of a new leadership in the Gaza Strip may be marketed as a concession extracted from the Hamas movement, and this constitutes a regional solution, especially for Egypt, and one of the intersections of truce solutions that Netanyahu can market at some point with American approval.

As for the form of this government - whether it is closer to Hamas’ vision or closer to Israel’s vision - it depends on the results of the field, which is likely to be in accordance with the perspective Hamas aspires to, especially since the formation of this government will be a kind of loyalty on the part of Hamas to its popular base in that this new government is a gateway to lifting the siege and reconstruction.

The scenario of a cessation of hostilities without a ceasefire - although it appears in its immediate moments to not carry any vision related to the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip or a pledge to lift the siege - nevertheless, strategically, it reflects the short-sightedness of the leaders in Israel who enjoy absolute narrow-mindedness and fatal strategic blindness. At that moment, it can be said that they had taken the first line in transforming the battle of the “Al-Aqsa Flood” into actual, continuous and accumulated foundational work towards true liberation in the coming years.

Source: Aljazeera

For 70 days, the Israeli occupation continues its bombing and attacks on Gaza, which led to the death of about 19,000 Palestinians and the injury of more than 50,000 others, in addition to the widespread destruction inflicted on the besieged Palestinian Strip.

But the matter was not limited to that, as there is also what can be described as the systematic theft of Gazans’ money, which was previously indicated by the Israeli “Yedioth Ahronoth” which said that since the beginning of the ground invasion of the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army seized 5 million shekels, which was transferred to the financial department at the Ministry of Defense.

The newspaper explained that the “Spoils Unit” in the Army’s Technology and Logistics Division confiscated money that was seized, among other things, in the strongholds of the Hamas movement and the homes of what the occupation describes as wanted persons in Hamas areas, noting that the confiscated funds also include American, Jordanian, Iraqi and other currencies.

The occupation soldiers not only stole the Palestinians’ money, but also broke into their homes, tampered with them, and seized what they could of their property and belongings, as shown by video clips circulated on social media platforms of Israeli accounts that they published and bragged about.

In this clip, an Israeli soldier is shown destroying a Palestinian library in the Jabalia camp in the Gaza Strip, while other soldiers were laughing in the background.

Recently, a video clip of an Israeli soldier playing the guitar and singing over the rubble of the rubble of homes that were destroyed in Gaza after its residents were displaced from their homes also spread on social media platforms.

This soldier is called Matan Cohen, and he himself published the video in which he appears playing amidst massive destruction around him.

But the surprise was what a Palestinian musician named Hamada revealed - later through a post on the Instagram platform - where he confirmed that the musical instrument belonged to him and that it was the “last memory” of his father who died in 2014, which prompted the soldier to delete the clip from his account.

Hamada wondered, denouncing, "Isn't it enough that they take our loved ones, our homes, our families, and even our music and memories? Where does the injustice stop?!"

Another video clip circulated by activists on social media platforms showed an Israeli soldier bragging about having a silver necklace that he had looted from Gaza to give to his girlfriend.

The matter is not limited to Gaza, where the occupation soldiers published scenes showing them riding motorcycles that they stole from residents in the Jenin refugee camp, as part of the daily attacks launched by the occupation forces on cities and camps in the West Bank.

It is noted that these clips published by Israeli soldiers bragging about their looting and theft of Palestinian property are later deleted because they raise controversy, even among official Israeli circles, which quickly announce their disavowal of these actions, claiming that they “do not represent the values and morals of the Israeli army.”

This barbaric behavior of the occupation soldiers towards the Palestinians was not limited to the ongoing war in Gaza (the Al-Aqsa flood). The occupation soldiers had previously stolen Palestinian homes during previous Israeli battles and military operations in the Gaza Strip, including what the Maariv newspaper highlighted years ago. At the beginning of her investigation, she asked, “Did IDF soldiers steal money from Palestinian citizens during military operations?”

The investigation stated that residents of the Al-Fukhari area in the Gaza Strip accused fighters of the Golani 51st Battalion of taking advantage of the curfew imposed on residents to steal sums of money from their homes that were left unattended.

According to the evidence obtained by Maariv, the thefts occurred on July 26, 2007, during an operation carried out by Golani forces throughout the village east of Khan Yunis. The operation lasted several hours, during which the soldiers stayed in the homes of the Palestinians.

The newspaper explained that the army forces arrived in the village late at night, and the soldiers took the residents out of the homes and searched them, then gathered each family in one closed room, then searched the rest of the house, and settled inside it until the activity ended. It was said that at this point, while the owners of the house were tied up, the thefts occurred.

Source: Al Jazeera + Israeli press + social networking sites

Politico said that the United States has a trove of information about Israel's conduct in the war, allowing it to assess whether Israel is adhering to the laws of war.

The American website quoted - from informed sources - that while American officials say that they are not currently making judgments on whether Israel is adhering to the laws of war, Washington has already collected detailed intelligence information that allows it to make this assessment in the future.

According to these sources, the information available to the United States is intelligence and detailed assessments related to the military movements and tactics of both Israel and Hamas since the start of the war, including data on targeting, the weapons used, and the potential number of deaths on both sides.

Politico reported from these sources that the intelligence information was shared with members of Congress in several briefing sessions, including a session with the intelligence committees, and that some of this information related to Israel’s use of unguided and unintelligent munitions in its war on Gaza.

Indiscriminate bombing

The website said that Biden was most likely relying on information when he spoke about the indiscriminate Israeli bombing, and it appears that his administration has information in this regard.

He added that State Department officials are also collecting reports on possible Israeli violations through a previously disclosed system, called the Civilian Harm Incident Response Guidelines, or CHIRG, according to Josh Paul, who resigned from the department over concerns about its approach to the war.

Some officials in the department's Bureau of Political-Military Affairs have asked the State Department's legal wing "to provide information about their potential exposure to international law as a result of approving these sales," Paul said.

Source: Politico

Israeli media quoted an Israeli political official as saying that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave Mossad chief David Barnea full freedom to work to release detainees held by the Palestinian resistance in the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli official indicated that Netanyahu's instructions to the head of the Mossad include meeting with mediators with the aim of "liberating" the detainees.

For his part, Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said, "We will do everything we can to spare the kidnapped people from any danger during our operations against the tunnels."

Yesterday, Wednesday, the Association of Families of Israeli Detainees in the Gaza Strip called on the Israeli government to work on a new prisoner exchange deal.

The Association of Families of Israeli Detainees - in a sit-in in central Tel Aviv - expressed increasing concerns about the fate of their children in the wake of the Israeli army’s talk of “recovering” the bodies of two detainees.

The families called on the Israeli government to move quickly and set a new course to release their families, accusing the Red Cross of "moving slowly in light of the great danger facing detainees in Gaza."

Disagreements and waiting

Israeli Channel 13 reported that disagreements were plaguing the War Council regarding a new exchange deal to return more detainees held by Palestinian resistance factions in Gaza.

The channel explained that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Defense Minister Yoav Gallant believe that they must wait for any indication from the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) that it is interested in an exchange deal, “which did not happen,” according to the channel.

Channel 13 added that Israeli War Council member Benny Gantz believes that Israel must find an opportunity to move the negotiation process forward again.

Last Monday, Israeli media reported new moves to conclude a prisoner exchange deal between the Palestinian resistance in Gaza and Israel, indicating that the conditions are ripe, and that Tel Aviv is ready to listen to the mediators’ proposals regarding a new exchange deal.

The families of Israeli detainees in Gaza escalated their pressure on the Netanyahu government in previous times by organizing a protest march from Tel Aviv to the Prime Minister’s Office in occupied Jerusalem, to demand practical steps to return their children.

A state of anger also prevailed among the families of the Israeli prisoners when they met earlier with members of the war council led by Netanyahu, and some of them withdrew from the meeting in protest at the failure to answer their questions.

A temporary truce began last November 24, lasting 7 days, between the Hamas movement and the Israeli occupation, mediated by the State of Qatar and Egyptian-American coordination, during which 80 Israelis were released in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners.

A US intelligence report revealed that unguided “stupid” bombs constitute about half of the air-to-ground munitions used by Israel in its attacks on Gaza.

On Thursday, the American CNN network published details of the report, citing three sources it reviewed.

According to the report, between 40 and 45 percent of the 29,000 air-to-ground munitions that Israel used in its attacks on Gaza were unguided bombs, while the rest were precision-guided bombs.

The news indicated that unguided bombs pose a greater danger to civilians, especially in a densely populated area such as Gaza, because they are less accurate and do not target a specific target, indicating that Israel uses these munitions, which has led to a high number of deaths among civilians.

In this context, experts confirmed to CNN that the use of unguided bombs negates Israel's argument that it is trying to reduce civilian deaths in the Gaza Strip.

Brian Kastner, senior crisis advisor at Amnesty International's Crisis Response Program, stressed that he was deeply shocked and concerned about Israel's use of unguided bombs, saying it was "a huge problem that causes harm to civilians."

On Tuesday, US President Joe Biden said that Israel has begun to lose the support of the international community with its indiscriminate bombing of the Gaza Strip, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must change his government to find a long-term solution.

On the same morning, Biden stressed in a call with Netanyahu the need for Israel to be more sensitive about not targeting civilians in Gaza.

The United Nations has warned that Israel's filling of tunnels in the Gaza Strip with salt water would cause serious harm to civilians and the environment.

This came in a statement published by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on Thursday, commenting on reports emerging about Israel pumping seawater into tunnels belonging to the Palestinian resistance in Gaza.

The statement indicated that Israel's filling of the tunnels in Gaza with salt water could have serious negative effects on human rights, some in the long term, adding: "In this case, products necessary for the survival of civilians may also be at risk."

He also stressed that filling the tunnels with salt water could also cause widespread, long-term and serious environmental damage, and said: “Civilians must be protected.”

On Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing American officials, that Israel had begun implementing its plan to flood Gaza's tunnels with seawater.

American officials reported that the process of flooding the tunnels with seawater "is taking place through 7 different pumping systems, and is expected to last weeks."