ISRAEL (IINO)
Reports of Hamas openness to new hostage deal ‘fake news’ JOSHUA MARKS
An Israeli official said that the terror group is actually hardening its posture in negotiations, but that a “breakthrough soon” is still possible.
(January 24, 2024 / JNS) – An Israeli official has dismissed reports that Hamas has softened its stance in negotiations over the release of additional hostages being held by the terrorist group in Gaza.
“The publications are a fake. The opposite is true. There is a hardening of positions. Hamas is climbing high on the tree,” the official told Channel 12 on Wednesday, while stressing that a “breakthrough soon” is still possible.
Citing Egyptian officials, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that Hamas was willing to discuss a deal to release civilian women and children hostages in exchange for a “significant” halt to hostilities.
There are 108 hostages alive in Gaza out of 253 taken during Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre, according to Israeli estimates. Hamas is also believed to be holding 28 bodies, including 24 from those taken on Oct. 7. In November, 105 hostages were released as part of a prisoner exchange deal that included a temporary ceasefire.
Nineteen women and two children remain in Gaza, according to the Journal report. Some of the women are soldiers, and five could be dead.
In evacuated northern kibbutz, signs of Hezbollah abound AMELIE BOTBOL
“We will not come back as long as Hezbollah poses a threat to us. If we don’t come back, it will be known as the biggest political failure in the history of Israel.”
January 24, 2024 – Founded in 1916, Kfar Giladi is one of Israel’s oldest kibbutzim. Located less than a mile from the Lebanese village of Odaisseh, it is currently evacuated. Nisan Zeevi is a member of the kibbutz’s local security squad.
“If Israel does not address the threat Hezbollah poses, residents of northern Israel are at risk of another murderous invasion similar to Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack,” Zeevi told JNS.
IDF kicks off fierce battle in western Khan Yunis AKIVA VAN KONINGSVELD
The combat in the Hamas stronghold is expected to last at least several days.
(January 22, 2024 / JNS) – Israel Defense Forces troops are engaged in a massive military assault against Hamas targets in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, killing more than 50 terrorists, including a Hamas company commander, the military said on Monday evening.
The combat inside the city—preceded by airstrikes on Sunday night and includes parts of the IDF’s Givati Infantry Brigade, 7th Armored Brigade, paratroopers and commando forces—is expected to last at least several days.
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Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in Gaza and one of the masterminds of the Oct. 7 massacre of some 1,200 persons in Israel, is believed to be hiding in Khan Yunis, as is Mohammed Deif, the head of Hamas’s Al-Qassam Brigades “military wing.”
Israeli forces are surrounding the terror hotspot and steadily advancing towards “the center of gravity” of Hamas’s Khan Yunis Brigade, wrote Ynet, describing it as Sinwar and Deif’s “home brigade.”
Ahead of the battle, civilian homes were marked to avoid collateral damage, Israel’s Kan News public broadcaster reported. Palestinian civilians have started to leave western Khan Yunis due to “heavy Israeli bombing,” Arab media said.
Deadliest day for IDF since start of ground offensive as 24 killed BY JC REPORTER
Terrorists fired an RPG at a tank, causing two mined buildings to collapse
JANUARY 23, 2024 09:46 – (JNS) Twenty-one soldiers were killed in central Gaza on Monday when two buildings collapsed due to a blast, Israel Defence Forces Spokesperson Daniel Hagari said on Tuesday morning.
An additional three soldiers were killed in combat as part of a stepped-up assault on the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis.
It was the deadliest day since the start of the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza.
The incident occurred 600m from the Israeli border near the northwestern Negev community of Kibbutz Kissufim as Israeli forces were working on clearing Hamas infrastructure and buildings to establish a buffer zone.
According to Hagari, at around 4pm terrorists fired a rocket-propelled grenade at a tank securing the forces. At the same time, two two-story buildings collapsed as a result of an explosion while most of the troops were inside or near them.
The blast was apparently caused by explosives planted by the Israeli forces, intended to destroy the buildings in a controlled event.
Israel Offers 2-Month Ceasefire In Exchange For The Release Of All Hostages OAN’s Elizabeth Volberding
6:20 PM – Monday, January 22, 2024 – According to two Israeli officials, Israel has presented Hamas with a proposal through Egyptian and Qatari mediators that calls for a multi-phase agreement that would see the release of all hostages still held in Gaza in exchange for a two-month ceasefire.
The Monday proposal is the longest ceasefire Israel has offered to Hamas since the war began. According to reports, the proposal does not include an agreement to completely end the conflict.
If it is agreed upon, the deal would see the return of hostages, dead and alive, in stages.
According to officials, women and men over 60-years-old, and hostages in critical medical condition would be released in the first phase. The following phases would see female soldiers, men under the age of 60 who are not soldiers, Israeli male soldiers, and the bodies of hostages return back to Israel.
It’s reported that Israel has suggested that the total pause for the completion of the hostage releases in each of the phases could last up to two months.
Over 130 Israeli hostages are believed to still be held in Gaza. Israeli authorities have stated that since they were taken on October 7th, multiple hostages have died while being held captive. The exact number of hostages who are alive is not known.
In addition to a ceasefire with Gaza, the proposed agreement would require Israel and Hamas to agree ahead of time on the number of Palestinian prisoners that would be released for each Israeli hostage in each category.
Israeli officials also stated that as the agreement is being carried out, Israel would allow a gradual return of Palestinian civilians to Gaza City and to the northern Gaza Strip by redeploying Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) out of main population centers.
Israeli officials stated that the proposal makes it clear that Israel will not consent to an end of hostilities or to the release of all 6,000 Palestinian inmates from Israeli prisons. However, Israeli officials announced that they are ready to free a substantial number of Palestinian prisoners if Hamas agrees to the proposal.
For weeks, mediators from Qatar and Egypt have been attempting to close the differences between the two parties in order to move the negotiations closer to a deal.
[Ed.: This is how IINO’s ‘leadership’ plans to lose the war.]
Israel Elevates Readiness for Large War vs. Hezbollah
January 24, 2024 – Israel is stepping up preparations for a large-scale conflict with Hezbollah, as geopolitical tensions continue to rise across the Middle East. The latest measures include efforts to increase stockpiles of strategic supplies such as medical gear, Israel Hayom reports.
Earlier, Israel’s National Emergency Authority initiated the preparation of wartime food supplies in anticipation of a potential conflict, Channel 13 reported. Thousands of packages are already in place and will be distributed by the IDF Home Front Command in areas under attack.
The Authority also instructed government ministries to prepare for extensive power outages, where at least 60% of Israel’s population may be without electricity for 24-48 hours. Another contingency plan envisions 72-hour regional blackouts.
Meanwhile, a team of 80 doctors and nurses is on standby to reinforce two northern Israel hospitals in the event of war and a constant stream of casualties. Medical staff received training and simulated an emergency deployment to ensure a swift response, Kan News reports.
In parallel, a contingency plan will be activated to evacuate the wounded by trains to central Israel hospitals if the need arises.
Two weeks ago, the Health Ministry issued directives to hospitals nationwide to ensure readiness for treating thousands of casualties. Medical centers in northern Israel were specifically instructed to prepare for operating for days without incoming supplies of food and medicine, Kan News said.
Israel is also making plans to relocate 100,000 Israelis expected to leave areas under heavy bombardment, Walla News reported.
IDF ready for action
As sporadic clashes persist, the IDF continues to expose the significant buildup of Hezbollah sites along the Lebanon border. This vast terror infrastructure includes combat positions, bunkers, and heavy rockets, Maariv Online reported.
Biden Threatens Netanyahu’s Drive to Destroy Hamas by Con Coughlin
January 22, 2024 at 5:00 am
- The Israeli premier has also reiterated his long-standing opposition to the creation of a Palestinian state, which he insists would become a launching pad for attacks on Israel.
- Israel’s efforts to achieve its goal of destroying Hamas, though, are at serious risk of being undermined by the Biden administration’s growing hostility towards Netanyahu’s government.
- There are credible indications, moreover, that the Biden administration’s hostility towards Netanyahu has led it to work with senior figures within Israel’s security establishment, which is known to have a difficult relationship with the Israeli premier, to remove his government from power.
- [The Palestinian leadership has always been just as deeply and outspokenly committed to the destruction of Israel as Hamas is.
- Instead of trying to overthrow the Netanyahu government, the Biden administration would be better advised to grasp the vital strategic consideration that defeating Hamas is as much in the interests of the US as it is for Israel.
Over 9,000 Terrorists Eliminated in Gaza Since Oct. 7, Says Israel
The IDF also announced the removal of two out of Hamas’s five brigade-level commanders.
January 16, 2024 – The Israel Defense Forces has eliminated more than 9,000 Palestinian terrorists in the Gaza Strip during its ground offensive against Hamas, the military said on Sunday, citing data between Oct. 7 and Jan. 9.
The IDF has also eliminated two out of Hamas’s five brigade-level commanders, the army announced. In addition, 19 battalion-level commanders and 50 company commanders were killed.
Before Israel launched its war in retaliation for Hamas’s Oct. 7 terror attacks on the northwestern Negev region, in which 1,200 people were brutally massacred, the terror organization comprised approximately 30,000 fighters, the IDF has said. Meanwhile, the number of hostages being held in Gaza is believed to be 136.
Over the past three months, the Israeli military attacked some 30,000 terror targets in the coastal enclave, and ground forces detained 2,300 terror suspects in the Strip for interrogation.
Time is Ticking for Hezbollah as Israel Issues Ten-Day Deadline for Major Offensive Retaliation By Batya Jerenberg
Jan 21, 2024 – Hezbollah missile attacks have resulted in some 20 deaths of Israeli civilians and soldiers.
Israel is giving Hezbollah ten more days to move away from its border and then its military will significantly escalate its reactions to the terrorists’ rain of rockets on northern Israel, The Washington Post reported Friday.
Although the end-of-January deadline isn’t absolute, according to officials cited by the paper, the Israelis have told the Biden administration that the window for negotiating a deal is closing fast.
▪️ISRAELI PRESIDENT VISITED SWITZERLAND, CHARGES FILED Israel Real Time #28 Jan 20, 2024 via Whatsapp
The prosecution in Switzerland confirms: criminal complaints were filed against Israel’s president Herzog during his visit to the annual conference of the World Economic Forum in Davos, due to “committing war crimes in Gaza”.
הנשיא הישראלי ביקר בשוויץ, כתב אישום הוגש.. התביעה בשוויץ מאשרת: תלונות פליליות הוגשו נגד נשיא ישראל הרצוג במהלך ביקורו בוועידה השנתית של הפורום הכלכלי העולמי בדאבוס, עקב “ביצוע פשעי מלחמה בעזה“.
[Ed.:
CNN: Netanyahu not ruling out Palestinian state Hezki Baruch
CNN reports on Biden-Netanyahu phone call, PM Netanyahu’s office issues unusual Shabbat statement.
Jan 20, 2024, 6:17 PM (GMT+2) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told US President Joe Biden in a Friday phone conversation that he is not ruling out the creation of a Palestinian state, CNN reported Saturday morning.
Netanyahu also told the US President that his statements at a press conference held earlier this week “were not meant to foreclose that outcome in any form,” a person familiar with the conversation told CNN.
At the end of the conversation, Biden said, “there are a number of types of two-state solutions.”
He added, “There’s a number of countries that are members of the UN that … don’t have their own military; a number of states that have limitations, and so I think there’s ways in which this can work.”
Related articles:
- ‘Biden welcomed decision to allow flour into Gaza’
- Biden and Netanyahu speak
- Hunter Biden agrees to deposition before Republicans
- US laying the groundwork for post-Netanyahu era
CNN noted that Biden also told reporters on Friday that, given the right solution, he believed Netanyahu would agree to a two-state solution.
Speaking to reporters, Biden said, “I’ll let you know when I get him to agree.”
In a rare statement made on Shabbat, the Jewish Sabbath, Netanyahu’s office said, “In his conversation with President Biden, Prime Minister Netanyahu reiterated his policy that after Hamas is destroyed Israel must retain security control over Gaza to ensure that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel, a requirement that contradicts the demand for Palestinian sovereignty.”
[Ed.: CNN makes shit up a lot ...like this title! ]
Israel’s New Website On Hamas Killings Has 43 Million Viewers in the First Week BY HUGH FITZGERALD
JAN 19, 2024 10:00 AM – For decades, the Israelis have worried about the quality, and reach, of their hasbara — the “explaining” to the world why Israel does what it does. And nothing has cried out for more ”explaining” to the world than the campaign in Gaza to uproot the Hamas terrorists. It’s been little more than three months after the Hamas atrocities on October 7, and already, the shock has worn off for most of the world. There are pro-Palestinian marches in major cities in the Western world with protesters in London, Paris, Rome, Berlin, Montreal, Toronto, New York, and Los Angeles, denouncing Israel, as if it, and not Hamas, had inflicted atrocities. These protesters demand an immediate end to the Gaza war, which would leave Hamas still standing, chant about a Palestine “from the river to the sea,” which means the obliteration of Israel and its replacement by a twenty-third Arab state, and inveigh against Israel as a “settler colonial apartheid state.” Most recently, these marchers have described Israel as guilty of “genocide’ and called for the Jewish state to be declared guilty of “war crimes” and “crimes against humanity” by the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
IDF spokesmen, such as Colonel Jonathan Conricus, have done outstanding jobs when they appear on television to explain in sober fashion how the IDF views the progress of the war, and describe the many ways that the Israeli military minimizes civilian casualties. As a spokesman for the Israeli government, Mark Regev has been unflappable and lucid in the face of often hostile interviewers. But these Israeli spokesmen are few in number, and often have to content with unfriendly interlocutors. Meanwhile, the Palestinians and their supporters have been all over the airwaves and on social media, depicting the Israelis as irredeemably wicked, wanton killers of “women and children.” Hamas pulls figures out of the air for wounded and killed Gazan civilians; these figures are never questioned, but immediately become part of the narrative of the Gaza War that “everyone” accepts. For now we have the figure of at least “25,000 dead Gazans,” as counted by the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health, but what most of the media does not tell us is that there is no way to verify those figures from Hamas, and furthermore, that least 9,000 of those killed were, according to the IDF, Hamas fighters. That means that in the Gaza War, the ratio of civilian to combatant deaths of Palestinians is 16:9, which is an historic low, one that no modern army has ever managed to achieve. According to the UN, in all the wars since World War II, the civilian to combatant ratio has been 9:1. American and British forces have done better. In Iraq, the civilian-to-combatant ratio was 3:1. In Afghanistan, it has been calculated as between 3:1 and 5:1. Yet here is Israel, fighting in a high-density urban environment, where the combatants hide among the civilian population, and managing to attain a civilian-to-combat ratio of 16:9. This is a testament to the extraordinary efforts the Israelis take to minimize civilian casualties. But how many people know these numbers? It’s not something that is reported in the mainstream media. Most of those who defend Israel on social media are unaware of this telling ratio. This is where Israel’s defenders need to step in, and disseminate this information widely, as a way to undermine the incessant claims from Hamas about “25,000 dead Gazans,” or worse still, the version that has been widely repeated, claiming “25,000 dead, mostly women and children.”
Now Israel has made a major effort at hasbara — setting forth exactly what happened on October 7 that made the Jewish state decide it had no choice but to destroy Hamas as a military force, which is exactly what it is now doing. And judging by the number of visitors to the Israeli website — 43 million in the first week — it has been a complete success. More on this hasbara site can be found here: “Israel’s New Website Documenting Hamas Atrocities, Reminding World How Gaza War Began Reaches Millions in First Week,” by Troy O. Fritzhand, Algemeiner, January 17, 2024:
The Israeli government’s website showing the horrors of the Hamas terror group’s Oct. 7 massacre in southern Israel has received significant online traffic in the week since its launch, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
The website — https://saturday-october-seven.com/ — has already garnered more than 43 million views, including around half a million that led to people exploring the site’s content about the Oct. 7 atrocities.
The site, which includes disturbing videos and pictures of the crimes committed, contains a warning: “Extreme viewer discretion is advised.”…
Early in the war, Israel did not want to release to the public videos of the atrocities carried out by Hamas at the Re’im music festival, or — especially — the atrocities carried out in the kibbutzim. There were those with whom the Israeli government shared a 47-minute video of clips taken by Hamas operatives themselves. This limited audience consisted of heads of governments and international organizations, ministers of foreign affairs, lawmakers in the U.S., where members of the House and Senate were shown that video’s grisly evidence, and even some carefully selected journalists. Those videos have made a deep impression on all who viewed them. But Israel held back from disseminating the videos, and the eyewitness testimony of survivors, to the broader public who, it was judged, did not have as much of a “need to know.” It then became clear that that public did indeed have a “need to know,” because too many people were falling for Hamas propaganda that these atrocities never took place or, if they did, it was the IDF itself that was responsible, intending to make Hamas look bad. At that point, the Israeli government understood it had to release the videos, even if that meant some families of the victims would be upset.
Launched only outside of Israel, the most visitors to the site came from the United States, Germany, England, and Canada. [Emphasis added]
By not making it available in Israel, the Israeli government hoped to spare the feelings of families of both those killed and those taken hostage.
