Day 140 of the Israel-Hamas Gaza War
1. Israel’s Foreign Relations in Turmoil Over Two State Solution and Continuation of War in Gaza
As war in Gaza continues, and reports of civilian casualties and extensive damage to private property accumulate, Israel is facing harsh criticism and growing international pressure for a ceasefire. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague began its hearings regarding the legality of Israel's occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem and the war in Gaza. Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said in a statement that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and has enforced a policy of apartheid against Palestinians for years.
Earlier this week, The U.S. was criticized for its veto of a UN Security Council resolution brought forth by Algeria, calling for an immediate humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza, claiming that "while numerous parties engage in sensitive negotiations, this is not the time for this resolution, which jeopardizes these efforts."
However, the U.S administration and the international community continue to push pressure on Israel to adopt the “Biden Doctrine” for the day after, stipulating, among other things, the implementation of the two-state solution and recognition of a sovereign Palestinian state, alongside Israel. President Biden was vocally critical of PM Netanyahu’s stubborn rejection of the outline, yet, for the time being, PM Netanyahu has domestic support. Earlier this week, the Knesset approved - in an overwhelming majority of 99 for and only 9 against - the government's decision to oppose any unilateral declaration of the establishment of a Palestinian state. The proposal passed with 99 votes for and nine against.
A New York Times investigative piece published last week made waves, showing reels posted by IDF soldiers in Gaza on social media, who filmed themselves after bombing or bulldozering what appears to be civilian private properties. Acts of looting by Israeli soldiers were also exposed by local and international media, some of them were based on videos that Israeli soldiers posted on social media platforms.
Following an international public uproar and a warning from the IDF top legal advisor, IDF Chief of Staff Herzl Halevi issued a written statement, referring to acts of looting by IDF soldiers , as well as revenge videos. Hakevi called on army officers to uphold values and rules of engagement in the battlefield: "We must be careful not to use force where it is not required, to distinguish between terrorist and non-terrorist, not to take anything that is not ours, a souvenir or military item, and not to film revenge videos."
Also, this week, a diplomatic crisis erupted between Israel and Brazil. It began with a statement by Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, comparing Israel’s actions in Gaza to those of Hitler during the holocaust. In response, Israeli foreign minister declared President Lula “persona non-grata in Israel”. The Brazilian ambassador to Israel was summoned for a reprimand conversation with foreign minister Israel Katz at Yad Vashem, Israel’s holocaust memorial museum.
In response, Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira said: "for a foreign ministry to address a head of state from a friendly country in this way is unusual and revolting," and that the response "is a shameful page in the history of Israel's diplomacy." Brazil also recalled its ambassador to Israel, while the Brazilian embassy in Israel still remains open.
2. 132 Hostages In Hamas Captivity At the Center of the Public Debate
The Minister of Finance, a senior member of the war cabinet, and the chair of the Religious Zionist party, Bezalel Smotrich, said in a radio interview that releasing the hostages is not the top priority of the war and the government. The issue is what is the purpose of the war. PM Netanyahu keeps repeating that the ultimate victory is the total elimination of Hamas. The debate in terms of the hostages has become one of what is the better approach to gain the release of the hostages. One camp, with the majority of the hostages’ families, pressures decision makers to place the emphasis on the negotiations and do all they can to first release innocent civilians and soldiers who were abducted on October 7th, and later continue the war with Hamas. The other camp believes that only military pressure will push Hamas leaders into a corner and that they then will agree to hostage release deal. Somehow the two camps have fallen into the political divide between left and right. Smotritch expressed the core belief of the right-wing camp of using military pressure.
Earlier this week, an IDF (Israel Defense Force) spokesperson released a short video depicting Shiri, Ariel (4 years old) and Kfir (one year old) Bibas who were abducted from Kibbutz Kfar Aza on October 7th. These are the two red-headed children who became one of the icons of October 7th. The video was taken from a street security camera in Gaza. It doesn’t indicate their whereabouts after the abduction, but it proves that they were not killed on October 7th as some have claimed.
Meanwhile there is pressure on the war cabinet to resume the talks with Qatar for a deal to release the hostages. Qatar is the representative of Hamas in the talks, which also includes Egypt and the USA.
3. One Killed and Eight Wounded in a Terrorist Attack Near Jerusalem, in Escalation in Security Towards Ramadan
Three Palestinians executed a shooting attack on Israeli cars in a traffic jam, killing one Israeli and wounding eight. The terrorists caused the traffic jam by crashing into another vehicle first. Among the wounded was a young pregnant woman, who was seriously injured.
This attack is one more step in an ongoing escalation in the OPT (Occupied Palestinian Territories) between Israeli army forces and Palestinians, and between Israeli settlers in the West Bank and Palestinians.
This is extremely worrying since the holy Muslim month, Ramadan, is due to start on March 10th. In the last few years the month of Ramadan drew a lot of violence, rage and clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police, while Palestinians went to pray in the holy mosque Al Aqsa on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. This year, in the context of the war in Gaza there is doubled tension. Hamas hope to make the linkage between Gaza and the West Bank and often uses images of Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem for that purpose. Israel is highly concerned about that linkage. Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, the extreme right-wing member of the cabinet, continues to pressures PM Netanyahu to place severe restrictions on Palestinian Muslims who want to come and pray at the mosque, and also on Israeli-Muslim citizens. This approach has already raised a lot of criticism.
4. Israel’s Association of Rape Crisis Centers Publishes Report on Hamas’ Sexual Violence on October 7th
The umbrella organization for Israeli rape crisis centers published, earlier this week, a comprehensive report on the use of sexual violence by Hamas during and after the October 7 attack on Israel. According to the report, the use of sexual violence against women, girls and men was a "clear operational strategy involving systematic, targeted sexual abuse”. The report covers multiple cases of severe sexual violence and sadism at the Nova rave site and in rural communities and army bases near the Gaza border, as well as current cases of abuse of hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza.
The report also states that the evidence of the atrocities shows that the perpetrators' patterns of action are consistent with the patterns of sexual abuse in war recorded in the literature about sexual violence during wartime, designed to amplify the dimension of humiliation and horror.
The media reports on the publication of the report come with a trigger warning, as the report includes harsh graphic language, describing the acts of sexual violence, including cuffing and binding, mutilation of intimate organs and forcing partners and children to witness the abuse of their loved ones.
The report, a result of rigorous examination of various sources, was submitted to the UN special envoy on sexual violence in conflict areas, Permila Patten during her visit to Israel several weeks ago. It is based on a series of testimonies and interviews with eyewitnesses, first respondents, criminal forensic teams and other unnamed sources.
5. Will Israel Invade the City of Rafah?
The Israeli military campaign in Gaza continues. Many reservist soldiers have been released from service for now. Israeli intelligence believe that the senior leaders of Hamas, including Yehiye Sinwar are hiding in deep tunnels in Rafah, the southern town in the Gaza Strip, on the border with Egypt. Egypt opposes any military operations in Rafah. The main fear is that the hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians, who fled the north, will try to move into Egypt. Other countries, including the US and European countries, forcefully oppose this operation. The UK even threatens to block Israeli purchases of British weapons. The US and others are calling for an immediate ceasefire. Israel claims that it will not be able to win the war and end it, without occupying and “cleansing” Rafah from all Hamas operators including the leadership. The humanitarian crisis in Gaza intensifies after more that one million people fled Gaza City and the northern part of the Gaza Strip to look for shelter in the south, as they were instructed and encouraged to do by the IDF.
Acts of looting by Israeli soldiers were exposed by local and international media, some of them were based on videos that Israeli soldiers posted on social media platforms.
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