Day 147 of the Israel-Hamas Gaza War
1. More Than One Hundred Palestinians Killed, Waiting For Humanitarian Aid in Northern Gaza Strip
Israeli military forces were securing a convoy of trucks that carried humanitarian aid to Northern Gaza late Wednesday night. Hundreds of Palestinians rushed towards the aid trucks, heavily crowding them. Israeli soldiers used live fire to distance the crowd so that they would not threaten the soldiers, in the panic others were trampled. Bottom line: more than a hundred people were killed and hundreds more were injured.
According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza at least 112 were killed and hundreds were injured. According to an Israeli investigation, the majority of the casualties resulted from the over-crowded situation, and only a very few died from Israeli fire. The Palestinian Authority (PA) and Hamas claim that all the casualties died from Israeli fire.
Unfortunately there is no authority which is responsible for distributing the humanitarian aid, or in charge of the situation. PM Netanyahu has prevented any involvement from the PA, Hamas, or UNRWA (United Nation Relief and Works Agency for the Palestinian Refugees), since the claim that some of UNRWA’s staff were personally involved in the massacre on October 7th, and others are active members of Hamas. Therefore there is no other authority who can take responsibility for distributing humanitarian aid.
After the event there were wall to wall condemnations from all over the world. Hamas accused Israel and even declared that that the event will delay the hostage deal. President Biden expressed his concerns adding that he doubted that the hostage deal can be concluded as soon as he predicted earlier this week. President Biden and his administration also called for an independent investigation of the event.
Meanwhile, the health authority in Gaza announced that the death toll has now passed 30,000, while more than 10,000 of them are children. An IDF spokesperson said on Thursday that Israel has killed 13,000 Hamas militants.
2. Still No Agreement on a Truce and a Deal to Release Israeli Hostages Held by Hamas in Gaza
The negotiations to release the 132 hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza, since October 7th, continue. A plan to release all the hostages, both living and dead, was already agreed upon, according to the media, in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians who are serving time in Israeli prisons. Israel will release an average of one Palestinian for each Israeli hostage. The “price” to release Israeli soldiers will be higher. The first phase is titled “humanitarian” where Hamas will release children, (supposedly the Bibas family, Kfir one year old, Ariel three, and their mother who Hamas has claimed are not alive) all the women, the elderly and the wounded. In the next phase Hamas will release the remaining civilians, then the live soldiers and last the bodies. Hamas demands a ceasefire during the whole process. Still disputed is the demand from Hamas that Israel withdraw from cities in the Gaza Strip, and allow people to go back to their homes in north Gaza.
President Biden is fully involved in the negotiations, through the director of the CIA, and is placing pressure on Israel to agree to a ceasefire. He also announced earlier this week that the negotiations will be concluded on Monday, which PM Netanyahu disputed. PM Netanyahu threatened Hamas with an invasion of Rafah if they do not agree to release the hostages. It is not the first clash between the two leaders of Israel and the US.
Meanwhile, the families of the hostages have started a four day protest march starting from the Gaza border and ending in Jerusalem, calling on the government to finalize a deal with Hamas to release all the hostages ASAP.
3. Another Warning Sign of the Impending Hamas October 7th Hamas Attack was Exposed and Netanyahu Tries Again to Blame the IDF for It
Israeli military intelligence received strong indications of the planned Hamas attack hours before it took place. Around midnight October 6th, tens (some say hundreds) of Israeli cellphone SIM cards were activated simultaneously in Gaza. The Israeli SIM cards enabled Hamas militants to use 4G data, which is not available in Gaza, and has the ability to document, and broadcast their vicious massacres live via their smartphones.
PM Netanyahu claimed at the beginning that he was not aware of this intelligence information. Later he corrected himself. This is not that first time that PM Netanyahu lied and has to publish a correction.
Israeli military intelligence (MI) monitored the activation of the SIM cards, had some discussions, but this didn’t raise a red flag. The concept was that it was not the first time that such a thing happened, and that in previous occurrences it didn’t lead to an operation, so MI assumed that it was just a training exercise.
Israel avoided any military action under the assumption that acting will only trigger Hamas to act when they did not intend to do so.
This piece of intelligence information was banned from public dissemination by the military censors for weeks, until it was revealed by a panelist on a live talkshow on TVs Channel 14 (which is considered to be PM Netanyahu’s voice).
The intelligence items that signaled the coming Hamas attack are piling up, exposing the scale of hubris, neglect and preconceptions. But it is important to say that PM Netanyahu and his supporters are trying to place all responsibility and blame on the shoulders of the army, and thereby exonerate themselves of all responsibility.
4. Escalation in Police Violence Against Protesters, Including Released Hostages and Hostages’ Families
As protests for the release of hostages and against PM Netanyahu gain momentum, police used excessive force for crowd dispersal, such as mounted policemen and water cannons, for the first time since October 7th. The police also detained 21 people last Saturday in Tel Aviv as the protests calling for a deal to release all hostages and the one calling for PM Netanyahu to resign and go to elections, merged. At least four people were injured by direct hits from water cannons or during their forceful detention. Protestors who documented the events caught on camera a mounted policeman heating a man with his whip, and a water cannon directly hitting a woman who was released from Hamas captivity several weeks ago.
Police chief Shabtai said in a public statement that the use of force by police personnel was provoked by a group of demonstrators who refused to disperse after they were ordered to do so. Thus, supporting the police’s version of the events. When prompted to address the issue of use of excessive measures against released hostages, hostage families and bereaved families, Shabtai said: “None of us will let the mother of an abductee get hurt, or a bereaved father who came to express his pain get hurt,” he said. He added that police work, which “has always been difficult, and even thankless,” would from now on “be even more difficult.”
However, lawyers providing legal aid to detainees and analysts claim that the use of excessive force against anti-government and pro hostage-deal demonstrators is a result of the aggressive intervention of Ben Gvir, minister of homeland security (Jewish Power party), pushing for an anti-protest hardline.
5. Israel Holds Local Elections Amidst War in Gaza
Originally scheduled to be held on October 31st, 2023, local elections were held earlier this week, after being postponed twice, following the October 7th massacre and the war in Gaza. Yet, the war in Gaza cast its shadow over the local elections, held every five years, especially expressed by lower voting rates among secular-liberal voters. Elections were not held in cities and localities in the south and north that were evacuated after October 7th. The more than 100,000 residents of these localities are still scattered around the country in hotels and rented apartments.
In Tel Aviv, Israel’s largest liberal city, mayor Ron Huldai was elected for a sixth term. In Jerusalem, mayor Moshe Leon was elected by an overwhelming majority for a second term. In Haifa, Israel’s third largest city, a second round between the two leading candidates will be held. In Nazareth, Israel’s largest Arab city, mayor Ali Salem was elected for another term.
While more women ran for the position of mayor or head of regional councils, the number of women elected has risen from 14 to 15. However, more women were elected as members of council as compared with the elections held in 2018.
The “New Agreement” list, established only six months ago by leading activists of the anti-judicial-coup marked impressive achievements in several localities; especially in secular-liberal ones, but also in Jerusalem, where they ran in a joint list with other liberal parties.
In Jerusalem, Israel’s most populous city, ultra-Orthodox parties have gained more power, because of low voting rates among non-Haredi voters, and because of the continuous boycott of the local elections by the city’s Palestinian residents. The Arab-Jewish list that ran in Jerusalem, headed by an Arab woman, received only 1% of the votes.
The overall political map of the local elections is mixed; while in some localities Haredi and far right-wing lists gained power, in other localities liberal and democratic lists gained momentum.
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