Day 182 of the Israel-Hamas Gaza War
1. Seven Aid Workers Killed in IDF Attack on Their Gaza Convoy
Seven aid workers of the World Central Kitchen (WCK), an international relief organization founded by Spanish chef José Andrés, were killed near Dier el Balah in the Gaza Strip when their convoy came under IDF drone attack earlier this week. The victims of the attack were British, Polish, Australian, Canadian American and Palestinian-Gazan who volunteered to deliver food and relief in conflict and disaster zones. World Central Kitchen CEO Erin Gore said in a statement: “These are the heroes of World Central Kitchen. These seven beautiful souls were killed by the IDF in a strike as they were returning from a full day’s mission. Their smiles, laughter, and voices are forever embedded in our memories. And we have countless memories of them giving their best selves to the world. We are reeling from our loss — the world’s loss.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel issued a statement admitting Israel’s responsibility for the death of the aid workers, and referred to it as a “tragic case of our forces unintentionally hitting innocent people.” The IDF chief said that an initial IDF probe found that the death of the aid workers was a result of misidentification. This, even though unnamed military sources told the media that the IDF and WCK coordinated on a regular basis, and that the killing of the aid workers was caused by lack of discipline among lower ranking officers on the ground.
WCK founder Andrés said in a NYT op-ed aid that the workers' deaths were the "direct result" of Israeli policy in its war with Hamas, and that the drone strike was a "direct attack", although the aid workers traveled in clearly marked vehicles, and had coordinated their movements with the Israel Defense Forces.
As foreign diplomats deplored the deaths of the aid workers and the resulting impact on aid and relief efforts in Gaza, President Biden spoke on the phone with Andres to express his condolences and said in a statement that he was "outraged and heartbroken" by the deaths of the aid workers, and that Israel had not done enough to protect them.
The IDF announced on Friday that it had dismissed two officers and reprimanded three others for their roles in the drone strikes in Gaza that killed seven WCK aid workers on a food-delivery mission. The announcement stated that the officers had mishandled critical information and violated the army’s rules of engagement.
2. Senior Iranian Leader Killed in Damascus
Israelis are being held responsible for the targeted killing of a senior Iranian general who was active in Syria and was in charge, among other things of communication with the Lebanese Islamic organization Hizbollah. Mouhamad Rasa Zahdi was killed in an explosion in the center of Damascus, the capital of Syria on Monday. He held a senior position within the Iranian regime, and lately was in charge of all communications with Hizbollah and the transfer of ammunitions from Iran to Lebanon, through Syria. Israel sees his death as an achievement. Iranians have announced that they will take revenge for his death and that the toll will be pricy, high and painful. Security sources in Israel argued that it would be unlikely for Hizbollah to intensify its attacks on Israeli targets, since the organization doesn’t want to push for an all scale war with Israel right now. But Israel is concerned, in previous events, where senior Iranian operators were killed, allegedly by Israeli forces, the retaliation was towards international Israeli or Jewish targets, not necessarily in Israel, like embassies of Israel and Jewish community centers.
Israel placed its military on "full alert", called up reservists, cancelled leave for all combat soldiers, all in anticipation of a potential Iranian response, especially that of Iran/Hezbollah firing barrages of missiles and drones from Lebanon into Israel.
On Thursday, residents of Gush Dan (Israel’s central greater Tel Aviv area) and Jerusalem reported GPS service disruptions, with their navigation systems showing their location as Beirut, Lebanon. Apparently as a result of IDF GPS jamming.
3. Tens of Thousands Take to the Streets in Anti Government and Pro Hostage Deal Protests
Protests reached a boiling point last Saturday, as people demonstrated in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Caesarea, and other locations around the country. The ‘shifting of gears’ in the protests, calling for an immediate hostage deal and national elections, came after the families of hostages learned that the government is reluctant to move forward with a hostage deal, for political reasons.
On Sunday, 100,000 people arrived in Jerusalem for a mass demonstration and erected a tent-city near the Knesset, Israel’s parliament. Demonstrations, marches, and vigils lasted for four days, until the last day of the Knesset winter session and as spring recess began. Family members of hostages held in Gaza painted their hands yellow and smeared it on the glass partition of the guests’ section of the Knesset plenum. They were subsequently removed from the hall by Knesset guards.
Police violence also escalated as demonstrations gained traction, especially when protesters marched from the Knesset to the prime minister’s residence in central Jerusalem and broke down police barricades.
Head of the Israeli Central Security Service, David Barnea, referred to a statement regarding the demonstrations near the prime minister’s residence and the president’s residence and warned against the crossing of boundaries of “acceptable protests” that could lead to violent clashes with police forces in such a way that could “disrupt their [police] ability to carry out their work and even cause harm to individuals."
4. Netanyahu Undergoes Surgery
PM Netanyahu underwent a medical procedure, which drew a lot of attention and generated uncertainty. The announcement that came from his office read that PM Netanyahu underwent a routine check-up on Saturday evening, and was diagnosed with a Hernia. This announcement came after PM Netanyahu “disappeared” for a few days, and was not seen in any of his three homes. Later it was said that he was admitted to hospital for a medical check-up, and that he had to undergo a medical procedure for hernia repair. Before going to the hospital, PM Netanyahu conducted a press conference. He was confused, made many mistakes in his speech, and didn’t remember all the questions he was asked. This raised questions among analysts and journalists. Minister of Justice, Yariv Levin replaced him as acting PM while he was under anesthesia. That decision also raised some criticism given the fact that Levin is not even a member of the war cabinet, and that that he was the leader of the judicial overhaul. Israeli law doesn’t define what happens in cases like that when the Prime Minister is temporarily incapable. PM Netanyahu was released from the hospital on Tuesday.
5. Sami Michael, Israeli Renowned Writer, and Activist, Dies at 97
Sami Michael, one of Israel’s greatest contemporary novelists, was also a playwright, translator, social activist, and president of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel. His award-winning novels were translated into dozens of languages, and some have been adapted for theater, cinema, and television.
Born in Baghdad, Iraq in 1926, Sami Michael wrote several novels that recounted the lives of the Jewish community in Baghdad. In his youth, he joined the communist underground in Iraq and was active against the Iraqi regime and a human rights activist. Facing an arrest warrant for his human rights activity, he fled to Iran and later immigrated to Israel. He first lived in Haifa and worked for the Arabic language newspaper Al -Itihad, edited by writer Emil Habibi. He later moved to Haifa and, together with his prolific literary career, he worked as a hydrologist for the Israeli ministry of agriculture.
An avid human and civil rights activist, Michael served as president of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, and published op-ed articles and essays on civil inequality, Jewish-Arab relations, and geo-political issues. On the day he died, Ha’aretz news outlet republished an op-ed by Sami Michael written in the summer of 2014, during a war in Gaza. The article, written almost a decade ago, reads like a powerful prophecy, foreseeing the rise of the messianic far-right into mainstream power and casts doubt on the possibility of “eliminating Hamas”.
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