Israel's War Against Hamas - Updates

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While Israel and much of the international community are still horrified by Hamas’ atrocities committed on Oct. 7, the Palestinian Authority which refused to condemn the atrocities, continues to promote its goal of unity with Hamas.

A regular columnist for the official PA daily, told PA TV yesterday:

"I hope that Hamas...will examine itself again and turn in the direction of the PLO, because the organization has never closed its door, neither to Hamas nor to the [Islamic] Jihad nor to any national power. I hope they will come to the right path and become partners within the PLO."
[Official PA TV, Feb. 11, 2024]

One man appointed by Mahmoud Abbas to promote this unity is Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub. Speaking in the name of Abbas, Rajoub said:

“We say to our brothers in Hamas: We stand before a great turning point… I call on them, on behalf of the Palestinian leadership, Mahmoud Abbas, and the PLO Executive Committee – we say to them[Hamas]: Come build a political rapprochement regarding the international project, and build rapprochement regarding the struggle… We say to our brothers in Hamas and the Islamic Jihad Movement– the ball is in your court”

[Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub, Facebook page, Dec. 17, 2023]​

Rajoub also confirmed that progress is being made in these unity discussions:

“Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub confirmed that communication with the Hamas Movement is based on agreements that are wider than the gaps [between the sides], and [said:] ‘We aspire to build a formula on it that will achieve the unity of the homeland, the land, and the people.’…Rajoub said: ‘I personally met with (Hamas leaders) [parentheses in source] more than once, before, during, and after the war, and we have not made a decision to stop the communication.’ …”

In addition, Fatah and Hamas leaders held a meeting in Lebanon to promote cooperation and unity.

“A delegation from the Fatah Movement leadership in Lebanon met with a delegation from the Hamas Movement leadership in Lebanon at the embassy building of the State of Palestine, in the presence of [PLO] Ambassador of the State of Palestine to Lebanon Ashraf Dabbour.
The Fatah delegation included Secretary of Fatah and the PLO factions in Lebanon Fathi Abu Al-Ardat, Fatah Branch Secretary Hussein Fayyad, Fatah leadership member in Lebanon Mundhir Hamza, and Fatah Lebanon Branch Deputy Secretary Ghassan Abd Al-Ghani.
The Hamas delegation included Hamas Representative in Lebanon Ahmed Al-Hadi, Hamas Deputy Political Director in Lebanon Jihad Taha, Hamas Director of National Relations in Lebanon Ayman Shanaah, Hamas Coordinator of Political Relations in Lebanon Mashour Abd Al-Halim, and Hamas Director of Public Relations in Lebanon Khaled Ismail.”
[Falestinona, website of Fatah’s Information and Culture Commission in Lebanon, Jan. 31, 2024]

One significant question is how will the United States, which has been pressuring Israel to accept the PA and the ruler of Gaza, respond to a Hamas-Fatah unity PA government.

PA pushing for unity with Hamas | PMW Analysis

PA pushing for unity with Terror organization

palwatch.org

 

[The Sage of Main Street]

Hamas Was Armed by the Egyptian Moslem Brotherhood

Israel never should have given the Sinai back, including after they first conquered it in 1956. And the British and French back then never should have given away the Suez Canal, either.

 

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Everything the anti-Israel side says is a lie. With Rafah, the lies are getting even bigger.​

Rafah is now what Gaza always has been, but more.

It now has more civilians, it is where much of the aid arrives, and it is where the bulk of the remaining Hamas forces are concentrated.

Just as with the past four months, Egypt and Jordan are dead set against allowing Gazans to flee - and their rhetoric has increased, with Egypt threatening to scuttle the peace treaty with Israel if Gazans escape past its series of fences and walls.

Anti-Israel organizations are ramping up the already existing industry of lies to hysterical and uber-exaggerated. They are replacing "Gaza" with "Rafah" and putting all their resources into trying to pressure Israel not to attack Hamas there.

The lies about Rafah are insane. Jewish Voice for Peace wrote Monday, "Last night, the Israeli military bombed the over 1.4 million displaced Palestinians the Israeli government forced into Rafah. This is genocide."

Really? They bombed 1.4 million people? They must have really bad aim!

The US Campaign for Palestinian Rights says Israel is merely threatening to exterminate 1.4 million people:


Amnesty says civilians in Rafah "are facing the real and imminent risk of genocide."

Palestinian Red Crescent says any Israeli operations would be a "death sentence" for 1.4 million people.

What do all of these statements have in common? They are exactly the message that Iran and Hamas want the world to hear.

Hamas' war has been a war of public relations more than a war of bullets. Hamas Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar, who prides himself as knowing Israeli psychology inside out, bet that Israel would cave under pressure and allow Hamas to survive the way it did in previous wars. He knows that Israel is sensitive to world opinion and world pressure is his major strategic asset. This is why human shields are an integral part of Hamas' strategy - dead children, real or imagined, are his guarantee that he will survive.

Israel isn't playing by the same rules any more. It is certainly following international law in its attacks, but it is adhering to the way other nations interpret it, not the overly cautious way it had been following it in previous wars. This time it is too important to utterly destroy Hamas as a threat, and this is a valid military goal - anything goes in that pursuit as long s it does not violate the principles of distinction and proportionality.

But Sinwar and Iran bet the farm on Israel's sensitivity to world opinion. And they see that the US and UK are starting to waver, to criticize, to show a shakier support for Israel.

This is why the effort by Hamas and Hamas allies - including "human rights groups" - to shame Israel as genocidal has been redoubled for Rafah.

Rafah is critical to Hamas' survival. The bulk of aid goes through Rafah where Hamas can take all it needs first. There are widely believed to still be major tunnels from the Palestinian side to the Egyptian side of Rafah where weapons and people can be imported or smuggled out. Without Rafah, Hamas is toast.

So the pressure is mounting. And Israel is responding in the only possible way it can: assuring its allies that it will do everything possible to minimize harm to civilians but making clear that the effort to destroy Hamas is paramount.

Every Gaza civilian death is the result of Hamas' war strategy. That is the message that real human rights campaigners would be pushing if they were honest, and not on Hamas' side.

Everything the anti-Israel side says is a lie. With Rafah, the lies are getting even bigger.

Blogging about Israel and the Arab world since, oh, forever.

elderofziyon.blogspot.com

 

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Surge of Heartfelt Giving: Philanthropy to Israel Reaches New Heights Post-October 7th | United with Israel

The Jewish Federations of North America emergency fund’s initial goal of $500 million was surpassed in less than two weeks.

unitedwithisrael.org

 

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Israeli Charity Bypasses Houthis to Deliver Medical Supplies to Wounded Soldiers | United with Israel

'As our brave soldiers fight to defend Israel on all fronts, we are stepping in to do our part to circumvent life-endangering delays in humanitarian supplies due to regional hostilities.'

unitedwithisrael.org

 

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Bearing Witness: National Library of Israel Compiling and Preserving Materials from October 7th Massacre | United with Israel

The only criterion is for adding something to the National Library’s collection is that the item has to do with October 7.

unitedwithisrael.org

 

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