Hezbollah announced the use of two drones in an attack on an occupation army position, in the occupied Shebaa Farms, today.

The party said that its forces launched two marches loaded with explosives towards the Zabdin barracks in the occupied Shebaa Farms.

It added, in a military statement, that the target of the raid was the division headquarters in the barracks.

Hezbollah confirmed that the two drones directly hit the target and caused losses.

This is the first time that the party has introduced drone weapons into the confrontation since the beginning of the “Al-Aqsa Flood” battle.

Earlier, the resistance launched a massive missile strike that targeted settlements and military sites on the border between Lebanon and occupied Palestine.

The party announced that it had targeted the spy system at the “Al-Abad” military site of the occupation army.

Three weeks into the Gaza war, the Israelis have begun to focus on one issue more than others: the fate of Israeli prisoners being held in Gaza. This has made it the most prominent political issue in the Hebrew state currently, especially after the escalation of the movements of the families of Israeli prisoners in recent days.

In the early days of the war on Gaza, relatives of prisoners, especially relatives of civilian prisoners, gathered in Tel Aviv and other cities and tried to draw attention to their plight in mostly quiet demonstrations.

But last weekend, things changed, and the families began demanding the urgent release of the prisoners. Although they did not state that the ground attack on the Gaza Strip endangered the prisoners, they indicated this, according to a report by the British website Middle East Eye.

The families of the Israeli prisoners waited for the appropriate time to expand their movement

It is clear that the families of the Israeli prisoners knew that vocal opposition to the ground attack was not acceptable to the Israeli public determined to take revenge for what happened in the October 7 attack.

Therefore, the families of the prisoners resorted to asking the government and the occupation army to make the issue of returning the prisoners to their loved ones a priority, and then they continued the ground attack and air bombardment on Gaza to subjugate it. It seems that this demand imposed some pressure on the occupation army and on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Subsequently, the occupation army said that launching a ground attack was the way to force Hamas to ease its conditions in any planned deal, but no one announced the nature of the deal that the Israeli authorities wished to conclude. The occupation army claimed that the negotiation of the prisoners was the reason that the ground incursion that began last weekend was limited in scope, and that the Israeli forces did not penetrate into residential areas or Gaza City itself.

Despite the difficulty of determining the validity of the allegations that the ground operation will increase restrictions on Hamas to the point that it will be forced to accept a deal whose terms agree with the desires of the occupation, the Israeli media accepted what the generals said.

As for Netanyahu, the criticism he received from the families of the prisoners was much more severe, and forced him to meet with some of their representatives on Saturday, October 28. It was said that the meeting was difficult, and that the families spoke harshly to him, accusing him personally of being responsible for the entire disaster.

Families of Israeli prisoners then organized a small demonstration in Tel Aviv, expressing a new demand: "All for all." No one specified what this meant in practical terms, but it was understood that they were demanding the release of all prisoners in Gaza, including occupation soldiers, in exchange for the release of all Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons.

Netanyahu did not rule out releasing Palestinian prisoners in return

The exact number of prisoners held by Hamas and other factions in Gaza is not yet known. The occupation authorities have worked to progressively update the total number, and now say that there are 240 prisoners, including about 30 soldiers.

When Netanyahu was subsequently asked about this possibility, he did not rule it out, and said that it was a possibility on the negotiating table, but he refused to go into any details about the matter.

It is striking that the idea of releasing all Palestinian prisoners is considered taboo in Israel, as some of these prisoners are sentenced to life imprisonment for being accused of participating in attacks on Israelis in the occupied territories during the Second Intifada.

He says that he wants to achieve two contradictory goals: crushing Hamas and releasing prisoners

After the October 7 attack on the Israeli settlements surrounding the Gaza Strip, Israel was determined to achieve one goal: to crush the Islamic resistance movement Hamas.

Israel announced that it intends to completely “cleanse” Gaza of Hamas, whatever the means, and even if it means forcing all of the Strip’s 2.3 million residents to flee to Egypt.

But now, the importance of the other goal has begun to rise, and the release of prisoners has also become one of the main goals of the military operation in Gaza.

However, the two goals contradict each other. No one knows how to truly crush Hamas in house-to-house and street-to-street fighting, while seeking to return Israeli prisoners at the same time. It is extremely difficult, if not impossible.

This contradiction puts Israel in a complex dilemma, especially since the intense aerial bombardment that had the largest share so far of Israel's plan in its attack on Gaza has actually led to the death of more than 8,500 Palestinians, including 3,500 children.

It seems that the occupation inflicted limited losses on the resistance

The American New York Times newspaper said that Washington sent dozens of commando forces to Israel to locate prisoners in Gaza.

The Israeli army claims that it killed about 50 high-ranking Hamas members, and “hundreds” of its fighters. But even if we take these allegations seriously, the number of deaths among Hamas has reached about 500 people, which is a small percentage of victims when compared to the number of children killed in the ongoing Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip, and it is also a small number when compared to the estimates. The number of Hamas fighters, which was 30,000 years ago, may have risen to 50,000, and Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in Gaza, previously said that if Israel had invaded Gaza, it would have faced about 70,000 Palestinian resistance fighters.

The Israeli media does not care much about the world's opinion regarding the massive loss of life caused by Israel's raids in the Gaza Strip, but the reality is that it should care. World opinion is changing, and the United States, London and elsewhere in Europe, as well as in Turkey and across the Arab world, have witnessed massive pro-Palestinian demonstrations.

At the same time, the rhetoric of Western officials has begun to change. Evidence of this is that US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan publicly urged Israel to protect the lives of civilians in Gaza, a notable change compared to the US administration's absolute support for Israel since October 7.

Fears of destabilizing the Arab regimes allied with America and Hamas embarrass Netanyahu

Pressure on Israel is increasing not only from the West, but also from the Arab world. Attacks have begun to come from Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen, where Iranian agents are located.

Also, the massive ground attack on Gaza threatens to destabilize the ruling regimes in Jordan and Egypt. The United States pays great attention to this matter, as it cares about the fate of its strategic allies in Cairo and Amman much more than it cares about the people of Gaza.

Moreover, it is most likely that the ground attack on Gaza will lead to the death of most of the prisoners, and this will be a collective shock for the Israelis, and Hamas has stated that the Israeli bombing has already killed a significant number of them.

Hamas embarrassed the Israeli government and put pressure on it and Netanyahu with a video in the midst of ground battles, which it published on Monday, October 30, 2023, of 3 Israeli female prisoners who demanded that Netanyahu release them immediately.

One of the female prisoners accused Netanyahu of failure, and said that they bear his political, security, military and governmental failure. She addressed Netanyahu: “You want to kill us, you want to kill everyone, you want the army to kill us. Isn’t it enough that you slaughtered everyone? Isn’t it enough that innocent Israeli citizens were killed on October 7? Release us now, release their citizens.” Release their (Palestinian) prisoners, release us, allow us to return to our families, now now now.”

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu responded, describing the video as "cruel psychological" propaganda by Hamas.

Netanyahu said in a post on the “X” platform that Israel will do everything necessary to return the hostages, adding: “I address Elena Trupanov, Daniel Aloni, and Ramon Kirscht, who were kidnapped by Hamas, which is committing war crimes.. I embrace you, our hearts are with you and with the other kidnappers,” stressing: “ We are doing our best to return all kidnapped and missing persons to their homeland.”

The head of the Hamas political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, said that the Hamas movement presented a vision that begins “with stopping the aggression, opening the crossings and exchanging prisoners, and ending with opening the political path to the establishment of a Palestinian state and the right to self-determination, but Netanyahu is stalling.”

Here is Netanyahu's likely choice, and will it be effective?

For all these reasons, the report of the British website Middle East Eye believes that it is unlikely that Israel will launch a comprehensive ground attack, and it is likely that the occupation forces see that continuing the war at the current pace - bombing and limited ground incursions, and perhaps dividing the Strip into two parts, and advancing to the outskirts of Gaza City - is... Her best choice.

The number of Palestinian casualties will not be long until it exceeds ten thousand, and international pressure will increase.

The Israelis have pledged a long war, lasting at least a few months. The reserve soldiers prepare for their war on this basis. However, an advanced economy like the Israeli economy will not tolerate this conflict continuing for a long time.

Israeli prisoners

Occupation forces raids led to the killing of a number of Israeli prisoners/Anatolia

Projections already indicated that the post-war Israeli economy contracted by 11% this quarter. If the conflict continues for several months, the crisis in Israel will become much worse. High-tech companies may be forced to withdraw their investments and lay off their employees.

This war has not yet witnessed internal unrest like the one we saw in the 2021 war on Gaza, and demonstrations and riots have not broken out in cities mixed between Palestinians and Jews. However, Israel is fraught with dangerous internal tensions. Palestinian citizens of Israel (about 20% of the population) are expelled from their places of work and from the universities where they study, and are attacked if they sympathize with the victims in Gaza. Accusations pursue them simply because they are Arabs or of Arab origin.

On the evening of Saturday, October 28, crowds of Israelis stormed a university residence in the city of Netanya (central Israel), where Palestinian students reside, and began chanting “Death to the Arabs.”

At the same time, the Israeli authorities promised to deliver 10,000 weapons to Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, and to ease the regulations imposed on civilians to obtain weapons.

These tensions between different sects of the population in Israel could destroy its economy. Palestinian citizens of Israel (as well as workers from the West Bank) are heavily involved in providing basic services. About a third of doctors in Israel are Palestinians.

If we take these matters into consideration, can Israel really continue its war on Gaza for several months at a time?

The solution is for the international community to intervene or enter into a tragic scenario

For three decades, Netanyahu has bet on preventing the establishment of a Palestinian state separating the West Bank and Gaza, and pitting Hamas against Fatah and vice versa. Things were stable for him, and the plan with which he was dealing with the Gaza Strip was proceeding, until the attack on October 7 occurred.

Hamas remaining in power over Gaza is no longer acceptable to the Israeli people at all. Even if Netanyahu wanted to, it is unlikely that he would be able to manage things in a way that leads to this. Indeed, there is no doubt that he is the most hated person in Israel at the present time. Because he is responsible for the largest disaster the country has witnessed since 1973.

Israel is caught between the desire to keep the prisoners alive by abstaining from a major ground operation, on the one hand, and seeking to continue the bombing campaign to remove Hamas from power, on the other.

Is there a way out of this dilemma? Maybe if the international community intervenes.

The conflict in Gaza has become very much an international conflict, going far beyond the scope of the first and second intifadas and previous rounds of fighting in the Strip. Leaders of Western countries flocked to Israel after the outbreak of war. Some experts believe that this conflict has become an extension of the ongoing war in Ukraine, and Washington's cold war with Russia and China.

Interest in the issue of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has suddenly returned, after the issue had been forgotten for the past two decades. It seems that Washington - or at least the Joe Biden administration - is no longer convinced that the Israelis are capable of managing the conflict on their own.

Some observers believe that using an international force in Gaza (and perhaps an Arab force) may be an acceptable way to end the fighting for Israel and its people, and perhaps for the Palestinians, and even Hamas.

On the other hand, there is a much more evil path, according to the British website: which is to continue a long fight, seek to displace all Palestinians from Gaza, sacrifice tens of thousands of deaths, and risk a regional conflict that may include Jordan and Egypt, and may threaten the existence of Israel itself, according to the British website.

The website says: “This very bad scenario is possible, and we should not ignore the possibility of it happening. But at the same time, we must hold on to hope, and hope that the international community will intervene before things take their worst course.”

Source: Middle East Eye

el Aviv reveals that 46,000 workers have been laid off since the start of the war

The Israeli Ministry of Labor said, Thursday, November 2, 2023, that about 46,000 Israeli workers have been laid off since the outbreak of the war in the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023, noting that there are 760,000 Israeli workers who are not working at the present time.

This came, in a statement issued by the ministry, a month after the announcement of unemployment data in the Israeli market amounting to 3.1% of the total workforce.

The Ministry stated that there are 760,000 Israeli workers, or about 18% of the workforce, who are not working at the present time, for three reasons.

The three reasons - according to the ministry - are that Israeli workers and employees serve as reserve forces in the army, live in the vicinity of Gaza, or stay at home with their children.

Last month, Israel summoned approximately 350,000 reserve soldiers, who are employees working in the Israeli economy, which today faces the specter of entering into a recession.

The data does not include numbers for Palestinian workers in Israel, which number approximately 140,000 employees, according to data from the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics.

The economy is going through a difficult time

On Monday, October 30, 300 senior Israeli experts warned that the Israeli economy is going through a difficult time, requiring immediate measures to prevent further damage, according to what Anatolia Agency reported from local media.

The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth said that economists sent a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich in which they wrote: “You do not understand the magnitude of the economic crisis that the economy is facing. You must act differently.”

She also pointed out that economists look at "a difficult time for the Israeli economy today... and measures must be taken to prevent major damage immediately." It was reported that among the signatories were the former supervisor of banks, the general accountant, and the former governor of the Bank of Israel.

For 27 days, the Israeli army has been waging a devastating war on the Gaza Strip, which resulted in the destruction of entire residential neighborhoods and the killing of thousands of Palestinians, most of them civilians, and caused a catastrophic humanitarian situation, according to warnings issued by international institutions.

Since the outbreak of the war, Israel has cut off supplies of water, food, medicine, electricity and fuel to the residents of Gaza, who are about 2.3 million Palestinians who already suffer from extremely deteriorating conditions. As a result of an ongoing Israeli siege since Hamas won the legislative elections in 2006.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's office said on Thursday that Sunak and United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres agreed on the need to increase the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza, according to what Reuters reported.

The two leaders met on the sidelines of their attendance at the last day's talks of the Artificial Intelligence Safety Summit at Bletchley Park in England.

The Prime Minister's spokesman added: "The two leaders... discussed the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza and agreed on the importance of accelerating the increase in the delivery of life-saving humanitarian aid."

He continued: “The Prime Minister and the Secretary-General also agreed on the need to revitalize international efforts to reach a lasting solution to the conflict and make progress towards a two-state solution.”

According to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, the death toll of Palestinians in the Strip rose to 9,061, including 3,760 children and 2,326 women, while the number of injured rose to more than 32,000, as a result of Israel’s attacks since the seventh of last October.

The government media office in Gaza said that the Israeli army has dropped 10,000 bombs since the start of its attacks on the Gaza Strip, and estimates that the amount of explosives dropped exceeds 25,000 tons, which means about 70 tons per square kilometer.

The Hamas movement said that the White House’s statements regarding working on an international regional consensus to manage the Gaza Strip after the end of the aggression on Gaza are rude and unacceptable, as the free Palestinian people are not the ones upon whom guardianship is imposed.

Hamas added in a statement, today, Thursday, that “the attempts of blatant intervention by the United States to impose a new reality that suits them and the size of the Zionist occupation in the Gaza Strip are completely rejected, and will be confronted by our Palestinian people with all force.”

It pointed out that the decision to arrange the Palestinian situation is the decision of the people, and they alone are able to determine their fate, future and interests.

It continued, “Those malicious American statements and plans are pipe dreams in their minds. Our great Palestinian people and their valiant resistance will prevail in the war against this fascist occupation, and our people will impose their will and seize their rights by force to establish their independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.”

The White House said on Wednesday that the United States does not believe that the Palestinian Hamas movement can participate in ruling the Gaza Strip in the future, after the end of the war with Israel.

As previously reported, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said on Tuesday that Washington is studying possible alternatives for the future of the Gaza Strip if Hamas is “isolated.”

During a hearing of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Anthony Blinken considered that the status quo in which Hamas is in charge of the densely populated Strip cannot continue, but Israel does not want to manage Gaza either, he said.

Washington has confirmed that one of its most important priorities in the current period is to prevent the expansion of the ongoing conflict between Hamas and the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip, renewing its warning to any party intending to engage in the conflict to think twice before making its decision.

In his response to Asharq Al-Awsat’s question about the Houthi coup group in Yemen’s adoption of targeting several targets in Israel, Samuel Warburg, regional spokesman for the US State Department, avoided answering by saying: “We cannot enter into any hypotheses now, and we do not have any information to share.”

The Houthi group officially claimed targeting several Israeli targets, while Israel announced that it had responded to several missile and drone attacks coming from the Red Sea. The Israeli Navy also deployed several naval vessels in the Red Sea. To preserve its national security, as she put it.

Samuel pointed out that his country stressed from the beginning that “one of our most important priorities is to prevent the expansion of this conflict,” referring to the statement of US President Joe Biden, and that “any party hostile to Israel and thinking about engaging in this conflict must rethink twice before making its decision.” ».

Warburg continued by saying: “We repeat that any party thinking about exploiting this conflict must think twice before taking any step.”

Today, Thursday, the Palestinian Ministry of Health warned of an imminent health catastrophe in the Gaza Strip as a result of hospitals being cut off from fuel. The Ministry noted that the occupation forces prevented the evacuation of wounded Palestinians to Egypt to receive treatment.

This came in a statement read by the official spokesman for the Ministry of Health, Ashraf Al-Qudra, in which he said that the occupation forces are still committing massacres one after another in all areas of the Gaza Strip, with a focus on populated areas.

Al-Qudra noted that the occupation committed 15 massacres in the past hours, claiming 256 martyrs so far, bringing the number of massacres committed by the occupation to 965 against families since the beginning of its aggression on the seventh of last October.

Al-Qudra pointed out that the death toll of the aggression amounted to 9,061 martyrs, including 3,760 children and 2,326 women. The aggression also resulted in 32,000 citizens being injured with various injuries, while the Ministry of Health received 2,060 reports of people missing under the rubble, and 1,150 children were missing under the rubble.

Al-Qudra also reminded that the occupation forces continue to target the health system in the besieged Gaza Strip, where 135 health personnel were martyred and 25 ambulances were destroyed, in addition to targeting more than 100 health institutions, and putting 16 hospitals out of service, as well as 32 health care centers as a result of the targeting of the Israeli occupation forces. And running out of fuel.

The Ministry of Health spokesman warned of an imminent health disaster as a result of the stoppage of the main electrical generator in the Indonesian hospital, and the imminent stoppage of the generator in the Al-Shifa Medical Complex, which will have dire health consequences if the hospitals are not supplied with fuel or electricity.

The Ministry of Health also renewed its appeals to all parties to quickly supply the Indonesian Hospital and the Al-Shifa Complex with fuel before “the disaster occurs.” It also appealed to the Turkish President to intervene to protect the Turkish Friendship Hospital and provide it with fuel, and “save more than 10,000 cancer patients in the Gaza Strip, as the hospital is... The only one who cares for cancer patients in the sector.”

The Ministry of Health reiterated its calls on the international community to provide a safe passage for the exit of large numbers of wounded from serious and complex cases, especially those for which treatment is not available within the collapsed hospitals of the Gaza Strip, in addition to providing a safe passage for the flow of aid and medical delegations to enter urgently to rescue the wounded and the sick.

Ashraf Al-Qudra indicated in his press statement that the occupation is preventing the evacuation of the wounded to Egypt from the northern Gaza Strip and its hospitals, by cutting off the roads connecting the northern and southern Gaza Strip, all the way to the Rafah crossing. He noted that the wounded who were approved to be taken out of the Gaza Strip in ambulances are still present. In the Gaza Strip, the occupation prevents their exit by cutting their access routes between the north and south of the Gaza Strip.

On Thursday evening, Israeli occupation forces stormed several areas in the occupied West Bank

In Jenin, the Israeli occupation forces demolished commercial barracks and fruit and vegetable stands at the entrance to the village of Al-Jalama, north of Jenin, and also stormed the village of Deir Ghazala.

The head of the Al-Jalama Village Council, Amjad Abu Farha, said that the occupation forces stormed the villages of Al-Jalama and Deir Ghazala and launched a wide search and combing campaign in the vicinity of the village council in Al-Jalama and Deir Ghazala. Yesterday, the occupation bulldozers demolished six commercial barracks and stalls at the western entrance to the village, near the military checkpoint, and prevented Their owners were able to remove their possessions, the owners of which were known to include Ahmed Zaidat, Imad Shaaban, Ghanem Abu Raya, and Walid Abu Zaho, who were surprised by their demolition.

In Tulkarm, the occupation forces seized surveillance camera recordings from a number of facilities in the town of Balaa, east of Tulkarm.

Local sources reported that the occupation forces stormed a number of establishments and shops on Al-Atara Road, east of the town, and seized camera recordings after detaining their owners.

In Nablus, two citizens were injured, one of them by live bullets, after the Israeli occupation forces attacked them in the town of Huwwara, south of Nablus.

Medical and local sources said that a 55-year-old citizen was injured by live ammunition in the foot as a result of the occupation forces shooting him while he was on his way to his workplace in “Hesba” Beita, and he was transferred to Rafidiya Hospital to receive treatment.

The sources indicated that the occupation forces chased another citizen's vehicle as he passed through the main street in the center of the town, and beat the driver and detained him for several hours before releasing him.

400 people with American citizenship arrived today (Thursday) at the Rafah land crossing on board several buses coming from Gaza, in a new batch of foreign nationals being evacuated from the besieged Strip, according to an Egyptian security source.

The source told Xinhua News Agency that 400 people with American citizenship arrived today at the Rafah crossing on board several buses from Gaza.

Yesterday, Egypt received through the Rafah crossing a first batch of foreign nationals in Gaza, amounting to about 345 people.
The Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed earlier today that there is a plan to receive and evacuate 7,000 people holding the nationalities of more than 60 countries from Gaza through the Rafah crossing.

The Gaza Strip, with a population of 2.3 million people, has been suffering under the weight of continuous Israeli air strikes for the 27th day after the attack by Hamas fighters on southern Israel, which killed about 1,400 people, according to Israeli statistics. While the Ministry of Health in Gaza reported that 9,061 Palestinians have been killed as a result of Israel’s attacks so far.

The official spokesman for the US State Department, Matthew Miller, refused to condemn the fierce Israeli attacks on the Jabalia camp in the Gaza Strip, which led to the death and injury of more than 400 Palestinian citizens, most of whom were children and women, as a war crime, only pointing out the administration’s sadness for the innocent victims.

Miller said in response to a question from Al-Quds correspondent in Washington about condemning these Israeli attacks, which Israel acknowledged and justified by targeting a leader of the Hamas movement, and classifying them as a war crime: “I will say that we feel deep sadness at the loss of civilian lives. No matter how many civilians are missing in this raid or "Any other raid, we are obviously disturbed and deeply saddened by every loss of life. This is true whether it is Palestinians or Israelis, and we will continue to make that clear, and we will make that clear to the Israeli government."

Regarding the “Al-Quds” correspondent’s question to Miller that the administration of former President George W. Bush condemned a similar Israeli attack in 2002 when Israel targeted Hamas leader Salah Shehadeh, and the attack led to the death of 14 citizens, Miller said: “I am unable to talk about the assessments conducted by the administration” "20 years ago. I will say that we will continue to directly convince our Israeli counterparts of the need to reduce harm to civilians in all their military activities."

Regarding whether there has been a discussion within the ministry for the Jabalia massacre to assess the administration so far regarding whether Israel is following the rules of war, Miller said: “Once again, I will say that I am unable to provide an assessment of this strike because I am unable to provide an assessment of other individual strikes. “What I will say is that we will continue to discuss with them directly, and we will say publicly, that we expect them to adhere to the laws of war in all of their activities, in all of their military campaigns.”

About a month after the start of the Israeli war against Gaza, and days after the start of the ground attack on the Gaza Strip, Israel speaks of successes but points to painful losses, and confirms that it has dealt painful blows to the Hamas movement, but the missile strikes are still targeting major Israeli cities.

This situation raises the question of what Israel has achieved a month after it declared war on Gaza. Military and strategic expert, retired Major General Samir Faraj, in an interview with Monte Carlo International, considered that it is not possible to talk about the success of the Israeli military operation and that the situation on the ground is equal between Hamas and the Israeli army, and he said.

We measure the success of any military operation by two things: the extent of the enemy's destruction, and the capture of hostile territory.

Has Israel seized and occupies parts of it today, and is it under its control? The result is no.

If it had captured Gaza City and Lahia, achieved all of that, and established its forces on the ground, it would have been victorious.

But all that is happening is the continuation of hostilities between the two sides, each of them trying to control and inflict the greatest losses on the enemy.

But we cannot say that Israel achieved success before it seized land, and what it is currently doing is incursions in the morning and withdrawal at night for fear of counterattacks.

As for the Palestinian side, it says that it definitely destroyed enemy equipment and weapons and caused them losses. Therefore, we cannot say that either of them achieved its mission, and therefore the mission or the military situation is still equal between the two parties.

A former diplomat who served in the Bush administration and as president of the Council on Foreign Relations has joined a chorus of elite voices urging Israel against launching a full-scale ground invasion of the Gaza Strip.

Writing in the Financial Times, Richard Haas, who worked as an advisor to former Secretary of State Colin Powell from 2001 to 2003, and then as the United States' special envoy to Northern Ireland, argued that Israel has a right to go after Hamas following its Oct. 7 massacre of more than 1,400 people. Indeed, he said that it meets the criteria of an "obligatory war."

But the right to go after Hamas does not mean all means of doing so are equally desirable, Haas said, cautioning Israel against a maximalist goal of completely eliminating the group. Hass' warning comes after US officials have also begun urging the Israeli government to rethink a ground war, The Washington Post reported Friday.

The Israeli government has repeatedly said a ground invasion is only a matter of time. It recently cut off all communication with people in the Gaza Strip, and has begun at least limited incursions in the north of the territory.

A full-on ground war, Haas wrote, would "generate significant civilian casualties" and "allow Hamas to scapegoat Israel for its own shortcomings." Israel, too, would suffer more casualties, its soldiers trapped in a hellish environment of urban warfare that would hurt the country's image and "make it impossible" for it to seek peace with the likes of Saudi Arabia. It could also expand out of control, leading to a regional conflict.

Given how embedded Hamas is in Gaza, have ruled the territory since winning elections in 2006, destroying the group is also "unlikely to prove doable," Haas wrote.

"The good news is that even if destroying Hamas is not possible, it is not essential. To suggest that Hamas poses an existential threat to Israel is overblown. So, too, is the claim that if Hamas survives, Israel will never again be secure," he wrote.

Haas' approach mirrors the advice US officials are reportedly providing: instead of embarking on an unwinnable ground offensive, continue striking Hamas targets from the air — over two weeks of Israeli strikes have killed a number of senior leaders, as well as thousands of civilians — and conducting "targeted ground raids."

"Humanitarian aid should be allowed to flow into Gaza, possibly abetted with pauses in military operations," Haas wrote, casting this as a way to allow Israel alone to decide when those operations conclude. "Far better that Israel be able to declare success and finish what it set out to do than be forced to stop and accept a ceasefire owing to international pressure."

The countries of the GCC have responded unevenly to the violence that erupted between Hamas and Israel on October 7, in part because of the decision by some to forge relations with Israel three years ago

Since an unprecedented conflict flared between Israel and Hamas on October 7, the Arab Gulf states have been working to de-escalate and prevent the crisis from sparking a catastrophic regional war dragging in Iranian allies such as Hezbollah in Lebanon, armed groups in Syria and Houthi rebels in Yemen. Yet while the GCC states agree on the need for an immediate ceasefire and humanitarian access into Gaza, their individual responses to the crisis have markedly differed. Some have maintained their traditional posture of supporting Palestinian rights and calling for a two-state solution. But those who normalized relations with Israel during the administration of U.S. former president Donald Trump find themselves in an uncomfortable position as Israel pummels the crowded territory and protestors throng the streets across the Arab and Muslim worlds. 

A Sensitive Balancing Act 

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain, which signed the Abraham Accords to normalize relations with Israel in 2020, have cautiously balanced their ties with Israel and the United States against strong pro-Palestinian sentiments among both their citizens and expat populations. The October 17 explosion at the Al-Ahli Baptist hospital in the Gaza Strip, which killed hundreds of Palestinians and wounded hundreds more, forced Abu Dhabi and Manama to adopt a more forceful rhetoric, blaming and “strongly condemning” Israel. Nevertheless, while aligning themselves with their GCC partners, they did not go as far as fundamentally testing their relationships with Israel. This subtle shift in tone may be related to pressure from public opinion over a conflict that has already left thousands of Palestinian civilians dead. 

The other GCC members have been sharper in their condemnation of Israel and its longstanding policies that led to the recent crisis. Qatar, for example, has placed sole blame on Israel for the escalation of violence and for the hospital blast, calling it a “brutal massacre and heinous crime.” Yet Qatar has also played a longstanding role as a go-between Israel and Hamas and has already been instrumental in negotiating the release of two U.S. citizens held by Hamas on October 20.  

Saudi Arabia, for its part, has called for an immediate ceasefire and reactivation of the international Quartet on the Middle East to revive regional peace efforts. Under de facto Saudi leadership, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) held an urgent meeting to establish a unified stance against the Israeli aggression. 

This meeting was notable as it was attended by Iran’s foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, who also met his Saudi counterpart for a bilateral discussion, seven months after the two regional heavyweights signed a de-escalation deal to end years of tensions.

These meetings were part of an intense flurry of diplomatic efforts by GCC actors, particularly Riyadh and Doha. Gulf officials are deeply concerned about the conflict dragging in Iranian allies such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah and causing further escalation across the region. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi discussed the crisis in their first phone call since their rapprochement in March. 

Saudi Arabia’s relationship with Israel differs significantly from those of other Gulf countries. Its role as custodian of the two holiest sites in Islam puts its leadership in an extremely delicate situation when it comes to relations with Israel, especially during a crisis partly sparked by Israeli provocations at a third, Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque. For Israel, normalization with Saudi Arabia would be a far bigger prize than with UAE or the other GCC states, due precisely to the kingdom’s religious significance, as well as its economic and political clout. If Saudi Arabia were to normalize, other majority-Muslim nations like Indonesia and Malaysia could even follow suit. 

Just weeks before the October conflict, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told Fox News that “every day, we get closer” to normalization, while adding that the deal must ease the lives of Palestinians. 

The violence in Gaza has likely put that process on ice indefinitely. Perhaps the GCC state most diplomatically engaged in the Gaza crisis has been Qatar. Not only has it vocally opposed Israel’s forcible displacement of Palestinians through indiscriminate bombing and collective punishment, but it has also engaged in shuttle diplomacy to push for an immediate ceasefire and aid deliveries into the besieged territory. 

Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed Al-Thani said Qatar defended the decision to keep the Hamas office in Doha open in order to maintain channels of communication and potentially mediate a ceasefire or prisoner exchange. 

The Emir’s highly influential mother, Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, has shared photos of the destruction in Gaza on social media, including a destroyed education center that Qatar helped establish. At the other end of the GCC spectrum, the relatively neutral stances of the UAE and Bahrain reflect considerations around their normalization of relations with Israel. 

The UAE initially called for de-escalation without even mentioning Israel’s occupation. However, as the bombardment of Gaza escalated, the UAE’s discourse shifted to focus on the humanitarian crisis in the territory, announcing $20 million in humanitarian aid. 

The UAE’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Lana Nusseibeh, highlighted the devastating conditions facing civilians in Gaza, adding that, “Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people or the people of Gaza,” while the Emirati foreign ministry said it was “appalled” at the abduction of Israeli citizens. Reports have appeared on social media that U.S. military aircraft had arrived in the UAE to support Israel, but the UAE Ministry of Defense denied these claims, saying the arrivals of U.S. aircraft at the Al-Dhafra base were scheduled months in advance.  

Protests and Donations  

It is likely that the UAE and Bahrain will continue to try and distance themselves from the conflict, emphasizing the humanitarian crisis without pointing fingers at any party. However, as the violence escalates, meeting the delicate balance of upholding commitments with Israel while not openly opposing public sentiment will become increasingly difficult. Even though these countries lack a robust civil society that could influence their foreign policies, their leaderships will strive to avoid provoking public anger both domestically and in the wider region. 

It is worth noting that in Bahrain, demonstrators have staged angry protests not only against the conflict in Gaza but also against normalization with Israel.  Similar rallies have not been reported in Saudi Arabia. 

However, the imam at the grand mosque in Mecca, Islam’s holiest site, delivered an overtly political sermon on October 13, almost certainly approved ahead of time by the authorities. “God, be for the Muslims in Palestine a supporter, helper and defender,” he said. “Have mercy on their dead and give them the rewards of martyrdom.” By contrast, in the UAE, the televised Friday sermon did not mention the Palestinians at all. A scheduled solidarity event in Dubai, “Run for Palestine,” was reportedly “postponed” with no reason given. In Kuwait and Qatar, protests have been more active. Thousands of citizens and residents gathered on October 13 to protest Israel and show solidarity with Palestinians. Kuwait, despite expelling part of its Palestinian population the 1990s over PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat’s support of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s invasion, has vigorously defended the Palestinian cause and underlined that the country will be the last in the region to normalize with Israel. 

Kuwait’s more pluralist political life has helped shape its policy.  Omanis, including their Grand Mufti Ahmed bin Hamad Al-Khalili, have also protested against the Israeli assault on Gaza and condemned the Arab world’s inability to stop it. Oman, the current chair of the GCC, views the escalation as a consequence of Israel’s illegal occupation and “constant Israeli aggressions in Palestinian cities and villages”.  Alongside their diplomatic efforts, the GCC states have also rapidly amassed donations for aid to Gaza, even as the Rafah border crossing from Egypt stayed shut. At a meeting on October 17, GCC ministers declared $100 million in contributions. 

The Gulf publics have also reached deep into their pockets. Two dozen Kuwaiti non-profits collected $10 million in donations, while the UAE launched a campaign to provide money for reconstruction and other aid to Emirates Red Crescent. Qatar’s Red Crescent Society, which operates inside Gaza, has provided medical aid.  The Gulf Arab states are likely to continue showing solidarity with the Palestinian people and publicly criticizing Israel’s operations against Gaza. 

They will likely also refrain from communicating directly with Israel, at least in public, in order to avoid anger from the street. They may choose to communicate via go-betweens, particularly the U.S., but can also be expected to step up their diplomacy to push for an end to the conflict. The questions that remain are whether any Gulf state can play a significant role pushing Israel towards a ceasefire or become a primary peace broker and be able to determine the region’s dynamics once the dust has settled in Gaza.   

The Bahraini Parliament announced, on Thursday, that the Israeli ambassador had left the Kingdom, in exchange for the return of its ambassador from Israel, in addition to the cessation of economic relations with it.

A statement to the Council stated that these steps come as “a confirmation of Bahraini’s established historical position in support of the Palestinian cause and the legitimate rights of the brotherly Palestinian people,” which the King announced in all conferences and events.

The Bahraini House of Representatives affirmed that "the continuation of the war and military operations, and the continuing Israeli escalation in light of the lack of respect for international humanitarian law, prompts the Council to demand more decisions and measures that preserve the lives and souls of innocent people and civilians in Gaza and all Palestinian areas."

It is noteworthy that Bahrain normalized its relations with Israel within the Abraham Accords of 2020, which were brokered by the United States, and also included the UAE, Morocco, and Sudan.

According to the statement, the Speaker of the Bahraini House of Representatives expressed his pride in King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa’s “care and interest in supporting the Palestinian cause, a firm and unwavering position, and the right of the Palestinian people to establish an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, in accordance with international resolutions.”

Today, Thursday, colonists burned a vehicle and attacked citizens’ homes in the town of Deir Sharaf, west of Nablus.

Local sources reported that dozens of colonists gathered near Deir Sharaf roundabout, attacked citizens' homes near the area, and burned a vehicle belonging to citizen Basil Wawi.

The same sources added that confrontations broke out between citizens and the occupation army near Deir Sharaf roundabout, amid heavy firing of bullets and poison gas bombs, but no injuries were reported.

On Thursday evening, Israeli occupation forces stormed Al-Maqasid Hospital in the town of Al-Tur in occupied Jerusalem.

Local sources said that the occupation forces surrounded the destinations and prevented those inside it from leaving, before they stormed a section designated for patients who had completed their treatment from the Gaza Strip, and arrested a number of those inside it and from the hospital’s emergency department.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has cemented his image as a hawk on security issues due to his service in an elite special forces unit that carried out some of Israel's boldest hostage rescue operations.

However, the legacy of Israel's longest-serving prime minister will be shaped again now after one of the worst security failures that Israel has ever witnessed. It will also be shaped by the fate of more than 200 hostages taken by Hamas militants during an attack that Israel says killed 1,400 people in more than 100 years. The country's days have been bloody since its establishment 75 years ago.

The death toll, accounts of panic, and images of violence coming from communities in southern Israel sent the country into a state of shock.

In his sixth term as prime minister, Netanyahu (74 years old) heads a right-wing coalition of the most extreme governments in Israel, and is under increasing pressure after the initial shock turned into an outburst of anger over the failures that allowed the attack to occur.

Netanyahu refuses to take responsibility and says that everyone will have to answer difficult questions when the war with Hamas ends, and in one of his rare press conferences he ignored a question about whether he would resign.

But the public mood changed, and opinion polls showed that a large majority held him responsible, a trend confirmed by pictures of his government ministers being harassed in public as they got out of their official cars.

An opinion poll conducted by the Maariv newspaper on October 18 and 19 showed that former Defense Minister Benny Gantz, the head of a centrist opposition party who joined a recently formed unity government, has the support of 48 percent of participants to be prime minister, compared to only 28 percent in favor of Netanyahu.

The newspaper "Israel Hayom" wrote in an article this week: "Netanyahu will leave. Like the senior officials of the army, intelligence, and the General Security Service. Because they failed."

The popularity of Netanyahu, who faces trial on corruption charges he denies, has been damaged by the fierce battle over plans to limit the powers of the Supreme Court, plans that have brought hundreds of thousands of Israelis onto the streets for months.

The political repercussions will be temporarily postponed in light of the continuation of Israeli air strikes, which the Gaza Ministry of Health says have killed more than eight thousand Palestinians, and in light of the Israeli tanks’ incursion deep into the besieged Strip.

But much will depend on the outcome of the operation, whose stated goal is to destroy Hamas forever, and on whether his party will continue to support it despite growing calls for change.

An ally of Netanyahu: The government must achieve the desired results

Danny Danon, the former Israeli delegate to the United Nations, said: “I am not worried about the opinion polls, but what worries me is achieving the results, and I believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu and the government must achieve the desired results.” Danon is a member of Parliament from Netanyahu's Likud Party.

He added: "We witnessed too many rounds in the past, when pressure forced the government not to complete the mission and to leave Hamas in power."

He continued: "If the government does not implement what it promised, which is to eliminate Hamas, I am confident that this will not be acceptable, neither to the public nor to the political system."

But the military test, although difficult, is not the only challenge.

Netanyahu, who has exhausted all the goodwill of even allies like the United States during his battle over judicial amendments, is viewed with deep suspicion by most of the world because of his alliance with ultra-religious and nationalist parties.

In addition to pressure due to issues such as the relentless expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank, international alarm is rising over the number of casualties during the bombing of Gaza.

The economy, already battered by uncertainty caused by judicial changes strongly opposed by most of the business community, has suffered an additional blow, with companies in sectors as diverse as construction and food services saying their revenues are witnessing a sharp decline.

Netanyahu, who usually appeared confident and reassured, seemed increasingly abnormal during the recent period, especially when he wrote a tweet late one night this week in which he held the leaders of the intelligence services responsible for the failure to warn him of the October 7 attack.

The tweet was deleted the next morning and Netanyahu issued an apology, but the damage had already been done and sparked criticism from the press and across the political spectrum.

A writer in the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper said about him: “He is not fit for the position of prime minister,” adding that Netanyahu should have resigned or been removed immediately after the October 7 attack.

During a tour of Sderot, the far-right minister says he ordered the police commissioner to prepare for the possibility of a repeat of ethnic violence in mixed cities, prompting accusations that he spread fear.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir came under fire from across the political spectrum on Wednesday for raising the possibility of renewed violence between Jews and Arabs in Israel's mixed cities as happened two years ago, with police sources accusing the far-right leader of spreading fear.

During a visit to the police station in Sderot, a city that was hit hard in recent days by the shocking attack by Hamas, Ben Gvir said he had instructed Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai to prepare for a “Watchkeeper 2 scenario,” in reference to the ethnic riots. Violence in mixed Jewish-Arab cities that accompanied the previous conflict with Hamas in 2021.

Ben Gvir said his ministry “turned Sderot into a qualified city,” meaning all Sderot residents are now able to obtain and carry firearms as part of the Department of Homeland Security’s efforts to strengthen civil security.

He added: “In parallel, I instructed the police commissioner to prepare for the ‘Guardian of the Walls 2’ scenario... and to prepare to infiltrate cities.”

A spokesman for Ben Gvir confirmed that he was referring to the possibility of Arab citizens of Israel rioting in mixed Jewish-Arab cities.

Ben Gvir made similar statements on Tuesday when he announced the distribution of assault rifles to civilian security teams in border towns, West Bank settlements and mixed Jewish-Arab cities.

Ben Gvir said: “This war proves that citizens are heroes, and this war proves how important it is to arm civilians and civilian security teams along with a strong police force.”

Hamas militants infiltrated and occupied the central police station in Sderot during their brutal attack on Israel on Saturday, eventually destroying the building in an attempt to kill the militants.

Social Equality Minister Amichai Shekli (Likud) quickly criticized Ben Gvir’s statements, writing: “So far, the Arab population has shown a lot of solidarity and responsibility, and this applies in particular to the Bedouin population in the Negev, who suffered human losses and missing persons and have shown responsibility and solidarity from Through many initiatives to host families and help afflicted citizens.”

The newspaper “Israel Hayom” quoted an unnamed source in the police criticizing Ben Gvir, whose ministry supervises the police, accusing him of raising the idea of Guardian of the Walls 2 “for his own purposes” and saying that the minister did so in January also before the budget discussions.

The source added: “The police are preparing and prepared, and the evidence for this is that no exceptional incidents have occurred so far.” Naturally, such a scenario is taken into account and we will respond strongly to any case of violence if it occurs.”

The source was also quoted as saying that Hamas is trying to incite Israeli Arabs to provoke violence, adding that Ben Gvir's words may inflame tensions.

Israel's mixed Jewish-Arab towns were the scene of violent riots during the May 2021 conflict with Hamas. Three people were killed and hundreds more injured during days of violent unrest in the mixed cities.

Ben Gvir, who was at the time a Knesset member but not a minister, urged armed Israeli civilians to go to these cities to fight Arab rioters, prompting Police Chief Shabtai, who now still holds his position under Ben Gvir, to blame Far-right politician in riots.

Putin thus canceled Moscow's ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine and the crisis with the West.

The treaty, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1996, aims to prevent all nuclear testing, but it was not implemented due to the failure of a number of major nuclear countries to join it, most notably the United States and China.

The report described this idea as the “Beirut 1982 model,” and it was discussed in several high-ranking bodies in Israel, and Netanyahu “expressed great interest in it,” in order to prevent the war from continuing and Israel incurring losses, but estimates are that this is an imaginary idea.

The Israeli government is considering several ideas, claiming that they will “allow the fall of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and quickly,” according to what the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported today, Thursday.

One of these ideas claims "the possibility of members of Hamas's military arm (the Qassam Brigades) leaving the Gaza Strip, with the approval of Israel, including its leaders, in exchange for the lives and liberation of all the kidnapped."

The newspaper described this idea as the “Beirut 1982 model,” referring to the departure of the Palestine Liberation Organization, led by Yasser Arafat, from the Lebanese capital, following the Israeli army’s invasion of Lebanon, and the move to Tunisia.

The newspaper added that this idea was discussed in several high-ranking bodies in Israel, and that the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, “expressed great interest in it, and requested the provision of other materials about it and will obtain them later.”

According to the newspaper, Hamas’s departure from the Gaza Strip “will allow the establishment of another regime, will confirm that it has been defeated, will create regional deterrence, and does not seem to require a creeping occupation that would cost the lives of Israeli soldiers and precious time.”

The newspaper considered that the “problem” with this idea “is not the Hamas leadership, but rather the thousands of activists who must leave, the tunnels, the military production workshops, and the rocket shells that must disappear.”

The newspaper added, “If the Israeli army declared the southern Gaza Strip a humanitarian safe zone, why do Hamas leaders not hole up in their own fortifications there, not far from Rafah, and simply refuse to leave?”

It continued, "If the time comes for Hamas to consider surrender, will Hezbollah enter the war under any circumstances and turn everything around, in case it sets a dangerous precedent for defeat?"

According to reports, the head of the agency warned the cabinet that the situation might explode; The Minister of Defense indicates that most of the attackers are not from the settlements; The United States and France condemn the attacks

The Shin Bet security service warned the government of its fears of an outbreak of violence in the West Bank, citing increasing settler violence and clashes with Palestinians amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, Hebrew media reported on Sunday.

Channel 12 reported that Shin Bet head Ronen Bar warned the war cabinet, the broader government and the defense establishment about the issue.

The United States and France also warned that the situation in the West Bank had reached a boiling point.

The report quoted Israeli sources as saying: “These events are likely to lead to a fire in the region” and harm the war effort against Hamas.

Channel 12 said that some Israeli decision-makers are urging the extreme right-wing ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir to “take responsibility and calm things down.”

The two ministers have defended settler violence as self-defense in the past and resisted taking action against it.

According to Channel 13, Bar and IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevy addressed the issue of settler violence in a war cabin on Saturday.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant reportedly responded that “the phenomenon is well-known. “We need to make sure the area doesn’t catch fire.”

Gallant said that most of the violence is committed by people who do not live in the settlements.

The Israeli organization Yesh Din said on Monday that more than 100 incidents of violence and attacks by settlers against Palestinians have occurred in at least 62 Palestinian towns and villages in the West Bank since the Hamas attack on October 7, and the beginning of the Israeli military campaign against the movement in Gaza.

As a result of recurring violence in the West Bank, residents of Qarnet Onizan, a small Palestinian community located in the South Hebron Hills, have begun packing up and leaving, Yehuda Shaul, a human rights activist and co-director of Ofek - the Israel Center for Public Affairs, said in a tweet. Posted on Sunday.

He added that the Qarnet Onizan community consists of four families with a population of about 35 people, and is located across the road from Khirbet Zanuta – another village whose residents abandoned it due to settler violence, which has intensified since the outbreak of the war in Gaza.

Shaul described the situation as “forced deportation.”

On Saturday, a Palestinian man named Bilal Muhammad Saleh (40 years old) was killed after a settler allegedly shot him in the chest outside the village of Al-Sawiya, about 15 kilometers south of Yitzhar.

According to the Haaretz newspaper, Saleh was part of a group working to pick olives outside the village near the city of Nablus when its members were attacked by settlers.

The settler who reportedly fired the fatal shot is an off-duty Israeli soldier, who had left the nearby settlement of Rahalim with members of his family shortly before the shooting.

Also on Sunday, prominent settler activist Ariel Danino was placed in administrative detention for four months after Defense Minister Yoav Galant approved the order, which allows authorities to detain a suspect without charges for indefinitely renewable periods and which the Shin Bet reportedly approved. - He indicated “a reasonable basis for assuming that state security/public security requires” Dino’s detention.

White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Sunday denounced the “completely unacceptable” escalation in settler violence since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, and said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “bears responsibility for reining in the settlers.”

“This is an ongoing challenge,” Sullivan told CNN. “We expect, over time, to see the Israeli government intensify its efforts on this issue, and we expect that extremist settlers who engage in this type of violence will be held accountable.”

France also condemned the “unacceptable” attacks by Israeli settlers, noting “the killing of many Palestinian civilians during the past few days in Qusra and Al-Sawiya, as well as the forced displacement of a number of communities,” according to a statement by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

On Wednesday, US President Joe Biden criticized Israel for not curbing settler violence, while continuing to support its military operations in Gaza against Hamas.

“I remain concerned about extremist settlers attacking Palestinians in the West Bank,” Biden said, adding that the violence “adds fuel to the fire.”

“They attack Palestinians in places where they have the right to be. “This has to stop now.”

Biden urged Netanyahu during phone calls in recent days to ensure that Israeli authorities prevent increasing incidents of settler violence, fearing that rising tensions in the West Bank could significantly worsen the current war in Gaza, the Axios news site reported on Wednesday.

Yesh Din said that in various incidents, settlers stole Palestinian property such as solar panels and generators, and carried out acts of vandalism such as burning homes and vehicles and uprooting trees. The group claimed that no settlers were arrested, detained, or investigated following the attacks. The police did not respond to a request for comment.

The human rights organization said that settler violence often aims to displace Palestinian communities in an attempt to control their homes and lands. Entire shepherd communities have been forced to evacuate since the beginning of the year following an escalation in settler violence, according to Yesh Din.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Gilani called on Israel to stop the aggression against our Palestinian people and withdraw its forces from the occupied territories.

The Pakistani Foreign Minister reiterated his country's firm and supportive position for the Palestinian people, considering Israel's actions a blatant violation of international principles and laws.

A new Israeli military assessment of the October 7 Hamas attack indicates that about 3,000 militants infiltrated southern Israel to carry out the deadly attack in the Gaza envelope, The Times of Israel has learned.

Previously, the military estimated that about 2,500 militants took part in the unprecedented attack, which killed about 1,400 people in Israel, most of them civilians who were killed in their homes or at a music festival. The militants also held at least 245 hostages of all ages, under the cover of a torrent of thousands of rockets fired at Israeli towns and cities.

The 3,000 figure in the latest assessment only includes militants and does not include Gazan civilians who took advantage of massive gaps in the fence to enter Israeli territory later in the day.

The Israeli army said that during the first two days of fighting, its forces killed about 1,000 militants in Israeli territory and captured 200 others, and that there are many bodies of militants still scattered around the border area, and the army intends to collect them and count them when it is possible to do so without endangering the lives of the soldiers. 

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights considered on Wednesday that the Israeli bombing of the Jabalia Palestinian refugee camp in the Gaza Strip “may amount to war crimes.”

A UNHCR post on the “X” platform said, “Given the large number of civilian casualties and the scale of destruction following the Israeli air strikes on the Jabalia refugee camp, we have serious concerns that these are disproportionate attacks that could amount to war crimes.”

Yesterday, Tuesday, the Israeli occupation forces committed one of the largest Israeli massacres in the Gaza Strip, after targeting an entire residential neighborhood in Jabalia Camp, which is one of the largest Palestinian camps in the Gaza Strip and the most densely populated, not only in Gaza but in the world.

Today, Wednesday, the bombing of Jabalia refugee camp, north of the Gaza Strip, was renewed, targeting residential buildings, leading to the fall of many martyrs.

Shortly after the Israeli massacre, yesterday, Tuesday, the government media office in Gaza announced that the residential square targeted by the occupation in Jabalia was one of the most crowded in the Strip.

The Israeli bombing of the camp targeted about 10 densely populated homes, leaving behind an estimated 400 Palestinians killed or wounded, according to what the Ministry of Interior in the Gaza Strip announced. The spokesman for the Ministry of Interior in Gaza said that the occupation aircraft used approximately 6 bombs, each weighing a ton of explosives, during their attack.

Source: AFP, Al-Arabi Al-Jadeed

The Hebrew newspaper "Haaretz" revealed, this evening, Wednesday, that there are differences between the United States and Israel regarding the Palestinian Authority assuming power in the Gaza Strip, if the occupation army is able to eliminate the Hamas movement.

The newspaper said that while the administration of US President Joe Biden is trying to present the Palestinian Authority as the ultimate governing body for the Gaza Strip, members of the extreme right in the ruling coalition are working to spread an image of its weakness and inability to assume power.

According to the Israeli newspaper, this division comes due to increasing American concern about the current situation in the West Bank, which threatens the status and standing of the Palestinian Authority, in addition to American fear of the impact of escalating settler violence on the stability of the Middle East in general, and the region in particular.

Since the “Al-Aqsa Flood” operation, launched by the Hamas movement on the “Gaza envelope” settlements, the occupation army decided to launch a military operation aimed at “destroying the military and governmental capabilities of the Hamas and Islamic Jihad movements in a way that will deprive them for many years of the ability and desire to threaten the citizens of Israel.”

Later, Israeli officials indicated that the ground war aims to eliminate the Hamas movement, which is what Washington has requested clarification of since its intervention, and to draw up a plan for the stage after entering the Gaza Strip and achieving the goals.

A former Israeli diplomat told the same newspaper last week that the United States fears paying the price for the mistakes that Israel could commit in the war on Gaza, indicating that the level of confidence of the American administration in the type of decisions that the Israeli leadership can take is low.

According to the military analyst, the United States views the war on Gaza from a broad angle, pointing out that Washington’s agenda of priorities is much greater than Tel Aviv’s narrow interests.

Today, Thursday, November 2, 2023, Hebrew media announced that an Israeli was killed in a shooting attack that took place near the Shavei Shomron settlement in the northern West Bank.

Hebrew media reported that a vehicle was shot at, causing it to overturn on Route 557 near the village of Beit Lid settlement near Shavei Shomron.

Israeli and American voices criticizing the ground operation launched by the Israeli occupation army in the Gaza Strip are rising, amid confirmations that it is not possible to achieve the operation's declared goals of eliminating Hamas and releasing prisoners.

In this context, former Israeli Minister of National Security, Omer Barlev, said, “The assumptions governing the ground operation, as established by decision-makers in Tel Aviv, are wrong,” specifically the belief that the occupation army can continue this operation for several months.

In an analysis published by the Haaretz newspaper on Thursday, Bar-Lev pointed out that the Israeli leadership is mistaken if it believes that it will be able to guarantee the release of captured soldiers and settlers captured by the Qassam Brigades, at the end of the ground operation.

Bar-Lev, who during his military service commanded the “Sayeret Matkal” unit, the most famous special unit of the occupation army, added that it will be very difficult for Israel to achieve the two main declared goals of the war on Gaza, which are: eliminating Hamas, and liberating the prisoners who were captured in the “Operation” Al-Aqsa flood.

According to Bar-Lev, the liberation of Hamas prisoners will only be achieved as a result of intensive negotiations conducted following the end of the war on Gaza, and not before that.

He said that Israel's attempt to use the ground operation and the destruction and sabotage it entails to influence the morale of Hamas leaders will not succeed, noting that this is confirmed by the previous wars launched by Israel in the Gaza Strip.

He warned that the unprecedented military and diplomatic support provided by the United States to Israel is not guaranteed, and it is not certain that it will continue without conditions.

The war "will not be the last"

For his part, former US ambassador to Tel Aviv, Dan Christer, said that Israel is violating the advice it provided to the United States when it occupied Iraq in 2003.

In an article published by the newspaper "Haaretz", today, Thursday, Kurtzer, who was working as ambassador during the war on Iraq, mentioned that Israel advised the United States not to remain in Iraq for a long period after the end of its military operations, indicating that this is what Israel should do in Gaza Strip currently.

Christier particularly condemned the calls issued by Israeli ministers, representatives and politicians for the necessity of exploiting the war to occupy the Gaza Strip and relaunch the settlement project there.

He stressed that Israel is required, in the wake of the war, to abandon the blockade measures it has been imposing on the Gaza Strip since 2006, when Hamas won the legislative elections, warning that Israel will not enjoy calm after the war on Gaza unless it works to resolve the conflict with the Palestinian people. Stressing that if the leadership and public opinion in Israel do not reach this conviction, the current war “will not be the last.”

"International legitimacy is collapsing"

As for the writer in the newspaper "Yedioth Ahronoth", Ben Doron Yemini, he saw that all indications indicate that Israel's ability to continue the war on Gaza and achieve its goals has declined due to the collapse of the international legitimacy that this war has now enjoyed as a result of what the international media reports about the number of deaths. There are many wounded among Palestinian civilians.

In an analysis published by the newspaper on Thursday, he indicated that Israel had failed in the wars it had previously launched against Gaza due to the international community’s reaction to what Palestinian civilians were exposed to. He considered that the war had succeeded so far in “increasing the level of hostility towards the Jews in all parts of the world.”

In this context, military commentator for the Haaretz newspaper, Amos Harel, said that the images coming from Gaza have greatly reduced the level of global sympathy for Israel, which will affect the amount of international legitimacy that Tel Aviv enjoys for continuing its ground operation.

In an analysis published by the newspaper on Thursday, Harel pointed out that the United States has begun sending messages to Israel stating that the lives of civilians must be taken into account, as expressed by US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin by revealing the content of the communications he had with Israeli Security Minister Yoav Galant.

Harel expected that US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, who will arrive in Tel Aviv today, would convey President Joe Biden's position regarding the conduct of the ground operation in the Gaza Strip.

Video clips documented the Israeli occupation bombing of a school belonging to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) with phosphorus bombs and artillery shells, in the Beach Camp in Gaza City, Thursday, November 2, 2023.

The video showed bombs emitting thick smoke being thrown into the yard of the agency’s school, where a number of displaced people are sheltering due to the intense Israeli raids.

In turn, the local "Al-Aqsa" channel said, "The occupation aircraft targeted an agency school in the Shati camp with white phosphorus, which is internationally banned."

A state of panic prevailed among thousands of displaced Palestinians from the northern regions of the Gaza Strip, the moment the school was targeted with phosphorus bombs, while some of them were wearing masks.

Israeli occupation aircraft have launched continuous intensive raids on the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023, resulting in thousands of martyrs and wounded, and the destruction of entire residential neighborhoods above the heads of their residents.

UNRWA spokesman Adnan Abu Hasna told the Jordanian website Roya that the agency's schools in the Gaza Strip host about 674,000 displaced people, in addition to half a million others in government schools, hospital corridors and churches.

Abu Hasna added that the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip is catastrophic and constantly deteriorating, stressing that UNRWA is the main supplier of fuel in the Strip.

The spokesman pointed out that fuel, as well as other sanitary, medical and food supplies, in addition to water, were beginning to run out, stressing that UNRWA's running out of fuel would lead to a further collapse of the situation.

Source: Agencies

The Deputy Commander of the Rapid Support Forces, Abdul Rahim Dagalo, announced in a video clip yesterday (Wednesday) the move to take control of all Sudanese states and all army sites in the country, according to what was reported by the Arab World News Agency.

The Rapid Support Forces published the video clip on the “X” platform from inside the 21st Division in the city of Zalingei, Central Darfur.

Dagalo earlier called on the Sudanese army commander, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, to surrender to his forces, which he accused the army of bombing from the air in Zalingei, central Darfur.

Daglo attacked Al-Burhan, saying: “You have nothing left... There is no army to fight.” You are now defending the general command from inside the basement, and every day we are advancing and we will take it over from you.”

The day before yesterday, the Rapid Support Forces announced the seizure of the 21st Division, the army headquarters in the city of Zalingei, the capital of Central Darfur state. Dagalo said that the army forces attacked it with munitions from an Antonov plane.

Daglo called on Al-Burhan to “raise his hand” from the armed forces. He also called on those he described as elements of the former regime within the army to surrender to his forces.

Sharif Muhammad Othman, a leader in the Forces of Freedom and Change - Central Council, said yesterday that negotiations between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces in Jeddah to stop the war may become complicated due to the “Rapid Support” control over new areas in Darfur.

Othman said in statements to the agency: “The extension of the war and its scope, and the Rapid Support Forces’ seizure of larger areas in different states in Sudan, would complicate the negotiation.”

The day before yesterday, the Rapid Support Forces announced their control of the army headquarters in the city of Zalingei, the capital of Central Darfur state, a few days after they took control of the 16th Division headquarters in the city of Nyala in South Darfur state, which is the second largest Sudanese city and the army command center. In the western states.

Othman stated that “the Rapid Support’s seizure of states and military garrisons in the Darfur region does not create a state of stability in the region.” He pointed out that the region witnessed during the last period “tensions and serious violations in which (the Rapid Support) complicit and some of which were committed in the city of Kutum” in North Darfur state.

He added: “Therefore, (Rapid Support) is not qualified to be a factor of stability in the Darfur region, due to old and inherited social conflicts.”

He expressed his belief that “the control of any party in any region is not a factor of stability, but rather a factor of divisions.”

Last Thursday, negotiations between the army forces and the Rapid Support Forces, which began in Jeddah in May under Saudi-American auspices, resumed and succeeded in reaching a number of short-term truces.

Fighting broke out between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces in mid-April after weeks of tension between the two parties, while the military and civilian parties were putting the final touches on an internationally supported political process.

The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation quoted Defense Minister Yoav Galant as stressing the importance of transferring tax funds to the Palestinian Authority to ensure “stability and calm” in the West Bank to avoid distracting his forces from the battle in Gaza.

Gallant added on Wednesday evening that the current war “will not be easy and short,” stressing that Israel will be victorious at the end of it, according to what the Arab World News Agency reported.

He explained that fierce battles are taking place inside the Gaza Strip.