Nazeer Magali

The Prime Minister and army commanders warned in 2016 of a war being prepared by Hamas.

After the publication of the document prepared by Avigdor Lieberman, when he was Defense Minister in 2016, in which he clearly warned of the danger of an attack that might be launched by the Hamas movement, just as happened on October 7, 3 weeks ago, the demands for the resignation or dismissal of the Prime Minister expanded. , Benjamin Netanyahu.

Lieberman said that this document should be “the last exhausting blow to the prime minister, who is reeling with weakened forces.” But Netanyahu does not give up so easily, and is also seeking to overcome this crisis. Officials, experts, and the press are heading to his party (Likud) to recruit 5 representatives who agree to overthrow him.

Lieberman had chosen the appropriate timing (Monday) for his part, and said: “We failed to overthrow him when a corruption indictment was brought against him in 2020, and we failed during the past ten months after he came up with a coup plan against the ruling system and the judiciary, and we failed even when it swept ( Hamas) Israel, occupied 22 villages and 11 military barracks, and it is inconceivable that we will also fail this time.”

A demonstration raising the slogan of Israeli democracy in Tel Aviv last June (Reuters)

The man (i.e. Netanyahu) proves that “what worries him is not the hundreds of thousands of soldiers who have been conscripted into the reserve, nor the prisoners held by (Hamas), nor the millions of Israelis and Jews who are worried about their relatives and loved ones. Rather, he is busy exonerating himself from the charge of failing to confront the (Hamas) attack.” “And how will he be able to keep the fire away from his face and direct it to others, and not care about directing arrows towards the heads of the army and intelligence, while they are fighting in Gaza,” according to Lieberman, who considers this an unforgivable crime? Therefore, he revealed the document related to Hamas’ war plans.

According to the document, which was classified as “top secret,” Lieberman, when he was defense minister in Netanyahu’s government, addressed him with an 11-page detailed memorandum explaining in detail that “Hamas” had become an ambitious military force planning an attack whose goal was “to eliminate Israel until 2022.” And liberate all the lands of Palestine.”

The document, published by Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper on Monday, states that “Hamas intends to transfer the upcoming confrontation to Israeli territory, by pumping large and well-trained forces, such as elite forces, into Israeli territory, and occupying an Israeli town, and perhaps several towns.” “In addition to targeting them physically, this will lead to a severe targeting of the awareness and morale of the citizens of Israel.”

Eliminate Israel

The document stated that “Hamas has set for itself an explicit goal, which is to eliminate Israel until 2022.” During a series of deliberations within the framework of the movement’s (Executive Committee) meetings that were held in Qatar on September 25-27, 2016, it explained that it needed a “calm-down period” in order to complete building its strength and readiness.”

According to the document dating back to 2016, “Hamas is interested in making the next war against Israel multi-front, by building other fronts in addition to the Gaza Strip - Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Sinai - and even against Jewish targets around the world.” She added that “Hamas is seeking to expand the ranks of its fighters to 40,000 activists by 2020, and strengthening its strength will be in the ground combat system,” and that “in the wake of its growing economic distress, the movement has requested assistance from Iran in the amount of 50-60 million dollars.”

Lieberman’s document stated, “The defensive obstacle that the Israeli army is building along the border with Gaza, and with all its means and capabilities, is an important element in the current security strategy vis-à-vis Gaza, but it cannot constitute a strategy in and of itself. Contemporary history and past precedents – the Maginot Line, the Mannerheim Line and the Bar Lev Line – have proven that walls and fortifications do not prevent war and are no guarantee of tranquility and security.” The document continued: “If Israel waits until it achieves intelligence control and erects a security wall, all of this superiority will be completely reduced in exchange for the increase in the strength of (Hamas) during this period.”

A demonstration raising the slogan of Israeli democracy in Tel Aviv last June (Reuters)

The document concluded that “not taking an Israeli initiative until mid-2017 would be a serious mistake that would lead Israel into a difficult strategic situation, and that would lead to an unplanned deterioration, and while in a scenario like this Israel would not be able to assassinate the leadership of the arm.” militarily for (Hamas), or worse - for (Hamas) to open a confrontation at a time convenient for it.” “I believe that the consequences of such an operation by (Hamas) would be far-reaching, and in certain respects the consequences would be more severe than the results of the Yom Kippur War (October 1973),” Lieberman wrote in the memo.

Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper said, “It is quite clear that Lieberman predicted the Hamas attack on October 7, and based this on accurate information, he developed a scenario that was proven to be amazingly correct,” but “Netanyahu failed and did not take the warning seriously, and instead He began to run a policy that granted Hamas all the necessary time and money worth hundreds of millions of dollars to implement its plan.”

Netanyahu during a visit to the Israeli army on the Gaza Strip border this month (his account on the X platform)

The newspaper added, “None of the officials who saw this document treated it seriously, including the Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the Chief of Staff of the Israeli Army at the time, Gadi Eisenkot, but it placed the primary responsibility on Netanyahu in his capacity as Prime Minister, which in Israel is considered the Supreme Commander.” For the army, it is above and more important than the Chief of Staff.”

The Hebrew newspaper pointed out that “Lieberman resigned from his position as Minister of Defense at the end of 2018, and justified this by Israel’s agreement to a ceasefire with Hamas, and to bring financial aid from Qatar to the Gaza Strip in the amount of $15 million per month.”

The document put Netanyahu in the dock as someone who bears first responsibility before everyone else and more than anyone else for the Hamas attack. She commented: “In a normal state, Netanyahu would have appeared in public and announced his resignation. But Israel is not that country, and Netanyahu is not that responsible leader; Firstly, he remained silent and neither he nor his office commented on Lieberman’s document. Therefore, the newspaper launched a call for him to resign or be fired. Is this possible?

Chances of dismissing Netanyahu

The Israeli Prime Minister currently enjoys a majority of 64 seats in the Knesset out of a total of 120. The only way to get rid of him, if he does not become independent himself, is for 5 representatives from the coalition to decide to drop him in a no-confidence motion. The greatest scope for such development is for those from the Likud Party, as the “Religious Zionism” bloc led by Bezalil Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir will not take such a step, nor will other religious parties such as the Haredim.

In Likud, there are 32 deputies, most of whom are loyal to Netanyahu personally, but there are more than 5 deputies among them who oppose Netanyahu’s policy, and are under pressure from some public and political circles to take such a step, but they are still hesitating. They know that Netanyahu is ready to massacre them, especially since if elections are held soon, the right will lose power, will receive a devastating blow, and will be considered traitors.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a Knesset session last March (AP)

But political circles are trying to convince them of a road map that opens up hope for saving Likud, and they say: “You dismiss Netanyahu and hand over power to one of your leaders by choice, and this will be an opportunity to get rid of Netanyahu’s burden without losing power. Such as an interim leader being elected, who runs the war and then announces an investigation committee into the failures, and after 6 months, 9 months, or a year, elections are held and you are in a better position.”

The proposal is that the Minister of Energy, Israel Katz, or the Minister of Economy, Nir Barkat, assume the presidency of the government instead of Netanyahu, but Katz does not accept Barkat and Barkat does not accept Katz, so they propose that Yoav Galant, the Minister of Defense, assume the presidency of the government now, and be his deputy and minister. For defense, Benny Gantz, in order to preserve unity, and Lieberman will join the coalition and become Minister of National Security or even Defense, and Yair Lapid will be Minister of Foreign Affairs.

The important thing is that revealing the document opens the door more to pressure for Netanyahu’s resignation or dismissal, as he is today in the worst position in his political history, and is seen as a weak and flabby prime minister who considers his chair a sacred icon more important than anything. However, the problem is that no one from his camp yet dares to challenge this, and war does not help in waging a political battle like this, and the hope among his opponents is that many circles on the right have begun to put forward the idea of getting rid of him and consider it a good start.

Source: Agencies

Yesterday (Monday), Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu strongly rejected the ceasefire with Hamas in a speech he delivered to journalists, according to the German News Agency.

Netanyahu said: “Just as the United States did not agree to a ceasefire after the bombing of Pearl Harbor or after the terrorist attack on 9/11, Israel will not agree to a cessation of hostilities with (Hamas) after the horrific attacks on October 7.”

Netanyahu explained, “Calls for a ceasefire are calls for Israel to surrender to Hamas, surrender to terrorism, and surrender to barbarism. That won't happen... The Bible says there is a time for peace and a time for war. “This is the time of war, the war for a common future.”

Netanyahu called on all civilized countries to stand with Israel in demanding the immediate and unconditional release of the hostages and to draw a dividing line between the forces of civilization and the forces of barbarism. He added, "It is time for everyone to decide where they stand."

Today, Tuesday, Israeli occupation bulldozers uprooted 12 olive trees and continued to bulldoze hundreds of acres of agricultural land in the village of Farkha, southwest of Salfit.

According to local sources, the occupation bulldozers uprooted 12 olive trees owned by Suleiman Rizkallah from the village of Farkha, while they continued to bulldoze hundreds of dunums of village land.

The head of the Farkha Village Council, Mustafa Hammad, explained that Israeli bulldozers from the “Al-Ras” colonial outpost are continuing the bulldozing work for the third day in a row to implement a colonial plan and build a new road in the “Al-Batin” area to connect it to the “Al-Matwi” area northwest of the village, with the aim of facilitating the colonists’ access to these areas. From the colonies surrounding the area.

He pointed out that the construction of the road aims to seize and control hundreds of dunams for the benefit of establishing colonial projects, calling on the competent local, international and legal institutions to protect the region and support their efforts to preserve it from seizure.

Hammad stated that the area of the area being bulldozed and seized by the occupation is approximately 1,400 dunams, and there is a water spring in it, covering 25-30% of the village’s water needs. A number of Bedouin families live in the area, and the colonists are constantly pursuing them in an attempt to remove them from the place.

Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman called for the necessity of a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, during his meeting on Tuesday with US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan at the White House.

According to the Saudi News Agency (SPA), the Saudi minister also stressed “the necessity of protecting civilians, stopping forced displacement, and allowing humanitarian aid to enter without obstacles.”

He also stressed the need to "work to restore the path of peace, to ensure that the Palestinian people obtain their legitimate rights, and to establish their independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital, to ensure the achievement of a just and comprehensive peace."

On the 18th of this month, the Saudi city of Jeddah hosted an emergency meeting of foreign ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, to discuss the war on Gaza launched by the Israeli occupation army in response to the “Al-Aqsa Flood” operation on the 7th of this October.

For 25 days, the occupation army has launched intensive raids on residential neighborhoods in the Gaza Strip, killing more than 8,306 people - including 3,457 children - and wounding about 21,048 Palestinians, according to official data.

In the West Bank, 122 Palestinians have been killed since October 7, and the Israeli army is launching a massive arrest campaign that has affected about two thousand Palestinians, according to official Palestinian sources.

Two Palestinian citizens, including teenager, were killed today, Tuesday, by bullets from the Israeli occupation forces, in the occupied West Bank.

The Ministry of Health announced the death of ta teenager, Muhammad Abdel Qader Kharaz (14 years old), as a result of critical injuries sustained by live bullets from the occupation forces in the village of Zawata, Nablus district.

Medical sources reported that the child, Al-Kharaz, died as a result of being hit by live bullets in the pelvic area.

Later, the Ministry of Health announced: The elderly man, Rawhi Rashid Sawafta (70 years old), was killed after being hit by occupation bullets in the face during the storming of Tubas.

Local sources reported that special forces in the occupation army, undercover "Musta'arabin,” stormed the city, followed by military reinforcements from the Tayaseer military checkpoint, which led to the outbreak of confrontations, which led to one death and 7 injuries.

With the death of the two Palestinians, the death toll in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem since October 7th rises to 123 dead.

The head of the Shin Bet secretly visited Qatar and the UAE as part of Doha’s mediation efforts in the file of prisoners held by resistance factions in the Gaza Strip. The visit confirms that Israel is seeking to exhaust the diplomatic track in parallel with the occupation's ground operations in the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli Public Broadcasting Authority (“Kan 11”) said on Monday that the private Israeli plane that had landed in Qatar yesterday, last Sunday, was carrying the head of the Mossad, David Barnea, who also secretly visited the UAE, as part of the ongoing talks. As part of mediation efforts in an attempt to reach an agreement to release the prisoners.

"Kan 11" reported that the head of the Mossad made a "secret visit to Qatar over the weekend as part of efforts and communications to release the hostages." Reports had revealed, last night, that a private plane, which had previously been used for flights of senior Israeli officials, had returned to Israel. Coming from Qatar.

Kan 11 pointed out the central role played by Qatar in the issue of Israeli prisoners held by the resistance factions in the Gaza Strip, and the channel considered that the Mossad chief’s secret visit to Doha confirms the continuation of negotiations on the prisoners’ file, in parallel with the occupation’s ground operations in the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli Walla website, citing two informed sources, reported that Barnea “discussed with senior officials in Doha the file of negotiations to release those kidnapped by Hamas in Gaza.” The website reported that Washington is also making efforts to meet the Qatari authorities regarding the prisoners’ file, “given that many Some of them hold American citizenship.”

Two high-ranking Israeli officials said that the Israeli "war cabinet" took a decision last Thursday to begin ground operations in the Gaza Strip in light of the failure to achieve any breakthrough in the ongoing Qatari mediation talks regarding the file of prisoners held by the resistance factions in Gaza.

The report stated that the Israeli decision came in the wake of the Hamas movement’s rejection of Israel’s request to hand over, through the Qatari mediator, a list of the names of the prisoners held by the movement. According to Israeli officials, “Hamas informed the Qataris that it is still in the process of knowing the whereabouts of all the kidnapped people, verifying their identities, and collecting their names.” ".

The report said, “Hamas’ response created a feeling in Israel that Hamas was pursuing a tactic to delay the ground incursion of the occupation forces into the Gaza Strip.” Walla explained that the Mossad chief’s visit to Qatar came after the start of the ground operation, and came to renew communications with the Qatari mediator.

The website quoted informed sources as saying that the talks held by Barnea witnessed progress but did not achieve a real breakthrough.

In a press conference held this evening with the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Minister of Strategic Affairs, Ron Dermer, refused to answer whether his government was ready to exchange Israeli prisoners for Palestinian prisoners in the occupation prisons.

He said: “I will not go into issues related to the negotiations to return the hostages, but I will say that our assessment is that the escalation of the military operation over the past two days contributes to achieving both goals, which are eliminating Hamas and its military machine and achieving our goal in Gaza, and also advancing the chances of an agreement on the hostages, and I cannot say more.” So".

Regarding the possibility of a prisoner exchange agreement, Dermer said: “These decisions are not taken by the Military Ministerial Council (the War Cabinet). They are taken in the Ministerial Council for Security and Political Affairs (the Expanded Cabinet) and then presented to the full Israeli government, which must vote on any decision.”

Qatari-American discussions

Earlier today, the Qatari Foreign Minister, Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman bin Jassim, discussed with his American counterpart, Anthony Blinken, developments in the Gaza Strip and “mediation to release prisoners.” This came in a phone call received by the Qatari Foreign Minister from Blinken, according to what was reported by the Qatar News Agency, QNA.

During the call, they "reviewed the seriousness of the escalation of confrontations in the Gaza Strip, and the necessity of an immediate ceasefire." The two sides also discussed "the latest developments in the mediation to release prisoners." During the call, Qatar's Foreign Minister stressed "the necessity of opening the Rafah crossing permanently to ensure the flow of relief convoys and humanitarian aid to the Palestinian brothers trapped under the bombing."

This comes in light of the Israeli allegations about the “liberation” of an Israeli female soldier who was being held by the resistance factions in the Gaza Strip, during the ground operations carried out by the occupation army in the besieged Strip, last night, hours after the “Al-Qassam Brigades” broadcast a video that includes 3 Israeli female prisoners in which they hold Netanyahu responsible for their captivity, and demand that he free all Israeli prisoners in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.

There are more than 239 Israelis who were captured by the resistance factions in the Gaza Strip, during the attack carried out by the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas movement, on Israeli military sites and towns in the vicinity of the Gaza Strip, on October 7, including high-ranking military personnel, and the Hamas movement is seeking to replace them with Palestinian prisoners in occupation prisons, including children and women.

In a related context, the US State Department claimed today that Hamas made a number of demands before allowing people to leave Gaza, while Washington is working to ensure safe passage for Americans who want to leave, and to secure the release of prisoners held by resistance factions in Gaza.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller claimed, “Hamas has put forward a number of demands before it allows people to leave Gaza... Just as we believe they should release all the hostages they are holding, we believe they should... allow all American citizens to leave.” and other citizens.”

Today, Tuesday, dozens of settlers stormed the courtyards of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, under the protection of the Israeli occupation police.

According to local sources, the settlers stormed the mosque from the Mughrabi Gate, wandered around its courtyard, and performed Talmudic rituals in the vicinity of the Mercy Chapel.

In the same context, the occupation police tightened their military measures in the vicinity of Al-Aqsa Mosque, stopping students at the doors of the mosque and searching them, and obstructing their access to schools inside the mosque.

At dawn on Tuesday, the Israeli occupation forces arrested 52 citizens from several areas in the West Bank.

In Bethlehem, the occupation forces arrested 17 citizens, namely: Jihad Maali, Hisham Arafa, Wissam Arafa, Muhammad Arafa, Ali Abu Joudeh, Amir Abu Akar, Yasser Shamroukh and his son Youssef, Amir Lutfi Saad, Muhammad Khaled Mazhar, Basil Nasser Al-Laham, and Wissam. Sidqi Khamis from Dheisheh Camp, Fatah Movement Secretary Khader Lutfi Daamsa, Muhammad Omar Qawwar from Aida Camp, the two brothers Ahmed and Ibrahim Al-Adwin from Al-Azza Camp, and Uday Faqoussa from the town of Doha.

From Hebron, the occupation forces arrested 11 citizens, namely: the young man Khaldoun Al-Mahareq from the town of Al-Samou’, and from the city of Hebron, Jawaid Abdel Halim Da’na, Abdullah, Muwafaq, Ali Al-Rajabi, Yazan, Majd Al-Islam Taha Abu Sneineh, and the student at the Polytechnic University, Ahmed Muhammad Hijazi Al-Qawasmeh. , and Suleiman Arif Al-Dweik. It also arrested the student at Hebron University, Shadi Salem Al-Rajoub, after storming his family’s home in the village of Al-Koum, west of Hebron. From the town of Ithna, the citizen Aisha Abu Asaad was arrested, under the pretext of pressuring her children to surrender themselves.

As for Nablus, these forces arrested 11 citizens, namely: citizen Abdel Fattah Al-Aghbar from Street 16 in the city, Anwar Effendi from the Al-Makhfiya area, citizens Yassin Taha Hamza, and Ahmed Qarunfla from Al-Najah Street, Muhammad Humaidan from Ain Beit Al-Maa camp west of the city, and the young man Islam. Lolah from the village of Zawata, Saed Ismail from the village of Beit Iba, Amir Araysha, Zaki Murad Halabi, from Roujib, Wassim Firas Mansour, and Amr Murad Najjar from Burin.

From Jenin, the occupation arrested six citizens from Qabatiya: Iyad Basem Assaf, Ibrahim Muhammad Abu Al-Rub, Khalil Youssef Damanhouri, Firas Suleiman Kamil, Riyad Abu Al-Rub, and Fakhri Nazzal.

From Tulkarm, the occupation forces arrested editor Alaa al-Din Hamdan (30 years old), editor Fadi Munther Raddad (42 years old), from the town of Sidon in the north, and Ahmed Nasser and Iyad Abu al-Hassan from the Shweika suburb.

As for Ramallah, these forces arrested the citizen Fadi Saeed Abu Fakhida, from the village of Ras Karkar, Ayman Al-Atshan from the village of Arora, northwest of Ramallah, and the citizen Nasser Abdel Jawad after storming his house in the town of Deir Ballut, west of Salfit.

The crimes committed by the Israeli occupation forces and herds of settlers are no longer limited to the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, even though what is happening in the Gaza Strip is a war of extermination in front of the eyes of the world, part of which is hypocritical, at the forefront of which is the United States of America and the colonial countries of Europe that support the occupying state and participate in it. In the sinful aggression against Gaza.

These crimes also affected prisoners of freedom and the arrests that affected hundreds of our people in the West Bank, along with more than four thousand Gazan workers who were working in the occupying state with work permits from this state that knows no limits to killing, arresting, and issuing laws against our people and our prisoners.

Since the Battle of Al-Aqsa Flood, the occupying state has put hundreds in its prisons under inhumane detention conditions alongside those it killed in cold blood under the guise of heart attacks, which are in fact the result of torture aimed at killing these people, especially those who belong to the Hamas and Islamic Jihad movements.

It also isolated all new and old prisoners in miserable conditions and prevented the prisoners’ families from visiting them. It carried out extensive movements within the prisons, assaulted and assaulted the captive movement and new detainees, and transferred dozens to administrative detention, which has been obsolete since the British colonization of Palestine.

The attacks and crimes also included the bombing of sites in Syria and southern Lebanon under the guise of preventing organizations in these two countries from supporting Gaza and opening new fronts against the aggression on the Gaza Strip to mitigate the impact of this aggression that knows no borders and contradicts all international laws and norms.

These attacks and crimes will not discourage our people from continuing their struggle until they fully achieve their goals of freedom and independence. Rather, they will increase the state of hostility and tension. They say that the families of the martyrs or those remaining alive will forget these crimes and the war of genocide. Rather, it will push them to take revenge later, and the bloodbath will continue. As long as the occupation protected by America and the West persists in its error, and as long as he sees himself as above international laws and norms.

Time, no matter how long it takes, does not work in favor of this brutal occupier, who believes that through his destructive war he can achieve his goals of liquidating the cause of our people. On the contrary, his master, America, which is considered one of the most powerful countries in the world, has failed in Iraq, Afghanistan, and before in Vietnam and Cambodia .

Will this occupier learn or will he continue with his arrogance, and thus it will be a disaster for him?

Analysts: Israel cannot achieve the two goals of its war on Gaza: eliminating the Hamas movement and its rule and returning the prisoners detained in Gaza. They are contradictory. “How will hundreds of thousands of soldiers rely on their commander-in-chief, Netanyahu, and how will the families of the kidnapped trust him?”

Analyzes published in Israeli newspapers today, Monday, considered that Israel cannot achieve the two goals of its war on Gaza: eliminating the Hamas movement and its rule and returning the prisoners detained in Gaza. In parallel, analyzes accused the Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, of having become incompetent and losing control over his words and actions following the tweet he published, before dawn yesterday, in which he wrote that the leaders of the security services, especially the head of the Shin Bet and the head of the Military Intelligence Division (Aman), did not warn From the Hamas attack on October 7th.

Channel 13 TV political analyst, Raviv Drucker, said in his article in Haaretz newspaper, “There is no way to achieve the two goals, as they are contradictory. Hamas will agree to a plan to liberate (prisoners) only if it learns that Israel has abandoned its intention to eliminate the prisoners.” "And after Hamas wastes more time, Israel will eventually lose national legitimacy and the burdens on its economy will be very great."

He added that an idea is currently being pushed that would allow for a major prisoner exchange deal, “all for all,” and then begin a war to destroy Hamas. But Drucker described this idea as "delusion." He considered that “Hamas’ prisoners are important to it, but this is not the highest goal. It is forbidden to compare the current situation with deals of the past. Their highest goal now is to survive and maintain their rule. But a comprehensive deal will not be concluded until they are certain that we will not be able to enter into a large-scale ground military operation.” To eliminate them."

Drucker pointed out, “There are two realistic options. The first possibility is to go to a deal based on the realization that there will be no ground military operation. This has costs in terms of deterrence and the ability to return the residents of the Gaza envelope to their homes. The deal will last for several months, and within its framework, most of what will be returned.” Maybe the kidnapped ones. Then we will begin to prepare for the war to eliminate Hamas, which will begin at Israel’s initiative after half a year or a year, and perhaps with the presence of another leadership, which will have greater confidence than a prime minister who tweets at one o’clock at night against the leaders of the security apparatus. If Netanyahu had a certain ability to not think only about himself, he would have announced that he would resign at the end of the war. Another leadership can pose a credible threat to Hamas.”

He added, "The second possibility is to begin the comprehensive ground attack planned from the beginning, until the goal is achieved: eliminating Hamas, destroying the metro (tunnels), removing Hamas from the position of power in Gaza and remaining in the Strip, in one way or another, until it is possible to rise." Another judgment, if we are able to do such a thing at all. However, part of the price is that we will no longer apparently see most of the kidnapped people, and perhaps all of them. They may die in battle or in a revenge campaign carried out by Hamas.”

He continued, "The biggest question in this option is whether the Israeli army is even capable of carrying out the mission. The worst scenario is to launch a comprehensive attack, absorbing the terrible social-human damage that will befall the families of the kidnapped and befall all of us, and that we will ultimately be stuck like the Russian army in Ukraine."

According to Drucker, "The leadership in Israel is aware of this analysis. No one is deluding themselves here. Therefore, its original decision was clear: to destroy Hamas. Netanyahu also briefed reporters and said that the kidnapped people would not be a consideration in the war, unless we knew their specific location."

Drucker considered that “the Israeli attack was delayed, and now in the wake of the centrality of the families of the kidnapped in public discourse, the war cabinet has taken a step back. They decided to bet on half the load: a ground invasion first - perhaps Hamas will feel the pressure, and perhaps the kidnapped will be returned despite everything. I wish I was wrong.” But it is possible that at the end of this hybrid path we will get a bad result in all worlds: neither causing the collapse of Hamas nor recovering the kidnapped people.”

“Netanyahu is not qualified and has lost control of his words and actions.”

The former minister in Netanyahu's governments, Limor Livnat, wrote in an article published in the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, “The Prime Minister is the commander-in-chief of the army and for hundreds of thousands of soldiers who are now fighting or waiting to enter the Gaza Strip, how will they now be able to rely on you, Benjamin Netanyahu? And how will the family members of the kidnapped depend on you?”

She added, "This terrible tweet, in which you yourself, on your Twitter account, accused the head of the Shin Bet, the head of Aman, and the leaders of the security forces of not warning you about war intentions on the part of Hamas, was the culmination of your campaign to distance yourself from any responsibility for the terrible failure" On October 7th.

Livnat continued: “Bibi, I have known you for many years. I was the head of your media staff when you were elected to head the government for the first time in 1996, and I held the position of minister in three governments that you formed, until 2015. I opposed you and voted against some of your decisions in the government, along with Other Likud ministers, unlike today’s Likud ministers, who know that you have lost your abilities but are silent like fish.”

According to her, “Your supporters are following you like following the leader of a religious sect. They refuse to see that Netanyahu, who was so wise in the past, the most intelligent ambassador of Israel to the United Nations, and the successful minister of finance in the past... has evaporated. In his place here is an incapable prime minister.” He incites, sows internal discord, dismantles state institutions and the guards of the shrine by appointing unworthy people. No, Bibi, you cannot be relied upon. You are not qualified. Give back the keys. Now.”

For his part, party affairs analyst in the newspaper "Haaretz", Yossi Verter, believed that Netanyahu should resign immediately because this is an Israeli interest. And in the wake of his tweet yesterday, “The big fear is that Netanyahu is not responsible for his actions and does not control his words, and in the difficult period that Israel is going through, he is controlled by someone who is controlled by someone,” referring to Netanyahu’s wife and their son, Yair.

When the current crisis began, on October 7, 2023, only two years had passed since the Corona virus pandemic, which led to the first economic contraction affecting the Israeli economy since the Al-Aqsa Intifada in 2000...

At a time when attention is focused on the military, political and security repercussions of the “Al-Aqsa Flood” operation, which was launched by the Islamic Resistance Movement “Hamas” against Israeli military sites and settlements in the vicinity of the Gaza Strip, on October 7, 2023, and the subsequent Israeli aggression against this. Gaza Strip, the effects of the economic war are increasing, especially for Israel. The confrontation caused severe damage to its economy during the emerging Corona Virus (Covid-19) pandemic crisis, so much so that its leaders boast that its economy was one of the most successful economies in confronting the pandemic through direct state intervention.

The Israeli economy before the crisis

When the current crisis began, on October 7, 2023, only two years had passed since the coronavirus pandemic, which led to the first economic contraction affecting the Israeli economy since the Al-Aqsa Intifada in 2000. The government launched a set of economic recovery packages at a cost of about $50 billion; This led to a record deficit in its budget, and an increase in its debt to about three-quarters of the size of its total economy[1]. With limited government intervention, the Israeli economy was able during the following two years (2021-2022) to restore its balance in view of the noticeable growth in domestic demand, both consumer and investment, and to achieve economic growth of about 8.6 percent and 6.5 percent, respectively, which are generally high rates. , compared to any other economy in this period[2]. Accordingly, the government’s public finances recovered and its indicators began to improve, especially the size of public debt relative to domestic product, which returned to stability at levels close to those before the pandemic. In contrast, estimates of the Israeli economy during the current and next years, according to pre-war data, indicate that it will return to growth according to its natural path, in the range of 3 percent annually.

How did the Israeli economy receive the shock of October 7?

The Israeli economy is considered a structurally solid economy and is classified among the advanced economies in the region. This economy has a service base, a large industrial base, and an agricultural base on a smaller scale, all of which rely on advanced technology. Despite the structural strength on the one hand, and the great support that Israel received from the Western camp, led by the United States of America and its European allies on the other hand, after the painful military strike on October 7, these two factors did not prevent the global credit rating agencies from adjusting the future outlook. to the Israeli economy from “stable” to “negative.” Standard & Poor’s Global expected the Israeli economy to contract by about five percentage points in the last quarter of this year[3], and Moody’s and Fitch both announced... Placing Israel's domestic and international credit ratings under review leading to downgrade[4]. These reviews represent only a preliminary forecast of the impact of the shock that Operation Al-Aqsa Flood directed on the Israeli economy. Therefore, more severe negative assessments may follow if Israel fails to contain the economic repercussions of the conflict, and the state of tension on the northern front continues and escalates into stronger and broader military confrontations. However, if the conflict expands further and turns into a regional confrontation, which is still a weak possibility according to current estimates, the results will inevitably be disastrous for the Israeli economy.

The Israeli currency (the shekel), which was under pressure related to the “judicial reforms” crisis and the protests that followed it since the beginning of this year, was the most affected by the October 7 attack. Since the outbreak of the crisis, the shekel has lost more than 5 percent of its dollar value, reaching its lowest levels in eight years, despite the direct intervention of the Bank of Israel (the central bank) and its pumping of about $30 billion to contain the growing demand for the dollar and prevent a further deterioration of the shekel exchange rate.[ 5]. It appears that the central bank chose to sacrifice part of its foreign currency reserves in order to avoid increasing interest rates. So that the potential decline in domestic consumer and investment spending does not deepen, and to prevent the economy from sliding into a deeper recession, which allows it to be said that the Al-Aqsa Flood operation shook the Israeli economy as much as it shook the security, military, and political establishment, and placed the economic policies of the Israeli government before difficult challenges. A rapid decline in the shekel exchange rate would create additional inflationary pressures in addition to the shock received by the production chain and the resulting increase in the cost of shipping and insurance on imports. If the Israeli authorities fail to contain inflation, livelihood imbalances may result. Which, in addition to security pressures, may destabilize Israeli public opinion’s support for the government’s military and political agenda.

The effects of the war on the Israeli financial market were no less bad; The stock market lost about 9 percent of its nominal value during the first week of Operation Al-Aqsa, which is the largest weekly loss that the index has suffered over the past ten years[6]. This market's losses continued in subsequent weeks, reaching more than 22 percent, driven by foreign investors selling their shares, especially banking sector shares. The share prices of the five largest banks fell by 20 percent, which is the largest percentage of decline since the Corona pandemic. Thus, capital losses in the stock market since the outbreak of confrontations in Gaza are estimated at more than $20 billion[7]. These losses were driven by the increasing severity of potential future risks and the growing state of uncertainty related to the security and economic conditions in Israel.

From financial challenges to broader ramifications

It is clear that the Israeli government, in an effort to restore the prestige of deterrence, is throwing all its military weight into its ongoing aggression against the Gaza Strip, not caring about its financial cost. It is aware that its failure to restore its image will have more serious repercussions. Not only related to security aspects, but also politically, socially and economically. According to the Israeli Minister of Finance, the financial cost of the military operation carried out by Israel against the Gaza Strip is close to 250 million US dollars per day, or about 1.75 billion dollars per week, and about 7.5 billion dollars per month. That is, about 1.5 percent of its gross domestic product[8]. The United States, aware of the nature of the financial challenges facing its ally Israel, was quick to announce an urgent aid package to enable it to move forward with its military operation against the Gaza Strip. US President Joe Biden submitted to Congress an urgent financing project for Israel worth $14.3 billion, as part of a broader financing package that also includes Ukraine and Taiwan[9]. This is in addition to the costs that the United States itself will bear, as a result of the direct military support it provides to Israel in its aggression against Gaza, including sending two aircraft carriers with its battle groups to the region[10]. Most likely, the large amount of financial support mobilized for this aggression will not be sufficient to ensure the ability of the Israeli public treasury to cope with the requirements of the military campaign, including the cost associated with calling up about 360,000 reserve soldiers, and the programs that are likely to be launched to compensate for the losses of large companies and institutions. Small and medium enterprises also suffered from the cessation of their work and a decrease in their incomes as a result of the field consequences of the military operation and other adaptive programmes.

The consequences of the war will not be limited to its direct financial burdens, but will also extend to domestic demand, both consumption and investment, which is expected to witness a noticeable decline. Because of fear, consumer and investor confidence declines. The evidence that appears, through the reactions of Israeli society and the severe state of confusion it is experiencing, leads to the conclusion that the Israeli economy is heading towards a deep crisis. The repercussions of the Al-Aqsa Intifada in 2000 on the Israeli economy can be inferred to estimate the repercussions of what is happening today, even if the shock is more severe this time. The same applies to external demand, whose sources quickly began to comply with the facts of the war. Tourism and its related services, which are considered an important tributary of the Israeli economy and its general budget with a total output of about 7.7 billion dollars, have been subjected to complete paralysis[11], as the data indicate that almost all reservations in hotels and tourist establishments have been cancelled, while Half of its capacity has been used so far to shelter families evacuated from areas and settlements close to the border with Gaza, and it is likely to reach three-quarters of this capacity in light of the plan to evacuate residents of cities and towns on the Lebanese border. These are additional costs that will be borne by the budget of the occupying state. This will contribute to the widening of its financing gap. The situation is not much different for the transportation sector, and air transportation in particular. A group of international airlines announced the suspension of their flights to Israel, and the role of civil air transport became limited to evacuating foreign nationals and Israelis fleeing the war. As a result, the share price of El Al Airlines declined by 19 percent since the start of the Al-Aqsa Flood operation[12].

It is expected, albeit less severely, that merchandise exports will decline, and the Israeli trade deficit will worsen due to logistical bottlenecks imposed by the field data of the war, as well as competitive pressures resulting from the high cost of exports driven by the high cost of shipping, insurance, and fuel. The world price of oil rose by about 5 percent in the first week of the Israeli aggression, and its prices fluctuate day after day, higher than the level they were at before the aggression on Gaza.

The supply side will not be immune to these effects; The exceptional call-up of all reserve forces will empty the driving sectors of the Israeli economy of their operators, and the state of fear surrounding foreign workers and their flight outside Israel, and the cessation of the use of Palestinian workers, will cause major paralysis in support services.

The deeper effects have yet to occur

The economic costs that Israel will bear as a result of its continued aggression against the Gaza Strip will be huge. Not only for the government and its general budget, but also for companies, institutions and the general population who ultimately bear these costs. In order for these repercussions to be addressed objectively, guided by previous experiences, the strength of the Israeli economy and its ability to contain the consequences of such crises must not be overlooked, even if that comes at the expense of its growth and development process over many years.

But we must not overlook the difference between the current confrontation and all that preceded it between the occupation and the Palestinian people. The surprise attack on October 7 was not only a tactical shock to Israel, but also a practical test of its security and defense system and a living witness to its failures. The real problem that Israel will face after the war stops will be the state of uncertainty surrounding its defense system and the myths it has created about its military and intelligence capabilities. Economically, this deep state of uncertainty is expected to discourage investment, reduce consumption levels, and hit the tourism, transportation and other services sectors. This situation will also affect the attractiveness of the Israeli economy to foreign workers. Which means that he will face a series of wage increases due to a shortage in labor supply, especially if this situation leads to reverse migration out of Israel.

It is expected that the state of uncertainty will have noticeable negative effects on the location of the settlements and their settler residents, and investments in their various forms, in the southern regions adjacent to the Gaza Strip and the northern regions adjacent to the border with Lebanon. Which leads to the population being concentrated in the centre, exacerbating the real estate and population crisis and increasing their costs. The government will find itself forced to provide broad incentive packages to persuade investors and individuals to reside and invest in the border areas, which will result in long-term pressure on its general budget.

After Israel's defeat on October 7, confidence in its military industries, which top the list of its exports, is likely to decline, after its intelligence and defense system failed to prevent the attack that surprised it using homemade Palestinian attack techniques.

Conclusion

The Al-Aqsa flood operation will have profound repercussions on the Israeli economy. Not only because of the direct financial cost associated with financing military operations, but also, and more severely, because of the extended and ripple effects that will make the Israeli economy unbalanced for a period of time. But these effects, their depth, and their temporal extension will all depend more on the state of uncertainty after the major collapse that the Israeli security and military system suffered on October 7. The impact of the surprise, and the brutal crimes committed by Israel against the residents of the Gaza Strip in response, will remain among the concerns present in the minds of Israelis, investors and visitors, which means that the economic crisis will be longer and have a deeper impact than ever before.

The Journalists Syndicate said that many Western media outlets were involved in broadcasting blatant lies on behalf of the Israeli occupation government, and helped it justify its aggression and murders against the Palestinian people, specifically in the Gaza Strip.

A report issued by the union stated, “There are major and serious violations committed by major Western media outlets without verification or intentionally, and they are the ones that claim professionalism and have every possibility of verification and did not do so, which indicates that they did so intentionally.”

The union stated that some of those media outlets retracted their false narrative after their lies were exposed and apologized, while others did not retract or apologize despite the exposure of the falsity and deception.

It pointed to some examples of major media violations and failures in the media, including news reports on the Israeli “I24” channel, where its correspondent, “Nicole Zedek,” indicated the presence of a number of infants who were found beheaded in the “Kfar Ezza” settlement, where the news was even reported by The American president adopted the story and repeated it, before the reporter herself retracted her allegations.

Oren Zaev, an Israeli journalist, revealed through his page on social media the falsehood of what happened, indicating that he participated in the media tour, denying the existence of any evidence of Hamas killing infants, and saying, “The Israeli officers did not mention any such incident.”

The American newspaper "PBS" also reported allegations that later turned out to be false, promoted by occupation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, about cases of rape and burning among women who were captured. It later became clear that this story was false, and the occupation army spokesman retracted what his prime minister had said.

As for the British newspaper, The Mirror, it claimed that an artist was killed by what it described as terrorists. Her mother came out and spoke to the British newspaper, The Independent, saying that her daughter was alive in a hospital in Gaza.

The BBC had more than one fall in siding with the Israeli narrative, which during its coverage of the war used the word “died” to refer to those killed in Gaza, and “killed” to describe the Israeli dead.

On October 12, CNN also published “the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, through his account on the X platform (formerly Twitter), 3 pictures, saying that they were “horrific pictures of children killed and burned.” Later, American journalist Jackson Hinkle exposed the lie using artificial intelligence. He said it was a photo of a dog in a veterinary clinic that had been faked using technology.

The most widely circulated newspaper in the United States of America, the Los Angeles Times, published unsubstantiated news about rapes of women, and the British newspaper the Daily Mail reported false news about an Israeli channel correspondent that Israeli officials said “they found the bodies of forty infants with their heads cut off in a settlement.” Kfar Ezza,” without scrutiny from the British newspaper, which is also what the British newspaper “The Times” did, and an investigation conducted by the independent American website “The Gray Zone” revealed that the claim of beheading Israeli children came from an Israeli soldier named David Ben Zion, and it was identified During an interview conducted with him by the Israeli "I24" in his capacity as an "extremist settler leader," the investigation indicated that media outlets and journalists retracted initial reports in this regard after it was not possible to prove the allegation of beheading children, including the British newspaper The Independent and the American channel CNN. .

A report on the News Point Arabic website quoted that in 2015, the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network (IJAN) published an investigative report dealing with the complex financial and institutional support system behind the efforts of those organizations supporting Zionism to suppress any international and global activity in support of Palestine, such as manipulating various media outlets and influencing opinion. Year and targeting institutions, and from 2009 to 2012, this network pumped more than $300 million into media propaganda and espionage.

The Journalists Syndicate said that these false reports contribute to creating a climate of support for the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip, which caused the fall of more than 8,000 thousand victims, which makes these false media outlets an accomplice in the killing of victims, and they deliberately lied to humanize Baroud and the crimes of the Israeli occupation and demonize the victims. Palestinian children, women and the elderly.

The union vowed to prosecute these media outlets in accordance with international laws and international federations working in the field.

On Tuesday morning, the occupation forces blew up the house of the Deputy Head of the Political Bureau of Hamas, Saleh Al-Arouri, in the town of Arora, near Ramallah, in the West Bank.

Confrontations and clashes: arrests in the West Bank and Jerusalem, and the occupation blows up Saleh Al-Arouri’s house

An escalation in the rate of bombing Palestinian homes and facilities in the West Bank (Getty Images)

At dawn and Tuesday morning, the Israeli occupation forces launched a campaign of raids and incursions into the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem, including dozens of Palestinians, while confrontations and clashes broke out in some areas, resulting in injuries and cases of suffocation.

This comes as the occupation forces blew up, on Tuesday morning, the house of the Deputy Head of the Political Bureau of Hamas, Sheikh Saleh Al-Arouri, in the town of Aroura, near Ramallah in the West Bank.

Institutions concerned with prisoners’ affairs reported that the occupation forces arrested dozens of Palestinians, and they were transferred for investigation by the occupation security services under the pretext of involvement in armed resistance.

In Nablus Governorate, the occupation forces arrested a number of Palestinians, as occupation military vehicles stormed several neighborhoods of the city of Nablus from several directions, raided a house on Street 16 and arrested Abdel Fattah Al-Agbar and Ahmed Qronfol from Al-Najah Street.

They also arrested the young man Islam Lawlah, after they raided and searched his home in the village of Zawata, and the young man Saed Ismail from his home in the village of Beit Iba.

The occupation forces prevented the Palestinian Red Crescent Society crews from providing treatment to two young men before arresting them.

The occupation forces assaulted the ambulance crew while transporting him to the hospital, suffering from panic, and forced him to get out of the vehicle to confirm the identity of the injured person.

The Red Crescent explained that an elderly man suffered from a lack of oxygen due to panic, which required his transfer to the hospital.

The occupation forces stormed the municipality suburb area in the city of Hebron. The occupation forces arrested MP Nasser Abdel Jawad from the town of Deirblout, west of Salfit, after raiding his house.

The occupation forces also stormed towns in Tulkarm Governorate and the Shuafat camp, north of occupied Jerusalem.

The occupation forces arrested the freed prisoner, Alaa El-Din Hamdan, after they raided his home in the town of Sidon, north of Tulkarm, and searched him. The forces also stormed the Shweika suburb.

The occupation forces stormed the town of Qabatiya, south of the city of Jenin, while violent armed clashes were reported to have broken out between Palestinian militants and the occupation forces that stormed the town.

The confrontations resulted in the injury of a young man by occupation bullets.

Armed men opened fire towards the Bat Hefer settlement near Tulkarm, while the occupation forces threw flares.

Today, Tuesday, the Israeli war machine committed heinous massacres against families in the Gaza Strip, killing dozens of citizens, most of them children and women, in the ongoing aggression for the twenty-fifth day in a row.

Local sources, citing Abu Youssef Al-Najjar Hospital in the city of Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip, reported that there were children killed and a number of injuries after Israeli warplanes targeted a house for the Hijazi family, west of the city.

Israeli warplanes destroyed a four-story residential building from above its residents belonging to the Habib family at the Habib Junction in the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood, southeast of Gaza City, amid appeals for ambulances to quickly arrive due to the presence of a large number of martyrs and wounded, the majority of whom were children, women, and the elderly, lying under the rubble.

13 citizens, all of them women and children, were martyred after Israeli occupation warplanes targeted a house in the Al-Zawaida area in the central Gaza Strip.

Israeli warplanes bombed the vicinity of the Gaza European Hospital in the southern Gaza Strip, causing casualties among citizens.

A number of citizens were injured after Israeli warplanes bombed a house for the Al-Raqab family in the town of Bani Suhaila, east of the city of Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli occupation artillery violently bombed the neighborhoods of Al-Zaytoun, Al-Shuja'iya, and Al-Tuffah, east of Gaza City, and east of Jabalia, Beit Hanoun, and Sheikh Zuweid, north of the Gaza Strip, with dozens of rocket shells, which fell on citizens' homes, causing martyrs and wounded.

Israeli warplanes bombed with missiles the residential towers area in the Tal al-Hawa neighborhood, southwest of Gaza City, causing injuries among citizens.

Paramedics and citizens recovered 18 martyrs and a number of wounded after the occupation warplanes bombed a house for the Abu Shamala family in the Al-Zawaida area in the central Gaza Strip. They were transferred to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the neighboring city of Deir Al-Balah.

The Israeli war machine continues its fierce aggression against residential neighbourhoods, property and infrastructure in the Gaza Strip for the twenty-fifth day in a row, claiming the lives of citizens and causing massive destruction of homes, buildings, towers and apartments.

He added, "They want chaos to continue in the Middle East, and therefore the United States is doing its utmost to discredit those countries that insist on an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and stop the bloodshed, and that stand ready to make a real contribution to resolving the crisis."

Russian President Vladimir Putin held the West responsible for the crisis in the Gaza Strip, as Israel is waging a war on Gaza, and accused the United States of wanting to spread chaos in the Middle East.

In a television statement before a meeting of members of the Russian Security Council, the government and heads of law enforcement agencies, Putin said that “the ruling elites in the United States” and “those in their orbit” were behind the killing of Palestinians in Gaza and behind the events in Ukraine, Iraq and Syria.

He added, "They want chaos to continue in the Middle East, and therefore the United States is doing its utmost to discredit those countries that insist on an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and stop the bloodshed, and that stand ready to make a real contribution to resolving the crisis."

Russia supports an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and it supports the two-state solution. Moscow angered Israel by receiving a delegation from the Hamas movement.

Putin said that the key to resolving the conflict lies in establishing an independent, sovereign Palestinian state, hinting that this is not Washington's stated goal.

He also accused Western intelligence services and Ukraine of helping to foment unrest in Dagestan, where last night a crowd of people tried to block passengers who had arrived at Makhachkala airport on a flight from Israel.

Author Amos Harel

The Israeli army is significantly expanding the size of its forces and the area of territory in which it operates in the northern Gaza Strip. The Palestinian resistance was limited in terms of shooting, but it is clear that the more the operation expanded, the more the military clash between the two sides increased. At the same time, it is likely that attempts will soon be made to reach a deal to exchange kidnapped persons, when Hamas feels increasing military pressure on it.

From Lebanon, Hezbollah and Palestinian organizations are intensifying their attacks and, for the first time, have begun firing rockets towards civilians in settlements a little further away.

Israel continues to maintain secrecy about the nature of the operation in the Strip, except for general statements regarding its expansion, and that it will take a long time. Home Front Commander Avi Miloa said that the fighting could continue for months, and there would be a need to conduct a "contingency routine" on the Home Front. Yesterday witnessed several clashes with Hamas members, during which dozens of “terrorists” were killed, according to Israeli estimates. An Israeli force killed gunmen who emerged from one of the tunnels at the Erez crossing inside the Gaza Strip. The army spokesman spoke about the injury of some Israeli soldiers.

The Air Force continues to use unprecedented force to defend forces operating on the ground. A noticeable improvement was recorded in the Internet and cell phone service in the Gaza Strip, after it was completely interrupted on Saturday, at the beginning of the operation. In the southern Gaza Strip, thousands of residents flocked to UNRWA warehouses and stole food and other goods from them, while more than 750,000 Palestinians left the battle zone and moved to the Gaza Strip in the south.

Currently, it is expected that Hamas will conduct a pulse-checking operation in order to resume negotiations regarding the kidnapped persons, with Qatari mediation. In Israel, public interest in the suffering of the families of the kidnapped is increasing. Former high-ranking security officials, including Defense Minister and former Chief of Staff Shaul Mofaz, expressed their support for the “all-for-all” deal, in which all the kidnapped persons are released, in exchange for the release of Palestinian security prisoners held in Israeli prisons.

Israel has shown flexibility so far, but what is meant is an unprecedented concession, and it is not clear whether it can be achieved with international guarantees. In such a case, the war will end with a major achievement for Hamas, and this seems unacceptable from the point of view of the Israeli leadership.

Those who insist on turning this harsh confrontation into a Gog and Magog war are the extremist settlers in the West Bank. Not a day goes by without incidents of violence initiated by them against Palestinians, in addition to violent friction between Palestinians and Israeli forces. There is an impression that there is a party seeking an additional war similar to the 1948 war, and the expulsion of the Arab population from their homes. This news is bad and dangerous, and the government and security forces must address it as soon as possible. It is not only the Shin Bet that is concerned, but also the American administration, which warns Israel daily about what is happening in the West Bank.

In Lebanon, yesterday there was a change in Hezbollah's policy of fire. In addition to launching shells and anti-tank missiles towards Israeli army positions near the border, missiles were launched, some of which reached the Rosh Pina area [which is 14 km from the Lebanese border]. There were no casualties, but this is considered an indication that the fire was directed at civilians on a line further south. Israel is also currently attacking Hezbollah camps in areas far from the border. 

A Palestinian organization has claimed responsibility for firing rockets into the Galilee. Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah has been silent since the beginning of the war in Gaza, in contrast to his approach in the Second Lebanon War [the July 2006 war], and in previous battles between Hamas and Israel. He promised to give a speech next Friday.

According to reports by foreign journalists from Beirut, the Lebanese government and other parliamentary blocs are calling on Hezbollah and its representatives in Parliament to refrain from committing a mistake that would drag the country into a war similar to the 2006 war. They say that Lebanon cannot bear the kind of destruction caused by Israel, against the backdrop of the serious and ongoing economic crisis it is suffering from. The country is responsible for it.

Author Amira Hass

Under the guise of collective shock and horror due to the Hamas “massacre” on October 7, and under the guise of mourning, pain and fear for the fate of the kidnapped, settler militias are accelerating and expanding their attacks on Palestinian sheepherders’ communities in large areas of the West Bank, and are pushing Farmers were forced to leave their lands and farms, which happened more than once, with the support of the army. A gradual process that has been going on for almost 30 years, and is intensifying at this time: displacement in broad daylight, with the aim of completely “cleansing” about 60% of the West Bank lands from their original inhabitants.

“Individual” settlers arrive at every house, tent, and road that the discriminatory “Civil Administration” bureaucracy did not succeed in demolishing, and to every place where army orders did not succeed in preventing people from staying, where their villages existed before 1948, and they achieve this official goal: expanding areas of life. The Jews at the expense of the Palestinians.

On Saturday morning, a settler (soldier on leave) shot Bilal Saleh (40 years old), killing him, while he was out with his children to pick olives on their lands in the village of Al-Sawiya, south of Nablus. Two hours earlier, settlers expelled Palestinians who had gone out to pick olives in the villages of Jalud and Qasra, east of Al-Sawiya, and beat one of them. When I began writing the article on Saturday afternoon, the residents of the old village of Zanotta gathered their belongings and left the caves in which they live in the southwest of the Hebron Mountains. Inconveniences, threats, and denial of access to their grazing lands, as well as dwindling herds of livestock, have reached a peak over the past weeks. Now, the threats are more direct than necessary.

Last Saturday, additional news reached me: settlers and their livestock stormed the village of Al-Qawawis in the south in the morning hours, and the frightened women and children fled. In the afternoon hours, settlers and soldiers stormed the village of Janba in Masafer Yatta, climbed onto the roof of the mosque, and destroyed the speakers. Settlers also attacked families living in areas between the “Metzudat Yehuda” checkpoint and the “Green Line,” and confiscated their mobile phones, which led to a 16-year-old young woman’s hand being broken. After that, three of those who were attacked were arrested. Did the army arrest them? Or the settlers? Not yet known.

At around 10 p.m., it was noticed that settlers were cutting down olive trees south of Nablus. At the same time, soldiers and settlers confiscated surveillance cameras from inside a chicken farm in Qusra. In nearby Jalud, a group of Israeli-Jews, some armed, danced and sang near houses. At approximately 11 o'clock on Saturday night, they stormed Susya, assaulted the families, and gave them 24 hours to leave their homes. In the village of Tuba, settlers, some of them armed, stormed residents' homes and vandalized what was inside them, after they overturned the furniture and disappeared private items. At approximately one o'clock in the morning, the Israeli Jews loaded 6 sheep belonging to a widowed woman in a southern village, in addition to gas and a telephone, and stole them. This is only a partial list, because there is no precise documentation.

This is not about “natural revenge,” or about defense against “rioters allied with Hamas,” as the settlers’ lawyers would have you believe: this is an organized, thoughtful, and very well-financed plan that has a pattern that reveals its existence. The police did not search for the attackers, close the files, or conduct investigations. The army stood aside at first, and then, its soldiers began to participate. The Public Prosecution did not care, and the ministers visited with a smile. This has been the behavior of the authorities since the 1970s, and there is no reason to change it today.

Thousands of residents of the region are alone exposed to the violence of this conspiracy. Militia members close the roads leading to the gatherings, destroy water tanks using four-wheel drive vehicles, and storm and threaten the residents of tents and caves at night, clearly demanding that they leave. In addition, they beat, destroy property, and are even arrested on their own initiative. They also destroy solar panels and agricultural buildings, time after time, if the first message does not arrive.

Everything they did, gradually, in secret, became more and more public, and without disturbance, over decades, is now being multiplied by 100. Our army was sent to defend the settlers, so the towns of the “Gaza envelope” were left behind. Its soldiers have been accompanying the settlers in recent weeks during their attacks and, on occasion, completing the mission: they also block roads, demolish buildings and destroy crops, threaten, shoot, wound and kill. The settlement project - which was founded from the beginning on systematically harming human rights and Palestinians, and treating them as inferior and unnecessary - is now celebrating its astonishing success, amid days of mourning and mourning.

Will the settlement expansion process that took place under the cover of the Oslo Agreement and the displacement process from Area C to the heart of Areas A and B slide? Or is the right question when? When will armed settler militias begin penetrating villages and municipal neighborhoods (not just Nablus, Awarta, or the outskirts of Al-Bireh) and threatening residents?

Amira Hass is an Israeli journalist and author, mostly known for her columns in the daily newspaper Haaretz covering Palestinian affairs in Gaza and the West Bank, where she has lived for almost thirty years

The World Bank said on Monday that it expects the average global oil price to reach $90 per barrel in the last quarter of 2023, and that the average price will fall to $81 during the year as a whole with a slowdown in demand. However, it warned that the escalation of the aggression against Gaza and the expansion of its area would push Prices skyrocket.

The latest report issued by the bank on commodity market expectations indicated that oil prices have risen by only 6% since the start of the aggression on Gaza, while the prices of agricultural commodities and most metals and other commodities “have moved only slightly.”

The Palestinian resistance, led by the “Izz al-Din al-Qassam” Brigades - the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) - launched Operation “Al-Aqsa Flood” on October 7, in response to the aggression of the occupation forces and Israeli settlers against the Palestinians, and the continued raids on Al-Aqsa Mosque. Blessed.

This operation was followed by Israel launching a war on Gaza, which has entered its 24th day.

As the massacres against civilians continued, the toll of the aggression rose to more than 8,000 martyrs, including 3,347 children and 2,136 women, in addition to approximately 21,000 wounded, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza.

3 possibilities

The World Bank report indicates three possibilities for risks, based on conflicts in the region since the 1970s, with a gradual increase in risks and their consequences:

Possibility of slight disruption

The potential for “minor disruption” could push oil prices into a range of $93-$102 per barrel in the fourth quarter. The impact of this possibility is equivalent to the decrease in oil production that occurred during the war in Libya in 2011, ranging between 500 thousand and two million barrels per day.

Moderate disturbance probability

The potential for "moderate disruption" - roughly equivalent to the impact of the 2003 Iraq War - would reduce global oil supplies by between 3 million and 5 million barrels per day, pushing prices up to between $109 and $121 per barrel.

High potential for disruption

The potential for “major disruption” is similar to the impact of the Arab oil embargo in 1973, which led to a decline in global oil supplies, ranging between 6 million and 8 million barrels per day.

This would initially lead to prices rising to between $140 and $157 per barrel, a jump of up to 75%.

Scenarios of the economic impacts of the Israeli conflict and the Palestinian resistance

“If oil prices continue to rise, this will inevitably mean higher food prices,” said Ayhan Kosi, deputy chief economist at the World Bank.

He continued, "If there was a severe shock in oil prices, this would lead to the growth of food inflation, which has already risen in many developing countries," according to what Reuters reported.

A Bloomberg report also drew 3 possibilities for the impact of Israel's war on Gaza on the global economy, in terms of growth rates, inflation, and oil prices.

The report talked about the possibility that this war would push prices to rise between $3 to $4 if the war in Gaza subsides, and a 10% increase if the Lebanese Hezbollah and Iranian-backed factions in Syria enter the line, while prices may reach $150 if a war occurs. Direct confrontation between Israel and Iran.

Oil prices fell by about 3% - today, Monday - as investors remained cautious ahead of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy meeting and manufacturing data in China this week, the impact of which outweighed the support derived from tension in the Middle East.

In evening trading, Brent crude futures fell 2.8% to about $86.7 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude fell 3.3% to $82.7 per barrel.

The Occupation Prisons Service said, “Young security prisoners in Megiddo Prison were transferred to solitary confinement after they attempted to lower the flag of the State of Israel raised on the section.”

Regarding the details of the event, the Prison Service indicated that the prisoners in the yoouth section of Megiddo Prison attempted to lower the Israeli flag, which was raised above the section, while they were leaving to shower.

The statement added that prison guards stormed the department and dragged the prisoners who participated in the event to solitary confinement, while talking about his intention to open a case against them.

Today, Monday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates called on all international and international bodies to quickly intervene to stop the crimes of genocide against Palestinian civilians.

The Ministry affirmed, in a statement, that the absence of an international force that guarantees the enforcement of the law and obligates the perpetrators of crimes to immediately stop committing them, would turn the international justice that must be followed into mere appeals and begging the executioner, and this is considered a systematic failure of the international will for peace and the powers of the Security Council with regard to the protection of civilians wherever they may be. they were.

The Ministry condemned in the strongest terms all forms of incitement practiced by the Israeli occupation state and its various tools that attempt to demonize the Palestinian people and call for revenge without humanitarian or moral limits, or as a deterrent of law or conscience, and without giving any consideration to the lives of defenseless Palestinian civilians, and considered it an extension of the same colonialist, arrogant mentality that The Palestinian people have always suffered from it, wherever they are, and it has dealt with them as population groups that have no political, civil, or humanitarian rights, as the basis on which the occupational Israeli colonialism was based, which allowed itself to seize the land of the Palestinian, and then allowed him to be killed and facilitate his shooting by the occupation soldiers. And the colonizers and permissible his life, or expelling and displacing him.

In this context, the Ministry confirmed that the slogans and statements of Netanyahu, his ruling council, and his military staff are nothing more than justifications for killing more civilians and a license to bomb and destroy everything in the Gaza Strip, including a license to bomb hospitals, shelter centers, and schools for the displaced, under false pretexts and pretexts.

On Monday evening, the Israeli occupation forces set up military checkpoints at the intersection of the town of Arraba, Wadi Daouk and the entrance to the village of Jalboun, and intensified their presence south of Jenin.

According to local sources, the occupation soldiers stopped citizens’ vehicles, searched them, and checked their occupants’ cards at a military checkpoint that was set up at the Arraba town junction, and another on the Jenin-Nablus Road at the Fahma junction, and at the entrance to the village of Jalboun, northeast of Jenin.

The sources added that the occupation forces stormed the town of Ya'bad, raided a house for the Abu Qweider family, interrogated its residents, and also stormed the village of Jalboun.

The General Secretariat of the League of Arab States announced that it had received an official request from both the State of Palestine and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, to hold an extraordinary session of the Council of the League of Arab States at the summit level, headed by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which chairs the current (32nd) session, in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, on November 11. .

The Assistant Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, Ambassador Hossam Zaki, said that the General Secretariat received today an official request from Palestine and the Kingdom to discuss the ongoing Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip since the seventh of October, indicating that the General Secretariat of the League of Arab States has By circulating the Palestinian and Saudi memorandums to the Arab member states.

The work of the extraordinary session of the Arab League Council was held at the level of foreign ministers, headed by Nasser Bourita, Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccans Residing Abroad, President of the current session of the League of Arab States Council, and in the presence of the foreign ministers of the Arab countries, on October 11, 2023 at the headquarters of the General Secretariat of the League of Nations. Arabic, to discuss the Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip, and ways of Arab action to stop this aggression.

The meeting of the League of Arab States Council at the ministerial level came at the request of the State of Palestine and the Kingdom of Morocco. During the meeting, ways of political action were discussed at the Arab and international levels to stop the Israeli aggression on Gaza and achieve security and peace based on international law and international legitimacy resolutions.

An official at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said on Monday that the collapse of civil order led to the disruption of the work of four United Nations aid distribution centers and a storage facility in Gaza at a time when people are searching in every way for food and water.

Tom White, Director of UNRWA Affairs in Gaza, said that work at the logistical base at the Rafah border crossing, vital for distributing aid, has become very difficult because eight thousand people are sheltering there.

“With the collapse of civil order, every day we have hundreds of people trying to get into the warehouses to get flour,” White told Reuters.

He added: “People are now trying to survive.” “Their concern is to obtain sufficient flour and water.”

Thousands of Gazans stormed United Nations warehouses yesterday, Sunday, to seize flour and other materials. One of these warehouses is located in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, where UNRWA stores supplies carried by humanitarian aid convoys coming from Egypt to Gaza.

“In effect, we lost the Deir al-Balah base,” White said. We will see to what extent we are able to get it running again, but of course it is complicated because the Rafah logistics base has now become a magnet for people looking for shelter or protection under the banner of the United Nations, or trying to enter the warehouses to get flour.”

By Anshel Pfeffer

What Is Israel’s Endgame in Gaza? These Are the Three Key Dilemmas

Assuming Israel isn’t actually planning to transfer the Palestinians, annex Gaza or permanently reoccupy it, there are three key questions about, and various solutions for, 'the day after' the war with Hamas. All of them, say experts, are highly complex and require nearly unfathomable regional coordination

Anshel Pfeffer

After nearly three weeks of what often looked like dithering – amid reports of deep disagreements and distrust both within the war cabinet and between some of its members (mainly Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu) and the Israel Defense Forces General Staff – the IDF finally began its ground offensive in the Gaza Strip on Friday night.

But as this stage of the offensive slowly enfolded, senior political and security sources admit that, so far, there has been next to no discussion on the endgame – the preferred solution for Israel in Gaza the day after the war, assuming the operational objectives of destroying Hamas’ military capabilities and ending its control in Gaza are achieved.

Hamas has ruled Gaza for over 16 years, since the bloody coup it carried out against the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority in June 2007. Officially, the PA’s civilian bureaucracy remained intact in Gaza all this time and $100 million was transferred each month for its employees’ salaries. On the ground, though, most matters were managed by a parallel Hamas apparatus.

On the day after Hamas, there will be an immediate need for a new framework, one that will ensure Israel is not attacked again from Gaza and also meets the needs of the over 2 million Palestinians living there.

Speaking before the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee after the war had started, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that after the fighting ends, there will be a stage of “creating a new security regime in the Gaza Strip, removing Israel’s responsibility for day-to-day life in the Strip and creating a new security reality for Israeli citizens and residents of the border communities.”

Who exactly is supposed to supply both the security and civilian needs in Gaza? Gallant had no details for the committee.

It seems that the cabinet – there are now two of them – and other elements of the Netanyahu government are not prepared to deal right now with the day after, for fear of the far-right members in the governing coalition and the shrinking, increasingly extremist base of supporters Netanyahu still has.

A week and a half ago, when there were reports in the Israeli media of plans to transfer control of Gaza to the PA, the Prime Minister’s Office issued an immediate denial: “Netanyahu defined the objective: destroying Hamas. Any talk of a decision to transfer the Gaza Strip to the PA or anyone else is a lie.”

A senior security official complained over the weekend that the situation Israel wants to see in Gaza after the fighting ends has major implications for planning the ground maneuvers. The government’s reluctance to deal with this leaves the IDF and Defense Ministry to try to define these objectives, even though it should be the cabinet’s decision. With the ground offensive now underway, the generals have little choice but to guess what Israel’s endgame in Gaza will be.

One part of the government where there is plenty of talk about “the day after” is among the religious far right, which is dreaming aloud of returning and rebuilding the Gush Katif settlement bloc that was abandoned by Israel in 2005 as part of its Disengagement plan.

In recent days, pro-Netanyahu mouthpieces in the media have been pushing the line that the Disengagement – an event that took place over 18 years ago – is the root cause of Hamas’ murderous attack on October 7. This is both part of their campaign to exculpate Netanyahu, who was not prime minister at the time, but it also the start of a public campaign by the far right. (As finance minister in the Sharon government that carried out the Disengagement, Netanyahu voted in favor, but then resigned eight days before the first evictions of settlers began.)

Religious far-right ministers are not yet speaking of this openly but seven months ago, when the coalition passed the abolition of the Disengagement Law (largely a symbolic move) in the Knesset, National Missions Minister Orit Strock said in an interview that “there is no doubt that [the Gaza Strip] is part of the land of Israel and there will be a day when we return to it.”

The far right understands that talking about this now will cause public anger. However, in one of the expanded security cabinet meetings, extremist National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir stated: “We need to hold on to the territory.”

A lawmaker from the religious Zionist wing of the coalition recently used the term “ir ha’nidachat,” or the beguiled city – an Old Testament injunction to destroy a city where most of the inhabitants have began worshipping idols and who must therefore be killed and the city flattened: “And it shall be a heap for ever; it shall not be built again” (Deuteronomy 13:17). The lawmaker expressed the wish privately that this be done to at least some of the Gaza Strip.

Even among more moderate right-wing lawmakers, there is talk of the need for Israel to “punish the Gazans” after the war by making a change to the Strip’s borders. One area being mentioned for possible Israeli annexation is the enclave’s northernmost strip, just south of the border with Israel, where there are very few Palestinians and where the settlements of Elai Sinai, Nisanit and Dugit stood before the Disengagement. These were secular communities that were not part of the largely religious Gush Katif bloc.

Another plan that seems to have emanated from part of the government is a 10-page policy paper prepared by the Intelligence Ministry, which was first revealed on the Local Call website. This paper recommends transferring the entire civilian population of Gaza to Sinai. While it has the appearance of a serious document, no one who has even a fleeting acquaintance with this government is taking it seriously.

Despite its grand-sounding name, the Intelligence Ministry has zero influence over any of Israel’s intelligence services (which are run either from the Prime Minister’s Office or the Defense Ministry) and its sole purpose is to provide disgruntled Likud politicians with a ministerial title. The incumbent, Gila Gamliel, is not in any decision-making circle and has only observer status in the broader security cabinet (and no standing whatsoever in the war cabinet). It is almost certainly something that was prepared for Likud members rather than for any serious policy purposes.

We’ve learned the hard way that nothing is out of question for the most extreme government in Israel’s history. But it’s hard to see how any of these proposals can become policy in an era where Israel has become more dependent than ever on the United States. None of these ideas are in any way being considered or taken seriously in the defense establishment. Any move toward long-term occupation of parts of the Gaza Strip, let alone rebuilding some of the settlements there, would lead to Israel’s diplomatic isolation and the cessation of U.S. support. Just talking about these ideas is damaging enough to Israel.

Three key dilemmas

So, assuming Israel isn’t planning to remove the Palestinian population or reestablish a permanent presence in Gaza, there are three key dilemmas with regard to “the day after”:

1. How will Israel maintain temporary control of the territory after most of Hamas’ military infrastructure is destroyed?

2. To whom does Israel transfer control of Gaza when its forces leave?

3. Is there a realistic plan for Gaza’s future that could prevent it becoming once again a base for attacks on Israel?

In the first interim stage, the IDF and defense establishment will have to bear responsibility for Gaza and its population. There have been some suggestions of similar mechanisms to those that existed in southern Lebanon during the IDF’s presence there between 1984 and 2000 – such as the establishment of a “security zone” within Gaza’s borders, and even a local militia that will help maintain security like the South Lebanon Army sought to do in the 1980s and ’90s.

However, few experts believe either of these are realistic. The Gaza Strip is too small for there to be a security zone that can serve as a buffer area preventing even short-range mortar launches by the remaining pockets of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad fighters against Israeli communities while not remaining inside the Palestinian cities. As for a compliant militia, it is extremely unlikely that recruits can be found for this within the Palestinian population.

IDF generals are fully aware that in the interim stage, once the ground offensive has achieved its objectives, they will have to be in charge both of security and civilian matters in Gaza. The Defense Ministry is already starting to plan how to transfer some of the personnel of the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories, which deals with civilian affairs in the West Bank, to temporary roles in Gaza.

Responsibility for Gaza will place a major burden on the IDF, which in the not-too-distant future may also find itself in another war in the north against Hezbollah, and there will be the need to try to shorten this interim period.

The only solution the defense establishment can see is the return of the PA to Gaza. But this will be a complex task and in no way an automatic process. The PA does not have the resources to take control of Gaza, and its political will to do so is also questionable.

“There’s no doubt the PA is the only address for taking control of and rehabilitating the Gaza Strip,” says Maj. Gen. (res.) Tamir Hayman, director of the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University and a former commander of Military Intelligence.

“It is already the address for transferring most of the funds to Gaza and, despite the weakness and corruption of the PA, it remains the only practical channel. And there is a will there. From the perspective of [Palestinian President] Mahmoud Abbas, losing Gaza to Hamas in 2007 was his biggest personal failure. He will have an historic opportunity to preside over the great reconciliation of the Palestinian people.”

But before that can happen, there will have to be yet another stage. It is highly unlikely that the handover can take place directly from the IDF to the PA. Abbas will not be prepared to be seen as returning to Gaza on Israel’s bayonets. In addition, the PA’s security apparatus will not be able to take over the entire Gaza Strip in one go and will need time to gradually deploy, as well as recruiting and training more men. There will have to be another force in Gaza, providing security in the interim and helping the PA build up.

One of the key questions that is already being asked quietly is whether, among the Arab governments with which Israel has relations, any will be prepared to contribute to a “peacekeeping force” that will manage the transition.

Jordan is out of the question due to the large proportion of Palestinians in its population and their anger toward Israel. Egypt would have to be part of any such force, but could be expected to supply at most the necessary logistical facilities in its territory across the border from Gaza. The Egyptian army harbors deep suspicion, even hatred, of the Palestinians in Gaza, whom it regards as supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood, and is therefore unlikely to supply soldiers on the ground.

The two candidates being mentioned are the United Arab Emirates and Morocco, which both have stable diplomatic relations with Israel since the Abraham Accords were signed in 2020. They also have professional armed forces that could provide the main components of an Arab peacekeeping force.

And then there are the Saudis, who would be expected to foot the bill – both for such a force and also for the long-term civilian rehabilitation and development programs in Gaza, to be administered by the returning PA.

But there is another obstacle to this stage. The return of the PA to Gaza after over 16 years of Hamas rule would almost certainly be possible only in the context of a wider agreement in which the Palestinian leadership would receive some kind of assurance of a “diplomatic horizon.” Abbas will demand an Israeli commitment to return to the moribund peace process. Israel will have to choose between continuing to spend its resources – and the blood of its soldiers – in controlling Gaza, or accepting this demand.

No one has any utopian illusions that a diplomatic process which failed to yield a solution for over three decades will suddenly succeed after the deep trauma inflicted on Israel by Hamas’ October 7 attack and the destruction being caused in Gaza with Israel’s resulting war to destroy Hamas.

However, to bring this war to an end, there will be no choice but to at least be open to such a possibility. Simply positing the two-state solution as a distant goal will not be enough. There will have to be serious thinking on how to solve the long-standing civilian problems of the Gaza Strip – an artificial geographical construct whose borders were determined by the cease-fire lines between the IDF and the Egyptian army at the end of the War of Independence in early 1949, when the original population of Gaza had more than quadrupled due to the influx of around 200,000 Palestinian refugees.

“If history teaches us anything, it’s that without a just diplomatic solution, we will continue this conflict,” says Dr. Fatina Abreek-Zubiedat of Tel Aviv University. She has spent years researching the urban development plans of Gaza that were put in place after Israel’s occupation following the Six-Day War in 1967.

“But in the interim period, before such a solution is reached, we can work on developing Gaza’s economy. Not like Israel did in the past when it was mostly a source of cheap labor, but by building shared economic areas with international investment: joint agricultural projects, a seaport and industrial zones that will create local economic value.”

But is there physical space for such economic projects in the crowded area between Gaza and Israel? Especially in the coming years, when it can hardly be assumed that the communities on either side can work together?

In the long-term, there has to be more thought given to the possibility of expanding Gaza’s territory. One plan proposed in the past by Energy Minister Yisrael Katz (Likud) was to build artificial islands off Gaza’s shore, which would house seaports and airports, electricity and water desalination plants.

Another way to expand the territory, previously outlined by former IDF colonel Yitzhak Ini Abadi (who served as Israel’s military governor of Gaza in the early ’70s), is international pressure on the Egyptian government to cede territory in Sinai. This could allow for the expansion of the Gaza Strip along the Mediterranean coast and inland in the peninsula.

Abadi insists that without a wider “vision” for developing Gaza, Hamas will return and only major civilian development can create an environment where “Hamas is dried-up from within.”

Most experts are very skeptical about this prospect, but Abadi insists that, historically, the Egyptians have not regarded Sinai as part of their sovereign territory. In the right circumstances, he believes such a proposal could work. “Egypt lost its prestigious position as the premier Arab nation during the Arab Spring revolutions,” he says. “It could have an opportunity here for regaining some of that status by becoming the great rehabilitator of the Palestinians in Gaza.”

Just about every conversation on “the day after” in Gaza, with security and political officials and experts, returns to the same point: That this Israeli government is incapable of making any of the long-term decisions that will be required. It is too dysfunctional, with Netanyahu focused on his own short-term battle for political survival, and with its far-right elements opposing any concessions to the Palestinians.

They are already trying to prevent such an outcome. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced on Monday that he is blocking the transfer of tax revenues that Israel collects on behalf of the PA because, he claims, senior figures in the PA praised the Hamas attack.

For Israel to have any prospect of achieving long-term change in Gaza that will both reduce the threat to its security and not make Israel responsible for Gaza’s population, its own government must change first.

The occupation authorities announced the release of an Israeli female soldier who had been detained by Hamas since October 7.

A joint statement by the occupation army and the Shin Bet said: “Tonight, army conscript Uri Magedish was freed after she was kidnapped by Hamas.”

The statement added, “The soldier was medically examined, and she is in good condition, and she met her family.”

The statement continued, "The IDF and the Shin Bet will continue to work to release the kidnapped people."

Hamas denies

On the other hand, a member of the Hamas Political Bureau, Izzat Al-Rishq, denied what the occupation army announced regarding the release of the female soldier.

Al-Rishq said, “With regard to the allegations of the terrorist Zionist occupation about the liberation of a female soldier, we confirm that such an announcement aims to disrupt the video of the female prisoners that Al-Qassam broadcast today, which caused a great shock to the Zionist community.”

He added, "These allegations are an attempt to escape the pressure that the file of occupation detainees represents on Netanyahu and his government."

He continued, "No one believes the false Zionist narratives, and even the Zionist community itself does not believe its leaders, and what the resistance will say is the final say."

With the beginning of the 24th day of the war on Gaza, Israel continued to bomb residential neighborhoods, resulting in martyrs and wounded in several areas, in parallel with its forces’ attempt to penetrate deep into the Gaza Strip.

The Ministry of Health announced that the death toll from the ongoing Israeli occupation forces aggression against the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, since October 7, has risen to 8,382 martyrs and more than 23,000 wounded.

The Ministry said in its daily report issued today, Sunday, that 8,260 martyrs died in the Gaza Strip, and 122 martyrs in the West Bank, while more than 21,000 citizens were wounded in the Strip, and about 2,050 in the West Bank.

The Ministry stated in its report that 73% of the martyrs in the Gaza Strip were children, women and the elderly.

The Ministry  said that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Refugees (UNRWA), which is the largest provider of humanitarian aid in Gaza, has almost exhausted its fuel reserves and has begun to reduce its operations significantly, indicating that 117 trucks are the total number of trucks that have entered through the Rafah crossing since the 21st of this month, as they are working The World Health Organization is coordinating with the Palestinian Red Crescent Society to facilitate the delivery of supplies to hospitals.

The Ministry added that 34% of Gaza's hospitals are not working, and 65% of primary health care centers are closed, while more than 37,000 people among the displaced suffer from non-communicable diseases, including 4,600 pregnant women, and 380 postpartum cases requiring medical care among the displaced, and 15 % of the displaced suffer from various disabilities, and most shelter centers are not equipped and lack mattresses and medical beds.

Regarding the attack on health personnel, 124 health personnel were martyred, more than 100 were injured, and 50 ambulances were damaged, including 25 that were completely out of service.

Also, 12 of the 35 hospitals that became out of service were closed, namely the International Eye Hospital, Dar Al Salam Hospital, Al-Yaman Al-Saeed Hospital, Psychiatric Hospital, Beit Hanoun Hospital, Al-Durrah Children’s Hospital, Hamad Rehabilitation Hospital, Al-Karama Hospital, Al-Wafa Hospital for Medical Rehabilitation and Surgery. Specialization.

46 out of 72 health care centers stopped working as a result of the bombing and the depletion of fuel. It also indicated that the occupation demanded the evacuation of 24 hospitals in the northern Gaza Strip (the total capacity of these hospitals is 2,000 beds).

The Ministry  pointed to the severe shortage of medicines, equipment, and personnel needed to treat large numbers of wounded, in addition to the sharp decrease in fuel needed to operate electricity, as surgical operations are performed without anesthesia and by the light of telephones.

The Ministry of Health estimated the number of displaced people in the Gaza Strip at about one million four hundred thousand citizens, with 629,000 people living in 150 emergency shelters designated for UNRWA. Overcrowding is a growing source of concern, and the average number of internally displaced persons per shelter reached 2.7 times its capacity, with the most crowded shelter reaching 2.7 times its capacity. 11 times its carrying capacity.

The report indicated that 45% of the housing units in the Gaza Strip were destroyed as a result of the violent bombardment launched by the occupation army by air, land and sea since the start of the aggression on the seventh of this month.

The number of completely destroyed and uninhabitable housing units reached 33,960 units, 150,000 units were partially destroyed, 12 health facilities were destroyed or out of service after their destruction, and 46 health care centers, in addition to 221 educational institutions, including 29 UNRWA schools.

The Ministry of Health stressed that the shelter centers are overloaded by 250%, which poses a risk of disease outbreaks, noting that many victims are still missing under the rubble.

She pointed out that the World Health Organization documented 118 attacks on health care in the West Bank, affecting 99 ambulances, including 67 obstructions to the provision of health care, 61 physical violence attacks against health teams, and 19 cases of detention of health employees and ambulances, and the health sector also witnessed 12 Military inspection case.

Dozens of citizens were martyred, and others were injured, since dawn on Monday, in bombing by Israeli occupation aircraft in various parts of the Gaza Strip.

Local sources said that the Israeli occupation aircraft targeted the house of the "Fatayer" family in Al-Zawaida in the central Gaza Strip, leading to the death of 11 citizens, the majority of whom were women and children.

The occupation aircraft targeted a house belonging to the “Nawfal” family next to Abu Qamar station in Jabalia camp, northern Gaza Strip, resulting in the death of 3 citizens, in addition to a number of injured people.

Three citizens were martyred in a vehicle bombing, south of Gaza City.

The intense artillery shelling intensified in the vicinity of Sheikh Zayed City and Qalibu, north of Gaza, without any martyrs or wounded being reported.

Occupation aircraft also launched intense raids on the Tal al-Hawa neighborhood in western Gaza, which is subjected daily to continuous bombing of residential buildings and shops.

Medical sources at the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahia, north of Gaza, announced the arrival of dozens of martyrs and wounded, as a result of the continuous bombing of the Bureij and Nuseirat camps, and the Zawaida area.

American Rabbi Israel David Weiss said that the Israelis established their state by stealing from the Arabs, and that he prays for the disappearance of their Zionist state and for Palestine to be liberated as soon as possible.

Weiss stated that there are many people who confuse Judaism and Zionism, and are confused about the matter.

It is noteworthy that David Weiss is a prominent member of the international Jewish anti-Zionist organization, known internationally as the Neturei Karta movement.

Anadolu Agency quoted him as saying that Zionism, which is the “ideology” of the State of Israel, “is trying to portray itself as a Jewish state, but it has no relation to Judaism, which is a religion,” adding that Judaism and Zionism are as separate as the earth and the sky, and contradict each other, noting. Until the commandments of the Torah stated, “You shall not kill and you shall not steal.”

Rabbi Weiss pointed out that Zionism caused the Nakba of 1948, in which the Palestinians were subjected to forced displacement. He said, "Murder and theft are clearly forbidden in our country, while these people (Israel) established their state by stealing from the Arabs. That is why we cry with the Palestinians."

Weiss stressed that Israel is an anti-Semitic state that produces and incites hatred.

He continued, "As religious Jews, we pray to the Lord every day for the demise of the Zionist State of Israel, which has caused the shedding of much Palestinian and Jewish blood as quickly as possible." He also pointed out that they are praying for Palestine to gain its freedom as soon as possible.

Backgrounds of flood and aggression

It is noteworthy that Israel was established on Arab land occupied in 1948, and annexed Jerusalem and the West Bank in 1967. Throughout its 70 years, it has continued to kill and arrest Palestinians, expand settlement activity in the West Bank, launch military operations in Gaza, and attack Islamic and Christian sanctities in Jerusalem.

On October 7, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades - the military arm of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) - and other Palestinian resistance factions launched Operation Al-Aqsa Flood against the Israeli occupation, and have so far killed more than 1,400 Israelis.

The Palestinian resistance also captured more than 200 Israelis, and announced that it wanted to exchange them for more than 6,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli occupation prisons.

For its part, Israel continues its aggression against Gaza, bombing homes, schools, hospitals and mosques, which led to the martyrdom of more than 8,300 Palestinians, most of them women and children, in addition to wounding 12,000, destroying entire neighborhoods and displacing most of the population.

Israeli military operations in Gaza receive broad support from the United States, which sent two aircraft carriers to the Mediterranean Sea to “deter any attempt to expand the conflict,” she said.

Dr. Sobhi Skaik, Director General of the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital, said that the Israeli occupation army re-targeted the only Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital for cancer patients in the Gaza Strip for the second time, causing severe damage to it, disrupting some of the electromechanical work systems, and endangering the lives of patients and staff.

Yesterday, the Ministry of Health announced that the Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip caused damage to the only “Turkish Friendship Hospital” for cancer patients in the Strip.

This came in a press statement by the hospital's general director, Sobhi Skaik, in which he said that the Israeli army repeatedly targeted the hospital's vicinity.

According to the statement, “A state of panic afflicts cancer patients and medical staff as a result of the only Turkish Friendship Hospital for cancer patients in the Gaza Strip being severely damaged as a result of the Israeli occupation repeatedly targeting its surroundings.”

He added: “The occupation not only increased the suffering and pain of cancer patients and deprived them of medicines and travel for treatment abroad, but it now endangered their lives by targeting the hospital’s surroundings.”

In another statement, Skaik said: “The Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital was built with a generous donation from the Turkish government to become a humanitarian medical model that alleviates the suffering of patients exhausted by the Israeli siege.”

He added: “Today, this occupier, with all brutality, wants to destroy this edifice, which embodies part of the Turkish people’s love for our Palestinian people.”

Skaik called on the Turkish presidency and government to “stop the Israeli orgy and protect this medical humanitarian edifice, which has constituted an important transformation in the care of cancer patients in the Gaza Strip.”

The Turkish Friendship Hospital is located at a point close to the area into which Israeli forces entered on Monday morning, before retreating to areas close to the eastern border of the Gaza Strip.

The Turkish government funded the construction of the hospital (2011-2017), which is the largest hospital in Palestine with an area of 34,800 square meters, consisting of 6 floors, and containing 180 beds.

A reply was issued by the office of the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, this evening, Monday, October 30, 2023, to the message of female prisoners in the Gaza Strip, which was broadcast by the Al-Qassam Brigades in a video.

Netanyahu said in his response: “This is about harsh psychological propaganda by Hamas.”

He added, "We will do everything we can to return all the kidnapped and missing people to their homes."

The Hamas movement had published a video clip showing three Israeli hostages being held inside the besieged Gaza Strip, against which the occupation's aggression continues, leaving tens of thousands dead and injured.

During the video clip, the hostages sent a message to the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, asking him to work towards their release and release all Israeli hostages in exchange of Palestinian prisoners. 

The Israeli bombing renewed on Monday morning in the western sector of southern Lebanon, as approximately 15 missiles fell this morning on the Al-Mushairfa area in Naqoura, while the vicinity of Al-Raheb Hill, opposite Aita Al-Shaab, witnessed the fall of incendiary bombs from the Israeli side.

The National News Agency in Lebanon reported that the Israeli artillery shelling on the outskirts of the villages of the western sector affected the vicinity of the army center in Ras Naqoura and the vicinity of the UNIFIL headquarters.

The Israeli attacks expanded this afternoon, affecting, for the first time since the July 2006 war, the area between the towns of Kafr Tibnit and the Hamra farm, with a 155 mm artillery shell that landed on agricultural land.

The outskirts of the towns of Shihin, Al-Jebeen and Majdal Zun were also subjected to concentrated artillery shelling by the Israeli occupation forces. The hostile bombardment targeted the center of the Labouneh area, where about 50 shells were recorded.

The occupation army targeted olive groves between the town of Kafr Kila and Dermamas with incendiary shells.

Hezbollah targets Israeli sites

On the other hand, Hezbollah announced in separate statements that it had targeted the technical equipment of the Ras Naqoura naval site with guided missiles, causing direct hits there.

The party's members also targeted "the technical equipment of the Metulla site with appropriate weapons, causing direct hits there, in addition to the technical and spy equipment of the Bayad Blida site, using appropriate weapons, its walls and garrison, and causing direct hits there."

Hezbollah also announced the implementation of operations against Israeli military sites in Ramiya, Al-Malikiyah, Birkat Risha, Al-Sammaqa, and Misgav Am.

Al-Quds Brigades and Hezbollah mourn 3 martyrs

In the same context, the Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the "Islamic Jihad" movement, mourned two of its members who were martyred during an infiltration operation into the Israeli Hanita site.

The Al-Quds Brigades reported that Ibrahim Muhammad Othman (23 years old) and Mustafa Ezzedine Hussein (21 years old) were martyred while carrying out a breach of the Israeli security fence at the Hanita military site in northern occupied Palestine on the Lebanese border.

On Monday, Hezbollah also mourned Mounir Youssef “Abu Zeinab” from the town of Shaqra in southern Lebanon.

Yesterday, Sunday, the border witnessed an increase in the intensity of mutual bombardment, as the Al-Qassam Brigades - Lebanon, the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), announced that it had fired 16 missiles towards the Nahariya settlement, in response to the crimes of the Israeli occupation against civilians in Gaza.

The "Fajr Forces", the military wing of the "Islamic Group in Lebanon", also announced yesterday, Sunday, that it had launched new, focused missile attacks targeting Israeli sites in the Kiryat Shmona settlement.

According to Al-Arabi’s correspondent in the Upper Galilee, Ahmed Jaradat, the occupation army is focusing on burning forest lands near its military positions on the border with Lebanon, with the aim of preventing Hezbollah fighters and Palestinian factions from hiding in Lebanon.

He added that this is the first time that resistance missiles have directly hit the Kiryat Shmona settlement since the July 2006 war.

He pointed out that the occupation army is keeping quiet about the events in the Kiryat Shmona settlement.