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The Islamic Resistance in Lebanon – Hezbollah – announced on Thursday that it carried out several operations against Israeli occupation sites in northern occupied Palestine, in support of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and in support of their resistance.
The Islamic Resistance in Lebanon targeted the “Hanita” site with artillery shells, confirming that it was directly hit.
Source: Maan News Agency
Israeli journalist Ben Caspit wrote on the Walla Hebrew website, saying: In a controversial statement this week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted that the Philadelphi Corridor is the “rock of existence” for Israel.
The statements came at a press conference in which he declared the Philadelphia Tiger as the “Third Temple” and asserted that responsibility for security, “hostages” and the future of Israel now rested with him, but he stressed that this responsibility began “from today,” raising questions about who bears responsibility for events that occurred before that.
Two months ago, the Philadelphi Corridor would not have been prominent on Israel’s security threats list. What prompted Netanyahu to change his mind? Observers say the reason may have been his secret meeting with a small ‘war cabinet’ away from the eyes of his allies, which could explain the media campaign that celebrates personal recordings at the expense of more important issues.
In a move that surprised many, Netanyahu a
pologized for his failure to recover the “hostages,” but did not clarify who was responsible for their kidnapping in the first place.
He also faced criticism for his conflicting statements about the war’s goals and timing, speaking of “November 7” instead of “October 7”, and stating “3 goals” for the war in English while speaking of “4 goals” in Hebrew.
Netanyahu seems to find himself in an unenviable position, as he faces great pressure from his political allies, which is pushing him to make crucial strategic decisions that may not be in Israel’s interest in the long run.
Netanyahu claims to have warned former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon about the dangers of the situation in Gaza, but since coming to power in 2009, he has taken no real action. Netanyahu has been prime minister most of the time and had many opportunities to fulfill his election promise and topple Hamas in Gaza. He had full popular legitimacy to do so, but he has taken no practical steps to achieve this goal.
If the Philadelphi corridor wa
s so important, why didn’t Netanyahu try to reach it as soon as the fighting broke out? The operation could have been carried out easily; the ‘Rafah Division’ was and remains the weakest of Hamas’s divisions. If the IDF had reached the ‘Philadelphi’ in November or December, the problem might have been solved already.
The simple truth is that Netanyahu was afraid to embark on a large-scale ground operation. In those days, he consulted with senior officers such as Maj. Gen. Ofer Winter and Maj. Gen. Yitzhak Brick, who warned him that Gaza would be a deadly trap for the IDF, and preferred to operate from the air and from the outside. However, Gabi Ashkenazi, who was sent on a mission by Eisenkot and Gantz, convinced him to begin the maneuver about three weeks later. However, the operation in southern Gaza was delayed by Netanyahu, while Gantz and Eisenkot were pressuring him to move toward Rafah.
Now, suddenly Netanyahu has discovered the importance of Philadelphi after realizing that the government may fall i
f this decision is not taken. Netanyahu knows very well that the military presence in “Philadelphi” will not guarantee stopping the smuggling, as the Israeli army was there until 2005, and Hamas was using the tunnels to smuggle weapons under the feet of Israeli soldiers.
Meanwhile, the “hostages” are dying. Hamas has been dealt a severe blow. Almost all of its military leadership has been eliminated except for Yahya Sinwar. The battalions and brigades have been dismantled, the tunnels and military infrastructure destroyed. Thousands of Hamas fighters have been killed. This is the time to take the temporary risks in Philadelphi and return the “hostages” home. But Netanyahu will not do this, because the only thing that matters to him more than returning the hostages is preserving his government.
This is evidenced by a report published last week indicating that during the last cabinet meeting, a clause was included that would give the Israeli negotiating team a broad mandate to negotiate a deal to release the
‘hostages,’ but it was canceled at the last minute under pressure from Ben-Gvir and Smotrich. As a result, we are left with Philadelphia without a settlement, without a deal, without ‘hostages,’ but with a government that is in fact ‘the rock of our existence.’
Source: Maan News Agency
An opinion poll conducted by the Israeli newspaper Maariv on Friday revealed that a large Israeli majority supports withdrawal from the Philadelphi corridor in exchange for a prisoner exchange deal with Hamas.
According to the poll, 48% of the sample preferred to release the detainees in Gaza rather than keep them in detention.
It showed that a large majority of the public supports withdrawing from the Philadelphi Corridor to allow for a swap deal, as 48% of the sample supported giving up the corridor, compared to 37% who expressed a willingness to abandon a deal to leave the corridor in Israel’s hands.
On the political front, the differences are more acute, and among opposition supporters, withdrawal from the axis enjoys 75% support.
In contrast, 74% of coalition voters said they would be willing to abandon the agreement if it meant withdrawing from the Philadelphi axis.
The poll also reveals that only one candidate is more fit to be prime minister than current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Accor
ding to the poll, if Naftali Bennett had submitted his candidacy, he would have received 49% support, compared to 34% for Netanyahu, but the latter outperforms the other mentioned candidates.
The poll showed that Netanyahu would win over Benny Gantz by 42% to 40% for Gantz, a change compared to last week, when Gantz beat Netanyahu by one percentage point.
Netanyahu will also win over opposition leader Yair Lapid, with 45% to Lapid’s 36%, and he will also win over Avigdor Lieberman, with Netanyahu receiving 43% of the sample’s votes, compared to Lieberman’s 35%.
Source: Maan News Agency
Israeli police arrested three young men from the West Bank on Friday, on suspicion of their “illegal” presence in the city of Ramat Gan.
Police said officers at the Mesopotamia station noticed the three waiting at a bus stop on Mendes Street, prompting them to check their IDs.
After verification, it was found that the three young men were residing in the country illegally, and they were arrested and taken to the police station for investigation.
Source: Maan News Agency
The extremist Israeli Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, sent a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in which he demanded that the destruction of Hamas and other organizations in the West Bank be included among the goals of the current war.
Ben Gvir pointed out in his letter that “the October 7 massacre was carried out due to a dangerous assumption, and we are now in a state of war on several fronts, one of which is the Judea and Samaria (West Bank) front.”
Ben-Gvir added in his letter: ‘Unfortunately, this hypothesis still exists almost entirely on this front. The movement of the Palestinian Authority residents is free on the roads, and the terrorist organizations are expanding significantly. This is evident from the sharp increase in the attempts of these organizations to carry out bombing attacks, the latest of which was the deadly shooting attack that took place on Sunday, which resulted in the deaths of three Israeli soldiers at the Tarqumiya crossing.’
Ben Gvir concluded his let
ter by saying: ‘Based on the above, I request that a preliminary and necessary decision be made in the next cabinet meeting, which must be implemented immediately, to include the elimination of Hamas and the rest of the terrorist organizations in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) among the objectives of the war.’
Ben Gvir also posted on his Facebook account, saying: ‘I asked the Prime Minister to include the destruction of Hamas and the rest of the terrorist organizations in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) as one of the objectives of the war. The October 7 massacre was carried out because of a dangerous assumption that must not be repeated in Judea and Samaria. The mistakes must not be repeated. The war on Hamas must include Judea and Samaria as well.’
Source: Maan News Agency
The Upper Galilee Regional Council issued a statement to settlers on Friday morning, advising them to avoid gatherings, stressing the need to adhere to the instructions of the Israeli army and the Home Front Command.
‘Residents of the evacuated villages are only asked to avoid gatherings and limit movement within the town,’ the statement read.
This statement comes at a time when clashes between Hezbollah and Israel are renewed, after a short period of calm following the “preemptive attack” launched by the Israeli army at the beginning of last week.
Earlier today, the Israeli army announced that fighter jets attacked a Hezbollah weapons depot in the area of ??the town of Blida in southern Lebanon at night, and that military buildings belonging to the party were also targeted in the areas of Aita al-Shaab and Yarin in southern Lebanon.
Yesterday, violent clashes erupted on the northern front, where the Israeli army attacked a Hezbollah fighter in the village of Kafra, killing him.
Hezbollah responded by f
iring a barrage of rockets towards northern settlements, followed by Lebanese media reports that the Israeli army had launched attacks on targets in southern Lebanon.
Israeli media reported that the Israeli Air Force launched a wide wave of attacks in southern Lebanon, where 14 raids were carried out in various areas, including Al-Jbeen, Tyre Harfa, Wadi Zebqin, and Al-Eiziyeh.
Source: Maan News Agency
The German newspaper “Bild” revealed on Friday what it claimed was a secret document from the Hamas movement that includes the movement’s strategies for negotiating with Israel through the mediation of the concerned countries.
The document, found on a computer seized by Israeli military forces, is believed to belong to Hamas political bureau chief Yahya Sinwar and was drafted in the spring of 2024.
The document reveals Hamas leadership’s plans to “deceive” the international community and use the families of Israeli prisoners to achieve a main goal: restoring Hamas’s military capabilities and ensuring its continued control over the Gaza Strip.
The document lists several key aspects that Hamas intends to focus on during the negotiations, including preserving “Hamas’ ability to act against Israel,” “exhausting” the Israeli political and military machinery, and using international pressure to weaken Israel.
The document, the newspaper claims, clearly indicates that Hamas does not intend to seek a quick end t
o the war for the sake of the residents of Gaza. On the contrary, it states that “important terms of the agreement must be improved even if this requires negotiations to continue for a longer period.”
Hamas also admits that its “military capabilities have weakened,” but it does not see the need to stop the fighting quickly despite the suffering of the people of Gaza.
Details of the document reveal Hamas’s methods of using prisoners as a means of pressuring Israel, with the aim of improving its position in negotiations.
The document clearly provides instructions for ‘continuing psychological pressure on the families of the (Israeli) prisoners, both now and during the first phase of the release of prisoners as part of the ceasefire deal,’ in order to increase popular pressure on the Israeli government.
The document devotes a section to talking about how to influence the international community through manipulation with the aim of rebuilding Hamas’s military power.
The document proposes, as part of a politi
cal maneuver, that Hamas negotiators agree to “deploy Arab forces along the northern and eastern borders” of the Strip, with the aim of preventing the Israeli army from entering Gaza after the war ends so that Hamas has a chance to reorganize its forces.
The document also reveals Hamas’s demands of Israel, including the release of 100 fighters sentenced to life in prison, to replace leaders assassinated by the Israeli military.
The document also outlines how to direct the media in Israel and the world in the event of a failure of negotiations, with instructions including blaming Israel and accusing it of rejecting US-led mediation proposals, regardless of the facts, always according to Bild.
Source: Maan News Agency
Recently, three interesting and important documents were published about what is happening in the West Bank, which did not receive the public and media attention they deserved. The first was the retirement speech of the head of the Central Command, Major General Yehuda Fuchs; the second was the book by the head of the Shin Bet, Roni Bar, about the dangerous actions of the Minister of Security and others; and the third was the summary of the investigation by the head of the Central Command, Major General Avi Ballut, into the Jewish riots in the village of Jit. Before that, a similar joint statement was published by the Chief of Staff, the head of the Shin Bet, and the former Inspector General (of Police).
These documents lead us to the appropriate diagnosis of the crossroads we have reached: First, a network of Jewish terrorist organizations operates in the territories. A terrorist organization is an organized group that carries out acts of harm to life or property in order to instill fear (‘terrorism’) in a
nother group in order to push it to do something desired by the terrorists, namely, to expel Palestinians from their places of residence and residence in order to take control of them, settle them and annex them to Israel.
Secondly, the Shai Police Brigade is not acting against these terror organizations as required by law, international law and police values. There is evidence of regular police failure to intervene in events, arrest rioters, investigate suspects and bring them to trial. The police’s behavior reflects the spirit of an atmosphere of political patronage, strongly infused by the far-right MKs and their representatives in the government.
Third, the organizational, professional and operational coordination between the army, which is the sovereign in the territories, and the police, does not allow the army to perform its duties, according to the law, international law and the values ??of the Israeli army, in defending the daily lives of those living in the territories, including the Palestinians.
Fourth, the residents of the settlements where the activists in the terrorist organizations live do not act against them and are content with a few denunciations in weak language.
This is the junction of Jewish terrorism. From this junction two paths break out. In the first path, the terror organizations operate almost unhindered, on the way to their violent takeover of all the territories and then of the entire State of Israel. In the second path, the state’s security apparatuses perform their functions in active defense of the state’s existence and its conduct in the territories, according to its values ??and principles, in complete contradiction to the plans of the terror organizations, the plans of all those who provide them with government patronage and all those who silently support them.
Progress on the second, formal, appropriate path will only be possible if we take meaningful steps. For example,
We propose to consider canceling the activities of the Shai Police Brigade, or at least removing it fr
om all vital areas of activity, especially the area of ??preventing the activities of Jewish terrorist organizations. The task of preventing these activities must be returned to the IDF, and soldiers must be allowed to arrest rioters, investigate suspects and bring them to military trial on charges of terrorist activity. The IDF has left part of its responsibilities in the territories in the hands of the police, and the police did not fulfill its duty. Now the responsibility, with the necessary powers, must be returned to the IDF.
It is not difficult to understand why the army left responsibility and authority in the hands of the police, as it is not keen on operating against Israeli civilians. But what we understand from the head of the Shin Bet and the commanders of the Central Command is that the army now has no choice.
These events must be taken out of the hands of the police and full responsibility, with all necessary powers, must be returned to the army, assisted by the Shin Bet.
The danger from the
Jewish terror organizations, as the Shin Bet chief presented it and as is understood from the statements of the Central Command commanders, is no less than a danger to the very existence of the State of Israel. This must be changed immediately.
Source: Maan News Agency
A senior White House official revealed new details agreed upon between Israel and Hamas in the negotiations, according to the Hebrew website Sirugim.
The first humanitarian part: includes 600 aid trucks and 50 fuel trucks daily. That means within 42 days of the deal, 25,000 aid trucks will be transported to Gaza. As well as a lot of fuel.
On the humanitarian side, rubble removal equipment will be brought in, aid will be provided to clinics, bakeries and infrastructure will be restored, and 60,000 temporary homes and 200,000 tents will be built throughout the Strip.
In addition, Hamas demands complete freedom of movement for the displaced. That is, without inspection, as Hamas demanded and Israel opposed. However, the report expects that Israel has backed down on the issue of inspection.
In addition, the second element of the deal is complex, as the White House spokesman explains, and concerns the release of senior Palestinian prisoners. More than 800 prisoners, some of them prisoners serving life sentenc
es, will be released in exchange for an unknown number of Israeli hostages.
The new part that was revealed in the deal is Hamas’s demand to allow the wounded to leave Gaza for treatment. According to the Hebrew website, Israel has agreed to this as well.
Source: Maan News Agency
The child Bana Amjad Bakr (13 years old) died of her wounds from live bullets in the chest, Friday evening, following an attack by settlers, under the protection of the Israeli occupation forces, on the village of Qaryut, south of Nablus.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society reported that its crews dealt with a child who was seriously injured by live Israeli bullets in the chest, during clashes that erupted with the Israeli occupation forces in Qaryut. She was transferred to Rafidia Governmental Surgical Hospital in Nablus, where doctors announced her death from her injuries.
The martyr’s father reported that his daughter was shot by live occupation bullets while she was in her room at home with her sisters.
Source: Maan News Agency
A child was shot in the chest with live ammunition on Friday evening, in an attack by settlers, under the protection of the Israeli occupation forces, on the village of Qaryut, south of Nablus.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society reported that its crews dealt with a 12-year-old girl who was seriously injured by live Israeli bullets in the chest, during clashes that erupted with the Israeli forces in Qaryut.
Source: Maan News Agency
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates condemned in the strongest terms the heinous execution crime committed by the Israeli occupation forces, on Friday afternoon, against the American activist of Turkish origin, Aysenur Ezgi Eygi (26 years old), by firing live bullets at her and hitting her in the head in the town of Beita, south of Nablus.
The ministry considered in a statement issued by it that this crime is an integral part of the crimes of the occupation against our people, including the crime of genocide and displacement, and targeting those who stand in solidarity with the cause of our people and their just and legitimate national rights. It is also a practical translation of the instructions and directives of the political level in the occupying state that facilitate the use of live ammunition by soldiers with the aim of killing Palestinian citizens and all those who stand in solidarity with them.
The Ministry held the Israeli government fully and directly responsible for this heinous cri
me, which once again proves its premeditated plans to escalate and explode the situation in the conflict arena to cover up its racist colonial Judaization projects in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs called on the international community and its international, humanitarian and human rights organizations to move quickly to provide international protection for the Palestinian people and assume their legal and moral responsibilities towards the violations and crimes to which our people are being subjected, most notably the crime of genocide, displacement, settlement and extrajudicial killing, leading to the prosecution and trial of Israeli war criminals.
Source: Maan News Agency