The breakdown of the ceasefire with Hamas, that is. It damn well better be: It is time for intense fighting.
Read to the end to learn of ways that you can help Israel.
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Clifford May, president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, had it exactly right, when he wrote a few days ago that: “Israelis agreed to a bad deal for a good reason: to save the lives of as many hostages – especially children – as they can.”
https://www.israelhayom.com/opinions/israelis-agreed-to-a-bad-deal-for-a-good-reason/
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Democracies are not supposed to negotiate with terror organizations. To do so means relinquishing some control. It inevitably causes grief, as terrorists are without honor or decency – breaking commitments and utilizing psychological warfare.
But for a week we were in a ceasefire arrangement with Hamas in order to secure the release of as many of the Israeli hostages held by Hamas as we could. We were willing to stop fighting, and to allow into the Gaza Strip daily an increased number of trucks (200 per day), which were ostensibly bringing humanitarian supplies to the civilians.
We knew that a good percentage of those supplies would end up in the hands of Hamas, thus strengthening them. And we knew that they would be using this time to regroup and rest.
What we accomplished in this time, in spite of the risks taken, is that 84 Israeli hostages, women and many children were brought out, as well as 24 foreign nationals (23 Thai, and one Filipino). Here we see Yoni Asher, greeting his daughters after their release from captivity along with their mother.
We can point to this accomplishment with great pride. I don’t know if there is any precedent for a nation at war calling a temporary cessation in order to bring home nationals in the hands of the enemy. But we should not be surprised that the rescue could not be fully accomplished at this time. It was all tenuous and Hamas played many games.
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The ceasefire came to an end on Friday, when Hamas would not abide by the terms of the agreement, which was that all women and children would be released. They had refused to submit a list of the next 10 women they were supposed to release – offering to release men or dead bodies instead.
Israel estimates that Hamas still holds about 17 women and two children. The estimate cannot be precise. Some of the hostages may be dead. Some that are presumed to be hostages may be among the bodies that have not yet been located from the massacre of October 7. This is the horrific reality we are coping with. Additionally, as I have pointed out previously, it is not clear that Hamas has access to all remaining hostages or even knows where they are.
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Technically the ceasefire had been broken earlier when Hamas claimed credit for a terror attack in Jerusalem that killed three on Thursday morning. But even then, we persisted, in hopes of securing the release of more hostages on Friday.
By Friday morning it became apparent that the deal had truly broken down. In short order, Hamas began launching rockets, and Israel then began airstrikes and artillery strikes in force.
https://www.jns.org/idf-resumes-combat-in-gaza-after-hamas-violates-ceasefire/
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The final indication that the breakdown of negotiations was irrevocable, and not just a temporary setback, was the instruction delivered by Prime Minister Netanyahu to head of the Mossad David Barnea (pictured) to recall his negotiating team from Doha (Qatar). Barnea expressed thanks to William Burns, head of the CIA; , the intelligence minister of Egypt, Abbas Kamel; and the prime minister of Qatar, Mohammed Al Thani, for their excellent mediation efforts.
https://www.jns.org/mossad-team-leaves-qatar-as-talks-to-renew-truce-hit-dead-end/
Qatar, which has been pushing for a long-term truce, stated that, “The continued bombing of the Gaza Strip in the first hours after the end of the truce complicates mediation efforts.” But there are not going to be any more mediation efforts now.
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Over the last several days, information about how badly the released hostages had been treated has been made public. Doctors say that the children, on average, lost 15% of their body weight; there were periods of time when they had nothing to eat but pita bread and rice. The children’s legs were burned by motorcycle exhaust to mark them in case they escaped.
https://www.ynetnews.com/article/bj5vk3nst
In some instances, children were tortured: forced to watch videos of the massacre and threatened with guns if they cried.
The condition of nine-year-old Emily Hand provides a painful indication of how the children were treated. Her father, Thomas, reported: “The most shocking, disturbing part of meeting her was she was just whispering, you couldn’t hear her. I had to put my ear on her lips. She’d been conditioned not to make any noise.”
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-775555
It is difficult for us to imagine all of this, and the degree of trauma these kids now carry.
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Another heart-wrenching story is that of the Bibas family: Yarden, Shiri, four-year-old Ariel, and baby Kfir.
Because the baby was only nine months old when kidnapped with his family, he has received a lot of public attention. Shiri and her two sons were on the list of those Israel hoped to see brought back during negotiations. But recently Hamas announced that the family had been “traded,” whatever that meant.
Then Hamas declared that mother and sons had been killed in an Israeli attack. This is what they told Yarden, releasing a video of him crying and begging for his family to be brought to Israel for burial.
But there is no evidence that these family members are dead. Israel is trying to secure solid information and still has them on the list of people to be rescued. This is a prime example of Hamas’s psychological torture. They are masters at this cruelty.
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The more is revealed about the Hamas treatment of the hostages, the more intense is the pain of the families of those who have not been rescued. Not for a second do I minimize this.
But calls – either on their part, as they hold demonstrations and demand meetings, or on the part of others – for Israel to enter into a prolonged ceasefire in hope that this will bring them out is neither realistic nor productive. It is not going to happen now, and Israel’s first responsibility is to destroy an enemy without a soul that is bent on coming after us yet again.
Israel remains committed to finding a way to release those still being held. How or if this will happen, I cannot say. But we must continue to pray for all of them.
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And so, we have returned to fighting with full force. Some 400 terror sites were struck yesterday. There has been “unusually intense” fighting in Khan Younis in the south, where it is believed Hamas leaders are entrenched. The region of fighting in the south will be expanded, and there is still fighting in the north, as well, in and around Jabaliyah.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/381320
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Secretary of State Blinken made it very clear, in a statement to reporters in the UAE, that the fault for the breakdown of negotiations rested with Hamas: “Hamas reneged on commitments it made. In fact, even before the pause came to an end, it committed an atrocious terrorist attack in Jerusalem…”
https://www.jns.org/blinken-pause-came-to-an-end-because-of-hamas/
This is most welcome. But he also addressed the US call for Israel to slow the pace of fighting. The American focus is on the civilians, and that was a major part of his message when he was here last Thursday: take it slower, watch the civilians, shoot less.
There remains an enormous unease here with regard to the shifting position of the US, as Biden factors in leftist positions in the US that are decidedly anti-Israel. Regularly, commentators speculate on whether the US will stand with us to the end.
Saturday night, Netanyahu gave a press conference in which he declared (emphasis added): “Now we will finish the job…I am saying plainly and clearly: we will continue with the war until we achieve all its goals. And you cannot achieve these goals without continuing the ground invasion.”
Of major importance is that he also said this:
“Ultimately this is our war. Ultimately, we have to make the decisions. Ultimately, we do make the decisions. We try and often succeed in convincing our American friends. I hope and believe that will be the case in the future.”
This is what the people of Israel want to hear, this is what is necessary.
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In an official statement by Defense Minister Gallant after meeting with Blinken last week, he said (emphasis added):
“We are going to fight Hamas until we prevail—no matter how long it takes. This is a just war against Hamas…and it’s a war to bring the hostages back home—as long as it takes.”
https://www.jns.org/blinken-questions-israels-war-plans-suggests-clock-running-out/
Right on!
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Let me quote further from the article by Clifford May that I cited above. He wrote it before the ceasefire had completely broken down, anticipating that there would be huge international pressure to extend it indefinitely:
“If Israelis are thinking strategically, they’ll resist that pressure, understanding now more vividly than ever how much of the ‘modern world’ neither opposes Hamas’s openly and explicitly genocidal ambitions nor even believes that Jewish lives matter.”
A bitter and painful truth that I think we indeed have assimilated. We answer to no one but ourselves.
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We hadn’t heard from the airhead American vice president, Kamala Harris, in a long time. But now that she has spoken, in Dubai, her statement is a doozy.
“The United States is unequivocal international humanitarian law must be respected. Too many innocent Palestinians have been killed…”
Come again? In point of fact, Israel has done more to respect international humanitarian law than any country in history.
[] What other country warns civilians before an attack is to take place, so they can get out of the way?
Harris utters not a word of criticism against Hamas for using civilians as human shields, operating under hospitals and schools and mosques. The vice president prefers to point her finger at Israel.
Now Israel has distributed a map of alert zones within the Gaza Strip that are intended to help Gazans locate safe regions while following the Israeli army’s instruction to evacuate specific areas in Gaza.
Who ever heard of such a project?
[] We don’t know how many “innocent Palestinians” in Gaza have died. This is for two reasons. First, because there is a death count released by the Gaza Ministry of Health, without any differentiation whatsoever as to who is an “innocent” civilian (many civilians are collaborators) and who a terrorist. We’ve hit a lot of terrorists.
Then there is the fact that the Ministry of Health, which releases the figures, is run by Hamas. It is a certainty that the numbers have been inflated; there has been no independent verification.
[] During the week-long ceasefire, Israel allowed 200 trucks of supplies to come into Gaza. This, too, is unheard of. The Biden administration wants this number of trucks to remain even though the ceasefire is finished. Israel says nothing doing. Reportedly, “several dozen” trucks will come in daily.
But please, NOTE THIS: “Israeli soldiers found missiles and military gear hidden among United Nations relief supplies in the northern Gaza Strip, the Israel Defense Forces announced Saturday.
“The IDF said 110 rockets, including 30 long-range Grad rockets, were found hidden among boxes belonging to the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA)…”
Were these rockets brought in on UN trucks? If not, how did they end up among UNRWA supplies?
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Harris also spoke of “no forcible displacement,” which means we should not move Gazan civilian population around. But that is how they will be best protected – away from the areas of intense fighting. Right now, Israel wants the civilians at the far south of Gaza, near the border with Egypt.
The entire problem of civilians at risk could be ameliorated if Egypt opened the Rafah Crossing and allowed them to stay temporarily in the Sinai. But better to saddle Israel with the problem. There are analysts today speculating that ultimately the Gazans will push their way through. Let us see.
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My friends, I ask two things of you here.
The first is to share the information above as broadly as possible. People must know the truth about Israel’s actions in Gaza.
And then, for those in the US, to indicate in public forums and letters to the editor, and letters to the president and other elected officials, that you appreciate, indeed demand, support for Israel’s war to take out Hamas. Generate this energy from inside of America.
The less Biden feels that support for Israel works against his re-election efforts, the less he is likely to try to interfere with what Israel must do now.
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Pray to Heaven for Israel, my friends. Pray for the strength and wisdom of our leaders, for the safety of our boys, and for the rescue of our hostages. Pray with a heart filled with hope, not fear.
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© Arlene Kushner. This material is produced by independent journalist Arlene Kushner. Permission is granted for it to be reproduced only with proper attribution.
