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Edited by: TJVNews.com
Iran-backed terror groups are plotting to turn the Islamic holy month of Ramadan into the “second phase of October 7” and set the Middle East on fire, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant charged on Tuesday, according to information provided in a report on the Jewish News Syndicate web site.
“The main goal of Hamas is to take Ramadan, with an emphasis on the Temple Mount and Jerusalem, and turn it into the second phase of their plan that began on October 7. This is the main goal of Hamas, and it is being amplified by Iran and Hezbollah,” Gallant said following a situational assessment at the Israel Defense Forces’ Central Command, which is responsible for Judea and Samaria.
“We cannot let them have this, and that means we need to do everything we can to bring calm to the area,” Gallant continued, as was reported by JNS.org
“We must not give Hamas what it failed to achieve during the beginning of the war and [let it achieve] ‘unity of the battlefields,’” he added, in reference to the terror group’s attempts to spark a multi-front war.
The report on the JNS web site indicated that Judea and Samaria saw a dramatic rise in terrorist attacks in 2023 compared to the previous year, with shootings reaching their highest level since the Second Intifada of 2000-05, IDF data shows.
The violence has continued to escalate in the months since Hamas started a war with its murderous rampage across the northwestern Negev on October 7th. JNS also reported that a total of 41 Israeli airstrikes have been carried out in Judea and Samaria since the start of the war, as well as more than 200 counterterror operations in Palestinian towns.
Since October 7, around 3,250 Palestinian terror suspects have been captured in arrest raids throughout Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley, including more than 1,350 who are associated with Hamas, the IDF said Tuesday.
Also on Tuesday, the Washington Post reported that tn the Gaza Strip, IDF forces are closing in on the position of Hamas terror leader Yahya Sinwar, citing current and former Israeli officials familiar with the intelligence.
As was noted in the JNS report, Sinwar is believed to be hiding in the vast tunnel systems underneath the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis, where he has reportedly surrounded himself with a large number of living hostages, the officials confirmed.
“It’s not about locating him, it’s about doing something” without risking the lives of the hostages, one senior Israeli official told the Washington Post. However, the information in the JNS report indicated that the operation in Gaza cannot conclude until Sinwar is captured, killed, or removed from power, officials stressed to the WaPo.
Speaking at a World Zionist Organization conference in Jerusalem on Tuesday, IDF Spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari vowed to get to Sinwar “dead or alive,” according to the JNS report.
“We are fighting Hamas from the north to the south,” Hagari told attendees. “We will finish in Rafah; it is an important city—there are hostages in Rafah,” Hagari was quoted as saying. The city of Rafah is the last Hamas stronghold in Gaza and could be the key to ending the war.
Last month, the army launched a massive assault in Khan Yunis, killing scores of terrorist operatives, including company commanders. The report on JNS also said that during previous operations in Khan Yunis that took place in the first weeks of the Gaza offensive, more than 300 tunnels had already been located.
Soldiers of the Maglan and Egoz commando units continue to operate in the western part of the city, the IDF revealed on Tuesday, noting that troops are killing and arresting “dozens” of Hamas terrorists every day.
JNS also reported on Tuesday that in Khan Yunis, troops found loaded weapons under beds in civilian homes, as well as rockets, grenades, launchers, explosive belts, shoulder missiles and other terror equipment.
Hamas launched the war on October 7th when it led a mass attack on the northwestern Negev, brutally murdering 1,200 people, violently raping women and girls while wounding thousands more and kidnapping 253, the JNS report added. Israel conducted an aerial campaign against Hamas in the weeks after the massacre, which paved the way for the ground offensive that started on Oct. 27.
Also on Tuesday, the JNS reported that the United States has made adjustments to its draft resolution on a ceasefire in Gaza circulated at the United Nations Security Council. The U.S. had previously used its veto power three times to block resolutions calling for an immediate ceasefire, drawing criticism and isolation within the 15-member council.
The revised text emphasizes support for international diplomatic efforts to promptly conclude and implement a temporary ceasefire in Gaza, coupled with the release of all hostages. The document describes these actions as necessary steps to create conditions for a sustainable cessation of hostilities and lasting peace.
Initially presented as a counter to an Algeria-written resolution, which was vetoed by U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. draft has faced opposition from council diplomats due to perceived conditions, including those related to humanitarian aid and the timing of a temporary ceasefire.
While the revised text underscores the urgent need to increase assistance to Gaza and calls for cooperation with U.N. representative Sigrid Kaag on aid and reconstruction, it appears that the language regarding a potential Israeli military operation in Rafah, the last Hamas stronghold in Gaza, has not changed significantly. The original draft expressed that a major ground offensive should not proceed under current circumstances, and the updated version adds that such an offensive should not proceed until the safety and well-being of civilians can be ensured.
Critics remain skeptical, believing that the Biden administration’s stance on the evacuation of Rafah may still imply a green light for a potential offensive. Additionally, the revised text supports an investigation into the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), seeking accountability for agency workers involved in the October 7th Hamas massacre.
The freshly drafted text states that the council “unequivocally supports international diplomatic efforts to expeditiously and urgently conclude and begin implementing an agreement for a temporary ceasefire in Gaza together with the release of all hostages as soon as possible,” as was reported by JNS.
It describes the ceasefire and the release of hostages as “necessary steps to help create the conditions for a sustainable cessation of hostilities and lasting peace.”
Diplomats on the council immediately protested a large number of conditions attached to the U.S. texts, including for humanitarian aid going into Gaza and support for a temporary ceasefire “when practicable.”
However, the report on JNS pointed out that the draft resolution language has not changed much with respect to a potential Israeli military operation in the southern Gazan city of Rafah, the last Hamas stronghold in the enclave.
The original draft stated that it “underscores that such a major ground offensive should not proceed under current circumstances.” The new text says that such an offensive should not proceed “until the safety and well-being of civilians can be ensured.”
That addition is unlikely to placate critics, who believe that Washington will still give Israel a green light for an offensive, despite the Biden administration’s protests that a proper evacuation of the city must take place first.
The draft resolution also condemns statements by Israeli government ministers that it says call for the resettlement of Gaza residents outside of the coastal enclave or the establishment of new Jewish communities in the Strip, according to the JNS report.
The United States has requested that any council members wishing to comment on the new text due so by the end of the day on Tuesday.
As tensions rise between the US and Israel, on Tuesday evening, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded President Biden’s claims that the right-wing makeup of Israel’s current government is costing the Jewish State international legitimacy, as was reported by Israel National News.
“Since the beginning of the war, I have been leading a political campaign whose purpose is to curb the pressures intended to end the war before its time, and on the other hand also to gain support for Israel,” Netanyahu said.
“We have significant successes in this area, because today the Harvard-Harris poll published in the United States shows that 82% of the American public supports Israel. That means four out of five citizens in the United States support Israel and not Hamas,” he noted.
“This gives us further strength to continue the campaign until complete victory,” Netanyahu said.
INN also reported that in an interview on NBC’s “Late Night with Seth Meyers” Monday night, Biden said, “Israel has had the overwhelming support of the vast majority of nations. If it keeps this up with this incredibly conservative government they have, and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and others… they’re going to lose support from around the world, and that is not in Israel’s interest.”
Meanwhile, a survey conducted online within the United States by the Harris Poll and HarrisX from February 21-22 among 2,022 registered voters found majority support for Israel in its war against Hamas, as was noted in the INN report.
More than 80% of those polled support Israel in the war and close to 70% say that they believe that Israel is trying to avoid civilian casualties.
Another question in this survey related to the favorability of state institutions. Only 5% claimed that Hamas was a favorable institution, while a majority (54%) claimed that Hamas is a “very unfavorable” institution.
The IDF Chief of the General Staff, LTG Herzi Halevi, conducted a situational assessment at the northern border on Tuesday, with the Commanding Officer of the Northern Command, MG Ori Gordin, the Commanding Officer of the 146th Division, BG Yisrael Shomer, and additional commanders, according to a report on the INN web site. LTG Halevi also met the members of the civilian emergency response unit of the community of Shtula.
Halevi said, “Our forces are positioned here in order to locate the enemy and strike it. We are not waiting for anything. What we are saying is this: on the evening of October 7, Hezbollah decided to join in, and for that, it must pay a heavy price. It’s clear that the first thing we need to do is push back the enemy. Then, create a very strong barrier, establish strong intelligence gathering capabilities, position strong forces in the area as well as a strong civilian emergency response unit, and ensure there are bomb shelters and safe areas in homes and communities.”
In terms of hostage negotiations, INN also reported on Tuesday that the Hamas terror group is examining a proposal for a ceasefire which would see the release of both civilian hostages held in Gaza and convicted terrorists, as was noted by the Reuters news service.
The report quoted a senior source involved in the indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas.
The draft of the deal states that in the first stage, which will last 40 days, civilian hostages will be released at a ration of one hostage in exchange for ten convicted terrorists, as per the report on the INN web site. Other sections include a complete bilateral cessation of the fighting, cessation of Israel’s intelligence gathering for a period of eight hours each day, the release of 40 Israeli hostages: women, minors under 19, and elderly over age 50 years, and ailing, in exchange for convicted terrorists who will not be re-arrested, the source told Reuters. A total of 40 hostages’ and 400 terrorists would be included in the deal.
In addition, those Gazans displaced from their homes other than men of military age, will be able to gradually return to northern Gaza and with the beginning of the implementation of the first stage of the deal, Israel will remove its military forces from densely populated areas in Gaza.
On Monday, Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant promised that Gazans will not return to northern Gaza until all hostages are freed.
(Sources: JNS.org & israelnationalnews.com)
