Weekly dispatches from Israel provided by Forbes Israel.
The IDF fights in Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza, where hundreds of terrorists have been killed or captured. Negotiation of a hostage deal continues. A worrying poll reveals widespread support among the Palestinian public for Hamas and its atrocities. A proposed resolution submitted by the U.S. at the UN Security Council calling for a ceasefire and condemnation of Hamas was rejected following vetoes by Russia and China.
Slow progress towards a deal, cautious optimism from the mediators. Mossad director David Barnea, CIA Director William Burns, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Egyptian Intelligence Minister Abbas Kamal met for the second time within a week in Doha, Qatar, as part of intensive efforts to advance a deal for the release of hostages.
According to several reports, Israel has accepted a U.S. compromise proposal and agreed to release as many as 700 security prisoners, far more than the number set forth in the “Paris Framework.” The parties are now waiting for Hamas’ response, which is expected in the coming days. Apart from that, the remaining points of contention currently focus on the deployment of Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip and the return of residents to the northern sector.
Last week, Hamas conveyed its demands for a deal, including the release of 700 to 1,000 Palestinian prisoners and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from key points in the Strip. Israel considers these demands “unrealistic“. The agreement for the release of the hostages is expected to include three stages, each lasting 42 days. In the first stage, about 40 women, children, the elderly and those in need of medical treatment would be released from Hamas captivity.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a visit to Israel, the eighth since October 7, as part of a tour of countries in the region. During his visit, he met privately with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and held another meeting with members of the war cabinet. In a statement shortly after leaving the region, Blinken announced “progress in the last couple of weeks on the hostage negotiations” and “closing gaps” but emphasized that there is still a lot of hard work to be done until a deal is reached. During his press remarks, Blinken expressed concern that military action in Rafah that would aggravate Israel’s international isolation and undermine the goals of the war. He made similar remarks to Netanyahu and members of the war cabinet.
“We share Israel’s goal of defeating Hamas, which is responsible for the worst massacre of the Jewish people since the Holocaust, and we share the goal of ensuring Israel’s long-term security,” Blinken emphasized, but “a major military ground operation in Rafah is not the way to do it. It risks killing more civilians, wreaking greater havoc with the provision of humanitarian assistance, further isolating Israel around the world and jeopardizing its long-term security and standing,” Blinken warned.
In his own public statement, Netanyahu said that he stressed to Blinken the necessity of military action in Rafah while evacuating the civilian population from the combat zone and taking care of all humanitarian needs. “I also said that we have no way to defeat Hamas without entering Rafah and eliminating the remnant of the battalions there,” Netanyahu continued. “I told him that I hope we would do this with US support but if necessary – we will do it alone.”
Meanwhile, the IDF continues targeted military activity in the Gaza Strip. In recent weeks, terrorists in the Strip have taken advantage of the departure of IDF forces from Al-Shifa Hospital and resumed using the civilian infrastructure for terrorist activity. One week ago, special commando forces began a full week of combat at the hospital. During the fighting, the IDF provided the staff about 500 gallons of water and 3.8 tons of food while taking care to avoid harm to civilians. In the surprise raid at the hospital, the IDF so far has killed about 140 terrorists and taken prisoner another 650, including senior members of the Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist organizations. Searches of the hospital also uncovered weapons, explosives, other armaments, some hidden among patients, medical supplies and visitors, funds intended for financing terrorism and important intelligence documents, many in rooms next to the hospital director’s office.
IDF forces meanwhile have continued to operate in the Khan Yunis area. According to the IDF, special forces have raided about 100 buildings during the past week, killed dozens of terrorists and located extensive stocks of weapons. In addition, dozens of terrorists surrendered to the IDF and were brought in for interrogation.
The U.S. Confirms that Hamas’ Chief of Staff was killed in an IDF attack. In a media briefing held last Monday, White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan confirmed that Marwan Issa, Hamas’ Chief of Staff, has been killed. Issa, one of the three most senior officials in the Hamas terrorist organization, and considered an architect of the October 7 terrorist attack, was killed in an air strike on an underground compound along with other senior officials in the organization. As set forth in an NBC news report. intelligence gathered from computer hard drives, cell phones, laptops, maps and other documents, including “electronic eavesdropping conducted by the U.S, most likely enabled Israel to locate and kill Issa.
A disturbing poll reveals overwhelming support for Hamas among Palestinians, who deem the October 7 terrorist attack as justified. A new comprehensive poll recently published by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PSR) in Ramallah, the largest research institute in the Palestinian Authority, reveals a worrying picture of the extent of support for the October 7 massacre and the Hamas terrorist organization among the Palestinian public. According to the findings of the poll conducted among 1,580 Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, an overwhelming majority of 71% of Palestinians believe that Hamas’ decision to launch the murderous terrorist attack against Israel was justified. Similarly, 62% of respondents answered that they would prefer Hamas as the ruling body in the Strip after the war and 61% expressed satisfaction with the performance of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.
In addition, the poll finds that 64% of Palestinians believe that Israel is to blame for the war, 20% blame the U.S. and only a tiny minority of 7% point an accusing finger at Hamas. The poll also revealed that a huge majority of Palestinians believe that Hamas did not commit war crimes during the October 7 massacre. “When asked if Hamas indeed committed these atrocities seen in these videos, the vast majority (93%) said no, it did not, and only 5% said yes,” according to the report. Among those who answered in the affirmative to the question “Do you believe that Hamas committed atrocities on October 7?”, a critical majority of 81% of the respondents who watched the atrocity videos answered that they do not believe that Hamas committed those acts.
Hezbollah’s attacks along the border continue to provoke Israel and approach the threshold of war. Throughout the past week, Hezbollah terrorists have fired anti-tank missiles, rockets and drones towards military posts and civilian areas in the north of the country. Hezbollah claims that the target of its attack on one village was an Iron Dome anti-missile battery deployed nearby.
The IDF attacked a series of Hezbollah military targets in southern Lebanon and Israeli jets struck a weapons manufacturing facility deep in Lebanon in an area considered a political and logistical stronghold of Hezbollah. In response, Hezbollah launched some 50 rockets into Israeli territory. Several launches were intercepted and the rest fell in open areas. Israeli aircraft then attacked and destroyed some of the launchers.
World.
A U.S. proposed UN Security Council resolution for a prolonged ceasefire in Gaza was rejected after vetoes by China and Russia. On Friday, the US submitted a proposed resolution at the UN Security Council calling for “an immediate and sustained ceasefire to protect civilians on all sides,” to facilitate the delivery of “essential” aid and to support “ongoing talks between Israel and Hamas militants to create a sustainable end to the hostilities, tied to the release of hostages.” The resolution submitted to the Council condemned Hamas for the October 7 attacks. Eleven countries supported the American proposal but Russia and China vetoed it.
Earlier today, the Security Council passed a draft resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza during the month of Ramadan. The United States, which had vetoed all previous such resolutions omitting any mention of Hamas’ responsibility for the war, abstained in the vote. The resolution, which also calls for an immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, passed by a vote of 14 to 0. In response to America’s abstention, Prime Minister Netanyahu canceled a trip to Washington by Israeli officials who were to discuss issues such as plans for military operations in Rafah while protecting civilians.
Houthi attacks from Yemen on ships in the Red Sea area continue, striking a Chinese-owned oil tanker with a ballistic missile. The ship, which issued a distress call but did not request assistance, suffered minimal damage, and a fire that broke out on the deck was extinguished within a short time. According to a CENTCOM statement, there were no reports of casualties and the ship resumed its course.
The Iranian-supported Houthi organization has justified its repeated attacks on international trade routes as “support for the Palestinian struggle in Gaza.” The Shiite-Yemeni terrorist organization enjoys unprecedented sympathy among Palestinians. In a special poll published last week by a Palestinian research institute, Yemen received the highest support among all countries in the region, with 83% of Palestinian respondents expressing high satisfaction with the country from which hundreds of attacks have been carried out in recent months on ships in the Red Sea area. Following it on the list of the most popular countries among the Palestinian public was Qatar with 56% support, Hezbollah with 48% and Iran (30%). Among Arab countries in the region, the two that received the lowest levels of support were Jordan (22%), one of the few that has sent aid shipments to Gaza, and Egypt (12%), through which humanitarian aid flows into the Strip and an important mediator in ceasefire negotiations.
Technology.
The Israeli high-tech sector continues to show strong performance. Two Israeli cyber giants are preparing for IPOs on Wall Street. The intriguing cyber unicorn Cato Networks, with an estimated value above $3 billion in the latest funding round last year, has hired underwriters for an initial public offering in New York, according to a Reuters report. According to the report, the Israeli cyber company approached Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan Chase and Barclays to lead the planned IPO in early 2025. If market conditions are favorable, however, the company might advance the date to later this year.
Another Israeli cyber company planning an IPO on Wall Street in the near future is Snyk, which was founded in 2015 by three Israeli entrepreneurs, graduates of the elite military intelligence unit 8200. In September 2021, the company completed a funding round of $530 million at a valuation of $8.5 billion.
By Itai Zehorai, Alan Sacks