Good Morning,
There has clearly a temporary delay in Israels plan to enter Gaza, and troops who have been told they would soon see the inside of Gaza, are idling engines of tanks and personnel carriers waiting for a 'go’.
It may come soon…
Why? The U.S. is publicly saying it wants Israel to wait, while hostage negotiations continue to release some of the more than 200 Israeli’s and dual passport holders kidnapped from their homes in southern Israel, as their relatives were murdered by Hamas in front of them. And many of the hostages were taken from that outdoor concert attacked by Hamas gunmen cutting down innocent unarmed people by the dozens.
Knowing what is going on behind the scenes on hostage release is almost impossible, as multi national negotiations are unfolding, with Qatar being the main channel of communication with Hamas.
But two hostages were released, with American passports, and so there is hope a few more could be let go, as talks continue.
Israel has released copies of Hamas handbooks instructing them on taking hostages inside Israel, including tips on torture. The materials indicate Hamas didn’t expect to obtain so many hostages, and the hostage takings were meant to unfold in Israeli territory.
Hamas was clearly unprepared for a lack of defense inside Israel, and the fact it took some 12 hours for an Israeli response to the attack which killed some 1400 Israeli’s.
Is Hamas gaining valuable time as Israel waits? No doubt Hamas has prepared booby traps and more to kill Israel soldiers in Gaza, but that was likely done before Hamas carried out its barbaric attack on Israel on October 7.
The tunnel network under Gaza runs for miles, and reaches some 200 feet deep, a subterranean tangled maze, hard for anyone to navigate especially if Israel wants to safely rescue hostages.
The Israeli bombing campaign is receiving all the international attention as it displaces hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, and kills so many civilians.
Gaza's Health Ministry said on Saturday that Israel's air and missile strikes had killed at least 4,385 Palestinians, including hundreds of children, with more than a million people displaced.
Aid trucks are trickling into Gaza from Egypt, but the need is great.
Behind the scenes no doubt Israeli special operative teams are already moving amidst the dust and chaos in Gaza, carrying out recon before the invasion, and even striking some targets.
Over the weekend the conflict began spreading to Northern Israel where the Lebanese based, Iranian allied, Hezbollah was firing at Israeli border towns and military positions.
Israel has returned fire striking Hezbollah rocket launch positions, and observation towers, but the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) spokesman says Israel has so far been restrained in it’s response and is calling on the Lebanese Government to exercise control over Irans proxy force.
Can there be a peace track opened with Palestinians to discuss a two state solution and further efforts to stop fighting? On Back Story I spoke at length with Israeli former lawmaker Yossi Beilin who made a few concrete points;
-PM Netanyahu “stupidly” allowed Hamas to get stronger in Gaza, believing the terror organization would be content ruling Gaza and he thought smart to weaken the more secular Palestinian Authority based in the West Bank which actually recognizes Israels right to exist
-The Peace plan of a two state solution is basically already written, but it takes new political will to implement it including a confederation chapter which avoids removing Israeli settlements. Removal of settlements has always been a violent trigger inside Israel
-Beilin who is a peacemaker and on the left, however now says in the wake of the Oct 7 slaughter of Israelis, removal of Hamas has to take place for there to be any hope of peace
You can copy and past this link into your browser to hear the audio interview with Yossi Beilin -
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1016881/13814272
Or the video version is here:
It’s going to be a rollercoaster week in the Middle East. And I am watching China, and Russia, the Ukraine war unfold in parallel. More to come…
Have a good Monday! And share this newsletter.
Dana