Israel at War: What happened on Day 59?

Rocket sirens were heard in Beersheva.

Israel is expected to refrain from attacking the “no-strike” zones it created for Palestinian civilians in southern Gaza, US National Security advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters as the IDF battered that area of the enclave from the air and sea.
“In those [safe] zones we do expect Israel to follow through without striking,” he said.

The dilemma regarding the Gaza war, he said, is “how do you, on the one hand, allow a sovereign nation like Israel to go after terror targets while on the other hand, have them do so in a way that minimizes harm to civilians, that is really where the rubber hits the road in all of this.”

“Fundamentally we have laid our expectations that in the areas that Israel has asked people to go that it ensure the security and safety of civilians and that it does so in the conduct of its military operations and that it does so in the facilitation of humanitarian assistance getting to them,” he said.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomes US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan on January 19. (credit: KOBI GIDEON/GPO)

International pressure on Israel

Sullivan spoke four days after the Gaza war resumed after a week-long pause ended on December 1. Hamas has asserted that close to 16,000 Palestinians have been killed in war violence since hostilities began on October 7 after the terror group infiltrated southern Israel killing over 1,200 people and seizing 240 hostages.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for a “sustained humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, the unconditional [and] immediate release of all hostages, and unimpeded [and] sustained humanitarian aid flow to meet the needs of the people throughout the Gaza Strip.”

Lynn Hastings, who is the humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinian territories, panned Israel’s safety zones in the south.

“Israeli military operations have expanded into southern Gaza, forcing tens of thousands of others into increasingly compressed spaces, desperate to find food, water, shelter and safety,” she said.

“Nowhere is safe in Gaza and there is nowhere left to go,” she added.

“The conditions required to deliver aid to the people of Gaza do not exist. If possible, an even more hellish scenario is about to unfold, one in which humanitarian operations may not be able to respond.”

“The quantities of relief supplies and fuel allowed in are utterly insufficient. Despite the enormous efforts of the Egyptian and Palestinian Red Crescent Societies, UN agencies, and other partners, the use of only the Rafah crossing - meant for pedestrians - to bring in trucks of goods does not work.

“What we see today are shelters with no capacity, a health system on its knees, a lack of clean drinking water, no proper sanitation, and poor nutrition for people already mentally and physically exhausted: a textbook formula for epidemics and a public health disaster,” she said.

The head of the Geneva-based International Committee of the Red Cross, visited Gaza on Monday, issuing a statement in which she said the level of human suffering was intolerable, called for the protection of civilians, respect for the laws of war, and the release of hostages held by Hamas.

"We would welcome Hamas laying down its arms"

In Washington, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller defended the resumption of Israel’s military campaign to oust Hamas from Gaza that began after the October 7 attack. He blamed Hamas for the war and said that more people should call for the terror group to lay down its arms.

“It is Hamas that is putting [Palestinian] civilians in harm's way. I am surprised that I do not hear more people say why doesn’t Hamas move out of schools? why doesn’t Hamas take additional steps to protect civilians? Because we think they should as we think Israel should.

“We would welcome Hamas laying down its arms at any point,” he added. “They could do it today if they cleared about Palestinian civilian life.”

Yahya Sinwar, leader of the Palestinian Hamas terrorist movement, gestures on stage during a rally in Gaza City. May 24, 2021. (credit: ATIA MOHAMMED/FLASH90)

Miller also called on Israel to do more to protect civilians in Gaza, as Hamas asserted that close to 16,000 Palestinians have been killed in war-related violence.

The United States is watching IDF actions in Gaza “very closely,” Miller said as he explained that there were differences between Israel’s military campaign that resumed on December 1 and the one that ended on November 24.  

“Too many Palestinians were killed in the opening weeks of the conflict, “ Miller said.

“We have seen a more targeted request for evacuations” by Israel so that the army is focused on clearing specific points rather than asking an entire city to evacuate, Miller said.

Civilians have been asked to relocate to “de-confliction zones rather than being asked to flee, Miller said.

During US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's visit to Israel last week, he clarified to officials “We do not want a military campaign in the south that looks like it was in the north.”

Blinken was briefed “on plans intended to avoid mass casualties.”

It was understood that there would be civilian casualties, “that is true in all war zones and is particularly true here” given that Hamas operates from within civilian areas, Miller said.

Both Miller and Sullivan addressed the collapse hostage deal by which 81 women and children were freed, but there are still some 17 or 20 women and children among the captives.

Qatar and Egypt mediated the deal. Sullivan said that Israel and US officials are still in conversation with those two countries to seek a way to resume hostage releases.

Miller said that the hostage deal partially fell apart last week because Hamas wanted to prevent the remaining Israeli women it holds in Gaza from talking about their time in captivity.

“It seems one of the reasons they don’t want to turn women over that they have been holding hostage and the reason this pause fell apart is that they do not want these women to be able to talk about what happened to them during their time in captivity,” Miller alleged during an emotional moment in the press conference.

Later in the briefing, Miller clarified that he does not know this claim to be a definitive fact.

Separately, in the briefing in Washington, Miller addressed the issue of settler violence saying that the US has also spoken with Israel about doing more to crack down on attacks against innocent Palestinians in the West Bank, Miller said.

“We have seen them take some steps to respond to violence. We do not think those steps have been sufficient. They need to prosecute people who engage in violence against [innocent] Palestinians,” he said.

“We have made very clear to the Israeli government that we will be taking additional steps to hold people accountable for violent extremism,” he said, explaining that this could include visa restrictions.

Miller also addressed the issue of rising antisemitism, condemning it in the strongest terms.

“We oppose antisemitism wherever we see it,” Miller said. It’s tragic that after October 7, “one of the responses has been an increase in antisemitism that is extremely tragic and it’s incumbent on everyone in positions of authority to speak out.”

The IDF is planning to pump seawater into the Hamas tunnel network in Gaza according to a Wall Street Journal report.

Five large pumps have been assembled north of the al-Shati refugee camp during the last month, with each one capable of pumping thousands of cubic meters of seawater into the tunnels.

Israel informed US officials that they were considering this option last month and needed to weigh feasibility and environmental factors against military necessity.

Some US officials expressed concern about the plan while others supported the plan.

The process could take weeks and therefore could allow Hamas's fighters to evacuate, potentially taking the hostages with them. However, it isn't clear whether Israel would wait until all hostages are returned.

A smuggling tunnel beneath the Egyptian-Gaza border in Rafah [File] (credit: REUTERS)

The environmental impact

One of the major concerns over this plan is the environmental impact of pumping seawater into the ground.

Sea water seeping into the soil is a major cause for concern as it can poison already semi-salinated aquifers deep in the ground as well as making the surface extremely unstable.

Fears that seawater would salinate Gaza's soil, making it extremely difficult to grow crops. There are also concerns that substances stored in the tunnels could also seep into the soil further contaminating the area.

Former US officials told the Wall Street Journal that the plan would perhaps bring global condemnation, but they conceded it might be one of the few ways to permanently disable the tunnels.

Egypt flooded Hamas tunnels with seawater in 2015, which led to complaints from farmers in Rafah that it had damaged their crops.

Typically militaries use dogs and robots to clear tunnels, however, the effectiveness of flooding the tunnels may prove to lucrative option for the IDF, saving them time, money, and manpower.

Significant airstrikes have been carried out in early Tuesday morning in Jabaliya in the north of the Gaza Strip.

In addition, in the last hour, the IDF completed another phase of the ground maneuver toward the city of Khan Yunis with an emphasis on the main road leading from the central camps toward the center of the city of Khan Yunis.
 

Eight released Israeli hostages wrote a letter to the International Committee of the Red Cross on Monday, asking the humanitarian organization to provide medical assistance and to visit their relatives still being held by Hamas in Gaza.

In an Oct. 7 cross-border attack, Hamas militants killed 1,200 people and seized 240 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Hamas freed over 100 of the captives during a seven-day truce last month in return for the release by Israel of scores of Palestinian detainees, as well as an increase in humanitarian aid shipments to Gaza.

While the deal was brokered by Qatar, the US, and Egypt, the handover of hostages and Palestinian detainees was facilitated by the Red Cross.

Israeli authorities have said seven civilians and an army colonel died in captivity and that 137 hostages remain in Gaza, their condition not always known.

Israeli hostages are handed over to the International Red Cross at Rafah, this past week. (credit: FLASH90)

Growing calls for Red Cross to do more for hostages

The released hostages said in their letter that they had endured "harsh conditions" while being held and asked the Red Cross to help secure the immediate release of those still in captivity. They also asked the Red Cross to make visits to verify the health status of the captives and provide medical assistance and proof of life which they said was urgent.

The Red Cross has not commented on the letter, but it has previously called for agreements to allow its teams to check on hostages and deliver medication. It has said it cannot force its way to where hostages are held and does not always know their locations.

The hostages said their Hamas captors subjected them to "lack of medical treatment for illnesses and injuries with culpable neglect, severe food shortage, and unsanitary living conditions."

"Some of the hostages undergo psychological and physical abuse," the letter said.

The letter also requested a meeting with the organization's president.

In response to the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, Israel has bombarded Hamas-ruled Gaza with air strikes and pressed a ground campaign. The Palestinian health ministry has said at least 15,899 people have been killed during the eight weeks of warfare.

The US State Department has approved the potential sale of a powerful counter mortar radar system to Saudi Arabia for an estimated $582 million, the Pentagon said on Monday.

The principal contractor for the sale of the RE-3A Tactical Airborne Surveillance System Aircraft Modernization and related equipment will be L3 Technologies LHK.N, the Pentagon said in a statement.

The United States expects Israel to avoid attacking areas that Israeli authorities have identified as "no-strike" zones in Gaza, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Monday.

"They have also indicated that there are areas where there will be 'no-strike' zones. And in those zones, we do expect Israel to follow through on not striking," Sullivan told reporters at the White House.

A rocket that was launched by Hamas on October 7 hit an Israeli military base that contained several nuclear missiles, reported The New York Times on Monday.

According to the report, no damage was caused to the missiles themselves, but the impact led to a fire on the base that came close to the location where the nuclear weaponry was stored. 

Hans Kristensen, director of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists, claimed that Israel has 25 to 50 nuclear-capable Jericho missile launchers. 

The IDF has refused to respond to the report. 

The information that was collected, among other things, was done through satellite images, according to the report. 

The rocket that led to the fire hit the base around 10:00 on October 7.

Israel's current attacks on Hamas

In the last few hours, IDF and the Israeli Air Force have continued their attacks in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli soldiers make their way towards Israel's border with Gaza, amid the ongoing ground invasion against Hamas, in southern Israel, November 8, 2023 (credit: RONEN ZVULUN/REUTERS)

They have eliminated rocket launchers and terrorist infrastructures. They have also attacked warehouses and eliminated Hamas terrorists.

The 7th Armored Brigade located three Hamas terrorists, and the force's commander quickly directed a manned aircraft toward the terrorists, successfully eliminating them. 

Additionally, IDF forces have recently attacked a Hezbollah weapons depot in Lebanese territory. This attack was done in response to a mortar firing from the area towards an IDF outpost. 

Several launches were also detected from Lebanese territory towards the Tel Hai area and Kiryat Shmona. Past the IDF post in the Shetula area, the IDF attacked the sources of the shooting.

The hostage deal between Israel and Hamas partially fell apart last week because Hamas wanted to prevent the remaining Israeli women it holds in Gaza from talking about their time in custody, US State Department Spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters in Washington on Monday. 

“It seems one of the reasons they don’t want to turn women over that they have been holding hostage and the reason this pause fell apart is that they do not want these women to be able to talk about what happened to them during their time in custody,” Miller said during an emotional moment in the press conference.

Israeli hostages are handed over to the International Red Cross at Rafah, this past week. (credit: FLASH90)

Many women and children still hostage in Gaza

Miller spoke four days after a week-long pause in the Gaza war ended on December 1. That deal allowed for Hamas to release 81 of the 240 captives it had seized during its October 7 infiltration into southern Israel in which it also killed over 1,200 people.

Some 17 to 20 women and children remained behind, with the US and Israel charging that Hamas violated that deal. Some eight of those captives also hold US citizenship.

Who is the senior Palestinian Authority member that might rule the Gaza Strip after the Israel-Hamas war? According to reports in the Arab press, Egypt and the United States want Salam Fayyad to lead the government in Gaza the day after the overthrow of Hamas.

According to various reports over the past few days, it has been hinted that Cairo favors the establishment of a "government of technocrats" in the Gaza Strip after the collapse of the Hamas's rule. 

According to the reports, Fayyad's name has come up multiple times in the ongoing talks between Cairo and Washington on the issue.


Fayyad is a veteran Palestinian politician and an economist by training, who for years has been considered to have extensive connections in the United States and is close to Mahmoud Abbas and the top of the Palestinian Authority. 

After Hamas took over the Gaza Strip in 2007, Abbas appointed Fayyad to head the emergency government. The establishment of the government was met with a boycott by Hamas, and was in fact the final proof of the split between the Palestinian territories in the West Bank and Gaza.

Salam Fayyad addresses the media during a news conference in the West Bank city of Ramallah September 11, 2012. (credit: Issam Rimawi/Flash90)

The United States government wants the Israeli government to think about "the day after" the war in Gaza and will align all its policies accordingly, including policies related to Israel’s continued military operation within the Strip.

Israel and US split over PA

There is a dispute between the Israeli government and the Biden administration as to who should assume control of Gaza after the war.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stated several times that Israel will not allow the Palestinian Authority to govern the Gaza Strip. However, on other occasions, Netanyahu specified that the Palestinian Authority "in its current form" will not be allowed to govern Gaza.

Fayyad supports the idea of the "renewed Palestinian Authority" presented by US President Joe Biden, and called for it to be given the responsibility for what is happening both in Israel and in Gaza. 

Last month, Fayyad published a "peace plan for Gaza" in the American magazine Foreign Affairs. 

He stated that "the Palestinian Authority in its current form is not ready to take on the responsibility of managing Gaza, but if the PA is properly restored, it may provide the best option for the day after the war and beyond, while making contact to activate a regional effort that will be supported internationally".