Israel-Hamas War: What happened on day 103?

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu unilaterally delayed and backtracked on agreed-upon outlines for the release of hostages without consulting the cabinet, according to Israeli media sources on Wednesday.

In recent days, the political leadership in Israel discussed potential conditions for a new and proactive negotiation that could eventually lead to a hostage deal. The negotiations were expected to be pushed forward by a mediator.

However, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu delayed the talks and increased the demands that had been agreed upon, according to reports.

Discussions over the conditions were held with political echelon leaders, namely Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Ministers Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot. These discussions eventually brought about agreed-upon conditions that would guide the advancement of negotiations, which would later lead to a deal with Hamas when the political leadership had already reached conclusions about what Israel could give as part of that deal.

Without any warning

However, a few days after the conclusion of discussions in the war cabinet, and after the conditions that would guide Israel in the current course of action were agreed upon, Netanyahu delayed the outline and increased the demands without coordinating with the ministers of the war cabinet.

According to reports, the ministers involved in the discussions found out about this later, and some of them even confronted the prime minister to express their anger.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and MKo Benny Gantz, holds a news conference in Tel Aviv on Saturday night. (credit: Abir Sultan/Reuters)

Sources within the government said that Netanyahu is "missing out on an opportunity to advance a hostage release deal."

On the other hand, political sources said that "they are still working on an Israeli outline; It has not been stopped."

Rocket sirens sound in the Southern towns of Holit, Yevul, Shlomit, Yated.

Senate Democrats are discussing possible conditions that could be imposed on US aid for Israel, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters on Wednesday.

Qatar said it sought a small window of opportunity for a hostage deal as the trucks of medicine headed to Gaza on Wednesday night with drugs for the captives held in the enclave renewed hope for a second agreement to secure additional releases.

Qatar and France brokered the deal to deliver urgent medication to some 45 Israelis out of the 132 held by the group in Gaza in return for humanitarian and medical aid for the most vulnerable civilians.

It’s the first delivery of medicines to the hostages since they were seized during a Hamas-led attack against southern Israel on October 7.

A group of bipartisan senators were joined by a delegation of Israeli hostages' families Wednesday in Washington, D.C., where lawmakers reiterated their commitment to releasing the remaining hostages. 

New York Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer said he promised to try to implement a new hostage release strategy, which he said he discussed earlier on Wednesday with the hostages' families. 

Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Maryland Democratic Senator Ben Cardin, said he's aware of ongoing efforts and conversations but did not speak ofthe new strategy Schumer referred to.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) organization said on Wednesday it had received a report of an incident 60 nautical miles southeast of Yemen's Aden.

The master reported the "vessel has been hit on the port side by an uncrewed aerial system," UKMTO said in an advisory note.

"There was a fire onboard, which has now been extinguished," it added.

The Nova music festival organizers announced their plans to return to Israel later this year, N12 reported on Wednesday.

The festival was held in the southern kibbutz of Re'im on October 7, when Hamas infiltrated the borders of Israel and massacred over 300 civilians at the event.

As per the report, Nova festival production is working on a huge event in Yarkon Park in Tel Aviv, maybe as early as June, which should attract about 60 thousand people, according to the report.

Tel Aviv event to raise funds for rehabilitation of massacred communities

The purpose of the event is "to raise funds for the continued rehabilitation of the victims of the community, the commemoration of the murdered, and the continuation of the information projects in the world," internal sources of the event told Mako.

The official date is not yet closed, but as mentioned, the event is planned for this coming June, and artists that are being targeted by the organizers include: Shlomo Artzi, Tuna, Yasmin Moalem, Mosh Ben-Ari, Eden Hasson, Keren Peles, Gidi Gov, Hanan Ben-Ari, Benaya Barabi and more. 

People visit the site of the Nova music festival massacre, in Re'im, near the Israeli-Gaza border, December 31, 2023 (credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)

"Nova" producers further added, "The producers are working on a variety of commemorative events for the benefit of the victims of the Nova community and in memory of the murdered. At this stage, the details are not fine-tuned, and when we can inform the public, we will do so."

The IDF killed the Hezbollah terrorists responsible for rocket fire toward Rosh Hanikra on Wednesday, the Israeli military said.

Earlier on Wednesday, several launches were detected from Lebanon to northern Israel. One of the Hezbollah launch teams that fired rockets at Rosh HaNikra was identified immediately after the launch by an IDF aircraft that followed and attacked it.

Later, Air Force fighter jets attacked a number of active launchers and terrorist infrastructure in southern Lebanon. 

This is in addition to IDF artillery strikes in other areas in southern Lebanon.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant visited the Shayetet 13 unit and reaffirmed that the war must end with the complete destruction of Hamas on Wednesday.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant arrived today to visit Shayetet 13 at the unit's base in Atlit. Once he arrived, he received an overview of the unit's activities in the various combat sectors since the outbreak of the war, with an emphasis on the Gaza Strip, where the forces operate above and below ground against Hamas targets.

Afterward, The defense minister held a briefing on the activities of the forces in the underground space and expressed his appreciation for the unit's hard work in these complex situations. At the end of the visit, Minister Gallant held a dialogue with the unit's active and reserve fighters and emphasized that the unit would receive the resources required to carry out its various operations