Israel-Hamas War: What happened on day 124?

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken are set to hold back-to-back press conferences on Wednesday night.

These statements come less than a day after Hamas issued its counterproposal to a US-Israeli framework understanding by which to free over 130 hostages the terror group is holding in Gaza.

Hamas’s insistence on a prolonged pause to the war of 135 days, a permanent ceasefire, and a complete IDF withdrawal from the enclave, doused optimism that the release of the captives was around the corner.

It pointed to the complexity of what is likely to be a protracted process.  

Netanyahu will speak to reporters in Jerusalem at 7:30 p.m. while Blinken will talk to journalists at 8:30 p.m. in Tel Aviv.

Gaza hostage families protest on Ayalon highway on January 18, 2024 (credit: LIOR SEGEV)

Hostages' families will also deliver a statement

The families' campaign to free the hostages will deliver a statement at 8 p.m., also from Tel Aviv.

Hamas called for a 135-day process by which to free the hostages in three phases in exchange for a permanent ceasefire, according to a document seen by Reuters

During the first 45-day phase, all Israeli female hostages, males under 19 and the elderly and sick would be released. In exchange Palestinian women and minors held in Israeli jails on security-related charges would be freed and the IDF would withdraw from populated areas in Gaza.

Implementation of the second phase would not begin until the sides conclude "indirect talks over the requirements needed to end the mutual military operations and return to complete calm.”

The second phase would include the release of remaining male hostages and full Israeli withdrawal from all of Gaza. Bodies and remains would be exchanged during the third phase.

A source close to the negotiations said the Hamas counterproposal did not require a guarantee of a permanent ceasefire at the outset, but that an end to the war would have to be agreed upon during the truce before final hostages were freed.

A second source said Hamas still wanted guarantees from Qatar, Egypt, and other friendly states that the ceasefire would be upheld and not collapse as soon as the hostages were freed.

A Hamas police vehicle was struck in Gaza's southern city of Rafah on Wednesday evening in what Palestinian media reported as a targeted assassination by the IDF.

According to the reports, Hamas police's special forces head, Majdi Abd al-Aal, was killed in the suspected attack.

דיווח: חוסל מג'די עבד אלעאל, מפקד הכוחות המיוחדים של משטרת רפיח בחמאס! pic.twitter.com/6G4zAx94Sm

— יענקי כהן | Yanki Coen (@yankicoen) February 7, 2024

PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron held Wednesday in Paris a memorial ceremony for the French-Israelis killed Oc. 7 by Hamas, marking four months exactly since the terrible Hamas massacre.

Family members of the 42 dual citizens and also family members of French-Israelis kidnapped by Hamas were invited to the moving ceremony, which took place at the Invalides monument building at the center of the French capital. The French government charted an airplane to bring the families from Israel, and hosted them in Paris. After the ceremony, the families were set to meet Macron personally at the Elysee Palace.

The ceremony started with soldiers of the French republican Guard, dressed in blue and black, carrying the pictures of the 42 victims, as the French army orchestra played Kadish by the French composer Maurice Ravel. Once the soldiers with the portraits were standing at the court, President Macron delivered his speech, the only address pronounced during the sober ceremony.

‘’They weren’t even thirty years old. Avidan, Valentin or Naomi will never reach that age. They all had their dreams. They studied law, or computer science, started a job, found love, got engaged, they had faith, or not, had a guitar, a surfboard on the waves of the Mediterranean, they were full of ideals,’’ eulogized Macron.

Placed under the theme of the continuous battle of France against antisemitism, Macron said that Oct. 7 was ‘’the largest antisemite massacre of our century,’’ stating that the barbarism of Hamas ‘’was nourished by antisemitism.’’  The French president stressed that ‘’nothing justifies the terror acts,’’ perpetrated Oct. 7. France continues to battle for the liberation of the hostages, said Macron, adding that ‘’their chairs are still empty.’’

The online discourse against hostages’ families has worsened in recent weeks, according to the February interim report compiled by FakeReporter.

By examining the online discourse, researchers found its main perpetrators to be influencers who support Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, including media personalities and Likud activists. Through their online posts, they attempt to portray the struggle and suffering of the hostages’ families as illegitimate.

Researchers analyzed the online discourse on X, Meta, and Telegram in the periods ranging from October 7 to February 6. The keywords they searched include “hostages’ families protests,” “Kaplan,” etc. Furthermore, some 68,000 posts, which were labeled negative, positive, and neutral, were gathered for random sampling. 

The report divides the online discourse against the families into two main delegitimization claims.

Protesters calling for the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas terrorists in Gaza, in Tel Aviv, February 1, 2024 (credit: MIRIAM ALSTER/FLASH90)

Protests ‘unauthentic’

The first argument points to the lack of authenticity in the protest, attributing to it subversive and political intentions.    

For such reasons, those behind this discourse attempt to link the hostage protest to that of the judicial reform. They label the hostage protest the “Kaplan protests,” trying to tint it politically or alternatively stating the Kaplan protesters commandeered it and are taking advantage of the hostages. 

A prominent target of theirs is Gil Dikman. His two cousins, Yarden Roman and Carmel Gat, were kidnapped to Gaza, with Gat still being held in captivity. His aunt Kinneret was murdered on October 7.

Dikman is a central figure in the struggle to return the hostages home. On social media, he is characterized as a “provocateur” or “actor” and accused, among others, of interfering with the government’s attempts to return the hostages and of using his position for his own political advantage.

Harming Israel

The second argument is that the protest harms the State of Israel, dismantling it from within while strengthening Hamas and even acting in the service of the terror organization. 

Some even go as far as delegitimizing the protest because it harms Netanyahu. They state the families are not interested in returning their loved ones but rather are acting for the downfall of the government.

According to the study, in many cases, the violent incitement and verbal violence against the families are translated to actual brutal acts.

In mid-November, for example, the father of hostage Liri Albag was hit during the Kaplan protest. In December, there was an attempted arson of the hostage families' tent in Jerusalem, while in February, multiple attacks on hostages’ relatives were reported. 

The IDF is submitting on Wednesday a law radically altering the shape and increasing the length of both mandatory and reservist service in the aftermath of the massive security burden placed on the IDF due to the current war needs and unprecedented troop losses.

Prior to October 7, certain IDF recruits were expected to serve as little as 28 months, while IDF mandatory service soldiers were set to serve 32 months.

Due to the huge new forces needed by the IDF to combat an expected nearly year-long insurgency in Gaza, to protect the northern border more robustly from Hezbollah, in the West Bank, and elsewhere, all of these new recruits and current serving soldiers will have their service extended to 36 months.

Also prior to October 7, reservists had tracks for completing their reserve duty at ages: 40, 45, and 49 depending on their specific roles within the IDF.

On top of extending the service of all mandatory soldiers, the IDF is extending reserve duty service from age 40 to 45, from 45 to 50 and from 49 to 52.   

IDF soldier walks past a wall with pictures of hostages, Tel Aviv, Israel, January 31, 2024 (credit: REUTERS/SUSANA VERA)

Reservists to serve 40 days per year, up from 25

There are also a variety of other kinds of extensions for reservists in specific situations.

Besides the extension of service time, reservists will also need to serve 40 days per year instead of 25 days per year.

As part of these changes, there will also be changes in compensation, with specific more critical units getting higher raises in pay than some other units.

The reservists command will also be more formally split up into different levels of importance, with a second level of reservists serving more on a volunteer basis in the framework of defending specific villages they live in or will live in.

A third level of reservists, making up around 70,000 reservists, may serve even less in general than the second level, but will still be available to carry out specific duties as needed, and could still be called on for extended service in the event of a major war.

According to the new plan, the number of reservists at any given time will multiple exponentially by five times.

All of these changes come as the IDF not only needs to fight more intensely than usual on more fronts than usual, but where 563 IDF soldiers were killed during the war, 2830 were wounded and hospitalized, and another 9,053 were injured, but not hospitalized.

55%, or 130, of those soldiers killed during the invasion of Gaza have been reservists.

Around 10% of all combat forces now are reservists versus around two percent before the war.

The IDF has said it is also spending more time trying to take care of reservists' wider needs, including their families.

Huge numbers of reservists are parents who need IDF assistance with their families or to spend time with their families in creative ways, but the war has also produced 116 widows and 352 orphans.

Out of the total 360,000 reservists for whom the IDF previously announced it could call up and for whom there are budgeted roles, 287,000 have served during the current war.

112,000 have families, 50,000 are volunteers, and 40,000 are women – a large number considered to be a revolution compared to the prior era.

Regarding mental health, 25,890 soldiers received lectures about resilience and about how to track and handle potential problematic signs.

IDF sources said that the vast majority of such issues are able to be handled within the IDF command structure by commanders providing support and guidance, but that a significant minority of soldiers are provided professional assistance for such issues.

130,000 reservists are still serving right now even as many have been released over the last five weeks since the IDF achieved operational control over northern Gaza.

The IDF Lotem Technology Unit’s big data collection and analysis capabilities saved hundreds of Israeli mourners at a funeral on October 17 from a likely Hamas rocket attack, the Jerusalem Post has learned.

According to Lotem, part of the IDF’s C4I Branch, on October 17, the extended Zohar family was due to hold a funeral service in Rishon LeZion for family members killed by Hamas at Nahal Oz during the invasion earlier that month.

Because this was a very large event with expectations for many attendees, it was exactly the type of potential mass casualty event that Hamas would be expected to target.

This was at a time when Hamas was also still firing hundreds of rockets per day, including large numbers on Rishon LeZion and the Tel Aviv corridor daily.

How the IDF's tech unit broke down Hamas's rocket fire

Lotem analysts broke down Hamas’s rocket firing patterns, which they had gathered using new big data digital gathering tools, and determined where the terror group would most likely need to place its rocket launchers in order to hit the funeral procession.

An IDF Paratroopers Brigade soldier operates in the Gaza Strip, earlier this month. (credit: OREN BEN HAKOON/FLASH90)

In fact, Lotem told the Post that aspects of the analysis led to concrete attacks by the IDF against Hamas targets which otherwise could very well have caused “a disaster” for the mass funeral procession.

This was not the only case during the current war where the IDF was able to utilize vast amounts of data it had gathered in recent or real-time to quickly redirect IDF firepower at specific areas on a predictive basis of where Hamas rocket launchers would be in the near future – but the current war was the first time the IDF reached such a capability.

In another specific case, the Post has learned that Lotem’s big data capabilities were used to trace a pattern of rockets being fired against Israel from a specific Gaza mosque and school civilian area.

The Knesset plenum approved MK Ze'ev Elkin's urgent proposal for a discussion on the "statements and publications in the world on the subject of recognition of a Palestinian state and the need for Israeli preparation for a possible political challenge," the Knesset Spokesperson reported on Wednesday. 

Israel has no concrete plans to minimize civilian deaths in Rafah in the case the IDF decides to launch an offensive into the southern Gaza city, CNN reported on Wednesday, citing a top Israeli military commander.

Brig.-Gen. Dan Goldfuss, commander of the 98th Division, reportedly said earlier this week that his division would work on evacuation plans "if and when" he is told to launch an invasion.

CNN reported that the information divulged by Goldfuss was still relevant as of Wednesday afternoon.

Israel will 'coordinate with Egypt' on Rafah invasion

Earlier this week, an Israeli official said on Sunday that the IDF would coordinate with Egypt and seek ways of evacuating most of the displaced people northward ahead of any ground sweep of Rafah.

Smoke rises after Israeli airstrikes as it seen from Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, December 1, 2023 (credit: ABED RAHIM KHATIB/FLASH90)

However, despite the steady flow of reports in recent weeks that the IDF would immediately take action with ground troops in Rafah, The Jerusalem Post has learned that such moves could still take time and significant negotiations.

Multiple sources have said that an IDF move in Rafah is not on the immediate horizon, even as Israel has made some progress in negotiations with Egypt over the issue.

Israel is unlikely to agree to Hamas's proposal, which includes a demand for a four-and-a-half-month ceasefire in Gaza and an end to the war, according to an NBC report citing a source at the Prime Minister’s Office.

According to the source, “The fact that Hamas is asking for a cease-fire for Israelis to withdraw its forces, that’s something that Israel will never agree to.”

Hamas has proposed a ceasefire plan that would quiet the guns in Gaza for four-and-a-half months leading to an end to the war, in response to a proposal sent last week by Qatari and Egyptian mediators and backed by the United States and Israel.

Israel said officials were "looking intently" at a new Gaza truce proposal presented by Qatari negotiators, a government spokesperson said on Wednesday.

"We have received an update, we have received notification from the Qatari negotiators. We are looking at them. The Mossad is looking intently at what was presented to us," spokesperson Avi Hyman told reporters, repeating a statement from Tuesday evening.