What happened on Day 126 of the war?

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has directed the IDF and the defense establishment to bring to the war cabinet a plan for both the evacuation of civilians in the south Gaza city of Rafah and the neutralization of the four Hamas battalions therein, the Prime Minister’s Office stated on Friday.

Hamas cannot be defeated with four battalions remaining in Rafah

It is impossible to achieve the goal of the war without eliminating Hamas, and by leaving four Hamas battalions in Rafah," the statement noted. "On the contrary, it is clear that intense activity in Rafah requires that civilians evacuate the areas of combat."

The Prime Minister's Office:

It is impossible to achieve the goal of the war without eliminating Hamas, and by leaving four Hamas battalions in Rafah.

On the contrary, it is clear that intense activity in Rafah requires that civilians evacuate the areas of combat.

— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) February 9, 2024

"Therefore," the statement continued, "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the IDF and the security establishment to submit to the Cabinet a combined plan for evacuating the population and destroying the battalions."

Therefore, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the IDF and the security establishment to submit to the Cabinet a combined plan for evacuating the population and destroying the battalions.

— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) February 9, 2024

The US and Qatar are working together to expel Hamas leaders from Doha, Al-Arabiya reported on Friday.

The head of Hamas's politburo, Ismail Haniyeh, has lived in luxury in Doha for years. Qatar has been central in meditating talks aimed at reaching a ceasefire and a release of the hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza. The Al-Arabiya report did not provide further details about the alleged Qatari and American efforts to expel Hamas from Doha.

In October, The Washington Post reported that Qatar and the US had agreed to discuss Hamas's presence in Doha once the crisis in the region was resolved, although it was unclear what exactly that would entail. In December, Israeli media reported that Qatar had agreed to exile Hamas leaders if a ceasefire was reached, although a Qatari official denied that this was the case.

Hostage release, ceasefire talks remain stuck

The report came as ceasefire and hostage release talks between Israel and Hamas remained stuck in place.

According to Al-Arabiya, negotiations in Cairo concerning a deal to release the hostages held by Hamas and to institute a ceasefire were "stuck," and Hamas's response to the most recent proposal was "an embarrassment to Egypt's efforts with the US."

US SECRETARY of State Antony Blinken and Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani attend a news conference in Doha, earlier this month. (credit: EVELYN HOCKSTEIN/REUTERS)

On Thursday, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported, citing Egyptian sources, that a high-level Egyptian security delegation visited Israel on Wednesday to discuss a new round of negotiations for a ceasefire agreement that would take place in Cairo.

According to the report, Israeli and Egyptian officials discussed plans by the IDF to expand operations in Rafah, and it was agreed that a decision on the matter would be postponed in order not to obstruct the negotiations in Cairo.

The Egyptian sources added to Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that Israel is insistent on lowering the number of Palestinian prisoners to be released and on keeping a military presence in the Gaza Strip. Additionally, the talks in Cairo will focus on allowing residents of Gaza to return to northern Gaza.

Egypt is also working to hold negotiations between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority in order to form a national unity government between the two.

Any Israeli military advance into southern Gaza's Rafah area could cause mass deaths among the more than a million Palestinians trapped there, with humanitarian aid in danger of collapse, aid workers said on Friday.

Israel has threatened to advance from Khan Younis, Gaza's main southern city, to Rafah, where the population has increased five-fold as people have fled bombardment, often under evacuation orders, since Israel began its assault on Gaza's ruling Hamas movement.

Some 1.5 million people are now jammed into filthy, overcrowded shelters or on the street in a patch of land hemmed in by Egyptian and Israeli border fences and the Mediterranean Sea as well as Israeli forces.

Fear of further IDF advancement 

Doctors and aid workers are struggling to supply even basic aid and stop the spread of disease.

"No war can be allowed in a gigantic refugee camp," said Jan Egeland, Secretary-General of the Norwegian Refugee Council, warning of a "bloodbath" if Israeli operations expand there.

"Expanded hostilities in Rafah could collapse the humanitarian response," NRC added in a statement.

Syrian air defenses were activated after alleged Israeli airstrikes were launched towards targets in the Damascus area on Friday afternoon, according to initial reports by Syrian media.

Initial reports indicated that the Mezzeh Military Airport was targeted in the strikes.

عاجل
غارات جوية إسرائيلية استهدفت مطار المزة العسكري #إسرائيل #سوريا pic.twitter.com/jRYKHQGl5O

— Nour Abo Hasan (@nourabohsn) February 9, 2024

The strikes come just days after alleged Israeli airstrikes targeted sites in Homs in central Syria.

In the strikes in Homs, several people were killed when a missile hit a building in the city, although it remained unclear if the missile in question was an Israeli missile or a Syrian air defense missile as Syrian air defense missiles have fallen short and caused casualties in the past.

According to the Alma Research & Education Center, satellite imagery and photos from on the ground indicated that a logistics complex with warehouses and a parking lot for vehicles was hit amid the airstrikes in the Homs area. The site in question sits on a highway connecting Homs to Deir Ezzor in eastern Syria, a central area for Iranian militias.

The United Arab Emirates foreign minister called for an intensification of efforts to prevent the expansion of conflict in the region during a meeting of Arab states in Riyadh, the UAE state news agency said on Thursday.

The meeting in Gaza included the foreign ministers of the host country, Saudi Arabia, along with Qatar, Egypt, and Jordan, and the Secretary-General of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) Hussein al-Sheikh.

Syrian air defenses were activated after alleged Israeli airstrikes were launched towards targets in the Damascus area on Friday afternoon, according to initial reports by Syrian media.

Despite the loss of over 500 soldiers, including 300 in the infantry, the IDF remains ready to handle threats on all fronts, said IDF Infantry and Paratroopers Corps Commander Brig.-Gen. Eran Oliel.

“I don’t see any gap. They [IDF soldiers] can handle all of the missions assigned to them without any problems,” he told The Jerusalem Post in an exclusive interview.

Addressing his specific command, the infantry, the largest command in the IDF, he stated: “The infantry has fought everywhere and also fought on October 7.

“There are many processes to address the issue” of having lost more troops in a period of months than the IDF has lost in decades.”

According to Oliel, “The ratio of draftees has gone up for the November 2023 draftees’ group. We also kept more people within the career officer track than usual.

“We shifted more people into the combat fighter category and are keeping more combat commanders. More soldiers and officers across the army will stay on for longer. The motivation to serve is very high, and this is very important,” he said.

Israeli soldiers operate in the Gaza Strip, February 8, 2024 (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)

“The number of ground forces we have is very large. Losing over 300 [however tragic] does not affect the missions. Right now, they are operating in Khan Yunis and Shati – they can handle everything” that they are assigned to do.

Besides the infantry’s general losses, the Paratrooper Brigade within Oliel’s command also has had an unusual number of losses during the current war.

These could be even harder to replace than regular infantry because they [paratroopers] have special talents and much longer and advanced training.

Dozens of protesters blocked the path of humanitarian aid trucks to Gaza at the Kerem Shalom crossing on Friday, although there were no transfers of aid trucks planned on Friday. Military and police forces were in talks with the demonstrators in order to get them to leave the area which has been declared a closed military area.

Activists from the Tzav 9 movement stated that "the hundreds of aid and supply trucks for the terrorist organization Hamas will not enter through here today. We are proud and excited that the determination of this nation is winning. No aid will pass until the last of the hostages returns."

Last week, the commander of the IDF's Southern Command signed an order extending the closed military area in the Kerem Shalom crossing area, following the protests that took place there that prevented aid trucks from entering the Gaza Strip.

The protests continue as Israel explores new ways to provide humanitarian aid to Hamas instead of through the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which has been accused of having many staff members linked to Hamas and other terrorist groups and of providing aid straight to Hamas.

President Isaac Herzog hosted President Javier Milei of Argentina on Thursday on a tour of Kibbutz Nir Oz, located on the Gaza border. 

The tour led by President Herzog took President Milei to the location in the Kibbutz where Hamas terrorists initially broke in on the morning of October 7, which overlooks the Gazan city of Khan Yunis. They were accompanied by Ofelia Roitman, a returned hostage who was held captive by Hamas. This was Roitman's first time returning to her home following the attack.

The Argentinian president also visited the houses of members of the kibbutz, one of the houses belonging to the Bibas family currently held hostage in Hamas captivity. 

Argentina condemns Hamas attacks and stands with Israel

President Javier Milei condemned the Hamas attacks following the visit to the kibbutz and affirmed support for Israel.

"We strongly condemned the terrorist acts of the terrorist group Hamas, and we continue to reaffirm our solidarity towards the people and the State of Israel and our support for Israel's right to legitimate self-defense," President Milei said. 

President Milei of Argentina on tour of Kibbutz Nir Oz with President Hertzog (credit: MAAYAN TOAF / GPO)

President Milei also described the reality residents lived through on October 7 and compared it to the Holocaust.

A Bedouin Israeli crossed into Gaza and joined Hamas in 2016, providing the terrorist organization with information about the locations of IDF bases and training with the Nukhba forces which were central in the October 7 massacre, according to an indictment issued by the State Prosecutor on Friday.

The Bedouin young man, Juma'a Abu Ganima, a resident of El-A'sam, located southeast of Beersheba, was arrested in December while he was trying to infiltrate back from Gaza into Israel.

Abu Ganima crossed into Gaza in 2016, meeting with Hamas terrorists and telling them he wanted to join the terrorist movement's Al-Qassam Brigades and become a "martyr."

The Hamas terrorists questioned Abu Ganima and he provided the terrorists with information, including the locations of IDF bases in southern Israel.

After staying in the homes of Hamas terrorists for three months, Abu Ganima underwent military training with the terrorist organization and later went through advanced training with the Nukhba forces. As part of the training with the Nukhba forces, Abu Ganima went through exercises drilling an attack on a city and the occupation of a military post.

Palestinians break into the Israeli side of Israel-Gaza border fence after Hamas terrorists infiltrated areas of southern Israel, October 7, 2023. (credit: REUTERS/Mohammed Fayq Abu Mostafa)

Bedouin citizen offered to join IDF and provide intelligence to Hamas

The Bedouin citizen conducted observations of Israeli territory while in Gaza and met with Hamas terrorists in order to help them with their conflict against Israel. Abu Ganima even offered to conduct shooting attacks in Israel and to return to Israel and draft into the IDF to provide Hamas with information from the inside. He also agreed to a proposal to join a criminal organization in Israel to promote terrorist activity.