Biden, Netanyahu speak as Israel prepares for invasion of Gaza's Rafah

Benny Gantz's National Unity party maintained its strong lead in new polls published on Sunday as the majority of the Israeli public expressed support for calling early elections.

According to polls by both Channel 13 and N12, Gantz's party would earn 37 seats, while Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud would only earn 18 seats.

According to the N12 poll, Yesh Atid would earn 15 seats, Shas would earn 11 seats, Yisrael Beytenu and Otzma Yehudit would earn nine seats each, United Torah Judaism would earn seven seats, Hadash-Ta'al and Ra'am would earn five seats each, and Meretz would earn four seats.

The Channel 12 poll would leave the coalition with 45 seats and the former coalition with 70 seats, as Hadash-Ta'al traditionally does not sit in coalitions.

According to the Channel 13 poll, Yesh Atid would earn 13 seats, Yisrael Beytenu would earn 10 seats, Shas would earn nine seats, Otzma Yehudit would earn eight seats, United Torah Judaism would earn seven seats, the Religious Zionist party would earn six seats, and Meretz, Ra'am, and Hadash-Ta'al would earn four seats each.

The Channel 13 poll would leave the coalition with 48 seats and the former coalition with 68 seats, as Hadash-Ta'al traditionally does not sit in coalitions.

Should early elections be called?

When asked if elections should be held early, 51% of respondents to the N12 poll said they should be held early, while 39% said there was no need to do so, and 10% said they were unsure.

The Channel 13 poll found, meanwhile, that 30% of respondents believed that elections should be held immediately, while another 30% said the government should continue its term, and another 29% said a new government should be formed but within the current Knesset.

When asked if Benny Gantz and his party should remain in the government or not, 44% of respondents to the Channel 13 poll said he should, while 34% said he should leave. Among National Unity party voters, 57% said he should stay.

Channel 12 found that 31% of respondents believe Gantz should leave the government, while 41% think they shouldn't leave.

Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip over the past 96 hours have killed two Israeli hostages and seriously injured eight others, Hamas’s armed wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, said on Sunday over the group’s Telegram channel. The IDF declined to address the claims, saying that the terror group often uses psychological warfare and manufactured facts to try to cover up its executions of hostages.

Hamas’s statement read: “Their conditions are becoming more dangerous in light of the inability to provide them with appropriate treatment. (Israel) bears full responsibility for the lives of those injured in light of their continued bombing.”

Hamas terrorists killed 1,200 people in southern Israel and abducted at least 250 in their brutal October 7 attacks. Israel subsequently responded with a military assault targeting Hamas in the Gaza Strip, which, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, has killed more than 28,000 Palestinians. The Hamas health ministry does not differentiate between combatants and noncombatants in their tally, but the IDF has said it has killed over 10,000 Hamas fighters.

Despite the IDF not recognizing Hamas’s statements on Sunday, the IDF on Friday announced the results of a comprehensive probe, concluding that an attack by the air force on Hamas in central Gaza likely accidentally also killed Israeli hostage Yossi Sharabi.

Sharabi was being held by Hamas in a structure adjacent to the structure that the air force attacked, but IDF intelligence did not know that at the time.

The IDF attack on the adjacent structure led to the collapse of the structure in which Sharabi was being held.

The IDF paused its operations in the Al-Jneina neighborhood of Rafah in southern Gaza on Sunday in order to facilitate the movement of humanitarian aid, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) announced.

The pause lasted from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm.

The COGAT statement noted the day prior, four tankers carrying cooking gas entered Gaza with the aim of keeping vital humanitarian infrastructure operational.

The @IDF is enabling tactical pauses for humanitarian purposes. These pauses take place between 10:00 and 14:00 to allow the civilians of Gaza to replenish stocks such as food and water.
For the full list of pauses, check out our website: https://t.co/mjOUmOnFjc. pic.twitter.com/PlSwT2G7XK

— COGAT (@cogatonline) February 11, 2024

Further, this past Thursday alone, 65 trucks carrying 1,330 tons of food, 11 trucks carrying 165 tons of shelter equipment, 18 trucks carrying 355 tons of medical supplies, and 13 trucks carrying 195 tons of various goods entered the Strip.

According to COGAT, 12,561 trucks carrying 230,900 tons of humanitarian aid have entered Gaza since the start of the war. 

A truck carrying aid arrives at a tent camp, as Displaced Palestinians who fled their houses due to Israeli strikes, take shelter there amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, near the border with Egypt in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, February 6, 2024. (credit: REUTERS/MOHAMMED SALEM)

Bakeries in Gaza operational

Additionally, critical food infrastructure, including 15 bakeries that supply Gazans with more than two million breads, rolls, and pitas, is operational.

COGAT added that, with the facilitation of the organization, the 15 operational bakeries in Gaza is an increase from just ten two weeks prior.

The IDF caught and arrested 20 Hamas terrorists hiding in the Al Amal Hospital without disrupting the continued operation of the hospital, the IDF Spokesperson's Unit said Sunday evening.

The search in the hospital was conducted with prior coordination with the hospital staff, and the forces searched the hospital carefully without opening fire and without harming patients or staff.

"IDF soldiers were briefed in advance on the importance of preventing harm to patients, medical teams, civilians, and medical equipment, in accordance with international law," said the IDF Spokesperson's Unit. "This activity once again proves the cynical pattern of operation of the terrorist organization Hamas, which uses hospitals and the civilian population as a disguise for the purposes of hiding terrorists."

IDF delivers medical equipment to Al Amal Hospital in Khan Yunis

After the arrests were completed, the IDF facilitated the delivery of dozens of oxygen tanks to the hospital.

IDF soldiers delivering medical equipment to the Al Amal hospital in Khan Yunis in the Gaza Strip, February 10th, 2024 (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)

The IDF confirmed that it facilitated the delivery of over 20 oxygen tanks and additional medical equipment to the hospital

This operation, coordinated by officers of the Gaza Coordination and Liaison Administration, involved collaboration with the hospital and various international aid organizations.

The @IDF recently facilitated the delivery of over 20 oxygen tanks and additional medical equipment to Al Amal Hospital in Khan Yunis, coordinated by COGAT officers the hospital and international aid organizations. pic.twitter.com/8G5ms7MWrk

— COGAT (@cogatonline) February 10, 2024

The IDF stated that due to the use of the hospital by terrorists as an operational hideout, as well as the intense combat in the area near the hospital, intricate coordination was carried out with international aid organizations and local officials to transfer the oxygen tanks to the designated locations, from which the IDF collected the oxygen tanks and transferred them to the hospital.

Negotiators working on a phased framework deal to secure the release of the remaining hostages held by the Islamist Hamas group in Gaza have made "real progress" over the last few weeks, a senior Biden administration official said on Sunday.

The hostage release deal was the main focus of a 45-minute telephone call between President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday, although there were still some "significant" gaps to close, the official said, adding, "It's pretty much there."

Biden, in the call, stressed that the United States did not support Israeli military operations in Rafah under the current circumstances, with some 1.3 million people sheltering there "with nowhere to go."

An attempted stabbing attack was thwarted near the Lion's Gate of the Old City of Jerusalem on Sunday evening, according to initial reports by Israeli and Palestinian media.

Footage from the scene showed a heavy presence of security forces and the suspected terrorist lying on the ground after reportedly being shot by a police officer.

Al-Jazeera journalist Mohammed Wishah had a side job as a commander in Hamas's anti-tank missile units until 2022, evidence retrieved by the IDF revealed, the IDF's spokesperson for Arabic media, Avichay Adraee, announced on Sunday.

"In the morning, a journalist on Al Jazeera, and in the evening, a terrorist in Hamas!" wrote Adraee on X.

#عاجل #خاص في الصباح صحفي في قناة #الجزيرة وفي المساء مخرب في حماس! @AJArabic

⭕️خلال نشاط لقواتنا قبل عدة أسابيع داخل احدى معسكرات حماس في شمال قطاع غزة تم ضبط كمبيوتر متحرك يعود إلى المدعو محمد سمير محمد وشاح من مواليد 1986 من البريج حيث يتضح من المستندات ان محمد وشاح هو قائد… pic.twitter.com/s8CX1kOfvP

— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) February 11, 2024

"During operations by our forces several weeks ago inside one of the Hamas camps in the northern Gaza Strip, a laptop belonging to someone named Muhammed Samir Muhammed Wishah, born in 1986 from Bureij, was seized where it is clear from the documents that Muhammed Wishah is a prominent commander in the anti-tank missile units in the military wing of Hamas."

At the end of 2022, Wishah transferred to work in the field of research and development in Hamas' aerial units, according to Adraee.

Photos show Wishah engaged in terrorist activities

Adraee's attached photos showed Wishah engaged in operations within Hamas, including photos showing Wishah training Hamas members and firing anti-tank missiles.

"Who knows how many details we will reveal about the presence of other terrorists in journalistic uniforms in the near future?" added the IDF spokesperson.

At the beginning of the program on 103FM, Arel Segal and the guest presenter, retired Major-General Yitzhak Barik, discussed the progress of the fighting in the Gaza Strip and the weakening of Hamas.

"There are reports that the head of the Mossad is formulating the Israeli response to the mediators' proposals, although it is unclear if there is a coherent strategy in light of Hamas's response," said Segal. "How can we advance here before we're in a military event? The issue of the hostages is a strategic event."

He added further, "We see that the IDF's ability to tail Hamas is diminishing, as well as the level of operational mistakes. The question after today is very significant. There was a dream here from the perspective of those who managed the Hostage and Missing Families Forum, [but] the pressure on the government did not work."

In response, Barik argued, "Hamas still feels very strong. It is willing to give up homes and people who are killed, but it feels that we are not likely to topple it. Therefore, it uses cynical language, it does not want to reach an agreement on the hostages. They have time. To weaken their capabilities - it seems we are not approaching it. Hamas will continue to exist."

Israel hoped Egypt would sit in custodianship of the Philadelphi Corridor

Regarding the fighting in the Philadelphi Corridor and in Rafah, Barik said, "The Philadelphi Corridor, we all know we have evacuations from Sinai under the corridor. The IDF did not want to sit along this corridor for the next few years because it did not have the power to do so and because there would be many casualties, so it hoped that the Egyptians would do it. 

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi inspects the Egyptian military units in Suez, as he told the media in his speech that Cairo is playing a very positive role in de-escalating the Gaza crisis, Egypt, October 25, 2023. (credit: THE EGYPTIAN PRESIDENCY/HANDOUT VIA REUTERS)

“But today, there is a very big problem with Egypt. They are not ready to do it in our place. They also do not agree for us to do it from this side of the corridor, and they threaten that if we start doing various things that will cause masses to cross into Sinai, then they will stop the peace.

"Although it's a poor country, it's the strongest army in the Middle East today - 4,000 tanks, 2,000 modern ones, hundreds of the most advanced aircraft, and a navy of the best there is.

For years, they've been building highways into Sinai. We're the target. They're not building the army for anywhere else. This means one decision to cancel peace, they become an enemy state, and we don't even have a brigade to stand against it."

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu doubled down on his insistence that the IDF must retain security control of Gaza and the West Bank for the foreseeable future ahead of his phone conversation with US President Joe Biden.

“We want to bring about the demilitarization of the [Gaza] strip. This requires our supreme security control and responsibility over the entire area west of Jordan, including the Gaza Strip. There is no substitute for it in the foreseeable future,” Netanyahu told his government ministers on Sunday during a visit to an army base.

“We say this to the international community, to the US president, to all the leaders. There is no substitute for that,” Netanyahu said.

If the IDF finally, in fact, invades Rafah in the coming days or weeks, the plans have been prepared for a while, and the hold-up has been at the diplomatic level with Egypt and the West.

Even back in December, the IDF strongly believed that it could handle the daunting task of evacuating and moving out of the way the 1.4 million Palestinians who had moved to Rafah, which means its current population is about six times larger than pre-war.

What is daunting about this task is that Cairo is terrified that the IDF’s invasion will lead Palestinians to penetrate their border and cross into Egypt, the US and the West are terrified that many Palestinian civilians will die (privately, Egypt could not care less about this), and that many of these people have already been moved three times: from northern Gaza to Khan Yunis to Rafah.

Will some of them just refuse to move, believing that it is no longer safe to move or that there is no end to their explosions if they do not, at some point, draw a line and stay?

Will some of Egypt’s or the West’s worst nightmares transpire, leading to a crisis and mid-invasion halt?