Israel-Hamas War: What happened on day 139?

Israel is seeking Palestinians who are not affiliated with Hamas to manage civilian affairs in areas of the Gaza Strip designed as testing grounds for post-war administration of the enclave, a senior Israeli official said on Thursday.

But Hamas said the plan, which the Israeli official said would also exclude anybody on the payroll of the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority, would amount to an Israeli reoccupation of Gaza and was doomed to failure.

Israel to pilot 'humanitarian pockets' in Gaza

The Israeli official said the planned "humanitarian pockets" would be in districts of the Gaza Strip from which Hamas has been expelled, but that their ultimate success would hinge on Israel achieving its goal of destroying the Islamist faction across the tiny coastal territory that it has been governing.

"We're looking for the right people to step up to the plate," the official told Reuters on condition of anonymity. "But it is clear that this will take time, as no one will come forward if they think Hamas will put a bullet in their head."

The plan, the official added, "may be achieved once Hamas is destroyed and doesn't pose a threat to Israel or to Gazans."

GAZAN PROTESTERS at the border fence on Saturday. (Reuters) (credit: REUTERS)

Israel's top-rated Channel 12 TV reported that the Zeitoun neighborhood of northern Gaza City was a candidate for implementation of the plan, under which local merchants and civil society leaders would distribute humanitarian aid.

The Israeli military would provide peripheral security in Zeitoun, Channel 12 said, describing renewed troop incursions there this week as designed to root out remnants of a Hamas garrison that was hit hard in the early stages of the war.

The Israeli murdered in the terror attack on Thursday morning was identified as Matan Elmaliach, aged 26, from Ma'ale Adumim.
 

The IDF's Arrow missile defense system intercepted a rocket launched toward Israel's southernmost city of Eilat and the surrounding towns, the Israeli military confirmed.

The target was located and shot down in the Red Sea, failing to cross into Israeli territory.

US-led forces respond to Houthi attack on Red Sea ship near Yemen

Elsewhere over the Red Sea, two missiles were fired at a vessel in an attack southeast of the Yemeni port city of Aden on Thursday, causing a fire onboard, Britain's maritime agency said.

British maritime security firm Ambrey identified the vessel as a Palau-flagged, UK-owned general cargo ship that was headed in the direction of the Red Sea from Thailand.

Houthi followers raise firearms during a parade in solidarity with the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and to show support to Houthi strikes on ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, in Sanaa, Yemen January 29, 2024. (credit: KHALED ABDULLAH/REUTERS)

US-led coalition forces are responding to the incident, which took place 70 nautical miles from Aden in the direction of the Red Sea, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency said without elaborating.

"It has been reported that a vessel was attacked by two missiles, resulting in a fire on board," the UKMTO said.

Israeli officials have privately admitted that the IDF has no "precise" strategy for the invasion of the southern Gaza city of Rafah, Bloomberg reported Thursday.

Bloomberg reported that "officials acknowledge in private they have no precise strategy for how to [attack in Rafah], how long it will take or where the people will go."

Speaking to Bloomberg on Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated his call for the IDF to draw up a plan for evacuating Palestinian civilians from the southermost city in the Strip.

In the wake of the Hamas October 7 attack on Israel, there has been an outpouring of support for Hamas in the West.

Much of this support takes the form of various types of protests that have hijacked an existing pool of pro-Palestinian activism to graft Hamas messaging onto the activism. 

For instance, using words such as “flood” in protests is one of the signs that the Hamas term for the massacre of people in Israel is now being adopted by activists in the West. 

At a point of no return?

The embrace of Hamas rhetoric among pro-Palestinian activists now appears widespread, including rejecting the idea of two states and peace.

Can pro-Palestinian activism recover from October 7 and the extremism that Hamas wrought?

Israeli bombs on Rafah flattened a mosque and destroyed homes while the Hamas chief was in Cairo for talks Gazans hope could bring a truce in time to head off a full-blown assault on the city.

The al-Farouk mosque in the center of Rafah was flattened into slabs of concrete, the facades of adjacent buildings blasted away. Authorities said four houses had been struck in the south of the city and three in the center.

It was decided that starting on Wednesday, Palestinians in east Jerusalem who do not hold a blue card will no longer be able to cross at checkpoints until 9:00 a.m., according to Israeli media reports. 

This decision comes as an immediate response to the terrorist shooting at the checkpoint outside of Maale Adumim on Thursday morning.

As an additional response, police will increase their forces on the traffic route, emphasizing security in complex areas. 

Two missiles were fired at a vessel in an attack southeast of the Yemeni port city of Aden on Thursday, causing a fire onboard, Britain's maritime agency said.

US-led coalition forces are responding to the incident, which took place 70 nautical miles from Aden in the direction of the Red Sea, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency said without elaborating.

"It has been reported that a vessel was attacked by two missiles, resulting in a fire on board," the UKMTO said.

This is a developing story.

On Thursday, those few stolen moments were shattered upon waking to a few missed calls and a slew of WhatsApps asking if the family was OK.

Anyone in Israel knows the drill by rote. Something bad had happened.

A quick glance at the breaking news updates, the tweets, the pushes, and the haze quickly melted away. A terror attack on Highway 1 - the main highway connecting my city of Ma’ale Adumim to Jerusalem at the daily traffic backup leading to the security checkpoint at the top of the winding hill that leads into the Naomi Shemer tunnel under the Mount of Olives into the Mt. Scopus intersection in Jerusalem.

Palestinian terrorists with automatic weapons opening fire on sitting duck commuters. Eight were wounded, one killed. Shooters subdued. Fellow commuters who understood an attack was taking place and acted quickly were heroes.

We’ve repeated the scene so many times  - pre-October 7 and since that fateful marker in the history of Israel. This time though, there was something else. Thursday’s terror attack took place -  to paraphrase Michael Corleone in The Godfather II - where my wife drives, where my children travel, where I pass nearly every day of the week.

A personal affront

If every other terror attack against Israelis wasn’t already a personal affront, this one felt particularly egregious.

The thousands of daily commuters on Highway 1 are an amalgam of residents of Ma’ale Adumim (with over 40,000 residents, one of the biggest cities in the West Bank), nearby communities of Kfar Adumim, Alon, Kedar, and Dead Sea hamlets, and lots of Palestinian motorists from Jericho, Azariyah and nearby towns.

My son-in-law, who lived for six years in Ma’ale Adumim until October 8, once explained to me that every time he drove up Road One to the checkpoint, he carefully looked at all his fellow drivers to his left and right. 

“I never knew if one of them wasn’t going to look over and start opening fire on me. That’s no way to live,” he said.

Sheikh Naim Qassem, the deputy leader of Hezbollah, spelled out the terrorist group’s policy in regards to Israel, according to recent reports in pro-government media in Iran. 

This Hezbollah official emphasized, “We will never retreat in the field, and we will advance according to the conditions, and if the enemy's aggression expands, our operations will also become more intense, and we will be victorious,” he said.

The comments come after Hezbollah continued to carry out rocket attacks on Israel this week. It targeted numerous areas along the border on February 21, including near Metulla and also near Shlomi on the border. 

Hezbollah also carried out an ATGM attack on a winery and has launched drones at Israel this week. Hezbollah, however, also says that it is only escalating incrementally.