Israel-Hamas War: What happened on day 153?

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum called on the Pope on Thursday to intercede for the immediate release of the hostages detained in the Gaza Strip. 

The families wrote to the pontiff, "We express profound gratitude and appreciation for all your efforts thus far and your continued interest, support, and involvement in advancing the release of the hostages." 

"We hope that your ongoing commitment and moral voice will contribute to the release of all the hostages," the letter added.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi on Thursday slammed the exemption of haredim from IDF and national service for the second consecutive day.

Speaking at the graduation of the IDF officer course in the South, Halevi said that broadening the sectors of Israel's population that serve in the IDF and national service is the only way to replace the many Israeli soldiers who have died in the current war.

Further, he said that Israel as a country and the IDF as an organization would only remain united if all of the sectors of Israel's population become part of the IDF and national service - clearly referring to a need to draft haredim.

Just yesterday, Halevi appeared to issue a veiled rebuke of any government officials who are considering maintaining the haredi sector's blanket IDF and national service draft exemption.

The US military carried out its third airdrop of aid into Gaza on Thursday, dropping more than 38,000 meals amid an unfolding humanitarian catastrophe in the crowded coastal enclave.

The Israeli offensive in Gaza, which is supported by the United States, has displaced most of the enclave's 2.3 million people and led to critical shortages of food, water and medicine.

In a statement, the US military said the aid was dropped by US and Jordanian C-130 aircraft in northern Gaza.

Aid dropped by air is an expensive and insufficient alternative to aid that is trucked in, given the scale of the humanitarian crisis, US officials say. President Joe Biden's administration is pressing for greater access by land and also exploring a maritime option.

 Israel will push on with its offensive against Hamas despite growing international pressure, including into the southern Gaza city of Rafah, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday.

"There is international pressure and it's growing, but particularly when the international pressure rises, we must close ranks, we need to stand together against the attempts to stop the war," he said.

The military would operate against Hamas all through the Gaza Strip, he said, "including Rafah, the last Hamas stronghold."

"Whoever tells us not to act in Rafah is telling us to lose the war and that will not happen."

Hamas said its delegation had left Cairo on Thursday amid ongoing negotiations on a ceasefire accord in Gaza that mediators hope to achieve before the start of Ramadan early next week.

After four days of talks mediated by Qatar and Egypt to secure a 40-day ceasefire ahead of the Muslim fasting month there has been no sign of progress on key sticking points, with both sides blaming the other.

"Hamas's delegation left Cairo this morning for consultation with the leadership of the movement, with negotiations and efforts continuing to stop the aggression, return the displaced and bring in relief aid to our people," a Hamas statement said.

Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said Israel had been "thwarting" efforts to conclude a ceasefire deal.

Abu Zuhri told Reuters that Israel was rejecting Hamas's demands to end its offensive in the enclave, withdraw its forces, and ensure freedom of entry for aid and the return of displaced people.

Israel has vowed to press on with its campaign, which it says is aimed at destroying Hamas and that any ceasefire would be temporary. It has also pressed for a list of hostages held by Gaza in Gaza who are still alive.

"Needless to say, Israel will do whatever it takes to release our hostages. We've made very, very clear and this has been reiterated by the US that, unfortunately, it is Hamas who is the stumbling block right now by not telling us who is alive and who they have in their custody," Israeli government spokesman David Mencer said on Thursday.

US President Joe Biden said earlier this week that a deal for a ceasefire was in the hands of Hamas.

IAF jets attacked two Hezbollah military buildings in the Aitaroun and the Ayta ash Shab areas in southern Lebanon, the military announced on Thursday.

On Wednesday evening, the IDF struck a Hezbollah military structure in the al-Matmura area in addition to an observation post of the organization in the Jebbayn area.

In the last few hours, following launches that crossed into Israeli territory in the Rosh HaNikra, Ya'ara, and the Upper Galilee regions, the IDF targeted the sources of the fire with artillery fire, the military added.

“The Palestinian Authority is not a body that encourages terrorism,” former Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) chief Nadav Argaman said on Thursday at the INNS conference. “The Palestinian Authority is the legitimate body of the Palestinian people,” he said. 

“The Palestinian Authority is not a body that encourages terrorism and certainly not a terrorist organization...the Palestinian Authority sees itself as living by our side," he said.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said in response, "Former head of the Shin Bet, Nadav Argaman, is a prisoner of the concept he himself nurtured. The Palestinian Authority has been funding terrorist families, supporting murderers, and sponsoring brutal terrorism for decades.

“The statement as if the PA does not encourage terrorism, and that it wants to live by Israel's side - is disconnected from reality and a direct continuation of the old conception.”

Foreign Minister Israel Katz has directed all embassies within the State of Israel to begin a large-scale hasbara (public diplomacy) campaign immediately on Thursday morning, in light of the findings of the UN report on sexual violence in the Hamas massacre on October 7.

The report was published by the UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Pramila Patten, on Monday. The report expresses that she and her team of experts had found “clear and convincing information” of rape and sexualized torture being committed against hostages seized during the October 7 terror attacks.  

The campaign's objective is to keep the report in the public discourse so that people will not forget its findings.

The aim is to put pressure on the UN to define Hamas as a terrorist organization and to ensure an emergency meeting of the Security Council in order to discuss the findings of the report. 

The hasbara campaign will prioritize media interviews, distributing messages across social media platforms, and engaging in meetings with decision-makers across the world. 

Two Belgian ministers have called for Israel's exclusion from the Eurovision Song Contest while the Gaza war is ongoing as a punitive measure for the toll on Palestinian civilians.

Controversy over the conflict has hit various cultural events, with organizer The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) resisting calls from some artists and activists for Israel to be dropped from Europe's May 7-11 annual song competition.

Belgium's French-speaking Culture Minister Benedicte Linard and Flemish counterpart Benjamin Dalle added their voices.

"Just like Russia has been excluded from competitions and Eurovision following its invasion of Ukraine, Israel should be excluded until it puts an end to its flagrant violations of international law, which are causing thousands of victims, especially children," she said on X.

There was no immediate response from the EBU or from Israel.

Military operations continued operations in Khan Yunis’s Hamad neighborhood, the IDF reported on Thursday.

IDF soldiers located several weapons and destroyed terrorist command centers throughout the neighborhood. 

In Hamad, soldiers of the 7th Brigade completed raids on several terrorist infrastructures, including a warehouse used for the production of weapons, cargo, and military equipment. 

In an operation in west Khan Yunis, an RPG-armed terrorist was identified while entering a building with underground infrastructure and eliminated by a fighter jet. 

Soldiers also located tunnel shafts in the Pirim area and destroyed terrorist command centers in the vicinity. Soldiers of the commando unit continued raids and searches on buildings in the Pirim neighborhood, discovered weapons, and killed several terrorists.