Israel-Hamas War: What happened on day 159?

Dozens of Palestinians were killed and injured in Israeli forces targeting a group of people waiting for humanitarian aid at Gaza's Kuwaiti roundabout, the enclave's Hamas-run health ministry claimed in a statement on Thursday.

At least 11 bodies and 100 wounded people arrived at Gaza's Al Shifa hospital, the statement added.

Dozens of Palestinians were killed and injured in Israeli forces targeting a group of people waiting for humanitarian aid at Gaza's Kuwaiti roundabout, the enclave's Hamas-run health ministry claimed in a statement on Thursday.

At least 11 bodies and 100 wounded people arrived at Gaza's Al Shifa hospital, the statement added.

Qatar sent Israel an official letter via Hamas detailing the Gaza terror group's demands as part of the Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, KAN News reported on Thursday night.

Positive developments have been made regarding the Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, Israeli media reported on Thursday evening, citing senior Israeli sources.

Channel 13 reported that Hamas had shown "slight flexibility" in its position regarding the release of its terrorists jailed in Israeli prison.

KAN News, citing more Israeli sources, reported that Israel maintains "cautious optimism" over a deal being agreed to.

This is a developing story.

As commander of the IDF’s 98th Division, IDF Brig.-Gen. Dan Goldfus effectively commands a full division of commandos. He was entrusted with the role of taking down Hamas’s Khan Yunis brigade – considered the toughest of them all, as it is home to the largest and most byzantine tunnel network in Gaza.

In two months, he destroyed most of Hamas’s fighting capability as a national military organization in the South.

He is considered by both the army and most media outlets to be one of the true war heroes and one of the IDF's most creative, domineering, and implacable commanders.

Goldfus is also viewed as having a certain stoicism. Whether under real enemy fire or the “fire” of aggressive journalists, he can remain calm and put his personal views aside, which is not a given.

This understanding makes his speech on Wednesday night all the more bizarre and appalling. Goldfus unleashed an onslaught on Israel’s political class in the last minute of an otherwise very carefully crafted - and pre-approved - speech.

Firm believer in equally carrying the burden.

He did not ask but rather demanded that the political class conduct themselves in a way that honors and is worthy of the sacrifice of the many soldiers he has lost under his command. He demanded that they ensure that the entire country (i.e., including haredim - ultra-Orthodox Jews) served equally in the military so that his fallen soldiers’ sacrifice would not be disrespected. Finally, he demanded that the political class work on policy and tone that would unite, not divide, the country.

Goldfus briefed me three times during the war, including one time on the front lines. I was also embedded with his commando units in Khan Yunis during the height of the fighting in December.

Although he is originally South African, you cannot tell he is not a native Hebrew speaker. He culturally comes off as the quintessential Israeli: daring and fearless. He answers questions crisply without being overly loquacious and gets to the point in a hurry.

One thing I did notice, though, was that he has little patience for nonsense.

Reporters can miss things that can only be gleaned from someone fresh off the battlefield. This creates a gap that, for someone fighting so resolutely in constantly life-risking conditions, can feel disconnected and be tiresome.

Not that Goldfus snapped when he lost patience with us; if anything, he went deeper into a stoic state, striking an even greater contrast. He physically stepped back, brought his hands to his sides as if signaling a willingness to hold back, and slowed down his speech as if using his body to do one large eye-roll – instead of snapping.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets IDF soldiers on March 14, 2024 (credit: PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE)

Even when he demanded a few items from the political class, he kept his demands to issues with a relatively large consensus. He did not hint at his personal politics or divisive issues.

And yet, he simply could not tolerate what he saw as the nonsense of many in the political class at the same time that his soldiers were dying heroically to protect the rest of us.

The truth is that everything Goldfus said out loud is something that I and other military reporters constantly hear from military officials quietly or with knowing stares and winks. The IDF, by press time, has defeated the vast majority of Hamas.

But weeks, if not months, have been squandered by the political class, unable to move forward with rebuilding Gaza in a way that will make it harder, if not impossible, for Hamas to return.

After just a few weeks, Goldfus returned this month to Khan Yunis to fight larger groups of Hamas fighters trying to rally together. These threats were larger than what was expected. And this is partially because of the power vacuum that exists in Gaza, a vacuum that stems from political decisions and diplomatic policies.

This means that regardless of which policy is best practically, there is a whole other side to this, which is political. But the issue of the power vacuum in Gaza is much more practically pressing than it is political: That is what politicians are failing to understand. New projects that are slowly chaffing away at Hamas’s monopoly on providing food and aid to Gazans could have happened at least a month ago.

New drafting plan angers sectors that already serve

Five weeks after the IDF rolled out its plan to increase military service, a plan which did not include the eligible haredim and angered most other sectors that already heavily serve, the government has still made no concrete move to address this massive manpower issue that will only grow with the war.

Soon, without changing this legal reality and fixing this historical injustice that manifests in real numbers, the majority of Israelis who serve will already need to be forced into longer service because time will have run out – and the war waits for no one.

Meanwhile, some well-known politicians regularly post to social media, attacking others while rarely contributing anything substantive to the war effort or uniting the country.

This is the zeitgeist of most of the IDF's higher echelons, but they refrain from saying it because they still feel a different level of honor while wearing the uniform, an honor many in the political class have long forgotten.

Goldfus said it out loud for one brief moment on Wednesday. Although he was summoned for a hearing, many in the political class may still be shaking in their boots – because inside, they know that most of the country agrees with the front-line commander.

Sen. Chuck Schumer's comments calling for a new election Thursday morning were "earth-shatteringly bad" and "hurtful," Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said later in the day. 

"The majority leader of the United States Senate is calling on the people of Israel to overthrow their government. Whether you like Bibi or not, it's not the question. The question is, is it appropriate for anybody in this body to tell another country to take their government down?" Graham said on the Senate floor. 

This is a departure about how the US interacts with its allies and it's done enormous damage to delicate negotiations, Graham said. 

The US should remain Israel's ally

America should be helping Israel without qualification, according to Graham. The best way to find an end to Gazan's suffering will be to destroy Hamas, he said. 

Graham likened pulling support for Israel's fight against Hamas to "stepping the foot off the gas" when it came to fighting the Nazis and Japanese in WWII. 

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) speaks during a press conference following the weekly Senate caucus luncheons on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., March 12, 2024. (credit: REUTERS/Craig Hudson)

"We're having prominent Democratic members, people I respect, calling on the Israeli people to take down their government. I can't believe it. I thought it was a joke. I thought somebody was pranking me this morning," Graham said. 

Graham said he's still hoping for a way for relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel to normalize, and part of that deal would be a better life for Palestinians. This will not happen if Hamas is not destroyed, according to Graham. 

Graham challenged Schumer's claim that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is a hindrance to achieving peace, saying the problem is "radical Islam wanting to kill every Jew they can find."

 "Senator Schumer, I'm disappointed. You've done a lot of damage, my friend, and you need to fix this," Graham said.

This week, hosts Tamar Uriel-Beeri and Zvika Klein discuss the aid coming into Gaza by sea and air and how Hamas approaches humanitarian aid. They talk elections, but Israeli and American, and discuss concerns over outside commentary.

Then, they are joined by actor, filmmaker, director, activist, and influencer Yuval David, who has been outspoken on the issue of providing Israel with vocal support from the Diaspora and the importance of supporting Jewish communities abroad in this difficult time.

Our podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Google Podcasts.

Canada has paused non-lethal military exports to Israel since January because of the rapidly evolving situation on the ground, a Canadian government source said on Thursday.

The source, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation, did not give more details. The freeze was first reported by the Toronto Star.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi will hold a crucial meeting on Sunday of virtually all of the military’s high command and brigadier generals-division commanders to plot out the future of the war.

Regarding Gaza, where much of the war was over in northern Gaza in early January and in the rest of Gaza other than Rafah, by early February, the focus will be learning lessons for improving in any future operations, even as Hamas is not currently a true security threat.

Addressing the North, there is a more intense focus because there could still be a broader general war in the coming weeks or months. Part of the meeting will be especially focused on preventing Hamas from using Ramadan to cause the IDF to make mistakes that could unnecessarily inflame the region.

In Gaza on Thursday, IDF troops unearthed a weapons cache under a bed in a bedroom in Khan Yunis and a rocket launcher near a school, the military said. According to the military, the discoveries came after forces conducted special targeted missions in the center of a built-up area.

During operations, the troops raided apartments used for terrorists’ hideouts in addition to Hamas military strongholds. In the same area, the soldiers found a rocket launcher near a school and subsequently destroyed it, the military added.

Italy has continued to export arms to Israel, the Italian defense minister said on Thursday, despite assurances last year that the government was blocking such sales following Israel's invasion of the Gaza Strip.

However, Guido Crosetto told parliament that only previously signed orders were being honored after checks had been made to ensure the weaponry would not be used against Gaza civilians.

Under Italian law, arms exports are banned to countries that are waging war and those deemed to be violating international human rights.

Crosetto announced last year following the explosion of violence in Gaza that the Italian authority that oversees the sale of military goods, known as Uama, had blocked authorization of the transfer of arms to Israel.

However, picking apart data from statistics agency ISTAT, independent media outlet Altreconomia this week reported that Italy had exported 2.1 million euros ($2.30 million) in arms and munitions to Israel in the last three months of 2023.

IDF arresting suspects in the West Bank. (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)

In December alone, Italy exported 1.3 million euros worth of arms, three times the level of the same month in 2022.

Crosetto told parliament these were outstanding contracts. "Uama checked them on a case-by-case basis, and they did not concern materials that could be used against civilians in Gaza," he said.

Italian pacifists call for reform of export law

Francesco Vignarca, head of a national pacifist network for disarmament, said there was little clarity surrounding arms sales and criticized recent moves to reform the export law.

"With the (proposed) changes, decisions (on exports) will be more political, and transparency will be reduced," he said, adding that all outstanding arms contracts to Israel needed to be suspended.

Italy's conservative government offered immediate support to Israel in the wake of the surprise Hamas attack on October 7 but has since criticized the Israeli invasion of Gaza, saying far too many civilians were dying and urging an immediate ceasefire.

European foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said after meetings in Washington on Thursday that the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza was not a natural disaster but a "man-made" one.

Borrell, in a briefing with reporters at the EU's offices in Washington, said that world leaders needed to put more pressure on Israel to open borders for humanitarian access to Gaza.