Israel-Hamas War: What happened on day 162?

"If it is possible to bring home Israeli abductees from Gaza in exchange for the poor soul of this scumbag and his friends in the human sewer called Hamas, I call on the Prime Minister and the cabinet ministers: release the abominable murderers and bring the abductees home," said former MK Izhar Shay on a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday.

אני כותב את הדברים האלה בידיים רועדות. אם מחבל הנוחבה המתועב שהרג את הבן שלי יושב כרגע בכלא ישראלי הייתי שמח לצפות בהוצאתו להורג. כמו שמקובל בארצות הברית, שם מזמינים את בני המשפחה לצפות בהוצאה להורג של רוצחי יקיריהם. הייתי רוצה לצפות בו נושם את נשימותיו האחרונות, במידת האפשר…

— Izhar Shay - יזהר שי (@Izhars7) March 17, 2024

The scumbag that Shay refers to in his post is the Nukhba terrorist that killed his son, Yaron, on October 7.

Shay's post about releasing the terrorist who killed his son in exchange for hostages comes at the same time that the cabinet met to come to an official decision regarding Hama's new demands for a hostage deal.

IDF officer Captain Daniel Perez was killed on October 7, and his body was taken to Gaza, the IDF announced on Sunday.

Perez was 22, from Yad Binyamin, and a Division Commander in the 77th battalion of the 7th "Storm from the Golan" formation.

Perez was originally from South Africa but moved to Israel in 2014 with the rest of his family.

Daniel's father, Doron Perez, has previously interviewed with the Jerusalem Post and described his bravery on October 7, as well as the events surrounding his captivity.

On October 7, Daniel immediately ran to his tank and fought valiantly, saving the lives of many of his fellow soldiers, as well as civilians. Eventually, terrorists surrounded his tank, and he was taken hostage, according to his father, Doron, in an interview with the "Post."

IDF officer Captain Daniel Perez (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)

For three weeks, Daniel’s family received no information on whether he was even alive until additional evidence suggested that he had been abducted and was being held hostage in Gaza. Circumstantial evidence from his cellphone location, along with other indications, such as blood found near his tank’s location, were enough to declare that Daniel had been taken hostage.

Since then, Perez's family hadn't received any update about his well-being until the IDF informed the family of his death before making the announcement to the public.

Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich continued his campaign on Sunday to try to block IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi from making additional rounds of appointments, saying, "The current IDF High Command failed in a colossal way on October 7 and cannot design the future generation of the IDF or appoint the commanders who will fix things." 

Smotrich added to Channel 12, "We support them absolutely to manage the war and to win. That, but nothing more."

אדוני הרמטכ״ל, יש לך גיבוי מלא לניצחון. לא למחטף של מינויים.
הדור החדש של המפקדים שלא היה שותף לקונספציה ולמחדל יוביל את השיקום והתיקון.

— בצלאל סמוטריץ' (@bezalelsm) March 17, 2024

IDF sources in discussions with the Jerusalem Post responded sarcastically, asking how Smotrich or others attacking Halevi could make sense of giving him control of humongous life-and-death decisions that led to victory for the IDF in Gaza City and Khan Yunis, as well as supporting him for devising an invasion of Rafah while wanting to prevent him from making appointments completed unrelated to the Gaza front.

According to IDF sources, neither the round of appointments Halevi made a couple of weeks ago nor an impending new round of appointments will pertain to any officers at the rank of major general—the rank that makes up the IDF high command and the officers who run whole swaths of the army.

Major generals run the Northern, Southern, and Central Commands, the air force, the Navy, and all of the logistics, strategy, planning, and human resources commands.

Halevi, who is expected to resign sometime after he and the military issue a June interim report on the October 7 failures, is committed to letting his replacement reshape the major generals' level.

Tensions between Hamas and Fatah, the two largest Palestinian groups, appear to be growing and becoming more openly visible. While the two groups have been rivals historically, the October 7 attack led to focus on Gaza, and the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, where Fatah is strongest, has appeared sidelined.

Recently, Fatah slammed Hamas as “those who were responsible for the return of the occupation to Gaza Strip and caused the Nakba [catastrophe] which our Palestinian people live…have no right to dictate national priorities.” Hamas has also been critiquing the Palestinian Authority’s new Prime Minister, Mohammad Mustafa. Hamas claims that the Mustafa appointment lacks consensus. Clearly, there is much more going on beneath the surface.

The Hamas decision to launch the unprecedented massacre of October 7 was an attempt to launch a first strike that could change the region. It sought to derail talk of Israel-Saudi normalization, for instance. It also set in motion Iranian-backed attacks from Hezbollah and the Houthis, and it led to Iran operationalizing groups in Iraq and Syria.

Therefore, Hamas was in the driver’s seat in the region, with pretensions that it could rise to the level of a regional power. Hamas, for instance, was able to get tacit support from Russia and China in the wake of its attack. Hamas is also hosted by Doha, a major non-NATO ally of the West. It is also backed by Turkey, a NATO member. This means Hamas has appeared over the last five months to be the center of attention. For the Palestinian Authority, this is a potential disaster.

IDF officer Captain Daniel Perez was killed on October 7, and his body was taken to Gaza, the IDF announced on Sunday.

Perez was 22, from Yad Binyamin, and a Division Commander in the 77th battalion of the 7th "Storm from the Golan" formation.

Without mentioning them by name, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi gave a speech on Sunday to try to regain control over messaging within the military at a time when multiple incidents had shaken the IDF’s cohesion.

Recently, Brig. Gen. Barak Hiram was formally reprimanded for ordering the demolition of a Palestinian university in Gaza without the necessary approval of his direct commander, IDF Southern Command Maj. Gen. Yaron Finkleman.

Then, on Thursday, IDF Brig. Gen. Dan Goldfus gave a speech in which, without naming a specific political party, he lectured the entire political class that they must “be worthy” of his soldiers' sacrifice.

He implied that much of the political class was acting childishly and disgracing the sacrifice of the many soldiers under his command who gave up their lives for Israeli democracy to continue.

Also, he specifically slammed any political forces standing in the way of all sectors, including Haredim, serving in the IDF or some sort of national service capacity.

Hiram has generated controversy because some Israelis want him prosecuted for the university demolition or for allegedly ordering soldiers to fire on a mix of Hamas and Israeli soldiers at the battle of Beeri in the South on October 7.

Others want him promoted for showing an aggressiveness that they feel much of the IDF lacks and point out that the university had terror tunnels under it and that firing on the mix of Hamas and hostages probably saved other civilians by eliminating the specific Hamas threat.

Moreover, supporters of Hiram view alleged weakness within the IDF's top echelons as the source of the October 7 failure.

Members of the Hostage and Missing Families Forum have begun a protest outside of the "Kirya" (IDF headquarters) in Tel Aviv, ahead of the cabinet meeting that will determine Israel's official position on Hamas's new demands on a hostage deal, Israeli media sources reported on Sunday.

לקראת ישיבת הקבינט: בני משפחות חטופים מפגינים בת"א סמוך לקריה ובירושלים סמוך למקום ישיבת הקבינט@eli_hirschmann pic.twitter.com/9XG8Rn2Irg

— החדשות - N12 (@N12News) March 17, 2024

The cabinet reportedly began their meeting at 6:30 p.m. Israel time.

A decision was meant to be made on Friday, but the cabinet meeting ended early because it was scheduled too close to Shabbat.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Sunday that Gaza was facing famine and there had to be a rapid ceasefire agreement in the war between Israel and Hamas.

"Gaza is facing famine and we cannot accept this," von der Leyen told reporters, speaking in Cairo after signing a strategic partnership agreement with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

"It is critical to achieve an agreement on a ceasefire rapidly now that frees the hostages and allows more humanitarian aid to reach Gaza."

Sisi said that Egypt and European leaders have agreed to reject an Israeli military operation in Rafah.

Donald Trump accused President Joe Biden of abandoning his support for Israel and telling Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to leave office during an interview on FOX News with presenter Howard Kurtz on Sunday.

"And all of a sudden, he dumped Israel. That’s what he’s doing. He dumped Israel," said Trump in a clip of the interview.

After Kurtz interjected, Trump doubled down, saying, "I mean, he just said, essentially, that Bibi Netanyahu should take a walk."

Former Knesset member Azmi Bishara took a significant part in the drafting of the agreement between Israel and the terrorist organization Hamas at the Paris Summit, which was intended to lead to the establishment of a hostage deal and a ceasefire, according to a report by French newspaper Le Figaro, on Sunday.

Hamas-Israël. Un homme joue un rôle important ds les négos: l'ancien député arabe israélien Azmi Bishara, exilé au Qatar, devenu l'éminence grise diplomatique de l'émir. "Il a fortement influencé la rédaction du document de Paris". A lire dans Le Figaro.https://t.co/c3OEAQZk7v

— Georges Malbrunot (@Malbrunot) March 17, 2024

Additionally, Bishara, who fled to Qatar after being suspected of espionage against Israel, is currently serving as a senior adviser to the Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, according to the report.

The outline drawn up in Paris was reported to include the release of several hundred Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the release of 35-40 Israeli abductees, among them women, soldiers, men over 50, and abductees whose medical condition is serious.

In addition, the number of prisoners who would be released for each female soldier will be higher than for other abductees who would be released at this stage and will also include "heavier" prisoners (i.e., prisoners serving life sentences for murder.)

Also, according to the reported deal outline, for each hostage who is released from Hamas captivity, Israel will agree to a day of cease-fire in the fighting in Gaza. This means that a ceasefire could last up to six weeks in the first phase of the deal.