Israel-Hamas war: What happened on day 167?

Members of the House Committee on Middle East and Africa pressed Defense Department officials on Israel's war conduct during a two-hour long hearing Thursday morning on Capitol Hill, with party lines evident in questioning. 

Michigan Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin questioned Central Command Army Gen. Michael Kurilla about his communication with his Israeli counterparts on the impending invasion of Rafah and humanitarian efforts. 

Kurilla testified that he has asked Israel for its Rafah civilian evacuation plans which have not yet been provided to him. 

"What I do know is what they've told me, is they are not going to take action until they have the ability to protect the civilians and move them out of the area. I don't think they have finalized the plan for that. Until they do I am not aware of their current plans to be able to do the civilian harm mitigation for Rafah," Kurilla said. 

IDF soldiers operate in the Gaza Strip, March 20, 2024. (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)

Gideon Sa’ar, Minister-without-portfolio and chairman of the newly founded New Hope - The United Right party, unveiled on Thursday his plan for an end to the Israel-Hamas war.

In a post shared on X, he wrote, “This should have happened a long time ago. But at this moment when the whole world stands against Israel's action in Rafah – the time has come when Israel should present the idea of surrender and exile (of the remainder of Hamas' military wing) as an orderly plan to end the war in Gaza.” 

זה היה צריך לקרות כבר מזמן. אבל ברגע הזה בו כל העולם מתייצב נגד פעולת ישראל ברפיח - הגיעה העת בה ישראל צריכה להציג את רעיון הכניעה וההגליה (של שארית הזרוע הצבאית של חמאס) כרעיון מסדר לסיום המלחמה בעזה. המחבלים יוגלו לקטאר, סוריה, טורקיה או איראן. מהלך דומה לגירוש אש״ף ומחבליו…

— Gideon Sa'ar | גדעון סער (@gidonsaar) March 21, 2024

"The terrorists will be exiled to Qatar, Syria, Turkey or Iran. A move similar to the expulsion of the PLO and its terrorists from Beirut in September 1982,” he added.

Released hostage Sapir Cohen recounted her experience in Gaza, held by Hamas terrorists in an interview with the Italian newspaper Libero Quotidiano, which was published on Wednesday. 

On the day of the massacre, Cohen witnessed her boyfriend, Sasha Troufanov, still a hostage in Gaza, "beaten bloody and thrown face-first into the ground." Sasha's mother and grandmother, Yelena Troufanov and Irena Tati, were also taken away, but have since been released.

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Cohen recounted that six months before the attacks, she had a bad feeling that something was going to happen. She told the newspaper, “I began to have a dark feeling that something was about to happen. At first I felt physical discomfort. I even started praying, and it was the first time I had done so in my life, because the doctors had told me that the cause of the problem was in my feelings rather than a virus that had actually affected me."

On October 7, Cohen recalled, “The messages warning of the ongoing assault on the kibbutzim began to arrive on our cell phones. And I was in Nir Oz, 15 km from Be’eri, the first target of the attack. We were hoping for the military to intervene in our defense. Instead, terror broke out, accompanied by the screams of Allahu Akbar! We heard the shots and the cries of desperation of those who were forced to witness that massacre. Of those who saw their loved ones massacred by bullets. And at a certain point the door of the house was torn off."