Israel-Hamas War: What happened on day 172?

The most difficult issues involved in the hostage negotiations remain to be resolved, but talks are not believed to have come to an end, a State Department spokesperson said Wednesday. 

"By nature of these types of negotiations, when you get down to the end, when you make progress, the issues that remain are often the hardest ones. You don't usually solve the hardest issues first, you solve them last,"  Spokesperson Matthew Miller said.

"And so some of the remaining issues that need to be resolved. These are some of the most difficult ones and areas where there is the most disagreement between Israel and Hamas. We do think it's possible to bridge those differences."

However, Miller wouldn't confirm "any particular conversations" that are still ongoing.

"We believe that there is an ability to continue to pursue the release of hostages and that's what we're going to continue to do," Miller said. 

30,000 was always an estimate for how many fighters Hamas had. We now know that the number was too low. Following numbers provided by Israeli defense sources, Israel has killed around 13,000 members of Hamas.

Already back in early February, the IDF had wounded another 10,000 to such a degree that it was assessed that they would not be able to return to battle and had arrested another 2,300.

The IDF has not provided updated wounded and arrest numbers since then, but simply adding together a series of public announcements regarding arrests, such as the more than 500 Hamas terrorists arrested at Shifa Hospital, at least around 3,500 would have been arrested to date.

This means that at least around 26,000 Hamas members have been put out of action by Israel to date when adding together killed, wounded, and arrested totals.

Until Tuesday, Israeli defense sources had said that there were four Hamas battalions in Rafah and two left in central Gaza, leaving around 6,000 Hamas forces.

An IDF aircraft struck a terrorist who earlier on Wednesday had launched a rocket into the area of Kissufim, near the Gaza border, the military said. 

The military noted that the attack was carried out within minutes of the launch and fell into an open area.

The terrorist was killed in the attack.

Ireland said on Wednesday it would intervene in South Africa's genocide case against Israel.

Announcing the move, Foreign Minister Micheal Martin said that while it was for the World Court to decide whether genocide is being committed, he wanted to be clear that both Hamas' October 7 attack and what is happening in Gaza now "represents the blatant violation of international humanitarian law on a mass scale."

"The taking of hostages. The purposeful withholding of humanitarian assistance to civilians. The targeting of civilians and of civilian infrastructure. The indiscriminate use of explosive weapons in populated areas. The use of civilian objects for military purposes. The collective punishment of an entire population," Martin said in a statement.

"The list goes on. It has to stop. The view of the international community is clear. Enough is enough."

In January, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), also known as the World Court, ordered Israel to refrain from any acts that could fall under the Genocide Convention and to ensure its troops commit no genocidal acts against Palestinians after South Africa accused Israel of state-led genocide in Gaza.

Staff-Seargent (St.-Sgt.) Nisim Kachlon, 21, from Hadera, from the 435th Battalion, Givati Brigade, fell in battle in the southern Gaza Strip, the military said on Wednesday.

Israel's National Security Committee approved on Wednesday a bill for the closure of foreign broadcasting companies harmful to the state's security, ahead of a second and third reading in the Knesset plenum.

The bill is directed at shutting down the local operations of broadcasting companies viewed by Israel as hostile, with Al-Jazeera considered a primary target should the bill turn into law.

Later on Wednesday, NBC reported that the Prime Minister's Office had told the White House that it would like to reschedule the meeting it canceled. Officials were reportedly working on finding a new date. 

This is a developing story.

The percentage of Americans who approve of Israel's military action in Gaza has shrunk by 14% since November, according to a Gallup poll released Wednesday.

Gallup conducted the poll between March 1-20. In November, 50% of those surveyed approved of Israel's actions, 45% disapproved, and 4% had no opinion.

Now, 36% of Americans surveyed approve, 55% disapprove, and 9% have no opinion. The data also showed that respondents surveyed expressed higher levels of disapproval regardless of how closely they followed news of the conflict.

According to Gallup, all three major political parties in the US have become less supportive of Israel's actions in Gaza than they were in November.

While Republicans are still overwhelmingly supportive, their approval dropped 7%. In November, 47% of independents approved of Israel's military action, compared to March, where only 29% expressed approval. Democrats approval also dropped by half, with 36% approving in November and 18% approving in March.

Ultra-Orthodox Jews who do not study Torah all day should not be drafted into the military, Moshe Tzedaka, Rabbi of Porat Yosef Yeshiva, said this week to an audience of Shas representatives, according to Israeli media. 

"We must not, God forbid, take them [the haredi Yeshiva students] to the army because they also pray and they also study,” the Rabbi said. 

“If they go to the army, there are many trials that they will not be able to withstand," he added. 

The Rabbi also stated the soldiers’ protection depended on yeshiva students. 

"We have to believe with complete faith that the yeshiva students who study the Torah are the ones who protect the soldiers, they are the ones who protect the wounded, and they are the ones who protect the hostages," the Rabbi noted.

“No yeshiva student will go there,” he said, referring to the military. 

Yisrael Beytenu Chairman, MK Avigdor Liberman, wrote on X in response to Rabbi Tzedaka's comments: "Maimonides ruled as follows, 'anyone who puts it on his heart that he should study the Torah and not do any work and make a living from charity, is dishonoring the name of God.'

"Maimonides also adds and writes, 'in Milkhemet Mitzvah [war of obligation], everyone goes into battle, even a groom from his room and a bride from her wedding canopy.'"

"You, Rabbi, are engaged in a desecration of God's name," Liberman concluded.

הרב צדקה, לידיעתך כך פסק הרמב״ם:

״כל המשים על לבו שיעסוק בתורה ולא יעשה מלאכה ויתפרנס מן הצדקה, הרי זה חילל את השם.״

עוד מוסיף וכותב הרמב״ם, במלחמת מצוה הכל יוצאין אפילו חתן מחדרו וכלה מחופתה."

אתה אדוני הרב, עוסק בחילול השם.

— אביגדור ליברמן (@AvigdorLiberman) March 27, 2024

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir was interviewed this Tuesday morning on 103FM radio and called for immediate action by the IDF in Rafah. "It was a grave mistake to wait with [invading] Rafah," he noted.

Further into the interview, Ben-Gvir expressed support for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to cancel the delegation's departure to Washington: "It is good that the prime minister decided not to send the delegation. We must enter Rafah now, right now." At the same time, he emphasized that "Bibi is not free from mistakes."

Ben-Gvir then added, "The international pressure will not be worse or better in another two or three weeks, or another month or two months. We must act now. Enough already with this story of getting legitimacy from the world. They [the international community] have never been taken hostage, raped, or murdered, and we need to do what is best for the State of Israel, first and foremost."