Israel-Hamas War Day 220: What is happening in Gaza?

Israel unofficially asked that the Palestinian Authority run the Rafah crossing in Gaza, four senior officials from Israel, the United States and the Palestinian Authority told Axios in a report published on Monday night. 

The proposal, if true, would be the first invitation Israel has extended to the Palestinian Authority to join or facilitate issues relating to the war, according to Axios.

Egypt has reportedly halted sending aid through the Kerem Shalom crossing and has promised to continue delaying aid until Israeli forces withdraw from the Palestinian side of Rafah. Given the repeated warning from the United Nations and other international bodies, the threat of withheld aid could place even more pressure on the precarious humanitarian situation in the enclave.

The Biden administration does not see it likely or possible that Israel will achieve "total victory" in defeating Hamas in the Palestinian enclave of Gaza, US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said on Monday.

While US officials have urged Israel to help devise a clear plan for the governance post-war Gaza, Campbell's comments are the clearest to date from a top US official effectively admitting that Israel's current military strategy won't bring the result that it is aiming for.

"In some respects, we are struggling over what the theory of victory is," Campbell said at a NATO Youth Summit in Miami. "Sometimes when we listen closely to Israeli leaders, they talk about mostly the idea of....a sweeping victory on the battlefield, total victory," he said.

IDF jets successfully intercepted an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) en route to Israel, the IDF reported on Monday.

According to the report, the UAV heading to Israel from the east and was tracked by the IDF.

The UAV was intercepted before it crossed Israel's borders and no alarms were sounded.

No damage was reported.

Egypt threatened to suspend its peace treaty with Israel and stop serving as a mediator in ceasefire talks after Israel only gave Egypt short notice before capturing the Gazan side of the Rafah crossing, The Washington Post reported on Monday.

Egypt was also blocking all humanitarian aid trucks from entering Gaza from Egypt through the Kerem Shalom crossing due to the tensions between the two countries, Egyptian officials told The Washington Post.

Last week, Israel offered the Palestinian Authority the option to send representatives to the Rafah crossing to take over the operation of the crossing but also demanded that these representatives not act officially on behalf of the PA, senior US, Israeli, and Palestinian officials told Walla.

US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Monday that President Joe Biden's administration did not view the killings of Palestinians in Gaza by Israel in its war with Hamas as a genocide.

Sullivan, speaking to reporters at the White House, said the United States wants to see Hamas defeated, that Palestinians caught in the middle of the war were in "hell," and that a major military operation by Israel in Rafah would be a mistake.

A former US military intelligence official released a letter on Monday that explained to his colleagues at the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) that his November resignation was in fact due to "moral injury" stemming from U.S. support for Israel's war in Gaza and the harm caused to Palestinians.

Harrison Mann, an Army major, would be the first known DIA official to quit over US support to Israel. A U.S. airman fatally set himself on fire in February outside Israel's embassy in Washington and other military personnel have protested.

Mann said he kept quiet about his motives for resigning for months out of fear.

"I was afraid"

"I was afraid. Afraid of violating our professional norms. Afraid of disappointing officers I respect. Afraid you would feel betrayed. I'm sure some of you will feel that way reading this," Mann wrote in a letter shared with colleagues last month and published on his LinkedIn profile on Monday.

Egyptian and Qatari mediators working on trying to reach a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas will reconvene in Doha this week, The Washington Post reported on Monday.

The mediators will work to try and narrow the gaps between Israel and Hamas after talks exploded last week.

Family members of hostages and Israelis confronted ministers who represented Israel's government at Remembrance Day ceremonies around the country Monday morning.

Among other incidents, a fight broke out between mourners during National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir's speech at the military cemetery in Ashdod after some protested his speech, Israeli media reported.

Mourners interrupt Netanyahu's speech

Mourners yelled out at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he spoke at a ceremony on Jerusalem's Mount Herzl, and one man flew an Israeli flag that said "7.10" on it as he spoke.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday that more than 1,000 members of the terror group Hamas were being treated in hospitals across Turkey, reiterating his stance that Hamas was a "resistance movement."

Speaking at a press conference after talks with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in Ankara, Erdogan also said he was saddened by the Greek view that deems Hamas a terrorist organization.

The IDF dropped leaflets in Arabic over the Jabalya in northern Gaza, warning Hamas leaders, "We are coming" on Monday, according to Palestinian social media.

إسرائيل تتصرف هكذا.. منشورات يلقيها الاحتلال على مخيم جباليا بالتهديد والوعيد مستخدمين شعارات عربية. pic.twitter.com/T76BfXetJN

— Yasser (@Yasser_Gaza) May 13, 2024

The leaflets feature text over a picture of waves reading, "Oh Hamas leaders, we are coming. If you come back, we will come back. We will return like a roaring flood until the clear victory."