Israel at war: What happened on day 16?

A poll commissioned by the Israel Victory Project found that 70% of the Israeli public wants ‘eliminating Hamas’ to be the primary objective of Operation Swords of Iron. 54% of the respondents who said they had voted for an Arab party in the last election chose this option.

A separate answer, that the primary objective should be to ‘disarm Hamas completely,’ received 13% of responses. Only 15% of respondents chose ‘the unconditional release of captives’ as their choice for the operation’s primary objective.

The poll did not define ‘eliminating Hamas,’ but it did ask respondents who they thought ‘should rule Gaza after the overthrow of the Hamas regime.’

On this, respondents were almost evenly split into four camps: 24% said that Israel should govern Gaza, 22% chose the Palestinian Authority, 19% chose ‘Arab nations,’ and another 24% chose, simply, ‘new leadership in Gaza.’

When given a choice between ‘launching a ground operation in Gaza to eradicate Hamas’ or ‘avoiding a ground operation and finding another way to deal with Hamas,’ 68% said they would choose the ground invasion, while 25% chose the more nebulous second option. 

Asked how much consideration Israel should give to its opinion abroad, 43% of respondents said Israel must consider the perspective of allies, particularly the United States, while 55% responded that Israel ‘must ignore external demands and make its own security decisions.’

Asked whether, ‘if Saudi Arabia demands significant concessions to the Palestinian Authority by Israel as the price for formal ties,’ Israel should agree to the terms, 72% said no, while 21% said yes.

Billboard displayed near Prime Minister Bennett’s home, June 17, 2021. (credit: Courtesy)

Poll supports the views of the group that commissioned it

The Israel Victory Project (IVP), which commissioned the poll, states as its purpose “to put an end to the Palestinian resistance and thus ensure conditions for ending the conflict with the Palestinians and the bloodshed.”

The group argues on its website that “Only after [the Palestinians] acknowledge the defeat of their struggle against Israel will it be possible to negotiate the final settlement.” 

In 2022, before the national elections which resulted in the current (pre-war) government, the group paid for billboards in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv depicting Arab lawmakers wrapped in Israeli flags, with the caption “This is what a picture of victory will look like.”

Condemning “leaders like [Ahmed] Tibi and [Ayman] Odeh” as “pouring oil on the fire,” Gregg Roman, Director of the Middle East Forum, said that “the violence and the bloodshed will stop only when [Palestinians] have accepted that the war against Jewish sovereignty has ended.” 

For many years prior to the outbreak of this most recent war, the IVP has been advocating a “total elimination” of Hamas. In 2021, the group sponsored a billboard outside then-Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s house, reading “The nation demands victory!” Roman, speaking on the subject of Bennett’s inauguration, said that “the most important issue on the agenda should be to address restoring security for the citizens of Israel, and eliminating Hamas.” 

Respondents split on worst failure of Oct. 7

The poll also asked respondents “Which do you see as key mistakes leading to the catastrophic failure on Oct. 7?” With more than one answer permitted, 27% replied “A military that relies too much on defensive measures,” 29% replied “Poor intelligence capabilities,” 49% responded “Misconduct by the political echelon,” and 29% replied “The wrong ‘concept’ about Hamas.”

The poll was conducted by Shlomo Filber and Zuriel Sharon through Direct Polls Ltd on October 17, 2023. 1,086 Israeli adults were sampled with a statistical sampling error of 4.0%.

Several strollers were displayed in a square in London on Sunday, symbolizing the children captured by Hamas during the Hamas massacre two weeks ago.

Each stroller featured a photo of a child taken by Hamas during the attacks on October 7, with the message "Bring Them Home" to emphasize the ongoing search for them.

Pope Francis and US President Joe Biden discussed the Israel-Hamas conflict and other wars in a telephone conversation on Sunday, the Vatican said.

The conversation lasted about 20 minutes and "focused on conflict situations in the world and the need to identify paths to peace," the Vatican said.

Israel is preparing for a ground assault on Gaza, two weeks after a Hamas attack in Israel that killed 1,400 people.

Earlier in the day, Francis told crowds in St Peter's Square he was deeply saddened by the "grave situation in Gaza," where an Anglican hospital and a Greek Orthodox church had been bombed.

"Brothers, stop," Pope Francis said.

Biden, who is a Catholic, said on Saturday that he was talking to the Israelis when asked if he was encouraging them to delay an invasion of Gaza.

Hamas said it took about 200 hostages during the incursion into communities and military bases in southern Israel.

The pope has several times called for the release of hostages.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant stressed that this war needs to be the "last campaign in Gaza, for the simple reason that after this Hamas will not exist," during an operative discussion at the operations room of the Air Force.

"It will take a month, two months, three, but in the end there will be no Hamas," said Gallant. "Before the enemy meets the armored and infantry forces, he is meeting the bombs of the Air Force. From my impression, you know how to do it in a lethal, precise, and very high-quality way, as has been proven so far."

Hamas has placed its rocket launchers next to schools, UN facilities, mosques, and kindergartens, with the IDF publishing aerial footage showing the proximity of the launchers to civilian facilities on Sunday.

"Since the beginning of the war, the terrorist organization Hamas has been firing rockets from the Gaza Strip while cynically exploiting the uninvolved population and civilian sites such as kindergartens, schools, and mosques, and launching into the territory of the State of Israel with the clear intention of harming the citizens of the country," said the IDF Spokesperson's Unit.

Hamas terrorists who stormed Israel on October 7 were carrying a booby-trapped school bag containing a remotely-activated bomb, the IDF Spokesperson's Unit said Sunday.

The Yahalom unit has been working in the past two weeks to recover items and weapons carried by the terrorists who infiltrated Israel in Hamas's assault. During their efforts, they found a school bag Hamas terrorists were carrying which held seven kilograms of explosive material.

Over 1,000 weapons, 2,000 grenades, 1,000 RPG rockets, and 1,200 explosive charges were collected by the Yahalom Unit.

An IDF tank accidentally fired at an Egyptian military post near the Kerem Shalom crossing on Sunday afternoon, according to the IDF Spokesperson's Unit.

The incident is under investigation. "The IDF regrets the incident," said the IDF Spokesperson's Unit.

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh called on Sunday on the international community to create "united front" to stop Israel's attacks in the Gaza Strip.

"We place at the top of our priorities stopping the Israeli aggression (...) and bringing in medical and relief aid to prevent a major humanitarian catastrophe," Shtayyeh said during a meeting with 25 ambassadors, representatives and consuls.

Some 21 children from 13 families were left without both of their parents either because they were murdered or kidnapped in the October 7 massacre conducted by Hamas in southern Israel, the Welfare Ministry announced on Sunday.

Of the 21 children, most of their parents were murdered. One of the children, a four-year-old girl, was orphaned and kidnapped by Hamas and is still being held hostage in Gaza. Another girl lost her mother and her father was kidnapped and is being held hostage in Gaza.

As if Hamas terrorists were not monstrous enough, their handlers gave them bags of Captagon – a synthetic, amphetamine-type stimulant known on the Arabic drug market as “Abu al-Hilalain” and consumed like candy to endure in battle and promotes feelings of rage, irritability, and impatience that encourage terrorists to murder and torture victims. 

Known generically as fenethylline, it is trafficked through Turkey to the Middle East. According to authorities in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Qatar, the use of fenethylline is prevalent among their younger, affluent citizens. Captagon, used in Saudi Arabia since the late 1980s, is one of the most popular drugs of abuse among the young affluent populations in Arab countries where students use it to stay away before final exams or women use it as an anorectic agent to lose weight.