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Here’s What’s Happening on the Ground in Gaza as IDF Works to Dismantle Hamas
An Israeli military convoy moves inside the Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, as seen from Israel, June 17, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen/File Photo
Israeli forces continue to gradually work their way through the Rafah district, where they are discovering and destroying Hamas infrastructure. IDF units are operating simultaneously both above ground and in the tunnels underneath. Maintaining coordination in such an operation is difficult because of communications difficulties (the deep tunnels prevent the use of wireless communications with units above ground).
According to the latest reports, approximately 1,000 Hamas personnel have been killed in the Rafah area since the beginning of the Israeli offensive there, about half that figure since the last update. Though there is quite a bit of fighting, the Hamas units are not so much defending territory as conducting “hit and run” actions. They are hunted by some IDF units while other units focus on destroying Hamas infrastructure.
The IDF has also continued to conduct raids into northern Gaza and Khan Yunis whenever concentrations of returning Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists are discovered, as well as into the Nusayrat area between Gaza City and Khan Yunis.
Over the past two weeks, the IDF conducted raids mostly into northern Gaza, while this past week it increased its efforts to cause the remaining population in that area to evacuate south. In response to the IDF’s original calls to evacuate in October-November 2023, about 80% of the population of northern Gaza evacuated the area. More have left since then, and videos on Palestinian social media show the movement of more people on the routes shown in IDF leaflets.
The Israeli raids are aimed at concentrations of Hamas and other militant personnel who are attempting to reassert control and rebuild capabilities in northern Gaza and Khan Yunis. Each raid ends within a few days to a couple of weeks, after the Hamas personnel have been killed or captured or have fled the area. Reports indicate that since the last update, a couple of hundred terrorists have been killed in these raids.
Sixteen Israeli soldiers have been killed in the fighting in Gaza since my last update, and a few hundred wounded (some severely, but mostly with light wounds).
The IDF has also conducted several focused air strikes on high-ranking Hamas personnel and concentrations of Hamas personnel in areas where its ground forces are not present. In each case, Hamas has claimed the deaths of dozens of civilians, whereas the IDF has claimed that most if not all the casualties were combatants.
In some instances, Hamas personnel were detected in or adjacent to UNRWA sites or similar sites (schools, hospitals, mosques). Two possible casualties in the Israeli strikes include the Hamas supreme military commander, Muhammad Deif, and the brigade commander for Khan Yunis. They were attacked based on intelligence information on their whereabouts. The death of the brigade commander has been confirmed, but that of Deif has not. Hamas insists that he survived but has provided no proof. The bodies of the people killed in that strike have been collected.
In a rare statement, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas criticized Hamas for using civilians as human shields in Gaza.
Occasionally, Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad manages to fire a few rockets at Israeli villages near the border and (more rarely) at towns further away. No casualties have been reported so far, as most of the villages are still empty following the October 7 Hamas massacre. Other rockets have either missed or were intercepted..
Below are a sampling of the weapons found in an UNRWA compound: Rocket sections, remote-controlled bombs, a drone being assembled, equipment for planting and controlling bombs, and an infantryman’s equipment vest:
After spending an estimated $320 million on building a floating pier to provide humanitarian supplies for Gaza (that was as of mid-June; the figure is probably higher by now given the need to repair sections and operate tugs and other equipment since then), it is reported that the US will permanently dismantle the pier, as it proved incapable of withstanding the buffeting of the waves. It broke apart once, and the pieces were towed to an Israeli port for repair and to await the calming of the sea. Once repaired, the pier was returned to the Gaza coast, but when the sea conditions worsened once again, the Americans pulled it out a second time. The pier was apparently returned to the Gaza shore but will be permanently dismantled and removed in the coming days or weeks.
As noted in the last update, the total amount of supplies that actually landed in Gaza via the American pier was minimal — about 9,000 tons in three months. Supplies brought in via the Israeli ground entrances, on the other hand, have grown to 5,000 to 6,000 tons each day.
The main problem with getting supplies to Gazans is not the Israelis. The problem is the distribution of the supplies once they are inside Gaza in areas that Israel does not control. Supplies are piling up and not being distributed. A report on the Palestinian Sawa Foundation website quotes UN sources as saying there are more than 1,300 trucks standing on the Gaza side of the Kerem Shalom crossing that are loaded and waiting to be distributed.
Furthermore, trucks carrying supplies and occasionally storage areas are attacked and looted by Hamas personnel (for their own use or for sale in the marketplace), by criminal gangs (for sale), and in some cases by the general population itself. UNRWA and the other humanitarian organizations are simply not up to the task of policing this problem.
Over the past month, there have been reports of increased fighting among Palestinian factions inside Gaza, though this is still occurring on a small scale. It includes political rivalries as well as clan and personal rivalries as well as criminal enterprises fighting either each other or Hamas over sources of revenue. In one case, a social activist was kidnapped and had both legs and arms broken by Hamas personnel for publishing criticism on Facebook about Hamas’ management of the war and blaming Hamas for the suffering of the Palestinian population.
Dr. Eado Hecht, a senior research fellow at the BESA Center, is a military analyst focusing mainly on the relationship between military theory, military doctrine, and military practice. He teaches courses on military theory and military history at Bar-Ilan University, Haifa University, and Reichman University and in a variety of courses in the Israel Defense Forces. A version of this article was originally published by The BESA Center.
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Controversial Islamic Group CAIR Chides US Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew for Denying Report of ‘Famine’ in Gaza
US Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew. Photo: Alchetron.
The Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR) has condemned US Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew for casting doubt on a new report claiming that famine has gripped northern Gaza.
The controversial Muslim advocacy group on Wednesday slammed Lew for his “callous dismissal” of the recent Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) report accusing Israel of inflicting famine on the Gaza Strip. The organization subsequently asserted that Israel had perpetrated an ethnic cleansing campaign in northern Gaza.
“Ambassador Lew’s callous dismissal of this shocking report by a US-backed agency exposing Israel’s campaign of forced starvation in Gaza reminds one of the old joke about a man who murdered his parents and then asked for mercy because he is now an ‘orphan,’” CAIR said in a statement.
“To reject a report on starvation in northern Gaza by appearing to boast about the fact that it has been successfully ethnically cleansed of its native population is just the latest example of Biden administration officials supporting, enabling, and excusing Israel’s clear and open campaign of genocide in Gaza,” the Washington, DC-based group continued.
On Monday, FEWS Net, a US-created provider of warning and analysis on food insecurity, released a report detailing that a famine had allegedly taken hold of northern Gaza. The report argued that 65,000-75,000 individuals remain stranded in the area without sufficient access to food.
“Israel’s near-total blockade of humanitarian and commercial food supplies to besieged areas of North Gaza Governorate” has resulted in mass starvation among scores of innocent civilians in the beleaguered enclave, the report stated.
Lew subsequently issued a statement denying the veracity of the FEWS Net report, slamming the organization for peddling “inaccurate” information and “causing confusion.”
“The report issued today on Gaza by FEWS NET relies on data that is outdated and inaccurate. We have worked closely with the Government of Israel and the UN to provide greater access to the North Governorate, and it is now apparent that the civilian population in that part of Gaza is in the range of 7,000-15,000, not 65,000-75,000 which is the basis of this report,” Lew wrote.
“At a time when inaccurate information is causing confusion and accusations, it is irresponsible to issue a report like this. We work day and night with the UN and our Israeli partners to meet humanitarian needs — which are great — and relying on inaccurate data is irresponsible,” Lew continued.
Following Lew’s repudiation, FEWS NET quietly removed the report on Wednesday, sparking outrage among supporters of the pro-Palestinian cause.
“We ask FEWS NET not to submit to the bullying of genocide supporters and to again make its report available to the public,” CAIR said in its statement.
In the year following the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’s invasion of and massacre across southern Israel last Oct. 7, Israel has been repeatedly accused of inflicting famine in Hamas-ruled Gaza. Despite the allegations, there is scant evidence of mass starvation across the war-torn enclave.
This is not the first time that FEWS Net has attempted to accuse Israel of inflicting famine in Gaza. In June, the United Nations Famine Review Committee (FRC), a panel of experts in international food security and nutrition, rejected claims by FEWS Net that a famine had taken hold of northern Gaza. In rejecting the allegations, the FRC cited an “uncertainty and lack of convergence of the supporting evidence employed in the analysis.”
Meanwhile, CAIR has been embroiled in controversy since the onset of the Gaza war last October.
CAIR has been embroiled in controversy since the Oct. 7 atrocities. The head of CAIR, for example, said he was “happy” to witness Hamas’s rampage across southern Israel.
“The people of Gaza only decided to break the siege — the walls of the concentration camp — on Oct. 7,” CAIR co-founder and executive director Nihad Awad said in a speech during the American Muslims for Palestine convention in Chicago in November. “And yes, I was happy to see people breaking the siege and throwing down the shackles of their own land, and walk free into their land, which they were not allowed to walk in.”
CAIR has long been a controversial organization. In the 2000s, it was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation terrorism financing case. Politico noted in 2010 that “US District Court Judge Jorge Solis found that the government presented ‘ample evidence to establish the association’” of CAIR with Hamas.
According to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), “some of CAIR’s current leadership had early connections with organizations that are or were affiliated with Hamas.” CAIR has disputed the accuracy of the ADL’s claim and asserted that it “unequivocally condemn[s] all acts of terrorism, whether carried out by al-Qa’ida, the Real IRA, FARC, Hamas, ETA, or any other group designated by the US Department of State as a ‘Foreign Terrorist Organization.’”
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Jewish Civil Rights Group Representing Amsterdam Pogrom Victims Slams Dutch Court for ‘Light Sentences’
Israeli Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters are guarded by police after violence targeting Israeli football fans broke out in Amsterdam overnight, in Amsterdam, Netherlands, November 8, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Ami Shooman/Israel Hayom
The international Jewish civil rights organization legally representing more than 50 victims of the attack on Israeli soccer fans that took place in Amsterdam last month has joined many voices in lambasting a Dutch court for what they described as a mild punishment for the attackers.
“These sentences are an insult to the victims and a stain on the Dutch legal system,” The Lawfare Project’s founder and executive director Brooke Goldstein said in a statement on Wednesday. “Allowing individuals who coordinated and celebrated acts of violence to walk away with minimal consequences diminishes the rule of law and undermines trust in the judicial process. If this is the response to such blatant antisemitism, what hope is there for deterring future offenders or safeguarding the Jewish community.”
On Tuesday, a district court in Amsterdam sentenced five men for their participation in the violent attacks in the Dutch city against fans of the Israeli soccer team Maccabi Tel Aviv. The premeditated and coordinated violence took place on the night of Nov. 7 and into the early hours of Nov 8, before and after Maccabi Tel Aviv competed against the Dutch soccer team Ajax in a UEFA Europa League match. The five suspects were sentenced to up to 100 hours of community service and up to six months in prison.
The attackers were found guilty of public violence, which included kicking an individual lying on the ground, and inciting the violence by calling on members of a WhatsApp group chat to gather and attack Maccabi Tel Aviv fans. One man sentenced on Tuesday who had a “leading role” in the violence, according to prosecutors, was given the longest sentence — six months in prison.
“As someone who witnessed these trials firsthand, I am deeply disheartened by the leniency of these sentences,” added Ziporah Reich, director of litigation at The Lawfare Project. “The violent, coordinated attacks against Jews in Amsterdam are among the worst antisemitic incidents in Europe. These light sentences fail to reflect the gravity of these crimes and do little to deliver justice to the victims who are left traumatized and unheard. Even more troubling, they set a dangerous precedent, signaling to future offenders that such horrific acts of violence will not be met with serious consequences.”
The Lawfare Project said on Wednesday that it is representing over 50 victims of the Amsterdam attacks. It has also secured for their clients a local counsel — Peter Plasman, who is a partner at the Amsterdam-based law firm Kötter L’Homme Plasman — to represent them in the Netherlands. The Lawfare Project aims to protect the civil and human rights of Jewish people around the world through legal action.
Others who have criticized the Dutch court for its sentencing of the five men on Tuesday included Arsen Ostrovsky, a leading human rights attorney and CEO of The International Legal Forum; Tal-Or Cohen, the founder and CEO of CyberWell; and The Center for Information and Documentation on Israel.
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Gwyneth Paltrow Talks Hanukkah Family Traditions, Jewish Heritage With Noa Tishby
Gwyneth Paltrow lighting a menorah to celebrate the first night of Hanukkah with Noa Tishby. Photo: YouTube screenshot
Jewish American Oscar-winning actress Gwyneth Paltrow joined author and activist Noa Tishby in celebrating the first night of Hanukkah on Wednesday, as part of the latter’s new Hanukkah-themed video series on YouTube called “#BringOnTheLight.”
Paltrow — whose late father Bruce Paltrow was Jewish while her mother, actress Blythe Danner, is Christian — also talked with Tishby about her Jewish faith and holiday tradition. When Tishby asked the “Iron Man” star and Goop founder and CEO about a childhood memory from Hanukkah that she holds dear, Paltrow recalled being at her grandparents’ house in Long Island, New York, and getting Hanukkah gelt.
“I have such a strong memory of the gold, round coins, and my brother and I just tearing into them,” she reminisced, talking about the coin-shaped chocolates that are typically given to children during Hanukkah.
The “Contagion” star also told Tishby that in her home now, she makes latkes for Hanukkah and lights the menorah with her family. “We always light the menorah, we always gather together after we light the candles; it’s very sweet actually. We all hug and we bring in the light,” she said. “And ever since [my kids] were little, they would sit on the floor, close their eyes, and then I would give them their present. We do eight presents. I’m a spoiler.”
Paltrow has two children — Apple, 20, and Moses, 18 – with her ex-husband, Coldplay frontman Chris Martin. She is now married to American television writer, producer, and director Brad Falchuk, both of whose parents are Jewish. His mother was previously the national president of the Hadassah Women’s Zionist Organization of America.
In 2011, Paltrow discovered that she comes from a long line of rabbis on her father’s side of the family and that her great-great-great grandfather was Rabbi Tsvi Paltrowitch, a Kabbalah master and the Gaon of Nitzy-Novgorod in southwest Russia. She told Tishby she comes from 17 generations of rabbis.
Paltrow also discussed what it was like growing up with a Jewish father and Christian mother. “I grew up in a time in the 70’s where I think interfaith marriage was a big deal, so it was really hard for both of my parents’ parents that they were marrying each other. So it was a big scandalous. Nobody was happy about it,” she said.
“They definitely grew to accept it later in life,” the actress added, talking about her grandparents. “They kind of let go of all that. But I felt so fortunate because I got to grow up with these two very different worlds and very different faiths. I always felt an incredible pull to my Jewish family and I still do. And the traditions, and the warmth, the unconditional love, the food, the yelling, the family … I’m so close to everybody on that side of my family. We are all kind of interwoven and important to each other and just show up for each other again and again and again.”
Tishby’s eight-part video series “#BringOnTheLight,” which coincides with the eight days of Hanukkah, launched on YouTube on Wednesday and promotes Jewish pride and unity. A new video will be released each day of Hanukkah at 11 am ET.
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