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IDF Plans for Rafah Op Draw on Extensive Israeli Experience
Israeli soldiers operating in the Gaza Strip. Photo: Reuters/IDF Handout
JNS.org – As the War Cabinet waits for a reply from Hamas to the latest far-reaching, unprecedented Israeli proposal for a hostage release deal, the IDF has drawn up operational plans for large-scale urban warfare in Hamas’s last remaining bastion in Rafah, southern Gaza.
These plans rely on the massive experience the IDF has gained over recent months while fighting in Gaza City and Khan Yunis, including the ability to evacuate masses of civilians.
The IDF will need to move over a million people out of Rafah, an ability it honed when it moved even more civilians out of Gaza City between October and December, but this time, the military will need to set up checkpoints and screen those leaving, to ensure that Hamas terrorists do not flee with civilians, as they did during the evacuation of Gaza City.
Like Gaza City, Rafah is a densely populated urban area, and the military will aim at dismantling Hamas’s infrastructure while seeking to avoid civilian casualties to the extent possible, with Hamas, as usual, entrenching itself within the population to use it as human shields.
The IDF is highly familiar by now in dealing with tunnels and overground terror facilities set up in civilian areas.
As part of its commitment to reduce harm to noncombatants—a goal the IDF always tries to meet, and one that the Biden administration continues to publicly pressure Israel on—the military will likely focus on large-scale evacuation of Gazan civilians well before the operation gets underway.
The IDF has marked out two evacuation zones: An expansion of the Al-Al-Mawasi zone along the central-southern Gazan coastline, and Khan Yunis.
Two divisions getting ready to attack
The 98th Paratroopers Division, which led the four-month operation in Khan Yunis, and the 162nd Armored Division, which spent six months fighting in central Gaza and setting up the Netzarim Corridor separating northern and southern Gaza, are expected to lead this operation.
Situational assessments, enhancing readiness in all areas, and commanders’ discussions: The 98th Division and the 162nd Division are preparing for continued combat in the Gaza Strip.
On Tuesday, the military announced that these two divisions, both of which are currently out of Gaza, have been enhancing readiness and holding assessments, as well as holding sessions to draw conclusions from combat against Hamas thus far.
The two divisions reviewed combat procedures and plans for continued combat in the Gaza Strip, according to the IDF, while the headquarters of the divisions and of the brigades that operate within them, as well as reservist forces, held professional learning days at all operational levels to prepare for the continuation of their missions.
“The commanders of the divisions have completed the approval of plans for upcoming missions and are now continuing to enhance readiness in all areas and in training,” the IDF stated on Tuesday.
The IDF must draw up these plans while knowing that the fate of the hostages will be far from known under such a scenario, much like when a counterterror unit bursts into a home where hostages are being held.
The IDF cannot plan for every scenario but will need to take into account developments such as threats to the hostages made by Hamas leader in Gaza Yahya Sinwar, who is believed to be hiding in the tunnels of Rafah, or new attempts by Sinwar to stop the momentum of the IDF by making new overtures regarding a deal.
Assuming that the IDF may know the location of some of the hostages, the need to prevent strikes in those locations will be paramount, while the intelligence community will likely be monitoring events to see if new rescue operations become realistic during the operation.
On Feb. 12, the IDF rescued two Israeli hostages from their captivity in a Rafah apartment building.
The Rafah operation is expected to involve significant air and artillery strikes and tank movements.
In the rest of Gaza, the IDF is conducting targeted raids in the center and north of the Strip; any hostage deal that would freeze the military’s activities would see Hamas able to rebuild its forces.
Regardless of whether the operation goes ahead soon or further down the road due to a deal, Israel will need to be ready for the possibility that Hezbollah, which has already forced the military to fight on two fronts for the past six months, will escalate its attacks in the north to try and force Israel to divert military resources away from Gaza.
The Iranian-led terror axis does not want to see Israel destroy the remnants of the Hamas terror army, one of its most prized assets in the region, and could be willing to take new risks to try to save the Iranian-backed jihadist force in the Strip.
The post IDF Plans for Rafah Op Draw on Extensive Israeli Experience first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Muslims from ‘Abandon Harris’ Campaign Gutted by Pro-Israel Cabinet Picks
US Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US, Sept. 10, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
JNS.org – Muslim leaders in the United Stated who called for supporting President-elect Donald Trump at the expense of Democrat runner Kamala Harris are deeply disappointed with the former president’s Cabinet nominees, Reuters reported on Thursday.
“It’s like he’s going on Zionist overdrive,” Abandon Harris campaign co-founder Hassan Abdel Salam, a former professor at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, said about Trump’s recently announced picks.
“We were always extremely skeptical. … Obviously we’re still waiting to see where the administration will go, but it does look like our community has been played,” Abdel Salam told Reuters.
Rabiul Chowdhury, a Philadelphia investor who chaired the Abandon Harris campaign in Pennsylvania and co-founded Muslims for Trump, was cited as saying: “Trump won because of us and we’re not happy with his secretary of state pick and others.”
Some political strategists believe that the Muslim vote for Trump, or the renunciation of Harris, helped tilt several swing states such as Michigan in the favor of the Republican candidate.
“It seems like this administration has been packed entirely with neoconservatives and extremely pro-Israel, pro-war people, which is a failure on the side of President Trump, to the pro-peace and anti-war movement,” said Rexhinaldo Nazarko, executive director of the American Muslim Engagement and Empowerment Network.
On Wednesday, Trump named Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) as his choice to be secretary of state.
Rubio is known for his staunch pro-Israel stance, including calling on Jerusalem earlier this year to destroy “every element” of Hamas and dubbing the Gaza-based terrorist organization as “vicious animals.”
Rubio joins a slew of pro-Israel officials Trump has tapped since he won the U.S. election, including former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee as ambassador to Israel and Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) as his U.N. ambassador with a seat in the Cabinet.
Blaise Misztal, vice president for policy at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA), told JNS that Trump’s focus so early in the transition process on Israel-related foreign policy picks is a mark of how his second administration will approach the region.
“That, in and of itself, signals that President Trump and his administration are going to take the region, the Middle East, the threats confronting Israel, seriously and take the U.S. friendship with Israel seriously,” Misztal said.
“The people that we’ve seen are known to be tremendously strong friends of Israel, first and foremost, but also very clear-eyed about the threats that the United States and Israel face together in the region.”
Before the election on Nov. 5, Trump promised Arab and Muslim voters he would restore stability in Lebanon and the Middle East, while criticizing the current administration’s regional policies during campaign stops targeting Muslim communities in Michigan.
Trump recently addressed Lebanese Americans, stating, “Your friends and family in Lebanon deserve to live in peace, prosperity and harmony with their neighbors, and this can only happen when there is peace and stability in the Middle East.”
Israel has been at war for more than a year on its southern and northern borders, ever since Hamas led a surprise attack on communities near the Gaza Strip border on Oct. 7, 2023, murdering some 1,200 people and abducting 251 more into the Palestinian enclave. A day later, Hezbollah joined Hamas’s efforts by firing rockets into Israel’s north.
The post Muslims from ‘Abandon Harris’ Campaign Gutted by Pro-Israel Cabinet Picks first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Gottheimer Announces Bid for NJ Governor
US Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) at a press conference in Bergenfield, New Jersey, US on June 5, 2023. Photo: Kyle Mazza/NurPhoto via Reuters Connect
JNS.org – Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) announced his bid for the New Jersey governor’s office on Friday, joining a crowded Democratic field to replace term-limited Gov. Tim Murphy (D) in the 2025 election.
Gottheimer, who is Jewish and one of Israel’s staunchest advocates on Capitol Hill, announced his candidacy at Runway Diner in South Hackensack with a focus on lowering the cost of living in the Garden State.
“Life in Jersey has become too damn expensive,” Gottheimer said. “Today, I’m launching my campaign for governor to cut your taxes and costs and to make Jersey affordable again.”
Gottheimer has represented New Jersey’s 5th Congressional District along the northern border with New York since he won the seat from a Republican incumbent in 2016. He handily won re-election on Nov. 5 by an 11-point margin.
As New Jersey’s only Jewish congressional representative, Gottheimer has been recognized by Jewish groups for his efforts to promote Holocaust education and has been one of the leading voices in the House on combating antisemitism and supporting Israel.
“We need to bring the full force of the law against the antisemites who are harassing Jewish or any other communities all over this state,” Gottheimer said in his announcement speech, adding that he supports putting more cops on the beat.
Other Democrats, who have announced their intention to run for the governor’s office, include Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop (who is Jewish), with Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.) reportedly set to announce her candidacy later this week.
Long thought of as a Democratic bastion that occasionally elects Republican moderates, New Jersey has emerged as a more competitive battleground in statewide races in recent elections.
US Vice President Kamala Harris beat President-elect Donald Trump in the state by just five points in November, and Gov. Murphy beat his Republican challenger in the 2021 election by a 51-48 margin.
That challenger, former New Jersey General Assembly member Jack Ciattarelli, is once again seeking the Republican nomination alongside five other declared contenders.
Gottheimer in his announcement promised to do “battle” with Trump over issues like the state and local tax deduction, while also touting his bipartisan record as a co-chair of the Problem Solvers Caucus.
“The election outcome was a horrible loss for America,” Gottheimer said in a video accompanying his announcement. “Every candidate running for governor agrees we need to stand up to Trump on the major issues.”
Trump, who capped the SALT deduction as part of his 2017 tax cuts, pledged in the 2024 campaign that he would lift the cap in a social media post aimed at voters on Long Island.
“I will turn it around, get SALT back, lower your taxes and so much more,” Trump wrote.
Other key issues in the New Jersey gubernatorial race include New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s plan to impose a $9 congestion charge on drivers entering Manhattan below 60th Street starting in January, potentially affecting a huge number of New Jersey commuters and businesses.
Gottheimer vowed to defeat the toll charge.
“To our friends in the Empire State, let me say this: We beat New York’s outrageous Congestion Tax once,” he said. “I’m ready to lead the fight to stop it again.”
The post Gottheimer Announces Bid for NJ Governor first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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‘Musk-Iranian Envoy Meeting in New York Initiated by Tehran’
Elon Musk, chief executive officer of SpaceX and Tesla and owner of X/Twitter, gestures as he attends the Viva Technology conference dedicated to innovation and startups at the Porte de Versailles exhibition centre in Paris, France, June 16, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes
JNS.org – A meeting between entrepreneur Elon Musk and the Iranian ambassador to the U.N. held in a secret location in New York last week was reportedly initiated by Tehran.
A U.S. official briefed on the matter by a foreign colleague, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the two men discussed various subjects, with Iran’s nuclear program high up on the list, ABC News reported on Saturday.
He went on to say that the session concluded with no immediate decisions made by either party.
Musk, commissioner-designate of the soon-to-be-established U.S. Department of Government Efficiency, convened with Iranian Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani for more than an hour on Monday, with the goal to reduce tensions between Tehran and Washington, The New York Times reported, citing two Iranian officials.
One of them said that it was Musk who had requested the session and that the Iranian diplomat chose the location. The Iranian sources portrayed the meeting as “positive” and “good news.”
Trump’s communications director Steven Cheung did not confirm or deny the meeting.
“We do not comment on reports of private meetings that did or did not occur,” he said.
Asked about the diplomatic session, a spokesperson for the Trump transition, White House Press Secretary-designate Karoline Leavitt, replied vaguely in a statement: “The American people reelected President Trump because they trust him to lead our country and restore peace through strength around the world. When he returns to the White House, he will take the necessary action to do just that.”
Musk did not respond to a request for comment.
Iran’s foreign ministry denied on Saturday that the meeting took place, according to the Iranian state-run IRNA.
The ministry’s spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei “categorically denied” the session happened and said he was “surprised” by its alleged existence’s wide coverage in the U.S.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Trump plans to renew his “maximum pressure” policy regarding Iran when he returns to the White House on Jan. 20, including imposing punishing sanctions and targeting Tehran’s oil income.
Sources briefed on Trump’s early plans said that the harsh measures against the regime are part of an aggressive strategy to weaken the Islamic Republic’s support for its regional terrorist proxies and significantly harm its nuclear ambitions.
Former Trump officials said that his approach to Iran will likely be influenced by its attempt to assassinate him.
“People tend to take that stuff personally,” Mick Mulroy, a top Pentagon official for the Middle East during Trump’s first term, told the Journal. “If he’s going to be hawkish on any particular country, designated major adversaries, it’s Iran.”
Meanwhile, officials in Jerusalem told Israel Hayom on Thursday that the Iranian leadership decided to postpone a third direct attack on Israel following Trump’s presidential election victory.
According to Israel Hayom, the Islamic Republic shelved its plans in the hope of kick-starting negotiations with the Trump administration.
The post ‘Musk-Iranian Envoy Meeting in New York Initiated by Tehran’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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