With the ceasefire in the north running into its second month you might think the war in Israel is coming to its end. But no, the war continues and Hamas continue to fire rockets into Israel most nights and in one day launched 3 rockets at Sderot, a city close to the border, hitting a home.
Hamas are either unwilling or unable to confirm how many hostages remain alive. A video showing proof of life of 19 year old Liri Albag was sent last week. In December another video showing 21 year old Edan Alexander was broadcast . These videos are torturous for the families to see, but at least give some hope that some of the hostages remain alive.
The fact that Hamas are showing videos indicates that they are desperate for a deal to release the many prisoners that Israel is holding in order to further replenish their forces with trained killers.
100 remain missing in Gaza , of those 38 are confirmed perished.
Talks continue, but the IDF continues daily to find large weapons caches and the Hamas fighters who say they are enrolling new fighters all the time move very quickly into areas previously thought cleared. Hospitals are one of their favourite places to set up headquarters knowing the world will scream when the IDF go in to clear the weapons and terrorists.
Hamas are demanding a total ceasefire and the withdrawal of all IDF, but that would be handing the territory back to the same murderous organisation and we would quickly see a return to October 6th.
If Israel withdraws from the Philadelphi corridor which lays between Gaza and Egypt then the materials to start up the weapon manufacturing would quickly start to flow again as Israel cannot control what leaves Egypt and Egypt is not prepared to take that border and properly secure and control it … yet. Our best hope is that Egypt steps up and takes Gaza back. (Not much sign of that, but Egypt is a huge recipient of world aid and Trump knows how to make money talk )
The negotiators must wrestle with so many factors in the knowledge that the Gilad Shalit deal released Sinwar , who was the architect of October 7th. Hamas are demanding the release of hardened terrorists for an unspecified list of hostages that no one knows are dead or alive. The best scenario would be to find the hostages ourselves, but it is proving impossible to date and the civilian population is still protecting Hamas and no information has led to the discovery of the remaining hostages.
At this time there are three divisions operating in Gaza. Aid which is inspected by the IDF is flowing in daily even while rockets fire. Drugs are being smuggled into the area from Egypt via drones. Surprisingly, dozens of tunnels are still being discovered. This week tunnels into the Sinai, which was a well established smuggling route, were uncovered .
Israel tragically continues to lose young soldiers with nearly 400 fallen in Gaza alone, and thousands have life changing injuries.
Judea and Samaria
In Judea and Samaria, the area known as the West Bank, the situation is indeed very dire. Much of these areas are administered by the PA, who are actually trying to control the extremist militia that have embedded themselves with weapons in the Arab villages and towns especially Jenin, Shechem and Hebron, which are hotbeds for Hamas terrorists.
On Monday an attack was carried out on route 55, aimed at civilians on a bus passing through a busy thoroughfare between the Jewish and Arab areas.
Two cars were caught in the attack, killing two sisters-in-law in their car and an off duty policemen who attempted to shoot the attackers who were armed with assault rifles . The 35 year old father of two was killed, and as the terrorists fled they opened fire on a bus killing one and severely injuring the driver and 7 other passengers. The murderers are known to the IDF but remain at large.
The area is extremely volatile and some Jewish residents are taking revenge on the Arab areas burning cars. Both the IDF and the PA are operating in these areas and there is talk of a total ban on movement between the PA areas and Israel-proper.
14 soldiers and Police have lost their lives in these areas.
The North
There is further progress in Lebanon, and the IDF have left one area and handed it to the Lebanese army who need to destroy any remaining Hezbollah weaponry. We have however, seen to our detriment that whenever Israel has handed over responsibility to another party, be it the UN, Egypt or Lebanon they have totally failed to uphold their part of any agreement, but we are giving Lebanon a chance now to reclaim their country while Hezbollah are weakened, but not fully disarmed. Meanwhile the fall of the Syrian regime has curtailed the transfer of weapons to the Shia proxy of Iran.
A not-exactly-new player has entered the arena with Turkey making a lot of noises and operating against the Kurdish area in northern Syria. Erdogan has often made anti Israel gestures in the past couple of decades .The champion of Islamist causes, this wannabe little Hitler who imagines himself as the new Sultan of a Narnia like Ottoman Empire is using the Gaza conflict to threaten both the Kurds and Israel. We must take his threats seriously, now we are all too well aware of what happens when one underestimates their enemy.
Syria is struggling to usher in a new reality, and the IDF continue to destroy any weapons both chemical and standard as insurance should the new regime decide to declare any bad intentions towards Israel, and also to prevent them falling into the hands of militia groups who are jostling for control of their areas.
It is reported by a Russian news agency that the IDF have erected look out points and communication towers in the area of Quneitra. The Syrian news reports of IDF tanks entering those areas. This is a high point in the Golan Heights which is of utmost strategic importance to Israel’s defence. It seems possible that Israel will remain here until new security arrangements are made. The Lebanese newspaper Al Akhbar reports that the ceasefire committee has agreed to Israel holding 3 military bases in Southern Lebanon.
87 soldiers have fallen in the northern arena.
The Houthi
Lots of chatter is reported from the Houthi in Yemen, threatening most nights to send ballistic missiles at Israel. Some nights they do and there are sirens in the centre and less often in Eilat, but mostly they just threaten, so no Israeli can sleep peacefully at night, as they always send their missiles in the early hours.
The western media may be reporting very little from Israel, as it is clearly of no interest unless they can find an anti Israel angle projecting the IDF as genocidal child murderers . Instead they turn a blind eye to the conflict when it suits their narrative, just as they choose to turn a blind to eye to the real famine and suffering in Yemen and Sudan and the millions murdered by dictatorial and Islamic regimes around the world.
It is estimated that Assad killed over 600,000 of his own people, but he is enjoying a life of luxury as a guest of Putin who is raging a war against Ukraine totally unopposed . How many Russians forced to war and Ukrainians have died without the world really blinking ?
Iran remains the head of the snake and we will just have to wait and see what the new Trump administration proposes to make the world a safer place for all. Should we just contain the threat like we did with Hamas and one day pay an even bigger price ?
88,000 Israelis are displaced away from home. Nearly 1,800 have been killed since October 7th.
The whole country prays for the release of the hostages as the first stage to consider a cease fire.
Kind Regards
Carolyne Davis