It is quiet at Ben Gurion airport this morning, and was even quieter at Ramon. Firstly, there are limited flights coming and going to Israel and today marks a sad day really. After months of high level negotiations, the government has now accepted that the remaining hostages will not be released unless force is used, and have overnight struck out heavily at Gaza. Negotiations will continue under fire.
Collapsing the truce, a surprise aerial offensive targeting Hamas infrastructure has launched a campaign Israel calls “Strength and Sword”. We know from previous attempts to force Hamas to release the hostages that the hostages’s status has gone from dire to critical and those who still remain alive are in mortal danger.
The current negotiations were, however, going nowhere and intelligence led Israel to believe that another infiltration by Hamas, was imminent and new fighters had swelled their ranks once again to 30,000, having not been deterred at all by the previous 17 months of fighting.
Palestinian psychological warfare strategy has sprung into immediate action, and they are reporting a hostage killed and others injured in the Israeli air strikes . Nothing can be believed
According to Palestinian sources the overnight strikes have eliminated several top ranking leaders. It is being reported over 400 have been killed and 600 injured. Who knows ?
The IDF have vowed to not only continue the offensive, but to intensify the operation until Hamas are dismantled and a new leadership, that supports peace , can be installed.
As a precaution schools around the Gaza envelope have been closed. The Times of Israel reports that some areas of Gaza have been given evacuation orders supporting reports that the attack will intensify.
Shelters are being opened in Tel Aviv and it is reported the Rafah border crossing allowing Gazans to leave for medical treatment has been closed.
Over the weekend the US and the UK launched joint attacks on the Houthi who continue to disrupt the shipping lanes in the Red Sea. They are clearly having some success as the Houthi, despite threatening, have not yet hit back, save for one missile which went off course hitting in the Egyptian Sinai although destined for Israel. The US have attacked a secret weapon depot (not so secret it would seem) in Sana’a , the capital of Yemen and destroyed a ballistic missile manufacturing plant near Hodeidah.
The Houthi have just now issued another ultimatum vowing to resume attacks on shipping if humanitarian aid from Israel into Gaza is not resumed in four days.
Iran is reported to be in a state of panic as Trump has declared they will be held responsible for any fire from the Houthi promising dire consequences for Iran. The Houthi declare they are not taking orders from Iran and seem to wish to continue in their belligerence declaring a state of “general mobilisation’.
The IDF have hit several Hezbollah targets in Lebanon and the new Syrian regime have declared war on Hezbollah.
A day of strikes in Israel is being called for on Wednesday as Bibi is planning to sack the Shin Bet chief, Ronen Bar. Bibi is now at odds with the Attorney General , who says he cannot just sack the chief without a “factual and legal basis”. A cabinet meeting is expected Tuesday or Wednesday and we will see who is acting “ultra vires”. Someone clearly is : is it Bibi or the Attorney General?
The next few hours and days are critical for the hostages as their fate hangs in the balance.
Kind Regards
Carolyne Davis