GNITN - Special Edition

Israel At War – Day 126

Over The Top

Medication Received

The IDF found evidence that medications sent to help the hostages may have actually been used as we read in an article from The Times Of Israel:

A video released by the IDF of a Hamas tunnel deep below Khan Younis where hostages were allegedly held shows containers of medications.

The military said Wednesday that a total of 12 hostages were held in a cell in the tunnel at different times, three of whom have since returned to Israel. A rest area and bathrooms for the terrorists guarding the captives were also found.

The report goes on to give more details:

There is no narration during the part of the video in which the drug packages are shown. From the video, it is impossible to tell how many boxes are still filled with medication or to see their expiration dates, but other information, such as the type of medicine and where it was acquired, can be made out.

The importance of this find is tempered by the lack of pertinent details like how old the medications are and did they actually come as part of the January 17th agreement to allow medications into Gaza which was meant to help hostages with severe need of them:

The video’s release comes as there continues to be no update on whether the terms of a deal announced by Qatar on January 16 for the delivery of medication to hostages were carried out. Beginning on January 17, medications were supposed to be supplied to the hostages in return for a large amount of medical supplies and other aid for Gazans.

The Times of Israel was unable to establish whether the medication in the video was part of the supply transferred after inspection by Israel into the Strip for the hostages last month.

Israel required confirmation that the medicines did get to the hostages:

As part of the deal, Israel demanded visual proof that the relevant medications reached each hostage. The Red Cross, which has been accused of shirking its responsibility to ensure medical care for the kidnapped Israelis, refused involvement in the delivery of medications. The international humanitarian organization has also not visited the hostages in the four months since October 7.

France, which played a major role in brokering the agreement, says it has begun to pressure Qatar to determine where the drugs for the hostages are.

If Hamas treats these medical supplies like they do the humanitarian aid, they most likely used them for themselves and only gave what was left to their own people and then to the hostages. We may never know until after the hostages are released what actually happened to the supplies.

IDF Will Move Into Rafah

In spite of warnings from the United States to plan more before moving their counter offensive into the southern Gaza city of Rafah, Prime Minister Netanyahu is ordering for the IDF to do exactly that as we see in a report from i24news.tv:

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday said he has ordered the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to prepare a plan to evacuate the population of Rafah ahead of an expected Israeli invasion of the southern Gaza town.

“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the IDF and the security establishment to submit to the cabinet a combined plan for evacuating the population and destroying the battalions,” a statement from his office read.

Netanyahu made the announcement following criticism of Israel’s plan to launch an intensive military operation in the crowded town on the coastal enclave’s border with Egypt.

The objections were mostly based on concerns for the civilians affected. In a separate report from The Times Of Israel we hear a statement from the PM on this:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu indicated Friday that the over one million civilians who have crowded into the southern Gaza city of Rafah will be able to evacuate before the Israel Defense Forces begins operating there.

The statement came amid US statements that Israel has not conducted the pre-operational planning necessary to ensure that civilians will be kept out of harm’s way and that failure to do so risks “disaster.”

Netanyahu stressed the importance of the operation in Rafah in relation to their war goals:

“It is impossible to achieve the war goal of eliminating Hamas and leave four Hamas battalions in Rafah,” the statement said.

“On the other hand, it is clear that a massive operation in Rafah requires the evacuation of the civilian population from the combat zones,” it added.

The estimated 1.3 million people currently in Rafah are a result of having to evacuate from northern Gaza to avoid the war efforts there. It is unfortunate having to be uprooted, but Hamas bears the blame for this and people need to always see the full context of what happened. I would encourage you to watch a short video put together on the web source for this information which will help you recall the events of October 7th.

Why Are They Always Talking About Civilian Casualties?

Over and over we hear about cautions about Israel avoiding civilians dying in the war. While this is always a concern of any conflict, in a recent press conference, Biden referred to Israel’s response to the attacks on October 7th as “over the top.” He qualified the comment in an article from The Times Of Israel:

The White House clarified Friday that US President Joe Biden was referring to Israel’s military operation against Hamas when he described the conduct of the response in Gaza as “over the top” the previous day.

“He was obviously talking about Israel’s conduct in Gaza,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said when asked about the matter during a press briefing.

Here are some of his comments:

“I’m of the view, as you know, that the conduct of the response in Gaza, in the Gaza Strip, has been over the top. I think that, as you know, the president of Mexico, Sissi” — a reference to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi — “did not want to open up the gate to allow humanitarian material to get in. I talked to him. I convinced him to open the gate. I talked to Bibi [Netanyahu] to open the gate on the Israeli side.”

Biden went on: “I’ve been pushing really hard, really hard, to get humanitarian assistance into Gaza. There are a lot of innocent people who are starving, a lot of innocent people who are in trouble and dying, and it’s gotta stop. Number one.”

The US Secretary of State and Biden are pointing the finger at Israel for this:

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also criticized Israel’s war tactics Wednesday. Biden previously accused Israel of “indiscriminate bombing.”

The IDF for its part meticulously documents the lengths they go to avoid such casualties, yet the criticisms continue. I feel that too little pressure is put on Hamas for causing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and calling for them to stop blocking aid from actually going to its people and quit spending foreign aid on itself. Again, I’ll wait for those calls to happen. Up until now all I hear are crickets.