GNITN - Special Edition

Israel At War – Day 152

Yemen In The News Again

First Fatal Attack

According to an article found on i24news.tv an attack on a commercial ship by Houthi rebels in Yemen resulted in two people dying. It was the first time one of their attacks killed anyone:

On Wednesday, a missile launched by the Houthis from Yemen struck a bulk carrier in the Gulf of Aden, resulting in at least two fatalities and six injured crew members, according to a statement from a U.S. official.

The Barbados-flagged vessel, owned by Liberia, sustained "significant damage" from the attack. The crew has evacuated the ship following the incident.

The deaths are the first fatalities of the Houthi campaign against international shipping since November.

Help after the strike was nearby and the ship has connections to the United States:

Report also noted the presence of an Indian Navy military vessel in the vicinity of the affected vessel's last known position, indicating ongoing rescue and salvage operations.

The attacked vessel has been identified as the U.S.-owned Barbados-flagged bulk carrier named True Confidence.

Deception could have played a part in the attack:

Prior to the attack, the vessel had reportedly been hailed over radio by individuals claiming to be from the Yemeni military. This incident occurred amidst a series of similar radio hails by the Houthis. Analysts suggest that these hails may be part of an attempt by the rebels to seize control of vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

While the Houthis have not immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, it's common for them to acknowledge such assaults after a period of several hours.

We also see that America and Britain responded in a report from The Times Of Israel:

Houthis’ Al-Masirah TV reports that US and British airstrikes have targeted Yemen’s Hodeidah airport.

There was no immediate comment from US or British officials.

Earlier, the US vowed to hold Yemen’s Houthi rebels accountable for a strike on a bulk carrier that killed two, apparently the first fatalities in the Iran-backed rebel group’s attacks on shipping.

“We will continue to hold them accountable. We call on governments around the world to do the same,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.

We must recall that the Houthi rebels maintained that they are attacking vessels in honor of Hamas. While the international coalition in the area is trying to contain the attacks, they are also careful to not join the war against Hamas. If these terrorists are to be dealt with, it will most likely have to the Israel Defense Force (IDF) that will have to do it.

Ceasefire Without Hostage Release?

In a report from i24news.tv the United States is suggesting there be a ceasefire during the month of Ramadan without getting any hostages back:

While holding out for Hamas to accept a ceasefire and hostage release proposal, U.S. and Arab negotiators floated a potential short pause to hostilities in the Gaza Strip while the larger deal gets ironed out, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Israeli media were quick to pick up on the U.S. shift away from conditioning any ceasefire on the release of hostages abducted during the Hamas-led October 7 attack, reading in between the lines of official statements, as well as through sources.

Apparently the logic is that stopping the fighting would aid is getting Hamas to discuss releasing hostages rather than being a part of the stoppage:

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken released a statement alongside the Qatari prime minister, saying a ceasefire would enable a hostage release rather than being a precondition. A political source told Israel Hayom that was indeed a shift in the American position.

Hamas, for its part will not agree to any offer that doesn’t stop the war entirely with them surviving:

Al-Akhbar reported, based on a Palestinian source, that the Hamas delegation had already submitted its detailed answer to the second proposal put together by mediators in Paris and the terrorist organization stipulated there was “no room for negotiations and agreements that do not ultimately lead to a halt to the entire war, and the complete withdrawal of the [IDF] army from the Gaza Strip."

I don’t see that happening at all, really. It would appear that international efforts to bring peace to the area are leaving out what Hamas did on October 7th. Israel isn’t forgetting at all, nor should they.

The War Is Already Over

In an article found in The Jerusalem Post a former IDF official thinks the war against Hamas was over months ago:

"There's another matter here, more significant – the war as a war has already ended two months ago," Ziv continued. "The IDF has already moved to stage C. The IDF is no longer conducting intense warfare like at the beginning or like in Gaza or the entry into Khan Yunis. The IDF has already shifted there to [more targeted] operations. As far as it's concerned, the breaking of Hamas's military resistance has already occurred. Today, apart from Rafah, and maybe another camp that it hasn't entered, the IDF already controls Gaza militarily. We haven't gotten every last terrorist, but in terms of military control over the Strip, the IDF can [now] be anywhere, any time during the day, almost anywhere. "

Ziv says that Hamas become something else:

"However," Ziv continued, "Hamas no longer an army, it has reverted to being some kind of underground terrorist organization, that's a completely different story and we need to deal with that in parallel to preventing the chaos we see before our eyes with civilian control, because without civilian control we need to bring the brigades back in to be everywhere, or alternatively make a decision that the government or the prime minister refuses to do, and decide that we are establishing a Palestinian government there."

Whether he is correct or not, if the IDF enters in Rafah it will definitely be over shortly.