GNITN - Special Edition

Israel At War – Day 448

The “H” Terrorists

Hamas Makes New Demands

We’re told in a report from i24news.tv that negotiators for Hamas has new requirements for a hostage release:

Negotiations for the release of Israeli hostages are still ongoing, yet Hamas is raising new demands regarding wounded hostages and refuses to provide a list of living hostages; moreover, whoever conducts the negotiations on their behalf does not necessarily control the happening on the ground, i24NEWS learned on Friday. Israel (then) applies heavy pressure on Hamas to live up to the promises.

Those revelations are a stark reminder of the changing landscape in Gaza:

While the Israeli negotiations team has returned from Doha, the talks for the hostage deal are still ongoing, not affected by the team's physical presence. According to sources familiar with the details, Hamas poses serious problems that hinder the ability to close the deal, chief among them - the list of hostages whose release should be prioritized on humanitarian grounds.

Now Hamas won’t release a list of hostages which is a key part of any deal for Israel:

Israel, i24NEWS can report, insists on complete lists of live hostages, but these have not yet been received. Also, as i24NEWS learned, Hamas refuses to release wounded hostages as part of the humanitarian list and attempts to demand special compensation for them.

Upping the ante on the value of hostages for the release of even more terrorists in prison is problematic since an agreement on hostages had already been ironed out:

Israeli negotiators are unwilling to accept changes to conditions established earlier and exert heavy pressure on the group from various directions.

Officials in Jerusalem say they hope that Hamas will decide to come together to conclude the deal, because the decision is entirely theirs.

Having negotiators who aren’t living in Gaza is a concern as well:

Another serious concern for Israel, i24NEWS learned, is that those who conduct the negotiations on behalf of Hamas do not necessarily control the happening on the ground. This, as the dust has not yet settled on the decision-making and organizational structure of Hamas after the elimination of its leader Yahya Sinwar, making it extremely complicated to manage the talks. Israeli officials want to make sure that whoever represents the terrorist group vis-à-vis the mediators is also able to return the hostages from the hands of Hamas in Gaza.

Israel, for it’s part is not letting up on attacking Hamas in Gaza which they see as a key to a deal:

At the same time, Jerusalem believes that the various conditions that pressure Hamas are still valid and even growing: the achievements against Hezbollah and against Iran, the collapse of Syria, and the weakening of the Shiite axis, the strikes in Yemen, the anti-terror activity in Judea and Samaria, the IDF activity in Jabaliya, in Beit Hanon and Rafah, as well as in the Karni-Netzarim corridor, together with the impending coming into office of the Trump administration, work to press Hamas to a point of great isolation, where it would be desperate for a ceasefire.

Hard To Eliminate

We’ve kind of danced around the topic of defeating the Houthi rebels in Yemen for the last few days and we learn in an article from The Jerusalem Post that Israel is realizing that this terrorist proxy is more sophisticated that previous thought:

Israel's battle against the Iran-backed Houthi terror groups in Yemen may be more difficult than previously thought, an anonymous Israeli official told The Washington Post on Friday.

Once thought to be the least of Israel’s terrorist problems, Iran may have given them more cutting-edge weapons than anyone knew:

One key difficulty is The Houthis “are more technologically advanced than perceived by many,” the official said while stressing that the terror group should not be “underrated."

Make no mistake, these Houthis want the same things as their other comrades in arms:

The official went on to explain that thanks to the backing from the Islamic Republic, the Houthis have been able to take “practical steps” in pursuing their ideology, which calls for the destruction of Israel.

And there is their desire to be seen as the only one who can still resist Israel:

“The Houthis want a war of attrition on Israel, to continue firing so that they can say, ‘We are the real resistance,’" Yoel Guzansky, a former official on Israel’s National Security Council, told the Post.

The rebels also are trying to bankrupt Israel:

Part of the Houthis plan is based on simple economics, Guzansky explained. While the Houthis drones and missiles cost only a few thousand dollars to launch, Israel's interceptions cost tens of thousands of dollars.

And then there is the distance issue which all by itself poses a challenge:

While the other terror groups Iran backs border Israel, creating its own challenges, the Houthis are located over a thousand miles away in a mountainous terrain, surrounded by civilians and with very little infrastructure - creating unique challenges for Israel's response, Danny Orbach, a military historian at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, explained.

Israel can deploy troops in the region, but doing so in Yemen is a logistical task, too. In many ways the Houthi rebels are literally the last man standing:

While Hezbollah has agreed to a ceasefire following a limited IDF ground campaign in Lebanon, and Hamas's capabilities in Gaza have been majorly destroyed, the Houthis have continued to fire - leading The Jerusalem Post's Seth Frantzman to label them the 'last man standing' in Iran's axis.

As we’ve also seen, Houthis aren’t going away until someone stops them:

The informed individuals spoke as Israel has faced near nightly attacks from the terror group over the last week, resulting in Israel striking key Houthi infrastructure on Thursday.

Interestingly I did find an article that seems to think that Yemen is mentioned in prophecy:

“And the Lord shall appear over them, and his arrows shall go forth like lightning. And the Lord God shall sound the shofar, and He shall go with the whirlwinds of Yemen” (Zechariah 9:14)... In this verse God promises that “his arrows shall go forth like lightning,” that He will bring retribution upon Yemen from the air. May we soon see Israeli missiles rain down upon the Houthi terrorists of Yemen!

The article talks about the full chapter so it’s worth a read, but I thought this part was intriguing.