Israel says the success of Operation Rafah, and military pressure in general, has encouraged Hamas to compromise and reach a deal to release Israeli hostages in exchange for a pause in the war in Gaza.
The Biden administration and much of the world opposed Israel’s incursion into Rafah, Hamas’ last stronghold near the Egyptian border, but with one million civilians withdrawn from the area, Israel achieved most of its objectives.
Hamas recently backed away from demanding that Israel agree to a permanent ceasefire as a condition of a hostage deal, and analysts say that may be because Israel has simply undermined the morale of all but the terror group’s leaders.
The Associated Press Jerusalem Post):
Israel’s war against Hamas and the resulting destruction Gaza Strip After nine months of fighting, Hamas last week dropped its demand to negotiate a hostage deal that would have required Israel to end the war, a decision that could have influenced Hamas, Middle Eastern and U.S. intelligence sources told The Associated Press on Monday.
The report also revealed the contents of a message written by Hamas leaders in the Gaza Strip through Middle Eastern officials, which addressed Hamas’ Qatari leaders: US President Joe BidenOverview of hostage trading.
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This communication is [Gaza-based Hamas leader] Yahya Sinwar He discussed his desire to reach an agreement with Hamas leaders in the Gaza Strip.
Sinwar is believed to be hiding deep underground, along with the 120 hostages Hamas is still holding, about half of whom are believed to be alive. Until now, Israel has been reluctant to risk sending troops into the tunnels, which would likely result in heavy casualties, including among the hostages, so Hamas has survived, but morale among its forces above ground has been low.
of post Detailed:
Lieutenant Oriel Mashiach, commander of the Sabar Battalion Givati Brigadeoffered some insights. Maariv Speaking about the combat operations in Rafah on Sunday, the Syrian army said: “We are fighting very fiercely. There are no civilians in Rafah, we only see terrorists.”
“We have encountered an exhausted and demoralized enemy,” he stressed. “We have complete control of the area and the enemy appears to be struggling to fight. We are facing independents, exhausted and acting on their own. Some are surrendering when they see us, others are taking suicidal steps.”
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The IDF estimates that Hamas’ military wing has been particularly hard hit in the nine months of fighting, with many units disbanded or destroyed, one of the factors influencing Yahya Sinwar’s actions in negotiating a ceasefire and returning prisoners.
Amid reported progress in the negotiations, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a list of non-negotiable demands that Israel continues to pursue as the two sides move forward toward an agreement (via a government spokesman).
1. Any agreement would allow Israel to resume fighting until all war objectives have been achieved.
2. There will be no smuggling of weapons from Egypt to Hamas across the Gaza border.
3. Thousands of armed terrorists will not return to the northern Gaza Strip.
4. Israel will maximize the number of surviving hostages released from Hamas captivity.
Asked Monday whether Israel itself was war-weary and therefore ready to compromise, Israeli government spokesman David Mensah said “nothing will stand in the way of our objective of destroying this terrorist organization.”
Joel B. Pollack is executive editor of Breitbart News. Breitbart News Sunday The show airs Sunday nights from 7 to 10 p.m. (4 to 7 p.m. ET) on SiriusXM Patriot. He is the author of “Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days,” which is available for preorder on Amazon. He also wrote,Trumpian virtues: The lessons and legacy of Donald Trump’s presidency” is available on Audible. He is the 2018 recipient of the Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter. Joel Pollack.
