Hamas’s confidence in surviving war has ‘solidified’: Monitors
Hamas “remains confident” that it can survive the current war being waged by Israel on the Gaza Strip, US-based defence think tanks report, adding that the Palestinian group’s confidence in surviving has “solidified” since Israel scaled back military units deployed to Gaza in December.
Noting that the Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip Yahya Sinwar said in February that “his military forces are in good condition”, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) and the Critical Threats Project (CTP) said Israeli raids on Gaza are being complicated by Hamas’s tactic of fighting and then withdrawing to areas absent of Israeli forces to “rest and reconstitute”.
The latest ISW/CTP joint report also addresses a Reuters report in which US and Israeli officials say that Hamas has shifted to “insurgent” tactics, which the US officials said the Palestinian armed group can sustain “for months”.
Hamas continues to have access to weapons either smuggled into Gaza or captured from Israeli forces, the officials told Reuters.
Biden says that he believes Netanyahu is listening to his concerns
US President Joe Biden has said that he believes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is listening to his concerns about his handling of the war in Gaza.
“I think he’s listening to me,” Biden said in an interview with ABC News aired on Thursday.
“They were going to go into Russia — into Rafah — full bore, invade all of Rafah, go into the city, take it out, move, move with full force. They haven’t done that. And what they’ve done is they’ve agreed to a significant agreement,” he said.
Biden’s comments come amid signs of growing divisions between the leaders and as the US tries to balance supporting Israel and pressuring Netanyahu to end the war.
US, global allies release joint statement on Gaza ceasefire deal
Seventeen countries including the United States have released a joint statement calling on Israel and Hamas to do whatever is necessary to agree on a ceasefire deal in Gaza.
The signatories to the joint statement said they “fully support the movement towards a ceasefire and hostage release deal now on the table and as outlined by President Biden”.
The statement adds: “We call on Hamas to close this agreement, that Israel is ready to move forward with.”
Israel is only ready to move forward with phase 1, if at all.
Israeli media says Gantz expected to resign from war cabinet
Israel’s war cabinet member Benny Gantz is expected to resign from the emergency government on Saturday following the expiration of a deadline he set last month for developing a clear plan “to achieve victory” in Gaza.
According to Israel’s public broadcaster KAN, Gantz intends to submit his resignation due to the failure to formulate the specified plan. The families of Israeli captives in Gaza have urged Gantz not to resign until a prisoner exchange agreement is reached with Hamas.
Netanyahu’s office has scheduled an expanded ministerial discussion for Sunday, just after Gantz’s self-imposed deadline, KAN reported.
Ben-Gvir says humanitarian aid that enters Gaza must be reduced
Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has urged the prevention of fuel entry and reduction of humanitarian aid reaching the Gaza Strip.
“Israel should withhold fuel from Gaza and reduce the humanitarian aid that enters the strip,” the Israeli minister said on X.
“Israel should only declare humanity in exchange for humanity, but we will not agree to a deal that would jeopardize the future of the State of Israel,” he said.
US, Egypt, Israel fail to agree on PA role on Rafah crossing
US, Egyptian and Israeli officials failed to make progress about reopening the Rafah crossing after Israel rejected the Palestinian Authority (PA) as having a role in operating the Gaza side, Axios reported citing four US and Israeli officials.
The crossing has remained closed since Israel expanded its military operations into Rafah, near the crossing with Egypt.
Egypt has refused to open the crossing on its side until the Gaza side is back under Palestinian control.
During a meeting of Israel’s security cabinet, Netanyahu said, according to two sources, he doesn’t agree with the PA taking up any role at the crossing.
However, one of the sources told Axios that Netanyahu’s comments had come in contradiction to a policy that the war cabinet had approved days earlier, that Israel would agree to any government entity other than Hamas to run the crossing.
