There is a new proposed "pause" and prisoner swap on the table. However it is unclear if any of the 40 hostages proposed for the swap are still alive. New Israeli proposal calls for release of 40 hostages The pact calls for a pause in fighting for up to a week. https://www.politico.com/news/2023/12/19/israeli-proposal-hostages-00132600
The future for Netanyahu is looking bleak in the recent polls which show the National Unity party leader Benny Gantz with a smooth path if the elections were held today -- while Netanyahu's Likud's party nosedives. It does not look likely that Netanyahu will be successful in part three of this mission. It is notable that Netanyahu's party and officials are openly stating that they will never support a two-state solution. This stance will not win support for Israel from outside countries including the U.S. -- and actually helps boosts more moderate parties in Israel to lead in the polls. Netanyahu’s mission: Destroy Hamas, bring hostages home – and get reelected https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/19/middleeast/netanyahu-hamas-war-mission-reelected-intl/index.html From the United Nations to NGOs and even influencers, critics of the way Israel is waging war against Hamas in Gaza are not in short supply; even US President Joe Biden has decried its “indiscriminate bombing.” But if there’s one area where Israel is arguably beyond reproach, it’s in the consistency of its stated war aims: • Destroy Hamas so it can’t fulfil its goal of repeating the October 7 massacre. • Bring back the remaining hostages held by Hamas. There are other aims, such as reestablishing deterrence to Israel’s foes, and reassuring Israelis the state can still protect them. But those were the main ones – until last week. In recent days, a third objective has unashamedly wormed its way into the open: getting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reelected. It began in earnest about a week ago, when US calls were growing for the Palestinian Authority (PA), which administers parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, to take control of post-war Gaza. Netanyahu’s response: Not on my watch. In comments to lawmakers, the prime minister claimed the Oslo Accords – a series of pacts between Israel and the Palestinians which laid the groundwork for discussions on a possible future Palestinian state, and which he previously said he would honor — had caused as many deaths as Hamas’ October 7 massacre, “though over a longer period”. Later that day, Netanyahu – whose reputation as “Mr. Security” lies in tatters, and whose popularity has plunged – was at it again. “Gaza will be neither Hamastan nor Fatahstan,” he said, referring to Fatah, the largest Palestinian faction, which was instrumental in the signing of the Oslo Accords, and continues to control the PA, which administers parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. His ambassador to the UK was even clearer: When Sky News asked Tzipi Hotovely if Israel supports a two-state solution, she replied: “The answer is absolutely no.” Why the focus on a failed, 30-year old agreement? “All Jewish Israelis are unanimous about the need to dismantle Hamas,” Yohanan Plesner, President of the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI), tells CNN. “Bibi [Netanyahu] needs to find a new raison d’etre to remain relevant. So he’s going back to the Oslo process. “He’s going back to the huge justified skepticism of any kind of solution that will hand over our security interests to the other side. And trying to position himself as … the guardian of those security interests. It’s a relatively shrewd political manoeuvre.” Alas, says Plesner, it comes at the expense of the national interest. He believes that, in practice, there aren’t really any major differences in how the US, Europe or Israel sees the war ending (with the defeat of Hamas), or the interim stage that comes immediately after: witness the British and German foreign ministers’ call for a “sustainable ceasefire,” which, among other things, requires the pie-in-the-sky assumption that Hamas might lay down its arms. And so, says Plesner, Netanyahu is “trying to pronounce differences that are irrelevant at this point to improve his political lot.” Or, to put it as “Bibi” author Anshel Pfeffer did on X, formerly known as Twitter: “What’s happening … is Netanyahu consciously squandering what little international support Israel has (mainly from the US) to continue the war against Hamas in a vain attempt to save his own political career by picking a fight with Biden.” Netanyahu’s fortunes may be decided sooner rather than later. On Tuesday, Plesner’s IDI published a survey that found almost 70% of Israelis want to see the country hold new elections as soon as the war with Hamas ends. More worryingly for Netanyahu, the survey also showed 31% of his own Likud voters say they will vote for a different party next time (16% of those will vote for a different political bloc entirely). Netanyahu, of course, has been written off before. He’s always proved the doubters wrong. But after widely being blamed for the failures that allowed October 7 to happen on his watch, he now seems unable to fulfill one of his central war aims: bringing the hostages home. During the course of his government’s week-long truce with Hamas, 110 hostages were freed and 240 Palestinian prisoners released. But only one rescue attempt – that of female soldier Ori Megidish – has been successful. Repeated attempts to rescue others have failed, culminating in the IDF mistakenly killing three Israeli hostages. Even before that debacle, IDI found only around one-third of Israelis believe it’s possible to retrieve the remaining Israeli hostages, who number over 100. That tragedy may in turn hamper Netanyahu’s ability to fulfil his other war aim of destroying Hamas. On Saturday evening, thousands of protesters descended on the renamed “Hostages Square” in Tel Aviv. They demanded the prime minister and his government do more to bring their loved-ones home, and to make this the government’s number one priority – not the destruction of Hamas. Ultimately, Netanyahu will probably do whatever gives him the best chance of staying in office. “It’s not power for power,” says Plesner. “He thinks he has a hugely important role in Israeli and Jewish history. Legacy is extremely important. And he wouldn’t want his legacy to be the October 7 attack.” Like it or not, though, it almost certainly will be.
Israeli Soldiers Film Themselves Blowing Up Entire Gaza Neighborhood to Create ‘Oceanview’ for Kibbutz Attacked by Hamas IDF appears to level Shejaiya, area of Gaza City where hostages were mistakenly killed last week https://themessenger.com/news/video-israel-soldiers-bomb-entire-neighborhood-gaza-city-shejaiya
Fetterman Blames TikTok for Young Voters Breaking With Biden on Israel-Hamas War The Pennsylvania senator says TikTok is providing 'warped' views for young voters after a poll found more than 70% disapprove of Biden's handling of the conflict Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) /Getty Images https://themessenger.com/politics/john-fetterman-biden-young-voters-israel-hamas-tiktok
Yes, Tiktok is making the young generation stupid and unable to think for themselves in a critical manner.
U.S. Ordered Fewer JDAM and SDB in 2022 Than Israel Dropped in Six Days of War December 21, 2023 https://en.defence-ua.com/news/us_o...n_israel_dropped_in_six_days_of_war-8934.html Illustrative photo credit: Israeli Air Force Illustrative data on how far behind is the production of weaponry is compared to the actual needs of a full-blown war Since February 2022, the United States has delivered millions of artillery shells to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, predominantly drawing from its own army stocks. In the autumn of the same year, when Israel initiated active military operations against Hamas, tens of thousands of 155-mm projectiles, originally intended for Ukraine, were redirected to the Israel Defense Forces instead. The current production rate of 155-mm artillery ammunition by the American defense industry stands at 28,000 units per month, a quantity that falls short of meeting the escalating demand. In response, the U.S. might tap into some of the reserves from the Pacific theater’s War Reserve Material stockpile, but this "hardly makes sense" because of how important this region is for the United States, according to Defense News. 155mm artillery ammunition / Illustrative photo credit: U.S. Army After all, there is also South Korea, where the U.S. also has warehouses in place, should North Korea attempt hostilities. In fact, the critical situation extends beyond 155-mm artillery ammunition, also evident with various other weapons, notably seen in the procurement figures of 2022. The U.S. procured 3,000 Joint Direct Attack Munitions and 2,000 Small Diameter Bombs during the year. These quantities are less than Israel spent in the first six days of warfare following a Hamas attack. Reports suggest the Israeli air force dropped 6,000 bombs from October 7 to 12. Illustrative photo: JDAM-ER guided bombs in service with the Ukrainian Armed Forces / Photo credit: Ukrainian Air Force The acquisition of Tomahawk cruise missiles and Mk-48 torpedoes also falls short of potential wartime requirements. In 2022, only 70 missiles and 58 torpedoes were purchased — fewer than the totality of launchers installed onto the forthcoming fleet of Arleigh Burke-class destroyers and Virginia-class submarines. With an estimated inventory of 4,000 Tomahawk missiles, if the U.S. needed to go all-out and spend them all in a high-intensity armed conflict the American defense industry would need 20–25 months to replenish the stocks afterward. One of the first steps to address this situation, and not just a band-aid but an actual solution for years to come, is a multi-year procurement program. Not only in the U.S., analysts and businesses have been insisting on implementing such measures in Europe and Ukraine. Such multi-year purchases would provide manufacturers with incentives to expand production capabilities, not to mention the positive effect of reducing the price of defense products over time. For the upcoming year, the U.S. National Defense Authorization Act outlines six types of munitions for multi-year purchases. Nevertheless, the officials are worried by skyrocketed costs of weapons, exemplified by the debate this September over the purchase of two missiles, SM-6 for the fleet, and AMRAAM for the Air Force.
What I gathered from the above article was: Shit stirring Israel's conflict with a bunch of Arabs has higher priority than a war with Russia........ Israel is incapable of looking after itself, America needs to standby at all times to blow their noses and wipe their asses for them.
Gaza death toll surpasses 20,000 as UN Security Council delays vote on aid The grim milestone comes as the UN’s top decision-making body postpones a key vote on Gaza aid for the third time. Palestinians mourn the death of loved ones who were killed in an Israeli bombardment on December 14, 2023, at al-Najjar Hospital in Rafah, Gaza Strip [Mahmud Hams/AFP] Published On 20 Dec 2023 https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023...000-as-un-security-council-delays-vote-on-aid At least 20,000 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip since Israel began bombarding the enclave more than 10 weeks ago, according to Palestinian officials. At least 8,000 children and 6,200 women are among those killed, Gaza’s Government Media Office said on Wednesday..........
Video Duration 24 minutes 14 seconds 24:14 The Bottom Line Why the war on Gaza is not making Israel safer Political scientist Ian Bremmer says the human carnage of Israel’s war on Gaza is strengthening Hamas. Published On 20 Dec 2023 https://www.aljazeera.com/program/t...hy-the-war-on-gaza-is-not-making-israel-safer Clueless American politicians make the same mistakes over and over again.
Fighting in a crowded urban environment where Hamas is using civilians as human shields; Israel has done their best to avoid civilian casualties -- but the situation is very difficult. However Hamas must be totally eliminated. High civilian toll in Gaza is cost of crushing Hamas, Israeli military officials say https://www.reuters.com/world/middl...as-israeli-military-officials-say-2023-12-19/ Heavy civilian casualties are the cost of Israel's intense campaign to destroy Hamas in Gaza and the militants' urban warfare strategy, Israeli military officials said, in the face of global alarm at the staggering toll from the bombing. Israel has dropped thousands of tonnes of munitions over the past 10 weeks, leaving the narrow Mediterranean strip in ruins and killing nearly 20,000, with more believed to be trapped under collapsed buildings, Gazan officials say. More than 50,000 are injured, with minimal healthcare services working. Speaking at the Palmachim Air Force Base, 45 km (28 miles)from Gaza, on Monday, two officials said Israel acknowledged that before each strike, the cost in civilian lives was balanced against an evaluation of the military advantage. One of the officials, a legal advisor to the Israeli Defence Forces, said the air force was carrying out "thousands and thousands of attacks and often attacks that require heavy firepower" to break through Hamas' tunnels under Gaza. "Really tragically that results in a large number of civilian casualties," said the official, in a briefing with journalists at the coastal base, from where grey military drones depart on daily bombing runs. The Israeli military asked that the officials not be named for security reasons. Israel's top war aim is to dismantle Hamas's military capabilities to prevent further attacks after the Islamist militants' Oct. 7 killings of 1,200 mainly civilian people and mass hostage-taking. It was the worst day of violence in Israel's 75-year history, and the ferocity of attacks and the multiple accounts of rape and mutilation shook the Jewish state to its core. But the loss of life in the Palestinian enclave has eroded global support after 10 weeks of bloodshed and Israel faces escalating pressure to scale-back the offensive. U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on Monday urged his Israeli counterpart Israel to reduce harm to civilians. Protecting civilians in Gaza was both "a moral duty and a strategic imperative", Austin said, warning excessive violence bred resentment that would benefit Hamas and make peaceful coexistence even harder in the long-term. France, Britain and Germany on Sunday added their voices to calls for a ceasefire, while U.S. President Joe Biden last week called the bombing "indiscriminate". In an example of the civilian toll in Gaza, a strike killed 19 people from two local families as they slept at home in the town of Rafah in southern Gaza on Tuesday, including women, children and two babies, Gazan health authorities said. The bomb left a deep crater and rubble where a large building had stood. "We have never seen such weapons. I was born in 1950, I have never seen anything like this," said Mohammed Zurub, whose family lost 11 people in the strike. He called it "a barbarian act". Asked for comment on the strike, the IDF said it took feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm under international law. Senior Hamas official Ghazi Hamad on Sunday said Israel was "indiscriminately bombing schools and tents that house hundreds of thousands of displaced people and hospitals protected by international humanitarian law". The legal advisor said hospitals can become a legitimate military target when they are being used by combatants. Hamas denies operating from civilian infrastructure like hospitals or schools. CASUALTY RATE Speaking alongside Austin at a news conference, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said Israeli forces operated legally and "to minimize the harm to the civilian population". Yagil Levy, an expert in civil military relations at the Israel Open University, calculated the civilian casualty rate in the war was around 61% in October, almost double that in previous conflicts in Gaza. He said that could indicate rules of engagement being interpreted more flexibly to minimize the risk to Israeli ground forces "by inflicting more death on the other side". The officials said the government's war goal of destroying Hamas meant the campaign was more intense than in previous conflicts where the goal was to deter the group from attacks. Whatever the reason, Israel was "not winning hearts and minds", Levy said, arguing that a political alternative was the only long-term solution. Because of the sheer number of bombs, Israel could not always warn before a strike, which was why it had turned to mass evacuations of conflict zones, the legal advisor said. Many of Gaza's 2.3 million people have left their homes multiple times under Israeli instructions to avoid strikes, broadcast by leaflets, on radio and social media. Another senior Israeli military official said Israel pre-plans 90% of its daily bombing raids over Gaza. The officials said pre-planning involved a 10-step process to assess whether a target had military value, and the proportionality of the response, among other things. Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, Israeli military spokesperson, said the military aborted attacks when it saw an unexpected civilian presence and chose which munition to use for each target to avoid unnecessary damage. Gazan authorities estimate 60% of houses have been damaged by the offensive. "We know this is hard, but we are trying to save lives," Hagari said.