GNITN - Special Edition

Israel At War – Day 97

Who Controls Gaza?

Maybe They’re Serious This Time

After a long time of talking, it appears that the international force in the Red Sea is finally ready to do more than respond to the Houthi attacks on ships in the area. We read more on this from articles in The Times Of Israel:

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is holding a call with his cabinet about a possible response to attacks by Yemen’s Houthi militants on Red Sea shipping, British media report.

The Times of London newspaper reports that the meeting comes with Britain and the United States preparing to launch military strikes against the Iranian-backed Houthis.

Yemen’s Houthi rebels are fortifying positions and moving weapons and personnel from others in anticipation of a US and UK attack in the wake of continuing attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The report quotes maritime executives who were told about target lists including radar stations and drone launch sites around key Houthi-controlled cities, though US defense officials are quoted saying that the plan will be to strike back without risking a major escalation.

The Houthis for their part are getting ready for the worst kept secret attack in a long time:

According to a Houthi source quoted by the Journal, the Iran-backed group has moved its missiles to bunkers in densely populated areas of the capital Sa’ana.

The report notes that an Iranian spy ship thought to have aided in the Houthi attacks left the region to return to the Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas, in a sign that Tehran also sees Western retaliation looming.

How effective any attacks will be in ending the terrorism in the Red Sea in unknown, but my feeling is that the Israel Defense Force (IDF) will have to stop the Houthis once and for all.

United States Supports Israel – To A Point

As we discussed yesterday, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) is hearing arguments from South Africa that Israel is engaged in genocide as it eliminates Hamas. For their part, the United States is firmly in Israel’s camp on this one as we read in this report from The Jerusalem Post:

The US continues to denounce allegations of Israel committing genocide, State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said Thursday.

Patel refrained from addressing specific points of South Africa's case against Israel that's currently being argued in The Hague at the International Court of Justice.

"Genocide is one of the most heinous acts any entity or individual can commit and such an allegation should only be made with the greatest of care," Patel said.

Another White House spokesperson added this:

At the White House on Thursday, National Security Council Spokesman John Kirby reiterated the US' stance that there's no basis for accusations of genocide against Israel.

Kirby did not engage with hypothetical questioning on actions the US would take if the ICJ rules against Israel.

"I'm just not going to hypothesize or get ahead of the process here," Kirby said. "We've made clear our view on this particular case. And we've made clear our view on supporting Israel as they defend themselves."

While supporting Israel against the genocide charges, they are giving credence to part of the arguments for it when they bring up the need for humanitarian aid to go to the area and telling Israel to take care to not target civilians as if the IDF is doing those things:

Since the beginning of the war, Kirby said the US talked to Israel about the "special burdens" that modern democratic militaries have in conducting military operations to protect innocent civilians and civilian infrastructure.

At the State Department, Patel said he wouldn't speak to the legal characterizations of implications of intentional killing.

That being said, we have been clear to Israel that they not only must comply with international humanitarian law in its operations against Hamas, but it needs to take all feasible steps to prevent civilian harm," Patel said.

Patel, however, wasn’t 100% supporting Israel as he said they are not saying Israel won’t engage in genocide in the future:

When asked if the US is concerned about possible involvement in war crimes for Israel, Patel said the US has made it clear to the Israelis that international human rights must be respected and followed.

Patel said it's not too soon for the US to say there are no grounds for potential genocide.

"Every conflict is different, and every circumstance is different. And these kinds of determinations need to be made," Patel said. "With a close look at the law and the facts and these allegations that Israel is committing genocide are unfounded."

IDF Says Gazans Aren’t Starving

Those in the IDF that are working to get the aid into Gaza maintain that any bottlenecks occur after they get it into the area as we read in this article from The Times Of Israel:

The Israel Defense Force unit overseeing the transport of humanitarian aid into Gaza said on Wednesday that there are no shortages of food in the Strip and that existing problems were caused by the inability of the United Nations to properly distribute the goods once they entered the enclave.

Speaking at the Kerem Shalom border crossing, which reopened last month, Col. Moshe Tetro, head of COGAT’s Coordination and Liaison Administration to Gaza, said Israel was working daily to boost aid into Gaza.

“The trucks that go through security checks here are unloaded on the Gazan side of the crossing, the aid is then met by international organizations and delivered to the people of Gaza,” Tetro said.

The UN Security Council passed a resolution in late December calling for the “immediate, safe and unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance” to civilians in the Gaza Strip.

Tetro also denied any bottlenecks on the Israeli end were preventing aid from reaching the enclave, asserting instead that “the problem lies with the international organizations processing and receiving the aid.”

Tetro assures us that the situation isn’t as dire as it’s being portrayed:

Contrary to UN reports claiming widespread starvation in the Strip, Tetro insisted “there is no food shortage in Gaza.”

“In terms of food, the reserves in Gaza are sufficient for the near term,” he said. “However, if there are any organizations that would like to bring more food, we are happy to facilitate it — to the south and to the north.”

The battle of words will most likely not end anytime soon, but my prayers are that the bickering won’t keep the aid from getting to the people who need it.

Who Controls Gaza Is Simple

I know a lot of people think they know how Gaza should be handled the day after the war is over, but I can give them a few pointers if they are even listening. A few of them are read in this report from CBN.com:

While Israel's war with Hamas continues in the Gaza Strip, the debate over what happens to Gaza the day after the war is intensifying. Many parties are vying to stake their claim to rule over the territory.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement Wednesday on his view of Gaza after the war.

"Israel has no intention of permanently occupying Gaza or displacing its civilian population. Israel is fighting Hamas terrorists, not the Palestinian population," he stated. "Our goal is to rid Gaza of Hamas terrorists and free our hostages. Once this is achieved, Gaza can be demilitarized and deradicalized, thereby creating a possibility for a better future for Israel and Palestinians alike."

They key point in that statement is when he said the Palestinians need to be deradicalized. As I’ve said time and time again, this is not an easy task and how progress to that end is measured is hard to track. And giving control to the Palestinian Authority (PA) would have to meet that standard as well:

The U.S. is proposing that the Palestinian Authority should have a major role in governing the Gaza Strip. Knesset Member and Former Deputy Director of the Mossad Ram Ben-Barak told CBN News the P.A. would have to reform for that to happen.

“The Palestinian Authority must be changed," he insisted. "You cannot take control on Gaza if the kids are educated to hate and to kill Jews. You cannot control Gaza and cannot control, by the way, the West Bank, if you pay money to people who are involved in terror activity. And you cannot take control if you are corrupt.”

Praying for the peace of Israel needs these concerns to be added to the prayer list. And we’re not the only ones praying:

Given the crisis facing Israel on multiple fronts, tens of thousands of Israelis gathered at the Western Wall Wednesday to pray for the release of the hostages held by Hamas and for God's hand of mercy to be on Israel.

Amen and amen to that!