GNITN - Special Edition

Israel At War – Day 212

Hostage Deal Ready To Collapse

Israel Will Stand Alone

In a report from The Times Of Israel we read about an address given by Prime Minister Netanyahu in which he stated that nothing will stop Israel from defeating Hamas:

Addressing the official state Yom Hashoah memorial ceremony at Yad Vashem, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asserts that Israel will not halt fighting in Gaza until it defeats Hamas no matter how much pressure is brought to bear to stop the war.

He referenced the pending International Criminal Court’s warrants for his and the military leadership arrests:

Responding to reports that the International Criminal Court in The Hague could issue arrest warrants for some of Israel’s top officials — including him — Netanyahu says that such actions “undermine” Israelis’ “most basic right” to defend themselves and places “a grave stain on the mere concept of international justice.”

“From here in Jerusalem, I am sending a very clear-cut message: you will not chain our hands and even if Israel has to stand alone, it will stand alone and will continue to fight our enemies until victory,” he declares.

As Israel commemorates Holocaust Remembrance Day, Netanyahu brought up the Holocaust in his speech:

Switching to English, the prime minister says that during the Holocaust the Jewish people were “totally defenseless against those who sought our destruction.”

“No nation came to our aid. Today again, we face enemies bent on our destruction. I say to the leaders of the world: no amount of pressure… will stop Israel from defending itself. As prime minister, I pledge here today from Jerusalem on this Holocaust Remembrance Day, if Israel is forced to stand alone, Israel will stand alone.”

“We will defeat our genocidal enemies. Never again is now,” he states.

The article ended with the PM saying this:

Switching back to Hebrew, Netanyahu says “During the Holocaust, we were muted and defenseless. We will not go back to those dark times.”

Deal “Near Collapse”

As I predicted, the supposedly close hostage deal is on the ropes as we see in an article from i24news.tv:

CIA Director William Burns is enroute to Doha for a pivotal meeting with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed Al-Thani amid uncertainty in negotiations to find a ceasefire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas.

According to reports from the Associated Press, an unnamed official familiar with the developments revealed that the talks are "near collapse."

According to reports, the negotiations need swift engagement:

The situation demands immediate action," stated the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

"Burns is on his way to Doha for an emergency meeting with the Qatari prime minister aimed at exerting maximum pressure on Israel and Hamas to continue negotiating."

The United States has been advocating for a resolution that would secure the release of some 30 hostages held by Hamas in exchange for a temporary ceasefire.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know who is holding things up:

The ceasefire is crucial to prevent any Israeli military intervention in Rafah, a strategically significant area where the final Hamas battalions are concentrated.

Despite relentless diplomatic efforts, Hamas has remained resolute in its stance, rejecting what U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken termed "extremely generous" offers.

Do we really need to know what these stances are again? Hamas wants the fighting to stop permanently, they want a boatload of dangerous prisoners released back in Israel and they want materials to rebuild their tunnels. Gee, I wonder why Israel isn’t agreeing to those demands?

Now We Have Pro-Rafah Protests

In a switch in current protests goals, there are families of IDF soldiers along with other protestors demanding that Israel go into Rafah as we read in a report from The Jerusalem Post:

Protests and actions calling for the IDF to invade Rafah have been ramping up as media is reporting that Hamas is close to accepting a hostage deal spread over the weekend.

Families of soldiers who have fallen in the Israel-Hamas war who were joined by additional protesters marched from their tent near the Knesset to the Prime Minister’s Office, where they blocked an entrance Sunday morning and demanded an invasion of Rafah, according to the Valor Forum, which organized the march.

The protestors were joined by members of the Israeli government who also want the IDF to go into Rafah immediately:

They were joined outside the PMO by numerous ministers reiterating their demands, including National Missions Minister Orit Strock, Culture and Sport Minister Miki Zohar, Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.

They agreed that pressure needs to be on Netanyahu to not give in to pressure to agree to a ceasefire:

Smotrich addressed the prime minister and other ministers in Israel’s war cabinet at the protest, calling on them to immediately renew Israel’s military action in Gaza with full force, saying that the public will not allow them to throw victory down the drain.

Saturday night, the Hope Forum, representing some family members of hostages who support increased military pressure against Hamas, called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to resign if he cannot “take the pressure and order the IDF to win.”

The forum criticized ongoing talks with Hamas, saying that “Disgracefully, in addition to fading on the battlefield in the past few months, there is negotiation with sub-humans who slaughtered us.”

The Valor Forum was very strong in their call for action and not negotiations:

“Talk of surrendering to Hamas has brought families of the fallen from the entire Israeli spectrum out to the streets to demand that the war go on,” said the Valor Forum.

The forum wanted to make clear to members of Israel’s government that they “don’t have a mandate to give in to Hamas. Our children did not fall for nothing.”