Maj-Gen Al-Duwairi: Tal Al Hawa Hard For Israel

The battle is raging in Tal Al-Hawa, southwest of Gaza City, and the fighting there is no less fierce than what is happening in the east of the city, referring to the Shujaiya neighborhood, said military and strategic expert Major-General Fayez Al-Duwairi.

https://www.assawsana.com/article/635430

In his military analysis, Al-Duwairi doubted what the Israeli media was saying  about the transfer of three soldiers wounded in the Gaza battles. He said the Israeli army admitted it was subjected to four difficult security incidents  in Tal al-Hawa.

The expert who is a military analyst on Al Jazeera believes these difficult events resulted in the killing of more Israeli soldiers, basing his view also on the Information provided by  Al-Qassam Brigades and Saraya Al-Quds, the military wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

He pointed out their statements are backed by videos confirming the credibility of the resistance, pointing out Israel is forced to announce its human losses when there are successful ambushes or effective combat operations, as it anticipates the Qassam videos of deaths and injuries of their soldiers.

Based on this, Al-Duwairi predicted the Israeli casualties ranged from 6 to 8 on average, some serious, in addition to deaths because of the hard nature of the incidents while ruling out the total of only three casualties, as claimed by the Israeli media.

He said he does not take the Israeli announcements seriously, recalling the statements they repeatedly made claiming the dismantling of the Al-Qassam Brigades in northern Gaza, and confirming that he evaluates the resistance on field performance.

Al-Duwairi also cited the last statements of spokesman Abu Ubaida in which he said the Al-Qassam Brigades restored its 24 brigades in the whole areas of the Gaza Strip, and also strengthened their defensive capabilities, stressing the brigades’ human capabilities are in top shape.

Thus, Al-Qassam rehabilitated its 24 brigades both materially and in human resources with combat efficiency at 80% of its situation before 7 October, the military expert maintained.

He warned Tel al-Hawa was subject to many incursions because it was on the edge of the northern Netzarim axis, but added the commander of its battalion has good  information about the Israeli occupation army, providing a forward-looking reading of their third phase of the war.

He concluded the resistance led by Al-Qassam, are able to discern the intentions of the Israelis army and their goals by monitoring its communications, ground movements, and the intensity of its bombing whilst determining the direction of future Israeli actions and preparing for it before they begin.

Al-Duwairi also pointed out the third phase of the Israeli war on Gaza is related to the occupation noticing several elements, such as the emergence of resistance leaders, administrative arrangements, or information about tunnels or detained prisoners.

On Monday evening, the Israeli media reported the occurance of four difficult security incidents against the Israeli army in Tel al-Hawa, with news of military helicopters landing for short periods on the Netzarim axis, to evacuate the Israeli wounded.

In turn, Al-Qassam Brigades reported they detonated an anti-personnel device against a force of 6 Israeli soldiers in Tal al-Hawa, leaving them dead and wounded. It also announced the targeting of an Israeli foot force in the chalet area, west of Tal al-Hawa, leaving its members dead and wounded.

In the same area, Al-Qassam destroyed a military jeep with a “Al-Yassin 105” shell on Al-Sinaa Street, while also targeting an Israeli troop carrier with a “Shawaz 3” device on Roundabout 17 in the same neighborhood, and a “D9” bulldozer with a “Shawaz 3” device on Al-Rashid Street.

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The Israeli Army Exhausts Its Goals in Gaza – Military Expert

Military and strategic expert Dr. Nidal Abu Zeid said the Israeli occupation army has reached a difficult stage in its military operations in Gaza, and has now exhausted its goals. He said this explains the latest bombing of one of the shelters for displaced persons in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip.

Abu Zeid added the occupation army is in rapid transformations with its war on  entering its 10th month. He told Jo 24 its no longer able to move in large areas as the resistance groups have succeeded in stripping them of the intelligence element and no longer able to receive information and targets of the fighting sectors they are dealing with.

The resistance also succeeded in exploiting the rubble of houses resulting from their massive destruction and turning them into an artificial obstacles to hinder the progress of the occupation military machine and the imposition of short and narrow firing ranges, concealment, and carrying out of ambushes and raids, as happened in Tal al-Sultan in Rafah and Shujaiya in the north.

Abu Zaid stated the enemy was planning to penetrate into Shujaiya and cross from it via the Baghdad Road to Omar Al-Mukhtar Road, so it could provide it with freedom of movement to the north, towards Al-Tuffah and west, towards Zaytoun, but after 10 days of fighting in Shujaiya, the resistance realized what the Israeli army was planning. Therefore, they started implementing several plans and models for combat and thus prevented the occupation forces from penetrating the Shujaiya neighborhood, whose area does not exceed two square kilometers.

Abu Zeid pointed out the reason for the difference in the form of fighting in Shujaiya from Rafah is related to the resistance’s ability to adapt to the geography of the area and succeeding in adapting the land to its advantage in confronting the Israeli occupation forces.

Abu Zeid pointed out that the occupation insists on controlling wide land corridors, such as the Netzarim Corridor and the Philadelphia Corridor, to achieve military and political goals for the possible transition to the third phase of the war, to launch its operations from these corridors supposed to provide it with good mobility.

 Politically also, the occupation is trying to strengthen its negotiating cards by negotiating over areas which it controls, he concluded.

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More Bad News For US-Israel Ties as Top Diplomat Quits Job

Israel Should be More Worried About Miller’s Resignation Than Washington – US Official

By Dr Marwan Asmar

The resignation of Andrew Miller from his job as US Deputy Assistant Secretary for Israeli-Palestinian Affairs comes as a blow for the Joe Biden administration because it narrows the debate further to one side.  

While he cites family reasons for quitting his post, many say his resignation is a protest of the White House support for Israel in its war on Gaza.

His resignation has been making headways on social media with the first to break the story, the Washington Post, Friday.

One on X writes “his departure underscores internal discontent over US support for Israel” in its war on Gaza.

Another writes his resignation “comes amid growing frustration  over the war’s deep civilian death toll and concerns among some in the administration that influence over policy matters…“dominated by a narrow clique of Biden’s closest advisors.”

He was seen as a critic of the policies of the Biden administration in its “bear hug” approach towards Israel and its way of conducting the war on Gaza.

The Palestine Chronicle writes his resignation “follows the departures of at least eight other Biden administration officials who left in protest of the war in Gaza and the president’s steadfast alignment with the Israeli government.”

Jerry Goode on X says the “US government is falling apart because of the division in the Gaza war/(genocide),” adding officials are resigning left, wright and center” with Miller being the latest top official and senior diplomat “to run away from this mess.”

His name is trending under different tags: #USA #Andrewmiller #Thewashingtonpost #IsraelGazaconflict

Miller was seen on the progressive side of the administration. One US official said Miller pushed for the US to use its leverage over the Israeli government, including the substantial military, economic, political and diplomatic support it provides to Tel Aviv, more effectively, reported Anadolu.

Miller is certainly on the more progressive side of administration officials when it comes to the region, including on Israel-Palestine, but he has also never been a ‘burn it all down and forgo pragmatism’ type,” the official said. “He has always advocated that the United States should support Palestinian rights and statehood, but his advocacy while in government has generally been quiet and measured.”

However, another US official quoted by the Times of Israel the resignation of Miller “should be a wake up call for” Israel. Talking on condition of anonymity, he said if the Netanyahu government is “creating an environment where people like him are resigning, they are clearly doing something very wrong.”  

Miller worked on both Israeli and Palestine sides. He firmly supported a strong US-Israeli relationship but he also believed a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

However, his resignation comes days after a video was made of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu berating the White House for apparently withholding weapons and ammunition from Israel to continue the war on Gaza.

Later on the week and in response to the video, US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby  said the allegations that Netanyahu made “were deeply disappointing and certainly vexing to us, given the amount of support that we have and will continue to provide Prime Minister Netanyahu.”

He was backed by the US State Department spokesman, Matt Miller, who said he was not sure what Netanyahu was “talking about or what he was trying to accomplish.”

He pointed out: “…I don’t think it’s productive to engage in an intense public back and forth about this. So we will just let our actions continue to speak for themselves, as they have since Oct. 7.”

He added as stated by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, “our commitment to Israel’s security is sacrosanct. We have proved that, not just with words, but with deeds.”

The supply of US weapons has not stopped. It is continuing. However it is the withholding of the shipment of the 2000-pound dumb bombs Netanyahu is upset about. The US has become deeply concerned about their use in densely-populated areas in Rafah and in camps in central Gaza because of their strong kill factor which is deeply devastating.

All these issues have forced Andrew Miller to resign, disillusioned by US President Joe Biden’s refusal to take a harder line on Israel stopping the war in Gaza.

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Hezbollah Fires 215 Missiles Into Israel

This is the largest volley of rockets to land on Israel in a single day.

Hezbollah has fired 215 missiles and rockets into northern Israel, Wednesday, according to different news sources including the Times of Israel.

The news of the missiles, trending on the social media, is the biggest ever launch in one day, a Wednesday, since 7 October, when Israel began its war on Gaza.

The rockets were launched in areas that included settlements and a military base.

Experts believe this launch will lead to escalation on Israel’s northern front and the raising of regional tensions, and were both Lebanon and Israel could be dragged into war.

The firing of the missiles came a day after Israel killed a senior Hezbollah commander named Taleb Sami Abdullah.

He was killed Tuesday night, following multiple Israeli strikes on a residential building in Jawya, southern Lebanon. Abdullah was a top commander in Hezbollah, it is pointed out.

His name is also trending on the social media and may have led to a new escalation that was already brewing between Hezbollah and Israel since early June when Hezbollah missiles carried through drones set the northern part of Israel on fire.

Like last time, the latest missiles have set fires in at least three locations in Israel with fire crews scurrying to the scenes.  These locations included the Avivim settlement near the border with Lebanon after it was targeted with an anti-tank missile.

Military analysts are watching this northern front very carefully. Some say it could lead to another war while others point out the escalation is still within the agreed confines.

It is pointed out the United States doesn’t want another war escalation and is, maybe, pressuring Israel not to widen the conflict and go out for a fully-fledged war against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

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Massacre: Israel Kills 274 Gazans to Rescue 4 Hostages

Israel killed 274 Palestinians and injured 698 to secure the release of four Israeli hostages deep in the Nuseirat Camp in central Gaza.

What happened in Nuseirat is being described as the largest single massacre carried out by the Israeli army, using a special unit of the Shabak and Israeli police that went into the central market of the west of the camp early Saturday, backed by heavy bombardment from the air, sea and tanks. 

Bollywood-style rescue

An eyewitness in the camp described what happened as “unbelievable”, something from an Indian Bollywood movie with camfloudged men that came out of a lorry thought to carry displaced people and their furniture and started firing at everyone within distance.

The Israelis are seeing the bloody operation as a “great national success. Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant are patting themselves on the back for the release of the four hostages. They say now the release of the hostages – at around 120 – is only a matter of time with Netanyahu hinting at repeat operations of the same kind.

Hamas on the other hand, has been quick to respond, saying the release of four of its hostages after 245 days of an-eight-month bloody and destructive war was nothing to brag about. The Islamist organization now battling the Israeli army in all parts of Gaza says, the operation in broad daylight and carried out when the street markets are busy and full of people,  only shows the failure of the Israeli army and its strategy.

It added all that the Israeli did was carry out another massive killing spree on the civilians of Nuseirat.

The high death numbers are being confirmed by the Gaza government media office stating the number of the people killed and injured in this part of the enclave is unprecedented, adding the number of deaths is likely to climb because of the Israeli missiles that struck and buried people under the tons of wreckage and debris and as the number of those killed are dug up from under the rubble but this would take days. At least 80 homes were struck.

Worry is that extremist Israelis might now consider this scorched-earth policy which the army carried out since 7 October is finally bearing fruit and would continue. This is what Netanyahu believed all along, saying the only way to secure the release of the hostages is by more bombardment of Gaza. 

Two points need to be considered here, however. Spokesman of the Hamas Izz Al Din Al Qassam Brigade Obu Obeida said the military operation has come at a high cost for the Israelis. He added Netanyahu would realize that more hostages died in the operation as the following days will show.

One of the female hostages released among the other three male captives, Noa Argamani, said she nearly died four times as a result of Israeli bombing of the camp. She said the other two she was with didn’t make it and were killed thanks to the Israeli bombs.

It is clear however, the operation was carefully constructed and took weeks to plan with the help  of American intelligence and US officers previously working in Iraq with possible reconnaissance by the British.

Worried White House

Nevertheless, the White House may just be a little bit worried about what had just happened despite serving as the main supplier of weapons in this slaughter that saw the killing of over 36,000 people and the injury of over 82,000. Washington has sought to project a dual image since the beginning of this bloody conflict  despite remaining a loyal Israeli supporter.

On the face of it, US president Joe Biden wants a political solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict with an end to the Gaza crisis that is complicated by the existence of Hamas. However, the White House is still banking on the release of the remaining hostages, some of whom are American citizens, and he would like to see more aid into the enclave to lighten the burden of starvation being openly implemented by the Israelis.

For Biden it’s a multi-layer role. While he keeps saying he is a “Zionist”, he is facing elections in November and wants to secure a return to the White House through Arab-American and Muslim voters but he can’t do that if he alienates them. There are many voters who say they will not vote for him because of his pro-Israeli policies in the war on Gaza already. But he is willing to see whether he can still turn the tables around.  

The snagging problem now is that with the release of the four hostages Netanyahu is likely to become even more intransigent on continuing the war on Gaza, believing his scorched-earth policy and the killing of more civilians will be the only way to get the rest of the hostages back, keeping alive his pipe-dream of ending Hamas and the Palestinian resistance. And with Biden not wanting to stop the arm-supplies to Israel, he will continue to support Netanyahu whatever he does.

What this means is that the war on civilians in Gaza will continue under the name of fighting the Palestinian resistance with Netanyahu in no mood for stopping despite the fact that the relatives of the hostages are still protesting and believe the only way to get their sons and daughters back is through negotiations and a ceasefire.

Netanyahu needs to understand as well Hamas is here to stay. Its not going anywhere as shown everyday by its strength on the Gaza battlefields. Unless he comes to this realization the war will continue and the chances of getting the hostages will be slim.

Commentators have been making a mockery of the latest release of the hostages. They say at a rate of four every eight months, it would take Israelis till at least 2030 to get its hostages back. So why keep waiting till then?

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