‘All Hell Won’t Be Breaking Loose After All’

CrossFireArabia
February 13, 2025

The crisis arising from a prisoner exchange deal between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas seems to be heading toward a resolution, Israeli media reported late Wednesday.

“After Hamas announced that it would suspend the release of prisoners, the crisis that erupted in the prisoner swap agreement appears to be on the path to being resolved,” said Israel’s Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper.

The report also said that three Israeli prisoners are expected to be released on Saturday.

An unnamed Israeli official was quoted as saying that both Israel and Hamas want the first phase of the agreement to succeed and Hamas has sent messages indicating its willingness to continue the deal.

The official also said US President Donald Trump’s threat that “all hell is going to break out” if Hamas does not release the remaining hostages by noon Saturday “put Israel in a dilemma.”

Israel’s Channel 12 also reported that international organizations are expected to deliver urgently needed fuel and medical supplies to Gaza on Thursday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened Tuesday to end the Gaza ceasefire deal if Hamas failed to release hostages by Saturday at noon.

The threat came a day after Hamas said that it would delay the next hostage release in response to Israeli violations of the ceasefire agreement.

Palestinian authorities have listed a series of Israeli violations of the deal, including the shooting of civilians and denying access to relief materials, including tents for displaced civilians in Gaza.

Under the first phase of the ceasefire deal, 33 Israeli hostages are to be released in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.

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Musk Admits Wrongness on Gaza Condoms

CrossFireArabia
February 12, 2025

Billionaire Elon Musk backtracked Tuesday on his claim that the US had been intending to send $50 million worth of condoms to the Gaza Strip.

“First of all, some of the things that I say will be incorrect and should be corrected,” Musk told reporters in the Oval Office when asked about fact-checking reports that million of dollars were actually earmarked towards the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases in Gaza province of Mozambique.

“We will make mistakes, but we’ll act quickly to correct any mistakes,” he said.

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“I’m not sure we should be sending $50 million worth of condoms to anywhere. Frankly, I’m not sure that’s something Americans would be really excited about. And that is really an enormous number of condoms,” Musk continued.

“If it went to Mozambique instead of Gaza…okay, that’s not as bad. But why are we doing that?” he said.

His comments followed claims by US President Donald Trump, who earlier this month alleged that his administration had “identified and stopped $50 million being sent to Gaza to buy condoms for Hamas.”

The claim was first announced by White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt in her first press briefing, saying the Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) had found “that there was about to be 50 million taxpayer dollars that went out the door to fund condoms in Gaza.” However, the administration provided no evidence to support the assertion according to Anadolu.

A review of publicly available USAID data from 2007 to 2023 contradicts the claim, showing no record of condom shipments to Gaza. The only shipment to the Middle East during that period was a $45,680 supply sent to Jordan in 2023, marking the first recorded delivery to the region since 2019.

According to the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) grants database, the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation in Mozambique received more than $83 million in funding since 2021 for reproductive health projects in two provinces: Inhambane and Gaza.

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Poll: 47% Believe Trump ‘Take Over’ of Gaza is ‘Bad Idea’

CrossFireArabia
February 9, 2025

Nearly half of Americans rejected US President Donald Trump’s proposal to “take over” the Gaza Strip and relocate Palestinians to neighboring countries, calling it a “bad idea,” as did several major Arab, European, and other countries around the world.

According to a CBS News/YouGov poll conducted between Feb. 5 and 7, in which 2,175 US adults were polled and released on Sunday, 47% of Americans believe the US proposal to “take over” Gaza is a “bad idea,” with only 13% supporting it and 40% unsure or saying “it depends.”

The poll also found that 34% of respondents had little or no knowledge of the proposal to relocate Palestinians from Gaza, which has been nearly completely destroyed by brutal Israeli forces since Oct. 7, 2023, killing nearly 48,200 people, the majority of whom are women and children.

On Feb. 4, Trump said Washington would “take over” Gaza and resettle Palestinians elsewhere under an extraordinary redevelopment plan that he claimed could turn the enclave into “the Riviera of the Middle East.”

His proposal was met with wide condemnations from the Palestinians, Arab countries, and many other nations across the world, including Canada, France, Germany, and the UK.

During the survey, 46% disapproved of Trump’s handling of the Israel-Hamas conflict, while the rest approved, “driven largely by Republican support.”

Regarding Trump’s goal in proposing the Gaza plan, 22% believe it is to have the US take over Gaza, 28% believe it is to begin negotiations with Middle Eastern countries, and 29% believe it is both.

The poll also found that Trump has a 53% approval rating, with 70% saying he is keeping campaign promises.

News

Israeli Army Withdraws From Netzarim

CrossFireArabia
February 9, 2025

Israel has withdrawn its forces from the Nitzarim axis in central Gaza as reported by different media sources. This is part of the ceasefire agreement and comes after over a year of Israeli occupation of the of the Gaza Strip and its three-month occupation of the axis.

Full Withdrawal…

Under the deal, Israel must evacuate its last military outposts along the axis, which has been a key Israeli military stronghold in Gaza. The withdrawal marks a significant shift, as settlers had hoped to establish a permanent presence in the area. Israeli forces will now remain only in the buffer zone and along the Philadelphi Corridor Quds News Network reported.

The area lies to the east of the Salah Al-Din Road. Once Israeli forces withdraw, no troops will remain in northern Gaza except for the 162nd Division, which has repositioned in the buffer zone near the border.

The Nitzarim axis has long been a symbol of Israeli assaults and settler ambitions in Gaza. Settlers held public rallies at its entrance, viewing it as a gateway for their colonization of the strip.

Two weeks ago, Israel partially withdrew from sections of Nitzarim to allow displaced Palestinians to return north under the ceasefire agreement. Over 500,000 have since made their way back to their wrecked homes in the north of the strip.

The withdrawal from Nitzarim highlights Israel’s failure to maintain long-term occupation of Gaza. The army had expanded the axis to 80 kilometers in length and up to 7 kilometers in depth through wiping out several neighbourhoods, establishing multiple fortified positions. However, intense resistance and political pressure forced an Israeli army retreat.

This marks Israel’s third withdrawal from Nitzarim in 20 years. In 2005, then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon pulled Israeli forces out of Gaza. In 2009, Israel withdrew again after a three-week invasion. Now, after months of military assaults and infrastructure development, another retreat is imminent.

Ceasefire Agreement at Risk

However, a senior Hamas official warned, Saturday, Israel’s failure to fully implement the ceasefire agreement threatens its collapse. Basem Naim, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, said the deal remains fragile because of the Israeli foot-dragging in the negotiations for the second phase of the ceasefire agreement.

“The delays and violations we are seeing could derail the agreement,” Naim said, adding that Hamas wants to avoid a return to war.

Saturday marked the exchange of a fifth group of prisoners, halfway through the first phase of the ceasefire deal. The agreement, brokered by Qatar, Egypt, and the US, is divided into three phases, each lasting 42 days. Talks on the second phase maybe starting but at a snail’s pace..

Nitzarim ‘s ‘Line of Corpses’

Haaretz previously reported that Israeli officers stationed along the Nitzarim axis admitted to systematically shooting any Palestinian who approached the area. Soldiers targeted civilians, including children and unarmed people, leaving their bodies exposed.

An officer told Haaretz that the army treated every person as a potential threat. “Every woman is a scout, or a man in disguise,” he said, adding that soldiers killed cyclists under the pretext of them being collaborators.

The investigation revealed that Israeli forces enforced an unmarked boundary near Nitzarim with standing orders to shoot anyone who approached. “This line appears on no map and exists in no official military order, but in Gaza, it is brutally real,” the report stated.

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Israeli General: ‘If Deif Was in Our Army He Would Have Been a Top Commander’

CrossFireArabia
February 8, 2025

Former Shin Bet chief Carmi Gillon said if the commander of the Izz Aldin Al Qassam Brigades, Muhammad Deif, was an Israeli, he would have been a senior commander of the Israeli army’s special forces.

Gillon added – in Al Jazeera’s “Fawq Al Sulta (Above Authority)” program broadcast on 7 February – he was determined to kill Deif when he was spy chief and that Deif wanted to have him killed, describing him as a highly competent opponent.

This statement reflects an unprecedented appreciation by an Israeli general for a Palestinian leader, especially in light of the war that lasted 15 months before stopping after the ceasefire agreement.

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Gillon pointed out that Deif possesses exceptional leadership qualities, which earned him respect even among his opponents.

Abu Obeida, the Qassam Brigades spokesman – the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) – “announced on 30 January, 2025, the Al Deif, and a group of senior mujahideen members were killed.

Abu Obeida that besides Deif, a number of other leaders, most notably Marwan Issa, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Qassam Brigades, the Commander of the Weapons and Combat Services Section, Ghazi Abu Tama’a, the Commander of the Human Resources Section, Raed Thabet, and the Commander of the Khan Yunis Brigade, Rafeh Salama were also martyred according to JO24.