News Digest — 5/2/24
Hamas Planning To Reject Hostage Deal
A representative of Hamas said on Wednesday evening (1st) that the terror group was planning to reject a recent ceasefire and US-brokered hostage deal, described by the US administration as a “very generous” offer, though he claimed it wants to continue negotiations.
“Our position on the current deal is negative,” Osama Hamdan, a senior Lebanon-based Hamas official told Hezbollah-linked news outlet Al-Manar TV.
Hamdan said that Hamas’ military infrastructure in the Strip was “still fine” and that the Israeli army had suffered heavy losses in the coastal enclave.
“The enemy bet on a decrease in Hamas’ capabilities, but the resistance was preparing,” he said.
He also clarified that support from Iranian proxies had shored up Hamas’ efforts against the Jewish state.
“There is coordination action in the field and regular consultation between the resistance axis. How long can this fight last?” Hamdan asked.
He said that the ongoing fighting had helped strengthen Iran, and referenced the unprecedented aerial assault launched against Israel in mid-April.
“One of the most important results of this battle is that the resistance axis is increasing in strength and power,” Hamdan said.
“The Iranian response to the Zionist entity established a new equation.”
Shortly after Hamdan’s interview, Hamas released a media statement clarifying that their “negative position” on the current proposal “does not mean negotiations have stopped. There is a back-and-forth issue.”
According to Hebrew-language media reports, the main sticking point is Hamas’ demand that Israel declare an official, permanent end to the war.
Israel said that is a nonstarter, but has reportedly offered a long truce.
Hamas’ refusal to accept the ceasefire deal comes after Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the proposal was “very generous” and that by not agreeing, the terror group was serving as an “obstacle to peace.”
Erdan: UN Is The Main Impediment To Middle East Peace
Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan addressed the UN General Assembly Wednesday (1st) at a meeting on the American veto of the Palestinian Authority’s bid for full member-state status, and accused the UN of being the “main impediment to peace” in the Middle East.
Erdan began by noting the end of the Passover holiday this week.
“On Passover, Jewish people around the globe gather together at the Seder – our special holiday meal – to tell the story of our liberation,” he said. “We remind ourselves of the suffering we endured, the generations-long hardships we survived on the road to salvation. We remember this pain by eating Matzah – the bread of affliction – and Maror – the bitter herbs – and we dip our food in saltwater to commemorate our tears.”
Erdan noted, “Yet this year, we did not need bitter herbs and saltwater to remember the pain. This year, every Jewish family had an empty hole in their hearts.”
He continued, “This year, every Jew focused on the atrocities of October 7th and the suffering of the Israeli hostages held in Hamas terror tunnels. We couldn’t really celebrate our ancestors’ liberation while our brothers and sisters are still waiting to be freed from the Hamas monsters.”
“Yet as my people marked this Passover with grief, the UN is again seeking to reward the perpetrators of the horrors. The UN couldn’t care less about Israel and our safety. They don’t care about our future or the hostages,” he accused. “The General Assembly is fueled by nothing other than political interests. Not by the UN Charter. Not by morality. And nothing exemplifies the UN’s rotten values more than the advancement of Palestinian Statehood.”
He noted that the General Assembly has never condemned Hamas or adopted a single measure on behalf of the hostages who are held by Hamas. “Instead this body has focused only on recognizing a Palestinian terror state, unilaterally. An entity fueled by Jewish genocide, terror and Nazi-like incitement.”
“By advancing a Palestinian state, you are telling the child-murdering Hamas rapists that terror pays off,” he warned. “You have done nothing for the victims, but have mobilized for the murderers. It makes me want to vomit.”
Erdan asserted that the Palestinian Authority “does not meet the criteria for statehood. No Palestinian leader – not a single one – has condemned Hamas or their massacre.You prefer another rogue state and care nothing for the Jewish state”
Erdan pointed out that “the Palestinian Authority is paying salaries to the very terrorists that invaded Israel and murdered 1,200 innocent Israelis. This is who you want to grant statehood to?”
“Granting full UN membership to the Palestinians will only have two destructive results,” he cautioned. “One, it will further incentivize terror. And two, it is a clear message to the Palestinians that they never ever have to sit at the negotiating table, let alone make any compromises. Everyone who knows something about negotiations can understand what I just said.”
“The Palestinians have rejected every peace plan ever made and they continue to support terror and boycott any negotiations. And now they know that their rejectionism pays off,” Erdan said.
He predicted that “these UN sessions will be remembered in the future as one of the primary obstacles to resolving the conflict. Remember my words.”
He accused the United Nations of being “the main impediment to peace! You! Every single one of you that supports a forced unilateral establishment of a terror state is an obstacle to peace! You are the dream come true for every Palestinian terrorist that seeks to destroy Israel through diplomatic terror.”
Erdan asserted that “the UN cares nothing for Israeli blood. Nothing. Zero. It is a collaborator with Nazis of our day like Yahya Sinwar and Ayatollah Khamenei, working to ensure Hamas’ survival and even reward them for murder and rape. I have no words.”
He noted that this is the ninth time the General Assembly has met to discuss Israel’s response to Oct. 7, and yet “not one of the meetings focused on condemning Hamas or releasing the hostages. Not even one. I’m disgusted by this institution.”
He concluded with a reference to the passage of the Passover Haggadah that states that in every generation, there are those who attempt to destroy the Jewish people. “Remember: many have tried to destroy us – from the most powerful of empires to the most evil of decrees – but all have failed. We are ‘the eternal people’ and Israel is here to stay.”
Israel Reopens Erez Crossing For Gaza And Trucks, 7 Months After It Was Destroyed By Hamas
Israel reopened the sole crossing on the northern edge of the Gaza Strip for the first time since it was destroyed by Hamas on October 7, allowing aid trucks to pass through the Erez checkpoint following US demands to do more to get aid into the Strip.
Reopening the Erez crossing has been one of the main pleas of international aid agencies for months, to alleviate the humanitarian situation which is believed to be more severe in the enclave’s northern sector.
The Israeli government opened the crossing point on the day of a visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and called for more humanitarian aid deliveries into the territory.
The Erez crossing, primarily used for foot traffic, had remained closed since it was destroyed during the Hamas attacks on October 7 that precipitated the war.
Colonel Moshe Tetro, head of Israel’s Coordination and Liaison Administration for Gaza, says he hopes the crossing will be opened every day, which will help reach a target of 500 aid trucks entering Gaza daily. That would be in line with pre-war supplies entering the enclave and far more than it has received during the last seven months.
“This is only one step of the measures that we have taken in the last few weeks,” he told reporters.
Lebanese Christian Leader: Hezbollah Fighting With Israel Is Harming Lebanon
The leader of a main Christian political party in Lebanon blasted the Shiite terrorist group Hezbollah for opening a front with Israel to back up its ally Hamas, saying it has harmed Lebanon without making a dent in Israel’s offensive in the Gaza Strip.
In an interview with the Associated Press on Tuesday night (4/30), Sami Geagea of the Lebanese Forces Party said Hezbollah should withdraw from areas along the border with Israel and the Lebanese army should deploy in all points where terrorists of the Iran-backed group have taken positions.
His comments came as western diplomats try to broker a de-escalation in the border conflict amid fears of a wider war.
Hezbollah began launching rockets toward Israeli military posts on October 8, the day after Hamas-led terrorists stormed into southern Israel in a surprise attack that sparked the war in Gaza. The terrorists killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians murdered in cold blood and took 253 hostages.
The near-daily violence up north has mostly been confined to the area along the border, and international mediators have been scrambling to prevent an all-out war.
“No one has the right to control the fate of a country and people on its own,” Geages said in his heavily guarded headquarters in the mountain village of Maarab. “Hezbollah is not the government in Lebanon. There is a government in Lebanon in which Hezbollah is represented.”
Geagea, whose party has the largest bloc in Lebanon’s 128-member parliament has angled to position himself as the leader of the opposition against Hezbollah.
“All the damage that could have happened in Gaza… happened. What was the benefit of military operations that were launched from southern Lebanon? Nothing” Geagea said, pointing to the death toll and massive destruction in Lebanon’s border villages.
Geagea, said Hezbollah aims through the ongoing fighting to benefit its main backer, Iran, by giving it a presence along Israel’s border and called for the group to withdraw from border areas and the Lebanese army to deploy in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 1701 that ended the 34-day Israel-Hezbollah war in 2006.
Israeli Embassy And Indian Forces Hold Security Drill As Diplomats Brace For Surge Of Anti-Semitic Acts
The Embassy of Israel in India said on Wednesday (1st) it conducted a security drill in collaboration with Indian security forces in New Delhi last week.
The announcement came as Israeli diplomatic missions are bracing for a surge of anti-Semitism amid reports that the International Court of Justice may issue arrest warrants for Israel’s top leaders.
Foreign Minister Israel Katz instructed the country’s embassies to “immediately prepare for the outbreak of a severe anti-Jewish and anti-israel anti-Semitic wave in the world.”
Due to what the Foreign Ministry said is the “seriousness of the threat,” Katz also instructed Israeli representatives to impress on local Jewish communities the need to boost security for their institutions.
In recent days, reports have multiplied that the ICC chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, may soon issue warrants for the arrests of senior Israeli officials for war crimes. It also specified that Khan will ask for warrants to be issued against Hamas leaders.
Israel is not a signatory to the Rome Statute, which founded the ICC.
According to the Israeli embassy in New Delhi, the drill’s primary objective was “to access and synchronize the readiness of security forces to counter potential future threats effectively.”
Involved in the day and night simulations were India’s Ministry of Home Affairs, the New Delhi Police, the National Security Guard, and local emergency services.
“These collaborative exercises strengthen our nations’ cooperation in security and defense and reinforce our shared commitment to global stability. We remain steadfast in our determination to foster continued collaboration for a safer world,” said Israeli Ambassador to India Naor Gilon.
In February 2012, bombings targeting Israeli embassy personnel in New Delhi and Bangkok injured four, while another bomb was discovered and safely defused in Tbilisi. The attacks were attributed to Iran.
Elbit Systems Secures Contract Worth Around $50 Million For New Air Defense System
Elbit Systems announced on Tuesday (4/30) it secured a roughly $50 million system “Red Sky,” from an international customer.
The contract which was signed with Elbit will span two years.
The system, the Tactical Very Short-range Air Defense (VSHORAD) system, combines soft-kill and hard-kill capabilities, including the redrone electronic warfare solution.
Yehuda (UDI) Vered, General Manager of Elbit Systems Land, highlighted the system’s affordability and effectiveness in safeguarding borders and strategic assets.
In a statement, he claimed that “the Red Sky system represents a state-of-the-art solution that addresses the urgent need to defend borders and secure strategic assets against a wide array of aerial threats at an affordable cost.”
This new defense solution was created based on close collaboration between Elbit Systems’ divisions, utilizing existing Elbit Systems building blocks and integrating them into a comprehensive new solution with new anti-aircraft missiles and advanced soft-kill defense mechanisms.”
Elbit Systems, a top player in defense technology worldwide, has a workforce of roughly 19,000 and recorded revenues nearing $6.0 billion in 2023.
Australia recently closed on a significant deal with Elbit Systems, in response to its strategic competition with China.
Under the agreement, Elbit will provide essential components for Australia’s new 129 Redback APCs. These armored personnel carriers will feature turrets armed with 30 mm cannons and a spur arrow defense system akin to the Iron Dome.
