The Israelis are Horrated by the Hamas Manifestation: Security and Security Issues in the Interaction Between Israel and the Palestinians
The King of Jordan is going to be meeting with the Secretary of State later Thursday. A meeting with Palestinian President Abbas is scheduled for Amman on Friday. Abbas is supposed to condemn the violence. Such a declaration would be difficult for Abbas to stomach, but he will be told that it’s important to distinguish himself from Hamas, which Israel and the U.S. have classified as a terrorist organization. The Palestinian Authority has told the US that they are horrified by the violence against civilians in Israel.
The current fighting began when Palestinians from Gaza attacked into Israel last week during the Simchat Torah holiday. Militants infiltrated Israel’s border last Saturday using paragliders, motorbikes and boats and fired thousands of rockets toward the country from Gaza. Israel has responded by launching missile strikes into Gaza
The freedom of the hostages kidnapped by Hamas will be secured by Blinken. An unknown number of Americans are among 150 people being held hostage by Hamas.
On Thursday, the Israeli state broadcaster KAN announced that 1,300 Israelis are known to have been killed by the Hamas attacks. According to officials in Gaza, more than half of the Palestinians killed by Israeli forces have been women and children. Gaza officials said an additional 51 Palestinians were killed overnight.
All of the Gaza Strip’s borders are closed, leaving Palestinian civilians with nowhere to escape or seek safety. Roughly one tenth of the population of Gaza is internally displaced. Many have sought refuge in U.N. schools.
President Biden is urging Israel publicly and privately to get humanitarian supplies into Gaza. A senior U.S. official said that the U.S. wants Israel to respect humanitarian concerns in their equations.
Israel and Egypt imposed a blockade on Gaza after the Hamas militant group took control of the territory in 2007. Egypt stopped sending aid through its border with Gaza because of the Israeli air strikes on the Gaza side of the border crossing.
The funerals for those killed in the Saturday attack were held by Israelis.
Hamas, the State of the Art, and the U.S. Reply to the Call on Tehran to Resolve the Gaza Dispatch
Hamas is expected to try to use the hostages in bargaining to free some of the thousands of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, but the group insists it will not negotiate while Gaza is under attack.
Every time civilians in Gaza die as a result of Israeli strikes, the Ezzedin al-Qassam brigades threatened to execute a civilian hostage. No such publicly known execution has yet been carried out.
A U.S. official said Thursday that the US andQatar agreed to not act on any requests from Tehran for the time being to access $6 billion in Iranian funds freed as part of a prisoner swap.
U.S. officials have strenuously pushed back against the criticism, noting that the money had yet to be spent by Iran and can only be used for humanitarian needs.
The White House has yet to find any proof that Iran was involved in the multipronged Hamas operation. Even so, Iran is the principal financial and military sponsor of Hamas. U.S. officials have said their intelligence does not show a direct role by Iran and have not pointed blame at Tehran.
U.S. and Qatar agree to prevent disbursal of recently unfrozen Iranian funds: The Gaza crisis and the American-Israel dialogue
The State Department said it would facilitate the departure of thousands of Americans a week from Israel. The overall security situation, availability and reliability of commercial transportation, and U.S. citizen demand will all influence the duration of this departure assistance. The department asked U.S. citizens in need of evacuation assistance to complete the crisis intake form at travel.state.gov.
A senior US official confirmed that Lloyd Austin would be in Israel on Friday.
Austin is expected to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant to determine what additional military aid is needed in the war with Hamas, said the U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive travel details
The US estimates that between 160,000 and70,000 Americans are in Israel. An estimated500 to 600 American citizens are in the Gaza area, many of which are visiting relatives and working as humanitarian workers. Israel has sealed its crossing out of Gaza as part of a harsh siege on the territory since Saturday’s Hamas attacks. The only crossing point with Egypt was closed because of Israeli strikes nearby.
There are some airlines that fly into and out of Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport, as well as some ground routes that can be used to leave Israel. White House officials, however, have voiced concern that those options may not be feasible or affordable for some Americans in Israel who want to leave.
The Americans will continue pushing for safe passage into and out of Gaza, which will help the hundreds of American civilians trapped in the blockaded enclave.
The Biden-Harris Meeting on National Security in the Light of the Hamas Insurrection: A Message from the White House
Israeli defense officials have yet to order a ground invasion of the pummeled territory, but have been planning for the possibility. The military has called over 300,000 reservists into action in preparation.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, who joined from Air Force Two en route to Las Vegas met on Thursday with senior administration officials to discuss efforts to safeguard the U.S., including Jewish, Arab and Muslim communities, following the Hamas attacks in Israel.
The Biden administration has been speaking with legislators about the details of a supplemental aid package for Israel.
The White House has started to prepare a package that would include funding for Ukraine, Taiwan and border security along with Israel aid, according to an official familiar with the situation. The person was granted anonymity so they didn’t have to state their final decision for a supplemental package.
The White House has indicated that it will send the new request to lawmakers next week, when both chambers are back in Washington. The legislative affairs staff will brief senators about ongoing national security needs on Friday afternoon according to a person who has knowledge of the meeting.