How many Americans were released from Gaza
How Does Obama Prevent the Second World War? Israeli Action Against Hamas in the Gaza Strip and the Birth of a Nation in the Cold War
The crisis in the Middle East is a knotty test of our humanity, asking how to respond to a grotesque provocation for which there is no good remedy. In this test, the West is not doing well.
The acceptance of large-scale bombing of Gaza and the beginning of a ground invasion suggests that Palestinian children are less affected by their association with Hamas than the general population. More than 1,500 children have been killed, and over a third of the homes in the Gaza Strip have been destroyed in just two weeks, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.
I worry that the United States has embedded a hierarchy of human life in official policy and that it is happening thanks to President Biden. He expressed outrage at the massacres of Jews by Hamas, as he should have, but he has struggled to be equally clear about valuing Gazan lives. And it’s not always evident whether he is standing four-square with Israel as a country or with its failed prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, a longtime obstacle to peace.
What are we to make of the Biden administration’s call for an additional $14 billion in assistance for Israel and simultaneous call for humanitarian aid for Gazans? It makes sense for Israel to use defensive weapons in its Iron Dome system, but does it make sense to pay for the medical expenses associated with the blood caused by our weapons?
What is the best way to tell Dr. Iyad Abu Karsh that he had to treat his injured daughter after losing his wife and son in a bombing? He didn’t even have time to care for his niece or sister, for he had to deal with the bodies of his loved ones.
Biden called for America to be behind the countries attacked by forces trying to destroy them. Fair enough. But suppose Ukraine responded to Russian war crimes by laying siege to a Russian city, bombing it into dust and cutting off water and electricity while killing thousands and obliging doctors to operate on patients without anesthetic.
I am not sure if Americans would say that Putin started it. Too bad about those Russian children, but they should have chosen somewhere else to be born.
The Gazan War: When Hamas fought back and killed its people, Israel’s best solution in the face of Israeli aggression and Israeli civilians
Here in Israel, because the Hamas attacks were so brutal and fit into a history of pogroms and Holocaust, they led to a resolve to wipe out Hamas even if this means a large human toll. “Gaza is going to become a place where no human being can exist in the foreseeable future,” said a former head of the Israeli National Security Council. It is the only way to ensure the security of Israel.
A prolonged ground invasion seems to me a particularly risky course, likely to kill large numbers of Israeli soldiers, hostages and especially Gazan civilians. We’re better than that and Israel’s better than that. Leveling cities is what the Syrian government did in Aleppo or Russia did in Grozny; it should not be an American-backed undertaking by Israel in Gaza.
The best solution to this is to cling to our values even in the face of provocation. We try to honor all lives as having equal value despite our biases. It is not moral clarity to see some children as indispensable and some as disposable. We must not kill Gazan children in order to protect Israeli children.
An armed hostage rescue is not appropriate at the moment because of it’s high risk, experts say.
Some Hamas political leaders are trying to distance themselves from the worst atrocities carried out by Hamas gunmen on Oct. 7 and now contend that it was angry Gazans and members of other armed groups — not their own fighters — who kidnapped the civilians. The videos depict the killing of civilians by Hamas fighters.
The Israeli army is massing tanks and personnel carriers on the border with Gaza in preparation for an invasion. 20 trucks of humanitarian aid arrived in Gaza on Saturday, but Israeli warplanes were not going to let up in their bombardment of the Hamas-ruled territory.
The humanitarian aid could have been allowed to enter Gaza on Saturday morning, according to a former head of the Shin Bet. He said that Hamas may have been attempting to get Israel to delay the ground invasion until more hostages are released.
Why the Raanans were Released, and Why Israel is Propping up on Gaza, as Sensitive as they may be: An Israeli Adviser
There are still many questions of why, of all the 200 or so hostages, the Raanans were released. Robert D’Amico, who worked as an F.B.I. agent, said it might have been because the two were healthy.
Another obvious reason the Raanans were chosen, Mr. D’Amico and others said, is that they are Americans — though there are up to 10 more Americans in captivity. Hamas might be trying to temper Israeli retaliation on Gaza by gaining some good will from the Biden administration. President Biden and his team have been closely advising Israel on how it is waging its war on Gaza, although it is not clear how much Israel actually listens to what the Americans say.
A diplomat from the Israeli Embassy in Washington denied that the U.S. government was advising the Israelis to delay the ground invasion and said: “We have a close dialogue and consultations with the U.S. administration. The U.S. is not pressing Israel in regards to the ground operation.”
American officials want more time to prepare for attacks on the United States from Iran-Backed groups, which are likely to intensify once Israel moves its forces into Gaza.
The administration is not making a demand of Israel and still supports the ground invasion and Israel’s goal of eradicating Hamas, the group controlling Gaza that killed more about 1,400 people in terrorist attacks on Oct. 7, the officials said.
But fast-moving events since Hamas released two American women on Friday have spurred the administration to more urgently suggest that the Israelis allow time to negotiate the release of 212 other hostages, the officials said.
The White House said that President Biden called Benjamin Netanyahu to talk about the latest developments. Mr. Biden spoke to the leaders of Canada, France, Germany and Italy.
U.S. Consultations with Israel on the Land War and the Delay of the Gaza Strip in the Light of the October 7, 2007 Attacks
Two U.S. officials said the advice to the Israelis to hold off on the land war was being conveyed through Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III because the Pentagon is helping advise Israel on military actions, including the ground invasion.
Mr. Austin has had near daily calls with his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant, to discuss operational matters, American arms shipments to Israel and U.S. military deployments to the region. He has also talked about recovering the hostages as a priority, one U.S. official said.
An official with knowledge of the hostage negotiations said that Hamas warned against a ground invasion, making the release of hostages less likely. Qatar has close ties to the political leaders of Hamas.
There are many Israelis who are hostages, and of course hostages from other nationalities. We are working to do everything we can to get them out, that is, using relationships and levers. Israel is doing the same. What we talk to Israel about is both how they do it and how best to achieve the results that they seek.
More food and medical supplies should be allowed to enter Gaza, as a humanitarian crisis grows. Israel turned off water, electricity and food on the impoverished coastal strip of two million people after the October 7 attacks. The Israeli military has maintained a naval blockade of Gaza since 2007.
U.S. Security Forces in the Irregular Region: Why We Are So Close to Israel, But What Do We Want to Tell Them?
American officials want the ground invasion to be delayed but don’t want to play into the narrative that Israel is under control of the United States.
There have already been a flurry of drone attacks targeting U.S. forces in the region. The impression that Biden administration officials are pulling the strings in Israel could hurt the US in the region.
The president of the CIA said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” there is a likelihood of an increase in Iranian proxies against our forces. To make sure that we can effectively defend our people, we are taking steps.
The State Department announced Sunday that it had ordered the departure of nonessential American government employees and family members from the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad and the U.S. Consulate in Erbil, Iraq, and increased the travel alert in Iraq to Level 4, meaning U.S. citizens should not go there. The threats of terrorism, kidnapping, armed conflict, civil unrest and Mission Iraq’s limited ability to provide support to U.S. citizens were cited by the department.
U.S. officials fear that Iraqi militias supported by Iran will attack the 2,500 or so U.S. troops in the country and other American institutions or citizens.
