Israel-Hamas War: What happened on Day 143?

The Bank of Israel kept interest rates steady on Monday after cutting by a quarter-point in January, citing uncertainty over expected duration of the war in Gaza that will keep the pace of rate reductions this year gradual.

In keeping its benchmark rate ILINR=ECI at 4.5%, the central bank said the war was having "significant economic consequences" on real activity and on the financial markets.

"It has been four difficult months for Israel," Bank of Israel Governor Amir Yaron told a press conference. "Beyond security issues, the war brings with it marked economic ramifications as well. It impacts on economic activity overall and on the financial markets, and the uncertainty remains high."

Israel's war against Palestinian terrorist group Hamas began on Oct. 7 after Hamas rampaged through Israeli towns.

Yaron said that while there was great uncertainty with regard to the expected severity and duration of the war, Israel's economy "rests on solid and resilient foundations" and typically recovers after military conflicts and "returns rapidly to prosperity."

BANK OF ISRAEL Governor Amir Yaron attends a meeting at the Knesset, in July. (credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)

The risk of inflation

One factor in holding rates this decision, he said, was higher budget spending to finance the war and which "presents a risk to the continued moderation of inflation" that has eased to a rate of 2.6% in January, within an official 1-3% target.

In January, Yaron said the pace to rate cuts would be gradual and on Monday he said that estimate was "reasonable."

He said that worldwide, the inflation environment has moderated in many countries but remains above central banks’ targets, with central bankers worried over inflation in services, which has pushed back monetary easing.

Analysts polled by Reuters were split ahead of the decision, with seven expecting no move and seven projecting another 25 basis point reduction. They believe the key rate will drop to 3.5% to 4% during 2024.

Prior to January's cut, it had raised rates 10 straight times in an aggressive tightening cycle from a all-time low of 0.1% in April 2022, before pausing last July.

The economy contracted by an annual 19.4% in the fourth quarter, reflecting the toll of the war with Hamas, to end 2023 with growth of 2%.

"Indicators of economic activity and the state of employment point to a gradual recovery following the sharp decline that took place with the outbreak of the war, but there is variance between industries," the central bank said.

Yaron said he was concerned over the construction sector, which has been hit with a lack of workers, although the overall jobs market was recovering.

In the wake of a credit ratings downgrade by Moody's this month, which stemmed from the war's uncertainty, Yaron said cut had apparently been already priced in by markets.

"To strengthen the trust of the markets and ratings companies in Israel’s economy, it is important that the government and Knesset (parliament) act to deal with the economic issues raised in the report," he said. "These will

require structural changes in government ministries and prioritizing growth drivers."

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu downplayed the significance of the Palestinian Authority’s dramatic government resignation Monday, referring to it as a game of “musical chairs.”

“They [the PA] have not had an election... for 17 years, so they are just shuffling chairs,” Netanyahu told Fox & Friends on Monday.

“The real thing we want to see is genuine de-radicalization. They have to stop teaching their children to become terrorists,” he stated.

Netanyahu underscored the importance of PA reform, including the end of its policy of providing monthly stipends to terrorists in Israeli jails and their families.

The PA has “to stop paying terrorists based on the amount of Jews they kill. They have to stop teaching and indoctrination a whole generation on the annihilation of Israel, that is real reform. That so far has not happened. I hope it does happen, but so far it has not happened,” Netanyahu stated.

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh addresses journalists during a meeting with members of the Foreign Press Association in Ramallah in the West Bank June 9, 2020 (credit: ABBAS MOMANI/POOL VIA REUTERS)

He spoke hours after Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh announced his resignation, in a symbolic nod to calls from the US and others in the international community that it reform and revitalize itself in advance of plans to return it to Gaza in the aftermath of the Israel-Hamas war.

Abbas approves Shtayyeh's resignation 

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas accepted Shtayyeh’s resignation but asked that he and the government retain their roles in a caretaker capacity.

The United Nations and the United States issued supportive statements in response.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’s spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters in New York it was a move that would help advance the prospects for a two-state resolution to the conflict.

A “strengthened, empowered Palestinian Government, that can administer the whole of the occupied Palestinian Territory, is critical as part of a path to achieving the establishment of a fully independent, democratic, contiguous, sovereign and viable Palestinian State, based on the 1967 lines, of which Gaza is an integral part, which remains the only way to achieve a lasting peace,” Dujarric stated.

In Washington US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said that the Biden Administration welcomes steps to advance a Palestinian Authority reform process.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has spoken with Abbas about this issue and encouraged the Palestinian Authority to pursue reform, Miller said.

“We think those steps are positive” and “important... to achieving a reunited Gaza and West Bank under the Palestinian Authority. We will continue to encourage them to take those steps,” Miller said.

“We have been engaged with them on the need to reform and revitalize the government and we have seen them start to take steps in that direction and we welcome them,” he added.

Israel has also called for a reformed PA, but rejected the idea that it could return to Gaza after the war, insisting that the enclave must be governed by Palestinian technocrats with no political affiliations in the intermediary phase.

Netanyahu pushed back at questions by Fox on Monday about whether the PA government’s resignation would advance the possibility of a two-state resolution to the conflict.

“Unfortunately what they [the PA] want is a one-state solution. They don’t want a state next to Israel, they want a state instead of Israel,” Netanyahu said.

He pointed to the proclamation against unilateral Palestinian statehood that the cabinet and the Knesset affirmed last week, emphasizing that it had the support of 99 out of the parliament’s 120 members.

The proclamation affirms that the only path to peace with the Palestinians is through direct negotiations.

California Governor Gavin Newsom told NBC on Sunday that Netanyahu was “doubling down on stupid as it relates to the two-state solution and walking away from that” as he called for the release of the hostages, to eliminate Hamas and “advance a two-state solution.”

Netanyahu said that “the people of Israel are not stupid. They understand that to just offer a Palestinian state is to give a platform for repeated attempts to annihilate the Jewish state.”

He emphasized that Israel would have to retain security control over that “territory for the foreseeable future and that does not come with unlimited Palestinian sovereignty.”

Reuters contributed to this report.

Berlinale, one of the world’s largest film festivals, announced on X on Sunday that they were launching an investigation into how pro-Palestinian content had been shared on their Instagram account.

“Today, image-text posts about the war in the Middle East, which included the Berlinale logo were posted on Panorama’s Instagram channel,” Berlinale posted online. “These posts did not originate from the festival and do not represent the Berlinale’s position. We immediately deleted them and initiated an investigation into how this incident occurred. We will file criminal charges against unknown persons.

pic.twitter.com/ZlH0LC323g

— Berlinale (@berlinale) February 25, 2024

While the post has been deleted from Berlinale’s Instagram account, screenshots of the post circulated on X. The image depicts a man on a horse with the Berlinale logo featured on the bottom corner above the text “FREE PALESTINE” and “From the River to the Sea.”

“From the River to the Sea” is a popular chant used in pro-Palestinian demonstrations, thought to be referencing the land from the Jordanian River to the Mediterranean Sea which encompasses the entire state of Israel. It is based on this understanding that many consider the controversial slogan’s meaning as advocating for the destruction of the state of Israel in favor of a singular Palestinian state.

A pedestrian walks past advertising billboards for the upcoming 74th Berlinale International Film Festival in Berlin, Germany, February 13, 2024. (credit: Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters)

Berlinale’s other social media controversy

While Berlinale has only publicly commented on an unauthorized Instagram post, the President of the German-Israeli Society posted on X that he had been blocked, and later unblocked, by Berlinale. 

“There is still good news. The @berlinale has come to its senses: secretly unblocked it. I can see the Twitter account again,” Volker Beck posted on X on Monday, while sharing a previous post with evidence of being blocked.

Es gibt sie noch die guten Nachrichten. Die @berlinale hat sich besonnen: klammheimlich entblockt. 😂🤣😂
Ich kann ihren twitter-Account wieder sehen. https://t.co/jhiwRvuOOl

— Volker Beck 🐋 🇺🇦🇮🇱 (@Volker_Beck) February 26, 2024

The blocking came as Beck reposted criticism of Berlinale in the form of an article by Judische Algeimeine. The article highlighted criticisms of Berlinale by Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth, who said the festival had been overly critical of Israel.

“The statements at the Berlinale Bear Awards on Saturday evening were shockingly one-sided and characterized by a deep hatred of Israel,” Roth is cited by the paper as having said. “It is not acceptable if, on an evening like this, international filmmakers do not mention the brutal terrorist attack by Hamas on over a thousand people living peacefully and celebrating at a festival and their cruel murder, nor do they say a word about the more than 130 hostages those who are still in the power of Hamas."

Kulturstaatsministerin Claudia Roth will die Skandale um die Berlinale aufarbeiten. Die Erklärungen bei der Verleihung seien »erschreckend einseitig und von einem tiefgehenden Israel-Hass geprägt«, so Roth. https://t.co/kdEYKM0Kmw

— Jüdische Allgemeine (@JuedischeOnline) February 26, 2024

Jordan's King Abdullah warned on Monday of the dangers of a military operation planned by Israel in Rafah and reiterated his appeal for an immediate ceasefire to help protect civilians in Gaza and bring in aid, the royal palace said.

The king also said the only way to end the decades-old conflict was to find a "political horizon" for Palestinians that would lead to the creation of a Palestinian state, including east Jerusalem.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier this week the Israeli security cabinet would approve military plans for Rafah - including the evacuation of more than a million displaced Palestinian civilians who have been sheltering there, and whose fate worries world powers.

Almost 30,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war, the Hamas-run Gazan health ministry claimed. Hamas's terror attack on Oct. 7 killed over 1,200 people in Israel.

Jordan air drops aid to Gaza

The Jordanian army also arranged on Monday the biggest airdrop operation so far to deliver aid to Gaza where the mostly displaced population of 2.3 million is facing crisis levels of hunger, an army statement said.

Palestinians at the site where two Israeli hostages rescued overnight in an Israeli operation in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, Feb. 12, 2024 (credit: ABED RAHIM KHATIB/FLASH90)

The operation deployed four C-130 planes including one belonging to the French air force, army spokesperson Mustafa Hiyari said.

Aid was dropped to 11 sites along the Gaza coast from its northern edge to the south for civilians to collect, Hiyari told Reuters. Previous air drops that parachuted in medicines and humanitarian provisions were sent to hospitals the Jordanian army runs in Gaza.

Forces of Division 162, along with the Nahal Brigade's combat team and engineering forces, unearthed an underground tunnel network that connects the north and south of the Gaza Strip, the military announced on Monday.

The underground routes run for some 10 km and pass under a hospital and a university.

After gaining operational control of the network, IDF soldiers examined it and destroyed large portions of it. 

The underground routes connected the Turkish hospital bordering the camps in the center of the Strip to the Israa  University building in the south of Gaza City, reaching as far as the area of Zeitoun.

Inside the tunnel network unearthed by the IDF. February 26, 2024. (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)

An underground communication network 

According to the military, these underground tunnels were utilized for inter-divisional communication between the different terror divisions in the Strip. The routes connected the Central Brigade to the Gaza City Brigade and the various battalions.

Within the tunnels, troops found rooms, storage areas, and toilets, along with weapons, military equipment, and a tunnel shaft network. In addition, soldiers found the bodies of terrorists left in the tunnel. 

Nahal Brigade Commander, Colonel Yair Zuckerman, said, "In recent weeks, together with engineering forces, we have carried out significant activities to locate a network of underground tunnels that runs from the north to the south of the Strip, with the understanding that part of the dismemberment of the Strip is both an on-ground effort and underground."

A group of ultra-Orthodox Jews blocked traffic and the light rail on Monday during a protest in Jerusalem demonstrating against a haredi draft into the IDF, according to police and eyewitness reports.

The protest took place at the intersection of Sarei Israel Boulevard and Nordau Street.

Police subsequently arrived at the scene and began efforts to restore order, the police noted, adding that traffic officers were directing vehicles in the area to alternate routes.

A Jerusalem Post intern at the scene reported witnessing one of the haredim at the protest blocking a car. The orthodox Jewish man persisted in blocking the vehicle even as it drove forward.

Altercation between police and Orthodox Jews

A police officer subsequently pulled the man out of the way, resulting in an altercation between the two.

A group of ultra-Orthodox Jews blocked traffic and the light rail in Jerusalem demonstrating against a Haredi draft into the IDF. February 26, 2024. (credit: SOL SUSSMAN)

According to the eyewitness testimony, the police officer began to drag the man away before other haredi men separated the two.

Protest signs at the scene read, "We say to the high court, to prison and not to the army.' 

The IDF killed the Hezbollah official, Hassan Hossein Salami, commander of the Hajir sector, the military announced on Monday.

Salami belonged to Hezbollah's Nasser unit and commanded a number of terrorist attacks against IDF troops, along with civilian and military targets in Israel's north.

Recently, he has been active in additional terrorist activities including launching anti-tank missiles toward Kiryat Shmona and the headquarters of the 769th Brigade, the IDF said.

Earlier on Monday, Hezbollah announced Salami's death in an Israeli strike in Majdal, according to Israeli media reports, citing the Saudi news channel Al-Hadath. 

Later, on Monday evening, the IDF again struck Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon.

Smoke rises after an Israeli air strike in southern Lebanon, as it seen from the Israeli side of the border, February 8, 2024 (credit: AYAL MARGOLIN/FLASH90)

Targeting launch sites

Targeted Hezbollah military infrastructure, Israeli fighter jets struck a Hezbollah launch site from which terrorists had fired rockets at the Golan Heights.

The strikes were carried out in the afternoon and early evening hours in the Ayta ash-Sha'b area of southern Lebanon.

Additional air strikes were conducted in the Kaoukaba area, from where the IDF reported dozens of rockets had also been fired at the Golan Heights.

Finally, the IDF noted that, earlier on Monday, an IDF tank had fired on a Hezbollah military structure in the village of Kila.

"You can't look at the faces of those serving and tell them that what was will be," Minister-without-portfolio Benny Gantz said, speaking of his draft plan at a press conference on Monday.

The conference came ahead of preparations for the conscription law. "The absolute majority of young people will serve according to the needs of the security," he said, adding that the plan was that within a decade, the majority of Israeli youth will serve.

According to the proposed plan, "The nature of the service," which will include serving in emergency and charity organizations, "will not harm the way of life and beliefs of any of those serving."

David Edri, husband of Rachel Edri from Ofakim, died at the age of 68 on Monday, Israeli media reported.

Edri and his wife were held captive at gunpoint by Hamas terrorists in their Ofakim home on October 7. However, the couple survived by outsmarting terrorists by offering them food and feeding them.

Amidst a public debate about the justification for the decades-long blanket exemption from IDF service for haredi men, the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee (FADC) debated on Monday a bill to lengthen the age of exemption for reservists by one year.

The bill's intent is to preserve the current array of reservists at least until the end of 2024, as age barriers determine that if the exemption does not pass into law by February 29, thousands of men who have reached the age of 40 will be released from service.

According to Israel's existing law, IDF soldiers must serve in the reserves until the end of the calendar year in which they turn 40. That number is 45 for officers and 49 for specific roles deemed by the defense minister as especially necessary.

The war between Israel and Hamas broke out on October 7, and on December 31, thousands of men were scheduled to become exempt from service. On December 28, the Knesset lengthened service for these reservists until the end of February and now wishes to lengthen it again until the end of 2024. The bill proposal is for the provision to be temporary and only apply until the end of 2024.

Lengthening mandatory service

The proposal passed its first reading on the Knesset floor on January 29 and did not raise much attention. However, since then, the government has published a draft of two other bills it intends to promote, which will lengthen mandatory service for new recruits and nearly double the number of days reservists will have to serve every year. The bill did not address the fact that haredi men are given a blanket exemption from service, and it did not propose a plan to begin recruiting soldiers from a broader pool of candidates in order to lessen the burden on those who are already serving.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Ministers and MK's attend a plenum session for Israeli Knesset's 75th birthday, in the assembly hall of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, on January 24, 2024. (credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)

The debate on Monday also coincided with a hearing in the Supreme Court on the legality of the haredi exemption, as the bill that enabled it already expired at the end of June last year. These provided an opportunity for opponents of the haredi exemption to voice their positions in the Knesset debate over the one-year extension for reservists.

"The issue of extending service for mandatory and reserve soldiers cannot be separated from the question of haredi enlistment," opposition leader and Yesh Atid chairman MK Yair Lapid said at the committee debate.

"The first condition for joint living is that everyone has the same rights and the same duties. There is no such thing as unity without equality. There is no such thing as unity if all of the burden – operational and economic – falls on one group in the Israeli public," Lapid said.

Despite the fact that the committee was only debating the one-year extension for reservists and not the government's larger plan to increase mandatory and reserve duties, Lapid addressed the latter:

"There are 63,000 haredim who are at the age of service. If 10,000 of them enlist, there will be no need to extend mandatory service. If only a quarter of haredi men aged 20-49 serve in the reserves, then reserves can be limited to one month every year. This is not happening for one reason only: political pressure," Lapid said.

The haredi parties in the coalition, especially the Ashkenazi-haredi party United Torah Judaism (UTJ), are adamantly opposed to IDF service – and are unlikely to support any law that requires this. The Sephardic-haredi party, Shas, has expressed openness for those who do not study in yeshivot to join the IDF – but opposes any attempt to recruit yeshiva students.

At least one member of the coalition, Likud MK Tally Gotliv, said during the FADC debate on Monday that she would not support a bill that would grant sweeping exemption to any group in Israeli society, including the Haredim. Members of the Likud and the coalition's Religious Zionist Party have expressed similar sentiments, although most said that this cannot be reached without dialogue and the agreement of the haredi community.

Yisrael Beytenu chairman MK Avigdor Liberman said in a press conference ahead of his party's weekly meeting on Monday that every Israeli who reaches the age of 18 should either join the military or serve in a civil service. Liberman claimed that many Haredim wish to join the IDF, but that their political representatives were preventing this.