Israel-Hamas War Day 165: What is going on in Gaza, Lebanon?

Israel looks to approve an evacuation plan for Palestinians in Rafah as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continued to spar with the Biden administration in advance of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's expected visit Friday.

“I have already approved the IDF's operational plan, and soon we will also approve the plan to evacuate the civilian population from the battle zones,” Netanyahu said on Wednesday.

In Washington, US State Department Deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel expressed the Biden administration’s opposition to a Rafah operation, which it fears will deepen the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.

“We have been very clear that … any kind of operation in Rafah … would require a serious and significant plan, one that addresses the varying and complex humanitarian challenges posed in the Rafah region.”

“We believe that Hamas can be defeated, but it must be done in a targeted and more precise manner, and hopefully it does not impact or have any negative impact on Palestinian civilians,” Patel said.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu give a joint press conference, on January 30, 2023 (credit: RONALDO SCHEMIDT/POOL VIA REUTERS)

Israeli delegation set to discuss Rafah plans in Washington

An Israeli delegation led by Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and National Security Adviser Tzahi Hanegbi is expected to visit Washington next week to discuss Israeli military plans for Rafah, which is the last Hamas stronghold. 

US President Joe Biden had asked Netanyahu to send such a delegation when the two men spoke earlier this week

Netanyahu has said that without a Rafah operation, Israel won’t be able to defeat Hamas. 

Troops of the 401st Brigade, along with fighters of Shayetet 13, Duvdevan Unit, and Shin Bet, found 11 million dollars, which were intended for terror use during their operation in Shifa, the military said on Wednesday.

In addition, during the operation, some 3,700 Gazans passed through the checkpoint near the hospital and, from there, moved south.

Over 300 were arrested. Among them were dozens of officials in key positions; the military added

On Tuesday night, the IDF coordinated the entrance of a diesel truck and a humanitarian aid truck for the civilian population of the Gaza Strip, which amounted to 3 tons of food. 

Israel and the IDF have managed some impressive tactical wins, which could turn into strategic wins.

However, it is still an open question to date, and each tactical win could end in strategic losses.

The IDF achieved operational control of northern Gaza by early January and of southern and central Gaza (other than Rafah and a small section in central Gaza) by February.

Those were publicly announced "wins."

But even before that, by mid-November, the IDF had taken over the core parts of Gaza City, including key Hamas command centers at Shifa Hospital and the Hamas chief military headquarters.

Who should Israel hand Gaza to after the war?

But if rockets keep falling and Hamas keeps rallying, and if Israel still has no plan for who to hand Gaza over to, when will be the point where the general public will decide that "absolute victory," or even victory without rockets, is not achievable, and be ready to "cuts its losses."

This gets more complicated if you work in a likely 40-45-day hostage deal and temporary ceasefire.

IDF jets struck Hezbollah military structures in the Houla area and observation posts in the Kfarkela area in southern Lebanon, the military said on Wednesday. 

The IDF further added that earlier on Wednesday, the military attacked a military structure in the Qantara area in which a terrorist had been detected. In the Ghandouriyeh area, an additional military structure was targeted. 

In response to the launches detected towards the areas of Yaron, Mount Dov, Misgav Am, and Margaliot, IDF troops attacked the sources of the shooting, the military noted. 

IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi said that the Israeli military was aiming for the heads of senior officials during a visit to Gaza's Shifa hospital on Wednesday.

"The arrest of senior officials is very, very important in order to put pressure on Hamas.

"It is very important to put pressure on the negotiations as well, and we are serving two purposes here," he said. 

"Severe damage to Hamas, dissolution of Hamas, killing of the military leadership, damage to the civilian leadership, damage to the terrorists. We should not let such a place rule," he added. 

IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi gives a statement to the media at an army base in southern Israel, December 26, 2023. (credit: FLASH90)

Netanyahu: Rafah operation 'will take some time'

Earlier on Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said plans to evacuate Rafah civilians would be approved soon in a video published on Wednesday.

נפעל ברפיח בכל העוצמה.
עדכון ממני אליכם, אזרחי ישראל >> pic.twitter.com/nV957Byyfs

— Benjamin Netanyahu - בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) March 20, 2024

He added, "While we are preparing to enter Rafah, which will take some time, we continue to operate with all our might. We continue to operate in Khan Yunis, in the central camps, in the elimination and capture of senior Hamas officials as we did now in Shifa, in the elimination of many hundreds of terrorists."

US Secretary Antony Blinken will visit Israel on Friday amid growing tensions over Israel’s plans for a major military campaign in Gaza's Rafah and a renewed push for a hostage deal.

He will land at Ben Gurion International Airport after stops in Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said that Blinken will “discuss the need to ensure the defeat of Hamas, including in Rafah, in a way that protects the civilian population, does not hinder the delivery of humanitarian assistance, and advances Israel’s overall security.”

“The Secretary will discuss US and international efforts to dramatically increase and sustain the delivery of humanitarian assistance to civilians who are suffering from a lack of adequate food supplies. 

“He will also update Israeli leaders on his talks with Arab leaders to build lasting peace and security for Israelis, Palestinians, and the broader region,” Miller said.

This will be Blinken’s sixth regional trip to Israel since the start of the Israel-Hamas war on October 7.

IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi said that the Israeli military was aiming for the heads of senior officials during a visit to Gaza's Shifa hospital on Wednesday.

"The arrest of senior officials is very, very important in order to put pressure on Hamas. It is very important to put pressure on the negotiations as well, and we are serving two purposes here," he said. 

"Severe damage to Hamas, dissolution of Hamas, killing of the military leadership, damage to the civilian leadership, damage to the terrorists. We should not let such a place rule," he added. 

The IDF and Shin Bet carried out a targeted attack on a vehicle in Jenin, the military confirmed on Wednesday.

The forces killed Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist Ahmed Barakat, the murderer of Meir Tamari, who was killed in a terror attack in Hermesh in May of 2023.

In addition, the military attacked the head of PIJ terror infrastructure in Jenin Mohammed Hawashin along with two other terrorists.

Terrorists attempted to carry out further attacks

The IDF also said that the two terrorists who were targeted tried to carry out significant attacks in recent days, which include the thwarted attempt to enter a terrorist into Israeli territory on March 11. 

In addition, they were responsible for the terror attack on March 8 in which seven soldiers were wounded by an explosive device in the Homesh junction.

This is a developing story.

Rachel Goldberg-Polin, whose 23-year-old son is currently being held in Hamas captivity, called on Diaspora Jews to take action and place pressure on Israeli leaders to arrange a hostage deal during a speech at the World Zionist Organization (WZO) Heschel Conference on Jewish Peoplehood on Wednesday.

Goldberg-Polin criticized the Israeli government for not doing enough to ensure a hostage deal. 

"The leaders of this country are not thinking straight because they are still speaking from a place of continual, unending, throbbing, sharp, ongoing guilt-ridden trauma," said Goldberg-Polin.

Time to take action

She called on Jewish communities in the Diaspora to "speak resolutely and with conviction to the men in power who will be deciding the destiny and identity of the Jewish people going forward forever more."

 Since Hersh Goldberg-Polin's abduction from the Supernova music festival at Re’im on October 7, his mother has been continuously calling on the government to arrange a hostage deal. 

Hersh Goldberg-Polin (credit: Courtesy)

At the Jerusalem Post's Israel Summit in January, Goldberg-Polin reflected on the trauma of having her son held in Hamas captivity for such an extended amount of time. “We are still being torn open, and so the pain intensifies with each day," she said. 

Now, as five months have passed since the kidnap date, Goldberg-Polin emphasized at the WZO conference the importance of taking action to ensure a hostage deal. 

"This is the time to do something out of the ordinary, the likes of which have never been seen in any people's history. Now is the time to save 134 innocent souls for no other reason except that it is holy, and it is the most Jewish response to October 7th that can possibly be done," she concluded.

Independent US presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr offered staunch support for Israel in a Reuters interview, calling it a "moral nation" that was justly responding to Hamas provocations with its attacks on Gaza and questioning the need for a six-week ceasefire backed by President Joe Biden.

Biden has also been a vocal defender of Israel since the October 7 attack by Hamas, but he has recently pressured it to stem the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and accelerate a six-week ceasefire for hostage releases and aid delivery.

Asked if he supported a temporary ceasefire in Gaza, Kennedy told Reuters: "I don't even know what that means right now."

Kennedy said that each previous ceasefire "has been used by Hamas to rearm, to rebuild and then launch another surprise attack. So what would be different this time?" 

Kennedy, 70, spoke to Reuters in a wide-ranging interview on Monday from his office at his Spanish-style home in Los Angeles, hidden by tropical plants and hedges.

Support for Israel has become a political wedge issue inside the Democratic Party, as the death toll in Gaza tops 30,000 and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vows to push an assault into Rafah.