Is Israel really Palestine

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Key Takeaways:

   

•     Iran and its so-called “Axis of Resistance” are exploiting the Israel-Hamas war to demonstrate their capability to control a key maritime route and chokepoint in the Middle East.
•     The Houthis have conducted almost daily drone and missile attacks against commercial vessels transiting the Bab al Mandeb since December 9.
•     The Houthi attack campaign signals to the international community that the Axis of Resistance can imperil ships around the Bab al Mandeb in addition to the Strait of Hormuz.
•     Israeli forces destroyed the headquarters of Hamas’ Shujaiya Battalion in the northern Gaza Strip.
•     Israeli clearing operations may be disrupting Palestinian militia fighters’ ability to frequently communicate with each other.
•     Iranian-backed fighters, including Lebanese Hezbollah (LH), conducted 11 cross-border attacks from southern Lebanon into northern Israel.
•     US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters in Tel Aviv that Israel will transition to the next phase of the war, which will focus on targeting leadership and intelligence operations rather than high-intensity clearance operations.
•     The Islamic Resistance in Iraq—a coalition of Iranian-backed Iraqi militias—claimed responsibility for a one-way drone attack targeting US forces in Iraq.
•     Harakat Hezbollah al Nujaba Secretary General Akram al Kaabi released a statement justifying resistance against the United States in Iraq.

https://understandingwar.org/backgrounder/iran-update-december-15-2023

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Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’ top leader in Gaza, his younger brother, Muhammed, and two other senior military commanders of the Iranian-backed Islamist terror group – Rafa’a Salameh and Mohammad Deif – are considered to be the worst killers from the southern Gazan city of Khan Younis.

All are now the most wanted terrorists by Israel.

As the IDF gears up for what could be its fiercest battle yet against Hamas, the army dropped leaflets over Gaza’s second most populous city on Thursday, calling on residents of the Hamas stronghold to share any information about the whereabouts of the four men and offering a substantial financial reward – some $1 million in total – for anyone brave enough to come forward.

All four terrorists were born and raised in Khan Younis, a city about two miles east of the Mediterranean Sea, and Sinwar, who already has the nickname "the Butcher of Khan Younis," for his violent and cruel torture methods against his enemies, both Israeli and Palestinian, is widely seen as the mastermind of the massacre of Israeli civilians carried out by thousands of Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7, sparking the current war.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/israel-s-most-wanted-butcher-of-khan-younis-other-hamas-terrorists-now-in-idf-s-sights/ar-AA1lDqXC

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Key Takeaways:

• Israeli forces uncovered an advanced and extensive Hamas tunnel system in the northern Gaza Strip. Israeli officials reported that Mohammad Sinwar—the brother of Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip Yahya Sinwar—headed the tunnel building project.
• Israeli forces continued clearing operations in Shujaiya and Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip. The al Qassem Brigades have not claimed an attack on Israeli forces in Shujaiya since December 14.
• Palestinian militias continued attacking Israeli forces near Juhor ad Dik. CTP-ISW previously assessed that Palestinian militias may be using relative safe haven in the central Gaza Strip to enable attacks on Israeli forces around Juhor ad Dik.
• The IDF reported that it raided the outpost of Hamas’ Deir al Balah Battalion.
• An Israeli defense correspondent reported that Hamas is transferring forces from the rest of the Gaza Strip to support its Khan Younis Brigade.
• Israeli forces advanced to the central square in Bani Suheila as Palestinian militias attempted to resist Israeli advances north and east of Khan Younis.
• Telecommunications services are returning to parts of the Gaza Strip after a multi-day communications blackout.
• Palestinian militias conducted six indirect fire attacks from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel.
• Israeli forces clashed with Palestinian fighters for several hours in Tulkarm area. Palestinian fighters separately clashed with Israeli forces around Hebron.
• Iranian-backed fighters, including Lebanese Hezbollah, conducted 11 attacks from southern Lebanon into northern Israel.
• The Houthi anti-shipping attack campaign continues to achieve one of its desired effects of disrupting maritime traffic headed to Israel.

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/iran-update-december-17-2023

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Democrats still want Iran to win!

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https://twitter.com/IDF/status/1736407306311475360

Largest Hamas tunnels yet!

https://www.dailywire.com/news/idf-discovers-largest-ever-hamas-terror-tunnel-inside-gaza

[D2D]

Key Takeaways:

• Israel appears to be nearing the final stages of its clearing operation in the northern Gaza Strip.
• The IDF reported on December 18 that Israeli forces destroyed Hamas’ Beit Hanoun Battalion.
• The al Qassem Brigades still has two units that are not committed to combat in the Rafah and the Central governorates that it could draw on to defend Khan Younis.
• Palestinian militias conducted three indirect fire attacks into Israel from the Gaza Strip.
• Israeli forces clashed with Palestinian fighters nine times across the West Bank.
• Iranian-backed fighters, including Lebanese Hezbollah, conducted nine attacks from southern Lebanon into northern Israel.
• The Houthis claimed to have conducted two drone attacks targeting the Norwegian-owned, Cayman Islands-flagged Swan Atlantic tanker and Swiss-owned, Panama-flagged MSC Clara container ship in the Red Sea.
• Israel conducted airstrikes targeting the IRGC headquarters at Sayyida Zainab, Damascus.

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/iran-update-december-18-2023

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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/cjRpHR-XpW4" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/v/cjRpHR-XpW4</a>

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjRpHR-XpW4

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Key Takeaways:

• Israel has degraded Hamas’ North Gaza Brigade, which is consistent with CTP-ISW's observation that Israel appears to be nearing the final stages of its clearing operation in the northern Gaza Strip. Palestinian militias continued attacks targeting Israeli forces east of Jabalia.
• Israeli forces continued clearing operations in Shujaiya neighborhood of Gaza City.
• Palestinian militias are continuing to use the relative safe haven of the Gaza Strip’s Central Governorate to attack Israeli forces south of Gaza City.
• Palestinian fighters continued to conduct a deliberate defense against Israeli advances in Khan Younis. The IDF deployed an additional brigade to Khan Younis
• Palestinian militias mortared Israeli forces in the central and southern Gaza Strip. The al Qassem Brigades conducted at least two indirect fire attacks into Israel from the Gaza Strip.
• Israeli forces clashed with Palestinian fighters seven times across the West Bank. Hamas continues to demonstrate solidarity with Palestinian militias in the West Bank.
• Iranian-backed fighters, including Lebanese Hezbollah, conducted four attacks from southern Lebanon into northern Israel.
• Israel seeks a deal to push Lebanese Hezbollah forces “roughly six miles” from the Israel-Lebanon border to prevent possible LH cross border attacks, according to US and Israeli officials.
• The Iraqi High Electoral Commission released preliminary results for the Iraqi provincial council elections. Shia parties, including those affiliated with Iran, won the largest count of votes in Baghdad and most of Iraq’s southern provinces.
• The Jordanian Air Force conducted airstrikes on Iran-linked drug smuggling targets in Salkhad, Suwayda Province, Syria.
• US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced Operation Prosperity Guardian in response to Houthi attacks on international shipping around the Red Sea. The Houthi attack campaign targeting commercial shipping continues to achieve one of its desired effects of disrupting Red Sea maritime traffic headed to Israel.
• Fighters from the Balochi Salafi-jihadi group Jaish al Adl were likely responsible for an improvised explosive device attack targeting an IRGC Special Forces Brigade near Zahedan, Sistan and Baluchistan Province.

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/iran-update-december-19-2023

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Key Takeaways:

• Israeli forces are transitioning from clearing operations to holding operations in some areas of the northern Gaza Strip.
• Houthi Supreme Leader Abdulmalik al Houthi threatened to target US warships in the Red Sea.
• Israel and Hamas continued negotiations for a new humanitarian pause in fighting in exchange for Israeli hostages being held in the Gaza Strip.
• PIJ Secretary General Ziad al Nakhalah and a PIJ delegation will travel to Cairo in the coming days to discuss ceasefire negotiations with Egyptian officials.
• Iranian military leaders view current Hamas operations in the Gaza Strip as the prelude to a long-term war to destroy Israel.
• Iraqi political parties and coalitions aligned with the Shia Coordination Framework—a loosely aligned coalition of pro-Iranian political parties—have won the most seats in the provincial council elections.
• Iraqi media claimed on December 20 that unspecified militants attacked US forces at Ain al Asad Airbase in Anbar Province, Iraq

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/iran-update-december-20-2023

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Need proof Hamas cares nothing for the Palestinian people whose cause the terror cadre claims to champion?

Look no further than the suitcases of cold, hard cash unearthed by the IDF in the home of a senior member.

The cases contained more than US$1.3 million, equal to the entire amount of cash seized so far by Israeli forces between the start of the counterattack against Hamas and the end of November.

So let’s recap.

Hamas uses civilian Gaza as a base of operations and takes every step to maximize civilian casualties.

Its leadership plunders money meant for the public as well as water and fuel infrastructure to arm and equip its terror operations.

And the group’s masters hoard cash, even as ordinary Gazans suffer.

Why wasn’t all the hoarded money being used to deliver relief to the Gazans paying the price of Hamas’ kleptocracy and war crimes?

Because Hamas doesn’t care

https://nypost.com/2023/12/19/opinion/hamas-hates-palestinians-hoards-millions-while-gaza-suffers/

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Speaking to his country and the world Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a choice to Iranian backed terrorist organization Hamas: Surrender or die.



"We will continue the war until the end. Until the elimination of Hamas - until victory. Those who think we will stop are not connected to reality. All Hamas terrorists, from the first to the last, are mortal. They have only two options: surrender or die," Netanyahu said.


https://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2023/12/21/hamas-is-given-a-choice-surrender-or-die-n2632698

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Key Takeaways:

   

•     Israeli forces are transitioning from clearing operations to holding operations in some areas of the northern Gaza Strip.
•     Houthi Supreme Leader Abdulmalik al Houthi threatened to target US warships in the Red Sea.
•     Israel and Hamas continued negotiations for a new humanitarian pause in fighting in exchange for Israeli hostages being held in the Gaza Strip.
•     PIJ Secretary General Ziad al Nakhalah and a PIJ delegation will travel to Cairo in the coming days to discuss ceasefire negotiations with Egyptian officials.
•     Iranian military leaders view current Hamas operations in the Gaza Strip as the prelude to a long-term war to destroy Israel.
•     Iraqi political parties and coalitions aligned with the Shia Coordination Framework—a loosely aligned coalition of pro-Iranian political parties—have won the most seats in the provincial council elections.
•     Iraqi media claimed on December 20 that unspecified militants attacked US forces at Ain al Asad Airbase in Anbar Province, Iraq

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/iran-update-december-20-2023