War Day 180: Car Ramming Near Kochav Yair, Biden Criticizes Israel

War Summary, Day One Hundred and Eighty: Late last night a 26-year-old man rammed his vehicle into four police officers near Kochav Yair, President Biden harshly criticized Israel following the tragic accidental killing of the 7 WCK aid workers in Gaza, Israeli Ambassador Gilad Erdan inaugurated an exhibition at the entrance to the UN showing the atrocities of Hamas on October 7.

By Mrs. Bruria Efune

War Summary, Day One Hundred and Eighty:

134 held captive in Gaza.
112 hostages freed.
11 hostage bodies rescued.
36 hostages confirmed murdered in Gaza.
1,482 Israelis murdered.
256 fallen soldiers in the battle in Gaza.
6 fallen soldiers in Northern Israel.
4 fallen soldiers in Judea & Samaria.
11,549 injured.
14,530 estimated rockets fired at Israel.
102,100 Israelis displaced from their homes.
1 Jewish nation united in prayer, charity, and good deeds.

Top Headlines:

• Rocket-fire from Gaza
• US delaying Rafah maneuver
• IDF calls up air defense reserves following Iran’s threats
• Terror attack near Kochav Yair

Hostage Updates:

There appears to be no progress in hostage release negotiations, has Hamas is continuing to insist on a complete IDF ceasefire and withdrawal, and the return of Gazans to the north of the Gaza Strip.

Controversy is stirring in Israel over the method in which to campaign for the hostages, as a small group of families have moved to protesting against the Prime Minister, and others ask that their loved ones photos not be used in such protests, as they wish to remain apolitical. A smaller group maintains that any sort of protest harms negotiations by showing Hamas that the Israeli government is under pressure to concede.

Gaza Front Updates:

Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) fired rockets at Israeli civilian communities along the Gaza border twice today. Once at Kissufim, and once at Sderot and the surrounding area. The Iron Dome intercepted one missile, and the others landed in empty areas. No injuries were reported.

Thank G-d, the IDF did not announce any fallen heroes today.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi visited IDF soldiers in Khan Younis today. He told them that reaching a deal with Hamas to release the hostages is of utmost importance, but that it will only be brought about via military pressure, e.g., dismantling another battalion, eliminating senior commanders, and destroying significant Hamas infrastructure.

Battles in Gaza over the last day primarily took place in Khan Younis, and specifically in the al-Amal neighborhood, where troops eliminated and captured numerous terrorists, found weapons caches, and destroyed Hamas infrastructure.

The IDF also carried out airstrikes across the Gaza Strip, destroying weapons depots, Hamas buildings, and rocket launchers—including one inside of an olive grove. Airstrikes were reported in Rafah as well.

Leaks (reported by Axios) about the talks between the U.S. and Israel over the Rafah operation outline the divide between the U.S. and Israel. While the talks were cordial and business-like, the U.S. indicated distrust in Israel’s ability to safely evacuate more than one million civilians from Rafah before beginning a military operation, and that the humanitarian crisis in Gaza has deteriorated international trust in Israel. Israel maintains that it is possible to safely evacuate the civilians, and that the claims of famine in Gaza are false.

The U.S. reportedly proposed a slower operation in Rafah, combined with cutting Rafah off from the rest of Gaza to prevent Hamas’s smuggling of weapons through the Egyptian border from going further. The parties agreed to have a follow-up meeting with experts in the next ten days.

Hezbollah’s Al-Akhbar paper meanwhile reported that the U.S. promised Egypt that there will be no maneuver into Rafah until at least mid-May, even if hostage negotiations fail. Egypt is concerned that war in Rafah will lead to Gaza refugees breaching the fence into the Sinai.

Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Biden are set to speak by phone tomorrow.

Israel is preparing for a provocative flotilla from Turkey, as thousands of activists are expected to arrive on ships that left Turkey in an attempt to reach the shores of Gaza allegedly to provide food to its citizens. Any organization is able to send food to Gaza, so long as it passes through inspection either in Israel or Cyprus, to prevent weapons smuggling. The flotilla however is not coordinating inspection.

Gaza Humanitarian Efforts Updates:

217 aid trucks were inspected and transferred to Gaza.
179 food packages carrying over 150,000 meals were airdropped over northern Gaza.
30 food trucks were coordinated to northern Gaza.

Food prices in Gaza continue to drop.

Northern Front Updates:

Hezbollah fired heavily on communities in Israel’s far north, both with missiles and attack drones. No injuries were reported, but damage was caused, including a direct hit on a family home in Metula. Shiite militias in Iraq also launched an attack drone towards Israel.

The IDF responded by attacking a large number of Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, and immediately carried out airstrikes on rocket launchers and terrorist squads after missiles were fires.

After Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini repeated strong threats about retaliation on Israel for the airstrike that eliminated senior IRGC commanders in Syria, the IDF has bolstered and called up reservists for its air defense array. It is yet to be seen whether Iran actually makes do of their strong threats, or just carries on with a word-war as they have in the past. Some analysts suggest that Iran is deterred knowing that Israel is well prepared for a war with them.

Following a Homefront preparedness drill in Haifa, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Israel is “increasing preparedness, and at the same time we are also expanding our operations against Hezbollah, against other groups that threaten us, we continue to strike our enemies all over the Middle East.”

After a group of four UNIFIL peacekeepers were injured in a blast in Rmeish, Lebanon, on Shabbat, in an instance which Hezbollah blamed on Israel, the IDF completed an investigation and determined that the blast was from “an explosive device that had been planted by Hezbollah in the area.”

Houthi War Front Updates:

President Biden’s special envoy to Yemen said he expects to find a diplomatic solution to the Houthi attacks. According to Bloomberg, one of the options raised is the removal of the Houthis from the U.S. list of terror organizations in exchange for a cease of terror activity.

Judea and Samaria Updates:

Late last night a 26-year-old man from Tira, identified as Waheb Sabita, rammed his vehicle into four police officers near Kochav Yair. One officer was seriously injured. Sabita then fled to the Eliyahu Crossing checkpoint, where he allegedly attempted to stab the guards. The guards at the checkpoint responded by shooting and eliminating Sabita. The incident was captured on footage showing Sabita rushing at the security guards with a knife after the car ramming.

Overnight IDF, Shin Bet, and border police forces arrested 20 wanted persons throughout Judea and Samaria. In Kfar Pondok the forces located and confiscated a “Carlo” type rifle and destroyed three improvised explosive devices, in Kfar Kibia the forces arrested five wanted persons and confiscated terrorist funds worth tens of thousands of shekels.

International Updates:

President Biden harshly criticized Israel following the tragic accidental killing of the 7 WCK aid workers in Gaza, saying: “This conflict is the worst in recent times in terms of the number of aid workers killed and Israel is not doing enough to protect the civilian population.”

International Law Professor Eugene Kontorovich pointed out that in 2015 the U.S. knowingly carried out 5 airstrikes on a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan, killing 42 people, including 14 foreign aid staff and 24 patients. The airstrikes were carried out based on an unverified and false suspicion that the Taliban were operating in the hospital. The hospital was on a military “no strike” list, and the air crew had observed the trauma center and personnel for 68 minutes prior to firing the 211 rounds.

The subsequent U.S. military investigation found that “human errors, fatigue, process and equipment failures were at fault.” In a statement the U.S. Central Command said “These factors contributed to the ‘fog of war,’ which is the uncertainty often encountered during combat operations.”

This is only one example of several similar instances in recent years.

In an emotional ceremony at the UN, Israeli Ambassador Gilad Erdan inaugurated an exhibition at the entrance to the UN showing the atrocities of Hamas on October 7. Erdan addressed the audience and said, “The UN is working to forget the crimes of Hamas. Like “Holocaust denial,” we can witness at the UN the phenomenon of “October 7 denial.” That is why the exhibition we launched last night at the UN is so important – now, every person who enters the UN will witness the cruelty of Hamas, and recognize the need to destroy this evil!”

The US, Britain and France voted against a Russian condemnation proposal against Israel for the “alleged” Israeli airstrike against Iran in Damascus. Several diplomats noted that the US, supported by France and Britain, told colleagues on the council that many of the facts about what happened on Monday in Damascus remain unclear. Israel has not publicly taken credit for the attack.