War Day 489: Israel Calls Out Hypocritical Countries, Bus Bombing Prevented

War Summary, Day 489: Defense Minister calls on countries who made false accusations against Israel to take in Gazans, reframing of ceasefire agreement, further clarifications on Trump’s Gaza plan, IDF already exploring exit paths for Gazans who want to leave, Yerushalayim bus bombing prevented, IDF hits Hezbollah targets deep into Lebanon, Hezbollah clashes with new Syrian forces, and Netanyahu clarifies that there will be no Palestinian State for peace with Saudis.

By Mrs. Bruria Efune

To book Bruria Efune for speaking engagements in the New York area, contact Chaya Schechter, at: 917-921-2370.

Ideal for communities who want to be inspired and motivated by a love for Israel, through fascinating behind-the-scenes stories.

79 held captive in Gaza.
35 hostages confirmed murdered held in Gaza.
135 living hostages rescued.
41 hostage bodies rescued.
1,821 Israelis killed.
413 fallen soldiers and police in the battle in Gaza.
87 fallen soldiers in Northern Israel.
18 fallen soldiers and police in Judea & Samaria.
30,683 estimated projectiles fired at Israel.
70,000 Israelis displaced from their homes.
1 Jewish nation united in prayer, charity, and good deeds.

Top Headlines:

– Names of next hostages to be released will be announced shortly
– Reframing of ceasefire agreement
– Two IDF soldiers tragically killed in Gaza
– Further clarifications on Trump’s Gaza plan
– IDF already exploring exit paths for Gazans who want to leave
– Defense Minister calls on countries who made false accusations against Israel to take in Gazans
– High probability of return to war in Gaza
– Jerusalem bus bombing prevented
– Operation Iron Walls expand further
– IDF hits Hezbollah targets deep into Lebanon
– Hezbollah clashes with new Syrian forces
– Netanyahu clarifies: there will be no Palestinian State for peace with Saudis

Hostages:

On Friday, Hamas is expected to announce the names of three hostages who will be released on Shabbat.

Reports are circulating about changes coming to the original ceasefire agreement. After looking closer at the plan, which was originally formulated by the Biden administration, the Trump admin is seeing that much of it is not feasible. Phase two of the original plan does not dismantle Hamas, or have any guarantee that they won’t be able to rebuild their terror infrastructure and attack Israel again. It also gives Hamas most of what they want—with a complete IDF withdrawal and lasting ceasefire—even before Israel gets back all the hostages. Phase three doesn’t quite work either, since it speaks of rebuilding Gaza in five years, while it’ll take that much time just to clean it up.

Various sources report that Netanyahu is looking to extend the first phase of the ceasefire, in which a few more hostages will be released in exchange for more terrorists released from prison.

According to an Axios source (not thoroughly reliable), Netanyahu is proposing that phase two of the deal will:

– Release the remaining hostages
– End the war
– Senior Hamas terrorists will be released from Israeli prison, and be exiled to a third country
– Hamas will give up power in Gaza
– Senior Hamas leaders in Gaza will be exiled to a third country
– It is highly questionable whether Hamas will agree to this, or prefer to return to war.

In an interview today with Israeli journalist, Yaakov Bardugo, Netanyahu said that his first goal is to ensure that the 25 remaining hostages of phase one are returned home to Israel. His second goal is that the remaining hostages are returned, alongside the goals of eliminating Hamas’ military and governmental capabilities and ensuring that Gaza will no longer be a threat to Israel.

Gaza:

The IDF announced the names of two heroes who were tragically killed in an accident in Gaza last night:

Sgt. First Class (res.) Nadav Cohen, 21, from Beit Hanan
Staff Sgt. Nachman Refael Ben Ami, 20, from Eilat

Eight others are wounded, including one listed in serious condition. The tragedy came after harsh winds caused a crane to collapse, and crash down on the soldiers.

Some further clarity on Trump’s plan for the “day after” in Gaza:

Trump wants his envoy, Steve Witkoff, to deal with the negotiations, and practical formulating of plans.

According to a post by Trump on X, Israel will first conclude the fighting in Gaza and remove all the dangers. All the people will be evacuated before and during this, to places where they will be “happy and free.” Only once Gaza is safe and cleared out, would the U.S. then take over, and do the cleaning and rebuilding, together with development teams from around the world (and not funded by the American government). No U.S. troops will be involved.

Witkoff explained on Newsmax just how devastated Gaza is:

“I’d describe it as something that looked like it came out of a Hollywood movie set. You wouldn’t believe it. Very few buildings are standing. Anything that is standing is listing to the side. Massive, massive demolition all over the place. I now know, I can give you this information, that there’s at least 30,000 unexploded projectiles that were fired into Gaza that are dangerous. There’s no running water, electricity, gas. So probably all the utility lines are busted. It’s a rough place right now.”

Witkoff gave a rough timeline: two years to clean out the unexploded ordinances, three years to clean up the rubble, and then some time will be needed to understand what’s going on underground, due to the Hamas tunnel system, which could have totally degraded the foundations for future construction. The entire power and utility system may also need to be rebuilt from zero.

Defense Minister Israel Katz has chosen not to wait, and begin implementing what he can of Trump’s idea. Today he announced that he ran an assessment with the IDF, in order to prepare a plan to allow any resident of Gaza to leave to any third country that they want to depart to. The plan will look at exits via land, sea, and air.

Most people in Gaza want to leave, after Hamas used them as human shields, and tortures and kills anyone who doesn’t support them. People in Gaza are also frustrated with Hamas stealing all the humanitarian aid, and extorting civilians for their last pennies to buy the food they were supposed to get for free.

Katz said he wants the people of Gaza to have the “right to freedom of movement and migration, as is customary everywhere in the world.”

As to where they would go, Katz explained, “Countries such as Spain, Ireland, Norway, and others, which have falsely accused Israel over its actions in Gaza, are legally obligated to allow Gazans to enter their territory. Their hypocrisy will be exposed if they refuse. Meanwhile, countries like Canada, which has a structured immigration program, have previously expressed willingness to take in residents from Gaza.”

In an unusually high consensus for Israel, a poll by Channel 13 found that 72% of Israelis support Trump’s plan, while only 17% outright oppose it. Israelis are tired of decades of Gaza wars, and the failures at peace attempts, and are welcoming the fresh perspective.

Many hope that over the years of the plan, the idea of the U.S. taking over Gaza will change minds to accepting a reality of Israel annexing it.

Note: With this plan, a return to war looks inevitable, outside the extremely unlikely possibility that the Hamas leaders will agree to leave and disarm on their own, as part of a ceasefire agreement.

Judea & Samaria:

The Shin Bet announced that they had recently foiled an attempted bombing of a Jerusalem bus, by a Hamas and Fatah terror squad from Ramallah. The bomb was located, and terrorists arrested in November and December.

Operation Iron Walls is ongoing, primarily in Jenin, Tulkarem, Tubas, and the Tamun area, with recent expansion to include Shechem (Nablus). The operation is being executed by a combination of forces from the IDF, Border Police, and Shin Bet.

Overnight in Shechem, the security forces located and destroyed an explosives laboratory where explosives used for terrorism in the region were found. They also arrested two armed terrorists, and confiscated their weapons and significant terror funds.

In Tamun and nearby Far’a, troops arrested over 25 terrorists, and located bomb laboratories, weapons, and numerous explosive devices intended to be used against IDF forces.

The heaviest concentration of orations remains in Jenin, where many locals have evacuated, and say they feel like Gazans. Jenin is the top exporter of terrorism in Palestinian Authority-controlled areas, with the terrorists having mostly took over control from the PA.

Lebanon:

The IDF struck Hezbollah targets in Nebatieh and in the Beqaa Valley, causing large explosions. The strikes were directed at buildings containing Hezbollah weapons. In Nebatiyeh, Hezbollah violated the ceasefire agreement by being south of the Litani River. In the Beqaa Valley Hezbollah violated the agreement by smuggling in new weapons through Syria.

Syria:

Clashes erupted on Syria-Lebanon border, between the new Syrian forces and Hezbollah-linked groups. Al-Jolani’s HTS forces and Hezbollah are longtime enemies. The situation is unclear, but there are reports that al-Jolani sent reinforcements to the border, and rockets were seen fired towards Lebanon. The spat may be over smuggling operations.

Other:

In an interview with Channel 14, Netanyahu clarified that he won’t establish a Palestinian State in exchange for neutralization with the Saudis: “Especially not a Palestinian state, after the October 7th? Do you know what that is?! There was a Palestinian state, they called it Gaza. Gaza, led by Hamas, was a Palestinian state, and look what we got – the biggest massacre since the Holocaust. And establishing a Palestinian state after the October 7th is a huge prize for terrorism. A huge victory not only for Hamas. For Iran. And a huge defeat for us and our partners.”

Netanyahu added that very few people actually know what is going on in the negotiations with the Saudis, just a small few on his side, and a small few on theirs.

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