DAY 255 OF THE WAR: War Cabinet Disbanded, Report Shows No Famine in Gaza, IDF Controls Over 60% of Rafa, West Nile Disease in Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv Diary, June 17, 2024

Yesterday's “tempest in a teapot” (the controversy over the army’s announcement of a humanitarian pause in part of Rafah) appears unwilling to disappear from the headlines. This morning, the IDF defended its announcement of a temporary daylight ceasefire by explaining that the government had directed them to explore methods to increase the flow of aid and ensure global awareness of its actions. The plan aims to demonstrate to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that Israel is making every effort to provide aid to Gazans and thereby prevent another negative ruling from the court against Israel.

Prime Minister Netanyahu announced today that he was officially disbanding the war cabinet following the departure of Former Defense Minister Gantz and Former IDF Chief of Staff Eizenkot from the government. Netanyahu acted to prevent the inclusion of either Ben-Gvir or Smotrich into the war cabinet. Although he allowed Ben-Gvir and Smotrich to hold significant positions, Netanyahu did not trust these men with sensitive information. Former Chief of Staff Eisenkot highlighted this concern in interviews over the weekend following his resignation from the government.

DEMONSTRATION

This has been a week of ongoing daily protests in Israel, demanding a new national election before the first anniversary of October 7th. The protests started with the customary weekly Saturday night demonstration in Tel Aviv. Tonight, tens of thousands marched from the Knesset towards Prime Minister Netanyahu's home in Jerusalem.

EFFECTIVE HAMAS PROPAGANDA

One of Israel’s persistent challenges during this war has been addressing the effective propaganda disseminated by Hamas and overcoming the shortcomings of our responses. This issue is evident, time and again, from the widespread acceptance of the wildly exaggerated casualty figures released by Hamas as verified truth, as well as from the issue of food delivery. The most insidious claims have surrounded the question of alleged impending famine in Gaza. I have long argued that I did not believe there is starvation in Gaza in general, or in specific, starving children, based on the enormous volume of food being delivered. It also seems doubtful that if parents are receiving food, and if food was available nearby, that those parents would not do everything possible to feed their children. Now, the truth has been revealed.

The Famine Review Committee had concluded that the IPC (Integrated Food Security Phase Classification) of the UN falsely declared starvation in Gaza. It was the IPC’s statement that began spreading the story of starvation in Gaza throughout world media, and they claimed that starvation was either occurring or imminent.

According to the FRC report, Gaza’s food security status has evolved since March. The initial FEWS NET model, which relied on numerous assumptions and inferences, resulted in a high degree of uncertainty about the population's current food security and nutritional status. Additionally, the FRC report highlights a significant increase in food truck imports to northern Gaza. Although the figures for caloric availability are rising, they are likely underestimated, as will be further discussed.

Additionally, one of the major problems with the FRC report was that it did not count private (non-governmental commercial) shipments, which represented a substantial portion of the deliveries. The consequences of these exclusions are significant. Even with a conservative estimate of the commercial and privately contracted food deliveries to northern Gaza, which the FRC deems feasible, there would be an additional contribution of 25% and 34% coverage of the daily kilocalorie requirement in March and April, respectively.

Moreover, excluding WFP deliveries to bakeries in northern Gaza could potentially result in an additional 4% to 15% reduction in the required amount of the daily kilocalories. Meaning that the Gazans have been receiving significantly more food than previously accounted for. Consequently, because of the false reports by FRC effectively started a blood libel, leading to the slanderous accusation that Israel was intentionally causing the starvation of the population

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COMBAT IN GAZA

The IDF has been making steady progress in Gaza. According to the Army Spokesman, the IDF has gained control of 60-70% of Rafah, accomplished with the absolute minimum civilian casualties. Most of the Rafah residents had already left.

The IDF described the fighting today in Gaza as follows:

Division 162 continues focused operations based on intelligence information in the Rafah area. Forces from the Nahal and Givati Brigade combat teams located weapons and destroyed several booby-trapped buildings that posed a threat to the troops.

In an operation by the 401st Brigade combat team in the Tel Sultan neighborhood, forces closed in on terrorists who posed a threat and engaged in face-to-face combat with the assistance of drones. In the area, a weapons depot from which anti-tank fire was directed at the forces was destroyed without any casualties, and grenades, explosives, military equipment, and other explosive devices were found.

Division 99 troops continue to operate in the central Gaza Strip. In the last 24 hours, forces have eliminated armed terrorists during close-range battles. Additionally, several military structures in the area used for terrorist purposes and posing a threat to the fighters were destroyed.

THE NORTH

Two days have gone by without almost any firing at the North from Hezbollah. There is no apparent reason for the quiet other than the fact that it is now Eid al-Adha, the Muslim holiday that began on Sunday and will end on Wednesday. Israel has decreased its attacks on Lebanon. Nevertheless, the IDF stated:

An Israeli Air Force aircraft targeted and killed Muhammad Mustafa Ayoub, a key operative in Hezbollah’s ‘Nasser’ rocket and missile unit, in the Selaa area of southern Lebanon. In recent months, Ayoub was involved in orchestrating rocket fire toward Israeli civilians and was engaged in planning and promoting terrorist activities from southern Lebanon toward Israeli territory.

American mediator Amos Hochstein arrived in Israel today. Hochstein met both with Prime Minister Netanyahu, as well as with President Herzog. Tomorrow, Hochstein heads to Lebanon. However, it’s clear that unless there is an end to the fighting in Gaza, Hezbollah will not stop firing in the North.