DAY 75 OF THE GAZA WAR: Israel Redeploys Some Troops, No Immediate Hostage Deal
Tel Aviv Diary, December 20, 2023
Intensive combat continued today in Gaza. The IDF announced the deaths of two additional soldiers. The Army now claims to have operational control over both the city of Shuja'iyya and the city of Jabaliya. While individual terrorists may still emerge from within these areas, the IDF believes organized resistance from Hamas has ended in both cities. Some IDF forces are being redeployed to a new, final area in northern Gaza, while other units are being rotated out for rest and recuperation, in preparation for subsequent re-engagement in the southern part of Gaza. For the past 24 hours, not a single rocket has been launched from Gaza into Israel. This undoubtedly represents a major accomplishment of Israel’s ground attack in Gaza.
The big question is … What happens next? With the assumption that most of Hamas's tunnels, rockets, and other munitions in the areas currently under Israel's control are being destroyed, attention is now shifting to the civilians who will eventually return and face the challenge of rebuilding. Ongoing debates focus on who should govern Gaza after the war, but a definitive preference has yet to emerge. A TV host humorously suggested that only Martians would be willing to take on the role. The problem of governance over Gaza is becoming urgent. Since there has been no prior preparation, devising a plan now will be challenging.
IN THE NORTH
The incidents on the Lebanese border closely resemble those of yesterday. The only difference is that, thankfully, today no one was wounded. Hezbollah has reported 119 deaths among its members since the war's outset.
.
HOSTAGES
In Israel, there has been considerable dialogue regarding a new deal aimed at securing the release of additional hostages. This includes discussions about the terms of the deal and consultations with the hostages' families. There is talk that Israel has proposed a two-week ceasefire in exchange for the release of all the elderly, injured, and chronically ill hostages. The story of the hostages and any rumors of negotiations often leads the news, though these conversations appear more theatrical than substantive. Hamas has reiterated today that they will only negotiate the release of further hostages as part of a permanent ceasefire agreement. President Biden stated tonight that while he is working on a hostage release deal, the prospects of an imminent agreement appear unlikely.
More information has emerged regarding the hostages who were tragically killed by friendly fire last week. On December 10, the Army sent a specially trained dog into a building. The dog located the hostages, who realized the canine was wearing a camera. The hostages spoke to the dog’s camera in Hebrew, giving their names. The terrorists discovered and killed the dog, after which soldiers entered the building and eliminated the terrorists.
The soldiers did hear voices yelling in Hebrew, but suspected it was a trap. The dog's body was not recovered. At that point, the hostages, no longer guarded, moved cautiously from house to house. The hostages displayed a sign reading “[We are] hostages, save us,” which was first spotted on December 13th, but the warning sign was also dismissed as a potential trap. Finally, on December 15th, after no rescue forces arrived, the hostage trio attempted to reach the Israeli troops, who, unaware of the sign they had hung or the earlier encounter with the dog, heartbreakingly shot and killed the hostages.
ANTHONY BLINKEN
Today, at his end-of-year press conference, Secretary of State Blinken said:
What is striking to me is that even as we hear many countries urging an end to this conflict, I hear virtually no one demanding of Hamas that it stop using civilians as shields, that it disarm, that it surrender. This conflict could end tomorrow if Hamas did that. How can it be that demands are only made of the victim and not the aggressor? A strong international voice pressing Hamas to take the necessary steps to end this would be beneficial.
Bret Stephen had an excellent article in the New York Times today, titled: “Why I can’t Stop Writing about October 7”.
Here are two excerpts from Stephen’s article I found particularly interesting:
When progressives think the most despicable name in the world is Benjamin Netanyahu and the far right thinks it’s George Soros, we have a problem.
I don’t think my mom will die in hiding. I wonder about my kids. America has been good to Jews since 1655, when the Dutch West India Company rebuked Peter Stuyvesant for refusing trade permits to some Jewish newcomers in what was then New Amsterdam. But if there’s one lesson of Jewish history, it’s that nothing good stays — and why we still say, at the end of every Passover Seder, “Next year in Jerusalem.”
BUSINESS
ScaleOps, which develops a platform for the automatic management of cloud usage, has raised $15 million in a Series A round led by Lightspeed, with participation from seed investors Glilot Capital Partners and NFX. The company's total funding is $21.5 million, including a $6.5 million Seed-round. ScaleOps has developed technology for organizations using cloud infrastructure, enabling them to optimize their cloud operations and save on budgets.
OurCrowd announced the first close of its $50M Israel Resilience Fund, with more than $13M in capital commitments, and approved the first 8 investments from the fund. OurCrowd will waive all management fees and carried interest as a contribution to Israel’s current wartime emergency. The fund, which was first announced just 40 days ago, becomes one of the fastest-closing venture funds ever to go from conception to closure and 8 actual investments, according to OurCrowd.