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Update May 7th

By May 7, 2024No Comments

UPDATES ON THE WAR – Day 214 (May 7th):

*We are one Day 214 (May 7th).

Anderson Tours enjoyed a wonderful Holy Land Tour experience from April 4- 20th and were in Jordan when Iran launched their rockets towards Israel. Follow our posts from that trip that are going up now: Anderson Tours Instagram , Anderson Tours Facebook, and/or Anderson Tours YouTube Channel

*Due to this Tour and our Book of Mormon Tour that begins tomorrow we are behind in our Blog updates. We apologize and will provide a summary below of the last several weeks important points.

Headlines:

  • Cease-fire negotiations have been very intense and Hamas just accepted the Cease-fire terms put forth by Israel just as Israel began their advances into Rafah. This was unexpected and now Israel has a very tough decision to make.
  • The IDF said it took control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt overnight into Tuesday. Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that the operation in Rafah will not stop until Hamas is eliminated or the first hostage is released.
  • Israel’s incursion into Rafah will be “a limited military operation” with the objective of pressuring Hamas to agree to a hostage release deal, CNN reported. White House national security spokesperson John Kirby later said Israel told the U.S. that its operation in Rafah “was limited, and designed to cut off from Hamas’ ability to smuggle weapons and funds into Gaza.”
  • Hamas said that Israel’s seizing of the Rafah crossing aims to undermine efforts to reach a cease-fire agreement. The Palestinian Authority had called on the U.S. to “intervene immediately” to prevent Israel from invading Rafah, the official Palestinian WAFA news agency reported.
  • Egypt’s Foreign Ministry warned that Israel’s operation in Gaza’s Rafah threatens cease-fire efforts, and called it “a dangerous escalation threatening over a million Palestinians.”
  • An Israeli delegation landed in Egypt to continue negotiations for a cease-fire/hostage deal with Hamas
  • The cease-fire proposal that Hamas said it accepted on Monday contains “minor wording changes” from the original offer Israel and the U.S. had presented, the New York Times reported. However officials told an Israeli News source that one key difference is that Israel demanded Hamas release 33 live hostages in the first stage of the deal, but Hamas proposed 33 hostages who are “dead or alive.”
  • White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said “a close assessment of the two sides’ positions suggests that they should be able to close the remaining gaps,” and that CIA chief Bill Burns is attending negotiations to represent the U.S.
  • A Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson described Hamas’ response to the truce proposal as “positive,” adding that a Qatari delegation will head to Cairo to resume indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas.
  • Family members of hostages held in Gaza said during a protest in Tel Aviv that if ending the war is the only way to return the captives, then Israel should end the war.

OUCH:

  • Attacks on Red Sea shipping forces 66% decline in Suez Canal traffic – ONS
  • ONS data shows how the number of cargo vessels using the key artery linking Europe and the gateway to Asia has fallen significantly, threatening to fan the flames of inflation again in the process.
  • According to the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry in Gaza, at least 34,789 Palestinians have been killed and 78,204 wounded since the start of the war.
  • Some 30 rockets were fired from Gaza at border communities, a regional council said, with half successfully intercepted by Iron Dome and the rest falling in open areas.

YEAH:

  • A maritime pier constructed by the U.S. military to speed the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza should be open within a matter of days, despite poor weather that is hampering preparations, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said.

JERUSALEM:

  • Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet yesterday voted unanimously to close local operations of Qatari-owned Al Jazeera, describing it as a mouthpiece for Hamas. The ban can be extended in 45-day increments and is expected to be challenged in Israeli courts. It marks the first time Israel has shuttered a foreign news outlet.
  • The government of Qatar established Al Jazeera in 1996 (see history). For years, Israeli officials have accused the network of bias and incitement, while Qatar—which hosts several Hamas leaders—remains one of Hamas’ biggest financial supporters. Al Jazeera has meanwhile accused Israel of killing and targeting its journalists, including prominent Palestinian American reporter Shireen Abu Akleh. Following yesterday’s announcement, Israeli officers raided Al Jazeera offices in East Jerusalem while the outlet was taken off air.

GAZA (NORTH):

  • Israel Air Force jets struck targets in Gaza from which rockets were fired on Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha in southern Israel on Friday, according to an IDF statement on Saturday (May 4th).
  • Launches were detected from Khan Yunis towards Israel on Saturday, although they fell near the security fence in southern Gaza. The IDF responded by targeting the areas from which the launches occurred.
  • Israeli aircraft also struck a ready-to-fire mortar launcher aimed at IDF troops in the central Gaza Strip.
  • After the IDF confirmed the evacuation of civilians in the area, fighter jets struck rocket launchers aimed at Israel in the south of the Strip.

GAZA (SOUTH):

  • Israel began striking targetsin eastern Rafah less than 24 hours after warning roughly 100,000 residents in the area to evacuate. Israel believes Rafah, a city that sits on the shared border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, is the last Hamas stronghold. The US and other allies oppose Israel’s ground offensive, partly due to the humanitarian crisis in the region.

POST WAR GAZA:

  • PALESTINIAN STATE: Several European member states are expected to recognize Palestinian statehood by the end of May, the EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on the sidelines of a World Economic Forum special meeting in Riyadh.

IN THE NORTH (LEBANON):

  • The IDF said that several drones that infiltrated northern Israel from Lebanon were successfully intercepted. Israeli forces struck Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon in response to the drone launches.
  • Around40 rockets were fired at northern Israel from Lebanon, the IDF said, adding that some were intercepted. No casualties were reported. The IDF said the air force struck Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon overnight into Sunday (May 5th).
  • The Israeli army said it killed Mosab Khala, a senior member of the al-Jamaa al-Islamiya terror group, in an airstrike in Lebanon. According to the IDF, Khalaf was planning acts of terror against northern Israel while coordinating with Hamas’ Lebanese arm

IN THE SOUTH (RED SEA):

  • A Greek military vessel serving in the EU’s Red Sea naval mission intercepted two drones launched by Yemen’s Houthis towards a commercial ship, the Greek Defense Ministry said.

WEST BANK:

  • The Israeli army conducted an operation in the West Bank town of Deir al-Ghusun near Tul Karm, destroying a house where wanted individuals were hiding. Five wanted terrorist suspects were killed, and one turned himself in. Their identities have not yet been released. An Israeli police officer was also seriously wounded during the operation.
  • The U.K. announced sanctions against four Israeli settlers and a far-right organization for acts of violence against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank.

NEGOTIATIONS – HOSTAGE RELEASE – CEASE FIRE:

  • See Major Headlines above! It is THE hot topic.

GLOBAL RESPONSE & INVOLVEMENT:

  • US University student protesters: Most protesters are calling for their schools to divest from entities that they say support or benefit from Israel’s war in Gaza. Over 2,200 people have been arrested on campuses since April 18, according to CNN’s ongoing review. Spain
  • Columbia University canceled its main commencement ceremony following weekslong student protests on the Israel-Hamas war.
  • The U.K. announced sanctions against four Israeli settlers and a far-right organization for acts of violence against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank.
  • Turkey said it won’t resume trade with Israel until a permanent cease-fire in Gaza is achieved.
  • Saudi normalization with Israel will likely only happen if Israel agrees to “get out of Gaza, freeze the building of settlements in the West Bank and embark on a three- to five-year ‘pathway’ to establish a Palestinian state in the occupied territories,” Biden confidant Thomas Friedman wrote in the New York Times, adding it was clear to U.S. and Saudi officials that PM Netanyahu is unlikely to agree to such terms.
  • CAMPUS WARS: S. President Biden addressed campus protests against the war, saying that “peaceful protest is in the best tradition of how Americans respond to consequential issues,” but that “there should be no place on any campus, no place in America for antisemitism, or threats of violence against Jewish students.”
  • The U.S. military’s cost estimate to build a pier off Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid has risen to $320 million, a U.S. defense official and an additional source told Reuters.

TEL AVIV/SOUTHERN ISRAEL:

IN THE EAST (JORDAN/IRAQ/SYRIA):

  • Iran launched an unprecedented attack on Israel overnight into Sunday, firing more than 350 missiles and drones from its territory, as pro-Iranian forces joined in from Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Yemen. The IDF said 99 percent of the launches were intercepted with help from the U.S., Britain, France and Jordan.
  • Iranian forces have pulled out of bases in Damascus and southern Syria, and will potentially be replaced by Iraqi militants, the London-based Asharq Al-Awsat reported, citing a source close to Hezbollah. According to the source, Hezbollah forces have replaced the Iranians in areas around Damascus, Daraa, and Quneitra.
  • Two days before Iran’s attack on Israel, Iranian officials informed counterparts in Saudi Arabia and Gulf states about their plans so that they could protect their airspace, Egyptian and Saudi sources told the Wall Street Journal, adding that several Arab governments feared assisting Israel could risk fallout with Iran. Following talks with the U.S., Saudi Arabia and the UAE secretly agreed to share intel about the attack.

Holy Land Scripture Series

*If you would like to gain more understanding of the history of this country and conflict from a scriptural standpoint we recommend you take our Holy Land Scripture Course created to accompany our Virtual Tour of the Holy Land. Link below:

 

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER:

What should Israel do in order to secure peaceful borders and relations with the Palestinians and other Arab neighbors as well as facilitate the release the hostages still being held in Gaza?   

Who Should Lead the Palestinians After the Gaza War, and How?

*We know the questions are MANY and the issues deep and complex. We hope the information shared on this blog will help you process all the information and issues.

*If you would like to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications when new posts are made please email Dr. Clark Anderson at clark@andersontours.com

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