Events are happening quickly here, and it again looks like we may be at war with Lebanon in upcoming days, but here’s the news in the meantime.
Top News:
* Hostages negotiations are stalled, primarily because Hamas has refused to give Israel a list of live hostages.
* Ramadan starts today. Worldwide, there is a reported incidence of 20% increased terrorist attacks during Ramadan. Terror attacks are already up significantly in Israel since October 7.
* Palestinians are attempting to oust Israel from the UN.
https://m.jpost.com/israel-hamas-war/article-791091
* Israeli senior officials state that, while there is hunger in Gaza, the humanitarian crisis is being overblown by Hamas to gain world sympathy. There is plenty of food entering Gaza but it’s “immediately being taken by Hamas terrorists, who then sell some of the supplies for ten times more than what it’s worth.” In the meantime, shipments of US aid dropped into Gaza have inadvertently killed several people when the food parachutes didn’t correctly deploy.
More terrorism in Israel, including
* Soldier injured in terrorist ambush in Ramallah Monday; terrorist attack narrowly averted by Balata refugee camp terrorist; yet another stabbing of a soldier at Yizhar Junction; elderly man stabbed in Neve Yaakov Jerusalem by a 14-year-old East Jerusalemite; the Shin Bet stopped a terror attack from Hebron; and terrorists threw a bomb on the West Bank, injuring three Israelis.
And overseas:
* A Palestinian mob Tuesday surrounded the Jewish community center in Cote-des-Neiges, Montreal, calling for an intifada against Israel, and harassing everyone entering or leaving; a Jordanian was arrested in Florida for attacking Jews with a dagger; & Jewish students were threatened by pro-Palestinians at Exeter, among other incidents.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/386253
And the rest of the news, in roughly chronological order:
* Turkey firmly backs Hamas, claims they’re not terrorists.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/erdogan-says-turkey-firmly-backs-terror-group-hamas-compares-netanyahu-to-hitler/
* Israel announced last Sunday it will agree to edit the lyrics of its Eurovision song submission to ensure that it can participate. There were calls to eliminate Israel regardless of the song. The original “October Rain” included the lyrics “I’m still wet from the October rain,” and in Hebrew: “There is no air left to breathe/ No place, no me, from day to day. They were all good kids, all of them,” lyrics deemed objectionable/political by Eurovision.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-says-it-will-edit-song-lyrics-to-avoid-being-disqualified-from-eurovision/
* UNRWA, discredited for its Hamas ties, lashes back, claiming Israel guilty of various abuses, none proven, in NYT piece.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/03/world/middleeast/unrwa-gaza-detention-israel.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
* Lebanese real estate mogul Mohamed Hadid said on Instagram that President Biden is at war against the Palestinians and that Biden would be hunted down like a Nazi war criminal.
https://m.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/article-790087
* One killed, 7 Thai workers wounded in Lebanese missile fire aimed at Israel.
https://m.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-790125
* CNN staff, including anchor Christiane Amanpour, claim CNN coverage is too pro-Israel.
https://m.jpost.com/israel-hamas-war/article-790054
* The Shin Bet thwarted a major terrorist attack.
* As part of the hostage demands, Hamas demands 500 Gazan families per day to be allowed back into north Gaza, and the release of at least 20 Palestinians serving life sentence (the kind you don’t want as neighbors). Hostage negotiations are stalled, mostly because Hamas refuses to tell Israel how many hostages are alive.
* Jordan wants more water from Israel.
* Turkey’s inflation is now 67%.
* The U.S. national debt adds $1 trillion every three months.
* Four of its telecom cables under the Red Sea were cut, affecting 25% of traffic, Hong Kong firm HGC Global Communications said Tuesday. It is unclear how Israeli service providers are affected.
* The FBI announced an urgent manhunt for an Iranian secret agent accused of plotting to assassinate Trump officials including Mike Pompeo in revenge for the killing of Qasem Soleimani.
* Palestinian protesters chased US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez out of a movie theater In Brooklyn, yelling that she refused to acknowledge the genocide. AOC responded, "This is f’d up, you are not helping those people". (AOC is an ardent Palestinian supporter.)
* The UN concluded (five months late to the party, but ok) that the Hamas Oct 7 attack included sexual violence.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/04/world/middleeast/israel-hamas-un-report-sexual-violence.html
* Minister Benny Gantz told US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, “Ending the war without clearing out Rafah is like sending a firefighter to extinguish 80% of the fire.”
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/386250
* The E3 group (France, Germany and the United Kingdom) shelved plans to censure Iran at UN nuclear meeting Tuesday for fear of aggravating geopolitical tensions, diplomats said. The International Atomic Energy Agency had said in confidential quarterly reports that Tehran’s cooperation with the agency remained poor on several outstanding nuclear issues.
* Israel is attempting to draw attention to the UN report acknowledging Hamas may be guilty of sexual violations. (They’re not having much luck.)
https://m.jpost.com/israel-hamas-war/article-790664
* The Wall Street Journal reported that Qatar may expel Hamas leaders from their base in Doha if they don’t come to an agreement on hostages. Hamas has denied this.
Catch up on last week’s most-read pieces:
Funny Friday
https://open.substack.com/pub/fernmusing/p/war-day-161-funny-friday?r=3cvqw&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
Throwback Thursday
https://open.substack.com/pub/fernmusing/p/war-day-153-throwback-thursday-nostalgia
International Women’s Day
https://open.substack.com/pub/fernmusing/p/war-day-152-thanks-international
Black is White
https://open.substack.com/pub/fernmusing/p/war-day-151-black-is-white-on-super
We Are All Held Hostage
https://open.substack.com/pub/fernmusing/p/war-day-150-we-are-all-held-hostage
Last Week’s Sunday News Round-Up
https://open.substack.com/pub/fernmusing/p/war-day-149-sunday-round-up
Please keep in mind that numbers are sometimes corrected by the press after their initial publication; aka, there might be a disconnect between what the linked article ends up concluding and what I’ve written here.
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Great digest thanks Fern