8 March 2024

Even though all eyes are on the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, this front is actually the least important in Israel's current multi-front war. 

The reason for this is quite simple: Hamas and Palestinian Jihad in Gaza are isolated and do not pose an existential threat to Israel - certainly not now after they were handed devastating blows by the IDF.

Hezbollah and the Ansar Allah (Houthis) militia in Yemen, on the other hand, are much more dangerous because they are not isolated, have much better armaments, and essentially operate as a division of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Hezbollah and Ansar Allah are also a potential danger to world peace for the aforementioned reasons with the latter already rapidly becoming a threat to world peace due to the continuing attacks on maritime traffic in the Red Sea.

Hezbollah's activities are not limited to Lebanon as the terror group is also active in Syria and Yemen, where the Lebanese terror group is now helping Ansar Allah set up its own weapons production lines.

At the same time, with Ramadan approaching, tensions will inevitably rise in Jerusalem, especially around the Temple Mount. In recent years, Hamas has sought to use Ramadan to ignite violence against Israelis. 
 
Finally, this week in his State of Union address, President Biden stated: “As we look to the future, the only real solution is a two-state solution. I say this as a lifelong supporter of Israel and the only American president to visit Israel in wartime. There is no other path that guarantees Israel’s security and democracy.” 
 
According to Israel, a Palestinian state in the foreseeable future would be a disaster. Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs, Ron Dermer, put it like this: ‘Anybody talking about a Palestinian state right now is living on another planet because it will be the greatest reward for terrorism. That the international community will reward somebody for doing what was done on Oct.7 would be a complete disaster. If tomorrow, there would be a Palestinian state, it would be a clear and present danger to the Jewish state.’
 
And so it is important that we pray for the leaders of all Israel and of all nations, and especially that Jerusalem will remain peaceful in the coming days during Ramadan, and that the leaders of Iran and Hezbollah will not seek to escalate their hostility against Israel into a regional war. 
 

ANALYSIS: Iran, Hezbollah and the final phase in the multi-front war against Israel
Yochanan Visser at Christians for Israel: Political leaders in Israel have repeatedly made it clear that the IDF and IAF are capable of returning Lebanon to the Stone Age with a pre-emptive strike against Hezbollah. Such an attack now seems more likely by the day. 

Dermer to JNS: ‘We are sending Hamas into the dustbin of history’
JNS: Israel’s Minister for Strategic Affairs, Ron Dermer, says: ‘Our war aims are to: dismantling Hamas militarily; remove Hamas as a governing power in the Strip; remove any security threat to Israel; and bring the hostages home. And I’d say that we are achieving the war objectives pretty methodically.’

Dermer to JNS: ‘Anybody talking about Palestinian state right now is living on another planet’ 
JNS: In Part II of an exclusive interview, War Cabinet member and Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer, former Ambassador to the United States and close confidante of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, discusses “the day after” the war in the Gaza Strip and an international push for Palestinian statehood.

Israel’s defense establishment prepares for multiple Ramadan scenarios
JNS: The Israeli defense establishment and Israel Police are preparing for a range of security scenarios during the traditionally tense Muslim Ramadan month, which begins on the evening of March 10, give or take a day, as the war against Hamas in Gaza rages on. Thus far, Hamas has failed to ignite Judea and Samaria with violence, and it views Ramadan as a new opportunity to do that—both in eastern Jerusalem and in Judea and Samaria. It will likely try to stress religious fundamentalist themes to call on Palestinian masses to take part in violent disorders, and rally under the banner of the “Al-Aqsa Flood” (the name Hamas gave its Oct. 7 attack).

The scapegoating of Israel
Melanie Philips at JNS: The name of David Cameron, Britain’s foreign secretary, is on course to become a synonym for infamy in Britain’s Jewish community to rival that of Ernest Bevin.