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From the moment Israel launched its counteroffensive against Hamas
following the 10/7 Massacre, Israeli leaders of all stripes cautioned
that the war would last many months. In this edition of the Action
Update, we'll give a brief overview of where things stand and where we
expect them to go.  

**Gaza**

Nearly 250 Israeli soldiers have been killed since ground operations in
Gaza began. During this time, Israel has vanquished Hamas as a viable
military presence in northern Gaza and significantly degraded the
terrorist organization in southern Gaza's main city of Khan Yunis. And
there were reports Monday that Israel had eliminated the third highest
ranking official in Hamas's military wing - one of the three primary
masterminds of the 10/7 Massacre. Israel also eliminated Hamas's top
military operative outside of Gaza, Salah Al-Arouri, in early January in
Lebanon along with other Hamas terrorists.

The prevailing military and intelligence consensus is that Hamas
leadership and the bulk of their remaining fighting forces are now
largely huddled in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, which sits along the
Egyptian border.

**Washington**

If Israel is to bring the hostages home and eliminate Hamas, the IDF
will have to enter Rafah in force. President Biden has expressed
opposition to this, calling it a redline. As we know, for this
administration - at least when it comes to adversaries - redlines
tend to be written in pencil.

Nonetheless, Israeli blood continues to be spilled in Gaza, and on top
of Congress's failure to provide Israel with the emergency
supplemental package, now the Biden administration is putting
significant diplomatic pressure on Jerusalem to effectively stop short
of wiping Hamas out and bringing home Israelis and Americans held
hostage.

The White House's position on Israel's operations in Israel is
driven, they claim, out of concern for the Palestinian civilian
population. Concern for the well-being of the innocent is certainly no
vice. In fact, it is laudable. That is why Israel has done everything in
its power, more than any other nation in such a circumstance, to protect
and provide humanitarian aid to the Palestinians. Jerusalem has also
made clear that it would look to remove civilians in the way of
operations in Rafah as it did in Northern Gaza.  

And when President Biden announced, during the State of the Union, plans
to build a floating pier to provide additional humanitarian aid to the
people of Gaza, Israel not only did not object but made clear that they
have been working with the U.S. government on this plan. While many
questions remain about the U.S. presence and how aid will reach
civilians and not terror groups or gangs looking to make a quick buck,
the fact of the matter remains that the blame for any suffering taking
place in Gaza falls squarely on the shoulders of Hamas and their
backers.

**Tehran**

The current war in Gaza, as well as the more than 1,000 attacks against
Israel emanating from Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, and additional
attacks from the Houthis in Yemen, would not be happening without
Iran's money, weapons and training.

As some readers will no doubt recall, during the 2023 CUFI Summit, we
lobbied in support of the Stop Harboring Iranian Petroleum (SHIP) Act.
This legislation would sanction entities, such as Chinese ports which
are the largest offenders, that aid Iran's illicit oil sales - which
recently reached a 5-year high with 1.3 million barrels of oil a day
sold, largely to China, resulting in tens of billions in revenue.

That legislation passed the House in November and Senate Foreign
Relations Committee Chairman Ben Cardin (D-MD) last week announced that
his committee is expected to advance the legislation in the coming
weeks. Once signed into law and implemented, this bill should put a
nice-sized dent in Tehran's cash flow.

**Hell on Earth**

Last week, the United Nations envoy focused on addressing instances of
sexual violence, released a report saying there are "reasonable
grounds" to believe that Hamas committed "sexual torture" amongst
other horrific atrocities.

Given that the barbarians filmed their savagery and broadcast it
publicly, we might have used more conclusory language. Moreover, given
the volume of unsubstantiated allegations regularly thrown at Israel by
the UN, the report is ultimately a begrudging acknowledgment by the UN
of the horrors we all already knew had taken place.

Israel believes 130 hostages remain in Hamas captivity; 130 human beings
continuing to endure the horrors the UN resentfully conceded occurred on
that darkest of days.

As we reported last week, there is a deal on the table that all parties
- save, of course, Hamas - believe is more than reasonable and would
see the women, elderly, wounded, and most vulnerable Israeli and
American hostages released.

This war has numerous facets and fronts, and we are working tirelessly
to fight on each one. But we cannot do that without your support. The
2024 CUFI Washington Summit is just a few months away, and we need you
there.

The 2023 Summit catapulted the SHIP Act forward, and we are soon to see
the fruits of those labors. At this year's Summit, we must do the same
for those policies that will enable Israel to vanquish all the
terrorists on her border, forever.

Sincerely,

The CUFI Action Fund Team

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