The Israeli Security Cabinet yesterday approved a new operation that will be carried out over the next several months in Gaza City, the last major area in Gaza controlled by Hamas.
The IDF will conduct this operation with five principles to bring an end to the war:
Disarm Hamas.
Return all the hostages.
Demilitarize Gaza.
Establish Israeli security control in Gaza.
Establish a new civil administration in Gaza that's not Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority.
Simultaneously, Israel and the United States will rapidly expand the number of humanitarian distribution sites across Gaza and continue the surge of aid into the Strip. Read more on Israel's aid efforts below.
Prime Minister Netanyahu made clear in an interview yesterday that, "We don’t want to keep [Gaza]. We want to have a security perimeter. We don’t want to govern it. We don’t want to be there as a governing body. We want to hand it over to Arab forces that will govern it properly without threatening us and give Gazans a good life. That is not possible with Hamas."
Netanyahu reiterated this point in a social media post today:
Israel is taking this step after Hamas rejected multiple U.S.-brokered ceasefire offers, including a deal presented two weeks ago by Egypt and Qatar.
The terror group could end this war today by surrendering power and freeing the hostages, instead it's doubling down on its sick strategy and bringing terrible pain and suffering to millions of Israelis and Palestinians.
The United States and international community must increase the pressure on Hamas, not Israel, to accept a deal and release the hostages.
Below are more key stories and links to share AIPAC social media content. We'll continue to provide the latest updates on our social media channels.
Shabbat Shalom,
Jake Braunstein
Director of Policy Communications
Israel is surging aid into Gaza
Israel's humanitarian efforts are continuing apace, airdropping another 72 humanitarian aid packages into the enclave today, for more than 1,000 aid packages since Israel began surging aid last week.
At the same time, the U.S.- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has now delivered 112 million meals to Gazans.
Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), currently on a trip to Israel, visited a GHF site near the Kerem Shalom crossing "to see firsthand the efforts to get aid into Gaza."
"We must ensure aid can reach Gazans in need, not Hamas terrorists who continue to steal food from innocent Palestinians. With so much misinformation, there is no better way to understand the situation than to see it firsthand," he said.
Gottheimer's visit comes as delegations of Democratic and Republican freshmen members of Congress are currently on the ground in Israel with AIEF, AIPAC's charitable affiliate. More on these trips below.
Bipartisan members of Congress in Israel with AIEF
House Republicans and Democrats are on the ground in Israel this week on a trip organized by the American Israel Education Foundation (AIEF), the charitable organization affiliated with AIPAC.
The members of Congress came together in a bipartisan show of support for our democratic ally, and have toured historic, religious and strategic sites across the country, and engaged with senior Israeli leaders.
House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar (D-CA) and House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) planted a tree together at the Nova music festival memorial site.
GHF meets with U.N. aid officials
Senior U.N. aid officials met on Wednesday with GHF chair Johnnie Moore, in a meeting brokered by the United States, the first time the U.N. has directly engaged with the foundation since it began operating, Axiosreports.
The U.N. has thus far refused to cooperate with GHF's humanitarian efforts.
Today, Moore again emphasized GHF's willingness to work with the U.N., saying that they "can work together constructively to save many lives."
Israel kills Hezbollah terrorist
In an airstrike today, the IDF killed a Hezbollah intelligence commander in southern Lebanon.
The terrorist, Mohammad Hamza Shehadeh, was the chief of intelligence in Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force.
The IDF said his activities were a violation of the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon.
Yesterday, the Lebanese government formally committed to enforcing the ceasefire agreement and disarming Hezbollah.
@NYTimes: Call on the world to demand Hamas finally end this war by surrendering power and freeing all 50 hostages.
Read Evyatar David's brother's powerful and heart-wrenching op-ed in The New York Post, where he calls on the world to help free his brother from captivity.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson was on the ground in Israel with AIEF this week.
Rep. Julie Fedorchak visited the Western Wall while in Israel with AIEF.
The mission of AIPAC is to encourage and persuade the U.S. government to enact specific policies that create a strong, enduring and mutually beneficial relationship with our ally Israel.
