
Israel Poised to Assault Last Gaza Town
00:00How significant is it that Israel are pushing into David Bella? Well, to judge from Adam Bella's comments that you just add kinetic action, which is code for military strikes, is imminent in this town that Israel had skirted previously during this more than 21 month old war. The reason for that skirting, we're told, is that the Israelis and some Palestinians believe that in this town of held hostages, a group of hostages, potentially a large number of them hostages that Israel wants to get out alive through negotiations or possibly through a military rescue. It now appears the Israelis are signaling that they're willing to take this town in order to continue pressure on Hamas, to continue the conquest of the Gaza Strip, even potentially if there's a risk to those hostages. The question is whether this will be borne out on the ground with actual troop advances or whether this is an effort to generate more pressure on Hamas in those talks being hosted by Qatar to capitulate, to yield to the issue of hostages rather than see more death and destruction in the Gaza Strip. What are the main sticking points this time around? Because there was renewed hope, especially after the Iran Israel 12 day war, that some progress could be made. And indeed, we know, as you said, that negotiators were sent to to continue along with those ceasefire discussions. What are the sticking points this time around on the sticking points this time around? The sticking points we've seen before, except right now we have the rubber hitting the road in terms of us really being the last batch of hostages, 50 hostages down from the 250 taken by Hamas on October seven, 2023, that attack which triggered this ongoing war, whereas in previous cease fire talks, Hamas may have felt it could give up. And I'm putting those in quote marks. It could give up some of those hostages for the short term gains of a cease fire. Now, Hamas realizes that these truce talks are not just instrumental, they're existential for Hamas. Israel says that a truce, if it leads to a open ended end to the war, must also see the end of Hamas rule and the end of the Hamas arsenal in the Gaza Strip. Hamas is not willing to accommodate that. So the question is whether the sides can pull off another cease fire, which would not necessarily lead to an end to the war when they remain far apart on what an end to the war would look like. That, yet again, is keeping the sides apart, despite the optimistic remarks we heard just then from the Trump administration, which really would like to see this war in its rear window.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Hill
25 minutes ago
- The Hill
Ron Paul slams cruel response to Gaza famine; libertarians oppose starvation!
It's not only my friends on the left who are concerned about the plight of the innocent civilians in Gaza. Former Rep. Ron Paul, a libertarian Republican revered by non-interventionists for opposing war and speaking out against some of the actions of the Israeli government, is slamming those in the U.S. who are evincing indifference to the suffering of the Gazans. Worse than indifference, at least one member of Congress even indicated that he supports the starvation of the Gazans. That's contemptible. Here is Dr. Paul speaking out, during a podcast with Daniel McAdams of the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity. 'You know, summarizing what you say, about the hostages, 'release the hostages,' the way I would phrase that, 'do what we say or these are the results, we're gonna starve, starve the little ones.' It's hard for me to accept that as a basic principle, so the people in this country surely ought to be at least thoughtful enough to look at both sides of this. To look at pictures like that and what's going on — the truth is, what happens in these countries, and a lot of bad things happen, it happens with U.S. support, and that means morally we are responsible.' Paul was reacting to a post on X by Rep. Randy Fine, a Republican of Florida. In that post, Fine wrote: 'Release the hostages. Until then, starve away.' And then he added: 'This is all a lie anyway. It amazes me that the media continues to regurgitate Muslim terror propaganda.' Now look, I have seen it suggested that not all the images of Gazan children starving that have been circulated in the media are accurate. But isn't that beside the point? We know from multiple credible accounts that there is a serious risk of famine in the Gaza Strip — that the people there are in desperate shape. And according to Fine, they should all starve because Hamas is still keeping hostages? It should go without saying, but that is an appalling moral outlook. If you are willing to starve thousands and thousands of innocent people in order to punish terrorists hiding among them, where does your penchant for collective punishment and retaliatory violence end? We obviously would not apply so logic to ourselves: Evil actions on the part of our government would not justify the deliberate starvation of thousands of American people. And as Dr. Paul points out in his video, it's not as if anyone is asking the American taxpayers to forcibly contribute to the aid of Gazans: What we are saying is that aid organizations should be allowed to operate in the Gaza Strip. Israel has bombed and bombed and bombed Gaza, crippled its infrastructure, and killed thousands of people. At this point, the government of Israel does bear some moral responsibility for the suffering of the people there. The U.S. government cannot take the position that Israel is free to blockade the strip and prevent willing aid organizations from distributing food to the people there. It's unconscionable. I share the goal of destroying Hamas. But the destruction of Hamas cannot come at any cost. This cost is too high — especially when the U.S. government will be treated as morally complicit, given our ironclad support of Israel. Ron Paul is not the only Republican who thinks Randy Fine's stance on starvation in Gaza is evil. So too does a man named Aaron Baker. Baker writes on X: 'I do NOT support starving children. I do NOT support punishing citizens for having the worst government in existence.' Baker is a pro-Trump, pro-Second Amendment, pro-free-speech, pro-border, pro-capitalism, America First Republican, and he is running in the Republican primary against Randy Fine in 2026. Floridians should pay attention to him.


Fox News
26 minutes ago
- Fox News
Mark Levin: I'm 'sick and tired' of lectures from Europe
'Life, Liberty & Levin' host Mark Levin discusses U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer's threat to recognize Palestine as a state if Israel doesn't agree to a ceasefire and the NY Times' correction on child malnutrition.


Fox News
26 minutes ago
- Fox News
DAVID MARCUS: Democrats, media betray Israel, but look who stands firm
When Hamas launched its barbaric attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, the real goal was not to kill Jews, it was to start a major conflict in which thousands of Palestinians in Gaza would be killed as human shields, which history has taught these terrorists would turn the West against the Jewish state. If not for the fortitude of President Donald Trump, his GOP allies, and a handful of stalwart Democrats, this plan would have worked already. But now, just as Israel looks to finish Hamas, the useful idiots are making one last anti-Israel push. On the Pod Save America podcast, which we are given to understand represents the mainstream Democrat Party, the hosts this week called to cut off military aid to Israel, sanction Israeli leaders, and finally said, "When the war ends, we are not going back to the pre-October 7 status quo." Hamas couldn't move literal pawns around an actual chessboard with such ease. And why do we see this growing betrayal of our greatest ally in the region? It is because Israel is allegedly starving Gazans, as depicted by the front page of The New York Times, which showed an image of a child supposedly showing the effects of malnutrition. The problem is that The New York Times was lied to, the child in question suffered from a pre-existing condition, and his healthy brother was cropped from the picture. The Grey Lady has now issued a sort-of correction, but let's be honest, the damage was done. Meanwhile, in Europe, both France and the United Kingdom are now threatening to recognize a Palestinian state, which one imagines means recognizing Hamas as its rightful government, which is exactly what the terrorists hoped their barbarism would achieve. It's amazing: Europe is like Hamas' bullpen. Whenever Israel starts winning, they get some country up throwing. In the face of so much fecklessness from the West on Israel, Trump and his Republican Party continue to stand like a lighthouse of liberty and freedom in a dark storm of moral relativism. On Tuesday, Trump addressed the possibility of a Palestinian state and quite sensibly said, "You could make the case that you're rewarding people, that you're rewarding Hamas if you do that. I don't think they should be rewarded. I'm not in that camp, to be honest." Trump's point here is obviously true. If the result of massacring Jews is that Palestinians get a state, then clearly Oct. 7 was a success and will be repeated over and over regardless of how many innocents die. When Palestinian mothers hold up their babies and pray one day they will be martyrs, that isn't a PR stunt, they mean it. The more that this evil is coddled by cowards in the West, the longer death and destruction will reign. This sudden moral panic over Israel also comes at a time when Trump has the region as close to possible peace as it has ever been. The Abraham Accords have eased regional tensions outside of Gaza, the attack on Iran has weakened the Middle East's greatest threat to peace, more and more countries are open to recognizing Israel. Yet western liberals seem hellbent on fomenting anger in the Arab street. It seems that every time Trump's negotiators, such as Howard Lutnick, get close to a deal in Gaza, the west's useful idiots start throwing Hamas rhetorical lifelines that only serve to prolong the bloody conflict. There is no question that horrible suffering is happening in Gaza. Trump has not only acknowledged this, but worked, within reason, to urge Israel to allow more supplies in. But without the release of the hostages and surrender of Hamas, Israel cannot stand down. It is frankly baffling that so many on the left in the West want to prolong the status quo in the Middle East, to make sure both sides have just enough support that the fighting never ends, and yet, what other result can this appeasement have? Trump understands something I learned talking to people in Israel last year: They are not going to end this war and just wait to be attacked again. Those days are over, they are not coming back. With the support, and even sometimes guidance, of Trump, Israel will finish this fight, and when it does, it will be Trump's vision of a new Middle East that triumphs, not the Left's perverse desire to keep the conflict going forever. For that, we should all be thankful.