The 184th Day of War in Israel

As we enter the seventh month of fighting in Gaza, Israel has lost 260 soldiers in battle. Since October 7th, more than 600 soldiers and security personal have been killed. On October 7^th, more than 1,250 Israelis were murdered by Hamas terrorists, and over 250 were taken prisoner. 134 hostages, many presumed no longer alive, remain captive in Gaza.

Israeli negotiators were pulled back from the hostage and ceasefire talks after Hamas’ Politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh said that the talks were at a dead end. He would not budge from his demands that Israel immediately call a ceasefire and leave Gaza. However, on Friday, Ynet news reported that Mossad head David Barnea would head back to Cairo to meet with CIA director Birns today, Sunday, to try to restart the talks. Our understanding is that Hamas is also sending a delegation.

According the Ynetnews, the US has told Israel that Israel’s plan to evacuate Gazans from Rafah is not feasible. In a virtual meeting between Jake Sullivan, Anthony Blinken, Tzachi Hanegbi and Ron Dermer, it was made clear to the Israelis that they and the US were on ‘completely different pages.’ The Times of Israel reported that Dermer lost his temper and began shouting at Blinken and Sullivan.

Reportedly, the US says the plan was incomplete. There was no comprehensive outline of how to move nearly a 1.5 million Gazans, nor who was going to provide the tents for them, or the water, and food and take care of the sewage.

Let us hope that the meeting in Cairo to continue dialogue about freeing the hostages will bear fruit so that those still alive may return to their loved ones.