This piece was written by a Sci-Fi author that I follow. Some of his opinions are accurate while others are not as cogent.



https://open.substack.com/pub/declanfinn/p/whats-woke?r=4a0ai&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

That's great!

I check my account on-line at ssa.gov.

CA is not likely.
I'm glad this will not happen in the Federal System, especially in Intellectual Property.

"the tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants"

Safe travels.

Simply beautiful.

Hamas has launched over 20,000 missiles into Israel. Israel has proposed a 2 state solution 6 times since 1947 that was rejected. Yassar Arafat had broken the agreement.
I agree with a 1 state soulution.

The U.S. and several Arab states reportedly aim to present a long-term plan for Israeli-Palestinian peace, including a timeframe for the establishment of a Palestinian state. CIA chief William Burns visited Israel and met PM Netanyahu after the latter ordered Israel's delegation not to return to Cairo for continuing talks on a possible new hostage release/cease-fire deal. The IDF is operating in Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis. The IDF said it killed a senior commander in Hezbollah's elite Radwan Force amid a barrage of rockets fired at the Israeli city of Kiryat Shmona.

Here's what you need to know 132 days into the war


What happened today

Hostage Square in Tel Aviv, Israel.

■ HOSTAGES/CEASE-FIRE: The U.S. and several Arab states aim to present a long-term plan for peace between Israel and the Palestinians within a few weeks, including a time frame for the establishment of a Palestinian state, the Washington Post reported.

An Israeli political source confirmed to Haaretz that Israel's government is aware of the Biden administration's efforts to present an initiative for a two-state solution in the coming weeks.

A spokesperson in PM Netanyahu's office said in response to the report that "Now is not the time to be speaking about gifts for the Palestinian people," adding that "all discussions about the day after Hamas will be had the day after Hamas."

Following a visit to Cairo on Wednesday, CIA director William Burns visited Israel and met with PM Netanyahu and the head of the Mossad, David Barnea.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said that any agreement Hamas would reach with Israel would have to guarantee a cease-fire, an Israeli retreat from Gaza, and a "major hostage exchange deal."

The leaders of Canada, Australia and New Zealand called for an immediate humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza in a joint statement released in response to reports about Israel's planned military operation in Rafah.

Jimmy Pacheco, a citizen of the Philippines kidnapped by Hamas from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, spoke to Israeli army radio about his captivity in Gaza: "They kicked me, they tortured me, they don't care if you are Israeli or Filipino." Pacheco was the caregiver of Amitai Ben Zvi, an 80-year-old resident of Kibbutz Nir Oz, who was murdered in the massacre.

■ ISRAEL-LEBANON: Rocket sirens blared across northern Israel throughout Thursday. Several launches from Lebanon fell in open areas, according to the IDF. Hezbollah said it fired "dozens of rockets" at the northern Israeli city of Kiryat Shmona in retaliation for the killing of 10 Lebanese civilians in two sets of Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon on Wednesday.

The IDF said that the Air Force killed a senior commander in Hezbollah's elite Radwan Force. Israeli forces also attacked dozens of Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.

Hezbollah announced that the commander in charge of its Palestine portfolio was killed in an Israeli attack six days ago.

"Apparently not only in Israel, but in the internal Palestinian arena as well, the absence of discourse over what will happen after the war serves political survival struggles" - Jack Khoury

■ GAZA: IDF soldiers have entered the Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis and forcibly removed refugees and medical staff who have yet to evacuate, a Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry spokesman said. Sources in Khan Yunis said a patient at the hospital was killed by IDF fire, the Guardian reported.

The IDF said it has credible intelligence that Hamas held Israeli hostages in Nasser Hospital, and that bodies of hostages may be found inside.

The IDF said it killed Ahmed Gul, a Hamas commander who participated in the October 7 massacre in Israel and who held hostage Noa Marciano, a soldier who was killed in Shifa Hospital.

Gaza will need a new "Marshall Plan" to recover from the conflict between Israel and Hamas, a UN trade body official said on Thursday, adding that the damage from the conflict so far amounted to around $20 billion.

Cashflows at UNRWA will turn negative next month and its financial problems will accelerate in April if funding suspended by a number of countries does not resume, the head of the UN agency said.

The Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry said at least 28,663 Palestinians have been killed and 68,395 wounded since the war began.

The IDF announced that Staff Sgt. Rotem Sahar Hadar, a 20-year-old paratrooper from Kfar Aviv, was killed in the southern Gaza Strip.

■ WEST BANK: Israeli forces have arrested 22 people suspected of involvement in terrorist activities in the West bank over the last 24 hours, the IDF said.

■ HOUTHIS: Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis will press on with attacks on Red Sea shipping in solidarity with the Palestinians as long as Israel continues to commit "crimes" against them, their leader said.

U.S. CENTCOM said it seized advanced conventional weapons and other lethal aid, originating in Iran, bound for Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen. The shipment was found on a vessel in the Arabian Sea on January 28.

Context

Displaced Palestinians, who fled their houses due to Israeli strikes, take shelter at the border with Egypt in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, on Thursday.

Israel declared war after Hamas killed at least 1,200 Israelis and wounded more than 3,300 in a merciless assault. In Gaza, the Hamas-controlled health ministry reports that at least 28,663 Palestinians have been killed. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad hold hostage more than 129 soldiers and civilians, dead and alive, including foreign nationals.

The war comes after ten months of the most significant domestic political and social crisis in decades, due to the Netanyahu-led government's judicial coup – legislation aimed at dramatically weakening Israel's judiciary and potentially rescuing Netanyahu from the three corruption trials he faces – and amid an escalation of violence between West Bank Palestinians and Israeli settlers, the latter empowered by Israel's most right-wing government ever.

Talks in Cairo aimed at formulating a new hostage release/cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas have been reportedly extended for another three days. Palestinian President Abbas called on Hamas to secure a hostage release deal with Israel to spare the Palestinian people further "catastrophe." The White House refused to answer whether President Biden believes PM Netanyahu is an honest broker. One Israeli soldier was killed and eight were wounded in north Israel following a rocket barrage from Lebanon, triggering a wave of Israeli airstrikes.

Here's what you need to know 131 days into the war


What happened today

An ambulance enters Ziv Medical Center is Safed, on Wednesday.

■ HOSTAGES/CEASE-FIRE: Talks in Cairo aimed at reaching a new hostage release/cease-fire between Israel and Hamas have been extended for another three days, the New York Times reported, citing an Egyptian source. The talks will reportedly involve lower-level officials, who will continue discussing a new framework for a potential deal.
PM Netanyahu ordered the Israeli delegation headed by Mossad chief David Barnea not to return to Cairo on Thursday for continued talks, saying that only a change in Hamas' stance will allow negotiations to progress.

The Hostage and Missing Families Forum said they will protest in front of the Defense Ministry HQ in Tel Aviv on Thursday against "the decision to sacrifice the lives of the hostages."

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called on Hamas to secure a hostage release deal with Israel to spare the Palestinian people further "catastrophe," the official Palestinian new agency WAFA reported.

U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby declined to answer whether U.S. President Joe Biden believes PM Netanyahu is an honest broker, focusing instead on their their decades-long relationship and ability to speak candidly with one another.

Louis Har and Fernando Merman, the two hostages rescued from Hamas captivity Tuesday, were discharged from Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer. The hospital reported that "signs of captivity are visible on their bodies and emotional state."

A delegation of family members of hostages being held in Gaza is at The Hague to file a complaint at the International Criminal Court against Hamas. "It's time justice is done," they said.
■ ISRAEL-LEBANON: One Israeli soldier was killed and eight were wounded in the northern Israeli city of Safed following a rocket barrage from Lebanon. The IDF said the volley was aimed at a northern Israeli military base. War cabinet Minister Benny Gantz said "the Lebanese government is also responsible" for the attack.
The IDF said it completed an extensive wave of airstrikes in southern Lebanon, including military targets associated with Hezbollah's Radwan force.

A woman and two children were killed in the strikes on a village in southern Lebanon, two security sources told Reuters, and at least seven other people wounded.

IDF Chief of Staff Herzl Halevi met with the northern municipalities' heads following the rocket attack on Safed, and said: "We have already made achievements in harming Hezbollah in Lebanon, but we continue to operate. This is not the time to stop." Halevi added that "the next battle will be offensive and we will be using all our tools and capacities."
"Theoretically, Nasrallah is giving Hamas and Israel the authority to decide for him if and when hostilities are halted. However, Israel's demands from Lebanon go far beyond a mutual cease-fire, and there is no guarantee that if and when one is reached in Gaza as part of a hostage deal, Nasrallah will agree to withdraw all his forces from the border with Israel" - Zvi Bar'el

■ GAZA: Many displaced Palestinians who sheltered in the Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis left early Wednesday following IDF warnings. Patients and medical staff have stayed on.
The World Health Organization warns that an Israeli offensive in Rafah in southern Gaza, where 1.4 million Palestinians are sheltering, would cause an "unfathomable catastrophe" and push the enclave's health system closer to the brink of collapse.

French President Emmanuel Macron had expressed his firm opposition to a possible Israeli military offensive in Rafah in a phone call with PM Netanyahu, his office said.

The prime ministers of Spain and Ireland asked the European Commission to urgently review whether Israel is complying with its human rights obligations in Gaza.

Britain wants an "absolute guarantee" that UNRWA will not employ staff willing to attack Israel, Foreign Secretary David Cameron said, following allegations that some were involved in the October 7 massacre.

The Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry said at least 28,576 Palestinians have been killed and 68,291 wounded since the war began.
■ WEST BANK: The Palestinian Health Ministry said 13 Palestinians were wounded by IDF fire near Hebron. It was later reported that one of the wounded had died of his wounds.
Israel fears that other countries will join the U.S., Britain and France in imposing sanctions on settlers involved in violence against Palestinians, a diplomatic source told Haaretz, adding that Paris' decision not to wait for a European Union decision on the matter could now encourage other EU countries to take similar steps.

Context

A child stands by the entrance to a tent, as displaced Palestinians, who fled their houses due to Israeli strikes, they take shelter in a tent camp amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah, in the southern on Wednesday.

Israel declared war after Hamas killed at least 1,200 Israelis and wounded more than 3,300 in a merciless assault. In Gaza, the Hamas-controlled health ministry reports that at least 28,576 Palestinians have been killed. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad hold hostage more than 129 soldiers and civilians, dead and alive, including foreign nationals.

The war comes after ten months of the most significant domestic political and social crisis in decades, due to the Netanyahu-led government's judicial coup – legislation aimed at dramatically weakening Israel's judiciary and potentially rescuing Netanyahu from the three corruption trials he faces – and amid an escalation of violence between West Bank Palestinians and Israeli settlers, the latter empowered by Israel's most right-wing government ever.

Israel's Mossad chief and Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar's deputy are in Cairo for negotiations on a cease-fire/hostage release deal with Qatari and Egyptian mediators. President Biden said the aim was a truce lasting at least six weeks. South Africa has approached the ICJ regarding Israel's looming military operation in Rafah. The French Foreign Ministry said it will impose sanctions on 28 Israeli settlers who have attacked Palestinian civilians in the West Bank. Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah said his organization is "committed to fighting Israel until it is off the map."

Here's what you need to know 130 days into the war


What happened today

A protest in Tel Aviv.

■ HOSTAGES/CEASE-FIRE: Mossad chief David Barnea landed in Cairo, heading an Israeli delegation to negotiate a deal with Hamas for a cease-fire of unknown duration in exchange for the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza. The discussions will be attended by CIA chief Bill Burns, Qatar's PM Mohammed bin Abdelrahman Al-Thani and Egypt's intelligence chief Abbas Kamal.
A Hamas delegation led by Khalil al-Hayya, Yahya Sinwar's deputy, is meeting Tuesday in Cairo with Egypt's intel chief, Lebanese news agency Al Mayadeen reported.

A foreign source familiar with the hostage negotiations told Haaretz that "there has been some progress" in recent days, calling the talks "constructive."

The U.S. is working on a deal leading to a truce lasting at least six weeks, President Joe Biden said on Monday. U.S. National Security Council Spokesman John Kirby said talks have "been constructive and moving in the right direction."

Hamas Political Bureau Head Ismail Haniyeh met with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in Doha, and reportedly said that any agreement between Hamas and Israel must include a cease-fire and Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

The niece of Fernando Marman, rescued from captivity by the IDF this week, said that he did not receive the medicine delivered to Gaza specifically for him as part of a deal with Hamas.

Agam Goldstein-Almog, who was released from Hamas captivity during the hostage deal in November, said that one of the hostages was sexually assaulted at gunpoint.
■ GAZA: President Biden said that a major Israeli military operation in Rafah "should not proceed without a credible plan for ensuring the safety" of more than one million people sheltering there.
The UN's humanitarian office has not received any communication from Israel of a plan to evacuate Gaza's Rafah area either alone or jointly, and would not participate in any forced evacuation even if it did, a spokesperson said.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres said an Israeli offensive in Gaza's Rafah can be avoided, warning that such an operation would have "devastating consequences."

South Africa's government said that it had asked the International Court of Justice at The Hague to consider whether Israel's decision to extend its military operations in Rafah required the court to use its power to prevent further breach of Palestinians' rights.

At France's request, 42 people left Gaza via the Rafah crossing with Egypt. More than 200 people have been evacuated from Gaza at France's request.

The Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry said at least 28,473 Palestinians have been killed and 68,146 wounded since the war began.

Israeli security forces said they found footage of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar walking through a tunnel in Khan Yunis, caught by Hamas' security cameras, on October 10.

The IDF announced that two officers, including a battalion commander, and one soldier had been killed in combat in the Strip on Monday.
"'He is giving me hell,' complained the president about the stiff-necked and ungrateful client, calling him 'asshole.' From Clinton to Obama, and even Trump, and now Biden; in the end, they all thought of him in the way Biden spoke. The problem is that for Netanyahu's base, this curse usually works in reverse" - Yossi Verter

■ ISRAEL-LEBANON: A boy and his mother were seriously wounded by rockets fired from Lebanon towards northern Israel. The IDF said its fighter jets attacked Hezbollah targets in multiple villages in southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah said his organization is "committed to fighting Israel until it is off the map," adding that it will "exhaust Israel until it agrees to a cease-fire in Gaza."

France has delivered a written proposal to Beirut aimed at ending hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah and settling the disputed Lebanon-Israel border, according to a document seen by Reuters. The document reportedly calls for Hezbollah's elite unit to withdraw 10 km (6 miles) from the border.
■ WEST BANK: A group of some 20 Jewish settlers set a car on fire and tried to set a building on fire in the West Bank village of Asira al-Qibliya, an Israeli security official told Haaretz, adding that settlers also threw rocks at Palestinians near the village of Madama, and that another group of settlers later torched vehicles in the town of Hawara.
The French Foreign Ministry said it will impose sanctions on 28 Israeli settlers who have used violence against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank.

Israeli forces arrested one of the heads of Hamas' military infrastructure in Jenin, Omar Fayed, the IDF said. Two soldiers were slightly wounded during the raid.

The IDF said a man suspected of attempting to run over civilians in the West Bank Gush Etzion intersection was shot and apprehended by Israeli forces. A knife was found in the suspect's vehicle. In a separate incident, the IDF said it shot and killed a 20-year-old Palestinian in Qalqilyah after he tried to run over soldiers.

The IDF said it arrested 18 suspects throughout the West Bank Tuesday overnight.
■ HOUTHIS: Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis fired two missiles on Monday at an Iran-bound cargo ship in the Red Sea, causing minor damage to the vessel, U.S. military officials said, in the first targeting of an Iran-bound vessel since Houthi attacks began, shipping sources said.

Context

Displaced Palestinians in Rafah.

Israel declared war after Hamas killed at least 1,200 Israelis and wounded more than 3,300 in a merciless assault. In Gaza, the Hamas-controlled health ministry reports that at least 28,473 Palestinians have been killed. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad hold hostage more than 129 soldiers and civilians, dead and alive, including foreign nationals.

The war comes after ten months of the most significant domestic political and social crisis in decades, due to the Netanyahu-led government's judicial coup – legislation aimed at dramatically weakening Israel's judiciary and potentially rescuing Netanyahu from the three corruption trials he faces – and amid an escalation of violence between West Bank Palestinians and Israeli settlers, the latter empowered by Israel's most right-wing government ever.

Israeli forces rescued two hostages from Hamas captivity. The U.K. has imposed sanctions against four West Bank settlers involved in violence against Palestinians. An Air Force aircraft attacked Hezbollah operatives in a vehicle in southern Lebanon. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas met with the Emir of Qatar to discuss post-war Gaza.

Here's what you need to know 129 days into the war


What happened today

An Israeli man writes "rescued" on a poster bearing the image of rescued Israeli-Argentinian hostage Louis Har on a wall outside the Ministry of Defense in Tel Aviv on Monday.

■ HOSTAGES/CEASE-FIRE: Israeli forces rescued two hostages – Louis Norberto Har, 70, and Fernando Marman, 60 – who were kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak on October 7, from Hamas captivity early Tuesday morning. The two were held in an apartment in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. One soldier was lightly wounded during the operation, the IDF said.
Liron and Rakefet Eldor, the parents of Sgt. 1st Class Adi Eldor, who was killed in Gaza on Sunday, called for the return of the hostages: "We got great news today about two that made it out. We need to continue with all our might, in every negotiation, not to divide, not to slander world leaders, that's up to us."

At least 67 people were killed and dozens wounded during the rescue operation of Israeli hostages in southern Gaza, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.
■ GAZA: Israel called on UN relief agencies on Monday to help with its efforts to evacuate civilians from Gaza war zones ahead of its planned ground operation in Rafah near the Egyptian border, where 1.4 million Palestinians are sheltering.
Egypt has reinforced its security presence along the border with Gaza to prevent Palestinians crossing over, witnesses and a security source told DPA.

Turkey's foreign ministry is in touch with Israeli authorities to resolve the issue of a blocked Gaza aid shipment in an Israeli port, diplomatic sources in Ankara told Reuters.

In response to President Biden's comment last week that Israel's Gaza campaign is "over the top," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said that "if the international community believes that too many people are being killed" then "maybe we have to think about the provision of arms" to Israel.

The Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry said at least 28,340 Palestinians have been killed and 68,000 wounded since the war began.
"We can hope for other occasional successes akin to the one this week. But at the end of the day, Israel will need to reach a deal that brings the hostages home" – Amos Harel

■ ISRAEL: The U.K. has imposed sanctions against four West Bank settlers involved in violence against Palestinians, one of whom was also sanctioned by the U.S. two weeks ago. U.K. Foreign Secretary David Cameron said the four "are involved in some of the most appalling human rights abuses. We must be clear about what is happening here."
In response to the sanctions, Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said that "there's a joint American, British and Arab effort to establish a terrorist state" next to Israel.

Dozens of Israeli protesters attempted to block aid convoys at the Nitzana border crossing, claiming the supplies go directly to Hamas.

President Biden called PM Netanyahu an "asshole" on three separate occasions in private conversations in recent weeks, frustrated by his policy on IDF operations in Gaza and his obstruction of a cease-fire, according to five sources that spoke with NBC. Last week he called Netanyahu "a bad f*cking guy," according to Politico.

Israeli ministers declared Francesca Albanese, the UN's special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, persona non grata in Israel after she said victims of Hamas' October 7 attacks were not murdered for being Jews, but "in response to Israel's oppression."

The IDF announced that two soldiers were killed on Sunday in combat in Gaza.

An appeals court in the Netherlands ordered the government to suspend all supplies of F-35 aircraft parts to Israel over concerns they were being used in violations of international law during Israel's Gaza offensive. The Dutch government said it would file an appeal at the Supreme Court.
■ LEBANON: Several people were wounded in a drone attack in Bint Jbeil in southern Lebanon, the Lebanese News Agency reported. According to the Al-Arabiya network and other media outlets, the target of the attack was Mohammed Alawiya, a Hezbollah commander in charge of the Maroun El Ras area. The IDF confirmed an airstrike on Hezbollah operatives in a vehicle in southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah announced that Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah met with Palestinian Islamic Jihad chief Ziyad al-Nakhalah to discuss the Gaza war, "the assistance provided by the resistance axis," and the "need to continue to act forcefully to achieve the promised victory."
■ WEST BANK: Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas met with the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim Al Thani in Doha to discuss post-war Gaza. According to sources in Doha, Qatar sees an opportunity to push for a government which will be accepted by all Palestinian factions, including Hamas.

Context

A Palestinian woman stands at the site of an Israeli strike on a house in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, on Monday.

Israel declared war after Hamas killed at least 1,200 Israelis and wounded more than 3,300 in a merciless assault. In Gaza, the Hamas-controlled health ministry reports that at least 28,340 Palestinians have been killed. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad hold hostage more than 129 soldiers and civilians, dead and alive, including foreign nationals.

The war comes after ten months of the most significant domestic political and social crisis in decades, due to the Netanyahu-led government's judicial coup – legislation aimed at dramatically weakening Israel's judiciary and potentially rescuing Netanyahu from the three corruption trials he faces – and amid an escalation of violence between West Bank Palestinians and Israeli settlers, the latter empowered by Israel's most right-wing government ever.

Egypt has reportedly warned Hamas it has two weeks to seal a cease-fire deal with Israel before the IDF enters the densely populated town of Rafah, but also threatened to suspend its peace treaty with Israel if it does launch a ground offensive there. A senior Hamas official said any attack on Rafah will end talks for a hostage release agreement. Palestinian President Abbas flew to Qatar to discuss scenarios for post-war Gaza with PM Al Thani.

Here's what you need to know 128 days into the war


What happened today

Israeli left-wing activists lift placards and banners as they rally against the war in Gaza outside the Ministry of Defence in Tel Aviv on February 10, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip between Israel and the Palestinian militant Hamas movement. (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP)

■ GAZA: Israel's political leadership has not yet set a date or a time frame for an IDF operation in Rafah, sources privy to war cabinet meetings told Haaretz. A diplomatic source said he believed that Israeli declarations regarding an anticipated attack on Rafah are intended to pressure Hamas' leaders to show more flexibility over a hostage release/cease-fire deal.
A senior Hamas official said that "any attack in Rafah" will lead to the blowing up of negotiations for a deal. Egypt is threatening to suspend its peace treaty with Israel if it launches a ground offensive in Rafah, two Egyptian officials and a Western diplomat told AP.

U.K. Foreign Minister David Cameron said Saturday that he is "deeply concerned" about an IDF offensive in Rafah, noting "over half of Gaza's population are sheltering" there. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell warned an IDF operation in Rafah "would lead to an unspeakable humanitarian catastrophe and grave tensions with Egypt."

UNRWA commissioner-general, Phillippe Lazzarini, denied that the agency was aware that there was a Hamas tunnel under its Gaza City HQ after the IDF and Shin Bet revealed a tunnel system and data center there.

UNRWA is facing growing administrative hurdles from Israel, with a shipment amounting to a month's supply of food blocked in port, Lazzarini said.

The Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry said at least 28,176 Palestinians have been killed and 67,784 wounded since the war began.
■ HOSTAGES/CEASE-FIRE: Egypt warned Hamas that if it does not reach an agreement with Israel within two weeks, the IDF will operate in Rafah, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Families of hostages and activists protested in front of the Knesset. Ila Metzger, whose father-in-law, 80-year-old Yoram Metzger, is held captive by Hamas, said: "Instead of worrying for the hostages, the government is busy running a campaign against us – the families."

PM Netanyahu said in an interview with ABC News that "enough" of the 132 remaining Israeli hostages held in Gaza are alive to justify Israel's ongoing war in the region. He also said that "those who say that under no circumstances should we enter Rafah are basically saying: Lose the war. Keep Hamas there."

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum is sending a delegation to The Hague on Wednesday, where it will file a complaint against Hamas leaders, seeking international arrest warrants for murder, torture and sexual violence, at the International Criminal Court.
"'Victory' is a totally hollow word when there is no horizon indicating what such a 'victory' will look like. The return of the hostages? The disappearance of Gaza? A diplomatic agreement? No, Netanyahu's true solution is for the country to 'live by the sword' forever" – Noa Landau

■ ISRAEL: The governor of the Bank of Israel published a cautious response on Sunday to Moody's decision to lower Israel's credit rating accompanied by a negative forecast, calling on the government and the Knesset to "act to address the economic issues raised in the report" to "strengthen the trust of the markets and rating companies in the Israeli economy."
U.S. President Joe Biden will speak with PM Netanyahu on Sunday in their first conversation since Biden said Israel's military response in Gaza has been "over the top."

"There's no alternative in the foreseeable future" to Israel having military control over Gaza, Netanyahu told his ministers during a government meeting, a position he said had been presented to Biden and to other world leaders.

The IDF's Chief of Staff told ministers during a cabinet meeting that loose talk about a ground offensive in Rafah in the media "makes it easier for Sinwar."

The Netanyahu government's decisions are being made without regulated procedures and without being presented to the ministers, potentially harming the public interest and impacting security, the economy and society, the deputy Attorney General stated.

The police broke up a protest at the Kerem Shalom crossing with Gaza against the entry of humanitarian aid to the Strip.
■ LEBANON: The IDF says that rockets fired from Lebanon fell in an open area in northern Israel. No casualties were reported.

■ HOUTHIS: CENTCOM said its forces had carried out strikes north of Hodeidah in Yemen on two unmanned surface vessels and three anti-ship cruise missiles threatening ships in the area.

■ WEST BANK: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas flew to Qatar to meet with its prime minister, Emir Sheikh Tamim Al Thani. According to Palestinian sources, the purpose of the visit is to discuss different post-war scenarios for Gaza.
Fifteen Israeli settlers threw stones at Palestinians at the al-Azariya intersection in the West Bank on Sunday, an Israeli security source told Haaretz, adding that settlers also removed a Palestinian from his vehicle, sprayed him with tear gas and smashed his windows. He was taken for medical treatment.

In a separate incident, settlers placed six trailer homes over the past few days in the southern West Bank and cleared lots for future homes.

Context

Displaced members who fled their house due to Israeli strikes, prepare food as they shelter at the border with Egypt, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, on Saturday.

Israel declared war after Hamas killed at least 1,200 Israelis and wounded more than 3,300 in a merciless assault. In Gaza, the Hamas-controlled health ministry reports that at least 27,840 Palestinians have been killed. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad hold hostage more than 129 soldiers and civilians, dead and alive, including foreign nationals.

The war comes after ten months of the most significant domestic political and social crisis in decades, due to the Netanyahu-led government's judicial coup – legislation aimed at dramatically weakening Israel's judiciary and potentially rescuing Netanyahu from the three corruption trials he faces – and amid an escalation of violence between West Bank Palestinians and Israeli settlers, the latter empowered by Israel's most right-wing government ever.

Moody's, the credit rating agency, said it is lowering Israel's credit rating. Reports from Gaza said the IDF killed Hamas' police intelligence chief in Rafah, as international concern grows over a planned Israeli offensive in the southernmost area of Gaza to which many Gazans have fled. The Israeli army and Shin Bet said they had discovered a Hamas tunnel system passing under UNRWA's central Gaza headquarters, and weapons in its offices.

Here's what you need to know 127 days into the war


What happened today

Palestinians inspect a car hit by an Israeli strike, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, Saturday. Ibraheem Abu Mustafa

■ ISRAEL: Moody's credit rating agency said it is lowering Israel's credit rating from A1 to A2 and attaching a "negative" outlook to the new rating. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the downgrade "is entirely due to the fact that we are at war. The rating will go back up as soon as we win the war – and we will win."

Israeli Opposition Leader Yair Lapid called the downgrade "additional proof that this government is not functioning properly and harming the public."

An Israeli protester was detained, then released, for "unreasonable noise" after calling out hostages' names on a megaphone by Netanyahu's Caesarea residence.

Demonstrations for release of the hostages still held in Gaza and early elections are taking place across Israel on Saturday evening.

■ GAZA: The IDF and Shin Bet said they had discovered a tunnel system serving Hamas' military intelligence, passing under UNRWA's central Gaza headquarters. They said that numerous weapons and explosives were found inside offices in the UNRWA building.

According to reports in Gaza, the IDF assassinated Hamas Police Intelligence Chief Ahmed al-Yaakobi, his deputy, Iman a-Rantisi, and Ibrahim Shatat, the Rafah Police appointee for aid distribution, in a strike on a car in western Rafah.

PM Netanyahu ordered the IDF and defense establishment on Friday to present plans to operate in Rafah to defeat four Hamas battalions still operating in the city, and to evacuate Palestinian civilians from there. An Israeli official cited in a CNN report said PM Netanyahu told the war cabinet that the operation in Rafah must end by Ramadan.

Rafah mayor Ahmed al-Sufi called on the international community to prevent an Israeli operation in Rafah, saying that the city is now home to 1.4 million Palestinians, and an attack will lead to carnage.

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh called for "urgent international intervention" to prevent Israeli military action in Rafah and "the expansion of the crisis and hate crimes" to the area. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Friday that an Israeli military escalation in Rafah aims to drive Palestinians from their land.

The Saudi Foreign Ministry warned against an Israeli military operation in Rafah, which it called "the final refuge for hundreds of thousands of citizens that Israel forcefully displaced from their homes."

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell called reports of an Israeli military offensive in Rafah "alarming," warning it "would have catastrophic consequences, worsening the already dire humanitarian situation."

The Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry said at least 28,064 Palestinians have been killed and 67,611 wounded since the war began.

"It's not just the war, it's the weak 'executive and legislative institutions' – i.e. the Netanyahu government and the Knesset dominated by the far-right and ultra-religious coalition that are risking Israel's economy" – Anshel Pfeffer

■ HOSTAGES/CEASE-FIRE: A senior Hamas official said on Friday that their delegation is leaving Cairo after discussing the outline for the cease-fire deal and will await Israel's answer.

According to an Axios report, U.S. President Joe Biden is sending CIA director Bill Burns to Cairo next week in the latest push for a new hostage deal.

■ LEBANON: Lebanese media said an Israeli drone attack in the village of Jadra, north of Sidon, killed at least three people – including two Hezbollah members and a Syrian citizen. Basel Saleh, a Palestinian figure involved for many years in recruiting and managing members of Hamas in the West Bank, survived the attack.

The IDF spokesman said Israeli fighter jets attacked a military structure near Bint Jbeil and a surveillance post near Markaba in southern Lebanon. The IDF said the attacks targeted military headquarters and a site used by Hezbollah's air defense unit.

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah met with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and Iran's envoy to Lebanon Mojtaba Amani in Beirut. Iran's foreign minister said Tehran is not interested in expanding the war in the region.

The IDF said an anti-tank missile from Lebanon hit a public building in northern Israel. No casualties were reported.

■ SYRIA: The Syrian military said on Saturday that Israeli airstrikes hit several sites on the outskirts of Syria's capital, Damascus. The opposition-affiliated Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said one of the strikes may have killed "figures of non-Syrian nationalities."

The Observatory, cited in a report from The Guardian, said that three people were killed in the strike. The report claims the trio were in a building in an upmarket area that hosted "villas for top military and officials."

■ UNITED STATES: The White House clarified that U.S. President Joe Biden's criticism of Israel's military conduct in Gaza as "over the top" doesn't portend an upcoming policy change.

Cairo sharply rejected Biden's allegations that he had to convince Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi to permit the delivery of aid to Gaza via the Rafah crossing.

The New York Times reported that Biden aide Jon Finer acknowledged mistakes in the administration's response to the Gaza war, saying he did not have "any confidence" the Israeli government was willing to take "meaningful steps" toward Palestinian statehood.

AIPAC criticized the Biden administration over its memo on foreign arms sales, calling it "an unnecessary directive [imposing] new requirements on Israel and our other most important allies."

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz met U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House to discuss aid to Gaza and setting the conditions for a durable Israeli-Palestinian peace.

■ WEST BANK: The Palestinian Health Ministry said that 17-year-old Mu'ad Bani Shamsa was shot and killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank village of Beita, south of Nablus.

Context

Smoke billows during Israeli bombardment over Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on Saturday.

Israel declared war after Hamas killed at least 1,200 Israelis and wounded more than 3,300 in a merciless assault. In Gaza, the Hamas-controlled health ministry reports that at least 28,064 Palestinians have been killed. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad hold hostage more than 129 soldiers and civilians, dead and alive, including foreign nationals.

The war comes after ten months of the most significant domestic political and social crisis in decades, due to the Netanyahu-led government's judicial coup – legislation aimed at dramatically weakening Israel's judiciary and potentially rescuing Netanyahu from the three corruption trials he faces – and amid an escalation of violence between West Bank Palestinians and Israeli settlers, the latter empowered by Israel's most right-wing government ever.