Reports in Gaza suggest that "military forces were withdrawing from areas located in the western part of the Gaza district and north of the strip."

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Video: Residents moving in the Gaza Strip / Arab social media

Palestinian journalists noted that "for the first time since the start of the ground maneuver, military vehicles withdrew from this area." It was also reported that residents began to arrive at the site and visit their destroyed homes.

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The question was not if, but when. "I feel like I have lived past what was necessary, I never expected to reach this age," assassinated Hamas political bureau official Saleh al-Arouri said once. Many things can be said about him, but being foolish was not one of them. Arouri honestly received the title of "Hamas' strategist," after taking responsibility for the kidnapping and murder of the three boys in 2014. Already then he knew that his name was at the top of the list of senior terrorist organization members slated for assassination. And nevertheless, he continued acting with great cunning to promote "spectacular attacks" throughout the West Bank, without behaving like a terrorist on the run.

Al-Arouri stuck to his routine and moved from place to place out in the open. He also did not spare public appearances that included interviews with Arab media outlets and meetings with Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah and heads of other terrorist organizations in Beirut and Doha.

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Those who followed his behavior got the impression of a man projecting self-confidence, perhaps even excessively so. It is hard to count the number of times he allowed himself to incite terror and taunt Israel. At least in that sense, he had the assassination coming. "Fight, rise up whenever you can; instead of a thousand young people participating in the resistance, there should be 100,000; the occupation will be defeated," he urged young Palestinians in a television interview.

However, his sharp and dangerous messages resonated loudly on social media and sometimes were also translated into attacks on the ground. Unlike Mohammed Deif and others who tried to fly under the radar, al-Arouri did not go into hiding and was not considered an elusive figure. On the contrary, he used to speak with relatives and acquaintances and enjoyed the company of others and even journalists.

Hamas' number two took the threats from Israel seriously but did not want to spend the rest of his life in a bunker. It did not suit his personality or self-esteem. Although by his title he served as deputy head of Hamas' political bureau, in practice his status was "minister of defense" of the terrorist organization, at least with regards to the West Bank. In this capacity, he not only directed attacks, funded terror cells, and devised modus operandi, but also tried to undermine the security mechanisms of the Palestinian Authority.

The top echelon of the PA marked him as a hostile element, and therefore it too will now enjoy the fruits of the assassination. By virtue of his proximity to the Iranians and Hezbollah, al-Arouri was also responsible for the "South Lebanon Project" to establish terror infrastructure, which gave him influence in the organization and outside it.

His assassination is a harsh blow to Hamas in the West Bank and abroad, which means it will not be easy to find someone to fill his big and unique shoes – but let's not fool ourselves: If past is prologue, even if it takes time, eventually a replacement will also be found for him.

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This isn't the first time Anila Ali, a Muslim-American of Pakistani heritage who works to promote the rights of women in conflict zones around the world, has come to Israel. But this visit is different. The sexual assaults carried out by Hamas terrorists and Gaza Strip residents on Israeli women touched her personally. "How can one not cry over the girls who were raped by the terrorists?" She's not just horrified with the crimes themselves; she's shocked by the global silence over the sexual violence. Even international movements and organizations that champion the protection of women rights chose this time to equivocate. Only at the end of last week did UN Women explicitly condemn what had happened.

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"It's sad that the world avoided acknowledging that women were raped by Hamas," Ali says in an interview with Israel Hayom. "And why? Because they're Israelis. We heard what Hamas did, we saw the pictures of girls being taken to Gaza, how they dragged one of the young women away, and to think about what they did to her and to others…the world demonizes Israel. I won't accept women's rights activists standing on the sidelines when it happens to Israel. It makes me want to fight for the truth even more; like I supported women in Afghanistan who were harmed by the Taliban."

Without equivocating, she answers all the skeptics. "Because the victims are Jewish women, you're selective? You can't choose victims and decide that you only support the rights of women who aren't Israelis. Even if you don't agree politically with everything that's happening here, you must stand up for the truth. The world needs to wake up from its hypocrisy. And to the women held captive in Gaza, I say – don't be afraid, you will be heroines when you return."

Ali arrived in Israel with a delegation of Muslim activists from the organization AMMWEC (American Muslim & Multifaith Women's Empowerment Council), which she heads, She is angry at Hamas and terrorist organizations that "stole Islam from us, took our religion and use it to create terror and to divide us. They caused Islamophobia. It was the same on 9/11. Hamas, the Taliban, ISIS – they're all the same, how they made our lives miserable."

"Enough with the sanctification of death"

Ali (56), a mother of two, immigrated from Pakistan to the United States three decades ago. On one of her trips to Israel, she visited Ramallah and Jenin and heard how young men spoke about jihad (holy war) and intifada (uprising) for the sake of Islam. Regarding the Palestinian mothers, she says: "You're giving the children money to do terror. If you say that you're oppressed, what are you doing to get out of it? Think about how you'll educate your children. Give your children balls to play with and not bombs. Allah granted precious life to live, you need to stop sanctifying death. This is your obligation to strengthen the children, to lead them forward, and to look to the future, to your neighbors, to aspire for peace. Do you want to raise another generation of women? Killing can't serve as a model for children anymore. As a mother and a woman, I think that we need to educate them to accept their neighbors, and we've failed if we don't succeed in doing so."

During their visit, Ali and her delegation visited communities in the south, where they experienced the suffering of the residents after hearing a rocket alert blast in Sderot, forcing them to shelter in a nearby playground. They also met with residents who had been evacuated from the kibbutzim and heard the stories of the hostages.

Despite the shock from the horrors and the frustration from Palestinian terror, Ali refuses to surrender to pessimism: "Palestinians have the strength to depart from their circle of victimhood. They need to separate from Hamas and to tell them: You have stolen our honor from us.

"Anti-Israeliness leads to antisemitism. We feel what's happening on American campuses because of the war in Gaza, and it creates real concern because today it seems worse than ever. And why do they hate the Jewish communities in the United States? Because they became used to thinking that Israel is the aggressor."

Anila says that she has already been attacked for her courageous views and knows that her family may pay a price: "As a Muslim, in the current climate I can tell you that I'm more afraid of Muslims in California and Chicago than Muslims in Pakistan."

Sacha Roytman Dratwa, the CEO of the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM), says that "With the current murky international atmosphere and in the shadow of the war against Hamas, it requires exceptional courage from these Muslim leaders, who have chosen to come on a solidarity visit to Israel and to go on tours that will bring them closer to the Israeli story without the filters of the international media."

As mentioned, at the end of last week, for the first time since Oct. 7, UN Women said that they "unequivocally condemn the brutal attacks by Hamas on Israel on Oct. 7." They said: "We are alarmed by the numerous accounts of gender-based atrocities and sexual violence during those attacks. This is why we have called for all accounts of gender-based violence to be duly investigated and prosecuted, with the rights of the victim at the core."

The founder and director of the Lobby to Combat Sexual Violence, Yael Sherer, who has been campaigning since Oct. 7 for UN Women to recognize the sexual crimes carried out by Hamas, said in response: "Nothing will wash away the stain and the disgrace of the organization's silence. The victims in Israel shouldn't be abandoned, and this declaration comes a little too late."

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There is no doubt that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar has a good reason to be satisfied with the headlines that have been circulating in Israeli news and newspapers in recent days. It's exactly what he had hoped for. For a man who speaks Hebrew fluently due to the many years he spent in Israeli prison, and closely follows every piece of information coming out of Israel, it is important to hear what is being said about him.

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He listens and sees what is happening in the Israeli media, devouring every report and interpretation that emerges. This helps him read Israel, and especially understand how Israel interprets him.

The reports that he met with some of the Israeli captives in a hidden place and supposedly reassured them by saying, "You are protected here" are, in his view, designed to help him twice. Firstly, this helps shed the reputation of a ruthless mass murderer and helps him gain some empathy after the "demonization campaign against him," and secondly, it presents him as someone who controls the events and manages things with a cool demeanor.

This drama, in which he suddenly appears in a basement and speaks with women and children in an authoritative voice, is like a scene taken right out of a horror movie. For Sinwar, who seeks this action and enjoys it, it's good for his reputation.

Video: Hamas propaganda video on the release of Israeli captives on November 28, 2023

But along with that, he is not naive. He knows that the attack on Oct. 7 has made Israel act like a madman and that this time things will be different in how it responds. This means that he is also busy with survival, not necessarily of Hamas as an organization but of himself. The fact that he has been hiding since the beginning of the war shows that he wants to survive but it can also be reversed, and the moment he sees an opportunity to come out to get another image of victory, he may do so. Palestinian sources have described him as a "control freak."

We have already seen that Sinwar knows how to manipulate well and is an expert in broadcasting confusing messages. He would have preferred not to join the ranks of Hamas leaders and "the martyrs" who were killed by Israel, but on the other hand, he doesn't care if it happens, Palestinian sources. 

In his view, he has already cemented his place in "Palestinian history" as someone who hurt Israel and humiliated it in the harshest way since the establishment of the state. What remains for him now is to delay as much as possible the "death penalty" that has already been imposed on him, and the way there involves buying time during the lull in fighting. 

Although he himself desires a long-term ceasefire with Israel and sees it as a convenient way to end the war, he does not give Israel the pleasure of having an easy task. If he can disturb, abuse, and provoke in the meantime, why not? From his perspective, it is even desirable. Perhaps the only card left in his hands is the Israeli captives. Therefore, as someone on borrowed time, it is not surprising that he continues to allow himself to taunt Israel and engage in endless harassment and provocation.

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It's noon. The main street that crosses Gaza from north to south, Salah al-Din Road is filled with thousands of residents seeking to move southward. The adults among them, men and women, raise their hands, carry identification documents, and continue to advance slowly. The main evacuation is now from the Zaytoun neighborhood and the city center. 

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The forces securing and operating the movement on this axis, which has become a humanitarian corridor for hundreds of thousands of people, are from the IDF's Jerusalem Brigade – comprising reserve infantry units that joined the operation in the strip this week. The crowd gathers in the area south of Gaza City, where the IDF has opened a humanitarian crossing serving as a checkpoint.

The movement in this section of the axis is orderly, and the effort is to keep an eye on those moving south and try to prevent Hamas members from infiltrating the procession and blending in with the population.

Video: Palestinians moving from north to south as Israel continues its operation / Credit: Dana Ben-Shimon

As the procession of people flows south, IDF forces observe and occasionally stop suspected terrorists, telling them to step out of the crowd and approach the sterile area to the east.

 "You with the black shirt, next to you is the child in green, come here," the soldiers say in Arabic. Every few minutes, they turn and pull out more suspects, who gather in a group at a safe distance from the forces. Some are questioned briefly, others wait or are sent for further investigation, and some are released a few minutes later after a dialogue conducted with the forces, and then they join the procession again once the army is convinced that they do not pose a threat.

Everything happens quickly, every second is crucial, and there is no time for mistakes. Suddenly, Hebrew is heard. "If there is a child who understands Hebrew, run over here now," the soldiers announce, "don't be afraid, come to me." These calls in Hebrew are part of the effort to identify and locate the captives taken by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7. It is aimed at the ears of the Israeli captives who may have been forced to blend together with residents flowing into the southern parts of Gaza, with Hamas taking advantage of the humanitarian corridor.

Less than a mile separates the checkpoint and the area where there is no longer fighting. Since it was announced, about 330,000 Gazans have passed through the humanitarian crossing. The evacuation of the population is crucial to create convenient conditions for the war and allow freedom of action for the forces, as well as to prevent harm to civilians.

In addition to Salah al-Din Road., which serves as the main route for the movement of residents from north to south, there is also a humanitarian corridor along the coast in the western part of the strip. According to army estimates, there are still tens of thousands who have not evacuated. They are making their way to the safe area in the southern parts, where they will join their relatives who have already left everything behind. The number of those who insisted on staying in their homes in the north until now is decreasing as the days of the fighting progress. They understand that this war is different, and Israel intends to go all the way. Hamas' atrocities on Oct. 7 left Israel no choice. When the smoke clears and the shooting stops, for many of the people walking here, life will certainly be divided into before and after the war.

"It's still too early to think about the future," some residents of Gaza explained in recent weeks. It seems that even in these moments, they mainly want to save themselves and their families. They walk forward, trying not to look back, who knows when the next time they will return to the places they left, and what those places will look like. Hamas is still present and strong. Even those who disavow the massacre carried out by Hamas on October 7 don't dare to speak up. The few who do will just say something like "We don't condone what happened." For Israelis that may not sound like a clear-cut rejection of Hamas, but in the current reality, such a stance does carry significance.  

Voices of explosions and gunfire in the air

The sky is covered with thick smoke indicating an attack that occurred minutes ago in Jabalia, in the northern part of the strip. Commercial buildings and structures along the humanitarian corridor are destroyed and damaged from the battles. The army is present everywhere. "We passed forces on the road that had just come under fire on your right side. The encounter is intense, we will know the results soon,"  Colonel  Nitay Okashi, commander of the Jerusalem Brigade, tells me. 

We are now a few kilometers to the west, on the outskirts of the Zaytoun neighborhood, where fighting expanded in the last two days. We see remnants of what until recently served as a gas station destroyed. The soldiers took over a few isolated houses in the agricultural area after operating to purge the area from terrorists.

"Slowly but surely, we are destroying the enemy and locating its weapons in all areas. In these areas, there are no residents; everyone has evacuated to create a relatively secure area here at the end of the corridor," Okashi says. "If there is a civilian here, we will probably extract him safely and not kill him, but it must be said – when we attacked this area, everyone who was here was a terrorist. We saw field observers and others with RPGs and Kalashnikovs." Some 200-100 meters north, the area has yet to be secured. It is under the operational control of the army but still poses a risk that terrorists will emerge from tunnels.

We are now in a house, in the middle of the sand. The army had taken over the place. The bullet holes on the walls indicate that there was close combat here. The entrance leads to a courtyard with citrus and olive trees. On a wall on the balcony, a traditional golden hookah is placed. Such calm scenery, yet very deceiving. After a few steps along the hedges in the villa's garden, the soldiers order us to stop. "Do not approach, we found grenades there," they warn. Inside the house in the back room, improvised explosive devices were discovered. 

"This operation sends a message to all our enemies that you don't mess with Israel," Okashi says. "We did not choose this war, but from the moment it happened, we are here to defeat Hamas. I live and breathe the October 7 events; this is what gives me the energy to get the job done.

Q: Do you believe we can see a different Gaza?

"We are working on it. I have great faith in the army and in the country and have high hopes that now Gaza will be transformed, but only time will tell. The enemy keeps us on edge, Hamas constantly tries to sneak up on us; we constantly find weapons and tunnel shafts."

Q: Can you see the end?

"I think so. I have many dreams about Gaza; if it were up to me, you would be able to come back here in two months and walk leisurely along the beach; everyone knows that the beach in Gaza is a beautiful beach, and hopefully, the entire State of Israel can come and be here on the seafront."

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H, a former resident of the Shejaiya neighborhood in Gaza City, hasn't visited the Strip since he was forced to escape overseas several years ago following threats that he received from the Hamas rulers. Since the start of the war, he has been worried about his family, who are currently taking shelter in a school in southern Gaza. "It's hard to contact them on WhatsApp, and every day I think 100 times that – God forbid – they have been killed," he says. "Hamas doesn't care about the people in Gaza."

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"When the residents saw what [Hamas leader] Yahya Sinwar did [in launching the deadly Oct. 7 massacre], they were surprised and afterward they began to say he was a fool and a madman. People are very tired of war. It's enough – how much more? Enough. We know that Hamas started this war, what Sinwar did was suicidal," H tells Israel Hayom.

"My parents and siblings left home without taking almost anything with them, they rushed to leave. In the beginning, they went to the area of Shati and stayed with friends and then they moved to the south. My 19-year-old brother was injured by shrapnel from an explosion, and now like everyone else, they're trying not to leave the building they're staying in, waiting three hours to fill water, eating what's left, sleeping on the floor, giving the mattresses to the children, and the men are sleeping on the floor," he says.

Even before the war, he understood that if Hamas were in power, there was no chance of living a normal life. "We always knew that Hamas was stealing the Qatari money, taking for themselves the fuel and the electricity instead of giving it to the people living in Gaza."

As someone who has tried to build his life away from the iron fist and oppression of Hamas, he now wishes that Israel will fully eradicate the organization that has led Gaza to destruction.

"The tanks and the Israeli military forces inside Gaza are a great humiliation for Hamas. The movement will never be the same because even after the war Hamas people will continue to be wanted and pursued here or abroad."

However, he explains that the path is still long. "I hope that Hamas will be eliminated after the war but don't think it will happen in a day. Over 17 years they built a stronghold and infrastructure within civil society and the institutions that manage people's lives."

Strive for a formula that will deny Hamas a PR victory

Alongside the complexity and the intensity of the fighting in Gaza and the military activities, H. talks about the need for a long-term plan whose purpose will be to destroy Hamas's rule in Gaza.

"It will take many years. There must be a program whose goal is to remove from Hamas all its authority and governing capabilities in Gaza, that is, to remove from it every area of responsibility and the mechanisms that allow it to control Gaza's citizens. You need to fight against its economic resources, so it won't control the main power station in Gaza or the electricity or anything."

"Changing the arrangements at Rafah Border Crossing is critical," he adds. "There must be supervision there. If you want to bring the Palestinian Authority and international community or bring back the Europeans to Rafah that's fine, but the main thing is that Hamas mustn't run it anymore. there was never inspection over what entered there, Hamas did what it wanted."

Regarding a potential prisoner exchange, there should be, in H's opinion, a formula that denies Hamas a PR victory.

"Of course, people will be happy if Palestinian prisoners are freed from prison, but I also hear people say: "What will any of that be worth now after all the killing, the war, the losses in the soul, and the terrible damage that has been caused? You sacrificed all of Gaza and destroyed it for that? Will the return of thousands of prisoners make up for the terrible price that's been paid?"

Like H., tens of thousands of Palestinian young people left from the Gaza Strip during the 15 years of Hamas rule. "We left because we didn't see a future in Gaza, but Gaza has never left my heart. Me and my friends who live in Europe see that there's another war, and we don't want to return, because we say to ourselves that there's no hope, no horizon. But if you succeed in destroying Hamas, I'll be the first to return. Until we see it with our own eyes, we won't believe it."

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Members of the Jenin-based al-Ayyash Brigades Palestinian terror group affiliated with Hamas claimed Sunday that it had successfully launched a rocket toward the Israeli settlement of Ram-On.

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The group said in a statement that the launch stemmed from Israeli "crimes against the Palestinian people." It included footage of a rocket launch, supposedly toward Ram-On.

Video: IDF investigating alleged rocket fire from Jenin / Credit: IDF Spokesperson's Unit

Head of the Gilboa Regional Council Ovad Nur said that the rocket did not cross into Israeli territory and most likely exploded within the Palestinian Authority.

The IDF said in a statement that they are investigating the claim.

The reported attempt is the seventh time Palestinians have claimed to carry out a rocket launch in recent months.

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A Palestinian terrorist shot and killed an Israeli father and son on Saturday in the Palestinian village of Hawara.

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Shay Silas Nigrekar, 60, and Aviad Nir, 28, had stopped at a local car wash, when a terrorist – who had reportedly heard that there were Israelis nearby – walked up to the car wash on foot, opened fire with a handgun and fled.

Video: Security footage of the Hawara car wash shooting / Free usage under Israeli copyright law (Section 27A)

The two victims were treated at the scene but were both soon pronounced dead.

The IDF launched a manhunt for the attacker and arrested the owner of the car wash on suspicion of collaborating with the terrorist.

Located just outside of Nablus in Samaria, Hawara has been the scene of multiple terror attacks against Israelis. Most recently, brothers Hallel, 21, and Yagel Yaniv, 19, were murdered while driving through the town.

Video: Footage of the arrest of the car wash owner / Credit: Arab media

The US State Department decried the attack, saying, "We unequivocally condemn today's [Saturday] terrorist attack in the West Bank that killed two Israelis. The United States expresses its condolences to their families and calls for immediate steps to end the violence and incitement to violence."

Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad both praised the shooting.

Since the beginning of 2023, 33 people (31 Israelis, one tourist, and one Gazan) have been killed in terror attacks, as well as 109 were injured, including seven security forces.

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At least seven Israeli troops sustained injuries Monday after coming under fire while conducting an arrest raid in the West Bank city of Jenin.

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The fighters are said to have sustained light and moderate injuries.

The operation included the rare use of Israeli attack helicopters in the territory.

Video: Arab media

"As the security forces exited the city, a military vehicle was hit by an explosive device, damaging the vehicle," the IDF said, adding that helicopters "opened fire toward the gunmen in order to assist in extraction of the forces."

Unconfirmed amateur video footage from Jenin – a known Islamic stronghold – appeared to show an explosion targeting an Israeli armored vehicle. Another video posted online appeared to show Israeli military helicopter launching a rocket during the campaign.

The IDF rarely uses aircraft in its operations in the West Bank, and according to media reports, this was the first such use of a helicopter in the region since the early 2000s.

Three Palestinians were killed and 29 injured in the clashes.

The IDF has been conducting near-nightly raids in the West Bank as part of its anti-terrorism campaign. Since the start of the year, some 20 Israelis have been killed in Palestinian terror attacks, including children.

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The IDF on Thursday in the West Bank demolished the house of Osama Tawil, the terrorist who killed Staff Sgt. Ido Baruch last October, the military's spokesperson unit said.

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Tawil carried out a shooting attack together with another terrorist on October 11, 2022, during which 21-year-old Baruch was killed.

Both were arrested in February.

Video: IDF Spokesperson's Unit

In late March, the IDF announced that Tawil's house would be demolished.

During Thursday's operation clashes with Palestinians erupted, according to the IDF.

"During the activity, shooting was heard in the area and suspects shot at the forces, damage was caused to military vehicles.

The fighters reacted by dispersing demonstrations and shooting at armed men, injuries were detected. In addition, suspects threw explosives, shot fireworks and threw Molotov cocktails at the fighters," the military statement said, adding that there were no casualties to Israeli forces.

This article was first published by i24NEWS.

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