There isn’t a lot to report today, which is good, because of my injured hands.
Hostages concluded any day now. Don’t hold your breathe. Hamas will drag this out as long as possible, and after an initial deal for 50?, (whenever that actually happens) at a rate of 10 per week, will continue offering just a few more in return for even longer “humanitarian pauses”. Of course, they will also have other demands, like releasing terrorists currently in Israeli prisons. The only real pressure on Hamas at present is not diplomatic, it’s the continuation of IDF operations in Gaza.
Regarding IDF ground operations, the focus now appears to be on reducing some Hamas salient that have been surrounded and cut off. The tunnels linking them have all (hopefully) been destroyed. But the terrorists trapped inside are not about to surrender. For them, this is a religious war, and like the Japanese Kamikazes of World War Two, death is preferable to surrender.
A lot of premature babies have finally been evacuated from Al-Shifa hospital. Almost all in incubators provided by Israel (which none of the media mentions) and following a Hamas decision to allow the move (which the media also avoids mentioning. This could have been done many days ago if Hamas had not vetoed the move).
Wetherhorn 