Hamas has won the Gaza War. More accurately, Israel has lost. American President Biden has won. It may turn out to be a Pyrrhic victory. As of today, neither Israel no Hamas have given final approval to the US sponsored agreement for hostage release. The draft talks about a 6 week cease-fire and initial release of some 600 or more Palestinian prisoners. . Gazan refugees in the south are to be allowed to return north (whether Israeli forces will be allowed to screen them for weapons etc. remains undecided). At a second stage, Hamas will return Israeli hostages (Israel is asking for all of them, Hamas is reported as saying only 40). Most of the IDF has already left Gaza. Bottom line: Hamas remains in charge and able to resume shooting, and not all hostages are certain to be freed.
In other developments, Israel has sent over 400 truckloads of aid through the 2 northern gates. France is talking about sanctions against Israel, and Turkey has already imposed some. The Turks are miffed because Israel won’t let them participate in air dropping aid in Gaza. The entire idea of parachuting aid seems really stupid. It is obviously much more expensive than sending aid by ship/truck, and does not really solve the problem of Hamas controlled ‘local committees’ being in charge of distribution. (Israel still refuses to be a part of that charade, even though there are a lot of Palestinians on the ground that would prefer the IDF over Hamas).
Nicaragua’s case against Germany for abetting genocide seems likely to go nowhere. German sources view it as a red herring designed to smear Germany more than Israel (and sponsored by Russia, who’s paying for it). Prime Minister Netanyahu stated there is still a timetable or a Rafah attack and that drew criticism from many quarters. The statement was probably made for domestic consumption (he is quite unpopular inside Israel at present).
Finally, the Palestinian application for full UN membership (at present they are non-voting observers) will probably fail again. The US position that caused a veto the last time requires them to show that they are willing to accept Israel and live alongside in peace. Neither the PLO nor Hamas have removed the articles in their political platforms that call for Israel to be replaced by an Arab (Muslim) state.
Wetherhorn 
I hope this message finds you safe and well. Please know that many of us here in the US who are paying attention to the events in Gaza wish Israel and its people well. On a completely different note, today I received a copy of The Easter Egg Fleet in the mail. I’ve only had time to scan it briefly, but it’s already clearly a masterful work and will help greatly in my ship model building efforts. Thank you so much for this work. Hello from Pensacola, Florida. From one retired Sailor to another, very respectfully, Dave Miesel, CTR1(SW), USN, ret.
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