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The 275th Day of War in Israel
Where Do We Stand/What Has Been Accomplished
By Sherwin Pomerantz
Hostage deal talks are set to be held this week amid reports that Hamas and Israel still remain at odds over issues relating to a permanent ceasefire, which for months has been the major stumbling block in securing an agreement. A working-level Israeli negotiating team is expected to visit both Doha and Cairo this week, with a larger meeting held on the talks with CIA Director William Burns, who has been one of the lead negotiators. The New York Times reported on Saturday that Hamas over the weekend sought assurances from mediating countries Egypt, Qatar, and the United States that the talks for a permanent ceasefire, which would be held during phase one of the deal, would continue until such time as there was an agreement on the issue.
Israel, in turn, understands that these talks would continue as long as progress is being made. It fears that the Hamas amendment would allow for such talks to be held indefinitely, a move that would prevent further military activity against Hamas, and become a form of a de-facto ceasefire, without the return of all the hostages. The Prime Minister’s Office said on Friday that “gaps still remain between the sides,” but that an Israeli team would participate in the negotiations this week.”
Netanyahu spoke with US President Biden for half an hour on Thursday night, as the two men went over the details of the deal and the latest amendments to the proposal. Israel is fully committed to the three-phase proposal that Biden unveiled at the White House on May 31, an Israeli official stressed on Saturday night.
Under that proposal, Hamas would free humanitarian hostages in the first phase of the deal, with numbers varying from 18 to 33, in exchange for a lull in the war and the release of Palestinian security prisoners and terrorists held in Israeli jails. Talks on the issue of a permanent ceasefire fire would begin on the 16th day of that first phase. Hamas had initially insisted that Israel must first agree to a permanent ceasefire before any hostages were released; Israel rejects that demand. Last week Hamas dropped that demand, a step that allowed talks to move forward already on Friday.
Some 20 launches were fired at the Galilee in northern Israel on Sunday, according to the IDF. The barrage resulted in one casualty. The IDF noted that it had successfully intercepted some of the launches. The rockets followed Israel's Saturday elimination of Hezbollah terrorist Meitham Mustafa Altaar in an airstrike in the Baalbek area, deep within Lebanese territory.
MDA, Israel's emergency medical service, later stated that after the red alert sirens were activated in the Lower Galilee, a 28-year-old male was in serious condition due to wounds sustained from shrapnel and was being evacuated by paramedics to the Baruch Padeh Medical Center, Poriya. Magen David Adom paramedic David Fahima and senior EMT Aviad Amar said the man "was fully conscious and suffered shrapnel wounds to his body."
The paramedics added, "We gave him medical treatment and evacuated him in an MDA intensive care vehicle to the hospital, where he is in a serious but stable condition."
Army Radio noted that alerts had been activated in localities where alarms had not sounded since October of last year. A correspondent for the Hezbollah-affiliated Lebanese news outlet Al-Mayadeen reported that the missiles launched from Lebanon were fired at an Israeli military target near Tiberias.
Today marks nine months of the war and it is an opportune time to take stock of what has been achieved since the October 7th massacre. Times of Israel’s military reporter, Emanuel Fabian, provides a reasonably good overview here for those interested in hearing it:
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