Meanwhile on the International front....

Israeli cabinet approves reopening northern Gaza border crossing for first time since October 7, official says | CNN

 

Surely this will be the end of Bibi!

 

Here's a good, easy read about NATO, in the anniversary week of its founding:

https://journalofdemocracy.org/onli...-best-defense/?utm_source=pocket-newtab-en-us

 

I don't think it was a coincidence that the northern border crossing was opened hours after that phone blowup between them.

 

oof

free link

https://wapo.st/4ajx6CU

Israel’s military said Friday that a deadly attack on a World Central Kitchen humanitarian convoy that killed seven of the organization’s members was a “serious violation” of its policies after the airstrikes prompted global outrage and a rare rebuke from the Biden administration.

The findings of the Israel Defense Forces’ own investigation, presented in a seven-paragraph statement, were unusual for the speed with which they were released: four days after an IDF drone repeatedly struck the three-car convoy on a coastal road in Gaza used as a humanitarian corridor.

 

One of the things that bugs me about the coverage of Gaza is that you would think this is a war between Israel and innocent Gaza civilians. I rarely see coverage of Hamas - and no this isn't a "Hamas tries just as hard" post - but the way the conflict is being framed by most media - you wouldn't think there is any fighting period being directed at Israel. Of course, the innocent civilians are a BIG part of the story, but Hamas' role in all of this - that they still hold hostages - and SOMEBODY is funding their efforts is being largely ignored.

 

Some of the hostages are Americans, as well, which makes it rather galling that it's never talked about. It's never even been made clear exactly how many American hostages there are. All we've seen are varying estimates.

 

gaza us hostages - Google Search

 

This is somewhat of a function of lack of access in the war zone and somewhat on purpose, but Hamas stakes both its internal legitimacy and its external support on attaching itself to those innocent Gaza civilians so that they are tactically and politically one and the same.

 

Part of the problem generally is that no one is willing to believe Hamas casualty numbers - but the Defense Ministry and the IDF offer no numbers at all. As Batman and others have pointed out, we're still unsure of the hostage total.

And as we said upthread, western journalists can only access Gaza with an IDF escort, and those visits are infrequent.

 

Dying for a bag of flour: Videos and eyewitness accounts cast doubt on Israel’s timeline of deadly Gaza aid delivery | CNN

 

Hamas tells negotiators it doesn’t have 40 Israeli hostages needed for first round of ceasefire

In case we needed a reminder that Hamas has no interest in negotiating in good faith.