Amidst Significant Progress in the Hostage Negotiations, IDF Forces Have Taken Control of the Palestinian Side of the Rafah Crossing, Which Is Now Closed for Entry of Humanitarian Aid, as Well as the Kerem Shalom Crossing. Israeli Source to CNN: 'The Incursion Is a Limited Operation Intended to Pressure Hamas to Agree to a Deal'
Hamas' Announcement That It Accepts the Proposed Cease-fire Deal Took Israel by Surprise, Given the Crisis in the Talks Over the Past Few Days. Israel's Political Leadership Is Level the Patently False Claims That U.S. President Joe Biden Has Abandoned Israel. And While Jerusalem Keeps Sending Delegations to Egypt, the IDF Is Increasing the Military Pressure and Operating to the East of Rafah
It May Well Be That the Israeli Prime Minister Does Not Want a Deal at This Time – but It's Also Feasible That the Threat of a Ground Invasion of Rafah Is the Final Leverage on Hamas. 'If Netanyahu Wants a Deal,' Says One Official Involved in the Talks, 'This Is More or Less the Best One He Can Get'
The Director of the CIA Was Dispatched to the Middle East in an Effort to Save the Hostage Deal, and Netanyahu Is Considered to Be the Main Obstacle. The Intensity of U.S. Pressure Will Determine Whether He Accedes to President Biden's Demands
Amid Global Protests Against the Gaza War – Some Accompanied by Denial of Hamas' Systematic Sexual Crimes – Israeli Filmmaker Anat Stalinsky Created a Film Documenting Sexual Violence on October 7, Through Interviews by Former Meta COO Sheryl Sandberg