JC Israel Briefing Day 545: A tale of two ceasefire deals

The new target, announced yesterday by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is the Morag Corridor, located between Khan Younis and Rafah in southern Gaza. It is named after a former Israeli settlement evacuated in 2005.

Netanyahu said: “We are seizing the Morag Corridor. This will be the second Philadelphi, an additional Philadelphi Corridor.” He added: “We are now dividing the Strip and increasing the pressure step by step so that they will give us our hostages. And as long as they do not give them to us, the pressure will increase until they do.”

Netanyahu added that Israel had “switched gears”, with the IDF “seizing territory, striking the terrorists and destroying the infrastructure.” He declared: “We are determined to achieve the objectives of the war, and we are acting relentlessly, with a clear line and a clear mission.”

Families of former hostages have responded furiously to the government’s new direction in Gaza. Amit Soussana, a former hostage, said the government had not “internalised what hostages are enduring in Gaza.”

She told Channel 12: “To survive for so many days only to be killed by bombing, specifically by the IDF, breaks the heart.” She said the government was acting “against its interests.”

Elsewhere, the IDF has carried out strikes in Syria targeting military research sites and two airbases reportedly linked to Iranian activity. Military sources said the strikes were part of a broader strategy to degrade Iranian entrenchment in the region.

One of the airbases, T4 in Homs, is also a site where Turkey has reportedly tried to expand its presence. Israeli officials reportedly hoped the strike will not disrupt hostile capabilities and send a clear deterrent message to Ankara, amid fears that Turkey could use its foothold in Syria to launch future attacks against Israel. In related news, several gunmen opened fire on Israeli troops operating in the southern Syrian town of Tasil overnight. Such incidents are a rarity, as Israel operates in its Syria buffer zone.

Meanwhile, a stone-setting at an Israeli cemetery yesterday revealed the furious inscription on a dead hostage’s grave. The stone for Itzik Elgarat, whose body was returned to Israel in February, now bears the words: “Abducted and abandoned in the 7 October Shoah. Abandoned to his death by the Government of Israel.”

His brother Danny Elgarat, who chose the inscription, told Walla: “This is the most natural thing. I wrote what I think happened. It’s the truth.” He added: “We must remember it on the grave from now on. Gravestones are historical testimony. People should know what we felt and why we think he died.” He called the stone-setting “another stage in the struggle, not just remembrance.”

And in the Qatargate scandal, Netanyahu aides Jonatan Urich and Eli Feldstein spent last night behind bars and are due in court this morning. The Prime Minister has downplayed the seriousness of his aides’ alleged connections with Doha in a video.

He said that Qatar is not an enemy country and called it “a complex country, not a simple country". He said that Urich had no access to classified material, and claimed that the investigation was politically motivated.

Also in politics, protests broke out outside the Knesset yesterday, with demonstrators protesting against plans to draft ultra-Orthodox men into the army. Some protesters clashed with police. Haredi leaders warned of a “red line” being crossed.

And only 29 per cent of Israelis support Netanyahu remaining Prime Minister, according to a new survey conducted by Midgam pollsters. Meanwhile, Benny Gantz has surged ahead in voter preference, with more than 40 per cent saying he is best suited to lead the country. Support for early elections has also grown sharply, with 58 per cent now backing the idea. More than 60 per cent of respondents believe the war goals are unclear, and only 18 per cent said they trusted the government’s explanation for the situation in Gaza.

Finally, there are now some 23,212 Israeli children who were physically or mentally harmed by the October 7 2023 and the war that followed. The Israel National Council for the Child said that all are recognised as victims of terror. Some 56 children were murdered and more than 1,000 hospitalised. Some 30 children were orphaned, and hundreds lost a parent or sibling.

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