From: The Jerusalem Post March 2, 2025

The Arab states in the region don’t seem to think the Gaza ceasefire crisis will grow too much.
They may also assume the Trump administration can save things.

The issue everyone faces is that the Trump administration may not have a magic wand to sort out all these problems.

Trump magic!
1. got the ceasefire-hostage deal implementation rolling
2. let the Gaza genie of mass expulsion out of the bottle
3. Arab nations now scrambling to come up with an alternate plan

From: The Jerusalem Post March 2, 2025
Netanyahu thanks Trump for 'unwavering support,' affirms commitment to Witkoff framework

He said in his statement:
"Hamas had also put forward positions for a permanent ceasefire that are totally unacceptable,"

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked US President Donald Trump for his support of Israel and affirmed his approval of US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff's ceasefire framework proposal during a Sunday evening government meeting.

Netanyahu's statements came after Israel's ceasefire deal with Hamas expired, and the terror group rejected Witkoff's proposal for a new ceasefire framework.

He also criticized Hamas for their decision to reject the offer.

He said that during his recent visit to Washington, he expressed that Trump is "the greatest friend that Israel has ever had in the White House," and that "President Trump shows that friendship each and every day."

Regarding Witkoff's ceasefire framework, Netanyahu affirmed that Israel has accepted the plan "to extend the temporary ceasefire by 50 days, during that time we can discuss the conditions for a permanent ceasefire that will end the war in Gaza."

"In Witkoff’s plan, half of the hostages would be released right away, and the remaining half would be released if we reach an agreement on a permanent ceasefire."

He emphasized: "Again, Israel has accepted this plan. I accepted this plan. But so far, Hamas has rejected it,"

Netanyahu calls Hamas's proposals 'totally unacceptable'
He added: "Hamas had also put forward positions for a permanent ceasefire that are totally unacceptable,"

He then addressed the humanitarian aid that Israel stopped sending into Gaza at the end of the ceasefire.

Israel has decided to stop letting goods and supplies into Gaza, something we've done for the past 42 days.
He explained: "We've done that [stopped bringing supplies] because Hamas steals the supplies and prevents the people of Gaza from getting it,"

"It [Hamas] uses these supplies to finance its terror machine, which is aimed directly at Israel and our civilians – and this we cannot accept,"

"We will take further steps if Hamas continues to hold our hostages.

Netanyahu stated:
"Throughout this, Israel knows that America and President Trump have our back. Thank you again, President Trump!
Thank you for all you are doing to return our hostages, bolster our security, and provide a future of prosperity and peace for all the peoples of the Middle East,"

Fatal Complacency - Hamas’ October 7, 2023 onslaught
The Times of Israel 03 March 2025

Extracts:

• catastrophic intelligence and operational failures

outgoing IDF chief Herzi Halevi: I regarded Gaza as least worrying border; I know victims asked ‘Where’s the IDF?’

In leaked remarks to local council chiefs while presenting army’s findings, Halevi also notes the first troops only reached hard-hit Kibbutz Nir Oz after last terrorists had gone

The outgoing head of the Israel Defense Forces and the commander of the Southern Command went in-depth, in detailing the series of catastrophic intelligence and operational failures that enabled Hamas’s October 7, 2023 onslaught while presenting the army’s extensive findings last week to southern local council chiefs, according to recordings leaked to the media and aired Sunday evening

• Fatal Complacency

Halevi acknowledged that he and the IDF had thought,
1. Hamas was entirely incapable of carrying out the kind of broad surprise attack it ended up mounting,
2. murdering some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages
3. and that he had been less concerned by the threat from Gaza than the dangers on every other Israeli border

Halevi said the IDF’s conception “collapsed” on October 7 and that he knew that the last words of many Israelis murdered that day were “Where is the IDF?”

Halevi, who was set to step down later this week having taken personal responsibility for the failures, stressed at the start of the broadcast recording that he, as head of the IDF and the IDF as a whole, had failed to protect the people of Israel

Fatal Complacency - Hamas’ October 7, 2023 onslaught
The Times of Israel 03 March 2025

Extracts:

• Hamas’s October 7, 2023 onslaught

outgoing IDF chief Herzi Halevi said the IDF “expected something very different of ourselves” and had never thought anything like October 7 could happen

Halevi stated,"And if there was to be something like that, our assumption was that we would get a warning ahead of time from [military] intelligence”

Underestimating the terrorists Overestimating 'Fort Knox' Israel

Halevi said,
1. The assessment was that a combination of intelligence warnings
2. the security fence around Gaza
3. and the protection afforded by IDF troops offered appropriate protection
4. This assessment “collapsed”

Halevi added,
We felt that,
1. the subterranean barrier was very high quality
2. the intelligence gathering was advanced
3. the topography was helpful


“We thought our situation overall was good” Famous last words

Fatal Complacency - Hamas’ October 7, 2023 onslaught
The Times of Israel 03 March 2025

Extracts:

• Where is the IDF?

The first soldier arrived after the last terrorists had left

In further remarks, outgoing IDF chief Herzi Halevi addressed the fact that the first IDF troops did not reach Kibbutz Nir Oz, where a quarter of residents were killed or kidnapped, until the last terrorists had gone

Halevi said a lot had been said in the media about too many troops going to Sderot, the Gaza border town that was among the many communities attacked

Halevi said, Two sets of forces were dispatched to Nir Oz but they got caught up in other battles en route and did not reach the kibbutz
Halevi added,1. we would have wanted advance warning
2. we would have wanted to know [what was about to happen]
3. We didn’t get it…”
4. That could have changed the reality

Fatal Complacency - Hamas’ October 7, 2023 onslaught
The Times of Israel 03 March 2025

Extracts:

• terrorists turned on Israeli SIM cards

Halevi then discussed the indications that were nevertheless received in the hours before the invasion that Hamas was planning something
Halevi noted the fact that Hamas terrorists turned on Israeli SIM cards on Friday evening, October 6 and that this was reported by IDF intelligence
But Halevi said, this had happened “in the previous year… 10-12 times” It was checked

Halevi said, the movements of senior Hamas figures were also checked
The checks indicated that what was going on was “routine” and that there were “good alternative explanations” for what was happening in Gaza

Fatal Complacency - Hamas’ October 7, 2023 onslaught
The Times of Israel 03 March 2025

Extracts:

• Hamas 'fooled' Israeli intelligence

outgoing IDF chief Herzi Halevi said, for instance, Hamas, in the weeks ahead of its invasion and massacre,
Halevi said, this had been raised with the political leadership and had prompted talk about carrying out “targeted strikes [on key Hamas figures] in Gaza”How can terrorists Hamas have knowledge of Israeli cabinet proceedings?

Halevi said, the IDF’s top brass were updated, on the worrying indications from Gaza,
1. at about 3AM on October 7 — three-and-a-half hours before the attack — plenty time?...
2. and that this was unduly late


Halevi said, it was not the case that officers were wary of waking up the chief of staff Rather,

Fatal Complacency - Hamas’ October 7, 2023 onslaught
The Times of Israel 03 March 2025

Extracts:

• Israeli failures

Summing up the “main failures” Halevi said: “The level of alert was not raised”

Also, Halevi added, despite the fact that “too many things [that were unfolding in Gaza] were unclear” the IDF needed to be “sharper and we erred”

Halevi said, during the IDF’s subsequent probe of that night, a chart had been drawn up that shows
“what we knew that night” versus “what we should have known that night”

Halevi added, when looking at those two sets of data “and especially at the differences between them, you say,

Fatal Complacency - Hamas’ October 7, 2023 onslaught
The Times of Israel 03 March 2025

Extracts:

• Gaza threat treated seriously but with ‘incorrect conclusions’

Channel 12 also aired recordings from remarks made by the Head of Southern Command Major General Yaron Finkelman at the same meeting with local council heads

Finkelman said that the night before the attack was “a sleepless night” for him as he reviewed the odd intelligence signals coming from Gaza which the IDF famously decided were concerning but not exceedingly urgent thus missing its chance to prevent the Hamas-led onslaught

Finkelman told local leaders in the recording
Finkelman insisted, he was not blasé about the troubling signs
The picture they presented to me consisted of two key elements:
1. First: that this was not something imminent in the immediate timeframe
2. Second: that Hamas’s offensive force, the Nukhba, was operating as usual — it was not in any emergency state
Finkelma added, apparently referring to his ultimate responsibility,1. we took several actions which in hindsight were of course insufficient
2. we redeployed commanders to the sector though not all of them
3. and that is how it caught us at 6:29AM

Fatal Complacency - Hamas’ October 7, 2023 onslaught
The Times of Israel 03 March 2025

Extracts:

• IDF engagement / disengagement

Head of Southern Command Major General Yaron Finkelman stressed that the conversations were ongoing throughout the night
Finkelman also defended the conduct of the troops who responded to the attack as it unfolded
Finkelman said,
Finkelman added,

Trump - Israel's Greatest Friend
The Times of Israel 03 March 2025

Extracts:

• Day 514 “maximum pressure” plan

Next potential steps to pressure Hamas include cutting electricity to Gaza, resuming war

The Kan public broadcaster reports: Israel is planning to incrementally pile on pressure on Hamas, in addition to Sunday’s halt to aid entering the Gaza Strip,
1. to accept a new proposal extending the ceasefire deal’s first phase
2. and securing the release of all the hostages the terror group is holding

The report says the next stages of Israel’s “maximum pressure” plan, said to have been drafted over the past few weeks, is to again move the Gazan population from northern Gaza to the territory’s south — as had been the case for most of the war — and later if needed, cutting all electricity to the Strip

• full return to the war with Trump's blessing!

The final planned measure is reportedly a full return to the war, this time with the heavy bombs withheld by the previous US administration as well as the billions worth of arms and military equipment the new administration is sending Israel

Haaretz March 3, 2025
Netanyahu; Israel halts Gaza aid after Hamas rejects Witkoff's cease-fire proposal

GOP Senator Tom Cotton backs Israeli Decision to Stop Gaza Aid:

We Didn't Provide Aid to Nazi Germany during World War II
The idea is preposterous. Why should Israel be forced to provide aid to Hamas-run Gaza?

Hamas; this violates cease-fire agreement, U.S. and Israel will bear the consequences of escalation

Egypt; New cease-fire agreement proposed, release of six Israeli hostages in exchange for withdrawal from Salah al-Din road and Philadelphi corridor

ynet news March 3, 2025
Israel invited to Russia’s May 9 parade, while 'unfriendly' nations excluded

Israel among nations invited to Russia’s May 9 Parade in Moscow, along with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas;
Kremlin says will not invite leaders of 'unfriendly states,' including Ukraine, Germany, France and others

Russia has released its list of invited nations for its annual Victory Day parade in Moscow, commemorating the defeat of Nazi Germany.

The event, a significant fixture in Russia’s political calendar, will take place in Red Square on May 9

Amid Israel’s ongoing efforts to maintain ties with Moscow, Israel has been invited to attend, though Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not expected to participate Two ICC war criminals

Instead, Israel will be represented by its ambassador to Russia, Simona Halperin.

In comments to Russian media, Halperin emphasized Israel’s historical stance, saying, "Historical facts do not change due to geopolitical or other circumstances.
In 2017, the Israeli Knesset decided that May 9 would be recognized as Victory Day."

In contrast, Russia has opted to exclude a long list of nations it deems "unfriendly," withholding invitations from leaders of Germany, Ukraine, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, France, Czechia and Estonia.

Leaders from Australia, Andorra, the United Kingdom, San Marino, Monaco, Canada, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Japan were also not invited.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed the policy, saying, "We will not invite leaders of unfriendly states."

U.S. President Donald Trump also did not receive an invitation, though the Kremlin recently extended a separate invitation for a future visit to Russia

Among those invited and confirmed to attend are Serbian President Aleksandar Vu?i? and Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico.

Other invitees, including Chinese President Xi Jinping, Brazilian President Lula da Silva and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, have yet to confirm their attendance.

Additional leaders invited include Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Tajik President Emomali Rahmon.

Invitations were also extended to leaders of Vietnam, Mongolia and Laos.

Notably absent from the list was Iran despite its growing alliance with Moscow amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.

plenty time?... makes no sense

• Operation Thunderbolt

04 July 1976 Israeli forces conducted one of the most audacious, daring and successful military operations in the nation's history, to rescue Jewish civilian hostages held by terrorists, at the Entebbe Airport, in Uganda, more than 2,000 miles away, within a week

Hamas assumes Israel today is not the Israel of the old when Israeli leaders would never have let,
1. their kibbutzim be overrun by terrorists
2. and their soldiers carted off to captivity

From: BBC January 15, 2024
They were Israel's 'eyes on the border' - but their Hamas warnings went unheard

They are known as Israel's eyes on the Gaza border.
For years, units of young female conscripts had one job here. It was to sit in surveillance bases for hours, looking for signs of anything suspicious.

In the months leading up to the 7 October attacks by Hamas, they did begin to see things:
practice raids, mock hostage-taking, and farmers behaving strangely on the other side of the fence.

It was clear to some of these women that Hamas was planning something big - that there was, "balloon that was going to burst".

"The problem is that they [the military] didn't connect the dots," a former commander at one of the border units tells the BBC.
If they had, she says, they would have realised that Hamas was preparing something unprecedented.

According to a report in The New York Times a lengthy blueprint detailing Hamas's plans had been in the hands of Israeli officials for more than a year before 7 October, but was dismissed as aspirational.

A veteran analyst in Israel's intelligence agency Unit 8200 warned three months before the attacks that Hamas had conducted an intense training exercise that appeared similar to that outlined in the blueprint, but her concerns were brushed off, the newspaper reports.

The drills conducted by Hamas and other armed groups had also been posted publicly on social media, as seen in this BBC investigation.

From: The Times of Israel March 3, 2025
Chief of IDF Operations Directorate Major General Oded Basiuk to resign from military

Basiuk in private conversions has taken responsibility for his part in the military’s failures in the lead-up to the October 7 onslaught and during the attack itself.

according to an IDF probe, Basiuk's unit, the Operations Directorate:
1. failed to build an accurate picture of the attack in real-time
2. and deploy troops to the right locations

From: The Jerusalem Post March 3, 2025
Ukraine's warning to Israel: 'Negative consequences' if Israel were to vote against Ukraine at UN

Walla reported on Monday night that the Ukrainian Ambassador to Israel warned Israel in a letter to the Prime Minister's Office and Foreign Ministry:
Ukraine is in, no position to threaten Israel... the cheek of it! Besides:
1. Ukraine supports 90% of anti-Israel decisions in the United Nations.
2. In the ten years between 2015-2025 Ukraine did not vote in favor of a single 'pro-Israel' resolution.
3. It voted against Israel in 75% of the votes, and abstained for the other 25%, according to the UN Watch Country Database.

The Double Standards and Hypocrisy beggars belief indeed

From: The Jerusalem Post March 3, 2025
Hegseth reiterates US commitment to Israel's security in phone call with Katz

The US is "100 percent committed" to Israel's security, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told his Israeli counterpart, Defense Minister Israel Katz, in a phone call on Monday, the US Defense Department said.

Hegseth emphasized the "unbreakable" bond between the US and Israel.

The two also agreed that Iran was a threat to regional security and agreed to work together on that regard.

From: The Jerusalem Post March 4, 2025
Netanyahu's funding for Hamas via Qatar enabled October 7 invasion, Shin Bet reveals

The Shin Bet also revealed that SIM cards and sensors along the border were activated ahead of time but were ignored

While the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) took a significant amount of responsibility for the disasters on October 7 in its report published unexpectedly on Tuesday, it also implicated Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by implying, Hamas’s decision to initiate its long-planned invasion was led, by his policies of:
1. the Temple Mount,
2. the treatment of Palestinian prisoners,
3. and the judicial reform

The report never mentions Netanyahu by name, and technically, some of these policies were those of then-national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.
Netanyahu, though, as prime minister, allowed many of the policies to continue despite having the power to stop them.

Ben-Gvir:
1. vastly expanded the volume of Jewish visitors to the Temple Mount compared to prior years,
2. violated some of the rules of what activities could be performed on the Temple Mount,
3. publicly called for completely changing the “status quo” there,
4. and enforced policies that worsened the treatment of Palestinian prisoners.

Ben-Gvir's moves led to:
1. public condemnations by moderate Sunni Arab allies, the West, and Hamas,
2. and to private warnings by the Shin Bet.

Other policies carried out under Netanyahu that the agency flagged as problematic and as contributions to Hamas’s decision to invade were:
1. his facilitation of Qatari funding to Hamas
2. and his opposition to proposed assassination operations of top Hamas leaders at the time.

The judicial reform was also a Netanyahu policy, although just as his critics can blame him for pushing the legislation forward, so can the prime minister argue that the backlash against the reform impacted both the IDF’s readiness and Hamas’s perception of the army’s capabilities.

Reforms insufficient in preventing future disasters

At another key point in the report, the Shin Bet wrote that even as it was implementing its own vast reforms for its massive failures on October 7 these would be insufficient in preventing future disasters, barring changes in the interface between the political and defense echelons.

Most of the report, however, was about the Shin Bet’s own failures:
1. it did not warn about an invasion,
2. it misinterpreted Hamas’s intentions – both before October 7 and on the day –
3. it failed to adjust to Hamas as a sophisticated military entity,
4. allowing Hamas to massively arm itself,
5. and it did not recognize the depth of the harm being done to Israeli deterrence.

Another blind spot was the agency’s belief on the eve of October 7 that Hamas might be focused on an attack in the West Bank, partially because its leaders carried out an unusual terrorist attack there on October 5

Conceptually wise, the Shin Bet said:
1. it had far too much confidence in the IDF’s hi-tech border fence,
2. was too invested in quiet and stability,
3. and was too worried about miscalculations in pressuring Hamas
4. that could lead to instability or an “unnecessary” war – as the 2014 conflict was viewed.

From: Al Jazeera March 4, 2025
Israel demands ‘demilitarisation’ of Gaza; Arab leaders adopt plan

Arab leaders have unanimously adopted a plan for Gaza’s reconstruction after meeting in Egypt’s capital for a summit.

Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar demands removal of Hamas from Gaza and return of captives before Israel agrees to phase two of ceasefire deal.

US welcomes Arab summit on Gaza:
The White House says it welcomes input from Arab nations, but that Hamas cannot remain in power in the Strip.

White House National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes said:
1. “President Trump has been clear that Hamas cannot continue to govern Gaza,”
2. “While the President stands by his bold vision for a post-war Gaza, he welcomes input from our Arab partners in the region.
3. It’s clear his proposals have driven the region to come to the table rather than allow this issue to devolve into further crisis.”

Trump’s proposal, which has been roundly rejected by the international community, called for Palestinians to be permanently removed from Gaza and for the development of the territory into a “Riviera” resort.

From: Haaretz March 4, 2025
Billions to Israel, Truce, Gaza Takeover Plan: Trump to Tout Mideast 'Wins' in Congress Speech

President Trump's speech comes on the heels of:
1. $11 billion weapons sales to Israel
2. and amid his continued insistence on a U.S. takeover of Gaza
3. and increasing deference to Israel on how to proceed with the hostage deal

U.S. President Donald Trump will address a joint session of Congress on Tuesday, where he is expected to tout the many actions he has taken during the first six weeks of his presidency – with the Middle East playing a starring role.

‘White elephant in the room’ at Arab League summit

Al Jazeera senior political analyst Marwan Bishara has highlighted that the core issue in the Middle East is not a “Palestine problem” but an “Israel problem”.

Bishara suggested that the real “elephant in the room” is a “white elephant”, a concept referring to a losing investment.

True Time to wake up 77 years of war Ridiculous! Israel is burning and bleeding, on all fronts including its economy Peace
The horrors of death, destruction and immeasurable suffering of the innocent civilians, all sides High toll of Israeli soldiers

From: The Times of Israel March 4, 2025
As European and Arab leaders panic, Trump gives Netanyahu rare freedom of action

In a fateful week for the Ukraine and Gaza wars, with summits in London and Cairo, the PM aims to ramp up pressure on Hamas, buoyed by the US president’s ‘do whatever you want’ approach

The course of the two conflicts that have dominated the global agenda in recent years could be set this week, as Europe tries to figure out its response to growing White House hostility toward Ukraine, and the ceasefire in Gaza moves beyond its surprisingly resilient first phase.

In both wars, the positions — and often mind-boggling statements — of US President Donald Trump loom large.

But as Europe scrambles to come up with a response to the angry new American approach to Kyiv Israel finds itself with no overt criticism from the Trump administration and wide freedom of action as it seeks to achieve its key war goals of destroying Hamas and bringing home all remaining hostages.

Western leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met in London on Sunday after a disastrous visit by the wartime leader to the Oval Office.

Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance had berated Zelensky on live TV confirming the worst fears in Kyiv and European capitals about Trump’s vision for ending the war in Ukraine.