Four months of war: As IDF’s Gaza campaign proceeds, anguished hostage families protest, international pressure increases and civilians’ resilience is unabated

[Times of Israel]( Wednesday, February 7, 2024 ToI in Gaza [In central Gaza, where gunmen lurk underground, a commander sees a long slog ahead]( By Lazar Berman Col. Elad Shushan, head of the 646th Brigade, takes The Times of Israel into the heart of the battlefield, to a Hamas tunnel about to be destroyed by the IDF ToI in Gaza [On Gaza civilian evacuation road, IDF uncovers largest Hamas rocket factory to date]( By Emanuel Fabian Op-ed David Horovitz [Is there a way to bring the hostages home without derailing the war against Hamas?]( Hamas’s demands appear to present a near-impossible dilemma, especially for a riven government. But the IDF believes there is a path forward * Water and Iron * Divisive Netanyahu ToI Original Video [The voices screaming ‘Now!’]( Inside story [An ideological minority of parents of hostages held by Hamas oppose negotiations]( By Mati Wagner Tikva Forum is a right-wing alternative to the main hostage advocacy group. Its members, primarily pro-government religious Zionists, say they are putting country before loved ones [Those We Are Missing]( [The hostages and victims whose fate is still unknown]( [Read Here]( ToI podcast [What Matters Now to Haviv Rettig Gur: What Israelis think about the suffering in Gaza]( By Amanda Borschel-Dan ToI’s senior analyst joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan in the Jerusalem office for a difficult conversation about Israelis’ awareness of the humanitarian crisis spawned by Hamas’s war Analysis Gianluca Pacchiani [For most Palestinians, October 7’s savagery is literally unbelievable. Blame the TV news?]( Al Jazeera and others largely ignored Hamas atrocities, bolstering distrust of Israeli accounts; one poll found 97% in West Bank deny the monstrous acts committed against civilians [‘Right now someone is being raped in a tunnel’: Knesset hears of Hamas sex crimes]( By Sam Sokol Exclusive [Senior UAE official: Warm peace with Israel ‘could turn cold’ if Gaza war drags on]( By Jacob Magid Remarks to ToI further indicate Abraham Accords countries aren’t weighing severing ties, but suggest relations may become similar to the chilly ones Israel has with Egypt, Jordan The Hague [ICJ tells Israel to ‘prevent genocide’ in Gaza, rejects ordering immediate ceasefire]( By Jeremy Sharon In its decision, Hague court finds there is ‘plausibility’ to South Africa’s claims that the rights of Palestinian not to be subjected to genocide must be urgently protected Interview [US-born Israeli mother feels tortured not knowing her son’s last moments on Oct. 7]( By Jessica Steinberg Kibbutznik and former New Yorker Julie Bausi is furious at the IDF and government after son Itai died without help at the Nova music festival; she now feels more Israeli than ever [Interview / Inching along, as she awaits his return, a sister of a Hamas hostage stays on course]( By Diana Bletter [Toronto Jews anxious amid unprecedented antisemitic spillover from Gaza war]( By Robert Sarner Members of the city’s Jewish community of 200,000 say they see little support from Justin Trudeau’s government as Jewish people and businesses are targeted post-Oct. 7 [‘I’m afraid every day for my children’: As antisemitism soars, French Jews flee to Israel]( By Romain Chauvet [Those We Have Lost]( [Those We Have Lost]( [Stories of civilians and soldiers killed in Hamas's onslaught on Israel]( [Read Here]( Inside story [More than skin deep: Israelis who inked October 7 on their bodies as a living memorial]( By Amy Spiro Inside story [Resilience amid ruins: Kfar Aza’s first two returnees hope to forge a path of renewal]( By Canaan Lidor While some contemplate leaving the hard-hit kibbutz forever, one hardy couple believes that moving back is showing others the way forward [Allies of Jewish US students visit Israel after Oct. 7 – and come back armed with info]( By Cathryn J. Prince [Ignored by the state, Eritreans from Sderot find temporary shelter in northern kibbutz]( By Omer Sharvit Inside story [How a Druze mom fooled Hamas into revealing its attack plans on Oct. 7, saving her town]( By Sue Surkes [How cutting-edge Israeli med tech is boosting survival rates of war wounded]( By Renee Ghert-Zand [The Persian-Jewish grandma who wants to feed the entire IDF from her apartment]( By Gavriel Fiske Inside story [Something is afoot: Volunteers fit IDF soldiers with US military boots amid Hamas war]( By Sharon Wrobel Brother- and sister-in-law duo in New York and Modiin raise funds to ship and distribute durable, waterproof footwear to front-line fighters; so far, they’ve supplied 10,000 pairs [Soldiers of the book / Unhooked from phones, troops in Gaza turn to reading to pass time]( By Tal Schneider From the blogs [In which I can’t look away]( By Susan Warchaizer My son went to war in Gaza and I stayed home with my very loud thoughts [The daily edition]( [facebook]( [twitter]( [instagram]( [View in browser]( [Contact support](mailto:support@timesofisrael.com) [Advertise with us](mailto:advertise@timesofisrael.com) Were you forwarded this email? 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