Israel Says Hezbollah Must Withdraw 6 Miles Away From Northern Border

Facts

• On Monday, with tensions growing between Israel and Hezbollah, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant told US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin that Hezbollah's military forces must withdraw to positions roughly six miles from the border with Israel to reduce tensions with Lebanon.¹
• On Tuesday, the UN Security Council is expected to vote on a resolution calling for a Gaza ceasefire after the vote was delayed due to negotiations with the US over the resolution's wording. The original wording called for a 'cessation of hostilities' but was changed to 'suspension of hostilities' to potentially gain US support.²
• Intense fighting and bombardments have continued across the Gaza Strip, with Israeli strikes reported in both the north and south. A senior Hamas official said that the group would not hold 'any form of negotiations over prisoners exchange' while Israel continues to engage militarily in Gaza, adding that Hamas is 'open to any initiative that contributes to ending the aggression on our people and opening the crossings to bring in aid and provide relief to the Palestinian people.'³
• Multiple outlets reported that Israeli forces encircled the al-Ahli hospital in Gaza City, detaining the hospital's staff and forcing civilians there to leave. The dean of St. George’s College in Jerusalem and a medical professional who worked in al-Ahli confirmed the reporting with allegedly only two doctors, four nurses, and two janitors reportedly remaining in the hospital alongside more than 100 seriously wounded patients, with no running water or electricity.⁴
• On Tuesday, the Israeli military claimed that it had taken 'operational control' over Jabaliya in the north of the strip. The military also said that it had captured around 3.5K people, 500 of whom it alleges are suspected of militant activity.⁵
• Gaza's health ministry reports that the conflict has left nearly 20K people in the Gaza Strip dead, 70% of whom it claims were women and children. The official Israeli death toll stands at 1.2K people and there are still over 100 hostages being held in the Gaza Strip.⁶

Sources: ¹Axios, ²CNN, ³Al Jazeera, ⁴Guardian, ⁵The times of israel and ⁶NBC.

Narratives

• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by CNN. Though Israel has the right to dismantle Hamas's military capabilities, it must humanely wage this war. The amount of civilians being killed will only galvanize Palestinians against peace and push them into the arms of Hamas. A more thorough and surgical campaign is now needed to eliminate Hamas's leadership in Gaza, as Israel is losing global support.
• Pro-Israel narrative, as provided by Jerusalem post. Though this has been a tragic war, Israel cannot allow Hamas to exist. However, it seems that the Biden admin. wants to pressure Israel into a ceasefire, Israel must push back against such short-sighted thinking. Israel is a sovereign country and has the right to defend itself from terrorism and pursue its interests. Hamas's military capabilities must be eliminated so that the group can never launch a terrorist attack like Oct. 7 again.
• Pro-Palestine narrative, as provided by Middle east eye. Israel continues to demonstrate that its war is not against Hamas but against the Palestinian people as a whole. Nowhere in Gaza is safe, and Israel has effectively rendered the north of the strip uninhabitable. Israel is killing Palestinians at an unprecedented rate and wants to make the Gaza Strip a wasteland. Though the US, Israel's biggest ally, wants to minimize the war's intensity, it must instead exert more pressure to end the war completely.

Predictions