US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says “the gaps are narrowing, and I think an agreement is very much possible” between Israel and Hamas on a six-week ceasefire that would see some 40 Israeli hostages released.

“We worked very hard with Qatar, Egypt and Israel to put a strong proposal on the table… Hamas wouldn’t accept it. They came back with other demands. The negotiators are working on that right now, but I believe it’s very much doable, and it’s very much necessary,” Blinken tells Al Hadath.

“If Hamas cares at all about the people it purports to represent, then it would reach an agreement because that would have the immediate effect of a ceasefire, alleviating the tremendous suffering of people, bringing more humanitarian assistance in and then giving us the possibility of having something more lasting,” he adds.

The operation, which began early Monday morning, was being carried out by the Navy’s Shayetet 13 commando unit, the 401st Armored Brigade, and other forces.

Troops raided the hospital, the largest medical center in the Gaza Strip, after Israeli intelligence indicated that Hamas operatives, including commanders, had returned to the complex to use it as a command center for planning attacks against Israel and troops in Gaza. It was previously raided by the military in November.

“Over the past day, the troops have eliminated terrorists and located weapons in the hospital area, while preventing harm to civilians, patients, medical teams and medical equipment,” the IDF said in a statement Wednesday morning.

--snip--

“We are talking about many [Palestinian Islamic Jihad] operatives, including battalion commanders, Hamas operatives, including political officials,” [IDF spokesman] Hagari said.

Arab media has reported on a series of grandiose projects by the crown prince, all under the title "Saudi Vision 2030". The first was the futuristic technological city project "NEOM" (short for "neo-mustaqbal" - future in Arabic) in the Tabuk region, located entirely not coincidentally in the northwest of the kingdom, near the Red Sea.

The "NEOM" project itself is located as close to Eilat as possible, which suggests that Israel is supposed to participate one day, and on a declarative level, it is intended to create economic cooperation with Egypt and Jordan - two countries that have already signed peace agreements with Israel.

All these projects were planned shortly before and during the normalization of Israel with the UAE and Bahrain.

The normalization requirements of the Saudi kingdom from Israel are known. The day after the war in Gaza, Israel might have to assess how bin Salman's economic vision integrates with the promotion of local projects: the rehabilitation of Gaza and the promotion of the economy in the Gaza Strip and Judea and Samaria.

--snip--

After 12 a.m., a large number of IDF troops broke into the western area of the Shifa hospital, accompanied by fighter jets. In parallel, there were reports that tanks had completely besieged the area.
Shootout takes place

Following this, IDF soldiers broke into the residential building where Mabhough's family lived, blew up the entrance gate and shot inside. When it became clear that Mabhough was outside his apartment, they ordered his family to leave the house and move to the south of the Gaza Strip.

An additional military force entered the Shifa hospital, where Mabhough was staying. The soldiers asked him through loudspeakers to come out, raise his hands and turn himself in. However, a shootout took place at the scene and Mabhough was subsequently killed.

During the activity, Staff-Sergeant (St.-Sgt.) Matan Vinogradov, from Jerusalem, 20, was killed.

IDF troops allowed hundreds of Palestinian citizens to leave the Shifa hospital compound. As part of the operation and during the encirclement, terrorists opened fire from the hospital compound towards soldier, who returned fire and shot the terrorists.

During the IDF and the Shin Bet's reinvasion of Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza on Monday, they killed Hamas's Interior Ministry Operations Chief Faack Mabhough.

Mabhough has been in charge of all of Hamas's internal security forces both during the war and during peacetime.

Israeli forces killed Mabhough during an exchange of gunfire when he resisted arrest and had been trying to hide within the Shifa complex.

In the room next to his hiding spot, significant Hamas weaponry was located.

The Israel Defense Forces early Monday morning launched a raid on Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital, amid intelligence that senior Hamas officials were in the area and using the hospital to plan and carry out terror activity, the military said.

One Israeli soldier was killed amid a gun battle with Hamas operatives in the area of the hospital before dawn.

The raid was launched at around 2:30 a.m., with troops of the IDF’s 401st Armored Brigade and other units, including special forces and the Shin Bet security agency, encircling the hospital, the largest medical center in the Gaza Strip.

As troops arrived at the medical center, Hamas gunmen opened fire “from within the hospital compound,” the IDF and the Shin Bet said.

Hamas stated behind closed doors that Marwan Issa, deputy to Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif, who was targeted in an Israeli strike last week, has been killed, according to a Sunday Kan News report, citing Palestinian sources.

According to the sources, the number three in Hamas’s high command was killed in the IDF strike in Nusirat, in central Gaza, while he was hiding in one of Hamas's terror tunnels.
Hamas number three still buried under terror tunnel

The sources further told Kan that his body was still buried underneath the rubble.

According to the report, Razi Abu Tomeh, Commander of a Hamas Brigade, was also killed in the strike.

Marking the first time in which a formal Palestinian voice has blamed Hamas for the disastrous outcomes of the October 7 massacre, Fatah said that “those who were responsible for the return of the occupation to Gaza Strip and caused the Nakba [catastrophe] which our Palestinian people live… have no right to dictate national priorities.”

The accusations came in response to Hamas’s critique of the appointment of new Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa, described as a close partner of President Mahmoud Abbas.

--snip--

In its reply published on Friday, Fatah slammed Hamas, demanding: “Did Hamas consult the Palestinian leadership or any Palestinian national party when it made its decision to carry out the ‘adventure’ of last October 7, which led to a catastrophe more horrific and crueler than the Nakba of 1948?

“And did Hamas consult the Palestinian leadership that is now negotiating with Israel and offering it concessions after concessions, which have no goal other than securing guarantees of personal security for its leadership to receive, and to try to reach an agreement with [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu to maintain its divisive role in Gaza and the Palestinian arena?” it asked.

A “Zone of Interest” producer is pushing back on director Jonathan Glazer’s comments at the Oscars in which he condemned the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

“The war and the continuation of the war is the responsibility of Hamas,” Danny Cohen, the executive producer of “Zone of Interest,” said in an interview on the episode of the “Unholy” podcast released Thursday.

Calling Hamas a “genocidal terrorist organization,” Cohen said, “I think the war is tragic and awful, and the loss of civilian life is awful, but I blame Hamas for that.”

While accepting the Academy Award for best international feature film on Sunday, Glazer spoke out about the conflict in Gaza.

--snip--

“I just fundamentally disagree with Jonathan on this,” Cohen said, while discussing Glazer’s remarks.

Hamas appears to be sensing that its rule may be in jeopardy in Gaza. As such it is now returning to its roots as a thuggish, mafia-like organization, and has been cracking down on Gazans who speak out or oppose its rule. This is part of a larger, more brutal process, that is playing out in Gaza as gunmen have massacred people seeking humanitarian aid.

--snip--

Escalating violence in Gaza
On Friday, gunmen in Gaza shot at civilians who were trying to obtain aid at the Kuwaiti roundabout which is in the southern Zaytun area, south of Gaza city. This area is near the Natzerim corridor that is controlled by the IDF. The gunmen operate in the area that is outside of IDF control.

The IDF said that “About an hour before the entry of the aid convoy last night [May 14], Palestinian gunmen were seen opening fire in the midst of a crowd of Gazan civilians. We emphasize that there was no opening of fire by IDF forces at the aid convoy in Kuwait Square. The IDF is continuing to examine the incident while making strenuous efforts to bring humanitarian aid to the residents of the Gaza Strip, while Hamas terrorists are harming the residents of Gaza and spreading lies with the purpose of blaming the State of Israel.”

--snip--

Hamas does not want to lose control over aid entering Gaza. Its recent murderous approach clearly indicates the lengths it will go to keep a hand on the aid and not let any other alternate authorities emerge. Hamas is now concentrating more on suppressing Gazans than fighting Israel.