Israel is observing its 76th Independence Day even as it fights a new war for its survival, surrounded by Iranian terror proxies. The IDF is now engaged in close combat with Hamas in eastern Rafah, and troops are poised for a full-scale invasion.
And reports are now surfacing that the Biden administration has been holding back intelligence on the location of key Hamas leaders, including Yahya Sinwar.
***Please sign up for CBN Newsletters and download the CBN News app to ensure you keep receiving the latest news.***
Israel’s Independence Day ceremonies were mixed with grief and sorrow this year as war rages on and the fate of the hostages in Gaza remains unknown.
Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana said in a message geared to the hostages, “The State of Israel was not there on October 7th in full force and power as we all expected, but since then it has been working every day to return you home to your family.”
Israeli troops meanwhile are pushing deeper into eastern Rafah dismantling Hamas infrastructure. IDF soldiers are said to be engaged in close-quarters combat with the group’s terror fighters.
Leaflet dropped by Israeli military warns residents in the city of Rafah to evacuate and move towards the west of the city and the safe city of Khan Yunis. (Photo by: Abed Rahim Khatib/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images)
The U.S. believes Israel has enough troops deployed outside the city to launch a full ground invasion.
Further north, in Jabalia, a steady stream of people continued to pour out of the city as IDF forces re-engaged Hamas fighters there.
“We escaped from the shelling and missile attacks. We couldn’t bear all this, so we ran out,” one Jabalia resident said.
There’s evidence that despite Israel’s efforts to eliminate Hamas from northern Gaza that terrorist fighters are regrouping in areas once cleared out.
U.S. officials now doubt whether Israel can achieve total victory in Gaza and are warning they could face a resurgent terror group.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, “Israel’s on the trajectory potentially to inherit an insurgency with many armed Hamas left, or if it leaves a vacuum filled by chaos, filled by anarchy, and probably refilled by Hamas.”
In Rafah, the U.N. says more than 450,000 Gazans have fled the city for safe zones as Israel potentially prepares a full-scale invasion of Hamas’ last stronghold.
The Biden administration, still trying to prevent such an operation inside Rafah, reportedly has withheld critical intelligence regarding the location of Hamas leaders, including Yahya Sinwar, the architect of the October 7th attacks. The release of that essential intel will reportedly only come if the Israelis agree to a limited and targeted operation in the southern Gaza city.
Hussain Abdul-Hussain of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies said, “This is part of a trend and a pattern the Biden administration has been trying to control this conflict from day one, whether it escalates or not, how many days, who goes where, who does what. This is not the best course of action. We help our allies against our enemies that’s how it should be.”
The Washington Post reports that U.S. intelligence even includes the precise location of the group’s terror tunnels.
“So if this is the case and we know where Sinwar is and we know how the tunnels look like so what are we as the United States government waiting for?” Abdul-Hussain said.
The White House denies it withheld such intelligence.
