Since yesterday morning, it has been clear that almost nothing about the reports that Israel bombed a Gaza hospital on Tuesday was true. The explosion was caused by a rocket fired by Palestinian Islamic Jihad; the projectile hit a parking lot and not the hospital; and it likely killed dozens rather than 500. Yet the story—concocted by Hamas—was disseminated by the BBC, the New York Times, and other prestige outlets, and eagerly believed by countless Westerners. Indeed some cling to it still. Einat Wilf explains this credulity:

For eleven days now, pillars of the global left from the “Squad” to [Jeremy] Corbyn to many in the media had to deal with the collapse of their entire theology, which placed unique Israeli Zionist evil at the core of their worldview. Without this one certainty of their political lives they do not know how to be in this world. It is the one idea that gives sense and order to who they are.

But the glee with which Hamas terrorists and “ordinary Palestinians” . . . proceeded to engage in the greatest possible atrocities against families and people of all ages from babies to grandparents was to them first and foremost a massacre of their entire theology. They did not know who they were anymore without “Evil Israel.” They especially could not handle the terrifying possibility that evil lies on the Palestinian side—the people whom they have elevated to Jesus like sacrificial and saintly status.

And so the lie handed to them by Hamas that included all the elements they needed—Israeli evil, innocent Palestinian victims—allowed them to restore their theology. All was right with the world again. Israel/Zionism/Jews were thereby restored to their proper place in their theology as the epitomes of unique evil.

Tamir Hayman analyzes the latest reports about an offer by Hamas to release three female soldiers in exchange for 150 captured terrorists, of whom 90 have received life sentences; then, if that exchange happens successfully, a second stage of the deal will begin.

If this does happen, Israel will release all the serious prisoners who had been sentenced to life and who are associated with Hamas, which will leave Israel without any bargaining chips for the second stage. In practice, Israel will release everyone who is important to Hamas without getting back all the hostages. In this situation, it’s evident that Israel will approach the second stage of the negotiations in the most unfavorable way possible. Hamas will achieve all its demands in the first stage, except for a commitment from Israel to end the war completely.

How does this relate to the fighting in Rafah? Hayman explains:

In the absence of an agreement or compromise by Hamas, it is detrimental for Israel to continue the static situation we were in. It is positive that new energy has entered the campaign. . . . The [capture of the] border of the Gaza Strip and the Rafah crossing are extremely important achievements, while the ongoing dismantling of the battalions is of secondary importance.

That being said, Hayman is critical of the approach to negotiations taken so far:

Gradual hostage trades don’t work. We must adopt a different concept of a single deal in which Israel offers a complete cessation of the war in exchange for all the hostages.