Yesterday’s newsletter noted that eleven people were injured in the Hizballah drone attack on the Druze village of Hurfeish in northern Israel. Subsequently, one of them—Sergeant Refael Kauders—died from his wounds. Yoav Zitun describes the sophisticated way in which the Lebanon-based terrorist group used its drones to evade Israeli defenses, demonstrating

to what extent Hizballah and Iran have in the last eight months turned the Galilee not only into a land abandoned by its residents, but also into a research and development laboratory for weapons, to create accurate and deadly weapons in preparation for an extensive confrontation with Israel.

So far, nearly 1,000 rockets and drones have been launched from Lebanon, before a “real war” has even broken out in the north. Most of the launches are in daylight, because that way it is easier to aim and hit. The research and development of the Hizballah-Iran axis also surprises the Israeli side, so much so that the accurate and long-range anti-tank missiles have already [appeared in] a third-generation version in the last month.

The response of the IDF is not only defensive in the face of these threats but also offensive in the form of hundreds of bombings of weapons centers, [some] deep inside Lebanon, but Hizballah has used since the outbreak of the war quantities of weapons that could testify to a huge arsenal, possibly beyond what Israeli intelligence knows.

As the Israeli news website Walla reports, IDF officers believe they have “caused massive damage to Hizballah” with these airstrikes, yet the terrorist group still retains the ability to launch more significant and coordinated attacks. More worrisome still is their assessment that Hizballah’s supply of the most advanced missiles remains intact.

Yesterday, President Biden reportedly met with his advisers to discuss how to achieve a breakthrough in hostage negotiations. Meir Ben Shabbat takes a closer look at what the terrorists themselves are saying:

Khalil al-Hayya, Hamas’s deputy chief in Gaza, reiterated that this issue is merely one of several demands his group has put forward as conditions for a deal. “We stress that any agreement must encompass a full cessation of hostilities, complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, including the Philadelphi Corridor and the Rafah crossing [which allow Hamas to smuggle weapons and supplies from Egypt], unimpeded return of displaced persons to their homes, aid and relief for Palestinians, Gaza’s reconstruction, and a prisoner exchange,” al-Hayya stated.

This stance isn’t new. What stood out in its presentation was the self-assurance displayed by the senior Hamas official, during a week when he and his associates were expected to be on edge, fearing repercussions for the killing of six hostages. However, the reaction to this in Israel and the United States prompted an opposite response from them. From their perspective, not only did they avoid consequences for the heinous act, but through it, they managed to escalate tensions and internal disagreements in Israel, while also prompting Washington to consider presenting a framework defined as a “final offer, without room for negotiation.

Hamas assumes that a final American proposal will inevitably come at Israel’s expense. The primary pressure to reach an agreement is already being applied to Israeli leadership. Hamas faces no consequences for prolonging the process, and so long as it holds hostages, it can always resume negotiations from where they left off.