Read the latest from this week:
As we approach 450 days since the brutal attack by Hamas, there have been paradigm-shifting changes in the region as Israel’s war against terror has shifted the sands of the region, leading to challenges, questions, and potential opportunities.
WE MUST CONTINUE TO CALL TO BRING THEM HOME
As we approach another grim milestone of 450 days that the hostages taken on October 7th remain in captivity, there has been renewed talk of a possible hostage release deal.
Israel security chiefs met with senior Egyptian officials in Cairo for discussions on the possibility of Hamas agreeing to a hostage deal.
While Hamas has remained silent on its intentions, a senior Israeli official said that chances have increased for a deal.
“Two weeks ago, I thought Hamas didn’t want a deal,” the official said, adding “Now I am inclined to think that it has changed its mind.”
So many times, when a deal seemed imminent, Hamas changed the goalposts or simply walked away, prolonging the agony of the families of the hostages. No matter how these talks pan out, we must continue to advocate and call for the release of all the hostages being held in Gaza; we cannot let their names and stories fade.
WHAT NEXT FOR SYRIA? ISRAEL TAKES NO CHANCES
For 13 years, Israel has watched as the Syrian civil war raged over its eastern border, with occasional spillover and the entrenching of Iranian, Hezbollah, and Russian forces on Israel’s border; this came to a dramatic end with the toppling of Bashar Al-Assad. With Russia mired in Ukraine, Hezbollah decimated in Lebanon, and Iran struggling as its proxies took hit after hit, no one came to Assad’s aid this time.
In Just 11 days, Syrian rebels led by Hayat Tahrir Al Sham (HTS) swept across the country, bringing the Assad dynasty’s 54-year rule to an end. Bashar al-Assad has fled to Russia, where he and his family have been given asylum.
The origins of the conflict revolve around the events of 2011 when Bashar al-Assad brutally crushed a peaceful pro-democracy uprising that sparked the civil war in which more than half a million people were killed and 12 million others forced to flee their homes.
There are many unanswered questions about what the future looks like for Syria. HTS, the main rebel group, was once known as Jabat Al-Nusra, an affiliate of Al Qaeda. Its leader, Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, reinvented himself in recent years as a moderate and committed to religious pluralism with no intention to implement Sharia law in Syria; ultimately, only time will tell.
For Israel, while it will not shed a tear over the fall of Assad, a key component of the Iranian regime’s so-called “axis of resistance,” it must be proactive in ensuring its security. To this effect, the IDF has launched massive strikes across Syria, destroying weaponry belonging to the Syrian Army, such as fighter jets and other heavy weaponry, preventing them from falling into the hands of potentially hostile Islamist groups, similar to what happened with American hardware in Afghanistan once the Taliban seized power.
Will Assad’s Baathist soldiers on Israel’s border be replaced with Jihadists seeking to destroy the Jewish state? It’s too early to tell; we do know those ideas exist amongst the coalition of rebel groups, but ultimately Israel cannot change its security and safety on what could be in Syria.
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While there remains much uncertainty about hostage deals and the future of Syria, we must remain resolute in standing with Israel as it carries out its responsibility to protect all its citizens from those who seek to cause them harm. While the coming days and weeks will give us a clearer picture of any potential hostage deal and the direction Syria will go, Israel is in a tough neighborhood and will constantly find itself having to make tough decisions that we may not fully be able to comprehend living in the West.
