October 27: Operation Swords of Iron gets under way

In which, Israel makes its first offensive probe into Gaza amid global calls for a ceasefire, African conflicts have global consequences, and some dude in DC gets to hold a gavel.

Operation Swords of Iron gets under way…

News out of Gaza yesterday was that Israeli tanks had rolled into the Gaza Strip in what appeared to be an initial probing raid in anticipation of the larger Israeli invasion known as “Operation Swords of Iron” (likely a biblical reference to 1 Samuel 13:19-23) which now appears to be on the “any day now” timetable.

Hamas appears to be feeling the heat, too, publicizing regular reports on the number of civilian casualties from Israeli airstrikes, releasing a trickle of hostages, and now claiming that hostages are getting killed in the airstrikes. The tantalizing prospect of rescuing hostages appears to be having an effect as world leaders appear to be urging Israel to pause its invasion plans to allow for more hostages to be released. Quick math: It’s taken about three weeks for four hostages out of a total of 200+ to be released. At that rate, Hamas can keep Israel at bay for close to a year if the promise of hostage releases brings pressure from restraint for world leaders.

To his credit, President Biden doesn’t appear to be buying the Hamas propaganda or promises… publicly at least. He’s calling into question (for good reason) the civilian casualty numbers and not explicitly getting in the way of Israeli invasion prep (though I suspect the presence of a Marine 3-star on the ground is the President’s attempt to keep tabs on Israeli war efforts.

Sadly, American college campuses, thought leaders, and Democratic Party members continue to voice support for Hamas, and appear to be increasingly anti-Semitic in their public demonstrations, leading GOP candidate Nikki Hayley to promise to pull federal funding from colleges failing to condemn such outright bigotry. Numerous donors have already done so or threaten to do so. I’m not sure that’s going to have the desired effect, though. The political left in America has clearly shifted away from even tacit support of Israel to full-throated backing of the Palestinian cause regardless of who represents that cause. President Biden’s own poll numbers demonstrate this shift. In the last month, his approval ratings among Democratic voters have taken an 11-point hit.