Pause

Within a day or two of the horrific attacks on Israelis by Hamas, we started hearing reports of a large Israeli buildup of military forces on the Gaza border. The widespread assumption was that a land invasion was imminent.

Two and a half weeks later, that invasion has still not happened.

Theories are abundant but at least a partial explanation has to be the status of the 200+ hostages held by Hamas. As of Monday, four had been released, apparently after intense negotiations involving Qatar and Egypt.

U.S. news outlets are reporting that the Biden administration has warned Israel to proceed cautiously with an invasion, partly because of the hostages, a few of whom are Americans, but also out of a larger concern.

That is: assuming Israel accomplishes its main objective, which is dismantling Hamas, who or what will fill the void of ruling Gaza, a strip if land containing some 2.3 million people that Hamas has ruled the past 17 years?

It’s become clear during the delay that Israel has no answer to that question.

This, in turn, has caused some commentators to draw an analogy with America’s response to 9/11. With the hindsight of decades, many consider the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan serious errors that did little to resolve the underlying causes of 9/11 and only engendered increased anti-American sentiment in the Moslem world and beyond.

Israel already is one of the most unpopular countries in the world and it finds itself in an almost impossible position as it strives to neutralize Hamas without engendering even more anti-Israeli sentiment in the Moslem world and beyond.

Thus the pause.

LINKS:

• Jenna Ellis becomes latest Trump lawyer to plead guilty over efforts to overturn Georgia’s election (AP)

• Israel-Hamas war: Gaza death toll tops 5,000, nearly half are children (Al Jazeera)

• Israelis and Gazans Flee Amid Clashes and Warnings of Wider Regional War (NYT)

• Hamas releases two more hostages from Gaza, Red Cross says (WP)

• Another Palestinian journalist killed in an Israeli air strike in Gaza

  Roshdi Sarraj is now among at least 23 journalists killed since October 7, as he tried to protect his wife and daughter from an Israeli air strike near their home. (Al Jazeera)

• Israel strikes across Gaza after allowing another small aid convoy into the besieged enclave (AP)

• U.S. braces for regional escalation (WP)

• Iran, a longtime backer of Hamas, finds itself in a quandary as it tries to manage a spiraling crisis, according to nine Iranian officials with direct knowledge of the thinking within the clerical establishment. (Reuters)

• Families meet with Israeli officials in push for hostage negotiations (Today)

• U.S. Advises Israel to Delay Gaza Invasion, Officials Say (NYT)

• How Israeli bombing turned Gaza’s desperate situation into a ‘catastrophe’ (Al Jazeera)

• Hezbollah steps up attacks, IDF says, amid fears of wider conflict (WP)

• The unprecedented attack Hamas militants waged on Israel scarred the country but the man at the top has so far failed to take responsibility. Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving leader, has managed to weather several crises during his time in politics but this time is different, experts say. [HuffPost]

• The House GOP's parade of humiliation shows no sign of stopping (MSNBC)

• Republicans worry key McCarthy spending promise is unraveling amid Speaker’s fight (The Hill)

• Americans’ faith in institutions has been sliding for years. The chaos in Congress isn’t helping (AP)

• 9 Republicans are running for House speaker. Only 2 of them voted to certify the 2020 election (USA Today)

• Cheney says threats against GOP lawmakers over Speaker vote driven by Trump (The Hill)

• Sidney Powell tells the truth (NYDN Edit)

• Cheney not ruling out White House bid (The Hill)

• Ukrainian spies with deep ties to CIA wage shadow war against Russia (WP)

• A price cap on Russian oil aims to starve Putin of cash. But it’s largely been untested. Until now (AP)

• Philippines says Chinese coastguard 'intentionally' collided with its boats (Reuters)

• Newsom began a weeklong visit to China Monday in an effort to reinforce his state’s role as a global leader on climate change (AP)

• A US watchdog says the Taliban are benefiting from international aid through 'fraudulent' NGOs (ABC)

• Scientists learned more about how plants warn each other of danger, according to a new study. (WP)

• Rapid melting in West Antarctica is ‘unavoidable,’ with potentially disastrous consequences for sea level rise, study finds (CNN)

• More than 5 billion people are at risk of contracting malaria by 2040. A warmer planet will mean malaria-carrying mosquitoes will migrate to new places. (WP)

• Why is Elon Musk attacking Wikipedia? Because its very existence offends him (Guardian)

• Apple, caught by surprise in generative AI boom, to spend $1 billion per year to catch up: Report (CNBC)

• The AI workforce: Coming soon to an office near you (VentureBeat)

• While tech companies play with OpenAI’s API, this startup believes small, in-house AI models will win (TC)

• Here’s a look at how the newly up-to-date ChatGPT reports the latest news (Nieman)

• How generative AI can boost highly skilled workers’ productivity (MIT)

• From doom to boom: AI is slowly re-energizing San Francisco (WP)

• Study: Depression Up Among Teenage Girls Able To Perceive Any Part Of World Around Them (The Onion)