Shortly after the Al-Qassam Brigades published a video clip of two Israeli captives, the families of the captives demanded that the Israeli occupation officials stop the war on the Gaza Strip and conclude an exchange deal with the Palestinian resistance.

In a statement to the media, families claim that military pressure, which the administration promised would bring their loved ones home, and ongoing for over 200 days has failed.

The families confirmed on Saturday that "Israel" must choose between attacking Rafah or an exchange deal, demanding they "pay the price" for the return of the captives by ending the war on Gaza since the attack on Rafah is an “additional sacrifice.”

The statement added that "If the only way to achieve the deal is to stop the war, then this must be done."

Source: Al-Mayadeen

[GG]

Israelis report:

The Weizmann Institute's website was attacked by hackers. There are fears of information being leaked.

Humeyra Pamuk wrote an interesting article for Reuters.

In an internal State Department memo reviewed by Reuters, some senior U.S. officials have advised Secretary of State Antony Blinken that they do not find "credible or reliable" Israel's assurances that it is using U.S.-supplied weapons in accordance with international humanitarian law.

By March 24, at least seven State Department bureaus had sent in their contributions to an initial "options memo" to Blinken. Parts of the memo, which has not been previously reported, were classified.

In the most extensive picture to date of the divisions inside the State Department over whether Israel might be violating international humanitarian law in Gaza, a joint submission from four bureaus - Democracy Human Rights & Labor; Population, Refugees and Migration; Global Criminal Justice and International Organization Affairs – raised "serious concern over non-compliance" with international humanitarian law during Israel's prosecution of the Gaza war.

The assessment from the four bureaus said Israel's assurances were "neither credible nor reliable." It cited eight examples of Israeli military actions that the officials said raise "serious questions" about potential violations of international humanitarian law.

Under a National Security Memorandum (NSM) issued by President Joe Biden in February, Blinken must report to Congress by May 8 whether he finds credible Israel's assurances that its use of U.S. weapons does not violate U.S. or international law.

[RT]