Lonny's War Update- October 220, 2023 - May 13, 2024

  

Day 220 that 132 of our hostages in Hamas captivity
**There is nothing more important than getting them home! NOTHING!**

“I’ve never met them,

But I miss them. 

I’ve never met them,

but I think of them every second. 

I’ve never met them,

but they are my family. 

BRING THEM HOME NOW!!!”

There is no victory until all of the hostages are home!

‎אין נצחון עד שכל החטופים בבית

Red Alerts - Missile, Rocket, Drone (UAV - unmanned aerial vehicles), and Terror Attacks and Death Announcements

*11:00pm last night-north- hostile aircraft intrusion Upper Galilee 

*7:30am-north-hostile aircraft intrusion- upper Galilee 

*8:20am-north-hostile aircraft intrusion-western Galilee 

8:50am- south- rockets kibbutz Mefalsim near Gaza border

8:55-south- rockets kibbutz Netiv Haasara near Gaza border

9:60am- north-Two suicide explosive UAVs detonated near the community of Beit Hillel in the Upper Galilee, without any warning siren being activated in the area. A fire broke out at the site and was extinguished. There were no casualties reported.

10:40am-north- rockets-Moshav Yiftach- 4 soldiers lightly injured from anti tank shelling 

1:00pm - north - rockets Matat, Netua, Fasuta

Hostage Updates 

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Gaza Fighting 

• The IDF and Shin Bet eliminated in a joint operation the terrorist Naim Ghoul, a Hamas military operative in the Shati Battalion in the Gaza Strip, who was responsible for holding captive Staff Sergeant Noa Marziano, may her memory be a blessing - who was kidnapped on October 7th and murdered at Shifa Hospital in Gaza. 

• The joint statement by the IDF and Shin Bet stated that Ghoul was also involved in rocket fire towards Israel. **The IDF released documentation of the moments of his elimination in an air strike:**  
  
  Hamas had already reported at the end of the week about the elimination of Naim Ghoul, and in a report by the Al-Aqsa channel belonging to the terror organization, the terrorist was described as a "civil defense officer." According to that report, he was attacked from the air near the "Palestine Stadium" in the center of Gaza City. It is noted that three months ago, another terrorist who participated in holding Marziano was also eliminated. "The IDF shares in the grief of the Marziano family and will continue to accompany it. The IDF and Shin Bet will continue to act resolutely to locate and thwart military terrorist operatives carrying out terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians, as well as those involved in kidnapping and murder incidents."   link

• Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip, is not hiding in Rafah. This was reported by The New York Times citing American officials, who noted that Israeli intelligence agrees with the assessment in the U.S. that Sinwar and other Hamas leaders are not hiding in the southern Gaza city. According to the officials, the spy agencies of both countries believe Sinwar likely never left the underground tunnel network in Khan Younis. American and Israeli officials added that Hamas' tunnel network in Khan Younis is the deepest in the Strip, going down 15 floors underground in some places. They said Sinwar is also protected by a group of hostages, whom he uses as human shields to deter the IDF from raiding his location or bombing it.
  The American officials believe the Israeli spy agencies have good, even better than U.S., intelligence on Sinwar's whereabouts. However, they said Jerusalem is still insisting Washington share everything it knows.    link
  
  
• Soldiers fighting in Gaza commemorate Memorial Day 
  
  The Palestinian news agency "Shehab" reported that Talal Abu Zarifah, a member of the political bureau of the Palestinian terror organization "Democratic Front", which previously split from the "Popular Front" organization, was killed in an air strike in the center of the Gaza Strip. 
  
  

• International donors pledge over $2 billion for Gaza at Kuwait conference:
  

  Kuwait City — A conference of international donors in Kuwait pledges over $2 billion in aid for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip over seven months into the war between Israel and Hamas.

  Organized by the International Islamic Charitable Organization (IICO) and the UN’s humanitarian coordination agency OCHA, the conference says the funds would be dispersed over two years, with the possibility of extension, in efforts to support life-saving humanitarian interventions in the Palestinian territory.  link
  
  

• The Palestinian Authority Rejected an Israeli Proposal to Take Control of Rafah Crossing in Gaza::
  

  Abbas conveyed that he is not willing to send his people to the border crossing with Egypt as long as fighting continues in the Strip • A senior source in Ramallah to N12: "Abbas's people made it clear to the Americans that without 'local understandings' with Hamas leaders, they will not agree to take control of the crossing".
  A senior source in Ramallah said today (Monday) to N12 that "the Palestinian Authority has decided to reject the proposal by Israel and the United States for it to take control of the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing."
  According to the same senior source, the proposal was conveyed to Abbas in parallel by the U.S. and Israel, but the Palestinian Authority president, who is hospitalized today to undergo a colonoscopy, responded that he is not willing to send his people to the border crossing with Egypt as long as fighting continues in the Gaza Strip and there are no prospects for a ceasefire agreement. The position of the Palestinian Authority is that the problems in Gaza must be approached through a comprehensive plan that will lead to the return of the Strip to its control, while paving the way for negotiations over the West Bank and East Jerusalem as well.
  The Palestinian response came after tense meetings with the American envoy, and on Saturday night a conference on the matter was held attended by all the leaders of the Fatah leadership and the Palestinian Authority government.
  Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority decided to pay 50% of the salaries of its employees, claiming that Israel is still withholding the transfer of tax payments owed to it. In parallel, China announced that it is inviting representatives of all Palestinian factions, including Hamas, to a meeting next month.   link   Abu Mazen is saying the same thing that everyone else is saying; there must be a comprehensive and strategic plan for Gaza before they are willing to step in and attempt to take control. If the PA were to come in now without any plan or strategy, Hamas is still there and will set off another civil war between the factions. Some will say, let them kill each other and they said about the crime and killings in the Israeli Arab sector which has blown up in our faces. 'Letting them kill each other' doesn't end there and what good does it do for us. For the future of Israel, we need a strategic plan for Gaza.

Northern Israel - Lebanon/Hizbollah

• Fighter jets attacked two Hezbollah rocket launching sites in the areas of the villages of Khalta and Hmaim in southern Lebanon.
  
  

• Fighter jets of the Israeli Air Force attacked two rocket launching sites belonging to Hezbollah in the areas of the villages of Khalta and Tammam in southern Lebanon. Additionally, two terror infrastructure sites of the terror organization were struck in the Al-Khribeh area.

  During the day, rocket launches were identified from Lebanese territory, crossing into different areas in northern Israel. There are no injuries as a result. IDF forces struck the sources of the rocket fire.   link
  
  

  
  

• Displaced Residents of the North Will Not Visit Graves of Their Loved Ones on Memorial Day: "Asking for Forgiveness"
  Due to concerns over Hezbollah fire, a number of communities in the north will hold limited memorial ceremonies, and bereaved families will be absent from cemeteries. Noya, sister of Shachaf Shefrir who fell during an operational activity: "He would not want us to come and risk our lives. On safer days we will return." link

West Bank

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Memorial Day

• "The Minister Symbolizes the Complete Opposite of My Brother": Not All Families Will Attend Cemeteries

  The Nachum family will not attend the cemetery on Memorial Day for the first time in 50 years. Oshrit will respect anyone who comes to the place where her son is buried, which has become her second home in recent months. Rina, who lost her brother in the Yom Kippur War, hopes we learn from the lessons of the past. Bereaved families share about coping with the tense Memorial Day and concerns over protests.

  "For me, the cemetery is home," shares in pain Oshrit Tery, mother of the late Corporal Afik Tery who fell in the Gaza Strip last March. To the sound of honor volleys and final preparations for the Memorial Day ceremony at the Rehovot cemetery expected to be attended today (Monday) by Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf, Oshrit expresses her opinion regarding the tension surrounding Memorial Day this year: "I don't care who comes here, I will respect them."

  Oshrit, who visits the cemetery every day since her son's passing, adds: "This is Memorial Day, there's no need for provocations, we need quiet and unity. If government ministers come to honor us, they should not be harmed. No matter which minister comes, I won't say a word to them. I won't kick out anyone who comes to my home." Sitting next to her and nodding in agreement is Oren Gehali, Oshrit's cousin, whose son the late Major Irin Gehali is buried beside her son.  link
  
  

• Ministers heckled at ceremonies across country-Aside from National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, other cabinet members are heckled at Memorial Day ceremonies around Israel.

  Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, appearing at a military cemetery in Tel Aviv, is met with a silent protest by three people holding signs, one of which reads “Their blood is on your hands.” One person also yells at him to quit, according to an activist posting on social media.

  In Netanya, Intelligence Minister Gila Gamliel speaks as a woman in the crowd yells at her to go home. The protester briefly argues with a man in a military uniform who appears to be providing security, as others in the crowd try to tell her to be quiet.  In Rehovot’s military cemetery, protesters yell “shame” and other chants at Housing Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf as he speaks. Others try to quiet the demonstrators, leading to arguments, including some which turn physical, according to a local report.

  In Holon, an older woman is seen yelling angrily at Transportation Minister Miri Regev as a ceremony ends, calling her a “piece of shit,” among other things.   link   I was at the Military Cemetery in Rehovot where the Housing Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf spoke. I witnessed many of the boos yelled at him as well as "shame", "go home" "quit" as well as some who were upset with those who were yelling at Goldknopf. The members of this government truly have no shame and the Haredim ministers are the worst. They are the same people still fighting for global military exemption for all of their men, whether they study or not. And here he was at the Memorial Cemetery talking about unity of the people and being in the situation together. He talked about people, both soldiers and civilians who bravely fought on October 7 and lost their lives. The hypocrisy of his words were stabbing the memories of all who fought and died especially to the families who were in the new section of the cemetery for their loved ones who died on October 7 and until now. I wanted so much to join the boos against Goldknopf but I restrained myself. My wife and daughter were already crying due to the day and the situation that we are all in. It is a shame that the Defense Minister didn't listen enough to the cries and pleas of the families this year when they begged him not to allow any ministers or Knesset members to speak at this year's ceremonies. If they wanted to be present, so be it but to hear them talk about sacrifice and bravery under the present situation where their government and they were in power on October 7, was a mistake and added salt to the nation's injuries. They knew that there would be issues. The area where the ceremony is conducted was fenced off for the first time ever. It would have been proper and right to have the mayor and local counsel heads give the Memorial Day speech and not the ministers of Knesset members. It continues to be a shame of the government to do as they feel without concern for what the nation needs. 
  
  

• IDF Chief of Staff at Memorial Day Ceremony at Western Wall: "I Bear Responsibility for the IDF's Failure on October 7th" 
  In the shadow of the war, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Hertzi Halevi took the podium dressed in IDF battledress uniform rather than the customary formal uniform, and accepted responsibility for the October 7th failure: "As the IDF's commander-in-chief in this war, I bear responsibility for the IDF's failure in its mission to protect the citizens of the State of Israel on October 7th. I feel its weight on my shoulders every day, and in my heart I fully understand its meaning."

  "In the service of every soldier, there is bravery. In the willingness to bear responsibility and fulfill a role that involves risk - there is bravery," he said. "In every action of the individual to ensure the security of the many - there is bravery. On this Memorial Day, in the 76th year of our independence, and on behalf of all IDF commanders before me, I salute the 25,040 fallen soldiers of Israel's wars."

  The Chief of Staff then addressed the bereaved families and families of hostage soldiers: "On the day a commander loses one of his soldiers, his responsibility for the lives of his subordinates becomes an eternal commitment to his legacy and to his loved ones left behind. I am the commander who sent your sons and daughters into battle from which they did not return, and to the posts from which they were abducted. I carry with me every day the memory of the fallen, and I am responsible for answering your piercing questions that rob you of sleep."

  The Chief of Staff also referred to the continuation of the war and made clear that "we are determined to complete the mission, even though we understand the price. As long as our enemies rise against us, we will stand guard, be ready and alert, respond forcefully to any attempt to harm us, and be diligent in striking those who rise to kill us. On the day we donned the IDF uniforms, we donned the cloak of responsibility upon our bodies. From the day of our enlistment, we are united for one worthy goal - the defense of the state. So it was, and so it shall be."

  Today and tomorrow, Israeli citizens will commune with the memory of 25,040 fallen soldiers - 760 of them fallen soldiers added to the count in the past year, 711 of them fallen since the outbreak of the war. We will also commune with 5,100 civilian victims of terror attacks - 834 of them murdered on or after October 7th.  link
  
  

• In the Shadow of War: The Torch-Lighting Ceremony - and the Additional Ceremony

  In the shadow of the October 7 events and the war in Gaza, this year's torch-lighting ceremony will have a different character • It has already been pre-recorded and edited, apparently due to fear of protests against the government - and will broadcast a pre-recorded speech by PM Netanyahu • However, in parallel to the official ceremony to be held on Mount Herzl, an additional ceremony of "extinguishing the torches" will take place at the Shuni Amphitheater • Victims of the war, who claim the official ceremony is engineered and "does not look the pain in the eye", will participate in this ceremony.

  The torch-lighting ceremony being held today (Monday) usually concludes the Memorial Day events and opens the Independence Day events - but this year it will look different. Alongside the official ceremony on Mount Herzl, an additional ceremony of war victims will take place at the Shuni Amphitheater in Binyamina.

  The official ceremony is expected to be different in its content in the shadow of the October 7 events and the war. In addition, this ceremony has already taken place - it was pre-recorded and filmed in advance, and will be broadcast to the media after being edited. Ostensibly, the official reason is a concern over a security event, but as already reported by News 12 - all security officials say there is no obstacle to holding the event as usual in a live broadcast. Due to the existence of other private events, one can only infer that the reason is a fear of protests against the government - sources familiar with the details also say this.

  The ceremony itself will open with the lighting of 12 beacons in memory of the Israelis and foreigners murdered and fallen in the war. The beacons will be lit in Sderot, Ofakim and other cities - as well as in the Re'em parking lot where the Nova Music Festival  took place. At the beginning of the ceremony, a pre-recorded speech by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be broadcast - a tradition not part of the ceremony protocol. This will be the only ceremony Netanyahu will appear in, albeit in a pre-recorded manner. He will not attend the other ceremonies - the Bible Quiz, the Outstanding Soldiers ceremony and the Israel Prizes.

  Opposite the 12 memorial beacons, 12 "courage torches" will also be lit, with a different group standing around each one - members of reserve duty classes, security forces, rescue forces, and also Israelis who uplifted the nation's spirit through deeds, words or music. This involves 44 torch-lighters - an unprecedented number. At the end, the last of the 12 torches will be an empty torch to mark the 132 captives still being held by Hamas in Gaza - which only clarifies the completely different nature of tonight's ceremony.

  In parallel, an additional ceremony of war victims, families of captives and bereaved families will take place. The reason for holding this ceremony is the organizers' feeling that the state's official ceremony "does not look the pain in the eye". They claim the official ceremony is engineered and acted out in the sense that it is pre-recorded - so even if one of the torch-lighters wanted to express protest in their words, it was not possible. At this ceremony, participants will extinguish 12 torches with the words "abandonment" and "neglect" - words they say express the October 7 events. Participants will include: Eyal and Sharon Eshel, parents of the late lookout Roni; Carmit Palti Katzir, sister of the late Elad whose body was retrieved from Gaza; and Merav Savirsky, sister of the late Itay whose body is held hostage. But there will also be one positive torch - the "torch of hope". This torch will be lit by Einav Tzengeauker, mother of Matan who is still a hostage in Gaza - in hope that next year will be different. The organizers even wanted to project the ceremony in Caesarea, opposite Netanyahu's private residence, but were told by the venue that this would politicize the ceremony - so they cannot do that.  link  -- this is the ceremony that I will be attending this evening. So many of us in the country cannot look at this Independence Day as just another one or even celebrate the occasion, not with 132 hostages still being held in Gaza, not with soldiers fighting, getting wounded and killed on a daily basis. This is not just another Independence Day. This is another day of mourning our national tragedy and empathizing with the families who have paid the worst price and those families who are left in a state of never ending limbo because our government refuses to do what is necessary to get the hostages home. Yes, we have seen and heard of so many of the stories of true heroism on and after October 7, many of those heroes being mourned on this Memorial Day and the living ones, many of them wounded and going through rigorous rehab. They definitely deserve to be honored and at a national level, but not yet. We, first have to attain the real victory, not the one Netanyahu refers to but the victory of bringing home our hostages. Until that day comes, there is no room for national celebration, there is no place for the politicians who brought us to October 7, to have a podium showing off what a great show they can put on for television. Until the hostages are home, there is no victory, no joy, no celebration, no independence day. It is just another horrible day that the hostages are suffering through until they come home, hopefully alive.

Politics and the Region

• In a podcast interview, Netanyahu was asked about the day after. Netanyahu: The day after? First of all, Hamas must be eliminated  This one sentence says it all about Netanyahu’s complete inability to deal with strategic planning. The whole world and all of the heads of the security services have been saying the same thing for most of the war- there must be a strategic plan, a day after plan. It  doesn’t matter what you call it, there must be one. Two days ago, Chief of General Staff basically berated Netanyahu by saying that the army has to keep going back to the same places it fought and left because there is no plan, there is no alternative to Hamas, no strategy. Netanyahu is a very intelligent man and he has led Israel for most of the past 2 decades but if we look back, he hasn’t had a strategic plan for anything except for keeping himself in power. Unfortunately, that is how he functions in the war as well. And the price for his lack of a strategic plan and refusal to have one is very high: hostages staying in captivity, more soldiers and civilians killed, strained relations with all of our allies, being left out of the US/Saudi strategic defense/normalization with Israel talks and conclusions, 100,000 evacuees still out of their homes and so many other ways. 
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• On Memorial Day eve, U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan spoke with Israeli National Security Advisor Tzachi Hanegbi and expressed condolences to the Israeli people on behalf of President Biden and the American people.  According to a White House statement, Sullivan reiterated Biden's concerns about the potential for a large-scale ground military operation in Rafah, "where over a million refugees have taken shelter." He also discussed with Hanegbi "alternative courses of action to ensure the defeat of Hamas," and according to the statement, Hanegbi assured Sullivan that Israel is taking America's concerns into account. The two also agreed to hold another in-person meeting between the countries' strategy teams regarding the operation in Rafah.  https://www.ynet.co.il/blogs/gazawar219day#b1nfzfafc

https://www.mako.co.il/news-n12_magazine/781730bdada5e810/Article-44c24212271ce81027.htm