π️Lonny's War Update- October 227, 2023 - May 20, 2024
π️Day 227 that 128 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!ΧΧΧ Χ Χ¦ΧΧΧ Χ’Χ Χ©ΧΧ ΧΧΧΧΧ€ΧΧ ΧΧΧΧͺ
Red Alerts - Missile, Rocket, Drone (UAV - unmanned aerial vehicles), and Terror Attacks and Death Announcements
*8:30-south-rockets Sapir College, Sderot, Kibbutz Givim . 1 rocket was launched and it fell in open area. No reports of injury or damage.
Gaza border communities and beyond have less than 15 seconds from the time of a red alert to either the rocket hitting or shrapnel from Iron Dome to hit.
Red Alert this morning. video from a girls' religious school in Sderot
*12:15pm - north - hostile aircraft intrusion Western Galilee
*1:45pm- north - rockets Kiryat Shemona
Hostage Updates
Gaza border communities and beyond have less than 15 seconds from the time of a red alert to either the rocket hitting or shrapnel from Iron Dome to hit.
Red Alert this morning. video from a girls' religious school in Sderot
Hostage Updates
Screaming at lawmakers during a committee meeting on the first day of the new Knesset session, Mor Shoham, the brother of hostage Tal Shoham, blames the state for his sibling’s captivity and warns he will “pursue” them if any harm comes to his brother.
“Did you eat? Did you drink? Did you relax? Did you put your kids to sleep? Did you bring your kids to school? These are very basic activities that my brother hasn’t been able to do for eight months. And I don’t know how to speak calmly and I don’t know how to speak quietly. I’m fed up,” he wails as protesters stand nearby with a banner stating “The recess is over and the hostages are still there.”
“I’m fed up, because if something happens to my brother I will pursue, day by day, each and every one of you. And I’m not afraid to say that. Two and a half months you sat in recess and the hostages, what happened to the hostages,” he continues. “More hostages died. My brother is suffering… every day.”
“The one who didn’t protect us is the State of Israel. The one who didn’t protect the soldiers here is the State of Israel,” he declares.
Relatives of the hostages appeared at the beginning of many committee meetings and engaged in high-profile protests and arguments with lawmakers before the Knesset recess, culminating in the smearing of yellow paint in the plenum during the final session on April 3.
Speaking with The Times of Israel on Sunday, Udi Goren, the cousin of hostage Tal Haim, said that during the new Knesset session “we will be seeing the families of the hostages going to the Knesset at least once a week and appearing in the committees to make sure that nothing gets done and no topic is dealt with before speaking about the hostages.” link - It is way past time to force the Knesset members to get off their well paid asses and do the right and necessary thing, for them to rise up every single day in the Knesset and in Knesset committee meetings and anywhere the Prime Minister is and do what the families are doing all along: screaming and yelling and demanding that a deal be made. The Knesset members are the ones who should have been leading this to begin with and not the family members who have been going through hell for 7 1/2 months.
- During a discussion on selective enforcement at protests, MK Tali Gottlieb even turned to Einav Zangareiker, the mother of the captive Matan Zangareiker, and said: "Your protest is being broadcast on Al-Jazeera, it is destroying the State of Israel."
The mother of the captive responded by saying "How can there be a member of Knesset here inciting violence against me? Why did you come back from the recess?" Meanwhile, MK Limor Son Har-Melech from the Otzma Yehudit party walked out of the discussion.
The committee chairman, MK Simcha Rothman, was forced to announce a recess in the discussion, and said "We all need to get through this event together. There is no need to get to places of quarrels and shouts - this is a prize for our enemies." Afterward, Zangareiker added: "We are coming home with bruises. I request that Minister Ben-Gvir does not pat the shoulders of officers who use violence and expedite their promotion. It is unacceptable that we return battered, that we end up detained instead of fighting for our loved ones."
Regarding Gottlieb's remarks, she said: "She sits here and calls me an 'anarchist' and a 'Kaplanist'. How dare she call me a 'nuisance' on Twitter? How is she sitting here two seats away from me and not apologizing to me? If I had insulted her honor, I would have apologized and bowed my head." link Tali Gotlieb is a vile loud mouth bully who has not place in public office or public discourse. She not only belittles the families of the hostages, she besmirches them and calls them traitors to the State. Limor Son Har-Melech and her entire Otzma Yehudit party is just as vile and have made it known that they don't care a bit for the lives of the hostages. Her walking out while a mother of a hostage is talking is such a disgusting action but in par for the course for all the members of that party. They are a disgrace and like their hero, Meir Kahana, their party should also be outlawed for racism and supporting Jewish terrorist (the head of the party and some of their Knesset members have long police records and arrests for being part of and supporting Jewish terrorism).
The mother of the captive responded by saying "How can there be a member of Knesset here inciting violence against me? Why did you come back from the recess?" Meanwhile, MK Limor Son Har-Melech from the Otzma Yehudit party walked out of the discussion.
The committee chairman, MK Simcha Rothman, was forced to announce a recess in the discussion, and said "We all need to get through this event together. There is no need to get to places of quarrels and shouts - this is a prize for our enemies." Afterward, Zangareiker added: "We are coming home with bruises. I request that Minister Ben-Gvir does not pat the shoulders of officers who use violence and expedite their promotion. It is unacceptable that we return battered, that we end up detained instead of fighting for our loved ones."
Regarding Gottlieb's remarks, she said: "She sits here and calls me an 'anarchist' and a 'Kaplanist'. How dare she call me a 'nuisance' on Twitter? How is she sitting here two seats away from me and not apologizing to me? If I had insulted her honor, I would have apologized and bowed my head." link Tali Gotlieb is a vile loud mouth bully who has not place in public office or public discourse. She not only belittles the families of the hostages, she besmirches them and calls them traitors to the State. Limor Son Har-Melech and her entire Otzma Yehudit party is just as vile and have made it known that they don't care a bit for the lives of the hostages. Her walking out while a mother of a hostage is talking is such a disgusting action but in par for the course for all the members of that party. They are a disgrace and like their hero, Meir Kahana, their party should also be outlawed for racism and supporting Jewish terrorist (the head of the party and some of their Knesset members have long police records and arrests for being part of and supporting Jewish terrorism).
Gaza
My brother’s Twitter post: Everyone tells me what Hamas wants and what Hamas does not want, what Hamas is willing to do and what Hamas is not willing to do. Everyone speaks for Sinwar and knows for sure what he is thinking. But guess what? None of these experts have ever spoken with Hamas or with Sinwar. There are so many "representatives" of Hamas among all those who define themselves as experts. Simply amazing.
- Israel says two top Hamas military operatives killed in recent Gaza strikes
My brother’s Twitter post: Everyone tells me what Hamas wants and what Hamas does not want, what Hamas is willing to do and what Hamas is not willing to do. Everyone speaks for Sinwar and knows for sure what he is thinking. But guess what? None of these experts have ever spoken with Hamas or with Sinwar. There are so many "representatives" of Hamas among all those who define themselves as experts. Simply amazing.
Two Hamas military operatives who also served as top officials in the terror group’s police were killed in recent Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, the military and Shin Bet announce.
On Sunday, Zaher al-Houli, a senior police officer in central Gaza was targeted in a drone strike. According to the IDF, al-Houli was a member of Hamas’s military wing along with his senior role in the police. “As part of his activities, Zaher maintained contacts with other terrorists from the organization and advanced terror attacks against the Israeli home front,” the military says.
A separate strike on Saturday killed Rami Khalil Faki, who the IDF says is a member of Hamas’s military wing, alongside his role as a top officer in the Nuseirat police. “As part of his role, he commanded a force of armed terrorists who led acts against our forces,” the military says. Faki’s deputy and four more Hamas members were killed in the strike.
Police in the Gaza Strip are under the jurisdiction of Hamas, and according to Israel, many of its officers also serve in the terror group’s military wing.
Northern Israel - Lebanon/Hizbollah
Overnight, Israeli fighter jets struck Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon, the IDF says. The sites included buildings used by the terror group in Blida, Jibbain, and Odaisseh, alongside an observation post in Chihine, according to the military.
Overnight, Israeli fighter jets struck Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon, the IDF says. The sites included buildings used by the terror group in Blida, Jibbain, and Odaisseh, alongside an observation post in Chihine, according to the military.
West Bank
Politics and the Region
Visiting US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan laid out to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday the opportunity currently available for Israel to normalize relations with Saudi Arabia if Jerusalem agrees to a pathway to a future Palestinian state.
Sullivan arrived in Israel earlier in the day after holding “constructive” talks on the Biden administration’s “comprehensive vision for an integrated Middle East region” with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, the White House said.
The kingdom said the two discussed a “semi-final” version of a wide-ranging security agreement between the countries. The agreements are considered a major part of Washington’s efforts to bring Riyadh around to recognizing the State of Israel for the first time — efforts complicated by the ongoing war in Gaza. The effort appears to be a non-starter in Israel, with Netanyahu reiterating again Sunday that he would not accept a Palestinian state, even if it meant a Saudi normalization deal. Riyadh and Washington have been clear that movement toward statehood is needed to reach an agreement.
This did not stop Sullivan from again pitching the idea to Netanyahu, as he briefed him on his meetings in Saudi Arabia and on “the potential that may now be available for Israel, as well as the Palestinian people,” said the White House readout. Saudi Arabia has long called for an independent Palestinian state to be created along Israel’s 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital. However, that is likely untenable for Netanyahu, whose government hinges on support from hardliners who oppose a two-state solution and support Israeli settlements on lands Palestinians want for that state. But US officials told The Times of Israel last week that the diplomatic initiative it is advancing with international partners will marginalize the terror group and that it is the only alternative Israel has to permanently occupying Gaza without assistance from its Arab allies in stabilizing the enclave.
Sullivan did not meet with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant or war cabinet minister Benny Gantz, both of whom publicly criticized Netanyahu’s handling of the war over the past week. Sullivan also convened a modified meeting of the US-Israel Strategic Consultative Group, which met several times virtually to discuss Israel’s potential offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
In Sunday’s in-person meeting with top Israeli security officials, Sullivan was briefed on the IDF’s latest operations in Gaza. “The two sides discussed methods to ensure the defeat of Hamas while minimizing harm to civilians,” the US readout said, highlighting a sticking point in ties, as Washington feels Israel has not done nearly enough on this issue. IDF estimates put the number of civilians killed in the war at 20,000, compared to some 15,000 combatants.
During this meeting, Sullivan reiterated the US position against a major military offensive in Rafah due to fears that it’ll cause further harm to the civilians sheltering there, while risking irreparable damage to ties with fellow ally Egypt, which shares a border with Rafah.
“Sullivan proposed a series of concrete measures to ensure more aid surges into Gaza, including through all available crossings, and through the multinational humanitarian maritime corridor,” the US readout said.
“Sullivan briefed on US support for Israeli efforts to find and bring to justice Hamas’s leaders in Gaza,” the readout added, highlighting that Washington still supports targeted operations against Hamas’s leaders, including in Rafah.
The top Biden aide briefed Israeli counterparts on talks the US has held with Egypt “to fully secure its border with Rafah and to secure the continued flow of humanitarian assistance through Kerem Shalom, even as talks proceed on reopening the Rafah Crossing.” Link —Netanyahu has spent his career weakening the Palestinian Authority and strengthening Hamas so that he could always lean back and say that there is no Palestinian partner for peace. Of course, when you castrate a potential peace partner and then arm the biggest enemy of peace, you end up with no one which has been Netanyahu’s goal. What people fail to realize or understand is the real reason that October 7 occurred. It wasn’t because Yihya Sinwar was let out of prison in the Schalit deal and it certainly wasn’t because of the anti government demonstrations against the judicial overhaul, as Hamas has been planning this for years. The true underlying and base reason for it, is that no one can expect to keep 5 million people under a military occupation and withhold their basic human and civil rights and think that nothing is going to happen, that they will continue to accept their fate without hope, without any resistance. To expect that, you have to be blind, stupid, ignorant, have your head deliberately buried in the sand to make believe this isn’t the situation or a combination of these attributes Netanyahu has chosen to be a combination of some and to convince his base that the problem doesn’t exist. You can only get away with tactics like that for so long and then it all comes asunder, as it did in October 7. And the solution is not to return to that same ridiculous, blind strategy and make the situation worse with the destruction of Gaza and the creation of 2 million new refugees. As Einstein posited, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.
Massive Demonstrations at the Knesset today--Police and anti-government demonstrators clash near the Sha’ar Hagai Junction on the main Tel Aviv-Jerusalem highway.
Demonstrators from the Brothers in Arms group try to block the highway and are dispersed by police. The group says 10 members were detained.
They are calling on the government to resign and call elections, citing the failures to bring home the hostages captured by Hamas on October 7 and the fate of tens of thousands of residents of the north and south who remain evacuated from their homes.
Several groups are heading to Jerusalem to demonstrate outside the Knesset as it resumes today, while other protests are planned across the country.
Members of the Brothers in Arms group protest against the government on the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem highway on May 20, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/FLASH90)
- Official says Israel not involved in Raisi helicopter crash; Liberman: We won’t shed a tear:
Visiting US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan laid out to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday the opportunity currently available for Israel to normalize relations with Saudi Arabia if Jerusalem agrees to a pathway to a future Palestinian state.
Sullivan arrived in Israel earlier in the day after holding “constructive” talks on the Biden administration’s “comprehensive vision for an integrated Middle East region” with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, the White House said.
The kingdom said the two discussed a “semi-final” version of a wide-ranging security agreement between the countries. The agreements are considered a major part of Washington’s efforts to bring Riyadh around to recognizing the State of Israel for the first time — efforts complicated by the ongoing war in Gaza. The effort appears to be a non-starter in Israel, with Netanyahu reiterating again Sunday that he would not accept a Palestinian state, even if it meant a Saudi normalization deal. Riyadh and Washington have been clear that movement toward statehood is needed to reach an agreement.
This did not stop Sullivan from again pitching the idea to Netanyahu, as he briefed him on his meetings in Saudi Arabia and on “the potential that may now be available for Israel, as well as the Palestinian people,” said the White House readout. Saudi Arabia has long called for an independent Palestinian state to be created along Israel’s 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital. However, that is likely untenable for Netanyahu, whose government hinges on support from hardliners who oppose a two-state solution and support Israeli settlements on lands Palestinians want for that state. But US officials told The Times of Israel last week that the diplomatic initiative it is advancing with international partners will marginalize the terror group and that it is the only alternative Israel has to permanently occupying Gaza without assistance from its Arab allies in stabilizing the enclave.
Sullivan did not meet with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant or war cabinet minister Benny Gantz, both of whom publicly criticized Netanyahu’s handling of the war over the past week. Sullivan also convened a modified meeting of the US-Israel Strategic Consultative Group, which met several times virtually to discuss Israel’s potential offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
In Sunday’s in-person meeting with top Israeli security officials, Sullivan was briefed on the IDF’s latest operations in Gaza. “The two sides discussed methods to ensure the defeat of Hamas while minimizing harm to civilians,” the US readout said, highlighting a sticking point in ties, as Washington feels Israel has not done nearly enough on this issue. IDF estimates put the number of civilians killed in the war at 20,000, compared to some 15,000 combatants.
During this meeting, Sullivan reiterated the US position against a major military offensive in Rafah due to fears that it’ll cause further harm to the civilians sheltering there, while risking irreparable damage to ties with fellow ally Egypt, which shares a border with Rafah.
“Sullivan proposed a series of concrete measures to ensure more aid surges into Gaza, including through all available crossings, and through the multinational humanitarian maritime corridor,” the US readout said.
“Sullivan briefed on US support for Israeli efforts to find and bring to justice Hamas’s leaders in Gaza,” the readout added, highlighting that Washington still supports targeted operations against Hamas’s leaders, including in Rafah.
The top Biden aide briefed Israeli counterparts on talks the US has held with Egypt “to fully secure its border with Rafah and to secure the continued flow of humanitarian assistance through Kerem Shalom, even as talks proceed on reopening the Rafah Crossing.” Link —Netanyahu has spent his career weakening the Palestinian Authority and strengthening Hamas so that he could always lean back and say that there is no Palestinian partner for peace. Of course, when you castrate a potential peace partner and then arm the biggest enemy of peace, you end up with no one which has been Netanyahu’s goal. What people fail to realize or understand is the real reason that October 7 occurred. It wasn’t because Yihya Sinwar was let out of prison in the Schalit deal and it certainly wasn’t because of the anti government demonstrations against the judicial overhaul, as Hamas has been planning this for years. The true underlying and base reason for it, is that no one can expect to keep 5 million people under a military occupation and withhold their basic human and civil rights and think that nothing is going to happen, that they will continue to accept their fate without hope, without any resistance. To expect that, you have to be blind, stupid, ignorant, have your head deliberately buried in the sand to make believe this isn’t the situation or a combination of these attributes Netanyahu has chosen to be a combination of some and to convince his base that the problem doesn’t exist. You can only get away with tactics like that for so long and then it all comes asunder, as it did in October 7. And the solution is not to return to that same ridiculous, blind strategy and make the situation worse with the destruction of Gaza and the creation of 2 million new refugees. As Einstein posited, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.
Massive Demonstrations at the Knesset today--Police and anti-government demonstrators clash near the Sha’ar Hagai Junction on the main Tel Aviv-Jerusalem highway.
Demonstrators from the Brothers in Arms group try to block the highway and are dispersed by police. The group says 10 members were detained.
They are calling on the government to resign and call elections, citing the failures to bring home the hostages captured by Hamas on October 7 and the fate of tens of thousands of residents of the north and south who remain evacuated from their homes.
Several groups are heading to Jerusalem to demonstrate outside the Knesset as it resumes today, while other protests are planned across the country.
Members of the Brothers in Arms group protest against the government on the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem highway on May 20, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/FLASH90)- Official says Israel not involved in Raisi helicopter crash; Liberman: We won’t shed a tear:
Israel was not involved in the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash that also killed several members of his entourage, an Israeli official tells Reuters. “It wasn’t us,” said the official, who requested anonymity. There is no official Israeli reaction to his death.
However, opposition MK Avigdor Liberman says Israel does not expect Raisi’s death to make any difference to Iran’s policies in the region. “For us it does not matter, it won’t affect Israel’s attitude [to Iran]. Iran’s policies are set by the Supreme Leader [Ayatollah Ali Khamenei],” he tells the Ynet news site. “However, there was no doubt that the president was a brutal man. We won’t shed a tear.” link
- The Palestinian Islamist terror group Hamas mourns the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, saying he had supported it during the ongoing war with Israel. - Of course, they are mourning the "Butcher of Tehran". He was a brutal killer of thousands of his own people, something that Hamas terrorist leaders share in common with his. May his memory be cursed.
- ICC prosecutor calls for arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant and 3 Hamas leaders: In an unprecedented and hugely controversial development, chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Karim Kahn says he has requested arrest warrants from the judges of the court for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
Kahn says that the charges are for the crimes of “causing extermination, causing starvation as a method of war including the denial of humanitarian relief supplies, deliberately targeting civilians in conflict.”
Kahn says he is also applying for arrest warrants against Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Mohammad Deif, and Ismail Haniyeh. “Today we have applied for warrants to the pretrial chamber of the international criminal court in relation to three individuals who are Hamas members,” says Kahn listing Sinwar, Deif and Haniyeh. He says they would be charged with extermination, murder, hostage taking, rape and sexual assault in detention.
--This is not only unprecedented, it truly puts that mark of Cain, not just on Netanyahu and Galant but on Israel and Israelis. If the judges approve these arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Galant, the ramifications may be vast. It can progress to arrest warrants for the Chief of General Staff, the head of the Shin Bet, IDF officers and soldiers fighting in Gaza. Something like this means that if any of the people name in the approved arrest warrants enter any of the countries (even airports for transit) that are members of the ICC, they will be arrested and deported to the Hague for trial. The worst part of this is that the ICC prosecutor announced these arrest warrants almost in the same breath as the barbarians Sinwar, Deif and Haniya. As much as I dislike Netanyahu, I would never put him in the same category as the Hamas terrorists. link
Acronyms and Glossary
ICC - International Criminal Court in the Hague
IJC - International Court of Justice in the Hague
UAV - Unmanned Aerial vehicle, Drone. Could be used for surveillance and reconnaissance, or be weaponized with missiles or contain explosives for 'suicide' explosion mission
PA - Palestinian Authority - President Mahmud Abbas, aka Abu MazenJoin my Whatsapp update group https://chat.whatsapp.com/IQ3OtwE6ydxBeBAxWNziB0
Twitter - @LonnyB58
Twitter - @LonnyB58
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