🎗️Lonny's War Update- October 237, 2023 - May 30, 2024 🎗️

   

🎗️Day 237 that 125 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

*10:00pm- West Bank -2 soldiers killed in a car ramming terror attack. The terrorist escaped and the army was searching for him. He returned to Nablus and turned himself over to the Palestinian Authority security forces. 

*7:45am- south-rockets kibbutz Nirim- a rocket exploded in an open area

*8:45am- north- hostile aircraft intrusion Lower Golan Heights, Upper Galilee - In the shadow of the alarms sounded in the southern Golan, an aerial target was intercepted in the area. According to the suspicion, it is a cruise missile launched from Iraq.

*10:45am- north - rockets- Kibbutz Margaliot

*1:05- north -hostile aircraft intrusion -Matat, Tel Hai, Kiryat Shemona, Kibbutzim Misgav Am, Kfar Giladi and Margaliot

*2:50pm- north- rockets western Galilee 

*4:15pm- West Bank- attempted stabbing attack at the Ofer Prison Checkpoint - no injuries, no other information available

*8:05pm- north - rockets- Zra'it, Upper Galilee

**The army announced the deaths of 3 soldiers. 2 were killed in a terrorist car jamming attack outside of Jenin; the third was killed in battle in northern Gaza

-First Sergeant Elia Hillel, 20 from Tel Zion

-First Sergeant Diego Swisha Harsaj, 20 from Tel Aviv

-First Sergeant Yedidia Azoni, 21 from Revava

May their memories be a blessing

Hostage Updates 

• Today is the 24th birthday of the hostage Eitan Avraham Mor. Here is a translation of the text to English:
  
  
  If you had entered the "Roasters" café in Jerusalem before October 7th, you would have seen Ethan Abraham Mor (23) running between the kitchen and the bar and back. That's Ethan, his hand in everything. A few years ago, he fell in love with the restaurant world and thinks about one day opening his own restaurant. Ethan lives with a partner in Jerusalem, and apart from working at the café and being in a relationship with Odelia, he also works shifts as a security guard at events. Ethan works out whenever he has free time. He builds his body at the gym and invests in a healthy lifestyle. He travels abroad with friends and plays with his dog "Nezi".
  
  
  Ethan's parents last spoke to him on Friday, and his father even had a chance to bless him with the "Blessing of the Sons" as he did every Sabbath eve. 
  He arrived at the music festival in Ream as part of the security team. When the attack began, he remained on site and was involved in evacuating casualties, and from there he was abducted.  
  
  
  Return Ethan Abraham and everyone else home, now!

  

  
  

• The Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group has released a second propaganda video showing hostage Alexander (Sasha) Trufanov in the Gaza Strip, this time providing apparent proof that the footage was filmed recently.

  In the nearly three-minute-long video, Trufanov — whose statement was almost certainly dictated by his captors — refers to Israel’s decision to pull the Qatari-owned Al Jazeera news channel off the air on May 5, indicating that the footage was filmed within the last month.  The new video comes after the terror group published a nearly 30-second-long video of Trufanov on Tuesday, which did not contain any information indicating when it was filmed. 

  Islamic Jihad and Hamas have both previously issued similar videos of hostages the terror groups are holding, in what Israel says is deplorable psychological warfare. Most Israeli media do not carry the video clips themselves. Trufanov was kidnapped on October 7 from Kibbutz Nir Oz along with his mother, Yelena, grandmother, Tati, and girlfriend, Sapir Cohen — all of whom were released in a hostage deal in late November. His father, Vitaly Trufanov, was murdered in the Hamas onslaught. --This video was obviously scripted by Islamic Jihad but it shows a sign of life and evidence that it was filmed within the last 2 weeks as Sasha talks about the Al Jazeera Law which was just passed by the Knesset 2 weeks ago. It also shows that Hamas does not hold all the hostages.

  
• Hamas in an official statement: We will only continue negotiations if you stop the war The terror organization responded for the first time to the new Israeli proposal, and said it would not return to negotiations unless Israel stops the war. "On May 6 we approved the mediators' proposal, and in response Israel invaded Rafah," they claimed. In Israel, it was said that the proposal Hamas agreed to is not the Israeli proposal.  

  
  

  According to Hamas, "We showed flexibility and positivity throughout all the previous indirect rounds of negotiations, and on May 6 we approved the mediators' proposal. The occupation used the negotiations as a cover to continue its aggression and massacre against the Palestinian people - and responded to our agreement by invading Rafah and occupying the Rafah crossing." In Israel, it should be recalled, the proposal that Hamas agreed to was vehemently rejected - and it was made clear that it was not the outline they had previously agreed to. According to Hamas, the organization and other Palestinian factions will no longer agree "to take part in this policy," and will not continue negotiations in light of "the aggression, killing, siege, starvation and genocide of our people." Therefore, the terror organization stated, "We informed the mediators of our clear position that if the occupation stops the war and aggression against our people in Gaza - we will be ready to reach a comprehensive agreement that includes a comprehensive prisoner exchange deal."

  
  

  A Hamas senior official, Mohammed Deif, said this evening that "there is no point in participating in negotiations that we know in advance will not lead to any result." The Saudi TV network Al-Arabiya reported from sources that "Egyptian-American contacts are underway to coordinate a trilateral meeting with Israel to open the Rafah crossing. Washington informed Cairo that it wants to contain the tension on the border and that it does not support an Israeli presence in Rafah. An American delegation will arrive in Cairo next week to discuss managing the Rafah crossing and the border crisis." It was also reported that Israel offered Egypt to manage the Rafah crossing in cooperation with the UN and Palestinian parties not affiliated with Hamas.

  
  

  The Palestinian Authority claimed yesterday that it received an offer to manage the Rafah crossing with international involvement. A source in the PA told Ynet that advanced contacts are underway with Egypt, Israel, the European Union and the US regarding the proposed agreement to manage the crossing. According to the agreement, the Palestinian Authority will manage the crossing, Israel will monitor via cameras, and the European Union will have a physical presence and also oversee operations. The PA feared that its security mechanisms would be harmed as a result of the continued war, and that there would be no separation between its people and Hamas police, but it received international assurances and promises that this would not happen.

  
  

  In any case, talks on a deal resumed remotely the day before yesterday, after the Cabinet's decision to expand the negotiating team's mandate. Sources involved in the negotiations claimed the day before yesterday that the Rafah operation was expected to cast doubt on the resumption of negotiations, among other things due to Hamas' statement demanding the cessation of the maneuver in Rafah in exchange for resuming negotiations. The negotiations, they said, were expected to continue from where they left off. A member of the negotiating team said that the central point of contention with Hamas remained, ending the war. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is opposed to Hamas' demand to end the war - which casts doubt on the prospect of reaching an agreement at all. "There is a dialogue with the mediators from Egypt and Qatar. They are supposed to convey Israel's responses to Hamas," said a member of the negotiating team.

  
  

  Hamas leaders have already declared that the maneuver in Rafah cannot continue in parallel with the negotiations. "We will not return to the negotiating table because of the incident at the Rafah refugee camp (IDF attack) and until the operation in Rafah is stopped," Hamas threatened this week. link

  
  
• A member of the Egyptian negotiating delegation told the Lebanese newspaper "Al-Akhbar", which is affiliated with Hezbollah, that there is a temporary stalemate in the talks.  He said there is a decline in the "aggressive Israeli tone towards Cairo", in his words, "following the tensions in recent days". The delegation member added that there are Egyptian proposals for greater diplomatic escalation against Israel.
  
  
• Jerusalem Pride Parade set to take place with hostage families leading the march: Event promoted with image of fallen soldier Sagi Golan, who became symbol of LGBTQ community when he was killed on Oct. 7 days before his wedding; his fiancé set to deliver address.  Hostage families will lead the Jerusalem Pride Parade on Thursday, as the annual march is set to take on a more solemn tone amid the war against Hamas and the ongoing hostage situation. 
  Channel 12 news reported that participants are expected to don yellow wristbands in honor of the hostages.

While the pride parade has been held in the capital since 2002, city hall has never promoted the event because of the city’s largely conservative population.  This year, however, Omer Ohana, the partner of Maj. Sagi Golan, who was killed fighting Hamas terrorists on October 7, put up billboards of pride flags and photos of Golan in the city.

Ohana was initially not recognized as a bereaved family member after Golan’s death, leading Defense Minister Yoav Gallant to amend the policy to formally include same-sex couples under the laws pertaining to families of fallen IDF soldiers. The two had been set to marry 13 days after October 7. Ohana is expected to speak at the parade.

Members of Golan’s counterterrorism unit are expected to attend the march as a group in honor of their fallen comrade.

Link

Thousands of people are marching in Jerusalem’s annual Pride Parade, which this year is led by family members of the hostages. The crowd is chanting, “All of them, now!” and calling for a hostage deal that will free the captives held by Hamas in Gaza.

• In the difficult meeting between the head of the National Security Council, Tzachi Hanegbi, and some of the families of the hostages, Hanegbi said things that have not been heard until now. "We will be able to achieve stage A of the deal, the humanitarian part, within a few short months. It won't take many months or years," said the head of the National Security Council. "If the hostages do not return within a few weeks or a couple of months - we have no backup plan. We will continue fighting in Gaza and the north, and only then will we sit for an assessment," Hanegbi added. In response, one participant said: "So we are lost," and the head of the National Security Council replied "Correct." It was also said in the conversation: "I don't believe this government will succeed in completing the entire deal. This government will not make a decision to stop the war for the return of all the hostages. We must continue fighting so there won't be another October 7th in October 2027." One of the participants said in the conversation: "During a war, you don't receive money to build a pool," and Hanegbi replied: "He (the PM) can also build 10 pools with his money. These are abhorrent things. There's no need to say this in conversations. You have no place to hate and hurt like this." One of the participants responded: "I have every place to hurt and hate, because I was 15 hours in a shelter, fled from terrorists and stepped on corpses and you did not." Hanegbi answered: "Okay, so go ahead, curse me." At this point the participant left the room crying, and another participant got angry and made her way to the door, and the head of the National Security Council addressed this: "Are you also going to make a drama and close the door behind you?" We approached the head of the National Security Council for a response, and he did not deny the difficult content that was said in the meeting: "The head of the National Security Council meets with every family of hostages who requests to meet with him since the start of the war. The head of the National Security Council does not record these conversations and does not publish their content publicly. This is the proper way to conduct an open dialogue between the political leadership and the grieving families. I will not deviate from this tradition even following today's meeting. Israel is committed to bringing about the release of all the abducted, and so it shall be done."  link  Hanegbi's statements to the families of the hostages are horrible and arrogant. The horrible parts are the admission of the dysfunctionality of the government that there is no Plan B and that the government doesn't have any problem with that. And even worse is his admission that the government has not expectations to bring all the hostages home and they are alright with that. The arrogant statements came when he berated the families for talking about Netanyahu's use of public money to repair the pool at his private mansion in Caesarea during the war and with hostages in Gaza and he said they have no right to talk about these things and don't have a right to hurt or hate. How dare he? What did he lose on October 7? Does he have any family members in Gaza? And then to make nasty comments when hostage family members leave his talk crying. Disgusting. But we can't expect a lot more from Netanyahu's mouthpiece.

Gaza 

• State Comptroller Begins Examining the IDF Due to October 7th Failures : Nearly 8 months after the massacre events, the IDF has transferred materials on the failures to the State Comptroller. The units already being examined: The Home Front Command and the Personnel Directorate, regarding their readiness prior to the attack, among other things in the deployment of forces. The IDF initially refused to hand over materials for examination, but was ultimately forced to do so due to the Supreme Court's non-intervention on the issue.
• MKs give initial okay to bill branding UNRWA a terror group; coalition expected to bury it - The Knesset passes in a preliminary reading an opposition-proposed bill to declare the UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA a terror group. The legislation, filed by Yisrael Beytenu MK Yulia Malinovsky and backed in the vote by the coalition, is not expected to progress further, with reports saying the coalition intends to derail it down the line. --UNRWA has proven to be a very problematic organization with many employees who are Hamas terrorists, even officers. In addition, it appears that there isn't a single UNRWA facility that has not be co-opted by Hamas as command centers, weapons and ammunition storages, tunnel shafts from UNRWA facilities and tunnels under all facilities. Its time should come to an end but should be replaced by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees which is the UN refugee agency  for refugees for everywhere except Gaza and the West Bank.

• Forces from the 98th Division continue to operate in the heart of the Jabaliya refugee camp. Among other things, the combat team of the 7th Brigade located fighting equipment, including Kalashnikov rifles and magazines, and eliminated terrorists who approached them with tank fire. This was reported by an IDF spokesperson, who added that the 99th Division, led by the divisional combat team 679, continues to operate in the central Gaza Strip, and over the past day, the forces located a warehouse of combat equipment in the area.

  It was further reported that forces from the 162nd Division continue to operate in the Rafah area. In one of the encounters, the Giv'ati Brigade's combat team identified three terrorists who opened fire towards the forces, and an Israeli Air Force fighter jet struck and eliminated the terrorists. In addition, the combat teams of the Nahal Brigade and the 12th Brigade located multiple terror infrastructures and combat equipment over the past day, including anti-tank positions, tunnel shafts, an ammunition warehouse, explosives, and more.

  The IDF Spokesperson further stated that over the past day, there were launches towards our forces in the Jabaliya area. The forces identified two terrorists exiting the building from which the firing originated, and under the guidance of the Air Force and the Gaza Division, an aircraft struck and eliminated the terrorists.

  Over the past day, Israeli Air Force fighter jets struck over 50 targets across the Gaza Strip.

• US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Wednesday that continued Israeli refusal to advance a viable plan for the post-war management of Gaza will lead to a never-ending war in the enclave.

  “In the absence of a plan for the day after, there won’t be a day after,” Blinken summarized at a press conference in Moldova.

  The US has sought to advance its own plan for the “day after” that would see a reformed Palestinian Authority gradually regain control of Gaza with help from Israel’s Arab allies.  But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected the initiative outright, likening the PA to Hamas and insisting that he won’t allow the former to return to the Strip. The premier claims that Israel will be able to identify Palestinians unaffiliated with the PA and Hamas to administer Gaza while Arab countries will be willing to take part in re-stabilizing the enclave.

  However, the Israeli security establishment argues that the PA is the only viable alternative to Hamas; and Arab states such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have repeatedly made clear that they will only assist in the post-war stabilization of Gaza if it is part of a pathway to a future Palestinian state — a vision Netanyahu flatly rejects.  link to full article  --Blinken's statement “In the absence of a plan for the day after, there won’t be a day after,” means that there cannot be a day after because without a plan, the war will keep going with no end in sight.  
  
  

• Assessment in the IDF: Hamas holds a few dozen rockets toward central Israel. According to the assessments, the terror organization has a few remaining long-range rockets, out of hundreds it holds in total • The capabilities of the terror group have decreased since the start of the war, after the IDF destroyed many launchers and Hamas' production facilities - and therefore there is difficulty replenishing ammunition • In the last day: An ammunition cache was located by forces in the center of the Strip, militants who approached the forces were eliminated  Link    I would like to believe this assessment, but our intelligence has been so bad regarding Hamas’ capabilities  I’m sure it has improved due to the troves of intelligence gathered during the war, but we have learned that Hamas has redundancies of redundancies. For every weapons cache we found and destroyed, they had many more in multiple locations. I wouldn’t count out their rocket capability so quickly

• IDF troops operating in southern Gaza uncovered a store of weapons stored in a UNRWA school complex, which also included a mosque and a medical clinic, the IDF announced on Thursday. 
  During searches, a hidden explosive in a shaft underneath a civilian clinic exploded on IDF troops. This was the explosion that killed 3 soldiers which I posted on yesterday
• National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi says battle in Rafah is ‘not for no reason,’ points to need to take control of Philadelphi Route along Strip’s border with Egypt.  National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi said in an interview with Kan public radio that “this year, we expect another seven months of combat, in order to deepen our achievement and achieve what we define as the destruction of the military and governing capabilities of both Hamas and the Islamic Jihad.” Hanegbi noted that the Israel Defense Forces have previously stated that it expects the entirety of 2024 to be a period of war, and five months into the year, the assessment remains unchanged.  --Hanegbi is optimistic. Without any plan for Gaza, which Netanyahu refuses to have developed or even talked about, the war will be a war of attrition which will go on for years under this government. Another reason in  a long line of reasons of why this government has to be replaced.
• IDF Destroys Tunnels from Which Bodies of 7 Captives Were Retrieved: 
  A shaft was found in a house in Jabaliya that led to an underground compound where the bodies retrieved by security forces in special night operations were discovered. The tunnel was destroyed using engineering and technological tools by the Yahalom unit. The controlled explosion was carried out after any suspicion of additional captives being present in the area was ruled out. Commander of the 98th Division in the heart of the tunnel: "We are determined and ready to fight in order to bring everyone home."  Over the past two weeks, the bodies of 7 captives who were hidden in tunnels along an underground route in Jabaliya in northern Gaza were retrieved from the Gaza Strip. The compound was discovered after a militant who served as a lookout in the area where the bodies were held was killed: The fighters raided the compound and located where the militants' bodies were. This evening (Thursday), the IDF announced it had destroyed the underground compound using special means, but not before ruling out any suspicion that additional captives were inside. "Forces of the 98th Division destroyed the tunnel route from which seven captive bodies were retrieved last week," an IDF spokesperson stated. The underground area was destroyed using engineering tools, mine explosions and additional technological means by Yahalom fighters, after any suspicion of additional captives in the area was ruled out." "The intelligence, collection and research efforts that led to the discovery of the seven captive bodies retrieved last week on two separate occasions were conducted at the Captives Headquarters in the Intelligence Directorate in cooperation with the Shin Bet, the Divisional Field Intelligence, and IDF units," the IDF added. "The effort to find them included any intelligence collection and analysis of intelligence indications into a complete picture, which was then passed on to the fighting forces in the field who led the retrieval along with Yahalom fighters, the Shin Bet, Unit 504 and another special Intelligence Directorate unit."  video of the destruction of the tunnel

  

• 'Hamas wouldn't let me treat patients, Gazans don't support them,' foreign volunteer doctor reveals:  Hamas has exploited hospitals, and many Gazans do not support the terrorist group, according to Dr. Baxtiyar Baram, a Kurdish physician who recently volunteered in northern Gaza.

  An interview with Baram, published this week on the Kurdish website Rudaw and on YouTube, provided unique insights into what has been happening in northern Gaza in recent weeks. Baram revealed that not only does Hamas continue to exploit hospitals, but it also has a “VIP” section in one hospital, where it only allows certain patients – apparently those with connections – to receive treatment.

  Baram went to northern Gaza after entering the Gaza Strip through Rafah in April, prior to the IDF’s operations in the Rafah area and its reentering Jabalya.

  According to the report, he received permission to go from Rafah to northern Gaza as part of a small team that included four doctors and a nurse. It apparently was one of the first teams of foreign medical aid workers to enter northern Gaza in months, the report said.

  Hamas exploits hospitals

  “We made it to northern Gaza,” Baram told Rudaw’s Sangar Abdulrahman. “They needed an orthopedist; I was the only candidate who dared to go.” He recounted entering Rafah at a time when it was still a “normal” border crossing from Egypt to Hamas-controlled Rafah.

  To get to northern Gaza, however, the team had to cross the Netzarim corridor, an area controlled by Israel south of Gaza City. When the team passed into northern Gaza, he said, it reminded him of scenes from devastated Kurdish cities during the Anfal campaign, when Iraq was suppressing the Kurds. He compared northern Gaza to Halabja, a city that suffered grievously under Saddam Hussein, and also to the Saidsadiq area, where thousands were killed in 1988 by Iraqi forces.

  Baram described his work in two hospitals, Al-Awda in Jabalya and Kamal Adwan in northern Gaza. There were IAF airstrikes near where he stayed, and one of them was so close, it blew away his blanket, he said.

  Hamas continues to exploit hospitals, Baram said in the interview. It is a political and military organization that “needs to exploit all these places for survival, and that’s unfortunate, but I saw that hospitals had been used for hiding Hamas leaders,” he said.

  Baram said he had spoken to a founder of Hamas in one of the hospitals and sat with him for coffee. The Gazans must accept that Hamas uses their hospitals as bases, because they cannot ask it to leave, he said, adding that this is the reality.

  Baram described a wounded man who was affiliated with a Salafi religious movement, and apparently, because he was disliked by Hamas, they would not let him receive the proper treatment in the hospital. “When we were trying to save his life, there was no oxygen, so we took him to intensive care on the third floor, and an employee stopped us, saying the department is only for VIPs,” he said.Baram said he had challenged the employee and put his patient in the section anyway. The exploitation of hospitals may go beyond Hamas using them as shelters, Baram indicated, suggesting that it also has influence that allows it to hijack the medical system to serve its own interests.

  Self-serving

  Baram also described how he felt Hamas did not have a strong base of support in Gaza. Support for Hamas was possibly as low as 10% of the population, he said, adding that Hamas rules the area with an “iron fist.” “They have eyes everywhere,” he said. “Every bakery, coffee shop, [and] sunflower seller is associated with them.” In this way, Hamas continues its rule, he added. Baram said it was possible that in some stores, the associates of Hamas have weapons. This stems from Hamas’s long control of Gaza and the many wars it has fought, he said. “They eliminated public opposition,” he added. Nevertheless, Baram estimated that 90% of the Gazans were not on the side of Hamas but are afraid to be suspected of being against it.

  Mafia groups

  Mafia-like groups have become more prominent in Gaza due to the chaos, he said. As Hamas continues to focus on fighting Israel, the mafia groups are active. He said he saw how mafias steal aid, for instance. The aid is then sold on the black market.

  Baram said he assumed Hamas takes advantage of the lack of stability and allows mafias to act in this way. It then seems like the chaos is the result of Hamas not being in control, causing people to beg it to return, he said. Baram also said these mafia groups attacked the aid workers’ car when they crossed into areas in Gaza between Israeli control and Hamas control. These kinds of no-man’s-lands, apparently several kilometers on either side of Netzarim and other areas, are where the thieves are active, he said. “They carry swords,” he added.

  The situation in Gaza is dire, according to Baram. He described how people are exhausted from the war and said he met people who had seen 42 of their family members killed since October 7.

  People are on the brink of starvation, Baram said, adding that most people do not have any cash or money to buy staples, and many basic items are now very expensive. A cigarette can cost up to $14, he said. One man spent the equivalent of two months’ salary just to buy some eggplant, zucchini, and rice, Baram said. Only items made from flour are commonly found, and they enter northern Gaza as aid, he said. People are living in the destroyed and damaged buildings, and children are barefoot and begging for water, he added.

  This was one of the first interviews, from a foreign perspective, since the war began to shed light on what is happening in Gaza, and it provided a relatively neutral overview of the situation on the ground.  link  

Northern Israel - Lebanon/Hizbollah

• Revolutionary Guards and Hezbollah Training Russian Army Fighters in Syria

  An extensive investigation by The Wall Street Journal reveals the scale of Russia's production and use of Iranian drones. Moscow paid Tehran close to $2 billion, in gold bullion, for the right to establish a factory on its soil to manufacture the deadly aircraft. Hand-in-hand with Israel's enemies: This is how Putin's forces are preparing for combat on the battlefield in Ukraine. Not far from the border with Israel, Iran's Revolutionary Guards and Hezbollah are training Russian army forces on Syrian soil. An extensive investigation published the day before yesterday (Tuesday) in The Wall Street Journal shows that Iran and Hezbollah are training the Russian army's Iranian drone operators on Syrian territory - in preparation for operating them in the war in Ukraine.

  The investigation focused on the Iranian drone factory that Russia established on its territory over the past year. While in the early stages of the war Russia mainly relied on "Shahed" model drones that arrived in secret shipments and were assembled from Iran - over the past year, Russia has been manufacturing these drones itself. The secret factory in the Yelabuga area of the Tatarstan region in Russia was established in close cooperation between Moscow and Tehran. According to the Wall Street Journal report, Russia paid Iran no less than $1.7 billion for the establishment of the factory, and the payment was made through gold bullion.

  The factory is designed to produce and supply the Russian army with about 6,000 suicide drones per year. To date, the factory has produced and delivered no less than 4,500 units. The Russian army is making almost daily use of those deadly explosive drones to attack Ukraine. Yesterday, the Ukrainian Air Force announced that it had shot down 13 out of 14 Iranian drones launched by the Russian army.  link  Everyone must understand that Russia under Putin is an integral part of the Axis of Evil. They are not innocent bystanders but very active players in promoting and supporting the terror of Iran and all of its proxies.

  
  
• The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition organization to Bashar Assad's regime based in Britain, reports that the number of people killed in last night's attack attributed to Israel in the Homs area has risen to six. According to the report, the other three are not Syrian.
  "Hezbollah trucks were attacked in Syria". Syria reported last night an "Israeli attack" in the Homs area, where, according to the reports, the target was Hezbollah trucks carrying weapons. According to the reports, three Hezbollah operatives of Syrian origin were killed in the attack. The Syrian Ministry of Defense claimed that Israel also attacked a building in the coastal city of Nias, where a girl was killed and 10 other people were injured.

West Bank

•    From an initial investigation into last night's deadly ramming attack in the West Bank, it appears that the fighters at the Hawara 6 checkpoint, located around Nablus, were randomly inspecting Palestinian vehicles leaving the city. A short line of vehicles formed, with the two soldiers who were killed inspecting a vehicle at the front and side of the line. At one point, the terrorist bypassed the line with his vehicle and drove at high speed towards the two soldiers, running them over and crushing one of them against the concrete barrier. The fact that he drove a large transport vehicle intensified the lethality of the ramming.

  During the attack, one of the two soldiers was inspecting vehicles while the other secured him, while the other fighters at the pillbox position apparently did not notice what was happening due to the obstruction of vehicles and the angle of the incident. They may have initially thought it was an accident. The army understands that the attack took mere seconds until the terrorist made a U-turn and sped back towards Nablus, so the other fighters did not even have time to shoot at the transit van.

  Sgt. Eliyahu Hillel, 20, from Tel Tzion, and Sgt. Diego Shoysha Hersag, 20, from Tel Aviv, soldiers in the Nahshon (90) Battalion of the Kfir Brigade, were killed in the ramming attack. The terrorist, who turned himself in to the Palestinian Authority, has not yet been handed over to Israel. 
  
  
• The Palestinians report that the IDF attacked tonight from the air, using a UAV, in the refugee camp in Lata in Nablus. According to reports, three people were injured.

Politics and the Region

• Gantz’s National Unity party submits bill to dissolve the Knesset; Likud dismisses the call: Following Minister Benny Gantz’s demand in April for early elections, National Unity MK Pnina Tamano-Shata submits a bill to dissolve the Knesset.

“October 7 is a a disaster that requires us to go back and receive the people’s trust, to establish a broad and stable unity government that can lead us safely in the face of the enormous challenges in security, the economy and above all — in Israeli society,” Tamano-Shata says in a statement. “Submitting the bill now will allow us to bring it up in the current legislative session.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party dismisses the call as unnecessarily disharmonious and damaging to the war effort. Netanyahu’s Likud heads a 64-strong coalition bloc in the 120-member Knesset — without Gantz’s party, which joined the coalition after October 7 — and is therefore unlikely to be felled by the bill.  “In the midst of a war, Israel needs unity, not division. The dissolution of the unity government is a reward for [Hamas leader Yahya] Sinwar, a surrender to international pressures and a fatal blow to the efforts to free our abductees,” the ruling party says in a statement.

Hitting back, National Unity says that it was Netanyahu, “who time and again chooses personal interest over the national interest,” who was responsible for dismantling the government.

“Netanyahu, it is not too late to come to your senses either ‘together we will win’ or you will continue alone with the ‘divide and conquer,’ method,” National Unity states, referring to a wartime slogan promoted by the government.

Tensions have been growing between Gantz and Netanyahu since the former joined the government in the wake of October 7.

On April 3, Gantz called for Israel to hold early elections by September, amid growing dissatisfaction over how the war against Hamas was being waged and the failure to bring home the hostages.

Just over six weeks later, Gantz went on television to issue an ultimatum to Netanyahu, threatening to withdraw from the coalition unless the premier commits to an agreed-upon vision for the Gaza conflict by June 8.

Speaking with The Times of Israel at the time, MK Tamano-Shata explained that she and her colleagues “don’t want to leave the government, but if [Netanyahu] pushes us to that we will leave.”

Not long after, Gantz challenged Netanyahu by demanding the immediate establishment of a state commission of inquiry into the failures that led to Hamas’s devastating onslaught of October 7. And yesterday, war cabinet observer MK Gadi Eisenkot, a member of Gantz’s party, accused Netanyahu of having failed Israel on matters of both security and economy — asserting that it was “clear that this government needs to be replaced as soon as possible.”

Eisenkot suggested a vote be held sometime between September and December “to build the nation.”

Netanyahu’s Likud heads a 64-strong coalition bloc in the 120-member Knesset, without Gantz’s party, and is therefore unlikely to be felled by the bill.  Link  Unfortunately, there is little chance this bill will succeed  it needs 61 Knesset members to vote in favor of dissolution and there don’t appear to be 5 coalition members willing to put national interests in front if their own  

• At approximately 8:40 p.m. (Sanaa time) May 28, U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) forces successfully destroyed two missile launchers in an Iranian-backed Houthi-controlled area of Yemen.  Separately, at approximately 11:30 p.m. (Sanaa time) on May 28, Iranian-backed Houthis launched two anti-ship ballistic missiles (ASBM) from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen into the Red Sea. There were no injuries or damage reported by U.S., coalition, or commercial ships.  The following day, between 1:26 and 1:38 a.m. (Sanaa time) on May 29, USCENTCOM forces successfully destroyed two uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) over the Red Sea launched from an Iranian-backed Houthi controlled area of Yemen.  It was determined these missiles and systems presented an imminent threat to U.S., coalition forces, and merchant vessels in the region. These actions are taken to protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer and more secure.
  
  

• Iran is behind a string of terror attacks on Israeli embassies by criminal networks in Europe since October 7, a Mossad intelligence agency official says. The agency opened up an investigation alongside European counterparts after an explosive device, said to be a hand grenade, was found inside the grounds of the Israeli Embassy in Stockholm in January and destroyed by the Swedish national bomb squad.

  After interrogating the suspects and examining forensic evidence, the investigators concluded that the Foxtrot organized crime ring in Sweden was behind the attack, at Iran’s behest, according to the Mossad.  Foxtrot leader Rawa Majid — known as “the Kurdish Fox” — has been working with Iran for months, Israel alleges. He was recruited by Iranian agents after he fled to Iran from Turkey in September of last year, pursued by international law enforcement and Iraqi security forces.

  He was arrested by Iran and recruited to plan a string of attacks in Europe against Jewish and Israeli targets, according to the Mossad.  There have been dozens of Iran-backed terror plots against Jewish and Israeli targets uncovered in recent months, says the Israeli agency, many of which used local criminal networks.

  On May 17, Swedish police heard gunshots late at night near the Israeli embassy. They detained a 14-year-old boy in connection to the shooting and made known that the Israeli embassy was the target.  That shooting was carried out by the Rumba crime group, said the Mossad, headed by Majid’s rival Ismail Abdo and also directed by Iran. “Iran operates many criminal organizations in Sweden and Europe in general, while taking advantage of the relative advantage of each and sometimes the rivalry between them,” says the Israeli official.  Foxtrot and Rumba receive funding and direction directly from Iran, the Mossad alleged, and are closely monitored by European intelligence. The spy agency also accuses Iran of trying to take advantage of rising antisemitism in Europe while avoiding direct responsibility for attacks.
  

Acronyms and Glossary

COGAT - Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories

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 Mazen

PMO- Prime Minister's Office

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