π️Lonny's War Update- October 239, 2023 - June 1, 2024 π️
π️Day 239 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!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
*10:40pm last night- north- rockets Beit Hillel, Kiryat Shemona *10:45pm last night- north- rockets Beit Hillel, Kiryat Shemona *10:45pm last night- south- rockets Kibbutz Kissufim*7:50am- north - rockets Meva'ot Hermon - rocket exploded in open area in Upper Galilee*9:10am - north - hostile aircraft intrusion - Upper Galilee and Kiryat Shemona*11:00am- non stop alerts of rocket barrages in the north in Upper Galilee and Kiryat Shemona - Rocket fell in Kiryat Shemona and caused a fire, no injuries - video - rockets fell in Tel Hai as well also causing fires
*3:35pm- north - hostile aircraft intrusion Kiryat Shemona, Tel Hai, Beit Hillel, Kibbutzim Kfar Giladi, Margaliot, Manara, Maayan Baruch, Upper Galilee - damage to shoppingmall in Kiryat Shemona from a rocket hit*6:55pm- North-rockets Upper Galilee*7:20pm- north- rockets Hanita
Hostage Updates
Israeli negotiator: Hamas demand for ceasefire before hostage
release ‘delusional’: Unnamed official says that if terror group ‘wants a truce for
the benefit of Gaza’s residents,’ it must be through the negotiated release of
those held captive in the Strip. The main reason that this official is unnamed is most likely because he/she is speaking in Netanyahu's name as virtually all of the members of the negotiating team are in favor of ending the war to get the hostages home. Full article
Families of hostages held by the Hamas terror group call for all parties to immediately accept a proposal detailed by US President Joe Biden to end the nearly 8-month-long war and bring their relatives home.
“We want to see people coming back from Gaza alive and soon,” Gili Roman tells The Associated Press. His sister, Yarden Roman-Gat, was taken hostage and freed during a weeklong ceasefire in November, but Yarden’s sister-in-law, Carmel, is still being held.
“This might be the last chance to save lives. Therefore, the current state must be changed and we expect all to adhere to Biden’s call for accepting the deal on the table, immediately. There is no other way towards a better situation for all. Our leadership must not disappoint us. But mostly, all eyes should be on Hamas,” he says.
Many hostage families blame the government’s lack of will to secure a deal for the deaths of many of the hostages in captivity.
“We know that the government of Israel has done an awful lot to delay reaching a deal and that has cost the lives of many people who survived in captivity for weeks and weeks and months and months. Our hearts are broken by the amount of people we will receive that are no longer alive,” Sharone Lifshitz tells AP. Her mother Yocheved was released by Hamas in October, and her father Oded is still in captivity. link
Statement of families of hostages regarding Biden's speech (highlights):
Biden's speech offers for the first time hope for the return of all the abductees and security to Israel, and we are concerned that after months in which Netanyahu thwarted the deals, he will now sabotage the deal as well. We demand that Netanyahu go public and stand publicly behind the Israeli proposal that Biden presented. Gantz, Eisenkot and Gallant - it is your duty to make sure that this time there is a deal and this time the kidnapped return, you must not lose this moment. At the end of Shabbat, we will hear the extremists opposing the deal, they want the war to continue forever, they are ready to sacrifice the hostages. We are appealing to the citizens of Israel ahead of the campaign to oppose the deal: take to the streets and prove that the public supports the deal presented by Biden!
Hostage Updates
Israeli negotiator: Hamas demand for ceasefire before hostage release ‘delusional’: Unnamed official says that if terror group ‘wants a truce for the benefit of Gaza’s residents,’ it must be through the negotiated release of those held captive in the Strip. The main reason that this official is unnamed is most likely because he/she is speaking in Netanyahu's name as virtually all of the members of the negotiating team are in favor of ending the war to get the hostages home. Full article
Families of hostages held by the Hamas terror group call for all parties to immediately accept a proposal detailed by US President Joe Biden to end the nearly 8-month-long war and bring their relatives home.
“We want to see people coming back from Gaza alive and soon,” Gili Roman tells The Associated Press. His sister, Yarden Roman-Gat, was taken hostage and freed during a weeklong ceasefire in November, but Yarden’s sister-in-law, Carmel, is still being held.
“This might be the last chance to save lives. Therefore, the current state must be changed and we expect all to adhere to Biden’s call for accepting the deal on the table, immediately. There is no other way towards a better situation for all. Our leadership must not disappoint us. But mostly, all eyes should be on Hamas,” he says.
Many hostage families blame the government’s lack of will to secure a deal for the deaths of many of the hostages in captivity.
“We know that the government of Israel has done an awful lot to delay reaching a deal and that has cost the lives of many people who survived in captivity for weeks and weeks and months and months. Our hearts are broken by the amount of people we will receive that are no longer alive,” Sharone Lifshitz tells AP. Her mother Yocheved was released by Hamas in October, and her father Oded is still in captivity. link
Statement of families of hostages regarding Biden's speech (highlights):
Biden's speech offers for the first time hope for the return of all the abductees and security to Israel, and we are concerned that after months in which Netanyahu thwarted the deals, he will now sabotage the deal as well. We demand that Netanyahu go public and stand publicly behind the Israeli proposal that Biden presented. Gantz, Eisenkot and Gallant - it is your duty to make sure that this time there is a deal and this time the kidnapped return, you must not lose this moment. At the end of Shabbat, we will hear the extremists opposing the deal, they want the war to continue forever, they are ready to sacrifice the hostages. We are appealing to the citizens of Israel ahead of the campaign to oppose the deal: take to the streets and prove that the public supports the deal presented by Biden!
Gaza
- ‘Blood is on your
hands’: Erin Molan (Australia Sky News) blasts Hamas for being
‘responsible for every life lost’ video - This is what every sane person should be saying about everything that has happened since October 7. All the lives lost, all the tragedies, the miseries, the devastation; it is all on Hamas.
In another strike this past week in central Gaza, carried out by a drone, Walid Abed Abu Dalal was killed. The IDF says Abu Dalal served in the terror group’s military wing, alongside his role as head of the technology department in Hamas’s internal security forces.
The military says that Hamas’s internal security forces, and especially its technology department, “harm the IDF’s freedom of action in the Gaza Strip, and are also a significant part of Hamas’s counter-espionage attempts.”
In another strike, on Friday, also in Nuseirat, Tareq Darwish was killed. According to the IDF, Darwish was a prominent member of the Nuseirat Battalion’s aerial array.
The military says Darwish was killed following his attempts in the past month to “impede the IDF’s freedom of aerial action” in Gaza. link
Indonesia’s president-elect, Prabowo Subianto says that his country was willing to send peacekeeping troops to enforce a ceasefire in Gaza if required.
Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia’s premier security conference, Prabowo says US President Joe Biden’s proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza was a step in the right direction. Prabowo also says Indonesia is willing to accept and treat 1,000 injured Palestinians. -- Indonesia is the world's largest Muslim country and doesn't have diplomatic relations with Israel, although that would change with normalization with Saudi Arabia
- The drone entered the house entrance - and identified 6 explosive barrels ready for use: Identification of the explosive barrels - and activity in Rafah
(Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
The IDF Spokesperson updated on the continued activity of the Nachal Brigade's combat team led by the 162nd Armored Division in the Rafah area. In recent days, the fighters located many combat means, including a launcher with six barrels aimed at Israeli territory, an ammunition cache containing dozens of grenades, explosives, Kalashnikovs, magazines and vests. In addition, the forces operated a drone to scan for suspicious findings, and during the scans, many explosive barrels ready for use were located.
It was also reported that the fighters are locating many tunnels in the area, encountering underground militants and neutralizing them. The brigade's fire array destroyed dozens of terror infrastructures, including positions from which anti-tank missiles were fired at our forces, ammunition caches, sniper positions and militants who posed a threat to the forces.
This is one of six explosive barrels found in a house in Rafah
- ‘Blood is on your
hands’: Erin Molan (Australia Sky News) blasts Hamas for being
‘responsible for every life lost’ video - This is what every sane person should be saying about everything that has happened since October 7. All the lives lost, all the tragedies, the miseries, the devastation; it is all on Hamas.
In another strike this past week in central Gaza, carried out by a drone, Walid Abed Abu Dalal was killed. The IDF says Abu Dalal served in the terror group’s military wing, alongside his role as head of the technology department in Hamas’s internal security forces.
The military says that Hamas’s internal security forces, and especially its technology department, “harm the IDF’s freedom of action in the Gaza Strip, and are also a significant part of Hamas’s counter-espionage attempts.”
In another strike, on Friday, also in Nuseirat, Tareq Darwish was killed. According to the IDF, Darwish was a prominent member of the Nuseirat Battalion’s aerial array.
The military says Darwish was killed following his attempts in the past month to “impede the IDF’s freedom of aerial action” in Gaza. link
Indonesia’s president-elect, Prabowo Subianto says that his country was willing to send peacekeeping troops to enforce a ceasefire in Gaza if required.
Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia’s premier security conference, Prabowo says US President Joe Biden’s proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza was a step in the right direction. Prabowo also says Indonesia is willing to accept and treat 1,000 injured Palestinians. -- Indonesia is the world's largest Muslim country and doesn't have diplomatic relations with Israel, although that would change with normalization with Saudi Arabia
The IDF Spokesperson updated on the continued activity of the Nachal Brigade's combat team led by the 162nd Armored Division in the Rafah area. In recent days, the fighters located many combat means, including a launcher with six barrels aimed at Israeli territory, an ammunition cache containing dozens of grenades, explosives, Kalashnikovs, magazines and vests. In addition, the forces operated a drone to scan for suspicious findings, and during the scans, many explosive barrels ready for use were located.
It was also reported that the fighters are locating many tunnels in the area, encountering underground militants and neutralizing them. The brigade's fire array destroyed dozens of terror infrastructures, including positions from which anti-tank missiles were fired at our forces, ammunition caches, sniper positions and militants who posed a threat to the forces.
This is one of six explosive barrels found in a house in Rafah
Northern Israel - Lebanon/Hizbollah
- Since the beginning of the war, 130 houses in Kiryat Shemona have been damaged or destroyed
- Hezbollah operatives launched a Burkan rocket that fell into a military structureReport: Hezbollah claims that they hit Givor camp in Kiryat Shemona, fires broke out in a military area. The IDF destroyed the launcher from which the rockets were fired at Kiryat Shemona. Municipality spokeswoman: "The instructions for the residents who remained in the city - to stay near protected areas." IDF: We eliminated key terrorists in Hamas
- Preliminary report: an IDF drone was shot down by a land-based missile in southern Lebanon. In Lebanon it is reported that a short time ago an IDF drone was shot down by an air-to-surface missile in the village of Dirkifa. This report has been confirmed by the IDF and the UAV was shot down by a surface to air missile
In Kiryat Shmona, two strikes were identified in the area of the city during the afternoon - one at the Gibor military base and one at a closed supermarket. Damage was caused at the base, in addition to damage to vehicles and buildings in the city, but there are no known casualties. Additionally, several fires broke out in the area, and fire crews were dispatched to the scene.
Hezbollah claimed responsibility for five different barrages, stating that the base that was hit was Camp Gibor - which it managed to strike. According to Hezbollah, it fired two Burkan missiles towards Kiryat Shmona in response to the Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon - "especially the strike in Ein Qana, which caused civilian casualties."
The Kiryat Shmona municipality stated that two launches from Lebanon towards the city were identified, and at this stage two strikes are known. "Extensive damage was caused to infrastructure, property and vehicles," they said. "No bodily injuries have been reported. The instructions for residents of Kiryat Shmona who remained in the city are to stay near protected spaces. We ask residents to avoid approaching the strike sites and allow emergency forces to do their work uninterrupted."
Since the morning, sirens have sounded several times in Galilee communities - and one of the regional council heads spoke of "dozens of rockets" fired during them. In contrast, the IDF said that six rockets were fired towards northern communities since the morning.
Considerable damage to the base
Three “prominent” Hamas operatives were killed in airstrikes in the Gaza Strip in recent days, the military announces. On Thursday, fighter jets struck in central Gaza’s Nuseirat, killing Mansour Adil Mansour Kashlan, who the IDF says was involved in advancing terror attacks in Israel and in the West Bank. video of the airstrike
“The terrorist… advanced and carried out terror activities, as well as engaged in coordination and cooperation with terror groups in the Gaza Strip and other countries,” the military says.
In Kiryat Shmona, two strikes were identified in the area of the city during the afternoon - one at the Gibor military base and one at a closed supermarket. Damage was caused at the base, in addition to damage to vehicles and buildings in the city, but there are no known casualties. Additionally, several fires broke out in the area, and fire crews were dispatched to the scene.
Hezbollah claimed responsibility for five different barrages, stating that the base that was hit was Camp Gibor - which it managed to strike. According to Hezbollah, it fired two Burkan missiles towards Kiryat Shmona in response to the Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon - "especially the strike in Ein Qana, which caused civilian casualties."
The Kiryat Shmona municipality stated that two launches from Lebanon towards the city were identified, and at this stage two strikes are known. "Extensive damage was caused to infrastructure, property and vehicles," they said. "No bodily injuries have been reported. The instructions for residents of Kiryat Shmona who remained in the city are to stay near protected spaces. We ask residents to avoid approaching the strike sites and allow emergency forces to do their work uninterrupted."
Since the morning, sirens have sounded several times in Galilee communities - and one of the regional council heads spoke of "dozens of rockets" fired during them. In contrast, the IDF said that six rockets were fired towards northern communities since the morning.
Considerable damage to the base
Three “prominent” Hamas operatives were killed in airstrikes in the Gaza Strip in recent days, the military announces. On Thursday, fighter jets struck in central Gaza’s Nuseirat, killing Mansour Adil Mansour Kashlan, who the IDF says was involved in advancing terror attacks in Israel and in the West Bank. video of the airstrike
“The terrorist… advanced and carried out terror activities, as well as engaged in coordination and cooperation with terror groups in the Gaza Strip and other countries,” the military says.
West Bank
Politics and the Region
The Israeli proposal was submitted on Thursday to Hamas via Qatar, Biden revealed, saying the offer would “bring all the hostages home, ensure Israel’s security, create a better day after in Gaza without Hamas in power, and set the stage for a political settlement that provides a better future for Israelis and Palestinians alike.”
Biden laid out the details of three phases, with particular emphasis on the first six-week phase, which was largely similar to the framework that was discussed in previous rounds of negotiations but included new conditions detailed by the president for the first time. Several times during the speech in the State Dining Room of the White House, Biden put the ball in Hamas’s court, urging it to accept the type of ceasefire that its leaders and supporters have repeatedly called for.
While he described the latest proposal as one crafted by Israel, and thus presumably approved by the narrow war cabinet, he evidently recognized that this was not the final say from Jerusalem and urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s full government to stand behind the offer its negotiators submitted indirectly to Hamas.
Biden said the deal also carried with it the opportunity for subsequent gains for both Israelis and Palestinians. For Israel, it would allow for a return to calm on the Lebanon border and a normalization agreement with Saudi Arabia. For the Palestinians, it would enable them to advance toward self-determination.
Netanyahu’s office issued a statement immediately after Biden’s speech, but it avoided responding directly to the president’s message. Instead, it said that the latest Israeli proposal fulfills both of Israel’s war aims of returning all remaining 125 hostages and eliminating Hamas’s military and governmental capabilities. It did not specify that the proposal it was referencing was the one Biden detailed.
For its part, Hamas issued a statement welcoming Biden’s speech and said it would negotiate in good faith to secure a permanent ceasefire and the permanent withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.
A senior US official speaking on condition of anonymity told The Times of Israel that “both Israel and Hamas will try and frame the proposal in a manner that suits them, so it’s best to listen to the way it was laid out by the president.” link
- The Biden speech has provided us, for the first time in nearly eight months, the hope that we may finally be on the path to ending this horrible war and bringing the Israelis hostages home. It is totally true that the 3-stage plan gives Hamas almost everything that they have demanded – an end to the war, Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, free movement for all of the displaced people in Gaza, freeing a large number of Palestinian prisoners and the beginning of the reconstruction of Gaza. Nonetheless, we should all recognize that there are no winners in this war – only losers. There is not now, nor has there ever been, a military solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. There is not now, nor has there ever been, a way to defeat Hamas militarily. The harder Israel hits Hamas, the stronger it becomes. The longer Israeli forces remain in Gaza the stronger the armed insurgency against them will be and Hamas will continue to easily recruit new fighters. Hamas can only be defeated politically. When the Palestinian people have freedom and dignity, Hamas and its likes will diminish in their power and in their ability to continue to be a threat to Israel and to the Palestinian people. It is the Palestinian people who should put Hamas on trial for the death and the destruction that they have brought on the Palestinian people. Biden’s speech and plan (which he said was an Israeli plan) was presented to the people of Israel above the head of Netanyahu and his government. We the people of Israel must take to the streets to demand that the government of Israel accepts it. Hopefully Ben Gvir and Smootrich will bolt the government and Gantz and company will support this plan and force new elections on Israel – supported by Lapid. Hamas has already indicated that they relate to the Biden speech and plan positively. But the proof is in the pudding! Finally, there may be a strategy in place to begin to plan for the day after. This war was fought by Israel with almost zero strategy and almost 100% revenge. It is late to have a coherent day after strategy to replace Hamas’s rule in Gaza with other responsible Palestinian leaders who actually want to achieve a viable two-states solution. But it is not too late. Gershon Baskin, June 1, 2024
- Hamas' Press Statement after Biden's speech
The Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas views positively what was included in US President Joe Biden’s speech today, 05/31/2024, in his call for a permanent ceasefire, the withdrawal of the occupation forces from the Gaza Strip, reconstruction, and an exchange of prisoners. We consider that this American position and the conviction that has been established on the regional and international scene The necessity of putting an end to the war on Gaza is the result of the legendary steadfastness of our struggling people and their valiant resistance. The movement affirms its position of readiness to deal positively and constructively with any proposal based on a permanent ceasefire, complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, reconstruction, the return of the displaced to all their places of residence, and the completion of a serious prisoner exchange deal if the occupation declares its explicit commitment to that.
Islamic Resistance Movement - Hamas
- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says there will be no permanent ceasefire in Gaza until Hamas’s military and governing capabilities are destroyed, in a second statement released after US President Joe Biden said that Israel had proposed a three-phase deal for a ceasefire in Gaza in exchange for Hamas releasing hostages.
“Israel’s conditions for ending the war have not changed: The destruction of Hamas military and governing capabilities, the freeing of all hostages, and ensuring that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel,” Netanyahu says.
“Israel will continue to insist these conditions are met before a permanent ceasefire is put in place. The notion that Israel will agree to a permanent ceasefire before these conditions are fulfilled is a non-starter,” he adds. link For Netanyahu, this is a defeat, not necessarily for Israel but for him as his coalition partners will bolt the coalition. Biden's proposal is mostly built from Israel's latest proposal to Hamas. Netanyahu reluctantly gave approval to the negotiating team to have greater leeway in the proposal but he knows that his wider cabinet will never approve it, although he has to power to override them, again with the knowledge that they will bolt the coalition if he does. Therefore, his position remains the same: first considerations to his maintaining his government and the position of Prime Minister and only after that, what is good for the county and the hostages. And his decisions now are the most far reaching for the country than perhaps any other time as Biden's proposal includes the normalization with Saudi Arabia which will change the face of the Middle East and Israel's place in it forever. Netanyahu is still willing to give all that up just to hold on to his seat and try to rebuild his legacy.
- The Houthis downed an American UAV this week in Yemen - video
The US military says Yemen’s Houthis launched two anti-ship ballistic missiles and one drone over the Gulf of Aden and four drones over the Red Sea.
Three of the drones fired over the Red Sea were destroyed by US forces and one crashed into the sea, the US military’s Central Command says. CENTCOM also says it destroyed the drone fired over the Gulf of Aden.
No damage or injuries were reported as a result of the anti-ship ballistic missiles, it says.
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 Mazen
PMO- Prime Minister's OfficeJoin my Whatsapp update group https://chat.whatsapp.com/IQ3OtwE6ydxBeBAxWNziB0
Twitter - @LonnyB58
Twitter - @LonnyB58
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