π️Lonny's War Update- October 268, 2023 - June 30, 2024 π️
π️Day 268 that 120 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 ΧΧΧΧͺRed Alerts - Missile, Rocket, Drone (UAV - unmanned aerial vehicles), and Terror Attacks and Death Announcements
*7:10pm last night- north- anti tank sheeting on Metulla, no reports of injuries or damage
*12:40am- North - rockets Kiryat Shemona, Tel Hai
* 1:30am- south- rockets Holit and Sufa, Gaza border communities
*11:35- north - rockets -Ramot Dalton, Dalton, Kerem Ben Zimra
*12:05pm- south - Rockets Nachal Oz
*2:50pm - north - Rockets Beit Hillel, Kiryat Shemona, Hagoshrim
*the army announced the deaths of 2 soldiers killed in battle
-Staff Sgt. Yair Avitan, 20, from Ra’anana
-Reserve First Sergeant Yakir Shmuel Tatelbaum, 21 from Maaleh AdumimMay their memories forever be a blessing
Hostage Updates
- Today is Tamir Adar’s 39th birthday
- Today is Tamir Adar’s 39th birthday
Tamir Adar, 38, was killed while fighting against the Hamas invasion of Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, and his body was abducted into Gaza.
His fate was not known for several months, until his family was informed on January 5 that he had been killed in the attack and his body kidnapped to Gaza, where it remains. The family sat shiva for Tamir. On the morning of October 7, Tamir set out to support the kibbutz’s local security team when news of the invasion began to arrive. He told his wife and children to stay locked in their reinforced room. His grandmother, Yaffa Adar, was also kidnapped that day — immortalized in one of the most enduring images of the attack — and released 48 days later.
Tamir is survived by his wife, Hadas, children Asaf, 7 and Neta, 3, his parents Yael and Moshe, and three siblings, Nir, Inbar and Roni, as well as several grandparents. A notice from the kibbutz announcing his death noted that he was a “family man, who loved nature and people. He was a devoted fan of Maccabi Tel Aviv and was always surrounded by friends.”
His cousin, Adva Adar, wrote on Facebook: “Tamush, your smile will continue to light the way for us. Thank you for fighting until you couldn’t anymore in a battle that was lost from the start. You protected the kibbutz, your family and the home you loved so much. I’m sorry it ended this way.” His brother, Nir, noted that on Tamir’s front door, was a sticker which read “There is no grumbling here — we just say thank you and charge ahead with life.” The sticker, Nir wrote on Facebook, “feels like he left me his final wishes. I hope I will succeed and I promise to try.”
In the past, Tamir worked for the Ramon Foundation — established in the memory of Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon to encourage youth to explore science and aviation — as a social leader in a local school. The foundation described him as a “role model and source of inspiration. He worked with great dedication, and invested deep thought in every process, becoming a significant figure not just for the kids but for all of us.”
In recent years, he left to work in agriculture in Nir Oz, which had always been his lifelong dream, his family said. He was born and raised in Nir Oz, wrote his mother in Maariv, “a third generation in the kibbutz, a farmer, an educator, who loved the land and the people.”
Since the news of his death, she wrote, “We have been doing everything in our power to bring Tamir home to be buried here, in the land he loved, the land of Nir Oz. Tamir is worthy of this. Tamir believed that he was doing the right thing because we are all responsible for each other.”
- Rescued hostage Noa Argamani: Main concern in Hamas captivity was for my parents: During her eight months in captivity in Gaza, Noa Argamani thought mostly about her parents, she says in a video message broadcast at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv.
Argamani is one of four hostages rescued by Israeli special forces in Gaza on June 8. She is an only child and her mother has terminal brain cancer, as she notes in the video, her first public remarks since being rescued. She calls on those watching to remember the remaining captives held in Gaza, including her partner Avinatan Or.
“We can’t forget about those 120 hostages in Gaza, who are waiting for a happy ending,” she says.
In the video statement, Argamani stops short of calling for the government to make a deal with Hamas for the hostages’ release. Avinatan Or’s family belongs to the Tikvah Forum, a group of hostage families who have not joined calls for a ceasefire deal as advocated by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which organizes the weekly rally in Tel Aviv.
Images from the kidnapping of Argamani, who terrorists took to Gaza on a motorcycle, and Or are among the most well-known images from Hamas’s October 7 onslaught.
She expresses her condolences to the family of Arnon Zmora, a police counter-terror officer killed during the rescue mission. Being with her mother “after eight months of uncertainty is a great privilege, as is seeing my parents surrounded by so many good people.”
She ends her address with the words: “May we know how to love and not to hate.” Link Her boyfriend’s mother, after meeting with Noa changed her belief regarding making a deal and is not strongly promoting a deal to get her son and the rest of the hostages home.
The mother of Tamir Adar, whose body was taken to Gaza after he was killed fighting terrorists at Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, implores decision-makers not to deprioritize the return of hostages’ remains.
Yael Adar begins her address at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv by noting that it’s her late son’s 39th birthday. “I became a mother 39 years ago,” she says of the birth of her first-born.
Adar says she felt “shame” when Yaakov Amidror, a former chairman of the National Security Council, recently said that of the remaining hostages in Gaza, “30-40 are no longer living.” She charges his remarks downplayed the significance of retrieving their bodies, “but burial is a basic right, not a luxury.”
Her speech was preceded by that of her daughter Roni, who speaks of the pain of watching her brother’s young children grow up without him.
The organizers of the weekly rallies on Hostages Square dedicated this week’s demonstration to siblings of hostages. Among them is Danny Elgarat, the brother of hostage Itzik Elgarat, who was abducted from Nir Oz. Danny casts doubt on the effectiveness of operations like the one in which four hostages were freed on June 8 to bring the back the rest of the captives.
“These rescue operations here and there will not remedy the situation,” he says, arguing instead for a hostage-for-ceasefire deal with Hamas. ” Itzik, his brother says, “would rather die than have anyone risk their life to save him.” Danny Elgarat accuses the government of “abandoning” Israelis “for the sole purpose of remaining in power.”
After reports emerge that the White House is working on new language for parts of the proposed hostage and ceasefire deal in an effort to reach an agreement, Israel indicates its displeasure with any changes to the terms laid out by US President Joe Biden on May 31.
“Israel is committed to the terms of the proposal that [US] President Biden endorsed,” says an Israeli official. “There is no change at all in its position.”
“As of now, Israel has not received a response from Hamas to this offer,” the official continues.
Citing three sources with direct knowledge of the talks, the Axios news site earlier reported the US, with fellow mediators Qatar and Egypt, is focused on amending Clause 8 of the hostage-truce deal, concerning negotiations to be held during the six-week ceasefire stipulated by the agreement’s first stage. Clause 14, which deals with the transition between stage one and stage two of the deal, is also being reexamined, Channel 12 news reported this evening. Link when a reference is made to an Israeli official, it means it’s coming directly from Netanyahu but enables him to claim plausible deniability. This response is directed at the new language and tweaks that the American administration is trying to make to get Hamas to say yes to the agreement. Since the beginning of the war, the US administration has worked hated and done more to get our hostages home than our own government. Instead of finding a path forward, Netanyahu prefers to stand in place “waiting for Hamas’ official response”. And it doesn’t seem to matter a damn how long this waiting will go in and that our hostages’ situations are deteriorating with each passing hour and they are dying.
- A senior official of the Islamist terror group Hamas, Osama Hamdan, says there has been no progress in hostage-for-ceasefire talks with Israel over the Gaza war. The Palestinian terror group is still ready to “deal positively” with any ceasefire proposal that ends the war, Hamdan tells a news conference in Beirut.
- My brother's Facebook post: Hamas has officially rejected the Israeli position in the negotiations and has once again clarified that there will be no deal that does not include three issues: an end to the war; full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza; a very significant release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails, especially those with life-sentence for killing Israelis. I know Hamas from 18 years of negotiating - they will not cave in. This has been their position since the first months of the war. Next week will be 9 months since the beginning of the war started by Hamas atrocities against Israel. 120 Israeli hostages remain in Gaza - no one knows how many of them are alive. There is no way of bringing the hostages home without agreeing to Hamas's terms. There is no victory - not for Israel and not for Hamas. Everyone has lost in this war. Everyday that it continues, more innocent Palestinians get killed and more Israeli soldiers are killed. Everyday that it goes on is a risk to the lives of the hostages. Everyday this war goes on, the battles between Israel and Hezbollah continue and put us risk of a full scale regional war which will result is massive death and destruction. This war must end now. Netanyahu must resign and take responsibility - he's the head - he is responsible. The Palestinian people should remove Hamas from power - they too are responsible for all of the death and destruction of Gaza. This must be the last Israeli Palestinian war.
- Rescued hostage Noa Argamani: Main concern in Hamas captivity was for my parents: During her eight months in captivity in Gaza, Noa Argamani thought mostly about her parents, she says in a video message broadcast at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv.
Argamani is one of four hostages rescued by Israeli special forces in Gaza on June 8. She is an only child and her mother has terminal brain cancer, as she notes in the video, her first public remarks since being rescued. She calls on those watching to remember the remaining captives held in Gaza, including her partner Avinatan Or.
“We can’t forget about those 120 hostages in Gaza, who are waiting for a happy ending,” she says.
In the video statement, Argamani stops short of calling for the government to make a deal with Hamas for the hostages’ release. Avinatan Or’s family belongs to the Tikvah Forum, a group of hostage families who have not joined calls for a ceasefire deal as advocated by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which organizes the weekly rally in Tel Aviv.
Images from the kidnapping of Argamani, who terrorists took to Gaza on a motorcycle, and Or are among the most well-known images from Hamas’s October 7 onslaught.
She expresses her condolences to the family of Arnon Zmora, a police counter-terror officer killed during the rescue mission. Being with her mother “after eight months of uncertainty is a great privilege, as is seeing my parents surrounded by so many good people.”
She ends her address with the words: “May we know how to love and not to hate.” Link Her boyfriend’s mother, after meeting with Noa changed her belief regarding making a deal and is not strongly promoting a deal to get her son and the rest of the hostages home.
The mother of Tamir Adar, whose body was taken to Gaza after he was killed fighting terrorists at Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, implores decision-makers not to deprioritize the return of hostages’ remains.
Yael Adar begins her address at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv by noting that it’s her late son’s 39th birthday. “I became a mother 39 years ago,” she says of the birth of her first-born.
Adar says she felt “shame” when Yaakov Amidror, a former chairman of the National Security Council, recently said that of the remaining hostages in Gaza, “30-40 are no longer living.” She charges his remarks downplayed the significance of retrieving their bodies, “but burial is a basic right, not a luxury.”
Her speech was preceded by that of her daughter Roni, who speaks of the pain of watching her brother’s young children grow up without him.
The organizers of the weekly rallies on Hostages Square dedicated this week’s demonstration to siblings of hostages. Among them is Danny Elgarat, the brother of hostage Itzik Elgarat, who was abducted from Nir Oz. Danny casts doubt on the effectiveness of operations like the one in which four hostages were freed on June 8 to bring the back the rest of the captives.
“These rescue operations here and there will not remedy the situation,” he says, arguing instead for a hostage-for-ceasefire deal with Hamas. ” Itzik, his brother says, “would rather die than have anyone risk their life to save him.” Danny Elgarat accuses the government of “abandoning” Israelis “for the sole purpose of remaining in power.”
After reports emerge that the White House is working on new language for parts of the proposed hostage and ceasefire deal in an effort to reach an agreement, Israel indicates its displeasure with any changes to the terms laid out by US President Joe Biden on May 31.
“Israel is committed to the terms of the proposal that [US] President Biden endorsed,” says an Israeli official. “There is no change at all in its position.”
“As of now, Israel has not received a response from Hamas to this offer,” the official continues.
Citing three sources with direct knowledge of the talks, the Axios news site earlier reported the US, with fellow mediators Qatar and Egypt, is focused on amending Clause 8 of the hostage-truce deal, concerning negotiations to be held during the six-week ceasefire stipulated by the agreement’s first stage. Clause 14, which deals with the transition between stage one and stage two of the deal, is also being reexamined, Channel 12 news reported this evening. Link when a reference is made to an Israeli official, it means it’s coming directly from Netanyahu but enables him to claim plausible deniability. This response is directed at the new language and tweaks that the American administration is trying to make to get Hamas to say yes to the agreement. Since the beginning of the war, the US administration has worked hated and done more to get our hostages home than our own government. Instead of finding a path forward, Netanyahu prefers to stand in place “waiting for Hamas’ official response”. And it doesn’t seem to matter a damn how long this waiting will go in and that our hostages’ situations are deteriorating with each passing hour and they are dying.
- A senior official of the Islamist terror group Hamas, Osama Hamdan, says there has been no progress in hostage-for-ceasefire talks with Israel over the Gaza war. The Palestinian terror group is still ready to “deal positively” with any ceasefire proposal that ends the war, Hamdan tells a news conference in Beirut.
- My brother's Facebook post: Hamas has officially rejected the Israeli position in the negotiations and has once again clarified that there will be no deal that does not include three issues: an end to the war; full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza; a very significant release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails, especially those with life-sentence for killing Israelis. I know Hamas from 18 years of negotiating - they will not cave in. This has been their position since the first months of the war. Next week will be 9 months since the beginning of the war started by Hamas atrocities against Israel. 120 Israeli hostages remain in Gaza - no one knows how many of them are alive. There is no way of bringing the hostages home without agreeing to Hamas's terms. There is no victory - not for Israel and not for Hamas. Everyone has lost in this war. Everyday that it continues, more innocent Palestinians get killed and more Israeli soldiers are killed. Everyday that it goes on is a risk to the lives of the hostages. Everyday this war goes on, the battles between Israel and Hezbollah continue and put us risk of a full scale regional war which will result is massive death and destruction. This war must end now. Netanyahu must resign and take responsibility - he's the head - he is responsible. The Palestinian people should remove Hamas from power - they too are responsible for all of the death and destruction of Gaza. This must be the last Israeli Palestinian war.
Gaza
- Troops of the 7th Armored Brigade located a long-range Hamas rocket launcher adjacent to a school in Gaza City’s Shejaiya neighborhood, the IDF says.
The finding comes amid a pinpoint raid in the neighborhood, launched on Thursday. The military said the operation, carried out by the 98th Division, comes after it identified Hamas operatives regrouping in the area.
The military says that so far, dozens of gunmen have been killed in clashes with troops and in airstrikes.
The 7th Brigade also located Hamas observation posts, drones, and other weapons, the IDF says. The Paratroopers Brigade separately located tunnel shafts and additional weapons, the military adds.
IDF published a statement about the activity in Shejaiya in the last 48 hours: "The forces are conducting close-range battles with terrorists and directing air fire. So far, dozens of terrorists have been eliminated in the battles."
They also wrote: "A civilian area has been converted by Hamas into a terror complex. In the area, the forces located observation posts, weaponry, enemy drones, and a long-range rocket launcher near schools."
This statement provides an update on the ongoing military operations in the Shujaiya neighborhood of Gaza, highlighting the close combat situations and the use of civilian infrastructure by Hamas for military purposes.
At least 40 Hamas operatives have been killed by Israeli troops in Gaza City’s Shejaiya neighborhood amid a new pinpoint raid there, according to fresh IDF assessments.
The number refers to those the IDF was able to identify following battles. More terror operatives were likely killed in strikes against buildings and tunnels, the army has assessed.
The operation in Shejaiya, launched on Thursday, came after the IDF said it identified Hamas operatives regrouping in the area, as well as new intelligence on the terror group’s infrastructure.
The raid is being carried out by the 98th Division with two brigades: the 7th Armored Brigade and Paratroopers Brigade.
The IDF first operated in Shejaiya during the initial months of the ground offensive against Hamas, announcing that it had dismantled the terror group’s local battalion there in December. It last returned to the Gaza City neighborhood in April, as the military shifted its operations in the Strip to intelligence-based targeted raids.
According to military assessments, surviving Hamas operatives in northern Gaza have been able to regroup in Shejaiya, as well as recruit new members to the terror group.
In the latest operation in Shejaiya, the IDF says it has been able to reach previously undiscovered tunnel networks and Hamas sites, using new intelligence obtained during other operations in Gaza. Many tunnels were demolished in the initial offensive in the neighborhood, but not all were discovered at the time.
The latest operation began on Thursday with a raid against a school complex in Shejaiya that had been turned into a “combat complex” by Hamas operatives, according to the military. The IDF said troops reached the complex within 40 minutes and found a long-range rocket launcher in the area. The site was in an area the army had not reached in previous operations in Shejaiya.
The raid against the school has provided the IDF with valuable intelligence on Hamas activities, military officials say.
Troops are also encountering relatively fierce resistance in Shejaiya, with dozens of attacks, including RPG fire, explosive devices, and sniper attacks, as well as some close-quarters combat.
Two soldiers were killed and another two were seriously wounded in separate incidents in Shejaiya over the weekend.
The army expects the operation in Shejaiya to not take longer than a few weeks, similar to other pinpoint raids in the northern Gaza Strip that have been carried out in recent months.
The finding comes amid a pinpoint raid in the neighborhood, launched on Thursday. The military said the operation, carried out by the 98th Division, comes after it identified Hamas operatives regrouping in the area.
The military says that so far, dozens of gunmen have been killed in clashes with troops and in airstrikes.
The 7th Brigade also located Hamas observation posts, drones, and other weapons, the IDF says. The Paratroopers Brigade separately located tunnel shafts and additional weapons, the military adds.
At least 40 Hamas operatives have been killed by Israeli troops in Gaza City’s Shejaiya neighborhood amid a new pinpoint raid there, according to fresh IDF assessments.
The number refers to those the IDF was able to identify following battles. More terror operatives were likely killed in strikes against buildings and tunnels, the army has assessed.
The operation in Shejaiya, launched on Thursday, came after the IDF said it identified Hamas operatives regrouping in the area, as well as new intelligence on the terror group’s infrastructure.
The raid is being carried out by the 98th Division with two brigades: the 7th Armored Brigade and Paratroopers Brigade.
The IDF first operated in Shejaiya during the initial months of the ground offensive against Hamas, announcing that it had dismantled the terror group’s local battalion there in December. It last returned to the Gaza City neighborhood in April, as the military shifted its operations in the Strip to intelligence-based targeted raids.
According to military assessments, surviving Hamas operatives in northern Gaza have been able to regroup in Shejaiya, as well as recruit new members to the terror group.
In the latest operation in Shejaiya, the IDF says it has been able to reach previously undiscovered tunnel networks and Hamas sites, using new intelligence obtained during other operations in Gaza. Many tunnels were demolished in the initial offensive in the neighborhood, but not all were discovered at the time.
The latest operation began on Thursday with a raid against a school complex in Shejaiya that had been turned into a “combat complex” by Hamas operatives, according to the military. The IDF said troops reached the complex within 40 minutes and found a long-range rocket launcher in the area. The site was in an area the army had not reached in previous operations in Shejaiya.
The raid against the school has provided the IDF with valuable intelligence on Hamas activities, military officials say.
Troops are also encountering relatively fierce resistance in Shejaiya, with dozens of attacks, including RPG fire, explosive devices, and sniper attacks, as well as some close-quarters combat.
Two soldiers were killed and another two were seriously wounded in separate incidents in Shejaiya over the weekend.
The army expects the operation in Shejaiya to not take longer than a few weeks, similar to other pinpoint raids in the northern Gaza Strip that have been carried out in recent months.
Northern Israel - Lebanon/Hizbollah/Syria
The Hezbollah terror group announces the death of a member killed “on the road to Jerusalem,” its term for operatives slain in Israeli strikes.
He is named as Abbas Atwi, from the town of Shaqra.
The announcement comes following Israeli strikes against Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon today, including a building in Houla where several operatives were gathered.
His death brings the terror group’s toll since the beginning of the war in the Gaza Strip to at least 355.
The Hezbollah terror group announces the death of a member killed “on the road to Jerusalem,” its term for operatives slain in Israeli strikes.
He is named as Abbas Atwi, from the town of Shaqra.
The announcement comes following Israeli strikes against Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon today, including a building in Houla where several operatives were gathered.
His death brings the terror group’s toll since the beginning of the war in the Gaza Strip to at least 355.
West Bank and Jerusalem
- A rights group releases video showing masked settlers smashing the windows of a home yesterday in the Palestinian village of Turmus Ayya.
Yesh Din rights, which published the footage, says the same home was targeted by settlers the day before, with Israeli security forces doing nothing to apprehend the suspects.
Meanwhile, settlers established an illegal outpost outside Turmus Ayya.
Arrests and prosecutions by Israeli authorities of violent settlers who attack Palestinians in the West Bank are exceedingly rare, leading the US and a growing list of Western countries to begin sanctioning such individuals.
Palestinian media report an Israeli drone strike on a building in the Nur Shams camp near the West Bank city of Tulkarem.
According to the reports, the home belonged to the uncle of the commander of a local Palestinian Islamic Jihad wing.
Casualties are reported in the strike. The IDF has not yet commented.
Yesh Din rights, which published the footage, says the same home was targeted by settlers the day before, with Israeli security forces doing nothing to apprehend the suspects.
Meanwhile, settlers established an illegal outpost outside Turmus Ayya.
Arrests and prosecutions by Israeli authorities of violent settlers who attack Palestinians in the West Bank are exceedingly rare, leading the US and a growing list of Western countries to begin sanctioning such individuals.
Palestinian media report an Israeli drone strike on a building in the Nur Shams camp near the West Bank city of Tulkarem.
According to the reports, the home belonged to the uncle of the commander of a local Palestinian Islamic Jihad wing.
Casualties are reported in the strike. The IDF has not yet commented.
Politics
- Hundreds of protesters block traffic at the Amiad Junction in the Upper Galilee as part of the weekly anti-government protests held in locales across Israel.
Turnout for protest at Amiad Junction on Route 90 is an unusually high attendance and follows a march by from the kibbutz, which has recently been targeted multiple times by Hezbollah terrorists. The protesters carry signs against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government, with one accusing them of “abandoning the north, south and everything in between.”
Tens of thousands of protesters also gather in Tel Aviv, where the recent largest anti-government rally has been held in recent weeks. Thousands more march in Haifa and gather in Jerusalem, as well as in the southern cities of Beersheba and Mitzpe Ramon.
There are usually only a handful of road closures in the dozens of areas where protest rallies have occurred in recent months.
Separately, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which represents some relatives of captives kidnapped on October 7, is holding its weekly rally at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv. Unlike the nearby anti-government rally, the demonstration at Hostages Square has a stated policy of nonpartisanship.
The organizers are seeking to pressure the government to make a deal with Hamas for the return of the hostages. Hamas is demanding an end to the war started by its October 7 terror onslaught, which Netanyahu has rejected, vowing to continue fighting until the hostages are returned and Hamas is destroyed.
The European Union’s foreign affairs branch releases a statement denouncing Israel’s legalization of five settler outposts in the West Bank, slamming the move as “another deliberate attempt at undermining peace efforts.”
The EU also condemns Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich for withholding tax revenues from the Palestinian Authority, which he agreed to release in exchange for the approval of the outpost legalization.
“The EU stresses that actions weakening the Palestinian Authority must stop and calls on Israel to release withheld clearance revenues and to take the necessary measures to ensure that correspondent banking services between Israeli and Palestinian banks remain in place,” the EU statement says. “The EU reiterates its unwavering commitment to lasting and sustainable peace in accordance with the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council, on the basis of the two-State solution, with the State of Israel and an independent, democratic, contiguous, sovereign and viable State of Palestine living side-by-side in peace, security and mutual recognition.”
Uri Bank, a senior official with the Religious Zionism party, shares a video of the late rabbi Meir Kahane, the founder of the now-banned Kach party, which advocated for the expulsion of Palestinians and Arab Israelis.
In the clip posted to Facebook by Bank, the manager of the nationalist party’s Knesset faction, Kahane can be heard briefly objecting to an unseen questioner who asserts that he is oppressing the Palestinians the same way as the Nazis treated the Jews during World War II.
Kahane’s Kach party was banned in 1985 under a law that disqualifies those found to be inciting racism from running for office. It was also listed as a foreign terrorist organization by the US State Department, a designation only lifted in 2022.
Asked if he is endorsing Kahane or his ideology or if his post represents the position of his party, Bank tells The Times of Israel, “No and no.” link Both the National Religious Party and the Jewish Power (Otzma Yehudit) of Smotrich and Ben Gvir have repeatedly shown themselves to be extremist parties promoting and supporting the expulsion of Arabs from Gaza as well as the West Bank. Their full goal would also include Arab Citizens of Israel. They are no different than the outlawed party Kach of Meir Kahana. Ben Gvir is a direct disciple of Meir Kahana
Turnout for protest at Amiad Junction on Route 90 is an unusually high attendance and follows a march by from the kibbutz, which has recently been targeted multiple times by Hezbollah terrorists. The protesters carry signs against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government, with one accusing them of “abandoning the north, south and everything in between.”
Tens of thousands of protesters also gather in Tel Aviv, where the recent largest anti-government rally has been held in recent weeks. Thousands more march in Haifa and gather in Jerusalem, as well as in the southern cities of Beersheba and Mitzpe Ramon.
There are usually only a handful of road closures in the dozens of areas where protest rallies have occurred in recent months.
Separately, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which represents some relatives of captives kidnapped on October 7, is holding its weekly rally at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv. Unlike the nearby anti-government rally, the demonstration at Hostages Square has a stated policy of nonpartisanship.
The organizers are seeking to pressure the government to make a deal with Hamas for the return of the hostages. Hamas is demanding an end to the war started by its October 7 terror onslaught, which Netanyahu has rejected, vowing to continue fighting until the hostages are returned and Hamas is destroyed.
The European Union’s foreign affairs branch releases a statement denouncing Israel’s legalization of five settler outposts in the West Bank, slamming the move as “another deliberate attempt at undermining peace efforts.”
The EU also condemns Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich for withholding tax revenues from the Palestinian Authority, which he agreed to release in exchange for the approval of the outpost legalization.
“The EU stresses that actions weakening the Palestinian Authority must stop and calls on Israel to release withheld clearance revenues and to take the necessary measures to ensure that correspondent banking services between Israeli and Palestinian banks remain in place,” the EU statement says. “The EU reiterates its unwavering commitment to lasting and sustainable peace in accordance with the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council, on the basis of the two-State solution, with the State of Israel and an independent, democratic, contiguous, sovereign and viable State of Palestine living side-by-side in peace, security and mutual recognition.”
Uri Bank, a senior official with the Religious Zionism party, shares a video of the late rabbi Meir Kahane, the founder of the now-banned Kach party, which advocated for the expulsion of Palestinians and Arab Israelis.
In the clip posted to Facebook by Bank, the manager of the nationalist party’s Knesset faction, Kahane can be heard briefly objecting to an unseen questioner who asserts that he is oppressing the Palestinians the same way as the Nazis treated the Jews during World War II.
Kahane’s Kach party was banned in 1985 under a law that disqualifies those found to be inciting racism from running for office. It was also listed as a foreign terrorist organization by the US State Department, a designation only lifted in 2022.
Asked if he is endorsing Kahane or his ideology or if his post represents the position of his party, Bank tells The Times of Israel, “No and no.” link Both the National Religious Party and the Jewish Power (Otzma Yehudit) of Smotrich and Ben Gvir have repeatedly shown themselves to be extremist parties promoting and supporting the expulsion of Arabs from Gaza as well as the West Bank. Their full goal would also include Arab Citizens of Israel. They are no different than the outlawed party Kach of Meir Kahana. Ben Gvir is a direct disciple of Meir Kahana
The Region and the World- The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that an attempted attack occurred in the vicinity of the Israeli Embassy in Belgrade. The embassy was closed at the time of the incident and no embassy staff were injured. A local police officer was wounded and the circumstances of the incident are under investigation. According to reports in the country, the shooter used a bow and arrow and was shot dead by the police officer. This statement describes a security incident near the Israeli Embassy in Belgrade, Serbia. It provides information about the safety of embassy staff, the injury of a local police officer, and some details about the attacker's weapon and fate. The situation appears to be under investigation by local authorities.
Personal Stories "I Didn't Think I'd Receive Such a Message": About Two Weeks Before He Fell, Yakir Z"L Eulogized His Teacher Elon Who Was Killed in Gaza
Yakir Teitelbaum, who fell in battle in the Gaza Strip, posted about two weeks ago about his teacher, Elon Weiss, who also fell in Gaza • "He was a teacher loved by everyone without exception," Yakir wrote • He added: "You were a true educator"
Reserve Master Sergeant Yakir Shmuel Teitelbaum Z"L, whose death in an encounter with terrorists in northern Gaza was cleared for publication yesterday (Saturday) evening, wrote a post about two weeks ago about his teacher, Elon Weiss Z"L - who also fell in battles in Gaza. "Teacher Elon, a great educator I had the chance to know - so pleasant and right for his students and those around him," Yakir wrote.
Yakir also shared in the post about teacher Elon that he was "a teacher loved by everyone without exception" and added that he's sure more will be heard about the father, grandfather, and community man that he was.
"Just this week I thought about you," Yakir wrote and recalled a conversation he had with teacher Elon following a fight at school: "You weren't obligated to do this, but we were close and you're a true educator. You calmed me down, put things in perspective for me, and gave advice. I didn't think that a few days after this beautiful memory we would receive such a message. Blessed be the true judge, dear man."
Yesterday, during the fierce battles in northern Gaza Strip, Reserve Master Sergeant Yakir Shmuel Teitelbaum, 21, from Ma'ale Adumim, a fighter in Battalion 77 of the 7th Armored Brigade, and Sergeant First Class Yair Avitan Z"L, 20, from Ra'anana, a fighter in Battalion 890 of the Paratroopers Brigade, fell.
In addition, during the weekend battles, a fighter and an officer were severely wounded. The officer, from the Rotem Battalion of the Givati Brigade, was hit by anti-tank fire. The fighter, from Battalion 13 of the Golani Brigade, was wounded in an encounter with terrorists.
About two weeks ago, Reserve Master Sergeant Elon Weiss, 49, from the settlement of Psagot in Benjamin, fell in battles in northern Gaza. Elon was married to Neta, father of 7 children and grandfather to a granddaughter. He volunteered for reserve duty and served since Simchat Torah as an armor fighter. He was an educator and one of the pillars of the Psagot community.
Acronyms and Glossary
ICC - International Criminal Court in the Hague
IJC - International Court of Justice in the Hague
MDA - Magen David Adom - Israel Ambulance Corp
PA - Palestinian Authority - President Mahmud Abbas, aka Abu Mazen
PMO- Prime Minister's Office
UAV - Unmanned Aerial vehicle, Drone. Could be used for surveillance and reconnaissance, or be weaponized with missiles or contain explosives for 'suicide' explosion mission
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