π️Lonny's War Update- October 278, 2023 - July 10, 2024 π️
π️Day 278 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 ΧΧΧΧͺ
Red Alerts - Missile, Rocket, Drone (UAV - unmanned aerial vehicles), and Terror Attacks and Death Announcements
*6:00pm yesterday - north - rockets Kela*7:00pm yesterday - north - rokets Kedmat Zvi, Sha'al*7:20pm yesterday - north - rockets Ortal - over 40 rockets launched and 2 civilians killed. A man and a woman were killed by the rocket impact near the Nafah Junction in the Golan Heights earlier this evening, police say. According to rescue services, the rocket directly struck a vehicle they were in. The pair are civilians and were passing by the Nafah Junction amid the barrage of some 40 rockets launched by Hezbollah. The terror group claims to have targeted a nearby army base. Their names have not been released. May their memories forever be a blessing*3:00pm - north - rockets Kibbutz Dan, Dafn, Sha'ar Yeshuv, Hagoshrim, Snir - 30 rockets launched from Lebanon
**the army announced the death of a soldier killed in battle in Gaza-Sergeant gt. First Class Tal Lahat, 21 , from Kfar Saba.
May his memory forever be a blessing
Hostage Updates
- My brother's interview on CNN - Dr Gershon Baskin Connect the World With Becky Anderson 2024 07 09 link to interview
Hostage Updates
- My brother's interview on CNN - Dr Gershon Baskin Connect the World With Becky Anderson 2024 07 09 link to interview
- After talks in Cairo yesterday, and ahead of talks tomorrow in Doha on a hostage-ceasefire deal, a senior Israeli source tells Channel 12 news that “Egyptian reports of progress are premature,” and that “difficult and complex negotiations are expected.”The unnamed source also notes that “there are still unresolved issues to deal with that are not simple.”
Nonetheless, the source says, “an immense effort will be made to achieve a breakthrough,” and “there is a genuine opportunity to reach a deal. The goal is to produce the best deal possible within a few weeks.”
The Israeli delegation heading to Doha will be led by Mossad chief David Barnea, Shin Bet head Ronen Bar, and the IDF’s chief negotiator Nitzan Alon. CIA head Bill Burns is expected to attend, as are Egypt’s intelligence chief Abbas Kamel and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani.
The Channel 12 report says the talks will focus on the latest Israeli proposal, parts of which were detailed by US President Joe Biden at the end of May, which was followed by an initial Hamas rejection and more recent reported Hamas flexibility — notably as regards its previous insistence on an upfront Israeli commitment to end the war.
The TV report says the sides are broadly agreed on a three-stage deal, with a 42-day halt to the war in the first stage, and on the “categories” of Israeli hostages to be released — with the “humanitarian” hostages to be freed in stage one to include women, the elderly and the sick. It says there is also agreement, crucially, that there will be no upfront Israeli commitment to end the war. Without Hamas’s consent to this, it says, the talks would not be going ahead.
Among the areas yet to be finalized, it adds, are the question of how many Palestinian security prisoners will be freed for each hostage, and the identity of those prisoners; whether Israel will have a veto on specific prisoners; and the procedures surrounding the halt in fighting in the first phase and specifics of troop withdrawal.
Most importantly, the sides do not agree on core aspects of the transition from the halt in fighting in the first stage to a potential permanent ceasefire. Israel is demanding “an exit point” between the two stages, in line with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s insistence that the war will not end until Hamas is destroyed. Hamas, by contrast, wants the initial ceasefire maintained for as long as is needed until negotiations are finalized on a permanent ceasefire and end to the war.
The report also says that there was “a certain amount of progress” in yesterday’s talks in Cairo, which focused on the Rafah border crossing and the Philadelphi Route along the Gaza-Egypt border. link We are at the closest we have been in many months to a real deal to get our hostages home. Contrary to what Netanyahu and his people say, the major obstacle to attaining an agreement is not Hamas, rather it is Netanyahu and his priorities of keeping his government together so he can remain prime minister and delay early elections for as long as possible. In all past negotiations, it is known and has been publicly acknowledged by the negotiators that Netanyahu has been responsible for the failures to reach agreements. Netanyahu has already publicly placed spokes in the wheels of the negotiating by declaring his 'non-negotiables' yesterday in a deliberate attempt to prevent a deal. Right now, the negotiations are ongoing and all parties in the negotiations, including Hamas are prepared to make a deal. We can hope that Netanyahu won't scuttle the whole thing. The family of Daniella Gilboa permits the publication of a Hamas propaganda clip from January in which the hostage says she has been abandoned by the government and begs to be brought home.
Daniella Gilboa in a Hamas propaganda clip published January 26, 2024. (Screenshot: Telegram)While the existence of the video was reported at the time it was released, most Israeli media outlets did not publish it.
Gilboa’s mother, Orly Gilboa, tells the Kan public broadcaster that the family decided to permit publication of the clip in the hope it would show the importance of the renewed talks for a hostage-truce deal.
At the beginning of the clip, Gilboa identifies herself as a soldier kidnapped from the Nahal Oz base on October 7. She says that she has been held for 107 days, although the date of the video cannot be verified. Gilboa was likely coerced when she made the video.
“I am under bombardment and fire 24 hours a day and I am very afraid for my life,” she says. “Your bombs nearly killed me on one occasion.”
“Where were you on October 7 when I was kidnapped from my bed? Where are you now?” she says.
“Why should I as a soldier… feel that I have been abandoned and thrown away?” she says.
“Get over yourselves dear government and start doing your job as is necessary. Bring us home alive,” she says, then sends a personal message to her family, telling them how much she misses them.
“I hope she doesn’t lose hope, that she knows they’ll get out of there,” her mother, Orly, tells the Kan public broadcaster.
The original clip also featured Karina Ariev and Doron Steinbrecher.
Gilboa, 19, was in touch with her family on the morning of the attack and sent her boyfriend videos that morning.
She is seen in the harrowing footage of her abduction along with four other female soldiers from the Nahal Oz base by Hamas terrorists which was released by the families in May. video
Andrey Kozlov, who was freed from captivity last month along with three other hostages in an IDF rescue operation, says he was convinced by his Hamas guards that they would kill him in captivity.
Kozlov, 27, conducts a series of interviews with Hebrew media for the first time since he was rescued on June 8. Kozlov, who moved from Russia to Israel some 18 months prior to October 7, conducted the interviews in somewhat broken English.
“In some moments, I was sure that they took us for killing, for murdering and filming this process,” he tells Channel 12, which releases a preview of the full interview that will air in full on Friday. Kozlov recalls a man with a beard and no mustache coming one day and removing his blindfold. Kozlov was then told that he would be filmed the next day in a propaganda video and then be killed by his captor.
“I was like, so that will be [the end] of my story… Really?” he tells Channel 12.
Speaking to Channel 13, Kozlov says the fear of being killed constantly weighed over him. His captors always had a big knife on them and he was often tied up.
“I felt only one goal that I need to survive and come back home,” he recalls.
He says his time in captivity was so emotionally trying that he now has a hard time feeling anything since his release.
“My source of feelings is empty. Now, I understand everything in my mind, but a lot of things I don’t feel here,” he says, pointing to his heart.
In an interview with Yedioth Ahronoth, Kozlov says his Hamas captors constantly told him and the other hostages that the Israeli government wanted them to die and that they would be killed the moment the IDF tries to rescue them.
Kozlov quipped that the captors didn’t recognize the dissonance in claiming that Israel didn’t care about the hostages while also suggesting that the IDF might come and rescue them.
US President Joe Biden met earlier this afternoon with Liat Beinin Atzili, an Israeli-American who was released as part of the hostage agreement Washington helped broker in late November.
Atzili was joined by members of her family, and US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan also sat in on the meeting, the White House says. Biden later tweets, “Liat Beinin Atzili is a survivor.”
US President Joe Biden meets with freed hostage Liat Atzili at the White House on July 8, 2024. (White House/X)
“It was my honor to welcome her to the White House this evening, hear firsthand about her resilience despite enduring the unthinkable, and promise her that my work isn’t done until we secure the release of all remaining hostages held by Hamas.”Simona Steinbrecher, the mother of hostage Doron Steinbrecher, says during a Zoom press conference alongside other mothers of captives that the world must push mediators Qatar and Egypt to force a hostage-truce deal to move forward.
“My life stopped on October 7,” says Simona. “I don’t stop to think about me or what I need. I push people until a deal will come because they’ll come home only with a deal. We need to push Qatar and Egypt to make the deal.”
Simona says that “when I go to sleep, I see Doron in my eyes and think about what happens to her and the terrible things that happen there… we cry to all the world to bring them home.”
Simona Steibrecher, mother of captive Doron Steinbrecher, shows reporters pictures of her daughter as she describes the horrors of Hamas brutality, April 3, 2024. (Maya Zanger-Nadis/Times of Israel).Dr. Einat Yehene, a psychologist working with the Hostages Families Forum says “we must be ready to adapt comprehensive tailor-made rehabilitation when the hostages return.” Yehene adds that the families of the hostages, who have put their lives on hold for the past nine months, also need assistance: “We must support the families who are gatekeepers to help them in their reintegration into life.”
- A Hamas source tells the Saudi Al Arabiya outlet that reports about the terror group agreeing in principle to a hostage deal that doesn’t guarantee a “comprehensive ceasefire” are inaccurate.
The Hamas official stresses that the group’s other fundamental demand is “a complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.”
Israel continues to insist that it will not agree to an end to the war in Gaza before all of its war aims are met, including the destruction of Hamas as a military and governing authority, and the return of all 120 hostages still in Gaza.
In addition to talks in Doha tomorrow, the source adds that there will also be discussions in Cairo on Thursday.
Mossad chief David Barnea is scheduled to meet tomorrow with his US and Egyptian counterparts, along with the Qatari prime minister.
“There is agreement on many of the outstanding points between Hamas and Israel,” reports the Saudi outlet.
However, the Hamas source alleges that Israel only wants to discuss the release of security prisoners, “while Hamas wants comprehensive negotiations.” link All of the statements that Hamas has agreed to a deal without a ceasefire are absolutely ridiculous and this is being spread by speaking heads who just want their 15 minutes of fame. I have written so many times based on my brother's direct experience negotiating with Hamas that they don't negotiate. They state their absolute demands at the very beginning and don't deviate from them even after 5 years and 4 months (Gilad Schalit's time in Hamas captivity). What they do though is move certain pieces around but don't change their demands. For instance, their latest demand, which was from a point of seeming strength was that there must be a complete ceasefire and removal of troops even before the beginning a stage one (release of 'humanitarian' hostages). This part seems to have been moved to the second stage as it had been months ago. It will, however be an unmovable component of the continuing stages (2 and 3 - living soldiers and younger men (up to 45) who are of army and reserve age and stage 3 the dead hostages). The reasons that they felt they were in a position of strength was their belief that the US and Israel would have a complete falling out and the US would no longer support Israel's war effort and munitions supplies, which did not happen despite the holding up of one single shipment of 2000 pound bombs. The other reason for their feeling of strength was their belief that Israel was pulling out many more troops (for release or for the north) and that the fighting in Gaza would lessen considerably and Hamas would have free movement to retake Gaza. Neither of these things played out and the army has had great successes in the fighting over the last number of weeks. These are possibly the reasons that Hamas has apparently agreed to move those demands from before first stage to the later time. But we will have to see as things develop in the actual negotiations. As a reminder, there is a lot of talk, a lot of assumptions and a lot of statements by commentators and talking heads (supposed experts) but they actually know very few details, if any. We will know more when there are official statements or real leaks by those in the negotiations (if things fall apart). Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tells White House Middle East czar Brett McGurk that he is “committed to a deal, as long as Israel’s red lines are maintained,” according to the Prime Minister’s Office.
On Sunday, Netanyahu released a list of 4 “non-negotiables” in hostage talks with Hamas — that any potential deal must prevent weapons from being smuggled into Gaza from Egypt; must “allow Israel to go back to fighting until all the goals of the war are achieved”; and cannot allow “the return of thousands of armed terrorists to the north of the Gaza Strip.” He also said Israel would maximize the number of living hostages Hamas turns over.
Israel’s intelligence chiefs are in Doha for a four-way summit with the US, Egyptian, and Qatari officials leading negotiation efforts.
McGurk is joined in the Jerusalem meeting by US Ambassador Jack Lew, while Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer joins Netanyahu. link Unfortunately, Netanyahu's red lines are all about him staying as prime minister. The security agencies including the IDF have made it clear that they can handle any and all of the conditions of the agreement and are able to return to fighting when necessary if a complete ceasefire and withdrawal are necessary to get our hostages home. It is only Netanyahu who is and will hold up an agreement if it means that his extreme coalition partners will leave the government with an agreement on the hostages as it would mean the government falls and new elections will be scheduled.
- Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan is held hostage in Gaza, says police have not approved the route for a march from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, set to begin today, calling for a deal to free the hostages.
In a statement, Zangauker claims that after speaking with Israel Police chief Kobi Shabtai, law enforcers were acting on behalf of far-right National Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, “who opposes a deal.”
Police are apparently refusing to approve the route, even thought it was the same as one used by protesters at a march before a weeklong truce and hostage deal was agreed to in November.
Zangauker says hostage families “deserve” to march along the route with the public, and that it is “unthinkable that the police would throw us on the roads that no one passes.”
“It is our intention to march along the original route we submitted to the police yesterday, and I expect the police chief will instruct his subordinates to act accordingly,” she says.
Nonetheless, the source says, “an immense effort will be made to achieve a breakthrough,” and “there is a genuine opportunity to reach a deal. The goal is to produce the best deal possible within a few weeks.”
The Israeli delegation heading to Doha will be led by Mossad chief David Barnea, Shin Bet head Ronen Bar, and the IDF’s chief negotiator Nitzan Alon. CIA head Bill Burns is expected to attend, as are Egypt’s intelligence chief Abbas Kamel and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani.
The Channel 12 report says the talks will focus on the latest Israeli proposal, parts of which were detailed by US President Joe Biden at the end of May, which was followed by an initial Hamas rejection and more recent reported Hamas flexibility — notably as regards its previous insistence on an upfront Israeli commitment to end the war.
The TV report says the sides are broadly agreed on a three-stage deal, with a 42-day halt to the war in the first stage, and on the “categories” of Israeli hostages to be released — with the “humanitarian” hostages to be freed in stage one to include women, the elderly and the sick. It says there is also agreement, crucially, that there will be no upfront Israeli commitment to end the war. Without Hamas’s consent to this, it says, the talks would not be going ahead.
Among the areas yet to be finalized, it adds, are the question of how many Palestinian security prisoners will be freed for each hostage, and the identity of those prisoners; whether Israel will have a veto on specific prisoners; and the procedures surrounding the halt in fighting in the first phase and specifics of troop withdrawal.
Most importantly, the sides do not agree on core aspects of the transition from the halt in fighting in the first stage to a potential permanent ceasefire. Israel is demanding “an exit point” between the two stages, in line with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s insistence that the war will not end until Hamas is destroyed. Hamas, by contrast, wants the initial ceasefire maintained for as long as is needed until negotiations are finalized on a permanent ceasefire and end to the war.
The report also says that there was “a certain amount of progress” in yesterday’s talks in Cairo, which focused on the Rafah border crossing and the Philadelphi Route along the Gaza-Egypt border. link We are at the closest we have been in many months to a real deal to get our hostages home. Contrary to what Netanyahu and his people say, the major obstacle to attaining an agreement is not Hamas, rather it is Netanyahu and his priorities of keeping his government together so he can remain prime minister and delay early elections for as long as possible. In all past negotiations, it is known and has been publicly acknowledged by the negotiators that Netanyahu has been responsible for the failures to reach agreements. Netanyahu has already publicly placed spokes in the wheels of the negotiating by declaring his 'non-negotiables' yesterday in a deliberate attempt to prevent a deal. Right now, the negotiations are ongoing and all parties in the negotiations, including Hamas are prepared to make a deal. We can hope that Netanyahu won't scuttle the whole thing.
The family of Daniella Gilboa permits the publication of a Hamas propaganda clip from January in which the hostage says she has been abandoned by the government and begs to be brought home.
While the existence of the video was reported at the time it was released, most Israeli media outlets did not publish it.
Gilboa’s mother, Orly Gilboa, tells the Kan public broadcaster that the family decided to permit publication of the clip in the hope it would show the importance of the renewed talks for a hostage-truce deal.
At the beginning of the clip, Gilboa identifies herself as a soldier kidnapped from the Nahal Oz base on October 7. She says that she has been held for 107 days, although the date of the video cannot be verified. Gilboa was likely coerced when she made the video.
“I am under bombardment and fire 24 hours a day and I am very afraid for my life,” she says. “Your bombs nearly killed me on one occasion.”
“Where were you on October 7 when I was kidnapped from my bed? Where are you now?” she says.
“Why should I as a soldier… feel that I have been abandoned and thrown away?” she says.
“Get over yourselves dear government and start doing your job as is necessary. Bring us home alive,” she says, then sends a personal message to her family, telling them how much she misses them.
“I hope she doesn’t lose hope, that she knows they’ll get out of there,” her mother, Orly, tells the Kan public broadcaster.
The original clip also featured Karina Ariev and Doron Steinbrecher.
Gilboa, 19, was in touch with her family on the morning of the attack and sent her boyfriend videos that morning.
She is seen in the harrowing footage of her abduction along with four other female soldiers from the Nahal Oz base by Hamas terrorists which was released by the families in May. video
Andrey Kozlov, who was freed from captivity last month along with three other hostages in an IDF rescue operation, says he was convinced by his Hamas guards that they would kill him in captivity.
Kozlov, 27, conducts a series of interviews with Hebrew media for the first time since he was rescued on June 8. Kozlov, who moved from Russia to Israel some 18 months prior to October 7, conducted the interviews in somewhat broken English.
“In some moments, I was sure that they took us for killing, for murdering and filming this process,” he tells Channel 12, which releases a preview of the full interview that will air in full on Friday. Kozlov recalls a man with a beard and no mustache coming one day and removing his blindfold. Kozlov was then told that he would be filmed the next day in a propaganda video and then be killed by his captor.
“I was like, so that will be [the end] of my story… Really?” he tells Channel 12.
Speaking to Channel 13, Kozlov says the fear of being killed constantly weighed over him. His captors always had a big knife on them and he was often tied up.
“I felt only one goal that I need to survive and come back home,” he recalls.
He says his time in captivity was so emotionally trying that he now has a hard time feeling anything since his release.
“My source of feelings is empty. Now, I understand everything in my mind, but a lot of things I don’t feel here,” he says, pointing to his heart.
In an interview with Yedioth Ahronoth, Kozlov says his Hamas captors constantly told him and the other hostages that the Israeli government wanted them to die and that they would be killed the moment the IDF tries to rescue them.
Kozlov quipped that the captors didn’t recognize the dissonance in claiming that Israel didn’t care about the hostages while also suggesting that the IDF might come and rescue them.
US President Joe Biden met earlier this afternoon with Liat Beinin Atzili, an Israeli-American who was released as part of the hostage agreement Washington helped broker in late November.
Atzili was joined by members of her family, and US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan also sat in on the meeting, the White House says. Biden later tweets, “Liat Beinin Atzili is a survivor.”
“It was my honor to welcome her to the White House this evening, hear firsthand about her resilience despite enduring the unthinkable, and promise her that my work isn’t done until we secure the release of all remaining hostages held by Hamas.”
Simona Steinbrecher, the mother of hostage Doron Steinbrecher, says during a Zoom press conference alongside other mothers of captives that the world must push mediators Qatar and Egypt to force a hostage-truce deal to move forward.
“My life stopped on October 7,” says Simona. “I don’t stop to think about me or what I need. I push people until a deal will come because they’ll come home only with a deal. We need to push Qatar and Egypt to make the deal.”
Simona says that “when I go to sleep, I see Doron in my eyes and think about what happens to her and the terrible things that happen there… we cry to all the world to bring them home.”
Dr. Einat Yehene, a psychologist working with the Hostages Families Forum says “we must be ready to adapt comprehensive tailor-made rehabilitation when the hostages return.” Yehene adds that the families of the hostages, who have put their lives on hold for the past nine months, also need assistance: “We must support the families who are gatekeepers to help them in their reintegration into life.”
The Hamas official stresses that the group’s other fundamental demand is “a complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.”
Israel continues to insist that it will not agree to an end to the war in Gaza before all of its war aims are met, including the destruction of Hamas as a military and governing authority, and the return of all 120 hostages still in Gaza.
In addition to talks in Doha tomorrow, the source adds that there will also be discussions in Cairo on Thursday.
Mossad chief David Barnea is scheduled to meet tomorrow with his US and Egyptian counterparts, along with the Qatari prime minister.
“There is agreement on many of the outstanding points between Hamas and Israel,” reports the Saudi outlet.
However, the Hamas source alleges that Israel only wants to discuss the release of security prisoners, “while Hamas wants comprehensive negotiations.” link All of the statements that Hamas has agreed to a deal without a ceasefire are absolutely ridiculous and this is being spread by speaking heads who just want their 15 minutes of fame. I have written so many times based on my brother's direct experience negotiating with Hamas that they don't negotiate. They state their absolute demands at the very beginning and don't deviate from them even after 5 years and 4 months (Gilad Schalit's time in Hamas captivity). What they do though is move certain pieces around but don't change their demands. For instance, their latest demand, which was from a point of seeming strength was that there must be a complete ceasefire and removal of troops even before the beginning a stage one (release of 'humanitarian' hostages). This part seems to have been moved to the second stage as it had been months ago. It will, however be an unmovable component of the continuing stages (2 and 3 - living soldiers and younger men (up to 45) who are of army and reserve age and stage 3 the dead hostages). The reasons that they felt they were in a position of strength was their belief that the US and Israel would have a complete falling out and the US would no longer support Israel's war effort and munitions supplies, which did not happen despite the holding up of one single shipment of 2000 pound bombs. The other reason for their feeling of strength was their belief that Israel was pulling out many more troops (for release or for the north) and that the fighting in Gaza would lessen considerably and Hamas would have free movement to retake Gaza. Neither of these things played out and the army has had great successes in the fighting over the last number of weeks. These are possibly the reasons that Hamas has apparently agreed to move those demands from before first stage to the later time. But we will have to see as things develop in the actual negotiations. As a reminder, there is a lot of talk, a lot of assumptions and a lot of statements by commentators and talking heads (supposed experts) but they actually know very few details, if any. We will know more when there are official statements or real leaks by those in the negotiations (if things fall apart).
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tells White House Middle East czar Brett McGurk that he is “committed to a deal, as long as Israel’s red lines are maintained,” according to the Prime Minister’s Office.
On Sunday, Netanyahu released a list of 4 “non-negotiables” in hostage talks with Hamas — that any potential deal must prevent weapons from being smuggled into Gaza from Egypt; must “allow Israel to go back to fighting until all the goals of the war are achieved”; and cannot allow “the return of thousands of armed terrorists to the north of the Gaza Strip.” He also said Israel would maximize the number of living hostages Hamas turns over.
Israel’s intelligence chiefs are in Doha for a four-way summit with the US, Egyptian, and Qatari officials leading negotiation efforts.
McGurk is joined in the Jerusalem meeting by US Ambassador Jack Lew, while Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer joins Netanyahu. link Unfortunately, Netanyahu's red lines are all about him staying as prime minister. The security agencies including the IDF have made it clear that they can handle any and all of the conditions of the agreement and are able to return to fighting when necessary if a complete ceasefire and withdrawal are necessary to get our hostages home. It is only Netanyahu who is and will hold up an agreement if it means that his extreme coalition partners will leave the government with an agreement on the hostages as it would mean the government falls and new elections will be scheduled.
In a statement, Zangauker claims that after speaking with Israel Police chief Kobi Shabtai, law enforcers were acting on behalf of far-right National Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, “who opposes a deal.”
Police are apparently refusing to approve the route, even thought it was the same as one used by protesters at a march before a weeklong truce and hostage deal was agreed to in November.
Zangauker says hostage families “deserve” to march along the route with the public, and that it is “unthinkable that the police would throw us on the roads that no one passes.”
“It is our intention to march along the original route we submitted to the police yesterday, and I expect the police chief will instruct his subordinates to act accordingly,” she says.
Gaza
- An Israeli proposal would see Israeli security forces monitoring the so-called Philadelphi Corridor after a military withdrawal, on the condition that they could take action if there is evidence of arms smuggling from Egypt across the border into Gaza, a Hezbollah-affiliated newspaper in Lebanon reports.
The proposal, made as part of discussions for a potential hostage-truce deal, is reported by Al Akhbar and cited by Hebrew-language media.
The report says the military withdrawal would take place on an “agreed-upon schedule.”
The Philadelphi Corridor runs for a total of 14 kilometers (8.7 miles) all along the Gaza-Egypt border.
Yesterday it was reported that Egypt has sent a message to Israel that if an agreement for a hostage deal and ceasefire is reached, Cairo will work with the United States to help build a high-tech underground barrier to prevent the smuggling of weapons into Gaza.
Troops have discovered at least 25 cross-border smuggling tunnels between Egypt and Gaza. The existence of some of the tunnels was previously known to the IDF, and others were discovered for the first time when troops entered the border area.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told White House Middle East coordinator Brett McGurk last night that Israel could withdraw troops from the Philadelphi corridor as part of a hostage deal, Gallant’s office says.
“A solution is required that will stop smuggling attempts and will cut off potential supply for Hamas, and will enable the withdrawal of IDF troops from the corridor, as part of a framework for the release of hostages,” he said.
He also told McGurk that Israel wants to see the Rafah Crossing reopened, but “will not tolerate the return of Hamas to the area.”
Gallant thanked McGurk along with the Biden administration “for his personal involvement and leadership on the hostage issue,” says his office.
The family of a well-known Gaza activist who had organized anti-Hamas protests say he was assaulted by a group of men wielding batons and knives.
Amin Abed, 35, is in critical condition in a hospital in northern Gaza after being attacked on Monday while walking home. His father, Salah Abed, detailed the attack in a Facebook post without saying who was responsible.
Amer Balousha, a friend of the activist, says more than 20 masked men attacked him. He said that when bystanders intervened, the attackers fired shots in the air and claimed to be from Hamas’s internal security.
There was no comment from Hamas.
Amin Abed had helped organize protests in 2019 over the harsh economic conditions under Hamas rule and taxes it imposed. Gaza has been under an Israeli and Egyptian blockade since Hamas seized power in 2007. More recently, he has criticized Hamas’s devastating Oct. 7 attack into Israel that triggered the war, which has brought unprecedented devastation and hunger to the Strip.
The Hamas-run police, which maintained a high degree of public order before the war, have largely vanished from the streets after being targeted in Israeli strikes, but the terror group still exerts control across the territory. Criminal gangs and other armed groups have exploited the breakdown of law and order, robbing aid convoys and further complicating humanitarian efforts.
The pier built by the US military to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza will be reinstalled tomorrow to be used for several days, but then the plan is to pull it out permanently, several US officials say.
It would deal the final blow to a project long plagued by bad weather, security uncertainties and difficulties getting food into the hands of starving Palestinians.
The officials say the goal is to clear whatever aid has piled up in Cyprus and on the floating dock offshore and get it to the secure area on the beach in Gaza. Once that has been done, the Army will dismantle the pier and depart. The officials speak on condition of anonymity because final details are still being worked out.
US troops removed the pier on June 28 because of bad weather and moved it to the port of Ashdod in Israel. But distribution of the aid had already stopped due to security concerns. The UN suspended deliveries from the pier on June 9, a day after the IDF used the area around it for airlifts during a rescue of four hostages. US and Israeli officials said no part of the pier itself was used in the raid, but UN officials said any perception in Gaza that the project was used may endanger their aid work.
As a result, aid brought through the pier into the secure area on the beach piled up for days while talks continued between the UN and Israel. More recently, the World Food Program hired a contractor to move the aid from the beach to prevent the food and other supplies from spoiling.
A hospital source in southern Gaza says at least 10 people have been killed in a strike on a school turned shelter for displaced Palestinians.
The source from Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis says that the Al-Awda school in the city was hit, leaving 10 dead and dozens wounded.
Other reports say that the strike hit tents set up outside the school, which is located in Abassan on the outskirts of Khan Younis.
There was no immediate comment from Israel. Last week the IDF told those in that area of Gaza to evacuate.
- Defense Minister Yoav Gallant tells the Knesset that 60 percent of Hamas terrorists have been killed after nine months of war in the Gaza Strip, adding that the military has eliminated at least most of 24 of the terror group’s battalions.
Gallant was responding to a question regarding why Israel supplies electricity to the Gaza Strip, from Religious Zionism MK Ohad Tal.
“We have returned half of the hostages and we are determined to return the rest. The security establishment is determined to achieve the goals of the war. In order for us to be able to do these things, it is appropriate that we preserve our support on the battlefield,” he says, alluding to the need to maintain international support during the war. link As much as I would like Galant's statement to be true, we have seen over and over again that his optimistic numbers have always been exaggerated and/or pre-mature.
The proposal, made as part of discussions for a potential hostage-truce deal, is reported by Al Akhbar and cited by Hebrew-language media.
The report says the military withdrawal would take place on an “agreed-upon schedule.”
The Philadelphi Corridor runs for a total of 14 kilometers (8.7 miles) all along the Gaza-Egypt border.
Yesterday it was reported that Egypt has sent a message to Israel that if an agreement for a hostage deal and ceasefire is reached, Cairo will work with the United States to help build a high-tech underground barrier to prevent the smuggling of weapons into Gaza.
Troops have discovered at least 25 cross-border smuggling tunnels between Egypt and Gaza. The existence of some of the tunnels was previously known to the IDF, and others were discovered for the first time when troops entered the border area.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told White House Middle East coordinator Brett McGurk last night that Israel could withdraw troops from the Philadelphi corridor as part of a hostage deal, Gallant’s office says.
“A solution is required that will stop smuggling attempts and will cut off potential supply for Hamas, and will enable the withdrawal of IDF troops from the corridor, as part of a framework for the release of hostages,” he said.
He also told McGurk that Israel wants to see the Rafah Crossing reopened, but “will not tolerate the return of Hamas to the area.”
Gallant thanked McGurk along with the Biden administration “for his personal involvement and leadership on the hostage issue,” says his office.
The family of a well-known Gaza activist who had organized anti-Hamas protests say he was assaulted by a group of men wielding batons and knives.
Amin Abed, 35, is in critical condition in a hospital in northern Gaza after being attacked on Monday while walking home. His father, Salah Abed, detailed the attack in a Facebook post without saying who was responsible.
Amer Balousha, a friend of the activist, says more than 20 masked men attacked him. He said that when bystanders intervened, the attackers fired shots in the air and claimed to be from Hamas’s internal security.
There was no comment from Hamas.
Amin Abed had helped organize protests in 2019 over the harsh economic conditions under Hamas rule and taxes it imposed. Gaza has been under an Israeli and Egyptian blockade since Hamas seized power in 2007. More recently, he has criticized Hamas’s devastating Oct. 7 attack into Israel that triggered the war, which has brought unprecedented devastation and hunger to the Strip.
The Hamas-run police, which maintained a high degree of public order before the war, have largely vanished from the streets after being targeted in Israeli strikes, but the terror group still exerts control across the territory. Criminal gangs and other armed groups have exploited the breakdown of law and order, robbing aid convoys and further complicating humanitarian efforts.
The pier built by the US military to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza will be reinstalled tomorrow to be used for several days, but then the plan is to pull it out permanently, several US officials say.
It would deal the final blow to a project long plagued by bad weather, security uncertainties and difficulties getting food into the hands of starving Palestinians.
The officials say the goal is to clear whatever aid has piled up in Cyprus and on the floating dock offshore and get it to the secure area on the beach in Gaza. Once that has been done, the Army will dismantle the pier and depart. The officials speak on condition of anonymity because final details are still being worked out.
US troops removed the pier on June 28 because of bad weather and moved it to the port of Ashdod in Israel. But distribution of the aid had already stopped due to security concerns. The UN suspended deliveries from the pier on June 9, a day after the IDF used the area around it for airlifts during a rescue of four hostages. US and Israeli officials said no part of the pier itself was used in the raid, but UN officials said any perception in Gaza that the project was used may endanger their aid work.
As a result, aid brought through the pier into the secure area on the beach piled up for days while talks continued between the UN and Israel. More recently, the World Food Program hired a contractor to move the aid from the beach to prevent the food and other supplies from spoiling.
A hospital source in southern Gaza says at least 10 people have been killed in a strike on a school turned shelter for displaced Palestinians.
The source from Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis says that the Al-Awda school in the city was hit, leaving 10 dead and dozens wounded.
Other reports say that the strike hit tents set up outside the school, which is located in Abassan on the outskirts of Khan Younis.
There was no immediate comment from Israel. Last week the IDF told those in that area of Gaza to evacuate.
Gallant was responding to a question regarding why Israel supplies electricity to the Gaza Strip, from Religious Zionism MK Ohad Tal.
“We have returned half of the hostages and we are determined to return the rest. The security establishment is determined to achieve the goals of the war. In order for us to be able to do these things, it is appropriate that we preserve our support on the battlefield,” he says, alluding to the need to maintain international support during the war. link As much as I would like Galant's statement to be true, we have seen over and over again that his optimistic numbers have always been exaggerated and/or pre-mature.
Northern Israel - Lebanon/Hizbollah/Syria
Two Israeli civilians were killed in a rocket impact in the Golan Heights on Tuesday evening, police said, amid a barrage of some 40 rockets fired by Hezbollah, hours after one of its operatives was killed in a purported Israeli strike on the Beirut-Damascus highway in Syria.
The man and woman were killed when a rocket directly struck a vehicle they were in, rescue services said. The pair were passing by the Nafah Junction on Route 91.
Their deaths brought the number of civilians killed in Israel amid months-long clashes with Hezbollah to 12. Taking responsibility for the attack, the terror group claimed to have targeted the IDF’s Nafah base, located just south of the community of Ortal.
The Iran-backed terror group said the attack was in response to the death of its operative Yasser Qarnabash in Syria earlier in the day. Hezbollah confirmed Qarnabash’s death following reports in Arabic media but did not detail his role or rank.
The Shiite Muslim group said that it had launched “dozens of Katyusha rockets” at Israel “in response to the attack and assassination that the Israeli enemy carried out… on the Damascus-Beirut Road.” Qarnabash was said to have been killed in a strike on a Hezbollah vehicle near a Syrian army checkpoint on the Damascus-Beirut highway. The strike was attributed to Israel by Syrian state media, although the IDF did not comment on the matter. One other Hezbollah operative was reportedly killed in the incident, and the Syrian driver was critically wounded.
Speaking to AFP on the condition of anonymity, a source close to Hezbollah said that Qarnabash was a former bodyguard to Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah. According to security sources, the operative had been a mid-ranking official involved in transporting weapons across the border on behalf of the Iran-backed terror group. Supporters of the terror group mourned his death in social media posts, referring to him as the “shield of the Sayyed” — in reference to his ostensible tenure as Nasrallah’s bodyguard.
His death brought the terror group’s toll amid the Gaza war to at least 364.
The skirmishes along the Israel-Lebanon border began on October 8, when Hezbollah-led forces began attacking Israeli communities and military posts in what the group said was a show of support for Gaza amid the war there.
So far, the near-daily clashes have resulted in 12 civilian deaths on the Israeli side, as well as the deaths of 16 IDF soldiers and reservists. There have also been several attacks from Syria, without any injuries.
In addition to the Hezbollah members killed in both Lebanon and Syria, another 65 operatives from other terror groups, a Lebanese soldier, and dozens of civilians have been killed.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Syrian defense ministry said an alleged Israeli strike had caused damage but no casualties near the coastal city of Baniyas. According to Syrian pro-opposition sources, Iranian military advisors were based in the area.
An alleged Israeli strike in Syria earlier today killed a former personal bodyguard of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, an official with the Lebanese terror group says.
The Hezbollah official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.
Earlier, Hezbollah announced the death of Yasser Qarnabash in a purported Israeli strike on the Beirut-Damascus highway, but did not detail his role or rank in the terror group.
Al Arabiya reports that Qarnabash was responsible “for transporting personnel and weapons to Syria.”
His death brings the terror group’s toll amid the war in Gaza to at least 364.
The IDF says tanks and artillery shelled Syrian Army sites in southern Syria that had violated a 1974 disengagement agreement.
According to the IDF, the structures erected in the Syrian Golan Heights were a violation of the Agreement on Disengagement signed in 1974 between Israel and Syria, which concluded the Yom Kippur War.
“The IDF considers the Syrian Army responsible for everything that happens in its territory and will not allow attempts to violate the disengagement agreement,” the military adds.
Two Israeli civilians were killed in a rocket impact in the Golan Heights on Tuesday evening, police said, amid a barrage of some 40 rockets fired by Hezbollah, hours after one of its operatives was killed in a purported Israeli strike on the Beirut-Damascus highway in Syria.
The man and woman were killed when a rocket directly struck a vehicle they were in, rescue services said. The pair were passing by the Nafah Junction on Route 91.
Their deaths brought the number of civilians killed in Israel amid months-long clashes with Hezbollah to 12. Taking responsibility for the attack, the terror group claimed to have targeted the IDF’s Nafah base, located just south of the community of Ortal.
The Iran-backed terror group said the attack was in response to the death of its operative Yasser Qarnabash in Syria earlier in the day. Hezbollah confirmed Qarnabash’s death following reports in Arabic media but did not detail his role or rank.
The Shiite Muslim group said that it had launched “dozens of Katyusha rockets” at Israel “in response to the attack and assassination that the Israeli enemy carried out… on the Damascus-Beirut Road.” Qarnabash was said to have been killed in a strike on a Hezbollah vehicle near a Syrian army checkpoint on the Damascus-Beirut highway. The strike was attributed to Israel by Syrian state media, although the IDF did not comment on the matter. One other Hezbollah operative was reportedly killed in the incident, and the Syrian driver was critically wounded.
Speaking to AFP on the condition of anonymity, a source close to Hezbollah said that Qarnabash was a former bodyguard to Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah. According to security sources, the operative had been a mid-ranking official involved in transporting weapons across the border on behalf of the Iran-backed terror group. Supporters of the terror group mourned his death in social media posts, referring to him as the “shield of the Sayyed” — in reference to his ostensible tenure as Nasrallah’s bodyguard.
His death brought the terror group’s toll amid the Gaza war to at least 364.
The skirmishes along the Israel-Lebanon border began on October 8, when Hezbollah-led forces began attacking Israeli communities and military posts in what the group said was a show of support for Gaza amid the war there.
So far, the near-daily clashes have resulted in 12 civilian deaths on the Israeli side, as well as the deaths of 16 IDF soldiers and reservists. There have also been several attacks from Syria, without any injuries.
In addition to the Hezbollah members killed in both Lebanon and Syria, another 65 operatives from other terror groups, a Lebanese soldier, and dozens of civilians have been killed.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Syrian defense ministry said an alleged Israeli strike had caused damage but no casualties near the coastal city of Baniyas. According to Syrian pro-opposition sources, Iranian military advisors were based in the area.
An alleged Israeli strike in Syria earlier today killed a former personal bodyguard of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, an official with the Lebanese terror group says.
The Hezbollah official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.
Earlier, Hezbollah announced the death of Yasser Qarnabash in a purported Israeli strike on the Beirut-Damascus highway, but did not detail his role or rank in the terror group.
Al Arabiya reports that Qarnabash was responsible “for transporting personnel and weapons to Syria.”
His death brings the terror group’s toll amid the war in Gaza to at least 364.
The IDF says tanks and artillery shelled Syrian Army sites in southern Syria that had violated a 1974 disengagement agreement.
According to the IDF, the structures erected in the Syrian Golan Heights were a violation of the Agreement on Disengagement signed in 1974 between Israel and Syria, which concluded the Yom Kippur War.
“The IDF considers the Syrian Army responsible for everything that happens in its territory and will not allow attempts to violate the disengagement agreement,” the military adds.
- Hezbollah adopts low-tech strategy as it tries to evade advanced Israeli surveillanceIn an attempt to dodge IDF’s high-tech tracking methods, terror group bans operatives from using mobile phones and reverts to decades-old communication system
BEIRUT, Lebanon — Coded messages. Landline phones. Pagers. Following the killing of senior commanders in targeted Israeli airstrikes, the Iran-backed Lebanese terror group Hezbollah has been using some low-tech strategies to try to evade its foe’s sophisticated surveillance technology, informed sources told Reuters.
It has also been using its own tech — drones — to study and attack Israel’s intelligence-gathering capabilities in what Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah has described as a strategy of “blinding” Israel.
The sides have been trading fire since October 8, one day after Hezbollah’s ally in Gaza, Hamas, launched a deadly terror assault on Israel, slaughtering some 1,200 people, seizing 251 hostages and triggering an ongoing war in the Gaza Strip. While the fighting on Lebanon’s southern border has remained relatively contained, stepped-up attacks in recent weeks have intensified concern it could spiral into a full-scale war. Tens of thousands of people have fled both sides of the border. Ten civilians have been killed on the Israeli side, as well as 16 Israel Defense Forces soldiers and reservists. Hezbollah has named 364 members who have been killed by Israel, and 65 operatives from other terror groups have also been killed, as well as dozens of civilians.Many of Hezbollah’s casualties were killed while close to the border amid the near-daily hostilities, which have included launching rockets and explosive drones into northern Israel, but the terror group has also confirmed the deaths of more than 20 operatives — including three top commanders, members of its elite Radwan special forces unit and intelligence operatives — in targeted strikes away from the frontlines.
Israel’s military said it was responding to an unprovoked attack from Hezbollah, and in a statement to Reuters, the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement that it was striking military targets and taking “feasible precautions in order to mitigate harm to civilians.
“The success of these efforts hinges on the IDF’s ability to gather thorough and precise intelligence on Hezbollah’s forces, its leaders, the organization’s terrorist infrastructure, their whereabouts and operations,” the statement said.
The IDF did not answer questions about its intelligence gathering and Hezbollah’s countermeasures, citing “reasons of intelligence security.” As domestic pressure builds in Israel over Hezbollah’s barrages, the IDF has highlighted its ability to hit the group’s operatives across the border. On a recent tour of Israel’s Northern Command, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant pointed to pictures of what he said were slain Hezbollah commanders and said 320 terrorists had been killed as of May 29, including senior operatives.Electronic surveillance technology plays a vital role in these strikes. The IDF has said it has security cameras and remote sensing systems trained on areas where Hezbollah operates, and it regularly sends surveillance drones over the border to spy on its adversary.
Israel’s electronic eavesdropping, including hacking into cell phones and computers, is also widely regarded as among the world’s most sophisticated.
Hezbollah has learned from its losses and adapted its tactics in response, six sources familiar with the group’s operations told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive security matters.
Cellphones, which can be used to track a user’s location, have been banned from the battlefield in favor of more old-fashioned communication means, including pagers and couriers who deliver verbal messages in person, two of the sources said. Hezbollah has also been using a private, fixed-line telecommunications network dating back to the early 2000s, three sources said.
In case conversations are overheard, code words are used for weapons and meeting sites, according to another source familiar with the group’s logistics. These are updated nearly daily and delivered to units via couriers, the source said. “We’re facing a battle in which information and technology are essential parts,” said Qassem Kassir, a Lebanese analyst close to Hezbollah. “But when you face certain technological advances, you need to go back to the old methods — the phones, the in-person communications… whatever method allows you to circumvent the technology.” Hezbollah’s media office said it had no comment on the sources’ assertions.
Low tech countermeasures
Security experts say some low-tech countermeasures can be quite effective against high-tech spying. One of the ways that former al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden evaded capture for nearly a decade was by disconnecting from the internet and phone services, and using couriers instead.
“The simple act of using a VPN (virtual private network), or better yet, not using a cellphone at all, can make it much harder to find and fix a target,” said Emily Harding, a former CIA analyst now at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank in Washington.
“But these countermeasures also make Hezbollah’s leadership far less effective at communicating rapidly with their troops.”
Hezbollah and Lebanese security officials believe Israel has also been tapping local informants as it zeroes in on targets. Lebanon’s economic crisis and rivalries between political factions have created opportunities for Israeli recruiters, but not all informants realize who they are speaking with, three sources said. On November 22, a woman from south Lebanon received a call on her cellphone from a person claiming to be a local official, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the incident. Speaking in flawless Arabic, the caller asked whether the family was home, the sources said. No, the woman replied, explaining they had traveled to eastern Lebanon. Minutes later, a missile slammed into the woman’s home in the village of Beit Yahoun, killing five Hezbollah fighters including Abbas Raad, the son of a senior Hezbollah lawmaker and a Radwan member, the sources said.
Hezbollah believes Israel had tracked the fighters to the location and placed the call to confirm whether there were civilians present before launching the strike, they told Reuters without disclosing further details.
Israel’s military said at the time that it struck a number of Hezbollah targets that day, including a “terrorist cell.”
Within weeks, Hezbollah was publicly warning supporters via the affiliated Al-Nour radio station not to trust cold callers claiming to be local officials or aid workers, saying Israelis were impersonating them to identify houses being used by Hezbollah.
It was the first of a series of strikes targeting key Hezbollah operatives in Lebanon. Others killed include Wissam al-Tawil, Taleb Abdallah and Mohammed Nasser, commanders who played leading roles in directing Hezbollah’s operations in the south. Saleh al-Arouri, deputy head of Hamas, was also killed while attending a meeting in the capital Beirut.
Hezbollah began suspecting that Israel was targeting its fighters by tracking their cellphones and monitoring video feeds from security cameras installed on buildings in border communities, two sources familiar with the group’s thinking and a Lebanese intelligence official told Reuters. On December 28, Hezbollah urged southern residents in a statement distributed via its Telegram channel to disconnect any security cameras they own from the internet.
By early February, another directive had been issued to Hezbollah’s fighters: no mobile phones anywhere near the battlefield.
“Today, if anyone is found with their phone on the front, he is kicked out of Hezbollah,” said a senior Lebanese source familiar with the group’s operations.
Three other sources confirmed the order. Fighters began leaving their phones behind when they carried out operations, one told Reuters. Another, the Lebanese intelligence official, said Hezbollah would sometimes perform surprise checks on field units to see if members had phones on them.
Even in Beirut, senior Hezbollah politicians avoid bringing phones with them to meetings, two other sources said. In a televised speech on February 13, Nasrallah warned supporters that their phones were more dangerous than Israeli spies, saying they should break them, bury them or lock them in an iron box.
Hezbollah has also taken steps to secure its private telephone network following a suspected breach by Israel, according to a former Lebanese security official and two other sources familiar with Hezbollah’s operations.
The vast network, allegedly financed by Iran, was set up around two decades ago with fiber optic cables extending from Hezbollah’s strongholds in Beirut’s southern suburbs to towns in south Lebanon and east into the Bekaa Valley, according to government officials at the time.
The sources declined to say when or how it had been penetrated. But they said Hezbollah telecommunications specialists were breaking it into smaller networks to limit the damage if it is breached again.
“We often change our landline networks and switch them up, so that we can outrun the hacking and infiltration,” the senior source told Reuters.
Drone Surveillance
The terror group has also been touting its ability to collect its own intelligence on enemy targets and attack Israel’s surveillance installations using its arsenal of small, homemade, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
On June 18, Hezbollah published a nine-minute excerpt of what it said was video gathered by its surveillance aircraft over the Israeli city of Haifa, including military installations and port facilities.
The Israeli Air Force said air defense systems had detected the drone, but a decision was made not to intercept it because it had no offensive capabilities, and doing so could endanger residents. link
- Hezbollah adopts low-tech strategy as it tries to evade advanced Israeli surveillanceIn an attempt to dodge IDF’s high-tech tracking methods, terror group bans operatives from using mobile phones and reverts to decades-old communication system
BEIRUT, Lebanon — Coded messages. Landline phones. Pagers. Following the killing of senior commanders in targeted Israeli airstrikes, the Iran-backed Lebanese terror group Hezbollah has been using some low-tech strategies to try to evade its foe’s sophisticated surveillance technology, informed sources told Reuters.
It has also been using its own tech — drones — to study and attack Israel’s intelligence-gathering capabilities in what Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah has described as a strategy of “blinding” Israel.
The sides have been trading fire since October 8, one day after Hezbollah’s ally in Gaza, Hamas, launched a deadly terror assault on Israel, slaughtering some 1,200 people, seizing 251 hostages and triggering an ongoing war in the Gaza Strip. While the fighting on Lebanon’s southern border has remained relatively contained, stepped-up attacks in recent weeks have intensified concern it could spiral into a full-scale war. Tens of thousands of people have fled both sides of the border. Ten civilians have been killed on the Israeli side, as well as 16 Israel Defense Forces soldiers and reservists. Hezbollah has named 364 members who have been killed by Israel, and 65 operatives from other terror groups have also been killed, as well as dozens of civilians.Many of Hezbollah’s casualties were killed while close to the border amid the near-daily hostilities, which have included launching rockets and explosive drones into northern Israel, but the terror group has also confirmed the deaths of more than 20 operatives — including three top commanders, members of its elite Radwan special forces unit and intelligence operatives — in targeted strikes away from the frontlines.
Israel’s military said it was responding to an unprovoked attack from Hezbollah, and in a statement to Reuters, the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement that it was striking military targets and taking “feasible precautions in order to mitigate harm to civilians.
“The success of these efforts hinges on the IDF’s ability to gather thorough and precise intelligence on Hezbollah’s forces, its leaders, the organization’s terrorist infrastructure, their whereabouts and operations,” the statement said.
The IDF did not answer questions about its intelligence gathering and Hezbollah’s countermeasures, citing “reasons of intelligence security.” As domestic pressure builds in Israel over Hezbollah’s barrages, the IDF has highlighted its ability to hit the group’s operatives across the border. On a recent tour of Israel’s Northern Command, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant pointed to pictures of what he said were slain Hezbollah commanders and said 320 terrorists had been killed as of May 29, including senior operatives.Electronic surveillance technology plays a vital role in these strikes. The IDF has said it has security cameras and remote sensing systems trained on areas where Hezbollah operates, and it regularly sends surveillance drones over the border to spy on its adversary.
Israel’s electronic eavesdropping, including hacking into cell phones and computers, is also widely regarded as among the world’s most sophisticated.
Hezbollah has learned from its losses and adapted its tactics in response, six sources familiar with the group’s operations told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive security matters.
Cellphones, which can be used to track a user’s location, have been banned from the battlefield in favor of more old-fashioned communication means, including pagers and couriers who deliver verbal messages in person, two of the sources said. Hezbollah has also been using a private, fixed-line telecommunications network dating back to the early 2000s, three sources said.
In case conversations are overheard, code words are used for weapons and meeting sites, according to another source familiar with the group’s logistics. These are updated nearly daily and delivered to units via couriers, the source said. “We’re facing a battle in which information and technology are essential parts,” said Qassem Kassir, a Lebanese analyst close to Hezbollah. “But when you face certain technological advances, you need to go back to the old methods — the phones, the in-person communications… whatever method allows you to circumvent the technology.” Hezbollah’s media office said it had no comment on the sources’ assertions.
Low tech countermeasures
Security experts say some low-tech countermeasures can be quite effective against high-tech spying. One of the ways that former al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden evaded capture for nearly a decade was by disconnecting from the internet and phone services, and using couriers instead.
“The simple act of using a VPN (virtual private network), or better yet, not using a cellphone at all, can make it much harder to find and fix a target,” said Emily Harding, a former CIA analyst now at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank in Washington.
“But these countermeasures also make Hezbollah’s leadership far less effective at communicating rapidly with their troops.”
Hezbollah and Lebanese security officials believe Israel has also been tapping local informants as it zeroes in on targets. Lebanon’s economic crisis and rivalries between political factions have created opportunities for Israeli recruiters, but not all informants realize who they are speaking with, three sources said. On November 22, a woman from south Lebanon received a call on her cellphone from a person claiming to be a local official, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the incident. Speaking in flawless Arabic, the caller asked whether the family was home, the sources said. No, the woman replied, explaining they had traveled to eastern Lebanon. Minutes later, a missile slammed into the woman’s home in the village of Beit Yahoun, killing five Hezbollah fighters including Abbas Raad, the son of a senior Hezbollah lawmaker and a Radwan member, the sources said.
Hezbollah believes Israel had tracked the fighters to the location and placed the call to confirm whether there were civilians present before launching the strike, they told Reuters without disclosing further details.
Israel’s military said at the time that it struck a number of Hezbollah targets that day, including a “terrorist cell.”
Within weeks, Hezbollah was publicly warning supporters via the affiliated Al-Nour radio station not to trust cold callers claiming to be local officials or aid workers, saying Israelis were impersonating them to identify houses being used by Hezbollah.
It was the first of a series of strikes targeting key Hezbollah operatives in Lebanon. Others killed include Wissam al-Tawil, Taleb Abdallah and Mohammed Nasser, commanders who played leading roles in directing Hezbollah’s operations in the south. Saleh al-Arouri, deputy head of Hamas, was also killed while attending a meeting in the capital Beirut.
Hezbollah began suspecting that Israel was targeting its fighters by tracking their cellphones and monitoring video feeds from security cameras installed on buildings in border communities, two sources familiar with the group’s thinking and a Lebanese intelligence official told Reuters. On December 28, Hezbollah urged southern residents in a statement distributed via its Telegram channel to disconnect any security cameras they own from the internet.
By early February, another directive had been issued to Hezbollah’s fighters: no mobile phones anywhere near the battlefield.
“Today, if anyone is found with their phone on the front, he is kicked out of Hezbollah,” said a senior Lebanese source familiar with the group’s operations.
Three other sources confirmed the order. Fighters began leaving their phones behind when they carried out operations, one told Reuters. Another, the Lebanese intelligence official, said Hezbollah would sometimes perform surprise checks on field units to see if members had phones on them.
Even in Beirut, senior Hezbollah politicians avoid bringing phones with them to meetings, two other sources said. In a televised speech on February 13, Nasrallah warned supporters that their phones were more dangerous than Israeli spies, saying they should break them, bury them or lock them in an iron box.
Hezbollah has also taken steps to secure its private telephone network following a suspected breach by Israel, according to a former Lebanese security official and two other sources familiar with Hezbollah’s operations.
The vast network, allegedly financed by Iran, was set up around two decades ago with fiber optic cables extending from Hezbollah’s strongholds in Beirut’s southern suburbs to towns in south Lebanon and east into the Bekaa Valley, according to government officials at the time.
The sources declined to say when or how it had been penetrated. But they said Hezbollah telecommunications specialists were breaking it into smaller networks to limit the damage if it is breached again.
“We often change our landline networks and switch them up, so that we can outrun the hacking and infiltration,” the senior source told Reuters.
Drone SurveillanceThe terror group has also been touting its ability to collect its own intelligence on enemy targets and attack Israel’s surveillance installations using its arsenal of small, homemade, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
On June 18, Hezbollah published a nine-minute excerpt of what it said was video gathered by its surveillance aircraft over the Israeli city of Haifa, including military installations and port facilities.
The Israeli Air Force said air defense systems had detected the drone, but a decision was made not to intercept it because it had no offensive capabilities, and doing so could endanger residents. link
West Bank and Jerusalem
- Terrorists may have infiltrated, early on Wednesday morning, the West Bank settlement Almon in Binyamin, according to sirens alerting residents. The Home Front Command informed residents to "Immediately enter a protected space inside the house and close the door tightly. Do not stand in front of the door and window, and avoid movement and noise." The settlement of Almon was established in 1982 and, as of 2019, has a population of 1329 people, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). The settlement is located close to the Israeli capital of Jerusalem.
Politics and the War (general news)
The Region and the World
- The US director of National Intelligence reveals that Iranian government actors in recent weeks have sought to take advantage of ongoing protests regarding the war in Gaza in order to stoke discord in the US.
“We have observed actors tied to Iran’s government posing as activists online, seeking to encourage protests and even providing financial support to protesters,” Avril Haines says in a statement.
“I want to be clear that I know Americans who participate in protests are, in good faith, expressing their views on the conflict in Gaza. This intelligence does not indicate otherwise… But it is also important to warn of foreign actors who seek to exploit our debate for their own purposes,” the US intel chief adds, urging Americans to remain vigilant when engaging with online actors they don’t know.
In May, Haines warned in congressional testimony that Iran is becoming increasingly aggressive in its efforts to undermine confidence in American democratic institutions, particularly in the lead-up to presidential and congressional elections.
“They continue to adapt their cyber and influence activities, using social media platforms and issuing threats. It is likely they will continue to rely on their intelligence services in these efforts, as well as Iran-based online influencers, to promote their narratives,” Haines says.
Personal Stories
New footage: The moment Or Levy was kidnapped from the shelter on October 7
In a previously unreleased video, Or can be seen talking to the terrorists moments before he was kidnapped. "It's a very difficult video. You can hear Or begging them not to take him," says Or's brother. Or's wife, Einav, was murdered on October 7, and their young son Almog is currently being raised by his grandparents. "I don't have the privilege to break down - I have Almog and I have Or who will return," says Geula Levy, Or's mother.
On October 7, early in the morning, Or and Einav Levy left their two-year-old son Almog with his grandparents and went to celebrate at the Nova party near Kibbutz Re'im. They arrived in the area just minutes before heavy firing began. They tried to hide in a shelter - Einav was murdered, Or was kidnapped to Gaza.
To date, no sign of life has been received from Or, but recently the family discovered new footage from the moments of his kidnapping - evidence that he was taken alive. In the videos, first shown on the "Central Edition" news program, Or can be seen inside the shelter, surviving after numerous grenade explosions. In another video released by the Families' Headquarters, the terrorists' drive towards Gaza in a pickup truck is filmed, with 4 hostages in the vehicle, including Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Elia Cohen, and Or. "It's a very difficult video," says Michael Levy, Or's brother, describing what can be seen in the footage: "You see Or surrounded by bodies, one of them is Einav. You hear the terrorists talking to each other in Arabic, saying there's someone alive here, asking him if he's a soldier. You hear Or begging them not to take him or not to shoot him."
"I don't have the privilege to break down"
While the family waits for Or, little Almog, who is waiting for his father, is growing up with his grandparents. He spends part of the week with Or's parents and part with Einav's parents. "First of all, we are a family waiting for our son," shares Geula Levy, Or's mother, and talks about the difficulty of raising Almog: "With a child, you have to act as if everything is normal - laugh with him and be with him. On the other hand, there's such a big dissonance. We laugh and cry at night, and he makes everything easier for us."
"I don't have the privilege to break down - I have my grandson and I have Or who will return," Geula adds. "It's hard. No one prepares you for this. May he come home already." Michael shares about the routine with Almog, and the difficulty of mediating an unbearable reality to a young child: "Most of the time Almog is a happy child, like any 3-year-old. But you see the points where it's hard for him - we took him to the beach and he asked about mom and dad, because Or and Einav used to take him to the beach all the time. We tell him the truth about what happened, as psychologists explained to us how to mediate it. That mom is gone and won't come back, and that we're looking for dad and doing everything to bring him back."
In recent months, Michael has hardly been in Israel. He travels to meet with politicians and public figures around the world, trying to exert pressure wherever possible. The entire family is mobilized for the double struggle they are waging - caring for Almog and trying to create a happy childhood for him as much as possible, and the struggle to bring Or back, who has been in Gaza for nine months without Einav and without Almog.
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“We have observed actors tied to Iran’s government posing as activists online, seeking to encourage protests and even providing financial support to protesters,” Avril Haines says in a statement.
“I want to be clear that I know Americans who participate in protests are, in good faith, expressing their views on the conflict in Gaza. This intelligence does not indicate otherwise… But it is also important to warn of foreign actors who seek to exploit our debate for their own purposes,” the US intel chief adds, urging Americans to remain vigilant when engaging with online actors they don’t know.
In May, Haines warned in congressional testimony that Iran is becoming increasingly aggressive in its efforts to undermine confidence in American democratic institutions, particularly in the lead-up to presidential and congressional elections.
“They continue to adapt their cyber and influence activities, using social media platforms and issuing threats. It is likely they will continue to rely on their intelligence services in these efforts, as well as Iran-based online influencers, to promote their narratives,” Haines says.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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