π️Lonny's War Update- October 283, 2023 - July 15, 2024 π️
π️Day 283 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
*5:30pm yesterday - south- rockets Kerem Shalom*3:20pm - north - hostile aircraft - Dishon, Yiftach, Malkia, Mevo'ot Hermont, Ramot Naftali
*4:15pm - north - rockets Beit Hillel, Hagoshrim, Kfar Yuval, Maayan Baruch*4:15pm- north - rockets - Kiryat Shemona
*4:15pm - north - rockets Beit Hillel, Hagoshrim, Kfar Yuval, Maayan Baruch
Hostage Updates
Today is the 20th Birthday of Nimrod Cohen
Nimrod Cohen (19, now 20) is a boy who loves life. He graduated from high school only a year ago, and has so many dreams ahead of him.
Nimrod was kidnapped to Gaza where he is being held by Hamas for 283 days!
Nimrod has a twin sister, Romi, who can't wait for her soulmate and best friend to return home.
"Nimrod is being held in harsh conditions, he is 20 years old and still a child. He just started life and it doesn't make sense that he is in captivity. I worry about Nimrod and fear his fate. How will the future of the State of Israel look like when my brother and the other hostages do not return? It’s impossible that so much time has passed and they're still not home."
We join Romi’s demand - bring Nimrod and all the hostages home - now!!
From a Facebook post:
I entered Kibbutz Nir Oz's page
And I realized for the first time that on the seventh of October
the parents of Shiri Bibas also -
were murdered
both.
A sister is left here
by herself.
am waiting.
nine months.
I'm out of words.
There isn't and will not be any healing here without a deal that
will bring everyone back
To their loved ones who are waiting with broken hearts until
it eases.
Everyone.
The living and the dead.
‘Take your clothes off’: October 7 documents show Hamas's
intent of sexual assault
Among the commands listed on the document were “Take off
your pants,” “Lie down,” “Don’t make trouble,” and “Take your clothes off.”
Previously confidential documents taken from Hamas terrorists
who invaded Israel on October 7 of last year show that the insurgents had
premeditated intentions to use sexual assault as a weapon during their
incursion, Palestinian Media Watch (PMW)
reported last week.
Palestinian Media Watch is an Israeli NGO that says it monitors
material in Palestinian media that promotes hatred and terrorism in order to
expose and educate on such content.
The Israeli NGO reportedly saw the documents during an
intelligence briefing last Monday.
According to PMW, the documents listed commands and questions in
Hebrew that were printed in Arabic characters. The transliterated phrases were
accompanied by corresponding Arabic translations.
Among the commands listed on the document were “Take off your
pants,” “Lie down,” “Don’t make trouble,” “Men here,” “Women here,” “Children
here,” “Raise your hands and spread your legs,” and “Take your clothes off.”
Other phrases
included, “I will kill you,” “We have hostages,” “We will kill the captives,”
and “What is the name of the kibbutz,” among others.
Documentation of Hamas’s sexual assault on October 7
While denial of Hamas’s sexual offenses on October 7
remains prevalent among some anti-Israel activists, the terror organization’s
use of sexual violence is well documented.
In April, the documentary “Screams
Before Silence” highlighted the firsthand experiences of survivors of
Hamas’s sexual violence on October 7.
The documentary has been promoted by
figures across the political spectrum, including former US president Donald
Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.
An Arabic-language version of the
documentary was published on YouTube last week.
In March, the UN Secretary-General’s
Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Pramila Patten, said at
a Security Council briefing on sexual violence, “We found clear and convincing
information that sexual violence, including rape, sexualized torture, and cruel,
inhuman, and degrading treatment.
In May, the Daily Mail reported that
two Hamas terrorists, a father and son, confessed
to raping and murdering Israeli women on October 7.
The IDF has published footage of
other such confessions since October 7 as well.
In December, a captured Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist admitted
that his squad committed rape and then murdered victims during the October 7
massacre.
Simultaneously,
the New York Times published an investigation that described
how Hamas weaponized sexual violence on October 7. The
report stated that it found "a pattern of rape, mutilation, and extreme
brutality against women in the attacks on Israel."
Numerous leaders, Israeli and international, have condemned Hamas's
weaponization of sexual violence. link
Hostage Updates
Today is the 20th Birthday of Nimrod Cohen
Nimrod Cohen (19, now 20) is a boy who loves life. He graduated from high school only a year ago, and has so many dreams ahead of him.
Nimrod was kidnapped to Gaza where he is being held by Hamas for 283 days!
Nimrod has a twin sister, Romi, who can't wait for her soulmate and best friend to return home.
"Nimrod is being held in harsh conditions, he is 20 years old and still a child. He just started life and it doesn't make sense that he is in captivity. I worry about Nimrod and fear his fate. How will the future of the State of Israel look like when my brother and the other hostages do not return? It’s impossible that so much time has passed and they're still not home."
We join Romi’s demand - bring Nimrod and all the hostages home - now!!
I entered Kibbutz Nir Oz's page
And I realized for the first time that on the seventh of October
the parents of Shiri Bibas also -
were murdered
both.
A sister is left here
by herself.
am waiting.
nine months.
I'm out of words.
There isn't and will not be any healing here without a deal that
will bring everyone back
To their loved ones who are waiting with broken hearts until
it eases.
Everyone.
The living and the dead.
‘Take your clothes off’: October 7 documents show Hamas's intent of sexual assault
Among the commands listed on the document were “Take off your pants,” “Lie down,” “Don’t make trouble,” and “Take your clothes off.”
Previously confidential documents taken from Hamas terrorists who invaded Israel on October 7 of last year show that the insurgents had premeditated intentions to use sexual assault as a weapon during their incursion, Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) reported last week.
Palestinian Media Watch is an Israeli NGO that says it monitors material in Palestinian media that promotes hatred and terrorism in order to expose and educate on such content.
The Israeli NGO reportedly saw the documents during an intelligence briefing last Monday.
According to PMW, the documents listed commands and questions in Hebrew that were printed in Arabic characters. The transliterated phrases were accompanied by corresponding Arabic translations.
Among the commands listed on the document were “Take off your pants,” “Lie down,” “Don’t make trouble,” “Men here,” “Women here,” “Children here,” “Raise your hands and spread your legs,” and “Take your clothes off.”
Other phrases included, “I will kill you,” “We have hostages,” “We will kill the captives,” and “What is the name of the kibbutz,” among others.
Documentation of Hamas’s sexual assault on October 7
While denial of Hamas’s sexual offenses on October 7 remains prevalent among some anti-Israel activists, the terror organization’s use of sexual violence is well documented.
In April, the documentary “Screams Before Silence” highlighted the firsthand experiences of survivors of Hamas’s sexual violence on October 7.
The documentary has been promoted by figures across the political spectrum, including former US president Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.
An Arabic-language version of the documentary was published on YouTube last week.
In March, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Pramila Patten, said at a Security Council briefing on sexual violence, “We found clear and convincing information that sexual violence, including rape, sexualized torture, and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment.
In May, the Daily Mail reported that two Hamas terrorists, a father and son, confessed to raping and murdering Israeli women on October 7.
The IDF has published footage of other such confessions since October 7 as well.
In December, a captured Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist admitted that his squad committed rape and then murdered victims during the October 7 massacre.
Simultaneously, the New York Times published an investigation that described how Hamas weaponized sexual violence on October 7. The report stated that it found "a pattern of rape, mutilation, and extreme brutality against women in the attacks on Israel."
Numerous leaders, Israeli and international, have condemned Hamas's weaponization of sexual violence. link
- ‘Stop sabotaging’: Hostage families slam Netanyahu in rallies in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem : One arrested in Jerusalem as hundreds block junction after thousands attend official protest; hostages’ relatives worry attempt to kill Hamas commander Deif limits chances for deal
Demonstrators protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the government and for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip, outside the Likud headquarters in Tel Aviv, on July 13, 2024. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
Thousands of people rallied outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office in Jerusalem on Saturday night to call for a hostage deal, while at the same time, anti-government protesters marched to the Likud headquarters in Tel Aviv to demand early elections.
The massive rally in Jerusalem marked the end of a four-day march led by hostage families, which began in Tel Aviv and ended in the capital on Saturday afternoon.
It took place at the same time as dozens of other demonstrations across the country, including one outside Netanyahu’s private residence in Caesarea, and others in Tel Aviv, Haifa, Beersheba and Herzliya. Speaking to the crowd outside Netanyahu’s office, Einav Zangauker, mother of 24-year-old hostage Matan Zangauker, accused the premier of “time after time, trying to separate me from Matan.”
The march was organized amid the ramped-up hostage deal talks in Doha and Cairo that took place throughout much of last week, as family members of captives held by Hamas in Gaza have accused Netanyahu of trying to sabotage any progress made during the indirect negotiations by issuing hardened demands.
“We will not let him torpedo the deal — we will not allow it,” Zangauker declared. “It seems I’m not the only crazy person who believes that we deserve to have our families back home now.”
Thanking the crowd for their support for the families of the hostages, Zangauker declared them to be her source of hope.
She told the crowd that she was in contact with members of Israel’s negotiating team, and said she knows that “we are close” to reaching a deal.“We deserve better leadership that takes responsibility,” she added. “The hostages, too, deserve to hug their mothers and fathers.”
Earlier on Saturday, upon the group’s arrival to Jerusalem, Zangauker’s daughter Natalie — Matan’s sister — was seen hanging over the side of the Chords Bridge, graffiti paint in hand, emblazoning the words “stop sabotaging” onto the side of the structure, in an apparent message to Netanyahu.
Demanding the government reach a hostage deal, hostage family member Natalie Zangauker spray paints ‘stop sabotaging’ on Jerusalem’s Chords Bridge at the entrance to the city on July 13, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
After the speeches ended at the Jerusalem rally on Saturday evening, hundreds of protesters stayed and blocked a major intersection near Netanyahu’s office. “We won’t abandon them!” the group chanted to the beat of drums while sitting on the pavement. Elad Or, the brother of Hamas hostage Dror Or, gave an off-the-cuff speech to the protesters who remained at the scene after the official rally ended. “The assassination in Gaza distances the deal,” he said, referring to the IDF’s recent attempt to target Muhammad Deif, the commander of Hamas’s military wing, in an airstrike in the southern Gaza Strip on Saturday morning. As of early Sunday, it was unconfirmed whether Deif had been killed in the strike.
“Is this the time — when the government has an opportunity [to return the hostages] — to assassinate high-ranking terrorists? Is this the time? This distances the deal,” Or exclaimed.
Police were present on the sidelines, along with mounted officers and a water cannon, although they didn’t intervene and the protest eventually dispersed as people left for the night.
One person was arrested after trying to bypass a crowd control barrier.
In addition to criticizing Netanyahu’s added demands, which he has said are nonnegotiable, Einav Zangauker similarly cast doubt on the viability of a truce and hostage release deal in light of the strike on Deif.
“We’re all for settling the score with the Hamas murders, but not at the cost of our loved ones’ lives and our chances to get them home,” she told Channel 12 following the strike.
“If Muhammad Deif was eliminated with a hostage deal on the table, and Netanyahu doesn’t get up now and say he’s willing to take the deal, even at the price of ending the war, that means he’s given up on my Matan and on the rest of the hostages.” Illustrating her point, Matan’s partner Ilana Gritzewsky, who was herself released from captivity on November 3 during a weeklong truce, said that as someone who was taken hostage, she is “the first to say that senior Hamas officials should be eliminated.”
Einav Zangauker, the mother of hostage Matan Zangauker, attends a protest for the release of Israelis held kidnapped by Hamas terrorists in Gaza outside the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem on July 13, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
“But I know the hostages are above everything else,” she said. “Netanyahu — you got what you wanted. I’m asking you — say yes to the deal. Bring home Matan and all the rest of the hostages.”
At the same time as the demonstration got underway in Jerusalem, anti-government protesters gathered on Tel Aviv’s Kaplan Street, while protesters calling for a deal gathered at the nearby Hostages Square to hear from rescued hostage Andrey Kozlov.
Kozlov, who was rescued from Gaza last month after 246 days in captivity, thanked Netanyahu for rescuing him, and, invoking the legacy of the prime minister’s late brother Yoni Netanyahu, and asked him to facilitate the return of the remaining 120 captives.
“I may look fine on the outside, but the pain weighs on me more than anyone can see or imagine,” Kozlov said, describing the “living hell” he had endured in captivity.
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, thank you for bringing me back home. Now, as your brother did, please bring back the rest of the hostages,” he said, referencing Yoni Netanyahu, who was killed on July 4, 1976, while participating in the successful rescue of over 100 Israeli hostages in Entebbe, Uganda.
“There is nothing more important than getting a deal to bring back all the hostages,” he added.
He told the crowd that “every day in Gaza was living hell, every day felt like it would be the last one,” but that “watching all of you at Hostages Square was what gave me the strength to survive.”
Kozlov had previously said he saw images of the scenes from Hostages Square during the long months in Gaza, as his captors would show him footage “nearly every Saturday night.”
At the nearby anti-government rally, thousands passed by with a bus-sized banner that declared “Netanyahu is finishing the hostages.”
Gabriela Leimberg, who was freed from captivity in November along with her 17-year-old daughter Mia and the family dog Bella, took the stage at the Hostages and Missing Families Forum rally after Kozlov.
“Don’t anybody dare to kid themselves that there is any way other than a deal to get them back,” Leimberg said of the remaining hostages.
While Leimberg’s brother and brother-in-law, Fernando Marmam and Louis Har, were rescued by the IDF in an overnight operation in Rafah back in February, she said that additional rescue operations would not end in the release of the remaining hostages, dozens of whom are believed dead.
As the organized protests in Tel Aviv drew to a close, hundreds of people flooded the streets with impromptu, unauthorized demonstrations that blocked Dizengoff Street and Habima Junction, while police forces closely monitored the situation.
One group of protesters peeled off from the rest and began marching toward the Likud headquarters in Tel Aviv on King George Street.
It is believed that 116 (*I don't know why The Times of Israel repeatedly states 116. Everyone else states 120 including the Forum of Hostage Families) of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza — not all of them alive — after 105 civilians were released from Hamas captivity during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released prior to that. Seven hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 19 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the military.
The IDF has confirmed the deaths of 42 of those still held by Hamas, citing new intelligence and findings obtained by troops operating in Gaza. One more person is listed as missing since October 7, and their fate is still unknown. Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers who were killed in 2014. link
Thousands of people rallied outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office in Jerusalem on Saturday night to call for a hostage deal, while at the same time, anti-government protesters marched to the Likud headquarters in Tel Aviv to demand early elections.
The massive rally in Jerusalem marked the end of a four-day march led by hostage families, which began in Tel Aviv and ended in the capital on Saturday afternoon.
It took place at the same time as dozens of other demonstrations across the country, including one outside Netanyahu’s private residence in Caesarea, and others in Tel Aviv, Haifa, Beersheba and Herzliya. Speaking to the crowd outside Netanyahu’s office, Einav Zangauker, mother of 24-year-old hostage Matan Zangauker, accused the premier of “time after time, trying to separate me from Matan.”
The march was organized amid the ramped-up hostage deal talks in Doha and Cairo that took place throughout much of last week, as family members of captives held by Hamas in Gaza have accused Netanyahu of trying to sabotage any progress made during the indirect negotiations by issuing hardened demands.
“We will not let him torpedo the deal — we will not allow it,” Zangauker declared. “It seems I’m not the only crazy person who believes that we deserve to have our families back home now.”
Thanking the crowd for their support for the families of the hostages, Zangauker declared them to be her source of hope.
She told the crowd that she was in contact with members of Israel’s negotiating team, and said she knows that “we are close” to reaching a deal.“We deserve better leadership that takes responsibility,” she added. “The hostages, too, deserve to hug their mothers and fathers.”
Earlier on Saturday, upon the group’s arrival to Jerusalem, Zangauker’s daughter Natalie — Matan’s sister — was seen hanging over the side of the Chords Bridge, graffiti paint in hand, emblazoning the words “stop sabotaging” onto the side of the structure, in an apparent message to Netanyahu.
After the speeches ended at the Jerusalem rally on Saturday evening, hundreds of protesters stayed and blocked a major intersection near Netanyahu’s office. “We won’t abandon them!” the group chanted to the beat of drums while sitting on the pavement. Elad Or, the brother of Hamas hostage Dror Or, gave an off-the-cuff speech to the protesters who remained at the scene after the official rally ended. “The assassination in Gaza distances the deal,” he said, referring to the IDF’s recent attempt to target Muhammad Deif, the commander of Hamas’s military wing, in an airstrike in the southern Gaza Strip on Saturday morning. As of early Sunday, it was unconfirmed whether Deif had been killed in the strike.
“Is this the time — when the government has an opportunity [to return the hostages] — to assassinate high-ranking terrorists? Is this the time? This distances the deal,” Or exclaimed.
Police were present on the sidelines, along with mounted officers and a water cannon, although they didn’t intervene and the protest eventually dispersed as people left for the night.
One person was arrested after trying to bypass a crowd control barrier.
In addition to criticizing Netanyahu’s added demands, which he has said are nonnegotiable, Einav Zangauker similarly cast doubt on the viability of a truce and hostage release deal in light of the strike on Deif.
“We’re all for settling the score with the Hamas murders, but not at the cost of our loved ones’ lives and our chances to get them home,” she told Channel 12 following the strike.
“If Muhammad Deif was eliminated with a hostage deal on the table, and Netanyahu doesn’t get up now and say he’s willing to take the deal, even at the price of ending the war, that means he’s given up on my Matan and on the rest of the hostages.” Illustrating her point, Matan’s partner Ilana Gritzewsky, who was herself released from captivity on November 3 during a weeklong truce, said that as someone who was taken hostage, she is “the first to say that senior Hamas officials should be eliminated.”
“But I know the hostages are above everything else,” she said. “Netanyahu — you got what you wanted. I’m asking you — say yes to the deal. Bring home Matan and all the rest of the hostages.”
At the same time as the demonstration got underway in Jerusalem, anti-government protesters gathered on Tel Aviv’s Kaplan Street, while protesters calling for a deal gathered at the nearby Hostages Square to hear from rescued hostage Andrey Kozlov.
Kozlov, who was rescued from Gaza last month after 246 days in captivity, thanked Netanyahu for rescuing him, and, invoking the legacy of the prime minister’s late brother Yoni Netanyahu, and asked him to facilitate the return of the remaining 120 captives.
“I may look fine on the outside, but the pain weighs on me more than anyone can see or imagine,” Kozlov said, describing the “living hell” he had endured in captivity.
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, thank you for bringing me back home. Now, as your brother did, please bring back the rest of the hostages,” he said, referencing Yoni Netanyahu, who was killed on July 4, 1976, while participating in the successful rescue of over 100 Israeli hostages in Entebbe, Uganda.
“There is nothing more important than getting a deal to bring back all the hostages,” he added.
He told the crowd that “every day in Gaza was living hell, every day felt like it would be the last one,” but that “watching all of you at Hostages Square was what gave me the strength to survive.”
Kozlov had previously said he saw images of the scenes from Hostages Square during the long months in Gaza, as his captors would show him footage “nearly every Saturday night.”
At the nearby anti-government rally, thousands passed by with a bus-sized banner that declared “Netanyahu is finishing the hostages.”
Gabriela Leimberg, who was freed from captivity in November along with her 17-year-old daughter Mia and the family dog Bella, took the stage at the Hostages and Missing Families Forum rally after Kozlov.
“Don’t anybody dare to kid themselves that there is any way other than a deal to get them back,” Leimberg said of the remaining hostages.
While Leimberg’s brother and brother-in-law, Fernando Marmam and Louis Har, were rescued by the IDF in an overnight operation in Rafah back in February, she said that additional rescue operations would not end in the release of the remaining hostages, dozens of whom are believed dead.
As the organized protests in Tel Aviv drew to a close, hundreds of people flooded the streets with impromptu, unauthorized demonstrations that blocked Dizengoff Street and Habima Junction, while police forces closely monitored the situation.
One group of protesters peeled off from the rest and began marching toward the Likud headquarters in Tel Aviv on King George Street.
It is believed that 116 (*I don't know why The Times of Israel repeatedly states 116. Everyone else states 120 including the Forum of Hostage Families) of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza — not all of them alive — after 105 civilians were released from Hamas captivity during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released prior to that. Seven hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 19 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the military.
The IDF has confirmed the deaths of 42 of those still held by Hamas, citing new intelligence and findings obtained by troops operating in Gaza. One more person is listed as missing since October 7, and their fate is still unknown. Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers who were killed in 2014. link
Gaza
- Abbas blames Hamas for Gaza war; terror group says PA siding with Israel ; Rival Palestinian factions spar after dozens killed in strike targeting arch-terrorist Deif; Hamas says Fatah is a ‘partner to the Zionist enemy,’ despite Abbas condemning Israel
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas blamed Hamas on Saturday for the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip, in a back-and-forth which saw the terror group condemn Abbas for siding with Israel.
The exchange signaled rising tensions between Abbas’s Fatah faction and the Islamist terrorist group, who in the past have unsuccessfully attempted to reconcile.
The spat began after an Israeli attack in Gaza on Saturday aimed at Hamas military chief Mohammad Deif and his aide, which left at least 90 Palestinians dead and 300 injured, according to unverifiable reports by the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry; Israeli military sources say the strike targeted a Hamas compound, where dozens of Hamas gunmen were gathered.
While it remained unclear whether Deif was killed in the strike, the IDF on Sunday confirmed the death of his deputy, Rafa’a Salameh.
In response to the attack, PA official Munir Al-Jaghoub said in an interview with the Saudi al-Arabiya outlet, “If Hamas wanted to fight face-to-face with Israel, it would’ve done so in areas where the army is located, and not in places where there are people. Hamas is actually hiding between the residents to protect and save itself.”
Hamas spokesperson Jihad Taha called on Fatah to condemn Al-Jaghoub’s statement, according to Palestinian media.
“You must cease promoting the false narratives of Israel and align with our people in their decisive and steadfast battle against barbaric attacks,” he said. Instead, Abbas put out a statement saying he “sees that by escaping national unity and providing free pretexts to the occupation state, the Hamas movement is a partner in bearing legal, moral, and political responsibility for the continuation of the Israeli war of genocide in the Gaza Strip.” But the Palestinian Information Center reported that the PA indeed condemned Al-Jaghoub’s criticism of Hamas, who in turn apologized and asked that his statements be retracted.
The terror group has been accused of prolonging the war by refusing to surrender and release the hostages kidnapped on October 7, when some 3,000 Hamas-led terrorists burst across the border into Israel by land, air and sea, killing some 1,200 people and seizing 251 hostages, mostly civilians, many amid acts of brutality and sexual assault.
Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters that Abbas’s statement indicated that the Palestinian Authority “has chosen to be in the same trench with the occupation.”
“Such an attitude will not succeed in blackmailing the resistance or pressuring it,” Abu Zuhri said.
Another Hamas leader, Bassem Naim, was quoted by Reuters as saying Abbas’s comments made him and his authority “partner to the Zionist enemy and its crimes not only in Gaza, but also in all of the Palestinian land.”
The PA leader did, however, condemn Israel and the US for their role in the destruction caused in Gaza, saying in the statement that he “holds the Israeli government fully responsible, also the US administration that provides all kinds of support to the occupation and its crimes.” link This is not the first time that Abbas (Abu Mazen) has blamed Hamas for the war, the destruction of Gaza and the ongoing suffering of the Palestinian people in Gaza. Although there have been attempts and so many meetings of reconciliation between Hamas and the PA for years, reconciliation has never come into fruition. Abu Mazen has always insisted that they be the sole representatives and governing body of the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, including security forces and that Hamas would have to agree to every agreement that the PA has signed including its total recognition of Israel and the need to have 2 States living side by side in peace. Hamas has not and never will agree to those terms.
Central Gaza’s Deir al-Balah Municipality says that all the city’s wells have shut down due to lack of fuel used to pump out water, the London-based Qatari newspaper Al-Araby al-Jadeed reports.
An Israeli strike in the city killed one person earlier in the day, according to the outlet.
The IDF says clashes between troops and Hamas operatives continue across the Gaza Strip.
The military says soldiers from the 8th Brigade killed a terrorist who was trying to plant a roadside bomb in central Gaza.
Soldiers from the Nahal reconnaissance unit killed a squad of operatives armed with RPGs in face-to-face combat, the army says.
In addition, dozens of targets were hit in airstrikes in the past 24 hours and the navy also attacked targets, the IDF says.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas blamed Hamas on Saturday for the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip, in a back-and-forth which saw the terror group condemn Abbas for siding with Israel.
The exchange signaled rising tensions between Abbas’s Fatah faction and the Islamist terrorist group, who in the past have unsuccessfully attempted to reconcile.
The spat began after an Israeli attack in Gaza on Saturday aimed at Hamas military chief Mohammad Deif and his aide, which left at least 90 Palestinians dead and 300 injured, according to unverifiable reports by the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry; Israeli military sources say the strike targeted a Hamas compound, where dozens of Hamas gunmen were gathered.
While it remained unclear whether Deif was killed in the strike, the IDF on Sunday confirmed the death of his deputy, Rafa’a Salameh.In response to the attack, PA official Munir Al-Jaghoub said in an interview with the Saudi al-Arabiya outlet, “If Hamas wanted to fight face-to-face with Israel, it would’ve done so in areas where the army is located, and not in places where there are people. Hamas is actually hiding between the residents to protect and save itself.”
Hamas spokesperson Jihad Taha called on Fatah to condemn Al-Jaghoub’s statement, according to Palestinian media.
“You must cease promoting the false narratives of Israel and align with our people in their decisive and steadfast battle against barbaric attacks,” he said. Instead, Abbas put out a statement saying he “sees that by escaping national unity and providing free pretexts to the occupation state, the Hamas movement is a partner in bearing legal, moral, and political responsibility for the continuation of the Israeli war of genocide in the Gaza Strip.” But the Palestinian Information Center reported that the PA indeed condemned Al-Jaghoub’s criticism of Hamas, who in turn apologized and asked that his statements be retracted.
The terror group has been accused of prolonging the war by refusing to surrender and release the hostages kidnapped on October 7, when some 3,000 Hamas-led terrorists burst across the border into Israel by land, air and sea, killing some 1,200 people and seizing 251 hostages, mostly civilians, many amid acts of brutality and sexual assault.
Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters that Abbas’s statement indicated that the Palestinian Authority “has chosen to be in the same trench with the occupation.”
“Such an attitude will not succeed in blackmailing the resistance or pressuring it,” Abu Zuhri said.
Another Hamas leader, Bassem Naim, was quoted by Reuters as saying Abbas’s comments made him and his authority “partner to the Zionist enemy and its crimes not only in Gaza, but also in all of the Palestinian land.”
The PA leader did, however, condemn Israel and the US for their role in the destruction caused in Gaza, saying in the statement that he “holds the Israeli government fully responsible, also the US administration that provides all kinds of support to the occupation and its crimes.” link This is not the first time that Abbas (Abu Mazen) has blamed Hamas for the war, the destruction of Gaza and the ongoing suffering of the Palestinian people in Gaza. Although there have been attempts and so many meetings of reconciliation between Hamas and the PA for years, reconciliation has never come into fruition. Abu Mazen has always insisted that they be the sole representatives and governing body of the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, including security forces and that Hamas would have to agree to every agreement that the PA has signed including its total recognition of Israel and the need to have 2 States living side by side in peace. Hamas has not and never will agree to those terms.
Central Gaza’s Deir al-Balah Municipality says that all the city’s wells have shut down due to lack of fuel used to pump out water, the London-based Qatari newspaper Al-Araby al-Jadeed reports.
An Israeli strike in the city killed one person earlier in the day, according to the outlet.
The IDF says clashes between troops and Hamas operatives continue across the Gaza Strip.
The military says soldiers from the 8th Brigade killed a terrorist who was trying to plant a roadside bomb in central Gaza.
Soldiers from the Nahal reconnaissance unit killed a squad of operatives armed with RPGs in face-to-face combat, the army says.
In addition, dozens of targets were hit in airstrikes in the past 24 hours and the navy also attacked targets, the IDF says.
Northern Israel - Lebanon/Hizbollah/Syria
- 4 IDF troops hurt, including 1 seriously, as north peppered with rockets and drones
Projectiles cause damage in Kiryat Shmona and another community along Lebanon border; military strikes Hezbollah operatives and rocket launchers
Four IDF soldiers were wounded, one seriously, during a rocket attack Saturday on the northern city of Kiryat Shmona, as cross-border skirmishes between Israeli forces and Hezbollah continued to flare.
According to the military, the four were hurt by falling shrapnel following a rocket interception. The soldiers, all women, were taken to a hospital.
The Israel Defense Forces said the barrage from Lebanon included some 15 rockets, most of which were shot down by Iron Dome. Several rocket impacts caused damage, according to police. Another eight rockets were fired at Kiryat Shmona a short while after the barrage that wounded the soldiers, the IDF said, adding that no injuries were caused in the second attack.
Both salvos were preceded by a barrage of of 10 projectiles was launched at the northern city, most of which were shot down by air defenses. In other attacks during the day, the Israel Defense Forces said two suspected drones heading toward Israel were shot down by Israeli air defenses over southern Lebanon.
Rockets were also fired from Lebanon at the Zar’it, Margaliot, and Maayan Baruch areas. There were no injuries, though Hebrew media reported two houses in Margaliot sustained significant damage. The IDF also announced strikes on Hezbollah rocket launchers in southern Lebanon, which it said were used to attack the northern communities of Zar’it and Maayan Baruch earlier Saturday.
The IDF added that a building in Ayta ash-Shab, where a Hezbollah member was operating, was also struck.
Additionally, the military said it carried out a drone strike on two Hezbollah operatives preparing to launch rockets at Israel in southern Lebanon’s Deir Mimas.
A source close to Hezbollah who requested anonymity told AFP that one of the men was a Hezbollah member and the father of a fighter who had been killed, while the second man was a member of Hezbollah ally the Amal movement. The source insisted they were “civilians, not fighters,” which was echoed by a Lebanese security source who claimed they “were filling up water from a roadside spring” when they were struck. Hezbollah has traded almost daily fire with Israeli forces in support of Hamas since the Palestinian terror group’s October 7 onslaught against Israel triggered war in the Gaza Strip, stoking fears of a full-blown conflict in the north as well. Some of Saturday’s attacks from Lebanon followed an Israeli strike in Gaza targeting the head of Hamas’s military wing and another top commander, which Hezbollah has yet to comment on.
On Wednesday, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said his group would accept Hamas’s decision on Gaza hostage negotiations and would stop attacks on Israel if a ceasefire were reached. A day earlier, Nasrallah met with a Hamas delegation before talks resumed in Qatar on Wednesday toward a truce-for-hostage deal in the Gaza war, now in its 10th month.
The pro-Hezbollah television network al-Mayadeen reports an alleged Israeli drone strike in southern Lebanon.
The report says the strike was carried out in the town of Marwahin on the border. The report does not give details on the target of the strike.
There is no comment from the IDF.
West Bank and Jerusalem (and rest of Israel)
- Four IDF soldiers were wounded in the car-ramming terror attack in central Israel yesterday , the military says.
The attack took place at the Nir Tzvi junction, adjacent to the Tzrifin military base.
An IDF officer and a soldier were seriously wounded, another soldier was moderately injured, and a cadet was lightly hurt.
The attack took place at the Nir Tzvi junction, adjacent to the Tzrifin military base.
An IDF officer and a soldier were seriously wounded, another soldier was moderately injured, and a cadet was lightly hurt.
Politics and the War (general news)
- Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs screened a compilation of video clips showing critics of the government engaging in “incitement against the prime minister” during the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem on Sunday, following the attempted assassination of former US president Donald Trump the previous day.
The screening was followed by a two-hour debate on the issue, during which ministers pointed fingers at the justice system, law enforcement, and the attorney general for what they said was unchecked violent speech by members of the public against Netanyahu and his family.
The discussion, entitled “Incitement against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu” was not on the cabinet’s original agenda but was added after the attempt on Trump’s life during a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday. —What they fail to disclose is that the ‘incitement’ is political incitement and not calling for violence. It is a call for elections and ending this horrible government. The biggest inciters are actually inside the government: Ben Gvir, Smotrich and Netanyahu. The goals of this cabinet publication is to make it look like Netanyahu is besieged and needs to be felt sorry for. Netanyahu’s use of this event will bring about greater police abuse if protesters, at demonstrations for the hostages and against the government
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid accuses Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of being a “crybaby and a coward” after the premier held a two-hour debate yesterday in the cabinet about incitement against him.
Reading a threatening letter wishing death and illness upon him and his family, Lapid asks journalists ahead of his Yesh Atid party’s weekly faction meeting in the Knesset if he had ever brought up the issue before.
“Have you heard about it? Did I hold a press conference? Did I hold a two-hour special faction discussion? Yes, there are threats and there is incitement. It’s a terrible and sad part of the world we live in. Everyone who reaches a senior position goes through it,” he declares.
And while violence and threats against the prime minister are unacceptable, damaging to democracy, and must be prosecuted, “Netanyahu is not a victim, he is a crybaby and a coward,” Lapid insists.
“Every soldier in Gaza is more threatened than he is, every IDF fighter in Jenin is in more danger than he is. The man who set up the poison machine, who brought in foreign billionaires and set up an incitement machine that is slowly taking over all the media in Israel, complains that they are inciting against him.”
Following this weekend’s assassination attempt against former US president Donald Trump in Pennsylvania, Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs screened a compilation of video clips showing critics of the government engaging in “incitement against the prime minister” during the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem.
The screening was followed by a two-hour debate on the issue, during which ministers pointed fingers at the justice system, law enforcement, and the attorney general for what they said was unchecked violent speech by members of the public against Netanyahu and his family.
“There is no two-hour discussion about the 101 victims of Kibbutz Be’eri, there is no two-hour discussion about the soldier who was seriously injured in the north by a drone. What about the threat to her life? Is her life less important? Why is there no two-hour discussion about the five female observation soldiers held hostage in Gaza,” Lapid asks. “Only incitement against [Netanyahu] is worth two hours of discussion? Is that the only thing that matters?”
“I don’t remember him saying anything when Naftali Bennett’s child received an envelope with a bullet and threats against his life,” he adds, referring to a threat against the then-prime minister in 2022.
Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said Sunday that a deal with Hamas that would see the release of hostages in exchange for a truce, the possible Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, and the release of Palestinian security prisoners held by Israel was a moral imperative, the implications of which the military would be able to handle.
“The IDF is creating all the pressure required to create the best conditions for such an agreement, and this is how we have acted since the end of the previous agreement,” he said at a press conference at the Palmachim Airbase in central Israel, in a riposte to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
On Saturday night, Netanyahu charged that “for months there was no progress [toward a hostage deal] because the military pressure was not strong enough,” and that that only changed when he insisted that the IDF go into Rafah.
Netanyahu has also been accused by critics of repeatedly stonewalling negotiation efforts. “The IDF will know how to abide by any agreement that is approved by the political echelon, and even after a ceasefire, to return and fight with great intensity,” Halevi said.
“The IDF will not stop working to free the hostages, those for whom time passes with great difficulty, and we will not give up on continuing to attack Hamas until this goal is achieved, and of course, we will not give up on achieving security for the citizens of the State of Israel,” Halevi added.
During his press conference, Halevi spoke on a wide range of topics concerning the IDF since war broke out on October 7, when Hamas terrorists infiltrated Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping 251.
Halevi said he would decide whether to resign in light of the military’s failure to prevent the October 7 massacre once the objectives of the war have been achieved. “I have been serving in the IDF for almost 40 years. Not one moment in my service involved clinging to a chair. I am currently busy with the tasks: dismantling Hamas, returning the hostages, creating security for residents at the borders,” Halevi said in response to a question during the press conference.
“I have expressed my responsibility on several occasions, and these words also have a practical meaning, it is very clear to me,” he added, insinuating that he was seriously considering resigning. “We do not leave tasks in the middle, when we complete the tasks, I will make my decisions.”
Regarding Saturday’s airstrike in the southern Gaza Strip, targeting Muhammed Deif, the leader of Hamas’s military wing and one of the masterminds behind October 7, Halevi said it was still too early to determine if Deif, who had evaded numerous Israeli assassination attempts over the past 30 years, was successfully eliminated.
“Muhammed was afraid to die, so he hid in a way that even harmed his ability to command. He hid and sacrificed with him his people and civilians who were in the area, who were in danger, very few of whom were harmed,” Halevi said. “We found him, we will also find the next ones in line.”
“These assassinations are part of the continuous and changing military pressure that the IDF exerts in all parts of the Gaza Strip. Every day, there are many Hamas deaths… This is important for the systematic dismantling of the Hamas terror organization. It is also very important for the creation of conditions for an agreement for the return of the hostages,” he added.
Probing October 7
Regarding inquiries into October 7, Halevi said the process has already begun, mentioning the investigation into the battle in Be’eri where 132 Israelis were killed and a further 32 were kidnapped by Hamas terrorists. “The findings of the inquiry are difficult and painful. Alongside them, we found many displays of heroism and courage of many residents, soldiers, and commanders, who protected the people of the kibbutz with their bodies while sacrificing their own lives without end,” he said.
“I have nothing but enormous appreciation for the soldiers who fought on October 7. I salute them and the bravery they displayed during long hours of fighting, in very difficult conditions and facing huge complexities. Amid such complex combat, mistakes were made, decisions were made, some of them fatal, from which we learn and will continue to learn,” he added, likely referring to the decision made by Brig. Gen. Barak Hiram to have a tank fire shells near a home where hostages were being held captive by terrorists. “It is not possible to act in such a reality without making mistakes. I am very proud to be the commander of those soldiers and commanders. Every heroic deed they did is theirs; in every mistake they made, I have a part,” Halevi said. Also on the topic of the military’s inquiries into the October 7 catastrophe, Halevi said, “The claims that someone in the IDF knew what was going to happen that morning and concealed it are completely unfounded. Unfortunately, there is not a soldier or commander in the IDF who knew what was going to happen on the morning of October 7. The warnings that did exist, we are examining in depth.”
He was apparently referring to unfounded claims that the military could have prevented the October 7 slaughter but chose not to.
“The purpose of the operational inquiry is first and foremost for learning and correction and is not a substitute for an external examination mechanism when it will be appointed. Needless to say, we will fully cooperate with such a mechanism, and the operational inquiries will be able to contribute a lot, as was the case in past wars,” Halevi said, referring to a possible state commission of inquiry to investigate October 7 onslaught and the failures surrounding it.
Despite calls from several opposition lawmakers, as well as Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Netanyahu has insisted that an investigation determining the culpability of the government cannot take place while the war in Gaza is ongoing. He has also been non-committal on establishing a state commission — the investigatory body with the greatest powers — indicating that other formats may be appropriate.
“When we complete all the inquiries, we will have the overall picture, then we will be able to conclude all the lessons and also personal conclusions,” Halevi said, referring to criticism that the probe into the onslaught and battle at Be’eri did not come to conclusions regarding individual officers. “These are days of war for our existence here and for our future. We don’t have the right to stop for a moment, we have the determination and we have the patience,” he added.
Lebanon preparations
Halevi added that the IDF was prepared for “the next stage in Lebanon” as hostilities between Israel and the terror group Hezbollah continue to escalate.
“We are in high-intensity combat in the north. Along with increasing achievements in degrading Hezbollah, we do not forget for a moment the plight of the residents of the north in the last nine months; We grieve at all times for the dead and injured from Hezbollah attacks,” he said.
“In the last few days, I was in one of the communities close to the border, of course not for the first time. I saw the damage, I met with the leadership there, I heard difficult things from them — we translate this difficulty into determination in combat, and later into real solutions and the return of the residents in security to their homes,” he said. Since October 8, Hezbollah-led forces have attacked Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a near-daily basis, with the group saying it is doing so to support Gaza during the war there.
So far, the skirmishes have resulted in 12 civilian deaths on the Israeli side, as well as the deaths of 17 IDF soldiers and reservists. There have also been several attacks from Syria, without any injuries.
Hezbollah has named 366 members who have been killed by Israel during the ongoing skirmishes, mostly in Lebanon but some also in Syria. In Lebanon, another 66 operatives from other terror groups, a Lebanese soldier, and dozens of civilians have been killed. LINK Netanyahu has been trying to put the blame for October 7 on the army since the attack and now, to try to take attention away from his constant torpedoing of the negotiations is again blaming the army for not putting enough military pressure on Hamas, which is total BS. When the government lacks a strategy for the war and for the day after, the army can only do so much. A war does not end when it decides. It ends when the political echelons and leaders decide it ends and what needs to be done to bring about an end. That has been and continues to be totally lacking.
Halevy needs to resign as he has a role in responsibility for October 6, but no one wants him, the head of the Shin Bet and the Mossad to resign before Netanyahu leaves office. No one wants Netanyahu to appoint the next generation of heads of all the security services as he will look to appoint people who will help him avoid responsibility for his major role in bringing us to October 7. All of the security heads, Halevy, Ronen Bar (Shin Bet) and Dede Barnea have already publicly taken responsibility for their roles, as has the Defense Minister. The only one, the one who bears the most responsibility for the massacre, the worst day in the history of Israel, the worst day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust, Netanyahu has only been avoiding taking responsibility and making all attempts to put the blame on others. He claims that, as Prime Minister, he is responsible for the safety of Israel and its people and is very quick to take credit for any successes, but absolutely refuses to take responsibility or blame when things go wrong. He had an opportunity to do the right thing right after October 6 and do everything he could to bring home all 250 hostages, but he never saw that as a primary goal of the war. He is directly responsible for every hostage who has been killed since then. Their blood is on his hands.
Slamming the enlistment law currently being debated in the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman complains that the government is pushing hard to exempt yeshiva students even as it is lengthening active duty soldiers’ terms of service and calling up reservists for repeated stints in the army.
“This harms security and the unity of the nation,” he tells reporters ahead of his party’s weekly faction meeting in the Knesset.
Liberman also slams United Torah Judaism chairman Yitzhak Goldknopf for his statement that he would be willing to support legislation to cancel the upcoming Knesset recess in order to pass the enlistment bill.“That says everything,” Liberman says.
The screening was followed by a two-hour debate on the issue, during which ministers pointed fingers at the justice system, law enforcement, and the attorney general for what they said was unchecked violent speech by members of the public against Netanyahu and his family.
The discussion, entitled “Incitement against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu” was not on the cabinet’s original agenda but was added after the attempt on Trump’s life during a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday. —What they fail to disclose is that the ‘incitement’ is political incitement and not calling for violence. It is a call for elections and ending this horrible government. The biggest inciters are actually inside the government: Ben Gvir, Smotrich and Netanyahu. The goals of this cabinet publication is to make it look like Netanyahu is besieged and needs to be felt sorry for. Netanyahu’s use of this event will bring about greater police abuse if protesters, at demonstrations for the hostages and against the government
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid accuses Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of being a “crybaby and a coward” after the premier held a two-hour debate yesterday in the cabinet about incitement against him.
Reading a threatening letter wishing death and illness upon him and his family, Lapid asks journalists ahead of his Yesh Atid party’s weekly faction meeting in the Knesset if he had ever brought up the issue before.
“Have you heard about it? Did I hold a press conference? Did I hold a two-hour special faction discussion? Yes, there are threats and there is incitement. It’s a terrible and sad part of the world we live in. Everyone who reaches a senior position goes through it,” he declares.
And while violence and threats against the prime minister are unacceptable, damaging to democracy, and must be prosecuted, “Netanyahu is not a victim, he is a crybaby and a coward,” Lapid insists.
“Every soldier in Gaza is more threatened than he is, every IDF fighter in Jenin is in more danger than he is. The man who set up the poison machine, who brought in foreign billionaires and set up an incitement machine that is slowly taking over all the media in Israel, complains that they are inciting against him.”
Following this weekend’s assassination attempt against former US president Donald Trump in Pennsylvania, Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs screened a compilation of video clips showing critics of the government engaging in “incitement against the prime minister” during the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem.
The screening was followed by a two-hour debate on the issue, during which ministers pointed fingers at the justice system, law enforcement, and the attorney general for what they said was unchecked violent speech by members of the public against Netanyahu and his family.
“There is no two-hour discussion about the 101 victims of Kibbutz Be’eri, there is no two-hour discussion about the soldier who was seriously injured in the north by a drone. What about the threat to her life? Is her life less important? Why is there no two-hour discussion about the five female observation soldiers held hostage in Gaza,” Lapid asks. “Only incitement against [Netanyahu] is worth two hours of discussion? Is that the only thing that matters?”
“I don’t remember him saying anything when Naftali Bennett’s child received an envelope with a bullet and threats against his life,” he adds, referring to a threat against the then-prime minister in 2022.
Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said Sunday that a deal with Hamas that would see the release of hostages in exchange for a truce, the possible Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, and the release of Palestinian security prisoners held by Israel was a moral imperative, the implications of which the military would be able to handle.
“The IDF is creating all the pressure required to create the best conditions for such an agreement, and this is how we have acted since the end of the previous agreement,” he said at a press conference at the Palmachim Airbase in central Israel, in a riposte to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
On Saturday night, Netanyahu charged that “for months there was no progress [toward a hostage deal] because the military pressure was not strong enough,” and that that only changed when he insisted that the IDF go into Rafah.
Netanyahu has also been accused by critics of repeatedly stonewalling negotiation efforts. “The IDF will know how to abide by any agreement that is approved by the political echelon, and even after a ceasefire, to return and fight with great intensity,” Halevi said.
“The IDF will not stop working to free the hostages, those for whom time passes with great difficulty, and we will not give up on continuing to attack Hamas until this goal is achieved, and of course, we will not give up on achieving security for the citizens of the State of Israel,” Halevi added.
During his press conference, Halevi spoke on a wide range of topics concerning the IDF since war broke out on October 7, when Hamas terrorists infiltrated Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping 251.
Halevi said he would decide whether to resign in light of the military’s failure to prevent the October 7 massacre once the objectives of the war have been achieved. “I have been serving in the IDF for almost 40 years. Not one moment in my service involved clinging to a chair. I am currently busy with the tasks: dismantling Hamas, returning the hostages, creating security for residents at the borders,” Halevi said in response to a question during the press conference.
“I have expressed my responsibility on several occasions, and these words also have a practical meaning, it is very clear to me,” he added, insinuating that he was seriously considering resigning. “We do not leave tasks in the middle, when we complete the tasks, I will make my decisions.”
Regarding Saturday’s airstrike in the southern Gaza Strip, targeting Muhammed Deif, the leader of Hamas’s military wing and one of the masterminds behind October 7, Halevi said it was still too early to determine if Deif, who had evaded numerous Israeli assassination attempts over the past 30 years, was successfully eliminated.
“Muhammed was afraid to die, so he hid in a way that even harmed his ability to command. He hid and sacrificed with him his people and civilians who were in the area, who were in danger, very few of whom were harmed,” Halevi said. “We found him, we will also find the next ones in line.”
“These assassinations are part of the continuous and changing military pressure that the IDF exerts in all parts of the Gaza Strip. Every day, there are many Hamas deaths… This is important for the systematic dismantling of the Hamas terror organization. It is also very important for the creation of conditions for an agreement for the return of the hostages,” he added.
Probing October 7
Regarding inquiries into October 7, Halevi said the process has already begun, mentioning the investigation into the battle in Be’eri where 132 Israelis were killed and a further 32 were kidnapped by Hamas terrorists. “The findings of the inquiry are difficult and painful. Alongside them, we found many displays of heroism and courage of many residents, soldiers, and commanders, who protected the people of the kibbutz with their bodies while sacrificing their own lives without end,” he said.
“I have nothing but enormous appreciation for the soldiers who fought on October 7. I salute them and the bravery they displayed during long hours of fighting, in very difficult conditions and facing huge complexities. Amid such complex combat, mistakes were made, decisions were made, some of them fatal, from which we learn and will continue to learn,” he added, likely referring to the decision made by Brig. Gen. Barak Hiram to have a tank fire shells near a home where hostages were being held captive by terrorists. “It is not possible to act in such a reality without making mistakes. I am very proud to be the commander of those soldiers and commanders. Every heroic deed they did is theirs; in every mistake they made, I have a part,” Halevi said. Also on the topic of the military’s inquiries into the October 7 catastrophe, Halevi said, “The claims that someone in the IDF knew what was going to happen that morning and concealed it are completely unfounded. Unfortunately, there is not a soldier or commander in the IDF who knew what was going to happen on the morning of October 7. The warnings that did exist, we are examining in depth.”
He was apparently referring to unfounded claims that the military could have prevented the October 7 slaughter but chose not to.
“The purpose of the operational inquiry is first and foremost for learning and correction and is not a substitute for an external examination mechanism when it will be appointed. Needless to say, we will fully cooperate with such a mechanism, and the operational inquiries will be able to contribute a lot, as was the case in past wars,” Halevi said, referring to a possible state commission of inquiry to investigate October 7 onslaught and the failures surrounding it.
Despite calls from several opposition lawmakers, as well as Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Netanyahu has insisted that an investigation determining the culpability of the government cannot take place while the war in Gaza is ongoing. He has also been non-committal on establishing a state commission — the investigatory body with the greatest powers — indicating that other formats may be appropriate.
“When we complete all the inquiries, we will have the overall picture, then we will be able to conclude all the lessons and also personal conclusions,” Halevi said, referring to criticism that the probe into the onslaught and battle at Be’eri did not come to conclusions regarding individual officers. “These are days of war for our existence here and for our future. We don’t have the right to stop for a moment, we have the determination and we have the patience,” he added.
Lebanon preparations
Halevi added that the IDF was prepared for “the next stage in Lebanon” as hostilities between Israel and the terror group Hezbollah continue to escalate.
“We are in high-intensity combat in the north. Along with increasing achievements in degrading Hezbollah, we do not forget for a moment the plight of the residents of the north in the last nine months; We grieve at all times for the dead and injured from Hezbollah attacks,” he said.
“In the last few days, I was in one of the communities close to the border, of course not for the first time. I saw the damage, I met with the leadership there, I heard difficult things from them — we translate this difficulty into determination in combat, and later into real solutions and the return of the residents in security to their homes,” he said. Since October 8, Hezbollah-led forces have attacked Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a near-daily basis, with the group saying it is doing so to support Gaza during the war there.
So far, the skirmishes have resulted in 12 civilian deaths on the Israeli side, as well as the deaths of 17 IDF soldiers and reservists. There have also been several attacks from Syria, without any injuries.
Hezbollah has named 366 members who have been killed by Israel during the ongoing skirmishes, mostly in Lebanon but some also in Syria. In Lebanon, another 66 operatives from other terror groups, a Lebanese soldier, and dozens of civilians have been killed. LINK Netanyahu has been trying to put the blame for October 7 on the army since the attack and now, to try to take attention away from his constant torpedoing of the negotiations is again blaming the army for not putting enough military pressure on Hamas, which is total BS. When the government lacks a strategy for the war and for the day after, the army can only do so much. A war does not end when it decides. It ends when the political echelons and leaders decide it ends and what needs to be done to bring about an end. That has been and continues to be totally lacking.
Halevy needs to resign as he has a role in responsibility for October 6, but no one wants him, the head of the Shin Bet and the Mossad to resign before Netanyahu leaves office. No one wants Netanyahu to appoint the next generation of heads of all the security services as he will look to appoint people who will help him avoid responsibility for his major role in bringing us to October 7. All of the security heads, Halevy, Ronen Bar (Shin Bet) and Dede Barnea have already publicly taken responsibility for their roles, as has the Defense Minister. The only one, the one who bears the most responsibility for the massacre, the worst day in the history of Israel, the worst day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust, Netanyahu has only been avoiding taking responsibility and making all attempts to put the blame on others. He claims that, as Prime Minister, he is responsible for the safety of Israel and its people and is very quick to take credit for any successes, but absolutely refuses to take responsibility or blame when things go wrong. He had an opportunity to do the right thing right after October 6 and do everything he could to bring home all 250 hostages, but he never saw that as a primary goal of the war. He is directly responsible for every hostage who has been killed since then. Their blood is on his hands.
Slamming the enlistment law currently being debated in the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman complains that the government is pushing hard to exempt yeshiva students even as it is lengthening active duty soldiers’ terms of service and calling up reservists for repeated stints in the army.
“This harms security and the unity of the nation,” he tells reporters ahead of his party’s weekly faction meeting in the Knesset.
The Region and the World
- Yemen's Houthi terror organization said on Sunday they had conducted two military operations, one in the Gulf of Aden and one in Eilat at the southern tip of Israel. Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group had targeted the Israeli ship MSC UNIFIC in the Gulf of Aden with ballistic missiles and drones in addition to attacking military targets in Eilat with drones. The spokesperson said that the latest Houthi operations came in response to the Israeli airstrike on Khan Yunis on Saturday, an attack which claimed the lives of at least 90 Palestinians and wounded 300 others, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry. ---the Houthis have made these claims without any evidence and no IDF or any other official or spokesperson has confirmed these ludicrous claims. It is not the first time that the Houthis have made unsubstantiated claims of attacks on Israel.
US Central Command statements
Separately, the US Central Command said in a statement on Sunday that it has "destroyed two Iranian-backed Houthi uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAV) over the Red Sea and one uncrewed surface vessel (USV) in the Red Sea," as well as "one Houthi UAV in a Houthi-controlled area of Yemen."
Personal Stories As volunteers step in for state, Gaza border towns begin
rebuilding from Oct. 7 ashes
In the aftermath of the Hamas invasion and as war
continues, official aid for affected communities is unpredictable – and so is
manpower. But residents are determined to return
Haggai Grosvirt and his wife Katrin have moved back into their
home on Kibbutz Kissufim in late June after being displaced since October 7.
The couple barely escaped
with their lives when dozens of Hamas-led terrorists rampaged through the
kibbutz during the October 7 terror onslaught, leaving a trail of death and
destruction in their wake. Together with the rest of the kibbutz residents,
they were evacuated to Hotel Noga near the Dead Sea.
The Grosvirts’ house is
situated on the westernmost point of the still-devastated kibbutz, less than a
mile away from the border with the Gaza Strip. A line of trees in the distance
blocks the Palestinian enclave from view, a defense measure against anti-tank
missiles.
Among the 1,200 people
murdered in southern Israel by thousands of rampaging terrorists on October 7
were 12 residents of Kissufim and six foreign workers. Kibbutz member Shlomo
Mantzur, 86, was among the 251 hostages kidnapped to the Gaza Strip, and 11
Israeli troops were killed in battle defending the kibbutz.
Grosvirt and his wife hid in
their safe room as Hamas gunmen attempted unsuccessfully to break into their
home. When the IDF finally arrived, the Grosvirts escaped; afterward, a
terrorist managed to break in and hide there for five days. When IDF soldiers
came to clear the area, he opened fire, wounding three troops before he was
killed. The terrorist’s bloodstains were still visible on the walls and drapes
of the Grosvirts’ living room until a few weeks ago.
In the wake of the massacre,
Israel vowed to make the Gaza Envelope “stronger than ever.” But, nine months
on, while most residents of the region have returned home, most of the kibbutz
remains deserted. Locals are deterred by the level of damage and the risk of
attacks from Gaza, despite feeble government assurances that the area is safe.
Haggai Grosvirt, 65, has come
back to help rebuild. Shrugging off the danger from the ongoing war raging next
door, he discusses his return with a measure of stoicism.
“I came here for the
rehabilitation efforts anyway… now I don’t have to commute here every day from
Omer,” Grosvirt said, referring to the town near Beersheba where he and his
wife temporarily settled after leaving the hotel.
A total of 34 buildings stand
in ruin, bullet holes can be seen on outer walls across the kibbutz, and the
dairy barn is still defunct. But the kibbutz is clean and tidy, with green
lawns and lively gardening.
“Trees fell over, flowers
withered and died, the grass was tall and dry after the wintertime… [but]
things are completely different now,” said Noga Grosvirt, Haggai Grosvirt’s
niece, who is helping restore the kibbutz.
Noga, 22, arrived in Kissufim
in January to work in the avocado fields after concluding her military service.
“We tried to make up for three months of lost work,” she said.
Haggai Grosvirt on Kibbutz Kissufim, summer 2024. (Siena Naaman
Cohen)
In March, Thai workers were
brought in and Noga’s farming contract was terminated. “We didn’t plan to
leave,” she said. “So four of us found new work to do around the kibbutz.”
The surrounding fields of
produce, the kibbutz’s main source of income, have almost returned to full
capacity, Haggai Grosvirt said. He and two other kibbutz veterans are managing
the rehabilitation plans, and Noga is their office administrator. Although
residents have not returned yet, the kibbutz is starting to get back on its feet
with the help of young men and women.
Volunteers from the IDF’s
Yael Battalion reserves unit guard the kibbutz while running errands in their
spare time without pay.
“They work in avocado
[farming], the chicken coop, wherever they are needed,” Grosvirt said.
Other volunteers have arrived
from abroad as part of the international Garin Tzabar pre-military program for
non-residents.
“These [volunteers] are more
permanent,” Noga said. “They learn the work and get into a routine to the point
that they know what to do independently. We started with 15 people, even less,
and now there are a lot more. That youthful spirit is special.
“Had I not believed that people would want to settle here, I wouldn’t recruit them. We are looking for fresh energy,” she added. “People are starting to fantasize about new projects to build; my uncle says he wants to reconstruct the old stable that’s been out of action for years.”
Noga Grosvirt, right, with another volunteer on Kibbutz Kissufim, summer 2024. (Dor Maor)
The return of the original
residents, however, is far off. Grosvirt said that families with children will
find it difficult to return next year without the region’s school system in
effect. He noted that as long as the war rages on, rocket warning sirens
continue, and rehabilitation efforts are ongoing, people will not return.
For construction work to
commence, Grosvirt said that a 30 percent deficit in government compensation
must be made up for, adding that residents deserve “full coverage for the
damage.”
Five-year rehabilitation plan
The October 7 massacre saw
the most Jewish bloodshed in a single day since the Holocaust. The brutality of
the attacks, which included indiscriminate rape, torture, dismemberment and
mutilation, as well as the murder of entire families — some burned alive in
their homes — is unprecedented in recent memory.
At the same time, the fierce
battles between Israeli forces and the invading terrorists, who had taken over
large swaths of territory near the Gaza Strip, led to massive damage to private
and public buildings, agricultural lands, infrastructure, and more.
“The Gaza Envelope is now
like Yad Vashem [Israel’s national Holocaust museum],” a young volunteer said,
referring to the numerous makeshift October 7 memorials put up along Route 232,
which runs through the Israeli communities near the Gaza border.
On October 19, the Israeli
government formed the Tekuma Authority, tasked with rehabilitating the Gaza
periphery and tending to residents who were evacuated from the war zones in the
north and south. Residents along the border — even from towns that were not
directly affected by the onslaught — departed to state-funded hotels as large
IDF forces deployed in the area in preparation for a ground maneuver in the
Gaza Strip.
Meanwhile, 60,000 residents of Israel’s north have also been evacuated amid near-daily attacks by Hezbollah, which the Lebanese terror organization vows to continue until the IDF withdraws from Gaza.
Illustrative: The destruction caused by Hamas terrorists in
Kibbutz Kissufim on October 7, 2023, in southern Israel, November 20, 2023.
(Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
Today, approximately 70% of
residents have returned to their homes in the south. The remaining 30%, some
5,700 evacuees, remain in state-funded hotels or have found other interim
solutions such as rented apartments or temporarily constructed caravan sites.
The government recently extended subsidies for evacuees staying in hotels until
August 15. Evacuees who leave the state-funded hotels receive a monthly stipend
from the government for living expenses, including rent.
Hebrew media reported that
adults and children are compensated NIS 200 and NIS 100 (roughly $50 and $25)
per day respectively, which amounts to NIS 18,000 (roughly $4,800) a month for
a family of four (in comparison, the cost per family in a hotel is NIS 45,000,
or $12,000).
The Tekuma Authority was
budgeted with NIS 19 billion ($5 billion) to execute its targets (NIS 1.5
billion, or $400 million, for construction and renovations), and launched a
five-year plan for rebuilding the Gaza border region.
“We hope they won’t need us
in five years’ time,” said a source authorized to speak for the body, who
requested anonymity. “We are not rushing the communities. They experienced
trauma, they still have kidnapped members; our role is to accompany them at
their pace.”
Volunteers work to restore Kibbutz Kissufim, summer 2024. (Noga
Grosvirt)
A short car ride from
Kissufim, outside of Kibbutz Be’eri, in which 101 residents were murdered and
11 kidnapped, a woman in a red shirt cleaned plastic tables at a bike shop that
also sells cheeses and drinks, one of the rare establishments in the area that
is open for business.
She said that “realistically
speaking, it will take us at least three years before we move back.” Currently,
she is lodging in a temporary residence in Kibbutz Dorot, a 20-minute drive
eastward.
In Kfar Aza, another kibbutz
that suffered heavy losses, the hot serenity of June and the soft chirping of
birds did not temper the scene of destruction. Dozens of ruined homes blackened
with soot were visible throughout the kibbutz. Government work to identify the
DNA of the deceased continued, all these months after the Hamas onslaught.
Forty-seven
towns and cities along the Gaza border have joined the Tekuma Authority’s
rehabilitation plan. Towns
closest to the border were inflicted with the worst damage on October 7 and
require most of the rehabilitation efforts. With the exception of Be’eri, these
towns, most of them kibbutzim, are designated as closed military areas, which
slows their path to recovery — though people involved in the rehabilitation
efforts are allowed to live there. Newly constructed neighborhoods, as an interim solution, are
expected to house most of the evacuees of these towns until they can move back
to their homes.
The Tekuma Authority source
said that while property tax authorities and government compensation funds can
normally subsidize up to 70% of buildings’ damage in wartime, the authority
will compensate the localities in full, even surpassing the expenses for the
damage.
“This week we laid a
cornerstone in Kibbutz Be’eri for the new Shikmim neighborhood [where 52 homes
will be built]. These communities need to make decisions about how to move
forward: which buildings to demolish, which to preserve as memorial sites;
these considerations take time,” said the source.
Following the founding Zionists
Not everyone is waiting for
government solutions. Uprooted locals have launched their own rehabilitation
initiatives, and together with volunteers from Israel and abroad, a cautious
sense of renewal is starting to take form in the region.
Kibbutz Urim is situated just
six miles from the Gaza Strip border and its citizens were evacuated to the
state-funded hotels. Though it remained unscathed during the Hamas onslaught of
October 7, the place needed a revamp after IDF troops lodged there for almost
six months while the residents were away.
Locals turned to One Heart (Lev Ehad), a nonprofit organization for humanitarian aid. Founded in 2005, the organization is known for its volunteer emergency relief work and has provided aid during the coronavirus pandemic, earthquakes in neighboring countries, and the war in Ukraine.
One Heart (Lev Ehad) volunteers perform renovation work on
Kibbutz Urim, summer 2024. (Courtesy)
“After the military’s
prolonged stay in Urim, the kibbutz looked very different,” said Shiraz Pascal,
One Heart’s manager of Israel’s southern region, including the Gaza periphery.
“Its teenagers needed a place for gathering, and they didn’t have it. Our volunteers
came in, we raised donations, including a very generous one from Palo Alto
Networks, and we renovated the interior and exterior of Urim’s after-school
activity center.”
“We don’t just tend to
present needs but think about the future — how to enable residents to return to
the kibbutzim with proper conditions. We help with renovations, gardening,
cleaning, fundraising, moving property, things like that,” she added.
Hezi Gilboa, an IDF reserves
fighter who works at One Heart, said the nonprofit also organizes delegations
of Jews who come from abroad to volunteer, donate, and help in any way
possible.
“We have a deliberate
emphasis on working with youth. We know that we can’t just blame the older
generation for the present crisis. We have to take responsibility and correct
what’s wrong. That’s what the founding Zionists did,” Gilboa said.
Volunteers work to restore Kibbutz Kissufim, summer 2024. (Noga
Grosvirt)
Shir Diner, the vice
president of One Heart, is optimistic about the future: “The state will not
take care of everything, but the good and one-of-a-kind citizens of this
country will,” she said.
The organization’s next major
goal is the launch of three summer camps across the nation for teen evacuees,
and it is currently fundraising to bring the project to fruition.
Now toting guns
Despite being an
ex-paratrooper, Haggai Grosvirt was reluctant to carry a gun prior to the Hamas
onslaught. “I was skeptical that something [like October 7] could happen,” he
said. Now Grosvirt is part of Kibbutz Kissufim’s civil emergency team and carries
an M-16 rifle wherever he goes.
His wife returned with him to
the kibbutz and works at Kibbutz Be’eri’s printing house. Their daughter, who
has been a lifelong member of the kibbutz, has also returned. She is now the
manager of Kissufim’s cultural events.
The partially restored local pub beloved by locals on Kibbutz
Kissufim, summer 2024. (Noga Grosvirt)
“The Kissufim community is
strong. One of our advantages is that our community did not disperse. In fact,
we could sit in the hotel Noga lobby and talk more often than we did in the
kibbutz. We even brought the kibbutz’s pub with us,” Grosvirt said.
Noga Grosvirt heaped praise
on the “famous” Kissufim pub, recalling how locals from all over the region
would come for a drink. Although they currently lacked the old equipment of the
pub, the young volunteers of Kissufim began bringing in new equipment and reopened
it last week.
“We didn’t even know who
would come, but members of the kibbutz arrived and everyone was very
emotional,” Noga said. “The music, the feeling of normalcy… it was a great
experience.”
“I wouldn’t be here if I
didn’t think we could rebuild,” Grosvirt said. “I have alternatives. I could
leave for my wife’s country of origin. But I am from Kissufim. Not returning
would mean we lost the war.” link
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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