π️Lonny's War Update- October 287, 2023 - July 19, 2024 π️
π️Day 287 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
*5:45pm yesterday- north - hostile aircraft - Rosh Pina, Hatzor Haglilit - this is the first alert in this area since last October *7:45pm yesterday - north - rockets Hanita, Eilon, Idmit, Ya'ara, Arab al Aramshe*8:45pm yesterday- north - Two suspected drones that entered Israeli airspace from Lebanon in the past hour were shot down by air defenses, the IDF says.
Additional sirens had sounded over fears of falling shrapnel following the interceptions.
*7:40am - north - rockets Metulla
*8:20am - north - rockets Dafna
*8:25am - north - hostile aircraft Beit Hillel, Hagoshrim
*8:50am - north - rockets Avirim, Fassuta, Zra'it, Shomera, Netua, Shtula
*9:30am- north - rockets - Margaliot
*10:55am - north - rockets- Meron Field School, Sasa, Zva'on
*12:00pm - north - rockets Metulla
*12:15pm - north - rockets Gordot Hagalil, Even Menahem, Zra'it, Shomera, Goren
*1:15pm - north - rockets Admit, Arab al Aramsha, Kabri, Avdon, Yaara
*1:30pm - north - rockets Manara, Neve Ziv, Eilon, Avdon, Ma'ilia
Over 80 rockets launched to the north this morning\
Ben Amram was among 19 troops hurt in the drone attack against an army base in the Merom Golan area on June 30.
May his memory forever be a blessing
Hostage Updates
Israel’s team indirectly negotiating a hostage-ceasefire deal with Hamas has been drawing up new clauses to take account of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recently added demands for ongoing Israeli control of the Philadelphi Corridor and Rafah border crossing, and his insistence on preventing armed gunmen from returning to northern Gaza when displaced residents return in the first phase of the deal, Channel 12 reports.
The negotiating team headed by Mossad chief David Barnea will not resume talks in Qatar until the new formulas have been approved by Netanyahu and his ministerial colleagues, the report says.
Israel’s May 27 proposal — published in full by The Times of Israel last week — does not specify the Philadelphi Corridor and the Rafah Crossing as locations where Israeli troops will be allowed to remain, and its wording does not set out a mechanism whereby armed gunmen would be prevented from returning to northern Gaza.
Tonight’s TV report says the negotiators intend to present their new texts for definitive approval by Netanyahu and his senior ministerial colleagues. Once that approval is obtained, they will convey the updated clauses to US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators, and then to Hamas.
The report underlines that these texts mark a departure from the May 27 proposal, which was approved by Netanyahu and his now dismantled war cabinet and publicly detailed by US President Joe Biden on May 31. It is not clear from the TV report if the fresh formulations will be part of an amended proposal, or an appendix to the May 27 proposal.
As things stand, the report says, Barnea, the head of the negotiating team, has not set a date to fly to Doha to resume talks with the mediators, and he is not expected to fly out in the next few days.
The negotiating team believes the new texts “will break the deadlock” in the negotiations, the TV report says, quoting unnamed Israeli sources, but talks on finalizing the details of the deal with Hamas would still take several more weeks. It says Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar has also been working with Egyptian and American mediators recently on formulas to resolve the same two security issues.
The report quotes Netanyahu saying privately in recent days that a deal is close, but that further military pressure on Hamas is still required: “We are getting close to achieving the goals of the deal, the distance is shrinking,” Channel 12 quotes him saying. “If we hit [Hamas] harder militarily, we’ll be able to bring a deal to fruition. Hamas is starting to crack.”
Netanyahu made similar comments publicly when in Rafah earlier today, and at a press conference on Saturday night.
The TV report paraphrases unnamed sources in the security establishment warning, however, that this is the moment of truth for a deal and that time may not be working in Israel’s favor — both because of the daily danger to the lives of the hostages and because there is no knowing what other developments might derail a deal in the coming weeks if it is not done now.
Channel 12 also quotes unnamed cabinet sources charging that Netanyahu is deliberately putting off a finalized deal, and speculating that this is either to ensure his coalition survives until the start of the Knesset summer recess at the end of July or in order to try to present Hamas as the rejectionist side.
These sources say that the prime minister’s stance puts the deal “at risk.” link
Three former Hamas hostages hold a press conference in the so-called Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, calling on the government to close a deal to secure their release from Gaza.
The three women were among 105 civilians who were released from Hamas captivity during a weeklong truce in late November.
“What we experienced in 49 days, the 120 [remaining] hostages have been experiencing for almost six times the amount of time we lived in terror in Hamas captivity,” says Danielle Aloni, who was kidnapped on October 7 along with her her husband David Cunio and daughter Emilia. David Cunio is still captive in Gaza.
“They have been abandoned there. For nine and a half months, they’ve been miserable, they’re suffering, they’re dying slowly in body and soul, even those who are still alive.” Addressing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of his trip to Washington next week, released hostage Adina Moshe says, “I call on you prime minister: save those who you can. There are live hostages. There’s no time.”
It is believed that 116 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, of whom 42 have been confirmed dead by the IDF. 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.
“Sign the deal, you will be the one who returns the living and the dead for burial. Be the one who allows us all to get out of this hell, to feel again like Jews, Israelis, who do everything for our brothers and do not abandon them,” Moshe adds.
Raz Ben Ami, whose husband Ohad remains in Hamas captivity, pleads, “Bibi, you tell me, how will I be able to go on if you don’t sign your deal now and give me Ohad back?”
“If the deal doesn’t go through this time, does that mean I should start forgetting about him? I ask you, I demand of you: first the deal and then the flight,” she adds, referencing Netanyahu’s imminent trip to the US.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is reportedly set to meet with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and the Israeli negotiating team working to close a hostage-ceasefire deal with Hamas tonight, to confirm Israel’s position on the latest proposal on the table.
In a post on X, Israeli journalist Barak Ravid quotes a senior Israeli official as saying that the purpose of the meeting is to discuss Netanyahu’s most recent demands for a deal, spurred on by intelligence assessments that Hamas is weary, weakened, and keen to end the fighting.
Two key points that the prime minister has seized on are Israel’s ability to directly prevent weapons smuggling to Hamas through tunnels under the Egypt-Hamas border, and preventing the terror group from moving its fighters from southern Gaza to the north by embedding them among Palestinians displaced by the war when they are permitted to return to the north.
Israel believes that 120 hostages are being held in Gaza — of whom dozens have been confirmed dead by the IDF.
Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir told security cabinet ministers that he believes a hostage-ceasefire deal at this time will be “a slap for Trump, which would be a victory for Biden,” Channel 13 reports.
The outlet says the Otzma Yehudit leader suggested that a deal wait until after the results of the November US presidential election.
Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who both oppose any deal that ends the fighting before Hamas is destroyed, have threatened to topple the government if necessary to prevent one.
According to Channel 13, a number of ministers attacked Ben Gvir for the comments, in particular Transportation Minister Miri Regev and Science Minister Gila Gamliel, both of the ruling Likud party.
“We must act for immediate release, the abductees have been there for nine months. Women can give birth during this period of time,” Gamliel is quoted as saying, in reference to concerns over the sexual abuse of female hostages in captivity.
Ben Gvir made the reported comments during a Tuesday security cabinet meeting in which Mossad chief David Barnea told officials that young female hostages held by Hamas don’t have time to wait for a new hostage deal framework, according to unsourced leaks from the gathering that were widely reported by Hebrew media outlets yesterday.
“It could take long weeks. The girls in captivity don’t have time to wait for changes in the proposal under discussion,” Barnea was quoted as saying in the closed-door meeting.
It was not clear why Barnea focused specifically on the women.
The deal currently on the table would see the release of hostages held by Hamas in return for some form of ceasefire in the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip as well as the release of Palestinians held in Israeli jails. link there is very little that Ben Gvir can say or do that is not reprehensible and sinking to the depths of disgusting. He has done it again with his statements that the hostages can wait till after the US Presidential election so that Trump can be elected. He doesn't give a damn about the hostages or their families or the suffering that most of the nation is going through because we still have hostages in Gaza. He only cares about his extremist agenda and all else be damned. Netanyahu normalized this creature of racism and hate and all efforts must be made so he and his racist party can never again reach positions of public power. They should be outlawed just as his mentor, Meir Kahana's party was outlawed.
Hostage Updates
Israel’s team indirectly negotiating a hostage-ceasefire deal with Hamas has been drawing up new clauses to take account of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recently added demands for ongoing Israeli control of the Philadelphi Corridor and Rafah border crossing, and his insistence on preventing armed gunmen from returning to northern Gaza when displaced residents return in the first phase of the deal, Channel 12 reports.
The negotiating team headed by Mossad chief David Barnea will not resume talks in Qatar until the new formulas have been approved by Netanyahu and his ministerial colleagues, the report says.
Israel’s May 27 proposal — published in full by The Times of Israel last week — does not specify the Philadelphi Corridor and the Rafah Crossing as locations where Israeli troops will be allowed to remain, and its wording does not set out a mechanism whereby armed gunmen would be prevented from returning to northern Gaza.
Tonight’s TV report says the negotiators intend to present their new texts for definitive approval by Netanyahu and his senior ministerial colleagues. Once that approval is obtained, they will convey the updated clauses to US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators, and then to Hamas.
The report underlines that these texts mark a departure from the May 27 proposal, which was approved by Netanyahu and his now dismantled war cabinet and publicly detailed by US President Joe Biden on May 31. It is not clear from the TV report if the fresh formulations will be part of an amended proposal, or an appendix to the May 27 proposal.
As things stand, the report says, Barnea, the head of the negotiating team, has not set a date to fly to Doha to resume talks with the mediators, and he is not expected to fly out in the next few days.
The negotiating team believes the new texts “will break the deadlock” in the negotiations, the TV report says, quoting unnamed Israeli sources, but talks on finalizing the details of the deal with Hamas would still take several more weeks. It says Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar has also been working with Egyptian and American mediators recently on formulas to resolve the same two security issues.The report quotes Netanyahu saying privately in recent days that a deal is close, but that further military pressure on Hamas is still required: “We are getting close to achieving the goals of the deal, the distance is shrinking,” Channel 12 quotes him saying. “If we hit [Hamas] harder militarily, we’ll be able to bring a deal to fruition. Hamas is starting to crack.”
Netanyahu made similar comments publicly when in Rafah earlier today, and at a press conference on Saturday night.
The TV report paraphrases unnamed sources in the security establishment warning, however, that this is the moment of truth for a deal and that time may not be working in Israel’s favor — both because of the daily danger to the lives of the hostages and because there is no knowing what other developments might derail a deal in the coming weeks if it is not done now.
Channel 12 also quotes unnamed cabinet sources charging that Netanyahu is deliberately putting off a finalized deal, and speculating that this is either to ensure his coalition survives until the start of the Knesset summer recess at the end of July or in order to try to present Hamas as the rejectionist side.
These sources say that the prime minister’s stance puts the deal “at risk.” link
Three former Hamas hostages hold a press conference in the so-called Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, calling on the government to close a deal to secure their release from Gaza.
The three women were among 105 civilians who were released from Hamas captivity during a weeklong truce in late November.
“What we experienced in 49 days, the 120 [remaining] hostages have been experiencing for almost six times the amount of time we lived in terror in Hamas captivity,” says Danielle Aloni, who was kidnapped on October 7 along with her her husband David Cunio and daughter Emilia. David Cunio is still captive in Gaza.
“They have been abandoned there. For nine and a half months, they’ve been miserable, they’re suffering, they’re dying slowly in body and soul, even those who are still alive.” Addressing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of his trip to Washington next week, released hostage Adina Moshe says, “I call on you prime minister: save those who you can. There are live hostages. There’s no time.”
It is believed that 116 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, of whom 42 have been confirmed dead by the IDF. 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.
“Sign the deal, you will be the one who returns the living and the dead for burial. Be the one who allows us all to get out of this hell, to feel again like Jews, Israelis, who do everything for our brothers and do not abandon them,” Moshe adds.
Raz Ben Ami, whose husband Ohad remains in Hamas captivity, pleads, “Bibi, you tell me, how will I be able to go on if you don’t sign your deal now and give me Ohad back?”
“If the deal doesn’t go through this time, does that mean I should start forgetting about him? I ask you, I demand of you: first the deal and then the flight,” she adds, referencing Netanyahu’s imminent trip to the US.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is reportedly set to meet with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and the Israeli negotiating team working to close a hostage-ceasefire deal with Hamas tonight, to confirm Israel’s position on the latest proposal on the table.
In a post on X, Israeli journalist Barak Ravid quotes a senior Israeli official as saying that the purpose of the meeting is to discuss Netanyahu’s most recent demands for a deal, spurred on by intelligence assessments that Hamas is weary, weakened, and keen to end the fighting.
Two key points that the prime minister has seized on are Israel’s ability to directly prevent weapons smuggling to Hamas through tunnels under the Egypt-Hamas border, and preventing the terror group from moving its fighters from southern Gaza to the north by embedding them among Palestinians displaced by the war when they are permitted to return to the north.
Israel believes that 120 hostages are being held in Gaza — of whom dozens have been confirmed dead by the IDF.
Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir told security cabinet ministers that he believes a hostage-ceasefire deal at this time will be “a slap for Trump, which would be a victory for Biden,” Channel 13 reports.
The outlet says the Otzma Yehudit leader suggested that a deal wait until after the results of the November US presidential election.
Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who both oppose any deal that ends the fighting before Hamas is destroyed, have threatened to topple the government if necessary to prevent one.
According to Channel 13, a number of ministers attacked Ben Gvir for the comments, in particular Transportation Minister Miri Regev and Science Minister Gila Gamliel, both of the ruling Likud party.
“We must act for immediate release, the abductees have been there for nine months. Women can give birth during this period of time,” Gamliel is quoted as saying, in reference to concerns over the sexual abuse of female hostages in captivity.
Ben Gvir made the reported comments during a Tuesday security cabinet meeting in which Mossad chief David Barnea told officials that young female hostages held by Hamas don’t have time to wait for a new hostage deal framework, according to unsourced leaks from the gathering that were widely reported by Hebrew media outlets yesterday.
“It could take long weeks. The girls in captivity don’t have time to wait for changes in the proposal under discussion,” Barnea was quoted as saying in the closed-door meeting.
It was not clear why Barnea focused specifically on the women.
The deal currently on the table would see the release of hostages held by Hamas in return for some form of ceasefire in the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip as well as the release of Palestinians held in Israeli jails. link there is very little that Ben Gvir can say or do that is not reprehensible and sinking to the depths of disgusting. He has done it again with his statements that the hostages can wait till after the US Presidential election so that Trump can be elected. He doesn't give a damn about the hostages or their families or the suffering that most of the nation is going through because we still have hostages in Gaza. He only cares about his extremist agenda and all else be damned. Netanyahu normalized this creature of racism and hate and all efforts must be made so he and his racist party can never again reach positions of public power. They should be outlawed just as his mentor, Meir Kahana's party was outlawed.
Gaza
- A Palestinian man who attempted to infiltrate into Israel earlier this evening was killed in a drone strike, the IDF says.
According to the military, soldiers monitoring surveillance cameras spotted the suspect approaching Israel’s border barrier from the southern Gaza Strip.
Troops were dispatched to the scene, and the suspect began to flee back to Gaza. A short while later, he was struck by a drone and killed, the IDF says. It says the suspect did not cross the barrier amid the incident.
- Suspected “unlawful combatants” currently receiving treatment at the controversial Sde Teiman detention facility will be transferred to civilian hospitals in the center of the country, Channel 12 reports, without citing sources.
The term refers to Hamas terrorists captured on and after October 7 when terrorists rampaged through the country’s south, murdering some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages.
Most of the detainees at the southern facility are suspected of having participated in the attack.
The suspects are reportedly being transferred due to a shortage of medical staff at the Sde Teiman facility. Details of the hospitals in central Israel are not published for fear of riots, the report adds.
Health Ministry officials have confirmed the report, according to Channel 12.
The IDF is currently in the process of phasing out the use of the military-run detention camp amid allegations of abuse of inmates there.
A group of Hamas operatives gathered at a United Nations facility in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighborhood were struck by a fighter jet a short while ago, the IDF says.
According to the military, the UNRWA site was used by Hamas as a command center.
The IDF says it carried out “many steps” to mitigate harm to civilians, including using aerial surveillance and “precision munitions.”
In recent weeks, more than 50 airstrikes have been carried out against Hamas sites embedded within schools and other sites used as shelters for civilians, according to the IDF.
The public fight between Yoav Gallant and Benjamin Netanyahu over plans to build a field hospital for Gazan children continues, with the defense minister accusing the prime minister’s staff of failing to advance the original plan to send sick and injured children abroad through Israel. According to a statement from Gallant’s office, Netanyahu accepted the minister’s recommendation that complex cases be sent abroad by way of Israel. Gallant claims that he turned to the Prime Minister’s Office and National Security Council asking for a directive to all relevant ministries to cooperate on the plan.
“Despite the clear directive from the prime minister to enact the defense minister’s proposal,” claims Gallant’s office, “a discussion on the topic was canceled and the NSC’s instruction was not sent.” He says that because of the pressing need to make a decision, Gallant announced yesterday the establishment of an Israeli field hospital for Gazan children.
“Only after the defense minister’s directive to establish a field hospital did the NSC remember to respond to his request and adopt his proposal to transfer the complicated patients from Gaza to a third country via Israel,” says Gallant’s office.
Earlier today, Netanyahu said he sent a missive to Gallant saying that he will not approve the establishment of a field hospital in Israel to treat Gazan children.
Gallant’s office had said the need to establish it was due to the extended closure of Gaza’s Rafah crossing into Egypt. The crossing has been closed since Israeli forces captured it in early May. Egypt has refused to reopen the crossing while the Gazan side remains under Israeli control.
The commander of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s naval forces in the Gaza City region, Anas Murad, was killed in a recent drone strike, the IDF says.
In a separate drone strike, the IDF says it killed Ahmed al-Masri, an Islamic Jihad member who participated in the October 7 onslaught.
The IDF says Al-Masri was also responsible for the firing of a large number of rockets from Gaza City’s Shejaiya neighborhood at communities in southern Israel.
Gaza Residents in Conversations: "They eliminated Deif, they'll eliminate Sinwar too"
"God willing, they'll eliminate Sinwar too, so we can rest": The IDF Arabic spokesperson published conversations of Gaza residents intercepted by the Intelligence Division over the weekend • This is how Gazans sound in the background of reports on the elimination of senior officials
The Intelligence Division intercepted conversations between residents in the Gaza Strip, shortly after the news of the attempted assassination of the head of Hamas' military wing. "So we can rest, enough, enough," one of the Gazans said to his friend. In another conversation, a Gazan woman was heard saying: "It will be good, hopefully the war will end"
The IDF Arabic spokesperson, Colonel Avichay Edri, revealed this evening (Thursday) recordings of residents in Gaza, shortly after the news of the attempted assassination of the head of Hamas' military wing and his right-hand man, Khan Yunis Brigade Commander Rafa Salameh, whose death was confirmed by the IDF. In one conversation, one of the speakers is heard saying to his friend: "They eliminated Deif! God willing, they'll eliminate Sinwar too. What can I do to them? Congratulations to them." His friend replied: "God willing, God willing, hopefully." His friend concluded: "So we can rest, enough, enough."
In another conversation from last Saturday, a Gazan is heard saying to a woman: "They eliminated Mohammed Deif." She replied: "Ah, okay, is the report true?" He confirmed: "Yes." She said: "It will be good, hopefully the war will end."
According to the military, soldiers monitoring surveillance cameras spotted the suspect approaching Israel’s border barrier from the southern Gaza Strip.
Troops were dispatched to the scene, and the suspect began to flee back to Gaza. A short while later, he was struck by a drone and killed, the IDF says. It says the suspect did not cross the barrier amid the incident.
The term refers to Hamas terrorists captured on and after October 7 when terrorists rampaged through the country’s south, murdering some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages.
Most of the detainees at the southern facility are suspected of having participated in the attack.
The suspects are reportedly being transferred due to a shortage of medical staff at the Sde Teiman facility. Details of the hospitals in central Israel are not published for fear of riots, the report adds.
Health Ministry officials have confirmed the report, according to Channel 12.
The IDF is currently in the process of phasing out the use of the military-run detention camp amid allegations of abuse of inmates there.
A group of Hamas operatives gathered at a United Nations facility in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighborhood were struck by a fighter jet a short while ago, the IDF says.
According to the military, the UNRWA site was used by Hamas as a command center.
The IDF says it carried out “many steps” to mitigate harm to civilians, including using aerial surveillance and “precision munitions.”
In recent weeks, more than 50 airstrikes have been carried out against Hamas sites embedded within schools and other sites used as shelters for civilians, according to the IDF.
The public fight between Yoav Gallant and Benjamin Netanyahu over plans to build a field hospital for Gazan children continues, with the defense minister accusing the prime minister’s staff of failing to advance the original plan to send sick and injured children abroad through Israel. According to a statement from Gallant’s office, Netanyahu accepted the minister’s recommendation that complex cases be sent abroad by way of Israel. Gallant claims that he turned to the Prime Minister’s Office and National Security Council asking for a directive to all relevant ministries to cooperate on the plan.
“Despite the clear directive from the prime minister to enact the defense minister’s proposal,” claims Gallant’s office, “a discussion on the topic was canceled and the NSC’s instruction was not sent.” He says that because of the pressing need to make a decision, Gallant announced yesterday the establishment of an Israeli field hospital for Gazan children.
“Only after the defense minister’s directive to establish a field hospital did the NSC remember to respond to his request and adopt his proposal to transfer the complicated patients from Gaza to a third country via Israel,” says Gallant’s office.
Earlier today, Netanyahu said he sent a missive to Gallant saying that he will not approve the establishment of a field hospital in Israel to treat Gazan children.
Gallant’s office had said the need to establish it was due to the extended closure of Gaza’s Rafah crossing into Egypt. The crossing has been closed since Israeli forces captured it in early May. Egypt has refused to reopen the crossing while the Gazan side remains under Israeli control.
The commander of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s naval forces in the Gaza City region, Anas Murad, was killed in a recent drone strike, the IDF says.
In a separate drone strike, the IDF says it killed Ahmed al-Masri, an Islamic Jihad member who participated in the October 7 onslaught.
The IDF says Al-Masri was also responsible for the firing of a large number of rockets from Gaza City’s Shejaiya neighborhood at communities in southern Israel.
Gaza Residents in Conversations: "They eliminated Deif, they'll eliminate Sinwar too"
"God willing, they'll eliminate Sinwar too, so we can rest": The IDF Arabic spokesperson published conversations of Gaza residents intercepted by the Intelligence Division over the weekend • This is how Gazans sound in the background of reports on the elimination of senior officials
The Intelligence Division intercepted conversations between residents in the Gaza Strip, shortly after the news of the attempted assassination of the head of Hamas' military wing. "So we can rest, enough, enough," one of the Gazans said to his friend. In another conversation, a Gazan woman was heard saying: "It will be good, hopefully the war will end"
The IDF Arabic spokesperson, Colonel Avichay Edri, revealed this evening (Thursday) recordings of residents in Gaza, shortly after the news of the attempted assassination of the head of Hamas' military wing and his right-hand man, Khan Yunis Brigade Commander Rafa Salameh, whose death was confirmed by the IDF. In one conversation, one of the speakers is heard saying to his friend: "They eliminated Deif! God willing, they'll eliminate Sinwar too. What can I do to them? Congratulations to them." His friend replied: "God willing, God willing, hopefully." His friend concluded: "So we can rest, enough, enough."
In another conversation from last Saturday, a Gazan is heard saying to a woman: "They eliminated Mohammed Deif." She replied: "Ah, okay, is the report true?" He confirmed: "Yes." She said: "It will be good, hopefully the war will end."
Northern Israel - Lebanon/Hizbollah/Syria
The Hezbollah field commander killed in an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon this evening is named by Al-Arabiya as Habib Maatouk. According to the report, Maatouk had replaced Ali Ahmed Hussein, a senior commander in the terror group’s elite Radwan force, who was killed in an IDF strike in April. Hussein held a rank equivalent to a brigade commander, and was charged with attacks on northern Israel’s Ramim Ridge, the IDF said at the time.
The Hezbollah terror group announces the death of a member killed “on the road to Jerusalem,” its term for operatives slain in Israeli strikes.
He is named as Hassan Muhanna, from the southern Lebanese village of Jabal al-Botm. The announcement comes after reports of an Israeli strike on a car in Jabal al-Botm. His death brings the terror group’s toll since the beginning of the war in the Gaza Strip to 368.
Lebanese media reports that the man killed in a strike in the Western Beqaa District this morning was a senior commander in al-Jama’a al-Islamiyya, or Islamic Group.
He is named as Muhammed Jabara.
Al-Jama’a al-Islamiyya, like Hamas, is a Sunni faction that forms part of the broader Muslim Brotherhood political network. The armed wing of the group, the al-Fajr Forces, has repeatedly targeted Israel from Lebanon in the current war, often working in conjunction with the Shiite Hezbollah.
The Hezbollah field commander killed in an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon this evening is named by Al-Arabiya as Habib Maatouk. According to the report, Maatouk had replaced Ali Ahmed Hussein, a senior commander in the terror group’s elite Radwan force, who was killed in an IDF strike in April. Hussein held a rank equivalent to a brigade commander, and was charged with attacks on northern Israel’s Ramim Ridge, the IDF said at the time.
The Hezbollah terror group announces the death of a member killed “on the road to Jerusalem,” its term for operatives slain in Israeli strikes.
He is named as Hassan Muhanna, from the southern Lebanese village of Jabal al-Botm. The announcement comes after reports of an Israeli strike on a car in Jabal al-Botm. His death brings the terror group’s toll since the beginning of the war in the Gaza Strip to 368.
Lebanese media reports that the man killed in a strike in the Western Beqaa District this morning was a senior commander in al-Jama’a al-Islamiyya, or Islamic Group.
He is named as Muhammed Jabara.
Al-Jama’a al-Islamiyya, like Hamas, is a Sunni faction that forms part of the broader Muslim Brotherhood political network. The armed wing of the group, the al-Fajr Forces, has repeatedly targeted Israel from Lebanon in the current war, often working in conjunction with the Shiite Hezbollah.
West Bank and Jerusalem
Two off-duty IDF soldiers and two civilians were wounded in a blast near the northern West Bank settlement of Hermesh earlier today, the military says.
The victims are listed in light and moderate condition.
According to an initial IDF probe, the explosive was detonated as one of the Israelis got out of a car and attempted to open a gate on a road in the area of the settlement.
The IDF says it is searching for the assailants who planted the bomb.
Two off-duty IDF soldiers and two civilians were wounded in a blast near the northern West Bank settlement of Hermesh earlier today, the military says.
The victims are listed in light and moderate condition.
According to an initial IDF probe, the explosive was detonated as one of the Israelis got out of a car and attempted to open a gate on a road in the area of the settlement.
The IDF says it is searching for the assailants who planted the bomb.
Politics and the War (general news)
Explosive drone from Yemen hits Tel Aviv apartment, killing
man, wounding others
Military says UAV was identified but not shot down by air
defenses and sirens not activated due to human error; Iran-backed Houthis claim
attack, vow to continue targeting city
An explosive-laden drone launched by the Iran-backed Houthis in
Yemen struck an apartment building in central Tel Aviv in the pre-dawn hours of
Friday morning, killing an Israeli man and wounding several others.
According to an initial
investigation carried out by the Israeli Air Force, the unmanned aerial vehicle
had been identified, but due to a human error, it was not engaged by air
defenses.
As no action was taken
against the identified target — later confirmed to be a large long-range attack
drone — no warning sirens had sounded. The drone directly impacted an apartment
building in Tel Aviv at 3:12 a.m. After reaching Israel from Yemen, the drone
made its way to Tel Aviv from the direction of the sea, IDF Spokesman Rear Adm.
Daniel Hagari said in a press conference.
The drone, identified by the
IDF as an Iranian-made Samad-3 which had been modified to have an extended
range, had flown to the country for several hours at a low altitude, according
to the probe.
A man in his 50s was killed
by shrapnel from the explosion, Magen David Adom said. According to the
ambulance service, the man was found lifeless in a building.
The victim was later named as
Yevgeny Ferder. According to Hebrew media reports, he moved to Israel from
Belarus two years ago with the start of the Russia-Ukraine war.
MDA also said eight people were taken to local hospitals, four
of whom were wounded by shrapnel or the shock waves from the blast. The other
four are being treated for acute anxiety.
The impact site was adjacent
to several hotels and the United States’ Tel Aviv Embassy Branch Office.
Many of the hotels in the
area are currently housing displaced Israelis who have had to leave their homes
on the northern and southern borders amid the ongoing war.
The IAF believed the drone came from Yemen, Hagari said in his press
conference. The Houthis in Yemen took responsibility for the attack earlier in
the day.
Yemen’s Houthis’ military
spokesperson said the group attacked Tel Aviv with a drone and would continue
to target Israel in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza war.
The spokesman said that Tel
Aviv will continue to be a primary target for the terror group “within the
range of our weapons.”
The group claimed it had
launched a drone that could bypass radar detection systems. full article The man killed by the drone is Yevgeny Ferber, 50 of Tel Aviv.
May his memory forever be a blessing
Echoing Wellington, PM implies he views Oct. 7 probe as
bureaucratic nuisance amid war
At Knesset, PM compares himself to Duke of Wellington during
Napoleonic wars, who mocked the need to inspect the condition of a battalion’s
‘jam jars’ during fighting
Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu rejected calls to swiftly establish a state commission of
inquiry into the October 7 disaster during a debate on the matter in the
Knesset on Wednesday.
Speaking at a
so-called 40-signature debate — a session the opposition can call once a month
with the signatures of 40 MKs and which the prime minister is legally obliged
to attend — Netanyahu compared current demands for an investigation of the
October 7 massacre to bureaucratic inspections of the British military during
the Napoleonic wars over 200 years ago.
The focus of the
debate was the need to thoroughly investigate the failings that enabled the
disaster of October 7.
Netanyahu has resisted
forming a state commission of inquiry into the failings leading up to October 7
or the handling of the war. He has said investigations must wait until after
the fighting ends and has repeatedly avoided committing to forming a state
commission, which is the inquiry body that enjoys the broadest powers under
Israeli Law. With the war now in its 10th month, pressure has been growing to
begin investigating events.
“Let me tell you something about an investigative committee,”
Netanyahu said as he addressed lawmakers in the plenum. “I have a letter
written by the [British officer and statesman] Duke of Wellington to
the government in London. They sent a commission of inquiry to him. He was in
Spain on his way to Portugal, fighting Napoleon, on the way to Waterloo [the
decisive battle in 1815]. The inquiry committee was sent and asked him to give
a precise account of the number of horse saddles he was using, the number of
tent sheets, the number of tent poles.
“Wellington responded:
‘I very much appreciate this inquiry, and I would like to report on missing
pounds sterling in one battalion… and there’s also a question of jam jars in
another battalion, but please decide between two assignments: Do you want me to
deal with answering your army of bureaucrats or do you want me to defeat
Napoleon?'”
The premier then
banged on the lectern and declared: “I now want to beat Hamas! And there will
be time later to check all the jam jars as well as other things.”
The Knesset plenum
ultimately voted 53-51 against a bill brought forth by Yesh Atid MK Meir Cohen
that would have established a state committee of inquiry.
During his speech,
Netanyahu also slammed the opposition, saying, “As the pressure on Hamas grows,
so does your campaign of trolling. As the campaign in the squares and streets
proves unsuccessful, you lie more and more.”
During the debate,
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid demanded Netanyahu either announce his acceptance
of a hostage deal during his July 24 speech to the US Congress, or cancel his
upcoming trip to Washington.
“Mr. Prime Minister,
are you going to announce next week on the rostrum in Congress that you accept
the hostage deal?” Lapid asked. “If that’s what you will say, go in peace with
our blessings. It is the right and moral thing to do. If that’s not your plan,
don’t go to Washington.”
Lapid said there were
people within Netanyahu’s own bureau “who think and say that you should
announce in a speech to Congress that you accept the hostage deal. Not in
twisty wording, not with conditions that would screw it up again,” Lapid
continued, calling on Netanyahu to otherwise not “give a speech in the
air-conditioning of Washington while the hostages are dying of suffocation in
the tunnels of Gaza.”
Lapid also reiterated
his prior criticism of Netanyahu for spending two hours during Sunday’s weekly
cabinet meeting discussing incitement against him, rather than focusing on the
fate of those suffering because of the war, saying the premier had “not said a
word about the hostages.”
“You’ve said that in
the Middle East, only the strong are valued. If this is true, why did Hamas
invade the territory of the State of Israel on your watch [and] kill 1,200
citizens? Did it not occur to them that there was someone strong before them
that they should be afraid of? It’s because they knew something about you,”
Lapid accused.
Labor MK Naama Lazimi
also slammed Netanyahu, blaming him for strengthening Hamas ahead of October 7
and accusing him of playing political games while Israelis suffer.
“The reservists and
their wives, the orphans of the IDF, the farmers — all these will wait. The
main thing is that the [coalition] partners loot as quickly as possible before
the burning tower of cards finally collapses,” Lazimi said, apparently referring
to the government’s allocation of funds to priorities of Netanyahu’s
ultra-Orthodox and far-right coalition partners.
“You strengthened
those who slaughtered us. You handed [Hamas] suitcases of dollars in cash, you
saw these murderers as an asset. You avoided killing the heads of Hamas at
least six times. Until now you have not explained to the public why. You are
afraid to meet the public because you know that lives have been ruined because
of your abandonment,” she said, repeating several unverified claims against
Netanyahu — charging him with preferring “political survival over saving
lives.”
“The one who prevents
the greatest mitzvah of ransoming captives is the one who has forgotten what it
is to be a Jew and a human being,” Lazimi added, paraphrasing a hot mic comment
made over 20 years ago by Netanyahu that the Left “has forgotten what it is to
be a Jew.”
Later in the day
Netanyahu publicly clashed on social media with opposition MK Benny Gantz after
the latter, a former member of the war cabinet that oversaw the initial stages
of the war alongside Netanyahu, accused the prime minister of being repeatedly
hesitant in decision-making during the war and saying those failings would come
to light in a future inquiry.
Gantz brought his National Unity party into the emergency
government after October 7 and was one of three members of the war cabinet,
along with Netanyahu and Gallant. But Gantz pulled out of the government in June while
accusing Netanyahu of botching the war effort.
In a post to social
media platform X, Gantz addressed Netanyahu, writing: “You were afraid” to
launch the Gaza offensive, “delayed entering Khan Younis,” and “hesitated to
enter Rafah,” referring to two cities that are key Hamas strongholds in Gaza.
Those failings, Gantz
asserted “will be revealed when the protocols and testimonies are heard” by a
state commission of inquiry.
That forum will ask
“Why were you afraid, delayed, and hesitated? And what are the prices we paid
and are still paying for it?” Gantz predicted.
Netanyahu shot back at
Gantz posting to his own X account that it was “more fake news from Benny
Gantz.”
Netanyahu said he had
taken a photo of Gantz’s post and “I will recall his hallucinatory tweet when
the protocols are revealed and the public will find out who looked for excuses
‘to stop the fighting for a year or two’ and who it was who really pushed ahead
to continue the war until victory.”
Netanyahu was
apparently referring to an interview that Gantz gave to Channel 12 after
leaving the government in which he urged a hostage deal even if it meant
halting the campaign against Hamas for a year or two.
Gantz responded to
Netanyahu, writing “I await the establishment of a state commission of inquiry”
though he added: “What is done is done. But the hostages must be brought back.
If you do the right thing you will have full backing. That is what is important
now.” link
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant instructed the military on Thursday to send out 3,000 draft orders to members of the Haredi community in three waves, starting next week.
The first 1,000 draft orders to ultra-Orthodox men aged 18-26 were to be sent out on Sunday, with two additional waves of 1,000 every two weeks, according to the ministry and the Israel Defense Forces.
At the end of each wave of draft orders, the ministry said “a learning process will take place in order to improve the following waves.” The IDF noted it currently has no experience with drafting a large number of Haredi soldiers at once. The army said it had launched a new website for Haredim (Hebrew) with information on available roles and its efforts to accommodate their lifestyle.
The draft orders are the first stage in the screening and evaluation process that the army carries out for new recruits, ahead of enlistment in the military in the coming year.
Last month, the High Court ruled that there was no longer any legal framework allowing the state to refrain from drafting Haredi yeshiva students into military service, and the attorney general ordered the government to immediately begin the process of conscription for 3,000 such men — the number the military has said it is able to process at this preliminary stage.
The IDF said the 3,000 potential Haredi conscripts who would receive draft orders in the coming weeks are individuals it assumes will actually show up to the induction center. Using legally available data, the IDF said the 3,000 include men who are working, students of higher education, or who hold driver’s licenses — indicators that they are not in full-time yeshiva studies. Elaborating on this to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Thursday, an IDF representative told lawmakers that the majority of those being called up are employed.
The IDF said that from its inquiries in recent months, it found that it is far easier to recruit married Haredi men, but they are less eligible for combat roles. Among the 3,000 set to receive draft orders, only 15 percent are married while 85% are single, the latter of whom will be mostly intended for combat roles. According to the IDF’s data, 50% of the potential troops are aged 18-21, another 40% are between 22 and 23, and just 10% are aged 24-26.
Normally, the drafting process takes about two years from the moment the first draft order is sent to induction. For these 3,000 Haredi troops, the process is meant to be expedited. The IDF said their first visit to the induction center for evaluation would take place within two weeks, and they could be enlisted at the earliest 45 days later.
The IDF said it would act in accordance with the law, and those who ignore multiple draft orders will be issued orders preventing them from leaving the country, and they may face arrest by Military Police and be taken to military jails.
The military said it currently requires some 10,000 new soldiers — mostly combat troops — but can only accommodate the enlistment of an additional 3,000 ultra-Orthodox this year, due to their special needs. These are in addition to some 1,800 Haredi soldiers who are already drafted annually. The same total number, 4,800, has also been set for next year, but the IDF said it aims to grow the number every year after that. This past year, 63,000 Haredi males were listed as eligible for military service. full article
“A Knesset on recess is a Knesset that forsakes!” the protesters chant.
Although the demonstrators intended to demonstrate in front of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s private residence, police barricades are keeping them a few hundred meters away from their destination.
Earlier this evening, protesters marched from the government campus to their current spot on Azza Street. So far there have been no arrests or clashes with police. -- Netanyahu called for this session of the Knesset to be the shortest ever and for the recess to be the longest ever in the history of the Knesset. His single motivation for this move was to prevent the Knesset from all attempts to bring the government down through a vote of no confidence. If the Knesset it not in session, it cannot have a vote of no confidence. This is just one of many maneuvers Netanyahu has made to keep his government together and for him to remain Prime Minister.
Anti-government demonstrations gather around the country, calling for a State Commission of Inquiry into “the negligence that led to the October 7 attack” and for the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza since.
Near the Gaza border, protesters are on the second day of a “March of Abandonment and Bravery,” walking today from Kibbutz Be’eri to Kibbutz Re’im.
Be’eri was one of the hardest hit communities in Hamas’s October 7 massacre, which saw thousands of terrorists burst across the border into Israel, killing some 1,200 people and seizing 251 hostages, mostly civilians. Hundreds were killed and dozens kidnapped at an outdoor music festival near Re’im.
In Jerusalem, meanwhile, hundreds of protesters are marching to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence on Azza Street, calling for the hostages’ release and for early elections. They march behind a large banner bearing a photo of Netanyahu that reads, “He who abandoned them, must return them.”
The government has shelved plans to pass legislation to prevent those convicted of terror offenses from running for the Knesset amid concerns it could impact far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, the Kan public broadcaster reports.
According to the report, hardline Likud MK Nissim Vaturi on Sunday proposed the legislation, which aims to prevent anyone who has ever been involved in terrorist activity from seeking a Knesset seat, regardless of the severity of their punishment.
The proposal apparently received the support of Justice Minister Yariv Levin and other ministers.
The outlet says legal advisers noted that the law would also include Jewish Israelis who were convicted of terror and an aide to Ben Gvir realized that the legislation could therefore impact the leader of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party.
The aide reportedly recommended postponing the proposal for a few months, and Levin agreed that the discussion of the law could wait until the Knesset’s next session in the fall.
In 2008, the Jerusalem District Court convicted Ben Gvir of incitement to racism and supporting a terror organization over a placard he held reading “Arabs out” following a Palestinian terror attack in Jerusalem and anti-Arab signs he had in his car that referred to the far-right Kach movement, a Jewish group that was banned as a terror organization.
Ben Gvir has been indicted dozens of times, mostly for disturbing the peace, though he was exonerated in almost all the cases. link
Explosive drone from Yemen hits Tel Aviv apartment, killing
man, wounding others
Military says UAV was identified but not shot down by air
defenses and sirens not activated due to human error; Iran-backed Houthis claim
attack, vow to continue targeting city
An explosive-laden drone launched by the Iran-backed Houthis in
Yemen struck an apartment building in central Tel Aviv in the pre-dawn hours of
Friday morning, killing an Israeli man and wounding several others.
According to an initial
investigation carried out by the Israeli Air Force, the unmanned aerial vehicle
had been identified, but due to a human error, it was not engaged by air
defenses.
As no action was taken
against the identified target — later confirmed to be a large long-range attack
drone — no warning sirens had sounded. The drone directly impacted an apartment
building in Tel Aviv at 3:12 a.m. After reaching Israel from Yemen, the drone
made its way to Tel Aviv from the direction of the sea, IDF Spokesman Rear Adm.
Daniel Hagari said in a press conference.
The drone, identified by the
IDF as an Iranian-made Samad-3 which had been modified to have an extended
range, had flown to the country for several hours at a low altitude, according
to the probe.
A man in his 50s was killed
by shrapnel from the explosion, Magen David Adom said. According to the
ambulance service, the man was found lifeless in a building.
The victim was later named as
Yevgeny Ferder. According to Hebrew media reports, he moved to Israel from
Belarus two years ago with the start of the Russia-Ukraine war.
MDA also said eight people were taken to local hospitals, four
of whom were wounded by shrapnel or the shock waves from the blast. The other
four are being treated for acute anxiety.
The impact site was adjacent
to several hotels and the United States’ Tel Aviv Embassy Branch Office.
Many of the hotels in the
area are currently housing displaced Israelis who have had to leave their homes
on the northern and southern borders amid the ongoing war.
The IAF believed the drone came from Yemen, Hagari said in his press
conference. The Houthis in Yemen took responsibility for the attack earlier in
the day.
Yemen’s Houthis’ military
spokesperson said the group attacked Tel Aviv with a drone and would continue
to target Israel in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza war.
The spokesman said that Tel
Aviv will continue to be a primary target for the terror group “within the
range of our weapons.”
The group claimed it had launched a drone that could bypass radar detection systems. full article The man killed by the drone is Yevgeny Ferber, 50 of Tel Aviv.
Echoing Wellington, PM implies he views Oct. 7 probe as
bureaucratic nuisance amid war
At Knesset, PM compares himself to Duke of Wellington during
Napoleonic wars, who mocked the need to inspect the condition of a battalion’s
‘jam jars’ during fighting
Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu rejected calls to swiftly establish a state commission of
inquiry into the October 7 disaster during a debate on the matter in the
Knesset on Wednesday.
Speaking at a
so-called 40-signature debate — a session the opposition can call once a month
with the signatures of 40 MKs and which the prime minister is legally obliged
to attend — Netanyahu compared current demands for an investigation of the
October 7 massacre to bureaucratic inspections of the British military during
the Napoleonic wars over 200 years ago.
The focus of the
debate was the need to thoroughly investigate the failings that enabled the
disaster of October 7.
Netanyahu has resisted
forming a state commission of inquiry into the failings leading up to October 7
or the handling of the war. He has said investigations must wait until after
the fighting ends and has repeatedly avoided committing to forming a state
commission, which is the inquiry body that enjoys the broadest powers under
Israeli Law. With the war now in its 10th month, pressure has been growing to
begin investigating events.
“Let me tell you something about an investigative committee,”
Netanyahu said as he addressed lawmakers in the plenum. “I have a letter
written by the [British officer and statesman] Duke of Wellington to
the government in London. They sent a commission of inquiry to him. He was in
Spain on his way to Portugal, fighting Napoleon, on the way to Waterloo [the
decisive battle in 1815]. The inquiry committee was sent and asked him to give
a precise account of the number of horse saddles he was using, the number of
tent sheets, the number of tent poles.
“Wellington responded: ‘I very much appreciate this inquiry, and I would like to report on missing pounds sterling in one battalion… and there’s also a question of jam jars in another battalion, but please decide between two assignments: Do you want me to deal with answering your army of bureaucrats or do you want me to defeat Napoleon?'”
The premier then banged on the lectern and declared: “I now want to beat Hamas! And there will be time later to check all the jam jars as well as other things.”
The Knesset plenum
ultimately voted 53-51 against a bill brought forth by Yesh Atid MK Meir Cohen
that would have established a state committee of inquiry.
During his speech,
Netanyahu also slammed the opposition, saying, “As the pressure on Hamas grows,
so does your campaign of trolling. As the campaign in the squares and streets
proves unsuccessful, you lie more and more.”
During the debate, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid demanded Netanyahu either announce his acceptance of a hostage deal during his July 24 speech to the US Congress, or cancel his upcoming trip to Washington.
“Mr. Prime Minister, are you going to announce next week on the rostrum in Congress that you accept the hostage deal?” Lapid asked. “If that’s what you will say, go in peace with our blessings. It is the right and moral thing to do. If that’s not your plan, don’t go to Washington.”
Lapid said there were
people within Netanyahu’s own bureau “who think and say that you should
announce in a speech to Congress that you accept the hostage deal. Not in
twisty wording, not with conditions that would screw it up again,” Lapid
continued, calling on Netanyahu to otherwise not “give a speech in the
air-conditioning of Washington while the hostages are dying of suffocation in
the tunnels of Gaza.”
Lapid also reiterated
his prior criticism of Netanyahu for spending two hours during Sunday’s weekly
cabinet meeting discussing incitement against him, rather than focusing on the
fate of those suffering because of the war, saying the premier had “not said a
word about the hostages.”
“You’ve said that in
the Middle East, only the strong are valued. If this is true, why did Hamas
invade the territory of the State of Israel on your watch [and] kill 1,200
citizens? Did it not occur to them that there was someone strong before them
that they should be afraid of? It’s because they knew something about you,”
Lapid accused.
Labor MK Naama Lazimi
also slammed Netanyahu, blaming him for strengthening Hamas ahead of October 7
and accusing him of playing political games while Israelis suffer.
“The reservists and
their wives, the orphans of the IDF, the farmers — all these will wait. The
main thing is that the [coalition] partners loot as quickly as possible before
the burning tower of cards finally collapses,” Lazimi said, apparently referring
to the government’s allocation of funds to priorities of Netanyahu’s
ultra-Orthodox and far-right coalition partners.
“You strengthened
those who slaughtered us. You handed [Hamas] suitcases of dollars in cash, you
saw these murderers as an asset. You avoided killing the heads of Hamas at
least six times. Until now you have not explained to the public why. You are
afraid to meet the public because you know that lives have been ruined because
of your abandonment,” she said, repeating several unverified claims against
Netanyahu — charging him with preferring “political survival over saving
lives.”
“The one who prevents the greatest mitzvah of ransoming captives is the one who has forgotten what it is to be a Jew and a human being,” Lazimi added, paraphrasing a hot mic comment made over 20 years ago by Netanyahu that the Left “has forgotten what it is to be a Jew.”
Later in the day Netanyahu publicly clashed on social media with opposition MK Benny Gantz after the latter, a former member of the war cabinet that oversaw the initial stages of the war alongside Netanyahu, accused the prime minister of being repeatedly hesitant in decision-making during the war and saying those failings would come to light in a future inquiry.
Gantz brought his National Unity party into the emergency
government after October 7 and was one of three members of the war cabinet,
along with Netanyahu and Gallant. But Gantz pulled out of the government in June while
accusing Netanyahu of botching the war effort.
In a post to social
media platform X, Gantz addressed Netanyahu, writing: “You were afraid” to
launch the Gaza offensive, “delayed entering Khan Younis,” and “hesitated to
enter Rafah,” referring to two cities that are key Hamas strongholds in Gaza.
Those failings, Gantz
asserted “will be revealed when the protocols and testimonies are heard” by a
state commission of inquiry.
That forum will ask
“Why were you afraid, delayed, and hesitated? And what are the prices we paid
and are still paying for it?” Gantz predicted.
Netanyahu shot back at
Gantz posting to his own X account that it was “more fake news from Benny
Gantz.”
Netanyahu said he had
taken a photo of Gantz’s post and “I will recall his hallucinatory tweet when
the protocols are revealed and the public will find out who looked for excuses
‘to stop the fighting for a year or two’ and who it was who really pushed ahead
to continue the war until victory.”
Netanyahu was
apparently referring to an interview that Gantz gave to Channel 12 after
leaving the government in which he urged a hostage deal even if it meant
halting the campaign against Hamas for a year or two.
Gantz responded to
Netanyahu, writing “I await the establishment of a state commission of inquiry”
though he added: “What is done is done. But the hostages must be brought back.
If you do the right thing you will have full backing. That is what is important
now.” link
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant instructed the military on Thursday to send out 3,000 draft orders to members of the Haredi community in three waves, starting next week.
The first 1,000 draft orders to ultra-Orthodox men aged 18-26 were to be sent out on Sunday, with two additional waves of 1,000 every two weeks, according to the ministry and the Israel Defense Forces.
At the end of each wave of draft orders, the ministry said “a learning process will take place in order to improve the following waves.” The IDF noted it currently has no experience with drafting a large number of Haredi soldiers at once. The army said it had launched a new website for Haredim (Hebrew) with information on available roles and its efforts to accommodate their lifestyle.
The draft orders are the first stage in the screening and evaluation process that the army carries out for new recruits, ahead of enlistment in the military in the coming year.
Last month, the High Court ruled that there was no longer any legal framework allowing the state to refrain from drafting Haredi yeshiva students into military service, and the attorney general ordered the government to immediately begin the process of conscription for 3,000 such men — the number the military has said it is able to process at this preliminary stage.
The IDF said the 3,000 potential Haredi conscripts who would receive draft orders in the coming weeks are individuals it assumes will actually show up to the induction center. Using legally available data, the IDF said the 3,000 include men who are working, students of higher education, or who hold driver’s licenses — indicators that they are not in full-time yeshiva studies. Elaborating on this to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Thursday, an IDF representative told lawmakers that the majority of those being called up are employed.
The IDF said that from its inquiries in recent months, it found that it is far easier to recruit married Haredi men, but they are less eligible for combat roles. Among the 3,000 set to receive draft orders, only 15 percent are married while 85% are single, the latter of whom will be mostly intended for combat roles. According to the IDF’s data, 50% of the potential troops are aged 18-21, another 40% are between 22 and 23, and just 10% are aged 24-26.
Normally, the drafting process takes about two years from the moment the first draft order is sent to induction. For these 3,000 Haredi troops, the process is meant to be expedited. The IDF said their first visit to the induction center for evaluation would take place within two weeks, and they could be enlisted at the earliest 45 days later.
The IDF said it would act in accordance with the law, and those who ignore multiple draft orders will be issued orders preventing them from leaving the country, and they may face arrest by Military Police and be taken to military jails.
The military said it currently requires some 10,000 new soldiers — mostly combat troops — but can only accommodate the enlistment of an additional 3,000 ultra-Orthodox this year, due to their special needs. These are in addition to some 1,800 Haredi soldiers who are already drafted annually. The same total number, 4,800, has also been set for next year, but the IDF said it aims to grow the number every year after that. This past year, 63,000 Haredi males were listed as eligible for military service. full article
“A Knesset on recess is a Knesset that forsakes!” the protesters chant.
Although the demonstrators intended to demonstrate in front of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s private residence, police barricades are keeping them a few hundred meters away from their destination.
Earlier this evening, protesters marched from the government campus to their current spot on Azza Street. So far there have been no arrests or clashes with police. -- Netanyahu called for this session of the Knesset to be the shortest ever and for the recess to be the longest ever in the history of the Knesset. His single motivation for this move was to prevent the Knesset from all attempts to bring the government down through a vote of no confidence. If the Knesset it not in session, it cannot have a vote of no confidence. This is just one of many maneuvers Netanyahu has made to keep his government together and for him to remain Prime Minister.
Anti-government demonstrations gather around the country, calling for a State Commission of Inquiry into “the negligence that led to the October 7 attack” and for the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza since.
Near the Gaza border, protesters are on the second day of a “March of Abandonment and Bravery,” walking today from Kibbutz Be’eri to Kibbutz Re’im.
Be’eri was one of the hardest hit communities in Hamas’s October 7 massacre, which saw thousands of terrorists burst across the border into Israel, killing some 1,200 people and seizing 251 hostages, mostly civilians. Hundreds were killed and dozens kidnapped at an outdoor music festival near Re’im.
In Jerusalem, meanwhile, hundreds of protesters are marching to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence on Azza Street, calling for the hostages’ release and for early elections. They march behind a large banner bearing a photo of Netanyahu that reads, “He who abandoned them, must return them.”
The government has shelved plans to pass legislation to prevent those convicted of terror offenses from running for the Knesset amid concerns it could impact far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, the Kan public broadcaster reports.
According to the report, hardline Likud MK Nissim Vaturi on Sunday proposed the legislation, which aims to prevent anyone who has ever been involved in terrorist activity from seeking a Knesset seat, regardless of the severity of their punishment.
The proposal apparently received the support of Justice Minister Yariv Levin and other ministers.
The outlet says legal advisers noted that the law would also include Jewish Israelis who were convicted of terror and an aide to Ben Gvir realized that the legislation could therefore impact the leader of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party.
The aide reportedly recommended postponing the proposal for a few months, and Levin agreed that the discussion of the law could wait until the Knesset’s next session in the fall.
In 2008, the Jerusalem District Court convicted Ben Gvir of incitement to racism and supporting a terror organization over a placard he held reading “Arabs out” following a Palestinian terror attack in Jerusalem and anti-Arab signs he had in his car that referred to the far-right Kach movement, a Jewish group that was banned as a terror organization.
Ben Gvir has been indicted dozens of times, mostly for disturbing the peace, though he was exonerated in almost all the cases. link
The Region and the World
- The Biden administration is not deterred by the resolution passed yesterday by the Knesset rejecting the establishment of a Palestinian state.
“I think the best way I can respond to that is to just reiterate our firm belief in the power and the promise of a two-state solution,” White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby tells reporters.
“That is not something that President Biden is going to give up on, and we’re going to keep doing everything we can to try to achieve that outcome,” he continues.
“We know it is not going to happen tomorrow, and we know it’s not going to be without difficulty, and we also know that it requires courage and leadership in the region to bring it about,” Kirby adds.
State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel dodges repeated efforts to respond specifically to the legislation.
However, he says, “It can be safely implied that a piece of legislation that is in opposition to a two-state solution is not something that we would be thrilled about.”
- US Middle East envoy Brett McGurk is traveling to the Middle East today for consultations on the Gaza conflict, with stops planned in the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby tells reporters in a briefing.
Three people were arrested in Spain and one more in Germany on suspicion of belonging to a network that supplied the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah with parts to build kamikaze drones used in attacks in northern Israel, Spanish authorities say.
The investigation began in Spain when the Guardia Civil detected “suspicious operations” by Spanish companies run by Lebanese nationals involving large quantities of materials and components to manufacture drones capable of carrying explosive charges of several kilograms, the statement says.
Authorities believe Hezbollah may have built several hundred drones with these components.
The Spanish companies, as others in Europe and around the world, purchased items including electronic guidance components, propulsion propellers, gasoline engines, more than 200 electric motors and materials for the fuselage, wings and other drone parts, according to investigators.
The parts acquired by the network, which has now been dismantled, were identified in drones used by Hezbollah in attacks on northern Israel.
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 amid the war against Hamas 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 367 members who have been killed by Israel during the ongoing skirmishes, mostly in Lebanon but some also in Syria. In Lebanon, another 67 operatives from other terror groups, a Lebanese soldier, and dozens of civilians have been killed.
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“I think the best way I can respond to that is to just reiterate our firm belief in the power and the promise of a two-state solution,” White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby tells reporters.
“That is not something that President Biden is going to give up on, and we’re going to keep doing everything we can to try to achieve that outcome,” he continues.
“We know it is not going to happen tomorrow, and we know it’s not going to be without difficulty, and we also know that it requires courage and leadership in the region to bring it about,” Kirby adds.
State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel dodges repeated efforts to respond specifically to the legislation.
However, he says, “It can be safely implied that a piece of legislation that is in opposition to a two-state solution is not something that we would be thrilled about.”Three people were arrested in Spain and one more in Germany on suspicion of belonging to a network that supplied the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah with parts to build kamikaze drones used in attacks in northern Israel, Spanish authorities say.
The investigation began in Spain when the Guardia Civil detected “suspicious operations” by Spanish companies run by Lebanese nationals involving large quantities of materials and components to manufacture drones capable of carrying explosive charges of several kilograms, the statement says.
Authorities believe Hezbollah may have built several hundred drones with these components.
The Spanish companies, as others in Europe and around the world, purchased items including electronic guidance components, propulsion propellers, gasoline engines, more than 200 electric motors and materials for the fuselage, wings and other drone parts, according to investigators.
The parts acquired by the network, which has now been dismantled, were identified in drones used by Hezbollah in attacks on northern Israel.
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 amid the war against Hamas 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 367 members who have been killed by Israel during the ongoing skirmishes, mostly in Lebanon but some also in Syria. In Lebanon, another 67 operatives from other terror groups, a Lebanese soldier, and dozens of civilians have been killed.
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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