π️Lonny's War Update- October 317, 2023 - August 18, 2024 π️
π️Day 317 that 115 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!!!”
Our only wish is that you will reunite with your family soon
We’re waiting for you, all of you.
A deal is the only way to bring
all the hostages home- the murdered for burial and the living for rehabilitation.
#BringThemHomeNow #TurnTheHorrorIntoHope
A deal is the only way to bring
all the hostages home- the murdered for burial and the living for rehabilitation.
#BringThemHomeNow #TurnTheHorrorIntoHope
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
*5:15pm yesterday- north -rockets Baram*6:15pm yesterday-north - hostile aircraft- Kela
*7:00pm yesterday - north - rockets - Netua, Shtula*8:15am - north - rockets Margaliot
*3:00pm - north - rockets - Zra'it
*3:10pm - north - rockets - Kfar Yuval
*3:20pm - north - rockets - Metulla, Kiryat Shemona, Beit Hillel, Hagoshrim, Kfar Giladi, Kfar Yuval, Maayan Baruch, Tel Hai
*3:40pm - north - rockets - Malkia
*4:50pm - south - rockets - Nir Oz*7:25pm - north - rockets -Shtula, Netua
** Two Israeli reservists were killed by a roadside bomb in central Gaza on Saturday afternoon, the Israel Defense Forces announced, as fighting continued across the Strip.
*7:00pm yesterday - north - rockets - Netua, Shtula
*3:00pm - north - rockets - Zra'it
*3:10pm - north - rockets - Kfar Yuval
*3:20pm - north - rockets - Metulla, Kiryat Shemona, Beit Hillel, Hagoshrim, Kfar Giladi, Kfar Yuval, Maayan Baruch, Tel Hai
*3:40pm - north - rockets - Malkia
*4:50pm - south - rockets - Nir Oz
The slain soldiers were named as Maj. (res.) Yotam Itzhak Peled, 34, a logistics officer from Rosh Haayin and Sgt. Maj. (res.) Mordechai Yosef Ben Shoam, 34, a truck driver from Geva Binyamin. Both served with the Jerusalem Brigade’s 8119th Battalion,
Peled had been commanding a convoy to supply troops in Gaza City’s southern Zeitoun neighborhood with equipment, and Ben Shoam was one of the drivers.
Hostage Updates
Today is Romi Gonen's 24th birthday
The family of hostage Romi Gonen, now in Hamas captivity for over 300 days, was marking her 24th birthday Sunday with an event aimed at “spreading light.”
Gonen was kidnapped during the October 7 onslaught on southern Israel, in which Hamas terrorists killed some 1,200 people and seized 251 hostages.
Romi’s father Eitan told Channel 12 news that his daughter is “a magical girl. She’s all heart, all love…. a justice warrior.” “It’s unbelievable that we’re marking this day without her,” he said.
Eitan went on to say that after much contemplation as to how to commemorate this special day, the family decided to hold a “day of good deeds, so that when Romi returns — and she will no doubt return — she will see the documentation [of the event] and be so happy.”
Eitan added that his family is an optimistic one, and that “we end every conversation, every interview, with the same words: that Romi is coming home. We just don’t know when exactly.”
Romi Gonen, held hostage by Hamas in Gaza since October 7, celebrating a previous birthday. (Courtesy)
The family invited attendees to wear leopard print or yellow attire to embody the young hostage's vibrant spirit. A press release about the event said it would include a stand where attendants can create signs in solidarity with the hostages, a bar with Romi’s favorite cocktails, a flower arrangement station, music, and “Romi’s signature dance lesson.”
Meirav Leshem Gonen, whose daughter Romi Gonen is held hostage by Hamas, addresses a press conference in Tel Aviv on March 13, 2024. (Avshalom Sassoni/ Flash90)
Ahead of Romi’s birthday, Yarden Gonen, her sister, spoke at a Tel Aviv protest on Saturday calling for a hostage release deal. She read a message to her sister, asking, “How can I continue to exist in this world, when I see people aren’t doing everything they can to return the hostages?”
Yarden Gonen revealed at the end of her speech that this message had been composed on her own birthday, some eight months ago, and lamented its continued relevance now.
Romi Gonen was abducted from the Supernova music festival near Kibbutz Re’im on October 7, where Hamas terrorists killed 364 people.
The families of Israelis held hostage in Gaza gather outside the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv for the weekly rally calling for the return of their loved ones from Hamas captivity.
In comments to the media, the mother of hostage Matan Zangauker says “it’s decision time — a deal or an escalation,” calling on the heads of the Mossad and Shin Bet to challenge Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a deal.
llustrative: Families of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza demonstrate outside the Kirya IDF Military Headquarters in Tel Aviv, August 3, 2024. Einav Zangauker is second from right in a white shirt. (Oded Engel / Pro-Democracy Protest Movement)
“Don’t be afraid to confront Netanyahu if he’s torpedoing [the deal],” says Einav Zangauker. “If you don’t bring a deal this time, the deaths of the hostages will be in your names as well. Don’t give up on them.”
Hostage Updates
Today is Romi Gonen's 24th birthday
The family of hostage Romi Gonen, now in Hamas captivity for over 300 days, was marking her 24th birthday Sunday with an event aimed at “spreading light.”
Gonen was kidnapped during the October 7 onslaught on southern Israel, in which Hamas terrorists killed some 1,200 people and seized 251 hostages.
Romi’s father Eitan told Channel 12 news that his daughter is “a magical girl. She’s all heart, all love…. a justice warrior.” “It’s unbelievable that we’re marking this day without her,” he said.
Eitan went on to say that after much contemplation as to how to commemorate this special day, the family decided to hold a “day of good deeds, so that when Romi returns — and she will no doubt return — she will see the documentation [of the event] and be so happy.”
Eitan added that his family is an optimistic one, and that “we end every conversation, every interview, with the same words: that Romi is coming home. We just don’t know when exactly.”
Romi Gonen, held hostage by Hamas in Gaza since October 7, celebrating a previous birthday. (Courtesy)
The family invited attendees to wear leopard print or yellow attire to embody the young hostage's vibrant spirit. A press release about the event said it would include a stand where attendants can create signs in solidarity with the hostages, a bar with Romi’s favorite cocktails, a flower arrangement station, music, and “Romi’s signature dance lesson.”
Meirav Leshem Gonen, whose daughter Romi Gonen is held hostage by Hamas, addresses a press conference in Tel Aviv on March 13, 2024. (Avshalom Sassoni/ Flash90)
Ahead of Romi’s birthday, Yarden Gonen, her sister, spoke at a Tel Aviv protest on Saturday calling for a hostage release deal. She read a message to her sister, asking, “How can I continue to exist in this world, when I see people aren’t doing everything they can to return the hostages?”
Yarden Gonen revealed at the end of her speech that this message had been composed on her own birthday, some eight months ago, and lamented its continued relevance now.
Romi Gonen was abducted from the Supernova music festival near Kibbutz Re’im on October 7, where Hamas terrorists killed 364 people.
The families of Israelis held hostage in Gaza gather outside the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv for the weekly rally calling for the return of their loved ones from Hamas captivity.
In comments to the media, the mother of hostage Matan Zangauker says “it’s decision time — a deal or an escalation,” calling on the heads of the Mossad and Shin Bet to challenge Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a deal.
llustrative: Families of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza demonstrate outside the Kirya IDF Military Headquarters in Tel Aviv, August 3, 2024. Einav Zangauker is second from right in a white shirt. (Oded Engel / Pro-Democracy Protest Movement)
“Don’t be afraid to confront Netanyahu if he’s torpedoing [the deal],” says Einav Zangauker. “If you don’t bring a deal this time, the deaths of the hostages will be in your names as well. Don’t give up on them.”
- US ‘bridging proposal’ for Gaza deal said to exclude two of Netanyahu’s key demands
Further talks set for Cairo on Sunday, with the PM also to host Blinken; mediators aiming to finalize deal within days, PMO cites optimism, but Hamas indicates it will reject terms
The US “bridging proposal” designed to enable the finalizing of a hostages-for-ceasefire deal in the coming week does not provide for an ongoing Israeli presence along the Gaza-Egypt border or for a mechanism in central Gaza to prevent the return of armed Hamas forces to the Strip’s north, as demanded by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Hebrew media reported Saturday, citing unnamed officials familiar with the talks.
Channel 12 reported that negotiations involving the US and Israel are set to continue in Cairo on Sunday. Only if Israel and the US can agree terms on these two key issues will Egypt and Qatar press Hamas to take the deal, the report said. Hamas has made clear that it will not agree to a deal that accommodates these two Israeli demands, the report noted.
The TV report added that Netanyahu, who has repeatedly insisted on these two demands in recent weeks, is expected to hold a fateful discussion with Israel’s negotiators and security chiefs, focused on these issues, before Sunday’s talks get underway in the Egyptian capital.
He is also slated to hold talks with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is due in Israel on Sunday.
In a statement issued on Saturday evening, Netanyahu’s office said Israel’s negotiators had briefed him on the talks, and “expressed cautious optimism regarding the possibility of advancing a deal.” It said the new US proposal, which was conveyed to Israel and to Hamas on Friday at the end of two days of talks between Israel and the mediators in Doha, “contains components that are acceptable to Israel.”
“We must hope that the heavy pressure on Hamas from the United States and the mediators leads to the removal of its opposition to the American proposal, and allows for a breakthrough in the contacts,” the statement added.
US officials have previously said that the return of armed Hamas forces to northern Gaza — across the Netzarim Corridor that the IDF has established separating the north and the south of the Strip — would constitute a violation of the deal. According to a Walla News report, the mediators have now proposed a clause that gives Israel the right to resume military hostilities against Hamas if weapons are moved into northern Gaza. (The IDF would be required to withdraw from the Netzarim area in the first phase of the deal.)
Israeli and other sources have said that Israel’s security chiefs believe withdrawing from the Philadelphi Corridor along the Gaza border for the six weeks of the deal’s first phase would not enable Hamas to significantly rearm, and that certain unspecified procedures along the border could compensate for an Israeli withdrawal from the border area. Israel’s Channel 13 news, citing Egyptian sources, said Israel and Egypt were working on an arrangement as regards the Philadelphi Corridor and the Rafah border crossing.
The US, backed by fellow mediators Qatar and Egypt, conveyed its bridging proposal to Israel and Hamas at the end of the Thursday-Friday summit in Doha. Israel and the mediators attended the summit; Hamas officials in Doha were updated on the progress of the talks there but did not directly participate.
Another such summit is reportedly tentatively scheduled, this time for Cairo, on Wednesday or Thursday. US officials have said they aim to finalize the long-sought deal by the end of this coming week.
President Joe Biden and other US officials have expressed guarded optimism about the progress of the negotiations while stressing that obstacles remain. Hamas officials have indicated that they oppose the latest formulations, with sources stating Friday that the group insisted on a permanent ceasefire, a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, the return of displaced Gazans, and a hostage-prisoners exchange.
An Israeli official with knowledge of the negotiations told Walla that Hamas was likely to turn down the latest proposal, regarding it as broadly mirroring Israel’s positions.
Netanyahu has insisted that any deal must meet both Israel’s key war aims — the return of all hostages and the destruction of Hamas. He has denied that the May 27 Israeli proposal on which the ongoing talks is based provides for a permanent ceasefire, even though the published text indicates that it does.
Further talks set for Cairo on Sunday, with the PM also to host Blinken; mediators aiming to finalize deal within days, PMO cites optimism, but Hamas indicates it will reject terms
The US “bridging proposal” designed to enable the finalizing of a hostages-for-ceasefire deal in the coming week does not provide for an ongoing Israeli presence along the Gaza-Egypt border or for a mechanism in central Gaza to prevent the return of armed Hamas forces to the Strip’s north, as demanded by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Hebrew media reported Saturday, citing unnamed officials familiar with the talks.
Channel 12 reported that negotiations involving the US and Israel are set to continue in Cairo on Sunday. Only if Israel and the US can agree terms on these two key issues will Egypt and Qatar press Hamas to take the deal, the report said. Hamas has made clear that it will not agree to a deal that accommodates these two Israeli demands, the report noted.
The TV report added that Netanyahu, who has repeatedly insisted on these two demands in recent weeks, is expected to hold a fateful discussion with Israel’s negotiators and security chiefs, focused on these issues, before Sunday’s talks get underway in the Egyptian capital.
He is also slated to hold talks with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is due in Israel on Sunday.
In a statement issued on Saturday evening, Netanyahu’s office said Israel’s negotiators had briefed him on the talks, and “expressed cautious optimism regarding the possibility of advancing a deal.” It said the new US proposal, which was conveyed to Israel and to Hamas on Friday at the end of two days of talks between Israel and the mediators in Doha, “contains components that are acceptable to Israel.”
“We must hope that the heavy pressure on Hamas from the United States and the mediators leads to the removal of its opposition to the American proposal, and allows for a breakthrough in the contacts,” the statement added.
US officials have previously said that the return of armed Hamas forces to northern Gaza — across the Netzarim Corridor that the IDF has established separating the north and the south of the Strip — would constitute a violation of the deal. According to a Walla News report, the mediators have now proposed a clause that gives Israel the right to resume military hostilities against Hamas if weapons are moved into northern Gaza. (The IDF would be required to withdraw from the Netzarim area in the first phase of the deal.)
Israeli and other sources have said that Israel’s security chiefs believe withdrawing from the Philadelphi Corridor along the Gaza border for the six weeks of the deal’s first phase would not enable Hamas to significantly rearm, and that certain unspecified procedures along the border could compensate for an Israeli withdrawal from the border area. Israel’s Channel 13 news, citing Egyptian sources, said Israel and Egypt were working on an arrangement as regards the Philadelphi Corridor and the Rafah border crossing.
The US, backed by fellow mediators Qatar and Egypt, conveyed its bridging proposal to Israel and Hamas at the end of the Thursday-Friday summit in Doha. Israel and the mediators attended the summit; Hamas officials in Doha were updated on the progress of the talks there but did not directly participate.
Another such summit is reportedly tentatively scheduled, this time for Cairo, on Wednesday or Thursday. US officials have said they aim to finalize the long-sought deal by the end of this coming week.
President Joe Biden and other US officials have expressed guarded optimism about the progress of the negotiations while stressing that obstacles remain. Hamas officials have indicated that they oppose the latest formulations, with sources stating Friday that the group insisted on a permanent ceasefire, a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, the return of displaced Gazans, and a hostage-prisoners exchange.
An Israeli official with knowledge of the negotiations told Walla that Hamas was likely to turn down the latest proposal, regarding it as broadly mirroring Israel’s positions.
Netanyahu has insisted that any deal must meet both Israel’s key war aims — the return of all hostages and the destruction of Hamas. He has denied that the May 27 Israeli proposal on which the ongoing talks is based provides for a permanent ceasefire, even though the published text indicates that it does.
Two pre-October 7 hostages would be freed
According to Saturday’s Channel 12 report, the “bridging proposal” covers numerous highly specific issues regarding the deal. Among these, it specifies how many living Israeli hostages will go free in the first, six-week phase of the deal; it has previously been widely reported that some 30 women, elderly and sick hostages will be freed. The names of almost all these hostages have also been largely determined, the report says.
The proposal also specifies the order in which hostages will be freed, with women — including female soldiers — to be released first.
The proposal reflects progress, too, on which Palestinian security prisoners are to be released in exchange for the hostages.
Walla said Israel has offered to veto fewer specific terrorists’ releases if Hamas frees more hostages in each of the six weeks of the deal’s first stage, and that this element has been included in the bridging proposal.
The Channel 12 TV report said that Ethiopian Israeli Avera Mengistu and Bedouin Israeli Hisham al-Sayed, civilians who have been held in Gaza for the past decade, would also go free in the first phase of the deal. In return, it says, 47 Palestinian security prisoners, released in the 2011 deal to secure the freedom of kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who have been rearrested since, would be freed as part of the deal.
The report stressed, however, that these elements in the bridging proposal have been agreed by Israel and the mediators — but not by Hamas.
Walla’s report on Saturday night also cited an Israeli official as saying that the US-professed optimism was at least partially aimed at convincing Iran to delay its threatened revenge attack on Israel for the killing in Tehran on July 31 of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, a killing it blames on Israel. The US has also been pressing Lebanese terror group Hezbollah not to strike at Israel following the IDF’s killing of its military chief Fuad Shukr in Beirut the previous night.
Similarly, a foreign source involved in the talks told the Kan public broadcaster that “the mediators are continuing to talk with Iran and Hezbollah and encouraging them not to escalate the situation.”
The same source reportedly expressed “very cautious optimism” that a deal could be concluded before next weekend’s Cairo summit.
The hostages-for-ceasefire deal being negotiated is based on the May 27 Israeli proposal that Biden outlined in a May 31 speech. Israel has since added “clarifications” to its negotiating positions.
It is believed that 111 of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas during the terror group’s October 7 rampage remain in Gaza, including the bodies of 39 confirmed dead by the IDF. The onslaught saw thousands of Hamas-led terrorists storm southern Israel to kill nearly 1,200 people, sparking the war in Gaza. link I refer everyone to my brother's column of Aug 7 in The Times of Israel Bring the hostages home and ending the war in 6 weeks . In this column, Gershon proposed a complete plan to bring all the hostages home and end the war in 6 weeks. He then presented the plan to the negotiating intermediators, Egypt, Qatar and the US and a short time after that, they came out with joint statement calling for the restart of negotiations basically as a last ditch effort. (coincidence? I don't think so). They did not publicly state that this would be an ultimatum but it has been implied that this will be a take it or leave it deal and if it can't be concluded, there would be prices to be paid. There is tremendous pressure on Israel by the US and on Hamas by Egypt and Qatar. The question is, of course, will this pressure be enough to get both sides to give up on some of their 'key' demands or not. And if they won't, what can be done. The Americans, until now have publicly placed all blame for the failures to reach agreement on Hamas, while knowing that Netanyahu is a major reason for the failures. These public announcements can change and they may openly blame Netanyahu (along with Hamas) for the failures. This obviously will not look good for Netanyahu anywhere and he is very cognizant of bad press and does all he can to eliminate it. The other major tool in the American arsenal is in its support for Israel against an Iranian/Hizbollah attack, especially if these negotiations fail. That is basically a doomsday tool and I don't know if the Americans are willing to use it as it can expose Israel greatly and make the anticipated attack a potential catastrophe. The other tool in the arsenal is the supply of weapons. The US can tell Netanyahu that if he doesn't make the deal, bomb deliveries will end. This has far reaching implications for our position in the north, more so than in the south. It will make Netanyahu and the entire security establishment rethink our position there and could be just the tool to force Netanyahu's hand, although publicly he will say, as he has said, that we will fight that war, if need be, with or without outside help. But those are just words. Without the American bombs, our offensive power is severely weakened and the promised destruction that we will bring upon Lebanon does away like a dream. We need this deal to be made, to save the living hostages, to bury the dead and to begin a very painful and long process of healing.
- Hamas source reveals new details of truce-hostage proposal
The Saudi-owned Asharq news outlet reports details of the latest truce-hostage release proposal submitted by the US in Doha, as revealed by a Hamas source.
The outline is somewhat different from the proposal reported by Hebrew media on Saturday, which was based on unnamed officials familiar with the talks.
According to the Hamas source quoted by Asharq, the American proposal includes the following points:
Gaza
- An Israeli delegation will travel to Cairo today to discuss arrangements for the reopening of the Rafah border crossing with Egyptian, US, and Qatari officials, the Qatari Al-Araby Al-Jadeed news site reports.
The delegation is described as “technical” and does not appear to include high-ranking officials.
According to the report, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected an Egyptian and US proposal for monitoring the crossing, insisting that Israel play a role in overseeing security on the border, despite the offer including guarantees that Hamas won’t be able to use the area for military purposes.
The rejected proposal was not detailed in the report.
The Rafah border crossing has been closed since May, as Egypt refuses to operate the crossing while Israel maintains a presence there.
The delegation is described as “technical” and does not appear to include high-ranking officials.
According to the report, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected an Egyptian and US proposal for monitoring the crossing, insisting that Israel play a role in overseeing security on the border, despite the offer including guarantees that Hamas won’t be able to use the area for military purposes.
The rejected proposal was not detailed in the report.
The Rafah border crossing has been closed since May, as Egypt refuses to operate the crossing while Israel maintains a presence there.
Northern Israel - Lebanon/Hizbollah/Syria
Hezbollah confirms the death of a member identified by Israel earlier today as a commander in the terror group’s elite Radwan force.
The terror group, however, does not provide the rank and position of Hussein Ibrahim Kassab.
Kassab was killed in an IDF drone strike in southern Lebanon.
His death brings the terror group’s declared toll in IDF strikes over the past ten months to at least 412.
- "Hezbollah gives Netanyahu an excuse to attack": Anger in Lebanon after the exposure of giant tunnelsThe unusual intimidation video published by the Shiite terrorist organization echoed not only in Israel in the last day, but of course also in Lebanon. Citizens were surprised by the relatively good conditions in the underground complex: "They are able to build tunnels with lighting, but not provide us with water and electricity". Criticism of Nasrallah: "He'd better invest in building shelters in southern Lebanon"The video published yesterday (Friday) by Hezbollah, which revealed in unusual documentation an underground facility called "Imad 4", provoked many reactions online - including from opponents of the Shiite terrorist organization who could not ignore the relatively good conditions - precisely inside a tunnel. They also claimed that in contrast to the systems and lighting documented in the video - citizens are suffering from distress above ground, including a lack of shelters.Lebanese journalist Layal al-Ekhtyar, from the Saudi Al-Arabiya network, known for her statements against Hezbollah, claimed that the organization serves Israel through the video it published. "Is Hezbollah giving Netanyahu an excuse to attack Lebanon, after publishing the 'Imad 4' video? Does this seem to anyone that it deters Netanyahu's madness?"Some Lebanese citizens who responded to the video wondered where the lighting and water in the tunnel came from, while the country is in an energy crisis. One user wrote: "If Hezbollah has the ability to build the tunnels, why can't it provide electricity and water to its surroundings?"Samir Geagea, chairman of the Lebanese Forces party, said yesterday in response to the video published by Hezbollah: "Where were these facilities when the number of casualties exceeded 500? Hezbollah cannot determine Lebanon's fate through war". Geagea added that the facilities are Iranian-funded - and not in the interest of the Lebanese people.The Saudi Al-Hadath network published a video yesterday that dealt with Hezbollah's publication - and made it clear that some Lebanese saw the publication as a danger to Lebanon. The video featured a man named Makram Rabah, a lecturer and political researcher, who said that the publication of the video is propaganda similar to that spread in North Korea. "It would have been better for Hezbollah to invest in building shelters in southern Lebanon to protect civilians and secure infrastructure in the area," he said.The report claimed that the Lebanese called for the establishment of shelters in response, and argued that the tunnels serve Hezbollah alone - and are not subject to the authorities in Lebanon. Zina, a resident of Lebanon, wrote: "Hezbollah dug all these tunnels and didn't build a single shelter for people to take refuge from its whims". Jessica Obeid, an energy expert from Lebanon, also tweeted: "Tunnels they produce but shelters - there are none".**Nasrallah's threat, Israel's assessment**In the background of the video released yesterday morning, threats from Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah regarding the terrorist organization's capabilities can be heard. The video revealed Hezbollah's giant tunnels, equipped with computers and lighting, large and deep enough to easily allow the passage of trucks and of course motorcycles.Hezbollah, we note, has a strategic tunneling project that includes large underground bases throughout Lebanon, as well as combat tunnels in southern Lebanon. These tunnels existed already during the Second Lebanon War and were used to fight against IDF forces maneuvering in the Shiite villages of southern Lebanon. However, it should be assessed that the terrorist army's underground array has since been upgraded beyond recognition - and not just with the six penetrating tunnels that the IDF identified and destroyed in the late last decade, as part of Operation "Northern Shield".The military estimates that since October, Hezbollah has observed the IDF's confrontation with hundreds of kilometers of Hamas tunnels in the Gaza Strip - and learned from this about their penetrability and various configurations in the depths of underground levels, their networking, and fortification. Hezbollah's goal, it seems, is to incorporate the lessons it will learn into its underground array.It can be estimated that similar to Hamas, Hezbollah also keeps its central assets in bases under populated areas, which only ground maneuvering can effectively hit. These include, among others, precise missile launchers and attack drones, Radwan force commando cells, large ammunition depots not yet given to forces in the field, factories - and of course, significant senior officials and commanders.It is likely that Hezbollah's tunneling project is kept highly secret and under strict compartmentalization in all active arenas in Lebanon, not only in its south - but also in the Dahieh quarter in Beirut and in the ammunition factories and warehouses in the Bekaa. According to past reports, it is known that some of the tunnels are very narrow and intended for use by terrorists - and some are wider and intended for Iranian ballistic missile batteries of the "Fateh 110" type.The footage released yesterday shows, among other things, a ride in one of the tunnels, revealing a long, illuminated maze of the terrorist organization underground. Numbered trucks pass one after the other without interruption. At the end of the video, you can see the missile launch platforms pulled out from underground and the name of the facility. The "Al-Mayadeen" network associated with Hezbollah noted that "the video presents the secrecy maintained around the location of Hezbollah's missile capabilities. The facility is located deep underground, far from hostile intelligence capabilities and also provides protection against hostile targets." link
Hezbollah confirms the death of a member identified by Israel earlier today as a commander in the terror group’s elite Radwan force.
The terror group, however, does not provide the rank and position of Hussein Ibrahim Kassab.
Kassab was killed in an IDF drone strike in southern Lebanon.
His death brings the terror group’s declared toll in IDF strikes over the past ten months to at least 412.
- "Hezbollah gives Netanyahu an excuse to attack": Anger in Lebanon after the exposure of giant tunnelsThe unusual intimidation video published by the Shiite terrorist organization echoed not only in Israel in the last day, but of course also in Lebanon. Citizens were surprised by the relatively good conditions in the underground complex: "They are able to build tunnels with lighting, but not provide us with water and electricity". Criticism of Nasrallah: "He'd better invest in building shelters in southern Lebanon"The video published yesterday (Friday) by Hezbollah, which revealed in unusual documentation an underground facility called "Imad 4", provoked many reactions online - including from opponents of the Shiite terrorist organization who could not ignore the relatively good conditions - precisely inside a tunnel. They also claimed that in contrast to the systems and lighting documented in the video - citizens are suffering from distress above ground, including a lack of shelters.Lebanese journalist Layal al-Ekhtyar, from the Saudi Al-Arabiya network, known for her statements against Hezbollah, claimed that the organization serves Israel through the video it published. "Is Hezbollah giving Netanyahu an excuse to attack Lebanon, after publishing the 'Imad 4' video? Does this seem to anyone that it deters Netanyahu's madness?"Some Lebanese citizens who responded to the video wondered where the lighting and water in the tunnel came from, while the country is in an energy crisis. One user wrote: "If Hezbollah has the ability to build the tunnels, why can't it provide electricity and water to its surroundings?"Samir Geagea, chairman of the Lebanese Forces party, said yesterday in response to the video published by Hezbollah: "Where were these facilities when the number of casualties exceeded 500? Hezbollah cannot determine Lebanon's fate through war". Geagea added that the facilities are Iranian-funded - and not in the interest of the Lebanese people.The Saudi Al-Hadath network published a video yesterday that dealt with Hezbollah's publication - and made it clear that some Lebanese saw the publication as a danger to Lebanon. The video featured a man named Makram Rabah, a lecturer and political researcher, who said that the publication of the video is propaganda similar to that spread in North Korea. "It would have been better for Hezbollah to invest in building shelters in southern Lebanon to protect civilians and secure infrastructure in the area," he said.The report claimed that the Lebanese called for the establishment of shelters in response, and argued that the tunnels serve Hezbollah alone - and are not subject to the authorities in Lebanon. Zina, a resident of Lebanon, wrote: "Hezbollah dug all these tunnels and didn't build a single shelter for people to take refuge from its whims". Jessica Obeid, an energy expert from Lebanon, also tweeted: "Tunnels they produce but shelters - there are none".**Nasrallah's threat, Israel's assessment**In the background of the video released yesterday morning, threats from Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah regarding the terrorist organization's capabilities can be heard. The video revealed Hezbollah's giant tunnels, equipped with computers and lighting, large and deep enough to easily allow the passage of trucks and of course motorcycles.Hezbollah, we note, has a strategic tunneling project that includes large underground bases throughout Lebanon, as well as combat tunnels in southern Lebanon. These tunnels existed already during the Second Lebanon War and were used to fight against IDF forces maneuvering in the Shiite villages of southern Lebanon. However, it should be assessed that the terrorist army's underground array has since been upgraded beyond recognition - and not just with the six penetrating tunnels that the IDF identified and destroyed in the late last decade, as part of Operation "Northern Shield".The military estimates that since October, Hezbollah has observed the IDF's confrontation with hundreds of kilometers of Hamas tunnels in the Gaza Strip - and learned from this about their penetrability and various configurations in the depths of underground levels, their networking, and fortification. Hezbollah's goal, it seems, is to incorporate the lessons it will learn into its underground array.It can be estimated that similar to Hamas, Hezbollah also keeps its central assets in bases under populated areas, which only ground maneuvering can effectively hit. These include, among others, precise missile launchers and attack drones, Radwan force commando cells, large ammunition depots not yet given to forces in the field, factories - and of course, significant senior officials and commanders.It is likely that Hezbollah's tunneling project is kept highly secret and under strict compartmentalization in all active arenas in Lebanon, not only in its south - but also in the Dahieh quarter in Beirut and in the ammunition factories and warehouses in the Bekaa. According to past reports, it is known that some of the tunnels are very narrow and intended for use by terrorists - and some are wider and intended for Iranian ballistic missile batteries of the "Fateh 110" type.The footage released yesterday shows, among other things, a ride in one of the tunnels, revealing a long, illuminated maze of the terrorist organization underground. Numbered trucks pass one after the other without interruption. At the end of the video, you can see the missile launch platforms pulled out from underground and the name of the facility. The "Al-Mayadeen" network associated with Hezbollah noted that "the video presents the secrecy maintained around the location of Hezbollah's missile capabilities. The facility is located deep underground, far from hostile intelligence capabilities and also provides protection against hostile targets." link
West Bank and Jerusalem and Terror attacks within Israel
- Israel Police reportedly refused to arrest a settler who the IDF detained while en route to attack the Palestinian village of Rujeib in the northern West Bank.
Last year, then-IDF Central Command head Gen. Yehuda Fox penned a letter obtained by Channel 12 warning that police were not acting against violent settlers due to a directive from National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who oversees the law enforcement body.
In today’s incident, six settlers — some of them masked and donning pepper spray — tried to enter the Palestinian village of Rujeib, a senior Israeli security official tells Hebrew media.
An IDF squad was dispatched to the scene and managed to intercept the settlers before they entered the village.
Most of the settlers fled upon seeing the soldiers. One of the soldiers pointed his weapon at one of the suspects and detained him.
He was then handed over to police, who refused to arrest the suspect, the security official says.
The incident comes two days after dozens of settlers rampaged the nearby Palestinian village of Jit, killing one local.
Earlier today, President Isaac Herzog told protesters outside his home that the issue is being “handled.”
No arrests have been made in the Jit attack, and the lone suspect detained afterward was released. His apprehension wasn’t for the attack itself.
‘We’ll come back and kill you’: Palestinians recall
horror of deadly settler riot
Residents of Jit say attackers ransacked homes, chasing
people and threatening to return later; uncle says slain man was shot in back
as some locals attempted to defend village
Footage shows masked settlers setting cars and homes on fire in the Palestinian town of Jit in the West Bank, on August 15, 2024, and the aftermath as seen on the following day (Reuters/X; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)The Israeli settlers who attacked Hassan Arman’s village of
Jit in the West Bank had a simple aim, Arman said, “To burn, kill, or destroy,”
all of which took place that night.
Residents on Friday recalled hiding in fear while dozens of
settlers ransacked their northern village the night before, burning homes and
cars and shooting a young Palestinian man dead.
Locals said more than 100 people took part in the attack,
many wearing masks and clad in black, and appeared well-coordinated, dividing
into groups armed with guns and others throwing stones and Molotov cocktails.
The rampage drew widespread condemnation, including from
inside Israel.
Arman, whose car was destroyed by fire during the attack, said
he had “never seen anything like it” in Jit as he opened the charred door of
his vehicle.
Inside, everything had melted, leaving just a skeleton of
twisted metal.
When the Jewish settlers reached his house, they were “in
full uniform, armed with knives, a machine gun, and a silencer,” he said.
People stand inside their damaged home, a day after an attack by Jewish settlers on the village of Jit near Nablus in the West Bank that left a 23-year-old man dead and others with critical gunshot wounds, on August 16, 2024.(Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP)A few houses down, Muawiya al-Sada, a 38-year-old father of
five, struggled for words as he stood in the scorched remains of his living
room. Only the burnt wooden frame of his sofa remained after the cushions and
fabric went up in flames. “After they burned the house there, they came to this
house, broke the windows, and threw firebombs — Molotov cocktails — inside,” he
said, while shards of glass from his window panes crunched under the weight of
his boots.
Sada told Reuters he escaped with his family with only
minutes to spare. When he returned, he said the settlers were jeering and taunting
him, saying “We will come back and kill you!” and telling him to go to Jordan
or Syria.
Sada and his neighbors then heard gunshots which they later
learned caused the death of Rasheed Seda, 23.
The Palestinian Authority health ministry said another
Palestinian civilian was also critically wounded by the “settlers’ bullets.”
Israeli security sources said it was unclear who had shot him.
Sada said following the shooting, “there was a brief period of
calm, and then the army entered [the village].”
“I was lucky, it was a matter of minutes between life and
death,” Sada said.
Palestinians inspect damage in the West Bank village of Jit a day after extremist settlers attacked the town, August 16, 2024. (Nasser Ishtayeh/Flash90)
Nasser Seda, the head of the local council in Jit, told the
Ynet news website that Rasheed, who he is related to, had joined other young
locals who had attempted to turn away the attackers.
“If our young people hadn’t gone out to try to repel the
settlers, it could have been a much greater disaster,” Seda said.
Mourners in the streets
Crowds gathered for Seda’s funeral on Friday, carrying his
body, wrapped in a Palestinian flag, through the streets.
At the funeral, his uncle Muhannad Sada told AFP, “A bullet
came from behind him and exited the other side, and he was martyred.”
“It was not the army who fired the bullets, but the
settlers,” he added.
CCTV footage released by one resident showed masked men in
black hoodies emerging from a field, setting fire to a car and breaking into a
home, then setting upon a villager when he tried to chase them away.
The army said it dispersed the settlers from Jit, detaining
one Israeli civilian, who was eventually released when it turned out he was not
involved in the events.
The Palestinian Authority, which has limited sovereignty
over part of the West Bank, called the attack “organized state terrorism.” It
was not clear what, if anything, had triggered the violence. video of the arson
Seda, the Jit local council head, said residents have not
had issues with the neighboring settlement of Kedumim, and pointed his finger
at the Havat Gilad outpost and Yitzhar settlement, whose residents deliberately
try to disturb the lives of those in Jit, he said.
Yossi Dagan, the head of the Samaria Regional Council
representing Israeli settlements in the northern part of the West Bank, said
the extremists who rampaged through Jit on Thursday were mostly not settlers
from his area.
“We know that this is a WhatsApp group of fringe, violent
youth, most of whom are not even from Samaria. I despise them like most of the
country,” he told Kan radio on Friday.
President Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
denounced the attack, which drew widespread condemnation from the international
community including the United States, the United Nations, France, Germany and
Britain.
Notably, the incident was also condemned by far-right
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who lives in the nearby settlement of
Kedumim. Local settler politicians condemned the attack as well.
A home torched by masked settlers in the Palestinian town of Jit in the West Bank, August 15, 2024. (Screenshot: X; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law) Ultranationalist National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir
blamed the incident on the policies of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and IDF
Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi but still said fighting terror is the sole
domain of the military, indicating he viewed the lynch as a civilian
counterterrorism action.
The incident came at a tense time for the region, as
negotiators spent two days at a summit in Doha trying to hammer out a deal for
a ceasefire in Gaza in exchange for the release of hostages, and in doing so
possibly douse threats by Iran and its proxies to attack Israel.
Violence in the West Bank has surged since war broke out on
October 7, when Hamas terrorists infiltrated Israel, killing some 1,200 people,
mostly civilians, and kidnapping 251.
Since October 7, troops have arrested some 4,850 wanted
Palestinians across the West Bank, including more than 1,960 affiliated with
Hamas. According to the Palestinian Authority health ministry, more than 630
West Bank Palestinians have been killed in that time. The IDF says the vast
majority of them were gunmen killed in exchanges of fire, rioters who clashed
with troops or terrorists carrying out attacks.
During the same period, 26 people, including Israeli
security personnel, have been killed in terror attacks in Israel and the West
Bank. Another five members of the security forces were killed in clashes with
terror operatives in the West Bank.
The United Nations humanitarian agency OCHA says there have
been around 1,250 attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians since
October 7, or around four per day. link
Last year, then-IDF Central Command head Gen. Yehuda Fox penned a letter obtained by Channel 12 warning that police were not acting against violent settlers due to a directive from National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who oversees the law enforcement body.
In today’s incident, six settlers — some of them masked and donning pepper spray — tried to enter the Palestinian village of Rujeib, a senior Israeli security official tells Hebrew media.
An IDF squad was dispatched to the scene and managed to intercept the settlers before they entered the village.
Most of the settlers fled upon seeing the soldiers. One of the soldiers pointed his weapon at one of the suspects and detained him.
He was then handed over to police, who refused to arrest the suspect, the security official says.
The incident comes two days after dozens of settlers rampaged the nearby Palestinian village of Jit, killing one local.
Earlier today, President Isaac Herzog told protesters outside his home that the issue is being “handled.”
No arrests have been made in the Jit attack, and the lone suspect detained afterward was released. His apprehension wasn’t for the attack itself.
‘We’ll come back and kill you’: Palestinians recall
horror of deadly settler riot
Residents of Jit say attackers ransacked homes, chasing people and threatening to return later; uncle says slain man was shot in back as some locals attempted to defend village
Footage shows masked settlers setting cars and homes on fire in the Palestinian town of Jit in the West Bank, on August 15, 2024, and the aftermath as seen on the following day (Reuters/X; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
The Israeli settlers who attacked Hassan Arman’s village of
Jit in the West Bank had a simple aim, Arman said, “To burn, kill, or destroy,”
all of which took place that night.
Residents on Friday recalled hiding in fear while dozens of
settlers ransacked their northern village the night before, burning homes and
cars and shooting a young Palestinian man dead.
Locals said more than 100 people took part in the attack,
many wearing masks and clad in black, and appeared well-coordinated, dividing
into groups armed with guns and others throwing stones and Molotov cocktails.
The rampage drew widespread condemnation, including from
inside Israel.
Arman, whose car was destroyed by fire during the attack, said
he had “never seen anything like it” in Jit as he opened the charred door of
his vehicle.
Inside, everything had melted, leaving just a skeleton of
twisted metal.
When the Jewish settlers reached his house, they were “in full uniform, armed with knives, a machine gun, and a silencer,” he said.
A few houses down, Muawiya al-Sada, a 38-year-old father of
five, struggled for words as he stood in the scorched remains of his living
room. Only the burnt wooden frame of his sofa remained after the cushions and
fabric went up in flames. “After they burned the house there, they came to this
house, broke the windows, and threw firebombs — Molotov cocktails — inside,” he
said, while shards of glass from his window panes crunched under the weight of
his boots.
Sada told Reuters he escaped with his family with only
minutes to spare. When he returned, he said the settlers were jeering and taunting
him, saying “We will come back and kill you!” and telling him to go to Jordan
or Syria.
Sada and his neighbors then heard gunshots which they later
learned caused the death of Rasheed Seda, 23.
The Palestinian Authority health ministry said another
Palestinian civilian was also critically wounded by the “settlers’ bullets.”
Israeli security sources said it was unclear who had shot him.
Sada said following the shooting, “there was a brief period of
calm, and then the army entered [the village].”
“I was lucky, it was a matter of minutes between life and death,” Sada said.
Palestinians inspect damage in the West Bank village of Jit a day after extremist settlers attacked the town, August 16, 2024. (Nasser Ishtayeh/Flash90)
Nasser Seda, the head of the local council in Jit, told the
Ynet news website that Rasheed, who he is related to, had joined other young
locals who had attempted to turn away the attackers.
“If our young people hadn’t gone out to try to repel the
settlers, it could have been a much greater disaster,” Seda said.
Mourners in the streets
Crowds gathered for Seda’s funeral on Friday, carrying his
body, wrapped in a Palestinian flag, through the streets.
At the funeral, his uncle Muhannad Sada told AFP, “A bullet
came from behind him and exited the other side, and he was martyred.”
“It was not the army who fired the bullets, but the
settlers,” he added.
CCTV footage released by one resident showed masked men in
black hoodies emerging from a field, setting fire to a car and breaking into a
home, then setting upon a villager when he tried to chase them away.
The army said it dispersed the settlers from Jit, detaining
one Israeli civilian, who was eventually released when it turned out he was not
involved in the events.
The Palestinian Authority, which has limited sovereignty
over part of the West Bank, called the attack “organized state terrorism.” It
was not clear what, if anything, had triggered the violence. video of the arson
Seda, the Jit local council head, said residents have not
had issues with the neighboring settlement of Kedumim, and pointed his finger
at the Havat Gilad outpost and Yitzhar settlement, whose residents deliberately
try to disturb the lives of those in Jit, he said.
Yossi Dagan, the head of the Samaria Regional Council
representing Israeli settlements in the northern part of the West Bank, said
the extremists who rampaged through Jit on Thursday were mostly not settlers
from his area.
“We know that this is a WhatsApp group of fringe, violent
youth, most of whom are not even from Samaria. I despise them like most of the
country,” he told Kan radio on Friday.
President Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
denounced the attack, which drew widespread condemnation from the international
community including the United States, the United Nations, France, Germany and
Britain.
Notably, the incident was also condemned by far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who lives in the nearby settlement of Kedumim. Local settler politicians condemned the attack as well.
Ultranationalist National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir
blamed the incident on the policies of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and IDF
Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi but still said fighting terror is the sole
domain of the military, indicating he viewed the lynch as a civilian
counterterrorism action.
The incident came at a tense time for the region, as
negotiators spent two days at a summit in Doha trying to hammer out a deal for
a ceasefire in Gaza in exchange for the release of hostages, and in doing so
possibly douse threats by Iran and its proxies to attack Israel.
Violence in the West Bank has surged since war broke out on
October 7, when Hamas terrorists infiltrated Israel, killing some 1,200 people,
mostly civilians, and kidnapping 251.
Since October 7, troops have arrested some 4,850 wanted
Palestinians across the West Bank, including more than 1,960 affiliated with
Hamas. According to the Palestinian Authority health ministry, more than 630
West Bank Palestinians have been killed in that time. The IDF says the vast
majority of them were gunmen killed in exchanges of fire, rioters who clashed
with troops or terrorists carrying out attacks.
During the same period, 26 people, including Israeli
security personnel, have been killed in terror attacks in Israel and the West
Bank. Another five members of the security forces were killed in clashes with
terror operatives in the West Bank.
The United Nations humanitarian agency OCHA says there have
been around 1,250 attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians since
October 7, or around four per day. link
Politics and the War (general news)
- IDF intel chiefs never told political and military leaders they'd had Hamas battle plan since April 2022 - report
IDF intelligence chiefs never told Israel’s most senior military and political leaders that Unit 8200 had in April 2022 obtained a document setting out Hamas’s plans for what proved to be the October 7 invasion and slaughter in southern Israel, Channel 12 reports.
The existence of the document, which Israeli military intelligence codenamed “Jericho Walls,” was first reported in The New York Times in November 2023.
The 40-page plan, the Times reported at the time, laid out almost exactly how Hamas eventually wound up carrying out the attack: “The document called for a barrage of rockets at the outset of the attack, drones to knock out the security cameras and automated machine guns along the border, and gunmen to pour into Israel en masse in paragliders, on motorcycles and on foot — all of which happened on Oct. 7.”
Israeli intelligence officers reportedly determined that the terror group was incapable of carrying out an assault of such a large scope, or possibly unwilling, and dismissed concerns about it.
According to Channel 12 tonight, the Arabic language document, which was written in October 2021, was obtained by Unit 8200 in April 2022 and translated. It was seen by IDF intelligence chief Aharon Haliva, 8200 commander Yossi Sariel, Gaza division commander Avi Rosenfeld, and then IDF Southern Command chief Eliezer Toledano, the report says.
It was not seen by IDF chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, deputy chief Amir Baram, Israel Air Force chief Tomer Bar, or senior IDF operations officers Oded Basyuk and Shlomi Binder. It was also not seen by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, or the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.
The document showed “Hamas was not deterred,” contradicting the prevailing IDF assessment, former IDF intelligence chief Aharon Ze’evi-Farkash tells Channel 12. Therefore it should obviously have been followed up rather than dismissed. “It needed to be thoroughly checked.”
The TV report says that IAF chief Bar, in the months preceding October 7, felt the Air Force was not getting adequate intelligence on developments in Gaza and that meetings were held with Unit 8200 about this concern. But even then, he was not told about the Hamas “Jericho Walls” battle plan document.
The air force had seen “no scenario” for the kind of mass breach of the border, with dozens of points of entry, that Hamas carried out on October 7, Brigadier General (Res.) Yaron Rosen, a former senior IAF officer and pilot, tells Channel 12. And thus there were “no relevant orders” to activate that morning, and the IAF was forced to improvise. Had it known of the attack plan, it would have drawn up a response and “hopefully” been able to prevent the invasion, Rosen says.
The Channel 12 report also describes efforts by an intelligence officer in the IDF Southern Command identified by the initial “Aleph” to alert more senior military officers to what he recognized as “something extremely unusual going on — heightened readiness on the other side [in Gaza]” in the hours before Hamas invaded.
It says “Aleph” contacted Haliva and IDF southern command chief Yaron Finkelman to report these indications, and that this was after Israeli intelligence officers had already noticed that dozens of Hamas terrorists had activated Israeli SIM cards in their phones, another tell-tale sign of attack that was ignored.
As has been previously reported, Finkelman headed to the IDF’s Southern Command headquarters overnight October 6-7 and alerted Halevi, who held telephone consultations but did not order a major alert.
“Aleph” also contacted Unit 8200 commander Sariel via WhatsApp to what he described as “a highly unusual event,” seeking intelligence from a “particularly important” technical network that had for years provided information on Hamas activities, the TV report says. Sariel, checking, was told that this network had not been working for the past several hours. The network was only reactivated at around the time that the invasion began.
Several Unit 8200 soldiers also recognized unusual activity in Gaza in the hours before the invasion and sent six emails to a “non-relevant user,” the report says.
Tonight’s TV report is the latest in a long series of revelations that have emerged since soon after October 7 about material in Israel’s hands pointing to the looming Hamas invasion that was ignored, dismissed or misinterpreted. The TV channel says its report was compiled under military censorship limitations, and that it was unable to detail an additional dramatic piece of information regarding the hours before the invasion “that should have lit all the red lights.” link
- Fact-Checking What Benjamin Netanyahu Said in His 2024 Interview With TIME
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sat down for a
wide-ranging interview with TIME on Aug. 4 at his Jerusalem office. During the
discussion with TIME Correspondent Eric Cortellessa, Netanyahu made a number of
claims that lacked context, were not supported by facts, or were not true.
Following is a review of Netanyahu’s false statements during
the interview. TIME has also published a full transcript of the conversation.
What Netanyahu Said: Regarding Israel's tacit and direct
support for Hamas before Oct. 7, “It’s not only my government. It's the previous
government, the government before me, and the government after me. It wasn't
bankrolling Hamas.”
The Facts: The Qataris began funding Hamas shortly after the
Islamist terror group took over the Gaza Strip in 2007. Ehud Olmert was Prime
Minister then, but Israel was not directly involved in those initial cash
infusions. It wasn’t until 2014, under the approval of Netanyahu, that the
Israeli government became directly involved in the financial transfers of $30
million a month. From 2012 to 2018, Qatar funneled roughly $1.1 billion into
the Strip, directing the funds to cover humanitarian aid, fuel, and government
salaries, according to an analysis provided to Israeli ministers. It’s unknown
just how much was diverted by Hamas to build its vast network of underground
tunnels and military installations.
Netanyahu’s government was so invested in the policy that
when Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas sanctioned Hamas in 2018 and
cut off salaries for government workers in Gaza, the Israeli government
delivered the money into Gaza through cash-filled suitcases. At the time,
Netanyahu’s Education Minister Naftali Bennett opposed the payments, calling it
“protection money” that would buy only temporary quiet. Bennett would succeed
Netanyahu in 2021, the first Prime Minister in a unity government that lasted
nearly 18 months. While Bennett continued to allow Qatari money to fund Hamas,
one of his first moves as the Israeli premier was to cancel the cash-filled
suitcases sent into Gaza.
What Netanyahu Said: Regarding the impact of that support,
“I don't think it made that big a difference, because the main issue was the
transfer of weapons and ammunition from the Sinai into Gaza. That's what made
them—it wasn't so much a question of money. It was a question of availability.”
The Facts: With the more than one billion dollars Qatar
funneled into Hamas’ coffers with Israeli cooperation, the group was able to
buy and smuggle weapons into the Gaza Strip. “Money is fungible,” Chip Usher, a
retired senior analyst for the CIA, told the New York Times. “Anything that
Hamas didn’t have to use out of its own budget freed up money for other
things.”
What Netanyahu Said: Regarding his reported admission of
support for Hamas, “That’s a false statement. I never said that.”
The Facts: Multiple Israeli news outlets reported
Netanyahu’s quote from a 2019 Likud Party conference. He also reportedly told
the journalist Dan Margalit in 2012 that he wanted to keep Hamas as a
counterweight to the Fatah-controlled PA. Others in Netanyahu’s government have
explicitly said that the strategy of funding Hamas was to prevent the emergence
of a Palestinian State. In a 2015 interview, Netanyahu’s current Finance
Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, said "the Palestinian Authority is a burden,
and Hamas is an asset.”
What Netanyahu Said: “Oct. 7th showed that those who said
that Hamas was deterred were wrong. If anything, I didn't challenge enough the
assumption that was common to all the security agencies.”
The Facts: Israeli security agencies did not uniformly say
before Oct. 7 that Hamas was deterred. In fact, as Netanyahu was asked about in
the interview, his own security chiefs warned him that Hezbollah and Hamas saw
the societal division over his plan to diminish the power of the Supreme Court
as weakening Israel’s deterrence. If Netanyahu challenged his security
agencies, it was in the opposite direction: he refused to heed the warnings
that Hamas saw an opening to strike Israel.
At the same time, Netanyahu himself said publicly on
numerous occasions that Hamas was deterred from attacking Israel. Just months
before Oct. 7, Netanyahu appeared on Israel’s Channel 14, a friendly right-wing
network, to say that he fended off future attacks from the Gaza Strip after an
11-day round of fighting in 2021. In his 2022 memoir, Bibi, Netanyahu wrote
that Hamas was sufficiently constrained and that he didn’t want to wage all-out
war in Gaza when he was more concerned about Iran. “Did I really want to tie
down the IDF in Gaza for years when we had to deal with Iran and a possible
Syrian front?” he wrote. “The answer was categorically no. I had bigger fish to
fry.”
What Netanyahu Said: Regarding the lack of prosecution of
Israelis impeding aid to Gaza, “They have. I don't know. I don't know that
they're not prosecuted.”
The Facts: While Israelis caught trying to divert
humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip have been detained for questioning, there
have been no known indictments, according to the Israeli Public Broadcasting
Corporation’s legal affairs reporter Avishai Grinzaig.
What Netanyahu Said: Regarding his trial on corruption
charges, "That trial is unraveling now. You don't hear about it very much,
but it's really unraveling."
The Facts: Netanyahu's trial on corruption charges has been
moving forward. Over the summer, Netanyahu sought to delay giving testimony for
his corruption trial to March 2025. Israel’s State Attorney’s Office opposed
the request, and the Jerusalem District Court ruled against Netanyahu, ordering
him to begin his testimony in December 2024.
What Netanyahu Said: Regarding illegal West Bank settlement
activity, “I've not sought annexation.”
The Facts: This is not true. In January 2020, after
President Donald Trump unveiled his Israeli-Palestinian peace plan at the White
House, Netanyahu promised to annex the Jordan Valley and the settlements in the
West Bank. The Prime Minister pushed a plan to extend Israeli sovereignty over
that territory, roughly 30% of the West Bank, triggering a backlash in Israel,
the United States, and throughout the Middle East.
Netanyahu caught Trump off guard. According to Israeli
journalist Barak Ravid, the former President turned to his aides once he exited
the stage and said, “What the hell was that?” Netanyahu was ultimately forced
to withdraw his annexation proposal under pressure from the Trump
Administration.
When Netanyahu returned to power in Dec. 2022, he appointed
far-right ministers to key positions overseeing the West Bank: Bezalel Smotrich
as Finance Minister and Itamar Ben-Gvir as National Security Minister. Both
have undertaken a systematic effort to expand Israel’s footprint in the
occupied territories, with Smotrich approving unauthorized outposts and
streamlining settlement activities. As part of the coalition agreement,
Netanyahu transferred substantial governing powers in the West Bank, except
over security control, from the army to an apparatus headed by Smotrich.
Israeli lawyers and human rights activists say the move amounts to de jure
annexation. Netanyahu’s own coalition partners have said as much. In June,
Smotrich told settlers of his plan to effectively annex the West Bank and
prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state. “I’m telling you, it’s
mega-dramatic,” Smotrich said. “Such changes change a system’s DNA.”
What Netanyahu Said: Regarding his control of the coalition
government in Israel, “I run the show, I make the decisions. I formulate the
policy.”
The Facts: Given Netanyahu’s fragile coalition, holding 64
seats in a 120-member parliament, he’s beholden to far-right cabinet members who
have the power to topple his government and trigger snap elections. The White
House has cited Smotrich as an obstacle to a ceasefire deal, saying his
obstinacy was “jeopardizing” the hostages. Smotrich and Ben-Gvir have both
threatened to quit and collapse the governing coalition if Netanyahu agrees to
the proposed ceasefire deal by President Joe Biden. Together, they hold 13
seats in Netanyahu’s four-seat majority. link Netanyahu lies almost as much as Trump. As the old joke goes "how can you tell if Netanyahu is lying? His lips are moving"
IDF intelligence chiefs never told Israel’s most senior military and political leaders that Unit 8200 had in April 2022 obtained a document setting out Hamas’s plans for what proved to be the October 7 invasion and slaughter in southern Israel, Channel 12 reports.
The existence of the document, which Israeli military intelligence codenamed “Jericho Walls,” was first reported in The New York Times in November 2023.
The 40-page plan, the Times reported at the time, laid out almost exactly how Hamas eventually wound up carrying out the attack: “The document called for a barrage of rockets at the outset of the attack, drones to knock out the security cameras and automated machine guns along the border, and gunmen to pour into Israel en masse in paragliders, on motorcycles and on foot — all of which happened on Oct. 7.”
Israeli intelligence officers reportedly determined that the terror group was incapable of carrying out an assault of such a large scope, or possibly unwilling, and dismissed concerns about it.
According to Channel 12 tonight, the Arabic language document, which was written in October 2021, was obtained by Unit 8200 in April 2022 and translated. It was seen by IDF intelligence chief Aharon Haliva, 8200 commander Yossi Sariel, Gaza division commander Avi Rosenfeld, and then IDF Southern Command chief Eliezer Toledano, the report says.
It was not seen by IDF chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, deputy chief Amir Baram, Israel Air Force chief Tomer Bar, or senior IDF operations officers Oded Basyuk and Shlomi Binder. It was also not seen by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, or the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.
The document showed “Hamas was not deterred,” contradicting the prevailing IDF assessment, former IDF intelligence chief Aharon Ze’evi-Farkash tells Channel 12. Therefore it should obviously have been followed up rather than dismissed. “It needed to be thoroughly checked.”
The TV report says that IAF chief Bar, in the months preceding October 7, felt the Air Force was not getting adequate intelligence on developments in Gaza and that meetings were held with Unit 8200 about this concern. But even then, he was not told about the Hamas “Jericho Walls” battle plan document.
The air force had seen “no scenario” for the kind of mass breach of the border, with dozens of points of entry, that Hamas carried out on October 7, Brigadier General (Res.) Yaron Rosen, a former senior IAF officer and pilot, tells Channel 12. And thus there were “no relevant orders” to activate that morning, and the IAF was forced to improvise. Had it known of the attack plan, it would have drawn up a response and “hopefully” been able to prevent the invasion, Rosen says.
The Channel 12 report also describes efforts by an intelligence officer in the IDF Southern Command identified by the initial “Aleph” to alert more senior military officers to what he recognized as “something extremely unusual going on — heightened readiness on the other side [in Gaza]” in the hours before Hamas invaded.
It says “Aleph” contacted Haliva and IDF southern command chief Yaron Finkelman to report these indications, and that this was after Israeli intelligence officers had already noticed that dozens of Hamas terrorists had activated Israeli SIM cards in their phones, another tell-tale sign of attack that was ignored.
As has been previously reported, Finkelman headed to the IDF’s Southern Command headquarters overnight October 6-7 and alerted Halevi, who held telephone consultations but did not order a major alert.
“Aleph” also contacted Unit 8200 commander Sariel via WhatsApp to what he described as “a highly unusual event,” seeking intelligence from a “particularly important” technical network that had for years provided information on Hamas activities, the TV report says. Sariel, checking, was told that this network had not been working for the past several hours. The network was only reactivated at around the time that the invasion began.
Several Unit 8200 soldiers also recognized unusual activity in Gaza in the hours before the invasion and sent six emails to a “non-relevant user,” the report says.
Tonight’s TV report is the latest in a long series of revelations that have emerged since soon after October 7 about material in Israel’s hands pointing to the looming Hamas invasion that was ignored, dismissed or misinterpreted. The TV channel says its report was compiled under military censorship limitations, and that it was unable to detail an additional dramatic piece of information regarding the hours before the invasion “that should have lit all the red lights.” link
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sat down for a
wide-ranging interview with TIME on Aug. 4 at his Jerusalem office. During the
discussion with TIME Correspondent Eric Cortellessa, Netanyahu made a number of
claims that lacked context, were not supported by facts, or were not true.
Following is a review of Netanyahu’s false statements during
the interview. TIME has also published a full transcript of the conversation.
What Netanyahu Said: Regarding Israel's tacit and direct
support for Hamas before Oct. 7, “It’s not only my government. It's the previous
government, the government before me, and the government after me. It wasn't
bankrolling Hamas.”
The Facts: The Qataris began funding Hamas shortly after the
Islamist terror group took over the Gaza Strip in 2007. Ehud Olmert was Prime
Minister then, but Israel was not directly involved in those initial cash
infusions. It wasn’t until 2014, under the approval of Netanyahu, that the
Israeli government became directly involved in the financial transfers of $30
million a month. From 2012 to 2018, Qatar funneled roughly $1.1 billion into
the Strip, directing the funds to cover humanitarian aid, fuel, and government
salaries, according to an analysis provided to Israeli ministers. It’s unknown
just how much was diverted by Hamas to build its vast network of underground
tunnels and military installations.
Netanyahu’s government was so invested in the policy that
when Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas sanctioned Hamas in 2018 and
cut off salaries for government workers in Gaza, the Israeli government
delivered the money into Gaza through cash-filled suitcases. At the time,
Netanyahu’s Education Minister Naftali Bennett opposed the payments, calling it
“protection money” that would buy only temporary quiet. Bennett would succeed
Netanyahu in 2021, the first Prime Minister in a unity government that lasted
nearly 18 months. While Bennett continued to allow Qatari money to fund Hamas,
one of his first moves as the Israeli premier was to cancel the cash-filled
suitcases sent into Gaza.
What Netanyahu Said: Regarding the impact of that support,
“I don't think it made that big a difference, because the main issue was the
transfer of weapons and ammunition from the Sinai into Gaza. That's what made
them—it wasn't so much a question of money. It was a question of availability.”
The Facts: With the more than one billion dollars Qatar
funneled into Hamas’ coffers with Israeli cooperation, the group was able to
buy and smuggle weapons into the Gaza Strip. “Money is fungible,” Chip Usher, a
retired senior analyst for the CIA, told the New York Times. “Anything that
Hamas didn’t have to use out of its own budget freed up money for other
things.”
What Netanyahu Said: Regarding his reported admission of
support for Hamas, “That’s a false statement. I never said that.”
The Facts: Multiple Israeli news outlets reported
Netanyahu’s quote from a 2019 Likud Party conference. He also reportedly told
the journalist Dan Margalit in 2012 that he wanted to keep Hamas as a
counterweight to the Fatah-controlled PA. Others in Netanyahu’s government have
explicitly said that the strategy of funding Hamas was to prevent the emergence
of a Palestinian State. In a 2015 interview, Netanyahu’s current Finance
Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, said "the Palestinian Authority is a burden,
and Hamas is an asset.”
What Netanyahu Said: “Oct. 7th showed that those who said
that Hamas was deterred were wrong. If anything, I didn't challenge enough the
assumption that was common to all the security agencies.”
The Facts: Israeli security agencies did not uniformly say
before Oct. 7 that Hamas was deterred. In fact, as Netanyahu was asked about in
the interview, his own security chiefs warned him that Hezbollah and Hamas saw
the societal division over his plan to diminish the power of the Supreme Court
as weakening Israel’s deterrence. If Netanyahu challenged his security
agencies, it was in the opposite direction: he refused to heed the warnings
that Hamas saw an opening to strike Israel.
At the same time, Netanyahu himself said publicly on
numerous occasions that Hamas was deterred from attacking Israel. Just months
before Oct. 7, Netanyahu appeared on Israel’s Channel 14, a friendly right-wing
network, to say that he fended off future attacks from the Gaza Strip after an
11-day round of fighting in 2021. In his 2022 memoir, Bibi, Netanyahu wrote
that Hamas was sufficiently constrained and that he didn’t want to wage all-out
war in Gaza when he was more concerned about Iran. “Did I really want to tie
down the IDF in Gaza for years when we had to deal with Iran and a possible
Syrian front?” he wrote. “The answer was categorically no. I had bigger fish to
fry.”
What Netanyahu Said: Regarding the lack of prosecution of
Israelis impeding aid to Gaza, “They have. I don't know. I don't know that
they're not prosecuted.”
The Facts: While Israelis caught trying to divert
humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip have been detained for questioning, there
have been no known indictments, according to the Israeli Public Broadcasting
Corporation’s legal affairs reporter Avishai Grinzaig.
What Netanyahu Said: Regarding his trial on corruption
charges, "That trial is unraveling now. You don't hear about it very much,
but it's really unraveling."
The Facts: Netanyahu's trial on corruption charges has been
moving forward. Over the summer, Netanyahu sought to delay giving testimony for
his corruption trial to March 2025. Israel’s State Attorney’s Office opposed
the request, and the Jerusalem District Court ruled against Netanyahu, ordering
him to begin his testimony in December 2024.
What Netanyahu Said: Regarding illegal West Bank settlement
activity, “I've not sought annexation.”
The Facts: This is not true. In January 2020, after
President Donald Trump unveiled his Israeli-Palestinian peace plan at the White
House, Netanyahu promised to annex the Jordan Valley and the settlements in the
West Bank. The Prime Minister pushed a plan to extend Israeli sovereignty over
that territory, roughly 30% of the West Bank, triggering a backlash in Israel,
the United States, and throughout the Middle East.
Netanyahu caught Trump off guard. According to Israeli
journalist Barak Ravid, the former President turned to his aides once he exited
the stage and said, “What the hell was that?” Netanyahu was ultimately forced
to withdraw his annexation proposal under pressure from the Trump
Administration.
When Netanyahu returned to power in Dec. 2022, he appointed
far-right ministers to key positions overseeing the West Bank: Bezalel Smotrich
as Finance Minister and Itamar Ben-Gvir as National Security Minister. Both
have undertaken a systematic effort to expand Israel’s footprint in the
occupied territories, with Smotrich approving unauthorized outposts and
streamlining settlement activities. As part of the coalition agreement,
Netanyahu transferred substantial governing powers in the West Bank, except
over security control, from the army to an apparatus headed by Smotrich.
Israeli lawyers and human rights activists say the move amounts to de jure
annexation. Netanyahu’s own coalition partners have said as much. In June,
Smotrich told settlers of his plan to effectively annex the West Bank and
prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state. “I’m telling you, it’s
mega-dramatic,” Smotrich said. “Such changes change a system’s DNA.”
What Netanyahu Said: Regarding his control of the coalition
government in Israel, “I run the show, I make the decisions. I formulate the
policy.”
The Facts: Given Netanyahu’s fragile coalition, holding 64 seats in a 120-member parliament, he’s beholden to far-right cabinet members who have the power to topple his government and trigger snap elections. The White House has cited Smotrich as an obstacle to a ceasefire deal, saying his obstinacy was “jeopardizing” the hostages. Smotrich and Ben-Gvir have both threatened to quit and collapse the governing coalition if Netanyahu agrees to the proposed ceasefire deal by President Joe Biden. Together, they hold 13 seats in Netanyahu’s four-seat majority. link Netanyahu lies almost as much as Trump. As the old joke goes "how can you tell if Netanyahu is lying? His lips are moving"
The Region and the World
-
Personal Stories
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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