🎗️Lonny's War Update- October 326, 2023 - August 27, 2024 🎗️

  

🎗️Day 326 that 108 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!!!”

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

There is no victory until all of the hostages are home!

‎אין נצחון עד שכל החטופים בבית

Red Alerts - Missile, Rocket, Drone (UAV - unmanned aerial vehicles), and Terror Attacks and Death Announcements

*4:35pm yesterday - north - hostile aircraft - Yiftach, Mevo'ot Hermon, Ayelet Hashahar, Gadot, Huleta, Yesod Hamaaleh, Mishmar Hayarden, Amuka, Sde Eliezer

*7:00pm yesterday - north - hostile Aircraft - Shlomi, Hanita, yaara, Mitzuba, Avdon, Batzet, Leeman, Rosh Hanikra, Neve Ziv, Admit, Achziv, Eilon, Goren, Gordot Hagalil, Arab al Aramsha, 
*9:00pm yesterday - north - rockets - Netua
*7:40am- south - rockets - Nachal Oz
*7:50 - north - rockets - Manara

*3:15pm - north - rockets - Meron, Or Haganuz, Kadita, Bar Yochai
*7:25pm - north - hostile aircraft - Beit Hillel, Kfar Gildai, Kfar Yuval, Metulla, Manaara, Maayan Baruch, Kiryat Shemona, Tel Hai, Misgav Am, Dafn, Hagoshrim, Ajar, Kibbutz Dan, Sha'ar Yeshuv, Snir

**The army announced the death of a soldier 2 days ago who was killed in battle in Gaza

Staff Sergeant Amit Tsadikov, 20 from Beit Dagan. Amit's death raises the number of soldiers killed since October 7 to 700

May his memory forever be a blessing

Hostage Updates 

• It was just announced that the army rescued a hostage from Gaza, Farhan Kadi. He was kidnapped on October 7. The army spokesman announced that he is in relatively good health.
  
  

   He was rescued alive by IDF troops from a tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip earlier today, the military announces.

  The rescued hostage is Qaid Farhan al-Qadi, 52, from a Bedouin community near the southern city of Rahat, who was working as a guard at a packing factory in Kibbutz Magen on October 7. Al-Qadi was abducted by Hamas terrorists from the nearby community of Mivtahim.

  Al-Qadi was found alive inside a tunnel by commandos of the Navy’s elite Shayetet 13 unit. The operation was led by the IDF Southern Command, the Shin Bet security agency, and the IDF’s 162nd Division.
  This is the first time that the army has succeeded in rescuing a hostage held in Hamas' underground tunnels. The other 3 rescues were from homes above ground where the hostages were being held.

  
  Hostage Farhan al-Qadi meets with the commander of the 162nd Division, Brig. Gen.Itzik Cohen, moments after being rescued from a tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip, August 27, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
  

  Al-Qadi was not discovered by Israeli special forces “by chance” as some reports described, although there was no pre-planned operation to specifically rescue him, military sources said.
  The IDF had been operating in an area of the southern Gaza Strip for several days, with the assumption that hostages could be held in the area. The Shayetet 13 commandos and Shin Bet agents began to slowly search a tunnel complex in the area, where they then discovered al-Qadi.
  Al-Qadi was alone in the tunnel where the special forces located him. No other hostages or Hamas terrorists were alongside him, and troops did not face any resistance.
  

  The IDF believed that the Hamas guards had fled the area in which he was being held, or al-Qadi managed to escape his captors, but remained inside the tunnel. It was not immediately clear how long he had been alone.
  He was then extracted from the tunnel and brought back to Israel. link Although the army denies it, there are many reports that al-Qadi was found by chance and his rescue was not part of any plan. In any case, our intelligence forces are going to be interviewing him quite a lot. He is the first Arab speaking hostage rescued and it is hoped that he will have valuable information about other hostages and Hamas locationsAl-Qadi, a father of 11 from the Bedouin city of Rahat, calls for the return of all the other hostages, saying “people are suffering there, every minute… do everything to bring people home.” He says he experienced “24 hours without sleep, people are suffering, suffering, you can’t imagine it.” He says when he heard “Hebrew outside the door, I couldn’t believe it, couldn’t believe it.”

  The IDF, he says, is doing “holy work, risked their lives, did everything to rescue me.”

  Hamas statement: Hamas released today Farhan Al-Qadi, a Palestinian Muslim prisoner holding an Israeli passport who was arrested on October 7, 2023. The occupation is lying to its people to show imaginary and false achievements, while the Israeli prisoners are still in the dark in Gaza due to the intransigence of the terrorists Netanyahu and Galant. -- This is, of course BS. They claim that they released him because he is a Muslim and shouldn't have been kidnapped to begin with. Totally opposite of what they actually did on October 7. They, themselves published videos of catching Muslim Arabs, speaking to them in Arabic and then murdering them. They are trying to save face with garbage claims

• The Hostage Families Forum welcomes the rescue of captive Qaid Farhan al-Qadi from Gaza by IDF troops, but stresses that a deal is necessary to secure the release of the remaining hostages.

  “He endured 326 days in captivity,” says the main umbrella group for family members of the hostages in a statement. “Qaid’s return home is nothing short of miraculous. However, we must remember: military operations alone cannot free the remaining 108 hostages,” the group adds. “A negotiated deal is the only way forward.”

• Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks via phone with rescued hostage Farhan al-Qadi, according to his office.

  Netanyahu tells al-Qadi that “the whole nation of Israel is excited by his rescue,” his office says in a statement. The prime minister adds that he will “continue to do everything to bring all of the hostages home.” 

  In a separate video statement, Netanyahu says Israel is working to return all of the hostages “in two main ways: negotiations and rescue operations.” Both ways, he says, “require our military presence in the field, and unending military pressure on Hamas.” link Netanyahu is the worst kind of hypocrite. He has never called any of the families of hostages whose dead bodies were brought back in rescue operations. He only calls and visits the small number (8) of hostages who were rescued alive. And his statement about returning all the hostages in two ways is total bullshit. Of over 250 hostages, a total of 8 living hostages were rescued and about 20 bodies were recovered.  This is not what anyone would or could call success. And while not making a deal, more and more hostages are dying. Only through negotiation and actually making a deal do we have any real chance of bringing home the rest of the hostages. 

• Gaza mediators setting aside Philadelphi Corridor for now, focusing on other issues
  

  Unnamed senior officials tell Channel 12 news that mediators in ceasefire-hostage deal talks have decided to set aside the thorny issue of Israel’s presence in two Gaza corridors under a potential agreement, and are focusing on other matters.

  The network says American mediators hope to reach agreements on other matters first, including Israel’s ability to veto the release of some Palestinian prisoners under a deal and how many living hostages Israel will get back during its six-week first phase. Channel 12 says some progress has indeed been made on these issues.

  The issue of Israeli forces’ presence on the Philadelphi Corridor on the Gaza-Egypt border, and the Netzarim Corridor in central Gaza, will be left to the very end of talks, the report says.

• Negotiations in Cairo to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and a hostage deal are still pressing ahead, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said, adding that the discussions will continue at the “working-group level” for the next few days to iron out specific issues.

  Speaking to reporters in a virtual briefing, Kirby pushed back on suggestions that the mediated talks between Israel and Hamas have broken down, and said, on the contrary, that they were “constructive.”

  “The talks actually progressed to a point where they felt like the next logical step was to have working groups at lower levels to sit down to hammer out these finer details,” Kirby said. “We expect that these working group discussions will at least take place over the next few days, but whether it goes longer, or could end sooner, I think really is going to be up to those in the room.” full article

  Brett McGurk, US President Joe Biden’s top Middle East aide at the White House who has been participating in the talks, will soon leave Cairo after staying an extra day to start the working groups’ talks, Kirby said.

  One of the issues to be tackled by the working groups will be the exchange of hostages Hamas is holding and Palestinian prisoners incarcerated by Israel, Kirby said.

  He said the details to be “fleshed out” included how many hostages may be exchanged, their identities, and the pace of their potential release.

• Tens of thousands expected to attend alternative Oct. 7 memorial ceremony in Tel Aviv

  Event to be emceed by Hanoch Daum and Rotem Sela and to include speeches by bereaved families, relatives of hostages, residents of Gaza border communities

  
  Israelis embrace next to photos of people killed and taken captive by Hamas terrorists during their violent rampage through the Nova music festival in southern Israel, which are displayed at the site of the event, as Israeli DJs spun music, to commemorate the October 7, massacre, near Kibbutz Re'im, November 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

  Tens of thousands of Israelis are expected to attend an alternative ceremony marking the first anniversary of Hamas’s October 7 onslaught that is being organized by the victims of the attack who do not want to participate in the official event being organized by the government.

  The alternative October 7 memorial ceremony will be held at Tel Aviv’s Yarkon Park and will be co-emceed by Hanoch Daum and Rotem Sela.

  Daum announced Thursday that he would host the ceremony while Sela was announced by Channel 12 on Sunday as his co-emcee.
  

  “On October 7, I will stand with the bereaved families, the families of hostages, and the communities that are in pain, for an evening of remembrance and hope,” Sela said.

  Speeches are expected to be made by bereaved families, former hostages, and residents of the Gaza border communities, while “the best Israeli artists” are expected to perform.

  The list of artists has not yet been published, but singers Idan Amedi and Aviv Gefen have expressed support for the ceremony on social media in recent days. Amedi was seriously injured while performing reserve duty in Gaza in January.
  

  Families of hostages and other victims of October 7 have fumed at the government’s decision to charge Transportation Minister Miri Regev with organizing the state event.

  Regev dismissed the criticism as “noise” and compared the idea of holding other tribute ceremonies to a contentious annual joint Israeli-Palestinian memorial ceremony, which is demonized by the Israeli right.
  

  After the press conference in which Regev made those statements, Daum wrote on Facebook, “After hearing Miri Regev’s insulting and painful remarks, I took it upon myself to emcee the bereaved and hostages’ families’ remembrance ceremony. I spoke with the ceremony’s organizers, and I promise that it will be a stately, all-Israeli, uniting ceremony that will make room for pain and Israeli remembrance. Just as our heroes fought together that awful Saturday, so we will stand together, from the left and the right, religious people and secular people, in a united embrace in their memory.”

  Daum is an Israeli writer, actor, and comedian who lives in the West Bank settlement of Elazar. He has a weekly column in the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper where he usually writes about lighthearted subjects but sometimes expresses political right-leaning opinions.

  Sela is an Israeli actress and presenter who has in the past expressed support for progressive causes and has criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

  Several Gaza border communities have accused the government of using the official ceremony to avoid responsibility for the role it played in failing to prevent Hamas terror assault, and for failing the communities in the aftermath of the massacre. Many of them announced that they will not participate in Regev’s ceremony.
  

  Last week, President Isaac Herzog offered to replace the government’s ceremony with one under his purview at the President’s Residence that would be devoid of politics and include uniting state symbols, but Regev accused him of “picking a side” and insisted that she would be the one to organize the ceremony.

  Amedi on Sunday had urged Regev to accept Herzog’s suggestion, encouraging her to “talk to the prime minister, accept President Herzog’s compromise for a single and unifying ceremony at the President’s Residence, without politics.”
  

  The government’s planned October 7 ceremony memorializing the victims of the terror onslaught, in which Hamas-led terrorists murdered some 1,200 people and took 251 hostages in the deadliest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, will not be live-streamed but instead filmed and televised later or available on demand so as not to clash with smaller local memorial events that may be held on the same day.

  Regev said Thursday that the event will be held in the south because that is where the massacre took place. It will also be held without an audience so as to avoid offending anyone who should have been there and wasn’t invited considering it would be impossible to seat all the victims, their families, and the people who fought or took heroic action on October 7.  link Regev is a publicity hound and a disgusting and arrogant close member of Netanyahu's clique. She has a history of disparaging public statements against so many of her and Netanyahu's declared enemies. She, along with the rest of the government reject any responsibility for October 7 and had no empathy or sympathy for the hostages, the families, the massacre survivors and their families. What is important for her is to put on her show and no 'noise' will upset her plans. That 'noise' are the comments by members of the border communities that were attacked, the hostage families, former hostages and supporters. For her, these are the people making 'noise' and want to spoil her show. How much longer do we have to suffer such obtuse and disgusting politicians?

• Ongoing talks aimed at bringing about a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas are shifting to the Qatari capital of Doha after several days of intense negotiations in Cairo, according to a US official.

  A round of high-level talks in Cairo meant to bring about a ceasefire and hostage deal to at least create a temporary pause in the war ended Sunday without a final agreement. Those talks included CIA director William Burns and Mossad chief David Barnea. But lower-level working teams had remained in Cairo as mediators from the United States, Qatar and Egypt in hopes to address remaining disagreements.

  The official, who was not authorized to comment publicly, says White House Middle East adviser Brett McGurk, who has been a key US negotiator, has arrived in Doha and is expected to take part in the talks. The official did not offer an explanation for why the parties have decided to move the talks. Both Cairo and Doha have served as hosts for talks aimed at ending the war throughout the conflict. Hebrew media reports indicate that an Israeli delegation is set to depart for Doha to take part in the talks tomorrow.

Gaza 

•  

Northern Israel - Lebanon/Hizbollah/Syria

• **Hezbollah drone attack, fires in the north; slight progress in deal negotiations****Fighting in the north resumed: Across the Galilee, people rushed to protected spaces after drones were launched towards the Western Galilee and Hula Valley. Fires in Hanita and near Ayelet Hashahar. 
  
  

• The IDF publishes several infographics that it says show Hezbollah rocket launch sites used in yesterday’s attack on northern Israel.

  Some 230 rockets and about 20 drones were fired in the attack.

  According to the IDF, 90 percent of the rockets launched yesterday morning were fired from civilian areas.

  “The Hezbollah terrorist organization places its terrorist infrastructure in the middle of the civilian population, using Lebanese civilians as human shields,” the military says.

  Israeli officials say that Hezbollah planned to fire hundreds more, and the IDF’s preemptive strike took out more than half of the intended threats.

  The rockets were aimed at northern Israel and the drones at central Israel, including the Glilot base.

  No IDF bases were hit in the attack, and none of the drones made it to central Israel. 

  

  This infographic released by the IDF on August 26, 2024, shows rocket launch sites used in a Hezbollah attack a day earlier. (Israel Defense Forces)

West Bank and Jerusalem and Terror attacks within Israel

•  An IDF spokesperson updated that an aircraft struck an operations room in the Nur a-Shams refugee camp near Tulkarem in western Samaria. Palestinians reported at least five casualties in the bombing of an explosives storage facility.
  Palestinian media reported that among the dead was Jibril Jibril, a Hamas member who was released by Israel in a November deal with the Gaza-ruling terror group. The deal saw Israel release Palestinian terror convicts and detainees, mostly from the West Bank, in exchange for Israeli civilians abducted by Hamas on October 7.

  Jibril had been jailed for hurling explosive devices, stone-throwing, and being a member of Hamas.

  Since the Hamas-led attack over 10 months ago, the IDF has carried out more than 60 airstrikes in the West Bank, using drones, attack helicopters, and fighter jets.

• Also Monday night, IDF troops carried out searches around the Tapuach Junction after reports of a suspected kidnapping, which the military officially ruled out hours later.

  The incidents came a day after several attacks in the West Bank, including a car-ramming near the Ariel settlement in which a soldier was lightly wounded.

  Two Palestinian assailants in the vehicle were shot dead.

  According to the Palestinian Authority health ministry, more than 630 West Bank Palestinians have been since October 7. 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, 27 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.

 

Politics and the War (general news)

•  "Politics That Has a State"

Nasrallah made a mistake, took an unnecessary risk from his perspective - and got hit • But the tactical achievement only emphasizes how comfortable the routine of fighting is for Netanyahu, and also for the IDF - which is conducting a "deluxe" war: the army attacks, the settlements get hit • The urgency to return the civilian life system to routine has completely disappeared from decision-making • Major General (res.) Israel Ziv, commentary

The IDF, in a brilliant, sharp, and precise operation, picked off an important part of Hezbollah's capabilities, minutes before they activated the missiles. Kudos to the IDF, kudos to the Air Force, and kudos to Military Intelligence and the Shin Bet. This is a heavy blow to Hezbollah, which is left only with the revenge story.

In fact, Nasrallah took an unnecessary risk. In the current situation, even without this attack, he had already imposed a prolonged war of attrition on Israel in which he has been largely feeding Israel straw for about a year. Dozens of settlements are under massive shelling that has become a permanent and daily routine, accepted with silent consent by the Israeli government and constituting recognition of the erasure of Israeli deterrence. This is a great achievement from his perspective. Although Israel is causing him quite a few casualties, mainly in the chain of command and control, from a strategic point of view, Israel is in a continuous erosion that cumulatively is being dragged to lose on points against Hezbollah. The situation where Israel is unable to make a decision to finish Gaza and concentrate a decisive effort in the north, is a situation that has placed it under a forced equation where Hezbollah, on its initiative, expands and intensifies the fire and at its will weakens, including a free hand to fire on the settlements. Anyone who has toured the Metula colony is shocked by the sight, which looks more like Beit Hanoun (Gaza) than the thriving settlement that was once there. Except for the preemptive attack that was in the nature of preventive medicine, Israel is not initiating any strategic move. Everything is tactics of opportunities and reactions. The power of the blows is as great as the pain, the killing of children in Majdal Shams hurt - so the response is at a high level. Immediately afterward, the ball is returned to the opponent, who returns to the basic blows but with a higher index. Israel is not at all striving to initiate any decisive move throughout this period in the north.

It must be said: For the IDF, this situation is quite comfortable. A kind of "deluxe" war. The IDF attacks and the settlement gets hit, and they move on. There's no pressure on the IDF to concentrate effort and bring about a decision or an end, the IDF has no definition of goals or timetable, there's no ultimate demand to protect and take the civilian life system out of the situation, which in the past was the supreme goal to protect and return to routine as quickly as possible. All this seems no longer important. The Galilee has become the absorption pad for IDF activity conducted on the backs of the residents, and no one sees any problem with this. That is - a hundred thousand displaced, an abandoned Galilee, a country in anxiety, all in small. Israel in a routine of war. To someone looking at it from the outside, it looks like an army that has a state, but the truth is **that this is politics that has a state.** The army is just the ball in this field, and it's quite comfortable being that. Absurd? Not at all. The State of Israel under Netanyahu lives in a reversal of roles where the state serves the leader. Throughout Israel's history, prime ministers demanded decisive and quick results from the IDF because they wanted to reduce damage to the home front, reduce damage to the economy, ease the burden on reservists, open the school year, preserve international legitimacy - and mainly to restore deterrence and not erode it. A wise leader needs to know how to end wars and not drag them out. This is the first time that a government does not demand any decision from the IDF, no pressure on goals or timetable. Everything is based on a timetable that exists only in Netanyahu's head. Instead of goals, he spouts empty slogans that have no security definition. The war's achievements are gradually eroding and Israel's overall resilience is also eroding from a complete lack of direction.

The fact that even against the weakest of our enemies, Hamas, we've been at war for almost a year now, without a decision and without the ability to dictate a political solution, not only distances Israel from the imagined "absolute victory", but also greatly weakens its image. Hamas, after all it has endured, manages to impose a prolonged war of attrition on Israel. Also, the fact that what prevents Iran from attacking Israel is the Americans, also does not contribute to strengthening our position in the current situation of lack of any war strategy. The chances of success of the deal in Cairo are not great, mainly because Netanyahu has no desire to bring an end to the war campaign that serves only him. The insistence on the Philadelphi Corridor, contrary to the recommendation of the security echelon, constitutes ignoring the war's objectives. The terrible abuse of the hostages' families is at an inhuman level, and there is complete indifference to the payment in soldiers' and hostages' blood involved in an unnecessary prolongation of the war. Nasrallah's hasty fire released the American need to cover for Netanyahu's insistence on putting sticks in the wheels of the deal. The only hope is the enormous American pressure being applied on Hamas and also on Netanyahu to reach a deal, which might also bring about a forced political end to the war.

**>>> Israel Ziv is a retired IDF officer with the rank of Major General. He served as Chief Infantry and Paratroopers Officer, Commander of the Gaza Division, and Head of the Operations Division** link

• Terrorize Israelis while eliciting sympathy abroad: Inside Hamas’s propaganda strategy
  In accordance with its founding charter, Hamas uses a sophisticated media presence and uniform narrative to rally its base — and turn the world against Israel
  
  

On August 19, Hamas claimed responsibility for an explosion in Tel Aviv the day before, a suicide bombing carried out as a joint operation with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The terror group vowed to continue such attacks in the future.

The attack only failed because the bomb the terrorist was carrying in his backpack detonated before he reached his destination, killing him instantly and moderately wounding a passerby.

Following the claim, Hamas quickly disseminated posters on social media depicting images of blown-up buses in Tel Aviv. The captions, written in Arabic, Hebrew and English, boldly declared, “We are coming.”

The message was clear: Hamas was signaling the start of a new wave of suicide attacks reminiscent of the terror campaign that gripped Israel in the 1990s and peaked during the Second Intifada in the early 2000s.

The posters were carefully designed, featuring terrorists wearing Palestinian keffiyehs and explosive belts, standing beside buses like those that operated in Israel decades ago.

One poster prominently featured Yahya Ayyash, known as “the Engineer,” the mastermind behind a series of deadly bombings in the mid-1990s. Ayyash was killed by Israel in 1996. The Arabic caption underneath his image read: “Who will bring back the glory of Ayyash?”

 Two posters disseminated by Hamas in August 2024 following a failed suicide attack in Tel Aviv, vowing to blow up Israeli buses (from Telegram used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

According to experts, Hamas’s propaganda operation is a well-oiled machine, aiming on one front to instill fear among Israelis and on another to rally support from its Palestinian and international bases.

Guy Aviad, a former IDF history department official and author of “The Politics of Terror – An Essential Hamas Lexicon,” (2014), noted that the terror group views its media operations as “an additional battlefield, parallel to its physical war efforts.” To achieve this, Hamas employs highly skilled media professionals, many of whom received their education in the West.

“Their output is technically of very high quality,” Aviad said. “This level of sophistication is also seen in Hezbollah’s media, such as their recent high-definition video showcasing their underground tunnel system. Jihadist groups often learn from each other.” 

The roots of Hamas’s propaganda

From its early days in the late 1980s, during the First Intifada, Hamas recognized the power of public relations. Out of the 36 articles in its founding charter, two were explicitly dedicated to the importance of propaganda.

Article 29 emphasized the need to garner support across the Arab and Muslim world through “solidarity conferences, the issuing of explanatory bulletins, favorable articles and booklets, and enlightening the masses regarding the Palestinian issue.” Article 30 discussed the crucial role of “writers, intellectuals, media people, orators, educators and teachers” in countering the “Zionist influence” globally.

“The effective word, the good article, the useful book… all these are elements of jihad,” Article 30 of the Charter read.

Early on, Hamas also developed a sophisticated system of dawah in Gaza and the West Bank. The term, meaning “invitation [to Islam]” in Arabic, refers to an Islamist group’s civilian platform of social welfare — including schools, clinics and charities — through which it seeks to win over hearts and minds.

But the primary channel through which Hamas indoctrinates Palestinians is the mosque, where preachers embed its narratives within the sacred texts of Islam.

During the First Intifada, Hamas quickly realized the importance of foreign media coverage, and learned to time its communiqués strategically, often releasing statements just before evening news broadcasts in Israel or the United States, Aviad noted.

During those years, one of the most prominent figures in the terror group was Abdelaziz Rantisi, a co-founder and one of its first politburo leaders. When Israel deported him and 415 other Hamas members to southern Lebanon in 1992, Rantisi became the group’s spokesman.

“The deportation to Lebanon was one of the biggest mistakes Israel ever made, as it exposed Hamas to the international media,” Aviad said. “Hamas started making global headlines. They had enough savvy members, including Rantisi, who spoke good English, to present their narrative effectively.”

A diversified and technologically advanced media strategy

Hamas’s propaganda machine evolved alongside the technological revolution of the mid-1990s. The group quickly established a strong online presence across multiple platforms.

Michael Milshtein, head of the Palestinian Studies Forum at the Moshe Dayan Center at Tel Aviv University, provided The Times of Israel with a detailed overview of the numerous outlets run by the terror group, which publish news around the clock. Next to the official Hamas website, Hamas.info, its most prominent news platform is Palinfo.com, which stands for the “Palestinian Information Center.” The site is available in multiple languages — English, Arabic, French, Russian, Turkish, Urdu, Farsi, and Malaysian — targeting a potential audience of hundreds of millions across the Muslim world.

Hamas also operates several Arabic-only news websites, including Felasteen.news, Shehabnews.com, Safa.ps, and Alresalah.ps. Many of these outlets are active on social media platforms like X and Telegram.

Alresalah (“the message” in Arabic) and Felasteen (“Palestine”) were also printed newspapers circulating in the Gaza Strip before October 7.

Hamas is adept at tailoring its messaging to different audiences. Shehab, for example, focuses on younger generations with simpler messages, slogans and songs, while outlets like Felasteen and Alresalah are more sophisticated, offering in-depth articles, analyses and op-eds.

Before October 7, Hamas also operated the popular TV and radio station Al-Aqsa in Gaza, which was bombed during the recent conflict. For a long time, Al-Aqsa TV was the most popular Palestinian channel. 

According to a March 2023 poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy Survey Research (PCPSR), it had a larger viewership than the Ramallah-based Palestine TV, controlled by Fatah, Hamas’s rival party (14% vs. 11%). The media strategy of Fatah pales in comparison, Milshtein noted.

Although the Hamas logo does not appear on these websites, Milshtein said that “there isn’t a single Palestinian who doesn’t know they are run by Hamas.” Some outlets, like Safa.ps, may not initially seem connected to the terror group, but their news coverage is unmistakably aligned with Hamas.

Al Jazeera: A mouthpiece for Hamas

Al Jazeera, the Qatari-owned news network, also plays a crucial role in Hamas’s media strategy. The channel has by far a larger viewership in the Palestinian territories than any local channel. March 2023 found its rating stood at 28%. Since then, it has skyrocketed to 82%, according to a poll by the PCPSR from June of this year.

The Qatari channel has a longstanding relationship with the terror group, often acting as a platform for its messages.

On October 7, it aired a speech by Hamas’s military spokesman Abu Obeida, a move that some commentators described as serving as a mouthpiece for the terror group. “Anyone looking for Hamas’s latest video or official statements can easily find them on Al Jazeera,” Aviad said.

Other media resources, such as biographies of its “martyred” operatives, videos of training sessions and of recent attacks, and archives of past operations, can easily be found on Hamas’s official website and on that of its military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades.

“Hamas places significant importance on historical memory,” Aviad said.

A unified message across multiple spokesmen

Hamas boasts a long list of spokesmen, stationed in Qatar, Lebanon, Turkey and elsewhere, many of whom also serve as politburo members.

Despite their numbers, the group’s message remains consistent. The political bureau sets the communication strategy, which is then uniformly conveyed by its spokesmen. “It’s a highly sophisticated system,” Milshtein said. “They all deliver the same message, with a high degree of coordination and no daylight between them. Consensus is one of the core pillars of Hamas. Politburo members may argue behind closed doors, but when they reach a decision, everyone is bound by it.  There’s no room for personal opinions.”

“This is in stark contrast to Israel, where leaders might present conflicting messages. It is not rare to hear [Defense Minister Yoav] Gallant say one thing, and [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu say something different. In Hamas, such discrepancies are almost nonexistent,” said Milshtein.

Aviad concurred, noting that Hamas has been more effective in its media strategy than Israel during this war. “Hamas is much more advanced. They know how to use international platforms — not just Al Jazeera.”

“In Israel, official communications come mainly from the army spokesman, but the government largely neglects public advocacy efforts,” Aviad said. In the early months of the war, Hamas politburo members Osama Hamdan and Ghazi Hamad held weekly press conferences from Beirut to update the international press on Gaza’s situation and truce negotiations with Israel.

Additionally, dozens of freelance journalists — not always necessarily affiliated with Hamas — report daily from Gaza, recording and broadcasting scenes of death and destruction without filters.

“In Israel, most of these scenes are not shown, but the rest of the world sees them, and they make an impact,” Aviad said. “Meanwhile, Israelis are watching prime-time reality shows, as if we’re living in a parallel universe.” Link

•  Israel’s economy in grave danger as Gaza war drags on, economists warn
  Experts say economy cannot survive much longer as fighting with Hamas has stalled tourism, forced small businesses to shut, slowed down shipping and raised deficit 
  

  In Jerusalem’s Old City, nearly all souvenir shops are closed. In Haifa’s flea market, forlorn merchants polish their wares on empty streets. Airlines are canceling flights, businesses are failing and luxury hotels are half empty.

  Nearly 11 months into the war with the Hamas terror group, Israel’s economy is struggling as the offensive in Gaza grinds on, showing no signs of ending and threatening to escalate into a wider conflict.

  Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has tried to allay concerns by saying the economic damage is only temporary. But the bloodiest, most destructive war ever between Israel and Hamas has hurt thousands of small businesses and compromised international trust in an economy once thought of as an entrepreneurial dynamo. Some leading economists say a ceasefire is the best way to stop the damage.
  

  “The economy right now is under huge uncertainty, and it’s related to the security situation — how long the war will go on, what the intensity will be and the question of whether there will be further escalation,” said Karnit Flug, Israel’s former central bank chief who is now the vice president of research at the Israel Democracy Institute, a Jerusalem think tank.

  The war has inflicted a far heavier toll on Gaza’s already broken economy, displacing 90% of the population and leaving the vast majority of the workforce unemployed. All banks in the territory have shut.

  The fighting has killed more than 40,000 people in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. The toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters. Israel says it has killed some 17,000 combatants in battle and another 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7. Israel has said it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities and stresses that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas including homes, hospitals, schools, and mosques.
  

  The Hamas onslaught on October 7, in which terrorists from Gaza killed 1,200 people in southern Israel and took 251 hostages — sparking the war — and daily rocket and drone attacks by Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon have also driven tens of thousands of Israelis from their homes along the northern and southern borders and caused large-scale damage.

  The Israeli economy has recovered from previous shocks, including shorter wars with Hamas. But this longer conflict has created a bigger strain, including the cost of rebuilding, compensating families of victims and reserve soldiers, and vast military spending.

  The drawn-out nature of the fighting and the threat of further escalation with Iran and its Lebanese proxy, Hezbollah, have an especially harsh impact on tourism. Though tourism is not a major driver of the economy, the damage has hurt thousands of workers and small businesses.
  

  “The hardest thing is that we don’t know when the war will end,” said Israeli tour guide Daniel Jacob, whose family is living off savings. “We need to finish the war before this year’s end. If it’s another half a year, I don’t know how long we’re going to make it.”

  Jacob, 45, returned in April from six months of duty as a reserve soldier to find that business had dried up. He was forced to shutter the tourism company he spent two decades developing. His only income is aid from the government, which pays him half his prewar salary every few months.

  Meir Sabag, a Haifa antiques dealer whose shop sat empty, said business is worse now than during the COVID-19 pandemic.
  

  On a recent weekday, the formerly bustling port of Haifa, a major hub of Israeli import-export where massive container ships would often stop, was still.

  With Yemen’s Houthi rebel group endangering ships passing through Egypt’s Suez Canal — attacks the Houthis say are in support of Gaza — many long-haul ships have stopped using Israeli ports as hubs, said a port official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was sharing internal information.
  

  He said Israeli ports saw a 16% percent drop in shipping in the first half of the year compared with the same period in 2023.

  Meanwhile, renewed US-led efforts for a hostage release and ceasefire deal appear to be sputtering, and Iran and Hezbollah have threatened to avenge the recent assassinations of top terror leaders, raising the threat of a wider regional war. These fears have prompted major airlines, including Delta, United and Lufthansa, to suspend flights in and out of Israel.

  Yacov Sheinin, an Israeli economist with decades of experience advising Israeli premiers and government ministries, said the total cost of the war could amount to $120 billion, or 20% of the country’s gross domestic product, a broad measure of economic activity.
  

  Of all 38 member countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Israel’s economy underwent the biggest slowdown from April to June, the organization reported Thursday. The Israeli GDP was projected to grow 3% in 2024. The Bank of Israel now predicts a growth rate of 1.5% — and that’s if the war ends this year.

  Fitch downgraded Israel’s rating from A-plus to A earlier this month, following similar downgrades by S&P and Moody’s. The downgrading could raise the government’s borrowing costs.

  “In our view, the conflict in Gaza could last well into 2025,” Fitch warned in its rating note, which cited the possibility of “significant additional military spending, destruction of infrastructure and more sustained damage to economic activity and investment.”

  In another worrying sign, the Finance Ministry this month said the country’s deficit over the last 12 months has risen to over 8% of GDP, far exceeding the 6.6% deficit-to-GDP ratio the ministry projected for 2024. In 2023, Israel’s budget deficit was roughly 4% of its GDP.

  The downgrade and the deficit have increased pressure on the government to end the war and reduce the deficit — something that would require unpopular decisions such as raising taxes or cutting spending. 
  

  But Netanyahu needs to keep his coalition afloat, and his hardline flank, including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, wants the war to continue until Hamas is decimated. 
  

  Flug, the former central bank chief, said the situation is unsustainable and the coalition will have to cut back on spending, such as unpopular subsidies to ultra-Orthodox schools that are perceived by the broader public as wasteful.

  “The public will have hard time accepting it if the government does not show that the severity of the situation forces them to give up some of the things that are dear to them,” Flug said.

  Smotrich said Israel’s economy “is strong” and vowed to pass a “responsible budget that will continue to support all the needs of the war while maintaining fiscal frameworks and promoting growth engines.”

  The unemployment rate has dipped below prewar levels, Sheinin said, to 3.4% in July compared with 3.6% in July of last year. But when taking into account Israelis forced out of the labor market, the figure rises to 4.8%, a figure that would still be considered low in most countries.

  Meanwhile, many small businesses have closed because their owners and employees were called up for reserve military duty. Others are struggling amid the broader slowdown.

  Israeli business information company CofaceBDI reports that some 46,000 businesses have closed since the start of the war — 75% of them small businesses. Even Jerusalem’s iconic American Colony hotel, a popular stop for politicians, diplomats and movie stars, has laid off workers and is mulling pay cuts, said Jeremy Berkovitz, who represents the owners.

  “We did consider at one point closing for a few months,” said Berkovitz, “but of course that would mean sacking all the staff. It would have meant letting the gardens, which we’ve developed over 120 years, go fallow.”

  Sheinin said the best way to help the economy bounce back would be to end the war.

  “But,” he cautioned. “If we are stubborn and continue this war, we will not recover.” link

• 
  

The Region and the World

•    IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi visited the Northern Command headquarters earlier today with his American counterpart, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Charles Q. Brown, Jr.

  The IDF says the generals were “presented with the ongoing combat against Hezbollah during the war and the operational plans for the future.”

  The pair also “discussed security and strategic issues regarding the expansion of operational tools and the strengthening of regional partnerships as part of the response to threats in the Middle East.”

  “The IDF will continue to deepen its relationship with the US Armed Forces out of a commitment to strengthening regional stability and the coordination between the two militaries,” the Israeli military adds.

  Halevi and Brown also met with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant today.

  Channel 12 news reports that in some of the discussions, focused on Iran, Israel has expressed its desire to see the US come through with its years-long commitment to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear state — which would require a credible US military threat or military action against Iran’s nuclear facilities.

  The network also reports that the US has told Israel that it is keeping its armada in the region for the coming weeks, due to the heightened tensions.

Personal Stories

Dozens of volunteers help widow of fallen soldier find his lost wedding ring at beach

Members of the public mobilize with metal detectors; Itay Moreno was killed in October, his wife Gal was wearing his wedding band on a chain round her neck when it apparently fell

Master Sgt. (res.) Itay Moreno who was killed in Zikim on October 11, 2023. (IDF)

Dozens of volunteers helped the widow of a fallen soldier locate his wedding ring after she lost it on a beach in Ashkelon last week, the Hebrew media outlet Ynet reported Sunday.

Gal Moreno was wearing the wedding ring of her late husband Itay Moreno, who was killed fighting terrorists on the beach at Zikim in October, on a chain around her neck while at the beach in the southern Israel city on Friday when it disappeared.

After news of her loss got out, dozens of volunteers mobilized to scour the beach, using metal detectors to try and locate the ring.

“This is the ring Itay wore after our marriage, and since he died I’ve been wearing it around my neck,” Moreno told the news outlet hours before the ring was found on Sunday.

“One moment it was on my neck — I saw it in a picture I took — and suddenly it fell off. I hope and pray that they find it. I won’t stop looking and hoping. We have a wonderful and amazing nation; a lot of people mobilized to help me,” she added.

The Israel Antiquities Authority allowed the volunteers to expand the search into territories under its jurisdiction.

Eli Escusido, the director of the Antiquities Authority, told Ynet that as soon as the organization “received a request on the subject, we immediately approved a search to be carried out by licensed volunteers, and we received a large and moving response. We will help as much as necessary to find the item.”

After the ring was found on Sunday afternoon, Moreno thanked the authority for approving the search, and all the volunteers who gave up their time to assist in the efforts.

Master Sgt. (res.) Itay Shlomo Moreno, 24, from Aderet, served as a soldier in the Maglan commando unit and was killed battling Hamas terrorists along the Zikim beach on October 11.

He was buried on October 12 in the Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem, and is survived by his wife, Gal, his parents Tamar and Moshe, and his siblings Adi, Eitan and Noa.

His uncle, Lt. Col. Emmanuel Moreno, a special forces commando, was killed fighting in Lebanon in 2006 at age 35. To this day the IDF has never published a photo of the legendary combat soldier, due to the sensitivity of the operations in which he took part.  link

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Acronyms and Glossary

COGAT - Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories

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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