π️Lonny's War Update- October 327, 2023 - August 28, 2024 π️
π️Day 327 that 107 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
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
*4:50pm - north - rockets - Beit Hillel, Kfar Giladi, Margaliot, Kiryat Shemona, Tel Hai, Manara*7:15pm - north - rockets - Kiryat Shemona, Manara
**The army announced the death of a soldier killed in battle in Southern GazaFirst Sergeant Amit Friedman, 19 from Or Yehuda
the army announced the death of a soldier killed in battle in Central Gaza
Reserve Master Sergeant Yohay, Hay Glam, 32 from Netanya. He left a wife and 2 year old twin girls
May their memories forever be a blessing
Reserve Master Sergeant Yohay, Hay Glam, 32 from Netanya. He left a wife and 2 year old twin girls
Hostage Updates
The body of Sergeant Shaked Dahan, 19 from Afula was rescued from Gaza today. Shaked was kidnapped from his tank on October 7. He was declared dead, as killed in battle with his body being taken by Hamas, after 53 days
The IDF retrieved the body of Sergeant Shaked Dahan, a soldier from the 77th Armored Battalion, who was killed in battle after his tank was attacked between Nir Oz and Nirim near the White House.
On November 28, he was declared a fallen soldier whose body was held by Hamas. Following information provided by the Shin Bet, based on the interrogation of a prisoner, and following activities by General Nitzan Alon's team, an area in the southern Gaza Strip where the soldier's body was buried was marked. For several weeks, the IDF worked to advance a search operation. In the early morning hours, soldiers from Battalion 933 and the 401st Armored Battalion operated in the area that the Shin Bet had indicated as the burial site, and during the search, the body was found and transferred to Israel.
In the morning hours, IDF representatives arrived at the Dahan family's home in Afula and informed them of the discovery of their son's body.
May his memory forever be a blessingAn Israeli delegation is expected to travel to Doha on Wednesday to attend ongoing negotiations for a hostage release-ceasefire deal after talks in Cairo on Sunday ended with neither Israel nor Hamas agreeing to several compromises presented by mediators who are attempting to bridge the gaps between the two sides.
The Prime Minister’s Office confirmed the talks, but gave no details on the make-up of the delegation. Hebrew media reported that the delegation headed for Qatar will be made up of working-level officials from the Mossad, the IDF, and the Shin Bet.
The team will continue talks with United States, Qatari and Egyptian mediators with the aim of bridging the remaining gaps in the Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, the reports said.
Earlier on Tuesday, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said that negotiations in Cairo continued even after the Israeli delegation departed on Sunday evening, and, as in Doha, discussions would be held at the “working-group level” over the coming days to iron out specific issues.
While gaps remain between Hamas’s demands and those laid out by Israel, Kirby pushed back against suggestions that the talks had broken down and said, on the contrary, that they were “constructive.”
According to a Channel 12 news report Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has held a number of meetings on the talks with Mossad chief David Barnea and Shin Bet head Ronen Bar, who both led the Israeli delegation.
However, high-level military officials were excluded from the meetings, which took place before the team left for Cairo and after they returned, the channel reported amid ongoing tensions between Netanyahu and members of the team.
Maj. Gen. Alon Nitzan, who is also part of the high-level Israeli team, as well as Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, were all left out of the meetings, according to the report. The channel cited sources saying some of those excluded believed they were blackballed so Netanyahu could avoid being pressured to soften Israel’s stances.
The Prime Minister’s Office called the report “baseless.”
“The mandate given to the delegation was decided on in consultation with all security officials,” the PMO said in a statement. “The sole decision beyond that in recent days was regarding whether or not to send the delegation for talks” on Sunday, when Hezbollah launched a large-scale attack on the country.
Months of on-off talks have failed to produce an agreement to end the fighting triggered by Hamas’s devastating October 7 attack on southern Israel and free the more than 100 remaining hostages held by the Palestinian terror group.
Key sticking points in ongoing talks mediated by the US, Egypt and Qatar include an Israeli presence in the so-called Philadelphi Corridor, a narrow 14.5-kilometer-long (9-mile-long) stretch of land along Gaza’s southern border with Egypt.
Netanyahu has insisted on ongoing Israeli control of the Philadelphi Corridor to prevent Hamas from rearming, and a mechanism to ensure no return of armed Hamas gunmen to northern Gaza, while Hamas has insisted that any deal must provide for an end to the war and the full withdrawal of IDF troops.
Mediators were reported on Monday to have set aside the issue, at least for the time being, in favor of trying to reach agreements on other matters before returning to it.
Areas of contention that are being discussed were reported by Channel 12 to include Israel’s ability to veto the release of some Palestinian security prisoners and exile others, including convicted murderers, and how many living hostages Israel will get back during the proposed deal’s six-week first phase. The report added that some progress has been made on these issues in recent days.
The more than ten-month-old war in Gaza erupted with the shock Hamas terror onslaught in southern Israel on October 7, in which some 1,200 people were slaughtered and 251 were seized as hostages.
It is believed that of that number, 104 hostages remain in Gaza, including the bodies of 34 confirmed dead by the IDF.
Hamas released 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released before that. Eight hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 30 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the military as they tried to escape their captors.
Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers who were killed in 2014. Link
"Disconnected from the world, lost weight: 'Farhan described cruel captivity, and that one hostage died next to him'"
Farhan Qadi told his relatives about harsh conditions and loneliness, and staying in darkness alongside his guards: "He checked if his eyes were still functioning". His close friend called Hamas "Satan", and said: "He wasn't connected to media". Former Rahat mayor: "There are demolition orders for his house, he wants them to take care of him". This is how 326 days in captivity looked, until the rescue from the tunnel in southern Gaza.
Farhan Qadi in the helicopter on his way back to IsraelFarhan Qadi, the hostage rescued yesterday (Tuesday) from a Hamas tunnel in southern Gaza, told his relatives about the harsh conditions in which he was held, the loneliness and disconnection from the outside world, and that he hardly saw sunlight during all the time he was held in Gaza. "He said that one of the hostages died next to him in captivity," said the former mayor of Rahat. "They are Satan," Qadi's friend said about Hamas.
Dr. Mazen Abu Siam, Qadi's friend, told ynet: "I got permission to visit him inside, I went in for two-three minutes. He's okay, he's healthy, looks okay. A bit pale. Thin compared to October 7th. Hope he'll be released to the family tomorrow. He mentioned he was in a tunnel for a long time, disconnected from the outside world, wasn't connected to Israeli media and didn't know what was happening around him. I hope all families that have hostages in Gaza will feel what we felt on this day. I received the news close to 14:00, a relative told me 'yes'. Very joyful, hundreds of people came."
In a conversation with the New York Times, he said about Hamas that "they are Satan", and said that Qadi's family "was in terrible anxiety" in the last ten months.
Ata Abu Madighm, former mayor of Rahat, visited Qadi in the hospital. "He told about very cruel captivity, he almost didn't see sun for eight months. He would check if his eyes were functioning. He said one of the hostages was with him for two months and died next to him". According to him, Farhan talked about demolition orders for his house, and that he wants to return to his family "with torn orders". He allegedly said: "I'm tired, eight months passed like 80 years. What I saw no one saw except the hostages. The state and government need to take care of us and all the Negev residents".
After meeting with him at Soroka Hospital in Be'er Sheva, where he was evacuated after being questioned by forces in the field, his relatives said that Qadi "lost a lot of weight, ate mainly bread and not every day. But he stands on his feet and speaks coherently". According to them, "He thought about the family all the time and didn't stop believing he would get out of there. We don't know how to explain how he survived, but he survived and he's alive and that's the most important thing."
After the rescue, talking to the Division GeneralFarhan told his associates that "when the soldiers arrived at the tunnel, Hamas terrorists fled. The soldiers called out to me. I feared the tunnel was booby-trapped with explosives, so I walked slowly." Fayez Sana'a, Farhan Qadi's cousin, told the New York Times that he was shocked to see the condition of his relative after captivity. "He came out different, lost at least 20 kilograms," Sana'a said. According to him, his cousin didn't provide much information about staying in the tunnels, only that he spent a significant part of the time there in darkness, only with his guards.
"Thank God, we say thank you very much to everyone and hope to see him in good health," Hatem, one of Farhan's brothers, said yesterday. Just before going in to meet him at the hospital, the brother added that he hopes all other hostage families will feel the joy the family now feels: "We hope there will be a deal already and that all the hostages will come out and that all the feelings we feel - that all the parents and families of the hostages will feel this way."
According to him, the family wasn't sure until now if Farhan was even alive: "We got a surprise today, we got a new person who came out of death. He was resurrected today." After meeting with his brother, Hatem said that in the emotional meeting there wasn't a dry eye: "He's smiling," he said about his brother - but noted that he's thinner now. "He asked about the children - we updated him that everything is fine and everyone is healthy," he said. "He's thinner, after 11 months. It's not simple to be in a tunnel and return from death."
Last night, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with him. "I'm so happy to talk to you," Netanyahu told Qadi, and he replied: "I'm happy too, I waited for this moment. I swear to you, Abu Yair. My two children are here. I thank you for this work, that you reached a situation where I (can - A.A.) see the family and be here. You really did holy work, holy work you did. There are more people waiting." Qadi asked to invite him to visit him, and Netanyahu replied: "Most of all I want you to hug your family and I want you to know that the entire people of Israel are hugging you, and the others too - we will bring them."
President Isaac Herzog also spoke with Qadi. "Hello dear Farhan, how moving it is to hear your voice, our brother who returned home. Our brother who returned," the President told Qadi. Farhan thanked the President and replied: "I thank the State of Israel, the army, that arrived. People are suffering there. Do everything to bring people home. You need to work 24 hours, not sleep so they return, people are really suffering, you can't imagine. Suddenly I hear outside the door someone speaking Hebrew, I didn't believe it, I didn't believe it." Herzog replied: "You went through hell there, I understand. The most important thing is to bring everyone back. Thank God you returned. There are so many more brothers and sisters there, all of whom we want at home."
According to details published in the New York Times, a team led by Shayetet 13 scanned the tunnels to locate Hamas terrorists, and to the forces' surprise, they found Qadi alone - without guards, inside the tunnel about 20 meters deep. The forces didn't need to fight. According to a source who spoke to the American newspaper, the fighters who found Qadi initially feared he was a Hamas operative - but quickly realized it was an Israeli hostage. They said he looked weak and malnourished, and was too weak even to climb out of the tunnel on his own.
IDF and Shin Bet forces operated in recent days in the area where Farhan Qadi was located and rescued. The forces operated underground, in the subterranean space, in a complex environment where there was suspicion of the presence of hostages, terrorists, and explosives. Accordingly, Farhan was located by the fighters alone and rescued from inside the tunnel. Lessons were learned from previous events of forces encountering hostages in preparation for the activity.
There was no precise intelligence about a hostage in the location, but there was an understanding that there was a chance of a hostage's presence, so the fighters were required to act with extra caution. There were blast doors in the tunnels, so the IDF acted slowly for fear there might be an explosive device behind such a door. Farhan was left there in a room for a short time, a few hours before he was found, before being located by the soldiers.
The operation yesterday was slow and controlled also for fear of explosives. Farhan was recently a prisoner, mainly alone with his captors until they abandoned him, and in previous months with groups of additional hostages. The tunnel was part of an underground and above-ground complex. The army estimates that during his captivity he was in mortal danger. link
Hostage Updates
The body of Sergeant Shaked Dahan, 19 from Afula was rescued from Gaza today. Shaked was kidnapped from his tank on October 7. He was declared dead, as killed in battle with his body being taken by Hamas, after 53 days
The IDF retrieved the body of Sergeant Shaked Dahan, a soldier from the 77th Armored Battalion, who was killed in battle after his tank was attacked between Nir Oz and Nirim near the White House.
On November 28, he was declared a fallen soldier whose body was held by Hamas. Following information provided by the Shin Bet, based on the interrogation of a prisoner, and following activities by General Nitzan Alon's team, an area in the southern Gaza Strip where the soldier's body was buried was marked. For several weeks, the IDF worked to advance a search operation. In the early morning hours, soldiers from Battalion 933 and the 401st Armored Battalion operated in the area that the Shin Bet had indicated as the burial site, and during the search, the body was found and transferred to Israel.
In the morning hours, IDF representatives arrived at the Dahan family's home in Afula and informed them of the discovery of their son's body.
May his memory forever be a blessingAn Israeli delegation is expected to travel to Doha on Wednesday to attend ongoing negotiations for a hostage release-ceasefire deal after talks in Cairo on Sunday ended with neither Israel nor Hamas agreeing to several compromises presented by mediators who are attempting to bridge the gaps between the two sides.
The Prime Minister’s Office confirmed the talks, but gave no details on the make-up of the delegation. Hebrew media reported that the delegation headed for Qatar will be made up of working-level officials from the Mossad, the IDF, and the Shin Bet.
The team will continue talks with United States, Qatari and Egyptian mediators with the aim of bridging the remaining gaps in the Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, the reports said.
Earlier on Tuesday, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said that negotiations in Cairo continued even after the Israeli delegation departed on Sunday evening, and, as in Doha, discussions would be held at the “working-group level” over the coming days to iron out specific issues.
While gaps remain between Hamas’s demands and those laid out by Israel, Kirby pushed back against suggestions that the talks had broken down and said, on the contrary, that they were “constructive.”
According to a Channel 12 news report Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has held a number of meetings on the talks with Mossad chief David Barnea and Shin Bet head Ronen Bar, who both led the Israeli delegation.
However, high-level military officials were excluded from the meetings, which took place before the team left for Cairo and after they returned, the channel reported amid ongoing tensions between Netanyahu and members of the team.
Maj. Gen. Alon Nitzan, who is also part of the high-level Israeli team, as well as Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, were all left out of the meetings, according to the report. The channel cited sources saying some of those excluded believed they were blackballed so Netanyahu could avoid being pressured to soften Israel’s stances.
The Prime Minister’s Office called the report “baseless.”
“The mandate given to the delegation was decided on in consultation with all security officials,” the PMO said in a statement. “The sole decision beyond that in recent days was regarding whether or not to send the delegation for talks” on Sunday, when Hezbollah launched a large-scale attack on the country.
Months of on-off talks have failed to produce an agreement to end the fighting triggered by Hamas’s devastating October 7 attack on southern Israel and free the more than 100 remaining hostages held by the Palestinian terror group.
Key sticking points in ongoing talks mediated by the US, Egypt and Qatar include an Israeli presence in the so-called Philadelphi Corridor, a narrow 14.5-kilometer-long (9-mile-long) stretch of land along Gaza’s southern border with Egypt.
Netanyahu has insisted on ongoing Israeli control of the Philadelphi Corridor to prevent Hamas from rearming, and a mechanism to ensure no return of armed Hamas gunmen to northern Gaza, while Hamas has insisted that any deal must provide for an end to the war and the full withdrawal of IDF troops.
Mediators were reported on Monday to have set aside the issue, at least for the time being, in favor of trying to reach agreements on other matters before returning to it.
Areas of contention that are being discussed were reported by Channel 12 to include Israel’s ability to veto the release of some Palestinian security prisoners and exile others, including convicted murderers, and how many living hostages Israel will get back during the proposed deal’s six-week first phase. The report added that some progress has been made on these issues in recent days.
The more than ten-month-old war in Gaza erupted with the shock Hamas terror onslaught in southern Israel on October 7, in which some 1,200 people were slaughtered and 251 were seized as hostages.
It is believed that of that number, 104 hostages remain in Gaza, including the bodies of 34 confirmed dead by the IDF.
Hamas released 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released before that. Eight hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 30 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the military as they tried to escape their captors.
Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers who were killed in 2014. Link
"Disconnected from the world, lost weight: 'Farhan described cruel captivity, and that one hostage died next to him'"
Farhan Qadi told his relatives about harsh conditions and loneliness, and staying in darkness alongside his guards: "He checked if his eyes were still functioning". His close friend called Hamas "Satan", and said: "He wasn't connected to media". Former Rahat mayor: "There are demolition orders for his house, he wants them to take care of him". This is how 326 days in captivity looked, until the rescue from the tunnel in southern Gaza.
Farhan Qadi in the helicopter on his way back to IsraelFarhan Qadi, the hostage rescued yesterday (Tuesday) from a Hamas tunnel in southern Gaza, told his relatives about the harsh conditions in which he was held, the loneliness and disconnection from the outside world, and that he hardly saw sunlight during all the time he was held in Gaza. "He said that one of the hostages died next to him in captivity," said the former mayor of Rahat. "They are Satan," Qadi's friend said about Hamas.
Dr. Mazen Abu Siam, Qadi's friend, told ynet: "I got permission to visit him inside, I went in for two-three minutes. He's okay, he's healthy, looks okay. A bit pale. Thin compared to October 7th. Hope he'll be released to the family tomorrow. He mentioned he was in a tunnel for a long time, disconnected from the outside world, wasn't connected to Israeli media and didn't know what was happening around him. I hope all families that have hostages in Gaza will feel what we felt on this day. I received the news close to 14:00, a relative told me 'yes'. Very joyful, hundreds of people came."
In a conversation with the New York Times, he said about Hamas that "they are Satan", and said that Qadi's family "was in terrible anxiety" in the last ten months.
Ata Abu Madighm, former mayor of Rahat, visited Qadi in the hospital. "He told about very cruel captivity, he almost didn't see sun for eight months. He would check if his eyes were functioning. He said one of the hostages was with him for two months and died next to him". According to him, Farhan talked about demolition orders for his house, and that he wants to return to his family "with torn orders". He allegedly said: "I'm tired, eight months passed like 80 years. What I saw no one saw except the hostages. The state and government need to take care of us and all the Negev residents".
After meeting with him at Soroka Hospital in Be'er Sheva, where he was evacuated after being questioned by forces in the field, his relatives said that Qadi "lost a lot of weight, ate mainly bread and not every day. But he stands on his feet and speaks coherently". According to them, "He thought about the family all the time and didn't stop believing he would get out of there. We don't know how to explain how he survived, but he survived and he's alive and that's the most important thing."
After the rescue, talking to the Division GeneralFarhan told his associates that "when the soldiers arrived at the tunnel, Hamas terrorists fled. The soldiers called out to me. I feared the tunnel was booby-trapped with explosives, so I walked slowly." Fayez Sana'a, Farhan Qadi's cousin, told the New York Times that he was shocked to see the condition of his relative after captivity. "He came out different, lost at least 20 kilograms," Sana'a said. According to him, his cousin didn't provide much information about staying in the tunnels, only that he spent a significant part of the time there in darkness, only with his guards.
"Thank God, we say thank you very much to everyone and hope to see him in good health," Hatem, one of Farhan's brothers, said yesterday. Just before going in to meet him at the hospital, the brother added that he hopes all other hostage families will feel the joy the family now feels: "We hope there will be a deal already and that all the hostages will come out and that all the feelings we feel - that all the parents and families of the hostages will feel this way."
According to him, the family wasn't sure until now if Farhan was even alive: "We got a surprise today, we got a new person who came out of death. He was resurrected today." After meeting with his brother, Hatem said that in the emotional meeting there wasn't a dry eye: "He's smiling," he said about his brother - but noted that he's thinner now. "He asked about the children - we updated him that everything is fine and everyone is healthy," he said. "He's thinner, after 11 months. It's not simple to be in a tunnel and return from death."
Last night, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with him. "I'm so happy to talk to you," Netanyahu told Qadi, and he replied: "I'm happy too, I waited for this moment. I swear to you, Abu Yair. My two children are here. I thank you for this work, that you reached a situation where I (can - A.A.) see the family and be here. You really did holy work, holy work you did. There are more people waiting." Qadi asked to invite him to visit him, and Netanyahu replied: "Most of all I want you to hug your family and I want you to know that the entire people of Israel are hugging you, and the others too - we will bring them."
President Isaac Herzog also spoke with Qadi. "Hello dear Farhan, how moving it is to hear your voice, our brother who returned home. Our brother who returned," the President told Qadi. Farhan thanked the President and replied: "I thank the State of Israel, the army, that arrived. People are suffering there. Do everything to bring people home. You need to work 24 hours, not sleep so they return, people are really suffering, you can't imagine. Suddenly I hear outside the door someone speaking Hebrew, I didn't believe it, I didn't believe it." Herzog replied: "You went through hell there, I understand. The most important thing is to bring everyone back. Thank God you returned. There are so many more brothers and sisters there, all of whom we want at home."
According to details published in the New York Times, a team led by Shayetet 13 scanned the tunnels to locate Hamas terrorists, and to the forces' surprise, they found Qadi alone - without guards, inside the tunnel about 20 meters deep. The forces didn't need to fight. According to a source who spoke to the American newspaper, the fighters who found Qadi initially feared he was a Hamas operative - but quickly realized it was an Israeli hostage. They said he looked weak and malnourished, and was too weak even to climb out of the tunnel on his own.
IDF and Shin Bet forces operated in recent days in the area where Farhan Qadi was located and rescued. The forces operated underground, in the subterranean space, in a complex environment where there was suspicion of the presence of hostages, terrorists, and explosives. Accordingly, Farhan was located by the fighters alone and rescued from inside the tunnel. Lessons were learned from previous events of forces encountering hostages in preparation for the activity.
There was no precise intelligence about a hostage in the location, but there was an understanding that there was a chance of a hostage's presence, so the fighters were required to act with extra caution. There were blast doors in the tunnels, so the IDF acted slowly for fear there might be an explosive device behind such a door. Farhan was left there in a room for a short time, a few hours before he was found, before being located by the soldiers.
The operation yesterday was slow and controlled also for fear of explosives. Farhan was recently a prisoner, mainly alone with his captors until they abandoned him, and in previous months with groups of additional hostages. The tunnel was part of an underground and above-ground complex. The army estimates that during his captivity he was in mortal danger. link
The doctor of Farhan al-Qadi says he hopes the rescued hostage will be able to be released from the hospital later today, Army Radio reports.
“He’s super excited, barely slept last night,” the doctor is quoted saying. The doctor says al-Qadi told him “I’m enjoying every minute I have in the light with my family. I was in the dark for so long.”
The outlet also reports what it says are new details from al-Qadi’s rescue, saying that after being found, he repeatedly told troops “You don’t understand, there’s a Gaza above ground and a Gaza below ground.”
The army believes al-Qadi was last held with other hostages in December, and that he spent the last week before being found in a tunnel by himself, though he did have food, the radio station reports.
August 27, 2024- Americans for Peace Now welcomes the successful rescue of Israeli citizen Kaid Farhan Al-Qadi by the IDF from Hamas captivity. As his brother said, “May all the hostages return, and may all the families feel this feeling.”
“The precise operation that rescued Mr. Al-Qadi should be applauded,” said APN President and CEO Hadar Susskind. “But the army itself says that rescuing every hostage in a military operation is logistically impossible. Only an end to a war that has dragged on long past the point of real accomplishment can return the living hostages to their suffering families and end this nightmare for both Israelis and Palestinians.”
For that to happen, Prime Minister Netanyahu and Hamas leader Sinwar must stop stonewalling a ceasefire agreement with Hamas. Despite intensive efforts by the U.S., Egypt, Qatar and the international community, the Israeli government and Hamas are apparently still insisting on conditions that delay or forestall an agreement. Many hostages remain alive in captivity under terrible circumstances; conditions in Gaza are desperate and more aid shipments and rebuilding must commence; and both Palestinians and Israelis are still dying and living in the terror and misery of an ongoing war.
Gaza
The Hamas-controlled health ministry in the Gaza Strip says the death toll in the war there has risen to 40,534.
The toll includes 58 deaths in the previous 24 hours, according to ministry figures, which cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and combatants. Israel says it has killed at least 17,000 Hamas-led operatives in the Strip, as well as another 1,000 killed inside Israel during the October 7 attack.
The Hamas-controlled health ministry in the Gaza Strip says the death toll in the war there has risen to 40,534.
Northern Israel - Lebanon/Hizbollah/Syria
- Lebanese media report an alleged Israeli drone strike on a truck between the village of Rasm al-Hadath and the town of Chaat in the northeastern Baalbek District. The location of the reported strike is some 100 kilometers from the Israeli border.
Lebanese and Arab media outlets report an alleged Israeli drone strike on a vehicle on the Beirut-Damascus highway near the Lebanon-Syria border.
The strike takes place on the Syrian side of the frontier, according to the reports. Footage shows smoke and fire rising from the targeted car. link
An Israeli airstrike late last night hit a pickup truck traveling in northeast Lebanon, two security sources tell Reuters, with one of the sources saying it carried military equipment.
The two sources say the strike hit a pickup near Chaat, a remote area of Lebanon near the Syrian border, but that the driver survived.
One of the sources says it was likely the military equipment being transported was a damaged rocket launcher on the way to be repaired.
- Lebanese media report an alleged Israeli drone strike on a truck between the village of Rasm al-Hadath and the town of Chaat in the northeastern Baalbek District. The location of the reported strike is some 100 kilometers from the Israeli border.
Lebanese and Arab media outlets report an alleged Israeli drone strike on a vehicle on the Beirut-Damascus highway near the Lebanon-Syria border.
The strike takes place on the Syrian side of the frontier, according to the reports. Footage shows smoke and fire rising from the targeted car. link
An Israeli airstrike late last night hit a pickup truck traveling in northeast Lebanon, two security sources tell Reuters, with one of the sources saying it carried military equipment.
The two sources say the strike hit a pickup near Chaat, a remote area of Lebanon near the Syrian border, but that the driver survived.
One of the sources says it was likely the military equipment being transported was a damaged rocket launcher on the way to be repaired.
A Lebanese security source says an alleged Israeli airstrike hit a truck loaded with Hezbollah missiles deep inside Lebanon overnight.
“The Israeli air force targeted two Hezbollah” trucks some 10 kilometers (six miles) from Baalbek, a stronghold of the Iran-backed group in eastern Lebanon, the Lebanese security source says. “One of the vehicles was hit and a series of explosions were heard in the area.”
One person was wounded in the strike, the health ministry in Lebanon said.
A source close to Hezbollah confirms the hit: “The munitions which were inside the truck caught fire.”
Earlier today, Israeli fighter jets carried out an airstrike against a building in southern Lebanon’s Odaisseh, where a group of Hezbollah operatives were spotted, the IDF says. The military says additional airstrikes were carried out against Hezbollah infrastructure in the Ain al-Tineh area, located about 20 kilometers (nearly 12.5 miles) from the Israeli border.
Hezbollah observation posts in Odaisseh and Kafr Kila were also struck today, the IDF adds.- ‘We failed’: IDF probe finds troops didn’t act sufficiently to prevent deadly settler rampage
An IDF investigation into a deadly terror attack carried out by some 100 Israeli settlers in the West Bank village of Jit earlier this month has found that troops who arrived first at the scene did not act as expected to stop the assailants.
The IDF has also dismissed two members of a nearby settlement’s local security force for acting “outside the scope of their authority” during the incident.
According to the military’s probe, the IDF received an alert from the Shin Bet in the evening of August 15 about a group of Israelis in vehicles heading to carry out a “nationalistic crime” in the Yitzhar area.
A large number of troops and Border Police officers were dispatched to the area, in an attempt to prevent an attack from happening, the probe finds.
At around 8 p.m., a group of 100 masked Israeli settlers entered Jit and set fire to three cars and two buildings, as well as hurling Molotov cocktails and stones.
At 8:06 p.m., the commander of the regional brigade declared that an incident had begun, and troops were dispatched to the village. Within six more minutes, the troops arrived at Jit.
“The investigation revealed that the first force was unable to fully understand the situation. It tried to disperse the rioters and prevent harm to the Palestinians, but it should have acted with greater determination,” the IDF says.
Minutes later, according to the probe, additional troops and Border Police officers arrived at the scene, and they “acted assertively while risking their lives, blocking the rioters and pushing them out of the village, while using riot dispersal means and live fire in the air.”
Half an hour after the incident began, all of the Israeli settlers were taken out of the village, the probe found.
The IDF says that troops rescued and aided Palestinian families, including women and children, during the incident. Troops helped Palestinians escape from burning homes and provided them with first aid.
The probe has also found that Border Police officers stationed in the area prevented additional assailants from joining in the attack.
One Palestinian man was killed and another was wounded by gunfire in the incident. The Shin Bet and police have indicated that the shooting was carried out by the settlers.
Additionally, the IDF says that several members of a civilian local security team for a nearby settlement, who are not in active reserve duty, arrived at Jit at the start of the incident in military uniform. The probe found that the security officers “acted outside the scope of authority defined for” the local security team, without elaborating further on what they did.
Two were dismissed from their role, and their weapons were confiscated.
No suspects were detained amid the incident, but last week the police and Shin Bet arrested four, including a minor.
The three adult suspects were sent to administrative detention — which enables Israel to hold suspects indefinitely without bringing charges against them — amid the investigation. They are suspected of terrorism, police have said.
Additional arrests are planned, the IDF says.
The head of the IDF Central Command, Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth, says: “This is a very serious terror incident by Israelis who deliberately set out to harm the residents of the village of Jit, and we failed by not being able to arrive sooner to protect them.”
“The responsibility is first of all mine as the head of the system and I will do everything to improve it,” Bluth says in remarks published by the IDF. He also hails the troops who later arrived at the village and rescued Palestinians who were trapped inside burning homes. “This event is still in progress and it will not be closed until we have brought the rioters to justice,” Bluth adds.
West Bank and Jerusalem and Terror attacks within Israel
- The Palestinian Authority health ministry puts the death toll in Israeli raids in the northern West Bank at 9, paring back a tally of 10 killed reported earlier by the Palestinian Red Crescent.
Seven people were killed early Wednesday in Tubas, and another two in Jenin, the ministry says, identifying the two killed in Jenin as Qassam Jabarin, 25, and Asem Balout, 39.
The governor of Jenin, Kamal Abu al-Rub, says on Palestinian radio that Israeli forces have surrounded the city, blocking exit and entry points and access to hospitals, and ripping up infrastructure in the camp.
The army says it has embarked on a major anti-terror raid, following a failed bomb attack in Tel Aviv earlier this month.
Foreign Minister Israel Katz says Israel should consider ordering West Bank Palestinians to move temporarily as it embarks on a major anti-terror raid in the northern West Bank.
“We need to deal with the [terror] threat exactly as we deal with terror infrastructure in Gaza, including the temporary evacuation of Palestinian civilians and any other step needed,” he says in a tweet. “This is a war in every sense.”
Katz says Israeli forces operating in Jenin, Tulkarem and other areas are working to dismantle an Iranian-backed terror network being built up in the West Bank.
“Iran is working to establish a terror front against Israel in [the West Bank], according to the model it used in Lebanon and Gaza, by funding and arming terrorists and smuggling advanced weapons from Jordan,” he says in the tweet.
Palestinians in Gaza ordered to flee Israeli military action have expressed worries that their forcible removal will become permanent as part of an plot to grab more territory. Israel says the moves are necessary to protect civilians who could be caught in the crossfire as it battles Hamas-led fighters in the Strip. link More inflammatory statements by a senior cabinet minister in this extreme government. There are some who will think Katz's idea makes sense. Others, such as Smotrich and Ben Gvir will see it as an opportunity to displace Palestinians in the West Bank and then to set up settlements in their place and for it to be an example of what can be done to the rest of the West Bank. These are dangerous statements and potentially very dangerous actions which can have devastating implications for the entire country.
Troops taking part in the IDF’s large-scale raid in the West Bank are operating in an area from which an attempted suicide bombing in Tel Aviv was launched last week, military sources say.
The military believes that a terror network that planned and directed the intended attack is based in the Tulkarem area.
The bomber was named by Hamas as Jaafar Mona, from the West Bank city of Nablus. He was killed when a bomb in his backpack exploded prematurely as he walked down a Tel Aviv sidewalk. One passerby was injured.
The Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror groups claimed responsibility for the attack on August 18, although did not offer any proof.
Israel’s large-scale counterterrorism operation in the West Bank “risks seriously deepening the already catastrophic situation” in the territory, the United Nations says.
The Israeli military launched a series of coordinated raids across four cities — Jenin, Nablus, Tubas, and Tulkarem — with the army saying it killed nine Palestinian terrorists.
Israel’s operations in the cities “and the killing of at least nine Palestinians, two of them reportedly children, take the overall death toll in the West Bank since October 7 to 637,” UN Human Rights Office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani says in a statement.
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.
“This represents the highest number of fatalities over a period of eight months since the UN first started recording casualties in the West Bank two decades ago.”
Violence has surged in the West Bank during the Israel-Hamas war sparked by the Hamas terror group’s October 7 massacre in Israel.
“Many children have been killed while throwing stones at highly protected Israeli security forces, as have other Palestinians posing no imminent threat to life or serious injury,” Shamdasani says.
“Such unnecessary or disproportionate use of force and the increase in apparent targeted and other summary killings are alarming.”
She says thousands of Palestinians had been arbitrarily arrested and tortured, subjected to unrelenting settler violence, severe restrictions on movement and expression, their homes and property destroyed or seized, and forcibly displaced.
“Israel, as the occupying power, must abide by its obligations under international law,” she says.
“The Israeli security forces’ use of airstrikes and other military weapons and tactics violates human rights norms and standards applicable to law enforcement operations.”
Shamdasani says alleged unlawful killings needed to be thoroughly and independently investigated, and those responsible held to account.
Seven people were killed early Wednesday in Tubas, and another two in Jenin, the ministry says, identifying the two killed in Jenin as Qassam Jabarin, 25, and Asem Balout, 39.
The governor of Jenin, Kamal Abu al-Rub, says on Palestinian radio that Israeli forces have surrounded the city, blocking exit and entry points and access to hospitals, and ripping up infrastructure in the camp.
The army says it has embarked on a major anti-terror raid, following a failed bomb attack in Tel Aviv earlier this month.
Foreign Minister Israel Katz says Israel should consider ordering West Bank Palestinians to move temporarily as it embarks on a major anti-terror raid in the northern West Bank.
“We need to deal with the [terror] threat exactly as we deal with terror infrastructure in Gaza, including the temporary evacuation of Palestinian civilians and any other step needed,” he says in a tweet. “This is a war in every sense.”
Katz says Israeli forces operating in Jenin, Tulkarem and other areas are working to dismantle an Iranian-backed terror network being built up in the West Bank.
“Iran is working to establish a terror front against Israel in [the West Bank], according to the model it used in Lebanon and Gaza, by funding and arming terrorists and smuggling advanced weapons from Jordan,” he says in the tweet.
Palestinians in Gaza ordered to flee Israeli military action have expressed worries that their forcible removal will become permanent as part of an plot to grab more territory. Israel says the moves are necessary to protect civilians who could be caught in the crossfire as it battles Hamas-led fighters in the Strip. link More inflammatory statements by a senior cabinet minister in this extreme government. There are some who will think Katz's idea makes sense. Others, such as Smotrich and Ben Gvir will see it as an opportunity to displace Palestinians in the West Bank and then to set up settlements in their place and for it to be an example of what can be done to the rest of the West Bank. These are dangerous statements and potentially very dangerous actions which can have devastating implications for the entire country.
Troops taking part in the IDF’s large-scale raid in the West Bank are operating in an area from which an attempted suicide bombing in Tel Aviv was launched last week, military sources say.
The military believes that a terror network that planned and directed the intended attack is based in the Tulkarem area.
The bomber was named by Hamas as Jaafar Mona, from the West Bank city of Nablus. He was killed when a bomb in his backpack exploded prematurely as he walked down a Tel Aviv sidewalk. One passerby was injured.
The Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror groups claimed responsibility for the attack on August 18, although did not offer any proof.
Israel’s large-scale counterterrorism operation in the West Bank “risks seriously deepening the already catastrophic situation” in the territory, the United Nations says.
The Israeli military launched a series of coordinated raids across four cities — Jenin, Nablus, Tubas, and Tulkarem — with the army saying it killed nine Palestinian terrorists.
Israel’s operations in the cities “and the killing of at least nine Palestinians, two of them reportedly children, take the overall death toll in the West Bank since October 7 to 637,” UN Human Rights Office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani says in a statement.
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.
“This represents the highest number of fatalities over a period of eight months since the UN first started recording casualties in the West Bank two decades ago.”
Violence has surged in the West Bank during the Israel-Hamas war sparked by the Hamas terror group’s October 7 massacre in Israel.
“Many children have been killed while throwing stones at highly protected Israeli security forces, as have other Palestinians posing no imminent threat to life or serious injury,” Shamdasani says.
“Such unnecessary or disproportionate use of force and the increase in apparent targeted and other summary killings are alarming.”
She says thousands of Palestinians had been arbitrarily arrested and tortured, subjected to unrelenting settler violence, severe restrictions on movement and expression, their homes and property destroyed or seized, and forcibly displaced.
“Israel, as the occupying power, must abide by its obligations under international law,” she says.
“The Israeli security forces’ use of airstrikes and other military weapons and tactics violates human rights norms and standards applicable to law enforcement operations.”
Shamdasani says alleged unlawful killings needed to be thoroughly and independently investigated, and those responsible held to account.
Politics and the War (general news)
The State Ceremony for October 7 Remembrance -
State Ceremony Director: There will be pre-recorded speeches by the PM and President; President's Office: We weren't even consulted
Director Ran Tsohor revealed that there will be no live speeches at the remembrance ceremony led by the government • President's Office: "We weren't consulted, we heard about it in the media" • Minister Ophir Sofer expressed doubt about holding the ceremony at all: "There are things that can be postponed until after the war" • About 100 returned captives and families of hostages demand not to be mentioned in the state ceremony
In just over a month, we will mark one year since the horrific massacre of October 7 - and the controversy surrounding the nature of the government's official remembrance ceremony is only intensifying. The ceremony's director Ran Tsohor, whose production is led by Minister Miri Regev, clarified today (Wednesday) in an interview with Army Radio that there will be no speeches at the ceremony itself. This is apparently aimed at calming tensions and minimizing the involvement of political figures in the state ceremony as much as possible.
Director Tsohor was asked if there would be no speeches at all and emphasized that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog will deliver pre-recorded speeches. The President's Office claimed: "We weren't consulted on this matter, we heard about it in the media."
Minister Ophir Sofer (Religious Zionism) also addressed the state ceremony in an Army Radio interview, saying: "From the outset, I thought it was less appropriate to hold it. There are things that can be postponed until after the war. It's not right to reach these disagreements."
In recent days, about 100 hostages who returned from Gaza and families of hostages signed a letter demanding that Minister Regev not use their photos or any details about them in the ceremony. In the letter, they asked to reconsider holding the ceremony. "The returning hostages, family members, and relatives of the hostages and murdered, will not lend a hand to the cynical use of the names of the hostages, whom the state has been abandoning for nearly a year, or the names of their relatives who were murdered in the October 7 massacre," it stated.
Yesterday, Minister Regev convened an urgent meeting in her office with the producers of the state ceremony. The possibility of holding the ceremony with an audience and broadcasting it live was raised - contrary to the original decision. The production team stated that this was a "regular pre-scheduled discussion." Regev, recall, clarified last week that she is "ignoring the background noise" and continuing to plan the ceremony as usual. link Come hell or high water, the publicity hound, Miri Regev will continue with plans for a ceremony despite all the opposition to it mainly by survivors of October 7 and families of hostages and returned hostages. She doesn't give a damn about the feelings of the people who lived and are still living through October 7 due to the total negligence and abandonment of this useless government. But Miri Regev has to have her show, no matter what. She is an absolute disgrace to the memory of everyone who died during and since the massacre of October 7.
The Biden administration on Tuesday accused National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir of “sowing chaos” and “undermining Israel’s security” in its harshest critique yet of the hardline cabinet member.
The statement from State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller came after Ben Gvir’s comments earlier this week expressing support for the establishment of a synagogue on the Temple Mount, with the Otzma Yehudit party leader responding enthusiastically in the affirmative when asked during an interview if he would put a Jewish house of worship at the flashpoint holy site if he could.
This initiative “would demonstrate blatant disregard for the historic status quo with respect to the holy sites in Jerusalem,” said Miller.
“The ongoing reckless statements and actions of this minister only sow chaos and exacerbate tensions at a moment when Israel must stand united against threats from Iran and its proxy terrorist groups, including Hamas and Hezbollah. They directly undermine Israel’s security,” he added.
The statement followed a biting critique that White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby issued earlier this month against Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich over the latter’s opposition to the hostage-release and ceasefire deal being negotiated by the Biden administration. Kirby accused Smotrich of endangering the lives of the hostages.
The Biden administration held a high-level meeting in June where the idea of sanctioning both Ben Gvir and Smotrich was raised but ultimately dismissed for the time being, two senior US officials have told The Times of Israel. The European’s Union foreign minister recently called for the bloc to also consider sanctioning the far-right ministers, though unanimity is required among its 27 member states adopt such a measures, making it highly unlikely.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Office has made clear that the actions and statements of Minister Ben Gvir are inconsistent with the Government of Israel’s policy, and a number of responsible voices in the Israeli government have condemned them. It is critical that the Government of Israel continue to ensure its policy is adhered to,” Miller said.
“The United States reaffirms our commitment to the preservation of the historic status quo at Jerusalem’s holy sites and will continue to oppose unilateral steps that are counterproductive to achieving peace and stability and undermine Israel’s security,” the State Department spokesperson added. During the Army Radio interview Monday, Ben Gvir also declared that Jewish worshipers have the same rights as Muslim worshipers on the Temple Mount, saying Israeli law does not discriminate between their religious rights.
“The policies on the Temple Mount allow prayer, period,” Ben Gvir said.
“It’s not like I do everything I want on Temple Mount,” he added. “If I did everything I wanted on Temple Mount, the Israeli flag would have long been flying there.” Asked if he would put a synagogue on the site if he could, he answered, “Yes, yes, yes, yes.”
In response to Ben Gvir’s comments, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued an oft-repeated statement insisting that there was “no change to the official status quo on the Temple Mount,” but avoided mentioning his ultranationalist coalition partner by name.
Ben Gvir similarly asserted a Jewish right to prayer at the Temple Mount while touring the site on the solemn fast day of Tisha B’Av, which mourns the destruction of the Temples that once stood in Judaism’s holiest site. Some Jewish visitors to the compound that day were filmed praying and prostrating themselves, in violation of police instructions.
While Israeli law technically allows Jews to pray anywhere in the country, courts have long upheld police discretion to enforce a ban on Jewish prayer as part of a sensitive status quo agreement governing the site, which is considered the holiest site in Judaism and the third-holiest in Islam. The State Department’s statement came a day after Saudi Arabia condemned Ben Gvir’s statements, with the kingdom issuing a statement that referred to the minister indirectly as “a minister in the Israeli occupation government.”
“The kingdom affirms its categorical rejection of these extremist and inflammatory statements, and its rejection of the ongoing provocations of the feelings of Muslims around the world,” the statement said, alongside calls to end “the humanitarian catastrophe” endured by Palestinians and to “hold Israeli officials accountable” for violations of international law. Link In every instance of the flammable remarks by Ben Gvir or Smotrich, the only thing Netanyahu says is that they don't speak for the government. This is the most ridiculous thing in the world. They are the government and they have been leading Netanyahu by the nose because he is afraid of them bolting his extreme government and forcing elections. So Netanyahu gives them berth to say what they want and does nothing to stop them. He not only enables them, his actions and his statements encourage them and he then enables others in his government and his knesset coalition to agree and back up the outrageous and dangerous statements and actions of these 2 pyromaniacs who are destined to set the country on fire leading to disastrous explosions. Netanyahu is not only enabling, he is 100% culpable for each statement, for each action, for each disaster. And then when things blow up, he will blame the consequences on everyone else and do everything to shirk his own responsibility. In his eyes, he is only responsible when things go well. When things blow up, it's everyone else's blame and responsibility, just like October 7.
The White House insists that it’s still possible to broker a normalization agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia before the November US presidential election and says it’s working to complete the initiative, even as the Israel-Hamas war wages in Gaza.
“President Biden absolutely believes normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia is possible, and he believes that it’s certainly possible to get it done before the end of his time as president,” says National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby in an interview with The Times of Israel.
“He recognizes that there’s a lot of spade work that needs to be done before you can get there, [but] that’s why we’re in Doha right now trying to get this ceasefire in place so that we can start to make some progress on larger regional issues,” Kirby explains.
Already in July, however, a lawmaker from each party told The Times of Israel that the window for the US to secure a normalization agreement before the presidential election had shut.
The two congressional sources maintained that there is not enough time left in the congressional calendar for the Senate to hold the hearings necessary to approve the US-Saudi bilateral security pact that Riyadh is seeking in parallel to a deal with Israel.
Last week, an Israeli diplomat speaking on the sidelines of the Democratic National Convention agreed that a normalization deal won’t be possible before November, but maintained that the window could re-open during the lame duck period.
The official argued that it will be too difficult before the election for both parties in Congress to authorize the US-Saudi bilateral security pact that Riyadh is seeking in parallel to normalization with Israel.
“After the election, it’ll be easier for both parties. There will be a better chance that Biden will bring the support of a Democratic majority, and the Republican side will also support the [US-Saudi bilateral security pact] because of the normalization component,” the Israeli diplomat maintained. link Normalization with Saudi Arabia would truly be a game changer, not just for Israel but for the entire Middle East. It could truly usher in a new period of peace and huge economic development (excluding Iran and its proxies). The Biden Administration would love to make it happen and is doing its utmost to do so. However, once again, the only stumbling block, and it is an immovable one, is Netanyahu. In order to seal the deal on normalization, Israel must agree to establish a pathway to a future Palestinian State. Because everyone knows Netanyahu all to well and knows that if his lips are moving, he is lying, the Saudis are demanding a concrete pathway and not just lip service. Unfortunately, for everyone, Netanyahu will not do this. He has spent his entire career blocking any possible path of peace and dialogue with the Palestinians by weakening the Palestinian Authority and making sure that Hamas is always just strong enough to claim that 'there is no Palestinian partner for peace'. And we all know the results of his policy and actions - October 7. In addition, any agreement towards a real pathway to Palestinian Statehood would immediately cause Smotrich and Ben Gvir to bold the government which would bring about elections. Netanyahu has been dreaming of normalization with Saudi Arabia for years and having it as a crowning jewel to his legacy, but not at the cost of elections and losing his position as Prime Minister. He cares more about that than the entire country and our future.
A senior Biden administration official indicates that more sanctions are on the horizon against Israeli extremists over attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank.
“We have taken actions in terms of sanctioning entities and individuals. That remains a viable tool going forward,” White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby says in an interview with The Times of Israel.
The past week has seen several settler attacks against Palestinians, including a pair of rampages that resulted in two deaths. No arrests were made in the most recent attack last night. Indictment in such cases are highly rare and convictions even more so.
The head of the Shin Bet security service has been quoted lamenting in private meetings that the Israel Police overseen by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir is refusing to crack down on the phenomenon.
The lack of Israeli enforcement has led a handful of Western countries — led by the US — to begin issuing their own sanctions against Israeli extremists.
Asked if these sanctions have been effective in curbing the problem, Kirby responds, “There’s still settler violence, so that’s deeply concerning. As President Biden has made clear, it is unacceptable and we’ve condemned it in every case.”
“We don’t look at any one tool in the toolbox as a panacea. It doesn’t mean that we want to ignore it, either, so we have issued sanctions,” the White House spokesperson says.
“What really needs to happen here is sound leadership decisions there in Israel to stop this violence,” he continues. “I can’t rule out sanctions in the future.”
Sanctions “remains a tool (at our disposal), as well as the intense diplomacy that Secretary Blinken has been conducting on the ground with leaders to try to get the violence to stop,” Kirby adds.
The Biden administration issues its sixth batch of sanctions over settler violence in the West Bank, targeting a group that violently secures illegal outposts and a civilian security guard for a flashpoint settlement who engaged in attacks against Palestinians.
The US sanctions against Hashomer Yosh (Guardians of Judea and Samaria) and Yitzhak Levi Filant comes days after two violent settler rampages through Palestinian towns in the West Bank that left a pair of Palestinians dead.
No arrests were made in the most recent attack near Bethlehem. Indictments in such cases are highly rare and convictions even more so.
The head of the Shin Bet security service has been quoted lamenting in private meetings that the Israel Police overseen by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir is refusing to crack down on the phenomenon.
The lack of Israeli enforcement has led a handful of Western countries — led by the US — to begin issuing their own sanctions against Israeli extremists. US President Joe Biden issued an executive order giving him authority to levy such sanctions in February, and 11 individuals and 11 entities have been designated since.
The Hashomer Yosh organization arranges for volunteers to provide help and support for at least 26 illegal farming outposts in the West Bank, among other activities.
At least two of the illegal outposts that the organization supports, Meitarim Farm and Moshe’s Farm, are run by US-designated individuals. The group has also provided support for Yinon Levi, Neriya Ben Pazi and Zvi Bar Yosef, who have all been designated by the US for their involvement in violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.
After all 250 Palestinian residents of Khirbet Zanuta in the West Bank were forced to leave in late January, Hashomer Yosh volunteers fenced off the village to prevent thems from returning. The volunteers also provided support by grazing the herds and guarding the outposts of US-designated individuals, the State Department says.
Hashomer Yosh has received over NIS 8 million ($2.2 million) from the Agriculture Ministry and the Negev, Galilee and National Resilience Ministry since 2018 for its activities.
Filant is the chief security officer of the Yitzhar settlement. Although his role is akin to a security or law enforcement officer, he has engaged in malign activities outside the scope of his authority, the State Department says.
“In February 2024, he led a group of armed settlers to set up roadblocks and conduct patrols to pursue and attack Palestinians in their lands and forcefully expel them from their lands,” its announcement adds.
“Extremist settler violence in the West Bank causes intense human suffering, harms Israel’s security, and undermines the prospect for peace and stability in the region,” the State Department sanctions announcement asserts.
“It is critical that the Government of Israel hold accountable any individuals and entities responsible for violence against civilians in the West Bank.”
The State Ceremony for October 7 Remembrance -
State Ceremony Director: There will be pre-recorded speeches by the PM and President; President's Office: We weren't even consulted
Director Ran Tsohor revealed that there will be no live speeches at the remembrance ceremony led by the government • President's Office: "We weren't consulted, we heard about it in the media" • Minister Ophir Sofer expressed doubt about holding the ceremony at all: "There are things that can be postponed until after the war" • About 100 returned captives and families of hostages demand not to be mentioned in the state ceremony
In just over a month, we will mark one year since the horrific massacre of October 7 - and the controversy surrounding the nature of the government's official remembrance ceremony is only intensifying. The ceremony's director Ran Tsohor, whose production is led by Minister Miri Regev, clarified today (Wednesday) in an interview with Army Radio that there will be no speeches at the ceremony itself. This is apparently aimed at calming tensions and minimizing the involvement of political figures in the state ceremony as much as possible.
Director Tsohor was asked if there would be no speeches at all and emphasized that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog will deliver pre-recorded speeches. The President's Office claimed: "We weren't consulted on this matter, we heard about it in the media."
Minister Ophir Sofer (Religious Zionism) also addressed the state ceremony in an Army Radio interview, saying: "From the outset, I thought it was less appropriate to hold it. There are things that can be postponed until after the war. It's not right to reach these disagreements."
In recent days, about 100 hostages who returned from Gaza and families of hostages signed a letter demanding that Minister Regev not use their photos or any details about them in the ceremony. In the letter, they asked to reconsider holding the ceremony. "The returning hostages, family members, and relatives of the hostages and murdered, will not lend a hand to the cynical use of the names of the hostages, whom the state has been abandoning for nearly a year, or the names of their relatives who were murdered in the October 7 massacre," it stated.
Yesterday, Minister Regev convened an urgent meeting in her office with the producers of the state ceremony. The possibility of holding the ceremony with an audience and broadcasting it live was raised - contrary to the original decision. The production team stated that this was a "regular pre-scheduled discussion." Regev, recall, clarified last week that she is "ignoring the background noise" and continuing to plan the ceremony as usual. link Come hell or high water, the publicity hound, Miri Regev will continue with plans for a ceremony despite all the opposition to it mainly by survivors of October 7 and families of hostages and returned hostages. She doesn't give a damn about the feelings of the people who lived and are still living through October 7 due to the total negligence and abandonment of this useless government. But Miri Regev has to have her show, no matter what. She is an absolute disgrace to the memory of everyone who died during and since the massacre of October 7.
The Biden administration on Tuesday accused National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir of “sowing chaos” and “undermining Israel’s security” in its harshest critique yet of the hardline cabinet member.
The statement from State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller came after Ben Gvir’s comments earlier this week expressing support for the establishment of a synagogue on the Temple Mount, with the Otzma Yehudit party leader responding enthusiastically in the affirmative when asked during an interview if he would put a Jewish house of worship at the flashpoint holy site if he could.
This initiative “would demonstrate blatant disregard for the historic status quo with respect to the holy sites in Jerusalem,” said Miller.
“The ongoing reckless statements and actions of this minister only sow chaos and exacerbate tensions at a moment when Israel must stand united against threats from Iran and its proxy terrorist groups, including Hamas and Hezbollah. They directly undermine Israel’s security,” he added.
The statement followed a biting critique that White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby issued earlier this month against Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich over the latter’s opposition to the hostage-release and ceasefire deal being negotiated by the Biden administration. Kirby accused Smotrich of endangering the lives of the hostages.
The Biden administration held a high-level meeting in June where the idea of sanctioning both Ben Gvir and Smotrich was raised but ultimately dismissed for the time being, two senior US officials have told The Times of Israel. The European’s Union foreign minister recently called for the bloc to also consider sanctioning the far-right ministers, though unanimity is required among its 27 member states adopt such a measures, making it highly unlikely.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Office has made clear that the actions and statements of Minister Ben Gvir are inconsistent with the Government of Israel’s policy, and a number of responsible voices in the Israeli government have condemned them. It is critical that the Government of Israel continue to ensure its policy is adhered to,” Miller said.
“The United States reaffirms our commitment to the preservation of the historic status quo at Jerusalem’s holy sites and will continue to oppose unilateral steps that are counterproductive to achieving peace and stability and undermine Israel’s security,” the State Department spokesperson added. During the Army Radio interview Monday, Ben Gvir also declared that Jewish worshipers have the same rights as Muslim worshipers on the Temple Mount, saying Israeli law does not discriminate between their religious rights.
“The policies on the Temple Mount allow prayer, period,” Ben Gvir said.
“It’s not like I do everything I want on Temple Mount,” he added. “If I did everything I wanted on Temple Mount, the Israeli flag would have long been flying there.” Asked if he would put a synagogue on the site if he could, he answered, “Yes, yes, yes, yes.”
In response to Ben Gvir’s comments, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued an oft-repeated statement insisting that there was “no change to the official status quo on the Temple Mount,” but avoided mentioning his ultranationalist coalition partner by name.
Ben Gvir similarly asserted a Jewish right to prayer at the Temple Mount while touring the site on the solemn fast day of Tisha B’Av, which mourns the destruction of the Temples that once stood in Judaism’s holiest site. Some Jewish visitors to the compound that day were filmed praying and prostrating themselves, in violation of police instructions.
While Israeli law technically allows Jews to pray anywhere in the country, courts have long upheld police discretion to enforce a ban on Jewish prayer as part of a sensitive status quo agreement governing the site, which is considered the holiest site in Judaism and the third-holiest in Islam. The State Department’s statement came a day after Saudi Arabia condemned Ben Gvir’s statements, with the kingdom issuing a statement that referred to the minister indirectly as “a minister in the Israeli occupation government.”
“The kingdom affirms its categorical rejection of these extremist and inflammatory statements, and its rejection of the ongoing provocations of the feelings of Muslims around the world,” the statement said, alongside calls to end “the humanitarian catastrophe” endured by Palestinians and to “hold Israeli officials accountable” for violations of international law. Link In every instance of the flammable remarks by Ben Gvir or Smotrich, the only thing Netanyahu says is that they don't speak for the government. This is the most ridiculous thing in the world. They are the government and they have been leading Netanyahu by the nose because he is afraid of them bolting his extreme government and forcing elections. So Netanyahu gives them berth to say what they want and does nothing to stop them. He not only enables them, his actions and his statements encourage them and he then enables others in his government and his knesset coalition to agree and back up the outrageous and dangerous statements and actions of these 2 pyromaniacs who are destined to set the country on fire leading to disastrous explosions. Netanyahu is not only enabling, he is 100% culpable for each statement, for each action, for each disaster. And then when things blow up, he will blame the consequences on everyone else and do everything to shirk his own responsibility. In his eyes, he is only responsible when things go well. When things blow up, it's everyone else's blame and responsibility, just like October 7.
The White House insists that it’s still possible to broker a normalization agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia before the November US presidential election and says it’s working to complete the initiative, even as the Israel-Hamas war wages in Gaza.
“President Biden absolutely believes normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia is possible, and he believes that it’s certainly possible to get it done before the end of his time as president,” says National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby in an interview with The Times of Israel.
“He recognizes that there’s a lot of spade work that needs to be done before you can get there, [but] that’s why we’re in Doha right now trying to get this ceasefire in place so that we can start to make some progress on larger regional issues,” Kirby explains.
Already in July, however, a lawmaker from each party told The Times of Israel that the window for the US to secure a normalization agreement before the presidential election had shut.
The two congressional sources maintained that there is not enough time left in the congressional calendar for the Senate to hold the hearings necessary to approve the US-Saudi bilateral security pact that Riyadh is seeking in parallel to a deal with Israel.
Last week, an Israeli diplomat speaking on the sidelines of the Democratic National Convention agreed that a normalization deal won’t be possible before November, but maintained that the window could re-open during the lame duck period.
The official argued that it will be too difficult before the election for both parties in Congress to authorize the US-Saudi bilateral security pact that Riyadh is seeking in parallel to normalization with Israel.
“After the election, it’ll be easier for both parties. There will be a better chance that Biden will bring the support of a Democratic majority, and the Republican side will also support the [US-Saudi bilateral security pact] because of the normalization component,” the Israeli diplomat maintained. link Normalization with Saudi Arabia would truly be a game changer, not just for Israel but for the entire Middle East. It could truly usher in a new period of peace and huge economic development (excluding Iran and its proxies). The Biden Administration would love to make it happen and is doing its utmost to do so. However, once again, the only stumbling block, and it is an immovable one, is Netanyahu. In order to seal the deal on normalization, Israel must agree to establish a pathway to a future Palestinian State. Because everyone knows Netanyahu all to well and knows that if his lips are moving, he is lying, the Saudis are demanding a concrete pathway and not just lip service. Unfortunately, for everyone, Netanyahu will not do this. He has spent his entire career blocking any possible path of peace and dialogue with the Palestinians by weakening the Palestinian Authority and making sure that Hamas is always just strong enough to claim that 'there is no Palestinian partner for peace'. And we all know the results of his policy and actions - October 7. In addition, any agreement towards a real pathway to Palestinian Statehood would immediately cause Smotrich and Ben Gvir to bold the government which would bring about elections. Netanyahu has been dreaming of normalization with Saudi Arabia for years and having it as a crowning jewel to his legacy, but not at the cost of elections and losing his position as Prime Minister. He cares more about that than the entire country and our future.
A senior Biden administration official indicates that more sanctions are on the horizon against Israeli extremists over attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank.
“We have taken actions in terms of sanctioning entities and individuals. That remains a viable tool going forward,” White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby says in an interview with The Times of Israel.
The past week has seen several settler attacks against Palestinians, including a pair of rampages that resulted in two deaths. No arrests were made in the most recent attack last night. Indictment in such cases are highly rare and convictions even more so.
The head of the Shin Bet security service has been quoted lamenting in private meetings that the Israel Police overseen by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir is refusing to crack down on the phenomenon.
The lack of Israeli enforcement has led a handful of Western countries — led by the US — to begin issuing their own sanctions against Israeli extremists.
Asked if these sanctions have been effective in curbing the problem, Kirby responds, “There’s still settler violence, so that’s deeply concerning. As President Biden has made clear, it is unacceptable and we’ve condemned it in every case.”
“We don’t look at any one tool in the toolbox as a panacea. It doesn’t mean that we want to ignore it, either, so we have issued sanctions,” the White House spokesperson says.
“What really needs to happen here is sound leadership decisions there in Israel to stop this violence,” he continues. “I can’t rule out sanctions in the future.”
Sanctions “remains a tool (at our disposal), as well as the intense diplomacy that Secretary Blinken has been conducting on the ground with leaders to try to get the violence to stop,” Kirby adds.
The Biden administration issues its sixth batch of sanctions over settler violence in the West Bank, targeting a group that violently secures illegal outposts and a civilian security guard for a flashpoint settlement who engaged in attacks against Palestinians.
The US sanctions against Hashomer Yosh (Guardians of Judea and Samaria) and Yitzhak Levi Filant comes days after two violent settler rampages through Palestinian towns in the West Bank that left a pair of Palestinians dead.
No arrests were made in the most recent attack near Bethlehem. Indictments in such cases are highly rare and convictions even more so.
The head of the Shin Bet security service has been quoted lamenting in private meetings that the Israel Police overseen by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir is refusing to crack down on the phenomenon.
The lack of Israeli enforcement has led a handful of Western countries — led by the US — to begin issuing their own sanctions against Israeli extremists. US President Joe Biden issued an executive order giving him authority to levy such sanctions in February, and 11 individuals and 11 entities have been designated since.
The Hashomer Yosh organization arranges for volunteers to provide help and support for at least 26 illegal farming outposts in the West Bank, among other activities.
At least two of the illegal outposts that the organization supports, Meitarim Farm and Moshe’s Farm, are run by US-designated individuals. The group has also provided support for Yinon Levi, Neriya Ben Pazi and Zvi Bar Yosef, who have all been designated by the US for their involvement in violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.
After all 250 Palestinian residents of Khirbet Zanuta in the West Bank were forced to leave in late January, Hashomer Yosh volunteers fenced off the village to prevent thems from returning. The volunteers also provided support by grazing the herds and guarding the outposts of US-designated individuals, the State Department says.
Hashomer Yosh has received over NIS 8 million ($2.2 million) from the Agriculture Ministry and the Negev, Galilee and National Resilience Ministry since 2018 for its activities.
Filant is the chief security officer of the Yitzhar settlement. Although his role is akin to a security or law enforcement officer, he has engaged in malign activities outside the scope of his authority, the State Department says.
“In February 2024, he led a group of armed settlers to set up roadblocks and conduct patrols to pursue and attack Palestinians in their lands and forcefully expel them from their lands,” its announcement adds.
“Extremist settler violence in the West Bank causes intense human suffering, harms Israel’s security, and undermines the prospect for peace and stability in the region,” the State Department sanctions announcement asserts.
“It is critical that the Government of Israel hold accountable any individuals and entities responsible for violence against civilians in the West Bank.”
The Region and the World
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Personal Stories
**Agam Goldstein-Almog: "In captivity they hated me because I'm Jewish - when I was released, I discovered how much they hate us in the West too"**
The hostage released as part of the hostage deal published an op-ed in the Washington Post titled: "I was held captive by Hamas. After my release, I was imprisoned by trolls on social media" in which she criticized the ceasefire movement in the West, which she says is guilty of supporting Hamas and persecuting Jews
Agam Goldstein-Almog, who was released from Hamas captivity as part of the hostage deal in November, published an opinion piece in the Washington Post today (Wednesday) where she shared her feelings about the hatred towards Israel and Israelis on social media.
Under the headline "I was held captive by Hamas. After my release, I was imprisoned by trolls on social media," Goldstein-Almog wrote: "In Judaism, there's a tradition of baseless hatred - hatred devoid of any logic, which led to the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem. Now I know what such fundamental hatred means."
"My 'guards' in Hamas hated me for being Jewish, forced me to recite Muslim prayers and wear a veil, hostages told me how armed men touched them," she described. "While in captivity, I often filled the long, quiet hours with fantasies, trying to push away the terrible and horrifying memories. One of my fantasies was that we would be released and the world would embrace us, but the world I came out to was deeply divided and boiling with hatred, hatred I thought I had left behind in Gaza and was waiting for me on social media."
"I watch the Western movement for a ceasefire in Gaza that sometimes turns into full-throated support for Hamas and persecution of Jews in the public sphere," Goldstein-Almog wrote. "Now there's fear of escalation from an Iranian regime that has long promised to erase Israel from the map. Their hatred is the same hatred that killed my father and sister. The same hatred that poisons too many campuses and too much of social media. On Tuesday, news came that Israeli forces in Gaza recovered the bodies of six hostages. It's not clear how many of the more than hundred hostages still held by Hamas are still alive. Negotiations for their release continue. I pray for their freedom, but I have no illusions about the world they will return to."
**Released hostage: "They were pessimistic. Chaim Peri said we'd be released in a year or two"**
Haim Pery and Yoram Metzger in captivity (video released by Hamas while they were still alive)
Yelena Trupanov was held captive along with five of the hostages whose bodies were returned to Israel. She spoke about their conversations and how Chaim Peri and Yoram Metzger understood that their release "wouldn't happen so quickly"
Yelena Trupanov, whose son Sasha is still in captivity and who was released in a hostage deal after 54 days, spent several days in captivity with Chaim Peri, Yoram Metzger, Alex Danzig, Yagev Buchshtab, and Nadav Popplewell. The five were murdered in captivity, and their bodies were recovered. Yelena said: "I know for certain that they could have been saved. Some of them were on the list for the last day that was offered to Israel, which it rejected in the previous deal."
Yelena was held with five of them in captivity for several days before they were separated: "They took me, Daniel Aloni, Amelia, and three more Thais. They don't explain why. We were taken to another room in the tunnels and were there for several weeks."
Chaim Metzger, Chaim Peri, and Alex Danzig were kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz. Yelena recounted: "Alex was constantly giving lectures on history, he sat on the chair in front of everyone and told all sorts of things. Chaim and Yoram would talk among themselves, they were smart people, truly the salt of the earth, founders of the kibbutz who did so much for the country, and it's terribly painful that they ended their lives like this."
"They were much more pessimistic than us," Yelena said, "Daniel and I were sure we would be released, and they said 'not so fast'." She added: "The day after we were kidnapped, Chaim and Yoram talked to Daniel, and she asked 'when will we be released' and Chaim told her 'a year or two' and she was shocked. Yoram Metzger told her 'no, two-three months' because he saw she was shocked, but they were smart people who knew the truth."
Yelena's son, Sasha Trupanov, has been in captivity for 320 days: "My only child is in captivity. In May, a video from Jihad came out, and that's the first time I've seen him since October 7. I have no idea what's happening and every day of the war kills me anew."
Yelena spoke about her desire to return to live in the Gaza envelope: "As far as I'm concerned, I would have returned to live there yesterday, but that's me. I'm simply not afraid of them. We hear threats from Lebanon and Iran, if there's a big war here, God forbid, there won't be a center, north, and south. We're going in a really bad direction and I hope we stop a moment before we fall into the abyss."
The anniversary of the October 7 massacre is approaching, and Yelena shared: "I don't know if I'll get through this anniversary. I'm afraid of October 7. I'm afraid that, God forbid, I'll get there and my son still won't be with me, I don't know what that will do to me." link
Acronyms and Glossary
ICC - International Criminal Court in the Hague
IJC - International Court of Justice in the Hague
MDA - Magen David Adom - Israel Ambulance Corp
PA - Palestinian Authority - President Mahmud Abbas, aka Abu Mazen
PMO- Prime Minister's Office
UAV - Unmanned Aerial vehicle, Drone. Could be used for surveillance and reconnaissance, or be weaponized with missiles or contain explosives for 'suicide' explosion mission
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