🎗️Lonny's War Update- October 335, 2023 - September 5, 2024 🎗️

  

🎗️Day 335 that 101 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

*6:25pm yesterday

- north - rockets - Yiftach

*6:35pm yesterday

- north - rockets - Yiftach
*8:00pm yesterday- north - rockets - Kfar Blum, Lahavot Habashan, Amir, Neot Mordecai, Kiryat Shemona, Kfar Giladi, Metulla, Misgav Am, Beit Hillel, Tel Hai

*10:50pm yesterday - north - rockets - Alumim
*5:15am - north -rockets - Yiftach
*6:30am - north - rockets - Goren
*8:35am - south - rockets - Nahal Oz

1:40pm - north - rockets - Ramot Naftali

1:40pm - north - hostile aircraft - Yaara, Metzuva, Shlomi, Avdon, Admit, Achziv, Eilon, Batzet, Goren, Gordot Hagalil, Hanita, Leeman, Manot, Neve Ziv, Arab al Aramsha, Rosh Hanikra

*2:10pm - north - rockets - Dovev

Hostage Updates 

• The Hostages Family Forum calls on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to remove his yellow ribbon pin, accusing the premier of faking his support for their cause while shunning his commitment to secure the release of their loved ones.

  “The yellow ribbon pin is worn by anyone who wants to express unreserved support for the return of the hostages and sympathy for the families of the hostages whose loved ones have been abandoned to Hamas in Gaza for 334 days,” the forum says in a statement.

  “The forum reminds the prime minister that leaders, public figures and citizens from all over the world wear the pin with the great hope that it will be removed as soon as possible, in anticipation of the return of the 101 hostages who were abandoned on his watch — the living for rehabilitation and the murdered and the dead for burial — and that wearing it indicates an uncompromising moral commitment to their return and not to abandon them.”

  “Therefore, the forum demands that the prime minister remove it from the lapel of his suit and stop using the pin as an illusion of support when in practice he is not doing enough to return them.”

• Haaretz cites an unnamed coalition source close to the government who says that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided several weeks ago that he did not want to strike a hostage release deal amid pressure from his far-right coalition partners.

  He saw in the Philadelphi Corridor an issue that he would be able to use in order to torpedo the negotiations, the source tells Haaretz, explaining that Netanyahu understood that arguments in favor of maintaining Israeli presence there would convince moderate, right-wing voters.

  Netanyahu’s ploy worked and the media has become heavily focused on the question of whether Israel should remain in the Philadelphi Corridor when the real question is whether the premier wants to free the hostages or maintain his coalition, the source tells Haaretz.

  The news site reveals that the source is not Yoav Gallant, indicating that displeasure with Netanyahu within the coalition does not just lie with the defense minister.

  “None of the ministers, even those who know that Netanyahu is scuttling a deal, will do anything. Their political survival depends on the life of the government, so this situation will continue. Netanyahu will lead to a never-ending war because that’s what’s best for him,” the source says.  link

• **“Mr. Abandonment Must Go”: The Surprising Speech of the Former Hostage at Shimon Peres’s Memorial Service**

  Liat Atzili, who was released after 54 days in captivity while her husband’s body remains in Gaza, took the stage at the state memorial service at Mount Herzl, breaking protocol with an invitation from Peres’s daughter, and criticized the Prime Minister: “Eight years have passed since you left us, Mr. Peres, and it feels like ages! Netanyahu has managed to erase the dream of peace, bury hope, divide the people, and unite all our enemies against us.”

  Liat Atzili, who was kidnapped to Gaza and released after 54 days in captivity, made a surprising speech on Wednesday afternoon at the state memorial service marking eight years since the passing of Shimon Peres, sharply criticizing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom she referred to as "Mr. Abandonment." Atzili, whose husband Aviv’s body is still held in Gaza, was granted permission to speak at the ceremony—an exception to the rules—by Peres’s daughter, Professor Tsvia Walden.

  Standing beside the grave of the President at the Nation’s Great Leaders Plot on Mount Herzl, Atzili said: “I am Liat Atzili, I have three children, I was kidnapped to Gaza and held there for 54 days. My partner Aviv fell in the battle to defend Nir Oz. 101 hostages are still in Hamas tunnels, it’s been 334 days already. I’m a history and civics teacher, a resident of Kibbutz Nir Oz, the kibbutz that became a symbol of failure and neglect on October 7.

  “All my life I was taught to believe in the sanctity of human life. All my life I studied and taught that nothing is more important than that. The current Israeli government has made it clear that for some of us, human life is no longer sacred. Nor is responsibility. Mr. Peres, I still vividly remember your visit as President to our kibbutz in 2008, your meeting with my son Neta, where you committed to protecting us, the residents of the Negev. Alongside your commitment to security, you tirelessly worked to advance peace in the region. You brought two things to your presidency and throughout your political career that we so desperately lack today: vision and responsibility.

  

  “The ability of a leader to dare and dream, to plan and execute, and alongside that—to take full responsibility, especially in difficult times. Eight years have passed since you left us, Mr. Peres, and it feels like ages! In those years, Benjamin Netanyahu has succeeded in erasing the dream of peace, burying hope, dividing the people, and uniting all our enemies against us.

  “I cannot imagine what you would have said, if you were here with us on the morning of October 7, when terrorists took over dozens of settlements and kibbutzim you knew so well. They murdered, raped, looted, and burned, committed a pogrom—here in the State of Israel, the state that was established to be a safe haven for the Jewish people. Only abandonment and utter negligence could have allowed such a disaster, and indeed, in the months leading up to that terrible day, the Prime Minister was busy promoting a regime coup whose sole purpose was to ensure his survival in power, despite three indictments for bribery, fraud, and breach of trust.

  “The breach of trust runs like a thread through Benjamin Netanyahu’s conduct. During the months of protest against the regime coup, we thought we had reached an unprecedented low. But on October 7, the most basic contract between a citizen and their state was broken, when the State of Israel failed to protect the communities of the Negev. Since then, trust has been violated repeatedly. This is a coalition of betrayal and abandonment led by Netanyahu. He, who failed against Hamas and Hezbollah, stands against us, the citizens of Israel, who support the deal to bring the hostages back, and marks us as a threat—this is the poison needed for his political survival.

  “In the name of the axis of lies and deceit, Netanyahu is currently thwarting the only thing that could bring back the 101 hostages still in Gaza—a deal for their release. We are a people without a state, citizens without a leader, an entire nation kidnapped by terrorists from within and without. Today, it is clear to all of us: Mr. Abandonment must go so that the hostages can return! Especially at such a moment of national helplessness, in the face of a deep leadership and moral vacuum, you are so sorely missed, Mr. Peres!”

  At the end of her speech, she turned to President Isaac Herzog, who participated in the ceremony: “Mr. President Isaac Herzog, go to the public and announce that the Prime Minister has failed in his duty regarding the return of the hostages, and that he must sign a deal immediately.” Atzili, a civics and history teacher from Nir Oz, is one of the authors of the protest book “Mr. Abandonment – The Legacy of the Abandoner of Hostages,” initiated by the Forum for Saving Hostage Families.

  President Herzog also spoke at the ceremony, refraining from criticizing Netanyahu directly but calling for swift action to reach a deal. “We must act with greater urgency, now, with critical immediacy, to save our brothers and sisters who are in the shadow of death,” he said. “In the spirit of Shimon Peres’s vision, the State of Israel and its decision-makers must increase and intensify efforts as much as possible and act creatively, to bring about an immediate and urgent deal for the return of all the hostages. The hostages are still there, and they are in terrible danger. Their return is a supreme moral duty.”

  Chemi Peres, Chairman of the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation and son of the late President, said at the ceremony: “Eight years have passed since we said goodbye to you, Dad. At this time, your absence is felt throughout the country, and even more so. Many ask what you would say about the situation. More importantly—what would you do? Questions, unfortunately, without answers. I do not remember a day in my life when your worldview and way of thinking were more needed and so lacking for us.

  “Today, we are desperate for leadership that serves the entire people, in all its diversity. Leadership that does not favor and promote one sector at the expense of another. Leadership that operates from within the people and on its behalf—not lusting to rule, nor imposing its will. Serving, uniting. Not dividing. It is time to change course, to set out on a new path. It is time to end the war. To bring the hostages home. To care for the wounded, the displaced, and the bereaved families. To rebuild the north and the south. To recover. To mend the rifts. To move forward.” link

• The clause that provided flexibility to the negotiation team and was removed from the agenda by Smotrich and Ben-Gvir.

  Last Thursday's cabinet meeting stirred controversy following quotes regarding the continued presence in the Philadelphi Corridor and its impact on the lives of the hostages. Today, an additional clause has been revealed that could have given the negotiation team the freedom to be flexible on key issues, but it was blocked by ministers from the Religious Zionism and Otzma Yehudit parties. Minister Smotrich responded: "False and biased leaks."

  After we revealed the quotes from the stormy cabinet meeting on Friday's broadcast, in which it was decided not to withdraw from the Philadelphi Corridor as part of a deal to return the hostages, today (Wednesday), we are exposing the extent of the political pressures within the government on Prime Minister Netanyahu regarding the deal.

  This evening, we are reporting that the text read by the Cabinet Secretary during the meeting, which was proposed for a vote, did not only include the clause that formalizes the IDF's stay in the Philadelphi Corridor but also an important additional clause. This clause was supposed to allow the ministers to decide that "the negotiation team will increase efforts to advance a deal for the release of the hostages, while providing flexibility and leeway in the negotiations." Three different sources told us in relation to the matter that ministers Smotrich and Ben-Gvir opposed this wording, which implied a willingness to make concessions on other negotiation topics. Therefore, the two requested to vote on each clause separately or to remove the clause concerning the mandate to be given to the negotiation team from the agenda. Ultimately, on the advice of Minister Ron Dermer, the ministers only voted on the maps concerning control of the Philadelphi Corridor—but not on the clause that grants flexibility to the negotiation teams.

  In summary, the pressures applied by ministers Smotrich and Ben-Gvir were a central factor in the decision of what would be approved and what would not. Both ministers separately held meetings with Netanyahu this week and supported his insistence on the Philadelphi Corridor. However, both also outlined stricter lines on other components of the deal.

  Response from Minister Smotrich: As usual, Minister Smotrich treats cabinet discussions with utmost seriousness and does not comment on sensitive security discussions. The Finance Minister regrets the false and biased leaks. 
  A response from the Prime Minister's office has not yet been received.  Minister Ben-Gvir declined to respond to our inquiry. link

• Families of hostages with American citizenship pushing Biden to make unilateral deal with Hamas

  
  Shira Ben-Sasson, a founder of the Hakhel synagogue in Jerusalem, lights a candle in memory of congregant and slain hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, September 1, 2024. (Deborah Danan)

  
  The families of Americans kidnapped by Hamas and held in Gaza since October 7 are petitioning the Biden administration to cut a unilateral deal wth the Palestinian terror group to free their loved ones, NBC News reports.

  The report says that the relatives met with US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan on Sunday, hours after the IDF recovered the bodies of six hostages executed by Hamas in Gaza last week, including American-Israeli Hersh Goldberg-Polin.

  It is believed that 97 of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including seven American citizens. This count includes the bodies of at least 33 confirmed dead by the IDF, three of whom are American. link

   

• US, Egyptian sources say negotiators racing to present new hostage-ceasefire proposal

  
  Protestors hold signs reading "Only a deal" and "Help" at a demonstration urging a hostage deal at Milan Square, Tel Aviv, September 2, 2024. (Lior Segev/Pro-Democracy Protest Movement)

  The White House is scrambling to put forward a new proposal for a Gaza ceasefire and the release of hostages by Hamas in the coming days, two US officials, two Egyptian security sources and an official with knowledge of the matter tell Reuters.

  The new proposal aims to work out the major sticking points behind a months-long impasse in talks mediated by the United States, Qatar and Egypt seeking a truce in the conflict between Israel and Hamas, according to the US officials.

  US President Joe Biden told reporters on Monday that he was “very close” to presenting a final hostage deal proposal by the end of the week.

  Much of the deal has been agreed upon, a senior Biden administration official separately tells reporters, but negotiators are still trying to hammer out solutions to two main obstacles — Israel’s demand to keep forces on the Egypt-Gaza border, and the specific individuals who would be included in an exchange of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza since October 7 and Palestinian security prisoners in Israel.

  The first US official says a new draft accord could be produced next week or even sooner. “The feeling is the time is up. Don’t be surprised if you see (the revised draft) this weekend,” that official says.

  The administration official says Hamas’ killing of six hostages, whose bodies were returned to Israel over the weekend, complicates the effort. “We all feel the urgency,” the administration official says. CIA Director William Burns, the lead US negotiator, heads the small group of senior US officials working on the draft, which includes White House coordinator for the Middle East Brett McGurk and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the first US official says.

  “There is a very strong perception on the part of the negotiators that the ceasefire is slipping away,” the first US official says, underscoring the urgency underpinning the effort.

  The official adds that mediators have kept up working-level discussions since Blinken’s latest tour of the region last month failed to produce a breakthrough and that those talks are continuing.
  The Egyptian sources say the US is shifting from a more consultative approach to trying to impose a ceasefire plan on the parties.
  Both US officials say the revised plan will not be a final take-it-or-leave-it offer and that Washington will continue working towards a ceasefire if it falls through. link 

• Hamas says Israel should accept last US offer for Gaza ceasefire, claims no need for new proposal
  Hamas claims there is no need for new ceasefire proposals for Gaza and says pressure should be put on Israel to agree to a US plan that the terror group already accepted.

  US President Joe Biden told reporters on Monday that he was “very close” to presenting a final hostage deal proposal by the end of the week, aimed at breaking an impasse between Hamas and Israel.

  In a statement, Hamas accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of trying to thwart an agreement by insisting that Israel will not withdraw from the Philadelphi Corridor in southern Gaza.

  “We warn against falling into Netanyahu’s trap and tricks, as he uses negotiations to prolong the aggression against our people,” the statement says, adding that Hamas had accepted a July 2 proposal put forward by the US.  link

• US indicates number of living hostages released in deal’s 1st phase down following Hamas executions
  A senior Biden administration official indicates that fewer living hostages will be released in the first phase of the deal as a result of Hamas’s execution of six captives last week.

  “For each hostage, there’s a certain number of Palestinian prisoners that will come out, so you just have fewer hostages as part of the deal in phase one,” the official says in a briefing with reporters. “It’s tragic and awful, and it’s affecting all of us.”

  Roughly 30 hostages are slated to be released in the first phase from the following three categories: women, elderly and sick. Hamas has offered to release the bodies of hostages, while Israel has sought to secure the release of hostages from other categories to maximize the number of living captives freed in the first phase.

  Asked whether the US can maintain its heavy deterrence force posture in the Middle East for an extended period, the US official asserts that this is not an issue.

  “That deterrent posture will adjust and go up and down over time, depending on events, but we are ready and able to sustain what we’re doing,” he says. link

• **In a children's room with drawings of Snow White and Mickey Mouse: Footage from the tunnel shaft where 6 hostages were murdered**

  The IDF has released the first footage from the tunnel shaft in the Rafah area where the bodies of Eden, Carmel, Hersh, Alexander, Almog, and Ori were found. The footage shows children's drawings and a teddy bear: "The shaft is in a heavily booby-trapped area. This is proof of Hamas's cynical use of civilians as human shields." The hostages were executed by Hamas militants, who likely feared an IDF rescue operation.

  The IDF revealed this evening (Wednesday) the first footage from the tunnel in Rafah where the bodies of the six hostages who were murdered in captivity last week were found—Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Alexander Lubanov, Almog Sarusi, and Staff Sergeant Ori Danino, may their memories be blessed. In the footage from the tunnel shaft in the Rafah area, dolls and wall drawings of cartoon characters, including Snow White and Mickey Mouse, can be seen in a children's room. 

  
  Next to children's dolls and wall paintings of cartoon characters, the tunnel was found where the 6 hostages were executed
    
  
  

  
  

  
  
  

  Forces from Division 162 and the Shin Bet, it was reported, located the shaft leading to the tunnel in an area "surrounded by enemies and heavily booby-trapped." An IDF spokesperson stated, "This is yet another example of Hamas's cynical use of civilian spaces for terrorist activities." It should be recalled that Hamas has already admitted that its militants executed the hostages after fearing an IDF rescue operation in the area.

  Sergeant A., a fighter in the Yahalom Unit, said in English in a video released by the IDF as part of an awareness campaign to the world: "We received clear intelligence information about a tunnel shaft in the area. We operated precisely and with focus to dismantle the infrastructure and expose the tunnel. As you can see, this tunnel was hidden in a child's bedroom, a place where a child should be safe and not a human shield for Hamas. This is exactly what Hamas does—they hide behind the civilian population and endanger them. From this tunnel, we recovered the bodies of six Israeli hostages: Eden, Ori, Carmel, Almog, Hersh, and Alexander."

  
  
  

  The IDF forces found the bodies of the six hostages in the tunnel in Rafah, located a kilometer from where the hostage Farhan Kadi was found alive. The IDF did not know the exact location of the six in recent months, but it was aware that there were hostages in the area, which is why the operation in Rafah was gradual and slow since the start of the ground fighting there.

  During the operation, there was no encounter with the militants who murdered the six and fled; they may have been eliminated in the fighting that continued recently above ground. After being located, the bodies were brought to the Israeli side of the border, where at 4 a.m., police and rabbinical identification teams confirmed their identities. link

• **U.S. Acknowledges Hamas Is Hardening Its Stance: "Demanding Different Things from What Was Previously Stated"**

  U.S. Ambassador Jack Lew said at the INSS conference, "The events of the weekend clarify—there is no time. We do not accept the approach that Phase 1 of the deal cannot be achieved." Last night, a senior American official said that the terror organization is demanding the release of a larger number of murderers as part of the hostage deal but claimed that "this is not a significant obstacle."

  The United States acknowledges that Hamas is hardening its stance: In a briefing given last night (Wednesday to Thursday), a senior American official hinted that the terror organization is demanding the release of a larger number of murderers as part of the hostage deal, and the disagreement over the Philadelphi Corridor is not the only issue. "Hamas is putting things on the table that are problematic and different from what was stated a few months ago," said the official, but he claimed that in his view, "this is not a significant obstacle."

  In Washington, efforts continue to exert pressure in an attempt to bring about the release of the hostages, and in the new proposal, they are considering increasing pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and demanding a "dramatic reduction" of IDF forces in the Philadelphi Corridor—one of the main stumbling blocks on the way to an agreement.

  The senior American official subtly criticized Netanyahu: "I have never been involved in negotiations where, essentially, every day there is a statement about the details of the negotiations. This complicates things, especially in a negotiation for the release of hostages. The less we talk about the disagreements, the better." link

Gaza 

•  Anxious parents lining up with their children for a polio vaccine in central Gaza are counting down the hours until a pause in fighting ends in the area.

  As health officials administer the doses, Gazan mother Huda Sheikh Ali wonders what good the polio vaccination campaign could do when her children would soon face more Israeli air strikes and shelling.

  
  A nurse administers Polio vaccine drops to a young Palestinian patient at the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on August 31, 2024. (Jihad Al-Sharafi / AFP)

  “There is no protection for them, in just a short few hours the ceasefire will end and we will return to seeing children bombed and killed. There is no protection from these things,” she says.

  “We managed to take a breather for a few hours, for our child…imagine what it would be like with a permanent ceasefire. The children are dying every single day and they are giving us some vaccines for polio?”

  The campaign was prompted by the discovery of a case of polio in a baby boy last month, the first in the Gaza Strip for 25 years. Israel and Hamas agreed to daily pauses of eight hours in the fighting in pre-specified areas to allow the vaccination program. No violations have been reported.

  The UN agency for Palestinian refugees says it is making good progress in rolling out a polio vaccine but calls for a permanent ceasefire to ease humanitarian suffering.

  UNRWA says that three days into the campaign in areas of central Gaza, around 187,000 children had received the vaccine. The campaign will move to other areas of the territory in the second stage.

  Palestinians say a key reason for the return of polio is the collapse of Gaza’s health system and the destruction of most of its hospitals during the war. Israel accuses Hamas of using hospitals for military purposes.

  Hadeel Darbiyeh, who brought her infant daughter for the polio vaccination, says she shared the pessimism of other parents in Gaza.

  “Instead of bringing the vaccines, bring us a solution to stop the war,” she says. “Bring us a solution for the oppressed people who have all been forced to flee their homes and into tents.”

• IDF says it carried out ‘precise’ strike on terrorists in Gaza humanitarian zone amid ‘immediate threat’
  Overnight, Israeli attack helicopters carried out an airstrike on Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror operatives at a command center embedded within the Israeli-designated humanitarian zone in central Gaza, the IDF says.

  The strike took place in the Deir al-Balah area, reportedly near the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.

  Palestinian media outlets report at least five dead in the strike.

  The military says that the “precise” strike was carried out to remove “an immediate threat.” The site was being used by the terror operatives to plan and carry out attacks against troops and Israel, the IDF says.

  To mitigate harm to civilians in the strike, the military says it carried out “many steps,” including using precision munitions, aerial surveillance, and other intelligence.

  “The Hamas terror organization systematically violates international law, brutally exploiting civilian institutions and the population as a human shield for terror activity,” the military adds. link

  
  

  
  

• US says alternative security force won’t be necessary in Philadelphi, apparently coming at odds with PM

  
  View of the Philadelphi Corridor between the southern Gaza Strip and Egypt, on July 15, 2024. (Oren Cohen/Flash90)

  The Biden administration says an “alternative security force” won’t be necessary for securing the Philadelphi Corridor.

  Asked about long-term arrangements to secure the Egypt-Gaza border during a briefing with reporters, a senior administration official says the US has been working with Egypt on solutions for months.

  “We think we can fully account for Israel’s security needs on that corridor in ways that will be almost unprecedented, and that does not require some alternative security force,” the official says.

  The official doesn’t specify whether he is talking about phase one or phase two, but he appears to be talking about the latter.

  However, this would come at odds with comments made earlier today by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who said that Israel will only agree to withdraw from the Philadelphi Corridor if an alternative security force replaces the IDF in ensuring that the border stretch is secure.

  The official adds that arrangements have also been made to allow for the reopening of the Rafah Crossing in phase one of the deal. The gate has been closed since Israel took over the Palestinian side in May, and Cairo has refused to reopen its side until Israel withdraws.

  Appearing to explain why a security force won’t be necessary along the corridor, the senior US official argues that the area northwest of the Rafah Crossing is “very secure” and that arrangements will be put in place to detect tunnels throughout the entirety of the area. Southeast of the Rafah Crossing to Israel’s Kerem Shalom Crossing is less of a concern because the area is less populated, the official maintains.  link 

• Speaking to the “Fox and Friends” morning show, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that a hostage deal is not about to be sealed. “There is not a deal in the making, unfortunately.”

  “It’s not close,” he says, blaming Hamas rejectionism and stressing that there are unresolved issues beyond the future of the Philadelphi Corridor.

  Netanyahu says his red lines “have become redder,” and that most of the public backs the cabinet decision to remain on the Gaza-Egypt border for the foreseeable future.
  

  Most of the prime minister’s arguments to Fox around the Philadelphi Corridor mirror what he said during two press conferences this week.

  Asked about an NBC report that American hostage families pushed the Biden administration to close a unilateral deal with Hamas if necessary, Netanyahu says he doesn’t know what was said at the meeting, but “I don’t judge the families. They’ve gone through this horrible anguish.”  link Netanyahu, on his favorite US platform, is making it very clear that he will not make the deal and, of course, doesn't take any of the blame. Disgrace

Northern Israel - Lebanon/Hizbollah/Syria

• The mayor of Kiryat Shmona laments that his largely evacuated northern border town has been battered by rockets fired by terrorists from Lebanon, with many homes being destroyed.

  
  Israeli security forces at the scene where a missile fired from Lebanon hit a home in the northern city of Kiryat Shmona, September 4, 2024. (Ayal Margolin/Flash90)

  “Unfortunately, every day we have to tell more families that they will not have a home to return to, there are houses that need to be demolished and rebuilt,” Avichai Stern tells the Ynet news site.

  He asks why the lives of northern residents were apparently of lower value than those who lived in the center of the country, apparently referring to the IDF’s preemptive strike last month as Hezbollah was preparing to launch an attack on the Tel Aviv area.

  “We need to get to a point where [terrorists] are afraid to fire at Kiryat Shmona,” he urges.

  Hezbollah hasbeen attacking Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a near-daily basis since October 8, a day after its ally, Palestinian terror group Hamas, launched its October 7 massacre, killing 1,200 people across southern Israel and abducting 251 people. Hezbollah says its attacks are to support Gaza amid the war Hamas triggered.

  Tens of thousands of residents of northern border communities have been evacuated since the start of the war, displaced from their homes for close to a year. Many accuse the government of not taking enough action against Hezbollah so that they can return home.

• August was the month with the most rockets fired from Lebanon amid the ongoing war, according to new data published by the Shin Bet security agency.

  
  A man works next to a home destroyed by rockets fired by Hezbollah in Katzrin on the Golan Heights, August 21, 2024.(AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

  The latest Shin Bet report says that 1,307 rockets were fired at Israel from the northern front, meaning Lebanon and Syria, amounting to just over 40 a day on average.

  July saw 1,091 rockets, June saw 855, May saw 1,000, April saw 744, March saw 746, February saw 534, and January saw 334, according to the Shin Bet.

  The vast majority of the rockets were fired from Lebanon rather than Syria.

  In the previous month, only 116 rockets were fired at Israel from Gaza, the latest report says. -- I think saying 'only 116 rockets' is an amazing statement. 116 rockets in 1 month is an average of 4 rockets a day with each rocket having the capability to destroy homes, kill multiple people, start massive fires and create terror. I can't imagine any country that would sit quietly while a terrorist organization shells their territory 116 times a month. 116 times in one month

• **The "Rules of Engagement" with Hezbollah: Despite the Preventive Strike, Fighting on the Front Continues**

  More than 10 days after the IDF's preventive strike in southern Lebanon, it seems that the fighting has returned to routine, and residents of northern Israel continue to endure heavy barrages of fire. The Israeli Air Force attacked Hezbollah launchers overnight, with at least 450 of its operatives eliminated since the war began. A commentator close to the terror organization said, "They are acting according to the equations, the cost for us is different."

  The IDF's preventive strike in southern Lebanon over 10 days ago may have disrupted Hezbollah's response, but since then, the "rules of engagement" on the northern front have reverted to their previous state. The terror organization is launching heavy barrages toward northern Israeli towns, and in response, the IDF continues to attack the launchers. Since the start of the war, at least 450 Hezbollah operatives have been eliminated. Here's how it looks from the other side.

  Due to Hezbollah's extensive rocket fire toward northern Israel, reports from Lebanon last night indicated 14 IDF strikes in the south of the country, targeting a series of villages: Yater, Shaqeen, Jubin, Ramyah, Zoutar, and Deir Siryan. Footage that spread on Arab networks showed the intensity of the fire. According to the IDF, the Air Force attacked more than 10 military infrastructures and Hezbollah launchers. This morning, it was reported in Lebanon that the IDF struck from the air a building in the village of Kfara in southern Lebanon, killing a Hezbollah operative, with footage of the damage caused published as well. Today, Hezbollah continues to launch UAVs toward northern Israeli towns. Earlier, a suspicious aerial target was intercepted in the Kabri area near Nahariya. No alarms were sounded in the surrounding towns, and no casualties or damage were reported. Meanwhile, in Lebanon, there were reports of the killing of a Hezbollah operative in the village of Kfara in the south of the country.

  **Hezbollah's Actions Since the Preventive Strike:**

  - 26.8 (August): 3 actions.

  - 27.8: 4 actions.

  - 28.8: 6 actions.

  - 29.8: 10 actions.

  - 30.8: 6 actions.

  - 31.8: 6 actions.

  - 1.9 (September): 10 actions.

  - 2.9: 9 actions.

  - 3.9: 8 actions.

  - 4.9: 8 actions.

  Commentator Khalil Nasrallah, who is close to Hezbollah, emphasized that "Hezbollah's responses to the Israeli attacks yesterday were harsh, with a high rate of fire. The army admitted that 115 rockets were fired from Lebanon, which is a large number. The Israeli attacks at night, targeting valleys and forests, reflect the extent of the damage Hezbollah is causing today. The front is still operating according to the usual equations."

  He continued: "In the war with Lebanon, the calculations are different, and the cost is different compared to Gaza. The scale of the war is different, the price is doubled, and most importantly, Israel does not impose its rules alone."

  There are those who criticize Hezbollah even from the other side. Lebanese journalist Maryam Majdalion al-Lahham from Lebanese MTV recently attacked Hezbollah, saying: "Why do they say Hezbollah is a terrorist organization? Because it is no different from ISIS. What is the difference between it and ISIS? It is an armed organization outside the state."

  "If you, Hezbollah, are not ISIS or a terrorist organization, carry out your war and resistance from within the Lebanese parliament and make decisions regarding peace and war from the Lebanese parliament. And your leader should not come out and tell me that the decision on war and peace lies with Iran's Supreme Leader. Nasrallah is a terrorist who receives international protection. What is the difference between him and Zarqawi? What is the difference between him and any armed faction? Why does he receive protection?" she added.

  The chairman of the Free Patriotic Movement, Christian politician Gebran Bassil, who is considered an ally of Nasrallah, expressed criticism in light of the situation: "We stand by Hezbollah when it comes to defending Lebanon and when Israel attacks us, but we will not stand by you if you start a war against Israel. We support a defensive strategy, not an offensive one. This does not mean we want Israel to benefit, but Lebanon alone cannot start a war against Israel or liberate Palestine."

  In the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar, which is considered a mouthpiece for Hezbollah, an article was published last weekend under the headline: "A Broad War is Frozen Until Further Notice." It stated that "the extent of the recent deterioration that preceded the responses of Israel and Hezbollah cannot be underestimated, but at the same time, the prevailing impression among Western diplomatic circles is that there is no inclination toward war at the present time, alongside Western diplomatic moves toward Lebanon and Israel."

  This comes against the backdrop of the speech delivered by Nasrallah on August 25, hours after the Israeli preventive strike, in which he clarified that he would examine whether the results of the attack were satisfactory, and if so, the organization would see it as the end of the response to the assassination of Fouad Shukr in Dahiya, Beirut.

  Last week, the Lebanese Al-Mayadeen channel claimed from its sources that confirmation was received from Israel that the Hezbollah attack on Yom al-Arbaeen was successful and that Unit 8200 was hit in Glilot. "Six UAVs managed to cross the Israeli air defense array and hit the base in Glilot accurately." According to them, "the operation was completely successful, despite the Israeli blackout."  link No matter what the politicians say or want to call it, we are war in the north and the government, once again has no strategy and is placing tit for tat with Hizbollah attacking us and us retaliating and visa versa. In the meantime, over 60,000 northern residents are refugees in their own country and the rest of the northern residents are targets for the attacks. The amount of damage to property is enormous with about 50% of the homes in Metulla and border kibbutzim and moshavim damaged or completely destroyed. And all the homes that have not been damaged or destroyed are going to waste. Rodents have infested the homes and are doing their own damage and when the residents will finally be able to return, they still won't be able to live in their homes until they can make them livable again. The farmers in the border communities have had to let their crops die as even going to turn on water in the dark of night is taking one's life in their hands. The heads of the councils in the North made a decision over a week ago that they are cutting ties with the government due to the total abandonment of the north. Even before that, their calls went unanswered or they were given promises by none other than the Prime Minister with all of those promises broken. This failed government has nothing to offer and does nothing for the future of the north, actually for the whole country, but the north has been totally abandoned by them.

West Bank and Jerusalem and Terror attacks within Israel

•  Son of terror commander Zakaria Zubeidi said among 5 killed in IDF West Bank drone strike

  The son of notorious terrorist Zakaria Zubeidi is among five Palestinians reported killed in an Israeli drone strike last night in the West Bank, according to Palestinian media.

  The Palestinian Authority health ministry names the five Palestinians killed in the strike in the Tubas area as Ahmed Abu Dawas, 24, Mohammed Abu Juma, 30, Qusay Abd al-Razeq, 26, Mohammed Abu Zagha, 23, and Mohammed Zubeidi, 21.

  Mohammed Zubeidi, according to Palestinian media, is the son of Zakaria, who in September 2021 escaped from Gilboa Prison along with six other high-security prisoners, leading Israeli security forces on a two-week manhunt before being caught.

  The IDF said the drone strikes targeted Palestinian gunmen who were shooting at troops during a raid in the Tubas area. link 

Politics and the War (general news)

•  "This is a very severe crisis; a taboo has been broken here. What kind of army will I enlist my grandchildren in?"

  With the publication of the tragic news about the six hostages who were murdered in recent days while in captivity, and whose bodies were recovered by the IDF, Major General (Res.) Israel Ziv broke down on air and struggled to speak: "The Prime Minister is immoral; there is a very serious problem here. The rules of the game have been broken, and I suggest everyone in the nation conduct a thorough self-examination."

  Six hostages' bodies were discovered over the weekend by IDF forces in an underground tunnel in Rafah, after, according to estimates, they were murdered by their captors in recent days: Ori Danino, Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Alex Lubanov, and Almog Sarusi, may their memories be blessed.

  Major General (Res.) Israel Ziv, former Head of Operations Directorate in the IDF, appeared on "Morning News" after the publication of the devastating news and struggled to speak for long moments. "This is a terrible morning. The heart shatters. You see the faces of these kids who just a day or two ago were alive. On October 7th, there was a terrible failure, which can somehow be explained. We didn't know, or we did know; there are various explanations. What explanations can be given for today's blunder, after the entire security establishment has clearly stated its position for over a month, and when the Defense Minister says that the current operations are endangering the lives of the hostages?"

  "This is an extremely severe crisis. A taboo has been broken here, the taboo of basic trust between the citizen and the soldier with the state. What should a soldier or pilot who is sent tomorrow to strike in Iran or deep inside Syria think this morning? That this government, heaven forbid, if something happened and his plane went down, would choose a meaningless path and not bring him back home? Where is the security for each of us as citizens in a government that consciously makes immoral and irresponsible decisions? It's terrible. If there was even a drop of trust left in this government, this morning it was shattered. This government has no right to continue to exist and make decisions, which were already highly problematic from a professional standpoint. There is no strategy, but in the end, you think—there are human beings there. This morning, they proved that there are no human beings there."

  According to Ziv, the Prime Minister's insistence on the Philadelphi Corridor is unnecessary: "Do you really think the Prime Minister needs to be told that all of Philadelphi is not real? They stuck some Umm Rashrash flag on a dirt path where we never managed to stop anything. The Prime Minister is lying to the public, and he knows it. Look at Brick's testimony, where he explicitly told him that there is no significance to holding onto Philadelphi. The Prime Minister knows this; he’s been here long enough."

  "There is a real problem of an immoral government and an immoral Prime Minister whose considerations do not align with the leadership of this nation. There is a very serious problem here, a moral problem. Are we deciding that this government can continue to lead us? This is not only a problem for the families of the hostages; it is my problem. I have to enlist my grandchildren soon. To what army will I enlist them? To an army that will abandon them? It is advisable for all of Israel this morning to reassess. The rules of the game have been broken—and I suggest everyone conduct a thorough self-examination."

• 
  
  

The Region and the World

• Egypt protested to Israel on Tuesday the map that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used during his press conference the night before, saying that he showed the Philadelphi Corridor as a military zone, in violation of the Camp David accords, reports the Qatari Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

  The outlet also reports that before the press conference, Netanyahu told Cairo that Israel was willing to discuss the future of the Gaza-Egypt border in negotiations on the second phase of a prisoner deal, but Egypt said they would only accept a pledge to withdraw, even if it didn’t happen in the first phase.   
  
  

• **International Investigation: How Iran Used Drug Dealers and Criminals to Target Israelis in Europe**

  A terror cell arrested in France included criminals previously convicted of involvement in murder and was led by international drug dealer Ümit Bulbul from Lyon, who managed to escape to Tehran. The targets included Israelis living in France, prominent figures in Jewish communities in Germany, and arson attacks on buildings owned by Israeli companies. According to a joint investigation by Shomrim and the European Investigative Collaborations (EIC), Roy, an Israeli living and working in France, received a frightening message from security officials in November: An Iran-directed terror cell intended to harm him. The warning reached the French authorities from a "foreign intelligence service," and according to later reports in the German media, it was the Mossad that alerted several European security services. Mossad declined to confirm this, stating only that "intelligence agencies maintain ongoing dialogue and cooperation to mitigate threats."

  In the months that followed, Roy received several more warnings, and French authorities even recommended he leave the country. Roy took these warnings seriously: He and his wife spent part of the following months in Israel, and during their brief stays in France, they moved between no fewer than six different apartments. Despite these precautions, their stress levels were high. In April this year, Roy's wife contacted DGSI, France’s domestic intelligence agency (akin to Israel’s Shin Bet), to report a suspicious incident. She claimed a man posing as a courier arrived at their apartment and rang the intercom. Since she hadn’t ordered anything, she didn’t open the door but managed to photograph him through the intercom camera. French authorities investigated the report and determined that the man was likely a legitimate courier. A few days later, French authorities arrested the members of the terror cell. Documents and testimonies about the cell's activities, revealed here for the first time, provide a rare glimpse into the operations of Iran’s terror network in Europe, which relies on mobilizing underworld figures—both low-level and senior criminals, gangs, drug traffickers, released prisoners, and others. This is not merely symbolic use of frustrated migrants but rather a plan to execute widespread attacks and assassinations.

  The French terror cell targeted three other Israelis working with Roy, planned assassinations of three prominent figures in Jewish communities in Germany, and was also tasked with setting fire to buildings in southern France owned by Israeli companies. To maintain "plausible deniability," Iran does not maintain direct contact with its terror cells in Europe. In the French case, instructions for attacks were relayed through networks of criminals and international drug traffickers.

  The investigation is based on documents from European security services obtained by Mediapart magazine, analyzed by EIC (European Investigative Collaborations) and journalists from nine media outlets, including Mediapart in France, Der Spiegel in Germany, InfoLibre in Spain, and outlets from the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, and Belgium. Shomrim, through journalist Daniel Dolev, is the Israeli partner in the investigation. According to an internal document, French security authorities believe that the precautions taken to protect Roy and his family led the terror cell to shift its focus to other targets. Roy (whose real name, like those of other targets, is not disclosed for security reasons) did not respond to inquiries sent to him through various communication channels.

  The owner of the company where Roy worked, who was formerly in security services, told Shomrim that no official ever approached him about the matter. "I have no idea what you’re talking about," he said. "If someone had told me it was real, it would have been scary, but other than that, I have no such feelings."

  **A Decade of Using Criminals**

  Iran’s use of organized crime figures and drug traffickers for terrorist purposes is not new. In recent months, the Mossad uncovered a terror cell operating in Europe under the command of Swedish criminal Rawa Majid, nicknamed "The Kurdish Fox," who led the Swedish crime organization "Foxtrot." According to various reports in Israel citing Mossad sources, Majid fled from Turkey to Iran, where he was recruited after being arrested by local police. Israeli security officials told Shomrim that the Swedish and French cells operated separately and had no connection between them.

  The first evidence of Iranian use of European criminals emerged nearly a decade ago. Iran's primary goal was to assassinate Iranian opposition figures in exile as well as Israeli or Jewish targets. Since 2015, about 20 such attempts have been uncovered (see attached map at the beginning of the article). One of the first assassinations, in December 2015, was of Mohammad-Reza Kolahi Samadi, an activist in the Mujahedin-e Khalq organization who was convicted of an attack against the Iranian regime in the 1980s and had been hiding in the Netherlands. The murder was carried out by local criminals with the assistance of Dutch and Belgian drug gangs.

  "In terms of exiles, the Iranians have been acting freely and for a long time," says Yoram Schweitzer, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) and head of the Terror and Low-Intensity Warfare Program. "Regarding Israelis, there are periods when it flares up. Now we are in such a period that has been ongoing for several years." Around 2018, Iran's modus operandi began to change. This occurred after senior Iranian intelligence officer Asadollah Assadi was arrested and convicted of attempting to plant a bomb at a gathering of Iranian exiles in France. Assadi operated under the guise of a diplomat at the Iranian embassy in Austria, was caught, and sentenced to 20 years in prison, but was later released in a prisoner exchange deal. Although Iran had previously used crime organizations to carry out terrorist acts, this avenue became more central after the incident.

  "There is an increase in the use of criminal elements within the terrorist component, which is very prominent," says Schweitzer, explaining: "The leading principle of a state that supports and operates terrorism is maintaining plausible deniability. Despite its violations, it still plays within a framework of international norms and wants to maintain a respectable image. Therefore, the most crucial mechanism is to maintain plausible deniability, and the criminal element adds another layer of protection. It allows Iran to claim that the assassinations are purely criminal acts."

  Former Mossad officials, who agreed to be interviewed anonymously, also noted the overlap between Iranian terrorism and the criminal world, mentioning that international drug trafficking is a significant revenue stream for Iran and Hezbollah. "Tracking the drug trade as a central economic tool for Hezbollah shows they are connected to all the (criminal) networks, whether in the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, or Sri Lanka. They are playing on the big stage," said a former Mossad operative. However, he cautions, "If they have a smuggling route worth, say, 10 million dollars a year to Paris, and they use it for an attack, then they've burned it. Nevertheless, this connection creates the contacts and the ability to recruit people not tied to a specific smuggling route but connected to crime."

  International drug traffickers straddle the line between criminal and terrorist activities. Earlier this year, the US and UK imposed sanctions on an Iranian drug trafficker named Naji Sharifi-Zindashti. According to the US government, Zindashti and his network enjoy the protection of the Tehran regime, and in return, the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence has carried out assassinations and kidnappings (some of which were foiled) in the UAE, the Netherlands, Turkey, and even the US.

  A similar case is Ramin Yektaprost, who was not a drug trafficker but was a senior member of a motorcycle gang in Germany. He was suspected of murdering a rival gang member and fled to Iran. The Düsseldorf court found that Yektaprost was behind an attempt to set fire to a synagogue in the city of Bochum and a shooting at a synagogue in Essen in 2022. Yektaprost was shot dead in Tehran earlier this year, and some attributed it to the Mossad.

  **The Exposed Terror Cell: Led by a Drug Dealer Who Fled**

  It is suspected that the leader of the French terror cell was a major drug dealer from the Lyon area named Ümit Bulbul, who is currently believed to be in Iran. Bulbul, born in the city of Pau in southern France, used two false identities: one as Ilan Yitzhak Hajaj, a Jew born in France, and another as a Turkish citizen named Harun Öztürk.

  The cell's "operator" was a Frenchman of Algerian descent named Abdelkrim S., known as "Krimo." His full name cannot be published due to legal restrictions in France. Krimo is an experienced criminal who has previously served prison terms for involvement in a double murder during gang wars in Marseille and for drug trafficking. As part of efforts to maintain compartmentalization and separation, Bulbul and Krimo did not have direct contact. The intermediary between them was a criminal named Sadat (whose full name cannot be published for the same reasons), with a history of property crimes, violence, extortion, and drugs. He is currently imprisoned in France. His selection as the intermediary was almost natural: He served as one of Bulbul's deputies in the gang's drug operations and knew Krimo from their time in prison together.

  Krimo’s deployment reveals the cell's operations and Iran's plans. Among the Iranian targets were three Jews of status in Jewish communities in Berlin and Munich. Although Krimo was prohibited from leaving France due to restrictions imposed upon his release from prison, he traveled to Germany at least twice on Iranian orders to gather intelligence on the targets. On one occasion, on April 15 this year, he arrived in Munich by train. He used his brother-in-law's identity card to purchase the ticket and made sure to turn off his mobile phone before leaving France. Upon reaching the "Munich Inn Design" hotel, he activated a new phone. Krimo spent three nights in the city and photographed the two Jewish figures in the local Jewish community. On April 20, he repeated the same actions in Berlin, where he took photographs of another prominent figure in the Jewish community. Security officials told the German media that the photographs were transferred to the terrorist "operator" in Tehran.

  Additionally, the cell was tasked with setting fire to buildings owned by Israelis, including Roy's boss. Among these targets was an upscale restaurant in Cannes, and for this task, a lower-ranking criminal was recruited. The attack, which involved throwing a Molotov cocktail, was never carried out. Roy's boss says he was unaware of these plans, and the restaurant owners did not respond to Shomrim's inquiries. German media reported that the same cell was responsible for similar attacks on Israeli-owned buildings in Germany.

  Krimo was arrested at the end of May this year, shortly after his return from Germany. The internal report of France’s DGSI, reviewed by Shomrim, stated that at the time of his arrest, he was not yet considered the leader of the terrorist network but rather an "operative" acting as part of a complex system of compartmentalization. It is estimated that the extensive steps taken to protect Roy and his family likely caused the cell to shift its focus to other targets. link
  
  

Personal Stories

 An excellent podcast interview with my brother about who he is and how he became a peace and hostage negotiator by te UK Guardian

The Israeli negotiator who talks to Hamas – podcast link to the podcast
Gershon Baskin on his experience as a hostage negotiator in the Israel-Palestine conflict
Gershon Baskin, an Israeli hostage negotiator, knows what it takes to make a deal with Hamas. He began contact with a senior Hamas official, Ghazi Hamid, in 2006 and the relationship laid the foundation for the deal that freed the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in 2011.

“I was focused entirely on freeing Gilad Shalit,” Baskin tells Michael Safi. “That was my mission. That was my job. And I would talk to the devil if that was necessary to bring Gilad Shalit home alive. So I didn’t stop to consider their political positions, or their manifesto and their desire to kill everyone, including me.”

After the deal, Baskin stayed in touch with Hamid, hoping the connection would eventually help to bring peace. “I knew from the very beginning that if we’re going to succeed, it’s going to be based on the personal relationship that we develop. So I made sure over the years that we were talking, that we talked about family, we talked about dreams and hopes, we talked about our childhood.”

After the 7 October attacks, Hamid was interviewed on Lebanese TV. He said: “We must teach Israel a lesson, and we will do this again and again.”

“It was pretty devastating,” Baskin says. “I wrote a letter to him at that point in which I said I never want to talk to him again.

“But a month later, a good Palestinian friend of mine said, ‘you know, Gershon, you made a mistake, because maybe your contact with Ghazi Hamid could save lives.’ And I wrote to him again and I said: ‘Ghazi, if talking with you can save human lives, I’m willing to renew our connection.’ Three weeks later he contacted me and since then we’ve been in contact.”

**The Kidnapping, Captivity, and Farewell to Arieh Zalmanovitch z"l: Farhan Al-Qadi in a Special Interview**

They shot at him, caught him, and even after they were convinced he was Muslim, Farhan Al-Qadi's captors still took him hostage. He underwent a medical procedure without anesthesia, stayed alongside kidnapped Israeli Arieh Zalmanovitch until Zalmanovitch lost consciousness, was smuggled among refugees to a tent camp, and was held alone in a tunnel for eight months. "To them, I'm a Muslim who betrays them. They see me as more of an enemy than you," he explains in an interview with N12. The interview will air at 8:00 PM on the main edition.

The war that broke out at 6:29 AM on October 7 caught Farhan Al-Qadi, a 52-year-old father of 11, while he was working as a security guard at a packing house near Kibbutz Magen, close to the Gaza border. "I thought it was rockets again," he recalls in the special interview with N12. "I went into the bomb shelter and got a call from my brother, who told me there was an infiltration. I stepped outside and saw three Hamas militants about 100 meters away, shooting in my direction and running towards me."

A week after returning from captivity in Gaza, where he was held for 326 days, Al-Qadi sits down with us to recount what he can from that incomprehensible period—from the start of the attack until he emerged from a tunnel to the Israeli forces. "I threw the phone away and raised my hands," he recalls the moment when the Hamas militants caught him. "One of them hit me with a gun, another kicked me, they knocked me to the ground, and tied my hands. A foreign worker passed by, and they shot him right next to me."

The group wanted to confirm that he was indeed Muslim—they quizzed him on passages from the Quran and the number of daily prayers. "I spoke to them in Arabic. I told them I was Muslim," he says. "They saw that it was true, and then they said, 'Take us in your car to where there are Jews.'"

**What went through your mind when they asked you that?**

"I was ready to die rather than point to a Jew, or even to a cat. Everyone in the village is a good friend of mine."

**Did you realize you were about to be kidnapped?**

"Yes."

Al-Qadi was put into a car and taken through a gap in the border fence. On the other side, the car stopped after about 150 meters. He saw foreign workers being kidnapped and led into a tunnel entrance in the ground. "You see them suddenly disappear," he recounts. "I was in pain in my leg. I fell several times on the way. One of the men decided to take me to Nasr Hospital in Khan Younis."

By the time they reached the hospital, Al-Qadi could no longer walk on his leg. "The pain was unbearable; I climbed the stairs on all fours," he describes.

**Did they see you crawling on all fours and didn't help you?**

"No. They said, 'Look, here's our dog walking.' There were many people there, and you could see their joy. They felt they had won." At the hospital, he was taken to a room with two doctors. After an X-ray on his leg, they decided on further treatment. "They said, 'You have a broken leg, and now we're going to sew it up without anesthesia,'" he recalls. "I told them it was fine. The pain I had inside was worse than the pain in my leg. I was thinking about my family. Farhan would be gone. Finished."

During the stitching, one of the doctors interrogated Al-Qadi: What was his family name, how old was he, how many children did he have, and more questions.

In a side room at the hospital, he met Arieh Zalmanovitch z"l for the first time, a member of Kibbutz Nir Oz who had also been kidnapped. "He was injured in the head and hand," Al-Qadi remembers. "Eighty-five years old, diabetic, just completely worn out. He said to me, 'I'm telling you, it's no good to be old.'"

Zalmanovitch and Al-Qadi became companions in captivity. For a month and a half, they were held together in a hospital room. "He lay on a bed, and I was beside him on a chair, and he told me stories," Al-Qadi said. "He had a granddaughter he loved very much and two sons living in the north—he would talk about them at every opportunity." Some mornings, Zalmanovitch would wake up and tell Al-Qadi about his dreams of their release together.

One day, the guards moved Al-Qadi from their shared room to another room where seven Thai hostages were held. Zalmanovitch did not move with him.

"One evening, about a week later, the door suddenly opens," Al-Qadi recalls. "They throw a mattress and throw Arieh onto it. Arieh was in bad shape. He asked me, 'How's the leg?' I told him, 'Forget the leg, how are you?' He told me they moved him to a room with a Jewish family, his neighbors, parents, and two girls aged 3 and 5. He told me, 'Despair, it's pointless in that room.' He was really despondent."

Days passed, and Zalmanovitch's health continued to deteriorate. He could no longer eat, and his captors connected him to an IV. For a week and a half, Al-Qadi describes, Zalmanovitch did not speak a word.

"On the day he died, around 12 noon, he started talking," Al-Qadi recalls. "I got up and approached him, and he says, 'Goodbye to the kibbutz, goodbye to friends, goodbye to my granddaughter...' He was saying farewell. It tore me apart. I tried to talk to him, called out 'Arieh, Arieh...' Nothing, he didn't hear. And then it was over."

Arieh Zalmanovitch passed away. "I said goodbye to Mr. Zalman," Al-Qadi recounts. "It was a very hard goodbye. Suddenly, you have an Israeli whom you talk to, passing time in captivity. You feel he's a brother, a father, a family—everything." The cruelty of the captors continued even after Zalmanovitch was no longer alive. Two hours after they removed his body from the room, they took Al-Qadi to a room where the body lay. Inside were two Hamas members and a third, a photographer. "You're sitting next to him and talking about what happened from the moment you met until today," they ordered him, according to his account. "Say 'Zalman was sick, they tried to help him as much as possible, and there were explosions around the place we were in, and today he passed away.'"

After several weeks in the hospital, the captors decided to move him to a new location in Khan Younis. "They come in and say, 'Take your things in a bag and follow us,'" he says. "I took a shirt and pants, and they gave me a mask and a hat. I walked for 45 minutes through dark streets. We reached a house, and they took me inside."

On the first morning in his new quarters, the house was hit by an Air Force missile. "Half of the house was destroyed," Al-Qadi says.

As time passed, the residents of Khan Younis began evacuating the city in anticipation of the Israeli forces' entry. The captors decided to take advantage of the situation. "Residents started leaving, so they put me among them," Al-Qadi explains. He walked through the streets of Khan Younis, escorted by his guards, along with thousands who were relocating to a refugee tent camp.

**Did you think about escaping?**

"Where to? The whole time I thought that if I saw soldiers or a tank or something, I'd run. But I didn't see anything."

For a week, he stayed in a closed tent. Around him were tents with refugees who didn't know that an Israeli hostage was hidden among them. From the tent, he moved to his final stop in the Strip—a 20-minute car ride to a house that, according to him, had already been hit by one or two missiles.

"Under the house was the entrance to a tunnel," he recalls. "They blindfolded you, and you descend about 40 meters. You tell yourself, 'From here, there's no way out.'" Al-Qadi was given a mattress and a blanket, and there he stayed under the watch of Hamas members for no less than eight months.

**What did you do all that time?**

"Slept, got up, and talked to God. I'm a believer. I found a Quran there and read it for 12-14 hours a day. I told myself that if, as a Muslim, I get such treatment, what about the Jews? What kind of treatment do they get? It's beyond explanation."

**Did you leave the room occasionally?**

"Sometimes. Not for shopping—just for the bathroom. They take you, walk in front of you with a flashlight. You're not allowed to look at their faces. They shine the flashlight in your eyes, blinding you."

**Did you see other hostages there?**

"No. I even asked to be with hostages, with Israelis, to pass the time together. They didn't want that. They wanted me to be quiet."

**Did you try talking to them? You speak their language.**

"To them

, I'm more of an enemy than you."

**Why?**

"Because I'm a traitor. I'm a Muslim and a traitor to them. You understand? They see me as more of an enemy than you. To them, if I got shot in the leg, it means I lied during the interrogation. They told me, 'If you had told us where there were Jews, you would have stayed with your family.'"

**Not easy for you.**

"Very. Even now. I, Farhan, am not whole. And there's still someone out there going through what I went through."

He was eventually rescued in a special operation, most details of which are still under embargo. "When I got out, I was warmly received by the soldiers who were waiting for me and hugged me," he recalls. "They told me that in 10 minutes, I would have a call with my family. I told them, 'Guys, I'll postpone the call with my family; I've already found my family here.'"  link

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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