π️Lonny's War Update- October 338, 2023 - September 8, 2024 π️
π️Day 338 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
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
*6:45pm yesterday - north - hostile aircraft - Ayelet Hashahar, Yiftach*7:20pm yesterday - north - hostile aircraft - Ayelet Hashahar, Mevo'ot Hermon, Ramot Naftali
*7:25pm yesterday - north - north - hostile aircraft - Ayelet Hashahar, Sde Eliezer, Yesod Hama'aleh*7:30pm yesterday - north - hostile aircraft - Ayelet Hashahar
*7:55pm - pm yesterday - north - hostile aircraft - Ayelet Hashahar
*12:55am - north - rockets - Kiryat Shemona, Kfar Giladi, Misgav Am, Margaliot, Manara
*2:35am - north - rockets - Kfar Giladi, Tel Hai, Kiryat Shemona*2:40am - north - rockets - Kiryat Shemona, Margaliot, Manara
*5:35am - north - rockets - Shamir, Kfar Szold, Sde Nehemia, Beit Hillel, She'ar Hayeshuv
9:15am - south - rockets - Kerem Shalom*10:00am - West Bank - terror attack at Allenby Crossing to Jordan - 3 dead plus the terrorist
*2:25pm - north - rockets - Zra'it*2:30pm - north - rockets - Zra'it
*7:25pm yesterday - north - north - hostile aircraft - Ayelet Hashahar, Sde Eliezer, Yesod Hama'aleh
*7:55pm - pm yesterday - north - hostile aircraft - Ayelet Hashahar
*12:55am - north - rockets - Kiryat Shemona, Kfar Giladi, Misgav Am, Margaliot, Manara
*2:35am - north - rockets - Kfar Giladi, Tel Hai, Kiryat Shemona
*5:35am - north - rockets - Shamir, Kfar Szold, Sde Nehemia, Beit Hillel, She'ar Hayeshuv
9:15am - south - rockets - Kerem Shalom
*2:25pm - north - rockets - Zra'it
Hostage Updates
- Protest organizers estimate unprecedented 500,000 at Tel Aviv hostage rally, tens of thousands in Jerusalem, Haifa, Kfar Saba
Hundreds of thousands of Israelis protest against the government, calling for immediate release of the hostages that are still being held by Hamas in Gaza, outside IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv, September 7, 2024. (Gili Yaari /Flash90)
Some 500,000 people are currently attending the mass rally in Tel Aviv demanding that the government free the remaining hostages held by Hamas since October 7, according to protest organizers.
This would make the rally the largest in Israeli history.
At the Tel Aviv rally, organizers claim that the estimate has been confirmed by police.
Activists on social media say tens of thousands are simultaneously protesting in Jerusalem, Haifa and Kfar Saba, while thousands are also gathered in cities including Beersheba, Netanya, and Rishon Lezion.
At a protest in Carmei Gat, former hostage Adina Moshe, who was released in the November truce, says she told the Shin Bet official who debriefed her of the danger posed to hostages when IDF troops approach tunnels where they are held. “When the IDF enters those tunnels, it is impossible to save the hostages,” she recalls saying, because Hamas “will kill them right away.
“All my friends who were together with me in captivity in that tunnel were murdered — murdered by Hamas because the IDF approached. Even though I warned — but who am I? — that that would happen.”
Family members of hostages and victims of the October 7 Hamas massacre speak in favor of a hostage deal at a protest outside the prime minister’s residence in Jerusalem.
Moshe Shapira, whose son Aner Shapira was murdered by Hamas terrorists on October. 7, speaks at a demonstration calling for a hostage deal in Jerusalem, September 7, 2024. (Iddo Schejter/Times of Israel)Danny Miran, the father of Hamas hostage Omri Miran, speaks of his suffering since his son was kidnapped. Miran also speaks of his appreciation for the IDF and Israel Police, the latter of which draws boos from the crowd.
Gal Goren, whose parents Avner and Maya Goren were killed by Hamas, blames Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyah
u for the hostages remaining in captivity, drawing boos from the crowd. He calls on demonstrators to continue the struggle for a hostage deal, so that “We can reach October 8.”
The audience gives a long round of applause for Moshe Shapira, whose son Aner Shapira was killed at the Supernova rave on October 7 after fending off grenades thrown by terrorists, saving people around him. Shapira calls for unity in Israeli society, and his speech is followed by the blowing of shofars.
TEL AVIV – Protesters light a bonfire on Tel Aviv’s Begin Road, during a mass rally that organize say is attended by 500,000 people, which would make it the largest in Israel’s history.
Demonstrators raise placards and Israeli flags during an anti-government protest calling for action to secure the release of hostages held captive since Hamas's October 7 massacre, Tel Aviv, September 7, 2024. (Jack Guez/AFP)After a host of speeches, the Hostages Families Forum demonstration merges with anti-government protesters rallying on nearby Kaplan Street.Actor Lior Ashkenazi, who emcees the event, pledges after the speeches that “the night is only beginning.”
Speakers accuse Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of insisting Israel remain on the Philadelphi Corridor, separating Gaza from Egypt, as a way to thwart a hostage deal and keep his right-wing government intact.
One man in the audience interrupts a speaker, yelling: “Netanyahu is a murderer!” He draws some applause.
There appears to be little police presence at the demonstration. Officers stand guard slightly north of the intersection, at the exits leading to the Ayalon Highway, which is routinely blocked by anti-government protesters at weekly rallies.
No mounted officers appear to be on site.
Addressing the hostages, Einav Zangauker, mother of hostage Matan Zangauker, says, “Our prime minister wants to kill you instead of save you.”
Varda Ben Baruch, grandmother of hostage Edan Alexander, accuses the government of failing its Jewish heritage by not redeeming the hostages.
“Have you forgotten what the Jewish people have persisted on?” she asks.
The final speaker is Yifat Calderon, cousin of hostage Ofer Calderon and a harsh critic of Netanyahu.
She says her cousin is held hostage “by Hamas and by the prime minister, Mr. Abandonment.”
Calderon calls on “all my activists to get up on the stage.” It is unclear to whom she was referring, but she’s clearly irked that they are blocked from coming up. A police officer could be seen arguing with people, including hostage relatives, at the entrance to the stage.
“Instead of finding ourselves fighting for the hostages, people think we need to fight for other irrelevant things,” says Calderon, before her mic was cut.
Andrey Kozlov, who was freed from Hamas captivity in June along with three other hostages in an Israeli rescue operation, speaks at a massive rally taking place in Tel Aviv to pressure the government to close a hostage-ceasefire deal.
Rescued Hamas hostage Andrey Kozlov speaks at a rally urging a deal to save the remaining hostages, in Tel Aviv, September 7, 2024. (Lior Rotstein / Hostage Families' Forum)“I don’t know why, but I am blessed, I am here. Hersh, Eden, Carmel, Ori, Almog and Alex are not,” he tells the crowd, which is estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands, referring to six hostages whose bodies were recovered from Gaza last week after they were executed by Hamas days earlier.
“Alex [Lobanov] was with us in hell for two months, he told me his life story. We shared our fears and hopes. They took him and told us he will go home in the end of November. He should have been here with us,” the former hostage says.
Behind Kozlov on the stage are posters of the 97 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 believed to remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 33 confirmed dead by the IDF.
Shai Dickman, cousin of hostage Carmel Gat who was murdered last month by her Hamas captors, speaks at a rally urging a deal to save the remaining hostages, in Tel Aviv, September 7, 2024.(Lior Rotstein / Hostage Families’ Forum)Speaking at the same rally, Shai Dickman, cousin of murdered hostage Carmel Gat, blames the government for the fact that she did not come home alive: “We were a step away from being able to embrace, but the military pressure led to her death,” she says. “My prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, you sabotaged a deal, you killed her. So, too, (Ministers) Smotrich, Regev, Levin, Katz, Dichter. You sabotaged a deal, you killed her.”
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 37 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the military as they tried to escape their captors.
NAHARIYA — About 200 protesters holding Israeli flags and yellow ribbons stand at the Nahariya junction in northern Israel.
“We can’t let our indifference kill the hostages,” says Micki Goldwasser, whose son, Ehud Goldwasser, an Israeli soldier, was abducted in Israel by Hezbollah with Eldad Regev in July 2006, sparking the 2006 Lebanon War.
She introduces herself to Yehuda Beinin, whose daughter, Liat Atzili, was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7. She was released on November 29 as part of a weeklong ceasefire deal.
Goldwasser says she can relate to Beinin’s situation, “But my son didn’t come back.”
Micki Goldwasser, left, speaks to Yehuda Beinin at a hostage rally in the northern city of Nahariya, September 7, 2024. (Diana Bletter/The Times of Israel)The bodies of Goldwasser and Regev were returned to Israel in a 2008 Israel–Hezbollah prisoner exchange.
“Nothing’s changed since 2006,” Goldwasser tells The Times of Israel. “Back then, there wasn’t even budget for a camera at a critical point on the northern border.”
She says, “People were there for me then and now I’m here for others.”
Speaking at the rally, Beinin, who talked to US President Joe Biden after his daughter was released from Hamas captivity, says, “It’s not the Americans’ job to change the government in Israel, it’s our job.”
The rally ends with the singing of the Israeli national anthem, “Hatikva.”
Moshe Ya’alon, a former IDF chief of staff who served as a Likud defense minister under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu but is now a major critic, joins a protest in the central city of Rehovot calling on the government to close a hostage-ceasefire deal with Hamas.
Former IDF chief of staff Moshe Ya'alon joins a protest in the central city of Rehovot calling on the government to close a hostage-ceasefire deal with Hamas, September 7, 2024. (Pro-Democracy Movement/Meir Conforti)Ya’alon leads the protest march along with relatives of hostages held by Hamas since October 7, holding a sign that reads, “Until they’re home, we’re in the streets.”
Further north, protesters block the HaOgen Junction in Netanya the Karkur junction at Pardes Hanna.
In Tel Aviv, dozens of cyclists ride wearing orange t-shirts in honor of Yarden and Shira Bibas and their two young sons, who were kidnapped from their home on Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7 and have been held in Gaza since.
Cyclists wear orange T-shirts as they take part in a demonstration in honor of the Bibas family, held hostage by Hamas since October 7, in Tel Aviv, September 7, 2024. (Pro-Democracy Movement/Sharon Ben-Porath)
- Most Israelis don't believe that Sinwar will ever agree to releasing all of the Israeli hostages - that is the main reason that we don't yet have more than one million Israelis on the streets everyday demanding an agreement. Once it becomes clear that Hamas will accept the deal of releasing them all, we will see many more Israelis demanding that Netanyahu accept the agreement to end the war and withdraw from Gaza.
On the day after the war ends, the Palestinian people have to begin to implement a coherent plan to establish a credible, legitimate temporary government in Gaza which is not Hamas. If Hamas continues to control Gaza, not one single dollar of international aid will enter Gaza for reconstruction. The people of Gaza will continue to suffer the horrific consequences of the war that Hamas started. The majority of Gazans want Hamas to never govern and control them ever again. The Palestinians in the West Bank must replace its weak and no longer legitimate leadership in the Palestinian Authority (in the Government of the State of Palestine) because it holds the legal responsibility to appoint the Gaza Temporary Governing Authority which should be mainly a technocratic government charged with creating law and order and mapping out the reconstruction of Gaza. Hamas's military abilities are severely destroyed but they can continue to kill and to harm both Israelis and Palestinians and the primary responsibility for removing them from power is on the Palestinian people themselves. (Gershon Baskin, September 8, 2024)
The Hostage and Missing Families Forum along with Israeli medical and academic leaders appeal to the International Committee of the Red Cross, the World Health Organization, and the World Federation of Occupational Therapists to publicly acknowledge and condemn Hamas’s recent execution-style murder of six Israeli hostages.
One of the murdered hostages, Carmel Gat, was an occupational therapist. Two other healthcare workers — American-Israeli Keith Siegel, an occupational therapist, and Bar Kuperstein, a volunteer paramedic — are among the 101 hostages still being held in Gaza.
The letter calls on the organizations to “work for the release of all hostages and to treat this atrocity with the same seriousness applied to all violations against healthcare workers in conflict zones.”
“The silence of international health organizations regarding the murder of the hostages is disappointing and painful,” says public health professor Hagai Levine, head of the health team of the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.
The international health organizations have not issued statements.
The bodies of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Eden Yerushalmi, Ori Danino, Alex Lobanov, Almog Sarusi, and Gat, were recovered from a tunnel in Gaza’s Rafah last week.
An autopsy carried out by Abu Kabir Forensic Institute found that all six hostages were shot multiple times at close range, indicating they were executed.
Hamas is making attempts to reach a hostage deal even more difficult by introducing a “poison pill” in the form of demands that terrorists serving life sentences be released for civilian hostages in the first stage, The Washington Post reports.
Citing “officials involved in the details” of the talks, Kan News reports, furthermore, that the US is holding up presenting its new formula for a deal because of the new Hamas demand.
Until now, the formula was that hardened terrorists would only be released for kidnapped IDF soldiers, including 150 life-term murderers to be released from Israeli jails during the first phase in return for the five female surveillance soldiers held hostage.
Last Thursday, Channel 12 reported that Hamas had increased the number of Palestinian security prisoners serving life terms for murder that it is demanding be released in the earliest days of the first 42-day phase of a deal.
Calling today “a difficult day,” at the opening of the weekly cabinet meeting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sends his condolences to the families of the three Israelis killed in a shooting terror attack at the Allenby Bridge Crossing between the West Bank and Jordan.
“We are surrounded by a murderous ideology led by Iran’s axis of evil,” says Netanyahu. “In recent days, despicable terrorists have murdered six of our hostages in cold blood and three Israeli police officers. The murderers do not distinguish between us, they want to murder us all, until the very last one — right and left, secular and religious, Jews and non-Jews.”
Referencing an article in a German tabloid that said it revealed a document approved by Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar aiming to exploit domestic political tensions in Israel, the prime minister calls for unity: “When we stand together our enemies cannot overcome us, so their main goal is to divide us, to sow division within us.”
“Last weekend, the German newspaper Bild published an official Hamas document that reveals its plan of action: to sow division within us, to wage psychological warfare on the families of the abductees, to exert internal and external political pressure on the Israeli government, to tear us apart from the inside, and to continue the war until further notice.”
Netanyahu claims that “the vast majority of Israeli citizens” are committed to Israel’s war aims — “to eliminate Hamas, to return all our hostages, to ensure that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel and to safely return our residents in the north and south to their homes.”
The final goal has been added by Netanyahu in recent days amid criticism from Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and opposition leaders.
“There are those who ask,” he concludes, “‘Will we always live by the sword?’ In the Middle East, without the sword there is no future.” link As always, Netanyahu chooses chaos and war over strategy and finding a path for peace. And he lies, of course. The majority of the Israeli public wants a hostage deal more than anything which includes ending the war.
Hostage Updates
- Protest organizers estimate unprecedented 500,000 at Tel Aviv hostage rally, tens of thousands in Jerusalem, Haifa, Kfar Saba
Hundreds of thousands of Israelis protest against the government, calling for immediate release of the hostages that are still being held by Hamas in Gaza, outside IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv, September 7, 2024. (Gili Yaari /Flash90)Some 500,000 people are currently attending the mass rally in Tel Aviv demanding that the government free the remaining hostages held by Hamas since October 7, according to protest organizers.
This would make the rally the largest in Israeli history.
At the Tel Aviv rally, organizers claim that the estimate has been confirmed by police.
Activists on social media say tens of thousands are simultaneously protesting in Jerusalem, Haifa and Kfar Saba, while thousands are also gathered in cities including Beersheba, Netanya, and Rishon Lezion.
At a protest in Carmei Gat, former hostage Adina Moshe, who was released in the November truce, says she told the Shin Bet official who debriefed her of the danger posed to hostages when IDF troops approach tunnels where they are held. “When the IDF enters those tunnels, it is impossible to save the hostages,” she recalls saying, because Hamas “will kill them right away.
“All my friends who were together with me in captivity in that tunnel were murdered — murdered by Hamas because the IDF approached. Even though I warned — but who am I? — that that would happen.”
Family members of hostages and victims of the October 7 Hamas massacre speak in favor of a hostage deal at a protest outside the prime minister’s residence in Jerusalem.
Moshe Shapira, whose son Aner Shapira was murdered by Hamas terrorists on October. 7, speaks at a demonstration calling for a hostage deal in Jerusalem, September 7, 2024. (Iddo Schejter/Times of Israel)Danny Miran, the father of Hamas hostage Omri Miran, speaks of his suffering since his son was kidnapped. Miran also speaks of his appreciation for the IDF and Israel Police, the latter of which draws boos from the crowd.
Gal Goren, whose parents Avner and Maya Goren were killed by Hamas, blames Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyah
u for the hostages remaining in captivity, drawing boos from the crowd. He calls on demonstrators to continue the struggle for a hostage deal, so that “We can reach October 8.”The audience gives a long round of applause for Moshe Shapira, whose son Aner Shapira was killed at the Supernova rave on October 7 after fending off grenades thrown by terrorists, saving people around him. Shapira calls for unity in Israeli society, and his speech is followed by the blowing of shofars.
TEL AVIV – Protesters light a bonfire on Tel Aviv’s Begin Road, during a mass rally that organize say is attended by 500,000 people, which would make it the largest in Israel’s history.
Demonstrators raise placards and Israeli flags during an anti-government protest calling for action to secure the release of hostages held captive since Hamas's October 7 massacre, Tel Aviv, September 7, 2024. (Jack Guez/AFP)After a host of speeches, the Hostages Families Forum demonstration merges with anti-government protesters rallying on nearby Kaplan Street.Actor Lior Ashkenazi, who emcees the event, pledges after the speeches that “the night is only beginning.”
Speakers accuse Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of insisting Israel remain on the Philadelphi Corridor, separating Gaza from Egypt, as a way to thwart a hostage deal and keep his right-wing government intact.
One man in the audience interrupts a speaker, yelling: “Netanyahu is a murderer!” He draws some applause.
There appears to be little police presence at the demonstration. Officers stand guard slightly north of the intersection, at the exits leading to the Ayalon Highway, which is routinely blocked by anti-government protesters at weekly rallies.
No mounted officers appear to be on site.
Addressing the hostages, Einav Zangauker, mother of hostage Matan Zangauker, says, “Our prime minister wants to kill you instead of save you.”
Varda Ben Baruch, grandmother of hostage Edan Alexander, accuses the government of failing its Jewish heritage by not redeeming the hostages.
“Have you forgotten what the Jewish people have persisted on?” she asks.
The final speaker is Yifat Calderon, cousin of hostage Ofer Calderon and a harsh critic of Netanyahu.
She says her cousin is held hostage “by Hamas and by the prime minister, Mr. Abandonment.”
Calderon calls on “all my activists to get up on the stage.” It is unclear to whom she was referring, but she’s clearly irked that they are blocked from coming up. A police officer could be seen arguing with people, including hostage relatives, at the entrance to the stage.
“Instead of finding ourselves fighting for the hostages, people think we need to fight for other irrelevant things,” says Calderon, before her mic was cut.
Andrey Kozlov, who was freed from Hamas captivity in June along with three other hostages in an Israeli rescue operation, speaks at a massive rally taking place in Tel Aviv to pressure the government to close a hostage-ceasefire deal.
Rescued Hamas hostage Andrey Kozlov speaks at a rally urging a deal to save the remaining hostages, in Tel Aviv, September 7, 2024. (Lior Rotstein / Hostage Families' Forum)“I don’t know why, but I am blessed, I am here. Hersh, Eden, Carmel, Ori, Almog and Alex are not,” he tells the crowd, which is estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands, referring to six hostages whose bodies were recovered from Gaza last week after they were executed by Hamas days earlier.
“Alex [Lobanov] was with us in hell for two months, he told me his life story. We shared our fears and hopes. They took him and told us he will go home in the end of November. He should have been here with us,” the former hostage says.
Behind Kozlov on the stage are posters of the 97 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 believed to remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 33 confirmed dead by the IDF.
Shai Dickman, cousin of hostage Carmel Gat who was murdered last month by her Hamas captors, speaks at a rally urging a deal to save the remaining hostages, in Tel Aviv, September 7, 2024.(Lior Rotstein / Hostage Families’ Forum)Speaking at the same rally, Shai Dickman, cousin of murdered hostage Carmel Gat, blames the government for the fact that she did not come home alive: “We were a step away from being able to embrace, but the military pressure led to her death,” she says. “My prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, you sabotaged a deal, you killed her. So, too, (Ministers) Smotrich, Regev, Levin, Katz, Dichter. You sabotaged a deal, you killed her.”
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 37 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the military as they tried to escape their captors.
NAHARIYA — About 200 protesters holding Israeli flags and yellow ribbons stand at the Nahariya junction in northern Israel.
“We can’t let our indifference kill the hostages,” says Micki Goldwasser, whose son, Ehud Goldwasser, an Israeli soldier, was abducted in Israel by Hezbollah with Eldad Regev in July 2006, sparking the 2006 Lebanon War.
She introduces herself to Yehuda Beinin, whose daughter, Liat Atzili, was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7. She was released on November 29 as part of a weeklong ceasefire deal.
Goldwasser says she can relate to Beinin’s situation, “But my son didn’t come back.”
Micki Goldwasser, left, speaks to Yehuda Beinin at a hostage rally in the northern city of Nahariya, September 7, 2024. (Diana Bletter/The Times of Israel)The bodies of Goldwasser and Regev were returned to Israel in a 2008 Israel–Hezbollah prisoner exchange.
“Nothing’s changed since 2006,” Goldwasser tells The Times of Israel. “Back then, there wasn’t even budget for a camera at a critical point on the northern border.”
She says, “People were there for me then and now I’m here for others.”
Speaking at the rally, Beinin, who talked to US President Joe Biden after his daughter was released from Hamas captivity, says, “It’s not the Americans’ job to change the government in Israel, it’s our job.”
The rally ends with the singing of the Israeli national anthem, “Hatikva.”
Moshe Ya’alon, a former IDF chief of staff who served as a Likud defense minister under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu but is now a major critic, joins a protest in the central city of Rehovot calling on the government to close a hostage-ceasefire deal with Hamas.
Former IDF chief of staff Moshe Ya'alon joins a protest in the central city of Rehovot calling on the government to close a hostage-ceasefire deal with Hamas, September 7, 2024. (Pro-Democracy Movement/Meir Conforti)Ya’alon leads the protest march along with relatives of hostages held by Hamas since October 7, holding a sign that reads, “Until they’re home, we’re in the streets.”
Further north, protesters block the HaOgen Junction in Netanya the Karkur junction at Pardes Hanna.
In Tel Aviv, dozens of cyclists ride wearing orange t-shirts in honor of Yarden and Shira Bibas and their two young sons, who were kidnapped from their home on Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7 and have been held in Gaza since.
Cyclists wear orange T-shirts as they take part in a demonstration in honor of the Bibas family, held hostage by Hamas since October 7, in Tel Aviv, September 7, 2024. (Pro-Democracy Movement/Sharon Ben-Porath)- Most Israelis don't believe that Sinwar will ever agree to releasing all of the Israeli hostages - that is the main reason that we don't yet have more than one million Israelis on the streets everyday demanding an agreement. Once it becomes clear that Hamas will accept the deal of releasing them all, we will see many more Israelis demanding that Netanyahu accept the agreement to end the war and withdraw from Gaza.On the day after the war ends, the Palestinian people have to begin to implement a coherent plan to establish a credible, legitimate temporary government in Gaza which is not Hamas. If Hamas continues to control Gaza, not one single dollar of international aid will enter Gaza for reconstruction. The people of Gaza will continue to suffer the horrific consequences of the war that Hamas started. The majority of Gazans want Hamas to never govern and control them ever again. The Palestinians in the West Bank must replace its weak and no longer legitimate leadership in the Palestinian Authority (in the Government of the State of Palestine) because it holds the legal responsibility to appoint the Gaza Temporary Governing Authority which should be mainly a technocratic government charged with creating law and order and mapping out the reconstruction of Gaza. Hamas's military abilities are severely destroyed but they can continue to kill and to harm both Israelis and Palestinians and the primary responsibility for removing them from power is on the Palestinian people themselves. (Gershon Baskin, September 8, 2024)
The Hostage and Missing Families Forum along with Israeli medical and academic leaders appeal to the International Committee of the Red Cross, the World Health Organization, and the World Federation of Occupational Therapists to publicly acknowledge and condemn Hamas’s recent execution-style murder of six Israeli hostages.
One of the murdered hostages, Carmel Gat, was an occupational therapist. Two other healthcare workers — American-Israeli Keith Siegel, an occupational therapist, and Bar Kuperstein, a volunteer paramedic — are among the 101 hostages still being held in Gaza.
The letter calls on the organizations to “work for the release of all hostages and to treat this atrocity with the same seriousness applied to all violations against healthcare workers in conflict zones.”
“The silence of international health organizations regarding the murder of the hostages is disappointing and painful,” says public health professor Hagai Levine, head of the health team of the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.
The international health organizations have not issued statements.
The bodies of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Eden Yerushalmi, Ori Danino, Alex Lobanov, Almog Sarusi, and Gat, were recovered from a tunnel in Gaza’s Rafah last week.
An autopsy carried out by Abu Kabir Forensic Institute found that all six hostages were shot multiple times at close range, indicating they were executed.
Hamas is making attempts to reach a hostage deal even more difficult by introducing a “poison pill” in the form of demands that terrorists serving life sentences be released for civilian hostages in the first stage, The Washington Post reports.
Citing “officials involved in the details” of the talks, Kan News reports, furthermore, that the US is holding up presenting its new formula for a deal because of the new Hamas demand.
Until now, the formula was that hardened terrorists would only be released for kidnapped IDF soldiers, including 150 life-term murderers to be released from Israeli jails during the first phase in return for the five female surveillance soldiers held hostage.
Last Thursday, Channel 12 reported that Hamas had increased the number of Palestinian security prisoners serving life terms for murder that it is demanding be released in the earliest days of the first 42-day phase of a deal.
Calling today “a difficult day,” at the opening of the weekly cabinet meeting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sends his condolences to the families of the three Israelis killed in a shooting terror attack at the Allenby Bridge Crossing between the West Bank and Jordan.
“We are surrounded by a murderous ideology led by Iran’s axis of evil,” says Netanyahu. “In recent days, despicable terrorists have murdered six of our hostages in cold blood and three Israeli police officers. The murderers do not distinguish between us, they want to murder us all, until the very last one — right and left, secular and religious, Jews and non-Jews.”
Referencing an article in a German tabloid that said it revealed a document approved by Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar aiming to exploit domestic political tensions in Israel, the prime minister calls for unity: “When we stand together our enemies cannot overcome us, so their main goal is to divide us, to sow division within us.”
“Last weekend, the German newspaper Bild published an official Hamas document that reveals its plan of action: to sow division within us, to wage psychological warfare on the families of the abductees, to exert internal and external political pressure on the Israeli government, to tear us apart from the inside, and to continue the war until further notice.”
Netanyahu claims that “the vast majority of Israeli citizens” are committed to Israel’s war aims — “to eliminate Hamas, to return all our hostages, to ensure that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel and to safely return our residents in the north and south to their homes.”
The final goal has been added by Netanyahu in recent days amid criticism from Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and opposition leaders.
“There are those who ask,” he concludes, “‘Will we always live by the sword?’ In the Middle East, without the sword there is no future.” link As always, Netanyahu chooses chaos and war over strategy and finding a path for peace. And he lies, of course. The majority of the Israeli public wants a hostage deal more than anything which includes ending the war.
Gaza
A senior Hamas rocket commander was killed in an Israeli drone strike in the Gaza Strip last week, the military announces.
According to the IDF, the strike on Tuesday killed Raaif Abu Shab, head of the rocket unit in Hamas’s East Khan Younis Battalion.
The IDF says he was responsible for rocket barrages from the Khan Younis area at southern and central Israel during the war.
Meanwhile, over the past day, Israeli fighter jets and drones struck more than 25 Hamas targets across Gaza, including buildings used by the terror group and cells of operatives, the IDF says.
The strikes come as the IDF’s 162nd Division continues to operate in southern Gaza’s Rafah, and the 252nd battles Hamas in the Netzarim Corridor in the Strip’s center.
A senior Hamas rocket commander was killed in an Israeli drone strike in the Gaza Strip last week, the military announces.
According to the IDF, the strike on Tuesday killed Raaif Abu Shab, head of the rocket unit in Hamas’s East Khan Younis Battalion.
The IDF says he was responsible for rocket barrages from the Khan Younis area at southern and central Israel during the war.
Meanwhile, over the past day, Israeli fighter jets and drones struck more than 25 Hamas targets across Gaza, including buildings used by the terror group and cells of operatives, the IDF says.
Northern Israel - Lebanon/Hizbollah/Syria
- The IDF says it struck a Hezbollah rocket launcher in southern Lebanon’s Aynata this evening, used in an attack earlier today on Safed. video
Separately, several drones were launched from Lebanon this evening at the Upper Galilee. The IDF says they impacted in northern Israel, causing no injuries.
More than 50 rockets were launched from Lebanon at the Galilee Panhandle and Kiryat Shmona area overnight, the military said Sunday morning, with damage reported by no injuries.
First, some 20 rockets were fired at around 1 a.m. and 2:30 a.m., with the Israel Defense Forces reporting that most of the projectiles were intercepted by air defenses, although some impacted Kiryat Shmona, causing damage.
The terror group Hezbollah claimed responsibility, saying it targeted Kiryat Shmona in revenge for an Israeli strike Saturday in Lebanon that local officials claimed killed three emergency workers in the town of Froun. The IDF said that at least two of those killed were members of the Hezbollah-allied Amal movement, and that they were operating out of a Hezbollah compound in Froun. Amal also claimed two of the people as its members.
According to the Kiryat Shmona municipality, one rocket scored a direct hit on an unspecified building while a second hit a sidewalk, with both causing extensive damage.
“There is damage to the building, to property, to infrastructure, and to a parked car,” the city said.
Crews scanned the city to find if there were any more impacts, but were impeded somewhat by the late-night darkness, the spokesperson said.
Then, at around 5:30 a.m., a barrage of another 30 rockets was fired from Lebanon, according to the military, which said that some were intercepted and the remainder hit open areas.
Hezbollah also took responsibility for this barrage as well, saying it fired a volley of Katyusha rockets at the community of Shamir, a kibbutz in the far eastern Galilee bordering the Golan Heights.
Unlike many other towns that usually come under rocket fire, Shamir has not been officially evacuated by the government. The kibbutz lies some nine kilometers (5.5 miles) from the Lebanese border.
Overnight attacks on northern Israel are relatively uncommon and often reflect an increase in tensions.
Meanwhile, the IDF confirmed reports that its fighter jets struck buildings used by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon’s Aitaroun, Maroun al-Ras, and Yaroun overnight, releasing footage of the strikes. video of the barrage of missiles launched at Kiryat Shemona Noam Amir: "While you were sleeping in the Upper Galilee and Kiryat, there were over 100 launches.
But it's not Tel Aviv, it's the north, it doesn't interest our dear and state army. They slept well tonight." full article
- The IDF says it struck a Hezbollah rocket launcher in southern Lebanon’s Aynata this evening, used in an attack earlier today on Safed. video
Separately, several drones were launched from Lebanon this evening at the Upper Galilee. The IDF says they impacted in northern Israel, causing no injuries.
More than 50 rockets were launched from Lebanon at the Galilee Panhandle and Kiryat Shmona area overnight, the military said Sunday morning, with damage reported by no injuries.
First, some 20 rockets were fired at around 1 a.m. and 2:30 a.m., with the Israel Defense Forces reporting that most of the projectiles were intercepted by air defenses, although some impacted Kiryat Shmona, causing damage.
The terror group Hezbollah claimed responsibility, saying it targeted Kiryat Shmona in revenge for an Israeli strike Saturday in Lebanon that local officials claimed killed three emergency workers in the town of Froun. The IDF said that at least two of those killed were members of the Hezbollah-allied Amal movement, and that they were operating out of a Hezbollah compound in Froun. Amal also claimed two of the people as its members.
According to the Kiryat Shmona municipality, one rocket scored a direct hit on an unspecified building while a second hit a sidewalk, with both causing extensive damage.
“There is damage to the building, to property, to infrastructure, and to a parked car,” the city said.
Crews scanned the city to find if there were any more impacts, but were impeded somewhat by the late-night darkness, the spokesperson said.
Then, at around 5:30 a.m., a barrage of another 30 rockets was fired from Lebanon, according to the military, which said that some were intercepted and the remainder hit open areas.
Hezbollah also took responsibility for this barrage as well, saying it fired a volley of Katyusha rockets at the community of Shamir, a kibbutz in the far eastern Galilee bordering the Golan Heights.
Unlike many other towns that usually come under rocket fire, Shamir has not been officially evacuated by the government. The kibbutz lies some nine kilometers (5.5 miles) from the Lebanese border.
Overnight attacks on northern Israel are relatively uncommon and often reflect an increase in tensions.
Meanwhile, the IDF confirmed reports that its fighter jets struck buildings used by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon’s Aitaroun, Maroun al-Ras, and Yaroun overnight, releasing footage of the strikes. video of the barrage of missiles launched at Kiryat Shemona Noam Amir: "While you were sleeping in the Upper Galilee and Kiryat, there were over 100 launches.
But it's not Tel Aviv, it's the north, it doesn't interest our dear and state army. They slept well tonight." full article
West Bank and Jerusalem and Terror attacks within Israel
- Three Israeli men were killed in a terrorist shooting attack at the Allenby Bridge Crossing between Jordan and the West Bank on Sunday morning, authorities said.
The attack was carried out by a Jordanian truck driver who had arrived from Jordan. The crossing, also known as the King Hussein Bridge, is the West Bank’s sole crossing with Jordan.
The three victims were named Yohanan Shchori, 61, a father of six from the West Bank settlement of Ma’ale Efraim, Yuri Birnbaum, 65, from the settlement of Na’ama, and Adrian Marcelo Podzamczer, from the settlement city of Ariel.
According to the military and Israel Airports Authority officials — the latter of which manages the land crossing — the gunman got out of the truck he was driving during an inspection at the terminal and opened fire at several of the crossing’s workers, killing three.
Yuri Birnbaum (left), Yohanan Shchori (center), and Adrian Marcelo Podzamczer, killed in a terror shooting attack at the Allenby Bridge Crossing, September 8, 2024. (Courtesy)
May their memories forever be a blessingIAA security guards returned fire at the terrorist, killing him.
He was identified by Israeli security sources as Maher Dhiab Hussein al-Jazi, 39, a Jordanian national from the southern Jordan town of Udhruh, east of Petra.
The Magen David Adom ambulance service said its medics treated the three men at the scene, but were forced to declare their deaths.
Footage circulating online purported to show the moment of the attack. The Israel Defense Forces described the shooting as a terror attack. It published an image of the handgun used by the terrorist.
IDF sappers dispatched to the scene later ruled out suspicions that the truck in which a terrorist arrived had been rigged with explosives, the military said.
Terror groups Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad both welcomed the attack. Hamas hailed the attacker as “one of Jordan’s brave men.”
In a statement, it said that the attack was a “natural response to the holocaust carried out by the Nazi Zionist enemy against our people in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, and its plans for the Judaization of the Al Aqsa mosque.”
The terror group further called on people in Arab and Muslim countries to rise up in support of Palestinians. full article
The attack was carried out by a Jordanian truck driver who had arrived from Jordan. The crossing, also known as the King Hussein Bridge, is the West Bank’s sole crossing with Jordan.
The three victims were named Yohanan Shchori, 61, a father of six from the West Bank settlement of Ma’ale Efraim, Yuri Birnbaum, 65, from the settlement of Na’ama, and Adrian Marcelo Podzamczer, from the settlement city of Ariel.According to the military and Israel Airports Authority officials — the latter of which manages the land crossing — the gunman got out of the truck he was driving during an inspection at the terminal and opened fire at several of the crossing’s workers, killing three.
Yuri Birnbaum (left), Yohanan Shchori (center), and Adrian Marcelo Podzamczer, killed in a terror shooting attack at the Allenby Bridge Crossing, September 8, 2024. (Courtesy)
May their memories forever be a blessing
IAA security guards returned fire at the terrorist, killing him.
He was identified by Israeli security sources as Maher Dhiab Hussein al-Jazi, 39, a Jordanian national from the southern Jordan town of Udhruh, east of Petra.
The Magen David Adom ambulance service said its medics treated the three men at the scene, but were forced to declare their deaths.
Footage circulating online purported to show the moment of the attack. The Israel Defense Forces described the shooting as a terror attack. It published an image of the handgun used by the terrorist.
IDF sappers dispatched to the scene later ruled out suspicions that the truck in which a terrorist arrived had been rigged with explosives, the military said.
Terror groups Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad both welcomed the attack. Hamas hailed the attacker as “one of Jordan’s brave men.”
In a statement, it said that the attack was a “natural response to the holocaust carried out by the Nazi Zionist enemy against our people in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, and its plans for the Judaization of the Al Aqsa mosque.”
The terror group further called on people in Arab and Muslim countries to rise up in support of Palestinians. full article
Politics and the War (general news)
- MYTHS AND MYTHS CHALLENGE:Three myths and lies to start with (more to come later)GERSHON BASKIN, SEPTEMBER 6, 2024Myth and Lie #1: If Israel doesn't stay in Gaza, October 7th may happen again!Fact #1: If there were 15 tanks at the border and 3 assault helicopters in the air on October 7th, what would have happened. Israel is not facing Russian military on the other side of the border, but Hamas, and now Hamas's military capabilities have been drastically destroyed. The IDF was not on the border on October 7th and this was primarily the fault of decision-makers, the army and the intelligence, but also the result of two decades of turning the IDF into the Israeli occupation police force in the West Bank. This is where the army is based on October 7, not on the border of Israel. The Israeli army has full capacity to defend the Israeli borders from the Israeli side of that border.Superstition and Lie #2: Israel's control of the Philadelphia corridor is essential to Israel's security!Fact #2: Alon Ben David, military correspondent for Israel Channel 13, reported this week, among others, that the Israeli army has not located a single tunnel that penetrates the Philadelphia Passage to Egypt. Before the coup in Egypt in which Abdel Fattah El-Sisi became Egypt's president, there were hundreds of smuggling tunnels between Gaza and Egypt fleeing everything, including the weapons and materials needed to make weapons and machines needed to drill the tunnels. There is even an official ministry belonging to Hamas responsible for the tunnels affairs through which it was possible to rent the tunnels for the private use of businesses. Egypt claimed during Sisi's reign that it had closed all the tunnels. And that sounds about right. There is information that many smuggling through bribery took place at Rafah crossing. Philadelphia's corridor must be secure and tightly closed, which can be done on the Egyptian side of the line. And if Israel doesn't trust the ability of Egyptians to do so, I think it's possible to reach an agreement in negotiations with Egypt that eliminates putting American personnel on the corridor to check the corridor's closure. The Israeli forces centered along the corridor would be easy targets for the armed Hamas movement.Myth and Lie #3: Hamas military can be defeatedFact #3: Hamas is more than just a military power and government structure. Hamas is an idea and ideology, and Hamas has embedded within the Palestinian society as part of the resistance to Israeli occupation and Israeli control. Ideas and ideologies in general cannot be defeated militarily. Furthermore, there is no military solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and there has been no military solution to it at all. The way to defeat any ideology or idea is to make the best ideologies and ideas a tangible reality for the audience who believes in them. The best idea of defeating Hamas is freedom, liberation, dignity and the fate of the Palestinian people. It is also important to remember that if Palestinians don’t enjoy freedom, liberation, dignity, and a report of fate, Israel will not have security. Palestinians must understand that if Israel doesn’t have security, Palestinians won’t have freedom, liberty, dignity and a report of fate. We all need safety - including the Palestinians.
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara issues a harsh warning to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that a state commission of inquiry is the best way to stop arrest warrants from being issued against senior Israeli civilian and military officials, Channel 12 news reports.
“There is an extraordinary amount of topics of inquiry and severe dangers in the international relations sphere,” she writes in an official letter to Netanyahu and a small number of senior Israeli officials cited in the TV report.
She says that Israel’s defense of complementarity — the principle that international courts like those in The Hague can only get involved when national legal systems fail to carry out their duties — “can only be realized through a state commission of inquiry.”
Baharav-Miara warns that government commissions of inquiry are inadequate and that failing to establish an independent state commission of inquiry “fundamentally contradicts the government’s responsibilities to the public, and would represent an extreme case that justifies judicial intervention.”
“The international window is closing,” she warns. “A state commission of inquiry should be established immediately.”
Channel 12 also reports that IDF officers are concerned that arrest warrants will be issued against them if a commission of inquiry is not established.
- **Game-Changer
in 60 Seconds: The New Cannon Approaching the IDF | Documentation of the Trial
and Production Line**
At
Elbit's plant in the north, the flagship project of the IDF's Ground Forces is
advancing: the "Roem" wheeled cannon, set to replace the veteran
self-propelled howitzer. With a firing rate of eight shells per minute, it may
already be integrated into the current campaign: "The test results are
amazing; it represents a revolution on the battlefield." The trials in
Nevada, and what will be done with the old cannons? Amid growing concerns about
a regional war and military confrontation with Hezbollah, the flagship project
of the IDF's Ground Forces has reached the final stage of testing: five years
after the establishment of the development center and production lines at one
of Elbit's plants in the north, the IDF is close to declaring the new wheeled "Roem"
cannon operational, with mass production set to begin next year.
The
Roem is the first cannon of its kind in the world to operate with automatic and
semi-automatic loading, not manual. It will have a crew of just three members—a
mission commander, a gunner, and a driver—instead of eight soldiers as required
by the old "Doher" self-propelled howitzer. The Roem's firing rate
will be 6-8 shells per minute, more than double the current rate. In the latest
trial, which included travel over rough terrain, it demonstrated passability in
conditions and angles that no other tracked cannon can cross, and at speeds
that allow for rapid deployment of batteries and fast, lethal firing. In the
project's initial phase, the cannon truck plowed through a special test field in
Nevada, USA, over 10,000 kilometers of desert under harsh conditions.
The
production line at Elbit includes software-based and artificial intelligence
technology. The Roem cannon demonstrated its operational speed in trials: 60
seconds from the moment the truck stops to the launch of the first shell. The
accuracy level was within 0.7% deviation from the target. In its previous
version a decade ago, the project was stalled before Elbit won the tender
against a European company. The choice of an Israeli company is significant
amid the threat of boycotts from foreign manufacturers due to the ongoing
conflict. "As early as next month, we will deliver initial cannons as part
of the operational integration process happening within the IDF," says the
company.
The
production line includes advanced robots and metal raw materials that engineers
connect to the cannon barrels, from lengths of dozens of meters, for precise
cutting down to eight meters of the barrel. "The first barrel took us two
and a half months to produce, but once it succeeded, we can produce each new
barrel in 10 days, timed with the assembly of the other parts. The same applies
to the cannon's special breech block," says Roni Flex, one of the
project's senior engineers. "These are 52-caliber barrels weighing two
tons, with large chambers that include more rifling to improve the accuracy of
hitting the target. The barrel is two meters longer than the existing artillery
barrels in the IDF. It (the IDF) will be one of only two armies in the world
with a 52-caliber artillery barrel."
**The
Roem Cannon on Its Way to the IDF:**
In
one of the front positions on the production line, there is a disassembled
dummy cannon firing plastic shell models at point-blank range, where the team
identifies and improves micro-tactical processes within the complex
system—sometimes implementing upgrades suggested by the IDF team
"playing" with the cannon concurrently at the test fields, hundreds
of kilometers away.
Each
of these cannons will serve the IDF for at least the next 50 years, so every
millimeter fraction of cutting the cannon parts is considered. "Even at
the micron level," promise Elbit's engineers.
Nofar,
the assembly plant manager, holds a tablet displaying a live simulation of the
cannon parts' location, among giant cranes and high installation stations:
"We have developed assembly models that already allow us to assemble four
cannons simultaneously, and there will be more in the future. We developed a
sophisticated viewing system that sorts fuses and creates different
combinations of explosives according to the mission commander's instructions
and the specific operational needs of each bombardment." The new cannon
will enable coverage of a much larger fire area than currently available, with
fewer tools and lethal, accurate firepower, and in a safer manner for the crew
that will be in the protected cabin of the cannon truck. For example, a small
battery of Roem cannons can remotely control an enemy area in a radius of tens
of square kilometers and perform several fire missions simultaneously—in
different directions.
In
the coming weeks, another live-fire trial will be conducted, with large volumes
of fire, to measure the ballistics and flight of the shells. The series will
span three weeks and include the launch of about 300 shells in southern Israel.
Afterward, the keys will be practically handed over to the Artillery Corps,
parallel to the start of mass production at Elbit. The flight of the shells
will be measured using radars.
"The
results of the latest trials were amazing, with an exceptional grouping,"
says Major Nati, head of the Barrel Division in the Artillery Corps. "We
are now formulating the combat doctrine for using the Roem, which will
revolutionize the IDF's land-based fire and the battalions' transition to it
will be swift. Our people from the corps are involved in the Roem's command and
control software, and are closely working with Elbit all week. There is no
other fully automatic cannon in the world."
As
a likely lesson from past years, the IDF does not intend to scrap or sell the
old self-propelled howitzers but to transfer them to reserve battalions. link
**
Negotiations Are Stalled, Israel Prepares for Intense Conflict on All Fronts:
The Current Situation**
Israel
is preparing for a scenario where no deal is reached for an extended period.
The fighting in Gaza is expected to change, with the aim of increasing military
pressure on Sinwar to push him towards a deal, without harming the hostages. In
Lebanon, the Air Force is intercepting drones at increasing rates and
systematically destroying launchers in preparation for a large-scale operation,
with key concerns regarding its scope. Here are the considerations and the main
concern:
**The
Current Situation:**
As
the week comes to a close, there is no good news. The U.S. compromise proposal
regarding a hostage deal and ceasefire is currently stalled, likely due to new
demands from Hamas. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not entirely given up
on the Philadelphi Corridor issue, but his envoy, Strategic Affairs Minister
Ron Dermer, has presented the Americans with several options for flexibility.
However, this does not appear to be the main sticking point in the
negotiations.
The
primary reason for the impasse is Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar's insistence on
setting a number of security prisoners in Israeli prisons to be released,
unrelated to the number of living hostages released as part of the humanitarian
phase. This has led to a deadlock in the U.S. compromise proposal as well.
Nonetheless, the American administration, with the approval of the Qataris and
Egyptians, is likely to release its own compromise proposal tonight or
tomorrow, aiming to force the parties to respond and to identify the blame for
the failure, thus allowing pressure from both Gazans and Israelis working for
the hostages' release to be applied on the leaders, which could lead to another
"mediation proposal."
**Little Hope in the U.S. Mediation Proposal:**
Israel's
political-security establishment has reached a consensus among all involved
parties that the chances of a breakthrough deal leading to a long-term six-week
ceasefire are slim to none. Therefore, on Thursday evening, the Prime Minister
convened a security meeting at the Kirya with the negotiation team and top
security officials. The goal was to prepare for a situation where no hostage
deal is reached for an extended period, and the fighting continues on all
fronts.
The
assessment is that it will take about a week to ten days to determine if there
will be a deal, as this is roughly the time it usually takes for Sinwar and the
Hamas leadership in Doha to formulate a response to mediated proposals. Thus,
there is still a slim chance of a deal and ceasefire, after which negotiations
on a security arrangement in the north and a permanent status in Gaza,
including agreements on civilian governance to replace Hamas control, might
begin under U.S. mediation.
**IDF
Operations in Gaza:**
However,
Israel does not place much hope in the U.S. mediation proposal, assessing that
if submitted, it is only meant to maintain negotiation momentum and prevent
Iran and its partners from escalating their activities, which could lead to a
regional outbreak. Amid the stalled negotiations, Israel is preparing for
intense and prolonged conflict on all fronts, including in the north and in
Judea and Samaria.
**Approaching
Stage D: Mainly Above-Ground Combat**
Naturally,
the exact operational plans discussed on Thursday evening are classified and
have not reached a final form, but it is expected that fighting in Gaza will
move to "Stage D," where Israel primarily operates above ground based
on intelligence findings, preventing the return of residents and militants northward
through presence and offensive actions on the Netzarim corridor. The
offensive's objective is to prevent a situation where the IDF is positioned in
fixed outposts and defenses that could serve as static targets for Hamas
guerrilla attacks, both in the Netzarim corridor and the Rafah area.
The
IDF estimates that Hamas is militarily collapsing but can still conduct
guerrilla warfare. It has ceased being a terrorist army with rockets capable of
reaching the Israeli rear and attacking Israeli targets, reverting to its early
second Intifada status. In response to Hamas' activities, the IDF will deploy
mobile operations, mainly above ground and primarily in locations where it is
believed there are no hostages. The defense establishment believes that Hamas
and Islamic Jihad recently received orders to harm Israeli hostages if IDF
forces approach them, thus the IDF will maintain a siege pattern above ground
to prevent Hamas from surfacing and attacking. The ground siege throughout the
Strip, conducted with intelligence and various observations, will prevent
militants from reaching the surface, with prolonged underground stays putting
pressure on them. In any case, the aim is to tighten military pressure on
Sinwar to push him towards a deal, without harming the hostages.
This
pressure will replace the intense military pressure exerted by the IDF, which
operated aggressively and intensively across almost all areas of the Strip,
both above and below ground. Now, actions in locations the IDF has not yet
entered will be conducted based on information regarding hostage presence.
Beyond that, further details cannot be provided.
**Preventing
Aid from Reaching Hamas:**
On
Thursday, discussions also likely addressed the "day after" scenario,
particularly concerning the distribution of humanitarian aid and possibly
another plan. Under the Prime Minister's directive, the defense establishment
has begun considering the possibility that the IDF might take over humanitarian
aid distribution in the Strip, as it has been proven that aid, ostensibly
delivered through international organizations, is seized and looted by Hamas.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad use food, fuel, and medical supplies to sustain their
members' prolonged underground stays and shelters above ground. They also sell
looted aid items, mainly food and fuel, in the Strip's markets, especially in
secure shelter areas where about two million displaced Gazans reside. The
profits from these sales help pay salaries to Hamas members and new recruits.
Israeli
security officials believe this phenomenon prevents Hamas' collapse,
particularly its civilian control in the Strip. Therefore, the IDF is
considering ways to meet American demands to provide essential goods to the
non-combatant Gazan population while preventing humanitarian aid from becoming
a lifeline for Hamas and Islamic Jihad's governance in the Strip. Another plan
under consideration is the "Generals' Plan," proposed by Maj. Gen.
(res.) Giora Eiland. According to his proposal, the IDF would require
non-combatant Gazans in northern Gaza, about 300,000 who remain there, to move
to safe shelters in central Gaza via the coastal route and the "Tancher
route," where IDF checkpoints called "drains" can discern
whether Hamas and Jihad fighters attempting to escape are among the evacuees.
According to the plan, the IDF would inform the civilian population, along with
the evacuation order, that no food, fuel, or other living essentials would be
allowed into northern Gaza after the week-long evacuation. Once northern Gaza
is cleared of non-combatants, the IDF will act aggressively against the
estimated 5,000 or fewer militants remaining between Beit Lahiya and Beit
Hanoun in the north and between Zaytun and Daraj-Tuffah neighborhoods in the
south, up to the Netzarim corridor. This action would also allow for more
intensive destruction of tunnels in the area.
Both
the IDF's takeover of humanitarian aid distribution and the plan for northern
Gaza are still in the assessment stage, but their implementation is intended to
apply pressure on Hamas through Gaza's civilian population without endangering
hostages or violating international law, avoiding a confrontation with the U.S.
administration.
**Slim
Chances for a Northern Settlement:**
Another
"hot" issue discussed in the same Thursday meeting was the growing
need to return displaced northern residents and ensure their physical and
emotional security, which they lacked before October 7, 2023. The initial
intention was to utilize the ceasefire that would follow a hostage deal, which
Nasrallah has already stated he would respect by also ceasing fire, to start
negotiations on a northern settlement partially implementing U.N. Security
Council Resolution 1701, which would push Hezbollah fighters and heavy
firepower at least 10 km from the Israeli border in all sectors.
Assuming
a hostage deal is unlikely soon, the Americans are already conducting secret
negotiations with Lebanese parties to reach a settlement before the Gaza
situation stabilizes. According to American sources, the chances of reaching
such a settlement, even with a ceasefire in Gaza, are slim. Nasrallah insists
on not withdrawing his forces and firepower far from the border. Israel
estimates that the day is near when the IDF will need to launch a broad
offensive in Lebanon—air, sea, and land—to achieve by military means what
Nasrallah refuses to grant through American-brokered negotiations, in which
Saudi Arabia and the UAE are also silent partners. In fact, the IDF has already
begun preparing for a major air and ground campaign in southern Lebanon. This
follows the success of the IDF's preemptive strike on Hezbollah on August 25,
before Hezbollah executed its plan for a retaliatory strike against Israel with
massive rocket and drone launches to northern Israel and two high-value military
targets in central Israel. In the preemptive strike by the Air Force, hundreds
of launchers aimed at northern Israel and some beyond were destroyed, along
with thousands of rocket launch tubes in storage facilities, significantly
reducing Hezbollah's ability to hit Israel's northern home front and deeper
into Israel. Most of the damaged launchers were hidden underground in open
terrain, within the dense thickets of southern Lebanon.
Recently,
I had the chance to see some satellite images of these launchers before and
after they were attacked. In the pre-attack image, a small red X marked a dense
green area on a hilltop or sometimes in a wadi. In the post-attack image of the
same spot, you can see a launcher with over 40 launch tubes and rockets
dismantled and burned, with its fragments and launch tubes scattered over a
wide area exposed by the bombing. You can see a stony and rough clearing with a
crater at its center, where the launcher was hidden, now a burned pit with
launch tubes scattered all around it.
During
last week's tense days in the north, the Air Force intercepted and shot down 27
drones, while Navy missile boats intercepted two explosive-laden marine drones
trying to cross from Tyre to Israel, likely to attack an Israeli gas rig, one
of two targeted by Hezbollah's retaliatory strike plan. In addition to the
hundreds of launchers hit on August 25, the Air Force has struck dozens more,
mostly launchers of heavy rockets and missiles aimed at strategic targets in
the central region. The Air Force strikes and IDF's systematic destruction of
launchers during ongoing Hezbollah rocket fire aim to significantly reduce
Hezbollah's missile and rocket launching capacity before a broader campaign in
Lebanon, which appears increasingly likely.
This
is the main concern for top military brass: a broad northern campaign. On the
Palestinian front in Judea and Samaria, the IDF can manage the increasing
terror attacks in the near term through targeted activities against cells and
militants. However, in the north, the confrontation with Hezbollah is already
here. The IDF has started systematically reducing the Hezbollah threat and
harming its capabilities, aiming to buy time until the offensive in Gaza
concludes, which is expected by the end of September. Meanwhile, the Air Force
will intercept Hezbollah drones at increasing rates and systematically destroy
launchers. Only when necessary, the IDF will respond with attacks on specific
targets. The IDF's command goal is to create a situation where Israel's
northern home front can handle the current fighting and the expected escalation
in early October, as Hezbollah will initiate its preemptive strike when it
realizes a broad military operation is inevitable.
Therefore,
Israel, in cooperation with the U.S. administration, is quietly preparing a
northern settlement proposal for Nasrallah to push Hezbollah forces and heavy
firepower away from the border and immediately cease all attacks on Israel, including
drone and rocket fire, under U.S. pressure and commitment to Lebanon's civilian
aid in case of extensive destruction in the country, likely to occur as the war
unfolds. If the proposal is implemented before a ground operation in Lebanon is
launched, Nasrallah will still need to face the fact that the IDF will bomb the
remaining launchers and destroy Hezbollah's rocket arsenal. This means Lebanon
will undergo a bombing campaign similar to Gaza's, with all the implications
for Nasrallah's authority and Hezbollah's control in Lebanon, including
significant damage to Iran's position and prestige in the region. Therefore,
Nasrallah may prefer to refrain from conflict in this scenario.
Israel
is thus preparing for continued fighting and intense conflict on all fronts,
even as it hopes for a compromise proposal and ceasefire in Gaza. As for the
northern front, the IDF will act independently, not waiting for American
mediation proposals, if it assesses that Hezbollah's intentions pose a tangible
threat that necessitates a broad campaign to achieve by military means what
Nasrallah refuses to give through American mediation, even in the form of a
limited settlement. link The bottom line in all of this is that Netanyahu doesn't want to end the war in Gaza because of his personal political reasons to stay in office by maintaining his failed government. The ramifications of this are many: 1-no deal to bring home the hostages and allowing them to die and be killed by Hamas; 2 - war in the north as Hizbollah will continue the war as long as we continue the war in the south. It doesn't matter how many secret negotiations we have with parties in Lebanon, the Lebanese government is in tatters, the Lebanese army almost doesn't exist mainly due to economic issues which some of the Gulf countries said they will finance to prevent a war in the north, but again, it is tied to ending the war in Gaza; 3- the distinct possibility of a regional war led by Iran and its proxies; 4 - the worsening economic situation of Israel; 5- the worsening relationships between Israel and our quickly dwindling allies; 6 - more soldiers being killed in Gaza, not to even mention what will happen in the north if we go to full scale war; 7 - 80,000 northern residents remain refugees in their own country and that numbe will grow if we have full scale war; 8 - more destruction of northern communities by Hizbollah rockets, missiles and UAVs; 9 - continuing governance by a failed government and failed prime minister who is making all decisions based on keeping himself in office at the very high cost to the country and all its citizens; 10- without bringing the hostages home, this country can never heal. We already have increasing numbers of good people deciding and making the move out of the country permanently and these numbers will grow. The faith in the government and the army, which is very low right now, will totally disintegrate and many, many parents will question sending their children to the army knowing that the government will let them rot and die if they are taken hostage. And the worst case scenario, and one that is spoken about more and more - civil war between the Netanyahu supporters and everyone else who they consider the enemy. Not ending the war and bringing home the hostages is the absolute worst decision Netanyahu and his puppet government can possibly make.
The government approves the allocation of NIS 320 million ($85.8 million) in funding to document and commemorate the events of October 7.
All such “documentation, commemoration, memory and heritage activities” are to fall under the auspices of the Prime Minister’s Office and be carried out by the Tekuma Administration — which was established last year to rehabilitate Israel’s southern Gaza border communities — and “embodies the State of Israel’s commitment to a proper and meaningful commemoration,” according to the PMO.
Per the decision, the money will be split into two tranches of NIS 190 million and NIS 130 million “intended for the development and preservation of heritage infrastructure in the years 2024-2028,” part of which will go toward the establishment of a “national commemoration site.”
A full action plan is currently being promoted in the Knesset, the PMO says.
- MYTHS AND MYTHS CHALLENGE:Three myths and lies to start with (more to come later)GERSHON BASKIN, SEPTEMBER 6, 2024Myth and Lie #1: If Israel doesn't stay in Gaza, October 7th may happen again!Fact #1: If there were 15 tanks at the border and 3 assault helicopters in the air on October 7th, what would have happened. Israel is not facing Russian military on the other side of the border, but Hamas, and now Hamas's military capabilities have been drastically destroyed. The IDF was not on the border on October 7th and this was primarily the fault of decision-makers, the army and the intelligence, but also the result of two decades of turning the IDF into the Israeli occupation police force in the West Bank. This is where the army is based on October 7, not on the border of Israel. The Israeli army has full capacity to defend the Israeli borders from the Israeli side of that border.Superstition and Lie #2: Israel's control of the Philadelphia corridor is essential to Israel's security!Fact #2: Alon Ben David, military correspondent for Israel Channel 13, reported this week, among others, that the Israeli army has not located a single tunnel that penetrates the Philadelphia Passage to Egypt. Before the coup in Egypt in which Abdel Fattah El-Sisi became Egypt's president, there were hundreds of smuggling tunnels between Gaza and Egypt fleeing everything, including the weapons and materials needed to make weapons and machines needed to drill the tunnels. There is even an official ministry belonging to Hamas responsible for the tunnels affairs through which it was possible to rent the tunnels for the private use of businesses. Egypt claimed during Sisi's reign that it had closed all the tunnels. And that sounds about right. There is information that many smuggling through bribery took place at Rafah crossing. Philadelphia's corridor must be secure and tightly closed, which can be done on the Egyptian side of the line. And if Israel doesn't trust the ability of Egyptians to do so, I think it's possible to reach an agreement in negotiations with Egypt that eliminates putting American personnel on the corridor to check the corridor's closure. The Israeli forces centered along the corridor would be easy targets for the armed Hamas movement.Myth and Lie #3: Hamas military can be defeatedFact #3: Hamas is more than just a military power and government structure. Hamas is an idea and ideology, and Hamas has embedded within the Palestinian society as part of the resistance to Israeli occupation and Israeli control. Ideas and ideologies in general cannot be defeated militarily. Furthermore, there is no military solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and there has been no military solution to it at all. The way to defeat any ideology or idea is to make the best ideologies and ideas a tangible reality for the audience who believes in them. The best idea of defeating Hamas is freedom, liberation, dignity and the fate of the Palestinian people. It is also important to remember that if Palestinians don’t enjoy freedom, liberation, dignity, and a report of fate, Israel will not have security. Palestinians must understand that if Israel doesn’t have security, Palestinians won’t have freedom, liberty, dignity and a report of fate. We all need safety - including the Palestinians.
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara issues a harsh warning to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that a state commission of inquiry is the best way to stop arrest warrants from being issued against senior Israeli civilian and military officials, Channel 12 news reports.
“There is an extraordinary amount of topics of inquiry and severe dangers in the international relations sphere,” she writes in an official letter to Netanyahu and a small number of senior Israeli officials cited in the TV report.
She says that Israel’s defense of complementarity — the principle that international courts like those in The Hague can only get involved when national legal systems fail to carry out their duties — “can only be realized through a state commission of inquiry.”
Baharav-Miara warns that government commissions of inquiry are inadequate and that failing to establish an independent state commission of inquiry “fundamentally contradicts the government’s responsibilities to the public, and would represent an extreme case that justifies judicial intervention.”
“The international window is closing,” she warns. “A state commission of inquiry should be established immediately.”
Channel 12 also reports that IDF officers are concerned that arrest warrants will be issued against them if a commission of inquiry is not established.
- **Game-Changer
in 60 Seconds: The New Cannon Approaching the IDF | Documentation of the Trial
and Production Line**
At Elbit's plant in the north, the flagship project of the IDF's Ground Forces is advancing: the "Roem" wheeled cannon, set to replace the veteran self-propelled howitzer. With a firing rate of eight shells per minute, it may already be integrated into the current campaign: "The test results are amazing; it represents a revolution on the battlefield." The trials in Nevada, and what will be done with the old cannons? Amid growing concerns about a regional war and military confrontation with Hezbollah, the flagship project of the IDF's Ground Forces has reached the final stage of testing: five years after the establishment of the development center and production lines at one of Elbit's plants in the north, the IDF is close to declaring the new wheeled "Roem" cannon operational, with mass production set to begin next year.
The Roem is the first cannon of its kind in the world to operate with automatic and semi-automatic loading, not manual. It will have a crew of just three members—a mission commander, a gunner, and a driver—instead of eight soldiers as required by the old "Doher" self-propelled howitzer. The Roem's firing rate will be 6-8 shells per minute, more than double the current rate. In the latest trial, which included travel over rough terrain, it demonstrated passability in conditions and angles that no other tracked cannon can cross, and at speeds that allow for rapid deployment of batteries and fast, lethal firing. In the project's initial phase, the cannon truck plowed through a special test field in Nevada, USA, over 10,000 kilometers of desert under harsh conditions.
The production line at Elbit includes software-based and artificial intelligence technology. The Roem cannon demonstrated its operational speed in trials: 60 seconds from the moment the truck stops to the launch of the first shell. The accuracy level was within 0.7% deviation from the target. In its previous version a decade ago, the project was stalled before Elbit won the tender against a European company. The choice of an Israeli company is significant amid the threat of boycotts from foreign manufacturers due to the ongoing conflict. "As early as next month, we will deliver initial cannons as part of the operational integration process happening within the IDF," says the company.
The production line includes advanced robots and metal raw materials that engineers connect to the cannon barrels, from lengths of dozens of meters, for precise cutting down to eight meters of the barrel. "The first barrel took us two and a half months to produce, but once it succeeded, we can produce each new barrel in 10 days, timed with the assembly of the other parts. The same applies to the cannon's special breech block," says Roni Flex, one of the project's senior engineers. "These are 52-caliber barrels weighing two tons, with large chambers that include more rifling to improve the accuracy of hitting the target. The barrel is two meters longer than the existing artillery barrels in the IDF. It (the IDF) will be one of only two armies in the world with a 52-caliber artillery barrel."
**The Roem Cannon on Its Way to the IDF:**
In one of the front positions on the production line, there is a disassembled dummy cannon firing plastic shell models at point-blank range, where the team identifies and improves micro-tactical processes within the complex system—sometimes implementing upgrades suggested by the IDF team "playing" with the cannon concurrently at the test fields, hundreds of kilometers away.
Each of these cannons will serve the IDF for at least the next 50 years, so every millimeter fraction of cutting the cannon parts is considered. "Even at the micron level," promise Elbit's engineers.
Nofar, the assembly plant manager, holds a tablet displaying a live simulation of the cannon parts' location, among giant cranes and high installation stations: "We have developed assembly models that already allow us to assemble four cannons simultaneously, and there will be more in the future. We developed a sophisticated viewing system that sorts fuses and creates different combinations of explosives according to the mission commander's instructions and the specific operational needs of each bombardment." The new cannon will enable coverage of a much larger fire area than currently available, with fewer tools and lethal, accurate firepower, and in a safer manner for the crew that will be in the protected cabin of the cannon truck. For example, a small battery of Roem cannons can remotely control an enemy area in a radius of tens of square kilometers and perform several fire missions simultaneously—in different directions.
In the coming weeks, another live-fire trial will be conducted, with large volumes of fire, to measure the ballistics and flight of the shells. The series will span three weeks and include the launch of about 300 shells in southern Israel. Afterward, the keys will be practically handed over to the Artillery Corps, parallel to the start of mass production at Elbit. The flight of the shells will be measured using radars.
"The results of the latest trials were amazing, with an exceptional grouping," says Major Nati, head of the Barrel Division in the Artillery Corps. "We are now formulating the combat doctrine for using the Roem, which will revolutionize the IDF's land-based fire and the battalions' transition to it will be swift. Our people from the corps are involved in the Roem's command and control software, and are closely working with Elbit all week. There is no other fully automatic cannon in the world."
As a likely lesson from past years, the IDF does not intend to scrap or sell the old self-propelled howitzers but to transfer them to reserve battalions. link
** Negotiations Are Stalled, Israel Prepares for Intense Conflict on All Fronts: The Current Situation**
Israel is preparing for a scenario where no deal is reached for an extended period. The fighting in Gaza is expected to change, with the aim of increasing military pressure on Sinwar to push him towards a deal, without harming the hostages. In Lebanon, the Air Force is intercepting drones at increasing rates and systematically destroying launchers in preparation for a large-scale operation, with key concerns regarding its scope. Here are the considerations and the main concern:
**The Current Situation:**
As the week comes to a close, there is no good news. The U.S. compromise proposal regarding a hostage deal and ceasefire is currently stalled, likely due to new demands from Hamas. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not entirely given up on the Philadelphi Corridor issue, but his envoy, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, has presented the Americans with several options for flexibility. However, this does not appear to be the main sticking point in the negotiations.
The primary reason for the impasse is Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar's insistence on setting a number of security prisoners in Israeli prisons to be released, unrelated to the number of living hostages released as part of the humanitarian phase. This has led to a deadlock in the U.S. compromise proposal as well. Nonetheless, the American administration, with the approval of the Qataris and Egyptians, is likely to release its own compromise proposal tonight or tomorrow, aiming to force the parties to respond and to identify the blame for the failure, thus allowing pressure from both Gazans and Israelis working for the hostages' release to be applied on the leaders, which could lead to another "mediation proposal."
**Little Hope in the U.S. Mediation Proposal:**
Israel's political-security establishment has reached a consensus among all involved parties that the chances of a breakthrough deal leading to a long-term six-week ceasefire are slim to none. Therefore, on Thursday evening, the Prime Minister convened a security meeting at the Kirya with the negotiation team and top security officials. The goal was to prepare for a situation where no hostage deal is reached for an extended period, and the fighting continues on all fronts.
The assessment is that it will take about a week to ten days to determine if there will be a deal, as this is roughly the time it usually takes for Sinwar and the Hamas leadership in Doha to formulate a response to mediated proposals. Thus, there is still a slim chance of a deal and ceasefire, after which negotiations on a security arrangement in the north and a permanent status in Gaza, including agreements on civilian governance to replace Hamas control, might begin under U.S. mediation.
**IDF Operations in Gaza:**
However, Israel does not place much hope in the U.S. mediation proposal, assessing that if submitted, it is only meant to maintain negotiation momentum and prevent Iran and its partners from escalating their activities, which could lead to a regional outbreak. Amid the stalled negotiations, Israel is preparing for intense and prolonged conflict on all fronts, including in the north and in Judea and Samaria.
**Approaching Stage D: Mainly Above-Ground Combat**
Naturally, the exact operational plans discussed on Thursday evening are classified and have not reached a final form, but it is expected that fighting in Gaza will move to "Stage D," where Israel primarily operates above ground based on intelligence findings, preventing the return of residents and militants northward through presence and offensive actions on the Netzarim corridor. The offensive's objective is to prevent a situation where the IDF is positioned in fixed outposts and defenses that could serve as static targets for Hamas guerrilla attacks, both in the Netzarim corridor and the Rafah area.
The IDF estimates that Hamas is militarily collapsing but can still conduct guerrilla warfare. It has ceased being a terrorist army with rockets capable of reaching the Israeli rear and attacking Israeli targets, reverting to its early second Intifada status. In response to Hamas' activities, the IDF will deploy mobile operations, mainly above ground and primarily in locations where it is believed there are no hostages. The defense establishment believes that Hamas and Islamic Jihad recently received orders to harm Israeli hostages if IDF forces approach them, thus the IDF will maintain a siege pattern above ground to prevent Hamas from surfacing and attacking. The ground siege throughout the Strip, conducted with intelligence and various observations, will prevent militants from reaching the surface, with prolonged underground stays putting pressure on them. In any case, the aim is to tighten military pressure on Sinwar to push him towards a deal, without harming the hostages.
This pressure will replace the intense military pressure exerted by the IDF, which operated aggressively and intensively across almost all areas of the Strip, both above and below ground. Now, actions in locations the IDF has not yet entered will be conducted based on information regarding hostage presence. Beyond that, further details cannot be provided.
**Preventing Aid from Reaching Hamas:**
On Thursday, discussions also likely addressed the "day after" scenario, particularly concerning the distribution of humanitarian aid and possibly another plan. Under the Prime Minister's directive, the defense establishment has begun considering the possibility that the IDF might take over humanitarian aid distribution in the Strip, as it has been proven that aid, ostensibly delivered through international organizations, is seized and looted by Hamas. Hamas and Islamic Jihad use food, fuel, and medical supplies to sustain their members' prolonged underground stays and shelters above ground. They also sell looted aid items, mainly food and fuel, in the Strip's markets, especially in secure shelter areas where about two million displaced Gazans reside. The profits from these sales help pay salaries to Hamas members and new recruits.
Israeli security officials believe this phenomenon prevents Hamas' collapse, particularly its civilian control in the Strip. Therefore, the IDF is considering ways to meet American demands to provide essential goods to the non-combatant Gazan population while preventing humanitarian aid from becoming a lifeline for Hamas and Islamic Jihad's governance in the Strip. Another plan under consideration is the "Generals' Plan," proposed by Maj. Gen. (res.) Giora Eiland. According to his proposal, the IDF would require non-combatant Gazans in northern Gaza, about 300,000 who remain there, to move to safe shelters in central Gaza via the coastal route and the "Tancher route," where IDF checkpoints called "drains" can discern whether Hamas and Jihad fighters attempting to escape are among the evacuees. According to the plan, the IDF would inform the civilian population, along with the evacuation order, that no food, fuel, or other living essentials would be allowed into northern Gaza after the week-long evacuation. Once northern Gaza is cleared of non-combatants, the IDF will act aggressively against the estimated 5,000 or fewer militants remaining between Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun in the north and between Zaytun and Daraj-Tuffah neighborhoods in the south, up to the Netzarim corridor. This action would also allow for more intensive destruction of tunnels in the area.
Both the IDF's takeover of humanitarian aid distribution and the plan for northern Gaza are still in the assessment stage, but their implementation is intended to apply pressure on Hamas through Gaza's civilian population without endangering hostages or violating international law, avoiding a confrontation with the U.S. administration.
**Slim Chances for a Northern Settlement:**
Another "hot" issue discussed in the same Thursday meeting was the growing need to return displaced northern residents and ensure their physical and emotional security, which they lacked before October 7, 2023. The initial intention was to utilize the ceasefire that would follow a hostage deal, which Nasrallah has already stated he would respect by also ceasing fire, to start negotiations on a northern settlement partially implementing U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, which would push Hezbollah fighters and heavy firepower at least 10 km from the Israeli border in all sectors.
Assuming a hostage deal is unlikely soon, the Americans are already conducting secret negotiations with Lebanese parties to reach a settlement before the Gaza situation stabilizes. According to American sources, the chances of reaching such a settlement, even with a ceasefire in Gaza, are slim. Nasrallah insists on not withdrawing his forces and firepower far from the border. Israel estimates that the day is near when the IDF will need to launch a broad offensive in Lebanon—air, sea, and land—to achieve by military means what Nasrallah refuses to grant through American-brokered negotiations, in which Saudi Arabia and the UAE are also silent partners. In fact, the IDF has already begun preparing for a major air and ground campaign in southern Lebanon. This follows the success of the IDF's preemptive strike on Hezbollah on August 25, before Hezbollah executed its plan for a retaliatory strike against Israel with massive rocket and drone launches to northern Israel and two high-value military targets in central Israel. In the preemptive strike by the Air Force, hundreds of launchers aimed at northern Israel and some beyond were destroyed, along with thousands of rocket launch tubes in storage facilities, significantly reducing Hezbollah's ability to hit Israel's northern home front and deeper into Israel. Most of the damaged launchers were hidden underground in open terrain, within the dense thickets of southern Lebanon.
Recently, I had the chance to see some satellite images of these launchers before and after they were attacked. In the pre-attack image, a small red X marked a dense green area on a hilltop or sometimes in a wadi. In the post-attack image of the same spot, you can see a launcher with over 40 launch tubes and rockets dismantled and burned, with its fragments and launch tubes scattered over a wide area exposed by the bombing. You can see a stony and rough clearing with a crater at its center, where the launcher was hidden, now a burned pit with launch tubes scattered all around it.
During last week's tense days in the north, the Air Force intercepted and shot down 27 drones, while Navy missile boats intercepted two explosive-laden marine drones trying to cross from Tyre to Israel, likely to attack an Israeli gas rig, one of two targeted by Hezbollah's retaliatory strike plan. In addition to the hundreds of launchers hit on August 25, the Air Force has struck dozens more, mostly launchers of heavy rockets and missiles aimed at strategic targets in the central region. The Air Force strikes and IDF's systematic destruction of launchers during ongoing Hezbollah rocket fire aim to significantly reduce Hezbollah's missile and rocket launching capacity before a broader campaign in Lebanon, which appears increasingly likely.
This is the main concern for top military brass: a broad northern campaign. On the Palestinian front in Judea and Samaria, the IDF can manage the increasing terror attacks in the near term through targeted activities against cells and militants. However, in the north, the confrontation with Hezbollah is already here. The IDF has started systematically reducing the Hezbollah threat and harming its capabilities, aiming to buy time until the offensive in Gaza concludes, which is expected by the end of September. Meanwhile, the Air Force will intercept Hezbollah drones at increasing rates and systematically destroy launchers. Only when necessary, the IDF will respond with attacks on specific targets. The IDF's command goal is to create a situation where Israel's northern home front can handle the current fighting and the expected escalation in early October, as Hezbollah will initiate its preemptive strike when it realizes a broad military operation is inevitable.
Therefore, Israel, in cooperation with the U.S. administration, is quietly preparing a northern settlement proposal for Nasrallah to push Hezbollah forces and heavy firepower away from the border and immediately cease all attacks on Israel, including drone and rocket fire, under U.S. pressure and commitment to Lebanon's civilian aid in case of extensive destruction in the country, likely to occur as the war unfolds. If the proposal is implemented before a ground operation in Lebanon is launched, Nasrallah will still need to face the fact that the IDF will bomb the remaining launchers and destroy Hezbollah's rocket arsenal. This means Lebanon will undergo a bombing campaign similar to Gaza's, with all the implications for Nasrallah's authority and Hezbollah's control in Lebanon, including significant damage to Iran's position and prestige in the region. Therefore, Nasrallah may prefer to refrain from conflict in this scenario.
Israel is thus preparing for continued fighting and intense conflict on all fronts, even as it hopes for a compromise proposal and ceasefire in Gaza. As for the northern front, the IDF will act independently, not waiting for American mediation proposals, if it assesses that Hezbollah's intentions pose a tangible threat that necessitates a broad campaign to achieve by military means what Nasrallah refuses to give through American mediation, even in the form of a limited settlement. link The bottom line in all of this is that Netanyahu doesn't want to end the war in Gaza because of his personal political reasons to stay in office by maintaining his failed government. The ramifications of this are many: 1-no deal to bring home the hostages and allowing them to die and be killed by Hamas; 2 - war in the north as Hizbollah will continue the war as long as we continue the war in the south. It doesn't matter how many secret negotiations we have with parties in Lebanon, the Lebanese government is in tatters, the Lebanese army almost doesn't exist mainly due to economic issues which some of the Gulf countries said they will finance to prevent a war in the north, but again, it is tied to ending the war in Gaza; 3- the distinct possibility of a regional war led by Iran and its proxies; 4 - the worsening economic situation of Israel; 5- the worsening relationships between Israel and our quickly dwindling allies; 6 - more soldiers being killed in Gaza, not to even mention what will happen in the north if we go to full scale war; 7 - 80,000 northern residents remain refugees in their own country and that numbe will grow if we have full scale war; 8 - more destruction of northern communities by Hizbollah rockets, missiles and UAVs; 9 - continuing governance by a failed government and failed prime minister who is making all decisions based on keeping himself in office at the very high cost to the country and all its citizens; 10- without bringing the hostages home, this country can never heal. We already have increasing numbers of good people deciding and making the move out of the country permanently and these numbers will grow. The faith in the government and the army, which is very low right now, will totally disintegrate and many, many parents will question sending their children to the army knowing that the government will let them rot and die if they are taken hostage. And the worst case scenario, and one that is spoken about more and more - civil war between the Netanyahu supporters and everyone else who they consider the enemy. Not ending the war and bringing home the hostages is the absolute worst decision Netanyahu and his puppet government can possibly make.
The government approves the allocation of NIS 320 million ($85.8 million) in funding to document and commemorate the events of October 7.
All such “documentation, commemoration, memory and heritage activities” are to fall under the auspices of the Prime Minister’s Office and be carried out by the Tekuma Administration — which was established last year to rehabilitate Israel’s southern Gaza border communities — and “embodies the State of Israel’s commitment to a proper and meaningful commemoration,” according to the PMO.
Per the decision, the money will be split into two tranches of NIS 190 million and NIS 130 million “intended for the development and preservation of heritage infrastructure in the years 2024-2028,” part of which will go toward the establishment of a “national commemoration site.”
A full action plan is currently being promoted in the Knesset, the PMO says.
The Region and the World
-
Personal Stories
**The Dramatic Hours at the Nova Party and New Footage of the Festival Kidnappings**
Despite the warning signs, the party near Re’im was not mentioned even once in the nightly discussions preceding the Hamas attack. The attackers had no prior intelligence about the event, but once they noticed vehicle movement, they arrived from two different locations. The decision to disperse the event and open escape routes in the first minutes of the attack saved many lives. However, after a heroic battle, when the police checkpoint was breached, the massacre began. Watch the full report.
Most of the soldiers in the Gaza Envelope area were unaware of the party near Kibbutz Re’im on October 7th. This is according to findings from an ongoing IDF investigation into the massacre at Nova. We published the main findings tonight (Saturday) on “Weekend News,” alongside new information and exclusive footage from the kidnappings at the festival.
In the southern district of the police, which was responsible for securing the party, they did not relent from the army. The day before the party began, the event commander, Deputy Superintendent Nibi Ohana, was uneasy. He reached out to the military and wrote in the meeting summary: "I requested clarification regarding 'Hot Hammer,'" referring to the infiltration of terrorists from Gaza. Eyal Azoulay, acting commander of the Negev region in the police on October 7th, stated that the original request sent to the army was for the party to be held from Thursday to Saturday, October 5th to 7th. "I see that the military does not approve October 7th," said Azoulay. "I approach a senior officer from the Southern Command and ask him a specific question: Is there any security consideration I should be aware of? The response I receive is that the consideration is not security-related."
The senior officer is the head of the Southern Command Headquarters. In the division and the command, there was deliberation on whether to approve Saturday, Simchat Torah, due to riots at the fence during that period. On Thursday, the day the party began, approval was given to continue it through Saturday.
"We are asking if it’s possible to get some military force with an armored vehicle to be here," recalled Azoulay. "The army informs us that their decision is to provide broad security, not soldier security." According to the investigation findings, the information about the party's existence reached up to the battalion commanders and then stopped. Despite warning signs that started to emerge, the party was never mentioned even once in the nightly discussions, so they didn’t consider canceling it or increasing security around it. Senior command, division, and Shin Bet officials held situational assessments. Although they did not understand that a large-scale raid was about to occur, they were indeed preparing for the possibility of a local infiltration or attack.
The police securing the event were not updated on the nightly discussions on October 7th due to a desire within the security system to protect intelligence sources. Even when a police Yamam unit was sent to the Gaza Envelope, the southern police district was not informed. "The Israel Police did not receive any indication that something was happening," said Azoulay. "It could be that if we were part of this, we would have at least decided to shut down the party."
At 6:32 a.m., the commander of the southern police district, Amir Cohen, called Southern Command General Yaron Finkelman and asked him if anything happened in Gaza overnight, wondering if the heavy rocket fire was a response to an assassination. Finkelman replied, "Nothing we know of, we know nothing."
Party participants began to flee. Dozens who fled west, towards Gaza, were saved. The police directed the partygoers to get into their vehicles and escape on Route 232, heading north or south. Hundreds who left in the first minutes and kept moving without stopping were saved. Many of those who stopped to hide in bunkers under rocket fire were later killed there.
A little before 7:00 a.m., the Nuachba terrorists took control of the Mefalsim junction and began massacring the partygoers fleeing north. Drivers who heard the shooting turned back. When cars started to return, the police realized something was happening on the roads and decided to close Route 232.
Fifty minutes after the invasion began, the police set up a checkpoint on the road heading north. They directed the partygoers to a dirt road eastward. Simultaneously, they pulled those standing in the traffic jam outside the party and directed them to advance on foot eastward. Hundreds were saved. According to the investigation findings, the decision by the southern district in the first minutes of the invasion to stop the party, take down the fences, open escape routes, and disperse the participants saved many lives. So did setting up the checkpoints on Route 232 at the entrance to the party.
There was a failure in synchronizing information about the number of party participants who remained in the area or returned due to the road shootings. Despite the event’s size and volatility—thousands without protection—there was no prioritization by the Operations Division, Southern Command, and Gaza Division in sending forces to the area, which only arrived at noon. The attackers had no prior intelligence about the party. Only after more than an hour and 40 minutes did they realize there was a massive party in the area, following the movement of vehicles fleeing on Route 232. When this happened, the Nuachba terrorists arrived from two locations—a force heading to Netivot that turned back to Be'eri and Nova, and a force that came directly from the central camps in Gaza to the party site.
The attackers, well-armed with rifles, grenades, and RPGs, faced police officers and civilians with pistols in the battle at the checkpoint at the entrance to the party site. In dramatic footage, the moments from the start of the heroic battle are shown. When the police checkpoint was breached, the massacre began. But even as the attackers were on the verge of breaching the checkpoint at the entrance to the party, policewoman Yulia Vaksar called the Southern Command operations officer and told him that everyone there was about to die, to which he replied, "There are many scenes to handle." Half an hour later, she fell in battle.
At 11:45 a.m., Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai called the IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi. Shabtai told him that waves of attackers were not stopping, that forces were not arriving in the Nova area, and that there was no response at the party site. After an hour of a heroic battle, the checkpoint fell, and a multitude of attackers stormed in.
When asked why they didn’t evacuate the Nova party and send larger forces, senior military officials responded that the police should have evacuated everyone from the party area before the attackers arrived, and that the police had informed the military that the party participants had been dispersed, which then changed the prioritization of forces.
**The Battle at the Tank and the Kidnappings of the Partygoers: Exclusive Footage**
In the hours following the breach of the police checkpoint, heroic battles took place on and around the Nova party grounds. One of the most memorable was the battle at the tank, under which more than 50 partygoers took cover. Exclusive footage shows how the battle around the tank unfolded, with more and more partygoers fleeing towards it for hours under fire.
Simultaneously, Hamas militants began organizing collection points where they gathered bodies and from which they transported hostages to Gaza. Footage, disclosed with family approval, shows how three Nova partygoers who were hiding together in a bush were kidnapped and taken to Gaza: Almog Jean, Evyatar David, and Guy Dalal. Evyatar and Guy are still in captivity. "My only thought was to escape. I reached a bush and knew they would find me; there were hundreds of attackers there," said Almog Jean, who was freed in a rescue operation. "When they arrived, I knew there was no choice; they put me in a van, and those who were with me in the bush were also put in the van, and from there we were taken to Gaza."
**IDF Spokesperson’s Response:**
"The findings presented do not constitute the IDF’s investigation into the party. The battle at the Nova party is currently under investigation and is ongoing. Once concluded, it will be presented to the public transparently."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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Twitter - @LonnyB58
Twitter - @LonnyB58
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