π️Lonny's War Update- October 342, 2023 - September 12, 2024 π️
π️Day 342 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
*6:15pm yesterday - north - rockets - Matat, Horfeish*12:05am - south - rockets - Netiv Ha'asara*2:40am = north = rockets - Arab al Aramsha
*1:00pm - north - rockets - Shlomi, Metzuba, Ya'ara, Admint, Arab al Aranmsha, Zra'it, , Netua, Shtula, Hila, +Ein Yaacov, Goren, Gordot Hagalil
*2:20pm - north - hostile aircraft - Lev Hahula, Dishon, Yiftach, Makia, Mevo'ot Hermon, Ramot Naftali
*4:45pm - north - rockets - Avivim
**The soldier who was seriously wounded in the terrorist attack in the West Bank yesterday died of his wounds. (story below)
Staff Sergeant Geri Gidon Hanghal, 24 of Nof Hagalil
May his memory be forever a blessing
*1:00pm - north - rockets - Shlomi, Metzuba, Ya'ara, Admint, Arab al Aranmsha, Zra'it, , Netua, Shtula, Hila, +Ein Yaacov, Goren, Gordot Hagalil
*2:20pm - north - hostile aircraft - Lev Hahula, Dishon, Yiftach, Makia, Mevo'ot Hermon, Ramot Naftali
*4:45pm - north - rockets - Avivim
Staff Sergeant Geri Gidon Hanghal, 24 of Nof Hagalil
Hostage Updates
- Senior Qatari and Egyptian officials meet with Hamas representatives in Doha
The meeting was intended to try to get Hamas to ease its new demands on the release of additional Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences in Israel.Hamas's negotiating delegation claimed that the terror group is ready to implement a ceasefire agreement based on President Biden's original plan laid out in July but rejects any new conditions, according to their Telegram on Wednesday night.
Hamas said they were "ready immediately to implement the ceasefire agreement based on President Biden's previous announcement and Security Council Resolution No. 2735 and what was previously agreed upon, especially the agreements of July 2, without setting any new demands, and its rejection of any new conditions on this agreement by any party."
However, Hamas said it welcomed continuing negotiations in an effort to reach a ceasefire, the withdrawal of the IDF from the Gaza Strip and the exchange of prisoners. The delegation, was headed by Qatar's Prime Minister, Mohammed bin Abdel Rahman al-Thani, and the head of Egyptian intelligence, Abbas Kamal, met with the Hamas negotiation team on Wednesday evening in Doha. The meeting was headed by the deputy head of the political bureau, Khalil al-Hiya.
The purpose of the meeting was to try to break the deadlock in talks about the hostage deal and the ceasefire in Gaza, according to three sources who commented on the meeting details.
The meeting was intended to try to get Hamas to give up its new demands regarding the release of additional Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences in Israel, the sources said.Senior American officials said that these new demands from Hamas are the main obstacle in the current negotiations.
A senior Israeli official said the negotiations are at a complete impasse and estimated that even the meeting in Doha would not lead to a breakthrough. The US, Egypt, and Qatar are still working on a new and updated mediation proposal to present to Israel and Hamas.
During the last two weeks, according to senior American officials, the White House has become very skeptical about the possibility of reaching a deal in the immediate time frame due to the new demands of Hamas. link
Culture Minister Miki Zohar tells Haredi radio station Kol BaRama that there is “no doubt” that military pressure is putting the hostages held in Gaza in danger.
“Attempts to reach a deal did not succeed because we are facing a terrorist organization that is not rational and only understands military power,” Zohar says. “We really want a deal and hope there will be a deal. The price Israel will need to pay is heavy, but it is not an impossible price that would damage Israeli security.”
When asked how an agreement can be reached, Zohar responds: “Only with military pressure.”
“It has not yet reached a point where Sinwar and his emissaries have decided to make a deal,” says Zohar, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party.
However, when asked about the incident last month in which six hostages were murdered by their captors in a Gaza tunnel as IDF troops neared, Zohar says that “there is no doubt that military pressure endangers the hostages.”
“It’s not that we think the hostages are in a good situation. Their lives are in constant danger, especially when there is fire close to where they are, or even where they are, and this is the complexity of this war,” he says.
Zohar also repeats the government line that the large protests calling for a deal and for elections are hardening Hamas’s negotiating position, and says he believes there should be a unity government, but that it should not exclude any of the political parties already in the coalition.
“There is no doubt that if there were a unity government and there were no political demonstrations, we would be in a different place. I am unequivocally in favor of a unity government. On the other hand, pushing parties out is not a unity government,” he says. LINK This is one of the most idiotic statements that Miki Zohar has ever made and he has made a lot. On the one hand, he is saying that Military pressure is endangering the lives of the hostages and on the other hand, he is saying that only with increased military pressure will Hamas make a deal. So basically, we shouldn't be worried about more hostages being killed by military pressure because as more get killed as a result of military pressure, Hamas will make a deal. With this logic, a deal will be made when all the hostages have been killed. Idiot!
Gaza
- **Khan Younis Commander Eliminated in July: "70% of the Weapons Were Destroyed"**
The Defense Minister revealed a letter sent by the Khan Younis Brigade Commander, Rafah Salameh, who was killed in June alongside Mohammed Deif, in which he described the state of the terror organization to Sinwar. Salameh wrote that Hamas' military capabilities were severely damaged, as well as its support among the Gazan public: "The people are broken—mentally and physically."
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant revealed this evening (Wednesday), during a visit to the Intelligence Directorate, a document written by Rafah Salameh, the Hamas Khan Younis Brigade Commander who was eliminated in July, to the Sinwar brothers, describing the dire state of the Hamas terror organization: "70% of the weapons were destroyed, and only 20% remain capable of fighting."
"I want to show you here, from the IDF Intelligence Base, a letter that reflects what Hamas senior officials say about their own situation," Gallant said during the visit to the unit responsible for intelligence gathering in the field. "This is a letter written by Rafah Salameh, who was killed by us in July, to the Sinwar brothers."
According to Minister Gallant, "The document describes the situation—70% of the weapons were destroyed, 95% of the rockets were destroyed, 50% of the terrorists were killed or injured, and many fled, leaving them with 20% according to him. This is a real distress affecting Hamas and reaching its senior commanders."
"He is crying out for the help of the Sinwar brothers, but of course, they cannot save him," he added. "Why? Because we continue the effort that began in October and proceeds step by step, reaching all of Hamas' senior officials. He wrote this to the Sinwar brothers, and we will reach them as well."
The main translation of the letter reads: "To the esteemed and beloved Sinwar brothers, please take the following into account—we are preserving the remaining equipment and weaponry, as we have lost 90%-95% of our rocket capability, about 60% of our personal weapons, and at least 65%-70% of our anti-tank munitions."
Salameh further emphasized: "And most importantly—we have lost at least 50% of our holy fighters, whether killed or injured, and now only 25% remain. The last 25% of our people (i.e., the remaining operatives of the organization) have reached a point where the public can no longer tolerate them, being broken on a mental or physical level."
Salameh was close to Mohammed Deif and was one of the planners and executors of the October 7 massacre. He joined the terror organization in the early 1990s and was appointed commander of the Khan Younis Battalion—Karara, under the command of Mohammed Sinwar, the brother of Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader in Gaza.
During his years of activity in Hamas, Salameh played a central role in the kidnapping of Gilad Shalit. He commanded Hamas' combat support and defense plan during Operation Protective Edge and was also responsible for the tunneling operations in Khan Younis. In 2016, he replaced Sinwar as the commander of the Khan Younis Brigade. link
- **Terrorist from Gaza Posed as a Journalist – Admitted During Interrogation to Participating in the Massacre and Abductions**
The "journalist" Amru Abu Rida took part in the attack on the tank near Nir Oz on October 7 and was involved in committing atrocities. Campaigns for his release from Israeli prison are active on social media and even on Al Jazeera. Amru Abu Rida participated in the attack on the tank at the border near Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, and the IDF has documented footage of him firing during the incident, in which soldiers were killed and kidnapped. Since his arrest by Israel, a social media campaign has been calling for his release from prison, and media outlets such as Al Jazeera are portraying his detention as the "abduction" of a "journalist." However, on the evening news on Kan 11 today (Wednesday), it was revealed that Abu Rida admitted during his interrogation that he is not a journalist.
After the attack on the tank, Abu Rida, a resident of the Khan Younis area, returned to the Gaza Strip and participated in the raid on Kibbutz Nir Oz. He was involved in documenting atrocities and even in committing them. Abu Rida's brother participated in the abduction of members of the Bibas family. Abu Rida was arrested in February 2024 at the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. During his interrogation, he stated that he is a military operative of the Popular Front, a small terrorist organization. He also admitted to kicking the body of one of the captives. Abu Rida said that he mostly served as an operational documentarian for the terrorist organization. In addition to documenting activities on the ground and editing videos of terrorist operations, Abu Rida also admitted that during the maneuver in the Gaza Strip, he participated in ambushes against IDF forces.
When the forces maneuvered in the Khan Younis area, he fled with other terrorists into the hospital and tried to pose as an innocent civilian. The IDF surrounded the hospital, and he was captured when he exited along with other terrorists.
Last week, Kan News revealed that Hassan Asalhi, a prominent Gaza journalist, planned to escape to Egypt with Muthanna Najjar after documenting the atrocities of October 7 and fleeing when he realized he was a target of the Israeli forces. Najjar is a Gazan journalist who entered Kibbutz Nir Oz with Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists and documented the massacre. He managed to escape secretly from the Gaza Strip to Egypt via the Rafah crossing.
Hassan Asalhi, who also infiltrated Israel and documented the abduction of soldiers and bodies by terrorists, tried to get help from Hamas to escape to Egypt via the Rafah crossing. However, unlike Najjar, he was unable to obtain permission from the Egyptians. Asalhi went underground with Najjar, and the two stayed in Rafah, near the crossing, for most of the war months. Palestinian sources in Gaza told Kan News that Asalhi is still waiting for the Rafah crossing to reopen so he can flee Gaza to Turkey. link
The UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA says six staffers were killed in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip on Wednesday, marking what it says is the highest death toll among its staff in a single incident.
There is no immediate comment to UNRWA’s statement from the Israel Defense Forces, which earlier said it struck Hamas operatives at a command room embedded within a UN school in Nuseirat that is being used as a shelter.
After UNRWA said six staffers were killed in an IDF strike yesterday on a school in the central Gaza Strip, the military names nine Hamas operatives killed in the attack, including some who were also employed by the UN Palestinian refugee agency.
The IDF had said yesterday that it struck a Hamas command room in the Al-Jaouni School in Nuseirat, and took steps to mitigate civilian harm. Hospital officials in Gaza reported 14 dead, and UNRWA later said six were members of the agency.
The military says that “upon receiving the allegation that local Palestinian workers of the UNRWA agency were killed in the strike, the IDF contacted the agency yesterday for details and names in order to examine the allegation in-depth and as of this writing it has not yet been answered despite repeated requests.”
So far, the IDF says it has identified nine Hamas operatives killed in the strike, three of whom were also UNRWA staffers.
They are named by the IDF as:
The UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA says six staffers were killed in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip on Wednesday, marking what it says is the highest death toll among its staff in a single incident.
There is no immediate comment to UNRWA’s statement from the Israel Defense Forces, which earlier said it struck Hamas operatives at a command room embedded within a UN school in Nuseirat that is being used as a shelter.
After UNRWA said six staffers were killed in an IDF strike yesterday on a school in the central Gaza Strip, the military names nine Hamas operatives killed in the attack, including some who were also employed by the UN Palestinian refugee agency.
The IDF had said yesterday that it struck a Hamas command room in the Al-Jaouni School in Nuseirat, and took steps to mitigate civilian harm. Hospital officials in Gaza reported 14 dead, and UNRWA later said six were members of the agency.
The military says that “upon receiving the allegation that local Palestinian workers of the UNRWA agency were killed in the strike, the IDF contacted the agency yesterday for details and names in order to examine the allegation in-depth and as of this writing it has not yet been answered despite repeated requests.”
So far, the IDF says it has identified nine Hamas operatives killed in the strike, three of whom were also UNRWA staffers.
They are named by the IDF as:
Northern Israel - Lebanon/Hizbollah/Syria
Israeli special forces carried out a raid on an Iranian weapons facility in the Masyaf area in Syria earlier this week, according to a number of unconfirmed reports.
A series of alleged Israeli strikes hit military sites in central Syria late Sunday, killing at least 14 people, wounding 43 and sparking fires. Local Syrian media reported at the time that the strikes hit a scientific research center in Masyaf, which has long been associated with the manufacture of chemical weapons and precision missiles by the Syrian regime and Iranian forces.
However, today’s reports were the first to claim that there were Israeli troops on the ground during the operation.
The opposition Syria TV network says that Israeli helicopters did not land on Syrian soil, but instead hovered as special forces rappelled down ropes.
The report says there were violent clashes in which a number of Syrians were killed, and two to four Iranians were captured.
The outlet additionally says that a Russian communications center was among the sites targeted as part of the operation.
Channel 12 news cites researcher Eva J. Koulouriotis, who says she was told by a “security source” that it was an IDF operation against an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) facility for the development of ballistic missiles and drones, and which also provides logistical support to Hezbollah.
Koulouriotis tweets that roads surrounding the facility were targeted with airstrikes to stop Syrian troops reaching the area, before the Israeli helicopters carrying special forces approached the area, with air support from combat helicopters and drones.
She says that Israeli troops entered the compound, removed equipment and documents, and then laid explosives to destroy the facility.
The US-government owned Al Hurra network reports that the “raid” targeted several sites in the Masyaf area, and that their intensity and the death toll were “unusual.”
The Masyaf area, west of Hama, is thought to be used as a base for Iranian forces and pro-Iranian militias, and has been repeatedly targeted in recent years in attacks widely attributed to Israel.
It contains the Scientific Studies and Research Center, known as CERS or SSRC, which according to Israel is used by Iranian forces to manufacture precision surface-to-surface missiles.
Western officials have long associated CERS with the manufacture of chemical arms. According to the United States, sarin gas has been developed at that center, a charge denied by the Syrian authorities.
There was no immediate comment on the strike from Israel, which rarely acknowledges individual operations in Syria.
Two people were killed in an Israeli strike on a vehicle close to Quneitra, Syrian media reports.
According to the Kan public broadcaster, Syrian media says one of the two was from “the military”; however, it is unclear if that refers to the Syrian army or the Hezbollah terror group.
Israeli special forces carried out a raid on an Iranian weapons facility in the Masyaf area in Syria earlier this week, according to a number of unconfirmed reports.
A series of alleged Israeli strikes hit military sites in central Syria late Sunday, killing at least 14 people, wounding 43 and sparking fires. Local Syrian media reported at the time that the strikes hit a scientific research center in Masyaf, which has long been associated with the manufacture of chemical weapons and precision missiles by the Syrian regime and Iranian forces.
However, today’s reports were the first to claim that there were Israeli troops on the ground during the operation.
The opposition Syria TV network says that Israeli helicopters did not land on Syrian soil, but instead hovered as special forces rappelled down ropes.
The report says there were violent clashes in which a number of Syrians were killed, and two to four Iranians were captured.
The outlet additionally says that a Russian communications center was among the sites targeted as part of the operation.
Channel 12 news cites researcher Eva J. Koulouriotis, who says she was told by a “security source” that it was an IDF operation against an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) facility for the development of ballistic missiles and drones, and which also provides logistical support to Hezbollah.
Koulouriotis tweets that roads surrounding the facility were targeted with airstrikes to stop Syrian troops reaching the area, before the Israeli helicopters carrying special forces approached the area, with air support from combat helicopters and drones.
She says that Israeli troops entered the compound, removed equipment and documents, and then laid explosives to destroy the facility.
The US-government owned Al Hurra network reports that the “raid” targeted several sites in the Masyaf area, and that their intensity and the death toll were “unusual.”
The Masyaf area, west of Hama, is thought to be used as a base for Iranian forces and pro-Iranian militias, and has been repeatedly targeted in recent years in attacks widely attributed to Israel.
It contains the Scientific Studies and Research Center, known as CERS or SSRC, which according to Israel is used by Iranian forces to manufacture precision surface-to-surface missiles.
Western officials have long associated CERS with the manufacture of chemical arms. According to the United States, sarin gas has been developed at that center, a charge denied by the Syrian authorities.
There was no immediate comment on the strike from Israel, which rarely acknowledges individual operations in Syria.
Two people were killed in an Israeli strike on a vehicle close to Quneitra, Syrian media reports.
According to the Kan public broadcaster, Syrian media says one of the two was from “the military”; however, it is unclear if that refers to the Syrian army or the Hezbollah terror group.
West Bank and Jerusalem and Terror attacks within Israel
- An Israeli soldier was run over and killed Wednesday at a West Bank bus stop in an apparent attack by the driver of a fuel tanker, reinforcing worries that violence in the territory could continue to heat up.
The incident, outside an Israeli settlement near Ramallah, came as security officials have reportedly sought to beef up anti-terror activity in the West Bank, and hours after Palestinians reported that five people had been killed in an Israel Defense Forces drone strike in a town in the West Bank’s Jordan Valley.
Footage from the scene of the attack showed a truck with Palestinian license plates veer off a busy highway and barrel full speed into an IDF guard post adjacent to a bus stop before coming to a halt.
The scene of a vehicle-ramming attack near the West Bank settlement of Givat Assaf on September 11, 2024. Inset: Staff Sgt. Geri Gideon Hanghal, who was killed in the attack. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90; Israel Defense Forces)The Magen David Adom ambulance service said it treated an Israeli man in his 20s who suffered critical injuries in the attack. He was pronounced dead at the scene and later identified by the military as a soldier.
He was named by the IDF as Staff Sgt. Geri Gideon Hanghal, 24, of the Kfir Brigade’s Nahshon Battalion, from the northern city of Nof Hagalil.
The assailant was shot at the scene by soldiers and an armed civilian, the IDF said, describing the incident as terrorism. Forces deployed to the scene were setting up roadblocks, the army added.
The apparent assault occurred on Route 60 outside Givat Assaf, a former wildcat outpost that the government retroactively legalized in late June, though the settlement’s homes remain unauthorized amid claims that they were placed on private Palestinian land.
The suspect was named by Israeli security sources as 58-year-old Hayil Dhaifallah, from the central West Bank town of Rafat. His condition was not immediately clear, the Palestinian Authority’s official mouthpiece Wafa reported.
The IDF later operated at the assailant’s home to measure it for potential demolition.
The apparent attack was the latest to raise fears of a drastic resurgence in violence in the West Bank, after a series of attempted suicide bombings claimed by Hamas in recent weeks as well as a shooting attack on the Jordanian border Sunday that killed three Israelis.
According to Israeli authorities, 33 people including Israeli security personnel have been killed in terror attacks in Israel and the West Bank since October 7, when the war against Hamas in Gaza started with the terror group’s massacre in southern Israel. Another six members of the security forces were killed in clashes with terror operatives in the West Bank over that period.
Much of the violence over the past month has taken part in areas of the West Bank outside the northern third of the territory where the IDF has concentrated anti-terror efforts in recent years, including a major 10-day operation in refugee camps connected to Jenin, Tulkarem and the Jordan Valley town of Tubas that ended Saturday.
The Palestinian health ministry in the West Bank said Wednesday that five Palestinians were killed in an airstrike in Tubas overnight. Another two people were injured by Israeli fire, one critically, as troops raided Tubas and the neighboring town of Tammun, Wafa reported.
An IDF spokesperson confirmed carrying out an airstrike, saying it targeted members of a terror cell.
Palestinian authorities did not say whether those killed or injured by Israeli fire were civilians or members of armed groups.
Once a rare occurrence, the IDF has carried out more than 70 airstrikes in the West Bank since October 7, using drones, attack helicopters, and fighter jets. link
Overnight, Israeli security forces arrested a wanted Palestinian from a hospital in the southern West Bank city of Halhul, who had been wounded in an attempted car bombing attack last month.
Members of police’s elite Yamam unit and Shin Bet agents raided the hospital near Hebron overnight in a joint operation with the IDF.
The Shin Bet says that the detained suspect was involved in a car bomb that detonated in Halhul on August 13, in which he was also injured. He was taken to the hospital in the city where he was detained.
The incident, outside an Israeli settlement near Ramallah, came as security officials have reportedly sought to beef up anti-terror activity in the West Bank, and hours after Palestinians reported that five people had been killed in an Israel Defense Forces drone strike in a town in the West Bank’s Jordan Valley.
Footage from the scene of the attack showed a truck with Palestinian license plates veer off a busy highway and barrel full speed into an IDF guard post adjacent to a bus stop before coming to a halt.
The scene of a vehicle-ramming attack near the West Bank settlement of Givat Assaf on September 11, 2024. Inset: Staff Sgt. Geri Gideon Hanghal, who was killed in the attack. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90; Israel Defense Forces)
The Magen David Adom ambulance service said it treated an Israeli man in his 20s who suffered critical injuries in the attack. He was pronounced dead at the scene and later identified by the military as a soldier.
He was named by the IDF as Staff Sgt. Geri Gideon Hanghal, 24, of the Kfir Brigade’s Nahshon Battalion, from the northern city of Nof Hagalil.
The assailant was shot at the scene by soldiers and an armed civilian, the IDF said, describing the incident as terrorism. Forces deployed to the scene were setting up roadblocks, the army added.
The apparent assault occurred on Route 60 outside Givat Assaf, a former wildcat outpost that the government retroactively legalized in late June, though the settlement’s homes remain unauthorized amid claims that they were placed on private Palestinian land.
The suspect was named by Israeli security sources as 58-year-old Hayil Dhaifallah, from the central West Bank town of Rafat. His condition was not immediately clear, the Palestinian Authority’s official mouthpiece Wafa reported.
The IDF later operated at the assailant’s home to measure it for potential demolition.
The apparent attack was the latest to raise fears of a drastic resurgence in violence in the West Bank, after a series of attempted suicide bombings claimed by Hamas in recent weeks as well as a shooting attack on the Jordanian border Sunday that killed three Israelis.
According to Israeli authorities, 33 people including Israeli security personnel have been killed in terror attacks in Israel and the West Bank since October 7, when the war against Hamas in Gaza started with the terror group’s massacre in southern Israel. Another six members of the security forces were killed in clashes with terror operatives in the West Bank over that period.
Much of the violence over the past month has taken part in areas of the West Bank outside the northern third of the territory where the IDF has concentrated anti-terror efforts in recent years, including a major 10-day operation in refugee camps connected to Jenin, Tulkarem and the Jordan Valley town of Tubas that ended Saturday.
The Palestinian health ministry in the West Bank said Wednesday that five Palestinians were killed in an airstrike in Tubas overnight. Another two people were injured by Israeli fire, one critically, as troops raided Tubas and the neighboring town of Tammun, Wafa reported.
An IDF spokesperson confirmed carrying out an airstrike, saying it targeted members of a terror cell.
Palestinian authorities did not say whether those killed or injured by Israeli fire were civilians or members of armed groups.
Once a rare occurrence, the IDF has carried out more than 70 airstrikes in the West Bank since October 7, using drones, attack helicopters, and fighter jets. link
Overnight, Israeli security forces arrested a wanted Palestinian from a hospital in the southern West Bank city of Halhul, who had been wounded in an attempted car bombing attack last month.
Members of police’s elite Yamam unit and Shin Bet agents raided the hospital near Hebron overnight in a joint operation with the IDF.
The Shin Bet says that the detained suspect was involved in a car bomb that detonated in Halhul on August 13, in which he was also injured. He was taken to the hospital in the city where he was detained.
Politics and the War (general news)
- **Air
Force Commander Learned About the Nova Party Only at 16:30; Readiness Was at
the Lowest Level**
Only
2 helicopters and 2 planes were on standby that morning. Some were scrambled to
protect the gas platform. A UAV documented events in Gaza overnight, but no one
saw them. Hamas targeted bases, making takeoffs difficult. A senior officer in
the bunker discovered the pickup truck in Sderot only in the afternoon. Despite
the live broadcasts, Major General Tomer Bar and the pilots were unaware of the
party. Troubling findings have emerged in the "Real Time"
investigation by Kan 11 on the Air Force's performance on October 7.
For
about ten hours from the start of Hamas's attack on October 7, Air Force
Commander Tomer Bar did not know about the Nova party near Kibbutz Re'im—even
though the media extensively covered it live, and social networks were flooded
with messages from thousands of worried relatives looking for their loved ones.
This fact is one of many failures and troubling findings that arise from the
investigation by Kan 11 journalist Avi Amit about the performance of the
Israeli Air Force on the first day of the "Iron Swords" war. Some of
the information published is based on the investigation conducted by the Air
Force itself, which has not yet been presented to its personnel or the public.
Not
only did the commander find out about the party late; there were pilots who
were scrambled to the Gaza border area who learned about it not long before
him. A helicopter pilot interviewed said he first heard about the party around
14:30: "The Golani battalion commander I'm accompanying tells me he wants
me to accompany him towards the nature party. And I ask him in conversation, as
I’m talking to you, 'Give me coordinates, I don’t know what a nature party is.'
I think he's talking to me in some kind of code."
According
to the investigation, that morning the Air Force was at its lowest level of
readiness: across the country, there were only two fighter jets and two combat
helicopters on short readiness for takeoff. At 6:30 AM, only one UAV (remotely
piloted aircraft) flew over Gaza, and it had even documented unusual events in
the area overnight, but no one followed up on its outputs.
When
fighter jets were finally scrambled, they flew to protect strategic assets and
did not reach the Gaza border communities for many hours. A senior Air Force
official said that pilots patrolled for hours over a gas platform without
contributing anything to the unfolding battle.
The
first airstrike was carried out at 7:15 AM by a lone UAV in the Netiv HaAsara
area, but it was ineffective and did not prevent the terrorists from entering
the moshav and massacring its residents. Additionally, only at 10:00 AM did the
Air Force Commander order to strike the breaches in the border fence through
which thousands of terrorists and Gaza residents entered Israel. However, the
order was executed only about an hour later.
It
also emerged that Hamas had a lot of information about the Air Force bases,
including the location of the runways. They targeted them with rockets,
complicating the ability of aircraft to take off and assist in the Gaza border
area. Severe failures were also found in securing classified information, and
it turned out that Hamas terrorists planned to continue their assault and reach
Air Force bases in the south.
"I
arrived at the bunker shortly after 7:00 AM, and there was total chaos,"
added one interviewee. "Because the Gaza Division had collapsed, no one
gave us information, and we knew nothing about what was happening on the
ground. Add to that the fact that we didn't have phones, Telegram, WhatsApp, or
even a TV. What you were seeing on TV, we didn't know. Only in the afternoon,
when I went outside for the first time to smoke a cigarette, I opened Ynet and
saw the Toyota with the terrorists in Sderot. Even that, which was broadcast
everywhere since the morning, we didn't know. We were completely
disconnected."
Overall,
despite its capabilities, the UAV system failed to provide the Air Force bunker
with a broad picture of what was happening in the communities and bases around
Gaza. "All the strikes we conducted until 9:00 AM were very
ineffective," says S., a senior in the UAV unit. "Our UAVs hardly
managed to assist the defensive line during the most critical hours of the
attack."
"When
I arrived at Palmachim Airbase at 7:40, everything was still very calm. The
squadron commander had not yet arrived. There was one plane on the ground and
only one technical crew due to the shutdown. The first plane we tried to bring
out broke down. It took another 30 minutes until the next one was ready. Only
around 8:30 did the plane drive to the runway, but three missiles fell on the
base. One on our runway. We ran to the runway and found a hole, and everything
was full of debris. We started clearing the debris by hand to allow the plane
to take off. There were constant alarms, everyone was hysterical. Only after 20
minutes did we manage to get it airborne, but it was already too late for many
of the Gaza border residents."
The
IDF Spokesperson stated: "On October 7, the IDF, including the Air Force,
failed in its mission. That morning, Air Force personnel, both regular and
reservists, arrived at the bases and immediately began performing defense and
attack missions while preparing for escalation on additional fronts. From the
beginning of the event, during the first hours and the first day of battle, the
Air Force struck hundreds of targets and eliminated hundreds of Hamas
terrorists from the air using fighter jets, remotely piloted aircraft, and
combat helicopters.
"In
addition, hundreds of soldiers were flown to the Gaza border area, and hundreds
of wounded were evacuated with the assistance of Air Force forces, alongside
ground combat carried out by Air Force special forces. The Air Force's alert
level is determined according to a situational assessment and is examined as
part of the General Staff investigation. The claim that the Air Force did not
train on the operational orders for infiltration scenarios is not true. The Air
Force operated according to the annual training plan determined based on the
threats.
"On
the morning of October 7, the Air Force was fully operational. All of the Air
Force's reservists reported and have been engaged in fighting on all fronts
since that day. The IDF is in the midst of an operational investigation process
regarding the events of October 7 and what preceded them. The Air Force is also
being investigated thoroughly and meticulously. The investigations are being
conducted these days, and once concluded, they will be presented
transparently." link
**Commander of Unit 8200 Resigns: "I Did Not Fulfill the Mission, We Didn't Understand the Golden Intelligence"**
Almost a year into the war, a second senior official from the Intelligence Corps is stepping down. Brigadier General Yossi Sariel, Commander of Unit 8200, informed the Chief of Staff of his decision to leave the army: "I wish to fulfill my responsibility." In a letter to his soldiers, he detailed the initial investigation into the unit's role in the failure of October 7 and its performance during the subsequent days of combat.
Brigadier General Yossi Sariel, Commander of Unit 8200, informed Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi today (Thursday) of his intention to leave the army due to his role in the failure of October 7. In a letter to the soldiers of his unit, he outlined his part in the failures leading up to October 7: "I did not fulfill the mission; despite the expectation, we did not understand the golden intelligence."
"On October 7 at 06:29, I did not fulfill the mission as I expected of myself, as my subordinates and commanders expected of me, and as the citizens of the country I love so much expected of me," Sariel wrote. "Today, given the state of the war, the processes of uniting ranks and building unit resilience, and after completing the initial investigative processes, I wish to fulfill my personal responsibility as the unit commander on October 7 and at a date to be determined by my commanders, to pass the baton to the next guard." The investigation of Unit 8200 has been completed: "I did not fulfill the mission."
According to Sariel, the unit recently completed the initial investigation into its role in the failure of October 7: "The investigation shows that in the years, months, days, and hours leading up to the surprise attack, our unit's working levels, through its various centers, provided a series of detailed findings professionally and with great effort, which were distributed to all intelligence and operational partners, including all the operational attack plans of Hamas, the training, and battle procedures for implementing this plan, Hamas's perception that the attack should start as a surprise while IDF forces were in routine status, and unusual indications in several elements of the organization's military wing on the night before."
"The detailed information produced and distributed about Hamas's plans and preparations failed to shatter the fundamental intelligence and military understandings, neither within the unit nor among our partners," added the commander of Unit 8200. "Despite the expectations of us, we did not deliver the golden intelligence that pinpoints the exact date and time of the attack. I constantly ask myself, without sufficient answers—why? What caused this? What should have been done differently or anticipated differently? Where are the roots of the failure?"
Sariel continued: "Throughout my years of service, I have learned that risks and opportunities, successes, mistakes, and failures lie in the intersection between information and knowledge, between intelligence and operations, between what we know and what we don't know. In the years and months leading up to and on the night of October 7 itself, we all failed as an intelligence and operational system in our ability to connect the dots to see the picture and prepare for the emerging threat."
"Personally, I failed in not understanding sufficiently, and therefore not reflecting sufficiently, that in the unique reality at the Gaza border, we as a system are obligated to a different risk management approach, derived from the minimal margin of error in this sector," Brigadier General Sariel explained. "I did not point out that in a reality where, in practice, there are two Nukhba commando divisions on the Gaza border, just minutes away from Israeli communities, and adversaries repeatedly encounter the strength of Israeli intelligence and internalize this, we cannot rely on a SIGINT warning zone for operational readiness, and certainly not on the assumption that on the day of the command, we will succeed in obtaining the golden intelligence. The responsibility for Unit 8200's part in the intelligence and operational failure rests entirely on me."
The Commander of Unit 8200 concluded: "I know I acted with utmost dedication, yet the worst happened, and I deeply apologize. I apologize for not fulfilling the mission as you expected of me and as I demanded of myself. I know and am pained that what has been done cannot be undone. I bow my head."
**"Our Responsibility to Implement the Lessons, Especially Against Hezbollah"**
According to Brigadier General Sariel, "Immediately upon the outbreak of the surprise attack, we set out to strike. From the first moment, I stated that I have responsibility and commitment for what was and for what will be. I did not have the luxury of stopping, not even for a brief moment. Since that Saturday morning, I have devoted all my energy to returning the hostages, defeating Hamas and Hezbollah, and effectively confronting Iran."
"In the last 342 days, the unit has been operating in a combat clock mode: attacking, focused, highly relevant, involved in thwarting operations, providing warning information in seven combat sectors, participating in both defensive and offensive battles, and operating with internal integrity, with only one mission before us—to win. During the war, we have strived as much as we could to fulfill our responsibility to apply our initial lessons from the failure of October 7 across the various sectors, especially against Hezbollah and Iran." link
**Netanyahu
and Levin's Proposal to the Attorney General: Launch an Investigation Against
State Leaders to Stop Arrest Warrants in The Hague**
**Revealed:**
Prime Minister Netanyahu and Justice Minister Levin requested the Attorney
General to open a criminal investigation against state leaders in an attempt to
stop the warrants. The purpose of the investigation: to initiate an inquiry and
subsequently close it while reporting to the International Criminal Court (ICC)
in The Hague. The Attorney General refused the proposal, citing no grounds for
it. Israel estimates that it is not possible to stop the warrants, which are
expected soon following the decision of ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan to expedite
the arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister
Yoav Galant, and Hamas Political Bureau Chief Yahya Sinwar.
In
a report on the central edition (Wednesday), it was revealed that the Prime
Minister and Justice Minister Yariv Levin, who refuse to establish a state
commission of inquiry, have been exploring other alternatives to block the
arrest warrants against the Prime Minister and Defense Minister. Netanyahu and
Levin approached the Attorney General, Gali Baharav-Miara, requesting to open a
criminal investigation against state leaders in an attempt to stop the warrants
based on the principle of complementarity, which governs the relationship
between national courts and the ICC.
The
goal of the Prime Minister and his deputy is to open the investigation and
subsequently close it while reporting the findings to the ICC without
establishing a state commission of inquiry. The Attorney General rejected Levin
and Netanyahu's proposal, arguing that there is no justification for doing so
and that she would not open a frivolous investigation. Defense Minister Yoav
Galant also approached the Attorney General, requesting to set up a
governmental inquiry committee following the non-establishment of a state
commission for the events of October 7. Following Galant's request,
Baharav-Miara clarified that "a governmental committee could cause harm –
the investigated party cannot appoint the investigator."
Following
the Prime Minister's request and the Attorney General's refusal, accusations
began to fly between the parties involved. Sources close to Netanyahu said that
the Attorney General is "putting obstacles in the way," while
professional sources argued that "one should not act in favor of the state
due to the Prime Minister's political considerations." The assessments in
Israel are that, given that a state commission of inquiry is not currently on
the table, they will not be able to stop the arrest warrants for Netanyahu and
Galant, which are expected to be issued by The Hague in the near future. link Netanyahu will do anything and everything to prevent a State Commission of Inquiry to go forward because he knows that he will be found culpable for his years of enabling Hamas to strengthen and ignore all the warnings, weakening the Palestinian Authority, abandoning the south as well as the north, pulling troops off of the Gaza border to satisfy his extreme messianic coalition partners to have troops protecting them with their Sukkah in the middle of a Arab town in the West Bank, and the list of his culpability goes on and on. He wants it all covered up and is only willing for there to be a government commission that his cronies control and they won't have any real legal or legislative power to do anything against him.
Far-right
MK confronts wounded terrorist in hospital bed: ‘We’ll make sure they kill you’
Far-right MK Zvi Succot burst into a hospital room where a wounded terrorist was being treated and told the man he would work to have him put to death.
Succot, of the Religious Zionism party, was at Jerusalem’s Shaarei Zedek hospital when he learned that the Palestinian who carried out a deadly truck-ramming attack earlier in the day at a West Bank bus stop was being treated there.
Succot entered the room and told the man, “We’ll make sure they kill you. The State of Israel will kill you. We will pass a law to kill you.”
He is then escorted out of the room by a soldier.
Succot posts a video of the incident on X. video
Several far-right and right-wing lawmakers have been pressing for Israel to implement the death penalty for Palestinian terrorists.
The attack, in which the assailant drove his fuel tanker at speed into an IDF guard post next to the bus stop, killed Staff Sgt. Geri Gideon Hanghal, 24, of the Kfir Brigade’s Nahshon Battalion, from the northern city of Nof Hagalil.
The attacker was shot and wounded by soldiers and an armed civilian. link This racist idiot is from Ben Gvir's party, the new Kach party which was originally outlawed for its racism, but they rebranded it to be Jewish Power. These are exactly the kinds of statements that have been made and caused the International Court charges against Israel, but they don't care. These are the same idiots who were in favor of using a nuclear device to kill and destroy everyone and everything in Gaza. They live by their warped ideology and everything else be damned.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says in a wide-ranging interview with Reuters that he has not spoken to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu since the October 7 Hamas terror assault last year, as the premier has been refusing to answer his calls.
The two met in person last September at the annual meeting of world leaders at the UN General Assembly, and Guterres says he would be willing to do so again later this month — if Netanyahu were to ask.
“I have not talked to him because he didn’t pick up my phone calls, but I have no reason not to speak with him,” Guterres says. “So if he comes to New York and he asks to see me, I will be very glad to see him.”
When asked if Netanyahu planned to meet with Guterres on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon says that the prime minister’s schedule hasn’t been finalized yet.
Only
2 helicopters and 2 planes were on standby that morning. Some were scrambled to
protect the gas platform. A UAV documented events in Gaza overnight, but no one
saw them. Hamas targeted bases, making takeoffs difficult. A senior officer in
the bunker discovered the pickup truck in Sderot only in the afternoon. Despite
the live broadcasts, Major General Tomer Bar and the pilots were unaware of the
party. Troubling findings have emerged in the "Real Time"
investigation by Kan 11 on the Air Force's performance on October 7.
For
about ten hours from the start of Hamas's attack on October 7, Air Force
Commander Tomer Bar did not know about the Nova party near Kibbutz Re'im—even
though the media extensively covered it live, and social networks were flooded
with messages from thousands of worried relatives looking for their loved ones.
This fact is one of many failures and troubling findings that arise from the
investigation by Kan 11 journalist Avi Amit about the performance of the
Israeli Air Force on the first day of the "Iron Swords" war. Some of
the information published is based on the investigation conducted by the Air
Force itself, which has not yet been presented to its personnel or the public.
Not
only did the commander find out about the party late; there were pilots who
were scrambled to the Gaza border area who learned about it not long before
him. A helicopter pilot interviewed said he first heard about the party around
14:30: "The Golani battalion commander I'm accompanying tells me he wants
me to accompany him towards the nature party. And I ask him in conversation, as
I’m talking to you, 'Give me coordinates, I don’t know what a nature party is.'
I think he's talking to me in some kind of code."
According
to the investigation, that morning the Air Force was at its lowest level of
readiness: across the country, there were only two fighter jets and two combat
helicopters on short readiness for takeoff. At 6:30 AM, only one UAV (remotely
piloted aircraft) flew over Gaza, and it had even documented unusual events in
the area overnight, but no one followed up on its outputs.
When
fighter jets were finally scrambled, they flew to protect strategic assets and
did not reach the Gaza border communities for many hours. A senior Air Force
official said that pilots patrolled for hours over a gas platform without
contributing anything to the unfolding battle.
The
first airstrike was carried out at 7:15 AM by a lone UAV in the Netiv HaAsara
area, but it was ineffective and did not prevent the terrorists from entering
the moshav and massacring its residents. Additionally, only at 10:00 AM did the
Air Force Commander order to strike the breaches in the border fence through
which thousands of terrorists and Gaza residents entered Israel. However, the
order was executed only about an hour later.
It
also emerged that Hamas had a lot of information about the Air Force bases,
including the location of the runways. They targeted them with rockets,
complicating the ability of aircraft to take off and assist in the Gaza border
area. Severe failures were also found in securing classified information, and
it turned out that Hamas terrorists planned to continue their assault and reach
Air Force bases in the south.
"I
arrived at the bunker shortly after 7:00 AM, and there was total chaos,"
added one interviewee. "Because the Gaza Division had collapsed, no one
gave us information, and we knew nothing about what was happening on the
ground. Add to that the fact that we didn't have phones, Telegram, WhatsApp, or
even a TV. What you were seeing on TV, we didn't know. Only in the afternoon,
when I went outside for the first time to smoke a cigarette, I opened Ynet and
saw the Toyota with the terrorists in Sderot. Even that, which was broadcast
everywhere since the morning, we didn't know. We were completely
disconnected."
Overall,
despite its capabilities, the UAV system failed to provide the Air Force bunker
with a broad picture of what was happening in the communities and bases around
Gaza. "All the strikes we conducted until 9:00 AM were very
ineffective," says S., a senior in the UAV unit. "Our UAVs hardly
managed to assist the defensive line during the most critical hours of the
attack."
"When
I arrived at Palmachim Airbase at 7:40, everything was still very calm. The
squadron commander had not yet arrived. There was one plane on the ground and
only one technical crew due to the shutdown. The first plane we tried to bring
out broke down. It took another 30 minutes until the next one was ready. Only
around 8:30 did the plane drive to the runway, but three missiles fell on the
base. One on our runway. We ran to the runway and found a hole, and everything
was full of debris. We started clearing the debris by hand to allow the plane
to take off. There were constant alarms, everyone was hysterical. Only after 20
minutes did we manage to get it airborne, but it was already too late for many
of the Gaza border residents."
The
IDF Spokesperson stated: "On October 7, the IDF, including the Air Force,
failed in its mission. That morning, Air Force personnel, both regular and
reservists, arrived at the bases and immediately began performing defense and
attack missions while preparing for escalation on additional fronts. From the
beginning of the event, during the first hours and the first day of battle, the
Air Force struck hundreds of targets and eliminated hundreds of Hamas
terrorists from the air using fighter jets, remotely piloted aircraft, and
combat helicopters.
"In
addition, hundreds of soldiers were flown to the Gaza border area, and hundreds
of wounded were evacuated with the assistance of Air Force forces, alongside
ground combat carried out by Air Force special forces. The Air Force's alert
level is determined according to a situational assessment and is examined as
part of the General Staff investigation. The claim that the Air Force did not
train on the operational orders for infiltration scenarios is not true. The Air
Force operated according to the annual training plan determined based on the
threats.
"On
the morning of October 7, the Air Force was fully operational. All of the Air
Force's reservists reported and have been engaged in fighting on all fronts
since that day. The IDF is in the midst of an operational investigation process
regarding the events of October 7 and what preceded them. The Air Force is also
being investigated thoroughly and meticulously. The investigations are being
conducted these days, and once concluded, they will be presented
transparently." link
**Commander of Unit 8200 Resigns: "I Did Not Fulfill the Mission, We Didn't Understand the Golden Intelligence"**
Almost a year into the war, a second senior official from the Intelligence Corps is stepping down. Brigadier General Yossi Sariel, Commander of Unit 8200, informed the Chief of Staff of his decision to leave the army: "I wish to fulfill my responsibility." In a letter to his soldiers, he detailed the initial investigation into the unit's role in the failure of October 7 and its performance during the subsequent days of combat.
Brigadier General Yossi Sariel, Commander of Unit 8200, informed Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi today (Thursday) of his intention to leave the army due to his role in the failure of October 7. In a letter to the soldiers of his unit, he outlined his part in the failures leading up to October 7: "I did not fulfill the mission; despite the expectation, we did not understand the golden intelligence."
"On October 7 at 06:29, I did not fulfill the mission as I expected of myself, as my subordinates and commanders expected of me, and as the citizens of the country I love so much expected of me," Sariel wrote. "Today, given the state of the war, the processes of uniting ranks and building unit resilience, and after completing the initial investigative processes, I wish to fulfill my personal responsibility as the unit commander on October 7 and at a date to be determined by my commanders, to pass the baton to the next guard." The investigation of Unit 8200 has been completed: "I did not fulfill the mission."
According to Sariel, the unit recently completed the initial investigation into its role in the failure of October 7: "The investigation shows that in the years, months, days, and hours leading up to the surprise attack, our unit's working levels, through its various centers, provided a series of detailed findings professionally and with great effort, which were distributed to all intelligence and operational partners, including all the operational attack plans of Hamas, the training, and battle procedures for implementing this plan, Hamas's perception that the attack should start as a surprise while IDF forces were in routine status, and unusual indications in several elements of the organization's military wing on the night before."
"The detailed information produced and distributed about Hamas's plans and preparations failed to shatter the fundamental intelligence and military understandings, neither within the unit nor among our partners," added the commander of Unit 8200. "Despite the expectations of us, we did not deliver the golden intelligence that pinpoints the exact date and time of the attack. I constantly ask myself, without sufficient answers—why? What caused this? What should have been done differently or anticipated differently? Where are the roots of the failure?"
Sariel continued: "Throughout my years of service, I have learned that risks and opportunities, successes, mistakes, and failures lie in the intersection between information and knowledge, between intelligence and operations, between what we know and what we don't know. In the years and months leading up to and on the night of October 7 itself, we all failed as an intelligence and operational system in our ability to connect the dots to see the picture and prepare for the emerging threat."
"Personally, I failed in not understanding sufficiently, and therefore not reflecting sufficiently, that in the unique reality at the Gaza border, we as a system are obligated to a different risk management approach, derived from the minimal margin of error in this sector," Brigadier General Sariel explained. "I did not point out that in a reality where, in practice, there are two Nukhba commando divisions on the Gaza border, just minutes away from Israeli communities, and adversaries repeatedly encounter the strength of Israeli intelligence and internalize this, we cannot rely on a SIGINT warning zone for operational readiness, and certainly not on the assumption that on the day of the command, we will succeed in obtaining the golden intelligence. The responsibility for Unit 8200's part in the intelligence and operational failure rests entirely on me."
The Commander of Unit 8200 concluded: "I know I acted with utmost dedication, yet the worst happened, and I deeply apologize. I apologize for not fulfilling the mission as you expected of me and as I demanded of myself. I know and am pained that what has been done cannot be undone. I bow my head."
**"Our Responsibility to Implement the Lessons, Especially Against Hezbollah"**
According to Brigadier General Sariel, "Immediately upon the outbreak of the surprise attack, we set out to strike. From the first moment, I stated that I have responsibility and commitment for what was and for what will be. I did not have the luxury of stopping, not even for a brief moment. Since that Saturday morning, I have devoted all my energy to returning the hostages, defeating Hamas and Hezbollah, and effectively confronting Iran."
"In the last 342 days, the unit has been operating in a combat clock mode: attacking, focused, highly relevant, involved in thwarting operations, providing warning information in seven combat sectors, participating in both defensive and offensive battles, and operating with internal integrity, with only one mission before us—to win. During the war, we have strived as much as we could to fulfill our responsibility to apply our initial lessons from the failure of October 7 across the various sectors, especially against Hezbollah and Iran." link
**Netanyahu
and Levin's Proposal to the Attorney General: Launch an Investigation Against
State Leaders to Stop Arrest Warrants in The Hague**
**Revealed:**
Prime Minister Netanyahu and Justice Minister Levin requested the Attorney
General to open a criminal investigation against state leaders in an attempt to
stop the warrants. The purpose of the investigation: to initiate an inquiry and
subsequently close it while reporting to the International Criminal Court (ICC)
in The Hague. The Attorney General refused the proposal, citing no grounds for
it. Israel estimates that it is not possible to stop the warrants, which are
expected soon following the decision of ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan to expedite
the arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister
Yoav Galant, and Hamas Political Bureau Chief Yahya Sinwar.
In
a report on the central edition (Wednesday), it was revealed that the Prime
Minister and Justice Minister Yariv Levin, who refuse to establish a state
commission of inquiry, have been exploring other alternatives to block the
arrest warrants against the Prime Minister and Defense Minister. Netanyahu and
Levin approached the Attorney General, Gali Baharav-Miara, requesting to open a
criminal investigation against state leaders in an attempt to stop the warrants
based on the principle of complementarity, which governs the relationship
between national courts and the ICC.
The
goal of the Prime Minister and his deputy is to open the investigation and
subsequently close it while reporting the findings to the ICC without
establishing a state commission of inquiry. The Attorney General rejected Levin
and Netanyahu's proposal, arguing that there is no justification for doing so
and that she would not open a frivolous investigation. Defense Minister Yoav
Galant also approached the Attorney General, requesting to set up a
governmental inquiry committee following the non-establishment of a state
commission for the events of October 7. Following Galant's request,
Baharav-Miara clarified that "a governmental committee could cause harm –
the investigated party cannot appoint the investigator."
Following the Prime Minister's request and the Attorney General's refusal, accusations began to fly between the parties involved. Sources close to Netanyahu said that the Attorney General is "putting obstacles in the way," while professional sources argued that "one should not act in favor of the state due to the Prime Minister's political considerations." The assessments in Israel are that, given that a state commission of inquiry is not currently on the table, they will not be able to stop the arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Galant, which are expected to be issued by The Hague in the near future. link Netanyahu will do anything and everything to prevent a State Commission of Inquiry to go forward because he knows that he will be found culpable for his years of enabling Hamas to strengthen and ignore all the warnings, weakening the Palestinian Authority, abandoning the south as well as the north, pulling troops off of the Gaza border to satisfy his extreme messianic coalition partners to have troops protecting them with their Sukkah in the middle of a Arab town in the West Bank, and the list of his culpability goes on and on. He wants it all covered up and is only willing for there to be a government commission that his cronies control and they won't have any real legal or legislative power to do anything against him.
Far-right
MK confronts wounded terrorist in hospital bed: ‘We’ll make sure they kill you’
Far-right MK Zvi Succot burst into a hospital room where a wounded terrorist was being treated and told the man he would work to have him put to death.
Succot, of the Religious Zionism party, was at Jerusalem’s Shaarei Zedek hospital when he learned that the Palestinian who carried out a deadly truck-ramming attack earlier in the day at a West Bank bus stop was being treated there.
Succot entered the room and told the man, “We’ll make sure they kill you. The State of Israel will kill you. We will pass a law to kill you.”
He is then escorted out of the room by a soldier.
Succot posts a video of the incident on X. video
Several far-right and right-wing lawmakers have been pressing for Israel to implement the death penalty for Palestinian terrorists.
The attack, in which the assailant drove his fuel tanker at speed into an IDF guard post next to the bus stop, killed Staff Sgt. Geri Gideon Hanghal, 24, of the Kfir Brigade’s Nahshon Battalion, from the northern city of Nof Hagalil.
The attacker was shot and wounded by soldiers and an armed civilian. link This racist idiot is from Ben Gvir's party, the new Kach party which was originally outlawed for its racism, but they rebranded it to be Jewish Power. These are exactly the kinds of statements that have been made and caused the International Court charges against Israel, but they don't care. These are the same idiots who were in favor of using a nuclear device to kill and destroy everyone and everything in Gaza. They live by their warped ideology and everything else be damned.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says in a wide-ranging interview with Reuters that he has not spoken to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu since the October 7 Hamas terror assault last year, as the premier has been refusing to answer his calls.
The two met in person last September at the annual meeting of world leaders at the UN General Assembly, and Guterres says he would be willing to do so again later this month — if Netanyahu were to ask.
“I have not talked to him because he didn’t pick up my phone calls, but I have no reason not to speak with him,” Guterres says. “So if he comes to New York and he asks to see me, I will be very glad to see him.”
When asked if Netanyahu planned to meet with Guterres on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon says that the prime minister’s schedule hasn’t been finalized yet.
The Region and the World
- A report by the Washington Post challenges the IDF’s version of events surrounding the fatal shooting of an American activist by Israeli troops in the West Bank last week, saying the protesters had retreated down the road and did not pose a threat to soldiers at the time of the killing.
Dual Turkish-American national Aysenur Eygi, 26, was shot dead Friday while taking part in a protest against Israeli settlement activity in the northern West Bank.
On Tuesday, the Israel Defense Forces said the activist had in all probability been mistakenly hit by troops aiming at another individual. “The incident occurred during a violent gathering of dozens of Palestinian suspects, who burned tires and threw stones at forces at Beita Junction,” the IDF said, adding that it “expresses its deepest regret over the death.”
However the Washington Post report, based on eyewitness accounts and video, says Eygi was shot over half an hour after the peak of the protests and some 20 minutes after the demonstrators had moved down the road, meaning she was approximately 180 meters (200 yards) away from the troops when she was killed and could not have posed a threat.
Witnesses tell the newspaper that a Palestinian teen who was standing about 18 meters (20 yards) from Eygi, was wounded by IDF fire, but the military would not say if he was the target.
Residents and activists say that while the army initially began by using tear gas to disperse the crowd, they quickly switched to live ammunition.
Eygi was “shocked by the swift escalation,” the newspaper says, and moved further down the road.
Activists and residents tell the newspaper that the moment in which Eygi was killed was not caught on film because there was not much happening at the time.
The newspaper says the IDF declined to comment when asked why troops had fired at the protesters when they were so far away.
The Pentagon’s rare move to keep two Navy aircraft carriers in the Middle East over the past several weeks has now finished, as the USS Theodore Roosevelt is heading home, according to US officials.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had ordered the Roosevelt to extend its deployment for a short time and remain in the region as the USS Abraham Lincoln was pushed to get to the area more quickly. The Biden administration beefed up the US military presence there to help defend Israel from possible attacks by Iran and its proxies and to safeguard US troops.
US commanders in the Middle East have long argued that the presence of a US aircraft carrier and the warships accompanying it has been an effective deterrent in the region, particularly for Iran. Since the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip began last fall with the terror group’s October 7 attack, there has been a persistent carrier presence in and around the region — and for short periods they have overlapped to have two of the carriers there at the same time.
Prior to last fall, however, it had been years since the US had committed that much warship power to the region.
Australia’s government introduces new hate crime legislation that would impose criminal penalties including jail for offenders if they targeted a person’s race, gender, ethnic origin, religion or sexual orientation.
The bill comes as the government responds to a rise in hate incidents following the Israel-Hamas war, and follows landmark laws passed last year which banned the Nazi salute and public displays of terror group symbols.
“No Australian should be targeted because of who they are or what they believe,” Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus says in a statement.
“We proudly live in a vibrant, multicultural and diverse community which we must protect and strengthen.”
The bill proposes jail sentences of up to five years for anyone threatening to use force or violence against a group or person, and if a person fears that the threat would be carried out. Offenders could get seven years in jail if the threats pose a danger to the government.
The Labor government says it will also introduce separate legislation to tackle “doxxing,” the malicious release of anyone’s personal data online, threatening offenders with jail of up to six years.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in February promised to take steps to outlaw doxxing after names, social media accounts and other personal details of hundreds of Jewish Australians were published online by anti-Israel groups.
The anti-doxxing bill would include a provision for victims to sue for “serious privacy invasions” though journalists and intelligence agencies would be given exemptions. link Would be nice if we had a a similar law in Isarel that would sentence people for up to 5 years for threatening the use force of violence against a group or person. That would mean that quite a few ministers and Knesset members would fall into that category on a regular basis including the Racist Minister of Internal inSecurity Ben Gvir and all of his party.
Personal Stories
Dual Turkish-American national Aysenur Eygi, 26, was shot dead Friday while taking part in a protest against Israeli settlement activity in the northern West Bank.
On Tuesday, the Israel Defense Forces said the activist had in all probability been mistakenly hit by troops aiming at another individual. “The incident occurred during a violent gathering of dozens of Palestinian suspects, who burned tires and threw stones at forces at Beita Junction,” the IDF said, adding that it “expresses its deepest regret over the death.”
However the Washington Post report, based on eyewitness accounts and video, says Eygi was shot over half an hour after the peak of the protests and some 20 minutes after the demonstrators had moved down the road, meaning she was approximately 180 meters (200 yards) away from the troops when she was killed and could not have posed a threat.
Witnesses tell the newspaper that a Palestinian teen who was standing about 18 meters (20 yards) from Eygi, was wounded by IDF fire, but the military would not say if he was the target.
Residents and activists say that while the army initially began by using tear gas to disperse the crowd, they quickly switched to live ammunition.
Eygi was “shocked by the swift escalation,” the newspaper says, and moved further down the road.
Activists and residents tell the newspaper that the moment in which Eygi was killed was not caught on film because there was not much happening at the time.
The newspaper says the IDF declined to comment when asked why troops had fired at the protesters when they were so far away.
The Pentagon’s rare move to keep two Navy aircraft carriers in the Middle East over the past several weeks has now finished, as the USS Theodore Roosevelt is heading home, according to US officials.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had ordered the Roosevelt to extend its deployment for a short time and remain in the region as the USS Abraham Lincoln was pushed to get to the area more quickly. The Biden administration beefed up the US military presence there to help defend Israel from possible attacks by Iran and its proxies and to safeguard US troops.
US commanders in the Middle East have long argued that the presence of a US aircraft carrier and the warships accompanying it has been an effective deterrent in the region, particularly for Iran. Since the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip began last fall with the terror group’s October 7 attack, there has been a persistent carrier presence in and around the region — and for short periods they have overlapped to have two of the carriers there at the same time.
Prior to last fall, however, it had been years since the US had committed that much warship power to the region.
Australia’s government introduces new hate crime legislation that would impose criminal penalties including jail for offenders if they targeted a person’s race, gender, ethnic origin, religion or sexual orientation.
The bill comes as the government responds to a rise in hate incidents following the Israel-Hamas war, and follows landmark laws passed last year which banned the Nazi salute and public displays of terror group symbols.
“No Australian should be targeted because of who they are or what they believe,” Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus says in a statement.
“We proudly live in a vibrant, multicultural and diverse community which we must protect and strengthen.”
The bill proposes jail sentences of up to five years for anyone threatening to use force or violence against a group or person, and if a person fears that the threat would be carried out. Offenders could get seven years in jail if the threats pose a danger to the government.
The Labor government says it will also introduce separate legislation to tackle “doxxing,” the malicious release of anyone’s personal data online, threatening offenders with jail of up to six years.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in February promised to take steps to outlaw doxxing after names, social media accounts and other personal details of hundreds of Jewish Australians were published online by anti-Israel groups.
The anti-doxxing bill would include a provision for victims to sue for “serious privacy invasions” though journalists and intelligence agencies would be given exemptions. link Would be nice if we had a a similar law in Isarel that would sentence people for up to 5 years for threatening the use force of violence against a group or person. That would mean that quite a few ministers and Knesset members would fall into that category on a regular basis including the Racist Minister of Internal inSecurity Ben Gvir and all of his party.
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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