π️Lonny's War Update- October 357, 2023 - September 27, 2024 π️
π️Day 357 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!!!”
With the father of OMRI MIRAN(46), kidnapped from Nahalot during the October 7 massacre.
#BringThemHomeNow #Nahalot
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
#BringThemHomeNow #Nahalot
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
There is a new section at the end -Dark Legacy - The Abandonment of October 7th Hostages - A collection of short essays by influential people in Israel today - by the Forum for Life - Saving Israeli Hostages
Red Alerts - Missile, Rocket, Drone (UAV - unmanned aerial vehicles), and Terror Attacks and Death Announcements
*7:10pm yesterday - north - rockets/ missiles*8:15pm yesterday - north - Some 25 rockets were launched from Lebanon at the Lower Galilee a short while ago, setting off sirens in several towns and injuring one person.According to the military, the rockets all struck open areas. The Magen David Adom ambulance service says it is treating a 45-year-old man who was moderately wounded by shrapnel amid the attack. An Israeli Air Force drone struck the launcher used in the attack a short while later, the IDF adds. Yesterday, Hezbollah has launched more than 175 rockets at northern Israel.
8:20am - Tiberius - One rocket was launched from Lebanon at the northern city of Tiberias an hour ago, the military says.
The rocket landed in the Sea of Galilee, causing no damage or injuries.
*9:00 - Haifa - A barrage of 10 rockets was fired from Lebanon at Haifa a short while ago, setting off sirens in the northern coastal city and suburbs, the IDF says. Some of the rockets were intercepted, while others struck open areas, according to the military. Reports say at least one rocket landed in the sea next to Haifa. Magen David Adom does not report any injuries in the latest barrage. There are reports that some shrapnel fell in the city itself. A spokesperson for the Haifa Port says there was no impact or shrapnel in the area of the port itself.*10:00 - north - The IDF says that a short time ago it shot down four drones that crossed into Israeli airspace from Lebanon off the coast of Israel, near the town of Rosh Hanikra, just south of the border.No alert sirens sounded since there was no danger to residents, the military adds.
*12:40am - Center of the country - Tel Aviv and all areas around -surface to surface ballistic missile launched by the Houthis in Yemen - intercepted by Arrow 3 ballistic missile defense
The IDF says it shot down a surface-to-surface missile fired from Yemen using the long-range Arrow air defense system after sirens were activated across central Israel.
According to the military, the rockets all struck open areas. The Magen David Adom ambulance service says it is treating a 45-year-old man who was moderately wounded by shrapnel amid the attack. An Israeli Air Force drone struck the launcher used in the attack a short while later, the IDF adds. Yesterday, Hezbollah has launched more than 175 rockets at northern Israel.
8:20am - Tiberius - One rocket was launched from Lebanon at the northern city of Tiberias an hour ago, the military says.
*9:00 - Haifa - A barrage of 10 rockets was fired from Lebanon at Haifa a short while ago, setting off sirens in the northern coastal city and suburbs, the IDF says. Some of the rockets were intercepted, while others struck open areas, according to the military. Reports say at least one rocket landed in the sea next to Haifa. Magen David Adom does not report any injuries in the latest barrage. There are reports that some shrapnel fell in the city itself. A spokesperson for the Haifa Port says there was no impact or shrapnel in the area of the port itself.*10:00 - north - The IDF says that a short time ago it shot down four drones that crossed into Israeli airspace from Lebanon off the coast of Israel, near the town of Rosh Hanikra, just south of the border.
No alert sirens sounded since there was no danger to residents, the military adds.
*12:40am - Center of the country - Tel Aviv and all areas around -surface to surface ballistic missile launched by the Houthis in Yemen - intercepted by Arrow 3 ballistic missile defenseThe IDF says it shot down a surface-to-surface missile fired from Yemen using the long-range Arrow air defense system after sirens were activated across central Israel.
The warning alerts were triggered due to the interception and concerns about falling shrapnel, according to the military, which adds that the missile was shot down “outside the country’s borders.”
The Israel Defense Forces also says that there are no new instructions from the Home Front Command following the attack.
The Magen David Adom ambulance service meanwhile says that it hasn’t yet received reports of injuries aside from several people suffering from anxiety or being hurt while running to bomb shelters. video
*7:25am - Tiberius - rockets/missiles
*8:30am - north - rockets/missiles
*9:30am - north - rockets/missiles
*10:00am - north - rockets/missiles*3:50pm - north - rockets/ missiles
The warning alerts were triggered due to the interception and concerns about falling shrapnel, according to the military, which adds that the missile was shot down “outside the country’s borders.”
The Israel Defense Forces also says that there are no new instructions from the Home Front Command following the attack.
The Magen David Adom ambulance service meanwhile says that it hasn’t yet received reports of injuries aside from several people suffering from anxiety or being hurt while running to bomb shelters. video
*8:30am - north - rockets/missiles
*9:30am - north - rockets/missiles
*10:00am - north - rockets/missiles
Hostage Updates
NEW YORK — Some 200 Israelis and Jewish Americans have gathered outside the headquarters of the United Nations to protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu upon his arrival in New York to speak tomorrow at the UN General Assembly.
The protesters are calling for a hostage deal and an end to the war in Gaza.
Israelis and Jewish Americans protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu outside the UN Headquarters in New York on September 26, 2024. (Jacob Magid/Times of Israel)Speakers at the rally include Hamas hostage Nimrod Cohen’s father Yehuda Cohen, New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, Lab/Shul community Rabbi Amichai Lau Lavie and B’nai Jeshurun Rabbi Felicia Sol.
Relatives of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza protest outside a Likud party toast ahead of the Jewish New Year in a call for the government to secure a deal to free their loved ones, with some posting videos on social media of being barred from the event by MKs.
Other videos posted to X show supporters of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pulling up outside the demonstration to curse at the protesters, while others throw eggs at the hostage families. video This doesn't occur in a vacuum. At this event, there were Likud Knesset members who spoke on the podium against the demonstrators calling them names and belittling them and the hostage families. There were also ministers present. And none of this happens by itself, it is the messaging that comes from the top, which stinks of being rotten and rancid, just like the actions of the slime who dare to do such heinous acts to the people who are suffering the most because of the failures of this Prime Minister and his entire government
Hostage Updates
NEW YORK — Some 200 Israelis and Jewish Americans have gathered outside the headquarters of the United Nations to protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu upon his arrival in New York to speak tomorrow at the UN General Assembly.
The protesters are calling for a hostage deal and an end to the war in Gaza.
Israelis and Jewish Americans protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu outside the UN Headquarters in New York on September 26, 2024. (Jacob Magid/Times of Israel)Speakers at the rally include Hamas hostage Nimrod Cohen’s father Yehuda Cohen, New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, Lab/Shul community Rabbi Amichai Lau Lavie and B’nai Jeshurun Rabbi Felicia Sol.
Relatives of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza protest outside a Likud party toast ahead of the Jewish New Year in a call for the government to secure a deal to free their loved ones, with some posting videos on social media of being barred from the event by MKs.
Other videos posted to X show supporters of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pulling up outside the demonstration to curse at the protesters, while others throw eggs at the hostage families. video This doesn't occur in a vacuum. At this event, there were Likud Knesset members who spoke on the podium against the demonstrators calling them names and belittling them and the hostage families. There were also ministers present. And none of this happens by itself, it is the messaging that comes from the top, which stinks of being rotten and rancid, just like the actions of the slime who dare to do such heinous acts to the people who are suffering the most because of the failures of this Prime Minister and his entire government
Gaza
- Basics Dynamics of the Three-Week PlanA Wishful Thinking ProposalGershon BaskinSeptember 27, 2024
ENDING THE WAR IN GAZA, RETURNING THE HOSTAGES, AND A NEW REGIME IN GAZA
Before this plan enters into implementation, with the agreement of Hamas, President Mahmoud Abbas will appoint the Chief Commissioner of the Gaza Council of Commissioners – a non-Hamas, a non-Fatah, professional government of technocrats for Gaza for 24-36 months until there is enough stability to conduct full Palestinian democratic elections for the State of Palestine (West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem). The Gaza Council of Commissioners will not be run by the Palestinian Authority of the West Bank, even though its Chief Commissioner will be appointed by President Abbas. From the day of appointment of the Chief Commissioner, the Council of Commissioners will be formed and appointed by its head. By Day 17 of this plan, the Council of Commissioners will officially take control over Gaza following Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and the transference of all governing power from Hamas. All local (Israeli, Egyptian, Qatari, USA, etc. and International Organizations will refer to the Council of Commissioners as the only legal governing body in Gaza).
• DAY 1: AT 6:00 am on the determined day, a full ceasefire of both sides enters into force on Day 1. Israel will cease all of the IDF aggressive activities in Gaza. Israel will pull out of populated areas from day 1 and begin to redeploy in preparation for a full withdrawal from Gaza. Hamas will cease all aggressive activities against Israeli soldiers. No rockets or mortars will be fired by Hamas from Day 1. Armed Hamas personnel will not be shot at by Israel from Day 1 unless they are attacking Israeli soldiers. Armed Israeli soldiers will not be shot at by Hamas unless Israeli soldiers are shooting at them. • DAY 1 TO DAY 5: By 12:00 noon on Day 1, through the mediators, Israel will provide a list of all of the Israeli and foreign hostages that are believed to be in Gaza. By 12:00 noon on Day 5, Hamas will know the location of all of the hostages and their condition. Hamas will have five days to collect this information. The list of hostages and their condition will be handed over to the mediators no later than 12:00 noon on Day 5. • DAY 1: Israel will cease flyover missions over Gaza from 6:00 on day 1 except the flyover missions for three hours a day coordinated through the mediators for the only purpose of coordinating and supervising Israeli troop movements out of populated areas and a return to Israel proper. The 3-hour flyover operations by Israel will be fully coordinated and will only occur while Israeli troops are on the move out of populated areas and back towards the Israeli borders. • DAY 7 and Day 8: On Day 7, Israel will begin to withdraw its forces from all of the Rafah and Khan Yunis areas. The withdrawal of Israel forces from this area will be done on Day 7 and Day 8.• DAY 9: On Day 9, Hamas will release all of the wounded, sick, living children and elderly and women hostages and Israel will release the agreed number and names of Palestinian prisoners. The ICRC will coordinate the logistics of the transfers of prisoners and hostages with Israel and Hamas. • DAY 9 AND DAY 10: On Day 10 and Day 11, Israel will withdraw its forces to north of Wadi Gaza. • DAY 12: On Day 12, Hamas will release all of the dead bodies of the hostages in exchange for the agreed number of Palestinian prisoners. The ICRC will coordinate the logistics of the transfers of prisoners and hostages with Israel and Hamas.• DAY 13: On Day 13, the Rafah crossing will be opened with agreed international supervision and a mechanism which is not Hamas run on the Gaza side of the crossing. Increased humanitarian aid will begin to flow into Gaza as agreed in the detailed negotiations.• DAY 14: On Day 14, Israel will withdraw from all areas south of Jabalia.• DAY 15: On Day 15, Hamas will release all of the remaining hostages, civilian or military which have not yet been released in exchange for the release of the agreed to number of Palestinian prisoners. The ICRC will coordinate the logistics of the transfers of prisoners and hostages with Israel and Hamas.• DAY 16- DAY 16: On Day 16 and 17, Israel will withdraw from the remaining areas of Gaza.• Day 17 onward: The Gaza Council of Commissioners will have full responsibility for the governing of Gaza.• Day 18: A coordinating meeting will take place between the Gaza Commission of Commissions and Israeli civilian and military officials. The meeting will take place at the Erez Crossing. The meeting will focus on the massive increase of humanitarian aid into Gaza from all entrance points along the Israel-Gaza border and via the Rafah crossing, including the necessary security and inspection mechanisms. • Day 21: A summit meeting will take place between the Gaza Commission of Commissioners and all Arab leaders prepared to contribute to the reconstruction of Gaza including the possible sending of an Arab-led peace keeping force to Gaza for a limited period of time.
There are of course many additional elements and details that must be included in this plan. This is a very general outline posted to provide some insights, some hopes, and some directions forward.
The IDF is assessing that Hamas has been defeated militarily in the entire Gaza Strip, and it is now a guerrilla terror group that will take some more time to dismantle.
Hamas is not the same terror group it was pre-October 7, in terms of its command and control, weapons, rockets, and operatives, at least half of whom have been killed according to the military.
The IDF has labeled dismantling Hamas as the most important war goal in the south, but returning the hostages is a more urgent goal and it is receiving priority.
“If we wait, it is not certain that there will be anyone to return,” the military is saying.
Palestinian gunmen in the Gaza Strip shot and killed an aid worker from a US based charity, firing on her car in what Hamas officials claimed was a case of mistaken identity.
Other unverified reports, meanwhile, said that she was murdered by Hamas gunmen for refusing to turn over aid funds to the terror group.
The car in which Islam Hejazy, Gaza program manager at HEAL Palestine, was traveling was intercepted yesterday in the area of Khan Younis in the south of the enclave.
Gunmen riding in three cars sprayed the vehicle with dozens of bullets, according to residents and the woman’s family.
“She was the mother of two small children and a humanitarian with the highest ethics and professionalism,” HEAL Palestine, posts on its Facebook page. “HEAL Palestine is more dedicated than ever to serving Gaza, in her honor. Ceasefire now.”
Her family issues a statement, saying they were told by Hamas-run government parties at the hospital where her body was taken that she was killed by mistake. Her killers, whose identity wasn’t immediately clear, had failed to identify the vehicle she was driving, they say.
There has been no immediate comment from Hamas. “That was a bigger shock… How would an innocent soul be wasted and 90 bullets fired at her car just for mistaken identification?” the family says in a statement published by Palestinian media.
The IDF is assessing that Hamas has been defeated militarily in the entire Gaza Strip, and it is now a guerrilla terror group that will take some more time to dismantle.
Hamas is not the same terror group it was pre-October 7, in terms of its command and control, weapons, rockets, and operatives, at least half of whom have been killed according to the military.
The IDF has labeled dismantling Hamas as the most important war goal in the south, but returning the hostages is a more urgent goal and it is receiving priority.
“If we wait, it is not certain that there will be anyone to return,” the military is saying.
Palestinian gunmen in the Gaza Strip shot and killed an aid worker from a US based charity, firing on her car in what Hamas officials claimed was a case of mistaken identity.
Other unverified reports, meanwhile, said that she was murdered by Hamas gunmen for refusing to turn over aid funds to the terror group.
The car in which Islam Hejazy, Gaza program manager at HEAL Palestine, was traveling was intercepted yesterday in the area of Khan Younis in the south of the enclave.
Gunmen riding in three cars sprayed the vehicle with dozens of bullets, according to residents and the woman’s family.
“She was the mother of two small children and a humanitarian with the highest ethics and professionalism,” HEAL Palestine, posts on its Facebook page. “HEAL Palestine is more dedicated than ever to serving Gaza, in her honor. Ceasefire now.”
Her family issues a statement, saying they were told by Hamas-run government parties at the hospital where her body was taken that she was killed by mistake. Her killers, whose identity wasn’t immediately clear, had failed to identify the vehicle she was driving, they say.
There has been no immediate comment from Hamas. “That was a bigger shock… How would an innocent soul be wasted and 90 bullets fired at her car just for mistaken identification?” the family says in a statement published by Palestinian media.
Northern Israel - Lebanon/Hizbollah/Syria
The IDF says that its fighter jets struck a short time ago the rocket launcher responsible for a rocket barrage at the Haifa area earlier today.
The Iron Dome air defense system fires to intercept rockets launched from Lebanon, as seen from Haifa, Sept. 27, 2024. (AP/Maya Alleruzzo)
Israeli Air Force fighter jets and drones also carried out dozens of strikes on Hezbollah military infrastructure, buildings and terror cells across south Lebanon, the IDF adds, releasing footage of the strikes. video
A purported Israeli air strike kills five Syrian soldiers near the border with Lebanon, the official news agency SANA reports, citing a military source.
“The Israeli enemy carried out an aerial attack… on one of our military positions near Kfar Yabus on the Syrian-Lebanese border,” SANA says, adding that five Syrian soldiers were killed and one was wounded.
There was no immediate comment from the IDF on the strike, which rarely publicly comments on strikes in Syria.
The IDF says that its Tuesday airstrike on Beirut, killing Ibrahim Qubaisi, the commander of Hezbollah’s rocket and missile division, also killed his deputy and another senior commander.
The strike on the Lebanese capital killed Abbas Sharafeddine, Qubaisi’s deputy, and Hussein Ezzeddine, a senior commander in the missile division, who according to the IDF was close to Hezbollah’s assassinated military chief Fuad Shukr.
A residential building whose top two floors were hit by an Israeli strike in the Ghobeiri area of Beirut's southern suburbs on September 24, 2024, that killed a Hezbollah commander. (ANWAR AMRO / AFP)
A separate strike that day killed another senior operative in Hezbollah’s missile division, the IDF adds.
Several rocket launchers in southern Lebanon’s Haddatha, used in a Hezbollah attack earlier today on the northern Israeli city of Tiberias were struck by fighter jets, the IDF says.
Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the southern Lebanese area of Mahmudiyah on September 27, 2024. (Rabih DAHER / AFP)Additionally, in the past few hours, the military says dozens of Hezbollah weapon depots, primed rocket launchers, and buildings used by the terror group were struck in Sidon, Nabatieh and other areas of southern Lebanon.
Well over 30,000 people, mainly Syrians, have crossed into Syria from Lebanon in the past 72 hours, the UN refugee agency says, amid escalating cross-border violence between Israel and Hezbollah.
About 80 percent of those crossing are Syrians and about 20% are Lebanese, says the UNHCR representative in Syria, Gonzalo Vargas Llosa, adding that about half are children and adolescents and that men are making the crossing in smaller numbers than women.
“They are crossing from a country at war to one that has faced a crisis conflict for 13 years,” an extremely difficult choice, he tells a news conference. “We will have to see over the next few days how many more do so.”
The IDF says that its fighter jets struck a short time ago the rocket launcher responsible for a rocket barrage at the Haifa area earlier today.
The Iron Dome air defense system fires to intercept rockets launched from Lebanon, as seen from Haifa, Sept. 27, 2024. (AP/Maya Alleruzzo)Israeli Air Force fighter jets and drones also carried out dozens of strikes on Hezbollah military infrastructure, buildings and terror cells across south Lebanon, the IDF adds, releasing footage of the strikes. video
A purported Israeli air strike kills five Syrian soldiers near the border with Lebanon, the official news agency SANA reports, citing a military source.
“The Israeli enemy carried out an aerial attack… on one of our military positions near Kfar Yabus on the Syrian-Lebanese border,” SANA says, adding that five Syrian soldiers were killed and one was wounded.
There was no immediate comment from the IDF on the strike, which rarely publicly comments on strikes in Syria.
The IDF says that its Tuesday airstrike on Beirut, killing Ibrahim Qubaisi, the commander of Hezbollah’s rocket and missile division, also killed his deputy and another senior commander.
The strike on the Lebanese capital killed Abbas Sharafeddine, Qubaisi’s deputy, and Hussein Ezzeddine, a senior commander in the missile division, who according to the IDF was close to Hezbollah’s assassinated military chief Fuad Shukr.
A residential building whose top two floors were hit by an Israeli strike in the Ghobeiri area of Beirut's southern suburbs on September 24, 2024, that killed a Hezbollah commander. (ANWAR AMRO / AFP)
A separate strike that day killed another senior operative in Hezbollah’s missile division, the IDF adds.Several rocket launchers in southern Lebanon’s Haddatha, used in a Hezbollah attack earlier today on the northern Israeli city of Tiberias were struck by fighter jets, the IDF says.
Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the southern Lebanese area of Mahmudiyah on September 27, 2024. (Rabih DAHER / AFP)Additionally, in the past few hours, the military says dozens of Hezbollah weapon depots, primed rocket launchers, and buildings used by the terror group were struck in Sidon, Nabatieh and other areas of southern Lebanon.
Well over 30,000 people, mainly Syrians, have crossed into Syria from Lebanon in the past 72 hours, the UN refugee agency says, amid escalating cross-border violence between Israel and Hezbollah.
About 80 percent of those crossing are Syrians and about 20% are Lebanese, says the UNHCR representative in Syria, Gonzalo Vargas Llosa, adding that about half are children and adolescents and that men are making the crossing in smaller numbers than women.
“They are crossing from a country at war to one that has faced a crisis conflict for 13 years,” an extremely difficult choice, he tells a news conference. “We will have to see over the next few days how many more do so.”
West Bank and Jerusalem and Terror attacks within Israel
Politics and the War (general news)
- My assessment on Friday September 27, 2024:
I know the focus of Washington right now is Lebanon - but, despite what Netanyahu says, Lebanon will not impact what happens in Gaza. Our main focus must be ending the war in Gaza and getting the hostages home now! We have got to get the Americans to use their team in Doha to pin down Hamas on the deal that Hamas already (unofficially) agreed to: The 3-weeks deal - ending the war, complete Israeli withdrawal from all of Gaza, the release of all 101 hostages and an agreed number and names of Palestinian prisoners from Israel, and on the transference of governance in Gaza to a professional-technocratic non-partisan, non-hamas government, including the transference of weapons and internal security to the new government. Hamas is on board despite any deniels it may make to journalists. Hamas lacks the experience in knowing how to negotiate and close the deal. They have too little experience in closing deals and they perceive every yes that they say as as something that weakens them in the negotiations. But I remind Hamas several times a day that as they wait and don't take ownership of the deal that they agree to, more destruction is taking place and more people are getting killed. Not a minute of time should be wasted on egos, lack of trust, and lack of experience. I repeat this message everyday to the US team headed by CIA Director Bill Burns. And once again, I remind President Biden that he will either be remembered as the Gaza War President, or as the President who ended the Gaza War! (Gershon Baskin, September 27, 2024)
- The White House insists that a US-led international call for a ceasefire in Lebanon had been “coordinated” with Israel, despite Israel later rejecting the truce and vowing to keep fighting Hezbollah.
“The statement was indeed coordinated with the Israeli side,” Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre tells reporters, adding that talks are continuing at the UN General Assembly in New York. link This is another case that the White House is to be totally believed and that Netanyahu and his office spread lies. It has been verified by multiple sources that Netanyahu gave the green light to discussions towards ad 21 day cease fire to give time to the international community to work out an acceptable diplomatic solution. Netanyahu, before boarding the plane to NY to speak at the UN. As soon as it was reported by the Israeli press, the extremist, messianic, war mongering coalition partners, Smotrich and Ben Gvir made statements that they would not allow that to happen. During this time, Netanyahu's new technologically sophisticated plane, Wings of Zion had communications problems for 4 hours until it landed in NY. Immediately, upon hearing the voices of the extremist who are leading Netanyahu by the nose in order for him to keep his failed coalition together and stay prime minister, Netanyahu made a statement filled with lies that he never gave the green light and that we will continue fighting with all our strength until the goals of the war are attained. Lies, lies, lies. Netanyahu is a pathological liar.
Why Everything Is Suddenly Spiraling for
Israel - An Opinion by Thomas Friedman - NY Times
What would you do?
There is no other question that Israel’s government has posed to the world more often since Hamas invaded Israel on Oct. 7 and Hezbollah attacked Israel on Oct. 8.
What would your country do if terrorists crossed your western border and killed, maimed, kidnapped or sexually abused hundreds of Israelis they encountered and the next day their Hezbollah allies sent rockets over your northern border, driving away thousands of civilians — all cheered on by Iran?
What would you do?
It is a powerful and relevant question and one that Israel’s critics often dodge.
But they aren’t the only ones dodging it.
This Israeli government, led by Benjamin Netanyahu, wants you and me and every Israeli and all of Israel’s friends — and even enemies — to believe that there was always only one right answer to that question: Invade Gaza, hunt down every Hamas leader and fighter, kill every last one and not be deterred by the civilian casualties, then pummel Hezbollah in Lebanon — and do both without spending time planning an exit strategy for either.
I’ve argued from Day 1 that it was a trap, a trap I’m sorry to say the Biden administration was not firm enough in stopping Israel from falling into and not firm enough in insisting on a better road, a road not taken.
This is no time to be pulling punches. The Jewish state of Israel is in grave, grave danger today. And the danger comes from both Iran and the current Israeli ruling coalition.
You see, I have never had any illusions about the macro reasons this war happened. It is the unfolding of an Iranian grand strategy to slowly destroy the Jewish state, weaken America’s Arab allies and undermine U.S. influence in the region — while deterring Israel from ever attacking Iran’s nuclear facilities — by using Iranian proxies to bleed Israel to death. That is the macro story.
The immediate trigger and goal of the war was a Hamas-Iranian interest to scuttle the Biden team’s diplomatic initiative to forge Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Saudi Arabia into a ring of peace.
The Iranian-Hamas counterstrategy was to ignite a ring of fire around Israel, using Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, pro-Iranian Shiite militias in Iraq and West Bank militants armed by Iran with weapons smuggled through Jordan. The Iranian strategy is exquisite from Tehran’s point of view: Destroy Israel by sacrificing as many Palestinians and Lebanese as necessary but never risk a single Iranian life. The Iranians are ready to die to the last Lebanese, the last Palestinian, the last Syrian and the last Yemeni to eliminate Israel (and distract the world from the Iranian regime’s abuses of its own people and imperialist control over Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq and Syria).
The problem for Israelis and the Jewish people is that while the Netanyahu government was right in its diagnosis that this was a war of annihilation, it refused to conduct the war in the only way that could hope to bring success — because that strategy ran counter to the political interests of the prime minister and the messianic ideological interests of his coalition.
Israel faces an existential threat from the outside, and its prime minister and his allies have been prioritizing their own political and ideological interests ahead of that. They have even lately resurrected their judicial coup attempt to crush the Israeli Supreme Court — in the middle of a war of national survival while hostages rot in Gaza. It is one of the most shameful episodes in Jewish history, and shame on the AIPAC pro-Israel lobby in Washington for not speaking out against it.
To counter this Iranian threat network, Israel needed four things: a lot of time, because this ring of fire could not be extinguished overnight; a lot of resources, particularly from the United States and other Western allies; a lot of Arab and European allies, because Israel cannot fight a war of attrition alone; and, perhaps most crucial of all, a lot of legitimacy.
President Biden and his team offered Israel a road map for that counterstrategy but, sadly, they just never had the steel to impose it on Netanyahu with a combination of leverage, diplomacy and ultimatums. Such a road map would have involved persuading America’s Arab allies to fundamentally reform the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank with new, credible leadership and then getting Israel to agree to open negotiations with that Palestinian Authority leadership on a long-term pathway to a two-state solution.
That would have done the following: 1) Opened the way to isolating and pressuring Hamas to agree to a cease-fire in which Israel gets out of Gaza in return for all the hostages — ending the war there and eliminating Hezbollah’s excuse for attacking Israel from the north. 2) Opened the way for Saudi Arabia to normalize relations with Israel — a devastating blow to Hamas and Iran. 3) Opened the way for the United Arab Emirates to partner with a reformed Palestinian Authority to put troops on the ground in Gaza and do the thing Hamas would hate most — replace it as the governing authority there, backed by hundreds of millions of dollars for rebuilding Gaza, which would probably make it the most popular Palestinian force in Gaza overnight.
Up to now, though, Bibi has turned Biden down (while openly playing footsie with Donald Trump) because the prime minister would have had to break with the right-wing crazies who brought him to power and form a different governing coalition with more moderate parties. Bibi has prioritized his personal political security over Israel’s national security. And for months, he’s been spinning the world and his own people to disguise it.
Netanyahu thought he could just tell the world that Israel was defending the frontier of freedom against Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis and Iran and everyone would fall in line behind Israel. What would you do? But the only place in the world that that gets you a standing ovation is in the U.S. Congress.
The rest of the world, particularly the moderate Arab states and the Europeans, told him: Bibi, you don’t have a clean story. You cannot tell the world you are defending the frontier of freedom against Hamas and Hezbollah while expanding — increasingly violently — Israel’s settler occupation over Palestinians in the West Bank. You don’t have a clean story.
So the Israeli prime minister opted instead for the Netanyahu doctrine: Fight alone on three fronts — Gaza, Lebanon and the West Bank — with no plan for the morning after anywhere. In doing so, he rejected the Biden strategy: Embed Israel in a U.S.-Israeli-moderate-Arab coalition that would isolate Iran and its proxies, provide some hope that maybe one day we’d see two states for two indigenous peoples between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean and make clear to the world that the source of trouble in the region is not the Party of God in Israel but the Parties of God in Lebanon, Yemen and Iran.
Netanyahu’s strategy is a disaster. As a veteran U.S. military commander who has observed close up Israel’s war strategy in Gaza told me privately, anyone with two eyes in his head knows that the only way to defeat Hamas is a strategy of “clear, hold and build”: Destroy the enemy, hold the territory and then build an alternative local, legitimate Palestinian governing authority. Israel’s strategy in Gaza, he said, has been: “Clear, leave, come back, clear again the same place, leave again, come back and clear again.”
It is a textbook example of how to transform Hamas, he added, “from a quasi-military to a classic insurgency.” Did you read the lead article on Haaretz online the day of the remarkable Israeli pager attack on Hezbollah? If you did, you’d have found four young Israeli soldiers killed that day battling Hamas in Gaza staring back at you — almost a year after the war there started. Almost daily now you also read of large numbers of Gazan civilians killed in an Israeli operation against a few Hamas fighters living among them. Meanwhile, no one is governing Gaza.
Yes, yes, I know the criticism: You are delusional. What Israeli or Palestinian leader would come together on such a plan? Well, two friends of mine have done just that: the former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert and the former Palestinian Authority foreign minister Nasser al-Qudwa. You can check out their plan for a two-state solution right here. Biden should invite them both to the Oval Office on Thursday to embrace their project, which is totally in line with U.S. interests.
I repeat: Israel is in terrible danger. It is fighting the most just war in its history — responding to the brutal, unprovoked murder and abduction of women and children and grandparents by Hamas — and yet today Israel is more of a pariah state than ever.
Why? Because when you fight a war like this with no political horizon for this long — one that denies any possibility for more-moderate Palestinians to govern Gaza — the Israeli military operation there just starts to look like endless killing for killing’s sake. That is just what Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran want.
There was always a road not taken. Do I know for sure it would work? Of course not. The only thing I know for sure is that the road that Netanyahu has Israel locked on now is a road to ruin, encircled by a ring of fire. Stay that course, and Israel’s most talented people will start to leave, and the Israel you knew will be gone forever. link Friedman's article is a brilliant analysis. One of the most important points he makes is what should have been done by Netanyahu and the government which would have insured a Gaza without Hamas, a return of all hostages, normalization with Saudi Arabia and others, a reformed Palestinian Authority and a path to peace with the Palestinians. What in fact happened was Netanyahu doing everything possible to thwart all of those positive steps which could have had monumental shifts in the entire Middle East which would have promised Israel a more prosperous future in peace. Netanyahu has never had a strategic plan, not throughout his premiership going back too many years, and not for a single day during the last year of war. His only strategy throughout is for his own personal political needs: to stay prime minister. His lack and refusal to have a strategic plan has made him the most dangerous person in Israel. He has personally doomed the hostages to death (those who may still be alive) and is responsible for the deaths of the hostages who were kidnapped alive and were killed in captivity, he has caused the war in Gaza to go on for a year without any exit strategy, is beginning a full scale war in the north that can become a regional war, has caused unimaginable damage to the Israeli economy and livelihood of so many, and, unfortunately the list of his damage goes on and on.
Friedman mentions the Olmert/Al Qudwa plan for a 2 state solution (link). As an FYI, my brother is the architect of this coming together.
For the second time amid the war, Moody’s is slated to announce later today that it’s downgrading Israel’s credit rating, according to Hebrew media reports.
The Ynet news site reports that the expected rating downgrade comes after unsuccessful efforts by the Prime Minister’s Office and Finance Ministry to convince Moody’s that the government is working to bring down the budget deficit to 4 percent, but the credit rating agency wasn’t sold. link Of course, the finance ministry could not convince Moody's, not when we have such an unqualified Finance Minister who is doing nothing constructive for the benefit of the Israeli economy. Unless it benefits his messianic missions of funding extreme religious education or for settlements, it doesn't interest him. And our weak link of a Prime Minister is allowing the economy go down the toilet as long as he can stay prime minister. That means continuing a multi-front war which could be a regional war, spitting in the face of the American Administration and damning the hostages to death. Neither of them care.
I know the focus of Washington right now is Lebanon - but, despite what Netanyahu says, Lebanon will not impact what happens in Gaza. Our main focus must be ending the war in Gaza and getting the hostages home now! We have got to get the Americans to use their team in Doha to pin down Hamas on the deal that Hamas already (unofficially) agreed to: The 3-weeks deal - ending the war, complete Israeli withdrawal from all of Gaza, the release of all 101 hostages and an agreed number and names of Palestinian prisoners from Israel, and on the transference of governance in Gaza to a professional-technocratic non-partisan, non-hamas government, including the transference of weapons and internal security to the new government. Hamas is on board despite any deniels it may make to journalists. Hamas lacks the experience in knowing how to negotiate and close the deal. They have too little experience in closing deals and they perceive every yes that they say as as something that weakens them in the negotiations. But I remind Hamas several times a day that as they wait and don't take ownership of the deal that they agree to, more destruction is taking place and more people are getting killed. Not a minute of time should be wasted on egos, lack of trust, and lack of experience. I repeat this message everyday to the US team headed by CIA Director Bill Burns. And once again, I remind President Biden that he will either be remembered as the Gaza War President, or as the President who ended the Gaza War! (Gershon Baskin, September 27, 2024)
“The statement was indeed coordinated with the Israeli side,” Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre tells reporters, adding that talks are continuing at the UN General Assembly in New York. link This is another case that the White House is to be totally believed and that Netanyahu and his office spread lies. It has been verified by multiple sources that Netanyahu gave the green light to discussions towards ad 21 day cease fire to give time to the international community to work out an acceptable diplomatic solution. Netanyahu, before boarding the plane to NY to speak at the UN. As soon as it was reported by the Israeli press, the extremist, messianic, war mongering coalition partners, Smotrich and Ben Gvir made statements that they would not allow that to happen. During this time, Netanyahu's new technologically sophisticated plane, Wings of Zion had communications problems for 4 hours until it landed in NY. Immediately, upon hearing the voices of the extremist who are leading Netanyahu by the nose in order for him to keep his failed coalition together and stay prime minister, Netanyahu made a statement filled with lies that he never gave the green light and that we will continue fighting with all our strength until the goals of the war are attained. Lies, lies, lies. Netanyahu is a pathological liar.
Why Everything Is Suddenly Spiraling for
Israel - An Opinion by Thomas Friedman - NY Times
What would you do?
There is no other question that Israel’s government has posed to the world more often since Hamas invaded Israel on Oct. 7 and Hezbollah attacked Israel on Oct. 8.
What would your country do if terrorists crossed your western border and killed, maimed, kidnapped or sexually abused hundreds of Israelis they encountered and the next day their Hezbollah allies sent rockets over your northern border, driving away thousands of civilians — all cheered on by Iran?
What would you do?
It is a powerful and relevant question and one that Israel’s critics often dodge.
But they aren’t the only ones dodging it.
This Israeli government, led by Benjamin Netanyahu, wants you and me and every Israeli and all of Israel’s friends — and even enemies — to believe that there was always only one right answer to that question: Invade Gaza, hunt down every Hamas leader and fighter, kill every last one and not be deterred by the civilian casualties, then pummel Hezbollah in Lebanon — and do both without spending time planning an exit strategy for either.
I’ve argued from Day 1 that it was a trap, a trap I’m sorry to say the Biden administration was not firm enough in stopping Israel from falling into and not firm enough in insisting on a better road, a road not taken.
This is no time to be pulling punches. The Jewish state of Israel is in grave, grave danger today. And the danger comes from both Iran and the current Israeli ruling coalition.
You see, I have never had any illusions about the macro reasons this war happened. It is the unfolding of an Iranian grand strategy to slowly destroy the Jewish state, weaken America’s Arab allies and undermine U.S. influence in the region — while deterring Israel from ever attacking Iran’s nuclear facilities — by using Iranian proxies to bleed Israel to death. That is the macro story.
The immediate trigger and goal of the war was a Hamas-Iranian interest to scuttle the Biden team’s diplomatic initiative to forge Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Saudi Arabia into a ring of peace.
The Iranian-Hamas counterstrategy was to ignite a ring of fire around Israel, using Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, pro-Iranian Shiite militias in Iraq and West Bank militants armed by Iran with weapons smuggled through Jordan. The Iranian strategy is exquisite from Tehran’s point of view: Destroy Israel by sacrificing as many Palestinians and Lebanese as necessary but never risk a single Iranian life. The Iranians are ready to die to the last Lebanese, the last Palestinian, the last Syrian and the last Yemeni to eliminate Israel (and distract the world from the Iranian regime’s abuses of its own people and imperialist control over Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq and Syria).
The problem for Israelis and the Jewish people is that while the Netanyahu government was right in its diagnosis that this was a war of annihilation, it refused to conduct the war in the only way that could hope to bring success — because that strategy ran counter to the political interests of the prime minister and the messianic ideological interests of his coalition.
Israel faces an existential threat from the outside, and its prime minister and his allies have been prioritizing their own political and ideological interests ahead of that. They have even lately resurrected their judicial coup attempt to crush the Israeli Supreme Court — in the middle of a war of national survival while hostages rot in Gaza. It is one of the most shameful episodes in Jewish history, and shame on the AIPAC pro-Israel lobby in Washington for not speaking out against it.
To counter this Iranian threat network, Israel needed four things: a lot of time, because this ring of fire could not be extinguished overnight; a lot of resources, particularly from the United States and other Western allies; a lot of Arab and European allies, because Israel cannot fight a war of attrition alone; and, perhaps most crucial of all, a lot of legitimacy.
President Biden and his team offered Israel a road map for that counterstrategy but, sadly, they just never had the steel to impose it on Netanyahu with a combination of leverage, diplomacy and ultimatums. Such a road map would have involved persuading America’s Arab allies to fundamentally reform the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank with new, credible leadership and then getting Israel to agree to open negotiations with that Palestinian Authority leadership on a long-term pathway to a two-state solution.
That would have done the following: 1) Opened the way to isolating and pressuring Hamas to agree to a cease-fire in which Israel gets out of Gaza in return for all the hostages — ending the war there and eliminating Hezbollah’s excuse for attacking Israel from the north. 2) Opened the way for Saudi Arabia to normalize relations with Israel — a devastating blow to Hamas and Iran. 3) Opened the way for the United Arab Emirates to partner with a reformed Palestinian Authority to put troops on the ground in Gaza and do the thing Hamas would hate most — replace it as the governing authority there, backed by hundreds of millions of dollars for rebuilding Gaza, which would probably make it the most popular Palestinian force in Gaza overnight.
Up to now, though, Bibi has turned Biden down (while openly playing footsie with Donald Trump) because the prime minister would have had to break with the right-wing crazies who brought him to power and form a different governing coalition with more moderate parties. Bibi has prioritized his personal political security over Israel’s national security. And for months, he’s been spinning the world and his own people to disguise it.
Netanyahu thought he could just tell the world that Israel was defending the frontier of freedom against Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis and Iran and everyone would fall in line behind Israel. What would you do? But the only place in the world that that gets you a standing ovation is in the U.S. Congress.
The rest of the world, particularly the moderate Arab states and the Europeans, told him: Bibi, you don’t have a clean story. You cannot tell the world you are defending the frontier of freedom against Hamas and Hezbollah while expanding — increasingly violently — Israel’s settler occupation over Palestinians in the West Bank. You don’t have a clean story.
So the Israeli prime minister opted instead for the Netanyahu doctrine: Fight alone on three fronts — Gaza, Lebanon and the West Bank — with no plan for the morning after anywhere. In doing so, he rejected the Biden strategy: Embed Israel in a U.S.-Israeli-moderate-Arab coalition that would isolate Iran and its proxies, provide some hope that maybe one day we’d see two states for two indigenous peoples between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean and make clear to the world that the source of trouble in the region is not the Party of God in Israel but the Parties of God in Lebanon, Yemen and Iran.
Netanyahu’s strategy is a disaster. As a veteran U.S. military commander who has observed close up Israel’s war strategy in Gaza told me privately, anyone with two eyes in his head knows that the only way to defeat Hamas is a strategy of “clear, hold and build”: Destroy the enemy, hold the territory and then build an alternative local, legitimate Palestinian governing authority. Israel’s strategy in Gaza, he said, has been: “Clear, leave, come back, clear again the same place, leave again, come back and clear again.”
It is a textbook example of how to transform Hamas, he added, “from a quasi-military to a classic insurgency.” Did you read the lead article on Haaretz online the day of the remarkable Israeli pager attack on Hezbollah? If you did, you’d have found four young Israeli soldiers killed that day battling Hamas in Gaza staring back at you — almost a year after the war there started. Almost daily now you also read of large numbers of Gazan civilians killed in an Israeli operation against a few Hamas fighters living among them. Meanwhile, no one is governing Gaza.
Yes, yes, I know the criticism: You are delusional. What Israeli or Palestinian leader would come together on such a plan? Well, two friends of mine have done just that: the former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert and the former Palestinian Authority foreign minister Nasser al-Qudwa. You can check out their plan for a two-state solution right here. Biden should invite them both to the Oval Office on Thursday to embrace their project, which is totally in line with U.S. interests.
I repeat: Israel is in terrible danger. It is fighting the most just war in its history — responding to the brutal, unprovoked murder and abduction of women and children and grandparents by Hamas — and yet today Israel is more of a pariah state than ever.
Why? Because when you fight a war like this with no political horizon for this long — one that denies any possibility for more-moderate Palestinians to govern Gaza — the Israeli military operation there just starts to look like endless killing for killing’s sake. That is just what Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran want.
There was always a road not taken. Do I know for sure it would work? Of course not. The only thing I know for sure is that the road that Netanyahu has Israel locked on now is a road to ruin, encircled by a ring of fire. Stay that course, and Israel’s most talented people will start to leave, and the Israel you knew will be gone forever. link Friedman's article is a brilliant analysis. One of the most important points he makes is what should have been done by Netanyahu and the government which would have insured a Gaza without Hamas, a return of all hostages, normalization with Saudi Arabia and others, a reformed Palestinian Authority and a path to peace with the Palestinians. What in fact happened was Netanyahu doing everything possible to thwart all of those positive steps which could have had monumental shifts in the entire Middle East which would have promised Israel a more prosperous future in peace. Netanyahu has never had a strategic plan, not throughout his premiership going back too many years, and not for a single day during the last year of war. His only strategy throughout is for his own personal political needs: to stay prime minister. His lack and refusal to have a strategic plan has made him the most dangerous person in Israel. He has personally doomed the hostages to death (those who may still be alive) and is responsible for the deaths of the hostages who were kidnapped alive and were killed in captivity, he has caused the war in Gaza to go on for a year without any exit strategy, is beginning a full scale war in the north that can become a regional war, has caused unimaginable damage to the Israeli economy and livelihood of so many, and, unfortunately the list of his damage goes on and on.
Friedman mentions the Olmert/Al Qudwa plan for a 2 state solution (link). As an FYI, my brother is the architect of this coming together.
For the second time amid the war, Moody’s is slated to announce later today that it’s downgrading Israel’s credit rating, according to Hebrew media reports.
The Ynet news site reports that the expected rating downgrade comes after unsuccessful efforts by the Prime Minister’s Office and Finance Ministry to convince Moody’s that the government is working to bring down the budget deficit to 4 percent, but the credit rating agency wasn’t sold. link Of course, the finance ministry could not convince Moody's, not when we have such an unqualified Finance Minister who is doing nothing constructive for the benefit of the Israeli economy. Unless it benefits his messianic missions of funding extreme religious education or for settlements, it doesn't interest him. And our weak link of a Prime Minister is allowing the economy go down the toilet as long as he can stay prime minister. That means continuing a multi-front war which could be a regional war, spitting in the face of the American Administration and damning the hostages to death. Neither of them care.
The Region and the World
- The leader of Yemen’s Houthis says the Iran-backed rebels “will not hesitate to support Lebanon and Hezbollah” as cross-border fire between the Lebanon-based terror group and Israel intensifies.
In a televised address, Abdul Malik al-Huthi condemns Israeli strikes on Lebanon, saying they aim to block Hezbollah, also backed by Iran, from “supporting Gaza and the Palestinian people.”
Supporters of Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels gather for a rally in the Houthi-held capital Sanaa on September 15, 2024, to commemorate the birth of the Prophet Muhammad, known in Arabic as 'al-Mawlid al-Nabawi.' (Abdallah Adel/AFP)Since November, the Houthis have targeted Red Sea shipping with drones and missiles, saying it was in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza war which was sparked by Hamas’s October 7 massacre on Israel. full article
The Philippines says it will evacuate 11,000 citizens from Lebanon the moment Israeli forces cross the border to launch a ground offensive against Hezbollah.
“A ground invasion will lead to mandatory repatriation,” Foreign Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega says at a press conference in Manila, adding that the plan is to move thousands out of the country via the sea. He did not provide other details.
Manila had earlier urged Filipinos to leave Lebanon before airlines stopped flying to Beirut, but most of its citizens did not heed the call, Filipino diplomats say.
Millions of Filipinos work overseas — with large numbers concentrated in the Middle East — due to limited job opportunities at home. Around 90 percent of those working in Lebanon are women migrant domestic workers.
“To some of them, getting killed in war is preferable to starving to death,” de Vega says, adding there have so far been no Filipino casualties from the Israeli air campaign against Hezbollah.
So far, only 500 Filipinos have taken up the government’s offer to leave Lebanon, De Vega says.
Anthony Mandap, consul-general at the Philippine embassy in Tel Aviv, says there are no plans as of now to repatriate some 30,000 Filipinos working in Israel.
Four Filipinos were murdered in Hamas’s October 7 onslaught and two were kidnapped — including a dual Israeli-Filipino citizen — and later released.
US Navy warships going through the Bab al-Mandab Strait intercepted a number of projectiles fired by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis, a US official says.
The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, says that the projectiles included both missiles and drones and there was no damage to any of the three warships in the area. The official is citing initial information, which can change.
The Houthis said earlier today that they targeted three US destroyers in the Red Sea with 23 ballistic and winged missiles and a drone.
Personal Stories **"For Me, It's a Mission to Bring Him Home. It's Not Over Yet."**
Ziv Avod and her partner, Elia Cohen, attended the Nova Festival together. They reached the death shelter at Re’im along with her nephew, Amit Ben Avideh, and his partner Karin Schwartzman (of blessed memory). Amit and Karin were murdered, and Elia was kidnapped to Gaza. Ziv was injured and has since been fighting tirelessly for his release from captivity.
Ziv Avod is the partner who has made every possible gesture to bring Elia home. She wore a yellow dress on the 100th day since his abduction, adorned with photos of her beloved, and walked around the hostages' square. On Tu B’Av, she sat in a festive red dress on the Tel Aviv promenade at a fully set table, with a pasta dish and romantic candles, waiting for her date, who remains in Gaza. She is herself a survivor of the Nova Festival, from the death shelter where Elia was kidnapped and where her nephew and his partner were killed. Ziv was saved by a civilian who evacuated her under fire to Soroka Hospital. "I know his name is Eyal, and his son was also killed on October 7th. He had come to rescue his son but couldn't, though he managed to save us. I had shrapnel wounds all over my body."
**How was it returning to the shelter where it all happened?**
"The first time I went back to the shelter was with my sister, who had become a bereaved mother. My nephew Amit was with me inside the shelter and was killed along with his partner. The first time, I was completely detached emotionally, cold as ice. This time, during the filming, everything came rushing back, especially when I realized how much time had passed and how nothing had changed, and how Elia is still in captivity. I'm still somewhat emotionally detached, but to think that I was there inside... suddenly seeing how small it was—it felt against all odds. The distance between where I sat and where my nephew sat, I could have stretched out my leg and touched him. In that same shelter was also Aner Shapira, whose parents I met. From our shelter, seven people, including me, survived."
**How did you end up there?**
"We left the festival area. I looked at the sky and told Elia something unusual was happening, but I didn’t fully grasp how much. We were among the first to leave the party. We drove on Route 232 until Elia’s cousin called, saying they were being shot at and to get off the road. We thought the shooting was coming from the border and that the IDF would come soon and end this saga. We didn’t think it was a mass event, but rather a few gunmen shooting from the fence. Who even thinks, especially after leaving a party, and a little tipsy? We decided to get out of the car, feeling responsible for Amit (19) and Karin (20), who were about seven years younger than us. We wanted to protect them and do the right thing for them."
**What was the dynamic inside the shelter?**
"There were crying and shaking people, but we heard them getting closer, so we stayed as quiet as possible. Before reaching us, they were in other shelters, so they knew people were hiding inside. Within minutes, they fired live rounds into the shelter and threw grenades inside, all while abducting people and loading them onto trucks. Around 1 PM, I noticed I had cell reception and called my parents. My cousin answered, and I told her Amit and Karin weren’t responding. She asked me to check if they had a pulse, and I did what I could manage emotionally at that moment, but I understood there was no chance. At that point, she told me Elia was okay because there were pictures of him alive online."
**When did you realize Elia had been kidnapped?**
"The last time we saw Elia was in a photo Hamas uploaded, showing him in a hospital in Gaza, alive. No one who returned from captivity was held with Elia, and we have no other information except for that video. The families of the hostages rarely talk to those who returned, to avoid triggering them and disturbing their peace and healing. I saw the video on Telegram, and because I manage the social media pages for Elia’s return, I deal with this content all the time."
Before the war, they lived as a couple in a unit at her family’s home. "It took me half a year to return there. I found out that Elia had planned to propose when I was interviewed on TV with his mom. There were commercials right before we went on air, and she casually mentioned it—that there was already a ring. I always knew we’d get married, and it was close, but I didn’t know he had already planned everything. I have no idea where the ring is—it’s not in our home, or maybe I didn’t search well enough. And I did search."
**How much of your day is dedicated to this fight?**
"I'm 100% in it—both me and Elia's mom. Delegations, being at the headquarters, raising awareness, speaking to the media. Elia's father is a disabled IDF veteran, so he does what he can, and the two of us simply don’t stop. I haven’t gone back to work, and certainly not to regular life. I'm taking care of myself and my mental health so that when Elia returns, I can be a stable, sane ground for him because we don't even know how he'll come back. One of the thoughts that goes through my head most often is what we'll do when he comes back and how we’ll cope. I imagine the moment. We're happy for every family whose loved ones returned, but I’d be lying if I said there's not a little feeling of envy, of 'When will it be our turn?'"
**And you've been through something incredibly difficult yourself.**
"I don’t fully understand that I went through it. And I can’t truly grasp that my nephew and his partner won’t come back—that this is our story. I function like a robot, doing what needs to be done and more to bring him home, but I haven’t really processed that this is my reality. Elia is a trance party producer. We came to Nova as attendees, as colleagues of the producers. Elia is a well-known figure in the party scene, and we knew so many people who survived, were murdered, or are still hostages. I haven’t joined the discussion groups, the retreats survivors went to abroad, or the parties that have resumed, because for me, I’m on a mission—a mission to bring him home. It’s not over yet, and I’ll start focusing on myself when there’s time. I'm in emotional therapy, touch therapy, and Shiatsu. Everything else is dedicated to the fight. At night, reality hits hard, and that's when the breakdowns happen, making it hard to get out of bed the next day."
https://www.israelhayom.co.il/news/education/article/15307451
In a televised address, Abdul Malik al-Huthi condemns Israeli strikes on Lebanon, saying they aim to block Hezbollah, also backed by Iran, from “supporting Gaza and the Palestinian people.”
Since November, the Houthis have targeted Red Sea shipping with drones and missiles, saying it was in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza war which was sparked by Hamas’s October 7 massacre on Israel. full article
The Philippines says it will evacuate 11,000 citizens from Lebanon the moment Israeli forces cross the border to launch a ground offensive against Hezbollah.
“A ground invasion will lead to mandatory repatriation,” Foreign Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega says at a press conference in Manila, adding that the plan is to move thousands out of the country via the sea. He did not provide other details.
Manila had earlier urged Filipinos to leave Lebanon before airlines stopped flying to Beirut, but most of its citizens did not heed the call, Filipino diplomats say.
Millions of Filipinos work overseas — with large numbers concentrated in the Middle East — due to limited job opportunities at home. Around 90 percent of those working in Lebanon are women migrant domestic workers.
“To some of them, getting killed in war is preferable to starving to death,” de Vega says, adding there have so far been no Filipino casualties from the Israeli air campaign against Hezbollah.
So far, only 500 Filipinos have taken up the government’s offer to leave Lebanon, De Vega says.
Anthony Mandap, consul-general at the Philippine embassy in Tel Aviv, says there are no plans as of now to repatriate some 30,000 Filipinos working in Israel.
Four Filipinos were murdered in Hamas’s October 7 onslaught and two were kidnapped — including a dual Israeli-Filipino citizen — and later released.
US Navy warships going through the Bab al-Mandab Strait intercepted a number of projectiles fired by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis, a US official says.
The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, says that the projectiles included both missiles and drones and there was no damage to any of the three warships in the area. The official is citing initial information, which can change.
The Houthis said earlier today that they targeted three US destroyers in the Red Sea with 23 ballistic and winged missiles and a drone.
Dark Legacy - The Abandonment of October 7th Hostages
Where You Spread Hate We Will Bring Love
Yossi Levi-Belz
Clinical Psychologist, Head of The Lior
Tsfaty
Center for Suicide & Mental Pain
Studies at the Rupin Academic Center.
Our beloved State of Israel is currently
under grave threat, both from within and from without. The external military
attack has been met by a strong and determined army. Against the attack from
within, we have repeatedly recruited the strongest army in the world - the
brave beating hearts of the democratic protest movement. And like our armed
forces, this army of the people will not be defeated. And these brave hearts,
these people who love their country so much that they will take to the streets time
and time again to fight for the return of the hostages and the soul of their
country, they will not accept the lies.
We can see, Mr. Prime Minister. We can
see your attempts to sow split and discord. We can see your failures on every
aspect of public policy.
We can see your lies, your efforts to
ruin every last vestige of rationality and truth, logic, morality and values.
The psychological term for what we are going through is moral injury brought
about by betrayal. This is the experience of a people with leaders who fail to
meet the most basic moral standards, or to obey even the pretense of a
conscience. This is a crisis which has a profound effect upon our entire
society.
The journey to mend our country will not
be an easy one. The journey to restore Israel to a sane, just, loving and
compassionate place will not be simple. The journey to bring all the hostages
back may not be a short term process. But this is the task we have to take upon
ourselves, to be the antibodies to all the ills you have brought upon us. Our
mission now is to follow our values and change reality.
But where you sow dissent, we will grow
strong bonds. Where you spread hate, we will bring love. Where you want to see
destruction, we will rebuild.
Where you act in abandonment and
reckless neglect, we will establish a world of solidarity, belonging and
justice. Never underestimate the power of the beating hearts, our love for our
country, or our willingness to do everything so that our brothers and sisters
will return home from captivity in Gaza.
But before my words run out, I will stop
writing about that person, and - from the bottom of my heart - address you, the
readers, to tell you—tell us - that we are up to this task. If we simply keep reminding
ourselves that we are taking the only possible action, that we rise every
morning to fight for the most important values, that with our bodies, souls,
and hearts we are guiding the course of our nation and saving Israel from destruction,
then we can gather more strength and hope for the journey we have embarked on.
It is so painful to think about our
kidnapped brothers in Gaza day in and day out, and it is so painful to witness
their abandonment, all our values betrayed. But we will triumph over all of these
ills, because we are united.
No force in the world can resist the
hearts of the righteous, those marching on the journey to rescue Israel and to
rescue the hostages. We are here, and we will not go anywhere until healing
begins, until the hostages return, until our leadership changes. Until they are
gone from our lives. This is the antibody to the moral injury we are
undergoing, and it is beginning to take effect.
Where You Spread Hate We Will Bring Love
Yossi Levi-Belz
Clinical Psychologist, Head of The Lior
Tsfaty
Center for Suicide & Mental Pain
Studies at the Rupin Academic Center.
Our beloved State of Israel is currently
under grave threat, both from within and from without. The external military
attack has been met by a strong and determined army. Against the attack from
within, we have repeatedly recruited the strongest army in the world - the
brave beating hearts of the democratic protest movement. And like our armed
forces, this army of the people will not be defeated. And these brave hearts,
these people who love their country so much that they will take to the streets time
and time again to fight for the return of the hostages and the soul of their
country, they will not accept the lies.
We can see, Mr. Prime Minister. We can
see your attempts to sow split and discord. We can see your failures on every
aspect of public policy.
We can see your lies, your efforts to
ruin every last vestige of rationality and truth, logic, morality and values.
The psychological term for what we are going through is moral injury brought
about by betrayal. This is the experience of a people with leaders who fail to
meet the most basic moral standards, or to obey even the pretense of a
conscience. This is a crisis which has a profound effect upon our entire
society.
The journey to mend our country will not
be an easy one. The journey to restore Israel to a sane, just, loving and
compassionate place will not be simple. The journey to bring all the hostages
back may not be a short term process. But this is the task we have to take upon
ourselves, to be the antibodies to all the ills you have brought upon us. Our
mission now is to follow our values and change reality.
But where you sow dissent, we will grow
strong bonds. Where you spread hate, we will bring love. Where you want to see
destruction, we will rebuild.
Where you act in abandonment and
reckless neglect, we will establish a world of solidarity, belonging and
justice. Never underestimate the power of the beating hearts, our love for our
country, or our willingness to do everything so that our brothers and sisters
will return home from captivity in Gaza.
But before my words run out, I will stop
writing about that person, and - from the bottom of my heart - address you, the
readers, to tell you—tell us - that we are up to this task. If we simply keep reminding
ourselves that we are taking the only possible action, that we rise every
morning to fight for the most important values, that with our bodies, souls,
and hearts we are guiding the course of our nation and saving Israel from destruction,
then we can gather more strength and hope for the journey we have embarked on.
It is so painful to think about our
kidnapped brothers in Gaza day in and day out, and it is so painful to witness
their abandonment, all our values betrayed. But we will triumph over all of these
ills, because we are united.
No force in the world can resist the
hearts of the righteous, those marching on the journey to rescue Israel and to
rescue the hostages. We are here, and we will not go anywhere until healing
begins, until the hostages return, until our leadership changes. Until they are
gone from our lives. This is the antibody to the moral injury we are
undergoing, and it is beginning to take effect.
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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