π️Lonny's War Update- October 360, 2023 - September 30, 2024 π️
π️Day 360 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!!!”
Dekel told about his grandmother Yocheved 85 years old who was held captive in Gaza for 2.5 weeks. his grandfather Oded Lifshitz 83 years old is still held captive in Gaza.
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
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
*6:40pm yesterday - north - rockets/missiles*9:15pm yesterday - north - rockets/missiles
*2:00am - north - rockets/missiles
*9:40am-north - rockets/missiles
*11:10am -north - rockets/missiles *11:30am - north - rockets/missiles
*12:20pm - north - rockets/missiles
*3:10pm - north - rockets/missiles -Some 35 rockets were launched from Lebanon at northern Israel this afternoon, setting off sirens in the Western Galilee, the IDF says. According to the military, some of the rockets were intercepted and others impacted in the Western Galilee. There are no reports of injuries.Meanwhile, the IDF says that dozens of Hezbollah targets were struck in Lebanon today, including command rooms, weapon depots, cells of operatives, rocket launchers and other infrastructure.
*3:40pm - north - rockets/missiles
*4:20pm - north - rockets/missiles
*2:00am - north - rockets/missiles
*9:40am-north - rockets/missiles
*11:10am -north - rockets/missiles
*12:20pm - north - rockets/missiles
*3:10pm - north - rockets/missiles -Some 35 rockets were launched from Lebanon at northern Israel this afternoon, setting off sirens in the Western Galilee, the IDF says. According to the military, some of the rockets were intercepted and others impacted in the Western Galilee. There are no reports of injuries.
Meanwhile, the IDF says that dozens of Hezbollah targets were struck in Lebanon today, including command rooms, weapon depots, cells of operatives, rocket launchers and other infrastructure.
*3:40pm - north - rockets/missiles*4:20pm - north - rockets/missiles
Hostage Updates
WHAT ABOUT THE HOSTAGES?
The news of the last weeks have taken the hostages off of the news platforms entirely. Of course, it is important the news of the beepers and the killing of Nasrallah, but our most important issue is the Hostages. This country can never hope to begin to heal and get back the feeling of safety and security until the hostages are home. No matter how great the IDF successes will be in Lebanon, even in Gaza, without the Hostages, there is no victory and our country cannot have any hope for a future of Israel being what it was before October 7.
A small protest calling for the release of the hostages held in Gaza is held outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s private residence in Jerusalem.
The protesters carry posters of ministers under the slogan “Cabinet of death,” as well as images of some of the hostages.
It is believed that 97 of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 33 confirmed dead by the IDF.
Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers who were killed in 2014.
Hostage Updates
- WHAT ABOUT THE HOSTAGES?
The news of the last weeks have taken the hostages off of the news platforms entirely. Of course, it is important the news of the beepers and the killing of Nasrallah, but our most important issue is the Hostages. This country can never hope to begin to heal and get back the feeling of safety and security until the hostages are home. No matter how great the IDF successes will be in Lebanon, even in Gaza, without the Hostages, there is no victory and our country cannot have any hope for a future of Israel being what it was before October 7. A small protest calling for the release of the hostages held in Gaza is held outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s private residence in Jerusalem.
The protesters carry posters of ministers under the slogan “Cabinet of death,” as well as images of some of the hostages.
It is believed that 97 of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 33 confirmed dead by the IDF.
Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers who were killed in 2014.
Gaza
Northern Israel - Lebanon/Hizbollah/Syria
Israel is planning a limited ground operation in Lebanon that may start imminently, Israel has told the United States, the Washington Post reports citing an unidentified US official.
The operation will be smaller than Israel’s 2006 war against Hezbollah and will focus on security for border communities, the official says. -- the problem with a statement like this is we can know how we will start a full scale war or a limited ground incursion but there is no way to know how it will end. No one planned for us to have troops in Lebanon for 18 years!
Lebanon’s army on Sunday warned the Lebanese public against actions that would disturb public order in the crisis-hit country after Israel’s killing of Hassan Nasrallah, leader of the powerful Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group.
The army in a statement said it “calls on citizens to preserve national unity and not to be drawn into actions that may affect civil peace at this dangerous and delicate stage,” following the massive Friday strike that killed Nasrallah and other top commanders, as Israeli attacks continue.
“The Israeli enemy is working to implement its destructive plans and sow division among Lebanese,” the army statement added.
Tiny Lebanon has long been divided along sectarian lines and witnessed a devastating 1975-1990 civil war.
Hezbollah, the Shiite group that wields great power in Lebanon and whose military might is widely believed to dwarf Lebanon’s armed forces, has drawn criticism from some Lebanese politicians over its decision to open a “support front” against Israel last October.
Hezbollah has been shooting rockets and drones into Israel almost daily since October 8, 2023, in the immediate wake of its ally Hamas’s cross-border terror onslaught in southern Israel, which started the ongoing war in Gaza.
After a year of daily tit-for-tat strikes, Israel has ramped up its fighting against Hezbollah in recent weeks, launching waves of airstrikes targeting top commanders, infrastructure, and weapons storage sites, after attacks on operatives’ personal communications devices that were also widely blamed on Israel.
A Lebanese army official told AFP on Sunday that troops had been deployed since Saturday in Beirut, where thousands have sought refuge from intense Israeli raids on Lebanon’s south and east and on Hezbollah’s south Beirut bastion.
Prime Minister Najib Mikati urged Lebanese “to come together” to preserve civil order.
“Our national responsibility at this historic and exceptional moment requires setting aside political differences,” he said on Saturday, after cutting short a New York trip.
Intense Israeli attacks may have forced up to a million people to flee parts of Lebanon, the president said, which would amount to roughly a sixth of Lebanon’s population.
“It is the largest displacement movement that may have happened… in Lebanon,” he said.
Earlier this week, UN refugee chief Filippo Grandi said “well over 200,000 people are displaced inside Lebanon” and more than 50,000 had fled to neighboring Syria. The parties traditionally opposed to the powerful Iran-backed group have refrained from making fiery statements following Nasrallah’s killing.
The Lebanese Forces, a Christian party widely viewed as one of Hezbollah’s fiercest critics, even ordered supporters to go “radio silent” on social media in a message circulated on their groups, a source close to the party told AFP.
On Saturday, former prime minister Saad Hariri called on Lebanese to “rise above differences,” adding that Nasrallah’s killing “has plunged Lebanon and the region into a new phase of violence.”
An international court had found that Hezbollah operatives were behind the 2005 killing of his father Rafic Hariri, also a former Lebanese premier.
Meanwhile, Lebanon’s Information Minister Ziad Makary said during a cabinet session on Sunday that diplomatic efforts for a ceasefire with Israel were underway.
“It is certain that the Lebanese government wants a ceasefire, and everyone knows that [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu went to New York based on the premise of a ceasefire, but the decision was made to assassinate Nasrallah,” Makary said.
Netanyahu traveled to New York several days ago for the United Nations General Assembly, as the US, France and other western nations were discussing a potential 21-day ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
Despite reportedly signaling his endorsement of the plan in private, Netanyahu ultimately rejected the proposal, shortly before approving the strike that killed Nasrallah on Friday.
“Diplomatic efforts to achieve a ceasefire are ongoing,” Makary said, adding that Nakati “is not falling short, but the matter is not that easy.” link
Israeli troops have entered Hezbollah tunnels dug near the border with Israel as part of small-scale forays into southern Lebanon, as it gears up for a threatened ground incursion, according to a report in a US newspaper Monday.
Reports in foreign press in recent days have indicated that Israel Defense Forces soldiers have been carrying out limited cross-border raids to collect information or damage Hezbollah’s capabilities to attack Israel.
According to the Monday report in The Wall Street Journal, the missions, described as “targeted,” have involved special forces entering a network of subterranean warrens Hezbollah is widely understood to have dug near the Blue Line separating Israel from Lebanon.
The report, which cited unnamed sources familiar with the matter, said the raids have taken place over the past months, as well as more recently, with troops “probing” and gathering intelligence, as activity ramps up ahead of a possible ground offensive.
Israel has stepped up fighting against Hezbollah in recent weeks as it seeks to push the group away from the border and halt nearly a year of rocket and drone attacks on northern Israel that have left a swath of Israeli towns scarred and uninhabited.
The push has included heavy airstrikes on Hezbollah’s leadership, including a Friday strike that killed its chief, Hassan Nasrallah, attacks on weapons stores and missile launchers and actions of a more covert nature, such as a wave of electronic device explosions that killed dozens of members of the Iran-backed group, but which has not been claimed by Israel.
According to The Wall Street Journal, a wider troop incursion could occur as early as this week, significantly ramping up fighting, though some have interpreted increasingly bellicose comments from Israel on the possibility of a ground war as part of a campaign meant to pressure a weakened Hezbollah into withdrawing as part of a ceasefire. full article
The IDF confirms carrying out an airstrike in the Lebanese capital of Beirut overnight, killing the commander of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) in Lebanon and at least two other operatives.
According to the military and Shin Bet, Nidal Abd al-Aal was involved in planning and advancing terror attacks in the West Bank.
The IDF and Shin Bet say al-Aal was behind a bombing attack on a bus in the settlement of Beitar Illit in March 2023, as well as a shooting attack in Huwara in the same month, the latter of which wounded two soldiers.
Alongside him, Imad Odeh, a PFLP military commander, and another operative, Abdelrahman Abd al-Aal, were killed in the strike.
The commander of Hezbollah’s medium-range rockets unit was killed in an airstrike on Saturday in the Lebanese capital of Beirut, the military announces.
Eid Hassan Nashar was a “veteran commander” in Hezbollah and was a “central source of knowledge in the field of rockets,” the IDF says.
He previously served as the head of the surface-to-surface missile unit, and the deputy of the Badr regional unit, according to the military.
Most of Hezbollah’s leadership, including the commander of its rocket and missile division, Ibrahim Qubaisi, have been killed by Israel in recent weeks. Other top commanders in the division have also been killed.
The IDF says it also struck caches of medium-range rockets, which can reach up to 200 kilometers, in recent airstrikes in Lebanon.
The Lebanese government is ready to fully implement a UN resolution that had aimed to end Hezbollah’s armed presence south of the Litani River, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati says.
Mikati says Lebanon is ready to fully implement the 2006 UN Security Council Resolution 1701 and deploy the Lebanese army south of the river, which lies about 30 km (around 20 miles) from Lebanon’s southern border.
Hezbollah is barred under UN Security Council Resolution 1701 from maintaining a military presence south of the Litani, however the terror group has blatantly violated that resolution.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant strongly hinted today that the IDF was preparing to launch a ground offensive to remove the terror group from the border area and allow 60,000 displaced Israelis to return home in northern Israel.
Mikati also says he and House Speaker Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally, had agreed that electing a new president to end a near two-year vacancy at the top post would only happen after a potential ceasefire takes hold. The comments were delivered after the pair met in Beirut. link The idea and proposal to deploy the Lebanese army south of the Litani as it was supposed to be as of the end of the Second Lebanese War. Unfortunately, the Lebanese army is barely an army. They don't have many soldiers, equipment or budget. Unless some of the other Arab countries, particularly the gulf states, don't provide funding and training, this can never happen effectively.
The IDF and Shin Bet in a joint statement confirm that the commander of Hamas in Lebanon was killed in an airstrike overnight.
The statement describes Fateh Sherif as the “head of the Lebanon branch of the Hamas terror organization.”
According to the military, Sherif was responsible for coordinating Hamas’s activity in Lebanon with Hezbollah, as well as Hamas’s “force build-up efforts in Lebanon, in the field of recruiting operatives and procuring weapons.”
He “worked to advance the interests of Hamas in [Lebanon], both politically and militarily,” the statement says.
UNRWA confirmed that Sherif was employed by the agency for Palestinian refugees, but says he was being probed over his political activities. According to Lebanese media, Sherif was killed in a strike on the al-Bass refugee camp in the southern Lebanese city of Tyre.
The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees confirms that Fateh Sherif, named by Hamas as its leader in Lebanon, was employed by UNRWA, but notes that he was being probed over his political activities.
Sherif was killed today in an airstrike on the al-Bass refugee camp in the southern Lebanese city of Tyre, along with his wife and children. Reports indicate he had been the principal of the UNRWA-run Deir Yassin Secondary School in al-Bass.
“Fateh Al Sharif was an UNRWA employee who was put on administrative leave without pay in March, and was undergoing an investigation following allegations that UNRWA received about his political activities,” UNRWA says in response to a Times of Israel query.
In March, UNRWA told Reuters that Sherif had been suspended for three months over allegations of involvement in activities “that are in violation of the Agency’s regulatory framework governing staff conduct.”
At the time, the suspension sparked widespread protests and strikes by teachers in Lebanon.
The IDF releases footage of the drone interception over the sea in northern Israel this morning by a Navy ship.
The military has not yet specified where the drone was launched from, but according to its initial assessments, it may have been heading for offshore infrastructure at the Karish gas field. video
Israel is planning a limited ground operation in Lebanon that may start imminently, Israel has told the United States, the Washington Post reports citing an unidentified US official.
The operation will be smaller than Israel’s 2006 war against Hezbollah and will focus on security for border communities, the official says. -- the problem with a statement like this is we can know how we will start a full scale war or a limited ground incursion but there is no way to know how it will end. No one planned for us to have troops in Lebanon for 18 years!
Lebanon’s army on Sunday warned the Lebanese public against actions that would disturb public order in the crisis-hit country after Israel’s killing of Hassan Nasrallah, leader of the powerful Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group.
The army in a statement said it “calls on citizens to preserve national unity and not to be drawn into actions that may affect civil peace at this dangerous and delicate stage,” following the massive Friday strike that killed Nasrallah and other top commanders, as Israeli attacks continue.
“The Israeli enemy is working to implement its destructive plans and sow division among Lebanese,” the army statement added.
Tiny Lebanon has long been divided along sectarian lines and witnessed a devastating 1975-1990 civil war.
Hezbollah, the Shiite group that wields great power in Lebanon and whose military might is widely believed to dwarf Lebanon’s armed forces, has drawn criticism from some Lebanese politicians over its decision to open a “support front” against Israel last October.
Hezbollah has been shooting rockets and drones into Israel almost daily since October 8, 2023, in the immediate wake of its ally Hamas’s cross-border terror onslaught in southern Israel, which started the ongoing war in Gaza.
After a year of daily tit-for-tat strikes, Israel has ramped up its fighting against Hezbollah in recent weeks, launching waves of airstrikes targeting top commanders, infrastructure, and weapons storage sites, after attacks on operatives’ personal communications devices that were also widely blamed on Israel.
A Lebanese army official told AFP on Sunday that troops had been deployed since Saturday in Beirut, where thousands have sought refuge from intense Israeli raids on Lebanon’s south and east and on Hezbollah’s south Beirut bastion.
Prime Minister Najib Mikati urged Lebanese “to come together” to preserve civil order.
“Our national responsibility at this historic and exceptional moment requires setting aside political differences,” he said on Saturday, after cutting short a New York trip.
Intense Israeli attacks may have forced up to a million people to flee parts of Lebanon, the president said, which would amount to roughly a sixth of Lebanon’s population.
“It is the largest displacement movement that may have happened… in Lebanon,” he said.
Earlier this week, UN refugee chief Filippo Grandi said “well over 200,000 people are displaced inside Lebanon” and more than 50,000 had fled to neighboring Syria. The parties traditionally opposed to the powerful Iran-backed group have refrained from making fiery statements following Nasrallah’s killing.
The Lebanese Forces, a Christian party widely viewed as one of Hezbollah’s fiercest critics, even ordered supporters to go “radio silent” on social media in a message circulated on their groups, a source close to the party told AFP.
On Saturday, former prime minister Saad Hariri called on Lebanese to “rise above differences,” adding that Nasrallah’s killing “has plunged Lebanon and the region into a new phase of violence.”
An international court had found that Hezbollah operatives were behind the 2005 killing of his father Rafic Hariri, also a former Lebanese premier.
Meanwhile, Lebanon’s Information Minister Ziad Makary said during a cabinet session on Sunday that diplomatic efforts for a ceasefire with Israel were underway.
“It is certain that the Lebanese government wants a ceasefire, and everyone knows that [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu went to New York based on the premise of a ceasefire, but the decision was made to assassinate Nasrallah,” Makary said.
Netanyahu traveled to New York several days ago for the United Nations General Assembly, as the US, France and other western nations were discussing a potential 21-day ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
Despite reportedly signaling his endorsement of the plan in private, Netanyahu ultimately rejected the proposal, shortly before approving the strike that killed Nasrallah on Friday.
“Diplomatic efforts to achieve a ceasefire are ongoing,” Makary said, adding that Nakati “is not falling short, but the matter is not that easy.” link
Israeli troops have entered Hezbollah tunnels dug near the border with Israel as part of small-scale forays into southern Lebanon, as it gears up for a threatened ground incursion, according to a report in a US newspaper Monday.
Reports in foreign press in recent days have indicated that Israel Defense Forces soldiers have been carrying out limited cross-border raids to collect information or damage Hezbollah’s capabilities to attack Israel.
According to the Monday report in The Wall Street Journal, the missions, described as “targeted,” have involved special forces entering a network of subterranean warrens Hezbollah is widely understood to have dug near the Blue Line separating Israel from Lebanon.
The report, which cited unnamed sources familiar with the matter, said the raids have taken place over the past months, as well as more recently, with troops “probing” and gathering intelligence, as activity ramps up ahead of a possible ground offensive.
Israel has stepped up fighting against Hezbollah in recent weeks as it seeks to push the group away from the border and halt nearly a year of rocket and drone attacks on northern Israel that have left a swath of Israeli towns scarred and uninhabited.
The push has included heavy airstrikes on Hezbollah’s leadership, including a Friday strike that killed its chief, Hassan Nasrallah, attacks on weapons stores and missile launchers and actions of a more covert nature, such as a wave of electronic device explosions that killed dozens of members of the Iran-backed group, but which has not been claimed by Israel.
According to The Wall Street Journal, a wider troop incursion could occur as early as this week, significantly ramping up fighting, though some have interpreted increasingly bellicose comments from Israel on the possibility of a ground war as part of a campaign meant to pressure a weakened Hezbollah into withdrawing as part of a ceasefire. full article
The IDF confirms carrying out an airstrike in the Lebanese capital of Beirut overnight, killing the commander of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) in Lebanon and at least two other operatives.
According to the military and Shin Bet, Nidal Abd al-Aal was involved in planning and advancing terror attacks in the West Bank.
The IDF and Shin Bet say al-Aal was behind a bombing attack on a bus in the settlement of Beitar Illit in March 2023, as well as a shooting attack in Huwara in the same month, the latter of which wounded two soldiers.
Alongside him, Imad Odeh, a PFLP military commander, and another operative, Abdelrahman Abd al-Aal, were killed in the strike.
The commander of Hezbollah’s medium-range rockets unit was killed in an airstrike on Saturday in the Lebanese capital of Beirut, the military announces.
Eid Hassan Nashar was a “veteran commander” in Hezbollah and was a “central source of knowledge in the field of rockets,” the IDF says.
He previously served as the head of the surface-to-surface missile unit, and the deputy of the Badr regional unit, according to the military.
Most of Hezbollah’s leadership, including the commander of its rocket and missile division, Ibrahim Qubaisi, have been killed by Israel in recent weeks. Other top commanders in the division have also been killed.
The IDF says it also struck caches of medium-range rockets, which can reach up to 200 kilometers, in recent airstrikes in Lebanon.
The Lebanese government is ready to fully implement a UN resolution that had aimed to end Hezbollah’s armed presence south of the Litani River, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati says.
Mikati says Lebanon is ready to fully implement the 2006 UN Security Council Resolution 1701 and deploy the Lebanese army south of the river, which lies about 30 km (around 20 miles) from Lebanon’s southern border.
Hezbollah is barred under UN Security Council Resolution 1701 from maintaining a military presence south of the Litani, however the terror group has blatantly violated that resolution.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant strongly hinted today that the IDF was preparing to launch a ground offensive to remove the terror group from the border area and allow 60,000 displaced Israelis to return home in northern Israel.
Mikati also says he and House Speaker Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally, had agreed that electing a new president to end a near two-year vacancy at the top post would only happen after a potential ceasefire takes hold. The comments were delivered after the pair met in Beirut. link The idea and proposal to deploy the Lebanese army south of the Litani as it was supposed to be as of the end of the Second Lebanese War. Unfortunately, the Lebanese army is barely an army. They don't have many soldiers, equipment or budget. Unless some of the other Arab countries, particularly the gulf states, don't provide funding and training, this can never happen effectively.
The IDF and Shin Bet in a joint statement confirm that the commander of Hamas in Lebanon was killed in an airstrike overnight.
The statement describes Fateh Sherif as the “head of the Lebanon branch of the Hamas terror organization.”
According to the military, Sherif was responsible for coordinating Hamas’s activity in Lebanon with Hezbollah, as well as Hamas’s “force build-up efforts in Lebanon, in the field of recruiting operatives and procuring weapons.”
He “worked to advance the interests of Hamas in [Lebanon], both politically and militarily,” the statement says.
UNRWA confirmed that Sherif was employed by the agency for Palestinian refugees, but says he was being probed over his political activities. According to Lebanese media, Sherif was killed in a strike on the al-Bass refugee camp in the southern Lebanese city of Tyre.
The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees confirms that Fateh Sherif, named by Hamas as its leader in Lebanon, was employed by UNRWA, but notes that he was being probed over his political activities.
Sherif was killed today in an airstrike on the al-Bass refugee camp in the southern Lebanese city of Tyre, along with his wife and children. Reports indicate he had been the principal of the UNRWA-run Deir Yassin Secondary School in al-Bass.
“Fateh Al Sharif was an UNRWA employee who was put on administrative leave without pay in March, and was undergoing an investigation following allegations that UNRWA received about his political activities,” UNRWA says in response to a Times of Israel query.
In March, UNRWA told Reuters that Sherif had been suspended for three months over allegations of involvement in activities “that are in violation of the Agency’s regulatory framework governing staff conduct.”
At the time, the suspension sparked widespread protests and strikes by teachers in Lebanon.
The IDF releases footage of the drone interception over the sea in northern Israel this morning by a Navy ship.
The military has not yet specified where the drone was launched from, but according to its initial assessments, it may have been heading for offshore infrastructure at the Karish gas field. video
West Bank and Jerusalem and Terror attacks within Israel
Politics and the War (general news)
New Hope leader Gideon Sa’ar delivers his first speech in the Knesset plenum since he joined the government yesterday, blasting his former colleagues in the opposition, including a personal attack on a female Labor lawmaker.
Sa’ar makes the comments in a speech prior to a Knesset vote to confirm his party’s entry into the government, which passes 57-40.
“They say I came to pass the draft evasion law. You continued with this lie even when I said I had no coalition agreement,” Sa’ar says, according to Ynet.
“In all the issues you mentioned in the discussion, including the hostages and conscription, what do you give to the state? What do you add to the national resilience? What do you influence? Nothing and nothing,” Sa’ar says.
In a direct rebuke to Opposition Leader Yair Lapid, Sa’ar says: “You called for the ceasefire with Lebanon to be accepted. If they had accepted your position, Hassan Nasrallah would be alive, and with him, all of Hezbollah.”
Sa’ar also snipes at Labor MK Efrat Rayten: “You asked what they will remember me for? You will be remembered mainly from the children’s channel,” he says, referring to her earlier career before she retrained as a lawyer prior to her election.
Sa’ar says that he joined the government “after a series of long conversations with the PM and I feel that I have the possibility to make an impact.”
At the conclusion of his speech, he is welcomed by his new colleagues in the government with hugs. link It's rare to find politicians with true integrity, but Gidon Saar has wiped the idea of integrity off of the map. For years he has been making statements against ever serving with Netanyahu again. He even signed a paper on live TV that he would never join a Netanyahu led government again. But he has only his own personal self interests in mind. He knows (by every single poll over the last 9 months) that if there are early elections, he and his party will fall very short of the minimum amount of votes to make it to the Knesset, even if he joins with another party. He made a decision that goes against the good of the country, the hope to make a deal to bring the hostages home and the possibility of early elections strictly for his own political interests. He is joining this government as a minister without a ministry but expects to be in the mini cabinet that make decisions about the war and plans that Netanyahu will still fire Defense Minister Galant and he will get that post. Netanyahu, who should have resigned on October 8 refuses to take any responsibility and therefore should face early elections as soon as possible. Saar now gave him a 2 year life line to continue serving as the worst Prime Minister in Israel's history with the worst and most extreme government in our history.
In a recent press conference on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi insisted that Arab and Muslim countries will guarantee Israel’s security if Jerusalem agrees to allow the establishment of a Palestinian state on the pre-1967 lines, while blasting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s refusal to do so.
“The Israeli prime minister came here today and said that Israel is surrounded by those who want to destroy it,” Safadi said at a Friday press conference shortly after Netanyahu finished his speech at the UN General Assembly.
“We’re here — members of the Muslim-Arab committee, mandated by 57 Arab and Muslim countries — and I can tell you very unequivocally, all of us are willing to guarantee the security of Israel in the context of Israel ending the occupation and allowing for the emergence of a Palestinian state,” Safadi passionately argued.
Netanyahu “is creating that danger because he simply does not want the two-state solution. If he does not want the two-state solution, can you ask Israeli officials what is their end-game — other than just wars and wars and wars?”
“All of us in the Arab world here, want a peace in which Israel lives in peace and security, accepted, normalized with all Arab countries in the context of ending the occupation, withdrawing from Arab territory, allowing for the emergence of an independent, sovereign Palestinian state on the June 4, 1967 lies with East Jerusalem as its capital,” Safadi continues.
“The amount of damage that this Israeli government has done — 30 years of efforts to convince people that peace is possible, this Israeli government killed it. The amount of dehumanization, hatred, bitterness, will take generations to navigate through,” the Jordanian foreign minister says. “We have no partner for peace in Israel, there is a partner for peace in the Arab world, and that’s why the international community needs to move.” link
New Hope leader Gideon Sa’ar delivers his first speech in the Knesset plenum since he joined the government yesterday, blasting his former colleagues in the opposition, including a personal attack on a female Labor lawmaker.
Sa’ar makes the comments in a speech prior to a Knesset vote to confirm his party’s entry into the government, which passes 57-40.
“They say I came to pass the draft evasion law. You continued with this lie even when I said I had no coalition agreement,” Sa’ar says, according to Ynet.
“In all the issues you mentioned in the discussion, including the hostages and conscription, what do you give to the state? What do you add to the national resilience? What do you influence? Nothing and nothing,” Sa’ar says.
In a direct rebuke to Opposition Leader Yair Lapid, Sa’ar says: “You called for the ceasefire with Lebanon to be accepted. If they had accepted your position, Hassan Nasrallah would be alive, and with him, all of Hezbollah.”
Sa’ar also snipes at Labor MK Efrat Rayten: “You asked what they will remember me for? You will be remembered mainly from the children’s channel,” he says, referring to her earlier career before she retrained as a lawyer prior to her election.
Sa’ar says that he joined the government “after a series of long conversations with the PM and I feel that I have the possibility to make an impact.”
At the conclusion of his speech, he is welcomed by his new colleagues in the government with hugs. link It's rare to find politicians with true integrity, but Gidon Saar has wiped the idea of integrity off of the map. For years he has been making statements against ever serving with Netanyahu again. He even signed a paper on live TV that he would never join a Netanyahu led government again. But he has only his own personal self interests in mind. He knows (by every single poll over the last 9 months) that if there are early elections, he and his party will fall very short of the minimum amount of votes to make it to the Knesset, even if he joins with another party. He made a decision that goes against the good of the country, the hope to make a deal to bring the hostages home and the possibility of early elections strictly for his own political interests. He is joining this government as a minister without a ministry but expects to be in the mini cabinet that make decisions about the war and plans that Netanyahu will still fire Defense Minister Galant and he will get that post. Netanyahu, who should have resigned on October 8 refuses to take any responsibility and therefore should face early elections as soon as possible. Saar now gave him a 2 year life line to continue serving as the worst Prime Minister in Israel's history with the worst and most extreme government in our history.
In a recent press conference on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi insisted that Arab and Muslim countries will guarantee Israel’s security if Jerusalem agrees to allow the establishment of a Palestinian state on the pre-1967 lines, while blasting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s refusal to do so.
“The Israeli prime minister came here today and said that Israel is surrounded by those who want to destroy it,” Safadi said at a Friday press conference shortly after Netanyahu finished his speech at the UN General Assembly.
“We’re here — members of the Muslim-Arab committee, mandated by 57 Arab and Muslim countries — and I can tell you very unequivocally, all of us are willing to guarantee the security of Israel in the context of Israel ending the occupation and allowing for the emergence of a Palestinian state,” Safadi passionately argued.
Netanyahu “is creating that danger because he simply does not want the two-state solution. If he does not want the two-state solution, can you ask Israeli officials what is their end-game — other than just wars and wars and wars?”
“All of us in the Arab world here, want a peace in which Israel lives in peace and security, accepted, normalized with all Arab countries in the context of ending the occupation, withdrawing from Arab territory, allowing for the emergence of an independent, sovereign Palestinian state on the June 4, 1967 lies with East Jerusalem as its capital,” Safadi continues.
“The amount of damage that this Israeli government has done — 30 years of efforts to convince people that peace is possible, this Israeli government killed it. The amount of dehumanization, hatred, bitterness, will take generations to navigate through,” the Jordanian foreign minister says. “We have no partner for peace in Israel, there is a partner for peace in the Arab world, and that’s why the international community needs to move.” link
The Region and the WorldThe Biden administration is concerned that Iran may strike Israel after the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, a US official tells CNN.
The official says that preparations for a joint defense are underway, and the outlet says this includes “changes in US military posture.”
No further details are given.
In April, a coalition including the US, UK, Gulf states, Egypt and Jordan helped Israel to almost completely thwart an unprecedented missile and drone attack by Tehran.
The Shin Bet security agency warns in a statement that Iran has increasingly been attempting to carry out assassinations in Israel.
Recently, several assassination plots were foiled, including some in very advanced stages, details of which have not yet been released to the public, the Shin Bet says.
“In recent weeks, the Shin Bet has detected a significant rise in Iran’s efforts to advance assassination attacks against targets in Israel,” the agency says.
The Shin Bet says that Iran has been attempting to recruit Israeli civilians to harm senior officials in the country.
It notes the recent arrest of Moti Maman, who was smuggled into Iran twice and was tasked with helping to assassinate the prime minister, defense minister, or head of the Shin Bet.
The agency says that Iran has also attempted to recruit Israelis online. The Iranian operatives locate Israeli targets on social media, including channels relating to cryptocurrency, finance, and job searching, the Shin Bet says.
The Iranian operatives would offer those Israelis a high salary for carrying out various tasks, including “placing money or phones in various areas in Israel, distributing flyers, painting graffiti, and even setting fire to cars and physically harming people,” according to the Shin Bet.
“The Shin Bet asks the public to pay increased attention and take extra caution in any case where suspicion arises… especially when the sums involved are large and are not suited to the nature of the requested tasks, or… if the requested tasks are unusual,” the agency says.
The Shin Bet calls on the public to report any suspicious activity.
The IDF releases footage of aerial refueling operations amid yesterday’s airstrike against infrastructure in Yemen used by the Iran-backed Houthis.
An image grab taken from a UGC video posted on social media on September 29, 2024, shows smoke billowing above Yemen's Houthi-held Hodeidah port city following Israeli strikes. (AFP/UGC/Anonymous)According to the military, dozens of IAF aircraft, including fighter jets, refuelers, and spy planes, participated in the strikes against the Houthis some 1,800 kilometers from Israel.
The strike was carried out in response to recent Houthi missile attacks on Israel. video
Personal Stories "Mom, they’re shooting at us": Following the difficult phone call – a mother's fight after hearing everything
Inbal Journo was on the phone with her daughter, Karin, as she fled the terrorists at the Nova Festival, until Karin was brutally murdered. Now, haunted by the trauma, Inbal is seeking recognition as a terror victim – and she’s not the only one. The daughter who saw her mother’s body on Telegram, the mother who guided her children by phone through a terror attack in Sderot, and the grandmother whose family was slaughtered in Kfar Aza – all are fighting to be recognized by the state as victims of terrorism.
On the early morning of October 7th, Karin Journo was at the Nova Festival. As the terrorist attack began, she called her mother, Inbal. Earlier, at 6:58 AM, Karin had sent her mother her location and called to say she and her cousin were heading home from the party due to the rocket fire.
However, around 8 AM, as Karin tried to escape, a rocket fell near her parents’ home in Mazkeret Batya, distracting the family. At 8:42 AM, Karin sent a message to the family WhatsApp group saying, "If I don’t make it, know that I love you." Inbal didn’t understand what was happening and why Karin would send such a message, since she knew her daughter was on her way home, so she called her again. "I still hadn’t grasped the severity of the situation because we were focused on the rocket, and I asked Karin where her cousin was. She said she didn’t know; they had split up. Then I heard the gunfire getting closer," Inbal recalls, traumatized by that moment, which now accompanies her every day. "I asked her, 'Who is shooting at you? What’s that noise?' She told me there were many injured people around her and that she was in a medical command post inside a caravan."
"Mom, I love you, they’re shooting at us, there are so many injured," Karin said, adding that she was with Matan, a friend who had come to the party with her. "Mom, I’m terrified, save us," Karin begged – those were her last words. "She was alone. She was walking slowly because she had a cast on her leg from a fracture," Inbal painfully recalls. Shortly afterward, Inbal learned that 24-year-old Karin had been hiding in an ambulance when an RPG hit the vehicle.
Inbal heard the gunfire and the terror in her daughter’s shattered voice during that morning’s phone calls. After several more attempts to reach her daughter without success, she understood something terrible had happened. "We drove straight to the hospital in the south to look for her, but we didn’t find her," she says, describing the tragedy that shattered her world. For 11 agonizing days, the family lived in uncertainty until they received the devastating news. "I wanted to see her before the burial, to identify her, but the messenger told us there were only three teeth left. Her whole body had burned and disintegrated. At the funeral, Chevra Kadisha arranged blankets in the shape of a body, even though all that was left were three teeth. It was horrifying; I couldn’t handle it."
The realization that Karin had been left alone during those final hours, terrified and in existential fear, haunts Inbal. "We only knew she had been in the command post because of a video from the ambulance, where she was seen sitting, scared. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have known where she was."
The trauma Inbal experienced that day hasn’t left her for almost a year. She has since filed a claim to be recognized as a terror victim, as she believes she was present during her daughter’s murder – even if only by phone. Despite similar cases being recognized in the past, her request was denied. Inbal is not alone; hundreds of other families are also seeking recognition as terror victims after witnessing the massacre remotely, though not physically present. Their worlds were shattered, and they are living daily with the trauma. The denial of their claims raises a crucial question: in an age where technology brings traumatic events into our homes in real-time, who qualifies as a terror victim?
Inbal now struggles with severe PTSD, regularly having nightmares and hearing her daughter’s last words echoing in her mind. Despite her ongoing trauma, her request for recognition was rejected on the grounds that there was no "physical presence" at the attack. The question remains: should the definition of a "terror victim" be expanded to include virtual witnesses in today’s technology-driven world?
These cases are reviewed during a claim process with the National Insurance Institute, which is either denied (or approved) by a confirming committee of the Ministry of Defense. The relatives whose requests have been denied are just the first wave of families and friends who will demand recognition, raising a question the state will have to face: in an era where technology brings traumatic events into our homes, allowing us to experience them powerfully and in real time from afar—who deserves to be classified as a "victim of terrorism"? Where do we draw the line, and is there a need to redefine this status?
"Waking up from nightmares, her voice echoes in my head."
"Every night, I wish I wouldn't wake up in the morning," shares Inbal Journo, describing the severe mental state she has been in since the death of her daughter and the trauma she relives daily following her last phone call with her late daughter, Karin. "I constantly imagine my child burning and the explosion of the ambulance. I can’t close my eyes without taking three or four pills. And if I do fall asleep, I wake up after half an hour from nightmares. Her voice echoes in my head—'Mom, they’re shooting at me, I’m terrified.' Every morning, I look up, my faith is broken, and I tell myself, 'Why do I need to be here for another day?'"
She said that there were lots of injured people next to her. The smoke coming from the area of the Nova Festival
After the mourning period, Karin’s family received additional testimonies and videos that shed light on her final moments. In one of the videos, given to them by ZAKA representatives, volunteers are seen collecting the ashes of the murdered near the bloodied ambulance in black bags. "These are images that don’t leave me—how they collect ashes into bags, and everything is still burning, the bags melting because the ashes are still hot, and they’re reciting the Kaddish over black bags. The thought of what she must have felt, the torment she endured, destroys me."
Inbal shares how the family was shattered in an instant. "Karin lived with me at home, and the house has simply remained empty. We try not to be at home; it’s so sad. Everything I built over 30 years has been destroyed. We were an ambitious, competitive family, there wasn’t a dream I didn’t fulfill—and since October 7th, I have no desire to wake up."
Ima (mom), I love you. They're shooting at us. There are lots of wounded. Karin Journo z"l
"Breathing because I have to, no desire to live."
The grieving mother continues to work out of necessity, but without the help of her friends and family, she wouldn’t be able to manage even that. "I have to work, so I scrape myself together. I go there just to pass the time, I find it hard to concentrate. If I don’t show up, my boss comes to get me; I can’t stay alone." In the first few months, Inbal took advantage of every bit of help she could get—psychological treatments and support groups. "When you sit in therapy, you realize just how deep in the mess you are, and that you won’t get out of it. Losing a child is devastating, but in such a tragedy, with such cruelty and hatred? The thought of it destroys you; this is not life. I’m breathing because I have to. Nothing excites me, nothing is fun, nothing tastes good. Nothing. There’s no desire to live. I have a rapid pulse all the time, as if I’ve been running fast, as if concrete has been poured onto my heart."
The mother who succeeded in recreating the events that her daughter went through. The 'Road of Blood' Re'em
Karin was murdered just a year after returning from her post-army trip. She had been accepted to work at Ben Gurion Airport, but shortly after, she broke her leg. She almost didn’t attend the Nova Festival due to the fracture, but her friends convinced her she could still enjoy it while sitting on a chair. Karin decided to go—and never returned. Since her murder, her family has dedicated themselves to her memory. Every week, Inbal travels to Re’im, the place where her daughter was killed. She established the Karin Lookout in Moshav Ta’oz in her memory, visiting it every single day.
The pain is impossible to get through. Inbal and her daughter Karin z"l
**The Refusal to Recognize the Mother: “No Physical Presence”**
Due to her severe mental state, Inbal submitted a request to the National Insurance Institute to be recognized as a victim of terrorism, claiming that the phone call she had with her daughter until she was murdered made her a direct participant in the attack. However, the request, filed by attorney Elishar Feingersh from Markman Tomshin & Co., was denied after an assessment from a Ministry of Defense committee. Recognition of Inbal and other families living with trauma as victims of terrorism could entitle them to state benefits, providing them some relief and helping with economic survival. The benefits, once approved by the Ministry of Defense, include discounts on public transportation, municipal taxes, purchase taxes, tuition funding, mortgage registration fee exemptions, bank fee reductions, lower rates for water and electricity, eligibility for a vehicle, and compensation during medical treatment periods. These benefits are intended to help victims of terrorism cope with the financial and functional challenges resulting from their injuries.
In the decision given by the Ministry of Defense committee regarding Inbal's claim, it was argued that for someone to be recognized as a victim of terrorism, there must be a "substantial and direct causal link" between the injury and the specific terrorist act. In other words, Inbal would have had to be physically present at the event of her daughter's murder to be recognized as a victim. The decision further explained that in the past, few decisions have been made where individuals were recognized as victims after experiencing a terrorist act via a phone call while it occurred. However, these decisions were made in exceptional circumstances at a time when the overall reality was different, and the ability to be present through virtual means was extremely limited, making such cases rarer. Even though Inbal was exposed to the horrors her daughter endured via the phone, the committee claimed that she was not in any real physical danger—therefore, under the current law, she could not be recognized in this case.
"Let them come live with me for 24 hours, let them look me in the eyes," Inbal responds to the Ministry of Defense's refusal to recognize her, raising the difficult questions of the families who remain invisible: "Let them come, not through a letter, and see how I wake up after just half an hour of sleep, the number of pills I take, and how much I cry. Let them watch the videos of the teeth and see how they sleep afterward. How can you cry so much? This pain doesn’t end; it’s unbearable. Who are you, sitting behind a keyboard? Did anyone meet me, see me? These are never-ending nightmares, pain that will never pass. This isn’t ‘just another attack,’ this is an extreme case, cruelty beyond measure—how can they dismiss it like that? They don’t understand what we’re going through."
**A Phone Call as a Substitute for Physical Presence at the Attack**
One of the cases recognized in the past, unlike the Journo family’s, is that of Nahum (a pseudonym). In 2002, during a wave of brutal terrorist attacks, Nahum received a devastating phone call: on the other end of the line was his younger brother, M., calling from their parents' home in one of the settlements in Samaria. "There are gunshots in the house, everyone is lying wounded, there are dead downstairs, and we’re upstairs," M. cried into the phone, his voice trembling.
"The terrorist is still in the house," his terrified brother added. That brief and charged phone call shattered Nahum’s world. Within seconds, he found himself witnessing from afar the unimaginable horror unfolding in his parents’ home, where they were murdered. The sounds of gunfire, his brother’s screams of terror, and the bitter knowledge that his loved ones were under deadly attack deeply shook him. Nahum remained on the phone with his brother for several minutes, continuing to hear the gunshots of the terrorist.
Only 17 years after the event did Nahum approach the National Insurance Institute to be recognized as a victim of terrorism. "I did many things late as a result of the attack; I guess it’s part of the trauma," he explained to the Ministry of Defense committee. Initially, his request was denied: the committee struggled to accept the claim that a phone call, even during a traumatic event, could serve as a basis for recognition. However, Nahum refused to give up. He knew that the profound scars left by that fateful phone call, on top of the murder of his family members, were no different in essence from what other terror victims had experienced. Eventually, after a persistent legal battle with the help of Markman, Tomshin & Co., the court recognized Nahum as a victim of terrorism. "Given the testimonies we heard today, we are prepared to consider the phone call that took place during the attack as a substitute for the appellant’s presence at the scene of the attack," the ruling stated, "and therefore we agree to recognize him as a victim of terrorism."
Nahum's story proves that virtual presence during a terrorist attack, especially when it involves direct communication with the victims, can be just as traumatic as physical presence. Nahum’s case occurred during a time when virtual presence in our lives was not as significant, according to the Ministry of Defense decision, making it an exceptional case. However, families who remotely witnessed the terror—especially the horrifying events of October 7th, with their unprecedented cruelty—are asking: in the technological reality of the 21st century, where cell phones are an integral part of our lives, can the severe psychological impact be ignored any longer? Instead of treating these cases as exceptions, is there a need to redefine the term “terror victim”?
**Learning Through Telegram: Mom Murdered in the Street**
On October 7th, Noam (a pseudonym) was in Eilat, working in a preferred job as a discharged soldier. Noam grew up with only her mother, who was her entire world. That morning, Noam knew her mother was in Sderot, on her way to an organized trip to the Dead Sea with other retirees. After hearing about terrorists infiltrating Sderot, she tried to contact her mother.
After hours of trying to reach her mother, Noam saw a Facebook post from someone else searching for their own mother, who had also been on the retirees' bus to the Dead Sea. From the comments on the post, Noam learned there was more information about the retirees on the Telegram app. At 5 p.m., she logged into the app and saw pictures of her mother lying on the street near a shelter, shot and lifeless.
These images shattered Noam’s world and caused deep emotional trauma. She was alone when she discovered her mother had been murdered, and the grief was unbearable. During the seven days of mourning, she began to experience nightmares, flashbacks of the horrific images, and was overwhelmed with guilt and troubling thoughts. She later learned more details about her mother and her friends' attempt to enter a shelter, which had been locked electronically.
Two months after October 7, Noam was diagnosed with severe adjustment disorder, along with symptoms of anxiety and depression. She struggled to function, to sleep, and was constantly plagued by obsessive thoughts. Noam applied to be recognized as a victim of terrorism, including medical reports supporting her claims, but she was denied. The Ministry of Defense rejected her application, stating that since she had not been physically present at the event, she did not meet the criteria for recognition.
Noam tried calling her mother when she found out what was happening. Terrorists in Sderot during the surprise attack.
The grandmother who heard everything through the phoneWhile Hamas terrorists were wreaking havoc and death in Kibbutz Kfar Aza on that dark Saturday, Leah (an alias), a 75-year-old grandmother, was sitting alone in her apartment in Europe. What was supposed to be a long-planned vacation turned into a prolonged nightmare within a few hours. The phone wouldn’t stop ringing. Her family, trapped in the kibbutz under terrorist attack, tried to reassure her from afar, but the sounds of gunfire and explosions in the background revealed the horrific reality.
She spoke with the family, her daughter and son-in-law were murdered. The destruction in Kfar Aza after Black Saturday.
“I was active throughout the entire event, supporting and guiding my family as best I could,” Leah described to the psychologist treating her. “Despite the physical distance, she directed them on how to protect themselves and act during the emergency, called for help, and was a comforting voice for her frightened grandchildren,” the psychologist noted in the report attached to her claim to be recognized as a terror victim.
During those terrifying hours, Leah received the worst news: her daughter and son-in-law had been murdered in the terror attack, and her granddaughter was abducted to Gaza, with her fate unknown at the time. Leah found herself thousands of kilometers from home, helpless, alone, and overwhelmed by unimaginable grief. Weeks later, Leah filed a request with the National Insurance Institute to be recognized as a victim of terrorism. She reported suffering from severe post-traumatic stress symptoms, sleep disturbances, nightmares, constant anxiety, and a profound sense of emptiness. She argued that the trauma she experienced was not fundamentally different from that of someone physically present at the scene of the attack: she had been there with her children and grandchildren, via that fateful phone call that left deep scars on her soul.
However, the Ministry of Defense refused to recognize Leah’s case. Their representatives argued that times had changed and that today, everyone has a phone, so it was no longer possible to recognize such cases. For Leah, this was a painful slap in the face; she felt that her suffering was being minimized, and her deep emotional pain was being denied. Leah’s story raises a fundamental question: can trauma and psychological injury still be defined solely by physical presence at the scene? Is it right to exclude people who experienced the horror from afar, through a phone or computer screen, whose spirits were shattered alongside their loved ones?
“During the call, terrorists were trying to break in”That morning, October 7, while sitting in her home in the north of the country, Sarit (an alias) heard the news about gunfire inside Sderot, and her heart skipped a beat. Her three children were at their father’s home in Sderot that morning. She called her ex-husband, who confirmed her worst fears—Hamas terrorists had infiltrated the city. Throughout the day, she stayed in contact with her children—two of them were at their father’s home, and her eldest daughter was at an aunt’s house in Sderot. Every conversation became a nightmare: “During one call, terrorists tried to break into the building through the garden where the two younger children were staying, and about ten terrorists were circling the building where my eldest daughter was,” Sarit recounted in her claim.
Around 10 terrorist were around the building that her daughter was in. Terrorists in Sderot
All day long, Sarit was gripped with fear for her children’s lives, feeling helpless. Only the next day, after her children were safely evacuated, did Sarit feel a brief sense of relief—but the terrifying memories and paralyzing anxiety continued to haunt her. She began experiencing various psychological symptoms.
Sarit filed a claim to be recognized as a terror victim. Her claim included text messages, phone call logs, and medical documentation—but despite this, the Ministry of Defense refused to recognize her. Their rationale was clear: Sarit had not been physically present at the scene of the attack.
Attorney Elishar Feingerash, representing the plaintiffs in this article, harshly criticized the Ministry of Defense’s approach toward recognizing victims of terrorism, especially in cases where the traumatic experience occurred remotely, via phone. "Similar cases have been recognized in the past. Now, due to the large number of victims, there’s suddenly a change in policy, with no legal basis, using the strange argument of 'the times have changed, and everyone has a phone.' This reasoning cannot serve as a blanket justification for rejecting such claims," Feingerash said. He pointed out that even a non-relative, such as a friend of someone who was at the Nova music festival or whose home was attacked by terrorists, who "was virtually present" during the event, has the right to request the same recognition as relatives who were at the scene.
In our conversation, Attorney Feingerash highlighted the inconsistency in the Ministry’s decisions and their unwillingness to examine each case on its own merits, taking into account the unique circumstances and severity of the emotional harm. He urged the Ministry of Defense to reconsider the laws written since the founding of the state, as the times have indeed changed, just as the Ministry itself acknowledges in its rulings. “It’s time for the Ministry of Defense to reconsider its position and, instead of categorically rejecting a long list of victims, work to delineate clear legal boundaries to distinguish between different cases.”
The Ministry of Defense clarified that decisions are made according to the existing law, the Compensation Law for Victims of Hostile Acts, enacted in 1970. While the law has been amended several times, even this year, it has not been altered regarding the requirement for physical presence at the attack site. The Ministry emphasized its obligation to follow legal guidelines and maintain the criteria set out in the law, "even when dealing with very difficult and tragic cases."
The assistance that was approved—and the amountsLast week, the public committee headed by Professor Aviad Hacohen, established by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, approved its conclusions regarding compensation for populations affected by the October 7 massacre. The committee decided to provide assistance to populations not previously defined as victims of terrorism, including bereaved families, families of hostages, siblings and children of released prisoners, and residents of Ofakim. It also approved compensation for those classified as victims of terrorism who do not meet the criteria for disability recognition, such as party attendees, residents of affected communities, and people who were present in those communities during the event.
According to the decision, assistance will be provided through two main tracks: The first track is for party attendees, residents of affected communities, and those present in those communities during the terror attack but who are not eligible for disability status. This track includes a one-time grant ranging from 7,180 to 28,720 shekels for adults and 1,436 to 5,744 shekels for children. In addition, a rehabilitation and treatment package worth 7,300 to 30,000 shekels per person will be offered.
The second track is for close relatives of those killed or kidnapped in the massacre. This track includes a one-time grant of 14,360 shekels for anyone over the age of 14. Siblings and children of former hostages over the age of 30 will be entitled to a rehabilitation and treatment package worth 15,000 shekels per person.
The committee’s decisions and the amount of compensation were not well received by some affected families. "This committee is a joke; it’s mocking us. They just don’t understand," says Inbal angrily. "Those making these decisions should come meet me and understand that this isn’t going to be a temporary situation for me or the other families—this is my life now. A one-time compensation payment is simply an insult. I wouldn’t wish the pain I feel on the mother of a terrorist."
Ministry of Defense response"According to the Compensation Law for Victims of Hostile Acts, for someone to be recognized as a victim, a direct causal link must exist between the alleged injury and the hostile act, meaning physical presence at the event. While there have been a few instances in the past where citizens who were exposed to terrorist events through means like hearing the event over the phone were recognized, those rulings were exceptions, made under exceptional circumstances in times when virtual presence was far more limited. Today, with technological tools allowing real-time exposure to events from anywhere in the world, it is clear we are dealing with a completely different reality. The last exceptional case in which someone exposed to an event remotely was recognized occurred in 2015.
"There is no dispute that real-time exposure to the horrors of terrorism on October 7, even if virtual, caused severe psychological distress. However, the claimant was not under any physical danger at the time, and thus, under current law, cannot be recognized as a victim of hostile acts. link
The Biden administration is concerned that Iran may strike Israel after the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, a US official tells CNN.
The official says that preparations for a joint defense are underway, and the outlet says this includes “changes in US military posture.”
No further details are given.
In April, a coalition including the US, UK, Gulf states, Egypt and Jordan helped Israel to almost completely thwart an unprecedented missile and drone attack by Tehran.
The Shin Bet security agency warns in a statement that Iran has increasingly been attempting to carry out assassinations in Israel.
Recently, several assassination plots were foiled, including some in very advanced stages, details of which have not yet been released to the public, the Shin Bet says.
“In recent weeks, the Shin Bet has detected a significant rise in Iran’s efforts to advance assassination attacks against targets in Israel,” the agency says.
The Shin Bet says that Iran has been attempting to recruit Israeli civilians to harm senior officials in the country.
It notes the recent arrest of Moti Maman, who was smuggled into Iran twice and was tasked with helping to assassinate the prime minister, defense minister, or head of the Shin Bet.
The agency says that Iran has also attempted to recruit Israelis online. The Iranian operatives locate Israeli targets on social media, including channels relating to cryptocurrency, finance, and job searching, the Shin Bet says.
The Iranian operatives would offer those Israelis a high salary for carrying out various tasks, including “placing money or phones in various areas in Israel, distributing flyers, painting graffiti, and even setting fire to cars and physically harming people,” according to the Shin Bet.
“The Shin Bet asks the public to pay increased attention and take extra caution in any case where suspicion arises… especially when the sums involved are large and are not suited to the nature of the requested tasks, or… if the requested tasks are unusual,” the agency says.
The Shin Bet calls on the public to report any suspicious activity.
The IDF releases footage of aerial refueling operations amid yesterday’s airstrike against infrastructure in Yemen used by the Iran-backed Houthis.
According to the military, dozens of IAF aircraft, including fighter jets, refuelers, and spy planes, participated in the strikes against the Houthis some 1,800 kilometers from Israel.
The strike was carried out in response to recent Houthi missile attacks on Israel. video
Dark Legacy - The Abandonment of October 7th Hostages
Every Israeli Mother Should Know in
Whose Hands She Entrusts Her Sons and Daughters: In the Hands of Those Who
Would Abandon Them to Their Fate
Prof. Aaron Ciechanover
2004 Noble Prize Laureate in Chemistry.
"Every Israeli mother should know in whose
hands she entrusts her sons and daughters" (David Ben Gurion).
The thoughts about the hostages burn like fire into
the flesh of the members of their families. Are they alive or dead? Are they
being tortured and their bodies violated, or are they granted humane treatment,
however precarious? And their soul? Has any of it survived, or has it been
utterly crushed? The uncertainty is gripping and relentless. These questions also
have a national aspect: the mere fact that they have been asked for such a long
time - as the hope for an agreement for the hostages’ release ebbs and flows
like a wheel of fortune, as the number of those who are still alive dwindles -
that fact undermines the very foundation of our society, our country, Judaism
itself, and a 2,000 year old dream of a free and independent state for the Jewish
people. The cruel delay in returning them home undermines the very reason
for which 25,000 men and women have sacrificed their lives to protect a state
that at its inception was a source of light for the whole world, but at present
cannot even be a source of light for itself. The light is gone. The failure to
bring the hostages back home is a stark violation of the principle of mutual
responsibility that is at the root of every society, and of Israeli society in
particular, being the basis of the compulsory service in the Israel Defense Forces. The hostages'
prolonged captivity is a betrayal of the core values that any society must
abide by if it wishes to survive; it is a deep moral failing that tears our
society apart, and that will forever remain as a mark of Cain on the forehead
of its leadership. The day we bring to burial the hostages who were murdered
will be the most terrible day in the history of this country - a new Holocaust Memorial
Day. And from that day on, every Israeli mother will know in whose hands she
entrusts her sons and daughters: in the hands of those who would abandon them
to their fate.
And who are the members of the government that
sacrifices the hostages on the altar of its whims?
A Prime Minister with an inhumane
constitution who would trample completely, in order to preserve his rule, the
only Jewish state—its values, its unity, its security, its economy, and indeed its
very existence. He is going to leave behind him, for posterity, nothing but the
mirror in which he only saw himself. And let us not even discuss the Messianic
extremists and the orthodox members of this government, many of whom do not
really care about the state, and it is entirely unclear what moral right they
have to send others to their death. Most worrisome are those in the government
who have served in the army and in the security forces in senior positions—among
them Miri Regev, a former IDF spokesperson, Yoav Kisch, a former combat pilot,
Nir Barkat, a former officer in a combat unit, Avi Dichter, the former Head of
the Shin Bet, and others. And what about Yuli Edelstein, a former
Refusenik (Prisoner of Zion)? They have
all caught severe illnesses - those of defiling conformism and of defiling
sycophancy. The possibility that these illnesses might be contagious is
frightening.
How did they manage to filter through the moral
strainer of the IDF?
Might it be that the corrupt character of these people,
and of others like them, underlies the IDF’s repeated failures over the years
to viewand assess the battlefield correctly? In 1973? In 2023? And what about Kisch’s
co-pilot? Could he trust Kisch to protect him, or did he need to worry that
Kisch might abandon him to save himself? Should members of the Shin Bet who
were sent by Dichter to life-risking missions have trusted his judgment? I
doubt it. And if those are illnesses that were only contracted after these
people took off their uniforms and entered the political swamp, were there no prior, worrisome
indications, no DNA changes that might have been detected earlier? Modern
medicine knows how to diagnose illnesses years before they manifest themselves.
Not so when it comes to the institutions that are
supposed to be responsible for our communal life, safety, and wellbeing. And
the terrible price of that is one we’re all paying.
Every Israeli Mother Should Know in
Whose Hands She Entrusts Her Sons and Daughters: In the Hands of Those Who
Would Abandon Them to Their Fate
Prof. Aaron Ciechanover
2004 Noble Prize Laureate in Chemistry.
"Every Israeli mother should know in whose hands she entrusts her sons and daughters" (David Ben Gurion).
The thoughts about the hostages burn like fire into
the flesh of the members of their families. Are they alive or dead? Are they
being tortured and their bodies violated, or are they granted humane treatment,
however precarious? And their soul? Has any of it survived, or has it been
utterly crushed? The uncertainty is gripping and relentless. These questions also
have a national aspect: the mere fact that they have been asked for such a long
time - as the hope for an agreement for the hostages’ release ebbs and flows
like a wheel of fortune, as the number of those who are still alive dwindles -
that fact undermines the very foundation of our society, our country, Judaism
itself, and a 2,000 year old dream of a free and independent state for the Jewish
people. The cruel delay in returning them home undermines the very reason
for which 25,000 men and women have sacrificed their lives to protect a state
that at its inception was a source of light for the whole world, but at present
cannot even be a source of light for itself. The light is gone. The failure to
bring the hostages back home is a stark violation of the principle of mutual
responsibility that is at the root of every society, and of Israeli society in
particular, being the basis of the compulsory service in the Israel Defense Forces. The hostages'
prolonged captivity is a betrayal of the core values that any society must
abide by if it wishes to survive; it is a deep moral failing that tears our
society apart, and that will forever remain as a mark of Cain on the forehead
of its leadership. The day we bring to burial the hostages who were murdered
will be the most terrible day in the history of this country - a new Holocaust Memorial
Day. And from that day on, every Israeli mother will know in whose hands she
entrusts her sons and daughters: in the hands of those who would abandon them
to their fate.
And who are the members of the government that
sacrifices the hostages on the altar of its whims?
A Prime Minister with an inhumane
constitution who would trample completely, in order to preserve his rule, the
only Jewish state—its values, its unity, its security, its economy, and indeed its
very existence. He is going to leave behind him, for posterity, nothing but the
mirror in which he only saw himself. And let us not even discuss the Messianic
extremists and the orthodox members of this government, many of whom do not
really care about the state, and it is entirely unclear what moral right they
have to send others to their death. Most worrisome are those in the government
who have served in the army and in the security forces in senior positions—among
them Miri Regev, a former IDF spokesperson, Yoav Kisch, a former combat pilot,
Nir Barkat, a former officer in a combat unit, Avi Dichter, the former Head of
the Shin Bet, and others. And what about Yuli Edelstein, a former
Refusenik (Prisoner of Zion)? They have
all caught severe illnesses - those of defiling conformism and of defiling
sycophancy. The possibility that these illnesses might be contagious is
frightening.
How did they manage to filter through the moral
strainer of the IDF?
Might it be that the corrupt character of these people,
and of others like them, underlies the IDF’s repeated failures over the years
to viewand assess the battlefield correctly? In 1973? In 2023? And what about Kisch’s
co-pilot? Could he trust Kisch to protect him, or did he need to worry that
Kisch might abandon him to save himself? Should members of the Shin Bet who
were sent by Dichter to life-risking missions have trusted his judgment? I
doubt it. And if those are illnesses that were only contracted after these
people took off their uniforms and entered the political swamp, were there no prior, worrisome
indications, no DNA changes that might have been detected earlier? Modern
medicine knows how to diagnose illnesses years before they manifest themselves.
Not so when it comes to the institutions that are
supposed to be responsible for our communal life, safety, and wellbeing. And
the terrible price of that is one we’re all paying.
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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