🎗️Lonny's War Update- October 367, 2023 - October 7, 2024 🎗️

  

🎗️Day 367 that 101 of our hostages in Hamas captivity
**There is nothing more important than getting them home! NOTHING!**

“I’ve never met them,

But I miss them. 

I’ve never met them,

but I think of them every second. 

I’ve never met them,

but they are my family. 

BRING THEM HOME NOW!!!”

We’re waiting for you, all of you.
A deal is the only way to bring
all the hostages home- the murdered for burial and the living for rehabilitation.

#BringThemHomeNow #TurnTheHorrorIntoHope

There is no victory until all of the hostages are home!

‎אין נצחון עד שכל החטופים בבית

 The two sections at the end, personal stories and Dark Legacy - The Abandonment of October 7th Hostages are very important to read, as important or more than the news of the day.

A YEAR OF CAPTIVITY, A YEAR OF WAR 

Today, October 7 is a year since that horrible day, Black Saturday, the worst day in the history of Israel and for the Jewish people. That day and the war that began changed Israel, Israelis and the situation of Jews worldwide. 

A year ago, I was in the US when the war broke out. I can’t think of a more appropriate place to be at 6:29am than at the site of the Nova Music Festival. 

Driving here, there is so much police and army presence and 2 helicopters flying above as we hear the booms of artillery shelling by our forces in Gaza 2 miles away. as well as machine gun fire.  If there was even a quarter of the police and military here a year ago that there is now, this would have been a totally different situation. 

I have been here 3 times before and there have always been some family members of those killed. Many have set up small memorials for their loved ones. Today, on this first anniversary of their murders, so many families and friends are here to be closer to those they have lost in the place of their massacre. 

They started the ceremony a minute before 6:29 with the music track that was playing at Nova at the exact time of the attack and that was followed by a moment of silence. There as supposed to be a siren but the home front command requested that they not do it due to security concerns; the main one being a real rocket attack from Gaza. Just moments ago, 4 rockets were launched from Gaza to an area south of here. It was far enough away that there were no sirens. 2 fathers read Kaddish (prayer for the dead) and both of them lost 2 sons and future daughters-in-law. The rest of the ceremony was so solemn and painful with most of the people there bearing the pain for a year after their loved ones were abandoned by the country and by the army. They were slaughtered just for being Jewish while just wanting to dance. 

At 9:27am, there was another smaller memorial ceremony for the 18 people killed in and around the ambulance that was there for the safety of the party-goers. My second time at Nova, I met Shani Gabay's mother and aunt who told me the story of Shani and what happened at the ambulance. Shani, like many others there had left Nova while it was being shelled by non-stop rockets from Gaza but they had to turn back because of Hamas terrorists on all the roads shooting at every vehicle passing. Shani was wounded and was told by a police officer at the party to go to the ambulance. Terrorists were all around, 14 partygoers were hiding in the ambulance and 4 police officers and security people working at the festival, trying to fight them off when one of the terrorist shot an RPG at the ambulance killing all 18 with their bodies being blown up and burnt. full story of Shani's last day For 48 days, her family thought she was kidnapped until they were informed that her remains were buried with someone else and she was killed on October 7. They identified her through DNA. 
The last speaker at the ambulance memorial was the father of Elyakim Shlomo Libman. For 201 days, they didn't know what happened to their son. He thanked all of the families for allowing their loved one's graves to be opened to check for DNA and it was finally found in the grave of the Victoria Gorlov who was working as a security officer at the festival.
When I came home, I told my wife about some of what happened at the memorial and the families I talked to. She knows that it is difficult for me to do all of these things but she understands my need. Like most Israelis, October 7 changed my life, but unforunately I also belong to a much smaller group of Israelis whose lives cannot go back to any semblance of normal until the hostages are home. Our lives are consumed with the hostages, having difficulty to see beyond the day of October 7 that still hasn't come to an end. Every story we hear and bear witness to pains us as though the hostages are our family. They may not be related but they are our family and until they are home, we cannot allow ourselves to live as we once did. 

Nadav Goldstein, 48 from Kibbutz Kfar Aza was killed together with his oldest daughter Yam, 28 and his wife Chen and 3 younger children were kidnapped and taken to Gaza. They were released in November. Nadav's brother-in-law recalled when visiting Nadav in the hospital in intensive care after a bike riding accident in the summer of 2023, Nadav told him "Hope Dies Last". We must always remember these words and never give up the hope, the hope that the hostages will come home soon, those still living to begin their recuperation and those who were killed, to receive their burial in Israel giving their families a place for them to mourn. Hope that we can all begin our post trauma and start rebuilding our lives and the country and the tatters that have been raw and burning for the last year. "Hope dies last"

A year.  

365 days.  

Every day in thought, still holding the shelter door handle, even in dreams.  

There are bad days, and there are worse days.  

Only when I ride or run is there a feeling of elation.  

Just don’t stop, don’t think, don’t remember.  

There’s no way to repress 7/10.  

We, the survivors, will carry it with us until the day we die.  

A year has passed, and we are burying our friends in Be’eri.  

The cemetery is taken over by concrete, vast amounts of concrete and marble, wrapping 102 new graves.  

1,200 were murdered in the Gaza envelope.  

The seventh of October is also a day of heroism,  

of the civilian society, soldiers, and military units that jumped to save us,  

when there was still no army.  

We waited for hours as the notifications on our phones screamed the cries of the wounded and the murdered.  

I am afraid of 7/10.  

It’s frightening to think that after the massacre, there is still no government that has taken responsibility.  

It scares me, the gap between our military capabilities in operations in Lebanon and what happened on October 7th.  

A gap that has a name:  

Arrogance.  

And there is no state commission of inquiry to investigate everything, everyone,  

including the refusal (if there was any),  

the IDF, and the government’s policies.  

There is no accountability.  

There are only the cheers of victory because that is a political product.  

But responsibility is a moral product, and it doesn’t exist.  

At the Be’eri junction, there is a handwritten sign that says "Sorry,"  

and I say that the people shouldn’t be asking for forgiveness.  

We knew where we chose to live; we knew the dangers, but we couldn’t have imagined such evil.  

Forgiveness has a spiritual, religious meaning, but not a political one.  

It has to come from the heart.  

Like Yitzhar Hoffman, of blessed memory, together with the Shaldag Unit, asked at the hotel by the Dead Sea,  

"Sorry we didn’t arrive sooner to save more people,"  

and all of Be’eri stood up and applauded and cried,  

because they accepted the apology.  

"The power of forgiveness."  

Since October 7th, I’ve come to know an entire nation of people.  

Everyone just wants to help, to give, everyone wants to embrace.  

There is no other nation like this in the world!  

And the gap between the leadership and the people, between the soldiers who sacrifice themselves, scares me.  

101 hostages are still in Gaza. That, too, has become political.  

This is the missing piece of our nation; we won’t be whole without them.  

So next time you hear the commentators politically analyzing the situation, know that the people are losing.  

The politicians are forming parties only to divide, not unite.  

They are always one against the other.  

Today, we end the year of mourning,  

but we do not end the mourning.  

In a month, we will sow wheat, praying for plenty of rain,  

and in six months, we will harvest.  

The connection between man and the land gives me hope, gives me the strength to fight for values.  

Those values will defeat the politics,  

those values of responsibility, mutual support, and giving.  

This is our legacy, of our people, for future generations.  

We will embrace the bereaved families,  

the wounded,  

the traumatized.  

We will embrace the sorrow  

in their memory. 
 By Haim Yellin, former Member of Knesset, Member of Kibbutz Be'eri

Nova memorial ceremony ends with call to release hostages

The memorial ceremony for bereaved families who lost loved ones at the Supernova festival massacre on October 7 ends with a rendition of the Israeli national anthem, “Hatikvah.”

The somber event featured speeches by bereaved family members, interspersed with short films and subdued music performances.

Toward the end, the evening took a more political turn, as a representative of the hostage families forum, Mishal Eliraz, whose nephew was abducted from Nova and is believed to still be held in Gaza, said that “we should have done more” to free the hostages.

Eliraz then called on the government to make a deal as soon as possible.

After Eliraz, freed hostages Noa Argamani and Shlomi Ziv quietly described their “days in hell” after being abducted from the festival.

The two-hour event, organized by the Tribe of Nova Community Association, marked the first anniversary of the Hamas-led assault on southern Israel, in which over 400 attendees of the Supernova music festival and other outdoor parties were massacred.

Speaking at the memorial event for bereaved Nova families, after a subdued performance by singer Yuval Dayan, Orin Zach-Gantz tearfully says she “is still in denial” about what happened to her daughter Eden, who had attended the music festival.

“I can’t digest that my beloved daughter was shot on her way home, while in her car. She had left the house to go to a beautiful festival, of music and peace,” says Zach-Gantz.

For a time Eden Zach-Gantz’s fate was unclear, but it was later determined that Eden, who was shot on October 7, was likely killed then. Her body was recovered in an IDF operation in December.

“I am a bereaved mother, but I don’t accept that word. They ask me how it feels after a year, but I am still stuck in the seventh of October. The world goes on, but for me, time stands still,” she says.

Zach-Gantz is one of the many bereaved family members who are sharing personal stories at the event.

The terrorists “succeeded in their attack, no doubt they murdered my daughter… I swear to you Eden… they won’t win the war,” she concludes forcefully.

This is my neighbor's fiance in the picture. They were in Europe on October 7 to celebrate their engagement. Her brother was killed at the Nova Festival

Hundreds of family members and survivors mourn at site of Nova massacre

Hundreds of people attend a memorial service at the site of the Nova music festival where over 360 revelers were slaughtered by Hamas terrorists on October 7 last year.

Relatives of the victims of the brutal massacre, as well as some survivors, are in attendance to remember their loved ones and mark one year since the Hamas terror group invaded southern Israel and carried out its savage rampage, murdering, raping and wounding thousands of Israelis, and taking 251 people hostage.

Shimon Buskila, father of Yarden (Jordy) who was murdered at the Nova festival, reads out a prayer he composed for the memory of those slain, the welfare of the soldiers fighting in the war, and the rehabilitation of all those injured on October 7 and since.

Dvir Neeman, whose brother David Neeman was also murdered at the Nova festival, recites a specially written Kaddish prayer for the victims of the massacre.

Reporter's Notebook: At the Nova Festival massacre site a year later
One year after the massacre, we find ourselves only a few miles from Gaza, where over 100 hostages are still being held captive.

The roads to Gaza in the first hours of the morning are free of traffic. This time of night, when it is still dark and even the first light of dawn has not arrived, brings a rare quiet over the country. At the entrance to Ashkelon, there is a gas station with lights on inside. The light is inviting, the only sign of warmth in the darkness. On the morning of October 7, 2024, I stopped, grabbed a coffee, and headed south toward the border of Gaza.

A year ago, I was asleep in Jerusalem. I was awakened after eight in the morning when sirens sounded in Jerusalem due to the Hamas rocket fire.

However, by that time, Israel was already under attack by thousands of terrorists, and Hamas had already massacred hundreds. A year later, I decided to go to the Gaza border to the site of the Nova festival, one of the worst sites of massacre on that day. There was a commemoration taking place.I’ve been to the Nova festival site many times since October 7, once in the second week of the war when vehicles of the victims were still scattered in the fields, broken and abandoned.

The clothes of people who ran from the terrorists and who were killed were still strewn about. The armored shelters near the bus stops were still filled with dried blood. Near the Gaza border, there was already some activity at around five in the morning.

Several cars with bicycles on the back were driving around. There are a large number of people who like to ride bicycles off-road in the area of the kibbutzim. A number of bicyclists were murdered on the morning of October 7. They were caught out in the trials by Hamas and killed.

Some of those venturing out this morning, a year later, were showing that Hamas could not take away their pastime from them.

Police checkpoints were hastily thrown up on the roads that parallel the Gaza border a year after the massacre. They were there to protect people and help direct traffic.

Many commemorations were being held near the border. Some of the Kibbutzim, for instance, held their own remembrance as many of them are still missing members who are being held in Gaza.

Route 232 leads to the site of the Nova Festival massacre. It passes several Kibbutzim, such as Beeri and Alumim. Each of these places has a story from October 7. Beeri and Kfar Aza were the site of terrible massacres. In other areas such as Alumim and Mefalsim, most of the residents survived.

This Road 232 was a road of death on October 7. That day, the Hamas terrorists massacred many drivers here. To drive the same route a year later is harrowing.

People driving on this road at 6:30 am would have had no idea that the first barrage of rockets was the opening salvo to a massacre.

They might have stopped and taken shelter, only to be massacred. And if they continued on their way they may have driven into the inferno.

The war in Gaza can still be heard.

The IDF’s 162nd Division is currently fighting in Jabaliya. This is the third time the IDF has gone into this neighborhood near Gaza City to clear out Hamas terrorists. Despite a year of war, Hamas still controls most of Gaza. However, the group has fewer rockets and poses less of a danger.

The site of the Nova festival massacre is contained in a square mile of land to the west of the 232. There is a forest and sites where the festival’s concert took place.

Some commemorations have been added over time. For instance, there is a field of flowers, trees, and a large open area with individual placards commemorating the victims.

Each of these signs shows a face, and there is an area below the sign where people bring candles, flowers, and other items. There are more memorials in the forest, with benches and individual areas set aside for families to visit their fallen loved ones. It is a dignified and complex series of memorials.

Much of what is poignant and significant about the site of the Nova festival massacre is that it has not been standardized or ruined by the hands of government authorities. However, it has slowly become more organized.

For now, though, it is still a place for families, loved ones, and regular people from all walks of life to gather.

On the morning of October 7, 2024, the dirt roads near the Nova site were full as hundreds of cars arrived. I joined a long line of people ambling among the trees toward the site. It was still dark, so the figures arriving could only be made out slightly, and each had a ghostly appearance walking in the dust. Eventually, dawn arrived, and more people came in a long, endless line to walk among the images of the dead.

The silence was punctuated by artillery fire in the distance. There was also the sound of machine-gun fire in Gaza and of the disciplined fire that meant it was the IDF.

Overhead, a drone flew, and two helicopters circled. The number of police, soldiers, and helicopters on the anniversary contrasted with the very small number of soldiers from the October 7 attack, as they had been outnumbered by the Hamas terrorists. A majority of the police presence near the festival was massacred, many of them trying to defend the festival-goers.

The people who gathered just before sunrise on October 7, 2024, came from all walks of life.

There was a motorcycle club. Soldiers and police came, young people and old. A high-ranking reserve officer sat next to me. A woman prayed. Many people came with the images of their fallen loved ones or friends emblazoned on their shirts.

One shirt has a quote that says, “Life is only as good as your mindset,” and another shows two people on it and says, “Maya and Eliran Forever.” A group brought balloons with the names of the killed and attached them to benches.

In Remembrance 

The commemoration ceremony began after 6:30 a.m. A brief sequence of music was played, the same music that had been played when the festival stopped due to the rocket fire.

Then organizers gathered, and there were short statements, and one man played a guitar.

Israel’s President Herzog arrived and walked among the crowds. No other politicians were present. In fact, with the exception of the police, who helped direct traffic and secure the location, there was no evidence the state was present at all.

There is something symbolic in this. On October 7 these thousands of people at the Nova festival were also left on their own, with the state mostly absent, soldiers nearby under siege by terrorists, tanks overrun.

People who fled the festival and survived mostly ran east and many of these people were rescued by civilian volunteers.

The absence of Israel’s politicians from this event is essential. The politicians have not investigated the October 7 massacre.

A number of them seemed unable to face the victims, embrace the families of the hostages, or even confront the horrors of that day. There are exceptions, but their absence from this one-year anniversary was a welcome change from the claims that Israel is pursuing total victory in Gaza or that the hostages are a priority after so long.

One year after the massacre, we find ourselves only a few miles from Gaza, where over 100 hostages are still being held captive. It's impossible not to think about how long they've been left there, both civilians and soldiers. link

On the eve of the first anniversary of the October 7 massacre, the IDF is publishing previously unreleased footage from the onslaught.

The first clip shows troops of the elite Multidomain Unit, or “Ghost” Unit, operating in Kibbutz Re’im on the morning of October 7.

During the battle against dozens of Hamas terrorists, the commander of the unit, Col. Roi Levy, 44, was killed, along with another officer, Cpt. Yotam Ben Bassat, 24.
link to videos and article

A second video published by the IDF shows the scene of the battle at Sderot’s police station, after Hamas terrorists took control of the building, killing several officers.

The video was filmed from the tank of the then-commander of the 401st Armored Brigade, Col. Benny Aharon, the IDF says.

Members of Kibbutz Be’eri, one of the hardest-hit communities during the Oct. 7 attack, gather amid the burned ruins of their homes and demanded an immediate return of the hostages during a memorial and rally.

A woman looks at a battle-scarred home at the Kibbutz Be'eri as Israel marks the one-year anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel on Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

More than 95 people were killed there and 30 were taken hostage on Oct. 7, according to the community’s spokesperson. Some of the women and children from the kibbutz were released in a ceasefire deal in November, but 10 hostages from Be’eri remain in captivity. Israel believes most of them are no longer alive.

Today, the community marched silently through the streets of the kibbutz bearing signs for the hostages before gathering for a rally, unfurling a massive flag with the words “Be’eri cannot heal until everyone is home.”

Ella Ben-Ami, whose father Ohad Ben-Ami was kidnapped from Be’eri, addresses the crowd and demands the government bring her father home.

She says she continues to take solace from the video of his kidnapping, when he stands tall and proud, as if he knew he was being filmed, to broadcast a message to his family that he would be OK.

Many people at Be’eri were dreading the anniversary, which felt like an “impossible” amount of time, she says. “But then I stop for a moment, I think that my father woke up today to count a year in captivity, a year!” she said.

Red Alerts - Missile, Rocket, Drone (UAV - unmanned aerial vehicles), and Terror Attacks and Death Announcements

*3:40pm yesterday - north - rockets/missiles

*4:00pm yesterday -north - rockets/missiles
*5:30pm yesterday -north - rockets/missiles
*6:15pm yesterday - north - rockets/missiles
*8:15pm yesterday -north - rockets/missiles -Video shows a home on fire in the Galilee town of Maalot after it apparently took a direct hit from a projectile shot from Lebanon. 

Police say there are no injuries reported in the attack, but widespread damage to property. video

*9:45pm yesterday -north - rockets/missiles

*10:40pm yesterday -north - rockets/missiles
*11:20pm yesterday - north - rockets/missiles
*11:30pm yesterday- north - rockets/missiles
*11:55pm yesterday -north - rockets/missiles - 5 people wounded in Haifa and one in Tiberius from shrapnel of the rocket impact -The IDF says it is investigating, after it failed to intercept a barrage of five rockets launched from Lebanon at Haifa this evening.

“Interception attempts were made,” the IDF says, adding that several rocket impacts were identified in the area. “The incident is being investigated,” it says. Footage from Haifa showed that a traffic circle in the northern coastal city was damaged by a direct rocket impact. video video of the rocket impact

Some 120 rockets were fired from Lebanon at northern Israel today, according to the IDF.

One person was lightly wounded after a rocket struck Ma’alot-Tarshiha earlier today, and there were several other cases of damage caused by the Hezbollah attacks.

*2:35am - north - rockets/missiles
*2:50am - north - rockets/missiles
*3:25am - north - rockets/missiles
*5:15am - hostile aircraft - south center - Palmachim, Rishon L'zion
*6:30am - south - rockets - Holit, Pri Gan and Sufa - during the cermony at Nova/Re'im (sirens didn't sound there as it was far enough away)
*6:50am - north - rockets/missiles
*8:50am -north - rockets/missiles
*9:40am - north - rockets/missiles
*10:20am -north - rockets/missiles
*10:45am -north - rockets/missiles

 
*11:00am - north - rockets/missiles
*11:00am - south and center - long range rockets Holon, Rishon L'zion, Kfar Chabad, South Tel Aviv-Yafo, East Tel Aviv, Azur, Bat Yam, Mikveh Yisrael, Gedera, Kidron, Bene Aish, Hatzva
*12:40pm - 
*1:00pm - south - Gaza Envelop - Sapir College, Sderot, Givim, Nir Am, Mefalsim, Ibim - Many of these communities were having memorial ceremonies
*2:05pm -north - rockets/missiles 
*2:25pm -north - rockets/missiles 

*2:45pm -north - rockets/missiles
*2:55pm -north - rockets/missiles
*3:20pm -north - rockets/missiles
*4:10pm -north - rockets/missiles
*4:15pm- north - rockets/missiles
*5:05pm - north - rockets/missiles
*5:25pm -north - rockets/missiles
*5:45pm - entire center of country including the airport up to Beit Shemesh - 1 ballistic surface to surface missile from Yemen- was intecepted by Arrow 3 anti missile defense far from the borders of the country

A Border Police officer was killed and at least 10 others were wounded when a terrorist opened fire in the Beersheba bus station on Sunday afternoon.

The victim was identified as Sgt. Shira Suslik, 19, a Border Police officer from Beersheba. She was killed when a gunman stormed into a McDonald’s in the southern city’s central bus station and opened fire on those inside.

May her memory forever be a blessing 

The shooter, who was said to be killed at the scene by IDF soldiers, was identified as Ahmad al-Uqbi, 29, an Israeli citizen from the unrecognized Bedouin village of Uqbi, near Hura. He is said to have a prior criminal record. 

In November 2023, Suslik posted on Instagram about celebrating her 19th birthday in the shadow of war, writing that the situation “gives even more meaning to the privilege I have to celebrate life in uniform, just over a month after kids my age were killed in battle for the state in the same uniform.”

In a statement, the Israel Police said she is survived by her parents and three siblings.

A second IDF reservist was killed on the Lebanon border yesterday, the military announces.

The soldier is named as Warrant Officer (res.) Aviv Magen, 43, of the elite 5515 combat mobility unit, from Herut.

Magen was killed alongside Master Sgt. (res.) Etay Azulay, whose death was announced earlier.

According to an initial IDF probe, the soldiers were hit by a mortar on the border. Another soldier was seriously wounded.

May their memories forever be a blessing

Hostage Updates 

• The Israel Defense Forces said Monday that hostage Idan Shtivi was killed during Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught in southern Israel, the announcement coming year to the day his body was kidnapped into Gaza, where it is still being held.

  
  Idan Shtivi, killed on October 7, 2023, and his body taken captive by Hamas terrorists from the Nova desert rave. (Courtesy)

  The grim development, announced on the first anniversary of the unprecedented assault, was based on new intelligence findings, the military said.

  The IDF said it had informed Shtivi’s family on Sunday that the army had concluded that he was killed during the attack on the Nova music festival.
  

  Shtivi’s death was first announced publicly Monday morning by the Hostage and Missing Families Forum. It was later confirmed by the IDF, which said the decision was made “based on intelligence information that was confirmed by a panel of experts from the Health Ministry.”

  “The IDF operates with a range of methods to try and gather information on the hostages in Gaza,” the army said.
  

  Shtivi was one of 251 people abducted on October 7 and is among 34 hostages killed on October 7 or while in captivity whose bodies are being held in Gaza, according to the IDF.

  A total of 101 hostages and remains are currently thought captive, including two slain soldiers and two civilians held for around a decade.

  

  Shtivi, 28, was a nature lover and photography enthusiast who was studying sustainability and government at Herzliya’s Reichman University. 
  

  He was seized by Hamas terrorists at the Nova desert rave, where he had volunteered to photograph the event.

  He joined the party at 6 a.m., and called his girlfriend at 7, telling her about the missiles overhead and that he was leaving.

  Shtivi left in his car with two friends, Lior and Yulia, but was blocked by the terrorists on the road heading north. He then turned the car around and started driving south, but was driven off the road, lost control of the vehicle and hit a tree.

  He was last seen in that location, and the car was later found full of bullet holes and blood.

  His friends’ bodies were found, but Shtivi was missing and later determined to have been taken hostage into Gaza.

  Shtivi, a resident of Petah Tikva, is survived by his parents Eli and Dalit, three brothers and his girlfriend Stav.
  May his memory forever be a blessing

• Netanyahu reportedly warned about hostages' fate at meeting
  The amount of information Israel is able to gather on hostages in Gaza is dissipating, defense officials reportedly told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, during a meeting on the crisis.

  “The more time that passes, there’s less and less intelligence on the hostages, and that’s very worrying,” a defense official is quoted by the Ynet news site as saying in the meeting.

  According to the report, defense officials told Netanyahu and others at the meeting that Hamas has ordered those guarding hostages to execute them if they feel the army is getting close.

  The site reports that the meeting is the first high-level engagement on the issue in a month. It quotes a source with knowledge of the issue saying that “there’s an impression that nobody is dealing with this, not the mediators and everyone has given up. There’s a feeling that it’s fallen off the agenda given the fears of regional war.”

  Earlier in the evening, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant met with families of hostages and was told that they feared a renewed Israeli offensive in northern Gaza was endangering their loved ones, a spokesperson for the Hostages and Missing Families Forum says in a statement. 

  
  

• Thousands of people are gathered at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv to hear relatives of those who remain captive a year later recount their stories for a memorial event as the one year anniversary of the October 7 onslaught approaches. Youtube video of ceremony (In Hebrew)

  Hagit Chen, whose son Itay was killed and whose body remains captive, recalls speaking to him exactly a year earlier while he was serving as a soldier near the Gaza border and hearing that he sounded unwell.
  

  “I thought maybe he was hungry so I asked if I could order him a pizza to Nahal Oz,” she tells the silent crowd. “He wasn’t hungry, but said he would be happy if I ordered him food tomorrow. The next day, we woke up, turned on the TV and saw that war had started.”

  Chen was killed on October 7, and his body dragged into Gaza, though he was listed as captive until March, when the army determined he had been killed.

  “We’ve been in this for a year and we still don’t have a place to mourn,” she says.
  

  Ziv Abud, whose boyfriend Eliya Cohen remains captive, and Noam Peri, daughter of slain captive Chaim Peri, also speak at the event.

  Peri recalls that the night before her father was kidnapped, the family gathered together to hear him tell of his experiences in the Yom Kippur War, exactly 50 years earlier, for the first time.

  
  Noam Peri, the daughter of Israeli hostage Chaim Peri, poses for a portrait while holding a photograph of her father who was held captive by Hamas terrorists in Gaza, May 20, 2024. Chaim Peri was declared dead in captivity by the IDF in June 2024. (Yossi Aloni/FLASH90)

  “That night was sad, but it was an emotion-filled night that we were all together,” she says. “We listened to him and that’s how we left him at the end of the night, with hugs, a kiss and much love.”

Gaza 

•  With a new operation in northern Gaza’s Jabaliya, the IDF says troops have killed several gunmen and located numerous weapons.

  Meanwhile, the military says an Israeli Air Force drone struck a rocket launching site used by terrorists to fire rockets at the southern coastal city of Ashkelon earlier today.

  The raid in Jabaliya was launched last night by the 162nd Division’s 401st and 460th armored brigades. The military says the soldiers of the division located many weapons today and encountered several cells of gunmen.

  In one incident, troops of the 401st Brigade shelled two terror operatives in a building amid an exchange of fire, the IDF says. video

• A reservist has been suspended after he was filmed pretending to give a Talmud lecture to at least three bound and blindfolded men, the Israel Defense Forces says. The soldier who filmed the scene, which was widely circulated on social media, was also suspended.

  “The behavior of the soldier in the video is serious and does not align with the values of the IDF or what is expected of IDF soldiers. The soldiers involved have been suspended from their duties and will face disciplinary action,” the IDF writes in a statement. video. It’s unclear where or when the video took place.

• Israeli fighter jets struck and destroyed rocket launchers in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis used by Hamas in an attack earlier today on central Israel, the military says.

  The IDF says secondary explosions were seen following the strike, indicating that additional weapons were stored in the area.

  Five rockets were launched from Gaza in the attack this morning, with impacts in Kfar Chabad, where two people were lightly injured, and Holon.
  

  Separately, the IDF says the 215th Artillery Regiment shelled a rocket launcher used to fire five more rockets at Sderot an hour ago.

• A representative of the State Attorney’s Office tells members of the Knesset Committee on the Status of Women and Gender Equality that in the year since October 7, no indictments have been brought against members of Hamas’s elite Nukhba force who raped and murdered Israelis.

  While investigations are ongoing, including a team dedicated to sexual crimes, “I can’t tell you times and specific dates,” the representative states, drawing consternation from both coalition and opposition lawmakers.

  “When a terrorist from Islamic Jihad in March 2024 said that he raped a woman in Nir Oz, there’s no indictment?” asks Likud lawmaker Keti Shitrit. “What else do you need to know to issue an indictment?”

  “There are terrorists who admitted” to rape, chimes in committee chairwoman Pnina-Tamano Shata (National Unity), stating that “we want to know about the progress of the investigation. Time is important.”

Northern Israel - Lebanon/Hizbollah/Syria

• IDF combat teams from the 188th Brigade located and destroyed weapons depots and underground infrastructure belonging to Hezbollah's elite Radwan Force, according to an update on Sunday. 

  Combat teams in southern Lebanon have been running search-and-destroy operations against Hezbollah's Radwan Force as part of the campaign to degrade their ability to terrorize Israeli civilians. Teams found many Hezbollah attack blueprints that were planned and executed towards against northern towns near the border over the past months. Warehouses with weapons depots were also located in the compound area. 

  In one raid, the troops preempted an ambush where weapons were found in a vehicle belonging to Hezbollah. Intelligence guided combat teams to a pit filled with explosives that were located and destroyed.
  
  

• Israel is obstructing search and rescue efforts in an area where senior Hezbollah leader Hashem Safieddine is thought to have been when Israel bombed Beirut’s southern suburbs on Thursday, a Hezbollah official says.

  Safieddine is seen as a likely successor to former terror leader Hassan Nasrallah who was killed in an Israeli strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs, known as Dahiyeh, on September 27.

  His fate remains unclear.

  The senior Hezbollah political official, Mahmoud Qmati, also says he had no information on reports that the leader of Iran’s elite Quds Force Esmail Qaani has not been heard from since the strikes on Beirut late last week.

  Israel should “let rescue teams do their work,” he tells Iraqi state television. Qmati says Hezbollah is now being jointly led until it could pick a new leader, which would take time.

  “What’s important is that joint command is in place,” he says.

  “The method of choosing a replacement for the secretary-general takes time and requires appropriate circumstances, and for that reason we suffice today with temporary joint command,” he says.

  Qmati says Nasrallah’s body remains in Lebanon and he will be laid to rest in Beirut’s southern suburbs, where Hezbollah holds heavy influence, when conditions allow.

  Previous reports have suggested that Hezbollah fears a large funeral for Nasrallah could become a target for Israeli warplanes.

• After the IDF called on civilians to flee the area surrounding four Hezbollah sites in Beirut’s southern suburbs, Lebanese media outlets report airstrikes in the area.

  

  Footage posted by Lebanese media shows one of the airstrikes. video of one airstrike

• Syria’s state-run SANA news agency, citing a military source, says the Israeli Air Force carried out airstrikes in central Syria this evening.

  The report says Israeli warplanes targeted several military sites in central Syria, launching missiles from over northern Lebanon. It claims Syria’s air defenses were activated by the attack.

  The strikes caused “material losses,” SANA says.

  The pro-government Sham FM radio says the airstrikes were carried out in the Homs area.

• Troops in southern Lebanon find village homes packed with weapons – IDF
  

  Israeli forces in southern Lebanon are continuing to find massive amounts of weaponry left behind by Hezbollah operatives, the IDF says. Officers involved in the fighting in some of the villages in southern Lebanon say that Hezbollah placed weapons in nearly every single home.

  The IDF says that the 188th Armored Brigade, operating under the 36th Division, located several weapon caches and tunnels during their operations in recent days.
  

  The troops also located and demolished a Hezbollah command center that the IDF says was used by the terror group to plan and carry out rocket fire on northern Israel.

  “In the last few days we are focused on dismantling the above and underground infrastructure, and we will continue to do so as long as it takes, until we guarantee the return of the residents to the north in complete safety,” the commander of the 188th Brigade, Col. Or Vollozinsky, says in remarks provided by the IDF.  link to article and video

West Bank and Jerusalem and Terror attacks within Israel

•  
  
• The IDF and Shin Bet said Saturday they had identified at least 12 terror operatives among the dead in Thursday night’s fighter jet strike in the West Bank city of Tulkarem, amid an international outcry over the high number of casualties in the attack. 
  The strike targeted a senior Hamas commander, Zahi Yaser Abd al-Razeq Oufi, who was planning a major terror attack on the anniversary of the October 7 massacres, according to the military.

The Palestinian Authority health ministry reported 18 dead in the strike, including eight and seven-year-old siblings Karam and Sham Abu Zahra. According to the IDF, at least 12 of those killed in the strike were confirmed as members of the Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror groups. The two terror groups also announced the deaths of several operatives in the strike.

The military has said it is on heightened alert for other attempts by Hamas to carry out attacks ahead of and on the anniversary of the October 7 attacks, both from the Gaza Strip and West Bank.

The United Nations Human Rights Office on Friday slammed the strike, calling it “unlawful.” “The strike is part of a highly concerning pattern of unlawful use of force by ISF (Israeli security forces) during military-like operations in the West Bank that have caused widespread harm to Palestinians,” the UN rights office said in a statement.

“The leveling of an entire building filled with people via aerial bombing shows flagrant disregard for Israel’s obligations.” The statement argued the strike came when there were “no clashes or confrontations” at the site.

“The airstrike completely destroyed the targeted building and also damaged nearby houses,” it said.

“More fatalities may be trapped under the rubble, but recovery and identification are proving difficult in light of the massive impact of the blast.”

Germany’s Foreign Ministry said on X that “the high number of civilian casualties in an Israeli air strike in Tulkarem is shocking.”

“In the fight against terror, the Israeli army is obliged to protect civilians in the West Bank,” the post read.

Since October 7, the IDF has carried out more than 70 airstrikes in the West Bank, using drones, attack helicopters, and fighter jets. Troops have arrested some 5,250 wanted Palestinians across the West Bank, including more than 2,050 affiliated with Hamas, since the beginning of the war. Full article

• Victor Shimshon Green, 33, named as the seventh victim of Jaffa Terror shooting.
  Green was living in a homeless shelter in city where two terrorists opened fire last week The seventh victim of last week’s terror attack in Jaffa was named Sunday as Victor Shimshon Green.

  Green, 33, was living in a homeless shelter in the city where two Palestinian terrorists carried out the attack last Tuesday.

  Aside from those slain, 16 were wounded in the attack on the Tel Aviv light rail and a nearby road in Jaffa, in one of the deadliest terror attacks in recent memory. The six other victims were named as Revital Bronstein, 24, from Bat Yam; Ilia Nozadze, 42, a Georgian citizen; Shahar Goldman, 30, from Lod; Inbar Segev Vigder, 33; Nadia Sokolenco, 40; and Jonas Chrosis, 26, a Greek citizen.

  The two terrorists, one armed with a rifle and the other with a knife, attacked civilians on the Tel Aviv light rail before getting off and continuing on foot and shooting and stabbing people on Jerusalem Street in the city.

  A municipal security officer and armed civilians shot the two terrorists, police said. Full article

     

• 
  

Politics and the War (general news)

• A large crowd has gathered at a Tel Aviv event hall for an official memorial ceremony for bereaved families who lost loved ones at the Supernova festival massacre on October 7, 2023.

  The event, organized by the Tribe of Nova Community Association, aims to “strengthen and honor the bereaved families” by “commemorating the memory the 410 men and women murdered during the Nova massacre and nearby parties” on October 7, organizers say.

  “Time flies, I don’t believe it’s been a year. It’s like a dream I want to wake up from,” says Ofri Rahum, speaking to The Times of Israel before the event is to begin. Rahum’s sister, who was four months pregnant, her sister’s fiancé, and Rahum’s uncle were all killed at the Nova party.

  The memorial evening at Hangar 11, a popular hall at the Tel Aviv port, one of dozens this week marking one year since the Hamas-led invasion of southern Israel.

  The ceremony is slated to feature a collective Yizkor prayer for the fallen, speeches by family members, short performances by several musical artists and an art instillation dedicated to their memory.

  “It’s as if they went on a trip, and we are waiting for them to come back,” Rahum says. “All the families are here, that’s very important. It’s good for the heart, a bit.”

  
  
•  The Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee approves two bills intended to limit the activities of UNRWA, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees and their descendants, allowing the legislation to advance to the second and third readings necessary to become law.

  The first, sponsored by Yisrael Beytenu MK Yulia Malinovsky, would ban state authorities from having any contact with UNRWA as of tomorrow. The second, a merger of several proposals, would effectively ban the organization from operating on Israeli territory by revoking a 1967 exchange of notes providing the basis for its activities.

  By passing the laws, “we convey a clear message to the terrorists: We will not forget, we will not forgive, and we will take any measure to ensure the security of our country,” Likud MK Boaz Bismuth tweets.

  “What remains now is only the vote in the Knesset plenum,” declares Malinovsky, calling on the coalition and opposition to come together to pass the law “as soon as possible so that we can get rid of UNRWA once and for all.”

  According to Hebrew media reports, the bills’ passage comes despite concerns raised by Foreign Ministry and National Security Council officials regarding the potential practical consequences of efforts to criminalize the organization.

  According to the Ynet news site, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has written to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warning that the legislation, “if passed, could prevent UNRWA from continuing its operations in the occupied Palestinian territories, thereby denying Palestinian refugees in Gaza and the West Bank the essential aid and protection that UNRWA has provided them since 1949.”

  The agency provides education, health care and aid to millions of Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. Israel alleges that some 10 percent of UNRWA’s staff in Gaza have ties to terror, and that educational facilities under the organization’s auspices consistently incite hatred of Israel and glorify terror.
  
  

The Region and the World

•    Iran’s Quds Force commander Esmail Qaani, who traveled to Lebanon after the killing last month of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in an Israeli attack, has not been heard from since strikes on Beirut late last week, two senior Iranian security officials tell Reuters.

  One of the officials says Qaani was in Beirut’s southern suburbs, known as Dahiyeh, during a bombardment on Thursday that was reported to have targeted senior Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine, but the official says he was not meeting Safieddine.

  The official says Iran and Hezbollah have not been able to contact Qaani since then.

  Israel has been hitting multiple targets in Dahiyeh as it pursues a campaign against Iran-backed Lebanese terror group Hezbollah.

  The second official also says Qaani had travelled to Lebanon after the killing of Nasrallah and the Iranian authorities had not been able to contact him since the strike against Safieddine, who was widely expected to be the next Hezbollah chief.

  Hezbollah has made no comment so far on Safieddine.

  Israel’s strikes in Dahiyeh, a Hezbollah power base, have taken out many of the group’s top leadership, as well as a number of Iranian officers from the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.

  
  

• France says its president Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “acknowledge[d] their differences of opinion, as well as their desire to be well understood by each other,” in a phone call earlier, but indicated that the French leader will not back off his opposition to arms sales to Jerusalem.

  The two spoke “in complete frankness and with respect for the friendship between France and Israel,” Paris says in a statement on the call, which comes after Netanyahu labeled Macron’s call for an arms embargo on Israel “a disgrace.”

  Macron, according to the French readout, reiterates France’s commitment to Israel’s security and noted that France participated in the defense of Israel against Iranian attacks.

  “On the eve of the first anniversary of Hamas’ terrorist offensive against Israel, he expressed the solidarity of the French people with the Israeli people, particularly the victims, the hostages and their loved ones,” according to Macron’s office. “Like everyone, Israel has the right to defend itself against terrorism. Attacks against Israel and its citizens must cease, whether they are carried out by Iran or its proxies in the region.”

  Macron also says that “the time for a ceasefire has now come.”

  “The arms deliveries, the prolongation of the war in Gaza and its extension to Lebanon cannot produce the security expected by the Israelis and by everyone in the region,” Macron told Netanyahu. “We must immediately make the decisive effort that will allow us to develop the political solutions necessary for the security of Israel and everyone in the Middle East.”

Personal Stories

   Elad Katzir, 47: Kibbutz farmer was the ultimate ‘cool uncle’

Kidnapped from his home in Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7 and murdered in captivity, his body retrieved in April 2024

Elad Katzir, 47, from Kibbutz Nir Oz, was kidnapped on October 7 and murdered in captivity in Gaza.

His body was retrieved by the IDF during an operation on April 5, 2024.

The IDF said that according to its intelligence, Elad was “murdered in captivity by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group.” The IDF estimated that he was killed by his captors in mid-January. He was then buried in the Khan Younis refugee camp in southern Gaza, and his body was exhumed and brought back to Israel for burial by troops of the Maglan and Egoz commando units.

Elad was in his home the day of the Hamas invasion, and told his sister that terrorists had entered his home during their last conversation. While in captivity, Islamic Jihad released two forced propaganda videos of Elad, in December 2023 and January 2024.

Elad’s father, Rami Katzir, was murdered on October 7 in Nir Oz and his mother, Hanna Katzir, was kidnapped and released as part of a truce deal in late November.

He was buried in Kibbutz Nir Oz on April 7. He is survived by his mother, Hanna, and his sisters, Avital and Carmit.

A farmer, a social activist and a devoted fan of the Maccabi Haifa soccer team, Elad volunteered for the Hadar Foundation, showing up each week to support the fight for the release of Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul, two soldiers whose bodies have been held in Gaza for more than 10 years.

“Elad was a man of laughter, hugs and happiness, fields and land,” the kibbutz said in a statement announcing his death. “He was especially loved by the kibbutz’s children, members and residents.”

His niece, Shaked, wrote on Facebook to “the uncle that everyone would want to have: the cool uncle who let you have alcohol at 13, who flew with you for your first time abroad, who let you drive way before you got your license. Who took you to a pub, to a restaurant, a movie, for a drive on the tractor in a field. Who taught you to swim, and who also almost drowned in the pool.”

And despite all that, she said, “you were an educational figure. You taught us how to lighten the mood and at the same time to look at things seriously, you taught us the values of loving the land, people, the earth, values of partnership, of shared responsibility, of helping others. A man whose values were his actions and his work.”

Her uncle, Shaked wrote, “was freedom. You were an 18-year-old kid in the body of a 40 year old. You always followed your heart and didn’t do what was expected of you. You had a heart of gold. You were one of those people for whom the good inside them is a way of life.”

Elad’s sister, Carmit, described him on Facebook as “our Elad. A devoted son, a loving brother, the coolest and most dedicated uncle there was. A friend to so many people.”

“Eladi, may the memory of you be of laughter, hugs and joy, fields and soil,” she wrote. “That is not how your story ought to have ended. Please forgive us for failing to save you.” link

Dark Legacy - The Abandonment of October 7th Hostages

David Meidan

Former Mossad official, served as Benjamin Netanyahu’s

coordinator for POWs and MIAs.

The Gate of Mercy are locked.

The land is bubbling with hate.

Our hostages are dying.

Our land is quick to forget.

The borders have been breached,

The beginning was challenging,

At first there was still some vestige of civility, some shame, some awe.

Then we became accustomed to it.

Aviad Frija made sure the victim was dead,

Haim Sirotkin accelerated,

The girlfriend only opened her mouth.

Uri Harush kicked the head of the bereaved father lying on the ground.

These are the supporters, and this is the spirit of things.

Ignorance, fanaticism, and a mind of darkness.

The Messiah is under duress.

His liberty in this land has fallen into the hands of his zealots,

And abroad, in the hands of Joe Biden.

The Law has risen against him.

dark legacy 57

Against him,

Not against the right, not against the military, not against the Jewish

people, and not against civilization itself.

Against him.

Not against the right and not against the military and not against the

Jewish people and not against civilization.

Against him.

The north is barren,

Qiryat Shemona is deserted.

A city upturned, lying on its back.

like Sderot, and like Metula.

The Messiah is in hiding.

Good Likudniks, where are you?

Will the land forever grieve?

Will you forever devour his lies?

A failing, falling man is deceiving you.

Without him we can rise from the ruins.

Together.

Put aside the divisions.

This failure of a man is not Moses.

Better people will come.

They will repair, they will restore, they will rebuild.

One step at a time.

With devotion and perseverance.

With real deeds… not with trickery.

People of truth.

Lovers of their land.

Let this failure out of our lives.

For the sake of the children.

The Government of Israel and its Prime Minister are Continuously Abandoning

the Israeli People

Prof. Tova Most

Professor Emeritus and former Dean of Students, Tel Aviv University.

As a speech therapist and a researcher in the fields of rehabilitation and education of the deaf and the hard of hearing, interpersonal communication is in my soul. Throughout my life, I have researched the elements and characteristics of human communication, studying which of these influences enables and optimizes effective communication.

Communication enables fruitful dialogue, the exchange of messages, emotions, and intentions, and is a significant factor contributing to our quality of life. For the communication process to succeed, it is crucial to consider the traits and characteristics of its participants. It is essential that the speaker is aware of the recipient's characteristics and needs. When trying to converse with people with hearing difficulties, even more attunement is required. Without this attunement there can be no communication.

From this perspective, which emphasizes the importance of interpersonal communication, I want to cry out loud and clear: The government of

Israel and its Prime Minister are continuously abandoning all of Israel's citizens by blatantly ignoring the countless voices of the Israeli people, and by their ongoing, persistent, and aggressive choice to avoid contact and communication with the people.

This abandonment is particularly evident among communities affected on and since October 7th. The families of the hostages, the people murdered, the fallen, the wounded, and the evacuees have been and are still being abandoned. They have not received even minimal attention or any sort of communication from government officials—not to express condolences, not to acknowledge their suffering, and not to offer help and support. The lack of communication between the government and the families of the victims is an expression of abandonment that is beyond comprehension. Those elected as the representatives of the

people are obligated to ensure the safety of the citizens, and to protect the core values standing at the basis of our shared existence. Shamefully, the current government abandons its own people, operating without any public responsibility. Not only does it continue to destructively and stubbornly shirk any possibility of fruitful communication, but sadly, it chooses to alienate the victims, insult, disconnect, and even blame them.

In sharp contrast to the government's attitude, how moving, empowering, and effective it is to be part of a huge and caring group of people, who are determined and responsible, who communicate with sensitivity and profound attention to the unique needs of citizens affected on and since October 7th? Citizens who have volunteered to provide every possible support to the evacuees and the families of the hostages, the fallen, and the murdered. Many volunteer and partnership initiatives have been set up to ensure that the affected citizens are not left alone in their suffering.

As a proud Israeli, and daughter of Holocaust survivors, it was always clear to me that Israel is our home and there is no alternative. Even during my years of studying abroad, I never had a moment of hesitation about returning home to Israel. How vastly different and unsettling my feelings are about this "home" now. My pride has been replaced by feelings of shame and fear.

I am hopeful that, thanks to the numerous citizens who show deep

connection, immense care, and willingness to fight for our home, we will emerge from these dark days.

Acronyms and Glossary

COGAT - Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories

ICC - International Criminal Court in the Hague

IJC - International Court of Justice in the Hague

MDA - Magen David Adom - Israel Ambulance Corp

PA - Palestinian Authority - President Mahmud Abbas, aka Abu Mazen

PMO- Prime Minister's Office

UAV - Unmanned Aerial vehicle, Drone. Could be used for surveillance and reconnaissance, or be weaponized with missiles or contain explosives for 'suicide' explosion mission

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