🎗️Lonny's War Update- October 373, 2023 - October 13, 2024 🎗️

  

🎗️Day 373  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.

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

*7:05pm yesterday - north - rockets/missiles

*8:00pm yesterday - north - rockets/missiles
*8:45pm yesterday - north - rockets/missiles
*9:10pm yesterday - north - rockets/missiles
*9:20pm yesterday -  north - rockets/missiles
*9:30pm yesterday -  north - rockets/missiles
*12:20am -  north - rockets/missiles
*1:20am -  north - rockets/missiles
*1:45am -  north - rockets/missiles
*3:10am -  north - rockets/missiles
*3:25am - north - The IDF says the Air Force successfully intercepted a “suspicious aerial target” — likely a drone — that crossed from Lebanon a short while ago.

The army says no alerts were activated in Israeli communities during the infiltration, which happened off the coast of Nahariya. video shooting down the UAV

*3:50am -  north - rockets/missiles
*5:25am - north - rockets/missiles
*5:40am -  north - rockets/missiles

*5:50am - north - rockets/missiles
*6:10am -  north - rockets/missiles

*6:15am - north - rockets/missiles
*7:05am - north - rockets/missiles
*9:00am - Haifa, Acre, Galilee - rockets/missiles
*9:45am - Acre, north of Haifa, Upper Galilee - rockets/missiles
*10:15am -  north - rockets/missiles
*12:05pm - north - rockets/missiles    
*12:55pm - north - rockets/missiles
*2:00pm - north - rockets/missiles
*2:10pm -  north - rockets/missiles
*2:30pm - north - rockets/missiles
*2:55pm -  north - rockets/missiles
*3:15pm - north - rockets/missiles
*3:20pm - north - rockets/missiles
*3:40pm - north - rockets/missiles
*3:50pm - north - rockets/missiles
*4:20pm -north - rockets/missiles

Hostage Updates 

• Rallies in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem demand ‘cabinet of death’ reach hostage deal
  Marchers carry sign saying ‘there’s no rebirth without a deal,’ referencing PM’s desired name change for war; marking Yom Kippur, protesters ask for hostages’ forgiveness

  
  Hostage families and their supporters demand the government reach a deal to free their loved ones, in Tel Aviv, October 10, 2024. (Pro-Democracy Protest Movement/Danor Aharon)
  
  
  
  
  Hostage families and their supporters rallied Thursday in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem in support of a deal to free their loved ones and protested what they view as government inaction in reaching an agreement.
  
  
  Demonstrators marched from Habima Square to the Kirya military base carrying various anti-government banners, one of them reading “A year of abandonment, there’s no rebirth without a deal,” referencing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s desire to change the official name of the war with Hamas from “Swords of Iron” to the “War of Revival.”
  
  
  Protesters also held up signs demanding an end to the war in the Gaza Strip, and labeling several ministers, including Netanyahu, as members of the “cabinet of death,” criticizing their ongoing opposition to a deal as fatal to the captives.
  
  
  In Jerusalem, protesters gathered in front of the Great Synagogue and called out the names of hostages. They asked them for forgiveness for being left in captivity, ahead of Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of atonement.
  
  
  
  Talks for a hostage deal have been deadlocked for several months. Hamas has demanded a complete withdrawal of the military from Gaza and a permanent end to the war, while Israel has refused any arrangement that would allow the terror group to retain control of the Strip and rebuild its military strength.
  
  
  Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar reportedly reestablished contact with Qatari mediators recently, after being silent for several weeks because he believed Israel was uninterested in reaching a deal, although it doesn’t appear he has softened his stance.
  
  
  
  
  Demonstrators call out the names of hostages held in Gaza, in front of the Great Synagogue, Jerusalem, October 10, 2024. (Pro-Democracy Protest Movement/Orna Kupferman)
  White House Mideast czar Brett McGurk said Wednesday that Sinwar remains the main decision maker in the terror group and is likely hiding in an underground Gaza tunnel with hostages in his vicinity.
  
  
  It is believed that 97 of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 34 confirmed dead by the IDF.
  
  
  Hamas released 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released before that. Eight hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 37 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the military as they tried to escape their captors.
  
  
  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. link
  
  

• Police say they arrested five demonstrators for blocking Tel Aviv’s Ayalon Highway during a protest calling for the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.

  A statement from the force says the road has been reopened after officers cleared the demonstrators.

  Among those who took part in the protest were Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan was taken captive during the October 7 terror onslaught last year.

  

  Families of Israelis held by Hamas terrorists in Gaza and activists block the Ayalon Highway in Tel Aviv, during a protest calling for the captives' release, October 12, 2024. (Erik Marmor/Flash90)

  “I’m sorry that a year has passed and we still haven’t succeeded in causing the government to bring a [hostage] deal,” she said in remarks addressed to her son while protesting outside the Kirya military base earlier this evening

  
  

• Over a month has already passed since Hamas conveyed to me in writing and in a voice message their agreement to the "three-weeks plan" (ending  the war, full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, the release of all the hostages - all of them, the agreed release of Palestinian prisoners) and to that they added Hamas's agreement to the transfer of power in Gaza to a civilian, technocratic, professional government that will govern Gaza - including all security issues and the border crossings. Hamas will not announce its agreement to the "three-weeks plan" until there is a sign from Israel that it agrees to it first. Hamas explained that presenting their agreement to the "three-weeks plan" first weakens them in the negotiations.
  Bibi - Mr. Prime Minister - Do you want to return the hostages home? Do you want Hamas not to rule Gaza after the war? The path to your victory is  Israel's consent (very quietly) to the "three-weeks plan" to Qatar and Egypt and also to President Biden. Just tell them that Israel is ready to enter into negotiations on the implementation of the "three-weeks plan". It's on you Bibi. There is no victory without bringing all of the hostages home, and every day you procrastinate you endanger more hostages. Act today Bibi - it's up to you! (Gershon Baskin, October 13, 2024)

Gaza 

•  The IDF says it intercepted a “suspicious aerial target” headed toward Israel from the direction of the Red Sea.

  A statement from the military stresses the aircraft never entered Israeli airspace.

  The Iran-backed Islamic Resistance in Iraq claims responsibility for the attack, saying it launched two drones at Israel’s southernmost city of Eilat.

  
  

• In a statement released after Yom Kippur ends, the military says Israeli forces killed dozens of enemy combatants in Gaza and Hezbollah over the holiday weekend.

  The Israel Defense Forces reports that it carried out a total of some 280 strikes on terror targets, including over 200 in Lebanon, where it says soldiers killed 50 Hezbollah fighters in “face-to-face confrontations” over the past day.

  As part of the operations in Lebanon, which also included raids on numerous Hezbollah sites, the IDF says that it struck “underground infrastructure” where the Iran-backed organization was storing arms along the border with Syria.

  In the Gaza Strip, the military says that troops have been continuing to battle Hamas fighters in Jabaliya, where the IDF recently launched a renewed ground offensive to prevent the Palestinian terror group from reestablishing itself in the north of the enclave.

  The IDF statement says the military killed over 20 combatants in Jabaliya and a number of fighters in central Gaza and the southern Strip’s Rafah.
  
  

• Hamas originally planned to launch a major cross-border attack on Israel in fall 2022 but pushed off the invasion until October 7 last year in an effort to enlist Iran and Hezbollah to join in, according to a reportin The New York Times that cites minutes from Hamas secret meetings that Israeli forces uncovered in Gaza.

  To persuade Hezbollah, Hamas leaders cited Israel’s “internal situation” — which the report says appears to be a reference to the domestic political unrest over the government’s judicial overhaul push — as a leading reason they were “compelled to move toward a strategic battle.”

  According to the Times, despite feeling it had the support of Hezbollah and Iran, Hamas concluded it may need to launch the attack alone before Israel deployed a new air defense system. The Palestinian terror group was also reportedly motivated in part by a desire to disrupt the US-backed initiative for Israel-Saudi normalization.

  The report adds that Hamas leaders sought to avoid major clashes with Israel in the two years leading up to the October 7 onslaught to “keep the enemy convinced that Hamas in Gaza wants calm.” The Times also reports that Hamas leaders in Gaza had briefed the terror group’s then-leader Ismail Haniyeh about “the big project” — Hamas’s code name for the attack plans.

• Israeli forces widened their raid into northern Gaza, and tanks reached the north edge of Gaza City, pounding some districts of the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, residents say, forcing many families to leave their homes.

  Residents say Israeli forces have effectively isolated Beit Hanoun, Jabalia and Beit Lahiya in the far north of the enclave from Gaza City, blocking access between the two areas except upon their permission for families willing to leave the three towns, heeding evacuation orders.

  The IDF recently launched a fresh ground offensive in north Gaza to prevent Hamas from reestablishing itself.

  Israel estimates that tens of thousands of Palestinians have remained in northern Gaza throughout the last year of fighting, despite repeated calls for them to evacuate to designated humanitarian zones. It believes that among those who remained there are thousands of Hamas operatives who survived previous rounds of fighting with Israeli forces.

  To that end, the IDF issued new evacuation orders over the weekend to two neighborhoods on the northern edge of Gaza City, saying that the area was a “dangerous combat zone.” It urged residents to evacuate their homes and head to safe areas in the south.

  The Hamas-run interior ministry, however, instructed civilians to ignore the call to relocate to other areas in the north of the Strip, and also to avoid heading south “where the occupation is conducting continued bombing and killing every day in the areas it claims to be safe.”

  The IDF has for years accused Hamas of using human shields and embedding its operatives deep within the civilian population to protect itself amid fighting with Israel, and says that it seeks to avoid civilian casualties.
  

  Across the Strip, IDF forces attacked around 40 Hamas targets, and killed dozens of enemy fighters. They also located explosives and other weapons, including the launcher that fired rockets at Ashkelon over Yom Kippur.

  The Gaza Division is operating in the southern Gaza Strip. They killed “a number of terrorists” over Yom Kippur, says the IDF, including a Hamas squad armed with an RPG-type rocket.

Northern Israel - Lebanon/Hizbollah/Syria

• IDF says Hezbollah moving fighters, arms in ambulances as 2 Lebanon hospitals damaged in strikes 
  Two hospitals in the Bekaa Valley, a stronghold area of Hezbollah, sustained damage from Israeli strikes today, the hospitals say. There were no casualties, they add.
• The Israeli military said today that Hezbollah was using ambulances to transport fighters and weapons and that it would take any necessary action.

• IDF says Hezbollah fired around 320 projectiles at Israel during Yom Kippur 
  The Israeli military says that Hezbollah fired about 320 projectiles from Lebanon into Israel over Yom Kippur, Judaism’s holiest day which ended at nightfall.
  “Throughout the weekend of Yom Kippur, approximately 320 projectiles that were fired by the Hezbollah terrorist organization crossed from Lebanon into Israel,” the military says in a statement.
  
  
• Lebanon’s health ministry says that at least 15 people had been killed in Israeli strikes on three areas considered outside Hezbollah’s traditional strongholds, updating earlier tolls. 
  The ministry reports “nine dead and 15 wounded” in an “Israeli enemy strike” on the village of Maaysra north of Beirut, raising an earlier toll of five dead.
  It also reports two dead, four wounded and unidentified “body parts” in a Israeli strike on Deir Billa, near the northern town of Batroun, and says four people were killed and 18 wounded in a strike on Barja, raising an earlier toll of 14 wounded for the raid in the Shouf district south of the capital.
  
  

• The 36th Division directed air force strikes against Hezbollah rocket launchers, anti-tank positions, and weapons caches in southern Lebanon overnight, the IDF says.

  The division also killed dozens of Hezbollah fighters, the IDF says.

  Overall, the Israeli Air Force struck around 200 Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon and deeper into the country in the last 24 hours, according to the army. Those targets include Hezbollah cells, rocket launchers, command posts, and fighting positions.

  
  

• Some 25 IDF soldiers were injured today in ground operations across southern Lebanon, according to Kan news.

  Two of the soldiers were seriously injured, and the rest were lightly hurt.

  There is no official word on the matter from the army as of yet.

• Operating in southern Lebanon, the 8th Brigade Combat Team and the elite LOTAR counter-terror unit uncover dozens of weapons warehouses in civilian homes, the IDF says.

  Footage released by the army shows a cache of mortar shells –- some originating in Israel — mines, Kalashnikov rifles, magazines, and combat vests.

  The army says they also found Kornet anti-tank missiles, and that the caches were meant for Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force as they suited up for an invasion of northern Israel.

  The troops, who conducted significant operations against Hamas in Gaza over the past year, are operating under the 91st Division on the eastern edge of IDF ground operations in southern Lebanon.

  “The forces conduct face-to-face battles, eliminate terrorists and destroy terrorist infrastructure that Hezbollah has deployed along the border,” according to the IDF.

  The brigade found tunnel infrastructure inside one of the villages, including living quarters for Hezbollah fighters.

  The IDF says that the team has killed “many” Hezbollah fighters by directing airstrikes from the ground. video of tunnel. video of Hizbollah weapons warehouses found in civilian houses

  
  

• Defense Minister Yoav Gallant tours Israel’s border with Lebanon and pledges that Israel will never let Hezbollah reestablish its presence there.

  “These are military targets containing underground tunnels and weapon storages,” he says of Lebanese villages nearby. “Our troops found hundreds of RPGs, munitions and anti-tank missiles here. The IDF is currently destroying these weapons above and under the ground.

  “I have instructed the IDF at all levels to ensure the destruction of [attack infrastructure] and to ensure that terrorists cannot return to these places,” he continues, according to his office. “This is essential in order to ensure the safety of Israel’s northern communities.”

  Gallant says operations will continue until Israel’s goals are achieved.

• Iran warns the US to keep its military forces out of Israel.

  The comments came in a post on X associated with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who helped reached Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

  In the message, Araghchi refers to the United States potentially sending one of its Terminal High Altitude Area Defense systems to Israel. Any move of one of the systems, known by the acronym THAAD, to Israel would involve the deployment of soldiers to operate the complex system.

  “The US has been delivering record amount of arms to Israel,” the X message reads. “It is now also putting lives of its troops at risk by deploying them to operate US missile systems in Israel.”

  It adds: “While we have made tremendous efforts in recent days to contain an all-out war in our region, I say it clearly that we have no red lines in defending our people and interests.”

• The tensions between Israel and the United Nations peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon continue to escalate, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calling for the UNIFIL soldiers to be withdrawn from combat areas.

  Addressing UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Netanyahu says in a Hebrew-language message, “It is time for you to withdraw UNIFIL from Hezbollah strongholds and from the areas of combat.”

  “The IDF has repeatedly asked for this, and has been met with repeated refusals, all aimed at providing a human shield to Hezbollah terrorists,” says Netanyahu.

  “Mr. Secretary General, get the UNIFIL forces out of harm’s way. It should be done right now, immediately,” Netanyahu says in English.

  UNIFIL says the IDF has hit a number of UNIFIL posts, including the headquarters at Naqoura. UNIFIL soldiers have been lightly injured in the incidents.

  “Your refusal to evacuate the UNIFIL soldiers makes them hostages of Hezbollah,” says Netanyahu. “This endangers both them and the lives of our soldiers.”

  Netanyahu says Israel “regrets the injury” to the peacekeepers, and that Israel is doing whatever it can to prevent that happening.

  “But the simple and obvious way to ensure this is just get them out of the danger zone,” says Netanyahu. The prime minister says European leaders should be criticizing Hezbollah, not Israel, for using UNIFIL as a “human shield.” link It has been many years since UNIFIL has been even somewhat efffective. In the first years following the end of the 2nd Lebanese War with UN Resolution 1701, the UNIFIL forces worked very hard to maintain the agreements in 1701, but over the years, the forces make up changed and the soldiers were not only less effective, they were little more than window dressing. Hizbollah had free reign of South Lebanon and when missiles were flying, UNIFIL forces went into their bunkers. Despite this, it is wrong to demand they withdraw permanently. The only way that this war will end will be with a diplomatic solution and UNIFIL forces (better ones) will most likely remain part of the solution.

• Lebanon’s Prime Minister condemns his Israeli counterpart’s call to UN chief Antonio Guterres to remove international peacekeepers from the Lebanese side of the border, where clashes between Hezbollah and Israeli troops have intensified.

  Lebanon “condemns (Benjamin) Netanyahu’s position and the Israeli aggression against UNIFIL” (United Nations International Forces in Lebanon) peacekeepers, says Najib Mikati. “The warning that Netanyahu addressed to… Guterres demanding the removal of the UNIFIL represents a new chapter in the enemy’s approach of not complying with international” norms, he adds.

• IDF troops capture Hezbollah fighter in underground bunker, take him to Israel for interrogation

  IDF forces in southern Lebanon capture a Hezbollah fighter in an underground bunker.

  According to the IDF, troops identified a tunnel shaft inside a building leading to a 50-square-meter room some seven meters underground. The terror operative was hunkered down in the bunker, which also held weapons and supplies for an extended stay underground.

  Video shows IDF troops instructing the Hezbollah fighter in Arabic to climb slowly out of the bunker, wearing only his underwear and shoes.

  According to the IDF, the operative was taken to a detention facility inside of Israel for interrogation. vidoe of the capture
  

West Bank and Jerusalem and Terror attacks within Israel

•     

Politics and the War (general news)

•  The US will deploy the THAAD anti-ballistic missile system in Israel, according to reports by Channel 12 news and Army Radio that describe the move as part of preparations for the expected Israeli response to Iran’s recent missile attack.

  Channel 12 news says the advanced missile defense system will be operated by American troops on Israeli soil.

  

  The US military deploys a THAAD missile defense system in Israel, March 2019. (US Army Europe

• The Year That Shook Criminal Identification in the Police, and the Officer Who Saw It All: "An Endless Stream of Trucks with Bodies"
  
  
  

Deputy Commissioner Aliza Raziel woke up at her home on October 7th to the sound of sirens. After a short time, she and her team from the police's criminal identification unit realized it was a serious event, even before its full scale became clear. Now she recounts the difficult sights she will never forget and the intensive work since that Black Saturday - even under fire: "We knew we were going to be exposed to a cruel massacre, we will forever remember the smell - it scars you."

"Some of the scenes were still under fire. We arrived at the battle scenes to collect bodies and document everything. The first scene we arrived at was full of bodies from Be'eri - white bags with the names of the settlements marked on them," recalls Deputy Commissioner Aliza Raziel, head of the Criminal Identification Division of the Israel Police. "We knew we were going to be exposed to a cruel massacre, but I will never forget these sights."

"In the morning hours, at first, we didn't know the magnitude of the disaster, but very quickly we realized that we were entering an event of enormous proportions," recalls the police officer, who woke up that morning from sirens at her home in Rishon LeZion - and rushed to work. "Slowly, reports started flowing in from the south, and within hours we understood that the situation was much more severe than we thought."

"We knew we were going to be exposed to a brutal massacre." Remains in the forensics department at Shura camp Photo: Police spokeswoman

Raziel led the teams that operated in the battle scenes starting from that morning that changed the State of Israel. The work of the Israel Police's Criminal Identification Division, which continues all the time, is critical in all matters related to documenting and identifying the victims - and they too experienced more acutely the hardships of that difficult and intensive year, a year of terrible war that broke out at 6:29 on October 7, 2023. Marking one year since the Iron Swords War, the head of the Criminal Identification Division recounts in an interview with N12 what happened on that Saturday and the moments she will never forget.

**"Scars the Soul"**

"The teams had already begun to prepare for a disaster of unprecedented magnitude. The Investigation Department organized immediately and the Casualty Collection Station was opened at the Shura military camp, near Ramla. The trucks began to arrive with an endless number of bodies," Raziel testifies in our conversation in her office at the national headquarters in Jerusalem. "My investigators will forever remember the smell that was in Camp Shura, the crowding and the brown coffins that piled up there - it's an experience that scars the soul."

"Although the mission was difficult, we knew that every correct identification brings us closer to completing it." The forensic team at Camp Shura | Photo: Police Spokesperson

"Although the task was difficult, we knew that each correct identification brought us closer to its completion." The members of the MZP in Shura camp | Photo: Police spokespersons

52-year-old Raziel lives in Rishon LeZion. She started her career in academia, in the world of chemistry, and from there moved to the Israel Police - initially as an expert in the drug laboratory and then as head of the Criminal Identification Department in the DNA sample database. Today she is already the head of the division, and in practice 250 scene investigators and district forensic officers and 50 experts affiliated with 16 laboratories and professional departments serve under her. The criminal identification personnel had to deal with difficult sights of bodies in advanced stages of decay and terrible injuries, following the horrific atrocities of that bloody day. The identification teams used a variety of means: DNA tests, fingerprints, dental x-rays and digital photographs of unique signs such as tattoos - all to identify the victims with absolute certainty. Every piece of information was documented and led to the identity of the murdered. "We had cases where we had to identify bodies with the help of volunteer dentists who were specially called in," explains Raziel. "Although the mission was difficult, we knew that every correct identification brings us a little closer to completing the mission - to return the loved ones to their families."

**"Saving the Honor of the Fallen"**

Raziel also tells about the nature of the work at the Shura military camp during the disaster. "It was like a production line, unfortunately, but it was important to carry out the mission efficiently. We received an endless stream of trucks loaded with bodies, and every time a new body arrived, the identification team would document all the details, take samples and try to reach identification as quickly as possible."

Since the outbreak of the war, the criminal identification personnel have been intensively and diligently carrying out their difficult and sensitive work. "I learned how much people can dedicate themselves to a mission. My teams didn't go home for long days. They were there day and night, doing the hardest job in the world, just to give families the knowledge that their relatives were identified and buried with dignity," Raziel adds.

"The teams have already started preparing for a disaster of an unprecedented size." The members of the CID in the Shura camp after 7.10 | Photo: Police spokespersons

"The teams had already started preparing for a disaster of unprecedented magnitude." The forensic team at Camp Shura 

Even in the first days of the war, the criminal identification personnel went out to the Gaza envelope communities, to the Nova festival area and near the border with Gaza. They collected bodies - sensitive and critical work, carried out under rockets and sometimes even under terrorist fire, far from laboratories and containers. The identification teams arrived at the battlefield, wearing their protective suits and working quickly while risking their lives. "They faced one of the most difficult tasks imaginable," emphasizes Raziel. "Their work not only saved the honor of the fallen, but also gave families the knowledge that their loved ones would be identified."

**"The Challenge - Accurate Identification with Zero Mistakes"**

Israel's identification rate is approaching 100%, and in this war they manage to perform it in a relatively short time. This is an unprecedented figure in disasters and terrorist attacks of a similar scale. "The world's countries look at us in amazement, how did we do it so quickly and efficiently?" Raziel notes, "How did we deal with identifying so many murdered and meet the challenge of accurate identification with zero mistakes? The police is a learning organization, and therefore we improved in the effort to identify the murdered while running. Now all the countries of the world are learning from us."

"We do the hardest work in the world just to give the families the knowledge that their relatives have been identified and buried with dignity" | Photo: Police spokeswoman

The police officer also says that in the first days of the war in criminal identification "they worked on autopilot and at all hours of the day." According to her, together with the Institute of Forensic Medicine, a record was set in identifying casualties: a rate of 98.5%. "I know that for the next disaster, if God forbid it happens, we will already be prepared," she promises.

In our conversation, Raziel also mentions the cooperation with the IDF, the Ministry of Health and other factors. "The work with the army was critical. They assisted us logistically, provided tents, refrigerators and even assistance in bringing DNA samples from embassies and foreign countries. Government ministries, including the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Religious Affairs, were also involved in the process, and together with the teams set up operation rooms for coordination and support. Thanks to the cooperation, we managed to identify the bodies at an exceptional speed."

Hundreds of scene investigators, forensic officers and experts serve under her. Deputy Commissioner Aliza Raziel, head of the Criminal Identification Division in the police | Photo: Police Spokesperson

**"We Will Continue to Work Until Everyone Returns"**

A year after the outbreak of the war, the criminal identification teams continue to occasionally receive bodies of hostages for identification. "The painful reality is that even today we still receive bodies of hostages, and there is nothing more painful than identifying the body of someone we had hope would return home alive."

Although the pain echoes in Raziel's voice, she makes it clear that the mission continues under any conditions. "Unfortunately, even today, a year after the war began, we are still receiving bodies. In such cases, beyond the pain, there is also an urge to do the identification as quickly as possible and give the families the answers they need. As long as there are bodies that have not yet been identified, we will be there, we will continue to work until everyone returns."

The moment his body was identified was particularly tragic. The late Hanan Yavlonka

During our conversation, Raziel referred to the kidnapping of the late Hanan Yablonka, whose body identification moment was particularly tragic. Hanan was at a party near Kibbutz Re'im, and many of his friends were murdered by bloodthirsty terrorists. For a long time, he was classified as missing, until information was obtained that determined Hanan had been kidnapped and murdered by the Hamas terrorist organization. His body was returned to Israel after being recovered by IDF forces in May. His family received the difficult news after a terrible period of uncertainty, while rumors about the recovery of his body had already begun to circulate.

The pain of Hanan's family members was great, especially due to the way things were revealed. "Hanan's family was angry, and rightfully so. Rumors began to surface, people started coming to their home before they received official notification about the return of the body," Raziel recounts. "I knew the details, but I also knew I wouldn't say a word until the body arrived from Gaza and the identification process was completed. I didn't dare contact them until the family was notified."

"We saw staff members breaking down and crying"

The Iron Swords War claimed not only lives on the battlefield. It also significantly and dramatically affected the psyche of the forensic identification personnel. "Working with death, day after day, took a heavy emotional toll on us," Raziel shares. "We saw staff members breaking down and crying in the middle of work. To cope with the emotional burden, we ensured daily psychological support for the teams."

"From the very first day or two, there were social workers on shifts. They accompanied us before and after each shift," Raziel explains. According to her, this is a critical part of the process, as it's very difficult to return to routine after being exposed to such difficult sights. The officer adds that even today, a year later, resilience workshops are still being conducted for staff members to help them process the difficult experiences. The head of the Forensic Identification Division reveals that there were also police officers who requested to end their roles following the difficult sights from October 7th. "This has been a difficult and intense year for forensic identification personnel. Some officers have taken long leaves, others, unfortunately, are in the process of leaving and retiring from the police." Raziel emphasizes that before accepting a role, candidates are checked to see if they can bear the challenging reality. "Not everyone managed to hold on, but many did - and may even come out stronger."

Alongside the war, the criminal world awakens

A few weeks after the massacre and dealing with the victims, forensic identification personnel had to return to handling criminal incidents. "This is our routine work. Criminal activity, by nature, can still harm people. Forensic identification personnel are treated for years: we are aware of the risk possibilities because being so close to death or serious crime - it wounds the soul. At the same time, we try to provide the best service, and it's difficult because manpower is limited."

The work of forensic identification personnel in the Iron Swords War was one of the most difficult and complex tasks imaginable. The enormous effort, uncompromising professionalism, and ability to face daily horrors led to exceptional results. Amidst the inferno, they gave final respect to the fallen and murdered, and returned the identified loved ones to their families. "We are proud of the work we did, despite all the pain. We knew we had to continue - for the fallen, for the families," Deputy Commissioner Raziel concludes.  link

• Saudi Arabia condemns “in the strongest terms” Israel’s decision to turn the Jerusalem headquarters of the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency into apartments.

  Last week, the Israel Land Authority said it was preparing plans to turn the Ma’alot Dafna complex into 1,440 housing units, after telling UNRWA it must evacuate the premises.

  The Saudi Foreign Ministry notes in an English-language statement “the Kingdom’s rejection of the continued blatant Israeli violations of international laws and resolutions…and its systematic political and military targeting of the United Nations agencies and its relief organizations.

  “The Kingdom also rejects the continued endangerment of the lives of relief workers, expressing its support for UNRWA in its humanitarian mission to provide relief to Palestinian refugees.”

  Israel has long pushed for UNRWA’s closure, arguing that it helps perpetuate the conflict with the Palestinians, and has stepped up such efforts since Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attacks.  link It really is such a stupid thing for our government to do something like that. It's one thing to demand the end of UNRWA and not allowing them to function within Israel but it's just spitting in the eyes of everyone else involved to come up with a plan to turn their complex into apartments. When giving the choice to be smart or do something to piss off the rest of the world, this failed government always chooses to piss off the world. Real brilliant diplomacy!!!

The Region and the World

•    The US military says it conducted a series of airstrikes against multiple camps in Syria belonging to the Islamic State group.

  The US Central Command says the strikes will “disrupt the ability of ISIS to plan, organize and conduct attacks against the United States, its allies and partners, and civilians throughout the region and beyond.”

  It says battle damage assessments are underway and do not include civilian casualties.

  There are some 900 US forces in Syria, along with an undisclosed number of contractors, mostly trying to prevent any comeback by the extremist IS group, which swept through Iraq and Syria in 2014, taking control of large swaths of territory

  
  

• UN agencies and NGOs express “grave concern” over the referral for criminal prosecution of a large number of their staff who have been “arbitrarily detained” by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, and renew calls for their immediate release.

  The Iran-backed Houthis have detained dozens of staff from UN and other humanitarian organizations, most of them since June, claiming they are members of a “US-Israeli spy network,” a charge the United Nations denies.

  “We are extremely concerned about the reported referral to ‘criminal prosecution’ by the Huthi de facto authorities of a significant number of arbitrarily detained colleagues,” says a statement signed by principals of affected UN entities and international NGOs.

  The Houthi authorities have not issued any announcement in this regard.

  The signatories of the statement included WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, UNESCO head Audrey Azoulay, UN human rights chief Volker Turk and Oxfam International executive director Amitabh Behar.

  The Houthis have kidnapped, arbitrarily detained and tortured hundreds of civilians, including UN and NGO workers, since the start of Yemen’s civil war in 2014, according to rights groups.

  In June, the Houthis detained 13 UN personnel, including six employees of the Human Rights Office, and more than 50 NGO staff plus an embassy staff member.

  The Houthis claimed they had arrested “an American-Israeli spy network” operating under the cover of humanitarian organizations — allegations emphatically rejected by the UN Human Rights Office.

  Two other UN human rights staff had already been detained since November 2021 and August 2023 respectively. They are all being held incommunicado.

Personal Stories

The Miracle of Alumim Dairy Farm: From Destruction to Full Operation

A year has passed since terrorists invaded Israel's borders on October 7, and the dairy farmers in the Gaza envelope will always remember the destruction, the massive damage to the dairy farms, and the murder of innocent workers. Avi Freimann, manager of Alumim Dairy Farm, now recalls the moments of disaster – and the farm's return to operation with the help of the fund for assisting in the rehabilitation of Gaza envelope dairy farms, established by Tnuva.

When he was 25, Avi Freimann first came to work at the dairy farm – and today he is 68. He invested his all in producing agricultural products and caring for the cows, until that black Saturday that destroyed everything. He will never forget the moments when he learned the extent of the disaster: "I was in the safe room with seven of my grandchildren for 24 hours." Starting at 7 AM, he received messages from his workers, and one of them described how terrorists were invading the area: "Gaza is here inside, boss."

Five of the foreign workers at the dairy farm were kidnapped, and many lost their lives in this attack – during which milk tanks were punctured, dairy farms and agricultural machinery were completely burned by the terrorists. Only on Sunday, when he returned to the farm, did Avi see the extent of the damage. "What I found was simply destruction, ruin, smoke rising," he describes painfully. "I feel at that moment that my life's work was destroyed in an instant."

The destruction of Alumim Dairy Farm

**"The instinct was to check how we could help"**

The story of Kibbutz Alumim is also the story of the Gaza envelope dairy farms: burned tractors, murdered workers and dairy farms – and dairy farmers who for the first time were forced to abandon the farm, and can no longer supply milk to the agricultural sector. Tnuva rushed to mobilize for the farmers and act so that the dairy farms would return to operation. The company established a fund to support the affected Gaza envelope dairy farms in the wake of the war, with a scope of 15 million shekels, aimed at assisting the dairy farms in quickly financing equipment, solving problems, and repairing essential infrastructure such as renovating dairy farm buildings, milking rooms, milk cooling tanks, repairing electrical networks, repairing machines for feeding cows, and more. So far, most of the money has already been used, and with its help, dairy farms have returned to operation.

Efri Reikin, manager of the Raw Milk Division and responsible for dairy farmer relations at Tnuva, talks about the company's special connection with the dairy farmers that led it to come to their aid from the first moment: "Tnuva doesn't see milk producers as just milk suppliers. We see them as partners." Already on October 7, he began contacting the dairy farm managers in the Gaza envelope to check their status: "We understood that this was an exceptionally intense event, so the instinct was to check how we could help. What do they need to bring the dairy farm as close as possible to what it was on Friday, October 6."

**"Settlement and agriculture go hand in hand"**

Why is it so important to protect the farmers? Efri explains that without them, there's simply no agriculture in Israel: "Settlement and agriculture go hand in hand. We are still learning how important it is to ensure food security for the State of Israel, that Israeli agriculture knows how to produce what the people of Israel consume over time, and when there are such moments of crisis, then we need to know as Tnuva, as a company, to protect them, to nurture them, so that we can maintain continuity."

Laying the cornerstone

**"The dairy farm is back to work. We will overcome everything"**

A year has passed, and against all odds, Alumim Dairy Farm has returned to operation. Avi manages to see the light at the end of the tunnel: "The dairy farm as a dairy farm is back to working at full capacity and everything is flourishing around." He wishes to convey a message of unity to the people of Israel, in conclusion: "I hope we will have a much more successful year. I want the people of Israel to be united, without a gram of hatred. Am Israel Chai (The people of Israel live)."

link

Dark Legacy - The Abandonment of October 7th Hostages

The Head 

Shoham Smith 

Author. 

There once was a head (of state) who headed everything and forged ahead (seeking credit), always making sure to have the state flag and his esteemed wife by his side. He insisted he must receive the questions before each interview, record these interviews in advance (and never on Saturday), and ensure everything was edited before broadcast, so that the result would not look like this: 

-  Mr. Prime Minister. 

-  I am! 

-  Definitely. Not one of your citizens denies that. And this is exactly what I would like you to address. So, would you agree with me that you are the head of state? 

-  Definitely. 

-  And on that unfortunate date were you head of state? 

-  Can you refresh my memory? It’s so weak when it comes to 

unfortunate events. 

-  We noticed that. By the way, is this why you don't often make 

condolence calls? 

-  Says who? 

-  Recently, a bereaved father pointed this out. His daughter, a soldier, a field observer, was murdered on that date you forgot. 

-  Can’t you let that go already? 

-  If you don’t mind, sir, we are talking about the greatest disaster in Jewish history since the Holocaust. 

-  That is unfortunate. But we are dealing with a cruel enemy, one that even the cursed Nazis pale in comparison to – 

-  Sir, I will agree with you that the enemy is cruel. I will point out that for years you and your government nurtured them, allowed them to arm themselves, dig tunnels, make plans, and when they put them into practice, the army was unprepared – 

-  And what does that have to do with me? 

-  You are the head of state, sir. 

-  I don't understand. 

-  Sir, if you please, the responsibility is yours. 

-  You're so tiresome. I already said, the enemy – 

-  Is cruel. We agree on that. Therefore, because the enemy is cruel and has kidnapped people from their beds in pajamas, the elderly, 

women, children, a toddler and a baby – 

-  The redheads, I recall. Who did they vote for? 

-  Sir? A toddler and a baby... 

-  Now they are a toddler and a baby. 

-  We fear for their lives. 

-  War is no picnic. 

-  And what about the enemy's babies and toddlers? 

-  Collateral damage. I consulted my wife, a child psychologist – 

-  This is a war crime, sir. But we will focus on our babies. Why didn't you do everything in your power to rescue them from hell? 

-  The redheads? 

-  Everyone. 

-  No! Enough is enough! I will not listen to your treacherous, sour-grapes, self-indulgent talk. We must be hardy and content with little. 
-  Sir, you and your wife are no paragons of frugality... 

-  Well, of course, because we are heads of state! 

-  I'm glad we're back to the starting point. Do you deny that 

preeminence goes hand in hand with responsibility? 

-  I am in favor of sharing the burden. 

-  You don’t say! 

-  The hostages must understand they have a historical role 

in the redemption of the people of Israel. 

-  You mean they should be willing to die for our country? 

-  Ready and willing! 

-  If so, why don't you reach out to the families, who are consumed 

by worry, and simply tell them honestly: my wife and I have decided to abandon them. 

-  “Abandon”. Please do not exaggerate. Each and every hostage has some chance to return in a heroic operation that, with a little luck, will bear my given name. 

-  Sir, their chances of returning in a casket are far greater. 

-  I don't engage in speculation. 

-  Is that so? And who claimed that releasing terrorists in exchange for hostages would lead to the future killing of Israeli civilians? 

-  You are exhausting me. 

-  Sir, we citizens are also exhausted. And to be honest, we feel bereft of protection – 

-  Go to a shelter. 

-  We expected the State of Israel to protect and shelter us. After all, what are states for? Maybe you can tell me, sir? And what are we fighting for? Until when? 

-  Until I decide. 

-  In the meantime, they are dying there. 

-  Don't people die here? I'll tell you a secret, we're all going to die. You value life too much. 

-  Are you yourself in good health? 

-  Why are you asking? 

-  Your chair... 

-  What did you say? 

-  It’s shaking. 

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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