🎗️Lonny's War Update- October 375, 2023 - October 15, 2024 🎗️

  

🎗️Day 375 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

*6:25pm yesterday - north - rockets/missiles -The IDF says some 15 rocket were fired from Lebanon toward the Upper Galilee region in the north an hour ago.

It adds that some were intercepted and the rest fell in open areas.

*7:00pm yesterday - north - rockets/missiles
*8:05pm yesterday - north - rockets/missiles
*10:40pm yesterday -north - rockets/missiles
*1:15am - north - rockets/missiles
*5:30am -north - rockets/missiles
*5:55am - north - rockets/missiles
*7:25am -north - rockets/missiles
*7:30am - Haifa and areas around, Tiral Carmel, Caesarea, Binyamina, Sdot Yam, Jisr al Zarka, Pardes Hanna, Yokneam
*9:55am - north - rockets/missiles
*11:45am - terror attack on highway between Ahsdod and Yavne - 1 police officer killed, 4 more wounded
*2:20pm - Kiryat Bialik, Kiryat Motzkin, Kra'ot, Haifa, areas around
*2:25pm - north - rockets/missiles
*2:30pm - Hostile Aircraft - north - Naharia, Saar
*2:20pm -north - rockets/missiles
*2:25pm -north - rockets/missiles

*2:30pm - north- hostile aircraft - Naharia, Saar
*2:30pm -north - rockets/missiles

*2:31pm - north - hostile aircraft - Haraia, Nativ Hashayara, Kabri
*2:50pm -north - rockets/missiles -Some 20 rockets were launched at the Galilee and Haifa areas a short time ago, the army says.

Several rockets were intercepted. There are no reports of casualties.
*4:10pm - north - rockets/missiles

 

The army announced the death of a soldier killed in battle in southern Gaza
Sergeant Koren Bitan, 19
He was operating with Battalion 450, part of the Bislamach Brigade (School for Infantry Corps Professions and Squad Commanders). Bitan had started his service in the Kfir Brigade.

Hostage Updates 

• The three-week outline - situation assessment - 15.10.2024

  Gershon Baskin

  
  

  Many people ask me if what Defense Minister Galant says that Israel's successes in Lebanon will have a positive effect on reaching the release of the hostages in Gaza. It seems to me that Hamas does not see the same picture as the Defense Minister and the rest of Israeli society. From my acquaintance with Hamas and from hearing the statements of Hamas leaders, it seems to me that Hamas understands that Israel will be stuck in Lebanon in a long war of attrition in which Israeli soldiers and civilians will be killed on a regular basis, almost every day. Hamas knows what its situation is and what its people's situation is in Gaza and therefore, Hamas wants to end the war, but Hamas will not take any step that may be interpreted as surrender. This is why Hamas does not admit publicly that it agrees to a three-week deal in which the war will end, Israel will withdraw from Gaza, there will be the release of all the hostages, and an agreed release of Palestinian prisoners. Hamas wants Israel to take the first step and announce that it accepts the three week deal and then Hamas will inform the mediators that it is ready to discuss it also. Sinwar saw Israel's successes in Lebanon the same way he saw them in Gaza, but he knows that Hamas under his command still has a good ability to survive for a long time and continue to kill and wound Israeli soldiers and also fire more rockets against Israel. Also, Hezbollah knows that it can continue to drive an entire country crazy by firing missiles and armed suicide drones into the center of the country against civilians and continue to kill Israeli soldiers in every corner of Lebanon. We have a war of attrition in Gaza and in Lebanon, and there is no deal for the release of the hostages. If we want to break this cycle of bloodshed, Defense Minister Gallant should inform Egypt and Qater that Israel is ready to discuss the three-week deal. Gallant seems to be the only member of the Israeli government who is able to promote a deal against the wishes of the Prime Minister and his close friend Itamar Ben Gvir. The issue of the hostages has dropped from the attention of the public and the attention of the Israeli government because the public is convinced that Sinwar does not want a deal. No one has heard this from Sinwar and there is no one in Israel who knows what Sinwar really wants. In addition to that, according to my assessment, the excess weight of Sinwar in the decision-making mechanism in Hamas is less heavy than it was months ago. Hamas has already declared victory (listen to Khaled Mashal's last speech) because the Palestinian issue has returned to the world's attention and the State of Israel is becoming a leper state in the eyes of many countries in the world. Khaled Mashal is obviously wrong in declaring victory - because there are no winners here, there are only a lot of losers. Israel will not lose its honor if it advances a deal that will return all the hostages while some are still alive (we hope). The failure to return the hostages home is the greatest loss for Israel, and this must not happen.
  

  Attempts to reach another hostage deal with Hamas — following one in November that saw 105 hostages released during a weeklong truce in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners — have repeatedly failed and have largely gone stagnant as Israel has shifted its focus to fighting Hezbollah in Lebanon. A  year ago, the terrorist organization’s near-daily rocket and drone attacks that it said were in solidarity with Hamas.

  The US and Israel also say that Hamas is not currently interested in a deal.

  On Sunday, families of Hamas hostages marked one year since October 7, 2023, at an event attended by foreign diplomats at the headquarters of the Hostages and Missing Families Forum in Tel Aviv.

  The goal of the event was to draw “global attention” to the plight of the hostages, the forum said, and to “reinforce the urgent need for action to secure the release of those still held captive.”

  The government has faced allegations — including by defense officials, hostage families, and other informed sources — that it is not doing enough to bring about a deal aimed at freeing the approximately 100 hostages still in Gaza.

  
  

• Shin Bet director Ronen Bar met with Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel in in Cairo on Sunday, the Walla outlet reported, citing “a source familiar with the visit.”

  The two discussed the stalled negotiations for a hostage-ceasefire deal, but did not reach any breakthroughs, the report said.

  The two reportedly discussed ways to renew talks and engage with Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who is said to have recently made contact with mediator Qatar after having gone silent for several weeks in Gaza.
  

  On the agenda was the topic of the Rafah Border Crossing between Gaza and Egypt, which has been shuttered since May when the IDF launched its offensive in the southern Gaza city, the report said.

  Also under discussion was the so-called Philadelphi Corridor which runs along the Gaza-Egypt border and is now, likewise, under Israeli military control.

  The Shin Bet declined to comment on the report.
  

  Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted that he will not agree to a deal that required Israel to withdraw from the Philadelphi Corridor, citing the need to prevent Hamas from smuggling in weapons from Egypt via tunnels. Last month, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the IDF could withdraw from the Philadelphi Corridor for six weeks in a deal to free the hostages without endangering security.

  Walla noted that Bar’s trip was the first visit by a senior Israel official to Egypt for ceasefire talks since August 22. Then, the Shin Bet and Mossad heads were in Cairo to discuss IDF deployment along the Philadelphia Corridor and the reopening of Rafah crossing as part of a potential deal. Those talks did not come to anything, and tensions between Israel and Egypt have only become more fraught since then.

• Families of hostages mark year since October 7 at event with foreign diplomats
  Former hostages and family members of captives appeal to foreign officials for help bringing cause back into the spotlight
  

  
  Steffen Seibert, German ambassador to Israel, attends an event in Tel Aviv marking one year since the October 7 Hamas terror onslaught, October 13, 2024. (Paulina Patimer / Hostages Families Forum)

The families of Hamas hostages marked one year since October 7 on Sunday at an event attended by foreign diplomats at the headquarters of the Hostages and Missing Families Forum in Tel Aviv.
The goal of the event was to draw “global attention” to the plight of the hostages, the forum said, and to “reinforce the urgent need for action to secure the release of those still held captive.”
It featured speeches from former hostages, as well as relatives of those who are still captive. It was attended by foreign diplomats and representatives from international advocacy organizations, of whom Opposition Leader Yair Lapid said it “sometimes felt like you cared more than the government of Israel.”
US embassy deputy of chief of mission Stephanie L. Hallet said her effort on the hostage negotiations had been “life-changing work” that began one year ago on October 8, first accounting for those US citizens brutally murdered by Hamas, and then those taken hostage.
“We have commemorated far too many birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays without these loved ones where they belong,” Hallet said, noting that “too many other horrific occasions have come as well,” including the execution of US-Israeli citizen Hersh Goldberg-Polin and five other hostages in late August.
She vowed that the US would continue working with the international community to push for a deal ensuring the release of the hostages.
 

Stephanie Hallett, Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy, speaks at an event in Tel Aviv marking one year since the October 7 Hamas terror onslaught, October 13, 2024. (The Hostages Families Forum Headquarters)

“I want all of their family members to know, not just the American citizens but all of them: “We carry the stories of your loved ones with us,” Hallet stressed. “We tell those stories and we carry them in our hearts every single day. This is not just work that we do for the sake of doing the work. It’s because it’s part of us.”
Her words were echoed by UK Ambassador Simon Waters and German Ambassador Steffen Seibert who, in a mixture of Hebrew and English, said that the ambassadors had failed the hostages and their families, and must now ask themselves if they has truly pursued all possible options.

 

Simon Walters, British ambassador to Israel, speaks at an event in Tel Aviv marking one year since the October 7 Hamas terror onslaught, October 13, 2024. (Paulina Patimer / Hostages Families Forum)

“It’s been a quiet few weeks in the talks over a ceasefire and hostage deal,” said Seibert, noting Israel’s current focus on battles with Hezbollah in Lebanon. “We must be willing to search for new ways. Every new idea is worth studying, every new proposal is worth checking — nothing should be taboo.”
Former hostage Aviva Siegel, who was released last November during a weeklong truce, opened up about her experiences in captivity, and about her fear for her husband Keith, who remains captive until today.
She asked people to imagine themselves as hostages, and described a scenario in which they had to watch their loved one being tortured while powerless to stop it.
“You have to vanish and not feel,” she said, describing a young girl who has never been touched and who finds herself assaulted by a Hamas terrorist. “If hostages coming back dead wasn’t enough to wake up the world, then what do we need to do?”
“I was there,” she said. “For 51 days. And I was in hell and Keith, my husband, and the girls and all the hostages are still there.”
“We should not allow any human being in the world to go through what Keith and the hostages are going through,” she said.
 

Former hostage Aviva Siegel speaks at an event in Tel Aviv marking one year since the October 7 Hamas terror onslaught, October 13, 2024. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)

She was echoed by Orly Gilboa, mother of Daniella Gilboa, who turned 20 in the tunnels of Gaza.
Gilboa asked the attendees to recall being 20 years old, and how their parents reacted when they stayed out later than they said they would.
“Try to imagine how I feel for over a year,” she said.
 

Orly Gilboa speaks at an event in Tel Aviv marking one year since the October 7 Hamas terror onslaught, October 13, 2024. (Paulina Patimer / Hostages Families Forum)

“I do not need your pity. I do not need your thoughts and prayers,” she continued.
“I am asking you to do what leaders are supposed to — demand, negotiate. Do what you would have done to save your own child.”
 

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid attends an event in Tel Aviv marking one year since the October 7 Hamas terror onslaught, October 13, 2024. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)

Luis Har, who spent 129 days in captivity before he was rescued by the IDF in February, said that his return to Israel — along with the return of four more of his relatives — is “proof that it is possible” to rescue the remaining hostages.
“We need to fight together to succeed, regardless of religion or race,” he said. “We, the people of Israel, must be united and work together to bring everyone back. We must not lose hope.”
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 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

Gaza 

•  IDF website reveals critical information, aiding enemy attacks on Oct. 7 
  A detailed virtual map of training bases, including specific locations such as mess halls, living quarters, and assembly areas, was publicly available on the IDF recruitment site, Mitgaisim.
  

  The October 7 surprise attack by Hamas, which claimed the lives of more than 1,400 Israelis, may have been facilitated by critical information published on an official IDF website, according to a report by Kan News.

  A detailed virtual map of training bases, including specific locations such as mess halls, living quarters, and assembly areas, was publicly available on the IDF recruitment site, Mitgaisim. Hezbollah did not need secret intelligence to attack IDF bases, as key details were easily accessible online. According to Kan News, "Hezbollah didn’t need inside intelligence… much of this data was already accessible online."

  The site, operated by Unit Mitav, is part of the IDF's effort to create a transparent and accessible recruitment process for potential conscripts. It offers recruits and their families a comprehensive view of the conscription process, including detailed overviews of training bases, classification procedures, and logistical information like leave schedules. While the site aims to simplify the recruitment experience, it inadvertently exposed sensitive military details that were exploited during the October 7 attack.
  
  

  Site offered virtual tours, maps
  
  

  The website reportedly offered detailed overviews of each training base, including virtual tours and maps marking sensitive areas. This level of transparency is believed to have allowed Hamas and Hezbollah to plan their assaults with deadly accuracy. In the attack on the Golani Brigade training base, where four soldiers were killed by a UAV strike, the timing and location of the strike were likely facilitated by information from the IDF’s website.

  
  

  Further compounding the security risks, the website also published soldiers' leave schedules during the Sukkot holiday, which allowed Hamas to time their assault precisely. Kan News reported that “Hamas could easily prepare for the surprise attack on October 7.” Mounting criticism questions how such sensitive data was allowed to be publicly accessible. This is not the first instance of security breaches linked to online platforms. Several soldiers have been found posting footage of IDF operations and base layouts on social media, further violating military security protocols. link

Northern Israel - Lebanon/Hizbollah/Syria

• In the wake of the deadly strike on a Golani training base last night, the Israeli Air Force has set a goal of completely eliminating Hezbollah’s Unit 127, responsible for its UAV production, maintenance and operation, The Times of Israel has learned. The effort to kill every member of the unit will now take priority in terms of intelligence collection and airstrikes.

  The drone that killed four soldiers and injured dozens last night was part of a multi-pronged aerial attack. There were short-range rockets fired at the north, three precision rockets fired toward Haifa, and three drones. One of the drones was shot down by the navy, another by Iron Dome.

  The third was pursued by Israeli jets and helicopters, who fired at it twice. Electronic warfare measures also failed to force the UAV to lose its bearings. It dropped off of radars 30 miles (48 kilometers) northeast of Acre. It was assumed that it had crashed.

  The IAF investigation into the incident has found that the drone appeared back on radars for another minute in the half-hour between its dropping off of screens and the strike, but forces did not identify it as a drone at the time. There are hundreds of objects flying in Israeli airspace just above buildings at any given time, including birds, adding to the challenge of identifying a drone that appears in an unexpected location.

  In addition, police told the IAF of reports of a suspicious aircraft near Yokne’am, which could have been the drone.

  Over the course of the war, some 1,200 drones have been fired at Israel, and 221 have gotten through Israel’s defenses.

  In light of the incident, the Air Force is expanding the areas of warning, meaning there will be more sirens and more false alarms. It will also assume a drone is still flying when it disappears, and will determine that it has crashed only when evidence is found.

  
  

• IDF forces from the 8th Reserve Brigade, operating on the eastern side of southern Lebanon, have taken over an underground complex belonging to Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force, the IDF says.

  
  IDF troops inside a Hezbollah tunnel found in southern Lebanon for use by its elite Radwan force on way to invasion into Israel, in a photo released by the military on October 14, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

  The complex, which includes 800 meters of tunnels, is situated under a civilian village, says the army. The tunnels include a bedroom and a fully stocked kitchen.

  
  A fully equipped kitchen inside a Hezbollah tunnel found in southern Lebanon for use by its elite Radwan force on way to invasion into Israel, in a photo released by the military on October 14, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

  According to IDF spokesman Brig. Gen. Daniel Hagari, the complex was designed for a Radwan battalion to arrive, suit up, then head into Israel on foot and on motorbikes.

  IDF forces captured the complex late last week and found anti-helicopter missiles, mortar shells, rifles and other munitions.

  One of the operatives was holed up in the bunker, and was killed by the Air Force.  video of the tunnel

• New Opportunities for Lebanon and for Israel

  There appears to be no planned end game for the war in Lebanon. When will it be safe to have the residents of the north of Israel return to their homes? Are we heading towards another Israeli occupied south Lebanon – we have been there before and did that for 18 years! Didn’t we learn anything from all of those years and from all of the Israeli soldiers who were killed there? When Israel first entered Lebanon way back in 1982, the Shiite villagers threw rice and candies at the Israeli soldiers feeling a sense of being liberated from the years of the area under control of Palestinian armed factions. A year later they were busy planting road side bombs to kill those same soldiers. No people agrees to be occupied by a foreign army. There are no magic solutions for Israel in Lebanon.

  
  

  Lebanon is a very complex country, no doubt. But there may actually be an opportunity for Lebanon to reconstitute itself as an independent sovereign country no longer controlled by the Hezbollah militia and organization. That is what friends of mine in Lebanon tell me. Israel has succeeded in making Hezbollah seriously weakened and lacking new charismatic leadership and senior officer corp. They are still powerful enough to continue to hit Israel with rockets, missiles and drones for a long time to come. They are also strong enough to continue to kill Israeli soldiers stationed in Lebanon. But they may be weak enough for the majority of Lebanese citizens to work together across community lines to form a new government, which is not controlled by Hezbollah. As I said, Lebanon is a very complex country, but my friends in Lebanon tell me that such an opportunity does exist right now. But the longer that Israel remains in Lebanon and continues to bomb Lebanon, the chances of reconstituting that country will fade away rapidly.

  
  

  The immediate problem is that what Israel found in the south of Lebanon with the Hezbollah ground force readiness for a major cross border attack against Israel requires Israel to focus on destroying the infrastructure there so that no such attack is possible. That is what should be the primary mission right now for Israel. Israel will also have to rethink its border protection on all of Israel’s borders, no longer relying mainly on technology but rather real boots on the ground. That is especially true for the Lebanese border as well.

  
  

  But Israel needs to have an exit strategy that also puts into place Israel’s need to enter into a political process with the country of Lebanon aimed at resolving the 12-or 13 border disputes and a long-term treaty of calm with international guarantees and an effective observer force with a much better mandate and rules of engagement than that of UNIFIL. And Israel will have to be a lot more observant of any breaches in understandings so that Israel’s own rules of engagement are clear and acted on.

  
  

  Any political agreement with Lebanon is also largely dependent on moving ahead with the Palestinians on the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This is obviously way beyond the ability or desire of the current Israeli government. The current Israeli government is busy weighing the psychotic fantasy of building Israeli settlements in Gaza including crimes of removing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from the north of the Gaza Strip and perhaps even beyond. These same messianic dangerous leaders of Israel today are also considering building Israeli settlements in the south of Lebanon. Netanyahu and his regime are dangerous for us all and somehow the majority of Israelis who don’t want to continue to live in the nightmare that has become our reality must figure out the way to get rid of this government and the man who led Israel right into October 7.

  
  

  About the AuthorThe writer is the Middle East Director of ICO - International Communities Organization - a UK based NGO working in Conflict zones with failed peace processes. Baskin is a political and social entrepreneur who has dedicated his life to peace between Israel and her neighbors. He is also a founding member of “Kol Ezraheiha - Kol Muwanteneiha” (All of the Citizens) political party in Israel.  link
  
  

• The UN human rights office says it has received reports that more than half of the 22 victims of an Israeli airstrike on a building in northern Lebanon were women and children.

  “What we are hearing is that amongst the 22 people killed were 12 women and two children,” UN human rights office spokesperson Jeremy Laurence tells a Geneva press briefing in response to a question about a strike on Aitou on Monday.

  “We understand it was a four-story residential building that was struck. With these factors in mind, we have real concerns with respect to International Humanitarian Law, so the laws of war, and the principles of distinction proportion and proportionality,” he says, calling for an investigation.
  
  

• The IDF says it eliminated a top commander in Hezbollah’s aerial unit who was responsible for launching drones at Israel for both intelligence-gathering and attack purposes.

  A strike several days ago in Nabatieh took out Khader Al-Abed Bahja, head of the northern Litani region of the aerial unit, the army says.

  The news comes two days after a drone struck an IDF training base, killed four soldiers and injured dozens more.

  The IDF does not say whether Bahja’s unit was tied to that attack.

West Bank and Jerusalem and Terror attacks within Israel

• A man who was critically wounded in the shooting attack on the Route 4 highway died of his injuries on the way to the hospital, medical officials say.

  Four more people were hurt in the attack that took place near the Yavne Interchange, north of Ashdod — one moderately and the others lightly. One of those lightly hurt is a doctor who stopped his car to treat the injured and was hit by another car.

  Police are scanning the area to rule out the presence of a second attacker.     The victim in the shooting attack near Ashdod was a policeman aged around 30.

  Reports say the terrorist arrived at the highway on foot and began walking along the road near an intersection. It is unclear if he arrived at a stopped police car and then opened fire, or whether the police car stopped by him to investigate.

  He then opened fire with a handgun, critically injuring the officer who later died of his wounds. He then began firing at civilians in cars in the vicinity.

  The terrorist was neutralized by an armed civilian who stopped his car and shot him dead.

  The civilian, a volunteer paramedic, told news networks: “I was driving and saw an armed man standing on the road. At first I thought it was a policeman but then shots were fired at me. I ducked, then jumped out of the vehicle, pulled out my gun and shot him.”

  
  
  

Politics and the War (general news)

• The Unheeded Warning: Israel Ignored Ukraine's Offer for Cooperation Against the Drone Threat  

Ukraine, which has been dealing with Iranian drone attacks in its war against Russia, offered to help Israel before the war • President Zelensky and his Defense Minister proposed to make Ukraine a training ground for Israel • Ukrainian Ambassador to Israel: "Our success rate against drones is between 80 and 90%"

For over two years, Ukraine has been dealing with the threat of Iranian drones sent by Russia. It now turns out that Ukraine offered to share its experience on how to deal with this danger with Israel, but no one really paid attention to the offer until the war started.

A year and a half ago, Ukrainian Ambassador to Israel Yevgen Korniychuk brought fragments of Iranian drones shot down in Ukrainian skies to Israeli officials. Korniychuk gave the fragments to Tzachi Hanegbi, head of the National Security Council, to pass on to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Korniychuk said that the cooperation on this issue began at the start of Operation Iron Swords. Ukraine hoped for military-technological cooperation around dealing with the Iranian threat, but pre-October 7th Israel wasn't really interested.

As early as February 2023, Korniychuk told News 12: "Tomorrow you could experience the same attack of Iranian drones here." President Zelensky and his Defense Minister offered to turn Ukraine into a training ground for Israel, providing a comprehensive solution and free access to information and lessons learned. In an interview with Ilana Dayan and Itai Engel on the "Uvda" program in October 2022, President Zelensky said: "We are fighting against Iran and against Iranian weapons every day. We have provided the information to Israel and made requests at various levels, help us."

The Iranian drones fly slowly, and the vast distances in Ukraine allow for extensive detection time over uninhabited areas. Initially, the interception of drones was done with various machine guns, and later with outdated anti-aircraft guns mounted on jeeps and building roofs.

Today in Ukraine, the main effort is invested in early detection and tracking. Dedicated units scattered in border areas with Russia constantly monitor the situation in the skies. In the past year, Ukraine has been developing domestically produced drones that will explode on the Shaheds that Russia launches almost daily. According to Ambassador Korniychuk, in the last six months, the success rate of interceptions was between 80 and 90 percent.

As in Israel, there is no absolute defense against Iranian drones in Ukraine, and there are casualties there too. But after yesterday's hit on the base, it can be estimated that if Israel had responded to the offer from Kyiv, it would have been better prepared for the current threat.   link

• National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Hadash-Ta’al MK Ahmad Tibi trade insults in the Knesset House Committee while debating a bill that would allow the government to strip relatives of terrorists of their citizenship and expel them from the country.

  “You are a disgrace. You are a failed national security minister,” Tibi declares, followed by reciprocal accusations of supporting terrorism.

  “There are no Jewish terrorists,” interjects MK Almog Cohen, a member of Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit party.

  “You are behaving like children in a kindergarten,” shouts a family member of a hostage, who is attending the hearing.

  According to the proposal, the interior minister will be granted the authority, following a hearing, to order the deportation of a relative of a terrorist who knew of their family member’s plans in advance and expressed sympathy and encouragement for such a course of action. If approved by the committee, the bill will go to the Knesset plenum for the second and third readings necessary to become law.
  

  Addressing the possibility that, if passed, the law could be struck down by the High Court of Justice, Ben Gvir states that the court’s justices are also vulnerable to terrorism: they “also walk in the streets, they also go to the supermarket, they also go shopping, they are also exposed to the same scum of the earth.”

  Members of the Hadash-Ta’al party have come under public criticism for statements seen as supportive of terror. Party chief Ayman Odeh has praised Latifa Abu-Hamid, the mother of several convicted terrorists, as a “heroine, the mother of heroes,” while MK Aida Touma-Sliman has called members of the Lion’s Den Palestinian terror group “martyrs.”

  Ben Gvir was convicted years ago of incitement to violence and supporting a terror group for backing the racist Kach party.  link Ben Gvir spent his career defending Jewish terrorists who have been accused and convicted of so many different violent offenses up to and including murder of innocent Palestinians, including a family burned alive in the middle of the night. He and his entire party come out with ridiculous statements like above that there is no such thing as 'jewish terrorism'. Under Ben Gvir as minister of Internal 'Insecurity', the Jewish terror problem has grown exponentially because he, not only condones it, he has given orders to the police not to get involved and certainly not to arrest anyone. Fortunately, the IDF Chief of General Staff is in charge of some of the Border Police and he gave direct and strict orders to get involved where the regular police and border police who answer to Ben Gvir don't get involved. Ben Gvir himself has a rap sheet longer than his arm as well as convictions for supporting terrorism and he continues his criminal activity and support of criminal activity under the guise of minister. As far as this law that they want to pass, it is totally against all democratic guidelines and laws and is aimed at punishing people they can't convict with evidence. The danger of a law like this is that it can and would be used against people like me who oppose this extreme right wing government. It is just another of the steps of controlling the judicial system by the government and rendering human and civil rights moot. This bill is dangerous and this government is even more dangerous.

• "High-tech puts on uniforms: How Israeli technologies were adapted for war needs

  The solution to the deadly drone challenge is almost here - very soon the Ministry of Defense will hold a large "demonstration event" during which it will decide between various technologies developed in collaboration between startups in Israel and defense industries. Since the war, MAFAT (Directorate for Research and Development of Weapons and Technological Infrastructure) has doubled its collaborations with high-tech companies for the southern and northern fronts: from AI technologies for video and image analysis called up for reserve duty, through remote driving solutions, to rescue drones and water purification in the field.

  Although the timeline was set in advance, long before the drone disaster at the Golani training base, the coincidence is undoubtedly chilling: Very soon, perhaps within days, a large "demonstration event" will be held in the defense establishment, where various optional technologies will be presented that are supposed to provide a complete solution to the problem of attacking enemy drones, from the detection stage to the absolute interception stage. Quietly, during the months of the war, many companies, some civilian and some part of the defense industry giants, joined the development efforts. After months of intensive around-the-clock work, they showed dramatic progress and formulated several solutions, including some based on rare collaborations between startups and veteran companies. Everything is "blue and white" (made in Israel).

  The systems that reached the final stage will be examined during the event, which will be conducted under the supervision of MAFAT (the Administration for Research, Development of Weapons and Technological Infrastructure at the Ministry of Defense) and against various possible scenarios. Once the most suitable solution or solutions are chosen - the path to production and deployment in the field, MAFAT promises, "will be quick." But speed is relative: the defense establishment estimates that the production and procurement stages will take months.

  It is not possible at the moment for obvious reasons to elaborate too much on these developments, but contrary to previous publications, none of the solutions is related to laser or the "Light Beam" system, which is being developed in parallel against the threat of short-range rockets. At the end of the road, the defense establishment intends to create against rockets, drones and various UAVs, a system similar to the multi-layered system that protects the country against missiles, which will have capabilities to adapt itself to frequent changes in the field.

  **Neutralizing the drones**

  The battlefield of 2024 is not at all similar to battlefields in the past. More than ever - technology plays a crucial role, and the boundaries between "civilian technology" and "military technology" - for defense or attack, expensive and also cheap - are completely blurred.

  Innocent toy drones become weapons in the campaign, as well as remotely controlled vehicles, sensors for monitoring agricultural crops, cyber malware (viruses) developed for ransom purposes, and AI technologies created to infer relevant information from huge databases. And of course there are also social networks - which began as gossip and leisure arenas, and became dangerous and cross-border incitement centers.

  The "Black Saturday" not only exposed the weaknesses of the technological defense measures installed on the Gaza border - from the failure of the "Brain", the computerized intelligence defense system, through the collapse of the wall and its sensors, to the shattering of the "seeing-shooting" systems; it caught the IDF unprepared also against Hamas attack drones, and later, as proven this week to our sorrow, against the drones of Hezbollah, the Houthis and the Iraqis. Already in the first days of maneuvering in Gaza, Hamas's Chinese toy drones were revealed as a dangerous, sometimes deadly weapon, which surprisingly was not taken seriously in advance and no significant response was prepared for it; drones that can be purchased for $100 on AliExpress repeatedly hit the fighting forces.

  Moreover, the deadly UAVs were rediscovered (whose effectiveness could have been learned from the war in Ukraine in the last two years and prepared in advance) as a dangerous challenge, for known reasons: due to their small size, low flight height and slow speed, there is difficulty in identifying and tracking them in traditional air defense systems and intercepting them.

  And when the sword is on the neck - the pocket opens. The drone problem was the first to be urgently addressed by MAFAT at the beginning of the maneuver in Gaza, and it was the first swallow of a fascinating collaboration between civilian companies, whose products were originally intended for different purposes, and the defense system and war needs. And the drones were just the appetizer: software systems and artificial intelligence in various fields underwent upgrades, automatic control systems were painted in khaki, and identification and warning devices were converted.

  "We closed most of the capability gap in dealing with drones in the southern arena within three weeks of the start of the war," says Colonel Nir Weingold, 39, head of the Planning, Economics and Systems Analysis Department at MAFAT. "Like in the field of intelligence systems, in Israel there are many civilian startups in the field of defense against unmanned aerial vehicles; they enjoy demand in the world, and at the beginning of the war they had inventories in warehouses. In the past year we bought ready-made products like these from more than 100 startups, off the shelf, in areas such as drone detection, identification and jamming, robotics and remote operation. In parallel, we accelerated our own developments."

  In the field of drone neutralization, the supply was indeed especially large. D-Fend's system, for example, which can also be carried on the back, and in the civilian world is used by companies for event security and by the police, automatically detects suspicious drones and neutralizes them. Robotican's system includes an autonomous drone ("Hawk") that homes in on a hostile drone, captures it in a special net while in flight, and lands it in a safe area. ThirdEye, which developed electro-optical detection systems and until the war operated drones for measuring areas and securing facilities, adapted its products to detect enemy drones. And there are also the networks of fast and automatic "Optimus" drones from Airobotics, which in routine days help large municipalities manage events and monitor large construction projects. Even before the war, the company developed a unique system called Iron Drone for the purpose of intercepting hostile drones and even UAVs, and it has now been adopted by the IDF as well.

  MAFAT is also examining another option for neutralizing attacking drones: they connected between a special vest from Skylock, which includes a device that vibrates and warns its owner when it detects a drone in the environment, and the computerized sight "Dagger", from SmartShooter. The sight is connected to the rifle, and after pressing the trigger releases an accurate bullet that destroys the drone. Skylock, by the way, was originally born as a technology for locating stolen vehicles.

  Meanwhile, the IDF is currently examining its own drone array, which has so far been used mainly for field intelligence purposes: the giant eVTOL drones of Israeli Air EV, which are used for passenger transportation in the world, will soon be recruited for aerial supply missions to forces in the depths of the territory.

  By the way, another veteran device from Robotican, the "Rooster", is currently used by the IDF's dedicated units to investigate Hamas and Hezbollah tunnels before the fighters enter. The device is a kind of hybrid between a drone and a robot, and was originally developed to assist in rescuing casualties in natural disasters and scanning spaces contaminated with radiation or toxic gases. It is equipped with a kind of external cage that protects it, and can easily transition from flying to rolling, jumping and moving on the ground.

  In total, if until October 7, 2023, MAFAT worked with 206 Israeli startup companies, today, as a result of the war, it's already 272, an increase of about 32%; if until the war about 50 of the startups received orders from the Ministry of Defense in amounts of about 20 million shekels a year, since then the number has doubled.

  More than half of these startups (about 54%) operate in the field of remote operation - independent operation of unmanned vehicles and aircraft; the others specialize in sensors and detectors (14%) and in the worlds of digital and artificial intelligence (13%). The others also contributed to the IDF in the fields of cyber, space and more.

  **Suddenly you remembered? Why didn't you recruit them much earlier?**

  Colonel Weingold: "At the end of the day there is a given defense budget. The force building done through it, and the development and procurement processes, are limited and determined according to assessments and preferences. The blanket was very short. Ram Aminach, who was formerly the financial advisor to the Chief of Staff, defined it like this in an interview he gave during the war: 'All the time it was said that we are a small and smart army, and in practice we became a genius and tiny army'. This worked against us. We are a very small country with the capabilities and challenges of a superpower."

  **Close connection with the market**"

  Opposite them - as historic peak points are that night in November, when for the first time a missile was intercepted in space outside the atmosphere in the first operational use of the 'Arrow 3' system, and of course the nights of April 14 and October 1 this year, when hundreds of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and UAVs launched at Israel simultaneously from several locations were intercepted.

  For the average Israeli, perhaps unfortunately, thwarting a huge barrage of missiles on Israel has already become routine, but among experts in the world it is interpreted as a phenomenal technological event: in one smart interceptor missile, thousands of complex technologies of every possible type are compressed, those adopted from the civilian market and those developed especially over the years by the best minds in the defense industry. Not to mention the complex control, synchronization and monitoring systems, some based on artificial intelligence, that operated on those nights.

  The connection between the state's security bodies, from the IDF through the Shin Bet to the Mossad, and the manufacturers of the special technological means required by these bodies, passes through MAFAT. This is a unique civilian-military division in the Ministry of Defense, headed since 2016 by Brigadier General (Res.) Dr. Danny Gold, the father of Iron Dome, and a member of the General Staff forum.

  From MAFAT's perspective, the thwarting of Iranian missile attacks on Israel is a distilled result of three decades of complex development processes, combining technologies from various fields, civilian and military - a combination that characterizes the work in the organization. MAFAT currently employs 800 people, about 20% of whom are civilians. The organization not only deals with procurement, project management, research and development guidance and mediation between the IDF and industry - many developments are also carried out "in-house". About 99% of the employees have academic degrees, most are academic reserves.

  In addition, it also includes an "AI Excellence Center", which mainly deals with improving and refining systems already deployed in the defense system: for tunnel detection, intelligence gathering using aircraft and more. The organization has so far won 30 Israel Security Awards over the years, most for developments that will probably remain secret for many more years. In routine, MAFAT maintains a close relationship with the technological industries in the country, and over the years has developed a special connection mainly with the giants of the defense industry (Rafael, Israel Aerospace Industries, Elbit and their like).

  The Director General of the Ministry of Defense, Major General (Res.) Eyal Zamir, persistently promotes the preference for blue and white industries, especially in the fields of artificial intelligence and robotics. In recent years, the organization has realized that real breakthroughs are not always found just under the lamppost, meaning within the system, and today at MAFAT they know almost every civilian company and startup in the country whose products can assist the defense system.

  **A solid "back" for fighters**

  And the drones were just the prelude to collaboration with civilian companies. In the first 48 hours of the war, MAFAT urgently requested from the large defense industries a mapping of all products in their warehouses that could be purchased immediately. From here things began to develop rapidly, according to the needs in the field: When Hezbollah began targeting border cameras and sensors in the north, the IDF needed to quickly place new ones in their place, and MAFAT went out to look for existing products in the private market.

  When the maneuver in Gaza began and ground forces began to stream huge amounts of data into the country, millions of gigabytes of document files, audio recordings and video clips, artificial intelligence systems were needed that know how to analyze and quickly produce relevant information from these mountains of information. Accordingly, MAFAT quickly located civilian companies with proven capabilities for analysis, inference and information extraction from video, including the leading startup Airis Labs in the field, and companies specializing in image analysis such as Cortica. They greatly assisted in identifying bodies, and in analyzing the enormous amount of information that IDF forces brought from the Strip.

  At the same time, startups specializing in social network analysis were also recruited. NextDim, for example, which deals with monitoring campaigns on networks for the purpose of investigating money laundering and fraud for banks and financial organizations, adapted its platform for the purpose of analyzing hate publications and incitement campaigns against Israel. At a later stage, the Air Force used civilian AI systems to develop "swarm intelligence" - precise synchronization between many bodies in the sky. The same AI technology that Intel presented at the time in its mass drone shows.

  And among the prominent hits among the forces in Gaza is the "Panda" - a regular D9 bulldozer for civilian needs, which underwent conversion in the aerospace industry and became a tool that can be operated wirelessly remotely, without risking human life, in dangerous engineering missions such as breaking through obstacles and clearing routes. This is the first time in the world that ground robotic tools of this type are involved in significant maneuvering on the battlefield. The IDF, by the way, also uses a unique system called "Iron Beast", produced by Elbit and others, for remote control of armored vehicles such as APCs in certain missions.

  Some of the developments implemented in the field seem completely distant from their original purpose in the civilian world. Vayyar, for example, developed a kind of miniature "radar on a chip", which allows three-dimensional imaging of hidden objects (under the skin, behind a wall) for medical uses such as breast cancer detection, for monitoring and tracking falls of the elderly, and for the automotive industry. This technology has been converted in the IDF for needs such as detecting movement in suspicious areas. Another company, Frenel, which developed technology from the worlds of agriculture and firefighting, allowing to distinguish objects even through smoke and fog, or to distinguish between a drone and a bird, is in an advanced development process for integration with IDF needs.

  But not everything is high technology. At MAFAT, they are also proud of relatively simple low-tech ideas, whose implementation in the field saves lives. The engineering company Convex, for example, developed a portable opening kit to secure the "back" of fighting forces when entering buildings or tunnels. This is a kind of opening "umbrella" of rigid blades, which "locks" from the inside the opening through which the fighters enter, and can be folded again on exit.

  Another example is the development of Alumor, which is actually biological in origin - a tiny electro-optical water purifier called H2O Pro, intended for disaster-stricken areas. In the IDF, it resembles a lighter in shape, which connects to the soldier's personal drinking bag. When needed, it can purify any water source in the field from germs and bacteria and allow the soldier to survive in harsh conditions.

  **Colonel Weingold, can the existing startups in Israel supply all the needs of the defense system?**

  "Startups can be found in Israel in every field. What is lacking in the country are advanced manufacturing capabilities - robotic, autonomous, fast. We would like to see more of these, because in times like these they can also shorten the transition from prototype of new devices to serial production, also introduce changes and adjustments in production more quickly, and also change purpose quickly.""
  "About two months ago, the international business information company Pitchbook published its annual defense technologies report. The State of Israel features prominently in this report in three events and two contexts: the failures of October 7 on the Gaza border, representing a low point of advanced technological defense measures that collapsed at the moment of truth.  link

• "U.S. in Unusual Embargo Threat: Prevent Aid to Gaza? We Won't Transfer Weapons to You 

  Israel denies adopting the Eiland plan, but after food entry to northern Gaza was prevented, Blinken and Austin sent a particularly harsh and unusual letter to Israel. According to the official document, if within 30 days Israel continues to prevent the transfer of humanitarian aid to Gaza, the Americans will prevent the transfer of weapons, in accordance with the aid law. U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin notified Israel that if within 30 days it does not stop preventing the transfer of American humanitarian aid to Gaza, the U.S. administration will be forced to activate the "National Security Memorandum" - and will prevent the transfer of weapons to Israel in accordance with the aid law. This unusual and stern American message was conveyed in an official document to Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Minister for Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer.

  According to the National Security Memorandum from last March, a series of conditions were set for the continuation of military aid transfer to Israel. Among other things, Israel committed to allow and not arbitrarily prevent or restrict, directly or indirectly, the transportation or delivery of U.S. humanitarian aid, and international efforts supported by the U.S. government to provide humanitarian aid.

  This American message was conveyed against the background of preventing food entry to northern Gaza - despite Israel officially denying that it adopted the "Generals' Plan" led by Major General (ret.) Giora Eiland. Just last night, we remind you, the IDF announced that 30 aid trucks entered northern Gaza. The trucks transferred flour and food in accordance with the political echelon's directive, and as part of the commitment to transfer aid to the Gaza Strip.

  The Americans are demanding Israel take concrete steps within 30 days. Failure to implement the steps could lead to consequences for the continuation of military aid to Israel, which requires, as mentioned, the signatures of Blinken and Austin. All this while in the background the U.S. is still delaying shipments of heavy bombs (weighing 900 kg).

  Despite this, the Pentagon announced that components for the THAAD ballistic missile interception system began arriving in Israel yesterday, and in the foreseeable future they will be operational. Pentagon Press Secretary Pat Ryder said that "over the coming days U.S. military personnel and THAAD battery components will continue to arrive in Israel. The battery will be fully operational in the near future, but for security reasons we won't discuss timelines."" link
  
  

• Israel is encountering a potential shortage of rocket and missile interceptors in its air defense array amid the yearlong war in Gaza and Lebanon, and as it prepares for a possible escalating conflict with Iran, according to a British report Tuesday.

  Citing experts and former military officials, the Financial Times said that Washington is assisting the Jewish state in addressing the matter, in particular through its promise to send a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense missile system (THAAD), but Jerusalem could increasingly find itself needing to decide which targets it wants to prioritize defending.

  “Israel’s munitions issue is serious,” Dana Stroul, an ex-US defense official, said. “If Iran responds to an Israel attack, and Hezbollah joins in too, Israel’s air defenses will be stretched.”
  

  She added that supplies were not unlimited and that Washington could not keep up its ongoing supply of both Ukraine and Israel at the same pace.

  Boaz Levy, CEO of Israel Aerospace Industries, which produces missile interceptors, added: “Some of our lines are working 24 hours, seven days a week. Our goal is to meet all our obligations.”

  Israel’s multi-layered system includes the Iron Dome, used to shoot down short-range missiles; David’s Sling, used to intercept medium-range missiles; and the Arrow system, which is designed to intercept long-range ballistic missiles.
  

  Since Hamas sparked the ongoing war with its October 7 onslaught last year, over 20,000 rockets and missiles have been fired at Israel from Gaza and Lebanon, according to military figures, with air defenses successfully downing the bulk of the projectiles that were headed to populated areas.

  Israel has warded off two Iranian missile attacks — one in April and another, more intense one in October when the Islamic Republic fired 180 ballistic missiles at the country — with the help of the US and its regional allies. Israel has vowed to respond to the October attack in a time and manner of its choosing, which may spark an even more aggressive reaction by Tehran and its proxies.
  

  According to former IDF general Assaf Orion, Israel hasn’t been fully tested as Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon has not unleashed its full capability yet.

  “It has only been firing at around a tenth of its estimated prewar launching capacity, a few hundred rockets a day instead of as many as 2,000,” Orion told the Financial Times. “Some of that gap is a choice by Hezbollah not to go full out, and some of it is due to degradation by the IDF… But Hezbollah has enough left to mount a strong operation.”

  Hezbollah, which began attacking Israel daily in the wake of the Hamas attack a year ago, has itself suffered a series of devastating security breaches in recent weeks, including the explosions of thousands of operatives’ communications devices in an attack widely blamed on Israel, and Israeli airstrikes that have decimated the group’s leadership.

  Earlier this month, Israel launched a ground offensive in southern Lebanon to push the terror group away from the border, destroy its weapons stores and infrastructure, and remove the threat of an invasion similar to the one Hamas launched last year from Gaza. link

  
  
  

The Region and the World

•   Britain has sanctioned organizations involved in the construction of Israeli settler outposts in the West Bank, a government update shows.

  The sanctions target seven settler outposts and organizations and are taken under Britain’s global human rights sanctions regime, the notice shows.

  Those sanctioned include Amana, the settlement movement’s development arm, which Britain says is “involved in the construction of illegal settler outposts and providing funding and other economic resources for Israeli settlers involved in threatening and perpetrating acts of aggression and violence against Palestinian communities in the West Bank.”
  

  Amana was sanctioned by Canada in June and US officials have told The Times of Israel that the Biden administration is considering the step as well.

  Amana is the most prominent Israeli development organization in the West Bank and settler leaders have been urgently lobbying the Israeli government to try to thwart international sanctions in recent months.

  While the international community considers all settlements illegal, Israel differentiates between settlement homes built and permitted by the Defense Ministry on land owned by the state, and illegal outposts built without the necessary permits, often on private Palestinian land.

  Outpost residents have often been cited as perpetrators of attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank, which are very rarely prosecuted by Israel and have led to sanctions by Western countries over the past year.  link Amana is a important part of the illegal settlement movement and is heavily funded by this extreme messianic government. The amount of illegal outposts, called 'farms' has risen greatly and the failed finance minister, Smotrich is also a minister in the Defense Ministry in charge of 'civilian activities' in the West Bank, a euphemism for bring in charge of developing and legalizing all of the illegal outposts and settlements in the West Bank with most, if not all of them on stolen Palestinian lands. The sanctions by our allies is a good thing as our government totally ignores international law which forbids the stealing of occupied lands and the development of settlements on any occupied lands. These are also part of the charges being brought against Israel in the international courts. And to make matters worse, this government has senior ministers and knesset members who are pushing for large scale settlement in Northern Gaza, more occupied lands and now even talking about settlements in Southern Lebanon. All of this gives legitimation to claims by anti Israel groups such as BDS that Israel is a colonial state. When we have ministers pushing these colonialistic messianic plans, what else could we call ourselves if not colonialists.

  
  

Personal Stories

"Suddenly, I saw a Hamas motorcyclist with an M16 looking me in the eyes."

"I’ve had 36 psychological treatments, but the massacre at Nova lasted for me much longer than 36 hours, so it takes a bit more time to process it. They tell us, 'Go to psychiatrists for life, take pills, and don’t forget to come to the committees every two or three years' – but we’re young people, and we want to get back to life." Omar Leshem, a survivor of the Re'im festival, is demanding a reckoning from the state. "You have sinned against us" – a special project.

I was with three friends at Nova when the rocket fire began, and we decided to stay between the yellow garbage dumpsters. We thought it would be relatively safer there. We stayed there until 8 AM when the shooting towards the party started. When we saw all the injured people returning, we realized we had to leave, but by then it was too late, and they started shooting at us.

We began running and split up. I headed towards the parking lot. I got into one of the vehicles I saw, and inside were already three people, none of whom I knew until that moment. I told them, "Guys, we’re not going anywhere until we see a terrorist. Once we see the first one jump in front of us, we’ll know to run away from him." I realized we were surrounded but didn’t know who was closest. The idea was to manage the risks, acting instinctively based on what I saw at that second until help arrived.

I started hearing shouts of "Allahu Akbar" in Arabic. We closed the door and drove in reverse. When we reached the road, we saw for the first time all the burnt vehicles and corpses. We realized we couldn’t get to the road like this. We turned around and were met with bursts of gunfire. 

We waited there until we heard an exchange of fire. The guy who was with us in the car went outside, and from that moment, it was just the driver, his girlfriend, and me in the car. After another round of gunfire, I told the driver to move the car to the other side of the parking lot. We stood behind two vehicles so the bullets fired at us would be absorbed by the cars between us and the party area.

A few minutes later, I started hearing more shouts of "Allahu Akbar" in Arabic. Two others who had fled the party also got into the car with us. We closed the door and drove in reverse. At around 9:45, I suggested we try to reach the road via the party's access road. When we got to the road, we saw for the first time all the bodies and burned vehicles. We realized we couldn’t reach the road like this. We turned around – and then got hit by bursts of gunfire into the trunk. The driver hit the gas, and we sped off into the fields. We worried about the car since it was a small vehicle not suitable for such terrain, but we had no choice. We headed towards Kibbutz Be'eri through the fields, and the car got damaged on the way.

"They started shooting in our direction and we started running", the terrorists' attack on the party 

At the time, we knew from WhatsApp and Telegram that there were terrorists inside Be'eri, but we didn’t know exactly what was happening. Then we saw a vehicle full of terrorists in the fields. We turned around, tried to escape from it, and managed to find a way onto Highway 232 heading north. This happened around 10:30 AM, and the entire road was under the control of Hamas terrorists. Seconds after we got on the road, we realized what was happening. The driver screamed at us to lower our heads. In that moment, I looked and saw a Hamas motorcyclist about a meter or meter and a half away from me. Two guys were on the motorcycle – one was driving, and the one behind him had a long M16. He looked me in the eyes, and I think he didn’t realize at that moment who we were. I screamed at the driver to floor it, and at that moment, we saw everything that was happening on the road, hoping we would survive the ride. They started shooting at us, and the gunfire didn’t stop until the drive was over. The car was hit, but how we weren’t – none of us will ever know.

We reached the entrance to Kibbutz Alumim, where at the junction, the terrorists had set up a roadblock with vehicles on the road. We went off-road, somehow managed to get back on the road, but lost the two rear tires, which were punctured. Still, we kept driving. We passed another roadblock and even bypassed another Hamas motorcyclist until we finally reached the entrance to Sa'ad.

At the entrance to Kibbutz Sa'ad, we saw a roundabout with a police vehicle. But for us, we didn’t know if they were terrorists or our forces, because until then, we had also seen terrorists dressed as soldiers. We couldn’t believe there could be living people from our forces in that area. We kept driving fast and tried to bypass the roundabout. Then the shooting started again, this time from the roundabout – from the police. In the middle of the shooting, we started to realize that our forces were shooting at us. The fire was better aimed, with single shots, not bursts. As we got closer, we saw they weren’t terrorists. We arrived and crashed into the roundabout. We got out of the car, shouting that we were Israelis, and lay down on the ground.

"We were hit by gunfire and the driver continued to drive." The party complex after the massacre Photo: Flash 90

That day, we were abandoned there. There’s no better way to put it. I’m not blaming any soldier who was in the area and fighting, but we were abandoned. And since that day, we’ve been fighting our own battle against the National Insurance Institute, which is trying to help us, but in the end, it depends on legislation and the Knesset. We’re trying to get the best support to continue our lives with minimal long-term impact.

I’ve already been to a psychologist on my own dime because the reform allowing us to receive psychological treatment hasn’t passed yet, so I had to fight for my psychologist to be paid by them. Now we’re fighting to get some sort of recognition without it being tied to disability percentages. They’re trying to put us into a disability framework. Right now, we’re fighting for our treatments and our right to return to the same level of functioning, to study and work.

From a legislative standpoint, they’re still stuck in the pre-October 7th procedures, in the structured process of either a disability route or a victim of terror route. "Go and get your percentages, and don’t forget to come to committees every two or three years. Go to psychiatrists for life, take pills, and we’ll go from there." That day, we were abandoned, there’s no better way to say it. And since then, we’ve been fighting our own battle against the National Insurance Institute to get the best support and continue our lives.

We understand that there’s a need for a new pathway that didn’t exist until now, one that gives us the ability to rehabilitate ourselves, whether through psychologists, work, or studies, even before the disability procedure. Most survivors of the Nova massacre don’t want to be "disabled" and aren’t seeking to maintain this status in the long term. We want to finish this as quickly as possible.

I’ve already been to the Knesset a few times. The feeling is that things aren’t moving. The feeling is that everything we say in those committees is heard, and they tell us, "We’re sorry" or "We share your pain" – but it gets swallowed up in the huge machine called the Knesset, and nothing reaches where it needs to go. People get discouraged along the way and stop fighting. It’s very hard for us, time and time again, to speak up and go there because it’s so emotional. They don’t understand that they need to help us – without labeling us "disabled."

"They don't understand that we need to be helped." Nova Festival after the massacre | Photo: Flash 90

At the moment, I’m missing my psychologist. In a few more sessions, it will end. We were given 36 treatments, which is already an exception. But this is an event that takes much more than 36 hours to process. I was in that event for more than 36 hours, so I think it takes a little more time to process. Maybe they should give us, say, a psychologist for a year or two in advance or help us find work or support for studies. After all, most of us are young, and we want to get back to life."

Omar Leshem is being treated under a specific framework. link

Dark Legacy - The Abandonment of October 7th Hostages

A Legacy of Silence and Void

Nimrod Sheffer

Major-General (Reserves).

At times, one needs to describe reality in simple terms in order to believe that it is real. As I write these words, over 100 Israeli hostages abducted from their homes by Hamas with unspeakable violence on the morning of October 7, 2023, are living in the Hamas tunnels in Gaza. Some are no longer alive, but those who are have been living in crippling fear for nine months, imprisoned in solitary, locked up, fading away as the days go by, like photos in an old celluloid film.

It is unbelievable, but over 100 Israeli citizens, human beings with families, dreams, fears, love, and emotions, are but a nuisance for the Prime Minister of Israel. Netanyahu tries to hide this from the public in order to stay in power and evade trial. But for Netanyahu (and his government), human life has no value. Israeli lives, their safety, and the unwritten covenant between them and the state all have no merit since the only thing that is of true importance to him is remaining in power.

Over the months following the hostage deal of November 2023, Netanyahu has been consistently sabotaging any chance of bringing back the hostages who remain in Gaza. He does so by tying the hands of the negotiating team, by sending signals that make it clear to Hamas that he has no intention of paying the price of a deal, and by relaying messages via the foreign press (and, at times, the Israeli press) of the same.

This will be his legacy.

A legacy of cynicism and inconceivable cruelty, of evil and imperviousness. A legacy of severing the State of Israel from its values, primarily those of brotherhood and solidarity. His legacy will forever be abandonment and political, military, and human blindness. A legacy of continuous failure, destruction of state institutions, and preference for the self over everything else, including the people and the state he headed. Yes, headed—in the past tense because the end is just around the corner, the end of an evil and cynical government, the aim of which is to dismember Israel and reassemble it as a servant of the ruler.

Thus, Bibi, we will not remember you, and we will not mention your name. We will silently mourn our dead, we will silently embrace those who return, we will silently fix and mend the pieces you broke in us, without a word about you. You are doomed to disappear from our lives, to dissipate as though you never were. That will be your legacy: silence. Null and void.

Then, after all the evil, after all the pain and the fear, our people will rise from the dust and build what you failed to eradicate, the exemplary state of the Jewish people and this country’s citizens. And that, Bibi, will be our legacy, and you will have no part in it, not in a word, not in a letter, not in a gesture, and not in a note. Nothingness. A void.

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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