π️Lonny's War Update- October 396, 2023 - November 5, 2024 π️
π️Day 396 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!!!”
Dress Like Naama”: A Powerful Women’s Demonstration Calling for the Return of Naama Levy and 100 Hostages Held by Hamas for Over a YearFor more than a year, the image of blood-stained gray sweatpants has been seared into our collective memory from the horrific kidnapping video of Naama Levy
We’re waiting for you, all of you.
A deal is the only way to bring
all the hostages home- the murdered for burial and the living for rehabilitation.
#BringThemHomeNow #TurnTheHorrorIntoHope
A deal is the only way to bring
all the hostages home- the murdered for burial and the living for rehabilitation.
#BringThemHomeNow #TurnTheHorrorIntoHope
There is no victory until all of the hostages are home!ΧΧΧ Χ Χ¦ΧΧΧ Χ’Χ Χ©ΧΧ ΧΧΧΧΧ€ΧΧ ΧΧΧΧͺ
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
*6:10pm yesterday - north - rockets/missiles *9:20pm yesterday - north -rockets/missiles *11:20pm yesterday - north -rockets/missiles
*6:35am - north center -rockets/missiles
*6:35am - Haifa and surrounding areas (north, south and west of Haifa)- rockets/missiles
*6:40am - north -rockets/missiles*6:40am - Haifa areas -rockets/missiles -The Israel Defense Forces says two rockets fired from Lebanon were intercepted a short time ago.The projectiles had triggered sirens in Haifa and surrounding communities. Additionally, the military says air defenses intercepted a drone that approached from Syria overnight.
*7:25am - north - hostile aircraft - Mazada -Sirens at Masada warn of a suspected drone infiltration in the Dead Sea area.
*7:55am - north - hostile aircraft - Kfar Giladi, Metulla, Manara - Two drones launched at Israel from Iraq and Lebanon were shot down by the Israeli Air Force, the military says.Sirens sounded in Masada a short while ago after a drone entered Israeli airspace. The IDF says the drone was launched from “the east,” a term used to describe attacks from Iraq. Another drone, launched from Lebanon, set off sirens in Metula and Kfar Giladi.
*9:10am - north - rockets/missiles
*10: 35am - north - rockets/missiles
*12:50pm - north - rockets/missiles
*1:00pm - north - rockets/missiles
*1:55pm - north -rockets/missiles
*5:05pm - north - rockets/missiles
*5:10pm - north - rockets/missiles
*5:15pm - north -rockets/missiles
*6:35am - north center -rockets/missiles
*6:35am - Haifa and surrounding areas (north, south and west of Haifa)- rockets/missiles
*6:40am - north -rockets/missiles
The projectiles had triggered sirens in Haifa and surrounding communities. Additionally, the military says air defenses intercepted a drone that approached from Syria overnight.
*7:25am - north - hostile aircraft - Mazada -Sirens at Masada warn of a suspected drone infiltration in the Dead Sea area.*7:55am - north - hostile aircraft - Kfar Giladi, Metulla, Manara - Two drones launched at Israel from Iraq and Lebanon were shot down by the Israeli Air Force, the military says.
Sirens sounded in Masada a short while ago after a drone entered Israeli airspace. The IDF says the drone was launched from “the east,” a term used to describe attacks from Iraq. Another drone, launched from Lebanon, set off sirens in Metula and Kfar Giladi.
*9:10am - north - rockets/missiles*10: 35am - north - rockets/missiles
*12:50pm - north - rockets/missiles
*1:00pm - north - rockets/missiles
*1:55pm - north -rockets/missiles
*5:05pm - north - rockets/missiles
*5:10pm - north - rockets/missiles
*5:15pm - north -rockets/missiles
Hostage Updates
Hamas has rejected a proposal for a short-term ceasefire and hostage release deal, the State Department says.
The revelation is made in a US readout issued on Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s Sunday call with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty.
Blinken “noted that Hamas has once again refused to release even a limited number of hostages to secure a ceasefire and relief for the people of Gaza,” the US readout says.
Egypt had put forth a proposal that would have begun with an initial 48-hour ceasefire during which Hamas would have prepared for the release of four Israeli hostages over the next 10 days, two Arab diplomats told The Times of Israel.
The four hostages were to fall under the so-called humanitarian category, meaning they were to be either women, elderly, or sick.
In exchange, Israel was to release roughly 100 Palestinian security prisoners, the diplomats said.
During the 12-day deal, Israel and Hamas would have held talks about a more long-lasting ceasefire.
Hamas has refused to budge from the proposal it submitted in early July, which saw it cede on its key demand for an up-front Israeli commitment for a permanent end to the war.
That offer still contained a number of new conditions and was rejected by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who added his own new requirements for a deal, including that Israel be able to maintain its force presence in the Philadelphi and Netzarim Corridors.
The US blamed Hamas for the over two month impasse that ensued, saying the terror group refused to engage in talks.
Arab mediators Qatar and Egypt have been less convinced by this argument, privately maintaining that the US has downplayed Netanyahu’s culpability for the impasse and claiming that a deal would have been possible over the summer had the premier not added new conditions, Arab diplomats have told The Times of Israel. Link. For anyone with some understanding of Hamas knew this was not going to happen. They will not accept any deal that does not include an end of the war. Egypt knows this as well. However, Egypt had a definite reason for proposing this deal. Following the killing of Sinwar and the potential chaos in leadership in Gaza, the reason for the proposal was to see if there were Hamas people who could handle decision making inside of Gaza. I don’t know if this refusal provides any of this information or not.
The Hostage Families Forum calls for an investigation into the alleged leak of confidential documents by an ex-aide to Israel’s premier, which may have undermined efforts to secure the release of their family members taken captive by on October 7.
Israelis attend a rally calling for the release of hostages held by Hamas terrorists in Gaza, at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, November 2, 2024. (Avshalom Sassoni/ Flash90)
A court announced Sunday that Eli Feldstein, a former aide to Benjamin Netanyahu, had been detained along with several others for allegedly leaking documents to foreign media. The case has prompted the opposition to question whether Netanyahu was involved in the leak — an allegation denied by his office.
“The (hostage) families demand an investigation against all those suspected of sabotage and undermining state security,” the forum says in a statement.
“Such actions, especially during wartime, endanger the hostages, jeopardize their chances of return and abandon them to the risk of being killed by Hamas terrorists.”
The forum represents most of the families of the 101 hostages still held in Gaza.
“The suspicions suggest that individuals associated with the prime minister acted to carry out one of the greatest frauds in the country’s history,” the forum says.
“This is a moral low point like no other. It is a severe blow to the remaining trust between the government and its citizens.”
An Israeli official confirms a Channel 12 report that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is prepared to offer captors of hostages in Gaza “several million dollars” for the release of each hostage.
The prime minister is also prepared to guarantee “safe passage” out of Gaza for captors and their families who release hostages, says the official.
The idea was discussed in Sunday’s meeting on the hostages with government pointman Gal Hirsch.
The official also confirms the US State Department’s statement on Monday that Hamas had rejected a proposal for a short-term ceasefire and hostage release deal.
“Nothing is happening on the ground until we know the results of the US elections,” says the official. link This is just one more spin by Netanyahu and his cronies to take the limelight off the Top Secret Security information leak out of the Prime Minister's office. Anytime that the focus of the news is something that can hurt Netanyahu's image, his well oiled propaganda machine goes into action with all kinds of denials and spins to take the focus off of Netanyahu and place it elsewhere. As for this specific spin, it was known that large sums of money and safe passage out of Gaza was offered in the past and there were no takers at any time. The ONLY way to get our hostages home is with a deal that includes ending the war. Nothing short of that will do it and no amount of Netanyahu spins will change that situation and the fact that he is the single person preventing bringing home the hostages.
Hostage Updates
Hamas has rejected a proposal for a short-term ceasefire and hostage release deal, the State Department says.
The revelation is made in a US readout issued on Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s Sunday call with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty.
Blinken “noted that Hamas has once again refused to release even a limited number of hostages to secure a ceasefire and relief for the people of Gaza,” the US readout says.
Egypt had put forth a proposal that would have begun with an initial 48-hour ceasefire during which Hamas would have prepared for the release of four Israeli hostages over the next 10 days, two Arab diplomats told The Times of Israel.
The four hostages were to fall under the so-called humanitarian category, meaning they were to be either women, elderly, or sick.
In exchange, Israel was to release roughly 100 Palestinian security prisoners, the diplomats said.
During the 12-day deal, Israel and Hamas would have held talks about a more long-lasting ceasefire.
Hamas has refused to budge from the proposal it submitted in early July, which saw it cede on its key demand for an up-front Israeli commitment for a permanent end to the war.
That offer still contained a number of new conditions and was rejected by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who added his own new requirements for a deal, including that Israel be able to maintain its force presence in the Philadelphi and Netzarim Corridors.
The US blamed Hamas for the over two month impasse that ensued, saying the terror group refused to engage in talks.
Arab mediators Qatar and Egypt have been less convinced by this argument, privately maintaining that the US has downplayed Netanyahu’s culpability for the impasse and claiming that a deal would have been possible over the summer had the premier not added new conditions, Arab diplomats have told The Times of Israel. Link. For anyone with some understanding of Hamas knew this was not going to happen. They will not accept any deal that does not include an end of the war. Egypt knows this as well. However, Egypt had a definite reason for proposing this deal. Following the killing of Sinwar and the potential chaos in leadership in Gaza, the reason for the proposal was to see if there were Hamas people who could handle decision making inside of Gaza. I don’t know if this refusal provides any of this information or not.
The Hostage Families Forum calls for an investigation into the alleged leak of confidential documents by an ex-aide to Israel’s premier, which may have undermined efforts to secure the release of their family members taken captive by on October 7.
Israelis attend a rally calling for the release of hostages held by Hamas terrorists in Gaza, at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, November 2, 2024. (Avshalom Sassoni/ Flash90)A court announced Sunday that Eli Feldstein, a former aide to Benjamin Netanyahu, had been detained along with several others for allegedly leaking documents to foreign media. The case has prompted the opposition to question whether Netanyahu was involved in the leak — an allegation denied by his office.
“The (hostage) families demand an investigation against all those suspected of sabotage and undermining state security,” the forum says in a statement.
“Such actions, especially during wartime, endanger the hostages, jeopardize their chances of return and abandon them to the risk of being killed by Hamas terrorists.”
The forum represents most of the families of the 101 hostages still held in Gaza.
“The suspicions suggest that individuals associated with the prime minister acted to carry out one of the greatest frauds in the country’s history,” the forum says.
“This is a moral low point like no other. It is a severe blow to the remaining trust between the government and its citizens.”
An Israeli official confirms a Channel 12 report that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is prepared to offer captors of hostages in Gaza “several million dollars” for the release of each hostage.
The prime minister is also prepared to guarantee “safe passage” out of Gaza for captors and their families who release hostages, says the official.
The idea was discussed in Sunday’s meeting on the hostages with government pointman Gal Hirsch.
The official also confirms the US State Department’s statement on Monday that Hamas had rejected a proposal for a short-term ceasefire and hostage release deal.
“Nothing is happening on the ground until we know the results of the US elections,” says the official. link This is just one more spin by Netanyahu and his cronies to take the limelight off the Top Secret Security information leak out of the Prime Minister's office. Anytime that the focus of the news is something that can hurt Netanyahu's image, his well oiled propaganda machine goes into action with all kinds of denials and spins to take the focus off of Netanyahu and place it elsewhere. As for this specific spin, it was known that large sums of money and safe passage out of Gaza was offered in the past and there were no takers at any time. The ONLY way to get our hostages home is with a deal that includes ending the war. Nothing short of that will do it and no amount of Netanyahu spins will change that situation and the fact that he is the single person preventing bringing home the hostages.
Report: Relatives of Gaza captives were told PM ‘doesn’t meet with hostage families’; his office denies
Families of Israelis being held captive in Gaza who asked to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were told that the premier “doesn’t meet with hostage families,” Channel 12 reports.
The Prime Minister’s Office puts out a statement denying the report, stressing that Netanyahu “has been meeting the hostage families continuously since the outbreak of the war and considers this to be of great importance.”
The PMO stresses that all the families have met the prime minister, some more than once. One such meeting took place yesterday, says Netanyahu’s office.
On Sunday, according to the PMO, hostage families participated in a confidential briefing with government hostage pointman Gal Hirsch, where they received an update on where talks stand. link Netanyahu is a compulsive liar and his office follows suit in every way. Here, too they are lying through their teeth. The families have been requesting/begging to meet with Netanyahu for many months. Their requests don't get denied, they just go unanswered. Whereas they have met innumerable times with representatives of the US government including the Secretary of State Blinken, they cannot get an appointment to sit with our prime minister, the person most responsible for their entire plight. DISGRACE!
Report: Relatives of Gaza captives were told PM ‘doesn’t meet with hostage families’; his office denies
Families of Israelis being held captive in Gaza who asked to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were told that the premier “doesn’t meet with hostage families,” Channel 12 reports.
The Prime Minister’s Office puts out a statement denying the report, stressing that Netanyahu “has been meeting the hostage families continuously since the outbreak of the war and considers this to be of great importance.”
The PMO stresses that all the families have met the prime minister, some more than once. One such meeting took place yesterday, says Netanyahu’s office.
On Sunday, according to the PMO, hostage families participated in a confidential briefing with government hostage pointman Gal Hirsch, where they received an update on where talks stand. link Netanyahu is a compulsive liar and his office follows suit in every way. Here, too they are lying through their teeth. The families have been requesting/begging to meet with Netanyahu for many months. Their requests don't get denied, they just go unanswered. Whereas they have met innumerable times with representatives of the US government including the Secretary of State Blinken, they cannot get an appointment to sit with our prime minister, the person most responsible for their entire plight. DISGRACE!
Gaza and the South
- Left-wing Israeli rights group accuses IDF of ‘ethnically cleaning’ northern Gaza
An IDF soldier looks on as Palestinians evacuate from northern Gaza in October, 2024. (Peace Now/X)
Peace Now, a left-wing Israeli rights group, accuses the IDF of “ethnically cleaning” northern Gaza of Palestinians.
“Under the code name ‘The General’s Plan,’ horrific war crimes are currently being committed in the north of the Gaza Strip,” Peace Now says in a tweet, referring to a plan that envisioned laying siege to northern Gaza in order to coax remaining Hamas operatives to surrender.
The IDF has denied carrying out the General’s Plan, saying its operations in northern Gaza have been limited to specific areas where Hamas has sought to regroup and that it is allowing humanitarian aid into other parts of northern Gaza.
During a meeting last month, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to publicly clarify that Israel is not implementing the General’s Plan, but the Israeli premier declined to do so, amid pressure from far-right coalition partners.
Peace Now claims Israel is engaged in a mass-deportation and starvation campaign against the several hundred thousand Palestinians still in northern Gaza in order toestablish settlements there.
Netanyahu has insisted that Israel is not seeking to reestablish settlements in northern Gaza, but several dozen members of his coalition have attended conferences in support of the effort. link
- Yahya Sinwar’s brother Muhammad has been operating as the de facto leader of Hamas’s military wing in Gaza, alongside a small council of top commanders, the Kan public broadcaster reports.
There was no formal appointment of Muhammad Sinwar by Hamas, which has yet to confirm the death of its former military wing chief Muhammad Deif, who Israel says it killed in a July airstrike.
- Gaza water desalinization plant connected to Israeli energy grid
A water desalination plant in Gaza is connected to Israel’s electricity grid to increase the supply of clean water in the war-torn coastal enclave.
The, plant located in the southern city of Khan Younis, is run by UNICEF and can provide 20,000 cubic meters of water daily to the nearby humanitarian zone where the vast majority of Gaza’s population is currently taking refuge from the conflict.
Israel’s security cabinet approved a decision in July to connect the desalination facility to the Israeli grid in July, but it has taken several months to complete the necessary work. The plant was finally connected on Sunday.
MK Yulia Malinovsky of the opposition Yisrael Beytenu party condemns the development, writing on X “101 hostages returning to their homes – no. The government of Israel takes care of its enemy and not its citizens.”
Israel supplied close to 50 percent of Gaza’s electricity before the current war, but cut off its electricity supply to Gaza on October 12 last year following the Hamas invasion and atrocities on October 7.
The UN and other agencies have deplored the humanitarian situation in Gaza in recent weeks, in particular in northern Gaza where a group of UN and independent organizations said last week the situation was “apocalyptic.”
More than 100 patients including children suffering from trauma injuries and chronic diseases will be evacuated from Gaza today in a rare transfer out of the war-ravaged enclave, a World Health Organization official says.
“These are ad hoc measures. What we have requested repeatedly is a sustained medevac [medical evacuation] outside of Gaza,” says Rik Peeperkorn, adding that 12,000 people were awaiting transfer.
The patients will travel in a large convoy via the Kerem Shalom Crossing with Israel before flying to the United Arab Emirates, he adds, and then a portion will travel to Romania.
A water desalination plant in Gaza is connected to Israel’s electricity grid to increase the supply of clean water in the war-torn coastal enclave.
The, plant located in the southern city of Khan Younis, is run by UNICEF and can provide 20,000 cubic meters of water daily to the nearby humanitarian zone where the vast majority of Gaza’s population is currently taking refuge from the conflict.
Israel’s security cabinet approved a decision in July to connect the desalination facility to the Israeli grid in July, but it has taken several months to complete the necessary work. The plant was finally connected on Sunday.
MK Yulia Malinovsky of the opposition Yisrael Beytenu party condemns the development, writing on X “101 hostages returning to their homes – no. The government of Israel takes care of its enemy and not its citizens.”
Israel supplied close to 50 percent of Gaza’s electricity before the current war, but cut off its electricity supply to Gaza on October 12 last year following the Hamas invasion and atrocities on October 7.
The UN and other agencies have deplored the humanitarian situation in Gaza in recent weeks, in particular in northern Gaza where a group of UN and independent organizations said last week the situation was “apocalyptic.”
More than 100 patients including children suffering from trauma injuries and chronic diseases will be evacuated from Gaza today in a rare transfer out of the war-ravaged enclave, a World Health Organization official says.
“These are ad hoc measures. What we have requested repeatedly is a sustained medevac [medical evacuation] outside of Gaza,” says Rik Peeperkorn, adding that 12,000 people were awaiting transfer.
The patients will travel in a large convoy via the Kerem Shalom Crossing with Israel before flying to the United Arab Emirates, he adds, and then a portion will travel to Romania.
Northern Israel - Lebanon/Hizbollah/Syria
- Hezbollah's intelligence headquarters has a branch in Syria that contains an intelligence gathering, coordination, and assessment network.Israeli air force fighter jets struck Hezbollah infrastructure and assets within its intelligence headquarters in the area of Damascus in Syria, the IDF reported Monday evening. The Intelligence Directorate directed the fighter jets. The intelligence headquarters is the main intelligence body within Hezbollah and is responsible for building the organization's intelligence, directing its intelligence operations, and conducting its intelligence collection and detection capabilities. Hezbollah's intelligence headquarters has a branch in Syria that contains an intelligence gathering, coordination, and assessment network, according to the IDF. It operates independently and under the guidance of the head of Hezbollah's intelligence headquarters, Hussein Ali Al-Zima, who was killed in Beirut in October. Al-Zima was killed in the same strike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, in which Hashem Safi Al-Din and Hussein Ali Al-Zima were killed. Head of Hezbollah's intelligence headquarters in Syria, Mahmoud Muhammad Shaheen, was also killed. Link
A preliminary probe finds that Israeli commandos used a speedboat equipped with radar-jamming devices during the abduction of a Lebanese man accused of being a Hezbollah operative, a Lebanese judicial official tells AFP Tuesday.
The initial findings suggest that “the Israeli army used a high-speed vessel equipped with advanced devices capable of jamming radars” belonging to the United Nations peacekeeping force (UNIFIL) that monitors the Lebanese coast, the official says, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.
The probe into the abduction operation on Saturday is jointly conducted by the Lebanese police and judiciary.
The UN peacekeeping Maritime Task Force has helped Lebanon’s army monitor territorial waters and prevent the entry of arms or related material by sea since 2006, according to the mission’s website.
Germany has headed UNIFIL’s maritime task force since January 2021.
On Saturday, Israeli naval commandos seized a man that a military official described as a “senior operative” of Hezbollah in a raid in northern Lebanon and brought him to Israel for questioning.
He was identified as Imad Amhaz.
The IDF confirms carrying out airstrikes in Syria a short while ago, targeting Hezbollah weapon depots.
The weapon depots used by Hezbollah were struck by fighter jets in the al-Qusayr area in western Syria, close to the border with Lebanon.
The IDF says Hezbollah’s armament unit is responsible for storing weapons in Lebanon, and it recently expanded its activities to Syria, storing weapons in al-Qusayr.
The military says troops have discovered and destroyed an underground network some 70 meters (around 230 feet) in length in southern Lebanon.
In a statement, the IDF says the tunnel had a number of branches, including a room equipped for a long-term stay, and weaponry.
In a separate raid, a second underground infrastructure was discovered, which also had rooms for living in and a number of weapons.
The military says that tunnel and weapons were also destroyed.
- Hezbollah's intelligence headquarters has a branch in Syria that contains an intelligence gathering, coordination, and assessment network.Israeli air force fighter jets struck Hezbollah infrastructure and assets within its intelligence headquarters in the area of Damascus in Syria, the IDF reported Monday evening.The Intelligence Directorate directed the fighter jets. The intelligence headquarters is the main intelligence body within Hezbollah and is responsible for building the organization's intelligence, directing its intelligence operations, and conducting its intelligence collection and detection capabilities. Hezbollah's intelligence headquarters has a branch in Syria that contains an intelligence gathering, coordination, and assessment network, according to the IDF. It operates independently and under the guidance of the head of Hezbollah's intelligence headquarters, Hussein Ali Al-Zima, who was killed in Beirut in October.Al-Zima was killed in the same strike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, in which Hashem Safi Al-Din and Hussein Ali Al-Zima were killed. Head of Hezbollah's intelligence headquarters in Syria, Mahmoud Muhammad Shaheen, was also killed. Link
A preliminary probe finds that Israeli commandos used a speedboat equipped with radar-jamming devices during the abduction of a Lebanese man accused of being a Hezbollah operative, a Lebanese judicial official tells AFP Tuesday.
The initial findings suggest that “the Israeli army used a high-speed vessel equipped with advanced devices capable of jamming radars” belonging to the United Nations peacekeeping force (UNIFIL) that monitors the Lebanese coast, the official says, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.
The probe into the abduction operation on Saturday is jointly conducted by the Lebanese police and judiciary.
The UN peacekeeping Maritime Task Force has helped Lebanon’s army monitor territorial waters and prevent the entry of arms or related material by sea since 2006, according to the mission’s website.
Germany has headed UNIFIL’s maritime task force since January 2021.
On Saturday, Israeli naval commandos seized a man that a military official described as a “senior operative” of Hezbollah in a raid in northern Lebanon and brought him to Israel for questioning.
He was identified as Imad Amhaz.
The IDF confirms carrying out airstrikes in Syria a short while ago, targeting Hezbollah weapon depots.
The weapon depots used by Hezbollah were struck by fighter jets in the al-Qusayr area in western Syria, close to the border with Lebanon.
The IDF says Hezbollah’s armament unit is responsible for storing weapons in Lebanon, and it recently expanded its activities to Syria, storing weapons in al-Qusayr.
The military says troops have discovered and destroyed an underground network some 70 meters (around 230 feet) in length in southern Lebanon.
In a statement, the IDF says the tunnel had a number of branches, including a room equipped for a long-term stay, and weaponry.
In a separate raid, a second underground infrastructure was discovered, which also had rooms for living in and a number of weapons.
The military says that tunnel and weapons were also destroyed.
West Bank and Jerusalem and Terror attacks within Israel
- A group of Israeli settlers assaulted two female IDF soldiers near the West Bank settlement of Givat Asaf earlier today, the military says.
The IDF says the soldiers were treated at the scene, and the assailants fled.
“The IDF condemns all violence against its soldiers and will continue to work to maintain order in Judea and Samaria,” the military adds.
In the same area today, a group of Jewish extremists attempted to burn olive trees in the village of Burqa.
Palestinians in the area threw rocks at the assailants, lightly injuring two of them, according to medics and security sources.
At least four people were killed during an Israeli military raid and airstrikes in the West Bank, according to the Palestinian Authority health ministry.
The ministry says two people were killed in the city of Qabatiya and two others in the Tammun area.
Earlier this morning, the IDF said it carried out an airstrike on armed terror operatives in Qabatiya.
Over 60 operatives from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine organization have been arrested in counterterror operations in the West Bank and Lebanon, the IDF and Shin Bet announce in a joint statement.
Among those arrested in the West Bank was the head of the Women’s Committees Association of the PFLP, Abla Sa’adat, the wife of PFLP head Ahmad Sa’adat who has been jailed in Israel since 2006. In addition, Tahrir Badran Gaber, an activist from Ramallah was also detained, officials say.
The Women’s Committees Association of the PFLP has been declared to be a terror organization by Israel.
The IDF and Shin Bet say key figures who served as the heads of the PFLP in the West Bank were also arrested, in addition to terrorists who operated in the field for the organization.
The statement says that students at West Bank universities who were active members of PFLP cells at the educational institutions were also detained.
Offices and businesses were raided and closed down by troops, including a printing press that produced inflammatory materials for the PFLP. The statement also says that the military has been acting against the terror group in Lebanon since the killing of the PFLP commander in Lebanon at the end of September. According to the military and Shin Bet, Nidal Abd al-Aal was involved in planning and advancing terror attacks in the West Bank.
The IDF says the soldiers were treated at the scene, and the assailants fled.
“The IDF condemns all violence against its soldiers and will continue to work to maintain order in Judea and Samaria,” the military adds.
In the same area today, a group of Jewish extremists attempted to burn olive trees in the village of Burqa.
Palestinians in the area threw rocks at the assailants, lightly injuring two of them, according to medics and security sources.
At least four people were killed during an Israeli military raid and airstrikes in the West Bank, according to the Palestinian Authority health ministry.
The ministry says two people were killed in the city of Qabatiya and two others in the Tammun area.
Earlier this morning, the IDF said it carried out an airstrike on armed terror operatives in Qabatiya.
Over 60 operatives from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine organization have been arrested in counterterror operations in the West Bank and Lebanon, the IDF and Shin Bet announce in a joint statement.
Among those arrested in the West Bank was the head of the Women’s Committees Association of the PFLP, Abla Sa’adat, the wife of PFLP head Ahmad Sa’adat who has been jailed in Israel since 2006. In addition, Tahrir Badran Gaber, an activist from Ramallah was also detained, officials say.
The Women’s Committees Association of the PFLP has been declared to be a terror organization by Israel.
The IDF and Shin Bet say key figures who served as the heads of the PFLP in the West Bank were also arrested, in addition to terrorists who operated in the field for the organization.
The statement says that students at West Bank universities who were active members of PFLP cells at the educational institutions were also detained.
Offices and businesses were raided and closed down by troops, including a printing press that produced inflammatory materials for the PFLP. The statement also says that the military has been acting against the terror group in Lebanon since the killing of the PFLP commander in Lebanon at the end of September. According to the military and Shin Bet, Nidal Abd al-Aal was involved in planning and advancing terror attacks in the West Bank.
Politics and the War (general news)
- Report: Theft of classified docs, their transfer to ‘people in PMO’ was allegedly ‘systematic’
Investigators probing the theft of classified intelligence documents from the IDF and their transfer to people in the Prime Minister’s Office suspect that the theft of such documents was “systematic,” Channel 12 reports.
It says a document allegedly leaked to Germany’s Bild newspaper, which reported on it in September, “was not the only document” taken and conveyed to “people in Netanyahu’s office.”
“There were apparently other classified documents” that were accessed and conveyed in this way, Channel 12 says.
A spokesman for Netanyahu, Eli Feldstein, was named by a judge yesterday as the central suspect in the case. Netanyahu is not a suspect in the case.
The ongoing investigation, which involves the police, IDF, and Shin Bet, is focused on “grave leaks of classified information from the IDF’s Intelligence Directorate to unauthorized recipients,” the TV report says.
The Shin Bet suspects that an “infrastructure” was put in place that was able to access “all the classified material held by Military Intelligence,” and that “it extracted — and may have intended to continue to extract in the future — classified material that could expose the capabilities of the entire intelligence community” — encompassing the IDF, the Shin Bet, and the Mossad.
The exposure of this material — as happened with the Bild article — while evading military censorship, endangers the lives of IDF soldiers and harms efforts to free the hostages, the TV report says, citing what it says is the assessment in the defense establishment and of the investigators of the case.
This ongoing danger to soldiers and to the efforts to free the hostages “is the heart of the matter,” the report says.
The questions of what the suspects intended to do with the material, who knew what they were doing, and who gave the instructions are also all currently being probed, it says. link
This is an excellent article by a dear friend of my brother. Samer is a Palestinian activist who is working very hard to make a 2 State Solution of Israel and Palestine living in peace and security, a reality.
My Hope for Palestine
There’s still a path to lasting peace. But we’ll need a new set of leaders. By Samer Sinijlawi
The conflict between Israelis and Palestinians is often assumed to be impossible to solve, a matter of two national movements with irreconcilable aspirations for one tiny piece of land. It has felt like this for nearly a century, and perhaps never more so than during the past year of anger and grief.
But as a Palestinian who was born in Jerusalem’s Old City, who has lived through the occupation, who sat in an Israeli prison for five years, I see a way out. Even today, with the pain so fresh, I believe it’s possible for Palestinians to get our state, and for the two peoples to coexist. But to arrive there, both sides will need to radically change their thinking—and their leadership.
The future I imagine is in some ways rooted in a past I remember from my childhood in the early ’80s. In the busy streets of the Old City, you knew which community you belonged to, but everyone shared the space. As a boy, before I had any understanding of who was above whom, I knew only that everyone was bustling at the end of the week, with Jews going to synagogue, Christians heading to church, and Muslims following the sound of the muezzin to prayer. My family is Muslim, but I attended a Christian school. I never questioned how natural this layered reality was.
But then, in 1987, the First Intifada began. I was 14. All at once, I felt pulled into the conflict, drawn to what I heard on the streets and saw on television, which was a more straightforward story than what I’d known in Jerusalem—the struggle of my people, armed with stones, standing up to tanks. I wanted to throw stones as well, to feel a part of it. And so I did. And like many of my teenage friends, I was eventually arrested, and sentenced by a military judge to five years’ imprisonment.
This was the most painful moment of my life. My childhood was over. I wasn’t able to finish high school. But my experience in prison changed me in unexpected ways. It gave me a different kind of education. I was elected as a spokesperson to negotiate with the prison authorities, whether for better food or special permits for family visits. And my understanding of my enemy grew.
Out in the street, we wore keffiyehs over our faces, and they saw us only through the scope of a rifle. But now I got to know some Israelis. I could see their eyes, and they could see mine. I learned Hebrew. I learned their names. And I saw for the first time that these people, whom I had feared as my oppressors, had their own fears. They were scared of us, the Palestinians, of the violence we might cause them, of the violence we were causing them. It’s hard for my own people, oppressed as we feel by Israeli power, to appreciate this, but the fears of Israelis are real, not exaggerated or invented. The images of October 7 are seared into their minds. Especially since the massacre, they desire the sort of security that any of us would want, and they will never bargain away the safety of their families. They are not a suicidal people.
I also learned how to negotiate with Israelis. Maybe because of their own history of survival, they can be stubborn. You cannot expect to get anything through pressure tactics. Believe me, Palestinians have tried: The strategy for decades has been to use violence against Israeli civilians while beseeching the world to force Israel into making concessions. But this hasn’t worked. Trying to get the American president to use carrots and sticks with the Israelis is pointless. We need to deal with them directly. That’s the only way. And just as we have needs—dignity, rights, independence—they have needs as well, and we must find ways to reassure them of their security, to defeat their fears.
I have often thought of the conflict as having DNA. The need for security is one strand, and the other is a desire for dignity. This did not require any special education for me to learn. It comes with the reality of being a Palestinian. We live in a state of constant humiliation: at each checkpoint, every time we need to cross a border, when settlers in the West Bank attack and kill our people and burn our fields with impunity. Half of our lives seem to be spent waiting in line as an Israeli soldier stands over us with a gun. We lack freedom. We are denied basic human dignity. And this existence, to feel forever trampled on, has been ours now for at least three generations.
This is the DNA, a desire for both safety and self-determination. By acknowledging and attending to these twin desires—rather than parsing right from wrong or replaying history—people of goodwill can solve the conflict. I am part of an initiative—organized by Ehud Olmert, the former Israeli prime minister, and Nasser al‑Kidwa, the former Palestinian foreign-affairs minister—to do just that. We envision a cease-fire in Gaza and a return of the hostages held by Hamas since October 7, and we have worked out the details of a two-state solution, proposing a plan for drawing borders, determining the status of Jerusalem, and rebuilding Gaza.
The contours are not hard to imagine, but many obstacles stand in the way. I see four main ones, two within our own societies and two from the outside.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing government aren’t interested in making any concessions to the Palestinians. They hardly see us, and are intent on ignoring our demands indefinitely. But I don’t think they represent the majority of Israelis, who dislike Netanyahu and want his rule to end. I believe that those who protest by the tens of thousands every week in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem know that the status quo is not acceptable for either people.
This is the first obstacle: Netanyahu and his reactionary, racist allies. Israelis must find a way to vote him and the extremists out. Nothing will change until Israeli leaders see the benefit of creating a Palestinian state, and do not act with such indifference to our lives and needs. But the second obstacle I see is closer to home for me, and just as crucial: the corrupt and ineffective leadership of Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority.
I first met Abbas as part of a Fatah youth delegation soon after the First Intifada ended. After being released from prison, in 1993, I became involved with the party, the largest faction in Palestinian politics at the time. My fellow delegates and I were in our 20s; Abbas was then in his 50s and Fatah’s second-in-command. “You are tomorrow’s leaders,” he told us. Today, Abbas is nearly 90, and we are in our 50s. Over the years, he has worked to ensure that the tomorrow he promised never arrived. He was elected president in 2005 to serve for four years. He has served for almost 20, without a single reelection. Over that period, he has compromised our democracy, our security, our economy, and our dignity.
Abbas lost the 2006 legislative elections to Hamas, and then lost Gaza to Hamas control the following year. But he could have taken the past two decades to build up the West Bank, creating transparent, accountable institutions that would represent a thriving alternative to Hamas. Because he didn’t, he allowed the extremists to fill the vacuum. As recently as 2021, Abbas canceled planned elections, this time after Fatah split into three factions. Younger, reformist Fatah leaders were ready to try to create that alternative, and might have offered a counterbalance to the extremism that led to October 7. But Abbas stood in their way.
Palestinians want change. Polls show that about 90 percent of the population wants Abbas to resign. But removing him isn’t just important for the West Bank and the possibility of negotiating with the Israelis. It’s also essential to Gaza’s “day after.” As brutal and oppressive as the Hamas regime has been, the people of Gaza don’t want to see Hamas replaced with Abbas.
Instead, Palestinian political leaders should form a unity government that includes nonpartisan national figures; Fatah reformists such as al‑Kidwa, the former security czar Mohammed Dahlan, and, with any luck, the imprisoned Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti; and even members of nonextremist Islamist factions like the Ra’am party, in Israel’s Parliament. This broad coalition would be responsible for reconstructing Gaza and unifying it with the West Bank. It would need the support of Arab countries and the international community—and, of course, recognition by Israel.
All of this is impossible while Netanyahu and Abbas remain in power, which is why they are the biggest internal obstacles. But there are also two external ones.
The first is obvious: Iran is the mutual enemy of both Israelis and Palestinians who want peace, as well as of all the moderate forces in the Middle East. Iran has propped up Hamas and Hezbollah, whose ideologies and actions will lead to nothing but endless war. The best way to counter Iran is for Israel to build relationships with the Emiratis and the Saudis and a reformed Palestinian Authority. But to do that, Abbas and Netanyahu need to go.
The second external obstacle might seem surprising, but it’s no less important to acknowledge: the extreme sentiments in the West. I understand what has motivated the protests on American college campuses. I have grieved the death of every Gazan, and I am certainly not against peaceful demonstration. But I think that some of those who call themselves pro-Palestine and rally under the Palestinian flag are doing us real harm—and I would say the same about some of those who rally under the Israeli flag and call themselves pro-Israel.
They apply the wrong kind of pressure: against compromise. Against seeing each other and finding ways to move closer. They alienate everyday Israelis and Palestinians. As far as I’m concerned, there is only one idea to rally behind; only one pro-Israel, pro-Palestine slogan: “Stop the war and free the hostages.” Nothing else is helpful, certainly not slogans such as “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”
I know how hard these obstacles will be to overcome; as a Palestinian, I am accustomed to endless heartbreak. It’s far easier to remain self-righteous, to believe that with enough yelling or missiles, things will change for the better. But they won’t, not until the two sides begin to look at each other honestly.
I have talked with many Israelis over the years, after I was elected international secretary for Fatah youth, and then as the head of Israeli relations for the party. I have become close friends with many of them, and not just with people on the left and in the center, but with those on the right as well. I’ve learned some lessons from all of this talking.
Primarily, I decided not to hate them. For a simple reason: We have killed them and they have killed us. Hate has never achieved anything for the Palestinians besides more misery. Additionally, I decided never to lecture Israelis on morality, on what to do and what not to do. I chose instead to focus on my side, on the example that I set.
That’s why I went to Kfar Aza, one of the kibbutzim attacked on October 7, for a condolence visit early this year. Standing in front of cameras, I condemned the acts of Hamas. I didn’t want history to document that no Palestinian spoke up against this atrocity. In Kfar Aza—a mile away from the city of Beit Hanoun, over the border in Gaza—I could see smoke, and I could hear bombs, and I knew what was happening there, but I had come only to denounce what Hamas had done in the name of Palestinians, in my name. One day, an Israeli will stand in front of us and denounce what has happened in Gaza. I don’t have to lecture them. All I can do is offer my example.
I know it’s controversial to say, but this is why I think Palestinians need to make the first move. There is more urgency for us than for the Israelis. They are suffering because of the conflict, but not as much as we are. They can wait another 75 years until it becomes necessary for them to share the land. We cannot wait another 75 hours. They have an air force; we don’t. They have tanks; we don’t. We have spent decade after decade not achieving any progress with them. As a practical person, I’ve concluded that we ought to try something else.
Palestinians need to put in place a strategy that prioritizes the security of Israelis—not for the Israelis’ sake, but for our own national interest. We need to make sure that the Palestinian Authority properly criminalizes violence committed by Palestinians—just as Israel must end settler violence in the West Bank and respect that the lives of Palestinians are as sacred as the lives of Israelis. Both sides in this conflict need to gain control over their violent tendencies. And then our message to the Israelis will be: more for more. If we make you feel safer, if we build institutions that clamp down on violence effectively, that build a successful economy for Palestinians, that create stability and transparency, we expect from you more dignity, freedom, and trust.
The two-state solution feels impossible at this moment, so we need to build it step-by-step, offering more for more. Then we’ll be ready for the tough decisions. This needs to start at the top, which is why I care so much about changing the leadership. People need to see how trust can form. If I were the prime minister of the future state of Palestine, I would want the Israeli prime minister to be my best friend. I would have him and his family over for dinner and let them get to know my wife and kids. Mutual trust between the top leaders will help facilitate trust among the people.
Even today, after tens of thousands have been killed in Gaza in the past year, I still maintain that the majority of mainstream Palestinians and mainstream Israelis want to find a way out of this.
I recently decided to pursue a master’s degree in conflict resolution at Hebrew University, in Jerusalem. Every Monday, when I show up for class, I get a vivid illustration of what the future could be. When I was younger, Hebrew University seemed off-limits to Palestinians; even just walking by the campus gates felt disloyal. But these days, the student population is nearly 20 percent Arab, and there are many young women wearing hijabs.
When I look at these students, I see that many of them, Israeli and Palestinian alike, wear nearly identical pendants depicting the same territory—between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea—which each side claims in its entirety for their own people. (And I bet both pendants were made in the same factory in China.) But then they go to the same classes and listen to the same professors, and sometimes a professor will assign two Israeli students and two Palestinian students to the same research group, and those students, each with their own necklace, will work together. At this moment, their differences become irrelevant; they are just trying to get their studies done. And I promise you: They do not want to throw each other into the sea.
They wear those pendants because they are confused, because their political leaders have poisoned their minds. These young people, who know how to work so well together, who know how to give and take, already know how to be neighbors. They just need leadership that will reinforce the possibility. This leadership doesn’t exist now, and that is the real enemy for both Israelis and Palestinians.
- Police probing ‘criminal incidents’ related to start of war
A court has allowed the publication of the fact that the police are probing “criminal incidents” related to the start of the war.
“The police’s Lahav 433 investigation unit is conducting a criminal probe related to incidents from the start of the war, including several open investigations,” the statement says, adding that further details are under a gag order.
Lahav 433 investigates serious crimes including public corruption.
The Ynet news site says the news is related to reports earlier in the year that Prime Minister Netanyahu had been attempting to keep his conversations regarding the management of the war in Gaza untraceable.
Ynet reported at the time that senior figures in the security establishment feared that efforts were being made to edit the minutes of wartime discussions held with Netanyahu after discovering discrepancies between transcripts of the meetings and what the figures had heard in real time.
Investigators probing the theft of classified intelligence documents from the IDF and their transfer to people in the Prime Minister’s Office suspect that the theft of such documents was “systematic,” Channel 12 reports.
It says a document allegedly leaked to Germany’s Bild newspaper, which reported on it in September, “was not the only document” taken and conveyed to “people in Netanyahu’s office.”
“There were apparently other classified documents” that were accessed and conveyed in this way, Channel 12 says.
A spokesman for Netanyahu, Eli Feldstein, was named by a judge yesterday as the central suspect in the case. Netanyahu is not a suspect in the case.
The ongoing investigation, which involves the police, IDF, and Shin Bet, is focused on “grave leaks of classified information from the IDF’s Intelligence Directorate to unauthorized recipients,” the TV report says.
The Shin Bet suspects that an “infrastructure” was put in place that was able to access “all the classified material held by Military Intelligence,” and that “it extracted — and may have intended to continue to extract in the future — classified material that could expose the capabilities of the entire intelligence community” — encompassing the IDF, the Shin Bet, and the Mossad.
The exposure of this material — as happened with the Bild article — while evading military censorship, endangers the lives of IDF soldiers and harms efforts to free the hostages, the TV report says, citing what it says is the assessment in the defense establishment and of the investigators of the case.
This ongoing danger to soldiers and to the efforts to free the hostages “is the heart of the matter,” the report says.
The questions of what the suspects intended to do with the material, who knew what they were doing, and who gave the instructions are also all currently being probed, it says. link
This is an excellent article by a dear friend of my brother. Samer is a Palestinian activist who is working very hard to make a 2 State Solution of Israel and Palestine living in peace and security, a reality.
My Hope for Palestine
There’s still a path to lasting peace. But we’ll need a new set of leaders. By Samer Sinijlawi
The conflict between Israelis and Palestinians is often assumed to be impossible to solve, a matter of two national movements with irreconcilable aspirations for one tiny piece of land. It has felt like this for nearly a century, and perhaps never more so than during the past year of anger and grief.
But as a Palestinian who was born in Jerusalem’s Old City, who has lived through the occupation, who sat in an Israeli prison for five years, I see a way out. Even today, with the pain so fresh, I believe it’s possible for Palestinians to get our state, and for the two peoples to coexist. But to arrive there, both sides will need to radically change their thinking—and their leadership.
The future I imagine is in some ways rooted in a past I remember from my childhood in the early ’80s. In the busy streets of the Old City, you knew which community you belonged to, but everyone shared the space. As a boy, before I had any understanding of who was above whom, I knew only that everyone was bustling at the end of the week, with Jews going to synagogue, Christians heading to church, and Muslims following the sound of the muezzin to prayer. My family is Muslim, but I attended a Christian school. I never questioned how natural this layered reality was.
But then, in 1987, the First Intifada began. I was 14. All at once, I felt pulled into the conflict, drawn to what I heard on the streets and saw on television, which was a more straightforward story than what I’d known in Jerusalem—the struggle of my people, armed with stones, standing up to tanks. I wanted to throw stones as well, to feel a part of it. And so I did. And like many of my teenage friends, I was eventually arrested, and sentenced by a military judge to five years’ imprisonment.
This was the most painful moment of my life. My childhood was over. I wasn’t able to finish high school. But my experience in prison changed me in unexpected ways. It gave me a different kind of education. I was elected as a spokesperson to negotiate with the prison authorities, whether for better food or special permits for family visits. And my understanding of my enemy grew.
Out in the street, we wore keffiyehs over our faces, and they saw us only through the scope of a rifle. But now I got to know some Israelis. I could see their eyes, and they could see mine. I learned Hebrew. I learned their names. And I saw for the first time that these people, whom I had feared as my oppressors, had their own fears. They were scared of us, the Palestinians, of the violence we might cause them, of the violence we were causing them. It’s hard for my own people, oppressed as we feel by Israeli power, to appreciate this, but the fears of Israelis are real, not exaggerated or invented. The images of October 7 are seared into their minds. Especially since the massacre, they desire the sort of security that any of us would want, and they will never bargain away the safety of their families. They are not a suicidal people.
I also learned how to negotiate with Israelis. Maybe because of their own history of survival, they can be stubborn. You cannot expect to get anything through pressure tactics. Believe me, Palestinians have tried: The strategy for decades has been to use violence against Israeli civilians while beseeching the world to force Israel into making concessions. But this hasn’t worked. Trying to get the American president to use carrots and sticks with the Israelis is pointless. We need to deal with them directly. That’s the only way. And just as we have needs—dignity, rights, independence—they have needs as well, and we must find ways to reassure them of their security, to defeat their fears.
I have often thought of the conflict as having DNA. The need for security is one strand, and the other is a desire for dignity. This did not require any special education for me to learn. It comes with the reality of being a Palestinian. We live in a state of constant humiliation: at each checkpoint, every time we need to cross a border, when settlers in the West Bank attack and kill our people and burn our fields with impunity. Half of our lives seem to be spent waiting in line as an Israeli soldier stands over us with a gun. We lack freedom. We are denied basic human dignity. And this existence, to feel forever trampled on, has been ours now for at least three generations.
This is the DNA, a desire for both safety and self-determination. By acknowledging and attending to these twin desires—rather than parsing right from wrong or replaying history—people of goodwill can solve the conflict. I am part of an initiative—organized by Ehud Olmert, the former Israeli prime minister, and Nasser al‑Kidwa, the former Palestinian foreign-affairs minister—to do just that. We envision a cease-fire in Gaza and a return of the hostages held by Hamas since October 7, and we have worked out the details of a two-state solution, proposing a plan for drawing borders, determining the status of Jerusalem, and rebuilding Gaza.
The contours are not hard to imagine, but many obstacles stand in the way. I see four main ones, two within our own societies and two from the outside.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing government aren’t interested in making any concessions to the Palestinians. They hardly see us, and are intent on ignoring our demands indefinitely. But I don’t think they represent the majority of Israelis, who dislike Netanyahu and want his rule to end. I believe that those who protest by the tens of thousands every week in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem know that the status quo is not acceptable for either people.
This is the first obstacle: Netanyahu and his reactionary, racist allies. Israelis must find a way to vote him and the extremists out. Nothing will change until Israeli leaders see the benefit of creating a Palestinian state, and do not act with such indifference to our lives and needs. But the second obstacle I see is closer to home for me, and just as crucial: the corrupt and ineffective leadership of Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority.
I first met Abbas as part of a Fatah youth delegation soon after the First Intifada ended. After being released from prison, in 1993, I became involved with the party, the largest faction in Palestinian politics at the time. My fellow delegates and I were in our 20s; Abbas was then in his 50s and Fatah’s second-in-command. “You are tomorrow’s leaders,” he told us. Today, Abbas is nearly 90, and we are in our 50s. Over the years, he has worked to ensure that the tomorrow he promised never arrived. He was elected president in 2005 to serve for four years. He has served for almost 20, without a single reelection. Over that period, he has compromised our democracy, our security, our economy, and our dignity.
Abbas lost the 2006 legislative elections to Hamas, and then lost Gaza to Hamas control the following year. But he could have taken the past two decades to build up the West Bank, creating transparent, accountable institutions that would represent a thriving alternative to Hamas. Because he didn’t, he allowed the extremists to fill the vacuum. As recently as 2021, Abbas canceled planned elections, this time after Fatah split into three factions. Younger, reformist Fatah leaders were ready to try to create that alternative, and might have offered a counterbalance to the extremism that led to October 7. But Abbas stood in their way.
Palestinians want change. Polls show that about 90 percent of the population wants Abbas to resign. But removing him isn’t just important for the West Bank and the possibility of negotiating with the Israelis. It’s also essential to Gaza’s “day after.” As brutal and oppressive as the Hamas regime has been, the people of Gaza don’t want to see Hamas replaced with Abbas.
Instead, Palestinian political leaders should form a unity government that includes nonpartisan national figures; Fatah reformists such as al‑Kidwa, the former security czar Mohammed Dahlan, and, with any luck, the imprisoned Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti; and even members of nonextremist Islamist factions like the Ra’am party, in Israel’s Parliament. This broad coalition would be responsible for reconstructing Gaza and unifying it with the West Bank. It would need the support of Arab countries and the international community—and, of course, recognition by Israel.
All of this is impossible while Netanyahu and Abbas remain in power, which is why they are the biggest internal obstacles. But there are also two external ones.
The first is obvious: Iran is the mutual enemy of both Israelis and Palestinians who want peace, as well as of all the moderate forces in the Middle East. Iran has propped up Hamas and Hezbollah, whose ideologies and actions will lead to nothing but endless war. The best way to counter Iran is for Israel to build relationships with the Emiratis and the Saudis and a reformed Palestinian Authority. But to do that, Abbas and Netanyahu need to go.
The second external obstacle might seem surprising, but it’s no less important to acknowledge: the extreme sentiments in the West. I understand what has motivated the protests on American college campuses. I have grieved the death of every Gazan, and I am certainly not against peaceful demonstration. But I think that some of those who call themselves pro-Palestine and rally under the Palestinian flag are doing us real harm—and I would say the same about some of those who rally under the Israeli flag and call themselves pro-Israel.
They apply the wrong kind of pressure: against compromise. Against seeing each other and finding ways to move closer. They alienate everyday Israelis and Palestinians. As far as I’m concerned, there is only one idea to rally behind; only one pro-Israel, pro-Palestine slogan: “Stop the war and free the hostages.” Nothing else is helpful, certainly not slogans such as “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”
I know how hard these obstacles will be to overcome; as a Palestinian, I am accustomed to endless heartbreak. It’s far easier to remain self-righteous, to believe that with enough yelling or missiles, things will change for the better. But they won’t, not until the two sides begin to look at each other honestly.
I have talked with many Israelis over the years, after I was elected international secretary for Fatah youth, and then as the head of Israeli relations for the party. I have become close friends with many of them, and not just with people on the left and in the center, but with those on the right as well. I’ve learned some lessons from all of this talking.
Primarily, I decided not to hate them. For a simple reason: We have killed them and they have killed us. Hate has never achieved anything for the Palestinians besides more misery. Additionally, I decided never to lecture Israelis on morality, on what to do and what not to do. I chose instead to focus on my side, on the example that I set.
That’s why I went to Kfar Aza, one of the kibbutzim attacked on October 7, for a condolence visit early this year. Standing in front of cameras, I condemned the acts of Hamas. I didn’t want history to document that no Palestinian spoke up against this atrocity. In Kfar Aza—a mile away from the city of Beit Hanoun, over the border in Gaza—I could see smoke, and I could hear bombs, and I knew what was happening there, but I had come only to denounce what Hamas had done in the name of Palestinians, in my name. One day, an Israeli will stand in front of us and denounce what has happened in Gaza. I don’t have to lecture them. All I can do is offer my example.
I know it’s controversial to say, but this is why I think Palestinians need to make the first move. There is more urgency for us than for the Israelis. They are suffering because of the conflict, but not as much as we are. They can wait another 75 years until it becomes necessary for them to share the land. We cannot wait another 75 hours. They have an air force; we don’t. They have tanks; we don’t. We have spent decade after decade not achieving any progress with them. As a practical person, I’ve concluded that we ought to try something else.
Palestinians need to put in place a strategy that prioritizes the security of Israelis—not for the Israelis’ sake, but for our own national interest. We need to make sure that the Palestinian Authority properly criminalizes violence committed by Palestinians—just as Israel must end settler violence in the West Bank and respect that the lives of Palestinians are as sacred as the lives of Israelis. Both sides in this conflict need to gain control over their violent tendencies. And then our message to the Israelis will be: more for more. If we make you feel safer, if we build institutions that clamp down on violence effectively, that build a successful economy for Palestinians, that create stability and transparency, we expect from you more dignity, freedom, and trust.
The two-state solution feels impossible at this moment, so we need to build it step-by-step, offering more for more. Then we’ll be ready for the tough decisions. This needs to start at the top, which is why I care so much about changing the leadership. People need to see how trust can form. If I were the prime minister of the future state of Palestine, I would want the Israeli prime minister to be my best friend. I would have him and his family over for dinner and let them get to know my wife and kids. Mutual trust between the top leaders will help facilitate trust among the people.
Even today, after tens of thousands have been killed in Gaza in the past year, I still maintain that the majority of mainstream Palestinians and mainstream Israelis want to find a way out of this.
I recently decided to pursue a master’s degree in conflict resolution at Hebrew University, in Jerusalem. Every Monday, when I show up for class, I get a vivid illustration of what the future could be. When I was younger, Hebrew University seemed off-limits to Palestinians; even just walking by the campus gates felt disloyal. But these days, the student population is nearly 20 percent Arab, and there are many young women wearing hijabs.
When I look at these students, I see that many of them, Israeli and Palestinian alike, wear nearly identical pendants depicting the same territory—between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea—which each side claims in its entirety for their own people. (And I bet both pendants were made in the same factory in China.) But then they go to the same classes and listen to the same professors, and sometimes a professor will assign two Israeli students and two Palestinian students to the same research group, and those students, each with their own necklace, will work together. At this moment, their differences become irrelevant; they are just trying to get their studies done. And I promise you: They do not want to throw each other into the sea.
They wear those pendants because they are confused, because their political leaders have poisoned their minds. These young people, who know how to work so well together, who know how to give and take, already know how to be neighbors. They just need leadership that will reinforce the possibility. This leadership doesn’t exist now, and that is the real enemy for both Israelis and Palestinians.
A court has allowed the publication of the fact that the police are probing “criminal incidents” related to the start of the war.
“The police’s Lahav 433 investigation unit is conducting a criminal probe related to incidents from the start of the war, including several open investigations,” the statement says, adding that further details are under a gag order.
Lahav 433 investigates serious crimes including public corruption.
The Ynet news site says the news is related to reports earlier in the year that Prime Minister Netanyahu had been attempting to keep his conversations regarding the management of the war in Gaza untraceable.
Ynet reported at the time that senior figures in the security establishment feared that efforts were being made to edit the minutes of wartime discussions held with Netanyahu after discovering discrepancies between transcripts of the meetings and what the figures had heard in real time.
- Kahanism no longer threatens to taint the Knesset – it has taken root
The normalization of these racist and anti-democratic views is as severe a threat as the danger posed by Israel's external enemies
The 25th Knesset and the 37th government of Israel have presented us with a series of unprecedented events, processes, and decisions that pose a significant threat to Israeli democracy and the future of Israeli society. The most severe of these is the entry of Kahanism into the mainstream of Israeli politics and the legitimacy this ideology is gaining among large segments of Israel’s body politic, even in unexpected places. For example, with a young secular woman from Tel Aviv.
Last week, Minister May Golan, a member of Likud – once the party that led the boycott against Meir Kahane in the Knesset – delivered one of the most shameful displays ever seen in the plenum, as she shouted and waved her arms seeking to defend the tarnished honor of Michael Ben Ari, a declared Kahane supporter disqualified from running for the Knesset. One can only imagine what Menachem Begin and Yitzhak Shamir, may they rest in peace, would have said if they heard her words. They are surely turning in their graves.
The dramatic shift in the attitude toward Kahanist ideology and its advocates is perhaps the most significant change Likud has undergone since it’s founding and until today, when decay now grips the party under Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu has not only normalized Itamar Ben Gvir and his Kahanist doctrine, he has also turned them from minor players into the tone-setters of the Israeli right. In many ways, he has facilitated and encouraged the infiltration of Kahanism into the heart of his party, opening the doors of Likud to it. His partners in the Likud leadership, who are indulging in dreams of succession, will eventually find that Kahanism will push them out of their own party.
In the past two years, Kahanism has gone beyond being just a phenomenon whose normalization must be fought. It’s not just that this racist and anti-democratic worldview has taken hold among specific sectors, it has also been treated lightly by a much broader audience, including players and institutions that should have taken a clear and uncompromising stand against it. What is required of us today is no longer a “battle of containment” but a concentrated effort to push this dangerous phenomenon from the center of Israeli existence to the extreme and illegitimate fringes to which it belongs.
Significant swaths of the Israeli media should come in for criticism for nurturing Ben Gvir and normalizing his Kahanist views. So too the perverse relationship between him and some journalists and media outlets. Key players in the national-religious public have also capitulated to the currents emerging from the racist Lehava and Otzma Yehudit movements, and the difficulty in presenting a clear and forceful theological, educational, and communal alternative to these trends.
However, the lion’s share of criticism for the complete normalization of Kahanism must be directed at the political system and politicians. And first and foremost among those failing in their duties is Benjamin Netanyahu, who paved Ben Gvir’s way to the Knesset, to the cabinet table, and to his outsize influence on the rule of law. Netanyahu’s utter laxity regarding Ben Gvir’s dangerous actions, such as changing the status quo on the Temple Mount, is no less severe and consequential than his failures and actions that led to the October 7th disaster, and, as with October 7th, the writing on the wall is clear.
And still, Netanyahu is not solely responsible and to blame. Kahanism has taken a malignant hold thanks, also, to politicians and parties from the ostensibly liberal center, who have been sitting on the fence or, worse, have been aligning themselves with the right. In the past two years, the opposition has failed in many crucial tasks, one of which is the clear and vehement opposition to the infiltration of Kahanism into the political mainstream. I look today at my colleagues in liberal parties and ask how it is possible that what was a glaring red line for Likud leaders in the past is not a glaring red line for us today.
The calls to settle Gaza and Lebanon, support for extremist settler violence in the territories, calls we hear for revenge and the bloodlust; the blatant violation of the status quo on the Temple Mount, the takeover of the police, reckless distribution of weapons, attempts to subordinate the Civil Guard to Ben Gvir’s command, and the complete disregard for the bloodshed in Arab communities, these are just the tip of the iceberg of the future that awaits us if we don’t manage to dismantle the legitimacy that Ben Gvir’s Kahanism has gained.
The rejection of this legitimacy requires clearly drawing a line in the political and public sand. It requires setting clear and unambiguous boundaries. That is why, at the opening of the Knesset’s winter session, my colleague MK Naama Lazimi and I announced that we would boycott every speech by Itamar Ben Gvir. At face value, this is a symbolic step, but we attach to it a call and demand to return to fundamental principles regarding what is legitimate and illegitimate in Israeli politics. This simple and basic step, once shared by all Zionist parties, must become the hallmark of the political forces committed to the future of Israeli democracy. We expect our friends in the opposition to adopt it, and we hope that the broader public, which filled the streets over the past two years, will join this demand from their representatives.
Our laxity has led to this dangerous change. It is time to use our feet and our voices to say: enough.
About the Author: Gilad Kariv is a member of the Knesset for the Democrats and previously for the Labor Party, in the 25th Knesset. He was the former CEO of the Israel Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism. link
The normalization of these racist and anti-democratic views is as severe a threat as the danger posed by Israel's external enemies
The 25th Knesset and the 37th government of Israel have presented us with a series of unprecedented events, processes, and decisions that pose a significant threat to Israeli democracy and the future of Israeli society. The most severe of these is the entry of Kahanism into the mainstream of Israeli politics and the legitimacy this ideology is gaining among large segments of Israel’s body politic, even in unexpected places. For example, with a young secular woman from Tel Aviv.
Last week, Minister May Golan, a member of Likud – once the party that led the boycott against Meir Kahane in the Knesset – delivered one of the most shameful displays ever seen in the plenum, as she shouted and waved her arms seeking to defend the tarnished honor of Michael Ben Ari, a declared Kahane supporter disqualified from running for the Knesset. One can only imagine what Menachem Begin and Yitzhak Shamir, may they rest in peace, would have said if they heard her words. They are surely turning in their graves.
The dramatic shift in the attitude toward Kahanist ideology and its advocates is perhaps the most significant change Likud has undergone since it’s founding and until today, when decay now grips the party under Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu has not only normalized Itamar Ben Gvir and his Kahanist doctrine, he has also turned them from minor players into the tone-setters of the Israeli right. In many ways, he has facilitated and encouraged the infiltration of Kahanism into the heart of his party, opening the doors of Likud to it. His partners in the Likud leadership, who are indulging in dreams of succession, will eventually find that Kahanism will push them out of their own party.
In the past two years, Kahanism has gone beyond being just a phenomenon whose normalization must be fought. It’s not just that this racist and anti-democratic worldview has taken hold among specific sectors, it has also been treated lightly by a much broader audience, including players and institutions that should have taken a clear and uncompromising stand against it. What is required of us today is no longer a “battle of containment” but a concentrated effort to push this dangerous phenomenon from the center of Israeli existence to the extreme and illegitimate fringes to which it belongs.
Significant swaths of the Israeli media should come in for criticism for nurturing Ben Gvir and normalizing his Kahanist views. So too the perverse relationship between him and some journalists and media outlets. Key players in the national-religious public have also capitulated to the currents emerging from the racist Lehava and Otzma Yehudit movements, and the difficulty in presenting a clear and forceful theological, educational, and communal alternative to these trends.
However, the lion’s share of criticism for the complete normalization of Kahanism must be directed at the political system and politicians. And first and foremost among those failing in their duties is Benjamin Netanyahu, who paved Ben Gvir’s way to the Knesset, to the cabinet table, and to his outsize influence on the rule of law. Netanyahu’s utter laxity regarding Ben Gvir’s dangerous actions, such as changing the status quo on the Temple Mount, is no less severe and consequential than his failures and actions that led to the October 7th disaster, and, as with October 7th, the writing on the wall is clear.
And still, Netanyahu is not solely responsible and to blame. Kahanism has taken a malignant hold thanks, also, to politicians and parties from the ostensibly liberal center, who have been sitting on the fence or, worse, have been aligning themselves with the right. In the past two years, the opposition has failed in many crucial tasks, one of which is the clear and vehement opposition to the infiltration of Kahanism into the political mainstream. I look today at my colleagues in liberal parties and ask how it is possible that what was a glaring red line for Likud leaders in the past is not a glaring red line for us today.
The calls to settle Gaza and Lebanon, support for extremist settler violence in the territories, calls we hear for revenge and the bloodlust; the blatant violation of the status quo on the Temple Mount, the takeover of the police, reckless distribution of weapons, attempts to subordinate the Civil Guard to Ben Gvir’s command, and the complete disregard for the bloodshed in Arab communities, these are just the tip of the iceberg of the future that awaits us if we don’t manage to dismantle the legitimacy that Ben Gvir’s Kahanism has gained.
The rejection of this legitimacy requires clearly drawing a line in the political and public sand. It requires setting clear and unambiguous boundaries. That is why, at the opening of the Knesset’s winter session, my colleague MK Naama Lazimi and I announced that we would boycott every speech by Itamar Ben Gvir. At face value, this is a symbolic step, but we attach to it a call and demand to return to fundamental principles regarding what is legitimate and illegitimate in Israeli politics. This simple and basic step, once shared by all Zionist parties, must become the hallmark of the political forces committed to the future of Israeli democracy. We expect our friends in the opposition to adopt it, and we hope that the broader public, which filled the streets over the past two years, will join this demand from their representatives.
Our laxity has led to this dangerous change. It is time to use our feet and our voices to say: enough.
About the Author: Gilad Kariv is a member of the Knesset for the Democrats and previously for the Labor Party, in the 25th Knesset. He was the former CEO of the Israel Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism. link
The Region and the World
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Survivors
Personal Stories Taken captive: Romi Gonen, after being shot in car by terroristsCaptured at the Supernova rave, the former Scouts counselor is a ‘strong, happy type,’ says mom
Romi Gonen, who was taken captive in Gaza by Hamas terrorists on October 7, as they assaulted the Supernova desert rave (Courtesy)
Romi Gonen was last heard from at 10:58 on Saturday morning, October 7, as she and her friends tried to escape the Hamas assault on the Supernova music rave in the desert.Gonen had been on the phone with her mother, Meirav Gonen, all morning, since the terrorists first attacked the outdoor event at 6:30 a.m.She was in a car with friends when she told her mother at 10:15 that they had been shot and she was bleeding.“They shot me, Mom and I’m bleeding,” Romi told her mother. “Everyone in the car is bleeding.”When the car was later found, it was empty.Romi’s phone was later identified as being located in Gaza, said Meirav Gonen in several media reports.Meirav Gonen called Romi a strong, happy type, a former Scouts counselor who often went to raves and knows how to take care of herself. linkHostage Romi Gonen’s family marks her 24th birthday with event to ‘spread light’Father Eitan describes his daughter, now in Hamas captivity for over 300 days, as ‘magical,’ says there is ‘no doubt’ she will return. (article from August 2024)
The family of hostage Romi Gonen, now in Hamas captivity for over 300 days, was marking her 24th birthday Sunday with an event aimed at “spreading light.”
Gonen was kidnapped during the October 7 onslaught on southern Israel, in which Hamas terrorists killed some 1,200 people and seized 251 hostages.
Romi’s father Eitan told Channel 12 news that his daughter is “a magical girl. She’s all heart, all love…. a justice warrior.”
“It’s unbelievable that we’re marking this day without her,” he said.
Eitan went on to say that after much contemplation as to how to commemorate this special day, the family decided to hold a “day of good deeds, so that when Romi returns — and she will no doubt return — she will see the documentation [of the event] and be so happy.”
Eitan added that his family is an optimistic one, and that “we end every conversation, every interview, with the same words: that Romi is coming home. We just don’t know when exactly.”
Romi Gonen, held hostage by Hamas in Gaza since October 7, celebrating a previous birthday. (Courtesy)The family invited attendees to wear leopard print or yellow attire to embody the young hostage's vibrant spirit.
A press release about the event said it would include a stand where attendants can create signs in solidarity with the hostages, a bar with Romi’s favorite cocktails, a flower arrangement station, music, and “Romi’s signature dance lesson.”
Meirav Leshem Gonen, whose daughter Romi Gonen is held hostage by Hamas, addresses a press conference in Tel Aviv on March 13, 2024. (Avshalom Sassoni/ Flash90)
Ahead of Romi’s birthday, Yarden Gonen, her sister, spoke at a Tel Aviv protest on Saturday calling for a hostage release deal. She read a message to her sister, asking, “How can I continue to exist in this world, when I see people aren’t doing everything they can to return the hostages?”
Yarden Gonen revealed at the end of her speech that this message had been composed on her own birthday, some eight months ago, and lamented its continued relevance now.
Eitan Gonen, father of Romi Gonen who is held hostage by Hamas terrorists in Gaza, March 7, 2024. (Yossi Aloni/FLASH90)
Romi Gonen was abducted from the Supernova music festival near Kibbutz Re’im on October 7, where Hamas terrorists killed 364 people.
It is believed that 111 of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of 39 confirmed dead by the IDF. Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers who were killed in 2014. link
Romi Gonen, who was taken captive in Gaza by Hamas terrorists on October 7, as they assaulted the Supernova desert rave (Courtesy)
The family of hostage Romi Gonen, now in Hamas captivity for over 300 days, was marking her 24th birthday Sunday with an event aimed at “spreading light.”
Gonen was kidnapped during the October 7 onslaught on southern Israel, in which Hamas terrorists killed some 1,200 people and seized 251 hostages.
Romi’s father Eitan told Channel 12 news that his daughter is “a magical girl. She’s all heart, all love…. a justice warrior.”
“It’s unbelievable that we’re marking this day without her,” he said.
Eitan went on to say that after much contemplation as to how to commemorate this special day, the family decided to hold a “day of good deeds, so that when Romi returns — and she will no doubt return — she will see the documentation [of the event] and be so happy.”
Eitan added that his family is an optimistic one, and that “we end every conversation, every interview, with the same words: that Romi is coming home. We just don’t know when exactly.”
Romi Gonen, held hostage by Hamas in Gaza since October 7, celebrating a previous birthday. (Courtesy)
The family invited attendees to wear leopard print or yellow attire to embody the young hostage's vibrant spirit.
A press release about the event said it would include a stand where attendants can create signs in solidarity with the hostages, a bar with Romi’s favorite cocktails, a flower arrangement station, music, and “Romi’s signature dance lesson.”
Meirav Leshem Gonen, whose daughter Romi Gonen is held hostage by Hamas, addresses a press conference in Tel Aviv on March 13, 2024. (Avshalom Sassoni/ Flash90)
Ahead of Romi’s birthday, Yarden Gonen, her sister, spoke at a Tel Aviv protest on Saturday calling for a hostage release deal. She read a message to her sister, asking, “How can I continue to exist in this world, when I see people aren’t doing everything they can to return the hostages?”
Yarden Gonen revealed at the end of her speech that this message had been composed on her own birthday, some eight months ago, and lamented its continued relevance now.
Romi Gonen was abducted from the Supernova music festival near Kibbutz Re’im on October 7, where Hamas terrorists killed 364 people.
It is believed that 111 of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of 39 confirmed dead by the IDF. Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers who were killed in 2014. link
Dark Legacy - The Abandonment of October 7th Hostages
Leadership, Authority, and ResponsibilityRami MatanColonel (Res.).
Every manager - and all the more so every political leader or military commander - is authorized to determine, manage, and make decisions. This authority goes hand in hand with responsibility for those actions and decisions.Under no circumstance may authority be detached from responsibility.Commanders or leaders who attempt such a separation commit a breach of their duty. The higher the leadership level, the greater the duty to bind authority with responsibility.Benjamin Netanyahu has been serving as Prime Minister for 16 years. I deliberately refer to him not as a leader but as a democratically elected Prime Minister.I will not list here all of his failures since he was first elected in 1996. I will only point out several milestones: involvement in the incitement to assassinate Rabin; the Western Wall Tunnels; procurement of submarines; the gas outline agreement; the Carmel fire; the Mount Meron disaster; the regime coup; and, of course, the October 7th massacre. The common thread of these events is that Netanyahu exercised authority and did not take responsibility, even after the Meron Commission found him guilty and after the Submarine Committee determined that he breached state security during purchase deals.On October 7th, under his watch, 1200 civilians were massacred, 300 soldiers were killed, and 265 civilians were kidnapped. Simply being Prime Minister at this time renders Netanyahu responsible. True leadership entails facing the nation to say, “I am responsible”, which is something that Netanyahu, of course, never did.In a systematic and orderly manner, Netanyahu makes it clear that he does not consider the return of the hostages to be a primary goal. He does not invest the maximum effort to bring them home. This was evident when the first deal was carried out, and then, again and again, as he torpedoed and thwarted any chance of moving the negotiations forward.Netanyahu consciously abandoned the hostages. The more time passes, the more dire their situation becomes, and the terms of the expected deal are worsened for Israel. If I may, I find that Hamas’ Yahya Sinwar and Netanyahu share common interests — neither wants to release the hostages, each for his own reasons.The question that arises is: where does motivation lie? Netanyahu knows that when the hostages return, the war will end. He does not want it to end, in order to hold on to his seat.The commandment of redeeming hostages and the principle of never leaving wounded behind are supreme. Despite all difficulties, anyone who wants to be considered a leader must bring all the hostages home, no matter the circumstances.At this point, I draw from my experience as a tank company commander during the Yom Kippur War. After an unbearable night fighting in the area that was dubbed “The Chinese Farm,” my tank was the only one left while 19 of my soldiers remained deep within Egyptian territory. I informed my commanding officers that I was going in to rescue them, and, although I was given an explicit order not to do so, I did. As commander, I knew what my authority and responsibility were. I adhered to the principle of not leaving any wounded behind.The abandonment of the hostages is a sham, a stain, an eternal disgrace. This stain will be a Mark of Cain, etched on Netanyahu's forehead for generations.Netanyahu is not interested in the return of the hostages.
Acronyms and Glossary
ICC - International Criminal Court in the Hague
IJC - International Court of Justice in the Hague
MDA - Magen David Adom - Israel Ambulance Corp
PA - Palestinian Authority - President Mahmud Abbas, aka Abu Mazen
PMO- Prime Minister's Office
UAV - Unmanned Aerial vehicle, Drone. Could be used for surveillance and reconnaissance, or be weaponized with missiles or contain explosives for 'suicide' explosion mission
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