🎗️Lonny's War Update- October 400, 2023 - November 9, 2024 🎗️

  

🎗️Day 400 that 101 of our hostages in Hamas captivity
**There is nothing more important than getting them home! NOTHING!**

“I’ve never met them,

But I miss them. 

I’ve never met them,

but I think of them every second. 

I’ve never met them,

but they are my family. 

BRING THEM HOME NOW!!!”

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

#BringThemHomeNow #TurnTheHorrorIntoHope

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

‎אין נצחון עד שכל החטופים בבית

 400 DAYS! 

I can't wrap my head around this number.
400!
Today is October 400, 2023. For so many of us, the calendar stopped on October 7. The world may have moved on but we can't, not when 101 of our brothers and sisters are languishing in the hell of Gaza's tunnels with the murderous Hamas terrorists starving, torturing, raping and murdering them. I can't believe that Netanyahu, even with all of his numerous and monumental flaws, lack of empathy and sympathy, refusal to take responsibility, how could he allow this to go on so long when it is in his power to bring them home? How could he have lost that much of his soul in his narcissistic quest to remain in power? He, who is the bereaved brother of a hero who was killed in the Entebbe rescue mission, is one who should understand so well what it is to lose a dear family member and have a heart and consider the feelings of those who have lost it all and are begging for him to get their loved ones home. I would ask how he even sleeps when 101 of his people are in hell, but the question is moot because he has lost his soul, his conscience, his moral compass, all in the name of his personal and political position and future. I constantly ask what more can be done to get them home and the answer always comes back to Netanyahu. It is all in his hands and only when he sees personal benefit to do so, will he bring them home. How did we reach this point?

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

*9:25pm yesterday- north - hostile aircraft- Metzuba, Shlomi

*9:25pm yesterday- north- Batzet - rockets/missiles
*11:50pm yesterday - north - hostile aircraft - Rosh Hanikra, Batzet
*1:15am - north - hostile aircraft - Ramat Magshimim, Haspin
*3:05am - north - hostile aircraft - El Rom, Matzok Oravim
*7:00am - north - rockets/missiles
*7:50am - north - rockets/missiles
*8:05am - north -rockets/missiles
*9:25am - Haifa areas -rockets/missiles -The IDF says five rockets were fired from Lebanon a short while ago, triggering sirens in the Upper Galilee and Haifa Bay area.

Some were shot down, while the rest fell in open areas, the military says.

*10:50am - A drone launched at Israel from Iraq was shot down by the Israeli Air Force overnight.

According to the IDF, the drone was intercepted before crossing into Israeli airspace. The Iran-backed Islamic Resistance in Iraq takes responsibility for launching the drone. Sirens had sounded in several Golan Heights towns amid the incident.
*11:20am - north - rockets/missiles
*12:40pm - north - rockets/missiles
*1:05pm - north - rockets/missiles
*1:55pm - north - rockets/missiles
*2:30pm- north - rockets/missiles

*3:00pm - north - rockets/missiles - The IDF says that several rockets were launched from Lebanon at the Mount Meron area an hour ago, which all impacted open areas.
Five more rockets were launched at Metula, some of which were intercepted and at least one impacted the area, according to the military.
More than 50 rockets have been launched by Hezbollah at northern Israel today.

*3:15pm - north -rockets/missiles
*4:30pm - north -rockets/missiles

Hostage Updates 

• Families of four pairs of sibling hostages held in Gaza mark 400 days of captivity
  Relatives of brothers  and sisters still in Strip left doubly bereft and brokenhearted after more than a year of the unknown: ‘I just want to go to Gaza and bring them out myself,’ says mother

  

  • Brothers Eitan (left), Iair and Amos Horn, before Iair and Eitan were taken hostage on October 7, 2023 (Courtesy Horn family)

  Brothers Eitan, Yair and Amos Horn befofre Yair and Eitan were taken hostage
  
  

  Sylvia Cunio doesn’t live in Kibbutz Nir Oz right now, but when she visits, she has only one wish: To go to Gaza and find her two sons who were taken hostage last October 7.

  “I was in Nir Oz the other week and I said to my friends, to my family, ‘Let’s go to Gaza, let’s go, let’s go get them,'” she said. “I just want to go to Gaza and bring them out myself.”

  The Cunios are part of a distinct circle within the broader group of hostage families — those awaiting the return of two siblings held by Hamas in Gaza.
  

  Many sets of siblings were taken hostage on October 7, but only four pairs are left in the enclave, with their families bereft and anxious about the future of their loved ones: David and Ariel Cunio, Eli and Yossi Sharabi, Iair and Eitan Horn and twins Gali and Ziv Berman.

  Sylvia’s sons David Cunio, 34, and Ariel Cunio, 27, were each taken from Kibbutz Nir Oz. David was taken with his wife, Sharon and their three-year-old twins, along with Sharon’s sister Danielle and niece Emilia who were visiting Nir Oz that weekend. Ariel was taken hostage with his girlfriend, Arbel Yehud.

  On November 27, sisters Sharon and Danielle and their three young children were all released home to Israel under the week-long truce. David was left behind, injured, rail thin and terrified, as described by his wife, Sharon, who was aghast at the idea of leaving him behind in Gaza.

  Ariel and Arbel are also still held in Gaza.

  

  Sylvia Cunio, far left, with her husband, Louis, and three of her four sons, Ariel, (third from left), David and Eitan; Ariel and David were taken hostage to Gaza on October 7, 2023 (Courtesy)

  
  “I have hope and that’s the last thing I’ll lose,” Sylvia said. “But I won’t believe they’re coming back until I see them with my own eyes, next to me, and hug them, smell them and cook for them.”
  
  Brothers pulled apart
  Up until October 7, 2023, Gali and Ziv Berman, 27-year-old twins, led poignantly parallel lives. The two lived next door to each other in Kibbutz Kfar Aza’s neighborhood for younger members, and both worked as sound technicians.
  Taken from their homes on October 7, the pair are still both in Gaza, though they are believed to have been separated while in captivity, according to information received by the family months ago. Relatives have declined media requests in recent weeks.
  Yossi Sharabi, 54, and Eli Sharabi, 51, both members of Kibbutz Be’eri, were also taken hostage on October 7.
  Eli Sharabi, is still believed to be alive in Gaza, but it’s presumed that he doesn’t know that his wife and teenage daughters were killed at their home on that day.
  Yossi Sharabi was taken hostage with his daughter’s boyfriend and a neighbor’s teenage son, both of whom were released at the end of November. Months later, on January 16, he was identified as having been killed in captivity; his body is still held in Gaza.
  

  “If we don’t get his body back soon, we won’t have anything left to bury,” said their younger brother Sharon Sharabi.

  
  Sharon Sharabi, center, with posters of his two brothers who were taken hostage on October 7 from Kibbutz Be’eri; Eli Sharabi, left, and Yossi Sharabi, right, who died in Hamas captivity (Courtesy)

  Sharon Sharabi has been endlessly active in the struggle to bring his brothers home and is one of the six family representatives on the board of the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.

  An information technology manager at Bank Hapoalim, Sharon hasn’t worked for the last year. His role at the Forum involves being in contact with the government, and he chooses his words carefully when speaking about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the missed opportunities to bring the hostages home.

  “I’m so thankful for the heroic efforts of the soldiers, and I wish the war would end, and that we succeed in bringing all the hostages home and returning all the evacuees home,” he said.

  Sharon was at home in the West Bank settlement of Alfei Menashe on October 7. The whole family had gathered at Sharon’s home to celebrate Sukkot a few days earlier.

  The siblings grew up near Ramat Gan, and Eli was the first to move to Kibbutz Be’eri, settling there as a young adult. On the kibbutz, he met his future wife, Lianne, a young Jewish volunteer from England and they had two daughters, Yahel and Noiya.

  His older brother, Yossi, followed him there after some years of travel and living abroad. He met his future wife Nira on the kibbutz, and they raised their three daughters there, occasionally hosting the extended Sharabi families on holidays.

  “I haven’t mourned Yossi yet, I haven’t had time to mourn him, Lianne and the girls because my life’s mission is to return Eli for my mother,” said Sharon, who lives in the West Bank. “I swore I would return Eli to her.”

  The family presumes that Eli was first taken hostage before his wife and daughters were shot and killed. Their bodies were found between the safe room and the living room of their Be’eri home.

  
  Eli Sharabi, left, with his daughters Yahel and Noiya Sharabi, who were both killed along with their mother, Lianne Sharabi on October 7, 2023 as their father was taken hostage (Courtesy)

  “We lost four people,” said Sharon. “We sit around the table at the holidays and there are five chairs that are empty, four of them will never be full again.”

  He is focused on the struggle to save Eli and to bury his brother Yossi, a measure of mourning that he feels is vital for his sister-in-law and nieces. “I try not to think about the terrible possibilities,” said Sharon. “I try to be optimistic, I try to imagine my mother hugging Eli.”

  Argentinians in Nir Oz
  Sylvia Cunio, 64, leads her family in the struggle to save her two sons who were taken from Nir Oz.
  She and her husband, Louis, 65, moved to Israel from Argentina in 1986, first living in Ashkelon with their eldest, then a toddler, before a friend brought them to the kibbutz.
  “I didn’t know anything about life on a kibbutz,” said Sylvia, who had trouble getting pregnant. She described the kibbutz community’s support, as “like an incubator.”
  “They take care of you, feed you, house you,” said Cunio, who has worked in the children’s house, the kindergarten, in the chicken coop, the kitchen and in the kibbutz laundry room over the years. “I loved it more than my husband did.”

  “If we don’t get his body back soon, we won’t have anything left to bury,” said their younger brother Sharon Sharabi.
  

  The extended Cunio clan had a large presence on the kibbutz. Aside from Sylvia and Louis, the kibbutz was also home to Louis’s mother Esther, 90, the Cunios’ eldest son, Lucas, and his family, and three more sons — Eitan, David and Ariel — who all lived in homes with their families just a few minutes walk away from one another.

  Each unit of the Cunio family was in their own home on the kibbutz on October 7, said Sylvia Cunio, speaking by Zoom from her temporary apartment in Kiryat Gat, where most of the kibbutz has been evacuated for the last year.

  The elder Cunios survived the terrorist onslaught in their sealed room. Lucas and Eitan Cunio also survived with their families.

  Esther was alone in her kibbutz apartment and somehow kept her cool with the terrorists who broke into her home, distracting them with a conversation about Argentinian football star Messi. One terrorist took a video with Esther holding his Kalashnikov before they left her alone, a video that went viral when it was later discovered.

  It wasn’t until later in the day on October 7, when the survivors were gathered, that Sylvia heard from a neighbor what had happened to David, Sharon and their girls.

  
  In this undated photo, the extended Cunio family: mother Sylvia Cunio (bottom row, second from right) with her husband Louis, mother-in-law Esther Cunio and four sons, David (back row, far left), Lucas, Eitan Cunio and Ariel Cunio — Ariel and David are hostages in Gaza (Courtesy)

  The neighbor had been taken captive on a stolen kibbutz tractor with David, his wife Sharon and one of their 3-year-old twins, and a few others. (Their other twin daughter spent 10 days alone in captivity before being reunited with her family inside Gaza.)

  As the terrorists drove the tractor across the kibbutz fields toward Gaza, an IDF helicopter opened fire at them, apparently unaware of the existence of hostages in the vehicle.

  One of the hostages was killed, others were hurt and the neighbor played dead, later rolling off the tractor and crawling home for over two hours to the kibbutz.

  The Cunios only found out later that their youngest son, Ariel and his girlfriend, Arbel, were also taken hostage. The last they heard from Ariel was at 8:28 a.m., when he wrote a text message to the family group, saying that they were in a horror film.

  It’s all still a shock for Cunio nearly 13 months later, and she acknowledged that she can’t summon her usual strength and energy, but she pushes herself, whenever she can.

  She takes care of her husband, Louis, who is ill, and does everything she can for her children and seven grandchildren. What gives her strength is speaking to groups, mostly groups of religious women gathered through a new friend in Carmei Gat.

  Her friend brings Cunio to speak with those who are less exposed to the news and personal stories from the war and October 7.

  “They’ve heard about some of it, maybe, but to meet a mother who has two kids held hostage is something else,” said Sylvia Cunio. “When they see me crying, they hug me and that gives me strength. I’m thirsty to tell my story.”
  

  From Buenos Aires to Israel

  Like the Cunios, Iair Horn, 46, was also part of a large Argentinian expat community in Nir Oz.
  Iair was hosting his younger brother Eitan on the kibbutz for the Simchat Torah holiday weekend when the attack unfolded.
  Eitan lives in Kfar Saba, as does his mother, Ruty Strum, and another brother, Amos with his family. Their father, Itzik Horn, lives in Ashkelon.
  Itzik Horn said he would have regular get-togethers with his sons at various locations. During those meetings, he said, “We always eat barbecue, real Argentinian barbecue, not chicken wings.”
  “We’re a Zionist family,” said Itzik, who survived the 1994 terrorist bombing of the AMIA Jewish center in Buenos Aires. “We came here to be Jewish, to be in a place where there’s no antisemitism. What holds me is the hope that they’re okay and will come back but the government isn’t doing what they can.”
  Itzik receives dialysis three times a week at Tel Aviv’s Ichilov Hospital, and from there he usually makes his way to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum headquarters, to help however he can.
  He has received some bits and pieces of information about his sons from the army, but can’t divulge those details. He spoke with former hostages released last November who saw his boys, but those sightings are now nearly a year old.
  “I’m waiting for a real message,” Itzik said.  link
• Lamenting both sides’ refusal to negotiate in good faith, diplomat says Qatar is ceasing Gaza hostage-ceasefire mediation role
  

  Qatar has decided to end its role as mediator between Israel and Hamas, a diplomat familiar with the matter tells The Times of Israel.

  The diplomat confirms yesterday’s revelation by the US that Doha had told Hamas officials late last month to leave the country but appears to deny that the decision was taken due to a request from the Biden administration.

  The diplomat — not from the US — tells The Times of Israel that Qatar made the decision on its own, determining that it could not continue mediating between Israel and Hamas if neither side was willing to negotiate in good faith. And if it is no longer mediating, there is no purpose for Qatar to allow Hamas to maintain its offices in the country, the diplomat says.

  The diplomat laments that the ceasefire and hostage release negotiations “became more about politics and elections” for both Israel and Hamas, as opposed to a “serious attempt to secure peace.” The diplomat claims that both sides backed out of commitments that they had made throughout the negotiations, and were only engaged in them for the purpose of “political optics.”

  Earlier this week, former defense minister Yoav Gallant suggested to the families of hostages held in Gaza that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has kept the war going for political reasons, not security ones, in what has prevented a ceasefire and hostage release deal.

  Once the decision was made by Qatar to cease its mediation role and kick Hamas officials out of the country, it first informed the other mediators — the US and Egypt — and then informed Hamas, the diplomat says, adding that the notification was given at the end of October.

  No timeline was given for when Hamas will leave Doha, but it is not something that can happen overnight, the diplomat says.

  The diplomat notes that Qatar’s decision isn’t necessarily permanent and could be reversed if both sides demonstrate a sincere willingness to negotiate in good faith.

  This is what happened in April, when Qatar quietly kicked out Hamas from the country, the diplomat says. The terror group’s leaders went to Turkey, but the US and Israel asked Doha to bring them back in order to resume talks after attempts to do so with Hamas in Ankara did not succeed.

  Indeed, two government officials revealed that sequence of events to The Times of Israel last May.

  The diplomat speculates that after Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh’s assassination in Tehran, Hamas officials will once again head to Turkey. This could place Ankara in a difficult position, though, as the Biden administration made clear yesterday that it doesn’t want its allies hosting the terror group.  link

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Gaza and the South

• The IDF spokesman announced that the forces of Division 162 had killed dozens of terrorists over the past day. In addition, they located a weapons cache and destroyed terrorist infrastructure. It was also noted that the Air Force attacked more than 50 terrorist targets in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip. 
  
  
• Israel says warning of Gaza famine based on ‘biased data and superficial sources with vested interests’
  Israel rejects a group of global food security experts’ warning of famine in parts of northern Gaza where it is waging war against the Hamas terror group
  
  
  “Unfortunately, the researchers continue to rely on partial, biased data and superficial sources with vested interests,” the military says in a statement.
  
  
  The Independent Famine Review Committee said on Friday in a rare alert that there was a strong likelihood of imminent famine in parts of north Gaza with immediate action required from the warring parties to ease a catastrophic situation.
  
  
  Israel’s military said it had increased aid efforts including opening an additional crossing on Friday.
  
  
  In the last two months, 39,000 trucks carrying more than 840,000 tons of food have entered Gaza, it said, and meetings were taking place daily with the UN, which had 700 trucks of aid awaiting pickup and distribution.
  
  
  With some critics decrying a starvation tactic in north Gaza, Israel’s main ally the US has set a deadline within days for it to improve the humanitarian situation or face potential restrictions on military aid.

Northern Israel - Lebanon/Hizbollah/Syria

• Overnight, Israeli fighter jets struck Hezbollah command rooms, weapons manufacturing sites, and other infrastructure in Beirut’s southern suburbs, the IDF says.

  The Hezbollah sites were located “in the heart of a civilian population,” the military says, accusing the terror group of using human shields.

  Before the strikes, the IDF issued evacuation warnings to civilians in the area.

• Syria’s state-run SANA news agency says several soldiers were wounded and damage was caused in an Israeli airstrike a short while ago in the Aleppo and Idlib area.

  There is no comment from the IDF on the strike.

• Lebanese media report a series of Israeli airstrikes in Beirut’s southern suburbs — a known Hezbollah stronghold — after the IDF called to evacuate six sites in the area.

  Footage posted by Lebanese media outlets shows smoke rising from the targeted sites.

  

• Earlier yesterday evening, the IDF says it struck several Hezbollah command rooms where operatives were gathered, near the Lebanese coastal city of Tyre.

  The Hezbollah sites were located “in the heart of a civilian population,” the military says.

  The IDF in a statement says that “Hezbollah systematically takes control of civilian areas and infrastructures throughout the country and embeds commanders and operatives in civilian areas in order to plan and carry out terror attacks, putting Lebanese civilians in harms way.”

  Separately, the IDF says dozens of Hezbollah operatives were killed during fighting in southern Lebanon today, and rocket launchers used in an attack on the Acre area were hit in airstrikes.

  Several weapon depots and other buildings used by Hezbollah were also struck in southern Lebanon today, the military adds. video of the attacks

• Lebanon says 7 killed in overnight Israeli strikes in Tyre, rescuers still searching rubble

• 

  Rescuers and first responders gather at the site of overnight Israeli airstrikes in the southern Lebanese city of Tyre on November 9, 2024. (Kawnat Haju/AFP)

  BEIRUT, Lebanon — Lebanon’s health ministry says seven people including two children were killed in Israeli strikes on the southern city of Tyre yesterday, with rescuers still searching for missing people under the rubble.

  Israel has been carrying out airstrikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon alongside its ground offensive in the south of the country.

  “Israeli enemy strikes on the city of Tyre killed seven people including two girls, and injured 46 others,” the ministry says, adding that body parts had been found and will be “identified with DNA testing.”

  It adds that rubble was being cleared following the strikes as part of ongoing efforts to locate missing persons.

  The ministry had on Friday reported a toll of three killed and 30 injured in the strikes.

  AFP photos show rescuers carrying bodies on stretchers amid the wreckage in Tyre, as rubble and twisted metal were strewn across the street.

• IDF’s elite alpine troops find Hezbollah tunnels, weapons in southern Lebanon

• 

  Reservists of the Alpinist Unit operate in the Chebaa area of southern Lebanon, in a handout photo issued on November 9, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

  Over the past week, the IDF says the elite reserve Alpinist Unit, under the 810th “Mountains” Regional Brigade, led an operation on the Lebanese side of Mount Dov and on the outskirts of the town of Chebaa.

  The reservists located Hezbollah tunnels, rocket launchers, and weapon depots amid the operation in the area, according to the IDF.  link to video of tunnel

• IDF says 11 trucks of aid transferred to Jabalia and Beit Hanoun

• Humanitarian aid is distributed in northern Gaza's Jabalia and Beit Hanoun, in a handout photo published November 9, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

  The Israeli military says 11 trucks of humanitarian aid were delivered to northern Gaza’s Jabalia and Beit Hanoun on Thursday, where several thousand Palestinians are estimated to still be.

  The IDF says it has been working to evacuate the civilian population from towns north of Gaza City, in order to operate against Hamas there without harming innocents. Several hundred are estimated to remain in Jabalia, and several thousands more in other towns in the area.

  In a joint statement, the IDF and the Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories say that the 11 trucks of food, water, and medical equipment were delivered to distribution centers for the remaining population in Jabalia and Beit Hanoun, “in accordance with a directive of the political echelon, and as part of the commitment to transfer humanitarian aid to the northern Gaza Strip.”

  Additional aid is entering other areas of northern Gaza, including Gaza City. COGAT says that since the beginning of October, 713 aid trucks entered northern Gaza via the Erez West Crossing.

West Bank and Jerusalem and Terror attacks within Israel

•    One Palestinian was shot dead during an Israeli military raid in the West Bank today, Palestinian Authority health officials say.

  PA state media reports that Israeli forces surrounded the man’s home in the West Bank town of Aqaba just before killing him. His body is being held by Israeli forces.

  The Israeli military says it was looking into the reports 

Politics and the War (general news)

• **Documents, Leaks, and Secrets from the PM's Office: "Dirty Tactics Were Used Here"**

As the classified documents affair shakes the political and security elite, there’s a claim that everyone leaks constantly and everyone turns a blind eye. Those who sat in the same rooms as the suspect spokesperson explain why this case is much more serious and describe what happens when the Prime Minister wants to "sanitize" a classified document. They are convinced: Netanyahu’s office knew exactly whom they were appointing and for what purpose. "Influence operations are permissible against Hamas and Iran, not against Israeli citizens," says Brigadier General (Res.) Ran Kochav, deeply concerned. As IDF spokesperson, he dealt with countless classified documents, and he knows precisely when and how decisions are made to release sensitive security information to the public. "Someone here is touching the holiest of holies," he tells N12 Magazine, "Someone is manipulating intelligence information for their own purposes. Sometimes it’s in my favor, sometimes against, but it’s never the truth."

It’s no secret that the IDF conducts psychological operations against enemies. But in this classified documents affair, which is rattling the PM's office, Kochav sees a different event: the use of influence techniques internally, on the home audience. "You must not conduct manipulative influence operations on the Israeli public. You can do this against enemies like Hamas and Iran – but not on Israeli citizens," he declares.

The concern of Kochav, who served as the IDF spokesperson from 2021 to 2023, is not about leaks per se: "Leaking is the basis of journalism," he clarifies. This isn’t an investigation of a leak. The Shin Bet is investigating suspicions of unauthorized extraction of particularly sensitive intelligence information from the army, amounting to theft of documents, and concerns that the release of this information could expose the intelligence sources that obtained it. Central to the affair is spokesperson Eli Feldstein, who began working at the PM’s office in October 2023, just days after the start of the war, despite failing security clearance.

Feldstein is suspected of requesting and receiving classified documents from three IDF Intelligence officers and leaking them to two foreign newspapers. The main publication was in the German newspaper Bild, which was later quoted by the PM, claiming that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in Gaza wrote a document outlining a hardline negotiation strategy. In reality, Sinwar did not write the document; rather, Hamas military intelligence did, and its content was presented in a distorted manner. Meanwhile, Britain’s Jewish Chronicle published "information" expressing concerns that Sinwar would smuggle hostages to Egypt and from there to Iran, which led to calls to retain control over the Philadelphi Route. This publication later became particularly problematic when the journalist involved was suspected of being an imposter and was dismissed.

The leaks seemed intended to influence public opinion in Israel regarding negotiations for the return of hostages. "It’s a disaster if a document from Unit 8200 bypassed the IDF spokesperson and went to a foreign newspaper," Kochav asserts. "It doesn’t matter if it went through Feldstein or the PM’s office – the information reached the press without the IDF spokesperson's control. Tomorrow, the same source might decide when to attack, how, and with what targets."

An Alternative Censorship Bypass

Leaking security information to the foreign press is a common practice in high places. It’s called "an alternative censorship bypass." This has been the method for years: Israeli officials leak to foreign media, not bound by military censorship, allowing local media to cite these foreign reports. This method circumvents the ban – an Israeli journalist can’t publish the information directly but can rely on what's already been published abroad.

What’s different in this current affair, explains someone familiar with the PM’s office, is the blatant disregard for operational considerations. "If the material just arrived," he describes, "it might mean there are still ongoing operations that should not be jeopardized, lest the enemy identify and respond accordingly."

Without Regulations, Without Boundaries

Remarkably, Israel currently lacks a protocol defining how the PM can decide to reveal classified information, but neither is there a protocol explicitly prohibiting it. Responsibility for information classification is divided between two main entities: the Information Security Directorate in IDF Intelligence and the Security Directorate in the Ministry of Defense. Additionally, every security agency – the Shin Bet, the Mossad, and the IDF – is responsible for classifying information within its ranks. This gap between the missing protocols leaves too much room for interpretation and abuse.

According to statements from PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, he was unaware of the leaked documents. But even in regular times, when the political echelon wants to expose classified information, there’s an accepted way to do so. Even if it’s not written protocol, the practice is clear: they notify the military secretary, consult with heads of security branches, and get approval from the professionals in the organizations.

For example, when Netanyahu revealed the raid on Iran's nuclear archive in 2018, the disclosure was coordinated with then-Mossad chief Yossi Cohen. "This was not just an item leaked to Bild," the source says, "but a full press conference in the Kirya (Tel Aviv’s defense headquarters). Yossi Cohen was in the loop, consulted, and then they decided what could be revealed and how – these materials were cleared, and these weren’t."

But in this classified documents affair, the source claims, all red lines have been crossed. The information was leaked to foreign media in violation of protocol, involving fresh intelligence that could expose sources and methods. The timing of the publication, in early September, was no accident either – it was days after the murder of six hostages in tunnels was revealed, amidst intense public outcry for a deal. It appears the distorted leak was intended to deflect pressure and shift full responsibility for the stalemate in negotiations onto Sinwar, who was later killed in an encounter with IDF forces in Tel Sultan in Rafah District.

The source of the classified document raised alarm bells in the IDF: a secluded area in the defense system, where a small number of individuals decided independently to hand over sensitive information to an unauthorized source. From there, it allegedly made its way to Netanyahu’s spokesperson, who leaked it to Bild. "An illegal and uncontrolled alternative channel to the IDF spokesperson was opened," describes Kochav. "The result is a complete erosion of the system's credibility. There are now two truths – one from the PM’s office and one from the IDF spokesperson. This is extremely serious, undermining national security and public trust in the army, which has already plummeted."

"A Sick Head in a Sick Bed"  

Feldstein’s appointment on the fourth day of the war as spokesperson responsible for liaising between the military correspondents and the Prime Minister’s office was already considered unusual at the time. Typically, the Minister of Defense and the Chief of Staff are the ones in contact with military correspondents, not members of the Prime Minister’s staff. However, Feldstein had relevant experience. "The willingness and ability to leak, to work in somewhat dirty ways, to brief against the heads of the systems," claims a source who worked with the office, "he didn’t get there by chance, and so it’s no surprise it ended this way. It rises, falls, and relies on the environment around the Prime Minister and its ability to act rationally and normatively."

Feldstein began his career in the military spokesperson’s office, serving as the spokesperson for the Judea and Samaria Division and is well-acquainted with the military correspondents. “The Prime Minister takes an officer from the IDF spokesperson’s reserves, appoints him as ‘IDF spokesperson’ within his office, and tells him – you will now be my military spokesperson, over the head of the official IDF spokesperson,” explains Kochav. “You will represent the Prime Minister’s activities according to my policies, opinions, and positions, for example on the issue of the hostages. If you can’t convince the military correspondents, publish it abroad, via Bild or the Jewish Chronicle, and the Israeli reporters will pick it up from there.”

In civilian life, Feldstein briefly served as spokesperson for Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, but resigned after four months. "They all knew who they were dealing with," says a source familiar with how the Prime Minister’s office operates. "Everyone knew who the man was and the methods he employed. If the decision to bring in a security spokesperson had been made in another office, I’d say it was an attempt to handle the situation efficiently and to make information accessible to correspondents. But since this is Netanyahu’s office, we know what the motivation was for bringing him specifically. They intentionally put a sick head in a sick bed."

Questions surrounding Feldstein's appointment did not end there: the fact that he was employed unofficially through the CEO’s office, despite not having the required security clearance, may indicate an attempt to bypass established mechanisms. "Anyone entering the Prime Minister’s office, even on a daily basis, must undergo security clearance," notes the source. "The attempt to present his employment through the CEO’s office as a solution seems puzzling, because clearance is required there as well. Moreover, he’s a former officer who served as the spokesperson for the Judea and Samaria Division, attended assessment meetings, and held security clearance."

The Wall of Suspicion Between Offices  

It seems there’s no low point or line that hasn’t been crossed regarding the relationship between the Prime Minister and the security elite over the past year. Senior security officials accused Netanyahu of evading responsibility for the October 7 failures and attempting to shift blame onto security heads and his political rivals, primarily Defense Minister Yoav Galant, who was subsequently dismissed and replaced by Israel Katz. Netanyahu, for his part, claimed they were systematically briefing against him, preventing the establishment of trust.

"There is great suspicion between his office and all other offices," the source explains. "If you are an advisor to a politician, a lot of power comes to you, but with that power should come responsibility. Here, a lot of power has fallen into the hands of people who haven’t confined it within responsibility, and that’s a very dangerous combination. Today, he is surrounded by people who lacked the basic ability to exercise judgment and say, 'Wait, even though I can do this, it doesn’t mean it’s responsible to do so.'"

What will happen from here? Leaks won’t stop, the source asserts, adding, “It’s naive to think otherwise.” He estimates they will continue to flow to foreign media, but in a more restrained manner and not in the form of classified documents directly stolen (allegedly) from IDF systems. “People will be more cautious, think twice,” he says. “When you see someone fall into a pit, you don’t continue running a sprint.” But ultimately, the system will return to familiar leak patterns—ones that don’t cross all the red lines at once. “There will be a chilling effect on the system, and then it will revert to its old ways. Leaks will continue, but not of this nature, because here, apparently, they crossed all the offenses in the book.”

Kochav believes the solution lies in returning to basics: “All information from the IDF should be distributed by the IDF spokesperson, not through the Ministry of Defense, not through the Prime Minister’s office, not through military censorship, and not through leaks.” He points to the need to fill a missing role: “This chaos stems from the lack of a national spokesperson. The IDF spokesperson, against his will, has taken on this role of national spokesperson. He thinks he’s helping, but in my view, he’s making a mistake.”   link

• The left-wing J Street lobby blasts Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s appointment of “extremist settler” Yechiel Leiter as next Israeli ambassador to the US.

  The dovish pro-Israel group says the appointment “is a blaring warning siren about the intentions of Netanyahu and his far-right allies. Like last time, Trump and Netanyahu will promote annexation above the peace and safety of Israelis and Palestinians.”

  “As Ambassador, Dr. Leiter should ensure he engages with the profound concerns of the vast majority of Jewish Americans and Democratic Members of Congress who oppose annexation and want to see hostages returned and an end to the war in Gaza,” J Street adds.  -- Netanyahu's failed extremist government has put an emphasis on building more settlements in the West Bank as though there is no war going on. Smotrich is the main driving force behind this and has succeeded in budgeting huge amounts of money for his messianic goals. Netanyahu has enabled this despite pressure from the US and now with the election of Trump, Netanyahu and his extremist coalition partners have no brakes whatsoever, as witnessed by Leiter's apppointment as the next ambassador to the US. What was done relatively quietly will not be strengthened and not hidden with massive settlement activities and these are the same extremists pushing for settlement in Gaza and even South Lebanon. What might have been considered unheard of and nearly impossible is now in the realm of possibility with this new combination of players and it is all bad news for the future of Israel, normalization possibility with Saudi Arabia, reaching a peaceful settlement of the Israel/Palestine conflict and now putting great risk to the peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan.

  
  
  

The Region and the World

• At US behest, Qatar has ordered Hamas to leave Doha — Biden officials
  

  Qatar told Hamas that it must close its diplomatic office in Doha roughly ten days ago following a request by the US, senior Biden administration officials tell The Times of Israel.

  Qatar has hosted Hamas officials in Doha since 2012, amid requests from successive US administrations who felt it was important to have a communication channel with the terror group.

  Following Hamas’s October 7 onslaught, the US informed Qatar that it would not be able to maintain “business as usual” with the terror group. However, it held off on asking Doha to shutter the Hamas office, viewing it as critical for the negotiations toward a ceasefire and hostage deal.
  

  Those talks succeeded in a week-long deal last November, but they have failed to secure a permanent ceasefire or the release of the remaining 101 hostages.

  A US official tells The Times of Israel that Hamas’s late August execution of American-Israeli hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin along with five other hostages and its subsequent rejection of more recent ceasefire proposals are what led the administration to change its approach regarding the terror group’s continued presence in Doha, deeming it “no longer viable or acceptable.”

  The US decision also coincided with its unsealing of indictments against Hamas officials, including one of its top leaders Khaled Meshaal, who is known to reside in Doha, the US official says.
  

  “After rejecting repeated proposals to release hostages, its leaders should no longer be welcome in the capitals of any American partner,” a second senior administration official tells The Times of Israel.

  Hamas showed no signs of budging from “unrealistic positions” in the negotiations, including conditions that would have effectively ensured its ability to remain in power in Gaza — “something the US and Israel will never accept,” the US official says.

  Two weeks ago, the US asked Qatar to kick out Hamas, the US official says, adding that Doha agreed and gave the notice around October 28.

  Details regarding when the expulsion of Hamas officials will actually take place and where they will be ordered to go are still being worked out, the US official says.

  Some of the potential landing spots raised in the past have been Turkey, Iran, Oman, Lebanon, Algeria; but each comes with certain drawbacks as far as the US is concerned.
  

  The US official stresses that the Biden administration is continuing to pursue a number of initiatives to secure a hostage deal before the end of President Joe Biden’s term and argues that the expulsion of Hamas will place more pressure on the terror group, along with sanctions and other tools at Washington’s disposal.
  

  For its part, Qatar has yet to confirm that it has ordered Hamas officials to leave the country, but Qatari officials repeatedly told The Times of Israel throughout the past year that it was prepared to oust the terror group and would do so if Washington submitted a formal request to do so.

  The US official stresses that Doha has played an “invaluable role” as a mediator throughout the conflict. It’s unclear what role Doha will be able to play moving forward, once it no longer is hosting Hamas leaders.

  Qatar has come under fire from Congressional Republicans who have been less praiseworthy of Doha’s role in the conflict and argued that the Islamist Gulf state could have placed more pressure on Hamas in order to secure a deal.

  The Biden administration has repeatedly pushed back against this criticism, as it has relied on Qatar’s mediation role in several other conflicts in addition to one in Gaza. link

   
  
  

Survivors

Personal Stories

  

Taken captive: Matan Zangauker, ‘is a survivor’

24-year-old’s partner, Ilana Gritzewsky, was released Nov. 30

Matan Zangauker was taken captive by Hamas terrorists to Gaza on October 7, 2023. (Courtesy)

Matan Zangauker, 24, and Ilana Gritzewsky, 30, were abducted from their Kibbutz Nir Oz home on October 7 as Hamas terrorists waged a massacre on the kibbutz during the group’s terror onslaught on southern Israel, killing or kidnapping one in four residents on what has become known as the Black Shabbat.

Ilana Gritzewsky was released on November 30 as part of an extension of a temporary ceasefire deal brokered by Qatar and the United States between Hamas and Israel. Her partner, Matan Zangauker, is still captive.

Zangauker’s mother, Einav Zangauker, said after Ilana’s release that they had no information about Matan, except for “a sign of life.” She added that he is strong and a survivor, and can live on rationed food and water.

“Matan, as you were robbed of life, you will return to life, we’re fighting for you,” said Zangauker.

Zangauker is very close with his mother, who lives in nearby Ofakim and was in touch with her on the morning of October 7. When the sirens began sounding early that morning, he told her to relax — they were in their bedroom, which is the safe room.

As the situation worsened in the kibbutz, Zangauker wrote to his mother that the terrorists were in their house.

“Everything will be okay, my prince,” wrote his mother.

Then Matan wrote, “I love you, don’t cry.”

And finally, “Here. Here. Here.”

Zangauker’s parents divorced when he was young and Matan often took care of his younger sisters. He is known as an independent, mature person, always available for support and understanding.

Gritzewsky, Zangauker’s girlfriend, made aliyah from Mexico 14 years ago, on the Naala program. Her parents and sister later immigrated to Israel.

I know Matan is held underground with other living hostages, says Einav Zangauker

"I know that Matan is held with less than 10 other hostages that are also alive, and the fear is great," she said in the interview. 

Natali Zangauker (left,) sister of Israeli hostage Matan Zangauker, and their mother Einav Zangauker (right) arrive for a police investigation in Tel Aviv, May 1, 2024.

Hostage Matan Zangauker is in relatively okay condition, as healthy as possible, and is being held underground with less than 10 other living hostages, his mother, Einav Zangauker, said in an interview on Reshet Bet Tuesday morning. 

"I know that Matan is held with less than 10 other hostages that are also alive, and the fear is great," she said in the interview. 

Zangauker receives regular updates on Matan's status, she said, confirming that the information about him is from a recent update. 

"Hence the urgency to save those who are alive," she explained, adding that there is also an obligation to bring the fallen back for burial and to give closure to their families.

Einav Tsengauker, mother of Matan, who is still held hostage, speaks at a rally protesting for a hostage deal in Tel Aviv on September 21, 2024. (credit: AVSHALOM SASSONI/MAARIV)

Zangauker also shared with Reshet Bet the challenging feelings she is experiencing as fighting escalates in the North - leaving families of hostages concerned that attention and efforts will shift away from their captive loved ones.

Desires for a diplomatic agreement 

"We as hostage families very much want to see a solution and a diplomatic agreement on the northern front so that we can focus on the south and the issue of the hostages," said Zangauker.

On the other hand Zangauker said she thinks that the residents of the north can't be abandoned to their fate with no military response to the attacks.  

"We are torn," she said, saying the families have been left wondering what will happen to their loved ones.

Dark Legacy - The Abandonment of October 7th Hostages

Netanyahu’s Historical Precedent

Gali Mir-Tibon

Author and Historian.

As a historian and researcher of the Holocaust, I am shocked by the events that have taken place under Netanyahu’s rule, unprecedented in Israeli history.

For the first time since the establishment of the State of Israel, parts of our homeland were taken by the enemy on October 7th, 2023.

Regardless of sophisticated American weaponry, regardless of the support offered by the leading world powers, regardless of compulsory military service which affords the army the bravest and finest minds of our children, our enemies took the Gaza Envelope and drove the inhabitants of the Galilee from their homes.

The Netanyahu government, which speaks of Greater Israel, narrowed down the borders, making the country smaller than ever before.

For the first time since the establishment of the State, our enemies no longer live in fear of us.   For the first time since the establishment of the State and under Netanyahu’s rule, we have lost our faith in the ability of the State to protect us from our enemies. The Jewish State, established after the Holocaust, with the goal of saving Jews, has become under Netanyahu’s rule, the most dangerous place for Jews.

Israeli citizens are buying personal defense weapons and homes abroad; the middle class in Greece, Romania, Cyprus, and the more affluent, in London and the U.S. Netanyahu is reestablishing the diaspora after 75 years of Israeli sovereignty. Under Netanyahu’s government a historical upheaval is taking place - that of the destruction of values: Zionism is being annihilated and Israelis are leaving Israel for the diaspora.

In the 1948 War of Independence, within a few months the small country fought for its life and freed all its hostages. Today, our hostages, held by Hamas, living under subhuman conditions - proof of which is the number of hostages murdered in captivity - have become Netanyahu’s punching bag and scapegoat. In addition, Netanyahu is inciting his supporters against them. The high-intensity war ended months ago. Since then, the Israel Defense Forces has been engaged in counter-insurgency pinpointed operations.

Netanyahu is afraid that the return of the hostages will prove to the citizens of Israel that there is no longer any reason to postpone elections, an inescapable conclusion following the catastrophic blunder - one that surpasses that of the Yom Kippur War - in which soldiers, not civilians, fell. This catastrophe brought in its wake bereavement, anxiety, disgrace and humiliation, of a kind unknown to us before.

From the historical perspective, Benjamin Netanyahu is the most dangerous person vis-a-vis the security of the State of Israel. He approved transferring over one billion US dollars to the murderous organization, Hamas, ignored the threats of rockets, the burning fields, the cries of children in the Gaza Envelope, and has fortified our enemies over years, until October 7th.

On October 7th we experienced the worst pogrom in the history of the Jewish people since the Holocaust. The person under whose rule these horrors took place, the person under whose rule women and children and infants hid in smoke-filled rooms, searched for cover under bushes and in the fields, the person under whose rule more than 1,000 Israelis were murdered, women and young girls were raped, citizens were taken captive, and their southern homes looted undisturbed, is Netanyahu. He is the one.

Acronyms and Glossary

COGAT - Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories

ICC - International Criminal Court in the Hague

IJC - International Court of Justice in the Hague

MDA - Magen David Adom - Israel Ambulance Corp

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

PMO- Prime Minister's Office

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

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