🎗️Lonny's War Update- October 411, 2023 - November 20, 2024 🎗️

  

🎗️Day 411 that 101 of our hostages in Hamas captivity
**There is nothing more important than getting them home! NOTHING!**

“I’ve never met them,

But I miss them. 

I’ve never met them,

but I think of them every second. 

I’ve never met them,

but they are my family. 

BRING THEM HOME NOW!!!”

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

#BringThemHomeNow #TurnTheHorrorIntoHope

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

‎אין נצחון עד שכל החטופים בבית

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

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

*4:50pm yesterday - north - hostile aircraft - Kfar Giladi, Kiryat Shemona, Tel Hai

*4:50pm yesterday - north - Meron Field School, Sasa
*5:00pm yesterday - north - hostile aircraft - Mevo'ot Hermon
*5:00pm yesterday - north - rockets/missiles
*5:00pm yesterday - north - hostile aircraft - Lev Hahula, Ahuzat Yarden, Ayelet Hashahar -rockets/missiles
*5:05pm yesterday - north - hostile aircraft - Hatzor Haglilil, Tuba Zangaria, Kfar Hanasi, Machanaim, Tzohar Industrial Zone, Rosh Pina, Elipelet, Amiad, Vered Hagalil
*9:15pm yesterday - north -rockets/missiles
*11:35pm yesterday - north - rockets/missiles -Hezbollah has fired some 70 rockets from Lebanon that crossed into Israel Tuesday, according to an IDF tally.

Five people were wounded in attacks on the north and central Israel this morning, and damage was caused by some of the strikes.
*12:35am - north -
*6:25am - north - hostile aircraft - Shlomi, Batzet, Leeman, Gesher Haziv, Milu'ot, Nahariya
*6:30am - north - hostile aircraft - Nahariya, Gesher Haziv, Sheikh Danon, Ben Ami, Batzet, Leeman
*6:35am - north - Ben Ami, Leeman, Evron, Shavei Zion, Sheikh Danon, Mizra'a, Lochamei Haghetto'ot
*6:35am - Haifa and regions around, Acre and areas around - hostile aircraft - Ein Hamifratz, Shaar Neaman, Kfar Masarik, Acre, Nes Amin, Kiryat Bialik
*6:40am - Haifa and areas around , Acre and areas around- hostile aircraft - Kiryat Bialik, Kiryat Yam, Kiryat Motzkin,  Acre, Kiryat Ata, Usha, Kfar Bialik, Kfar Hamacabi, Ramat Yochanan
*6:45am - north - hostile aircraft - Usfiya, Daliyat el Carmel
*9:20am - north - rockets/missiles
*10:40am - north - rockets/missiles
*1:40pm - north - rockets/missiles
*2:05pm - north - rockets/missiles
*3:35pm - north - rockets/missiles
*3:45pm - north - hostile aircraft - Rosh Hanikra
*4:20pm - north - rockets/missiles
*9:45am - north - rockets/missiles
*9:50am - north - rockets/missiles

IDF reservist killed, senior officer wounded in clash with gunmen in northern Gaza

Death of Sgt. First Class (res.) Roi Sasson, 21, of Kfir Brigade’s Nahshon Battalion, brings toll for IDF and police on and since Oct. 7, 2023, to 800

MAY HIS MEMORY BE A REVOLUTION

An Israel Defense Forces reserve soldier was killed and a senior officer was seriously wounded during fighting in the northern Gaza Strip on Tuesday, the military announced the following morning, bringing Israel’s toll in the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza and military operations along the border with the Strip to 379.

The slain soldier was named as Sgt. First Class (res.) Roi Sasson, 21, of the Kfir Brigade’s Nahshon Battalion, from the Jerusalem suburb of Mevaseret.

The battalion’s commander, Lt. Col. Yoel Glickman, was seriously wounded in the same incident. According to an initial IDF probe, the two were hit in an exchange of fire with gunmen in the Beit Lahiya area. Sasson’s death brought the total number of soldiers killed in fighting since the October 7, 2023, attack — including police and other security officers killed that day — to 800.

Hostage Updates 

• The Prime Minister’s Office issues a denial of a report in Ynet which claims that Benjamin Netanyahu refused to expand the mandate of the negotiating team seeking to reach a hostage-truce deal with Hamas.

  “Yet another false and biased leak from a sensitive security meeting, designed to subject Israel to Hamas’s dictates of surrender,” the PMO says in a statement. “This is not how you hold negotiations — and this is not how to free the hostages.”

  The Ynet report says Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz rejected the suggestion by the negotiating team — including Mossad chief David Barnea — to expand Israel’s parameters toward reaching a hostage release deal, despite their warning that without such an expansion, no agreement can be reached. link I don't believe this statement from the PMO for 1 second. They are a den of liars and will do and say whatever they deem necessary to protect Netanyahu. And I am absolutely certain that the negotiators did demand an expansion of the mandate in order to make a hostage deal because they know that a deal cannot be made unless they have that mandate, and that includes agreeing to end the war in Gaza, something that Netanyahu has been preventing throughout and is continuing to prevent.

Gaza and the South

• US: Gaza aid looting impossible to solve without ‘new governance and security authority’
  
  

  US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller says looting of humanitarian aid convoys in Gaza cannot be fully addressed until a new Palestinian-led governing and security force replaces Hamas in the Strip.

  While the US and the international community have pushed for the Palestinian Authority to play this role, the idea has been rejected outright by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has often likened the PA to Hamas.

  Netanyahu said earlier this week that he has directed the IDF to come up with new solutions to ensure the safe distribution of aid, though Israeli officials have told The Times of Israel over the past year that the security establishment also feels that the PA is the only viable alternative to continued Hamas rule in Gaza.

  At a press briefing, Miller criticizes the repeated looting of aid convoys, saying those behind the actions are siphoning assistance away from civilians who desperately need it.

  The US is working with Israel to try and find interim solutions to address the looting that has intensified as the IDF has gradually depleted Hamas’s military presence in Gaza, including the terror group’s ability to maintain internal security, says the State Department spokesperson.

  At the request of the US, Israel opened new routes for delivering aid within Gaza aimed at avoiding roads targeted by looters. However, a subsequent case of looting reportedly ended up taking place on one of these new routes.

  The US has been careful not to say that Hamas is directly behind the aid looting, while Israel has repeatedly insisted that the terror group siphons off much of the aid coming in.

  “Ultimately, you are not going to finally solve this problem without an end to the war and the establishment of a new governance and security authority inside Gaza,” Miller says, adding that the US also strongly opposes having Israel become the occupying power in Gaza. link Everyone knows that the only viable body to replace Hamas for everything, not just the aid distribution is a reformed PA, but Netanyahu has not changed his spots and he continues to refuse to let the PA become that body even at the cost of so many lives, the risks of starvation, the damage to Israel from the international community, all in the name of refusing to accept what needs to be done by a failed prime minister who puts himself before everything else.

• Israel, US to establish bilateral channel to discuss harm to civilians in Gaza
  

  Israel has agreed to establish a new bilateral channel through which the US will be able to raise concerns regarding specific military incidents in which civilians have been harmed, US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller announces.

  The establishment of the channel was one of over a dozen demands made by the US in a letter to Israel on October 13, warning Israel that failure to meet them risked a partial arms embargo.

  Explaining the need for the new committee, the US explained in the letter that existing channels have been insufficient amid the mounting cases in which civilians have been killed amid Israel’s war against Hamas.

  The letter stated that the US wanted to see the new channel hold its first virtual meeting by the end of October. While Israel did not meet this deadline, Miller says during a press briefing that the new channel will convene for the first time at the beginning of December.

  The purpose of the channel is to assist the State Department in past and future assessments into cases where US-provided weapons were potentially used by the IDF in strikes that harmed civilians. Such probes are ongoing, but the US wanted a formal mechanism set up to better secure answers to its questions on the matter.

  The US said last week that while Israel did not fully meet some of the demands listed in the letter aimed at alleviating the Gaza humanitarian crisis, it made progress on enough of them to remain in compliance with US law, which bars the transfer of weapons to countries that block aid from civilians. link This seems like the right thing to do but I am certain that it is only for lip service on the part of the Israeli government. I highly doubt that it will be anything that actually does something especially prior to Trump coming into the White House where he will let Netanyahu get away with everything. So, I foresee that nothing will come out of this channel

Northern Israel - Lebanon/Hizbollah/Syria

• The Lebanese army says three of its soldiers were killed when Israel struck their position in the south today, with the health ministry reporting eight other people wounded.

  “The Israeli enemy targeted an army position in the town of Sarafand in the south, killing three soldiers,” the army says in a statement. The health ministry says the attack also wounded eight people, including “citizens who were nearby.”

  There was no immediate comment from the IDF on the incident.

  
  

• An updated IDF probe into last night’s missile strike in Ramat Gan has found that the Hezbollah projectile launched from Lebanon was hit by an interceptor at an altitude of 12 kilometers (7.5 miles), but failed to cause it to explode.

  The interceptor hit the Hezbollah missile, causing it to break up in the air but not detonate. The warhead and other fragments fell to the ground, exploding on a building in the Tel Aviv suburb.

  
  Medics at the scene of an impact of rocket fragments between Ramat Gan and Bnei Brak in central Israel, November 18, 2024. (Magen David Adom)

  The impact wounded several people, including one in serious condition, and caused extensive damage to the surrounding buildings.

  A separate IDF probe into the deadly rocket strike on a home in the northern Arab town of Shfar’am last night has found that the woman who was killed was in an improperly built reinforced room.

  Four Fajr-5 rockets were launched by Hezbollah in the attack, with three being intercepted by air defenses, according to the IDF. The fourth rocket struck the roof of the three-story building.

  Safaa Awad, 41, was inside a reinforced room when the sirens went off, but the room was not built to code, according to the investigation.

  The room had also improperly included a layer of ceramic tiles on the walls, which shattered as a result of the rocket impact, and hit Awad.

• Eight rockets hit the headquarters of the Italian contingent of the UN peacekeeping force UNIFIL in Shama, in southern Lebanon, Italy’s defense ministry says.

  No injuries were reported, but five Italian soldiers are being monitored in the base’s medical facility, the ministry says in a statement.

  Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto had originally blamed Israel for the attack, but a Defense Ministry source said that Crosetto “did not have the right information” when he spoke. “Hezbollah was responsible for the attack,” the source tells AFP.

  The rockets hit some outdoor areas and the base’s supply warehouse, where no soldiers were present.

  In its own statement, UNIFIL says the rockets struck the headquarters’ “maintenance workshop,” causing heavy damage, but did not identify who was responsible.

  The IDF did not immediately return a request for comment.

  Earlier today, the IDF said a Hezbollah rocket attack damaged a separate UNIFIL position in the southern Lebanon village of Ramyeh, in an attack that the UN agency confirmed was “fired most likely by non-State actors within Lebanon.”

• Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri tells Asharq Al-Awsat that “the situation is good in principle,” after meeting with US special envoy Amos Hochstein in Beirut to discuss a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.

  “Some details” still have to be finalized, Berri says, before the next stage, which includes Hochstein’s likely visit to Israel.

  “We are waiting for what he will bring from there,” says Berri.

  The speaker says that Hochstein told him that the US had coordinated with the Israelis about the proposal.

• The Israeli military says two senior commanders of Hezbollah fighting forces near the Mediterranean coast were killed in a Sunday night airstrike.

  In a statement, the army says the two, an operations commander and the head of the unit’s anti-tank missile network, “were responsible for promoting many terror plots in which fire was directed at Israeli towns and the forces, including anti-tank missiles and short-range fire at the western Galilee and along Israel’s seaboard.

  The Israel Defense Forces says it carried out over 100 strikes on Hezbollah sites over the past day, including attacks on rocket launchers, arms depots, command centers and more.

  Israel’s top commander in the north, Maj. Gen. Uri Gordin, told troops Tuesday that Hezbollah’s ability to carry out attacks on Israel had been “dramatically reduced,” according to an army statement published today.

• Syrian state media says Israeli warplanes targeted the central city of Palmyra on Wednesday, reporting an unspecified number of wounded in the attack.

  An “Israeli attack… targeted residential buildings and the industrial area” of the city, says state news agency SANA, while state television reported unspecified “wounded due to the Israeli attack that targeted the city of Palmyra.”

  The city is renowned for its ancient ruins, some of which were damaged during the Syrian civil war.

West Bank and Jerusalem and Terror attacks within Israel

• The Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group confirms the deaths of three members in an Israeli military raid in the northern West Bank this morning.

  The gunmen killed in an exchange of fire with Border Police officers in Qabatiya are named by the terror group as Anwar Saba’neh, 25, Raed Hanaysha, 24, and Suleiman Tazazaa, 32.

  The IDF and Police said that Hanaysha was wanted for involvement in recent shooting and bombing attacks against soldiers in the West Bank.

  Border Police officers surrounded a building in Qabatiya where Hanaysha and the other two gunmen were holed up, and carried out a tactic known as “pressure cooker,” which involves escalating the volume of fire against a building to flush suspects out.

  
  Weapons recovered from three Palestinian Islamic Jihad operatives who were killed by troops in the West Bank city of Qabatiya, November 19, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

  The trio were killed in an exchange of fire, and the military says it seized three assault rifles and other military equipment from the building.

      

• Settlers torch several cars in village near Ramallah — Palestinian reports
  Palestinian media reports that Israeli settlers torched several Palestinian vehicles in the village of Al-Mazra’a Al-Gharbiya north of Ramallah in the West Bank.
  Such attacks have taken place regularly in recent weeks as Israeli authorities fail to crack down on the phenomenon.
  No injuries are reported in the latest incident.
  There are also no reports of arrests, a common trend that has led Western countries to begin sanctioning Israeli extremists responsible for attacks on Palestinians, dispossessing their land and destabilizing the West Bank. videos of the cars burning

Politics and the War (general news)

•  
• Eizenkot: The war plan has gone awry, Netanyahu is doing nothing to bring back the hostages.  

After losing another family member in Gaza, the former Chief of Staff criticized the government's conduct and blamed its leader. "There are people in the room who don't want to see the war end," said Eizenkot. According to him, "The Prime Minister is surrounded by people with massive gaps in understanding Israel's security needs."

MK Gadi Eizenkot addressed the war in Gaza today (Wednesday), three days after losing another nephew in the fighting in the Strip, Captain Yogev Paz, of blessed memory. "The war plan has gone awry," the former Chief of Staff said at a National Security and Democracy conference organized by the Israel Democracy Institute. He accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of "doing nothing" to bring back the hostages.

According to Eizenkot, "The war plan has significantly derailed because there are people in the room who don't want to see the war end. The issue of debating the hostages—let's start from the assumption that Sinwar is a Nazi—but do we want to bring back the hostages based on Netanyahu's current approaches or on Netanyahu's framework? On what basis is the Mossad chief operating? On what Netanyahu presented or what he says in interviews with Channel 14?"

He added, "The goal of the war, to bring back the hostages, is a complete failure on the heads of everyone who sat in the Cabinet. I take responsibility for when I was there—and on Netanyahu, who is doing nothing to bring them back." On the conduct of the political-security cabinet, Eizenkot said, "There has been a change in recent years, which I only saw when I arrived, and it's due to the scope and culture of discussions. In the past, there was a small, focused Cabinet with a few ministers. But in Netanyahu's Cabinet, there are many ministers and aides, and it's impossible to have a serious discussion."

According to him, "There's a rumor there's a National Security Council—I haven't seen its impact at all. I saw the sign for the head of the NSC, but there was no substantive staff work. There were meetings of department heads with organization leaders, which were meaningful discussions, but they were rare." The former Chief of Staff addressed the dismissal of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and the appointment of Israel Katz in his place. "A Defense Minister can be replaced if it's an organized and deliberate decision. But in this very complex reality, it looks as I said. I saw Israel Katz in Cabinet meetings and always saw an independent, focused, and professional approach. I recommend giving him more credit."

Eizenkot also commented on the coalition agreements and the dismantling of the Civil Administration. "This year, there was an accompanying desire to restore settlements in the Gaza Strip, which has resulted in both overt and covert war objectives, held by Smotrich, Ben Gvir, and some members of Likud. This explains many of the decisions regarding the 'day after' and the hostages, as well as Netanyahu's duality in stating there will be no settlements or return of military governance, yet releasing a document showing otherwise."

He also addressed tensions between the government and the security establishment. "I see an attempt by political elements to undermine the commanders. I hope the command echelon will stand firm," he said. "I expect Israel Katz to set the norm and not be shaken by statements from people who haven’t served in the army or served briefly, who in my experience are the most extreme of all," Eizenkot added.

Regarding the day after the war, Eizenkot said, "They are leading to a situation where the IDF will be responsible for distributing aid, establishing military governance, and taking full responsibility on behalf of the State of Israel. This is a very severe flaw. According to international law, the responsibility lies with the State of Israel. This is combined with a group that doesn't know how to make decisions. The Prime Minister has deep knowledge, but he is surrounded by people with massive gaps in understanding Israel's security needs."  link

The Region and the World

• The US imposes sanctions on six senior Hamas officials, the US Treasury Department says, adding that the sanctions target the group’s representatives abroad, a senior member of the Hamas military wing and those involved in supporting fundraising efforts for the group and weapons smuggling into Gaza.

  “Hamas continues to rely on key officials who seemingly maintain legitimate, public-facing roles within the group, yet who facilitate their terrorist activities, represent their interests abroad, and coordinate the transfer of money and goods into Gaza,” Treasury’s Acting Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Bradley Smith says in the statement.

  “Treasury remains committed to disrupting Hamas’s efforts to secure additional revenue and holding those who facilitate the group’s terrorist activities to account,” he adds.

  Among those targeted are Abd al-Rahman Ismail abd al-Rahman Ghanimat, a longtime member of Hamas’s military wing who is now based in Turkey, the Treasury says, accusing him of being involved in multiple attempted and successful terrorist attacks.

  Two other officials based in Turkey, as well as Basem Naim, a member based in Gaza who has participated in Hamas’s engagements with Russia, and Ghazi Hamad, a leader authorized to speak publicly on behalf of the group who previously oversaw border crossings at Gaza were also among those targeted, according to the Treasury.   
  
  

• The Biden administration is lobbying Democratic senators to vote against legislation being advanced by several of the party’s most progressive members that would block more than $20 billion in weapon shipments to Israel, two US officials told The Times of Israel on Tuesday.

  The series of Joint Resolutions of Disapproval co-sponsored by Senators Bernie Sanders, Peter Welch, Jeff Merkley and Brian Schatz are slated to come to a vote on Wednesday and aim to block six weapon transfers to Israel, which include guided missiles, tank rounds, mortars, tactical vehicles and F-15 fighter jets.

  While the votes are all but certain to fail, given the strong support for Israel in both parties — particularly the GOP — they are likely to mark a watershed moment in a more divided Democratic Party that is still working to understand the lessons of this month’s election, which saw Republicans win the White House and Senate and keep their majority in the House.
  

  The Biden administration’s decision to engage on the matter demonstrates its desire for the Democratic Party to maintain a pro-Israel posture post-election.

  While moderates have argued that the party did too much to cater to its progressive wing, including by staking out adversarial positions toward Israel, lawmakers such as “Squad” member Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have charged that the party catered to special interest groups such as the pro-Israel AIPAC lobby and therefore lost support — a claim denounced by several mainstream Jewish organizations.

  Accordingly, the progressive flank is looking for a strong showing during Wednesday’s voting in the Senate to demonstrate that the party should take a harder line on Israel than under Biden. full article

  
  

• Washington has informed Baghdad that IDF airstrikes against Iraq are “imminent,” unless the Iraqi government manages to prevent Iran-backed factions from launching attacks against Israel, according to sources cited by the Saudi news outlet Al-Hadath.

  The US has told Iraq it has exhausted “all means of pressure on Israel,” and has asked Baghdad to quickly take action to prevent these attacks, the news channel reports.

  On Monday, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar called on the UN Security Council to pressure Baghdad to end attacks by paramilitaries in Iran’s “axis of resistance,” warning that Israel has the right to defend itself under the UN charter.

  These militias regularly claim to have launched drone strikes on Israel, many of which are intercepted by Israeli air defenses. In early October a drone strike claimed by the Islamic Resistance in Iraq killed two Israeli soldiers and wounded 24 others at a military base in the Golan Heights.

  Yesterday, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani said during a cabinet meeting that Sa’ar’s threat was a pretext for Israel to attack Iraq and expand the war in the region, according to Al-Hadath.

  However, the Iraqi newspaper Shafaq reports that Al-Sudani, who is also commander-in-chief of the Iraqi Army, has directed security forces to prevent any military activity by forces not under government control.  link With the successes of the war in Lebanon and the retaliatory attack on Iran, Netanyahu is feeling emboldened, so an attack on Iraq is definitely not out of the question.

• UN atomic watchdog chief Rafael Grossi says there is no indication that an Israeli strike on Iran’s Parchin military complex last month hit a nuclear facility or that there was any nuclear material present.

  On Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that the strike had hit “a specific component in their nuclear program.”

  Speaking to reporters in Vienna, Grossi also praises Iran’s “concrete step” on agreeing to cap its stockpile of highly enriched uranium after Tehran implemented preparatory steps to stop adding to its supply.

  “I think this is… a concrete step in the right direction — we have a fact which has been verified by us,” Grossi says.

  Iran has indicated that it could scrap the limit if the IAEA goes ahead with plans to pass a resolution censuring Tehran over its poor cooperation with inspectors.

Survivors

Personal Stories

  Taken captive: Arbel Yehud, third generation on Kibbutz Nir Oz

Yehud and her boyfriend Ariel Cunio were taken hostage on October 7

Arbel Yehud, 28, was taken hostage with her boyfriend, Ariel Cunio, from their Kibbutz Nir Oz home on October 7, when Hamas terrorists launched an attack, killing and kidnapping a quarter of the kibbutz residents.

Arbel’s brother, Dolev Yehud, was killed on October 7 while defending the kibbutz and his remains were identified on June 3, 2024.

The Yehud siblings are the third generation of their family living on the kibbutz.

Arbel lives on the kibbutz with Ariel and is known as the favorite aunt who loves everything about outer space and astronomy.

Her sister-in-law, Sigi, said that Arbel is an aunt who “always comes, always plays, always takes, always cares.”

“More and more women were released and Arbel was not on the lists,” said Sigi Yehud. “It is important to us that they know that Arbel is there and she needs to return, like all the women and children.”

**The Father of the Hostage Reads a Heart-Wrenching Letter in the Knesset: "What Do They Demand You Do for a Piece of Bread?"**  

"Don't break, our soul's treasure. Don't break, beloved": In an emotional monologue, Yechiel Yehud read a letter addressed to his daughter, Arbel, who has been held captive for 409 days. Before Knesset members, the Attorney General, and the State Prosecutor, he shared the thoughts that have haunted him for over a year: "Do you sleep at night? Are they beating you? The worry for your physical safety drives us mad."  

Speaking at the Knesset's Constitution Committee on Monday, Yehud read the letter to his daughter, who was abducted and taken to Gaza along with her brother Dolev on October 7. Dolev's body was later found in Israeli territory. "I am the father of Neta, who survived the massacre; the terrorists couldn’t break into her shelter, thankfully," Yehud said.  

In the letter, he posed the agonizing questions that plague him daily.  

"My Arbel, first, I want to apologize on your behalf to the soldiers who fell in their mission to bring about your release and extend condolences to their families. My Arbel, you've been in captivity for over a year now, held in harsh conditions. The uncertainty about your well-being is tormenting us, but it is nothing compared to the uncertainty you're enduring."  

"I smelled your hair and hugged you without limits," he said, describing his anguish. "I come here every week to cry out on your behalf. Most here already know you and share in your pain. As parents themselves, they understand the need to demand the release of you and the other hostages from the ministers and, above all, the prime minister."  

"My daughter, did you sleep last night? Are your captors beating you? What do they demand you do for a piece of bread? Are you terrified by the sounds of the fighting? I beg you, my child, stay optimistic, because you will return to us, just as you were taken from us."  

He continued, "Don't break. Don't break, because knowing that you remain hopeful gives us strength in our fight, which is focused on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who refuses to see you as his own child. He fears that his government might fall due to pressure from those who demand he continue the war as a condition for your release and that of the other hostages. These threats from Ben Gvir and Smotrich come despite their unequivocal promises to act for your release in meetings with me. The last meeting with Ben Gvir was on October 28, and with Smotrich, on November 12 at Nir Oz."  

"Arbel, know this: Everyone understands that without your return, the government will not have a commitment to act for others who might be taken captive in the future—only a commitment to maintaining power. My daughter, many people are constantly working for your freedom. Don't break, beloved, don't break, our soul's treasure. We love you and are waiting for you—Mom and Dad."  

Amit Elgart, the nephew of hostage Itzik Elgart, also spoke earlier in the day, warning of the real danger to the hostages. "We understand the risk to our loved ones. We've learned from past disappointments. Smotrich changes his tune every time. Israel needs to make concessions, and as time passes, those concessions will grow."  

He criticized the leadership's failure to grasp the nature of the enemy. "This is a murderous terrorist organization. Every deal will be painful. That is the premise we must start from. We're living in a constant deception. Benjamin Netanyahu knows exactly what the other side wants but hasn’t reached the mandate count he desires to make a deal."  

Lihi Miran Lavi, wife of Omri Miran, added, "There will be no revival here. Two weeks ago, we moved into temporary housing. The sadness has taken over again, and the void left by Omri grows each day. Alma asks, 'Where’s Dad?' Roni keeps longing for our home in Nahal Oz."  

"No one is doing enough," she concluded. "Not us, not the public, and not the government. I still don’t see an end to this count. There is no security because if you want security, you can’t abandon 101 hostages in Gaza."  

Dark Legacy - The Abandonment of October 7th Hostages

He Must Go

Tami Arad

Educator and Researcher.

Dr. Tal Weissbach sustained a serious eye injury from a water cannon at a demonstration in Jerusalem. Dr. Weissbach, one of the leaders of the "White Coats" protest, was struck by a modern-day slingshot that has been used with diabolical frequency at demonstrations since the attempted judicial overhaul.

Ben-Gvir's water-cannon-slingshot symbolizes what this government is doing to us all, sparing no one - including the hostages' families and the bereaved families.

The citizens of Israel are held captive by a government elected before October 7th, which acts as if the greatest disaster in the country's history never happened. The Evasion Law - the law exempting the Haredis from military duty - was passed under the smug smile of a Prime Minister who, at the time of the vote, knew that four fighters had been killed, though their names had not yet been released. The corrupt rabbinical law was introduced while Israel Defense Forces soldiers risked their lives in house-to-house fighting in Rafah.  Soldiers are serving second and third rounds in the reserves, the Gaza Envelope is abandoned, the north is on fire, the cost of living is skyrocketing, and the detached Prime Minister rushes ahead in a protected motorcade to public relations events or yet another backroom deal in the Knesset.

If I were chairman of the Labor Federation (Histadrut), I would shut down the entire country rather than make halfhearted statements about the need for elections. Arnon Bar-David must send Bibi one message: Return the mandate to the people, or face an all-out strike.

Those who worship Bibi do not understand that this is not a political disagreement between Left and Right. This is about a man who gathers around him small, immoral, and unscrupulous people. This is the man considered by over 50% of Israeli citizens as directly responsible for the massacre. This is the man who refused to eliminate Hamas’ Yayha Sinwar five times! And equally as grave - it is he who, through his own acts and words, has poisoned and torn Israeli society apart.

He is not worthy of being the Prime Minister of Dr. Tal Weissbach, or of heroes such as the late Yaron Shai and his comrades who were killed in the battles of October 7th. He “did not hear” that they had been killed.

He is not worthy of their comrades who risk their lives today, nor of the Israeli society, as it mourns and fights. It is he who is responsible for the abandonment of civilians on October 7th and the abandonment of the hostages. Since then, he should have taken to the barricades to bring them all home, but instead is taking to the barricades in the Knesset to keep his coalition together.

Netanyahu will be remembered as the Prime Minister who consciously abandoned civilians and soldiers to their fates for the sake of his political survival. He will be remembered as the one who trampled the basic values of Israeli society and, through his mouthpieces, shattered the value of mutual accountability that has bound the diverse Israeli society together since its inception.

The mandate must now return to the people, so that rehabilitation can begin, so that the hostages can return to their families, so that Israeli society can face the complex challenges ahead. And to those who ask: yes, he must go, even in a time of war, so that the war may end with some shred of hope.

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

Join my Whatsapp update group https://chat.whatsapp.com/IQ3OtwE6ydxBeBAxWNziB0 
Twitter - @LonnyB58 

Bluesky - @lonny-b.bsky.social