🎗️Lonny's War Update- October 414, 2023 - November 23, 2024 🎗️

  

🎗️Day 414 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

*9:00pm yesterday - north - hostile aircraft - Hanita, Shlomi, Yaara, Evron, Batzet

*9:05pm yesterday - north - hostile aircraft - Shlomi, Leeman, Rosh Hanikra, Milu'ot, Metzuba, Gesher Haziv, Hahariya, Saar
*9:10pm yesterday - north - hostile aircraft - Saar, Ben Ami, Netiv Hashayara, Nahariya, Sheikh Danon, Kabri, Beit Haemek, Regba, Evron, Mizra'a, Shavei Zioin, Milu'ot, Bustan Hagalil, Lochemei Haghetto'ot, Shomrat
*9:10pm yesterday - Acre and Haifa areas- Hostile aircraft

*9:20pm - yesterday Haifa and areas around - hostile aircraft

*9:25pm yesterday - north- hostile aircraft - Milu'ot, Gesher Haziv, Nahariya, Batzet, Rosh Hanikra
*10:40pm yesterday - north - rockets/missiles
*11:50pm yesterday - south - rockets - Netiv Haasara
*12:00am - north - rockets/missiles
*6:20am - Haifa and areas around - rockets/missiles
*10:20am - north - rockets/missiles

*11:05am - north -rockets/missiles
*11:10am - north -rockets/missiles
*12:20pm - north  -rockets/missiles
*1:55pm - north - rockets/missiles
*2:00pm- south - rockets - Kissufim, Ein Hashlosha -Two rockets launched from the southern Gaza Strip at Israeli border communities were intercepted by air defenses, the IDF says.
*3:05pm - north - rockets/missiles
*3;30pm - north -rockets/missiles
*4:20pm - north - rockets/missiles
*4:35pm - north - rockets/missiles
*5:10pm - north - hostile aircraft - Yaara, Metzuba, Shlomi
*5:10pm - north - rockets/missiles
*5:10pm - north - hostile aircraft - Batzet

Hostage Updates 

• Report: Hostage negotiating team’s mandate has shrunk since Katz appointed defense minister
  

  The mandate of Israel’s hostage negotiators has shrunk since Israel Katz was appointed defense minister earlier this month, a member of the negotiation team told hostage families during a meeting this week, according to a Channel 12 report.

  The hostage families then asked about Katz’s claim to reporters that a breakthrough had taken place in the talks after Hamas agreed to forgo its demand for an up-front Israeli commitment to end the war as part of a hostage deal.

  The hostage negotiator responded that Katz’s claim was inaccurate and that Hamas’s position on ending the war has not changed. It is still willing to agree to a phased ceasefire deal that has been discussed since May, the negotiator said.

  Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he opposes ending the war in exchange for the hostages.

  Channel 12 also reports that Israel’s security establishment believes that a deal with Hamas will not be possible until after a ceasefire is inked with Hezbollah. The hope is that the latter deal will lead to progress on the former, an official tells the network.  link. Of course the mandate has shrunk under Katz because Katz is Netanyahu's yes man as opposed to Galant who became diametrically opposed to Netanyahu's self interests in keeping the war going and sacrificing the hostages. The earlier statements by an anonymous official and by Katz that a breakthrough is forthcoming in the negotiations is not only nonsense, it is absolute lies for the purpose of political spins by him for Netanyahu.

  
  

Gaza and the South

• IDF footage shows airstrike on Hamas sniper in north Gaza
  By Emanuel Fabian
  The IDF releases footage of a strike against a Hamas sniper in northern Gaza’s Jabalia amid an ongoing operation there.
  
  
  The military says the sniper was spotted by troops of the Givati Brigade, who called in an airstrike. video of airstrike on Hamas sniper

Northern Israel - Lebanon/Hizbollah/Syria

• Lebanon’s health ministry says an Israeli airstrike earlier today killed the director of Dar al-Amal hospital in the east of the country near Baalbek and six of his colleagues.

  A ministry statement announces the “loss of Dr Ali Rakan Allam, director of Dar al-Amal University Hospital, and six colleagues in a cowardly Israeli attack which targeted his residence near the hospital.” It also denounces “continual Israeli aggression against medical staff and facilities.”

• Israeli strikes killed at least 62 people and injured 111 in Lebanon yesterday, bringing the toll since October 2023 to 3,645 dead and 15,355 injured, Lebanon’s health ministry says, without differentiating between civilians and combatants.

  Israel is targeting Hezbollah terrorists who have been launching cross-border attacks on a near-daily basis since October 8, 2023.

• 11 killed in Israeli strike on central Beirut said to target top Hezbollah commander

  Muhammad Haydar’s fate unclear; overnight strike not preceded by evacuation orders, comes as rockets trigger sirens around Haifa, with impact in Kiryat Ata
  

  A large-scale Israeli airstrike conducted without warning on a central Beirut building killed at least eleven people and wounded scores more, Lebanese officials said, with media reports indicating that the strike targeted a top Hezbollah leader.

  The strike was an attempt to kill top Hezbollah commander Muhammad Haydar, the al-Arabiya news site reported. The report was later confirmed by an Israeli defense source to the Kan public broadcaster.

  
  Rescue workers and people search for victims at the site of an airstrike in Beirut, Lebanon, November 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

  The strike on central Beirut, which appeared to have used bunker-buster bombs, came as the Israeli Air Force conducted several waves of strikes on Hezbollah targets in Hezbollah’s Dahiyah stronghold in Beirut’s south. The Israel Defense Forces issued evacuation warnings ahead of those strikes
  

  Haydar’s fate was not immediately clear, and neither the IDF nor Hezbollah have commented on the strike.

  Similar strikes carried out without warning outside of the Dahiyah have tended to target high-level Hezbollah members.

  Haydar is a member of Hezbollah’s top military body, the Jihad Council, though his exact current position in the Iran-backed terror group is currently unknown. According to Kan, Haydar and another top Hezbollah commander, Haytham Ali Tabataba’i, have been Hezbollah’s de-facto military leaders since Israel killed the terror group’s longtime leader, Hassan Nasrallah, along with most of the group’s top military brass in a wave of recent strikes.
  

  A Hezbollah parliamentarian between 2005 and 2009, Haydar had been a close advisor to Nasrallah until the latter was assassinated in September. In 2019, the United States listed Haydar as a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist” for his role in Hezbollah.

  The strike said to have targeted Haydar came as a rocket barrage from Lebanon triggered sirens in Haifa and surrounding communities. The IDF said that the barrage comprised five rockets, several of which were intercepted by air defenses.

  One of the rockets impacted an industrial zone in the Haifa suburb of Kiryat Ata, causing slight damage to nearby buildings. full article

• 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, where they located an Iranian-made recoilless rifle.

  
  An Iranian-made recoilless rifle is found by troops on the Lebanese side of Mount Dov, in a handout photo published on November 23, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

  At the same Hezbollah site, the military says the forces found rocket launchers and other projectiles.

• A recent IDF airstrike in Syria killed a senior Hezbollah commander who helped plan a deadly attack on US soldiers in Iraq in 2007, NBC News reports, citing a senior US defense official.

  Ali Mussa Daqduq played a key role in the Karbala raid in which terrorists disguised as an American security team entered a base before opening fire and killing five US soldiers.

  He was subsequently captured by US forces but later released by the Iraqi government following the American military withdrawal.

  NBC says it’s not clear yet when the IDF strike that killed Daqduq took place.

West Bank and Jerusalem and Terror attacks within Israel

• Katz decision to end administrative detentions for Jews said to pose security, diplomatic risks for Israel
  Channel12 reports that the Shin Bet has warned Israel’s political echelon that Defense Minister Israel Katz’s decision to end administrative detentions against Jewish Israelis risks harming efforts to combat violent settlers, who have been perpetrating near-daily attacks against Palestinians for months.

  
  Illustrative: Israeli settlers hurl stones at Palestinians near the Israeli settlement of Yitzhar in the West Bank on October 7, 2020. (Nasser Ishtayeh/Flash90/File)

  The network says Katz’s decision also will make it more difficult for Israel to urge European countries not to abide by international tribunals, given that it further establishes separate treatment for Jews and Arabs under Israel’s rule.

• Dozens of Jewish extremists in Hebron for annual pilgrimage try to attack senior IDF officer; 5 arrested
  
  Israeli security forces deploy riot dispersal means amid altercations between Israelis and Palestinians, on their way to visit the tomb of Othniel in the West Bank city of Hebron, on November 19, 2022 (HAZEM BADER / AFP)
  
  

  Dozens of Jewish extremists in Hebron for an annual pilgrimage tried to attack the head of the IDF Central Command Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth who was in the flashpoint West Bank city to secure the gathering, the military says.

  Five suspects have been arrested by police after they chased and cursed at Bluth and the soldiers accompanying him. The head of Central Command typically has a fraught relationship with settler extremists, since the army is tasked with trying to keep them in check in the West Bank.

  The IDF says that the group of young suspects chased Bluth and tried to block an exit that the military needed for operational activity.

  After five suspects were arrested, the gathering of rioters was dispersed, the army says, adding that it strongly condemns the violence on display this evening.

  Each year, tens of thousands of Jewish worshippers visit Hebron for the annual pilgrimage tradition. Successive years have seen Jewish rioters target Palestinian locals whose movement in the city is further restricted by the IDF to secure the area for the pilgrims.  link This is the norm for these extremist settlers who attack our own security forces because they view them as an obstacle to their attacks on Palestinians. With this extremist government and the extremist messianic ministers, these Jewish terrorists feel more emboldened with each day that they government enables and encourages their lawlessness, even against our forces.

• Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman slams Jewish extremists who attacked the IDF Central Command Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth and other officers yesterday in Hebron, accusing them of joining Israel’s enemies in harming state security.

  “Any harm to the soldiers who give their lives for Israel’s citizens must be dealt with harshly and those responsible must be brought to justice,” he says.

  Five suspects were arrested by police after they chased Bluth and the soldiers accompanying him during an annual pilgrimage in the West Bank city, calling the IDF commander a “traitor.” The head of Central Command typically has a fraught relationship with settler extremists, since the army is tasked with trying to keep them in check in the West Bank.

  The IDF said that the group of young suspects chased Bluth and tried to block an exit that the military needed for operational activity.  link. we have yet to hear any condemnation from anyone in this failed coalition government which enables and encourages these criminals

• The Palestinian Authority accuses Israel of encouraging “extremist settlers to commit terrorism” after it announced a halt to the use of administrative detention, or incarceration without trial, against them.

  The Palestinian foreign ministry “believes that this decision encourages extremist settlers to commit terrorism against Palestinians, their land and their properties, while giving them an additional sense of impunity and protection”, it says on X.  link They are 100% right in their accusations because this government is encouraging settler terrorism against Palestinians. I have no doubt that we will see this very soon in more arrest warrants coming from the ICC

   

Politics and the War (general news)

• The lawyer representing Eli Feldstein, an aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who was indicted yesterday on a grave charge of harming state security at the heart of a case involving the theft and leaking of classified IDF intel, complains in a TV interview excerpt that his client has been abandoned by the Prime Minister’s Office.

  “Eli Feldstein did not act on his own behalf,” attorney Oded Savoray tells Channel 12, in comments excerpted from an interview to be screened in full tomorrow. “He provided advisory services in the Prime Minister’s Office.”

  “If there are claims, they should be directed to the Prime Minister’s Office,” Savoray goes on. “It was the Prime Minister’s Office that was acting here. It acted by means of Feldstein. And today Feldstein has been left alone, alone, alone.”

  Feldstein was charged yesterday with transferring classified information with the intent to harm the state, a charge that can carry a sentence of life in prison, as well as illicit possession of classified information and obstruction of justice. He has been held in detention for almost a month.
  

  On November 1, when a gag order on the case was partially lifted for the first time, allowing publication of the fact that suspects had been arrested for questioning in connection over the alleged leak of classified documents by Netanyahu’s office, the PMO issued a statement asserting that no one on its staff has been arrested as part of the probe.

  Since then, however, the PMO has issued comments seemingly defending Feldstein, saying in a statement last week, “In a democratic country, people are not detained for 20 days in a basement because of a leak while being prevented from meeting a lawyer for days on end, just in order to extract from them false claims against the prime minister.”

  In the Knesset on Monday, Netanyahu charged that the State Prosecution was selective in its investigations of leaks, claiming that a flood of “terrible, criminal leaks” from cabinet meetings and security consultations “that do tremendous harm to Israel” were not probed.

  “As of this moment, nobody has been investigated and nobody has been arrested [for those leaks]. Nobody’s life has been ruined,” he said, in an implied reference to the ongoing detention of Feldstein. link he is saying what most people know and that these illegal acts were done for and probably by direction of the Prime Minister's Office with the complete knowledge of Netanyahu. They are using their typical deflections and denials and instead of taking any responsibility or blame, they are attacking the investigations and the investigators and, like always claiming that all of this is a political witch hunt out to get Netanyahu. It's amazing how many witch hunts there are under this corrupt and criminal prime minister and his office of cronies.
  
  
  

• Poll: 79% of Israelis support state commission of inquiry into Oct. 7 opposed by Netanyahu

   Channel12 airs a survey showing that 79 percent of Israelis support a state commission of inquiry into the October 7 onslaught, while just 8% of Israelis are opposed to such a probe. Thirteen percent of respondents said they weren’t sure.

  Even among voters of parties from the current coalition, 65% back a state commission of inquiry, while 15% oppose such a probe.

  Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has opposed launching a state commission of inquiry into the October 7 attacks, arguing that such probes should only be launched after the war is over. Critics of the premier say he is seeking to avoid responsibility for what unfolded.

• 64% of public doesn’t trust Netanyahu government’s handling of the country — poll

Sixty-four percent of the public doesn’t trust how Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is running the country, compared to 30% who do, according to a Channel 12 survey.

Pitting Netanyahu against Opposition chair Yair Lapid, 38% believe the former is more suited to serve as prime minister, compared to 28% who said the latter.

Comparing Netanyahu against National Unity chair Benny Gantz, 37% say the former is more suited to serve as prime minister, compared to 29% who say the latter.

Pitting Netanyahu against former prime minister Naftali Bennett, 34% say the former is more suited to serve as prime minister, compared to 38% who say the latter.

For the first time, the network also pitted Netanyahu against National Unity Gadi Eisenkot. Thirty-five percent of respondents say Netanyahu is more suited to serve as premier, compared to 33% who say Eisenkot is.

Asked about the brewing ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah, 54% say they support the deal, compared to 24% who oppose it.

• Senior Israeli official: It’s possible ICC decision could’ve been avoided had PM allowed probe into Oct. 7
  A senior Israeli official tells the Kan public broadcaster his assessment that the ICC decision to issue arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant could have been avoided had the premier allowed for a state commission of inquiry to be opened into the October 7 onslaught and the war that has followed.
  Netanyahu has pushed back on such calls, arguing that the probe should wait until after the war, with critics claiming that he’s trying to avoid responsibility for what unfolded.
  The senior official maintains that action by international tribunals are taken against countries without independent judiciaries capable of probing themselves. A commission of inquiry would have demonstrated that Israel was willing to do so.  link. Not only is it possible, it is very probable that the ICC decision would have been avoided if there was a State Commission of Inquiry, but Netanyahu is willing to turn Israel into a pariah state to save his own political and personal future as we have seen throughout.

  
  

  https://www.mako.co.il/news-n12_magazine/7c2e4b3aeab21910/Article-b72e00c8b194391026.htm
  
  
  

The Region and the World

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Survivors

Personal Stories

  Taken captive: Maxim Herkin, was attending his first trance rave

The 35-year-old Tirat Hacarmel resident has a three-year-old and supports his mother and 11-year-old brother

Maxim Herkin is presumed taken captive from the Supernova desert rave on October 7, 2023 by Hamas terrorists (Courtesy)

Maxim Herkin, 35, was kidnapped from the Supernova desert rave on October 7, where Hamas terrorists assaulted the party, killing more than 360 and taking at least 40 hostage.

The Tirat Hacarmel resident has a 3-year-old daughter and is the primary provider for his mother and 11-year-old brother.

He went to the Supernova outdoor party almost by chance, invited by friends at the last minute. It was the first time he had gone to a trance rave.

Herkin planned on going to the party for a few hours before heading home.

When the Hamas attack began, Herkin tried to leave. He texted his mother at 7:12 a.m., writing to her that everything was fine and that it would take him a long time to get home to their northern community.

A few minutes later, she received another message from Herkin: “Mom, I love you.”

According to social media posts written by Herkin’s friends, who also opened a Paybox group to help support his family (crowdfunding), Herkin was considered “missing” as he has not been identified as an official Hamas hostage in Gaza, nor has his body been found.

The mother of Maxim who was kidnapped to Gaza • "They stole my life and my son"

Tela Harkin with her kidnapped eldest son Maxim and her younger son (personal album)

35-year-old Maxim Harkin from Carmel was kidnapped on 7.10.23 from the nature party in Nova and is still in captivity. His mother Tela Harkin: "They stole my life and stole my son."
Tela Harkin, the mother of the kidnapped Maxim Harkin, immigrated to Israel from Ukraine with her children because she found a home and security in Israel, which she did not feel in Ukraine. On October 7, after the black Sabbath and the hard news that her son Maxim was kidnapped, security fell from under her feet. Since then she has lived in frustration, anxiety and fear. In an interview with Lahi Fe, Tela says: "After 100 days I no longer know what to do or what to think. I don't know anything about Maxim. From what I hear on TV and from the families of the hostages, they are in bad conditions and without food. Our patience has run out.

Tela and her family are not one of the lucky families and released hostages have told them that they were or met their loved ones in captivity. As of today, Wednesday 17.1.24, she knows nothing about him and his condition in captivity.

Kidnapped Maxim Harkin and his daughter Monica (personal album)

Tela says about Maxim: "He was a great guy who took care of everyone. He went to the party a week after visiting his 3.5 year old daughter in Russia. His friend and the friend's wife convinced him to join the nature party even though he is not a party person. The friend and his wife were murdered that day. Both were found burned in one of the vehicles, leaving behind two small children and Maxim was declared missing.

Maxim is our back, our anchor. Me and his brother live in his house and he helps us make a living. He is my whole world. He had many dreams, he studied and worked while taking care of me and his brother. I believed that there is security in Israel. On October 7, they stole my son, my life and my security."

Tela Harkin with the little son. Both are wearing a shirt with Maxim's photos on it (photo: personal album)

"Our people strengthen me the most"

During this difficult time Tela says that she is surrounded by many good people, among them Menashe Shemesh who accompanies the families of the hostages, the Deputy Mayor of Tirat Carmel David Shahar who accompanies her and her little son from the first day it was known that Maxim was kidnapped" "David Shahar is a special person with a huge and golden heart I have never met people as good as him. He helps my son a lot and even introduced him to the Maccabi Haifa team.

There are also many friends who accompany me from Maxim's work as well. But our people strengthen me the most. After 100 days the government failed to return my child I only believe in God and the army. I'm just asking to bring the hostages home even at the price of a deal, no matter how heavy the price.' link

Dark Legacy - The Abandonment of October 7th Hostages

Thief of Hope

Prof. Eva Illouz

Senior Research Fellow at the Van Leer Institute, and the Institute for Israeli Thought.

Bad leaders come in many shapes and colors. Neville Chamberlain was so naïve and cowardly that he let Hitler conquer Europe. The apathy and indecisiveness of Emperor Hirohito of Japan caused his country to face disaster during WWII. Suharto, the second president of Indonesia, was not only an authoritative leader, but also a criminal who embezzled between 15-30 billion dollars of his country's budget during his rule. Evil leaders do indeed come in many shapes and colors.

What is the shape and color of Netanyahu? Netanyahu will be remembered as a leader devoid of respect and devoid of love. Even murderous tyrants are sometimes capable of showing an emotional bond to their nation, to the masses who attend their rallies, to their people in times of mourning. October 7th was a clear and unique opportunity for Netanyahu to express warmth and compassion, to be both humble and gentle. Most leaders would take advantage of the situation to act like the father of the nation. But Netanyahu will be remembered only for his evil incitement, his emotional frigidity, his robotic, mechanical appearance on October 7th, and his inability to express simple words of compassion and consolation on that day, ordinary expressions of humanity.

After 9/11 in the United States, and after the 2015 terrorist attacks in France, then presidents George W. Bush and Francois Hollande knew how to console their people, share their sorrow with their citizens, and help them deal with the unknown. But not Netanyahu. He is incapable of acting in such a way because he doesn't care about other people. He never took responsibility for his catastrophic failure for the same reason that he didn't listen to the security forewarnings before the tragic date: he gambles with the lives of others when they do not directly serve his aims and ambitions.

He degraded himself by refusing to take responsibility for the disaster. He degraded himself by choosing to sacrifice the hostages in order to wage an endless war and hold on to his seat. He degraded himself by robbing his people of a sense of a future. He will be remembered as the thief of mankind’s most precious and important asset: hope. Only hope makes it possible for us to imagine that what has been broken can be mended.

But like all evil rulers, Netanyahu doesn't care about his loss of dignity, his cruelty or coldness. If he cared about all these, he wouldn’t have abandoned his people in their time of mourning.

This will be our mission, to rebuild the hope and human values he stole.

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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