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
*11:30pm yesterday - north - rockets/missiles
*11:35pm yesterday - north -rockets/missiles
*2:30am - north - hostile aircraft - Meron Golan *9:25am - north - rockets/missiles *10:20am - north - rockets/missiles *11:35am - north - rockets/missiles *11:50am - north - hostile aircraft - An IDF soldier was seriously wounded in a Hezbollah drone attack on the Mount Hermon area this morning, the military says.
The IDF says it is investigating the incident, during which a drone launched from Lebanon exploded near soldiers in the Hermon.
Separately, a reservist noncommissioned officer with the 8163rd Combat Engineering Battalion was seriously wounded in central Gaza this morning, the military adds.
The servicewoman wounded in the Hermon and the reservist wounded in Gaza, were taken to hospitals for treatment.
*1:55pm - north - hostile aircraft - Yaara, Goren Farm Guest House, Gesher Haziv, Ein Yacov, Ga'aton *2:35pm - north - rockets/missiles
IDF soldier succumbs to wounds sustained during October 7 onslaught
An IDF soldier seriously wounded during fighting against Hamas-led terrorists during the onslaught on October 7, 2023, has succumbed to his wounds, the military announces.
The slain soldier is named as Sgt. First Class Yona Betzalel Brief, 23, a combat medic with the Duvdevan commando unit, from Modiin.
MAY HIS MEMORY BE A REVOLUTION
More than 300 soldiers were killed during the October 7 attack.
Hostage Updates
There is absolutely nothing new on the hostages. The government is focused on the north and stating that an ceasefire agreement with Lebanon/Hizbollah will solidify a separation of Hizbollah and Hamas and leave Hamas standing alone and feeling weakened which will bring better conditions for an agreement. This is all spin and negligent speculation. Although Hamas wanted an all our war with Israel on all fronts and the support and backing of all the Iranian back proxies and Iran, Hamas is still holding 101 of our hostages and that keeps their position very strong. We have been fighting an all out war with them for almost 14 months and they still have sufficient forces, weapons and infrastructure to maintain an endless guerilla war of attrition while holding on to our hostages. Of course, they prefer to have some living hostages, especially soldiers as they believe it gives them a stronger hand in bargaining, but they have no problem holding on to dead hostages as they have done since the beginning. And the longer our failed government and despicable prime minister refuses to make a deal to bring the hostages home and end the war, more and more hostages will die as will soldiers who are damned by Netanyahu to fight this guerilla war of attrition.
Gaza and the South
Jordanian military planes dropped aid to northern Gaza today for first time in five months to help relieve the dire humanitarian situation in the enclave, an official source says.
Two C-130 planes belonging to the Jordanian air force dropped contained nearly seven tons of food and essential relief to areas the UN agencies identified as most in need and facing hunger, the source tells Reuters.
Northern Israel - Lebanon/Hizbollah/Syria
As PM set to convene ministers on Hezbollah truce, IDF begins ‘extensive’ wave of Beirut strikes
The IDF says it has begun an “extensive” wave of airstrikes in Beirut.
A short while ago, the military issued evacuation warnings to 20 buildings in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital, a Hezbollah stronghold.
Further details on the strikes will be provided later, the IDF adds. The strikes come as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to convene the security cabinet, where ministers are expected to approve a ceasefire with Hezbollah.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has moved up his security cabinet meeting to 4 p.m., an Israeli official tells The Times of Israel.
The ministers are expected to approve a ceasefire in the fight against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Netanyahu is slated to meet with regional council heads, who have bitterly opposed the proposed truce deal, from northern Israel later in the day. LINKIt has been reported that Netanyahu will not bring the agreement to the Knesset for approval as he claims it is only a ceasefire agreement and not a formal agreement between 2 countries.
Lebanon FM: Army ready to deploy at least 5,000 troops to south after IDF withdraws
Lebanon’s foreign minister Abdallah Bou Habib says he hopes a ceasefire to end fighting between Israel and Lebanese terror group Hezbollah will be agreed to later today.
He says that the Lebanese army will be ready to have at least 5,000 troops deployed in southern Lebanon as Israeli troops withdraw, and that the United States could play a role in rebuilding infrastructure destroyed by Israeli strikes.
IDF troops reach key Litani River for first time since 2000 Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon
The IDF’s 91st Division has reached the Litani River in the eastern sector of southern Lebanon, as well as the Wadi Saluki area, and the military says troops located dozens of Hezbollah weapons and sites in both areas.
It is the first time since 2000 — when Israel withdrew from southern Lebanon — that IDF troops have reached the Litani River.
In the Wadi Saluki area, troops of the Commando Brigade raided several Hezbollah sites. The IDF says the commandos located and seized hundreds of weapons, and found dozens of bunkers and dozens of primed rocket launchers.
At the Litani River, troops of the Alexandroni Brigade, 769th “Hiram” Regional Brigade, Golani Brigade’s reconnaissance unit, and the Israeli Air Force’s Shaldag unit raided numerous Hezbollah sites in the area.
The IDF says the troops battled Hezbollah gunmen in the Litani River area, and located and destroyed dozens of rocket launchers, hundreds of rockets, weapon depots, and other weapons hidden in the mountainside.
Weapons found by troops at the Litani River in the eastern sector of southern Lebanon, in a handout image released on November 26, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
Wadi Saluki is located around 10 kilometers from Israel’s border, and the Litani River in the eastern sector is around four kilometers from the northern Israel town of Metula.
The chief of the IDF Northern Command, Maj. Gen. Ori Gordin, also visited the Litani River amid the operations.
The proposed truce deal that Israel is expected to agree to today, which would halt the fighting on the northern front, calls for an initial two-month ceasefire during which Israeli forces would withdraw from Lebanon, and Hezbollah would end its armed presence south of the Litani River.
IDF says 20 Hezbollah targets struck in Beirut within 2-minute span
The IDF says it struck 20 Hezbollah sites within two minutes in Beirut’s southern suburbs a short while ago.
The fast and extensive wave of airstrikes was carried out by eight fighter jets, according to the military.
Seven buildings targeted in the strikes were used by Hezbollah for the management and storage of funds, the IDF says, including headquarters, vaults and branches of the Al-Qard al-Hasan association, known to be used by Hezbollah as a quasi-bank.
The other 13 sites included a Hezbollah aerial forces center, an intelligence division command room, weapon depots, and other military infrastructure, the IDF adds.
Before the strikes were carried out, the IDF issued evacuation warnings to civilians in the vicinity.
The IDF confirms striking six buildings used by Hezbollah in Beirut’s southern suburbs a short while ago.
According to the military, the buildings were being used by Hezbollah’s coast-to-sea missile unit and as command centers.
Since the beginning of the week, some 30 Hezbollah sites in Beirut have been struck, the IDF says.
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted Hezbollah in Beirut's southern suburbs on November 26, 2024 (IBRAHIM AMRO / AFP)
Before the strikes were carried out the IDF issued evacuation warnings to civilians in the vicinity.
A senior Hezbollah commander was killed in a recent airstrike in the coastal Lebanese city of Tyre, the IDF announces.
The military names the commander as Ahmed Subhi Hazima, head of operations in Hezbollah’s coastal region of southern Lebanon.
Hazima, who replaced the previous commander after he was killed in a strike on November 17, had advanced numerous attacks against Israel from the western sector of southern Lebanon, including infiltrations and anti-tank missile attacks, the IDF says.
The military says his killing is another blow to the terror group’s capabilities.
The IDF says a senior Hezbollah field commander was killed in a recent airstrike in southern Lebanon, during operations of the Commando Brigade.
The commandos have been operating in the eastern sector of southern Lebanon, under the 98th Division.
According to the IDF, the commandos spotted a cell of Hezbollah gunmen in their area of operations, and directed strikes against them.
Among the dead was the commander of Hezbollah’s forces in the sector where the troops are operating, according to the IDF. The military does not name the exact sector, as troops are still operating there.
Weapons found by troops in southern Lebanon, in a handout photo issued on November 26, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
Lebanon’s Foreign Ministry says it has filed a complaint with the United Nations Security Council over Israel’s “continued and deliberate” targeting of Lebanese forces since October 8, 2023, the date Hezbollah forces opened fire on Israel, sparking the ongoing conflict in Lebanon and northern Israel.
The statement specifically references attacks since November 17, 2024, that it says killed 10 soldiers and wounded 35 more.
“Lebanon called on the member states of the Security Council to condemn the repeated Israeli attacks on the army,” says the Lebanese Foreign Ministry, “and consider them a flagrant violation of international law, the UN Charter, and international resolutions, especially Resolution 1701.”
It also says the incidents “constitute a clear message from Israel rejecting any initiatives for a solution, and its insistence on military escalation instead of diplomacy.”
After a deadly strike on a Lebanese Army post earlier this week, the IDF apologized, saying it “regrets the incident and clarifies that it is fighting in a targeted manner against the Hezbollah terror organization, and not against the Lebanese Army.”
Israel will respond to any threat from Lebanon even after a ceasefire, Defense Minister Israel Katz tells Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, UN Special Envoy for Lebanon.
“We will act against any threat, anytime and anywhere,” says Katz, according to his office.
“Every house in southern Lebanon that is rebuilt and in which a terrorist base is established will be demolished, every rearming and regrouping by terrorists will be attacked, every attempt to smuggle weapons will be thwarted, and every threat to our forces or Israeli citizens will be immediately destroyed,” he says, talking tough just hours before the security cabinet is expected to approve a ceasefire after nearly 14 months of fighting between Hezbollah and Israel.
He also demands “effective enforcement” from UNIFIL, the international peacekeeping organization in Lebanon. According to the Israeli readout, Katz stresses that the implementation of the ceasefire must include effective enforcement and oversight, including preventing arms smuggling and domestic arms production by Hezbollah.
Katz emphasizes that Israel will show “zero tolerance” for violations of the ceasefire.
“If you don’t do it, we will,” he says, “and with great force.”
Local council leaders in the north express anger over theexpected truce between Israel and Hezbollah, saying that the safety of residents is not guaranteed.
“Do not surrender to terrorism. Do not make this shameful agreement. This is a sad arrangement, an agreement of surrender by the Israeli government to Hezbollah, an arm of Iran,” Metula Mayor David Azoulay tells Channel 13.
“The threat has not been removed. We will not agree to return to the reality of October 7 in the north,” he says.
Azoulay says that 70 percent of homes in Metula have been damaged and that residents should not agree to return.
“The reconstruction will take at least two years. For as long as there is no real security here, not just a ‘sense of security,’ we will do everything to not return,” he says.
Moshav Margaliot Chairman Eitan Davidi tells Channel 12 that it is inconceivable “we will be relying on Lebanon to guarantee our safety,” referring to the fact that the agreement will not include a buffer zone secured by the IDF.
“Northern residents didn’t leave their homes for over a year, just to return to having Hezbollah as neighbors,” Davidi says.
Speaking to Radio 103FM he warns of “the massacre that the [elite Hezbollah] Radwan forces will carry out here in a few years time.”
Davidi charges that “the massacre in the south [on October 7] will pale in comparison to what will happen here.”
The military has reportedly told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that it has broadly achieved its aims in Lebanon against the Hezbollah terror group.
Netanyahu is expected to convene the high-level security cabinet in Tel Aviv later today to approve a 60-day ceasefire with the Hezbollah terror group in Lebanon after more than a year of war.
Since October 8, 2023, Hezbollah-led forces have attacked Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a near-daily basis, with the group saying it is doing so to support Gaza amid the war there.
Some 60,000 residents were evacuated from northern towns on the Lebanon border shortly after Hamas’s October 7 onslaught, in light of fears that Hezbollah would carry out a similar attack, and due to increasing rocket fire by the terror group. Israel has been trying to enable the residents’ return, including through an ongoing ground operation.
A top Hamas official in Lebanon says the Palestinian terror group will support a ceasefire between its Lebanese ally Hezbollah and Israel, despite Hezbollah’s previous promises to stop the fighting in Lebanon only if the war in Gaza ends.
“Any announcement of a ceasefire is welcome. Hezbollah has stood by our people and made significant sacrifices,” Osama Hamdan tells the Lebanese broadcaster Al Mayadeen, which is seen as politically allied with Hezbollah.
There has been no official comment on a potential Lebanon ceasefire from Gaza-based leaders of either Hamas or the smaller terror group Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Hamdan is a member of Hamas’s political wing.
West Bank and Jerusalem and Terror attacks within Israel
Police officers, IDF soldiers and 1 civilian arrested on suspicion of abducting and assaulting Palestinian
The Department for Internal Police Investigations (DIPI) reveals what appears to be an incident in which a Palestinian man was violently assaulted and abducted by a group of four police officers, four IDF soldiers, and one Israeli civilian in August.
According to details released by DIPI, the suspects attacked a Palestinian man in the area of Nahal Auja in the central West Bank, north of the Kochav Hashahar settlement.
They then took him to a nearby location and a short while later he was found and taken for medical treatment for his injuries.
The DIPI conducted a secret investigation together with the military police and arrested the nine suspects this morning.
The four police officers and the civilian will be brought to the Rishon Lezion Magistrate’s Court today for a hearing on extending their detention, while the soldiers will be brought in front of a military court for the same proceedings.
According to Ynet, the civilian suspect is Saar Ofir, a resident of the Elkana settlement in the central West Bank who was arrested in July on suspicion of executing a Hamas terrorist captured by IDF forces in Gaza.
Politics and the War (general news)
Independent Oct. 7 commission: Netanyahu ‘responsible for undermining all decision-making centers’
In a scathing report, the independent Civilian Commission of Inquiry investigating the government’s failures on and leading up to Hamas’s October 7, 2023, finds Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “responsible for undermining all decision-making centers, including the cabinet and the National Security Council, in a way that prevented any serious discussion that includes a plurality of opinions on significant security issues.”
In its final report, the commission states that Netanyahu was responsible for silencing critics of his “cash for quiet” approach to handling Hamas and that the prime minister “is responsible for ignoring the pull on his coattails and the warnings” ahead of October 7.
Netanyahu was also responsible “for the fact that it was not possible to provide a response to the various needs in the home front due to the chaos between the ministries,” the report adds.
While Netanyahu was responsible for the decision not to strike Hamas preemptively, former prime ministers Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid also shoulder blame for “maintaining the concept of cash for quiet, albeit in different ways,” the commission states.
Independent commission blames PM, defense chiefs for Oct. 7 failures: ‘Completely failed to protect citizens of Israel’
The independent Civilian Commission of Inquiry into October 7 blames Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former defense ministers and the heads of Israel’s security services, among others, for the government’s failures on and leading up to Hamas’s brutal attack.
In a scathing report, the independent commission states that the entire government had “failed its primary mission” and that the IDF, Shin Bet, and other organizations “completely failed to fulfill their sole objective — protecting the citizens of Israel.”
The commission blames “arrogance” for the fact “the IDF was not prepared for the mass invasion of Israel by Hamas terrorists – even though their plan was known in advance.”
“Arrogance and inherent blindness also led the political leadership to continue to work to strengthen Hamas by transferring funds and avoiding taking an offensive initiative in the face of threats, while idealizing reality and attempting to buy quiet from Hamas using money,” the report states.
Laying the blame directly on Netanyahu, the report adds, “Repeated warnings from senior command officials” to the prime minister failed to spark in-depth discussions of the the threat and “the relationship between the prime minister and the political leadership, and the entire military and professional leadership, is poor or has not existed at all for a long time.”
Then-defense minister Yoav Gallant, the IDF chief of staff, the head of Military Intelligence and their predecessors were also responsible for the debacle, having, among other things, reduced the IDF’s presence along the Gaza frontier and abandoning the IDF’s observation troops to their fate, the commission finds.
Former senior defense officials, such as current opposition politician and ex-defense minister Benny Gantz, share responsibility for the IDF’s failures, including the idea of shifting to a “small and smart army,” the report charges.
Moreover, the IDF chief of staff and senior leadership are responsible for “the lack of an operational response to ‘Jericho Wall’ and the warnings on the night of October 6 and the morning of October 7.”
The New York Times reported last year that Israel obtained Hamas’s plans for its assault on October 7, dubbed “Jericho Wall,” over a year before the devastating attack.
Independent Oct. 7 commission: National security ‘collapsed and is no longer suitable’
Israeli leaders must recognize that national security “has collapsed and is no longer suitable,” and must be updated, an independent Civilian Commission of Inquiry probing the government’s failure to prevent October 7 states.
“The basic assumptions on which the security concept is based must be examined again, and frequently. Systematic situation assessments should include an examination of the new threats and the changing intentions of the enemy, and the integration of experts from various fields in the work of intelligence and strategy. There is no doubt that a way must be found to structure the processes in the work of the headquarters at various levels, all the way up to the prime minister,” the commission writes in its final report following over four months of work.
It calls on Israeli intelligence agencies to “develop reliable and effective mechanisms to decisively deal with the misconceptions that will almost inevitably develop among decision-makers” while also cultivating a “culture of listening” paired with the practice of presenting “decision-makers with possible alternatives to existing information along with its own analysis, and to raise possibilities that the enemy will act differently.”
“The first and most significant recommendation is for all of us: to adopt a culture of taking responsibility, learning, investigation, and correction at the national level,” the commission states.
“Every system, large and small, must have a control and review system in numerous areas, particularly those concerning policy, strategy and human life. The Israel Defense Forces needs such a system, and the Israeli government needs it as well.”
The commission also recommends focusing heavily on a strategy for “the day after” in Lebanon, Gaza and the wider Middle East — as well as making efforts to bolster security in the south.
“Observation, fire, command and control must be hidden from the enemy and protected in routine and emergency situations” while “the civil defense system must be rebuilt and be able to respond to its purpose of protecting the settlements until the army arrives.”
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid welcomes the release of the independent Civilian Commission of Inquiry’s final report on the government’s failure to prevent October 7, calling it “in-depth, comprehensive and important.”
Lapid, who testified before the commission in August, calls for the establishment of an official state commission of inquiry as well. He also argues that while October 7 “could have been prevented,” he believes that “all the symptoms of October 6 are still present in this government a year afterward.”
According to the commission’s final report, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was responsible for the decision not to strike Hamas preemptively, former prime ministers Naftali Bennett and Lapid also shoulder blame for “maintaining the concept of cash for quiet, albeit in different ways.”
In a statement, Lapid says that “the possibility of a preemptive strike against Hamas, like the possibility of an operation to assassinate senior Hamas figures, was discussed more than once during the ‘government of change,'” which he co-led with Bennett, but that “the intelligence conditions were not ripe for such operations.”
In a letter to the commission published alongside its final report, Lapid makes similar points, stating that his government had halted the “suitcases of cash” and instead sent funds that could be “traced and tracked, which made intelligence work easier.”
“We led a zero-tolerance approach toward terror attacks, e.g., incendiary balloons or perimeter fence events. The IDF was instructed not to ignore any event and to respond with disproportionate force. This policy led to the elimination of this type of event,” the letter continues.
“I’ve been asked multiple times whether I believe that the October 7 disaster could have happened when I was prime minister. The answer is no… How can I be so confident? And the answer is that there was no scenario in which I would have received warnings of such scope, quality, and frequency as I’ve described, and ignored them. [Our] government’s period in office was the quietest year for southern residents in over a decade,” Lapid insists.
Independent commission: Cabinet members directly responsible for ‘collapse of the government system on Oct. 7’
Members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet were directly responsible for the “collapse of the government system on October 7,” the independent Civilian Commission of Inquiry probing the failure to prevent the Hamas attack finds.
Following dozens of hearings and the testimony of around 120 witnesses over the past four months, the commission determines that the cabinet ministers, “in most of the various ministries,” bear the blame for the government’s “inability to provide a response to the families of the people missing and captive; the lack of response to the needs of combat soldiers to reach the southern and northern fronts; the lack of response and care for the families of the evacuees and their children – in both the north and the south.”
Likewise, the IDF and Israel Police “are solely responsible for the lack of coordination between them and the many failures that prevented the rescuing of many Nova festival-goers in Re’im,” the commission states, calling on the two bodies to strengthen their coordination going forward.
Independent commission: Multiple IDF chiefs share responsibility for failing to prevent Oct. 7
According to the findings of the Independent Civilian Commission of Inquiry investigating October 7, multiple IDF chiefs of staff over the past decade, including Benny Gantz, share responsibility for failing to prevent Hamas’s brutal attack.
The commission blames the former defense leadership for advancing the concept of a smaller army “with excessive reliance on technology,” also castigating recently ousted defense minister Yoav Gallant, IDF chief of staff Herzi Halevi and other recent and current defense officials for reducing Israeli forces along the Gaza frontier as well as “for the lack of readiness of soldiers at the various bases in the Southern Command and for abandoning the female field observers to their fates on October 7.”
The IDF leadership was also responsible for “ignoring all warning lights; disregarding the warnings of the field observers; the lack of response to the many failures that emerged in the field; and the prevailing lawless atmosphere in the communities surrounding Gaza,” the commission states.
In addition to failing to act on Hamas attack plans obtained in advance, the IDF leadership failed to adequately heed warnings on the evening of October 6 and the morning of October 7 and is responsible “for not immediately conveying the warning to commanders and soldiers in the field so that they could at least prepare themselves.”
According to the commission, the IDF’s Southern Command and the Gaza Division “failed miserably, to the point of collapse of all defense systems, as soldiers in the field were left to their own devices with no reinforcements arriving for many hours.”
“This way, the command echelon failed not only in intelligence and alertness, but also in its planning and readiness for a rapid response to terrorist incidents,” it states.
The Region and the World
Survivors
Personal Stories
Bereaved families gather to create a mosaic to honor October 7 victims and share a message of hope and national unity.
Tali Hadad-Atias stands in a lot of cars wrecked in the October 7 attack on southern Israel holding a picture of her daughter Dorin, killed in the attack.(photo credit: CHEN SCHIMMEL)
Families who lost loved ones in the October 7 massacre in southern Israel gathered Sunday for the unveiling of a work of art created to honor those lost and placed near the lot of wrecks of cars collected after the 7th.
Tali Hadad-Atias, whose 23-year-old daughter Dorin was killed while trying to flee the Nova music festival, thanked the volunteers who created the work of art at the unveiling ceremony.
Dorin had been scheduled to work an 8 a.m. bar shift at the festival, but arrived early with friends in order to enjoy the party, her mother explained
When rocket fire started early on the morning of October 7, Dorin told her parents she was heading home. Soon after, she let them know she had been held up in a traffic jam. That was the last time they heard from her, and five days later, her death was confirmed.
"She did everything right, but unfortunately, she was not able to get away," her mother explained, adding that from what they pieced together, she was killed soon after her last message - shot in her car.
A picture of Dorin Atias, killed by Hamas on October 7, reflects in the side mirror of her car - where she was shot to death. (credit: CHEN SCHIMMEL)
'A person of love'
She was killed alongside her friend, Lior Maimon. A second friend, Eden Yerushalmi, escaped the car and hid before being taken captive by Hamas, Hadad-Atias explained. Yerushalmi survived in captivity for 11 months before she was executed, along with five other hostages held with her.
"Dorin was only 23 years and 11 months old, but she managed to do a lot in her life - to travel and live in Tel Aviv," Hadad-Atias said. "She was a people person, a person of love. She always worked three jobs in parallel, and we always asked, 'why work so hard?' She said, 'I have goals; I have to fit everything in.'"
Dorin had just completed a course to learn to be a pilates instructor, and her certification was brought to her family on October 8, while Dorin was still declared missing, her mother said.
At another party, just before October 7, Dorin had a vision she was entering heaven, her mother shared, adding that a recording of Dorin telling a friend about this vision is something she treasures.
"We feel that because she was an angel in her life and in her death, it could be that she felt something. It's something we can't explain," she said.
Now Hadad-Atias is focused on memorializing Dorin and continuing her way. "That is our mission; we feel we need to speak about her everywhere because she was really such a special person," she explained.
Dorin was generous and kind, always there for her friends and anyone else who needed her. She used to ask her mother to bring spare change for a homeless man who lived on her street, her mother offered as an example.
Dorin's family is also carrying on her way by taking care of her friends, her mother said.
Asked how it can be that as a bereaved mother, she herself is caring for Dorin's grieving friends, Hadad-Atias explained that "supporting the people who loved her so much, it is like seeing Dorin herself."
The ceremony at which the artwork was unveiled also honored the families of Major Ido Yehoshua, and Shlomi Sividia, both killed in the massacre.
The art, a mosaic that reads Am Yisrael Hai (The People of Israel Lives), was created by volunteers to commemorate the fallen from October 7. Volunteers from the retirement community of the Mediterranean Towers, the city of Ganei Tikva, the nursing support organization MATAV association, and Zim Urban Mall in Ganei Tikva were involved in the project.
The artwork is meant to carry a message of hope, unity, and national strength, the organizations said.
The ceremony for the unveiling of the mosaic was led by two residents of the Mediterranean Towers, and the Mediterranean Towers choir sang at the ceremony.
The ceremony was another marker that "no one has forgotten us," said Hadad-Atias, who thanked the "amazing people" involved in the project.
Her family has been embraced by the Ganei Tikva community and municipality, she said.
Touching on what is needed in order to start healing, Hadad-Atias said that she hopes the remaining hostages all come home.
"The events of October 7 shook us all and touched every individual in the country. Out of this great upheaval, each and every one of us must ask ourselves how we can make an impact, extend a hand, and be there for one another," said Mediterranean Towers CEO Doron Arnon.
This idea is what gave birth to the projects residents of the towers have taken part in in the past year, he added, saying these include sending packages to soldiers, helping farmers in the south, and more.
The towers have also provided housing to evacuees, he said.
"The mosaic we are inaugurating today was born out of pain and brokenness—just as the people of Israel have experienced time and again throughout history. The inscription 'Am Yisrael Chai' ('The People of Israel Live'), displayed here in large letters, is a symbol of resilience and our promise—as a nation—to remain united and connected to one another," said Ganei Tikva Mayor Lizy Delaricha.
"Each piece of the mosaic represents a small fragment of our pain, and each one connects to form a whole and new picture. Fragment by fragment, piece by piece, we will rebuild Israeli society, making it stronger." link
Dark Legacy - The Abandonment of October 7th Hostages
A Letter to an Unknown Hostage
Amal Asaad
Brigadier General.
We do not know each other and possibly never will.
You were abducted on October 7th, and since then I have not heard from you or about you or seen you. I just hope you are still alive.
We were always taught that in the State of Israel, we do not abandon the dead, wounded or captured on the battlefield. We are all responsible for one another.
For nine months, you and your friends are languishing somewhere in the subterranean of the Gaza Strip, just a few minutes' drive from the border, and light years away from your return.
Like me, you probably did not believe Israel would abandon its citizens. Could you imagine that you had a price, that you became part of a deal?
Did you know that there are "quality" prisoners? That your life is not worth enough for their release? While others are of "lesser quality" and the debate is - how many? Did you know that your return is a political issue? Yes, political. There are politicians who gain from your non-return, at the price of your life. They were the same who were supposed to guard your safety dearly and guarantee your return at any price. Yes, any price.
The Prime Minister who was in charge of your well-being and safety (and who has not yet resigned, in case you were wondering), is not interested in bringing you back alive, especially not "for a high price," although it can be said to his credit that when the cameras are on, he wears the hostage pin.
The same Prime Minister who was responsible for your safety and failed - he is now turning his back on you, leaving you to languish in the Hamas tunnels.
Know that one who betrays once will betray again.
The Prime Minister who, when signing the Nation-State Bill, betrayed me and the entire Druze community, betrayed 20% of the citizens of Israel - he will betray you and the remaining 120 other hostages for the sake of securing his job.
I won't burden you with the names of the government members who explicitly say that your life is not worth the price, and if you are wondering about the rest of the government members? Well here, my friend, you are also in for bitter disappointment.
Some of them wear the tag engraved with the words "Our hearts are in Gaza." Well, I agree with that at least – all of them really have no hearts.
I am sorry to disappoint you. For this government, killing Hamas’ Yahya Sinwar is a mission more important than getting you back. They've even invented a name for it: Total Victory. The picture of victory will be Sinwar's head, even if you come back in a box.
And yet, I want you to know that your family and the families of other hostages, the brave mothers, the beautiful people of Israel, those who were brought up on the phrase "we are responsible for one another," are fighting with all their might to bring you home. Your pictures were hung all over the country. Roads were blocked, people climbed into cages, went up to the border to call out your name, hoping you would hear them. These people are trying to exert pressure on the government, in any way possible, to release you. Now.
Know that your friends, the heroic fighters left their homes, and some of them have sadly given their lives trying to save you.
But the government ministers, some of them pretentious enough to call themselves people of faith, refuse to return you "for a high price," although there is no higher commandment than the redemption of captives.
These are people that value their chair over your life and that of the other hostages.
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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We are continuously learning of more and more of the information that the powers that be had prior to October 7 and did little to nothing. So much is still not known. Most will come out in the Official Committee of Inquiry after the war, but some of that information will not be made public due to security concerns. Following is the information that is public knowledge as of today and is documented. It is presented relatively chronologically but some aspects ran in parallel throughout same and different periods of time. 1. Six years ago, Hamas launched its own television station: Al-Aqsa TV. The station quickly became a highly-effective propaganda tool, which Hamas continues to use to preach its message of hatred of the West, Jews, and Israel. “A fictional series on Palestinian TV last year seemingly predicted key elements of Hamas’ Oct. 7 sneak assault on Israel — from the terrorists’ white vans to targeted kibbutzim and the abduction of Israeli soldiers.” 1 ...
Weapons found by troops at the Litani River in the eastern sector of southern Lebanon, in a handout image released on November 26, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
Weapons found by troops in southern Lebanon, in a handout photo issued on November 26, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
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