π️Lonny's War Update- October 420, 2023 - November 29, 2024 π️
π️Day 420 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
A deal is the only way to bring
all the hostages home- the murdered for burial and the living for rehabilitation.
#BringThemHomeNow #TurnTheHorrorIntoHope
There is no victory until all of the hostages are home!ΧΧΧ Χ Χ¦ΧΧΧ Χ’Χ Χ©ΧΧ ΧΧΧΧΧ€ΧΧ ΧΧΧΧͺ
Red Alerts - Missile, Rocket, Drone (UAV - unmanned aerial vehicles), and Terror Attacks and Death Announcements
*6:15am - West Bank- Terror attack Near Ariel -At least five people are wounded in a suspected terror shooting attack against an Israeli bus at the Gitai Avisar junction near the West Bank settlement of Ariel.
First responders say that at least two are in moderate condition, while the other three are lightly hurt. A military source says the gunman was “neutralized” at the scene. Three people are in serious condition, one is in life threatening condition. Initial images from the scene appear to show that the assailant was armed with an assault rifle.
Hostage Updates
The Kidnapped Man's Daughter: "In the Knesset, They Told Me, 'We’ve Run Out of Patience with You'"
Ella, the daughter of kidnapped Ohad Ben Ami, shared on Kan Reshet Bet about the insensitivity she faced from public officials. Speaking on Thursday morning in an interview on the "Rina and Akiva" program, she described the difficulty of starting each day, the longing for her father, and the indifference she encounters when she visits the Knesset.
Ohad and Ela Ben Ami
"I feel like nothing is happening. I've learned not to have expectations," Ella said. "It’s hard to wake up every day and reinvent ourselves. After so much longing and worry, it's physically exhausting. I draw strength from the thought that my father will be back any moment, and we’ll meet again."
Ella spoke about the days she visits the Knesset: "Sometimes, I encounter such a wave of indifference—it’s hard to get up afterward. They forget it happened on their watch. When they returned from the recess, we were explicitly told, 'We've run out of patience with you.'"
Yesterday, activists from the Hostage Families Headquarters protested at the Knesset, near Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office and residence in Jerusalem, calling for an agreement "like the swift agreement in Lebanon" to secure the release of their loved ones. The families are demanding that the government reach a deal with Hamas to bring all the hostages home in one phase and end the war. They emphasize that if necessary, the IDF can return to fighting in Gaza afterward.
Their position is based on Netanyahu’s statement yesterday that a ceasefire would not prevent Israel from resuming attacks in Lebanon if required.
Sharon Sharabi, the brother of Yossi, who was murdered in Hamas captivity and whose body is still held in Gaza, and Eli, who remains captive, said during the protest outside the Knesset: "When an agreement for a ceasefire is made—while a real threat looms over the residents of the north and all Israeli citizens, and Hezbollah still possesses capabilities that the IDF has not neutralized—we understand that it’s possible to leave Lebanon and return if necessary. The same applies to Gaza: we can leave and return when needed, but first and foremost, our hostages must be home."link
- Netanyahu says ready for ceasefire in Gaza to free hostages, but won’t end war
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that he would accept a pause in the war in Gaza, speaking in his first interview since the ceasefire in Lebanon. “I am ready for a ceasefire in the south when we think we can achieve the release of the hostages,” he says to the rightwing Channel 14. “I am ready for a ceasefire at any time.”
At the same, he stresses that he will not accept an end to the war, a core Hamas demand. Without going into details, Netanyahu says Israel is doing “many many things” to try to reach a deal.
Now that there is a ceasefire in Lebanon and Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar is dead, the conditions have significantly improved for a hostage deal with Hamas, he argues.
“Hamas hoped that Iran would come to save it, it did not happen; it hoped that the Houthis would come to save it – it did not happen,” he says, “but above all it hoped that Hezbollah would come to save it, and indeed Nasrallah said on the second day when he attacked, ‘We will continue until Israel stops its attacks on Hamas.’ There is no Hezbollah [at Hamas’s side now]. That’s why I think the conditions have changed very much for the better, not only because of the separation of the theaters but also because of the… elimination of Sinwar.”
He says the conditions in Lebanon are different than in Gaza: Israel is trying to destroy Hamas, whereas in Lebanon at this stage it is working to prevent Hezbollah from rearming. While Israel can prevent arms smuggling in Lebanon by bombing border crossings and striking in Syria, that can’t happen in Gaza, because Israel won’t attack Egypt. Therefore, Israel has to remain on the Philadelphi corridor, the road on the Egypt-Gaza border, he insinuates.
Netanyahu says that he accepted a ceasefire in Lebanon because “we achieved exactly what we intended to achieve.” link This is such BS. Netanyahu knows full well that, without ending the war a deal to get the hostages home is totally impossible. He also can give no real explanation of why he could reach agreement and, effectively end the war in Lebanon but he won't end the war in Gaza despite the fact that all of the security forces heads, from the IDF, Shin Bet and Mossad and all the intelligence agencies tell him that the war can end if it will bring back the hostages. He has no good reason to stay in Gaza except for his own personal self interests to keep his coalition together. He is a liar and it is costing us the lives of the hostages as well as more soldiers being killed.
Hostage Updates
The Kidnapped Man's Daughter: "In the Knesset, They Told Me, 'We’ve Run Out of Patience with You'"
Ella, the daughter of kidnapped Ohad Ben Ami, shared on Kan Reshet Bet about the insensitivity she faced from public officials. Speaking on Thursday morning in an interview on the "Rina and Akiva" program, she described the difficulty of starting each day, the longing for her father, and the indifference she encounters when she visits the Knesset.
Ohad and Ela Ben Ami"I feel like nothing is happening. I've learned not to have expectations," Ella said. "It’s hard to wake up every day and reinvent ourselves. After so much longing and worry, it's physically exhausting. I draw strength from the thought that my father will be back any moment, and we’ll meet again."
Ella spoke about the days she visits the Knesset: "Sometimes, I encounter such a wave of indifference—it’s hard to get up afterward. They forget it happened on their watch. When they returned from the recess, we were explicitly told, 'We've run out of patience with you.'"
Yesterday, activists from the Hostage Families Headquarters protested at the Knesset, near Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office and residence in Jerusalem, calling for an agreement "like the swift agreement in Lebanon" to secure the release of their loved ones. The families are demanding that the government reach a deal with Hamas to bring all the hostages home in one phase and end the war. They emphasize that if necessary, the IDF can return to fighting in Gaza afterward.
Their position is based on Netanyahu’s statement yesterday that a ceasefire would not prevent Israel from resuming attacks in Lebanon if required.
Sharon Sharabi, the brother of Yossi, who was murdered in Hamas captivity and whose body is still held in Gaza, and Eli, who remains captive, said during the protest outside the Knesset: "When an agreement for a ceasefire is made—while a real threat looms over the residents of the north and all Israeli citizens, and Hezbollah still possesses capabilities that the IDF has not neutralized—we understand that it’s possible to leave Lebanon and return if necessary. The same applies to Gaza: we can leave and return when needed, but first and foremost, our hostages must be home."link
- Netanyahu says ready for ceasefire in Gaza to free hostages, but won’t end war
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that he would accept a pause in the war in Gaza, speaking in his first interview since the ceasefire in Lebanon. “I am ready for a ceasefire in the south when we think we can achieve the release of the hostages,” he says to the rightwing Channel 14. “I am ready for a ceasefire at any time.”
At the same, he stresses that he will not accept an end to the war, a core Hamas demand. Without going into details, Netanyahu says Israel is doing “many many things” to try to reach a deal.
Now that there is a ceasefire in Lebanon and Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar is dead, the conditions have significantly improved for a hostage deal with Hamas, he argues.
“Hamas hoped that Iran would come to save it, it did not happen; it hoped that the Houthis would come to save it – it did not happen,” he says, “but above all it hoped that Hezbollah would come to save it, and indeed Nasrallah said on the second day when he attacked, ‘We will continue until Israel stops its attacks on Hamas.’ There is no Hezbollah [at Hamas’s side now]. That’s why I think the conditions have changed very much for the better, not only because of the separation of the theaters but also because of the… elimination of Sinwar.”
He says the conditions in Lebanon are different than in Gaza: Israel is trying to destroy Hamas, whereas in Lebanon at this stage it is working to prevent Hezbollah from rearming. While Israel can prevent arms smuggling in Lebanon by bombing border crossings and striking in Syria, that can’t happen in Gaza, because Israel won’t attack Egypt. Therefore, Israel has to remain on the Philadelphi corridor, the road on the Egypt-Gaza border, he insinuates.
Netanyahu says that he accepted a ceasefire in Lebanon because “we achieved exactly what we intended to achieve.” link This is such BS. Netanyahu knows full well that, without ending the war a deal to get the hostages home is totally impossible. He also can give no real explanation of why he could reach agreement and, effectively end the war in Lebanon but he won't end the war in Gaza despite the fact that all of the security forces heads, from the IDF, Shin Bet and Mossad and all the intelligence agencies tell him that the war can end if it will bring back the hostages. He has no good reason to stay in Gaza except for his own personal self interests to keep his coalition together. He is a liar and it is costing us the lives of the hostages as well as more soldiers being killed.
Gaza and the South
The Israeli army shows foreign media around aid arriving in Gaza via a key crossing amid accusations that Israel is preventing assistance from reaching the Palestinian territory.
International aid organizations have repeatedly warned of the deteriorating conditions in Gaza, saying civilians are starving and aid shipments are now lower than at any time since October 2023 when Hamas attacked southern Israel, triggering the war in Gaza.
Israel blames the inability of relief organizations to handle and distribute large quantities of aid.
During the first media visit including AFP to the Gazan side of the Kerem Shalom border crossing, the largest for humanitarian aid, journalists saw trucks carrying aid mainly from Egypt, Jordan, the West Bank and Israel itself.
The aid also comes from UNICEF, Rahma Worldwide and the World Food Kitchen. Distribution is organized by international aid agencies that hire local truck drivers.
“Today we have more than 800 truckloads that are waiting for the international community to take them and deliver them to the people inside Gaza,” says Colonel Abdullah Halabi, who heads the Gaza division of COGAT, the Israeli military unit responsible for overseeing humanitarian needs in Gaza.
He says often the goods wait at the Gaza side of Kerem Shalom, the southernmost entry point from Israel, for “months.”
Halabi rejects claims Israel was not allowing trucks to enter, saying there was no restriction on the trucks or the amount of aid allowed to enter Gaza.
The Israeli army shows foreign media around aid arriving in Gaza via a key crossing amid accusations that Israel is preventing assistance from reaching the Palestinian territory.
International aid organizations have repeatedly warned of the deteriorating conditions in Gaza, saying civilians are starving and aid shipments are now lower than at any time since October 2023 when Hamas attacked southern Israel, triggering the war in Gaza.
Israel blames the inability of relief organizations to handle and distribute large quantities of aid.
During the first media visit including AFP to the Gazan side of the Kerem Shalom border crossing, the largest for humanitarian aid, journalists saw trucks carrying aid mainly from Egypt, Jordan, the West Bank and Israel itself.
The aid also comes from UNICEF, Rahma Worldwide and the World Food Kitchen. Distribution is organized by international aid agencies that hire local truck drivers.
“Today we have more than 800 truckloads that are waiting for the international community to take them and deliver them to the people inside Gaza,” says Colonel Abdullah Halabi, who heads the Gaza division of COGAT, the Israeli military unit responsible for overseeing humanitarian needs in Gaza.
He says often the goods wait at the Gaza side of Kerem Shalom, the southernmost entry point from Israel, for “months.”
Halabi rejects claims Israel was not allowing trucks to enter, saying there was no restriction on the trucks or the amount of aid allowed to enter Gaza.
Northern Israel - Lebanon/Hizbollah/Syria
- Chances of war resuming in Lebanon are 50%, some defense officials said to estimate
ome in Israel’s security establishment are estimating the chances of a resumption of the war against Hezbollah in Lebanon at 50%, according to the Ynet news site.
The report says this is one of the reasons the government is yet to call on the tens of thousands of displaced residents of the north to return to their homes.
“The more the rules and their enforcement are clear from the get-go, the better they will hold up later,” the outlet quotes an unnamed IDF officer as saying.
- IDF says it carried out additional drone strike to target Hezbollah operatives entering rocket launch site
The IDF says it carried out another airstrike earlier today against two Hezbollah operatives who entered a known rocket launching site in southern Lebanon.
The operatives were targeted in a drone strike “to thwart the threat,” the IDF says. The site had been used to fire dozens of rockets at Israel in the past month.
The incident, and several others today, violate the ceasefire agreement, according to the military.
The IDF says it fired warning shots in several areas of southern Lebanon throughout the day, to disperse Hezbollah operatives attempting to reach no-go zones near the border.
Earlier, fighter jets struck a Hezbollah medium-range rocket facility, after the military identified activity there.
The IDF is still deployed to southern Lebanon, and it has 60 days to withdraw under the deal. During that time, the Lebanese Army will gradually take responsibility for southern Lebanon and an American-led committee that will adjudicate complaints regarding potential ceasefire violations will be established.
The Lebanese army accuses Israel of violating the ceasefire “several times” since it went into effect the previous day after more than 13 months of hostilities with Hezbollah.
“The Israeli enemy violated the deal several times,” the army says, citing air strikes and attacks on Lebanese territory with “various weapons.”
Israel said it acted on several occasions to enforce the ceasefire.
Thousands of people make the crossing back into Lebanon from Syria on the second day of a ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel, after nearly 14 months of fighting.
At the Jousieh border crossing in the Qusair area of Syria’s Homs province, on Lebanon’s northeastern border, bumper-to-bumper cars line up waiting to be cleared for crossing. All four lanes are taken up by cars making their way into Lebanon, while those waiting to cross into Syria had to use an offroad.
Of the six border crossings between Lebanon and Syria, two remain functional after Israeli airstrikes forced the others shut. The two countries share a border 375 kilometers (233 miles) long.
Over 600,000 people fleeing Lebanon poured into Syria in the past year.
Four civilians including two students were killed earlier today in the Syrian city of Aleppo in insurgent shelling of university student dormitories, the state news agency SANA reports, amid intense fighting surrounding the northern city.
More than 240 people, mostly combatants, have been killed in the fighting after rebel groups launched a major offensive on government-held areas this week, a monitor says.
On Wednesday, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and allied Turkish-backed factions launched an attack on government-held areas in the northwest, triggering the fiercest fighting since 2020, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says.
Rami Abdel Rahman, who heads the Observatory, says fighting reached two kilometers (1.2 miles) from the main northern city of Aleppo, where artillery shelling on student housing killed four civilians, according to state media.
“The combatants’ death toll in the ongoing… operation in the Idlib and Aleppo countrysides has risen to 218,” since Wednesday, says the British-based monitor with a network of sources inside Syria.
In addition to the fighters, it says 24 civilians were killed.
HTS, which is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States and Turkey, has long been targeted by the Syrian government and Russian forces. Formerly known as the Nusra Front, the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda, HTS later changed its name several times and distanced itself from al-Qaeda.
- Chances of war resuming in Lebanon are 50%, some defense officials said to estimate
ome in Israel’s security establishment are estimating the chances of a resumption of the war against Hezbollah in Lebanon at 50%, according to the Ynet news site.
The report says this is one of the reasons the government is yet to call on the tens of thousands of displaced residents of the north to return to their homes.
“The more the rules and their enforcement are clear from the get-go, the better they will hold up later,” the outlet quotes an unnamed IDF officer as saying.
- IDF says it carried out additional drone strike to target Hezbollah operatives entering rocket launch site
The IDF says it carried out another airstrike earlier today against two Hezbollah operatives who entered a known rocket launching site in southern Lebanon.
The operatives were targeted in a drone strike “to thwart the threat,” the IDF says. The site had been used to fire dozens of rockets at Israel in the past month.
The incident, and several others today, violate the ceasefire agreement, according to the military.
The IDF says it fired warning shots in several areas of southern Lebanon throughout the day, to disperse Hezbollah operatives attempting to reach no-go zones near the border.
Earlier, fighter jets struck a Hezbollah medium-range rocket facility, after the military identified activity there.
The IDF is still deployed to southern Lebanon, and it has 60 days to withdraw under the deal. During that time, the Lebanese Army will gradually take responsibility for southern Lebanon and an American-led committee that will adjudicate complaints regarding potential ceasefire violations will be established.
The Lebanese army accuses Israel of violating the ceasefire “several times” since it went into effect the previous day after more than 13 months of hostilities with Hezbollah.
“The Israeli enemy violated the deal several times,” the army says, citing air strikes and attacks on Lebanese territory with “various weapons.”
Israel said it acted on several occasions to enforce the ceasefire.
Thousands of people make the crossing back into Lebanon from Syria on the second day of a ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel, after nearly 14 months of fighting.
At the Jousieh border crossing in the Qusair area of Syria’s Homs province, on Lebanon’s northeastern border, bumper-to-bumper cars line up waiting to be cleared for crossing. All four lanes are taken up by cars making their way into Lebanon, while those waiting to cross into Syria had to use an offroad.
Of the six border crossings between Lebanon and Syria, two remain functional after Israeli airstrikes forced the others shut. The two countries share a border 375 kilometers (233 miles) long.
Over 600,000 people fleeing Lebanon poured into Syria in the past year.
Four civilians including two students were killed earlier today in the Syrian city of Aleppo in insurgent shelling of university student dormitories, the state news agency SANA reports, amid intense fighting surrounding the northern city.
More than 240 people, mostly combatants, have been killed in the fighting after rebel groups launched a major offensive on government-held areas this week, a monitor says.
On Wednesday, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and allied Turkish-backed factions launched an attack on government-held areas in the northwest, triggering the fiercest fighting since 2020, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says.
Rami Abdel Rahman, who heads the Observatory, says fighting reached two kilometers (1.2 miles) from the main northern city of Aleppo, where artillery shelling on student housing killed four civilians, according to state media.
“The combatants’ death toll in the ongoing… operation in the Idlib and Aleppo countrysides has risen to 218,” since Wednesday, says the British-based monitor with a network of sources inside Syria.
In addition to the fighters, it says 24 civilians were killed.
HTS, which is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States and Turkey, has long been targeted by the Syrian government and Russian forces. Formerly known as the Nusra Front, the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda, HTS later changed its name several times and distanced itself from al-Qaeda.
West Bank and Jerusalem and Terror attacks within Israel
- If policy to end administrative detention for settlers is implemented, prosecutors won’t defend it
If a newly announced policy to only use administrative detention against Palestinians is implemented, the State Attorney’s Office will reportedly no longer be able to defend the use of the controversial legal tool that enables the detention of individuals without charge for up to six months at a time.
New Defense Minister Israel Katz announced last week that he was ending such orders against West Bank settlers.
While the practice is primarily deployed against Palestinians, it is also used against some extremist Jewish Israelis, which has drawn increasing criticism of the ruling Likud party by far-right coalition members. The detentions can be renewed indefinitely while allowing military prosecutors to keep suspects from being able to see the evidence against them.
At a recent meeting hosted by State Attorney Amit Aisman, it was decided that it is currently possible to defend the existing administrative detention orders against Palestinians, including some Israeli Arab citizens, since it can be argued that the new policy is merely a political statement that hasn’t had any effect in the field, the i24News outlet reports.
According to the unsourced report, “the understanding” within Aisman’s office is that if Katz’s declaration is implemented, it would be impossible to legally defend orders that by definition are only issued against certain groups of the population.
Aisman declines to respond to the report.
If a newly announced policy to only use administrative detention against Palestinians is implemented, the State Attorney’s Office will reportedly no longer be able to defend the use of the controversial legal tool that enables the detention of individuals without charge for up to six months at a time.
New Defense Minister Israel Katz announced last week that he was ending such orders against West Bank settlers.
While the practice is primarily deployed against Palestinians, it is also used against some extremist Jewish Israelis, which has drawn increasing criticism of the ruling Likud party by far-right coalition members. The detentions can be renewed indefinitely while allowing military prosecutors to keep suspects from being able to see the evidence against them.
At a recent meeting hosted by State Attorney Amit Aisman, it was decided that it is currently possible to defend the existing administrative detention orders against Palestinians, including some Israeli Arab citizens, since it can be argued that the new policy is merely a political statement that hasn’t had any effect in the field, the i24News outlet reports.
According to the unsourced report, “the understanding” within Aisman’s office is that if Katz’s declaration is implemented, it would be impossible to legally defend orders that by definition are only issued against certain groups of the population.
Aisman declines to respond to the report.
Politics and the War (general news)
- Opinion | Trump Has a Vision for Peace. Let's
Engage With Him
Gershon Baskin and Samer Sinjilawi Nov 28, 2024
Political possibilities for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict may have changed on November 5. President-elect
Donald Trump promised he would not start new wars, in
fact, he promised to end them. The November 27 cease-fire
has, for now, ended the war in Lebanon. However, this very
fragile agreement is between Israel and the Government of
Lebanon, not with Hezbollah.
When Trump is sworn in and sits in the Oval Office, he is
likely to find the war in Gaza still on his desk. In January
2020, before leaving the White House, then-President
Trump presented his Vision for Peace, his "deal of the
century" which received support from Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu and was rejected by President
Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian Authority. The main
reason Netanyahu likely accepted it, other than his desire
not to go against Trump, was his certainty that the
Palestinians would reject it. On January 20, 2025, when
President Trump returns to the White House, it is
worthwhile to review his Vision and determine if perhaps
there is something worth embracing there.
We should recognize that Trump's Vision is fundamentally
the two state solution. However, according to the plan, the
Palestinian state isn't much of a state at all, there is no real
control over borders, there is no territorial integrity or
contiguity, there is no real sovereignty. In short, it is
understandable why the Palestinians rejected it.
Nonetheless, the principle of two-states and Palestinian
statehood is there and that is a step in the right direction.
Anyone who understands the conflict can't imagine a quick
transition from the horrors of the current war to
implementing the two state solution. There must be a
political program with regional and bilateral Israeli-
Palestinian negotiations that will lead to a defined
agreement of two states – Israel and Palestine, living side-
by-side in peace. This requires a full cease-fire,
stabilization, reconstruction, and new elections (in Palestine
and in Israel).
If President-elect Trump is serious about resolving the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict, he will embrace the two state
solution, because there is no other solution possible to this
conflict. For any renewed peace process to be acceptable and
have a genuine basis for reaching peace, the vision for what
the conclusion looks like must already be known from the
outset, even if it will potentially take a number of years to
reach it. We cannot repeat the open-ended nature of the Oslo
process which had no stated end-game and allowed for
negotiations to continue endlessly.
The final agreement does not have to be spelled out in detail
from the beginning, but the broad strokes of what it is needs
to be explicit and the process needs to lead to its completion.
In that context, the Trump Vision could be the starting place
for renewed negotiations.
The proposed map the Trump Vision provides includes
Palestinian control over about 70 percent of the West Bank
and all of Gaza. In a revised Trump plan, no Israeli
settlement would be removed in this first phase, but no new
settlements would be built. This clearly creates a new reality
and can essentially begin early on, even before the final
borders are determined. It is essential though, that President Trump make it clear to the Israeli government that annexing any part of the West Bank would not be acceptable and would have dire consequences on U.S. -Israel relations and on the chances for
peace. The United States would then recognize the State of
Palestine, without permanent borders, just as the U.S.
recognizes Israel without permanent borders.
During the following three-five years, the issue of
permanent borders would need to be resolved, including the
possibility of territorial swaps that enable settlers to remain
under Israeli sovereignty in exchange for territory from
within the State of Israel – equal in size to that which might
be annexed to Israel from the West Bank. At no point prior to
determining permanent borders would Israel have the
license to believe that the areas not included in the first
phase of Palestinian sovereignty belong to Israel.
On the part of Israel and the Palestinians, all of this is
predicated on the existence of two governments committed
to a political process for resolving the conflict and not to
manage it. Both governments need to declare from the very
beginning that their intention is to create a reality of peace
between both peoples.
It is also clear that to even begin thinking in the direction of
a new peace process, there must rise a new generation of
leaders in Israel and Palestine. The process of selecting those
leaders should be democratic elections in both Israel and
Palestine. Both peoples need to come to terms with the
reality of seven million Israeli Jews and seven million
Palestinian Arabs living between the River and the Sea, even
after the horrific events of this past year.
There is no military solution to this conflict and this war
really must be the last Israeli-Palestinian war. There must be legitimate leaders on both sides that represent their
people and have the mandate to enter into negotiations.
The framework under which the negotiations take place
works best when there are direct bilateral negotiations
between the Israelis and Palestinians. Additionally, a
regional setting where there are developing normalization
and diplomatic relations between Israel and Arab countries
would benefit the negotiating process.
This is particularly important in the context of possibilities
of normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia as partial
fulfillment of the Arab Peace Initiative from 2002. The
regional context is important because it is within the region
that common interests and threats enable the development
of a regional architecture for mutual security, stability,
economic development and cross-boundary cooperation.
We, as Israelis and Palestinians should reach out to
President-elect Trump and express our preparedness to
work with him and his team to help end the war in Gaza and
to begin working together on the fulfillment of a vision of
peace between the two peoples that share this land.
Gershon Baskin is a political and social entrepreneur who has dedicated his life to peace between Israel and her neighbors. He is a founding member of "Kol Ezraheiha - Kol Muwanteneiha" (All of the Citizens) Political party in Israel. He is the Middle East Director for ICO - International Communities Organization, a UK based NGO.
Samer Sinjilawi is a political activist and a Palestinian political commentator from East Jerusalem. He is Chairman of the Jerusalem Development Fund. link
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s aides have unsuccessfully tried to move the premier’s testimony in his corruption trial to a place that isn’t a court, Channel 13 news reports.
The outlet quotes an unnamed source familiar with the details as asserting that Netanyahu is trying to avoid being photographed taking the stand.
The report says the testimony will likely take place at the Tel Aviv District Court.
The trial is being overseen by the Jerusalem District Court, which doesn’t have a safe room, complicating security arrangements for the testimony, which will start December 10 and is expected to last several weeks.
Speaking at a cornerstone laying ceremony for a new police station in the southern city of Sderot, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir calls on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to continue fighting in Lebanon despite the ceasefire that went into effect on Wednesday.
Stating that Hezbollah has violated the ceasefire “time and again,” Ben Gvir argues that “we must not stop, certainly here in the south as well.”
“We have a historic opportunity to bring peace for decades. We have a historic opportunity to collapse Hamas. We have a historic opportunity to restore deterrence, reoccupy the Gaza Strip and encourage voluntary immigration of Israel’s enemies. This is what will bring peace to the south,” he says.
Ben Gvir’s comments come only days after Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich told a conference organized by the Yesha Council, an umbrella group representing Israeli municipalities in the West Bank, that “it is possible to create a situation where Gaza’s population will be reduced to half its current size in two years” through encouraging emigration. link. The criminal minister who is a disciple of the racist Meir Kahana has no compunctions about committing international crimes of transfer of a million civilians and land theft all in the name of his messianic ideology and his war mongering. He cares nothing whatsoever for the lives of the hostages and has been one of the two ministers who have threatened Netanyahu with bringing down the government if he makes a hostage deal. And he obviously doesn't care about more soldiers being killed as long as he is able to achieve his goals and take over Gaza and settle it with Jewish settlements. If anyone should have an arrest warrant issued by the ICC, he is the primary candidate.
Housing and Construction Minister Yitzchak Goldknopf says he inspected sites in the Gaza Strip where he wants to reestablish settlements.
In a tweet, Goldknopf posts a photograph of himself alongside Daniella Weiss, the head of the Nachala Settlement Movement, looking at a map of potential settlement sites labeled, in English, “map of the [settlement nuclei] in Gaza.”
Goldknopf has repeatedly endorsed reestablishing Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip after the war against Hamas ends.
“Today I toured the Gaza Strip settlements. Jewish settlement here is the answer to the terrible massacre and the answer to the International Criminal Court in The Hague who, instead of caring for the 101 hostages, chose to issue arrest warrants against the prime minister and the minister of defense,” Goldknopf tweets.
Goldknopf did not actually enter the Gaza Strip but inspected the area from the border. Photos showed him viewing the area through binoculars.
In a separate post, Nachala thanks the ultra-Orthodox minister for accepting the organization’s invitation to “tour and observe the future settlement locations in Gaza.”
“Together we will build Jewish cities in Gaza, which will bring down the prices of apartments in the country with the understanding that without settlement there is no security. Our Gaza, forever,” the group states.
According to Hebrew media reports, earlier this month IDF soldiers went over their superiors’ heads to help Weiss enter the Strip to survey sites for potential Jewish settlements.
According to the Kan public broadcaster, Weiss, who is leading efforts to resettle northern Gaza, toured the Israeli side of the Gaza border fence with colleagues on November 13. The group eventually traversed the border, through unclear means, going a short way into the Strip.
During a speech on Monday, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said that Israel should occupy Gaza and “encourage” half of the Strip’s 2.2 million Palestinians to emigrate within two years. link Yet another minister willing to commit international crimes of stealing land occupied by war and transferring a civilian population. We know very well that Goldknopf doesn't care at all about soldiers dying and of the hostages lives. He famously said, "what does the war have to do with us" (him and his Haredi constituency). He is one of the main antagonist regarding inducting the Haredim to the army and has threatened to bring down the government is they don't get their exemptions.
IDF chief indicates he will resign after Oct. 7 investigation, defends right to make senior appointments
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi indicates that he intends to resign once the military completes its investigations into the October 7 onslaught.
“At the end of the investigations, we will also make personal decisions and commanders will exercise responsibility, from me down. I have no intention of passing over personal decisions when the picture becomes clearer to us,” he writes in a missive to troops.
Halevi’s missive largely focuses on defending his decision to make senior appointments in the military, with some arguing that he should not be making such decisions as he failed in his role concerning the October 7 onslaught.
“Appointing officers to positions is not a privilege, but a command and operational duty. The IDF cannot afford to freeze,” Halevi says.
In a recent round of appointments, Defense Minister Israel Katz refused to approve two officers due to their potential involvement in the failures that led to the October 7 attack. link Firstly, it is horribly ironic that Katz is refusing to approve officers due to their potential involvement in the failures before October 7. Katz has been an integral member of Netanyahu's governments and therefore has direct responsibility for everything that led up to October 7, yet no one from this failed and corrupt government has owned up to any responsibility.
Regarding Halevi, there is no question that he needs to resign along with the head of the Shin Bet and Mossad, all bearing very direct responsibility for the failures before, during and on October 7. However, none of them should resign until there is an Official State Commission of Inquiry and that Netanyahu is no longer prime minister. Getting back to Katz's refusal to approve 2 officers, the person who bears the largest and most criminal responsibility for everything that led up to October 7 and failures in managing the war is Netanyahu and he certainly should not be allowed to choose the next Chief of Staff and heads of the Shin Bet and Mossad. That would be a great travesty on top of the travesty of October 7.
- Opinion | Trump Has a Vision for Peace. Let's
Engage With Him
Gershon Baskin and Samer Sinjilawi Nov 28, 2024
Political possibilities for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict may have changed on November 5. President-elect
Donald Trump promised he would not start new wars, in
fact, he promised to end them. The November 27 cease-fire
has, for now, ended the war in Lebanon. However, this very
fragile agreement is between Israel and the Government of
Lebanon, not with Hezbollah.
When Trump is sworn in and sits in the Oval Office, he is
likely to find the war in Gaza still on his desk. In January
2020, before leaving the White House, then-President
Trump presented his Vision for Peace, his "deal of the
century" which received support from Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu and was rejected by President
Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian Authority. The main
reason Netanyahu likely accepted it, other than his desire
not to go against Trump, was his certainty that the
Palestinians would reject it. On January 20, 2025, when
President Trump returns to the White House, it is
worthwhile to review his Vision and determine if perhaps
there is something worth embracing there.
We should recognize that Trump's Vision is fundamentally
the two state solution. However, according to the plan, the
Palestinian state isn't much of a state at all, there is no real
control over borders, there is no territorial integrity or
contiguity, there is no real sovereignty. In short, it is
understandable why the Palestinians rejected it.
Nonetheless, the principle of two-states and Palestinian
statehood is there and that is a step in the right direction.
Anyone who understands the conflict can't imagine a quick
transition from the horrors of the current war to
implementing the two state solution. There must be a
political program with regional and bilateral Israeli-
Palestinian negotiations that will lead to a defined
agreement of two states – Israel and Palestine, living side-
by-side in peace. This requires a full cease-fire,
stabilization, reconstruction, and new elections (in Palestine
and in Israel).
If President-elect Trump is serious about resolving the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict, he will embrace the two state
solution, because there is no other solution possible to this
conflict. For any renewed peace process to be acceptable and
have a genuine basis for reaching peace, the vision for what
the conclusion looks like must already be known from the
outset, even if it will potentially take a number of years to
reach it. We cannot repeat the open-ended nature of the Oslo
process which had no stated end-game and allowed for
negotiations to continue endlessly.
The final agreement does not have to be spelled out in detail
from the beginning, but the broad strokes of what it is needs
to be explicit and the process needs to lead to its completion.
In that context, the Trump Vision could be the starting place
for renewed negotiations.
The proposed map the Trump Vision provides includes
Palestinian control over about 70 percent of the West Bank
and all of Gaza. In a revised Trump plan, no Israeli
settlement would be removed in this first phase, but no new
settlements would be built. This clearly creates a new reality
and can essentially begin early on, even before the final
borders are determined. It is essential though, that President Trump make it clear to the Israeli government that annexing any part of the West Bank would not be acceptable and would have dire consequences on U.S. -Israel relations and on the chances for
peace. The United States would then recognize the State of
Palestine, without permanent borders, just as the U.S.
recognizes Israel without permanent borders.
During the following three-five years, the issue of
permanent borders would need to be resolved, including the
possibility of territorial swaps that enable settlers to remain
under Israeli sovereignty in exchange for territory from
within the State of Israel – equal in size to that which might
be annexed to Israel from the West Bank. At no point prior to
determining permanent borders would Israel have the
license to believe that the areas not included in the first
phase of Palestinian sovereignty belong to Israel.
On the part of Israel and the Palestinians, all of this is
predicated on the existence of two governments committed
to a political process for resolving the conflict and not to
manage it. Both governments need to declare from the very
beginning that their intention is to create a reality of peace
between both peoples.
It is also clear that to even begin thinking in the direction of
a new peace process, there must rise a new generation of
leaders in Israel and Palestine. The process of selecting those
leaders should be democratic elections in both Israel and
Palestine. Both peoples need to come to terms with the
reality of seven million Israeli Jews and seven million
Palestinian Arabs living between the River and the Sea, even
after the horrific events of this past year.
There is no military solution to this conflict and this war
really must be the last Israeli-Palestinian war. There must be legitimate leaders on both sides that represent their
people and have the mandate to enter into negotiations.
The framework under which the negotiations take place
works best when there are direct bilateral negotiations
between the Israelis and Palestinians. Additionally, a
regional setting where there are developing normalization
and diplomatic relations between Israel and Arab countries
would benefit the negotiating process.
This is particularly important in the context of possibilities
of normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia as partial
fulfillment of the Arab Peace Initiative from 2002. The
regional context is important because it is within the region
that common interests and threats enable the development
of a regional architecture for mutual security, stability,
economic development and cross-boundary cooperation.
We, as Israelis and Palestinians should reach out to
President-elect Trump and express our preparedness to
work with him and his team to help end the war in Gaza and
to begin working together on the fulfillment of a vision of
peace between the two peoples that share this land.
Gershon Baskin is a political and social entrepreneur who has dedicated his life to peace between Israel and her neighbors. He is a founding member of "Kol Ezraheiha - Kol Muwanteneiha" (All of the Citizens) Political party in Israel. He is the Middle East Director for ICO - International Communities Organization, a UK based NGO.
Samer Sinjilawi is a political activist and a Palestinian political commentator from East Jerusalem. He is Chairman of the Jerusalem Development Fund. link
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s aides have unsuccessfully tried to move the premier’s testimony in his corruption trial to a place that isn’t a court, Channel 13 news reports.
The outlet quotes an unnamed source familiar with the details as asserting that Netanyahu is trying to avoid being photographed taking the stand.
The report says the testimony will likely take place at the Tel Aviv District Court.
The trial is being overseen by the Jerusalem District Court, which doesn’t have a safe room, complicating security arrangements for the testimony, which will start December 10 and is expected to last several weeks.
Speaking at a cornerstone laying ceremony for a new police station in the southern city of Sderot, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir calls on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to continue fighting in Lebanon despite the ceasefire that went into effect on Wednesday.
Stating that Hezbollah has violated the ceasefire “time and again,” Ben Gvir argues that “we must not stop, certainly here in the south as well.”
“We have a historic opportunity to bring peace for decades. We have a historic opportunity to collapse Hamas. We have a historic opportunity to restore deterrence, reoccupy the Gaza Strip and encourage voluntary immigration of Israel’s enemies. This is what will bring peace to the south,” he says.
Ben Gvir’s comments come only days after Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich told a conference organized by the Yesha Council, an umbrella group representing Israeli municipalities in the West Bank, that “it is possible to create a situation where Gaza’s population will be reduced to half its current size in two years” through encouraging emigration. link. The criminal minister who is a disciple of the racist Meir Kahana has no compunctions about committing international crimes of transfer of a million civilians and land theft all in the name of his messianic ideology and his war mongering. He cares nothing whatsoever for the lives of the hostages and has been one of the two ministers who have threatened Netanyahu with bringing down the government if he makes a hostage deal. And he obviously doesn't care about more soldiers being killed as long as he is able to achieve his goals and take over Gaza and settle it with Jewish settlements. If anyone should have an arrest warrant issued by the ICC, he is the primary candidate.
Housing and Construction Minister Yitzchak Goldknopf says he inspected sites in the Gaza Strip where he wants to reestablish settlements.
In a tweet, Goldknopf posts a photograph of himself alongside Daniella Weiss, the head of the Nachala Settlement Movement, looking at a map of potential settlement sites labeled, in English, “map of the [settlement nuclei] in Gaza.”
Goldknopf has repeatedly endorsed reestablishing Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip after the war against Hamas ends.
“Today I toured the Gaza Strip settlements. Jewish settlement here is the answer to the terrible massacre and the answer to the International Criminal Court in The Hague who, instead of caring for the 101 hostages, chose to issue arrest warrants against the prime minister and the minister of defense,” Goldknopf tweets.
Goldknopf did not actually enter the Gaza Strip but inspected the area from the border. Photos showed him viewing the area through binoculars.
In a separate post, Nachala thanks the ultra-Orthodox minister for accepting the organization’s invitation to “tour and observe the future settlement locations in Gaza.”
“Together we will build Jewish cities in Gaza, which will bring down the prices of apartments in the country with the understanding that without settlement there is no security. Our Gaza, forever,” the group states.
According to Hebrew media reports, earlier this month IDF soldiers went over their superiors’ heads to help Weiss enter the Strip to survey sites for potential Jewish settlements.
According to the Kan public broadcaster, Weiss, who is leading efforts to resettle northern Gaza, toured the Israeli side of the Gaza border fence with colleagues on November 13. The group eventually traversed the border, through unclear means, going a short way into the Strip.
During a speech on Monday, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said that Israel should occupy Gaza and “encourage” half of the Strip’s 2.2 million Palestinians to emigrate within two years. link Yet another minister willing to commit international crimes of stealing land occupied by war and transferring a civilian population. We know very well that Goldknopf doesn't care at all about soldiers dying and of the hostages lives. He famously said, "what does the war have to do with us" (him and his Haredi constituency). He is one of the main antagonist regarding inducting the Haredim to the army and has threatened to bring down the government is they don't get their exemptions.
IDF chief indicates he will resign after Oct. 7 investigation, defends right to make senior appointments
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi indicates that he intends to resign once the military completes its investigations into the October 7 onslaught.
“At the end of the investigations, we will also make personal decisions and commanders will exercise responsibility, from me down. I have no intention of passing over personal decisions when the picture becomes clearer to us,” he writes in a missive to troops.
Halevi’s missive largely focuses on defending his decision to make senior appointments in the military, with some arguing that he should not be making such decisions as he failed in his role concerning the October 7 onslaught.
“Appointing officers to positions is not a privilege, but a command and operational duty. The IDF cannot afford to freeze,” Halevi says.
In a recent round of appointments, Defense Minister Israel Katz refused to approve two officers due to their potential involvement in the failures that led to the October 7 attack. link Firstly, it is horribly ironic that Katz is refusing to approve officers due to their potential involvement in the failures before October 7. Katz has been an integral member of Netanyahu's governments and therefore has direct responsibility for everything that led up to October 7, yet no one from this failed and corrupt government has owned up to any responsibility.
Regarding Halevi, there is no question that he needs to resign along with the head of the Shin Bet and Mossad, all bearing very direct responsibility for the failures before, during and on October 7. However, none of them should resign until there is an Official State Commission of Inquiry and that Netanyahu is no longer prime minister. Getting back to Katz's refusal to approve 2 officers, the person who bears the largest and most criminal responsibility for everything that led up to October 7 and failures in managing the war is Netanyahu and he certainly should not be allowed to choose the next Chief of Staff and heads of the Shin Bet and Mossad. That would be a great travesty on top of the travesty of October 7.
The Region and the World
- The Swiss government, which previously drafted a law explicitly banning Hamas activities and support for the Palestinian terror group, decided this week against doing the same for Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Parliamentary security policy committees had called for a ban on Hezbollah, but in its response, published today, the federal government says the conditions had not been met.
Switzerland’s Federal Council says the group could not be banned as a threat to security under the country’s intelligence act because the existing law required sanctions or a ban by the United Nations to be in place for such a move to be applied.
It said it banned Hamas over the “unprecedented terrorist attacks” of October 7, 2023, in line with the practice of proscribing organizations on a case-by-case basis only “for extremely serious reasons.”
“Bans on organizations must continue to follow this political line,” it says, judging that it was “not appropriate” to create a new law to ban Hezbollah.
The lower house of parliament’s security committee had said that “like Hamas, Hezbollah is a radical Islamic terrorist organization responsible for numerous acts of violence and human rights violations” which “represents a threat to the stability of the entire region.”
It demanded that the government “issue a comprehensive ban on Hezbollah.”
Parliament will consider the government’s position during its December 2-20 session, and will also vote on the law to ban Hamas, Swiss news agency Keystone-ATS reports.
Survivors
Personal Stories Taken captive: Bipin Joshi, Nepalese student who deflected grenades
Farming student at Kibbutz Alumim was abducted by Hamas terrorists on October 7
Bipin Joshi, 23, a farming student from Nepal, was abducted by Hamas terrorists from Kibbutz Alumim on October 7, when they attacked the kibbutz as part of a vicious assault on the Gaza border communities, killing some 1,200 and taking at least 240 people hostage in Gaza.
The group of Nepali farming students had arrived in Israel only three weeks earlier as part of an academic program to care for orange and lemon orchards, according to Ynet.
The students had experienced rockets in the weeks since but realized this was a different kind of attack. Even so, they were calm at first, taking selfies in the safe room that they even uploaded to Facebook with the caption, “Bunker Time.”
When the terrorists entered the shelter, they shot and killed two of the students. They then threw two grenades into the space. Joshi threw one of the grenades away, but the other exploded, injuring several people in the room.
At that point, some of the Thai workers and Nepali students fled to other hiding places, while Joshi and several others tried to rescue those who were wounded.
He also sent several messages to his cousin in English, writing, “If something happens to me you have to take care of my family. Be strong and always see the future.”
Another terrorist then ordered Joshi and three Thai workers to walk out the door. One Nepali who was hiding heard one of the Thai workers saying, “Thailand, Thailand.”
They also heard the terrorist shouting, “Run, run.”
It was the last time that anyone saw Bipin alive.
As of November 11, the Nepali government still hadn’t confirmed whether Bipin is alive. The Joshi family has received confirmation from Israeli intelligence that Bipin’s phone was located in Gaza.
Nepal family holds out hope for son taken hostage by HamasA Nepali student who went to southern Israel for an internship was taken hostage in the Hamas terror attacks. His family says they check every day for news of a hostage release.
Every morning, schoolteacher Mahananda Joshi walks for hours through his remote village in western Nepal to find a corner where his phone picks up a signal.
When he finds a connection, he scrolls through multiple international news portals, hoping for news about a cease-fire between Israel and the militant Hamas group in Gaza.
So far, the headlines have not been optimistic. Joshi's 23-year-old son, Bipin Joshi, is believed to have been kidnapped from a kibbutz in southern Israel by Hamas terrorists on October 7. Joshi's only hope for his son is that a cease-fire will lead to a hostage release.
"I keep my mobile volume high even while I am teaching in class or trying to take nap during the night. I don't sleep. I fear missing a single call," he told DW.
His wife, Padma Joshi, tries to call him if any updates appear.
"The wait has been long. But what we have received so far are just false assurances," she lamented, complaining about how the Nepalese government has been unable to confirm whether her son is alive.
Internship of a lifetimeBipin Joshi, from Kanchanpur district in the southwestern corner of Nepal, was studying agriculture at Sudurpaschim University. He went to Israel for an internship in September 2023, along with 48 fellow students.
The 11-month-long program, called "Learn and Earn," combined work on Israeli farms with classroom learning.
The Nepalese students were divided into groups and assigned to different farms around southern Israel. Some worked on mushroom or lemon farms, while others were involved in poultry or dairy farming.
Joshi regularly shared his experiences with his family back home via video calls. "He showed us the lemon farm where he worked and shared his vision of opening a farm upon his return," his mother recalled.
Bipin Joshi (left) and his fellow workers seen on a farm in southern Israel in September 2023
All of them were due to receive their first salary in the second week of October. On October 6, a few of them gathered virtually to discuss what they planned to buy with their first paycheck.
"Getting an iPhone had been our dream for a long time. Before going to bed, Bipin and I talked over the phone about buying it together," said Louish Rijal, a fellow student.
Around 7 a.m. on October 7, the interns woke up to a terrible sound, with the building shaking and smoke everywhere.
They exited the building, and Rijal said they heard the sound of gunfire.
"It seemed like firecrackers to us. I took a video and posted it online," Rijal told DW.
"Bipin called me and told me to remove the video. At first, I refused. When he mentioned that a few of our friends had been shot dead, I started shivering and regretted capturing it," he said.
The Nepalese students were on four different farms and they tried to reach out to one another. Rijal said no one was responding to his calls except Joshi.
At 11:50 a.m., Joshi messaged Rijal, pleading for help to get them out of there. "That was the last text from him," said Rijal.
A few hours later, there was an update that 10 Nepalese students in Kibbutz Alumim has been killed in the terror attacks. Four were injured and taken to the hospital, and one was kidnapped by Hamas.
The missing person was Joshi, as witnessed by his friends. His phone was later traced to Gaza, according to the Israel Defense Forces. Other than being spotted in video footage weeks after his capture, Joshi's condition is unknown.
Bipin Joshi (right) and his friend Louish Rijal in March 2020
Nepal asks for help
It has been nearly 10 months since the October 7 terror attacks. Securing Joshi's release has been raised numerous times in Nepal's parliament and in international forums.
When Qatar's ruling emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, visited Nepal in April, the Nepalese government made an official request for Joshi's release, as Qatar has served as a mediator between Israel and Hamas.
Despite the uncertainty, Joshi's family believes that he will return home soon.
"With the current political turmoil, we are uncertain how this instability might be affecting diplomatic efforts for his release," his father said.
Nepal's government said it has taken action to secure Joshi's release.
"Since we don't have direct contact with Hamas, we are seeking help from third parties, especially from countries like Qatar, which maintains good relations with the militant group," Amrit Bahadur Rai, a spokesperson for Nepal's Foreign Affairs Ministry, told DW.
Hamas is designated as a terror organization by the United States, Germany, Israel and several other countries.
Rai mentioned receiving some positive responses from international actors but added, "we haven't received a concrete answer from anywhere yet."
Family still waiting
After the terror attacks, Nepal's government halted the "Learn and Earn" program.
Kumar Bahadur Shrestha, spokesperson and deputy chief of mission at the Embassy of Nepal in Israel, told DW that the embassy speaks regularly with Israeli diplomats to confirm Joshi's well-being and ensure the safety of Nepalese living in Israel.
According to the embassy, nearly 5,000 Nepalese are living in Israel, most of them working as caregivers.
Despite the well-meaning efforts of Nepal's government, Joshi's family is still desperately waiting for all of the "reassuring words" to turn into action.
Joshi's family is still desperately waiting for any word from their missing son
His father occasionally comes down to the city of Bajhang from the family's Kanchanpur village to follow up on the progress of efforts by the government and other agencies. Joshi's mother checks every new face that turns up near the house, hoping it might be their son. His 82-year-old grandmother is distressed daily by the fear that she will pass away without seeing her grandson's face again.
Joshi's 17-year-old sister returns from school every day hoping there's good news about her brother, who will come back soon and help her with homework.
"The only thing keeping us alive is the hope of returning our son. We must stay strong and spread our words louder so that our son might hear us from some corner of the world," said Mahananda Joshi. link
Parliamentary security policy committees had called for a ban on Hezbollah, but in its response, published today, the federal government says the conditions had not been met.
Switzerland’s Federal Council says the group could not be banned as a threat to security under the country’s intelligence act because the existing law required sanctions or a ban by the United Nations to be in place for such a move to be applied.
It said it banned Hamas over the “unprecedented terrorist attacks” of October 7, 2023, in line with the practice of proscribing organizations on a case-by-case basis only “for extremely serious reasons.”
“Bans on organizations must continue to follow this political line,” it says, judging that it was “not appropriate” to create a new law to ban Hezbollah.
The lower house of parliament’s security committee had said that “like Hamas, Hezbollah is a radical Islamic terrorist organization responsible for numerous acts of violence and human rights violations” which “represents a threat to the stability of the entire region.”
It demanded that the government “issue a comprehensive ban on Hezbollah.”
Parliament will consider the government’s position during its December 2-20 session, and will also vote on the law to ban Hamas, Swiss news agency Keystone-ATS reports.
Bipin Joshi, 23, a farming student from Nepal, was abducted by Hamas terrorists from Kibbutz Alumim on October 7, when they attacked the kibbutz as part of a vicious assault on the Gaza border communities, killing some 1,200 and taking at least 240 people hostage in Gaza.
The group of Nepali farming students had arrived in Israel only three weeks earlier as part of an academic program to care for orange and lemon orchards, according to Ynet.
The students had experienced rockets in the weeks since but realized this was a different kind of attack. Even so, they were calm at first, taking selfies in the safe room that they even uploaded to Facebook with the caption, “Bunker Time.”
When the terrorists entered the shelter, they shot and killed two of the students. They then threw two grenades into the space. Joshi threw one of the grenades away, but the other exploded, injuring several people in the room.
At that point, some of the Thai workers and Nepali students fled to other hiding places, while Joshi and several others tried to rescue those who were wounded.
He also sent several messages to his cousin in English, writing, “If something happens to me you have to take care of my family. Be strong and always see the future.”
Another terrorist then ordered Joshi and three Thai workers to walk out the door. One Nepali who was hiding heard one of the Thai workers saying, “Thailand, Thailand.”
They also heard the terrorist shouting, “Run, run.”
It was the last time that anyone saw Bipin alive.
As of November 11, the Nepali government still hadn’t confirmed whether Bipin is alive. The Joshi family has received confirmation from Israeli intelligence that Bipin’s phone was located in Gaza.
All of them were due to receive their first salary in the second week of October. On October 6, a few of them gathered virtually to discuss what they planned to buy with their first paycheck.
"Getting an iPhone had been our dream for a long time. Before going to bed, Bipin and I talked over the phone about buying it together," said Louish Rijal, a fellow student.
Around 7 a.m. on October 7, the interns woke up to a terrible sound, with the building shaking and smoke everywhere.
They exited the building, and Rijal said they heard the sound of gunfire.
"It seemed like firecrackers to us. I took a video and posted it online," Rijal told DW.
"Bipin called me and told me to remove the video. At first, I refused. When he mentioned that a few of our friends had been shot dead, I started shivering and regretted capturing it," he said.
The Nepalese students were on four different farms and they tried to reach out to one another. Rijal said no one was responding to his calls except Joshi.
At 11:50 a.m., Joshi messaged Rijal, pleading for help to get them out of there. "That was the last text from him," said Rijal.
A few hours later, there was an update that 10 Nepalese students in Kibbutz Alumim has been killed in the terror attacks. Four were injured and taken to the hospital, and one was kidnapped by Hamas.
It has been nearly 10 months since the October 7 terror attacks. Securing Joshi's release has been raised numerous times in Nepal's parliament and in international forums.
When Qatar's ruling emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, visited Nepal in April, the Nepalese government made an official request for Joshi's release, as Qatar has served as a mediator between Israel and Hamas.
Despite the uncertainty, Joshi's family believes that he will return home soon.
"With the current political turmoil, we are uncertain how this instability might be affecting diplomatic efforts for his release," his father said.
Nepal's government said it has taken action to secure Joshi's release.
"Since we don't have direct contact with Hamas, we are seeking help from third parties, especially from countries like Qatar, which maintains good relations with the militant group," Amrit Bahadur Rai, a spokesperson for Nepal's Foreign Affairs Ministry, told DW.
Hamas is designated as a terror organization by the United States, Germany, Israel and several other countries.
Rai mentioned receiving some positive responses from international actors but added, "we haven't received a concrete answer from anywhere yet."
Family still waiting
After the terror attacks, Nepal's government halted the "Learn and Earn" program.
Kumar Bahadur Shrestha, spokesperson and deputy chief of mission at the Embassy of Nepal in Israel, told DW that the embassy speaks regularly with Israeli diplomats to confirm Joshi's well-being and ensure the safety of Nepalese living in Israel.
According to the embassy, nearly 5,000 Nepalese are living in Israel, most of them working as caregivers.
Despite the well-meaning efforts of Nepal's government, Joshi's family is still desperately waiting for all of the "reassuring words" to turn into action.
His father occasionally comes down to the city of Bajhang from the family's Kanchanpur village to follow up on the progress of efforts by the government and other agencies. Joshi's mother checks every new face that turns up near the house, hoping it might be their son. His 82-year-old grandmother is distressed daily by the fear that she will pass away without seeing her grandson's face again.
Joshi's 17-year-old sister returns from school every day hoping there's good news about her brother, who will come back soon and help her with homework.
"The only thing keeping us alive is the hope of returning our son. We must stay strong and spread our words louder so that our son might hear us from some corner of the world," said Mahananda Joshi. link
Dark Legacy - The Abandonment of October 7th Hostages
A Letter to the Prime MinisterProf. Ephraim (Efi) Shoham-SteinerDepartment of Jewish History, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva.
Mr. Prime Minister,In the late 12th century, Maimonides labored on writing his book "Mishneh Torah", in which he chose to highlight the commandment of redeeming captives within the context of "Laws of Charity" (in his words: gifts to the poor). At the beginning of the book, Maimonides, whose words are always measured, notes that "there is no greater commandment than redeeming captives", and in his summary, he repeats and writes with a slight change, "there is no more important commandment than redeeming captives", as stated in the Talmud. Between these two statements, Maimonides lists all the commandments that one who does not redeem captives transgresses. The redundancy in the opening and closing is puzzling, but Maimonides thought and wrote in Arabic, and it is clear that the words "important commandment" in the conclusion are not identical to "greater commandment." There is a hint here that one who engages in redeeming captives is likened in their actions to the "Master of the Worlds" (Rab al- 'Alamin), as if to say: one who engages in this commandment is likened to God himself. This emphasis teaches how much Maimonides valuedthe force of this commandment. Turning one's back on it is an act that should not be done.You grew up in the home of a medieval historian. Your late father was well acquainted with both Maimonides and the case that will be briefly described, dealing with supreme efforts to redeem captives that occurred in the same years when Maimonides wrote. In the composition "Sefer Zechirah" by Rabbi Ephraim ben Jacob of Bonn, Germany, a remarkable event of redeeming captives in the nearby city of Cologne is described. Two Jews fell victim to a false accusation of using counterfeit coins. In this period and region, such a serious accusation led to severe physical punishments and even death. The Jews who were arrested came from northern France to trade in Cologne. The local officials fabricated allegations against them and mistreated them. They were arrested, tortured, and faced the threat of severe and humiliating physical harm and even death. They were apparently even offered to convert their religion in exchange for a reduced sentence.Rabbi Ephraim proudly recounts the quick and determined mobilization and support of the Cologne community for the captives. The community members did not rest, took risks upon themselves, showed creativity, and acted on various fronts to redeem the captives. Neighboring communities were recruited for the effort, connections were activated, officials were bribed, legal advisors and intensive court diplomacy were employed, and resources were mobilized to save the captives. This was an exemplar of solidarity and communal and inter-communal empowerment that the Cologne community took pride in, and Rabbi Ephraim documented. The efforts bore fruit, and the captives were released, unharmed. Everything was done without hesitation about future consequences, with the understanding that we are dealing with certain life-saving and actual preservation of life. As someone to whom Jewish heritage is familiar and important, turning one's back on this path contradicts Jewish history and tradition and is inconsistent with the solidarity and responsibility of all world communities throughout history for redeeming captives, especially in the Land of Israel and in the sovereign State of Israel.Do not let yourself be recorded in our history as a leader who turned his back on the history and the tradition of Israel, the same tradition he was raised on in the home of his father, and on the deep-rooted commitment to redeeming captives and saving lives.
Acronyms and Glossary
ICC - International Criminal Court in the Hague
IJC - International Court of Justice in the Hague
MDA - Magen David Adom - Israel Ambulance Corp
PA - Palestinian Authority - President Mahmud Abbas, aka Abu Mazen
PMO- Prime Minister's Office
UAV - Unmanned Aerial vehicle, Drone. Could be used for surveillance and reconnaissance, or be weaponized with missiles or contain explosives for 'suicide' explosion mission
Join my Whatsapp update group https://chat.whatsapp.com/IQ3OtwE6ydxBeBAxWNziB0
Twitter - @LonnyB58 Bluesky - @lonny-b.bsky.social
Twitter - @LonnyB58
Comments
Post a Comment