🎗️Lonny's War Update- October 431, 2023 - December 10, 2024 🎗️

  

🎗️Day 431 that 100 of our hostages in Hamas captivity
**There is nothing more important than getting them home! NOTHING!**

“I’ve never met them,

But I miss them. 

I’ve never met them,

but I think of them every second. 

I’ve never met them,

but they are my family. 

BRING THEM HOME NOW!!!”

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

#BringThemHomeNow #TurnTheHorrorIntoHope

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

‎אין נצחון עד שכל החטופים בבית

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

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Hostage Updates 

• יום הולדת 87 לחטוף עמירם קופר
  Today would be Amiram Cooper's 87 birthday
  

  On June 3, 2024, after obtaining new intelligence, the Israeli military confirmed the death of Israeli hostage Amiram Cooper, 84, who was killed in Hamas captivity. Below are the initial reports of his capture and its aftermath:

  Amiram Cooper, 84, one of the founders of Kibbutz Nir Oz, was taken captive by Hamas terrorists on October 7 as they launched an assault on the community, killing and abducting one-quarter of the kibbutz residents.

  

  Nurit and Amiram Cooper were taken hostage to Gaza on October 7, 2023 — here they’re pictured with a grandson before the October 7 attacks, and a photo of Nurit and her grandson after she was released following 49 days of captivity (Courtesy)

  Cooper’s wife, Nurit, was released on October 23 with Yocheved Lifshitz and is now recuperating with her family.

  She has told her family about the brutal abduction. The terrorists shot at the front door, forcibly taking Nurit and Amiram from the house.

  Amiram and Nurit were held in the same room underground, along with five other kibbutz members, according to their son, Rotem Cooper, in a Ynet interview.

  Throughout the captivity, it was impossible to grasp whether it was day or night, said Rotem Cooper.

  He and his mother believe that when she was taken from the room, his father probably figured out that she was being released.

  Amiram Cooper is an economist who worked for many years as the chief economist of the Ma’on region settlements. He is also a poet and composer, with several published books of poetry, plays and articles dealing with politics and economics.

  The couple has three children and nine grandchildren, and Amiram has always seen the establishment of Nir Oz and the settlement of the Western Negev as his life’s mission.

  
  
• Heads of IDF, Shin Bet meet Egyptian officials in Cairo to discuss potential hostage deal
  

  Shin Bet Director Ronen Bar and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi were in Cairo today to meet senior Egyptian officials, an Israeli official tells The Times of Israel, confirming a report in the Walla news outlet.

  The two were there to discuss, among other issues, attempts to reach a hostage release deal. “Hamas still hasn’t given an answer on if it is willing to engage in negotiations,” says the official.

  According to Walla, this was a visit planned weeks ago primarily to discuss issues relating to the border between Egypt and Gaza. link There has been much speculation about being close to a deal that will release the 'humanitarian' hostages (meaning the elderly, women, children, ill and wounded, but we don't know if this indeed would include the young women soldiers) but that is bullshit. All of them are humanitarian hostages and Netanyahu's disgusting use of this term is just a diversion.  All of the talk about a deal has come from Netanyahu and his cronies and that fed a frenzy of spins and lots of speculation. With each new 'report', I check to see if there is any validity to it and find that the chances of it being real is close to zero. Netanyahu talks about this partial deal which would be a short ceasefire to get the 'humanitarian' hostages home and then go back to fighting till he reaches his purposely non- defined 'total victory' which doesn't mean anything except prolonging the war and not making a hostage deal, strictly for Netanyahu's self interests. There is little to no chance that Hamas will be flexible enough to agree to any deal that does not include ending the war and withdrawal of Israeli troops! And spins and speculation saying otherwise is likely BS.

  
  

• Optimistic message from Egypt: Hostage deal is 'very close'

  

  Egyptian official tells Ynet that announcement of an agreement leading to a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas is imminent; Source says that an Israeli delegation is set to arrive in Cairo this week and will receive from Hamas a list of living hostages; Hamas has made it clear: 'The chances of a deal are better than ever'
  After a senior Israeli official said on Monday that it would be possible to reach a hostage deal "within a week or two ," a senior Egyptian official also told Ynet and Yedioth Ahronoth on Tuesday that the announcement of an agreement that would lead to a cease-fire and a hostage deal is "very close." A Hamas delegation led by senior Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya left Cairo on Sunday night, following discussions with Egyptian intelligence chief Major General Hassan Mahmoud Rashad and his team. It was learned yesterday that the delegation had handed over to the Egyptians a detailed list of Israeli hostages - including the sick and elderly, women and men - that Hamas proposes to release in the first phase. The Hamas delegation also handed over a detailed list of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons that Hamas demands to be released as part of the new deal. The Egyptian official clarified that an Israeli delegation is scheduled to leave for Cairo this week for a meeting at the intelligence headquarters, during which they will be given the lists of hostages and Palestinian prisoners. Hamas made it clear to Egypt that "there is a better chance than ever before of closing a deal," in exchange for the release of the prisoners and Israel's withdrawal from the Philadelphi corridor and other areas in the Gaza Strip. The Al-Araby channel and the Al-Jazeera network in Qatar reported that, in talks in the Egyptian intelligence offices, an understanding was reached between Egypt and Hamas regarding the places from which the IDF will withdraw in Gaza, and that a week after the withdrawal, a cease-fire will be declared and the round of releasing Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners will begin. Israel, the Egyptian source clarified, will first withdraw from Rafah and areas to be determined in advance along the Philadelphi Corridor.

  Meanwhile, Qatar's Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari commented on the progress in the negotiations, saying that his country had renewed contacts with Hamas and Israel "in good faith" as part of the mediation toward a cease-fire in Gaza. "We are open to any path that leads to an agreement, we have not given up on mediation," he said. "Negotiations are continuing and it is too early to talk about developments."
  On Monday, an Israeli senior official estimated in an interview with Ynet that "within a week or two" it would be possible to reach a hostage deal, and said that "the conditions are ripe." At the same time, sources close to a senior Hamas official said Monday that there had been significant progress in talks for a deal. According to the same sources, the terrorist organization agreed to a gradual cessation of the war, and to a deal that is divided into three stages and includes a gradual withdrawal.
  According to the proposed deal, they said, between the sixth and eighth weeks of the cease-fire, IDF forces will withdraw from the Rafah Crossing and from city centers, after which negotiations will begin for a permanent cease-fire and the release of the kidnapped soldiers.
  Hamas, the insiders claimed, has handed Egypt a list of the living Israeli hostages - and is waiting for Israeli agreements regarding the list of Palestinian prisoners it requested, which also includes high-security prisoners 60 'trial days', Presence in Gaza during the cease-fire An Egyptian official explained last week to Ynet and Yedioth Ahronoth that the new proposal put forward by Cairo includes a gradual cessation of fighting in Gaza, with the Israeli side withdrawing from the Rafah Crossing, in parallel with the declaration of a temporary cease-fire for about 60 days. He emphasized that the first 60 days would be designated as "trial days" for both sides - Israel and Hamas - and that, if the plan holds up, it would be "the end of the conflict between the sides." About a week after the temporary cease-fire comes into effect, according to the Egyptian official, the process of returning surviving Israeli hostages will begin. At the same time, hundreds of Palestinian terrorists also will be released from Israeli prisons, according to terms to be agreed upon between the parties. During the 60-day trial cease-fire, Israel will maintain a military presence in Gaza. The proposal also addresses the possibility of Palestinian refugees returning to the northern Gaza Strip, as Hamas demands. As for the Rafah Crossing, according to the plan it is expected to be transferred to the management and supervision of the Palestinian Authority. In previous contacts, Israel raised the possibility of maintaining a certain surveillance capability through cameras at the Rafah Crossing. In addition, according to the senior Egyptian source, a joint management committee from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip will be established, which will include between 10 and 15 "independent Palestinian political technocrats." The committee will be supervised by American representatives. link Everyone asks why Netanyahu could make a deal in Lebanon with a total ceasefire and 60 days to pull out troops and can't do the same in Gaza. His putrified answer is that the goals of the two fronts were very different. In the north, the goal was to get the residents back to their homes to live in safety, and in the south, the goal was to rid Gaza of Hamas and to rid Israel from the Hamas threat from the south. Militarily, everyone agrees that Hamas is a shadow of what it was, but politically it is still there and controlling too many things. And that is only because Netanyahu refused to have to single party who can replace Hamas enter and manage Gaza. That party is a reformed Palestinian Authority. Until that happens, there is no chance to have anything other than Hamas governing in Gaza and their strength will only grow because of it. Netanyahu was the root cause of the growth of Hamas and remains the root cause for their remaining. Back to the 60 days and a deal. The difference in agreements with a 60 days period for IDF withdrawal is that in the north, we can easily go back and fight within the 60 days and beyond. In the south, we would also be able to do that, but the big difference is that we have 100 hostages there and if we are going to leave some of them in Gaza till the end of the 60 days, who guarantees that they will survive. 60 days means the height of winter and the hostages physically cannot survive the winter. Their bodies are so deteriorated from starvation, torture, lack of sanitation and medicines, lack of fresh air and sunlight. 60 days could very well be their death sentence. In the meantime, we don't even have an agreement for 60 days because any agreement will mean the end of the war and Netanayahu would rather that all the hostages die as long as he can continue being prime minister.

  
  

Gaza and the South

• Major News Report that led up to October 7*******Hamas mobilized 2,000 men in May 2023 to drill attack, noted lack of IDF response********
  Channel 12 reports that months before Oct 7, terror group conducted mass exercise that flew under Israel’s radar, giving group confidence in ability to strike Jewish state

  

  Illustrative: A live-fire exercise dubbed operation 'Strong Pillar' outside Al-Mawasi, a town on the southern coast of the Gaza Strip, on September 12, 2023. (Hamas via AP)

  
  In a May 2023 exercise, the Hamas terror group in Gaza mobilized some 2,000 fighters from its elite Nukhba force to simulate a surprise attack on Israel, some five months before it went on to launch its October 7, 2023, onslaught, Channel 12 reported Monday, citing the findings of a military probe.

  According to the report, fighters were scrambled to various designated gathering points, mostly in mosques, to simulate preparations for an invasion of Israeli communities across the Gaza border.

  The network said the drill became known to Israel only many months later through documents seized in Gaza during the subsequent war and through interrogations of captured Nukhba fighters.
  

  It was one of the many signals that Israeli intelligence either missed or ignored that the terror group was planning to invade the country.

  Following the exercise, a narrow panel of Hamas’s highest military council met to assess the drill, the report said. Among those who participated in the meeting — documents from which were found by Israeli troops in a Hamas bunker during the war — were Muhammad Deif, then commander of the group’s military wing, and Yahya Sinwar, then its Gaza chief.

  The panel reportedly determined that the exercise was a resounding success, having flown under the radar of Israeli intelligence.

  According to Channel 12, several officials from the security establishment confirmed the details of the report. A spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces declined to comment.
  

  Thousands of Hamas-led terrorists invaded Israel from Gaza on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages, amid acts of brutality and sexual assault, triggering the ongoing war.
  

  Multiple media investigations in the 14 months since the attack have noted intelligence officers’ awareness of some Hamas exercises simulating an invasion, which led to warnings that were ignored by intelligence higher-ups, who believed the terror group was grandstanding, and uninterested in conflict.

  A dossier compiled by the IDF’s Military Intelligence’s Unit 8200 less than three weeks before October 7 warned that Hamas was training for a large-scale invasion of Israel, during which hostages would be taken en masse.

  In addition, an email sent to intelligence officials in the IDF’s Gaza Division just days before the attack reportedly warned that an invasion was imminent, citing Hamas exercises in the Strip.

  Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has so far refused to allow for a state commission of inquiry into the failures leading up to the Hamas attack, despite calls to do so from lawmakers across the political spectrum, as well as the president and the attorney general.

  Netanyahu has argued such investigations should wait for the end of the war, while reportedly seeking a lower-level committee with less robust investigative powers. Critics say Netanyahu fears he could face blame for the failures that enabled the attack. link This major terrorist exercise in which thousands of the terrorists took part was a complete blind spot to our intelligence services and the IDF. Apparently, even Hamas was so surprised that we didn't catch wind of the exercise that was taking place right under our noses.  Until there is an Official State Commission of Inquiry, we will never know the complete picture of how this happened but it is apparent that the root cause was the conception that Netanyahu pushed and had the security forces and intelligence commanders following that Hamas was deterred, money and jobs bought them off and Gaza was not a threat. Netanyahu has been betting the farm for many years of singling in on Iran as the only real threat to Israel and had all eyes focused there. There was strong belief in the IDF that no soldier would ever again put boots on the ground in Gaza as there wasn't enough of a threat or need.

•  Hamas congratulated the Syrian people on Monday for achieving their "aspirations for freedom and justice" after toppling President Bashar al-Assad. It was Hamas' first public comment since rebel forces swept into the Syrian capital Damascus on Sunday after a lightning advance that sent Assad fleeing to Russia after a 13-year civil war and six decades of his family's autocratic rule. "We stand strongly with the great people of Syria... and respect the will, the independence, and the political choices of the people of Syria," the Islamist faction that has been ruling the Gaza Strip said in a statement. Hamas said it hoped that post-Assad Syria would continue "its historical and pivotal role in supporting the Palestinian people." In a separate statement,, Ziad al-Nakhala, head of the Islamic Jihad, an Iranian-backed group and an ally of Hamas, echoed that sentiment. "The Islamic Jihad hopes Syria will remain a real support for the Palestinian people, their just cause, as it has always been," said Nakhala. Hamas publicly endorsed the 2011 Sunni Muslim street uprising against Assad's rule and vacated its Damascus headquarters in 2012, a move that angered Iran, an ally of both Assad and the Palestinian group. Hamas, whose ideological roots stem from the Sunni Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, distanced itself from Assad - a member of the minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam - as he cracked down on the mainly Sunni Muslim protesters and rebels. The Palestinian group decided in 2022 to restore ties with the Assad government and sent a delegation to Damascus, where Hamas leaders met Assad in the hope of repairing relations. Assad's Syria and Iran formed an "axis of resistance" with Lebanon's Hezbollah movement and Palestinian militant groups to oppose Israel. Hamas's positive response to the fall of Assad contrasted with that of Shi'ite Muslim Hezbollah , which played a major part propping up Assad through years of war. 
  (Reuters)
  
  
• IDF says strike kills 10 Hamas men involved in slaying of 3 soldiers Monday

  Military say aircraft attacked terror operatives who participated in killing of Staff Sgt. Ido Zano, Staff Sgt. Barak Daniel Halpern and Sgt. Omri Cohen

  The IDF said Tuesday morning that an airstrike in Gaza had killed 10 Hamas operatives who were involved in the deaths of three IDF soldiers the day before.

  Staff Sgt. Ido Zano, Staff Sgt. Barak Daniel Halpern and Sgt. Omri Cohen were killed and 12 others were wounded in Jabalia when Hamas operatives launched anti-tank projectiles and opened fire at troops as they were getting ready to head out of the Strip for a furlough.

  The troops were boarding a lightly armored truck used to transport troops when Hamas operatives launched anti-tank projectiles and opened fire at them.
  

  The military said it was further investigating the incident, which came amid an IDF offensive against Hamas in the Strip’s far northern towns of Jabalia, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun launched in early September.

  So far, the military estimates that it has killed at least 1,750 operatives during the recent operation, while another 1,300 have been detained, and around 90,000 civilians evacuated from the area. Thirty-four IDF soldiers have been killed so far in the operation.

  The IDF published footage of the strike that killed the Hamas operatives involved in the deadly attack on the soldiers.

  
  

Northern Israel - Lebanon/Hizbollah/Syria

• Throughout yesterday, the IDF Air Force has been destroying Syrian military assets: weapons, missiles, military bases and air bases, weapons manufacturing facilities and depots all within 100 kilometers of the Israeli border. The purpose of all the attacks is to make sure the weapons and capabilities don't fall into the hands of the various rebel groups who could use them to threaten Israel. These attacks will continue while Syria is in chaos.
  Al-Mayadeen reports that "the Israeli attacks targeted fighter jet squadrons, airports, anti-aircraft batteries, weapons and ammunition depots, scientific research centers, and missile brigades in the various provinces of Syria."

  (Ynet)

  The Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Mayadeen network reported additional attacks in Syria, in the Homs region. At the same time, it was claimed that Israel destroyed military helicopters at Aqraba Airport in the Damascus region. In Damascus, according to reports, explosions were heard near the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Center where, according to reports in the past, Iran was working to produce long-range missiles, and where the Assad regime was suspected of working to produce chemical weapons.

  (Lior Ben Ari, Reuters)Israeli airstrikes hit alleged weapons depots and pro-Iranian militias in eastern Syria, the Saudi network Al Hadath reported Sunday night.

  The weapons hit by the warplanes included advanced missile storage sites, air defense systems, and weapon production facilities, according to the defense sources. Israel also struck a chemical weapons site overnight Saturday-Sunday, according to foreign reports.

  The Assad regime, which fell on Sunday after a lightning offensive by rebel forces, was an ally of the Iranian regime, and a part of its so-called Axis of Resistance against Israel.

  For many years, Syria was used as a throughway for Iranian weapons, en route to terror groups including Hezbollah in Lebanon, with which Israel entered a shaky ceasefire last month.

• *"Squadrons of MiG and Sukhoi jets and the densest air defense system in the world: The Syrian Air Force is nearing destruction 
  A historic move by Israel under the guise of the Assad regime's collapse: For the first time in over five decades, Israel attacks entire enemy air force bases. Approximately 300 strikes with hundreds of planes and aircraft in less than two days, paving the way for open skies in the Middle East: This is how the attacks look, and these are the additional targets that were attacked in Syria.

  Israel identifies a historic and one-time opportunity to severely harm the last significant weapon remaining against it—certainly in the first circle—and therefore hundreds of fighter jets and various aircraft of the Air Force have been participating since the fall of the Assad regime in widespread waves of attacks throughout Syria, around the clock.

  So far, according to various Western intelligence assessments, about 300 strikes on various military targets, mainly of the Syrian Air Force, have been carried out. Among the targets attacked are also Syrian Air Force bases, including entire squadrons of MiG and Sukhoi aircraft that were destroyed. The last time Israel destroyed an entire enemy state's air force—Egypt—was during the Six-Day War in 1967.

  Tonight, Israeli attacks continued throughout Syria. Reports included strikes in the city of Raqqa and the suburbs of Damascus, and reportedly the targets were also defense factories and scientific research facilities in the Aleppo area and the scientific research center in the Jamraya area in the suburbs of Damascus. In the morning, explosions were reported in Damascus following another strike in the city and its surroundings. According to various estimates, it is not unlikely that within a few days, the Syrian Air Force will be practically destroyed, leaving the rebels without the ability to use aerial platforms, which were inferior to the Israeli Air Force in any case.

  
  Destroyed airplanes at Al-Mezza airport in Damascus, after IDF strikes (Photo: Bakr ALKASEM / AFP)
  

  

  
  

  Additionally, the Air Force is destroying dozens of large and advanced air defense batteries across Syria, thereby rendering the air defense system, considered the densest in the world, inoperative—a no less historic move. This air defense system, which includes surface-to-air missile batteries (SAMs), limited Israel's aerial superiority in Syria, especially over the past decade, and even led to the downing of an Israeli F-16 in the Galilee in the previous decade.

  This air defense system was rebuilt over the last decade by Russia and, in some cases, even upgraded. Even when Bashar Assad's regime was neck-deep in his country's civil war, he ensured the reacquisition of air defense batteries that the IDF had destroyed in hundreds of strikes during the "Campaign Between the Wars." In the past 48 hours, dozens of Russian diplomats have been evacuated from Damascus, and the Russian flag was even removed from the embassy building in the Syrian capital. It is plausible that the permanent Russian military presence in Syria, primarily at the Hmeimim base near Latakia in the northwest of the country, will end with the Russian army's withdrawal.

  This is because the rebel organizations remember well that Russia was Assad's main patron throughout the civil war and now provides him and his family with asylum in Moscow. It should be noted that the main rebel organization, "Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham," led by Abu Mohammad al-Julani, spearheaded the capture of Damascus and other major cities in central Syria. However, the fragmented country still has tens of thousands of armed fighters from other rebel organizations, including extremists who have taken over other areas in Syria, including parts of southern Syria near Daraa and even in the Syrian Golan."
  

  *"This is why the IDF has taken no risks and, over the past two days, captured dozens of key and strategic positions in Syrian territory, near the buffer zone that was also seized. The goal is to prevent the abandoned and empty Syrian posts, and especially the large quantities of weapons and launchers left there, from falling into the hands of unidentified or unaligned armed groups that have not yet declared affiliation or connection to al-Julani.

  In the last two days, the IDF has also attacked strategic stockpiles of additional weaponry, including hundreds of ground-to-ground missile launchers of various types and some of the chemical weapons that remain in Syria.

  
  The damage at the Al-Maza airport (Photo: Bakr ALKASEM / AFP)
  

  
  
  

  

  
  

  Ships, air defense, research centers: The campaign to 'destroy Assad's army.'

  After Damascus fell to the rebels, Israel continued yesterday (Monday) to intensively attack a range of targets across Syria to ensure they do not pose a future threat. Arab media reported extensive strikes in various areas throughout the day, and the Saudi channel "Al-Hadath" reported that the Air Force conducted over 250 strikes in Syria in the past two days—about 100 of them in the evening hours.

  
  Attacks in the Barza area of ​​Damascus, near the Institute for Scientific Research
  

  
  
  

  

  
  

  According to Arab reports, yesterday's Israeli strikes targeted fighter jet squadrons, airports, air defense batteries, weapons and ammunition depots, scientific research centers, and missile brigades in various provinces of Syria. Two Syrian security officials told the Reuters news agency that the IDF attacked central air force bases in Syria and destroyed infrastructure as well as dozens of helicopters and planes during the strikes.

  Arab media also reported that Israel attacked the port city of Latakia on the northwest Syrian coastline. According to the Saudi channel "Al-Arabiya," ships belonging to the Syrian Navy under Assad's regime were targeted at the port. Security sources told Reuters that the attack was directed at an air defense system near the port. The channel "Sabereen," affiliated with pro-Iranian militias in Iraq, reported that the air defense system at the port was destroyed in the strike.

  In Damascus, explosions were reportedly heard in the Barzeh area near a scientific research institute that, according to previous reports, was used by Iran to produce long-range missiles and suspected of being involved in chemical weapons production by Assad's regime. According to the Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Mayadeen network, the center was destroyed. Opposition-aligned sources told the Syrian "Kul al-Balad" outlet that reports of chemical materials being present in the building are untrue and that "the smell spreading in the area is only due to the strikes."

  Additionally, strikes were reported on a research center in the rural area of Hama, in the city of Masyaf. The Syrian news site "Kul al-Balad" also reported last night on a wave of Israeli strikes targeting sites and warehouses belonging to Assad's regime and pro-Iranian militias in Damascus, its surroundings, and the al-Qalamoun area. According to the report, the strikes in the Damascus area targeted warehouses and headquarters of the militias in Sayyida Zainab and warehouses of Assad's army in the villages of Ein Mnin and Hafir in the rural area of the Syrian capital.

  The Al-Mayadeen network reported strikes in the Homs region. It was also reported that al-Qamishli Airport in eastern Syria was targeted. Additionally, the Hezbollah-affiliated network reported strikes on the "Fauj 45" headquarters of the Syrian army's special forces in the rural area of al-Hasakah in the northeast of the country."

  *"In the morning hours, the 'Sabereen' agency reported Israeli strikes in the Qalamoun mountains near the suburbs of Damascus. The 'Kul al-Balad' outlet reported that the strikes targeted military posts, missile warehouses, and Hezbollah positions in the area. Another report indicated that the IDF continues advancing in Quneitra, near the Israel-Syria border.

  Yesterday, images of strikes attributed to the IDF a day earlier were published, showing attacks at the al-Mazzeh military airport in a luxury neighborhood in southwest Damascus, a site Israel has previously targeted to strike senior figures in the Iranian-Shiite axis. Reports yesterday indicated that a fire was still raging at the military airport. The Saudi channel 'Al-Hadath' reported during the day that Israel struck dozens of Syrian MiG-29 fighter jets there on Sunday night.

  Last night, another airport in Damascus—al-Maruhiyat, in the Aqraba area—was reported to have been attacked. According to a report by 'Al-Mayadeen,' Israel destroyed military helicopters at the site. Additional reports mentioned strikes in the town of Yaafour in the rural area of Damascus. The 'Sabereen' network, affiliated with pro-Iranian militias, claimed that 'chemical odors spread' in the area. Meanwhile, 'Kul al-Balad' reported that an attack in the Sayyida Zainab area in the suburbs of Damascus destroyed the "electronic warfare administration building."

  'Airstrikes – Defense Against Extreme Scenarios'

  The night before last, around 12:15 AM, explosions were reported at Brigade 12 and Battalion 175 of the Syrian army, near the city of Izra in the rural Daraa area, resulting from an explosion of weapon depots following an Israeli strike on the two sites. Later, reports emerged of strikes in the Tel Harouf area near the village of Nahatah in the eastern rural area of Daraa, which had also been targeted the previous day. Additional strikes were reported near Tel al-Hara in the northern rural area of Daraa. Around 3:00 AM, further strikes on military sites in Daraa and the region were reported.

  Following the IDF's capture of the Syrian Golan Heights on Sunday, the Qatari 'Al-Arabi' channel reported that the Israeli army reached the Druze village of Hader in the Syrian part of Mount Hermon, conducting searches in Syrian residents' homes in the village of Ein al-Tinah. 'Kul al-Balad' reported Israeli strikes in the mountains where the Syrian army's Fourth Division, commanded by Maher al-Assad, the brother of Bashar al-Assad, who has fled to Russia, was active.

  The Syrian opposition-aligned Syria TV channel also reported a strike on the Syrian army's 9th Division in the town of As-Sanamayn in the Daraa province and a strike on the 15th Brigade of the Syrian army. Additionally, military warehouses near the town of Mahajjah in the northern rural Daraa area were reportedly attacked.

  Israeli officials told the American 'Wall Street Journal' last night that the purpose of the airstrikes in Syria is to defend against extreme scenarios, such as the possibility of a new Syrian regime being highly hostile to Israel and potentially attacking it. Another possible scenario is that Syria could descend into a prolonged civil war, during which rebel groups might gain access to weapons left behind by Assad's army. Officials expressed concern that chemical weapons could fall into the wrong hands. The Syrian army has used the deadly nerve agent sarin in several attacks within the country, and human rights organizations have documented cases of chlorine gas usage. According to intelligence sources, Syria may still possess stockpiles of sarin gas."

  *"Jeremy Issacharoff, former Deputy Director-General of Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told the 'Journal' that Israel had developed an intelligence picture of Syria's chemical weapons program as early as 2010. He stated that Syria had developed both chemical agents and delivery systems and that at the time, Israel estimated that Syria held approximately 1,300 tons of chemicals. 'Among the chemicals Syria developed were sarin, VX, and mustard gas,' he said.

  The IDF Identifies: Tehran Disconnecting Arms and Evacuating Operatives from Syria

  One day after the fall of the Assad regime, the IDF began to detect that Iran was disconnecting arms supplies and evacuating operatives from Syria to ensure their survival. Simultaneously, the army targeted and prevented the transfer of weaponry from Syria to Lebanon. Yesterday, after Sayeret Matkal fighters captured the highest peak on Mount Hermon the previous day, the IDF bolstered its presence with artillery and tanks in the Golan and the buffer zone area, as well as in Syrian-controlled positions near the border. Syrian military posts in the Syrian Golan were abandoned, and the IDF is monitoring the weapons left behind in these positions.

  The IDF has also observed the initial movements of Russian forces and their equipment out of Syria. For Assad loyalists, a final enclave of the Alawite community remains in the small coastal region between Tartus and Latakia.

  Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar confirmed yesterday that Israel had attacked various targets in Syria 'to prevent them from falling into the hands of extremist groups.' During a briefing with foreign journalists at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sa'ar stated, 'What guides us is the security of the State of Israel and its citizens. Therefore, we targeted strategic weapons systems, residual chemical weapons capabilities, long-range missiles, and rockets—to prevent them from falling into the hands of extremist elements.' Sa'ar also confirmed that Israel maintains connections with groups within the country: 'We are, of course, in contact with the Kurds and Druze in Syria.'

  Additionally, the IDF spokesperson updated yesterday that the combat team of paratroopers and other forces is conducting forward defense operations on the ground to prevent any threats and is deployed in the buffer zone in dominant positions. This comes a day after Division 210 forces began proactive measures to defend the communities in the Golan Heights in light of the fall of the Assad regime. Furthermore, engineering, infantry, and armored forces, operating under the command of regional brigades, the Golan Brigade (474), and the Mountain Brigade (810), are deployed along the Israel-Syria border to ensure area security."link

• Israel pounds Syrian military sites; regional sources claim ‘nothing left’ of army assets

  IDF denies ground forces in Golan have advanced beyond buffer zone; at the same time, Israeli Navy operates to destroy toppled Assad regime’s fleet
  The IDF had yet to comment broadly on the strikes, but military sources said that the Navy had carried out a large-scale operation Monday night to destroy the former regime’s naval fleet, amid a wave of operations to take out military assets lest they fall into hostile hands.

  
  An aerial photo shows Syrian naval ships destroyed during an overnight Israeli attack on the port city of Latakia on December 10, 2024. (Aaref Watad/AFP)
  
  

  
  

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• Assad’s collapse fractures Iranian axis, but ensuing chaos could batter rest of region

  Alongside opportunities created by fall of regime, experts say risks abound should competing forces try to grab power, further destabilizing Syria
  

  The ouster of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad after rebel forces swept into Damascus this weekend shattered Iran’s network of influence in the Middle East, but Israel, the United States and Arab powers must now deal with the risk of instability and extremism from the mosaic of forces that replaces him.

  Chief among the rebel forces that ended 50 years of brutal dynastic rule by Assad and his father was Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a Sunni Muslim group previously affiliated with al-Qaeda that is designated as a terrorist organization by the US and the UN.

  Western and Arab nations fear that the HTS-led rebel coalition may seek to replace Assad’s regime with a hardline Islamist government, or one less able or inclined to prevent the resurgence of radical forces, three diplomats and three analysts told Reuters.
  

  “There is strong fear inside and outside the region of the power vacuum that Assad’s sudden collapse may cause,” said Abdelaziz al-Sager, director of the Gulf Research Center, a think tank focused on the Middle East. He cited the civil wars that followed the toppling of Iraqi president Saddam Hussein in 2003 and Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

  One senior Western diplomat in the region, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that with the rebel forces fragmented, there was no plan for how to rule Syria, a complex nation divided into various sects and ethnic groups, each with its own regional power base.

  The senior diplomat expressed fears that lawlessness in Syria could allow the flourishing of extremist groups like the Islamic State, which in 2014 swept through large swaths of Syria and Iraq and established an Islamic Caliphate before it was eventually driven out by a US-led coalition.

  US President Joe Biden on Sunday welcomed Assad’s toppling and said he should be “held accountable” for his despotic rule but he warned that his departure was a moment of “risk and uncertainty.” US forces on Sunday conducted dozens of strikes within Syria against IS to prevent it reasserting itself.
  The speed of Assad’s ouster, just two weeks since the rebel offensive began, took many in the White House by surprise. A senior US official said Washington was now seeking ways to communicate with all the rebel groups, not just HTS.
  

  So far, Washington had mostly thrown its support behind Syrian Kurdish groups, such as the Syrian Democratic Forces, whose areas of control are in northeast Syria.

  These groups, however, are in conflict with one of the main victorious rebels factions, the Syrian National Army, or SNA, backed by regional power broker, Turkey, which opposes Kurdish influence.

  Assad’s allies in Tehran and Moscow, who propped up his rule for 13 years with military support, men and airpower, also face far-reaching implications from his precipitous downfall.
  

  Moscow — which has given Assad and his family asylum — has two major military bases in Syria, its main footprint in the Middle East. Its naval base in Tartus on the Mediterranean has been a staging post to fly military contractors in and out of Africa.

  For Tehran, its alliance with Assad — a member of the minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shi’ite Islam — was a cornerstone of its powerbase in a predominantly Sunni region wary of Shi’ite Iran.

  Assad’s departure shattered a pivotal axis of influence, eroding Tehran’s ability to project power and sustain its network of militia groups across the Middle East, particularly its ally Hezbollah in Lebanon. A senior Iranian official told Reuters on Monday it had opened a direct line of communication with the rebels in an attempt to “prevent a hostile trajectory.”
  

  Israel’s year-long military campaign has already severely weakened the military power of Hezbollah and Hamas in Gaza.

  Assad offered Iran a vital conduit for arms shipments to Hezbollah. Jonathan Panikoff, a former US deputy national intelligence officer for the Middle East, said his ouster could make it more difficult for Hezbollah to rearm, increasing the prospects that a ceasefire with Israel agreed last month would hold.
  Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed the ousting of Assad as a “historic day” that followed the blows delivered by Israel against Iran and Hezbollah. He said he had ordered Israeli forces to seize areas along the bordering buffer zone to ensure Israel’s security.
  Israeli forces carried out airstrikes against suspected chemical weapons and missile sites on Monday to prevent them from falling into the hands of hostile actors, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said.
  Carmit Valensi, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies, a think tank for Israeli security policy based in Tel Aviv, said that — despite the risk of a prolonged period of chaos and violence in Syria — Assad’s fall could benefit Israel.
  “Despite concerns over the rise of extremist elements near the border and the lack of a clear authority in charge, the military capabilities of the rebels, in their various forms, aren’t comparable to those of Iran and its proxies,” she said.
  
  Free elections or free-for-all?
  
  Marwan al-Muasher, vice president for studies at the US-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said Assad’s exit could provide an opportunity for Syrians to establish an inclusive political governance through an orderly transition, rather than allowing extremist groups to gain ascendancy via a power vacuum.
  Hadi Al-Bahra, the head of Syria’s main opposition abroad, told Reuters on the sidelines of the Doha Forum on Sunday that Syria should have an 18-month transition period to establish “a safe, neutral, and quiet environment” for free elections.
  

  Al-Bahra, president of the Syrian National Coalition, said Syria should draft a constitution within six months, on which the first election would be a referendum. He said the opposition had asked state employees to report to work until the power transition, and assured them that they would not be harmed.

  But Syria’s political opposition has little influence on the ground in Damascus, where armed groups hold sway, and many Syria watchers remain skeptical.

  The leader of HTS, Abu Mohammed al-Golani, addressed huge crowds at the medieval Umayyad Mosque in central Damascus on Sunday, promising a new chapter for the region and that Syria would become “a beacon for the Islamic nation.”
  

  There are, however, questions about whether Golani’s form of strict Islamist ideology would be accepted throughout Syria, a country where a moderate and liberal form of Islam prevails, with a mixed Christian, Alawite, Druze and Kurdish population.

  Both Western and Middle Eastern officials expressed concern about the unity of Syria, with key territories, including those along borders with Iraq and Turkey, under the control of different sects and ethnic groups. These divisions, which were entrenched by a bloody 2011 uprising, present a growing threat to national stability.

  The analysts and diplomats who spoke to Reuters warned of the risk of a free-for-all conflict — akin to those that followed the toppling of Gaddafi in Libya or Saddam in Iraq — in which armed groups from different Islamist, ethnic and ideological shades fight for supremacy over territory.

  Such a failed state in Syria would have a major impact on neighbors Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq and Jordan, they said.
  

  Rebel rivalry

  Syria’s opposition comprises a broad spectrum, from moderate groups such as the SNA to jihadi elements within the HTS, each with its own vision for Syria’s future, ranging from secular democracy to Islamic governance.
  “Each one of these rebel groups is vying for supremacy; each one wants to be in charge. Each one thinks they can be Bashar al-Assad, and each one has allegiance to a foreign party funding his group,” said al-Sager, the diplomat. “They will clash unless there is an effort by the UN and some regional countries with influence to unify them.”
  

  Turkish-backed forces dominate in the north, while US-aligned Kurdish groups, such as the Syrian Democratic Forces, hold sway in northeastern Syria.

  In a sign of the tensions between the groups, the Turkey-backed SNA seized swaths of territory, including the city of Tel Refaat, from US-backed Kurdish forces at the start of the recent offensive. On Sunday, a Turkish security source said the rebels entered the northern city of Manbij after pushing the Kurds back again.

  Still, some analysts say that an orderly transition is possible, arguing that well-established government institutions in Damascus remain capable of carrying out duties.
  

  They also point to the rebels’ experience of governing in enclaves across Syria that they have managed in some cases for more than a decade. The rebel alliance, led by HTS, made a point of offering clemency for members of the security forces when it seized Aleppo, Syria’s second-largest city, late last month and promised the sizeable minority populations that it would preserve their way of life.

  But Hassan Hassan, an expert on Islamist groups in the Middle East based in Washington, said that concerns persisted among these minority groups now that the rebels had captured Damascus.

  “There is uncertainty about what will happen next, particularly about religious influence and how [Islamic] laws may evolve,” he said.  link

West Bank and Jerusalem and Terror attacks within Israel

•     

Politics and the War (general news)

• More opposition heads slam PM for focusing on his own legal woes in press conference

The Democrats party chairman Yair Golan slams Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for complaining about his press coverage while Israeli soldiers are dying in Gaza.

“Seven soldiers fell today, over 1,800 Israelis have been killed through terrorism and war since the establishment of the government. A hundred Israeli women and men are held hostage by Hamas. The worst security failure in the country’s history, and the prime minister whines about the media and his criminal trial,” Golan tweets following Netanyahu’s press conference this evening in Jerusalem, during which he blamed the media for failing to cover what he said was unfair treatment by the justice system.

“It is a shame for the country that this is what its leader looks like. He will be replaced very soon. That’s a promise,” he writes.

National Unity chairman Benny Gantz declares that Israel deserves a prime minister who “gets upset when he talks about our hostages and victims, and not when he is asked about himself.”

“Netanyahu confuses strength with weakness,” Gantz tweets, arguing that Netanyahu has failed to leverage military victory for diplomatic gains, to return the hostages replace Hamas’s rule in the Gaza Strip, to create regional alliances or to establish a state commission of inquiry into the failure to prevent the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023.

Because of his corruption trial, “Netanyahu is crushing the justice system and society as a whole,” Gantz declares.

• Cabinet gives Diaspora Affairs Ministry responsibility for registering global NGOs providing aid to Palestinians
  

  According to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, the cabinet approves a National Security Council proposal giving the Diaspora Affairs Ministry responsibility for registering international NGOs focused on providing welfare to Palestinians.

  Responsibility had previously rested with the Social Affairs Ministry.

  The statement says that the Diaspora Affairs Ministry, heading an inter-ministerial team, will now have the tools to determine if an NGO calls for boycotts against Israel or works to delegitimize the state in other ways.

  Those approved can register and receive work visas for foreign employees.  link This is not the first shot across the bow, just the latest of many that is actually aimed towards all Left Wing NGOs, Israeli and international. The goal is to eventually close down whatever NGOs that the government determines are not along their ideologies, directions and policies. This specific decision does not mention anything about the left wing NGOs, but that is the direction and Netanyahu governments have made no secrets of going after all of them but with the initial fig leaf of 'supporting Palestinians' but it is always intentionally vague so that it can easily be expanded.

The Region and the World

• Who is Abu Mohammed al-Golani, leader of insurgency that toppled Syria’s Assad?
  Senior al-Qaeda commander, 42, whose real name is Ahmad al-Sharaa, split from terror group, now depicts himself as champion of pluralism; US offers $10m. for info enabling his capture
  
  Abu Mohammed al-Golani, head of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a jihadist group led by Al-Qaeda's former Syria branch, poses for a selfie during a press conference in the area of Bab al Hawa crossing northern Syria late on March 12, 2024. (Photo by OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP)
  
  
  

  Abu Mohammed al-Golani, the rebel leader whose stunning insurgency toppled Syria’s President Bashar Assad, has spent years working to remake his public image, renouncing longtime ties to al-Qaeda and depicting himself as a champion of pluralism and tolerance. In recent days, the insurgency even dropped his nom de guerre and began referring to him by his real name, Ahmad al-Sharaa.

  The extent of that transformation from jihadi extremist to would-be state builder is now put to the test.

  Insurgents control the capital Damascus, Assad has fled into hiding, and for the first time after 50 years of his family’s iron hand, it is an open question how Syria will be governed.
  

  Syria is home to multiple ethnic and religious communities, often pitted against each other by Assad’s state and years of war. Many of them fear the possibility Sunni Islamist extremists will take over. The country is also fragmented among disparate armed factions, and foreign powers from Russia and Iran to the United States, Turkey and Israel all have their hands in the mix.

  The 42-year-old al-Golani — labeled a terrorist by the United States, which has offered $10 million for information leading to his capture  — has not appeared publicly since Damascus fell early Sunday. But he and his insurgent force, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS – many of whose fighters are jihadis – stand to be a major player. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham means the Organization for the Liberation of the Levant — a region, noted the IDF’s former operation chief Yisrael Ziv on Sunday, that is historically seen as encompassing today’s Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Israel.

  For years, al-Golani worked to consolidate power, while bottled up in the province of Idlib in Syria’s northwest corner as Assad’s Iranian- and Russian-backed rule over much of the country appeared solid.

  He maneuvered among extremist organizations while eliminating competitors and former allies. He sought to polish the image of his de facto “salvation government” that has been running Idlib to win over international governments and reassure Syria’s religious and ethnic minorities. And he built ties with various tribes and other groups.

  Along the way, al-Golani shed his garb as a hardline Islamist guerrilla and put on suits for press interviews, talking of building state institutions and decentralizing power to reflect Syria’s diversity.

  
  Syrian opposition fighters seize ammunition abandoned by the army in the town of Khan Assubul, Syria, southwest of Aleppo, December 1, 2024. (Ghaith Alsayed/AP)

“Syria deserves a governing system that is institutional, no one where a single ruler makes arbitrary decisions,” he said in an interview with CNN last week, offering the possibility HTS would eventually be dissolved after Assad falls.

“Don’t judge by words, but by actions,” he said.

Al-Golani’s beginnings in Iraq

Al-Golani’s ties to al-Qaeda stretch back to 2003, when he joined extremists battling US troops in Iraq. The Syrian native was detained by the US military but remained in Iraq. During that time, al-Qaeda usurped like-minded groups and formed the extremist Islamic State of Iraq, led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

In 2011, a popular uprising against Syria’s Assad triggered a brutal government crackdown and led to all-out war. Al-Golani’s prominence grew when al-Baghdadi sent him to Syria to establish a branch of al-Qaeda called the Nusra Front. The United States labeled the new group as a terrorist organization. That designation still remains in place and the US government has put a $10 million bounty on him.

The Nusra Front and the Syrian conflict

As Syria’s civil war intensified in 2013, so did al-Golani’s ambitions. He defied al-Baghdadi’s calls to dissolve the Nusra Front and merge it with al-Qaeda’s operation in Iraq, to form the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS.

Al-Golani nonetheless pledged his allegiance to al-Qaeda, which later disassociated itself from ISIS. The Nusra Front battled ISIS and eliminated much of its competition among the Syrian armed opposition to Assad.  
In his first interview in 2014, al-Golani kept his face covered, telling a reporter for Qatari network Al-Jazeera that he rejected political talks in Geneva to end the conflict. He said his goal was to see Syria ruled under Islamic law and made clear that there was no room for the country’s Alawite, Shiite, Druze and Christian minorities.


Consolidating power and rebranding

In 2016, al-Golani revealed his face to the public for the first time in a video message that announced his group was renaming itself Jabhat Fateh al-Sham – the Syria Conquest Front – and cutting its ties to al-Qaeda.

“This new organization has no affiliation to any external entity,” he said in the video, filmed wearing military garb and a turban.

The move paved the way for al-Golani to assert full control over fracturing militant groups. A year later, his alliance rebranded again as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham – meaning Organization for Liberating Syria – as the groups merged, consolidating al-Golani’s power in northwest Syria’s Idlib province.


This undated photo released by a militant group in 2016, shows Abu Mohammed al-Golani, the leader of Syria’s al-Qaida affiliate, second from right, discussing battlefield details with commanders in Aleppo, Syria. (Militant UGC via AP)

HTS later clashed with independent Islamist militants who opposed the merger, further emboldening al-Golani and his group as the leading power in northwestern Syria, able to rule with an iron fist.

With his power consolidated, al-Golani set in motion a transformation that few could have imagined. Replacing his military garb with shirt and trousers, he began calling for religious tolerance and pluralism.

He appealed to the Druze community in Idlib, which the Nusra Front had previously targeted, and visited the families of Kurds who were killed by Turkish-backed militias.

In 2021, al-Golani had his first interview with an American journalist on PBS. Wearing a blazer, with his short hair gelled back, the now more soft-spoken HTS leader said that his group posed no threat to the West and that sanctions imposed against it were unjust.
“Yes, we have criticized Western policies,” he said. “But to wage a war against the United States or Europe from Syria, that’s not true. We didn’t say we wanted to fight.”

• U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday warned that the Islamic State will try to use this period to re-establish capabilities in Syria but said the United States is determined not to let that happen. Blinken added that the Syrian people have to be the ones to choose their future, saying that statements by rebel leaders toward building inclusive governance are welcome but that the real measure will be in the action they take.
  (Reuters)

Personal Stories

  

Taken captive: Doron Steinbrecher, ‘They’ve arrived, they have me’

The 30-year-old veterinary nurse was alone in her apartment at Kibbutz Kfar Aza on October 7

Doron Steinbrecher, 30, was in her Kibbutz Kfar Aza apartment on October 7, when Hamas terrorists invaded the kibbutz, killing and kidnapping dozens of residents.

The veterinary nurse was in her apartment in the kibbutz housing for younger, single residents, but in touch with her married sister, Yamit Ashkenazi and their parents, all of whom also live on the kibbutz.

At 6:30 a.m., everyone on the kibbutz reported that they were in their safe rooms, said Ashkenazi.

“We were sure that there were 10 terrorists and our heroes would get them out and the security forces would arrive,” said Ashkenazi. “We never imagined anything like this.”

Ashkenazi was with her own family, including her children, ages 3 and 6, who remained in their sealed room for 21 hours, without food or water, until 1 a.m.

Her parents were in their own Kfar Aza home, and it was their garden that ended up being used by the terrorists as a kind of headquarters, leaving them surrounded by terrorists who for some reason, never attempted to enter their home.

“That was a miracle,” said Ashkenazi.

Throughout the morning, said Ashkenazi, she was in touch with her sister, who was terrified.

At 10:30 a.m., Doron told her parents that she was scared and that the terrorists had arrived at her building. She then sent a voice message to her friends in which she said, “They’ve arrived, they have me.”

That was the family’s only indication that Doron was abducted, along with other details, including that her room wasn’t set on fire and her body was not found.

A week later, the family received an official message that Doron is considered missing.

“She’s young and without any kind of dual citizenship,” said Ashkenazi. “The chance that she’ll be released is very low.”

“I’ve lived in Kfar Aza for 34 years,” added Ashkenazi. “We were always given the sense that we’re protected. But in the end, they invaded, killed us, abducted us and burned our houses down.”

One year ago, my daughter was taken by Hamas

Doron, please, I’m begging you – keep fighting until we can reach you.

My life stopped on October 7, 2023. When I go to sleep at night, I see my youngest daughter, Doron, in my dreams. Her face is pale, her eyes sunken, her cheeks hollow from starvation. This isn’t the image of her in photographs around our home. This is the most current image we have of her, broadcast to the world by Hamas, while she has been held hostage in Gaza for the past year.

One full year will not reduce our Doron to simply a hostage. Doron is a daughter, sister, “Dodo” to her five nephews, and friends. She is a talented and dedicated veterinary nurse from Kibbutz Kfar Aza.

Simona Steinbrecher, holds a sign with pictures of her daughter, Doron Steinbrecher, an Israeli hostage kidnapped in the deadly October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas from Gaza, during an interview on March 5. Reuters

On October 7, Doron was kidnapped from her apartment in the kibbutz where we all lived. At 10.20am, she called me and said that someone had broken into her room. She was hiding under her bed. Ten minutes later, she sent a voice message to her friends – a message that said only one thing: “They’ve got me, they’ve got me.” A year later, she is still held captive by Hamas.

Kfar Aza had 37 residents in its “young generation” neighbourhood: a small garden lined with bungalows where the people in their 20s and 30s lived. It’s arguably the most fun part of the kibbutz. There is always music playing, barbecues and games. Eleven inhabitants of this neighbourhood were murdered and seven were kidnapped.

The homes that belonged to young nature lovers and children of kibbutz members now sit destroyed. One year later, these structures stand as they were left on October 7, a hollowed-out reminder of the vibrant community that once lived there.

In January, months after her kidnapping, I heard my daughter’s voice again. This time, it was from deep within the tunnels, in a horrific video published by Hamas, where she and two other female hostages are talking to the camera.

She looked so pale, so weak, so afraid, but alive. While this video brought a sign of life, now, so many months later, we still worry tirelessly. Anything could happen at any moment. Every time I watch – or even think about – that video, I am more determined to fight for her freedom.

I can’t understand – how is the world not screaming alongside us?
We know from hostages who have returned that there’s not enough food or water, they can’t sleep and, of course, are not given their medication. Imagining my daughter in these conditions, I can barely breathe. But beyond all of this horror is the sexual violence she and the other women in captivity are facing.

We have heard that the young women are followed around everywhere, including the bathroom. Testimonies have emerged from witnesses about depraved acts of rape and sexual torture. It didn’t start and stop on October 7. This puts our fear front and centre – is this happening to Doron?

There’s no time. There are hostages from our kibbutz who have returned, but sadly, none of them have seen Doron. The fear is that if they haven’t seen her, she’s alone. The worst thing is simply not knowing anything about her. Having no access, no way to check she’s OK or to help her.

For a whole year we have attended rallies, spoken to anyone who would lend an ear and campaigned for the release of our daughter and the other hostages. My life stopped on October 7. I’m constantly thinking about what more I can do. I can’t stop and think about myself and my needs. They’re on hold. Set aside. This isn’t the time to think about myself.

I can’t understand – how is the world not screaming alongside us?

We must unite as a global community with a singular objective – to exert pressure on Hamas to release the hostages and agree to a ceasefire deal. Only collective efforts can make a difference. Our plea to the rest of the world is to bring Doron and the other hostages home. You are our voice, I ask you to keep echoing it everywhere. All the time. Until the last hostage returns.

For nine months I carried her inside me. I protected her, nourished her, guarded her. I thought I was bringing her into a good world. But I couldn’t help her when she was kidnapped. She was just 10 metres away from me. I wish I could have continued to keep her safe inside me.

I remember the last conversations I had with her. I want her so badly to know that we’re all fighting for her. Doron, please, I’m begging you – keep fighting until we can reach you.

Simona Steinbrecher is the mother of Doron Steinbrecher, one of the hostages taken by Hamas who is still missing a year later.

Dark Legacy - The Abandonment of October 7th Hostages

A Personal Letter to Benjamin Netanyahu

Carmit Palty Katzir

The sister of Elad Katzir, who was murdered in captivity. Her mother, Hana, was released after 49 days in captivity. Her father, Rami, was murdered in his home in Nir Oz.

I have no illusions that you will read this letter, for correspondence from citizens is rarely your preferred genre - unless, of course, it's a thank you note coupled with a photo opportunity for your press relations team. Perhaps you think I should be extending my gratitude. After all, I, the privileged one, have had two family members returned to me: a mother, barely alive, from Gaza, and a brother in a coffin. My father was brutally murdered in his shelter in Nir Oz during that dreadful event, to which you religiously avoid having your name attached.

On that horrific day on October 7th, my family, my kibbutz, were left defenseless. The local emergency squad, valiant as lions, were the only ones who fought. The Israel Defense Forces did not come to Nir Oz. I am seething with anger over the blatant neglect of an entire community - murdered, taken hostage, stolen. I am writing to you because you, more than anyone else, have held the reins of this nation for so many years. You, briefed regularly by the IDF and security forces, cannot claim ignorance. We have met more than once, and I know you are armed with your familiar justification: “I didn’t know.” But this time, you did know. You admitted it in a speech on June 29, 2023, during a ceremony for the fallen soldiers in Operation Protective Edge. You said, “We knew there were scores of terror tunnels... we knew about plans to mobilize hundreds of terrorists... to enter our villages and cities... to kidnap soldiers and civilians, and to kill and slip back.” You promised, “We are arming up and enhancing our capabilities against anyone who threatens us with destruction.” Those were your words. You knew, but you were not prepared. You did not protect us.

Nine months have passed since October 7th. In nine months, new lives are conceived and brought into the world. For us, however, it has been the reverse. Death permeates, infiltrates, and overwhelms. More and more hostages perish in captivity. Elad, my dear brother, voted for you. He trusted you. Can you grasp that? He was taken hostage, alive and well, held in Gaza with women from our kibbutz. We heard reports about him. He was filmed twice, alive, well, and speaking. Initially, I thought perhaps our priorities differed. From the first day, I cried out, insisting that rescuing the hostages must come before everything. But I now understand that reality is far more dreadful. You care nothing for the hostages. There are no priorities, no ethical codes. To you, only one sacred value remains: maintaining your position as Mr. Prime Minister. Therefore, you refuse to end the war. Therefore you thwart every deal to free the hostages, time and time again.

I want you to know that the Israeli public sees this. This is how history will remember you - as the only prime minister who knowingly sacrificed his citizens.

You are unworthy of us. You were unworthy of my brother's trust - a brother who lived by his principles, who loved and worked the land of this country.

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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