π️Lonny's War Update- October 658, 2023 - July 25, 2025 π️
What are the main gaps between the Israeli and Hamas positions in the negotiations and how to conclude the negotiations positively:
Gershon Baskin - July 25, 2025
The bottom line is that Israel and Hamas have goals which are diametrically opposed. Hamas wants to end the war, have a full Israeli withdrawal from all of Gaza, and a very large release of Palestinian prisoners, including all of the prisoners serving life sentences for killing Israelis and all of the Gazan prisoners who have been arrested since October 7, including people who were involved in the killing and pillaging of that horrible day inside of Israel, and the return of international aid according to the parameters that existed during the ceasefire of February-March, with the explicit addition of the reopening of the Rafah crossing for movement of people and goods in both directions. In exchange for Hamas’s demands, Hamas is prepared to release all 50 Israeli hostages at one time. Hamas is prepared for there to be a Palestinian professional civilian government take control of Gaza “with all authorities” (as they say) and that Hamas will not be part of that government. Hamas has not said that they are willing to lay down their weapons, although in private talks behind the scenes with other Palestinians, they have said that armed Hamas personnel could be absorbed into a new Palestinian police/security force. Furthermore, Hamas has agreed to international supervision of aid distribution including possible international inspections by Egyptian and/or Qatari personnel at the Rafah crossing and inside of Gaza.
Israel does not agree to end the war and therefore it forced the talks to focus on a partial deal for 60 days of ceasefire and the release of half of the living and not living hostages. Israel is prepared to redeploy its forces to the almost the same lines that they held prior to the breakdown of the ceasefire in March, but Israel is not prepared to withdraw from all of Gaza. Israel is not prepared to have the Rafah crossing reopened - at least not controlled anyway by the Palestinians in Gaza or by Hamas. Israel wants the aid distribution to continue to be controlled by the Israeli formed, US Evangelical supported Gaza Humanitarian Foundation which does not have the experience or the capacity to deliver the aid to 2.2 million Gazans. Israel is opposed to releasing 20 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences for every living hostage. Israel is opposed to guaranteeing that after 60 days the ceasefire would be transformed into a permanent ceasefire, essentially ending the war. Israel is not opposed to talk about ending the war, even now – but only talk -no action. Israel is opposed to Hamas demanded guarantees from President Trump that Israel would not resume the war after 60 days.
The missing piece in the Gaza puzzle is the Palestinian decision of who and what will govern Gaza instead of Hamas. If there was a Palestinian decision of a viable candidate to form a legitimate Palestinian government who is committed to non-violence, disarming Hamas, peace with Israel based on two states, and someone acceptable to the Gazans, Hamas’s tough positions in the negotiations would crash. There is a clear failure on the part of the leadership of the Palestinian Authority in determining the governance of Gaza now. Gaza is Palestinian and will remain Palestinian and part of the Palestinian state. Until Palestinian elections can be held (which according to Abbas will be within 12 months), the responsibility to determine the governance of Gaza is Palestinian - not Israeli, not European and not American. But the person or mechanism selected by the Palestinian President must be someone with the qualifications, the determination, the ability to be accepted by the Gazans and someone dedicated to rebuilding Gaza on the basis of peace with Israel under the solution of two states. It must be someone dedicated to non-violence and to disarming any group in Gaza which is not part of the Palestinian Gazan Government.
This is a Palestinian decision and not mine, but it is no secret that I believe that there is one Palestinian who is legitimate, well known, originally from Gaza, respected internationally, able and willing to do the job, and that is Dr. Nasser Alkidwa. I think that Dr. Nasser should be invited to the White House to get the international backing required to force President Abbas to agree to appoint him as head of the temporary government for Gaza. Dr. Nasser was the PLO representative in the UN for 17 years. He served as a PA foreign minister. He is the nephew of Yasser Arafat which gives him Palestinian public legitimacy. He signed a joint vision paper with former Israeli Prime Minister Olmert and has presented it in public to more than 30 heads of State and foreign ministers. He is in the opposition to Mahmoud Abbas because of his strong opposition to autocracy and corruption. He is living with his French wife in Nice in exile and is planning to return to the West Bank in the near future. Two weeks ago, he was in Cairo holding meetings with representatives from all of the Palestinian factions. This is the missing link that could enable ending the war. Israel would no longer have the real excuse that an Israeli withdrawal leaves Hamas in control of Gaza. It doesn’t have to be Dr. Nasser – it is the Palestinians’ decision, but that decision needs to be taken now – it should have been taken months ago – but now it is extremely urgent - if the Palestinians want to bring an end to the war.
If the Israeli-Hamas negotiations were transformed into negotiations for ending the war, the terms of the deal change and the Hamas demands can be viewed differently. There must be a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Israel can protect Israel from the border. It is legitimate for Israel to determine a reasonable security perimeter on the Gaza side of the border for a limited time, without Israeli troops inside of Gaza until there is a peaceful government in Gaza with an effective security force. This would be a no-entry zone with the threat of being shot. By the Israeli army from the Israeli side of the border. This is one of the necessary consequences of October 7. It is also reasonable to demand an effective internationally supervised mechanism for inspection and control of the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt. Egypt will refuse to have any international presence on its side of the border, but it is reasonable to have it in place on the Gaza side of the border. There was an agreement in the past for the Rafah Crossing (back in 2005) – that agreement should be reviewed and modified if necessary or a new agreement should be reached in its place. There should be no Israeli presence on the Rafah border crossing or dealing with the distribution of aid in Gaza after Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Goods entering Gaza via Israel can be inspected by Israel to ensure that no weapons are being smuggled into Gaza or the means for producing new weapons.
With regards to the release of Palestinian prisoners – this is a very hard issue for both societies, yet in order to get the hostages home, Israel will have to release prisoners – even those serving life sentences for killing Israelis. My suggestion based on what I also believed during the time of the Schalit deal (although my opinion was not listened to) – the most dangerous prisoners should be released to their homes in the West Bank and not deported to areas outside of the ability to have effective oversight on those released prisoners. If they violate the terms of their release, which means that they if they return to violence or violent activities in any form they can be rearrested by Israel. In 2014 Israel rearrested 68 former Hamas prisoners in the West Bank for violating the terms of their release. If the released prisoners are deported from the area, Israel loses its ability to have oversight and they become potentially much more dangerous. There is no possibility of bringing home the Israeli hostages without releasing Palestinian prisoners. That has to be accepted.
Lastly, perhaps Netanyahu and his government expect that continued war will bring Hamas to surrender – this will never happen. Hamas will never raise the white flag and admit defeat and turn over their weapons to Israel. The only way of bringing Hamas down is by the will of the Palestinian people with the support of the Arab nations. Remember, not one dollar of money for reconstruction will enter Gaza if Hamas remains in control of Gaza – militarily or in terms of governance. The people of Gaza know this and they hold not only Israel responsible for the destruction of Gaza and their lives, the hold Hamas responsible as well and they don’t want Hamas ruining their lives anymore.
Netanyahu recalls hostage-ceasefire negotiating team from Doha
After Hamas responds to the latest ceasefire and hostage release proposal, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is bringing the hostage negotiating team back from Qatar to “continue consultations in Israel,” says his office in a statement.
“We appreciate the efforts of mediators Qatar and Egypt and the efforts of [US special envoy Steve] Witkoff to bring about a breakthrough in the talks,” says the PMO.
It’s unclear from the statement whether the development points to a breakdown in talks. Link call me crazy but it seems to me that this is the opposite of what should happen now. Sure, Hamas gave its green light with some demands for changes (which is typical) but that should mean negotiations need to enter a higher gear and with the senior negotiators. It’s fine is ine or two of the team comes back to Israel to brief Netanyahu but at this stage, not a second should be lost and the negotiators should be meeting until white smoke is released.
Hamas response shows it doesn’t want deal, Witkoff says, as US team leaves Gaza talksUS special envoy to the Mideast Steve Witkoff announces that Washington is calling back its negotiators from hostage talks in Doha and will pursue “alternative options” after the latest response from Hamas “clearly shows a lack of desire to reach a ceasefire in Gaza.”
“While the mediators have made a great effort, Hamas does not appear to be coordinated or acting in good faith,” Witkoff says in his statement. “We will now consider alternative options to bring the hostages home and try to create a more stable environment for the people of Gaza.”
“It is a shame that Hamas has acted in this selfish way. We are resolute in seeking an end to this conflict and a permanent peace in Gaza,” Witkoff adds.
Witkoff doesn’t elaborate on what “alternative options” the US might consider, and it’s unclear if the statement is an attempt to ratchet up pressure on the terror group to compromise.
An Arab diplomat and a second source involved in mediation efforts told The Times of Israel that Hamas’s response was constructive enough to enable the sides to move forward.
Israel has also recalled its negotiating team.
Tens of thousands gather at Tel Aviv rally calling for end to war
Haim Yelin at Tel Aviv protest: 'What is an absolute victory worth without bringing everyone home?' Haim Yelin, former head of Eshkol Regional Council, said at a protest in Tel Aviv demanding the release of hostages that "since October 7, we have lost too much. The most painful thing is that 50 friends still haven't returned from hell. What is 'absolute victory' worth without bringing everyone home?" Yelin also called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "to establish a state commission of inquiry and ask for the people's trust."Relatives of soldiers at protest: 'We cannot bring back those who are gone, but some can still be saved' Einat Bar, widow of Lt. Col. Leon Bar Mocha who fell in October 2023, spoke at a protest at Habima Square in Tel Aviv calling for an agreement to return the hostages. "When Leon was killed I was angry - I wanted revenge. But 657 days have passed since then and the war continues. We cannot bring back Leon or those who are already gone, but we can bring back those who can still be saved," she said. Liat Peled, mother of combat soldiers, added that "the war that doesn't end weakens us as a people and as a society." link These are words that the Israeli government doesn't comprehend. It is actually more than that, they have chosen not to comprehend. Long ago, even before October 7, they have chosen their own personal and party partisan interests over the interests of the country that they are supposed to represent. They have the best example in front of them, the prime minister Netanyahu who for many years, has made decisions firstly on what is best for him and his political survival to stay prime minister. If this is what the prime minister does and has done successfully, why should they be any different. Since October 7, so many of us hoped that our leadership, especially the PM would see what was happening and become leaders who are responsible and do whatever is needed for the betterment of the country and its citizens. But we were all disappointed. It started as early as October 8. Netanyahu's most important meeting on that day was with his political advisors and PR people and the subject of the day was how he could survive politically and come out on top. The war, for quite some time has lost its purpose and became Netanyahu's war to save his coalition and his political survival. The war will end when Netanyahu sees that it is in his benefit to end it and finally bring home the hostages.
Tens of thousands of people are participating in a demonstration at Habima Square in Tel Aviv calling for an end to the war and the release of hostages. Expected speakers include Vicky Cohen, mother of hostage Nimrod; Haim Yellin, former head of Eshkol Regional Council; Major General (res.) Noam Tibon and families of soldiers fighting in the Gaza Strip and relatives of those fallen in the war.Official says recall of negotiating team sign that talks are stuck
The return of the negotiating team from Qatar is an indication that talks are stuck, an official in the Prime Minister’s Office tells The Times of Israel.
However, the Kan public broadcaster quotes an unnamed official involved in talks with a more positive spin on the move. “The talks did not collapse,” the official says. “This is a move coordinated between all the sides. There are fateful decisions that need to be made, and therefore the delegation came back for continued consultations. The momentum is still positive.”
A senior official and source familiar with the details tells Axios that Hamas is insisting that Israel free 200 Palestinians serving life sentences and 2,000 Palestinians arrested in Gaza after October 7 in exchange for the release of 10 living hostages.
Senior Israeli officials told US special envoy Steve Witkoff that the Hamas demands are “unacceptable,” says one of the sources, adding that Israel does not see Hamas’s demands as final.
Hamas source says counteroffer includes clause preventing resumption of fighting even if no deal
A senior Hamas source told Reuters on Thursday that there was still a chance of reaching a Gaza ceasefire agreement but it would take a few days because of what he called Israeli stalling.
The source said Hamas’s response to the latest ceasefire proposal included requesting a clause that would prevent Israel from resuming the war if an agreement was not reached by the end of the 60-day truce period.
The source also says Hamas proposed a new mechanism for releasing hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, and claims the issue has not been discussed at all so far.
Mediation source in Qatar says Hamas doesn’t actually expect to get 200 top prisoners for 10 hostages
A source involved in mediation efforts for a truce deal in Gaza says gaps between Israel and Hamas are not very wide.
The source claims that Israel is upset over Hamas’s proposal to exchange 200 Palestinian security prisoners serving life sentences for 10 hostages, but tells The Times of Israel that the number was merely a starting bid and that the terror group is prepared to come down closer to a number Jerusalem deems reasonable.
Moreover, the vast majority of the 2,000 Palestinians detained in Gaza since the war’s outbreak, who Hamas is also demanding be released as part of the swap, have not even been charged, the non-Israeli source says, accusing Israel of arbitrarily detaining Gazans for use as barter in the negotiations.
As for the scope of the Gaza border belt that the IDF would remain in during a truce, the source describes Hamas’s response issued last night as only roughly 200 meters less than what what Israel is demanding. Israel had earlier demanded a two-kilometer buffer zone, while Hamas had countered with a one-kilometer buffer. Israel then lowered its demand to 1.2 kilometers, but the source’s description means Hamas is continuing to hold firm on its 1-kilometer demand rather than compromise in turn.
The source says both Egyptian and Qatari mediators believe that the gaps can be bridged within days and hope Israel hasn’t recalled its negotiating team in order to withdraw from the talks.
The source indicates that US special envoy to the Mideast Steve Witkoff is in agreement with Israel that Hamas’s latest response was not acceptable.
Amid the apparent logjam, today’s scheduled meeting between Witkoff, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed Abdulrahman al-Thani in Italy appears up in the air, the source says.
Political Source: “The answer presented does not allow progress, a shift in Hamas’s position is needed”
The Israeli delegation to the negotiations was returned from Doha to Israel • According to a political source, the gaps with Hamas "are in all the areas dealt with in the negotiations" • He said: “Although progress was made in the first days, we encountered major difficulties in several issues in the negotiations” • The American delegation also returned from Qatar, U.S. envoy Witkoff: “Hamas is acting in bad faith, we will consider other alternatives to bring the hostages home”The negotiations for a hostage deal: A political source clarified this evening (Thursday) that the gaps with Hamas "are in all the areas dealt with in the negotiations." Israel ordered the return of the Israeli delegation from Doha. This, after Hamas’s response to the mediators' proposal was delivered to Israel during the night. U.S. envoy Witkoff also responded to Hamas’s reply and attacked: “The organization is acting selfishly.”
“Although progress was made in the first days, and it was achieved in concrete areas, we encountered great difficulties in other issues in the negotiations,” said the political source. “We encountered difficulties in moving to discuss the keys for releasing terrorists from prison. Major delays were created. We invested days and hours in contacts through every means to focus the pressure on Hamas and deliver a response within a dialing code that enables progress.”
“The answer that was presented to us does not allow progress without a shift in Hamas’s position,” the source said. “At this hour another meeting is taking place with the mediators. We intend to continue the contacts to the end and to continue also in Israel. There is no explosion or collapse, but within 18 days of negotiations and proximity talks – we progressed to the stage where it is necessary to return for consultations.”
The delegation stayed in Doha for the longest period since the start of the war. “We acted to exhaust every thread and every crack in light of the difficulties posed by Hamas,” shared the source. “We have reached the point where we need to return to the country, and we will return here the moment the right path is found to reduce the gaps and reach closure. We are not giving up on any hostage or on the sacred mission of returning the hostages.”
Protesters in favor of a hostage deal at Hostage Square (Photo: Paulina Patimer)
“There is no explosion or collapse.”“The agreement will move us to the next stage – conclusion on ending the war”
According to the source, the hardening of Hamas’s positions stems from an attempt by the terrorist organization to maximize achievements in the negotiations. “I am realistic and still think it is possible to reduce gaps and bring an agreement,” said the source. “We are conducting negotiations to sign an agreement that will move us to the next stage, which is a conclusion on ending the war under Israel’s terms and returning the second half of the hostages.”The mediators, Egypt and Qatar, made great efforts in recent weeks, according to that source. “We essentially conducted negotiations that touch on all the points related to the framework agreement. The four issues we discussed were humanitarian aid, the IDF’s deployment in the Gaza Strip, the keys for releasing terrorists from prisons in Israel, and the issue of guarantees.”
The terrorist organization is trying to maximize achievements in the negotiations. Hamas terrorists | Photo: APHamas presented its position regarding the release keys only in the morning hours. “This shows an approach of unfortunate obstinacy,” the source described. On the matter of the guarantees he said: “We have not yet reached discussions on the subject, but we can get to it quickly if we make progress on the other issues.”
“We will return to Doha and come back with an agreement – that is the goal,” concluded the source. “The problem lies in the positions Hamas presents in the negotiations. We will work until we board the plane, and from the moment we land, we will continue to work. It is possible to reach an agreement, but Hamas must connect to reality, to what it can achieve – and not to its heart’s desires.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu clarified this evening: “If Hamas interprets our willingness to reach a deal as an opportunity to dictate surrender terms that endanger Israel – it is greatly mistaken.”
The Disputed Issues
American envoy Steve Witkoff announced that the American representatives who were in Qatar would also return for consultations. Witkoff attacked: “It seems that Hamas is not acting in good faith. We will consider alternative options for bringing the hostages home and creating a more stable environment for the residents of Gaza. It is unfortunate that Hamas acted selfishly. We are determined to bring an end to the conflict and achieve lasting peace in Gaza.”Meanwhile, American officials told families of the hostages: “It is still possible to use the momentum and reach a deal.”
The most central dispute in the negotiations concerns the keys to the release of Palestinian prisoners. Hamas demands the release of 200 prisoners serving life sentences and another 2,000 Palestinians arrested after October 7. This position is far from Israel’s, which offered the release of 125 life-sentence prisoners and 1,200 Palestinians arrested after the Black Sabbath.
Regarding humanitarian aid, Hamas wants to return to the aid distribution mechanism approved in the previous deal. Israel, on the other hand, wants to leave the option for food distribution by the American fund operating in the Strip. Another dispute concerns the Rafah crossing, and Hamas’s demand to open the crossing for the movement of people, from and into the Strip.
In the evening hours, crowds participated in a protest for the release of hostages and ending the war at Habima Square in Tel Aviv. The Forum to End the War stated: “The war has exhausted itself – every publication permitted breaks the heart, every wounded person’s world is shattered. We must bring everyone home: the hostages, the kidnapped woman, the soldiers – male and female.” link
Egyptian news outlet: Gaza ceasefire talks expected to resume next week
The Gaza ceasefire talks are expected to resume next week following Israel’s review of Hamas’s latest response, Egyptian state-affiliated Al Qahera News TV says, citing an Egyptian source.
Al Qahera news says the Israeli delegation left a day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recalled the negotiating team to Israel for consultations.
US envoy to the Mideast Steve Witkoff said yesterday that the terror group’s most recent response was “selfish” and that Hamas “does not appear to be coordinated or acting in good faith.”
IDF says it killed Rafah crossing chief who helped Hamas bring in weapons
A key Hamas official who helped the group bring in arms was killed in an Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis earlier today, the IDF announces.
Muhammad al-Amour, according to the military, was responsible for the goods terminal at the Rafah Crossing between Egypt and Gaza. “As part of his role, he oversaw the smuggling of hundreds of weapons and military equipment into the Gaza Strip, directly contributing to Hamas’s military buildup,” the IDF says.
Over the years, the military says Amour “played a key role in the smuggling network of Hamas’s military wing, coordinating and leading efforts to bring weapons into the Gaza Strip and to Hamas with the help of collaborators.”
The Rafah Crossing, which Israel took over in May 2024 and has since razed, “served as a gateway for smuggling military equipment and weapons into the Gaza Strip,” the IDF says.
π️Day 658 that 50 of our hostages are still in Hamas captivityπ️
**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.
A deal is the only way to bring
all the hostages home- the murdered for burial and the living for rehabilitation.
#BringThemHomeNow #TurnTheHorrorIntoHope
#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
*2:05am- Gaza envelope- rockets from Gaza- Sderot, Ibim
Police identify suspect in car-ramming, ask for public to help track him down
Police say they suspect Arkan Khaled, a 27-year-old resident of Taybeh, of carrying out a car-ramming attack earlier this morning in central Israel, and ask the public for its help in tracking him down.
Police say they located Khaled’s car earlier this morning after he rammed into a group of soldiers near the entrance to Kfar Yona, injuring eight, but are still hunting for the suspect himself.
Law enforcement requests that anyone who spots the suspect dial 100 — the police emergency hotline — publishing a blurry screen capture of him.
Gaza and the South
- ‘It’s better to die from a bomb’: Gazans’ testimony, data depict desperate hunger in StripAs the UN reports claim a sharp rise in malnutrition cases among children, Gazans describe soaring market prices, saying, ‘hunger kills you several times a day’
Palestinians queue for a hot meal at a charity kitchen run by the United Nation's World Food Programme (WFP) at the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on April 26, 2025 (Eyad BABA / AFP)Data compiled by the United Nations illustrates the depth of the hunger crisis plaguing the Gaza Strip, showing soaring malnutrition rates even before concern of worsening famine skyrocketed this week, with reports of unprecedented starvation and the emergence of images of emaciated children.
According to a mid-July report from the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the number of patients treated for malnutrition in a Gaza City clinic run by Doctors Without Borders, known by its French acronym MSF, has tripled between May and July — from 293 cases in May to 983 in July.
By contrast, during the temporary ceasefire earlier this year, there was a noticeable drop in the number of children receiving malnutrition treatment.
A March UN report showed that the monthly average fell from approximately 5,000 children to 2,500 during the initial phase of the truce, attributed to improved food access.
“This is the first time we have witnessed such a severe scale of malnutrition cases in Gaza,” MSF’s deputy medical coordinator in the Strip is quoted as saying in the report.
Many of OCHA’s figures were gathered by UN-affiliated organizations specializing in nutrition, although the world body has declined to specify their names.
Clinics in both Gaza City and the Al-Mawasi area in southern Gaza are now treating more than 700 pregnant or breastfeeding women and nearly 500 children suffering from malnutrition, according to the OCHA report.
The findings were published on July 16, several days before Gaza-based figures began ringing alarm bells about what they say is “unprecedented” starvation in the Strip, with Israel blamed for preventing aid from reaching the Strip’s civilian population.
Data compiled by the United Nations illustrates the depth of the hunger crisis plaguing the Gaza Strip, showing soaring malnutrition rates even before concern of worsening famine skyrocketed this week, with reports of unprecedented starvation and the emergence of images of emaciated children.
According to a mid-July report from the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the number of patients treated for malnutrition in a Gaza City clinic run by Doctors Without Borders, known by its French acronym MSF, has tripled between May and July — from 293 cases in May to 983 in July.
By contrast, during the temporary ceasefire earlier this year, there was a noticeable drop in the number of children receiving malnutrition treatment.
A March UN report showed that the monthly average fell from approximately 5,000 children to 2,500 during the initial phase of the truce, attributed to improved food access.
“This is the first time we have witnessed such a severe scale of malnutrition cases in Gaza,” MSF’s deputy medical coordinator in the Strip is quoted as saying in the report.
Many of OCHA’s figures were gathered by UN-affiliated organizations specializing in nutrition, although the world body has declined to specify their names.
Clinics in both Gaza City and the Al-Mawasi area in southern Gaza are now treating more than 700 pregnant or breastfeeding women and nearly 500 children suffering from malnutrition, according to the OCHA report.
The findings were published on July 16, several days before Gaza-based figures began ringing alarm bells about what they say is “unprecedented” starvation in the Strip, with Israel blamed for preventing aid from reaching the Strip’s civilian population.Muhammad Zakariya Ayyoub al-Matouq, a 1.5-year-old child in Gaza City, Gaza, faces life-threatening malnutrition as the humanitarian situation worsens, on July 21, 2025. (Ahmed Jihad Ibrahim Al-arini / Anadolu, via Reuters)
Unlike other widely published accounts, the OCHA findings have not been widely reported or echoed by Hamas or the Gaza health ministry, which is controlled by the terror group.
Israel on Tuesday denied the allegations that a famine was taking place in Gaza, while accusing UN-backed bodies of not collecting and distributing food and supplies it said had been allowed into the Strip.
The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories stated that nearly 1,000 aid trucks had been transferred to the Gaza side of the border crossings and were awaiting pickup by international organizations.
The UN blames Israel for failing to authorize access to the crossings and for preventing the trucks from being moved into warehouses and ultimately distributed to the population.
The data showing an increase in cases of malnutrition goes back several months.
As early as May, UN figures already showed an upward trend in malnutrition. That month, 2,733 children under the age of 5 — or 5.8 percent of the 47,783 screened — were diagnosed with malnutrition, compared to 4.7% (2,917 out of 49,527) in the first half of the month.Palestinians line up for free food in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Feb. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)
The trend aligns with updates from the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza, which reported Tuesday that 101 people — including 80 children — have died from hunger since the start of the war, 19 of them in the past 24 hours alone. These figures cannot be independently verified.
In recent days, photos and videos widely circulated online show children and adults in Gaza appearing severely emaciated and suffering from extreme malnutrition.
‘Dying for a bite’
Local testimonies paint a grim picture. A resident of Deir al-Balah, who asked to remain anonymous for safety, told The Times of Israel over WhatsApp: “We go to bed hungry, wake up hungry and spend the whole day hungry.”
“I never imagined we’d face days like this. There’s barely enough for breakfast,” for a family, he said. “Most vegetables are unavailable, and we haven’t seen fruit or sugar for months. People here say it’s better to die from a bomb than from hunger — when you’re bombed, you die once. Hunger kills you several times a day.”
The sharp decline in aid deliveries has also sent food prices soaring. For over a year, Israel has permitted humanitarian aid to enter Gaza only through NGOs, cutting off supply chains to private merchants. But food still appears in markets, apparently consisting of aid stolen by looters.
In April, the World Food Programme reported that food prices in Gaza’s markets had jumped by 1,400% compared to prices during the second ceasefire in January and February. Gazans now say prices have risen even further, though Israel ended a freeze on goods entering the Strip over two months ago.
Anas Arafat, a resident of Gaza City, told The Times of Israel over the phone: “Right now, we have no food — not for me, my wife, or our three kids. We haven’t had any income in two years. My youngest son Ibrahim was born during the war — my wife gave birth at home — and since he was born, he hasn’t tasted a single piece of fruit or vegetable because we simply can’t afford them.”
The Deir al-Balah resident said flour cost him NIS 100 for a kilo (approximately $13.60 a pound), but Arafat cited a price double that in Gaza City.
“Vegetables are the same,” he said. “Before the war, $100 could feed a family for a week or two — now it’s not enough for even a week, and it’s not just about the money. Even if you have $100 but there’s no flour in the market, it’s worth nothing.”
Another resident from western Gaza City, who asked to remain anonymous for his safety, told The Times of Israel over the phone that he had “no choice” but to pay the exorbitant prices in the market.Palestinians gather at a market at the Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip on May 10, 2025. (Eyad BABA / AFP)
“I’m not willing to endanger myself or my kids and run to aid trucks. What can I do?” he asked.
He said prices for cucumbers could run as high as NIS 70 per kilo, or $9.50 per pound. Flour prices fluctuate depending on the amount of aid that enters Gaza on trucks.
“If many trucks arrive and are looted, the price at the market drops,” he said. “If not, the prices go up like the stock market.”
“Some people can afford to buy. Others don’t even have NIS 20. Not everyone can buy. That’s why people are stealing. That’s why they’re dying. There’s no food.”
Unclear if aid is reaching the population
While international NGOs and the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation report aid deliveries since the collapse of the ceasefire, there is little data showing that the food is reaching ordinary civilians.
A dispute between the UN and Israel over responsibility for the aid bottleneck has been ongoing since the beginning of the war, but tensions have escalated in recent weeks. The UN accuses Israel of blocking the trucks that would collect the stockpiling aid, while COGAT claims that 950 trucks are currently waiting at the border to be picked up by humanitarian organizations.
On Sunday, the World Central Kitchen organization announced that it had run out of all the supplies stored in its warehouses, and that its trucks carrying additional aid were, according to them, stuck at the Gaza border. As a result, WCK was forced to halt operations at its kitchens across the Strip, where hot meals are prepared and distributed to residents.
In a statement Monday, OCHA said: “Israel has the obligation to allow and facilitate by all the means at its disposal the humanitarian relief provided by the United Nations and by other humanitarian organizations.”
In practice, Israel controls the approval process for cross-border access and sets the routes that aid trucks are allowed to travel within Gaza. Humanitarian organizations won’t operate when conditions fail to provide sufficient protection for their staff members or civilians accessing aid.Palestinians pick up food parcels from a distribution point set up by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), on June 25, 2025. (Eyad BABA / AFP)
Following a deadly incident in northern Gaza in which dozens were reportedly killed by Israeli gunfire while crowding around aid trucks, the World Food Programme stated: “Today’s violent incident comes despite assurances from Israeli authorities that humanitarian operational conditions would improve; including that armed forces will not be present nor engage at any stage along humanitarian convoy routes.”
Responding to the reports, the IDF said it had fired “warning shots to remove an immediate threat posed to the troops” in northern Gaza, but denied the steep death toll, insisting that the “reported number of casualties does not align with the existing information.”
Regarding the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the organization reports daily figures on aid distribution, claiming on Tuesday that it delivered over 87 million meals to Gaza residents and is currently distributing 2 million meals per day.
However, those numbers are based on the distribution of dry food items — which require gas and water for preparation, both of which are also in short supply.
There is no independent verification of these figures, and the GHF does not operate a formal registration or rationing system. Eyewitnesses and videos from distribution points describe chaos and looting.
As a result, it remains unclear whether the millions of reported meals are reaching a majority — or even a significant portion — of the population. Moreover, the GHF’s distribution centers are located in areas under Israeli control, far from densely populated zones, making access even more difficult. link. I don't care how many denials the IDF and this corrupt government make that there is no malnutrition or dying of starvation in Gaza. Those reports are bullshit! There are too many independent, non aligned statements based on real information that people are literally starving in Gaza and it is OUR FAULT! How could we be doing this to another people? How could we allow ourselves to be so blind to the devastation we have caused and the deep, deep humanitarian crisis at our doorstep that we created. This government and the army have done all of this in our name and we have been too silent. There are some who are not so blind and they are out protesting. They are cursed and spit on and called traitors because they cannot allow this to go on and are calling on all of us to re-find our moral compass and stand up against the horrors that our government are doing in our name. We need to yell and protest and state unequivocally that it is wrong and this corrupt government cannot continue to enable this horrendous humanitarian crisis when it is in their power to rectify it. #NOT IN MY NAME In Gaza, There Are Starving Children. We Must Acknowledge This – and Immediately Change the Distribution of Aid
Remote and scarce distribution centers triggered waves of a “human tsunami” that spiraled out of control. This is the reason the humanitarian fund failed—and why IDF soldiers are forced to open fire on the crowd. The cabinet is responsible for the moral and perceptual failure, as well as for Israel’s catastrophic global image. This is what happens when people who don’t understand security make the decisions.
The IDF insists there is no hunger in the Gaza Strip, claiming that the “false starvation campaign” is a Hamas psychological initiative that does not reflect reality on the ground. Nevertheless, this week, over 20 countries—most of them friendly to Israel, such as the UK, France, Canada, and Australia—issued a joint statement condemning the “inhumane killing of civilians trying to obtain food and the trickle of aid” allowed in by Israel.
These countries are calling for an immediate end to Israel’s war in Gaza. However, even more serious than the delegitimization of our right to defend ourselves are the photos, videos, and testimonies from doctors and Western journalists in Gaza—proving that children and infants are dying from hunger in the Strip in unbearable numbers.
Masses of Palestinians carry humanitarian aid in northern Gaza this week (Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas)According to Gaza’s Hamas-run Ministry of Health, during the first two weeks of June, 1,648 children were hospitalized with acute malnutrition. Since the beginning of the year, around 19,000 children have been hospitalized for the same reason. Even if these numbers are grossly exaggerated for Hamas propaganda, and only half of the children are truly starving, it remains a moral problem that, as Jews, we cannot live with—and it has already become the most severe catastrophe for Israel's international standing since the October 7, 2023 massacre.
Not only is Israel losing the international legitimacy for IDF operations in the Strip to protect its citizens, it is becoming a pariah state in global public opinion, and its soldiers are being pursued as war criminals. All this is because the plan to prevent Hamas from looting food and humanitarian aid has now factually validated the “starvation campaign,” which was false when Hamas launched it—but now is a terrible moral and PR reality from an Israeli perspective.
How the Humanitarian Fund Failed
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) is an initiative of several senior IDF reservists who served in Southern Command and are now businessmen, alarmed by Hamas’s looting of incoming aid, selling it on the black market, and using the proceeds to recruit new fighters to replace those killed by the IDF. The terror organization also funds other operations, including holding hostages and negotiating to wear Israel down.
The program was approved by Defense Minister Israel Katz and endorsed by U.S. President Donald Trump. This is evident from the fact that the foundation is registered as a non-profit in Delaware, USA, and run by American businessman Johnny Moore, a devout Evangelical and senior figure in Trump’s election campaign. The foundation hired an obscure security company from Wyoming to secure food distribution using American military veterans.
The IDF established the distribution centers, and according to the plan, the foundation distributes 19 kg (42 lbs) dry food packages, each intended to feed a family of five three meals a day for five days. In the 22 days since the operation began, the foundation claims to have distributed 31 million such meals to Gazans via millions of packages. But what actually happened on the ground was the opposite of what the founders and the State of Israel—funding most of the foundation’s budget from taxpayers' money—hoped for. IDF soldiers secure the centers from outside, while American security guards are meant to maintain order inside.
The plan was well-intentioned—but in practice, hundreds of people have died trying to get food at the distribution centers. Some were killed by IDF “deterrent fire,” dozens were trampled by the crowd, and the American guards have failed to carry out orderly distribution. Instead, what unfolds is a “grab what you can” situation dominated by the strong. The weak, sick, children, and women return from the centers empty-handed—watching in despair as savvy traders display the looted food for sale at bustling market stalls at exorbitant prices in Gaza or Deir al-Balah.
Young men carry humanitarian aid. Not all Gazans can get their hands on supplies (Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas)
Evacuation of residents in the Gaza Strip (Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas)The IDF and COGAT spokespeople constantly attempt to prove through statistics that there is no reason for hunger in Gaza. At times, they hint that the images reaching international media are from Yemen, not Gaza. These claims insult intelligence, especially when testimonies from doctors—and even IDF soldiers speaking to Israeli journalists—confirm that Palestinian children are dying of hunger in Gaza, and that soldiers are firing live rounds at Palestinians approaching the food centers in self-defense.
A “Human Tsunami” Trampling All in Its Path
Where does this situation come from? First, the amount of food provided by the foundation is simply insufficient, and certainly doesn’t meet the nutritional needs—including animal protein—of the hundreds of thousands relying on it. But the main issue is the small number of distribution points and their distance from population centers.
The foundation, which began operating about two months ago, set up distribution centers in southern Gaza: four between Khan Younis and Rafah, and one south of the Netzarim corridor. These fenced centers are far from where most of Gaza’s 2.1 million residents are currently concentrated—around 25% of the Strip near the sea in Gaza City, central camps (mainly Deir al-Balah), and Al-Mawasi west of Rafah.
To reach the centers, Gazans must walk or use donkey carts, horses, or motorcycles—often over many kilometers. They are not allowed to arrive by car to avoid VBIED threats and looting by Hamas or traders who hire armed clans to raid the centers for them. Most Gazans don’t even have carts or motorcycles and must walk.
Documentation of humanitarian aid destined for Gaza (Photo: COGAT spokesperson)
Because Gazans never know when the trucks will arrive, they flood the centers by the thousands during the night to secure a spot before the trucks come. When the foundation staff and IDF soldiers allow them to approach, they storm the centers—literally—grabbing anything they can, sometimes dumping food packages into sacks for easier carrying, and fleeing with the loot.
In this chaos, might makes right. Crowds surge through narrow paths, trampling people, creating massive waves of human flow. As a result, thousands moving through the wrong path may approach IDF soldiers stationed kilometers away for security. Feeling threatened—even from inside tanks—soldiers open fire, resulting in casualties. Though the Palestinian Health Ministry exaggerates numbers, the IDF admits many are killed or wounded due to this uncontrolled “human tsunami.” These waves form because the people must go to the food, not the other way around.
IDF forces in Khan Younis. Soldiers feel threatened at food centers and open fire on the crowd (Photo: IDF spokesperson)The idea was to place the centers in sterile zones so Hamas couldn’t loot them, and every Gazan would get a food package. The first goal was achieved—Hamas cannot loot the centers—but not every Gazan gets food. Those with limited mobility or physical weakness—like children, women, and the elderly—cannot walk the distance or carry 19 kg on their backs, nor fight off young men hired by traders. Some food gets spilled in these scuffles. These people remain hungry—even while trader stalls display abundance at prices beyond the reach of most Gazans.
Some traders sell food packages just hundreds of meters from the centers to those who failed to obtain any. The foundation’s guards and IDF soldiers are helpless amid this chaos, and often soldiers must shoot to protect themselves from the thousands surging toward them. Guards also use pepper spray, leaving many Gazans—especially the ill—struggling to breathe.
The Cabinet’s Disastrous Decision
What made this catastrophic situation even worse was the cabinet’s decision, 11 weeks before the foundation began operations at four centers, to block all humanitarian aid from entering Gaza. This depleted food stocks held by international aid organizations, especially the UN, and now what comes into the Strip is insufficient. While Israel allows UN and other humanitarian groups to bring aid to their own centers, that too is insufficient, and doesn’t reach the weak or sick—instead getting split between Hamas and traders.
What’s infuriating is that the warning signs were clear. Gaza’s umbrella aid group published a statement in May, days before the foundation launched, stating: “Israeli officials tried to dismantle the existing aid distribution system operated by the UN and its partners, and force us to agree to distribute aid through Israeli logistical centers. According to the plan presented to us, large parts of Gaza, including the less mobile and most vulnerable, will remain without supplies—contradicting basic humanitarian principles. The plan is dangerous as it sends civilians into military zones to receive food, putting lives at risk.”
Global headlines on Gaza starvation. A moral and perceptual failure (Photo: AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)That prediction, which was dismissed in Israel with a shrug, has come fully true. “Human tsunamis” rush daily toward the centers because there are too few, or they are too far. The UN, by contrast, operates 400 food and aid points across Gaza, inside population centers. There, food—especially infant formula—is distributed in relatively orderly queues of a few dozen people, using records and ID cards—not by mobs trampling everything in their path.
The idea meant to prevent Hamas from looting has allowed the terror group to conduct a strategic psychological attack on Israel, increasing the rush toward the foundation’s centers and participation in these stampedes. Thus, due to a disastrous cabinet decision, and with approval from the Defense Minister and Prime Minister, Israel suffers doubly: it’s accused of starving Gazans (with ample evidence), and IDF soldiers must shoot innocent people just to avoid being overrun—or prevent Hamas from attaching explosives to tanks under the cover of chaos. This is what happens when security-ignorant decision-makers and unprofessional executors act clumsily.
This catastrophe must be stopped—whether a hostage deal happens or not. The UN and international organizations should be allowed to resume aid distribution, even if Hamas takes a small cut. Alternatively, dozens more distribution centers should be set up across Gaza, operated by the foundation, with only their supply routes protected by the IDF. One thing is certain: the current system cannot continue.
And one more word about the “humanitarian city” the Prime Minister and cabinet want to build as a step toward “voluntary emigration” from Gaza: what will happen there is that IDF soldiers will face far greater risks, and Israel will need to spend billions providing housing, sanitation, water, and food to hundreds of thousands of Gazans—for an unknown duration. link
Leading Islamic authority in Gaza slams Hamas for using civilians as shields
A former dean of Sharia and Law at the Islamic University of Gaza publishes a post online criticizing Hamas for sacrificing Gazan lives to fight Israel.
“You have no right to use the people of Gaza as a shield for your own interests — especially after God has shown you that the resistance is incapable of achieving the goals it declared,” writes Salman Al-Daya, an important religious authority in Gaza. “The convoys of martyrs, the wounded, the displaced, the hungry, and the sick who are facing death… What miracle are you waiting for?!”
Al-Daya has previously condemned Hamas during the war. In November 2024, he issued an Islamic legal opinion, or fatwa, denouncing the October 7 massacre, saying it violated Islamic principles.
Israel rejected half of the requests to transport aid on Wednesday, UN spokesperson says
Israel rejected half of the UN requests to transport humanitarian aid in Gaza on Wednesday, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric says.
Eight of the sixteen requests made by UN staff were rejected, Dujarric says during a press briefing. Two other requests were initially approved, but UN staff faced impediments on the ground. One denied request was for UN staff to pick up medical supplies that have been waiting on the Gazan side of the border.
Israel in recent days has intensified its assertion that the UN is to blame for the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, claiming that it is failing to pick up aid that is amassing at the border.
The UN in turn has contended that the hundreds of truckloads of aid sitting in a lot guarded by Israel are not readily accessible to humanitarian workers.
“Bureaucratic, logistical, administrative and other operational obstacles imposed by Israeli authorities; ongoing hostilities and access constraints within Gaza; and incidents of criminal looting, and more shooting incidents that have killed and injured people gathering to offload aid supplies along convoy routes” have hampered UN efforts to deliver aid, Dujarric says.
“Taken together, these factors have put people and humanitarian staff at grave risk and forced aid agencies on many occasions to pause the collection of cargo from crossings controlled by the Israeli authorities,” he adds.
The UN spokesperson also notes that Israel is trying to squeeze Gaza’s entire population into an area that makes up just 12 percent of the Strip.
“Meanwhile, the entry of shelter materials has been banned by the Israeli authorities for over 20 weeks, and the trickle of fuel now let in is also wholly insufficient,” Dujarric asserts.
A screening conducted earlier this month found that nearly 5,000 of the 56,000 Gazan children under the age of 5 were found to be acutely malnourished.
The nine percent rate is a uptick from 6 percent just a month earlier and from 2.4% in February. link Despite the lies of the IDF Spokesman's office and the Israeli government, there is real starvation occurring in Gaza with children and others dying daily. And we, Israel are the monsters responsible for and causing this crime. Action must be made to end this humanitarian crisis and associated crimes and the war must end immediately.
Israeli aircraft bombard Hezbollah assets in southern Lebanon — IDF
The Israeli Air Force killed a Hezbollah operative and struck several of the terror group’s military facilities in southern Lebanon today, the IDF says.
The operative was killed in a drone strike in Ayta ash-Shab, also in southern Lebanon, according to the military.
Elsewhere, fighter jets bombed Hezbollah sites that the IDF says contained weapons caches and rocket launchers.
The military says the presence of the weapons and Hezbollah’s activities in the area “constitute a blatant violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon.”
IDF says 50 Israelis illegally entered Nablus in the West Bank, threw rocks at buildings
A group of around 50 Israelis entered the West Bank city of Nablus last night, the military says, in a violation of Israeli law.
In a statement, the IDF says that the Israeli citizens were handed over to Israeli security forces by Palestinian security forces, and then passed to the Israel Police to face potential charges.
The military adds that it is investigating claims that the group of citizens threw rocks at buildings in the city, but did not cause any injuries.
According to Hebrew media reports, the group was associated with convicted sex offender rabbi Eliezer Berland, and were aiming to visit Joseph’s Tomb but did so without any coordination with the IDF.
Settlers said to disconnect water supply for 30 Palestinian villages in order to fill up pool
Settlers have taken over a spring that is used to supply water for 30 Palestinian villages in the Ramallah area, Haaretz reports.
The settlers dismantled the flow of the Ein Samia spring’s water to neighboring villages and instead connected it to a nearby pool, according to the report.
Ein Samia includes five wells that belong to the Palestinian Authority’s Jerusalem Water Authority. The wells were vandalized four times in the past month.
Nonetheless, the IDF has not deployed troops to secure the spring, and no suspects have been arrested.
Settlers have damaged security cameras at Ein Samia and vandalized water infrastructure in what has caused prolonged water outages to the neighboring villages.
The pool that the settlers are using Ein Samia to fill is called “Shepherds Spring,” and is named after two Israelis who were killed in a 2023 terror attack.
In a video urging the public to donate to the pool, settlers say it has pumped water to the Ramallah area since 1965. “But we did not give up, and after significant efforts, Shepherds Spring is coming back to life,” says Micha Sudai, the owner of an illegal farm outpost nearby.
Responding to the Haaretz report, the IDF says that in recent days, troops received several reports of Israeli civilians damaging water infrastructure in the Ein Samia area. However, by the time troops arrived at the scene, the suspects had fled.
The army says it takes the issue seriously and has allowed PA municipal workers to conduct repairs at Ein Samia.
Arrests in incidents of settler violence are highly rare and convictions are even less likely in what has led a growing number of Western countries to impose sanctions against violent settlers. link More settler terrorism. This incident/terror attack shows precisely that the settlers believe they are, not only entitled to every resource in the West Bank, they believe the resources belong to them and that the Palestinians are usurpers and thieves who deserve to be expelled. This is the view of messianic racist terrorists and encouraged by the messianic racist ministers and Knesset members. This is a government that doesn't even pay lip service to law and order, they openly show their contempt for the laws and encourage total lawlessness including murder to attain their goals.
Democratic senators demand probe of Palestinian-American killed by Israeli settlers
More than half of the Democrats in the US Senate have called on US President Donald Trump’s administration to conduct an independent investigation into the death of Saif Musallet, an American citizen allegedly beaten to death by Israeli settlers in the West Bank.
Their request is unlikely to be met, though, as even the Democratic Biden administration refused to launch independent probes into the killings of Palestinian-Americans by Israelis in the West Bank, instead relying on Israeli authorities to investigate.
Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland leads other Democrats in a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Attorney General Pam Bondi seeking an investigation, adding to pressure from Washington for accountability in Musallet’s death.
The senators also note what they called the repeated lack of accountability in the deaths of other Americans killed in the West Bank since January 2022, and asked for updates on the status of investigations into those killings.
Musallet, 20, was allegedly severely beaten this month when he was visiting family in Sinjil. His family, who are from Florida, said medics failed to reach him for hours and he died before reaching the hospital.
Unchecked settler attacks on Palestinians and Palestinian attacks on Israelis in the West Bank have risen since the start of Israel’s war in Gaza in October 2023, though violence has long simmered in the territory.
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said on July 15 that he had asked Israel to “aggressively investigate” Musallet’s death, describing it as a “criminal and terrorist act.”
The comments by Huckabee, a staunch supporter of Israeli settlement construction, marked a rare and pointed public intervention by the US following the death of a Palestinian-American in the West Bank link The only way that a show investigation will occur is if it comes from Trump to Netanyahu. It will never be a real investigation even if asked by Trump. There could be some arrests but whoever would be arrested, it would also be for show. They would first be released to house arrest and then that would end as well without any charges or trials. A report would be given to the Americans that would likely try to paint a picture that Saif was involved with other Palestinians attacking settlers who acted in self defense. And that would be the end of it. Due to the fact that Netanyahu is and has been firmly aligned with Republicans and has caused major damage to the idea of bi-partisan support for Israel, no amount of Democratic demands for an investigation will do anything.
Politics and the War and General NewsMinister says Israel racing ahead to wipe out Gaza, will make it Jewish
Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu says Israel is advancing the destruction of Gaza, calling for the Strip to be made totally Jewish.
“The government is racing ahead to wipe out Gaza,” Eliyahu tells Haredi radio station Kol Barama. “Thank God, we are wiping out this evil. We are pushing this population that has been educated on Mein Kampf.”
Eliyahu says Gaza will be cleared for Jewish settlement, but says Jewish towns won’t be “fenced in inside cantons.”
“All Gaza will be Jewish,” he says, though he clarifies that Arabs who are loyal to Israel will be tolerated.
“We aren’t racists,” the far-right Otzma Yehudit politician adds.
Eliyahu also denies that Gazans are not getting enough food, calling it a campaign against Israel, but notes that we are at war and trying to kill “these monsters.”
“There’s no hunger in Gaza,” he says. “But we don’t need to be concerned with hunger in the Strip. Let the world worry about it.” Link. This is the same idiot who called for an atom bomb to destroy Gaza in the early part of the war. He is a minister in a total superfluous ministry that was created for Netanyahu to be able to form a coalition and remain prime minister. Not only does does this ministry have no right to exist, this idiot racist messianic minister is seen throughout the world as speaking for Israel. He is one of the group of idiots who want to decimate Gaza and they have spoken proudly and loudly to media about their racist ideas and dreams as though they are government plans. Unfortunately, with this extremist government with the weak autocratic leader, Netanyahu are closer to their extremist fundamental messianic dreams than ever before. Yesterday, there was a Knesset vote about annexation of the West Bank as well as a fortune allocated for infrastructure and bypass roads that will be used exclusively by settlers. Their bizarre and fringe ideas were surprisingly bolstered by Trump's Gaza Riviera plan to rid Gaza of all Palestinians and build a Trump Gaza, and the most ridiculous plan was then fully back from the kiss ass Netanyahu who panders to his extremist partners and Trump, all in the name of his political survival.
With most Oct. 7 battle reviews complete, IDF to launch high-level probe of Gaza ground invasion
Focus areas include combat tactics, force readiness, tunnel warfare and lack of full invasion plan—amid ongoing internal criticism and no clear Hamas defeat
The Israeli military plans to launch a wide-ranging review of its ground operation in Gaza, marking a new phase in its internal investigations nearly two years after Hamas’s deadly Oct. 7, 2023 assault.The upcoming probe, expected to begin in the coming months, will examine how the IDF conducted its ground campaign, which began in late October 2023. The review will evaluate operational planning, combat methods and decision-making and could last up to a year. It follows a series of earlier inquiries into individual battles and strategic failures from Oct. 7, most of which have concluded and are now being reviewed by a committee led by retired Maj. Gen. Sami Turgeman.The IDF is expected to appoint a senior officer, likely at the rank of major general or brigadier general, to oversee the Gaza maneuver investigation. The leading candidate is Maj. Gen. Dan Neumann, recently named head of IDF military colleges, though the appointment has not been finalized.Unlike earlier reviews that focused on tactical-level lessons within battalions and brigades, the new probe will examine broader, systemic issues. Teams of investigators, led by senior officers, will analyze key fronts in the campaign with the goal of drawing long-term conclusions that could shape the military’s future structure—particularly in the ground forces, where significant reforms have been underway.Military officials said the probe would also explore the lack of a preexisting operational plan for a full-scale invasion of Gaza. That gap, they said, reflected assumptions held by both military and political leaders in the years leading up to the Oct. 7 attack. In response to the unprecedented assault on southern Israel, Southern Command was forced to assemble a comprehensive war plan in just two weeks—an effort that typically requires months of preparation.While a fall start is possible if the war winds down, IDF officials said the review will begin no later than January 2026, even if fighting continues. “It took about a year to investigate the 18-day Yom Kippur War,” one official said. “So it’s reasonable that a probe into a campaign of this length would take a similar amount of time.”The IDF has faced growing internal criticism in recent months over its battlefield tactics. Commanders have expressed concern that the army’s strategy—issuing multi-day evacuation notices before entering populated areas—has allowed Hamas fighters to flee alongside civilians, leaving only small pockets of resistance behind. Some commanders have pushed for a shift to a “siege method,” in which troops encircle combat zones before evacuating and screening the population. Variations of that tactic have already been used in places like Jabaliya and Rafah.In a separate development, the IDF recently handed over parts of its Oct. 7 battle investigations to the State Comptroller’s Office. The move followed an agreement between Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman, resolving a dispute that had persisted since the early weeks of the war. The comptroller is expected to examine the quality of the internal reviews, in parallel with the Turgeman Committee’s ongoing work. The military has set up a dedicated coordination office for work with the comptroller.Turgeman is expected to submit his final report in the coming weeks. Military officials said it will include not only operational findings, but also personal recommendations that could lead to the dismissal of officers still serving in key roles who were involved in the failures of Oct. 7. The report is expected to be one of the most comprehensive and critical assessments of the war to date, with conclusions potentially approaching those of a formal state commission.France claims its recognition of Palestine ‘goes against’ Hamas stance
France says that its plan to formally recognize a Palestinian state runs counter to the stance held by Hamas.
“Hamas has always ruled out a two-state solution. By recognizing Palestine, France goes against that terrorist organization,” Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot writes on X, a day after President Emmanuel Macron says France will recognize Palestinian statehood in September.
Hamas welcomed the president’s announcement, calling it “a positive step in the right direction toward doing justice to our oppressed Palestinian people.” Israel said that the move “rewards terror,” while the US called it “reckless.”
But Barrot says in his X message that France, with its decision, is “backing the side of peace against the side of war.” link As opposed to the blanket condemnation by Israel and the US, France's foreign minister is precisely right. The recognition of a Palestinian State in the context of a 2 State Solution in not only not rewarding Hamas, it is their worst nightmare. They want Israel destroyed along with the Jews. They want all of Israel as Palestine as well as Jordan and other areas. For them, any peace or alignment between Israel and a Palestinian state is the worst travesty they can imagine. That alone should show the world that it is not a reward for them and it is the way to remake the Middle East and the first major change to take place in an atmosphere of Israel and the Palestinians being in talks towards a 2 State solution, would be the immediate normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia. As soon as that happens, many countries would join the Abraham Accords. All of the Arab countries and most of the Islamic countries have signed a joint declaration about that last year.
What is now needed is for more countries to recognize the State of Palestine which brings about the removal of Israel's self aggrandizing idea that we have the veto power over a Palestinian State. The true existential problem facing Israel today is the Israel/Palestine conflict. It is high time that the conflict stops being managed by consecutive Israeli governments and work to actually solve the conflict is the main focus of the day.Macron adviser says Oct. 7 ‘wouldn’t have happened’ had there been a Palestinian state
Defending Paris’s decision to recognize a Palestinian state, an adviser to French President Emmanuel Macron blames Hamas’s onslaught of October 7, 2023, on the lack of a Palestinian state.
“Everyone for 40 years has been talking about the two-state solution,” says Ofer Bronchtein, Macron’s longtime special adviser on Israeli-Palestinian affairs, in a Hebrew-language radio interview with Israel’s Kan public broadcaster.
“It angers me that people say we encourage terror,” he says, noting that the Hamas attack happened even without a Palestinian state, and adding: “Perhaps because there was no Palestinian state, October 7 happened.”
“Had there been Palestinian sovereignty in Gaza on October 7 [2023]… October 7 wouldn’t have happened. Sovereignty is responsibility,” he says. link All I want to say here is that he is 100% right.
Time for action – not more letters of condemnation
A paper condemning Israel claiming that it is committing war crimes in Gaza, even if signed by 28 countries, is still just a piece of paper. Into the trash bin of history is the way that the State of Israel treats it — along with the Israeli media — calling it antisemitic. It is not antisemitic, but it also has no impact.
Yesterday’s “incident” in which an Israeli cruise ship carrying more than 1,000 Israelis being unable to dock on a Greek Island because of pro-Palestinian demonstrations, and the questioning by Belgium police of two young Israelis waving IDF flags at a music and dance festival is just the first taste of what we Israelis are going to be facing all around the world – and it is not antisemitism – it is against the State of Israel which is committing war crimes and crimes against humanity. You cannot starve a whole population, you cannot destroy a whole civilization, you cannot destroy the homes and institutions including schools, universities, public building, water and electricity infrastructure of more than two million people and get away with it. Israel’s crimes have a price tag and we will begin to see that price tag being cashed in more and more.
To the 28 countries who signed the document – we don’t need more documents – good as they may be – we need action. This war must end now – not one day longer should Israel be allowed to continue to kill and destroy in Gaza. It is not good enough to say that “the world is watching” and “all eyes on Gaza”. The majority of Israelis know that what Israel is doing is wrong and criminal – but they are still in trauma and exhausted by this war – they are not yet able to take action – I hope that they will and that it will not take too long before they wake up and understand the depth of the crimes that the State of Israel is committing. Now, the world needs to take action – even if the United States continues to back Netanyahu and his criminal government. There is no excuse for the world to sit by and watch another genocide take place without taking action.
After third son wounded in Gaza war, family of IDF officer uplifts unit in video message
Rabbi Moshe and Orit Levi, whose three sons were wounded in Gaza, send support to their son's unit; since Oct. 7, 6,108 IDF soldiers have been wounded in the war, including 912 in serious condition
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
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