π️Lonny's War Update- October 660, 2023 - July 27, 2025 π️
Ex-captive Or Levy: Hostages ‘pay the price’ of faltering Gaza truce talks
Or Levy, who was released from Hamas captivity during the previous Gaza ceasefire in February, says the remaining captives “pay the price” of crises in truce-hostage negotiations, after Israel and the US on Thursday recalled their negotiators from talks in Doha.
“In these days — days of confusion, of distrust, of pauses, of ruptures in the talks — I want to make something abundantly clear to you: every time the talks stop, every time a deal blows up, those who pay the price are the hostages,” Levy tells thousands of people at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, ahead of a march to the US Embassy Branch Office.
“We felt it each time, again and again, and every time it was harder,” he says. “It was on us. Our bodies. Our souls.”
“I live two lives,” he says. “I can tell you what it’s like to suffer from endless hunger. What it’s like to have your feet chained for days on end,” he says. “What it’s like to live 50 meters underground, without daylight, without sky, just constant fear that everything will end.”
“I can try to explain. You can try to understand. But what we went through there, and what they’re still going through there, can’t really be understood,” he says.
“What I do understand, and what you also understand, and what decision-makers understand as well, is that whoever’s there, in captivity, is in a very difficult condition,” says Levy.
He demands a deal that would bring back all the hostages — “not part, not in payments, not selektziya,” he says, referring to the Nazi practice of picking out able-bodied Jews for hard labor and sending others straight to the slaughter.
The most recent proposal would secure the release of only 10 living hostages and the remains of 18 slain hostages.
“Bring everyone back, so we can celebrate life again,” says Levy. “For them. For us. For all of us.”
Group of hostage families: Concepts Ben Gvir and Smotrich have forced upon us have failed
A group of hostage families holds a weekly press conference outside the Defense Ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv.
Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan is being held hostage in Gaza, declares, “We defeated Hamas, and because of Israel’s insistence on a few meters of land, Matan will pay with his life,” referring to gaps in talks regarding the IDF’s withdrawal as part of a ceasefire-hostage release deal.
“If the negotiations crumble, with it, my Matan will crumble; he and the other 49 hostages will crumble,” she says, warning that her son, who is suffering from muscular atrophy, is running out of time.
She insists that the military had succeeded in their work, but that further military pressure has not succeeded in bringing home the hostages: “The concepts that [National Security Minister Itamar] Ben Gvir and [Finance Minister Bezalel] Smotrich forced on us have failed.”
Smotrich has said Gaza must be “totally destroyed,” while Ben Gvir has threatened to bolt Netanyahu’s coalition if another hostage deal is signed.
Zangauker says that Israel has not proposed any deal that would lead to the release of all hostages and end the war, and that all of Israel’s offers for a hostage deal have led to consistent deadlock in the negotiations.
Yehuda Cohen, whose son Nimrod is held hostage, says that Netanyahu promised him he would bring all hostages home.
“In practice, he procrastinated on the way to a partial deal, and even that he has failed to bring,” he says, expressing alarm over the torturous conditions his son was experiencing, and urged a “comprehensive agreement” to end the war. Link
Hamas officials ‘surprised’ by Trump’s accusation that it doesn’t want truce, say progres was being made
Hamas officials express surprise at US President Donald Trump’s accusation that the terror group “didn’t really want” a ceasefire and hostage release deal for Gaza.
“Trump’s remarks are particularly surprising, especially as they come at a time when progress had been made on some of the negotiation files,” Hamas official Taher al-Nunu tells AFP.
“So far, we have not been informed of any issues regarding the files under discussion in the indirect ceasefire negotiations,” he adds.
Nunu, who is close to Hamas’s most senior political officials, says he was “surprised” that Israel and the United States had pulled negotiators and mediators from talks in Doha.
Announcing the recall of US mediators on Thursday, Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff accused Hamas of not “acting in good faith.”
Though not part of the Hamas negotiating team, Hamas politburo member Izzat al-Rishq insists the group had shown “flexibility” in the talks.
“The American statements deliberately ignore the real obstructionist to all agreements, [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s government, which continues to put obstacles, deceive, and evade commitments,” he says.
Both Hamas officials call on the United States to be more even-handed in its role as mediator in the quest for a ceasefire after more than 21 months of fighting.
“We call for an end to the US bias in favour of Netanyahu, who is obstructing any agreement,” Nunu says. Link
Hamas fears Israeli or US hostage rescue operations amid new threats, report says
Terror group reportedly on high alert after statements by Witkoff, Netanyahu and Trump raise fears of Israeli or US hostage rescue ops; field sources say operatives instructed to monitor all suspicious movement near possible holding sites
According to the report, Hamas fears Israel and the United States could be cooperating indirectly on potential rescue efforts, following comments by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, U.S. President Donald Trump and U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff—all of whom hinted at “alternative options” for freeing the hostages held in Gaza.Trump said earlier this week, “Hamas didn't really want to make a deal. I think they want to die... Now we're down to the final hostages, and they know what happens after you get the final hostages. And basically because of that, they really didn't want to make a deal.” Hamas field sources told the newspaper that the terrorist group has heightened surveillance to detect any suspicious movements, including those by suspected Israeli collaborators. Members of Hamas’s military wing have reportedly been instructed to closely monitor areas believed to be used for holding hostages. The sources did not rule out the possibility of imminent operations in areas where Israeli intelligence suspects hostages are being kept. They said past operations failed after Israeli forces were exposed, but claimed that any future missions would also be unsuccessful and that Israel and the U.S. would eventually be forced to negotiate a deal. Other sources in Hamas and affiliated factions holding hostages said that units had been ordered to execute hostages if any rescue attempts are launched in their vicinity. These orders, previously reported by released hostages, were reportedly reactivated after being suspended during earlier ceasefires. These claims could not be independently verified. While most hostages have been released through negotiated exchanges, Israel has carried out a number of successful rescue operations. The most recent, in June last year, freed four hostages—Noa Argamani, Almog Meir Jan, Andrey Kozlov and Shlomi Ziv—from central Gaza’s Nuseirat camp. One Israeli commando, Arnon Zmora, was killed in the operation. Despite these successes, families of the remaining hostages remain deeply concerned. In a statement, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said, “For the hostages, this isn’t a bargaining chip, it’s a real and immediate danger.” The group referenced the killing of six hostages in a tunnel in late August 2024 and called on the government to secure a comprehensive deal. “Enough. A decisive majority of the Israeli public wants to end the war and bring everyone home. Families are anguished and in turmoil.” Meanwhile, the IDF this week expanded its ground operations to the central Gaza city of Deir al-Balah, urging civilians to evacuate. Within 24 hours, Palestinian sources reported Israeli tanks in the streets. A military official told Ynet that forces were “deepening the ground maneuver” and “fighting inside Deir al-Balah,” adding that Hamas was “under growing pressure, losing territorial control and facing severe damage to its infrastructure and command structure.” Link. The irresponsible statements by both Trump and Netanyahu are the most dangerous statements they can make with regard to the hostages. In addition to the standing orders that the terrorists guards already have been given to execute any and all hostages if they believe any soldiers are nearby, these statements have caused even more dangerous orders against the hostages. We know very well, as does Netanyahu because returning hostages have told him in great detail what happened to them, that when talks go sideways, the terrorist guards treat them much harsher, torturing them more and worse, starving them more and making them suffer every possible way. Now that Netanyahu and Trump or separately making threats about reexamining the way to deal with Gaza which obviously means more military pressure (bombings, land incursions, more soldiers, more attacks and destruction of whatever buildings are left standing as well as infrastructure, all in the name of forcing Hamas to change its mind and soften its stance. I can't entirely blame Trump, even though he has heard the same things from the returning hostages, but he, like most of the west have no understanding of the Middle East and absolutely no understanding of terrorists like Hamas. Netanyahu has chosen to make believe not to understand. He knows very well what Hamas is and how they 'bargain'. As I have said countless times, Hamas gives their bottom line at the very beginning and doesn't change it one iota, no matter how long it takes and no matter how many people are killed on either side. Death means nothing to their extreme religious fundamentalism and their eternal lives are where they will reap their rewards for killing as many Israelis and Jews as possible. Netanyahu understands this perfectly well and has experienced it with the negotiations and final deal to return the soldier Gilad Schalit from Hamas captivity. They proferred their demands at the very beginning and they received exactly what they demanded but it took 5 years and 4 months until the Israeli government finally gave in and Gilad came home. The same is here. Yes, their demands for the amount of Palestinian prisoners to be released is outrageous, but even they acknowlege that it was the beginning of the bargaining process and they expected to be dealing with a give and take situation, not a total breakdown of the talks. This, for example is one of the issues that can be negotiated as the ideo and demand for the release of Palestinian prisoners is one of their bottom line demands, but the number of prisoners per hostage is negotiable. Netanyahu doesn't care and is still able to convince Trump that they have to go with more military pressure because Netanyahu does understand and Trump doesn't. Netanyahu's motivation has nothing to do with the hostages; it is all about him and what will serve him in his war for political survival the best. Disgraceful and irresponsible.Hamas terrorists in Gaza (Photo: AP/Abdel Kareem Hana)
- As talks stall, Hamas said acting to fend off possible military ops to rescue hostages Terror group said to have reissued order to kill captives if necessary; its officials ‘surprised’ by Trump’s claim it doesn’t want truce; Rubio tells hostages’ families ‘rethink’ needed
With the US and Israel accusing Hamas of not wanting a truce deal and talking about pursuing “alternative options” to bring home the 50 hostages still held in Gaza, Hamas has taken steps to fend off possible military operations aimed at rescuing the remaining hostages, the London-based Arabic daily Asharq Al-Awsat reported on Saturday.
Hamas sources on the ground in Gaza told the Saudi outlet that the terror organization was taking additional precautionary measures to undermine potential efforts by Israeli special forces or others to rescue the hostages.
For example, Hamas has reinstated a policy to kill hostages if captors believe that Israeli forces are approaching. The policy had been canceled since the most recent ceasefire came into effect in March, the sources said.
The sources said Hamas was confident that such operations, if attempted, would not succeed.
Eight hostages have been rescued alive from captivity by troops. The bodies of 49 have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the Israeli military as they tried to escape their captors, and the body of a soldier who was killed in 2014.
The rest of the nearly 200 hostages set free were released as part of the ceasefire deals.
Hamas officials expressed surprise on Saturday at US President Donald Trump’s accusation that it “didn’t really want” to reach a ceasefire and hostage release deal.
Trump made the allegation on Friday, a day after Israeli and American teams left indirect negotiations with Hamas in Qatar that had lasted nearly three weeks.
“Trump’s remarks are particularly surprising, especially as they come at a time when progress had been made on some of the negotiation files,” Hamas’s Taher al-Nunu told AFP. “So far, we have not been informed of any issues regarding the files under discussion in the indirect ceasefire negotiations,” he added.
Nunu, who is close to Hamas’s most senior political officials, said he was “surprised” that Israel and the US had left the talks.
Announcing the recall of US mediators on Thursday, Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff accused Hamas of not “acting in good faith.”
“We will now consider alternative options to bring the hostages home and try to create a more stable environment for the people of Gaza,” Witkoff said.
US President Donald Trump, right, and White House special envoy Steve Witkoff, left, May 28, 2025, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Though not part of the Hamas negotiating team, Hamas politburo member Izzat al-Rishq insisted the group had shown “flexibility” in the talks.
“The American statements deliberately ignore the real obstructionist to all agreements — Netanyahu’s government, which continues to place obstacles, deceive, and evade commitments,” he said.
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Both Hamas officials called on the US to be more even-handed in its role as mediator in the quest for a ceasefire after more than 21 months of fighting. “We call for an end to the US bias in favor of Netanyahu, who is obstructing any agreement,” Nunu said.
While Washington and Jerusalem fumed at Hamas over the response it submitted Thursday to the latest proposal for a 60-day Gaza truce and hostage release deal, Egypt and Qatar took a more nuanced approach. They indicated that the Hamas response indeed contained too many requests for changes to the proposal, but maintained that the gaps were bridgeable, an Arab diplomat and a source involved in the mediation effort told The Times of Israel on Friday.
Trump painted a far more bleak outlook and appeared to indicate that the US may not be able to secure the return of the remaining 50 hostages, 20 of whom are believed to still be alive.
“I said this was going to happen,” Trump told reporters, claiming to have predicted the current impasse.
“We got a lot of hostages out. But when you get down to the last 10 or 20, I don’t think Hamas is going to make a deal because that means they have no protection. And basically that’s what happened,” he said.
“I think what’s going to happen is they’re going to be hunted down,” Trump continued. “It [has] gotten to a point where [Israel is] going to have to finish the job.”
Israel is “going to have to fight, and going to have to clean it up. You’re gonna have to get rid of [Hamas],” he said, acknowledging that the situation is “sort of disappointing.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office issued a statement on Friday saying Jerusalem and Washington were “considering alternative options to bring our hostages home.”
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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told former hostages and hostage families on Friday in Washington that the Trump administration needs to “rethink” its strategy regarding solving the war in Gaza, after being unable to end the conflict since coming into office in January, Channel 12 news reported, citing two unnamed sources who took part in the meeting.
Rubio said it was necessary to “come to the president with new options” on strategy regarding the war, the report quoted him as saying, without detailing what those options may be.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks during a ceremony at the US State Department in Washington, July 16, 2025. (Alex Wroblewski/AFP)
The IDF has been fighting the terror group for nearly 22 months, and Israeli officials had asserted that Trump’s entry to the Oval Office would allow for the IDF to deliver a knockout blow.
Trump allowed Israel to exit the previous hostage deal in March, rather than entering a second potential phase that would have included a permanent end to the war.
Israel then launched and is now nearing the conclusion of a new offensive aimed at occupying 75 percent of the Strip in order to pressure Hamas.
For nearly three months, Israel blocked all aid from entering the Strip, in what aid organizations say helped create the current hunger crisis.
The US then helped Israel establish the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which was designed to try and box Hamas out of the aid distribution process when Israel finally began to allow aid again into Gaza in late May. But GHF’s work was quickly marred by near-daily reports of deadly shootings of Palestinians seeking to pick up boxes of food.
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The organization still touts its delivery of roughly 90 million meals, but the boxes of aid it distributes are dry food products that need to be prepared elsewhere in the Strip, where clean water, cooking gas and kitchen equipment are increasingly scarce.
Moreover, GHF doesn’t track who is picking up its aid, so there is no way to confirm that Hamas operatives aren’t benefiting from it as well.
On top of the guardrails that Trump removed regarding Israel’s military campaign, the US also adopted Netanyahu’s approach for a phased hostage deal in the latest negotiations.
Hamas has offered to release all of the hostages in one batch in exchange for Israel agreeing to permanently end the war, but Netanyahu has refused, arguing that doing so would leave Hamas in power.
Instead, the sides have been engaged in months of painstaking negotiations during which Hamas has agreed to release roughly half of the hostages in exchange for a temporary 60-day ceasefire, but in return has demanded a long list of conditions that aim to prevent Israel from resuming fighting even after the truce expires. link
π️Day 660 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
A must watch video interview- "Israel Guilty of Genocide, on Fast Road to Becoming a Pariah State—If Not One Already:Gershon Baskin" link to interview
Jul 26, 2025
"If not one already, Israel's on the fast road to becoming a pariah state; it's guilty of genocide in Gaza": Gershon Baskin, Middle East Director of the International Communities Organization, to Karan Thapar for The Wire.
Gershon Baskin, the Middle East Director of the International Communities Organization, who is one of the acknowledged and highly regarded voices of conscience in Israel, says: “If it hasn’t become one as yet, Israel is definitely on the fast road to becoming a pariah state”. He says Israelis increasingly feel less welcome wherever they travel.
In a 25-minute interview to Karan Thapar for The Wire, to talk about his recent cri de coeur where he writes “Israel is rapidly becoming a foreign land to me … a place that I will not want to call home, a place that I cannot call home”, Dr. Baskin readily admitted and accepted that Israel is guilty of genocide. “If you read the convention on genocide there’s no question that what Israel is doing in Gaza is genocide. We’re erasing a civilization. Ninety percent of the people in Gaza have no homes to go back to. They’ve been destroyed. Israel is now levelling half of Gaza. There are no schools, no universities, no public buildings, no libraries. Mosques are being erased. Churches were hit. Roads, infrastructure, water, electricity. They have created a reality in Gaza in which human beings cannot live. That is genocide. And that is what Israel is doing in Gaza.”
I will stop there. Dr. Baskin is the negotiator who secured the release of Gilad Shalit in 2011. He has devoted his life to multiple attempts to reach out to the Palestinian people and, earlier, to build bridge with Hamas. The anguish he feels today, the fact that he now finds it hard to consider Israel home, is a cri de coeur that you should listen to. Very few Israeli Jews have spoken so honestly, so critically, so fully of what their country is doing to Gaza and to the Palestinian people.
The above interview should be followed by reading the essay "Israel. Is the Game Over?" by Avrum Burg, former Speaker of the Knesset in the Politics and War section below.
Both the interview and the essay paint a very disturbing wake up call about the present condition and shape of Israel and the very dangerous and speedy slippery slope that is Israel today.
Red Alerts - Missile, Rocket, Drone (UAV - unmanned aerial vehicles), and Terror Attacks and Death Announcements
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IDF reservist dies of wounds from southern Gaza blast
Sergeant Major (res.) Betzalel Yehoshua Mosbacher, 32, critically injured when IDF vehicle struck explosive in Khan Younis; another soldier seriously wounded in blast; military death toll reaches 896 since start of war
Sergeant Major (res.) Betzalel Yehoshua Mosbacher (Photo: IDF)MAY HIS MEMORY BE A REVOLUTION
Two IDF soldiers killed by blast in southern Gaza yesterday
Two IDF soldiers were killed and an officer was moderately wounded by an explosive device in the southern Gaza Strip yesterday, the military announces.
The slain soldiers are named as:
Cpt. Amir Saad, 22, a Technology and Maintenance Corps officer serving in the Golani Brigade’s reconnaissance unit, from Yanuh-Jat.
Sgt. Inon Nuriel Vana, 20, a Technology and Maintenance Corps soldier serving in the Golani Brigade’s reconnaissance unit, from Kiryat Tiv’on.
The wounded Golani reconnaissance unit officer was taken to a hospital in moderate condition, the army says.
According to an initial IDF probe, the soldiers were inside a Namer armored personnel carrier that was hit by an explosive device during operations in Khan Younis.
The military says it is continuing to investigate how the bomb was detonated against the APC.
Iranian-born Israeli charged with giving sensitive info on Israel’s war plans to Tehran
State prosecutors file espionage charges against an Israeli citizen suspected of passing sensitive information about Israeli war plans to an Iranian intelligence agent.
The suspect’s name and most identifying details are barred from publication. He immigrated from Iran to Israel in 1999 and rekindled ties to his birthplace over a decade later on a trip to Turkey, when he visited the Iranian embassy.
Soon after that, the defendant began a relationship with an Iranian woman living in Iran. He came into contact with Iranian operatives by way of his partner, who was contacted by an agent asking her to arrange a meeting between the defendant and himself.
The defendant met with two Iranian operatives in September 2024, while visiting his partner in Turkey, prosecutors say. After his return to Israel, he maintained contact with one of the agents through the Telegram messaging app.
Prosecutors claim the defendant exploited his preexisting friendship with another Israeli man, who supposedly has ties to government figures.
The defendant’s associate was also in contact with an Iranian chemist who provided intelligence that could aid Israel against Iran. He requested the defendant’s help in translating his correspondence with the chemist from Farsi to Hebrew.
The suspect ratted out the Iranian chemist to the intelligence agent, sharing the information he was asked to translate and advising his contact to “keep an eye on him,” per the indictment.
In May 2025, a month before Israel’s air offensive against Iran, the defendant told his Iranian contact that Israel planned to carry out an attack in Iran. He later updated the agent that Israel was planning a commando operation targeting the Islamic Republic’s nuclear facilities.
Police arrested the suspect on July 1. He is charged in the Lod District Court with the offenses of maintaining contact with a foreign agent and passing intelligence to the enemy with the intent to harm state security.
The words of a Gazan peace activist
My family and I refuse to have our fate tied to that of the terrorists — Hamas and other terrorist groups. We are not part of them, and they are not part of us. So please, do not punish us as you punish them.They did thier shameful brutal sins in 7/10 without agreement and accepting of many and many of innocents here ...the views and footages of some of thousands looked happy in that shameful day doesn't mean all Gaza strip population are agrees with them and support them and cheering them ...Please know this truth ..please world ..world leaders .Israeli leaders please know that ..I said the truth ... - Bassem Al Nehru- Registered nurse-Shifa Hospital, Gaza- Finishing off Hamas - by Gershon Baskin
July 26, 2025
President Trump is now telling Netanyahu to finish off Hamas – to get the job done. What does that mean? Before Netanyahu’s visit to Washington, Trump was telling the media and Netanyahu to finish the war, but that was prior to Netanyahu apparently convincing Trump to allow Israel to continue the war (the tail wagging the dog). The US-supported negotiations in Doha for a ceasefire failed primarily because Israel wants to continue the war while Hamas wants to end the war. The goals of the two sides are diametrically opposed and therefore, the Hamas parameters of the proposed ceasefire are unacceptable to Israel. Hamas is blamed because they want Israel out of Gaza. Hamas is blamed because they want aid to flow into Gaza uninhibited. Of course, Israel says that Hamas wants all of that to retake control over Gaza, to rebuild their army, and to refinance themselves by stealing the aid and selling it. All of that might true because both the Palestinian Authority who have primary responsibility to determine the governance of Gaza instead of Hamas is not doing what it needs to do, and Israel does not want any other legitimate Palestinian form of governance in Gaza so that Israel can continue to do what it is doing – fighting a war and totally destroying Gaza, which has no legitimacy.
Out of the frustration from the failure of the negotiations, Trump now comes up with a page from the play book of the likes of Ben Gvir and Smootrich – finish off Hamas! Israel has already wiped-out Beit Hanoun, Beit Lahia, Rafah, Khan Yunis, most of Gaza city and Jabalia, and more, and now they are wiping out Deir el Balah and Nusseirat. Almost nothing of Gaza is left – creating an uninhabitable land for more than 2.2 million people. Is this the materialization of the Trump-Israeli settlers-Evangelical Christian-Netanyahu-Ben Gvir-Smootrich vision of the Gaza Riviera? This Israeli vision of Gaza without Palestinians who will be forced to leave Gaza because it is impossible to live there is a war crime and then resettled by Jews. This is a war crime that is piled on the war crimes and crimes against humanity that Israel has been committing for many months now.
It is beyond my ability as a Jew not to feel physical pain when having to call out Israel for acts of genocide. The “Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide” was written in 1948 in the very dark shadows of the Holocaust. Many Jews were involved in the drafting of that Convention. What Israel is doing in Gaza is not the Holocaust – there are many differences, but what Israel is doing in Gaza is genocide. Two of the most important and respected Israeli Holocaust scholars have come out in public calling it genocide (Prof. Amos Goldberg and Prof. Omer Bartov). Israeli leaders – the Prime Minister, the ministers of the government, almost all Members of Knesset and most Israelis reject the accusation of genocide. They also claim that the real starvation in Gaza is fake news and Ai generated pictures of starving children are all over the social media. People like me who call it out for what it really is are being accused of treason, as mouth pieces for Hamas and/or as self-hating Jews. They can call me all the names that they want, I will not be intimidated and I will not stop speaking the truth. It is unfortunate that we need to wait for history to judge us before we take responsibly for the crimes that we are committing. The rest of the world is not waiting. And while there is antisemitism among those who lay criticism at Israel, most of the critics and criticism is right and justified and it is too bad that it has so little impact on the Israeli government and on the people of Israel. With all of this said, I do not want to for even one minute excuse Hamas for the war crimes and crimes against humanity and against their own people that they are responsible for. I agree with President Trump that Hamas needs to be finished – but the difference is that I believe it is the responsibility of the Palestinian people to finish off Hamas which can best be done in the ballot box. link
- IDF begins operating in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza for first time since start of war
Gaza sources claimed that ground IDF forces were seen in the city, a day after the evacuation notice issued by the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesperson; military yet to confirm the start of the operation
Palestinians reported Monday that IDF forces have begun operating in Deir al-Balah, a city in central Gaza. “The forces arrived from the south,” a local Gaza journalist reported. As of now, the IDF has not confirmed any ground operation in the city.
A military source told Ynet that "forces are deepening the ground maneuver and are fighting inside Deir al-Balah." According to the source, "Hamas operatives are under growing pressure—they're being pushed out of the area, which proves they no longer have a firm grip. We are striking their infrastructure and command, and their control is eroding."
The military source added that Hamas is heavily investing in psychological warfare, particularly through its “Gaza hunger” campaign on social media: “As Hamas loses control on the ground, it tries to sway public opinion with harrowing images—especially of children—to generate international pressure on Israel.” Security officials say the campaign is a deliberate effort to provoke global sympathy while continuing to hold hostages and entrench itself within civilian areas.One report claimed an IDF tank was seen on Al-Hakar Street in Deir al-Balah. Another report said two people were killed in a vehicle strike in the areaResidents of the city also received a warning message: "Please avoid standing near windows or climbing onto rooftops, especially in the southeastern parts of the city – repeated gunfire has been reported in public areas, posing a direct threat to pedestrians and residents. We urge everyone to avoid gathering in open spaces and to remain indoors as much as possible.” Deir al-Balah, located in the heart of the Gaza Strip, includes a refugee camp and has become a haven for tens of thousands of displaced people throughout the war. Its central location—between the northern and southern parts of the Strip—and the fact that Israel has not conducted a ground operation there until now made it a primary destination for those fleeing other areas. Nonetheless, the IDF has conducted numerous airstrikes in the city over the course of the war.The city is home to Shuhada al-Aqsa Hospital, outside of which many displaced families have set up temporary shelter.During the hostage release phases in January, some of the freed captives were released from Deir al-Balah. Footage from that time showed relatively intact buildings, in contrast to the widespread destruction seen in Khan Younis and northern Gaza. The city also has a beachfront and, earlier in the war, videos of large numbers of Gazans bathing there sparked anger in Israel.Deir al-Balah is believed to house a highly capable Hamas battalion, possibly the most combat-ready in the Strip. Until now, Israel has avoided a ground incursion in part due to concerns that some of the remaining hostages may be held in the area. According to military assessments, fully targeting Deir al-Balah and the neighboring Nuseirat camp would require deploying at least two full IDF divisions for several months of fighting.Meanwhile, Israeli forces operating elsewhere in Gaza have reportedly stepped up the pace of demolishing structures used—or likely to be used—by Hamas terrorists. Military sources estimate that hundreds of buildings are being destroyed down to their foundations each week. The army says each demolished structure had been previously used by Hamas for purposes such as surveillance, booby-trapping with explosives, or positioning snipers, or is assessed to pose a future threat for such uses. link
- Gazan officials say at least 25 killed, most by gunfire while waiting for aid
UN, UK, France and Germany express serious concern over humanitarian situation in Gaza; Britain says it will take part in air drops of aid into Strip as hunger mountsIsraeli airstrikes and gunshots killed at least 25 people overnight and early Saturday, with the majority of victims being shot while awaiting aid deliveries, Gaza hospital officials said, in the latest of a string of deadly incidents at aid sites in the Strip as Gazans face mounting hunger.
The victims killed by gunfire were waiting for aid trucks close to the Zikim crossing with Israel, said staff at Shifa Hospital, where the bodies were brought.
The Israel Defense Forces did not respond to a request for comment.
Those killed in airstrikes included four people in an apartment building in Gaza City, among others, according to hospital staff and the ambulance service. The death tolls could not be verified.
The reports from Gaza come after the Hamas-run health ministry in the coastal enclave said on Friday that 89 people had been killed in the previous 24 hours.
Later Saturday, the IDF released footage showing airstrikes on a cell of terror operatives that detonated a bomb against troops operating in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis.
According to the IDF, no soldiers were wounded in the attack. Troops of the 188th Armored Brigade spotted the operatives and directed drone strikes that killed them.
Meanwhile, in Gaza City, the military said troops of the 7th Armored Brigade directed airstrikes on launchers used to fire anti-tank missiles at the forces.
In the past day, the IDF said the Israeli Air Force carried out strikes on over 100 terror targets across Gaza, including cells of operatives, tunnels, buildings used by Hamas, weapon depots, and anti-tank launch positions.
One rocket was fired from Gaza toward Israel on Saturday. According to the IDF, the rocket, which caused sirens to sound, struck an open area near the border community of Kissufim, but no injuries or damage were reported.
Earlier in the day, sirens were activated in Nir Am near the Gaza border, but the military said the alert was a false alarm.
UK to take part in air drops
The continued fighting and violence, particularly around aid sites, comes amid an apparent breakdown in hostage-ceasefire talks, mounting signs of widespread hunger in the Strip, and spiraling international pressure on Israel to ease the entry of aid into Gaza.
The humanitarian crisis in Gaza has sparked international condemnation, with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres writing on X on Saturday that widespread hunger in Gaza is a “moral crisis that challenges the global conscience.”
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“We will continue to speak out. But words don’t feed hungry children,” his post said. “The UN stands ready to make the most of a ceasefire to dramatically scale up humanitarian operations.”
Concern was also expressed in a joint statement by the leaders of Britain, France and Germany, who said the “humanitarian catastrophe” in Gaza “must end now” and that “the time has come” for the war to end.
“We call on the Israeli government to immediately lift restrictions on the flow of aid and urgently allow the UN and humanitarian NGOs to carry out their work in order to take action against starvation,” read the joint statement by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
“The most basic needs of the civilian population, including access to water and food, must be met without any further delay,” they said. “Withholding essential humanitarian assistance to the civilian population is unacceptable.”
“Israel must uphold its obligations under international humanitarian law,” they added. “We stand ready to take further action to support an immediate ceasefire and a political process that leads to lasting security and peace for Israelis, Palestinians and the entire region.”
The statement came a day after Macron said France would recognize a Palestinian state in September, prompting condemnation from Israel and responses from Germany and the UK that they would not follow suit.
According to a statement from Starmer’s office, the British premier spoke to Macron and Merz to outline UK plans to get aid to people in Gaza and evacuate sick and injured children.
“The prime minister set out how the UK will also be taking forward plans to work with partners such as Jordan to airdrop aid and evacuate children requiring medical assistance,” the statement said.
NYT: No evidence of Hamas stealing UN aid
Citing two senior Israeli military officials and two other Israelis involved in the matter, The New York Times reported on Saturday that Israel has no evidence that Hamas regularly steals aid from the United Nations.
The claim that Hamas steals aid has been Israel’s main justification for the establishment of the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a group backed by the US and Israel that has distributed tens of millions of meals in southern and central Gaza, but has seen hundreds of reported deaths of Palestinians at and near its distribution sites.
The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the UN system for distributing aid was the most reliable and effective method of distributing aid, while Hamas would steal from smaller organizations that contributed aid.
The IDF told The Times in a statement that Hamas’s looting of aid is “well documented” and that the terror group “exploited humanitarian aid to fund terrorist activities.”
The Times’ report came after more than 100 trucks’ worth of aid coming in from Israel were collected and distributed by the UN and other international organizations on Friday, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories said.
According to COGAT, some 90 trucks of food were also unloaded at the crossings and were waiting to be collected.
“Hundreds of trucks still await pickup. We continue to facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza,” COGAT added.
Displaced Palestinians at the Nuseirat refugee camp haul food parcels and other items they managed to get from a GHF aid distribution point at the Netzarim corridor, in the central Gaza Strip, on July 26, 2025. (Eyad Baba/ AFP)
The war between Israel and Hamas broke out on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led terrorists invaded Israel, killing some 1,200 people and kidnapping 251. The IDF has confirmed the deaths of 28 of the 50 remaining hostages.
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 58,000 people in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting so far, though the toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters. Israel says it has killed some 20,000 combatants in battle as of January and another 1,600 terrorists inside Israel during the October 7 onslaught.
Israel’s toll in the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza and in military operations along the border with the Strip stands at 456.Israel has said it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities and stresses that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas including homes, hospitals, schools and mosques. link
Work begins on water pipeline linking Egyptian desalination plant to Gaza
Work has begun on a water pipeline from a desalination facility in Egypt to the al-Mawasi area on the coast of the southern Gaza Strip, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians currently reside, Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories says.
In a statement, COGAT says that several weeks ago it approved a United Arab Emirates initiative to construct the pipeline, which it says “is intended to serve approximately 600,000 residents in the area and will operate independently of Israel’s water pipelines.”
Today, UAE representatives “began transferring equipment for the project from Egypt under supervision and following a thorough security inspection via the Kerem Shalom Crossing,” COGAT says.
“Construction of the pipeline will commence in the coming days and is expected to continue for several weeks,” it adds. link Apparently, some of the pressure of Israel's war crimes in Gaza is having a little impact and COGAT's approval of a water line from Egypt is in reaction to that pressure. COGAT cannot approve an action like that without permission from the political echelon. But, as is said, it is a drop in the bucket and will certainly not erase what we have done until now: starvation, destruction, ethnic cleansing, genocide.
Footage shows scramble for humanitarian aid airdropped in Gaza yesterday
A video circulated by media outlets in Gaza shows dozens of Gazans scrambling for humanitarian aid that was airdropped in the Gaza Strip last night.
In the footage — whose exact location in the Strip is unclear — Gazans can be seen also celebrating the arrival of the aid. video This short video must be seen to understand just a little of the massive humanitarian crisis that we have committed in Gaza. It does not show the starving children but the chaos and desperation to grab even a little bit of food stuffs to survive.
IDF announces daily 10-hour humanitarian pauses in densely populated areas of GazaThe Israeli military will conduct a “local tactical pause of military activity” in densely populated areas of the Gaza Strip, starting from 10 a.m. till 8 p.m., the IDF announces.
The military says the “pause” will take place in areas where the IDF is currently not operating with ground troops, including al-Mawasi, Deir al-Balah, and Gaza City, “every day until further notice.”
The move is being carried out “in accordance with directives from the political echelon, and as part of the IDF’s ongoing effort, led by COGAT, to increase the scope of humanitarian aid entering the Gaza Strip,” the military says.
“This decision was coordinated with the UN and international organizations following discussions regarding the matter,” it says.
Additionally, the IDF says “secure routes” will be designated from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m., “to enable the safe passage of UN and humanitarian aid organization convoys delivering and distributing food and medicine to the population across the Gaza Strip.”
“The IDF will continue to support humanitarian efforts alongside ongoing maneuvering and offensive operations against terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip, in order to protect Israeli civilians. The IDF is prepared to expand the scale of this activity as required,” the army adds.
In 1st since war began, IDF says it airdropped humanitarian aid into Gaza. More proof that the international pressure is mounting against Israel, and finally, the pressure is forcing the government to do something. What the government, specifically Netanyahu needs to do as the most important act is to END THE WAR!!!
I have every reason to believe that the charges brought against Netanyahu by the ICC will only be the first of many. There is no doubt in my mind that he is a war criminal and his crimes are not his alone. We will see a deluge of charges brought against many of our politicians, senior army officers and hundreds, if not thousands of soldiers. We have committed massive crimes against the Palestinians in Gaza, including ethnic cleansing and the worst of all, genocide. It is the most horrific acts that have been committed in the name of every Israeli, but unfortunately most Israelis are either supportive of the actions as revenge for the horrors of October 7 or willingly blind to the actions. The Israeli press has been entirely complicit in the blindness and shielding of the horrors of our acts in Gaza. While the world has gotten front row views of our war crimes, our press has shielded us from the pictures of what is happening in our name and under our noses. It can no longer be a situation that anyone can claim "we didn't know". That was the common excuse of the Germans who watched and did nothing, the people who lived next to the concentration and extermination camps and could smell the burning flesh in the air and claimed they knew nothing. Just as these Germans did, our population has chosen to be blind and deaf to our government and army's actions and war crimes.
Many Israelis have begun to stand up and yell enough, the protest and try to show pictures of the killed and starving children. But our government, which has actively been destroying whatever remnants of democracy that still existed, has actively been destroying the public's right to protest by destroying these same pictures and arresting the protestors. The rights of free speech are now only a memory. We, as a public must come out in the hundreds of thousands to say "ENOUGH, NOT IN MY NAME", but that is unlikely to happen for many reasons. As I mentioned, there is still an remaining desire to revenge October 7 and the strong belief that no one in Gaza is an innocent. On the one hand, that second sentiment can be understood by all that we saw on our screens on October 7, the people who also crossed the border with the Hamas terrorists, looting the settlements, taking dead bodies back to Gaza to be rewarded by Hamas, even participating in the rapes and killing of civilians, and then the masses in the streets throughout Gaza who applauded what Hamas did and attacked the hostages who were being dragged into Gaza, where the terrorists had to protect the hostages from the masses.
When does that need for revenge end? We have spent the last 2 years destroying an entire civilization, with 90% of the buildings and infrastructure demolished, including hospitals, schools, mosques, roads, water and electricity infrastructure and finally the starvation of an entire population. When does it end? How does it end? Where is our humanity? Did we lose it all on October 7? How can we be in such pain and feel the need to be the ones to return all of that pain?ENOUGH! We need to take back what we have lost and call for an end: an end to the war, an end to the hostages' captivity, an end to the soldiers being killed, an end to the crimes we are committing, an end to the starvation, an end to managing the conflict, an end to leaders who are not deserving of us, an end to a government that gives us no hope. We need to become what we have always strived to be and have lost, hopefully not forever: a light unto nations but that light has burnt out entirely and I have a hope that we can rekindle it, but I don't know if we can.
Gaza and the South
IDF says drone strike killed Hezbollah commander in southern Lebanon
A Hezbollah commander was killed in an Israeli drone strike in southern Lebanon’s Bint Jbeil earlier today, the military says.
According to the IDF, the commander, Ali Abed al-Qader Ismail, was involved in efforts to restore Hezbollah capabilities in the Bint Jbeil area, adding that his actions “constituted a blatant violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon.”
Syrian media reports talks with Israel in Paris did not yield final deal, but talks to continue
Syrian and Israeli officials held talks in Paris mediated by the United States about containing any escalation in southern Syria, Syria’s state-run Ekhbariya TV reports, citing a diplomatic source.
The diplomatic source says the meeting did not result in any final agreements, but they agreed to continue talks and evaluate steps aimed at maintaining stability in southern Syria.
‘Not in our name’: Hundreds rail against war, government at Tel Aviv protest
Attendance is sparser than usual this week as prominent anti-government activists went to protest in Ness Ziona after a right-wing mob there assaulted Arab lawmaker Ayman Odeh last week while chanting “death to Arabs.”
Speakers at the protest rail against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government for rejecting a state commission of inquiry into failures leading up to the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023; attempting to codify a blanket exemption from military service for the Haredi community; and allegedly letting party politics permeate the police. They call for an end to the Gaza war and the return of the hostages.
The protest’s MC, Attorney Rotem Perlman Farhi, head of the “Free in our Land” protest group, also offers rare criticism of the war’s effect on residents of the Strip, where the UN and humanitarian groups reported skyrocketing starvation this week.
“It’s important for us to clarify again and again that the starvation and killing are not in our name,” she says.
Former police commissioner Moshe Karadi accuses National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir of effectively making the Israel Police a branch of his Otzma Yehudit party.
“I call from here to the officers and commanders of the Israel Police: Your only duty is to obey the law. You have no duty to obey a minister and the ideology of Otzma Yehudit,” he says, railing against Netanyahu for having handed over the police portfolio to a “man with a criminal record.”
Natalia Casarotti, whose son Keshet was killed fleeing the Nova music festival during the October 7 onslaught, says, “This war has long since lost its purpose. This war doesn’t protect us; it continues to stab us. It must end.”
At every mention of the war, left-wing protesters on the sidelines of the protest call on soldiers not to serve in Gaza, chanting: “Refuse! Refuse!”
After the speeches, protesters join attendees of other rallies in a march toward the US Embassy Branch Office.
- Israel. Is the Game Over? by Avrum Burg - former Speaker of the Knesset
More than twenty years ago, I cried out at the tragic end of Zionism. Already then, democracy in Israel was dying on the hilltops of the occupied territories, and the country’s soul had already been infected with a deadly disease. “After ceasing to care for Palestinian children,” I wrote, “we should not be surprised when they return, filled with hate, to blow themselves up in our escapist city centers. They entrust their lives to God amid our leisure districts, because their lives are filled with suffering. They shed their blood in our restaurants to ruin our appetite, because they have hungry, humiliated children and parents at home.”
Years have passed since then. Countless funerals. The prophecy fulfilled. The affliction has only grown more acute, and now we can no longer avoid the question that refuses to let go: Could it be that the current State of Israel, that its body stronger than ever and its spirit deader than ever, no longer deserves to exist? Not because of what happened on October 7, but because of everything that came before, and everything that has erupted since.
There are moments when a nation and each of its citizens must pause and confront the most difficult questions. For many Israelis and Jews around the world, this is one of those moments. The realities of Gaza are unbearable: dead children, starving families, entire neighborhoods erased. Sacred sites reduced to rubble, ancient communities annihilated. And once again masses of refugees, many for the second or third time, are homeless in the besieged Gaza Strip. This time, there is no external oppressor to blame. We are Gaza’s tormentors. Willfully and deliberately. And if that weren’t enough, our crimes are compounded by a chilling indifference. Most of Israeli society remains numb, unmoved. The destruction of Gaza is a damning indictment of Israel’s moral bankruptcy. And we must face the truth: Israel without an ethical foundation has no justification to exist.
The initial Israeli response to October 7 was swift and fierce. Born of mass hysteria that gripped everyone, from the prime minister to the last citizen. But hysteria soon gave way to something darker: a cold, calculated campaign of revenge, driven by a merciless thirst for blood. And now we’ve crossed into a third phase. The Israeli government, with chilling composure, is implementing a plan that has long lurked in the national psyche: to erase Palestinian existence from every area under Israeli control. Through harassment, discrimination, segregation, starvation, expulsion, and killings, all intentional. That horrific day served as a certificate of legitimacy for the darkest impulses within us. Netanyahu and his gang won’t miss the opportunity. They are executing what they see as the final stage in Israel’s founding mission: the completion of the 1948 expulsion. In their warped vision, “Ben-Gurion didn’t finish the job.” Israel of 2025 has signed a divorce decree from the liberal democracy that once tried to survive amid a tangle of identities, traumas, and threats.
That older Israel, now nostalgically remembered, was a fledgling democracy. It bore the birth pangs of a new state and the injuries of an old, traumatized society: Holocaust, dislocation, and the Nakba. It was far from perfect, but it leaned toward a more positive horizon. Democracy evolved. Fragile peace agreements were signed. A welfare-oriented economy improved lives. Activist courts, responsive governments, and a vibrant civil society worked to narrow gaps, fix flaws, safeguard rights, and extend liberties. Optimism had reason to hope.
Zionism began as an ancient dream. A refuge, a place of dignity and repair. A haven from antisemitism, a home where Jews could live freely and equally, not as occupiers, and not as victims. That dream has become a nightmare. The occupation has dragged on for over fifty years. The two-state solution is a tired joke. Gaza lies in ruins. Palestinian lives are worthless in Israeli public discourse. Arab citizens of Israel are discriminated as second-class. Dissenting voices are branded traitorous. The leader is a demigod, his followers, a violent and deluded cult. Israel 2025 is not democratic, not liberal, not secular, not rational, not peace-seeking, and no longer a part of the Western world. Its identity is primarily religious. Its economy is a grotesque hybrid: capitalist for the productive and tax-paying sectors, Soviet-style socialist when it comes to allocating resources to favored groups. The government is corrupt. The state murderous. The society, disintegrated.
There is no longer one Israel. There are four separate societies, bound together only by the perpetual war that sustains the illusion of unity. Without war, everything would collapse. There is nothing left to hold Israelis together, except real and imagined threats. Look and see:
The ultra-Orthodox have become the Shylocks of greed. They brand themselves as defenders of Israel’s “Jewishness,” yet have shown no moral, human, or religious concern for the hostages or the fallen. Why should they care? It’s not their war. Their sons are not fighting or dying. For decades, they’ve focused solely on two sectoral goals: to perpetuate their exemption from military service, and to extract as much state funding as possible. Exploiting resources they did not help generate. Their separatism and greed have destroyed the basic solidarity of the society.
The national-religious Zionists are dying in droves and killing just as many. Because the military ethos is central to their identity. They are the opposite of the Haredim in this respect. They rush to war, many driven by a messianic fervor. Raised on the belief that the land is sacred and that conquering it is the first step of redemption; they see the State of Israel as “the dawn of the redemption.” Every war with Palestinians is, for them is a holy war. Their goals are chillingly clear: cleanse the land of its foreigners, destroy this generation’s Amalek, and usher in the Messiah. A war with no end. For their rabbis and ministers, war is not a threat it is an opportunity. A miraculous era. Their messianism has extinguished rational Israel.
Secular Israelis if any still exist, have collapsed. They carry the burden of the entire state. They are the productive, creative class. They pay the taxes, serve in the army and the reserve service. It is them who maintain Israel’s image as a modern, innovative, liberal democracy. They are the Israel that was. Yet politically they are weak, fragmented, and unfocused. Exhausted and exploited. Serving and carry out policies they may not even believe in. They don’t revolt, even though their backs can no longer bear the weight of parasitic ultra-Orthodox and messianic fundamentalists. And when they finally fall, who will fund the fantasy? Their political weakness and the pitiful state of their leadership are the clearest signs of Israel’s demise.
And then there are the Palestinian citizens of Israel. From the day the state was founded until the destruction of Gaza, they have never known equal citizenship. And yet they have risen above. With restraint and dignity, they have prevented the opening of a new internal front against the very state that is annihilating their people. Their “reward” from Netanyahu’s inciting regime? More incitement, more persecution, and deeper neglect of every aspect of civilian life. Their ongoing harassment by Netanyahu and his thugs as well as deafening silence of the opposition leaders, has eliminated any remaining claim that Israel is a democracy of all its citizens.
To ask whether the Israeli project has failed is a genuine attempt to name the chasm between vision and reality. A voice within says: a state that systematically denies rights to millions, that justifies mass killing as a security strategy, and that elevates Jewish supremacy and inequality to the level of ideology, such a state may no longer claim moral legitimacy. Perhaps the Israel that has severed itself from its founding values and now stands in defiance of the very international norms that brought it into being, has lost the right to exist.
There are no easy answers. I do not seek destruction. I reject despair. But my eyes are wide open. And I know we’ve reached an abyss from which there is only one path back: a different kind of social contract. Not one based on tribal nationalism, but on shared humanity and equal citizenship. A covenant in which Jews and Arabs live together. Not as enemies, not as rulers and ruled, but as partners across the trauma. Who swear to themselves and to one another: Never Again. Together, we must set out on a new path, different from all past attempts. Because if we cannot redirect the course of history, then we must admit: it’s over. Truly over. And perhaps, justly so. link
- This is an Emergency Call! - Ehud Barak- Former Prime Minister, Defense Minister and IDF Chief of StaffThis is an emergency call for a brave look at reality and for action to stop the collapse! Israel of the Declaration of Independence and the Zionist vision is collapsing. The state of emergency requires swift action in light of five questions: What is happening to us? Who is responsible for it? What is the required action, its purpose, and its outcome? Who must be called to action and lead it? And who must act and bring it to fruition?As for the first question - a vast majority of citizens understand what is happening. We have a wonderful people and an army that achieved impressive results against Hezbollah, Iran, and Syria. But we are stuck in a "folly war" in Gaza. Blood is being spilled, families and businesses of reservists are collapsing, while on the other hand, draft evasion is rampant. The judicial overhaul and the crushing of the gatekeepers are racing forward. The hostages are abandoned on the altar of the government's survival, which has repeatedly thwarted opportunities for their release.The main thing is that the war continues, because its end is the doomsday for the government. Speeding up the legal process, a national inquiry commission, and removal in disgrace.Who is responsible? The government and its head. An irresponsible leadership, spinning between the messianic vision of Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, the sectarian greed of the ultra-Orthodox, and the personal interests of Benjamin Netanyahu, trapped in the "QatarGate" and "Build" affairs. To survive, he strives to turn Israel into a dictatorship - appointing "yes-men" to head the Shin Bet and the Attorney General, and subjugating the Supreme Court. There is nothing "unthinkable," including the cancellation of free elections and armed right-wing militias. "The constitutional moment" is already here. From our childhood we learned: "The people of Israel live!" - and today they are completing: "living in a movie!"What needs to be done? There is no compromise between the destroyers of Israel and its defenders. Nothing is sacred when the fortress collapses. Not even the recesses of the courts and the Knesset. Netanyahu's corruption trial and the QatarGate and "Build" investigations must continue five days a week. The Knesset must continue its work and allow the worst. As the hostages rot in tunnels and every day could be their last, Israel is becoming an outcast in the world, most of the public has lost faith in the government and its head - we must not give up on its downfall. Whoever hesitates to cancel the recesses will find themselves after the holidays with the recesses of our democracy.The only action that can still save Israel is non-violent civil disobedience, in which a comprehensive paralysis of the state until the government is replaced or its head resigns. Only when all of Israel is paralyzed will the recesses be canceled and the government will submit to the will of the public and make way for a better one. Who should lead? The country's leaders! The President, opposition leaders, the Histadrut, high-tech, employers, academic and legal leaders, heads of the education system and the medical system, kibbutz and moshav movements, and of course protest leaders. If we fail, God forbid, darkness will fall upon Israel, threatening its identity, security, and very existence. The mark of Cain will be etched on the forehead of the Prime Minister and his ministers for generations. But the mark of shame will also be borne by all who stood by and remained silent.Whoever needs and can enforce success is only the determined public. When we are a million people in the streets with determination and perseverance, the government will fall. All of us together in three shifts, in squares, at intersections, on bridges, sitting on the road, in vehicle convoys, and on pilgrimages, 24/7, until the government and its head are expelled home. I warn again: Now is the time! After the recess, it will be too late. link
Israeli tourist says Syrian man ripped off part of his ear in altercation on beach in Greece
An Israeli tourist had part of his ear ripped off by an attacker at a beach while vacationing in Greece, then was arrested by police over alleged racist comments he made to his assailant, he tells Channel 12 news.
Speaking from a hospital in Greece, Stav Ben-Shushan says he and his wife were at Bolivar Beach on the Athenian Riviera speaking to another Israeli couple when a man started filming them and chanting: “Free Palestine, fuck Israel, I am Hamas.”
He says they initially ignored the disturbance, but then the man threw sand at the other Israeli to whom they were talking. Shushan says he started shoving the attacker before security guards intervened to separate them and removed the assailant from the beach.
Shushan says that an hour later, he was walking back to his wife from a bathroom at the beach where he saw the man return and approach her, and appear to attack her.
When he rushed to intervene, the attacker ripped part of his ear off, Shushan says.
Shushan was arrested after the man, who he says was from Syria, accused him of making racist comments.
The incident follows two other anti-Israeli incidents in Greece over the past week.
A group of Israeli teenagers were attackedearly Wednesday by a gang of anti-Israel assailants while vacationing in the Greek island of Rhodes, less than a day after an Israeli-owned cruise ship was prevented from docking at the Greek island of Syros and was instead rerouted to Cyprus due to a large anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian protest taking place at the port. Link
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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