π️Lonny's War Update- October 710, 2023 - September 15, 2025 π️
π️Day 710 that 48 of our hostages are still in Hamas captivityπ️
Israeli ‘state terrorism’ won’t halt mediation efforts, Qatari PM says after strike on Hamas in Doha
Speaking at the preparatory session for the emergency Arab-Islamic summit in Doha, Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed Al-Thani says Israel’s strike on Hamas leaders last week will not stop his country from continuing its mediating efforts alongside the US and Egypt.
He also calls Israel’s attack “state terrorism” and says that Israel has “no red lines” at all.
Al-Thani calls the Israeli strike “an attack on the principle of mediation itself,” and says Israel is encouraged by the lack of any consequences for its actions.
The summit begins tomorrow, and is expected to produce harsh criticism of Israel, and possibly tangible steps by countries with which Israel enjoys diplomatic relations.
‘Every delay is mortal danger’: Hostage families denounce Qatar strike, demand deal
Speakers at Hostages Square warn assassination attempt on Hamas leaders in Qatar has derailed fragile negotiations; hostages forum says PM is the ‘one obstacle’ to making a deal
Crowds assembled in Tel Aviv and across Israel on Saturday evening to demand that the government reach a ceasefire deal for the release of the 48 remaining hostages in Gaza, as the families denounced Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for Tuesday’s strike targeting Hamas’s leadership in Qatar, which appears to have set back talks for a Gaza hostage-release and ceasefire deal.
Speaking at the main weekly rally at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, former hostage Sharon Alony Cunio, whose husband David remains in Hamas captivity in Gaza and is thought to be alive, accused the government of life-threatening procrastination in the release of the remaining 48 captives.
“Netanyahu opposes the approach that he himself initiated,” she said, presumably referring to the prime minister rejecting a temporary hostage deal, which he had once said he preferred over a comprehensive agreement. “The negotiations have been cut off again, and this time with fire and pillars of smoke. Every delay is a mortal danger.”
“I am not prepared to become a widow because of hesitancy or torpedoing” of a ceasefire and hostage-release deal, she continued. “I am not prepared to become another name in the list of victims of government obtuseness. I am demanding to save David’s life and those of all the living hostages, and to bring back all the fallen hostages now.”
Alony Cunio said her husband was left in captivity “when Israel decided to thwart the second deal” earlier this year, collapsing it after what should have been the first of three stages, “and also when Israel went on an assassination mission in Qatar” this past Tuesday, which Netanyahu hinted earlier on Saturday had failed to meet its goal of taking out Hamas’s top leadership abroad.
“I’m dying of fear. What is he going through now?” she asked.
Sharon Alony Cunio at a rally in Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square on September 13, 2025. (Lior Rotstein/Hostages and Missing Families Forum)“We won’t let our country enter a ‘hostage routine,’” she vowed. “There will be no routine here until they come back — in a deal.”
Maccabit Meyer, aunt of twin captives Gali and Ziv Berman, also speaking at the rally, assailed Israel’s decision to target Hamas’s top brass in a strike in Doha.
“Now, of all times, it’s necessary to eliminate the political arm [of Hamas] because there’s ‘an opportunity’,” she said sarcastically, as the crowd jeered. “There are opportunities for everything except for Gali and Ziv and the rest of the 48 hostages.”
“Where the hell is the shame?” Meyer asked. “How can it be that nobody [in the government] shouts, ‘Enough’?”
Addressing the government, she asked: “Where is your heart and conscience? How are you not afraid we’ll get back 48 coffins — maybe fewer because some will disappear?”
Maccabit Meyer, aunt of twin hostages Gali and Ziv Berman, speaks in Hostages Square, September 13, 2025 (Lior Rotshtein / Hostages Families forum)Despite opposition from hostage families and much of the public, Israel is pressing ahead with its expanded offensive aimed at conquering Gaza City. The military has urged a full evacuation of the area holding around 1 million people ahead of an expected invasion. Far-right members of Israel’s governing coalition have cornered Prime Minister Benajmain Netanyahu, threatening to topple his government unless Israel pushes ahead with an expanded operation in Gaza City, despite serious misgivings by many in the military leadership and widespread opposition among Israel’s public.
Hamas has warned Israel that the planned offensive to conquer Gaza City would subject hostages in the area to the “same risks” as the terror group’s fighters.
“This will be your shame forever,” Meyer said. “The people want them back and the people will remember… you’ve messed with the wrong people.”
Former captives Keith and Aviva Siegel also called to reach a deal, which Keith stressed was “not just an emotional duty, not just a moral duty,” but a “Jewish, national and human duty.”
Keith and Aviva Siegel at a rally in Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square on September 13, 2025. (Uriel Even Sapir/Hostages and Missing Families Forum)Fourteen-year-old former hostage Alma Or, whose parents were murdered in the Hamas invasion of Kibbutz Be’eri on October 7, 2023, and whose father Dror’s body is still held by the terror group in Gaza, said slain captive Carmel Gat, with whom she was abducted, “could have been with us, alive, had the deal happened in time.”
Gat was murdered alongside five other hostages in a tunnel under Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, last August.
“Some things can no longer be changed, but bringing my father back for the burial he so deserves — that’s possible,” said Alma. “A girl should not have to beg for her father’s remains.”
“October 7 has to end,” she said. “Everyone must come back, in a deal, now.”
Alma Or, an Israeli hostage released from Hamas captivity in 2023, speaks at a rally in Tel Aviv on September 13, 2025. (Lior Rotstein/Hostages and Missing Families Forum)Also on Saturday night, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum declared Netanyahu to be the “one obstacle” to a ceasefire and hostage release deal, after the premier hinted on social media that Israel’s Doha strike failed to kill Hamas’s leadership, and asserted that “getting rid of them would rid the main obstacle to releasing all our hostages and ending the war.”
“The targeted operation in Qatar proved beyond any doubt that there is one obstacle to returning the 48 hostages and ending the war: Prime Minister Netanyahu. Every time a deal approaches, Netanyahu sabotages it,” the forum said in response. Link
Mossad chief told spy agency he believed Hamas would have restarted hostage talks if not for Doha strike
In the aftermath of Israel’s strike on Hamas leaders in Doha last week, Mossad director David Barnea sent an agency-wide letter explaining why he had been opposed to the attack, and had been unwilling for the spy agency to take part in it, Channel 12 reports.
According to the report, Barnea explained that he had not wanted Israel to move forward with the strike at that time, because the targeted Hamas officials had been gathered to discuss a new US-sponsored proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of the remaining hostages.
That meeting, he had reportedly explained, may not have ended with Hamas fully accepting the US proposal, but would have almost certainly led to progress and paved the way for both sides to return to the negotiating table.
The Mossad declined to comment on the report, Channel 12 stated.
The report adds that in the run-up to the attack, the heads of Israel’s security establishments disagreed over what they believed Hamas’s response to the ceasefire proposal would be.
The Shin Bet, which is currently being led in an interim capacity by “Shin,” the agency’s former deputy, assessed that Hamas was likely to reject the proposal entirely, while Barnea believed that it could go either way.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi both agreed with Barnea’s assessment, and the three recommended that Israel hold fire until a clearer picture emerged, the report stated.
The Shin Bet’s position that Hamas was unlikely to issue a positive response and that there was a limited window to carry out the attack was reportedly shared by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz. Link
Mother of hostage Guy Gilboa-Dalal says Hamas using him as human shield in Gaza City
The mother of Hamas hostage Guy Gilboa-Dalal says she has been informed that her son is being held above ground in Gaza City, after the terror group published a video of him last week in which he was in the backseat of a car above ground.
Speaking to Army Radio, Meirav Gilboa-Dalal says that she received confirmation that he is being held alone, and is being used as a “human shield” by his Hamas captors ahead of an impending IDF operation to capture the city.
She does not say who she received the information from.
“I have reached rock bottom,” she says, recalling that she had thought things could not get any worse after Hamas published a video back in February of Gilboa-Dalal and fellow hostage Evyatar David being forced to watch a group of hostages get released. “And today I know that my son is a human shield. And to find out that your son is a human shield — that is rock bottom.”
“We can’t breathe,” she despairs, pleading for the IDF to call off its planned offensive. link. Everyone of the security chiefs has voiced their opposition to the Gaza City Operation and have clearly said that the risks to the hostages who are living is extremely high as well as the possibility of losing all traces to the places that the hostage bodies may be held. Beyond that, the IDF Chief said without any doubt that going into Gaza City is extremely dangerous for our troops. Hamas has had lots of time preparing ambushes and booby traps for soldiers entering buildings, tunnels and tunnel entrances as well as anywhere else they suspect soldiers will go especially if they are lured. The idea of using hostages as live shields is totally expected and adds additional risks to the hostages' lives. Every hostage has value to Hamas, living and dead, although it is recognized that they expect to get more for the living hostages. We already know that they have no qualms killing any of the hostages and will do so the second they believe the army is close by. Guy Gilboa-Dalal's mother said that Guy is now being held above ground as a human shield and we should expect that many of the other living hostages are also being held above ground. The risks to Guy and any other hostage being held above ground is even greater due to the danger of the aerial bombing that is taking place daily. Unfortunately, these dangers to the hostages mean absolutely nothing to the few people who are deciding on this operation, Netanyahu at the head and his underlings giving him full support in this operation that is known to be part of his War of Political survival. His political survival is at the expense of the survival of the hostages and the soldiers fighting in Gaza every day.
Ahead of Gaza City op, Hamas moved hostages above ground to restrict army’s movements — report
Ahead of Israel’s operation to conquer Gaza City, Hamas has moved hostages above ground to homes and tents to restrict the military from operating in certain areas, Palestinian sources in Gaza tell the Kan public broadcaster.
Yesterday, the mother of hostage Guy Gilboa-Dalal said she was informed that her son is being held above ground in Gaza City, after the terror group published a video of him last week in which he was in the backseat of a car above ground.
Netanyahu, ministers weigh steps to protect hostages in Gaza offensive
IDF officials say Hamas’ response to advancing troops near hostages remains uncertain; army has marked zones requiring extra caution and developed tactics, with intelligence support, to limit risks to hostages while pursuing battlefield goals
Shortly after Israel completed final preparations for a new offensive in Gaza City, with hundreds of tanks, armored personnel carriers and bulldozers already deployed around the Strip, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Sunday evening with officials and ministers to discuss ways to avoid harming hostages held in the city.At the same time, families of hostages appealed to negotiators and security officials to “prevent the killing of living hostages and the loss of those already dead.”The families addressed their plea to the professional echelon of the negotiating team as well as to the IDF, the Shin Bet security agency and the Mossad, saying Netanyahu is “determined to wage an endless war for political needs while knowingly and immediately endangering all 48 hostages and the one female hostage. Do not lend your hand to clear, foreseeable and deliberate harm to the hostages. Security chiefs, do not be mistaken — every hostage harmed will be your responsibility.“History, morality and the core values of Israeli society will not forgive anyone who supports the act of sacrifice initiated by the prime minister. Two years have passed since Oct. 7, two years since the greatest abandonment in the country’s history. Do not follow in his footsteps. Bring a comprehensive deal. End the war.”Joining the discussion were Defense Minister Israel Katz, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, Minister Gideon Sa'ar and Minister Aryeh Deri. Representing the security establishment were IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, senior officers, the acting head of the Shin Bet, Mossad chief David Barnea and retired Maj. Gen. Nitzan Alon, who is responsible for the hostage file on behalf of the IDF, along with hostage affairs coordinator Gal Hirsch.Preparations for the offensiveAccording to IDF assessments, about 300,000 Palestinians have already left Gaza City for the south, and many more are expected to evacuate once tanks and armored vehicles enter the city’s western neighborhoods. Preparations for the ground stage of Operation Gideon Chariots II were completed Saturday night, with hundreds of engineering vehicles assembled near the Gaza border before being sent into action in the north.Regular IDF battalions are leading the deployment. Units are already operating on the outskirts of the city, including the Zeitoun neighborhood to the south and Sheikh Radwan to the north, to enable brigades to advance into western Gaza City.
(Photo: Eyad BABA / AFP)Despite the large-scale evacuation, the IDF has decided that even if much of the city’s population remains, it will not delay the operation. Troops are expected to move slowly and cautiously and, as in the first maneuver in Gaza City, may witness crowds fleeing south with white flags. The military is preparing for the possibility that Hamas could exploit the evacuations to launch attacks on soldiers along the routes.IDF officials acknowledged uncertainty about Hamas’ intentions regarding the hostages if its fighters hear Israeli forces approaching. The army has designated certain areas where hostages are believed to be present and where troops will be required to maneuver with extra caution, even if armed terrorists are identified. With support from military intelligence, the IDF has developed combat techniques aimed at reducing risks to hostages while still securing battlefield gains. Link It's very good that the army has designated certain areas where hostages are believed to be present. Unfortunately, throughout the 2 years of this war, the army and intelligence actually had and has no idea where the hostages are being held. These are assumptions based on some intelligence. We have already seen multiple hostages killed and injured by the aerial bombings and others who were executed by Hamas guards when the believed the army was getting close to them. No matter how many areas they are designating, all of the hostages' lives are in immediate danger. So now, we have Netanyahu and some of his yes men ministers and advisors 'weighing steps' to protect the hostages. What kind of BS is Netanyahu trying to sell now? The only step that needs to be weighed is why aren't they hard at work to make a deal to get the hostages home, not how they're going to bomb the hell out of Gaza City, killed thousands of non combatants who refuse to evacuate, and quite possibly kill some of our hostages. That different path of thinking doesn't come into the equation because it doesn't suit Netanyahu's war of political survival. Netanyahu has shown us endlessly that the hostages mean nothing to him and their lives are part of the price to pay for his political survival and the lives of the soldiers going to fight in this endless war are just more fodder on the altar of Netanyahu's survival. The only way this is going to end is when Trump gets fed up enough with Netanyahu that he doesn't leave him any choice and tells him flat out to end this war now!Families of hostages appeal to IDF chief for meeting over looming Gaza City offensive
The Hostage and Missing Families Forum renews its demand for an urgent meeting with IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir after he was quoted in the media casting doubt over plans to conquer Gaza City and what the government hopes to accomplish with the offensive.
“Your statements clearly indicate that Operation Chariots of Gideon II will not bring about Hamas’s surrender and will lead to an endless war in the Strip, nullifying all military achievements gained at tremendous cost,” the Forum writes in an open letter to Zamir.
“We can no longer wait. We demand an immediate meeting. We demand that you refrain from unnecessary action that will, by definition, result in the killing and murder of our loved ones,” the families write. “The IDF must present a clear policy to the public and families: no more living hostages murdered in captivity as a result of military pressure, and no more bodies disappearing under rubble, losing any chance to locate them and return them for proper burial.”
**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!!!”
Red Alerts - Missile, Rocket, Drone (UAV - unmanned aerial vehicles), and Terror Attacks and Death Announcements
*19;45 pm yesterday- Eilat and Arava- explosive drone from Yemen
Israel levels three towers in Gaza City as residents continue to evacuate area
Gaza hospital reports family, including three children, dead in airstrike; IDF asserts that 300,000 of the million people who were in the strip’s main northern city have headed south
The Israel Defense Forces said Sunday morning that dozens of terror operatives had been killed across Gaza over the previous 24 hours, as fighting in Gaza City continued to intensify and Palestinians continued to flee amid looming Israeli plans to capture the city.
The IDF struck three tall buildings in Gaza City on Sunday after issuing separate evacuation warnings for all three, including a university building, which Israel said was being used by Hamas.
Meanwhile, a fresh IDF estimate said that more than 300,000 Palestinians had so far evacuated Gaza City, out of approximately a million who were in the city, for other areas of the Strip.
Hospitals in Gaza said Israeli strikes had killed at least 13 people on Sunday; Hamas-controlled authorities, which do not distinguish between civilians and combatants, also reported Saturday that at least 47 people had been killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza over the previous 24 hours.
The IDF confirmed carrying out airstrikes on three high-rise towers in Gaza City on Sunday following evacuation warnings for Palestinian civilians in the vicinity.
On Sunday morning, residents said the Kawthar tower, in the Tel al-Hawa neighborhood, was flattened to the ground about an hour after an IDF warning. There were no immediate reports of casualties. According to the military, Hamas had placed surveillance equipment in that building to track IDF troop movements in the area, in order to advance attacks. video
In the afternoon, footage posted by Palestinian media showed a strike against the Mahna Tower high-rise, also in Tel al-Hawa, also following an IDF evacuation warning. Shortly afterward, Israel destroyed the al-Munawwarah City building on the Islamic University of Gaza campus, Palestinian media reported.
According to the military, Hamas had placed surveillance equipment and set up observation posts in the Mahna Tower and a building on the Islamic University campus, in order to track troop movements and advance attacks.
The military said Hamas operatives “prepared to carry out attacks against IDF troops in the area of one of the buildings that was struck.”
Palestinians watch as a building collapses amid heavy smoke, during an Israeli strike in the Tal el-Hawa neighborhood of Gaza City on September 14, 2025. (Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
Five days after Israel issued an evacuation order for the entirety of Gaza City ahead of a planned offensive there, the IDF asserted that more than 300,000 Palestinians had so far evacuated Gaza City to other areas of the Strip, according to fresh estimates.Tens of thousands of people had left the area in the past day, the military said on Sunday.
Around one million Palestinians were estimated to be residing in Gaza City before the IDF began to prepare for a major offensive against Hamas there. Last week, the IDF ordered all of Gaza City to evacuate immediately ahead of the planned offensive.
Civilians have been instructed to head for an Israeli-designated humanitarian zone in the Strip’s south. Israel has said it will take over Gaza City, calling it one of Hamas’s last strongholds, and mobilized tens of thousands of reservists for the operation.
Displaced Palestinians evacuating southbound from Gaza City travel on foot and by vehicle along the coastal road in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip on September 13, 2025. (Eyad BABA / AFP)
he UN and aid groups have warned that displacing hundreds of thousands of people will exacerbate a dire humanitarian crisis in the enclave. Sites in southern Gaza where Israel is telling people to go are often overcrowded, according to the UN, and it can cost money to move, which many people don’t have.Displaced Gazans say they were stopped from setting up tents
Amid the mass evacuation effort, however, displaced Gazans have — in at least two instances — said they were prevented from setting up tents in an area of the southern Strip.
A video circulating on social media Sunday showed a man in an area north of Khan Younis claiming he was prevented from setting up a tent at the site, saying he was shot at when he tried to do so.
From the footage, it was not clear who the man believes attacked him.
Abdallah, a Gaza City resident who asked not to be further identified, told The Times of Israel that his neighbor left Gaza City after the Israeli military issued an evacuation order amid a widening offensive, and set up a tent in the same area of the south shown in the video.
He said that it was Hamas members who blocked displaced residents from setting up the tents, arguing the land was “government property.”
It should be noted that some accounts on social media claimed that it was private individuals who were preventing evacuated Gazans from setting up the tents.
Strikes across the Strip continue
On Sunday, at least 13 Palestinians were killed and dozens were wounded in multiple Israeli strikes across Gaza, according to local hospitals.
Two parents, their three children and the children’s aunt were killed in one strike, according to the Al-Aqsa hospital. The family was from the northern town of Beit Hanoun, and arrived in Deir al-Balah last week after fleeing their shelter in Gaza City.
The IDF did not have immediate comment on the particular strikes, but it said Sunday that dozens of terror operatives had been killed in airstrikes in Gaza over the past 24 hours.
In Jabalia and on the outskirts of Gaza City, the IDF said troops of the Givati Infantry Brigade killed more than 10 operatives and destroyed Hamas infrastructure, and that the 215th Artillery Regiment killed additional operatives and destroyed weapon depots.
On the outskirts of Gaza City’s Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, the IDF said troops of the 401st Armored Brigade led a strike that killed a group of at least 10 Hamas operatives who were identified in the area.
Also over the weekend, in northern Gaza, the military said the 990th Reserve Artillery Regiment killed additional operatives and destroyed a Hamas anti-tank missile launch post used in a previous attack, and that the Yiftah Reserve Infantry Brigade and Gaza Division’s Northern Brigade destroyed several buildings being used by Hamas for surveillance.
In southern Gaza, reservists of the Etzioni Reserve Infantry Brigade destroyed Hamas surveillance equipment and killed several operatives, the IDF added.
IDF names some Hamas commanders killed in last month
The military also said Sunday that more than 20 Hamas terrorists, including several who participated in the October 7, 2023, onslaught, have been killed in strikes carried out by the 282nd Artillery Regiment in the past month.
Among the slain terrorists who invaded Israel on October 7, 2023, was Yousef Jumaa, the commander of a terror cell that raided Kibbutz Alumim, the IDF said, adding he also carried out attacks against Israel and IDF troops in Gaza during the war.
Other operatives killed in the regiment’s strikes were named by the IDF as Samir Laqta, the commander of a Nukhba force cell; Issa Abbas, a company commander in Hamas’s Zeitoun Battalion; and Ismail Adwan, Ahmed Adwan and Mohammed Adwan, all members of Hamas’s Beit Hanoun Battalion.
Water pipeline to south Gaza resumes after repairs
Water supply to the southern Gaza Strip via a pipeline from Israel has resumed following repairs carried out by international organizations, Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories said on Sunday.
The Bani Suheila pipeline, near Khan Younis, is one of three water lines from Israel to Gaza.
COGAT did not specify how the pipeline had been damaged. The water lines to Gaza have been repaired several times during the war.
COGAT stated that with the line operational again, approximately 14,000 cubic meters of water are being delivered daily to Palestinians in Deir al-Balah, Khan Younis, and the Mawasi area on the coast.
Displaced Palestinians seen near their tents at the Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip, September 13, 2025. (Ali Hassan/Flash90)Hamas authorities report two malnutrition-related deaths
The Hamas-controlled health ministry claimed on Sunday that two Palestinian adults had died of causes related to malnutrition and starvation in the Gaza Strip over the last 24 hours.
That brought the ministry’s death toll from malnutrition-related causes to 422, including 145 children, since the war began.
Israel denies that there is starvation in Gaza, and has said that a series of steps it took in July to facilitate the entry and distribution of humanitarian aid have brought food prices in Gaza’s markets back down. The prices shot up amid a two-month Israeli blockade on all aid from March to May, which Israel said it imposed to pressure Hamas to release hostages. link
At least 11 Hamas operatives killed in tunnels under northern Gaza’s Beit Hanoun, IDF says
In a recent operation in Beit Hanoun in the far north of the Gaza Strip, the IDF and Shin Bet say at least 11 Hamas operatives were killed inside the terror group’s tunnels.
According to a joint statement, in recent weeks, the military and Shin Bet have continued to operate in Beit Hanoun to demolish remaining Hamas infrastructure, including tunnels, and to eliminate “remnants of the [Beit Hanoun] battalion’s terrorists.”
In August, the IDF declared that Hamas’s Beit Hanoun Battalion had been defeated after the final remaining gunmen there were either killed or surrendered to troops. From today’s announcement, it appears that several operatives either returned to the area or were previously undiscovered.
The IDF says troops of the Gaza Division’s Northern Brigade, alongside Shin Bet forces, set out for an operation last week to locate the Hamas operatives who were still in Beit Hanoun. The operation focused on the kasbah, or fortified quarter of Beit Hanoun, following indications that the operatives were holed up there, the army says.
As part of the operation, the IDF says the ground troops directed an Israeli Air Force drone to strike several sites in Beit Hanoun, including tunnel shafts and a “significant” underground route.
The IDF says that so far, the bodies of 11 Hamas operatives have been discovered inside the tunnels, including field commanders.
Hamas officials making ‘hypocritical attempts’ to evacuate their families from Gaza, COGAT chief fumes
Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories reveals that several Hamas officials in Gaza submitted requests for their family members to leave the Strip, and in some cases even requested to leave themselves, all while the terror group has been encouraging Palestinians not to evacuate Gaza City ahead of the IDF’s upcoming offensive.
The “hypocritical attempts of senior officials in Gaza City and the Hamas terror organization to evacuate their family members to a third country through the Israeli mechanism for evacuating Gaza residents” is published by COGAT chief Maj. Gen. Ghassan Alian on his Arabic-language Facebook page.
“In recent weeks, several requests have been submitted by senior officials for their families to leave the Gaza Strip, some of whom even requested to leave themselves, but their requests were denied by Israel,” COGAT says.
They include Muhammad Madhoun, a minister in the Hamas government, together with his family members; the family of Isma’il al-Ashqar, head of Hamas’s Foreign Affairs and Security Committee; and the family of Alaa a-Din Bata, head of a Hamas government committee.
In addition, COGAT says that Gaza City Council member Anwar Atallah left the Gaza Strip two weeks ago with his family to an unnamed country via Jordan, “with the approval of the defense establishment.”
“While the Hamas terrorist organization calls on you, the residents of Gaza City, not to move south, its operatives fear for their own lives and are seeking to leave the Gaza Strip,” says Alian on Facebook. “They are using you as human shields while looking out for their own interests.”
“Hamas’s hypocrisy is blatant. While its operatives try to flee the Strip with their families, the murderous organization abandons you, the residents of Gaza, and exerts psychological terror on you to remain in Gaza City as human shields,” he says.
Alian adds that “the despicable Hamas is orchestrating a vile campaign against you to serve its murderous goals. It endangers you, harms your families, and sacrifices the entire Strip on the altar of terror, dragging it toward ruin. Do not let the organization’s lies harm you.”
In recent days, the IDF has called on Palestinians in all areas of Gaza City to leave. Out of the estimated one million Palestinians there, some 300,000 have since left for other areas of the Strip. The military has said that Hamas has made efforts to prevent civilians from leaving. Link. It will never be known exactly how many Gazan non-combatants have been killed in this horrible war, but we know with absolute certainty that the numbers are in the tens of thousands of women, children, elderly and infirm who have been killed while the IDF continues to blather on about all the efforts that are made to minimize the amount of non-combatants killed and injured. Does that mean that if they weren't so careful, the numbers would run into hundreds of thousands? If I hear the bullshit saying that the IDF is the most moral army in the world once again, it will vomit all over the person who dares to say it. An army is trained to kill and the IDF does just that, kill. The euphemism of 'collateral damage' is just more of the same bullshit. It is a clean way of saying that non involved people were killed in an operation to kill someone else. Perhaps that person was killed, but we had to kill a lot more people to make it so. This war has been a cluster fuck of 'collateral damage' that makes no impact on this corrupt and failed government, especially not on the biggest war criminal we have, Netanyahu. The thing is that his war crimes are not only against the Palestinians, they are against the Israeli population. He is directly responsible for everything that led up to October 7 and for the total abandonment by the government and the army on that day and the government's continued abandonment since. He has the blood of 42 hostages who were taken alive into captivity and were killed at times that deals could have been made and they could have been brought home alive. He has the blood of 900 soldiers who have been killed since October 7, on his hands as well as the injuries, both physical and psychological of thousands of other soldiers as well as the trauma of an entire country that cannot hope to heal while 48 hostages are still in captivity and our soldiers are at risk in his war. Netanyahu has single handedly done more damage to the country internally and externally than anyone, including our worst enemies have done in our history. Yet, he still believes that he is the Savior of the Jewish People. With friends like him, who needs enemies?
IDF strikes 4th Gaza City high-rise today, says it was used by Hamas to track troops
The IDF confirms striking a tall building in Gaza City a short while ago, saying it was used by Hamas.
According to the military, Hamas placed surveillance equipment and set up observation posts at the Unknown Soldier Tower, in order to track troop movements and advance attacks.
It is the fourth high-rise in Gaza City struck by the IDF today. The military issued evacuation warnings ahead of each of the strikes.
Army says Hezbollah arms maker killed in southern Lebanon drone strike
A Hezbollah operative involved in developing and manufacturing weapons for the Lebanese terror group was killed in a drone strike in southern Lebanon last night, the Israeli military says.
According to the IDF, Muhammad Ali Yassin was targeted in a car in the Nabatieh area. Lebanon’s health ministry says one person was killed in a strike that took place in the town of Burj Qalaouiyah, south of Nabatieh.
“During the war, Yassin took part in the development and production of weapons for the Hezbollah terror organization in Lebanon,” the army says, adding that his activities “constituted a violation of the understanding between Israel and Lebanon.”
The IDF issues footage showing the strike.
Army said raiding several West Bank towns
Palestinian media outlets report that the Israeli army is carrying out daylight raids in several West Bank towns this morning.
Army vehicles are spotted in Tubas, and Nablus in the northern West Bank, and in Birzeit and al-Bireh outside Ramallah. video
IDF chief to Knesset ahead Gaza offensive: Netanyahu gives no plan, army unsure what's next
Zamir criticized American-backed aid program for Gaza, calling the effort 'a failure,' questioning why the number of distribution centers was being expanded to 12 after he said the program did not succeed with four
IDF chief of staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir told lawmakers he has not received clear guidance from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the next steps in Gaza, raising concerns about the army’s preparedness as it prepares to expand its offensive into Gaza City.Zamir briefed the Knesset Subcommittee on Intelligence on Friday about expected combat operations, according to officials familiar with the closed-door session. The classified committee, part of parliament’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, is one of the most secretive forums in the Knesset."The prime minister is not telling us what comes next, we don’t know what to prepare for,” Zamir told lawmakers, according to the officials. “If they want a military government, then they should say military government.”Zamir criticized an American-backed aid program for Gaza, operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which distributes food and relief through local centers. He called the effort “a failure,” questioning why the number of distribution centers was being expanded to 12 after he said the program did not succeed with four. Asked about a possible siege once civilians are evacuated, he said humanitarian aid would continue to enter Gaza as long as civilians remain, in line with international law.The military chief reiterated warnings he made during a cabinet meeting two weeks earlier, when he outlined what he viewed as shortcomings in the government’s chosen plan for Gaza compared with his own alternative, which was not adopted. Among the concerns he listed were risks to soldiers, danger to hostages, lack of international legitimacy and the challenge of evacuating civilians.
IDF forces in Gaza (Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)Despite the disagreements, Zamir stressed the military would carry out the directives of the political leadership. In the earlier cabinet session, he cautioned that without a different decision, the operation would ultimately lead Israeli forces into Gaza’s central refugee camps, effectively placing large swaths of territory under military rule — a scenario he said the army does not want.Ministers told Ynet and Yedioth Ahronoth that Zamir’s stance made clear he was implementing the plan solely because it was ordered by the government, not because he believed it was the correct course of action. link How much clearer does it have to get for everyone to realize that the operation of going into Gaza City to decimate and occupy it is a bad decision. The IDF Chief as well as the other security chiefs have opposed it with Netanyahu long ago ignoring the advice and expertise of the professionals when it goes against his personal plan and needs. He got rid of the previous IDF chief who would not accept Netanyahu's rewriting the narrative of October 7 and he replaced the previous head of the Shin Bet because he also was not accepting the rewrite as well as he was a thorn in Netanyahu's side regarding the hostage negotiations. He, along with the Mossad Chief were the two most vocal voices pushing for a deal and ending the war in order to get the hostages home. However, that went against Netanyahu's political needs and he removed them both from heading the negotiations and put his top yes man, Dermer in charge of the negotations. Dermer, in his 7 months in the position has not brought a single hostage home and has been against any deal in the making. All of the security chiefs have said that this war needs to end for various reasons: firstly, to get the hostages home, secondly, due to the toll it has taken on all of the regular army troops and the reserves who have served for hundreds of days, and some of the other reasons are the cost of the war vs. the benefits, the hit on the state's economy, the psychological damage to the entire country, the lack of support on the homefront for the war (yet tremendous support for the army and all of the soldiers including reserves), and the list goes on. This war should have ended long ago if not for Netanyahu's war of political survival. How much longer and home many more people will die before his coalition partners, at least some who still may have a soul, will finally say to him, enough! Bring home the hostages and end the war! Unfortunately, neither I nor most of the public believe that any of these petty politicians have any morals left. They are all self interested hacks who believe they are there to better their own lives and personal ideologies and the country is there to serve them.Yair Golan on criticism expressed by IDF Chief in classified discussion: 'Netanyahu is unfit' Democratic Party chairman Yair Golan addressed the report published on ynet, according to which IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi criticized the political echelon, mainly regarding the uncertainty about the "day after" and the next phases of fighting after Gaza City. Golan wrote on his X account: "The Chief of Staff's sharp opposition was revealed this morning. Netanyahu is deeply immersed in security investigations, he is unfit and has no legitimacy to make operational decisions." He further emphasized that "The Chief of Staff must remember - the supreme commander of the army is not a security guard. He has a heavy responsibility for the IDF and for the soldiers he sends into battle - he must use all his influence to implement it."Ben Gvir calls for ‘luxury neighborhood’ to be built over Gaza ruins
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir says he wants to build a luxe neighborhood for Israeli police officers over the ruins of the Gaza Strip, earning a smattering of applause from high-ranking police officials at a Rosh Hashanah toast.“We will finish the mission, occupy Gaza, encourage voluntary emigration,” the far-right leader asserts to the crowd in a large auditorium in Beit Shemesh.
Once that is achieved, “we want to establish a neighborhood of police officers also in Gaza,” he says forcefully. “On the seashore, all [will be] perfect,” he adds to applause. He describes the envisioned neighborhood as “luxurious” with high-rise buildings overlooking the Mediterranean.
“The time has come to settle — Jewish settlement, the time has come to encourage voluntary emigration [of Gazans], the time has come to bring the death penalty for terrorists,” he continues.
Ben Gvir last week vowed to push forward with proposed legislation to implement the death penalty for Palestinian terrorists following a deadly shooting attack in Jerusalem. It will be discussed tomorrow in the Knesset National Security Committee.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says his government is not pursuing the resettlement of Gaza, despite some in his cabinet pushing for it. LINK Ben Gvir is the convicted criminal minister in charge of the police and who has made the Israel police his private militia for going after his opponents, instructed to oppress protesters, and instructed to completely ignore the settler terrorism against Palestinians. One of the crimes he was convicted of is support and belonging to a terrorist organization. He spent his legal career defending Jewish Terrorists, the same type of people he encourages and supports for committing terrorist acts against Palestinians in the West Bank going as far as killing many Palestinians.
He should also be considered one of the biggest of the war criminals for encouraging war crimes such as ethnic cleansing and total destruction of Gaza. He has never hidden his burning desire to rid the area of all Palestinians in any way necessary, including killing them. It was members of his racist party who promoted the use of an Atom bomb to totally flatten Gaza in the early days of the war. He is joined by the other extremist war criminal minister, Smotrich who as does exactly the same things.
Netanyahu, on the one hand claims that he is not promoting resettlement of Gaza, but on the other hand, gave instructions to set up a department in the Defense Ministry to encourage, promote and aid the 'voluntary emigrations' of Gazans. Within minutes of Trump presenting his Trump Gaza Riviera that is based on the relocation of all Palestinians from Gaza, Netanyahu on camera for all the world to see, applauded Trump's plan and said that he was immediately adopting it. Given these statements and actions plus the fact that Netanyahu has allowed Smotrich and Ben Gvir to steer the war and the government, no one should believe Netanyahu for one second that his government is not pursuing resettlement of Gaza. It is, he is and his entire government is behind it. This is one of the gravest dangers that Israel is facing today in the international community. The bans and embargoes we are seeing today is a tiny representation of what will face us going forwards as long as the war continues, more non combatants get killed in the thousands and this corrupt government continues on the path of ethnic cleansing of all of Gaza.
Politics and the War and General News
Israel’s Doha strike threatens ‘current and future’ normalization, Arab-Islamic summit draft resolution warns
Israel’s attack in Qatar last week and its other actions threaten efforts to normalize ties with Arab nations, an updated draft resolution from the Arab-Islamic summit says.
“Reaffirm that the brutal Israeli attack on Qatar and the continuation of Israel’s hostile acts including genocide, ethnic cleansing, starvation, siege, and colonizing activities and expansion policies threatens prospects of peace and coexistence in the region, and threatens everything that has been achieved on the path of normalizing ties with Israel, including current agreements and future ones,” the draft resolution seen by Reuters says.
Anti-Israel protesters clash with police, interrupt final stage of Spanish Vuelta
Eurovision officials to Israel: Temporarily resign or fly neutral flag to avoid contest ban
Proposals come ahead of a vote scheduled for December in Geneva, where Eurovision’s governing body is expected to discuss whether Israel will be allowed to participate in the 2026 contest Full article Eurovision is just the latest incidence of Bans and Embargoes against Israel. Another one of the international arenas that Israel is being charged for the war crimes being perpetrated in our name in Gaza by our corrupt and failed government. Israel's international standing has never been lower in all of our history. We went from the pinnacle of admiration for so many of our accomplishments to the depths of the abyss of being a pariah nation. I don't think that there is a single area that has not been impacted so far by the actions of Netanyahu and his failed government. Netanyahu loved to show how he was welcomed by kings and presidents throughout the world and ushered down the red carpet in royal fashion. He actually felt that he was King of Israel and that only he could command the respect and honors bestowed upon him. In such a short time, Netanyahu has brought disgrace upon Israel and every Israeli, actually every Jew, in his actions and non actions throughout the war.
Let us look at the Geneva Convention of 1948 that designated a new set of international laws for the prevention of Genocide which was a direct outcome of the Holocaust and the Naze attempt of Genocide against the Jewish People. Who, their wildest dreams or nightmares, could have imagined that just over 75 years from the Geneva Convention, Israel could be accused of Genocide? Of course, there are many anti Israel groups and people who have been accusing Israel of Genocide for decades but not it has become a global accusation. But the accusations are not the problem. The problem is that these war crimes are being committed daily in Gaza in our names by our corrupt government and led by our criminally indicted Prime Minister who also has an arrest warrant issued by the ICC for war crimes committed earlier in the war. It will not come as a surprise to anyone when those charges are added to with the many crimes committed since that arrest warrant. There are good reasons why Eurovision and so many others with a list that is getting longer daily, are taking action against Israel for what we are doing in Gaza. Our actions in Gaza are not innocent at all, and most of them are being hidden from the Israeli public who have chosen to stay blind and deaf to the crimes. Blindness and deafness are not defenses against the crimes, instead they are quite the opposite. They allow our government continue to commit these crimes in our names unabated. The blindness and deafness are the enablers and make us complicit unless we stand up and say "STOP! ENOUGHT! END THIS HORRENDOUS WAR! BRING HOME THE HOSTAGES!"
- Personal Stories
Israeli film on Oct. 7 wins People’s Choice Award for best documentary at Toronto film festival
A documentary about a retired Israeli general’s efforts to rescue his family from the October 7 Hamas attacks has won the People’s Choice Award for best documentary at the Toronto International Film Festival.
The documentary, “The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue,” charts how retired Israeli general Noam Tibon saved his family and others during the Hamas-led invasion of southern Israel.
It was shown in a single screening on September 10.
The Canadian-produced film drew significant attention ahead of TIFF, after it was briefly withdrawn from the festival due to what organizers said was a lack of “legal clearance” for certain footage used.
TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey denied reports that director Barry Avrich was asked to secure rights to use actual Hamas bodycam footage of the atrocities, during which Palestinian terrorists killed some 1,200 people and abducted 251 hostages, starting the ongoing war in Gaza.
The film was eventually reinstated, and Bailey conceded that TIFF mishandled its submission process.
The People’s Choice awards are voted on by those who attend the film screenings, with a cross-checking process in place to ensure that the vote is not swayed by people who were not in attendance.
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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