π️Lonny's War Update- October 716, 2023 - September 21, 2025 π️
π️Day 716 that 48 of our hostages are still in Hamas captivityπ️
Freed hostage concerned for Israel’s future ‘if we are ready to give up on’ the captives
Speaking at a Jerusalem rally for a hostage-ceasefire deal, former Hamas hostage Iair Horn — whose brother Eitan remains captive — breaks down into tears.
“I was in Hamas captivity for 498 days. That has already become an automatic sentence that I say whenever I start speaking, and that scares me,” he says with shaky breath.
Horn says that when walking down the street in Israel he sees the faces of hostages, alongside his neighbors from Kibbutz Nir Oz, who were murdered and kidnapped by Hamas during the terror group’s October 7, 2023, massacre.
“I don’t know what this symptom is called; I didn’t check. I just walk down the street and think I recognize Aviv Atzili, or Elad Katzir, or Chaim [Peri],” he says, naming murdered hostages from his kibbutz while wiping away tears.
He voices concern for the future of Israel if the remaining hostages are killed in captivity. “What will happen to our country if we are ready to give up on people? Because it feels to me as if it’s alright to sacrifice, and that’s what is happening,” Horn says.
He describes the horrors of being held captive in Gaza, recalling his experience of airstrikes while trapped in the enclave’s tunnels with his captors.
“You start hearing bombings, explosions, and they get louder and louder until they [the captors] get a phone call, and then you hear that you have to run. So you run inside the tunnels, and you have to trust the same terrorist who kidnapped you from your home,” he recounts.
Once, while held in a basement with several other hostages, Horn says he heard a very loud explosion “just a meter away.”
“The soldiers are doing their job, I respect and love them and we’re all human, and I understand that they want to protect us. But a millimeter to the right or to the left with the joystick and it would have meant that some eight to ten hostages would no longer be here,” he says.
“I survived this and I got out on a deal, and it’s likely that a deal is the right, and only way to bring back all of the hostages,” Horn continues, calling on the government to negotiate a hostage-ceasefire agreement.
After the speeches wrap up outside Netanyahu’s official residence, hostage families lead protesters to the premier’s private home further down the street, where the demonstration continues.
Demonstrators have set up tents in the area, in protest of the IDF’s ongoing ground operation aimed at conquering Gaza City, which hostage families have warned may put their loved ones in further danger.
Outside PM’s residence, hostage’s mother says ‘there is no place hot enough in hell’ for Netanyahu
The mother of Matan Zangauker says “there is no place hot enough in hell” for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu while speaking outside the premier’s official residence in Jerusalem.
Addressing thousands of demonstrators in the capital demanding a hostage-ceasefire deal, Einav Zangauker recounts the past few days spent outside Netanyahu’s private residence nearby, in a protest encampment set up by hostage families to oppose the IDF’s ground operation in Gaza City.
“I also shouted this week on Azza Street, for a comprehensive deal and end to the war, but Netanyahu shuts his house windows — there is no place hot enough in hell for this leader!” she tells the crowd.
Many hostage families fear that the operation to take over Gaza City may end up putting their loved ones in greater danger, with Hamas members claiming the terror group is holding captives in different neighborhoods throughout the area.
“At the same time that I heard — and also felt — the explosions on my Matan this week, [Bezalel] Smotrich and [Itamar] Ben Gvir fantasized about building cities and real estate in Gaza!” she says, referring to the far-right government ministers.
“My son… has become a victim of the Netanyahu government; he is sacrificing him to stay in power.”
Protesters in Jerusalem unfurl a banner urging President Donald Trump to “be our savior” in securing the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, September 20, 2025 (Omer Tuval / Hostages Families forum)Protesters gathered outside the premier’s residence in Paris Square hold a giant banner that is visible from above, addressed to US President Donald Trump, which reads: “President Trump, be our savior!” alongside a yellow ribbon.
Ahead of High Holidays, hostage families call on PM to ‘atone’ for not bringing back their loved ones
Ahead of the Jewish High Holidays, captives’ relatives speaking at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv call on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “atone” for his failure to return their loved ones from Gaza.
The High Holidays begin Monday night with Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year. Yom Kippur falls on October 2.
Hanna Cohen, aunt of slain captive Inbar Hayman — the last woman still held in captivity — addresses the premier, drawing jeers at the mention of his name.
“Benjamin Netanyahu, in what world are 48 hostages, citizens, alive and dead, abducted and not returned home for nearly two years?” she says, demanding the prime minister meet with the families and provide information on the conditions of their loved ones. “Is there any atonement for this? No!”
Alon Nimrodi, father of captive soldier Tamir Nimrodi, addresses the premier by his nickname, which also draws jeers: “Bibi Netanyahu, it’s time you grew a heart [and] had some regard for human life.”
“We’re just about at the holidays… more holidays I can’t celebrate, can’t mark, can’t enjoy at the holiday table with my family without knowing what is going on with my son.”
“Bibi, at the start of the new year — a new Jewish year — show us what Jewish values are. Bring back our sons and daughter,” he says. “Not with dangerous and pointless fighting but with an immediate, comprehensive deal. We can deal with the rest later.”
“Yom Kippur is coming,” he says to Netanyahu. “Atone for your sins [and] the sins of your militant and irresponsible government.”
Nimrodi, whose son is one of two captives whose lives Israeli officials have expressed grave concern for, adds that many people, including hostage families, often falsely refer to only 20 living hostages out of the remaining 48.
“There are 22 hostages still considered alive — 22,” he says. “That’s what appears in the list that has been given to the mediators. I saw it with my own eyes.”
In keeping with its custom in recent weeks, the Hostages Square rally also features a speech from a reservist calling for the end of the war. The soldier, Shahar Varon, calls on the government to leverage the army’s “impressive achievements” to reach a truce-hostage deal. Like other reservists who have spoken at Hostages Square, he stops short of calling on soldiers to refuse to take part in the operation to take over Gaza City.
The Tel Aviv rally ends with a livestream from the main hostage families’ rally as it begins near Netanyahu’s residence in Jerusalem, with attendees at both gatherings singing Hatikva, the national anthem. link Netanyahu wears a yellow ribbon pin and the families have asked and demanded of him to remove it. He has shown throughout the war that his concerns for the hostages are peripheral at best and that he has killed every deal and chance of a deal to bring the hostages home. He doesn't have the right to wear the pin or claim that the hostages are important to him. We are now before Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year and then Yom Kippur, the day of atonement. The hostages families are calling for Netanyahu to atone. He has so much to atone for, more than any person I can think of. He is fully responsible for the fact that hostages are still in Gaza 716 days and counting, for continuing this endless war and watching as more soldiers are killed and maimed. If Netanyahu had any soul, he would be stuck in synagogue for the entire period of time between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur trying to explain to god why he has done all he has done and then atone for those sins. It's not enough to mention them and ask for forgiveness, one has to truly be sorry to the depths of their souls and repent, not just in words but in actions. Unfortunately, we have a prime minister who has no soul or heart. He is purposely deaf and blind to the pains of the nation and the demands of the people. His eyes and ears are open to one thing, what is good or bad for him? Everything he does is done with forethought of whether it. helps his political survival or not. Every sacrifice that he demands of the country and forces upon us is all in the name of the Netanyahu altar of political survival. So no amount of atonement, or words or sorrow, which are no more than lies, will make any of what he has done to us right or excusable. He will never be forgiven because to be forgiven, one has to be sorry. He is not sorry for anything that he has done for himself. He is only sorry for the failures, of which there are too many to count but we can count some. 1200 people tortured and killed on October 7, 251 people taken hostage, over 900 soldiers killed, communities destroyed, over 100,000 Israelis displaced from their homes for as long as 2 years, pressing for Haredi IDF exemptions while hundreds of thousands of reservists have to serve hundreds of days in battle, tens of thousands of non combatant Gazans (women, children, elderly, infirm) killed and maimed, This is a small list of his sins and he commits them daily all to stay in power.
Netanyahu cannot and will not atone for any of these sins for one clear and disturbing reason. He doesn't see anything wrong with his actions because they serve his greater good, keeping him in power, and that greater good has no minimum payment for it. Whatever he has to pay, in other words, make the rest of us pay, it is all worth it to this dangerous, self interested, petty political hack.Captive soldier’s brother warns continued fighting a ‘death sentence’ for hostages, urges Trump not to be ‘fooled’ by PM
Yotam Cohen, brother of captive soldier Nirmrod Cohen, accuses the government of imposing a “death sentence” on soldiers and the remaining hostages with its decision to order the military conquest of Gaza City.
He also assails Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s statement this week that Israel would have to develop an autarkic economy in response to the mounting international pressure amid the intense bombing of Gaza City in recent weeks.
Cohen speaks before thousands of people who have crowded into Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square and adjacent streets. On the ground in front of him, rally-goers unfurl a large sign that reads: “President Trump, end the war, save them.”
“The government of Israel has chosen death for the umpteenth time,” says Cohen. “It has also chosen poverty, international isolation, boycotts and the shattering of Israel’s international relations.”
“Netanyahu has decided to deliver a death sentence,” says Cohen. He adds that Israel’s security chiefs, who have reportedly warned against the Gaza City operation and called for a truce-hostage deal, are not absolved of responsibility for the fate of the hostages and soldiers who may be endangered in the offensive.
“You won’t be able to say in the end that you were just following orders,” declares Cohen. “A day will come and those responsible will pay.”
Cohen says the hostages could have returned in a deal long ago.
“The moment Israel decides it wants a deal, there will be a deal,” he says. “Until then, they will continue to suffer.”
Cohen then addresses US President Donald Trump in English, “because no one is listening” in Israel.
He says the families were filled with hope when Trump took office in January.
“More than six months have passed. What now? Did you get bored?” he asks.
“Netanyahu is destroying your legacy, diminishing your achievements,” says Cohen, calling on Trump to “be remembered as the one president who wasn’t fooled and wasn’t manipulated by Benjamin Netanyahu.”
Qatar said conditioning resumption of mediating role on public Israeli apology for Doha strike
Qatar conditions the resumption of its role as a mediator in Gaza ceasefire and hostage talks on a public Israeli apology for the recent strike targeting Hamas leaders in Doha, Channel 12 news reports.
Citing sources familiar with the issue, the network says that Qatar is willing to show some flexibility on the wording of the apology, noting the matter is politically sensitive for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The report adds that the matter was raised during US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s talks this week in Jerusalem and Doha, as well during US special envoy Steve Witkoff’s meeting in London with Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer. link We have to hope that the Qataris are not going to hold their breath waiting for Netanyahu's apology because it will never come. He doesn't take any responsibility for failures and to apologize for them would admit responsibility. I have to believe that Qatar will not hold the actions of our most irresponsible and dangerous prime minister against the lives of the hostages. If they will not continue to act as mediators, they are hurting so many people: the hostages, our soldiers, our entire country, and all of the Palestinians in Gaza. No one should allow or accept that much power in the hands of Netanyahu who has lost all restraint and thinks that he can act in any way he wishes and there will not be prices to pay. He shrugs off all the prices we, the people have to pay for his recklessness in all arenas. When we are finally able to go to the polls, he will pay as none of us will forget what he has done to us all. The price he will pay doesn't and will never come close to the price our people have had to pay but I and others can hope that, once there will be a State Commission of Inquiry about October 7, all that happened to bring us to that day and everything that has happened since, that justice will finally be done and those people who are guilty of the crimes that will be laid out by the commission, will pay the price and that price has to be very, very high. And it is with great likelihood that the main person who has most of the responsibility for all of it, Netanyahu will pay the highest price.
Hostage moms slam PM over Gaza City op: ‘Sending Jews to kill Jews to preserve his rule’
The mothers of hostages held by Palestinian terrorists in Gaza tear into Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for not securing the release of their loved ones from Hamas captivity.
The mother of Matan Zangauker charges that though Netanyahu knows the Gaza City offensive puts the hostages’ lives at risk, he “intentionally decided to condemn his citizens to death.”
“Netanyahu will forever be remembered as a murderer in order to remain in power,” says Einav Zangauker in remarks to the press by the Prime Minister’s Residence in Jerusalem.
The mother of hostage soldier Matan Angrest claims Netanyahu “will kill him as a human shield for his rule.”
“Netanyahu is sending soldiers to kill their brothers in captivity. He is sending Jews to kill Jews to preserve his rule,” says Anat Angrest.
Turning to IDF chief Eyal Zamir, Angrest says he knows that the operation in Gaza City could lead to captives’ deaths and that it’s possible to reach a deal securing the release of all the hostages.
“What type of commander are you? A soldier for Netanyahu who sends his subordinates to death traps?” she says.
Hostage relatives, former captives seen at Western Wall selichot service
Several former hostages and family members of remaining hostages joined a “selichot” prayer event at the Western Wall ahead of the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah, which begins on Monday at sunset, The Hostage and Missing Families Forum says.
The group reveals the contents of a note left in the Western Wall by Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan is held hostage in Gaza,
“My God, I have one prayer to You: For the return of the 48 hostages to the land of Israel
and for the return of the IDF soldiers to the safety of their homes. Am Yisrael Chai [The people of Israel live],” the note reads.The “selichot” service consists of a litany of penitential and supplicant prayers. The service is held nightly between midnight and dawn in the period before Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement (which falls on October 1-2). Sephardi Jews recite it beginning a month before Rosh Hashanah, while Ashkenazi Jews start the Saturday night before Rosh Hashanah.
Captivity survivors Ilana Gritzewsky and Noga Weiss, who were released in November 2023, and Dani Miran, father of hostage Omri Miran, also joined the service, according to the Hostage Family Forum.
A selichot service was also held at the Hostage Square in Tel Aviv.
Terror groups in the Gaza Strip are holding 48 hostages, including 47 of the 251 abducted by Hamas-led terrorists on October 7, 2023. They include the bodies of at least 26 confirmed dead by the IDF. Twenty are believed to be alive and there are grave concerns for the well-being of two others, Israeli officials have said. Also held is the body of an IDF soldier killed in 2014.
Palestinian-American mediator meets with hostage families in Israel: 'Attack in Qatar torpedoed deal'
Palestinian-American businessman Bishara Bahbah, who acted as a mediator between Hamas and the American administration, arrived for a private visit to Israel during which he met with relatives of hostages at the headquarters of the Hostages and Missing Families Forum. Bahbah told them that on the eve of the attack in Qatar, there was a deal on the table that was torpedoed due to the bombing. According to him, the Qataris were and remain the most significant factor in reaching an agreement, and Israel needs to take steps to bring them back to the mediation table. Bahbah added that the substantial damage is to Qatar's status and dignity as a mediator. link Bahbah is, of course right. The Qataris are integral players in bringing about a deal to free the hostages and to end the war. They, together with the Egyptians and the Americans must all be kept at the mediation table due to the stupid insistence of both Israel and Hamas never to speak directly to each other. This has always hampered all negotiations and made it so much harder to reach deals. However, that is the situation that we must deal with. It is known, understood and indisputable that the attack on Senior Hamas terrorist leaders at the gathering in Qatar was to kill any chances of Trump's deal from actually happening. If, at that meeting of Hamas officials, they would have agreed to Trump's proposal, as was expected to happen, the end of the war and the freeing of all the hostages was a matter of days away. Although Netanyahu agreed to the deal, after all, he cannot say no to Trump, he was looking at every angle of how to kill the deal. He doesn't want the war to end, not for national security and certainly not for the hostages, as the continuing war only puts them in more danger and directly in harm's way. Not ending the war serves Netanyahu's extremist coalition partners' wet dreams of expelling all the Palestinians and then taking over the entire strip and only allowing their people to settle in Gaza. Netanyahu enables and allows his extremist partners to set the direction of the war and the entire government so they will not bolt the government and Netanyahu can stay as prime minister. To do so, Netanyahu is willing to pay just about any price for that seat. He allows the extremist to do as they wish in the West Bank and soon in Gaza. The war is going on still for Netanyahu's political survival and nothing else. The hostages are still in Gaza because Netanyahu dodensn't allow the war to end which is the key parameter for Hamas to release the hostages. So the question about Qatar remaining as a mediator is still in front of us. Netanyahu will not apologize and has spoken against Qatar so much as the make them out to be the enemy, something that he hasn't allowed to be said in the government until now. The difference is that he needs to divert the public away from his foolish actions with the attack that killed the hostage deal, and to look away from the destruction that he is odoing to our own country. Whenever he feels that he is in the hotseat, we will see him attack something so unrelated in order to divert the attantion away from him. Until recently, Netanyahu sold us a Qatar that was 'complicated' in his words, but not an enemy. He and his people have business interests with Qatar, with some of his advisors in the Prime Minister's office even getting paid by Qatar while simultaneously working in the PMO. And Netanyahu has the gaul first to deny it and then when denail is not longer possible due to the overwhelming truth that shows everything that Netanyahu said as a lie, he then says 'so what'? tThey weren't hurting anyone and thefore the case has no merit. If there is nothing wrong with it, why were then hiding and why do they continue making negative comments and statements about Qatar?
IDF says it killed Hamas sniper, brother of Shifa Hospital head, ahead of ‘imminent’ attackA Hamas operative, whose brother is the director of Gaza’s Shifa Hospital, was killed in an airstrike in Gaza City’s Shati camp yesterday, the IDF confirms.
According to the military, Majed Abu Salmiya was a sniper in Hamas’s military wing, and was set to carry out an “imminent” attack on Israeli forces in the area.
The IDF says it took steps to mitigate civilian harm in the strike, “as much as possible,” including by using a precision munition, aerial surveillance, and other intelligence.
Abu Salmiya is the brother of Dr. Mohammed Abu Salmiya, the Shifa Hospital director who was detained by Israel in November 2023 on suspicion of having allowed Hamas to use the Gaza City hospital as a center of operations, before being released in July 2024.
According to Palestinian media, the strike also killed at least two other members of Abu Salmiya’s family and destroyed their home.
IDF eliminates senior Hamas terrorist who held 3 female hostages
Hazem Awni Naeem, a senior operative in Hamas’ Gaza City brigade and close to its commander, was killed by IDF and Shin Bet; He had held Emily Damari, Romi Gonen, and Naama Levy captive during the war
The IDF and Shin Bet confirmed Tuesday evening that they had eliminated senior Hamas terrorist Hazem Awni Naeem in the Gaza City area. Naeem had held three Israeli hostages during the ongoing war: Emily Damari, Romi Gonen, and Naama Levy.According to the IDF, Naeem served in multiple roles within Hamas’ Gaza City brigade and was a senior figure in its military intelligence. He was considered close to the brigade’s commander, Ezz al-Din Haddad, now regarded as Hamas’ de facto military leader in Gaza.At least 9 members of Gazan family reported killed in Israeli strike
Gazan media outlets report that nine members of the Jamil family were killed this morning in a strike on the al-Tuffah neighborhood in eastern Gaza City.
The area is under evacuation orders. According to the reports, the dead include a couple and their underage children.
The IDF has not yet issued a response Pictures The claims that the IDF is the most moral army in the world and that the IDF makes every effort to minimize deaths and injuries to non combatants, hold very little water. This war has proven that the 'most moral army in the world' is responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of women, children, elderly and infirm and their killings and maimings has gone on for almost 2 years and counting. When there is an operation and a major terrorist target is killed and there are one or two non combatants killed, we can hear the IDF spokesman's office say that all efforts were made to minimize the killing of innocents. In a case like that, many will shrug off the killing of those innocents as being for the greater good. Let's just say it's true. But when tens of thousands are killed, is there anyone with the soulless gaul to say it's for the greater good?
Egypt said assembling forces in Sinai over concerns Israel is seeking to uproot Gazans
An Egyptian source confirms to the Haaretz daily that Egypt is building up military forces in the Sinai Peninsula but denies Cairo has “offensive intentions.”
“[Egypt] sees peace with Israel as a strategic asset. Its main concern is that Palestinians will be forcibly uprooted from their territory,” the source is quoted as saying.
Additional Egyptian and diplomatic sources tell the Israeli newspaper that Cairo is concerned that Netanyahu is trying to reduce Egypt’s troop presence in the Sinai in order to coercively remove Palestinians from the area.
A Middle Eastern intelligence source, however, denies there has been any significant change in Egypt’s force posture in the Sinai and says claims to the contrary are “periodically recycled” by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to create a rift with Cairo.
The source claims to The Times of Israel that the only significant change in security arrangements between Israel and Egypt in the Sinai is that the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) has ceased enforcement against alleged Israeli violations of the peace treaty due to the IDF’s force buildup in Zone D, which is also known as the Philadelphi Corridor border strip between Gaza and Egypt. link A major part of the Peace Agreement between Israel and Egypt was about troops in Sinai. Egypt was limited to a set number of troops who would serve as security officers to maintain the peace and handle internal Egyptian matters in Sinai. When there was a growing presence and threat of ISIS in Sinai, Israel gave Egypt permission to bring in more troops and even tanks which are completely not allowed to be in Sinai without agreement from the other side. Egypt used these troops and armaments to route out ISIS members and groups. During parts of this war, Egypt moved more troops in to prevent a mass surge of Gazans into Sinai and this was aligned with Israel. That feared surge would have been the result of Gazans trying to run for safety away from the Israeli bombings and artillery.
Now, the real fear is the surge of Gazans being expelled by Israel as part of the 'voluntary emigration' which is fully based on making the lives of the Gazans unbearable and impossible in Gaza and make them want to leave to stay alive. This ethnic cleansing is both illegal internationally and can end up being the straw that broke the camel's back, meaning the end of the Peace Treaty with Egypt. Just the thought of the possibility of Egypt cancelling the peace treaty should send shivers up the backs of every single member of Knesset and the entire population. And this possibility, this threat to the entire region has been brought upon us by Netanyahu. There have been many incidents in the years since the Peace Treaty was signed and some of them put great pressure on that treaty, but never before have we been in a situation, not had a leader like this in this position that there is a real chance of seeing the end of that treaty. If it were to happen, the peace treaty with Jordan could end as well and following them, the Abraham Accords. Instead of a New Middle East with peace and normalizations all around us, Netanyahu has brought us to the abyss and all we can see is more blackness and no hope. He is a failed leader who can only sell fear, hate and divisiveness. We need new leadership with visions of a better future for all of us, not just the Israeli population but a future that we aren't condemned to live by the sword, a future of peace with our closest neighbors, the Palestinians and all the neighbors around us. A future built on taking risks for peace instead of nonchalantly sending our soldiers to fight and die. We need leaders who are worthy of us and our current leaders are not worthy of out great country or its people.Hamas says over 70 killed in Gaza in past day
The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says 75 Palestinians were confirmed killed over the past 24 hours, and more than 300 wounded by Israeli fire in the Strip were brought to hospitals. The toll includes four people previously killed whose bodies were recovered from rubble.
Gaza authorities do not differentiate between civilians and combatants.
The numbers bring the tally of war dead claimed by Gazan health officials to 65,283.
The ministry also says that four more people died of malnutrition and starvation in the enclave, raising deaths from such causes to 440 people, including 147 children, since the war started.
Israel has disputed claims of widespread famine in Gaza, but has admitted “there are issues of access to food” in some areas.
IDF says Lebanon drone strike targeted Hezbollah operative gathering intel on Israeli troops
The IDF confirms carrying out an airstrike in the Khardali area of southern Lebanon earlier today, saying it killed a Hezbollah operative who was carrying out surveillance on Israeli troops.
“The terrorist took part in attempts to gather intelligence on IDF troops in southern Lebanon,” the army says, adding that his activity “constitutes a violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon.”
Since the November 2024 ceasefire, the IDF says it has killed over 300 Hezbollah operatives in strikes in Lebanon, saying they were violating the terms of the truce.
**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
*10:30am - rockets fired at Ashdod from an area near IDF operations in Gaza. One rocket intercepted, the other fell in open area. Hamas has claimed responsibility
IDF to deploy reinforcements in West Bank for High Holidays
Ahead of the upcoming Jewish holiday season, the IDF is bolstering its West Bank division with eight additional companies, according to military officials.
After their deployment tomorrow, the Judea and Samaria Division will be staffed by the equivalent of 23 battalions.
The additional forces will remain in the West Bank until after the holidays in mid-October.
The move comes amid tensions in the West Bank following a deadly attack in Jerusalem earlier this month carried out by two Palestinians. Another deadly attack took place at Allenby Crossing this week, though that area is under the responsibility of the 96th “Gilad” Division. Link This deployment was planned months ago. It is not in response to any attacks. It is being done the same way that was done 2 years ago right before October 7. For those who don't recall, there had been a few terror attacks in the Palestinians village of Hwarwa. There are some small illegal Jewish settlements in that area and the settlers have to go through this village to go anywhere else. Due to the terror attacks, extremist politicians like Smotrich and Ben Gvir supported the erection of a Succah (a temporary structure build for the Sukkot Holiday that represents the temporary housing of the Jews during the years in the dessert after leaving Egypt) in the middle of this Palestinians village. The idea behind it is and was a show of strength, to let the Palestinians know who's the boss. The settlers and extremist politicians invited masses of people to show support during the holidays for settlement in the West Bank and to show the Palestinians who the boss is. In order to 'protect' the many settlers and supporters, Smotrich and Ben Gvir demanded from Netanyahu huge numbers of soldiers to be positioned in and around Hwarwa and the main place that the soldiers were taken from was the Gaza Envelope. This, together with the protocol of allowing many soldiers to be on leave during the holidays (something that has stopped for many years following the surprise attack on Yom Kippur 1973), the Gaza Envelope was left with a bare bones military capability which didn't change even as the senior IDF staff and Shin Bet were meeting about the suspicious events happening in Gaza on the night of October 6.
This holiday season, instead of pulling troops from active zones, the IDF has called up tens of thousands of reserves who have already been called up several times in the last 2 years serviing hundreds of days, to once again 'protect' the settlers and their supporters during the holiday season. The right thing to have done was to limit the public activities and eliminate/cancel all events that would draw large numbers of people instead of again putting the burden on reserves who once again have to leave their families, their jobs, their businesses, their studies to protect those who are coming to show the Palestinians who the boss is over them. There is no reason in the world, other than politics and the messianic agenda of the extremists to have to call all of these reservists. Netanyahu, instead of his constant currying of favor of these extremists in his coalition should have shown real leadership, said that he wasn't willing to put more strains on the reservists who have given everything to the State, and told his extremist partners that they will have to rethink and replan their events so there wouldn't be any need to call the reserves at this time. But that doesn't happen with this failed corrupt government where their needs and aspirations come before the needs of the State and the people. DISGRACEFUL!Palestinian says villagers fired on during incursion by settlers and soldiers, as sheep are stolen
A Palestinian man says settlers and soldiers who entered his village opened fire, wounding two people, and beat him up while stealing his sheep.
Jihad Abu Mahwa tells the Times of Israel that that dozens of settlers arrived accompanied by several soldiers and attacked his village of Deir Jarir, near Ramallah.
During the incident, soldiers shot toward him. Two other villagers were wounded by gunfire during the incident, he says, but does not specify who fired the shots.
He says settlers beat him with sticks before opening the pens where his sheep were kept and stealing 230 head of livestock.
Footage shared on social media shows settlers arriving in the village and later leaving with sheep.
- Politics and the War and General News
- Inside IDF’s secret probes of the Oct. 7 massacre and its failures
After Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attack, IDF officers launched unofficial probes while fighting raged; Internal investigations exposed systemic failures, sparking clashes between military, political leaders, and survivors demanding answersOn the morning of Oct. 7, 2023, then-commander of the Duvdevan Unit, Col. D, saw the fin of an RPG rocket whistle past his face and slash the neck of an officer who had jumped with him into the inferno at Kibbutz Kfar Aza. Together with the other soldiers, they gave him lifesaving treatment and continued the battle, which only ended after three days.Col. D had one advantage that day: he had raced from the unit’s base near Jerusalem in an armored jeep, heavily armed with grenades and explosives. He did so on his own initiative, and luckily still remembered the kibbutz from his time as commander of the sector as the 202nd Paratroopers Battalion commander three years earlier. Alongside him was an operative who lived in Kfar Aza and was of great helpThat moment was also the starting point for an unofficial unit inquiry that Col. D began as soon as the dust started to settle, even before preparations for the large ground maneuver that followed three weeks after the massacre. Again, without anyone assigning him the task, he went from soldier to soldier with a small notebook, asking, questioning, checking, and collecting. He knew that soon the IDF would embark on a long and exhausting campaign to capture the Gaza Strip. He wanted to strike while the iron was hot.“Things can get confused in people’s minds, be forgotten,” he told me in the field less than a week after the massacre. “We have to collect information now to learn what happened to us and to provide a solid basis for investigations. As commanders, we can’t wait for others to investigate us.” His fellow paratroopers went even further, sending reserve officers from their units to hospitals to interview wounded troops on camera, fearing their condition might deteriorate or their memories fade under medication. About a month later, in the last days of November 2023, the IDF high command faced a decision. Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi used the cease-fire during the first hostage deal with Hamas to convene a closed consultation with top generals. On the table lay the hot potato everyone wanted to avoid: whether to launch inquiries into the massacre while the war was still ongoing. Resistance in the room was immediate. “We’ll end up in mud fights and finger-pointing inside the army, which will do more harm than good,” one general warned. Halevi proposed starting from the top down: first the General Staff and himself, then the strategic “conception” that guided IDF leadership, and intelligence on Hamas, and only afterward examining the tactical level—the failures of the Gaza Division and Southern Command, and the battles in the border communities.IDF soldiers in Kibbutz Be’eri after the massacre (Photo: Gadi Kabalo) Halevi preferred an external panel of retired generals, free of internal pressures, like those that investigated the failures of the 2006 Lebanon War. Selected for the mission were retired Maj. Gen. and former Rafael CEO Yoav Har-Even; retired Maj. Gen. Sami Turgeman and former Chief of Staff Shaul Mofaz, who was slated to examine Halevi himself. But before a formal mandate was prepared, events took a turn. In early January 2024, Ynet reported the decision. Minutes later, political fury erupted. Cabinet ministers, perhaps fearing blame creeping toward them, demanded cancellation of the external panel. Halevi had failed to update Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in time, and Gallant did not back him against the political pressure. Halevi relented, settling instead for internal investigation teams led by active-duty and reserve colonels and brigadier generals. In a few cases, inquiries were supervised by retired generals. Thus, reserve brigade commanders and senior staff officers found themselves, in the middle of war, investigating the failures that led to its outbreak. “I’d come out of a month of fighting in Gaza, stop by the forward brigade command post, and then go interview another civilian at a kidnapping site in one of the communities,” recalled one colonel of his routine in 2024. “When I was at Tze’elim preparing my battalions for the next maneuver, I’d also encounter regular units and see the same cultural problems we identified in the investigations—from lack of basic discipline to faulty command doctrines and poor management of combat units. It was frustrating. The army must return to its core military fundamentals. But that won’t happen overnight.” The start of the IDF inquiry In March 2024, as the IDF was at the peak of its Khan Younis maneuver and reducing forces in the north of Gaza, the General Staff issued a formal investigation order: 48 battle inquiries, plus four strategic investigations: 1) intelligence, 2) decisions made on the night of Oct. 6–7, 3) Southern Command’s performance in the defensive battles, 4) security policy toward Gaza in the years leading up to the war. A special section was devoted to the Air Force, detailing every plane and helicopter during the crucial hours, where it struck, when, and whether it influenced the ground battle. In addition, about 100 other investigations were conducted on secondary issues such as logistics, weaponry, and local defense.According to the IDF, 400 officers participated, drawing information from some 1,200 sources. Over time, the Doctrine and Training Department in the Operations Directorate developed a standardized format for the inquiries. They built models with graphs mapping the balance of forces minute by minute in every battle zone. The investigators worked like detectives: mapping scenes, cross-checking surveillance footage, Hamas GoPro videos, Facebook Live broadcasts of atrocities, IDF and Hamas radio communications, civilians’ WhatsApp messages, and testimonies from everyone involved—from captured Hamas terrorists to released hostages. The complex process also included field reenactments with platoon and company commanders, often under difficult circumstances. In at least one case, eight months after the war began, Golani officers were pulled from their post on the Lebanese border to explain what happened in their sector on Oct. 7. A special team collected intelligence materials from Gaza, including Hamas’ operational plan for capturing the Nahal Oz base, with intimate details of the routine inside the outpost adjacent to the Shuja’iyya neighborhood. “Where there was disagreement—between a soldier and a commander, between a civilian and a terrorist, between raw intelligence and visual evidence—we convened expert panels to reconcile contradictions,” explained one investigator. “In a long and complex battle, everyone’s perspective is different. Our mission was to average the evidence to reach conclusions. Sometimes disputes were about an infiltration route, other times about friendly-fire casualties or kidnapping sites. In such cases, we also used forensic investigations.” An officer involved in the process added, “There were plenty of delays. For example, during the Lebanon maneuver, some investigators were themselves fighting Hezbollah and were unavailable. Or when we realized a civilian was likely killed by our own forces, we pursued the case for two months, right up to the chief of staff. We didn’t spare criticism, even when it was painful: cases of soldiers and commanders abandoning combat zones, or a tank withdrawing from a kibbutz guard post with terrorists still present. We didn’t want to hide anything. Already we’ve reinforced units, made corrections, improved systems, and set up new formations.” The problem of personal accountability A senior officer from Southern Command, at the heart of the failures on Oct. 7, was assigned legal counsel paid by the army just months into the war. Military attorneys, the elite of the legal corps, came to his office in the Gaza Division headquarters at Re’im camp, as gunfire and explosions echoed outside. The bullet holes from that Saturday’s battle, when Hamas’ elite Nukhba terrorists overran the base, were still visible on the walls. The lawyers coached him on what to say—and what not to say—to IDF investigators, warning that his testimony might later reach a state commission of inquiry, or even lead to a criminal probe by military police for gross negligence. Minutes after the meeting, he climbed into his command jeep and drove into Gaza to oversee another critical mission. This illustrated a central problem: the IDF chose to investigate Oct. 7, to lance wound after wound, but without punishing or dismissing those who had watched metaphorical and physical breaches in the border fence widen into catastrophic failures. Such shortcomings contributed heavily to the tragic outcomes. One inquiry into the battle at Nahal Oz base found blatant disregard of operational procedures, lack of brigade oversight, and inadequate defenses. The colonel leading the team exceeded his limited mandate and bluntly recommended dismissals. But this was rare. From the start, inquiries were conducted under orders not to recommend personal accountability. As a result, from Chief of Staff Halevi, who resigned only in early 2025, through Gaza Division commanders, Southern Command, and senior branches in intelligence and operations, officers linked to the failures remained in place. This decision fostered unity within the ranks during the war. If the top leadership stayed in position, lower levels could as well. “We had our eyes on the officers at the heart of the Oct. 7 failure who kept fighting the war,” said a senior military source. “We also feared dismissals before inquiries were completed would lead to court challenges and damage the army. For a year and a half, we managed to function together, without generals fighting each other.” In one of his final acts, Halevi handed his successor, Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir, a file with personal conclusions about officers still serving—recommendations now under review by the panel led by retired Maj. Gen. Sami Turgeman. Soon, those personal conclusions are expected to be made public, targeting the last officers who have yet to accept responsibility. The political dimension Senior officers from Southern Command and Military Intelligence were promised that no personal conclusions would be drawn to encourage candor. Still, many came away frustrated with the process. That was evident as early as July 2024, when the IDF published its first public report on the battle at Kibbutz Be’eri, where about 130 people were killed or kidnapped. The report directed most criticism at the forces that fought there, including the elite Shaldag unit, prompting backlash and forcing Halevi to meet the furious fighters personally. One lesson was to change the order of publication: first present core strategic inquiries, covering the General Staff and the interface between the IDF and the political echelon. But even then, political tremors followed. The strategic “conception” that allowed the massacre had a central political partner—Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who led Israel for most of the decade and a half in which Hamas grew into a heavily armed force of 30,000 terrorists with special units. Political anger at the probes was not only verbal. For example, the state comptroller questioned why the Nova music festival massacre was investigated without cooperation from the Shin Bet and police. “We sent a senior investigator to an initial meeting with police, but hours later we discovered the conversation had been recorded and leaked,” a senior officer recalled. “If we had worked with Shin Bet, which refused anyway, we’d have been accused of coordinating stories. Every path risked turning the investigations into blame games against the IDF alone.” Critics also noted that some officers investigated battles they themselves fought in. “There was a reserve brigade commander who fought in a kibbutz and investigated the battle,” one officer explained. “But that gave him perspective and firsthand understanding of the command and control failures in those first 48 hours. At the start, we had a few volunteers for this sensitive task. Of course, we’d have preferred investigators not in the middle of fighting.” With the police, relations were smoother. The IDF consistently highlighted the heroism of police commanders in the Negev, whose quick decisions saved thousands of lives. “A few months ago, a team led by former deputy commissioner David Bitan came to learn from us,” an IDF official said. “At the end, he told us he had seen brave, professional, and vital investigations—that history will judge us.” What comes next The saga of the IDF’s Oct. 7 inquiries is not over. The Turgeman Committee is expected soon to present its conclusions, including additions, revisions, and personal recommendations to Zamir. “Many battalion and brigade commanders were angry that the inquiries created a narrative pinning failures on them, not senior levels,” said an IDF source. “But all these commanders took responsibility, even those who rushed to the border from other commands.” Turgeman’s panel may also confront the most sensitive issue: the core strategic inquiries, which some insiders say did not go far enough. “There was a major effort to ignore the political echelon as the long-term policy-setter,” said a senior officer. “Much of what the army knows about the conception wasn’t presented.” Those who tried to point fingers upward paid a price. Former Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar published a brief version of the agency’s Oct. 7 probe, which, though thin, included facts showing the government had enabled Hamas’ funding and buildup for years. Meanwhile, the Southern Command chief on Oct. 7, Maj. Gen. Yaron Finkelman, who resigned in early 2025, has spent his extended release period poring over reports, filling gaps, and refining findings. Both he and Halevi have personally presented investigations in affected communities, staying late into the night, answering painful questions, and sometimes sitting silently through survivors’ cries. But the IDF has not released written versions of the inquiries to communities or the public, beyond a few battle charts. “Even within communities, sensitivities exist—residents blaming local security coordinators, or disputing specific details,” a senior officer said. “It’s a hard job. But if we don’t continue to face civilians, in person, we’ll never rebuild the trust that collapsed on Oct. 7.” Once public presentations end and dismissals tied to Turgeman’s recommendations are implemented, the IDF will open another Pandora’s box: investigations of the ground offensive launched on Oct. 27, 2023. That will tackle a question as existential as Oct. 7 itself—why the IDF has not been able to defeat Hamas. linkHamas terrorist during October 7
Starmer to impose new sanctions on Hamas when announcing UK’s recognition of Palestinian state — report
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is planning to announce new sanctions on the Hamas terror group at the same time as he announces the UK’s recognition of a Palestinian state, the Telegraph newspaper reports.
British media reported on Saturday that Starmer will publish a statement on Sunday confirming the UK’s recognition of an independent Palestinian state, following the France-led push for coordinated recognition at the UN General Assembly.
The decision to simultaneously introduce new sanctions on Hamas is, in part, an attempt to appease the US, the Telegraph says, as President Donald Trump has publicly voiced his displeasure over Starmer’s decision to recognize a Palestinian state.
In July, Starmer announced that he would recognize a Palestinian state if Israel didn’t heed international calls and take steps toward a ceasefire in Gaza alongside devising a permanent solution for the Strip and allowing the flow of humanitarian aid and goods.
Starmer is set to speak at the General Assembly on Friday, four speakers after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. link WOW! Starmer is doing exactly the right thing. He recognizes, like so many that recognition of a Palestinian State to be in peace and alongside the State of Israel is quite the opposite of rewarding Hamas. Hamas' goal is to destroy the State of Israel and make all the land the Islamic State of Palestine, not to have a Palestinian State live in peace with it. The 2 State Solution is the antithesis of their distorted ideology and religious practice. They have never recognized the State of Israel, as opposed to Fatah, the largest Palestinian party and the leading party that runs the Palestinian Authority. Whenever there will finally be new elections for the Palestinian Authority, all parties that adhere to the agreements signed by Fatah which then set in motion the PA, will be allowed to run. One of the most stringent agreements is the recognition of the State of Israel. That is one of the reasons that Fatah and Hamas could never reach reconciliation. Hamas would never agree to be party to those agreements.
Starmer's announcement of recognition of the State of Palestine comes together with new sanctions against the Hamas Terror Organization. Hamas is already designated by the UK and many others as a terrorist organization. Announcing new sanctions emphasize the importances of a 2 State Solution where both states will live peacefully next to and with each other. That is our only way forward to create a new middle east. We need other world leaders to do exactly the same.Democratic Party caucus votes to block offensive weapons transfers to Israel
The Progressive Caucus of the Democratic Party, one of the largest groups in the U.S. House of Representatives, voted for the first time in favor of an initiative to block transfers of offensive weapons to Israel. The bill, proposed by Illinois Congresswoman Delia Ramirez, seeks to impose an embargo on offensive weapons such as bunker-busting bombs, JDAMs, 155mm ammunition and tank shells until Israel "meets human rights standards." Defensive systems like Iron Dome would be exempted. link It would be interesting to ask Netanyahu if this, too is part of his Super Sparta gift to us, his isolationist verdict that he has brought onto Israel. Did he plan to include the US in his isolation of the country? You have taken Israel from an economic, cultural, scientific powerhouse in the world to the country most hated by more people and countries than any other, probably more than Iran, North Korea and Russia. Has this been your plan all along? To make us a pariah nation in order to stay in power? Are you looking at the rest of the pariah nations to learn from those leaders just how bad you have to be to bring us to this place? We know that you have no deep attachments to democracy and you are a wannabe dictator, or better yet, King. Is that why we should be placed among the worst countries in the world so you can maintain your power and take even more, perhaps to eliminate elections and be annointed for life? In 2 years, you, Netanyahu have taken us from being one of the most admired countries in the world to be viewed as a bane of the Western World! You have done more damage to us internally over too many years and externally, especially over the last 2 years that you have made our enemies look like innocents in comparison to what you have done. The difference between our enemies and you is that they wanted to destroy us and that was clear to all of us. You, on the other hand, only want to stay in power forever, but you are willing to pay any price to do so, even destroy everything that we have or had. Your actions, statements, behavior are nothing but scorched earth policy on your own country and people. There is nothing lower than that.
Israel reportedly barred from tourism fair in Italy
More of Netanyahu's operation "Alienation of Israel' in which he is more successful than any thing he has ever done. He has brought down more anger and designations of Israel as a genocidal state, a colonialistic messianic country, an autocratic leader who cares much for his position and future than anything else around.
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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Twitter - @LonnyB58
My blogs in The Times of Israel my blogs
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#BringThemHomeNow #TurnTheHorrorIntoHope
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