Archive for month: October, 2023

News Update

The IDF advanced into Gaza over the weekend and tanks have been reported outside of Gaza City. IDF forces killed dozens of terrorists in the last 2 days and struck over 600 terror targets, including weapons depots, dozens of anti-tank missile launching positions and terrorist hideouts and staging areas. Meanwhile, rockets continue to be fired at Israel. several hits were recorded, including a factory in Ashkelon and a home in Netivot. Trucks carrying humanitarian aid continue to flow into southern Gaza.

The IDF also entered the Jenin refugee camp last night, in an operation to destroy terrorist infrastructure. Three terrorists, Wiam Iyad Hanon, 27, Amir Abdullah Sharbaji and Nawras Ibrahim Baghawi, 28, were killed by IDF fire during the operation. Forces arrested 51 terror suspects, including 38 Hamas members. An additional 12 Hamas members were arrested in overnight raids in various villages. Since the beginning of the war, over 1,000 terror suspects have been arrested in the West Bank, including 700 Hamas members.

A terrorist stabbed a Border Police officer near a gas station on Route 1 in Jerusalem this morning. Police chased the terrorist and shot and killed him. The 40 year old officer is in critical condition.

Last night, rockets were fired from Syria into the Golan. According to Syrian reports, the IDF responded by attacking 2 army posts in Syria, from where the rockets were believed to be launched.

Syrian and Lebanese sources reported that US planes mounted several attacks in areas belonging to Iranian militias on the Syria-Iraq border overnight.

A German-Israeli hostage, 23 year old Shani Louk, has been confirmed dead by Israeli officials. Her naked body was paraded in the back of a Hamas truck in Gaza after the Oct. 7th terror attack, in which she and at least 230 other Israeli and foreign nationals were kidnapped and taken hostage.

An IDF reserve soldier was killed and 3 others wounded when their tank overturned along the Lebanese border, in a tragic accident.

[As the war continues, we all need to remain firm against those who attempt to equate the justified Israeli military action against terror with Hamas’s barbaric terror attacks and their oppression of the Palestinian population of Gaza, whom they are using as human shields. We need to affirm that Israel is doing everything possible to avoid harming civilians, but Hamas is preventing civilians from evacuating areas under fire and putting them in harms way in order to slow down the IDF and provide Hamas with cover. And we need to demand that the world force Hamas to release every hostage and lay down their arms to save their own people. Yes, we need to demand that the world Free Gaza from Hamas, so that the people of Gaza can live in peace and prosperity.]

News Update

Large barrages of rocket were fired at cities and communities in south and central Israel including Tel Aviv, Ramat Gan, Rishon Letzion, Petach Tikvah and many more. A building in Petach Tikva and a home in Rishon Letzion were hit. Four people sustained minor injuries.

An IDF infantry and armored force conducted a raid at least 1 kilometer into northern Gaza last night. The IDF said that Troops struck “numerous” terrorists, infrastructure, and anti-tank guided missile launch positions, and “operated to prepare the battlefield.” All troops returned to Israel. For more, click here.

In the north, the IDF intercepted a missile fired at a drone. The IDF attacked the launch site.

The IDF announced that it eliminated Hamas northern Khan Yunis rocket commander Hassan Al-Abdullah today.

The IDF, Shin Bet and Border Police arrested over 60 people affiliated with Hamas during extensive operations throughout the West Bank on Wednesday night.

The IDF said today that it had identified 224 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. In a briefing Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said 309 members of the military had died. Israel police said that 808 bodies of Israelis slaughtered in the Hamas attack have thus far been identified.

Israeli sources claim that there is a “considerable chance for a significant deal” to release a large number of hostages, being brokered by Qatar. The deal would include the release of women, children and the elderly.

Prime Minister Netanyahu addressed the nation yesterday, confirming that there will be a ground invasion, comparing Hamas to ISIS and calling the battle against Hamas a war between good and evil.

Israel continues to release video footage taken from body cams worn by killed and captured Hamas terrorists, documenting the savage atrocities committed during the October 7 massacre. The horror, which I will not even attempt to describe here, are beyond your darkest imagination.

The U.S. Congress on Wednesday passed a resolution supporting Israel by a majority of 412 to 10. The non-binding measure reaffirms U.S. commitment to Israel and calls on Hamas to immediately cease attacks and release every hostage.

News Update

Rocket barrages were fired at Ashkelon and the surrounding communities early this morning, as the third aid convoy entered Gaza from Egypt. The IDF struck 320 Hamas targets in Gaza in the last 24 hours. Overnight, infantry and armored forces of the Givati Brigade attacked several terrorist squads, including anti-tank squads, and other infrastructure targets.

IDF forces attacked a terror cell on the Lebanon border, destroying an anti-tank missile launcher Hezbollah planned on using against IDF positions. IDF spokesman Brig.-Gen. Daniel Hagari said on Monday morning that, in the last day, the IDF has eliminated eight terrorist squads in Lebanon that tried to launch anti-tank missiles at troops and since the beginning of the war it has eliminated more than 20 terrorist squads in Lebanon.

On Sunday, Israel attacked Damascus and Aleppo airports, putting them both out of commission. The attacks are meant to prevent Iran from delivering weapons.

Also yesterday, the IDF conducted an air strike against a 5 man terror squad hiding beneath a mosque in Jenin. According to security forces, the heavily armed squad was preparing to launch an attack like the massacres conducted by Hamas on border communities in the South. Two of the terrorists were killed and the rest were wounded or captured. Members of the terror squad were affiliated with Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad and had been involved in attacks carried out in the West Bank over recent months. The mosque had sheltered terrorists in the past and was used as a command center for attacks against Israelis.

The New York Times reported that the White House “advised Israel to delay a ground invasion of Gaza” in order to buy more time for negotiations on the release of hostages and to prepare for possible attacks by pro-Iranian militias against American targets. The US continues to work on getting more hostages released, after successfully enabling the release of Israeli Americans Judith and Natalie Raanan.

News Update

A rocket fired by the Islamic Jihad in Gaza hit the Al Ahli hospital in Gaza, causing hundreds of casualties. An IDF video clearly shows the rocket hit. The rocket was part of a barrage fired at Israel. Initial reports claimed that the IDF was responsible for hitting the hospital, causing outrage in the Arab world. Jordanian and Egyptian leaders cancelled their meetings with US President Biden. Now the truth is known, but it’s unlikely that the Arab world and all those who support Hamas will accept it. [Since last week, 2 hospital in Israel have been hit by terrorist rockets.]

President Biden landed in Israel this morning and met with Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Herzog. Biden expressed his full support for Israel and confirmed that the strike on the hospital was perpetrated by terrorists and not Israel. Biden also spent an hour and a half in a meeting with Israel’s war cabinet. He will also meet with families of the terror victims.

Last night, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz held a joint press conference with Prime Minister Netanyahu in Tel Aviv and said that Germans share in the “terrible suffering of all Israelis” in the wake of last weeks terror attack and said, “Germany’s history and the responsibility it had for the Holocaust requires us to maintain the security and existence of Israel.”

Security forces arrested 41 terror suspects, including 30 Hamas members, in raids last night throughout the territories.

The IDF has said that there are still Hamas terrorist cells roaming the Negev region and waiting to come out of their hiding spots and attack civilians.

Rockets continue to be fired at Israel from Gaza. Sporadic incidents of anti-tank missiles and small arms fire from Lebanon continue. The IDF is responding with strikes against terror targets in Gaza and Lebanon.