Archive for category: news

News Update

Israel reportedly struck a military airport in Damascus this morning.

Over 30 rockets were fired into northern Israel last night, towards an air force base near Mt. Hermon. All landed in open areas. The attack followed a drone attack in Nabatieh, southern Lebanon, which wounded a regional Hezbollah commander. Other rockets and projectiles were fired towards Israel throughout yesterday. No casualties or damage was reported.

The Shin Bet released  video from an interrogation of a Hamas commander in the Nukhba unit who surrendered deep inside a tunnel in Khan Yunis, along with 2 other terrorists. The terrorists were heavily armed, but they chose not to fight in order to save their lives. He says on the video, “I recommend to everyone to surrender, because your destiny is to die.”

Yahya Sinwar, Hamas leader in Gaza, has been out of contact with the Hamas leadership abroad for more than 10 days now. He is hiding deep underground and moving fro place from place. It is unlikely that he is involved in the current round of negotiations for the release of hostages.

The WSJ published an article based on extensive interviews with Tamar Metzger, a 78 year old female hostage who was released in one of the exchanges. The article reflects the experience of Metzger and other elderly hostages and paints a picture of hardship and suffering — but it also humanizes their Hamas captors and the treatment they received from them. Unfortunately, the younger female hostages being held in other places are facing a much different reality that includes constant sexual assault, rape and torture. The men are facing that same reality. So let’s not be lulled into complacency by the experiences of some of the elderly female former hostages. We, and the world, must demand that all of the hostages be released, immediately and unconditionally. There is no valid defense for permitting rape. The hundreds of thousands of pro Hamas protesters throughout the world, including the budding scholars populating our universities (and manning the counters at your local Starbucks) don’t agree — at least when the rape is against Jewish women. The rape must stop. The hostages must be released. Period.

For a complete list of the soldiers killed in the ground offensive, click here.

 

 

News Update

Israeli airstrikes hit Iranian backed militia around Homs, Syria. Airstrikes against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon continue.

Hamas presented a counterproposal to the hostage release agreement that would include a ceasefire followed by a complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza within 4 months, as well as the release of 1,500 terrorists from Israeli prisons. Israel will not agree to these demands. Whether the negotiations will continue will be seen. For more, click here.

IDF forces continue to kill terrorists and destroy Hamas infrastructure in Khan Yunis. Troops are beginning to operate in Rafah. The Hamas leadership is reportedly running scared, moving from one hideout to the next, along with hostages.

IDF soldiers killed in Gaza:

Maj. David Shakuri, 30, the deputy commander of the Combat Engineering Corps’ 601st Battalion, from Rehovot.

Staff Sgt. (Res.) Hanan Drori, 26, a soldier in the 551st Reserve Paratroopers Brigade Chief’s Forward Command Team, from Jerusalem.

For a complete list of the soldiers killed in the ground offensive, click here.

Recently elected Argentinian President Javier Milei visited Israel yesterday and announced that he would move his country’s embassy to Jerusalem.

The Saudi foreign ministry said in a statement that Saudi Arabia would not normalize relations with Israel until there was an independent Palestinian state.

News Update

Combat operations continue in Gaza.

IDF troops operating in Gaza found a detailed Hamas manual for the production of explosives and rocket propellant material using Hydrogen Peroxide supplied to hospitals. The IDF has captured over a half million Hamas documents including operational plans and combat strategies.

IDF troops captured the primary base for the Khan Younis Brigade, which was used to train terrorists for the October 7 massacre. The base contained advanced weapons production facilities and warehouses filled with rockets and mortar shells. According to an IDF assessment, over 100 miles of tunnels have been mapped beneath Khan Yunis. The army has facilitated the evacuation of over 120,000 civilians from Khan Yunis in the last 2 weeks.

Sgt. First Class (res.) Shimon Yehoshua Asulin, 24, of the Combat Engineering Corps’ 924th Battalion, from Beit Shemesh, was killed in southern Gaza.

For a complete list of the soldiers killed in the ground offensive, click here.

Hamas has reportedly ordered members of its police force to resume working in the northern part of Gaza, where the IDF presence has been significantly reduced and where civilian daily life is beginning to resume. The police has been instructed to arrest Gazans involved in looting houses and shops. In footage released from the northern Gaza Strip on Saturday, Hamas police officers, masked and armed, are seen leading partially naked detainees who allegedly looted homes in a “walk of shame.” Leaders of the Hamas military wing reportedly have appointed new battalion commanders, deputies and field personnel to replace those eliminated by the IDF.

US envoy Amos Hochstein outlined the key elements of a diplomatic plan to deescalate tensions between Israel and Hezbollah. The plan consists of two phases. In phase 1, Hezbollah would cease hostilities along the border and withdraw 8 to 10 kilometers north from the border. A large deployment of the Lebanese army and UNIFIL peacekeeping forces would maintain quiet in the border area. In phase 2, Israel and Lebanon would begin negotiations to demarcate the land border, including discussions on 13 points on disputes along their shared boundaries. Simultaneously, the U.S. and the international community would explore offering “economic incentives” to Lebanon. The proposal was approved by the Lebanese government. Israel has stated that it is open to a diplomatic solution, but its first priority is to the safety and returning them to their homes in the north.

Over the weekend, dozens of rockets were fired at Israeli communities from Lebanon. The IDF responded with strikes against Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon.

The IDF’s 36th Division, which includes the Golani Infantry Brigade, the 188th Armored Brigade, and the 282nd Artillery Brigade, has been deployed to the Lebanon border following their withdrawal from Gaza.

A terrorist attempted to stab Border Police in the town of al-Eizariya, outside of Jerusalem. The officers shot and neutralized him. No Israelis were hurt. Security forces arrested 33 terror suspects in overnight raids throughout the West Bank.

Pramila Patten, the Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Special Envoy for Sexual Violence in Conflicts who is in Israel investigating the sexual crimes against Israeli women on Oct. 7, said that she has been unable to sleep for a week since viewing the 47-minute video compiled by the IDF of the atrocities committed on October 7. For more, click here. 

 

News Update

Rockets were fired at the Metulla area and an anti-tank missile at an IDF post on Mount Hermon. The IDF responded by striking numerous Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.

The hostage deal currently being negotiated would include a 6 week pause in the fighting, including stopping drone flights, during which Hamas would gather the hostages. The hostages would be released in 3 phases, in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and humanitarian aid. The first phase would include the elderly, sick and children. The second would include female soldiers. The third would include male soldiers and dead bodies — but some hostages would remain in captivity, as human shields. Nothing has yet been agreed to. National Security Minister Ben Gvir has said he would bring down the government over the deal. But Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid has indicated that he would be open to joining the government if Ben Gvir left.

[There is an impossible dilemma regarding the hostages. On the one hand it is the governments responsibility to protect its soldiers and citizens and to do everything possible to return them home. At the same time, the government must protect all of its citizens and provide them with safety — which it cannot fully accomplish as long has Hamas continues to function with military capabilities to carry out attacks against Israelis. Destroying Hamas and returning the hostages cannot both be fully accomplished. The government is trying to find a way to accomplish both objectives. Is that possible?]

IDF soldiers killed in Gaza:

Maj. (res.) Yitzhar Hofman, 36, a commander in the Israeli Air Force’s elite Shaldag unit, from Eshhar. He was wounded in the fighting late last year but returned to Gaza to continue fighting. He also fought the terrorists at Kibbutz Be’eri on Oct. 7.

For a complete list of the soldiers killed in the ground offensive, click here.

A terrorist reportedly attempted to ram soldiers at a checkpoint near Hebron. The terrorist was arrested. There were no casualties.

Iran is pulling out senior Revolutionary Guard officers from Syria in the wake of Israeli strikes against Iranian targets there. For more, click here. 

At least 66 Israeli-American or Israeli families with close relatives wounded, abducted or murdered in the Hamas atrocities on October 7, filed a law suit in the New York Federal Court demanding compensation from Iran, totaling a billion dollars. They are represented by the Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan law firm. The case is expected to last many years.