Thursday, October 12, 2023

10/12 Links Pt1: The Whole Middle East Is Counting on Israel to Destroy Hamas; Media willfully misunderstand what 'disproportionality' means

From Ian:

Evelyn Gordon: The Whole Middle East Is Counting on Israel to Destroy Hamas
Much remains unknown about Saturday’s horrific attack on southern Israel—the worst in Israel’s history, including wars, in terms of the number of civilians killed and kidnapped. But some things are already clear.

First, it was made possible by Israel’s 2005 pullout from the Gaza Strip. Terrorism from the West Bank has never approached this scale; the second intifada (2000–2004) didn’t achieve in four years what Hamas did in two days from Gaza—over 1,200 fatalities (civilians and soldiers). And the key difference is Israel’s military presence.

Israel’s presence in the West Bank makes it much harder for Palestinian terrorists to build up massive arsenals, whether through smuggling or homegrown production; Hamas in Gaza does both. That’s why virtually no missiles are fired at Israel from the West Bank even as Hamas fires thousands from Gaza every few years: the Israel Defense Forces are there to suppress both smuggling and arms production.

Israel’s presence also makes it impossible to train for the kind of large-scale maneuvers Hamas successfully used on October 7; any large-scale exercise would be swiftly broken up and its participants arrested. In Gaza, the IDF can observe such exercises but can neither prevent them nor arrest the participants, because it isn’t there.

Finally, Israel’s presence in the West Bank enables much better intelligence than it has in Gaza, where preparations for Saturday’s massive attack eluded the intelligence agencies completely. That’s because aerial photography, spyware, and other technological tools can only do so much. But to run human agents, intelligence operatives generally need to meet with them in person and develop a relationship, at least initially. That’s easy in the West Bank, where Israel is present. It’s virtually impossible in Gaza, where Israel is absent.

Indeed, the indispensability of a military presence in the West Bank became clear to most Israelis during the second intifada, which was made possible by Israel’s withdrawal from significant swaths of the West Bank under the 1993 Oslo Accords: then, too, the IDF’s absence allowed Palestinian terrorists to arm and train without hindrance. Although the army’s presence in other parts of the West Bank was a mitigating factor, it was only after Israel reinvaded Palestinian-controlled areas in April 2002 that Israeli casualties begin dropping, by about 50 percent a year, after having risen steadily for eighteen months.

Yet Gaza, which borders Israel’s sparsely populated south rather than its densely populated center as the West Bank does, seemed a safe place to test a competing hypothesis—that if Israeli soldiers and settlers left, Palestinians would have no reason to attack Israel and would focus on state-building. And when that hypothesis proved false—rocket fire on southern Israel quickly escalated once the IDF left, and the first war with Hamas in Gaza erupted just three years after the pullout—a new theory arose: yes, Hamas is a nuisance, but a small terrorist organization can’t really do Israel much harm from across a well-guarded border, so the pullout is still preferable to bearing the costs, in terms of both military casualties and money, of an Israeli presence in Gaza.

That theory has been eroding for years, as each successive Hamas-Israel war (we are now on the fifth in eighteen years, by my count) produced ever-more-intensive rocket fire on ever-growing swaths of Israel. But it collapsed completely on Saturday. It turns out a small terrorist organization across the border can wreak massive harm.

Nor is it plausible to argue that while quitting Gaza didn’t satisfy the Palestinians, quitting the West Bank would—because Hamas’s primary goal is neither statehood nor prosperity, but Israel’s destruction. As the senior Hamas official Moussa Abu Marzouk said in 2021, the organization wants Israel “to come to an end just like it began.” Granted, the West Bank is controlled by Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah party, not Hamas (though Fatah also isn’t enthusiastic about fighting terror; the IDF does most of the work). But so was Gaza when Israel left. A year later, Hamas won the Palestinian election. And a year after that, fed up with Fatah’s refusal to cede power, it ousted Fatah from Gaza militarily in a week.

That Hamas truly seeks Israel’s destruction is hard for Westerners to grasp; many feel it must have sought some diplomatic or economic gain from Saturday’s attack. But Hamas itself made no such claims. It certainly wasn’t seeking to improve Gaza’s economy; a Hamas source told Reuters that its negotiations in recent months about Qatari aid and letting more Gazans work in Israel were a deliberate deception aimed at convincing Israel it wasn’t interested in war. Nor was it seeking to pressure the Saudis over normalization with Israel. As a Hamas operative told Israel’s Channel 13 television, preparations for this attack began a year ago—long before normalization was anything but a fantasy. And those preparations were massive, even including construction of a mock village so the terrorists could practice invading civilian homes.

Moreover, despite Gaza’s ongoing humanitarian nightmare under Hamas rule, polls consistently show that its leader, Ismail Haniyeh, would trounce Abbas if Palestinian elections were held today. And its enduring popularity is precisely the result of its single-minded focus on Israel’s destruction, a goal that most Palestinians—including Fatah members and supporters—unabashedly share.
Hamas Must be Destroyed — and Israeli Sovereignty Reestablished in Gaza
The main objections to reconquering Gaza and reestablishing Israeli sovereignty are 1) it will require a long and painful ground campaign, which will entail a large number of casualties on both sides; and 2) occupation of Gaza will result in a continued insurrection that will tie the army down and sap our strength.

I propose a rapid campaign, using the air force, armor, and artillery, to create a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, to drive the residents south to the Egyptian border, and to persuade Egypt to open the border to refugees (Egypt is dependent upon Israel for natural gas). The UN, the EU, and the NGOs would have to provide for the refugees and resettle them. This would be a good time to disband the failed UNRWA and treat the refugees like all other refugees from armed conflict.

With most of the civilian population removed, the army could use its firepower to advance quickly. A temporary military occupation would be practical. To prevent the reappearance of a hostile entity there, it should be settled by Jews and ultimately annexed to Israel.

While there is no doubt that the present residents of Gaza would suffer greatly for a time, it needs to be understood that this is an enemy population. It voted for Hamas in Palestinian elections, and while much of it finds the regime oppressive, the overwhelming majority supports its goal of destroying Israel and killing Jews. Its welfare cannot be the responsibility of Israel.

Expelling Gazans would violate international law. But international law must take a back seat to national survival. In any event, international law is not obeyed by the great powers like Russia or the US, by the medium-sized powers like Turkey or Egypt, and certainly not by Israel’s enemies. The double standard that demands compliance by Israel is a gift to Iran, the biggest violator of all.

These actions would permanently eliminate the threat of terrorism and war emanating from Gaza, and would restore Israel’s honor and deterrence in the region. It would be a small step in the long process to secure a Jewish state, but a necessary one.

The modern state of Israel was founded in part to put an end to the continued pogroms and depredations committed against the Jewish people in the diaspora. After the Holocaust, the slogan “never again!” became popular. But it has happened again. And it will continue to happen, again and again, as long as Israel does not take its proper place as a Middle-Eastern nation with the strength and resolve to survive in the Middle East.

And may Hashem help the Jewish people if we don’t.
Israel has the right — and the duty — to besiege Gaza
Thus Israel cannot allow Hamas to resupply during the war; a complete siege is needed.

Unsurprisingly, the terrorists’ propaganda machine is working overtime accusing Israel of violating international law.

Hamas-controlled institutions, from the Gaza “health ministry” to Gazan “human rights” organizations, together with their Western allies in the United Nations and European Union, insist Israel has no legal right to besiege Gaza and is legally responsible for the price ordinary Palestinians are paying for Hamas’ actions.

These claims are perverse and without legal foundation.

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Both the Geneva and Hague conventions include instructions on conducting sieges under international law, recognizing they may be effective tools for bringing a conflict to a rapid and successful end.

The basic rule they outline: Sieges are lawful unless deliberately aimed at starving the local population.

Israel’s aims, repeatedly stated, are to defeat Hamas terrorists by depriving them of resources and to rescue hostages.

International pressure demanding Israel provide terrorists with electricity and other goods is absurd and without basis in international law.

As the besieging state, Israel is not required to fund or assist Hamas’ war effort as it attempts to butcher Jews.

Siege law includes a humanitarian aspect: International law requires that Israel facilitate the passage of food and medicine by third parties, but only if such goods can be reliably delivered without diversion to Hamas and without fear the goods will give Hamas an economic and military boost.

Given Hamas’ 16-year exploitation of humanitarian aid and infiltration of human-rights and international organizations in Gaza, diversion is not merely a possibility — it is a certainty.

So it would be unthinkable for Israel to place humanitarian workers in Gaza or allow aid to reach Hamas.

Doing so would prolong the conflict, worsen Gaza’s physical destruction and result in greater loss of civilian life.

If governments and international organizations are serious about aiding Gazan civilians — to date, such organizations have been more invested in condemning Israel and immunizing Palestinian terrorists from accountability and punishment — they should devote their resources to facilitating the safe and rapid evacuation of Gaza’s civilian population outside the conflict zone.

While this is a heady mission, it is not impossible: Indeed, five times the population of Gaza was evacuated from Ukraine under fire.


Israel war: Media willfully misunderstand what 'disproportionality' means
Under international humanitarian law , the principle of proportionality forbids attacks in which expected civilian casualties will be excessive in relation to the anticipated military advantage gained.

Proportionality has nothing to do with the relative number of people killed on both sides, and the reason for that is clear: When you judge the appropriateness of an attack based on the number of people who died, you do not protect civilians; you incentivize human shields.

Israel anticipates that its response to these unprecedented attacks will gain the important advantage of ending Hamas’s genocidal reign of terror once and for all.

International law recognizes that the possibility of civilian casualties is an unfortunate but expected element of even lawful missions such as this one; it simply requires Israel to try to minimize the number, which the IDF is doing, including with the use of targeted precision strikes and by warning civilians to leave certain neighborhoods, or even head out of Gaza entirely across the border it shares with Egypt. The IDF does not target civilians.

Hamas, however, knows that people either misunderstand or willfully distort what proportionality means and assume (for no good reason) that it has something to do with the relative number of dead bodies on each side. Hamas leaders consistently take advantage of this dangerous misconception by exploiting their own civilian population, including and especially women and children, and purposely placing them in harm’s way. They are already doing this now. They do this with sickening disregard for the lives of their own people, in order to inflate the body count and make things look even more “disproportionate” to an undiscerning media. Beware this behavior and this trap, because under the kind of effects-based, nonlegal analysis people tend to use, this inhumane calculus is all to often rewarded with sympathetic PR pieces.

To be clear: From an international law perspective, Israel does not only have the right to a shock and awe response, under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, but it also has an affirmative obligation to make sure that "Never Again" means "Never Again."

That does not mean Israel will repay barbarism for barbarism. One of the chief complaints in the false charge of disproportionality is that it isn’t a fair fight, as if that matters when you try to commit genocide, because the IDF is strong enough that it could flatten Gaza in five minutes. But it doesn’t.

Israel will continue to do everything it can to minimize civilian casualties, not only because that is the law but because, unlike the enemy it currently faces, Israel has a moral compass. Israel’s response, however, may yet end up being asymmetrical, for the simple reason that Israel does have better technology and weaponry. That is what happens when you spend decades investing in the safety and security of your people, instead of wasting all of your time and money building terror tunnels underground.

But in the face of a depraved and genocidal enemy hellbent on another Holocaust, it is hard to imagine that Israel's response will be anything but disproportionate. Israel can and must hit back hard enough that Hamas is completely obliterated. Every single drop of blood that will inevitably spill, including any incidental loss of civilian life, as heartbreaking as it is, is entirely on Hamas’s hands. And every single person who continues to show support for Hamas even now, knowing everything that we know, seeing everything that we have seen, is nothing more than a terrorist supporter.

May the memories of all those murdered by Hamas be a blessing, and may God avenge their blood while keeping every innocent person safe.
U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken addresses Israel
'As long as the U.S. exists, you will never be alone' U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken addresses Israeli citizens amid Israel's war with Hams


American Death Toll in Hamas Attack on Israel Rises to 25, Others Missing
The number of Americans murdered by Hamas during the terrorists group's attack on Israel has risen to 25 people, while others remain missing.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced the number on Thursday after he landed in Tel Aviv, where he pledged unwavering support for Israel during a speech alongside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Blinken said the United States is working to secure the release of hostages taken by Hamas.

The White House said on Wednesday that at least 17 Americans are missing.

"I've directed my team to share intelligence and deploy additional experts from across the United States government to consult with and advise Israeli counterparts on hostage recovery efforts," President Joe Biden said Tuesday. "Because as president, I have no higher priority than the safety of Americans being held hostage around the world."
What If Hamas Starts Killing American Hostages?
Fortunately, the Democratic Socialists of American form only a sliver of Congress, and don’t control the executive branch—which will have to make some difficult decisions in the coming days. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan stated on Tuesday that an unknown number of U.S. citizens are among the roughly 150 people, many of them children, being held hostage by Hamas. (Ali Baraka, in the interview cited above, explains the rationale behind capturing Americans.) On Sunday, Gilad Erdan, the Israeli ambassador to the UN, said that the number might be in the dozens. Noah Rothman considers the implications:

What if negotiations with Hamas via proxies in Qatar come to nothing, or the price demanded of America and its allies sacrifices an unacceptable level of security for their respective citizens? Hamas has already threatened to reprise Islamic State’s tactics. . . . What if Hamas starts killing Americans?

The prospect is too terrible to imagine, but that is what the Biden White House is now confronting. How will the American public respond to such a grotesque display of barbarity? Will the voting public sit mournfully by as its citizens are slaughtered? Will they watch helplessly as their country is humiliated? Will they continue to see Israel’s war as Israel’s alone?

It is in the strategic interest of the United States to support Israel’s righteous war of self-defense against the Hamas regime in Gaza, but it is not in America’s immediate interest to become directly involved in that conflict. However, disengagement may quickly become politically untenable if Hamas makes good on its threats.
WATCH: Senior Hamas Official Says Biden Iran Deal Proves Taking Hostages Works
A senior Hamas official cited President Joe Biden's prisoner swap deal with Iran as evidence that taking hostages will further the terrorist group's aims.

"There are Hamas members sentenced for life in the U.S. We want them too. Of course," Hamas spokesman Ali Baraka said Sunday in an interview translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute. "We demand that the U.S. free our sons from prison. The U.S. conducts prisoner swaps. Only recently, it did one with Iran. Why wouldn't it conduct a prisoner swap with us?"

Baraka's comments, which he made on an Arabic language channel of Russian state-owned news outlet Russia Today, came the day after Hamas terrorists entered southern Israel, killing hundreds of civilians. The terrorists took hostages from the Israeli towns they raided.

The comments also come weeks after the Biden administration approved a prisoner swap with Iran, in which the president sent five Iranian prisoners and approved the release of $6 billion of the regime's funds in exchange for the release of five U.S. citizens held in Iran.

Biden on Monday said American citizens are likely among those held hostage by the terrorists. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in Tel Aviv on Thursday that at least 25 Americans were killed in Hamas's attack and at least 17 others are missing.
Hamas’s Willing Executioners
Both Goldhagen and Christoper Browning, author of the book Ordinary Men, examined the possible explanations for the behavior of the men of Battalion 101. Both scholars (especially Goldhagen) emphasized the crucial role of antisemitic ideology.

“The men of Reserve Police Battalion 101, like the rest of German society, were immersed in a deluge of racist and anti-Semitic propaganda,” Browning wrote. “Furthermore [the men received] indoctrination both in basic training and as an ongoing practice within each unit. Such incessant propagandizing must have had a considerable effect in reinforcing general notions of German racial superiority…as well as Jewish inferiority and otherness.”

Goldhagen described what he called the uniquely “eliminationist” quality of German antisemitism. Dehumanizing propaganda in the government-controlled news media and schools depicted Jews as rats, spiders or lice who had to be destroyed. The only solution to the “Jewish problem” was the “final solution.”

Such imagery did not disappear when the Holocaust ended. It merely moved to other parts of the world. By coincidence, the fate of the babies at Kfar Aza was revealed almost simultaneously with the news that the Bethlehem branch of the Palestinian Authority’s ruling faction, Fatah, posted a video celebrating the Hamas massacres. One image in the video showed a boot with the colors of the Palestinian flag squashing a rat on an Israeli flag.

The website of Palestinian Media Watch, the agency that exposed the Fatah video, is replete with similar examples of dehumanizing images circulated both by the Palestinian Authority and Hamas. Jews are depicted as vicious rodents, ravenous insects, and other predatory creatures. Such images have become staples of Palestinian Arab popular culture.

This Middle Eastern version of eliminationist antisemitism may help explain the mindset that led Hamas’s willing executioners to do what they did to Jewish children in Kibbutz Kfar Aza and elsewhere.


Here are some of the photos Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu showed to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Warning: These are horrifying photos of babies murdered and burned by the Hamas monsters.

Hamas is inhuman.
Hamas is ISIS.
https://twitter.com/IsraeliPM/status/1712471782303867144




PMW: Hamas leader Mashaal calls for day of “rage” tomorrow against Zionists and Americans by Muslims and Arabs all around the world
Following Hamas’ terror attack on Israel in which more than 1,200 Israelis were murdered, Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal has announced that it’s time for Arabs and Muslims around the world to be “more creative” than in the past and let the world know that they “are part of this battle.” Mashaal urged Arabs and Muslims in their own countries and in “the streets of the diaspora everywhere” to turn tomorrow, Friday, October 13, into a day of “rage” tomorrow against Zionists and Americans in support of Hamas’ terror war against Israel.

The following is an excerpt of Mashaal’s speech in Doha:
Senior Hamas official Khaled Mashaal: “What is our responsibility? … I call upon all of you, together with me and all of us… to [do] more creative things than what we are used to. We want this to be at a higher level. First, the rage – let us go down to the squares and plazas, to the Arab and Islamic street, and throughout the diaspora everywhere. There is a call on Friday [Oct. 13, 2023], a Friday of the Al-Aqsa Flood (Hamas' name for slaughter of Israeli citizens; see note below -Ed.). But before Friday, and after it, and on it, we want to say to the Zionists, their criminal leaders, and their extremists, and to the Americans who rushed to their aid, that they have double standards. In their eyes the Ukraine War is just, and the Palestinian people’s war is unjust. Send a message throughout the squares and plazas – a message of rage – that we are the people of Palestine, the people of Gaza, the people of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem, and that we are part of this battle.”

[Almahriah TV (Yemen), YouTube channel, Oct. 10, 2023]

Palestinian Media Watch exposed that in the same speech, Mashaal referred to Hamas’ torture, rape, kidnapping, and murder of 1,200 Israelis, most of them civilians, as “a dream come true.”

Hamas war on Israel October 2023 - At least 1,200 Israelis were murdered and over 3,100 wounded, in addition to approximately 150 Israelis who were abducted into the Gaza Strip, in a Hamas terror war that began when hundreds of Hamas terrorists broke through Israel's security fence at the Gaza Strip border and launched a surprise attack, taking control of several Israeli towns on the Jewish holiday of Shemini Atzeret (Simchat Torah), which fell on the Sabbath, Oct. 7, 2023. Hamas terrorists also fired at least 5,000 rockets at Israeli population centers. In response, Israel launched Operation Iron Swords to counter the Hamas terror threat. Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon joined Hamas' terror war starting from the following day, attacking Israel from the north.


Littlest victims of war: The faces of Israeli child hostages in Hamas slaughter
Heartbreaking accounts are emerging of the scores of children who were taken captive by Hamas when the terrorist group unleashed its unprecedented assault over the weekend — and the innocent kids thought to be in the attackers’ hands are as young as 9 months old.

Loved ones in Israel and abroad are now scrambling for answers, and – in the wake of Hamas’ pledge to execute one hostage for every Israeli airstrike that hits a Gazan home – are begging the abductors to spare the youngest lives.

The terror group, meanwhile, claims to have stockpiled “dozens” of captives in “safe places and tunnels and resistance” over the border in Gaza, Hamas spokesperson Abu Obeid said in a Telegram post.

Below, are the stories of some of the youngest hostages who are believed to be in Hamas custody – and whose ultimate fates remain unknown.


Red Cross: No access to captured Israelis
According to Fabrizio Carboni, regional director for the Near and Middle East of the Red Cross, his group has not yet received clearance to treat those captured by the Hamas terror organization that invaded Israel en masse on Oct. 7 and took men, women and children back to the Gaza Strip.

“We ask for the civilians who have been captured to have an opportunity to communicate with their family, to tell them that they are safe and well,” he said. “We also ask that some people who have nothing to do in prison or shouldn’t be captured to be released.”

He called on “all parties to exercise restraint and to protect humanitarian workers and infrastructure.”

In reference to Israel cutting off certain supplies to Gaza as a result of the invasion, Red Cross president Mirjana Spoljaric said: “Critical infrastructure that people depend on to live, including electricity and water networks, must not be targeted. Irrespective of any military siege, the authorities must ensure that civilians have access to basic necessities, including safe water, food and medical care.”

Spoljaric described herself as “extremely concerned” for the families of those kidnapped, be it Israelis or Palestinians.

“People detained must be treated humanely and with dignity,” she said. “Hostage-taking is prohibited under international humanitarian law, and hostages should be immediately released unharmed.”


'Oh my God, they've got my brother!' Shocked Israeli reveals how he watched in horror as his kidnapped sibling appeared in Hamas propaganda video being bundled into a truck bound for Gaza
An Israeli has revealed the shock and terror of finding out his brother had been taken hostage by Hamas after seeing a propaganda video circulated online.

Uriel Bohbot, 31, reeled in horror when a friend sent on the video of Elkana, 34, among captives at the Nova festival when Hamas began their incursion on Saturday.

He said: 'I recognised him instantly thanks to his blond hair and said, "Oh my god! They've got my brother".'

The video showed Uriel alive, being bundled into a truck heading back towards Gaza.

An estimated 150 captives were taken by Hamas on Saturday during its assault on Israel, which has responded with devastating airstrikes and a siege of the Gaza Strip.

After seeing the video in San Francisco, Uriel took the first flight to Jerusalem to be with his family.

'When we realised Hamas were attacking we called Elkana and he told our mum; I'm OK and I'm just helping people to get out of here,' he said.

'I know my brother and he would never leave anyone behind - and I think that's why they caught him.

'At least we have this video which is a sign of life.'

Elkana runs an ice-cream shop in Tel Aviv, according to The Sun.


Hamas terrorist sent mom video of son, girlfriend’s murder after music fest massacre, TV star says
An Israeli reality TV star broke down in tears as she described receiving a harrowing message about a terrorist who killed a young man and his girlfriend — and sent video of the barbaric act to the mom from her son’s phone.

Mor Radmi, star of the show “Wedding at First Sight,” said the horrific incident happened after 260 people were slaughtered at a music festival in the Negev Desert when Hamas launched its attack on Israel early Saturday, Israel Hayom reported.

The woman had been collecting donations and assisting people to find their missing relatives, many of whom were killed and others abducted by the bloodthirsty terrorists.

But nothing prepared Radmi for the gut-wrenching text message she said she received Monday.

“All day people send me difficult messages but I got this message … it simply broke me to pieces,” she said as she began sobbing.

“‘Hey, I must tell you about my good friend. Her son was missing from the party/ Today she received a video from the terrorist who murdered her son and his girlfriend,’” she said the message read.

“‘(The terrorist) filmed the murder on her son’s phone and sent the video now,’” she continued.
Heart-breaking moment British father breaks down in tears as he confesses he WELCOMED news his daughter, 8, had been killed by Hamas - rather than face the horrors of being a hostage in Gaza
A devastated father has said welcomed the news that his eight-year-old daughter had been killed by Hamas terrorists because it was better than being taken hostage during the barbaric attack on the Be'eri Kibbutz.

Thomas Hand faced an unbearable two-day wait for news about his daughter Emily after Palestinian terrorists stormed their kibbutz at around 7am on Saturday, massacring at least 100 people.

Mr Hand said the kibbutz came under gunfire for about 12 hours that day, during which he did not know the whereabouts or fate of his child after she had gone to sleep at a neighbor's house - something she rarely did.

In a heartbreaking interview with CNN, Mr Hand broke down in tears as he recounted the moment he was finally told his daughter's body had been found - and said his reaction was one of relief that she had not been kidnapped instead.

'They said, "We found Emily. She's dead," and I just went "Yes!" I went "yes", and I smiled, because that is the best news of the possibilities that I knew,' Mr Hand said in a shaking voice.

'She doesn't do it very often, but unfortunately that night, that particular night - Friday night - she went to sleep at her friend's house,' recounted Hand.

The next morning, the kibbutz was under attack.

Mr Hand described how he felt during the siege: 'I'm thinking, the Army are going to be here soon. Just hold on a bit longer, and longer, and longer.'

Later, when he was informed of his daughter's murder he said: 'I just went "Yes!"'

'That was the best news of the possibilities that I knew...' as his voice trailed off through tears.


IDF rescues Muslim doctor shot multiple times and held hostage by Hamas
United Hatzalah volunteer physician Tarek Abu Arar was held hostage for several hours and shot twice by Hamas terrorists on Saturday morning after they breached the border fence en masse and infiltrated southern Israel, killing more than 1,200 people, wounding thousands and taking as many as 150 hostages.

Arar, a resident of Arara BaNegev, was driving to his shift in the emergency room at Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon on Saturday when at a junction near the Israeli city of Sderot, he came across a person who seemed injured on the side of the road next to a 4×4 vehicle.

“At that moment, there had been no reports of any infiltration,” recounted Arar. “Thankfully, we had just had a Red Alert siren about 20 minutes earlier, so I had decided to wear my bulletproof vest. But I initially thought it was a routine car accident, so I stopped on the side of the road in order to help.”

“Suddenly, as I got closer to the car, I saw about 50 meters away what looked like an Israeli soldier in uniform. He gestured to me to come to him. As I walked to him and was just 10 meters away, he suddenly shot me in the chest,” he said.

“I started shouting and praying, convinced that I was about to die,” he said. Then he heard someone shout in Arabic, ‘Stop, stop, he is an Arab!” “This is when I understood they were Hamas terrorists,” he added.

Ten more terrorists appeared from behind bushes. Ara said they interrogated him in Arabic and asked questions to check his knowledge of Islam.

“They attached me to a pole in the center of the junction and said, ‘That’s it, we have a hostage. The IDF cannot eliminate us from the air anymore,'” Arar said.


Gallant shows NATO allies uncensored footage of Hamas atrocities
Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Thursday shared uncensored footage of Hamas atrocities from Saturday’s rampage during a video briefing to NATO defense ministers, according to his office.

“We have been hit hard. Yet make no mistake—2023 is not 1943. We are the same Jews, but we have different capabilities. The State of Israel is strong. We are united and powerful,” said Gallant.

“Hamas is the ISIS of Gaza, a savage organization, funded and supported by Iran. Hamas is ISIS. The ISIS of Gaza will not exist, on our borders. The IDF will destroy Hamas. And we will hunt down every last man with the blood of our children on his hands,” the minister told 31 of his colleagues, who were gathered for a meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels.

“I walked from house to house. And saw the bodies of our pioneers, the Holocaust survivors, burned alive. Children were tied up and shot. Yes, I repeat—children tied up and shot,” he continued.

“Young girls were raped violently, and kidnapped or killed. They were dragged to Gaza, to the sound of cheering, while blood was dripping down their legs,” he said. “A peace music festival, with 3,000 young people, became a bloodbath. Dozens of citizens from your countries have been murdered or kidnapped.”


Sky News Australia: 'Extremely horrible': Senior Israeli official confirms reports of beheaded babies
Israel Defense Forces International Spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus has confirmed that a senior official has verified Israeli children were beheaded.

US President Joe Biden has confirmed “pictures of terrorists beheading children”.

“There’s a person – a senior person – who was identified on record, I think he was on CBS News, personally testified to the fact that he indeed saw the heads of severed babies,” Lieutenant Colonel Conricus told Sky News Australia.

“I know that the Israeli Prime Minister’s office has also corroborated the news."

Lieutenant Colonel Conricus couldn’t confirm the number of children beheaded was 40 as reported in the media.




Israeli Health Ministry tells public hospitals to stop treating terrorists
Israeli Health Minister Moshe Arbel has instructed all public hospitals to stop treating Hamas terrorists, he announced in a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday evening.

“Since the beginning of the fighting, the issue of treating the damned and despicable Hamas terrorists within the public hospitals has piled up a tremendous difficulty on the health system,” wrote the health minister.

“In these difficult times, the health system should focus fully on the treatment of the victims of the criminal massacre, IDF soldiers and readiness for the next [attack],” Arbel explained.

“The task of securing and treating the cursed and despicable terrorists within the public health system significantly harms these efforts and therefore, under my guidance, the public health system will not treat them,” he added.

Arbel called on Netanyahu to “immediately” instruct the relevant bodies to act in accordance with the new directive.


Ben Shapiro: Why I’m Showing You Hamas’ Atrocities
More harrowing video, audio, and pictures emerge from Hamas’ devastating Nazi-esque attacks on Israeli civilians; the foreign policy “sophisticates” arrive just in time to provide cover for Hamas; and Joe Biden gives a shockingly good speech.

International Fellowship of Christians & Jews: http://IFCJ.org
Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF): https://www.fidf.org/
Israel Rescue: http://IsraelRescue.org
American Friends of Magen David Adom: http://Afmda.org
The Ari Fuld Project: http://AriFuld.org


Piers Morgan: Ben Shapiro reflects on Hamas and Israel war

Megyn Kelly: What Israel Does Now, and America's Next Move, with Ben Shapiro, David Friedman & Col. Daniel Davis
Megyn Kelly begins the show by discussing the horrifying stories coming out of Israel after the terror attack by Hamas, and shares why they must be seen and not ignored. Then Ben Shapiro, host of The Ben Shapiro Show, joins to discuss the brutality of Hamas, the truth about how Israel cares more about the Palestinians than Hamas does, Egypt refusing to help the Palestinians or Israel's effort, our American media's deference to Hamas propaganda, the outrageous anti-Semitism we're seeing from some progressives liberals and the media, the awful pro-Hamas protests in America and Australia, the faction in the GOP pushing "America first" over stronger support for Israel, the response at the United Nations to the Hamas terror attack, the instinct by many on the world stage to critique Israel even as they are being attacked, and more. Then Lt. Col. Daniel Davis to talk about the tactics Israel will have to deploy to rescue hostages from Gaza, the possibility for negotiations ahead to get women and children, the added element that there are Americans being held hostage too, challenges ahead for America because of the uneasiness in the world right now, and more. Then David Friedman, former U.S. ambassador to Israel during the Trump administration, joins to discuss the possibility a cyber attack could have led to the Hamas terror attack, Iran's role in the planning of the attack on Israel, why America got "duped" in dealings with Iran, the Biden administration blindness on Iran matches with the Obama administration's, Ilhan Omar's outrageous comments about "collective punishment," Harvard students attacking Israel and not Hamas, and more.




Herzog fires back at foreign reporters over Israel’s Gaza response
Israel’s President Isaac Herzog held a contentious press briefing with foreign media at his official residence in Jerusalem on Thursday, reacting angrily to several questions about the military’s ongoing airstrikes in Gaza.

CNN‘s Becky Anderson started off by saying that “collective punishment of a civilian population amounts to a war crime under international law. The U.S. has warned Israel to uphold laws of war.”

Herzog replied: “I’m quite disappointed that is what you are asking instantaneously. Haven’t you seen? You’ve seen. You were all there. You’ve seen. So now we are starting with the rhetoric about war crimes? Really? Truly?

“I just said that Israel abides by international law, operates by international law. Every operation is secured and covered and reviewed legally. With all due respect, I truly believe that this comes totally out of context,” the president said.

Herzog also engaged in a testy exchange with journalist Matt Frei from Britain’s Channel 4. Herzog cut off Frei when he began insinuating that Herzog was holding Gazan civilians responsible for Hamas and thus considered them legitimate targets.

The president denied that he said that.

“With all due respect. If you have a missile in your goddamn kitchen and you want to shoot it at me, am I allowed to defend myself? Yes. That is the situation.”

Herzog continued: “These missiles are there. The button is pressed. The missile is launched. The missile comes out from the kitchen and onto my children.”


Palestinian UN envoy accuses Israel of 'genocidal' campaign against Gaza
The Palestinian envoy to the United Nations on Tuesday described Israel's bombardment of the Gaza Strip and vowed to impose a complete siege on the Hamas-controlled Palestinian enclave as "nothing less than genocidal."

Hamas militants carried out their deadliest attack in Israel's history on Saturday, when gunmen rampaged through Israeli towns, killing more than 1,000 people and taking scores of hostages to Gaza. Israel has retaliated with air strikes on Gaza that have razed entire districts as it prepares for a possible ground offensive.

Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant drew international condemnation by announcing on Monday a "total blockade" to stop food and fuel from reaching Gaza, home to 2.3 million people. Gallant said Israel was battling "beastly people."

"Such blatant dehumanization and attempts to bomb a people into submission, to use starvation as a method of warfare, and to eradicate their national existence are nothing less than genocidal," Palestinian UN envoy Riyad Mansour wrote in a letter to the UN Security Council on Tuesday, seen by Reuters.

"These acts constitute war crimes"
"These acts constitute war crimes," he wrote.

US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Tuesday that his understanding was that "the concept of siege is not something that in fact is going to be pursued by the Israeli government," adding that Washington was speaking with the Israeli government "about their actions in this regard."

Sullivan also said US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday discussed "the difference between going full bore against Hamas terrorists and how we distinguish between terrorists and innocent civilians."


Iran's president Ebrahim Raisi and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman hold their first EVER phone call - to discuss the 'need to end war crimes against Palestine'
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had their first-ever telephone call on Wednesday to discuss the shocking Hamas attack in Israel that has killed over 1,200 people.

The discussion was the first between the two leaders since a China-brokered deal between Tehran and Riyadh to resume ties and came just hours after US President Joe Biden told Iran to 'be careful' in the wake of the attack.

The two leaders' call came as Israel carried out air strikes in the Gaza Strip in retaliation for a deadly attack by Palestinian Hamas militants in Israel.

Raisi and the Saudi crown prince discussed the 'need to end war crimes against Palestine,' Iranian state media said.

The Saudi crown prince, for his part, 'affirmed that the Kingdom is making all possible efforts in communicating with all international and regional parties to stop the ongoing escalation,' Saudi state news agency SPA said.

He also reiterated Saudi Arabia's rejection of targeting civilians in any way, SPA added.

President Joe Biden sent a warning to Iran earlier Wednesday amid reports of their continued support of Hamas.

At least 1,200 Israelis were killed in Saturday's carnage, which begun when Hamas militants crossed from Gaza into Israel and murdered people at a music festival and in their homes near the border.

'This attack was a campaign of pure cruelty, not just hate, but pure cruelty, against the Jewish people,' Biden said.

He added: 'I never really thought that I would see and have confirmed pictures of terrorists beheading children.'

Biden issued his first public warning to Iran since the Hamas attack on Israel as he faced growing pressure to freeze $6 billion of Tehran's assets.

'We've 'made it clear to the Iranians: Be careful,' Biden said at a meeting with Jewish leaders at the White House Wednesday.

He also detailed a new arms shipment to Israel that includes interceptors for its Iron Dome defense system and ammunition for the Israel Defense Force.
‘Die on Your Land as Martyrs’: Sunni Religious Authority Calls on Palestinians to Die in Gaza
One of the most respected religious authorities in Sunni Islam on Wednesday issued a statement calling for Palestinians in Gaza to “die on your land” as “martyrs.”

Egypt’s Al-Azhar, a centuries-old Sunni religious seminary in Cairo that has hosted the likes of First Lady Jill Biden, published a statement on its website and on social media calling on Palestinians to die rather than leave “their land” to the “Zionist entity.”

“Al-Azhar Al-Sharif renews its salute to the steadfastness of the people of dear Palestine and its appreciation for their clinging to their precious land and their adherence to remaining on its soil, no matter the cost and sacrifices,” the unsigned statement said. “Al-Azhar directs its message to those who cling to their land that it is better for you to die on your land as knights, heroes, and martyrs than to leave it to the usurping settlers, and know that leaving your lands means death to your cause, and our cause and its disappearance forever.”

While Sunni Islam has no central religious authority, Al-Azhar is the highest religious authority in Egypt and is also widely respected throughout the Sunni Muslim world. The Sheikh of Al-Azhar, Ahmed Al-Tayeb, also frequently meets with both secular and religious world leaders, including Pope Francis.

In recent decades, Al-Azhar has billed itself as an Islamic voice against religious extremism, hosting initiatives like the “Al-Azhar Observatory for Combating Extremism” and issuing statements and religious rulings against terrorist practices like suicide bombings.

Wednesday’s statement, however, had not a word of condemnation for the Hamas invasion of Israel on Saturday that killed more than 1,200 people. A previous statement from Al-Azhar welcomed the terrorist assault.
French Justice Minister Demands ‘Swift, Strict’ Prosecution of Hamas Supporters, Antisemitic Offenders
France’s Minister of Justice has urged the swift prosecution of offenders charged with antisemitic acts, as the country’s Interior Minister reported more than 100 outrages targeting French Jews since the massacre perpetrated last weekend by Hamas terrorists in southern Israel.

In a television interview on Thursday, Justice Minister Éric Dupond-Moretti said he had issued a circular calling for “strict and rapid prosecution.”

“I’m asking the public prosecutor’s offices to be strict and swift,” Dupond-Moretti said. “Antisemitism is not an opinion, it’s an offense. Apology for terrorism is an offense punishable by 5 years’ imprisonment, and 7 years when it received a certain level of exposure.”

He continued: “We cannot see antisemitism grow in this country with impunity.”

The list of individuals and organizations potentially facing prosecution for antisemitic statements or acts includes the far left New Anti-Capitalist Party (NPA), which issued a statement in the wake of the atrocities in Israel declaring “its support for the Palestinians and the means of struggle that they choose to resist.”

Claiming that Israel’s strategy of containment in Gaza had failed, the NPA statement added, “this time the offensive is on the side of the resistance,” and ended with the cry of “Intifada!” — the word used by Palestinians to describe mass violent uprisings against Israel.

Also in the frame is the country’s main far left party, La France Insoumise (LFI — ‘France Rising’). A statement from the party, which occupies 74 of the 577 seats in the National Assembly, pointedly refused to label Hamas as a terrorist organization while accusing Israel of committing “war crimes.”

Prior to Dupond-Moretti’s comments, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin told reporters that “more than 100” antisemitic offenses had been registered since the Hamas infiltration of Israel on Oct. 7.

“These are essentially tags, swastikas, ‘death to the Jews,’ calls for an intifada against Israel,” Darmanin noted. Separately, he said, more than 2,000 complaints about antisemitic activity online had been registered with Pharos, the Interior Ministry’s official portal for reporting illegal or offensive content on the internet.




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