Monday, October 30, 2023

10/30 Links Pt1: Israeli forces in Gaza free captive IDF soldier; VDH: Our Immoral Monsters; Russians storm airport to attack Israeli passengers

From Ian:

Victor Davis Hanson: Our Immoral Monsters (via Twitter)
Students at UCLA, some of them perhaps on foreign-student visas and others on some sort of taxpayer-funded support, are now marching with a new controversial and disputed chant: “Israel, Israel you cannot hide, we charge you with genocide”.

But how strange that the same crowd that charges Israel with “genocide”, for replying to the mass murdering of its citizens on October 7, has a signature English-rhyming chant “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”. That jingle is tailor-made for Western-residents eager to parrot the Hamas charter.

Despite the usual denials, that mantra is a euphemism for destroying the state of Israel and those within it. They are then to be replaced by a nation of Palestinian Arabs from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean—in other words, requiring a genocide, or what happened on October 7 expanded to encompass all of Israel.

When professors faced little in the way of consequences for calling for Jews to be separated from their classmates, or advocating that the children of “Zionist propagandists” should be singled out, or claiming Israelis were “pigs” and “excrement,” what do we expect would follow?

Something like what just happened at the Cooper Union campus in New York?

There, some 50 Jews were locked in the library to protect them from raving pro-Hamas protestors pounding on the windows, zombie-like in their hatred, as if they were hired extras for The Walking Dead.

Why was Biden press-secretary Karine Jean-Pierre matter-of-factly denying the anti-Semitism was a problem (50% of hate crimes victims are Jews [2% of the population]), and why appoint Robert Malley to anything—unless the hatred of Israel is deeply engrained among the Left?

It is, after all, the effective goal of the new DEI/Middle East/Jacobin nexus to demand the mass killing of Jews and the extinction of Israel.

That agenda is randomly evident in the BLM glider posters, or the “river to the sea’ chants, or the August 1988 charter of the now idolized Hamas— ″Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam invalidates it, just as it invalidated others before it″ / “There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad. Initiatives, proposals, and international conferences are all a waste of time and vain endeavors.”

Is the current war in Gaza City, thus, the “Jihad” that Hamas had always promised—or did they mean just the one-sided surprise murdering of unarmed women, children, infants, and the elderly?

We are reversing the Nazi sequence of the 1930s. Then cadres of thugs physically attacked Jews in gruesome efforts to shock all Germans into supporting their anti-Semitic agendas.

In today’s America, leftist intellectuals and their useful idiots on campuses are at the forefront as shock troops.

They are seeking to acculturate the nation to widespread, commonplace hatred of Jews in hopes of birthing brownshirt street violence of the sort we are already beginning to see at Cooper Union and elsewhere.

We have not yet reached depths of tabloid Jew-hatred of the Der Stürmer sort. But the New York Times and The Washington Post, along with other major news outlets, as tensions rose, ran with the incendiary Big Lie that the IDF had intentionally bombed a hospital “killing 500 Palestinians”.

That lie was compounded when our addled President weirdly seemed to lament that Islamic Jihad could not shoot straight: “It’s that old thing: Gotta learn how to shoot straight.”

The logical subtext to Biden’s remonstrations is that if Islamic Jihad had just hit their target—civilian Jews in Tel-Aviv—then the ensuring global fury and protests, and his cancelled meetings with Arab leaders (all recipients of massive US aid) would not have occurred.

I suppose as well Biden would not have sent $100 million in fungible money to the Hamas-run Gaza Strip—had the terrorists just learned “how to shoot straight” and not hit their own hospital parking lot.

The war in the Middle East will not end soon.

It is not easy to root out the Hamas death squads from their subterranean tunnels and cities and their human-shielded mosques, hospitals, and schools. It will be tricky to deter Iran and Hezbollah from entering the fray.

Meanwhile each day expect the campuses and streets to get a little bolder, a little closer to reifying their “river to the sea” chanting—as all the more Hamas erodes.

After all, there are no consequences to death chants. Even when the protestors incite violence, they correctly understand no college president will call them out.

Even when Rep. Tlaib incites mobs at the Capitol by shouting the lie that IDF leveled a Gazan hospital, she knows she is a protected “victim”—and her lies mere competing narratives.

When will they stop?

Not until the Democratic hierarchy disowns the growing Hamas wing of its own party.

Not until universities become more afraid of the donor class than they are of the DEI/pro-Hamas bunch and their protected hatred.

And not until a sane administration stops inviting to America those who despise their generous host.

None of that will happen soon—if ever.

So for now we Americans are like Diogenes the Cynic, stumbling around in broad daylight with a torch looking for just one honest college president, one truthful US president—all in vain.
The Spirit of ’48
Even in the midst of our searing anguish, we must recognize that this marks a complete departure from our history in the diaspora. No Jewish community anywhere in the world could have displayed such extraordinary heroism, on such a grand scale and with such remarkable capabilities. We paid a terrible price for the professional and conceptual failures of the security and state systems, from the strategic level to the decisions in the field. There is no denying the magnitude of this failure. Nevertheless, the historical analogy is crystal clear. In every Jewish community, over a history spanning hundreds of years, what occurred would have been the first day of a pogrom, leaving the Jews only with a pervasive sense of helplessness, pain and despair. In Israel, just the opposite transpired. The pogrom ended with unwavering counterattacks, followed by a major counteroffensive. And instead of feeling helpless, what we now feel is an entirely different emotion: rage.

This rage is the diametric opposite of the fear, helplessness and despair that characterized the Jews in the diaspora. It is the antithesis of these emotions. This rage is concrete evidence of the profound transformation that has occurred within us. Our anger is directed at our leadership because we understand that the responsibility lies with us, that we are in control of the situation, and that our destiny lies firmly within our grasp. This is the essence of the Zionist revolution.

A warrior nation
So yes, the state faltered. But Zionism has triumphed. On that darkest of dark days, it became evident that the people of Israel is not a fragile “spider’s web,” and is characterized by neither coddling nor weakness. At the moment of truth, the warrior spirit within us stirred in a matter of minutes. Ultimately, in times of war, it is not the air force, cyber capabilities, technological fences, reinforced slurry walls or active protection systems that secure victory. It is the valiant fighters. And on the day of the pogrom, one thing became undeniably clear: Israel is a nation of warriors. We are all warriors and we will not retreat in the face of adversity.

In these circumstances, no enemy can defeat us. Undoubtedly, we have numerous challenges to confront. We have suffered a devastatingly painful blow that will resonate in Jewish history for all eternity. But even at that moment, when the leadership and the state utterly failed, we were not at the mercy of others. We are not consumed with fear; on the contrary, we are filled with extreme heroism. And that is why this people will prevail over its adversaries. Even if our leadership seems akin to the Generation of the Wilderness, this people is forged in the spirit of Caleb and Joshua.

We are reliving the spirit of ’48 in another sense because much remains to be said about the tectonic changes awaiting us at the strategic and operational levels, the new landscape of threats created by our failures, the national and security challenges we face, and the lessons we can already draw from the national mistakes we have made. We stand at a Ben-Gurion-like juncture, marked by the need for dramatic decisions and the reconstruction of our collective consciousness, as well as of our national institutions and strength.

But now we know—it is achievable. Because the spirit of ’48 remains vibrant within us. Because Zionism has emerged—and will continue to emerge—victorious. This truth may have been obscured by affluence and success, by the political conflicts that made us feel that we were in the midst of an irreconcilable social rift. The proliferation of national institutions, flush with budgets and authority, dulled our sense of engagement and personal responsibility. The people of Israel dozed off, but when the day of reckoning arrived, arising from the distress and crisis, it awoke from its slumber, cast off the dust of complacency and behold: It is a lion.


Israeli forces in Gaza free captive IDF soldier
Israeli ground forces on Monday night freed a female Israeli soldier held hostage by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the Israel Defense Forces said.

Pvt. Ori Megidish was freed after she was kidnapped by the Hamas terrorist organization on Oct. 7, the IDF said.

Following a medical exam, she was reunited with her family, the military added.

Megidish was among 243 people taken hostage by Hamas during its assault on Oct. 7, which left at least 1,400 people dead and more than 5,000 wounded. The terrorists have released four women.

She had been serving in the IDF’s Nahal Oz Base near the Gaza border as a spotter after enlisting six months ago, Channel 12 reported.

IDF special operations soldiers and Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) agents freed her, Channel 13 reported. Though other members of her unit were also taken hostage, Megidish is believed to have been held alone.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commended the IDF and Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) on their “important and exciting achievement,” which he said “expresses our commitment to the release of all the hostages.”

“The entire nation of Israel salutes the Shin Bet and salutes the IDF,” commented the premier.

She is home.


Israel working to expose Hamas HQ under Gaza’s Shifa Hospital
Israel is preparing the world for the moment it needs to enter Hamas’s main headquarters, located inside and underneath Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, and is focusing media efforts on exposing the terror group’s activities there.

According to Israel Defense Forces Spokesman Daniel Hagari, Israel has “concrete evidence” that “hundreds” of terrorists flooded into the hospital to hide from Israeli retaliation following Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre.

Israel released video footage on Friday in which a captured Hamas terrorist—a member of the “Nukhba” force, Hamas’s “special forces” unit—who took part in the Oct. 7 assault admits Hamas uses the hospital as its main operations center.

In his testimony, he explains that Hamas’s headquarters are located there “to exploit them for their use… So you won’t strike them. And then they can pass… explosives, weapons, food, medical equipment for them.”

Hamas terrorists operate inside hospitals precisely because they know the IDF distinguishes between terrorists and civilians.

Jonathan Schanzer, senior vice president for research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told JNS he believes it is “incumbent upon Israel and the international community to reveal what is known about the common center beneath Al Shifa Hospital.”

“According to the Geneva Convention, if the enemy is hiding inside a civilian population or inside a facility, that facility is a legitimate target,” he said.
5 Big Lies About Israel’s War with Hamas Lie #5: Israel is committing war crimes in Gaza.
A majority of Americans between the ages of 18-24 believe that Israel’s military actions in Gaza are just as wrong as Hamas’ bombing of Israeli cities, plus its October 7 attacks. Israel has been accused of committing war crimes. Yet, despite the deaths of civilians in Israeli airstrikes of Gaza, Israel is waging war within the confines of international law.

Military actions undertaken for self-defense are widely acknowledged to be legal. Article 51 of the UN Charter allows for “self-defense” in the case of “armed attack.” Israel has been clear that its goal is to liberate the people of Gaza from Hamas, and to destroy this terrorist organization. Hamas, not civilians, are Israel’s target. The Council of Foreign Relations notes that this goal is legal: “International law does not explicitly prohibit the use of force to eliminate an organization such as Hamas, which Israel, the United States, and many other countries consider a terrorist group.”

The International Committee of the Red Cross contains a list of actions that constitute war crimes on its website. It reads like a list of Hamas’ recent actions, not Israel: “Deliberately targeting civilians who are not directly taking part in hostilities; Pillage; Hostage-taking; Making religious or cultural objects the object of attack, provided that they are not military objectives; Torture and other forms of inhumane treatment; Child recruitment; Rape and other forms of sexual violence.” Hamas, not Israel, is guilty of each and every one of these actions.

Hamas ensures civilian casualties by locating their military bases and rocket launchers inside schools, mosques and hospitals. The Israeli military has announced they’ve located Hamas’ main headquarters is located under Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. Hamas ensures that every single man, woman and child in Gaza becomes a human shield.

Hamas also ensures maximum human suffering of its own population by its refusal to build any bomb shelters or air raid warning system in Gaza. The way most Gazans know an area will be bombed is from advanced warnings from the Israeli military for civilians to get out of the way. Even when Israel does warn of an impending attack, Hamas actively discourages civilians from leaving targeted areas. It’s a horrifying truth that every single civilian casualty in Gaza benefits Hamas by swinging public opinion against Israel. Hamas uses this truth to maximize civilian suffering and bolster its position.
What are Israel's humanitarian obligations toward the civilians in Gaza?
The purpose of this short paper is to clarify these issues by addressing the following points:
Claims that the Gaza Strip is territory occupied by Israel
Prohibition of starvation
Obligation to allow the passage of humanitarian aid
The rules that apply to laying a siege
The rules that apply to notifying civilians to leave combat zones
The Law of Occupation Do Not Apply
Gaza is no longer an occupied territory under Israeli control.

Under international law, occupation is determined by the effective control of the occupying power over a territory. Following Israel's disengagement from Gaza in 2005, Israel no longer has effective control over the territory. Therefore, it cannot be considered as the occupying power in Gaza. Hamas has effective control over the territory. The magnitude and sophistication of its surprising attack against Israel from Gaza is clear proof of the lack of Israel's control over this area.

Thus, Israel has no legal obligation to ensure or actively provide for the needs of the civilian population in the Gaza Strip derived from the law of occupation. This includes water and electricity.

Israel is bound by some basic humanitarian obligations toward the civilian population in Gaza under rules of the laws of armed conflict that pertain to obligations toward the enemy’s civilian population. However, these obligations are of a limited scope, as detailed below.

The Prohibition on Starvation of Civilians
The laws of armed conflict prohibit the starvation of enemy civilians as a means of warfare. Starvation includes the denial of food and water. However, it does not include denying electricity or fuel.

The prohibition on starvation does not apply to enemy fighters; they can be denied food and water supply. To the extent that preventing food and water supply from enemy fighters will harm the civilian population, the harm must be proportionate, ensuring that no excessive damage is caused to the civilians compared to the military advantage of the operation. This is also the US position, as specified in the Laws of War Manual of the US Department of Defense.

Israel may take actions designed to prevent supplies from reaching Hamas and other terrorist organizations. In doing so, it must ensure that the civilian population in Gaza does not face starvation (including water shortage).

The Obligation to Allow the Passage of Humanitarian Aid
Israel has no obligation to actively provide humanitarian aid to the civilian population in Gaza. Israel is only required to allow the passage of humanitarian aid, including food, water, medicine, and medical equipment. There is no set list of items that must be transferred, and there are different approaches to the subject.

It is possible to demand inspection and supervision to ensure that aid is directed toward the civilian population and does not reach Hamas forces and other terrorist organizations.

In practice, humanitarian aid shipments have entered Gaza through the Rafah crossing in recent days. Hamas, as a regular course of action, seizes aid intended for the civilian population for its military needs. A recent example is UNWRA's (later deleted) tweet that Hamas took fuel and medical equipment from the agency's compound that were meant to reach hospitals and civilian facilities.

Siege: Lawful Warfare
A siege is a legitimate method of warfare used to cut enemy forces off from reinforcements and vital supplies. When imposing a siege, any expected collateral harm that may be caused to civilians must be proportionate and not excessive to the military advantage it is intended to achieve.

Severing Hamas from reinforcements and supplies may provide a significant military advantage to Israel, especially in light of the grave danger Hamas poses to Israel's security. Nonetheless, a siege cannot justify the starvation of a civilian population. Thus, it is necessary to allow civilians to evacuate from the siege area or to allow humanitarian aid to prevent this outcome.

Despite the statement by Defense Minister Yoav Gallant immediately after the murderous attack by Hamas and in the midst of battles against Hamas terrorists on Israeli territory that no supplies will enter the Gaza Strip, it is not at all clear that Israel's policy toward the Gaza Strip amounts to a siege, as opposed to a wide-ranging closure of the area.

In any case – whether a siege or a wide-ranging closure – the restrictions imposed by Israel are intended to prevent the introduction of weapons and supplies to Hamas and other terrorist organizations, and therefore, they are legal. They are not aimed to punish the civilian population and thus they do not constitute unlawful collective punishment. Practically and unfortunately, there is no way to prevent supplies from Hamas without inflicting hardship on the civilian population. This incidental harm is permissible as long as it is proportionate. When assessing proportionality, one must consider the significant threat that Hamas poses to Israel's security and its citizens.

Forced Displacement vs. Lawful Evacuation
The military infrastructure and activity of Hamas and the other terrorist organizations in Gaza are conducted from within civilian structures. This makes these lawful military targets that can legally be attacked by Israel. To minimize harm to Palestinian civilians from these attacks, Israel called on the residents of Gaza to evacuate to southern Gaza, while allowing humanitarian corridors for this purpose. These actions were taken by Israel as a lawful temporary evacuation of civilians from a combat zone rather than a prohibited forced displacement for collective punishment or permanent displacement. Israel took these actions in meeting its obligation to take feasible precautions and provide, when possible, advance warnings to civilians prior to attacks.

Hamas is the governing power that controls the Gaza Strip, and only it can (and should) take care of evacuating the civilian population and distancing it from the combat zone. However, Hamas has acted to prevent civilians from evacuating to southern Gaza by blocking the roads and bombing the fleeing civilian convoys. This is meant to use the civilians as human shields against IDF attacks. In doing so, Hamas has committed another war crime, this time against its own people.

Lack of Reciprocity
Hamas has committed atrocities, which included torturing and butchering babies, children, and defenseless civilians inside Israel, and continues to commit an ongoing crime by holding more than 220 Israeli hostages, including children, the elderly, women, and men. In addition, Hamas also violates its humanitarian obligations toward the Israeli hostages. To date, there has been no release of information about their condition, no means of communication with them, and no reported meetings with Red Cross officials. Nonetheless, Israel is still required to fulfill its obligations toward the civilian population of Gaza, since the laws of war do not include the principle of reciprocity and thus are binding even when one of the parties blatantly violates them.
Bite and Hold at Beit Hanoun?
Taken together, the pattern of bombardment and the geometry of Northern Gaza suggest the possibility that the Israeli ground forces plan to conduct (and, indeed, may already have begun) a sequence of attacks with limited objectives aimed at the conquest of the northern third of the Gaza Strip. Moreover, should it take place, this series of bite-and-hold enterprises will, in all likelihood, begin with an attempt to take possession of Beit Hanoun.

In addition to explaining the distribution of bombs and missiles, this thesis allows us to make sense of the repeated calls made by official spokesmen of the Israeli Defense Forces for the evacuation of all civilians from Northern Gaza. It also provides an explanation for a number of statements made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu since 7 October 2023, particularly that the conflict would be “a long and difficult war,” that it resembled the Israel’s War of Independence of 1948, and that it would only end with the destruction of Hamas.

In previous wars between Israel and Hamas, Israeli ground forces performed three tasks. First, they isolated the Gaza Strip. Second, they participated, with rockets, missiles, and gun-howitzers, in long-range bombardments. Third, they conducted coups de main in the style of the shallow and shocking trench raids of the First World War.

Such actions, however, served purposes other than the annihilation of Hamas. Indeed, while they used raids, blockades, and bombardments to punish offenses and discourage their repetition, Israeli leaders took care to avoid doing anything that might deprive Hamas of its rule over the people of Gaza. (They often explained such forbearance by expressing fear that any regime that replaced Hamas would, in all likelihood, prove more radical.)

Likewise, in contrast to the War of Independence, previous wars with Hamas involved neither the wholesale expulsion of people from their homes nor the seizure of land. The destruction of Hamas, moreover, will require both, if only to convince the people of Gaza that support for organizations of its type will result, not merely in loss of life, but also in the loss of the things they had spent lifetimes to build.

Finally, the prediction of “a long and difficult war” suggests the possibility of a plan to follow each bite-and-hold attack with a substantial period of relative inaction. Such pauses would allow Israeli ground forces to build up stocks of ammunition, refine techniques, invent new devices, and train units. It would also allow Israel as a whole to spread the costs of the campaign, whether human, economic, or diplomatic, over a long period of time.


IDF stopped monitoring Hamas handheld radios, among other intel failures

Hamas releases clip purporting to show Israeli hostages
Hamas released footage on Monday showing three female Israeli hostages held by the terrorist organization in the Gaza Strip.

The women in the video are confirmed to be Danielle Aloni, Rimon Kirsht and Lena Trupanob, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“Hello, Bibi Netanyahu. We have been in Hamas captivity [for] 23 days. Yesterday there was a press conference with the families of the hostages. We know that there was supposed to be a ceasefire. You were supposed to release all of us. You made a commitment to release all of us,” one of the hostages says in Hebrew.

“Instead of this, we are getting punished for the political, national neglect of yours—because of that screw-up of yours on Oct. 7. Because there was no military there. Nobody came. Nobody heard about us,” she continues.

“We are innocent citizens. Citizens who pay taxes to the State of Israel. [We are] in captivity. … You want to kill us all. You want to kill us all using the IDF. … It isn’t enough that Israeli citizens were killed.”

“Let us go. Let us go now. Let their citizens go, let their prisoners go. Free us. Free all of us. Let us return to our families now!” the video concludes.

JNS has decided not to publish the video on its website.

The Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem called the video “cruel psychological propaganda by Hamas-ISIS.”

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Netanyahu appealed to “Lena Trupanob, Danielle Aloni and Rimon Kirsht, who were abducted by Hamas that commits war crimes.”

“I embrace you. Our hearts are with you and the other hostages. We are doing everything to bring all the hostages and missing people home,” said the prime minister.


Israeli-German Shani Louk's remains found, family confirms
The body of Israeli-German citizen Shani Louk, who was believed to have been kidnapped alive amid Hamas's assault on the music festival in Reim, was found on Monday.

Louk's sister, Adi, confirmed Shani's death on Instagram.

Louk was seen in footage shared on the day of the attack laying motionless in the back of a truck after being kidnapped and brought into Gaza. It was unclear if she was alive in the video, although Louk's mother stated a few days later that she was alive and being held in a hospital in Gaza. Louk's mother, Ricarda, told the German RTL/ntv that she was informed on Sunday that her daughter was no longer alive.

A cousin of Louk's said that the family received an official notice from the IDF and ZAKA that a bone from the base of Louk's skull had been found matched with Louk's DNA. Doctors determined that a person cannot live without the bone found and concluded that Louk could not possibly still be alive.

In an interview with German news organization, Bild, President Isaac Herzog reiterated the confirmation of Louk's death.

"I am truly sorry to report that we have now received news that Shani Nicole Louk has been confirmed murdered and dead," the German media outlet quoted the president as saying in a post on X, formerly Twitter. "Her skull was found. This means that these barbaric, sadistic animals simply chopped off her head as they attacked, tortured, and killed Israelis. It is a great tragedy and I extend my deepest condolences to her family.”


'My son should be with me at dinner,' says mother of Israeli hostage in Gaza
At a recent demonstration calling for the release of the over 230 hostages held captive by the terrorist group Hamas in the Gaza Strip, I spoke with a mother and sister who await news of one of the captives, Shlomo Ziv. Shlomo was working security at the now infamous party that took place in Re'im, Israel on October 7. Hamas terrorists stormed the grounds of the party via paraglider and trucks, murdering over 250 partygoers and taking others hostage. Shlomo's mother and sister held hands throughout this emotional interview, saying that they are waiting for miracles to happen and for their beloved son and brother to be returned to them.


'What I witnessed will be with me forever': Military doctor who volunteered in Israel speaks out
I've been in Israel for almost three weeks now reporting on the war between the Jewish state and Hamas. In this interview, I spoke with Zev Neuwirth, a Florida-based military physician who dropped everything to fly to Israel and volunteer his services following the Hamas surprise attack on October 7. While in the middle of celebrating the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah, Zev pulled his medical equipment and prepared to travel to Israel. Since then he has been working primarily alongside advanced tactical units of the Israel Defense Forces in order to treat military personnel injured in the war.




Caroline Glick gives an update on ground invasion to FOX News
Journalist and author Caroline Glick explains what is happening on the ground in Gaza.


‘Blatant misrepresentations’ propagated throughout coverage of Israel-Hamas crisis
UK Lawyers for Israel Charitable Trust Legal Director Natasha Hausdorff says “blatant misrepresentations” of international law have been spread throughout the coverage of the Israeli-Hamas conflict.

Ms Hausdorff says “very quickly” after the October 7th attacks the “narrative that Israel was breaking international law or committing war crimes or punishing ordinary Palestinians took hold”.

“Along with blatant misrepresentations of international law,” she said.

“Unfortunately, it has been propagated throughout the coverage of the crisis that we’re witnessing.

“It means it’s so much more important that international lawyers and military experts – stand up and explain the realities of the situation and the law that applies.”


A ‘real problem’ with situation in Gaza amid Israeli offensive
ANU North America Liaison Office Director Professor John Blaxland says there is a “real problem” with the situation in Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel has begun its “second stage” in its ground offensive in Gaza, with tanks and armoured personnel vehicles, along with helicopters, drones and fighter jets, having been seen advancing into the area.

“There is a real problem with the situation in Gaza, in that this is much more complicated, much deeper, much more well-prepared positions that the Hamas troops have developed … for the Israeli Defense Force to operate in this space,” Professor Blaxland told Sky News Australia.

“This is really a tragedy unfolding, no question.”

According to Hamas, at least 8,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since October 7, however this figure has been disputed.


Maze of underground tunnels used to fuel Hamas ‘war machine’ dedicated to ‘slaughter’
Former Israeli ambassador to Australia Mark Sofer says the spiderweb of underground tunnels in Gaza have been used to fuel a “war machine” dedicated to “death, destruction, slaughter and massacre”.

Mr Sofer’s remarks come as more than 200 hostages – both Israeli and foreigners – are believed to be scattered across Gaza in underground bunkers and tunnels, with the task being deemed “almost impossible”.

The Israeli Defense Forces released pictures of their soldiers entering the rubble of urban areas in Gaza – a mission being severely hampered by Hamas’ maze of underground tunnels.

“The way they were brutally treated and brutally abducted is indeed a crime against humanity,” Mr Sofer told Sky News host Sharri Markson.

“Anybody who even thinks that this is something which can be tolerated really is living an uncivilised world.”




Paris Jewish schools evacuated due to bomb threat
Several Jewish schools across Paris were evacuated on Monday due to a terrorist threat, The Jerusalem Post reported, citing sources in the French Jewish community.

According to the report, an anonymous threat was received that “bombs would blow up in 20 different Jewish schools in the Paris area.”

Some educational institutions were evacuated, while others asked parents to take their children home as security forces searched for explosive devices, according to the report.

“Even though everyone is okay, this event caused panic among parents. We’re going through a rough period and the situation in Israel has its effect on us as well,” a Jewish communal leader told the newspaper.

A representative of the Jewish community in Paris confirmed to JNS that there was a bomb scare for 20 schools in the French capital.

A few of the schools were evacuated so that authorities could search the premises, said the source.

The schools are currently back to normal, he added.

Since Hamas’s Oct. 7 assault on southern Israel, French authorities recorded more than 800 antisemitic crimes, French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin told the country’s BFM TV network on Monday.

The month of October saw almost twice as many antisemitic incidents than was the case in all of 2022, Darmanin revealed. So far, 414 people have been arrested.


Russians storm airport in attempt to attack passengers of Israeli flight
60 people were detained after hundreds of anti-Israel protesters stormed an airport in Russia's predominantly Muslim Dagestan region on Sunday, the RIA news agency reported on Monday, citing local investigators.

RIA said the identity of 150 of what it called the most active protesters had been identified. It said nine police officers had received injuries in the incident, two of whom were being treated in hospital.

A swarm of local residents in Makhachkala in the Russian Republic of Dagestan stormed an airport in the city in an attempt to attack any Jews and Israelis set to arrive on a "Red Wings" flight from Tel Aviv on Sunday, according to local media reports.

No Israeli casualties were reported from the incident according to the Israel Foreign Ministry, although about 20 people have been injured and are currently receiving medical treatment according to Dagestani health officials.

According to N12, the pilots were warned of the mob and rerouted the plane to land at a nearby airport. The rioters reached that one as well. The flight staff ordered the locking of all aircraft exits, while security forces closed the area off. Russian aviation authority Rosaviatsia said all aircraft were diverted to other airports. A security source said that a small number of Israelis and Jews were secured in the airport, and were set to be evacuated to Moscow "at the earliest convenience."

As of 10:20pm Moscow time (19:20 GMT), Russia's aviation authority Rosaviatsia said on Sunday that all "unauthorized citizens" had been removed from Makhachkala airport, Reuters reported.

The Prime Minister’s Office, the Foreign Ministry, and the National Security Council are monitoring the situation, amd said that "Israel expects the Russian law enforcement authorities to protect the safety of all Israeli citizens and Jews wherever they may be and to act resolutely against the rioters and against the wild incitement directed against Jews and Israelis."

Footage reportedly from the scene shared on local Telegram channels showed a hoard of people, Muslim pro-Palestinians, chanting "Allahu Akbar" and stopping cars to check the documents of passengers, ensuring they were not Israeli or Jewish, carrying Palestinian flags. In one of the videos that circulated social media, a rioter can be heard saying: "We are here for the Jews, we came to kill them with knives and shoot at them."

The Republic of Dagestan, which sits along the coast of the Caspian Sea, is an autonomous republic within the Russian Federation. There are an estimated 400 Jewish families in the region, with a 2012 survey indicating that 83% of the population is Muslim.


Terror on Flight WZ4728: How hate mob demanded passengers' passports as they hunted Jews when plane from Tel Aviv landed at airport in Russia's heavily Muslim Dagestan region - sparking horrifying stand-off that saw shots fired and dozens hurt

The Commentary Magazine Podcast: Hey, Jewish Organizations: Stop Telling Jews to Hide
Hosted by Abe Greenwald, Christine Rosen, John Podhoretz & Matthew Continetti
Today’s podcast takes up the fact that the kosher dining hall at Cornell University was closed yesterday out of an “abundance of caution” because of some online threats. We discuss the danger represented by this attitude and how people need to move out of the pre-October 6 idea of how to handle things into the post October 7 fact of how Jews are to protect themselves, be protected, and fight back against those who would do us ill.
Call Me Back PodCast: A post October 7th security doctrine for Israel – with Haviv Rettig Gur
Hosted by Dan Senor
Haviv Rettig Gur returns for our weekly conversation from Israel to provide real-time reporting and analysis on the war, and invaluable historical context. We wanted to check in with Haviv, who is the political analyst at The Times of Israel, where was also a long time reporter. He’s also working on a book. Haviv was also a combat medic in the IDF where he served in the reserves.


Hillary Clinton: 'People who call for ceasefire do not understand Hamas'

Daniel Greenfield: Norway PM Complains Israel Isn’t Beheading and Raping ‘Palestinians’



Archbishop of Canterbury: Accusing Israel of Hospital Attack is ‘Blood Libel’

Hamas ‘not interested’ in a two-state solution: Yair Lapid
Israel Opposition Leader Yair Lapid says Hamas has "no interest" in building a two-state solution with Israel.

“As long as Hamas is in Gaza then the Israelis and the Palestinians are going to be its victims,” Mr Lapid told Sky News Australia.

Mr Lapid said the entire country of Israel has a common cause in eliminating Hamas from Gaza.

“We’re discussing it as differences of opinions on how to deal with common cause,” Mr Lapid said.

“The entire country now has a common cause; we have to eliminate Hamas from our borders because a terrible and horrible terrorist organisation has killed our children.”


Kushner: Jews ‘safer in Saudi Arabia’ than on US college campuses

Ex-Australian Prime Ministers sign letter slamming Hamas - but there is one very conspicuous absence
A monumental letter penned by six former prime ministers has condemned the 'hatred' being spread by Hamas, with Paul Keating's signature noticeably absent.

All living former prime ministers bar Keating came together to pledge their support for Israel at the request of the Zionist Federation of Australia on Monday.

In the two page letter, John Howard, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Tony Abbott, Malcolm Turnbull and Scott Morrison call for an end to the vilification of people on all sides of the conflict.

'If our hearts are filled with hatred, then we will be doing the terrorists' work,' the letter reads.
'Hamas' one true goal is to spread hatred and relish in the killing of innocent civilians.
'Their mission is to promote hatred - hatred of Israelis, hatred of Jews, hatred of Palestinians, hatred of Muslims.
'Whatever is happening elsewhere in the world, there is no place for racial or religious hatred.
'No complaint or concern about international affairs justifies hate speech against any Australian, or any Australian community.'
'Hamas' one true goal is to spread hatred and relish in the killing of innocent civilians.
'Their mission is to promote hatred - hatred of Israelis, hatred of Jews, hatred of Palestinians, hatred of Muslims.
'Whatever is happening elsewhere in the world, there is no place for racial or religious hatred.
'No complaint or concern about international affairs justifies hate speech against any Australian, or any Australian community.'

The former leaders wrote that the vast majority of Australians stand in solidarity with the Jewish community, who have suffered 'the single largest massacre ... since the holocaust'.

They also shared their sympathies for the Australian Palestinian community who have lost their families and friends in the war.

'They too deserve our love and support,' they wrote.

The letter reiterated Australia's long-standing support of a two-state solution to end the conflict.


Former prime ministers ‘unequivocally condemned’ Hamas’ October 7 Israeli ‘massacre’
AIJAC Executive Director Colin Rubenstein has welcomed a signed statement by former prime ministers condemning Hamas.

All living former prime ministers – with the exception of Paul Keating – have signed a statement condemning Hamas, criticising the October 7 attack on Israel and calling for the unconditional release of hostages.

“It’s a fine example of former prime ministers understanding the reality of the situation,” Mr Rubenstein told Sky News Australia.

“This a contest between civilisation or values on the one hand and barbarism on the other.

“They’ve unequivocally condemned Hamas’ barbaric attack and massacre against innocent Israelis on October 7.”


Israel hatred a ‘reflex’ among leftists opposed to Judeo-Christian values
Hatred of Israel seems to be a “reflex” among hard leftists because western civilisation has its foundations there, according to Australian Jewish Association President David Adler.

Pro-Palestine rallies have been held around the world after the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas launched attacks on Israel on October 7.

“Something quite deep is happening here and we see it on the hard left of the politics,” Mr Adler told Sky News host Cory Bernardi.

“If you’ve been sold on the notion that western civilisation, western democracy is wrong; if you lean towards socialism or communism then perhaps even unconsciously you are opposing Judeo-Christian values.

“Of course, where did the Judeo-Christian values begin? It began in the land of Israel – both the Judeo and the Christian side.”


Israel a ‘beacon of civilised society’: Graham Richardson
Former Labor government minister Graham Richardson says Israel is characterised as a “beacon of civilised society” in the Middle East, despite allegations about their conduct in Gaza and the West Bank.

“I think Israel is represented in the Middle East to us, for many years, a sort of beacon of civilised society,” Mr Richardson told Sky News Australia.

“If you’re the beacon of civilised society, it doesn’t help to be accused of doing the wrong thing yourself, and certainly Israel has been accused of going way over the top in recent days.”

The International Criminal Court announced today they are investigating alleged war crimes in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank.

“The trouble is, if you’re there and it’s life or death, as it is for many Israelis, then you’re going to see them react strongly,” Mr Richardson said.




'The Criminals Here Are Not Hamas': Meet the Anti-Semitic Artists Accusing Israel of 'War Crimes'

Police clash with pro-Palestine protesters in Paris as demonstrations turn ugly
Police and protesters clashed on the streets of Paris on Saturday during an illegal pro-Palestinian demonstration that attracted thousands of people.

Footage recorded by French videographer Luc Auffret shows police in riot gear marching through the streets, striking protesters and eventually apprehending demonstrators.

At least 21 people were arrested and 1,359 fines were issued, according to local reports citing French officials.

Meanwhile in Melbourne, Australia 12,000 pro-Palestine protesters gathered at the State Library in for a third consecutive week.

Some protesters were captured holding up deeply offensive signs that compared Israel's Prime Minister to Adolf Hitler.

“Well done Israel, Hitler would be proud,” one sign read.

The messages on display have sparked anger within the Jewish Community.

“The comparison between that peaceful event and these hateful and anti-Semitic signs could not be more stark,” said Daniel Aghion, President of the Jewish Community Council of Victoria.




Young Turks streamer backs Hamas' murder of BABIES and says terror group have 'legal ground' to slaughter infants if they're 'settlers'



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