Monday, November 27, 2023

11/27 Links Pt1: 11 Israelis freed from Gaza; WH: Israel and Hamas agree to two-day extension of truce; Israel’s choice: Body or soul; The Road to a Second Kristallnacht

From Ian:

Michael Oren: Israel’s choice: Body or soul
If Hamas had only butchered, burnt, and raped 1,200 Israelis and not taken any of them hostage, then Israel could have invaded Gaza and crushed the terrorists without hesitation, flooding their tunnels with seawater. Conversely, if Hamas had killed no Israelis but only taken hostages, Israel could have exchanged them for all the terrorists in Israeli jails. But Hamas, savagely, did both, wholesale murder and mass abduction.

“Forget the military victory,” my daughter exclaimed. “Israel’s only goal must be to free the hostages. If the state won’t do everything to rescue my children should they someday fall prisoner, how can I send them to the army?” To which my son replied, “Without an Israel, you won’t have an army to send them to.” Between my daughter’s position and my son’s, which was I to choose?

This is our fundamental, nightmarish, dilemma. Either we give priority to restoring our deterrence power and returning the more than 200,000 displaced Israelis to their homes, or we focus primarily on securing the hostages’ freedom. Either we convince Iran and its proxies never to attack us again and persuade additional Arab countries to make peace with an indomitable Jewish state, or we fulfill Israel’s oath to never abandon our fellow Israelis. Either we accept an Israel that may well be rendered defenseless or an Israel that our citizens may no longer be willing to defend.

Body or soul, we had to decide, and yet Israel refused to choose either. Instead, we declared a twofold target of destroying Hamas and rescuing the hostages, as though they were not mutually exclusive. And yet, by sheer perseverance and the determination of our troops, we succeeded in pursuing both goals simultaneously. Downgraded and surrounded by the IDF, Hamas opted for a deal. In exchange for a 5-day ceasefire, it agreed to free 50 Israeli hostages.

With that agreement now in effect, Israel has offered to extend it. For every ten hostages released, the IDF will hold its fire for one additional day. If accepted, this deal means that Israel will once again give precedence to saving Israelis over saving the state itself. The choice will once again be delayed.

But for how long? Ultimately, Hamas will not release all the hostages, knowing full well what the IDF will do to it once the last of them is freed. In the end, Israel will almost certainly have to decide whether to destroy the terrorists completely or save the remaining hostages – to choose, once again, between our national body and soul.

Yet a third option exists. There is still time to reframe the goal of the war from annihilating Hamas to securing Hamas’s unconditional surrender. There is still time to offer Hamas free passage from Gaza – recall the PLO’s evacuation from Beirut in 1982 – in return for the hostages’ release. The terrorists can sail off to Algeria, Libya, or Iran. Our captives will be united with their families.

In the novel, Sophie has to make the most unthinkable of all choices, but Israel can be spared that fate. By maintaining the military pressure on Hamas and keeping the door open to further negotiations, we can defend our state and redeem its defenders. Our dual purpose, our body and soul, can be preserved.
Douglas Murray: The Easy Politics of Criticizing Israel
My first war in Israel was the 2006 Lebanon war. Since then, I have had an allergic reaction to a number of attitudes that crop up every time Israel is involved in a conflict.

The first is the tendency of international observers, both friendly and unfriendly to Israel, to offer the country advice on how it should — or should not — conduct its military responses.

Opponents of Israel demand a cease-fire the moment any atrocity occurs against Israel. But that has been the response of Israel’s enemies ever since the creation of the state. Every time Israel’s opponents attempt to wipe it out, they swiftly demand a return to the status quo that existed precisely before the attack. It is the same this time around. None of Israel’s opponents were demanding a cease-fire on the morning of October 7. But, just as the Arab armies did in 1967 and 1973, when they lose — or sense that they’ll lose — they immediately balk at their territorial and human losses and cry “injustice” over them.

Friends of Israel are equally prone to offering the country military advice. Some will fall away as any war progresses, boosting their “mainstream” or “centrist” credentials by calling for a cease-fire some way into the conflict — always before the stage at which Israel can declare victory. For Israel seems to be the only country in the world never allowed to win a conflict. It is allowed to fight a conflict to a draw, but rarely to a win. Which is one reason why the wars keep occurring.

I mention this tendency only because of its utter futility. There is no reason why the IDF or Israel’s political or military class should listen to the opinions of people with little to no skin in the game. Whenever Israel is involved in a conflict, international observers of all varieties waste their energies shouting into the whirlwind.

A far better use of time, it has always seemed to me, is to work out what can be done in your own country.

The October 7 attack has created an exceptional sense of national unity inside Israel. As my friend Melanie Phillips has commented, almost everybody in Israel knows at least one family that has already lost a loved one. Every Israeli knows somebody who has been called up, if he has not been called up himself. The nation will need this unity and purpose in the period to come. Nobody who knows Israel well will be surprised by the fact of this unity.

It is outside the country that things are actually rotten. It is on the streets of New York City and London that local Muslims and young hoodlums have torn down posters of abducted Israeli children. It is in Berlin that a synagogue has been petrol-bombed and houses of Jews had Jewish labels scrawled on their doors. It is on the streets of Milan that Muslim immigrants have chanted that they want the borders open “so we can kill the Jews.” It is on the streets of Europe’s cities and in the halls of American campuses that the most rabid Jew-hatred has spilled out. And it is these factors I should like to dwell on.
Bret Stephens: The Road to a Second Kristallnacht
We are now witnessing, on a daily and even hourly basis, and on a scale only a few of us thought possible just a few years ago, the same kind of moral and logical inversions; the same “heads-I-win, tails-you-lose” sleight-of-hand reasoning; the same denying to Jews the feelings and rights granted to everyone else; the same preparing of the public mind for another open season on the Jews.

You see it everywhere, right here, in front of our noses.
- Israel is told it has a “right” to self-defense — and that every conceivable means of self-defense amounts to a war crime.
- Israel is sternly warned not to “re-occupy” Gaza in the wake of the present war — even after it was previously accused of continuing to “occupy” Gaza long after it had stopped occupying any part of it in 2005.
- Israel is told not to “blockade” Gaza by depriving it of fuel, electricity, and other goods — even after it was accused for years of blockading Gaza when fuel, electricity, and other goods flowed.
- Israel is expected to stop building or to dismantle settlements in the West Bank for the sake of a Palestinian state — and then told that the kibbutzim whose members were slaughtered last month were also “settlements.”
- Israel is asked to give Palestinian civilians time to flee Gaza before its military campaign begins — and then denounced for creating a “nakba” by forcing Palestinians to flee their homes.
- Israel is told that it must scrupulously abide by the laws of war — even as the wanton murder, rape, and kidnapping of Israelis is treated as a legitimate form of “resistance.”

And then there are the absurdities that Americans are supposed to swallow.
- We are told that “From the River to the Sea” is a call for the creation of a Palestinian state, without any mention that it is principally a call for the destruction of the Jewish state.
- We are told that we must hold Israel to a high moral standard because it’s a democracy, and that we should also denounce it because it’s an apartheid state.
- We are told that we should support calls for “Free Palestine,” and that the vehicle for doing so is a Hamas regime that has stripped Palestinians of every civil and human right, not least by treating them as cannon fodder or human shields in its theocratic death struggle against democratic Israel.

And then, the greatest lie of all: that Israel — the victim of one of the greatest massacres in memory, the proportional equivalent of sixteen 9/11s by American standards, an atrocity that would have been 10 or 100 times worse if the perpetrators had been given the means and opportunity — is, in fact, the real aggressor, the real perpetrator.

The perpetrator, on account of all its alleged crimes before October 7, which meant it got what was coming. And the perpetrator, for having the gall to fight back.
The War Against the Jews
We need to start by calling the current antisemitic wave a war rather than a pogrom. Pogromists preyed upon the powerless; we are far from that. Jews everywhere must realize that they, too, are at war, that the battle is to defend their own homes, and all available resources must be deployed. Antisemitism has torn off its mask, and it is far more widespread, integrated, and bloodthirsty, than many of us imagined. The time has come to prepare a response.

Many people have realized this independently and are spontaneously rising up — the instinctive and creative energy of many donors, activists, and institutions is to be commended. They have moved past fear and into action. But war requires not only many soldiers but also strategic thinking and coordination. To that end, I’d like to suggest a few principles that might be a helpful place to start.

1. Protect Jews everywhere. Every community is now an outpost and every Jew a soldier — and none should be left behind. Technology allows us to stay connected instantaneously. We need to build more obvious communication channels to share resources, ideas, tools, and political and psychological support. Every Jewish institution also needs physical security — professional security and hardening of Jewish targets, and essential volunteer guards, including the shomrim long present in Haredi communities. We must also consider more “kinetic” forms such as armed civilian defense organizations if policing is inadequate to the moment.

2. Recognize our enemies. Do not be afraid of that word. Every person who actively takes part in demonstrations demonizing Israel, who refuses to condemn Hamas’s actions, who rips down posters, who calls for the annihilation of Israel, or who makes excuses for barbarism is endorsing the butchery of Jews everywhere. Many of them would gladly replicate Hamas’s behavior if given the chance. Recognize the bloodlust in their calls and in their eyes. They are enemies of our people.

3. Recognize our own power. We need not fear the mob. We need to assess threats, allocate resources, and fight back. When faced with the attacks of October 7, Israelis immediately overcame their divisions, regrouped, and came together in full force both militarily and in civil society. Diaspora Jewry must do the same. The potential for unified Jewish power is immense: Jewish organizations, philanthropists, and activists working in concert can channel resources, aggressively deploy known weapons, and develop new ones to test on the battlefield. These include legal action and new legislation; intelligence-gathering; civil defense; rapid-response teams on campuses and in neighborhoods; and the creation of a cross-communal “war room” to monitor the operations of our enemies, gather intelligence, assess threats, and share experiences and new ideas across the Jewish world.

4. Shift the balance of fear. Wars are not won solely by playing defense. Jewish institutions should be focusing now on taking the fight to the enemy and working to shift the balance of fear. This has already begun with donor revolts, public shaming of students who support Hamas or people who tear down hostage posters, and more. The principle should be clear: It is not the Jews who should be afraid. It is those who take the side of barbarism, who indulge in terrorizing spectacle, who must be made to fear instead. (It’s starting to work — notice how many protesters and poster-rippers are now wearing masks.) Those who hold positions of power but who sit on the fence because they fear the mob, including many university administrators, should be made to fear the side of moral clarity even more.

5. Recognize our friends. Jews have friends — and the current crisis has provided a powerful litmus test of this friendship. Taking advantage of such friendships means crossing previous political, cultural, or religious divides. It no longer matters if someone is a Republican or a Democrat; an Asian parent or an Evangelical Christian. As the Israelis have done so stunningly, we need to drop our differences, create new alliances, and muster all the support we can get.

6. Demand our rights. Jews have rights and are protected by law, like any other group. We must demand — loudly — that those protections be enforced, and that those who violate our rights or the law be punished. On campuses and in private institutions, where codes of conduct and organizational value statements also pertain, we must demand that Jews be treated like any other group. Those who violate behavioral standards and value systems must be punished, and the hypocrisy of fence-sitting and mob-fearing leaders — corporate, academic, or governmental — must be called out every time.

7. Adjust our philanthropic priorities. Mobilizing donations to Israel is worthy and helpful. But recognizing that this is a global war also means funding the Diaspora’s war effort — including campus groups, media and social-media strategies, educational and advocacy efforts, community-relations initiatives, and Jewish communal institutions writ large. Together, these have the grassroots reach both to mobilize Jews and allies and to act as nodes in the broader Diaspora war effort. They can also provide the intellectual, spiritual, emotional, and communal support needed to sustain our troops.

8. Fight the long-term battles now. What we are seeing, especially in elite Western circles, is the product of half a century of investment in anti-Western and antisemitic ideas. These have been heavily funded and have spread across our institutions. Every false narrative about Jews, Israel, and the West can be traced to books and essays written long ago, whether in Moscow, Paris, or Columbia University. It’s time for us to fight the war of ideas as well — but with our own long-term strategy. We need a multifaceted approach to investing in Jewish culture (film, TV, museums, public history); intellectual life (journals, books, think tanks); and scholarship and academia (where we must wrest back the study of Jews and Israel from those long captured by anti-Israel and anti-Western ideas. A war that was launched through books cannot be won with billboards and banner ads alone.


The next stage of Israel’s war will be even deadlier
It is safe to say that so far the war has not quite unfolded in the way that many observers, myself included, predicted. Although Israeli soldiers have been killed – mostly in hit and run attacks – the high number of predicted casualties has failed to materialise. By contrast, the IDF claims to have killed thousands of Hamas fighters in the six weeks following the October 7th atrocity which left 1,200 Israelis dead and over 3,000 injured.

But even if thousands of Palestinian terrorists have been killed – and Hamas and the PIJ had a combined force of at least 30,000 fighters – where have the remainder gone? Are they still hiding in the estimated 300 miles of tunnels beneath the Gaza strip? Or have they fled south in preparation for the next phase of the war?

Avi Melamed, a former Israeli intelligence official, agrees that Israeli operations in Gaza are about to change. and become increasingly challenging for the IDF.

He says: ‘The fight for Southern Gaza will likely be even more complicated for Israel as it looks to continue its model of isolating, securing and clearing each location of Hamas fighters, tunnels, strategic positions and weaponry. The South has more refugee camps, now cities unto themselves and major hotbeds of Islamist terrorist activity, including both PIJ and Hamas battalions, and Khan Younis and Rafah are also hotbeds of activity by both groups.’

Meanwhile the war in Gaza has opened up something of a rift between Britain’s armed forces and the position of the British government.

A senior British military officer told me earlier this week that many senior officers believed that Israel’s response to 7th October attacks were a ‘gross over-reaction’. The officer also said that many senior officers had openly questioned the UK’s ‘unequivocal support’ for the conflict in Gaza.

The officer, a veteran of the counter-insurgencies in both Iraq and Afghanistan, added: ‘Israel’s desire must be the long-term security and prosperity of the state and its people. But the Israeli government’s actions, if anything, are imperilling that.’

When asked what he thought the appropriate strategy might be, he said: ‘I think I would have gone with some massive targeted precision strike, with accepted collateral damage, understanding that it would have limited effect perhaps on tunnels and operation centres but would have provided the population with a visible response, while at the same time proactively targeting Hamas leaders outside of the region in Mossad sponsored extrajudicial assassinations.’

He added: ‘Time is not on Israel’s side. The unfolding humanitarian crisis which is developing in Gaza may very well derail its entire strategy, which is why Israel is moving very quickly in seeking the return of the hostages.’

What is clear is that the next stage of the war is going to be even tricker for the Israeli Defence Forces.
Biden About To Betray Israel?
Seven weeks into Israel's military offensive to destroy Hamas as a military and political entity, the Biden administration now seems to be adopting a very different stance, one where it appears ready to scale down its commitment to supporting Israel's right to self-defence, and destroying Hamas, in favour of a ceasefire deal that would essentially gift victory to Hamas.

Netanyahu has made no secret of his personal reservations about the hostage deal, arguing that any pause in Israel's military offensive would simply allow Hamas to regroup. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), in particular, had been opposed to the deal because they wanted to maintain the pressure against Hamas on the ground in Gaza.

Indeed, Washington's willingness to impose ceasefires on Israel when its forces have clearly established a military advantage on the battlefield against their enemies has been a constant feature throughout Israel's 75-year existence.

The Israelis will certainly be concerned at the role played by Qatar, which is one of Hamas's main military backers, in the negotiations. While the Qataris like to claim that they are simply using their contacts with Hamas to defuse tensions, the fact that Ismail Haniyeh, who masterminded the massacres, directed the attacks from his five-star hotel in Qatar, where he has been granted a safe haven, means the Israelis have every reason to be wary of Qatar's motives.
Biden admin accused of aiding Palestinian 'pay for slay' as terrorists profit in Hamas deal, experts claim
Many of the newly released convicted Palestinian terrorists who are part of a swap that secured the freedom of some Israeli and foreign hostages held by the terrorist movement Hamas could receive U.S. funds via the Palestinian Authority, an expert on the matter claimed.

Itamar Marcus, director of Palestinian Media Watch (PMW), an Israeli-based organization researching Palestinian society, told Fox News Digital, "The American and European funding boosts the Palestinian Authority budget by $600 million. The Palestinian Authority pays the salaries of imprisoned terrorists and the family members of the martyrs and the amount comes to $300 million a year."

Marcus continued, "There is no doubt that the Palestinian Authority could not pay this funding without the boost of funding from the Americans and Europeans. The Americans and Europeans are absolutely facilitating the payment. It is willful blindness."

He noted, "Every single terrorist gets a salary from the Palestinian Authority once they are imprisoned." According to Palestinian law, Marcus said, a prisoner who serves more than five years in prison receives a monthly salary for life.

The release of the Palestinian terrorists comes after Fox News Digital reported on a lawsuit in January by victims of terrorism and Rep. Ronny Jackson., R-Texas, alleging the Biden administration pumped more than a half billion U.S. taxpayer dollars into the Palestinian Authority without verifying that the organization isn’t funding terrorism, according to a federal lawsuit.

The Palestinian Authority, which controls the West Bank (known in Israel by its biblical name of Judea and Samaria), has paid the families of the convicted Palestinians a stipend while their family members were incarcerated as part of the notorious "pay for slay" program.

Marcus from PMW provided Fox News Digital a list of nine just-released Palestinian terrorists who will receive monthly payments ranging from approximately $535 to $668 for Jerusalem residents.
Report: Biden Apologized to Muslim-American Leaders for Questioning Death Tolls Given by Hamas
On October 25, President Joe Biden questioned the death toll numbers given out by Hamas: “I have no notion that the Palestinians are telling the truth about how many people are killed. I’m sure innocents have been killed, and it’s a price of waging war.”

Well, duh. You are a moron if you accept anything from Hamas, a legit terrorist organization.

Unfortunately, a report from The Washington Post says that Biden apologized to Muslim-American leaders the day after.

Yes, it’s from WaPo, but would you be shocked if Biden cowered and apologized?

I’m not:
The following day, Biden met with five prominent Muslim Americans, who protested what they saw as his insensitivity to the civilians who were dying. All spoke of people they knew who had been affected by the suffering in Gaza, including a woman who had lost 100 members of her family.


Biden appeared to be affected by their account. “I’m sorry. I’m disappointed in myself,” he told the group, according to two people familiar with the meeting. “I will do better.” The meeting, scheduled for 30 minutes, ended up lasting more than an hour, according to one White House official, and ended with Biden hugging one of the participants.

I want to throw up. I want to know the names of those Muslim-American leaders and shame them in public.

Democrats and Republicans must realize that most of the time, the loudest people in their ears or the ones receiving the most media attention are not the majority.


The Casualty Figures in Gaza Are a Scam
The Hamas ministry does not reveal how many of the men are civilians and how many combatants. Nor are reporters aware of the vast discrepancy between women and children casualties in 2023 and those who died in previous Gaza engagements when the Hamas Health Ministry published such numbers and statistics. By 2023, Hamas realized how their presentation of real numbers hurt their case.

To recap, Hamas claimed that 12,300 Gazans were killed, 5,000 (40%) were children, and 3,300 were women (26%). The press, editorial writers, and government officials worldwide have reported and repeated these figures.

The remaining 4,000 (34 %) dead were men – both combatants and civilians, presumably.

Note the percentages the Hamas Ministry of Health released on a chart that appeared in the New York Times in 2014.3

Out of 1,900 casualties, only 16% were children, 15% were women, and men constituted 66% (55 + 11 unidentified men), and male civilians and “militants” were lumped together.

The New York Times noted that some ages in the population were “most likely to be militants.” Those ages are between 15 and 39 (although the Times erroneously omitted 15 to 19 men as combatants).
- Female and Male Children 0–14 years old: 16%
- Females 15–59: 11%
- “Elderly” women 60–80+: 4%
- Men 15–59: 55% + 11% “unknown”
- “Elderly” men: No figure given

Why such a vast change? First, after October 7, 2023, Hamas stopped giving details about the casualties’ age and sex. The unchallenged numbers issued by Hamas’ ministry and repeated by the press are fanciful propaganda statistics.


Israel Must Fight On to Change the Balance of Power
A policy that favors a ceasefire over continued fighting does not add to Israeli deterrence. A senior IDF commander said at least 5,000 terrorists have been killed since the start of the war and thousands of others were either injured or buried under destroyed buildings in Gaza, reinforcing the position that the fighting should be allowed to continue to demonstrate the price for the Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

The IDF is realizing that only after operating in Rafah on the Egyptian border, where Hamas has tunnels bringing in arms, will most if not all hostages be freed. The message must be that, without the release of all captives, the entire strip will be destroyed as the north has been, so that international pressure will be placed on Hamas to make a deal. Hamas must not be in control of events and have the unilateral power to decide if and when hostages are freed.
Hamas' Ceasefire Game Plan: Outlast Israel and Survive
Hamas leaders are heading into a temporary ceasefire with a singular mission: survival. "The most important thing for now is to guarantee their survival," Brig.-Gen. (res.) Yossi Kuperwasser, former head of research in IDF military intelligence, said of Hamas. The group, designated a terrorist organization by the U.S., hopes it can release hostages gradually, turning "this entire idea of defeating Hamas into something that will never happen."

Hamas leaders already believe they scored a big victory with the Oct. 7 attacks just by inflicting a military blow on Israel and by keeping its senior leaders safe from the Israeli invasion.

Israeli commentator Ehud Yaari, a fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said the Israeli military believes Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and his senior commanders are now located in Hamas' tunnel network in southern Gaza. "For Hamas, if the battle stops before Khan Yunis [the largest city in southern Gaza] is attacked, they are still left standing on their feet.

Israeli military officials say they know Hamas' ideology can't be eliminated but argue it is possible to eradicate the group's ability to wage war and govern Gaza.
Khaled Abu Toameh: Why the Arabs 'Betrayed' the Palestinians
The stance of the Arabs and Muslims is yet another indication of their disillusionment with the Palestinians in general and Iran's proxies -- Hamas, Hizballah and the Houthis -- in particular.

Countries such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Egypt and Jordan are as opposed to Hamas as they are to Israel. Hamas is another branch of the Muslim Brotherhood organization, which has long posed a threat to their national security.

In 2017, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain cut ties with Qatar after accusing it of providing support for Islamist terrorists, including Hamas and the Taliban, as well as Iran.

Now that their eyes have been once again forced open, the Palestinians should distance themselves from Hamas and other terrorist groups and join forces with those Arabs and Muslims who recognize that to create a better future for their people, it would benefit them immeasurably to recognize the legitimacy of the State of Israel.
Can the Palestinian Authority Really Govern Gaza after the War?
President Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken have said that after the latest war, Gaza should be unified with the West Bank under a "revitalized" Palestinian Authority. Yet few people in the West Bank or Israel regard the PA as capable of governing a post-conflict Gaza. The PA is deeply unpopular even where it has control in the West Bank. It is run by President Mahmoud Abbas, who is now 88. Its support is so tenuous that it would be unlikely to survive without the security provided by the Israeli Army.

In the view of many of the people it is supposed to represent, the PA has devolved into an authoritarian, corrupt and undemocratic administration. Restoring the PA's credibility, Palestinians and experts say, would require holding elections to form a new leadership. But if elections were held today, it is probable, experts and polls suggest, that Hamas would win.

Even among a budding middle class that has grown up in the relative stability of the West Bank, there is little respect for the PA. With financial troubles and a reduced budget, it has already cut the salaries it pays by 30%.

"How can they rule Gaza?" asked Iyad Masrouji, the chief executive of Jerusalem Pharmaceuticals. "The Americans talk with the rhetoric of 30 years ago, but we live in a different reality. If we had a fair election, Hamas would win, and more now."

Palestinians in the West Bank have generally hailed Hamas for bringing the fate of Palestinians back into international focus. "From the Palestinian point of view, it looked like a miracle," said Sari Nusseibeh, former president of Al Quds University. "Fortress Israel suddenly seemed vulnerable. Who is the Palestinian leadership now? It's Hamas, like it or not."

"At the moment Hamas is seen by Palestinians as the foremost representative of Palestinian interests because no one else is. The Palestinian Authority doesn't figure in people's minds," Nusseibeh said.

Palestinian pollster Khalil Shikaki said 85% of Palestinians want Abbas to resign, including more than 60% of his own Fatah party. Could the PA in its current state take over Gaza? "Of course not," Shikaki said.
11 Israelis freed from Gaza after snag on 4th day of truce

White House: Israel and Hamas agree to two-day extension of truce IDF: Hamas took Bibas family hostage on Oct. 7, transferred them to another faction
The IDF’s Arabic spokesperson Avichay Adraee indicates to Sky News that the Bibas family — father Yarden, mother Shiri, 10-month-old baby Kfir and 4-year-old Ariel — will not be released today from Hamas captivity.

Adraee explains that the family was taken hostage by Hamas during the October 7 massacre, and was then transferred to another Palestinian terror faction in Gaza. They are currently being held in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis.

The Bibas family confirms that their loved ones will not be released today.

Adraee tweets, “Children and babies under the age of one who have not seen the light of day for more than fifty days are being held captive by Hamas, [who] treats some of them like loot and in some places has transferred them to other terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip.”


The Commentary Magazine Podcast: Are We Losing the Plot?
Hosted by Abe Greenwald, Christine Rosen, John Podhoretz & Matthew Continetti
Today we ask whether the daily release of Israeli hostages threatens to obscure the main point: Israel must defeat Hamas. And with fighting paused, how much pressure will the world put on Israel to abandon this aim? Give a listen.


Call Me Back PodCast: Lessons learned from the hostage deal – with Haviv Rettig Gur
Hosted by Dan Senor
Today is our weekly check-in with Haviv Rettig Gur of The Times of Israel. We discuss early lessons that Haviv is identifying for Israeli leaders and security officials – and for Israeli society – based on: the implementation of the agreement by Hamas to release hostages, the overall negotiations, the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons, and the pause in fighting. What are the implications for this next phase of the war? Or will that next phase be delayed?
Israel Democracy Institute surveys discussed in this episode:
https://en.idi.org.il/articles/51147
https://en.idi.org.il/articles/51616
Israeli hostage Maya Regev reunited with family at hospital

Nephew of released Israeli hostage speaks on 'severe' conditions his aunt endured
Eyal Nouri, the nephew of 72-year-old Adina Moshe – who was one of the hostages released by Hamas on the weekend – speaks about the conditions his aunt was in.

“My aunt, she worked in education, and she teached a lot of generations of kids,” Mr Nouri told Sky News host Sharri Markson.

“When she was in the tunnel, she was the power for the other children – she treated them, she encouraged them.

“And if you think about worst condition, think worse than that – not knowing nothing about whatever happening in the outside world, treating them in a very bad manner.

“I don’t want to go into details, but the condition was really severe.”




Daughter of freed hostage: Red Cross refused to take medication for my mother

IDF soldier freed from Hamas in daring Gaza raid speaks out

Israeli Hostages Report Lack of Food in Hamas Captivity
The Israeli news site N12 spoke with the families of those hostages who returned to hear the stories of their time in Gaza.

The hostages reported that they had not been tortured or physically abused, although the amount of food they had been given was minimal.

They said how their final two weeks had seen supplies running low, leaving them with pita bread and small amounts of rice to eat.

Hostages spoke of last-minute attempts by Gazans to throw stones at the vehicle bringing them to Egypt. "Until the last moment we weren't sure, we thought they would lynch us on the way to Israel," a hostage said.


Gaza civilians handed Israeli hostage back to Hamas before his release

Will Mossad be allowed to assassinate Hamas leaders in Qatar? - analysis

Gazan Civilian Death Toll Explained

IDF's elite forces break down the siege of Gaza's Shifa Hospital

Hamas terrorists admit taking hostages to Shifa Hospital

Dore Gold: The Houthis Represent a New Enemy for Israel to Contend With
It is rare that Israel has had to contend with an entirely new adversary that threatens its access to entire parts of the world. But that is exactly what is occurring with the growing Houthi threat, based in Yemen. The Houthis, fully supported by Iran, built an arsenal of ballistic missiles and drones that can reach Israeli territory.

Most Houthis, who are Zaydi Shi'ite Muslims, live in the rugged mountains of northern Yemen. The founder of the Zaydi sect, Zayd ben Ali, was the great-grandson of Ali, a close descendant of Islam's prophet, Mohammed.

Iran has been supplying the Houthis with state-of-the-art ballistic missiles and advanced drones which have been employed to strike Israel. Houthi drones have destroyed Saudi oil installations and refineries in Abu Dhabi, causing tremendous damage. They have now threatened Israel's southern port of Eilat as well. It has now become critical for the IDF to neutralize this problem.
US naval forces recover hijacked Israel-linked ship

Eritrean Risked Life to Save Wounded Officer From Hamas, Receives Residence Status

Report: U.S. and Western-Funded Palestinian Schools Celebrated October 7 Massacre

Musk tours scenes of Oct. 7 atrocities at Kibbutz Kfar Aza

Hamas is at war with the Middle East, German president says in Israel

Ben Shapiro: Fighting For Our Lives | Former PM Naftali Bennett
In the wake of the devastating Hamas attacks on October 7th, we were joined by a figure central to Israeli politics and international diplomacy, Naftali Bennett. Bennett has been a dynamic figure in Israeli politics. His journey is marked by a transition from a high-achieving soldier in the Israel Defense Forces' elite Sayeret Matkal and Maglan units, to a successful tech entrepreneur. As the 13th Prime Minister of Israel, and later the Alternate Prime Minister, Bennett navigated through tumultuous times, marking his tenure with significant decisions on domestic and international fronts.

In this episode, we discussed the events of October 7th and the ongoing war in an attempt to understand their implications on the future of Israel and the Middle East.




Albanese showing ‘weak leadership’ during Israel-Hamas war
Sky News host Andrew Bolt says the Albanese Labor government has shown “weak leadership” as Israel’s war against Hamas terrorists continues.

“One thing I think that has cost the Albanese government is its weak moral leadership during Israel’s war against Hamas terrorist group,” Mr Bolt said.

“It seems to be trying too hard not to upset its Muslim supporters by defending Israel, even though race-baiters meanwhile like Senator Lidia Thorpe are throwing their support behind the Palestinians, playing with fire by trying to make their cause, the Aboriginal one, link with their cause the Palestinian ones.”

The dipping trend of Labor's primary vote has accelerated since the October 14 referendum when Australians overwhelmingly voted against a Voice to Parliament.

Mr Bolt sat down with The Australian’s Foreign Editor Greg Sheridan to discuss the Albanese Labor government’s leadership.


David M. Friedman: The Brutal Reality About Palestinians the Media Ignores
Dave Rubin of “The Rubin Report” talks to former U.S. Ambassador to Israel David M. Friedman about the current situation in Israel and the Middle East; his experiences during the recent conflict; his criticisms of the current U.S. administration for its perceived weakness and for lifting sanctions on Iran, which he believes has emboldened groups like Hamas; the challenges Israel faces in dealing with Hamas and the Palestinian Authority; the rise of anti-Semitism and anti-Israel sentiment in the West; the importance of Israel's biblical heritage and the need to protect it; and much more.




Sharri Markson blasts ‘virtue-signalling’ journalists for signing war coverage petition
Sky News host Sharri Markson has blasted “virtue signalling” journalists who signed a petition calling for a change in how they cover the war between Israel and Hamas.

The open letter calls for journalists to apply the same scepticism to Israeli government information as they would to Hamas.

Ms Markson expressed disappointment in the “unbelievable” petition and claimed the journalists who signed it “don’t care” about racism, equality or diversity when it comes to Jews.

“I don't even know how it's possible to be less sympathetic; these media outlets are already so hostile towards Israel and Jews,” she said.

“They don't believe Israel has a right to defend itself after a terror attack which killed 1,400 innocent Israelis and saw another 240 innocent women, children, and men kidnapped and taken hostage.”

Ms Markson also hit out at left-leaning media outlets for failing to report on an incident with Mehreen Faruqi, where the Greens Senator was photographed standing with a student whose placard depicted a figure placing an Israeli flag into a trash bin alongside the words “keep the world clean”.

“The left has tied itself in knots and has somehow turned innocent victims into oppressors and has somehow sided with the terrorists – who, if allowed, would continue to inflict brutal and unbearable acts against Jewish people, not just in Israel but all over the world,” she added.




10 Reasons Hamas is Winning on Social Media

Model Gigi Hadid Blasted for Latest Israel Conspiracy Theory: ‘Vile Antisemitic Blood Libel’

Suspect, 48, is arrested in shooting of three Palestinian college students in Vermont - cops launch hate crime investigation as one victim remains 'touch and go'

No war cries, no angry chants or veiled threats, no one picking a fight... just a throng of 105,000 standing in solidarity with the UK's fearful Jews: ROBERT HARDMAN witnesses Britain's biggest march against anti-Semitism in almost a century

BBC staff defy ban on attending march against anti-Semitism: 'Large proportion' of Jewish workers said they would be at London rally, insider claims - as they accuse BBC News of 'romanticising Hamas and its supporters'

Countdown star Rachel Riley calls on campaigners to 'get serious' about tackling anti-Semitism and actor Eddie Marsan says UK must 'face down extremism and bigotry' as they join more than 100,000 protesters at London rally

Vile moment Palestine activist brands pro-Israel supporters 'killers and child-molesters' before have-a-go heroes shout him down on day 100k marched against anti-Semitism in London

Pro-Israel Tribe in Indonesia Challenges National Consensus on Palestine

Fury as 'Hamas-style' and anti-Israel clothes sold on Amazon and Etsy

Pro-Palestine mob SHUTS NYC's Manhattan Bridge on one of the busiest travel weekends of the year... as Hamas releases Israel-American hostage, 4, and asks to extend truce

Open letter on Israel-Hamas war coverage shows ‘complete bias’ towards Palestinian narrative
Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council’s Colin Rubenstein has slammed an open letter about the media coverage of the war between Israel and Hamas, saying it shows a “complete bias” towards the Palestinian narrative.

The open letter calls for journalists to apply the same scepticism to Israeli government information as they would to Hamas.

Tony Armstrong, Benjamin Law and Jan Fran were a few of the prominent figures who signed the petition.

Mr Rubenstein condemned the journalists involved for signing the “appalling” open letter.

“It’s a very dispiriting situation that you can have so many journalists sign such an activist letter that really should not be taken seriously for anyone who values proper professional objective journalism in this country,” he told Sky News host Chris Kenny.


‘Abuse of power’: Andrew Bolt slams ABC staff for signing war coverage petition
Sky News host Andrew Bolt has slammed ABC staff who signed a recent petition calling for a change in the media coverage of the Israel-Hamas war.

The open letter calls for journalists to apply the same scepticism to Israeli government information as they would to Hamas.

Tony Armstrong, Benjamin Law and Jan Fran were a few of the prominent figures who signed the petition.

Mr Bolt described it as an “abuse of power” from an organisation meant to be impartial.

“Don't you hate it when people you pay to do a job use that money and that position to preach their politics?” he said.

“How often do you see that now? And invariably it's from the left.”


Neil Mitchell condemns education union push for teachers to turn classrooms into pro-Palestine 'propaganda outlets'

‘Division in the classroom’: Teachers push a week of action in solidarity for Palestine
Sky News host Liz Storer says the movement among teachers to have a week of action in solidarity with Palestine will likely cause further “division” in the classroom.

“Today we learn that there’s a movement among teachers … are being encouraged to wear keffiyehs’ in the classroom and invite Palestinian advocates to their school,” Ms Storer said.

“In a bid to show solidarity against the war in Gaza.

“It’s a week of action dubbed, solidarity in Palestine.

“You can only guess how much further this is going to cause division in the classroom.”


Wild scenes at the American consulate in Melbourne as cops drag pro-Palestine protesters away

Painful moment no-nonsense cop rugby tackles pro-Palestinian protester onto the footpath: This is what he allegedly did to receive such rough treatment



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This blog may be a labor of love for me, but it takes a lot of effort, time and money. For 20 years and 40,000 articles I have been providing accurate, original news that would have remained unnoticed. I've written hundreds of scoops and sometimes my reporting ends up making a real difference. I appreciate any donations you can give to keep this blog going.

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