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In-Depth Issues:
6,000 Gazans Infiltrated Israel on Oct. 7 ( Jerusalem Post)
6,000 Gazans infiltrated Israel during the Oct. 7 massacre, double the previous estimate, according to a new probe by the Gaza Division published on Saturday.
3,800 were identified as Hamas Nukhba terrorists.
4,300 rockets were fired at Israel on that day.
119 breaches were discovered in the border fence, twice the previous estimate.
IDF: Hamas's Rafah Brigade Has Collapsed, Many Border Tunnels Neutralized - Emanuel Fabian ( Times of Israel)
Hamas's Rafah Brigade has "collapsed" as a result of the ongoing IDF offensive in the city, military sources said Thursday.
Hamas operatives were increasingly trying to escape from tunnels and flee north to the Israeli-designated humanitarian zone. IDF troops have been successfully ambushing the Hamas gunmen who have tried to flee.
The IDF said it has killed more than 1,000 terror operatives in Rafah, and that many gunmen fled with the Palestinian population as the operation began.
In the Philadelphi Corridor along the Egypt-Gaza border, IDF combat engineers have discovered dozens of tunnels, some of them cross-border.
They
have been meticulously sweeping the entire border for tunnels while expanding the corridor by demolishing structures within about 800 meters of the border.
While tunnels
have been used for smuggling, military sources said that in recent years Hamas has been smuggling weapons above ground via the Rafah Crossing, which the IDF captured on the first day of the offensive in Rafah.
Most in U.S. Favor Continued Military Support for Israel until Hostages Are Released - Sarah Fortinsky ( The Hill)
60% of Americans favor the U.S. "supporting Israel militarily until the hostages are returned," according to a survey from the Chicago Council on Global Affairs conducted June 21-July 1 and published Thursday.
49% said they favor the U.S. "supporting Israel militarily until Hamas is dismantled or destroyed."
43% said the U.S. provides either the right amount (26%) or not enough (17%) military aid to Israel.
See also Poll Results ( Chicago Council on Global Affairs)
Poll: Most U.S. College Students Reject Disrupting Campus to Protest Israel - Dion J. Pierre ( Algemeiner)
Most American college students reject their classmates' flagrant rule breaking and extreme tactics to protest Israel's war with Hamas in Gaza, according to a new survey conducted by North Dakota State University's Institute for Global Innovation and Growth.
59% of 2,159 respondents, drawn from 466 colleges and universities, said students do not have a right to occupy administrative buildings.
80% disagreed that it is appropriate to "shout down" speakers whose opinions about the war are contrary to theirs.
73% said they would not disrupt classes to protest, and only 13% have participated in campus demonstrations related to the conflict.
Testimonies of Hamas-Held Israeli Hostages - Noam Barkan ( Israel Hayom)
As part of Israel's national documentation project of returnees and families of hostages for the State Archives, 25 released hostages and 21 family members of hostages have shared their stories of captivity and return to normalcy.
Shlomi Ziv, 41, a security guard at the Nova festival, was in Hamas captivity for 246 days before being rescued by the IDF.
Shlomi described the day of his rescue: "The homeowner came in and said in Arabic to the guards 'Captain so-and-so called.' I hear 'Captain' and I understand it's Israeli intelligence saying to leave the house - because they're going to bomb now."
"Within four minutes, there wasn't a single person in the neighborhood. You hear the women and children taking themselves and fleeing."
"In the house too, except for one who stayed with us - all the captors evacuated and we were left there chained, hearing the planes in the sky, and the one guarding us standing with a knife in his hand."
Dozens of Palestinian Diplomats Celebrated Oct. 7 Attacks on Israel - Jane Prinsley ( Jewish Chronicle-UK)
A dossier of evidence compiled by investigators reveals that scores of Palestinian diplomats at the UN, across Europe and around the world celebrated the attack on Israel on Oct. 7, or compared Israel to the Nazis.
This raises serious questions about the legitimacy of Palestinian Authority (PA) officials on the world stage.
Hundreds of social media posts from more than 30 profiles found senior diplomats supporting the actions of Hamas and advocating the erasure of Israel.
On Oct. 7 itself. Hassan Albalawi, the deputy head of the Palestinian mission to the EU, celebrated Hamas as "heroic," while Adel Atieh, the Palestinian ambassador to the EU, described the terrorists as "the people of the mighty."
Khuloussi Bsaiso, a Palestinian diplomat at the UN, shared a map of the Middle East without Israel with the comment: "Palestine as it should be."
Former U.S. Middle East advisor Dennis Ross said: "The PA cannot have it both ways; they cannot claim they are for peace and then support what Hamas has done."
Why Can't the Media Cover Israel and Antisemitism Fairly? - Jason Epstein ( Los Angeles Jewish Journal)
Western media hostility toward Israel is hardly new. Coverage of the ongoing fighting between Israel and the Iranian regime's patrons, Hamas, Hizbullah, and Houthi group Allah Ansar, as in previous conflicts, features rampant bias.
Two days after Oct. 7,
Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt accused mainstream media of being complicit in a world that allowed the "dehumanization of Israelis and sanitized the terrorism of Hamas."
When citing Palestinian casualty figures, outlets like the Associated Press accept Palestinian casualty numbers from the "Gaza Health Ministry," which editors know very well means Hamas.
In stark contrast, when sources from the Israel Defense Forces provide figures of enemy casualties, disclaimers that no evidence accompanied the data are often added.
Jews in the U.S. have endured hundreds of Charlottesvilles on American city streets and university campuses since the Hamas attack.
In numerous instances, demonstrators have physically assaulted Jews.
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News Resources - North America, Europe, and Asia:
- After Six Israeli Hostages Murdered, Biden Says "Hamas Leaders Will Pay for These Crimes"
President Joe Biden said Saturday:
"Earlier today, in a tunnel under the city of Rafah, Israeli forces recovered six bodies of hostages held by Hamas. We have now confirmed that one of the hostages killed by these vicious Hamas terrorists was an American citizen, Hersh Goldberg-Polin. I am devastated and outraged."
"Hersh was among the innocents brutally attacked while attending a music festival for peace in Israel on October 7. He lost his arm helping friends and strangers during Hamas's savage massacre....I have gotten to know his parents, Jon and Rachel....I admire them and grieve with them more deeply than words can express....Make no mistake, Hamas leaders will pay for these crimes."
(White House)
See also
Bodies of 6 Israeli Hostages Murdered by Hamas Found in Rafah Tunnel - Emanuel Fabian
The IDF on Saturday recovered the bodies of six Israeli hostages from a Hamas tunnel in Rafah who were murdered by their captors a day or two before they were found.
They are Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23; Eden Yerushalmi, 24; Ori Danino, 25; Alex Lubnov, 32; Carmel Gat, 40; and Almog Sarusi, 25. The IDF said there were no clashes inside the tunnel, and the Hamas terrorists who murdered the six fled the area.
(Times of Israel)
See also Who Were the Six Murdered Hostages? (Israel Hayom)
- Israeli Airstrike Kills Four Palestinians Who Took Charge of Gaza Aid Convoy - Stephen Kalin
The Israeli military said Friday that it struck a car carrying a number of armed individuals to prevent them from seizing supplies from a humanitarian convoy in Gaza. No staff from the aid group, American Near East Refugee Aid, were hurt in the strike, and the convoy eventually completed its aid delivery to a hospital. ANERA said four Palestinians were killed in the airstrike after they took over the convoy's lead vehicle. (Wall Street Journal)
- UN Agency Issues Fresh Warning over Iranian Nuclear Activities - Laurence Norman
Iran has continued to expand its stockpile of near weapons-grade uranium in recent months, a report from the International Atomic Energy Agency said Thursday. In recent months, Iranian officials have warned that they have acquired most of the knowledge needed to build a nuclear weapon.
According to IAEA measurements, Iran has increased its stockpile of 60%-enriched uranium to 363.1 pounds, just short of the minimum amount needed to fuel four nuclear weapons. U.S. officials have said it would take less than two weeks to convert 60% enriched uranium into weapons-grade 90% material that can be used in a nuclear bomb. Some experts have said Iran could soon produce enough enriched uranium to fuel nine atomic bombs in two months.
In a separate report released Thursday, the IAEA said Iran still isn't complying with an investigation into undeclared nuclear material discovered in the country.
(Wall Street Journal)
- ISIS Refugee Slashes Throats at Diversity Festival in Germany - Daniel Greenfield
Three people were killed and eight injured, five seriously, on Aug. 23 at the Festival of Diversity in Solingen, Germany. The ISIS terrorist was a Syrian Muslim refugee who had been scheduled to be deported, but was not. In response, Chancellor Olaf Scholz promised rapid action would be taken against knives. The German government announced that it will ban knives over three inches long.
Right now, people in Germany can carry knives up to 4.7 inches long. The law will be modified so that they can only carry knives up to 2.4 inches long. No one appears to have considered the possibility that Muslim terrorists on the way to killing as many infidels as possible might violate the law and carry a concealed knife of 4 inches or longer.
There were 13,844 "knife crime" incidents in Germany in 2023, which the authorities are blaming on the existence of knives and not the perpetrators, who are reportedly mostly young Muslim men. Much of the West now exists in the throes of an endless diversity festival where no one notices the killers, only the lengths of their blades. (Gatestone Institute)
News Resources - Israel and the Mideast:
- Three Israeli Police Officers Killed in Drive-By Shooting Attack near Hebron
Three Israeli police officers - two men and a woman - were killed in a drive-by shooting attack near Tarqumiyah in the West Bank on Sunday morning. (Israel Hayom)
- Two Car Bomb Attacks in Gush Etzion, Four Israelis Wounded - Yaniv Kubovich
Four Israelis were wounded Friday night in two separate car bomb attacks in Gush Etzion in Judea, south of Jerusalem. A car bomb exploded and caught fire at the gas station at Gush Etzion junction. The driver then exited the vehicle and tried to attack soldiers, and was shot dead by IDF troops. Three Israeli soldiers were wounded.
In a separate incident, a Palestinian man drove into the Israeli community of Karmei Tzur with an explosive device in his vehicle. The local security officer rammed his vehicle into the assailant's and then shot him dead. The explosive device went off when the two vehicles collided, wounding the officer.
(Ha'aretz)
See also Six Arrested in Palestinian Car Bombing Attacks - Hagar Shezaf
The explosives used in the two car bomb attacks in Gush Etzion came from the same bomb-making lab in Hebron. The improvised explosive devices (IEDs) were packed with nails and screws. Both vehicles left Hebron in a coordinated attack. Following the attacks, the IDF arrested six suspects in Hebron and Halhul. Security officials believe the terrorist cell intends to carry out additional attacks. A similar car explosion in Hebron three weeks ago caused no injuries.
(Ha'aretz)
See also Witness Describes Car Bomb Incident - Liran Tamari
At the gas station near the Gush Etzion junction on Friday night, an employee recounted that the car with the bomb "entered against the flow of traffic. As it pulled in, the hood caught fire and the terrorist [Mohammed Marka] got out - completely burned."
Another worker noted that the two terrorists' vehicles - Marka's and that of Zahdi Abu Afifa - met before the attack in a parking lot near the gas station. Minutes later, Abu Afifa entered Karmei Tzur. According to a resident, a warning was received shortly before his car arrived. Security forces now suspect there was a third car bomb, which has not yet been located. (Ynet News)
- Prime Minister Netanyahu Blames Hamas for Failure to Reach Hostage Deal - Sam Sokol
After the IDF announced the recovery of the bodies of six hostages from Hamas tunnels in Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a video statement saying, "Along with all the citizens of Israel, I was shocked to the depths of my soul by the terrible coldblooded murder of six of our abductees....I say to the Hamas terrorists who murdered our abductees and I say to their leaders - you have forfeited your lives....The fact that Hamas continues to commit atrocities like the ones it committed on Oct. 7 requires us to do everything so that it cannot commit these atrocities again."
"Since December, Hamas refuses to conduct real negotiations. Three months ago, on May 27, Israel agreed to a hostage release deal with the full backing of the U.S. Hamas refused. Even after the U.S. updated the outline of the deal on August 16, we agreed, and Hamas again refused. While Israel is conducting intensive negotiations with the mediators in a supreme effort to reach a deal, Hamas continues to firmly refuse any offer. Worse than that, at that very moment it murdered six of our hostages. He who murders hostages does not want a deal." (Times of Israel)
- Israeli Cabinet Backs IDF Remaining in the Philadelphi Corridor - Tovah Lazaroff
Israel's Security Cabinet voted Friday that the IDF would remain in the Philadelphi Corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted that any ceasefire deal must allow the IDF to remain in Philadelphi to prevent Hamas from smuggling weapons into Gaza. He said the Hamas-led invasion of Israel on Oct. 7 was possible only because Israel did not control the Philadelphi Corridor.
"A huge amount of weapons came through the Corridor, which were used by the terrorist organizations in Gaza," sources said. Netanyahu said that this time, Israel is determined to keep this border in its hands. (Jerusalem Post)
Global Commentary and Think-Tank Analysis:
- The Israeli Intelligence Community Hit a Grand Slam - Marc Polymeropoulos
In August, the Israeli intelligence community hit a grand slam by obtaining exquisite intelligence that was highly predictive in nature and likely staved off a wider war.
According to media reports, the Israelis collected information that not only indicated that Hizbullah was about to launch a significant attack against northern and central Israel, but also the precise time - 5:15 a.m. local time on August 25 - when the launches would occur and the specific units that would conduct the attacks.
This noteworthy feat, presumably gleaned from a combination of Israeli signals intelligence; imagery of movement within the rocket, missile, or drone units themselves; and human sources, who could have told the Israelis the precise plans and intentions of the Hizbullah leadership. Israel has shown an ability to penetrate Hizbullah, with the July killing in Beirut of Fuad Shukr, a close confidant and military adviser to Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
This intelligence collection then allowed the Israel Defense Forces to effectively preempt the Hizbullah attack, destroying up to 2/3 of the rockets and missiles that would have been launched. It seems quite clear that Israeli pilots knew the precise location of the Hizbullah rocket and missile units. This intelligence saved the lives of those Israelis who might have been hit by several hundred rockets and missiles.
Moreover, this Israeli intelligence coup almost certainly avoided a wider war since it was, in fact, de-escalatory in nature. Since there was no mass casualty event in Israel from the Hizbullah attack, a massive Israeli response was avoided.
The writer, a 26-year veteran of the CIA, is a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council's Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security. (Atlantic Council)
- What the Latest Hizbullah-Israel Clash Reveals about Deterrence and Escalation - Ben Fishman, Hanin Ghaddar, Assaf Orion, and Dennis Ross
On Aug. 25, Israel carried out large-scale preemptive strikes against Hizbullah targets in Lebanon, acting on intelligence that the group was preparing an imminent attack in retaliation for the killing of senior operative Fuad Shukr in the heart of Beirut.
In the hours that followed, Hizbullah fired hundreds of rockets and drones at Israel, causing little damage.
Hizbullah had delayed its retaliation for nearly a month. Its main obstacle has been the dominance of Israeli intelligence, which has enabled hundreds of damaging strikes on Hizbullah assets and uncovered its attack plan with enough lead time to organize and launch preemptive action. Hizbullah leaders realized that they have not only lost the element of surprise, but also failed to deter Israel by warning it about dire retaliation.
U.S. deployments to the region have increased steadily since October and presumably deterred Hizbullah from opening a full-scale northern front when Israel's war with Hamas first erupted. Demonstrations of allied defensive power and coordination have likely boosted deterrence as well, as seen when the IDF, the U.S. military, and their partners intercepted nearly all of the missiles and drones Iran launched on April 13. Yet, if defensive responses are the only ones Washington is prepared to consider, then U.S. deterrence will inevitably erode, and Iran and its proxies will be incentivized to attack again.
Deterrence only works if one party believes the other will use offensive force. At some point, the U.S. must demonstrate its willingness to take on one of Tehran's proxies. For example, the Houthis have effectively closed the Red Sea to the bulk of international shipping for months, despite U.S.-led defensive and limited offensive operations against the group. (Washington Institute for Near East Policy)
- Prioritizing the West Bank - Neomi Neumann
The IDF's operation aimed at eradicating the local terrorist infrastructure in the northern West Bank, begun on Aug. 27, is the largest in the area since 2002.
According to the Israel Security Agency (ISA), 1,245 attacks emanated from the northern West Bank over the past year, 255 of them categorized as "significant." There were also 435 attacks against IDF targets. Since Oct. 7, twenty-four Israelis have been killed in such attacks.
Starting in 2021, various terrorist "battalions" were formed, mainly in the northern refugee camps. The weak Palestinian Authority rarely entered these areas. According to ISA estimates, about fifteen battalions from Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and other Palestinian factions are currently operating in the West Bank. Each has dozens of fighters as well as commanders, financiers, and sabotage experts, resulting in attacks that are increasingly sophisticated and daring.
Israel's restrictions on the PA since the Gaza war began - particularly its withholding of the Gaza portion of the tax revenues it normally transfers to the PA and the revocation of 160,000 permits to work in Israel - have harmed the standard of living. Yet the general public in the West Bank has not engaged in wide popular protest. In recent months there has been a decline in the scope of incidents involving stone throwing, firebombs, demonstrations, and riots.
Nevertheless, Hamas is still perceived as restoring Palestinian honor by fighting Israel and is therefore popular with the public, particularly young people.
Today, many IEDs manufactured in the northern West Bank contain large quantities of explosives, which are smuggled from Iran to Syria and from there through the border with Jordan.
In parallel to winning the war in Gaza and establishing a stable postwar situation, Israel will need to work intensively to eradicate terrorism in the West Bank and prevent it from spilling over into Israel. That is why it launched its latest military operation: to prevent the West Bank from becoming another front in the war.
The writer, a visiting fellow at The Washington Institute, served as head of the research unit at the Israel Security Agency.
(Washington Institute for Near East Policy)
- Iran's War Against Israel from the West Bank - Khaled Abu Toameh
Armed and funded by Iran, new armed "battalions," whose members are affiliated with Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hamas, and the ruling Fatah faction headed by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, began operating in the northern West Bank more than three years ago. Gunmen belonging to these groups have carried out countless attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers.
Recently, the gunmen started using improvised explosive devices (IEDs) against Israeli civilian and military vehicles. Some of these militias are based only a few hundred meters away from Israeli communities, both in the West Bank and inside Israel. In May, Hamas terrorists in Tulkarem recorded themselves shooting toward Bat Hefer, an Israeli town near the border of the West Bank.
PA security forces haven't really done anything to disband or disarm the militias in the areas under their control. The PA's failure to crack down on the "battalions" means that Iran now has a small army in the West Bank. Those who persist in advocating for the establishment of a Palestinian state next to Israel must take into consideration that doing so would lead to the rise of more Iran-backed "battalions" in the West Bank and other areas over which the PA is given control.
The writer, a veteran Israeli journalist, is a senior fellow at the Gatestone Institute and the Jerusalem Center for Foreign Affairs. (Gatestone Institute)
- The Clear and Imminent Legal Danger Posed to Israel by the ICC - Lt.-Col. (res.) Maurice Hirsch
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has proven itself to be a hostile and political body that has, without any legal grounds, already invented a non-existent "State of Palestine" and, claiming the jurisdiction to do so, has attempted to set its borders.
The PLO's 2012 request for upgraded status in the UN and, after receiving such an upgrade, its subsequent accession to the ICC Statute in 2014, are fundamental breaches of the Oslo Accords. However, Israel chose to continue to implement the Accords, transferring to the PA over 107 billion shekels since 2010. The funds Israel transfers to the PA comprise 65% of its total income, thereby helping to fund the Palestinian legal assault on Israel.
Should the ICC accede to the Prosecutor's request, Israel will have no choice but to abandon its decades of blindness to the Palestinian breaches of the Oslo Accords. First and foremost, Israel must announce that an ICC decision to issue arrest warrants will result, inter alia, in the immediate suspension of all transfers of funds to the PA, a suspension of all the privileges granted to the PLO/PA and its leadership pursuant to the Oslo Accords, and will give rise to the necessity to act to dismantle and replace the PA.
The writer, Director of the Palestinian Authority Accountability Initiative at the Jerusalem Center, was director of the Military Prosecution in Judea and Samaria.
(Jerusalem Center for Foreign Affairs)
Observations:
- Since Hamas's murderous invasion of Israel along the Gaza border on Oct. 7, terrorist aggression in the West Bank has also increased as Hamas and Fatah terrorists are being pressed forward by Iranian funds and arms as well as encouragement by the Palestinian Authority.
- The BBC, which has displayed repeated hostility towards Israel, has been questioning whether it was necessary for Jerusalem to defend itself against West Bank terrorism, rather than first questioning why they had to do so.
- Israel has been attacked from Gaza, Lebanon and Iran, and has responded in each case, both defensively and offensively, with tactical brilliance. Yet it has been condemned repeatedly for doing so, in the media, in international bodies, and in Western capitals. The traditional response among political leaders and diplomats always begins with "Israel has the right to defend itself but...." The sort of restraint demanded has never been asked of any other country under attack.
- In response to attacks by Russia on Ukraine, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: "The UK utterly condemns Russia's cowardly missile and drone attacks on civilian infrastructure across Ukraine today. These assaults are in flagrant violation of international law and those responsible must be brought to justice." The day before, responding to Hizbullah missile and drone attacks on Israel, he wrote: "Further escalation in the Middle East must be avoided at all costs."
- Israel is winning its multi-front war but it is far from clear that its so-called allies in the West want it to do so. Israeli progress in the Gaza war could have been achieved more quickly, and probably with less bloodshed, had the Biden administration not done its best to slow things down.
- The political warfare campaign to delegitimize Israel has been so successful that many leaders are afraid to stand up against it, despite knowing that Israel's enemies are our enemies too.
The writer, a former commander of British forces in Afghanistan, was chairman of the UK's national crisis management committee, COBRA.
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