Liveblog (2): Israel under attack

Nov. 13, 15.26 (CET)
Update from our correspondent in Israel, Yochanan Visser

Israeli authorities have revised downward the total number of fatalities from the bloody Hamas invasion on 7 October to 1,200. This after it emerged during the identification of burned bodies that some remains were initially thought to belong to multiple victims. This, after investigation, turned out to be incorrect. Also, the bodies of slain Palestinian Arabs were mistaken for Israelis. In addition, abductees and some missing persons were originally added to the death list.

The Israeli security cabinet decided this morning to ban the Lebanese TV station al-Mayadeen and designate it as a legitimate target in the war against Hezbollah. Al-Mayadeen has become Hezbollah’s mouthpiece, mainly spreading fake news and propaganda.

British rock star Roger Waters has now definitely dropped his mask and proved once again that he is an anti-Semite. After Waters downplayed the genocide of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad and claimed that Israel had fabricated stories about decapitated babies, he said that all Israeli information about 7 October had been ‘disproportionate’. Rogers also claimed that the first four hundred victims of the Hamas massacre were IDF soldiers, and thus the killing of them was not a war crime. Hotels in Argentina, where Rogers is performing a concert this week, subsequently canceled bookings for his band.

Some nine hundred journalists and former reporters signed a petition on Sunday calling on the media to describe Israel’s war against terrorists in Gaza as ‘genocide’. In their letter to the media, the signatories claimed that the press “ignores the Arab narrative and uses inciting language that smacks of Islamophobia and racism”. The media should use accurate terminology when reporting on the war. This includes terms such as ‘apartheid, genocide and ethnic cleansing’ according to the open letter. The media would suffer from a lack of ‘clear morality’, according to the petition.

Well-known British journalist Douglas Murray is not among the signatories of the open letter. Murray saw firsthand the images of the atrocities committed by Hamas and PIJ on Oct. 7. He has given several interviews in which he indicated that the acts of Hamas are worse than those of the SS Einsatzgruppen in World War II or of Islamic terrorists in Africa. Murray has been writing about wars and war crimes for years and said he has never seen anything like it. He especially pointed out the pleasure and even fun that the Hamas and PIJ terrorists displayed during the atrocities they committed. Watch an interview of Murray here:

Chinese officials consulted with regime representatives in Iran on ‘political coordination’ regarding the war against Israel. The talks took place Sunday in Tehran.

Northern front
Hezbollah, aided by Hamas in Lebanon, stepped up its attacks on Israel over the last 24 hours. In all, there were 11 attacks on IDF positions along the border with Lebanon and rocket attacks on Israeli towns and villages in Western Galilee. In those attacks, 17 civilians were wounded, and another was killed by rocket impacts. Some of the rockets launched by the Izz-a-Din al-Qassam Brigade Sunday afternoon from Lebanon were intended for the city of Haifa where vital installations of Israel’s petrochemical industry are located. The rockets did not reach Haifa and exploded in open fields of suburbs of the port city. Hezbollah launched at least five anti-tank rocket attacks on IDF positions along the border with Israel. In the process, one civilian was killed who was carrying out repairs for the Israel Electricity Company near moshav Dovev. Reportedly, four IDF soldiers were also wounded in the anti-tank rocket attacks.

Israel responded to the attacks with airstrikes on Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon and artillery shelling at the sites from which anti-tank missiles were fired. The Israeli air force also attacked an Iranian-sponsored militia in southwestern Syria. This unnamed militia had earlier carried out an unsuccessful drone attack on the beach resort of Eilat, in the far south of Israel.

Meanwhile, the US Air Force (USAF) came into action against escalating drone attacks on US army bases in Syria and Iraq. On Sunday night, a number of positions of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRG) were attacked in the border town of Abu Kamal and other locations in Syria. There is clearly increasing U.S. involvement in the war against Iran’s resistance axis. US Defense Secretary Loydd Austin said Sunday that the attacks on US military personnel in Syria and Iraq must stop if Iran is not to face large-scale US intervention in the Middle East.

Red Sea
According to Arab media, the Ansar Allah militia in Yemen made another attempt to hit Eilat with missiles. Anti-aircraft guns from Saudi Arabia again took out the missiles. This was new evidence that the regime of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is siding with Israel in the war against Iran’s coalition of terror groups and militias. Earlier, Saudi Arabia opposed pro-Hamas resolutions put to a vote at a conference of Islamic countries in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia.

Gaza
The IDF is making slow but steady progress in the ground war against Hamas and PIJ in Gaza. The area around the al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City is now completely in the hands of the IDF and soldiers are less than 300 meters from this hospital where the Hamas headquarters is located. The jihadist terror organization prevented IDF soldiers from delivering fuel to the hospital on Sunday. This happened after Hamas was caught earlier stealing fuel from underground tanks at the hospital. The IDF on Sunday established a corridor east of al-Shifa through which civilians using the hospital as a refugee camp can flee to southern Gaza.

Airstrikes on targets in Gaza, meanwhile, continue nonstop as the IDF advances. Rocket fire from Gaza has decreased significantly since the ground war began, but the possibility remains that Hamas and PIJ are saving their long-range rockets for an offensive at the time the battle for southern Gaza begins. The IDF is still combing northern Gaza, which is completely surrounded. Last night, IDF troops were active in the Beit Hanoun neighborhood in northeast Gaza. They again found large quantities of weapons and operational plans there. For example, a number of weapons and photographs of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Qassem Soleimani, the liquidated commander of the IRG’s Quds Brigade, were found in a children’s room of a PIJ terrorist’s house.

Sunday also revealed further that Hamas and PIJ planned to advance into Judea on Oct. 7, and to occupy more towns in southern Israel. This was evident from operational maps found on the dead bodies of terrorists.

While writing this update, there is another serious escalation on the northern front. According to the IDF, we are now getting closer and closer to offensive action in Lebanon. So far, there have been purely defensive operations and retaliations following attacks from Syria and Lebanon

Nov. 10, 14.21 (CET)
Update from our correspondent in Israel, Yochanan Visser

American military aid to Israel continues to pour into Israel. So far, 123 cargo planes and seven ships carrying weapons and ammunition have arrived in Israel. Among the ammunition that the US delivered to Israel are artillery shells that had been flown from Israel to Ukraine just a few months ago. The 135 mm shells will now be used in Gaza and against Hezbollah in Lebanon. In total, the US has delivered7,000 tons of weapons and ammunition since the war began. These huge arms deliveries indicate that the US and Israel realize this war will not be limited to the fighting we have seen so far. The Iranian regime also realizes this and, through Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, announced that “because of the growing intensity of the war in Gaza, expanding the scope of the war (against Israel) has become inevitable.”

Ha’aretz reporters Gur Megiddo and Hagar Shezaf revealed today that Hamas terrorists used detailed maps based on aerial photographs in the attack on kibbutz Nir Oz. Some of these aerial photos were taken from open sources on the Internet, but Hamas also had information that could only be obtained through espionage. The attack on Nir Oz was extremely carefully prepared, according to the maps found on the bodies of dead terrorists. This is in contrast to Hamas’ traditional, and often primitive, modus operandi.

In early June, Hamas leaders were in Iran where they held talks for days with top leaders of the regime, including Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader. The maps that were found, had been transformed into operational plans like those found in modern armies. It also became clear from the material found that the invasion of southern Israel was originally planned for a working day and not Shabbat.

The Israeli Air Force has so far played a very important role in the war against Palestinian terror groups in Gaza and not only through bombing. The IAF’s White Eagle squadron used a special version of the Heron TP ‘Eithan’ drone to locate targets using a new ‘pod’ (port of debarkation). This ‘pod’ is used to accurately pinpoint a target and allow a missile or grenade to hit its target with high precision. In this way, the squadron could even assist tanks on the ground with precise actions against terrorists and spare the lives of civilians.

Around the Red Sea
After Yemen’s Ansar Allah or Houthi militia carried out two attacks on Eilat on Thursday, another attempt was made to hit the Red Sea resort at 10:30 p.m. last night. A missile was shot out of the sky by a Patriot battery in the Arava desert. Earlier in the day, the Arrow 3 anti-ballistic missile system had shot down a ballistic missile originating in Yemen outside the atmosphere. This was the first time ever that the Arrow 3 carried out such an interception during an attack on Israel. Ansar Allah claimed responsibility for the first two attacks on Eilat, saying it had fired 10 missiles at Israel’s southernmost city. That left open the question of who was responsible for the third attack.

Last night it became clear that a group in Syria had carried out the rocket attack on Eilat. The IAF attacked unspecified targets in Syria in retaliation for the rocket attack. The Shiite militia Harakat Hezbollah al Nujaba, part of the so-called Golan Liberation Brigade, was reportedly responsible for the attack. Shiite militias in Iraq and Syria announced last Wednesday that they were in the highest state of readiness, probably on orders from Ishmail Ghaani, the commander of the Quds Brigade of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Ghaani shuttles back and forth between Damascus and Beirut to oversee the war against Israel.

Gaza
During the night, units of the IDF made progress in encircling Gaza City and in further combing areas in northern Gaza. Reservists from the IDF’s 252nd Division attacked a large Hamas unit engaged in setting traps for the advancing Israeli army.

According to Hamas, five hospitals are now under siege by the IDF in Gaza City. These include al-Shifa hospital where Hamas has established its temporary headquarters in bunkers and tunnels under the hospital. In addition, A-Netzer hospital, A-Rantisi hospital, mental health hospital, and an eye disease clinic are under siege by the IDF in Netzer neighborhood. This may sound like an action that is against the international law of war, but it is not. According to Article 28 of the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention, the presence of protected persons may not be used to make certain places or areas immune from military operations. Medical personnel in a hospital fall under the term “protected persons. However, a 1977 additional protocol to the Geneva Convention says in Article 12, Section 4: “under no circumstances shall a medical facility be used to protect military targets from attack.”

Hamas uses the hospitals in Gaza for military purposes and even fired rockets from those hospitals in the past (roof of al-Shifa). Hamas’ top brass always hid in al-Shifa hospital in the past and is expected to do so now. Al Jazeera the pro-Hamas TV station based in Qatar broadcast images yesterday, apparently by accident, of Hamas terrorists mixing with their weapons among the refugees in al-Shifa.

Large-scale evacuations again took place in Gaza today. The corridor created by the IDF on the Saleh a-Din Road that cuts through Gaza is open four hours a day and allows civilians to flee from the war zone in northern and central Gaza to the south.

IDF soldiers who captured the coastal strip in northern Gaza yesterday found containers full of rockets and rocket launchers on the beach. IDF tanks were spotted this morning in the center of Gaza City. Civilians are now fleeing the city to southern Gaza. The Israeli Navy further destroyed 18 fishing boats during an attack on Khan Younis port. Special units of the IDF also last night eliminated a number of Hamas commanders from the Nukhba unit that was a dominant presence in the massacre committed on Oct. 7.

Northern front
Hezbollah continues today to carry out anti-tank rocket attacks on northern Israel. These attacks led to the decision to cordon off a number of roads in northeastern Israel. Civilians were ordered to remain in shelters. The IDF again responded with artillery shelling of Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon.

Nov. 9, 20.55 (CET)
Update from our correspondent in Israel, Yochanan Visser

The Israeli government has asked the media organizations involved in the ‘photographer scandal’ for clarification. During the horrific massacre perpetrated by Palestinian terrorists on Oct. 7, photographers from AP, CNN, Reuters and The New York Times, among others, were present. They had apparently received advance information about Israel’s impending invasion. One of the photojournalists has since been fired by CNN.

Palestinian Islamic Jihad released a video this afternoon showing two kidnapped Israelis: 76-year-old Hannah Katzir and 12-year-old boy Vigil Yaacov. Jihad says it is considering releasing the two hostages ‘for humanitarian reasons’. Clearly, the Palestinian terror organization is waging a psychological war with the hostages. In Israel, the issue of the hostages is almost as important as the victory over Hamas and PIJ. The number of children being held in Gaza is thirty-eight. One child is still missing.

Gaza
The Israeli army is now three hundred meters away from the al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City. Hamas’ headquarters are located in the underground section of the hospital once built by Israel. The 162nd Division of the IDF, assisted by the Israeli Air Force, attacked the Hamas headquarters near the al-Shifa hospital. The office of Hamas leader Yahiya Sinwar is also located here. Fifty terrorists were killed in the heavy fighting near the hospital, according to the IDF. Important documents were also found in Sinwar’s office, which provide more insight into Hamas’ modus operandi and its terrorist activities. The last barrage of rockets fired from Gaza at southern Israel was four hours ago.

The White House today caused confusion about a ‘humanitarian pause’ in Gaza. According to spokesman John Kirby, there would be a four-hour break every day. This later turned out not to be true. The government in Jerusalem reiterated that there are no combat breaks in Gaza and there will not be any until Hamas and PIJ are defeated. Kirby probably meant the hours set by the IDF each day for free passage of refugees who want to flee to southern Gaza.

Northern front
Northeastern Israel came under fire again in the late afternoon from a large number of rockets coming from southern Lebanon. This occurred after the IDF prevented two attempted anti-tank rocket attacks by shooting Hezbollah terrorists dead. The town of Metulla in the far north of Israel was bombarded with rockets for half an hour; residents were ordered to remain in shelters until further notice. After the rocket shower, a rocket attack on an IDF drone flying over the Har Dov area, east of Metulla, was reported. The IDF again responded with artillery shelling. Later, the air force also swung into action and carried out new bombardments of Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon. This followed mortar shelling by Hezbollah. The IAF has warplanes permanently in the air patrolling over northern Israel.

Front in Judea and Samaria
Fourteen terrorists were killed in the raid in the city of Jenin conducted by the IDF early this morning, according to the Palestinian Authority. This happened after the IDF blew up a terror tunnel with explosives. The soldiers were aided by three unmanned aircraft that took part in the fighting. A firefight also broke out in the city of Nablus between IDF soldiers and local terrorists. It is not yet known if there were any casualties.

Area around Eilat
The city of Eilat in the far south of Israel was the scene of panic and a miracle twice today. At four o’clock this afternoon, Eilat residents were startled by a loud explosion. There was no air alert, but it was later revealed to be a drone attack. The Samad 3 kamikaze drone struck right next to a special education school. There were no children left in the school, but there were members of the team. As if by some miracle, no one was injured. A man who was in the schoolyard escaped with fright after the unmanned aircraft exploded 15 meters away from him.

Tonight around 8 p.m. the air alarm did go off in Eilat. There was panic in the hotels, where thousands of evacuated residents of villages and kibbutzim in northern and southern Israel have been accommodated. The IDF just announced that it had successfully used the Arrow 3 missile to shoot down an approaching long-range missile over the Red Sea. The missile had come from Yemen where the Ansar Allah militia declared war on Israel three weeks ago. The Ansar Allah (Houthis) missiles and drones were supplied by Iran. Iran has been supplying the militia with modern weapons for years. Earlier this week, Ansar Allah shot an American Raptor drone out of the sky over the Red Sea with an SA-6 anti-aircraft missile.

From all this, it is clear that the multi-front war Israel faces is steadily escalating and has the potential to grow into a regional conflict.

Nov. 9, 14.30 (CET)
As Holocaust survivors reflect on Oct. 7 and the ‘global pogrom’ during Israel’s war with Hamas, some Jewish communities avoid commemorating 85 years to the Night of Broken Glass. Read the full article here.

Nov. 9, 14.00 (CET)
Update from our correspondent in Israel, Yochanan Visser

An uproar has arisen in Israel over an investigation by the media monitor Honest Reporting. The US- and UK-based organization published an exposé showing that respected news organizations such as Reuters, Associated Press (AP) and The New York Times used journalists working with Hamas on Oct. 7 during the massacre in southern Israel. These were at least six Palestinian photographers who accompanied Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorists on the morning of Oct. 7 and took pictures of the crimes against humanity they committed.

These press photographers evidently had prior knowledge of the plans of Hamas and PIJ and took photos of the massacre from beginning to end. These photos were then used by the media mentioned above for articles. It goes without saying that this method of reporting goes against the journalistic standards and ethics that AP in particular holds dear. One of the journalists in question is Hassan Eslaiah, who published a photo in which he can be seen with Hamas leader Yahiah Sinwar, kissing him on the cheek. Eslaiah regularly wrote pro-Hamas messages on X (formerly Twitter) and was not recognizable as a journalist when he photographed the terrorists during their war crimes. You can read more here.

In Israel, the Israel Nature and Parks Authority reported that the authorities are now using hawks to search for the remains of Israelis killed on Oct. 7. The deployment of the birds of prey has already led to the discovery of several missing persons, according to a spokesman for the organization.

Gaza
During the night, the IDF again made progress in the effort to recapture all of Gaza after its unilateral withdrawal in the summer of 2005. The army advanced through the coastline and is now close to the fishing port. Infantry and other IDF units are in the Sheikh Ejalin neighborhood in southwest Gaza City. The next neighborhood that will then be besieged is Rimal, an upscale neighborhood with tower blocks and exclusive stores. The destruction in the now captured neighborhoods is enormous and many refugees will have no homes to return to after the war. The IDF is making slow but steady progress under cover of the Air Force and a large number of unmanned aircraft.

The IDF also announced this morning that it has almost completely taken control of northern Gaza from Hamas and PIJ. This followed a 10-hour firefight between soldiers of the Nahal Brigade and Hamas terrorists. However, Hamas and PIJ are still in northern Gaza and are carrying out hit and run attacks. The purpose of their actions is to draw the IDF into a guerrilla war. As the IDF slowly but surely destroys the entire military infrastructure of both terrorist movements, this strategy will not prove sustainable. The real test, however, will be Gaza City where Hamas and PIJ have turned many buildings into bastions of resistance. Satellite photos show the IDF’s tanks surrounding these bastions of resistance and then destroying Hamas and PIJ positions one by one. The terrorists are in possession of large quantities of anti-tank missiles with which they try to disrupt the IDF advance. Because of this obvious danger to IDF soldiers, a decision was probably made last night to eliminate Ibrahim Abu Ma’zib, the commander of Hamas’ anti-tank missile unit. An Israeli Air Force (IAF) warplane launched a rocket at the building where Ma’zib was located and killed the Hamas commander.

Arab sources in Gaza last night also reported fighting near the Rafah border crossing with Egypt in southern Gaza. This could be an indication that the IDF wants to cut off an escape route for terrorists into Egypt. A female refugee in Gaza told Arab TV station Al-Arabiya how she fled south from northern Gaza via the Salah a-Din route. “We were shot at, but not by the Israeli army,” she said.

Thirty-five IDF soldiers have been killed so far in the ground war in Gaza. The IDF estimates the number of Hamas and PIJ terrorists killed at more than two thousand.

Northern front
Hezbollah transferred 1,500 of its fighters from bases in Syria to southern Lebanon. The Hezbollah units came from Syria’s Idlib and Malab provinces, and their place will be taken by Shiite militias that Iran transferred to Syria from Afghanistan and elsewhere. The IAF and also the U.S. Air Force took action against Iran-related targets in Syria during the night from Wednesday to Thursday. The IAF attacked ‘military targets’ in southern Syria from Baalbek in Lebanon, according to the official Syrian news agency SANA. Those military targets were Shiite militias in the Golan Heights border region and a Hezbollah base near Damascus. The Shiite militias – five kilometers from the border with Israel – are still building up troops. The IAF was also constantly active in northern Israel this morning.

The U.S. Air Force also intervened in eastern Syria last night, bombing a military facility of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. This followed a series of drone attacks by Iran-sponsored militias on U.S. bases in both Iraq and Syria. The latest drone attack occurred early in the morning when an unmanned aircraft attacked the U.S. base at al-Hariri in northern Iraq. These attacks are in retaliation for U.S. involvement in the war in Gaza, where Israel is using newly delivered U.S. weapons.

Judea and Samaria
IDF units again entered the town of Jenin in northern Samaria last night. This was accompanied by bulldozers defusing roadside bombs. The army also returned to action in Bethlehem, Ramallah and Nablus (Shechem). In all cases, the IDF actions are intended to decimate the terror infrastructure that Hamas and PIJ have built up in Samaria and Judea with the help of Iran.

Nov. 6, 14.30 (CET)
This is the heroic of story of a group of Israeli-arabs who risked their lives to save Aya and 30-40 other innocents on October 7th.

Nov. 6, 13.47 (CET)
A wake-up call worth watching and sharing

 

Nov. 6, 12.55 (CET)
Update from our correspondent in Israel, Yochanan Visser

Yesterday meant a serious escalation on the northern front. Aircraft of the Israeli Airforce were active all day. Huge thuds of heavy explosions could be heard as far south as the Sea of Galilee. Hezbollah ‘introduced’ a new weapon: the Burkan (Volcano) missile, a short-range missile with a huge explosive warhead. According to the Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Mayadeen TV station, the terror group fired two Burkan missiles at an IDF position in northern Israel. No one was injured. The IDF gives mouthfuls of information about its actions in northern Israel and southern Lebanon. Indeed, Hezbollah closely follows everything published in Israel about the war.

Hezbollah again fired anti-tank missiles at the kibbutzim of Misgav Am and Avivim, as well as the Arab village of Jal al-Deir. The Iranian-sponsored terror group also attempted to attack Israel with a kamikaze drone. The unmanned aircraft was shot out of the sky by the IDF before it reached Israel. On Sunday night, 12 rockets were fired at the area around the town of Kiryat Shmonah, in the far north of Israel. Following that, many roads in the north were cordoned off as it appeared that more rocket attacks would follow. Iron Dome shot most of the rockets out of the sky. Nevertheless, three rockets reached their target, destroying three homes and a car. Only one family was home, and fortunately they remained unharmed by staying in their bomb shelter.

An Israeli civilian was killed Sunday afternoon by a Kornet anti-tank missile when his car was hit. The incident took place near kibbutz Yiftach. An IAF Yagur helicopter transferred the seriously wounded civilian to a hospital in the north, but it was too late. Lebanese and Hezbollah media claimed that Israeli artillery fire had hit a car carrying four civilians, wounding a mother, and killing her three children. Hezbollah accused Israel of a ‘barbaric act’ and said it was a serious escalation that would not go unanswered. However, the entire report about the mother and her three children was a lie. While Hezbollah was trying to peddle this propaganda to the foreign media, the IDF reported that an unmanned aircraft had strafed a car carrying four terrorists, killing them. Photos of the destroyed vehicle, published by both Hezbollah and the IDF, were identical and made it clear that the car had been destroyed by a drone.

Hezbollah says 65 Hezbollah fighters have been killed since Oct. 7; the IDF estimates the number at more than two hundred.

Iran’s Defense Minister, Mohammed Reza Ashtiani, warned the U.S. yesterday that a cease-fire in Gaza must be immediate. If not, the U.S. would be hit hard. This threat followed a warning from the Iran-backed al-Hashd al-Sha’abi mantle organization of Shiite militias in Iraq. Al-Hashd al-Sha’abi announced Saturday that its actions against U.S. bases in Iraq would be expanded if U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken did not broker a cease-fire in Gaza. Blinken is currently in the Middle East for consultations with Arab leaders. He was also in Israel.

The United States responded to this threat with a clear warning, according to sources in Israel. Any expansion of the current conflict with Israel by Hezbollah or Iran will immediately lead to action by the U.S. military, Washington informed the Tehran regime and Hezbollah. At the same time, the US stationed a nuclear submarine in the Mediterranean Sea. US forces in Iraq and Syria are now increasingly under attack by militias sponsored by Iran. Every day an average of three drone attacks take place on US military bases in the said countries.

This morning, residents of the villages and kibbutzim around Kiryat Shmonah were again urged to go to the shelters and stay there until further notice. The sound of Israeli artillery was clearly audible in the northeastern Galilee and on the Golan Heights. Some of the evacuated families have now returned to their homes because they are no longer financially able to afford the cost of alternative housing. The state should have helped them, but chaos reigns in the offices of the agencies in charge of relief efforts, while the release of funds at the state level is slow.

Gaza
The IDF and IAF again made significant progress yesterday in the fight against Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Gaza. 450 targets were attacked in Gaza, both in the north and in Gaza City. Last night another intense bombardment was carried out against Hamas and PIJ targets in northern Gaza and Gaza City. Both the IAF and the Israeli Navy participated in the bombing. Several Hamas and PIJ commanders were liquidated. The Israeli government has a list containing the names and whereabouts of all the commanders who took part in the Black Shabbat massacre on Oct. 7. These terrorists will all be tracked down and eliminated has informed the government in Jerusalem.

The Israeli army has once again created an evacuation corridor where Palestinian civilians can flee to the south of the Gaza Strip under the protection of IDF soldiers. Also today, this corridor is open from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. After mediation by the US government, 100 trucks carrying humanitarian aid now enter southern Gaza every day. IDF soldiers found oxygen equipment intended for the terror tunnels under boxes of food yesterday.

The most difficult part of the ground war has now begun with thousands of soldiers moving into the neighborhoods of Gaza City, going from house to house looking for terrorists and weapons. Hamas is using hospitals as hideouts or even command centers. The IDF published video footage yesterday showing terrorists firing at Israeli positions around the hospital from a window in the Indonesian hospital in Jabalya. It was also revealed that about two hundred Hamas terrorists fled to al-Shifa hospital to prepare new actions against the IDF. The army has now surrounded the hospital. According to international law of war, hospitals used as military facilities become legitimate targets in times of war.

The IDF officially announced last night that the Gaza Strip is now split into two parts. Internet and telecommunications within Gaza were again not functioning following Sunday’s Israeli bombing. Sources in Gaza now say connections are slowly being restored.

Nov. 3, 16.09 (CET)

Young people from Ukraine on their way to Israel – despite the war

Nov. 3, 14.00 (CET)
Update from our correspondent in Israel, Yochanan Visser

After Yemen, Algeria has now declared war on Israel. What this means in military terms is difficult to say. Unlike the Ansar Allah militia, Algeria does not possess state-of-the-art weapons and is not part of the Iranian resistance axis. Algeria though could attack Israeli ships in the Mediterranean.

In Iraq, the main Iranian-backed militia Katai’ib Hezbollah issued a statement announcing that next week will ‘be a new phase of attacks on the enemy’. Other Shiite militias in Iraq that are part of the umbrella organization Hashd al-Sha’abi are very likely to join Katai’ib Hezbollah.

In Syria, Sunni rebels are preparing for a major offensive in case Hezbollah launches a major attack on Israel with its arsenal of 200,000 rockets and other projectiles. Sunni rebels in Idlib province see the war against Israel as an excellent opportunity to remove the regime of dictator Bashar al-Assad.

In Syria and Iraq, more and more drone attacks on U.S. army bases continue to be reported. The latest drone attack on an American base was in Iraqi Kurdistan, where ‘unknowns’ used a kamikaze drone against American soldiers there. In fact, the war has turned into a regional war already. Several groups or countries are expected to join the terror groups currently fighting Israel.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken landed in Israel this morning. He immediately made it clear upon arrival that his main focus is with the humanitarian situation in Gaza and the civilians there. Binken also said he remains focused on the Two State Solution to the conflict with the Palestinian Arabs, something that is clearly completely off the table now in Israel after the Hamas atrocities on Oct. 7. The Americans have remotely piloted aircraft in the skies over Gaza, assisting in locating the hostage Israelis. The U.S. military also has two thousand soldiers from elite units stationed in the Middle East, and an armada of warships off the coast of Israel and in the Mediterranean Sea.

Gaza
Heavy fighting was again reported last night between Golani Brigade soldiers and terrorist cells in the Gaza Strip. The terrorists again used sophisticated roadside bombs and anti-tank rockets to halt the IDF advance. In some cases, they also climbed onto armored vehicles and tanks, but the attacks were repelled, and the terrorists killed. Four more IDF soldiers were killed in the fighting last night. This brings the total of IDF soldiers killed since Oct. 7 last year to more than 340, the largest loss since the Yom Kippur War of October 1973.

Front in heartland of Israel
Violent actions are expected again today by Palestinian Arabs in Judea and Samaria. Hamas again called for a ‘day of rage’. Last night, at least eight terrorists were killed in several firefights with the IDF in Samaria and Judea. IDF soldiers also conducted another raid in the town of Jenin. The soldiers were supported by the Israeli Air Force, which carried out several airstrikes on terror infrastructure in the city. IDF bulldozers further cleared roads of improvised roadside bombs.
After the raid, pamphlets were strewn over Jenin from an aircraft instructing residents to stay away from the activities of local terror movements. ‘Stay away from terrorism and live in peace’, was the slogan in the pamphlet.

The northern front
After the chaos yesterday afternoon, when numerous rockets were fired at Israeli villages and towns in northern Israel, and Hezbollah carried out 19 attacks on IDF positions, last night was relatively calm. Silence before the storm?
Only two incidents were reported last night along the Lebanon-Israel border. The Israeli Air Force attacked a Hezbollah terror cell that was about to launch an anti-tank missile. Two IDF soldiers were wounded during a defensive action in the Har Dov area, east of the town of Metulla in far northern Israel.

Nov. 3, 10.17 (CET)

We all remember the video of Noa Argamani, seated on the back of a motorcycle behind her Hamas captor, begging not to be killed. She became the symbol of the hostages taken into Gaza. C4I spoke to her college friends Ofir and Amit, who travel the world to call for attention to Noa and the fate of the hostages.

Nov. 2, 20.45 (CET)
Update from our correspondent in Israel, Yochanan Visser

Gaza
The Israeli army’s ground operation in northern Gaza continued unabated last night. Soldiers of the Golani Brigade were engaged in prolonged firefights with terror cells using anti-tank rockets and throwing grenades. Roadside bombs and rockets were also used against the advancing Israeli army now on the outskirts of Gaza City.

With the help of IDF artillery, the Israeli Air Force, and the navy, dozens of terrorists were killed. The religious Nahal unit also participated in the fighting as well as hundreds of reservists. The IDF is only a few hundred meters away from the Mediterranean Sea and splitting Gaza into two parts. An IDF soldier was killed in the fighting last night.

It was further announced today that a total of 242 kidnapped Israelis have now been identified. They are being held across Gaza by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Nothing is known about their condition.

Last night, President Joe Biden called for a humanitarian cease-fire to get the ‘prisoners’ out of Gaza. It is entirely unclear how the president would plan to do this. The abductees are Hamas’ main weapon in its fight against Israel, and the abduction of these mostly Israeli civilians was a top priority for the nearly three thousand terrorists who carried out the bloody invasion of southern Israel on Oct. 7. The US reportedly sent a special US Army unit to Israel to ‘advise’ the IDF and Israel’s intelligence services on the hostage issue. Thirteen hostages have U.S. citizenship. There are also a number of hostages who hold U.S. passports in addition to Israeli citizenship. The Pentagon explicitly stated that the U.S. Marines are not participating in the war against Hamas.

The northern front
Residents of villages and kibbutzim in the area bordering Lebanon are anxiously wondering about the next phase in the war against the Iranian resistance axis. The estimated 120,000 Israeli citizens evacuated from villages and towns in the border region with Lebanon have been deprived of their homes. These civilians were removed from the border area because of fears that Hezbollah might also launch an invasion.

Nasrallah will deliver a speech to the Lebanese people tomorrow. Rumors are circulating in Lebanon that the Hezbollah leader will announce the expansion of the conflict with Israel.

Last night, Hezbollah again carried out attacks on IDF positions along the border with rockets and anti-tank weapons. In response, the IDF shelled two Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon. Early this morning, Hezbollah fired a rocket at an unmanned Israeli reconnaissance aircraft. This occurred after the Israeli Air Force bombed Hezbollah targets in the area around the Israeli town of Metulla last night. The IDF also carried out attacks on the Shiite force that Iran has stationed on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights, less than ten kilometers from the Israeli border. Artillery was fired at a militia near the town of Daraa in Syria.

The fourth front: Judea and Samaria
An Israeli civilian was murdered this morning in Samaria. The 31-year-old man was shot in the head while driving on Route 553. His car then overturned. This was the most serious incident in the area. Elsewhere in Samaria, a shootout took place between IDF soldiers and terrorists near the Palestinian town of Qalqilya. Three terrorists were shot dead in the process. Another violent riot took place in the city of Nablus in which shots were fired at an IDF checkpoint. Since Oct. 7, more than 100 Palestinian Arabs have been killed in terrorist activities in Judea and Samaria.

The fifth front: Yemen
After the Shiite militia Ansar Allah published a video yesterday of the recent rocket and drone attacks on the Red Sea city of Eilat, it was revealed today that this had been a drill of sorts. The Iranian-sponsored militia is now threatening to attack Israeli ships in the Red Sea. Israel should take such threats seriously, as Ansar Allah has always turned its threats into actions in the past. Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, has rejected a request from Yemen not to take action against Ansar Allah missiles and drones. Jordan has also threatened Ansar Allah with action if it again violates Jordanian airspace in its war against Israel.

Nov. 2, 15.30 (CET)

‘Did we ever have talks with the Nazis?’

Nov. 2, 10.15 (CET)

Israel violates international law, uses excessive military force, commits war crimes and collectively punishes the citizens of Gaza. In recent weeks, we have heard these accusations constantly on (social) media and in politics. But are they true? An interview with lawyer Andrew Tucker, Director General of thinc., a global network of academics specialized in international law.

Nov. 2, 09.45 (CET)
Update from our correspondent in Israel, Yochanan Visser

Foreign media are increasingly publishing stories about the Hamas massacre in Israel on Oct. 7. CNN spoke with two paramedics from Eichoed Hetsalah in Israel, an organization that provides first aid. The two said that in all the years they have been doing this work, they had never seen anything like it. A nine-year-old child whose arm had been cut off, death and blood everywhere. CNN also visited an emergency mortuary where IDF teams are still trying to identify victims, nearly a month after the massacre. These Israeli forensic experts also showed continued shock and were very emotional as they recounted their experiences.

The identified victims are buried in coffins, something that is very unusual in Israel. This is due to the fact that a large number of the victims are mutilated or their bodies incomplete. Yesterday, members of the Knesset saw a 40-minute compilation of the raw footage from Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7. Some parliamentarians burst into tears and could no longer watch the footage. Among them was Arab Knesset member Mansour Abbas of the Ra’am Party.

Gaza
Yesterday’s disaster in the Jabalya refugee camp continues to occupy minds. Residents of the refugee camp told how several minutes after an attack by the Israeli air force on the Hamas headquarters in Jabalya, the ground began to collapse under their homes. In response, entire buildings collapsed. The craters in the ground were not caused by the airstrike, but by collapsed tunnels under the Hamas headquarters.

Russia Today published a short documentary about the tunnels of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). The documentary shows that the tunnels that Hamas and PIJ now have at their disposal are very professionally built and provide shelter for months at a time. The PIJ terrorists seen in the film have full military equipment and modern weapons.

The IDF gives very little information about its actions in Gaza and there is an obvious reason for this. By withholding information about the troops’ actions, the IDF makes it more difficult for Hamas and PIJ to properly prepare for defensive actions. The element of surprise is an important weapon in this urban warfare. IDF units have now reached the outskirts of Gaza City, which will make warfare more complicated. The Israeli army is using new systems and armored vehicles to better protect soldiers from attack. For example, the Merkava tanks have a so-called ‘wind jacket’ that makes the tanks’ visibility to the enemy almost impossible. So far, this system has succeeded in repelling any attack with anti-tank missiles. No tank has been lost so far.

Nevertheless, fourteen IDF soldiers have been killed so far since the ground operation began. The IDF’s operational plan for war in Gaza was completely revised after Oct. 7. The new plan was drafted in two weeks and appears to contain many out-of-the-box elements. Some Hamas leaders, meanwhile, continue to stubbornly deny that crimes against humanity were committed on Oct. 7. They also had the audacity to say that it is not Hamas but Israel and the United Nations that are responsible for the population in Gaza. Chazi Hamad, the head of Hamas’ political wing, said during an interview that Hamas is planning more mass killings for the future. The Oct. 7 attack was only the first of several. The entire interview showed that Hamas lives on hatred for Jews and Israel, which must be destroyed. A Hamas leader earlier stormed out of an interview with the BBC after being asked a question about the Oct. 7 massacre. According to the Hamas leader, there was no intention to kill civilians or take Israelis hostage.

Rockets were again fired from Gaza yesterday at towns and villages in southern Israel. What is clear, however, is that IDF and IAF actions have had the effect of greatly reducing the number of rocket attacks.

Northern front
There were relatively few Hezbollah attacks on Israel yesterday. Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV station reported two anti-missile attacks on IDF positions that were met with artillery shelling. Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Makati said at a cabinet meeting today that Lebanon has had enough of wars and is ready for peace. His remarks should be placed in the context of international efforts to prevent an extension of the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel. All eyes are now on Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who will address the Lebanese people in a speech tomorrow. Nasrallah has so far been unusually quiet about the war between Hamas and Israel.

There are rumors that Nasrallah will officially declare war on Israel tomorrow (Nov. 3). Hezbollah has so far lost more than 50 men in the conflict with Israel and publishes greatly exaggerated figures about the success of its attacks on the IDF.

Fifth front in Yemen
Ansar Allah, the Iranian-sponsored Shiite militia in Yemen, published a video yesterday showing drone shelling of the city of Eilat in Israel’s far south earlier in the week. The quality of the weapons, two ballistic missiles and a dozen suicide drones, showed that this militia poses a serious threat to Israel. Hamas, for example, does not have ballistic missiles or the type of drone seen in Ansar Allah’s video. The launch was accompanied by proclamations of death to Israel. Ansar Allah further announced that more attacks on Israel are being prepared.

Nov. 1, 12.25 (CET)

With adults off to war, Israeli teens are stepping up in their communities. Thousands have been organizing independently and through youth groups to volunteer to babysit, deliver art supplies to kids home from school and prepare food for soldiers. Read the full article here.

Nov. 1, 11.38 (CET)
Update from our correspondent in Israel, Yochanan Visser

Gaza
The Israeli army is now in control of the major thoroughfare (Saleh a Din) that runs right through Gaza. This means that Hamas has been deprived of a key supply line for weapons etc. IDF troops are now on the outskirts of Gaza City and encountered considerable resistance. In the Jabalya refugee camp in northern Gaza, the Israeli Air Force and IDF launched a major offensive in which, reportedly, 50 Hamas terrorists and two IDF soldiers were killed. Hamas, however, reported another IDF massacre in which hundreds of Palestinian Arabs were reportedly killed. What is now certain is that a tunnel complex under Jabalya was bombed and the buildings above the tunnels then collapsed. Many people were buried under the rubble. The IDF reported an extensive attack on Hamas’ command center in Jabalya, located in a residential area near the Indonesian hospital. Hamas has been trying to put out the lie since Monday that the IAF also bombed the hospital, but this time the international media are cautious in their coverage of it.

In the attack on Jabalya, top Hamas commander Ibrahim Biari was also killed. He was partly responsible for the crimes of Hamas’ Nukhba elite unit that led the attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7. The number of rockets fired from Gaza into Israel yesterday was considerably less than the previous days. Yesterday afternoon, in the port city of Ashdod, five Israeli civilians were wounded when the building in which they live was hit by a rocket.

The fifth front
The Iranian-sponsored Ansar Allah (Houthis) militia has now officially declared war on Israel. The terror group attacked Israel’s far south twice yesterday. The first time was yesterday morning when the city of Eilat was attacked with two Kamikaze drones intercepted by the IDF. The second time was yesterday afternoon when the Arrow anti-missile system intercepted a ballistic missile over Ramon Airport, ten kilometers outside Eilat. IDF spokesman Daniel Harari responded laconically to the declaration of war, saying that the army is now focusing on Hamas in Gaza and will deal with Ansar Allah later.

The northern front
The town of Metulla in the far north of Israel was again rocked by the air alert last night. Mortar shells were fired at the town from Lebanon. The IAF responded with a rocket attack on Aitaroun in southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah reported three anti-tank rocket attacks yesterday on IDF posts along the border with Israel. However, the IDF did not report these attacks. The Lebanese terror group is Iran’s biggest asset and is being held back until there is more clarity on the fate of Hamas.

Yesterday’s real news about the situation in northern Israel came from the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI). This Israeli research organization reported that there are multiple signs that Iran is going to open a front on the Golan Heights. According to MEMRI, tens of thousands of Shiite militia members have taken up positions along the border with Israel on the orders of Ishmail Gha’ani – the commander of Iran’s Quds Brigade. Only sporadic rocket and mortar shells have been fired at Israeli villages in the Golan Heights so far.

Arabs in Israel
The Arab population in Israel is in a difficult situation. On the one hand, a significant portion of Israeli Arabs identify with their Palestinian brethren. On the other hand, they distance themselves in large numbers from Hamas and the way Hamas operated on Oct. 7. There are Hamas supporters among them, and a small group are members of Islamic State (Daesh). Yesterday it was announced that the Israeli Internal Security Service Shin Bet arrested a trio of Israeli Arabs who wanted to carry out attacks inside Israel on behalf of Daesh. The three are residents of Galilee.

However, there are others, such as Abd Elgani Aballah, who is head of the mortuary at Ramban Hospital in Haifa. This Arab left his job on Oct. 8 and traveled to the Gaza area. There he has since been helping to identify the many dead who have been mutilated almost beyond recognition.

Nov. 1, 10.10 (CET)
On October 7, 1,400 men, women, children and babies were murdered by Hamas terrorists who went door to door butchering entire families. There is now an interactive map, which provides a comprehensive representation of the atrocities committed by Hamas on that day. The map shows the names and ages of the victims and where they were killed.

Oct. 31, 16.30 (CET)

Israel and Hamas – A conflict between brothers?

Oct. 31, 12.11 (CET)
Update from our correspondent in Israel, Yochanan Visser

Gaza
The Israeli army has stepped up the pace of its ground operation in Gaza after the cautious progress of the first two days of the ground war. Tanks and armored vehicles began the encirclement of Gaza City and captured a part of the important Salah al-Din Road that runs through Gaza. The IDF announced that the army had eliminated groups of Hamas terrorists who were trying to stop the advance. The soldiers on the ground received help from the Israeli Air Force (IAF) who used helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles to carry out attacks on Hamas positions in northern Gaza. Hamas has a relatively small presence in this area, which was further reduced by weeks of IAF bombing.

The IDF’s advances have not yet been able to end the rocket fire on Israel, but it is expected that they will eventually. Since Hamas came to power in Gaza in 2007, tens of thousands of rockets have been fired at Israel. Yesterday, two salvos were fired at central Israel and also one at the city of Beer Sheva, in the northern Negev Desert. Jerusalem and Gush Etzion were also bombarded with rockets.

After IDF soldiers found mortal remains of kidnapped Shani Nicole Louk, a 23-year-old woman previously seen in an unconscious state in a Hamas video, in northern Gaza, Hamas published a video showing three other female hostages yesterday afternoon. The women were in good health, according to Hamas, but it was clear from their words and body language that they felt intimidated. The video was dismissed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as pure propaganda and as psychological warfare. Last night, the IDF announced succeeded in freeing a kidnapped female soldier: Ori Magidish, who was kidnapped along with other soldiers from an observation unit on Oct. 7. She was in good health, and reunited with her family. The IDF also found the body of a 16-year-old hostage in Gaza: Alina Falhati.

Meanwhile, news about the wealth of Hamas and its leaders continue to surface. The German newspaper Die Welt published data yesterday showing that Hamas has built an economic empire outside Gaza, worth at least seven hundred million dollars. The companies that make up this empire are in Turkey, Qatar, Algeria, Sudan, and the United Arab Emirates. Hamas leader Khaled Mashal is one of the richest Hamas leaders, having an estimated fortune of five billion (!) dollars. Mashal lives in Qatar and accused Hezbollah of not doing more for Hamas in Gaza. Hezbollah hates Mashal as he sided with the Sunni rebels during the civil war in Syria.

Yesterday, we also received new information about the atrocities committed by Hamas’ terrorists on Oct. 7. Journalist Marina Medvin posted on her X-page a message about what she had seen during the presentation of raw video footage taken by Hamas terrorists during the massacre in southern Israel. Medvin described the gruesome murder of a baby and its mother, who was raped a then shot to death by Hamas terrorists. This after they had previously shot the father. I will spare you the shocking details further.

Front in Judea and Samaria
The IDF conducted another raid on the terror stronghold of Jenin in northern Samaria. By the end of the operation, 51 terrorists had been arrested, 38 of whom were Hamas members. In Hebron, the IDF distributed pamphlets warning residents of the city to hand over their weapons to the Israeli army. If not, they could suffer the same fate as their brothers in Gaza, the IDF warned.

A well-known Palestinian commentator said on official PA TV-channels that Arabs in PA-controlled areas should clean up the “Jewish garbage.” Shortly thereafter, another stabbing attack was reported in Jerusalem. The terrorist was shot dead after stabbing a police officer. The officer was hospitalized with serious injuries.

Northern front
Hezbollah attacks on IDF positions in northern Israel continued yesterday. According to Hezbollah TV station Al-Manar, Hezbollah carried out three attacks with anti-tank missiles on IDF positions. The town of Metulla in the far north of Israel was attacked by Hezbollah with machine guns. The town is currently depopulated as it borders Lebanon. Rosh Hanikra, on the other side of northern Galilee, was targeted with rockets, while several IDF observation posts along the border with Lebanon were shelled with mortar shells. The IDF and IAF carried out retaliatory attacks in Lebanon.

Attacks by Shiite militias on US positions in Syria also continued yesterday as well. US soldiers were fired upon three times by unmanned aircraft in the Kurdish-controlled part of Syria. This brings the total number of Iran-orchestrated attacks on US positions in Iraq and Syria to 23 since the start of the war in Israel.

Oct. 30, 15.55 (CET)

230 empty beds in front of the City Hall in Jerusalem symbolize the kidnapped people, following the Hamas attack on October 7, who are currently being held by Hamas in Gaza.

Oct. 30, 15.40 (CET)
Update from our correspondent in Israel, Yochanan Visser
On Saturday, the long-awaited ground war in Gaza began. Units of the Israeli army entered Gaza in two locations and slowly captured territory. This was not a ‘Blitzkrieg’, but rather a carefully prepared offensive. Its purpose is to purge Gaza of any Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) presence. This is expected to take several months.

In northern Israel, there has been a steady escalation with rocket attacks on Israeli towns and villages in northern Galilee and the Golan Heights. These attacks are being carried out from Lebanon and Syria.

Then there is the fourth front in Judea and Samaria, which now includes Jerusalem. The fifth front is formed by the Ansar Allah militia in Yemen, from which at least four attacks on Israel have been launched in the past 10 days. The war also has global repercussions and has caused a sharp rise in antisemitic incidents. There are also massive pro-Palestinian demonstrations in various countries around the world.

Gaza
The IDF is steadily expanding its ground operation in Gaza, receiving large-scale assistance from the Israeli Air Force (IAF). A total of 650 targets were attacked in Gaza since Saturday night and dozens of terrorists were killed. The IDF also announced yesterday that every effort will be made to liquidate or capture Hamas leader Yahiyah Sinwar. Three Israeli soldiers were wounded in ground operations in Gaza. One of them is mortally wounded.

The Israeli military and the government in Jerusalem again made clear that the ground offensive has two explicit goals. First, to topple the Hamas regime in Gaza and second, to free the hostages held by Hamas and PIJ in various locations in Gaza. During the first phase of the ground war, the IAF brought special units in civilian clothes to Gaza on the night of Friday to Saturday to gather intelligence on the whereabouts of the now 239 hostages. These soldiers spoke fluent Arabic with a Palestinian accent and mingled among the civilian population.

The number of hostages continues to rise, as about 50 are still missing. People are still working to identify the often completely mutilated bodies of the murdered Israelis. It has also been decided to temporarily bury the bodies of the victims who have not been identified so far, pending further investigation.

The IDF conducted its first operation yesterday in southern Gaza, where some 700,000 Palestinian Arabs have taken shelter in UN aid agency UNRWA buildings, hospitals and mosques. Hamas, through propaganda channels on social media, is trying to create the impression that the Israeli army is deliberately attacking the area around the hospitals in Gaza. Hamas also continuously publishes on these channels photos and videos of killed children that are dramatically shown to reporters. Hamas also compiled a list of slain reporters (39) allegedly killed during Israeli attacks.

On Instagram, Hamas published a strong example of Pallywood (Palestinian fake videos, ed.). One video shows the white sheet-covered’ corpses’ of dozens of ‘victims.’ Suddenly, however, one of these ‘dead’ moves under its sheet. This propaganda apparently does not miss its effect on the masses outside Israel and has already led to violent actions against Jews and Israelis abroad. In Dagestan, Russia, an attempt was made to lynch Israelis traveling by plane from Tel Aviv to Moscow. The shocking incident eventually ended with no casualties, but it was telling of the wave of Israel hatred sweeping the Muslim world.

Israel has restored water supplies to southern Gaza after American pressure and is also letting more trucks carrying humanitarian aid into Gaza. This happened after UNRWA warehouses were stormed and looted on Sunday. Hamas has huge stocks of food and other supplies but is not giving them to the civilian population. Rocket attacks on Israel from Gaza continued despite the IDF invasion. Ben Gurion airport and towns in central Israel were shelled again. The city of Beer Sheva and villages and towns around Gaza were also targeted.

The northern front
The situation on Israel’s northern front escalated significantly last Sunday. Initially, Hezbollah and Hamas limited their operations in southern Lebanon to infiltrations and attacks with anti-tank rockets and drones. That has now changed. Rockets were fired at towns and villages in northern Israel. The rocket fired at Haifa was intercepted by Iron Dome. The same was true of the town of Rosh Pina, ten kilometers north of the Sea of Galilee. The rocket attacks (18) were claimed by the El-Fajr group, which is part of Jamaa al-Islamiya, a jihadist movement also active in Syria.

During the rocket attacks, loud explosions were heard in northern Israel. The Israeli army first responded with airstrikes on Hezbollah targets deep in Lebanese territory and again used artillery to destroy the rocket launchers. The IDF also shelled Shiite militias in the border area on the Golan Heights that have been raised up to ten kilometers from the border with Israel. These militias also launched rockets at Israeli communities on the Golan Heights, but these missed their target or were shot out of the sky by Iron Dome.

Attacks by Shiite militias on the U.S. military in Syria and Iraq also escalated Sunday. The number of attacks now stands at 20. On the night from Sunday to Monday, a convoy of American trucks was attacked in the border town of Abu Kamal in northern Iraq. Later, the Amr gas field guarded by U.S. military personnel in eastern Syria was attacked by the same militias. The U.S. military, meanwhile, continues troop buildup and transferred a rapid intervention unit to Iraq.

Front in central Israel
Hamas is calling on Palestinian Arabs in Judea and Samaria to launch more attacks against the IDF and Jewish communities in Israel’s heartland. An IDF raid in the town of Jenin killed a PIJ commander. Furthermore, attempts are now being made by Israeli Arabs to terrorize Jews in Jerusalem. The Pisqat Ze’ev neighborhood in northeast Jerusalem was attacked Sunday from the neighboring Shafuat refugee camp. The leaders of Jewish communities in what is called Josh in Israel (acronym for Judea and Samaria) are now calling on the IDF and the Israeli government to greatly improve the security of these villages. The male residents of these villages are on the front lines and their wives fear a repeat of what happened in southern Israel on Oct. 7.

The fifth front
The Iran-backed Ansar Allah or Houthi militia in Yemen launched a new attack on Israel on Sunday with a ballistic missile. The missile was shot out of the sky by the U.S. Navy shortly after its launch.

Gideon Saar, a war cabinet minister, then wrote a letter to Yoav Galant, Israel’s defense minister demanding that Galant officially declare war on Ansar Allah. This would allow the IAF to bomb targets in Yemen.

More news later today on the multi-front war Israel is facing. This war is being coordinated by Ishmail Ghaani, the commander Of the Quds Brigade of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Ghaani is in Damascus and in constant contact with the leadership of the various leaders of the militias and terror movements that make up the Iranian ‘resistance axis’.