Israel - Palestinian militants launch massive attack, 7 Oct 2023 #11

[JennieM]

Medical staff 'besieged' at another hospital​

We have an update to bring you on another of Gaza's medical facilities, too.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) says its medical teams at al-Ahli hospital are “besieged” - reporting heavy gunfire and Israeli tanks stationed nearby.

Last night, we reported on PRCS saying that its teams were trapped at the hospital amid explosions and "intense gunfire".

The BBC is unable to verify exactly what is happening on the ground, which is being made especially difficult by ongoing communications outages across the Gaza Strip.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-middle-east-67446662

 

[Vern]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1725545064447856808

And it continues...

Yep; the IDF is going to be there a while.

 

[JennieM]

Israel must offer 'a political horizon', says ex-prime minister​

Joe Inwood
International correspondent, BBC Newsnight


BBCCopyright: BBC

I’d arranged to meet Israel's former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who was in office from 2006 to 2009, to discuss the withdrawal from Gaza of 2005, which he had overseen.

However, the conversation soon turned to the future of the Strip, as well as his fierce rival Benjamin Netanyahu.

Speaking in his Tel Aviv office, Olmert blamed the current prime minister for security failings that led to the 7 October attacks. Netanyahu has said everyone will be held accountable, including himself.

It is on the subject of the future of Gaza, as well as the occupied West Bank, that Olmert was most forceful.

He told me, “once Hamas had been destroyed”, an international peacekeeping force must come in to take over “for a short period of time”.

This would then allow the Palestinian authority to eventually take over from them, rather “than from Israeli bayonets”.

In return, he said Israel must offer “a political horizon” in the form of a two-state solution, the internationally backed formula for peace envisioning an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel. His proposal would involve the withdrawal of Israeli settlers from almost all of the occupied West Bank.

This call will undoubtedly be highly controversial in many parts of Israeli society. The settler movement is increasingly powerful and emboldened.

He acknowledged his plan would lead to confrontation, but said if action was not taken, “then Israel will become a binational state that will forever live with internal conflict, friction, terror and hatred”.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-middle-east-67446662

 

[PommyMommy]

1min ago

Death count from massacre at Re’im music festival reportedly updated to 364 — a third of Oct. 7 deaths​

An ongoing police investigation into the Hamas massacre of the Re’im music festival on October 7 has updated the death count to 364, which would make up nearly one-third of all of those killed during the onslaught in Israel, Channel 12 reports.

Earlier counts had placed the death count in Re’im at 270.

The security establishment’s current assessment is that Hamas was unaware of the music festival in the lead-up to the massacre, Channel 12 reports.

 

[IDK]

“The NYPD hate crimes unit is investigating two assaults in Brooklyn that appear to be over the Israel-Hamas war. ”
“In one incident, police said suspects riding in three cars were waving Israeli flags and started yelling anti-Palestinian remarks at three men walking on 86th Street near 4th Avenue in Bay Ridge at around 11:30 p.m.

The men walking yelled something to the effect of "Free Palestine," before the group got out of the cars and punched and kicked one of them, an 18-year-old.”

“The three men, ages 18 to 21, are of Arab or Palestinian descent, police said. They refused medical attention and are expected to be OK.”

“It happened hours after a 34-year-old man holding a Palestinian flag was attacked in Williamsburg, police said.”

NYPD: Group waving Israeli flags accused of attacking 3 men in possible anti-Palestinian hate crime in Brooklyn

According to police, it started when suspects riding in cars were waving Israeli flags and started yelling anti-Palestinian remarks at three men walking by.

www.cbsnews.com

 

[JennieM]

27m ago

Gloria Oladipo

More protests demanding a ceasefire in Gaza were under way in the US on Friday morning, with police breaking up crowds and arresting demonstrators in various locations.

New York police on Friday arrested pro-Palestine supporters who occupied the headquarters of News Corp, the media company that owns the Fox News channel and the Wall Street Journal and New York Post newspapers, according to clips posted on social media.

Dozens of demonstrators gathered in the News Corp lobby, chanting, “Shame” and “Fox News … you can’t hide. Your lies cover up genocide.”

https://twitter.com/x/status/1725526161151688800

Pro-ceasefire demonstrators were also arrested on Friday in New York City after blocking the entrance to the headquarters building for BNY Mellon, a corporate investment company, which they said holds shares in weapons supply for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

More protests are expected on Friday and throughout the weekend in New York, Chicago and other major US cities. Such demonstrations come as recent polling shows that US public support for Israel is dropping, while the Hamas authorities in Gaza reported on Friday that more than 12,000 Palestinians, overwhelmingly civilians and mostly women and children, had now been killed since Israel declared war on Hamas in October.

Israeli forces ‘determined to advance’, says military – as it happened

Daniel Hagari’s comments come amid mounting concerns about Israeli plans to expand military operations where people have sought refuge from fighting

www.theguardian.com

 

[Dotta]

"The Israeli Air Force showed off its
F-16 fighter with the special SPICE-2000 bomb,

which is one of the most powerful weapons the Israelis have in their arsenal.



On its social media, the Israeli Air Force showed a photo of a fighter with a distinctive weapon.

As experts from the OSINTtechnical channel pointed out, this is the first time in the ongoing conflict that we can see an
Israeli F-16 with a SPICE-2000 bomb.

At the same time, OSINTtechnical drew attention to the context in which the photo was posted by the Israeli Air Force.

The official post noted that the Israelis managed to destroy the house of Isma'il Haniya, the head of Hamas' political bureau, in an airstrike.
It's possible that SPICE-2000 was used for this purpose.

SPICE
(Smart, Precise Impact, Cost-Effective)
is the name of a set of electro-optics and GPS systems developed by Rafael.

It transforms ordinary bombs into intelligent precision weapons.

It consists of a head with an inertial navigation system (INS) and a GPS system.

The system transmits images to operators up to the moment of impact of the bomb and adjusts its course during flight using foldable wings.

Thanks to satellite guidance, SPICE allows you to attack camouflaged targets, while providing a 'drop and forget' option, even for several bombs at the same time.

The additional steerable wings provided by SPICE allow the bomb to glide, increasing its range by approximately 60 kilometers.

More importantly, they limit the impact error to a radius of approximately 3 meters.

SPICE-2000 is one of Israel's biggest bombs​

The SPICE kit can be mounted on four versions of bomb warheads:
250 lb (113 kg), 1,000 lb (453 kg) and 2,000 lb (907 kg) bombs.

The latter make up SPICE-2000, which is one of Israel's most dangerous weapons . Thanks to the sets, the Israelis can strike precisely with enormous force.


In the Israeli Air Force,
SPICE-2000 can be carried by F-15, F-16 and F-35 fighters.

Israel has been using bombs with this set since 2003,
and they have enjoyed relative export success.
They are part of the arsenal equipment, including:
Greece, South Korea and India."

SPICE-2000 w akcji! Izrael pokazał swoją potężną broń

Siły Powietrzne Izraela pokazały swój myśliwiec F-16I ze specjalną bombą SPICE-2000, która jest jedną z najpotężniejszych broni, jaką Izraelczycy mają w swoim

geekweek.interia.pl

From my country's MSM

 

[JennieM]

3m ago

Satellite images provided by Maxar Technologies on Friday show Palestinians gathering along Salah al Deen Road as they attempt to flee south.

Fears are now growing for people crowded into the south of the Gaza Strip, as Israel’s military appears to be preparing to step up operations beyond northern areas that have been the focus until now.

Civilians in parts of south-east Gaza have been told in leaflets dropped by Israeli aircraft to move into a smaller “safe zone” in the coastal town of Mawasi, which covers just 14 sq km (5.4 sq miles), prompting warnings from the heads of 18 UN agencies and international aid groups.

There are already 1.6 million displaced people in Gaza, more than two-thirds of its population. Most fled the north after similar warnings that nowhere in or around Gaza City would be safe for civilians.

The exodus south has continued amid heavy fighting and even though almost anyone who leaves now must travel on foot. The satellite images below show a crowd hundreds strong apparently waiting to pass through a checkpoint on a road that Israel had declared safe for civilians.

This image provided by Maxar Technologies shows a large crowd of people gathered along Salah al Deen Road attempting to flee south along the evacuation corridor, in southern Gaza.Photograph: AP

This image provided by Maxar Technologies shows a large crowd of people gathered along Salah al Deen Road attempting to flee south along the evacuation corridor, in southern Gaza.Photograph: AP

Israeli forces ‘determined to advance’, says military – as it happened

Daniel Hagari’s comments come amid mounting concerns about Israeli plans to expand military operations where people have sought refuge from fighting

www.theguardian.com

 

[JennieM]

4 min ago

Hamas has demanded Israel stop flying surveillance drones over Gaza in hostage negotiations, sources say​

From CNN's Alex Marquardt, Kaitlan Collins, MJ Lee and Oren Liebermann

Hamas has demanded that Israel stop flying surveillance drones over Gaza as part of its request that Israel pause its military operations in exchange for freeing hostages held by the terrorist group, according to two Israeli officials and third source familiar with the ongoing negotiations.

While Israel could pause its military operations for as long as several days to allow for scores of hostages to be released, the sources suggested it is unlikely to accept the drone request since it would mean losing track of the movements of Hamas operatives, including any efforts to move the hostages within the Gaza strip.

The demand by Hamas about drone overflights has not been previously reported and with the intense discussions continuing, it’s unclear whether it remains on the table or has already been formally rejected by Israel as a part of the negotiations.
A spokesperson for the Israeli embassy in Washington declined to comment on Friday.

The Israeli military has been flying drones in the skies over Gaza for hours on end virtually every day during their military operation, using them as a primary means of surveillance to monitor the battlefield.

Throughout the negotiations, Israel has been balancing its urgent desire to get hostages freed with concerns Hamas would only exploit any pause to stifle Israel’s military advantage and regroup.

A pause in the fighting that also requires Israel to keep its drones out of Gaza’s airspace would deny the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) of one of its most important ways to observe Hamas movements from above. It could allow Hamas to reposition its fighters before the ceasefire expires with Israeli troops exposed on the ground, and it would offer Hamas a window to reshuffle the hiding locations for hostages.

The Pentagon has also been flying American surveillance drones over Gaza in support of Israel’s efforts to find the hostages, which include an estimated 10 Americans. US officials said the American intelligence being gathered is not being used to conduct lethal strikes.

November 17, 2023 Israel-Hamas war

Israeli troops will advance to anywhere Hamas is found, including the southern part of the Gaza Strip, a military spokesperson said, amid growing indications that an offensive into the southern part could be imminent.

edition.cnn.com

 

[PommyMommy]

4min ago

Damage to Gaza will take five years to repair, Israel reportedly believes​

The damage to the Gaza Strip caused by the fighting in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war will take five years to repair, according to the current assessment of Israel’s security establishment reported by Channel 12.

 

[PommyMommy]

IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari says troops found additional underground infrastructure at Shifa Hospital today, and are searching for information on the hostages.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1725579352090300840

 

[MyBelle]

Glad to hear that Greece is proposing to Israel that a maritime corridor be opened for humanitarian and other aid to Gaza - and Israel if needed.

But I take exception with this heavily-biased MSM statement that Greece's foreign minister met with his Israeli and Palestinian "counterparts." The Palestinian "counterpart" would be the governing authority of Gaza, which would be Hamas terrorists. Did he really have a conversation with Hamas on this?

Very srange language/description used by this MSM, IMSO.

BBM. Palestine has a Prime Minister, and he has made his opinion of Israel very clear.

I certainly do not agree with you that Reuters is "heavily-biased."

JMO

https://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2023/10/21/mohammad-shtayyeh-becky-anderson-intv.cnn

 

[PommyMommy]

2min ago

Biden holds another call with Qatari emir to discuss hostages in Gaza​

US President Joe Biden held another call earlier today with Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani to discuss the Doha-mediated talks to secure the release of the roughly 240 hostages in Gaza, the White House says.

During last night’s war cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu phoned Biden and urged him to pressure Qatar’s emir to expand the number of hostages to include in the deal being negotiated by Doha between Israel and Hamas, Channel 12 reported earlier tonight.

 

[Friday Fan]

IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari says troops found additional underground infrastructure at Shifa Hospital today, and are searching for information on the hostages.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1725579352090300840

You are beating me to it today...LOL
So is @JennieM

I usually scour the newsfeeds and try to post what hasn't been posted. I should have just abandoned the newsfeed today and stuck to WS.

However, I did find and post the Reuters tunnel warfare report which I found on my newsfeed.

 

[Wishbone]

Israel must offer 'a political horizon', says ex-prime minister​

Joe Inwood
International correspondent, BBC Newsnight

View attachment 461793
BBCCopyright: BBC

I’d arranged to meet Israel's former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who was in office from 2006 to 2009, to discuss the withdrawal from Gaza of 2005, which he had overseen.

However, the conversation soon turned to the future of the Strip, as well as his fierce rival Benjamin Netanyahu.

Speaking in his Tel Aviv office, Olmert blamed the current prime minister for security failings that led to the 7 October attacks. Netanyahu has said everyone will be held accountable, including himself.

It is on the subject of the future of Gaza, as well as the occupied West Bank, that Olmert was most forceful.

He told me, “once Hamas had been destroyed”, an international peacekeeping force must come in to take over “for a short period of time”.

This would then allow the Palestinian authority to eventually take over from them, rather “than from Israeli bayonets”.

In return, he said Israel must offer “a political horizon” in the form of a two-state solution, the internationally backed formula for peace envisioning an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel. His proposal would involve the withdrawal of Israeli settlers from almost all of the occupied West Bank.

This call will undoubtedly be highly controversial in many parts of Israeli society. The settler movement is increasingly powerful and emboldened.

He acknowledged his plan would lead to confrontation, but said if action was not taken, “then Israel will become a binational state that will forever live with internal conflict, friction, terror and hatred”.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-middle-east-67446662

Appreciate your vigilance in posting articles, however topics like this are putting the cart before the horse and hard for me to even think about when I'm seeing the continued murder of Palestinians and especially the children. The slaughter needs to stop NOW.

 

[PommyMommy]

Hamas Has Turned Hospitals Into War Zones​

Nov 17, 2023
Terrorists operating within hospitals can be a hard pill to swallow. Here’s some proof.

 

[PommyMommy]

Hamas Must Stop Hiding Under Schools and Mosques​

Nov 17, 2023
Hamas hides weapons and operatives among civilian infrastructure, schools and mosques, and it’s bases are embedded intricately inside them.

 

[fred&edna]

Just for clarification, these are my feelings on the subject of peace and hate (again). The videos contained in the link are the words of Hamas leaders from 2009 and 2019 (10 years of calling for death to Jews/infidels). And, from a poll recently shared by another poster it was clear that the majority of Palestinians support Hamas. I would love to know... how can anyone civil, loves humanity, and claims to be pro-peace actually support the Gaza-living Palestinians and their leaders???

Israel - Palestinian militants launch massive attack, 7 Oct 2023 #10

What about peace for all people (babies, children, elderly, etc.) living in Israel? They have a right to peace as well. And safety from terrorists living on their border. Israel lies in Palestine. Fact. It is a geographical region.

www.websleuths.com

 

[Simply Southern]

You are beating me to it today...LOL
So is @JennieM

I usually scour the newsfeeds and try to post what hasn't been posted. I should have just abandoned the newsfeed today and stuck to WS.

However, I did find and post the Reuters tunnel warfare report which I found on my newsfeed.

Team work, y'all have all the media covered.moo

 

[Dotta]

"IDF uses tanks to mark the Star of David onto the floor of Hamas training ground in Gaza City where the terror group trained fighters."​

IDF tanks mark Star of David onto Hamas training ground in Gaza City

The formation, performed by fighters from the Golani Brigade in the Kativa outpost in Gaza City, formed part of a ceremony in memory of fallen comrades.

www.dailymail.co.uk