Israel - Palestinian militants launch massive attack, 7 Oct 2023 #2

[JennieM]

1m ago
At Biden’s address to Jewish community leaders in Washington he also said, “I never really thought that I would see and have confirmed pictures of terrorists beheading children.”

Shortly afterwards, the White House clarified the comments, with a spokesperson telling the Washington Post that neither US officials nor Biden had seen photographs or confirmed such reports independently and that Biden had “based his comments about the alleged atrocities on the claims from Netanyahu’s spokesman,” the Washington Post reports.

Reports of infants being decapitated by Hamas have been repeated by the Israeli government and defence forces, but have not been verified independently by the Guardian.

Israel-Hamas war live: Israeli military has told 1.1 million in Gaza to move further south in next 24 hours, UN says

UN spokesperson says such a movement would have ‘devastating humanitarian consequences’ as Israel prepares for a ground offensive; Palestinian death toll rises to 1,537, according to Gaza’s health ministry

www.theguardian.com

 

[JennieM]

Statement by Martin Griffiths, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, about the situation in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory​

10 Oct 2023

The scale and speed of what’s unfolding in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel is bone-chilling.

Hundreds of Israelis have been killed and thousands have been injured. Scores are being held captive, facing appalling threats to their lives. Thousands of indiscriminate rockets have been launched into Israel.

In densely populated Gaza, hundreds of Palestinians have been killed and thousands have been injured in intense bombing. Homes, health centers and schools sheltering displaced families have been hit. The whole city is now under a siege order.

My message to all sides is unequivocal: The laws of war must be upheld.

Those held captive must be treated humanely. Hostages must be released without delay.

Throughout hostilities, civilians and civilian infrastructure must be protected. Civilians must be allowed to leave for safer areas.

And humanitarian relief and vital services and supplies to Gaza must not be blocked.
The whole region is at a tipping point.

The violence must stop.

New York, 10 October 2023

United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs - occupied Palestinian territory | Statement by Martin Griffiths, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, about the situation in Israel and

The scale and speed of what’s unfolding in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel is bone-chilling. Hundreds of Israelis have been killed and thousands have been injured. Scores are being held captive, facing appalling threats to their lives. Thousands of indiscriminate rockets have been...

ochaopt.org

 

[JennieM]

Air strikes targeting Hamas tunnel network in Gaza: Israel Defense Forces​

Israel's military says its latest air strikes in the Gaza strip are aiming to destroy a network of tunnels that has for decades served as an operations centre for Hamas.

"Think of the Gaza strip as one layer for civilians and one layer for Hamas," Jonathan Conricus, spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces said in a video message posted on X (formerly Twitter).

Built over the years since Hamas took power in Gaza in 2007, the tunnels have served as a way for Hamas to move supplies as well as plan and launch operations against Israel, he added.

The enormity and significance of the tunnels is obscured by the densely populated communities on the ground above, many of which now lay in ruins, he said.

"There is much more than meets the eye. The Israeli Air Force has been striking a lot of neighbourhoods in Gaza. What we are doing is prioritising striking commanders, senior leaders of Hamas in all echelons," he said.

"Whatever it is, if it belongs to Hamas, we are striking it.”


Getty Images
File photo of a tunnel in the Gaza strip taken in 2019.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-middle-east-67073970

 

[mickey2942]

It is interesting to look at a map of the area, it is about 90 miles from Israel to Gaza. That is an hour and half car ride, in a densely populated area. That isn't a lot space or distance.

Gaza–Israel barrier - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Kaylison]

Snipped and BBM ; absolutely disgusted and angered by Hamas claiming they are "Freedom Fighters" and fabricating that they weren't targeting civilians (why homes and music festivals, then?!)

“The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas has strongly dismissed the false claims promoted by some Western media outlets, such as Palestinian freedom fighters killing children and targeting civilians,” Hamas wrote in a post on its Telegram channel.

Still, Israeli soldiers discovered the bodies of 40 babies in the kibbutz just outside Gaza, corroborating reports on Tuesday from journalists who viewed the aftermath of the killings.

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu Confirms Decapitated Babies and Toddlers Found at Kibbutz

Israel Defense Forces made the gruesome discovery in Kfar Aza

themessenger.com

I had been wondering if it was a gaff by President Biden (as quickly reported) but seeing the videos of witnesses and their genuine reactions discussing the horror they found leads me to believe they did see headless children. My confusion is why certain groups are now denying it?

 

[PommyMommy]

OCT 11, 2023

Gaza is tiny and watched closely by Israel. But rescuing hostages there would be a daunting task

The Hamas-run Gaza Strip is a tiny enclave, measuring 25 miles long and no more than 7 miles wide, surveilled continually by Israel.

apnews.com

The Hamas -run Gaza Strip is a tiny enclave, measuring 40 kilometers (25 miles) long and no more than 12 kilometers (7 miles) wide, surveilled continually by Israel, surrounded by its guns. But rescuing — or even locating — more than 150 hostages hustled there by Palestinian militants who overran Israel’s southern border on Saturday will be a daunting task.

[...]

HOW HOSTAGES HAVE BEEN HANDLED IN THE PAST​

The unique nature of the crisis does contain advantages for Israel, Baskin said. Because there are so many captives, information about some of their locations might leak, even though they are likely dispersed around the territory in homes or underground, he said. That could favor rescue operations.

Israel has historically made big concessions to win freedom for hostages, almost all of them over soldiers or their remains. Its history of lopsided prisoner exchanges included the trading of Schalit for more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, including the current Hamas leader in Gaza, Yehia Sinwar.

[...]

But as Israel’s military strikes Gaza with unprecedented ferocity, it’s not clear whether the safety of hostages is playing a role in decision-making. At least one member of the government, the hard-line Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who also plays a role in the Defense Ministry, was quoted as demanding Saturday that the military “hit Hamas brutally and not take the matter of the captives into significant consideration.”

Reports of Egyptian, Turkish and Qatari mediation efforts don’t appear to be going anywhere. More than 1,200 Israelis were killed in Hamas’s incursion, so Baskin doesn’t expect Israel to engage in a negotiated deal that would reward the militant group.

In Israel, he said, “no one has the appetite to give Hamas any kind of prize.”

 

[JennieM]

2m ago

The Australian government is planning a third repatriation flight from Israel, anticipating “quite large demand” to flee a conflict with ramifications for “months or years to come”.

The home affairs minister, Clare O’Neil, has insisted “safety and security of Australians” is the top priority, as the government faces questions about why Qantas is conducting the flights while some other nations send their military because commercial operators will not fly.

The foreign minister, Penny Wong, said the decision was based on “availability” and arranging flights “as quickly as we could”.

Israel-Hamas war live: Israeli military has told 1.1 million in Gaza to move further south in next 24 hours, UN says

UN spokesperson says such a movement would have ‘devastating humanitarian consequences’ as Israel prepares for a ground offensive; Palestinian death toll rises to 1,537, according to Gaza’s health ministry

www.theguardian.com

 

[JennieM]

Blinken to meet Palestinian president on Friday: officials​

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas will meet US state secretary Antony Blinken on Friday, according to Hussein Al-Sheikh, the secretary general of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization.

Mr Blinken is expected to arrive in Israel in the new few hours in a show of support for the country and its people after the Hamas attacks.

The Palestinian official also said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that president Abbas will meet with Jordan's King Abdullah in Amman on Thursday.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-middle-east-67073970

 

[JennieM]

2m ago

Report: desperation inside Gaza’s hospitals as casualties mount​

In previous encounters, says Nebal Farsakh, there would always be some time without airstrikes.

“But now, there is not a single minute. That’s why the casualties keep going up and up,” says Farsakh, spokesperson for the Palestinian Red Crescent.

At Shifa hospital in Gaza city, reporters from the Associated Press witnessed wounded people streaming through the doors as lifeless bodies arrived under bedsheets. As workers mopped up blood, and relatives rushed children with shrapnel wounds into surgery, explosions continued to thunder around the hospital.

Over five days, Israeli warplanes have pummelled Gaza with an intensity that its war-weary residents had never experienced. The airstrikes have killed more than 1,100 people, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Officials have not said how many civilians are among the dead, but aid workers warn that Israel’s decision to impose a “complete siege” on the crowded enclave of 2.3 million people is spawning a humanitarian catastrophe that touches nearly every one of them.

There is no clean water, and after the territory’s only power plant ran out of fuel on Wednesday, electricity has become a precious commodity, while the enclave sits in near-total darkness during the night.

“This is an unprecedented scope of destruction,” says Miriam Marmur, a spokesperson for Gisha, an Israeli human rights group. “Israeli decisions to cut electricity, fuel, food and medicine supplies severely compound the risks to Palestinians and threaten to greatly increase the toll in human life.”

Israel-Hamas war live: Israeli military has told 1.1 million in Gaza to move further south in next 24 hours, UN says

UN spokesperson says such a movement would have ‘devastating humanitarian consequences’ as Israel prepares for a ground offensive; Palestinian death toll rises to 1,537, according to Gaza’s health ministry

www.theguardian.com

 

[PommyMommy]

Israel Gaza war: How goes Hamas get its weapons? A mix of ingenuity, tenacity, resourcefulness and a key mentor, experts say | CNN
[...]

“Hamas has received arms from Iran smuggled into the (Gaza) Strip via tunnels. This often included longer-range systems,” said Daniel Byman, a senior fellow with the Transnational Threats Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

“Iran has also been shipping Hamas its more advanced … ballistic missiles via sea, in components for construction in Gaza,” said Charles Lister, senior fellow at the MEI.

[...]

“Iran also helped Hamas with its indigenous manufacturing, enabling Hamas to create its own arsenals,” said Byman at the CSIS.

A senior Hamas official based in Lebanon gave details of the Hamas’ weapons manufacturing in an edited interview with Russia Today’s Arabic-news channel RTArabic published on their website on Sunday.

“We have local factories for everything, for rockets with ranges of 250 km, for 160 km, 80km, and 10 km. We have factories for mortars and their shells. … We have factories for Kalashnikovs (rifles) and their bullets. We’re manufacturing the bullets with permission from the Russians. We’re building it in Gaza,” Ali Baraka, head of Hamas National Relations Abroad, is quoted as saying.

For bigger items, the MEI’s Lister said Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a branch of the Iranian military that answers directly to the country’s supreme leader, has been giving Hamas engineers weapons training for almost two decades.

[...]

But how Hamas sources the raw materials for those indigenous weapons also shows the ingenuity and resourcefulness of the group.

Gaza has none of the heavy industry that would support weapons production in most of the world. According to the CIA Factbook, its main industries are textiles, food processing and furniture.

[...]

When Gaza infrastructure has been destroyed in Israeli airstrikes, what’s left – sheet metal and metal pipes, rebar, electrical wiring – has found its way into Hamas’ weapon workshops, emerging as rocket tubes or other explosive devices, he wrote.

Recycling unexploded Israel munitions for their explosive material and other parts adds to Hamas’ supply chain, Alkhatib wrote.

[...]

“What is surprising, … is how you could set stockpile, move, set up, and fire thousands of rockets all while eluding Israeli, Egyptian, Saudi intelligence, etc. It is difficult to see how Palestinian militants could have done this without … Iranian guidance.”

 

[branmuffin]

"The attack on Israel showed that Hamas fighters are able to accumulate large stockpiles of weapons.
It includes not only improvised structures of their own production, but also an arsenal from outside.

Journalists and analysts from Ukrainian website Defense Express specializing in military topics have added North Korea to the previously mentioned allies of the aggressor, i.e. Iran and Russia.

They noticed weapons in photos of members of Hamas militias, suggesting that Pyongyang also sides with Israel's opponents.

Hamas members use a wide range of MANPADS, or light anti-aircraft missiles, to combat low-flying air targets. For a long time, experts have been pointing out that they have, among others:
Strela-2 sets having Russian (Soviet) origins and allowing the downing of objects located at an altitude of up to 2.3 km.

A similar weapon from Iran is the Misagh-1, but in this case the maximum altitude achieved by the missiles reaches 4 km. Their speed reaches up to 700 m/s.

In North Korea, HT-16PGJ sets were created based on the Russian 9K38 Igla. Previously seen in Syria, now Hamas fighters pose with them in selected photos."

More from my country's MSM

Skąd Hamas ma broń? Wskazali całą listę sojuszników terrorystów

Atak na Izrael pokazał, że bojownicy Hamasu są w stanie zgromadzić duże zapasy broni. Składają się na nią nie tylko imp…

tech.wp.pl

There have been many thefts from IDF military bases in the last several years. Mostly in the Golan Heights. Hamas isn't just getting their weapons from Iran or N. Korea.

About 70,000 bullets, 70 grenades stolen from army base in Golan Heights

***

www.haaretz.com

Weapons are stolen from Israel military bases every week

Weapons are stolen from Israel’s military bases every week, Itzhak Brik, former chief complaints officer in the Ministry of Defence, said yesterday. Commenting on the theft of some 70,000 bullets and 70 grenades from...

www.middleeastmonitor.com

Never underestimate the lure of money to undermine security.

 

[branmuffin]

Even so but they themselves as terrorists would need water, food and electricity to sustain them for inflicting horror on Israelis. That is what I do not get, they will also suffer.
It takes a lot to sustain an army. MOO.

Sieges are one of the oldest and most brutal military tactics. One of the factors in modern siege warfare is ensuring no collateral damage by separating combatants from non-combatants. That is not possible in Gaza. Unfortunately for Israel, there's going to be a whole lot of collateral damage; to their own hostages and to the ordinary citizens that live in Gaza. I heard on the news that of the 2 million people who live in Gaza, nearly a million of them are children. That's why siege warfare may be considered a war crime now and I just can't see Israel sustaining it.

 

[sds71]

IDF spox: There were intelligence indications in the hours before the Hamas operation, but there was no intelligence warning of an attack of this magnitude.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1712330878179840213

 

[branmuffin]

There's a chance those funds were used for Saturdays' attack, correct ?

No, the funds are in Qatar. They have not been released.

 

[PommyMommy]

Israel-Hamas war live: Biden decries Hamas ‘campaign of pure cruelty’; Blinken expected to meet Palestinian president Abbas (theguardian.com)
7m ago06.04 BST
In an update early on Thursday, IDF spokesperson Jonathan Conricus has said that the military “can say with relative confidence” that infants were beheaded by Hamas militants who attacked Kibbutz Be’eri on Saturday.

Reports of infants and other civilians being beheaded by Hamas have been repeated by Benjamin Netanyahu’s spokesperson and at least one IDF serviceman, however these reports have so far been related to the attacks in another kibbutz, Kfar Aza.

[...]

On Wednesday, Yossi Landau, the head of operations for the southern region of Zaka, Israel’s volunteer civilian emergency response organization, reportedly told CBS news that he saw children and babies who had been beheaded. The location was not specified in the report.

Delivering an IDF situational update early on Thursday, Conricus, who was speaking about Kibbutz Be’eri said:

Out of 1,000 Israelis who lived in this beautiful community, 100 were killed. Today, body bags, many body bags, were evacuated from that kibbutz, including those of children, and including those of babies.
We got very, very disturbing reports that came from the ground that there were babies that had been beheaded. And I admit it took us some time to really understand and to verify that report and it was hard to believe that even Hamas could perform such a barbaric act.

But after eyewitnesses came forward, and after a senior official in the Israeli coronary service Zaka came forward on record on CBS news and said ‘yes, I saw the bodies of beheaded babies’, I think we can now say with relative confidence that this is unfortunately what happened in Be’eri. This is what Hamas did to Israeli citizens.”

Hamas has not commented on the claims.

 

[BayouBelle_LA]

Blinken to meet Palestinian president on Friday: officials​

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas will meet US state secretary Antony Blinken on Friday, according to Hussein Al-Sheikh, the secretary general of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization.

Mr Blinken is expected to arrive in Israel in the new few hours in a show of support for the country and its people after the Hamas attacks.

The Palestinian official also said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that president Abbas will meet with Jordan's King Abdullah in Amman on Thursday.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-middle-east-67073970

I’m not convinced that they will be meeting. Is the Palestinian official the only person stating this?

I found this - bbm

Biden despatched his top diplomat to the Middle East to show Washington's enduring support for Israel, seek to secure the release of captives, including Americans, and prevent a wider war from erupting.

Blinken will arrive on Thursday and will also visit Jordan, but will not visit the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where he ordinarily meets Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

And
Blinken and Abbas will meet on Friday, Hussein Al-Sheikh, secretary general of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, said on social media platform X, without elaborating.

Gaza humanitarian catastrophe looms, Blinken condemns Hamas depravity

JERUSALEM/GAZA/TEL AVIV (Reuters) -Gaza moved closer to a humanitarian catastrophe on Thursday as the death toll rose and vital supplies ran low, while Israel massed tanks on the enclave's border ahead of an anticipated ground invasion amid international calls for restraint. Israel's government...

news.yahoo.com

 

[branmuffin]

This is the Khaled Meshall who is comfortably ensconced in a luxury villa in Qatar, right?

And the world wonders what happened to the $$$$ Billions in aid Palestine has received.

He lives in a palace.

After a rather vicious tornado, there was no power in our area for several days/up to a week depending. After Hurricanes in the gulf it's the same. I promise, the majority of people will survive power loss so why is the media completely freaking about it?

Look at the images of Gaza being flattened like a pancake with people buried under the debris for hours who need emergency surgeries. Even if they survive the initial attack, there's no power for any surgeries.

 

[PommyMommy]

Live updates: Israel-Hamas war news (cnn.com)
12 min ago

Gaza hospitals "risk turning into morgues," Red Cross warns​

Hospitals in Gaza "risk turning into morgues" as they lose power during Israel's bombardment of the enclave, the International Committee of the Red Cross warned on Thursday.

A humanitarian crisis is rapidly spiraling in Gaza, where aid agencies and health officials report hundreds of thousands have been displaced amid shortages of food, water and electricity — putting extra strain on medical facilities.

"As Gaza loses power, hospitals lose power, putting newborns in incubators and elderly patients on oxygen at risk," ICRC regional director for the Near and Middle East, Fabrizio Carboni, said in a statement.

Gaza’s only power station has stopped working after running out of fuel, the head of the Gaza power authority told CNN on Wednesday. People in the enclave can still use power generators for electricity but with a blockade on all sides of the border, the fuel needed for the generators to work is running out, the official said.

Nearly 1,200 people have been killed in airstrikes in Gaza since Saturday, according to Palestinian health officials.

Hostages: Islamist militants are holding as many as 150 hostages in Gaza and Carboni said the Red Cross is in contact with Hamas and Israeli officials to address their release.

"As a neutral intermediary we stand ready to conduct humanitarian visits; facilitate communication between hostages and family members; and to facilitate any eventual release," Carboni said.

 

[PommyMommy]

Israel-Hamas war live: Biden decries Hamas ‘campaign of pure cruelty’; Blinken expected to meet Palestinian president Abbas (theguardian.com)
2m ago01.17 EDT

China envoy willing to work with Egypt to promote immediate ceasefire​

China’s envoy for Middle East affairs says its government is willing to work with Egypt to promote an “immediate ceasefire and cessation of violence”.

According to China’s foreign ministry (Mofa), special envoy Zhai Jun spoke to Egypt’s assistant minister of the Palestine department on Tuesday. A statement from Mofa said Zhai reiterated China’s position for a two-state solution as “the fundamental solution” to achieve peace between Israel and Palestine.

“The international community should make practical efforts with the utmost sense of urgency to promote it,” Zhai was quoted as saying. He also said China was willing to provide humanitarian support to Palestinian people.

Egypt has been a key mediator in the region, and has been in contact with the United States and others since the surprise attack by Hamas on Saturday. Citing Egyptian security sources, Reuters reported today that it had discussed plans with the US to provide humanitarian aid through its border with Gaza Strip, but had rejected any move to set up safe corridors for refugees fleeing the enclave.

China’s Zhai is expected to have a telephone conversation with Israeli officials today, Israel’s Ambassador to China, Irit Ben-Abba, told Bloomberg News.

Beijing has sought to maintain a neutral position on the conflict, and more generally across the Middle East, but is under increased pressure since the conflict escalated this week. China’s government was criticised by US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who was visiting China this week, for not supporting Israel sufficiently. After Schumer’s criticisms, China’s leader Xi Jinping released a stronger statement condemning “all violence and attacks on civilians”.

 

[katydid23]

12m ago

Gaza hospitals short of ‘everything’ says WHO official​

The stark toll of Israeli strikes is palpable at Gaza hospitals, AP reports.

Even in ordinary times, they’re poorly supplied. Now, there’s a shortage of everything from bandages to intravenous fluids, beds to essential drugs, said Richard Brennan, regional director of the World Health Organization.

“It’s almost as bad as it gets,” Brennan said. “It’s not just the damage, the destruction. It’s that psychological pressure. The constant shelling ... the loss of one’s colleagues.”

A man carries an injured baby to the Al-Shifa Hospital as Israeli airstrikes continue on the fifth day in Gaza City, Gaza on 11 October 2023. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Anadolu/Getty Images

Gaza hospitals in crisis, says WHO – as it happened

This blog is now closed. Follow live news at the blog below: Israel-Hamas war live

www.theguardian.com

They were able to raise millions from Qatar and Iran for their attack on Israel. Why can't those same sources pony up cash for the hospitals and evacuation of their people?