Israel - Palestinian militants launch massive attack, 7 Oct 2023 #8

[Mo Thuairim]

Egypt says it will help evacuate nearly 7,000 foreign nationals from Gaza​

Egypt is preparing to facilitate the evacuation of nearly 7,000 foreign citizens in Gaza from more than 60 countries via the Rafah crossing, according to a statement by the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The announcement follows a meeting between foreign ministry officials and ambassadors and other foreign representatives in Cairo, the statement said.

Egyptian officials say the evacuation plan will be carried out “in accordance with Egypt’s regulations and governing laws, and the role incumbent upon each foreign mission in receiving its nationals from the Rafah crossing.”

The first foreign nationals were able to cross from Gaza to Egypt Wednesday. Evacuations resumed Thursday and are expected to continue over the coming days.

Ambulances waiting: Twenty ambulances have arrived at the Rafah crossing on the Egyptian side, waiting to pick up injured Palestinians, an Egyptian border official told CNN at the crossing on Thursday.

An Egyptian government official confirmed to CNN that 45 injured Palestinians crossed into Egypt from Gaza on Wednesday and are currently undergoing treatment in various hospitals. More are expected to arrive Thursday.

According to Egyptian state-affiliated Al-Qahera News, 70 humanitarian trucks carrying aid are also parked outside the border crossing, waiting to enter Gaza.

November 2, 2023 Israel-Hamas war news

Israel's military says it is surrounding Gaza City as its bombardment of the strip continues. Follow for live news updates.

edition.cnn.com

 

[Mo Thuairim]

IDF says it once again responded to fire from southern Lebanon​

From Jo Shelley in northern Israel

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says that it has again responded to fire from southern Lebanon.
“A short while ago, a terrorist cell attempted to launch anti-tank missiles from Lebanon toward the area of Livne, northern Israel,” the IDF said in a statement. “IDF soldiers struck the cell and a hit was identified. In addition, the soldiers struck two anti-tank missile launching posts in Lebanon.”

“Furthermore, terrorists launched anti-tank missiles toward an IDF post in the area of Manara, northern Israel. No injuries were reported.”

Some context: This fighting is centered on northern Israel and southern Lebanon — separate from Israel's fighting with Hamas further south, which is centered around Gaza. However, an uptick in clashes with Hezbollah has raised fears that the powerful Lebanese paramilitary group could actively participate in the conflict, heightening the risk of a regional war.

Hezbollah – an Iran-backed armed group that is also a regional force in its own right – dominates south Lebanon. It also operates alongside Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard Corps in Syria, where the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights separates Israel from Tehran-aligned fighters.
CNN's Tamara Qiblawi contributed reporting to this post.

November 2, 2023 Israel-Hamas war news

Israel's military says it is surrounding Gaza City as its bombardment of the strip continues. Follow for live news updates.

edition.cnn.com

ETA: Update —

Two shepherds found dead after Israeli fire on Lebanon, Lebanese state media says​

From CNN’s Sarah El Sirgany in Beirut

Two shepherds were found dead near Lebanon’s southern border on Thursday, a day after coming under Israeli fire, according to Lebanese state media agency NNA.

The United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon, UNIFIL, said in a statement Wednesday night it had attempted to evacuate two individuals who had come under Israeli fire. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had suspended attacks in the area to allow UNIFIL and the Lebanese army to search for the men, the statement said.

The two shepherds were found by the Lebanese Red Cross, the army and UNIFIL, after an hours-long search.

Some context: Israel and Hezbollah -- an Iran-backed armed group that dominates southern Lebanon -- have been engaged in daily cross-border exchanges of fire along the Lebanon-Israel border since the start of the conflict between Israel and Hamas on October 7, raising fears that the fighting could escalate into a regional war.

 

[JennieM]

Strikes on south Gaza: BBC verifies attacks in areas of ‘safety’​

Since the Israeli military issued the first of several instructions for civilians to evacuate north Gaza, hundreds of thousands of Gazans have moved to the south of the strip. But the south has continued to come under Israeli bombardment, leading the UN and other aid organisations to warn that nowhere in Gaza is safe for civilians.

To better understand the risk to civilians in south Gaza, BBC Verify has identified and analysed four specific instances of strikes in that region. We also looked at some of the warnings and evacuation instructions that were issued to Gazan civilians, including some advising them to move to certain areas in the south.

Some of these warnings were accompanied by maps with arrows pointing to vaguely defined areas to move towards. Three strikes we examined hit within, or close to, those areas in the days after the warnings were issued.

The IDF has said that it communicates with Gaza's residents in a variety of ways, including leaflet drops, social media posts in Arabic, and warnings issued through civilian and international organisations. In this piece we have examined the IDF's instructions posted on social media.

Khan Younis - 10 October​

[…]

Rafah - 11 October​

[…]

Khan Younis - 19 October​

[…]

Camps in central Gaza - 17, 18 and 25 October​

[…]

Strikes on south Gaza: BBC verifies attacks in areas of ‘safety’

The BBC has analysed four strikes in south Gaza, where civilians were told to evacuate to.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[PommyMommy]

2hr ago

Ex-IDF deputy chief: Soldiers won’t enter the tunnels, will turn them into Hamas death traps without going in​

Former deputy IDF chief of staff Yair Golan says that “under no circumstances” should or will IDF soldiers enter Hamas’s terror tunnels, as the army broadens its ground operation to destroy Hamas’s military capabilities.

In an interview with Army Radio, the reserves general says, “You don’t need to go into the tunnels” and “it would be a grave mistake to enter the tunnels” where Hamas is hiding out and waiting.

“The wisdom is to find the entrances and seal them, or send in smoke that will cause the enemy to come out or will harm him,” says Golan.

“Under no circumstances do you fight in the tunnels… where there is no chance that you won’t get hurt. You don’t fight inside the tunnels, you counter the threat of the tunnels,” he says.

When it is put to him that Hamas is capable of remaining inside its vast underground tunnel network “forever,” Golan says: “Take my word for it. The IDF has the capabilities today to deal effectively with the tunnels. It has all the knowledge and the means. If Hamas stays in the tunnels, they will become a death trap.”

[...]

When he is asked about US President Joe Biden’s support for a pause in Israel’s offensive to enable the release of the hostages, Golan says, “Anything that enables the speedy release of the hostages would be blessed,” but he doesn’t think it will be that simple. He notes that Hamas is not the only force holding hostages. So, too, are other terror groups and clans, he says.

 

[PommyMommy]

2hr ago

Army engineers said to begin operation to destroy Hamas tunnels in areas under IDF control​

[...]

The combat engineers are using various types of robots and explosive devices to destroy the tunnels, detonate any booby traps installed by Hamas, and kill terrorists, the report says.

“Maybe at first they were able to harass us, sting us by firing from tunnel exits, but after we established control of the areas, the engineering operation started,” a senior officer in the Southern Command tells Walla.

“We are going to collapse the entrances and the tunnels on them. It will become a death zone. They made a mistake, they chose to be in a place they cannot escape from. They will die in the tunnels,” he said.

The report says the troops have already destroyed some 100 tunnels not counting the ones hit in airstrikes.

 

[PommyMommy]

2hr ago

Foreign passport holders, wounded continue to leave Gaza​

Dual national Palestinians and foreigners prepare to cross the Rafah border point with Egypt, in the southern Gaza Strip, on November 2, 2023. (Photo by SAID KHATIB / AFP)

A day after dozens of wounded Palestinians and hundreds of foreign passport holders crossed into Egypt from Gaza, more arrived at the Rafah border crossing today.

Wael Abu Mohsen, a Gazan official at the crossing, tells AFP: “Two buses carrying 100 passengers holding foreign passports” entered the terminal during the morning.

Egyptian and Palestinian officials both say 400 foreigners and dual nationals were expected to cross today, alongside 60 to 100 sick and wounded Gazans.

 

[Dotta]

"Chaos at London St Pancras station as pro-Palestine protesters shouting ​

'let us pray' ​

tussle with police - after activists smeared Foreign Office and weapons firm's London HQ in red paint."​

Pro-Palestine activists spark chaos with sit-in at London St Pancras

Members of a pro-Palestinian group this morning targeted the Foreign Office and a British weapons firm in London and spray-painted messages calling for an end to conflict with Israel.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[PommyMommy]

40min ago

IDF exposes catfishing network seeking to extract info from troops on Hamas’s behalf​

Several fake Instagram profiles the IDF says were used in attempts to obtain information from soldiers for the Hamas terror group, November 2, 2023. (Israel Defense Forces)

The Israeli military says it has foiled a network of fake social media profiles that attempted to extract information from soldiers on behalf of the Hamas terror group amid the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.

According to the Israel Defense Forces, the profiles were operated by countries in the so-called “Axis of Resistance,” an informal coalition of anti-Israel and anti-Western nations and terror groups, led by Iran.

The operatives used photos of real women in a practice known as “catfishing,” and “managed a kind of romantic relationship… through correspondence, voice recordings and video calls,” the IDF says, in an attempt to obtain information for Hamas.

The IDF says the faux social media profiles had additional fake profiles posing as their “parents,” “siblings” and “friends,” in order to “strengthen their credibility.”

It says the network consisted of dozens of fake profiles on social networks, mostly on Instagram, and the number of potential victims was between hundreds and thousands of soldiers, including reservists.

According to the IDF, Israeli authorities are working with social media sites to ban the accounts.

 

[PommyMommy]

2:00 pm

Report: Invading terrorists had addresses of senior officers​

Among the items discovered on the bodies of terrorists killed in the October 7 Hamas onslaught were maps and addresses of senior IDF officers who live in border communities, Channel 13 reports.

According to the report in one case, the invaders arrived at the home of an officer, but forces there managed to repel them.

The terrorists who overran army bases had maps of the officers’ quarters in an apparent attempt to capture senior officers, the report said.

 

[PommyMommy]

OMG! Look at this CPR. Gonzo journalism. They're showing the whole ER. I believe this is Indonesia Hospital. The hallways are darker, but lights are on in the ER.

https://www.youtube.com/@aljazeeraenglish

View attachment 457601

Perhaps I have not had enough coffee, but I cannot find this video at your link. Can you please link the actual video vs. the YouTube page? TY MOO

 

[Dotta]

" 'Death Traps'​

Targeting Hamas tunnels



Thursday is the 27th day of the war between Israel and Hamas.
Israeli military engineers have begun destroying Hamas tunnels in parts of the Gaza Strip that came under army control as a result of the ground operation, the Times of Israel website reported on Thursday.

Various types of robots and explosives are used to destroy tunnels.

According to this information, the army is destroying the tunnels, along with Hamas fighters hiding in them.

So far, about 100 tunnels have been destroyed, not counting those that were bombed during Israeli air raids. -

'The Israeli army today has every opportunity to effectively deal with the tunnels.
It has all the knowledge and resources needed.
If Hamas stays in the tunnels, they will become a death trap',

commented General Jair Golan, former deputy commander of the Israeli Defense Forces, in an interview with the website."

Przedarli się przez "linię frontu Hamasu". Ciężkie walki na północy [RELACJA NA ŻYWO]

Środa to 26. dzień wojny między Izraelem a Hamasem. Według rzecznika Izraelskich Sił Obronnych kontraadmirała Daniela H…

wiadomosci.wp.pl

From my country's MSM

 

[Friday Fan]

40min ago

IDF exposes catfishing network seeking to extract info from troops on Hamas’s behalf​

Several fake Instagram profiles the IDF says were used in attempts to obtain information from soldiers for the Hamas terror group, November 2, 2023. (Israel Defense Forces)

The Israeli military says it has foiled a network of fake social media profiles that attempted to extract information from soldiers on behalf of the Hamas terror group amid the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.

According to the Israel Defense Forces, the profiles were operated by countries in the so-called “Axis of Resistance,” an informal coalition of anti-Israel and anti-Western nations and terror groups, led by Iran.

The operatives used photos of real women in a practice known as “catfishing,” and “managed a kind of romantic relationship… through correspondence, voice recordings and video calls,” the IDF says, in an attempt to obtain information for Hamas.

The IDF says the faux social media profiles had additional fake profiles posing as their “parents,” “siblings” and “friends,” in order to “strengthen their credibility.”

It says the network consisted of dozens of fake profiles on social networks, mostly on Instagram, and the number of potential victims was between hundreds and thousands of soldiers, including reservists.

According to the IDF, Israeli authorities are working with social media sites to ban the accounts.

I bet there is alot of this going on!

I also think this is a way Hamas raises money too. Dating scams, fake charity scams. etc MOO

 

[PommyMommy]

Israel-Hamas war live updates: Biden calls for humanitarian pause (nbcnews.com)
2h ago / 3:40 AM PDT

Official hostage count increases to 242​

TEL AVIV — The number of hostages recorded by Israel has risen to 242, a military spokesperson told a briefing this morning.

Although a trickle of hostages have been released or freed, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari told reporters that the number of families notified had ticked up again because of a complex counting and verification process.

The fate of the captives has heaped pressure on the Israeli government.

Hagari said, “We are committed to the national mission of returning everyone home.”

56m ago / 4:35 AM PDT

New list suggests 370 Americans will be evacuated from Gaza today​

NBC News has obtained a new list of foreign passport holders who will be allowed to cross from the Gaza Strip into Egypt.

It suggests that more than 370 Americans are set to leave the enclave via the Rafah border crossing today. The Gaza Crossings and Borders Authority confirmed the list's authenticity.

However, an NBC News review of the document found some duplicate names. At least one was of an American who was confirmed to have been evacuated yesterday.

 

[Friday Fan]

Perhaps I have not had enough coffee, but I cannot find this video at your link. Can you please link the actual video vs. the YouTube page? TY MOO

Yes! Since Al Jazeera is considered biased (well many sites are biased) I didn't post the direct link just the credit.
They won't retract their statements about the hospital bombing etc, but they've got great live footage. I couldn't link at the exact time-stamp. Maybe because it is live, but it looks like it's 6:06 am GMT or 7:07 am GMT (eyes aren't working yet LOL) Scroll back to see the hospital scenes.

Since it is a media site, I assume it is a permitted YouTube site.

ETA: It's also at -6.48, but since it's live I think the time stamp changes? I think the videos are 10-12 hours long and they likely archive them on their YouTube channel. I usually watch because it's the only live source.

 

[OldCop]

I have a sneaking suspicion that even if Hamas were to win Gaza, obliterate Israel, that would not be the end of it...JMO

You’re absolutely correct, @Brightchaser47 . It would not be the end, only the beginning. Their goal is to take over the world and annihilate the infidels.
They are very, very patient.
You can already see their influence everywhere as citizens of nearly every country take up their battle cry. It must be so satisfying for them.

 

[PommyMommy]

Sometimes a cartoon says it best.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1719980385843532185

Israeli reservists coming home for a brief visit and seeing their kids for the first time in weeks is my new favorite internet content.

We know what we’re fighting for. We know why Hamas must be destroyed.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1720047539351613868

 

[PommyMommy]

Israel-Hamas war live updates: Biden calls for humanitarian pause (nbcnews.com)
19m ago / 5:45 AM PDT

White House responds to Hamas official's vow to repeat Oct. 7 attacks​

WASHINGTON — A threat by a senior Hamas official to repeatedly attack Israel was called “chilling” today by White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby.

Ghazi Hamad told the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation yesterday that the militant group would repeat the Oct. 7 attack “time and again until Israel is annihilated.”

Kirby told reporters that everyone should pay attention and take such “chilling comments” seriously. “That’s what’s at stake for the people of Gaza — that Hamas is willing to continue this fight and will continue to try to slaughter innocent Israelis,” he said.

Israel-Hamas war live: Palestinian death toll climbs to 9,061, including 3,760 children, says Gaza health ministry (theguardian.com)
1h ago08.10 EDT

About 100 foreign nationals leave via Rafah - AFP​

Wael Abu Mohsen, spokesman for the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing, has told Agence France-Presse that about 100 foreign passport holders have been allowed to leave Gaza so far today.

A total of 400 foreign passport holders, as well as 60 severely wounded Palestinians in ambulances were due to cross by the end of the day, he added.

A list of those approved to travel Thursday shows hundreds of US citizens and 50 Belgians along with smaller numbers from various European, Arab, Asian and African countries.

Live updates: Israel-Hamas war, crisis in Gaza, crowds gather at Rafah crossing (cnn.com)
1 hr 34 min ago

Six US citizens arrive in Egypt from Gaza​

Six American citizens arrived on the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing from Gaza on Thursday, according to a CNN journalist who spoke to them there.

Since the crossing opened on Wednesday, hundreds of foreign nationals and dozens of injured Palestinians have been evacuated. More are expected to make the journey out of the besieged enclave in the coming days, according to officials.

An internal US government correspondence obtained earlier by CNN said US citizens are expected to begin departing Gaza on Thursday.

 

[PommyMommy]

34min ago

IDF releases footage of interceptions of Houthi missiles​

The Israel Defense Forces releases a video showing an F-35I fighter jet intercepting a cruise missile or drone launched by the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen at Israel on Tuesday.

The IDF describes the projectile as a cruise missile, while the Houthi rebels said they launched ballistic missiles and drones at Israel.

The military also releases footage showing the long-range Arrow missile defense system intercepting a Houthi ballistic missile, apparently bound for the southernmost city of Eilat, also on Tuesday.

The IDF has intercepted several other targets — apparently drones launched from Yemen — over the Red Sea in recent days. It has also bolstered the area with Navy missile ships.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1720051819181756665

 

[Friday Fan]

This number is higher than I thought! Yay for small blessings! MOO
Egypt says some 7,000 foreign passport holders to be allowed to leave Gaza​

By AFP

People walk through a gate to enter the Rafah border crossing to Egypt in the southern Gaza Strip on November 1, 2023 (Mohammed ABED / AFP)
Egypt will help evacuate “about 7,000” foreigners and dual nationals from the Gaza Strip, the foreign ministry says.

In a meeting with foreign diplomats, Assistant Foreign Minister Ismail Khairat says Egypt was preparing “to facilitate the reception and evacuation of foreign citizens from Gaza through the Rafah crossing,” adding they “number at about 7,000” representing “more than 60” nationalities.

Several hundred foreign passport holders began leaving Gaza yesterday.

 

[Friday Fan]

2hr ago

Ex-IDF deputy chief: Soldiers won’t enter the tunnels, will turn them into Hamas death traps without going in​

Former deputy IDF chief of staff Yair Golan says that “under no circumstances” should or will IDF soldiers enter Hamas’s terror tunnels, as the army broadens its ground operation to destroy Hamas’s military capabilities.

In an interview with Army Radio, the reserves general says, “You don’t need to go into the tunnels” and “it would be a grave mistake to enter the tunnels” where Hamas is hiding out and waiting.

“The wisdom is to find the entrances and seal them, or send in smoke that will cause the enemy to come out or will harm him,” says Golan.

“Under no circumstances do you fight in the tunnels… where there is no chance that you won’t get hurt. You don’t fight inside the tunnels, you counter the threat of the tunnels,” he says.

When it is put to him that Hamas is capable of remaining inside its vast underground tunnel network “forever,” Golan says: “Take my word for it. The IDF has the capabilities today to deal effectively with the tunnels. It has all the knowledge and the means. If Hamas stays in the tunnels, they will become a death trap.”

[...]

When he is asked about US President Joe Biden’s support for a pause in Israel’s offensive to enable the release of the hostages, Golan says, “Anything that enables the speedy release of the hostages would be blessed,” but he doesn’t think it will be that simple. He notes that Hamas is not the only force holding hostages. So, too, are other terror groups and clans, he says.

I hope this works!

I keep thinking of hand-to-hand tunnel warfare in Vietnam...ugh...I'm sure it's improved in 50 years..MOO