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

[justtrish]

Yes, many protested violently.

My family had many active military, one MIA for 4 years and our friends family a POW. We weren't protesting, but begging for help from our government. I must say, the US Government got our guys back.

Biggest injustice, our soldiers returned to hate and anger. No welcome home parades for our guys.
Moo...

The one good thing I've seen as a result from the awful way our Vietnam Veterans were treated upon returning is those Vietnam Veterans have not allowed any servicemembers since then to return the way they did. I've seen the most amazing gestures from them and others to ensure everyone that comes home today, is welcomed and thanked. I hope we never see another generation of war veterans treated the way our Vietnam War veterans were treated.

 

[Momoffourboys]

IDF: Today, Hamas' tunnel infrastructure was exposed inside the hospital and a booby-trapped vehicle prepared for the #October7massacre contained a large number of weapons and ammunition was discoveredIn parallel, as part of the activity and searches in Rantisi Hospital, troops continued to unearth an operational tunnel

https://twitter.com/x/status/1725236822047895601

 

[otto]

Did they just identify her remains or was she found in Gaza?

Her remains were just found in Gaza near the hospital.

Israel finds body of Gaza hostage near Al-Shifa hospital

Her body was found by the IDF's 603rd Combat Engineering Battalion operating in Gaza as part of Operation Swords of Iron.

www.jpost.com

 

[otto]

A repost from yesterday (post 498):

Hamas chief Sinwar refuses to advance hostage deal talks while IDF is in Shifa hospital,
@ynetalerts reports. Sounds like Hamas is desperate to stop or slow down the Shifa operation.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1724910118150533147

I take it that the hostage deal wil not go forward until the IDF is out of Al Shifa hospital. The IDF is still operating there as today's volumnous posts show so expect any further hostage release will be awhile.

They announced today that they recovered the body of at least one of the Israelis held hostage by Hamas from the Al Shifa complex grounds last night. Other reports posted state that the IDF took "four" bodies away. If this hostage was one of those and three more hostages are the others, we may hear more announcements of their identities soon.

I think the IDF is going to be very thorough in searching and checking for any remains or living hostages within the hospital itself and the complex and it's grounds before they pull out.

This could be a while - that complex is huge.

One of the links yesterday said that the hospital complex is 42 acres with several buildings.

 

[Brightchaser47]

IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari says the military carried out two major strikes on Hamas underground infrastructure in the Gaza Strip this week. In one of them, a number of senior Hamas commanders were hiding, including Ahmed Ghandour, the commander of Hamas's northern Gaza brigade, and Ayman Siam, the head of Hamas's rocket firing array.In another underground site, Hagari says senior members of Hamas's politburo where hiding, including including Rawhi Mushtaha, Essam al-Dalis, and Sameh al-Siraj.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1725233385843331402

Sounds like the IDF is working its way up the Hamas chain of command.

 

[PrairieWind]

1h ago

Hamas’s armed wing, the al-Qassam brigades, has claimed responsibility forthis morning’s shooting at a checkpoint between Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem.

Six Israeli security force members were wounded after three gunmen opened fire at the checkpoint on Wednesday, Israeli police said.

Israel’s police chief Yaakov Shabtai said the assailants arrived in a vehicle from the direction of Bethlehem and opened fire when Israeli forces there began questioning them. They were killed when the Israeli forces shot back, he said.

The gunmen had planned a much bigger attack, he said. The Israeli police said they found two automatic rifles, two handguns, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, 10 fully loaded magazines and two axes on the suspects and in their vehicle.

Gaza civilians ‘face immediate possibility of starvation’ – as it happened

This blog is now closed. Read our recent coverage at the link below:

www.theguardian.com

Hamas (who is in power only in Gaza) is trying to draw the West Bank (under Fatah control) into the war. There really can't be any question that Hamas is THE number one enemy of the Palestinian people.

 

[JennieM]

16 min ago

Ambulance crews trapped in Gaza City hospital due to fighting say they cannot respond to wounded people​

From CNN’s Abeer Salman and Eyad Kourdi

Medics trapped inside the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza City say they are unable to reach wounded people outside because of intense fighting in the area, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said in a statement Thursday.

From inside the hospital, ambulance crews can hear explosions and heavy gunfire, according to the group, which provides humanitarian and medical assistance.

“There are a number of martyrs and wounded in the hospital courtyard, about 30 meters away, that our teams are unable to reach,” the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said.

Al-Ahli is the only hospital in northern Gaza that is operational and able to admit patients, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said late Wednesday.

The hospital can no longer conduct surgeries, a British-Palestinian surgeon working there said on Thursday. “The hospital is now effectively a first aid station,” Dr. Ghassan Abu-Sittah said in a statement.

Hundreds of wounded people are at the hospital with no access to surgery, Abu-Sittah added.

“They will die from their wounds,” Abu-Sittah said.

November 16, 2023 Israel-Hamas war

Israel released a photo and video of an alleged "operational tunnel shaft" it claimed was found in the Al-Shifa Hospital complex in Gaza. Hamas rejected the claim as "baseless lies."

edition.cnn.com

 

[JennieM]

23m ago

UNRWA says no aid deliveries into Gaza from tomorrow​

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) has said there will be no aid deliveries into Gaza from the Rafah crossing on Friday.

All communications are down in Gaza because of a lack of fuel, UNRWA said in a statement.

This makes it impossible to manage or coordinate humanitarian aid convoys.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1725185182339055779

Gaza civilians ‘face immediate possibility of starvation’ – as it happened

This blog is now closed. Read our recent coverage at the link below:

www.theguardian.com

 

[JennieM]

Israeli military says tunnel shaft found in Al-Shifa hospital complex​

Israel Defence Forces spokesperson Daniel Hagari has just given a press briefing.
He says Israeli forces have found a tunnel shaft and a vehicle containing weapons in the Al-Shifa hospital.

He says troops are continuing to conduct "targeted activity" in the Al-Shifa hospital.
He also said "a booby-trapped vehicle that was prepared for the October 7th massacre was discovered, containing a large amount of weapons and ammunition".
Hamas denies operating there and the BBC cannot independently verify claims by either side.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-middle-east-67423274

 

[JennieM]

7 min ago

US has expressed concerns to Israel about violations of Visa Waiver Program​

From CNN's Jennifer Hansler and Priscilla Alvarez

The US government has expressed concerns to the Israeli government that American passport holders from the West Bank have not been able to transit through Israel as is required under the Visa Waiver Program, State Department spokesperson Matt Miller said Thursday.

“I won't get into full details of our private diplomatic conversations, but we expect Israel to address those concerns. We expect them to be in full compliance with the Visa Waiver Program and there are remedial measures that we that are available to us if they are not,” Miller said at a briefing.

“There are a full range of remedial measures that can be taken before ultimate suspension” from the program, Miller added.

According to a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, the department and its “interagency partners continually monitor implementation of program requirements by all countries in the Visa Waiver Program to ensure full implementation.”

“U.S. Government officials are working with the Government of Israel to address reports of Americans facing issues in traveling to and flying out of Ben Gurion Airport. DHS expects all countries in the Visa Waiver Program to fulfill all program requirements,” according to the spokesperson.

November 16, 2023 Israel-Hamas war

Israel released a photo and video of an alleged "operational tunnel shaft" it claimed was found in the Al-Shifa Hospital complex in Gaza. Hamas rejected the claim as "baseless lies."

edition.cnn.com

 

[JennieM]

30 min ago

Lack of supplies is forcing staff at Al-Shifa Hospital to make "harrowing" decisions, director says​

From CNN’s Kareem Khadder and Eyad Kourdi

The lack of medical supplies at the Al-Shifa Hospital is forcing staff to make “harrowing” decisions, the facility’s director, Dr. Mohammad Abu Salmiyah, told Al-Jazeera Arabic in a phone interview from inside the complex Thursday.

Medics have had to amputate patients’ limbs to prevent the spread of infection from wounds that go untreated due to the lack of resources, he said, and there is no medicine for children suffering from diarrhea and vomiting.

Damage from raid: Al-Shifa is at the center of an ongoing Israeli military raid that started in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Abu Salmiyah said medical equipment in the MRI, CT and X-ray departments had been destroyed in the raid, as had the pharmacy, and the hospital was still completely dark due to the lack of electricity. More than 7,000 people were still trapped inside, he added.

November 16, 2023 Israel-Hamas war

Israel released a photo and video of an alleged "operational tunnel shaft" it claimed was found in the Al-Shifa Hospital complex in Gaza. Hamas rejected the claim as "baseless lies."

edition.cnn.com

 

[otto]

It occurs to me that the leaders of all these militant-terrorists groups are in it for the money and power, which is same as everywhere, but this society is badly broken with no options. I suppose in an economy where there aren’t many opportunities to climb the corporate ladder that it’s the career. I supposed how people say boys join gangs in disadvantaged areas for protection and there’s “no jobs”. Hamas is like a gang really, and they recruit all the boys and if you aren’t into it, you are treasonous.

The rules if daily life in Palestine are strict and scary, like “treason” or “helping the enemy” are reported to punishable by death. Maybe why hospital standoff seemed unreasonable.

Once in power, they have access to aid money, charity donations, reselling donations meant for schools, children & poor. All that infrastructure diverted to tunnel building. Probably also running protection rackets etc.
In conclusion, they don’t want peace, build a nation, build an economy because that kind of system puts the Hamas types out of work. A situation like this probably has funds pouring in their their own fund raising.

That can all change now. The Gaza strip needs to be rebuilt after the war. There will be more jobs than people to fill them. Gaza needs new post secondary schools to train people for full time jobs and good pay cheques going forward. There's no excuse to allow Gaza to return to a dirty, garbage and graffiti filled State where young men live in tunnels and play with their weapons.

No Gaza government should be allowed to manage funding that is designated to rebuild.

 

[Brightchaser47]

I wonder if this is one of the bodies they removed from the hospital, yesterday?
The hospital did dig a mass grave the day before IDF captured the hospital. I wondered if they were burying some hostages.

Israel is doing an amazing job of identifying the unknown.
Moo

Well, now, they can't say there are no hostages at al-Shifa, can they?

 

[Friday Fan]

Did they announce that all four bodies removed were hostages?

I don't know if this is the same context or not. I think I also read it referred to those shot on the grounds on Tuesday night. It's vague, but it would make sense for Israel to take the bodies of those that were shot. (I just don't think they took all the dead bodies inside Shifa, since many are dying from natural causes)

‘People will die,’ al-Shifa head warns as Israeli forces besiege hospital

• The Israeli army took away all the dead bodies and searched all the buildings.
• There were Israeli soldiers in the ER, and they took all the dead bodies that were lying in front of the ER. We have no idea where they took them.

 

[Arkay]

IDF expands its 'targeted operation' at #AlShifaHospital to the southern part of the complex'The tunnel shafts or the basement shafts inside the hospital have been blocked by concrete by Hamas. The army has brought in addition of tanks to guard the area and bulldozers to try and open those shafts' Our @P_Klochendler reports from the Israel-Gaza borders hostages behind

I wish I could be optimistic about the lives of the hostages.

I am trying, but as reports dribble out about various hostages who are now confirmed dead, the fact that Hamas has blocked the shafts with concrete does give me fear.

I can envision a scenario in which Hamas bolted from specific tunnels that held hostages as well as more of Hamas‘ weapons, and knowing that the IDF would successfully get to the tunnels, Hamas left hostages behind to die there barricaded by the concrete.

I VERY MUCH want to be mistaken.

 

[otto]

Sounds like Hamas really, really doesn't want IDF anywhere near the hospital. I wonder what else they will find.

Perhaps there is more evidence that hostages were terrorized, tortured, maimed (like Noa Marciano), raped, beheaded and murdered at, or beneath, the hospital.

 

[Momoffourboys]

Well, now, they can't say there are no hostages at al-Shifa, can they?

They can. They do.
At this point, IMO, after having to show beheaded babies, raped women, decapitated soldiers, weapons at Al Shifa, tunnels and a whole lot more…anyone who denies this happened and will not condemn Hamas for their brutality against Israelis, Palestinians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists is supporting terror and supports this happening in Europe, Asia, the West and the world. Some people are just hell bent on defending terrorists. So be it.

 

[Momoffourboys]

I wish I could be optimistic about the lives of the hostages.

I am trying, but as reports dribble out about various hostages who are now confirmed dead, the fact that Hamas has blocked the shafts with concrete does give me fear.

I can envision a scenario in which Hamas bolted from specific tunnels that held hostages as well as more of Hamas‘ weapons, and knowing that the IDF would successfully get to the tunnels, Hamas left hostages behind to die there barricaded by the concrete.

I VERY MUCH want to be mistaken.

They need the hostages alive. I believe many/most are alive.

 

[Brightchaser47]

They can. They do.
At this point, IMO, after having to show beheaded babies, raped women, decapitated soldiers, weapons at Al Shifa, tunnels and a whole lot more…anyone who denies this happened and will not condemn Hamas for their brutality against Israelis, Palestinians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists is supporting terror and supports this happening in Europe, Asia, the West and the world. Some people are just hell bent on defending terrorists. So be it.

SMH...

 

[Brightchaser47]

They need the hostages alive. I believe many/most are alive.

I agree. But I also think Hamas is making it as difficult as possible to get to them.