Israel - Palestinian militants launch massive attack, 7 Oct 2023 #3

[Mo Thuairim]

Doctors Without Borders has shared an update on al-Awda hospital:

“After spending part of the night in the street with bombs landing in close proximity, we understand that some medical staff and all patients have been able to move,” it said, adding however that “the situation remains extremely complicated and chaotic.”

https://twitter.com/x/status/1713134110934229486

300 Palestinians killed in past 24 hours, health ministry reports – as it happened

Israeli PM posts video to troops saying ‘we are all ready’

www.theguardian.com

 

[Mo Thuairim]

Red Cross: we can't do our job without safe passage​

The delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Israel and the Occupied Territories said today that “humanitarian work must be made possible at all times”.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1713140737913569662

300 Palestinians killed in past 24 hours, health ministry reports – as it happened

Israeli PM posts video to troops saying ‘we are all ready’

www.theguardian.com

 

[Momoffourboys]

For the 7th day in a row, Israeli families have to run to bomb shelters to take cover from heavy rocket barrages fired at them. Once again, sirens sounding in southern Israel, including in the city of Be’er Sheva

https://x.com/IDF/status/1713148968530518226?s=20

 

[Mo Thuairim]

The family of the Israeli journalist Oded Lifshitz has issued a call (for) his release.

“Oded (83 years old) and his partner Yocheved (85 years old) were kidnapped from their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz near the Gaza border and have been held by Hamas ever since,” the family wrote.

Lifshitz “is a respected journalist who has worked for decades for peace and recognition of Palestinian rights”, the family said, noting that “in recent years, he was among the volunteers of the ‘On the Way to Recovery’ – an association that transports Palestinian patients for life-saving treatment in Israeli hospitals.

“Oded is a man of peace in every inch of his body,” the family said, calling on international organisations “to raise a voice for his release together with his wife and all the abductees who are in Hamas’s hands in Gaza”.

300 Palestinians killed in past 24 hours, health ministry reports – as it happened

Israeli PM posts video to troops saying ‘we are all ready’

www.theguardian.com

 

[Momoffourboys]

Ali Qadi led the inhumane, barbaric October 7 massacre of civilians in Israel. We just eliminated him. All Hamas terrorists will meet the same fate.

https://x.com/IDF/status/1713129176104923383?s=20

 

[Mo Thuairim]

Lebanon is set to submit a complaint to the UN security council over “Israel’s deliberate killing of Lebanese journalist Issam Abdullah”, Reuters reported.

The videographer was part of a Reuters crew in southern Lebanon.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1713148231608074656

300 Palestinians killed in past 24 hours, health ministry reports – as it happened

Israeli PM posts video to troops saying ‘we are all ready’

www.theguardian.com

 

[Momoffourboys]

Protest outside Defense Ministry grows with calls for Netanyahu to resign​

A protest started outside the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv by a family member of one of the people being held hostage by Hamas swells to dozens of people.

Many hold signs with the names and pictures of those missing or held captive following the massive assault launched by Hamas last Saturday that killed more than 1,300 people, most of them civilians.

Others wave Israeli flags and signs saying that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is responsible for the devastating failure and calling on him to resign.

Protest outside Defense Ministry grows with calls for Netanyahu to resign

* * *

www.timesofisrael.com

 

[Momoffourboys]

At one point on Saturday morning, Abbey Onn's five family members— including an 80-year-old grandmother and three teens— living in southern Israel stopped replying to her messages. The following day she saw them in a Hamas video from Gaza. She speaks of the ordeal with

https://x.com/i24NEWS_EN/status/1713151556164464645?s=20

 

[SouthAussie]

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati has pledged to make every effort to prevent Lebanon from slipping into a war ...

He added that the decision of whether to go to war or maintain peace is not made by the government, hinting that Hezbollah, an armed Lebanese military group that had exchanged fire with Israel over the past week, may make its own decision.

Mikati added that the Lebanese Army is on the front lines in southern Lebanon in an effort to maintain stability in the area.

PM urges efforts to prevent Lebanon from going to war with Israel

Beirut, October 14 (IANS) Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati has pledged to make every effort to prevent Lebanon from slipping into a war, amid the escalating border tension with Israel after the outbreak of Hamas-Israel conflict.

morungexpress.com

 

[dotr]

300 Palestinians killed in past 24 hours, health ministry reports – as it happened

Israeli PM posts video to troops saying ‘we are all ready’

www.theguardian.com

32m ago12.04 BST

''Protesters gathering outside BBC headquarters​

Hundreds of protesters have gathered outside Broadcasting House, the BBC’s headquarters in London, ahead of a pro-Palestinian march.

Palestine flags and supportive placards were waved as people chanted, with police officers stationed near Portland Place.

A cordon had been placed outside the main entrance to the building after red paint was thrown at its entrance early on Saturday morning.

Victoria Derbyshire, a journalist and presenter for the corporation, posted images and footage showing a vandalised main entrance at its principal building near Oxford Street.

The revolving doors and brickwork had been covered in paint.

Just arrived at work. This is the front entrance to BBC this morning pic.twitter.com/BHkyAtKZWF
— Victoria Derbyshire (@vicderbyshire) October 14, 2023

The BBC, as the UK’s national broadcaster, has faced criticism in recent days for maintaining its editorial stance not to describe Hamas militants as terrorists.''

 

[Momoffourboys]

Gazan-Israeli family want territory 'flattened' after brother shot dead by Hamas​

Five brothers tell Sky News that Gaza should be razed to the ground - despite the fact they still have family there - after their brother was killed when he went to buy cigarettes.

We had gone to Sderot looking for victims of Hamas. We did not expect what we found.

Sderot is a town two miles from Gaza, regularly rocketed. As we filmed the aftermath of one strike, a man said we should visit his neighbours.

"They lost a brother to Hamas," he said. "But they are Arabs from Gaza."

Israel-Gaza latest: Gazans told 'go south if you want to live'

We knocked on their door. They emerged nervously before ushering us inside.

They are yet another family stricken with grief but this one is different: The Tanaburas may live in Israel but are Gazan Arabs.

On Saturday morning last week, they say their brother, Amir, went out to buy cigarettes.

Younes, 21, said it was the last time they saw him alive.

"Three terrorists chased him, but he was unable to escape. They murdered him like that, for nothing, a good man who saw an injured person and wanted to help," he said.

They only found out what happened from a TikTok video passed on from a friend, showing him lying dead.

Amir was kind and generous, they say, the third-oldest brother.

"He had a heart of gold," said 17-year-old Avraham.

"As they say, 'God takes only the best'. Next month, he should have turned 21."

Amir's body was found with multiple gunshot wounds - yet another innocent victim of the Hamas attacks.

"There was no mercy," Avraham told us. "They could have shot him once but no - they shot him several times, well after he died. He got a bullet, here, here, here."

There are very few Gazans living in Israel; their father moved to Sderot three decades ago because he had worked for the Israelis.

All six brothers were born here. They speak only Hebrew but are also practising Muslims.

They still have family in Gaza but are in no doubt what Israel should do next.

"Hamas are murderers, they are terrorists. We should erase everybody, Gaza should be flattened. I have family in Gaza but I think Gaza should be flattened."

Gazan-Israeli family want territory 'flattened' after brother shot dead by Hamas

Five brothers tell Sky News that Gaza should be razed to the ground - despite the fact they still have family there - after their brother was killed when he went to buy cigarettes.

news.sky.com

 

[Inthedetails]

I am half Palestinian and I, and all that side of my family, condemn massively all the atrocities committed against the Israeli citizens. Just as most normal people, including the Palestinians, would. Saying no Palestinians condemn what has happened is sheer hyperbole. This news has sickened me and caused me extreme anxiety, and I'm not the only one. I'm sure it is true to say that most Palestinian people around the world are now terrified of the Israeli reaction to what Hamas has done.

The majority of the Palestinian people in Palestine just want to live in their homes and be left in peace. Unfortunately, Israeli governmental policy wants all Palestinian people out of the country and the worry and fear of the Palestinians now will be that Hamas has provided the Israelis with the perfect excuse to commit grand scale ethnic cleansing.

Despite what an earlier poster said, this is NOT about religion. My family lived in Palestine pre-1948 and they lived together peacefully - all the Muslim, Christian and Jewish Palestinians. The Muslims/ Christians supported the Jewish people by running errands on the Sabbath; they all celebrated each other's feast days. My (Muslim) uncle was in a Jewish football team whilst at school. I had the privilege of visiting Jerusalem several years ago, and I was in awe of the interconnectedness of the different faiths there. On Friday morning, Christian people re-enacted the walk of Christ to the cross. On Friday lunchtime, Muslim people went to the mosque then queued for falafel sandwiches; on Friday afternoon the Jewish people prepared for the Sabbath. All alongside one another peacefully. The situation is purely political.

I strongly condemn what Hamas has done. It's disgusting and sickening and heartbreaking.

I strongly condemn what the Israeli government has been doing in the country since 1948 - illegal acts of intimidation and provocation against the Palestinians, which always receive very little coverage in the western media and have recently become increasingly worse. For example, on the 17th September, Israeli forces entered the holiest place in Islam - Al Aqsa mosque - and attacked worshippers, preventing them from entering, including beating up an elderly man and an elderly woman. I am not stating this to justify what has happened - it is completely unjustifiable. However, as with anything, it's important to fully understand the political context and I am providing just one small example from the other side. The media cannot be trusted to present the full story.

I'm avoiding the news as much as I can at this point as I find it unbearable, and hope for a peaceful resolution but despair that this could ever be possible. However, I feel it is important to state that it is possible to condemn the Israeli governmental policy that has persecuted the Palestinian people for decades, whilst also condemning the current attacks.

JMO

Israeli forces attack Palestinian worshippers at Al-Aqsa Mosque

Israeli occupation forces assault Palestinian worshippers peacefully protesting against settler provocation.

www.aljazeera.com

@Legal Thank you for this thoughtful post. The situation is awful, and I can only imagine how painful the news and commentary is for you to read, view, and hear about.

When a news story hits close to home, it can be extremely frustrating to see places and people you know and love to be reported in ways you know are inaccurate from you own experience. That was a clumsy sentence, but I hope the meaning come through.

I live in a very diverse neighborhood myself and reading what you wrote about Jerusalem rings so true to me. People can live in peace without hating others around them. We mustn't buy into the idea that hate prevails.

Take care.

jmo

 

[cottonweaver]

'the elusive Hamas leadership appear likely to be directing operations from the security (and luxury) of overseas retreats.'

The brutal Hamas invasion of Israel has triggered another cycle of violence in which there can be no winners, only a lengthening list of death and destruction. Hamas is responsible for the barbaric acts that have shocked the civilised world, but the dark shadow of Iran hints at where the true evil resides'


Sean Bell, Sky's presenter on Military Strategy

Sean Bell: Hamas is being used as a pawn - as a dark shadow hints at where the true evil resides

The barbaric attack by Hamas shocked the world and will plant generational hatred on both sides, however the terror group is almost certainly being used as a pawn in a grand-strategic game of chess.

news.sky.com

 

[Mo Thuairim]

‘We will come from the ground’: Israel’s goals in a ground invasion of Gaza​

(...)

“Israel’s goal for a ground invasion is to destroy Hamas infrastructure and eliminate altogether [its] military capabilities to [ever again] launch anything that we saw on Saturday,” Yossi Mekelberg, an expert on Israel at the Chatham House think tank, told Al Jazeera.

But targeting Hamas’s military capabilities would not be enough for Israel, which would want to stamp out Hamas’s ability to govern Gaza ever again, according to Nimrod Goren, senior fellow for Israeli affairs at the Middle East Institute.

Israel will aspire to “change the equation and to reshuffle the dynamics in a way that Hamas would not be again in a position to govern”, Goren told Al Jazeera.

But such ambition may be short-sighted.

Zoran Kusovac, a strategic analyst and consultant, said the eradication of Hamas is not just a lofty goal – but nearly impossible.

“[It’s] a complete impossibility because it’s not like you can distinguish fighters from civilians. Of course, Israeli secret services have identified many of them. But in a situation where you’re fighting, it’s very difficult,” he told Al Jazeera.

Not the first time​

This is not the first time Israel has seemingly tried to exterminate Hamas through a ground invasion. It tried nearly a decade ago during its 2014 assault on Gaza.

The fact that Israel withdrew in past assaults before the mission was accomplished indicates that if it launches a ground invasion this time, it would be less about eradicating Hamas and more about showing its military might, argued Sami Hamdi, managing director of International Interest, a political risk firm focusing on the Middle East.

“Israel’s primary goal for a ground invasion would be to perform a very public demonstration of power and might that [PM Benjamin] Netanyahu might be able to present to an Israeli public that is increasingly calling for his resignation,” Hamdi told Al Jazeera.

(...)

‘We will come from the ground’: Israel’s goals in a ground invasion of Gaza

As an invasion appears imminent, Israel has several reasons – even if lofty – for carrying out such an offensive.

www.aljazeera.com

 

[Inthedetails]

I find this info helpful to keep in mind:

Gaza/Israel time is 7 hours ahead of USA eastern time.

 

[dotr]

'Oct 14, 2023 #Palestine #Gaza #IsraelHamasWar
Tens of thousands of people have poured onto the streets around the world in support of the Palestinians as Israel prepares for a possible ground invasion of the Gaza Strip. Protesters denounced Israel’s heavy bombardment of the besieged enclave that has so far killed more than 1,500 people and it came after an unprecedented attack by Hamas, the group running Gaza, killed more than 1,300 people in Israel. In Baghdad, large crowds filled Tahrir Square in the centre of the Iraqi capital for protests called by the influential Shia leader Muqtada al-Sadr. In Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, demonstrators took to the streets waving Yemeni and Palestinian flags. After prayers in Islamabad, Pakistan’s capital, some worshippers stepped on US and Israeli flags, in a sign of disrespect.''

'Oct 14, 2023 #israelhamaswar #idf #skynews
Footage has emerged appearing to show a convoy of evacuating Gazans being targeted. Hamas has claimed the strike was carried out by Israel and reported 70 are dead and 200 injured. IDF's Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner has said the IDF is "looking into the circumstances". Asked about the IDF's evacuation call to civilians in the Gaza Strip, he went on to say "people are adhering and listening" to this.'

'Oct 14, 2023 #CNN #News
CNN’s Abby Phillip speaks with Israel Defense Forces soldier Rudy Rochman, who is fighting on the frontlines of Israel’s war against Hamas. Col. Cedric Leighton (Ret.), a CNN military analyst, joins Philip to discuss the military strategy at play in the region.'

 

[Mo Thuairim]

UNRWA shelters in Gaza not safe, organisation says​

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) today called on the Israeli authorities “to protect all civilians who have been sheltering” in its premises in the Gaza Strip.

“Wars have rules. Civilians, hospitals, schools, clinics & UN premises cannot be a target,” the organisation said, adding that its shelters “are not safe anymore.”

https://twitter.com/x/status/1713163309568925929

​

Gaza health official calls for opening crossings​

Dr Ashraf al-Qudra, the spokesperson for Gaza’s health ministry, has demanded that sick and wounded Palestinians be allowed to leave the territory, Al Jazeera reported.

The Ministry of Health urgently demands the opening of the crossings to take the sick and wounded out for treatment abroad and to bring its emergency needs of medicines, medical consumables and fuel to hospitals and medical centres in light of the power outage due to the Israeli aggression.

300 Palestinians killed in past 24 hours, health ministry reports – as it happened

Israeli PM posts video to troops saying ‘we are all ready’

www.theguardian.com

 

[Momoffourboys]

Hamas in rare English ‘press conference’ as it tries to counter global condemnation​

The terror group claimed its gunmen were ‘keen to avoid harming civilians’ and blamed the Israeli military for the deaths of its citizens


Hamas used a rare pre-recorded English language press conference to claim it had given “clear instructions” to its fighters not to target civilians as it sought to counter waves of international condemnation.

Basim Naim, the terrorist group’s head of international relations, insisted its gunmen were “keen to avoid harming civilians” - in an apparent desperate and easily-disproved attempt at media management.

Speaking into four microphones, Naim said on Thursday night that Hamas terrorists had “targeted only Israeli military bases and compounds that were suffocating the people of Gaza for more than 17 years.”

He was accompanied by spokesman Ghazi Hamad. The pair appeared in front of a green screen, with scenes of urban warfare projected onto the backdrop.

Other Hamas officials have claimed the 260 party-goers massacred at the Supernova festival on Saturday may have been mistaken for “resting” soldiers.

More:Hamas in rare English ‘press conference’ as it tries to counter global condemnation

 

[Eli9]

Hamas in rare English ‘press conference’ as it tries to counter global condemnation​

The terror group claimed its gunmen were ‘keen to avoid harming civilians’ and blamed the Israeli military for the deaths of its citizens


Hamas used a rare pre-recorded English language press conference to claim it had given “clear instructions” to its fighters not to target civilians as it sought to counter waves of international condemnation.

Basim Naim, the terrorist group’s head of international relations, insisted its gunmen were “keen to avoid harming civilians” - in an apparent desperate and easily-disproved attempt at media management.

Speaking into four microphones, Naim said on Thursday night that Hamas terrorists had “targeted only Israeli military bases and compounds that were suffocating the people of Gaza for more than 17 years.”

He was accompanied by spokesman Ghazi Hamad. The pair appeared in front of a green screen, with scenes of urban warfare projected onto the backdrop.

Other Hamas officials have claimed the 260 party-goers massacred at the Supernova festival on Saturday may have been mistaken for “resting” soldiers.

More:Hamas in rare English ‘press conference’ as it tries to counter global condemnation

wow

 

[cottonweaver]

'In the shadow of war, Arab-Jewish solidarity initiatives emerge

In Haifa and Jaffa, joint Jewish and Arab patrols seek to prevent violence on both sides.
In the south, Bedouin residents risk their lives to search for victims of Hamas terror.'

https://x.com/haaretzcom/status/1712645579405451692?s=20

Link is from Oct 12th

“On Sunday, the second day of the war, we saw that there was enormous chaos and realized we must do something,” said Sleman Shlebe, a Bedouin resident of the northern Negev, who in a short time recruited some 600 volunteers, mostly from the Azazmeh tribe, who arrived with their ATVs and created emergency teams to search for missing Israelis.

“We had heard about people missing from both the Arab and Jewish communities, and knew that thanks to our exceptional familiarity with the south we could help,” he said. “We divided ourselves up in the cars so that there would be people responsible for different things: gathering information, rescuing and administering first aid.” All this was happening despite the fact that he and his people had no weapons – and armed Hamas terrorists were still roaming the area. “It’s true that some of those among us worked in security, but who was going to give a weapon to Bedouin?”