Israel - Palestinian militants launch massive attack, 7 Oct 2023 #9

[PommyMommy]

Live updates: Israel-Hamas war, Gaza crisis, Blinken's Middle East visit (cnn.com)
42 min ago

US official: Hamas is blocking foreigners from leaving Gaza until Israel allows ambulances to reach border​

Hamas is blocking foreign nationals from departing Gaza until Israel guarantees that ambulances from the Palestinian enclave can reach the Rafah crossing to Egypt, a US official familiar with situation told CNN Saturday.

The demand comes after Israel admitted on Friday that it attacked an ambulance outside Gaza City’s Al-Shifa Hospital, the largest medical facility in the enclave. The vehicle had been in a convoy headed for Rafah, which is the only remaining option for getting in and out of Gaza during Israel's siege of the territory.

Israel claimed the ambulance was being used by Hamas fighters.

The International Committee of the Red Cross confirmed it had been notified about the convoy, but did not have any of its own ambulances present at the time of the strike.

“Even if we were not present, this is still medical convoy, and any violence towards medical personnel is unacceptable,” the ICRC said Saturday.

More than 700 foreign nationals were expected to leave Gaza through the Rafah crossing Saturday, according to an official source on the Egyptian side of the crossing.

CNN reported Friday that initial efforts to secure safe passage for foreign nationals in Gaza were stymied in part by Hamas including its own members on a list of wounded Palestinians designated to pass through the Rafah crossing, according to a senior US official.

 

[Brightchaser47]

Not sure if there is one person controlling hamas, they have lost alot of top commander’s, chiefs, generals, leaders.

Hamas fighters could have lost communications with their leaders and are firing indiscriminately.

Jmo

There seems to be some sort of hierarchy. It seems as though the IDF has "eliminated" or "neutralized"  many, and yet there are thousands more. Either the IDF exaggerates the numbers, or there are  multitudes of Hamas militants, operatives, etc.
I tend to think some are more organized, disciplined, and experienced than others. jmo

 

[PommyMommy]

Live updates: Israel-Hamas war, Gaza crisis, Blinken's Middle East visit (cnn.com)
14 min ago

Up to a million people have fled to southern Gaza, placing stress on humanitarian response, US envoy says​

The number of people who have fled from north of Wadi Gaza to the southern part of the enclave is estimated to be 800,000 "to perhaps a million," the US special envoy for Middle East humanitarian issues said Saturday — a mass relocation that has exacerbated humanitarian issues, which are only expected to grow as more people flee.

[...]

The ability to move assistance has scaled up exponentially, particularly in the last week, from “pretty much zero in terms of ability to move humanitarian assistance through the Rafah corridor into Gaza,” Satterfield said, but reiterated that even the current number of aid trucks getting through the crossing per day is not sufficient.

Although the US believes the current daily flow of trucks into Gaza is sustainable, “it's challenged by the environment on the ground in south Gaza,” Satterfield said, noting United Nations warehouses with basic supplies and food had been broken into early in the week.

[...]

Shelter is also a problem, he added.

“You've got 350,000 or 400,000 still in the north. If those individuals — some portion of them — come to the south, that's going to increase the load, increase the demand even more,” he added.

[...]

Possible field hospitals and ships: The US is looking at the prospect of establishing field hospitals in south Gaza, Satterfield said Saturday, and Israel is engaging with countries about putting hospital ships offshore of Gaza.

Satterfield said the US is speaking with agencies like the International Committee of the Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders to set up tented field hospitals.

[...]

Israeli officials are speaking with allies like the United Kingdom and France about large hospital ships, he said, while also taking security and safety into account.

 

[Brightchaser47]

Live updates: Israel-Hamas war, Gaza crisis, Blinken's Middle East visit (cnn.com)
42 min ago

US official: Hamas is blocking foreigners from leaving Gaza until Israel allows ambulances to reach border​

Hamas is blocking foreign nationals from departing Gaza until Israel guarantees that ambulances from the Palestinian enclave can reach the Rafah crossing to Egypt, a US official familiar with situation told CNN Saturday.

The demand comes after Israel admitted on Friday that it attacked an ambulance outside Gaza City’s Al-Shifa Hospital, the largest medical facility in the enclave. The vehicle had been in a convoy headed for Rafah, which is the only remaining option for getting in and out of Gaza during Israel's siege of the territory.

Israel claimed the ambulance was being used by Hamas fighters.

The International Committee of the Red Cross confirmed it had been notified about the convoy, but did not have any of its own ambulances present at the time of the strike.

“Even if we were not present, this is still medical convoy, and any violence towards medical personnel is unacceptable,” the ICRC said Saturday.

More than 700 foreign nationals were expected to leave Gaza through the Rafah crossing Saturday, according to an official source on the Egyptian side of the crossing.

CNN reported Friday that initial efforts to secure safe passage for foreign nationals in Gaza were stymied in part by Hamas including its own members on a list of wounded Palestinians designated to pass through the Rafah crossing, according to a senior US official.

Despite the rhetoric, Hamas (at least some of them) must be getting desperate with the stunts they're trying to pull with the ambulances.

 

[PommyMommy]

18min ago

Germany’s vice chancellor: ‘Hamas must be destroyed’​

BERLIN — German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck says in a video speech to members of his party, The Greens, that “basically, Hamas must be destroyed because it is destroying the process of peace in the Middle East.”

Habeck adds, according to German news agency dpa, that Hamas’s October 7 attack “requires a necessary consequence from Israel.”

14min ago

IDF says rocket that Hamas fired toward Eilat was intercepted by Arrow system​

The Israel Defense Forces says the long-range rocket launched by the Hamas terror group in the Gaza Strip toward the southernmost city of Eilat was intercepted by the Arrow air defense system.

It marks the second interception by the long-range Arrow air defense system since the beginning of the war, after a ballistic missile launched from Yemen at Eilat was downed last week.

8min ago

Foreign Ministry says Erdogan siding with Hamas, after Turkey recalls envoy to Israel​

After Turkey announces it is recalling its ambassador to Israel amid the ongoing war against Hamas, the Foreign Ministry accuses Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of siding with the Gaza-ruling terror group.

The ministry also defends Israeli military operations in Gaza as “a war of self-defense” and calls Hamas “the true enemy of the Palestinian people.”

2min ago

Rocket alerts activated in Gaza border towns​

Incoming rocket sirens are activated in the southern city of Sderot and two other communities near the Gaza Strip.

 

[PommyMommy]

Narrator: They really are in the ambulances, in the hospitals, under the refugee camps, and behind children. And that's part of why they must go.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1720769831388033434

Eylon Levy reposted
"incursion"? " armed attacks .againt civilians"? Obscenity by euphemism. How about " monstrously inhuman atrocity"? Parents with eyes gougedout and murdered in front of their children who had fingers and feet amputated before being shot; how about rape and burnings alive?Kidnaps?

https://twitter.com/x/status/1720774018922365329

https://twitter.com/x/status/1720781717668077813

Eylon Levy reposted
Hamas' goal is to destroy Israel and slaughter all Jews there. This is what it's charter states. The idea that anything Israel does would change this goal is unbelievably naive. Until Hamas is removed, ceasefires simply delay their attempts to slaughter Jews to a later date.

https://twitter.com/danielsusskind/status/1720788886224302410

 

[Chimera]

IDF accuses Hamas of attacking troops working to open up a humanitarian corridor for Palestinians to evacuate from northern Gaza to its south.Earlier today, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman Lt. Col. Avichay Adraee announced that between 13:00 - 16:00 the Salah a-Din road would be open for Palestinians to evacuate to southern Gaza.The IDF says Hamas took advantage of the situation, and launched mortars and anti-tank guided missiles at troops working to open the road.No soldiers were hurt in the attack, the IDF says.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1720825870309290392

Thankful no IDF soldiers were hurt.
Want to bet Hamas tells the Gazans that the IDF is targeting them ?
Vile terrorist scum.
Omo.

 

[Momoffourboys]

Thankful no IDF soldiers were hurt.
Want to bet Hamas tells the Gazans that the IDF is targeting them ?
Vile terrorist scum.
Omo.

And BBC and Reuters will be there to eat it up.

 

[Momoffourboys]

Despite the rhetoric, Hamas (at least some of them) must be getting desperate with the stunts they're trying to pull with the ambulances.

Why would they be desperate?
People are marching in solidarity with them worldwide.

 

[Brightchaser47]

Live updates: Israel-Hamas war, Gaza crisis, Blinken's Middle East visit (cnn.com)
42 min ago

US official: Hamas is blocking foreigners from leaving Gaza until Israel allows ambulances to reach border​

Hamas is blocking foreign nationals from departing Gaza until Israel guarantees that ambulances from the Palestinian enclave can reach the Rafah crossing to Egypt, a US official familiar with situation told CNN Saturday.

The demand comes after Israel admitted on Friday that it attacked an ambulance outside Gaza City’s Al-Shifa Hospital, the largest medical facility in the enclave. The vehicle had been in a convoy headed for Rafah, which is the only remaining option for getting in and out of Gaza during Israel's siege of the territory.

Israel claimed the ambulance was being used by Hamas fighters.

The International Committee of the Red Cross confirmed it had been notified about the convoy, but did not have any of its own ambulances present at the time of the strike.

“Even if we were not present, this is still medical convoy, and any violence towards medical personnel is unacceptable,” the ICRC said Saturday.

More than 700 foreign nationals were expected to leave Gaza through the Rafah crossing Saturday, according to an official source on the Egyptian side of the crossing.

CNN reported Friday that initial efforts to secure safe passage for foreign nationals in Gaza were stymied in part by Hamas including its own members on a list of wounded Palestinians designated to pass through the Rafah crossing, according to a senior US official.

That one ambulance in a convoy (and not the entire convoy) was hit suggests to me that Hamas was indeed trying to sneak some of their people out. They're still trying...

 

[Brightchaser47]

Why would they be desperate?
People are marching in solidarity with them worldwide.

I didn't mean desperate in that sense. I meant that no matter how much support they have  outside Gaza, they're still  inside Gaza (trying to get out). And the IDF is closing in on them...

 

[Momoffourboys]

I didn't mean desperate in that sense. I meant that no matter how much support they have  outside Gaza, they're still  inside Gaza (trying to get out). And the IDF is closing in on them...

Yes. True.
They will do whatever it takes to keep the Gazans nearby to shield them from the IDF and use them for their propaganda.

 

[PommyMommy]

In an enlightened world, the UN Secretary General would be horrified by the cynical use of ambulances by armed terrorists, but no.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1720798435626893364

Right now more than 200 families in Israel have a seat empty at their Shabbat tables anxiously waiting for their loved ones held hostage in Gaza to return home. Thank you to our friends around the world for keeping them in your prayers.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1720777320812712038

 

[Brightchaser47]

Contrary to all the propaganda and rhetoric we're hearing, I don't believe that every one of these (mostly) young men is all that eager to become a "martyr". I truly think at least a few of them get a rude awakening, when  they are the ones being shot, attacked, etc. jmo

 

[PommyMommy]

Israel-Hamas war live updates: Blinken in Jordan for talks; U.N. condemns ambulance strikes (nbcnews.com)
21m ago / 9:15 AM PDT

Blinken and Foreign Ministers of Egypt and Jordan condemn killings of civilians but disagree about ceasefire​

[...]

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza “without any conditions.” He added that Israel should stop “hindering the delivery of humanitarian aid” and called for an investigation into violations of international law during this war.

Blinken, however, said the U.S. supports a humanitarian pause in the conflict but not a ceasefire.

“It’s our view that ceasefire now would simply leave Hamas in place able to regroup and repeat October 7th,” he said, reaffirming the U.S. stance that “Israel has a right to defend itself.”

Humanitarian pauses, Blinken said, would allow necessary aid to reach Gaza while simultaneously allowing Israel to continue its fight against Hamas.

 

[Arkay]

https://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2023/10/18/hamas-video-israel-attack-pkg-chance-vpx.cnn

Wow. I hadn’t heard this.

It appears to be true that day workers from Gaza, gardeners and such, were acting as informants to Hamas and gave Hamas highly detailed and accurate information about the layouts of the kibbutzes.

The maps found on the bodies of dead Hamas barbarians specified how many guards were at each kibbutz, where the kitchens were, where the medical clinics were, where the armories were, where the schools were, where security cameras were, etc.

This would have had to come from people with insider knowledge of the details of each kibbutz, and also people who wanted Hamas terrorists to have that information so they’d be prepared. That’s why they first blew out the security cameras and knew where they were headed, every step of the way.

I don’t know that it’s been 100% proven, but it is the only thing that makes sense. How else would Hamas have exact details of the layout of places they’d never been before?

The link above translates portions of the documents into English. We can see they are incredibly precise, as attested to by kibbutz survivors.

IMO

 

[PommyMommy]

Live updates: Israel-Hamas war, Gaza crisis, Blinken's Middle East visit (cnn.com)
27 min ago

Israel accuses Hamas of firing on IDF soldiers operating planned humanitarian route for Gaza residents​

The Israeli military accused Hamas of using an announcement telling Gaza residents to move safely south as an opportunity to fire on soldiers from the Israel Defense Forces.

"The Hamas terrorist organization exploited the humanitarian window that the IDF provided to residents of the Gaza Strip to move southwards," the IDF said in a statement. "The terrorists fired mortars and anti-tank missiles at IDF troops who arrived and operated to open the route."

Earlier Saturday, the IDF had called on Gaza residents via its Arabic account on X, formerly known as Twitter, to use the main Salah-al-Din Road to move south for a three-hour period from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. local time. It's unclear how many Gaza residents have access to internet to see the message.

The IDF said no soldiers were hurt in the incident, but that it served as proof that Hamas "exploits the Gazan population and prevents them from acting in the interest of their own safety."

In its statement, the IDF provided links to a video, photos and audio it claimed showed Hamas opening fire toward the route during the window.

 

[Momoffourboys]

Hamas terror reign will have a very long term and far reaching effect on Palestinians. I don’t think anyone chanting that genocidal chant at rallies is thinking this far ahead nor do I think a majority of them understand what they are chanting. IMO

Representative Ryan Zinke

zinke.house.gov

 

[PommyMommy]

Israel-Hamas war live updates: Blinken in Jordan for talks; U.N. condemns ambulance strikes (nbcnews.com)
6m ago / 9:53 AM PDT

Blinken adds Turkey to regional tour amid breakdown in the country's relations with Israel​

Secretary of State Antony Blinken will include Turkey in his tour of Asia, officials announced, as relations between Ankara and Jerusalem plummet amid Israel's ongoing siege on Gaza.

Secretary Blinken, who met with Arab leaders in Jordan today, will travel on to Ankara before making his way to Tokyo, Seoul, and New Delhi, according to a schedule update.

Turkey's criticism of Israel has become increasingly severe over the course of the war, with president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan breaking ranks with other NATO allies to describe Israel as “deliberately attempting to destroy” Gaza’s healthcare infrastructure. He also accused the European Union — which Turkey has long hoped to join — of being unfair in its approach to the conflict.

 

[PommyMommy]

6:46 pm

Military chief enters Gaza to hold assessment with Israeli forces​

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi (center) speaks with officers inside a building in the Gaza Strip, November 4, 2023. (Israel Defense Forces)

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi held an assessment with forces inside the Gaza Strip today, the military announces.

A video released by the IDF shows Halevi meeting with the commander of the 162nd Division, Brig. Gen. Itzik Cohen, and other officers.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1720844551340843373