Israel - Palestinian militants launch massive attack, 7 Oct 2023

[Ontario Mom]

Israel is only the first target, warns Hamas Commander in resurfaced video - Watch

WATCH: Israel is only the first target, warns Hamas commander | The Jerusalem Post

Mahmoud al-Zahar: "The entire planet will be under our law, there will be no more Jews or Christian traitors."

www.jpost.com

This Hamas Commander says this is not about land, not just Palestine. "The entire planet will be under our law, there will be no more Jews or Christian traitors." Only then, if everyone adopts his law, will there be peace. pic.twitter.com/97sWBcH8yJ
— CSW Latinoamérica (@CSWLatAm) October 8, 2023

<modsnip>

Convert or die.
They don't mince words, and they mean what they say.
It's really that simple.

 

[PommyMommy]

2hr ago

Military announces ‘widespread’ strikes against Hamas sites in Gaza​

The Israel Defense Forces says it is carrying out “widespread” airstrikes against many Hamas sites across the Gaza Strip.

It says it will provide further details on the strikes soon.

2hr ago

Pro-Palestinian protesters gather for rally in Sydney; Jews told to steer clear​

Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters gather at the Sydney Opera House and police are advising the Jewish community to stay away.
Around 1,000 protesters march 3 kilometers (2 miles) from Sydney Town Hall to the harborside landmark chanting: “Free, free Palestine!” They are surrounded by a heavy police presence. One person at the town hall rally briefly waves an Israeli flag before fleeing.

1hr ago

Hamas releases fresh footage of its members damaging Israeli border defenses​

Hamas publishes new footage showing its members damaging Israeli surveillance systems on the Gaza border on Saturday morning, enabling it to invade southern Israel.

The videos show Israeli observation towers being targeted by sniper fire. The terror group previously published videos of its use of drones to drop explosives on the Israeli surveillance equipment.

The clips also show Israeli tanks being bombed, apparently by drone, and terrorists blowing up parts of the border fence to infiltrate into Israel.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1711330417507197141

 

[DS2021]

This is why im not "team israel" or "team Palestine" i dont think theres any good guys in this. Im "team civilian" my main concern is the safety of those who are just trying to survive

 

[PommyMommy]

2hr ago

Rocket alerts sound in Holon and Rishon Lezion​

Fresh rocket alerts sound in the central cities of Holon and Rishon Lezion, south of Tel Aviv.

2hr ago

Energy minister instructs authorities to cut off water to Gaza​

Energy Minister Israel Katz announces that he has instructed authorities to cut off water to the Gaza Strip.

“I instructed that the water supply from Israel to Gaza be cut off immediately,” Katz says in a statement, adding that the flow of power and fuel was ceased two days ago.

1hr ago

Rocket alerts sound in northern Israel​

Incoming rocket sirens are sounding in the north.

The alarms are blaring in the Mevo’ot Hahermon Regional Council, and the towns of Yiftah and Ramot Naftali.

1hr ago

Hezbollah threatens US, as Russia sees ‘high risk’ of 3rd party entering conflict​

Hezbollah threatens to attack American positions in the Middle East should it intervene directly in the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

“Palestine is not Ukraine,” a spokesperson for the Lebanese terror group says in a statement, after the US moved warships closer to its ally Israel.

“If the US intervenes directly, all US positions in the region will become legitimate targets of the resistance axis and face our attacks. And on that day there will be no red line,” the spokesperson says.

 

[Inthedetails]

This answers one question I asked earlier... Hamas (Palestine) HAS been governing the Gaza strip.

Now Israel Defense says they will be putting a stop to Hamas governing ability and weaponry. So, what has Hamas actually gained by this hellish attack? The attack has only promoted more death and destruction (as usual). imo

I worry Israel was set up to be surrounded. When Israel retaliates, I am expecting it to be fierce - and will that give "justification" to Hamas allies to then attack Israel together? I hope my worries are wrong.

jmo

 

[PommyMommy]

1hr ago

Liberman calls for ground invasion of Gaza​

Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman, a former defense minister, calls for a ground invasion of Gaza in order to root out and destroy Hamas in the wake of the terror militia’s devastating assault on Israel.

“Eliminating Hamas is what is required in the situation that has been created; unfortunately that requires entry on the ground to Gaza City,” Liberman says in a statement, singling out Gaza’s biggest city as the center of the terror group’s operations.

“We have to clean out the stables. Just as we recently entered Jenin, so must we also go into Gaza City,” says Liberman.

He also essentially calls for the government to assassinate Hamas leaders abroad, saying it must “pursue” the group’s leadership wherever they might be, and references the decision by former prime minister Golda Meir to kill the perpetrators and organizers of the Munich Olympics massacre.

1hr ago

EU foreign ministers to hold emergency talks on Israel​

EU foreign ministers will hold urgent talks tomorrow on the situation in Israel and Gaza after Hamas terrorists launched a devastating surprise assault, the bloc’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell says.

“I am convening tomorrow an emergency meeting of EU Foreign Ministers to address the situation in Israel and in the region,” Borrell writes in a social media post.

Borrell and a number of EU foreign ministers are currently in Oman for long-planned talks with Gulf states from the Gulf Cooperation Council.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

WSJ News Exclusive | Iran Helped Plot Attack on Israel Over Several Weeks

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps gave the final go-ahead last Monday in Beirut.

www.wsj.com

This article is behind a pay wall- - at this point the US states there is no evidence Iran is behind this grotesque attack, but I believe Iran is behind it and the article presents some pretty good evidence that this is the case. I don't believe Hamas could have devised and carried out such a massive and successful attack on its own. Hamas is not the brains: they are the brawn: Iran, IMO is the brains.

*from the article, idk why it’s not paywalled for me:

“An attack of such scope could only have happened after months of planning and would not have happened without coordination with Iran,” said Lina Khatib, director of the SOAS Middle East Institute at the University of London. “Hamas, like Hezbollah in Lebanon, does not single-handedly make decisions to engage in war without prior explicit agreement from Iran.”

 

[PommyMommy]

1hr ago

Israeli death toll in Gaza war said to climb to 800​

According to uncorroborated Hebrew media reports, the estimated death toll in Hamas’s assault and subsequent battles has climbed to 800.

Meanwhile, the Health Ministry says that as of this afternoon, 2,506 injured have been taken to hospitals, including 23 who are in critical condition and 353 who are seriously hurt.

16min ago

Several suspects infiltrate northern Israel from Lebanon – IDF​

The Israel Defense Forces says a number of suspects infiltrated into Israeli territory from Lebanon.

“IDF soldiers are deployed in the area,” the military says.

Residents of several towns in the area have been instructed to remain locked in their homes.

14min ago

Two more fallen police officers named​

Police name another two officers killed during fighting with Hamas terrorists in southern Israel.

They are identified as Master Sergeant Uriel Avraham, a member of the Negev Yasam patrol unit, and Master Sergeant Eliyahu Michael Harush, a patrolman at the Sderot station.

Police have so far named 37 officers killed in the fighting.

1min ago

Gunfire and explosions in Lebanon as IDF responds to incursion on northern border​

Gunfire and explosions are reported on the Lebanon border, as the Israeli military responds to the infiltration of several suspects into Israel.

A reporter for the Hezbollah-linked Al-Manar station publishes a video in which gunfire and several explosions can be heard, near the southern Lebanon village of Dhayra.

3:43 pm

Troops kill gunmen who breached northern border — IDF​

The Israel Defense Forces says troops have killed several gunmen who infiltrated into Israel from Lebanon.

“Troops continue to scan the area,” the IDF says.

The army adds that a combat helicopter is striking targets in the area.

 

[katydid23]

My neighbour is visiting her grandparents in Tel Aviv right now. I am feeding her cat until Oct 12th.

What a nightmare to see the news footage. She was going to be taking them on a trip down the coast. I hope they are OK.

I tried to text but her phone seems to be turned off.

My neighbour, a young woman I'll call KT, is not returning tomorrow as planned. But her Aunt has spoken to her and she and her grandparents had a turn of events that was a very lucky decision. Her original plan was to take her grandparents, who are in the 70's, on a nice road trip down the coast from Tel Aviv. They would have been on the road in the danger zone at the worst possible time.

But her grandparents had been wanting to go see their other children and grandchildren---who had moved to Athens a few years ago. They wanted the grandparents to move there as well, but they refused to leave Israel because they loved their home, etc.

So KT decided to fly to Athens w/her grandparents, 4 days before the attack, and now of course, they plan to stay for awhile with their family.

KT had her Aunt come and pick up her cat, because she does not know when she is returning. I was relieved to hear they were safe and it is very lucky if not miraculous that she ended up moving her elderly loved ones to be with their large extended family, right when they needed each other the most.

Her Aunt did say one thing that is worrisome---she said there had been a bit of backlash against Israeli's in Athens after the bombings began. So the family is trying to lay low and wait to see what to do next. I bet they are just happy to be all together for right now.

 

[PommyMommy]

Israel-Hamas war live: Israel imposes ‘full siege’ of Gaza as barrage of rockets fired from Palestinian territory (theguardian.com)
34m ago13.17 BST

Summary of the day so far …​

• Israel Defence Forces spokesperson Daniel Hagari said this morning that Israel is “in control” of all communities and at the moment there is no fighting inside Israel, but that it is possible there are still Hamas militants in Israeli territory. An evacuation is under way of all communities near the border fence, he said.
• The Israel Defence Forces is in the process of carrying out intense air strikes, every four hours, in the Gaza Strip. Hundreds of targets are being attacked, and Israel is only targeting places where terrorists are present, the spokesperson said.
• Israel is also on high alert in the north. There have been some local incidents reported in the north yesterday, but there is no fighting.
• Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, said that Israel is imposing a “complete siege” on Gaza. “There is no electricity, there is no food, there is no water, there is no fuel,” he said.
• Israeli airstrikes have hit the Jabalia camp in the Gaza Strip, killing more than 50 people, Al Jazeera reports.
• Qatari mediators have held calls with Hamas to try to negotiate freedom for Israeli women and children held in Gaza in exchange for the release of 36 Palestinian women and children from Israel’s prisons, a source has told Reuters.

 

[katydid23]

To be clear, what I am about to say is in NO WAY trying to downplay Hamas’s motivation in these atrocities.

I think Iran’s involvement is being downplayed here and their motivation needs exploration.

Ya Ya, jihad, free the Muslim people, bring Mohammed to the world and back a terrorist organization for the betterment of the Palestinians. Hmmmm….nah.

IMO Iran USED Hamas for its own gain. Create instability, kill Israeli’s (Jew or not), just kill them all. Put this on the world stage and provoke the US into engaging. Poke the bear.

I think that this was such a surprise as it was all planned in Iran. The weaponry, the Gliders, the actual planning of the attack was planned in Iran. To downplay their involvement would be shortsighted and foolish. Iran is a barbaric country and we have seen that for years now. Iran wasn’t helping Hamas to be nice. There had to be something in it for them.

I have no answers to a situation that has been simmering for centuries let alone recent years.

What I do know is that Hamas needs to be dealt a death blow and it’s coming. The hostages may never survive this because it’s going to be a massive onslaught on Gaza. Many will die. Many. Women, children, teens, young adults and seniors are going to die. It’s inevitable.

So what will Hamas’ gain be when this is all done? It’s going to be worse for those who make it through. Death will be everywhere. Families destroyed. A humanitarian disaster is looming.

Iran gets to sit back and watch the chaos, the death and destruction, and the misery. They get to watch the world try to cope. Gas prices will rise, instability will ensue in the markets. Glee will be felt at the highest level of Iranian government.

Hamas may think they did this to free the oppressed and bring Israel to its knees but this action has no noble cause. They are going to be decimated and those that assisted them (for their own purposes) will have accomplished their goals with nary a ramification.

It is barbaric and evil what Hamas has perpetuated on Israel. They will pay dearly and all of the Palestinians will pay the price.

Next thing we’re going to hear is that Putin takes advantage of all eyes being on the Middle East so he can make more moves on Ukraine.

The world is terrible place right now.

MOO

REPORT: EGYPT SEEKS ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN PRISONER TRADE​

Egypt has engaged in negotiations with Israel and Palestinian militant groups to release Palestinian women in Israel’s prisons in exchange for Israeli women captured by Hamas militants, the state-owned Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram reported Monday.

The daily paper quoted an unnamed source as saying that the negotiations were aimed at finalizing an agreement on the trade.

“The Egyptian government is presently awaiting responses from both parties regarding the proposed prisoners exchange and a temporary cease-fire,” Al-Ahram said.

Palestinian militant groups have claimed to be holding over 130 people who were captured in Israel in the past two days. Hamas spokesman Abdel-Latif al-Qanoua told The Associated Press by phone that the group’s fighters had captured more Israelis as recently as Monday morning.

He said the group aims to free all Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, which in the past has agreed to lopsided exchanges.

Live updates | Israel taking 'significant military steps' in response to Hamas attack

Israel’s defense minister has ordered a “complete siege” on the Gaza Strip following an unprecedented incursion into Israel by Hamas fighters. Israel formally declared war on Sunday and gave the

www.athensreview.com

I do hope they can do some' hostages for prisoner 'exchanges ---although that releases some dangerous people, most likely.

 

[Inthedetails]

I admit I don't know why this is their view. I don't know the history there. I might take some time to read up on it so I am more informed.

It's worth learning some of the history that lead to today. It's complicated, to be sure, but the knowing at least basic context will be useful when following this situation. Given the spotlight on the place right now, it's an opportunity to learn. (fwiw I know the basic history and the geography, not claiming to be an expert - far from it!!)

jmo

 

[PommyMommy]

Israel Gaza live news: Israel orders 'siege' of Gaza with 'no electricity, food, or fuel' - BBC News
Posted at 5:095:09

'I just want her back' - mother of 22-year-old missing after festival massacre​

A 22-year-old Irish-Israeli woman is among those missing after Hamas gunmen attacked the Supernova music festival near the Gaza border in a murderous rampage, leaving nearly 300 people dead.

In an interview with ABC News, Jennifer Damti said her daughter, Kim, had phoned them shortly after the attack began.

“Kim didn’t realise there was like seven or eight Toyota vans full of terrorists and they just shot everywhere," she said.

"They just shot them, slaughtered them like ducks, and that's the reason I'm here, because I want the world to condemn this behaviour.

You can't sleep. All I can think about is where she is, if she's suffering, if she's still alive. I just want her back."

 

[SuspiciousM]

No

I worry Israel was set up to be surrounded. When Israel retaliates, I am expecting it to be fierce - and will that give "justification" to Hamas allies to then attack Israel together? I hope my worries are wrong.

jmo

Sadly,I think this is a real possibility. Despite Israel’s diminutive size it will be cast as the aggressor and Lebanon (Hezbollah) and Syria (which has never recognised the Israeli state) backed by its ally Russia (which is already making statements about “3rd party involvement”) could join in.

The world just became an even more dangerous place.

 

[Momoffourboys]

Israelies do not want the siege on Gaza. Israelies do not want Gaza. They want to live in peace. They want to go to work, school, restaurants without fear. Without sirens sending them to the shelters.

No Israeli wants harm done to Arab women and children. No Israeli wants them without water or electricity.

Even in war, there are rules. Hamas is not a nation. They are a terrorist group and do not follow rules. They are out for blood. For death. For shock value. Also, dumb enough to broadcast their crimes. So the entire world can see.

 

[Gardenista]

Probably more so because of the 6 billion dollars the US releases to Iran.

U.S. clears way for release of $6 billion in frozen Iranian funds as part of prisoner swap deal

The Biden administration has cleared the way for the release of five American citizens detained in Iran by issuing a waiver for international banks to transfer $6 billion in frozen Iranian money without fear of U.S. sanctions.

www.cbsnews.com

…

Distance themselves from this.

So what monies iran had could be given to hamas knowing the 6 billion is on the way to have. Jmo

Wow, I had no idea we just gave $6B to Iran. That's nuts.

 

[Gardenista]

Israel is only the first target, warns Hamas Commander in resurfaced video - Watch

WATCH: Israel is only the first target, warns Hamas commander | The Jerusalem Post

Mahmoud al-Zahar: "The entire planet will be under our law, there will be no more Jews or Christian traitors."

www.jpost.com

This Hamas Commander says this is not about land, not just Palestine. "The entire planet will be under our law, there will be no more Jews or Christian traitors." Only then, if everyone adopts his law, will there be peace. pic.twitter.com/97sWBcH8yJ
— CSW Latinoamérica (@CSWLatAm) October 8, 2023

Hamas Commander is a lunatic.

 

[Bounceycat]

Wow, I had no idea we just gave $6B to Iran. That's nuts.

As it states in the article, the funds are in an account restricted only to use for humanitarian aid.

 

[Ontario Mom]

Israelies do not want the siege on Gaza. Israelies do not want Gaza. They want to live in peace. They want to go to work, school, restaurants without fear. Without sirens sending them to the shelters.

No Israeli wants harm done to Arab women and children. No Israeli wants them without water or electricity.

Even in war, there are rules. Hamas is not a nation. They are a terrorist group and do not follow rules. They are out for blood. For death. For shock value. Also, dumb enough to broadcast their crimes. So the entire world can see.

I'm still on the fence on whether it's a good thing, or a terrible thing that they broadcast what they do.
Terrible because it's utterly inhuman, good because they're showing the world who they really are.

jmo

 

[PommyMommy]

8min ago

EU suspends Palestinian aid payments, will ‘review’ future funding​

The EU has halted development aid payments to the Palestinians and is placing 691 million euros ($728 million) of support “under review” after the Hamas assault on Israel, an EU commissioner says.

“All payments immediately suspended. All projects put under review. All new budget proposals, including for 2023 postponed until further notice. Comprehensive assessment of the whole portfolio,” European Union Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi posts on social media.

**********​

The scale of terror and brutality against #Israel and its people is a turning point. There can be no business as usual. As the biggest donor of the Palestinians, the European Commission is putting its full development portfolio under review, worth a total of EUR 691m

https://twitter.com/x/status/1711362068056613294