ISRAEL (IINO)
[Ed.: Tonight begins the 5th night of Chanukah and we light the fifth of the eight candles. HAPPY CHANUKAH! The following is an excellent description of what Chanukah is all about by my friend Yoram Ettinger:]
Chanukah guide for the perplexed, 2023 Ambassador (ret.) Yoram Ettinger
1. According to Israel’s Founding Father, David Ben Gurion: Chanukah commemorates “the struggle of the Maccabees, which was one of the most dramatic clashes of civilizations in human history, not merely a political-military struggle against foreign oppression…. Unlike many peoples, the meager Jewish people did not assimilate. The Jewish people prevailed, won, sustained and enhanced their independence and unique civilization…. It was the spirit of the people, rather than the failed spirit of the establishment, which enabled the Hasmoneans to overcome one of the most magnificent spiritual, political and military challenges in Jewish history….” (Uniqueness and Destiny, pp 20-22, David Ben Gurion, IDF Publishing, 1953).
2. A Jewish national liberation holiday. Chanukah (evening of December 7 – December 15, 2023) is the only Jewish holiday that commemorates an ancient national liberation struggle in the Land of Israel, unlike the national liberation holidays, Passover, Sukkot/Tabernacles and Shavu’ot/Pentecost, which commemorate the liberation from slavery in Egypt to independence in the land of Israel, and unlike Purim, which commemorates liberation from a Persian attempt to annihilate the Jewish people.
3. Chanukah and the Land of Israel. When ordered by Emperor Antiochus IV Epiphanes of the Seleucid region to end the Jewish “occupation” of Jerusalem, Jaffa, Gaza, Gezer and Akron, Shimon the Maccabee responded: “We have not occupied a foreign land…. We have liberated the land of our forefathers from foreign occupation (Book of Maccabees A: 15:33).”
Chanukah highlights the centrality of the Land of Israel in the formation of Jewish history, religion, culture and language. The mountain ridges of Judea and Southern Samaria (the West Bank) were the platform for the Maccabean military battles: Mitzpah (the burial site of the Prophet Samuel, overlooking Jerusalem), Beth El (the site of the Ark of the Covenant and Judah the Maccabee’s initial headquarters), Beth Horon (Judah’s victory over Seron), Hadashah (Judah’s victory over Nicanor), Beth Zur (Judah’s victory over Lysias), Ma’aleh Levona (Judah’s victory over Apolonius), Adora’yim (a Maccabean fortress), Eleazar (named after Mattityahu’s youngest Maccabee son), Beit Zachariya (Judah’s first defeat), Ba’al Hatzor (where Judah was defeated and killed), Te’qoah, Mikhmash and Gophnah (bases of Shimon and Yonatan), the Judean Desert, etc.
4. Historical context Chanukah is narrated in the four Books of the Maccabees, The Scroll of Antiochus and The Wars of the Jews.
In 323 BCE, following the death of Alexander the Great (Alexander III) who held Judaism in high esteem, the Greek Empire was split into three independent and rival mini-empires: Greece, Seleucid/Syria and Ptolemaic/Egypt.
In 175 BCE, the Seleucid/Syrian Emperor Antiochus (IV) Epiphanes claimed the Land of Israel. He suspected that the Jews were allies of his Ptolemaic/Egyptian enemy. The Seleucid emperor was known for eccentric behavior, hence his name, Epiphanes, which means “divine manifestation.” He aimed to exterminate Judaism and convert Jews to Hellenism. In 169 BCE, he devastated Jerusalem, attempting to decimate the Jewish population, and outlaw the practice of Judaism.
Netanyahu: “First We Will in the South and Then We Will Deal With the North” By Richard Abelson
Dec. 11, 2023 2:00 pm – Dozens of Hamas terrorists have been killed in Israel Air Force strikes over the past 24 hours, the IDF reported, including armed terrorists exiting a medical clinic. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority will run Gaza when Operation “Swords of Iron” is completed.
IDF soldiers uncovered a room used for RPG training inside a mosque in Jabalya, Arutz Sheva reported. Nahal Brigade soldiers also found many weapons, including rifles, grenades, cartridges, etc. – some of them inside UNRWA bags.
The IDF revealed that overnight, the Jerusalem Brigade, in cooperation with intelligence, ground, and air forces, thwarted an attempted Hamas attack on IDF troops and destroyed a tunnel shaft. A Hamas attack on a location where IDF troops were taking cover was thwarted. IDF soldiers targeted terrorists who came out of the tunnel shaft and destroyed it.
Hamas fired rockets at Israel from the humanitarian zone in southern Gaza near displaced civilians and a United Nations facility, the Israel Defense Forces said on Thursday.
The military also released visual evidence of the launch site where, on Wednesday at around 3:59 p.m., a barrage of 12 rockets was fired at the city of Beersheva.
Ha- Mass Surrender: “Terrorists Surrendering, System Disintegrating” as Hamas Beats and Robs Gazans for Aid By Richard Abelson
Dec. 11, 2023 8:45 am – At least 150 Hamas Terrorists have surrendered to the Israeli Army as IDF Arabic spokesman Avichay Adraee posted a video showing Hamas terrorists beating Gazans to steal their humanitarian aid. 106 IDF soldiers have died since the beginning of Operation “Swords of Iron,” and 1,593 Israeli soldiers have been injured. Over 7000 terrorists have been eliminated.
Video circulating on social media on Saturday appeared to show dozens of Hamas terrorists surrendering to IDF soldiers at the UNRWA compound in Jabalia. The video shows the men with their arms raised, dressed only in underwear. One of the terrorists hands over his weapon to Israeli troops.
More than 150 terrorists were seen surrendering to IDF soldiers in Khan Yunis, JNS reports.
During a Chanukah candle-lighting ceremony with Nahal Brigade soldiers and reservists Saturday night, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said, “We see terrorists surrendering, a sign of the disintegration of the system, a sign that we need to push harder.”
“New photos that we reveal today prove there is a conflict between Hamas and the residents of Gaza, as Hamas members beat Gazans in the Shujaiya neighborhood and looted bags of humanitarian supplies that were brought into the Gaza Strip,” IDF Arabic spokesman Avichay Adraee said.
“In videos taken by the IDF, Hamas members appear to take equipment from civilians, load it onto a Hamas car, beat civilians, and then drive their cars to a location known to be linked to the movement. The Hamas terrorist organization deprives the residents of Gaza of food and equipment and delivers them to its members and terrorist needs. Hamas leaders do not care about the people of Gaza and their suffering. Hamas is the enemy of the people in Gaza,” Adraee wrote.
Caught on camera: Hamas terrorists steal humanitarian aid, beat civilians i24NEWS
December 11, 2023 at 04:01 AM – Earlier in the day, the IDF said it found Hamas was using UNRWA-labeled bags to hide explosive devices, AK-47 rifles and an RPG
Hamas terrorists were caught stealing humanitarian aid then beating the civilians from whom the supplies were stolen, in footage captured by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and released on Monday morning.
The video evidence is just the latest showing the terrorist organization Hamas exploiting the civilian population in Gaza, whether by firing from civilian locations as the IDF has repeatedly shown, or using the humanitarian aid in various nefarious uses, such as storing weapons within UNRWA-labeled bags.
“The IDF is continuing its efforts to enable humanitarian aid – including food, water, shelter supplies and medical equipment – to reach civilians in the Gaza Strip. Since the beginning of the war, tens of thousands of tons of aid designated for international humanitarian organizations have entered Gaza,” the Israeli military said in a statement.
“In footage captured by the IDF Border Defense Corps in Shejaiya, Hamas members are seen forcibly taking humanitarian aid from civilians, loading it onto a Hamas vehicle, beating civilians, and then driving to a Hamas-run site,” the statement described the events. https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1734120838008336492
Massive barrage of rockets to central Israel, extensive damage and 1 wounded Jonathan Regev, Ariel Oseran and Matthias Inbar | i24NEWS Senior Correspondents
December 11, 2023 at 07:14 AM – Tensions continue in the north, with Hezbollah claiming responsibility for an attack from Lebanon toward Israeli territory, allegedly hitting an IDF post
Rocket alert sirens sounded in southern Israeli communities of Holit, Kerem Shalom, and Sdeh Avraham as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) continued fighting in Khan Yunis. No impact has been reported.
The day prior, the IDF reported eliminating Emad Karik, the new commander of Hamas’ Shajaiya Battalion in the Gaza Strip. To catch up on the full events of the war from Sunday, CLICK HERE.
Rare recording discovered of Hamas terrorist after IDF flooded the tunnels with water
Blinken is a Liar [2:58]
Secretary of State Antony Blinken accused Israel of violating international law in its war on Gaza and killing a large number of civilians. Both these statements are baseless lies.
The Rape, Butchering of Israeli Women By Paul Schnee
December 9, 2023 – Genocide is what the Turks committed against the Armenians and the Nazis committed against the Jews.
Since October 7th. we have been in the presence of a crime without a name.
Read this article from the Wall Street Journal and explain to me why Israel should be sending humanitarian aid to the civilian population of Gaza which, if not stolen by the Hamas killers, will help many of the Gazan civilians who followed the Hamas terrorists on a rebarbative, grisly, subhuman and gleeful torture and killing spree of their own.
Explain that to me; explain that to me; can somebody damn well explain that to me?!
The Rape of the Israeli Women
At first I didn’t understand. Among Hamas’s crimes of 10/7: little children and babies murdered, some burned to death; children forced to watch parents chased, beaten and shot. Old couples murdered in their homes; families who’d taken refuge in safe rooms burned out and killed. Hamas attempted to behead a kibbutz worker, and killed old women standing at a bus stop. Women were abused—raped, it seemed certain. But I didn’t understand why, from day one, the last received such emphasis. Defenders of Hamas kept demanding proof and claiming there was no evidence. It was as if they were saying: Sure we behead people and kill infants but raping someone, that’s crossing a line!
Gaza in chaos as Palestinian anger against Hamas grows By GUY ALSTER/WALLA
The expansion of fighting and IDF’s entrance into southern Gaza worsened the humanitarian crisis, triggering food shortages and residents’ growing dissatisfaction with Hamas leadership.
DECEMBER 10, 2023 11:04 – The second phase of the Israeli war in Gaza has further exacerbated the humanitarian crisis. Hundreds of thousands of displaced people who fled from the North now seek shelter in the already overcrowded southern part of the Gaza Strip. Many move from Khan Yunis, the current epicenter of IDF-Hamas fighting, to the southern end of the strip, Rafah, near the Egyptian border. All the while, signs point to Hamas’s rule weakening and the barrier of fear against the terrorist group breaking.
A Gaza resident, who bravely expressed his opinions on the radio, voiced his message to Yahya Sinwar and his accomplices. The interviewee, journalist Muhammad Mansour, boldly stated, “May Allah curse you, Hamas leadership. Sinwar, you are the offspring of a despicable creature. Allah will avenge the destruction you have inflicted upon us.”
Mansour called on Hamas to release the remaining Israeli abductees held captive after the collapse of a previous deal, which resulted in the resumption of fighting. Frustrated, he exclaimed, “We were deported from Gaza to Khan Yunis, and from Khan Yunis to Rafah. Our children, women, and families were torn apart from us. Release these hostages immediately! Sinwar, [Mohammed] Deif, and their wicked companions hide underground. We don’t even have access to water.”
Why are Gazan Palestinians angry at Hamas?
While the Hamas leaders remain hidden in tunnels, above-ground residents face significant destruction and a lack of basic necessities, including food and water. These supplies are stored in UNRWA warehouses but fail to reach the people. Photos circulating show enraged residents looting one of the warehouses in Khan Yunis. One resident wrote in a local Telegram group, “What corruption! We are a family of four with refugees among us, struggling to find or buy food.
“A UNRWA representative denied us aid. The police informed the representative that distributing aid was prohibited.” Another resident expressed, “UNRWA is ruining our lives just like the Jews.”
When the Qatari Al Jazeera network attempted to blame Israel for the dire situation, an elderly resident who fled from northern Khan Yunis confronted the organization that has controlled Gaza since 2007.
“All the aid goes down (to the tunnels)! It doesn’t reach the people”, she asserted to the surprised reporter, who tried to persuade her otherwise. Firmly, she replied, “No, no, everything goes to their homes. They take everything.”
In another incident this week, documented and shared on social media, residents threw stones at Hamas members to prevent them from looting a humanitarian convoy passing through Egypt to the Rafah crossing. The angry residents challenged the Hamas forces, who responded by firing at them. “Come here, if you are real men,” they shouted. The footage concluded with the furious protesters starting to chase the convoy.
Hamas terrorists lose contact with Gaza leaders, surrender to IDF By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
The ‘Gaza Strip’
The IDF struck over 250 terror targets in ground, aerial and naval operations across the Strip over the past 24 hours.
DECEMBER 10, 2023 10:10 – Dozens of Hamas terrorists lost contact with the terror group’s leadership, leaving them with no option but to lay down their weapons and surrender to Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip, Army Radio reported on Sunday morning.
After images of stripped terrorists in Jabalya and Khan Yunis circulated on social media, reports emerged that the IDF is “identifying changes in Hamas leadership’s conduct.”
A security source told Army Radio that Hamas’s senior leaders, thought to have fled to Khan Yunis in Gaza’s south, “prefer their personal survival over the survival of Hamas’s command and control operations.”
[Ed.: Tee-hee! So this is what they mean when they call it ‘The Gaza Strip’!]
MK Smotrich against fake news: Officials decided that some blood redder than other blood INN
MK Smotrich: “No blood is redder than other blood. I will not agree to endanger lives of Jews in Judea and Samaria”
Dec 10, 2023, 1:01 PM (GMT+2) – I see that another wave of fake news regarding the budget is starting to surface, as part of the false campaign against the “coalition funds.” So let’s take a second and put things straight:
The approval of the budget by the finance committee is delayed because of difficulties that officials and legal advisers are causing for security elements in Judea and Samaria communities. We are not talking about one extra shekel, but the implementation of the government’s decision that has already been passed and in which included the approval of the entire war budget.
Two months into the Swords of Iron War that completely changed the attitude to security scenarios in Judea and Samaria, two months after everyone understands that civil defense systems need to be strengthened, two months after many hundreds of millions of shekels (more than a billion!) were transferred to the budgeting of security elements and first response squads all over the country. Two months after, and not one shekel has been transferred to security forces in the communities of Judea and Samaria.
Why? Because some officials and legal advisors apparently decided that some people’s blood is redder than others, and that what is defined in the whole country as professional funds and easily, is defined in Judea and Samaria as coalition money and requires a series of procedures and professional opinions that so far have not been carried out.
If Israel had real media, it would ask how it is possible that half a million citizens in Judea and Samaria are being neglected and security budgets required for them have been delayed for two months. It would attack the officials who are causing difficulties and not the government that is trying to promote this.
I will not allow blood to be distinguished from blood. I will not allow to discriminate against half a million residents in Judea and Samaria and endanger their lives. Not on my shift.
When all the budgets allocated by the government are included in the budget that should be approved in the coming days in the Knesset, the budget will pass. A reality in which officials and legal advisors thwart the government’s policy and avoid implementing budgets that the government ordered them to is unacceptable, and in the current context also life-threatening.
And again, there was not one extra shekel. Everything was approved by the government and should be in the law. Most of the amount in the Ministry of the Interior (for ongoing budgeting of the authorities, as is done throughout the country) and a small amount through the settlement division (security elements for the young communities in accordance with the plan prepared by the Central Command). Anyone who says otherwise is simply lying.
I hope that within the next day we will complete all procedures and terrible bureaucracies burdened by the officials and legal advisers and the entire budget will be approved.
[Ed.: Jewish blood is cheapest in IINO!]
Cabinet to consider reintroducing Palestinian Authority Arab workers to Israel INN
Despite the opposition of multiple ministers, the cabinet will discuss whether or not to once again allow Palestinian Authority Arabs to work in Israel.
Dec 9, 2023, 11:56 PM (GMT+2) – The Socioeconomic Cabinet led by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich (Religious Zionism) will convene Sunday afternoon to discuss the reintroduction of workers from the Palestinian Authority to Israel.
Ministers Smotrich, Gideon Sa’ar, and Itamar Ben-Gvir have clarified over the past days that they are against such a move: “Unfortunately, there are still those who are not conceptualizing this properly. Introducing workers from Judea and Samaria is not functionally different from introducing workers from Gaza, the results of which blew up in our faces on October 7th.”
Related articles:
“Those same workers cooperated with Hamas and gave them information. Additionally, their entering Israel means bringing into the country individuals who are exposed to daily incitement in mosques and Arabic media against Israel. We cannot return to the same model from Gaza with the workers from Judea and Samaria – it is a recipe for disaster,” Ben-Gvir stated, according to his associates.
Interior Minister Moshe Arbel (Shas) has also opposed the move: “This issue includes many complications, and requires serious administrative work to consider all the economic and security aspects in their entirety.”
Arbel also stated that since the war began, he has been working with authorities throughout Israel to promote employment of Arabs with Israeli citizenship, and claims that the decision to bring Arab workers from Judea and some area without significant administrative work is likely to damage his efforts and lead to a negative impact on the market and delays in construction.
[Ed.:
LIVEBLOG: IDF hits 250 Hamas targets in Gaza, arrests dozens of terrorists By ILH Staff and i24NEWS
12-10-2023 12:19 – In first since start of war, IDF artillery units operating inside Gaza
Since the war erupted, IDF artillery had been operating on the border of the Gaza Strip, but the military announced that the units began entering the enclave.
The 282nd Fire Brigade were the first to start operating in the Gaza Strip, in cooperation with the 188th Brigade combat team in the Shejaiya area.
“During the operation, over 20 terrorist targets were attacked, including weapons warehouses, booby-trapped buildings and military infrastructures of the terrorist organization Hamas,” the statement concluded.
UPDATE: IDF STORMS Into Yahya Sinwar’s House; Dozens of Hamas Terrorists SURRENDER [8:38] Yair Pinto – TBN Israel
2,593,211 views Dec 8, 2023 #tbnisrael #israelwar #hamas
TBN Israel’s Yair Pinto reports from the frontlines of the Israel-Gaza War while on active duty with the IDF. In the southern part of Gaza, IDF forces have captured the house of Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas’ military wing in the Gaza Strip. This person was in charge of the terror attacks that occurred on October 7th. An IDF soldier even obtained Yahya Sinwar’s credit card. This is a huge achievement. As the war rages on, Pinto reports on the latest updates. Please join us in praying for the peace of Israel and Jerusalem.
[Ed.:
Report: Yahya Sinwar, Hamas leader, is in Khan Yunis Chana Roberts
Yahya Sinwar, Hamas leader in Gaza, escaped Gaza City in a humanitarian convoy at the start of the war.
Dec 9, 2023, 10:11 PM (GMT+2) – Hamas leader in Gaza Yahya Sinwar is in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, after escaping Gaza City at the beginning of the war.
Kan 11 reported that according to an Israeli source, Sinwar succeeded in leaving Gaza City in a humanitarian convoy exiting the city.
Israel’s defense echelon has promised that Sinwar is a dead man and will not die a natural death.
Related articles:
- ‘Sinwar is not above ground. Our job is to kill him’
- ‘Our forces are surrounding Sinwar’s house’
- IDF’s bedtime story for Hamas leader
- Sinwar: October 7 was ‘just a rehearsal’
Earier this week, IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said that Sinwar “is not above ground,” but would not elaborate on his statement.
“Sinwar’s house in the Khan Yunis area. Sinwar is not above ground; he’s underground. Our job is to reach Sinwar and kill him,” Hagari said then.
Last month, Sinwar, one of the masterminds of the October 7 massacre, boasted that the murder of over 1,200 people in southern Israel and the taking of 240 hostages was “just a rehearsal.”
“The leaders of the occupation should know, October 7 was just a rehearsal,” Sinwar threatened in his first public address since the massacre.
“Israel’s Lady in Red” Goes Public After Surviving the Hamas Massacre at the Nova Concert on Oct. 7 (VIDEOS) By Jim Hoft
Dec. 9, 2023 7:30 am – Hamas barbarians slaughtered 1,400 Israelis on Oct. 7, 2023 in a surprise dawn attack.
The Islamists specifically targeted the NOVA Concert in southern Israel. [Emphasis added]
The Hamas terrorists flew paragliders into the concert on that Saturday morning and slaughtered nearly 300 of the 3,600 partygoers around 6:30 AM.
The killers also raped the young beautiful women and took dozens of hostages, both young men and young women. Their whereabouts are now unknown but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Israel will keep electricity and water from Gaza until all the prisoners – nearly 260 – are returned by the barbarians.
[Ed.: This is what Hashem, The One God of Israel does when Jews dance around a Buddha on Simchat Torah (the holiday we celebrate of our receiving the Torah). On Simchat Torah we dance around the Torah (NOT a Buddha).. When we blaspheme our Creator: He whacks us, but good! This will be His last warning. The next time will be the last time!]
Hostage HORRORS: Israeli Doctor Treating Released Hostages Suffering From “Unprecedented Level of Extremely Severe Abuse,” “We Have to Rewrite the Textbooks of Post-Trauma” By Pamela Geller
December 8, 2023 – How does one see unimaginable depravity up close and not be forever marred by it?
Dr. Renana Eitan is actively treating the hostages who were released at the Tel Aviv Medical Center.
Dr. Eitan said survivors are suffering from an unprecedented level of “extremely severe psychological abuse” endured during captivity.
“I can tell you that on behalf of all the medical and psychological teams treating those who return, the mental states we encountered have no precedent in medical literature. We feel that we have to rewrite the textbooks of post-trauma,” Dr. Renana Eitan told “Sunday Night in America.”
Troy Goudy interviewed her. Transcript:
Biden administration tells Israel it has until end of 2023 to finish war in Gaza, reports
Citing three anonymous officials in Tel Aviv, Politico reports that US President Joe Biden’s administration has told Israel that it has until the end of 2023 to conclude the war in Gaza against Hamas.
This deadline was underlined by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on a visit to Israel this week.
When Israeli officials told Blinken that fighting in southern Gaza could last several months, Blinken reportedly responded by saying: “You don’t have that much credit.”
Will Israel defy Washington and target Hezbollah? BY JAMIE DETTMER
Part of the logic of the war on Hamas is to ensure the permanent safety of kibbutzim in southern Israel — and now Israelis who’ve been evacuated from near the Lebanese border are demanding the same.
DECEMBER 8, 2023 – POLITICO – The message coming from Israel’s leaders remains unwavering and uncompromising. Come what may, they’re determined to smash Hamas for good, so it can never again carry out a pogrom like it did on October 7.
And for all the mounting pressure from Western allies to curtail its military operation that’s so far led to the elimination of about half of Hamas’ midlevel commanders in Gaza, Israel is bent on pressing forward, searching the suspected hiding places of the militant group’s upper echelon.
According to three officials in Tel Aviv who spoke to POLITICO on condition of anonymity, the administration of United States President Joe Biden has now given Israel until the end of the year to wrap up its war on Hamas — a deadline that was underlined by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on a visit to Israel this week. But Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer told a security forum on Thursday that the administration is not imposing a hard deadline on Israel to end its military operation in Gaza.
[Ed.: IINO is a banana republic. If we don’t obey Obama’s orders (mouthed by his stooges Biden and Blinken, and Nod) the US could take away all of our bananas!]
