ISRAEL (IINO)
Benjamin Achimeir
Israeli officials deeply frustrated over U.S. arms shipment pause – report i24NEWS
This frustration has been compounded by Israel’s perception that it was blindsided by Hamas’ unexpected ceasefire announcement earlier in the week
May 08, 2024 at 11:10 AM – Tensions between Israel and the United States have intensified as Israeli officials have expressed deep frustrations over the Biden administration’s decision to halt an arms shipment destined for Israel.
According to reports from NBC News, this move has exacerbated existing tensions, particularly following the recent developments in ceasefire and hostage negotiations with Hamas.
An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, revealed to NBC News the significant frustration within the Israeli government over the abrupt pause in the arms delivery.
This frustration has been compounded by Israel’s perception that it was blindsided by Hamas’ unexpected announcement earlier in the week, indicating acceptance of a ceasefire proposal that Israel claims it was not informed about in advance.
The Biden administration’s decision to pause the arms shipment was reportedly driven by concerns that Israel might be on the verge of launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah. A senior U.S. administration official, speaking to the Associated Press, confirmed the temporary suspension, citing worries over Israel’s potential military actions.
In addition to the arms shipment delay, Israeli officials have alleged that the Biden administration was aware of modifications made to a ceasefire-prisoner swap deal proposed by Egypt and Qatar to Hamas.
However, they claim that the U.S. failed to inform Israel of these changes before Hamas publicly announced its acceptance of the ceasefire terms.
These claims have been refuted by a senior U.S. official, who asserted that American diplomats have maintained active engagement with Israeli counterparts throughout the negotiation process.
Despite the strained relations, the U.S. remains committed to facilitating a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. U.S. officials believe that Israel has negotiated in good faith and that the ceasefire proposal presented to Hamas in April was the most comprehensive to date.
[Ed.:
Hamas launches rockets towards U.S. aid pier Matthias Inbar, Ariel Oseran
Prime Minister Netanyahu said the Rafah operation is meant to ‘cripple Hamas’ and put pressure on reaching a satisfactory hostage deal
May 08, 2024 at 04:38 PM – Day 215 of Israel at war: Israeli forces have entered Rafah in the Gaza Strip, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed on Monday. The Prime Minister and war cabinet said the move is aimed at securing the release of abducted citizens and crippling Hamas to the point it cannot retake control of Gaza.
At the same time, a working group of Israeli negotiators was dispatched to Cairo, with the White House confirming that all of the parties had agreed to continue on the mediation track to try to reach a ceasefire deal, despite the limited operation in Rafah. Hamas had responded on Monday with a counterproposal, with the White House saying that it differed greatly from the original offer.
To catch up on the full events from Tuesday CLICK HERE.
Read more in-depth updates on the Israel-Hamas war.
May 08, 2024 04:31 PM Hamas launched rockets towards area where U.S. is building humanitarian aid sea port – report
04:24 PM Hamas official says he believes hostage and ceasefire deal can be reached “soon” – Arab media report
The Hamas official said that the details left to be agreed relate to which hostages would be released in the first phase of the ceasefire
04:02 PM IDF says soldier lightly wounded from rocket barrage fired at Kerem Shalom earlier on Wednesday
03:57 PM U.S. warns Israel to not expand Rafah operation – report
03:36 PM Alert sirens sound in northern Israel warning of possible drone incursion
03:08 PM CIA chief expressed potential for hostage Deal in meeting with Netanyahu – report
Israeli leaders, including Netanyahu, Defense Minister Gallant, Mossad chief David Barnea, and Shin Bet head Ronen Bar, pushed back against Burns’s assessment of the situation
[Ed.: The Israeli army has spent 215 days not winning the war, carelessly shedding Jewish blood, supplying aid to the enemy, and protecting the enemy’s so-called ‘innocent civilians’. Is this some kind of leftist ‘military strategy’? Remember, they are the very same ‘military leaders’ who enabled the massacre in the first place and should have been jailed immediately back then! The reason that IINO will not win a war with an inferior HAMAS army is because Israel’s leftist military leadership takes their marching orders from the Obama and his thugs, and not from the priorities of the people of Israel. They should be hung from their balls until dead in a public square, on public TV.]
Biden’s double game on Hamas should fool no one Jonathan S. Tobin
A presidential speech condemned past and present antisemitism. However, it contradicted policies aimed at letting the terrorists win and appeasing pro-Hamas voters.
May 8, 2024, 6:54 AM (GMT+3) – (JNS) When President Joe Biden wants to say the right things about Israel and antisemitism, he knows how to do it. Much like his comments immediately after the Oct. 7 massacres, his speech at a Holocaust commemoration held in the U.S. Capitol on May 7 struck all the right notes. He not only spoke appropriately about the Six Million slain by the Nazis, he correctly noted that, “This ancient hatred of Jews didn’t begin with the Holocaust. It didn’t end with the Holocaust either. Or after—even after our victory in World War II. This hatred continues to lie deep in the hearts of too many people in the world and requires our continued vigilance and outspokenness. That hatred was brought to life on October 7th of 2023.”
Going on, he acknowledged that the current war has unleashed a surge of antisemitism in the United States that has been particularly felt on college campuses. He even detailed the unspeakable atrocities of Oct. 7 (which, according to a live New York Timesupdate about the speech, offends “pro-Palestinian” protesters who deny Hamas’s crimes). And unlike his first comments about the antisemitic campus protests, he didn’t try to balance that with either bogus concerns about a largely mythical problem of Islamophobia or discussions about the alleged sufferings of Palestinian Arabs in the Gaza Strip. He also placed the blame for the current war squarely on the Hamas terror organization.
Yet, the president said, “people are already forgetting. They are already forgetting. That Hamas unleashed this terror. It was Hamas that brutalized Israelis. It was Hamas who took and continues to hold hostages. I have not forgotten nor have you. And we will not forget.”
A broken promise
While his words earned the applause they garnered, that last statement isn’t true. That’s because his policies—as distinct from some of his speeches that were, like those at the Holocaust ceremony, largely aimed at Jewish voters—contradict that promise.
Although he initially endorsed the Israeli goal of eliminating Hamas and seemed to implicitly commit to that again in his speech, the entire thrust of Biden’s current Middle East policy is quite the opposite.
He is doing everything he can, including threats of cutting off certain military weapons, stalling deliveries of bombs, diplomatic maneuvers at the United Nations and duplicitous efforts to push through an agreement with the terrorist group, to save Hamas from defeat just when Israel put it on the ropes.
Biden has essentially been playing a double game on the war with Hamas since Oct. 7.
At times, his words have been just what Israel and its friends needed to hear as they reeled from the largest mass slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust. But just as the antisemitic left didn’t wait for the Israel Defense Forces to begin its counter-offensive into Gaza to begin to flip the narrative about the conflict to one about Palestinian Arab victimhood instead of one about the atrocities of Oct. 7, similarly, Biden began to edge away from his initial strong stand behind Jerusalem at the same time.
Biden in message to Israel: I will stop sending bombs over major invasion of Rafah Elad Benari
US President says he will halt shipments of American weapons to Israel if Netanyahu orders a major invasion of Rafah: Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of those bombs.
May 9, 2024, 1:11 AM (GMT+3) – US President Joe Biden told CNN on Wednesday he would halt shipments of American weapons to Israel if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu orders a major invasion of the city of Rafah.
“Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of those bombs and other ways in which they go after population centers,” Biden told CNN’s Erin Burnett in an exclusive interview, referring to 2,000-pound bombs that Biden paused shipments of last week.
“I made it clear that if they go into Rafah – they haven’t gone in Rafah yet – if they go into Rafah, I’m not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities – that deal with that problem,” Biden added.
Biden said while the US would continue to provide defensive weapons to Israel, including for its Iron Dome air defense system, other shipments would end should a major ground invasion of Rafah begin.
“We’re going to continue to make sure Israel is secure in terms of Iron Dome and their ability to respond to attacks that came out of the Middle East recently,” he told CNN. “But it’s, it’s just wrong. We’re not going to – we’re not going to supply the weapons and artillery shells.”
Biden also stressed that Israel’s actions in Rafah had not yet crossed a red line of entering heavily populated zones, even if their actions had caused tensions in the region.
“They haven’t gone into the population centers. What they did is right on the border. And it’s causing problems with, right now, in terms of – with Egypt, which I’ve worked very hard to make sure we have a relationship and help,” he said, adding he had conveyed to Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders that American support for operations in population centers was limited.
“I’ve made it clear to Bibi and the war cabinet: They’re not going to get our support, if in fact they go on these population centers,” the President said.
The interview comes a day after a US official confirmed that the US had paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
The shipment which was paused was supposed to consist of 1,800 2,000-pound bombs and 1,700 500-pound bombs, a US official told The Associated Press, with the focus of US concern being the larger explosives and how they could be used in a dense urban setting.
The US has long been vocal in its opposition to an Israeli operation in Rafah. On Sunday, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke to Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. A Pentagon statement released after the call said that Austin “stressed the need for any potential Israeli military operation in Rafah to include a credible plan to evacuate Palestinian civilians and maintain the flow of humanitarian aid.”
Those comments were a reiteration of comments made by Austin during a conversation with Gallant last week.
On Wednesday, Kan News reported that the United States has warned Israel not to expand its military operations in Rafah.
According to the report, Israel made clear to the Americans that preventing the delivery of precise munitions can harm the military effort, strengthen Hamas, and therefore may threaten a deal for a ceasefire and hostage release.
Related articles:
- Israel deeply frustrated with US arms shipment pause
- ‘I have not forgotten what Hamas did’
- US officials: Hamas counteroffer has ‘minor wording changes’
- Biden, Netanyahu discuss Rafah operation
[Ed.:
Lindsey Graham: ‘Blocking weapons to Israel obscene, Hiroshima, Nagasaki on steroids’ [VIDEO 5:16]
Senator Graham grills Defense Secretary Austin on the Biden Administration’s freezing of a weapons shipments to Israel, asks if Austin would support dropping the atom bombs on Japan.
May 8, 2024, 9:54 PM (GMT+3) Israel National News – US Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) grilled US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Charles Q. Brown Jr. on the Biden Administration’s freezing of an arms shipment to Israel, demanding to know if they would have dropped the two atomic bombs on Japan in order to end World War Two.
“Would you have supported dropping the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki? General Brown, to end World War Two?” Senator Graham asked. “Do you think that was disproportionate?”
Brown replied, “Well, I’ll tell you, it stopped the world war.” Secretary Austin stated that he agreed with the chairman.
Turning to Austin, Graham asked, “What’s Israel interested in? Do you believe Iran really wants to kill all the Jews if they could? The Iranian regime. Do you believe Hamas is serious when they say we’ll keep doing it over and over again? Do you agree that they will if they can?”
Austin answered, “I do.” He also answered in the affirmative when asked if Hezbollah was a terrorist organization.
Grahan asked, “Okay, so Israel’s been hit in the last few weeks by Iran, Hezbollah, and Hamas dedicated to their destruction. And you’re telling me you’re going to tell them how to fight the war? And what they can and can’t use when everybody around them wants to kill all the Jews. And you’re telling me that if we withhold weapons in this fight — the existential fight for the life of the Jewish state — it won’t send the wrong signal?”
“If we stop weapons necessary to destroy the enemies of the State of Israel at a time of great peril, we will pay a price. This is obscene. It is absurd. Give Israel what they need to fight the war. They can’t afford to lose. This is Hiroshima and Nagasaki on steroids,” Senator Graham said. [Emphasis added]
A senior US administration official confirmed on Tuesday that the US paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
The official said the decision to pause the shipment was made last week and no final decision had been made yet on whether to proceed with the shipment at a later date.
The shipment which was paused was supposed to consist of 1,800 2,000-pound bombs and 1,700 500-pound bombs, according to the official, with the focus of U.S. concern being the larger explosives and how they could be used in a dense urban setting.
Related articles:
- ‘UNRWA is dead to the United States’
- Senator Graham to Netanyahu: The US has Israel’s back
- ‘Your security, destruction of Hamas are non-negotiable’
- ‘Abbas’ Palestinian Authority is dead to me’
[Ed.:
More Sanctions? US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin stated today that the USA was re-evaluating military aid to Israel due to the operation in Rafah.
𝗜𝗦𝗥𝗔𝗘𝗟 𝗟𝗜𝗩𝗘 𝗡𝗘𝗪𝗦 https://chat.whatsapp.com/EO1wHcLHg7i29X0mpgFUJv
[Ed.: Perhaps the US military should force Israel to use lipstick on their men. At least provide trans shows to relieve the tensions of war! This way, we could be as successful as the US military has been in each of their recent wars. These Americans are truly somebody that should be listened to and obeyed.]
🟠 May 8, 2024, Wed night – ISRAEL REALTIME – Connecting to Israel in Realtime
💩US ADMITS.. The Americans admit that they stopped the arms shipments to prevent Israel from entering Rafah. The US Secretary of Defense publicly announces: “We froze one arms shipment to Israel in light of the operation in Rafah. We are currently looking at additional deliveries against the background of the current operation in Rafah. Israel must not carry out an operation in Rafah without a plan that takes into account the safety of the citizens in Rafah.”
(( The stupidity of the US thinking here is legion. Let’s say Israel is attacked, by Hezbollah or Shia militias from Syria — Israel can: use less accurate weapons killing more civilians – for example Israel has a stock of MLRS rocket launchers, area saturation but bigger missiles like Hezbollah’s Katyushas, or Israel could break out tactical nuclear weapons (assuming it has them, wink wink). The US thinks this situation is optional for Israel, that’s a deadly mistake. )) [Emphasis added]
U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham harshly criticizes Defense Secretary Austin: “Don’t you think that the decision to delay arms shipments is a signal to Hamas and Hezbollah to keep pressing?”
♦️A message spread by the Gazans: “Attention residents of central Rafah, stay away from tall towers following artillery fire at the towers in central Rafah. In the last few minutes the artillery attacked 3 residential towers in Rafah.”
♦️IDF continues heavy bombing across southern Lebanon, hitting at least 10 different villages.
♦️For the first time since the beginning of the ground operation in East Rafah, IDF shells landed in Tal al-Sultan in West Rafah.
♦️The IDF and the Shin Bet eliminated the commander of the naval force of Hamas in Gaza City.
⭕ Hezbollah this morning launched at least 5 anti-tank missiles at buildings in the Avivim settlements of Manara Metula (some of them directly hit the buildings).
⭕ Hezbollah launched anti-tank missiles towards the Goma intersection, a distance of 9 km from the border – this is an area that is not included in the daily fire range, and it is a long-range anti-tank fire.
⭕ Large combined suicide drone and rocket barrage across the north this afternoon. 1 soldier KILLED (other reports say 3), 1 wounded.
⭕ A barrage of eight rockets was launched from the Rafah area in southern Gaza at southern Israel around an hour ago, the IDF says. Sirens sounded in the community of Shlomit, some 7km from the Gaza border.
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‼️ WE WANT OUR CHILDREN TO BE HUMAN SHIELDS… The Mossad: Satirical, Yet Awesome
IDF: “We need you to evacuate. You don’t have much time left.” GAZAN: ’Strike us, do whatever you want. Our children must also die so we can expose your brutality. Do whatever you want, everyone wants to die from our side. We love death the way you love life.’
This conversation is just chilling.
Watch [2:31]
⚠️ Tue. afternoon (7:53 am Eastern) – ISRAEL REALTIME – Connecting to Israel in Realtime
MOST reports via Arab media / sources, the IDF has not provided updates. Fog of war applies (accuracy not guaranteed).
♦️RAFAH EVAC.. warnings to evacuate now sent to central Rafah.
♦️GOT ONE.. Riyad Abu Hashish, one of the leaders of the Islamic Jihad in Gaza, was killed in an airstrike in the al-Shati camp.
♦️HEAVY BOMBING.. in parts of Rafah by the IDF.
♦️SOME RAFAH TUNNELS DISCOVERED.. engineering units inbound.
⭕ HAMAS ATTACKS.. “We launched rockets at the (IDF) maneuvering forces at the Rafah crossing.” 5 rockets, no injuries.
⭕ IRAQI SHIA MILITIA FIRES DRONE.. The IDF spokesman announces that the Air Force intercepted a drone launched by the Iranian militias in Iraq towards Israel.
⭕ HEZBOLLAH DRONE HIT.. Birkat Ramim.
⭕ 2 ANTI-TANK MISSILES from HEZBOLLAH at IDF Mt. Dov post.
⭕ HEZBOLLAH DRONE BARRAGE – – 5 rounds of suicide drones against northern towns.
⭕ HEZBOLLAH – 2 rounds of rockets against northern towns.
🔸DEAL ACTIVITY..
.. The terrorist organizations claim: in the new proposal we agreed on – there is no Israeli veto regarding which terrorists will be released.
.. Hamas did not “agree to the offer” but offered its own offer. Not only did Hamas not relent, but reserved the possibility of releasing bodies. What, for example, is preventing them from shooting a hostage just before his release? After all, it counts anyway. The demand to end the war still stands. (All terms unacceptable to Israel.)
.. Senior Israeli official: Hamas continues to fortify its (deal) position, we continue our operation in Rafah.
❗️Wall Street Journal: the $260 million (Israel pays for it) shipment of weapons that the US is delaying to Israel is 6,500 advanced JDAM kits for the accuracy of unguided bombs. (( Besides hypocrisy of an ally, how about unmitigated STUPIDITY. “We are worried about civilian casualties, therefore we are refusing to ship accurate bombs to you.” – brought to you direct from cloud cookoo land, or in Israel we would say via the Chelm Defense Advisor. ))
▪️ASHKELON CANCELS INDEPENDENCE DAY EVENTS.. due to the high vigilance and the entry of the IDF into Rafah, in order not to put at risk tens of thousands of residents.
▪️THE ARMY CHIEF IS UPSET.. The Chief of Staff replies to the State Comptroller: “There has never been an audit of the IDF in Israel during a war, an audit will harm the efforts.” (( Fair, but conversely you don’t appoint new senior generals after a massive failure until there is an investigation into who blew it. ))
▪️THE WORKERS ARE QUIETLY COMING BACK.. Quietly, quietly, with the approval of the authorities, Palestinian workers are returning to work in Israeli Judea-Samaria towns. (( Regardless of the serious post Oct. 7 security risks. Part of this is because the government, after 7 months, can’t get it’s act together about authorizing and coordinating the bringing of other foreign workers – while Sri Lankans (for example) are literally lined up asking for the jobs. ))
▪️US SENATORS THREATEN THE ICC.. Republican senators threaten the International Criminal Court in The Hague in an official letter: “If you hurt Israel, we will hurt you!”
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JUST IN: Israel Defies Biden Regime, Begins Offensive in Rafah to Finish Off Hamas After Rejecting Terror Group’s Ceasefire Ploy VIDEO) By Cullen Linebarger
May 6, 2024 5:30 pm – Israel has officially defied the Biden regime and started their offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah to finish off Hamas after calling the Islamist terror group’s claim that they accepted a ceasefire a lie.
Here is the official announcement from the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) on X
Earlier Monday, Hamas claimed they informed Qatari and Egyptian mediators that it had accepted their proposal for a new Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal with the Jewish State. According to the BBC, the basis of the agreement was a weeks-long pause in fighting with Hamas agreeing to release dozens of hostages.
As the New York Post notes, the announcement came shortly after Israel’s war cabinet unanimously voted to go ahead with the strike on Hamas’ final stronghold “with the goal of making progress on freeing the hostages and the other war aims.” These presumably include ensuring Hamas’ ultimate demise.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also said Hamas’ latest “truce offer” as “far from Israel’s obligatory demands.”
Below is footage captured by Eye on Palestine showing Israeli warplanes bombing east of Rafah.
[Ed.:
Israel begins Rafah offensive after rejecting Hamas ceasefire ploy By Ronny Reyes
May 6, 2024, 3:29 p.m. ET – Israel has begun its military operation into Rafah after rejecting Hamas’ cease-fire claim as a deception.
“The IDF is currently conducting targeted strikes against Hamas terror targets in eastern Rafah in southern Gaza,” the Israel Defense Forces said Monday night local time.
The world’s eyes are now on the southern city in the Gaza Strip, where more than 1 million Palestinians have taken refuge while fleeing war elsewhere in the territory.
President Biden has repeatedly warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to go ahead with the Rafah offensive unless the IDF could secure the safety of the civilians, with the president repeating himself during a call earlier Monday.
“The president was consistent again this morning that we don’t support ground operations in Rafah,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters prior to the advancement.
As the IDF entered Rafah, Hamas said it fired rockets at the Israeli city of Sderot, Nir Am and other areas near the Gazan border.
The IDF confirmed that the missiles were intercepted by the Iron Dome defense system, with one home damaged by falling shrapnel from the attack.
The announcement came shortly after Israel’s war cabinet unanimously voted to proceed with the attack on Hamas’ final stronghold in an effort to apply military pressure on the terror group, “with the goal of making progress on freeing the hostages and the other war aims,” Netanyahu’s office said.
The prime minister also slammed Hamas’ latest truce officer as “far from Israel’s obligatory demands.”
Following Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh’s announcement that the terror group had accepted a cease-fire deal, Israeli officials told multiple outlets that the deal presented to the terror group was a “softened” version of what was really on the table and is not being taken seriously by Jerusalem.
One official told Reuters that the announcement was a clear ruse by the terror group to create backlash against Israel for refusing a deal, and officials told public broadcaster KAN TV that the announcement of a cease-fire agreement was a “Hamas deception.”
Despite criticizing Hamas’ move, Netanyahu’s office said Israel is still sending a negotiation team to Cairo “to exhaust the possibility of achieving an agreement on terms that are acceptable to Israel.”
US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said that the US does not support an intensified military operation in Rafah and believes negotiations in Cairo are the best way to reach a cease-fire.
“We continue to believe that a hostage deal is in the best interests of the Israeli people,” Miller said. “It’s in the best interest of the Palestinian people and it would bring increased movement of humanitarian assistance and so we’re going to continue to work to try to reach one.”
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres echoed the need for negotiations and called on Israel and Hamas “to go the extra mile needed to make an agreement come true and stop the present suffering.”
Hamas’ announcement triggered celebrations across Gaza, where Palestinians cheered and chanted “Allahu Akbar” in the streets.
But as the Rafah offensive began, families and supporters of the hostages in Gaza began demonstrating outside Netanyahu’s home accusing the prime minister of putting the war above the hostages’ lives.
“Bibi is abandoning the hostages!” the demonstrators shouted, according to The Times of Israel.
Israel has repeatedly rejected any cease-fire deal that calls for an end to the war, with Netanyahu saying that the conflict will only end once Hamas has been eradicated and Gaza proves to no longer be a threat to the Jewish State.
Thousands of Palestinians are fleeing parts of Rafah after Israel issued warnings it was planning to start military action.
[Ed.: Listen to the innocent civilians shout “Allah huakbar” in the videos. Take it from me; by the time you hear “Allah huakbar”, it’s already too late. Your ass is already grass.]
🟥🟥 Mon night – ISRAEL REALTIME – Connecting to Israel in Realtime
♦️HAMAS COMMANDER.. of Rafah killed in east Rafah by the IDF.
♦️RAFAH CROSSING (to Egypt).. Al Aqsa Channel: Three tanks are standing about 200 meters from the Rafah crossing and firing shells at buildings. Update: Israel is capturing the Rafah crossing.
♦️AIRSTRIKES reported throughout Rafah neighborhoods.
♦️COMBINED ATTACKS.. airstrikes, tanks, artillery, combined strikes into Rafah.
♦️ARAB REPORTS OF ISRAELI ACTION.. Large IDF ground forces are now advancing parallel to the Philadelphi axis, and are close to encircling the area of Tel a-Sultan near Rafah. At the same time: reports of exchanges of fire at the Rafah crossing bordering Sinai.
♦️AIRSTRIKES IN OTHER GAZA AREAS.. Zeytun, Gaza City.
🔹HAMAS FIRES HEAVY MORTARS AT KEREM SHALOM.. towards IDF assembly areas.
🔸(BAD) DEAL.. According to the details of the Hamas proposal published in Al Akhbar: Hamas does not undertake to release 33 hostages alive in the first phase, but 33 hostages alive or dead.
🔸THREATS – HEZBOLLAH.. Lebanese networks began to be filled with threats from Hezbollah.
🔸THREATS – IRAN.. Iran, ‘you don’t know what you started!’.
▪️”SMALL ATTACK”? American source: The US has concerns about the Israeli attacks in Rafah, but they do not appear to represent a major military operation.
▪️FLIGHT EMERGENCY, RETURNED TO ISRAEL.. minor fire on the plane.
▪️US AIRCRAFT CARRIER.. carrier “Eisenhower” is returning to the Red Sea after being on its way back to the United States.
❗️SAUDI UPDATE.. competing reports on whether an attack is FAKE NEWS, was at a ‘senior official’, or was at leader Bin Salman. Fog of war, unclear for now if true or fake.
… this is where the caffeine really comes in handy! Thank you to those who have gifted a coffee, or 2, or 10! …
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Israel comes to a halt to mark Holocaust Remembrance Day
Six million Jews were murdered by the Nazi regime and its allies in the Holocaust from 1933-1945.
MAY 6, 2024 – Life across Israel came to a halt on Monday morning as a two-minute-long siren sounded to mark a moment of silence for Holocaust Remembrance Day.
On Holocaust Remembrance Day, places of entertainment are closed, and memorial ceremonies are held throughout the country. The central ceremonies are held at Yad Vashem on the evening and the morning of the memorial day.
At Yad Vashem, wreaths were laid at the foot of the six torches lit on Sunday night by dignitaries and representatives of survivor groups and institutions.
Six million Jews were murdered by the Nazi regime and its allies in the Holocaust from 1933-1945. Millions of individuals from other targeted groups were murdered by the Nazis and their allies in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East as well.
Shlomo Mansour, an 86-year-old resident of Kibbutz Kissufim who survived the Nazi-inspired Farhud pogrom in Bahjdad in 1941, is one of the 133 Israelis still being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza.
Biden Regime Cuts Off Ammunition Supplies to Israel as Advisors Panic Over Electoral Threat from Anti-Israel Democrats By Ben Kew
May 5, 2024 6:20 pm – The Biden regime has cut off ammunition supplies to Israel as they attempt to appease the growing anger among the left of the Democratic Party over America’s support for the war against Hamas.
According to a report from Axios, the decision to put a hold on the ammunition shipment caused panic among the Israeli security services and is intended to prevent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from proceeding with an invasion of Rafah.
Axios notes:
The Biden administration last week put a hold on a shipment of U.S.-made ammunition to Israel, two Israeli officials told Axios. It is the first time since the Oct. 7 attack that the U.S. has stopped a weapons shipment intended for the Israeli military.
The incident raised serious concerns inside the Israeli government and sent officials scrambling to understand why the shipment was held, Israeli officials said.
The report adds that Biden took the decision in response to the “sharp criticism” that he is facing from Americans, particularly among Muslims and other demographics key to the Democratic coalition:
[Ed.: Israel will continue to pretend that America is our friend, and not Israel’s enemy. Our military ‘leadership’ will continue to take the marching orders from the Biden administration. IINO would much prefer to spend Jewish blood than to not listen to our “rock-solid” friend. Jewish blood is cheapest in IINO! Happy Holocaust Memorial Day!! “Never again,” my tuchis!!]
Former Defense Minister: ‘Smotrich, Ben Gvir and Sinwar have the same interests’ Israel National News
Former Defense Minister attacked ministers Smotrich and Ben Gvir, saying that, ‘The two have the same interest as Yahya Sinwar and that is starting a war of Gog and Magog.’
Apr 17, 2024, 10:07 AM (GMT+3) – Former Defense Minister Moshe “Bogie” Ya’alon said on Wednesday morning that Israel should not respond to the Iranian attack.
“Israel does not have to respond to the Iranian attack. I suggest maintaining sanity,” Ya’alon said in an interview with Kan Reshet Bet. “On Saturday and Sunday we were reminded of an Israel during its sane existence, partnering with alliances, and an Israel of science and technology.”
He added that “all of this does not characterize the Israeli government, which believes in using only force until complete victory. This event is an opportunity to close the rift with the US.”
Ya’alon continued, “That is why I suggest taking a deep breath, drinking some water and regaining our sanity. We are balancing the future of the State of Israel.”
Ya’alon explained why he believes that Israel must stop: “Netanyahu sits in a government led by messianic figures, who are leading us to destruction, to the destruction of the third temple. That is why we need to stop.”
During the interview, Ya’alon said that “there are two people in the government who want a war of Gog and Magog. Both Smotrich and Ben Gvir are like Yahya Sinwar and they have a common interest – a war of Gog and Magog to unite all countries.”
[Ed.: Moshe Ya’alon’s premiss is mistaken and is typical of the perspective of today’s military leadership. He is merely one of the very same leftists who enabled Oct. 7th to happen, and the same ones who avoid attaining victory over our enemies. Instead, their concern is about aid to the civilians, trade deals, and pointing accusatory fingers at the right. Ben Gvir, Smoltrich, and the majority of the rest of us want only to finish the war immediately by decimating the enemy. Gog and Magog is Bogie’s own leftist reversal, misinterpretation, and meshuganism.]
EzraYachin 95 year-old Reservist
Live: Holocaust Remembrance Day 2024 Opening Ceremony at Yad Vashem Israel National News
First Holocaust Remembrance Day since the Hamas massacre of October 7 begins, with theme, ‘A Lost World: The Destruction of Jewish Communities.’
May 5, 2024, 8:03 PM (GMT+3) – Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day began this evening (Sunday) with a special ceremony at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem. This is the first Holocaust Memorial Day since the Hamas massacre of October 7, 2023, the largest massacre committed against the Jewish people since the Holocaust.
This year, the event is being held under the theme: “A Lost World: The Destruction of Jewish Communities.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog spoke at the ceremony at Yad Vashem. Both leaders stated that the October 7 massacre was not the same as the Holocaust.
In his remarks, Prime Minister Netanyahu said that October 7 was not the same as the Holocaust, “not because of an absence of intent to annihilate us, but because of the absence of the ability to do so. Because the intention is the same intention.”
“Never again means now. Never again, because 80 years after the Holocaust, after the terrible murder of six million Jews, one-third of our people, once again, there are evil people who are ruthless and brutal, and they massacred us, raped and tortured and abducted,” he said.
Tomorrow morning, at 10 am, a two-minute siren will be heard throughout the country. Millions of Israelis will stand in silence in memory of the six million Jews who were murdered by the Nazis during the Holocaust during the siren.
Related articles:
- ‘We will fight alone if we have to. Never again is now’
- ‘Oct. 7 was not the Holocaust because today we have the IDF’
- ‘We thought this could never happen again, yet it did’
- The warning of the 102-year-old Holocaust survivor
[Ed.:
Israeli official to i24NEWS: reports of a deal to be unveiled on Saturday are premature Guy Azriel, Diplomatic Correspondent, i24NEWS Hebrew Channel
U.S. ‘assurances’ to Hamas regarding a permanence ceasefire are theirs alone, not Israel’s, official says
May 04, 2024 at 07:13 AM – An Israeli official speaking to i24NEWS on the condition of anonymity on Saturday sought to rebuff reports that a ceasefire and hostage deal could be announced in the coming hours.
Even allowing that an agreement on the framework of the deal is in place, there are still many details to thrash out, including the names of the prisoners to be released, which has yet been discussed at this stage, the official told i24NEWS.
Certainly no agreement is expected on Saturday, seeing as the head of the Mossad, Dedi Barnea, has not traveled to Cairo today.
As for U.S. assurances regarding the end of the war, the source said these are promises made by the Americans to Hamas, and it is only theirs. Israel will maintain a military presence in Gaza, the official underscored, “because the Israeli public will not accept a different reality.”
