Daily Shmutz | ISRAEL (IINO) | 1/18/24

ISRAEL (IINO)

This is how Israel struck back against its haters at The Hague By Netael Bandel

01-16-2024 08:36 – A patriotic Israeli journalist would find it extremely challenging to refer to the hearings in The Hague with the degree of objectivity required in the legal profession, and that is probably not such a bad thing. Having said that; however, we can sum up the situation as follows: after a good and very worrying opening by the South African prosecution, some sense of a comeback was felt following the highly impressive appearance of the Israeli defense team. To the extent that this was in general a legal hearing, rather than a diplomatic session under the guise of a legal proceeding, then the team managed to touch on the correct points and even launched a counter-offensive against South Africa itself.

Notwithstanding; however, the assumption is that the court will respond to the prosecution’s motion to issue provisional measures (the international law equivalent of an interim injunction) – though these might well be ‘toned-down’ provisional measures that will not put an end to the fighting but might well limit it.

Israel’s statement of defense left no stone unturned and refined the moral and legal mandate that forms the basis of Israel’s various military actions in the Gaza Strip. As far as the South African claims regarding the various comments made by senior Israelis are concerned, the defense team explained that most of these individuals are not members of any relevant decision-making forums. What is more, those same decision-making forums, including the prime minister himself, outrightly condemned such remarks. Other statements made, such as those of the Minister of Defense, for example, can only be interpreted as having been made in relation to the destruction of the Hamas terrorist organization and all its individual terrorists, and clearly not the civilian population in Gaza.

The defense presented numerous and extensive actions undertaken by Israel to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza, but wisely put this in its correct context, stating that the current situation is the clear outcome of Hamas’ actions and thus it is the terrorist organization that has condemned the Gaza Strip residents to this plight. Israel’s Supreme Court judge, Justice Noam Solberg, aptly defined this in one of the court rulings issued in relation to holding the bodies of dead terrorists in exchange for the return of the hostages from Gaza, when he stated that such actions are “no more than the rotten fruit of murderous terrorism, which is the result of the actions of the cruel enemy, and we have no choice but to do so.” In other words: tough and painful actions must also be interpreted as good and necessary. Professor Malcolm Shaw KC, hit the nail on the head when he said that even should any violations of international law be found there is absolutely no factual basis for the collection of accusations to establish grounds for even the suspicion of genocide. There was clearly no such intention of doing so.

In addition to this, the defense team invested a concerted effort in rejecting the actual facts presented by the prosecution. Thus, for example, South Africa alleged that the residents of the northern Gaza Strip received a mere 24-hour warning to leave their homes prior to Israel attacking the area. To refute this allegation, Dr. Galit Raguan, who displayed outstanding professional skill and quality as a lawyer throughout the hearing, demonstrated that Israel had actually warned the Gaza residents three weeks prior to the Israeli offensive, so much so, in fact, that in practice the IDF revealed to Hamas the focus of its initial offensive efforts. This is merely one example of the many the Israeli team presented.

The real face of South Africa

IDF kills 60 terrorists in Gaza as ground op pushes south JOSHUA MARKS

IDF completes destruction of Hamas’s Central Camp Brigade’s weapon production infrastructure.

(January 18, 2024 / JNS) – Israeli forces killed 60 terrorists in the Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours, including 40 in the southern Hamas stronghold of Khan Yunis, the Israel Defense Forces reported on Thursday morning.

Meanwhile, in the center of the Strip, the IDF completed the destruction of Hamas‘s Central Camp Brigade’s weapon production infrastructure. The infrastructure included workshops and factories both above and below ground.

“These were central to Hamas’s empowerment capability, and from there, they transported the weapons and rockets to all areas of the Strip,” IDF Spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said during a press briefing on Wednesday night.

“The dismantling of the infrastructure took time due to a complex underground layout and also combat challenges with terrorists in the area. It was only possible to dismantle this layout through ground operations,” he continued.

Jonathan Pollard on Upcoming Israeli Elections [14:49] Machon Shilo

Do not allow Palestinian workers into Israel, Likud MKs and ministers demand By ELIAV BREUER

Some 90,000 Palestinian workers from the West Bank are employed in Israel.

JANUARY 17, 2024 14:18 – The Likud’s ministers in the government should not support any decision to allow Palestinian workers from the West Bank into Israel, 12 Likud Members of Knesset (MKs) and two ministers wrote in a petition addressed to the other ministers of the Likud on Wednesday.

The petition followed an admission by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday that Israel was considering a pilot program for the entry of Palestinian workers aged 45 and older, and after Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned this week that not allowing Palestinians to work in Israel would strengthen Hamas in the West Bank and ultimately lead to a deterioration in the security situation.

Walla reported earlier this week that the Population and Immigration Authority was examining a proposal from the head of the Contractors Association, Eran Siv, for a personal file for each worker intending to come to Israel. The intention is to facilitate the entry of older Palestinian workers with a clean security record in Israel who have been working in Israel for years.

“Since the beginning of the war on October 7, central sectors of the economy have frozen due to their dependence on workers from Judea and Samaria and Gaza,” the petition began. “The required quota (of workers) for the economy can be filled by agreements with a number of countries, in which there are thousands of workers interested in working in Israel.”

Gov’t is ‘tarrying’ from doing so

However, the government is “tarrying” from doing so, and every day that the sectors return frozen cost the state NIS 3.1 billion, the petitioners claimed, based on what they said was data from the finance ministry.

“In parallel, there is talk in the government of returning tens of thousands of Palestinian workers into Israel, as if October 7 never happened,” and despite what they claimed were 83% of Palestinians in the West Bank who supported Hamas’ October 7 massacre.

“It is not clear how the government of Israel wishes to run a ‘pilot’ on the security of its citizens? Should we enter Palestinian workers and see if they are murderers? Have we learned nothing?” the MKs and ministers wrote.

The question of the reentry of Palestinian workers has divided politicians in both the coalition and opposition – and even within political parties themselves – for weeks, as the MKs from the Likud who signed the petition – as well as MKs from the far-right Religious Zionism and Otzma Yehudit parties – have argued that despite preemptive screening by the Shin Bet, these workers could pose a security risk and provide information for future attacks against Israel.

Israel to let more aid into Gaza in exchange for hostages’ medicines

Two Qatari military planes left Doha on Wednesday for Egypt’s El Arish airport near the Rafah border crossing with Gaza.

(January 17, 2024 / JNS) – Israel has agreed to allow more aid trucks into the Gaza Strip in return for the delivery of badly needed medicines to Israeli hostages held by Hamas, Qatar’s foreign ministry announced on Tuesday evening.

Under the deal brokered by Qatar and France, two Qatari military planes will leave Doha on Wednesday for Egypt’s El Arish airport near the Rafah border crossing with Gaza, according to spokesman Majed al-Ansari.

The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office confirmed the agreement, saying that Qatari representatives would personally accompany the shipment to its “final destination” in the Strip.

“Israel insists that all the medicines reach their destination,” the statement added. Jerusalem is reportedly overseeing the security aspects of the entire operation.

Over 2,600 terror attacks in Judea and Samaria since Oct. 7 AKIVA VAN KONINGSVELD

Palestinian terrorists in Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley have killed five civilians and wounded many others since Oct. 7.

(January 17, 2024 / JNS) – As the Israel Defense Forces battles Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the country’s Judea, Samaria and Jordan Valley regions are experiencing a parallel rise in terror incidents, according to data published by Rescuers Without Borders (Hatzalah Judea and Samaria) on Tuesday.

Between Oct. 7 and Jan. 15, Rescuers Without Borders first responders recorded more than 2,600 attacks targeting Israeli civilians and soldiers, including 760 cases of rock-throwing, 551 fire bombings, 12 attempted or successful stabbings and nine vehicular assaults.

Among the report’s findings was a sharp increase in the number of shootings, with 127 instances of gunfire reported over the past three months. By comparison, in all of 2022, Hatzalah recorded just under 100 shooting attacks.

The organization’s figures do not include the hundreds of violent attacks on security personnel occurring during counterterrorism operations in villages under the control of the Palestinian Authority.

Palestinian terrorists in Judea and Samaria have killed five Israelis and wounded many others since Oct. 7, according to Hatzalah.

On Monday, an Israeli woman in her 70s was killed and at least 17 other people were wounded in a combined car-ramming and stabbing attack in the central city of Ra’anana.

Israeli forces arrested two suspects following a manhunt. Police said the terrorists were residents of Bani Naim near Hebron in Judea.

Relatives Mahmoud Zaidat, 44, and Ahmad Zaidat, 24, were employed at a car wash in Ra’anana’s industrial area without valid work permits, Ynet reported. Both suspects were known to Israeli security forces.

Incredible imbecility By Martin Sherman

The historical record bodes ill for initiatives to engineer a Pax Israeliana (an Israel induced peace) between Israel and its Arab adversaries.

Quos Deus vult perdere, prius dementat –Those whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad – Euripides, a man of letters in ancient Greece (c.?480 – c.?406 BC)

Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe. — attributed to Albert Einstein

As the fighting in Gaza drags on into its third month, it appears, astonishingly, that the Israeli leadership is determined on jettisoning common sense, past experience, and logical reasoning. Indeed, they appear to have set their sights on adopting the failed, fatally flawed formulae of the past for implementation when the fighting finally subsides.

A collection of collaborators and traitors

For example, one of the most prominently cited “plans”—for want of a better word—involves transferring the post-war civilian administration of Gaza to various heads of clans, not affiliated with Hamas, who would each be responsible for different portions of the Strip.

Those with a longer historical perspective will be struck by the remarkable resemblance between this policy proposal and the past attempt by the Israeli authorities in the late 1970s and early 80s to install an Israeli-sanctioned Palestinian administration, known as the Village Leagues, as an alternative to the PLO The initiative, which initially had support from both the Israeli and Jordanian governments, eventually ran out of steam and petered out in 1983.

Although the details might differ from the currently proposed initiative, the underlying principles are very similar. Accordingly, there is little reason to believe that the overall outcome will differ significantly. Thus, just as the leaders of the Village Leagues were treated with suspicion and hostility by much of the Palestinian population, it is more than likely that this will be the sentiment encountered by any future Israeli-approved clan-based civil administration. Indeed, according to one analyst: The Village Leagues consisted of “a coalition of rural thugs…who had no standing in the community”. The Palestinians saw the Leagues as a collection of collaborators and traitors.”

It is thus hardly surprising that some of the leaders were assassinated by disgruntled kinfolk – a fate that could well await any compliant clan leader, who chooses to collaborate with the “Zionist invader”.

90% of Hamas committed no war crime…

The odds of such hostility toward an Israeli-ensconced administration are greatly enhanced by the pervasive approval of Hamas—and the carnage it committed—by massive sectors of the Palestinian population. Thus, in a survey conducted on December 13, 2023, the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PSR) found that 72% of the Palestinian public believe that Hamas’ decision to launch the October 7 massacre was correct. Likewise, while a staggering 95% think Israel committed war crimes during the current hostilities, only 10% think Hamas was guilty of such crimes. Conversely, only 4% think Israel has not committed such crimes, while 89% think Hamas did not commit any post-October 7th war crimes.

Clearly then, under such conditions of prevailing support for Hamas, any artificially appointed administration, formed specifically to stymie a return to power by Hamas, is likely to face widespread enmity and distrust from the very population, over which it is purported to rule.

But beyond the a-priori implausibility of its initial formation, there are grave questions as to the long-term sustainability of the clan-based proposal. After all. how long will the population, in each clan-controlled segment, be confined to that segment? What will be involved in regulating the movements over time from segment to segment? Clearly, an arrangement whereby a local population is subject to an externally imposed civilian administration and a foreign security regime (presumably both domestic and external) is not a sustainable political configuration over time and is hardly likely to foster any amicable sentiments towards Israel in the future.

Gazan ‘Civilians’ Involved in Every Stage of Hamas Hostage Scheme, Freed Israelis Say Andrew Tobin

January 17, 2024 – TEL AVIV, Israel—Israeli women and children have in recent weeks begun speaking publicly about what they experienced during nearly two months in Hamas captivity late last year.

In primetime Hebrew TV interviews, the released hostages have confirmed that ordinary Gazans were deeply complicit in every stage of the hostage scheme. Unarmed teens helped to abduct Jews from their homes on Oct. 7, while Gazan women and children held some of the Israelis captive. In other cases, Gazan doctors collaborated with Hamas terrorists to covertly treat kidnapped Israelis and imprison them in hospitals.

When the Israelis encountered Gazans on the streets, the results were often terrifying.

The revelations underscore the urgency of Israel’s 100-plus-day war to destroy Hamas and bring home the 132 hostages who, officials believe, remain captive in Gaza. At the same time, though, the released hostages’ accounts indicate how difficult it could be to extricate either the remaining hostages or Hamas from a radicalized population.

“The main issue is that the organization is very much melted into the social structure of Gaza,” Michael Milshtein, a former senior Israeli military intelligence officer and a leading expert on Hamas, told the Washington Free Beacon. “There is no way you can really know who is Hamas. Someone might have a grocery store where he sells tomatoes and water, but he might also have storehouse of weapons and give religious lessons there.”

And his wife and kids might be keeping an Israeli hostage at home.

“Hamas is not only a political matter in Gaza. It’s a way of life,” Milshtein said. “We can and should ruin Hamas militarily and change the political arena in Gaza. But ultimately the Gazan people will have to do some soul searching. And here in the Arab world, not only the Palestinians, soul searching is very rare.”

Abduction

On Israel’s Channel 12 news earlier this month, Nili Margalit, 41, recounted how Gazan “civilians, regular people” took her hostage at knifepoint on Oct. 7. Margalit said a “boy … 17, maybe 18 years old” and an “older man with the knife” broke down the door of her home in Kibbutz Nir Oz and forced her into a stolen golf cart, still barefoot and wearing pajamas.

As they exited the kibbutz, Margalit said, she saw a “mob, thousands of people,” including “women and children,” pouring across Israel’s breached border with Gaza, less than two miles away. She said a pair of boys, one “no more than 4 or 5 years old” and the other 15 or 16, were riding an ATV that belonged to her father, a local cattle breeder who was among about 1,200 people in Israel murdered by terrorists that day.

After Margalit’s abductors crossed into Gaza, they transferred her to a blood-stained car along with another Nir Oz resident, Tamar Metzger, 78, who was “very injured,” Margalit said. The Gazans then drove to a warehouse, where they “sold” the Israelis to Hamas terrorists, according to Margalit.

For the next 49 days, Hamas held Margalit and Metzger in its network of underground tunnels along with dozens of other captives. Both women were among 105 hostages, 80 of them Israeli women and children, freed during a weeklong truce deal between Israel and Hamas at the end of November.

While Margalit was the first released hostage to publicly confirm that Gazan civilians abducted Israelis on Oct. 7, eyewitnesses, footage, and other evidence have indicated the phenomenon was relatively widespread. As the Free Beacon reported, a mob of mostly unarmed Gazans, including children and women, followed Hamas into Nir Oz and other Israeli communities on that day and participated in the professional terrorists’ atrocities.

[Ed.: So, these ‘innocent Gazan civilians’ are not that civil or innocent after all! Surprise, surprise, surprise! Why then, would Israel spare more Jewish blood to protect them, and provide them with food, water, and supplies during a war? Why would Israel dally in a long war instead of wiping them out in a few weeks, while the enemy is attacking on all other fronts? The answer to all of these questions is that Israel has defective leadership of its Defense Forces, and defective leadership of its government, and a defective governmental structure. You can’t cure stupid…]

Vote of confidence in Israel’s economy in the face of war Ambassador (ret.) Yoram Ettinger
January 16, 2024 – *Irrespective of Israel’s wars against Hamas and Hezbollah, Intel, the semiconductor giant, confirmed a $25 billion investment in Israel, leveraging Israel’s brain power, which has enhanced Intel’s competitiveness in the global market. Over the last 50 years, Intel has invested over $50 billion in Israel, establishing 4 research and development centers, despite the potential for wars and actual wars and terrorism. Intel will expand its Israeli chip factory, in order to diversify its manufacturing potential amid a chip arms race (New York Times, December 27, 2023).

*Challenged by a unique environment – top heavy on terrorism and war, but low on natural resources and rainfall – Israel has bolstered its do-or-die state of mind, with defiance of odds, risk-taking, frontier, pioneering, optimism, patriotism, can-do and out-of-the-box mentality. This has yielded a robust flow of game-changing commercial, defense and dual-use technologies.

*Israel entered the current wars with positive economic indicators, such as debt-to-GDP ratio in the low ‘60% (compared with 123% in the US) and an all-time high foreign exchange reserves of $200 billion.

*Intel’s $25 billion investment in Israel is driven by the Israel’s unique competitive edge, as detailed in the following October 23, 2023 report by the St. Louis-based Stifel Investment Bank ($390BN asset management):

“We believe that there are several key factors supporting the resilience of the Israeli market in the face of conflict, and the confidence of large multinational companies making large acquisitions in Israel, including during wars.

“Some of those key factors include:

<The strongest military in the region….
<Key strategic assets in Israel held by leading U.S. and other global ‘Blue Chip’ corporates with billions of dollars of investment respectively…
<A source of key cutting-edge technologies for US and global high-tech giants [e.g., Intel, HP, IBM, Google, Cisco, Microsoft, Apple] ….
<Chevron with billions of dollars in Israeli offshore gas interests, is a strategic alternative source of gas to the European Union particularly considering issues with Russia] ….
<A 75-year-old partnership with the US, built on mutual interests and shared values….
<Military cooperation [with the US], joint development of military technology [and battle tactics], and regular joint military exercises involving the U.S. military….
<A manufacturer of key military equipment for the U.S. military….
<Israel has a history of numerous brilliant military victories throughout its history, when it had a far weaker military and far worse odds….
<Israeli companies, management teams and people have demonstrated strong operational flexibility, adaptation, and resilience in times of conflict, and experience in dealing with reserve duty absenteeism and remote working….

IDF hits dozens of Hezbollah terror targets in Wadi Saluki Israel National News

IDF carries out strikes combined aerial-artillery strikes on Hezbollah targets deep in Lebanon.

Jan 16, 2024, 3:09 PM (GMT+2) – A short while ago, the IDF completed combined aerial and artillery strikes on a number of Hezbollah terror targets in the area of Wadi Saluki in Lebanon.

Within a short amount of time, strikes were carried out against dozens of Hezbollah posts, military structures, and weapons infrastructure.

“Hezbollah is exploiting the area of the Wadi for its terrorist activity,” the IDF noted. “Numerous assets and infrastructure have been concealed by the terror organization in the forested area, for the purpose of attacking Israeli civilians and soldiers.”

Related articles:

On Monday night, an IAF aircraft struck a Hezbollah anti-tank missile launcher in the area of the town of KafarKila in southern Lebanon. Furthermore, IDF special forces struck in order to remove a threat in the area of Ayta ash Shab in Lebanon.

Judea and Samaria towns reject Palestinian Arab labor Israel National News

An open letter by the heads of several towns states that the towns demand additional restrictions on Palestinian Arab workers entering Judea and Samaria.

Jan 16, 2024, 4:41 PM (GMT+2) – Following the deadly ramming attack yesterday in Ra’anana, the secretariats of tens of towns in Judea and Samaria wrote to the Defense Minister and Prime Minister demandong that equal restrictions be imposed for Palestinian Arab workers wishing to enter their towns to that of workers attempting to enter the rest of Israel.

The letter is signed by nearly 50 town secretariats, and states: “We, the heads of town secretariats and councils throughout Judea and Samaria, demand that workers in Judea and Samaria be given equal conditions for entry as those required for the rest of Israel.”

“It is unreasonable that during a bitter war in which the Political-Security Cabinet has not yet decided whether to allow Palestinian Authority workers into Israel, the situation should be different in Judea and Samaria.”

The letter further states that they are aware of the price of divesting from Palestinian Arab labor, but still demand restrictions on Palestinian Arabs entering Judea and Samaria.

Related articles:

The ‘Protecting Our Home’ organization, which is coordinating the fight against Palestinian Arab workers entering Israeli towns, commented: “We will continue to fight tirelessly against allowing entry to Palestinian workers that endanger us constantly. It is unreasonable that Palestinian workers should walk about freely in our towns and be able to collect information with no interruption. Similarly, there is no reason that the situation in Judea and Samaria should be any different from the rest of Israel.”

New York Times: Hamas terror tunnels are much longer than expected Israel National News

At least 100 more miles of tunnels estimated to be under Gaza than Israel previously estimated, according to new report. Deepest, most luxurious tunnels used as headquarters.

Jan 16, 2024, 5:41 PM (GMT+2) – The length of the Hamas terror tunnels in the Gaza Strip is between 560 and 700 kilometers (350 to 435 miles), significantly longer than the estimates of the Israeli security system before the outbreak of the current war with Hamas, according to a new report by the New York Times.

Until December, the security establishment estimated that the length of the tunnels was about 400 kilometers (250 miles). Senior officials in the intelligence system told the newspaper that according to the latest estimates based on discoveries made in the course of the war, the length of the tunnels is actually between 560 and 700 kilometers.

The officials also told the newspaper that there are close to 5,700 different tunnel shafts leading to the underground tunnel network.

The newspaper said that senior officials in the political and military system as well as American officials were surprised by the extent and depth of the tunnels built by Hamas with money granted to improve the lives of Gazans.

A document from 2022, according to the report, showed that Hamas allocated a million dollars just for tunnel doors, excavation sites, and other expenses in the Khan Yunis area.

The security officials said that according to current estimates, there are tunnels with a total length of about 160 kilometers under Khan Yunis alone.

Related articles:

Dr. Daphné Richemond-Barak, an expert on tunnel warfare at Reichman University, told the Times that “if you want to destroy Hamas, you must destroy the tunnels.”

According to the report, the tunnels are divided into two types. The first type is used by Hamas for its headquarters located deeper in the tunnel infrastructure. The second type of tunnel is used by the terrorists themselves and is of a shallower depth underground.

The first type of tunnel is also designed to allow the Hamas leaders to remain inside them for extended periods of time and are more luxurious in nature.

It was also reported that the IDF managed to locate a list of various houses in the Gaza Strip that host tunnel shafts, which has assisted in the efforts to destroy Hamas’ tunnel infrastructure.

Ben Gvir: Our Questions Make Gantz and Gallant Uncomfortable By David Israel

4 Shevat 5784 – January 14, 2024 – Following a Saturday night report that Defense Minister Yoav Gallant had stormed out of a war cabinet meeting when his aides were asked to leave, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir attacked Gallant and Minister Benny Gantz in an interview on the popular right-wing news panel, “The Patriots.”

Ben Gvir’s main point was that Gantz and Gallant don’t like it when fellow ministers ask them tough questions during cabinet meetings.

“I’ll put it this way,” Ben Gvir told the right-wing Channel 14 panel, “There are those who try to silence us. It’s no secret that we ask questions, myself, Miri Regev, Smotrich, too. And unfortunately, there is someone out there who wants to discourage us from asking questions.”

“Yes, I have questions,” Ben Gvir added. “I ask the Chief of Staff. I’m not slamming or arguing or confronting, but it is my duty as an elected official to ask questions.”

Ben Gvir was also referencing a recent confrontation between Minister Orit Strook and the Head of the IDF Strategy Division, Major General Eliezer Toledano, Strook inquired regarding news reports that some Air Force pilots refuse to attack targets in Gaza on consciousness grounds. Toledano rebuked the minister, telling her it was a “horrible question.” (The Left Hates Orit Strook, the Woman Who’s Been Attacking the Conceptzia Since the Expulsion)

Israel’s security leadership and the leftist media are living in a bizarro world, where the fathers of the conceptzia that led to the October 7 massacre are running the war cabinet, while the right-wing politicians who have been sounding the alarm and been ignored for years are kept away from the decision making. But it gets worse: the left-wing media, which should be at least doubting the defense leadership because of its atrocious failures, are smacking the right for daring to criticize them. It’s as if Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin, the legendary leaders of the students’ anti-Vietnam movement were to declare their trust in General Westmoreland and Richard Nixon (God help me, I’m using 50-year-old metaphors).

Welcome to Israel, where the left worships the generals and the right is skeptical.

Defense Minister calls to strengthen Palestinian Authority Israel National News

Minister Yoav Gallant’s remarks during a situational assessment at the Judea and Samaria Division sparked heavy criticism among his fellow benchmates.

Jan 14, 2024, 9:03 PM (GMT+2) – Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant on Sunday held a situational assessment at the Judea and Samaria Division together with Central Command Commanding Officer Maj. Gen. Yehuda Fox, Division Commander Brig. Gen. Yaki Dolef, and the regional brigade commanders.

He was briefed on the forces’ intensive activities against terror centers in the refugee camps, and the operational efforts to protect roads and communities.

Gallant praised the brigade commanders for their precise work to eliminate terrorists without harming civilians and emphasized that the security forces would be given all needed resources to eliminate terror in Judea and Samaria.

The Defense Minister stated following the assessment: “The activity in the region is very impressive, and the results speak for themselves. This shows two things: the amount of energy there is in the field to harm and the very high-quality work by the IDF and Shin Bet.”

According to him, at the moment, Israel must bolster the Palestinian Authority. “When it comes to Gaza there is a double effect, one is of inspiration, and the other is of anger. On this background, there are things that we must regulate and I hope that the government will accept the IDF and Shin Bet’s stance when it comes to laborers and funds. I say clearly: a strong Palestinian Authority is an Israeli security interest, no less.

“Hamas’s goal in Gaza is to ignite Judea and Samaria as well as the Temple Mount to get out of the IDF’s stranglehold, that’s the story, the IDF is choking them, they relied on the Iranians, they relied on Hezbollah, they relied on exhausting the Israeli public, they relied on a rift with the Americans, all that didn’t work for them. What do they have left? To try to move other things, what is the central thing? To try to do something that would ignite Judea and Samaria and that would ignite the Temple Mount. And on this matter I repeat, your obligation is to prepare for war, to be ready, to collect all relevant intelligence, and to get ready,” Gallant claimed.

He added, “On the other hand, it is our duty as an establishment to relieve the pressure. Relieving this pressure requires us to accept the recommendations provided by the IDF, regardless of one’s worldview. Our priority now is to win in Gaza, while defending Judea and Samaria and the northern arena.”

As for the local communities the Minister stated that] the number of violent incidents is decreasing significantly. “The involvement of the communities in this issue is only partial. This does not characterize the communities of Judea and Samaria.”

Gallant concluded: “We have decided that we will defeat Hamas – we will not stop until we dismantle the capabilities of this organization, all over Gaza. We have declared war on Hamas in Judea and Samaria, in Lebanon – wherever it may be necessary.”

The Defense Minister’s call to strengthen the Palestinian Authority was met with fury from his fellow cabinet members.

Economy Minister Nir Barkat criticized: “Minister Gallant lives in the misconception from October 6th. It is sad that Gallant still thinks that giving money to the Palestinians will by us quiet from terrorism. It’s as if nothing happened on the Black Saturday (October 7th)

“It is not the Israeli government’s job to make sure the Palestinian laborers have work. The Israeli economy needs the hands of workers from peaceful nations and not Palestinian laborers who threaten the Israeli public’s security. What was won’t be.”

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir commented: “The time has come that the Defense Minister stops dreaming that letting in workers who are full of hate towards Jews into Israel and that a strong terror funding chain is Israeli interests. The Defense Minister should be busy defeating Israel’s enemies, not strengthening them.”

[Ed.: When the guy in charge of your defense proposes to strengthen the enemy, you are doomed.]

17 injured in ramming attack in Raanana Israel National News

17 individuals were injured, three are in serious condition. At least Four of the wounded are children and teens.

Jan 15, 2024, 2:00 PM (GMT+2) – 17 individuals, including at least four children and teens, were injured after a vehicle plowed into them on Monday in two separate locations in Raanana in central Israel.

MDA reported that a 70-year-old woman is in critical condition, two males, aged 34 and 16, are in serious condition with head and limb trauma, eight are in moderate condition, and three are in light condition. All victims were evacuated to Beilinson and Meir hospitals.

An initial investigation found that the terrorist, a Hebron resident in his 40s, commandeered a car after he broke into it and stabbed the driver in her upper body. From there he drove and began running over pedestrians.

At one point, the terrorist hit a security barrier and was unable to start the vehicle. He then left the vehicle and commandeered an additional car, continued driving to Weitzmann Street, where he ran over additional victims and fled the scene. It is unsure at the moment if the terrorist was neutralized.

After that, a report came in of a woman who suffered stab wounds.

It is unclear if the terrorist who perpetrated the ramming was the same one who carried out the stabbing.

The police ask residents to be vigilant and follow the officers’ directions. Raanana Mayor Chaim Broyde asked residents to remain in their homes.

‘We’re frustrated’: Terrorist is treated by IDF, released back into Gaza Ohevya Sharabi

Terrorist exiting tunnel shaft receives medical treatment from IDF, is released back into Gaza, source serving in military capacity in Gaza tells Arutz Sheva – Israel National News.

Jan 14, 2024, 10:40 PM (GMT+2) – A source serving in a medical capacity in Gaza told Arutz Sheva – Israel National News about an incident during which a terrorist who had been neutralized was sent back into Gaza, without being taken for interrogation in Israel

According to the source’s report, two Hamas terrorists exited a tunnel during an operation, and attempted to harm IDF soldiers. They were neutralized by the soldiers at the scene: One of the terrorists was critically injured and died of his wounds, and the second suffered light injuries.

The source, who was at the scene, said that the terrorist who survived the incident was brought to a military clinic at the Gaza border, but a short while later was transferred, by order of the commanders in the field, back into Gaza, instead of being transferred to Israeli sources to be interrogated and charged.

Related articles:

“Last night they brought us terrorists who attempted to harm IDF soldiers,” the source told Arutz Sheva – Israel National News. “They brought them to us in order to receive medical treatment. One of the terrorists was declared dead since his injury was very serious, and the second, who was lightly injured, was treated at the scene. And after we turned to sources in the military to take the terrorist who was lightly injured for interrogation, we were told that they had nothing to do with him and that he should be released to Gaza.”

“We felt frustrated that a terrorist who came out to fire at our soldiers received medical treatment, and afterwards was released back into Gaza. And it could be that after he was released back into the Strip, we will meet him again, threatening our forces and involved in terror activities.”

[Ed.: We have to get rid of the left-wing kumbaya-oriented military leadership! They cannot step on a line in the sidewalk, and will not win the war! Their continued ‘leadership’ will lead to the immanent demise of Israel.]

How much Hamas Spent on Gaza Terror Tunnels By Pesach Benson, TPS

Hamas diverts millions intended for Gaza Strip to build underground terror infrastructure, IDF finds.

Money down the hole

Jan 14, 2024 – Hamas spent tens of millions of dollars, which was intended for the Gaza Strip, building underground terrorist infrastructure, the Israel Defense Forces said on Thursday evening, citing intelligence findings.

Hamas “opted to invest precious resources in building terrorist infrastructure used to harm Israeli civilians and IDF forces, while cynically exploiting the civilian population in the Gaza Strip,” the military statement said.

An analysis of tunnel shafts discovered since the start of Israel’s ground operation in the coastal enclave last year shows that Hamas diverted at least 6,000 tons of concrete and 1,800 tons of metal to build “hundreds of kilometers” of underground infrastructure, added the statement.

The IDF’s search for terror tunnels is aided by a trove of intelligence seized by soldiers, including 65 million digital files and half a million physical documents.

In some tunnels, soldiers found large sacks belonging to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The sacks were filled with sand, possibly intended to stabilize tunnels before concrete layers were added.

Earlier on Thursday, the IDF said it expanded its operations in the southern Hamas stronghold of Khan Yunis in the past 24 hours, exposing a vast tunnel network used by the terrorist group to hold hostages.

“The tunnel was connected to an extensive underground tunnel network beneath a civilian area in the city,” the army said. “Millions of shekels are estimated to have been invested in excavating the tunnel and equipping it with air ventilation systems, electrical supply and plumbing.”

Following an investigation, the IDF confirmed that some Israeli hostages had been held captive in the tunnel. They were held in cages, some 60 feet underground, per a CNN report that cited Brig. Gen. Dan Goldfus, commander of the IDF’s 98th Division.

WATCH: An In-Depth Look at the Tunnels Where Hostages Were Held

Jan 14, 2024 – As the footage rolls on, the immense size, depth, and intricacy of Hamas’s tunnels are staggering. This tunnel system where hostages were held is nearly 60 feet underground.

Lights, ventilation pipes, and running water show the dedication Hamas has to destroy Israel. Tons of cement were used to construct them, with millions of dollars funneled into the project, creating the hardest setting of urban warfare ever seen.

With no connection to the outside world, the hostages were kept in complete isolation, not knowing what to expect. It’s been 100 days since the hostages were taken.

57% of Gazans support Hamas, 71% have a favorable opinion of Islamic Jihad. Clearly, there are no “innocent” Palestinians in Gaza. Oped.

Oct 19, 2023, 9:39 PM (GMT+3) – As I listened to Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and President Joe Biden drone on about the need for us to allow an unmonitored humanitarian aid corridor to be created for the displaced Palestinians of Gaza, I was reviewing a recent poll of Gazans issued by the Israel Advocacy Movement. The results of the poll indicated that 57% of Gazans supported Hamas, while 71% had a favorable opinion of Palestinian Islamic Jihad. These numbers were then compared unfavorably to the 44% of Germans who voted for the Nazis. Clearly, there are no “innocent” Palestinians in Gaza.

Why the international media has taken up the cause, once again, of these murderous people is not hard to understand. After all, most of the press enjoys disseminating the false impression of Israelis as wicked colonial oppressors, which is an antisemitic narrative echoed on virtually every college campus around the world. But what could be the reason for our ostensible allies, the Americans, to forget that both our countries have legally defined Hamas, in particular, as a terrorist organization and that all this unchecked humanitarian aid is most likely going to flow directly into their hands to do with as they see fit. Are the Americans really so dense that they actually believe a distinction can be drawn between a terrorist organization and its supporters? Apparently, they can’t or won’t.

We have to remember that we are currently engaged in an existential struggle for survival with Hamas. Indeed, after what their blood-crazed zombies did to our people in the south, no one should be laboring under any illusion as to what their intentions are towards us. They are totally committed to carrying out a genocide of our people. And this is a goal that their ostensibly “innocent” civilian supporters thoroughly endorse. Just watching thousands of them rejoicing at the news of our slaughtered fellow countrymen on October 7 should dispel any doubt about their wholehearted support of our extinction. Indeed, once our security barrier had been breached, a horde of them poured across the border, pillaging our frontier communities and actively participating in the slaughter of our men, women, and children. Without a doubt, these Palestinians were not acting as “innocent” civilians. Rather, they were eagerly performing the role of Hamas auxiliaries, just as eagerly as Ukrainian and Baltic civilians assisted the Nazi Einsatzgruppen exterminators of our people in Eastern Europe during the Churban. But this similarity of the Gazan “civilians” with their European predecessors is apparently lost on Blinken and Biden, who feel that they’re somehow worthy of our compassion and humanitarian aid rather than a prison cell- or worse!

Does anybody really have a doubt as to what these “innocent” Palestinian civilians would have done had Hamas managed to overrun Ashkelon? Does anyone question that they would have helped Hamas slaughter and dismember our babies in their cribs and engage in an orgy of rape? However, according to the Biden Administration, we are supposed to overlook this probable outcome and treat these Palestinian “civilians” as innocent victims of Hamas intimidation and brainwashing.

During the Second World War, the Allies understood that there could be no distinction drawn between a murderous aggressor regime and its willing civilian enablers. That is why both the RAF’s area bombing raids against Nazi Germany and the 2Oth Air Force’s comparable firebombing campaign against Imperial Japan’s cities went largely unopposed by the citizens of Great Britain and the United States. This didn’t mean that there was a desire to massacre German or Japanese civilians in cold blood. Rather, it was felt that by dehousing Nazi Germany’s industrial workers and destroying Imperial Japan’s largely urban-based military industrial workshops, such aerial operations would bring the war closer to an end.

Likewise, we in Israel have finally realized that if Hamas chooses to embed their fighting forces amidst their civilian auxiliaries, the latter should not expect to be accorded any degree of compassion or consideration. Whether willingly or not, Gaza’s civilians are either voluntary human shields or simply unavoidable casualties of war. To be sure, we are not purposely killing them. On the contrary! We have gone to the trouble of warning Gazans living in the northern part of the Strip to leave before our anticipated ground invasion occurs. If they are without food, housing, or medicine as they assemble in the southern part of Gaza, it is not up to us to facilitate the provision of so-called humanitarian aid to these terror-supporting individuals. Indeed, for us to do so would make about as much sense had the English in 1943 provided humanitarian aid to German industrial workers who had been blown out of their homes by the RAF.
And lest we forget, these particular Palestinians voted for Hamas by a very wide margin and have enthusiastically endorsed this organization’s desire to exterminate us “from the river to the sea” ever since. Now, it’s time for them to reap the consequences of their bestial hatred. Let the UN take care of them all in a camp based in Sinai, as Avigdor Lieberman has correctly suggested. And let Joe Biden and Anthony Blinken refrain from coercing us into taking care of Hamas’ civilian auxiliaries. We owe these Arab Nazis nothing but our contempt and indifference.

Houthis train to attack Israeli towns [Video] Israel National News

A new video by the Houthi faction in Yemen shows training to attack an Israeli town and take the residents hostage before demolishing the town with explosives.

Jan 13, 2024 – The Houthi faction in Yemen has published a video of a military exercise held in the Sa’ada region in northern Yemen which simulated the conquest of an Israeli town and the capture of hostages.

The exercise was part of a larger operation that has been dubbed, “Preparing for the Battle of Assured Victory and Holy Jihad.”

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In one of the buildings that served as the targets in the exercise, the militants fired at and stepped on a picture of Prime Minister Netanyahu, and destroyed US and Israeli flags. Other portions of the exercise included attacking Israeli targets from the air and ground, as well as taking over military positions.

The exercise comes against the backdrop of recent US airstrikes against the Houthis. According to American sources, the main target was a radar base near Sana’a, the capital of Yemen. The sources claim that Tomahawk cruise missiles were used, and that the strikes were a continuation of the attacks from January 12th.

[Ed.: Houthi militia totals 2,000 (+or-) men! It’s an Irani proxy group backed by Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), who are on the ground in Yemen directing them.]

Nadia Matar, Sovereignty Movement: ‘From the river to the sea, Israeli sovereignty’ [Video 7:02] Israel National News

The co-chair of the Sovereignty Movement says that there is only one way to victory: Full Israeli sovereignty over the Gaza Strip, and the emigration of Arabs from Gaza.

Jan 13, 2024, 10:47 PM (GMT+2) – Nadia Matar, co-chair of the Sovereignty Movement, spoke with Arutz Sheva – Israel National News from the Land and Nation Sovereignty Conference in Jerusalem. Matar called the entire event “a wake-up call” from Gaza.

“We are in an insane situation. We were attacked, fourteen hundred Israelis were murdered, and we went to war in Gaza, and now we hear from international parties that we need to drive out Hamas so that the Gaza Strip can be handed over to another terrorist group, the Palestinian Authority,” she said.

“We are here to say to them: ‘No way.’ We need full Israeli control of the Gaza Strip, renewed Jewish settlement in Gaza, and voluntary emigration of the Arabs from Gaza. The war, of course, is not only about Gaza, and so we are also here calling for full Israeli sovereignty over all of Israel, starting with the Jordan Valley.”

She said that her message is directed to the government of Israel as well: “We are also speaking to the government, calling on them not to give in to international pressure. There are plenty of other countries that have expelled hundreds of thousands of enemies, and no one has said ‘boo’ to them. We must be the same way, and say that the Gazans are the people of Hamas and should be expelled. Gaza is part of the land of Israel, and we are making our slogan ‘From the river to the sea, Israeli sovereignty.’”

She also presented a poll showing how widespread the call for Arab emigration has become: “74% of the population is against the creation of a Palestinian state. 76% are in favor of Arabs emigrating from Gaza. It has become a national consensus of right and left.”

“The Arabs want to leave as well – if they want to leave, it is immoral to keep them in the prison of Gaza. Why did the nations that welcomed Ukrainian refugees close their gates now? They want to keep the Gazans as Israel’s problem. We call on the government to send them out, and we will take care of Gaza, turning it into a more beautiful place than they ever could, with 300,000 Jews and huge cities in Gaza. We want the same for Judea and Samaria, starting with the Jordan Valley.”

“We also want, just maybe, to send a message to the Arabs. They do not care how many people we kill or houses we destroy, only about losing territory, especially territory that was never theirs in the first place. Victory will be when we return to the land we so foolishly abandoned in 2005, and apply sovereignty there and in Judea and Samaria, finally ending the Six Day War. Only then will the Arab states understand that there is no room for a Palestinian state between the Jordan River and the sea – only Israeli sovereignty.”

Jonathan Pollard supports Mothers’ March Israel National News

Jonathan and Rivka Pollard meet with and encourage the director of the organization demanding an end to aid in Gaza.

Jan 14, 2024, 1:05 AM (GMT+2) – The director of the Mothers’ March organization, Sima Hasson, met with Jonathan Pollard and his wife Rivka, who expressed their support for the demand by the parents of soldiers and the Torat Lehima organization to reach a victory over Hamas.

Hasson, a mother to two soldiers, told the Pollards about the activities by the mothers of soldiers and their demand to end humanitarian aid to Gaza, which they claim reaches Hamas.

The Pollards expressed their appreciation for the activities and said: “Since the beginning of the second war for our national survival on October 7th, two groups of Israelis have shown unconditional loyalty to our state.”

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“One of these groups is our brave soldiers, who with their blood and faith have prevailed over our lack of leadership and our enemies. The second is the patriotic parents of these wonderous soldiers who demand complete victory over Hamas. These women have proven why, throughout history, it is our women who have show morality without parallel to the land and people of Israel.”

“When the question arises where our soldiers get their bravery, everyone knows the answer – they got it from their mothers.”

Hasson said after the meeting: “The touching statements from the Pollards have encouraged us and given us the strengthen to continue our fight to support our dear sons, the soldiers. We call for all the public to demand an end to humanitarian aid and to continue fighting to victory.”

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Daily Shmutz | ISRAEL (IINO) | 1/18/24

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