ISRAEL (IINO)
PRESS BRIEFING BY IDF SPOKESPERSON, REAR ADMIRAL DANIEL HAGARI ISRAEL REALTIME — “Connecting the World to Israel in Realtime”
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FEBRUARY 6TH, 2024 – “It’s one hundred and twenty-three days since the war began. Throughout, we have not forgotten the hostages for a moment. We are making every effort to bring them home and to extract all information about them and their condition. The IDF is accompanying the families of the hostages during these complex and difficult days, and our representatives provide the families with all the verified information about their loved ones. With this, we have notified thirty-one families that their loved ones who are hostages are no longer alive and we have confirmed their deaths. To the rest of the families, we have provided all the verified information available to us about their fate and condition. We continue to operate in order to create the conditions to bring all the hostages home. This is a moral, national, and international obligation. It is our compass and it is how we will continue to act.
IDF soldiers continue to operate in Khan Yunis in the south of the Strip and are intensifying achievements in the north of the Strip. In Khan Yunis, special units are operating in the subterranean area, together with the Israel Security Agency, using advanced technology and precise intelligence to locate Hamas’ strategic compounds underground. Despite the dozens of kilometers of tunnels, there are not many compounds left and we have reached most of them. We have located compounds where Hamas leaders hid and from where they managed the fighting, some of which held hostages and others contained intelligence material. This evening, we are publishing some of the intelligence information found there by our forces – indicating a direct ‘connection’ from Iran to Hamas and more so – to Yahya Sinwar. We found official Hamas documents from 2020 detailing the funds transferred by Iran between the years 2014 and 2020 to Hamas and to Sinwar. More than one hundred and fifty million dollars were transferred from Iran to Hamas. This is another example of how Iran exports terror across the Middle East. The terror that Iran exports and produces is a global problem. The intelligence information we find, we pass on to our partners around the world for verification. In the same subterranean space, we also found a safe with banknotes and bags containing more than twenty million shekels in cash, as you can see in the blue and black bags addressed to a clear location. These amounts join tens of millions of shekels we located during the war in Hamas tunnels in cases filled with millions of dollars. This is a recurring phenomenon – large sums of cash, kept in organized compounds underground for the personal use of senior Hamas officials. Hamas leaders invested the money in their personal survival and that of their families underground. Thanks to the intelligence we located underground, investigated and studied in the Intelligence Directorate (J2) and the ISA, we are launching further, new operations and destroying new Hamas terror infrastructure. This is how we are currently acting in a military operation against terror sites in the north of the Strip. IDF soldiers are there at this moment, in the midst of a wide operation in the Shati area, in Gaza City, on which we will update later. The forces are reaching additional sensitive Hamas infrastructure underground, eliminating terrorists remaining in the area and thwarting Hamas’ attempts to rebuild its capabilities. Also in these places, we are finding important intelligence this evening, which we will reveal later.
I want to address the exercise that took place in Judea and Samaria – the Central Command exercised the Judea and Samaria Division in a large number of scenarios. The division trains for one purpose only – to better protect the residents. Since the beginning of the war, the Central Command, under the personal leadership of the Commanding Officer of the Central Command, MG Yehuda Fox, has been working non-stop to protect the security of the residents, thwarting terror together with the ISA in close cooperation with the settlements. From the soldiers to the last of the commanders – we are there to protect the residents. In the exercise referenced, one scenario out of dozens did not need to be conducted. The IDF will investigate, learn, and above all, continue to perform its mission in the most professional and practical manner.”
President Milei Travels to Israel in First Bilateral Visit – Announces Argentina Will Move Its Embassy to Jerusalem – Prays and Weeps at the Wailing Wall By Jim Hoft
Feb. 6, 2024 1:40 pm – Argentinian President Javier Milei traveled to Israel on Tuesday for his first bilateral visit since his inauguration.
The popular Argentinian president announced when he touched down that Argentina will move its embassy to Jerusalem, the capital of Israel.
Milei follows President Donald Trump in 2019, and President Orban from Hungary in 2023 in moving their embassies from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
President Milei later wept as he visited the Wailing Wall.
A CRISIS IN THE IDF? [1:10:11] By Gadi Taub & Mike Doran Tablet-Israeli Update
February 4, 2024 – A source in the military claims there’s deep dissatisfaction among midlevel reserve officers in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) at the prospect of the war slowing down or stopping before reaching its main objectives: destroying Hamas as a military threat to Israel and as a political organization capable of ruling Gaza. Gadi also describes testimony, from a third party, that the IDF brass is ignoring orders from the security cabinet. This claim provokes a heated disagreement between Gadi and Mike, who is much more sympathetic to the IDF leadership.
Gay Palestinian Beheaded in West Bank By Pamela Geller
February 5, 2024 – Why isn’t Abu Marhia the face (or should I say head) of Queers for Palestine?
Related: Israel granted asylum to a gay Palestinian man
Remember this?
Gay Palestinian Ahmad Abu Marhia beheaded in West Bank
7 October 2022 – It is not clear how Ahmad Abu Marhia ended up in his home city of Hebron
Palestinian police have arrested a suspect in the killing of a 25-year-old man after his body was found decapitated in the occupied West Bank.
LGBTQ groups in Israel, where Ahmad Abu Marhia was seeking asylum, say he had received threats because he was gay.
Video of the murder scene in Hebron has spread widely on social media raising speculation about the motive, but police say nothing is confirmed.
It is unclear for now how Mr Abu Marhia ended up in the city.
LGBTQ groups say he had spent two years in Israel waiting on an asylum claim to flee abroad after receiving death threats from within his community.
Israeli media quote friends of the victim as saying he was kidnapped to the West Bank.
His family, however, said he regularly visited Hebron to see them and to work. They described the claims about the motive as rumour.
Hamas Sexually Mutilated Israeli Women, Then Booby-Trapped Their Bodies By Pamela Geller
February 5, 2024 – Outdoing the Nazis. And just like the allied forces, it is Israel’s moral duty to eliminate these demons. Ceasefire, my ass.
Hamas sexually mutilated Israeli women, then booby-trapped their bodies By Vered Weiss, World Israel News
During October 7th, Hamas booby-trapped victims’ bodies in an attempt to kill anyone attending to them.
Shari Mendes, an IDF reservist who helped identify female victims of the October 7th massacre, told Sky News in an interview that Hamas shot women multiple times in the faces until they were unrecognizable and mutilated their genitals.
Mendes describes the piles of bodies she confronted at the Shura camp, the hundreds piled up on top of each other.
Many of the bodies were desecrated to the point where it was difficult to identify them or prepare them properly for burial.
“The halls were lined to the ceiling with body bags, the smell was unimaginable. I can’t tell you the shock and despair that struck all of us.”
As a testament to the sexual assault that was perpetrated on the women who were killed, Shari Mendes said she saw many of the women with underwear pulled down to their knees with blood on the groin and on the fabric.
“Women were shot many times in the face… Their mouths were in grimaces, their eyes were open, their fists were clenched.”
Hamas had booby-trapped many of the bodies in an attempt to kill anyone attending to them, and workers had to be evacuated.
Freed hostages still receiving medical, psychiatric care
“Our team saw women shot in the crotch, in the genitals. Women were shot in the breast… Our team saw this.”
In spite of forensic evidence and eyewitness testimony that there was sexual assault and mutilation, many still deny that such crimes took place on October 7th, alleging that Hamas wouldn’t have engaged in sexual violence because it is against Islamic law.
According to accounts from freed hostages, both women and men are being sexually abused in captivity.
Released hostage Chen Goldstein Almog said, “There are girls in captivity who haven’t had their periods in a long time, and maybe we should pray for that, that their bodies will protect them and they won’t get pregnant from rape.”
She continued, “We have to do everything to get them back.”
Aviva Siegal, whose husband Keith is still in captivity said, “The terrorists bring inappropriate clothes, clothes for dolls and turn the girls into their dolls.”
“Dolls on a string with which you can do whatever you want, whenever you want,” she added.
Siegal said sexual abuse was also perpetrated on male hostages, “The boys also go through abuse — what the girls go through.”
“Maybe they don’t get pregnant [but] they are also puppets on a string,” she said.
No Evidence, No Explanation: Timing of This is Obvious by AFSI Staff
February 5, 2024 – Police have served a summons for a hearing before the imposition of an administrative restriction order to Yinon Levi, a husband, father, and farmer near the town of Michmas in the Binyamin region. The order comes from General Yehuda Fox, who is appointed over the IDF’s Central Command.
As part of the restrictions imposed on him, Yinon is forbidden to enter Judea and Samaria, including his house and farm, for four months, of which two have already passed. He is also forbidden to contact several dozen of his friends, has been dismissed from reserve service in the IDF, and his personal firearm confiscated at the direction of the Shin Bet, and against the advice of military officials in the area. The confiscation of his firearm has left the farm effectively defenseless.
A military source claimed that the orders are unconnected to the sanctions imposed by President Biden against four “settlers,” and added that the order had indeed been signed months ago, but that the responsibility for serving it lay with the police.
Just the other day, Bank Leumi notified Yinon, one of four Israelis who were targeted last week by US sanctions, that his accounts in Israel have been frozen.
The Israel Postal Bank has sequestered and closed the account of David Chai Chasdai, one of four Israelis who were targeted by US sanctions for claims of violence against Arabs in Judea and Samaria. The account is shared with Chasdai’s wife. “The fact that a government bank decides to sequester the accounts of settlers because of pressure from far-left organizations and the hostile American government is unfathomable, but the fact that it is happening under a right-wing government a moment after the worst massacre in history is a national embarrassment,” he stated.
Go ahead and make us believe this is unconnected to Biden’s recently signed executive order against Israeli “extremist settlers. We’ve seen this scenario before and it’s very obvious as to WHY this is happening now. This is clearly a theatrical performance to appease Biden. The fact that it’s taking place while a right-wing government is at war with terrorists is appalling.
[Ed.: They say ‘It’s hard to be a Jew’. This is especially true when you’re a Jew trying to live in the modern state of IINO.]
ISRAEL REALTIME – “Connecting the World to Israel in Realtime”
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🔻ROCKETS from Lebanon to near-border towns, 11 instances, multiple rockets per town – VERY HEAVY Hezbollah attack day.
▪️HEZBOLLAH (bad) DEAL.. US envoy Hochstein: Initial positive signs for the possibility of a political settlement in the north:
The American formula for settlement:
Phase I – Intermediate understandings:
• Withdrawal of Hezbollah forces about 8-12 km from the border
• Increased deployment of UNIFIL forces and the Lebanese army
• Returning the residents of the north
Phase B – Negotiations on the land border – Israel will be ready for compromises
According to reports, Israel has already agreed to the formula.
Hezbollah rejected this proposal when made by the French and the Germans, they also rejected the installation of any means of surveillance or monitoring of any deal.
( Will Hashem save us from bad political deals? )
Defense Minister: to American envoy Hochstein: “we prefer to solve the situation in the north in a political way but are prepared to solve it in another way as well.” (( repeating this weekly for 2 months doesn’t make the enemy believe it, quite the opposite ))
▪️HOSTAGE DEAL.. senior Hamas officials tell the Arab press that they will demand guarantees for the end of the war as a precondition for any deal.
Major argument in the cabinet meeting, where per leaks Ministers Barkat, Shikli and Gamliel expressed LOUD opposition to Hamas terms.
▪️HAMAS CHANGE OF STRATEGY.. The IDF has spotted a different method of operation of Hamas in south Gaza – they hide less in the tunnels, and more in the humanitarian shelters and population concentrations in the area – and from there they launch attacks.
The IDF takes a different method of action to catch the terrorists – surrounds the shelter, and evacuates the entire population from it – and thus identifies the terrorists hiding.
▪️ON US ATTACKS AGAINST SHIA MILITIAS.. Biden in a letter to the US House of Representatives “I instruct the military to take additional measures against Iran’s allies if necessary.”
▪️HOUTHIS PUBLISH ARMY MARCH TO ISRAEL.. this is the 3rd or so video of tens of thousands of soldiers who supposedly are going to march thousands of kilometers across the Saudi Arabian deserts and through Jordan to attack Israel. Note that neither country plans to allow this – just propaganda, where they all WALK, no trucks, no buses, walk.
Houthi General Abdul Ghani Al-Zubaidi to Al-Arabi Network: The developments in the Red Sea will be unprecedented in the coming days, and the US will lose the war. (( What’s crazy is not that they make such statements, but that they BELIEVE such statements from their post-truth world. ))
Houthis claim a U.S. F-35 was shot down, falling into Saudi territory. (( Seems highly unlikely. ))
Exclusive: US makes implicit threat to invoke Leahy Law over West Bank incidents By Ariel Kahana
The warning implies that should Israel fail to provide satisfactory answers, IDF forces serving in the West Bank will not get US-funded munitions.
02-04-2024 11:10 – The Biden administration has been pressing Israel to provide answers regarding a series of incidents in which, it claims, IDF units operating in Judea and Samaria violated the so-called “Leahy Law”, a set of legal amendments that restrict the funding of military aid to units over human rights concerns, Israel Hayom has exclusively learned.
The Leahy Law states that Pentagon-appropriated funds “may not be used for any training, equipment, or other assistance for a foreign security force unit if the Secretary of Defense has credible information that such unit has committed a gross violation of human rights.”
The warning implies that should Israel fail to provide satisfactory answers, IDF forces serving in the West Bank will not get US-funded munitions.
According to information obtained by Israel Hayom, the warning was conveyed to Israel over a month ago and is known to the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem.
In order to deal with the claims, the International Law Department in the Military Advocate General’s office and other legal entities have been in contact with the US and are supposed to answer their questions regarding the incidents under discussion, with only two months left to send the response.
The Foreign Ministry confirms that “over the years, the ministry has cooperated with requests from the American administration in the context of the Leahy Law.” However, an Israeli official said that there was no knowledge of a concrete warning being issued.
A spokesperson from the US Embassy in Israel said the “Leahy vetting” was an effective foreign policy tool, which promotes respect for human rights by America’s security partners, and the accountability of security force units credibly implicated in gross violations of human rights. It further noted that the law’s requirements apply to all countries receiving relevant US assistance, including Israel, and the State Department provides assistance consistent with the law’s requirements.
Every Israeli security force unit proposed to receive relevant US assistance is subject to Leahy vetting as a matter of course. As provided for under the law, the State Department also has a process for assessing reports of potentially serious human rights violations by Israeli security forces, the spokesperson said.
It should be noted that this is not the first time that the Leahy Law requirements have been mentioned in the context of Israel. Senator Patrick Leahy himself tried, in the final stages of the Obama administration, to use the law to stop security assistance to certain IDF units over allegations of human rights violations.
Two weeks ago, the British Guardian published that the State Department was conducting an in-depth, extensive examination according to the Leahy Law requirements regarding IDF activities in the West Bank. Since the beginning of the Gaza war, the IDF has also operated intensely in these areas, killing over 500 terrorists and arresting thousands of suspects in terror activities.
[Ed.: Fine! That’s a blessing in disguise, if there ever was one! The US is truly an enemy of ours, and it shows. Israel should just tell them to pack up their Consulate and Embassy and get out. Tell them that if they want to play hard-ball, Israel will no longer share intelligence (with an enemy) and declare American government personnel as personas non-grata. Israel does not need or want their ‘support’ with strings attached! The losers in the US administration have a lot more to lose than Israel does by an official termination of this so-called ‘friendship’! We should tell them that we will not share intelligence with them until an unless they return Trump to office!]
Hamas reasserts control of parts of Gaza after Israeli withdrawal Einav Halabi
Month after IDF withdrawal from key northern Gaza regions, terror group slowly returns, paying partial wages to public workers amid IDF bombings; IDF footage shows Hamas attacking civilians in Khan Younis, blocking their move to safety
February 3, 2024 – Hamas reasserts control of parts of Gaza after Israeli withdrawal
Month after IDF withdrawal from key northern Gaza regions, terror group slowly returns, paying partial wages to public workers amid IDF bombings; IDF footage shows Hamas attacking civilians in Khan Younis, blocking their move to safety
On November 11, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Hamas had “effectively lost control over the northern Gaza Strip.”
On December 11, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant remarked that the organization was “on the verge of disintegration.”
However, nearly two months have passed, and Hamas has begun to resurface in areas where Israel withdrew the bulk of its forces a month ago, deploying police officers and making salary payments to some of its civil servants in Gaza City in recent days, four residents and a senior official in the terrorist group told the Associated Press on Saturday.
Four Gaza City residents told The Associated Press that in recent days, uniformed and plainclothes police officers deployed near police headquarters and other government offices, including near Al Shifa Hospital, the territory’s largest. The residents said they saw the return of civil servants and subsequent Israeli airstrikes near the makeshift offices in the western and northwestern parts of Gaza City.
The return of police marks an attempt to reinstate order in the devastated city after Israel withdrew a significant number of troops from northern Gaza last month, a Hamas official told AP, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.
The official said the group’s leaders had given directions to reestablish order in parts of the north where Israeli forces had withdrawn, including by helping prevent the looting of shops and houses abandoned by residents who heeded repeated Israeli evacuation orders and headed to southern Gaza.
Saeed Abdel-Bar, a resident of Gaza City, said a cousin received funds from a makeshift Hamas office that was set up to distribute $200 payouts to government employees, including police officers and municipal workers.
The partial salary payments for some government employees signal that Israel has not delivered a knockout blow to Hamas, even as Gallant has previously claimed that the IDF has killed more than 10,000 Hamas fighters.
Ahmed Abu Hadrous, a Gaza City resident, said Israeli warplanes struck the area where the makeshift office is located multiple times earlier this week, including Saturday.
[Ed.: Oh, NICE! They must’a snuck back in with all of those ‘innocent civilians’!]
IDF Central Command passes 3000 arrests Israel National News
IDF reservists have carried out thousands of operations in Judea and Samaria since the war began, arresting more terrorists than over the entire preceding year.
Feb 2, 2024, 3:17 PM (GMT+2) – Since the beginning of the war, the Central Command has adopted a more aggressive policy, which has led to the arrests of more than 3,000 suspects in slightly less than four months.
The policy includes daily operational activity in Judea and Samaria by various Israeli security forces, based on ISA intelligence.
The IDF notes that several senior members of Hamas, inciters, and supporters of terror were arrested at the beginning of the war, which is one of the reasons that Judea and Samaria have not yet experienced open hostilities. Additionally, many terrorists have been assassinated or arrested while planning attacks, with the decisive majority of the operations being carried out by reservist battalions operating in a professional, aggressive, and precise manner.
Related articles:
- Weapons confiscated from Judea and Samaria farmers
- Commander attempted to subvert Minister Smotrich’s instructions
- IDF preparing for potential terrorist assault on communities
- Iran behind photo of IDF commander in Nazi uniform
A security source stated: “More than 3,000 arrests and thousands of aggressive operations have been carried out in the Central Command since the start of the war. We have surpassed the number of arrests carried out over the last year. When the war began, everyone with the slightest inclination towards terror was arrested and imprisoned. The number of terrorists arrested is one of the reasons that the situation here has not yet exploded. Reserve forces operating in our area have made an unprecedented operational achievement, but we still have considerable work ahead.”
Teen freed from Hamas: ‘We saw burned houses and bodies’ [VIDEO 2:13] Israel National News
Released hostage Hila Rotem Shoshani: ‘Truthfully I thought the whole kibbutz was either taken hostage or killed.’
Feb 3, 2024, 9:08 PM (GMT+2) – Hila Rotem Shoshani, 13, who was held captive by Hamas for 50 days, gave a video testimony recalling her experience in Gaza.
Hila was taken hostage by Hamas with her mother Raaya and her friend Emily Hand.
The testimony was screened at Saturday evening’s rally calling for the release of the remaining hostages.
“The lives of the hostages are in danger every moment,” she said in her testimony. “There is no food, no water, and no daylight. In the end, there will be no one left to save from there.”
Related articles:
- Hamas delaying response to prisoner swap offer
- Advice from a hostage’s mother
- 150 terrorists per female soldier, 6-week ceasefire
- At Ashdod port, dozens protest Gaza aid
Hila recalled, “Me, Emily, and my mom woke up at 6 in the morning and ran to the safe room when there were missiles and sirens. We heard Arabic talking and then the terrorists opened the door and came in with guns and knives. They took us to the fence, put us in the car and we started driving. We saw burned houses and bodies, and didn’t see a single soldier. Truthfully I thought the whole kibbutz was either taken hostage or killed.”
“I was lucky to have Emily, we spoke a little in whispers. But there was no food and no water, and we were in the dark without daylight. If we spoke loudly they would take us from the room we were in as punishment. Yes, alone, they took me from everyone. There are a lot of fears”.
Hila ended with a message to the world: “It’s terrible that the lives of the hostages are in danger every moment there. In the end, there will be no one left to save from there. We need to return everyone quickly.”
Footage shows Hamas beating civilians waiting for aid Israel National News
IDF spokesman reveals footage from Khan Yunis showing Hamas terrorists beating Gazan civilians waiting in line for aid, preventing them from evacuating to humanitarian zone.
Feb 3, 2024, 9:07 PM (GMT+2) – IDF spokesman has revealed footage from Khan Yunis, showing Hamas terrorists beating Gazan civilians waiting for aid and preventing them from evacuating to the humanitarian zone.
Related articles:
- ‘UNRWA is a problem, doesn’t offer solutions’
- Herbert Hoover’s Palestinian Arabs resettlement plan
- Righteous Among Nations families’ message to Gazans
- ‘The residents of Gaza want to overthrow Hamas’
1,500 wounded soldiers evacuated: Footage of a special unit’s operations in Gaza [VIDEO] Israel National News
IDF’s Operational Mobility School conducts hundreds of evacuations of wounded soldiers in Gaza.
Feb 3, 2024, 6:17 PM (GMT+2) – IDF soldiers in both mandatory and reserve service in the Operational Mobility School (BALNAM) have been operating since the beginning of the ground operation in the Gaza Strip.
The soldiers carry out complicated missions while under fire, deep inside enemy territory.
Related articles:
- Who wants elections?
- Israel, Egypt, weigh moving Rafah Crossing
- Sirens in southern Israel, fire from Hezbollah
- Found in Kfar Aza: A note from the terrorists
They mobilize tens of thousands of soldiers to and from the Gaza Strip and are in continuous contact with both the forces in the field of battle and the medical units in Israel. Thus, the unit connects the inside of the Gaza Strip to the territory of Israel.
In over 1,500 operations, the soldiers of the Operational Mobility School evacuated many wounded soldiers.
The swift evacuation has saved the lives of many of these soldiers, the IDF noted.
