Israel at war: What happened on days 42-43?
IDF deepens activity in Gaza's Al-Shifa hospital, agrees to evacuate civilians • Israel won't accept ceasefire in Gaza without mass release of hostages
WATCH: IDF strikes Hezbollah after rocket barrage launched at Israel
The Iran-backed Hezbollah said it shot down an Israeli drone near the border in the early hours of Saturday.
Rocket sirens sounded across northern Israeli border towns on Saturday morning after a barrage of at least 25 rockets was fired from Lebanon, the IDF confirmed.
The Israeli military said it was striking the source of the fire, as well as several Hezbollah terror positions across the border.
Sirens also sounded in the northern city of Kiryat Shmona later on Saturday. The IDF said it responded to the rocket fire.
Hezbollah says it shot down Israeli drone
The Iran-backed Hezbollah said it shot down an Israeli drone near the border in the early hours of Saturday.
Lebanese officials said an Israeli airstrike hit a building in an industrial area near the town of Nabatieh, one of the deepest Israeli strikes inside Lebanese territory since fighting resumed last month. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the incident.
Go to the full article >>US investigating antisemitic, anti-Muslim discrimination at schools
Last month, federal prosecutors charged a Cornell University student with allegedly making online threats against Jewish students.
The US Department of Education said on Thursday it has begun investigations of six colleges and one school district over accusations of antisemitic or anti-Muslim discrimination during an ongoing war between Israel and Palestinians in Gaza.
In one such instance federal prosecutors last month charged a Cornell University student with allegedly making online threats against Jewish students at the Ivy League school.
"Hate has no place in our schools, period. When students are targeted because they are—or are perceived to be—Jewish, Muslim, Arab, Sikh, or any other ethnicity or shared ancestry, schools must act to ensure safe and inclusive educational environments where everyone is free to learn,” Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in a statement.
The colleges under investigation were listed as Cornell, Columbia University, and the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York state, Lafayette College and the University of Pennsylvania in Pennsylvania, and Wellesley College in Massachusetts.
The department said it was also investigating the Maize Unified School District in Kansas.
Antisemitism spikes by 400% since October 7
The advocacy group Anti-Defamation League said antisemitism rose by about 400% in the first two weeks since the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, compared with the same period the previous year.
About 190 of the 312 antisemitic incidents tallied by the group were linked to the war between Israel and Hamas. Of those 190, more than half consisted of rallies where the group found "explicit or strong implicit support for Hamas and/or violence against Jews in Israel."
Go to the full article >>Alleged Israeli airstrikes target Damascus
The strikes reportedly targeted the town of Sayyida Zeinab, where Iran-backed militias have a heavy presence.
Alleged Israeli airstrikes targeted a number of sites near Damascus on Thursday night, according to Syrian state media.
متداول: اشتعال النيران في أحد المواقع جرّاء القصف الإسرائيلي على جنوب دمشق قبل قليل.#صوت_العاصمة #سوريا #دمشق #ريف_دمشق #إسرائيل pic.twitter.com/reJjm0aEhO
— صوت العاصمة (@damascusv011) November 17, 2023
The strikes targeted the town of Sayyida Zeinab, where Iran-backed militias have a heavy presence, according to the Syrian Capital Voice news site. Footage reportedly from the scene showed a structure on fire.
Israel strikes Syria amid war in Gaza
A series of alleged Israeli airstrikes have targeted sites in southern Syria, the Damascus area, and Aleppo since the war between Israel and Hamas broke out in October. The IDF has taken responsibility for some of the airstrikes reported in southern Syria, but has not responded to the other reports by Syrian media.
Several rockets were fired from Syria toward Israel in recent weeks as well and the IDF said a drone which hit a school in Eilat recently was launched by an Iran-backed group in Syria.
Last week, alleged Israeli airstrikes reportedly targeted the Sayyida Zeinab area, with opposition-affiliated Syrian news sites reporting that casualties were caused in the strikes.
Two weeks before that, alleged Israeli airstrikes killed at least two workers at the Damascus International Airport, according to SANA.
The Syrian state news agency SANA reported that the strike caused only material damage and no casualties, with Syrian air defenses responding to the strike.
Go to the full article >>Blinken speaks to Gantz, discusses efforts to boost Gaza aid - State Dept
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Israeli war cabinet Minister Benny Gantz and discussed efforts to boost and accelerate the transit of critical humanitarian assistance into Gaza, the State Department said on Thursday.
The two men discussed efforts to prevent the conflict widening and to secure the release of hostages. Blinken also stressed the urgent need for affirmative steps to de-escalate tensions in the West Bank, including by confronting rising levels of settler extremist violence, the department said in a statement.
Go to the full article >>Coalition of 11 right-wing organizations unveils Gaza strip resettlement initiative
The overarching objective is to fortify the security belt and reestablish a Jewish presence in these regions.
In a resolute move, a coalition of 11 prominent right-wing organizations has officially launched an initiative dedicated to the resettlement of Gaza and northern Samaria, on Thursday. Termed the "Coalition of 11 Right-Wing Organizations for Gaza Strip and Northern Samaria Resettlement," this endeavor emerged from a series of covert meetings led by Yossi Dagan, head of the Samaria Regional Council, and the Nahala movement.
This formidable coalition, comprising organizations such as Samaria Regional Council, the Nahala movement, and several others, has united under a common mission. Dagan succinctly stated, "Only resettlement guarantees security. Victory over Hamas commences with the return of settlements in northern Gaza."
The coalition's strategic blueprint commences with the resettlement of northern Gaza and subsequently expanding their efforts to areas including the former Jewish settlements of Nitzan, Eli Sinai, and Dugit, all in close proximity to Ashkelon. The overarching objective is to fortify the security belt and reestablish a Jewish presence in these regions.
Settler leaders link settlements to security
Zvi Elimelech, leader of the Nahala movement, emphasized the historical interconnection between settlement and security. He underscored the necessity of widespread Jewish resettlement throughout Gaza to rectify the ramifications of the Gaza withdrawal following the Oslo Accords.
The group "Return and Triumph Gush Katif Headquarters" echoed these sentiments, declaring their national and security duty to conquer and repopulate Gaza: "Conquer. Settle. Triumph!"
The organization "Expand the Place of Your Tent" actively engages in the acquisition of homes from Arabs in Hebron and fervently champions the significance of preserving Israel's territorial inheritance through resettlement.
Go to the full article >>Hostages’ families come together for hoops
Hapoel Jerusalem hosts ceremony and game screening in capital • Reds fall to PAOK in BCL
Hapoel Jerusalem held a special evening on Wednesday for the families of the hostages at the Pais Jerusalem Arena, which included a ceremony for those who have been killed and those who are being held by Hamas in Gaza as well as a screening of the club’s Basketball Champions League game at PAOK in Greece.
Over 6,000 posters of those being held hostage were placed on every single seat in the lower bowl of the facility as the largest gathering for a sporting event since the beginning of the war featured in the nation’s capital.
There have been many Reds fans that have lost their lives, either in the initial attack by Hamas on October 7 or since then during the IDF operation in Gaza as well as on the northern border. In addition, two Jerusalem supporters, Ofir Engel and Hersh Goldberg-Polin, are being held hostage by Hamas and their well-being is unknown.
Mayor Moshe Leon took part in the ceremony along with the father of Ofir Engel, who was taken hostage while visiting his girlfriend at Kibbutz Be’eri, as well as team CEO Alon Kremer.
“We didn’t think that we would be opening the basketball season like this,” Mayor Leon began. “So many Hapoel Jerusalem fans have been killed as well as having been taken hostage. Every seat in the arena has a picture of one of the hostages affixed to them. Perhaps when we will wake up one morning we will hear about hostages being freed and we would also wake up from this nightmare. However, we haven’t had such news yet. We will be waiting for every single hostage to return, but this may take some time.”
Kremer wore a special shirt that had pictures of all of the Hapoel Jerusalem fans who have been killed so far in the war while the back featured the two who are being held hostage.
“I stand here with a heavy heart,” the Reds’ CEO began. “I was hoping we would be well into the basketball season but instead we are having to deal with this brutal tragedy with over 1,200 killed and over 200 being held hostage. Both Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who has traveled far and wide with the team including to Valencia, is always with us while Ofir Engel has attended so many games with the team, most recently in Athens and the State Cup. We are supporting the families as they go through this ordeal and their loved ones are being held hostage by Hamas.”
Finally, Yoav Engel, the father of Ofir and a resident of Kibbutz Ramat Rachel, gave a heartfelt talk about his son who has been held by Hamas for over 40 days.
“Ofir, who is in 12th grade went to visit his girlfriend Yuval at Kibbutz Be’eri and was kidnapped with her and her father and taken by Hamas into Gaza. We don’t know if he has been sleeping, we don’t know if he has been eating and we don’t know what condition he is in. We hope that he will return to us as soon as possible.
“We have been involved with Hapoel Jerusalem for many years, whether it’s tournaments at the kibbutz or at my work at the sports center at Shalva. But it’s so sad that we are entering the arena for a game on the big screen and instead of fans being here there are pictures of those kidnapped on the seats and that Jerusalem is not playing here but abroad.”
Engel stressed the need for everyone to do the utmost that they can in order to help free the hostages.
“We need everyone to be with us, the families of those who are being held hostage. We were in the Knesset a few days ago and what we understood from those meetings is that we need to do more than what we have been doing so far for the past 40 days since the war started. We need to do everything in our power and need your help to bring them home now!”
Following the ceremony, a stirring rendition of Hatikvah was sung by all those in attendance as tears streamed down the faces of the friends and families of the hostages.
Hapoel falls to PAOK 79-77
As for the game itself, Jerusalem came up just short as it fell 79-77 to PAOK in a tight game that went right down to the wire.
The Greeks took control early, but the Reds came roaring back to take a 19-17 lead after the first quarter thanks to stellar play by Chris Johnson. However, the hosts put the pedal to the metal in the second period to head into halftime in front 39-35.
Levi Randolph and Speedy Smith tried to get Aleksandar Dzikic’s team back into the game, but PAOK had other ideas as Kendall Smith, Michael Gilmore and former Maccabi Ramat Gan center Justin Alston all found the basket to help wrap up the victory.
Randolph led all scorers with 19 points, Johnson added 12 points and Brynton Lemar chipped in with 10 points in the loss. Kendall Smith paced the hosts with 16 points while former Alston scored 11 points for PAOK in the win.
“PAOK is a good team and they have the same number of wins as us,” Jerusalem coach Dzikic said. “They played with good energy, opened up the game the right way and ended it the right way as well and their new guys played well. We have had some problems off the court, but PAOK played well and took the win.”
Randolph reflected on the game that was.
“It was a tough game for us and a tough period that we’ve been through a lot this season and we played a tough game. It came down to the defensive end and we had a lot of breakdowns today, things that we normally take care of and ultimately it lost us the game. We will learn from it and when we come together for practice we can take care of those things.”
In other Israeli BCL action, Hapoel Holon moved to 2-0 with a 84-79 win over Rio Breogan in its temporary home in Riga, Latvia.
The Purples controlled the game throughout the 40 minutes as Amine Noua scored the critical baskets as time wound down to give Holon the victory.
Noua led the way with 19 points while CJ Harris scored 15 points in the win. Stefan Momirov paced the visitors with 21 points in the loss.
“The Latvian Federation has made us feel so much at home and have done everything for us to make us comfortable,” Holon head coach Amit Sherf began. “We need to play better on one-on-one defense and we can’t allow four straight 3-pointers, which got them back into the game. I’m happy that our veteran guys knew how to handle the situation as we picked up the win.”
Harris also spoke about the win.
“It was an amazing overall game for us and everyone contributed. They played well, but we were able to stick together during the tough times to get the win, which is great.”
Go to the full article >>Netanyahu: Strong indications Hamas kept hostages at Al-Shifa hospital
The possibility of finding the hostages, “was one of the reasons we entered Shifa hospital," Netanyahu said. “But if they were, they were taken out.”
There were “strong indications hostages were held in Shifa hospital in Gaza,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told CBS News on Thursday as he defended the IDF’s highly-criticized military operation in the medical facility on the 41st day of the war in Gaza.
The possibility of finding the hostages, “was one of the reasons we entered Shifa hospital," Netanyahu said. “But if they were, they were taken out.”
Palestinian medics said on Thursday they are increasingly afraid for the lives of hundreds of patients and medical staff at Gaza's biggest hospital, cut off from all links to the outside world for more than a day after the IDF entered.
IDF continues operations at Al-Shifa Hospital
On Thursday night, the military said troops had found a tunnel shaft and vehicle with weapons inside the hospital complex.
"In the Shifa Hospital, IDF troops found an operational tunnel shaft and a vehicle containing a large number of weapons," the army said, as it released videos and photographs that it said showed the tunnel shaft and weapons.
Military equipment including Kalashnikov rifles and rocket-propelled grenades were also uncovered in Al-Shifa hospital, the army said.
It also found the body of Yehudit Weiss, a hostage Hamas seized from Kibbutz Be'eri, near Shifa Hospital on Thursday. The IDF entered Gaza as part of its military campaign to oust the terror group from the Strip after it killed over 1,200 people and took over 239 hostages on October 7.
Talks are ongoing for the possible release of some 50 hostages in exchange for a three-to-five-day pause in hostilities.
The high Palestinian death toll in Gaza, due to the war, which Hamas asserts is over 11,000 has opened Israel up to intense criticism and scrutiny, made sharper by its entry into the Gaza hospital.
Human Rights Watch cautioned that hospitals have special protections under international humanitarian law.
"Hospitals only lose those protections if it can be shown that harmful acts have been carried out from the premises," the watchdog's UN Director Louis Charbonneau told Reuters.
US defends IDF claims, dismisses calls for ceasefire
US State Department spokesman Matthew Millers defended the IDF’s operations to uncover Hamas arms and infrastructure in Gaza medical facilities as he dismissed the idea of a ceasefire.
“I’m not aware that there is an acceptable threshold level for assault rifles held in hospitals. That’s not general humanitarian practice,” Miller said as he pushed back at those who doubted Hamas had operated from within Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.
He attacked the misinformation that has entered the debate about Hamas and its actions in Gaza, particularly its use of civilians as human shields.
“I am surprised … that people have ignored the weight of public evidence over years and years of Hamas using civilian infrastructure as human shields. Israel has a right to conduct those military to hold those terrorists accountable," Miller said.
“The idea that Hamas uses civilian infrastructure as human shields is not contested,” he said.
It is important, however, that Israel operate under international law, minimize civilian casualties and ensure the entry into Gaza of humanitarian aid.
The US is in “active conversations” with the government of Israel to ensure that “as they continue to look at expanded military or ground operations in Gaza” they also allow for “humanitarian corridors” for civilians and for “humanitarian pauses,” he said.
U.S. President Joe Biden told reporters he was doing everything in his power to free hostages. The U.S. president had told reporters this week that his message to the hostages was "Hang in there, we're coming," raising questions about what he meant.
Asked to clarify the comment, Biden told a news conference: "What I meant was, I'm doing everything in my power to get you out. Coming to help you, get you out. I don't mean sending in the military in there ... I was not talking about the military."
Biden said he was working on the issue constantly, and would not stop until the hostages - including a three-year-old American child - were freed.
Biden said Hamas was committing war crimes by having its military headquarters under a hospital, repeating a statement made by a White House spokesperson on Tuesday, and he was confident about the U.S. intelligence supporting that "fact."
He said Israel had gone into Gaza's biggest hospital, Al Shifa, with a limited number of troops with guns, and was not carpet-bombing the site.
"They were told ... we discussed the need for them to be incredibly careful," Biden said, adding that Israel had an obligation to use as much caution as possible in going after targets.
But he said it was "not realistic" to expect Israel to stop its military actions, given threats by senior Hamas officials that they intended to attack Israel again and their past "horrific" actions.
“Hamas has already said publicly that they plan on attacking Israel again, like they did before, where they cut babies’ heads off,” Biden said.
On Wednesday, Biden said Israel was now bringing in incubators and other equipment to help people, and its soldiers allowing doctors, nurses and other staff to "get out of harm's way."
Biden said he had told Netanyahu that he did not believe the war would end until a two-state solution was reached.
"I made it clear to Israel that I think it's a big mistake for them to occupy Gaza," he said.
Go to the full article >>IDF's next steps in Gaza: Hostage deal or southern offensive? - analysis
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant discussed on Thursday moving the war forward to new stages, but conspicuously did not refer to going South.
There is a debate at the highest levels of the government and the IDF about whether the military should already begin its invasion of southern Gaza or whether this must wait for an interim deal on hostages, The Jerusalem Post has learned.
Numerous leaks have been made about terms that Israel or Hamas wants as the sides negotiate what might be an interim deal getting significant numbers of Israeli civilian hostages back, but not all hostages, for some kind of pause and prisoner exchange, but not necessarily that Hamas has demanded.
Whether Israel agrees to a deal or not which Hamas has been desperate for, even the possibility of being close to a deal may currently be slowing the push into southern Gaza, the Post understands.
The concept is that this is a unique tipping point where the IDF has mostly taken over northern Gaza and could make a natural pause.
In contrast, once the IDF invades southern Gaza, to do so it will not only have committed large numbers of air, sea, and ground forces, it will also need to maneuver a huge logistics complex from the North toward the South to facilitate such an ongoing invasion.
Where could they be hidden?
Put simply, unless the war is for sure going to continue for more than a week or so, committing to the South seems unwise.
Once that invasion happens, it is also possible that the IDF will come into closer contact with Hamas leaders and hostages, which could compromise aspects of the current deals being discussed.
Few hostages or top Hamas leaders were found to date in the North.
IDF Chief-of-Staff (Lt.-Gen.) Herzi Halevi made it clear on Thursday that "if it were up to me", the IDF would be pushing further south.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant discussed on Thursday moving the war forward to new stages, but conspicuously did not refer to going South.
Although the government and the IDF have said they wanted to eliminate Hamas, they have consistently preached that bringing back hostages was an equal goal - something which has not seemed to add up until now.
But this moment before an invasion of the South, could be a point where a balancing between the two goals takes place.
Israel can take some time to weigh the decision, but within some period of days, stagnant forces could reduce morale, so the question will likely not remain open for too long.
Go to the full article >>Israel-Hamas War: What you need to know
- Hamas launched a barrage of rockets on October 7, with thousands of terrorists infiltrating from the Gaza border
- Over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals were murdered as of Tuesday, and more than 5,431 were wounded according to the Health Ministry
- IDF: 239 families of Israeli captives in Gaza have been contacted, 30 of them children