Security forces find new Hamas-linked terror group, Biden says Netanyahu hurting Israel

Rami Davidian, Israel’s heroic farmer from Moshav Patish, near the Gaza Strip, risked his life to save innocent young people on October 7. Never having served in a combat unit, he relied on instinct that enabled him to rise to the occasion, unarmed and surrounded by Hamas terrorists.

Upon receiving a distress call early in the morning, Davidian embarked on a rescue mission, unaware of the full scale of the assault. On the way to the rescue, he picked up other party-goers fleeing to the orchards and groves. With the help of other volunteers, they set up a makeshift situation room and drove the participants to safety. His quick action saved numerous young attendees amid the chaos of the attack, with Davidian making countless trips to save hundreds of lives.

At one point, Davidian posed as a Yemeni Muslim as he bargained for the life of Amit Parizer, a young Jewish Israeli. The Media Line spoke exclusively with Rami on the eve of International Women’s Day, sharing his eyewitness testimony and personal trauma, sending a message to the world.

As the world celebrates International Women's Day on March 8, 14 Israeli women remain captive in Gaza. As the days go by, the families of these women fear the worst, particularly ongoing sexual abuse and torture at the hands of Hamas terrorists, who have held the women captive for nearly five months.

Agam Berger was taken hostage from Nahal Oz on October 7 and was later seen on a Hamas Telegram video being led to a car while still in her pajamas. She is one of the 14 women still being held hostage in Gaza by the terror group. Shlomi Berger, Agam’s father, spoke to The Media Line: "We are very fearful of sexual abuse.” 

He noted that women freed from captivity have stated that the kidnappers abused some of the women still being held captive and that former hostages have testified that some of the women were beaten and tortured. 

"I know from one of the freed hostages that five of the hostages were in a room together, and [Hamas] took one of the women, about 40 years old, whom they thought was an IDF officer. They suspended her from the ceiling and beat her with a stick in front of the other hostages," he said, noting that his daughter was among the women present in the room.

"My daughter is 19. She is a teenager. I cannot imagine what went through her mind when she saw this happening in front of her.”

The Shin Bet and Israel Police uncovered a terrorist group based in northern Israel that was working with Hamas to carry out terrorist attacks in Israel, the two agencies announced in a joint statement on Sunday.

In the past few months, security forces have arrested 13 suspects—most of whom lived in Sakhnin—involved in organizing the group. Some of the suspects were named as Akram Halaila, Muhammad Musa Abu Salah, Ali Halaila, and Muhammad Suhana Muhammad Ayyoush.

Additionally, security forces arrested a resident of the West Bank, Suhaib Jalboush, for selling weapons to the terrorist group. Four firearms, ammunition, and vests intended for terrorist attacks were seized from the suspects.

After questioning the suspects, the Shin Bet and Police found that Muhammad Haled and Muhammad Yusuf recruited the other members of the terrorist group from within Sakhnin. The group purchased weapons from sources in the West Bank in an attempt to organize terrorist attacks.

One of the suspects, Muhammad Khaled Halaila, was in contact with Hamas members in the Gaza Strip, who provided him with instructions on how to prepare explosive devices and directed him to recruit more people to conduct terrorist attacks.

The suspects discussed several possible locations for an attack, including a bus full of soldiers in Haifa. They also discussed photographing a Rafael factory to help Hamas terrorists fire rockets toward the site.

The choice seemed simple: either a hostage deal would be reached before Ramadan, or the IDF would supercharge the Gaza invasion for a third time since October – by invading Rafah.

Now, everyone—from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, to Netanyahu’s quasi-ally-quasi opposition Benny Gantz, to apolitical IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi – had said so.

Every one of them has also said that even if there were a hostage deal, a key component of it would be an eventual entry into Rafah to dismantle Hamas’s battalions there.

This did not seem to leave much room for interpretation.

US aid officials and diplomats have highly criticized US President Joe Biden's latest plan to bring humanitarian aid into Gaza by pointing out the many flaws expected to come with the establishment of a temporary floating pier off of Gaza's coastline for the transfer of goods, according to a New York Times report.

Biden announced his plans to build the floating pier last Thursday. The pier is expected to enable the delivery of two million meals a day to Gazans.

Criticism of the plan

One of the plan's main criticisms is the amount of time it will take to create such a port. Currently, Gaza does not have a functioning port, and establishing an entirely new one is expected to take a long time.

According to US officials, the project could take up to 60 days to complete, which is problematic as United Nations officials claim that Gazans are currently facing a famine and are in need of immediate aid.

In addition to the lengthy time expected to complete the initiative, its high cost has also been criticized.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Sunday started to spin the new US maritime Gaza humanitarian aid program as a positive which will speed up toppling Hamas.

He said that Israel would "make sure that the aid gets to those who need it and does not get to those who do not need it," like Hamas.

Gallant said that the project was fully coordinated between Israel, the US, the UAE, and others.

In a first delivery, allied aid ships are expected to lift off from Cyprus for Gaza as early as Monday.

Sometime between now and two months from now, the artificial platforms developed by the US for receiving and delivering aid to Gaza are expected to be established.

The defense minister watched the progress up close in a navy Dvora boat along with Navy Chief Admiral David Saar Salama.

American and Israeli victims of the Hamas October 7 Massacre are suing the the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) USA National Committee for alleged financial support of the terrorist organization, according to a lawsuit filed to the District Court of Delaware on Sunday.

The lawsuit alleges that the 501(c)(3) nonprofit, which supports UNRWA through fundraising, advocacy, and community engagement in the US, has been knowingly providing material support to Hamas by funding the employment of terrorists, spreading terrorist propaganda, and facilitating weapon storage in schools and other buildings.

While UNRWA USA is an independent nonprofit, the suit said the organization's stated mission is to support UNRWA, and the charity has called the UN agency's workers "colleagues." The nonprofit reported that it had raised over $ 3.8 million for UNRWA in 2022, and when it provided almost $5 million in 2021 it claimed that it was "the Agency’s top institutional donor," that year.

"It is operating a terrorist-financing scheme in violation of federal law and thereby misleading its donors, the United States government, and the international community," said the lawsuit.

Connections between UNRWA and Hamas

It was alleged that the connection between UNRWA and Gazan terrorist organizations had been public knowledge since the early 2000s, and had become even more apparent during the Israel-Hamas War.

Far right Yusuf Zidan Suliman Alhajri; second right Behr Mahmud Abdallah Dariush; second from left Assan al-Jabari; far left Mamdouh Hassij Ahmad al-Kahk (credit: IDF SPOKESMAN’S UNIT)

"From its inception, UNRWA has been a major part of the problem in the Middle East, through its internal corruption, its promotion of educational materials in Palestinian schools that promote and glorify terrorism, and its direct involvement with and material support for Hamas and other terrorist organizations, including the commission of terrorist actions and the use of its offices and resources to conceal terrorist activities," said Plaintiffs' attorney David Schoen.

The lawsuit mentioned a 2017 Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center report which said that Hamas controlled a UNRWA Gaza staff union since at least 2009. In a February 16 statement Defense Minister Yoav Gallant claimed that 12% of local staff were affiliated with Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Gallant, noted the lawsuit, said that 30 workers allegedly took part in the October pogrom. The Wall Street Journal reported in late January that at least two had helped kidnap Israelis, and others had coordinated logistics for the assault, such as the procurement of weapons.

UNRWA facilities have been used to hide weapons and other equipment, said the filing, such as a 2014 incident in which 20 rockets were found in a vacant school. More recently, the IDF claimed that it had found a Hamas subterranean data center beneath the UNRWA’s Gaza headquarters. The data center reportedly relied on the UN building's power supply.

Schools run by UNRWA promote jihad and antisemitism, according to a March 2023 IMPACT-se and UN Watch report cited by the lawsuit. The report detailed UNRWA material for 5th graders at Al-Zaytun Elementary School teaching them to venerate 1978 Coastal Road massacre terrorist Dalal Mughrabi, and grammar exercises for 6th grade girls at the Asma Girls’ Middle School B that included the phrase "I will commit jihad to liberate the homeland." The lawsuit also noted the discovery of a 3,000 member UNRWA educators Telegram group by Middle East analyst Eitan Fischberger, in which the teachers praised and shared images of the October 7 attack.

The lawsuit said that the US Senate had passed a bipartisan bill on February 13 blocking government funding of UNRWA due to terrorism connections. 17 countries and international entities had also paused funding to UNRWA over concerns of the agency's connection to terrorism.

"This case is long overdue. Delaware’s Attorney General should move to revoke UNWRAS’s status as Delaware corporation," said David Finger, attorney working with the plaintiffs. "Delaware should not tolerate its corporations being used to facilitate violence, terror, and savagery.”

The plaintiffs had survived the October 7 massacre, lost loved ones in the attack, or were rendered homeless as a result of the destruction and evacuations. US citizens Noach Newman, Adin Gess, Maya Parizer, Natalie Sanandaji, Yoni Diller, David Bromberg, and Lior Bar Or were seeking damages under the Antiterrorism Act. Israel plaintiffs Lishay Lavi, Hagar Almog, and Ariel
Ein-Gal were seeking damages under the Alien Tort Statute, which gives US courts jurisdiction for acts committed in violation of international law like anti-terrorism financing treaties.

Jason Torchinsky, another attorney working on the lawsuit, said that "US law does not allow Americans to support terrorism and to also claim a ‘charitable’ tax deduction for it."

The lawsuit is part of a series of lawsuits filed in cooperation with the National Jewish Advocacy Center and  International Legal Forum against those they believe connected to the October 7 massacre.  

The IDF identified 35 unique launches from Lebanon into Israeli territory on Sunday, the military said in a statement, following a morning in which sirens sounded in northern Israel. 

On Saturday night, IDF fighter jets struck Hezbollah terror infrastructure in the area of Ayta ash-Shab, as well as an anti-tank missile launch post in the area of Maroun El Ras, and a military structure in the area of Khirbet Selm where Hezbollah terrorists were identified, the statement continued.

On Sunday morning, Hezbollah announced the deaths of three of its members, while Maariv reported five terrorists had been killed and at least nine wounded by a strike in the village of Khirbet Selm in Southern Lebanon.

The IDF killed, via airstrike, the terrorist responsible for the death of Master Sergeant (res.) Amishar Ben David, the military said in a statement on Sunday. 

Ben David, who fell in combat in southern Gaza on Friday, was the cousin of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, and was 45 at the time of his death.

The operation to kill the terrorist was conducted in cooperation between Egoz commandos on the ground and forces in the air. 

Meanwhile, soldiers from the Nahal Brigade continued to fight in central Gaza, and killed 13 Hamas terrorists, the IDF said in the same statement. The terrorists were eliminated via sniper fire, tank fire, and airstrikes. 

In one of the attacks, a drone detected a terrorist squad operating underground, the IDF said, and forces in the air killed several terrorists with an airstrike. 

IDF soldiers operate in the Gaza Strip, March 9, 2024 (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)

The statement added that another five terrorists were killed in another attack.

Separately, IDF soldiers came under fire Saturday night, and fighter jets, under the direction of the Southern Command, responded with the help of artillery fire. Face-to-face battles continue in Hamad, fought by commandos on the ground with support from the Air Force.

Air Force targets terror infrastructure in Jabalia, Beit Hanun 

In the last 24 hours, the IDF has killed 17 terrorists in a series of attacks in Khan Yunis, the statement said, adding that soldiers from the Maglan Unit discovered weapons, including Kalashnikovs and grenades, as well as ammunition.  

In one raid, two Hamas terrorists surrendered to IDF troops, the statement said.

Airstrikes continued overnight, targeting terrorist infrastructure in the Jabalia and Beit Hanun areas. 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is undermining the values on which Israel was founded and is harming the country with his handling of the Gaza war, US President Joe Biden charged during an interview he gave to MSNBC on Saturday.

“[Netanyahu] has a right to defend Israel, a right to continue to pursue Hamas, but he must, he must, he must pay more attention to the innocent lives being lost as a consequence of the actions taken. “He is hurting Israel more than helping Israel by making the rest of the world … it is contrary to what Israel stands for, and I think it’s a big mistake,” Biden said.

He spoke amid growing tensions between Israel and the United States over Israel’s conduct of its military campaign to destroy Hamas in Gaza, an operation which it supports in principle, but has otherwise opposed elements of its operation.

It has been concerned in particular by the high fatality count, with Hamas asserting that over 31,000 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war. Israel has asserted that over 11,000 of the fatalities have been combatants.

The US has also argued that Israel has not done enough to contain the humanitarian disaster that accompanied its military campaign, during which it has taken out roads, infrastructure, and the governance system, making it difficult to distribute and in some cases impossible to distribute aid.

Biden caught off record

During a private comment Biden made on Thursday, which was caught by microphone, he said, that he needs a “come to Jesus meeting” with Netanyahu on the issue of humanitarian aid for Gaza.

Benjamin Netanyahu holds a press conference on February 29, 2024 (credit: NIMROD KLIKMAN/POOL)

When pressed by MSNBC as to what he meant by that comment, Biden said, it was a euphemism for a “serious meeting.” He added, “I have known Bibi for 50 years and he knew what I meant by it.”

Biden was careful to stress to MSNBC that irrespective of his thoughts on Netanyahu, he supported Israel, particularly concerning defensive weapons.

"I am never going to leave Israel,” Biden emphasized. “The defense of Israel is still critical, so there is no red line where I am going to cut off all weapons so they do not have the Iron Dome to protect them,” Biden said.

But at the same time, “you can not have 30,000 more Palestinian dead, as a consequence of going after [Hamas]there are other ways to deal with, to get to Hamas.”

He recalled how when he visited Israel in October he had sat with the country’s war cabinet and warned it not to make the same mistakes the US had made when it entered Iraq and Afghanistan in the aftermath of the September 11th attack on the Twin Towers in New York in 2001.

“The first time I went over I sat with the war cabinet, I said, do not make the mistake America made, … we should not have gone into the whole thing in Iraq and Afghanistan, it was not necessary, it was not necessary, it caused more problems than it cured.”