Mossad Team Leaves Qatar As Truce Talks Hit Impasse

by admin December 3, 2023

written by admin

The Israeli spy agency thanked Washington, Cairo and Doha for mediation efforts that resulted in over 100 hostages freed during a week-long ceasefire.

(JNS)

Mossad agents negotiating the potential renewal of the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas left Qatar on Saturday due to an impasse in the talks.

“Due to the impasse in negotiations and following instructions from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Mossad chief David Barnea ordered his team in Doha to return to Israel,” according to a statement released by the premier’s office on behalf of the spy agency.

“The Hamas terror group did not fulfill its obligations under the agreement, including releasing all the women and children in accordance with a list provided to Hamas and approved by it,” the statement added.

“[Barnea] thanks the head of the CIA, Egypt’s intelligence minister and the prime minister of Qatar for their partnership in the tremendous mediation efforts that led to the release of 84 women and children from Gaza, in addition to 24 foreign nationals,” concluded the statement.

The IDF resumed combat operations in Gaza on Friday morning after Hamas broke a week-long ceasefire by firing rockets at the Jewish state.

Barnea has repeatedly flown to Doha to hold discussions aimed at securing the release of additional hostages held by Hamas terrorists in Gaza.

On Tuesday, The Washington Post reported that CIA director William Burns was pushing for a future truce deal that would include the release of male hostages and Israel Defense Forces personnel held captive by Hamas.

Amid renewed fighting, Israel’s government said it remains committed to seeing that all the hostages return home.

According to the latest numbers, 137 remain in captivity. Of those, 20 are women and 117 are men. They include 126 Israelis and 11 foreigners.

Hamas terrorists killed at least 1,200 people during its Oct. 7 attack on Israeli communities near the Gaza border.

Image: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talks with Mossad Director David Barnea at the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv, Oct. 15, 2023. Photo by Kobi Gideon/GPO.

December 3, 2023 0 comment

Israel Aiming For Absolute Elimination Of Hamas

by admin December 3, 2023

written by admin

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant confirms the military is operating in new areas in the Gaza Strip.

Yaakov Lappin

(JNS)

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant stated on Saturday night that the military is operating in new areas of the Gaza Strip, adding that Jerusalem’s war objective to fully dismantle Hamas remains unaltered.

“In the last two days, we are operating in areas we have not been active in over the last month, and it will increase and intensify,” said Gallant. “This operation will reach every point that needs to be reached. We are going for the absolute elimination of the Hamas terror organization.

“We are going until we defeat them, dismantle their military capabilities and break their governing ability, and we will need to do this by adapting to the new conditions of the terrain we are fighting in. There will be intense and precise fire,” continued the minister.

Gallant said that the IDF’s offensive in northern Gaza has produced “very good achievements in the first month,” adding that Hamas battalion commanders across the entire Strip “already know very well what the IDF can do.”

Several Hamas battalion commanders in northern Gaza have been killed by Israeli airstrikes.

Earlier Saturday, the IDF announced that it had struck more than 400 terror targets throughout Gaza since the war resumed the previous morning, when Hamas violated a week-long ceasefire agreement by firing rockets at Israel.

In a focused operation overnight Friday, Israeli Air Force fighter jets hit more than 50 targets in the Khan Yunis region of southern Gaza.

Additionally, IDF ground troops were active in Beit Lahia in northern Gaza, employing tank fire and directing aerial strikes against terrorists and Hamas infrastructure.

The northern Gaza Strip saw targeted artillery fire and aerial strikes. An IAF aircraft struck a mosque used as an operational command center by Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

The Israeli Navy conducted targeted activities in the Khan Yunis marina, striking Hamas assets with precision munitions. Furthermore, IDF troops thwarted terrorist cells.

The army confirmed on Saturday evening that Col. Assaf Hamami, who commanded the IDF Gaza Division’s Southern Brigade and who had been missing since Hamas’s Oct. 7 invasion, was killed during the Palestinian terror group’s cross-border assault.

The IDF has also renewed activity in the north, responding to enemy attacks by striking Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.

On Saturday, the IDF said aircraft and artillery were striking Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure in Lebanese territory. Later, Hezbollah fired projectiles at Israeli military posts, to which the IDF responded by firing at the source.

Also in the north, an airstrike occurred early Saturday in the Sayda Zaynab area of southern Damascus, with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps subsequently announcing the deaths of two “advisers.”

The Alma Research and Education Center, a defense research organization based in the Upper Galilee, explained in a report: “The Iranian ‘advisers’ in Syria deal with operational, intelligence, training and technology issues. They are part of the operation of the Iranian corridor to Syria and Lebanon, act as intelligence personnel engaged in building the strength of terrorist infrastructures and gathering intelligence against Israel, instruct the militias and the Syrian army in various fields, and serve as experts in the development of weapons in cooperation with the CERS Institute.”

CERS, the Centre d’Études et de Recherches Scientifiques (the Scientific Studies and Research Center), is a Syrian governmental organization for the research, development and production of advanced weapons.

On Friday, the IDF announced that it had taken proactive steps to minimize civilian casualties in Gaza. It began distributing evacuation information and maps to Palestinians and delineating safe zones in southern Gaza to avoid during operations.

The map was published on the IDF’s Arabic-language website and in a video posted to online social networks. Additionally, the map was published in announcements the military distributed in the Gaza Strip.

The IDF’s efforts have also focused on retrieving and identifying Israeli hostages, with recent operations leading to the confirmation of the deaths of several captives, including Ofir Tzarfati from the Haifa suburb of Kiryat Ata.

Image: Israeli troops operating in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, Dec. 2, 2023. Credit: IDF.

December 3, 2023 0 comment

JTVC Breaking News

After Hamas Violates Ceasefire IDF Resumes Combat In Gaza

by admin December 1, 2023

written by admin

The Israeli military was conducting a wave of airstrikes after Palestinian terrorists fired rockets at the Jewish state.

Charles Bybelezer

(JNS)

The Israel Defense Forces resumed combat operations in the Gaza Strip on Friday morning after Hamas broke a week-long ceasefire by firing rockets at the Jewish state.

The military said it was conducting a wave of airstrikes across the coastal enclave.

Terrorists fired a rocket from Gaza at about 6 a.m., which was intercepted by the Iron Dome air-defense system.

An hour later, several projectiles were again fired at the Jewish state, setting off sirens in Kibbutz Holit. The rockets landed in open areas, causing no injuries or damages.

Alarms continued to blare across southern Israel throughout the morning.

“Hamas violated the operational pause, and in addition, fired toward Israeli territory. The IDF has resumed combat against the Hamas terrorist organization in Gaza,” the military said in response.

Hamas violated the operational pause, and in addition, fired toward Israeli territory.

The IDF has resumed combat against the Hamas terrorist organization in Gaza. pic.twitter.com/gVRpctD79R

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) December 1, 2023

The IDF on Friday published a map splitting Gaza into scores of small areas, which will be used to notify Palestinian civilians of active combat zones.

“The IDF is operating forcefully against terror organizations, while making great efforts to protect civilians,” the military said in a message to Gaza residents.

“The people of Gaza are not our enemies. For this reason, the IDF is leading controlled and specific evacuations in order to remove them as much as possible from areas of combat,” it added.

The military also reportedly dropped flyers in Khan Yunis in southern Gaza calling on residents to evacuate to the border region with Egypt.

Hamas had not provided Israel with a list of hostages to be freed on Friday by the agreed 7 a.m. deadline, indicating the terror group did not intend to extend the ceasefire deal.

“The terrorist organization Hamas-ISIS violated the framework, did not meet its obligation to release all kidnapped women and fired rockets at Israel,” according to a Friday statement by the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office.

“Amid the return to combat, we stress the government of Israel is committed to achieving the goals of the war: Releasing our hostages, eliminating Hamas and ensuring that Gaza can never again pose a threat the people of Israel,” added the statement.

Eight Israeli hostages were released from Gaza on Thursday, the seventh day of a truce that went into effect on Nov. 24. Overall, 81 Israelis were freed along with 23 Thais and one Filipino during the lull in hostilities.

Qatar’s Foreign Ministry on Friday expressed “deep regret” at the resumption of “Israeli aggression against Gaza,” while noting that talks were ongoing to renew the truce.

“The continued bombing of the Gaza Strip in the first hours after the end of the pause complicates mediation efforts and exacerbates the humanitarian catastrophe in the Strip,” said the ministry.

“The State of Qatar reiterates its condemnation of all forms of targeting civilians,” it added.

Statement |Qatar expresses its deep regret at the resumption of the Israeli aggression against Gaza following the end of the humanitarian pause #MOFAQatar pic.twitter.com/4C2ckADDtO

— Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Qatar (@MofaQatar_EN) December 1, 2023

IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said on Thursday that the military had “insisted” on carrying out the ceasefire-for-hostages arrangement with Hamas.

“The IDF is ready to resume the fighting. We are prepared to attack at any hour, tonight as well,” warned Hagari.

Also Thursday, Hamas terror chief in Gaza Yahya Sinwar threatened to continue Palestinian efforts to massacre Israelis.

“The leaders of the occupation [Israel] should know, Oct. 7 was just a rehearsal,” stated Sinwar, according to the Maariv newspaper.

At least 1,200 people were killed in Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border. Another 240 men, women, children and soldiers were taken back to the Strip as hostages.

Image: Rockets fired from the Gaza Strip towards Israel on Oct. 10. Photo by Atia Mohammed/Flash90.

December 1, 2023 0 comment

JTVC Breaking News Terrorism

Israeli Hostages Recount Beatings, Death Threats In Captivity

by admin December 1, 2023

written by admin

Female prisoners were kept in cages.

David Isaac

(JNS)

Israeli hostages recovered from captivity in Gaza have largely kept out of the public eye, but accounts slowly reaching the press from their family members point to widespread abuse by Hamas.

Hostages report having been beaten, threatened with death, underfed, kept in cages and denied medical care.

Elma Avraham, 84, who had health issues, was taken hostage from Kibbutz Nahal Oz on Oct. 7, the day of the Hamas attack. Although in generally good health when captured, she deteriorated in captivity.

Released on Nov. 26, she had a pulse of 40 and a body temperature of 82 degrees Fahrenheit.

“They held her in terrible conditions,” daughter Tali Amano said. “We stood at the entrance with a package of medications for her. My mother didn’t need to return this way and I have no idea how she will make it through these days.”

IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said, “She was denied life-saving medications. She was not visited by the Red Cross.”

Ditza Hayman, 84, who was kidnapped by Hamas from Kibbutz Nir Oz was similarly neglected.

“The kidnappers took my mother to the attic of an unfinished building inside Gaza. She was hidden there completely alone, without other hostages and was trapped inside the building,” her son, Gideon, told Channel 12.

“In the cold, without running water, electricity and with very little food. I will not go into detail about the hygiene that was there. Think about the worst possible—and then worse than that,” he said.

“Once or twice a day one of the kidnappers came to her, served her food and left. During all these days she did not receive any medical treatment, nor could she ask for it, because the kidnappers did not speak Hebrew or English,” he added.

Female hostages were kept in cages, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, a group set up in the wake of the attack, revealed on Monday.

Children were branded lest they escape, according to Yaniv Yaakov, the uncle of the brothers Or, 16, and Yagil, 12, who were freed on Nov. 27.

“Every child that Hamas took was taken on a motorcycle, and they took each child and put their leg in front of the exhaust pipe, which caused a burn to mark the children so that in case they ran away or fled, they could find them,” he said.

A Thai hostage who was released told Israel’s Channel 12 that the Jewish captives were beaten with electric cables. Israeli hostages were treated worse than the others, he said.

Eitan Yahalomi, 12, a dual Israeli-French citizen, was released on Monday, 52 days after his abduction. His aunt, Deborah Cohen, told France’s BFM TV that he was forced to watch footage of the massacre.

“Every time a child cried there, they threatened them with a weapon to keep them quiet. Once they got to Gaza, all the civilians, everyone was hitting them. … We’re talking about a child 12 years old,” his aunt said.

“Maybe I was naïve, but I wanted to hope that they [Hamas] were treating him well,” she said. “I was wrong. They are monsters.”

Tom Hand, the father of Irish-Israeli Emily Hand, a 9-year-old who was among 13 Israeli hostages freed on Nov. 25, said she was shockingly pale, her faced hollowed out and her head full of lice.

“The most shocking, disturbing part of meeting her was she was just whispering, you couldn’t hear her. I had to put my ear on her lips,” he told CNN on Tuesday. “She’d been conditioned not to make any noise.”

She learned after her return that her “second mom” had been killed by Hamas. (Her mother died of cancer when she was two.)

“Last night she cried until her face was red and blotchy, she couldn’t stop. She didn’t want any comfort, I guess she’s forgotten how to be comforted,” Hand said. “She went under the covers of the bed, the quilt, covered herself up and quietly cried.”

Emily believes she’d been gone a year.

Like the other hostages, she was poorly fed, given rice, water and pita bread. (“There were days when they barely had any food, in the last few days they only ate very little rice,” Merav Mor Munder, cousin of Keren Munder, 55, who was released on Nov. 24, told Israel’s Channel 12.)

Israel has demanded that Hamas allow the Red Cross access to the captives. “Hamas continues to deny the Red Cross access to the remaining 145 hostages in violation of every norm of humanity,” said Prime Minister’s Office spokesman Eylon Levy on Thursday.

“We’re talking about people who were brutally abducted into the Gaza Strip, some with horrific injuries. We’ve already seen hostages returning, some in critical condition, others held there without medication,” he said. “They must be given access to medical treatment.”

Hamas has forced hostages to write glowing letters on the conditions under which they were held. One letter distributed widely by Arab media was written by Danielle Aloni, who was kidnapped with her daughter Emilia, 5, and returned on Nov. 26.

In it, she thanked Hamas for its “extraordinary humanity” towards her daughter.

Israel’s media has warned to ignore such propaganda.

Of the 145 hostages still being held by Hamas, 28 are women and 117 are men. Ten of the hostages are age 75 or older, among them husbands of women already released.

One hundred five hostages were released in small batches over the course of a week in which Israel has agreed to a halt in the fighting for the sake of their return.

On Friday, Hamas violated the ceasefire and renewed hostilities.

Image: Relatives of Israelis held hostage by Hamas in Gaza hold a press conference in Tel Aviv, Nov. 29, 2023. Photo by Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90.

December 1, 2023 0 comment

JTVC Breaking News Terrorism

Refusing To Leave Captivity Without Her Husband, Hamas Threatened Her

by admin December 1, 2023

written by admin

Rimon Buchstab was returned to Israel on Tuesday. Before she was let go, she heroically tried to fight for her husband.

(JNS)

Rimon Buchstab, a 36-year-old woman who was held hostage by Hamas, was released on Tuesday after 50 days in Gaza. Her husband Yagev, remains in Hamas captivity.

According to a relative of Yagev, Rimon shared a message from her partner: “He wanted to tell us that he loves us.”

The relative added: “She was with Yagev throughout the entire captivity. It was easier for them. When they told her she was being released, she didn’t want to go. She told them, ‘Either we leave together, or I stay here, and no one gets released.’

“The Hamas terrorists told her, ‘You have two options: Either get released willingly or we’ll drag you on the floor.’ They didn’t leave her a choice. She looks much skinnier than she was before she was captured.”

The relative continued: “We are very happy and excited that our daughter-in-law is back. That she is finally home. We believe that Yagev will also return soon. Everyone will return home.”

How much of a hero is Rimon Kirsht?
In Hamas’ captivity, she was with her partner. When terrorists came to her yesterday before she was released, she wouldn’t agree to be released without him until they forced her.

During the moments they were transferred to the Red Cross, she… pic.twitter.com/281kyL7yme

— יוסף חדאד – Yoseph Haddad (@YosephHaddad) November 29, 2023

Netta Heiman, daughter of Ditzah Heiman, 84, from Nahal Oz, who was returned on Tuesday and was sent to medical checkups at the Sheba Medical Center said: “There was great joy in meeting her, but at the same time, she did not receive medication in captivity, and the sanitary conditions were very bad.

“We are concerned about those who remain there. Kibbutz Nir Oz has 43 people still remaining in captivity–including elderly. Everything must be done to bring them back quickly, even if it means releasing more prisoners and another ceasefire.”

Netta added: “We waited a long time for this moment. Too much time. She did not receive any medication, and no one from the Red Cross visited her.

“Her story illustrates how important it is to get everyone out of there at any cost. These are people who were kidnapped from their homes in pajamas and barefoot.”

Image: Hamas terrorists release Israeli hostages to the Red Cross in the Gaza Strip, Nov. 28, 2023. Credit: Flash90.

December 1, 2023 0 comment

Community JTVC Breaking News

Henry Kissinger Dead At 100

by admin December 1, 2023

written by admin

Historic statesman, who advised presidents, Henry Kissinger dead at 100. “He was a visionary, and a brilliant man,” the attorney and Harvard Law School professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz told JNS of his longtime friend.

David Swindle

(JNS)

Alan Dershowitz first met Henry Kissinger in the mid-1960s. “We were both professors at Harvard, and his son and my son were elementary school classmates,” Dershowitz, an attorney, commentator and Harvard Law School professor emeritus, told JNS.

The two remained friends until Kissinger’s death, at the age of 100, on Nov. 29.

Dershowitz told JNS that he and Kissinger sat next to each other in synagogue last year on Yom Kippur. “He said yizkor for his parents,” Dershowitz said, referring to the Jewish memorial service. “This year, he was too frail to come.”

Kissinger’s “pragmatism” and “sense of incremental benefits” influenced Dershowitz’s worldview, the attorney said.

“He was one of my strongest supporters. When I defended President [Donald] Trump in the Senate and a lot of people, particularly the Jewish community, attacked me, he supported me, defended me and called me and told me I had done the right thing,” Dershowitz said.

The two had long talks about Israel “about 1973 and whether he did the right thing or the wrong thing,” Dershowitz said.

“We’ve agreed and disagreed over the course of my lifetime—mostly agreed,” he added. “He always had an image for the future. He was never thinking about today or even tomorrow. He was always thinking about the day after tomorrow. He was a visionary and a brilliant man.”

Realpolitik

Heinz Alfred Kissinger was born on May 27, 1923 in Fürth, Germany, to a Jewish family. His father, Louis Kissinger, “was a teacher of geography and history in Fürth before fleeing with his family to the United States in 1938 as antisemitism increased under Hitler,” per a death notice for Louis in The New York Times on March 21, 1982 (“Father of Kissinger is dead.”) His mother Paula was a homemaker.

Kissinger fought in World War II, working as an interpreter, arresting Gestapo agents, helping in the liberation of the Ahlem concentration camp in Germany and earning a Bronze Star.

After the war, he made his mark at Harvard, writing the longest-ever undergraduate thesis—400 pages—provoking a new rule limiting paper lengths. He became a professor at the university, and ultimately, associate director of the schools’ government department and international affairs center.

He served simultaneously as U.S. secretary of state and national security advisor under U.S. Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford—the first and only time someone has held both roles at once, let alone doing it twice.

Kissinger is widely credited with crucially influencing Cold War affairs during this period, playing a key role in opening relations with China and numerous decisions in Vietnam and Third World conflicts. These have generated considerable acclaim and controversy.

He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1973 for helping end the Vietnam War.

Elder statesman

Following his retirement from government in 1977, Kissinger regularly wrote books on foreign policy and consulted widely with political leaders and diplomats.

His foreign-policy approach of “realpolitik,” which views international relations on the basis of self-interest rather than moral principles, continues to impact world affairs today.

Despite having lost family in the Holocaust, Kissinger was so committed to that pragmatic approach, that he once said: “If they put Jews into gas chambers in the Soviet Union, it is not an American concern. Maybe a humanitarian concern.”

Known for his wit, Kissinger also once said, “If it were not for the accident of my birth, I would be antisemitic. … Any people who has been persecuted for 2,000 years must be doing something wrong.”

Shortly before his death, Kissinger began writing about the potential threat of artificial intelligence.

“He was intrigued by artificial intelligence, and he actually understood it, which not too many people do,” Dershowitz told JNS. “He understood both the benefits and the risks. As he always said, every step forward has the potential for a half a step backwards, so he was always doing on the one hand, on the other hand evaluation.”

‘A giant, a titan’

During a meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog in Tel Aviv on Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Kissinger “really set the standard for everyone who followed in this job.”

“I was very privileged to get his counsel many times, including as recently as about a month ago,” Blinken added. “He was extraordinarily generous with his wisdom and his advice. Few people were better students of history. Even fewer people did more to shape history than Henry Kissinger.”

Herzog told Blinken: “You are following in the footsteps of a giant, a titan—Dr. Henry Kissinger—who has left us peacefully tonight.”

“We are big admirers of Henry Kissinger, who laid down the foundations of so many great decisions of his and processes which he has led, which has brought results that we feel until today, peaceful results,” Herzog added. “He laid the cornerstone of the peace agreement, which were later signed with Egypt, and so many other processes around the world. I admired Henry Kissinger.”

Kissinger ended his last conversation with Herzog saying, “Mr. President, please know I’ve always loved and admired and supported the State of Israel,” and “so I always felt his love and compassion for Israel and his belief in the Jewish state,” Herzog said.

Netanyahu Kissinger — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right) meets with Henry Kissinger, the former U.S. secretary of state, in New York City on Sept. 21, 2023. Credit: Avi Ohayon (GPO)

Ronald S. Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress, said that as a Jewish refugee from Nazi Germany, Kissinger “intimately understood the freedoms that the United States symbolized during a pivotal era.”

Kissinger appeared at some of the WJC’s events, and the congress awarded him in 2014 with its Theodor Herzl Award. “We mourn the loss of a statesman, whose wisdom and friendship were a beacon of light,” Lauder added, noting that Kissinger’s “passing leaves a void in our world that will be profoundly felt.”

Michael Herzog, Israel’s ambassador to the United States, wrote that Kissinger’s “life and career were the embodiment of the American dream, as he rose from being a Jewish refugee from Nazi Germany to a giant, who shaped global and Middle Eastern geopolitics and left a lasting legacy.”

Herzog cited a letter Kissinger wrote to his younger brother, the Israeli president, that “to celebrate Israel’s 75th anniversary alongside my 100th is a particular gift.”

Today we bid farewell to Henry Kissinger, the legendary American secretary of state, a Jew and a mench. I had the privilege of sitting down with him for many fascinating conversations about the future of the State of Israel and the Jewish people and I always came away with new… pic.twitter.com/wsBZXmaijy

— Danny Danon ???????? דני דנון (@dannydanon) November 30, 2023

Danny Danon, a Knesset member and former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, referred to Kissinger as “the legendary American secretary of state, a Jew and a mench.”

Dershowitz told JNS that he fondly recalls his lunches with Kissinger, whose favorite cuisine was French. “He loved good food. I know. I shared some,” Dershowitz said.

“He was not a religious Jew, and was not really a traditional Jew, but the Judaism was in his heart,” he said.

Image:Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right) meets with Henry Kissinger, the former U.S. secretary of state, in New York City on Sept. 21, 2023. Credit: Avi Ohayon (GPO)

December 1, 2023 0 comment

JTVC Breaking News Terrorism

IDF Probing Interception Near Netivot

by admin December 1, 2023

written by admin

Thursday marked the first time sirens for incoming rocket fire sounded in southern Israel since Nov. 24.

(JNS)

Israeli air defense systems were activated in southern Israel on Thursday night, the military said, as sirens blared near the city of Netivot.

The IDF was probing the cause of the alarms, IDF Spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari wrote in a post to X.

Hagari confirmed that an interceptor missile was launched “following the identification of a suspicious target over the skies of the State of Israel in the south of the country.”

Thursday marked the first time sirens sounded in southern Israel since Nov. 24, when the ceasefire-for-hostages arrangement between Israel and Hamas was forged.

An Iron Dome Tamir interceptor was fired at an object over Netivot a short time ago. pic.twitter.com/cQNThOxT1S

— Joe Truzman (@JoeTruzman) November 30, 2023

Seventy-five Israelis have already been released from captivity under the terms of the deal, which has been extended until Friday.

“Palestinian and Israeli sides have reached an agreement to extend the humanitarian pause in the Gaza Strip for an additional day under the existing conditions, which are a cessation of all military activities and the entry of humanitarian aid to Gaza,” according to a statement by Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari.

Earlier this week, Hamas terrorists attacked Israeli troops in the northern Gaza Strip, in violation of the ceasefire deal. Several Israeli soldiers were wounded, the IDF said on Tuesday.

“Over the last hour, three explosive devices were detonated adjacent to IDF troops in two different locations in northern Gaza, violating the framework of the operational pause,” said the military. Israeli forces were also fired on in one of the locations, according to the IDF.

Soldiers returned fire while staying within the agreed ceasefire lines, the military said.

Image: A bomb shelter in the southern Israeli city of Netivot, Jan. 21, 2017. Photo by Nati Shohat/Flash90.

December 1, 2023 0 comment

JTVC Breaking News Terrorism

Eight Hostages Return To Israel From Gaza Strip

by admin December 1, 2023

written by admin

The group was handed over by Hamas to the International Committee of the Red Cross and crossed into Israeli territory from Egypt.

(JNS)

Hamas freed six more Israelis from captivity in the Gaza Strip shortly before midnight on Thursday, bringing the total number of hostages released on the seventh day of the ceasefire to eight.

The group was handed over by Hamas to the International Committee of the Red Cross and crossed into Israeli territory from Egypt, Israel Defense Forces Spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said.

“IDF and Shin Bet forces are now accompanying the six hostages who have returned,” announced Hagari on X, adding: “Our forces will escort them until they reach their families in the hospitals.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office identified the hostages released on Thursday night as siblings Aisha Ziyadne (17) and Bilal Ziyadne (18), Shani Goren (29), Sapir Cohen (29), Ilana Gritzewsky Kimchi (30) and Nili Margalit (41).

On Thursday afternoon, Hamas had already released Mia Shem, 21, and Amit Soussana, 40. Shem, a dual French citizen, appeared in a hostage video released by Hamas on Oct. 16.

The hostages were transported to hospitals from the Hatzerim Air Force base near Beersheva.

The Israelis freed on Thursday were transferred to the Red Cross at various times and locations because they were being held by terrorists across the coastal enclave, an Israeli official previously told CNN.

These are the names of the 8 hostages released today:

Bilal Ziyadne
Aisha Ziyadne
Ilana Gritzewsky
Nili Margalit
Shani Goren
Sapir Cohen
Amit Soussana
Mia Schem pic.twitter.com/y2YsdrNmiH

— Jewish News Syndicate (@JNS_org) November 30, 2023

Eighty-one Israelis have now been freed since the initial four-day ceasefire started on Nov. 24, along with 23 Thais and one Filipino.

During a press briefing earlier on Thursday, Hagari noted that overnight, the IDF “insisted” on carrying out the ceasefire-for-hostages arrangement with Hamas.

“We will do so tomorrow as well. The mediators, Qatar and Egypt, are also obligated to carry out the deal, so that the ceasefire can continue,” he said.

“The IDF is ready to resume the fighting. We are prepared to attack at any hour, tonight as well,” warned Hagari.

Overnight Wednesday, Hamas initially released a list of just seven live hostages and three bodies. Israel threatened to renew the fighting in Gaza unless a revised list was received by 7 a.m. Thursday.

A revised list was submitted 20 minutes before the deadline.

An Israeli official told Ynet that the overnight negotiations were “very difficult and nerve-wracking.”

“There was a fight for every name. We are entering very difficult times. Hamas will try to manipulate, intimidate and spread disinformation. We were one step away from canceling the deal,” the official said.

Hamas is reportedly seeking to extend the truce another day and release more hostages on Friday, AFP reported just hours before the latest extension was due to expire.

“Mediators are currently making strong, intense and continuous efforts for an additional day in the truce and then working to extend it again for other days,” a source close to the terror group told the wire service.

Approximately 141 Israelis and foreigners are still in Hamas captivity, including Kfir Bibas, who was 9 months old when he was taken hostage on Oct. 7 along with his parents and 4-year-old brother Ariel.

On Wednesday, the “military” wing of Hamas claimed that Kfir, Ariel and their mother, Shiri, 32, had died in Gaza, the Hamas- and Palestinian Islamic Jihad-affiliated Quds News Network reported.

Ahead of Thursday’s hostage release, Hamas released a propaganda video showing father Yarden Bibas after being told his wife and young sons had died.

The IDF denounced the propaganda video as “psychological terror” on Thursday, noting that Hamas’s claim is still under investigation.

Image: An Israeli military helicopter with released hostage Mia Shem arrives at the Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, Nov. 30, 2023. Photo by Yonatan Sindel/Flash90.

December 1, 2023 0 comment

Community JTVC Breaking News

US Navy Downs Iranian-Made Drone Over Red Sea

by admin November 30, 2023

written by admin

Intelligence assessments suggest the drone was likely targeting the ship, one U.S. official said.

(JNS)

A U.S. Navy vessel shot down a Houthi drone near the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait on Wednesday, according to the Associated Press.

U.S. officials told AP that the USS Carney downed the Iranian-made KAS-04 drone in the southern Red Sea. Intelligence assessments suggest the Carney was likely the drone’s target, one official said.

The strait, a strategic chokepoint in the Red Sea, is of vital importance to global shipping, especially for the transportation of oil and natural gas.

The incident came a day after U.S. Central Command reported that an Iranian drone had come with 1,500 yards of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, which was conducting routine operations in the Central Arabian Gulf on Tuesday.

“This unsafe, unprofessional, and irresponsible behavior by Iran risks U.S. and partner nation lives and needs to cease immediately,” said the U.S. military.

“U.S. naval forces remain vigilant and will continue to fly, sail and operate anywhere international law allows while promoting regional maritime security,” it added.

Israel has bolstered its naval presence in the Red Sea area following repeated missile and drone attacks from Yemen. The IDF said that missile boats were deployed “in accordance with the assessment of the situation, and as part of the increased defense efforts in the region.”

In the almost eight weeks since Hamas launched its cross-border attack on southern Israel, Iranian-backed terrorists in Yemen have launched numerous ballistic and surface-to-air missiles towards the Jewish state.

On Nov. 22, Israel Air Force jets intercepted a cruise missile heading for the Red Sea resort city of Eilat. The missile did not enter Israeli territory.

Also last week, the Houthis threatened to attack any ship associated with Israel, according to a statement posted to X (formerly Twitter).

The Shi’ite group said it would target all vessels operated or owned by Israeli companies as well as other ships bearing the “flag of the Zionist entity.”

The Houthis’ decision to target Israeli commercial vessels in the Red Sea was made in light “of what the Gaza Strip is being exposed to from the brutal Israeli-American aggression,” Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea added.

On Sunday, an Israeli-linked ship was hijacked in the Gulf of Aden in what the Zodiac Maritime management company described as “a suspected piracy incident.”

The USS Mason destroyer and allied ships—reportedly belonging to Japan—recovered the Central Park tanker, U.S. Central Command confirmed Monday. During the rescue operation, five armed hijackers attempted to flee in a small boat and were detained by the U.S. Navy.

Two days earlier, an Iranian drone attacked an Israeli-owned vessel in the Indian Ocean.

The attack on the CMA CGM Symi container ship came a week after Houthis hijacked an Israeli-linked ship in the Red Sea.

On Nov. 19, the Israel Defense Forces confirmed that the Houthis hijacked the Bahamian-flagged Galaxy Leader vehicle carrier, calling it a “very grave incident of global consequence.”

“The ship departed Turkey on its way to India, staffed by civilians of various nationalities, not including Israelis. It is not an Israeli ship,” the military added. The Galaxy Leader is registered by a British company partially owned by Israeli tycoon Abraham Ungar.

“This is another act of Iranian terrorism and constitutes a leap forward in Iran’s aggression against the citizens of the free world, with international consequences regarding the security of the global shipping lanes,” the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem said.

On Wednesday, the Canadian, French, German, Italian, Japanese, U.K. and U.S. foreign ministers, as well as the high representative of the European Union, called on the Houthis to halt their attacks.

“Emphasizing the importance of maritime security, we call on all parties not to threaten or interfere with lawful exercise of navigational rights and freedoms by all vessels,” according to a statement by the top G7 diplomats.

November 30, 2023 0 comment

JTVC Breaking News Terrorism

Doha: Israel-Hamas Ceasefire Extended Until Friday

by admin November 30, 2023

written by admin

Eight women and children to be released on Thursday, along with the bodies of three hostages.

(JNS)

The ceasefire-for-hostages arrangement between Israel and Hamas, under which 73 Israelis have already been released from captivity by the terror group, has been extended until Friday, Qatar’s foreign ministry announced on Thursday morning.

The Israel Defense Forces on Thursday morning confirmed that the pause in the fighting would continue.

“In light of the mediators’ efforts to continue the process of releasing the abductees and subject to the terms of the agreement, the ceasefire will continue,” the IDF said.

לאור מאמצי המתווכים להמשך תהליך שחרור החטופים ובכפוף לתנאי ההסכם, ההפוגה תמשך

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) November 30, 2023

The announcement came after AFP reported on Wednesday that Hamas had requested an extension of the ceasefire, which was set to expire on Thursday morning.

Israel has received the next list of hostages to be released on Thursday, the Prime Minister’s Office confirmed in the morning. Notice was given to families.

The War Cabinet unanimously decided on Wednesday night that if the list of women and children to be released was not received by 7 a.m. on Thursday morning that “fighting would resume at once.”

The list includes eight women and children instead of the 10 that was agreed upon per day for the ceasefire extension to continue. Hamas will also reportedly release the bodies of three hostages.

Hamas is believed to be holding enough Israeli women and children in Gaza for the ceasefire to be extended for at least two more days, CNN reported on Wednesday.

On Monday, the sides agreed to extend the ceasefire for up to six days, on the condition that Hamas released 10 Israeli women and children each day. Israel has also agreed to free three jailed Palestinian terrorists for each hostage.

In addition to a pause in fighting, the original deal, agreed to on Nov. 24, includes humanitarian aid and fuel entering the Gaza Strip.

Officials representing Israel, Qatar, Egypt and the United States are involved in the negotiations in Doha.

Seventy-three Israelis have been freed since the ceasefire went into effect, along with 23 Thais and one Filipino.

Hamas kidnapped some 240 people during its Oct. 7 assault on southern Israel, during which thousands of heavily armed gunmen murdered some 1,200 people and wounded more than 5,000 others.

Approximately 150 Israelis and foreigners are still in Hamas captivity, including Kfir Bibas, who was 9 months old when he was taken hostage on Oct. 7 along with his parents and 4-year-old brother Ariel.

Earlier on Wednesday, the “military wing” of Hamas announced the deaths of Kfir, Ariel and their mother, Shiri, 32, the Hamas- and Palestinian Islamic Jihad-affiliated Quds News Network reported.

The Al-Qassam Brigades did not present evidence, and the IDF said it was investigating.

According to a report in The Washington Post, citing a source familiar with the talks in Qatar, negotiators have agreed on five categories of hostages after all women and children are freed: men too old for reserve military duty; female soldiers; male reservists; active-duty male soldiers and the bodies of Israelis who died before or during captivity.

The source said that no commitments have been made during the discussions but “there is a willingness on both sides” to reach “a broad deal that would free all Israeli captives in exchange for longer pauses in fighting, release of more Palestinian prisoners and more humanitarian assistance for Palestinians in Gaza.”

Meanwhile, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi approved battle plans for the end of the ceasefire during a meeting at the Southern Command headquarters in Beersheva on Wednesday, the military said.

“We know what needs to be done, and are ready for the next stage,” said Halevi, according to the statement.

Image: Pictures of civilians held hostage by Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip as seen in Jerusalem, Nov. 24, 2023. Photo by Yonatan Sindel/Flash90.

November 30, 2023 0 comment