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On Sunday and Monday, the third and fourth days of Chil Ha’Moed Sukkot this week, a city of sukkahs is going to be erected in northern Gaza by community activists, rabbis, government ministers, MKs, public figures, and ordinary Jews. The effort is being led by longtime AFSI friend, Minister May Golan of the Likud Party.

It’s a project of the group Preparing for Settlement in Gaza which has been pushing since October 7 to bring back Jews to the Strip, to repair the physical, emotional, and spiritual harm of the Tisha B’Av 2005 expulsion.

The new Gaza “settlement” movement, led by many national-religious activists, including Daniella Weis, Bezalel Smotrich, and Itamar Ben Gvir, is planning to establish the first new Jewish communities in northern Gaza.

It’s a mitzvah to observe the Sukkot holiday. It’s an even greater mitzvah to recite “Leishev b’Sukkah” in a Sukkah on our land. What a blessing!! May the temporary dwellings of this Sukkot holiday that are being erected in “Gaza” be the start of our permanent and rightful return to our land.

Source:
This Chol Ha’Moed: a City of Sukkahs in Northern Gaza, by David Israel/Jewish Press, October 16, 2024

Diplomatic sources on Tuesday told the Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Akhbar newspaper, that the United States sent a message to the Lebanese regarding Israeli military plans. According to the report, Israel is planning a limited operation in southern Lebanon.

According to the information the Americans snitched to the Lebanese, knowing full well Hezbollah would also receive the message, Israel wished to enter Lebanese territory at a depth of three kilometers from the border. The purpose of the operation is to cleanse the area from terrorists and their equipment, blow up or seal their tunnels, and get out as quickly as possible after completing the task.

The same diplomatic sources told the Hezbollah-affiliated newspaper that Israel made it clear: should UNIFIL and the Lebanese army not fulfill their role as required, Israel would take over the task of chasing away the terrorists.

It is important to note that the information comes from sources close to Hezbollah and that no official response has been received from Israeli or American government officials to this report.

Source:
Report: US Snitched to Lebanon about Upcoming Israeli Incursion, by David Israel/Jewish Press, October 15, 2024

Four soldiers were killed, and more than 51 Israelis soldiers were wounded, seven of them seriously, on Sunday evening when an explosive drone launched by Hezbollah hit their base near Wadi Ara in the Menashe Regional Council district, close to the town of Binyamina. All the wounded soldiers were evacuated, and their families are being notified.

It is believed the drone evaded the defense systems by entering Israel with another drone that was shot down. This one was flying so low that it dropped off the radar. A faulty assumption was made that it must have crashed or have been intercepted. Minister of Defense, Gallant, has vowed to employ methods to avoid another tragedy.

The Israel Defense Forces announced the names of the four soldiers killed in a Hezbollah drone attack on a Golani training base near Binyamina in north-central Israel, while questions abounded as to why sirens failed to sound ahead of the strike.

With the new week that began today, as of this writing, three surface-to-surface missiles were fired at central Israel late Monday afternoon by Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon.

As it claimed responsibility for Sunday’s attack, Hezbollah touted what it said was its ability to overwhelm Israeli air defenses even as the military forges ahead with its ground operation against the terror group in south Lebanon. That Hezbollah has such capabilities to reach deep into central Israel adds an urgent level of new security concerns in this war to defend Israel’s survival.

Sources:
4 Soldiers Killed, 51 Wounded in Explosive Drone Attack Near Binyamina, by Hana Levi Julian/Jewish Press

4 soldiers killed in drone strike named, as families ask why there was no warning siren, by TOI Staff and Lazar Berman/Times of Israel, October 14, 2024

Central Israel Targeted After Daylong Rocket Fire on Haifa, by Hana Levi Julian/Jewish Press, October 14, 2024

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday addressed UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres with a call to evacuate UNIFIL soldiers from Hezbollah strongholds in southern Lebanon.

Netanyahu stated, “I would like to appeal directly to the UN Secretary General: The time has come for you to withdraw UNIFIL from Hezbollah strongholds and from the combat zones. The IDF has requested this repeatedly and has met with repeated refusal, which has the effect of providing Hezbollah terrorists with human shields. Your refusal to evacuate UNIFIL soldiers has turned them into hostages of Hezbollah. This endangers both them and the lives of our soldiers.”

He added in an appeal in English, “Mr. Secretary General, get the UNIFIL forces out of harm’s way. It should be done right now, immediately.”

Source:
Netanyahu to UN chief: ‘Get UNIFIL forces out of Hezbollah strongholds right now’, by Israel National News, October 14, 2024

Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant on Wednesday visited Unit 9900 of the IDF’s Intelligence Directorate, which is responsible for gathering visual intelligence.

He spoke about the recent Iranian attacks against Israel that failed, the reason being they weren’t precise. “The Air Force was unharmed – all the runways are operational, our activities are ongoing, not a single aircraft was damaged, not a single soldier or civilian was harmed,” he said.

“As we have shown until now in this war and in all arenas – whoever attacks Israel will pay a price. Our strike will be powerful, precise, and above all – surprising. They will not understand what happened and how it happened,” Gallant said.

As Israel convenes its cabinet to determine the response it will pursue for Iran’s attacks against the Jewish Nation State, Biden whines that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu didn’t share Israel’s plans with the US. We say – too bad. Israel does not need permission from anyone! It is a sovereign nation and can determine its own path over the course of this war to defend its very existence. It’s Israel’s call to make.

Source:
Gallant: ‘When we respond, Iran won’t know what happened or how it happened’, by Israel National News, October 9, 2024

Chairman of the Knesset Constitution Committee MK Simcha Rothman (Religious Zionists) and MK Yulia Malinovski (Yisrael Beitenu) are promoting a private bill according to which all terrorists suspected of having participated in the October 7 atrocities will be defined as illegal combatants and imprisoned indefinitely. This is contrary to the current law.

According to the Rothman-Malinovsky bill, a special court will hear the case of terrorists who are deemed eligible to be tried for the crime of genocide, and thus those terrorists would not be tried according to Israeli criminal law – meaning the evidence in their cases would be examined according to special legal procedures for the crime of genocide.

MK Malinovsky told Reshet Bet that a year after the catastrophe, it’s time to “find a solution and bring the damned terrorists to justice and do justice to the victims and their families.”

The big problem using the current law is that should the terrorists be tried according to Israel’s criminal rules of evidence, many of them would be able to establish reasonable doubt regarding their actions.

By being declared illegal combatants, the Hamas detainees would lose their right to criminal prosecution.

Just like the Nuremberg Trials that were held for the purpose of bringing Nazi war criminals to justice, a special court for the genocidal terrorists that sought the destruction of innocent Israeli women, men and children on October 7 must be established. We applaud MKs Rothman and Malinovksy for promoting this bill. We trust it will be pass and be implemented very soon.

Source:
New Bill Streamlines October 7 Hamas Terrorists’ Prosecutions, by David Israel/Jewish Press

Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon delivered a statement Wednesday afternoon ahead of the upcoming Security Council meeting later that day.

Danon began by recounting the terrorist attacks in which Israeli citizens were killed and injured on Wednesday. “Today, six innocent people were injured, two of them still in critical condition, in a brutal mass-stabbing attack in the city of Hadera, a little bit south of Haifa.”

“In Kiryat Shmona, Hezbollah’s rockets murdered a man and a woman who were simply walking their dog,” he noted. “And yet, even as Hezbollah continues their murderous campaign, senior Hezbollah officials have the audacity that Israel cease fire.”

“Let me be clear about that,” he said. “No one should mistake the arrogance of these terrorists for diplomacy. Hezbollah calls for a ceasefire whole simultaneously murdering Israeli civilians with their rockets.”

Source:
Danon: ‘Hezbollah calls for ceasefire while murdering Israeli civilians’, by Gary Willig/Israel National News, October 9, 2024

A woman in her early seventies was hit in the arm by shrapnel during a midday rocket attack on Haifa launched by Lebanon’s Iranian proxy, Hezbollah. Six other people were injured while seeking shelter during the attack, and five more suffered severe anxiety.

Hezbollah fired a barrage of around 85 rockets at the northern port city and its surrounding suburbs just after 12 noon, and another barrage of 20 rockets about 30 minutes later. The ancient coastal city of Akko was also targeted, along with other communities in the Upper Galilee.

Although most of the rockets were intercepted by the IDF Aerial Defense Array, some managed to evade the radar and land in populated areas, causing damage in Kiryat Yam and Kiryat Motzkin, police said.

Hezbollah is continuing to rain down rockets on residents in northern Israel, and to a certain extent, those living in central Israel as well.

Late Monday night, the terrorist army fired a barrage of five long-range missiles at Tel Aviv and its surrounding cities in the Dan and Sharon regions, sending millions of Israelis racing for shelter.

By 11 pm Monday night, Hezbollah had launched at least 190 rockets and missiles across Lebanon’s border with Israel.

By 3 pm Tuesday, the terror army had fired more than 135 additional rockets at northern Israel.

Red Alert sirens disrupted the sleep of residents in northern Israel shortly after midnight, warning of attacks that continued across the region for at least an hour. The attacks were renewed, as were the sirens, at around 4:45 am.

Source:
1 Wounded as Hezbollah Rains Down Rocket Fire on Northern, Central Israel, by Hana Levi Julian/Jewish Press, October 8, 2024

The Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee unanimously approved two legislative proposals on Sunday aimed at curbing the activities of UNRWA within Israel. The committee’s decision marks a significant step in the ongoing discourse surrounding UNRWA’s role and operations.

“UNRWA is out!” Committee Chairman MK Yuli Edelstein declared at the end of the vote. “The problem of UNRWA did not begin on October 7; it has long been a concern that has surfaced in all its malignancy. For many years, lawmakers from across the political spectrum have raised the issue and advanced legislative proposals.”

The scrutiny of UNRWA intensified following revelations that members of its staff allegedly participated in the October 7 attacks.

With the Knesset poised to finalize the legislation, the implications for UNRWA’s future operations and funding remain uncertain. Israeli officials are advocating for a restructuring of refugee aid, calling for Palestinian refugees to fall under the mandate of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, as they assert that the current setup is unsustainable and detrimental to Israeli security.

Source:
‘UNRWA is Out’: Knesset Committee Moves to Curb UNRWA Activities in Israel, by Sveta Listratov/TPS-IL, October 6, 2024

On the first day of Rosh Hashanah last week, a group of Jews smuggled shofarot onto the Temple Mount and, despite police efforts to stop them, blew all of the requisite shofar blasts for the holiday.

Josh Wander, a resident of the Mount of Olives said, “The sound was not very loud or beautiful, but it was the first time a shofar had been sounded at Judaism’s holiest site since the Second Temple was destroyed.”

Worshippers continued praying and blowing the shofar despite repeated attempts by the police to confiscate the shofars and removed at least six men from the Temple Mount. Despite this, all of the requisite one hundred shofar blasts were completely sounded. Nobody was charged and all shofarot were returned.

Source:
For the First Time Since the Second Temple: Shofar Sounded on Temple Mount; Silver Trumpet Sounded as Call to War, by Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz/Israel365News