Weekly roundup of world briefs

Hamas planned ‘second phase’ for Oct. 7 massacre

(JNS) — A planned second phase of Hamas’s brutal Oct. 7 assault on southern Israel involved joining forces with terrorists in Judea and Samaria, The Washington Post reported on Sunday, citing Western and Middle Eastern security officials briefed on evidence obtained by Israel.

Some of the Hamas terrorists that participated in the attack carried enough food, ammunition and equipment for several days, the officials said, and had instructions to continue deeper into the Jewish state once the initial massacre succeeded, potentially with the goal of attacking larger population centers.

One group of terrorists carried maps and other surveillance information suggesting their plan was to continue on to the border with southern Judea, two senior Middle East intelligence officials and one former U.S. official familiar with the evidence told The Washington Post.

According to the report, day laborers from Gaza who were permitted to enter Israel carried out reconnaissance in preparation for the terrorist onslaught. Before Oct. 7, Israel provided work permits for some 17,000 Palestinians from Gaza.

Hamas’s plans for the Oct. 7 attacks also included detailed instructions on “which [terror] commander should rape which [Israeli] soldiers in different places,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told The Washington Post on Sunday.

Israel bans Hezbollah-affiliated TV station

(JNS) — Israel’s Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi signed an order on Monday morning banning the activities of Al-Mayadeen, a Hezbollah-affiliated television station based in Beirut.

Karhi signed off on the order after getting authorization from the political-security cabinet, as well as from Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

Last week, the government approved emergency regulations allowing foreign channels hostile to the Jewish state to be prevented from operating in Israel during the war.

Like Qatar’s Al Jazeera network, the Lebanese Al Mayadeen has been accused of serving as a propaganda channel for the Hamas terrorist group following its Oct. 7 mass slaughter of Israeli civilians.

The channel employs an Arab-Israeli reporter by the name of Hana Mahamid, who uses the Hamas terror group’s name for the current war: “Operation Al-Aqsa Flood.”

Mahamid was recently confronted by Channel 12’s Haim Etgar, who accused her and the channel of broadcasting Hamas propaganda.

A recent investigation by Israel’s Makor Rishon newspaper found that Al Mayadeen broadcast photos of Israeli soldiers in a way that allowed Hamas terrorists to identify their locations.

The station also repeats Hamas calls for residents of northern Gaza not to evacuate to the safety zone established by the Israel Defense Forces in the south of the Strip.

An order to block Al Mayadeen’s online operations in Israel has already been issued, and an order to seize and confiscate its broadcasting equipment is expected to be issued later on Monday.

“Broadcasts such as these identify with the enemy while harming state security and will be blocked. Al Mayadeen’s channel’s broadcasts and reports serve the despicable terrorist organizations, and the time has come for a reckoning with them,” said Karhi on Monday.

The order to shut down Al Mayadeen is the first move in accordance with a temporary measure approved last month allowing the communications minister to shut down foreign media outlets deemed a threat to national security.

“The State of Israel will not allow the dangerous propaganda of Al Mayadeen broadcasts, which attempt, during war, to damage our security interests and serve the enemy’s goals,” said Gallant on Monday.

‘Significant drop-off’ in rocket attacks since IDF entered Gaza

(JNS) — Israel has seen a decrease in red alert sirens warning of incoming rockets, drones and terrorist infiltrations in recent weeks, IDF Home Front Command data shows.

In the week of Nov. 5-11, there were 420 alerts in regions across the country. From Oct. 29 to Nov. 4, there were 582. From Oct. 22 to 28, there were 802 alerts. From Oct. 15 to 21, there were 818. From Oct. 8 to 14, there were 1,749 alerts. 

In the first hours of the murderous Oct. 7 assault on the northwestern Negev, Hamas terrorists in Gaza fired more than 3,000 rockets at Israeli territory. 

More than 9,500 missiles, rockets and drones have been fired at Israel since the start of the war from Gaza and other fronts, i.e. Lebanonand Yemen, according to the IDF.

Around 2,000 of the missiles, rockets and drones heading towards population centers and civilian areas were intercepted by Israel’s aerial defense array, with the others striking open areas on land and at sea.

Around 12 percent of the rockets fell short, striking in Gaza and endangering civilians there. 

“With the entry of forces on the ground, there has been a significant drop-off in the number of launches,” the military said.

White House: Israel agreed to daily ‘humanitarian pauses’

(JNS) — Israel has agreed to observe daily four-hour “humanitarian pauses” in its operation against Hamas terrorists in the northern Gaza Strip, U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on Thursday.

The first humanitarian pause is set to be announced later on Thursday, Kirby said, adding that Jerusalem committed to announcing each four-hour window at least three hours in advance.

U.S. President Joe Biden asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to institute the pauses during a call on Monday, according to the White House.

In a post on X earlier on Thursday, the Israel Defense Forces downplayed claims of a ceasefire. “There is no ceasefire. There are tactical, local pauses for humanitarian aid for Gazan civilians. These tactical pauses are limited in time and area,” said the military.

“We are also providing humanitarian corridors for civilians in Gaza to temporarily move south to safer areas where they can receive humanitarian aid,” the post added.

Two wounded in rocket attacks on Tel Aviv

(JNS) — An Israeli man was seriously wounded after Palestinian terror groups launched a barrage of rockets from the Gaza Strip at the Tel Aviv area on Tuesday evening, medical officials said.

The Magen David Adom emergency response organization reported that its medics evacuated a 20-year-old man with serious shrapnel wounds to Wolfson Medical Center in Holon.

In addition, a 43-year-old woman sustained minor injuries, Magen David Adom said.

Israel has seen a decrease in Red Alert sirens warning of incoming rockets, drones and terrorist infiltrations since the IDF launched “Operation Swords of Iron” on Oct. 7, IDF Home Front Command data shows.

On Monday, IDF airstrikes killed six senior Hamas commanders, the military said, adding that it was mainly targeting terror operatives in northern Gaza, where Israel is conducting a ground offensive.

According to the IDF, many Hamas terrorists are now unable to carry out large-scale attacks due to their commanders having been killed in Israeli operations.

Dozens of US troops injured in attacks in Iraq, Syria

(JNS) — Fifty-nine U.S. troops have been injured in 56 attacks on American assets in Iraq and Syria since Oct. 17, the Pentagon confirmed on Tuesday.

Twenty-seven of those suffered traumatic brain injuries, Fox News reported.

On Sunday, the United States struck two Iran-linked sites in Syria in response to the attacks on American forces, according to U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

It was the third time in as many weeks that the U.S. military had targeted locations in Syria it said were tied to Iran, whose terror proxies have upped their attacks on American forces in the Middle East since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7.

“The President [Joe Biden] has no higher priority than the safety of U.S. personnel, and he directed today’s action to make clear that the United States will defend itself, its personnel, and its interests,” according to a statement by Austin on Sunday.

Tuesday’s Fox News report cited Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh as saying: “I think we’ve been pretty clear in our message when it comes to deterrence, and we haven’t seen this conflict widen out.”

Last Wednesday night, separate U.S. and Israeli airstrikes in Syria targeted Iranian proxies.

A Pentagon official told reporters that U.S. aircraft had struck a weapons warehouse belonging to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in eastern Syria. The U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that Israel had struck Hezbollah facilities near Damascus, as well as a Syrian air defense site. Israeli officials did not confirm the attacks.

On Oct. 27, Austin announced that U.S. military forces had struck two facilities in eastern Syria.

At the time, the U.S. defense chief stressed that Washington “does not seek conflict and has no intention nor desire to engage in further hostilities, but these Iranian-backed attacks against U.S. forces are unacceptable and must stop.”

He went on to state that “Iran wants to hide its hand and deny its role in these attacks against our forces. We will not let them. If attacks by Iran’s proxies against U.S. forces continue, we will not hesitate to take further necessary measures to protect our people.”

Austin emphasized that the strikes in Syria were not connected to Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

“These narrowly tailored strikes in self-defense were intended solely to protect and defend U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria. They are separate and distinct from the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, and do not constitute a shift in our approach to the Israel-Hamas conflict,” said Austin.

“We continue to urge all state and non-state entities not to take action that would escalate into a broader regional conflict,” he said.

Despite war, cranes arrive in Israel’s Hula Valley

By Eran Itzkovitch

(JNS) — Nature continues to take its course as Israel wages war against the Hamas terror organization in the Gaza Strip, with thousands of cranes arriving at the Hula Valley nature reserve in the north as they do every fall.

The cranes are joining flamingos, pelicans and thousands of other birds which also migrate through Israel on their way to Africa.

“In these sad and complicated days, perhaps nature can bring comfort,” said Inbar Shlomit Rubin, who manages the site for KKL-JNF. 

“As every year, the migratory birds arrive at the nature reserve in the fall. It is one of the most important humid habitats in Israel, which is a critical stop for birds migrating between Europe and the African continent and back, both in terms of the wealth of food it offers to a variety of species and in terms of a safe haven for the birds during the long journey,” she said.

Thousands more cranes are expected to travel through the Hula Valley nature reserve, which is closed to the public due to the war, during the coming weeks. Some cranes will remain in the nature reserve throughout winter.

Originally published by Israel Hayom.

Families of Hamas captives continue march to Jerusalem

(JNS) — Families of hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza on Wednesday began the second day of their march from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem to bring attention to the plight of their loved ones and call for their release.

Hamas terrorists took captive more than 200 people during their murderous Oct. 7 assault on southern Israel.

The march set off from Be’er Ya’akov on Wednesday morning on their way to meet with local residents at the Ramla-Lod interchange in the afternoon, before marching toward Beit Hashmonai, where they will spend the night.

They are asking the public to join them in the march.

The marchers are scheduled to arrive in Jerusalem on Saturday, where they will protest outside of the Knesset and the official residence of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to demand the return of their loved ones.

If and when there is “something concrete to report” on the fate of as many as 240 hostages held by Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip, Jerusalem will do so, Netanyahu said on Tuesday evening.

“Since the beginning of the war, we have been working relentlessly for the release of the hostages, including using increased pressure since the start of the ground incursion,” he said, adding, “Our hearts are always with the hostages and their families.”

Two more fallen soldiers named

The IDF on Wednesday morning publicized the names of two more soldiers killed in Gaza: Cpt. Omri Yosef David, 27, from Carmiel, a deputy company commander in the Negev Brigade’s 9217 Battalion, and Cpt. Yedidya Asher Lev, 26, of Tal Menashe, deputy company commander in the Shaked Battalion, Givati ​​Brigade. Both fell in battle in the northern Gaza Strip, according to the IDF.

At least 52 soldiers have been killed in action in Gaza and at the Lebanon border since the start of the Gaza ground operation on Oct. 27; 368 Israeli soldiers have died since the war started.

Biden and Netanyahu speak about war, hostages

U.S. President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held another phone conversation early on Wednesday to talk about the progress in the war against Hamas and the effort to release the hostages held by the terror group. 

The two leaders have spoken multiple times since the start of the war.

IDF ground operations in Gaza continue

Israeli troops on Tuesday located a Hamas training camp containing terror tunnel shafts, classrooms, intelligence material and dozens of different types of weapons, including rockets and loaded RPGs.

An IDF drone also struck a terror cell that had exited a building with an anti-tank missile launcher. The terrorists also placed suspected IEDs in the area. The UAV monitored them and struck the cell, killing two terrorists.

Gantz: We will kill Hamas leaders ‘in Gaza and around the world’

(JNS) — Israel will kill Hamas leaders responsible for the Oct. 7 massacre “in Gaza and around the world,” Benny Gantz, minister-without-portfolio in the War Cabinet, said on Wednesday.

“There will be no sanctuary cities, no sanctuary houses. We will go wherever we need to in order to eradicate child murderers—above and below ground, in Gaza and around the world,” the former defense minister and IDF chief declared in a press statement delivered in Tel Aviv.

“We will reach the heads of [the Hamas] government just as we reached the centers of [that] government,” Gantz said.

The Hamas leaders on Israel’s radar include the terrorist organization’s politburo head Ismail Haniyeh, chief in Gaza Yahya Sinwar, “military” wing commander Mohammed Deif, “military” wing deputy commander Marwan Issa, “military” wing boss in Judea and Samaria Saleh al-Arouri and former politburo chief Khaled Mashaal.

Israeli forces entered Shifa Hospital in Gaza City overnight Tuesday to conduct a “precision operation” against Hamas. Gantz provided a general update on the ground operation in the Strip.

“IDF soldiers continue to operate deep inside Gaza City against those who have turned hospitals into command centers, from which war crimes are committed,” he said.

He then turned to the northern border and the escalating tensions with Iran’s terrorist proxy Hezbollah in Lebanon.

“What we’re doing effectively in the south, can work even better in the north, if necessary,” he said.

BBC apologizes for claim Israel targeted medical staff at Shifa Hospital

(JNS) — The BBC issued an apology after a presenter falsely asserted that Israel was targeting medical staff and Arab speakers at Gaza’s Al Shifa Hospital.

“This was incorrect and misquoted a Reuters report,” the publicly funded British broadcaster said. 

“What we should have said is that IDF forces included medical staff and Arabic speakers for this operation. We apologize for this error which fell below our usual editorial standards. The correct version of events was broadcast minutes later.”

Israeli forces entered Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City overnight Tuesday to conduct what the Israeli military said was a precision operation against Hamas. 

The IDF’s statement said that the Israeli forces entering the hospital include medical teams and Arabic-speaking soldiers “who have undergone specified training to prepare for this complex and sensitive environment, with the intent that no harm is caused to the civilians being used by Hamas as human shields.”

The army announced on Wednesday morning that incubators, baby food and medical supplies brought into Gaza by IDF tanks had reached Shifa, and that the medical teams and Arabic speakers were ensuring that the supplies reached those in need.

The BBC has been accused of anti-Israel bias and relaying inaccurate information during the war with Hamas, including censoring criticism from Israeli President Isaac Herzog.