Weekly roundup of world briefs

Herzog honors Kibbutz Be’eri heroes by inscribing Torah scroll

(JNS) — Israeli President Isaac Herzog paid tribute on Sunday to the more than 100 residents of Kibbutz Be’eri who were murdered by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7, as he inscribed a letter in a Torah scroll that will be used in the community’s rebuilt synagogue.

Herzog dedicated the scroll “to all those slaughtered in Your holy name, the defenders of the land who stood up as heroes to fight against the evil terrorists who came to destroy us on the day of the joy of our Torah.”

“I am very excited to fulfill this huge mitzvah [commandment], to write a letter in the Torah scroll in memory of Elhanan Kalmanson, may God avenge his blood,” the president said.

Hamas’s attacks on Oct. 7 coincided with the most joyous festival of the Jewish calendar—Simchat Torah, when Jews around the world celebrate the completion of the annual Torah reading cycle.

Capt. (res.) Elhanan Meir Kalmanson, 41, from the Judea community of Otniel, is credited with saving dozens of lives in Be’eri, including pregnant women and the elderly, before being killed by a Hamas terrorist.

Rachel Fricker, a survivor of the attack on Be’eri, said during the ceremony of the defenders of Be’eri, “Their bravery forged an unbreakable bond. Words fail to capture their heroism—rescuing over a hundred people. Elhanan’s voice and unwavering confidence still resonate within me.”

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

An estimated 10 percent of Kibbutz Be’eri’s 1,100 residents were killed and an equal number were kidnapped during the attacks.

‘More than 11,500 rockets launched at Israel since Oct. 7’

(JNS) — Palestinian terrorists have fired more than 11,500 rockets towards Israeli territory since Hamas launched a war against the Jewish state on Oct. 7, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said on Monday.

As of 10 a.m. on Monday morning, 9,357 people had sustained injuries in Palestinian attacks targeting Israelis since Oct. 7, according to the ministry. 

On Monday afternoon, air-raid sirens blared across southern Israel and the larger Tel Aviv area, sending as many as 4 million Israelis running for shelter.

The Israel Police said its forces were deployed in the affected areas to check for rocket impacts. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damages, the statement said.

According to local media reports, rocket shrapnel was found in the courtyard of a school in Ganei Tikva, a suburb of Tel Aviv.

Iran’s Tasnim news agency, which is affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, cited Hamas as saying it had targeted Tel Aviv “in response to the ongoing crimes of the Zionist regime against… the Gaza Strip.”

For the first time since Nov. 11, incoming rocket sirens sounded in Beersheva and surrounding communities on Monday. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.

On Nov. 23, the Hamas-linked Al-Ayyash Battalion claimed that it had launched a rocket from the Jenin area towards the Jewish community of Shaked in northern Samaria. A video published by the group appeared to show a homemade rocket being launched from an olive grove.

“There was a failed launch of an improvised rocket in the area of the Menashe Brigade. The parts of the launcher were found in Palestinian territory near the village of Araqah. All attempts to launch improvised rockets up to this date have been unsuccessful,” the IDF confirmed in a statement to JNS.

The attempted launch followed others in recent months in Judea and Samaria, including one on July 27 when the Al-Ayyash Battalion, named after Hamas bomb maker Yahya Ayyash, fired a rocket from the Jenin area towards the Israeli moshav of Ram-On in the Gilboa region.

Israel probing claim traders knew in advance of Oct. 7 attack

(JNS) — Israeli authorities are investigating a claim by two researchers in the United States that traders possibly knew in advance about the Hamas attack of Oct. 7 and profited from the massacre.

The report by law professors Robert J. Jackson Jr. of New York University School of Law and Joshua Mitts of Columbia Law School found a sharp rise in short-selling of Israeli stocks in the weeks leading up to the attack.

“Days before the attack, traders appeared to anticipate the events to come,” they wrote in a 66-page report. They cited a sudden and significant spike in short interest in the MSCI Israel Exchange Traded Fund on Oct. 2 based on data from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

“And just before the attack, short selling of Israeli securities on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange increased dramatically.”

The Israel Securities Authority told Reuters that “the matter is known to the authority and is under investigation by all the relevant parties.”

The researchers wrote: “Although we see no aggregate increase in shorting of Israeli companies on U.S. exchanges, we do identify a sharp and unusual increase, just before the attacks, in trading in risky short-dated options on these companies expiring just after the attacks.

“Our findings suggest that traders informed about the coming attacks profited from these tragic events, and consistent with prior literature we show that trading of this kind occurs in gaps in U.S. and international enforcement of legal prohibitions on informed trading,” they added.

According to the researchers, the findings show that the short sales were larger than in the days before previous rounds of fighting between Israel and terrorists in Gaza, as well as before the outbreak of COVID-19.

They also referred to similar patterns in April when it was reported that Hamas initially planned the attack on Israel.

 “Short volume in EIS [the MSCI Israel ETF] peaked on April 3 at levels very similar to those observed on Oct. 2 and was far higher by an order of magnitude than other days prior to April 3,” they said.

IAF strikes Hezbollah terror sites in Lebanon

(JNS) — Israel Air Force fighter jets struck on Tuesday assets belonging to the Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorist organization in Lebanon, in response to repeated attacks.

The strikes targeted observation posts, weapons depots and other sites used by Hezbollah terrorists.

Shortly thereafter, a “hostile” drone that entered Israeli airspace from Lebanon crashed near Moshav Margaliot.

Israeli forces converged on the site to recover the UAV, and sappers were examining the device.

There were no injuries in the incident, said the IDF.

Earlier on Tuesday, several rockets were fired from Lebanon at northern Israel. The projectiles hit open areas, causing no injuries or damage, according to the military.

Hezbollah claimed responsibility for several attacks on Tuesday targeting Israeli military positions along the border.

Three IDF soldiers were lightly wounded overnight Sunday by mortar shells fired from Lebanon towards Israeli military posts in the area of Moshav Shtula.

On Monday morning, mortar shells were fired from Lebanon at an IDF post in the area of Kibbutz Yiftah. Several launches were also identified Monday afternoon towards the Har Dov region, striking in open areas, and another launch towards Kibbutz Misgav Am.

In response, the IDF struck the sources of the fire.

In addition, the military said on Monday afternoon it targeted an operational headquarters and other terror infrastructure belonging to Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Later in the day, the IDF destroyed a Hezbollah weapons depot after mortar shells were fired towards a military post on the border.

On Sunday, Ziv Medical Center in Safed admitted 12 people who had been wounded by an anti-tank missile fired by Hezbollah from Lebanon.

One woman and 11 men between the ages of 20 and 65 were lightly wounded, the hospital said.

Palestinian rockets wound three Israelis

(JNS) — Three people were lightly wounded in Israel on Tuesday by rockets fired from the Gaza Strip, according to Magen David Adom.

Air raid sirens warned of incoming rockets in Tel Aviv and its suburbs on Tuesday afternoon, with several direct hits reported throughout the White City.

A 41-year-old man sustained a shrapnel wound to his leg, the MDA subsequently announced. Medics evacuated the victim to Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center (Ichilov Hospital).

The barrage saw at least a dozen rockets being fired at the greater Tel Aviv area.

Earlier on Tuesday, paramedics treated two women in their 60s for shrapnel wounds after a rocket hit a residential building in Ashkelon, the MDA said. In addition, two children and one adult received treatment for anxiety and shock.

According to police, officers were “working to isolate the impact scene and searching for [rocket] remnants” to ensure the impact posed no further risk. 

Palestinian terrorists have fired more than 11,500 rockets towards Israeli territory since Hamas launched a war against the Jewish state on Oct. 7, the Foreign Ministry said earlier this week.

On Monday, air-raid sirens blared across southern Israel and the greater Tel Aviv area, sending as many as four million Israelis running for shelter.

Rocket shrapnel was found in the courtyard of a school in Ganei Tikva, a suburb of Tel Aviv.

Iran’s Tasnim news agency, which is affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, cited Hamas as saying it had targeted Tel Aviv “in response to the ongoing crimes of the Zionist regime against … the Gaza Strip.”

Qatar charges Israel with deliberate killing of women, children

(JNS) — Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on Tuesday accused Israel of the “systematic and deliberate” killing of Palestinian civilians.

At the same time, he claimed to be working to restore the collapsed hostages-for-ceasefire deal between Israel and the Hamas terrorist group in Gaza.

“It is shameful for the international community to allow this heinous crime to continue for nearly two months, during which the systematic and deliberate killing of innocent civilians continues, including women and children,” Qatar’s ruler told Gulf leaders gathered in Doha.

“We are constantly working to renew [the truce] and to alleviate the burden of our people in the Gaza Strip, but truces are not an alternative for a comprehensive ceasefire,” added Sheikh Tamim.

The Prime Minister’s Office and Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem did not immediately offer comment.

Mossad officials negotiating the potential renewal of the ceasefire deal left Qatar the next day.

“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.

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 tranquilized hostages before release to ‘look happy’

(JNS) — Hamas drugged the hostages who were released during the ceasefire so that they would “look happy” during the transfer to the Red Cross in Gaza, according to Israel’s Health Ministry.

The captives were tranquilized as part of the terrorist group’s propaganda to make it seem like they were treated well after suffering more than 50 days of physical and psychological abuse, ministry officials told lawmakers at a hearing of the Knesset Health Committee on Tuesday.

Dr. Hagar Mizrahi, head of the Health Ministry’s medical division, said the hostages were administered Clonazepam, a mood-enhancing drug used to treat seizures and panic disorders. It is known as Clonex in Israel and sold under the brand names Klonopin and Rivotril elsewhere.

Normally administered orally, the drug has a calming effect on the nervous system. Side effects include drowsiness, dizziness, impaired coordination and fatigue.

Long-term use or misuse of the medication can lead to dependency, tolerance and withdrawal symptoms.

Mizrahi did not indicate whether this was based on blood tests, testimonies of the hostages or both.

The abductees were also given a larger meal before returning to Israel. Hospitals reported severe weight loss in many of the freed hostages, indicating starvation-like conditions.

Hamas documented the releases for propaganda purposes, which showed some of the hostages appearing friendly or in a positive mood. 

Hamas currently holds 137 men, women and children in Gaza.

Two Jews, Jewish org honored with prestigious Milan civic awards

(JNS) — The publisher Andrea Jarach and psychologist Silvia Vegetti Finzi, both of whom are Jewish, and the Gariwo (Gardens of the Righteous) Foundation, which is chaired the Jewish journalist Gabriele Nissim, are among the recipients of prestigious Ambrogino awards, which the municipality of Milan, Italy bestows.

The honor is named for the city’s fourth-century patron saint Ambrose and is bestowed on people and organizations that have made significant contributions in culture, art, science, charity and other areas. The fashion designer Giorgio Armani and Queen Rania of Jordan received the award in previous years.

The nonprofit, which raises awareness of those who have sought to prevent genocide and defend human rights in extreme situations, will receive a certificate of civic merit.

A publisher and entrepreneur who is active in Milan’s Jewish community, Jarach told Bet Magazine that the city council was sending a “strong signal” by shortlisting an “active Zionist Jew.”

Finzi, born to a Jewish father and a Catholic mother in 1938, published a 2016 memoir A Little Girl Without a Star, detailing her memories of the Nazi occupation of Italy from 1943 to 1945. At that time, thousands of Italian Jews, or Italians with at least one Jewish parent or at least three Jewish grandparents, were rounded up and deported to concentration camps.

The author is known for her work on psychoanalysis and pedagogy. She dedicated the award to the women’s movement, in which she is an active participant. Finzi noted that she doesn’t agree with “the silence on the Israeli women victims of Oct. 7, an atrocity that will forever be written in the book of memory.”

The Ambrogino d’Oro awards ceremony took place on Dec. 7, the Roman Catholic feast day of Saint Ambrose.

IDF warns Gaza residents away from battle zones, offers new corridor to safety

(JNS) — The IDF announced on Monday a new humanitarian corridor in the southern Gaza Strip and warned Palestinians to avoid certain areas due to heavy fighting, as part of Israel’s ongoing efforts to minimize civilian casualties.

“The IDF will allow humanitarian movement of civilians through a bypass axis located west of Khan Yunis,” said Lt.-Col. Avichai Adree, the IDF spokesman to the Arab media. 

Adree tweeted a map warning Palestinians against remaining in specific areas north and east of the city. 

“In these clips, the Salah al-Din Axis constitutes a battlefield, so it is extremely dangerous to reach it,” he said.

He also identified areas where transportation would be available, noting a “temporary tactical suspension of military activities for humanitarian purposes in the Rafah camp” until early afternoon. 

“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,” the IDF said in a message to Gaza residents on Friday.

The IDF’s actions are in keeping with Israel’s efforts, in agreement with the U.S., to avoid harming noncombatants.

White House National Security Council Spokesman John Kirby said on Sunday in an interview with anchor George Stephanopoulos of ABC‘s “This Week” that Jerusalem has been “receptive to our messages here in terms of trying to minimize civilian casualties.”

“And I would tell you,” said Kirby, “we saw that as they went into north Gaza. They did it in a more precise way, a smaller way. And just in the last 24, 48 hours, George, they published online a map of places where people could go to avoid combat, and where they could go where they could find safety from combat.”

“There’s not a whole lot of modern militaries that would do that. I mean that … to telegraph their punches in that way. So, they are making an effort,” Kirby added.

Israeli forces continued to expand ground operations in the Gaza Strip on Monday, including extensive activity near Rafah and Khan Yunis in central and southern Gaza, and in northern Gaza at Shejaiya as well as the Tuffah neighborhood east of Gaza City.