Israel update 26.12.24

HANNA KATZIR OBITUARY

 

Hanna Katzir, who endured seven weeks of Hamas captivity in the Gaza Strip last year, has died at age 78 after months of struggling with medical complications from her time as a hostage. She was kidnapped from her home in Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, 2023 and released on November 24 as part of a temporary ceasefire deal, just days after the PIJ terror group falsely claimed she had been killed in an IDF airstrike.

Her family reported soon after her release that she had returned in extremely poor health and needed to be hospitalized for heart issues that she hadn’t had before she was kidnapped, adding that “difficult conditions and starvation” had caused the deterioration. Her husband, Rami, 79, was killed during the attack and her son Elad was taken hostage and later murdered by his captors. His body was recovered in April by the IDF.

Her daughter said “Her heart could not withstand the terrible suffering since October 7.”

Hanna Katzir was born to a family of Holocaust survivors and worked in the kibbutz laundry. She is survived by three children and six grandchildren. Article here

 

 

HOSTAGES

 

The Israel Ministry of Health has completed a report based on testimonies from Israeli hostages released or rescued from Hamas captivity in Gaza. Some of the hostages experienced great weight loss after starvation and malnutrition, leading to “muscle breakdown and a weakened immune system. As a result of appalling hygiene, and unclean water, hostages suffered from stomach pains and diarrhea during their time in captivity.”
Some hostages were held alone in the dark for days, tied hand and foot. They were beaten all over their bodies, some had their hair pulled out, and in some cases their skin was burned with an iron heated over a hot fire. Several hostages described experiencing immense pain under medical treatment. Report here

 

“Hamas has yet to deliver the list of hostages who are alive – without it, it’s impossible to reach a deal,” according to an Israeli official on Tuesday.Report here

 

 

Mohammed Sinwar, who took over leading Hamas after his brother Yahya was killed, has consistently misled mediators, stonewalling requests for hostage lists and withdrawing from previously reached agreements, sources close to the hostage negotiations said.Report here

 

 

CENTRAL ISRAEL TARGETED AGAIN BY YEMEN’S HOUTHI TERRORISTS

 

A  Houthi ballistic missile  was intercepted by Israeli air defences early yesterday, Wednesday, (at about 04.30 am) marking the second night in a row — and the fourth in less than a week — that the Iran-backed terror group has fired at Central Israel in what has recently become a near-nightly occurrence. Sirens, activated as a precaution against falling fragments from the interception, wailed over a wide swathe of the country, sending millions of people scrambling to reach bomb shelters in the middle of the night.

A large interceptor fragment hit the wall of a home in the Be’er Ya’akov knocking off the air-conditioning unit and damaging the yard. Other fragments were found in the Shfela region and in Modi’in.

Nine people were injured as they ran to bomb shelters and another two were treated for acute anxiety. Reports hereand here

 

 

Attempts to intercept a Houthi ballistic missile fired in the early hours of Saturday failed and the rocket impact wounded 16 people from flying glass in Jaffa near Tel Aviv when it struck a playground between residential buildings with many locals stating that the explosion occurred before any warning siren.

21 people were hurt on their way to shelters or suffered anxiety, and the damage to nearby buildings was extensive.

“The siren started, but we didn’t make it to the shelter. There was a very loud explosion, all the windows shattered, the blinds broke and the bed was covered in glass,” said Dolly Tamar Eliyahu and Ben Nof, residents of one of the damaged buildings.
Ezra Bador, another resident, said: “Just as I was heading to the shelter, there was a serious explosion resulting in broken blinds and windows. It’s terrifying. My balcony and bedroom sustained heavy damage.” Reports hereand here with pictures

 

The IDF intercepted a missile fired from Yemen toward central Israel early Tuesday morning.  A 60-year-old woman fell while running to a shelter in Tel Aviv and was taken to hospital in serious condition. At least 25 people were treated for minor injuries after falling while running to the shelter or due to anxiety attacks. Reports hereand here

 

 

ISRAEL’S PRECISION STRIKES ON HOUTHI TARGETS

 

IAF pilots described the precision strikes on targets in Yemen last Thursday. Fourteen fighter jets took part in the operation flying for  five-and-a-half hours to travel  2,000 km and back (1,240 miles), with night-time refuelling. Report here

 

 

SYRIA

 

Since the fall of Assad, the IDF has expanded its perch on the peak of Mount Hermon, straddling the 1974 disengagement zone and has moved into southern Syrian villages below.
The positioning builds a bigger cushion between Israel’s citizens and whatever regime emerges in Syria. Israel’s incursion into Syria aims to demilitarize the borderlands and secure northern Israel against a potential ground infiltration by its enemies.
The IDF often dispatches drones with speakers to populated areas, requesting to speak with local representatives. In those meetings, residents said, Israeli soldiers have sought to reassure residents that their presence is temporary to seize weapons and secure the border. The Israeli military said it avoids entering villages unless absolutely necessary. Report here (paywall)

 

 

GAZA WAR

 

 

Three Israeli soldiers Capt. Ilay Gavriel Atedgi, 22, Staff Sgt. Netanel Pessach, 21;and Sgt. First Class (res.) Hillel Diener, 21, were killed by an explosive device during fighting in the northern Gaza Strip on Monday. Captain (res.) Amit Levi, 35, fell in battle in in central Gaza on Thursday. Reports hereand here

 

 

Since Oct. 6, 2024, the IDF been operating in Jabalya in northern Gaza. More than 2,000 Gazans- most of them armed – were killed and 1,500 suspected terrorists were arrested. Around 100 terrorists and a similar number of civilians still remain.
During the operation’s first two weeks, Hamas terrorized residents by shooting the legs of civilians who tried leaving. The IDF then intensified its pressure and the civilians left quickly.

On Tuesday, Israeli forces killed five terrorists and arrested dozens more near the Indonesian hospital in Jabalya. To minimize harm to the civilian population, IDF forces allowed residents, patients, and hospital staff to evacuate in an orderly manner before and during the operation. The IDF said, “The operation was conducted after multiple warnings were issued to the Gazan Health Ministry regarding terrorist activity being conducted inside the hospital.”

Footnote:  Following Hamas’s attack on Oct. 7, 2023, two stolen IDF jeeps were brought to a mosque in Jabalya carrying the bodies of seven Israelis, and a mob of Palestinians trampled on their bodies. Report here (paywall)Report here

 

 

An Israeli airstrike in central Gaza targeted “a vehicle with an Islamic Jihad terror cell inside”. The five people killed in the strike were affiliated with the Islamic Jihad TV channel Al-Quds Today. Israel has repeatedly documented members of terror groups in Gaza working under  journalistic cover. Report here

 

Some Gazans are risking their safety to share their frustrations with life under Hamas  and their hopes for a different future, a report by The Sunday Times revealed…A construction worker said his opinion of Hamas shifted drastically after the Oct 7 attacks. “They made a grave mistake,” he said. “They used civilian homes to fire rockets, leaving residents to face the consequences while protecting their members underground.” He added that food and resources were distributed exclusively to Hamas members while civilians starved… Hamza Hawidy, who now lives in Germany, recounted being beaten and detained by Hamas for protesting their policies. “The human rights organizations turned a blind eye,” he said

Report here

 

GAZA AID

 

Hazem Isleem, a Palestinian truck driver, was passing through southern Gaza last month with a truckload of thousands of pounds of flour when armed looters ambushed his convoy.Hundreds of truckloads of relief are piling up at the Kerem Shalom border crossing because aid groups fear they will be looted. The UN does not allow Israeli soldiers to protect aid convoys, fearing that would compromise its neutrality. Report here (paywall)

 

 

The UN World Food Programme  reported that 23 of 66 trucks carrying food and humanitarian aid to southern Gaza were looted on Sunday.Report here

 

However:

The IDF recently introduced a new arrangement to boost security for humanitarian aid into Gaza, directing aid convoys through Israeli-secured routes. This has markedly decreased hijackings by Hamas terrorists and criminal gangs, meaning that more aid is reaching Gazan civilians. Report here

 

Sweden will no longer fund the UN refugee agency for Palestinians (UNRWA), but instead provide humanitarian assistance to Gaza via other channels.Report here

 

HIZBULLAH

 

 

At an army base in northern Israel this week, the IDF invited journalists to view arms and other equipment captured from Hizbullah. On display were 6,840 RPG rockets and anti-tank missiles, including 340 Russian-made Kornets, along with their launchers; 9,000 explosive devices and grenades; 2,250 unguided rockets and mortars; 2,700 assault rifles; 2,860 other guns, including sniper rifles; and 60 anti-aircraft missiles.
The IDF said that some of the weapons that meet Israel’s military standard will be put to use by the army.
The IDF said Wednesday that it had killed 3,800 Hizbullah operatives during the fighting in Lebanon. Thousands more were wounded. Report here

 

 

The IDF disclosed that its success against Hizbullah from mid-September until the November 26 ceasefire was based on an unprecedented level of infiltration. Its intelligence branches spent years identifying where Hizbullah’s rockets were located and how to strike them, and following their movements if they were mobile. The IDF also diagnosed Hizbullah’s command structure and eliminated its top three tiers in a matter of weeks.
This led to the IDF preventing Hizbullah from doing any major damage in Tel Aviv with its 150,000-rocket arsenal. Hizbullah did cause wide damage to villages on the northern border and in the northern third of the country, but failed to cause enough strategic damage to pressure Israel into giving in to its terms.Report here

 

 

Two recently retired senior Mossad agents with leading roles in the pager operation against Hizbullah described one of the most daring and sophisticated deceptions in the history of counterintelligence in a CBS news interview. Interview herearticle here

 

 

INNOVATION IN THE ARAB SECTOR

 

 

Mahmoud Khweis, 51, a prominent entrepreneur, has launched launch of Jinnovate, East Jerusalem’s first health-tech accelerator, currently supporting a portfolio of 14 early-stage startups. The Israel Innovation Authority, a government agency, is providing almost all its funding, $2.7 million over five years. Among the startups Jinnovate is supporting is Healers, which is developing a new cutting device for thoracic surgeons. It eliminates the need for stainless steel or titanium wires to close incisions, thus minimizing the risk of infection, reducing pain and speeding up recovery times. Jinnovate’s target is to have the first Arab “exit” – the sale of a thriving startup – within five years. Khweiss  says the vast majority of people they’ve encountered from the Israeli startup ecosystem are keen to see theirs succeed. “We’re trying to build bridges, economic bridges, and we need to start by having tight economic relations. We want people to meet each other and work with each other.”Report here

 

 

SURVEY

 

A new Tel Aviv University study has revealed “encouraging data regarding coexistence in Israel,” with 57.8% of Arab Israelis saying they “believe that the ongoing war has fostered a sense of shared destiny between Arabs and Jews in Israel. Report here

 

 

IRAQ

 

A senior figure in Iraq’s pro-Iranian militia Al-Nujaba Movement has reportedly confirmed that Iran’s proxies in the country have reached an agreement with the Iraqi PM to cease military operations targeting Israel in support of Gaza. Report here

 

 

SAVE A CHILD’S HEART

 

 

In a groundbreaking collaboration in Zambia last week, doctors from Israel, Tanzania and Zambia performed open heart surgery and catheterisation procedures on 25 children. Dr. Godwin Godfrey Sharau of Tanzania and Dr. Mudaniso Kumani Ziwa of Zambia, were both trained by the Save a Child’s Heart organisation in Israel. They worked alongside Tanzanian and Zambian teams, many of whom had undergone specialised training in Israel through Save a Child’s Heart. Since 2017, Save a Child’s Heart has worked closely with Zambia’s Ministry of Health to strengthen pediatric cardiac care.Report here

 

 

GERMANY

 

Israeli defence contractor Elbit Systems will equip the German government’s Airbus A350 with the advanced J-MUSIC (DIRCM) self-protection systems which are designed to protect aircraft from advanced surface-to-air missiles.Report here

 

 

SEASONAL

 

Last Thursday, the Jerusalem Municipality distributed approximately 350 Christmas trees to residents and has also installed festive decorations and colourful lighting in various locations, including the Old City’s Christian Quarter, while extending “its best wishes to its Christian residents and visitors for a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year”   About 2% of Israelis are Christian, and the community is expected to continue to grow at an annual rate of over 1%, according to official statistics. Report here.

 

 

COMMENT & OPINION

 

Houthi threat

 

Amb. Freddy Eytan:  The missile attacks by the Houthis toward Israel must stop. In no country in the world are hundreds of thousands of people awakened in the middle of the night by alarm sirens to take refuge in shelters. Since Oct. 7, 2023, the Houthis have fired at Israel more than 200 missiles and 170 drones supplied by Iran, most of which were destroyed in flight before reaching our territory. Imagine the human losses and the immense damage without effective air defence.
An international coalition is urgently needed to eradicate Iran’s last satellite in the Arabian Peninsula. Article here

 

 

Ron Ben-Yishai : In order to deal with the Houthi threat to Israel’s home front and to world trade, there must be a resolute military operation that will eliminate its leaders and destroy its military capabilities.
They are well armed with the latest Iranian weapons.
It is not enough to defend against their ballistic missiles and drones.
Their weapons production in Yemen must also be stopped and their warehouses destroyed, so that they are no longer a problem for the world.
An attack carried out by the U.S. and Britain earlier this month was on empty command posts near Sanaa and caused only minimal damage, without having any real effect on the Houthis’ military capabilities. Article here

 

Maj.-Gen. (res.) Tamir Hayman: There has been no extensive and sustained campaign to weaken the Houthis in a way that intensifies the pressure, as has been done with Israel’s other adversaries in the current war. It is necessary to demonstrate a different kind of strength against the Houthis, including actions such as targeting commanders, eroding capabilities, and emphasizing that a maritime blockade on Israel comes with a heavy price. Article here

 

Also see: Maj.-Gen. (res.) Gershon Hacohen : Israel Must Confront the Houthi Threat. Article here

 

Israel & the West

 

Mick Hume: Anybody who believes in freedom should surely be celebrating the success of the only Western-style democracy in the Middle East as a blow struck for civilization against barbarism. Instead, Israel’s traditional Western allies have spent 2024 retreating from its side.
…Every UN Security Council member except the U.S. recently backed a call for an “immediate, unconditional and permanent” ceasefire in Gaza. That amounted to a near-unanimous demand for Israel to surrender to its enemies. International media have somehow twisted Israel’s just war against the genocidal death cult responsible for the Oct. 7 pogrom as an act of genocide. In reality, the IDF has gone to greater lengths than any army in history to reduce civilian casualties.
The desertion of Israel is a travesty not only for Israelis and Jews but for the West itself. The Israelis are fighting for the principles on which our civilized societies were built: democracy, national sovereignty and freedom. We should be supporting them as the front line in the global war against barbarism and slavery. Article here

 

Syria

 

Lt.-Col. (res.) Maurice Hirsch shares insights on Israel’s perspective on Syria, Turkey, Iran, and Islamic fundamentalism after Assad’s overthrow – in 60 seconds.Short video here

 

Turkey

 

Nadav Shragai: Those who for years tolerated Erdogan’s Turkey providing sanctuary to Hamas, who dismissed the hosting of Hamas’s command centres and offices in Istanbul… are now witnessing Turkish sponsorship of a jihadist coalition in the new Syria.

Erdogan sees himself as the global leader of the Muslim Brotherhood and views Hamas as a liberation movement. He speaks of a regional Islamic caliphate and revival of the Ottoman Empire. He calls on Turkish immigrants across Europe to have more children, claiming “they are Europe’s future.”
We need to listen to Erdogan’s words and believe he means what he says. Last July, Erdogan made a military threat against Israel. Turkey has at least partially fulfilled this threat through the new Syrian jihadist army, which is now closer to Israel’s northern border than ever before.
After Oct. 7, there is no longer any fundamental difference between Erdogan and Qatar and Iran. Recently, Erdogan spoke to an audience who shouted, “Mr. President, take us to Jerusalem.” He responded with the words: “patience brings victory.”  Article here

 

 

The Palestinian Authority (PA)

 

Khaled Abu Toameh: Had the international community held the PA accountable for financial and administrative corruption after the signing of the Oslo Accords 30 years ago, the Iran-backed Hamas terrorist group would not have gained popularity, although many Palestinians support Hamas’s policy of rejecting Israel’s right to exist.
The current PA leadership is just not seen by many Palestinians as a better alternative to Hamas.
That is because the U.S., EU and other donors are not banging on the table and demanding an end to the PA’s authoritarian and corrupt conduct.Article here

 

Seasonal

 

Hen Mazzig: Every December, I find myself explaining that Jesus was a Jewish man born in the Land of Israel, not a Palestinian…Jesus was born in Bethlehem, circumcised according to Jewish law (Luke2:21), attended synagogue on Shabbat (Luke 4:16), and celebrated Passover in Jerusalem (John 2:13). The cross’s inscription, “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews” (John 19:19), leaves no ambiguity.
The term “Palestine” did not exist during Jesus’ lifetime. It’s a Roman invention. When Emperor Hadrian crushed the Jewish revolt in 135 CE – a century after Jesus’ crucifixion – he renamed Judea as “Syria-Palaestina” to punish Jews and erase Jewish sovereignty. Before that, the region was Judea, the homeland of the Jewish people.
When people claim Jesus wasn’t Jewish, they’re not simply mistaken – they’re erasing Jewish history. The point is that Jews lived in Jerusalem long before Christmas – a fact that shouldn’t require constant defence. I’m a Jew – born into a story that some would rather erase. My history is not up for grabs. It’s not a chess piece in someone else’s game. Article here