Israel Update 5.6.25

Israel Update 5.6.25

 

HAMAS CLAIMS DEBUNKED

 

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee:
Reckless and irresponsible reporting by major U.S. news outlets are contributing to the antisemitic climate that has resulted in the murder of two young people at an Israeli Embassy event in Washington last month and the terror attack on a group of pro-Israel demonstrators in Colorado on Sunday.
Without verification of any source other than Hamas and its collaborators, the New York Times, CNN, and Associated Press reported that a number of people seeking to receive humanitarian food boxes from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation were shot or killed by the IDF. These reports were FALSE. Drone video and first-hand accounts clearly showed that there were no injuries, no fatalities, no shooting, no chaos.
It is Hamas that continues to terrorize and intimidate those who seek food aid. The only source for these misleading, exaggerated, and utterly fabricated stories is Hamas. Full statement here

 

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt responded Tuesday to claims of the deaths of dozens of Palestinians around aid distribution centres in Gaza. “Unfortunately, unlike some in the media, we don’t take the word of Hamas as total truth. We like to look into it when they speak…unlike the BBC. I suggest that journalists who actually care about truth do the same to reduce the amount of misinformation that’s going around the globe.” Report here (paywall)

 

 

BBC Verify: Claim that a graphic video is linked to aid distribution site in Gaza is incorrect.

“A graphic video claims to show shootings on Sunday morning near an aid distribution site in Rafah in Gaza, posted by an Al Jazeera journalist.
We have geolocated the clip to a spot in Khan Yunis about 4.5 km. from the nearest aid distribution point.
The direction of shadows suggests it was filmed in the evening, not the morning.
While verifying the clip, a local journalist who filmed another video of the same scene confirmed to us that the events pictured are unrelated to any aid distribution site, and occurred in the evening.”  (Note by HRG – despite this, BBC news continues to parrot Hamas propaganda) Report here

 

 

The IDF on Sunday released drone footage purporting to show armed and masked individuals opening fire on Gazan civilians attempting to collect looted humanitarian aid in Khan Yunis.Report here

 

 

Israel on Monday called a demand by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres for an investigation into alleged deadly violence at a Gaza humanitarian aid site a “disgrace.”

Ever since the U.S.- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation began distributing food inside Gaza last week, Hamas-controlled authorities have repeatedly claimed that dozens of people were being shot at the GHF sites.
The GHF has been emphatic that the claims are false and accuses Hamas of attempting to undermine its aid distribution by spreading panic. An Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman said “the real investigation that needs to be opened is why the UN continues to resist any attempt to provide aid directly to the people of Gaza.” Report here

 

 

On Tuesday, the IDF acknowledged that it shot at several suspects who advanced towards troops about half a kilometre from a GHF aid distribution site, after initially firing warning shots. The suspects were seen deviating from the designated access routes at the site, according to the IDF, and it was looking into reports of casualties. The IDF noted that the shooting occurred about half a kilometre from the aid centre.Report here

 

 

The Washington Post published a retraction of some of the claims made in its original reports.

“The article failed to make clear if attributing the deaths to Israel was the position of the Gaza health ministry or a fact verified by the Post. The article and headline were updated to make it clear that there was no consensus about who was responsible for the shooting and that there was a dispute over that question.
While statements from Israel that it was unaware of injuries and that an initial inquiry indicated its soldiers didn’t fire at civilians near the site were included in the article, the Post didn’t give proper weight to Israel’s denial and gave improper certitude about any Israeli role in the shootings. The early versions fell short of Washington Post standards of fairness and should not have been published in that form.” Statement at the end of the article (paywall)

 

 

And see Honest Reporting analysis here: Over the span of just two days, the BBC, along with several other outlets, reported two alleged massacres of Palestinian civilians at humanitarian aid sites in Gaza. Both stories have spread rapidly and continue to do so. Both are false. And both reflect a deeply broken journalistic process that prioritizes sensationalism over accuracy and gives greater weight to terrorist propaganda than to verified facts. Analysis here

 

Footnote :

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) announced Monday that it had distributed 5.8 million meals in its first week of operations in Gaza. GHF further reiterated that Hamas reports of casualties near the sites were false. Report here

 

And see articles in Comment & Opinion below

 

GAZA CASUALTIES

 

David Libi, a 19-year-old Defence Ministry civilian contractor was killed by an explosive device last Thursday during IDF operations in the northern Gaza Strip.

On Monday, three IDF soldiers, Staff Sgt. Lior Steinberg, 20; Staff Sgt. Ofek Barhana, 20; and Staff Sgt. Omer Van Gelder, 22, two of them medics, were killed when they were extracting their comrades, whose vehicle had been hit by an IED in northern Gaza. Two other soldiers were wounded.

A reservist, Master Sgt. (res.) Alon Farkas, 27, was killed and another reservist seriously wounded fighting against Hamas in the northern Gaza Strip on Tuesday. In a separate incident In a separate incident Hamas used a drone to drop an explosive or a grenade on troops wounding two soldiers and a Shin Bet officer.

Reports herehere& here

 

Footnote:

There has been a recent uptick in drone usage by Hamas within Gaza, the IDF said Thursday after two soldiers were wounded in northern Gaza when a drone dropped a grenade on their unit. A reservist soldier serving in the area said, “They managed to smuggle drones during the ceasefire, when 600 trucks a day were coming in.”  Report here

 

 

HOSTAGES’ BODIES RECOVERED

 

The bodies of hostages Judith Weinstein Haggai, 70, and her husband, Gadi Haggai,72, were retrieved by the IDF in the early hours of Thursday morning in a special forces operation.  The Mujahideen Brigades kidnapped and held the bodies after they were murdered on Oct 7 in Kibbutz Nir Oz. Judith was an English teacher specializing in children with special needs. She was a poet and entrepreneur, and was dedicated to working for peace and brotherhood. His family called Gadi a “gifted man, with sharp intellect and a love for wind instruments, which he played since he was a young child. He was also a talented chef. Reports here& here

 

THE US & THE UN SECURITY COUNCIL

 

The U.S. on Wednesday vetoed a UNSC resolution demanding an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in Gaza, the release of all hostages, and the resumption of full-scale humanitarian aid deliveries.

U.S. Amb. Dorothy Shea told the UNSC: “U.S. opposition to this resolution should come as no surprise….We would not support any measure that fails to condemn Hamas and does not call for Hamas to disarm and leave Gaza. In recent months, Hamas has rejected numerous ceasefire proposals, including one over the weekend that would provide a pathway to end this conflict and release the remaining 58 hostages. We cannot allow the Security Council to reward Hamas’s intransigence.”
“It is Hamas that continues to threaten Israelis and puts Palestinian civilians in Gaza in harm’s way every day, using them as human shields. They have brutally suppressed those brave enough to challenge its despotic rule.”
“It is inexplicable that many members of this Council still refuse to acknowledge that Hamas could end this conflict tomorrow by surrendering and laying down its arms. It is unconscionable that the UN still has not labelled and sanctioned Hamas as a terrorist organization….Israel has a right to defend itself, which includes defeating Hamas and ensuring they are never again in a position to threaten Israel.

Secretary of State Rubio said “we will not support any measure that fails to condemn Hamas, does not call for Hamas to disarm and leave Gaza, draws a false equivalence between Israel and Hamas, or disregards Israel’s right to defend itself.”
“Performative efforts like this resolution undermine diplomatic efforts to reach a ceasefire. This resolution would have only empowered Hamas to continue stealing aid and threatening civilians.” Report here (paywall)Statements here & here

 

 

SYRIA

 

Hamas terrorists based in Syria, encouraged by the Hamas leadership, launched two rockets into Israel’s Golan Heights on Tuesday, the first time since the fall of Bashar Assad last year. The IDF responded with artillery fire and airstrikes in southern Syria.Report here

 

 

HOUTHI ATTACKS CONTINUED

 

The Houthis have continued to launch ballistic missiles at central Israel several times this past week, with recent attacks on Monday & Tuesday. Each attack sends millions of Israeli rushing to shelters.

The missiles were intercepted by air defence systems; however shrapnel fell in many areas including Jerusalem.Reports here& here

 

THE UK

 

The UK’s trade envoy to Israel Lord Ian Austin visited Haifa last week, despite London cutting off trade talks with Jerusalem in protest at Israeli policies in its war against Hamas in Gaza. He toured a customs scanning centre, the local port, the Haifa-Nazareth light rail project, and the Technion (Israel Institute of Technology). The UK government defended Austin’s visit, saying that while the free trade agreement talks had been suspended, the UK still seeks to maintain existing business relationships. Report here

 

 

A Labour Friends of Israel (LFI) delegation visited Israel and the P.A. last week. The 4 day trip included time in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and areas in the south of the country devastated by the 7 October attacks. The delegation marked 600 days since the 7 October attacks attending a protest for a hostage-ceasefire deal and met with released hostage Ohad Ben Ami, as well as families of hostages still being held in Gaza.  Report here

 

 

HIZBULLAH

 

Hizbullah is attempting to re-establish its presence in Southern Lebanon. Residents of southern Lebanese villages, many of them Hizbullah strongholds, are gradually returning to their homes, resuming daily life, and awaiting aid and reconstruction. A Hizbullah-linked civilian group, Wa A’inu Ala al-Birr, allows the organization to operate under the guise of social aid.  Article here

 

 

COLORADO ATTACK

 

Mohamed Soliman, 45, yelled “Free Palestine” and threw incendiary devices into a demonstration to remember the Israeli hostages who remain in Gaza on Sunday in Boulder, Colorado. On Wednesday, authorities raised the number of people injured in the attack to 15 from 12, plus a dog; the victims are eight women and seven men ranging in age from 25 to 88. At least one was in critical condition. The perpetrator was in the U.S. illegally, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Reports here & here

 

Barbara Steinmetz, the 88-year-old Holocaust survivor who was burned during the attack told NBC News “We’re Americans,” she said. “We are better than this. That’s what I want them to know. That they be kind and decent human beings.”Report here

 

Following Sunday’s attack, the group’s weekly demonstrations will continue next Sunday with renewed strength.Report here

 

Footnote:

Boulder is an “international sister city” of Nablus. Article here from 2016

 

IMMIGRATION

 

According to the Jewish Agency, more than 43,000 olim (new immigrants) from dozens of countries have arrived in Israel since Oct. 7, 2023. 1/3 are between the ages of 18 and 35.  Jewish Agency Director-General Yehuda Stone said: “In every encounter with new olim – especially those who chose to tie their fate to ours after October 7 – I feel their deep sense of belonging and belief in our future.”
“That’s the essence of Zionism: the understanding that we’re one people with one story and one mission.” Report here

 

 

CHESS

 

Young Israeli chess champion Noam Sasson (11) has won the 4th international U20 tournament in Vigevano, Italy. 161 participants from 7 countries competed. Photo here

 

COMMENT & OPINION

 

Gaza War

 

Brendan O’Neill: Will these people, like the BBC, admit that their feverish claims were ‘incorrect’? In a sense, it doesn’t matter. The damage is done. And no number of corrections will undo it… Yet the rest of us, those of us who still believe truth matters, have a responsibility to reckon with the events of the past three days. To my mind, this is the most reckless reportage we have seen of this war. It speaks to the almost complete untethering of the West’s coverage from the principles of objectivity and truth, and its drift into a neo-imperial crusade whose aim is nothing less than to single Israel out as the savage in the family of nations… The untruths have piled up this past fortnight. We were told 14,000 Gazan babies would die in 48 hours – not true. We were told Hamas does not hide in hospitals – not true. And we were told the IDF picked off the starving – not true. We are being lied to about Israel on an industrial scale – day in, day out. I have never seen anything like it. Full article here

 

J.Post Editorial: War is conducted in a fog, and the truth can be murky. However, the world media’s tendency to assume that Israel is responsible for any atrocity that Hamas attributes to it is indicative of the coverage of the Gaza war in general. Most stories about destruction in Gaza now rarely even mention the 58 hostages being held by Hamas, let alone the October 7 attack. And when they do, it’s like a footnote that is totally disconnected from the Israeli ‘aggression’ that’s the main focus of the vast majority of stories.

The blood libel conducted against Israel over the weekend regarding the aid centre shooting is bound to have far-reaching repercussions, some of which will be felt in the US, Europe, and anywhere that Jews stand proudly for Israel. Full editorial here

 

John Spencer & Arsen Ostrovsky: The US-Israel Gaza Aid Plan is working – which is why Hamas is spreading lies about it.

…the international community, led by UNRWA, had been the primary source of humanitarian assistance in Gaza and for years willfully turned a blind eye to Hamas’ exploitation of aid, failing to enforce meaningful oversight, even employing Hamas members (many who took part in the Oct. 7 attacks) as local staff and using its facilities to hoard aid for terror operations.

Now, UNRWA would seemingly rather see the GHF fail, and the people of Gaza actually starve, so it can continue using the Jewish state as its forever-scapegoat.

Israel has taken unprecedented steps to minimize civilian harm, facing an enemy that embeds in civilian areas, hoards humanitarian aid and sacrifices its own people to gain global sympathy.

Humanitarian aid must never be a bargaining chip for terrorists.

But by insisting on a system that leaves aid in Hamas’ hands, much of the international community has allowed exactly that.

Hamas would rather starve its own people than lose control over them.

The GHF is delivering what countless international actors have failed to provide: direct, accountable, large-scale humanitarian assistance that does not empower a terrorist group…. That’s why Hamas is trying to sabotage this initiative. Full article here

 

D.Tel Editorial:Hamas is the Cause of Gaza’s Predicament

International opinion has turned against Israel. Hamas thinks nothing of using hospitals, schools or other civilian buildings to house its command posts, knowing they will be targeted by the IDF seeking to extirpate the group’s command structure. Inevitably civilians are killed, but the terrorist group considers them expendable.
Now, Hamas is using the efforts to bring humanitarian aid to Palestinians to further its media campaign against Israel. It is no longer able to control the delivery of food because Jerusalem has cut the UN out of the loop. When the UN ran the convoys they were intercepted by Hamas which then sold the goods at marked up prices.
Of course, it is appalling to see civilians die and a ceasefire deal on terms set out by the U.S. – accepted by Israel but rejected by Hamas – would be the best way forward. But such an outcome is increasingly difficult to achieve when the BBC’s narrative that Israel is always in the wrong permeates into the political discourse. Full editorial here (paywall)

 

Col. (ret.) Richard Kemp:
The EU’s foreign affairs chief says “Israeli strikes in Gaza go beyond what is necessary to fight Hamas.” Perhaps she should head to Jerusalem and give precise instructions to the IDF on what they should be doing to eliminate the Hamas terrorist regime.
She can tell them how you kill terrorists entwined into the population, hiding in tunnels beneath schools, hospitals and houses, protected by the most comprehensively booby-trapped terrain in the history of warfare, all while minimizing harm to civilians. Of course, she doesn’t have a clue.
Fortunately the IDF does and has been waging this hugely complex war for 19 months with a combination of fighting prowess and humanitarian restraint that no other army could match. If the EU, the UN and those governments so eager to condemn the Jewish state actually wanted to achieve peace, they would support Israel in words and actions, and condemn Hamas at every turn.Full article here (paywall)

 

 

Andrew Tobin: Israel is in the midst of the second phase of a three-phase Gaza war plan that ends with the military in full control of the Strip, according to current and former officials with knowledge of the planning.
Phase Two began last week and is intended to last about two months. During this time, the IDF aims to further degrade Hamas’s leadership and infrastructure, take control of 75% of Gaza, move all civilians into three areas in the remaining 25%, and work with an American organization to control the entry and distribution of humanitarian aid.
Phase Three involves relocating all the civilians to the Hamas-free zone, laying siege to the rest of Gaza, and completely destroying Hamas. Article here

 

Hamas

 

Khaled Abu Toameh: The leaders of the Iran-backed Hamas terror group do not seem to be in a rush to end the war with Israel: after all, they and their family members are not living in the Gaza Strip, which has been turned into a war zone over the past 20 months.  Hamas rejected Witkoff’s proposal because it wants to continue its jihad (holy war) against Israel. As far as Hamas is concerned, October 7, 2023 was just another phase in its jihad to kill Jews and destroy Israel.

Hamas’s leaders do not care if 50,000 or 100,000 Palestinians are killed as a result of their refusal to release the hostages, disarm, and relinquish control of the Gaza Strip. For Hamas, “the end” (eliminating Israel) justifies “the means” (sacrificing Palestinians as “martyrs” in the jihad against Israel).

That is why there is no alternative to a total defeat of Hamas and its removal not only from power, but also from the entire Palestinian arena. Full article here

 

The danger of attempting to breach a maritime blockade

 

Lt.-Col. (res.) Maurice Hirsch:
According to the Laws of War and the Laws of the Sea, any vessel that attempts to breach a legally imposed maritime blockade becomes a legitimate military target. The country that imposed the blockade is thus entitled, and possibly even required, to use all necessary force to prevent the intended breach.
..To act against a vessel that has the clear intention of breaching a blockade, the party that implemented the blockade does not have to wait until the blockade is actually breached. After Israel prevented the Mavi Marmara from attempting to breach the maritime blockade of Gaza in 2010, the UN Secretary-General appointed a Panel of Inquiry to examine the events. In its report, the Panel concluded “that Israel’s naval blockade was legal.” Thunberg & co are nothing more than useful idiots promoting the alleged right of the terrorists to “resist” (including by massacring women, children, and the elderly), undermining Israel’s right to self-defence and the right to protect its citizens against genocidal terrorists. Full article here