Israel at War - What happened on day 32?

The White House accused Hamas of “genocidal intentions” against Israel, as it pushed back against criticism of the IDF’s military campaign in Gaza and its high Palestinian civilian death toll.

“Hamas actually does have genocidal intentions against the people of Israel. They would like to see it wiped off the map, they said so on purpose,” US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters in Washington on Tuesday.

“That is what is at stake here,” he stressed.

He spoke amid sharp criticism for US President Joe Biden’s support of Israeli actions in the Gaza war, which Hamas asserts has cost over 10,000 Palestinians lives, including those of over 4,000 children.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that thousands of those killed were military combatants but has not provided an actual death count.

Palestinians at the rubble of a destroyed building after an Israeli airstrike in the central Gaza Strip, on November 5, 2023 (credit: ATIA MOHAMMED/FLASH90)

US Representative Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), who is of Palestinian descent, has accused Biden of supporting the genocide of the Palestinian people in a video she posted on her X account. 

The video included chants from a pro-Palestinian rally that called for the destruction of the state of Israel through the chant, “from the river to the sea.” 

Kirby, in defending Israel’s military campaign, acknowledged the painful reality of Palestinian civilian deaths in Gaza.

“We are also keeping in our prayers, this one month in, the many thousands of innocent Palestinians who have been killed in the conflict since October 7th and the many more who are injured and wounded,” he said.

Israel not targeting civilians

He rejected, however, accusations that Israeli actions in Gaza were solely aimed at killing innocent people. He referenced in that defense, Hamas’ killing of over 1,400 people and its seizure of over 240 people hostage when it infiltrated southern Israel on October 7.

“We ought not to forget what happened one month ago, 1,400 people slaughtered in their homes [and] at a music festival,” Kirby said. 

“When Hamas decided to conduct operations, it was with the intent of killing people,” he stressed, as he underscored the extent to which the terror group used civilians as human shields.

“When you are fighting in urban warfare you have to make tough choices about your targets,” he said.

“We are going to keep urging them to be as discriminate and careful as possible,” he said.

But Israel, he said, “has a right and responsibility to defend itself” agaisnt “what was clearly an existential threat to their society and their people.”

The US is “going to continue to make sure that they have the tools and the capabilities that they need” to do so, he said.

Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen and incoming US Ambassador to Israel Jack Lowe held their first official meeting on Tuesday at which they discussed efforts to obtain the release of the Hamas-held hostages in Gaza, maintaing regional peace and the continued fight against Iran and its proxies.

"We will not stop or be silent until each and every one of the hostages returns safe and sound to their families," Cohen said after the meeting. "The release of all of those held by Hamas terrorists in Gaza is a national priority along with the elimination of the Hamas regime in Gaza.

"I congratulated my friend, the US Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew, upon his assumption of office and told him that Israel has no ally more important and no and closer friend than the US."

Hamas should be strongly condemned by higher education institutions, Education Minister Yoav Kisch told academic bodies around the world in an open letter on Tuesday.

Kisch began by expressing the trauma Israel has experienced since October 7.

"Alongside unbearable sorrow and grief for the loss of loved ones, and the abduction of innocent people, we are still in deep shock at the sheer brutality unleashed and barely coming to grips with the new reality," he wrote.

He went on to explain that the beginning of the academic year has been postponed due to 30% of students and faculty being called up and some institutions closer to Gaza being hit heavily by the loss of staff.

"Meanwhile, we hear alarming reports from across the globe of growing support, also in academic campuses, for the terrorist group Hamas that inflicted, and documented, unimaginable barbarous acts against our people," the letter continues. "Let there be no doubt: The heinous massacre that took place under Hamas guidance is a crime against humanity."

'It is our duty to make sure we convey the right message'

Kisch continued by explaining that higher education is where modern democratic values are upheld and taught and that the message conveyed to students will shape the future.

"It is our duty to make sure that we convey the right message and clearly denounce the unspeakable atrocities perpetrated by Hamas and Hamas itself," he wrote.

The letter ended by saying that terrorism and brutality cannot be the way forward and that anyone who stands for peace in the Middle East must condemn it.

"Let us stand together against terrorism," it concluded. "Let us make sure the values we cherish are protected. It is our only hope for a better future for all."

Emily Hand, the 8-year-old daughter of Irish-Israeli citizen, Thomas Hand, may still be alive, Irish national news service RTÉ News reported on Sunday.

Thomas Hand rose to international prominence when, several days after the Hamas massacres on October 7, he told CNN that he was relieved to hear the news that his daughter had been killed, because the alternative, that his daughter was a Hamas hostage, would be far worse.

“They just said, ‘We found Emily, she’s dead,’ and I went, ‘Yes,'” Hand told CNN. “I went ‘Yes,’ and smiled because that is the best news of the possibilities that I knew. 

In a heart-wrenching interview on @CNNsitRoom, CNN reporter Clarissa Ward speaks with @WolfBlitzer about a grieving father who finally received confirmation of his daughter's tragic death during the Hamas attack. Watch: pic.twitter.com/F9Yh3lW5KI

— CNN (@CNN) October 12, 2023

There was a mistake, however, as RTÉ stated that the Hand family had told them that the IDF believes there is a "high possibility" that Emily is being held hostage by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

A BURNT HOUSE in Kibbutz Be’eri, as seen this week. (credit: ILAN ROSENBERG/REUTERS)

Hand had previously expressed his initial fears that his daughter was held captive in the terrorist-controlled Palestinian enclave saying, “She was either dead or in Gaza, and if you know anything about what they do to people in Gaza, that is worse than death, that is worse than death.”

Emily had been staying with a friend in Kibbutz Be’eri, one of the southern Israeli communities hit hardest by Hamas’s terrorist infiltration on October 7.

At Be’eri, over 120 people were murdered by Hamas. Many others were kidnapped.

According to the RTÉ report, the Irish Embassy has officially confirmed that they currently believe the 8-year-old child had been abducted, rather than murdered.

DNA evidence suggests Emily not among the dead at Be’eri

An official from the embassy said the working theory was based on DNA results which did not reveal evidence of Emily’s remains being among those found at the kibbutz.

An embassy official said the revelation was based on DNA tests which indicated that Emily was not among those whose remains were found at Kibbutz Be'eri, which has led Israeli police to believe she could still be alive and held hostage in Gaza.

A terrorist was reportedly shot at by Israeli security forces after attempting to enter the West Bank settlement of Ofra, Israeli media reported on Tuesday.

In a video that circulated on social media, the terrorist was seen trying to enter the settlement with a knife. Footage shows him fleeing the scene after being shot at by Israeli forces.

ראשוני: מחבל חמוש בסכין הגיע לישוב עופרה.
כוחותינו פתחו לעברו באש. pic.twitter.com/9qaX1b8VtY

— הלל ביטון רוזן | Hallel Bitton Rosen (@BittonRosen) November 7, 2023

According to Maariv, a manhunt has ensued in search of the terrorist.

This is a developing story.

Israeli reservists and combat soldiers uncovered and destroyed underground tunnels going through a home in a civilian area of Beit Hanoun, on the northeast edge of the Strip, the IDF said Tuesday.

one of the reservists who took part in the operation was the nephew of former Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council head Ofir Libstein, who was one of the first victims of the October 7 massacre.

The IDF said that his nephew wished to "dedicate the explosion" and the destruction of the tunnels to Libstein, "as an act of defense for our nation," he was quoted by the military as saying.

A World Health Organization spokesperson said on Tuesday that over 160 healthcare workers had died on duty in Gaza and called for a lifting of restrictions on medical aid, saying some doctors were performing operations, including amputations, without anesthetic.

"Over 160 of the healthcare workers have died on duty while taking care of those injured and diseased. These are the people keeping the health system going through the dedication they have somehow found a way to keep some level of service going," Christian Lindmeier told a press briefing, without citing the source of information.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must call an election after the conclusion of Operation Swords of Iron in Gaza, former National Security Council head and reported Netanyahu confidant Yaakov Amidror told 103FM Radio on Tuesday.

Amidror, who served as NSC head from 2011-2013 under Netanyahu, said it "would be appropriate to hold elections" after the war.

"I think that, following the conclusion of all the inquiries and investigations over what happened here and the mistakes made prior to October 7, it would be appropriate to hold an election, let the people decide what it wants after it had become clear who is responsible for what," he told Ynon Magal and Amir Avivi.

Yaakov Amidror, the prime minister's former security loyalist

The former military general and security chief made headlines earlier this year after being one of 12 former security establishment heads who called on Netanyahu to slow the proposed judicial reform in an open letter sent in February.

Amidror publicly defended Netanyahu, particularly from the Case 3000 (submarine affair) charges and has generally stayed loyal to him, being recognized as one of the loudest public expert-level defenders of his policies.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi attend a Passover celebration on Tuesday April 4, 2023. (credit: ARIEL HERMONI/DEFENSE MINISTRY)

IDF is slowly squeezing Gaza, Amidror says

Speaking on the IDF's progress in Gaza, Amidror explained that "the IDF is slowly squeezing Gaza from all angles.

"They will reach central Gaza, destroy and kill what they plan to destroy and kill, but the question is - what will be with southern Gaza?" 

Amidror claimed that Israel "must carry out every humanitarian action needed to receive more time to operate from the international community. Allowing entry of water, food, medical equipment and even fuel is not expressed on the battlefield."

The former NSC head then argued that a solution to the conflict must not involve the establishment of a Palestinian state in the West Bank, as "it is clear that when we evacuate an area, the amount of security threats that are created is infinite.

"We cannot rely on the Right's hallucinations that [Palestinians] will choose to live in Jordan or that they will be Israeli citizens without a citizenship. This will not hold up in a modern world, in a democratic country," Amidror added.

Yonah Jeremy Bob contributed to this report.

Gazan civilians were seen waving white flags as they passed through an IDF humanitarian corridor set up on Tuesday morning, in footage shared by the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT).

In the video, dozens of white flags were waved as Palestinians passed en masse to the southern end of the Strip after Wadi Gaza, per Israeli military instructions.

The IDF allowed the passage of Gazan civilians to the southern Strip through a humanitarian corridor open from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. local time, Arabic-language military spokesperson Avichay Adraee announced Tuesday.

#عاجل أيها سكان غزة، انضموا الى الكثيرين الذين يتوجهون الى جنوب وادي غزة في هذه الساعة!
🔴أود أن أعلمكم أنه على الرغم من أن حماس تواصل المساس بالجهود الإنسانية الجارية لمصلحتكم وتستخدمكم كدروع بشرية، إلا أن جيش الدفاع الإسرائيلي سيسمح مرة أخرى اليوم بالمرور على طريق صلاح الدين… pic.twitter.com/9hxL6e8gfn

— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) November 7, 2023

In the announcement made on X, the spokesperson added footage of Gazans evacuating through the corridor in a video he said was taken earlier on Tuesday.

"If you care about yourself and your loved ones, head south according to our instructions," Adraee wrote. "Rest assured that Hamas leaders have already taken care of defending themselves."

This is the second day running on which the IDF has allowed for the passage of civilians southward without any reported terror incidents.

Last week, the IDF said that Hamas took advantage of a humanitarian window of opportunity that the IDF gave to the residents of Gaza and carried out attacks with mortar fire and anti-tank missiles.

Hamas used mortars and artillery to prevent the corridor from being opened to the movement of civilians, the Israeli military said.

Former ambassador Alon Roth-Snir was appointed as coordinator of international efforts for the release of hostages in Gaza, Israel's Foreign Ministry announced Tuesday.

Roth-Snir previously served as Israel's envoy in Norway, as well as deputy director-general of the Foreign Ministry's Strategic Affairs unit.

The coordinator will be an "avenue of aid and discussion" for families of hostages for any purpose needed, the ministry added.