Israel at War: What happened on day 40?
1,200 people murdered since October 7, including 368 soldiers • 238 held hostage by Hamas, four hostages released, one rescued
IDF found Hamas weapons, tech in Shifa hospital, but no smoking gun
Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad have used hospitals to store weapons and hold hostages.
IDF Chief Spokesperson R.-Adm. Daniel Hagari on Wednesday night presented Hamas weapons, military equipment, and intelligence technology which IDF soldiers found in more than 18 hours of searching Shifa Hospital since the early morning.
However, at press time, the IDF's findings were not the same level "smoking gun" as the vast explosives, advanced weapons, and hostage holding room which it found at Rantisi Hospital just a few days earlier.
Go to the full article >>Iran's 'Axis of Resistance' against Israel faces trial by fire
Iran does not recognize Israel's existence, while Israel has long threatened military action against Iran if diplomacy fails to curb its disputed nuclear activity.
Iran's supreme leader delivered a clear message to the head of Hamas when they met in Tehran in early November, according to three senior officials: You gave us no warning of your Oct. 7 attack on Israel and we will not enter the war on your behalf.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told Ismail Haniyeh that Iran - a longtime backer of Hamas - would continue to lend the group its political and moral support, but wouldn't intervene directly, said the Iranian and Hamas officials with knowledge of the discussions who asked to remain anonymous to speak freely.
The supreme leader pressed Haniyeh to silence those voices in the terror group publicly calling for Iran and its powerful Lebanese ally Hezbollah to join the battle against Israel in full force, a Hamas official told Reuters.
Hezbollah, too, was taken by surprise by Hamas' devastating assault last month that killed 1,200 Israelis; its fighters were not even on alert in villages near the border that were frontlines in its 2006 war with Israel, and had to be rapidly called up, three sources close to the Lebanese group said.
"We woke up to a war," said a Hezbollah commander.
The unfolding crisis marks the first time that the so-called Axis of Resistance - a military alliance built by Iran over four decades to oppose Israeli and American power in the Middle East - has mobilized on multiple fronts at the same time.
Hezbollah has engaged in the heaviest clashes with Israel for almost 20 years. Iran-backed terror groups have targeted US forces in Iraq and Syria. Yemen's Houthis have launched missiles and drones at Israel.
The conflict is also testing the limits of the regional coalition whose members - which include the Syrian government, Hezbollah, Hamas and other militant groups from Iraq to Yemen - have differing priorities and domestic challenges.
Mohanad Hage Ali, an expert on Hezbollah at the Carnegie Middle East Center think-tank in Beirut, said Hamas' Oct. 7 assault on Israel had left its axis partners facing tough choices in confronting an adversary with far superior firepower.
"When you wake up the bear with such an attack, it's quite difficult for your allies to stand in the same position as you."
Hamas pleas for help from axis
Hamas, the ruling group of Gaza, is fighting for its survival against an avenging Israel, which vows to wipe it out and has launched a retaliatory onslaught on the tiny enclave that's killed more than 11,000 Palestinians.
On Oct. 7, Hamas' military commander Mohammed Deif called on its axis allies to join the struggle. "Our brothers in the Islamic resistance in Lebanon, Iran, Yemen, Iraq and Syria, this is the day when your resistance unites with your people in Palestine," he said in an audio message.
Hints of frustration surfaced in subsequent public statements by Hamas leaders including Khaled Meshaal, who in an Oct. 16 TV interview thanked Hezbollah for its actions thus far but said "the battle requires more" .
Nonetheless, alliance leader Iran won't directly intervene in the conflict unless it is itself attacked by Israel or the United States, according to six officials with direct knowledge of Tehran's thinking who declined to named due to the sensitive nature of the matter.
Instead, Iran's clerical rulers plan to continue using their axis network of armed allies, including Hezbollah, to launch rocket and drone attacks on Israeli and American targets across the Middle East, the officials said.
The strategy is a calibrated effort to demonstrate solidarity for Hamas in Gaza and stretch Israeli forces without becoming engaged in a direct confrontation with Israel that could draw in the United States, they added.
"This is their way of trying to create deterrence," said Dennis Ross, a former senior US diplomat specializing in the Middle East who now works at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy think-tank. "A way of saying: 'Look as long as you don't attack us, this is the way it will remain. But if you attack us, everything changes'."
Iran has repeatedly said that all members of the alliance make their own decisions independently.
The Iranian foreign ministry didn't respond to a request for comment about its response to the crisis and the role of the Axis of Resistance, a term of disputed origin that has been used by Iranian officials to describe the coalition.
Hamas didn't immediately respond to questions sent to Haniyeh's media adviser, while Hezbollah also didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
Issues in Lebanon for Hezbollah
Hezbollah, the most powerful group in the axis, boasting 100,000 fighters, has exchanged fire with Israeli forces across the Lebanon-Israel border on an almost daily basis since Hamas went to war with Israel and more than 70 of its fighters have been killed.
Yet, like its backer Iran, Hezbollah has avoided an all-out confrontation.
The group has calibrated its attacks in a way that has kept the violence largely contained to a narrow strip of territory at the border, even as it has escalated those strikes in recent days, according to the people familiar with its thinking.
One of the sources said Hamas wanted Hezbollah to strike deeper into Israel with its massive arsenal of rockets but that Hezbollah believed this would lead Israel to lay waste to Lebanon without halting its attack on Gaza.
Hezbollah, which is also a political movement deeply involved in Lebanese government affairs, knows Lebanon can ill afford another war with Israel, more than four years into a financial crisis that has driven up poverty and hollowed out the country's governing institutions.
Lebanon took years to rebuild from the 2006 war, during which Israeli bombardment pounded the Hezbollah-controlled south of the country and destroyed swathes of its stronghold in the southern suburbs of the capital Beirut.
Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said in a Nov. 3 speech that Hamas had kept its attack on Israel a secret from its allies and this had ensured its success and not "upset anyone" in the axis. Hezbollah attacks at the Israeli border were unprecedented and amounted to "a real battle," he said.
America under fire
The United States, too, is keen to avoid the war spiraling beyond Gaza. Having fought two costly and ill-fated wars in Iraq and Afghanistan over the past two decades, it now finds itself bankrolling Ukraine's defense against Russia's invasion.
President Joe Biden has so far sought to limit the US role in the Gaza crisis mostly to ensuring military aid to Israel. He has also moved two aircraft carriers and fighter jets to the eastern Mediterranean, partly as a warning to Tehran.
The temperature is rising; at least 40 drone and rocket attacks have been launched at US forces by axis militias in Iraq and Syria since the Gaza war began in response to American support for Israel, according to the Pentagon. US officials say America has conducted three sets of retaliatory strikes against facilities in Syria used by militias linked to Iran.
On Monday, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin stressed the risk of another major front being opened in the conflict.
"What we've seen throughout this conflict, throughout this crisis, is tit-for-tat exchanges between Lebanese Hezbollah and Israeli forces," he told a news conference in Seoul. "No one wants to see another conflict break out in the north."
Israel looks north
Austin emphasized the need to avoid any regional escalation when he spoke to his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant over the weekend, according to a readout of the call.
The Israeli prime minister's office didn't immediately respond to a request for comment for this article.
Two Israeli security sources, who declined to be identified, said that Israel didn't seek any spread of hostilities but added that the country was prepared to fight on new fronts if needed to protect itself. They said security officials deemed the most potent immediate threat to Israel came from Hezbollah.
Enmity runs deep between Israel and Iran.
Iran does not recognize Israel's existence, while Israel has long threatened military action against Iran if diplomacy fails to curb its disputed nuclear activity.
In the current crisis, real politik may prevail for Tehran, according to Karim Sadjadpour, an Iran specialist at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace think-tank.
"Iran has shown a four-decade commitment to fighting America and Israel without entering into direct conflict. The regime's revolutionary ideology is based on opposition to America and Israel, but its leaders are not suicidal, they want to stay in power."
Go to the full article >>Israel is a 'terror state,' Turkey's Erdogan claims
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly denied that Hamas is a terrorist organization, calling Israel an "occupier."
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday Israel was a "terror state" committing war crimes and violating international law in Gaza, while repeating his view that Hamas was not a terrorist organization.
Speaking to lawmakers in parliament, Erdogan also called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to announce whether Israel had nuclear bombs or not, and added that the Israeli premier was a "goner" from his post.
He said Hamas was a political party that had been elected by Palestinians.
Not the first time
Erdogan's comments are echoes of previous similar statements he made since the October 7 massacre. He has repeatedly called Israel an "occupier", insisting that the Jewish State had been under attack by Palestinian "freedom fighters."
In early November, Turkey had recalled its ambassador to Israel, Sakir Ozkan Torunlar, for "consultations" due to the Israeli operation in Gaza.
Hamas officials have reportedly found solace in Turkey, among other Middle East countries, with top political and diplomatic officials of the terrorist organization living and operating outside of the Gaza Strip, according to the Military Intelligence Directorate.
Go to the full article >>Democratic Congressman: No ceasefire until Hamas is eliminated
"Ultimately, we have to do the job - to see the Middle East without Hamas," Congressman Brad Sherman, co-chair of the Congressional Israel Allies Caucus, said.
Democratic Congressman Brad Sherman (Calif.) told a room of other Congresspeople and pro-Israel Jewish and Christian activists on Tuesday evening that there can be no ceasefire in Gaza until the Hamas terrorist organization is eliminated.
"Ultimately, we have to do the job - to see the Middle East without Hamas," Sherman, co-chair of the Congressional Israel Allies Caucus, said.
Sherman was one of four keynote Congressional speakers at a reception hosted in the Capitol by the Israeli Allies Foundation and the Jerusalem Post. The intimate event was meant to bring critical Congressional voices into one room to hear from the family members of hostages and Hamas terror victims and to discuss the detailed rise in antisemitism in America and the world.
The other Congressional speakers included Doug Lamborn (CO-05), Brad Schneider (IL-10), and Chris Smith (NJ-10). Others, including Reps. Steve Cohen (D), Mike Lawler (R), Kathy Manning (D), Bill Johnson (R), Kat Cammack (R), Maria Salazar (R) were also in attendance.
"When Hamas decided to go further [and carry out the October 7 attack], they knew they would die, and they are dying by the thousands now thanks to the IDF," Sherman said. "But they were willing to do it to put those pictures on screens worldwide and mobile phones.
"We had a ceasefire on October 6, and then Hamas exploded out of Gaza," Sherman continued.
He said that Israel must complete their work in Gaza before a ceasefire allows the terrorist organization to regroup, citing a high-level Hamas official who told the Arab press, "We need another October 7 and another one after that and another one after that until Israel is destroyed."
The White House has mostly stood by Israel's request not to stop fighting in Gaza. However, US President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken had pushed for "humanitarian pauses" to allow Gazan civilians pockets of quiet.
Israel had initially argued against even those windows, although the country eventually agreed, and the pauses started over the weekend.
Gathering coincides with March for Israel
The Congresspeople convened for the event following a morning screening of a 43-minute footage compilation by the IDF from various sources such as Hamas body cameras, dashboard cameras, and social media. The footage underscored the brutality and barbarism of the Hamas terrorists.
The gathering also followed a powerful 2-hour March for Israel on the National Mall, drawing over 250,000 Jewish and pro-Israel participants.
The evening bi-partisan reception centered more on faith-based diplomacy, which Israel Allies Foundation US Director Jordanna McMillan said is "steadfast" and "never going to diminish."
"The bi-partisan nature of faith-based diplomacy can be felt in legislatures around the world as we fight the bias and distortion we see in the United Nations," said Israeli Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan, who was also at the event.
"It is either us or them," Erdan said about the Hamas-Israel war to a clapping crowd. "And it must be us."
Congressman Lamborn, a Republican, emphasized the recently approved $14 billion military aid package for Israel during his address. This substantial allocation aims to enhance Israel's missile defense systems, including the Iron Dome and David's Sling, by adding over 100 new launchers and nearly 15,000 Tamir interceptors. As relayed by an administration official to Time, the package also includes provisions to replenish America's stockpile of interceptors, artillery shells, and other essential munitions in support of Israel's defense capabilities.
Lamborn said he recently met with a representative of the Rafael defense company that makes the Iron Dome and that it is near competition for an upgraded system that would use energy or lasers to bring down missiles.
Other event speakers included Marc Belzberg, chairman of OneFamily Fund; Moshe Emilio Lavi, whose brother-in-law, Omri, a Nahal Oz resident, is held hostage in the Gaza Strip; Eitan Neishlos, a young businessman, philanthropist and Jewish leader living in Dubai after the Abraham Accords; Doron Almog, chairman of the Executive of the Jewish Agency - four of his family members were abducted by Hamas and two were killed on October 7; Mark Wilf, chairman of the Board of Governors of the Jewish Agency; and Yaron Ashkenazi, founder and managing partner of Awz Ventures, who represented the high-tech sector in the service of commemoration of the victims of the October 7 Hamas massacre and how to use technology to help mitigate crises, fight antisemitism and hate.
McMillan, who was notably moved by the speeches of the victims and survivors (see related stories on jpost.1eye.us), said that Israel is fighting a war on three fronts: military, media, and diplomatic.
"Our goal with the Congressmen is to be the diplomatic Iron Dome for the Nation of Israel," she said.
Go to the full article >>Gallant: Israel will not stop until mission fulfilled
Notably, the meeting took place as the IDF was mid-operation inside the controversial Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.
“The State of Israel will not stop its operations in Gaza until our troops fulfill their missions - destroying Hamas and returning our hostages home to their families," Defense Minister Yoav Gallant stated during a meeting with US Special Coordinator for the Middle East Brett McGurk on Wednesday.
Notably, the meeting took place as the IDF was mid-operation inside the controversial Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, the center of large amounts of global media coverage of the war for much of the last week.
Despite intense global criticism, top US officials have backed Israel's narrative that Hamas is abusing the hospital by storing weapons and having its forces stationed there, and McGurk's meeting with Gallant mid-operation in the heat of the criticism also has significance.
The defense minister's publicizing his commitment to continuing the war, despite increased pressure from the US and EU allies for an extended humanitarian "pause" (rather than a ceasefire) was also an indication of the evolution of the two countries' dialogue on the issue.
Gallant began the meeting, also attended by IDF Maj. Gen. Strategic Affairs Commander Eliezer Toledano, Defense Ministry Diplomatic-Security Chief Dror Shalom, and Brig. Gen. (res.) Professor Yitzchak Kreiss, by expressing his appreciation to the US administration for the ongoing support and deep partnership on all levels.
Kreiss, besides being Director-General of Israel's Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer and working extensively with the IDF, also worked with the Mossad extensively at the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic on mixed medical-national security issues. Including him in the meeting could be important in Israel helping McGurk interpret the various hospital controversies involved in the Israel-Gaza War.
Gallant also briefed McGurk on IDF operational developments in Gaza, and the complexities both of the hostage situation and of Hamas's systematic use of mosques, schools, and other civilian locations, beyond the hospitals issue.
Need to curb West Bank violence
The two also discussed humanitarian aid efforts by Israel to Gaza's civilian population.
A US National Security Council statement just before the trip said that in Israel McGurk would, "discuss Israel’s security needs, the imperative of protecting civilians in the course of military operations, as well as ongoing efforts to secure the release of hostages, and the need to rein in violent extremist settlers in the West Bank."
"In the West Bank, Mr. McGurk will discuss the Biden Administration’s support for the Palestinian Authority and its essential role as the representative of the Palestinian people, as well as the need for reforms to promote long-term stability in both the West Bank and Gaza, and the aspirations of Palestinians to live with equal measures of freedom, security, and dignity in a state of their own," added the statement.
Close to 300,000 march for Israel in Washington, decry antisemitism
According to the organizers, this has been the largest pro-Israel rally in the history of the United States.
WASHINGTON – Close to 300,000 demonstraters gathered in Washington on Tuesday for the March for Israel, to demand the release of hostages under Hamas captivity, and demonstrate their determination to combat the increasing levels of antisemitism since October 7.
According to the organizers, this has been the largest pro-Israel rally in the history of the United States. At the rally, the humming of Hatikvah carried throughout the crowd for what seemed to be miles, while Israeli flags painted the multitude of attendees in blue and white.
The rally was organized by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations (CoP) and the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA). Estimates early in the day named the rally as the biggest one in support of Israel in the US to date.
Before the rally started, students and youths gathered before noon at a special pre-march youth rally for Israel. Sponsored by Root One in partnership with Hillel International Movement, Prizmah, The Jewish Education Project, and others, students from USY, Young Judea, Tsofim of North America, Ramah Camping Movement, NCSY and MaccabiaUSA, students of Jewish day schools and high schools also attended the youth rally.
Sophie, a tenth grader from a Minneapolis public school, flew in on a chartered plane for the rally. “It’s a really crazy time to be at public school – a lot of times you don’t know if you can be yourself or how other people will react to what’s going on,” she said. “I’m rallying to support everyone who is affected by this, especially all of my friends and family in Israel.”
Bina, an eighth grader from a NYC public school, explained that she is not surrounded by a lot of Jews in her daily life. “I think it’s really important to stand up for what I believe in, because there are so many other opinions around me, I’m worried to be myself but this is a really good opportunity to share my opinion.”
“I think it’s important to be here and help Israel and to free the hostages,” said Ruby, a sixth grader from a NYC public school
Religious a-cappella group The Maccabeats led the US national anthem, with Israeli singer Omer Adam following with a moving rendition of Hatikvah.
Featured speaker Natan Sharansky, the former chair of the Jewish Agency for Israel and Soviet dissident, told the pro-Israel crowd: “The outcome of our struggle can be only our victory.”
This was Sharansky’s third feature at a mass Israeli march. The two previous ones were related to Soviet Jewry in 1987 and the need for US endorsement of Israel during the 2002 Intifada. He took the opportunity to condemn the worrisome antisemitism on campuses across the US.
Sharansky welcomed the Milken Institute’s Arielle Mokhtarzadeh, and Mijal Bitton from the Shalom Hartman Institute. Both described the generational trauma they said they faced as Jews from Iran and Argentina, respectively. They paid ode to America, it’s alliance to Israel, and trust it will listen to the concerns of Jewish American citizens.
JFNA chair Julie Platt then introduced Israeli President Isaac Herzog, who delivered a message broadcast live from the Western Wall in Jerusalem. “From the most sacred site in the Jewish world,” he said, the “people of Israel are eternal, and no one will break us.
He thanked the crowd then: “From the Jewish symbol of fulfillment of our ancient dreams, to the American symbols of freedom, liberty, and democracy. Thank you.
“Today we come together as a family, one big mishpacha, to march for Israel. To march for the babies, the boys and girls, women and men viciously held hostage by Hamas. To march for the right of every Jew to live proudly and safely in America, in Israel and around the world. Above all, we come together to march for good over evil, for human morality over blood thirst. We march for light over darkness.
“Eighty years ago, Jews came out of Auschwitz and vowed ‘never again’. As the blue and white flag was hoisted over our ancient homeland, we vowed ‘never again’. Forty days ago, a terrorist army invaded the sovereign State of Israel and butchered hundreds upon hundreds of Israelis in the largest massacre since the Holocaust. Let us cry out, together: Never again. Never again is now.”
CoP chair Harriet Schleifer welcomed ambassadors to the stage then, including US Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism Deborah Lipstadt. Both introduced US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), and Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA).
All showcased their support of the Jewish state, expressed disgust at Hamas’s atrocities, and committed to the release of the civilian hostages. They explained that a call for a ceasefire is “ridiculous,” and heeded the dangers of the “ignorant” rhetoric being spread around college campuses. Jeffries called it a “cancer.”
The crowd joined the representatives in chants, exclaiming, “We stand with Israel.” Israeli singer Ishay Ribo took the stage next, followed by actress Debra Messing, who shared her own words of grief, empowerment, and outrage. She emphasized the war against antisemitism must be fought by the Diaspora Jewish community, noting the murder of Paul Kessler, an elderly Jewish man who died from injuries he sustained during an altercation with pro-Palestinian protesters in Los Angeles.
Messing held a moment of silence for the victims of October 7, and then introduced Orna Neutra, the mother of hostage Omer Neutra and Alana Zeitchik and cousin of six hostages. They were accompanied by the co-chairs of the Bipartisan Task Force Combating Antisemitism (BTFCA), Rep. Kathy Manning, Sen. Jacky Rosen, and Rep. Chris Smith. The heartbreaking segment held one message: Bring the hostages home.
Antisemitism on US campuses growing
The crowd was then addressed by two college students, Sabrina Soffer, who attends George Washington University, and Noa Fay, who attends Columbia University. Both expressed their appreciation and importance for this rally as they face antisemitism on campus.
College students have been at the forefront of antisemitism in America since Hamas’s surprise massacre attack on Israel, which murdered 1,200 mostly civilians, including 30 Americans in the early morning of October 7. Hamas took 236 people hostage, including nine Americans, and wounded about 3,400 people.
DC resident Rachel Cohen, who recently graduated from a local university, told of the displays of antisemitism there: “There was the projection on the library named after a Jewish couple that said ‘Divestment from Zionist genocide now’ and ‘Free Palestine From the River to the Sea,’ and ‘Glory to our martyrs.’ Photos of hostages were also torn down in the Hillel building.”
She added that she tries to “not make it as obvious that I’m Jewish by being not descriptive….” To the people at the rally, she said: “Even if you’re the only Jew, you don’t have to feel bad for showing who you are.”
Elan Carr, CEO of the Israeli-American Council (IAC) and former US combating antisemitism envoy told the Post during the rally "Israeli-American families have lost friends and loved ones, and virtually all have close friends and relatives called to IDF service.
“Just as almost every family in Israel has been directly impacted by the attacks and their aftermath, so too are Israeli-American families personally affected. That's why the voice of Israeli-Americans is so central a component of the Jewish-American community and why we are turning out for the March on Washington in enormous numbers," Carr concluded.
The rally concluded with final words from JFNA CEO Eric Fingerhut, and CoP CEO William Daroff.
ZVIKA KLEIN contributed to this report.
Truck with fuel begins crossing into Gaza via Rafah
A truck carrying fuel has begun to cross from Egypt to the Gaza Strip via the Rafah border crossing, Egyptian local media and two security sources said on Wednesday.
Witnesses said two other trucks were lined up waiting to cross after the first one.
Go to the full article >>Shifa doctor says staff hiding from gunfire during Israeli raid
A doctor at the Gaza Strip's Shifa hospital told Reuters on Wednesday that gunfire outside the compound forced staff to stay away from windows for their safety after an Israeli raid.
Israeli forces said they were raiding the complex because Hamas has a command center underneath it and uses connected tunnels to hold hostages, an allegation that doctor Ahmed El Mokhallalati denied.
Go to the full article >>IDF soldiers continue operations in Gaza as Hamas loses control
Bedouin Sheikhs vow and encourage trust in IDF in war with Hamas
The Bedouin population was massacred violently on October 7th, as many farmers went to milk cows in the early morning hours and were murdered and kidnapped instead.
Sheikhs and community leaders from Israel's Bedouin community have condemned the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel and called for trust in the IDF in a press conference last week. Sheikh Kaid Alaesam of Tel Sheva vowed "There will be no Guardians of the Wall 2," referring to the 2021 military operation in Gaza.
"The Bedouins are busy with the war. We have had missiles hit our homes, we have paid with our lives. With the lives of our children. To come and agitate? You should always keep in mind that there are exceptions, but this does not reflect on the whole society," Alaesam said.
At least 21 Bedouins were killed by Hamas terrorists in the October 7 massacre, with some kidnapped and held hostage.
He also added that the Bedouin population of Israel has made a serious effort to help with war efforts.
Alaesam's statement emphasized the surprise attack and compared Hamas perpetrators to hunting animals. He also emphasized that those kidnapped and brought into Gaza need to be returned safely. This includes both children and the elderly.
"I trust the security forces. The Bedouin population paid a very heavy price," he said. "I saw the horrors, massive chaos in the country. I am glad that the situation is now under control. I trust the IDF to know how to separate the terrorists from the civilian population."
The Bedouin makeup in Israel
Bedouin citizens, who are ethnically Arab and Muslim, make up about 4% of Israel's total population. They mostly live in the Negev desert and northern Israel.
Bedouin Head of Regional Council Al-Batuf Ahed Rhall said last month that there are at least 7 other Bedouin civilians thought to be missing but, as some bodies are still being identified, the fate of some remains unclear.
Another community leader, Sheikh Gideon Abu Savit, also commented. "After the shocking incident that happened on October 7th, we had to raise our voices to the citizens of Israel and the whole world. We condemn the event, there is no word to describe the horrors."
Abu Savit added that in these times, the Jewish and Bedouin communities are united. "This is a result of the weeds that have deteriorated as a result of the incitement of the leaders of the Islamic movement," he said.
The family member of Osama Abu Essa, murdered by Hamas on October 7th, reflected on the suffering of the Bedouin community, an Arab minority group known historically as nomadic and living in Israel's Negev region, since the start of the war.
"The Bedouin society paid a heavy price. A member of my family was murdered after being abused by the terrorists. The Bedouin proved even in a war situation, they contributed a lot, many saved lives while risking their lives. We hope that after we get through the war, the decision-makers will treat us as loyal people whose destiny is here in the State of Israel," Osama's relative Moslah Abu Essa said.
Ali Ziadna, from the Israeli Bedouin city of Rahat, has given insulin to the Red Cross, hoping they will give it to his brother who is one of more than 200 hostages taken by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7 and dragged into captivity in Gaza.
"He's diabetic," Ziadna told Reuters in a phone interview after a meeting with President Herzog in Jerusalem. "Without it, his sugar could drop and he could collapse."
Ali's 53-year-old brother Yosef Hamis Ziadna, his sons Hamza and Belal, and his daughter Aisha were working on the Holit farm on Israel's border with Gaza.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Go to the full article >>Israel-Hamas War: What do you need to know?
- Hamas launched a barrage of rockets on October 7, with thousands of terrorists infiltrating from the Gaza border
- Over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals were murdered as of Tuesday, and more than 5,431 were wounded according to the Health Ministry
- IDF: 239 families of Israeli captives in Gaza have been contacted, 30 of them children