Israel Weekly News Roundup Oct. 20 2023
This Roundup will be different from the regular five items format due to the war situation.
This week’s roundup will be a summary of this weeks events to date.
President Biden In Israel
American President Joe Biden is the first American President to visit while Israel is in a state of war. Biden was received at the airport by Israel’s President Isaac Herzog and PM Netanyahu. They traveled to the Tel Aviv headquarters of the IDF (Israel Defense Force), where Biden visited the war room, met with the Israeli cabinet, the head of the national security council, and senior generals. He received a detailed briefing on the current situation with Gaza.
Later Biden met with a few families and relatives of the abducted and missing people from the attack on October 7th.
Biden also made time to meet with ordinary Israelis who survived the attack and became a local hero for doing so.
He ended his visit, which lasted several hours, with a moving statement to the people of Israel, emphasizing that America will always be with Israel and that America stands by Israel. He expressed his wish that Israel enable humanitarian aid to the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, who fled to the southern Gaza Strip, leaving their homes and everything they had behind in an attempt to find refuge by running for their lives from the extensive bombardment on Gaza.
Earlier this week Secretary of State Anthony Blinken came for his second visit to Israel within a week. Blinken was also invited to the war room and stayed there for the entire day, actively participating in all discussions and the decision making process.
President Biden sent two nuclear aircraft carriers with their support ships to the area, and American troops as well. It seems that the US is deeply involved in conducting the war, and that top American officers are here to make sure things will not deteriorate, that hostile countries in the Middle East are deterred from creating a second or third front, and that that Israel will act responsibly. It also indicates the fact that the American administration doesn’t trust PM Netanyahu and his government which have already proven their divisive policy.
Heads of States Are Coming to Israel to Express Support
A convoy of heads of states are making their way to Israel to express support and identify with Israel. Apart from support for Israel they also want to ensure that things do not get out of hand in terms of deterioration to a multi front war, and into a broader Middle East crisis. All leaders expressed their worry at the developments at Israel’s northern border with Lebanon and to help prevent Israel from being pushed into opening another front with Hizbollah, in Lebanon and Syria which would endanger the security of the whole region and the rest of the world.
PM Netanyahu accepted a visit from the Klaus Iohannis, the President of Romania, Chancellor Kurtz from Germany, and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak from the United Kingdom.
Differing Narratives Between Israel and Hamas on the Responsibility for a Hospital Bombing in Gaza
A hospital in Gaza Strip was severely bombed Tuesday evening, leaving a high number of casualties, mainly people who fled northern Gaza running away from Israeli bombardment. Hamas and Arab media outlets, mainly Al Jazeera, immediately accused Israel of responsibility for the explosion, claiming that the manager of the hospital got a phone call from an Israeli army officer, recommending he evacuate the hospital because it will be bombed. On the other hand, the IDF spokesperson and Channel 12 News claimed that a failed missile shot by Islamic Jihad hit the hospital by mistake. IDF provided a recording of an operator of Islamic Jihad telling his fellows that he mistakably hit a hospital. Channel 12 News had live footage showing the missile coming from Gaza and falling directly on the hospital. President Biden also stated that according to American intelligence sources the explosion at the hospital was caused by a malfunctioning Islamic Jihad missile.
As a result of this tragic event, the summit that President Biden was suppose to participate in was canceled. The summit was scheduled to include Jordanian King Abdullah, Egyptian President Sisi and the head of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas.
Who Is Responsible For the Security Crisis In Israel?
The main topic on the public agenda this week was the question of responsibility. Israel is facing one of the most difficult times and crises in its’ 75 year history. There was so much failure of so many state organizations and agencies that many Israelis, mainly in southern Israel where they were attacked, paid the highest price of all, with their lives. As a result, society has lost trust in the ability of the state to perform its most basic function, that of protecting citizens. The army failed, military intelligence completely failed to anticipate the intent of the training of Hamas and alert the army in advance, in due time. The army failed to respond in real time and citizens had to protect themselves because no one came to protect them when called. It took hours, sometimes more than 24 hours for any help to get there. So many people were brutally murdered, or burned to death in their safe rooms, that society at large found it hard to believe.
The military chief of staff has already taken responsibility and declared he would resign right after the war is over. The head of army intelligence also took responsibility and publicly apologized. So did the head of the Shin Bet, and a few ministers. But the only one who is chiefly responsible for all the failures, PM Netanyahu, has refused to take responsibility, and apologize. He has even refused to hold a press conference and answer questions. Actually he has not given an interview or held a press conference for the Israeli Hebrew media since he was elected to office in November last year.
The War on Gaza Continues, and also Fear of War with Lebanon
Israel continues to intensively bomb the northern Gaza Strip. Over 600,000 Palestinian people have already left their homes in the north and are heading south in long convoys, or mainly walking in a long march, carrying some belongings, accompanied by their small children and the elderly. In addition, Israel has stopped supplying electricity and water to Gaza, and the humanitarian crisis is growing.
President Biden asked Israel to allow humanitarian aid to Gaza. It seems that some trucks with medicines and other urgent supply will be allowed into Gaza from the southern border between Gaza Strip and Egypt.
Israel declared that it will not allow any humanitarian aid to Gaza, unless Hamas frees the more than 200 Israelis who were abducted by Hamas: women, children, babies, elderly and men.
In Israel, all the villages, Kibbutzim and even one town next to the border with Gaza, were evacuated. The residents have all been placed in hotels far from the war scene.
Meanwhile there has been an escalation in northern Israel with Hizbollah, which is trying to draw Israel into armed conflict. Israel is trying to avoid another front with Hizbollah in addition to the war with Hanas in Gaza. As a precautionary measure, all the villages and Kibbutzim in the north were also evacuated and their people were moved to hotels far from the border. On Friday, the residents of the northern city, Kiryat Shmonah were ordered to evacuate. Kiryat Shmonah is a city of 20,000 residents and is located about one mile (2km) from the border fence.
Gaza War Death Toll Continues to Rise
The scope of casualties of the Israel-Hamas war continues to unfold, as forensic identification continues. According to Israeli media, more than 1,400 Israeli civilians, soldiers, policemen and firefighters were killed, more than 4,200 injured and about 203 abducted since October 7th, during the Hamas deadly attack and in the following days. This is the highest number of Israeli war casualties since the 1973 Yom Kippur war.
The process of identifying the bodies of those killed in the October 7th Hamas attack in Jewish communities near the Gaza border may take weeks, according to forensic experts.
According to health authorities in Gaza, more than 3,785 people have been killed and more than 12,493 have been injured in Gaza since the beginning of the war.
In Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, activists held silent vigils, lighting candles, and reading the names of those who lost their lives in the Hamas attacks. A vigil was also held in the northern city of Haifa, to mourn the civilian casualties in Gaza. Police dispersed the vigil, and Police Chief Kobi Shabtai said he will show “zero tolerance” to those protesting ‘in support of Gaza” and that he will personally put those expressing support on buses to Gaza.
At Least 203 People Held Hostage by Hamas in Gaza
According to the IDF spokespersons office, at least 203 people, men, women, and children, are being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza. Israel reported at least 30 children are held by Hamas, and between 10 to 20 elderly. 100 to 200 Israelis are still defined as “missing” with their status and location unknown. Among the hostages are Israelis who immigrated to Israel from the US, Canada, Great Britain and France. President Joe Biden held a 90 minute zoom call last week with the families of American citizens held captive in Gaza and met with the families in person during his five hour visit to Israel this week. Canadian foreign minister Melanie Joly visited Israel last week and met with the families of Canadian citizens being held hostage in Gaza.
PM Netanyahu finally met earlier this week with representatives of the forum of families of the hostages, after he was publicly criticized for not having met with them sooner. However, several investigative journalists reported that in addition to the representatives of the forum, the PM invited, at the last minute a small group of far-right legal advocates who announced that “we need to stop this whiny behavior and win the war”. Their statement and unexpected presence at the meeting caused an uproar among the families’ forum members.
Earlier this week, Hamas released the first video of one of the hostages, French-Israeli 21 year-old Mia Schem. In the short video clip Mia, injured during the Hamas attack at the outdoor rave, said that she is being held hostage in Gaza and pleaded to be reunited with her family. In media interviews in Tel Aviv, Mia’s mother urged the government and world leaders to bring her daughter back home.
Daily silent vigils are being held in several locations around Israel, calling for the immediate release of the hostages. Women’s organizations and international human rights law experts sent open letters to the UN and foreign governments, urging them to take action for the immediate release of the hostages and the protection of women and girls from further sexual violence.
For Further Reading:
Biden and other heads of states: Here, here, here, here, here
Hospital in Gaza: Here, here, here, here, here
The war continues: Here, here, here, here
Death toll: Here
Biden and other heads of states: