Israel Weekly News Roundup Oct. 27, 2023

The Israel-Hamas War, About to Enter Week Four

Anat Saragusti

Hamutal Gouri

, and

Ian Joseph

Oct 27, 2023

The War In Gaza Continues, Still No Indication of a Massive Ground Operation

The war between Israeli forces and Hamas in Gaza continues. Most areas in Israel are under threat of missiles and rockets from Gaza. Alarms go off several times a day, sending people to safe rooms and shelters. All the communities on the border with Gaza, which were hit hard by the Hamas attack on October 7th, were evacuated. Most of them will not be able to return home for a long time, since their houses were burned to ashes or destroyed by missiles.

Israel is preparing for a ground operation. Till now, all the attacks on Gaza were executed by combat aircraft with a few limited ground incursions. The destruction in Gaza is on a large scale. Whole neighborhoods were destroyed, including the famous Al Rimal in Gaza City, which contained the residences of the Gazan business and intellectual community.

The concept is that Israel will not be able to win this war, unless troops go in and deal with Hamas operators who hide in a sophisticated extensive grid of underground tunnels said to be at least 500 km (310 miles) in length. Israeli forces have entered and operated in areas close to the border with Israel, as part of the preparation for the ground operation.

Meanwhile the US is preventing Israel from starting a full scale ground operation. President Biden, who is closely following developments in Israel and Gaza, said that Israel has to define its goals and targets, before it starts the ground operation. Plus there are voices in Israel and among the international community calling for the liberation of all hostages before any intended escalation through an extensive ground operation.

The number of casualties in Israel is 1,400 murdered, including more than 300 soldiers. 224 families were informed that their loved ones are being held as hostages in Gaza.

The number of casualties in Gaza is rising rapidly. Close to a million people are staying in a tent camp in southern Gaza. According to the Gazan Health Ministry, more than 7,000 people have lost their lives, 2,360 of them children.

Four Hostages Released, at Least 224 Hostages Still Held in Gaza by Hamas

In the past week, Hamas released four female hostages; Judith Raanan (59) and Natalie Raanan (17) a mother and daughter from Chicago were released last Saturday, and two elderly women from kibbutz Nir Oz, Nurit Cooper and Yocheved Lifshitz were released several days afterwards. This, as the media reports that Qatar is negotiating with Hamas to free a significant number of Israeli and foreign hostages. Senior politicians in Israel called on Qatar, 'which harbors and finances Hamas leaders,' to exert its influence on Hamas to release the hostages.

According to information released this week, more than half the estimated 224 hostages held by Hamas have foreign passports from 25 different countries, including 54 Thai nationals, the government said on Wednesday. The government said 138 of the hostages had foreign passports, including fifteen Argentinians, twelve Germans, twelve Americans, six French, and six Russians and American and Canadian citizens, and Europeans.

Representatives of the forum of families of hostages met earlier this week with President Yitzchak Herzog, while other representatives traveled to New York to attend a session of the UN Security Council. The families were scheduled to meet with the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, but Israeli foreign minister Eli Cohen cancelled the meeting, following Guterres’ statement, that the Hamas attack on Israel, in which more than 1,400 people were killed, “did not occur in a vacuum”. However, some representatives of the hostages’ families did meet with Guterres.

Hundreds of people continue to stand in solidarity with the families of the hostages in front of the headquarters of the ministry of defense in Tel Aviv, calling for their immediate release. Quiet daily vigils also continue to be held in Jerusalem, Haifa and other cities around the country.

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85 Year Old Released By Hamas Holds Press Conference at Israeli Hospital

Yocheved Lifshitz, from Kibbutz Nir Oz was abducted on October 7^th, along with her husband, and spent seventeen days in a Hamas underground compound. During a press conference held at the Ichilov Medical Center in Tel Aviv, Lifshitz told the media that she went through hell on the day she was kidnapped, beaten, and dragged to Gaza. Lifshitz, a mother, grandmother and peace activist who used to drive children from Gaza to medical treatments in Israeli hospitals, described in chilling detail the ordeal of being held hostage by Hamas, the conditions in which the hostages are being held and how Hamas operatives are deployed in the subterranean compound. Yocheved’s husband, Oded Lifshitz, 85, is still held hostage by Hamas.

Yet Lifshitz also added that the treatment by Hamas operatives was OK, and that they provided them with basic food and medications. This statement, along with a photo documenting Lifshitz shaking the hand of one of the Hamas operatives, caused a wave of criticism by government officials and some media analysts, who said that this statement was nothing short of positive PR for Hamas and a disservice to the other hostages. Far right pundits viciously slammed her on social media, alluding to her longtime peace activism in a negative manner, while others, including some family members of hostages, supported Lifshitz and her right to tell her story in her own words.

The foreign media covering the issue highlighted the handshake between Lifshitz and the Hamas operative as a moment of humanity amidst the horrors of the war.

The Director General of the Ministry of Health summoned the Director General of the Ichilov hospital to a meeting, cautioning that the hospital is not to hold any press conferences of released hostages at the hospital. including the reports that some family members of hostages voiced their support for Lifshitz and her right to tell her story in her own words.

Escalation in the West Bank Causes Casualties Among Palestinians

More than one hundred Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since October 7th, most of them by the Israeli army, but some were killed by Jewish-Israeli settlers, according to Yesh Din (a human rights organization) report. The Israeli army is launching local military actions to prevent hostile activities by the Palestinians against Israelis and to prevent them from executing any attacks targeting settlers or places within Israel. The army uses attack helicopters for prevention and targeted killing, which up till now has been very rare in the West Bank. In the context of the war in Gaza, and what is going on in northern Israeli with Hizbollah, this escalation is worrying. Palestinians and human rights organizations report that the Israeli settlers use the fact that public attention, in Israel and among the international media, is focused on Gaza, and thus allow themselves to be much more aggressive towards the Palestinians. Their intimidation is more intense and brutal.

Israeli Government and Other State Agencies Are Not Functioning

Even after almost three weeks into the war, that started on October 7th, the ministries and state agencies that need to provide solutions, meet the needs of people who were the first target of the brutal and deadly attack by Hamas, communities that are devastated and evacuated from their homes, are not managing to operate properly.

Unfortunately, none of the ministries that should provide proper and organized plans and services to meet the needs of the people, have managed to do so. And the devastated communities have had to rely only on civil initiatives. Luckily, those initiatives are very organized, they have strong foundations and infrastructure, a lot of resources and many volunteers who are willing to do any kind of job and assist in all areas. Most of those organization are based on the organized groups that were established to protest against the judicial overhaul. They have channeled all their energies and abilities to help the attacked and displaced communities of southern Israel. The ministry of finance has not, to date, managed to draft a plan to help support the collapsing economy, and the minister of finance is still in a dispute and power struggle with the minister of the economy over jurisdiction.

PM Netanyahu Still Refrains From Taking Responsibility

Three weeks after the deadliest attack by Hamas, which is considered to be the most devastating security failure in the history of Israel, and still PM Netanyahu refrains from taking any responsibility for the event. In his last address to the nation, on Wednesday night, he stated that all things would be investigated, and everybody will have to explain and answer to questions, including himself. But he did not say that he is responsible. All other heads of State agencies, relevant to the security lapse, have already accepted their responsibilities and some have stated that they will resign when the war is over. The chief of staff, the head of intelligence, the head of the Shin Bet, and others have admitted that they failed to protect the communities on the border with Gaza and that they miscalculated the abilities of Hamas and their intentions. But PM Netanyahu has not admitted to any responsibility for the events of October 7. Not only that, but his people, supporters, close ministers and Knesset members are appearing on panels on television and giving interviews to media outlets, implying and suggesting that PM Netanyahu bears no responsibility since he was misled by the army and intelligent. People from the communities on the border with Gaza, who were the first targets of the attack, and are now staying in hotel rooms away from their destroyed homes, are furious and full of rage against PM Netanyahu, his government and ministries, that are all responsible and will not take any responsibility, and, furthermore, are not functioning to address their needs.

Those communities are still engaged emotionally and practically in endless funerals of their loved ones, forensic identification of the dead has not finished yet, and the families are still in mourning. But once the funerals and mourning are over, they are expected to protest and campaign strongly against the government and prime minister.

Israel Weekly News Roundup