|
Post by pieter on Oct 7, 2023 9:28:16 GMT -7
IsraelHamas claims to have captured Israeli commanderTerror group posts image of Israeli commander apparently being led through GazaBY Orlando Radice & Richard Percival October 07, 2023 13:44Israel Army Commander Nimrod Aloni apparently being led through GazaHamas has reportedly captured Israel Army Commander Nimrod Aloni.
The terror group posted an image of the commander Depth Corps wearing a T-Shirt and underwear apparently being taken through a street in Gaza City.
Commander Aloni is head of the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) Depth Corps and Military Colleges and was appointed earlier this year by Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant.
An IDF source told the JC the Hamas claim about Commander Aloni was "unclear and unconfirmed".
It comes after the massive assault by terrorist gunmen and barrage of rocket fire from the Gaza Strip this morning. Commander Nimrod Aloni (Photo: IDF)Hamas deputy chief Saleh al-Arouri told Al Jazeera that the terror group had captured “a big number” of Israelis. He claimed “senior officers” were among them.
He later claimed the group was engaged in a battle for freedom, adding: “This is not a [hit-and-run] operation; we started an all-out battle. We expect fighting to continue and the fighting front to expand.
"We have one prime target: our freedom and the freedom of our holy sites."
|
|
|
Post by pieter on Oct 7, 2023 9:38:14 GMT -7
|
|
|
Post by karl on Oct 7, 2023 10:21:45 GMT -7
Pieter
This was a news item that came across as a surprise, the surprise is not the action in self, the surprise is how this was allowed to occur in the first place. It has the sound of Israeli intelligence was asleep at the wheel. It is as it is, a very well-planned assault across the strip that should have been detected in early stages of planning.
For as above, it is not so good with the capture of Commander Aloni, for now he becomes a juicy hostage in the hands of Hamas. With this, it should become a principle of non-negotiation with Hamas for his release, for they will play the game for all it is worth, and these Arabs deserve nothing. If perhaps some would call myself as racist, will so be it, it is as it is. For with these people {Hamas} theirs is not a game, but a historic manner of meanness to Israelis in any manner open to them.
The time now is ripe for Mr. Netanjahu to re-Earn his reputation for effective action at the peril time that Israel now needs his skills.
Karl
|
|
|
Post by pieter on Oct 7, 2023 11:07:49 GMT -7
Karl,
Israel is in a weakened situation, because Israel is politically divided and the Government attacked the Israeli Army, IDF (The Israeli Defense Forces, Tzahal (צה״ל)) and the Israeli intelligence community. The political direction and course of the present government with it's divide and rule policy weakened the Israeli intelligence, military, political and diplomatic position.
The position of the Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant was weakened, because Netanyahu first wanted to fire him and then kept Yoav Gallant as Minister of Defense.
Israeli Minister of defense Yoav Gallant
Flag of Israel Minister of Defence
On 25 March 2023, Gallant spoke out against his own government in support of the protests against the government's proposed judicial reforms. He asked for the government to delay the proposed legislation to allow for negotiations between the ruling coalition and the opposition, which resulted in National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir calling for Gallant's dismissal. Netanyahu announced on 26 March that he was dismissing Gallant, sparking massive protests that night in several major cities across Israel. The following day, Gallant's office stated that he would be continuing in his post, as he had not yet been given an official notice of his dismissal. On 10 April, Netanyahu announced that he would not fire Gallant.
The incompetent Far right Itamar Ben-Gvir is Minister of National Security. The position of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is weakened due to discord in his own cabinet. From the other side he got resistance from with his own Likud party from members and voters who joined the opposition.
Itamar Ben-Gvir is Minister of National Security
The minister of Defense is weakened because you have 2 ministers of defense whom have different opinions and ideas about Defense, the ministers Yoav Gallant, Minister of Defense and Bezalel Smotrich, Minister in the Defense Ministry.
Yoav Gallant, Minister of Defense
Bezalel Smotrich, Minister in the Defense Ministry
Bezalel Yoel Smotrich (Hebrew: בְּצַלְאֵל יוֹאֵל סְמוֹטְרִיץ׳, born 27 February 1980) is an Israeli Far right politician and lawyer who has served as the Minister of Finance since 2022. The leader of the Religious Zionist Party, he previously served as a Knesset member for Yamina.
Smotrich is a settler in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, living in the settlement of Kedumim, which is deemed illegal under international law. His residence was also built illegally outside the settlement proper.
Smotrich's extremist politics and often racist and homophobic statements have led to several controversies. He is a supporter of expanding Israeli settlements in the West Bank, opposes Palestinian statehood, and denies the existence of the Palestinian people.
According to Ron Ben-Yishai, an Israeli journalist and a veteran war correspondent, in his dual role as Finance Minister and adjunct Minister in the Ministry of Defense, Smotrich intends to implement ideas set forth in his “Decisive Plan” (2017) which, according to Ben-Yishai, foresees -.
“ flood(ing), simply so, the areas of Judea and Samaria with settlements and Jewish settlers. When this happens, the Palestinians are supposed to understand that they have no chance to get a state of their own and they would have to choose between one of the three options – a life of subjugation under Israeli rule, emigration or a Shahid [martyr] death”.
It is clear that an this ‘Catastrophic’ intelligence failure that has left dozens of Israelis dead and hundreds more injured or taken prisoner was allowed to happen by “disarray” in the Israeli armed forces and intelligence services. The blame will ultimately lie with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Pieter
|
|
|
Post by pieter on Oct 7, 2023 11:22:17 GMT -7
‘Catastrophic’ intelligence failure let Hamas wreak havoc, says former Israeli security officialFormer deputy national security adviser Chuck Freilich told POLITICO that the blame will ultimately lie with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.Israeli security forces deploy in an area where civilians were killed in the southern city of Sderot | Oren Ziv/AFP via Getty Images By Gabriel Gavin October 7, 2023 4:33 pm CETAn unprecedented military offensive by Hamas fighters on Saturday that has left dozens of Israelis dead and hundreds more injured or taken prisoner was allowed to happen by “disarray” in the Israeli armed forces and intelligence services, said Chuck Freilich, the country’s former deputy national security adviser.
Freilich pointed out that the bloodshed comes 50 years and a day after the start of the 1973 Yom Kippur war. “That was a catastrophic failure in regards to Egypt and Syria. This is a catastrophic failure in regards to Gaza,” he told POLITICO.
“It’s a failure in terms of intelligence, operationally,” Freilich said. “It’s clear we were caught totally unprepared by this. The divisional headquarters responsible for Gaza was occupied, they’re in disarray, and so the whole response has been delayed.”
Freilich, who was deputy national security adviser in the early 2000s and is now a professor at Tel Aviv University’s Institute for National Security Studies, said that the Israel Defense Forces will retake captured towns and villages “relatively quickly.” That will be followed “by very large-scale attacks against Hamas,” he said. “The question is whether the objective will be to conquer Gaza and topple Hamas, or just hit them very, very hard.”
Meanwhile, he believes, questions will be asked about whether Iran helped to coordinate the Palestinian militants, given “it would be surprising if Hamas could do this by themselves.”
More than 40 people are already believed to have died in the offensive, which saw fighters infiltrating Israel from Gaza. Experts caution that the true casualty count could be far higher, given hundreds have been injured and Hamas has declared it has taken civilians and military personnel captive.
According to Michael Horowitz, a security analyst and head of intelligence with risk management firm Le Beck International, “the situation is extremely confusing because multiple hostage-taking incidents are still ongoing, and several areas are still under Hamas control. This means we don’t know the full extent of the attack, the number of dead and the number of hostages.”
“At the end of the day, this specific scenario — a complex attack with multiple hostage-taking incidents and an attempt to “conquer” Israeli towns for a few hours or even days — is not something Israel did not have on its radar,” Horowitz said, agreeing that the scale of destruction indicates “a major intelligence failure.”
“We are at war, and we will win,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a message to Israelis after the attack started. “The enemy will pay an unprecedented price.” Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant insisted that Hamas had “made a grave mistake.”
IDF spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said more than 2,200 rockets were fired into Israel Saturday morning, adding that Hamas militants infiltrated from land, sea and air.
For Freilich, the scale of the security failings are likely to have major repercussions for those in government.
“There’s always a short-term rallying around the flag. But once the dust settles we’ll have major political ramifications,” Freilich said. “After the Yom Kippur war, it took three and a half years for [then Israeli Prime Minister] Golda Meir’s government to be toppled — I don’t think it will take that long this time.”
|
|
|
Post by pieter on Oct 7, 2023 11:37:04 GMT -7
Al Arabiya (Arabic: العربية, transliterated: al-ʿArabiyyah; meaning "The Arabic One" or "The Arab One") is an international Arabic news television channel, currently based in Riyadh that is operated by the media conglomerate MBC. Launched on 3 March 2003, the channel is based in Dubai Media City, United Arab Emirates.Smoke rises following Israeli strikes in Gaza, October 7, 2023. (Reuters)Jennifer Bell, Al Arabiya EnglishThe “murderous” Palestinian group Hamas which launched the biggest attack on Israel in years on Saturday will “pay a price” for their “terrorist” actions, the Israeli foreign ministry told Al Arabiya English in an exclusive interview.
Hamas on Saturday announced launching a military operation against Israel dubbed “Operation Al-Aqsa Storm.” The surprise assault that combined gunmen crossing into Israel with a barrage of rockets fired from Gaza fell on the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah, "Rejoicing with/of the Torah", a Jewish holiday that celebrates and marks the conclusion of the annual cycle of public Torah readings, and the beginning of a new cycle.
Lior Hayat, spokesperson of the Israeli foreign ministry, told Al Arabiya English: “This morning Israel was attacked by the terrorist organisation Hamas. This was a combined attack, with up to a thousand rockets [fired] from the Gaza Strip [toward] Israeli cities, from Jerusalam, to Tel Aviv.”
“In parallel, there was a drone attack by the terrorists [on] cities and towns across the country; they murdered Israeli citizens and soldiers. They have taken hostages – both civilians and soldiers. That is the situation right now.”
Hayat said the Israeli foreign ministry had a message to Hamas.
“Israel will defend itself,” he said. “We call on the international community to condemn - as strong as possible - the terror attacks from Hamas.”
“We will do whatever it takes in order to get to each and every terrorist who participated in these attacks – they will pay a price. Everyone who took part… including Iran.”
“This was an unprovoked attack. An unprovoked attack leads to a war. The entire responsibility lies in the hands of the leaders of Hamas for everything that will happen in the Gaza Strip starting from today.”
He said Israel on Saturday was a “nation in shock by the murders, the attacks and the fact [that] civilians [were] targeted.”
“The Israeli government is now discussing ways of retaliation, and we will know more in the next few hours.”
The Consulate General of the State of Israel in Dubai also spoke to Al Arabiya English on Saturday and denounced the mass attack.
A spokesperson for the Consulate said in a statement Hamas will “bear the consequences” of the “extensive terrorist attack” as it said it was working to safeguard all Israel residents.
“This morning a massive firing of rockets into Israeli territory from Gaza began, and Hamas terrorists infiltrated Israeli territory in several different locations,” the statement said. “This constitutes an extensive terrorist attack on the civilian population in Israel during Simchat Torah, when hundreds of thousands of Israelis were on their way to synagogues to celebrate with their communities and families.”
“As part of the ongoing attack, the terrorist organization is firing missiles towards towns in the south and center, as well as towards Jerusalem, using indiscriminate fire targeting civilians. Concurrently, Hamas terrorists infiltrated Israeli territory to maximize harm to civilians.”
The Consulate said Israel’s security forces are tirelessly working to protect the citizens of Israel on all fronts.
“The terrorist organization Hamas initiated an extensive attack on the citizens of Israel, involving widespread and indiscriminate firing of missiles and rockets at Israeli citizens, from the southern areas to Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Hamas terrorists also infiltrated Israeli villages and attempted to harm families and individuals on their way to synagogues.”
“This assault comes after a long period during which Israel has been working towards bringing calm to the Gaza Strip while making extensive efforts to improve the civilian situation there.”
“This attack once again demonstrates, without a doubt, that Hamas is not interested in the safety and well-being of the citizens of the Gaza Strip. Instead, they view them as pawns in their efforts to harm the citizens of Israel.”
It said the Israel is committed to protecting its citizens in every way.
“Hamas, as the authority in the Gaza Strip, is responsible for this attack and will bear the consequences.”
|
|
|
Post by pieter on Oct 7, 2023 11:50:00 GMT -7
|
|
|
Post by pieter on Oct 7, 2023 11:51:22 GMT -7
|
|
|
Post by pieter on Oct 7, 2023 11:52:08 GMT -7
|
|
|
Post by pieter on Oct 7, 2023 11:52:58 GMT -7
|
|
|
Post by pieter on Oct 7, 2023 11:57:35 GMT -7
|
|
|
Post by pieter on Oct 7, 2023 12:05:34 GMT -7
|
|
|
Post by karl on Oct 7, 2023 12:24:43 GMT -7
|
|
|
Post by pieter on Oct 7, 2023 13:26:23 GMT -7
|
|
|
Post by pieter on Oct 7, 2023 14:24:21 GMT -7
|
|