News Digest — 10/15/24
Netanyahu: ‘We’ll Continue To Strike Lebanon Without Mercy’
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday (14th), visited the IDF Golani Brigades Training Base which was hit Sunday evening (13th) by a UAV of the Hezbollah terrorist organization.
The Prime Minister visited the dining hall that was hit and spoke with the commanders and soldiers about the difficult incident in which four fighters were killed and dozens were wounded. The Prime Minister was impressed by the resourcefulness of the fighters and medics who treated the wounded, and commended them.
Prime Minister Netanyahu stated at the base, “I am here at the Golani base that was hit Sunday (13th) by UAVs of the murderous Hezbollah terrorist organization. You hear the shooting in the distance; those are Golani Brigade soldiers who are continuing to train for the continuation of the campaign.”
“First of all, I would like to send condolences to the families of the four heroic soldiers who fell here yesterday: Sgt. Omri Tamari; Sgt Yosef Hieb; Sgt. Yoav Agmon; and Sgt. Alon Amitay – may their memories be for a blessing. May God avenge them, “ he said.
“From here I am going to visit the wounded who were injured in The Sunday night (13th) attack. Together with the entire nation, I pray for their quick recovery,” he added. “They and their fellow soldiers who are recovering here, and the soldiers who fell – they are the generation of victory.”
“You are fighting in a difficult war against Iran’s axis of evil that seeks to destroy us. They will not succeed,” Netanyahu told the soldiers. “We are continuing to fight. We are paying a painful price but we have considerable achievements which we will continue to make.”
He declared, “I would like to make it clear: We will continue to strike Hezbollah without mercy everywhere in Lebanon – Beirut. Everything is according to operational considerations. We have proven this recently and we will continue to prove it in the coming days as well.”
“The main thing is the spirit, the spirit that I see here; the great spirit of the soldiers and medics, fighters that understand that they are fighting for the eternity of Israel. With God’s help, together we will fight and together we will win,” Netanyahu added.
Rockets fired by Hezbollah continued to pummel Israel throughout Monday (14th) setting off sirens as far south as Ness Ziona, as Israel continued to strike in Lebanon, after a drone strike a day earlier killed four IDF soldiers.
Dozens of rockets targeted Israel throughout the day, as fierce fighting continued in southern Lebanon between IDF troops and Hezbollah, while the Israeli Air Force carried out a rare strike in northern Lebanon and the IDF set a goal of completely eliminating their terror group’s drone operations.
Mid-morning, around ten rockets were fired at the Haifa area, and the IDF said that most were intercepted and some fell in open areas. Not long afterward, a barrage of rockets set off sirens in Netanya, Baqa al-Gharbiyye and several dozen surrounding towns. The IDF said it intercepted all of the rockets fired from Lebanon, and no injuries were reported.
Mid-afternoon Monday (14th) a barrage of 15 rockets was fired toward Karmiel in the Galilee, with most of them intercepted. One did hit a parked car, setting it on fire with no injuries reported.
Meanwhile, the IDF said Monday afternoon (14th) that it had killed Muhammad Kamel Naim, the head of the anti-tank missile array of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force, in an airstrike in southern Lebanon’s Nabatieh.
The IDF said on Monday afternoon (14th) that over the past day, ground forces and the IAF had killed dozens of Hezbollah operatives in close combat and in airstrikes. The IAF had struck 200 targets in a 24-hour period including rocket launchers, anti-tank missile positions, military outposts and weapons caches.
On September 30, Israeli troops began what the IDF said was a limited ground incursion into southern Lebanon, in which 12 Israeli soldiers were killed.
Exposed: Hezbollah Underground Compound Stocked With Weapons For Invasion Of Israel
The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit announced Monday evening (14th) that the soldiers of the 8th Brigade combat team, under the command of the 91st Division, continue to conduct limited, localized, targeted raids based on precise intelligence in southern Lebanon. Together with the Yahalom Unit, the soldiers located an underground compound stretching across 800 meters that served as a command center for Hezbollah’s Radwan Forces.
Inside the underground compound, the IDF found helicopter-fired missiles, mortar shells, motorcycles, living quarters, and means for long-term stays, including a kitchen stocked with food and supplies. Hezbollah intended to mobilize these weapons as part of their “Conquer the Galilee” invasion plan and deliberately embedded this underground command center below a civilian area in southern Lebanon.
During the targeted raid on the compound, the troops engaged in an encounter with a terrorist who had embedded himself in the headquarters. Guided by an Israeli Air Force aircraft, the terrorist was eliminated. The troops are continuing their activity in the area and are investigating the tunnel route.
IDF Spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said. “They were planning, with these motorcycles here, to enter Kiryat Shmona, to Yiftah, to villages and positions inside Israel and conduct a massacre as was done in southern Israel border communities. We feel they were here recently, because coffee was still warm in the cups.”
IDF’s New Target: Hezbollah’s Drone Unit, Provided By Iran
Amid the dense forest of geopolitical maneuvering, Hezbollah’s Unit 127 – its drone division – has emerged as a formidable player, evolving significantly since the 2006 Second Lebanon War. This unit, primarily rooted in Lebanon, has sharpened its expertise in crafting and deploying drones for a spectrum of purposes – ranging from offensive operations to intelligence gathering.
Major General Tomer Bar, the Air Force Commander, ordered the corps to prioritize the dismantling of this unit’s cadre, marking them as high-value targets in the complex chess game of regional security. This comes in the wake of the deadly attack by a Sayyad 107 drone that exploded at the Golani training base, claiming the lives of four soldiers and injuring dozens more.
The brainchild behind this drone initiative was senior Hezbollah figure Hassan al-Laqis, who was allegedly assassinated over a decade ago near his Beirut residence. Al-Laqis, who had been a mastermind in UAV development, reportedly frequented Iran, visiting factories, engaging in military drills, and consulting with experts.
His name, etched in Hezbollah lore, was often invoked by former Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, who spoke about al-Laqis’ pioneering efforts in UAV technology for Hezbollah. Nasrallah himself was known to visit al-Laqis’ labs, where innovation in drone technology was nurtured to meet the tactical needs of the organization.
Unit 127’s reach extends beyond Lebanon, playing a pivotal role in establishing drone infrastructure in Syria, particularly in regions like Homs and Palmyra, in direct collaboration with local Iranian forces. This unit operates closely with Iran’s Quds Force Unit 340, which aids Iran’s proxies in developing autonomous weapon production capabilities across the Middle East – from Yemen to Gaza.
PM Benjamin Netanyahu, vowed an unrelenting offensive against Hezbollah across all of Lebanon, including Beirut. He said this was a broader, grueling campaign against what he termed the “axis of evil” led by Iran, asserting that despite the heavy toll, Israel continues to achieve significant strategic victories.
‘Hitting Us With Sticks’: Gazan Says Hamas Beats Civilians attempting To Evacuate
Hamas is beating Gazan civilians who attempt to evacuate to the Al-Mawasi humanitarian area from Jabalya, a Palestinian resident of Gaza told an IDF Unit 504 representative in an audio recording shared by the military on Monday afternoon (14th).
Unit 504 is an IDF human intelligence unit.
“The problem is that when we follow the army’s instructions and try to go to Al-Mawasi, there are people who come out against us and start hitting us with sticks, telling us ‘go back, go back,’” the Gazan civilian said to a military representative in the IDF recording.
The military reported that the development came as troops of the IDF’s 162nd Division operated against Hamas terrorists in the area.
“What should we do?” the resident asked. “We want to leave. We took our belongings and wanted to leave, and now they’re hitting us and telling us to ‘go home, go home,’ What should we do?”
In response, the IDF representative asked whether it was Israeli troops or Hamas terrorists beating the civilians with sticks.
“Hamas, Hamas,” the Gazan responded, adding that the terrorists were continuing to send civilians back to the area from which they were attempting to evacuate.
“While the IDF makes every effort to move civilians away from the battlefield, Hamas continues to make every effort to keep civilians in the line of fire,” the IDF stated.
Hamas has a history of attacking dissidents.
Palestinian dissidents against Hamas have routinely been attacked or murdered by members of the terror group in the past.
In September, Gazan activists and whistleblowers told the New York Times about the abusive treatment Hamas inflicts on Civilians.
Amin Abed, a Palestinian who found bullets on his doorstep in response to speaking out against Hamas, told the NYTs that he was hospitalized after terrorists beat him with hammers and metal bars.
“At any moment, I can be killed by the Israeli occupation, but I can face the same fate at the hands of those who have been ruling us for 17 years,” he said from a UAE hospital bed. “They almost killed me, those are killers and criminals.”
IDF Builds First Sukkah In Gaza Since 2005
Israel Defense Forces soldiers have erected a sukkah in the Netzarim Corridor dividing northern and southern Gaza ahead of Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles, which starts on Wednesday (16th), Hebrew media reported.
It is the first time a sukkah has been built in Gaza since Israel disengaged from the enclave in 2005, forcibly removing some 8,000 Jews from their homes.
During the weeklong Sukkot holiday, which this year starts at sundown on Oct. 16 and runs through Oct. 23, Jews erect festive booths across the Jewish state, in keeping with the Biblical commandment of Leviticus 23: 42-43 to “dwell” in sukkot to remember the Exodus from Egypt.
Amid the ongoing IDF campaigns against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, the IDF Rabbinate is this year providing troops with a portable sukkah which meets all the requirements of Jewish law but can be quickly assembled and disassembled in the field.
The Rabbinate also issued some 12,000 sets of the “Four Species” that have been checked to ensure that every soldier can fully enjoy the holiday ritual that involves waving a bundle of four plants (an etrog; lulav; myrtle bough; and willow branch).
The Sukkot holiday is immediately followed by Simchat Torah (Rejoicing in the Law), which last year saw thousands of Hamas terrorists invade Israel, killing some 1,200 people, primarily Jews, while taking 251 captives to the Gaza Strip.
CAM Reports Record-High Of 324 Anti-Semitic Incidents In One Week
The Anti-Semitism Research Center (ARC) of the Combat Anti-Semitism Movement (CAM) recorded 324 anti-Semitic incidents worldwide last week, the center announced on Monday (14th). This amounts to nearly double the highest number of anti-Semitic incidents in a single week of monitoring over the past five years.
Over forty percent of the recorded incidents took place on college campuses, marking the highest they’ve been since the emergence of anti-Israel encampments in April of this year.
In September, a report was published by former New York chief judge Jonathan Lippman, calling for a significant overhaul of the City College of New York (CUNY) system to address “the levels of anti-Semitism and discrimination that exist on CUNY’s campuses today.
CAM CEO Sacha Roytman Dratwa commented on the report’s findings, saying, “The world cannot continue as if nothing has changed. This week, the Combat Anti-Semitism Movement recorded the highest number of anti-Semitic incidents since our founding over five years ago. We believe it’s also the week with the highest number of attacks on Jews since the end of the Holocaust.”
Last week, following the one-year anniversary of the October 7 massacre, masked pro-Palestine protesters broke into the office of a Jewish professor at the University of Melbourne in Australia in an alleged protest over his academic connection to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Dratwa added, “We say to people around the world that you have two choices – stand by and watch, knowing that hatred will eventually turn against you. Or rise up and take a stand. If you’re ready to take action, join us. This call is for people of all faiths – let’s stand together against hatred.”
