News Digest — 9/30/26
Thousands Of Christians Visit West Bank Settlements In Support After European Sanctions, Trade Bans
Thousands of Christians visited West Bank settlements during the International Christian Embassy’s annual conference as an act of protest against recent legislation by various European countries barring trade with them.
“The laws enacted in Europe against purchasing products from Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria are antisemitism, pure and simple; therefore, the most moral course of action is to oppose them,” Dag Juliussen, a Christian leader from Norway, said during a visit to the Pagot winery.
“This is a moral stand against an antisemitic move. Several generations ago, Hitler wanted to make Europe Judeenrein, and now participants want to make Judea and Samaria Judenrein. Why shouldn’t Jews live there, just as Muslim Arabs live in Israel?” Juliussen added.
Hundreds of Christians visited settlements in the Binyamin and Gush Ezion regions in order to purchase locally produced goods from local residents.
Earlier this month, the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ) condemned the European countries’ ban on trade with Israeli settlements, including those in the West Bank.
“While we agree that Israeli authorities need to do more to rein in the small fringe of settlers’ engaged in acts of harassment and violence against their Palestinian neighbors, that should not be used as a pretext to selectively target all the peaceful, law-abiding Jews living in these areas,” the ICEJ wrote.
The ICEJ also accused the European nations of having double standards when it came to Israel, saying that few had sanctioned regions with similar conflicts, such as “Turkish-occupied Northern Cyprus and the Moroccan-occupied Western Sahara.”
The ICEJ claimed that the sanctioning countries had a “political motive” for the trade bans and aimed to impact the upcoming Israeli elections, calling it “an intrusive act of disrespect for a fellow democratic state which they would never countenance with regard to any other free Western democracy.”
‘Don’t Mess With Us’: Netanyahu Warns Enemies May Attack Israel Ahead Of Election
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Israel’s enemies may try to attack leading up to October’s Knesset elections in a Tuesday (29th) statement.
“There are signs that leading up to the elections, our enemies will try to attack us,” Netanyahu said from Tel Nof Air Force Base. “I am sending you [israel’s enemies] a message: don’t mess with us. Our long arm will reach you anywhere, and at any time” The prime minister did not specify which enemies he meant.
A meeting on the issue took place on Tuesday (29th) between opposition leader Yair Lapid and Netanyahu. The security cabinet also met.
“When the prime minister of a democratic state publicly states there is a threat that could disrupt the elections, all relevant parties must receive a full briefing on the nature of the problem and the measures being taken to ensure the democratic process is fully upheld,” Lapid’s office stated before the meeting.
Senior officials in the security establishment assess that Hezbollah and Hamas will try to influence Israel’s election campaign through attacks, including kidnapping attacks, and that as Israel gets closer to election day, the likelihood of this will increase. As a result, the IDF has tightened cooperation between the Air Force and ground forces.
According to a security official, alert levels have been raised in recent weeks, and for nights, the intelligence community has been occupied with trying to understand what the enemy is planning. The security official explained that the assessment is that the enemy does not always make the correct calculation or correctly assess how we will respond, “and for that we need to be prepared.”
Meanwhile, Northern Command is very concerned about the friction with Hezbollah along the yellow line in southern Lebanon, deep inside the territory. The senior official emphasized that the main concern is explosive devices that Hezbollah operatives may plant along routes and near outposts, against IDF patrols in the area.
Hamas’ Enemy Turns Partner: Dahlan-Hamas Rapprochement Signals Battle For Post-Abbas Era
Recent reports from the Palestinian arena paint a picture that would have been difficult to imagine only a few years ago: Mohammed Dahlan, who for years was identified with the fierce struggle against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, is drawing closer to the organization that was one of his “bitterest” rivals.
The development has received extensive coverage in Arab media, and not without reason. Dahlan is no ordinary Palestinian politician. He is one of the most controversial figures in Palestinian politics, a former senior Fatah official who headed the Preventive Security Service in Gaza, and later fell out with Palestinian Authority Leader Mahmoud Abbas and emerged as one of his most prominent rivals.
Dahlan was also arrested by Israel several times in his youth and spent time in an Israeli prison over his activities with Fatah.
Later, as head of Gaza’s Preventive Security Service, he became closely associated with the violent struggle against Hamas. Human rights organizations documented serious allegations concerning the conduct of Palestinian security forces during the period when Dahlan was one of the most powerful security figures in the Strip, including arbitrary arrests, torture and violence.
But Palestinian politics is now producing new and unexpected alliances.
In August, a meeting was held in Cairo between a Hamas delegation headed by Khalil al-Hayya and a delegation representing the political camp associated with Dahlan. The sides discussed the future of the Palestinian arena and the situation in the Gaza Strip. Reports have also emerged of the possibility of broader political cooperation between Dahlan’s camp, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
According to recent reports by The Associated Press and Reuters, Hamas is examining a political framework that would allow it to challenge Fatah, with Dahlan’s supporters also part of the discussions. The possibility itself points to a significant shift in the Palestinian balance of power: historic rivals may be willing to set aside some of their differences in the face of a common political adversary – the current Fatah leadership.
For Hamas, Dahlan brings clear advantages. He comes from within Fatah and knows the Palestinian political system well. He also has an extensive network of contacts in the Arab world and internationally, and has spent years building an independent political and financial base.
For Dahlan, meanwhile, ties with Hamas could provide a path back to the center of Palestinian politics after years of being pushed away from the centers of power within Fatah and the Palestinian Authority.
This is also where the potential significance for Abbas becomes clear.
The Palestinian Authority has for years faced questions over succession, internal power struggles within Fatah and a deep crisis of public confidence. Dahlan is one of the figures capable of challenging that internal balance from outside the formal leadership – precisely because he knows the system from the inside.
If Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Dahlan’s camp succeed in establishing a joint or coordinated political framework, they could present Fatah with a new kind of challenge. This would no longer be a straightforward confrontation between secular Fatah and Islamist Hamas, but an attempt to bring together disparate forces whose main common interest is changing the existing balance of power.
For the Palestinian Authority , such a development could pose a significant political challenge. For years, the Fatah leadership has benefited from the fact that its rivals were divided: Hamas on one side, Dahlan and his supporters on another, with additional factions competing among themselves. Closer ties between these camps could reduce the advantage and make the struggle over leadership of the Palestinian arena far more complicated.
For Israel, the developments underscore the need to reassess assumptions about the day after Abbas.
For years, Israel has operated in an environment in which the Palestinian Authority and Fatah represented one political address, while Hamas was the principal rival outside the system. New alliances between former Fatah figures and Hamas could blur that distinction.
On the one hand, Dahlan is well known to Israel and to key Arab states, and has long been associated with extensive regional and international contacts. On the other hand, political cooperation between Dahlan and Hamas or Islamic Jihad could alter how Israel would have to view him and the political camp he leads.
The broader significance is that the Palestinian political system may be entering a period in which old alliances can no longer be taken for granted.
The historic hostility between Dahlan and Hamas has not disappeared, and there is no certainty that the current rapprochement will develop into a lasting alliance. But the fact that the sides are willing to sit together and explore cooperation is itself an indication of how dramatically political priorities may be shifting.
At stake is not merely a reconciliation between former rivals, but a potentially much larger struggle over who will shape the Palestinian arena in the post-Abbas era.
IDF Kills Commander Of Hamas’ North Gaza Brigade In Gaza City Air Strike
The commander of Hamas’ Northern Gaza Brigade was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City early Tuesday (29th), marking the third top commander in the terror group to be killed in recent weeks.
The overnight strike in Gaza City’s al-Nasr neighborhood killed Izz al-Din al-Bik, who headed the Northern Gaza Brigade, one of Hamas’ five regional brigades in its military wing, according to the Israeli military and the terror group.
The Israel Defense Forces and Shin Bet Security agency said al-Bik had been in the role since the previous Northern Gaza Brigade commander, Ahmed Ghandour, was killed by Israel on November 10, 2023.
Hamas in a statement, said al-Bik was previously chief of intelligence in the brigade, making him “one of the commanders” of the terror group’s October 7, 2023, onslaught. When Ghandour was killed, al-Bik assumed command of the unit, leading the fighting against Israeli troops in northern Gaza throughout the war, Hamas said.
Al-Bik was killed “in a precise aerial strike” in Gaza City overnight, because he “posed an immediate threat to IDF troops and Israeli civilians,” the military and Shin bet added.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz accused the Northern Gaza Brigade commander of being involved in advancing attacks against Israel forces and recruiting new terrorists.
“We will continue to hunt down and pursue all of the organization’s terrorists, from its commanders to its last operative, wherever they hide, until there is no Hamas in Gaza,” their statement read.
The IDF in recent months has ramped up strikes on terror operatives in Gaza, including numerous October 7 terrorists, saying they posed a threat to Israeli forces.
A strike in Gaza City on Sunday (27th) killed a Hamas operative who the military said was involved in smuggling millions of shekels to the terror group’s military wing.
The IDF identified the target as Shadi Abu Hasira, a “key money exchanger” in Hamas who “transferred tens of millions in shekels and foreign currency to Hamas’ military wing.”
Recently, the IDF said that the moneyman had been involved in working to restore Hamas capabilities, “a systematic violation of the ceasefire,” and was killed to remove the threat.”
The Gaza war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led terrorists invaded southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians and taking 251 hostages.
No IDF Strike Was Ever Decided Based On An Algorithm – Yaakov Lappin
An Israeli military source on Thursday (24th) rejected multiple claims made in the documentary “NAZA” (collateral damage). Many of the allegations stem from a misunderstanding of the targeting process. Any strike must pass through a five-stage chain of approval in the IDF before it is carried out.
It starts with the intelligence apparatus, made up of analysts who compile and analyze information from a variety of sources. An intelligence officer who is not an analyst then verifies the data and decides whether to designate it for the targeting process. “There’s an intelligence apparatus, then an operational apparatus of planning, meaning a planning apparatus, then legal review, then initial authorization by the commander, then the possibility of real-time information and additional assessment.”
The planning stage does not involve the same people who conducted the initial intelligence work. “They [the analysts] are not part of that process.” Legal advisers then review both the intelligence work and the operational plan before a strike is presented to “an operational commander,” who decides whether to approve, reject, or send the plan back for further work.
Even after approval, “real-time circumstances” can and often do prompt a commander to re-evaluate a proposed strike. Such information is “not known and not exposed to someone in the beginning of the chain.” The film’s anonymous interviewees typically recount only that preliminary intelligence stage. Their testimony “does not establish the final assessments on which commanders relied, the conditions they imposed and the precautions taken during execution, or the attacks actual effects.”
“The IDF has never planned, approved or carried out any strike in Gaza in which 500 civilians or anything close to that number were expected to be killed as a result of the strike,” despite the allegations in the film. “Each structure struck in such cases was individually assessed and identified as a military objective and as a valid target,” adding that “no strike was ever decided based on an algorithm.”
The writer is a research associate at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan University.
(jns.org)
