News Digest — 10/13/23
Israeli Military Warns Gazans To Relocate South For Safety
The Israeli military announced on Thursday evening(12th) that some 600,000 Palestinians in Gaza should relocate to the enclave’s south within the next 24-hours.
This, according to Reuters and confirmed by military sources, is ahead of an expected ground invasion of the Gaza Strip.
Sources have told The Jerusalem Post multiple times this week that the counter-ground invasion would start sometime on or after Saturday (14th).
“The IDF calls on all residents of Gaza City to evacuate their homes, move south for their protection, and settle in the area south of the Gaza River,” the IDF statement read.
“This evacuation is for your personal safety. It will be possible to return to Gaza City after a notification concerning safety. Do not approach the border fence with the State of Israel.”
“Residents of Gaza: Move south for your personal safety and the safety of your families. Distance yourself from the Hamas terrorists, who are using you as human shields.”
Despite the many off-record signals in public, the IDF has been silent about the exact timing of its ground invasion.
UN officials in Gaza “were informed by their liaison officers in the Israeli military that the entire population of Gaza north of Wadi Gaza should relocate to southern Gaza within the next 24-hours,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement in New York.
“The United Nations strongly appeals to any such order, if confirmed, this could transform what is already a tragedy into a calamitous situation,” he said.
Dujarric said the order by the Israeli military also applied to all UN staff and those sheltered in UN facilities, including schools, health centers and clinics.
The United Nations Palestinian Refugee Agency (UNRWA) said it relocated its central operations center and international staff to Gaza’s south to continue its humanitarian operations and support its staff and ‘Palestinian refugees.’
“We urge the Israeli authorities to protect all civilians in UNRWA shelters including schools,” the agency said on social media platform X.
Israel’s ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan said: “The UN’s response to Israel’s early warning to the residents of Gaza is shameful,”
Erdan said the UN should focus on condemning Hamas and supporting Israel’s right to self-defense.
Salama Marouf, head of the Hamas government media office, said the relocation warning was an attempt by Israel “to broadcast and pass on fake propaganda, aiming to show confusion among citizens and harm our internal cohesion.”
He added, “We urge our citizens to not engage in these attempts.”
Israelis Abroad Asked To Take Caution Amid Hamas Calls To Riot
Israel’s National Security Council and Foreign Ministry have published a statement warning that the Hamas terror group has called on its supporters to hold a Day of Rage on Friday (13th) and to harm Jews and Israelis around the world. According to the statement, it is probable that pro-Hamas rallies will be held and can deteriorate into violent incidents.
In light of this the National Security Council and Foreign Ministry recommend all Israelis abroad be alert, avoid demonstrations, and if needed, notify the local authorities of a possible protest or riot in their area.
The statement adds: “The National Security Council, all security bodies and the Foreign Ministry will continue to work to protect the safety of Israeli citizens around the world.”
Jewish Schools In NY Closed Over Day Of Jihad
At least two schools in the New York City area are closed Friday (13th) in response to Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal’s call for a global “Day of Rage” Or “Day Of Jihad,” the New York Post reported.
Two fathers of Jewish students at different schools told the Post that their children’s schools decided to close Friday (13th) in light of the threat of violence by Hamas supporters and sympathizers.
“This isn’t about Israel – it’s about Jews, and that’s what’s so horrifying,” one of the fathers said.
The other father described how his child’s school has hired extra security and no longer allows the children to leave the building to play within the fence of the school grounds during recess on the days when the school is open, especially since the Hamas massacre of over 1,300 Israelis last Saturday (7th).
Security has been beefed up at Jewish institutions such as synagogues across New York following Meshaal’s threats.
Deputy Commissioner of the NYPD Intelligence and Counterterrorism Bureau, Rebecca Weiner told Jewish community leaders that the NYPD would increase their presence on Friday (13th) out of “an abundance of caution” but stressed that no concrete threats were known.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams said in a virtual briefing Thursday (12th) : “I want every New Yorker, especially Jewish New Yorkers and other groups to know there are currently no credible or specific threats against our city. But with large-scale protests planned for Friday (13th), we must be vigilant.”
In London as well, two Jewish schools announced that they would not reopen until Monday (16th) due to the threat of anti-Jewish violence. Jewish students have also been given permission not to wear their usual school uniform so as not to appear identifiably Jewish.
2 Policemen Hurt, 1 Seriously In Terrorist Shooting at Jerusalem Police Station
Two policemen were injured, one seriously and one moderately, in a terrorist shooting at the Shalem police station outside the Old City of Jerusalem Thursday night (12th).
The terrorist opened fire with a carlo-type assault rifle. After he committed the shooting, he attempted to escape from the scene. Police officers chased the suspect down and neutralized him.
Both victims received emergency first-aid at the scene.
United Hatzalah volunteer EMT Yoni Ben Shimol said: “Together with additional first responders we provided initial treatment to two policemen. At this stage, one of them is in serious condition and the other is in moderate condition.
A heavy police presence was summoned to the site of the shooting. Police are searching for possible accomplices.
The commander of the Jerusalem district is currently conducting a situational assessment with the commanders in the area.
Photos of Babies Being Burned, Decapitated Confirmed
The Jerusalem Post can now confirm based on verified photos that the reports of babies being burned and decapitated in Hamas’ assault on Kfar Aza are correct. May their memories be a blessing.
The photos were shown to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during his stay in Israel on Thursday (12th) by the Public Diplomacy Directorate in the Prime Minister’s Office. Later in the day, the photos were published by the Prime Minister’s Office on X (Twitter). The photos are graphic and have a content warning covering them until a button reading “show” is pressed.
In the past two days, the Hamas terror movement has launched a campaign denying that it kidnapped, murdered, and abused civilians during its attack on southern israel.
In a video published by Hamas, the movement dismissed the reports of babies being decapitated in Kfar Aza. On Thursday (12th), Hamas deputy leader Saleh al-Arouri claimed as well that the 1,200 members of the al-Qassam Brigades who infiltrated Israel did not target civilians, saying Palestinian civilians had entered later and fought with Israeli civilians.
“When the Israeli Gaza Division collapsed, civilians from Gaza entered and clashed with the settlers, and civilians fell,” claimed Arouri.
However, footage from the area captured on Saturday (7th) showed individuals in the uniform of Hamas’ al-Qassam Brigades and of other terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip taking part in the massacre and mass kidnappings in southern Israel – proof to counteract the lies.
Israel Allegedly Strikes Two Airports In Syria, Iranian Flight Diverted
Alleged Israeli airstrikes targeted the international airports in Aleppo and Damascus, putting both out of service on Thursday (12th), according to Syrian state media.
According to the reports, the strikes targeted the runways at both airports.
“The aggression is a desperate attempt by the criminal Israeli enemy to divert attention from the crimes it is committing in Gaza and the huge losses it suffers at the hands of the Palestinian resistance…,” said a military source to the Syrian state news agency SANA.
During the strikes, an Iranian Mahan Air flight that was about to land in Syria turned back to Tehran. Mahan Air has been shown to transport weapons, operatives, and funds for the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and Hezbollah.
The Damascus International Airport and the Aleppo International Airport are frequently used by Iran to transfer weapons, equipment, and operatives to its proxies in the region, including Hezbollah.
Additionally, during the strikes, a plane on which Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian was in the air heading out of Iran, and landed shortly afterward in Baghdad. The foreign minister is reportedly expected to visit Lebanon in the coming days.
The alleged airstrikes come amid the IDF’s ongoing Swords of Iron War against Hamas, and after shells were fired from the Syrian border into Israel on Tuesday night (10th).
Some of the shells most likely landed in open fields in Israel’s Golan Heights, the military said at the time.
The IDF responded with artillery and mortar fire toward the source of the shelling in Syria.
A Time For Peace And A Time For War – Carrie Keller-Lynn
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, announcing Israel’s national emergency government on Wednesday (11th), said, “The Jewish nation is unified, and today its leadership is also unified.”
“We saw the barbarism that we are facing. We saw a cruel enemy. An enemy worse than ISIS. We saw boys and girls, bound, shot in the head. Men and women burned alive. Young women raped and slaughtered. Fighters decapitated…. In one place, they set fire to tires around them and burned them alive. How staggering the atrocities, how great the pain.” He also cited the acts of heroism of those who fought the terrorists.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said, “Hamas – the Islamic State of Gaza – will be wiped from the face of the earth. It will not continue to exist. There will be no situation in which Israeli children are murdered and we all go about our business.”
National Unity Party head Benny Gantz, a former IDF chief of staff and defense minister, said, “Our standing here, shoulder to shoulder, is a clear message to our enemies, and more important than that, a message to all of Israel, we are together, we’re all enlisted in this.” Gantz said that “extraordinary actions” will be taken, and that “this war will provide security for years ahead for all of Israel.”
“The enemy will be destroyed. Security will be restored. The killing grounds where our heroes fell will be rebuilt. The entire State of Israel will thrive again. There’s a time for peace and a time for war; now is the time for war,” Gantz said. (timesofisrael)
Hamas and Iran: Slaughtering Jews For Decades – Khaled Abu Toameh
Why are Hamas terrorists labeled “militants” while ISIS members are called “terrorists?” It is because of the identity of the victim. When the victim is a Jew, then the perpetrator is a “militant.” Yet when the victim is a non-Jew, the Muslim extremist is called for what he really is: a terrorist.
Attempts by some Westerners to whitewash Hamas and portray it as a small group of fighters challenging Israel have continued in spite of the atrocities committed by the group over the past 35 years. Bizarrely, the attempts have continued even while Hamas leaders themselves were stressing that their group has not changed and remains committed to slaughtering Jews and eliminating Israel.
Hamas did not carry out the Oct.7 massacre because Jews were living in the West Bank or Gaza. The Jews who were butchered on that day lived inside Israel. Hamas launched its attack on Israel because it does not see a difference between a Jew living in the West Bank and a Jew living inside Israel.
Iran, since its 1979 Islamic Revolution, has vowed “Death to Israel” and “Death to America.” Why would anyone think they do not mean it? It is time for the international community to wake up and realize that Iran and its Palestinian proxy terrorists are as determined as ever to wipe Israel – and America – off the map. Those who continue to defend Iran and Hamas are complicit in their campaign of genocide against Jews.
