News Digest — 10/3/24
On Rosh Hashanah IAF Intercepts Drone Off Gush Dan – Houthis Claim Responsibility
The Israeli Air Force intercepted a drone off the coast of Gush Dan early Thursday morning (3rd), the IDF reported, adding that an additional drone landed in an open area.
The Houthis later said in a statement that they had launched drones towards Tel Aviv overnight. The Yemeni terror group claims that their mission was successful.
Earlier during the attack, Israeli media reported that explosions were heard in the central Israel regions of Sharon and Gush Dan.
According to the reports, the areas included Ramat Hasharon, Herzliya, Tel Aviv and Petah Tikva.
Shortly after, rocket sirens sounded in Bat Yam, with MDA personnel saying there were no casualties or injuries following the sirens. However, MDA did dispatch teams to treat people who fell on their way to the protected areas or those suffering from anxiety from the incident, Ynet reported.
Two drones were also detected by the IDF afterward. Around the same time, alerts sounded in the Golan Heights due to the possibility of hostile aircraft infiltration.
Israel Strikes Central Beirut ‘For First Time Since 2006’
The IDF struck at the heart of Lebanon’s capital of Beirut Thursday overnight (3rd) with local reports alleging the attack also involved Israeli warships. It was later reported the military targeted a complex belonging to the Hezbollah-owned Islamic Health Organization with local media saying at least six were killed and seven wounded as a result.
Three missiles also hit the southern suburb of Dahiyeh, where Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed last week, and loud explosions were heard, Lebanese security officials said. The southern suburbs came under more than a dozen IDF strikes on Wednesday (2nd).
The IDF also struck Baalbek located in eastern Lebanon overnight (3rd), with local authorities reporting at least 46 killed and 86 injured.
The military urged residents of Lebanese villages who have evacuated their homes not to return until further notice. “IDF raids are continuing,” Spokesperson Avichay Adraee said on X Thursday (3rd).
IDF Confirms Eight Soldiers Slain In Southern Lebanon Operation
The IDF reported on Wednesday (2nd) that eight soldiers and officers were killed in fierce battles in southern Lebanon, marking the first Israeli fatalities in the Israeli military’s ongoing operation in the region.
The fallen soldiers include Captain Harel Etinger, 23, from Eli, and Captain Eitan Itzhak Oster, 22, from Modi’in Maccabim Re’ut; both served as squad commanders in the elite Egoz Unit of the Commando Brigade. Also killed were Sergeant First Class Noam Barzilay, 22, from Kokhav Ya’ir Tzur Yigal, Sergeant First Class Or Mantzur, 21, from Beit Aryeh-Ofarim, and Sergeant First Class Nazaar Itkin, 21, from Kiryat Ata, all soldiers in the Egoz Unit.
Additionally, Captain Itai Ariel Giat, 23, from Shoham, an officer in the Yahalom Unit of the Combat Engineering Corps, was among those killed. Two other fallen soldiers, Staff Sergeant Aimken Terefe, 23, from Jerusalem, and Staff Sergeant Ido Broyer, 21, from Ness Ziona served in the Golani Brigades’ Reconnaissance Unit.
These first casualties in Israel’s operation in Lebanon bring the military’s death toll since October 7 to 723, 346 of them have been killed in ground operations in the Gaza Strip.
Initial reports suggest that the Egoz soldiers entered a building in a Lebanese village near the border where they encountered Hezbollah terrorists. The clash resulted in injuries to the soldiers, followed by heavy mortar fire as fighting escalated. Despite difficult weather conditions, Israeli forces engaged in prolonged combat while attempting to evacuate the wounded.
According to the IDF, the terrorists retreated to a local mosque, where Israeli airstrikes targeted and destroyed the building, reportedly killing about 30 terrorists inside.
Military helicopters were deployed to evacuate the wounded, while Israeli aircraft provided cover-fire. Two of the soldiers were believed to have been killed by anti-tank missiles or mortar fire during the close-quarters fighting, which also involved tank and artillery shelling.
World’s Jewish Population Hits 15.8 Million On Eve Of Rosh Hashanah
The world’s Jewish population stands at 15.8 million on the eve of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, the Jewish Agency said on Wednesday (2nd), an increase of about 100,000 over the last year.
The annual report is based on research conducted by demographer Prof. Sergio Della Pergola of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
The agency added that of those 15.8 million, 7.3 million reside in Israel, compared to 7.2 million last year. Of the 8.5 million Jews who live outside of Israel, the biggest Jewish population center is the United States – which is now home to 6.3 million, according to the statement.
The remaining 2.2 million Jews live in other countries, with the biggest populations in France and Canada, with 438,500 and 400,000 respectively.
Israel’s population figure was calculated following a correction issued by Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics regarding what defines residency in the country, the agency said.
The relationship between Jews outside of Israel and the Jewish state since the October 7 Hamas massacre in southern Israel, which left 1,200 dead and 251 taken hostage, has strengthened, the agency’s chairman said.
“The existential relationship between the Jewish communities around the world and the State of Israel has strengthened in the past year. We are witnessing unprecedented support that provides us the strength and hope to carry on,” said Maj. Gen. (res.) Doron Almog.
“The difficult war that was imposed on us, alongside the struggle of Jews around the world against rising anti-Semitism, emphasizes the shared destiny and the mission of the Jewish Agency – to be a living bridge between global Jewry and the State of Israel, to be the home for all Jews from around the world – from all denominations and sectors,” he added.
After Israel, the US, France and Canada, the 10 countries with the largest Jewish populations are the United Kingdom (313,000), Argentina (170,000), Germany (125,000), Russia (123,000), Australia (117,000), Brazil (90,300), South Africa (49,500), Hungary (45,000), Mexico (41,000), and the Netherlands (35,000).
The statistics, the agency said, are based on self-identification as Jewish and/or on having at least one Jewish parent and not belonging to another religion.
Trading One War For Another, Israeli Jews Stream To Ukraine’s Uman For Rosh Hashanah
Thousands of Orthodox Jewish pilgrims have arrived in the Ukrainian city of Uman to mark the annual Rosh Hashanah festival despite Russia’s ongoing invasion, the country’s leading Jewish group said on Tuesday (1st).
Every year pilgrims from Israel and other countries travel to Uman to celebrate the holiday that marks the Jewish New Year at the grave of 19th-century mystic Rabbi Nachman of Breslov.
Uman lies in central Ukraine, relatively far from the front line, but has been targeted by attacks – including deadly strikes – since Moscow’s offensive began in February 2022.
The pilgrims – overwhelmingly men and boys – have come to Ukraine throughout Moscow’s invasion, despite requests by Ukraine not to do so for security reasons.
“More than 14,000 pilgrims have arrived in Uman,” Ukraine’s main Jewish organization, the United Jewish Community of Ukraine, said on social media. “Every pilgrim entering the city is checked by law enforcement officers at special checkpoints,” it added.
Every year since the war started, the Ukrainian authorities have asked the pilgrims not to congregate in Uman, pointing out that their gathering violates wartime restrictions that Ukrainians have to follow.
Pilgrims have been congregating in Uman for Rosh Hashanah for over 200 years, sometimes leading to friction with locals. In recent decades, a year-around Jewish community has put down roots in the city.
In April last year, a Russian missile struck an apartment building in the city killing 23 people.
Pilgrims coming from Israel are essentially leaving one war zone for another, with the Jewish state launching a military campaign in Lebanon to push the Hezbollah terror group away from Israel’s northern border and halt a year of rocket attacks.
The Jewish New Year of Rosh Hashanah began on Wednesday evening (2nd) and will end on Friday night (4th).
The New York Times’ Hezbollah Terrorist Worship – Col. (ret.) Richard Kemp
Hassan Nasrallah was a vicious, murderous terrorist with the blood of many thousands on his hands. But you may not have known that had you read the New York Times’ hero-worshiping eulogy of the dead Hezbollah leader, in which they labeled him a “beloved” and “powerful orator,” who supposedly championed equality among Muslims, Christians and Jews.
AP joined in the applause, calling him “charismatic and shrewd,” an astute strategist, idolized by his Lebanese Shiite followers, and respected by millions across the Arab and Islamic world.
At the very moment when there is a need more than ever to stand up for western values, decades of indoctrination in moral relativism, where no one is objectively right or wrong, have weakened our resolve to the extent that a notorious terrorist leader can effectively be exalted by the media. Too many political leaders reacted to the killing of Nasrallah by calling on Israel to “de-escalate” its defensive war in a situation where de-escalation can lead only to defeat.
The Guardian called Nasrallah a “political leader” rather than an arch-terrorist. He was indeed a politician, who succeeded in bringing Lebanon to its knees. His political agenda was not about prosperity for his country. It was the destruction of Israel, the ejection of the U.S. from the Middle East, and the fight for supremacy of Shia over Sunni Islam, at the behest of his masters in Tehran.
Hezbollah’s violence cannot be ended by de-escalation and negotiation, but only by military defeat. We in the West don’t any longer understand that, believing that there is a reasonable political solution to every problem. Fortunately, Israel does understand it and should be fully supported by us in its war to eradicate the enemies that are set on its own annihilation.
The writer, a former commander of British forces in Afghanistan, was chairman of the UK’s national crisis management committee, COBRA (Telegraph-UK)
Former Miss Iraq Isn’t Afraid To Salute Israel, “I Want To Be On The Good Side” -Yair Eizenberg
Former Miss Iraq, Sarah Idan, 34, is an ardent Israel supporter. “It’s not just for Israel – It’s for the free world. That’s God’s side, the good side – and there’s also the evil side. The people who hate Israel – the Islamists, the communists, the fascists, all these crazy people – they are against the free world and free will. Many people are mistaken when they think that everything I do is just for Israel. It’s not. It’s because I know that Israel is the only one standing against the terrorists, against the crazy people. So yes, I want to be on the side of the good.”
“I grew up in the early 90s under Saddam Hussein’s rule… On every street, there was an intelligence officer who had lists of all the residents on that street, and from time to time, he would interrogate them. Saddam Hussein would kill entire families if someone from them said something negative about him.” Idan was educated like the rest of Iraq’s children to hate Israel. “We were taught that there’s a country of Jews that hates Iraq, and everywhere it was written ‘Death to America, Death to Israel.’ On Thursdays , we would stand in the schoolyard to sing songs about liberating Palestine.” “We were taught that the Americans want to kill us all. After September 11, 2001, everyone went out to the streets to celebrate, and there were fireworks as if something happy had just happened and not a terrible disaster.”
About the October 7 massacre, “It’s hard for me that this is what my people did in the name of my religion. [But] I wasn’t surprised at all. I’ve seen it already in Iraq, I know that’s how they behave. I know how much they hate the Jewish people, and I know how barbaric they are. The difference is, that I once thought it was only radical Islamists who hate Jews, but after October 7, I realized, it seems like 90% of ordinary people do also.” (Israel Hayom)
