News Digest — 11/22/24
IDF Kills Hamas terrorists Who Took Part in October 7 Massacre Near Border Community, Mefalsim
An Israeli Air Force aircraft killed terrorists who took part in the massacre near Israel’s Gaza border community of Mefalsim on October 7, the military and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) announced on Friday (22nd).
Among the five terrorists killed were Gahad Mahmud Yahya Kahlot, a Nukhba company commander and Muhammad Riad Ali Okal, a Hamas company commander who led the murder and kidnapping in the area on October 7.
The IDF noted that the two had been at the forefront of Hamas’ terror activities against IDF troops in northern Gaza.
Anas Jalal Muhammed Abu Shkian, head of a battalion that infiltrated into the Mefalsim area on October 7, Nur Aldin Muhammed Yahya Jidan, a Nukhba terrorist and Sahib Hassan Ali Matar Adeem, an additional terrorist in the battalion were named as those eliminated in the strike.
The military added that the five had been killed in an Israeli force strike on terror infrastructure in Beit Lahiya early Thursday morning (21st), guided by intelligence information.
Netanyahu : ‘The Court That Was Founded To Defend Humanity Is Now Its Enemy’
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a statement in Hebrew Thursday (21st) in response to the International Criminal Court’s decision to issue arrest warrants against him and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. He later released a statement in English.
“This is a dark day in the history of the nations. The International Court in The Hague, which was created to defend humanity, today turned into an enemy of humanity. This slanted court decided to issue arrest warrants against myself and against former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant under the fundamentally disproved accusation that we committed ‘crimes against humanity’ while the truth is the total opposite, this is moral bankruptcy,” Netanyahu stated.
He emphasized that “the same court that accuses us of fictitious crimes, ignores true war crimes – shocking war crimes that are committed against us and many others in the world. After the terrible massacre of October 7, when Hamas murderers raped women, cut off heads, burned children in front of their parents, and abducted hundreds of our citizens – women, elderly, and children, they continue to commit war crimes against us, including the holding of 101 hostages, who we still haven’t freed, and we are determined to return, just as we freed 154 of them so far. And what does the court in The Hague do in the face of these atrocities? Nothing. Sorry, it issued an arrest warrant for the body of Mohammed Deif.”
He wondered: “What is the court in The Hague doing against the true crimes against humanity being committed in many places in the world? Also nothing. Millions of innocent civilians were murdered or uprooted from their homes in Iran, Syria, Yemen, and other places. Instead of acting against those dark regimes, the court chooses to level false accusations against the State of Israel, the only true democracy in the Middle East. This is an anti-Semitic move with one goal: to deter me, to deter us, from exercising our natural right to defend ourselves against our enemies who aim to destroy us.”
Netanyahu noted that the court’s accusations are baseless. “They accuse the State of Israel of ‘genocide’ while we work to defend ourselves against an enemy that attempts to carry out a genocide against us. They accuse us of intentionally harming civilians, while we do everything to prevent harm to civilians – and this is against an enemy that hides behind civilians and uses them as human shields. They accuse us of starving the population while we bring in hundreds of thousands of tons of food to feed the population, and this is while Hamas is looting this food and starving the residents of Gaza.”
“Everything is upside down: good turns into bad and bad turns into good. But here is the truth: no army is more moral than the IDF and no country is more moral than Israel. Just a short time ago, Israel vaccinated 97% of the residents of the Gaza Strip for Polio. What genocide are they talking about in The Hague? No despicable decision can change the truth. It’s not surprising that this infuriating decision was led by a Chief Prosecutor who is suspected of severe acts, and it’s not surprising that this decision was made by judges who lost any compass of justice or fairness. The prosecutor’s acts and judges’ decisions are void of the meaning of the word ‘justice’ and turn the international court into a tool for political confrontation which lost all legitimacy as an international legal institution.”
He concluded: “Israel does not recognize and will not recognize this twisted decision. But there is a lot of light in the dark. I cherish the heartwarming mobilization of many friends in the world, led by our friends in the United States. They made it clear that this decision would have severe consequences on the court and on those who participated with it in this matter. I wish to thank the elected officials in Israel, from across the political spectrum who stood as one against this despicable decision.
No outrageous anti-Israel decision will prevent us, and won’t prevent me, from continuing to defend our country in every way. We will not give in to the pressure. Together we will stand, together we will fight, and with G-d’s help. Together we will win.”
Massive Israeli Airstrike Kills 68 In Syria
A series of Israeli airstrikes in eastern Syria killed at least 68 people Wednesday (20th) a Syrian opposition group said, making it the deadliest air attack attributed to Israel in Syria in years.
According to reports by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a London-based anti-regime organization, Israeli warplanes carried out three airstrikes on positions occupied by Hezbollah terrorists and members of other pro-Iranian proxy groups Wednesday afternoon (20th).
The airstrikes targeted Hezbollah and the Mujaba militia in the city of Palmyra, in Syria’s Homs district, SOHR reported, stating Thursday (21st) that the death toll from the strikes had risen to 68.
All 68 reported fatalities were combatants, SOHR claimed , including 42 Syrian nationals affiliated with pro-Iranian militias, five of whom were officers working in conjunction with Hezbollah.
The remaining fatalities included 4 Lebanese members of Hezbollah, and 22 other non-Syrian nationals whom the report said were affiliated with the Nujaba Movement.
Syria’s SANA State media outlet confirmed the attacks, claiming Wednesday (20th) that 36 Syrian nationals had been killed and more than 50 others injured.
According to Syria’s defense ministry, 10 of the Syrian nationals killed in the airstrikes were soldiers in the Syrian army.
The Israeli military declined to respond to reports of the strikes.
SOHR claimed that the three airstrikes included a pair of bombings in Palmyra’s Al-Jam’iya quarter, striking a weapons depot and a building used by leaders of pro-Iranian militias.
Jordan Sentences Lawmaker To 10 Years For Smuggling Weapons Into West Bank
A Jordanian court sentenced one of the kingdom’s lawmakers to 10 years of hard labor after convicting him of smuggling weapons into the West Bank.
Imad al-Adwan was arrested in the Israel-administered Allenby Border Crossing between Jordan and the West Bank on April 22, 2023, when Israel security forces found a cache of rifles and pistols in his car, Israel’s Shin Bet said at the time.
Israel transferred him to Jordanian authorities in May last year, and he was eventually convicted of exporting weapons with the intention of illegal use after being stripped of his parliamentary immunity.
Three others were also convicted in the case and sentenced to lengthy prison time by the Jordanian State Security Court.
Adwan is a lawyer and a member of the Jordanian parliament’s Palestine Committee.
In 2023 he began smuggling weapons across the border “out of greed” and received huge sums of money, the court found.
Adwan’s arrest by Israel tested already tense ties between Amman and Jerusalem, though Israel was quick to clarify that it did not hold the kingdom responsible for the smuggling attempt.
A surge of violence and terror attacks has wracked the West Bank over the past year, aided by a flood of illegal weapons, including many guns smuggled from Jordan.,
Israel Is Fighting A Single, Multifront War With Iran – Eliot A. Cohen
Over the past year, after suffering a devastating surprise and brutal losses, Israel has achieved remarkable military successes. Yahya Sinwar is dead, as are most of his senior subordinates and military commanders. What had been a Hamas army of tens of thousands has been shattered, with half of the fighters dead, by Israeli estimates, and many others wounded or in captivity.
To the north, the head of Lebanese Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, is dead. So is his successor. So is Fuad Shukr, Hezbollah’s most important military figure. And so is most of the rest of the high command. Most of Hezbollah’s missiles and rockets have been destroyed. And on top of it all, Iran has thrown two punches at Israel that were deflected and defeated by Israeli and American defenses.
On a recent trip to Israel, I found that Israel’s military and intelligence leaders now understand their war differently. The Israeli high command now sees all of these conflicts as elements of a single, multifront war with Iran. It believes the purpose of the attacks by Iranian proxies was not to inflict damage upon Israel, but to destroy it. “They thought they could conquer Israel,” one sobered general told me. “I had not fully understood that.”
“We’re no longer afraid of casualties,” a colonel told me. “I lost 10 guys, and nothing stopped. We don’t get to go to the funerals; we’ll visit after the war.” Israel is girding itself for the daunting prospect of a long war against Iran, no matter what American and European leaders might wish. The Israelis grimly believe, and with reason, that they have no choice but to continue fighting. Israel is engaged in an existential war of a kind that most of us in the West cannot appreciate unless we go there, observe, and listen.
The writer is a professor emeritus at Johns Hopkins University (Atlantic)
Israel’s Moment: A Historic Call For Jewish Homecoming – Nadav Shragai
The Israeli Declaration of Independence begins with foundational truth: “In the Land of Israel, the Jewish people arose.” Note the precision – the Jewish people, not the Israeli people. Yet today, a striking reality demands attention. Only 45% of world Jewry resides in their designated national homeland, the Land of Israel – unquestionably the most natural place for Jewish life to flourish. While diaspora Jewish communities unfailingly bolster Israel through financial support, political advocacy, heartwarming gestures of solidarity, Israeli flags proudly displayed at their community centers and synagogues, and their youth serving in the IDF, they remain physically separated from the daily Israeli experience.
This paradigm stands at a crossroads of transformation. Not because Israel offers greater security or because life abroad has become untenable – we acknowledge these dynamics fluctuate in both directions. While surging global anti-Semitism might suggest an obvious correlation with immigration potential, the argument for relocation demands more nuanced and profound analysis.
The call to world Jewry transcends mere refuge-seeking; it’s about embracing a land of destiny. There’s growing recognition that the comfortable “American Zion” – that carefully constructed diaspora existence long defended as neither exile nor dispersion – faces fundamental changes. Here in Israel, despite our security challenges, economic travails, and daily struggles, one can live authentically Jewish, dress distinctively Jewish, appear visibly Jewish, and take pride in Jewish identity – all without concealment or apprehension. The thin ice that diaspora Jews have been treading is cracking audibly beneath their feet. From Brussels to London, from Amsterdam to even New York, Jewish communities, particularly the visibly observant, increasingly find themselves calculating the cost of public Jewish expression, seeking invisibility, avoiding becoming targets.
This invitation extends beyond immediate circumstances. This is not because conditions have deteriorated elsewhere but primarily to help construct something more diverse, robust, and sustainable in the Promised Land. There’s an urgent demographic imperative: Palestinian leadership, alongside some Arab Israeli voices, explicitly articulate their goal of reversing the Jewish majority – transforming Israel from a Jewish nation-state into a state of all its citizens, challenging us demographically. This isn’t paranoid speculation; it’s documented in their public discourse. Their demand for ‘return’ carries explicit demographic intentions. Western Jewish immigration represents a crucial counterbalance to this existential challenge.
Current statistics tell a sobering story: The 2023-24 immigration figure of 31,000 Jews, while showing increased Western interest, remains a mere drop in the ocean. Russian immigrants predominate, with Western nations contributing merely thousands. Though these patterns may shift naturally, we must “strike while iron is hot” – the synergy between Israel and Western Jewry has never been more critical, both because they need us and we need them.
A powerful historical parallel emerges from Operation Solomon, when Ethiopian Jews were airlifted in Israel three decades ago. Upon arriving; then Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir encountered an Ethiopian immigrant girl at the aircraft steps who identified herself as “Jerusalem.” His surprised verification – “That’s your name?” – met with her unwavering affirmation: “Jerusalem.”
This resonates with affluent Western Jewish communities today, who maintain equally deep spiritual connections. The recognition grows that authentic Zionist fulfillment occurs in Zion itself. While diaspora Jewish life can simulate aspects of national identity, the genuine experience remains rooted in Israel. Contemporary Jews share both a covenant of fate and destiny, founded on religious-cultural and historical heritage: Israel’s remarkable yet fragile miracle has space for this diversity – indeed, it requires it for its completion.
