News Digest — 11/30/23
3 Dead, 8 Injured In Terrorist Shooting Attack At Entrance To Jerusalem
A 24-year-old woman, a 73-year-old man and an additional victim were murdered Thursday morning (30th) in a shooting attack at one of the entrances to Jerusalem.
Magen David Adom (MDA) reported that additional victims were injured. Shaare Zedek Medical Center and Hadassah Ein Kerem Medical Center have received eight victims who were evacuated from the scene. Two of the victims suffered light injuries, one suffered moderate injuries, and five suffered serious injuries.
According to initial reports, two terrorists arrived at the scene by vehicle and opened fire at passersby, using M-16 automatic weapons.
The attack took place on Weizman Blvd. at the junction of the entrance to the city, from the direction of Ramot.
The terrorists, who were from Arab neighborhoods in Jerusalem, were eliminated by two soldiers and a civilian.
Large forces of police and medical teams are at the scene, which the police asked the public to avoid. The area has been closed off and police are investigating whether there are additional terrorists or accomplices in the area.
Route 1 has been blocked to traffic, from the Motza Interchange towards Jerusalem. Police are at the scene redirecting traffic.
Initial reports expressed concern for a second location or a “double attack,” which was later dismissed.
“In addition, there were a number of people who were treated for emotional shock and psychological distress by the Psychotrauma and Crisis Response Unit.
Terrorists Identified
The terrorists who carried out the shooting in Jerusalem Thursday morning (30th) have in the past served jail time in Israeli prisons, after being convicted of acts of terror.
One of the terrorists has been named as Morad Namer, 38-years-old and a resident of Jerusalem. Namer was jailed between the years 2010-2020, for the intention to carry out terror attacks directed by Gaza. He is affiliated with Hamas.
The second terrorist was named as Ibrahim Namer, Morad’s 30-year-old brother, who was also a resident of Jerusalem and affiliated with Hamas. He served time in prison in 2014 for terrorist activities.
Ben Gvir: Jerusalem Terrorist Shooting Shows How Guns Save Lives
Thursday’s (30th) terrorist shooting in Jerusalem further exemplifies why handing out guns is important, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir claimed at the scene shortly after the attack.
“Despite the criticism from various people, I will continue with my policy of distributing weapons everywhere, both to emergency response teams and civilians,” he said. “Guns save lives. We see it time after time. In every place where there’s a weapon, civilians, police officers, and soldiers save lives.”
He went on to claim that while Israel has a strong police force and a strong army, soldiers and police officers cannot be everywhere, which is why civilians also need guns.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said that Israel would not rest until it achieved victory on all fronts.
“The terrible terrorist attack reminds us that our enemies are not only the Nazis in Gaza,” he wrote in an X post. “We’ll chase and destroy them everywhere with the help of God. I support the security and rescue forces that are working on the scene. My condolences to the families of the victims and I wish a speedy recovery to the wounded.”
Minister Benny Gantz sent his condolences to the families of the victims and well wishes to the wounded.
“This is further proof of our commitment to continue the war against the murderous terrorism that threatens our civilians,” he said, “in Jerusalem, in Gaza, in the West Bank, and anywhere else.”
Report: Released Hostage Said He Was Held By UNRWA Teacher In Gaza
One of the hostages recently released from Gaza, revealed on Wednesday (29th) that he was held for nearly 50 days in an attic by a teacher from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for ‘Palestinian Refugees in the Near East.’
The story was published on X by Channel 13 with journalist Almog Boker.
The hostage also said that the teacher who held him captive was a father of 10 children. He said he barely was provided food or medical attention, and was locked in by the teacher.
Furthermore, Boker’s report also cites another hostage saying that he was held hostage by a Gazan doctor as he was treating child patients.
A report from the beginning of the month saw an UNRWA-run school in Nablus in the West Bank posting a video to its official Facebook page in which a young student called for the victory of Hamas’ “jihad warriors” in Gaza.
The report also documented several examples of teachers at UNRWA schools in Gaza praising the Hamas attacks on social media, and found ties between Hamas terrorists and the agency’s schools.
The report also revealed that more than 100 Hamas terrorists were confirmed to have graduated from UNRWA schools.
Prime Minister Netanyahu: ‘There Is No Way We Don’t Return To Fight Until The End’
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday (29th) addressed fears that the extended ceasefire would harm the war against Hamas.
“From the start of the war, I set three goals: Eliminating Hamas, returning our hostages, and ensuring that Gaza will never again go back to being a threat to the State of Israel. These three goals still stand,” stated Netanayhu.
He added, “In the past week, we have had a very great achievement – the return of dozens of our hostages. A week ago this seemed imaginary, but we achieved it.”
But in recent days, I have heard a question: After completing this stage of the return of our hostages, will Israel go back to the fighting? My answer is an unequivocal yes,” the prime minister declared.
“There is no situation in which we do not go back to fighting until the end. This is my policy. The entire Security Council is behind it. The entire government is behind it. The people are behind it – this is exactly what we will do,” he concluded.
The Son Of Hamas Founder Tells Israel To Execute His Father If Hostages Aren’t Released
Mosab Hassan Yousef, the son of one of Hamas’ original founders, called on Israel to set a time limit for the terror group to release all its hostages and to assassinate his father, Sheikh Hassan Yousef, and other Hamas leaders if they don’t. Yousef’s statement was made in a video posted on X formerly Twitter, on Tuesday (28th).
“Hamas must have a timeframe – a month or two – to return the hostages and if they don’t return them within the time frame, Israel must execute top Hamas leaders in prison, especially the mass murderers,” said Yousef.
“When I say execute top Hamas leaders, I mean no exceptions. That includes my own father, the co-founder of the Hamas movement. In this war, there are no exceptions,” added Yousef. “I made a mistake 10 to 15 years ago when I saved his life many times…He was supposed to die for his actions. I saved his life. Things did not change, things got worse,” he added.
He warned that Hamas is intentionally dragging out negotiations to extend the temporary ceasefire.
Hamas is going nowhere, and if we continue to negotiate with them, they will continue stretching these negotiations, taking us into a rabbit hole that will never end. And this is their goal, to get away with their crimes. We can not allow this to happen,” Mosab stressed.
Mosab, 45, was born in Ramallah and became involved in Hamas activities as a youth, and was viewed as an eventual successor to his father’s position in the terror organization. But while in Israel’s Megiddo Prison during his early adulthood, Mosab began to question Hamas’ ideology and tactics, and became disillusioned with Hamas’ extremism.
As the son of Sheikh Yousef, Mosab was privy to many Hamas plans. For around one decade, the intelligence he provided the Shin Bet foiled numerous suicide bombing attacks and assassination attempts, and exposed terror cells. Within the Shin Bet, he was referred to as “The Green Prince.”
In 2010, Mosab published his autobiography, “Son of Hamas.” He converted to Christianity and currently lives in the US.
Sheik Yousef has been in and out of Israeli prisons for years. Israel arrested him in Ramallah on October 19 during a crackdown on Hamas following the Oct. 7 attacks.
At least 1,200 people were killed in Hamas attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on Oct. 7. Another 240 men, women, children and soldiers were taken back to Gaza as hostages. Some people remain unaccounted for as Israeli authorities continue to identify bodies and search for human remains.
Approximately 155 Israelis and foreigners are still being held in Gaza, including Kfir Bibas, who was 9 months old when he was taken hostage by Hamas along with his parents and 4-year-old brother from Kibbutz Nir Oz in the Oct.7 attacks.
PA Presents Israeli Boy Killed By Hamas Rocket As Arab Child Killed By IDF At UN Geneva
The Israeli delegation to the UN in Geneva on Wednesday (29th) condemned the Palestinian Authority delegation for falsely presenting an Israeli child who was killed in a Hamas rocket attack as an Arab child who was murdered by Israeli forces.
The PA delegation held an exhibit containing photographs of children allegedly killed by the IDF. However, one of the photographs featured in the exhibition was of Ido Avigal, a five-year-old Jewish boy who was killed in a Hamas rocket attack on the city of Sderot in 2021.
“Hamas killed Ido. But today, the Palestinian Delegation presented an exhibition at UN Geneva, which included Ido as a Palestinian child supposedly killed by Israel in Gaza. This is despicable,” the Israeli delegation wrote.
The delegation called on UN Geneva Director-General Tatiana Valovaya “to immediately remove this exhibition, which spreads misinformation and is part of a propaganda campaign.
This is not the first time Ido Avigal has been falsely presented as an Arab boy killed by IDF forces. In September, MK Ahmad Tibi published photos that he claimed were photos of children and infants hit by IDF fire, in which he included a photograph of Ido.
Shani Avigal, Ido’s mother, was shocked to see her dead son’s face among the photos.
“Hey Ahmad, what’s up, do you hear me?” she wrote on X. “It’s totally fine to take all sorts of kids, put them in one photo, and tell the world that the IDFkilled them, but is there a chance that you could take the photo of my child off there? I know Hamas killed him, and injured my daughter, my nephew, and myself. And yes, they hit our house.”
Western Activists Must Not Embrace Terror – Susie Linfield
In recent years, you won’t find many defenders of Al-Qaeda, ISIS, the Taliban, or Boko Haram. The notable exception has been groups devoted to the destruction of Israel: Hamas. Islamic Jihad, and Hezbollah. Pro-Palestinian demonstrations swept through the capitals of the West before Israel dropped a single bomb on Gaza.
Horrific massacres of unnamed civilians are taking place right now in South Sudan, Congo, Ethiopia, Syria, and Darfur. The international community usually ignores them. But none inspires cries of esteem for the perpetrators and acclaim for their crimes. And nowhere are the victims blamed for being murdered.
I imagine that the usually stern Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran must be smiling in amazement as he sees just how many protestors in the West echo his thoughts and subscribe to his plans to destroy the “Zionist entity.”
Those who imagine that Hamas’ slaughters may have prompted “liberation,” “justice,” and “freedom” for Palestinians have a big surprise in store. There’s no mystery as to what kind of state Hamas aims to create, we need only look at what it already has created. There’s little liberation, justice, or freedom to be found in Gaza, where there are no opposition political parties, no elections, and no freedom of religion, the press, or protest. Opponents are arrested, tortured, and sometimes executed. Aside from the Taliban, Hamas has established the least progressive pseudo-state on Earth.
The writer is a journalism professor at NYU. (Quillette)
