News Digest — 8/22/24
Hamas’ Rafah Forces Have Been ‘Defeated,’ Says Israeli Minister As IDF Purges Tunnel Networks
Israeli forces operating in the Gaza Strip have defeated the Hamas garrison in the former terror stronghold of Rafah, and is now demolishing the city’s massive tunnel network, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Wednesday (21st).
Gallant paid a visit to the Philadelphi Route Wednesday (21st), touring the strategic corridor which separates Rafah and the southern Gaza Strip from Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.
During his visit, Gallant entered the Gaza Strip together with troops from the IDF’s Division 162, which were deployed to the Rafah area and the Philadelphi Route.
The minister held an operational situation assessment during his visit together with senior IDF officials.
Gallant was briefed on the operational activity that led to the defeat of Hamas’ Rafah division and the destruction of over 150 tunnels in the area. Gallant instructed the forces to concentrate efforts in the coming period on completing the destruction of the remaining tunnels.
Lauding the 162nd Division for its operations in Rafah, Gallant declared Hamas’ Rafah brigade “defeated,” and said Israel was now shifting its focus to Hezbollah terrorists attacking northern Israeli towns, alluding to a possible escalation on the Lebanese border.
“I came here first and foremost to express my appreciation. The Rafah brigade was defeated by the IDF’s Division 162,” Gallant said, adding that Israeli forces in Rafah are now focusing on demolishing the city’s massive tunnel network.
“Of the 150 tunnels that were destroyed, around 100 tunnels were in fact trenches dug using engineering tools above ground, and then covered with a meter or two of dirt.”
“I gave an immediate directive to the IDF to destroy the remaining tunnels. It is critical to remember the goals of the war, and to achieve them – regarding Hamas, regarding the hostages, and we also understand why we are looking toward the North.”
US Officials: Sinwar Trapped Underground, Running Low On Supplies
US officials believe that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar wants to strike a deal with Israel since he is “trapped” underground and running out of ammunition and supplies, Washington Post journalist David Ignatius wrote in an opinion column on Wednesday (21st).
With their desire for a deal to end their misery, Ignatius notes that Hamas is “playing a waiting game,” hoping that Iran or Hezbollah will attack Israel, a move that would transform the battlefield.
However, he writes that Iran will likely disappoint Hamas. He reports that US officials estimate that Iranian leaders have decided to delay their strike on Israel, deterred by strong threats by the US.
According to Ignatius, Tehran is urging Hezbollah to strike Israel in its place. On Hezbollah’s part, US officials believe that its leader Hassan Nasrallah has backed down from his initial plan to launch a missile barrage on Tel Aviv and will instead choose to hit other targets.
Ignatius also reported that Qatari Prince Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani will visit Tehran next week to meet with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and will attempt to convince him to hold off on attacking Israel before a deal is reached.
IDF Kills Iranian-Linked Terrorist In Lebanon Who Directed Attacks In Judea And Samaria
Israel’s air force on Wednesday (21st) killed a senior Hezbollah terrorist who also served as an agent of Iran’s paramilitary Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the IDF announced Wednesday afternoon (21st).
In an airstrike conducted in the Sidon district of southern Lebanon Wednesday (21st), Israeli airplanes struck a Hezbollah position, based on intelligence collected by the Shin Bet internal security agency and Military Intelligence.
One terrorist, identified as Khalil Hussein Khalil al-Maqdah was killed in the strike, Israel’s military said.
Khalil was the brother of Munir al-Maqdah, a Hezbollah terrorist in Lebanon and fellow member of the IRGC.
The two worked together in the service of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, and were involved in directing attacks and transferring funds and weapons to terrorist infrastructure in Judea and Samaria.
In March 2024, weapons smuggled into Judea and Samaria were transferred to cells recruited and directed by the terrorist infrastructure of Khalil and Munir al-Maqdah in Lebanon.
The brothers were responsible for the transfer of weapons to Israel, and the orchestration of attacks were by Iranian officials, led by Javad Ghafari, head of Unit 4000, the Special Operations Branch of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Intelligence Organization, and Essagh Bakri, commander of Unit 840, the Quds Force’s special operations unit.
The IDF and Shin Bet are working to locate and prevent Iranian weapons from being smuggled into Judea and Samaria and to thwart the terrorist cells recruited by Iranian agents and their proxies,” an IDF spokesman said.
“The IDF and Shin Bet will continue to carry out proactive measures to monitor and thwart any activities that endanger the security of the State of Israel and its citizens, in order to expose and undermine Iranian efforts to carry out terrorist activities against the State of Israel,” the Spokesman added.
The IDF Officer Who Ran 8 Miles To The Gaza Border On Oct. 7 To Fight Terrorists
When Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the US Congress on July 24, he named four Israeli soldiers who had been heroes. The first was 2nd Lt. Avichail Reuven, who ran 8 miles to the Gaza border on Oct. 7 to help fight off the terrorists. He was interviewed by Israel’s Channel 12 News on Aug. 16.
Reuven, in the midst of officer training, was home that Saturday in Kiryat Malachi when he was awakened by sirens. After hearing the news of a massive terrorist infiltration into the Gaza border communities, he decided to go and help even though he had not been called up. He went out to the main interchange near his home and started running, “with sirens all the time and rockets falling in the area.”
He finally caught a ride with a civilian whose child had been at the Supernova music festival, and then another with a police car, to reach the fighting at the Zikim training base, which had been infiltrated by terrorists that day. “Half the base was burned…. You could see terrorists running all around the area.” He helped fight off terrorists and reached a bomb shelter where some 30 female basic training soldiers were waiting, one of whom was injured. Reuven tended to her wound.
He then went on to nearby Yiftah, Kfar Aza, and Kibbutz Be’eri, together with Col. (res.) Erez Eshel who had driven to Zikim from his home. “I met a mission-driven young soldier,” Eshel told Channel 12. “He’s completely into it, he can handle his gun, he’s calm, he’s focused, and he can handle anything. He is a real super soldier.”
Reuven is now a company commander for paratroopers in basic training. He comes from a family of immigrants from Ethiopia. Reuven told Channel 12, “I want to continue in the army. It’s my mission, it’s what I believe in.”
Mahmoud Abbas: “America Is The Plague” – Elliot Abrams
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas spoke to the Turkish parliament on August 15, giving a full endorsement of Hamas and claiming that every Hamas terrorist killed by Israel is a martyr. Referring to America, he said: “America is the plague, and the plague is America.”
According to the State Department, the US has provided more than $674 million to the Palestinians over the past 8 months. The US is the largest single humanitarian donor to the Palestinian people. In the last thirty years, total US aid to the Palestinians is over $5 billion. One wonders what the average American would say if confronted with those words from Abbas, and then asked if American tax dollars should continue to flow to that man. Actually one does not wonder.
The US will be treated this way by Abbas, and others, as long as they think they can get away with it. Abbas should not get away with this. A retraction and apology should be demanded, and until it is received, not one more dime should move. No self-respecting country should permit itself to be treated this way. Paying for such insults ought to be out of the question.
The writer, a senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, served as deputy national security advisor, where he supervised U.S. policy in the Middle East for the White House. (Council on Foreign Relations)
(cfr.org)
Maryland Schools Targeted In Swastika Graffiti Spree
Swastikas and anti-Semitic messages were graffitied on the grounds of several schools in Montgomery County, Maryland, local news outlets reported on Tuesday (20th).
Police were called on Monday morning (19th) to four different schools — Thomas S, Wootton High School, Winston Churchill High School, Fallsmead Elementary School, Strathmore Elementary School — that were targeted with the perpetrators aiming some of their invective at Israel.
Anti-Semitism is not new to Montgomery County, which is home to over 100,000 members of the Jewish community. Last week, a sign reading “We support Israel” outside a synagogue in Bethesda, Maryland was graffitied with anti-Semitic messages.
The incident at the synagogue came just two days after similar anti-Semitic graffiti was found near Bethesda Elementary School. “Israel rapes men, women, and children” was spray-painted on a school sign and “Free Palestine” was reportedly painted onto a nearby crosswalk and sidewalk.
A similar incident occurred in 2022, when “Jews not welcome” was graffitied on a sign outside of Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda.
Following the wave of incidents, local residents came together to organize a community effort to remove the graffiti. Some of it was cleaned by children, according to photographs shared by local outlet WTOP.
“We are committed to maintaining a safe, inclusive environment where all students, staff, and caregivers feel safe, valued, seen, heard, and have a sense of belonging,” Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) said in a statement shared by a local CBS affiliate.
“We firmly denounce divisive actions that perpetuate hate, inequality, and injustice against any person, family or community. We must unite to recognize and embrace our differences and not let them divide us.”
Guila Franklin Siegel, chief operating officer of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, added in a statement, “We thank MCPS and [the Montgomery County Police department] officials for their quick response to these damaging incidents – and for ensuring that security and law enforcement patrols are being stepped up as necessary. We are confident that people of goodwill across all backgrounds and faiths will see these acts for what they are: hateful words designed to tear our communities apart rather than bring them together.”
Elsewhere in Maryland, anti-Semitism on the streets of Baltimore has distressed the Jewish community there, according to numerous reports by local outlets and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which has documented incidents of vandalism, harassment, and assault.
In June, Baltimoer’s mayor and police chief denounced a slew of anti-Semitic incidents in which the homes of Jewish families in the Glen section of the city were graffitied with swastikas.
As many as 10 homes were targeted in a spree of hate, according to a local NBC affiliate, shocking locals who were dismayed that the incidents occurred in their neighborhood.
Baltimore law enforcement officials, who decried similar incidents that struck the city in recent months, opened a hate crime investigation to find and bring the perpetrators to justice.
In December, vandals twice slashed a pro-Israel sign displayed on the lawn of the Baltimore Hebrew Congregation in Pikesville, local media reported.
In a later incident in March, a gang of teenagers mugged and assaulted two Jewish men who were walking to their synagogue.
The youths reportedly chased one of the men and stole a “large amount of cash” from the other. More recently, an Israeli flag was ripped and stolen from the porch of a doctor’s office earlier this summer.
Across the state of Maryland, which had the seventh most anti-Semitic incidents in the US in 2023, outrages targeting the Jewish community increased 211 percent compared to the prior year, according to the ADL’s latest data.
Virginia, a neighboring state, saw a 223 percent increase in 2023, a problem lawmakers have sought to address by applying the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of anti-semitism to hate crime investigations.
