Nov. 7: Israel rejects US calls for war ‘pauses’; marks a month since Hamas assault

Democratic senator covers office wall with posters of Israelis kidnapped by Hamas

Posters of Israelis taken hostage in the Oct. 7 attack by the Gaza-ruling Hamas terror group are seen in the office of Democratic Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, November 8, 2023. (Screenshot X, Used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

Democratic Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania covers the wall of his office with posters of the Israelis taken hostage by Hamas in the Gaza-ruling terror group’s October 7 attack.

“They will stay up until every single person is safely returned home,” Fetterman says.

In my front office I have displayed the posters of the innocent Israelis kidnapped by Hamas.
 
They will stay up until every single person is safely returned home. pic.twitter.com/qxCmvC97uY

— Senator John Fetterman (@SenFettermanPA) November 7, 2023

US police briefly detained suspect in pro-Israel demonstrator’s death; much yet unclear

Flowers and flags are left at a makeshift shrine placed at the scene of a confrontation that lead to death of pro-Israel demonstrator Paul Kessler, November 7, 2023, in Thousand Oaks, California. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)

US police briefly detained the suspect in the death of a Jewish man in the Los Angeles area but released him shortly thereafter and have not made any arrests in the case, local law enforcement says.

The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles issued a statement yesterday asserting that the yet-to-be-named suspect, a pro-Palestinian protester, had struck 69-year-old Paul Kessler in the head with a megaphone during an altercation on Sunday. Kessler succumbed to his wounds yesterday morning.

Officials from Ventura County, where the altercation unfolded, refrain from making the same determination declared by the local Jewish federation, saying that there’s not yet enough evidence to do so.

They say Kessler sustained non-lethal injuries to the left side of his face but that it was the blow he took to the head when he fell to the ground that caused the injury that led to his death hours later.

Ventura County sheriff James Fryhoff says Kessler’s death “is being investigated as a homicide,” and investigators have not yet ruled out the possibility of a hate crime.

A makeshift shrine is placed at the scene of a Sunday confrontation that led to the death of pro-Israel demonstrator Paul Kessler, November 7, 2023, in Thousand Oaks, California. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)

Ventura chief medical examiner Chris Young clarifies that “a manner of death being a homicide does not indicate that a crime has been committed,” rather that the death was the result of another person’s actions.

Fryhoff says police still don’t know what unfolded before Kessler fell to the ground and are seeking more information from the public, adding that the facial injuries could have been caused by a megaphone but that this has not been confirmed.

“Witnesses provided conflicting statements about the altercation and who the aggressor was,” Fryhoff says. “Some of the witnesses were pro-Palestine, while others were pro-Israel.”

MDA says it has collected 60,000 blood donations since Oct. 7; no more urgently needed

Staff work at the Magen David Adom's (MDA) Marcus National Blood Services Center, in Ramla, October 29, 2023. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue, File)

Magen David Adom’s Blood Service announces that it has collected and processed 60,000 units of blood donated since the beginning of the war one month ago.

MDA expresses its gratitude for the public’s overwhelming response to calls for blood donations when supplies were low at the outbreak of the fighting and hospitals were inundated with an influx of patients following the savage attack by Hamas on Israeli communities on October 7.

However, MDA reports it currently has enough blood and blood products to supply all hospitals and the IDF Medical Corps. It therefore asks those interested in donating blood to only do so according to the schedule and at the locations posted on the MDA website, which is updated daily. All donors must make appointments. MDA also reminds people to check one’s eligibility for donating blood.

Hundreds hold somber vigil near Knesset; bereaved relatives criticize Netanyahu

People hold a vigil near the Knesset in the Knesset to mark a month since Hamas's October 7 massacres, November 7, 2023. (Jessica Steinberg/Times of Israel)

Hundreds gather near the Knesset to mark 30 days since the deaths of 1,400 people on October 7, when Hamas terrorists massacred and committed atrocities in the Gaza border communities and towns of the south.

The gathering is solemn and somber, without anyone appearing onstage. It opens with a recording of a choir singing Unetane Tokef, the haunting liturgical poem sung on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, describing the Day of Judgement.

Lasting just 30 minutes, the crowd stands silently throughout the vigil, as two speakers — Yaakov Godo and Maoz Inon — make brief addresses.

Godo’s son, Tom, was killed by terrorists in his home’s safe room in Kissufim as he tried to keep the door closed. His wife and three daughters escaped.

Inon’s parents, Bilha and Yakovi Inon, were killed in their small wooden house in Moshav Netiv HaAsara.

Both men blame Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government for what happened on October 7.

“A month has passed and Netanyahu didn’t participate in one funeral, didn’t come to any shiva, didn’t call the families,” says Yinon.

Inon has said repeatedly that he opposes the war in Gaza, due to the lives that will be lost on both sides. He told The New York Times’ Nicholas Kristof in an October 25 op-ed that Israel “needs to break the pattern of escalating violence that feeds hatred, creates orphans and self-replicates indefinitely.”

The two men and other mourners plan on sitting in a mourner’s tent outside the Knesset until the government falls.

“I call on all of Israel to come and be with us, to join us on the journey of building new hope and equality,” says Inon. “I believe we will win.”

IDF says it struck Hezbollah arms depot, rocket posts, other sites in response to barrage

The Israel Defense Forces says fighter jets struck Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon in response to the rocket fire on northern Israel earlier.

The sites included a weapons depot, rocket launching positions, infrastructure and sites where “technological means” are stored, the IDF says.

Additionally, the IDF says it struck a Hezbollah anti-tank guided missile cell preparing an attack earlier today.

מטוסי קרב של צה"ל תקפו מטרות של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה ביניהן מחסן אמל"ח, עמדות שיגור, תשתיות להכוונת טרור ואתרים בהם ממוקמים אמצעים טכנולוגיים של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה. התקיפה בוצעה בתגובה לירי משטח לבנון מוקדם יותר היום >> pic.twitter.com/yOgDHACxdm

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) November 7, 2023

Shrapnel from Gaza rockets damage home in Savion, street in Rishon Lezion; nobody hurt

A rocket fired from the Gaza Strip hits a home in the upscale central Israel town of Savion, without causing casualties.

Footage shows extensive damage to the home, reportedly caused by falling shrapnel.

האזעקות במרכז: בית בסביון נפגע ככל הנראה מרסיסים, לא ידוע על נפגעים@AnnaPines_ pic.twitter.com/crWilcFgqf

— גלצ (@GLZRadio) November 7, 2023

בית בסביון נפגע מרסיסים: תיעוד הנזק pic.twitter.com/OAMNGqnHNu

— Gera. Gershon. Belik (@gershon27) November 7, 2023

Shrapnel also fell on a street in Rishon Lezion, without causing casualties or significant damage.

רסיס נפל בראשון לציון. צילום: א.ח

להצטרפות לחדשות המוקד בטלגרם: https://t.co/CxQgSxXZ68 pic.twitter.com/udJEXvu3XK

— חדשות המוקד (@hamoked_il) November 7, 2023

Herzog tells US VP no Gaza truce without hostage release; Harris pushes on aid to Strip

As Israel marks a month since the October 7 massacres, President Isaac Herzog speaks with US Vice President Kamala Harris.

Like Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and others did earlier in the evening, Herzog underscores that there will be no ceasefire without the release of the hostages held by Hamas.

Harris stresses the importance of dealing with the humanitarian situation in Gaza, according to the President’s Office, and Herzog responds that Israel is committed to international humanitarian law, while it is defending itself against an enemy that hides among the civilian population. He adds that Israel is committed to allowing humanitarian aid into Gaza, while Hamas is preventing the Red Cross from visiting the hostages.

They also speak about the worrying rise in antisemitism and the death of a pro-Israel protestor in the US during a rally supporting the Palestinians.

White House says US concerned about Palestinians killed, detained in West Bank

Asked whether the US is concerned by the 163 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the West Bank and the 1,319 Palestinians placed under administrative detention by the IDF since October 7, White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby responds: “Yes.”

US President Joe Biden has raised his concern with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the recent uptick of deadly settler violence in the West Bank, but Kirby’s admission reveals that US opposition extends to broader Israeli military policy beyond the Green Line.

Israel says the vast majority of Palestinians killed were in clashes with IDF troops while justifying the controversial administrative detention policy — under which detainees can be jailed for months at a time without due process — as necessary for combatting terror.

AG freezes all coalition funds, deeming them budgetary source for war efforts

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara has decided to freeze all coalition funds, deeming them budgetary sources meant to fund war expenses during the ongoing conflict with the Hamas terror group.

Baharav-Miara’s deputy for economic law, Meir Levin, writes in response to a query that any use of money promised to certain parties as part of political agreements for anything other than the war-related efforts requires a specific cabinet resolution that will be subject to judicial review on its necessity.

White House spokesman appears to reject claim Israel committing ‘genocide’

White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby appears to smack down allegations that Israel is committing “genocide” against the Palestinians in Gaza.

“I heard this word ‘genocide’ tossed around. Hamas actually does have genocidal intentions against the people of Israel. They’d like to see it wiped off the map. They’ve said so on purpose. That’s what’s at stake here,” Kirby says during a press briefing.

Netanyahu speaks with Macron, updates him on war — PMO

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks by phone with French President Emmanuel Macron.

According to the Prime Minister’s Office, Netanyahu gave Macron an update on the war and thanked him for his ongoing support.

France has been calling for a “humanitarian truce” in Gaza in recent days.

Israel opposes US plan for humanitarian pauses, demands hostages freed first — sources

Israel opposes the US push for humanitarian pauses in Gaza that aren’t preceded by Hamas agreeing to release the hostages from the Strip, a US and an Israeli official tell The Times of Israel.

While diplomatic efforts to free the hostages are ongoing, the US doesn’t want humanitarian pauses to be conditioned on the captives’ release, the officials say.

The US official clarifies that Washington and its allies are also pursuing options that would see hostages released in exchange for humanitarian pauses but says that those “temporary and localized pauses” should be accepted by Israel, even if there is no immediate progress in the hostage talks.

State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel appears to confirm this sequential approach, saying during a briefing that “conditions can be created [as a result of the humanitarian pauses] that could potentially lead to additional hostage releases [and] that could potentially lead to an influx in humanitarian aid as well.”

The US official speaking to The Times of Israel recognizes that Hamas would try and use such pauses to regroup but argues that Israel will still be able to take steps to limit this.

Pauses are needed to allow for Gaza terror groups to get a full accounting of the roughly 240 hostages, which is necessary to advance negotiations for a more widescale release, the US official adds.

According to Israeli estimates, Hamas currently holds around 180 hostages, Palestinian Islamic Jihad holds roughly 40 hostages and unaffiliated mob families are believed to hold an additional 20, complicating negotiations significantly, as the Qatari mediators’ contacts are largely with Hamas’s political leaders abroad who have largely been sidelined by the terror group’s military leaders still in Gaza, the Israeli official says.

The Walla news site reports that in their call yesterday, US President Joe Biden tried to convince Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to a three-day humanitarian pause, which would begin with the release of 10 to 15 hostages. The three days would then be used by Hamas to compile a full list of all the hostages, which would be passed along to Qatari mediators.

Netanyahu rejected the offer, saying that he didn’t trust that Hamas would be willing to release a large number of hostages and that it would suffice with releasing very small numbers while Israel would have a much harder time relaunching its fighting after three days due to international pressure that would surely mount, Walla reports.

Second barrage in 35 minutes targets central Israel

Rocket sirens are sounding in the Tel Aviv metropolis and the Rishon Lezion area for the second time in 35 minutes, with TV footage showing many rockets and some interceptions.

There are no immediate reports of impacts or injuries.

Most of the rockets in the previous barrage reportedly fell in the sea.

Red Cross says humanitarian convoy hit by gunfire in Gaza

The International Committee of the Red Cross says a humanitarian convoy carrying life-saving medical supplies has come under fire in Gaza City.

The convoy of five trucks and two Red Cross vehicles was carrying supplies to health facilities when it was hit, an ICRC statement says, adding that two trucks were damaged and a driver was lightly wounded.

It isn’t immediately clear who was behind the gunfire. Israel has previously accused Hamas gunmen of hitting civilians attempting to evacuate to the Strip’s south.

US says it opposes ‘reoccupation’ of Gaza by Israel

The United States says it opposes Israel resuming long-term control of the Gaza Strip.

“Our viewpoint is that Palestinians must be at the forefront of these decisions and Gaza is Palestinian land and it will remain Palestinian land,” State Department spokesman Vedant Patel tells reporters.

“Generally speaking, we do not support the reoccupation of Gaza and neither does Israel,” he says.

Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip, which it captured from Egypt in the 1967 Six Day War, in 2005. It later imposed a blockade after the Hamas terror group seized control of the territory and used it to fire rockets at Israeli population centers.

Patel says that the United States agrees “there is no returning to the October 6 status quo,” referring to the day before Hamas’s massive onslaught.

“Israel and the region must be secure and Gaza should and can no longer be a base from which to launch terror attacks against the people of Israel or anyone else,” Patel says.

Netanyahu, in an interview yesterday with ABC News, said that Israel would assume “overall security” over Gaza “for an indefinite period” after the war.

Rocket alarms sound throughout central Israel, in Gaza border area

Air raid sirens are sounding throughout central Israel — in Tel Aviv and its suburbs, as well as the Sharon area, Ashdod and the Gaza border area.

There are no immediate reports of impacts or injuries.

IDF: No ceasefire; over 14,000 Gaza targets hit, more than 100 tunnels destroyed

IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari says there will be no ceasefire as the military pushes forward with its ground offensive in the Gaza Strip.

“Hamas terrorists tell themselves that there will be a ceasefire. There won’t be one. We are moving forward,” he says.

Hagari says the IDF has struck more than 14,000 targets in the Gaza Strip, destroyed more than 100 tunnel entrances, and captured 4,000 weapons — including rockets — hidden in civilian infrastructure.

IDF says it struck Hamas gunmen holed up in mosque, found rocket launchers in school

The Israel Defense Forces says fighting continued in the Gaza Strip today, with ground troops being assisted by aircraft to strike Hamas operatives.

It says forces of the Nahal Brigade directed an aircraft to strike a group of Hamas operatives who were holed up in a mosque and had attempted to flee via a tunnel in the northern Gaza Strip.

In a separate incident, the IDF says Hamas launched anti-tank guided missiles at troops from several locations, including adjacent to hospitals. It says a helicopter provided suppressing fire to extract the troops.

In another incident, troops killed several Hamas operatives and found rocket launchers and other weapons inside a school. The IDF says the school was used by Hamas as a base for mortar and rocket fire on Israel.

Also today, the IDF says it struck numerous mortars and anti-tank missile launching positions.

לוחמי צה"ל מחטיבת נח"ל זיהו חוליית מחבלים שהסתתרה במסגד, ובעזרת סיוע אווירי חיסלו את החולייה בעת שיצאו מהמסגד לעבר תוואי מנהרה.

מחבלי חמאס ירו טילי נ"ט על כוח צה"ל ממספר נקודות ביניהם בית חולים בסביבתם, מסוק קרב ליווה את הלוחמים לחילוץ והשמיד את מקורות הירי>> pic.twitter.com/mIeiKOqjAt

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) November 7, 2023

Netanyahu: Israel reaching places Hamas ‘thought we’d never reach’; warns Hezbollah

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks from the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv, November 7, 2023. (Screenshot: YouTube; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the IDF has been reaching deeper into Gaza than Hamas ever imagined, and warns Lebanon’s Hezbollah that it would be making the “greatest mistake of its life” if it opens a new full-on war front.

Speaking from the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv, Netanyahu says he is addressing the nation in order to update Israelis on the war.

“In the south, the war is moving forward with force that Hamas has never seen,” he says. “Gaza City is surrounded. We are operating within it, we are deepening the pressure on Hamas every hour, every day.”

He says that thousands of terrorists have been eliminated, both above ground and in tunnels, including many of those who planned and carried out the slaughter of 1,400 people in Israel on October 7.

Netanyahu also says that the ground operation has destroyed “countless” Hamas command centers, positions and tunnels.

“Hamas is discovering that we are reaching places they thought we would never reach,” he says.

Netanyahu notes that IDF troops are learning lessons inside the Strip which they are passing on to troops training inside Israel ahead of their entry into Gaza. He also praises the troops’ faith and determination to defend the country.

In the north, Netanyahu says, the IDF is both defending and attacking. He says that Israel will not accept Hezbollah or Hamas in Lebanon “harming our communities and our citizens.”

“We will respond with heavy fire to any of their attacks against us,” he promises.

If Hezbollah enters the war, Netanyahu says — then repeats — “it will be making the greatest mistake of its life.”

Regarding the hostages held in Gaza, Netanyahu says he spoke with the president of the Red Cross and demanded that it work to secure their immediate release, “as required by international law.” He also demanded that the Red Cross visit all the hostages and establish their well-being, again as international law requires.

“There will not be a ceasefire without the return of our kidnapped,” Netanyahu stresses, delivering this declaration “to our enemies and our friends alike.” He adds that the ground operation is a vital part of the effort to get the hostages home.

Turning to the diplomatic front, Netanyahu says Israel is working to give the IDF diplomatic room to maneuver. He says he has been telling foreign leaders that if Israel does not win, their countries are next. But Israel will win, he promises.

He notes that he speaks with US President Joe Biden regularly, and appreciates the support from the White House and from the American people.

He vows that Israel “will destroy Hamas’s military and governance capabilities… Gaza will no longer constitute a threat to Israel.”

Netanyahu again calls on the Gazan population to move south — “you are already doing it, complete it, because we will not stop,” he says.

And he pledges again that there will not be any fuel allowed into Gaza, “and no ceasefire without the return of our hostages.”

Netanyahu promises that his government will open its pockets to rehabilitate Israel’s devastated southern communities, no matter the cost.

“We will fight together, and with God’s help, we will win together,” concludes Netanyahu.

He does not take questions.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets ground forces officers at the Tze’elim base in southern Israel, November 7, 2023. (Haim Zach / GPO)

Earlier today, speaking with ground forces troops and commanders at the Tze’elim base, Netanyahu told them that they are “saving the state.”

The ongoing IDF operation in Gaza, he said, “is an incredible success. I’m telling you, the Americans were here. They came and explained what happened at Fallujah… They are astounded by our achievements… Of course, there are painful losses, but overall the success is phenomenal.”

WATCH: Special Western Wall prayer service for peace and release of Gaza hostages

Activists dedicated to the plight of the hostages held by terrorists in Gaza are holding a special prayer service for peace and for the captives’ return at the Western Wall in Jerusalem.

Ex-employee of French Foreign Ministry filmed tearing down posters of Gaza hostages

A former employee of the French Foreign Ministry is filmed in Paris tearing down posters of Israeli hostages held by Hamas.

Sophie Pommier, who until last summer was a training adviser in the Middle East department of the Quai d’Orsay, cries “Israel assassin” as she tears down the posters. She is confronted by several passersby, whom she then engages in a shouting match.

Sophie Pommier, conseillère en formation sur le Proche-Orient au ministère des Affaires étrangères, arrache des photos d’otages du Hamas, dont des enfants, des femmes, des bébés et huit Français en criant « Israël assassin » !

L’antisémitisme, la haine d’Israël et l’apologie du… pic.twitter.com/VZ9L7NFGHp

— Meyer Habib (@Meyer_Habib) November 7, 2023

“Although this person has no longer had contractual relations with this ministry since last summer, an administrative investigation will be carried out from today at the request of Minister Catherine Colonna into the conditions of her recruitment,” writes Mathieu Hedoin, a French diplomat based in Israel.

Hedoin says in a tweet that tearing down the posters, and French publications comparing Hamas to the French Resistance in World War II, could be prosecuted by the French courts.

“The video released today shows a totally unworthy attitude, behavior and comments, which completely disqualify this person from maintaining any working relationship with the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs,” writes Hedoin.

Turkey’s parliament announces boycott of companies that support Israel

Turkey’s parliament has announced it’s boycotting companies that support Israel, saying their products won’t be sold in any of its restaurants, cafeterias or teahouses.

According to a statement from the Turkish Grand National Assembly, the decision has been made by parliament speaker Numan Kurtulus in support of the “public sensitivities” toward the sale of products from companies that have allegedly “openly declared their support to Israel’s war crimes.”

The statement does not name any of the companies being shunned.

Last week, Turkey recalled its ambassador to Israel for consultations despite recent efforts to normalize ties, as it consolidates its ties with the Hamas terror group despite its murderous October 7 massacres in Israel.

US says 400 of its nationals have exited Gaza in past week

More than 400 Americans and their family members have been able to evacuate Gaza over the past week, since Egypt’s Rafah crossing was opened to civilians for the first time since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war.

“We have assisted more than 400 US citizens, lawful permanent residents, and other eligible individuals to depart Gaza,” State Department principal deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel says in a statement.

Under attack from Israel, UN chief reiterates condemnation of Hamas’s Oct. 7 onslaught

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres attends the UK Artificial Intelligence (AI) Safety Summit at Bletchley Park, in central England, on November 2, 2023. (Leon Neal/Pool/AFP)

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “reiterates his total condemnation” of the Hamas terror onslaught on October 7 in a statement issued a month after the massacre, adding that there can be “no justification” for killing civilians and taking 240 people hostage.

Guterres has come under fire from Israeli officials over his criticism of the IDF’s military campaign against Hamas. Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan has repeatedly called on him to resign, accusing him of trying to justify the Hamas attack — something that Guterres has vociferously denied, though he has said the assault “didn’t happen in a vacuum.”

In his statement marking one month since the outbreak of the war, Guterres calls for the immediate and unconditional release of the hostages, as well as for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.

“The secretary-general remains extremely distressed by the killing of civilians in Gaza and the humanitarian catastrophe that continues to unfold in Gaza, with an unimaginable toll on civilians,” says the statement from Guterres’s spokesperson.

Hamas claims to have launched rockets at Tel Aviv; no sirens sound

A number of rockets were launched from the Gaza Strip at central Israel a short while ago.

No sirens sounded, as the projectiles apparently landed in the sea.

The Hamas terror groups claims to have fired rockets at Tel Aviv.

Gallant: No pause in war before hostages freed; Gaza is mankind’s ‘biggest terror base’

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant gives a press conference on November 7, 2023 (screenshot)

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant calls the Gaza Strip “the biggest terror base mankind has ever built,” and rejects any humanitarian pause before Palestinian terror groups release the more than 240 hostages they are holding.

In a televised press statement, Gallant says IDF ground forces are deployed “in the heart” of Gaza City.” They have stormed terror strongholds in Gaza “from all directions, in perfect coordination with maritime and aerial forces,” and are “tightening the chokehold” around Gaza City.

“We will continue until victory and until the hostages are returned home,” he says.

He says Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar “is hiding in his bunker and is without contact with his associates,” vowing again to eliminate him.

“Today we saw thousands of Gazans heading south [in the so-called humanitarian corridor],” he says. He urges all Gaza City residents to move down to safer areas in the south “so that you won’t be harmed… We will destroy Hamas; we have no interest in harming civilians.”

Regarding growing international demands for humanitarian pauses, Gallant says “humanitarian pauses, to me, means first and foremost the [return of the] captives held by the savages. There will be no humanitarian pauses without [the return of] the hostages.”

He is asked whether the IDF intends to attack Hamas targets at Shifa Hospital, and says he does not talk about what the IDF is doing before it happens.

IDF says it found terror tunnels near old amusement park, university in Gaza

IDF troops operate near the site of a Hamas tunnel near a ferris wheel in the northern Gaza Strip, in an image published November 7, 2023. (Israel Defense Forces)

The Israel Defense Forces says it has uncovered more tunnels in the northern Gaza Strip, near a ferris wheel and a university.

The IDF says paratroopers operating in northern Gaza found a tunnel adjacent to an old amusement park.

Another paratroopers team operating with forces of the 7th Armored Brigade found a separate tunnel next to a university in northern Gaza.

IDF says it has uncovered more tunnels in the northern Gaza Strip, near a ferris wheel and a university.

The IDF says paratroopers operating in northern Gaza found a tunnel adjacent to an old amusement park.

Another paratroopers team operating with forces of the 7th Armored… pic.twitter.com/2G4cg51EsV

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) November 7, 2023

Both tunnels were later destroyed.

In the same area as the university, a weapons depot was found. The IDF says troops recovered chemical substances, assault rifles, RPGs, mines and other equipment.

Herzog urges US university heads to crack down on rampant antisemitism on campus

President Isaac Herzog at the President's Residence in Jerusalem on October 24, 2023. (Oren Ben Hakoon/Pool)

President Isaac Herzog pens an open letter addressing the presidents of American universities and calling on them to take action to protect their Jewish students, amid an uptick in antisemitic incidents since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war.

“I hear of Jewish students harassed at Harvard University. A Jewish student assaulted at Tulane, Jewish students locked in a library at the Cooper Union as a mob shouts outside, signs accusing Israel of genocide, swastikas painted on dorm-room doors, hateful and intimidating demonstrations – too many examples to list,” Herzog writes in the open letter.

“All of this is happening not on the fringes of society but in the very temples of scholarship, in halls meant to be beacons of humanism, progress and rigorous inquiry. And it is happening not in Europe a century ago, but in the United States in 2023,” the president laments.

“Debate is welcome on any topic, including Israel’s actions. This goes without saying. As America has learned in its own wars, the trial of fighting heartless terrorists who hide among civilians is agonizing and offers no easy choices. But the events on campus are not debate but a defilement of the university and its principles. How can anyone endorsing, excusing, or glorifying the Hamas atrocities have a place in any college, or in the civilized world?”

“Moral leadership is vitally important at this fraught moment. It would be of great consequence for you, the presidents, to condemn the barbarous acts of October 7 publicly and unequivocally. Students and faculty, I believe, also need a clear voice saying that free speech is of the highest value, but speech promoting violence against individuals or groups and calls for the elimination of a whole country, Israel, are unacceptable on campus and should not be tolerated,” Herzog adds.

Report says government advancing plan to establish new Jewish community near Gaza

The National Planning and Building Council has advanced a plan to establish a new Jewish community near the Gaza border.

The proposal has reportedly been pushed by Likud’s Environmental Protection Minister Idit Silman against the views of her professional staff, who argued that precedence should be given to existing towns that were ransacked during the October 7 Hamas onslaught.

But Silman pushed back during the planning council meeting, saying that it is the “Zionist position” to back such projects that help expand Israel’s hold on the land, Haaretz reports.

Home Front Command offers new version of iPhone app, fixing delayed alert issues

The IDF’s Home Front Command is deploying a new version of its rocket alarm app for iPhone users, after several complaints of delays with its push notifications.

It says the new version comes to address an issue that caused a handful of confirmed cases of delays, out of some 12,000 alerts sent out since the beginning of the war.

iPhone users will need to update their app, as the current version will no longer send notifications.

The app can be found here.

Android users did not experience the same delays, and that app will remain operational.

Gantz says Israel fighting ‘multi-front war,’ faces unprecedented challenges in Gaza

Minister Benny Gantz speaks to the media in Tel Aviv on October 26, 2023. (Carrie Keller-Lynn/Times of Israel)

War cabinet minister Benny Gantz says that Israel is in a “multi-front war,” marking the government’s strongest description yet of the expansion of Israel’s ongoing war, centered on the Hamas terror group in Gaza.

“The focus is Gaza – but we are fighting on defense and on offense both in the north and elsewhere,” the minister says, in an address from Tel Aviv’s military headquarters marking a month since Hamas’s murderous October 7 onslaught, which triggered the current hostilities.

More than 20 rockets were fired earlier today from Lebanon into Israel, as US diplomats continue to try to remove Hezbollah from the spiraling fight.

The IDF also continues to operate in the West Bank, trying to keep a lid on boiling tensions.

Within Gaza, Gantz says that “this war is unlike anything we have experienced in the past,” pointing in particular to how deeply embedded Hamas is within civilian populations.

“We are required to fight deep in the field against an enemy that is turning hospitals and schools into war rooms and weapons depots,” he says, 11 days into Israel’s Gaza ground operation.

Only one of the more than 240 hostages held by Hamas has been freed by Israeli forces, and Gantz says that Israel will make any political or military move necessary to release the rest.

“I promise that we will do everything to bring them home – by force and by political action. We will fight those who need it, and we will talk to anyone we can,” he says, stopping short of advocating for a full Palestinian security prisoner swap, as has been floated by some.

“We will not give up the chance to bring anyone back,” Gantz continues.

The families of Hamas-held hostages have held several protests, attacking the government for not doing enough to free their loved ones.

Protesters near UN HQ urge body to solve ‘largest’ hostage crisis in modern history

Hundreds hold a protest outside UN headquarters in New York City, demanding the release of the hostages in Gaza, on November 7, 2023. (Omer Kaplan)

Hundreds of people are demonstrating outside the United Nations headquarters in New York, demanding the release of the roughly 240 hostages who have been held by Palestinian terrorists in Gaza for the past month.

The US demonstrators call on UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to act immediately in the face of what they say is the largest hostage crisis in modern history.

Demonstrating on behalf of the Israeli Hostages and Missing Families Forum, the protesters display posters with pictures of the wife and children of UN Secretary-General Guterres, labeled as hostages, with the caption: “What would you do if your family members were held hostage?”

In front of them, blindfolded activists simulate the Israeli hostages currently being held by Hamas and other terror groups in Gaza.

US officials blast Iran, accusing it of forcing its Jews to hold anti-Israel rallies

Iranian rabbis and a group of Jewish community attend a gathering to condemn Israel's attacks on Gaza in Tehran, Iran, October 30, 2023. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

The US accuses Iran of coercing its Jewish citizens into staging protests against Israel.

It’s “truly abhorrent that Jews in Iran are coerced into staging anti-Israel protests. It is reprehensible that the Iranian regime continues to pressure Jews and other religious groups to advance their propaganda,” US antisemitism envoy Deborah Lipstadt tweets.

Five Iranian state news agencies have published photos and videos in recent days showing hundreds of Iranian Jews participating in anti-Israel rallies in Tehran, Shiraz, Isfahan, Yazd and Kermanshah. The rallies included speeches from local rabbis who vociferously condemned the “Zionist regime” for its actions in the war against the Hamas terror group.

“Iran’s apparent exploitation of this conflict to advance its repression and propaganda against its Jewish community is abhorrent,” a State Department spokesperson says in a statement first issued to Voice of America.

342 currently hospitalized in Israel due to war, 7,262 since Oct. 7 — Health Ministry

The Health Ministry updates that since the beginning of the war a month ago, 7,262 people have been brought to hospitals around the country for treatment of injuries.

Of them, 1,933 are women and 5,330 are men. Two-thirds of the injured are between the ages of 20 and 40.

There are currently 342 injured people hospitalized — 51 of them in serious condition and 152 in rehabilitation departments.

‘Every day is like an eternity to me’: Gaza hostages’ relatives rally on Capitol Hill

Doris Liber holds up a photo of her son Guy Illouz, who is being held hostage by terrorists in Gaza, during a press conference on Capitol Hill in the US on November 7, 2023. (Screen capture/C-SPAN)

A group of relatives of some of the hostages being held by terrorists in Gaza are holding a press conference with US Republican leadership on Capitol Hill.

Doris Liber, an American citizen, shares the story of her 26-year-old son Guy Illouz, who is believed to be among the hostages in Gaza.

Liber says she last spoke with her son after he was shot in the arm during the Hamas massacre on the music festival in Re’im on October 7, and has not heard from him since.

“I’m here because it’s been 30 days. Every day is like an eternity to me, and I can’t wait any longer,” she says, breaking down in tears as House Speaker Mike Johnson stands solemnly behind her.

“I know that he was shot. We don’t have a list, we don’t have their conditions, I don’t have anything,” she says, choking up. “I need your help. I’m part of your people, you’re part of Israel. I’m so proud of being an American, but I do need you now.”

Last week, she received a call from a woman who claimed she was working to release her son but would need a list of his private information and told Liber not to tell anyone about the call. Israeli authorities later told her it was “mind games.”

Visiting Beirut, US envoy warns against Israel-Hamas war expanding into Lebanon

US special envoy Amos Hochstein (C) arrives for a meeting with Lebanon's parliament speaker in Beirut on November 7, 2023. (AFP)

US energy envoy Amos Hochstein urges the restoration of calm on the Israel-Lebanon border during an unannounced visit to Lebanon.

“The United States does not want to see conflict in Gaza escalating and expanding into Lebanon,” Hochstein says during a press conference in Beirut after meeting Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati.

“Restoring calm along the southern border is of utmost importance to the United States and it should be the highest priority for both Lebanon and Israel,” he adds.

Since Hamas terrorists launched a shock October 7 assault on Israel from the Gaza Strip, Lebanon’s southern border has seen intensifying tit-for-tat exchanges, mainly between Israel and Hezbollah, stoking fears of a broader conflagration.

Both Hamas and Islamic Jihad have also claimed attacks and infiltration attempts from Lebanon, while Israel has been striking in the country’s south to prevent and respond to such attacks.

AFP contributed to this report.

Thai FM reportedly says he’s been promised country’s Gaza hostages next to be freed

Thai Foreign Minister Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara says he has understood from officials he has met in Qatar and Egypt that Thailand’s 24 hostages held in Gaza by Palestinian terror groups will be the next to be released since they have “nothing to do with the war,” The New York Times reports.

Thai officials have said they’ve received proof that the country’s captives — agriculture workers employed in Israeli farms near the Gaza border who were kidnapped along with hundreds of others on October 7 — are alive.

US threatens to cut funds to colleges failing to tackle antisemitism, Islamophobia

The US Education Department has issued a missive to American public schools and colleges, warning them that they could lose federal funding if they fail to uphold their legal obligation to address antisemitism and Islamophobia amid an uptick in such incidents since the Israel-Hamas war outbreak.

Education Secretary Miguel Cardona tells CNN that there has been an uptick in incidents of antisemitism and Islamophobia reported to his department’s Office of Civil Rights, with eight or nine complaints coming in since October 7.

While Cardona stresses that withholding funds is not the first response his office will take,  he says it will do so if the issue is ignored.

“I would want to provide support for these universities, provide guidance. And if there are egregious acts, I want to make sure that we’re investigating,” Cardona says. “Ultimately, if we have to withhold dollars from a campus refusing to comply, we would.”

“We want to promote free speech and, to be frank with you, college campuses are where students should be able to express different opinions. But when it comes to antisemitism or Islamophobia, that has no place on our college campuses or in our schools,” Cardona says.

Data shows demand for psychiatric medications has surged since Oct. 7

The demand for prescription and over-the-counter psychiatric medications and sedatives has jumped by an average of 20-30 percent in the month since the ongoing war began with the murderous mass attack by Hamas on Israel on October 7.

The rise is attributed to anxiety, depression, insomnia, and other common symptoms of the acute stage of trauma that so many Israelis are currently experiencing.

The Meuhedet health maintenance organization reports a 30% increase in prescription and non-prescription psychiatric drugs in October as compared to the summer months. The Maccabi HMO reports a 90% increase in the purchase of non-prescription sedatives and sleeping aids and an increase of 20% in the purchase of pain relievers among its members. Maccabi members also purchased 230% more nutritional supplements that are purported to result in a calming effect.

Pharmacists and mental health professionals attribute the spike in part to an increase in the number of people newly seeking psychiatric treatment (Maccabi alone handled 3,000 calls to its specially set up emotional hotline in October).

In addition, individuals already on medications are trying to stock up for fear that supplies will run short. Pharmacists report that people are filling prescriptions for two or three months rather than the usual one. At this point, there are no reports that there are any supply shortages — but this could change as the war continues.

The director of mental health services at the Health Ministry, Dr. Gilad Bodenheimer, emphasizes the importance of approaching the current situation as a mental health crisis, rather than a psychiatric one. Accordingly, people in distress should be treated using a variety of non-pharmacological methodologies before resorting to prescription medications.

Sirens blare in Ashdod as barrage of rockets fired

Rocket sirens sound in Ashdod and nearby communities, as TV footage shows a barrage of rockets fired from Gaza.

There are no immediate reports of impacts.

IDF says 20 rockets launched from Lebanon at north; troops shell source of fire

The Israel Defense Forces says some 20 rockets were fired from Lebanon at northern Israel, setting off sirens in the Galilee and Golan.

It says troops are responding with artillery fire toward the sources of the rocket fire.

There are no reports of injuries or damage.

1,400 Israel flags placed in iconic Brazil beach to honor Hamas massacre victims

On Rio de Janeiro’s iconic Copacabana beach, nonprofit Rio de Paz has planted 1,400 blue-and-white Israeli flags in honor of those killed by Hamas one month ago, and 34 photos of the children and teenagers who were taken hostage.

Copacabana beach, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil ????????????????

1400 Israeli flags in memory of the 1400 victims of the terror attack. pic.twitter.com/CD5jmi43Gb

— Yonatan Gonen (@GonenYonatan) November 7, 2023

Last week, Rio de Paz staged a similar demonstration to denounce the Hamas-claimed deaths of thousands of children in Gaza. The group draped dozens of white sheets stained with fake blood on the sand as if they were covering dead bodies, along with the names and ages of some of the victims.

“This war will go down in history as the war that killed children, with both sides capable of showing indifference to the most vulnerable,” said the group’s founder, Antônio Carlos Costa.

Air raid alarms blare in Golan, Galilee

Rocket alerts are sounding in several communities in the Golan Heights and the northern Galilee.

There are no immediate reports of impacts or casualties.

Roger Waters appears to deny Oct. 7 massacres, says they’re ‘blown out of proportion’

Former Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters has refused to condemn Hamas’s massacre of many hundreds of civilians in Israel on October 7 in a new interview, or even to acknowledge it happened, saying he is still a bit down a “rabbit hole” of conspiracy theories about how Israel failed to prevent the unprecedented onslaught.

“Didn’t the Israeli army… hear the bangs when they blew up whatever they had to blow up to get across the border? There’s something very fishy about that,” he tells a podcast.

When asked if the attack was justified, Waters falsely says “we don’t know what they did do,” and adds: “Was it justified for them to resist the occupation? Yeah. They’re absolutely legally and morally bound to resist the occupation since 1967.”

Hamas has said countless times that its goal is to destroy Israel in all its borders, not just drive it away from the West Bank and Gaza which the Jewish state seized in 1967 in a defensive war.

“If war crimes were committed, I condemn them,” he says. He then proceeds to avoid any reference to the overwhelming evidence that communities were overrun and that entire families were butchered in their homes and at a music festival, focusing on the hundreds of IDF soldiers killed that day and saying that “the thing was thrown out of all proportion by the Israelis making up stories about beheading babies.”

Israel has produced horrifying visual evidence of that claim.

Alongside hostages’ relatives, FM Cohen to head to European Parliament tomorrow

Foreign Minister Eli Cohen will head to Brussels tomorrow along with families of Israeli hostages, where he will speak in front of the European parliament.

Cohen will also meet with European Parliament head Roberta Metsola and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

‘An honor for me’: German Air Force chief donates blood at Israel’s Sheba hospital

German Air Force Chief Commander General Ingo Gerhartz, right, donates blood at Sheba Medical Center near Tel Aviv, November 7, 2023. (Courtesy of Sheba Medical Center)

German Air Force Chief Commander General Ingo Gerhartz visits Sheba Medical Center near Tel Aviv today. While at the hospital — Israel’s largest — he takes the time to donate blood.

“I have done so much with the Israeli Air Force, and especially the people living here in the last years,” Gerhartz says. “Now as you fight a war with Hamas, it is an honor for me to be here and show solidarity with your country and people and donate blood in case you need it.”

The hospital in turn expresses its deep gratitude for Gerhartz’s support and meaningful, potentially life-saving gesture.

“General Gerhartz’s visit serves as a symbol of hope, unity, and the belief that in times of crisis, we must stand together as one global community,” Sheba says in a statement.

IDF general hails military’s spirit, says soldiers fighting in the ‘heart of terror’

The head of the Southern Command, Maj. Gen. Yaron Finkelman, summarizes the first month of the war on Hamas by hailing IDF soldiers and commanders as a “generation of victory.”

“Our actions are harming the heart of Hamas activities. We eliminated dozens of commanders, unveiled many tunnels, and we are striking the enemy hard,” he says in a statement after visiting the Strip, acknowledging once again the army’s failure to prevent the terror group’s October 7 onslaught.

Finkelman says the troops have the hostages held by Hamas on their mind the whole while, and that “returning them is our compass.”

“For the first time in decades, the IDF is fighting in the heart of Gaza City, in the heart of terror. It is a complex and difficult war, and unfortunately it also has taken a toll,” he says.

“We’re continuing with all our might, with the goal of defeating the despicable Hamas group. We’re getting our fighting spirit from the strength of the nation of Israel. We won’t rest, we won’t stop, until we fulfil our mission — until victory.”

Germany releases $97 million for UN Palestinian refugee agency

BERLIN -– The German government says it is releasing 91 million euros ($97 million) for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees following a review that it launched after Hamas attacked Israel.

Germany on Oct. 8 suspended development aid for the Palestinian areas pending a review, though it has kept up humanitarian aid.

The Development Ministry says it hasn’t yet completed the review, but focused initially on UN agency UNRWA. It says that “as a first partial result” it has decided to release 71 million euros already earmarked for UNRWA and to add 20 million euros in new funding.

It says that funding, announced by Development Minister Svenja Schulze after a meeting in Jordan with the head of UNRWA, will be used to help continue providing basic services -– particularly drinking water — to displaced people in the Gaza Strip and help Palestinian refugees in Jordan.

Ukraine’s Zelensky nixes visit to Israel today in wake of leak

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky will not be coming to Israel today, as was initially planned. News of his arrival leaked over the weekend, leading to the postponement.

Israeli diplomatic sources say that he is still expected to make the trip, but that there is no date at this stage.

“If President Zelensky comes, he will be welcomed with open arms,” an Israeli official said Sunday.

In 1st King’s Speech in 70 years, Charles says UK to address security matters, tackle antisemitism

Britain's King Charles III, wearing the Imperial State Crown and the Robe of State, sits beside Britain's Queen Camilla, wearing the George IV State Diadem, as he reads the King's speech from The Sovereign's Throne in the House of Lords chamber, during the State Opening of Parliament, at the Houses of Parliament, in London, on November 7, 2023. (Leon Neal / POOL / AFP)

In the UK’s first King’s Speech to open parliament in over 70 years, King Charles says the government will address the most pressing security matters, including “the consequences of the barbaric acts of terrorism against the people of Israel, facilitating humanitarian support into Gaza and supporting the cause of peace and stability in the Middle East.”

He also says the UK government is “committed to tackling antisemitism.”

The king promises planning for the Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre in Victoria Tower Gardens will be moved through parliament.

The speech was written by the prime minister but delivered by the king.

High Court postpones Judicial Selection Committee hearing

The High Court of Justice cancels a key hearing on petitions against Justice Minister Yariv Levin’s months-long refusal to convene the Judicial Selection Committee, following Levin’s announcement on Sunday that he intends to convene the committee within 15 days.

The court says Levin must provide an update on the situation by November 23, by which time the committee should have been convened if the justice minister makes good on his promise.

A new date will be set for a hearing “if necessary” at a later time, the court adds.

Levin has refused for months to convene the Judicial Selection Committee in order to give himself time to change its composition and grant the government greater control over the panel.

A court hearing on the petitions against him was scheduled for November 12, but on Sunday Levin said he would convene the committee within 15 days to propose judicial appointments which could be made with a broad consensus on the panel.

There are currently over 20 empty seats on court benches around the country, and that number will rise to 53 by the end of the year.

Petitioners have argued that Levin’s behavior is an illegal abuse of authority that would give him a de facto veto over all judicial appointments, but Levin has argued that only he can decided when to convene the committee and that court has no authority to intervene.

Troops thwart suspected stabbing attack in West Bank settlement of Ofra

Israeli troops thwarted a suspected stabbing attack in the West Bank settlement of Ofra this afternoon.

In surveillance video circulated by public broadcaster Kan, a masked man carrying what appears to be a large knife is seen trying to access the settlement. The footage shows the suspect fleeing after nearby troops fire at him.

מחבל רעול פנים וחמוש בסכין יצא מהכפר עין יברוד, התקרב לשער היישוב עפרה, ונורה על ידי כוח צה"ל שהיה בעמדה סמוכה. המחבל נפצע ונמלט@carmeldangor pic.twitter.com/UIEUnJDfrE

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) November 7, 2023

Israel intercepts ‘suspicious aerial target’ on Lebanon border

Aerial defense forces intercepted a “suspicious aerial target” detected on the Lebanese border before it entered into Israeli airspace, the military says.

In addition, an IDF post near the Bedouin village of Aramsha in the Western Galilee sustained gunfire, according to a military statement. Troops responded with artillery fire at the source of the gunfire in Lebanese territory.

There were no reported casualties.

Foreign Minister Eli Cohen welcomes new US envoy to Israel Jack Lew in Jerusalem

Foreign Minister Eli Cohen meets with new US Ambassador Jack Lew in Jerusalem, November 7, 2023. (Foreign Ministry)

Foreign Minister Eli Cohen meets with new US Ambassador Jack Lew in Jerusalem.

According to the Foreign Ministry, the two discuss the war in Gaza, Iran’s support for terrorism, and ways to preserve the peace agreements Israel signed with Arab neighbors as part of the Abraham Accords in 2020.

Cohen and Lew also discuss the efforts to free the hostages held in Gaza since Hamas launched its shock assault on Israel on October 7.

“The unequivocal American solidarity and support moves many in Israel and strengthens us in the fight against the terrorist organization Hamas,” Cohen tells him.

Gazans carrying white flags, some with arms raised, move south in enclave

A screengrab from a video posted by the IDF's Arabic-language spokesperson showing Gazans carrying white flags and with arms raised moving south after the military said it would allow safe passage, November 7, 2023. (Screenshot X, Used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

The Israeli military posts a short clip of what appears to be hundreds of Gazan residents, some with their arms raised and some carrying white flags, moving on foot toward the southern part of the Palestinian enclave via the Strip’s north-to-south Salah a-Din road.

The IDF’s Arabic-language spokesperson Avichay Adraee posts the short clip on X.

Adraee writes that the IDF was again opening up a humanitarian corridor for Palestinians to evacuate and made another call for Gazans to evacuate the northern part of the Strip and head south.

Adraee announces the Salah a-Din road will be open for Palestinians to evacuate to southern Gaza between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. today.

“If you care about yourself and your loved ones, head south according to our instructions. Rest assured that Hamas leaders have already taken care of themselves,” he says.

#عاجل أيها سكان غزة، انضموا الى الكثيرين الذين يتوجهون الى جنوب وادي غزة في هذه الساعة!
????أود أن أعلمكم أنه على الرغم من أن حماس تواصل المساس بالجهود الإنسانية الجارية لمصلحتكم وتستخدمكم كدروع بشرية، إلا أن جيش الدفاع الإسرائيلي سيسمح مرة أخرى اليوم بالمرور على طريق صلاح الدين… pic.twitter.com/9hxL6e8gfn

— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) November 7, 2023

The military has for weeks been urging northern Gaza residents to evacuate southward, warning them it will be focusing its military efforts on the Gaza City area, the heart of Hamas’s rule and its main base of operations in Gaza.

On Saturday, when the Salah a-Din road was open for a humanitarian corridor, the IDF said Hamas took advantage of the situation and launched mortars and anti-tank guided missiles at troops working to open up the road for civilians.

Israel has already repeatedly accused Hamas of attempting to prevent Palestinians from evacuating northern Gaza, due to its desire to keep civilians around its centers of activity as human shields.

Warning sirens sound in southern communities near Gaza border

Sirens warning of incoming rockets sound in the southern communities of Mivtahim, Talmei Eliyahu, Amioz, Sde Nitzan, Zohar, and Ohad, near the Gaza border.

There are no immediate reports of injuries or damage.

FM appoints envoy to lead global diplomatic efforts for release of hostages

The Foreign Ministry appoints Israel’s incoming ambassador to New Zealand Alon Roth-Snir to head the diplomatic effort to free the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. He will be tasking with heading international efforts to pressure Hamas to release the at least 241 Israelis and foreigners they kidnapped on October 7.

Foreign Minister Eli Cohen says the appointment is meant to “advance international efforts in a number of forums that will assist in the speedy release of all the hostages.”

Shuli Davidovich, who is the Foreign Ministry’s coordinator for captives and missing, will continue serving as the ministry representative on the team led by point man Gal Hirsch, including heading the team’s meeting with foreign diplomats who come to Israel.

The pair will also be the contact people for the families of the hostages at the Foreign Ministry.

Citizen groups organize memorial events to mourn October 7 victims, highlight hostages

Israelis release balloons at Bar Ilan University to remember the 240 hostages taken by terror group Hamas during its October 7, 2023 assault, on November 7, 2023. (Courtesy Alon Korngreen)

As Israelis mark 30 days since the October 7 massacre, local citizen groups have organized events to mourn the 1,400 people killed, a majority of them civilians.

The first event of the day was an 11 a.m. minute of silence, similar to the moments of silence accompanied by sirens that are sounded on Holocaust Remembrance Day and Israel Memorial Day.

The moment of silence was marked at Democracy Square in Tel Aviv, a section of Kaplan Street that was renamed in July in honor of the weekly protests there against the government’s judicial overhaul.

The Israeli flag was lowered to half staff at a Hod Hasharon community center as well as other cities and local authorities.

Yellow balloons were released at a ceremony at Bar Ilan University marking one month since the start of war against Hamas and symbolizing the hostages taken captive by the terror group.

Students also lit memorial candles at Jerusalem’s Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design.

Five aircraft fly out of Abu Dhabi as plans for UAE hospital in Gaza get underway

The United Arab Emirates is setting up a field hospital in the Gaza Strip with some 150 beds, a surgery department and intensive care units for adults and children.

Five aircraft flew out of Abu Dhabi for Arish in northern Egypt carrying equipment and supplies for the facility, WAM news agency says.

It says the hospital will be set up in multiple stages, without providing an exact timetable.

An official contacted by AFP said there was no immediate information on how the equipment will be transferred to Gaza, where there is only one operational border point, the Rafah crossing near Arish.

The hospital’s facilities will include anesthetics and surgery, gynecology and intensive care units “catering to both children and adults,” WAM says.

The wealthy Persian Gulf country has previously said it would provide $20 million in aid to the Palestinian people and bring about 1,000 Palestinian children, along with their families, to the UAE for medical treatment.

IDF, Shin Bet arrest 11 Hamas members in overnight West Bank raid

Israeli forces map the home of the Palestinian teen who fatally stabbed a Border Police officer in the Old City of Jerusalem on November 6, in the West Bank town of Sa'ir, November 7, 2023. (Israel Defense Forces)

Israeli security forces arrested 11 members of terror group Hamas in the West Bank overnight, among 28 terror suspects, the military says.

A number of hidden explosives and a weapons cache were uncovered during a raid in the West Bank city of Tulkarem to crack down on terror infrastructure, according to a joint statement by the IDF, the Shin Bet, and Border Police.

A Palestinian man was also reportedly killed in clashes with IDF troops in the village of Sa’ir near Hebron in the southern West Bank overnight, according to Palestinian media reports. A spokesperson from Hebron’s Ahli Hospital named the man as 24-year-old Sa’ad Nimr Al-Faroukh, according to one report.

Two others were reportedly injured in the incident.

The Palestinian man was reportedly injured when soldiers returned fire on groups of Palestinians who were throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails at IDF forces.

Israeli soldiers were in Sa’ir to map the family home of a 16-year-old Palestinian who carried out a stabbing attack near the Herod’s Gate entrance to Jerusalem’s Old City on Monday, killing Border Police officer Rose Elisheva Lubin and wounding another border cop.

Mapping is the first step in the process taken by Israeli authorities to carry out the controversial practice of home demolitions. Jerusalem insists that the policy helps deter future attacks, but human rights groups and the US decry the policy as collective punishment.

IDF: Hezbollah cell struck in Lebanon, thwarting anti-tank missile attack

IDF troops launched artillery shells at a Hezbollah cell in Lebanese territory that tried to launch an anti-tank guided missile attack in Israeli territory near moshav Shtula in the Upper Galilee.

Earlier, IDF forces attacked a Hezbollah position “to remove a threat,” the military says, without elaborating.

Israelis hold minute of silence for October 7 massacre victims

Israelis hold a minute of standing silence to commemorate the victims of Hamas’s October 7 massacre across southern Israel, as memorial services get underway today. The moment of silence took place without a siren, unlike on Holocaust Remembrance Day and Memorial Day.

People sing the Israeli national anthem, Hatikva, following the silence.

Israelis are holding a national day of mourning to mark the one-month anniversary of the unprecedented October 7 Hamas attack when some 3,000 terrorists streamed into Israeli from Gaza via land, sea, and air, overrunning civilian communities and a military base, killing some 1,400 people, a majority of them civilians in their homes and at an outdoor music festival.

Hamas and other Palestinian terror factions also took some 240 hostages, including young children and elderly people.

Moscow says Israeli minister’s nuke remarks raise ‘huge number of questions’

Russia says that Heritage Minister Amihai Eliyahu’s remarks appearing to consider the use of nuclear weapons in Gaza raise “a huge number of questions.”

Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, adds that Israel seems to have admitted to the possession of nuclear weapons, a matter on which it has been intentionally ambiguous for decades.

“So we are hearing official statements about the presence of nuclear weapons?” she asks, adding that the International Atomic Energy Agency should inspect.

Eliyahu was reprimanded by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and suspended indefinitely from cabinet meetings.

Residents in north instructed to stay near shelters amid unspecified security alert – report

Residents in some communities in northern Israel are being instructed to stay close to reinforced saferoom and shelters amid an unspecified security warning.

According to Hebrew media reports, residents in Metula, Yiftah, Kfar Giladi, Misgav Am, Manara, Malkia, Kfar Yuval, Margaliot and Ramot Naftali are asked to stay near protected areas until further notice this morning.

Traffic in some of those areas is being blocked off, Ynet reports.

The report comes amid an uptick in skirmishes on Israel’s northern borders including rocket barrages from Lebanon.

Police say forces foil stabbing attack at Qalandiya checkpoint near Jerusalem

A Hamas banner and a small knife retrieved from a Palestinian woman at the Qalandiya checkpoint near Jerusalem, November 7, 2023. (Israel Police)

A Palestinian woman wrapped in a Hamas flag and carrying a small knife was shot and wounded by Israeli forces at the Qalandiya checkpoint near Jerusalem in what the police say was a foiled terror attack.

The woman is receiving medical treatment at the site and is in custody.

She arrived on foot at the checkpoint and refused to listen to instructions by guards and Border Police forces, who “quickly responded by shooting at her and neutralized her,” according to the police statement.

A search of her belongings uncovered a small knife.

There are no additional injuries.

Singapore warns against displaying signs, symbols linked to Israel-Hamas war

Singapore’s government is warning that anyone who displays or wears emblems or symbols linked to the Israel-Hamas war could be jailed, saying the conflict was an “emotive issue” that could disrupt national peace.

The Ministry of Home Affairs says in a statement late Monday that Singapore’s laws prohibited the display or wearing of foreign national emblems, including flags and banners of any state. It also warns that promoting or supporting terrorism by exhibiting apparel or paraphernalia with logos of terrorist groups such as Hamas and its military wing, Al-Qassam Brigades, will not be condoned.

Those convicted face up to six months in prison or a fine of up to 500 Singapore dollars ($370) or both.

Travelers who wear such apparel can also be denied entry into Singapore, it adds.

IDF: Troops take control of Hamas outpost in Gaza City, locate weapons, intel

Israeli forces operate in the northern Gaza Strip, in this photo released for publication on November 7, 2023. (Israel Defense Forces)

Israeli forces have taken control of a Hamas military outpost in the heart of Gaza City, the Israel Defense Forces say, locating anti-tank launchers and missiles, weapons, and intelligence materials on the site.

The military says Israeli warplanes struck a cell of about 10 Hamas members, directed by ground troops from the Nahal Brigade who identified the cell and directed the aerial attack on the outpost.

Troops later identified an anti-tank squad operating nearby and directed an additional airstrike, according to the announcement.

Overnight, the military targeted dozens of positions for mortar launches into Israel. Naval forces also attacked a number of Hamas targets overnight, using precision weaponry, the IDF says.

Troops also identified Hamas fighters who had barricaded themselves in a building near the Al-Quds Hospital in the Shejaiya neighborhood of Gaza City and who the military said were planning an attack on Israeli ground forces.

An aerial attack was directed at the site, which led to “significant secondary explosions” that indicate the presence of a weapons depot, the military says.

Israelis hold day of mourning to mark month since October 7 Hamas massacre

Israelis are holding a day of mourning today to mark the one-month anniversary of the October 7 shock onslaught by the Hamas terror group, in which over 1,400 people were killed, a majority of them civilians, and some 240 were taken hostage.

At 11 a.m., a minute of silence will be marked nationwide and local authorities across the country will lower the flag to half-staff.

Memorial ceremonies will also be held in schools and universities throughout the day.

Later in the afternoon, people will gather in town squares and other central areas to light candles in memory of the fallen soldiers and the murdered civilians.

In Tel Aviv, a memorial service for bereaved families will be held starting at 6:30 p.m at Heichal HaTarbut, officially the Charles Bronfman Auditorium, with a performance of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.

In Jerusalem, a memorial and protest rally by bereaved families will be held starting at 7:30 p.m. in front of the Knesset. At the end of the service, a permanent camp will be set up outside the Knesset led by the bereaved families demanding a new government, according to organizers.

Indonesia denies hospital in Gaza built atop Hamas tunnels

Indonesia denies an Israeli claim made yesterday that a hospital built in the Gaza Strip using Indonesian funding sits atop a network of Hamas tunnels and is located near a launchpad for rocket attacks on Israel.

The hospital, situated in northern Gaza near the fortified border with Israel, was built using Indonesian charity funds.

“The Indonesian Hospital in Gaza is a facility built by the Indonesian people entirely for humanitarian purposes and to serve the medical needs of the Palestinian people in Gaza,” says Indonesia’s foreign ministry in a statement Tuesday.

The statement came after IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari revealed new intelligence on Sunday he said provided further evidence that the Hamas terror group was using medical facilities in Gaza for terror purposes, including the Indonesian Hospital.

Hagari reported that the IDF has intelligence of a tunnel network under the Hospital, as well as aerial imagery showing rocket launchers a few dozen meters from the complex.

“Hamas systematically built the Indonesian Hospital to disguise its underground terror infrastructure,” Hagari said.

Top archaeologists join IDF efforts to identify missing persons’ remains from October 7 assault

An archaeologist with the Israel Antiquities Authority joins efforts to search for missing persons in places that was incinerated during Hamas's October 7 shock onslaught. (Assaf Peretz/Israel Antiquities Authority)

Top Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologists have joined IDF efforts to identify remains of missing people in homes and vehicles burnt during Hamas’s grisly October 7 massacre in Israeli communities around the Gaza Strip.

According to a morning announcement by the IAA, senior archaeologists have been working for two weeks with the military, directed by IDF Maj. Rabbi Shlomo Hazut, in communities overrun by thousands of terrorists during the shock onslaught last month. These include Kibbutz Be’eri, Kibbutz Kfar Aza and Kibbutz Nir Oz where civilians were murdered in their homes, and Kibbutz Re’im, where terrorists killed some 260 people at the Supernova music festival and set vehicles alight with people in them.

Since the beginning of the joint effort, the archaeologists have managed to find definite evidence of the remains of at least 10 deceased persons who were previously considered missing, according to the announcement.

Blinken arrives in Japan for Gaza-dominated G7 meet

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken disembarks an aircraft as he arrives at Yokota Air Base ahead of the G7 foreign ministers' meeting in Tokyo on November 7, 2023. (JONATHAN ERNST / POOL / AFP)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives in Japan for a meeting of G7 foreign ministers set to seek a common line on Gaza as calls mount for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war following the terror group’s shock October 7 onslaught on Israel.

Blinken makes no public comment as he arrives for the two days of discussions in Tokyo following his latest whirlwind tour of the Middle East.

Palestinian reportedly killed in clash with IDF during mapping of terrorist’s home for razing

Clashes with Israeli troops in Sa'ir, West Bank on November 7, 2023. (Screen capture/X)

A Palestinian was killed in clashes with IDF troops in the village of Sa’ir near Hebron in the southern West Bank, according to Palestinian media reports.

Israeli soldiers were in the town to map the family home of a 16-year-old Palestinian who carried out a stabbing attack near the Herod’s Gate entrance to Jerusalem’s Old City on Monday, killing Border Police officer Rose Elisheva Lubin and wounding another border cop.

Mapping is the first step in the process taken by Israeli authorities to carry out the controversial practice of home demolitions. Jerusalem insists that the policy helps deter future attacks, but human rights groups and the US decry the policy as collective punishment.

Local rabbi says circumstances surrounding LA Jewish man’s death remain unclear

A Jewish man falls to the ground after allegedly being struck with a megaphone by an anti-Israel protester in Los Angeles on November 5, 2023. (Screen capture/X)

After the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles issued a statement saying that 69-year-old Paul Kessler’s death was caused by a blow to the head from a megaphone held by a pro-Palestinian protester in West Lake Village, a local rabbi says he spoke with the town’s police chief and that the circumstances surrounding the incident are unclear.

“It is not clear yet exactly what happened other than an elderly Jew was counter-protesting at a Gazan demonstration, hit the ground, and died. We DO NOT KNOW at this time if he fell, was pushed, or was attacked. Please do not spread rumors. We will know soon what happened,” writes Barclay, who is the spiritual leader at Temple Ner Simcha in West Lake Village.

He later adds that police have conflicting reports of what happened and have interviewed a suspect who was identified on social media as having been at the event.

However, Barclay says, police do not have video of the moments leading up to when Kessler landed on the ground.

Netanyahu: Israel will have ‘overall security responsibility’ in Gaza for ‘indefinite period’ after war

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks with ABC News on November 6, 2023. (Screen capture/X)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel will have “overall security responsibility” over the Gaza Strip “for an indefinite period” after the war against Hamas ends.

“I think Israel for an indefinite period will have the overall security responsibility because we’ve seen what happens when we don’t have it. When we don’t have that security responsibility, what we have is the eruption of Hamas terror on a scale that we couldn’t imagine,” he tells ABC News.

The stance has been uttered by Israeli officials in recent weeks on condition of anonymity, but Netanyahu now puts the stance on the table himself.

It is not clear what Netanyahu has in mind regarding the extent of security responsibility, but Israeli officials have insisted that they don’t desire to occupy Gaza after the war.

The Biden administration has voiced its opposition to that scenario as well, while warning Jerusalem that it is more likely to find itself bogged down in Gaza if it doesn’t start drawing up a plan for who will govern the enclave if it succeeds in removing Hamas from power.

It follows comments by other Israeli officials who have said that Israel will need to maintain a military presence inside Gaza in order to serve as a buffer protecting Israeli civilians.

Also in the ABC News interview, Netanyahu is pressed on whether he’ll agree to US President Joe Biden’s call for humanitarian pauses.

He initially dodges the question, saying he opposes a more long-term ceasefire on the grounds that it would amount to a surrender to Hamas.

EXCLUSIVE: @DavidMuir interviews Israeli PM Netanyahu, pressing him on the Biden administration’s calls for a humanitarian pause in Gaza as the death toll climbs; if he bears responsibility for intelligence failures on Oct. 7; and more. https://t.co/zjSKIi5FJF pic.twitter.com/LydTy5XtZf

— World News Tonight (@ABCWorldNews) November 7, 2023

But after being pressed again, he hints at some more flexibility on the issue for the first time.

“As far as practical, little pauses — an hour here, an hour there. We’ve had them before. We’ll check the circumstances [to have additional pauses] in order to enable humanitarian goods to come in or our hostages, individual hostages to leave,” Netanyahu adds, becoming the first Israeli official to confirm that Jerusalem agreed to a temporary pause in fighting to allow a pair of hostages released by Hamas to be able to travel safely to the border, as revealed by a US official last week.

Netanyahu then indicates that he would agree to a ceasefire if Hamas releases all of the roughly 240 hostages being held in Gaza. “There would be a ceasefire for that purpose, and we’re waiting for that to happen. It hasn’t happened so far,” he says.

The premier says Israel has some intelligence regarding where the hostages are located but declines to elaborate.

Pressed as to whether the ongoing ground operation risks the lives of the hostages, Netanyahu responds, “We’re taking that into consideration,” while arguing that “until we started the ground action, there was no pressure on them to release hostages. What we saw was the minute we started the ground action, there is pressure.”

It was not clear what pressure Netanyahu was referring to, given that the only four hostages to be released by Hamas were let go before Israel began its ground invasion on October 27.

Smoke billows following an Israeli strike in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on November 6, 2023. (SAID KHATIB / AFP)

Netanyahu dismisses a question about whether there is any daylight between him and Biden regarding the war, saying he agrees with the US call for humanitarian aid to enter Gaza and is coordinating with Washington on the issue.

Still, the prime minister clarifies that he won’t give Hamas the opportunity to endanger IDF soldiers and says that Israel will do what it can to limit civilian casualties while recognizing that it will not always be able to succeed because of the terror group’s use of human shields.

Pressed on whether he should take responsibility for what unfolded on October 7 as other Israeli leaders have done, Netanyahu says, “of course” but that the issue was “going to be resolved after the war.”

“I’ve said that they’re going to be very tough questions that are going to be asked, and I’m going to be among the first to answer them. We’re not going to evade that. The responsibility of government is to protect people, and clearly that responsibility wasn’t met,” he says.

Asked about Iran and its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah amid escalating skirmishes on Israel’s northern borders, Netanyahu says he thinks “they’ve understood that if they enter the war in a significant way, the response will be very, very powerful, and I hope they don’t make that mistake.”

The ABC interview is Netanyahu’s first with American media since the war after the prime minister went on a months-long blitz across the various US networks in order to try and calm backlash over his government’s judicial overhaul effort.

Jewish man allegedly struck in head by pro-Palestinian protester in Los Angeles dies of wounds

A Jewish man falls to the ground after allegedly being struck with a megaphone by an anti-Israel protester in Los Angeles on November 5, 2023. (Screen capture/X)

An elderly Jewish man has succumbed to his wounds, a day after an altercation with pro-Palestinian protesters in the Los Angeles area.

The 69-year-old man identified as Paul Kessler fell and hit his head following a confrontation during competing pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian demonstrations in suburban Los Angeles, authorities said.

Kessler’s death was being investigated as a homicide and authorities haven’t ruled out the possibility a hate crime occurred, said a statement from the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department. No arrests had been made.

An autopsy was performed on November 6 has determined that the cause of death to be “blunt force head injury and the manner of death homicide,” according to the police.

BREAKING:

A Jewish man named “Paul” has died in hospital after having been hit in the head by an anti-Israel protester in Los Angeles.

He is the first Jewish person to have been killed during an anti-Israel protest in the West. pic.twitter.com/bCHzkbKm0k

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) November 7, 2023

Kessler was injured shortly before 3:30 p.m. Sunday during competing demonstrations in Thousand Oaks, a city of about 125,000 northwest of Los Angeles. Police received reports that a battery had occurred and deputies sent to the scene found Kessler suffering from a head wound, the department says.

“Witness accounts indicated that Kessler was involved in a physical altercation with counter-protestor(s). During the altercation, Kessler fell backwards and struck his head on the ground,” the department says.

According to a statement by the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, the man was struck in the head with a megaphone held by one of the pro-Palestinian protesters in Westlake Village.

“While we wait for more information from our law enforcement partners, we remind you that this is the fourth major antisemitic crime committed in Los Angeles this year alone,” the local federation says in a statement. “Violence against our people has no place in civilized society. We demand safety. We will not tolerate violence against our community. We will do everything in our power to prevent it.”

Police is set to hold a press conference on the investigation later today at 10:00 a.m. local time in Los Angeles (8:00 p.m. in Israel)

Israeli entertainer leads Haredi wedding guests in rendition of ‘May your village burn’

Meni Mamtera performs at an ultra-Orthodox wedding on November 6, 2023. (Screen capture/X)

Israeli entertainer Meni Tzukerl, who is more widely known by his stage name Meni Mamtera is filmed at an ultra-Orthodox wedding in Israel this evening leading the guests in a rendition of the anti-Arab “May your village burn” chant with dozens of Haredi men seen participating.

Tzukerl’s name made headlines toward the beginning of the war thanks to a viral clip of blindfolded Palestinians detained by the IDF featured one of his popular children’s songs being blasted on a loop to confuse the suspects and prevent them from communicating with one another.

שישרף להם הכפר. מני ממטרה משמח חתן (צילום: ישראל מור) pic.twitter.com/DkxhMq0TTi

— משה ויסברג (@moshe_nayes) November 6, 2023

Earlier today, The Times of Israel revealed that the State Attorney’s Office has yet to indict any citizen for incitement to violence or racism against either Arabs or those deemed “leftists” since Hamas’s October 7 atrocities, despite inflammatory rhetoric on social media over the past month.

Several coalition lawmakers expressed support for wiping out Gaza after the October 7 massacre perpetrated by Hamas terrorists left over 1,400 dead and over 240 people kidnapped into Gaza.

“‘May your village burn!!’ Yes, yes, as far as I’m concerned, it’s a great for morale to wish for Gaza to be wiped out and set on fire. I have often said revenge is a [legitimate] value. They almost occupied the kibbutzim of the south, slaughtered, raped, decapitated and gouged out eyes. Almost 1400 were murdered in one Shabbat. So let their village burn. And if the ‘La Familia’ [anti-Arab group] sings it, it’s because they understand that the enemy only understands strength! And more strength,” tweeted Likud MK Tally Gotliv last week.

Harris calls UAE and Bahrain leaders, as White House aims to expand her role on Israel-Hamas war

United States Vice President Kamala Harris speaks to the media after the end of the AI Saftey Summit in Bletchley Park, Milton Keynes, England, Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

US Vice President Kamala Harris held phone calls earlier this evening with UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed and Bahrain Prime Minister Salman bin Hamad to discuss the Israel-Hamas war, as the Biden administration has worked to expand her role on the issue in recent weeks.

The White House readouts from both calls are largely identical and include the same talking points that Washington has been reiterating since the start of the war one month ago.

In both calls Harris stressed the administration’s commitment to increasing humanitarian aid for Gaza, protecting civilian lives as Israel advances in its war against Hamas, rejecting calls from some in Israel to forcibly displace Palestinians and working toward a two-state solution.

In the call with MBZ, Harris discussed “the importance of deterring threats from any state or non-state actor, especially those seeking to expand the conflict, and the Vice President condemned recent attacks by Iranian-backed militias across the region,” the White House says.