Oct. 11: IDF widens strikes on Gaza

Trump appears to knock Israeli intel failure, says ‘Bibi let us down’ during killing of Quds Force chief

Republican presidential candidate former US president Donald Trump speaks Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023, at Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Florida (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Former US president Donald Trump appears to knock Israel for failing to anticipate the weekend Hamas onslaught.

“You talk about the intelligence or you talk about some of the things that went wrong over the last week, they’ve got to straighten it out because they’re fighting potentially a very big force. They’re fighting potentially, Iran,” the GOP presidential frontrunner says during a campaign rally in West Palm Beach. “When they have people saying the wrong things, everything they say is being digested by these people because they’re vicious and they’re smart. And boy, are they vicious because nobody’s ever seen the kind of sight that we’ve seen.”

“They cannot play games,” he continues. “They’ve got to strengthen themselves up.”

He makes the comments while recalling his administration’s 2020 assassination of Qassem Soleimani, the then-head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ elite Quds Force.

Trump reiterates his claim that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to provide the US assistance in the killing.

“I’ll never forget that Bibi Netanyahu let us down. That was a very terrible thing. We were very disappointed, but we did the job ourselves, and it was absolute precision, magnificent, beautiful job,” he says. “Then Bibi tried to take credit for it. That didn’t make me feel too good. But that’s all right.”

Whoa. Trump just attacked Israel and said that he'll "never forget" that they didn't participate in the Soleimani operation. He said Israel "let us down" and needs to "straighten it out" and called them weak, saying they should "strengthen themselves up." pic.twitter.com/pMrWLt8ojz

— MeidasTouch (@MeidasTouch) October 12, 2023

Chancellor urges Germans to ‘guarantee safety’ of Jewish population

BERLIN — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz calls on his compatriots to show solidarity with the country’s Jewish population and guarantee their safety, condemning incidents at pro-Palestinian rallies.

“I ask for the support of all citizens so that together we can guarantee the safety of our Jewish fellow citizens, and to do this we must show solidarity with them,” Scholz says on ARD television.

“We can’t accept it,” he says of anti-Semitic messages heard at pro-Palestinian demonstrations held in Germany since Hamas’s devastating assault across southern Israel at the weekend, in which its gunmen killed 1,200 people, hundreds of them civilians, prompting massive retaliation by Israel in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip aimed at destroying the terror group.

Despite a ban on such demonstrations, around a hundred people gathered in Berlin’s Neukolln district on Wednesday evening in support of the Palestinians, in a tense atmosphere surrounded by a heavy police presence.

The rally had been banned by the police as “a danger to public safety and order”.

The Bild tabloid also reported incidents on Wednesday evening on the margins of a demonstration in support of Israel in Chemnitz, eastern Germany.

Several dozen people with Palestinian flags attacked some demonstrators with Israeli flags, witnesses told the newspaper.

On Saturday, when Hamas carried out the rampage, Berlin police reported people “celebrating the attacks on Israel by distributing pastries” in the Neukolln district.

The same evening, a pro-Palestinian rally was dispersed because of anti-Israeli slogans, according to the police.

Both actions were relayed on Twitter by the German account of the “Palestinian Prisoner Support Network” Samidoun, which hailed the Hamas attack as an act of “resistance”.

Since the Hamas assault, Germany has stepped up protection around the country’s Jewish institutions.

White House: Biden has not seen or independently confirmed Hamas beheaded Israeli children

The White House clarifies that President Joe Biden and other US officials have not seen or independently confirmed that Hamas terrorists beheaded Israeli children.

The clarification comes after Biden told Jewish leaders at the White House: “It is important for Americans to see what is happening. I have been doing this for a long time. I never thought that I would see, have confirmed pictures of terrorists beheading children.”

A White House spokesperson says the president based his comments on claims from Netanyahu’s spokesman and media reports from Israel.

51 Palestinians killed in overnight IDF airstrikes — Gaza health ministry

A man transports an injured Palestinian baby into Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City following an Israeli airstrike on October 11, 2023. (Photo by MOHAMMED ABED / AFP)

Fifty-one Palestinians have been killed and 281 have been injured over the past several hours of overnight airstrikes by Israel in Gaza, according to the coastal enclave’s Hamas-run health ministry.

Israel says it is targeting Hamas in response to the latter’s onslaught over the weekend that left over 1,200 Israelis dead and is aiming to completely eliminate the terror group.

Biden’s UN envoy at Israel solidarity rally: ‘Never again’ is now. Am Yisrael Chai’

US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield addresses a New York rally in support of Israel on October 11, 2023. (Andrew Weinstein/US Mission to the UN/X)

US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield says Americans must tell the stories of the victims of Hamas’s onslaught over the weekend.

“Hamas terrorists slaughtered more than a thousand innocent civilians, including at least 22 Americans. Reports estimate that more than 100 civilians were taken hostage. But these numbers – as shocking as they are – do not do justice to the depths of horrors, the depravity of the violence. They do not do justice to the victims and their loved ones. Human lives are not just numbers,” Thomas-Greenfield says at a diplomatic community gathering in solidarity with Israel hosted by the American Jewish Committee in New York.

Diplomats from 58 countries are present for the event.

“We must tell the stories of those who were executed, who were raped, who were kidnapped. Entire families, children, babies, Holocaust survivors, grandparents in wheelchairs,” she continues. “And we must tell the stories of innocent civilians like Doron Asher Katz and her two young daughters, who were taken hostage while visiting their grandmother in southern Israel. Whose whereabouts, like so many others, are still unknown.

“To my diplomatic colleagues, this moment is a test of the international community. It is a test of our common humanity. We cannot draw false equivalencies between Hamas’ outrageous attacks and Israel’s inherent right of self-defense under the UN Charter, and we cannot issue weak condemnations that fail to unequivocally denounce Hamas by name,” the US ambassador asserts.

“For far too long, Israel has been unfairly targeted in the UN system, and that needs to change. Now is the moment to stand in solidarity with Israel,” she declares.

Reflecting on a 2021 visit to the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial museum in Israel, Thomas-Greenfield recalls participating in a ceremony rekindling the eternal flames at the site’s Hall of Remembrance.

“That solemn ceremony… served as a poignant reminder for me that we must live up to a sacred promise: ‘Never Again.'”

“‘Never Again,’ my friends, is now. The eyes of the world are on us. The eyes of history are on us. We must condemn this barbaric violence, and we must combat the scourge of antisemitism,” Thomas-Greenfield says.

“And we must keep the memories of the victims of these attacks alive. Let us share their stories with the world. The families they built. The joy they spread. The Mitzvahs they performed. May their memories be a blessing. May we shun evil and do good. And may we seek peace. Am Yisrael Chai.”

Blinken says he’s departing for Israel with a simple message: ‘We have their back’

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken waves as he boards a plane, Wednesday Oct. 11, 2023, at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., en route to Israel. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)

Speaking to reporters before boarding a plane at Joint Base Andrews, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says he’s heading to Israel with “a very simple and clear message on behalf of the president of the United States and on behalf of the American people, and that is that the United States has Israel’s back.

“We have the back of the Israeli people. We have their back today. We’ll have it tomorrow. We will have it every day,” Blinken says.

He says he will meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Isaac Herzog and other senior officials upon landing on Thursday.

Blinken reiterates that the US is determined to ensure that Israel has the means to defend itself, highlighting the Islamic State-levels of depravity committed by Hamas.

He says the US will continue working to ensure that no additional actors join the fight against Israel.

Blinken adds that he’ll also work with Israeli counterparts to locate the hostages — which include American citizens — and work to secure their release.

Pressed on whether the Biden administration has urged Israel to exercise restraint in responding to the Hamas attacks, Blinken says, “We know that Israel will take all of the precautions that it can – just as we would. That’s what separates us from Hamas and terrorist groups that engage in the most heinous kind of activities.”

Blinken will travel to Amman on Friday where he will meet with senior Jordanian officials as well as Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who will be traveling with a delegation that includes PA intelligence chief Majed Faraj and PLO Executive Committee Secretary-General Hussein al-Sheikh, a Palestinian official says.

Raising travel warning, US urges citizens to reconsider visiting Israel amid Gaza war

Passengers look at a departure board at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, as flights are canceled and delayed because of a massive surprise attack by Hamas, on October 7, 2023. (Gil Cohen-Magen/AFP)

The US State Department announces that it has raised its travel advisory for Israel and the West Bank to Level 3, meaning that Americans are urged to reconsider travel there against the backdrop of the ongoing Gaza war.

Before the war, Israel and the West Bank were among places with a Level 1 travel advisory, which means US citizens are urged to exercise normal precautions when visiting such places.

The travel advisory for Gaza remains at a “Level 4 — Do Not Travel.”

Explaining the decision to raise the travel warning for Israel and the West Bank, the State Department says, “Terrorist groups, lone-actor terrorists and other violent extremists continue plotting possible attacks in Israel and the West Bank and Gaza. Terrorists and violent extremists may attack with little or no warning, targeting tourist locations, transportation hubs, markets/shopping malls, and local government facilities. Violence can occur in Israel and the West Bank and Gaza without warning. There has been a marked increase in demonstrations throughout Israel, some with little or no warning.”

‘Still pulling bodies out’: ToI reporter describes the scene at Kibbutz Be’eri

Times of Israel diplomatic correspondent Lazar Berman reports from Kibbutz Be'eri on October 11, 2023. (Screen capture/Courtesy)

Times of Israel diplomatic correspondent Lazar Berman describes the scene at Kibbutz Be’eri tonight, where the bodies of terrorists still lie on the streets.

Some 103 terrorists were found dead in the kibbutz, and 110 Israeli civilians have been identified so far. Bodies continue to be pulled from the rubble of the homes.

Second Gentleman to Jewish leaders: Like all Jews, I feel deep connection to Israel

US President Joe Biden listens as Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff speaks during a roundtable with Jewish community leaders in the Indian Treaty Room on the White House complex in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

“Like all Jews, I feel a deep, visceral connection to Israel and its people, “US Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff tells American Jewish leaders during a roundtable meeting at the White House with President Joe Biden.

Emhoff — who is the first ever Jewish spouse of a president or vice president — says he and Vice President Kamala Harris are outraged by the Hamas attacks and are sending “strength, love and unwavering support for the people of Israel.”

“We witnessed a mass murder of innocent civilians. It was a terrorist assault. And there is never any justification for terrorism. There are no two sides to this issue. The images that we saw will be seared in our brains forever,” he says.

“We also need to acknowledge and address how these events will impact all of us as Jews. I know many of us feel a deep fear that these attacks will, and unfortunately already have, led to a rise in hate and antisemitism,” Emhoff adds.

The second gentleman has played an active role in the administration’s efforts to combat antisemitism in addition to often serving as a liaison to the US Jewish community.

Meeting with Jewish leaders, Biden confirms reports that Hamas beheaded Israeli children

US President Joe Biden speaks during a roundtable with Jewish community leaders in the Indian Treaty Room on the White House complex in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

US President Joe Biden confirms reports that Hamas terrorists beheaded Israeli children in its devastating onslaught over the weekend.

“It is important for Americans to see what is happening. I have been doing this for a long time. I never thought that I would see… have confirmed pictures of terrorists beheading children,” Biden says during remarks to US Jewish community leaders at a White House roundtable.

“Downplaying Hamas’s atrocities and blaming the Jewish people is unthinkable,” the president adds.

He goes on to note that despite the very trying times facing Israel and the Jewish community, “there are countries trying to help — including Arab nations.

He is perhaps referring to countries like the United Arab Emirates as just before stopping by the roundtable, Biden held a call with UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed.

The two spoke about the terrorist attacks on Israel and Biden stressed his condemnation of Hamas while “warning against anyone who might seek to exploit the current situation,” according to the White House readout. “The two leaders also discussed the importance of ensuring humanitarian assistance reaches those in need.”

Confirmed now by the US President.

BIDEN: "I never really thought that I would see…have confirmed pictures of terrorists beheading children"
pic.twitter.com/M9VoRQb02S

— David Patrikarakos (@dpatrikarakos) October 11, 2023

Back at the roundtable, Biden is asked by one of the Jewish community leaders where he draws his strength from during such trying times.

“My faith. It’s not about revenge. It’s basic decency. I know we can overcome this. If we persevere, we can grow,” he responds.

‘I refuse to be silent’: Biden tells Jewish leaders at White House meeting on Hamas attacks

US President Joe Biden delivers a speech to Jewish leaders at the White House, saying the administration has stepped up efforts to protect the Jewish community in the US, condemning those who defend or downplay Hamas’s atrocities.

He describes what happened in southern Israel as “not only terror but sheer evil, sheer evil.”

“More than 1,000 civilians slaughtered,” he says.

“This attack was a campaign of pure cruelty, not just hate, but cruelty, against the Jewish people,” he adds, calling it the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust.

“Silence is complicity,” he says. “I refuse to be silent.”

“It goes beyond rejecting terrorism,” he says, noting what the administration is doing to back Israel militarily. “We made it clear to the Iranians: be careful.”

Biden says he took each of his kids to visit the Dachau concentration camp when they turned 14.

"I wanted them to see!" he says, slamming his hand down and shouting. "That you could not not know what was going on." pic.twitter.com/w0hue2Vkky

— Amy Spiro (@AmySpiro) October 11, 2023

Biden defends the administration’s lack of clarity on efforts to secure the hostages’ release as necessary but says that the US is doing “a lot” to get them home.

Getting angry and slamming his fists down, he notes the importance of fighting hate.

Biden: Silence is complicity. I want you to know — I think you have already figured it out, I refuse to be silent, and I know you refuse to be silent as well. pic.twitter.com/rwSll7pXDK

— Acyn (@Acyn) October 11, 2023

“That’s why I took my kids, everyone when they turned 14, one at a time, put them on a plane and took them to Dachau, I wanted them to see, that you could not not know what was going on, walking through those gates. You could not fail to understand as a country what was going on.”

He repeats his line that “were there no Israel, no Jew would be safe,” repeating several times that there would be “no guarantee.”

He also warns Israel against going too far in its response, saying they must operate “by the rules of war, and there are rules of war.”

Drone alert sounds in Nahal Oz

A suspected drone infiltration alert is sounding in the southern kibbutz of Nahal Oz, close to the border with the Gaza Strip.

The Hamas terror group has claimed to have launched several drones at Israel amid the fighting in southern Israel in recent days.

Al Jazeera airs footage of woman, children released from captivity — apparently on Saturday

Al Jazeera is broadcasting footage of what it says is a woman and her two children being released from Hamas captivity.

The video is apparently from Saturday, at the height of Hamas’s attack on southern communities, rather than a new video.

The video shows a woman in a blue and pink jacket walking toward a child and the two embracing, as gunmen walk away. She is said to be holding a second child.

They appear to be near the Gaza border fence.

???? BREAKING
Al Jazeera: Al-Qassam brigades, military wing of Hamas, decided to let a woman and two children (taken hostage) go.
More news to follow. pic.twitter.com/3whIr30mPd

— In Context (@incontextmedia) October 11, 2023

An announcer says the video is meant to counter the claims that the group is holding women and children.

Israel pounds Gaza with new wave of strikes

The Israel Defense Forces says it is carrying out a new wave of airstrikes in the Gaza Strip.

The IDF says it is hitting “many” targets belonging to the Hamas terror group.

Further details will be provided soon, the IDF adds.

Gantz: Israel in its toughest hour, our partnership will help secure victory

National Unity party leader Benny Gantz speaks at a press conference announcing Israel's national emergency government, October 11, 2023 (GPO screenshot)

National Union head Benny Gantz, joining the emergency government as a minister, says residents of the south have suffered unthinkable horrors and praises their heroism.

This is one of the toughest hours Israel has ever known, he says. “Our friends, our families, have been murdered and abducted” by an enemy that must be wiped out.

The new emergency government is a message to Israel’s enemies, and to the Israeli people, that everyone is united and fighting together, he says.

He tells Israelis who feel they no longer have security: “I understand the fear, I understand the pain, and I have no words of comfort. But he says “Israel is the strongest state in the region and has the strongest army,” with the best people — exemplified by youngsters flying home to join in the fight for its defense.

“We will win, and change the security and strategic reality in the region.”

Gantz says his party’s new partnership with the Netanyahu coalition “is not political; it’s a partnership for our fate.”

He says he and his party will stand firmly with Netanyahu and Gallant in the battle.

“We are all soldiers of the State of Israel.”

He hopes other coalition parties will also join the emergency government.

He promises to do everything possible to return the hostages from Gaza.

“The enemy will be destroyed. Security will be restored. The killing grounds where our heroes fell will be rebuilt. The entire State of Israel will thrive again,” Gantz promises.

“There’s a time for peace and a time for war; now is the time for war,” he says.

Gallant: This was worst terror attack world has ever seen; we will wipe out Hamas

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant speaks at a press conference announcing Israel's national emergency government, October 11, 2023 (GPO screenshot)

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant calls the Hamas onslaught “the worst terror attack the world has ever seen.”

“Thousands of terrorists stormed in to destroy, murder, loot and slaughter.”

As a lifelong soldier who witnessed many awful things, he says, “I never saw anything like this.”

He cites “children bound together and murdered, people burned, barbaric deeds that the Jewish people has not suffered since 1945.”

And these acts were only halted by the “heroism of the fighters.”

He recounts various stories of officers and soldiers doing everything they could to try and stop the attackers, some dying in the fight, and others continuing to battle. He says they freed some of those who had been captured. He speaks of a female soldier in Ofakim with no ammunition who crawled over to a dead terrorist, grabbed his hand grenade and threw it into a room to kill a second terrorist. A single general killed 14 terrorists, he recounts. “These are the heroes who stopped the murders… We’ve cleaned the area and we’re on the attack.”

Speaking with an angry intensity in a televised statement alongside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and National Unity leader Benny Gantz, he says the Hamas terror group will be “obliterated.”

“Hamas — the Islamic State of Gaza — will be wiped from the face of the earth,” he says. “It will not continue to exist.

“There will be no situation in which Israeli children are murdered and we all go about our business,” he adds.

Netanyahu announces emergency gov’t, describes Hamas atrocities, says every Hamas man is a dead man

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at a press conference announcing Israel's national emergency government, October 11, 2023 (GPO screenshot)

Announcing the formation of a “national emergency government” with the addition of Benny Gantz’s National Unity party, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says, “the people of Israel are united, and now the leadership is also united.  We put all other considerations aside, because the fate of the nation is at stake. We will work together, side by side, for the citizens of Israel and the state of Israel.”

“We saw the wild animals. We saw the barbarians we are facing. We saw a cruel enemy. An enemy worse than ISIS. We saw boys and girls, bound, shot in the head. Men and women burned alive. Young women raped and slaughtered. Fighters decapitated… In one place, they set fire to tires around them, and burned them alive.”

“How staggering the atrocity. How great the pain,” he says in a televised address that Israel is now on the attack.

He says every family in Israel knows somebody who was killed. We all know families whose loved ones were murdered. But he also cites the acts of heroism of those who fought the Hamas terrorists. “And we will all fight for the home,” he says.

He says Israel’s unity is resonating worldwide, and was exemplified in President Biden’s support.

“We are fighting with full force, on every front, we have gone onto the attack. Every member of Hamas is a dead man,” he adds.

From left, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, National Unity head Benny Gantz at a press conference on October 11, 2023 announcing Israel’s national emergency government. (screen capture: PMO)

Hamas is Islamic State, he says, and Israel will destroy Hamas just as the world destroyed Islamic State. “The people of Israel lives, and together we will win,” he concludes.

Turkey’s Erdogan negotiating with Hamas for hostages’ release — report

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is negotiating with Hamas for the release of some 150 hostages kidnapped by Gazan terrorists, Turkish media reports.

The Turkish news site Haberturk reports that Erdogan ordered that talks be held for the hostages.

It also says he has been intensively involved in efforts to keep the conflict from snowballing.

Despite a recent rapprochement with Israel, Erdogan remains broadly supportive of Hamas and has avoided criticizing the group over its massacre of 1,200 Israelis, including hundreds of civilians.

Earlier in the day, he lashed out at the West for “blindly” taking Israel’s side and called for restraint from both sides.

“A conflict carried out with all kinds of shameful methods is not a war but a massacre,” he said, referring to Israel’s bombing of Gaza.

WH says Congress will likely need to okay more aid for Israel

White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby says existing appropriations are enough for the US to deliver emergency aid to Israel and Ukraine.

However, Kirby says at a press conference that “we’re running out of runway” and will likely need Congress to allocate additional funds based on Israel’s needs.

He indicates that this is complicated by the lack of a House speaker and overall chaos in the Republican Party.

Republicans have nominated Rep. Steve Scalise to be the next House speaker but are struggling to unite behind him.

It’s unclear whether Scalise can amass the votes that would be needed from almost all Republicans to overcome the Democratic opposition. Usually, the majority needed would be 218 votes, but there are currently two vacant seats, dropping the threshold to 217.

Knesset committee to meet on approving home front emergency, reserves call-up

The Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee will hold a special closed-door session on Thursday regarding the war with Hamas.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to appear before the committee.

The influential panel will discuss the government’s declaration of a “special situation,” which allows the military’s Home Front Command to restrict gatherings and close off areas, as well as a government request to officially approve a general call-up of military reservists, among other matters, the Knesset’s spokesperson says.

White House says second aircraft carrier around if Israel needs it

Sailors get ready around an F/A-18E Super Hornet on the US navy's super carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) ("Ike") in the Mediterranean Sea on July 6, 2016. (AFP PHOTO / ALBERTO PIZZOLI)

A second US aircraft carrier will be available to show support for Israel, the White House says, after a first vessel took up position in the region following the Hamas attacks.

The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower will be arriving in the Mediterranean soon on a pre-planned mission “and she certainly will be an available asset if needed,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby says.

Kirby also says the US is “clearly concerned” by Hezbollah rocket attacks on northern Israel.

“We’ve been watching with concern some of the rocket attacks that come across the northern border of Israel from Lebanon, which obviously were coming from Hezbollah,” Kirby says.

US unable to say if it could try to rescue hostages

Asked whether US President Joe Biden is considering sending American troops into Gaza to recover the hostages being held by terror groups in the enclave, White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby says, “We just don’t have enough info to make decisions like that.”

The comment indicates that the US does not know the captives’ whereabouts.

“We’re in discussions not only with the Israelis about what hostage recovery could look like but with other allies and partners in the region. There are some countries, like Qatar, that have open lines of communication with Hamas,” Kirby says, indicating that Washington is in touch with Doha about the issue.

“We’re casting the net wide, as you would expect we would. We want to get all these hostages back with their families, particularly the American hostages,” he says.

US Vice President Kamala Harris says she is “completely outraged” by what took place in Israel.

“We are looking at extreme acts of terrorism that must be condemned in no uncertain terms,” Harris says in remarks to reporters after landing in Charleston.

“The president and I take very seriously our commitment to Israel and the people of Israel,” she adds.

“One of our highest priorities, of course, is the safety and well-being of American citizens, and that will continue to be,” Harris says.

National Unity to officially join government with Thursday vote

The Knesset will convene a vote at 7 p.m. on Thursday to approve the addition of five National Unity MKs to the newly announced emergency government.

MKs Benny Gantz, Gadi Eisenkot, Gideon Sa’ar, Chili Tropper and Yifat Shasha-Biton will join the government and the security cabinet.

Gantz will also sit on a small war cabinet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

The five will swear-in as ministers immediately after the vote.

Clashes at hospital where ultranationalist group thinks terrorist being treated

Chaos has erupted at Sheba medical center near Tel Aviv, amid widespread anger over the fact that Hamas terrorists injured during the group’s attack on Israel are being treated by Israeli hospitals.

Dozens of members of an ultranationalist group showed up at the hospital with demands that the hospital not treat a terrorist they thought was brought there, and scuffle with security as they try to break in.

פעילי לה פמיליה מפריעים הערב לצוותי המיון בשיבא לטפל בפצועים ישראלים, באמצע מלחמה.
מעסיקים כוחות שיטור בגלל האלימות שלהם.
בושה.
למה הם מתלהמים במקום לעזור לפצועים, למפונים, לצה"ל?
מסיתים נגד כל הערבים. מה מרגיש רופא ערבי שמטפל כרגע במיון?
ואין שם בכלל מחבלים מטופלים. pic.twitter.com/3Z3bmtvozN

— פרופ' חגי לוין (@HagaiLevine) October 11, 2023

Several are reportedly arrested. According to Channel 12 news, the terrorist had already been moved to another location.

There have been protests throughout the day over the issue, leading the Health Ministry to order that hospitals beef up security, warning that there could be a lynching of terrorists, Ynet reports.

US working to secure Gaza humanitarian corridor

White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby says the US is “actively discussing” with Israel and Egypt efforts to ensure safe passage from Gaza for civilians.

“We support safe passage for civilians. Civilians are not to blame for what Hamas has done. They didn’t do anything wrong, and we continue to support safe passage,” Kirby says during a press briefing.

He acknowledges that the countries have not yet secured said safe passage but are still working to secure such a humanitarian corridor.

“Civilians are protected under the laws of armed conflict, and they should be given every opportunity to avoid the fighting,” Kirby says.

Israel is open to a possible corridor to Egypt, Channel 12 news reports.

Deal reached on defense donation tariffs

The Finance and Defense ministries have reached an agreement to release inbound donations to the war effort that have been held up by Israeli customs, says Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s office.

Under the agreement, combat materiel approved by the Israel Defense Forces will be directly transferred to the military by the Defense Ministry, which will also sign a customs release for the goods.

Other physical donations will be processed by the Defense Ministry’s authority for defensive donations and will be forwarded onward for unspecified further customs processing.

On Kibbutz Be’eri, evidence of horror everywhere

Remains of destruction on Kibbutz Be'eri seen on October 11, 2023. (Lazar Berman / Times of Israel)

There is evidence in Kibbutz Be’eri that children were slain in front of their parents, Maj. Doron Spielman says. Knives were found left in some of the children.

Bodies are still being taken out of the kibbutz, which Spielman says will be remembered as a symbol of Hamas’s massacre, like Auschwitz is the symbol of the Holocaust.

Some 1,200 Israelis were slaughtered by the terror group, including over 100 at Be’eri alone.

Spielman says body parts of children were found, and they still do not know who they belonged to until they are matched with the DNA of living relatives.

Zaka search and rescue teams continue to work on finding and clearing bodies.

“It will take weeks to understand what happened here,” says Spielman.

In one of the homes, 40 civilians were held by 20 terrorists. The building was stormed by special forces, six of whom were killed.

The body of a Hamas terrorist on Kibbutz Be’eri seen on October 11, 2023. (Lazar Berman / Times of Israel)

A white bag lays on a walkway, the word terrorist sprayed in red on it. Inside is the corpse of a Hamas terrorist. There are over 100 others, scattered around the kibbutz.

All around are homes barely standing. Walls are collapsed, rooms are burnt and the smell of dead bodies wafts in the air.

17 Americans missing or held hostage; Hamas said to promise not to hurt dual citizens

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre says 17 American citizens remain unaccounted for, possibly because they are being held hostage in Gaza.

This is the first time that the White House has provided a number regarding the number of unaccounted-for Americans.

National Security Council Spokesman John Kirby confirms that Americans are being held by Hamas.

Israel’s Channel 12 news quotes Al-Arabiya reporting that Egypt has received an assurance from Hamas that it will not harm hostages with foreign citizenship or dual citizenship.

Three terrorists killed in tank strike near Nir Am

The Israel Defense Forces says troops killed three Palestinian terrorists near the southern town of Nir Am, close to the border with the Gaza Strip.

Soldiers of the 101st Paratroopers Battalion identified the terrorists in a vehicle, and a tank of the 401st Armored Brigade fired at it, the IDF says.

“IDF soldiers are continuing to conduct searches in the area,” the military adds.

Gaza death toll up to 1,100

A Palestinian walks through the destruction by Israeli bombing in Gaza City on Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023. (AP/Fatima Shbair)

The Hamas-run health ministry says some 1,100 Palestinians have been killed and another 5,339 have been wounded in Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip.

The Israel Defense Forces has said it has killed some 1,500 Palestinian terrorists in Israeli territory.

Several French children feared kidnapped by Hamas

French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne says “several children’” from France were probably kidnapped as the Hamas terror group carried out massacres in Israeli communities Saturday.

Speaking to the French Senate, she says the government is in touch with the families of the children concerned without elaborating.

Among those believed kidnapped is a 12-year-old boy named Eitan who had been living in Kibbutz Nir Oz, according to family members who have spoken to French media.

France has said that 11 French citizens are confirmed dead in the fighting and 20 are unaccounted for, including several believed held hostage.

IDF names 20 soldiers slain in Hamas attacks

The IDF names another 20 soldiers killed during fighting with Palestinian terrorists since Saturday, mostly on the border with the Gaza Strip. The names bring the toll of slain soldiers to 189.

They are:

Cpt. Sagi Golan, 30, a Lotar commander, from Raanana.

Lt. Shilo Rochberger, 23, a Golani commander, from Eli.

Lt. Idan Baloy, 21, a Golani signals officer, from Rishon Lezion.

Lt. Shir Eilat, 20, a Unit 414 commander, from Kfar Shmuel.

2nd Lt. Yuval Yafe, 21, an officer in the 7th Armored Brigade, from Tzofit.

2nd Lt. Yohai Duchan, 26, a Golani commander, from Kiryat Arba.

First Sgt. (res.) Reuven Shishportish, 36, a local security officer, from Shlomit.

Sgt. First Class Adam Agmon, 21, a commander at the School for Infantry Corps Professions and Squad Commanders, from Kamon.

Staff Sgt. Aviel Malkamo, 21, an Egoz soldier, from Kiryat Ata.

Staff Sgt. David Yerhi, 21, a Golani soldier, from Rishon Lezion.

Staff Sgt. Ofek Russo, 21, a Shayetet 13 soldier, from Kadima Zoran.

Sgt. Aviad Rivlin, 23, a soldier in the Technological and Logistics Directorate, from Otniel.

Sgt. Daniel Shaferber, 20, a Unit 414 soldier, from Yehud.

Sgt. Shimon Elroy Ben Shitrit, 20, a Unit 414 soldier, from Beit Shean.

Cpl. Shirel Mor, 19, a Unit 414 soldier, from Raanana.

Cpl. Ili Ben Mucha, 20, a Golani soldier, from Ashdod.

Cpl. Aviv Hajaj, 19, a Unit 414 soldier, from Galit.

Pvt. Maya Vialovo Polo, 19, a Unit 414 soldier, from Givatayim.

Pvt. Yonatan Elazari, 19, a Paratrooper, from Alon Shvut.

IDF probing what set off drone alarms after scare, searching for two escaped gunmen

IDF spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari says there is no security incident in northern Israel, adding that the military is investigating what caused the drone alerts to sound across northern Israel earlier this evening.

Returning to the southern front, Hagari says five Palestinian gunmen were identified near Zikim earlier today.

Three were killed in a gun battle with troops, while another two apparently fled. Hagari says troops are searching for the pair in the area.

Hagari says the IDF has continued to carry out strikes in the Gaza Strip today against “terror areas.”

He says the military is targeting all of Hamas’s infrastructure.

IDF gives all-clear after drone scare in north

The IDF says the drone infiltration alerts that sounded in northern Israel earlier are a false alarm.

“As of now, fear of an infiltration is ruled out,” the IDF says.

Sirens sound in Rishon Lezion, Rehovot

Rocket sirens sound in several areas southeast of Tel Aviv, including Rehovot and Rishon Lezion.

IDF confirms false alarm

The Israel Defense Forces says that the alert issued nationwide on the Home Front Command app telling residents to shelter was a false alarm.

“This is a mistake, there is no such instruction,” the army says, adding that it was caused by “human error” and not a cyber attack.

Number of US citizens killed in Hamas attack up to 22

The number of US citizens confirmed to have been killed in the Israel-Hamas war has risen to 22, up from 14, the State Department says.

Phones nationwide get shelter alert, unclear if false alarm

The Home Front Command mobile application has issued an alert nationwide to enter shelters, though no sirens sound.

It is unclear whether this was a glitch or an intentional alert.

IDF: No injuries in suspected drone attack, long-range missile launched from Gaza

The Israel Defense Forces says it has not identified any impacts and there are no reports of injuries following drone infiltration alerts that sounded across northern Israel.

“IDF forces are scanning the area from the ground and from the air,” the military says, adding that it will provide further details soon.

On sirens that sounded in the Carmel region, south of Haifa, the IDF says a long-range rocket was launched from the Gaza Strip, which landed in an open area, causing no damage.

The rocket launched toward the Carmel region, some 120 kilometers from the Gaza Strip, appears to be the most distant location in Israel that Hamas has targeted in the current round of fighting.

Hamas in its arsenal has rockets that can apparently reach 250 kilometers.

A Home Front Command officials notes that those in northern Israel being told to shelter do not need to sit in bomb shelters, but rather must simply lock themselves in their homes, recommending they also dim lights.

Biden reiterates opposition to terrorism, confirms Netanyahu call

US President Joe Biden confirms that he spoke today with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the fourth time since the Gaza war outbreak four days ago.

“At this moment, we have to be crystal clear: There is no justification for terrorism. No excuse. The type of terrorism exhibited here is just beyond the pale,” he says in remarks at a separate White House event unrelated to Israel.

Biden adds that he’ll be holding meetings and calls on the ongoing conflict “all through the day and beyond.”

A readout issued by the White House on the call says Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris spoke with Netanyahu after receiving another briefing from their national security advisers.

The leaders discussed “ongoing US support for Israel as Israel defends itself and protects its people.

“The leaders agreed to stay in regular contact in the face of an unprecedented and appalling assault by Hamas terrorists,” according to the US readout.

Egyptian official to ToI: We warned Israel about Gaza, unclear if Netanyahu heard

An Egyptian official asserts to The Times of Israel that its intelligence service warned Israeli counterparts that Hamas was planning “something big” ahead of Saturday’s surprise onslaught.

The official speculates that the warning did not make it up the chain of command to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.

Ma’alot alert called off

The all-clear is given in Ma’alot Tarshiha, after a suspected terrorist infiltration had set off alerts in the northern town.

Infiltration alert sounds in northern town

A suspected terrorist infiltration alert is sounding in Ma’a lot Tarshiha, a northern town some 8 kilometers (5 miles) from the Lebanon border.

Rambam enters emergency mode

Rambam Medical Center in Haifa officially enters emergency mode. Its fortified 2,000-bed underground hospital is fully set up and patients are being moved down. The Health Ministry has instructed the medical center to transfer all patients and activity underground within eight to 10 hours.

Rambam is the north’s tertiary care medical center and is responsible for treating all trauma patients — civilian and military — in the region.

Clinics and ambulatory services at the hospital will not be available on Thursday. There will also be no parking at the hospital until further notice.

What we think we know amid possible mass drone incident

A map showing areas under suspected drone attack on October 11, 2023. (Kumta)

The situation in the north remains unclear, but here is what we think we know so far:

Several aircraft may have infiltrated Israeli airspace from Lebanon. We still don’t know how many drones infiltrated into Israel from Lebanon, but drones can set off alerts in multiple areas as they fly with an unpredictable path.

Residents in every town in northern Israel are being told to shelter in reinforced rooms and wait there.

A suspected enemy drone seen on TV earlier was actually Israeli.

Netanyahu holding consultations below Defense Ministry HQ — report

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in a reinforced room deep under Defense Ministry headquarters, where he is holding security consultations, Ynet reports.

Map shows all north under shelter warning

A picture published by the Kumta Telegram channel shows all the places currently under alert where residents are being told to enter shelters.

A map showing areas under suspected drone attack on October 11, 2023. (Kumta)

A reporter on Israeli TV reports on explosions being heard, and something striking the ground in the border town of Metula, with no injuries.

Suspected terror infiltration in northern border town, more sirens

A suspected terrorist infiltration alert sounding in the northern town of Ma’ayan Baruch, close to the border with Lebanon.

Sirens are sounding again across northern Israel.

Aircraft seen on TV, sirens south of Haifa

Footage on Channel 12 news appears to show a drone moving across the sky.

IDF says residents of towns in northern Israel where the aircraft infiltration alerts sounded must remain in shelters until further notice.

Sirens sound in the towns of Ofer and Kerem Maharal, south of Haifa, with Hamas claiming to have shot rockets in that area.

Sirens heard in every northern town; local leader: Not a false alarm

Incoming drone alerts are continuing to sound in northern Israel.

The sirens are sounding in every town and city in the north, including the Golan Heights.

Early reports suggest dozens of drones were launched from Lebanon at Israel.

The military says it is looking into the details.

The head of the Galil Elyon Regional Council, Giora Zaltz, tells Channel 12 news some of the aircraft that infiltrated from Lebanon are carrying people, and residents need to seek shelter.

“This is what we feared, what we were preparing for,” he says.

Sirens across north in possible mass drone infiltration

Drone infiltration alerts are sounding across northern Israel, including Tiberias, Safed, Beit Shean and other areas.

Channel 12 news reports that some 15-20 drones were identified flying into the country from Lebanon.

Senior US lawmaker says Egypt warned Israel 3 days before onslaught

Israel got a warning from Egypt of potential violence three days before Hamas fighters carried out a large-scale attack and massacred over 1,000 people in Israel, the chairman of the powerful US House Foreign Affairs Committee said Wednesday.

“We know that Egypt has warned the Israelis three days prior that an event like this could happen,” Republican Michael McCaul tells reporters following a closed-door intelligence briefing for lawmakers on the crisis.

“I don’t want to get too much into classified, but a warning was given,” he says. “I think the question was at what level.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly denied that he was warned by Egypt’s head of intelligence about Hamas’s plans before the onslaught.

British Airways announces cancellation of Israel flights as plane diverts from Tel Aviv

A British Airways flight taking off from Ben Gurion International Airport, September 3, 2014. (Moshe Shai/FLASH90)

A British Airways flight from London to Tel Aviv turns around just before landing at Ben Gurion Airport and appears to be heading back to the UK, citing security concerns.

Most international airlines have canceled flights to and from Israel in the wake of the war launched following Hamas’s brutal invasion on Saturday.

While British Airways continued flying until now, shortly after the flight diverts the airline announced that it is also suspending its service to Israel.

Data on flight tracking site FlightAware shows BA flight 165 arriving just to Israel’s coast before turning around and seemingly heading all the way back to London.

Hamas has repeatedly targeted Ben Gurion Airport with its volleys of rockets, aiming to shut down the international hub.

Netanyahu calls Biden to thank him for strong speech

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has spoken with US President Joe Biden by phone to thank him after an address unequivocally backing Israel against Hamas terrorism a day earlier.

Netanyahu “thanked the president for his words of strong support after their last conversation yesterday and for his unwavering backing for Israel,” the Prime Minister’s Office says in a statement.

This is the fourth time the two have spoken since Saturday’s attack.

There is no White House statement on the call.

Rocket sirens go off across south

Sirens sound in a wide swath of southern Israel, including Ashdod, Beersheba and areas closer to the Gaza frontier.

Coalition members fete addition of Gantz

Shas chief Aryeh Deri welcomes news of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Benny Gantz uniting in an emergency coalition, saying that “our enemies see our unity and understand that cannot [beat] us. The entire people of Israel are united and with the help of God we will win.”

“Now for victory,” tweets Religious Zionism head Bezalel Smotrich.

Energy Minister Yisrael Katz also tweets support for the newly formed war government, writing: “Onwards. To victory.”

Drone infiltration feared in northern town

A suspected drone infiltration alert is sounding in the northern town of Avivim on the Lebanon border.

The sirens come amid repeated clashes on the northern frontier in recent days.

70% of tomato crop could go unharvested, government warns, as agricultural work ceases in south

The war in the south could jeopardize collection and transport of fruits and vegetables from farms there, the Agriculture Ministry says in a statement, calling the area Israel’s breadbasket.

Currently, in accordance with Home Front Command directives, there is “no agricultural activity” in the areas adjacent to the Gaza Strip. Therefore there is an issue around “the logistics of supplying food from the southern region to the general public,” the ministry says.

The affected areas include 4,000 acres of tomato hothouses, which constitute 70% of the country’s supply, along with some 15,000 acres of potatoes and 5,500 acres of carrots that were just planted, 2,500 acres of radishes, 1,100 acres of sweet potatoes, 620 acres of peppers, 620 actress of eggplants, 500 acres of cabbage, 250 acres of special insect-free greenhouses for green leafy vegetables, and around 600 further acres of greenhouses for flowers and commercial plants.

In a separate notice, the ministry says that together with the IDF, a “secure logistics corridor” was being implemented in order to aid in transporting produce and livestock from the south of the country to stores.

The unprecedented callup of IDF reservists has affected workers along the entire food-production supply chain and in response, the ministry has asked for local authorities’ help with recruiting high school volunteers to fill the gaps, the notice says.

Hezbollah publishes footage of anti-tank missile attack

The Hezbollah terror group publishes a clip showing an anti-tank guided missile attack against an army post on the Lebanon border earlier today.

The footage shows two soldiers approaching the post before the video cuts to the moment the missile is fired at them.

The Israeli military has not yet publicly provided information on casualties.

المقاومة الإسلامية تستهدف تجمعاً لعدد من الجنود الصهاينة قرب موقع الجرداح الصهيوني مقابل منطقة الضهيرة بالصواريخ المُوجّهة رداً على الاعتداءات الصهيونية التي أدّت إلى استشهاد عدد من الأخوة المجاهدين، مما أدى إلى سقوط عدد كبير من الإصابات المؤكدة في صفوفهم بين قتيل وجريح. pic.twitter.com/25TiG4911x

— ثائر الدر ???????? (@thaeraldor) October 11, 2023

No negotiations to bring Lapid into government — source

There are no active talks to add Opposition Leader Yair Lapid to the newly formed emergency unity government, a source close to Lapid confirms to The Times of Israel.

Avigdor Liberman, who had said he would join the government if it commits to taking out Hamas’s leadership, writes on X that anything short of “total annihilation of Hamas, which will require a ground operation into Gaza City and the destruction of Gaza’s underground, won’t bring about the desired result.

“Anything else is simply saying that what has been will still be, and even after the current war we’ll need another operation in a few years,” he writes, noting that there have been 15 operations against Gaza-based terrorists since the 2005 Disengagement.

Three terrorists reported killed as IDF battles gunmen near Zikim

Clashes are reported between Israeli forces and Palestinian terrorists near the southern kibbutz of Zikim, close to the border with the Gaza Strip.

Channel 12 news reports that three terrorists were killed in the area.

The Hof Ashkelon Regional Council orders residents of Zikim and Karmia who have not yet evacuated to remain in bomb shelters.

Coalition ministers welcome unity as Gantz dives in

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who was seen as one of the only members of the government dragging his feet on establishing a unity coalition, writes on X shortly after the announcement that he “welcomes unity, now we need to win.”

Justice Minister Yariv Levin says the agreement “is the right and necessary thing to do — from here, we work together.”

“The State of Israel has a unity government,” writes Economy Minister Nir Barkat. “At a time like this we must join forces, give support to IDF soldiers and work as one until there is a complete victory of the State of Israel over its enemy.”

Northern hospitals moving patients to center to prep for possible fighting

The Health Ministry announces that it has ordered the healthcare system to transfer patients from hospitals in the north to ones in the center of the country.

It is doing this to boost the preparedness of hospitals on the front line in the north for possible security developments there.

Visit to Gaza border shows remains of battles with heavily prepared terrorists

The remains of a Gazan pickup truck in a field in southern Israel on October 11, 2023. (Lazar Berman/Times of Israel)

In a visit to the Gaza border, Times of Israel reporters come across multiple scenes where firefights between Hamas terrorists and Israeli forces took place Saturday. The equipment speaks volumes about what the terrorists intended to do inside of Israel.

Earlier in the day, a military spokesperson said that Hamas terrorists who infiltrated Israel had planned to hold territory and not just return to Gaza after carrying out their bloody massacres.

On the side of the road between Re’im and Be’eri, a white Toyota pickup truck with green Gaza license plates lies in a ditch. A gas canister sits in the bed, a homemade detonator in the back seat.

Outside, Russian-made machine gun bullets lie in the sand, next to changes of clothes and shoes. Urine collection apparatuses for soldiers in extended ambush operations are scattered nearby.

The pickup’s front is smashed in, the evident result of a ramming by an Israeli civilian vehicle, parts of which were also by the side of the road.

A yellow X is scribbled onto the windshield, a sign from the Zaka search and rescue unit that no bodies are there.

Further up the road next to the Re’im military base, a small red Quran sits next to a sniper rifle case in a dirt field where another gun battle took place.

A toolkit, including a screwdriver, is open in the field. Military fatigues and civilian clothes are strewn about.

Closer to the base, the smell of death hovers in the air. Two puddles of blood stain the earth, with two pairs of boots nearby.

The vegetation between the base’s fence and the terrorists’ equipment is black from fire.

Two alert and slightly jumpy soldiers inside the base order reporters to not come any closer.

Army says it is still battling terrorists hiding in south, hostage rescued

Since Saturday, infantry, combat engineering, and Armored Corps troops have worked to clear the Gaza border communities of Kibbutz Be’eri and Re’im of Palestinian terrorists.

In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces says that the 99th Division has swept every house in the two communities, clashing sporadically with Hamas gunmen.

The military says that in one incident during the last few days, Palestinian terrorists wearing Israeli army uniforms opened fire at troops in Be’eri. An IDF tank fired a shell at the terrorists, killing them.

The rest of the homes in Be’eri were later cleared of any possible terrorists, the IDF adds.

In Re’im in recent days, the IDF says Kfir soldiers encountered a Palestinian terrorist holed up inside a bomb shelter.

Amid an exchange of fire with the terrorist, troops managed to rescue a young civilian, the IDF says, adding that the gunman was eventually killed.

In a call with reporters, the commander of the 99th Division, Brig. Gen. Barak Hiram, says the battles in the two towns were “very difficult.”

“There were very difficult battles, most of them as terrorists fortified themselves against forces that tried to break in. We sustained several wounded and dead,” Hiram says.

He says that in Be’eri, forces killed 108 Palestinian terrorists. The bodies of over 100 Israelis were also found there.

Hiram says that troops “found people handcuffed and shot, babies shot.”

Palestinians report three killed by settlers in West Bank

The Palestinian Authority health ministry reports three Palestinians killed by Israeli settlers in the West Bank village of Qusra, close to Nablus.

A video shared by Palestinian media outlets shows a number of apparent masked settlers, some of them armed, as gunfire rings out in the area.

مستوطنون يهاجمون بالرصاص أطراف بلدة قصرة جنوب نابلس، وإصابة عدد من الشبان بجراح خطيرة. pic.twitter.com/rB8Gt8xC75

— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) October 11, 2023

Netanyahu, Gantz agree to form emergency unity government

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz in the Knesset, November 10, 2019. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

An agreement is reached to bring Benny Gantz’s opposition National Unity party into an emergency government amid the war with Hamas in Gaza following days of negotiations, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Gantz announced in a joint statement.

A small war cabinet to direct the war with Hamas will be created, as demanded by Gantz, which will include just Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and Gantz.

Former IDF general National Unity MK Gadi Eisenkot together with Minister Ron Dermer will serve as observers in the war cabinet.

For the duration of the war, five members of the National Unity party will be added to the broader security cabinet which operates under every government — Gantz, Eisenkot, MK Gideon Sa’ar and two others yet to be determined.

A position in the war cabinet has been left open for Opposition Leader Yair Lapid, who has refused to join the government if the far-right Religious Zionism and Otzma Yehudit parties remain in it.

No legislation in Knesset or government resolutions will be advanced during the war that are not related to managing the war, it was agreed.

Woman who stalled kidnappers returns to scene of 15-hour terror, with UK foreign secretary

Screen capture from video of Rachel Edery describing how she surreptitiously indicated to police how many terrorists were holding her captive in her home in Ofakim, October 8, 2023. (Channel 13. Used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

Rachel and David Edery, a couple from Ofakim held hostage for 15 hours in their home, return there for the first time since police rescued them in what has become one of the few points of light to emerge out of Israel since Saturday’s massacres.

“There’s nothing here for me to do, just death and devastation,” Rachel Edery tells The Times of Israel outside the bullet-riddled semi-detached duplex. “I came to say thank you to God for saving our lives, and to our remarkable security forces.”

The Ederys host James Cleverly, the foreign secretary of the United Kingdom, in what’s left of their home. Foreign Minister Eli Cohen meets Cleverly there along with Ofakim Mayor Yitzhak Danino and about 30 reporters, mostly from the foreign press.

Cohen thanks the United Kingdom for its friendship with Israel and promises that Israel will triumph over Hamas. Cleverly says he came to Ofakim “because it’s important to show solidarity right now.”

The couple, who are staying with one of their sons as they coordinate the renovation of their home with insurance agencies and the Defense Ministry, stay mostly in the yard, only peering into the messy interior, which reeks of putrid blood from the five terrorists killed as police moved in to rescue the couple.

Upstairs, flies swarm around puddles of caked blood. The walls are blackened from at least one grenade that went off during the extraction, which ended without any injuries to Israelis. Before the extraction, the terrorists killed at least two police officers outside the Ederys’ home.

In the upstairs seating area, a plate of dried rice and beef stew remains half eaten on a coffee table. Rachel Edery served the five terrorists who entered her home food, sang with them and calmed them down, she later recounted in testimonies that have made her into a local hero. Her calm poise and good humor have won her plaudits around the world.

“The reverse psychology she employed is just amazing, she’s an inspiration,” one local woman, 69-year-old Batsheva Dahan, tells The Times of Israel.

“I was playing for everything, for my whole life. I just wanted to stall them long enough to be alive when the rescue forces break in. But it’s still unbelievable I’m alive,” Edry tells The Times of Israel at her home.

Top US diplomat in Israel sees ‘evil’ up close in visit to Kfar Azza

The head of the US embassy in Israel has paid a visit to Gaza border towns to witness firsthand the extent of the carnage caused by Hamas.

“We’ve come down here along the Gaza periphery to bear witness to the atrocities that were committed here on Saturday, and it’s really unbelievable,” Charge d’Affaires Stephanie Hallet says, choking up in a video filmed from Kfar Azza.

“As a mother and just as a human being, to see and to now what happened here is really important,” says Hallet as she stands next to the US embassy’s defense attache Frank Schlereth.

“We’ve been here, we’ve seen it, and it is evil, and we stand with Israel,” adds Hallett, who is the most senior US official based in Israel.

Today I came to bear witness to the atrocities committed by Hamas terrorists. The United States stands with Israel. pic.twitter.com/rBVSD5XxU2

— Chargé d’Affaires a.i. Stephanie Hallett (@USAmbIsrael) October 11, 2023

Prisons chief reportedly orders power cut for Palestinian terror convicts

Israel Prisons Service head Katy Perry has ordered that electricity be cut to prison wings housing Palestinian security inmates, the Ynet news site reports.

No reason for the move is given.

The move come after months of National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir pushing to restrict benefits enjoyed by Palestinian prisoners as a punitive measure.

Troops working to seal, demine breaches in Gaza border fence

The Israel Defense Forces says Combat Engineering Corps troops have been working to seal up the many breaches in the Gaza border fence, caused by Hamas’s Saturday morning murderous infiltration into southern Israel.

In a statement, the IDF says four combat engineering companies, using more than 30 armored heavy engineering vehicles, are fixing and sealing up the border barrier.

The troops are being supported by tanks and aircraft, which have been striking Palestinian terrorists attempting to reach the border area, the IDF says.

The Combat Engineering forces are also working to disarm and safely remove explosive devices planted by Hamas terrorists in the area.

IDF says Combat Engineering troops have been working to seal up the breaches in the Gaza border fence pic.twitter.com/rhEoMw4IJs

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) October 11, 2023

Rockets target Tel Aviv area for second time in hour

Sirens are once again sounding in Tel Aviv and areas south of the city, including Holon, Bat Yam and Rishon Lezion, for the second time in under an hour.

More sirens in Ashkelon, Gaza region

Sirens sound again in Ashkelon and several Gaza border communities as Gaza-based terrorists launch a fresh barrage at Israel.

The MDA rescue group says four people in an earlier attack deeper inside Israel were treated for injuries sustained while running to shelters.

Sirens in Ashkelon

Fresh sirens are sounding in Ashkelon and other areas north of the Gaza strip.

Fed chief Yellen says aid to Israel top priority, Congress must get House in order

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says support to Israel and Ukraine and Israel are “absolute top priorities” for the United States and she expects bipartisan support despite political upheaval in Congress.

Military and economic support for Ukraine “along with resources for Israel are our absolute top priorities for the Biden administration,” Yellen says.

“We’ve made that completely clear to Congress, and we believe there is substantial bipartisan support,” she says at a press conference on the sidelines of IMF-World Bank meetings in Marrakesh, Morocco.

“We’ll leave it to members of Congress to figure out how to move forward on this when a speaker is in place, and I can’t tell you precisely what the timetable is for getting this done,” Yellen adds.

The ouster of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy last week by Republican hardliners has raised concerns about a prolonged paralysis in Congress.

Almost 400 lawmakers introduced a symbolic resolution standing with Israel, and a separate group drafted bipartisan legislation to expand the White House’s power to sanction Hamas.

But none of the measures can be taken up until a new speaker is elected, and lawmakers are also unable to sign off on emergency aid.

Herzog in Sderot: Israel will bring back sense of security to Gaza border towns

President Isaac Herzog speaks with first responders in Sderot on October 11, 2023. (Haim Zach/GPO)

President Isaac Herzog visits the southern city of Sderot along the border and praises the “unimaginable heroism” of the people working at the scene following Hamas’s brutal onslaught.

“What we see here is the unimaginable heroism of a nation, a nation that has risen from an attack wrought on a holiday,” Herzog says in a visit to the city in which many people were killed.

“You can see here the volunteers, the soldiers, the police officers, the Hazalah medics, welfare officials, everyone is enlisting as one, together,” he adds. “I’m telling the entire people of Israel — we will win because of the incredible bravery of our people.”

The president says that rebuilding and rehabilitating the towns surrounding Gaza “will be a long process and it will be the supreme obligation of the State of Israel to take care of this area, to develop it, strengthen it… and give it absolute security.”

Gaza power plant out of fuel, leaving only generators

Palestinians walk through the destruction after an Israeli bombing in Gaza City on Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023. (AP/Fatima Shbair)

Gaza’s only power plant has run out of fuel, forcing it to shut down after Israel cut off supplies, Gaza’s Hamas-run energy ministry said.

That leaves only generators to power the territory — but they also run on fuel that is in short supply.

No injuries in Tel Aviv bombardment

The Magen David Adom rescue group says there are no reports of injuries from the large rocket attack on the Tel Aviv area and Judean lowlands region in the last few minutes.

Rocket sirens sound across central Israel

Rocket warning sirens sound across central Israel as Gaza terrorists appear to fire a massive barrage of longer-range projectiles.

Among the cities targeted are Tel Aviv, Ramat Gan, Holon and Rehovot.

There are no immediate details on hits or casualties.

Group claims Hamas attacker carried Islamic State flag

An Islamic State flag purportedly found on a terrorist killed at Kibbutz Sufa. (Courtesy: South First Responders Telegram)

A Telegram channel called South First Responders, which has been distributing shocking footage from scenes on kibbutzim and other areas devastated in Saturday’s attack, claims that soldiers found an flag of the Islamic State terror group on the vest of a terrorist killed during an assault on Kibbutz Sufa, near the Gaza border.

The picture’s authenticity cannot be immediately confirmed.

Israeli officials have repeatedly linked Hamas to IS in the aftermath of the attack, though the comparison is mainly seen as an attempt to explain the enormity of the atrocities and level of depravity as Israel rallies support for its counterattack on the Gaza-based group.

Actual links between Hamas and IS — which has been largely decimated and rendered irrelevant in the last several years — are harder to find. An IS affiliate in the Sinai, Ansar al-Bayt al-Maqdis, is also thought to have few connections with Hamas.

According to the Telegram channel, the flag was found along with heavy weaponry, including anti-tank missiles and rocket-propelled grenade launchers.

War-shuttered schools to start distance learning on Sunday

View of an empty classroom at a school in Tel Aviv, during a strike of the National Student and Youth Council, on September 12, 2023. (Flash90)

The school system is to start organized, regular distance learning on  Sunday, the Education Ministry says in a statement.

“All educational institutions (schools and kindergartens) will move to a regular and continuing learning format, with lesson plans adapted to distance learning possibilities… Returning to a learning routine in an emergency situation is necessary to encourage national resilience and to support the public,” the ministry says.

The ministry had yesterday sent a notice permitting online and in-person learning for the rest of this week, as determined by each individual school.

The current announcement portends a return to the distance learning implemented during the 2020-21 COVID lockdowns, which saw organized, online classes running for at least half the school day.

Israel’s war footing has caused a massive deployment of reserve troops, which has depleted the teaching and administrative staff of schools around the country.

3 civilians said wounded by IDF strikes in Lebanon

Debris of a damaged house that was hit by Israeli shelling is seen in the village of Duhaira near the border with Israel, south Lebanon, Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023.(AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency says Israeli shelling of southern Lebanese villages has wounded three civilians and damaged about 10 homes.

The agency said the shelling hit the villages of Marwaheen and Duhaira.

The Israeli shelling came after Hezbollah fired an anti-tank missile at an Israeli army position.

Chief of Staff Halevi says focus is on killing Hamas leaders

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi speaks to officers at the Southern Command base in Beersheba, October 11, 2023. (Israel Defense Forces)

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi tells reservist officers at the Southern Command base in Beersheba that the military is focusing efforts on targeting Hamas officials.

“In any area that we know there are Hamas members, Hamas leaders, even if there are restrictions, we strike… accurately and with great power,” Halevi says.

German government holds minute of silence for Israeli victims

Lawmakers applaud to Ron Prosor, Israel's ambassador to Germany, left, and Germany's President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, front row on right balcony, at the German parliament Bundestag in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Oct.11, 2023. (AP Photo/Stefanie Loos)

The German government holds a minute of silence for the Israeli victims of the Hamas terror attacks in parliament.

The president of parliament, Baerbel Bas, vows that Germany will stand univocally on the side of Israel and support the country’s right to defend itself and protect its people.

“In these dark hours, our thoughts are with the families of all the victims, with the injured and with the abducted hostages who are being abused as human shields, and with the family members and friends who fear for them. Their anguish, unimaginable to us, cannot be put into words,” Bas said.

Bas stressed that Germany will not accept any kind of anti-Israeli or antisemitic protests in Germany.

The Israeli ambassador to Germany, Ron Prosor, who attended the minute of silence in parliament, received long, standing ovations by Germany’s government ministers and lawmakers.

Netanyahu, Gantz said close to deal on emergency unity governement

Then-defense minister Benny Gantz and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a consultation amid Hamas rocket fire at Israel and IDF counterstrikes, May 11, 2021. (Amos Ben Gershom / GPO / File)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and National Unity party leader Benny Gantz are finalizing details of an agreement to form a “national emergency government” amid the ongoing war with Hamas and hostilities on the northern border, Hebrew media reports.

Netanyahu and Gantz met earlier today at IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv to discuss how this government will function, after several days of disagreement.

Gantz, a former defense minister and IDF chief of staff, has demanded that a small war cabinet be created with a small number of ministers that would be empowered to make decisions in directing the war, but Netanyahu has been insisting that he have the final say, Channel 12 reports.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has also reportedly opposed the establishment of a small war cabinet and expressed criticism of Gantz’s record as IDF chief of staff, although he publicly denied that he opposes Gantz’s entry into the cabinet.

Hebrew media report that the agreement has been delayed, partially due to intense opposition from Netanyahu’s wife, Sara.

A formal announcement regarding an agreement between Netanyahu and Gantz has yet to be made.

MDA says 12 people being treated after Ashkelon rocket attack

People take cover on the road in the southern Israeli town of Ashkelon, as a Red Siren alert is sounded, October 10, 2023.(Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

The Magen David Adom ambulance service says 12 people are wounded in the latest rocket attacks in Ashkelon, all of whom are in good condition.

MDA says six of them were directly hurt by rocket shrapnel or had fallen while running to a shelter, and another six are being treated for acute anxiety.

The 12 are being taken to Barzilai hospital in the city, MDA adds.

Local elections postponed due to war

The Interior Ministry announces that upcoming elections for local municipal and regional councils will be delayed by at least three months due to the war.

The last time elections were delayed was during the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

Horrific images emerge of utter destruction in Kibbutz Be’eri

The first images and footage emerge from inside Kibbutz Be’eri where dozens of residents were murdered by Hamas terrorists.

Footage shows many burned-out or completely destroyed homes after terrorists moved house to house killing residents.

Some houses are blackened, while others lie in rubble.

שכל העולם יראה!
כך נראה ביום שאחרי קיבוץ בארי.
מחבלים מתועבים שעברו בית בית, הרסו, פיצצו, שרפו.
חלאות אדם. חיות.
ראש הממשלה נתניהו: זה או אנחנו, או הם.
אם חמאס לא יושמד, אנחנן, תושבי העוטף לא נשאר כאן כדי לחסום בגופנו את חמאס.
זה או אנחנו או הם. pic.twitter.com/oAswlCWiFs

— almog boker (@bokeralmog) October 11, 2023

One person wounded, attacker shot in suspected West Bank terror attack

One person is wounded in a suspected terror shooting attack at the so-called “Tunnels” checkpoint, south of Jerusalem, medics say.

The Magen David Adom ambulance service says it is treating a man in his 20s in moderate condition.

The Rescuers Without Borders emergency service says the alleged gunman has been “neutralized.”There is no immediate comment from the military or police on the incident.

At least two wounded in rocket strike in Ashkelon

At least two people are wounded in a rocket strike in Ashkelon, Magen David Adom says.

Both people, including a man in his 40s with shrapnel wounds, are lightly hurt.

Overwhelming number of victims slowing identification at army base

An IDF soldier prepares to remove the bodies of Israelis killed during an October 7, 2023, attack by Palestinian terrorists, in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, in southern Israel bordering the Gaza Strip, on October 10, 2023. (JACK GUEZ / AFP)

The sheer number of dead in Hamas’s slaughter of residents and soldiers in southern Israel communities is far overstretching the army rabbinate’s system for identifying victims of wars and terror attacks at its base near Ramle.

A warren of refrigerated containers have been set up at the entrance of the base to hold all the remains, according to the Ynet news site. Bodies of civilians are being identified by police, while those of soldiers or where there are complications in identifying the bodies are moved into the base’s lab for further examination.

The decision to deal with all bodies at the rabbinate base was made by the Home Front Command without input from the Health Ministry, according to Haaretz.

Before authorities clear a body for burial, DNA tests and pictures must be taken, which are then run through various national databases. In some cases, families are being asked to come in to identify their loved ones.

The process has been slowed by a lack of experienced staff and equipment, and the devastatingly high death toll — over 1,200 according to unofficial accounts. According to Haaretz, doctors have started volunteering to help bolster the effort.

Some families looking for information about loved ones have begun showing up at the base in hopes of getting answers, only to find that they are not being let in, according to Ynet. Yesterday, scuffles broke out between police and relatives trying to get inside, the site reports.

Once bodies are cleared for burial, they are brought by ambulance to refrigerated rooms at cemeteries around the country. However, there is also a shortage of ready graves, according to reports. Overnight hundreds of volunteers, many of them teens, worked through the night digging and preparing a new area being set up on the Mount Herzl military cemetery for security forces killed in battles with Hamas gunmen who infiltrated Israel Saturday.

הר הרצל הלילה: מאות מתנדבים מירושלים והסביבה הגיעו להכין את החלקות ולסייע בחפירת הקברים לקראת ההלוויות. יוסף מרמת שלמה סיפר לנו: "אני כבר לא בגיל של לוחמים, אבל רציתי לעזור לעם ישראל בשעה הקשה הזאת". עבודת קודש בחמ"ל של בני עקיבא❤️‍???? pic.twitter.com/ALPmEt7Wke

— יוני בן מנחם yoni ben menachem (@yonibmen) October 11, 2023

Drone infiltration alert sounds in kibbutz Nir Oz

A suspected drone infiltration alert is sounding in the southern kibbutz of Nir Oz, close to the border with the Gaza Strip.

The siren comes amid repeated rocket attacks from the Strip on Israel.

The Hamas terror group has claimed to have launched several drones at Israel amid the fighting in southern Israel in recent days.

Iran-backed militia threatens to attack American bases if US intervenes in war

The leader of a prominent Iranian-backed militia in Iraq threatens to attack American bases in retaliation if the United States intervenes in the war between Hamas and Israel in Gaza.

“Our missiles, drones, and special forces are ready to direct qualitative strikes at the American enemy in its bases and disrupt its interests if it intervenes in this battle,” Ahmad “Abu Hussein” al-Hamidawi, head of the Kataib Hezbollah militia, says in a statement. He also threatened to launch missiles at Israeli targets.

Al-Hamidawi calls on Iraqis to demonstrate and collect donations in support of the Hamas military campaign.

Rockets fired at Ashkelon and Ashdod, several strikes reported

Rockets are fired from Gaza towards Israel as it seen from Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, October 10, 2023. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)

Rockets are fired from the Gaza Strip toward the southern Israeli cities of Ashdod and Ashkelon.

There are several reports of impacts in the cities.

The Magen David Adom ambulance service says its medics are carrying out searches for possible casualties.

Erdogan slams ‘shameful’ strikes on Gaza, says Israel not acting ‘like a state’

A man carries a propane gas cylinder on his back while walking through debris and destruction littering a street in the Jabalia camp in Gaza City on October 11, 2023 (Photo by MAHMUD HAMS / AFP)

Israel is not conducting itself “like a state” in the Gaza Strip, Turkey’s president says as Israel pounded the territory after a Hamas onslaught.

“Israel should not forget that if it acts more like an organization rather than a state, it’ll finish by being treated as such,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan says, attacking “shameful methods” of the Israeli army in the densely populated Gaza Strip.

Erdogan’s comments come in the same speech where he vows to intensify strikes against Kurdish fighters in Syria and Iraq.

Turkey has been bombing sites in northeast Syria since Thursday, hitting civilian and military targets and infrastructure and causing casualties, according to Kurdish authorities.

Rambam hospital in Haifa shows preparation of underground wards for war

Rambam Healthcare Campus in Haifa shares a video showing how its three-level, 2,000-bed Sammy Ofer Fortified Underground Emergency Hospital is prepared for the event of an outbreak of war in the north of Israel.

Rambam is the designated care provider for most of the country’s north and all soldiers and civilians injured in wartime in the region.

German defense minister offers Gallant support

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius arrives to visit Czech Republic's Defense Minister Jana Cernochova in Prague, Czech Republic, Friday, July 21, 2023. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

Germany’s defense minister has offered his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant, support from Germany following the major attack by Hamas.

The German government made that offer also to the Israeli military attaché in Berlin, Boris Pistorius tells reporters.

“Both have said so far that they do not need support of a military or technical nature. It is about political support,” the German defense minister said, adding that Germany’s political support for Israel was self-evident.

Pistorius also says that “as soon as we can help in a humanitarian way, the offer is there, too, but so far it has not been asked for.”

UN says 9 staffers killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza

Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa)

The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees tells AP that nine of its staffers have been killed in retaliatory Israeli airstrikes on Gaza since Saturday, with several killed late yesterday.

“The protection of civilians is paramount, including in times of conflict,” says Juliette Touma, director of communications of the agency, known as UNRWA. “They should be protected in accordance with the laws of war.”

Touma says the strikes killed the UN staffers at their homes across the territory. She also says that 18 UNRWA schools-turned-shelters were damaged in the bombing and that its headquarters in Gaza City was also damaged, without causing casualties.

Israel launched the strikes after Hamas terrorists invaded Israel massacring hundreds of people.

IDF carries out drone strike on Hezbollah post after missile fired at border post

An armoured vehicle of the United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) is stationed near a border point in Lebanon's Khiyam plain, opposite the northern Israeli town of Metula (background) on October 11, 2023. (Photo by Joseph EID / AFP)

The IDF says it carried out a drone strike against a Hezbollah post in southern Lebanon in response to an anti-tank guided missile attack on an army post on the border, which was claimed by the terror group.

The IDF says it also launched artillery strikes against the source of the missile fire.

Chikli pans Ben Gvir fear-mongering: Arab citizens are showing solidarity

Amichai Chikli, minister of Diaspora affairs and social equality, arrives for the weekly cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem on May 14, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

A fellow government minister and a police source slams National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s assertion that the police must be prepared for “a scenario of Guardian of the Walls 2” — a repeat of the severe inter-communal riots in mixed Jewish-Arab cities that accompanied the 2021 conflict with Hamas.

Social Equality Minister Amichai Chikli of the Likud party reacted to the far-right minister, saying that “so far, the Arab population has shown much solidarity and responsibility.”

Chikli singles out the Bedouin community.

“And this is especially true for the Bedouin population in the Negev, which has suffered victims and missing people and is displaying responsibility and solidarity with quite a few initiatives for hosting families and helping distressed citizens,” Chikli says.

The Israel Hayom daily quotes an unnamed police source criticizing Ben Gvir — who is in charge of the police — accusing him of again using the words Guardian of the Walls 2 “for his own needs.”

The source says, “The police are preparing and are prepared, and the proof for this is that no irregular incidents have happened so far. Naturally, such a scenario is being taken into account and we will respond forcefully to any case of violence, if one occurs.”

The source is also quoted as saying that Hamas is trying to incite Arab Israelis to instigate violence and that Ben Gvir’s words could inflame tensions.

EU chief von der Leyen says Hamas attack an ‘act of war’ that reflects ‘an ancient evil’

President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen speaks to the media as she arrives at the Europe Summit in Granada, Spain, Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023. (AP Photo/Fermin Rodriguez, File)

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen says that the Palestinian militant group Hamas’s killing of Israeli civilians was a coldblooded act of war and reflected an “ancient evil.”

“We have to be clear in defining this kind of horror,” she said. “And there can only be one response to it. Europe stands with Israel. And we fully support Israel’s right to defend itself.”

Addressing the start of a meeting of European commissioners, von der Leyen also supported a full review of the EU’s multi-million-euro financial support for Palestinian projects.

“Hamas terrorists killed women and children in their homes. They hunted hundreds of young men and women who were celebrating life and music,” von der Leyen tells the European Commission.

“They took hostage hundreds of innocents, whose fate is still unknown,” she says.

“These innocents were killed for one single reason: For being Jewish and living in the State of Israel. It is an ancient evil, which reminds us of the darkest past and shocks all of us to the core.”

IDF says rocket warning sirens on northern border a false alarm

Israeli tanks are stationed near the border with Lebanon Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

The IDF says the incoming rocket siren that sounded in the northern village of Arab al-Aramshe earlier was a false alarm triggered by Israeli forces’ fire.

“No launches into Israel were detected,” the IDF says.

Turkish deputy minister tweets at Netanyahu: ‘You will die’

Turkish deputy education minister Nazif Yilmaz tweets that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “will die.”

“One day they will shoot you too,” he tweets in response to a video posted by Netanyahu of IAF strikes on Gaza.

Turkey’s deputy minister of education to Netanyahu: “You will die.” pic.twitter.com/PIpKedNsC4

— Yaroslav Trofimov (@yarotrof) October 11, 2023

Netanyahu was set to visit Turkey in the coming months, after postponing a July trip as he had a pacemaker implanted.

Last month Erdogan sat down with Netanyahu in New York in the first-ever known meeting between the two leaders.

The past year has seen a warming of ties between Israel and Turkey after years of animosity between the two countries’ leaders, largely over Turkish support for Hamas.

Ben Gvir raises specter of intercommunal riots in mixed Jewish-Arab cities

National Security Minister and far-right leader Itamar Ben Gvir says, during a visit to a Sderot police station, that he has instructed the police commissioner to be prepared for “a scenario of Guardian of the Walls 2,” a reference to the severe inter-communal riots in mixed Jewish-Arab cities that accompanied the 2021 conflict with Hamas.

A spokesman for Ben Gvir confirms he was referencing the possibility of Arabs rioting in mixed Jewish-Arab cities.

Ben Gvir made similar comments on Monday as he announced the distribution of assault rifles to civilian security teams in border towns, West Bank settlements, and mixed Jewish-Arab cities.

According to the Maariv daily newspaper, senior government officials criticized the minister for his comments, calling him “an irresponsible person” and telling him to “compose himself.”

ישראל במלחמה | השר לביטחון לאומי בן-גביר בשדרות: "הנחיתי את המפכ"ל להיות ערוך לתרחיש של 'שומר החומות 2' שלדעתי בפתח. החלטנו להפוך את שדרות ליישוב זכאי, כל תושב שדרות יוכל לשאת נשק החל מהיום בבוקר"@Yoav__Zehavi pic.twitter.com/iGazKZelBB

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) October 11, 2023

“This war proves that the citizens are heroes, this war proves how important it is to arm the civilians, the civilian security teams, in parallel to a strong police force,” says Ben Gvir.

Hamas terrorists infiltrated and occupied a central police station in Sderot during its savage assault on Israel on Saturday, which was eventually destroyed in the effort to kill the terrorists.

Ben Gvir says his ministry has ״turned Sderot into an eligible town,” meaning that all Sderot residents are now able to obtain and bear firearms, as part of the National Security Ministry’s efforts to bolster civilian security.

“In parallel, I have instructed the police commissioner to be prepared for a Guardian of the Walls 2 scenario… to be prepared for the infiltration of towns,” he adds.

Israel’s mixed Jewish-Arab cities were the scene of intense riots during the May 2021 conflict with Hamas. Three people were killed and hundreds more were hurt in days of violent unrest in mixed cities.

Ben Gvir, at the time an MK but not a minister, urged armed Israeli civilians to go to these cities to combat Arab rioters, leading Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai, who is still serving in his position now under Ben Gvir, to reportedly blame the far-right politician for the riots.

Mourners pay last respects at nonstop funerals; ministers take heat for staying away

Family and friends attend the funeral of lone soldier Sgt. Benjamin Loeb in Jerusalem. (Noam Revkin Fenton /Flash90)

Funerals for soldiers and civilians are continuing to take place, day and night, their shocked and grieving families and friends delivering tear-laden eulogies or relating stories of their bravery.

“You physically prevented kidnappings, murders, and who knows what else,” the head of the civil security force at Kerem Shalom says at Mount Herzl, eulogizing his friend Israel Amihai Wiezen, who was killed trying to defend the small Gaza border community. “My dear brother, your name obliges us to revive the nation. Am Yisrael Chai.” Amihai means “my nation lives.”

In the Golan city of Katzrin, residents and others lined roads this morning with flags to salute the family of commando soldier Amihai Vanunu, who was killed in action.

Katzrin residents and others line roads to honor the family of Amihai Vanunu who was killed in action in the south, on October 11, 2023. (Michael Giladi/Flash90)

While the funerals are drawing hundreds in many cases — and even more when calls go out for people to pay last respects to those from abroad who might not have families in Israel to mourn them — some have criticized the government over the fact that representatives have not been present at military burials, normally a requirement.

According to Kan, the government’s response was that the requirement is suspended during times of war, though the answer has failed to stop the criticism.

At a funeral for Yaron Shai, son of former economy minister Izhar Shai, Yaron’s brother Ofir slings harsh criticism at the “government of shame,” in a video shared by Channel 13 reporter Raviv Drucker.

“My little brother was killed by murderous terrorists filled with hate, and the one who opened the door for them, with its debased actions, was the government of Israel,” he says, as Economy Minister Nir Barkat looks on stony-faced.

Rocket sirens sound in Israeli village on Lebanese border

Flames and smoke rise following Israeli shelling in Jal al-Allam village, south Lebanon, Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

Incoming rocket sirens are sounding in the northern village of Arab al-Aramshe on the Lebanon border.

The area is the site of an anti-tank guided missile attack on a military post earlier. The IDF hit several sites in Lebanon in response.

There are no immediate reports of injuries or damage.

Hezbollah claimed the attack and said it was to avenge the deaths of several members of the terror group yesterday.

IDF has carried out strikes on 2,687 targets across Gaza

The Israel Defense Forces has carried out strikes against 2,687 targets across the Gaza Strip since Saturday, according to fresh military data.

According to the data, 1,329 of the targets are multi-story buildings containing Hamas assets, including war rooms where the terror group manages the fighting against Israel.

Health Ministry suspends nurse who praised Hamas killings

Health Ministry director-general Moshe Bar Siman Tov suspends a healthcare system worker who posted on social media nationalistic and racist comments supporting the murderous acts carried out by Hamas terrorists from Gaza on Saturday morning.

“The Health Ministry does not countenance any expressions supporting the horrific massacres that took the lives of hundreds of Israelis,” the ministry said in a statement. “Healthcare system workers — Jews, Muslims, Christians, Druze and Circassians alike — act and will always act together with mercy and love of fellow man to save human lives.”

Hezbollah claims anti-tank missile attack on Israeli border post

Hezbollah fighters attend the funeral procession of their two comrades who were killed by Israeli shelling, in Kherbet Selem village, south Lebanon, Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

The Hezbollah terror group claims responsibility for the anti-tank guided missile attack on an Israeli army post on the Lebanon border.

In a statement, Hezbollah says the attack was a response to the deaths of three members in Israeli strikes on Monday, which came in response to deadly clashes on the border.

Hezbollah claims it caused “a large number of confirmed casualties”  in the missile attack.

The IDF says it is carrying out strikes in Lebanon in response, and does not immediately provide information on casualties.

Last night, Hezbollah carried out a separate ATGM attack against an unoccupied IDF armored vehicle on the Lebanon border.

Pope calls for immediate release of hostages being held by Hamas

Pope Francis arrives for a weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Pope Francis called for the immediate release of hostages taken by Hamas in their massive assault on Israeli towns and expresses his concern over the siege of Gaza.

“I ask that the hostages be released immediately,” the 86-year-old head of the worldwide Catholic Church said at the end of his weekly audience at the Vatican.

He adds: “It is the right of those who are attacked to defend themselves, but I am very worried about the total siege in which the Palestinians live in Gaza, where there have also been many innocent victims.

“Terrorism and extremism do not help reach a solution to the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians, but fuel hatred, violence, revenge and only make both sides suffer.

“The Middle East does not need war but peace, a peace built on justice, dialogue and the courage of fraternity,” he says.

IAF bombs Islamic University of Gaza, a training center for Hamas engineers

The Israel Defense Forces says it has bombed the Islamic University of Gaza, “which serves as a central training center for Hamas engineers.”

The military says fighter jets targeted the campus, located in Gaza City.

According to the IDF, the university was “an important center of political and military power” for Hamas and a “training institution for the development and production of weapons.”

IDF says it has bombed the Islamic University of Gaza, "which serves as a central training center for Hamas engineers." pic.twitter.com/cKu7jEzsNq

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) October 11, 2023

Gallant to brief NATO defense ministers on war

United States Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, right, arrives for a meeting of NATO defense ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant will hold video talks tomorrow with his NATO counterparts, after the massive Hamas attack on his country, alliance chief Jens Stoltenberg says.

“Tomorrow, we will also be briefed by the Israeli Defense Minister Gallant on the situation in Israel,” Stoltenberg tells journalists at a two-day meeting of ministers in Brussels.

“Allies condemned the horrific terrorist attacks on innocent civilians in Israel over the weekend, and we are looking forward to the briefing from the defense minister,” he says.

At NATO, Zelensky urges West to show support to Israeli people

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during a media conference with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg prior to a meeting of NATO defense ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urges the West to rally around the people of Israel as they did around Ukraine after Russia’s invasion.

“My recommendation to the leaders to go to Israel and I think to support people, just people I’m not speaking about any institutions, just to support people who have been under terrorist attacks,” he says on a visit to NATO headquarters.

IDF carrying out strikes in Lebanon after anti-tank fire at Israeli post

IDF armored forces at a staging area in Upper Galilee, near the northern Israeli border with Lebanon, October 11, 2023. (Ayal Margolin/Flash90)

The IDF says it is carrying out strikes in Lebanon in response to the antitank guided missile attack on the border.

The military says it will provide further information on the attack and the response soon.

Air Force says it’s hitting Gaza on an ‘unprecedented scale’

Palestinians walk through the rubble of buildings destroyed by Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City on Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Hassan Eslaiah)

Brig. Gen. Omer Tishler, the Israel Air Force’s chief of staff, says fighter jets are striking the Gaza Strip on an “unprecedented scale.”

“We are attacking the Gaza Strip on an unprecedented scale, because what happened here is something that has never happened before. There is an enemy here firing rockets, raiding a civilian population,” Tishler says in a call with reporters.

“We are never going back to that,” he says.

Tishler says the IAF is not targeting civilians in the Gaza Strip, but that the strikes are no longer “surgical.”

“We do not act like the other side, we do not attack the civilian population. Behind every attack there is a target,” he says.

“We act precisely and professionally but not surgically. I’m not talking about single, tens, or hundreds [of strikes]. We are talking about thousands of munitions,” Tishler says.

He says patience is required if Israel wants to destroy Hamas’s assets. “I look ahead: this machine will work, attack and destroy. This is how you operate if you want to root out the centers of terror.”

Galilee hospital moves patients to underground fortified wards

Patients being moved into Galilee Medical Center’s underground facility on October 11, 2023. (Roni Albert/Galilee Medical Center)

Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya in northern Israel moves its inpatient wards and critical care units to its fortified underground facility for the first time since the Second Lebanon War in 2006.

The move is made in accordance with directives from the Health Ministry and the IDF Homefront Command.

The critical services transferred include the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), pediatric department, pediatric surgical department, internal medicine, and orthopedics.

“The process of moving the departments to the underground facility is a requirement, as the safety of our patients and staff is always of utmost priority. We will continue to be prepared for any occurrence, as extreme as it may be,” said the medical center’s director-general Prof. Masad Barhoum in a statement.

Also today, premature babies being treated in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan were transferred to the hospital’s underground protected area this morning, as were the pediatric intensive care units.

Anti-tank missile fired at IDF post on Lebanese border

IDF Armored forces at a staging area in Upper Galilee, near the northern Israeli border with Lebanon, October 11, 2023. (Ayal Margolin/Flash90)

The Israel Defense Forces says an anti-tank guided missile was fired from Lebanon at a military post near the northern village of Arab al-Aramshe.

The IDF says it will provide further information soon. It does not immediately report injuries.

There have been several deadly clashes on the northern border in recent days, most of them claimed by Palestinian terror groups operating out of Hezbollah-controlled southern Lebanon.

IDF says Hamas tried to occupy Israeli towns, not just raid them; no new infiltrations

The body of a Hamas terrorist lies on the ground in kibbutz Kfar Aza on Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

IDF spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari says terrorists have been unable to infiltrate into Israel from the Gaza Strip in the past two days.

“They haven’t crossed the fence in the last two days. The terrorists are killed on the fence, there are still hundreds of bodies of terrorists in this area that we have not yet removed,” he says in a press conference.

He says Hamas, in its initial attack on Saturday, “intended to occupy the area, not raid and return to Gaza.”

“During our counterattack, we drove them back to the Strip, except for a few who remained in the area and we are still chasing them,” Hagari says.

On Israeli hostages held by the terror group, Hagari says the military has notified the families of 60 captives.

Injury toll hits 3,007; 471 still hospitalized, 109 in serious condition

Israelis donate blood at Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv, October 10, 2023. (Ichilov Hospital)

The Health Ministry updates that as of Wednesday at 9 a.m., 3,007 injured individuals have been taken to hospitals throughout Israel since the beginning of the war on Saturday morning.

At this time, 471 remain in hospitalized: 109 in serious condition, 199 in moderate condition, and 183 in good condition.

IDF: Multiple rocket launcher used to target Hamas in Gaza for first time since 2006

The Israel Defense Forces says that on Monday, for the first time since 2006, it used an M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System to target a Hamas site in the Gaza Strip.

The IDF publishes footage showing the 334th Artillery Battalion of the 282nd Regiment launching a long-range Romah missile at a Hamas military site in Gaza.

IDF says that on Monday, for the first time since 2006, it used an M270 MLRS system to target a Hamas site in the Gaza Strip. pic.twitter.com/Jx56scguat

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) October 11, 2023

Boxer Floyd Mayweather: ‘I stand with Israel’; sends aid on private jet

Boxer Floyd Mayweather pictured Aug. 30, 2023, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

US boxing legend Floyd Mayweather announces his support for Israel and sends aid to the country on his private jet.

“I stand with Israel against the Hamas terrorists. Hamas do not represent the people of Palestine but are a terrorist group that are attacking innocent lives! I stand for all humans and wish for the safe return of all Americans and Israelis and any human that were kidnapped as hostages during these horrific war crimes,” Mayweather says in an Instagram post along with a picture of himself in Jerusalem.

“I stand with Israel and Jews all around the world. I condemn antisemitism at all cost. I stand for Peace. I stand for Human Rights! Terrorism Is Never The Answer,” a second post says with a fist in the colors of the Israeli flag.

Media reports say Mayweather is sending a shipment of aid to Israel on his private jet.

TMZ says the shipment consists of everything from “food and water to bulletproof vests for the IDF  and civilians.”

Public broadcaster to open new channel to show names of the dead

Israel’s Kan public broadcaster is opening a new channel where it will list the names of Israelis killed in the devastating Hamas assault and ongoing fighting.

Channel 26 will scroll through the names of the dead, much like the broadcasts on Israel’s Memorial Day.

The death toll is currently over 1,200, including at least 170 Israeli soldiers killed in battles with the gunmen.

Israel says it killed some 1,500 terrorists inside Israel.

כמה עצוב שהגענו לזה: ערוץ מיוחד של כאן ייפתח ובו ישודרו שמות הנרצחים והנופלים, בדיוק כמו ביום הזיכרון. אפיק 26. pic.twitter.com/PCSfp9wTR7

— Ran Boker רן בוקר (@ranboker) October 11, 2023

Posters supporting Hamas assault plastered across Manchester University

Posters celebrating the massive Hamas assault on Israeli civilians are plastered across the campus of Manchester University.

The posters call for “victory for the Palestinians” and announce a meeting to explain why “it’s right to resist Israel.”

I just got off the phone with a very frightened Manchester University student. These posters have been put all over her university.
The Jewish Society kids are too scared to even go to a vigil for the fallen dead.
This meeting will celebrate heinous violence. @BritishQuakers pic.twitter.com/TPd4nyH6IZ

— Nicole Lampert (@nicolelampert) October 10, 2023

Rockets hit 4 buildings in Sderot; 1 man moderately hurt

Rockets launched from the Gaza Strip a short while ago have hit at least four buildings in the southern city of Sderot.

The Magen David Adom ambulance service says its medics are treating a man in his 40s who is moderately hurt by rocket shrapnel.

Police announce further road closures in the south

Police announce that a series of additional roads in the south will be blocked to the public and call on drivers not to try and reach these areas, and to heed instructions from officers.

Police say the following routes and junctions are now closed: Route 34 from Yad Mordechai to Beit Hagadi, Route 25 from Beit Hagadi to Nahal Oz and Route 4 from Carmia to Yad Mordechai. Routes 241 and 232 are closed in their entirety.

The Shaar Hanegev, Urim, Gilat, Sa’ad, Re’im and Ma’on intersections and the Y junction at Netivot are all closed.

Death toll of Thai workers killed in Hamas assault rises to 20, 14 held hostage

Twenty Thai nationals have been killed by the Hamas terror group’s assault on Israel, the kingdom’s government says, up from the previous toll of 18.

The foreign ministry says the number of Thais held hostage by Hamas had increased by three to 14, based on unofficial reports from Thai citizens in Israel.

During the massacre on Saturday, around 150 people of varying nationalities, including women and children, were abducted and brutally dragged into Gaza.

“The death toll of Thai nationals has risen to 20,” ministry spokeswoman Kanchana Patarachoke tells reporters in Bangkok, adding that the number of wounded had increased to 13.

The first repatriation flight with wounded Thais was expected to land in the capital on Thursday.

More than 5,000 Thai citizens have requested repatriation to the kingdom, Kanchana says.

There are approximately 30,000 Thais in Israel, mostly working in the agriculture sector, according to Thailand’s labor ministry.

Ít nhất 18 công nhân nhập cư Thái Lan đã bị phiến quân Hamas tàn sát trong các cuộc tấn công khủng bố ở miền nam Israel. 11 công dân Thái Lan được cho là đã bị bắt làm con tin. pic.twitter.com/RykqW2wwUD

— Lullaby (@dungxdang) October 11, 2023

Hamas says Palestinian death toll from airstrikes at 950

The Hamas-run health ministry says some 950 Palestinians have been killed and another 5,000 have been wounded in Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip since Saturday.

The Israel Defense Forces has said it has killed some 1,500 Palestinian terrorists in Israeli territory after the terror group launched a bloody assault on Israeli border communities, killing more than 1,000 people and capturing dozens more.

Rocket fire on south resumes, building hit in Sderot, no injuries

Rocket fire from the Gaza Strip on southern Israel resumes after a lull of several hours.

At least one direct hit on a building in a residential area of Sderot is reported.

The Magen David Adom ambulance service says there are no injuries in the strike.

Terror groups have fired more than 5,000 rockets at Israel since Saturday, the IDF says.

Hamas says at least 30 people killed in overnight strikes

At least 30 people have been killed and hundreds wounded as Israel hit dozens of targets in the Gaza Strip overnight, a spokesman for the Hamas terror group claims.

Dozens of residential buildings, factories, mosques and shops were hit, the head of the government’s media office, Salama Marouf, tells AFP.

The IDF says dozens of fighter jets carried out the strikes against the targets, which include two bank branches used by Hamas, an underground tunnel, several war rooms, and other military installations.

IDF says it destroyed Hamas network to detect Israeli aircraft

The IDF says it targeted Hamas’s “aerial detection capabilities” in Gaza.

The military says the terror group had a network of cameras, hidden inside solar water heaters across the Strip, in order to track and monitor Israeli aircraft.

“Yesterday, within a few minutes during a focused sortie, the IAF struck all of the sites of the network and demolished Hamas’s ability to form an accurate picture of the skies and their efforts to target IDF aircraft,” the military says.

הושמדו יכולות הגילוי האווירי של חמאס

כלי טייס השמידו מערכת גילוי מתקדמת שפיתח ארגון הטרור חמאס, אשר שימשה לצורך גילוי כלי טייס מעל שטח הרצועה.

במשך שנים חמאס הקים רשת מצלמות איכותיות, שהוחבאו בתוך דודי שמש לאורך כל רצועת עזה, במטרה לזהות ולעקוב אחרי כלי טיס >> pic.twitter.com/YFKsiNUiXS

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) October 11, 2023

IDF hits more than 80 Hamas sites in northern Gaza

The IDF says it hit more than 80 sites in Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip this morning.

Dozens of fighter jets carried out the strikes against the targets, which include two bank branches used by Hamas, an underground tunnel, several war rooms, and other military installations, the IDF says.

IDF says it hit more than 80 sites in Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip this morning, including two bank branches used by Hamas, an underground tunnel, and many war rooms pic.twitter.com/MVQtIewggV

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) October 11, 2023

IDF says 18 Hamas infiltrators killed in past day; army escalating strikes on Hamas

An Israeli soldier takes a position in Kibbutz Kfar Aza on Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

IDF spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari says Israeli forces killed 18 Palestinian terrorists in Israeli territory during the past day, as sweeps continue to root out the last Hamas infiltrators.

Overnight alone, troops exchanged fire with terrorists near Zikim twice; a tank killed a terrorist near the Erez crossing; and paratrooper forces killed two terrorists near Mefalsim, he says.

“These are the same terrorists who did not flee back to Gaza. They are in hiding places, near the border. That’s why the scans are [taking place] with a large number of troops. There are tens of thousands of [IDF] fighters in the area surrounding Gaza,” he says.

Hagari says some 5,000 rockets have been fired from Gaza at Israel since Hamas launched its murderous attack on Saturday morning.

He says the army is continuing to strike with thousands of munitions across Gaza.

“We are not stopping; on the contrary, we are heading toward increased attacks. The top priority in the attacks is to eliminate senior [Hamas] officials,” Hagari says.

UN says over 260,000 people displaced in Gaza

Palestinians look for injured in the rubble of a destroyed building following an Israeli airstrike, Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

THE UN says that more than 260,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been displaced as the IDF carries out heavy strikes against Hamas targets in the Strip after the terror group launched an assault killing hundreds of Israeli civilians.

“Over 263,934 people in Gaza are believed to have fled their homes,” says UN humanitarian agency OCHA, warning that “this number is expected to rise further.”

IDF hits Hamas naval facilities, kills diver trying to infiltrate into Israel

The Israel Defense Forces says it struck a number of Hamas naval targets in the Gaza Strip, as well as a Hamas diver attempting to infiltrate into Israel via the sea.

The IDF says the Khan Younis and Gaza City docks, used by Hamas “to carry out terror attacks on the Israeli coastline,” were hit by artillery fire from missile boats, combat helicopters and ground artillery.

“In addition, Israeli Navy forces killed a Hamas diver who attempted to infiltrate into Israel from the Gaza shores earlier today,” the IDF adds.

The military publishes footage of the strikes.

ביממה האחרונה נתקפו מטרות ימיות של ארגון הטרור חמאס, נתקפו מעגנות חאן יונס ועזה, המשמשים את ארגון הטרור חמאס בנסיון להוציא פיגועים במרחב הימי הישראלי.
המעגנות נתקפו באמצעות ירי ארטילרי מספינות טילים, מסוקי קרב וסוללות תותחנים מהיבשה>> pic.twitter.com/xV0YDAqV3k

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) October 11, 2023

IDF names another 14 slain soldiers, bringing military death toll to 170

The Israel Defense Forces names another 14 soldiers killed during fighting with the Hamas terror group on Saturday.

The names bring the toll of slain Israeli soldiers to 170.

They are:

Maj. Ilay Zisser, 27, a Sayeret Matkal soldier, from Givat Olga

Cpt. Ben Bronstein, 24, a Duvdevan soldier, from Holon

Lt. Ilay Adani, 21, a Maglan soldier, from Tel Mond

Master Sgt. (res.) Behor Sweid, 32, a local security officer, from Shlomit

Sgt. First Class (res.) Yedidya Moshe Raziel, 31, a local security officer, from Kerem Shalom

Staff Sgt. Dolev Amouyal, 21, a Golani soldier, from Netanya

Staff Sgt. Dvir Zakai, 20, a Golani soldier, from Tiberias

Staff Sgt. Tomer Yaakov Mizrahi, 21, a Sayeret Matkal soldier, from Hoshaya

Sgt. Sahar Midani, 20, a Golani soldier, from Kiryat Ekron

Cpl. Ido Binenstock, 19, a Golani soldier, from Ramat Gan

Cpl. Itamar Cohen, 19, a Golani soldier, from Carmiel

Cpl. Emil Smoylov, 22, a guard in COGAT, from Haifa

Cpl. Amichai Shimon Rubin, 23, a Golani soldier, from Acre

Pvt. Noam Abramovitz, 19, a Unit 414 soldier, from Givat Brener

As US works to establish Gaza-Egypt humanitarian corridor, Biden said to urge PM to limit civilian harm

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks with US President Joe Biden about Hamas's assault on Israel, October 10, 2023. (Video screenshot/GPO)

US President Joe Biden reportedly urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during their Tuesday phone call to minimize civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip as Israel continues its massive aerial campaign and readies for a potential ground incursion in response to Hamas’s terror onslaught.

While Biden offered full-throated support for Israel in a public address Tuesday that was overwhelmingly welcomed by Jerusalem, he apparently struck a relatively more balanced tone in his call with Netanyahu.

Biden was more direct than in prior calls that the IDF should work to avoid civilian casualties, NBC reports, citing two US officials

Meanwhile, the US is coordinating with Egypt to establish a humanitarian corridor for Palestinian civilians as well as the several hundred US citizens in the Strip to evacuate the coastal enclave, NBC News says.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has ordered a siege of Gaza, including halting the supply of electricity, food and water. The IDF also bombed the Rafah crossing, blocking the only land exit from the coastal enclave to Egypt in what ostensibly would complicate efforts to establish a humanitarian corridor.

Like in the May 2021 Gaza war, Biden appears to be engaging in what was termed as the “arm around Israel” approach, which saw him publicly provide unabashed support for Israel against terror groups in the Strip while taking a more nuanced approach in repeated private phone calls during which he gradually pressed Netanyahu to limit civilian casualties and wind down the IDF’s fighting in Gaza.

Death toll from Hamas shock onslaught continues to climb, reaches 1,200

The death toll from Palestinian terror group Hamas’s shock attack on Israel on Saturday continues to climb, surpassing 1,200 as of Wednesday morning, according to Hebrew media reports, citing the Israeli military.

Close to 3,000 people were injured in the unprecedented onslaught, marked by civilian massacres in southern Israel. The fate of an estimated 150 people abducted and taken to the Gaza Strip is still unclear.

Blinken calls Dermer to reiterate ‘profound condolences,’ reaffirm ‘unequivocal US support for Israel’

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (left) hosts Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, August 17, 2023. (Secretary of State Blinken, via Twitter)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke on the phone today with Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer and reiterated “his profound condolences for the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel,” the State Department says.

Blinken also “reaffirmed unequivocal US support for Israel’s right to defend itself and its citizens against this attack.”

Blinken and Dermer agree that Hamas’ shocking terror onslaught on Saturday in which its terrorists killed children, women elderly people, and captured over 100, “have no justification, no legitimacy, and must be universally condemned,” says the statement, issued by State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller.

Blinken earlier spoke to Israeli President Isaac Herzog and is set to visit Israel on Thursday in a show of “solidarity and support” from the Biden administration.

Tomorrow, I will leave for Israel to engage with our Israeli partners directly about the situation on the ground and to discuss ways we can continue to support them in the fight against these terrorist attacks. Our support for Israel remains unwavering.

— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) October 10, 2023

Russia denied bid to regain seat on UN Human Rights Council

Ukrainian Ambassador to the United Nations Sergiy Kyslytsya, left, shuffles papers as he listens to Vassily Nebenzia, Permanent Representative of Russia to the United Nations, during a meeting of the UN Security Council as the war in Ukraine and recent attacks by Russia were discussed Monday, Oct. 9, 2023, at United Nations headquarters. (AP/Craig Ruttle)

AP — Russia was defeated in its bid to regain a seat in the UN’s premiere human rights body by a significant majority in Tuesday’s election in the General Assembly, which voted last year to suspend Moscow after its invasion of Ukraine.

Russia was competing against Albania and Bulgaria for two seats on the Geneva-based Human Rights Council representing the East European regional group.

In the secret ballot vote, Bulgaria got 160 votes, Albania received 123 votes and Russia just 83 votes.

Russia has claimed that it has support from a silent majority, and even though 83 votes came from less than half the 193 UN member nations, there is certain to be a concern, especially by Ukraine and its Western allies, that Moscow’s support was that high.

Moscow’s UN ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia had accused the United States on Monday of leading a campaign to prevent their return to the council.

“The main phobia of our American colleagues today is electing Russia to the Human Rights Council,” Nebenzia told a Security Council meeting called by Ukraine on last week’s strike by a Russian missile on a Ukrainian soldier’s wake in a small village that killed 52 people.

The United States and others sent letters to many of the 193 members of the General Assembly urging a vote against Russia, according to diplomats. Felice Gaer, director of the American Jewish Committee’s Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights, was among the non-government letter-writers also urging Russia’s defeat.

Israeli strikes said to hit home of relatives of Hamas military commander Mohammad Deif

Israeli airstrikes in Gaza overnight were said to hit the home of relatives of Mohammad Deif, the Hamas military commander, in a the Qizan an Najjar neighborhood in Khan Younis.

Citing Palestinian reports, a number of Hebrew media say Israeli jets struck the home of Deif’s father, killing the terrorist’s brother, his son, and the brother’s granddaughter.

Walla cites a report by the Lebanese news network Al Mayadeen, which is associated with Lebanese terror group and Iranian proxy Hezbollah.

According to Al Mayadeen, an unknown number of relatives were in the home in Khan Younis and were trapped in the rubble.

Republican rivals make high-stakes pitch for US House leadership

Two Republicans vying to lead the US House of Representatives make their pitches, as the party struggles to end a bitter civil war that has thwarted quick action on the Israel crisis and other urgent business.

The 221-strong Republican contingent that controls the lower chamber of Congress staged a “candidate forum” to pick a replacement for speaker Kevin McCarthy, who was ousted last week in a mutiny from the far right.

Neither of the declared candidates — Majority Leader Steve Scalise and Judiciary Committee chairman Jim Jordan — has won enough support to emerge as a clear frontrunner, raising fears of a prolonged paralysis on Capitol Hill.

The leadership vacuum had prompted speculation over a possible comeback by McCarthy so that Congress can pass legislation to address the crisis in Israel, which is reeling from a deadly weekend attack by Hamas terrorists.

IAF hits 200 targets in Gaza City ‘terror nest’

The Israel Defense Forces says it launched massive airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, hitting more than 200 targets over the past day in a coastal neighborhood of Gaza City.

The military says targets were taken out in al-Furqan, dubbed after a mosque in the area in the city.

The IDF says the attacks overnight are the third aerial assault in al-Furqan over the past 24 hours. The area was labeled a “nest of terror” used by Hamas to launch attacks against Israel.

In the three attacks, the military says some 450 targets were hit in total so far.

Dozens of fighter jets participated in the strikes, the IDF adds.

Earlier, the military said jets struck over 70 Hamas targets in the Gaza City district of At-Tuffah, in the northeast of the city.