Here are today’s headlines concerning the war between Israel and the terror group Hamas.
IDF kills 10 Gaza terrorists trying to swim to Israel
At least ten Hamas terrorists were killed in waters off the shore of Gaza after attempting to infiltrate into Israel, Israeli media reported on Tuesday evening.
A tense battle was reported between Israeli security forces and the infiltrating terrorists.
In a Tuesday evening address, Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari said that the terrorists used tunnels from the Gaza Strip to open waters in an attempt to infiltrate into Israel through the Mediterranean Sea.
Israel suffers massive rocket attack on Tuesday
Hamas fired a massive volley of rockets towards central Israel on Tuesday setting off alarms from the north to the very south of the country. Authorities say it was the largest rocket attack since Oct. 14 when Hamas infiltrated Israel and murdered 1,400 people.
In Tuesday’s attack, even the Palestinian-controlled West Bank came under fire from the terrorist group, forcing anti-Israel Palestinian protesters to seek shelter.
The Jerusalem Post reports that “The barrage indicates that Hamas continues to possess long-range rockets, 18 days into the war. IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi addressed the nation from the southern border: ‘I want to be clear, we are ready to invade,’ he declared, as the IDF continued to weigh the timing of the ground war in coordination with the political echelon.
France proposes coalition to combat Hamas
French President Emmanuel Macron holding a press conference while visiting Beirut, Lebanon in September, 2022. Source: Screenshot.
French President Emmanuel Macron proposed on Tuesday that an international coalition fighting against Islamic State (ISIS) in Iraq and Syria be widened to include the fight against the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in Gaza.
Speaking alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, Macron stressed that France and Israel share terrorism as their “common enemy,” but gave little detail on how the US-led coalition of dozens of countries could be involved.
“France is ready for the international coalition against Daesh [ISIS] in which we are taking part for operations in Iraq and Syria to also fight against Hamas,” he told reporters, referring to Islamic State and promising not to leave Israel alone.
Macron also warned against the risks of a regional conflict, stressing the fight against Hamas “must be without mercy but not without rules,” the Algemeiner reports.
Thirty French citizens were killed by Hamas terrorists in their attack on southern
Phone call between Hamas terrorist and parents released
The IDF has released a phone call in which a Hamas terrorist celebrates with his parents after he killed 10 Jews on Oct. 7. The call was placed on the cell phone of a dead Israeli woman. In the call, the father says “God bless you.” The terrorist’s mother screams “Kill, kill, kill.”
“Look how many I killed with my own hands! Your son killed Jews!”
Listen to a phone call of a Hamas terrorist calling home, bragging about how many people he massacred.
The whole world needs to hear this. pic.twitter.com/Xv0ykyxvrF
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 24, 2023
BBC Journalist resigns
BBC journalist Noah Abrahams resigned after the network refused to label Hamas as “terrorists.” Here, he is interviewed on another news program:
Well done! BBC journalist Noah Abrahams resigned after the network refused to label Hamas as “terrorists.” pic.twitter.com/F94fr7MXhY
— Hananya Naftali (@HananyaNaftali) October 13, 2023
UN Secretary-General remarks elicit calls for resignation
Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations called for the resignation of the U.N. Secretary-General for “horrible views” expressed at a Security Council meeting.
UN Secretary Antonio Guterres. Photo: Wikicommons.
Ambassador Gilad Erdan says General António Guterres’ speech was “shocking” for stating that the Oct. 7 terror attacks on Israel by Hamas “did not happen in a vacuum.” The attacks by Hamas killed 1,400 Israelis, primarily civilians and came after months of relative quiet.
“The shocking speech by the @UN Secretary-General at the Security Council meeting, while rockets are being fired at all of Israel, proved conclusively, beyond any doubt, that the Secretary-General is completely disconnected from the reality in our region and that he views the massacre committed by Nazi Hamas terrorists in a distorted and immoral manner,” Erdan posted on X, formerly Twitter.
“His statement that, ‘the attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum,’ expressed an understanding for terrorism and murder. It’s really unfathomable. It’s truly sad that the head of an organization that arose after the Holocaust holds such horrible views. A tragedy!”
Erdan then demanded that Guterres resign tweeting, “The @UN Secretary-General, who shows understanding for the campaign of mass murder of children, women, and the elderly, is not fit to lead the UN.”
State Department says ceasefire would benefit Hamas, not stop rockets
During the U.S. State Department’s press briefing on Monday, spokesman Matthew Miller was asked whether Washington would support a call from European leaders for a “humanitarian pause in what’s happening in Gaza to bring in some aid.”
“We are in conversations with the Europeans about this question of getting humanitarian aid in, and we are in conversations with the government of Israel and the government of Egypt about how best to get humanitarian aid in,” Miller said, according to JNS News Service.
“Whether you call it a pause or whether you call it a ceasefire, you have to think about what that would mean in this context when Israel has suffered this terrorist attack and Israel continues to suffer ongoing terrorist attacks,” Miller added.
“There are rockets, as I said a moment ago, that continue to be launched from Gaza targeting Israel. Any ceasefire would give Hamas the ability to rest, to refit and to get ready to continue launching terrorist attacks against Israel,” he said. “You can understand perfectly clearly why that’s an intolerable situation for Israel, as it would be an intolerable situation for any country that has suffered such a brutal terrorist attack and continues to see the terrorist threat right on its border.”
‘New York Times’ defends rehiring freelance writer who praised Hitler
Palestinian filmmaker Soliman Hijjy has posted on social media of being “in a state of harmony, as Hitler was during the Holocaust” and wrote, “How great you are, Hitler,” according to the media watchdog HonestReporting and JNS.
Hijjy freelanced for The New York Times from 2018 until 2021. Per the Times website, his last piece prior to the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel was on July 14, 2021. Since Oct. 12, he has had nine bylines—four of them videos—in the Times. His most recent piece, which bears his sole byline, is titled: “At a hospital in southern Gaza, a backup generator becomes a critical lifeline.”
“We reviewed problematic social-media posts by Mr. Hijjy when they first came to light in 2022 and took a variety of actions to ensure he understood our concerns and could adhere to our standards if he wished to do freelance work for us in the future,” according to a Times spokesperson.
The spokesperson claims that Hijjy “has maintained high journalistic standards. He has delivered important and impartial work at great personal risk in Gaza during this conflict.”
“For most normal businesses or organizations, an employee expressing support for Adolf Hitler is a clear red line with no second chance. Not, however, for The New York Times,” wrote Simon Plosker of HonestReporting.
Leaders from the International Religious Freedom movement, Israeli Special Envoy unite against global surge against Jews
A multi-faith group of leaders known for advocating for greater freedom of religion and belief worldwide will come together, alongside Israel’s Special Envoy for Combating Antisemitism, to respond to the dramatic increase in antisemitic activity globally.
Brownback
Speakers, including former Religious Freedom Envoy Sam Brownback, will make brief remarks and take questions, emphasizing the need for a united front across religious communities when it comes to standing against antisemitism, as well as any form of ethno-religious terror, hate or persecution.
The event is scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 26 in Washington DC. International Religious Freedom Summit is a powerful, broad coalition of religious, human rights and civil society groups that advocate for religious freedom for all people, everywhere at all times.
Revealed: pro-Hamas groups attended White House roundtable week before attack
A little more than a week before Hamas terrorists attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, the White House hosted a roundtable with Islamic groups that have since expressed support for Hamas and blamed Israel for the murderous assault, according to an article in Focus at Western Islamism.
“These red flags have been waiving right out in the open for years, and yet these groups were able to get a seat at the table—in the White House no less,” wrote Dexter Van Zile, managing editor of the publication, which is part of the Middle East Forum
“Will they remain in the White House’s good graces post Oct. 7?” he wrote. “Given that the Biden administration recently promised to send $100 million to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, probably so.”
A senior CAIR official insinuating that Joseph Czuba, behind the horrific killing of a a six-year-old Muslim boy, is Jewish.
This is *precisely* the blood libel. It’s sickening that CAIR is again fanning the flames of antisemitism. pic.twitter.com/Etxz3s52kx
— Gilead Ini (@GileadIni) October 17, 2023
International Religious Freedom Summit is a powerful, broad coalition of religious, human rights and civil society groups that advocate for religious freedom for all people, everywhere at all times.
International Religious Freedom Summit is a powerful, broad coalition of religious, human rights and civil society groups that advocate for religious freedom for all people, everywhere at all times.
The groups were part of a U.S. Department of Homeland Security program about how to prevent violence against their communities, which the department held from Sept. 19 to 27. The White House hosted a roundtable on “protecting places of worship” on Sept. 28, which participants in the DHS program attended.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the U.S. Council of Muslim Organizations, an umbrella group, were both present. Both organizations have subsequently blamed Israel for the Hamas attack. CAIR was also an adviser on the White House’s strategy on antisemitism.
–Compiled by Dwight Widaman from news services