Israel-Hamas War Updates: IDF soldier rescued, airport mob

Metro Voice is providing regular updates on the Israel-Hamas war and acts of violence against Jews around the world. We start with the news that the IDF rescued a female soldier being held by Hamas.

Israel rescues IDF soldier held captive by Hamas

Israel announced Monday that its forces freed a female IDF soldier abducted by Hamas. IDF Soldier Pvt. Ori Megidish was the first captive taken in the terror group’s shock assault on October 7 to be freed by Israeli troops in an overnight operation with stiff resistance from Hamas.

In a joint statement, the IDF  said Megidish was in good condition and had reunited with her family.

Megidish was an observation soldier, taken hostage by Hamas when terrorists stormed the Nahal Oz base over three weeks ago.

Megidish was believed to have been held alone, though other members of her unit were captured by Hamas in the October 7 onslaught. In total, at least 243 civilians and soldiers were kidnapped that day, of whom four have been released by Hamas.

Former PLO spokesman placed on leave from DHS

An asylum official, Nejwa Ali, with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), was placed on leave after her prior role as a spokeswoman for the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) came to light.

Nejwa Ali, who served as a public affairs officer for the PLO’s delegation to the U.S. in 2016 and 2017, was subsequently hired by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), an agency of Homeland Security, where she worked as an asylum officer and was later an adjudication officer.

Ali’s inflammatory social media posts supporting Hamas and expressing anti-Israel sentiment came to public attention, including her use of the phrase “F–k Israel” and posts advocating for the Palestinian cause. She also posted memes of Hamas terrorists using handgliders of Jerusalem. That’s how Hamas quickly infiltrated the concert where they murdered 260 young people. Her social media handle was “Falastine Mi Amor.”

Ali’s posts led to calls for her termination and sparked concerns about her background checks, given the PLO’s designation as a foreign terrorist organization.  Read More

Mob invades Russian airport to kill Jews

A pro-Palestinian mob of up to 1,000 broke into Makhachkala airport, in Russia’s north Caucasus region on Sunday evening, searching for passengers on a flight from Tel Aviv, according to local media and videos posted on social media.

Insane footage on Russian social media from Makhachkala in the North Caucasus region, where there have been several anti-Semitic protests this weekend.

A crowd of people, some with Palestinian flags, broke into the airport in search of passengers on a flight from Tel Aviv. pic.twitter.com/MZxyvxi6T3

— max seddon (@maxseddon) October 29, 2023

Videos show the rioters, some of whom are draped in Palestinian flags, searching the airport terminal and storming the airport’s tarmac surrounding a plane with Israelis on it.

BREAKING:

A Lynch mob has stormed the airport in Dagestan, Russia and is now going from plane to plane looking for Jewish passengers.

A plane from Tel Aviv was landing.

In this video, they interrogate one of the plane technicians, asking him:

“tell us where the Jews are” pic.twitter.com/CEHrjrBmez

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) October 29, 2023

“Show us the Jews,” one man shouts in Russian on a video, “We want to kill them!”

The mob also found the airliner they believed to have arrived from Tel Aviv and demanded to be let aboard to search for Jews.

Airport staff reportedly told the crowd to pick three leaders to board the plane with a camera to ensure there are no Israelis on it.

Videos further show terrified Israelis being asked to flee the tarmac and re-board the plane.

New YouTube podcast gives you inside look at Israel

Watch the first episode, launched Sunday, giving Christians and Jews an inside look at the miraculous unity bring Israelis together. Organizers of the program say it highlights the incredible unity, love and positive energy we are all feeling inside Israel, right now!

The program is co-hosted by the founders of United with Israel and TRIBE Journal.

Hamas shocked by U.S. military response

The USS Mount Whitney. Photo: US Navy.

The Biden administration’s response to the Hamas invasion of Israel surprised the terror organization, which did not anticipate the war becoming so major an issue for the United States, a senior Hamas terrorist said.

In an interview with the U.K.-based Financial Times, senior Hamas leader Ali Barakeh said: “An Israeli response? Yes, we expected that. But what we’re seeing now is the entrance of the U.S. into the battle, and this we didn’t count on.”

The American intervention began on October 8, a day after the war began, when U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced the deployment of the world’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, off the coast of Israel.

The U.S. Department of Defense has emphasized its primary goals in the Middle East, which include providing support for Israel’s defense needs and ensuring the protection of U.S. forces stationed in the region. READ MORE

Israel pulls diplomats from Turkey

urkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (r) and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Istanbul, Feb. 1, 2020.

Israel announced Saturday that it has recalled its diplomats from Turkey over Ankara’s support for the Hamas terrorist organization, and harsh anti-Israel statements by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan over the last several days.

“In light of the escalating rhetoric from Turkey, I have instructed the return of diplomatic representatives from Turkey in order to reassess Israel-Turkey relations,” Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said in a statement.

The two countries only reestablished full ties last August.

The final straw seems to have been President Erdogan’s statements at a pro-Palestinian rally in Istanbul earlier in the day, when he told hundreds of thousands of demonstrators, “Israel, we will proclaim you as a war criminal to the world.”

Calling Israel an “occupier” although it left the Gaza Strip in 2005, he added, “Of course, every country has the right to defend itself, but where is justice? There is no defense, but an open and vicious massacre going on in Gaza.”