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Netanyahu: No withdrawal from Gaza or freeing many terrorists for hostages

by admin January 31, 2024

written by admin

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir threatened to bring down the government if it reaches a “reckless” agreement with Hamas.

(JNS)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday pledged not to free large numbers of Palestinian terrorists or withdraw troops from Gaza as part of a hostage deal with the Hamas terrorist organization.

“We will not withdraw the Israel Defense Forces from the Gaza Strip and we will not release thousands of terrorists. None of this will happen,” Netanyahu told students and staff during a visit to the Bnei David pre-military academy in Eli in Samaria’s Binyamin region.

“I hear talk about all kinds of deals. I would like to make it clear: We will not conclude this war without achieving all of its goals. This means eliminating Hamas, returning all of our hostages and ensuring that Gaza never again constitutes a threat to Israel,” the premier said.

Established in 1988, Bnei David is the oldest and one of the largest religious Zionist pre-army institutions in Israel. Some 40% of its students have gone on to become officers in the IDF, and since Oct. 7, 14 of its graduates have been killed fighting Hamas terrorists.

Netanyahu’s remarks came as Israel’s national security minister, Otzma Yehudit Party leader Itamar Ben-Gvir, in a tweet, threatened to bring down the government if it reaches a “reckless” agreement with Hamas.

עסקה מופקרת = פירוק הממשלה

— איתמר בן גביר (@itamarbengvir) January 30, 2024

His tweet came amid apparent progress in talks on an agreement to free the 136 captives remaining in Gaza whom the terrorist group abducted during its Oct. 7 attack on the northwestern Negev.

In an apparent response to Ben-Gvir’s tweet, opposition leader Yair Lapid wrote on X that his Yesh Atid Party and its 24 Knesset members would give the government full backing for a deal to free the hostages.

“In the last 116 days, I met with dozens of families of abductees. I promised them and I repeat my promise: We will give the government a safety net for any deal that will return the abductees to their homes and families. This is our commitment to the abductees and their families, this is our commitment,” Lapid wrote in a lengthy series of tweets.

ניתן לממשלה רשת בטחון לכל עסקה שתחזיר את החטופים לביתם.
–
1/4 הסעיף הראשון, השורה הראשונה, בחוזה בין המדינה לאזרחיה, אומר שהמדינה אחראית לחייהם. לא רק לבריאותם או לחינוך ילדיהם, אלא לחיים במובן הבסיסי והפשוט ביותר – לבטחון שלהם בכך שהמדינה לעולם לא תפקיר אותם למות. >

— יאיר לפיד – Yair Lapid (@yairlapid) January 30, 2024

Qatar-based Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh said on Tuesday that the terrorist group would study a proposal received from negotiations between the interested parties in Paris on Sunday, adding that he would visit Cairo for talks on the initiative.

Haniyeh said that the priority for Hamas is an end to Israel’s military offensive in Gaza and a withdrawal of all troops from the coastal enclave. The demand to end the war runs counter to Israel’s stated goal of destroying the terrorist group.

According to the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office, the Paris meeting was “defined as constructive.” However, “there are still significant gaps which the sides will continue to discuss at additional mutual meetings to be held this week.”

Mossad chief David Barnea, Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) Director Ronen Bar and Maj. Gen. Nitzan Alon, the Israel Defense Forces’ point man for hostage negotiations, met with Qatari and Egyptian mediators at the Paris talks.

Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Abbas Kamel, head of the Egyptian General Intelligence Directorate, and CIA Director William Burns also participated in the meeting.

The New York Times reported on Saturday that discussions are currently focused on a ceasefire for a period of up to two months in exchange for the staged release of more than 100 hostages. In addition to pausing its military campaign against Hamas, Israel would have to agree to commute the prison sentences of an unspecified number of Palestinian terrorists.

According to Saudi-owned Al-Hadath TV, the parties reached a “breakthrough” on Sunday for a two-month ceasefire-for-hostages deal, under which Israel reportedly also agreed to allow more aid into the Gaza Strip.

Image: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits the Bnei David pre-military academy in Eli in the Binyamin region of Samaria, Jan. 30, 2024. Photo by Amos Ben-Gershom/GPO.

January 31, 2024 0 comments

White House: UNRWA has done ‘a lot of amazing work’ in Gaza

by admin January 31, 2024

written by admin

“Let’s not impugn the good work of a whole agency because of the potential bad actions here by a small number,” spokesman John Kirby said.

(JNS)

John Kirby, the U.S. National Security Council spokesman, on Monday lauded the “good work” done by UNRWA amid mounting evidence that more than a thousand of the U.N. agency’s employees are members of terrorist organizations.

“Let’s not impugn the good work of a whole agency because of the potential bad actions here by a small number,” Kirby told reporters during a briefing in the West Wing of the White House.

So far, the Biden administration has only received information that “affirmatively makes the case” that 13 UNRWA employees took part in the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.

“But you got 13,000 UNRWA employees—the U.N. Relief and Works Agency—you’ve got 13,000 of them in Gaza alone,” Kirby noted.

He added, “I am not dismissing the seriousness of the allegations against those employees. And whether there’s going to be more that will be found, hopefully the investigation will give us more insight.”

Biden spokesman John Kirby: “Let’s not impugn the good work of a whole agency [UNRWA] because of the potential bad actions here of a small number.” pic.twitter.com/4EfiGuKZzB

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) January 29, 2024

In a separate interview with NBC‘s “The Today Show” on Monday, Kirby similarly claimed that UNRWA has been doing “a lot of amazing work on the ground in Gaza, literally helping save thousands of lives.

“They’re taking this seriously. They brought the information to us, by the way. They let us know that they had this report about a dozen employees who were somehow involved in Oct. 7. They’re taking this very, very seriously; they’ve called for an investigation,” he said.

Shortly after taking office in January 2021, President Joe Biden restored millions in funding to UNRWA that had been cut off by President Donald Trump. In 2023 alone, Washington contributed $422 million to the U.N. agency, making the U.S. the largest donor.

Political leaders and watchdog groups have long noted that UNRWA, which serves as the U.N.’s Palestinian-exclusive agency for refugees and their descendants in perpetuity, promotes educational material that contains antisemitism and incitement to violence.

On Friday, the U.S. State Department announced the suspension of additional funding for UNRWA following allegations that 12 of its staff members took part in Hamas’s massacre of some 1,200 persons, mostly civilians, in Israel, on Oct. 7. At least 15 other countries have since followed suit.

The United States will consider resuming its funding to the agency after “fundamental changes” are implemented, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield signaled on Tuesday.

“We need to look at the organization, how it operates in Gaza, how they manage their staff and to ensure that people who commit criminal acts, such as these 12 individuals, are held accountable immediately so that UNRWA can continue the essential work that it’s doing,” Thomas-Greenfield said, per Reuters.

Earlier this week, The Wall Street Journal cited Israeli intelligence findings that one in 10 UNRWA workers has ties to Hamas or Islamic Jihad. The report, based on interrogations of captured Hamas operatives and documents recovered from Gaza, also said that some 6,500 of them have close relatives who are members of terror groups.

“Our intelligence indicates that out of approximately 12,000 UNRWA employees in the Gaza Strip, about 10% are Hamas or Islamic Jihad operatives, and another 50% are first-degree relatives of a Hamas operative,” the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said on Tuesday.

In a press briefing dedicated to the U.N. agency, which laid out how UNRWA aids Hamas, Jerusalem spelled out three demands: 1. that UNRWA be defunded, 2. that its leadership resign or be dismissed, and 3. that it lose its educational role in the Gaza Strip.

“The minority of states still funding UNRWA despite revelations of its staff’s involvement in the 10/7 massacre must suspend funds immediately,” Prime Minister’s Office spokesman Eylon Levy said.

Image: U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby speaks to reporters at the White House, Oct. 3, 2023. Photo by Oliver Contreras/White House.

January 31, 2024 0 comments

Community JTVC Breaking News

David Friedman: Biden is ‘hampering’ Israel’s war effort

by admin January 30, 2024

written by admin

Biden “has really made some inappropriate comments,” the former U.S. envoy told Israel’s Channel 12.

(JNS)

U.S. President Joe Biden is harming Israel’s efforts to demilitarize the Gaza Strip by demanding that Jerusalem scale back its military offensive against the Hamas terror organization, former U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman told Channel 12 on Monday.

Biden is “to some extent hampering the war effort by this desire to force Israel to engage in I think what he refers to as ‘low-intensity combat’… That’s sort of the kind of messaging that America has been giving Israel,” Friedman said in an interview with Channel 12‘s Yonit Levi.

“I think he has really made some inappropriate comments. He spoke about indiscriminate bombing that Israel engaged in, which I think is an outright lie. I think that he speaks continuously about this need to impose a two-state solution, which I think is tone-deaf right now,” the former envoy continued.

שגריר ארה”ב בישראל לשעבר דיוויד פרידמן בריאיון מיוחד ליונית לוי: “ביידן פוגע במאמץ המלחמתי”https://t.co/QMM6Elry5s | @LeviYonit pic.twitter.com/ZCfleqa4Nm

— החדשות – N12 (@N12News) January 29, 2024

In an Oct. 12 post on X, Friedman had stated he was “deeply grateful” for Biden’s support in the aftermath of Hamas’s brutal massacre of 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in Israel’s northwestern Negev region.

“In Judaism there is an obligation of ‘Hakarat Hatov’—saying thank you to those who perform good deeds. While I have been, and remain, deeply critical of the Biden Administration, the moral, tactical, diplomatic and military support that it has provided Israel over the past few days has been exceptional,” he tweeted at the time.

“I feel less that way now, and I was concerned then that the president’s commitment would fade as Biden tries to balance his various political interests,” Friedman told Channel 12 on Monday.

Friedman served for four years under the Trump administration, which delivered a number of moves hailed by Israel and its supporters, including pulling out of the 2015 ‎nuclear deal with Iran.

“All this malign activity goes back to a strong Iran,” Friedman said, in reference to attacks by Hamas and Hezbollah. “When we left office, Iran was weak, if we were still in office, I think Iran would still be weak.

“There were Hamas attacks during the four years that I was ambassador—at no time did the United States put any handcuffs or limitations on Israel’s ability to respond,” he added.

The Biden White House is reportedly exploring the possibility of leveraging arms shipments to Israel to place pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to scale back the war against Hamas and let more humanitarian aid into Gaza, NBC News reported on Sunday.

At the direction of the White House, the U.S. Department of Defense has been examining what weapons Jerusalem has requested that could be used as leverage, current and former officials told the outlet.

Among the weaponry under discussion are 155-mm artillery rounds and Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM) bomb guidance kits, which enable the Israel Defense Forces to accurately target terrorist operatives and avoid unnecessary civilian casualties in Gaza, NBC added.

John Kirby, coordinator for strategic communications at the U.S. National Security Council, appeared to deny the report later on Sunday, telling reporters, “There has not been a change in our policy.”

On Jan. 8, IDF Spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari told The New York Times that Israel had shifted to a new and less intense phase of its war against Hamas, giving in to repeated demands from Washington. Hagari said that the Israeli offensive had already started the transition to a campaign that would involve fewer ground troops and airstrikes.

Exactly one week later, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant called a press conference to signal the impending end to heavy combat in Gaza’s north and south. “The intensive maneuvering phase in the north of the Gaza Strip has ended, and in the south, it will also end soon,” stated Gallant.

Image: Former U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman at a prayer rally for the release of Israelis held hostage by Hamas in Gaza, at the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City, Oct. 19, 2023. Photo by Chaim Goldberg/Flash90.

January 30, 2024 0 comments

JTVC Breaking News Terrorism

UN chief to meet with major UNRWA donors

by admin January 30, 2024

written by admin

Antonio Guterres’ spokesperson tells JNS folding UNRWA into larger UN refugee organization “won’t solve the problems” of the besieged agency.

Mike Wagenheim

(JNS)

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was set to meet on Tuesday with major donors to the embattled U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, the United Nations’ Palestinian-only refugee organization.

A number of major donor countries announced in recent days the suspension of their contributions to the agency amid revelations that 12 UNRWA employees participated in Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre. The information was provided to UNRWA by Israel. Nine of the 12 employees had their contracts terminated, while another two were having their status reviewed. One of the employees identified is deceased.

Furthermore, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that intelligence Israel shared with the United States indicated that out of some 13,000 local Gazan employees of UNRWA, approximately 1,200 have ties to either Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

Guterres’ office did not immediately identify which countries would take part in Tuesday’s meeting. Spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Guterres met on Monday with Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Washington’s U.N. envoy.

Dujarric said the United Nations had not yet received from Israel the intelligence dossier cited in media outlets as implicating a substantial number of UNRWA employees or tying them directly to terror groups.

“We’re happy to get any information that they have,” Dujarric said, though there was no firm confirmation that the United Nations, which has taken a see-no-evil, hear-no-evil approach to UNRWA’s terror ties, actually requested the dossier.

The United Nations said the funding suspensions leave UNRWA in peril, with money now set to run out by the end of February as the scandal-plagued organization leads humanitarian efforts in the Gaza Strip.

Guterres is appealing to governments that have suspended their contribution to at least guarantee a continuous cash flow to UNRWA, perhaps delaying their suspension until after war-related humanitarian needs subside.

Asked by JNS whether donor countries remaining skeptical of UNRWA could redirect their donations to the likes of the World Food Programme and other aid agencies in Gaza, Dujarric insisted that “No other organization than UNRWA has the infrastructure to do the work that they do. It’s not as if anyone else can come in tomorrow and do the work that they do. I’ve seen a lot of discussions that are just not feasible in any way, shape or form.”

Guterres also met with the head of the United Nations’ internal investigations unit to look into the allegations from Israel. The investigation “will be done swiftly and as efficiently as possible,” said Dujarric.

“Any employee involved in acts of terror will be held accountable, including through criminal prosecution,” Dujarric added, though he could not identify any avenue through which a prosecution could take place, given that the United Nations holds no jurisdiction and any ruling entity in Gaza is almost certainly not going to hand over suspects to Israel to be tried there. Guterres cited an unnamed “competent authority” in a Sunday statement.

“Let’s let the investigation run its course” before determining jurisdictional issues, he said, adding that the results of the investigation will not be made public in full.

“But obviously we will transmit part of that. We will make public whatever information we can,” he said.

Given UNRWA’s growing scandals and perennially precarious financial position, JNS asked Dujarric whether Guterres has shown any proclivity to shutting down UNRWA and folding it into the larger U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHRC), which handles all refugees around the world outside of the Palestinian sphere.

Dujarric, though, insisted that “the needs are not going to change. The situation would be the same.”

Left unsaid was that the needs would remain the same only if the UNHRC keeps in place UNRWA’s unique structure, which includes over 40% of its staffing being made up of local employees, something radically out of line with other U.N. agencies. UNRWA also spends a substantial part of its budget on the children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of refugees from the 1948 Israeli War of Independence. UNHRC gives no such status to the descendants of refugees.

“It is not for the secretary-general to just move these organizations and change their mandates,” said Dujarric.

Asked why Guterres treats the folding of UNRWA as an apparent taboo and has not broached the subject with member states, as he does with myriad other issues, Dujarric said, “It’s not that it’s taboo. The focus right now is on serving the millions and millions of people—the two million in Gaza and, of course, the others outside of Gaza who need help.”

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said Monday he had canceled a meeting with UNRWA Commissioner-General Phillipe Lazzarini scheduled for later in the week.

Sigrid Kaag, the recently-appointed U.N. coordinator for Gaza relief and reconstruction, is scheduled to brief the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday. The council is to hold a meeting on Wednesday at the request of Algeria to discuss the International Court of Justice’s ruling last weekend in South Africa’s case against Israel related to Jerusalem’s prosecution of the war against Hamas.

Image: Palestinians demonstrate in the Balata refugee camp against the policies of Scott Anderson, director of UNRWA in Judea and Samaria, Sept. 17, 2017. Photo by Nasser Ishtayeh/Flash90.

January 30, 2024 0 comments

Community JTVC Breaking News Terrorism

Israeli intel chiefs conclude ‘constructive’ hostage talks in Paris

by admin January 29, 2024

written by admin

“There are still significant gaps which the sides will continue to discuss at additional mutual meetings to be held this week,” according to the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office.

(JNS)

Mossad chief David Barnea and Israel Security Agency director Ronen Bar met with Qatari and Egyptian mediators on Sunday in Paris to discuss a possible hostage release deal with Hamas.

According to the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office, “The meeting was defined as constructive,” though “there are still significant gaps which the sides will continue to discuss at additional mutual meetings to be held this week.”

In addition to Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Abbas Kamel, head of the Egyptian General Intelligence Directorate, CIA Director William Burns also participated in the meeting.

The Israeli delegation included Barnea, Bar and Maj. Gen. Nitzan Alon, the Israel Defense Forces’ point man for hostage negotiations.

The New York Times reported on Saturday that discussions are currently focused on a ceasefire for a period of up to two months in exchange for the staged release of more than 100 hostages. In addition to pausing its military campaign against Hamas, Israel would have to agree to commute the jail sentences of an unspecified number of Palestinian terrorists.

The negotiations have been complicated by Hamas’s demand for an end to the war, a stance that is incompatible with Israel’s stated goal of destroying the terror group, the NYT said.

According to Saudi-owned Al-Hadath TV, the parties on Sunday reached a “breakthrough” for a two-month ceasefire-for-hostages deal, under which Israel reportedly also agreed to allow more aid into the Gaza Strip.

Ahead of the summit, Israel’s Kan News public broadcaster cited informed sources who said the Israeli delegation traveled to Europe with the message that Doha and Cairo need to “apply additional levers of pressure on Hamas” to accept what Jerusalem considers a feasible deal.

“The purpose of this top-level meeting is to try and initiate a move; to bring up ideas, proposals, to break the deadlock,” the sources told Kan.

The Israeli War Cabinet will meet on Monday night to discuss the outcomes of the Europe summit, the Ynet news site reported on Sunday.

Tensions between Israel and Qatar were recently heightened after leaked audio surfaced of Netanyahu criticizing the country’s role as a mediator with Hamas during a roundtable with families of hostages taken on Oct. 7.

“When I talk about Qatar, you don’t hear me thank Qatar,” Netanyahu says in the recording. “Because for me, Qatar is no different in essence from the United Nations. It is no different in essence from the Red Cross, and to some extent, it’s even more problematic.”

The latest round of negotiations comes as fighting rages in Hamas’s last major Gaza stronghold, the southern city of Khan Younis. Senior Hamas leaders, including Yahya Sinwar, are believed to be hiding in the vast tunnel network underneath Khan Yunis, where they have reportedly surrounded themselves with a large number of Israeli hostages.

According to official Israeli figures, some 136 hostages remain in Gaza, although dozens are believed to be dead. The terror group abducted more than 240 people during its bloody Oct. 7 rampage across the northwestern Negev, in which 1,200 people were murdered and thousands more wounded.

One hundred and five hostages, mostly women and children, were released in November as part of a ceasefire agreement, which Hamas broke when it refused to hand over the last group of female hostages, plus two children, and fired a volley of rockets at the Jewish state. Four hostages had been released by Hamas prior to the ceasefire, while one was rescued by IDF forces.

Image: Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar and Mossad director David Barnea at the annual IDF Armored Corps memorial ceremony, marking the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War, Sept. 27, 2023. Photo by Jonathan Shaul/Flash90.

January 29, 2024 0 comments

Community JTVC Breaking News

Biden admin explores leveraging arms supply to pressure Israel

by admin January 29, 2024

written by admin

A White House spokesman refutes report: “There has not been a change in our policy.” • Intensive battles continue in Hamas stronghold of Khan Yunis.

Akiva Van Koningsveld

(JNS)

The Biden administration is reportedly exploring the possibility of leveraging arms shipments to Israel to place pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to scale back the war against Hamas and let more humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, NBC News reported on Sunday.

John Kirby, coordinator for strategic communications at the National Security Council of the White House, appeared to deny the report later on Sunday, telling reporters, “There has not been a change in our policy.”

“Israel has a right and obligation to defend themselves against the threat of Hamas while abiding by international humanitarian law and protecting civilian lives, and we remain committed to support Israel in its fight against Hamas,” Kirby said in a statement.

“We have done so since Oct. 7 and will continue to,” added the White House spokesman.

On Jan. 8, Israel Defence Forces Spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari told The New York Times that Israel had shifted to a new and less intense phase of its war against Hamas, giving in to repeated demands from Washington. Hagari said that the Israeli offensive had already started the transition to a campaign that would involve fewer ground troops and airstrikes.

The defense minister’s announcement came a day after the 36th Division—the IDF’s largest regular-service armored division, which includes the Golani Infantry Brigade—left Gaza. The IDF subsequently announced that the undercover counterterror Duvdevan Unit would likewise redeploy to its regular location in Judea and Samaria.

Meanwhile, the White House continues to press the Jewish state to increase humanitarian aid shipments to Gaza. Over the weekend, Israel’s Kan News public broadcaster reported that Biden administration officials demanded that the Kerem Shalom border crossing remain open.

The reported rebuke came after Israeli protesters, including relatives of hostages held by Hamas, blocked aid trucks from passing into the enclave for several days. According to the report, the U.S. told Israel it must ensure that aid continues to flow into the Hamas-controlled Strip.

On Sunday, the IDF announced it expanded the closed military zone surrounding Kerem Shalom as activists associated with the “Order 9” movement continued to assemble near the border.

Under an agreement brokered by France and Qatar earlier this month, Israel already agreed to allow more aid, including medicine, into Gaza. Under the terms of the deal with Hamas, some of the medicines were supposed to go to the hostages held by the terrorist organization.

“A senior Hamas official said that for every box provided for the hostages, 1,000 boxes would be sent in for Palestinians,” per the Associated Press.

According to official figures in Israel, around 136 hostages remain in Gaza, although dozens are believed to be dead. Many of the captives are in desperate need of medical attention, experts previously told JNS. However, 11 days after the five aid trucks entered Gaza, there has been no word on whether the medicines reached the hostages.

After a week of urban warfare, the IDF continues to engage in “intensive battles” in the Hamas stronghold of Khan Yunis in the southern Strip, the army said on Sunday morning. Senior Hamas figures, including Yahya Sinwar, are believed to be hiding in Khan Yunis, where they have reportedly surrounded themselves with a large number of hostages.

Since Jan. 21, the army has been mounting a massive assault in Khan Yunis, killing scores of terrorist operatives, including company commanders. The battle force includes parts of the IDF’s Givati Infantry Brigade, 7th Armored Brigade, paratroopers and commandoes.

“תהיו מוכנים לחילוץ”: צוות הקרב של סיירת צנחנים בהיתקלות עם מחבלים וחילוץ לוחמים תחת אש

לכל הפרטים והתיעודים: https://t.co/KCBhVxlcw4 pic.twitter.com/i7pGSrFlL2

— דובר צה״ל דניאל הגרי – Daniel Hagari (@IDFSpokesperson) January 28, 2024

On Sunday, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed “militia” of Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah faction, announced that one of its commanders, Muhammed Deeb, was killed by the IDF. The terror group attacked Israeli forces operating west of Khan Yunis throughout the day on Sunday, the Fatah-linked terrorists added.

Also on Sunday, the IDF announced that it issued more than 3 million items of winter equipment to its soldiers, as cold and rainy weather conditions are expected to prevail in the weeks to come. Combat soldiers were provided with snowsuits, thermal clothing, rain covers, field beds and mattresses, among other items.

In addition, forces in Gaza erected several structures equipped with heating units, generators, charging panels, toilets, showers and washing machines, according to the statement.

Image: Israeli troops conducting ground operations in the Gaza Strip, Jan. 28, 2024. Credit: IDF.

January 29, 2024 0 comments

JTVC Breaking News Terrorism

PA prepared to hand over power to Hamas

by admin January 29, 2024

written by admin

The P.A. is “prepared to hold general elections, and if Hamas wins, the president will hand over the Authority.”

Akiva Van Koningsveld

(JNS)

The Western-backed Palestinian Authority is prepared to hand over the reins to the Hamas terrorist organization after the war in Gaza ends, P.A. chief Mahmoud Abbas’s spokesman told Al Arabiya over the weekend.

Once Israel’s ground operation against Hamas concludes, Ramallah is “prepared to hold general elections, and if Hamas wins, the president will hand over the [Palestinian] Authority,” P.A. spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh told the Saudi state-owned television outlet on Saturday.

Hamas’s popularity has surged in the wake of its massacre of some 1,200 people during its Oct. 7 attacks in the northwestern Negev. According to recent polls, most Palestinians believe that Hamas is “the most deserving of representing and leading the Palestinian people today.”

In a presidential runoff between Abbas and Doha-based Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, the latter would receive 78% of the vote, with 51% saying they would vote for Hamas candidates if Abbas called a parliamentary election.

“The contacts with Hamas did not stop in Algeria, El-Alamein or anywhere else,” Abu Rudeineh told Al Arabiya, in reference to previous reconciliation talks held between Abbas’s Fatah faction and Hamas.

P.A. officials were in contact with Hamas terrorists as recently as last week, he added, without revealing details of the conversations.

However, “the main problem that we are all facing now is the war against the Palestinian people, the mass extermination and the attempt to destroy Jerusalem,” stressed Abu Rudeineh, calling on all Palestinians to rally behind the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority.

Hamas hosted secret talks in Qatar last month with P.A. representatives about forging a political alliance, The Wall Street Journal reported. The negotiations included Haniyeh and former Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal, as well as top Abbas confidant Hussein al-Sheikh.

The PLO umbrella

The Fatah Party is the ruling faction in the P.A., which controls Palestinian areas of Judea and Samaria. The envisioned Fatah-Hamas coalition would also include Gaza and fall under the umbrella of the Palestine Liberation Organization.

P.A. Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said on Dec. 8 that the preferred outcome of the war against Hamas would be for the terrorist organization to join a P.A.-led governing body as a junior partner.

“If they are ready to come to an agreement, and really accept the political platform of the PLO, accept the tools of struggle, … there will be room for talks,” he said.

Hamas is an “essential part of the Palestinian political mosaic” and Israel’s stated goal of destroying the terrorist group is unacceptable, Shtayyeh subsequently declared.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of State has refused to rule out Hamas retaining power in Gaza or joining a P.A.-led governing body as part of a unity deal or following elections in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Antony Blinken has repeatedly declared that Gaza must be handed over to the P.A. after the war. The solution “must include Palestinian-led governance and Gaza unified with the West Bank under the P.A.,” Blinken said on Nov. 8.

U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby on Dec. 3 insisted that the Biden administration seeks to back an authority that “has the support of all Palestinians so that they can effectively help with post-conflict governance, particularly in Gaza.”

Last month, Mashaal claimed that “sooner or later, the United States will argue that Hamas is a reality and enjoys legitimacy among the people.”

“Rebuilding the Palestinian political scene without Hamas is a move destined for failure, but we are ready for reorganization within the framework of the PLO as part of a national consensus,” Mashaal told France’s Le Figaro newspaper, speaking from his residence in Doha.

Image: P.A. leader Mahmoud Abbas speaks at a Fatah meeting at the Palestinian Presidential Office in Ramallah, Dec. 18, 2019. Credit: Flash90.

January 29, 2024 0 comments

Community JTVC Breaking News

Countries pause UNRWA funding over alleged Oct. 7 complicity

by admin January 28, 2024

written by admin

Israel’s U.N. envoy blasts the U.N. secretary general for imploring donor countries to guarantee the continuity of UNRWA operations, saying Antonio Guterres “has proven once again that the security of the citizens of Israel is not really important for him.”

Sveta Listratov

(JNS)

The United States and a number of other countries have suspended funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency over accusations that a number of its employees took part in Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023 massacre.

United Nations Secretary Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Sunday that out of the 12 UNRWA employees implicated, nine had been terminated, one was dead and the identities of the other two were being clarified.

UNRWA fired the 12 employees after Israel provided intelligence regarding their complicity.

In the wake of the accusations and dismissals, the United States, Canada, Britain, Australia, Italy, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Scotland suspended their funding to the U.N. agency.

However, Guterres implored the countries that have suspended their contributions “to, at least, guarantee the continuity of UNRWA’s operations,” drawing a rebuke from Israel’s U.N. ambassador, Gilad Erdan.

“The U.N. Secretary-General has proven once again that the security of the citizens of Israel is not really important for him. After years in which he ignored the evidence presented to him personally about UNRWA’s support and involvement in incitement and terrorism, and before he conducted a comprehensive investigation to locate all Hamas terrorists in UNRWA, he called to fund an organization that is deeply contaminated with terrorism,” tweeted Erdan.

“Every country that continues to fund UNRWA before a comprehensive investigation of the organization should know that its money might be used for terrorism, and the aid that will be transferred to UNRWA may reach the Hamas terrorists instead of the people of Gaza. I call on all donor states to suspend their support and demand an in-depth investigation that will investigate the involvement of all UNRWA employees in terror,” Erdan continued.

The UN Secretary-General has proven once again that the security of the citizens of Israel is not really important for him. After years in which he ignored the evidence presented to him personally about UNRWA’s support and involvement in incitement and terrorism, and before he… pic.twitter.com/L8DfdUSeYG

— Ambassador Gilad Erdan גלעד ארדן (@giladerdan1) January 28, 2024

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz called on the United Nations to dismiss UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini and vowed to prevent the agency from having any role in post-war Gaza.

“In Gaza’s rebuilding, @UNRWA must be replaced with agencies dedicated to genuine peace and development,” Katz tweeted on Saturday.

Asked to comment, Marcus Sheff, CEO of the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-SE), said, “Sadly, this is not a bug. It is a feature of UNRWA. How many other UNRWA-affiliated terrorists do we think raped, maimed and murdered Israelis on Oct. 7?”

IMPACT-SE is an Israeli non-profit organization that monitors the content in school textbooks, including texts used in UNRWA-run schools in Palestinian refugee camps.

“UNRWA runs the majority of schools in Gaza, where it teaches jihad, martyrdom and the burning of Israelis as a barbecue party. Statistically, the majority of the Oct. 7 terrorists—over 1,500—will have gone to these UNRWA schools, where they were systematically radicalized over years,” he noted.

UNRWA under fire

Since Oct. 7, UNRWA has come under fire numerous times, prompting Knesset lawmakers to reassess Israel’s relationship with it.

Reports released by IMPACT-SE and the U.N. Watch NGO document UNRWA employees expressing support for the attacks on social media.

Soldiers found missiles hidden among UNRWA relief supplies while UNRWA-marked aid sacks were found filled with dirt and used in the lining of Hamas tunnels.

Palestinians are the only refugee population with its own dedicated U.N. agency. The rest of the world’s refugees fall under the mandate of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. Israeli officials have called for UNRWA to be closed and for Palestinian refugees to be brought under the aegis of the UNHCR.

Israel’s biggest criticism of UNRWA is that unlike the UNHCR, the agency defines refugee status as hereditary and irrespective of citizenship in other countries, resulting in the number of Palestinian refugees increasing over time.

Image: Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), during a visit at al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza City on Oct. 12, 2021. Photo by Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90.

January 28, 2024 0 comments

JTVC Breaking News Terrorism

Up to 40% of Hamas tunnels damaged or destroyed—report

by admin January 28, 2024

written by admin

The IDF is “thoroughly and gradually dismantling the tunnel network,” according to the Israeli military.

(JNS)

The Israel Defense Forces has damaged or rendered inoperable 20% to 40% of Hamas’s expansive tunnel infrastructure in the Gaza Strip, according to a Wall Street Journal report, citing Israeli and U.S. officials.

The report noted that Israel has sought various methods to clear the tunnels, including installing pumps to flood them with seawater, destroying them with airstrikes and liquid explosives, searching them with dogs and robots and raiding them.

The IDF is “thoroughly and gradually dismantling the tunnel network,” the military said in a statement to the WSJ. The White House and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined to comment.

Earlier this month, The New York Times reported that Hamas’s network of terror tunnels was even more extensive than previously thought, with new assessments indicating it has upwards of 5,700 entry shafts.

In the wake of intensive counterterror combat operations in the southern Hamas stronghold of Khan Yunis during recent weeks, Israel now believes the Islamist group built between 350 and 450 miles of subterranean terror infrastructure, up from a previous estimate of 250 miles.

Hamas chief in Gaza Yahya Sinwar, who masterminded the Oct. 7, 2023 massacre, is believed to be hiding in a tunnel in Khan Yunis, where he has reportedly surrounded himself with a large number of hostages, preventing the IDF from carrying out an airstrike on his location.

In December, the IDF revealed the discovery of the largest Hamas attack tunnel found to date, located in the northern Gaza Strip close to the Erez border crossing.

The military uncovered four kilometers (2.5 miles) of the tunnel, which reached a depth of 50 meters (165 feet) in some sections.

Image: Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant tours the largest-ever Hamas attack tunnel uncovered by the IDF, December 2023. Photo by Ariel Hermoni/Israeli Defense Ministry.

January 28, 2024 0 comments

JTVC Breaking News Terrorism

Invoking ‘Never Again,’ Netanyahu reiterates vow to destroy Hamas

by admin January 28, 2024

written by admin

“There is no alternative to total victory. We must win—and we will win,” said the Israeli premier.

Charles Bybelezer

(JNS)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday night reiterated Jerusalem’s commitment to destroying Hamas, returning the hostages still being held in the Gaza Strip by the terrorist group and ensuring that the enclave can never again pose a security threat to the Jewish state.

“We will never forget the atrocities of Oct. 7. We will never forget the massacre, the rapes, the murders and the mutilations. We will never forget the abductions,” Netanyahu began in an address to the nation on International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

“As of today, we have returned 110 of our hostages and we are committed to returning all of them home. We are dealing with this, and we are doing so around the clock, including now. We will never forgive what the Hamas monsters did to our daughters and our sons; therefore, there is no alternative to total victory. We must win—and we will win,” he continued.

Netanyahu then pivoted to the “absurd” proceedings against Israel at the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

“There is no greater absurdity than what occurred…on the eve of International Holocaust Remembrance Day. There were those who came to The Hague to—falsely and outrageously—accuse us of genocide. On whose behalf did they come? On behalf of Hamas, the ‘new Nazis,’ who came to perpetrate genocide against us,” said Netanyahu.

“I hold here Hitler’s book ‘Mein Kampf’ in Arabic. Our fighters found this book in civilians’ homes in the Gaza Strip. They found extensive antisemitic and Nazi literature there. This is what they educate their children on. Therefore, I insist that after we eliminate Hamas, what is called ‘the day after’ in Gaza, there will be no element that educates its children, not only for terrorism but also for the destruction of Israel, for the destruction of the entire Jewish people,” added the premier.

“I must tell you, the very willingness in The Hague to discuss this ridiculous claim, the very fact that it was not rejected outright, proves that many in the world have not learned anything from the Holocaust. But we have learned from it,” said Netanyahu.

While the ICJ, the main judicial arm of the United Nations, did not throw out the case, the judges did reject Pretoria’s request to order a halt to the war against Hamas. In its provisional ruling, the court also dismissed South Africa’s demand that residents of the northern Gaza Strip be allowed to return to the area immediately.

A final decision from the court could take years. Friday’s ruling is binding according to international law, yet the court lacks an enforcement mechanism.

In the result, Netanyahu insisted on Saturday that the Jewish people can count only on itself to secure its future.

“The main lesson of the Holocaust is that only we will defend ourselves, by ourselves. Nobody will do this for us. Therefore, despite the great pain that is burning our hearts, we must continue to be strong and determined and we must return fire against those who seek our destruction,” said Netanyahu.

“The state of the Jews arose from the ashes of the Holocaust in order to promise a defensive shield for the Jewish people. Israel, like every sovereign country, has the basic right to defend itself. Nobody will take this right from us, and nobody will stop us from implementing it,” he added.

The prime minister went on to state that the war against Hamas was of unparalleled justice and morality, a war thrust “on us by an abhorrent enemy that openly declares its intention to murder all the Jews. Therefore, we are determined to finish the task, to eliminate Hamas. And if it takes time, we will not relent in the mission….

“We will win a total victory, and our commitment to win a total victory is the first and most important guarantee of achieving it. We have no other choice apart from total victory. We will win because we have a strong people and daring fighters who are sacrificing our lives to defend the eternity of Israel.”

Image: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference at the Ministry of Defense in Tel Aviv. Dec. 16, 2023. Photo by Noam Revkin Fenton/Flash90.

January 28, 2024 0 comments