The Israeli occupation army confirmed, on Monday, that the number of prisoners being held by the Al-Qassam Brigades "Hamas" in the Gaza Strip has reached 199 people.

Israeli occupation army spokesman Daniel Hagari said in a press conference: “We notified the families of 199 prisoners.”

Israel had previously announced the presence of 155 prisoners held by the Al-Qassam Brigades (Hamas).

On the other hand, Hagari announced the killing of at least 291 Israeli soldiers.

Israel confirmed that about 1,400 Israelis were killed, and thousands were injured.

The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate said that 11 journalists were martyred, and more than 20 others were injured, since the beginning of the ongoing Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, on October 7th.

The union’s report, issued by the Freedoms Committee, today, Monday, stated that the journalist martyrs were: Ahmed Shehab, programmer for Voice of Prisoners Radio, photojournalist Mohamed Al-Salhi from the Fourth Estate Agency, photojournalist Mohamed Fayez Abu Matar, and “Khabar” agency photographer Hisham Al-Nawajah. Muhammad Abu Rizq, Ain Media Foundation photographer Ibrahim Lafi, editor-in-chief of the Fifth News Agency Saeed Al-Taweel, journalist Muhammad Jarghouth from Smart Media Agency, journalist Asaad Shamlikh, journalist Salam Mayma, and jou rnalist Hossam Mubarak.

The Union indicated in her report that there are two journalists whose traces have been lost, namely: photojournalist Nidal Al-Wahidi, who works as a producer with Al-Najah TV, and journalist Haitham Abdel Wahed from the Ain Media Media Foundation.

He pointed out that more than 20 journalists were injured in the ongoing aggression, while about 20 houses owned by journalists were bombed, some of which were completely destroyed and others were partially destroyed.

The Journalists Syndicate said that about 50 headquarters and centers of media institutions were bombed, including: the offices of Al Jazeera Network, Palestine TV, the French Agency office, Al-Aqsa Media Network, Ma’an News Agency, Sawa Agency, Shihab Agency, Al-Quds newspaper, Radio Baladna, and Zaman Radio. The National Agency, Khabar Agency, Al-Ayyam newspaper, Event Media Services Company, Fadl Shanaa Foundation, Holy Quran Radio, Shams News Agency, and the APA office.

It stressed that the continued interruption of electricity and the Internet in the Gaza Strip limited the ability of journalists to continue their coverage of the Israeli aggression.

In its report, the Syndicate touched on violations in the West Bank and Jerusalem, and noted that many journalistic crews were beaten, arrested, detained, prevented from covering, and fired upon. It recorded 10 cases of shooting, the last of which targeted journalists Yazan Hamayel and Wahhaj Bani Mufleh in the town of Beita, south of Nablus, in addition to the arrest of 4 journalists, namely: Abdel Nasser Al-Laham, Sabri Jabr, Moaz Amarneh, and Mustafa Al-Khawaja, after the occupation forces raided their homes. There were also 22 cases of detention and prevention of crews from working, 10 beating attacks, and 7 cases of seizing and destroying journalists’ equipment, in addition to jamming the channel’s broadcast. Fourth and hacked. Al-Aqsa Channel was also stopped broadcasting on the Eutelsat satellite.

It pointed out that many journalists were subjected to direct threats and incitement campaigns from Israeli pages on social media platforms, as happened with journalist Muthanna Al-Najjar from Gaza, as well as journalist Muhammad Turkman from the West Bank, in addition to monitoring many publications calling for the liquidation of journalists, describing them as “saboteurs.” And terrorists,” and an armed colonist’s threat to the Al-Arabi TV broadcaster was monitored live.

Today, Monday, Israel announced a plan to evacuate residents of settlements near the Lebanese border, and acknowledged the killing of an officer in its army in a bombing by the Lebanese Hezbollah, amid an exchange of attacks between the two sides in conjunction with the continued occupation aggression against the Gaza Strip.

The Ministry of Defense and the Israeli army said - in a joint statement - that "a plan will be implemented to evacuate residents of northern Israel who live in a two-kilometre-deep sector of the Lebanese border to state-funded accommodation."

One of these settlements, Shtoula, was subjected to a missile attack from Hezbollah yesterday. Israeli media said that a civilian was killed.

For its part, Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported that an Israeli army officer was killed yesterday by anti-tank fire on the Lebanese border.

The newspaper said that the Israeli army allowed the publication of the name of Lieutenant Amitai Zvi Granot (24 years old) from Tel Aviv, a team leader in the 75th Battalion - storming formation from the Golan.

She explained that the lieutenant fell yesterday during operational activity as a result of anti-tank fire near the Nurit site, without further details.

Nurit is an Israeli military site located in the western region of the border with Lebanon.

Attack exchange

Hezbollah announced that it attacked with machine guns 8 Israeli positions along the border line with Israel.

The occupation army said that its forces attacked Hezbollah military infrastructure at night in response to the shooting that occurred yesterday towards Israel.

Tensions erupted on the Israeli-Lebanese border following the Israeli aggression against the besieged Gaza Strip, which entered its tenth day.

BY HASHEM ABUSHAMA 

With every Israeli massacre in the besieged Gaza Strip, the double standards of Western media and governments become palpable. This time, however, the targeting of Palestinians and their supporters, especially across Europe, seems to be more violent and coordinated than ever before. 

On October 10th, the UK Home Secretary sent a letter to Chief Constables in England and Wales, encouraging the police to broaden the grounds on which they can arrest Palestine supporters. The letter encourages the police to consider chants such as ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’ as an “expression of violent desire” and Palestinian flags as “intended to glorify acts of terrorism.” Yesterday, the German police attacked supporters of Palestine on Sonnenallee, arresting some of the protestors. In Vienna, the police banned a Palestine protest and issued fines to as many as three hundred protestors. In France, the police banned Palestine protests. 

This coordinated violence across the continent occurs in parallel with the Israeli besiegement and bombardment of the Gaza Strip, its shooting of Palestinians in the West Bank, and its theft of land across 1948- and 1967-occupied lands. Thus far, the Israeli settler colonial regime has killed roughly 1,500 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and injured more than 6,000, as its brutal shelling has wiped entire families from the public record. And the death toll is only starting to mount. 

The Israeli settler colonial state has tightened its blockade on the Strip, holding its entire population hostage, refusing requests to bring food and medical supplies into Gaza, and has paralyzed the enclave’s already-overburdened and under-resourced health system. One is compelled to wonder how, in the midst of this calculated and systemic violence, can media organizations and governments in Europe and its offshoots (the United States, Australia, among others) choose to proactively pluck the Palestinian violence against the Israeli settler state out of context, selectively framing it as the root and cause of the unfolding atrocities. 

This ahistorical framing, coupled with a legal push in the higher power echelons to criminalize support for Palestine, contributes to the unfolding violence against Palestine and the Palestinians. The fact that the Western media only uses the register of violence to speak on Palestine feeds on a colonial, racist, patriarchal, and capitalist discourse that aims to justify the Israeli settler colonial erasure of Palestine.  

Since the Israeli genocide in the Gaza Strip started, I have been reviewing British media and its everyday items, such as the newspaper, phone, posters, and TV channels that seep into the public’s consciousness. Without the critical tools and education to puncture through their framing, we become complicit and easily intimidated. Some media outlets have gone as far as spreading misinformation, which surely would have been considered a hate crime in other contexts. Both the Daily Telegraph and The Times chose this misinformation as the headline for their October 11th issues. Although some (not all!) of those newspapers have already retracted their original false claims, the damage has already been done.  

The Guardian chose to adorn its main headline for October 12th with the words ‘Israelis suspended between fear, grief and foreboding.’ The Daily Mail selected ‘The King Calls Them Terrorists, Why Can’t the BBC?’ Marching to the same beat, the Daily Telegraph opted to plaster the Royals’ condemnation of Hamas on its front pages. Survey the pages of the newspapers, and the stories eliciting support and empathy for Israel abound, making it clear who the perpetrators are and that vengeance against them is justified. Meanwhile, the Palestinians are only evoked through the register of terrorism and violence.

Even those headlines, which are shy in their coverage of the Israeli genocide in Gaza, intentionally omit the perpetrators: the Israeli army and state. They are designed to neglect the root and cause of the violence: Israeli settler colonialism. By settler colonialism, we mean the gradual transfer of European Jews to the land of Palestine, the coercive displacement and dispossession of the indigenous Palestinian population, and the imposition of a coordinated and sustainable system that turns this displacement into a continuous process. 

Western media relies on racial, gendered, and colonial tropes to describe the atrocities in Palestine. It instrumentalizes white female faces to elicit support for Israel. Such a tactic simultaneously serves racism, patriarchy, and colonialism. It relies on notions of white female ‘innocence’ and ‘victimhood’ to justify the continuous erasure of Palestine. In a headline by the Daily Telegraph about a British IDF female soldier, below, we are shown a smiling white female soldier wearing military attire and a keffiyeh on her head. Neither the photograph nor the article questions why a British citizen is justified in enlisting in a settler army elsewhere, let alone the same army that is committing genocide in the Gaza Strip. 

To the contrary, the article frames such enlisting as voluntary and dignified. These strategies bring to mind 9/11, Laura Bush, and the weaponization of white feminism in the service of imperialist and colonial expansion. Black and Brown feminist scholars and activists, including Lila Abu Lughod, bell hooks, Angela Davis, Audre Lorde amongst others, have long debunked and punctured through such strategies. It is this same white feminism that has been utilized by the media and governments to justify the intensification of Israeli brutality against the Palestinian residents of Gaza. 

There is a hierarchy of life and suffering at the root of this. And it is this hierarchy that the ahistorical and manipulative comparisons between the Nazi pogroms and Palestinian armed resistance against the Israeli settler colonial state aims to hide. A comparison that U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has used in his speech alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on October 12th. A comparison that not only obfuscates the colonial nature of the ongoing atrocities against the Gaza Strip but works to silence and intimidate any contextualization or criticism of said colonial atrocities. Nazism is a European sin, one that Europe chose to resolve through its colonial support for an ethno-nationalist settler colonial project on the land of historic Palestine. Europe has not dealt with Nazism, its roots (the racial logics of Europe, fed and bred in the colonies), and its ramifications

This is all evidenced by the rise of neo-Nazi groups in some European countries in the last few years. The establishment of Israel as a settler colonial project remains a desperate attempt to rationalize the racial logics of Europe rather than abolishing them. Is not that the root of all of this? That Europe killed, oppressed, and racialized its Jews until it came up with a racist solution to dispossess the Palestinian people and put the European Jews in their place? That Europe chose to offer reparations for the Holocaust by establishing institutional, legal, discursive, political, and military support for the Israeli settler state?  

BY HASHEM ABUSHAMA 

This selective offering of reparations by Europe to its white victims is already indicative of the racial nature of the Israeli state. It is not a surprise that the only reparations Europe and North America have offered to the descendants of the enslaved and colonized are performative placards placed inside and outside buildings and statues built through the blood and sweat of black and brown people. 

Only the European, white, male Jew could make a historical and political claim on Europe, and that claim was racist and colonial in its essence: to ask for reparations through the establishment of an exclusionary, ethno-nationalist state on a distant, colonized land. This is, then, the same Europe that is arresting protestors for Palestine today. To state the obvious: Europe has not been decolonized. Despite all the news titles, university reports, and academic books and articles that evoke this terminology, Europe has not been decolonized. It does to the Palestinians what it has always done to colonized people: relegating their suffering to the sphere of unintelligible and nonhuman. 

While violence against the Palestinians is specific, it does not occur in isolation from what is happening elsewhere in the world. Black and brown people are racialized everywhere in Europe and North America, and that racialization contributes to the demonization of Palestinian people. Our suffering is seen as illegitimate and unworthy of attention—let alone justice—because we are, quite literally, not seen as humans.  When it comes to Palestine, this racial violence becomes more exact and brutal. 

And that is precisely because of the power of the Palestinian cause: it puts into question the entire world order—in its racialization of black and brown people, its denial of the constitutive and active role of colonialism, and its coordination of violence and exploitation. Palestine brings to the forefront the racist, patriarchal, capitalist, and colonial relations that underpin today’s world and that Europe and its offshoots work tirelessly to hide. This is precisely why we need staunch support for Palestine and the Palestinian right to self-determination at this moment. Because, without exaggeration, a better world depends on that support.  

Source: mondoweiss.net

Today, Monday, settlers stormed the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, under heavy protection from the Israeli occupation police.

Local sources reported that dozens of settlers stormed Al-Aqsa from the direction of the Mughariba Gate, and carried out provocative rounds in its courtyards.

Settlers carry out provocative daily raids on the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, except on Fridays and Saturdays, in an attempt to control it and impose temporal and spatial division.

In a related context, the occupation forces tightened their military measures at all gates of Al-Aqsa Mosque, preventing citizens from entering it, returning many of them, and preventing them from performing prayers in the vicinity of Al-Aqsa Mosque as well, in conjunction with allowing the colonists to storm it.

The war of genocide that the occupying state is waging against the Gaza Strip has become unstoppable. Homes are being demolished on their inhabitants, and deaths - children, women and the elderly - are in the hundreds. Indeed, the number of martyrs has reached more than 2,400 martyrs, along with thousands of wounded. So where are the Arab and Islamic nations and the leaders of these two nations? Is there a slaughter of innocent citizens?!

Isn't Palestine part of the Arab and Islamic world? Aren't the Palestinian people an integral part of this nation?! So why is this people not supported, even with the minimum of this support, and not just issuing statements of denunciation and denunciation and appealing to the United Nations and the world to intervene on the side of the Israeli occupation to stop these massacres that are being committed in front of the entire world’s eyes and ears?

Isn’t this world ruled by America and the colonial West unable to do anything except declaring solidarity and going out with demonstrations and marches by the masses of these countries? So why do Arab and Muslim leaders rely on this world that only recognizes force, and force alone?

The crime practiced by the occupation does not only require what the Arab and Muslim rulers do, but rather the matter requires much more than that. For example, but not limited to, why have the Arab countries not yet, especially the countries that are establishing normal relations and “peace” with the occupying state must stop these relations and expel the ambassadors of the occupying state from the capitals of their countries, so that the occupation feels that the Arab and Muslim leaders are not mediators between the occupying state and the Palestinian people and the resistance, which according to international laws and norms is a legitimate right to defend the national rights of the Palestinian people, and yet the occupying state and the colonial West consider them organizations. Terrorist, and the occupying state has the right to what is called self-defense, while the reasons for all of this are the continuation of the Israeli occupation and the practices of its forces and herds of settlers.

If international resolutions had been applied to the occupying state, what is happening now would not have happened and our people would have been able to establish their independent state with Holy Jerusalem as its capital. The occupation and its crimes are responsible, as are the countries supporting it, most notably America and the colonial West, which came to support the occupation as if it were the oppressed, when in fact it is the executioner and not the lamb. Meek, as the West likes to describe the occupying state.

The genocidal war committed by the occupying state must push the nation's rulers to unify its ranks and take practical measures on the ground that force this shameless occupation to put an end to its crimes. The nation has the capabilities to make it a force with influence in the world and prevent the occupying state from continuing its massacres against our people.

Second episode

Israel is now waging a war of revenge and genocide against the Palestinian people and is using a scorched earth policy. It is asking the people to flee! Giving leaflets in this regard is accompanied by the publication of pictures of military concentrations surrounding the Gaza Strip. Does this come in the context of psychological warfare and a war of rumors? Or in the context of misleading the resistance, distracting its efforts and deceiving it? And exhaust its forces? Or in preparation for a ground war, although it is still in the preparation stage.

The declared goals of the ground war: if it occurred?
1. Building a security belt in the northern Gaza Strip?
2. Reoccupation of the Gaza Strip?
3. Destroying the infrastructure of the Palestinian resistance?
4. Limited penetration process? To carry out assassinations and arrests?

Possible scenarios for ground war? If it happened???
The first scenario: a war without goals, by moving the external blockade from the cover of the Gaza Strip to the interior, carrying out reconnaissance operations, gathering information, and feeling the pulse of the force through limited penetrations and extensive maneuvers to avoid losses. With carrying out assassinations of leaders whenever possible. As a first stage, then any goal that looms on the horizon later.

The second scenario: limited progress on two main axes in northwest Jabalia and northeast of Beit Hanoun and the construction of a security belt and buffer zones that prevent the launching of Palestinian rockets. This is consistent with the military capabilities they have mobilized, given that this scenario reduces the possibility of confrontation and cohesion with the resistance and gives them a margin. A retreat maneuver in the event of a ceasefire agreement. It is most likely.

The third scenario: An advance towards the Salah al-Din axis and along the border, with another advance on an axis in the south, north of Rafah, and other sub-axes to deceive. In this scenario, there are many caveats that would open many closed doors that Israel does not want in its current crisis situation.

Fourth scenario: Dismemberment and advance from multiple main axes from the north, Beit Hanoun, Beit Lahia, and from the east, and naval landings in the areas of Al-Shati, northwest, and Al-Nuseirat and Deir Al-Balah, southwest of Gaza City, with the aim of draining a large number of the Palestinian resistance’s energy, isolating the forces, and preventing communication. This possibility means determining the Israeli army is forced to incursion and stay for a long time and requires a large number of forces, and this leads to the possibility of greater losses among the ranks of the Israeli army and difficulty in withdrawing.

The fifth scenario: The most dangerous, which is targeting the headland where the Palestinian leadership and strategic reserve of modern and advanced weapons are present. It is the most dangerous scenario for Israel due to the possibility of large losses occurring among their ranks, the lack of guarantee of victory and the achievement of goals, and even getting involved in the quagmire of a long war. This possibility is implemented through a ground advance and a rapid breach towards the depth of Gaza from the east is accompanied by the construction of a bridgehead and an advance from the sea. Naval battleships drop tanks and soldiers to close in and encircle Gaza while consolidating the other axes in the north, northeast, south and southeast with air and artillery fire and imaginary movements, but this scenario is governed by their ability to collect close detailed information about the resistance.

The ground war is not a picnic. It is an opportunity for direct confrontation between the Palestinian fighter, armed with his will and courage, and the Israeli soldier, whose morale and the support of his planes and tanks are deteriorating.
Finally, the Palestinian resistance fighters are waiting for the opportunity for a direct and close clash!?

*Military expert and analyst

The Hamas movement fought several major battles with Israel, and with its limited capabilities compared to its opponent, it held out and continued its rule of Gaza and its friction with Israel.

The battles it fought did not involve any external party, “in the sense of field participation,” but in order to strengthen morale, they never ceased to remind us of the support of Hezbollah, which is a branch of the Iranian tree.

By mentioning this, I intended to conclude that Hamas has long and detailed experience in fighting with Israel, and has succeeded, for a long time, in managing a war in which there is progress and retreat, prices are taken and prices are paid, and it has experienced concrete experience, action and reaction, bargaining to the brink of the abyss, and deception the enemy, according to Sadat's famous term.

All of this was done by Hamas, and it came at a very high price. There are thousands of martyrs, and the lives of two million and more Palestinians are the most difficult in the entire world.

Among its remarkable tactics was refraining from participating with “Jihad” in two major sites, when it left it facing two fierce Israeli attacks, alone, which confirmed, by the logical conclusion, that it was not willing to spoil its extensive and complex preparations for the “Al-Aqsa Flood” operation, in which it emulated “Hamas.” Egypt's initiative for history to record that it had two Octobers: one on the Egyptian-Syrian fronts, with Palestinian participation "with the size of the capabilities", and the other on the Gaza-Israeli front, and in comparison with the sizes and capabilities, the second October was the largest and deepest, and it can be considered, according to Israeli accounts, the toughest most painful and influential in all aspects.

The question that arose during the first hour of fighting inside the cover settlements. Did Hamas do it on its own responsibility, or did it agree with Hezbollah, i.e. Iran, on what this requires of immediate and direct intervention?

What raised doubts about this issue was the appeal of the head of the Hamas movement, Ismail Haniyeh, who took a general formula, to the allies, to hasten to share in the victory. What is meant by participation is not celebration, of course, but rather fighting.

This was before the Israeli reaction crystallized as this time the complete destruction of Gaza, and the complete eradication of Hamas and those with it, as announced by the Israeli statements, which covered the continuous aerial bombardment to the point of turning neighborhoods into rubble. Without hiding the purpose of this, which is to pave the way for ground intervention.

I am writing this article on the sixth day of the fierce war between the “Al-Aqsa Flood” and the “Iron Swords.” During its short time frame, Israel mobilized about 400,000 soldiers in anticipation of a surprise on the northern front. Behind these thousands, composed of its planes, tanks, and cannons, the aircraft carrier Gerald Ford docked, as a supporter of Israeli power, a participant in the military decision, and a warning to Hezbollah against interference. American spokesmen did not stop saying that they had no evidence of an Iranian role in what was happening.

No one except the narrow circle in Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Hezbollah knows whether there is agreed-upon coordination according to one plan. Or was the matter left to individual assessments, which believed that the size of the achievement, when achieved, would be a logical and automatic incentive to achieve what Haniyeh called for, who was apparently surprised by what happened, that the allies must hasten to share the victory with us.

6 days in which very limited clashes took place on the southern Lebanon front, and the question is: Was Hezbollah’s intention to intervene if the matter had remained merely an Israeli-invasion war, or did the American warning work decisively, as it is not right to ignore it and consider it a maneuver, as the aircraft carrier that arrived, called for another one, and this is something that Hezbollah and Iran deserve to take into consideration.

Gaza has reached a state of complete devastation and a siege that has tightened to the point of suffocation. Everything that is being done for it is an Egyptian and international effort to calm the situation for a few hours, for food and medicine to arrive, and Hamas and its fellow factions continue to withstand, bomb, and penetrate the Israeli lines with courage and boldness, as it appears that its missile stock is more than sufficient, and our brother Ismail Haniyeh continues his call to the allies to Share the victory with him. No one knows what happened and what will happen. Perhaps the coming days will reveal more and clearer facts. Most importantly, Gaza before the war, Gaza destroyed during it, and Gaza after it remain Palestinian in spirit, heart, belonging, and survival.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for urgent and unimpeded humanitarian access to Gaza and the release of hostages held by Hamas.

He said in a statement, "At this difficult moment, as we stand on the brink of abyss in the Middle East, it is my duty as Secretary-General of the United Nations to make two strong humanitarian appeals."

"For Hamas, the hostages must be released immediately and without conditions; and for Israel, urgent and unimpeded access must be allowed for humanitarian supplies and relief workers for civilians in Gaza," Guterres continued.

The Secretary-General emphasized that "both of these goals are important in themselves. They should not be a bargaining chip."

He explained that the United Nations has available stocks of food, water, non-food items, medical supplies and fuel, located in Egypt, Jordan, the West Bank and Israel. These materials can be sent within hours.

To ensure their delivery, UN staff and partners on the ground must be able to get these supplies into and around Gaza safely and without hindrance to get them to those in need, Guterres said.

The head of the Palestinian Water Authority, Mazen Ghoneim, denied reports that Israel was supplying the Gaza Strip with water, considering that what was said about that was “slander and untrue.”

Ghoneim said in a phone call with Xinhua News Agency, "Even if Israel pumps water, the Palestinian Water Authority will not be able to supply it to the residents due to the power outage required to pump it into taps and water pumps."

Ghoneim said in a press statement that the remaining water sources in the Gaza Strip “are not enough to provide 15 liters per person, which is the minimum recommended by the World Health Organization for survival.”

Ghoneim added that the continued disruption of water supply systems in the Gaza Strip threatens the lives of residents, calling on the international community to assume its responsibilities in providing urgent protection to the Water Authority’s technical crews so that they can operate the facilities and secure water for citizens.

The Palestinian official's statements come in response to Israeli Energy Minister Yisrael Katz, who stated today that Israel will restore water supplies to parts of the southern Gaza Strip in accordance with an agreement with US President Joe Biden.

Katz spoke in a tweet on the ((X) website) today about a decision to open water to the southern Gaza Strip according to an agreement between Netanyahu and Biden.

The Israeli minister said that this decision "will push civilians to the south of the Gaza Strip, and contribute to tightening the comprehensive siege on Gaza in terms of electricity, water and fuel."

Katz, who holds the position of a member of the Mini Security Political Council in the Israeli government, added that this step would contribute to eliminating Hamas, saying, "It will make it easier for the Israeli army to work and eliminate Hamas' infrastructure."

Israel has imposed a comprehensive siege on Gaza, which includes closing all crossings and cutting off electrical, water, food and energy supplies to the Strip since the Hamas movement launched a massive and unprecedented attack on southern Israel on the 7th of this month.

In response, Israel launched Operation Iron Swords against Hamas, and the Israeli army continues its military attacks on various areas in the Gaza Strip, killing 2,670 Palestinians and wounding 9,600 others.

Palestinian and relief sources denied that they had been informed by the Egyptian authorities of the decision to operate the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip, or to start a truce with the Israeli side in the south of the Strip.

Salama Maarouf, head of the government media office in Gaza, said in a statement: “We have not received, until this moment, any communications or confirmations from the relevant authorities on the Egyptian side about the intention to open the Rafah crossing today, and everything that is being circulated in particular is attributed to (Israeli) media.”

Two sources, one a high-ranking Palestinian and the other a relief source, reported that they had not yet been informed of the decision to operate the Rafah crossing or start a truce, calling for waiting until an official position arrived from the Egyptian side.

The private Egyptian news channel Cairo, which is close to the authorities, had previously reported from "Israeli media" that there was a ceasefire in southern Gaza as of 9 am today (local time), while Arab press reports reported news of the start of a truce and the start of operation of the crossing.

Neither the Egyptian nor the Palestinian side issued any official positions regarding the news being circulated about the opening of the crossing.

Source: Anadolu Agency

The Palestinian Prisoners' Club said that the occupation forces launched a massive arrest campaign last night and at dawn on Monday, targeting at least 70 citizens from the West Bank, including two women from Jerusalem, two journalists, and former prisoners, and the arrests were distributed in most of the West Bank governorates, including Jerusalem.

The number of arrests since October 7 has reached about 540.

The Prisoners' Club added that the arrest campaigns in the West Bank are the highest in years, as the number of arrests since October 7, the date of the start of the Al-Aqsa Flood battle, has reached about (540) arrests, concentrated in the Hebron and Jerusalem governorates, in addition. To the detained workers and detainees from Gaza, whose exact numbers and identities are not yet known.

The Prisoner's Club pointed out that the arrest operations included all groups, including (children, women, and the elderly), and the occupation forces adopted during them a policy of threats, severe beatings against detainees, and widespread acts of sabotage and destruction of homes.

It is noteworthy that since the beginning of this year, arrests have reached more than (6,000) cases.

It is worth mentioning that these arrest campaigns constitute the most prominent and systematic policies used by the occupation forces, with the aim of undermining any escalating situation of confrontation. They are also among the most prominent tools of the policy of (collective punishment), which also constitutes a central tool for the occupation in targeting citizens.

Two citizens were martyred on Monday morning, and others were injured, by bullets from the occupation army in the West Bank, raising the death toll in less than 10 days to 58 martyrs.

The Ministry of Health announced that the young man, Muin Ribhi Damo (21 years old), was killed by occupation bullets in Jericho at dawn today, and 3 others were injured, including a critical condition.

In this context, the Martyr Thabet Thabet Governmental Hospital in Tulkarm reported, this morning, the death of the young man, Rami Bilal Hassan (33 years old), from the suburb of Artah, south of Tulkarm, as a result of critical wounds he sustained by occupation bullets in the neck last Friday.

Hassan was injured by an occupation sniper's bullet in the head while he was driving his vehicle west of Tulkarm.

With Hassan's death, the number of Tulkarm martyrs since last Friday rises to eight.

According to the Ministry of Health, the number of martyrs in the West Bank since October 7 has risen to 58 martyrs, including 14 children and women.

With the beginning of the tenth day of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, the Israeli occupation army continued the intense bombardment of the Gaza Strip, targeting civilians on a large scale, bringing the number of martyrs to 2,750, and the wounded to 9,700, in addition to hundreds of people missing under the rubble, while the resistance responded by bombing the Israeli depth, and confirmed Its readiness to confront any ground invasion.

Israeli channel: Rafah crossing opened at nine o’clock

Israeli Channel 12 reported that the Rafah crossing will be opened at nine in the morning.

Informed sources revealed that a five-hour ceasefire agreement, starting at nine in the morning, includes opening the Rafah crossing to allow the departure of foreigners and the entry of humanitarian aid into the Strip.

The government media in Gaza stated that they had not yet received any confirmations from the Egyptian side regarding the opening of the crossing.

7 members of the civil defense crews were killed in Israeli bombing

Seven members of the Civil Defense crews in Gaza were martyred tonight in two raids by occupation warplanes in the Tal Al-Hawa neighborhood, southwest and central of Gaza City.

Local sources reported that the occupation warplanes launched an Israeli raid on two Civil Defense headquarters and its vehicles in Tal al-Hawa and central Gaza, which led to the death of 7 of its crews and the injury of others.

American police said that a man from Illinois stabbed a Muslim child 26 times, killing him, while seriously wounding his mother, while chanting anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian statements.

The police accused the 71-year-old man of committing a hate crime against the 6-year-old child and his 32-year-old mother, saying that the two victims were targeted because of their Islamic faith.

The Will County Sheriff said in a statement posted on social media, “Investigators were able to determine that both victims in this brutal attack were targeted by the suspect because of their Muslim status and the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.”

Officers found the two victims late in the day at a home in Plainfield, about 65 kilometers southwest of Chicago.

The police chief's office said the boy, who was declared dead in hospital, was stabbed 26 times with a large military knife, according to an autopsy.

The woman suffered more than 12 stab wounds to her body, and remained in the hospital, but her condition was stable.

Police charged the man with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, two counts of hate crimes, and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.

US President Joe Biden said that he felt "shock and disgust" after the killing of a child of Palestinian origins and the attempt to kill his mother in Chicago, Illinois, against the backdrop of the escalation taking place between Israel and Gaza.

The US President offered his condolences to the Palestinian, Arab and Muslim communities over the child’s killing, stressing that “the brutal killing of a six-year-old child of Palestinian origins is a horrific act of hatred that has no place in America,” according to Al Hurra’s correspondent in the White House

United States President Joe Biden has warned Israel that any occupation of Gaza would be a “big mistake”. Speaking in an interview on US television, Biden said he supported the creation of a humanitarian corridor for people in Gaza to leave and aid to be delivered.

Biden also said in the interview that Hamas, which launched a surprise attack in Israel on October 7, needed to be eliminated.

The administration of US President Joe Biden on Sunday appointed former US Ambassador David Satterfield to Lebanon as a special envoy for humanitarian issues in the Middle East. Satterfield will lead US diplomacy to urgently address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, including working to facilitate the provision of life-saving assistance to the most vulnerable people and enhance safety. Civilians, in coordination with the United Nations and US partners, according to a statement from the US State Department.

According to the statement, “Satterfield will lead a whole-of-government campaign to mitigate the humanitarian consequences of Hamas’ terrorist attack against Israel, and support the critical efforts of the United States Agency for International Development and the Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration. His role depends on the United States’ long-term commitment to supporting peace and stability in the region.” .

“Satterfield has many decades of diplomatic experience and working amid some of the world’s most challenging conflicts will be instrumental in our ongoing efforts to meet urgent humanitarian needs. His regional experience spans forty years including assignments in Syria, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia and two tours in Lebanon,” the statement said.

Satterfield served as Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, Director for Arab and Arab-Israeli Affairs at the State Department, and Director for Near Eastern Affairs on the National Security Council staff from 1993 to 1996, where he worked primarily on the Arab-Israeli peace process.

US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, confirmed on Sunday that he was confident that humanitarian aid would cross from Egypt to Gaza, according to what American media reported.

Blinken told reporters during his visit to Cairo that the “Rafah crossing will open,” noting that the United States is developing a mechanism with the United Nations, Egypt, and Israel to deliver aid to those who need it.

The Rafah crossing is the only passage not controlled by Israel between the Gaza Strip and the outside world, and it was bombed on the Palestinian side of it, which hindered the arrival of aid and the exit of the stranded.

In turn, the Egyptian presidency said on Sunday that Egypt is intensifying its diplomatic efforts to deliver aid to Gaza and stop the fighting.

These statements came during Blinken's visit to Cairo as part of a regional tour.

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken promised on Sunday that the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt “will be open” after his meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.

Blinken said that the Rafah crossing will be open. He added: "We are working with the United Nations, Egypt, Israel and others to establish a mechanism through which assistance can be introduced and delivered to the people who need it."

Israel closed its border crossings with Gaza and imposed a “total siege” on the Strip, preventing supplies of fuel, electricity and water. This left the Rafah crossing as the only practical outlet for getting people out of the Strip - and getting supplies in.

Officials from several countries participated in the talks about when and to what extent the crossing could be opened.

Blinken also announced US President Joe Biden's appointment of David Satterfield, the former US ambassador to Turkey, to help coordinate aid efforts. Blinken said that Satterfield will be in Israel on Monday to begin coordination.

Blinken, who met with several regional leaders including those of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, said he had "very good conversations" with both Sisi and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

He added that every country he spoke with shared the US administration's goal of preventing escalation and securing aid for civilians trapped in Gaza.

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the humanitarian situation in Gaza was deteriorating rapidly and there was an urgent need for supplies from abroad.

In a brief statement, Sunday evening, Bruel called for the urgent opening of border crossings to provide humanitarian aid to civilians, stressing the need to work to prevent the loss of more innocent lives.

This evening, the occupation forces threatened businessman Abdullah Al-Saadi, owner of a group of investment companies, to bomb the hotel he owns in the city of Jenin, and gave him 24 hours, claiming that his brother Farhan, 35 years old, is wanted by the Israeli security service.

Al-Saadi explained to Al-Quds that he received a phone call from an intelligence officer who identified himself as Captain Hassan, and informed him that he was speaking on behalf of the Israeli army to inform him of an official notification to evacuate the hotel and its guests due to the issuance of a decision to bomb it. He expressed his disapproval and condemnation of this unjustified behavior and action that contradicts all international standards.

Al-Saadi stated that there is no justification for this threat, as the hotel is inhabited by a number of guests, including foreigners, and he considered this a dangerous step and escalation, especially since the occupation did not stop targeting his worker during the past days, and the attack on his brother Jawad by the soldiers led to fractures in the chest and hair on the skull. .

It is worth noting that Al-Saadi owns several investment companies, including the City Center Mall and the Grand Cinema Hotel, which consists of 100 hotel rooms.

The African Union and the Arab League warned that an Israeli ground invasion of the Gaza Strip “could lead to unprecedented genocide.”

A joint statement issued after a meeting between the Secretary-General of the Arab League, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, and the Chairman of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki, called for an "immediate cessation of military actions in Gaza."

He warned that "an Israeli ground operation in Gaza will undoubtedly involve a large number of civilian casualties, including women and children, which may lead to unprecedented genocide."

Today, Sunday, settlers began plowing land in Khirbet Al Farisiya in the northern Jordan Valley, in an attempt to seize it.

The official in charge of the Jordan Valley file in Tubas Governorate, Moataz Bisharat, reported that more than 20 settlers stormed the Nab’ al-Ghazal community in Khirbet al-Farisiya, and began plowing land near the tents of citizen Ali Zuhdi Abu Mohsen. They also attacked the residents with stones, noting that the same land a settler had begun plowing last week. The past, but residents and solidarity activists were able to expel him.

Earlier today, a force from the Settlements Council, accompanied by the Israeli police and occupation army, stormed the residence of citizen Ali Abu Mohsen, detained his family, and attempted to seize his agricultural tractor, but the citizens and solidarity activists present in the area prevented this, as skirmishes took place between them and the forces. Occupation.

The head of the Al-Maleh and Bedouin village council, Mahdi Daraghmeh, also reported that the family of citizen Abu Mohsen has been subjected to repeated attacks by settlers for about a week, as they are trying to force them to leave the area, while the “Colonial Council” threatened them and demanded that they leave it permanently.

In the villages of Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron, settlers attacked livestock herders and citizens.

Coordinator of the Popular Committees to Resist the Wall and Settlements in South Hebron, Ratib Al-Jabour, said that settlers from the “Karmiel” settlement established on citizens’ lands in south Hebron, under the protection of occupation soldiers, attacked the homes of a number of citizens from the Al-Hathalin family in the village of Umm Al-Khair, and prevented them from leaving their homes forcefully. weapons and threatened to kill them.

He added that a number of settlers from the "Bani Hefer" settlement, established on the lands of citizens from the Al-Mahaniya family, southeast of the town of Bani Na'im, attacked livestock herders in the village of Al-Buwaib and threatened them with death, while the occupation soldiers fired bullets at two vehicles near the village of Ma'in, east of Yatta, without causing any casualties.

Al-Jabour pointed out that settlers from the “Susya” settlement, established on citizens’ lands southeast of Yatta, attacked two young men in the Jurat al-Jamal area in the village of Susiya, from the Al-Nawajaa family, and smashed the windows of their vehicle, causing them to suffer bruises and contusions, and they were treated in the field.

The head of the Israeli National Security Council (Tzachi Hanegbi) admitted his mistake when he said that the Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip was “deterred,” stressing that his country “received a severe blow.”

Just six days before the surprise attack launched by Hamas and other Palestinian factions, Hanegbi said, “Hamas is very deterred, and is aware of the consequences of further challenge.”

But in a press conference on Saturday evening, Hanegbi said, “This is my mistake, and it reflects the error of all evaluation factors over many years, and more so in the recent period, when we believed that Hamas had learned the lesson of Guardian of the Walls (an operation launched by Israel on Gaza in May 2021). At that time, it received a decisive blow.

He added, "Hamas's deterrence was also evident in the three military operations carried out by the Israeli army against Islamic Jihad."

He continued, “In Operation Shield and Arrow (May 9-13, 2013), we dealt a decisive blow to Islamic Jihad, which appealed to Hamas to intervene to save it, but Hamas decided not to enter the battle.”

“This was one of the reasons that made the Israelis believe that Hamas was afraid of entering into a confrontation,” Hanegbi said.

He went on to stress, “The State of Israel was subjected to a severe blow last Saturday (October 7).”

Hanegbi denied reports that Egyptian officials had warned his country of an upcoming Hamas attack from Gaza, saying, “Personally, the answer is no.”

“I did not receive such a warning,” he added. Systematically, the Egyptians did not communicate with any of the people they communicate with, neither the prime minister nor those close to me and the head of the Mossad. It is fake news that not only we denied, but the Egyptians also denied.”

Regarding the issue of Israeli prisoners in the Gaza Strip, Hanegbi said, “We are all committed to their return, as is the entire government.” However, he denied that there were negotiations in this regard to date.

Hamas was able to capture an undeclared number of Israelis during its attack on the settlements surrounding the Gaza Strip, with the start of Operation “Al-Aqsa Flood” on October 7.

On Monday, Hamas announced that it would not negotiate a prisoner exchange under fire, according to a televised speech by the military spokesman for the “Al-Qassam Brigades,” the movement’s military wing.

For the eighth day in a row, the Gaza Strip (besieged since 2006) is subjected to intense Israeli air strikes that destroyed entire neighborhoods, as the Israeli army launched a military operation called “Iron Swords.”

A recent report by the European Center for Counter-Terrorism and Intelligence Studies shed light on the most prominent positions of European countries regarding recent developments in the Palestinian territories, noting that “the Gaza war could constitute a new drain on European countries’ weapons and ammunition stores, not to mention providing financial support, with what This creates a new burden and responsibility for Europe.”

The same source pointed out that “whatever the reasons and motives for the war in Gaza are, it will certainly be at the expense of the Ukrainian-Russian war, especially in the media aspect and the political positions of the countries,” considering at the same time that “the Israeli-Palestinian escalation will have long-term consequences on the European continent, as Similar to creating a new wave of migration from the Middle East towards the countries of the continent, with the threat this means to European national security,” stressing that “this situation forces European countries to work closely with their regional partners who can mediate a solution to this conflict.”

The same report stressed that “Europe and the countries of the world at the present time do not need a new war and the opening of other fronts in parallel with the Ukraine war and the worsening international conflicts and tensions,” noting that “although European countries clearly stand by Israel, they still support the right of the Palestinian people.” In establishing his state.

In its review of the most important positions of European countries in this regard, the European Center for Counter-Terrorism and Intelligence Studies referred to the French position, as “the French government announced on October 7th its support for Israel, before it joined the series of countries calling for avoiding escalation and working to find a solution.” political and lasting peace”; This position was explained by the report as “a state of anxiety about the repercussions of the war’s repercussions within French society, especially with the presence of gatherings supporting both sides of the war.”

As for Germany, it also affirmed its solidarity with Israel, as the German government announced on October 12 that it “banned the activities of the Hamas movement and temporarily halted development aid to the Palestinian territories.” German prosecutors also opened an investigation after Berlin confirmed the presence of German citizens among the “hostages held by Hamas,” according to the same source.

The report stated that “Britain supported Israel’s right to take appropriate measures in light of this situation,” adding that “intelligence reports indicated that London was prepared to provide Israel with intelligence information about potential threats and targets, in addition to military equipment,” and explaining that “British law may not allow By waving the Palestinian flag in the streets if the goal is to show support for Hamas.”

The same document also referred to “the European Union’s review of development aid to Palestine,” noting in this regard “the suspension of aid worth 691 million euros on October 9, despite some countries’ opposition to this decision, such as Spain, Ireland, and Luxembourg, before the European Commission issued a statement. Explanatory statements were essentially a retraction of this decision,” and added, “Many European countries discussed the possibility of providing aid to Israel, but many European officials are concerned that because of the aid sent to Ukraine, they have almost nothing left.”

The report concluded that the decisions taken by the European Union and member states may have major repercussions on the situation in the Palestinian territories, considering that “the current situation has raised concerns among investors after the decline in the value of stocks in a number of European markets, and European airlines suspending their flights to Israel.” 

While Jochen Hebeler, a German political analyst and expert in Middle East affairs, was quoted as saying, “The situation on the ground during the previous years was slowly stabilizing in favor of Israel, which increased its settlement policy, while Gaza turned into an open-air prison for more than two million people,” stressing the “The main goal is to force Israel and the world to reconsider the Palestinian issue, regardless of how brutal and dangerous the process that entails is.”

The White House National Security Advisor confirmed, on Sunday, that the United States fears that the conflict between Israel and Hamas will witness an additional “escalation,” also expressing fear of possible “Iranian interference.”

Jake Sullivan said in an interview with CBS: “We cannot rule out the hypothesis that Iran will make a decision to intervene directly in one way or another, and we must prepare for any possibility.”

Israel continues its preparations to carry out a ground invasion in Gaza after extending the deadline it granted the Palestinians to evacuate the area. Meanwhile, the Israeli army confirmed that it was awaiting a "political decision" regarding the timing of the major attack on the Gaza Strip. The Israeli army ordered the immediate evacuation of civilians from an area near the border with Lebanon after a person was killed as a result of a missile strike on one of the border towns, following an exchange of bombing with Hezbollah.

Two Israeli army spokesmen said that the army is awaiting a "political decision" regarding the timing of the major ground attack on the Gaza Strip, while thousands of residents of the northern Strip are trying to flee.

In preparation for a ground attack, the army had called on Friday civilians in the northern Gaza Strip - that is, 1.1 million of the 2.4 million people who are the population of the Gaza Strip - to move towards the south, and urged them not to delay.

Speakers Richard Hecht and Daniel Hagary said in two press briefings that the “political decision” will determine the timing of any military action.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Taiani criticized on Sunday France's ban on several pro-Palestinian demonstrations in recent days. On Thursday, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin ordered a systematic ban on “pro-Palestinian demonstrations,” citing fears of “disturbances in public order.”

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Taiani told RTL 102.5 radio, criticizing France on Sunday, “France makes its own choices, but banning demonstrations in a democratic country when they are not violent demonstrations does not seem to me fair, if there is no indication that the demonstrations could "Deteriorate."

Tayani, who also holds the position of Deputy Prime Minister, pointed out that “peaceful protests are taking place in the United States, which is the country most committed to defending the Israelis, including through the presence of its naval force (in the eastern Mediterranean), and protests have also been organized in the United Kingdom.” ".

He added, "When protests become violent, that's another issue, and when there are security threats, that's another issue."

It is noteworthy that French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin ordered, on Thursday, a systematic ban on “pro-Palestinian demonstrations, because they are likely to lead to disturbances in public order.”

According to the US Department of State spokesperson, Matthew Miller, who spoke to reporters upon Blinken's arrival in Cairo, "The Secretary of State will be returning to Israel on Monday for further discussions with Israeli leaders."

Blinken started his Middle East tour on Thursday, visiting Israel, Jordan, Qatar, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia before he headed to Egypt, which has been communicating with both the Israeli and Palestinian sides to end the conflict.

US President Joe Biden said on Saturday that the US is working with Egypt, Israel, Jordan, and the UN to ease humanitarian consequences in Gaza and create the proper conditions for aid flow.

For the ninth day in a row, the Israeli army has rained air and artillery strikes on the Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million Palestinians, killing hundreds of Palestinian civilians and displacing hundreds of thousands more.

The Israeli attacks come in retaliation for a surprise cross-border attack launched by Hamas on Saturday, 7 October, in which it killed over 1,300 Israelis and took dozens more hostage.

In the past week, Egypt has called for ending Israeli bombardments in Gaza, protecting civilians and ensuring humanitarian aid access.

Egypt's National Security Council, chaired by President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, also convened on Sunday to review military escalation in the Gaza Strip, firmly rejecting the Israeli displacement policy of Palestinians.

Egypt is coordinating efforts to deliver humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people in Gaza, with aircraft from various countries arriving at Sinai's El-Arish Airport for delivery to Gaza through the Rafah border crossing.

However, Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry noted in an interview with CNN on Saturday that the Israeli bombardments on the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing have rendered it inoperable.

A senior Israeli official confirms that Jerusalem has restored water supply to the Gaza Strip after shutting it off following the Hamas terror onslaught last Saturday.

The decision is publicized by US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan who tells CNN that his Israeli counterparts had informed him of the move within the last hour.

A US lawmaker told The Times of Israel yesterday that a senior Israeli official had indicated to them that Jerusalem will allow food, water and medicine into Gaza after imposing a siege on the enclave, as it appears to be gearing up for a ground operation to destroy Hamas.

The US lawmaker clarified that Israel has not committed to letting in electricity and fuel supplies into Gaza, which they say are not covered by the same rules under laws of armed conflict.

Source: Times of Israel news

The IDF’s top spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari says the military will operate “anywhere in the Middle East” amid the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip and frequent clashes on the Lebanon border.

“We are always looking around us, in the entire Middle East,” Hagari says. “The IDF will operate anywhere in the Middle East to fulfill Israel’s security aims. We are highly prepared in all arenas.”

Source: Times of Israel