“We have only started striking Hamas. What we will do to our enemies in the coming days will reverberate with them for generations. The atrocities committed by Hamas have not been seen since ISIS atrocities. Bound children executed along with their families. Young men and women shot in the back, executed. Other horrors I won’t describe here. We have always known who Hamas is. Now the entire world knows. Hamas is ISIS. And we will defeat it just like the enlightened world defeated ISIS. This vile enemy wanted war and it will get war.” – Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu in a state address. (Israel Hayom, Oct. 10, 2023)
“To my mind, not since the Holocaust have so many Jews been killed in one day. And not since the Holocaust have we witnessed scenes of Jewish women and children, grandparents—even Holocaust survivors—being herded into trucks and taken into captivity. Hamas has imported, adopted and replicated the savagery of ISIS. Entering civilian homes on a holy day and murdering in cold blood whole families. Young and old. Violating and burning bodies. Beating and torturing their innocent victims—Jews and Muslims and other faiths. The brutality. The inhumanity. The barbarity of monsters—not humans—monsters.” – Israel President Isaac Herzog. (United With Israel, Oct. 10, 2023)
“There are moments in this life and I mean this literally when the pure unadulterated evil is unleashed on this world. The people of Israel lived through one such moment this weekend. This is an act of sheer evil.” — US President Joe Biden denouncing Hamas. He stressed US support for Israel as it mourns the killing of more than 1,000 people, including at least 14 Americans, from a surprise attack launched by the Palestinian militant group. (Jerusalem Post, Oct. 10, 2023)
“We are not talking about liberating our land alone. We believe in what our Prophet Muhammad said: ‘Allah drew the ends of the world near one another for my sake, and I have seen its eastern and western ends. The dominion of my nation would reach those ends that have been drawn near me. … The entire 510 million Square kilometers of Planet Earth will come under [a system] where there is no injustice, no oppression, no Zionism, no treacherous Christianity and no killings and crimes like those being committed against the Palestinians, and against the Arabs in all the Arab countries, in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and other countries,” — Mahmoud al-Zahar, a co-founder of Hamas, in a December 2022 video translated by MEMRI that has attracted attention once again. (WIN, Oct. 10, 2023)
“What we said was, we want to depressurize, deescalate, and ultimately integrate the Middle East region. . . . The Middle East region is quieter today than it has been in two decades.” — National security adviser Jake Sullivan at The Atlantic Festival on September 29. (National Review, Oct. 9, 2023)
“This is not just an attack on Israel—this was an attack on America. Finish them, @b.netanyahu. They should have hell to pay for what they have just done.” – presidential hopeful and former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley. (Instagram, Oct. 9, 2023)
“Even before touching on the erroneous conception and the lack of intelligence, the massive and total breach of the defense line is a colossal failure. Beyond the basic understanding that the defense line will always be breached, the IDF may have been surprised by the timing, but not by the method. For years, Hamas has practiced infiltrations into settlements, killing civilians, and abducting soldiers into Gaza, and for years, the IDF has precisely practiced how to deal with this scenario. In real-time, it was caught off guard: the border was easily crossed in several places, and Hamas quickly overcame the entire surveillance system (and captured all the surveillance personnel), took control of the Gaza Division’s headquarters, and continued to implement its plan in settlements and communities. … The IDF, which was supposed to be alert to all these, was in a slumber when the formidable defense line it had built imploded.” — Yoav Limor. (Israel Hayom, Oct. 9, 2023)
“The current circumstances not only justify but necessitate a departure from the policy of surgical strikes. While they provide precision and show Israel’s special capabilities, they require long protracted, and complex preparations and in any event cannot constitute a sufficient price tag for the severe attack carried out by Hamas.” — Meir Ben Shabbat. (Israel Hayom, Oct. 8, 2023)
“In committing the brutal and cruel attack on the residents of southern Israel, Hamas, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad repeated the mistake made by Nasser and Arafat – they went one step too far. They became accustomed to the sleeping Israeli giant, and now they will have to deal with the awake giant in its full force. The people of Israel are strong and unified, and, above all, they are aware and alert to their mission to defend themselves and Israel’s right to exist.” – Michael Oren. (Israel Hayom, Oct. 10, 2023)
“I don’t want to alarm anyone, but we are witnessing the failure of deterrence; the “rules-based international order” that the Biden team keeps talking about is in tatters. This morning, the New York Times’ David Leonhardt writes, “The world may have fallen into a new period of disarray. Countries — and political groups like Hamas — are willing to take big risks, rather than fearing that the consequences would be too dire.” Hamas rapes and slaughters hundreds of innocent people at the Supernova music festival in southern Israel. Russia invades Ukraine, and China is preparing for the conquest of Taiwan. No one is afraid of the West anymore; no one expects the arsenal of democracy and our allies to show up, guns blazing, in response to some outrageous provocation or massacre or invasion anymore. Blame it on the images of the Afghanistan withdrawal, blame it on neo-isolationist attitudes taking root all across the West, blame it on amoral Western financial elites who look at brutal autocracies and see just another way to make a buck. … Maybe blame it on the United States having a geriatric president who attended a barbeque in the Rose Garden for the White House executive staff last night.” – Jim Geraghty. (National Review, Oct. 9, 2023)
“We have got to stop referring to what happened on Saturday as an attack as if it was military on military. This was a massacre. This was a slaughter. The appropriate word is medieval. And the appropriate point of comparison are al Qaeda and ISIS. So what I have got to ask … where are the university presidents who gave clear statements about all these other causes that mattered, Black Lives Matter, stop AAPI hate, stand for Ukraine, it matters? Why are they silent on dead Jews? Why is my inbox empty with messages from CEOs from major religious moves? … this moral failure, this rot, I see it in our civil society right now. … These pro-Hamas, pro-terror demonstrations, these are like pro-Nazi things in this country in the ’30s. They will not be remembered well when history looks back, because they are complicit, these accomplices. They are guilty for excusing and for rationalizing the absolutely barbaric irrationality of terror.” — Anti-Defamation League President Jonathan Greenblatt on MSNBC‘s “Morning Joe” (Real Clear Politics, Oct. 10, 2023)
“In what world do any of today’s Harvard divinity students live that they would excuse assassinating women, children and teenagers enjoying a music festival? This was not the result of an accident or of crossfire in war but a planned genocidal act that no Harvard student should cheer on or encourage, no matter what the cause. Would these students have excused a leftist terrorist group gunning down kids leaving a Taylor Swift concert and then claim Donald Trump was responsible? One wonders.” – Mark Penn (The Messenger, Oct. 9, 2023)
“You got some raging anti-Semites in the halls of Congress. Thanks a lot, Minnesota. Thanks a lot, Missouri. Thanks a lot, The Bronx, where AOC reportedly came from. They’re open about it, they’re not even trying to hide it, and they’re the reason why a lot of this money does get funneled over there. They really see Israel as the aggressor. Even in the wake of what we just described at the top of the hour, they don’t have the thoughtfulness to just pump the brakes a minute, just take it easy. …Who would murder a baby? An elderly person? Evil. Just absolute evil. And all they want to do is say ‘Well, they’re [Israel] evil too.’” — Megyn Kelly, host of the Megyn Kelly Show on SiriusXM, on the terror attack on Israel by Hamas. She reacted to the response from “raging anti-Semite” Rep. Rashida Tlaib, who is of Palestinian heritage. (Real Clear Politics, Oct. 10, 2023)
‘I lived and worked on a Kibbutz in Israel when I was 16 and I have loved our Jewish homeland ever since. My heart is breaking from these attacks and atrocities. But we are also a very strong people in our hearts and minds. We believe in justice, freedom and equality. We survive and flourish no matter what. I will always stand with Israel and the Jewish people.” – Comedian and actor Jerry Seinfeld. (WIN, Oct. 10, 2023)
“To my mind, not since the Holocaust have so many Jews been killed in one day. And not since the Holocaust have we witnessed scenes of Jewish women and children, grandparents—even Holocaust survivors—being herded into trucks and taken into captivity. Hamas has imported, adopted and replicated the savagery of ISIS. Entering civilian homes on a holy day and murdering in cold blood whole families. Young and old. Violating and burning bodies. Beating and torturing their innocent victims—Jews and Muslims and other faiths. The brutality. The inhumanity. The barbarity of monsters—not humans—monsters.” – Israel President Isaac Herzog. (United With Israel, Oct. 10, 2023)
“There are moments in this life and I mean this literally when the pure unadulterated evil is unleashed on this world. The people of Israel lived through one such moment this weekend. This is an act of sheer evil.” — US President Joe Biden denouncing Hamas. He stressed US support for Israel as it mourns the killing of more than 1,000 people, including at least 14 Americans, from a surprise attack launched by the Palestinian militant group. (Jerusalem Post, Oct. 10, 2023)
“We are not talking about liberating our land alone. We believe in what our Prophet Muhammad said: ‘Allah drew the ends of the world near one another for my sake, and I have seen its eastern and western ends. The dominion of my nation would reach those ends that have been drawn near me. … The entire 510 million Square kilometers of Planet Earth will come under [a system] where there is no injustice, no oppression, no Zionism, no treacherous Christianity and no killings and crimes like those being committed against the Palestinians, and against the Arabs in all the Arab countries, in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and other countries,” — Mahmoud al-Zahar, a co-founder of Hamas, in a December 2022 video translated by MEMRI that has attracted attention once again. (WIN, Oct. 10, 2023)
“What we said was, we want to depressurize, deescalate, and ultimately integrate the Middle East region. . . . The Middle East region is quieter today than it has been in two decades.” — National security adviser Jake Sullivan at The Atlantic Festival on September 29. (National Review, Oct. 9, 2023)
“This is not just an attack on Israel—this was an attack on America. Finish them, @b.netanyahu. They should have hell to pay for what they have just done.” – presidential hopeful and former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley. (Instagram, Oct. 9, 2023)
“Even before touching on the erroneous conception and the lack of intelligence, the massive and total breach of the defense line is a colossal failure. Beyond the basic understanding that the defense line will always be breached, the IDF may have been surprised by the timing, but not by the method. For years, Hamas has practiced infiltrations into settlements, killing civilians, and abducting soldiers into Gaza, and for years, the IDF has precisely practiced how to deal with this scenario. In real-time, it was caught off guard: the border was easily crossed in several places, and Hamas quickly overcame the entire surveillance system (and captured all the surveillance personnel), took control of the Gaza Division’s headquarters, and continued to implement its plan in settlements and communities. … The IDF, which was supposed to be alert to all these, was in a slumber when the formidable defense line it had built imploded.” — Yoav Limor. (Israel Hayom, Oct. 9, 2023)
“The current circumstances not only justify but necessitate a departure from the policy of surgical strikes. While they provide precision and show Israel’s special capabilities, they require long protracted, and complex preparations and in any event cannot constitute a sufficient price tag for the severe attack carried out by Hamas.” — Meir Ben Shabbat. (Israel Hayom, Oct. 8, 2023)
“In committing the brutal and cruel attack on the residents of southern Israel, Hamas, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad repeated the mistake made by Nasser and Arafat – they went one step too far. They became accustomed to the sleeping Israeli giant, and now they will have to deal with the awake giant in its full force. The people of Israel are strong and unified, and, above all, they are aware and alert to their mission to defend themselves and Israel’s right to exist.” – Michael Oren. (Israel Hayom, Oct. 10, 2023)
“I don’t want to alarm anyone, but we are witnessing the failure of deterrence; the “rules-based international order” that the Biden team keeps talking about is in tatters. This morning, the New York Times’ David Leonhardt writes, “The world may have fallen into a new period of disarray. Countries — and political groups like Hamas — are willing to take big risks, rather than fearing that the consequences would be too dire.” Hamas rapes and slaughters hundreds of innocent people at the Supernova music festival in southern Israel. Russia invades Ukraine, and China is preparing for the conquest of Taiwan. No one is afraid of the West anymore; no one expects the arsenal of democracy and our allies to show up, guns blazing, in response to some outrageous provocation or massacre or invasion anymore. Blame it on the images of the Afghanistan withdrawal, blame it on neo-isolationist attitudes taking root all across the West, blame it on amoral Western financial elites who look at brutal autocracies and see just another way to make a buck. … Maybe blame it on the United States having a geriatric president who attended a barbeque in the Rose Garden for the White House executive staff last night.” – Jim Geraghty. (National Review, Oct. 9, 2023)
“We have got to stop referring to what happened on Saturday as an attack as if it was military on military. This was a massacre. This was a slaughter. The appropriate word is medieval. And the appropriate point of comparison are al Qaeda and ISIS. So what I have got to ask … where are the university presidents who gave clear statements about all these other causes that mattered, Black Lives Matter, stop AAPI hate, stand for Ukraine, it matters? Why are they silent on dead Jews? Why is my inbox empty with messages from CEOs from major religious moves? … this moral failure, this rot, I see it in our civil society right now. … These pro-Hamas, pro-terror demonstrations, these are like pro-Nazi things in this country in the ’30s. They will not be remembered well when history looks back, because they are complicit, these accomplices. They are guilty for excusing and for rationalizing the absolutely barbaric irrationality of terror.” — Anti-Defamation League President Jonathan Greenblatt on MSNBC‘s “Morning Joe” (Real Clear Politics, Oct. 10, 2023)
“In what world do any of today’s Harvard divinity students live that they would excuse assassinating women, children and teenagers enjoying a music festival? This was not the result of an accident or of crossfire in war but a planned genocidal act that no Harvard student should cheer on or encourage, no matter what the cause. Would these students have excused a leftist terrorist group gunning down kids leaving a Taylor Swift concert and then claim Donald Trump was responsible? One wonders.” – Mark Penn (The Messenger, Oct. 9, 2023)
“You got some raging anti-Semites in the halls of Congress. Thanks a lot, Minnesota. Thanks a lot, Missouri. Thanks a lot, The Bronx, where AOC reportedly came from. They’re open about it, they’re not even trying to hide it, and they’re the reason why a lot of this money does get funneled over there. They really see Israel as the aggressor. Even in the wake of what we just described at the top of the hour, they don’t have the thoughtfulness to just pump the brakes a minute, just take it easy. …Who would murder a baby? An elderly person? Evil. Just absolute evil. And all they want to do is say ‘Well, they’re [Israel] evil too.’” — Megyn Kelly, host of the Megyn Kelly Show on SiriusXM, on the terror attack on Israel by Hamas. She reacted to the response from “raging anti-Semite” Rep. Rashida Tlaib, who is of Palestinian heritage. (Real Clear Politics, Oct. 10, 2023)
‘I lived and worked on a Kibbutz in Israel when I was 16 and I have loved our Jewish homeland ever since. My heart is breaking from these attacks and atrocities. But we are also a very strong people in our hearts and minds. We believe in justice, freedom and equality. We survive and flourish no matter what. I will always stand with Israel and the Jewish people.” – Comedian and actor Jerry Seinfeld. (WIN, Oct. 10, 2023)
ISRAELI MILITARY LAUNCHES ‘COMPLETE SIEGE’ OF GAZA AS AIR FORCE BOMBARDS STRIP: ‘WE ARE FIGHTING BARBARIANS’ (Jerusalem) — The Israeli military launched a “complete siege” of Gaza on Monday, blockading the area and bombarding it with air strikes to destroy Hamas after the terrorist group launched the worst attack on Israel in 50 years over the weekend. Israel Defense Minister Yoav Gallant ordered the “complete siege” of Gaza in a televised address, announcing that Gaza will be cut off from food, electricity, and water for the foreseeable future. “We are fighting barbarians and will respond accordingly,” Gallant said. (National Review, Oct. 9, 2023)
HORRIFYING DISCOVERY: 40 BABIES AND CHILDREN BUTCHERED IN KFAR AZA – MANY OF THEM DECAPITATED (Kfar Aza) — Israeli security personnel and search and rescue teams operating in newly-liberated towns near the Gaza frontier made a horrifying discovery in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, following a days-long battle to cleanse the community of terrorists. Journalists were brought into the center of town during the removal of the remains of both the Israeli victims and the Gaza terrorists who slaughtered them, before being shot and killed during the liberation of the area: They saw roughly 40 babies and young children who were brutally torn apart – most of them with their heads cut off. The children’s families were found shot to death, often in their beds. (WIN, Oct. 10, 2023)15 ROCKETS, ANTI-TANK MISSILE FIRED FROM LEBANON; IDF SHELLS 3 HEZBOLLAH POSTS (Jerusalem) — Rockets were launched at northern Israel for the third day in a row Tuesday, with the Israeli military shelling posts in southern Lebanon in response, as fighting continued in southern Israel in the wake of a major attack launched by the Palestinian Hamas terror group in the Gaza Strip. The Israel Defense Forces said 15 rockets were fired from Lebanon at the Western Galilee, setting off sirens in several towns. Four projectiles were intercepted by the Iron Dome air defense system, while the rest landed in open areas, causing no damage or injuries, the IDF said. (Times of Israel, Oct. 10, 2023)
HAMAS THREATENS TO KILL HOSTAGES, DEMANDS STOP TO GAZA AIRSTRIKES (Gaza) — The Hamas terror group threatened that it will begin executing Israeli soldiers and civilians currently held hostage in the Gaza Strip, unless the Israeli Air Force ceases airstrikes on the coastal enclave. Reports indicated that executions would be broadcast live on social media. Hamas spokesman Abu Obaida announced on Monday evening that moving forward, an Israeli captive would be killed each time that Israel bombs a home in the Strip without prior warning. However, the IAF appeared to dismiss Abu Obaida’s warning, continuing a heavy bombing campaign of the territory. (WIN, Oct. 10, 2023)
ISRAEL KILLS TWO SENIOR HAMAS OFFICIALS IN TARGETED AIRSTRIKES IN GAZA (Gaza) — The IDF announced it targeted and killed Hamas’ finance minister Jawad Abu Shmala, who the Israeli military said was responsible for the distribution of funds for terror inside and outside the Gaza Strip. Shmala was killed in a targeted Israeli airstrike overnight on Monday. The IDF also successfully targeted Zakaria Abu Maamar, who served as Hamas’ head of international relations. (Jerusalem Post, Oct. 10, 2023)
IRAN’S KHAMENEI LAUDS HAMAS ATTACK ON ISRAEL, AGAIN DENIES INVOLVEMENT (Tehran) — Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei denied any Iranian involvement in Hamas’s weekend massacre in Israel despite Tehran’s strong support for the Palestinian terrorist group. “The supporters of the Zionist regime [Israel] and some people in the usurping regime have been spreading rumors over the past two or three days, including that Islamic Iran was behind this action. They are wrong,” Khamenei said in a speech at a military academy. “Of course, we defend Palestine, we defend the struggles,” he added, urging “the whole Islamic world” to “support the Palestinians.” (Times of Israel, Oct. 10, 2023)
MOSCOW SEES ‘HIGH RISK’ OF 3RD PARTY OPENING FRONT AGAINST ISRAEL AMID WAR ON HAMAS (Moscow) — The Kremlin said Monday there was a “high risk” of a third party entering the conflict between Israel and Palestinian terror group Hamas after the US moved warships closer to the Jewish state. US President Joe Biden announced the show of support on Sunday, sending fresh aid to Israel following the unprecedented infiltration and onslaught by Hamas gunmen on Saturday. “The risk of third forces becoming involved in this conflict is high,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying by the TASS news agency. (Times of Israel, Oct. 9, 2023)
EU FUNDING AID TO PALESTINIANS TO CONTINUE (Brussels) — European Crisis Management Commissioner Janez Lenarcic said EU humanitarian aid to Palestinians will continue, after another commissioner said another type of aid was being reviewed and suspended as a result of Hamas’ attack on Israel. Although Lenarcic “most strongly” condemned the attack, he said on social media that “it is imperative to protect civilians.” (Jerusalem Post, Oct. 9, 2023)
BIDEN CONFIRMS HAMAS HOLDS AMERICAN HOSTAGES, AT LEAST 14 U.S. CITIZENS KILLED IN TERROR ATTACK (Washington) — American citizens are among those captured by Hamas terrorists, President Joe Biden confirmed on Tuesday, and Hamas has killed at least 14 Americans so far in their terror attacks against Israel. Biden said that the U.S. unequivocally stands with Israel, and will make sure the country can defend itself against the “hatred and violence” of Hamas terrorists. The president failed to mention Hamas’s connection to Iran, which is the terrorist group’s primary financial backer and, according to the Wall Street Journal, was heavily involved in planning and providing the resources for the weekend attack. (National Review, Oct. 10, 2023)
AT PRESS CONFERENCE IN TEL AVIV, RELATIVES OF US CITIZENS PLEAD FOR GOVERNMENT’S HELP (Tel Aviv) — In the middle of telling a roomful of about 50 reporters about the plight of his son Itay, who was missing in action, Rivli Chen paused to ask if any representatives of the U.S. government had shown up to the press conference. No one raised their hands. Cries of “Shame!” in Hebrew began to echo around the room. “We’ve been in contact with the State Department and the US Embassy,” said Chen. “But there has been no formal or concentrated attempt to talk to us as the group and update us about what they are doing in this matter.” At the press conference on Tuesday, four families of U.S. citizens who went missing during Hamas’ invasion of Israel spoke about their loved ones and what the Israeli and U.S. governments are doing — and have not done — to secure their release. Chen said that “about 10 other [American] families” with missing family members have been identified by the group, of the more than 100 Israelis taken into captivity on Saturday. (JTA, Oct. 10, 2023)
EUROPEAN COUNTRIES INCREASE SYNAGOGUE SECURITY AS JEWS BRACE FOR ANTISEMITISM AFTER HAMAS ATTACK (Paris) — As the bloody war in Israel and Gaza continues to escalate, many European Jews are bracing for reverberations far from the frontlines. in cities across Europe, crowds have celebrated just streets away from vigils for the dead. Groups cheering the Hamas assault as “Palestinian resistance” to the Israeli occupation have danced on the street in London and handed out sweets in Berlin. In France, far-left movements called the terror attack “heroic.” Jewish communal officials in Europe anticipate that the fighting in Israel will ignite antisemitic threats in their communities. Police have increased surveillance around synagogues, Jewish schools and other institutions in Germany, Britain, France and Spain. (JTA, Oct. 10, 2023)
PRO-PALESTINIAN, PRO-ISRAELI RALLIES HELD ACROSS CANADA AS WAR CONTINUES (Toronto) — More than a thousand people congregated at Toronto’s Nathan Phillips Square Monday afternoon, many saying they were there to support the Palestinian people and not to glorify the deadly attacks launched by Hamas against Israelis over the weekend. Still, many also refused to condemn those attacks that have reportedly killed more than 900 Israelis, saying instead the focus should be on how Israel has mistreated Palestinians and occupied Palestinian land for decades. They also pointed to the nearly 700 Palestinians who have been killed by Israel in response to the attacks. (CBC, Oct. 9, 2023)
HORRIFYING DISCOVERY: 40 BABIES AND CHILDREN BUTCHERED IN KFAR AZA – MANY OF THEM DECAPITATED (Kfar Aza) — Israeli security personnel and search and rescue teams operating in newly-liberated towns near the Gaza frontier made a horrifying discovery in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, following a days-long battle to cleanse the community of terrorists. Journalists were brought into the center of town during the removal of the remains of both the Israeli victims and the Gaza terrorists who slaughtered them, before being shot and killed during the liberation of the area: They saw roughly 40 babies and young children who were brutally torn apart – most of them with their heads cut off. The children’s families were found shot to death, often in their beds. (WIN, Oct. 10, 2023)15 ROCKETS, ANTI-TANK MISSILE FIRED FROM LEBANON; IDF SHELLS 3 HEZBOLLAH POSTS (Jerusalem) — Rockets were launched at northern Israel for the third day in a row Tuesday, with the Israeli military shelling posts in southern Lebanon in response, as fighting continued in southern Israel in the wake of a major attack launched by the Palestinian Hamas terror group in the Gaza Strip. The Israel Defense Forces said 15 rockets were fired from Lebanon at the Western Galilee, setting off sirens in several towns. Four projectiles were intercepted by the Iron Dome air defense system, while the rest landed in open areas, causing no damage or injuries, the IDF said. (Times of Israel, Oct. 10, 2023)
HAMAS THREATENS TO KILL HOSTAGES, DEMANDS STOP TO GAZA AIRSTRIKES (Gaza) — The Hamas terror group threatened that it will begin executing Israeli soldiers and civilians currently held hostage in the Gaza Strip, unless the Israeli Air Force ceases airstrikes on the coastal enclave. Reports indicated that executions would be broadcast live on social media. Hamas spokesman Abu Obaida announced on Monday evening that moving forward, an Israeli captive would be killed each time that Israel bombs a home in the Strip without prior warning. However, the IAF appeared to dismiss Abu Obaida’s warning, continuing a heavy bombing campaign of the territory. (WIN, Oct. 10, 2023)
ISRAEL KILLS TWO SENIOR HAMAS OFFICIALS IN TARGETED AIRSTRIKES IN GAZA (Gaza) — The IDF announced it targeted and killed Hamas’ finance minister Jawad Abu Shmala, who the Israeli military said was responsible for the distribution of funds for terror inside and outside the Gaza Strip. Shmala was killed in a targeted Israeli airstrike overnight on Monday. The IDF also successfully targeted Zakaria Abu Maamar, who served as Hamas’ head of international relations. (Jerusalem Post, Oct. 10, 2023)
IRAN’S KHAMENEI LAUDS HAMAS ATTACK ON ISRAEL, AGAIN DENIES INVOLVEMENT (Tehran) — Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei denied any Iranian involvement in Hamas’s weekend massacre in Israel despite Tehran’s strong support for the Palestinian terrorist group. “The supporters of the Zionist regime [Israel] and some people in the usurping regime have been spreading rumors over the past two or three days, including that Islamic Iran was behind this action. They are wrong,” Khamenei said in a speech at a military academy. “Of course, we defend Palestine, we defend the struggles,” he added, urging “the whole Islamic world” to “support the Palestinians.” (Times of Israel, Oct. 10, 2023)
MOSCOW SEES ‘HIGH RISK’ OF 3RD PARTY OPENING FRONT AGAINST ISRAEL AMID WAR ON HAMAS (Moscow) — The Kremlin said Monday there was a “high risk” of a third party entering the conflict between Israel and Palestinian terror group Hamas after the US moved warships closer to the Jewish state. US President Joe Biden announced the show of support on Sunday, sending fresh aid to Israel following the unprecedented infiltration and onslaught by Hamas gunmen on Saturday. “The risk of third forces becoming involved in this conflict is high,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying by the TASS news agency. (Times of Israel, Oct. 9, 2023)
EU FUNDING AID TO PALESTINIANS TO CONTINUE (Brussels) — European Crisis Management Commissioner Janez Lenarcic said EU humanitarian aid to Palestinians will continue, after another commissioner said another type of aid was being reviewed and suspended as a result of Hamas’ attack on Israel. Although Lenarcic “most strongly” condemned the attack, he said on social media that “it is imperative to protect civilians.” (Jerusalem Post, Oct. 9, 2023)
BIDEN CONFIRMS HAMAS HOLDS AMERICAN HOSTAGES, AT LEAST 14 U.S. CITIZENS KILLED IN TERROR ATTACK (Washington) — American citizens are among those captured by Hamas terrorists, President Joe Biden confirmed on Tuesday, and Hamas has killed at least 14 Americans so far in their terror attacks against Israel. Biden said that the U.S. unequivocally stands with Israel, and will make sure the country can defend itself against the “hatred and violence” of Hamas terrorists. The president failed to mention Hamas’s connection to Iran, which is the terrorist group’s primary financial backer and, according to the Wall Street Journal, was heavily involved in planning and providing the resources for the weekend attack. (National Review, Oct. 10, 2023)
AT PRESS CONFERENCE IN TEL AVIV, RELATIVES OF US CITIZENS PLEAD FOR GOVERNMENT’S HELP (Tel Aviv) — In the middle of telling a roomful of about 50 reporters about the plight of his son Itay, who was missing in action, Rivli Chen paused to ask if any representatives of the U.S. government had shown up to the press conference. No one raised their hands. Cries of “Shame!” in Hebrew began to echo around the room. “We’ve been in contact with the State Department and the US Embassy,” said Chen. “But there has been no formal or concentrated attempt to talk to us as the group and update us about what they are doing in this matter.” At the press conference on Tuesday, four families of U.S. citizens who went missing during Hamas’ invasion of Israel spoke about their loved ones and what the Israeli and U.S. governments are doing — and have not done — to secure their release. Chen said that “about 10 other [American] families” with missing family members have been identified by the group, of the more than 100 Israelis taken into captivity on Saturday. (JTA, Oct. 10, 2023)
EUROPEAN COUNTRIES INCREASE SYNAGOGUE SECURITY AS JEWS BRACE FOR ANTISEMITISM AFTER HAMAS ATTACK (Paris) — As the bloody war in Israel and Gaza continues to escalate, many European Jews are bracing for reverberations far from the frontlines. in cities across Europe, crowds have celebrated just streets away from vigils for the dead. Groups cheering the Hamas assault as “Palestinian resistance” to the Israeli occupation have danced on the street in London and handed out sweets in Berlin. In France, far-left movements called the terror attack “heroic.” Jewish communal officials in Europe anticipate that the fighting in Israel will ignite antisemitic threats in their communities. Police have increased surveillance around synagogues, Jewish schools and other institutions in Germany, Britain, France and Spain. (JTA, Oct. 10, 2023)
PRO-PALESTINIAN, PRO-ISRAELI RALLIES HELD ACROSS CANADA AS WAR CONTINUES (Toronto) — More than a thousand people congregated at Toronto’s Nathan Phillips Square Monday afternoon, many saying they were there to support the Palestinian people and not to glorify the deadly attacks launched by Hamas against Israelis over the weekend. Still, many also refused to condemn those attacks that have reportedly killed more than 900 Israelis, saying instead the focus should be on how Israel has mistreated Palestinians and occupied Palestinian land for decades. They also pointed to the nearly 700 Palestinians who have been killed by Israel in response to the attacks. (CBC, Oct. 9, 2023)
