I have taken part in a few incursions into the Gaza Strip, but I have to admit that I have never been this scared. The intensity of the war, my family situation, including a son who’d been injured and undergone a long recovery, stirred up many conflicting thoughts. Yet when we received final approval from the IDF last Thursday to join the troops for a day, all my doubts dissipated.
By Friday, we were on our way down South to join up with the Negev Brigade, a reserve infantry brigade, as it traversed to Beit Hanun in the Gaza Strip.
Immediately after the war broke out, many of the kibbutzim that border Gaza were turned into makeshift military bases, a different pace from previous military operations, where civilian activity mostly continued as usual. Today, barely any civilians remain in any of the communities.
“Up until October 7, we were reservists,” one soldier stationed in the area said. “Now, we are all soldiers. Some of the reserve units’ equipment was antiquated, but now we have everything we need.”
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The US issued an unusual announcement that an Ohio-class nuclear submarine had arrived in the operational area of the US Central Command, and the command published a photo of it passing through the Suez Canal, on Monday.
The identity of the submarine was not disclosed and it is not known whether it is one of the four submarines that carry Tomahawk cruise missiles or of the 14 submarines that carry the Trident-II ballistic missiles, but it is still a significant addition to the American deterrence force in the region, and the ability to attack if necessary.
On November 5, 2023, an Ohio-class submarine arrived in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility. pic.twitter.com/iDgUFp4enp
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) November 5, 2023
Meanwhile, in the New York Times, it was reported earlier that following the announcement of the visit that was supposed to take place this week - the head of the CIA William Burns has already arrived in Israel. Burns is expected to hold talks on the continuation of the fighting against Hamas and the issue of the abductees.
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Israel stopped firing in northern Gaza for several hours two days in a row to create safe passage for civilians to move to the south, a military spokesperson told CNN on Sunday, amid pressure for a humanitarian pause.
"Yesterday and today, for many hours with prior notice and warning, we facilitated, we stopped firing in certain areas of northern Gaza, which is the main combat area, and we called on Palestinians to move south," Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus said.
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The head of the CIA, William Burns, had already arrived in Israel, according to The New York Times.
Burns is expected to hold talks on the continuation of the fighting against Hamas and the issue of the abductees.
This is a developing story.
Jordan's air force personnel air-dropped urgent medical aid to the Jordanian field hospital in Gaza early on Monday, according to a post on X from Jordan's king and state media.
"A royal air force plane dropped urgent medical aid using parachutes to the Jordanian field hospital in Gaza whose supplies were about to run out due to the delay of delivering aid through Rafah crossing," Jordan's state news agency said citing a military source in the General Command of the Jordanian Armed Forces.
Jordan announced last week recalled its ambassador to Israel and told the Israeli ambassador to stay away in protest at the Israeli bombardment of Gaza, saying the attacks had killed innocents and caused a humanitarian catastrophe.
A senior Israeli official said tonight that the aid drop was carried out in coordination with Israel and with its approval.
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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Ankara on Sunday, according to a Reuters eyewitness, where he will hold talks with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan on Monday amid the Israel-Hamas conflict.
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rushed to deny Sunday night reports that he was looking to "examine connections between the motivations of Hamas in Gaza to the reservists strike" that was carried out in Israel due to the proposed judicial reform prior to October 7.
"The prime minister said before the war that in wartime, everyone will show up for duty, as indeed happened," a Prime Minister's Office statement said.
As per the report, Netanyahu is determined to examine this claimed connection after the war.
Minister Benny Gantz reacted to reports of Netanyahu's intentions, writing on X that "Netanyahu must take back his words clearly and unequivocally.
"Avoiding responsibility and placing it on others is harmful to the State of Israel," Gantz added. "Over 100% of reservists showed up for service since October 7 - this is our answer to all our enemies."
מעל 100% התייצבות למילואים והתגייסות יוצאת דופן של כל החברה הישראלית - הם התשובה המוחצת לכל אויבינו. התחמקות מאחריות והטלת רפש בעת מלחמה הם פגיעה במדינה. ראש הממשלה חייב לחזור בו מדבריו באופן חד וברור. אני מבקש לחזק שוב את כל המשרתים - מכל מקום. בזכותכם - אנחנו ננצח.
— בני גנץ - Benny Gantz (@gantzbe) November 5, 2023
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Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu from Otzma Yehudit was suspended on Sunday from government meetings after he said dropping an atom bomb on Gaza is an option in an interview to Kol Barama on Sunday morning.
Later on Sunday, an N12 report claimed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was convinced against Eliyahu by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who is Eliyahu's faction leader, who claimed in private conversations that firing the heritage minister is "unnecessary and disproportionate."
Despite his supposed suspension, Eliyahu was still able to take part in a vote put out to the ministers by phone as the meeting was canceled.
Go to the full article >>Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was convinced against firing the Israeli minister who claimed dropping an atomic bomb on the Gaza Strip "is an option," N12 reported on Sunday evening.
As per the report, Netanyahu was told by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who is the faction leader of Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu, that firing the latter is "unnecessary and disproportionate."
Netanyahu also rushed to deny reports that he was looking to "examine connections between the intentions of Hamas in Gaza to the reservist strike" that was carried out in Israel due to the proposed judicial reform prior to October 7.
"The prime minister said before the war that in wartime, everyone will show up for duty, as indeed happened," a Prime Minister's Office statement said.
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On October 7, Israel experienced the biggest attack and loss of life in a single day in the country's history, launching it into war against Hamas. At a time of such trauma and panic, the nation looked to its leaders to take responsibility, and many in the government and the military did, but most notably, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has refused to do so.
The prime minister has insisted on multiple occasions in which he was asked to take responsibility for the attack that his responsibility was only for the future and to see Israel through the war while also saying that he has no intention of resigning.
Netanyahu will need to regain the trust of his people in order to survive politically, and in order to do that, he needs to listen to their needs and follow the examples of all the leaders surrounding him.
Taking responsibility for his leadership failures is the first step in that direction.
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