At the start of the war, IDF intelligence said it would take 18 months of work. The IDF quit tunnel destruction in February to focus on other areas.
Tunnels in Gaza are so extensive, dismantling them would take another 12 months
Oct 7 Victims Sue the UN, N. Korea, Iran, Syria in Court
When terrorist states are sued in USA courts, the terrorist states do not pay the fines. There is a fund set up by the US Congress which collects fees from Americans who have done business with states which sponsor terror, as labeled by Congress. Also, funds from terror states are sometimes captured and added to the fund.
At this point there are two lawsuits in progress. Victims and their families of Oct 7 are suing the UN agency for $1B for working to support terrorists; and in the second lawsuit, several billions are sought, if it is proven that Iran, N. Korea, and Syria, all state sponsors of terrorism, are found guilty of supporting Hamas in its training and equipment used against civilians on Oct. 7.
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Source: https://www.timesofisrael.com/october-7-victims-sue-iran-syria-north-korea-for-billions-in-us-court/
Hamas is losing the war, but makes demands as if they are winning
To lay this out one point after the other:
- Israel has proved that the UN’s UNHCR operation in Gaza has been involved in fighting against Jews, participating in the attacks of October 7th, posing as staff working for Doctors Without Borders, and brainwashing Gazan schoolchildren for violence;
- Israel has called for UNHCR to be dismantled;
- The nations have said that UNHCR cannot be dismantled without some plan for what happens the day after the war;
- In Gaza, Hamas has refused to discuss the “day after” plan.
For example, Hussam Badram has said that the Hamas leadership has “categorically refused at all stages of the negotiations to discuss the day after the war” in the Gaza Strip. Badram appears to make it clear that his statement has been coordinated with Sinwar, the Gaza leader of Hamas.
Hussam Badram was a Northern Samaria leader of a Hamas military group during the years 2000-2003, and like other Hamas leaders, now lives in Qatar, an ally of the US.
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Comment:
If Hamas is losing, and knows it cannot win against the IDF, why would they continue to act belligerently like this? It seems Hamas is confident that the nations has their back no matter what they do.
Hamas seems to think they can agree to a permanent ceasefire with Israel, maintain that ceasefire for years, break the ceasefire by surprise on October 7th, get a recognized state as a prize, and then launch further attacks against the Jewish state, agree to a permanent ceasefire…. You get the idea. Rinse and repeat.
Support our Work and Pray we can continue in Samaria.
Source:
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/hamas-official-calls-on-west-bank-palestinians-to-attack-israelis-slams-pa-for-cooperating-with-israel/
Fatah in Judea & Samaria has no unity with Hamas
30 June 2024, Samaria: Hamas has cells and agents in Lebanon, Syria, Judea & Samaria; its leadership is sheltered in 5-star hotels in US ally Qatar, while its military leadership and its remaining battalions wage war from Gaza.
Back in 2000-2003, Hussam Badram was a Hamas leader of the military wing in Judea and Samaria (aka West Bank); today, Badram is in Qatar. Just now, he has issued several paragraphs calling for Arabs in Judea and Samaria to fire upon Israeli vehicles:
“We are working to expand the resistance in the West Bank. I ask every person in the West Bank who carries a weapon, officially or unofficially, to fulfill his responsibility, because every person with a weapon in the West Bank can make a difference and have a qualitative impact,” says Hussam Badran, a former leader of Hamas’s military wing in the northern West Bank who orchestrated several terror attacks against Israelis during the Second Intifada, and lives today in Qatar. (Times of Israel, 2024-06-30)
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Every week, I see someone on the internet saying “Hamas is not in the west bank!” Obviously, they are in a Western nation and do not know much about the Middle East; but their motive is to falsely claim that the IDF is merely racist for arresting Hamas fighters in Samaria.
Not only is Hamas in the “west bank,” i.e. Judea and Samaria, but if elections were held today, Palestinians would vote for Hamas.
70% of Palestinians in Judea and Samaria agree with Hamas’ attack on Oct 7th, 2023. This agrees with the majority of the Gazan population.
The article further claims that Fatah and Hamas were scheduled to have unity negotiations this June in China, but these plans have fallen apart due to the lack of agreement between them.
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Source:
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/hamas-official-calls-on-west-bank-palestinians-to-attack-israelis-slams-pa-for-cooperating-with-israel/
Arabs ambush IDF troops in Jenin, Israelis raise funds for survivors
Commandos rented house in Gaza as part of an undercover operation to rescue hostages
Some had expressed concern that this was not wise to publish since Hamas could learn about IDF undercover techniques. I thought, if the IDF thought it was a dangerous story, it would probably not get out. Today we see it has reached the Jerusalem Post front page.
Jerusalem Post, 2024-06-16, pg 1.
At least the story might give hope to the people that the army and government are doing hard work to rescue the POWs.
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Four hostages rescued leaving 120 behind
This is truly amazing and heroic: “According to The Jewish Chronicle, a team of Israeli undercover soldiers rented a house on the same street that Noa Argamani was being held hostage, and stayed there for multiple days to gather intelligence confirm where Noa and 3 other hostages were being held.”
Scene: Arched footbridge which spans an 8-lane divided roadway in Tel Aviv. On the far side, Israelis are blocking traffic to draw attention to the POWs captive in Gaza. I took this from a window of a tall building connected to the bridge.
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Average Israeli Salary as of March 2024
The current median salary in Israel is 14,000 sheqels per month, and has fluctuated from 13k-14k ever since 2023. At a rate of 0.27 USD per sheqel 14k ILS equals:
$3,780 USD per month;
3,500 EUR per month;
Back in 2018, the poverty line was 7,000 sheqels per month. It may be 9,000/mo now.
$1,890 USD per month is 7,000 ILS (2024-06-05)
1,750 EUR per month is 7,000 ILS
$2,430 USD per month is 9,000 ILS
12,250 EUR per month is 9,000 ILS
See chart below:
Source: https://www.cbs.gov.il/he/mediarelease/DocLib/2024/167/26_24_167b.pdf
Israel placed 5th in song contest, out of 37 nations and 26 finalists
Outside of North America, Eurovision is a global annual song contest, with this year’s slogan, “United by Music.” Important to note that jury voters gave a ridiculously low number of points to the performance from Israel; Despite this, the public votes propelled Israel into 5th place. The jury awarded Germany (12th place) and Luxembourg (13th place) double Israel’s 52 points. However, the public proved their appreciation for the Israeli people, and for Israel’s songwriting and performance by awarding 323 points.
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Israel’s singer Eden Golan performed the song “Hurricane,” and passed all the rules for non-political messaging. Some of the song’s lyrics:
Someone stole the moon tonight
Took my light
Everything is black and white
Who’s the fool who told you boys don’t cry?
37 nations competed, but only 25 became qualified for the contest (Netherlands was disqualified for behavior after the semifinal).
Notable headlines:
Eurovision organizers rebuke [non-competing] performer who wore keffiyeh during first semifinal show
Notable Mentions: Croatia (2nd place) with the funniest lyric: “Hey, I’m a big boy now / I’m going away and I’m selling my cow.”
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Archeologists unearth abused skeletons under Hitler’s HQ
A wooden floor rotted away, and bodies of adults and children, no hands nor feet, no clothes, were found there in shallow soil. Where? In Hitler’s eastern front military headquarters, in Hermann Goering’s villa.
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Source: https://www.timesofisrael.com/skeletons-without-hands-or-feet-unearthed-at-hitlers-wwii-bunker/