Israel at War: What happened on days 35-36?

The IDF on Saturday expanded its fighting in the Shatti refugee camp on the outskirts of Gaza City, which is also near Al Shifa Hospital.

More than 10 terrorists were killed in the battles, according to the estimation of military officials. Hundreds of Palestinian civilians escaped from the refugee camp.

This is a developing story.
 

The Hamas-run Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip claimed that since the war broke out on October 7 approximately 11,078 Palestinians have been killed.

According to the ministry, the break down is as follows:

• 4,506 children
• 3,027 women
• 678 older adults
• 2,867 men 

This is a developing story.

The IDF arrested several Palestinians suspected of terrorist activity in the village of Beit Fajar in the Bethlehem area early Saturday morning.

This is a developing story.
 

The website of the well-known American newspaper The Washington Post removed a cartoon of a Hamas official who uses children as human shields and says, "How dare Israel attack civilians!" 

The removal of the cartoon was made because of claims that the cartoon was racist.

In the Washington Post's physical newspaper, however, the cartoon was published as planned. 

The cartoon shows the Hamas terrorist who "protects" himself with four children and a wife, while in his hypocrisy, he is furious at Israel for attacking civilians.

The photo, which was shared by Israel's Twitter account, can be seen below:

This is the editorial cartoon which the Washington Post deleted.

The cartoon by Michael Ramirez, titled “Human Shields” depicted a Hamas leader using civilians as human shields.

The truth might hurt, but it’s still the truth.@washingtonpost @Ramireztoons pic.twitter.com/ZG1dUbUKau

— Israel ישראל 🇮🇱 (@Israel) November 10, 2023

Motive behind the cartoon's removal

"The cartoon that Michael Ramirez drew regarding the war in Gaza and that we published in the Washington Post was seen by many users as racist," wrote the opinion section editor of the Washington Post, while explaining the reason the cartoon was removed. "This was not our intention. I saw the cartoon as one that focuses on a specific person, a Hamas spokesman who celebrated the attack on unarmed Israeli civilians. 

Palestinians fleeing north Gaza move southward as Israeli tanks roll deeper into the enclave, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in the central Gaza Strip November 10, 2023. (credit: REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa)

"However, the responses I received convinced me that I missed something significant and I regret it. Our section is interested in finding a common denominator that will connect us even in difficult times and therefore we have removed the cartoon. We will continue to present a variety of opinions in our section."

US Democratic Senator John Fetterman waved the Israeli flag on Friday in front of pro-Palestinian protesters who were demonstrating against Israel.

In response, protesters booed him, and some of them were arrested. The protesters chanted: "What do we want? Ceasefire. When do we want it? Now." One protester accused Fetterman of "doing a disservice in Pennsylvania."

The video can be watched below:

#BREAKING: Senator John Fetterman walks past anti-Israel protesters waving an Israeli flag pic.twitter.com/oo8IGqh4py

— Israel War Room (@IsraelWarRoom) November 10, 2023

A separate video taken that day

In a separate video taken that day, a US veteran asked Fetterman why he hasn't called for a ceasefire, to which the Pennsylvania Senator stated "I think you should be protesting Hamas. Why don't you do that and do protesting until we get the hostages back?

"That's my opinion and I respect your opinion," he continued. The veteran responded by saying that she's an American citizen, thereby asserting her right to protest decisions made by the US government, and asks Fetterman if he's okay with the number of Gazan civilian casualties - which, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry, is over 10,000 people?

US Senator John Fetterman (D-PA), chair of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Subcommittee on Food and Nutrition, chairs a hearing to examine SNAP and other nutrition assistance in the Farm Bill on Capitol Hill in Washington, US, April 19, 2023. (credit: REUTERS/SARAH SILBIGER)

Since the beginning of the war, antisemitism in the world has increased dramatically. In a horrific incident that happened a few days ago, a Jew was murdered by a pro-Palestinian protester in Los Angeles, after waving the Israeli flag.

Generative AI is at risk of falling into the hands of radical groups who see it as the perfect tool for producing propaganda according to experts from big tech firms quoted by a WIRED report on Thursday.

Traditionally such platform providers have used databases of known extremists, called hashing databases, to track violent and extremist content and can be shared quickly between platforms to remove the content across social media.

Adam Hadley, the executive director of Tech Against Terrorism explained that there has been a sudden surge in such AI-generated content, particularly surrounding the Israel-Hamas War since October 7.

“Our biggest concern is that if terrorists start using gen AI to manipulate imagery at scale, this could well destroy hash-sharing as a solution, This is a massive risk,” Hadley told WIRED. 

Hamas/Hezbollah using generative AI propaganda

“Give it six months or so, the possibility that [they] are manipulating imagery to break hashing is really concerning,” Hadley says. “The tech sector has done so well to build automated technology, terrorists could well start using gen AI to evade what's already been done.”

Injured Gaza baby photo which has been proven to be AI-generated. (credit: @AyaIsleemEn)

Examples of the type of content that has started to evade previous defenses are the Islamic State publishing a tech support guide on how to securely use generative AI tools, a pro-al-Qaeda outlet publishing several posters with images highly likely to have been created using generative AI, and far-right figures producing a “guide to memetic warfare” advising others on how to use AI-generated image tools to create extremist memes.

LOS ANGELES (JTA) — The Los Angeles charter school that stirred controversy at the synagogue where it is housed after first-grade teachers taught lessons about “the genocide of Palestine” announced steps on Friday to “repair this harm.”

Two teachers have been removed from the school and the principal has been placed on leave at Citizens of the World Charter School-East Valley, announced Melissa Kaplan, the school network’s executive director, at a press conference held outside Adat Ari El synagogue.

Hye-Won Gehring, the school’s principal, had relayed complaints from her staff to the synagogue’s rabbi about Israeli flags that were hung up on the campus after Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel, according to Kaplan and Brian Schuldenfrei, Adat Ari El’s senior rabbi. Kaplan said Gehring would be going on a two-week leave to “focus on learning how to combat antisemitism and engage in sensitivity training to learn from this experience.”

Gehring had sent an email to Schuldenfrei on October 16 asking how long the flags would be up, according to the rabbi. Kaplan called the question “insensitive and inappropriate,” and Schuldenfrei recounted that he had told Gehring her email was “offensive.”

“I told the principal that inquiring when our flags were coming down was like asking someone on Sept. 11 to take down their American flags just a few days later. It is painfully insensitive,” Schuldenfrei said during the press conference. He added that the principal had apologized to him, but that “this was not the end of the issue.”

Smoke rises over Gaza as seen from Southern Israel, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestinian group Hamas, November 10, 2023. (credit: EVELYN HOCKSTEIN/REUTERS)

Gehring made a brief statement at the press conference.

“I am deeply apologetic for my insensitive questions to Rabbi Schuldenfrei and how I mishandled this important set of events,” Gehring said. “I did not understand the impact of my actions, and I am committed to creating a safe environment for all of my students, including my Jewish students, staff and families.”

Kaplan, who was not made available to reporters after the press conference, acknowledged the “pain and distress” that many in the Jewish community are experiencing, and said she “deeply apologize[s] for these missteps” on behalf of her staff.

“CWC unequivocally condemns the social media posts by our staff members, including the use of the word ‘genocide’ to describe Israel’s actions,” Kaplan said. “CWC unequivocally condemns the disturbing suggestion that Jews should leave the region, and we unequivocally condemn any lesson that creates bias or fear among our students.”

Kaplan added that the findings of the investigation would be kept confidential, but that the community will receive updates as needed, and that the outcome of the process would inform any further consequences from this episode. She also said that CWC is coordinating with the Anti-Defamation League to train its leadership and staff.

During his remarks, Schuldenfrei shared the sequence of events that occurred at the school, saying that he hopes the incident can be “an educational moment.”

Schuldenfrei questioned why the content of the lessons was not reviewed, saying that the teachers “weaponized their role as educators to indoctrinate the youngest of children with a radical and hateful agenda.”

“We know what happens when a blind eye is turned to such hatred, and we will not cower in the corner while our campus and community is defiled,” Schuldenfrei said.

Schuldenfrei also referenced teshuvah, the Jewish idea of repentance, adding that he finds it “heartening to see Citizens of the World take these first steps,” and he reiterated his synagogue’s commitment to working with the school “to ensure that this is a learning moment for everyone.”

Rare for synagogues to call press conferences

In an interview with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Schuldenfrei acknowledged that is it rare for synagogues to call press conferences — an indication, he said, that “we’re living in rare times where we feel, unlike any other time since the Holocaust, we feel the pressure of this pernicious antisemitism. And we also feel for something like that to occur in our own backyard, we felt that we couldn’t simply stand by.”

Schuldenfrei said he is comfortable with the first steps the school is taking and hopes his community is, too. He also said he hopes this debacle does not dissuade future collaborations between Jewish and non-Jewish groups. He noted that his synagogue offers its space to church groups, Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and other non-Jewish events.

“We as Jews are proud Americans, and here at Adat Ari El, one of the holiest endeavors we engage is working with non-Jews,” he said. “We want this to specifically be a home to Jews, but we want this to be a campus that is of service to all of humanity.”

The final speaker at the press conference was Nick Melvoin, a school board member for the Los Angeles Unified School District and a Democratic candidate for Congress who is running for the district that Adam Schiff currently represents. (Schiff is running for a Senate seat that has a primary vote in March.) Melvoin commended the school for its efforts to respond to the incident and added that he will be bringing a policy package to the district’s board of education to address concerns of bias and antisemitism.

Melvoin said he would push for a comprehensive definition of antisemitism; a thorough review of curriculum to ensure that there is no bias; and the inclusion of Jewish experiences and antisemitism in diversity, equity and inclusion frameworks; and funding for students to visit Holocaust museums.

Columbia University has suspended two pro-Palestinian student groups — Jewish Voice for Peace and Students for Justice in Palestine — saying they violated university policies and expressed “threatening rhetoric and intimidation.”

The suspension runs through the end of the fall semester, about six more weeks, and marks a significant crackdown by the school on the two groups as campuses nationwide have erupted in debate, activism and occasional violence surrounding the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

“This decision was made after the two groups repeatedly violated University policies related to holding campus events, culminating in an unauthorized event Thursday afternoon that proceeded despite warnings and included threatening rhetoric and intimidation,” read a statement issued Friday by Gerald Rosberg, Columbia’s senior executive vice president and chair of its Special Committee on Campus Safety.

A spokesperson for JVP’s national organization said it was deferring to the student group to comment on the suspension. Columbia SJP posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, that followers should “stay tuned for an official response.”

The suspensions mean that the groups cannot receive university funding or hold events on university space. To be reinstated, Rosberg said, they will need to show “a commitment to compliance with University policies” and meet with university officials.

Columbia University student Jessie Brenner, class of 2026, speaks to members of the media during a press conference calling for the University's administration to support students facing antisemitism, in New York, U.S., October 30, 2023. (credit: REUTERS/JEENAH MOON)

SJP, whose national umbrella celebrated Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel, has been banned at Florida’s public universities as well as Brandeis University. This appears to be the first time a university has suspended JVP, a Jewish anti-Zionist group.

Calling for a ceasefire

At Columbia, the two groups have held a series of protests and other actions calling for a ceasefire in Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, and accusing Israel of “genocide.” Columbia has been a hotspot for campus activism surrounding the conflict, and an Israeli student was assaulted there in what police called a hate crime. Supporters of Israel have criticized the school for what they call a tepid response to the anti-Israel activism, and late last month, Jewish billionaire Henry Swieca quit the board of Columbia Business School, saying that the campus is “unsafe” for Jews.

On Thursday, the two suspended groups held a “die-in” in front of the school’s Low Library, and SJP put up a placard with a series of demands that the JVP chapter promoted online. The final demand, “No more dual degree,” was an apparent reference to the school’s undergraduate dual-degree program with Tel Aviv University.

Rosberg threatened anti-Israel activists with formal punishment on Wednesday, when a group staged a nine-hour sit-in at the Columbia School of Social Work that was promoted by SJP. According to the Columbia Spectator, the campus newspaper, Rosberg communicated through representatives that the activists were in violation of school rules and faced academic sanctions. The Spectator reported that Rosberg told the activists they were “interfering with the traffic of people who are trying to come in and get an education here and pursue their goals here in the School of Social Work.”

He added, “I want to say to you as clearly as I possibly can that what you are doing, all of you, just by being here, is a serious violation of our rules.”

The announcement of the suspension comes after dozens of national Jewish groups, campus organizations and state legislators signed a letter demanding universities withdraw their schools’ recognition of and funding for SJP following October 7. It also comes about a week after Columbia announced the formation of a task force to identify short- and long-term strategies to combat antisemitism at the university and its affiliated institutions.

“During this especially charged time on our campus, we are strongly committed to giving space to student groups to participate in debate, advocacy, and protest,” Rosberg wrote. “This relies on community members abiding by the rules and cooperating with University administrators who have a duty to ensure the safety of everyone in our community.”

One of my son’s close friends was fatally wounded fighting Hamas in Gaza this week. Yair Nafusi was his name. He would have been 21 next month. He was born on Hanukkah, thus his parents chose the name Yair, to “light up.” Indeed, he lit up many lives. 

As we said goodbye to Yair’s physical presence and buried his body, I felt deep reverence and gratitude to this young man who gave his life to protect me and the more than 1,000 people standing around his grave, as well as the diversity of people living in this country and Jews around the world. They count on Israel to be a safe haven. Especially in times like these. Violent anti-Jew hatred is very much alive.

The Oct. 7 “Black Sabbath” Hamas massacre triggered a deep fear for our survival as Jews — and justifiably so. What reinforced our fear was the hailing of that massacre by much of the world, including the progressive (even Jewish) left, as a necessary step towards “freeing Palestine.”

Like many of the thousands of victims of this massacre (some who died, some who were wounded, and some who will suffer trauma for the rest of their lives) and of the almost 250 hostages taken by Hamas, I am an activist who believes in a vision of Jews and Palestinians living on this land in partnership and peace. I devote much time and energy towards building a shared society among Palestinian and Jewish Israelis, especially in the Galilee, where I live. And I continue to believe in this vision. 

I also believe terror and war are not the solution to the ongoing conflict. Only once we all (Palestinians and Jews) recognize one another’s suffering, acknowledge the truth in both our narratives, and take responsibility for the conflict and its solution, will we be able to have a true and lasting peace. I recognize Israel’s contribution to this conflict, and I hold our current government partly responsible for the ‘“success” of Hamas’ attack, although certainly not for its brutality.

IDF soldiers on ground operations in Gaza, November 3, 2023 (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON UNIT)

The events that have unfolded since Oct. 7 have been eye-opening. My work building Palestinian-Jewish coexistence has always assumed partnership: a belief in the humanity and rights of both the Palestinian and Jewish peoples. That is why my novel, “Hope Valley,” about the friendship between a Palestinian and a Jewish Israeli woman, is told from their alternating points of view. 

And yet, when I watch the pro-Palestinian protests by “progressives” from London to New York to Washington, I see activists crossing a line from struggling for peace and Palestinian rights into promoting a hateful, terrifying, dangerous anti-Jewish agenda. 

It is a line crossed when they blame the conflict on Israel and Jews alone; when they call Hamas “freedom fighters” who were justified in using barbaric violence to achieve their goals; when they distort the complicated history and present reality of Israel-Palestine into a black-and-white story of white colonialist Jews invading Palestine to commit genocide on an indigenous Palestinian population.

It’s the same dangerous line crossed by those who say innocent Israeli citizens deserve to be butchered, burned, raped, maimed; who glorify Hamas as a progressive humanitarian group when its covenant specifically calls for wiping Israel and the Jewish people off the earth; who call Israel’s retaliation against Hamas “genocide” — as if the IDF’s intention is to wipe out the entire Palestinian nation. 

Hamas is no good for Palestinians and no good for Jews. It wants a fundamentalist Muslim dictatorship on the land from the river to the sea, devoid of all Jews. And Christians. And LGBTQ folk. It is no good for anyone who believes in democracy. It is simply no good for humanity. What Israel faces now in Gaza is a moral dilemma. Hamas wanted the IDF to retaliate so it could make Israel look bad. It worked. What Israel is doing is bad — killing thousands of innocent people, including children. But not evil. Hamas is evil. And while so many across the globe who promote Palestinian rights don’t want to see the difference, I do.

I do spiritual companion work for clients around the world, including liberal rabbinical students and rabbis. They report among some of their peers a lack of knowledge of historical and political facts about Israel-Palestine, as well as about anti-Jewish tropes and their underlying theories, that concerns me immensely. I grew up Orthodox Jewish Zionist in New York, where the Palestinian narrative was omitted from my education. That was highly problematic. But so is teaching only the Palestinian narrative, or not balancing the progressive world’s bias towards the Palestinian narrative with the Jewish one. Future Jewish leaders especially need to understand both narratives, and not simply go with the tide of the times.

Jewish rights are human rights

Human rights include Jewish human rights. It is possible to believe in human rights for both Jews and Palestinians. It is possible to cry for the innocent Palestinian lives lost in this war (from Israeli bombs, Hamas and Islamic Jihad missiles and Hamas using their own citizens to protect their terrorist cells) while believing in Israel’s right to defend itself against Hamas’ attempt at the annihilation of Israel and all Jews. 

It is even possible to demand from Palestinians truthful examination of their leaders’ culpability.

Devoting time and energy towards building Palestinian-Jewish partnership and fighting for equality, justice and peace, I have had to hold many truths. I have had to find a way to deal with feelings of guilt over Jewish Israelis’ part in the injustices inflicted upon innocent Palestinians (blame that must also be shared with Arab countries and Palestinian leaders) without losing my sense of self, self-respect and a belief in my right to live here, and even exist. 

It has not been simple, but it is possible. I expect my Palestinian and progressive Jewish counterparts to go through a similar process. Some have, but not all, and unfortunately the voices of those who have not are reverberating loudly throughout the world (ironically, less so in Israel, where advocates for Palestinian rights and a lasting peace more often hear and heed the voices of the “other” side). 

I do believe if we remove Hamas and replace our leaders — the Palestinian and Israeli leaders who stand in the way — with worthy ones who will talk and be willing to compromise, we can build a lasting peace. Then no more soldiers like Yair, or victims of terror, or casualties of war, will have to pay the price for our inability to do so.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of JTA or its parent company, 70 Faces Media.

A child is killed on average every 10 minutes in the Gaza Strip, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told the United Nations Security Council on Friday, warning: "Nowhere and no one is safe."

He said that half of Gaza's 36 hospitals and two-thirds of its primary healthcare centers were not functioning and those that were operating were way beyond their capacities, describing the healthcare system as being "on its knees."

"Hospital corridors crammed with the injured, the sick, the dying. Morgues overflowing. Surgery without anesthesia. Tens of thousands of displaced people sheltering at hospitals," Tedros told the 15-member council.

Israel has vowed to wipe out Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, after an October 7 attack in southern Israel in which it says the militants killed around 1,200 people and took more than 240 hostages. Israel has struck Gaza - an enclave of 2.3 million people - from the air, imposed a siege and launched a ground invasion.

"On average, a child is killed every 10 minutes in Gaza," Tedros said.

An explosion is seen near a tower housing AP, Al Jazeera offices during Israeli missile strikes in Gaza city, May 15, 2021. (credit: ASHRAF ABU AMRAH / REUTERS)

Since October 7, the WHO has verified more than 250 attacks on healthcare in Gaza and the West Bank, while there had been 25 attacks on healthcare in Israel, Tedros said. Israel says Hamas hides weapons in tunnels under hospitals, charges Hamas denies.

Israel's UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan told the Security Council that Israel had created a taskforce to establish hospitals in southern Gaza. On October 12, Israel ordered some 1.1 million people in Gaza to move south ahead of its ground invasion.

"Israel is in advanced talks with the United Arab Emirates, with the ICRC and with other European countries regarding the establishment of field-hospital and floating-hospital ships," Erdan said. "Israel facilitated the Jordanian airdrop of medical aid to hospitals in northern Gaza."

"Sadly, Israel is doing far more for the well-being of Gazans than the WHO or any other UN body," he said.

The United States is working to try and get fuel to hospitals in Gaza, said deputy US Ambassador to the UN Robert Wood, stressing that civilian and humanitarian facilities must be respected and protected under international law.

Hamas is using human shields

Wood said Hamas had been using civilians as human shields.

"These cowardly tactics do not diminish Israel's responsibility to distinguish between civilians and terrorists in its fight against Hamas," he said. "The risks of harm to civilians at sites that Hamas is using for military purpose absolutely have to be considered when planning an operation."

The Security Council stood for a moment of silence at the start of the meeting to remember civilians killed in Israel and Gaza, along with 101 people working with the UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA).

Tedros recalled growing up during war in Ethiopia, saying he understood what the children of Gaza must be going through.

"The sound of gunfire and shells whistling through the air, the smell of smoke after they struck, tracer bullets in the night sky, the fear, the pain, the loss – these things have stayed with me throughout my life," he said.