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

The IDF's 7th Armored Brigade raided an office belonging to Muhammad Sinwar, the brother of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, and confiscated terrorist equipment and Hamas pamphlets, the IDF Spokesperson's Unit said Friday.

The 7th Armored Brigade also raided a military post and training camp belonging to Hamas in the middle of a civilian area in Gaza, finding dozens of weapons, missiles, drones, maps, communication devices, mortars, and technological devices.

The IDF has demolished the homes of the two Hamas terrorists who murdered Batsheva Nigri in a shooting attack near Kiryat Arba in August, the IDF Spokesperson's Unit said on Friday.

Nigri, 42, was shot to death in front of her 12-year-old daughter in August on Route 60 in the West Bank after hitching a ride from her Beit Hagai home to nearby Kiryat Arba. Nigri’s daughter was unharmed and alerted emergency services.

Some 59% of Israelis support humanitarian pauses in the fighting in the Gaza Strip, but only if Hamas releases hostages, according to a new survey published by Maariv on Friday.

According to the poll, 39% of those who supported humanitarian pauses demanded that all the hostages be released beforehand, and 16% demanded that at least some be released. Some 30% of Israelis oppose a ceasefire, whether or not hostages or released. Only 3% support an unconditional ceasefire.

Among Arab respondents, 41% said that they believe that any ceasefire needs to be based on the release of hostages. Some 32% of Arab respondents had no opinion on the matter and 6% opposed any humanitarian ceasefire.

The IDF has killed several commanders and terrorists from Hamas's Nukhba unit, which was central in the October 7 massacre, the IDF Spokesperson's Unit said on Friday morning.

The commanders included Ahmed Musa, the commander of the Nukhba Company and Omar el-Handi, a platoon commander who was entrenched in western Jabalya.

The IDF conducted an airstrike in Syria against the organization that launched a drone that hit a school in Eilat on Thursday.

"The Syrian regime is fully responsible for any terrorist act carried out from Syrian territory," the IDF said in a statement, and vowed to "respond severely to any attempt to harm the territory of the State of Israel."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday his country does not seek to conquer, occupy or govern Gaza after its war against Hamas but a "credible force" would be needed to enter the Palestinian enclave if necessary to prevent the emergence of terrorist threats.

Netanyahu's comments this week suggesting that Israel would be responsible for Gaza security indefinitely drew pushback from the United States, Israel's main ally.

Washington has said it would oppose Israeli post-war occupation of Gaza, where Israel has waged a bombing campaign to destroy the enclave's Hamas rulers after terrorists rampaged through southern Israeli communities on Oct. 7 in an attack that Israel says killed 1,400 people.

Speaking to US television's Fox News on Thursday, Netanyahu said: "We don't seek to conquer Gaza, we don't seek to occupy Gaza, and we don't seek to govern Gaza."

A Palestinian woman uses a Phone app that allows Gaza women to report domestic abuse anonymously, outside Gaza Women's Center in Gaza City May 31, 2022 (credit: REUTERS/MOHAMMED SALEM)

The future of Gaza

Netanyahu said a civilian government would need to take shape in Gaza but that Israel would make sure an attack like Oct. 7 does not happen again.

"So, we have to have credible force that, if necessary, will enter Gaza and kill the killers. Because that's what will prevent the reemergence of a Hamas-like entity," Netanyahu said.

Israel's bombardment of Gaza has killed more than 10,800 Palestinians, according to health officials there. A humanitarian catastrophe has unfolded as basic supplies run out and wounded people overwhelm a fragile medical system.

US officials say the Palestinian Authority (PA), which has limited self-rule in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, should return to govern Gaza after the war. Hamas seized control of Gaza from the PA forces of President Mahmoud Abbas in 2007.

Top Palestinian officials, including Abbas, say a PA return to Gaza must be accompanied by a political solution that ends Israel's occupation of territory it captured in the 1967 Middle East war.

Netanyahu said that after the war, "what we have to see is Gaza demilitarized, deradicalized and rebuilt."

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh told PBS this week the PA would not return to Gaza "on the back of an Israeli tank."

Fistfights broke out Wednesday night outside a Holocaust museum in Los Angeles that was screening footage of Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre of Israelis after pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrated against what they said was a “Gal Gadot military propaganda video.”

Several people were reportedly pepper-sprayed and detained by police following the Museum of Tolerance screening of “Bearing Witness,” a 45-minute compilation of footage largely from cameras carried by Hamas terrorists when they attacked Israeli civilians on Oct. 7. About 1,400 Israelis died in the attack and about 250 were taken hostage in Gaza, which Israel has invaded with a stated goal of demolishing Hamas.

The October 7 footage

An LAPD helicopter reportedly circulated overhead and ordered protesters to disperse. In footage of the confrontations circulating online, pro-Israel protesters sexually harassed a Jewish woman who demonstrated with pro-Palestinian protesters and accused her of being “Arab.”

The clash came days after a Jewish man in Los Angeles died after an altercation with a pro-Palestinian protester at a rally, the first known incident of a death in the United States related to protests around Israel. Police said they had identified a suspect but had not yet made any arrests in that case.

A SCREEN CAPTURE from video released last month showing a Hamas terrorist who was captured on October 7. (credit: IDF)

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass denounced the violence. “We cannot allow current worldwide tension to devolve into this unacceptable violence in our city,” she tweeted late Thursday. “This is a time of immense pain and distress for thousands of Angelenos. We must stand together.”

The film being shown, whose title is frequently used in Holocaust discourse, was first compiled by the Israel Defense Forces and screened for foreign journalists covering the ongoing Israel-Hamas war and siege of Gaza. The IDF said it undertook the step to prove that the Hamas atrocities had actually happened amid a rising tide of denial.

Critics of Israel’s war in Gaza say the film is being used to justify ongoing bombings there that some of them say is causing a “genocide” there. The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry says more than 10,000 people have been killed; it does not differentiate between civilians and Hamas fighters. Israeli officials have said the number killed could be around 20,000 but said the vast majority were terrorists.

The film has since made its way to the United States with the backing of some Jewish and Israeli entertainment industry leaders, including Gadot, whose reported involvement in Wednesday’s screening had been seized on by pro-Palestinian protesters online.

Dubbing the screening a “Gal Gadot military propaganda video” and a “Zionist trap,” some left-wing social media users encouraged non-Jewish protesters to stay away from the protest to avoid being labeled as antisemitic. A screening in New York earlier in the week passed without incident.

Gadot was not present at the Museum of Tolerance screening for around 200 industry professionals, though her husband, Israeli film producer Jaron Varsano, was. The screening was invitation-only, with industry reports deeming it the town’s hottest ticket, and its location was obscured from public view out of security concerns.

“You have a film that is being shown at a time when people are calling for a ceasefire,” one protester told the Los Angeles Times. “The screening is only for a few privileged people and it doesn’t lead to conversation.”

According to the Hollywood Reporter, several other notable Jewish and Israeli industry executives were present at the screening, including “Golda” director Guy Nattiv (who also helped organize it); “Pulp Fiction” producer Lawrence Bender; and Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz, who shepherded this year’s smash-hit “Barbie” movie.

Melissa Zukerman, a Hollywood publicist, identified herself as the main organizer at the screening and thanked a former IDF spokesperson for helping it come together. Gilad Erdan, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, also spoke, as did Rabbi Marvin Hier, longtime head of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, which oversees the museum.

A pro-Hamas organization in Italy has been claiming to be fundraising to assist Hamas terrorists due to the war between Israel and Hamas, but its ability to do so is now limited. The Charity Association for Solidarity with the Palestinian People (ABSPP) in Italy has been fundraising for Hamas activity, according to a recent report by Israel's Diaspora Affairs Ministry.

The Jerusalem Post has tried to proceed with donations through PayPal, an American multinational financial technology company operating an online payments system. Earlier on Thursday the payment through PayPal was available, but after an inquiry by the Post, the link stopped working, stating "This organization does not meet the conditions for accepting donations at this period of time." 

A PayPal spokesperson responded to the Post, stating: “PayPal devotes significant resources globally to combat illicit activities, including terrorist financing. Our team of financial crime experts use a combination of cutting-edge technology and manual investigative work to not only detect but also prevent illicit activity. We take this responsibility very seriously." They wouldn't relate to the fact that they have cut ties with this Hamas-affiliated organization.
 
Mohamad Mahmud Ahmad Awad Hanun, who established ABSPP, has been listed in Israel as a member of a terror organization, according to the Israeli Money Laundering and Terror Financing Prohibition Authority.

ABSPP was a member of the Union of Good coalition. The Union of Good was designated in Israel and the United States in 2008 as a terrorism enabler due to allegations of channeling funds to Hamas. In 2021, the ABSPP accounts were closed due to suspicious transactions.

The PayPal app logo seen on a mobile phone in this illustration photo (credit: REUTERS)

Shin Bet has investigated Hamas's 'charity' funding network

“Hanun posted in March 2019 that Abu Laila was murdered by the ‘Zionist-Nazi army,’” the report detailed, referring to Omar Abu Laila, who was killed carrying out a fatal attack on Israelis. It further described how Hanun eulogized teenage terrorists in Jerusalem through a song glorifying their violent acts.

Hanun also holds a senior position in the European Palestinian Conference, established by the Palestinian Return Centre, which was declared (2010) as part of Hamas's European section. Over the years, prominent Hamas figures, including Ismail Haniyeh and Bassem Naim, have participated and spoken at their annual conference. Senior members of the Fatah movement link the conference to Hamas and have called for its boycott. Furthermore, ahead of the conference held in Copenhagen in 2019, pro-Fatah Palestinian sources reported that Iran sponsored the event, providing 350,000 euros to Hamas's European leadership to fund the participants' travel, with Hanun being specifically named as the representative in Italy.

The Shin-Bet, an Israeli intelligence body, published a report in 2009, addressing what it called the formation of "The Financial Coalition," for Hamas, with its main headquarters situated in Saudi Arabia. This coalition, according to the report, has essentially established a diverse economic consortium that brings together various Islamic charity foundations and organizations operating across the Western world and in Arab countries. These include the Italian "ABSPP Foundation," the Austrian "PHV" and "PVO Foundations," the Belgian "Al Ikaz Foundation," the "Holy Land Foundation" in the United States (until its declaration as illegal in 2001), and many others.

The ABSPP also offers donations through Stripe, an Irish-American company, that primarily offers payment-processing software and application programming interfaces for e-commerce websites and mobile applications. Stripe hasn’t yet responded to the Post’s request for comment. 

Israel's Air Force used the 'Arrow 3' air defense system today to intercept a missile launched at Eilat by Houthis in Yemen. It was the first-ever use of the system, and came on the heels of the first successful use of the 'Arrow 2' system for the same purpose last week, which marked the first-ever instance of combat outside Earth's atmosphere. 

The 'Arrow 3' system, developed by Israel Aerospace Industries, a leading defense firm, is an advanced air defense system for intercepting ballistic missiles in space. In August, Israel announced that it would sell the system to Germany for NIS 14 billion, in what is to date the largest defense deal in Israel's history. The sale came amid Germany's decision to upgrade its defenses in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. 

The system does not use any explosives but rather relies purely on the damage done by interception. The Arrow 2, by contrast, carries a warhead that destroys the missile using an explosive charge. 

THE IRON Dome air defense system intercepts rockets fired from the Gaza Strip, as seen from Sderot, on Saturday. Over a thousand rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip, but the US wants Israel to stop. (credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)

Arrow system is top-tier of Isreal's air defense

The Arrow system of air defense represents Israel's 'top tier' for long-range missile interception. For medium-range, Israel uses the 'David's Sling' system, similar to the US-made Patriot system, which Israel also uses. David's Sling, made by Israel's Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, was jointly developed with the US, and has been sold to Finland. 

The 'lower tier' of Isreal's air defense is the better-known Iron Dome system, which has intercepted some 2,000 of the 9,500 thousand rockets launched by Hamas from Gaza since the outbreak of war with the terrorist group on October 7. Most of the rockets intercepted were heading for urban areas. 

These three systems, which together represent decades of Israeli air defense efforts, are integrated, so that Israeli defense forces can choose the appropriate system as soon as a threat is detected. Typically, threats from Hamas in Gaza are dealt with using the Iron Dome. The Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen, however, represent a greater challenge, with an arsenal of long-range ballistic and cruise missiles. Israel has used F-35 airplanes to shoot down a cruise missile from Yemen during this war. 

In 2021, Israel and the US began the development of the Arrow 4, to build on the success of previous Arrow systems.

 AMIR BOHBOT/WALLAH! CONTRIBUTED TO THIS REPORT.

The IDF spokesman announced this evening that fighter jets recently attacked terrorist infrastructure of Hezbollah in Lebanon, in response to launches toward Israel on Thursday. IDF forces attacked with artillery fire and the "steel sting" weapon.

Among the targets attacked, the IDF spokesman said, are terrorist compounds and infrastructure, observation posts and technology used to direct terror attacks on Israel.

Terrorists also launched an anti-tank missile a short time ago towards the area of Kibbutz Adamit in the Galilee. There were no casualties. The IDF attacked the source of the shooting with artillery.