Israel at War: What happened on day 20?

Israeli air strikes have killed approximately 50 Israeli hostages, Hamas's al-Qassam Brigades spokesperson, Abu Obaida, wrote on the terrorist group's Telegram channel on Thursday.

On Wednesday, the Jerusalem Post reported that the IDF revealed Abu Obaida's true identity as Hudhayfah Kahlot.

"Al-Qassam Brigades estimates that the number of Zionist prisoners killed in the Gaza Strip as a result of Zionist bombing and massacres reached approximately 50 people," the Telegram statement said.

The spokesperson did not give any further details and the Jerusalem Post has not been able to verify the numbers.

The IDF Spokesperson's Unit declared that Hamas is continuing to prevent residents of the Gaza Strip from moving to a safe area on Thursday. 

The IDF Spokesperson's Unit conveyed that intelligence soldiers had appealed to dozens of Palestinians, calling them to evacuate, but the conversations revealed that the terrorist organization blocked the access routes to the southern Strip.

For example, in a recorded conversation distributed by the IDF spokesperson between an officer and a resident of the Gaza Strip, the resident argues that he cannot move due to Hamas's blockades. 

"All the roads are blocked," he says, "people are walking, and they are just sent back home. They are shooting at people who want to leave."

Following the attack, the IDF has publicly called several times for hundreds of thousands of Gaza Strip residents to move from the north to the south to maintain their safety from IDF strikes and the fight against Hamas as part of the "Swords of Iron" operation.

Roadblocks set up by Hamas on evacuation routes designed by the IDF in Gaza. (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)

According to numerous reports, many have already done so. The UN has warned Israel that evacuating nearly half of the dense population of Gaza would be a disaster and has called on Israel to retract this unprecedented order.

Here is the transcription of the conversation as distributed by the IDF Spokesperson:

Gaza resident: Hello?

Speaker: Mohammad?

Gaza resident: Yes.

Speaker: How are you?

Gaza resident: Yes.

Speaker: I'm an officer from the IDF, to ensure your personal safety, I'm asking you to head towards Khan Yunis immediately.

Gaza resident: Where to?

Speaker: Towards Khan Yunis immediately, I don't want you to endanger yourself, that's why I'm telling you to go to Khan Yunis.

Gaza resident: All the roads are blocked.

Speaker: Where you are now is dangerous. You need...where is it blocked? Who blocked the road? Hamas?

Gaza resident: Yes.

Speaker: What?

Gaza resident: Yes...correct.

Speaker: Where did they block the road?

Gaza resident: At Salah al-Din Street.

Speaker: Salah al-Din?

Gaza resident: Yes.

Speaker: How did they block the road?

Gaza resident:  They're just sending people back home.

Speaker: Are they putting up cars? Police or...

Gaza resident: Yes, yes.

Speaker: How exactly? Please explain it to me, did you see this with your own eyes?

Gaza resident: With vehicles...people are walking, and they are simply sent back home.

Speaker: How did they block the road? Please explain it to me.

Gaza resident: They are shooting at people.

Speaker: What are they shooting? They are shooting at people who want to leave?

Gaza resident: Yes, yes, yes.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid presented an eight-part plan on Thursday that he encouraged the government to follow to better care for civilians affected by Israel's war with Hamas.

The first thing Lapid encouraged the government to do was have better communication with its citizens. Lapid said the government ought to appoint an official spokesperson for the public who updates them daily.

For evacuees, Lapid said a plan to assist them had to be presented to them immediately. The budget for this should be under the responsibility of the local authorities while housing solutions and more rehabilitation grants should be made available to them immediately.

Next, Lapid said the small and medium-sized businesses had to be supplied with economic assurances, allowances, and flexible grants.

Fourth, Lapid suggested flexible economic allowances for families of reserve soldiers who were called up.

Yesh Atid head MK Yair Lapid speaks during a press conference in Tel Aviv on October 19, 2023. (credit: TOMER NEUBERG/FLASH90)

Lapid: more mental health care for all ages

Lapid's next suggestion pertained to the education system and it included the optimal education routine with emotional support for the children, and the Yesh Atid leader said there had to be an emphasis on supplying evacuated children with education routines.

A wider set of solutions for mental health was next and included enlisting more therapists and transferring the responsibility and budget for them to local authorities.

Strengthening Israelis' sense of personal safety was next with Lapid suggesting reorganizing local security, including emergency response teams, expanding Israel Police and more work that would be coordinated with the local authorities, the Home Front Command, and the National Security Ministry.

Finally, Lapid urged the government to shut down redundant ministries and transfer their budgets along with coalition funds to the needs of the war and supporting local authorities.

In the midst of countless battles against Hamas, Roka would often refuse to leave the top floor of their home in Kibbutz Kissufim, even during missile attacks.

But this time, as terrorists infiltrated the surrounding settlements, Roka and her husband Israel were caught in the crossfire.

Roka did not survive the inferno

"Her last message to me was 'summarizing 76'," says their daughter Einat Holti Efron. "I responded, 'why not 96,' and she laughed." But Roka did not survive the inferno, leaving Israel to witness the horrific sight of her body being set ablaze by Hamas terrorists.

Israel and Roka had been living in separate houses in Kibbutz Kissufim for the past few years. Roka had initially come to the kibbutz as a soldier-teacher and later settled there with her family.

"They quickly realized they were under attack," Einat tells Walla!. "It caught them by surprise, and my father debated whether to step outside. I managed to speak to my mother when she was at the hospital. My father had described the previous evening as one of the best days of her life. I messaged her about the situation, and she responded with a sticker that said 'oy vey zmir.' They didn't fully grasp the gravity of the situation." 

(credit: COURTESY OF FAMILY)

However, as communication, electricity, and cell phone reception were cut off in Kissufim, Einat's messages did not reach her parents.

How long could rescue take?

"We were told that a rescue mission had begun. They didn't mention any fighting, just the rescue, so we thought it was all over. How long could a rescue take?"

Einat's father returned home but rested, while she sent her husband to Urim as they were being evacuated. She warned her father not to go out alone, and though he hesitated, he ultimately decided to stay inside after hearing gunshots.

In the neighboring house, where Roka was, there was no response.

"The first rescue included older women and their Filipino caregivers, but not her. We thought maybe she hadn't heard or was waiting for my father, or perhaps she refused to evacuate," Einat recounts. "A neighbor who arrived in Urim informed us that my mother was no longer alive, but there was no official confirmation at that point."

Einat soon received news that houses in Kissufim were on fire.

"They began the rescue operation as fires broke out. The two adjacent apartments were successfully evacuated, but my mother and her family were not saved and perished in the flames," she reveals. "Meanwhile, my father spent over 24 hours in a protected area. He could hear terrorists speaking Arabic in the neighbor's house." 

Credit - Courtesy of Family

After agonizing hours, Einat finally received a message from her father.

"I realized that it was all over. How could they rescue everyone except him?" she wonders. "Suddenly, a messenger arrived. He had probably searched the house, and in my hysteria, I messaged him: 'Are you alive?' There was no response. It turned out that he had heard soldiers and escaped through the back door to signal them. They started spraying his house with fire extinguishers. He reentered the safe room and eventually made his way out through a window with a soldier's assistance."

Israel was desperate to know what happened to Roka and eventually learned the heartbreaking truth that she had been burned alive.

"He had a suitcase filled with his and his mother's medications. The suitcase was riddled with bullet holes," Einat reveals in a tearful testimony. "He insisted on finding his mother. They tried to dissuade him, but he began walking and eventually found her. What he saw... it's better left unsaid. They yelled at him that everything was collapsing and they needed to evacuate. 

Then, a soldier apologetically informed him, "I didn't want to be the one to tell you" (when he encountered Roka's lifeless body). That's when I received a phone call from him. He himself couldn't fully comprehend it. He had returned from the brink of death.

He told me, "They're taking me out, but I wanted to tell you that I'm going out alone."

The Jerusalem Post and OneFamily are working together to help support the victims of the Hamas massacre and the soldiers of Israel who have been drafted to ensure that it never happens again. 

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According to the IDF Spokesperson on Thursday, 224 families of Hamas hostages have been notified, bringing the number of hostages up.

This is a developing story.

Malaysia's communications regulator will issue a warning to social media firms Tiktok and Meta for allegedly blocking pro-Palestinian content on their platforms, its communications minister said on Thursday.

"If this issue is ignored, I will not hesitate to take a very firm approach and stance," Fahmi Fadzil said in a posting on X, formerly known as Twitter.

European Union leaders will call for the establishment of "humanitarian corridors and pauses" to get urgently-needed aid into Gaza, according to the final draft of a text to be approved at a summit in Brussels on Thursday.

"The European Council expresses its gravest concern for the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza and calls for continued, rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian access and aid to reach those in need through all necessary measures including humanitarian corridors and pauses," the text says.

"The European Union will work closely with partners in the region to protect civilians, provide assistance and facilitate access to food, water, medical care, fuel and shelter, ensuring that such assistance is not abused by terrorist organizations."

Two Hezbollah terrorists were killed by Israeli security forces, according to Israeli media citing Hezbollah on Thursday morning. 

Hezbollah has claimed that 46 of their terrorists have been killed since the start of the war.

This is a developing story.

The United Nations General Assembly is expected to call for a ceasefire to the Gaza war in a resolution slated for adoption on Friday which does not condemn Hamas for its October 7 attack in which over 1,400 people were killed and over 220 taken hostage.

The resolution was submitted by Jordan, an Israeli regional ally since 1994, which also has strong relations with the Palestinian Authority and has been a bitter opponent of IDF aerial bombings of Gaza targeting Hamas.

The UNGA debate preceding the Friday’s vote is slated to begin on Thursday morning in New York at 10 a.m., which will be 5 p.m. Israel time. 

The first four speakers will be the Palestinian Authority, Israel, Jordan and Iran. The United States is expected to be the ninth speakers, out of a list of some 106 nations.

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi has been in New York this week seeking to secure International support for a Gaza War cease fire.

Israel's Foreign Affairs Minister Eli Cohen speaks during a meeting of the Security Council on the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas at U.N. headquarters in New York, U.S., October 24, 2023 (credit: REUTERS/SHANNON STAPLETON)

“We are outraged at what is happening now in Gaza,” Safadi told reporters in New York on Tuesday.

“We need the whole international community to be outraged at the absence of justice. We must be outraged at our failure as the international community to solve a conflict that we all knew was going to get worse,” Safadi said.

Mass casualties - but are the numbers accurate?

According to Hamas over 6,500 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since October 7. Israel has not provided a casualty count, but deaths in Gaza were due to IDF aerial bombing and failed Palestinian rocket launches.

Saudi Foreign Minister Faisel Bin Farhan said that a “cease fire is a humanitarian imperative. We are facing a desperate situation in Gaza... Every hour we speak more civilians are dying.”

The ceasefire resolution also calls on all parties to protect civilians and to obey International law. It also demands that the good be allowed back into Gaza, particularly humanitarian aid. 

It also objects to plans to relocate Palestinians to territory outside of Gaza. Palestinians fear such a move would be a permanent expulsion akin to what happened in 1948 during Israel’s War for Independence.

The text does not reference the October 7 Hamas attack specifically nor does it detail its events, in which victims were burned alive, rapped and or dismembered.

Britain will convene a meeting of the government's COBRA emergency response committee on Thursday to consider its strategy and approach towards Gaza and the Israeli-Hamas conflict, Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden told Times Radio .

Britain is pushing for a humanitarian pause to the conflict, and for Britons in Gaza to be able to leave safely.