Israel at war: What happened on day 34?

Palestinian Islamic Jihad is willing to release two Israeli hostages they are holding, the terror group's spokesperson announced on Thursday, according to Israeli media reports. 

The spokesperson said that an elderly woman and a child could be released. They were later named as Hanna Katzir, 77, and Yagil Yaakov, 12, both of Kibbutz Nir Oz. Yaakov was kidnapped alongside his father, his father's partner, and his brother Or, 16.

The Knesset raised the minimum wage for reserve soldiers to NIS 300 ($78) a day in a temporary provision that passed in a special Knesset plenum session on Thursday.

The wage was raised from NIS 215 ($56) and will remain at NIS 300 until the end of December or the end of the war. If the war continues after December, the provision can be extended with the approval of Labor Minister Yoav Ben-Zur, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

Sounds from an explosion were heard in the southern city of Eilat on Thursday afternoon. Police and bomb disposal units are currently investigating the situation and have closed off several roads in the city. Local residents have been asked in the meantime to keep away from the site. 

Initial reports suggested the explosion could have come from a falling IDF drone, potentially landing on a school.

This is a developing story. 

Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan told his Iranian counterpart Ibrahim Raisi that Ankara was ready to assume guarantor role to resolve crisis between Israel and Palestinians in Gaza, Turkish presidency said on Thursday.

Erdogan and Raisi met on the sidelines of a summit of Economic Cooperation Organization in Uzbekistan's capital Tashkent, according to a statement of the Turkish presidency.

8 Palestinian terrorists were killed in armed clashes with Israeli forces in Jenin on Thursday, with the IDF conducting multiple drone strikes in the city amid the clashes, according to Palestinian reports.

One of the drone strikes targeted a building in the West Bank city, according to the reports.

During the clashes in Jenin, the IDF reportedly dropped leaflets reading "the IDF remains here and will return again and again until terrorism is completely eradicated. Stay away from terrorism, live in peace."

Earlier on Thursday, the IDF entered the Jenin refugee camp, clashing with Palestinian terrorists.

During the operations in Jenin on Thursday morning, IDF engineering forces uncovered and destroyed dozens of IEDs and the IDF conducted a drone strike on armed terrorists who were targeting Israeli forces.

Over 1,430 suspects arrested in West Bank since start of war

Since the beginning of the war, over 1,430 suspects have been arrested in the West Bank, over 900 of whom were affiliated with Hamas.

State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman advised the government to withdraw NIS 2 billion from the dividends of government companies for war expenses and for residents of the south and north who were evacuated from their homes.

Why is this Kristallnacht anniversary different from all other Kristallnacht anniversaries since the end of World War II? 

The short answer is October 7, 2023, and Hamas’s barbaric, genocidal rampage against Israel. 

Dr. Robert Rozett is a Senior Historian at Yad Vashem's International Institute for Holocaust Research in Jerusalem. He is the author of "Conscripted Slaves: Hungarian Jewish Forced Laborers on the Eastern Front" (Yad Vashem, 2013), and co-editor with Dr. Iael Nidam Orvieto of "After So Much Pain and Anguish: First Letters after Liberation" (Yad Vashem, 2016).

תיעוד: חיילי צה"ל שרים "התקווה" על חוף הים בעזה pic.twitter.com/kk34blMAHJ

— החדשות - N12 (@N12News) November 9, 2023

The father of one of Israel's hostages currently being held captive in Gaza led a massive vigil to bemoan the 240 Israelis and foreign nationals taken captive as well as others under the Hamas terror organization's influence worldwide. The massive prayer event was hosted by The Jerusalem College of Technology (JCT) last Thursday. 

Zvika Mor, the father of one of the hostages, said at the vigil: “We don't have just 240 kidnapped Israelis [and others], but also eight million who are kidnapped by Hamas, which decides when all of us will be able to sleep peacefully at night.

“We need to be free people in our country - a country that should be free of shelters, weapons, border fences, and an Iron Dome. It’s noble to die for our country, yes, but now is the time for our enemy to die for our country.”

The event was also intended to pray for the safe passage and return of hostages, IDF soldiers, and the injured, as well as to raise the souls of those murdered at the hands of Hamas.

Families of hostages, students, and former JCT vice president Stuart Hershkowitz were all present at the vigil. Hershowitz read Daf Yomi, a daily page of Jewish learning that is frequently learned in groups.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry on Thursday said he rejects any attempt to displace Palestinians from Gaza.

Speaking at an aid conference in Paris, Shoukry also said that what Israel was doing went beyond self-defense.