Israel at war: What happened on day 24?

Israeli Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan and his delegation wore a yellow Star of David at the UN Security Council meeting on Monday bearing the message "Never Again."

The Security Council dealt with the war in Israel and the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

"When Jewish babies were burned in Auschwitz, the world was silent, and today Jewish babies were burned in Be'eri and the towns of the south by the Nazi Hamas - and the world is silent again.

"I will make you remember the shame of your silence every time you look at me," Arden added. "I will wear the yellow patch until the Nazi Hamas is eliminated and until the Security Council stops being silent and condemns the October 7 massacre. Some of you have learned nothing in the last eighty years! Some of you have forgotten why the United Nations was founded. So I will remind you. From today on, every time you look at me you will remember." 

"When my grandfather and his children were sent to Auschwitz, the world was silent. When his wife and their seven children were sent to the gas chambers, the world was silent. When their bodies were burned alongside millions of Jewish babies, the world was silent," Erdan said, comparing the silence of the UN to the Hamas massacre on October 7 to the silence of the international community regarding the horrors of the Holocaust.

Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan shows a video on a portable device as he speaks to an emergency special session of the United Nations General Assembly on the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas at U.N. headquarters in New York City, U.S., October 26, 2023. (credit: REUTERS/MIKE SEGAR)

"If this council had convened in June 1944, it would have dealt with the amount of fuel the Nazis had and the high death toll Germany had compared to Britain. You would have called for a ceasefire even before the Russians took over Stalingrad.

"My grandfather's story is a horror story of another time. Of a distant time of unimaginable hatred. A time about which until three weeks ago we said 'never again'. But 'never again' happened again."

"Hamas, they are modern Nazis - from their appalling inhumane violence to their ideology that calls for the extermination of the Jews. Hamas is not looking for a 'solution' to the conflict. They are not interested in dialogue. The only solution Hamas is interested in is the final solution - the extermination of the Jewish people.

"Khamenei is the new Fuehrer" - Erdan

"However, Ismail Haniyeh - the leader of Hamas - is not Adolf Hitler. He is not the Fuehrer. He is not the leader of this death cult, which wants to rule the world. This role is played by the supreme leader of Iran, the bloodthirsty Ayatollah Khamenei. Hitler's Third Reich wanted to create a thousand-year empire spanning continents, just as Khamenei envisions his radical Shiite hegemony spanning the region and beyond. The Ayatollah regime is the Nazi regime of our time, and their army includes Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, the Houthis, the IRGC, and other jihadists. Instead of shouting 'Sieg Heil!' these radical Nazi Islamists shout, "Death to Israel! Death to America! Death to England!".

During Erdan's remarks, he also slammed the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to what the ambassador claims is his "biased attitude" towards Israel during the war.

"The antisemites saw that the council did not condemn the murderers, and heard the UN Secretary-General express 'understanding' of the massacre," Erdan claimed.

UN SECRETARY-GENERAL Antonio Guterres. (credit: Thomas Mukoya/Reuters)

Erdan also stated that the UN's silence has "emboldened our enemies."

"They saw that this council did not even condemn the Nazi murderers. They saw the UN General Assembly cheering efforts to prevent us from defending ourselves. They heard the Secretary-General express understanding for the Nazi massacre," he continued. "Now they know that slaughtering Jews in their beds is met with silence. They were so passionate about the silence and inaction of this organization that they can't wait to slaughter Jews themselves."

Erdan also said that "if Hitler had a Twitter account, it would look just like Khamenei's," and continues to say that "despite Iran's blatant Nazism and Islamic Reich ideology, the Secretary-General and UN officials still meet with Iranian officials without saying a single word of condemnation for their support of genocide."

At the end of his remarks, Erdan made it clear to the council members that despite their silence, Israel will continue to defend itself in the war against Hamas in Gaza: "The people of Israel are strong, we cannot be broken, and we are not going anywhere. Many have tried to destroy us, but we are here to stay. Israel will win, crush Hamas, and bring back the hostages."

The IDF destroyed the house of Salah Arori early Tuesday morning. He was the deputy head of Hamas's political bureau and responsible for some of the activities of the terrorist organization in the West Bank.

This is a developing story.

Natalie Raanan, a US citizen who was kidnapped by the Hamas terrorist organization and was held in Gaza earlier this month, has returned to her home in Chicago, media reported.

Both Natalie and her mother were taken by Hamas on October 7.

"We got the news that Natalie landed in Chicago and headed back home - together with her family members, who've been anxiously waiting for her to come to Chicago," Consul General of Israel to the Midwest Yinam Cohen said in a statement to CBS 2.

At a meeting with Jewish leaders, Biden administration officials vowed to make a plan within two weeks to counter what they say is an alarming rise in antisemitism at U.S. colleges and universities since Hamas’ deadly Oct. 7 attack started a war with Israel.

The government officials, led by Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff and Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, told the Jewish leaders they would reconvene with them to lay out the proposal, sources in the off-the-record meeting Monday told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

Emhoff’s office, in a statement, said that “the administration will continue to engage with leading organizations and students to hear from them directly and take additional actions to counter antisemitism and hate.” Emhoff, who is Jewish, has played a leading role in the Biden administration’s efforts to fight antisemitism.

William Daroff, CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, said the Jewish leaders came away reassured.

“The secretary spoke movingly about the obligation that America has to protect the Jewish community, and specifically the obligation that the Department of Education has to ensure that Jewish students in both higher education and K-12 feel safe and secure in their educational centers,” he said in an interview after the meeting.

U.S. President Joe Biden participates in a roundtable with Jewish community leaders regarding the Palestine-Israel conflict, in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus in Washington, U.S. October 11, 2023. (credit: REUTERS/JONATHAN ERNST)

'Unlike anything I've ever seen'

Since Oct. 7, when Hamas invaded Israel, killing more than 1,400 people, most of them civilians, pro-Palestinian groups at a series of campuses have celebrated or endorsed the attack. At multiple campuses, Jewish students have been barricaded in buildings amid pro-Palestinian protests. Other Jewish students have been assaulted or engaged in violent altercations with pro-Palestinian students.

Participants told JTA that the 13 Jewish leaders present represented the religious and political span of the community — from Reform to Orthodox, from politically progressive to politically conservative — and yet presented a unified message of a call for action.

“I said, it’s no secret that I think that many consider me a progressive but in this moment, what we’re seeing is unlike anything I’ve ever seen, and it goes so far beyond criticism of Israel to very direct attacks on Jews and Jewish spaces, simply because they’re Jewish,” said Amy Spitalnick, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs CEO who has worked for Democrats and who launched her career with J Street, a liberal Jewish Middle East policy group.

“I’ve always been extraordinarily careful about distinguishing between criticism of Israel and antisemitism,” Spitalnik added. “This is not that. This is full-fledged, masks-off antisemitism.”

It was not clear what kinds of steps the Biden administration could implement to combat campus antisemitism.

Admin includes antisemitism in Title VI

Ahead of the meeting, the Biden administration outlined steps it has already taken, including having the Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security engagement law enforcement nationwide on the campus, local and state level; supporting Jewish, Muslim and Arab students on campuses around the country; and having federal cybersecurity experts reach out to schools.

The Biden Administration has also expedited an initiative launched just over a week before the Hamas attack to instruct federal officials to include antisemitism and other forms of religious bigotry as prohibited under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. That initiative was part of a broader presidential strategy to combat antisemitism launched in May, the first of its kind.

Sheila Katz, CEO of the National Council for Jewish Women, suggested that the initiative could be expanded from Title VI of the act, which bans discrimination, to include Title IX, which targets violence and harassment and outlines penalties for offenders.

Also speaking were Adam Lehman, CEO of Hillel International, who described the current campus environment, and Julie Rayman, the American Jewish Committee managing director, who outlined the effect the spike in antisemitism has had on K-12 schools. Other groups represented include the Anti-Defamation League, the Brandeis Center for Human Rights, the Jewish Federations of North America, the Reform and Conservative movements and the Orthodox Union.

Education Department officials have held roundtables for Jewish students around the country, and Cardona and Neera Tanden, Biden’s top domestic policy adviser, plan to visit an as yet unnamed campus this week.

Spitalnick said she hoped that the Biden administration would “leverage their bully pulpit and speak out loudly and clearly, showing up on campuses, making very clear that Jewish students are not isolated and alone.”

Over the weekend, anonymous antisemitic posts on a Greek life website threatened to “shoot up” the Cornell University kosher dining hall and kill and rape Jewish students. Police were called to the dining hall, and the campus Hillel warned students to stay away from it.

Sen. Chuck Schumer, the Jewish New York Democrat who is the majority leader, used his daily address on the Senate floor on Monday to say he was “sickened and frightened” by the Cornell incident.

“The incident targeting Cornell’s Jewish community is utterly revolting, but unfortunately, it was not an isolated occurrence,” Schumer said. “Across the country, on campuses and public spaces, the ancient poison of antisemitism has found new life.”

 Japan will impose further sanctions on a number of individuals including people based in Gaza, according to a statement released by the Japanese foreign ministry on Tuesday.

IDF fighter jets attacked infrastructure belonging to the terrorist organization Hezbollah early Tuesday in Lebanon, a military spokesperson stated. 

Weapons used by the terror organization were reportedly destroyed. 

This is a developing story.

Hamas Official Mousa Abu Marzouk said that the tunnels built by Hamas are meant to protect and hold terrorists, and not civilians, in an interview that was translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute.

"We have built the tunnels because we have no other way of protecting ourselves from being targeted and killed," he claimed. "These tunnels are meant to protect us from airplanes. We are fighting inside the tunnels."

The video was posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Monday, and can be watched below:

Hamas Official Mousa Abu Marzouk: The Tunnels in Gaza Were Built to Protect Hamas Fighters, Not Civilians; Protecting Gaza Civilians Is the Responsibility of the U.N. and Israel #Hamas #Gaza pic.twitter.com/LlIVcQX6dt

— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) October 30, 2023

Marzouk's statements were in response to questions about why Hamas constructed over 500 kilometers of tunnels, according to the interviewer, and have not invested that effort into constructing bomb shelters.

"Everybody knows that 75% of the people in the Gaza Strip are refugees, and it is the responsibility of the United Nations to protect them," he continued.

Hamas tunnel that stretched several meters into Israel and was discovered by the IDF near Kissufim forest. (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)

"According to the Geneva Conventions, it is the responsibility of the occupation to provide them with all the services as long as they are under occupation."

Tunnels constructed were also under hospitals, terrorists say

Marzouk's statements come a few days after two Hamas terrorists under interrogation by Shin Bet and the IDF admitted that Hamas terrorists have hidden under hospitals in Gaza, most notably Al-Shifa hospital, where their tunnels and operation rooms are also located, according to the IDF.

The two terrorists were captured on October 7 after the massacre.

The IDF killed a suspect who managed to cross into Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip on Monday night, a military spokesperson said.

There were no Israeli casualties in the incident.

This is a developing story.

National Unity Party leader Benny Gantz, the retired army general who, along with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, leads Israel's emergency war cabinet, posted an address on X this morning to both Jewish and Arab citizens of Israel, telling the Arab Israeli community that they are an "inseparable part of Israeli society," and recounting his meetings with Arab Israelis who risked their lives to save other Israelis during the attacks of October 7.

The address came a day and a half after police had to escort a group of Arab students out of a university dorm in Netanya, while outside, hundreds of Jews chanted "Death to Arabs" and "All the Arabs out," after claims that the Arab students had thrown eggs at Jewish children at a nearby synagogue.

פנייה ממני לכל אזרחי ישראל. pic.twitter.com/SOkWIVRwww

— בני גנץ - Benny Gantz (@gantzbe) October 30, 2023

It is still not clear how the incident started, but the result drew comparisons to recent scenes of anti-Jewish crowds across the world. "Cooper Union in reverse," commented the Israeli reporter Noga Tarnopolsky, invoking an incident in New York City in which pro-Palestinian demonstrators surrounded a group of Jewish students taking shelter in the college library. 

"Fellow citizens, Jewish and Arab," Gantz began, "we are in a war with those who want to destroy us, to hurt us, a murderous terror organization that goes against the ethics of humanity, the values of humanity, and also the values of Islam."

The minister went on to tell the story of Yusuf, a volunteer who drove dozens of Israelis from the south out of harm's way, while under fire. "I met dozens of Arab volunteers, alongside Jews," he said. "Paramedics, who rushed to save lives." Israelis' "destiny," Gantz said, "is shared." 

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Cabinet minister Benny Gantz during a press conference in the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv , Israel , 28 October 2023. (credit: BIR SULTAN POOL/Pool via REUTERS)

The speech, which went on for about two minutes, indirectly addressed vigilante violence and intimidation: "If there are minorities amongst the Arab citizens of Israel," he said, "who incite or act against the state, they must be condemned by their community, and the Israel Police and Shin Bet will deal with them with a heavy hand."

It is the "legal and ethical duty," Gantz continued, of all citizens of Israel to "leave that to law enforcement and them alone.

"It is important for me to say to Arab citizens of Israel: we are in a war for our home, and you are an inseparable part of it. Only together, with all parts of Israeli society, will we win, and will we bring better days." 

"It is important for me to say to Arab citizens of Israel: we are in a war for our home, and you are an inseparable part of it. Only together, with all parts of Israeli society, will we win, and will we bring better days."

Benny Gantz

Gantz also posted an address to Jews in the Diaspora

Gantz also posted a similar address late Monday night, in English, to Jews around the world.

"Like every Jewish generation," he said, "we find ourselves once again weeping for the murder of Jewish children. Entire families turned to dust at the hands of Hamas, a terror organization more despicable than ISIS."

My Jewish brothers and sisters -
As our Jewish and Israeli communities around the world are targeted and antisemitism rears its ugly head once again, this is my message to you: pic.twitter.com/QjuoTevXbV

— בני גנץ - Benny Gantz (@gantzbe) October 30, 2023

"But like every Jewish generation, we will outlive this evil too. The one and only Jewish state will prevail," he continued.

"As I speak, our sons and daughters endanger their lives to ensure our survival. We owe it to the Jew in Auschwitz crying for help. We owe it to the university student scared to wear a Star of David or speak Hebrew. We owe it to over 200 hostages sitting in darkness with nothing but hope to keep them warm."

We owe it to the children of am Yisrael who deserve one day to live beside their neighbors in security and peace," he concluded. "We will continue dreaming of peace, but we swear to deliver on our promise: the eternal, safe, powerful, one and only Jewish state is here to stay. Am Yisrael chai, forever."

The United States made clear to Israel that it was concerned about a shutdown of communications in the Gaza Strip, US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the UN Security Council on Monday.

"We've made this clear to Israeli leaders and we understand communication networks have started to be restored," she said. "This is essential. A shutdown of telecommunication imperils the lives of civilians, UN personnel, and humanitarian workers and risks exacerbating the humanitarian crisis in Gaza."