Shalom all,

The testimonies of the returned hostages continue to reveal additional atrocities committed by Hamas and the other terrorists who were involved in the invasion of Israel and the massacres and kidnappings of October 7th.Or and Yigil Ya’akov are brothers who were held hostage by Hamas and were released as part of the recent deal that is now expired. According to an article appearing late last night in Hamal (= war room) News (in Hebrew), during their time in captivity, their legs were burned by the exhaust pipe of a motorcycle, so that they could be identified if they escaped. According to their uncle, they were also dragged from one place to another. The same is true for the other children. In addition, “Female hostages were kept in cages, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, a group set up in the wake of the attack, revealed on Monday.”

Award-winning journalist Almog Boker reported last night on Channel 13, one of Israel’s leading news stations, that one of the freed hostages was held by a teacher from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), based in Gaza. He was kept in an attic, was barely fed and his medical needs were ignored. In his blog post two nights ago appearing on “X” (formerly Twitter), Boker wrote about this situation and added: “But wait, there’s more! Another abductee was held captive by a Gazan doctor who, simultaneously, cared for children. These are not isolated incidents; these civilians are terrorists. Present at the Saturday massacre, they’re now revealed as integral to holding hundreds captive, including women and children.” 

As much as UNRWA has tried to convince the world that it was “uninvolved” in any aspect of the events of Black Saturday, that its staff had no knowledge of the whereabouts of any of the hostages and that its people didn’t know that Hamas was using hospitals for its militaristic and terroristic purposes, the facts reveal otherwise. According to survivors of the October 7th massacres, the border communities were attacked not only by terrorists, but by civilians from Gaza, as well, including women and youths, as well as elderly men. As reported by Boker: “these civilians are terrorists” and any attempt to separate the civilians of Gaza from Hamas is either an attempt at deception or the result of a lack of understanding of the dynamics and the mentality existing in the Gaza Strip.

For those interested in keeping up with some of the events relating to the “Palestinians” and those who work and/or align themselves with them, you can check the UN Watch, which also reports about the UNRWA’s activities in the Gaza Strip.

The “Deal” is over, the Fighting has resumed. As most everyone knows by now, the halt in the fighting, what some have mistakenly designed as a “truce”, ended early this morning. Even before the end of the deadline to extend the temporary ceasefire, Hamas launched missiles towards Israeli territory, in a severe breach of the Qatari-brokered agreement that resulted in the release of 81 Israelis and 24 foreign citizens. At least 13 women continue as hostages, along with dozens of men and male and female members of the IDF>
Hamas was given until 07:00 Israel time this morning to provide the names of an additional 10 hostages that were to be released today. If it failed to do so, the fighting would be resumed. Apparently, the terrorist organization did not believe that Israel would risk the lives of the remaining hostages by a resumption of the war. It even tested Israel’s resolve to do so by launching rocket barrages at border communities, extending as far north as Ashkelon.

The resumption of the war has upset relatives of the remaining hostages, who believe that by pursuing its original goal of eliminating Hamas and the ability of terror groups in the Gaza Strip to continue to threaten Israel, the country is abandoning the hostages. Some expressed concerns that the women who remain. “Yamit Ashkenazi, sister of captive Doron Steinbracher from the village of Aza, voiced her concerns at a press conference titled ‘The danger to women in captivity’. She said, ‘I was abandoned on October 7. Hostages were abandoned on October 7. I will not let them be abandoned again. More than 54 days that I don’t know what’s going on with my sister. What dirty hands are touching her? Maybe my sister is being raped? Maybe my sister was murdered? I demand and beg you, stop this demonic dance. Bring back our loved ones. It should have happened yesterday and it has to happen tomorrow’.” 

One of the senior leaders of Hamas said he doesn’t know how many of the hostages are still alive in Gaza, adding that was not even important. Speaking to a U.S. television network, Ghazi Hamad repeated the early demands of Hamas, that the terrorist group would agree to release all the hostages, IF Israel would release ALL “Palestinian” prisoners, estimated to number around 6,000.

So, if we are to understand this correctly: Hamas doesn’t know how many hostages are still alive, and from that, where they are, but is willing to return whoever is still alive for an estimated 6,000 people, many of whom have blood on their hands, as well as others who probably wish that their hands were filled with blood as well. Obviously, this proposal is a non-starter and Israel would never agree to it. But, having capitulated in the deal reached last week, which Hamas breached this morning, Israel demonstrated a willingness to sit at the same table with blood-thirsty murderers, who have no moral conscience whatsoever, and compromised on its principles and commitments to the nation. True, some hostages were released and for that we are thankful and we rejoice with those who rejoice. But, it was always known that the terrorists and those affiliated with them in Gaza and their puppeteer in Iran, officially and unofficially, would never agree to the release the members of the IDF, male and female, without Israel paying an exorbitant price and risking the safety and welfare of the nation by releasing multitudes of those who committed murder, or attempted murder, or who have planned and/or been involved in terrorist incidents. A week and a half ago, Israel faced a Hobson’s choice. It compromised and took what it could in terms of the release of some hostages, as opposed to continuing the fighting with no hostages being immediately released. By resuming the fighting, at least for now, it put as end to that choice and is pursuing the route to force Hamas, by military might, to capitulate to Israel’s terms. We thought that Hamas would act in a rational manner and adhere to the terms of the deal that was made. That was our big mistake. Hopefully,  that misunderstanding will not be repeated.

The Dry Bones Blog – November 16, 2023

Historical Input: In the aftermath of the October 7th slaughter and the fighting that followed in the Gaza Strip, Israel has been accused of “ethnic cleansing” and of causing hundreds of thousands of Gazans to become refugees. Faced with such claims, the Israeli government undertook to present an international awareness campaign yesterday, November 30th, the day when Arab countries, and Iran, carried out ethnic cleaning against the Jews, resulting in the departure and deportation of 900,000 Jews from Arab-speaking countries. As part of its campaign, the government launched a website containing horrific photos of pogroms against Jews, riots, hangings and executions, burning of synagogues and refugees who were deported with only the clothes on their backs, some carrying Torah scrolls. The Ministry of Social Equality and the Ministry of the Diaspora is working to upload a version of the site in English, and, eventually into Arabic. The present website has chilling photos of hanging Jews in Iraq, a mass grave for Jewish victims of riots in Tripoli, among a host of other photos. Even the New York Times has a photo from 1948, with the title, “The Jews are in great danger in all Muslim lands”. Other photos were taken after the Arab riots against the Jews in 1949 and still another photo that shows the desecration of the Great Synagogue in the city of Tunis in 1967. Israel wants to remind the world “that there is an absurdity in the fact that citizens in countries that abused, looted, murdered and finally expelled hundreds of thousands of Jews from their homes, turning them into refugees in the Middle East, are now criticizing Israel. According to the initiators, the world must know the story of almost a million Jewish refugees who found refuge and a home in the Land of Israel, and the world must know the numbers.” (Translated from an article in Ynetnews by Itamar Eichner in Hebrew entitled, “Don’t preach to us about the morality of deportation and emigration: The day of departure and deportation of Arab and Iranian Jews”). In June 2014, the Knesset enacted the “Day to mark the departure and deportation of the Jews from Arab countries and Iran” law. Its purpose, in part, is to raise awareness regarding the Jewish refugees from Arab countries and Iran. As Eichner stated at the conclusion of his article: “The Resolution of 29th November, 1947 [i.e., the “Partition Plan” – my clarification], was intended to grant to the Jewish people the opportunity to re-establish their sovereignty in their historical homeland. Not to invent a nation out of thin air – but to renew our days as of old.”

Bless, be blessed and be a blessing.

Shabbat Shalom,
Marvin