CFI Parliamentary Chairman (Lords) Rt. Hon. The Lord Pickles and CFI Honorary President Lord Polak CBE have condemned the Labour Government’s decision to enforce a limited arms embargo on Israel, announced by Foreign Secretary David Lammy today.
Around 30 arms export licenses will be suspended, relating to aircraft, drones, helicopters, ground targeting equipment and other “items which could be used in the current conflict in Gaza”.
The Conservative Peers stated: “The Labour Government’s arms embargo will embolden Hamas, a terror group engaged in a ruthless war with our democratic ally. It is appalling timing to make it days after the execution-style killing of six Israeli hostages. It will encourage Hamas’ obduracy in resisting a hostage deal”,
“Labour has abandoned Israel and destroyed our international status as a trusted defence partner”, they added.
Responding to the Foreign Secretary’s statement in the House of Commons today, Shadow Foreign Secretary Andrew Mitchell said that the Conservative Party’s support for Israel is “rock solid”.
“The onus is on Hamas, they are using the Palestinian people as human shields. Hamas has no humanity and it has no shame”, he stated, saying that the terror group “inflicts terrible suffering on both the Israeli and Palestinian people”.
Rt. Hon. Sir Julian Lewis MP asked the Foreign Secretary to ensure that the Labour Government’s decision “will not in any way impair the valuable cooperation between Israel and the United Kingdom where the sharing about intelligence about international terrorist activity is concerned”.
IDF recovers bodies of six young Israeli hostages executed by Hamas in recent days
The bodies of six young Israeli hostages were found and recovered by the IDF in Gaza over the
weekend.
The IDF confirmed that the hostages were murdered by Hamas terrorists shortly before Israeli soldiers located their bodies in a tunnel in Rafah, with autopsies revealing that they were shot multiple times at close range, 48-72 hours earlier.
Carmel Gat, 40, Eden Yerushalmi, 24, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, Russian-Israeli Alexander Lobanov, 33, Almog Sarusi, 27, and Ori Danino, 25, were kidnapped alive by Hamas on 7th October and held hostage in Gaza for over ten months before being killed. Gat was kidnapped from Kibbutz Be’eri, while the other five hostages were abducted from the Nova music festival.
IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said that Israeli troops had been “operating carefully even more than usual, because of the understanding that additional hostages might be in the area”, after the hostage Farhan al-Qadi was rescued several days prior. The murdered hostages were found about a kilometre from where al-Qadi was rescued.
The IDF battled Hamas terrorists in the area above the tunnel, but there were no clashes inside the tunnel as the terrorists had likely fled after murdering the six hostages.
Israeli-US citizen Hersh Goldberg-Polin was abducted by Hamas from the Nova festival, which he attended with his best friend after telling his family that he was going camping. His last words to his parents were sent on WhatsApp, writing that he loved them and that he was “sorry”. Goldberg-Polin’s arm was blown off from the elbow when Hamas terrorists threw grenades into a shelter, before he was abducted.
Carmel Gat was captured by Hamas from Kibbutz Be’eri, when terrorists killed her mother and took her brother, sister-in-law and niece hostage. While her brother and three-year old daughter escaped on 7th October, Carmel’s sister-in-law was captured and freed on 29th November during the last hostage deal. Carmel worked as an occupational therapist in Tel Aviv.
Alex Lobanov was working as Head Barman at the Nova festival when he was kidnapped on 7th October. His wife was five months pregnant with their second child at the time of his abduction by Hamas. Alex took care of his disabled parents in Ashkelon, where he lived.
Eden Yerushalmi fled from the Nova festival and called her sister during the attack, staying on the phone as she hid in a car with friends who had been murdered, pretending to be dead, then hiding in bushes until she yelled “they caught me!” before the phone went dead.
Master Sgt. Ori Danino, who attended the Nova festival when off-duty, initially escaped the attack but returned to help many flee the rave, filling separate vehicles with as many people as possible. Ori was engaged and lived in Jerusalem.
Almog Sarusi attended the Nova festival with his girlfriend, a psychology student whose body was later found. Almog was captured when staying to help his girlfriend. He enjoyed touring the country with his guitar.
97 of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on 7th October are reportedly still in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 33 confirmed dead by the IDF.
Demonstrations took place around the country and hundreds of thousands of Israelis joined a one-day general strike called by the Histadrut union, with the aim of pressuring the Israeli government to accept a hostage release and ceasefire deal with Hamas.
26 gunmen killed in IDF West Bank operation
26 gunmen have been killed and another 30 wanted Palestinians were detained last week, during the IDF’s major operation in the northern West Bank.
The operation comes amid Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal’s pledge for a “return” to suicide terror attacks against Israelis in the West Bank on 28th August since the last “successful” suicide attack, a Jerusalem bus bombing, in April 2016.
Three police officers, Ch. Insp. Arik Ben Eliyahu, 37, Command Sgt. Maj. Hadas Branch, 53, and First Sgt. Roni Shakuri, 61, whose daughter was killed on 7th October, were killed in a terror attack on 1st September. Staff Sgt. Elkana Navon, 20, was killed and three others were also wounded in clashes with terrorists in Jenin on 31st August.
On Monday, a car bomb was neutralised by security forces at the West Bank settlement of Ateret, while two car bombs were detonated on 30th August in the southern West Bank’s Gush Etzion settlement bloc, wounding three.
Around 1,245 attacks emanated from the northern half of the West Bank over the past year, including approximately 255 “significant” attacks and around 435 attacks against IDF targets. Since 7th October, 29 people, including Israeli security personnel, have been killed in terror attacks in Israel and the West Bank, with another six members of the security forces were killed in clashes with terror operatives in the West Bank.
The Palestinian Authority – which administers governance of the West Bank – has lost control of cities in the northern West Bank including Tulkarem and Jenin, enabling terror groups to expand and strengthen.
In the 2-3 years leading up to Hamas’ 7th October attack, Iran funded and armed a complex network of terror organisations across the West Bank in a cynical attempt to destabilise the region. Israel has increased counter-terrorism activities as a consequence to try and ensure stability for both Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
Since 7th October, 5,000 suspects have been detained, and large quantities of weaponry, including IEDs and raw materials, together with millions of dollars estimated in cash, have been seized. Of the detainees, about 2,000 were identified as members of Hamas. During that period, the Israeli Air Force has conducted around 70 strikes in the West Bank, eliminating about 100 terrorists in airstrikes – a strategy used extremely rarely by the IDF in the West Bank, reflecting the severity of the threat.
The IDF has demolished around 29 homes belonging to terrorists since the beginning of the war. Some 670 West Bank Palestinians have been killed according to the Palestinian Authority-run health ministry since 7th October, with the IDF reporting that the vast majority were gunmen killed in exchanges of fire, rioters who clashed with troops or terrorists carrying out attacks.
Israel approves temporary truce for Gaza’s polio vaccination drive
Israel has approved temporary truces in parts of Gaza to facilitate a polio vaccination campaign, after coordinating the entry of over 25,000 vials of the vaccine, enough to immunise 1,255,000 people – over half the population of Gaza. 640,000 children under the age of 10 will be inoculated in the 9-day campaign.
COGAT, the unit of Israel’s Defense Ministry responsible for coordinating civilian issues in the West Bank and Gaza, confirmed that a vaccination campaign started on 1st September, and Israel’s Prime Minister’s Office added that Israel will enable a humanitarian corridor to allow the entry of aid workers and designate certain areas in which the vaccines will be safely administered.
The vaccination campaign is being conducted by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and UNICEF, in coordination with Israel.
Gaza Division probe: 6,000 infiltrated on 7th October
6,000 Gazans infiltrated Israel during the 7th October attacks, according to Israel’s new Gaza Division probe published on Saturday, doubling the previous estimate.
3,800 Hamas Nukhba terrorists were identified in the probe, with 4,300 rockets fired at Israel on 7th October.
119 breaches were found across the border fence, doubling the previous analysis.
