Note to reader: We wanted to give you a trigger warning on what you may read below. We have chosen, as with every night of these briefings, to not share horrific images, however we want to alert you as sensitively as we can to the reports coming out of Israel and Gaza.
What you need to know today:
• Death toll from Hamas’ attack on Nova music festival in Re’im has been revised to 364 – an increase from 270; 40 abducted.
• Teaching guide found in Gaza school describes Jews as a “source of conspiracies”, their souls “afflicted with criminality”; teachers encouraged to “role play” abduction of Israelis.
• IDF destroys Hamas naval facility used by its commando forces.
• IRGC official: Israel “weaker than a spider’s web”; Israel-Hamas war a “historic battle”
Death toll from Hamas’ Nova music festival attack raised to 364
Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Lucy Frazer KC, has “been clear to the BBC” about the importance of accurately stating the UK’s “legal position” – that “Hamas members are terrorists”, according to the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Culture, Media and Sport, Lord Parkinson. He called Hamas’ attacks on Israel since October 7th “terrorist acts committed by a terrorist organisation”.
Former Attorney General Rt. Hon. Sir Michael Ellis KC MP has condemned the “failure of the Met Police to investigate [a] openly terrorist-supporting Socialist Workers Party pamphlet”. The pamphlet has allegedly been on sale during pro-Palestinian marches “every weekend in London”. Mr Ellis claimed the pamphlet includes a passage that the group “unconditionally support Hamas when it is engaged in military or non-military struggles against Israel”.
Conservative Peers condemn Hamas during King’s Speech debate
Defence Minister, The Earl of Minto, called Hamas October 7th massacre a “terrible, unprovoked pogrom against innocent citizens in Israel, the worst attack against Jews since the Holocaust” and emphasised the UK’s “unwavering support for Israel’s right to self-defence as well as the importance of adhering to international humanitarian law”. He warned against the “spectre of Iran” and the “aggressive intent” of its proxies, including Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen.
“Wars are not won by ceasefires”, warned Lord Roberts of Belgravia, before adding that “humanitarian pauses” must not “impede or hamper the Israeli Defense Forces in their operation to try to extirpate Hamas. Israel has the right to do that, and we should be on its side”.
Lord Leigh stated that after the horrors of the Holocaust, “the Jewish people swore: never again” before reminding the House that “nearly all the world…agreed that the Jewish people should be granted the right to live in a very small part of the land that some of them had called home for some 2,000 years”. Amidst pro-Palestinian protests outside Parliament, he condemned the “from the river to the sea” chanting “right now outside our House” and said it would “stiffen the resolve of the Jewish people”. He also pointed out “death to the Jews” and “Hitler was right” chants amongst pro-Palestinian protests.
Lord Leigh also commented on Tehran’s objective of a “borderless open war against Israel” and questioned the accountability for the “£30 million of humanitarian aid”, cautioning against Hamas’ misappropriation for the “tunnels right underneath Gaza’s al-Rantisi hospital”, “fuel to fire rockets” and “luxury living in Qatar”.
Lord Udny-Lister concurred that the “alarming” rise of antisemitism underscored the importance of the Economic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) Bill – colloquially known as the ‘BDS Bill’ – which “will be timetabled to progress with speed”.
Lord Vaizey recalled how his relative, who lived on Kibbutz Be’eri, hid 12 hours to survive the massacre, while Lord Dobbs conveyed the importance of differentiating “free speech” from promoting “violence, hatred and bloodshed” against the British Jewish community.
Baroness Foster spoke of how within “48 hours” after “one of the worst atrocities since World War II”, Iran had already “put the blame on Israel”. Now, “those 1,400 men, women and children massacred and the 240 hostages – some British, by the way – are rarely mentioned in the media and elsewhere”. The Baroness also said that “billions of pounds in aid has been siphoned off to buy weapons and luxury for those who supposedly lead them”. She asked, “why is the IRGC not a proscribed terrorist group when it is Iran that pulls the strings?”
Iran’s President celebrates Hamas
“There is no other way than to resist Israel, we kiss the hands of Hamas for its resistance against Israel”, said Iranian President Ebraham Raisi recently.
The head of Iran’s Quds Force, the expeditionary branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), pledged that Iran will not let Israel defeat Hamas in the Gaza war. However, he stopped short of saying Iran would join the fighting directly.
General Esmail Ghaani condemned what he called Israel’s “unprecedented brutal war crimes”, whilst claiming that the massacre of 1,200 Israelis on October 7th showed that Israel was “weaker than a spider’s web”. He called the Israel-Hamas war a “historic battle”.
Textbooks glorifying terror, mortars in day-care centre found in Gaza
Journalists accompanying IDF troops in Gaza discovered a Hamas-distributed teachers guide encouraging violence and dehumanisation. The school housed rockets and other weapons, according to analysis by the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-SE).
The teaching guide reportedly describes Jews as a “source of conspiracies” and their soul “afflicted with criminality”. Teachers are encouraged to “role play” the abduction of Gilad Shalit, the IDF soldier held hostage by Hamas for five years in 2006-11. The school, Sarafand Boys’ Elementary School, held numerous events glorifying terrorism. Posters of notorious terrorists and ISIS stickers were also reported.
Separately, mortars, guns, munitions and grenades were found today in children’s day-care centre, the al-Karmel school, in Gaza.
Explosives laboratory discovered in IDF operation at Tulkarm, West Bank
An explosives laboratory was discovered in a 15-hour, targeted IDF operation on the West Bank town of Tulkarm. The IDF arrested the Tulkarm cells leader who attempted escape using an ambulance as disguise. 1,700 terror suspects have been arrested in the West Bank since the start of the war with Hamas; many of those arrested are Hamas-linked.
Iran has been providing arms, logistical and financial support to terror cells across the West Bank – leading to the proliferation of violence and undermining Palestinian Authority control over the territory. 73% of Palestinians believe President Mahmoud Abbas should resign, according to recent polls.
In an interview this July, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) Secretary-General Ziyad al-Nakhalah said that with Iran’s help, the terrorist group has formed “combat battalions in all Palestinian cities in the West Bank”.
Tulkarm, together with Jenin and Nablus, have become well-documented pockets of control for Iran-backed terror organisations in the area.
Recent developments across Israel, Gaza, West Bank, Lebanon and Syria
The death toll from Hamas’ attack at the Nova music festival in Re’im has been revised to 364 – an increase from 270. The tally represents a third of the total dead killed in Israel on 7th October. A further 40 people were abducted.
Israeli police have reportedly concluded that Hamas terrorists were unaware of the music festival taking place until they came across it following their invasion, based on questioning of captured terrorists and the fact that no maps of the venue were found on them – in contrast to the maps of kibbutzim found on terrorists elsewhere.
Hamas launched a large barrage of rockets towards Tel Aviv today for the first time since Tuesday.
Israel’s Defence Minister, Yoav Gallant, stated on Thursday that Israel was pursuing the “next phase” of the operation in Gaza. The Defence Minister added that “the more we expand this operation, increase the pressure on Hamas and erode more headquarters, damage more tunnels, eliminate more operatives, and bring down more heads of organisations, the greater the chance of returning our abductees, because this enemy only understands power and we are explaining what power is.”
Israel has taken control of a Hamas naval facility used by its commando forces in Gaza. IDF combat engineers destroyed 10 terror tunnels and killed 10 Hamas terrorists in the operation. Hamas has invested heavily in naval terror over the past decade. Israeli civilians were killed on Zikim beach by Hamas naval cells on October 7th.
IDF soldiers raided a Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) stronghold in northern Gaza last night. Iran-made Badr-3 rockets (160km range), drones, and other weapons were found at the site. Troops also found assault rifles, explosive devices, RPGs, anti-tank missile launchers.
In the West Bank, the IDF pursued a counter-terror operation in Jenin, resulting in five Palestinian gunmen killed. Weapons were found and seven wanted suspects were arrested.
Hezbollah targets were also struck in the north, following numerous anti-tank missiles launched at IDF stations near Biranit and Rosh Hanikra. Syria stated that areas in Damascus were targeted by Israel.
