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:
• Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office says “Hamas can have no future in Gaza”
• 24 hostages released from Hamas, Israel to release 39 security prisoners – many held for terror offences
• New research found that 75% of Palestinians across the territories support October 7 massacres, broad support for terror organisations and single state “from the river to the sea”
• International “silence” in face of Hamas crimes against women and girls “inconceivable and unforgivable” – First Lady of the State of Israel before the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women
• U.S. struck two Iran-backed terror facilities in Iraq yesterday
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: “Hamas can have no future in Gaza”
Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron met with Israeli leaders and gave his condolences to the families of hostages yesterday, after touring Be’eri – a southern Kibbutz devastated by the October 7 massacres.
“There’s a huge amount of trauma in Israel because of the taking of 244 hostages. I’m not sure anyone can fully understand and share that trauma, but I remember the worst days of being Prime Minister was when British hostages were taken in Syria, and so many of them lost their lives in the most gruesome, terrible fashion”, the Foreign Secretary said yesterday.
He also met with Palestinian leaders and aid agencies today, where he discussed the UK’s role in providing humanitarian support, according to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).
“We are clear that Hamas can have no future in Gaza”, said FCDO Minister David Rutley, in response to Parliamentary Questions yesterday. “Hamas does not represent the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people”.
UK, France, Germany (E3) raise concerns about Iran’s advancing nuclear programme
Amid increasing concerns of Iran’s support for Hamas and other terror organisations across the region; the UK, France and Germany (E3) gave a joint statement to the IAEA Board of Governors on Iran’s accelerating nuclear activities and implementation of its nuclear commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA or Iran Nuclear Deal) yesterday.
The statement listed a litany of Iran’s breaches of the terms of the agreement, including “its stockpile of enriched uranium”, now “22 times JCPoA limits” and called for “swift and meaningful further steps” to maintain “global nonproliferation architecture”.
Downing Street restates Government’s “disappointment” in FA
“There’s no room for equivocation when it comes to terrorism,” a Downing Street spokesman said, restating the Governments’ “disappointment” in the Football Association (FA), after Former Attorney General, the Rt Hon Sir Michael Ellis KC MP made clear his view in the House of Commons yesterday.
The FA has been “shamed by their antisemitic decision not to light up” the Wembley Stadium after the 7th October massacres, Ellis said.
The Telegraph outlined that criticism has been focused on a “willingness to light the arch for a variety of causes” including “the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Paris terror attacks in 2015 and campaigns to show support for LGBTQ+ rights during the World Cup in Qatar”.
“This was something that [the FA] had done before for attacks in other countries”, said the Downing Street spokesman.
24 hostages released from Hamas
13 Israeli hostages, women and children, have been released by the terror group Hamas and are currently with the Shin Bet. Their families are making their way to hospitals to greet the newly released, who have been held captive for 49 days.
10 Thai hostages, and 1 Filipino hostage, have also reportedly been released by Hamas and have crossed the border into Israel to be treated at the Assaf Harofeh Hospital in central Israel, Haaretz reports.
The Israeli Government is preparing to release 39 security prisoners – many held for terror offences – in exchange for the civilians.
“For too long, Israeli parents have had to live in fear of terrorists crossing the frontier and butchering their children. No longer. We won’t live with Hamas – to live with Hamas is to live in constant terror”, said Mark Regev, the Israeli Prime Minister’s senior advisor, on the resumption of conflict after the temporary truce which led to the hostages release.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told the IDF that following the short pause, fighting will resume “with intensity” for at least two more months.
International “silence” in face of Hamas crimes against women and girls “inconceivable and unforgivable” – First Lady of the State of Israel
The First Lady of the State of Israel, Michal Herzog, called the double-standards which international organisations apply to “Israeli women in the face of overwhelming evidence” “devastating” and called the organisations’ silence in the face of Hamas atrocities “inconceivable and unforgivable”.
November 25th is the UN General Assembly-designated International Day for the Prevention of Violence against Women. Share our infographic on X – formally Twitter – to spread awareness of the plight of Israeli women and girls this year.
“The Hamas massacre on October 7 deeply impacted our visceral understanding of the cruelty of gender-based sexual violence – and our faith in the international organisations that claim to care about women”, the First Lady said.
Women were the subject of some of the most heinous crimes against humanity during the October 7 massacres. “A Hamas video from a kibbutz shows terrorists torturing a pregnant woman and removing her fetus”, she stated. Others were gang-raped, mutilated and murdered. “Our forensic scientists have found bodies of women and girls raped with such violence that their pelvic bones were broken”. “Mass rape was a premeditated part of Hamas’ plan”, she added.
Palestinians overwhelmingly support terrorism and reject peace, according to new polling
New research conducted by the Arab World for Research and Development (AWRAD) found that Palestinians across the West Bank and Gaza Strip overwhelmingly support terrorism and reject peace.
The study found that 75% of those polled support the October 7 massacre, whilst 85.9% reject coexistence with Israel. A further 74.7% support the creation of a Palestinian state “from the river to the sea”, and 71.1% support a restored “historical Palestine” as a final resolution.
76% of Palestinians believe that Hamas plays a somewhat to very positive role, which rises to 84% when the same question is applied to Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). The Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, the terror wing of the governing party of the West Bank, are believed to play a somewhat to very positive role by 79.8%, which jumps to 88.6% for Hamas’ armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades.
83.1% of Palestinians from the West Bank support the October 7 massacre. That figure drops to 63.6% for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
New tunnel entrance discovered at Shifa Hospital
A second tunnel entrance has been discovered near Shifa Hospital yesterday. The opening emerges in a house doubling as a classroom.
“The evidence became so compelling [of Hamas’ military use of hospitals] that to reject it is to reject reality”, said Lt. Col. Richard Hecht.
Operational updates before the temporary truce
IDF Special Forces conducted targeted raids in the Shati area, destroying rigged buildings and seizing ammunition, explosive belts and grenades.
The IDF struck Hezbollah infrastructure after 35 rockets were launched into northern Israel. A surface-to-air missile was launched by the terror group last night, but was intercepted by an Israeli defence systems.
Col. Avichay Adraee said that at least 20 of the 30-plus rockets launched at Israel on Thursday landed inside southern Lebanon, causing damage to civilian areas.
U.S. strikes Iran-backed terror facilities in Iraq
The U.S. conducted two “discrete, precision strikes” against facilities in Jurf al-Nasr, Iraq, on Wednesday. During the operation, the U.S. military accused Iran of carrying out attacks on U.S. forces.
“The strikes were in direct response to the attacks against U.S. and Coalition forces by Iran and Iran-backed groups”, a U.S. military official told the Foundation for the Defence of Democracy. The attack is the second by the U.S. military in Iraq in 24 hours. On Tuesday, a Hezbollah militant was killed after attacking U.S. forces based at the Ain al-Asad Air Base.
Since October 7th, terror groups in Iraq and Syria have carried out over 60 attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq. They are almost all claimed by the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, or IRI, an umbrella movement of Iran-backed militias. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Core (IRGC) has played an active role in organising and supporting the IRI’s activities since its establishment in 2020, according to reports.
