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 to Watch and Read Today
- FOLLOW: CFI Instagram and Twitter
- WATCH: Defence Secretary Grant Shapps, Rt Hon Sir Michael Ellis and Defence Secretary Grant Shapps, Greg Smith MP and Andrew Percy MP in House of Commons
- READ: CFI Chair Hilda Worth in the Times of Israel: Bearing witness to tragedy and resilience
- READ: The Times: First Hamas fighters raped her. Then they shot her in the head
- READ: The Jerusalem Post: Hostages given tranquilizers to ‘look happy’ upon release from captivity
- READ: The Guardian: Hamas drew detailed attack plans for years with help of spies, documents suggest
Defence Secretary: “I’ll move heaven and earth to bring our hostages home”
The Defence Secretary Grant Shapps has today vowed that he will “move heaven and earth to bring our hostages home” in an Urgent Questions session today in the House of Commons. “This conflict would be over immediately if hostages were released and Hamas stopped firing rockets into Israel”, he said, a point he restated throughout the Urgent Question session.
Shapps added that averting conflict was the policy Israel followed “for many years, hoping – even though rocket attacks did continue – that Hamas wouldn’t use their own population, take advantage of Palestinians, use them as human shields, build infrastructure under hospitals, schools and homes”. Shapps said that it was absolutely right to “identify Iran as behind this whole evil business”.
“It’s easy to forget how this all began”, which was when Hamas planned to “butcher men women and children, cut off heads and rape people”, said the Secretary of State.
“Behind Hamas sits Iran, behind Iran sits Russia, behind Russia sits China”, warned Rt. Hon. Tobias Ellwood MP.
Former Attorney General Rt. Hon. Sir Michael Ellis KC MP called the Houthis and Hamas “two sides of the same coin”, “Iranian-funded, trained and guided terrorist groups publicly committed to the destruction of Israel”. He said that UK assets are a crucial deterrent and welcomed the UK’s “deployment of drones” in locating hostages, including British hostages, held captive by Hamas in Gaza. He thanked the Secretary of State for his continual support.
Greg Smith MP applauded the Government’s “decisive actions to defend our strategic ally Israel against Hamas” but warned against Hamas’ continuation of firing of over “10,000 rockets since October 7th” and that it “shows no sign of stopping its violent attacks against Israel”.
In the House of Commons yesterday, CFI Parliamentary Vice Chair Andrew Percy MP said that “despite the first-hand accounts of survivors” recalling “mutilated genitals and women’s bodies having been so badly abused that their pelvises were broken — there are some in the pro-Palestinian movement who continue to deny that these atrocities took place. Whether we are talking about dead babies or gender-based violence against Jewish women, it appears that Jews do not matter”.
Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Michael Gove said that October 7th was “uniquely horrific”, “calculated, premeditated sadism”. He said that “there can be no quibbling when we face such a transparent evil”.
Yesterday, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State Lord Sharpe OBE called Christina Lamb’s article in the Sunday Times, which featured victim testimonies of Hamas atrocities, “very distressing and upsetting, but very powerful”. He asked why it took the UN “so long” to condemn the actions of Hamas. He quoted Professor Ruth Halperin-Kaddari, who said that, “we were there for our sisters when terrible things happened across the ocean, when they took away abortion rights in US, the killing of women in Iran, the abduction of Yazidis … but with us they looked away”.
The Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities: Havering Council’s decision to cancel their Chanukah festivities “wholly wrong”
The Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said that Havering Councils plan to cancel their Chanukah festivities last week was “wholly wrong”, and that “freedom of religion – the chance for us all to express our faith – is fundamental to British values”. He warned that “other local authorities should not go down that same route”.
Former Attorney General Rt. Hon. Sir Michael Ellis KC MP called Havering Council’s decision “appalling” and welcomed its reversal, yesterday in the House of Commons. “It is impossible to imagine any local authority in the country trying to cancel the annual celebrations of any other faith group”, he said.
CFI Chair Hilda Worth visits Israel to “bear witness” to Oct 7th massacres
CFI Chair Hilda Worth wrote in The Times of Israel about her visit to Israel with the United Jewish Israel Appeal (UJIA), where she met with victims of the communities targeted by Hamas.
Hilda met with survivors of the atrocities who survived brutal rampage, including from Kibbutz Be’eri who had witnessed atrocities, and Perach, an “85-year-old Holocaust survivor, who hid in her safe room for 48 hours”. Hilda hailed the “mobilised volunteering support” of civil society organisations who remained frustrated at the lack of support from international organisations such as the International Red Cross (IRC).
The CFI Chair visited Sderot, Kfar Aza and Netiv Hasara “to bear witness” to the Hamas-led attacks. She described “an apocalyptic nightmare perpetrated by deviants. The scale of violence is beyond comprehension” and added that “the smell in the air was something I had never experienced”.
Hilda concluded with remarks about the inspirational “cohesiveness”, “resilience and determination” of Israel, stating that “we need to stand side by side with Israel, unequivocally, and make sure we are a part of its future.”
Iran “bears responsibility” for Houthi terror group attack on UK-linked, international vessels – UK Government
“The United Kingdom condemns the attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea by Houthi militants”, a Government spokesperson said yesterday, adding that “Iran has long provided military and political support to Houthi militants and it bears responsibility for the actions of its proxies and partners”.
A series of attacks were launched against commercial vessels in the Red Sea over the weekend by the Iran-backed Houthi terrorist group, based in Yemen. The attacks “represent a direct threat to international commerce and maritime security”, according to the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) adding that the they were “fully enabled by Iran”.
Three vessels were struck by Houthi missiles, the “UK owned and operated” Unity Explorer was struck by missiles twice in two separate attacks on the same day. The Number 9, a “Bermuda and UK owned and operated” ship, and the Sophie II vessel were also struck by missiles on Sunday.
The U.S. Navy USS Carni warship intercepted three drones whilst responding to distress calls. No casualties were reported. “The United States will consider all appropriate responses in full coordination with its international allies and partners”, said CENTCOM.
The Houthi group claimed it had attacked two Israeli ships on Sunday. The IDF has said that the ships are not connected to Israel.
In November, the Houthis seized a vessel linked to Israel in the Red Sea off Yemen, and the terror group has launched numerous drones and missiles toward Israel since October 7th.
“The Yemeni armed forces continue to prevent Israeli ships from navigating the Red Sea [and Gulf of Aden] until the Israeli aggression against our steadfast brothers in the Gaza Strip stops,” Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree said after the attack.
Hamas tranquilised hostages upon release, so they “look happy”
Hostages were given tranquilisers such as clonex by Hamas upon their release, so that they “look happy” upon leaving Gaza and returning to Israel, according to Israel’s Head of the General Medicine Division, Dr. Hagar Mizrahi.
Mizrahi said Hamas’ crimes against their hostages such as “starvation, lack of medical treatment, and prolonged shackles,” are evident from examining the victims.
“Why didn’t the representatives of the Red Cross meet us? Why doesn’t the Ministry of Health issue an official report on the health condition of the abductees?”, asked Yordan Gonen, sister of the still-captive Romi Gonen who is being held by Hamas in Gaza.
Hamas used spies, says IDF
Hamas spent “years” obtaining information from spies within Israel’s borders in preparation for October 7th, The Guardian reports.
Analysis of phones, notebooks, and documents obtained from terrorists, the IDF have found that crucial information gathered by spies resulted in the organisation of the premeditated Hamas-led massacres of the 7th October. Detailed maps including of an Israeli military base, key targeting points to attack, sensitive security information and guides to hostage-taking and Arabic to Hebrew phrasebooks were all used by Hamas during the attacks.
Solar-powered transmitters and Israeli SIM cards were intended for a prolonged period within Israeli territory. Militants carried enough food, ammunition and equipment to last a number of days, and kept instructions to continue deeper into Israeli territory and even cities if the first wave of attacks succeeded, reported the Washington Post.
A 40-page “game plan” for the attacks was retrieved by the IDF, reports The New York Times. It has been revealed that Hamas were training along the Gaza-Israel border prior to October 7th.
Operational Updates
The IDF has entered Jabaliya, north of the Gaza Strip, on Tuesday morning. Jointly with the Shin Bet, commandos raided Hamas’ general security headquarters in Jabaliya, finding weapons, equipment and intelligence, according to the IDF. Israeli forces have also entered Shejaiya and have surrounded Khan Younis. Head of Southern Command Maj. Gen. Yaron Finkelman said that the IDF are seeing the heaviest fighting since the start of the operation over a month ago.
The IAF and Israeli Navy have continued strikes. Together with the Paratroopers Brigade, the Israeli Air Forces (IAF) struck an elite Hamas Nukhba cell. The brigade recovered a cache of rockets, the IDF reported.
IAF planes struck a number of Hezbollah targets in Lebanon today after the IDF identified several rocket launches from Lebanon that fell in open areas across northern Israel.
Rocket hits school in Tel Aviv
Rockets launched from Gaza have caused shrapnel to hit a Tel Aviv school, a main street and beach today, causing damage. Rocket fire continued to barrage Israeli communities, sounding alarms across southern cities and Beersheba. Large barrages targeted central Israel, and injuries have been reported in Tel Aviv and Ashkelon from shrapnel.
