IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari revealed a new and up-to-date photo of senior Hamas official Muhammad Deif on Saturday. The photo shows him holding a stack of US dollars and a plastic cup of juice.
Recent Israeli intelligence information was received that Deif's physical condition was functioning, and he is functioning well and suffers only from damage to his eye and a slight limp.
Hagari also said that "Hamas's military framework in the northern Gaza Strip has been completely dismantled."
This is a developing story.
Go to the full article >>IDF spokesman Brigadier-General Daniel Hagari said on Saturday that "Hamas's military framework in the northern Gaza Strip has been completely dismantled."
This is a developing story.
Salam Diabat runs an alternative medicine company near her home in Zarzir in northern Israel. However, since the start of the Israel-Hamas war on October 7, her client base has significantly dwindled.
“I have a visitors center where I used to welcome customers from Israel and abroad. Of course, now there is no tourism and no visitors, so I had to shut the center down,” she told The Jerusalem Post.
Moreover, Diabat noted that following the Hamas attack against Israel, anti-Arab prejudice has surged, and many of her former Jewish clients have stopped coming to her town.
Diabat is one of a growing number of female entrepreneurs, particularly among Arab Israeli women, who are struggling to survive three months after the war, according to Tsofit Gordon, CEO of Yozmot Atid, a non-governmental organization dedicated to assisting women from minority or underprivileged communities in initiating and advancing their small businesses.
Before October 7, Yozmot Atid helped thousands of small business owners with programs aimed at women from various backgrounds.
About half the women generally already ran businesses – such as in food, design, video editing, beauty or other crafts – the other half had an idea for a business they wanted to start.
When the women were accepted into the program, they would receive group training on running a business, from balancing their finances to marketing, sales, and navigating the bureaucracy and legal challenges in Israel. Then, they would be paired with a professional mentor, also trained by Yozmot Atid, who would work with them until they felt the women were on the track for success.
“About 70% out of every 1,000 women who start the program will open their business or put it on the right track,” Gordon said. “We know from all kinds of surveys that we do that the survival rate is about 70% three years after they complete the program.”
Arab society was always a focus for Yozmot Atid, she said, noting that the NGO had been working with Arab Israeli women since 2015. It also works with the Bedouin and Druze populations. The program encourages building a shared society, and often, women in the Jewish and Arab communities would be matched to create small partnerships, such that a Jewish restaurant owner may be encouraged to buy her kubbeh from an Arab cook or vice versa.
Soon after October 7, many of the women the program had helped were challenged. In Arab communities, as Diabat described, the number of Jews willing to come and shop declined, Gordon said. On the other hand, some Arab Israelis became hesitant about selling to or visiting their Jewish clients for fear they would be forced to discuss the war and their political opinions.
Gordon said Yozmot Atid developed a program to provide support for these women.
“We opened an emergency response program with several elements,” Gordon told the Post.
First, a dedicated call center operates several hours, five days a week. Female business owners can converse with one of the program’s business consultants.
Next, Yozmot Atid is aiding in navigating the Israeli bureaucracy so that the women in need can tap into the state’s business grants and other support.
Lastly, the program offers a series of webinars, workshops, and lectures, empowering these women to utilize this period for self-development or to make strategic shifts, such as transitioning from physical sales to electronic platforms, primarily if their business heavily relies on tourism.
Diabat said that during the COVID-19 crisis, she was forced to close her business for two years, and, back then, she never thought she would recover.
“Here we are again in such a difficult situation,” she said. “All the tours I booked for October, November, and December were canceled.
“It is tough to be a female small business owner in general right now, and even harder to be an Arab female business owner.”
She said she signed up for workshops and is using the time to help improve her business skills. In addition, she called for the state to provide more support faster. Loans, she said, are not the answer.
“How can I take out a loan?” Diabat asked. “I do not have any income to pay it back.”
But she also said that she believes this phase will pass.
The war against Hamas “will not be forever,” she said.
Go to the full article >>IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi and Shin Bet head Ronen Bar entered the Hamas tunnels in the heart of Khan Yunis together on Friday with the IDF's Southern Command as well as soldiers from the IDF's 98th division.
Halevi addressed the IDF soldiers and expressed his appreciation for them.
"This is a complicated fight," said the Chief of Staff. "We will make important and good achievements here. And you have a very big advantage over those who are fighting you: there is no place in the entire Gaza Strip that is as strong as you, whether that is personally nor with the equipment, abilities, or training."
"We will make important and good achievements here. And you have a very big advantage over those who are fighting you: there is no place in the entire Gaza Strip that is as strong as you, whether that is personally nor with the equipment, abilities, or training."
Herzi Halevi
The IDF and Shin Bet also eliminated Ismail Sarraj, the commander of a Hamas battalion, and his deputy, Ahmed Vahba. Sarraj previously served as a production operator of rocket weapons.
Later, the IAF fighter jets recently attacked two military compounds belonging to Hezbollah. The compounds constituted significant assets for the organization, including one that was used by the terrorist organization's surface-to-air missile unit.
This was shortly after Israeli forces attacked a series of Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon, among the targets attacked were infrastructure, a terror squad, a launch position, and an operational headquarters all belonging to the terrorist organization.
During the day, several launches from Lebanese territory towards the areas of Yaftach and Avivib were detected in northern Israel. Also, earlier today, a surface-to-air missile was launched at a remotely manned aircraft of the IAF in Lebanese territory, the vessel was not damaged and continued its mission. The missile did not cross into Israeli territory.
Go to the full article >>An uncrewed aerial vehicle launched from Yemen was shot down in self-defense by a US ship in the southern Red Sea on Saturday in the vicinity of several commercial vessels, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement.
No casualties or damage were reported, it said.
Go to the full article >>Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Hamas that it won’t find immunity anywhere was he swore to continue the war until he destroyed the terror group.
“Three months ago, Hamas committed a terrible massacre in us,” Netanyahu said in a brief video message he released on Saturday night.
“The government, which I lead, directed the IDF to go to war to eliminate Hamas, return our hostages and ensure that Gaza will no longer constitute a threat to Israel.
“The war must not be stopped until we achieve all these objectives,” he stated.
“We will not give Hamas immunity anywhere. We are fighting to restore security in both the south and the north.
"Until then and for that purpose, you have to put everything aside and continue with joint forces until the complete victory is achieved.”
He spoke days the assassination of Hamas Deputy Chief Saleh al-Arouri in Beirut last Thursday. Israel has been accused of masterminding his killing, but has not claimed responsibly for it.
Go to the full article >>The United States is working with its allies to see what can be done to protect civilians in Gaza as Israel's military campaign continues, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Saturday.
Blinken, on a week-long tour of the region, also told reporters in Greece that he wanted to make sure countries in the region were using existing relationships to ensure the conflict does not escalate.
Go to the full article >>The Israeli government is expected to approve a proposal led by Tourism Minister Haim Katz to establish an Exceptions Committee, which will allow Israeli refugees from the war with Hamas who chose a "return grant" and regretted it to return to a state-funded hotel.
Also, the decision will regulate the eligibility of soldiers and workers to receive a daily grant along with staying at the hotel.
IDF Lt. Col. Roee Yosef Yosef Mordechai, 31, from Tel Aviv, who was also a commander of a group in the Nahal Brigade, was killed in battle in the north Gaza Strip, the IDF announced on Saturday.
Go to the full article >>To mark 100 days since the start of the war, the families of the hostages are initiating a shutdown of the economy for 100 minutes on Sunday.
"Sunday will mark 100 unbearably difficult days in which the hostages are held in the inferno of the Gaza tunnels. We, the family members of hostages, together with the public that has given us strength, need the whole country with us," a statement issued by the families said. "Their time is running out. Our time is running out. On Sunday at 12:00, the economy will stop for 100 minutes in a powerful cry for the return of the hostages."
