222 confirmed kidnapped.
4 hostages freed.
1,400+ Israelis (total) murdered.
51 police officers killed.
74% of killed civilians were identified.
4,500+ injured.
7,300+ rockets fired at Israel.
500,000+ Israelis displaced from their homes.
1 Jewish nation united in prayer, charity, and good deeds.
*Hostage & Injured Updates:*
In a first conversation with the media, the abductee Yochaved Lifshitz, who was released last night by Hamas, told the media, “I went through a hell that I never dreamed we would end up in this situation. The terrorists went on a rampage in the kibbutz. They didn’t distinguish between the elderly and children – they hit everyone.” About her time in Gaza, she added: “We walked for miles in a spiderweb-like tunnel in Gaza, my body started to ache. They said they believed in the Koran and would not harm us, but then they beat us with sticks.”
Israel’s Ambassador to the United States, Michael Herzog, met with a pair of senior International Red Cross officials in Washington, and urged them to work to secure the release of the roughly 220 hostages. He also gave them thousands of birthday cards from Israelis that were sent to Ohad Zichri, an Israeli boy who turned nine yesterday while in Hamas captivity, and demanded that they deliver the cards to Ohad.
The Ministry of Health updates that 278 of the war wounded are still hospitalized in the various hospitals throughout the country. The condition of 40 of the hospitalized is defined as severe, 164 moderate and 74 mild.
Senior ZAKA volunteer and spokesperson, Motti Bochkin, was hospitalized in severe condition after suffering from a heart-attack from 16 days of gathering bodies of kedoshim from the massacre. Please say tehillim for Mordechai Ahron Ben Golda.
*Gaza Front Updates:*
Long-range rocket fire from Gaza increased today compared to the last few days. A massive barrage of rockets and missiles towards the center of Israel made multiple hits, in Holon, Be’er Yaakov, and Rishon Letziyon, injuring 5 people, including two senior citizens.
Aside from small commando missions, the ground invasion hasn’t begun yet. Tensions are rising across Israel as everyone is both eager and nervous for it to start.
Prime Minister Netanyahu to the soldiers of the Yalam unit: “We are facing the next stage, it is on its way. Yesterday in our attacks in Gaza, we dealt the enemy the hardest blow he suffered in one day. We killed dozens of terrorists, possibly much more than that.”
The US sent senior army officers to Israel to advise the IDF on the Gaza ground operation plans, amongst the delegation is Lt. Gen. James Glynn, a Marine three star general who was involved in operations during the US fight against the Islamic State in Iraq.
Overnight on Monday, the IDF attacked and eliminated the deputy commander of the Nuzirat Battalion, the deputy commander of the Shati Battalion, and the deputy commander of the Alfurkan Battalion of Hamas in Gaza. In addition, more than 400 military targets of the terrorist organization infrastructure were destroyed, including a tunnel shaft and military headquarters.
IDF spokesman, Brigadier General Daniel Hagari, told the Palestinians in Gaza: “Hamas terrorists are hiding inside your houses, in the tunnels under your houses, and we will not stop chasing them from the air, sea and land.”
In response to Hamas’s demands, Hagari emphasized that “fuel will not enter the Gaza Strip.”
Midday, a Hamas terrorist cell attempted to enter Israel by sea in the Zikim area. They were immediately spotted by the Navy, who promptly took them out with help from the airforce and ground artillery. The nearby communities of Zikim, Karmia, and Netiv HaAssara were told to enter shelter until the IDF cleared the areas to ensure no terrorist was missed.
A fourth shipment of humanitarian aid entered Gaza. Local residents report that Hamas takes all the aid.
A hospital in Gaza claims to have run out of fuel, but there is apparently still sufficient fuel to launch rockets and power the underground Hamas tunnels.
*Northern Front Updates:*
Hezbollah continues to fire rockets into the far north of Israel. Several landed in open areas in the Golan Heights.
The IDF eliminated five armed terrorist squads in the Lebanese border area who were attempting to breach the border with bombs, and multiple terror targets.
*Judea and Samaria Updates:*
So far, since the beginning of the war, more than 860 wanted persons have been arrested throughout the Judea and Samaria Division and the Bekaa and Valleys Division, about 514 associated with the terrorist organization Hamas.
Last night IDF security forces arrested 32 people wanted for involvement in terrorist activities. Among those arrested are 18 Hamas operatives, including a senior member of the organization who was arrested in Kfar Yavd.
*International Updates:*
The USA is offering a $10 million award for information on Hamas military commander, Salah Arori, who has been directing attacks from hiding in a foreign country.
The Central Command of the US Army said that last night it destroyed two UAVs that were on their way towards its forces and the NATO forces in southern Syria – before they reached their target. According to announcements, necessary steps are being taken to protect the troops.
Saudi Arabia is evacuating their embassy staff from Beirut, Lebanon.
The UN secretary general, António Guterres, called for a humanitarian cease-fire in an address to the UN Security Council, saying that it was important to recognize that the attacks by Hamas “did not happen in a vacuum” and Palestinians had been subjected to 56 years of “suffocating occupation.” The Israeli ambassador to the UN expressed outrage and called for him to resign, exclaiming that “his words constitute incitement to murder and terrorism.” Foreign Minister Cohen cancelled his meeting with him.
In a statement to the media that Benjamin Netanyahu delivered alongside French President Emmanuel Macron, the Prime Minister said that “the public in Israel will not live with an ISIS affiliate next to them.”
Macron said: “France is crying for the young lives taken by Hamas. We will act together against this terrorism – as we acted against ISIS”
*General Updates:*
Three hospitals were given emergency permits to open new wards with bomb shelters.
Arab-Israeli actress, Maysa Abdelhadi, was arrested after expressing support for Hamas and terrorism on social media.
A delegation of Chabad rabbis from America, Canada, and Australia arrived in Israel on Monday and have been uplifting Israelis and soldiers where it’s needed most. Read about it in the comments.
©Bruria Efune