239 confirmed kidnapped.
4 hostages freed.
1,400+ Israelis murdered.
51 police officers killed.
74% of killed civilians were identified.
4,500+ injured.
8,000+ rockets fired at Israel.
500,000+ Israelis displaced from their homes.
1 Jewish nation united in prayer, charity, and good deeds.
*Hostage & Injured Updates:*
IDF spokesman, Brigadier General Daniel Hagari announced that the IDF has now identified and informed families of 239 abductees, among them quite a few foreign workers. “We will not rest until we understand what happened to your loved one.”
In a meeting with families of hostages, Defense Minister Gallant said not to believe Hamas’s claims; if all they wanted was a prisoner swap, it would happen.
According to Israel Hayom there are other international parties in addition to Qatar who are involved in the negotiations to release the captives.
*Gaza Front Updates:*
Hamas rocket fire continues, with hits reported in Ashdod, Herzliya, and Rishon Letzion. In Ashdod a 70-year-old woman was rushed to the hospital in serious condition, with a cerebral hemorrhage from an anxiety attack she suffered after a rocket fell near her home. Her condition is now listed as serious but stable.
The IDF continues to expand ground operations supported by the air-force, photos show IDF troops on the northern Gaza beach.
Since the beginning of the ground operations, three IDF soldiers were injured, two seriously, and one moderately. One IDF officer was seriously injured by an IED hit during the night’s ground operation in the northern Gaza Strip, and one IDF soldier was moderately injured in a direct encounter with terrorists in northern Gaza.
IDF spokesman Hagari: “We continue to expand the ground operation in a phased manner. It includes risks, and we will do everything to ensure the safety of our forces. We will pursue Yahya Sinwar until we reach him. The population of Gaza is already talking about the fact that Sinwar has brought disaster upon them, he is the man responsible for the destruction of Gaza, he thinks and acts as a murderer who proved to the whole world that Hamas is worse than ISIS.”
US officials claim that Israel is limiting the ground operations so as not to risk harm to the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.
On Sunday afternoon, a squad of Hamas terrorists attempted to breach the Erez crossing into Israel through a tunnel. They were immediately spotted, and a minor battle broke out, lasting under an hour, and resulting in all the terrorists eliminated, with no casualties to the IDF.
The IDF published an infographic of the 55 top Hamas terrorists who have been eliminated by the IDF and the Shin Bet so far. The Islamic Jihad announced that one of its leaders, Dr. Tisir al-Routi, was killed in an IDF attack in Rafah today.
Following American pressure, Israel agreed to restore the communication and internet lines in Gaza to allow the World Health Organization, the United Nations and other aid groups to communicate with their people who are in the Strip.
Additionally, US President Joe Biden urged Prime Minister Netanyahu that Israel must immediately and significantly increase the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. “Israel has the right to defend itself but it must do so in accordance with international law and while protecting civilian life,” Biden claimed.
Water supply to Gaza was increased. An Israeli source claimed that the increase in water supply to the Gaza Strip is intended to buy Israel more international credit and that the measure serves the military goals of drawing the Gazan population southward. He added that when it becomes possible, Israel will completely stop supplying water to Gaza—but at the moment the situation in the south of the Gaza Strip requires an increase in the flow of water to the population.
Residents in Gaza stormed warehouses and distribution centers monitored by the UNWRA agency in the south and center of the Gaza Strip, took out sacks of food, and began distributing flour and wheat. UNWRA warned of chaos, and said that “thousands of residents broke into the warehouses, this is a worrying sign that the social order began to collapse after 3 weeks of the start of the war on Gaza, the aid that is coming is running out and insufficient.”
At the same time, the New York Times published an analysis demonstrating that Hamas has a huge private supply of food and gas.
The Iranian Foreign Minister denied the claims of his country’s involvement in the Hamas attack.
Hamas official Musa Abu Marzouk: “There are members of the Palestinian Authority and some Arab countries who are secretly calling on the West to destroy Hamas.” (Shehab Agency) He “is also quoted saying, “We expected much more from Hezbollah and our brothers in the West Bank; we are shocked by the sad position of the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah.”
*Northern Front Updates:*
Rocket and missile fire in the north saw an increase today, with multiple terror groups claiming credit for the various attacks, amongst them Hezbollah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Al-Jama’a Al-Islamiya (a Sunni Islamist organization in Lebanon affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood), and Al-Fajr (affiliated with Hezbollah and loyal to the Muslim Brotherhood).
Falls were reported in Acre, an unidentified kibbutz, and Kiryat Shemona where a missile hit a home and set it on fire.
The IDF continued with a tit-for-tat method of only eliminating terror squads as they posed a direct threat to Israel, and terror targets in response to fire at Israel.
Hezbollah announced that their leader Nasrallah will speak this Friday. It will be his first speech since the war began, and apparently he still needs more time to prepare.
*Additional War Fronts Updates*
On Sunday night a ballistic missile was launched by Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen. It was intercepted over the Red Sea.
CNN report: The US Marine Corps’ rapid response force is on its way to the Middle East and will soon be stationed off the coast of Lebanon on the warship USS Bataan.
According to sources in the al-Mayadeen network, the American al-Shadadi base in eastern Syria was attacked from Iraqi territory, several explosions occurred at the site.
*Judea and Samaria Updates:*
Early Sunday morning it was reported that the IDF had operated in Sechem (Nablus) to demolish the apartment of the Hamas terrorist who carried out the shooting attack in which Leah (Lucy), Maya, and Rina Dee were murdered. This is the fifth house demolition since the beginning of the war
Shin Bet head Ronen Bar has warned the war cabinet and the defense establishment has warned the wider cabinet of “fears about an eruption” of violence in the West Bank, Channel 12 reports.
*International Updates:*
(Note: Antisemitism at Cornell University).
On Sunday night, mobs of Muslims stormed the airport in the city of Makhachkala, the capital of the Republic of Dagestan in Russia, after rumors circulated that a plane arrived from Israel. They searched for Jews to harm, while shouting “Allah Akbar.” After several hours, Russian law enforcement “freed” the airport, denounced the mob, and declared that the airport would be closed until November 6th.
A security official said that, “A relatively small number of Israelis and Jews are currently isolated and secured at the airport. We are working for them to take off from there for an onward flight to Moscow as soon as conditions permit.”
The Deputy Director of the Eurasia Division at the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Simona Halperin, summoned Russia’s ambassador to Israel, Anatoly Viktorov, and made it clear that Israel takes very seriously Russia’s lack of clear and unequivocal condemnation from Moscow of Hamas.
On Sunday afternoon, US National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, warned Netanyahu against “settler violence” and called it “unacceptable”. Sullivan called on Israel to “distinguish between terrorists and civilians” in the Gaza Strip.
*General Updates:*
The commander of the Home Front Command, Major General Rafi Milo, said, “Every day we look at the enemy’s intentions and based on that we establish an emergency policy. The goals of the war are clear. In order to meet them, the war will be long – weeks or months.” He stressed, “Since this is going to be a long war, the emergency routine should be a routine that we slowly open up. We are doing the studies in a differential manner and in coordination with the authorities. The economy must begin to open up.”
Pictured: A home in Kiryat Shmona hit by a missile
©2023 Bruria Efune, Israel