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IDF Recovers Six Hostages’ Bodies From Southern Gaza
Rachel Goldberg, US-Israeli mother of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who was taken hostage by Hamas terrorists into Gaza while attending a music festival in southern Israel, holds photos of her son in their home, in Jerusalem, Oct. 17, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Ammar Awad
JNS.org – Israeli forces recovered the bodies of six hostages from an underground tunnel in Rafah in southern Gaza overnight Saturday.
The hostages were identified as Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, Eden Yerushalmi, 24, Almog Sarusi, 25, Alexander Lobanov, 32, Carmel Gat, 40, and Master Sgt. Ori Danino, 25.
“A few hours ago, we informed the families that the bodies of their loved ones had been located by Israel Defense Forces troops in a tunnel in Rafah. According to our initial assessment, they were brutally murdered by Hamas terrorists shortly before we reached them,” said IDF Spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari.
All six were kidnapped alive during the Hamas-led assault on the northwestern Negev on Oct. 7.
Daniel Hagari’s eyes say it all.
Our hearts are broken, but our spirit—our spirit will never be broken.
pic.twitter.com/9TyVYFkblK
— daniel hanukha (@israelifihther) September 1, 2024
On Oct. 7, Yerushalmi was working as a bartender at the Supernova music festival. She initially hid in a car, motionless alongside the bodies of friends who had been shot and killed. She then went into the bushes where she remained hidden for hours while on the phone with her family, and was taken by Hamas terrorists from there.
Gat was kidnapped from Kibbutz Be’eri while visiting her parents for the Simchat Torah holiday. Hamas terrorists murdered her mother, Kinneret. Her brother Alon, sister-in-law Yarden Roman-Gat and niece Geffen were also captured. Her brother and niece were able to escape while her sister-in-law was released as part of weeklong ceasefire that freed 105 hostages in November.
Goldberg-Polin was kidnapped by Hamas from the Supernova festival. He tried to escape by car but realized that terrorists were setting up roadblocks and shooting at approaching vehicles. He instead ran to a nearby bomb shelter. Soon, Hamas terrorists converged on the tiny space, murdering most inside and kidnapping those who survived. Before he was taken, Goldberg-Polin’s dominant right arm was blown off at the elbow by a grenade. His parents, Rachel Goldberg and Jon Polin, recently called for his release at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
Lobanov was kidnapped from the music festival where he worked as head barman. His wife, Michal, was pregnant when he was taken and has since gave birth to the couple’s second child.
Danino was also kidnapped from the site of the festival. He had escaped but went back to help rescue Omer Shem Tov and siblings Itay and Maya Regev. The Regev siblings were released during November’s ceasefire while Omer and Ori remained in captivity.
Sarusi was kidnapped from the festival while his partner, Shahar Gindi, was murdered.
‘The blood of our brothers’
“Together with the entire nation, my wife and I share in the families’ deep mourning,” said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday. “I would like to express deep appreciation for our forces, for the brave IDF soldiers and ISA [Shin Bet] fighters, who risked their lives in order to return our sons and daughters.
“I say to the Hamas terrorists who murdered our hostages and I say to their leaders: You will pay the price,” continued the premier. “We will not rest, nor will be silent. We will pursue you, we will find you and we will settle accounts with you.”
President Isaac Herzog said that “the heart of an entire nation is shattered to pieces with the news. … On behalf of the State of Israel, I embrace their families with all my heart, and apologize for failing to bring them home safely.
“The blood of our brothers cries out to us. Our sisters and brothers are still there enduring hell. The supreme covenant between the state and its citizens is to ensure their safety. We have the sacred and urgent mission to bring them home,” added Herzog.
President Joe Biden stated that he was “devastated and outraged” after the body of U.S. dual citizen Goldberg-Polin was identified.
“Hamas leaders will pay for these crimes,” Biden vowed, adding that the United States “will keep working around the clock” to secure a ceasefire deal to release the rest of the hostages.
Netanyahu spoke with Lobanov’s parents, expressing deep sorrow and apologizing for not being able to save their son and the five other abductees alive, the Prime Minister’s Office said.
“I would like to tell you how much I regret and request forgiveness for not succeeding in bringing Sasha back alive,” he told Oxana and Grigory.
During the conversation, it was revealed that the prime minister’s military secretary Brig. Gen. Roman Gofman returned from Moscow on Sunday, where he discussed advancing a hostage deal and talked about Lobanov and other captives.
The PMO added that Netanyahu will talk with other relatives of the hostages killed during the day.
65-foot-deep
The hostages were found in a 65-foot-deep tunnel with gunshot wounds to the head and other parts of their bodies.
According to the autopsies performed overnight, they were murdered in the past 48 hours. One of the hostages showed signs of being tied up and they all showed evidence of neglect and having not bathed for a long time.
In addition, there was evidence that they sustained injuries during their kidnapping that were treated over time.
The hostages are believed to have been transported from the northern Gaza Strip to the south, where they were murdered.
Last month, the IDF and Shin Bet recovered the bodies of six other hostages kidnapped on Oct. 7, from a tunnel in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip.
The bodies of Avraham Munder, Yoram Metzger, Nadav Popplewell, Yagev Buchshtav, Chaim Peri and Alex Dancyg were located more than 10 months after the Hamas massacre.
On Tuesday, Israeli forces rescued a hostage alive from Hamas captivity in Gaza. Qaid Farhan Alkadi, 52, a father of 11 from the Bedouin city of Rahat in the Negev, was rescued from a tunnel in southern Gaza, less than a mile from where the six bodies were recovered.
A day later, the IDF recovered the body of a soldier who was killed fighting Hamas terrorists during the Oct. 7 invasion.
At the request of the soldier’s family, his name has not yet been made public.
Increasing concern for remaining hostages
“I heard rumors yesterday, then a close uncle of Carmel got a message confirming it,” Ronen Kohler, the cousin of Carmel Gat, told JNS on Sunday.
The last time that the family had received news of Carmel’s condition was through former captives who were released as part of a November weeklong ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas. They said that Carmel had been teaching them yoga in a bid to keep their spirits up.
“Today, I am standing at the Namir/Yehuda Hamaccabi Junction with Carmel’s picture. The redemption of the captives is a Jewish, Israeli, international and humanitarian value. It is forbidden to ignore it and abandon them,” said Kohler.
“While it will not bring back those who are gone, it might help save others,” he added.
“I hope thousands of people will come out today to scream that human lives come first. We are not violent and we are not aggressive. We call on people to mobilize for the values that we raise our children on,” Kohler continued.
Hadas Zubary, the aunt of Hamas captive Naama Levy, expressed sympathy for the families who lost their loved ones.
“I can assure you we didn’t sleep much last night,” Zubary said. “We know these people’s families. I feel like they are my nieces, nephews, brothers and sisters, and it was devastating to see their names.
“We were sure that they would be here soon. Carmel, Eden and Hersh were supposed to be released early on in the prospective deal and there is no more hope for them. It’s devastating,” she added.
Zubary said that her concern for Naama grows with every passing day.
“We understand that we don’t know where the next tunnel that the army will approach is, and who else Hamas will shoot as they run away. The fear is even harder for us to absorb,” she said.
Daniel Lifshitz, whose grandfather Oded is being held by Hamas in Gaza, told JNS on Sunday, “It’s a very hard and difficult mood, it makes us fear that all the captives are in huge danger.
“Personally, I was in high school with Carmel Gat and I am close to her brother. The pain is unbearable,” he said.
“It means we can lose everyone really fast, and that is something pushing us to urge our government to make an agreement with Hamas-ISIS,” he continued.
“We should all see it as the worst war crime after kidnapping a kid [Hersh] who lost his arm from a grenade and succeeded somehow to survive for 328 days only to be executed,” he added.
Lifshitz called on Biden to act, “because bringing up a proposal at the end of May and having no developments since is unacceptable. They should have come to an agreement no matter the cost.
“I also call on Egyptian President [Abdel Fattah] el-Sisi to find a solution for the Philadelphi Corridor [on Gaza’s border with Sinai] so that there is no debate about choosing between saving lives and being present there,” Lifshitz said.
The post IDF Recovers Six Hostages’ Bodies From Southern Gaza first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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The Nazification of Anti-Zionism
Yellow Star of David Jews were forced to wear in Nazi Germany. Photo: Kjetil Ree/Wikimedia Commons.
JNS.org – In an interview with The Jerusalem Post on Aug. 28, Yonathan Arfi, the head of the French Jewish umbrella body Crif, complained that most of his fellow citizens have an understanding of antisemitism that is rooted in the memory of the Second World War. The indelible association of Nazism with Jew-hatred, Arfi argued, prevents today’s generations from perceiving antisemitism as a live and current threat to the Jewish communities in their midst.
Given that Arfi represents a community that has endured a 200% increase in antisemitic outrages since Jan. 1, his views on this matter deserve to be taken seriously. And on one level, he is right. Antisemitic skinheads are still out there, but right now, they don’t represent the greatest threat to Jewish communities. Nonetheless, because they are seen as the true inheritors of the ideology behind the Holocaust, casual observers are blinded to the reality that today’s antisemites aren’t overly concerned with shaving their heads, wearing keffiyehs instead of swastikas and chanting “From the River to the Sea” instead of “Sieg Heil.” As a result of these optics, the pro-Hamas solidarity movement that has mushroomed in Western countries since the Oct. 7 atrocities is not, in the eyes of many, targeting Jews per se, but rather ideas and symbols—Zionism, the State of Israel—that can be denounced in the language of anti-colonialism, and not for their connections to Judaism.
If there is a logic here, it might perhaps be explained along these lines: Just as opposing the Vietnam War in the 1970s didn’t necessarily mean opposition to the existence of America and Americans, so opposing Israel’s defensive war in Gaza in the 2020s doesn’t mean that you’re an antisemite of the Nazi eliminationist variety. This view is bolstered by the fact that the pro-Hamas movement presents itself as a rainbow coalition of different ethnicities, religions and lifestyles that couches its rhetoric within general appeals to equality and human rights.
Because of that perception, I think it’s a mistake to focus this debate solely on the matter of presentation. The fact remains that we are dealing with an upsurge of antisemitism unprecedented in scale and venom since the Holocaust. And much of what we are witnessing echoes the Nazi period, particularly before the implementation of the mass extermination policy at the turn of the 1940s. Indeed, these echoes are a big part of the reason why there is so much ominous thinking among Jewish communities about where all this is heading.
Of course, there are significant differences between then and now, the most obvious being that during the Nazi era, antisemitism was a state-driven policy, whereas today it’s a civil society phenomenon in Western countries. Still, there are two overlaps that are worth pointing out.
Firstly, while Western governments aren’t actively discriminating against their Jewish populations, many of them are feeding antisemitic sentiments. This is certainly true of those countries in the European Union, such as Spain and the Republic of Ireland, which have pushed for unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state and advocated for sanctions against members of the current Israeli government. These politicians have essentially blessed the notion that Israel is a rogue state committing war crimes and therefore deserving of anger—anger that all too often gets directed at Jewish communities. As Arfi pointed out, “We all live with the idea that some people consider Jews to be legitimate targets for a battle happening 4,000 kilometers away.”
Secondly, many of the tactics and methods supported by the Hamas acolytes mirror the anti-Jewish measures introduced by the Nazi regime. A particularly shocking example emerged last week when the ultra-left New Communist Party in Italy published a blacklist of institutions and individuals who “support or promote the Zionist state in Italy.” In essence, this was an electronic version of the Nazi boycott campaign of Jewish-owned stores and businesses in Germany during the 1930s that helped give rise to the Holocaust a few years later.
In tandem with that is the rewriting of Jewish history and the caricaturing of Jewish theology. Social-media platforms like X (Twitter) and Instagram have been flooded with content that mocks the link between the land of Israel and the Jewish people, casting Israelis as Ashkenazi colonists who have willfully stolen Arab territories. The feed of Richard Medhurst—an Anglo-Syrian propagandist whose unhinged ravings are published by Iran’s Press TV and Russia’s RT—is replete with disparaging references to Ashkenazi Jews, to give one example. Medhurst’s co-thinkers, like Scott Ritter, an American former U.N. weapons inspector and convicted pedophile, and Mary Kostakidis, an Australian reporter who has enthusiastically embraced Medhurst’s own hatred of Zionism, form a reliable echo chamber for this theme and others, such as the slander that Jewish “chosenness”—a purely religious notion about the Jewish relationship with God—is actually an ideology of racial and national superiority. All these outpourings are designed to make their audiences despise all Jews, everywhere; in Israel, where they occupy and persecute the “indigenous” Palestinian Arabs, and outside, where the vast majority of Jews who support Israel, and have family and friends there, are framed as inherently suspect.
As I’ve argued before—and here is the link between the antisemitism of the last century and that in this one—anti-Zionism has morphed into “antizionism.” Freed from its hyphen, what remains is an ornate, multi-layered conspiracy theory with pretensions to be a revelatory, liberating and compelling explanation for why the world is in a rotten state.
For that reason, I think we can now reasonably speak of the “Nazification” of anti-Zionism. As the Nazi newspaper Der Stürmer, citing the German historian Heinrich von Treitschke, declared from its masthead: “The Jews are our misfortune.” For their inheritors, it’s the “Zionists” who play the same nefarious role, but for all intents and purposes, there is no practical distinction between these two categories. If we are to educate non-Jews about the evils of antisemitism, we are obliged to demonstrate its consistencies across different historical periods. The core message is, after all, evolving in the same way as the trajectory of antisemitism through the ages: You have no right to live among us as Zionists; you have no right to live among us; you have no right to live.
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‘Hamas Leaders Will Pay for These Crimes,’ Biden Vows, After Goldberg-Polin’s Body Identified
US President Joe Biden speaks at a Detroit Branch NAACP annual Fight for Freedom Fund Dinner in Detroit, Michigan, US, May 19, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz
JNS.org – US President Joe Biden stated shortly before midnight on Saturday night that he is “devastated and outraged” after the US citizen Hersh Goldberg-Polin was identified among six bodies that Israeli forces recovered earlier in the day in a tunnel in Rafah.
Biden vowed that “Hamas leaders will pay for these crimes,” but then said that the United States “will keep working around the clock” to secure a deal—which would be between the Jewish state and the Hamas terror organization—to release the rest of the hostages.
“Hersh was among the innocents brutally attacked while attending a music festival for peace in Israel on Oct. 7. He lost his arm helping friends and strangers during Hamas’s savage massacre. He had just turned 23. He planned to travel the world,” Biden stated. “I have gotten to know his parents, Jon and Rachel. They have been courageous, wise, and steadfast, even as they have endured the unimaginable.”
Goldberg-Polin’s parents have been “relentless and irrepressible champions of their son and of all the hostages held in unconscionable conditions,” the president added. “I admire them and grieve with them more deeply than words can express. I know all Americans tonight will have them in their prayers, just as Jill and I will.”
Biden called Goldberg-Polin’s death “as tragic as it is reprehensible.”
“Our hearts break after receiving the devastating news of the hostages’ bodies being found in Hamas tunnels,” stated Danny Danon, the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations. “Our thoughts are with the families who have lost their loved ones. The terrorist monsters who murdered innocent hostages deserve nothing less than death.”
Goldberg-Polin is “an American hero, who will be remembered for his kindness and selflessness. Our hearts break for Jon, Rachel and their entire family, as well as the other families who found out today their loved ones won’t be coming home. May their memory be a blessing,” stated US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is Jewish.
“The killing of these hostages only further confirms Hamas’s depravity. It should release all the hostages immediately,” Blinken said. “We will continue to work with our partners in the region to secure an agreement without delay that frees the remaining hostages.”
“Hamas murdered Hersh Goldberg-Polin, an American-Israeli hostage, kidnapped from a music festival for peace on Oct. 7,” stated the Republican Jewish Coalition. “Israel’s fight against these barbaric terrorists is America’s fight.”
Neither the Harris nor Trump campaign had commented by press time. Shortly after this article was published, US Vice President Kamala Harris said of Goldberg-Polin that “we now know he was murdered by Hamas.”
“Doug and my prayers are with Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg-Polin, Hersh’s parents, and with everyone who knew and loved Hersh. When I met with Jon and Rachel earlier this year, I told them: ‘You are not alone,’” Harris stated. “That remains true as they mourn this terrible loss. Americans and people around the world will pray for Jon, Rachel and their family and send them love and strength. As is said in the Jewish tradition, may Hersh’s memory be a blessing.”
“Hamas is an evil terrorist organization. With these murders, Hamas has even more American blood on its hands. I strongly condemn Hamas’s continued brutality, and so must the entire world,” Harris said. “From its massacre of 1,200 people to sexual violence, taking of hostages and these murders, Hamas’s depravity is evident and horrifying.”
“The threat Hamas poses to the people of Israel—and American citizens in Israel—must be eliminated and Hamas cannot control Gaza,” Harris said. She added that “the Palestinian people too have suffered under Hamas’s rule for nearly two decades.”
“As vice president, I have no higher priority than the safety of American citizens, wherever they are in the world,” she said. “President Biden and I will never waver in our commitment to free the Americans and all those held hostage in Gaza.”
Members of Congress also commented on Goldberg-Polin.
“I am absolutely heartbroken by the deaths of several hostages held by Hamas, including US citizen Hersh Goldberg-Polin,” stated Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. “These innocent people should all be home today with their families; instead they were murdered by terrorists. My heart is with all of the bereaved families, including the Goldberg-Polin family, who I met earlier this summer.”
“For 331 days we prayed for Hersh’s safe return. Today we learned he was murdered in Gaza. May his memory be a blessing,” stated Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.), who is Jewish.
“With broken hearts, the Goldberg-Polin family is devastated to announce the death of their beloved son and brother, Hersh. The family thanks you all for your love and support and asks for privacy at this time.” pic.twitter.com/sof97ktOf2
— Israel ישראל (@Israel) September 1, 2024
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IDF West Bank Op Needed to ‘Remove Immediate Terror Threats’
Illustrative: Palestinians run during clashes with Israeli forces amid an Israeli military operation in Jenin, in the West Bank July 3, 2023. REUTERS/Raneen Sawafta
JNS.org – The Israel Defense Forces is engaged in significant counterterrorism operations in northern Samaria, targeting terrorist activities in areas like Jenin and Tulkarm. According to IDF International Spokesperson Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, these operations are part of a broader effort to address the ongoing and escalating terror threats in Judea and Samaria.
Speaking to journalists via video call on Wednesday, Shoshani emphasized the persistent nature of the threat, noting that “terror in Judea and Samaria is not something new, it is not a new threat.” He explained that even before Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre, terror attacks had claimed the lives of over 30 Israelis in 2023 alone. The terror threat has only intensified since Oct. 7, with numerous deadly attacks being carried out against Israeli civilians and security forces.
Shoshani highlighted two recent attacks as examples of the violence emanating from Judea and Samaria. One involved the murder of Gideon Peri, a 35-year-old Israeli civilian who was killed on Aug. 18 by a Palestinian worker in an industrial park that was supposed to foster Israeli-Palestinian cooperation, said Shoshani. The second attack saw the murder of 23-year-old Israeli civilian Yonatan Deutsch on Aug. 11 in a drive-by shooting in the Jordan Valley. These incidents are part of a broader pattern of Palestinian violence in recent months, he said.
The IDF has identified a systematic strategy by Iran to arm and support terrorist groups in seven fronts across the Middle East, including in Judea and Samaria, Shoshani stated. He pointed out that Iran has been actively smuggling weapons and explosives into the region to be used in terror attacks against Israeli civilians. This strategy, he said, is part of Iran’s broader goal to destabilize the region and support terrorist activities against Israel.
In response to these threats, the IDF has been conducting targeted operations to remove immediate terror threats in real time. Shoshani noted that these operations are not new and have been ongoing for the past 11 months as part of Israel’s effort to ensure the stability of the area.
“We need to operate to remove terror threats, immediate terror threats in real time all across our arenas, to make sure that attacks against civilians that can kill our civilians do not happen,” he said.
Shoshani provided detailed information on the operations currently underway in Jenin and Tulkarm. In these areas, the IDF has observed a significant rise in terrorist activity over the past year, with over 150 shooting and explosive attacks originating there, he said. He emphasized that these operations are being conducted in a precise and targeted manner, with the goal of eliminating terrorist infrastructure while minimizing harm to civilians.
The IDF’s operations in Tulkarem have already resulted in the elimination of three armed terrorists who posed an immediate threat to security forces. In Jenin, two additional armed terrorists were eliminated, and five wanted suspects were apprehended. The IDF also confiscated weapons, including M16 rifles and ammunition, and dismantled explosives that had been planted under roads in the area.
Shoshani also highlighted the broader strategy employed by terrorists in Judea and Samaria, which includes the planting of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) under roads and in civilian areas. These IEDs pose a severe threat to both Israeli forces and Palestinian civilians, as they cause extensive damage to infrastructure and disrupt daily life in these areas. The IDF has been working to expose and dismantle these explosives to prevent further casualties.
In addition to the operations in Jenin and Tulkarem, the IDF’s regional brigades conducted a smaller counterterrorism operation in the Far’a area of the Jordan Valley. During this operation, an aircraft struck and eliminated four armed terrorists who posed a threat to Israeli forces. Weapons were confiscated, and explosives were dismantled in this area as well.
Shoshani stressed the importance of these operations in preventing future terror attacks. “We will continue operating in a focused, targeted counterterrorism operations to stop the threat of terror against our civilians in all arenas,” he said.
The operations in Judea and Samaria are part of Israel’s broader strategy to address the multi-front war it faces. Shoshani noted that the IDF’s approach has been shaped by the lessons learned from the Oct. 7 massacre, emphasizing the need for real-time action to prevent terror attacks.
Fire exchanges between IDF forces and terrorist groups in Jenin and Tulkarem have occurred in recent days, he noted.
Joe Truzman, a Senior Research Analyst at the Washington D.C. Foundation for Defense of Democracy’s Long War Journal, stated on Wednesday that, “Iran-backed terrorist groups have gained a significant foothold in the West Bank over the last three years.” He explained that with Iran’s support, “weapons have flooded the West Bank, including some arms that are considered advanced.”
Truzman noted that “around 2020, Iran eyed an opportunity in the West Bank to foment chaos.” The combination of a weak Palestinian Authority and deteriorating relations with Israel created a vacuum that Iran exploited to bolster terror groups in the region, he argued.
“There are more than two dozen branches established by Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades in the West Bank,” Truzman added, pointing out that these groups operate extensively, particularly in the northern areas of Judea and Samaria.
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