Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the formation of an emergency unity government with opposition leader Benny Gantz for the duration of the war with Hamas.
Summary
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the formation of an emergency unity government with opposition leader Benny Gantz for the duration of the war with Hamas.
- Netanyahu and Gantz, a former defense minister, agreed to form a war cabinet with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and two other high-ranking officials for the duration of the war. The government will not pursue non-war related legislation until after the crisis has passed.
- The Israeli death toll from the four-day-old conflict has risen to 1,200 people with over 2,700 wounded, the vast majority of whom are civilians.
- Israeli Defense Forces continue to besiege the Gaza Strip while they prepare for a ground invasion of the tiny, densely-populated terrorist haven.
- As a result of the siege, Gaza’s lone power plant ran out of fuel on Wednesday, removing the only source of electricity for the more than 2 million people living in the Gaza Strip.
- The IDF has mobilized more than 360,000 reservists in preparation for the ground assault on Gaza. Many Israeli reservists living abroad have flown back to Israel in the days since Hamas’ brutal surprise attack to rejoin the military and volunteer in support roles.
- The New York Times reported US intelligence sources are claiming Iran’s leaders were “surprised” by the Hamas surprise attack, casting doubt on reports that Iran coordinated with Hamas. The Times noted “Iran has provided large numbers of weapons and support to Hamas over many years. U.S. officials have made clear that they believe this makes Tehran broadly complicit in the attack. But that was a different issue than direct knowledge and involvement, they said.”
- CNN covered the horrors uncovered in Kfar Aza, a kibbutz near the border with Gaza. Children were “brutally butchered” and many homes were burned to the ground, sometimes with their residents inside. An IDF spokesman compared the carnage to pogroms in Eastern Europe before WWII. More than 100 bodies were found in neighboring Be’eri, constituting about 10% of the town’s population.
- NBC News reported the IDF has struck at least 450 targets in Gaza in just the last 24 hours. Israeli fighter jets have leveled entire city blocks and left some streets “unrecognizable.” At least 1,087 Gazans have been killed and 5,000 injured, but it is not clear what proportion are Hamas terrorists compared with civilians.
- The Wall Street Journal reported the devastated Kfar Aza kibbutz, where the mutilated and in some cases decapitated bodies of women and children were found lying in the streets, is being transformed into a staging area for the Israeli counterattack. “I’ll give it to you straight,” one soldier told the Journal. “I am looking for revenge. We are all out for revenge.”
- One Israeli mother learned on live television that her husband, who had been missing, was murdered by Hamas. According to the New York Post, Shaylee Atary was telling the reporter about her husband Yahav Winner when the IDF called the family and informed them that he had been killed.
- Israel faces the prospect of a two-front war after Hezbollah terrorists launched a rocket attack from southern Lebanon. According to Fox News, Israel has redeployed “tens of thousands” of military personnel to its northern border to defend themselves against the Iranian-backed terrorist group.
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© Dominic Moore, 2023
