The Neutral, Humanitarian United Nations

Still from video: IDF soldiers collecting  bodies of slaughtered Israelis

"It is important to also recognize the attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum. The Palestinian people have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation."

"They have seen their land steadily devoured by settlements and plagued by violence; their economy stifled; their people displaced; and their homes demolished."

"Their hopes for a political solution to their plight have been vanishing."

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres

 

"Mr. Secretary-General, in what world do you live? Definitely, this is not our world."

"I will not meet the UN secretary-general. After October 7, there is no place for a balanced approach. Hamas must be erased from the world."

Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen

 

"The shocking speech by the UN secretary-general at the Security Council meeting ... proved conclusively, beyond any doubt, that the secretary-general is completely disconnected from the reality in our region and that he views the massacre committed by Nazi Hamas terrorists in a distorted and immoral manner."

"His statement that 'the attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum', expressed an understanding for terrorism and murder. It's really unfathomable. It's truly sad that the head of an organization that arose after the Holocaust holds such horrible views."

Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan

Screenshot of Hamas body cam footage as terrorists fire on an Israeli vehicle during the terror organization’s October 7 attack in southern Israel, released by the IDF and GPO. (Screenshot)

 

The 'Palestinians' are Arabs who have migrated from all over the Arab-Muslim world over a period under a century to settle in a land where they saw opportunity for themselves to prosper, where they could not in their countries of origin, primarily Egypt and Syria. The very identifying designation of 'Palestine' was one used by the Roman Occupation of 63BCE to denote Judaean heritage lands. These diverse-origin Arabs now identifying themselves as Palestinians took that identity from Jews, just as they're determined to take Jewish ancestral land for their own, claiming indigeneity.

To be clear, Arab Palestinians were offered a state of their own, first by the United Nations, then countless times by Israel, and each time they refused. Their leaders convinced them that the entire area was theirs, not merely the half assigned to them with a split when made, TransJordan taking much of the original area and what was left divided between Israel and a potential Palestinian state. The Palestinians preferred to wait in 1948 while combined Arab armies marched into Israel to destroy the fledgling state. They lost, and so did the Palestinians.

 

Israelis evacuate a site struck by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip, in Ashkelon, southern Israel, on Monday. (Ohad Zwigenberg/The Associated Press)

 

Ever since, their leaders have led them astray. The Palestinian public has been exploited endlessly by their leaders, who milk the sympathy of the wider world of the West by characterizing themselves as victims of Israeli aggression. The 'occupation' that Israel is accused of, is an existential necessity given the penchant of the 'victims' constantly staging deadly attacks against Israeli Jews by Palestinians who have been nursed from childhood on tropes of a Jewish death-wish against Arabs.

The public relations war waged by the Palestinian Authority (Fatah) in the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza has succeeded hugely in its efforts to isolate, punish and demonize Israel and Jews for the plight of the Palestinians many of whom live in poverty, where unemployment is high and opportunities are few because their leaders focus on instilling hatred and a death-cult among their people rather than establishing the infrastructure required for independence and prosperity. The wider world financially supports the Palestinian 'refugees', destined to clasp their refugee victimhood in perpetuity.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East was established for the express purpose of aiding and supporting Palestinian 'refugees' in perpetuity. As a body of the United Nations, UNRWA is partially responsible for the school curricula replete with lessons of Jewish hatred and violence toward Palestinians, as well as permitting Hamas to store weapons within UNRWA schools. Gaza Palestinians are used as pawns by Hamas, human shields the terrorists hide behind as they send volleys of rockets into Israel.

 

Image shows Palestinian militants riding an Israeli military vehicle that was seized by gunmen who infiltrated areas of southern Israel on October 7, 2023. (Photograph:(Reuters)

 

The vast network of underground tunnels which Hamas and its sister terrorist group Islamic Jihad use to store weapons, to practise attack strategies, to shelter from Israeli reprisals and from which to mount attacks, are intersecting underground corridors built under Gaza's crowded enclaves; when the tunnels are bombed, those living over them are in danger. For the  time being some of those tunnels now house the hundreds of Jewish Israelis and others that Hamas terrorists abducted on October 7 along with their barbaric atrocities that slaughtered 1,400 Israelis and wounded almost five thousand more.

"Terror apologists cannot speak on behalf of the world."

"Days when the United Nations secretary-general supports terrorism are dark days for the world." "Absolutely nothing can justify the slaughter of innocent civilians. Now is the time to stand on the right side of history, or be judged by it."

Former Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz

"By saying this, he [Guterres] is wrongfully legitimizing and justifying the gruesome massacre of men, women, children and babies, and the savage kidnapping of over 222 innocent babies, children and civilians who are still being held by Hamas."

"The UN secretary-general should be ashamed of himself. I call upon him to retract his abhorrent statement or step down now."

Former Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon 

"I had to leave after 35 minutes because I’d seen enough."

"I knew this had happened, but because of the severe backlash—especially on social media by people who refuse to believe this had taken place despite overwhelming evidence—I felt I had to go [to the theater] so I could tell people that I saw it with my own eyes."

"So, if they don’t believe the eyewitnesses, they can believe me."

Danish journalist Jotam Confino

Large pools of blood stain a child's bunk bed and sheets, inside a safe room, as seen through the window, after Hamas terrorists attacked days earlier, on Oct. 19, 2023 in Nir Oz, Israel. (Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images)

Israel on the Domestic Front -- At War

"People are hysterical. Companies are not able to provide supplies."

"Their Jewish workers have been called up to reserves or are afraid to come out."

"The Arab workers are afraid to come out."

Michael Rabani, 40, Israeli-Palestinian, owner of two Jerusalem grocery shops

At Jerusalem's Malha Mall, a popular shopping spot, the parking lot is almost empty. Makes sense, since almost every mall shop is closed. Not only at this mall, but across the country. And for a simple enough reason, life in Israel has been turned upside-down, inside-out. Where employees who would under normal circumstances be working in the shops are answering the call for reservists and others to report to the military. 

 

Uniforms and protective vests being prepared for distribution to reserve soldiers, October 10, 2023. (Israel Defense Forces)

 

The transformation from a country at peace to one at war after the deadly surprise attack that the Hamas terrorist group sprang on Israel's southern communities close to the Gaza border had an immediate effect. Five days ago the population was busy in its normal routine, people at offices unsuspecting they would soon be back in uniform -- an estimated 360,000 at final count in one of the largest mobilizations in Israel's brief history. Schools have been closed, and local governments are attempting, even as their workforces dwindle, to provide services.

"We're working under fire now, but we have no choice", explained Shaul Schneider, executive chairman of Ashdod Port, Israel's largest where over eight percent of its staff have left to report to the army. Leaving the port authority to call in retirees so cargo can move. When Hamas rockets screech overhead, at times ten daily, crane operators hope for the best. "Unfortunately", said Mr. Schneider, "Israel has experience in such situations".

 

Empty produce shelves at a Machsanei Hashuk supermarket in Jerusalem, on October 10, 2023. (Amy Spiro/Times of Israel)

 

Streets that would in normal circumstances be full of honking traffic, are now still and quiet prevails. Jaffa Street in Jerusalem, popular as a shopping street, appears like a ghost town, lined with flashing police cars. Palestinian labourers who ordinarily work at construction sites have been prohibited entry from the West Bank, so construction sites are shuttered.    

 

The shopping that is taking place is that of families anxious to stock up on essentials. The military Home Front Command instructed Israelis to equip their bomb shelters and basements with several days of supplies. Residents of apartment buildings have been instructed to remove bicycles and personal items from safe-rooms and instead stock them with emergency provisions.

 

Goods donated by supermarket chain Shufersal await distribution, in a photo released on October 10, 2023. (Courtesy)

Israel's largest supermarket chain, Shufersal, as shelves began to empty took the step of limiting sales of basics to two packs of water, two cartons of eggs, two loaves of bread and three containers of milk for the time being. Palestinians living in Israel have been making themselves as invisible as possible as preparations for war proceed. They can feel, they say, the fury in Israel, directed at Hamas.

 

Group of American and British teenagers who came to Israel to join the army. Ivana Kottasova/CNN

Twenty kilometres' distance from reservists gathering outside Julis military base near Ashkelon, air force planes were bombing the Gaza enclave, likely to become the target anew of an imminent ground war. "It's a big change, but for us very natural. When you live in Israel, you always know that you'll be back in the army", explained Daniel Blum, 30, a counsellor for troubled teens.

 

There are circulating reports the military is struggling to be able to equip the teeming number of reservists reporting for duty. Supplies are being managed, according to army officials; even so civilians organize equipment and food drives across the country. Restaurants have taken to cooking for troops and for civilians displaced by the fighting. A top Tel Aviv eatery, Brothers has been sending 20,000 meals to the south. 

"One of the reasons we're in our current situation is because Israeli society is not connected [referring to the recent protests against the government's judicial reforms plan]."

"If we don't come to our senses and join forces, the situation will become even worse."

Brothers restaurant co-owner Yotam Doktor

Israeli reservists patrol streets in Sderot   New York Times

                        

 

Israeli Retaliation

"The [Israel Defense Forces] is responsible for the security of the country and its citizens, and on Saturday morning in the area surrounding the Gaza Strip, we did not do it. We will learn. We will investigate. But now is the time for war."

"The entire system under him [Yahya Sinwar, Hamas's Gaza Strip leader] are dead men. We will attack them. We will dismantle them."

"We will do everything to return the [Israeli and foreign men, women and children] hostages back  home."

Israeli chief of defence staff Lt.Gen. Herzl Halevi

Israelis inspect the rubble of a building a day after it was hit by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip, in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Sunday   Oded Balilty/AP

Speculation is that the training of hang gliders, the preparations for Saturday morning's deadly incursion into Israel by Hamas over the border from Gaza, the coordinated plans for the use of explosives and bulldozers to break through Israel's high-tech, supposedly impregnable border wall, took place elsewhere than the proximity of the border, that rehearsals were enacted and instructions taught in areas elsewhere than where they could be detected by Israeli  intelligence. And to ensure that no prior warning come from within Gaza itself, only top-echelon leaders in Hamas had knowledge of the timing.

 

The reality is that it was still a failure of Israeli intelligence that led to the critical lack of awareness resulting in the invasions that followed when scores of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists streamed under cover of rocket fire across the border to Israel to prowl through the streets of border towns, villages and kibbutzim, firing at anyone they came across, entering homes to butcher families and their children. And with them were unaffiliated Palestinian Gazan men who took the opportunity to join the vicious attacks, to take part in the killing and looting.

 

And, of course, Hamas hunted down and slaughtered no fewer than 260 young people attending a music festival taking place close to the Gaza border. Where the loud sound of music and the revelry of young people in love and at play at first failed to take notice of the explosions until they were confronted by armed and vicious terrorists whose mission was to slaughter them all. And the nightmare that unfolded went on for hours, people trying to flee, finding temporary cover in shrubbery as the terrorists continued their rampage, raping women, murdering, taking hostages of horrified, terrified Israelis.

 

Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepts rockets launched from the Gaza Strip, as seen from Ashkelon in southern Israel October 7, 2023   Amir Cohen/Reuters

 

Lt. Gen. Halevi made no effort to make any excuses for the failure of the army, he forthrightly and clearly admitted he and they had failed to guard the border fence, enabling the terrorists to stream through to terrorize the Israeli border communities in the western Negev, leaving a horrendous count of over 1,300 people dead, many mutilated, bodies burnt. Most of the dead were civilians, a smaller number of 220 represented soldiers taken by surprise and murdered by the terrorists.

Expressing sympathy with the families missing their loved ones, captured as hostages and taken to Gaza, Lt. Gen. Halevi swore that everything possible would be done to return them to Israel and to exact the ultimate price from their kidnappers. Between them, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad claim to have taken130 hostages, although there are reports that up to 200 are being held. When Israeli troops temporarily entered Gaza searching for hostages and their captors, they discovered the bodies of some of the hostages.

Following the sorrowful admission of responsibility and regret Lt. Gen. Halevi praised those Israelis, including long retired reservists who had rushed south to repel the attack, and the thousands of reservists who have reported to duty, including the many Israelis returning from abroad with the intention of joining their brethren in their common fight against Islamist terror emanating from Gaza. Rockets continue to be fired from Gaza, triggering sirens around Netanya, and Ariel in Judea and Samaria. There is much work to be done ahead.

Fire and smoke rises above buildings during an Israeli air strike in Gaza City on October 8, 2023. Eyad Baba/AFP/Getty Images

"The fighting spirit of the IDF hit Gaza with all its force. And we won't stop here. There's in this decisiveness and rage. In the process of a widespread attack, we are killing many terrorists, many commanders, destroying and demolishing terrorist infrastructure that supported this cruel and terrible crime."

"Gaza will not look the same. We will get to a situation where whoever leads Gaza will be hit hard. We'll take him apart."

"We will do everything to restore this contract [the trust of Israelis in the protective security of the land by its military forces], to restore security."

A Hero of Israel

"The woman in the photo is named Inbal Liberman. When it's all over, this woman will receive the Israel Prize. The story of her heroism is a story that will enter Israeli myth for generations. Inbal is the reason that there is one kibbutz in the entire surrounding area that remains unharmed -- Nir Am."

"Liberman, a daughter of the kibbutz, was the first in the entire State of Israel to understand what was happening."

"She ran like mad from house to house, organized the emergency squad and prepared a work plan to protect the kibbutz and placed men in ambushes on the kibbutz's fence."

"All the terrorists who came to the kibbutz were killed at the fence: 25 terrorists."

"A hero of Israel."

Social Media report

INBAL RABIN-LIBERMAN.

(photo credit: COURTESY OF THE FAMILY)

Inbal Liberman, 25, served as military security coordinator of Kibbutz Nir Am, appointed in December of 2022. Early Saturday morning, she heard explosions and quickly understood those explosions  were not the same as the sound of the rocket attacks she was accustomed to hearing. She spared no time in further introspection, convinced that something unusual was underway. And because she did, her swiftly-devised scheme of self-defence succeeded in saving the lives of the members of her kibbutz.

 

Hers alone among the attacked kibbutzes, suffered no casualties. Her kibbutz's swift reaction and preparation for self-defence led to the deaths of all the terrorists whose assumption was that theirs would be a day of glorious conquest when they could boast of having massacred Jews in their beds, families in their homes, taken vulnerable children as hostages, burning others in a gruesome orgy of savage barbarism, as occurred in other kibbutzim nearby.

 

Inbal Liberman rushed to open her kibbutz's armory, distributing weapons to her twelve-man security team comprised of other kibbutz members. She then placed them along the kibbutz fence, located a mere stone's throw from the Gaza border. And just in time ambushes were set up for the swiftly-impending arrival of the terrorists they knew were en route. 

And when the aspiring killers-of-Jews arrived in the expectation that they would encounter no resistance by surprised and unprepared kibbutz residents, still drowsy from sleep as dawn was breaking, the kibbutz guards launched their own surprise greeting. The security team themselves gunned down twenty of the terrorists, the Hamas terrorists encountering a wall of gunfire that they had intended as a gift for the Israelis. Inbal herself is credited with having dispatched five of them, herself.

One of the security team explained that Liberman had been instructed by the Israel Defense Forces only to remain on standby. According to Sa'ar Paz of the security team, she took her own initiative in  unsurpassed self-agency decision-making to send her team to various sectors of the kibbutz protective fence with the aim of protecting the kibbutz through her meticulously planned defence scheme.

 Ilia Yefimovich/picture alliance via Getty Images

 

"I'm not a hero."

"I'm still digesting everything that I'm going through, which is why I'm not telling the real story yet. I promise you will hear from me."

"There are so many people on the ground, still fighting for their lives, and there are still many who fought beside me and around me."

Inbal Liberman