Now it’s official: Israel begins this evening its response to the worst military crisis it has faced in decades, under the leadership of an emergency government of national unity. The Knesset has actually given the green light for National Union Party leader and former chief of staff Benny Gantz, as well as Gadi Eisenkot, Gideon Saar, Chilli Tropper and Yifat Shasha-Biton to enter the executive portfolio as foreign ministers. Gantz and Eisenkot will also become part of the limited War Cabinet, which, within the state of war, will be given the prerogative to “declare war or carry out significant military actions” on the state’s enemies, starting with Hamas. Israel will eliminate this “barbaric” terrorist organization, Benjamin Netanyahu promised before the vote in the Israeli parliament, because “this is a fight for our home.” Returning to the Hamas terror attack in which an estimated over 1,300 Israelis lost their sight, the prime minister said that Saturday, October 7, was “probably the most terrible day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust.” A people that, Netanyahu reminded, has endured existential challenges throughout history “like perhaps no other nation, but we will never give up.” Regarding the emergency government, Netanyahu said its introduction sends “a great signal of national unity both internally and externally.” Despite the strong differences of opinion on the issue of judicial reform in recent months: “Let us face this conflict together, with brotherhood and with common concern.”
France bans pro-Palestinian demonstrations
Speaking on television this evening, French President Emmanuel Macron also called last Saturday’s attack on Israel “the most tragic attack in its history” and called on the Tel Aviv government to now give a “strong and just” response. Macron then warned those who do not absolutely condemn the Hamas attacks: “In the face of terrorism, one must never say ‘Yes, but…'” French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, meanwhile, has called for a ban on pro-Palestinian demonstrations in France and the arrest of the organizers and “troublemakers disrupting public order” ordered. In a telegram to the prefects published by AFP, Darmanin called for a ban on pro-Palestinian demonstrations, saying they “could provoke public order disturbances.” Anyone who violates these prohibitions must expect arrest. France is the first country in the world to take such a measure, five days after the Hamas terrorist attack in southern Israel that upset the balance in the Middle East, provoking Israel’s response with bombings in the Gaza Strip and the mood surrounding the conflict also rekindled in European societies, including schools and universities.
Blinken’s visit to Israel
“Hamas must be destroyed like ISIS.” This was said by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the press conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who arrived in Tel Aviv today on an official visit. “Hamas only wants to kill Jews and Israel,” Blinken said. “You are already strong enough to defend yourself,” he continued, “but as long as the United States exists, you do not have to do it alone.” Regarding American support for Israel, the foreign minister said: “We have aircraft carriers stationed in the eastern Mediterranean and “We will ensure that men, women and children taken hostage can be released.” Blinken’s meeting continues with the participation of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and the two new ministers without portfolio in Israel’s new “emergency” government : Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot, both members of the centrist National Union party and both former leaders of the General Staff.
The message of NATO
Meanwhile, NATO sent a message to Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who updated the allies via video link on developments in the war in the Middle East. “Israel is not alone,” said Atlantic Alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. The ministers “made it clear,” NATO said, “that Israel has the right to defend itself proportionately against these unjustified acts of terrorism.” They called on Hamas to immediately release all hostages and to protect the civilian population as best as possible. The Allies also made it clear that no nation or organization should attempt to exploit or escalate the situation.” During the meeting in Brussels, Defense Minister Gallant also emphasized that “Hamas is the ISIS of Gaza, a cruel organization run by the Iran is funded and supported.” Hamas is ISIS.” And then again: “It hit us hard. But make no mistake: 2023 is not 1943. We are the same Jews, but we have different abilities,” he concluded.
Scholz: “The Holocaust forces us to defend Israel forever”
In a government statement to the Bundestag this morning, Chancellor Olaf Scholz emphasized that Germany’s responsibility “from the Holocaust” imposed on Berlin “the ongoing duty to defend the existence and security of the State of Israel.” Scholz confirmed. “At this moment,” he continues, “there is only one place for Germany: on the side of Israel,” whose “security” is “Germany’s reason of state.” Berlin, said the Chancellor, would also ban Hamas from operating in the country. “A club like Samidoun, whose members celebrate the most brutal acts of terror on the streets, will be banned in Germany.” “Our association law is a sharp sword and we, as a strong constitutional state, will use it in this case,” concluded Scholz. The Chancellor is implicitly referring to the demonstration of around 50 people who gathered in Neukölln, a southeastern district of Berlin, on Saturday evening, the day of the Hamas attack on Israel, for a pro-Palestinian demonstration called by Samidoun. In the afternoon, its militants distributed sweets to passers-by “to celebrate the victory of the resistance,” as the organization itself wrote on Instagram.
Identification using facial recognition
Meanwhile, Israel is using videos to reconstruct the identities of those involved in the atrocities carried out by Hamas in Jewish villages near Gaza on Saturday, October 7. Military spokesman Daniel Hagari announced this in a press conference. In this regard, he explained that a Hamas fighter named Mustafa Shahin, who was filmed committing brutal acts in one of Israel’s villages, had already died in the bombing of his house in Gaza. “We will settle accounts with everyone who took part in the horrors of war.” “We take videos from the Internet and identify them using facial recognition,” assures Hagari. In addition, according to the spokesman, the army repeatedly attacked Hamas Nukhba’s elite troops, especially their operational command centers, during last night’s raids in the Gaza Strip. Those – explained the army – who managed to penetrate the kibbutzim across the border last Saturday. “These forces consist of terrorists selected by senior Hamas officials and designed to carry out terrorist attacks such as ambushes, raids, attacks, penetration through terrorist tunnels, as well as anti-tank missiles, rockets and sniper fire,” he concluded.
The military front
The Israeli army is “preparing for the next phase of the war” with the aim of “destroying Hamas’s ability to maintain its sovereignty and ability to govern,” military spokesman Daniel Hagari said. As the “total siege” continues in the Gaza Strip: “No electricity, no water, no tankers will enter until the Israeli hostages return home,” says the message from Israeli Energy Minister Israel Katz.
Also read:
