Free Republic

The Israeli government is determined to restore security on the border with Lebanon and create the conditions that will allow displaced citizens to return to the north, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday. “We have detailed, important and even surprising plans,” the premier told Israel Defense Forces troops during a visit to the army’s Northern Command headquarters in the Upper Galilee city of Safed. “But I will not share these plans … with the enemy,” said Netanyahu, adding the military is “constantly in action on the northern front.” The IDF has already eliminated “hundreds” of Hezbollah operatives in...

The IDF has reduced the number of troops deployed in eastern Rafah and the Givati Brigade left the Gaza Strip overnight from the area where it had been operating for the last three weeks. The military explained, according to a report by Ynet, that this was done to allow the troops to return to Gaza and Rafah at a later date 'refreshed' after weeks of combat. Four combat teams from the 162nd Division remain. According to the report, the Givati Brigade's departure from the southern city in the Gaza Strip comes amid reports that Israel will allow the reopening of...

“Here, these are the girls who can get pregnant.” This is video footage depicting the horrific kidnapping of 5 female Israeli hostages: Liri Albag, Karina Ariev, Agam Berger, Daniela Gilboa and Naama Levy. They have been held hostage by Hamas terrorists for more than 230 days (8 months). The families of Liri, Karina, Agam, Daniella and Naama have approved the release of the footage to raise awareness about the horrors their daughters are facing as hostages in Gaza

I am in Israel for 3 weeks volunteering in logistics for the IDF through “Sar-El”. Many of you asked for regular Situation Reports, and this is my first one for the first week. Primer Please see my original post for why I’m here, and the nature of Sar-El: https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4237961/posts Tel Aviv • Young: Tel Aviv is filled to the gills with young people. The ages on the street appear to be 20-35. If you’re a single Jew below 35 anywhere in the world, I recommend you RUN to Tel Aviv. The girls are extremely good looking, the weather is hot,...

Harrowing video released Wednesday shows the moment five female Israeli soldiers — covered in blood and surrounded by the bodies of their massacred comrades — were threatened with rape then taken away to Gaza by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7. Bodycam footage from the Hamas gunmen shows the moment the young women, operating at the Nahal Oz base outside the Gaza Strip, were handcuffed and pressed against a wall while still in pajamas. In the sickening video, the terrorists could be heard gloating and announcing their apparent plans to sexually assault the soldiers. “Here are the girls who can get...

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum has released footage obtained by the IDF, showing the abduction of five female soldiers from the Nahal Oz base on October 7 by Hamas terrorists. The clip shows Liri Albag, Karina Ariev, Agam Berger, Daniella Gilboa and Naama Levy. It has been edited to remove some of the more disturbing images, including the multiple murdered bodies.

The IDF strives always to warn civilians away from places about to be targeted, even when those warnings remove the element of surprise, which often is the critical element in a military attack. We have seen this yet again in the beginning of the Rafah operation. West Point Professor John Spencer says that Israel has “created a new standard for urban warfare”: “Israel Has Created a New Standard for Urban Warfare. Why Will No One Admit It? | Opinion,” by John Spencer, Newsweek, March 25, 2024:These measures were effective. Israel was able to evacuate upwards of 85 percent of the...

The IDF has succeeded in evacuating around 950,000 Palestinian civilians in only two weeks since May 6, the military revealed on Monday. In addition, around 30-40% of Rafah is now under IDF control, not merely a small portion of the eastern sector, and about 60-70% of Rafah has been completely evacuated. The remaining Rafah civilians, estimated at around 300,000-400,000, are almost all near the Gaza coast Tel al-Sultan area. This is despite US predictions that the civilian population could not be evacuated without a huge death count or without leaving around four months to do so. Of those evacuated, the...

A veteran war crimes prosecutor told The Jerusalem Post that Israel and other countries have the legal obligation to prevent Hamas from carrying out their stated goal of committing genocide against the Jewish People. Former United States Justice Department Office of Special Investigations director Eli Rosenbaum’s 38-year career placed him in the role of prosecuting Rwandans, Russians, and Nazis for war crimes. Rosenbaum said that not only does Israel have the right to eliminate Hamas, “but Israel has a legal obligation under international law as a signatory of the Genocide Convention [1948, the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of...

The Israeli Air Force struck more than 70 targets across the Gaza Strip in the past day, the military says, as ground forces operate in Rafah, Jabaliya, and the Netzarim Corridor. According to the IDF, the targets included weapon depots, infrastructure, and buildings belonging to terror groups, as well as operatives. One of the airstrikes in Rafah hit a senior Palestinian Islamic Jihad operative, who the IDF says was head of logistics for the terror group in the city in southern Gaza. “As part of his role, he was responsible for preparing the enemy for the IDF maneuver in Rafah,”...

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced Friday that it had recovered the bodies of Israeli hostages Amit Buskila, Itzhak Gelerenter, and Shani Louk in a special operation overnight in the Gaza Strip. All three were murdered at the Supernova Music Festival in Re’im, in southern Israel, and their bodies taken to Gaza. Louk was killed and her body abused on the back of a pickup truck in one of the most infamous scenes of October 7. Gelerenter, 58, went missing on October 7 and his phone was later found by the IDF in Gaza. Buskila, 28, a fashion designer, had...

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has found loaded rocket launchers during its operation in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, now in its second week. Rocket fire from Gaza into Israel, which was nearly constant in the days following the October 7 terror attack, has largely subsided. However, in recent weeks, Hamas terrorists have fired rockets at the Keren Shalom crossing, where humanitarian aid enters Gaza near Rafah, and at the city of Sderot, near northern Gaza.

I'm at Seatac Airport (SEA) at the gate for my 10:00 A.M. flight LY9468 through Newark to Tel Aviv. I'm volunteering for the IDF through their organization "Sar-El". Usually, volunteers do warehousing work on base, live in the barracks, and eat with the soldiers. I believe in transmogrification. For three weeks, I'm freeing up an 18-year-old Israeli kid with an M16 to go into Gaza and kill ham ass. I'm 62 and fit, and I can do the warehousing work that a soldier would otherwise have to do, and they can go to the front. Through the magic of transmogrification,...

Navy Seal Author and Historian Matt Bracken comes back on the podcast to discuss media control on censorship, the “GREEN FLAG OPERATION” that occurred in Israel on Oct. 7th, how the IDF will use the “Ring of Fire” to clear out Gaza and much more.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Tuesday that it had killed 15 terrorists, at least 10 of whom were from Hamas, in a strike on a “war room” that they had set up at a United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) school. In a joint statement, the IDF and the Israel Security Agency (ISA, or “Shabak,” or “Shin Bet”) said: Based on IDF and ISA intelligence, the IAF carried out a precise strike on a central Hamas war room commanders embedded inside an UNRWA school in the area of Nuseirat. The war room was used by terrorist operatives in...

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) continued to attack Hamas terrorists in Rafah and throughout Gaza on Monday, which was Israel’s independence day, despite continued international criticism and caution from the White House. In a statement, the IDF said: IDF troops continue their operations against terror targets in the area of eastern Rafah and on the Gazan side of the Rafah crossing. IDF troops eliminated several armed terrorist cells in close-quarters encounters on the Gazan side of the Rafah crossing. In eastern Rafah, IDF troops eliminated a number of terrorists and located weapons. An IAF aircraft struck a terrorist cell that...

As a consequence of October 7, Israel is a traumatized but still resilient country. Until the joint American-Israeli anti-missile response to the Iranian assault on April 14, Israel felt isolated, as its primary ally in the world appeared to be turning its back because of its actions in Gaza as it fought an existential battle against Hamas, Hezbollah, and their patron, Iran. Will the alliance remain strong after Israel responded to the Iranian attack? President Joe Biden told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “take the win” and not counterattack the Islamic Republic of Iran. Or will the relationship return to...

Miss Israel was called a “war criminal,” a “little Zionist,” and threatened with a knife after identifying herself as a soldier in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in New York City on Monday, according to reports. Miss Israel Noa Cochva was berated and threatened on the streets of the Big Apple while carrying a poster that read, “I am an IDF soldier. Ask me anything,” the Daily Mail reported.

National Security Council chief Tzachi Hanegbi spoke about a military operation in Rafah, stressing that, "the decision has been made - the question is not if, but when." Speaking to Israel's "Meet the Press" program, Hanegbi said, "Sinwar is living on borrowed time." "He escaped from one burrow to the next, we were very close to him. There are those who would say that we were incredibly close, at one point. Maybe even less than a few days." Comparing Sinwar to Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, who was eliminated by US forces in 2011, Hanegbi promised that Sinwar "won't...

IDF ground forces enter East Rafah after intense shelling; War Cabinet unanimously decides to continue Gaza operation and also send negotiating team to Gaza; US official: 'War Cabinet did not negotiate with Hamas in good faith' About two hours after Hamas' responded positively to an Egyptian-Qatari cease-fire proposal, Palestinian and Arab media reported Monday evening that IDF forces and tanks began to enter Gaza's East Rafah, in following intense heavy shelling in the eastern area of ​​the city. The IDF spokesman confirmed the report and said that "IDF forces are attacking and operating now against targets of the terrorist organization...