An IDF Officer was R”L killed, and another in critical condition late Sunday night, after an operation in Gaza.
According to initial information, undercover Israeli special forces drove a civilian vehicle deep into the Gaza Strip and shot dead a senior Hamas commanders.
Palestinian media is reporting that senior Hamas commander Nour Baraka was eliminated.
Hamas says they chased the car down, and opened fire on the occupants, which prompted Israeli airstrikes that led to the deaths of at least five terrorists.
The Israeli military said only that there had been an exchange of fire during operational activity. It said that its rocket defense system intercepted two launches from the Gaza Strip and that air raid sirens were sounding in southern Israel.
IDF officer Lt.-Colonel ‘M’ was named as the soldier killed. His name is not released due to the fact that he was a member of a special undercover force and the revelation of his identity would assist terrorists in identifying others in the unit. Another officer sustained moderate injures during the operation and following emergency surgery during the night, he is listed in stable condition this morning.
IDF choppers were seen landing at Soroka Medical Center, and sources confirm to YWN that at least 3 soldiers were airlifted to the facility. One of them was in extremely critical condition, and passed away later at night.
Due to misinformation of social media that an IDF soldier was kidnapped, the following was tweeted by the IDF to squash that false rumor:
Contrary to reports, none of our soldiers were abducted during the operational activity that took place in #Gaza.
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDFSpokesperson) November 11, 2018
A spokesman for Israel’s Airport’s Authority says some flight landings and departures were changed at the country’s international airport following the incident. Ofer Lefler said Sunday that the runway changes were made after the fighting began. He says they would not affect the flight schedule.
Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman reportedly rushed to the Defense Ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv, and is in discussion with senior IDF officials.
5:15 AM RECAP: 17 rockets were launched from #Gaza at #Israel. The Iron Dome intercepted 3 of them.
Following a situation assessment:
• The Israeli Railway line from Ashkelon to Sderot will be closed.
• School has been cancelled in the Israeli communities surrounding Gaza.— Israel Defense Forces (@IDFSpokesperson) November 12, 2018
Which led to the martyrdom of a number of our people, and the event continues and our forces are dealing with this dangerous Zionist aggression.
— Shehab News (@ShehabAgencyEn) November 11, 2018
Meanwhile, Israel’s prime minister is cutting short a trip to Paris because of the incident. A statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said late Sunday that he would return overnight. Netanyahu was in Paris along with dozens of world leaders to commemorate the end of World War I. At a news conference there earlier, he defended his decision to take steps toward an unofficial cease-fire with Hamas, which appeared to be ratcheting down months of violence.
Sunday’s violence also prompted Israeli authorities to cancel school Monday for students in communities near the Gaza Strip, where air raid sirens were sounding following the fresh fighting.
According to KAN Bet military correspondent Carmella Menashe, this was the type of operation that we were not supposed to know about, explaining the force was to enter Gaza, eliminate the target(s) and exit, without any media reports. Sadly, things went sour and the operation have been revealed, along with its tragic outcome.
At the same time, Red Alert were heard in communities in Eshkol and S’dot Negev regional councils. Seventeen rockets were launched into Israeli territory, three of which were intercepted by the Iron Dome system.
Overnight, during operational activity in Gaza, an exchange of fire broke out, killing IDF officer, Lt. Col. M. May his memory be a blessing. pic.twitter.com/Gq8a25Ppeh
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDFSpokesperson) November 12, 2018
Residents of Eshkol and S’dot Negev regional councils were called to stay close to protected areas. At the same time, the section of the train between Ashkelon and Beersheva, including the Sderot, Netivot and Ofakim stations remain closed until further notice. All schools in Gaza border communities are to remain closed today, Monday, 4 Kislev, as well. This includes kindergartens and daycare centers as well. Gatherings are limited to 300 or fewer persons as per the IDF Homefront Command orders of the day.
The late-night burst of violence between Israel and Hamas came just as the sides were taking steps that appeared to be toning down months of fighting. It shattered what appeared to be a turning point after months of bloodshed along the Israel-Gaza border, with weekly Hamas-led protests drawing thousands to the perimeter fence with Israel. Over 170 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in the border protests, in which Palestinians throw rocks, burning tires and grenades toward Israeli troops.
Last week, Israel allowed Qatar to deliver $15 million in aid to Gaza’s cash-strapped Hamas rulers. Hamas responded by lowering the intensity of Friday’s border protest.
Earlier Sunday, Netanyahu had defended his decision to allow the transfer of the Qatari money, rejecting criticism that the move had strengthened the Islamic militant group.
Netanyahu told reporters that it was “the right step” at the moment and that he was committed to restoring quiet along the Israel-Gaza frontier and preventing a humanitarian crisis in the coastal Palestinian territory.
“Every action, without exception, has a price,” he said. “If you can’t handle the price you cannot lead. And I can handle the price.”
Israeli critics, including members of Netanyahu’s coalition, accused him of capitulating to violence and of granting relief to the embattled Hamas group.
The internationally backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose forces lost control of Gaza to Hamas in 2007, angrily accused the U.S. and Israel of being involved in a “conspiracy” to permanently sever Gaza from the West Bank. He promised to take unspecified measures against his Hamas rivals in the coming days.
Hamas leaders in Gaza have described the arrival of the $15 million, delivered last week in three suitcases by a Qatari diplomat, as their first major gain of more than seven months of weekly protests along the perimeter fence.
Hamas has been leading the protests since March 30 in a bid to ease a crippling Israeli-Egyptian blockade that was imposed in 2007 in order to weaken the militant group. The blockade has led to over 50 percent unemployment and chronic power outages, and prevents most Gazans from being able to leave the tiny territory.
Israel says it is defending its border against militant infiltrations, but its army has come under international criticism.
With Hamas threatening to intensify the protests and international officials warning of a looming humanitarian crisis, Netanyahu on Thursday allowed the cash into Gaza. It is the first installment of $90 million that Qatar has pledged to cover the salaries of thousands of unpaid Hamas employees for six months.
Israeli opposition figures lambasted Netanyahu for appearing to cave in to violence. Army Radio played decade-old sound clips of Netanyahu, from when he was the opposition leader, threatening tough action against Hamas and criticizing his predecessor for being too soft.
Even his erstwhile allies attacked him for indirectly doing business with a militant group that has fought three wars against Israel and is sworn to Israel’s destruction.
“Everyone knows where that money is going to go ultimately,” said Netanyahu’s agriculture minister, Uri Ariel.
But in comments to reporters before traveling to Paris, Netanyahu said it was a “question of alternatives.” He said the step was coordinated with security officials to restore quiet for Israeli citizens living near the Gaza border and to avert a humanitarian crisis.
Later, at a press conference in Paris, when asked about his longer-term vision for Gaza, Netanyahu said there could be no political resolution as long as Hamas is in power.
“You can’t have a political resolution with those who are committed to your dissolution, to your destruction. That’s absurd,” he said. The alternative is to “do the minimal things necessary to maintain our security and to prevent the collapse of the humanitarian situation,” he added.
The payment is part of what is expected to be a set of informal understandings between Israel and Hamas reached through Egyptian and U.N. mediation.
Hamas is demanding an expansion of the permissible fishing zone off the Israeli-controlled Gaza coast, uninterrupted flow of fuel to mitigate chronic power shortages and the lifting of Israeli restrictions on exports and imports. In return, Israel wants quiet and an end to the border protests.
For the second week in a row, the Palestinians kept Friday’s protests carefully restrained, burning fewer tires and refraining from breaching the fence.
In the West Bank, Abbas angrily accused Israel and the U.S. of ganging up behind his back to entrench Hamas’ control over Gaza. He also accused Hamas of undermining his goal of establishing an independent Palestinian state that includes all of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
Abbas fears that the U.S. is preparing to float a peace plan, called the “Deal of the Century” by President Donald Trump, which would leave Hamas in control of Gaza and give him only limited autonomy in pieces of the West Bank.
“We are going to take tough measures (against Hamas) in the coming days,” Abbas said.
“There is an American conspiracy, which is the ‘Deal of the Century,’ and there is an Israeli conspiracy to implement the ‘Deal of the Century,’” he said. “To my dismay, there is another conspiracy from Hamas to foil the independent state.”
Abbas, speaking at a ceremony marking the 14th anniversary of the death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, did not elaborate on what steps he might take against Hamas.
Abbas has repeatedly limited financial aid to Gaza in order to pressure Hamas into returning control to him.
BREAKING: IDF Officer killed & another critical in operation after undercover special forces enter Gaza in and eliminate senior Hamas terrorist. 6 other Hamas terrorists killed following gunfight and airstrikes to evacuate soldiers.
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) November 11, 2018
(AP / YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
17 Responses
Would be nice to have his name so we can say tehillim.
I don’t understand why they went in on the ground to do this. It makes no sense. It’s not worth one Jewish life to go in and kill one of these guys. Do it from the air like they always do.
It’s an obvious message from Hashem to the Israeli government and especially to minister Liberman that Hashem is not happy with the forceful Yeshiva boys draft of the IDF of שמד Schmad. It’s time the Zionists left alone the Bnai Torah in the Holy Land.
But…. the sad part is that Chazal teach us that:
רשעים אפילו על פתחו של גיהנם אינם חוזרין בתשובה so NOTHING is going to change.
“…….It’s an obvious message from Hashem to the Israeli government and especially to minister Liberman that Hashem is not happy with the forceful Yeshiva boys draft of the IDF of שמד Schmad. It’s time the Zionists left alone the Bnai Torah in the Holy Land. ….”
Well, well,….. OBVIOUS….. We have ourselves a navi and baa l(baalas) Ruach Hakodesh…
The only thing that’s obvious is that an IDF Chayal was killed H”YD to help protect and stave off our enemies who mean to murder Jews including the Yeshiva bocharim’lech.
You’re a liar.
Nobody is forcing yeshiva boys into the draft.
You’re a navi sheker.
You’re a schizo hallucinator .
Look at him….!!!
Throwing in a memreh , in Loshon Kodesh with Hebrew lettering yet , Hebrew font…
What’s also OBVIOUS is that you’re a sadist, an achzar who can’t find it in your miserable heart to even write ONE word of tanchumim.
Deodorizer, please.
chesssed, i am happy that you can interpret so clearly God’s intentions on our behalf. May you be zocheh never to need the protection of the IDF
ikovitz, it is easy to be a Monday morning quarterback but you are not even that good at that; we now know that assassination was NOT the purpose of the incursion.
Mr. Chesssed; A soldier lost his life and you use this as an opportunity to spread the stupid fairy tales of the “Shamd” army. Besides that, you are obviously a Navi, as you are telling us that you know what Hashem’s messages are. Just like that fraud, Aderet, who shot off his pisk last week. We all know that nobody is forced into the army. It’s registration only. But this has been discussed ad nauseum. Lastly, please do not refer to any single boy who blocks streets and disrupts the lives of thousands of people, a “ben torah”. Just because they wear the stupid hat 24×7 doesnt make them bnai torah. I am willing to bet that at least half of them don’t learn a word; they live to riot. And to think, this soldier, and others, gave up their lives to protect these useless bums.
Chessed, why don’t stop explaining Hashem’s messages to us as you are obviously clueless in this subject. Maybe it’s because people like refuse to protect Jewish lives and only think about themselves are the part of the problem. Frum people get killed too unfortunately and I don’t see you coming up with easy explanations then.
Chesssed this has nothing to do with the draft and everything to do with the fact that to the higher ups in the Israeli goverment Jewish lives are dispensable for the cause of keeping the anti-Semites from screaming that Israel is bombing the “poor Fakestinians” again.
In this case the reshuim are those making decisions to sacrifice Jewish lives so that our enemies will not scream too loudly ( this time). I highly doubt the government really thinks the draft can be implemented and those who say and prove that they are learning are at no risk of being drafted, as was all these years. Many secularists and dati leumi talk and talk but everyone knows that taking away yeshiva students from learning will never happen. But at least it gives the Peleg “demonstrators” an excuse to have fun…
Was sgan aluf m hyd Druze?
philosopher, another arrogant foolish statement. the decision to risk lives is a necessary part of what political and military leaders do. calling them reshaim is as insightful as chesssed.
To ZionGate:
I agree with you over all that the comment about the army drafting yeshiva students was a sick comment.
We still have to remember that when we are admonishing someone, we should do it like a gentleman. If we talk to him nicely, maybe we can get part of that group to understand us better.
DrYidd – besides the fact that you are arrogant, where in the article does it infer that the purpose of the incursion was NOT to assassinate that Hamas guy?
Avraham,
I appreciate your remarks to me, and generally I very much agree.
However, this person is regurgitating the stale ‘ole canards , calling these people reshaim, and not even having the mentchlichkeit to open with an acknowledgement of symphony for soldier, father, husband, who gave his life to shield other Yidden from harm.
This alone speaks volumes that he’s not in a good place.
Not even feeling for acheinu Bnai Yisroel who need our tfilos during the rocket attacks.
DrYidd, maybe you are not so familiar with the Israeli mindset and you are naive and trusting in their “leadership” but having analyzed Israeli politics over decades ( basically since the Oslo Accords), I have realized that every single decision is based on the “world’s reaction. Every single decision, including every single security decision revolves around how the anti-Semitic media and countries whose histories are painted red with Jewish blood, will react. This is a fact. This was a fact with the Oslo Accords, with giving in to terrorism daily, with throwing out Jews from Yehuda and Shomron, and with carrying out every single military action that involves UNNECESSARY ground force instead of bombing targets ( because of collateral damage), despite knowing the potential of loss of Jewish life.
Anyone who risks the lives of their own citizen on account of a people who support and voted for terrorists, and a large percentage are actively involved in terrorism, is engaging in rishusdige behavior. I’m not saying the entire Israeli leadership, including the military leadership, is guilty of this, many agree with my position, but those who knowingly send their own citizens to their death while they have other means of fighting this war, are reshuim.
ikovitz, i have good reason to be arrogant; halevi you had some reason s well. forget about the article, read recent reports from israel.
philosopher, BH Israel has had wise leaders. everyone errs, but that is not relevant to a military operation kept secret, you can hypothesize all you want, but thank God it is as relevant to israeli policy as to the temperature in NY.
DrYidd, well it seems the facts came out after I commented in this article, that it was an undercover mission and that the goal was not necessarily assinsinations…
But I’m not taking back my words, and regardless of the trust you have in the Israeli goverment and army, and certainly they do many thingsright, it is not only me, but scores of Israelis themselves who are upset with the leadership that keeps on giving in to the Muslims and world opinion. That’s precisely why Israel is in a position where it keeps on fighting for it’s existence, with rockets continously being launched into Israel, continouse terror attacks, the tiny country sliced up up in pieces…
I’m curious how many people commenting on this (any many other) story have actual hands-on experience with the issue of the chareidi draft. It has zero do with this story, but since it’s come up again I shall respond.
I was in the israeli army and I can vouch for how bad decisions are made. I was on a secret base, in a secret location with secret goings-on. I know that sounds like a way of being able to say what I want without sources, but it’s actually true.
Fact is, the army doesn’t need the chareidim. The government fights tooth-and-nail to get us out of Yeshiva, but the army doesn’t really want us. We aren’t generally motivated in the same way as chilonim and our loyalty is to God rather than the chief of staff. I have more than one friend in my Yeshiva who had to go in to hiding because even after jumping through the hoops the army laid out, they still tried to force them to report for “duty”. I’m not talking about the peleg idiots who don’t learn, avoid jumping through the hoops and then close down parts of the country again and again while attacking other Jews. I’m talking about guys who were forced to leave the Beis Hamidrash to go do army paperwork time and time again.
The army cares not one bit about the lives of the arabs in Aza. The only reason for risking the lives of infantry is to keep the world happy for one moment while they find something else to complain about. I have a friend who was called in for reserve duty at the start of the fighting in 2014. His job was to go and extract journalists who had got themselves too deep in when they realized their lives were at risk. Jewish lives were reisked to save those of goyim who were in Aza to report on so-called Israeli misconduct. Why? Because it’s what the monkey in the white house at the time wanted. When we can get away with it, our aircraft are sent in to do the job. It’s safer and more likely to get the job done.