October 30, 2023 - Israel At War

Everything you need to know as we enter the third week of the war in Israel

Today is October 30, 2023, and here is the latest about what is happening in Israel. If you enjoy these daily updates, and want access to more, exclusive content, or to support my work, then please consider becoming a monthly subscriber by clicking the button below.

We have now entered the third week of the war in Israel, and here is everything you need to know. One note before I dive into the news: With war, there is a lot of information that is often difficult to compartmentalize into easily digestible reads. And, with the news moving at a fast pace, news is often missed and information is often interpreted incorrectly at first.

1) Israeli Ground Operations Continue

Israeli ground operations continue this morning in northern Gaza. Over the past several days, the Israeli military has increased its presence in various areas in northern Gaza including in Gaza City where Palestinian residents have been asked to evacuate immediately. Overnight, Israel's military announced that it successfully neutralized dozens of Hamas fighters in northern Gaza and Israeli media showed the country's troops as far as two miles into the Gaza Strip. Recent reporting has suggested that Israel has strayed away from a full scale invasion of Gaza, opting instead for limited, targeted raids and strikes to limit civilian casualties. 

This has also been done at the request of the United States and other members of the international community. However, do not expect these limited raids to end soon. According to the Israeli military, the public should only expect Israel's ground operations to increase significantly during the next several days, weeks, and months. Israel has previously stated that its ultimate goal is to eradicate Hamas completely, and although that is likely achievable, many questions remain about how long this operation will last, whether any additional civilian casualties will occur, and what happens after Israel is successful in Gaza. More to come from us on this. 

2) Hostage Murdered

Meanwhile, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced that one of the hostages taken by Hamas from the music festival in Southern Israel on October 7th has been found dead. Shani Louk was a 23-year-old German-Israel military woman who was taken by Hamas terrorists while enjoying the music festival just three weeks ago. According to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Louk was tortured when she entered Gaza, with her body being paraded by Hamas terrorists down the streets of Gaza. As of this post over 230 hostages remain in Hamas custody, but no one knows the current status of any of the remaining hostages, including whether they are alive. Hamas has previously stated that it would release all of the remaining hostages in exchange for Israel releasing the over 7,000 Hamas terrorists currently in Israeli prisons. It is unknown whether such an offer is legitimate, but either way it is a non-starter as Hamas should be required to release all Israeli hostages without any conditions. 

3) Antisemitism On The Rise

In addition, antisemitism has been on the rise across the world, with two major antisemitic incidents occurring over the past 24 hours. First, in Southwestern Russia, a pro-Hamas group was seen taking over an airport looking for Israelis and Jewish people to murder. The group successfully broke onto the tarmac of the airport upon news of a flight from Tel Aviv, Israel that was set to arrive. After several tense moments, the flight was successfully diverted to Moscow, with all those on the flight remaining safe from the crowd. Since the attack, the Makhachkala airport was closed by Russian officials through November 6th and a massive number of arrests were made. The United States National Security Council issued the following statement in response to the attacks:

Meanwhile, here at home, Jewish students at Cornell University faced antisemitism on campus several antisemitic messages were written in a discussion post for students forcing the kosher dining hall on campus to go on lockdown temporarily. These statements were forcefully condemned by leaders across New York, including New York Governor Kathy Hochul. Read the discussion posts here.

4) Humanitarian Crisis Worsens

Finally, the humanitarian crisis is worsening in Gaza as over 2 million Palestinian civilians remain without necessary aid as the siege on the Gaza Strip has continued this morning. As of this post, additional aid has yet to enter the strip, but there do appear to be signs that the siege will be partially lifted. Latest reporting suggests that Israel has begun allowing water back into parts of Gaza, while President Biden and Prime Minister Netanyahu have agreed to allow increased aid to enter the strip. According to the Israeli military, as the ground operation continues, more aid will be allowed to enter the Gaza Strip, but fuel will not. The New York Times recently reported that Hamas currently has a massive stockpile of food, medicine, and fuel in its underground tunnels which it is using to support Hamas fighters and their terrorist operations. This, if true, is unsurprising as Hamas has been known to take aid meant for the Palestinian people and use it for itself. More to come on this as the international community comes together to try to provide support for the innocent Palestinian civilians currently in the path of war. 

Disclaimer: With any war, news and information is often scattered and hard to come by, as I learn more you will be the first to know.