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Tuesday, October 15, 2024

October 7, 2023 and the Events Leading Up To That Horrid Inconceivable Attack

   Nadene Goldfoot                                                                    

Sukkot lasts for seven days and culminates in Hoshana Rabbah (Great Supplication), the last day of the holiday. It is followed by the holidays of Shemini Atzeret (the Eighth Day of Assembly) and Simchat Torah (Rejoicing of the Torah).  In the Gregorian calendar the dates vary from late September to late October. In 2023,was celebrated starting in the evening of Friday, 29 September, 2023 until the evening of  Friday, 6 October, 2023.  And then....the young people had earlier heard of Music Festivals happening in Europe and decided to have a big one on the 7th of October, and it was a big hit.  People came from many places to attend.                                                          
       Militant Palestinian, Mohammed Deif, is a Palestinian  and the head of the Ezzedeen al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Islamist organization Hamas. Israel claims to have assassinated him in an airstrike on Al-Mawasi on 13 July 2024; however, Hamas denied that he was killed in the airstrike. Mohammed al-Masri was born in 1965 in the Khan Yunis Refugee Camp in the Gaza Strip, to a family that fled or were expelled during the 1948 Palestine war. He reportedly left school temporarily to support his low-income family, later graduating with a bachelor's degree in chemistry from the Islamic University of Gaza in 1988, where he had established a theater group.

The horrid events of October 7th of last year is blamed by some Arabs on one of the many clashes we've had with the Palestinians.  Of course it's a personal event to a militant Palestinian.  What happened was The 2021 Gaza War, sometimes called the Unity Intifada,that  was a major outbreak of violence in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict that mainly commenced on 10 May 2021, and continued until a ceasefire came into effect on 21 May. It was marked by protests and police riot control, rocket attacks on Israel by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), and Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip. The crisis was triggered on 6 May, when Palestinians in East Jerusalem began protesting over an anticipated decision of the Supreme Court of Israel on the eviction of six Palestinian families in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah. Under international law, the area, effectively annexed by Israel in 1980, is a part of the Israeli-occupied West Bank; On 7 May, according to Israel's Channel 12Palestinians threw stones at Israeli police forces, who then stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound using tear gas, rubber bullets, and stun grenades. The crisis prompted protests around the world as well as official reactions from world leaders. Armed police in riot gear stormed the prayer hall of Al-Aqsa mosque before dawn Wednesday, aiming to dislodge "law-breaking youths and masked agitators" they said had barricaded themselves inside. A barrage of rocks and fireworks met the officers, police video showed, and more than 350 people were arrested.    Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups named the attacks Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, while in Israel they are referred to as Black Sabbath or the Simchat Torah Massacre, and internationally as the 7 October attacks. The attacks initiated the ongoing Israel–Hamas war.                                                               At 6:30 a.m. IST, air raid sirens were activated in southern and central Israel in response to Hamas missiles. Concurrently, said to still be alive,  Muhammad Deif, the leader of the Hamas' military wing, announced in a ten-minute recorded message published online the start of "Operation Al-Aqsa Flood", and that "the enemy will understand that the time of their rampaging without accountability has ended", urging Palestinians to attack Israeli settlements with whatever weapons they had. Approximately 1,200 Israeli civilians and soldiers were killed in the Hamas-led attack, while around 250 others were kidnapped.

                                                                   
                   Remembering the people kidnapped and taken away by Hamas
Time Magazine wrote:  Since then, of the 251 individuals who were taken into Gaza, 105 hostages have been freed via negotiations with Hamas. Another eight were rescued during daring but deadly operations. At least 35 hostages have also been confirmed dead since the war began, and approximately 100 remain in captivity one year later.  I believe the number today is down to about 40. Hope I'm wrong and more will remain alive.  Word is that they are to be killed as Israelis approach.  

  • 07:00: The Supernova Music Festival near the Re'im kibbutz was attacked by Hamas militants, some of whom arrived via motorized paragliders.   Of the approximately 3,000 to 5,000 people at the festival, 364 were killed and 40 abducted.                                          
  • 07:40: The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed that Hamas militants had entered southern Israel and asked residents of Sderot and other cities to remain indoors.
  • 08:15: Sirens were activated in Jerusalem following a rocket barrage that landed in the forested hills on the city's western edge.
  • 08:23: Israel declared a state of alert for war, activating its reservists, in response to continued rocket attacks.

  • 10:47: The Israeli Air Force (IAF) began attacking Gaza.
  • 11:35: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made his first statement about the conflict via Twitter, declaring that Israel is at war.
  • 12:21: the IDF began operations to relieve cities in southern Israel as the number of rockets launched from Gaza increased to over 1,200.
  • 12:29: The United States made its first statement, through the National Security Council, which condemned the terrorist attack and reaffirmed US support for Israel.

  • 16:08: President Joe Biden spoke with Netanyahu and expressed his condolences and support, later declaring during a speech that US support for Israel was "...solid and unwavering".
  • 18:00: The Israeli security cabinet said on 8 October that a state of war had officially begun at this time.
                                                                   
                                              Rockets from Gaza aiming at Israel 
  • It was later discovered that the 7 October rocket attacks included a strike on a putative (reputed to be) nuclear missile site. The rocket hit the grounds of Sdot Micha military base, on the outskirts of East Jerusalem. On the morning of 7 October 2023, the day of the Hamas-led attack on Israel, a missile fired from the Gaza Strip is said to have hit the base compound, causing a wildfire of 40 hectares, but no military facilities were seriously damaged, as The New York Times claims to have found out based on satellite images. At the same time, it was emphasized that the nuclear warheads presumably stored there in bunkers could never detonate by an accident or external influence
  • Bruno Mars' concert in Tel Aviv scheduled for Oct 7 evening was cancelled due to the attack on Israel.  Peter Gene Hernandez (born October 8, 1985), known professionally as Bruno Mars, is an American singer-songwriter. He is known for his stage performances, retro showmanship, and for singing in a wide range of musical styles, including popR&Bfunksoulreggaedisco, and rock.

Resource:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_Israel%E2%80%93Hamas_war_(7_October_%E2%80%93_27_October_2023)

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