Magic, Monkeys and More! Purim 2024 Was Magical

ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES (IDF) ACTIVITIES The IDF has concluded its two-week operation in Gaza City, during which it reports that more than 100 Hamas militants have been eliminated. In a surprise attack, fifty terrorist targets were struck Saturday night in Gaza’s Khan Younis in just six minutes, according to the IDF. This morning, the IDF killed Palestinian Islamic Jihad militants suspected of a rocket attack on Hatzerim, a kibbutz in Southern Israel. Earlier today, one person was killed and seven others wounded in Israel by an anti-tank missile attack from Lebanon that struck an orchard near the border community of Margaliot. The victims are all foreign laborers, apparently from Thailand. The IDF attacked a vehicle in southern Lebanon via drone strike, killing three Hezbollah operatives. Among them was Abbas Ahmed Halil, grandson of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. Another wave of airstrikes took place in the Rafah area, including near the Philadelphia Corridor (along the border between Gaza and Egypt). The IDF had discovered a network of Hamas tunnels in the area.

During an evacuation of civilians from Khan Yunis in Gaza, the IDF found terrorists who were concealed along with civilians and attempting to escape with them. The terrorists were apprehended by the Seventh Armored Brigade, which also killed several other militants and discovered a cache of weapons, including rifles, machine guns, and grenades. The IDF found a terrorist cell that had been using drones to attack Israelis; the Israeli Air Force (IAF) neutralized the cell. The IAF attacked Hamas’s aerial unit, including striking rocket launch posts that were pointed toward Israel. Meanwhile, the IDF announced that it has concluded a weeklong raid on Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, where both militants and weapons had been found; about 200 terror suspects, including some who allegedly participated in the October 7 massacre, have been arrested there. There is also evidence that Israeli hostages were held captive for a period at the same hospital, including boxes of sealed medicine labeled with the names of hostages. Two IDF soldiers, Staff Sgt. Ido Eli Zrihen, 20, and Staff Sgt. Nerya Belete, 21, died while fighting with the Givati Reconnaissance Unit in southern Gaza. An officer and two soldiers in the Givati Brigade were also seriously wounded. Click here for the latest information, in Hebrew, on fallen soldiers.

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Activities A terror attack took place just outside Jerusalem this morning. At least one Israeli was killed and eleven were wounded, with some in serious condition, including a 23-year-old pregnant woman. Three terrorists who opened fire on cars waiting in traffic were all killed. Hamas referred to the attack as a “heroic operation.” The IDF has launched a large-scale operation in a Gaza City neighborhood, during which troops have been raiding Hamas sites and killing terrorists. Over the past day, the IDF directed airstrikes against ten Hamas sites in the area, and have located and destroyed a rocket launcher that had been readied for an attack on Israel. Meanwhile, in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis, IDF troops killed more than fifteen Hamas operatives in fighting, while the Navy carried out strikes against vessels belonging to Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Numerous tunnels were also destroyed. Despite considerable international opposition, senior Israeli officials continue to say that the IDF will fight Hamas in the city of Rafah to destroy the last significant bastions of Hamas power. The IDF has also advanced plans to establish a local Palestinian governing body to replace Hamas in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City, in what is seen as a pilot program for “the day after.” IDF officials have already met with a group of unnamed Palestinian community leaders who will be tasked with governing residents of the area who did not flee southward due to the fighting. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel wants local Palestinian community leaders who are not affiliated with either Hamas or the Palestinian Authority to take over the governance of Gaza after the war.

JEWISH FEDERATIONS AND PARTNERS One of the many projects being supported by Jewish Federations through the Israel Emergency Campaign is a program for midwives to support pregnant women affected by the war, including those whose partners may have been killed, evacuees and others. More than 100 midwives are partnering with the Israel Midwives Association and the IDF Widows and Orphans Organization to accompany women through their pregnancy and delivery; they are providing emotional, practical, and other support. Read more here. Last week, the US Senate passed the “National Security Act,” a supplemental appropriations bill for military aid to both Israel and Ukraine, along with a significant increase to the Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP). On Wednesday, Jewish Federations took out full-page ads, signed by additional Jewish organizations, in Politico and The Hill to show gratitude to the 70 senators who voted for the bill. To read Federations’ leadership message, click here. For more details on the Act, click here. And to read Federation Chair Julie Platt’s op-ed in the Jerusalem Post, click here. For an Action Alert encouraging the House to take up the bill, click here.

Jewish Federations and Partners This week, the US Senate passed a Supplemental Aid package that includes approximately $14 billion in aid to Israel and $400 million in funding for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP) needed to ensure houses of worship remain safe. Jewish Federations thanked the US Senate for passing this critical aid, and took out a thank-you ad in The Hill and Politico. Untold numbers of Israeli children have been traumatized by the events of October 7 and its aftermath. The “Resilience for Our Children” nonprofit, a recipient of Jewish Federations’ Emergency Fund allocations, is working to deal with this challenge. See more here.