Day: October 11, 2023

Iraq, Jordan, Egypt condemn Israel for attacking Gaza as Holy Land fends off strikes from Syria, Lebanon

Several Middle Eastern countries and other regional authorities have weighed in on the war between Israel and Hamas forces in Gaza, which started when Hamas terrorists, which rule the Gaza Strip, carried out a massacre of Israeli civilians in border towns and at a music festival on Saturday. It has claimed more than 2,200 lives on both sides in just five days.

Leaders in Iraq, Syria, Jordan and a prominent school in Egypt have expressed support for fighters in Gaza and have condemned Israel, where more than 1,200 people, including 155 soldiers, have died. The Gaza Health Ministry says more than 1,050 of their own people have been killed.

The war is expected to escalate as Israel has amassed forces near its border with Gaza, ahead of a potential ground operation. The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) has also moved troops to its northern border, which it shares with Syria and Lebanon, after the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah fired anti-tank missiles at Israeli soldiers.

Rocket fire from Gaza continued to fall onto Tel Aviv Wednesday and, as night falls on the region, additional rocket fire is expected.

ISRAEL AT WAR WITH HAMAS AFTER SURPRISE ATTACKS, MORE THAN 1,200 ISRAELIS DEAD

Other leaders, including the Vatican, have called for an end of the warring and the killing of innocent civilians.

Palestinian factions based in the Syrian capital of Damascus have expressed their support to fighters in Gaza, promoting the claim that Hamas is helping liberate their land.

The officials, from factions including the “Palestinian Islamic Jihad” and the “Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command,” have called for Arab foreign ministers, who are meeting in Cairo on Wednesday, to clearly state their support for the Palestinian people in Gaza.

ISRAEL RESPONDS TO HEZBOLLAH ATTACK FROM LEBANON DEPLOYING ‘TENS OF THOUSANDS’ TO NORTHERN BORDER

An IDF spokesman said Wednesday that Israel received rocket-fire from Lebanon and Syria and was mobilizing “tens of thousands” of troops toward its northern border in response.

Spokesperson Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus did not say whether the rockets were fired by a Syrian militant group, Hezbollah or another faction. IDF returned fire, striking where the rockets were fired, he said.

There have been concerns this third front — in addition to fighting in Gaza and, separately, in Lebanon — heightened tensions and could escalate into a regional war.

The Kata’ib Hezbollah, a prominent Iranian-backed terrorist group in Iraq, released a statement Wednesday threatening to attack American bases if the United States intervenes in the current Israel-Hamas war.

“Our missiles, drones, and special forces are ready to direct qualitative strikes at the American enemy in its bases and disrupt its interests if it intervenes in this battle,” Ahmad al-Hamidawi, head of the Kataib Hezbollah militia also known as “Abu Hussein,” said in a statement.

US AMMO ARRIVES IN ISRAEL AHEAD OF EXPECTED GROUND OPERATION IN GAZA

Al-Hamidawi also threatened to launch missiles directly at Israeli targets and has called on Iraqis to demonstrate their support for the Hamas military campaign. They are also collecting money for to support Hamas.

Iraq does not share a border with Israel as it is separated by Jordan and Syria.

King Abdullah II of Jordan has called for peace between Gaza and Israel but said Israeli-Palestinian relations could never be stable without a “two-state solution.”

Such a proposal includes Palestinian people getting their own land and country, which Israel opposes.

AT LEAST 40 BABIES, SOME BEHEADED, FOUND BY ISRAEL SOLDIERS IN HAMAS-ATTACKED VILLAGE

“There will be no security, no peace, no stability without just and total peace that comes through a two-state solution,” King Abdullah II told the Jordanian parliament Wednesday, calling for a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

The King of Jordan has also mobilized medical and humanitarian aid teams to the blockaded Gaza Strip through Egypt.

Al-Azhar al-Sharif, the Sunni world’s foremost seat of religious learning, released a strongly-worded statement Wednesday alleging Israel has committed “genocide and war crimes” against civilian Palestinians in Gaza.

The Cairo-based religious institution called for Arab and Islamic countries to take “a serious and unified position against the West’s inhuman rally.” It also condemned its “inhuman siege” of Gaza and claimed Israel’s attacks were killing “innocent Palestinian civilians,” which Israel has denied.

The statement called for an investigation into the alleged actions.

ISRAEL LAUNCHES MASSIVE AIRSTRIKES ON DOWNTOWN GAZA CITY, NETANYAHU SAYS: ‘WE HAVE ONLY STARTED’

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi warned about “grave security and humanitarian repercussions” in a statement Wednesday amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.

He said his government, which has mediated previous cease-fires between Israel and Palestinian militants, is seeking to “contain the situation,” according to the Egyptian leader’s office.

Egypt has closed the Rafah border, which it shares with Israel and the Gaza Strip, according to an Egyptian security official.

On Wednesday, Pope Francis called for the immediate release of hostages taken by Hamas.

On Saturday, Hamas fighters carried out the most serious assault on Israel in its 75-year history. The attack, which took place on a religious holiday in Israel, included Hamas terrorists killing 260 Israelis at a music festival and the taking of more than 130 hostages. These hostages include Americans and European nationals.

Pope Francis said he is praying for those who saw “a day of celebration transformed into a day of mourning.” He also said that he is following events in Israel and the occupied territories with “pain and apprehension,” with “many dead and injured.’’

The pope clarified that “whoever is attacked has the right to defend himself” but said he was “very worried about the total siege under which the Palestinians in Gaza are living, where there are also many innocent victims.”

Thousands of people on both sides, Israel and Gaza, have been wounded. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Relatives of loved ones killed, kidnapped by Hamas plead for help: 'The world has to step up'

A distraught family member described on “FOX & Friends” Wednesday seeing videos of her relatives being taken from their home in southern Israel by Hamas. 

LeElle Slifer said she recognized her mother’s cousin, Kinneret, in a newly surfaced video of hostages whose hands were tied as they walked alongside Hamas terrorists. Additional video showed four lifeless bodies with physical characteristics matching the hostages.

“She texted us that morning. She was in the house with her husband, her daughter, her son, and her daughter-in-law and her little granddaughter, three years old. They were all there celebrating the holiday, and she said she was safe,” Slifer told host Steve Doocy, who was also overcome with emotion over what happened to the family. 

“Then we started seeing videos from the terrorists that she’d been taken, reports from her husband that their daughter was taken, their son, their daughter-in-law, their granddaughter… and we just kept searching for news, and we didn’t know for so many days.”

HAMAS ARMED WING WARNS IT WILL START KILLING ISRAELI HOSTAGES FOR ANY NEW BOMBING OF HOMES WITHOUT WARNING

Her voice began to break. “Then I saw the video online, and I had to tell my family in Israel that I had seen [her] laying on the ground lifeless, and we still haven’t recovered her body yet.”

Before disappearing toward Gaza, Hamas militants tied Kinneret’s son’s hands and shoved him into a vehicle with his wife and three-year-old daughter. Another member of their kibbutz – or community – was shoved in the trunk.

When they encountered a tank, the terrorists stopped the vehicle and got out, giving Slifer’s loved ones a chance to escape.

“[They] knew that if they didn’t do something, they would be as good as dead,” she said. “So they jumped, ran from the car…” Kinneret’s son hid in a field with his daughter for 24 hours until silence replaced gunfire and shouting. He then made his way back to the kibbutz.

AMERICAN WOMAN SAYS FAMILY HAS BEEN TAKEN HOSTAGE BY HAMAS IN ISRAEL: ‘ANY PARENT’S WORST NIGHTMARE’

“Thank God they’re alive,” Slifer said. 

But Kinneret’s daughter-in-law had to hide someplace else and has been missing since. Slifer said the family has to assume the worst has happened: that she has been taken hostage in Gaza.

“This is jihad. There are no rules in jihad. They’re raping women in fields. They’re beheading babies. They’re executing the elderly in the street. They’re taking [people] back to Gaza to use as human shields. It’s appalling. And the world has to step up and get these hostages out,” she continued.

Terror in the Holy Land also devastated Ofri Levy, whose family was kidnapped by Hamas. She begged for their rescue on Wednesday.

“The only thing we know is that they were taken to Gaza on Saturday,” she told FOX News. Video showed her sister-in-law holding her two sons as they were taken from their home by Hamas terrorists.

‘TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE’ TO RETEIVED HOSTAGES: COUNTERTERRORISM EXPERT ISSUES WARNING OVER ISRAEL WAR

“We knew [she] and the kids were taken because we got this video in already on Saturday. We didn’t know anything about my brother until yesterday, which was his birthday, and it was the first time we got any picture of him, any sign of life, and we saw him in a picture surrounded by terrorists leading into Gaza.” 

“He was bleeding from his head,” she said. “One of the terrorists had a hammer in his hand.”

Levy said her brother stayed in contact with her via text messages leading up to the kidnapping, telling her he was terrified as he heard explosions, gunfire and screaming in Arabic.

“The last text I got from him was 9:45 Saturday saying they were coming inside their house. Later, we also saw a video of them breaking inside my brother’s house,” she explained.

“I can’t think of anything else. They have to come back home. They have to join us again…” she added.

The death toll continues to climb in the harrowing days since war broke out Saturday. As of early Wednesday, nearly 2,100 have been killed on both sides of the conflict, including more than 1,200 in Israel.

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