A friend’s son is a college freshman and is studying in Israel this semester. She said the school has made the decision to send the kids home. I know it’s tough, but I’m sure glad he’s getting out of there.
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If they can get home. I believe the major US airlines (Delta, American, United) have discontinued flights to/from Israel. I believe those trying to get out are trying airlines that will take them anywhere in Europe, and then go from there. Our immediate family in Israel are safe so far, but two of DH’s cousin’s children have been activated , and another cousin’s daughter lost a dear friend she served with in the Israeli army (see my post with her heart wrenching message about his death in the “say it here” thread).
As have most other major foreign airlines, with the notable exception (for now) of British Airways. Some regional airlines are still flying, as is El Al.
Yes. Point being that students are going to have to be creative with how they will get home.
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Wonder why US government can’t facilitate the evacuation of US citizens?
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They may have to. Maybe they are working on getting US citizens out of the country.
Senator Corey Booker and Rep Daniel Goodman were both in Israel at the time of the attack and both are now out of the country.
I haven’t heard how they got out, but I suspect that the State Department facilitated that.
I’m heartbroken by any violence against innocent people, men, women and children. This has been disturbing to see.
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All? Who would pay for it?
Do you know how many people have dual citizenship? Do you have any idea how many American orthodox Jews have in Israel kids who study for a year or two there (mostly in Jerusalem)? Plus I am not sure where it is safer at this point in special bomb resistant room in the middle of Israel or in the sky over Israel…
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In the yom kippur war, american youth who were studying in israel filled the civilian jobs that the reservists had to leave when they were called up.
My kids high school cohort have all been called up, as have my friends’ sons and daughters.
We now have confirmation that 6 family members were taken from Nir Oz. They are in that awful video of the people in the cart that they are playing over and over again. Please, please bring them home
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No words. 
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The Jewish Federation of San Diego just put out an email of Operation Iron Swords Update#5. It’s a lot of information but the most comprehensive summary I’ve seen. I’ll put it into a few posts since it’s so long.
Here’s what we know so far:
- More than 900 Israelis have been killed; Some 2600 are wounded, 600 of which are still hospitalized; 5,000 rockets fired at Israel; and an estimated 150 Israelis being held hostage in Gaza
- The IDF does not currently regard the situation as a multi-front conflict despite skirmishes in the North
- The IDF has stated that they have sufficient supplies. There are some temporary delays in distribution, but are asking that people not send in supplies
- Some terrorists may still be at large despite Israeli retaking control of territory and border fence
- Israeli media are reporting that all of the major political parties are close to an agreement for a broad emergency national coalition government.
- This morning, President Herzog met with our own Eric Fingerhut and Rebecca Caspi and UJA-Federation of New York’s Eric Goldstein, and thanked “the North American Jewish community for standing shoulder to shoulder with Israel in its hour of need.”
On Day 4 of Israel’s war with Hamas the casualty rate has again risen significantly. Despite several skirmishes in the North, the IDF does not regard the current situation as a multi-front conflict at this stage.
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The Home Front
The IDF declared that it has regained control of all cities in the country’s south, and has also secured the entire border fence with Gaza, preventing additional terrorist infiltrations. At the same time, the military warned that some terrorists may remain inside Israel from earlier incursions. On Tuesday afternoon, members of an elite IDF unit killed four terrorists on Zikim Beach. The military says it spotted four armed men and “exchanged fire with the terrorists in the area and eliminated them.” The IDF confirmed that no terrorists have successfully managed to infiltrate into Israel from Gaza since yesterday.All the Israeli communities adjacent to the Gaza border have been evacuated except for individuals who opted to remain in their homes. Most of the population is now staying either in hotels around the Dead Sea or in the center of the country.
Last night, the IDF located 30 missing people near Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha in the south, three days after the initial attacks. The group of 16 Israelis and 14 Thais, who were all in good health, had been hiding, having run from Hamas gunmen.
In an indication of the scale of the terrorist invasion that took place on Saturday, the bodies of at least 1500 Hamas militants have been found inside Israel.The Israeli Government last night also confirmed that it knows the names of all those who are being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza and that at least 50 families have been informed. Watch the disturbing testimony of Avital, an Israeli mother who was kidnapped with her neighbor Adi Kaplon-Vital and her two children. Hamas terrorists took Adi to Gaza and gave the children to Avital who was released and is interviewed here. Adi is still being held by Hamas.
Intensive rocket fire continued throughout the day yesterday, but the frequency of attacks dropped overnight. On Tuesday afternoon, significant barrages have been fired at cities in the center of the country, including Tel Aviv and Herzliya.
For a third straight day, millions of Israelis ran to shelters as sirens blared, and schools and many businesses remained shuttered across the country. The Home Front Command advised all Israeli citizens to keep at least 72 hours’ worth of dry food and water in their shelters. Parents of school-aged children have been advised to remove social media apps from their kid’s cell-phones as Hamas is expected to release graphic videos of some of the hostages shortly, in order to avoid additional trauma.The death toll, mainly from the first day of fighting, continued to rise dramatically and has now surpassed 900 victims. Of these, some are Arab and Druze Israelis, at least 11 have US citizenship and 2 are Canadian. In addition, 2 Canadians are among the missing. Citizens from other countries have also been killed, including 12 from Thailand and others from the UK, Germany, France and numerous other nations. (See more about American and Canadian victims here).
As is often mentioned, Israel is a small country where “everyone knows everyone.” As a result, it is rare to find an Israeli who does not know at least one person who has been killed. The country is also physically small, and the sounds of fighting and explosions can be heard by vast swathes of the population, on an almost constant basis
Television stations have been broadcasting news 24 hours a day since early on Saturday morning with no commercial or other breaks. During the news and discussions by military and other experts, the names and photos of those killed scroll down the side of screen. Among the dead are the son of the former Superintendent of Israel’s Fire and Rescue Services, the sister of a prominent TV anchorwoman, the son of a former government minister in Naftali Bennett’s cabinet, the Fire Chief of Kiryat Gat, the Mayor of Sha’ar Hanegev, and people’s friends, neighbors and others. Watch here the extremely difficult footage of a young woman explaining how the terrorists live-streamed the murder of her grandmother on the victim’s own Facebook page.
Above all, Israelis are haunted by the almost incomprehensible images of some 260 youth who were slaughtered at a rave party.
Tragically, six close relatives (four young children and their parents) of Doron Almog, Chairman of the Executive of the Jewish Agency for Israel, were murdered in their home by the terrorists.
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Israeli Response
On Monday morning, Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant imposed a complete siege of Gaza, including cutting electricity to the region. And early Tuesday morning, the IDF called on any Gazan resident who can leave for Egypt to do so. The Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt remains open.At least 360,000 soldiers have been called up in the largest recruitment of reserve troops in decades. In addition, yesterday the Israeli Air Force airlifted hundreds of troops who were out of the country, in order for them to rejoin their units. The military says C-130 and C-130J heavy transport planes flew to various countries in Europe to bring the off-duty soldiers back to Israel.
Overnight, the IDF struck more than 200 Hamas targets in Gaza, including a weapons storage site in a mosque, an apartment used by Hamas’ anti-tank guided missile forces, and a high-rise tower used by the terror group. See footage of IDF attacks last night here. Earlier in the evening, the IDF said that it has hit 1,707 targets in Gaza since Saturday, including 475 rocket systems, 73 command centers, 23 strategic infrastructure sites and 22 underground targets.
See here for footage of IDF strikes on Hamas naval terrorist targets, as well as photos of IDF Naval Forces in front of the Gaza Strip coast over the last few days. The IDF also believes says that at least 800 terrorists have been killed in the air strikes on Gaza.
In the country’s north, a small armed group of terrorists crossed the border from Lebanon where a gun battle took place with Israeli forces. An IDF helicopter was deployed during the fight where one Israeli commander was killed, and others injured. Hezbollah denied responsibility for the attack. Some Israeli media is reporting that Israel sent a message to Hezbollah (through France) warning that if they attack Israel, the US will retaliate against them and against Syria’s Assad regime. According to that report, President Biden is preparing the ground for Congressional approval of possible action against Hezbollah.
Last night, Prime Minister Netanyahu addressed the nation and later added remarks in English, which can be viewed here. A short while later, President Isaac Herzog addressed the international community. His remarks can be viewed here. This morning, President Herzog met with President and CEO of Jewish Federations of North America Eric Fingerhut, along with the CEO of UJA Federation New York Eric Goldstein, and Jewish Federations Senior Vice President Rebecca Caspi, to discuss the emergency situation in Israel. In the meeting, President Herzog said, “Israel is under attack and its people are grieving. But the Jewish state has always shown incredible resilience under fire and today is strong, determined and united.” The President specifically mentioned his thanks to global Jewry, “and all the North American Jewish community for standing shoulder to shoulder with Israel in its hour of need.” President Herzog said, “Thank you for all you are doing to speak up, support and defend Israel on the global stage: In the corridors of power, the press, social media and throughout the public arena. We in Israel feel greatly comforted by the fact that the entire Jewish People is with us at this fateful hour.
Israeli media are reporting that all of the major political parties are close to an agreement for a broad emergency national coalition government.
The Israel Trauma Coalition (ITC):
Comments by Taly Levanon, ITC’s CEO:
“We are facing something we never faced before. I’m an old-timer and yet I’ve never seen anything like this,” While some have compared the current war to the surprise Yom Kippur attack that devastated Israel exactly 50 years ago, Levanon says this is worse. “On Yom Kippur, the attack was aimed at the army. This is the first-time civil society has been targeted with the purpose of harming civilians.
“The impact, is huge because people are witnessing terrible things they have never witnessed before, not only in real time in their own communities, but also in extremely disturbing footage on social media showing the mistreatment of captives. Adding to everyone’s anxiety is the lack of reliable information about how many Israelis have been kidnapped, and what’s happened to them.
“We are all preparing for unprecedented situations – hundreds of funerals, thousands of wounded. Breakdowns in the communication infrastructure are leaving Israelis scrambling to find information about their loved ones, while many wives and children are coping alone due to the national call-up of reserve soldiers.
“We are witnessing tremendous distress among first responders and emergency volunteer teams, especially where infiltrations occurred, and we are receiving requests for help in delivering tragic news [because] many paramedics and police officers have been injured or killed. Although we work with people in the South all the time, you never get used to it. There’s a lot of work ahead of us.”
Thanks for sharing @Marilyn
I’m heartbroken for Israel, for all Jewish people and for all of those who have suffered during this terrible attack.
My DH is attending a huge (many thousands expected) outdoor event to support Israel. 
it will be heavily attended by members of the Jewish community. I have a conflict tonight so cannot attend. I am quite worried about security (there is no way to control entrance/exit as it’s a large park like setting) and the large parking deck is below the field where it will be held. It’s been heavily publicized in the news. I am worried that despite security they will have that some wingnut will show up with a gun or explosives. This will be a large concentration of Jews.
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San Diego is holding a vigil tonight (the Mayor of Sha’ar Hanegev was killed defending his town; it’s a sister city so many knew and worked with him personally). It will be at a field at the JCC; the entire property is completely enclosed by a high fence. Attendees can only bring a clear bag no bigger than 4"x6". The San Diego Police Department is treating this gathering as a high-profile security event. I’m not going because it’s standing only which is more than I can do.
Our Synagogue is having a large event this Thursday with the head of JUF and the Israeli Ambassador of Chicago /Illinois.
American citizens can go to the US embassy, which will find a way to get them home.
Amazing courageous woman!
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