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Lt. Col. Aryeh Amidror, the Gaza Division’s intelligence officer at the time of the Oct. 7 massacre, is denying that he bears professional or command responsibility for the failure to warn of Hamas’s impending invasion, arguing in newly released court documents that providing strategic warning of war was not the responsibility of divisional intelligence.

Amidror’s defense comes amid a bitter battle over the IDF’s decision to end his military career following investigations into the catastrophic intelligence and command failures preceding Oct. 7. His identity was kept from the public for nearly three years before Israel’s Supreme Court ruled last week that his name could be published.

The newly disclosed documents stem from a petition Amidror filed in March 2026 challenging the process to terminate his career service. The proceedings initially remained confidential, and even after his arguments were rejected, the filings continued to be covered by a gag order. Their release now provides the fullest picture yet of Amidror’s effort to contest the conclusions reached by the military about his conduct.

Amidror, the son of Maj. Gen. (res.) Yaakov Amidror, a former Israeli national security adviser, served as the Gaza Division intelligence officer during the period leading up to the Hamas invasion and on the morning of Oct. 7 itself. He had also previously served as head of the division’s targets branch, giving him years of experience with Gaza and its intelligence picture.

One of the central issues in the case concerns the warnings of a female noncommissioned officer in the IDF’s elite Unit 8200, identified publicly only as “Vav,” who studied Hamas training exercises in the months before the massacre and warned that they could reflect preparations for an actual invasion.

Amidror argues that far from ignoring the issue, it was he who directed that Hamas’s exercises be studied in the first place.

“Upon assuming my position as Gaza Division intelligence officer, I instructed a certain body within Unit 8200 to find Hamas training exercises in order to assess the enemy’s tactical capabilities,” the documents state. According to Amidror, “following an instruction given by the petitioner and at the direction of her commanders, the NCO found the exercise.”

The court papers include correspondence between Amidror and the NCO as their disagreement over the meaning of the Hamas exercises developed.

“To be clear, the purpose of my email was not to bring the assessment down but to raise it. In any event, I don’t think this is a point of ‘absolute and unequivocal disagreement,’ because clearly, as more material is distributed, the area of agreement will grow. We are at the beginning of the process.”

Amidror points to that correspondence as evidence that he did not simply dismiss the NCO’s work. He also says he initiated a discussion “with the aim of challenging the prevailing concept and examining the division’s underlying assumptions regarding the possibility that Hamas had the capability and intention to carry out a single or large-scale raid.”

According to Amidror, a summary of that discussion was circulated as high as the office of the IDF chief of staff, showing that he was actively attempting “to undermine and challenge the underlying assumptions.” He contends that those efforts were not properly considered when military leaders decided to remove him from service.

Other evidence presented in the investigations, however, has painted a sharply different picture of his handling of the warnings. Amidror has previously been reported to have dismissed the Hamas mass-invasion scenario contained in the so-called “Jericho Wall” plan as a “completely imaginary scenario,” despite warnings from Unit 8200 and Gaza border observers.

The Jericho Wall document described with remarkable detail a Hamas assault involving rocket fire, drones, the breaching of Israel’s border defenses and large numbers of terrorists pouring into Israeli communities and military bases — elements that would ultimately materialize on the morning of Oct. 7.

The newly released court material also exposes what the IDF views as significant weaknesses in Amidror’s argument that he meaningfully challenged the prevailing conception. The Unit 8200 NCO whose work was at the center of the issue was not invited to the discussion and was not given the opportunity to personally present her assessment.

The Gaza Division commander was also not immediately briefed about the intelligence developments, while the discussion on the issue was scheduled for after the holidays. Amidror himself acknowledges the timing in his petition, and the delay has become a key point in the dispute over whether his actions amounted to a meaningful real-time challenge to the prevailing assessment of Hamas’s intentions.

The most consequential argument in Amidror’s filing goes considerably further. He rejects the IDF’s contention that the failure to provide adequate warning falls within his professional responsibility at all.

“The petitioner denies the claim that he failed professionally or bears command or professional responsibility for the failure to provide a warning of war,” the filing states.

It then declares: “The mission of providing a warning of war is not the responsibility of division intelligence.”

The IDF emphatically rejects that interpretation of the job Amidror held.

In its response to his petition, the military describes the Gaza Division intelligence officer’s responsibilities in broad terms: “The Gaza Division intelligence officer leads all intelligence collection, analysis and dissemination efforts in the sector – management of the intelligence picture, warning, collection and research, and command advisory.”

The IDF’s assessment of Amidror’s performance is severe. Military investigators concluded that the failures were not limited to a single judgment made in the hours immediately before the massacre, but included his handling of intelligence during the period leading up to the attack.

The military states that it identified “a series of professional errors and failures in the petitioner’s conduct on the night preceding October 7, as well as beforehand, in assessing the security risk posed by the Hamas terrorist organization.”

The IDF further rejected Amidror’s attempt to separate his personal conduct from his command responsibility for the intelligence apparatus operating beneath him.

“The petitioner bears personal responsibility for the failures identified in his conduct – in the manner in which he exercised his judgment, the degree of oversight he maintained, and the level of professionalism he demonstrated in his position. Command responsibility means the commander’s responsibility for what occurs in the unit under his authority.”

The disciplinary process against Amidror followed a broader examination of the IDF’s internal Oct. 7 investigations by an expert team headed by Maj. Gen. (res.) Sami Turgeman. The review concluded, among other things, that the Gaza Division had failed to sufficiently engage with the Jericho Wall invasion plan from both an intelligence and operational standpoint.

On Nov. 23, 2025, the IDF chief of staff determined that a series of senior commanders bore command responsibility for failures connected to Oct. 7 and ordered command measures against several officers, including Amidror. A subsequent recommendation from the deputy chief of staff called for ending Amidror’s career-service commitment.

Amidror challenged that process in court, describing his treatment as discriminatory, selective and arbitrary. The administrative court ultimately rejected his petition and allowed the IDF process to proceed. In September, the military formally announced that his career service would be terminated.

The IDF also argued that Amidror’s legal theory could have ramifications far beyond his individual case. Military commanders, it said, must retain the ability to impose command consequences even when an officer’s actions do not necessarily amount to individual legal wrongdoing.

If courts were to restrict command sanctions solely to questions of individual legal liability, the IDF warned, it could severely constrain the chief of staff’s authority to hold commanders accountable for failures occurring under their leadership.

“This result must not be permitted,” the military wrote.

Amidror, meanwhile, maintains that he has been singled out to bear consequences for a failure that extended throughout Israel’s intelligence and military leadership.

“The petitioner is the only commander in the IDF who is paying a real price, in the form of the loss of his rights, for the failures of the military and the state concerning intelligence and warnings about the intentions of the Hamas terrorist organization,” he argued.

His filing points to senior figures who held key positions on Oct. 7, including commanders in Southern Command, the Operations Directorate, the Gaza Division and Unit 8200. Amidror argues that those officers were able to complete their service and leave the IDF while preserving their pension and other benefits, while the termination of his career service leaves him facing a different financial and professional outcome.

Amidror also fought to keep his identity from being made public, but that battle ended last week when the Supreme Court lifted the publication restriction. The court cited the absence of a security reason to continue concealing his name, the fact that his identity had already circulated publicly and the strong public interest in identifying a senior intelligence officer whom the IDF had held responsible for failures connected to Oct. 7.

With the gag order lifted, Amidror’s defense is now playing out publicly for the first time, exposing a fundamental clash over one of the central questions left by the Oct. 7 catastrophe: where responsibility for recognizing Hamas’s intentions and providing a warning ultimately rested — and who should personally pay the price for failing to do so.

{Matzav.com}

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The Omani co-pilot accused of launching a jihadist attack aboard an Israel-bound Flydubai flight received professional aviation training in Britain and New Zealand before beginning his commercial flying career, according to a new report revealing additional details about the background of the man who allegedly tried to bring down the passenger jet.

Hamam al-Hammami, 29, is being held in Abu Dhabi following the dramatic Sept. 30 attack aboard Flydubai Flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv. Authorities say Hammami attacked the captain inside the cockpit with a crash axe in what has been described as an attempted terrorist hijacking.

Hammami has reportedly admitted that the attack was motivated by the war in Gaza and that he intended to die during the assault.

“I did it as revenge for Gaza. I wanted to die as a shahid,” al-Hammami told investigators.

New information about Hammami’s background indicates that years before the attack, he received flight training through L3 Airline Academy, then one of Britain’s largest professional pilot-training organizations. He reportedly trained with the academy between 2018 and 2019.

L3 operated several major aviation-training facilities in England, including centers in Southampton and Bournemouth and a simulator facility near Gatwick Airport. The company has since become part of Acron Aviation.

There has been no allegation that L3 Airline Academy, Acron Aviation or any related company had knowledge of extremist views on Hammami’s part or engaged in wrongdoing connected to the attack. Acron has said it is prepared to cooperate with authorities investigating the incident.

Hammami’s training was not limited to Britain. Authorities in New Zealand confirmed that he received a six-month student visa for aviation training there from November 2018 until May 2019 “for a UK-based company no longer operating in New Zealand”.

At the time, L3 operated an international pilot-training program that allowed cadets to divide their studies between Britain and New Zealand. Trainees could complete classroom and theoretical instruction in Southampton before traveling to Hamilton, New Zealand, for practical flight training and then returning to Britain for more advanced instruction.

Hammami subsequently worked for Oman Air, where he remained employed until February 2025. L3 also had ties to the Omani carrier, which had previously included the aviation school among five internationally recognized institutions whose graduates were eligible for consideration in its pilot recruitment program.

Acron Aviation has declined to say publicly whether Hammami was one of its students, citing its policy of not identifying present or past trainees.

“We were saddened to hear of this incident, and our thoughts are with everyone affected. As a matter of policy, we do not publicly comment on whether any individual is or has been a student with us.”

“We will, of course, assist the relevant authorities, if necessary, in any way we can as they investigate this incident.”

Hammami eventually joined Flydubai as a relatively new pilot before being assigned to the carrier’s route to Israel. Reports since the attack have raised questions about his behavior and views before the incident and whether any warning signs were missed before he was permitted to operate flights to Tel Aviv.

The attack unfolded after Flight FZ1073 departed Dubai for Tel Aviv with approximately 160 people aboard. Investigators believe Hammami waited until the aircraft was airborne before attacking the captain inside the cockpit with a crash axe.

Despite suffering serious injuries, the captain managed to resist Hammami and open the cockpit door, allowing others aboard the aircraft to intervene. Hammami was overpowered, and the damaged flight was diverted away from Israel before landing safely in Saudi Arabia.

The episode triggered an extraordinary security response in Israel. With authorities initially uncertain about what was occurring aboard the aircraft or whether the attack was part of a larger terrorist operation, Israeli defense officials prepared for the possibility that the plane itself could be used as a weapon.

Two Israeli officials subsequently said that Israel was prepared to shoot down the Flydubai aircraft if it continued toward Israeli airspace after Hammami attacked the captain. Fighter jets were prepared to intercept the aircraft if necessary as officials monitored its movements.

The United Arab Emirates also provided Israeli authorities with information about the flight crew as officials in both countries worked to establish what had happened and determine whether Hammami had acted alone.

The investigation has since expanded beyond the immediate circumstances aboard the aircraft. Israeli authorities are attempting to determine whether Hammami independently decided to carry out the attack because of the Gaza war or whether another individual, organization or foreign actor played a role in planning or encouraging it.

The Shin Bet is participating in the investigation, a fact that was cleared for publication this week by Israel’s military censor. Israeli investigators are examining Hammami’s background, contacts and activities in an effort to determine whether there was any connection to a terrorist organization or outside handler.

So far, no conclusive evidence has been publicly disclosed establishing that Hammami acted on instructions from another party. His reported statement to investigators points to Gaza as his stated motivation, but Israeli officials have not ruled out other possibilities as the investigation continues.

The attack has also prompted broader scrutiny of airline security procedures involving pilots and other crew members flying to Israel. Reports have revealed that approximately 1,200 crew members from countries whose citizens are generally barred from entering Israel had nevertheless entered the country as airline personnel, raising questions about the security screening applied to foreign flight crews.

Israeli authorities have been reviewing those procedures in the aftermath of the Flydubai attack, including the process by which pilots and crew members assigned to Israel-bound flights are vetted.

The six people credited with helping prevent the attack from ending in catastrophe are also set to receive recognition from Israeli President Isaac Herzog. Their intervention, together with the wounded captain’s actions, prevented Hammami from gaining control of the aircraft and allowed the plane to land safely.

The revelation that Hammami received professional aviation training in Britain and New Zealand now adds another element to the international investigation into his background, as authorities seek to reconstruct the path that took him from flight schools in the West to the cockpit of an Israel-bound passenger jet — and ultimately to an alleged attempt to turn that aircraft into the instrument of a jihadist attack.

{Matzav.com}

President Trump has approved the execution by U.S. Army firing squad of Nidal Malik Hasan, the radicalized Army psychiatrist who murdered 13 people and wounded 32 others in the 2009 Fort Hood massacre, setting the stage for the first U.S. military execution in 65 years and the first Army firing-squad execution since World War II.

Hasan, now 56, is scheduled to be executed on Dec. 3, 2026, at Fort Hood — the same Texas military installation where he carried out his deadly attack nearly 17 years ago — according to an email sent to families of the victims. The execution date was set after President Trump approved the death sentence and the method of execution following a recommendation from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell announced the decision, describing Hasan as a “convicted terrorist” and “the jihadist who opened fire on unarmed American soldiers at Fort Hood in 2009.”

“He killed 13 people and wounded 32 others while shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ during the attack,” Parnell said.

“The Secretary of the Army will set the time and place of the execution,” he continued. “Judgement day for Hasan has finally come.”

Hasan was an Army major and psychiatrist when, on Nov. 5, 2009, he entered the Soldier Readiness Processing Center at Fort Hood, where military personnel were preparing for deployments overseas. Armed with a semiautomatic handgun equipped with laser sights, Hasan opened fire on the unarmed people inside.

Witnesses said Hasan shouted “Allahu Akbar” immediately before beginning his rampage. Over the course of approximately 10 minutes, he fired 146 rounds, killing 13 people and wounding 32 others. Twelve of those killed were soldiers, and one of the victims was pregnant.

Among the severely wounded was Staff Sgt. Patrick Zeigler, a two-time combat veteran who was shot four times and spent nearly a year recovering in hospitals.

“He looked me straight in the eyes as he pointed the gun at me, and a split second later, I’m on the floor with a hole in my head,” Zeigler later recalled.

The massacre ended when civilian police officers confronted Hasan. He was shot multiple times and left paralyzed from the waist down.

Investigators subsequently uncovered extensive evidence of Hasan’s radicalization before the attack. He had repeatedly expressed opposition to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and exchanged communications with Anwar al-Awlaki, the American-born Al Qaeda cleric and propagandist who was later killed in a U.S. drone strike in Yemen.

Hasan had himself been scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan later in November 2009. During subsequent court proceedings, he made clear that he viewed his attack through the prism of what he considered a war against Islam.

At one stage, Hasan sought permission to pursue a legal strategy arguing that he had acted in defense of others. When the military judge asked whom he claimed to have been defending, Hasan replied, “The leadership of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, the Taliban.”

Hasan ultimately represented himself at his 2013 court-martial. He admitted that he was the gunman, mounted virtually no defense, called no witnesses and offered little resistance to the prosecution’s case. He told the court that he had come to believe he was fighting on the wrong side of a war and had “switched sides.”

A military jury convicted Hasan in August 2013 on 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder. The panel unanimously sentenced him to death.

Hasan was then transferred to the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where he has remained on military death row as the case proceeded through the lengthy appeals process required in military capital cases.

The Army Court of Criminal Appeals upheld his conviction and death sentence in 2020. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces subsequently affirmed the sentence, and in March 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review his case, removing another major legal obstacle to carrying out the execution.

Hegseth announced in September 2025 that he was moving to obtain presidential authorization for Hasan’s execution. Because military death sentences cannot be carried out without presidential approval, the case remained pending until Trump gave his authorization.

The decision to use a firing squad adds an extraordinary historical dimension to the case. The United States military has not executed anyone since April 13, 1961, when Army Pvt. John Bennett was hanged at Fort Leavenworth after being convicted of rape and attempted murder of an 11-year-old girl.

The last known U.S. military execution by firing squad occurred during World War II. Pvt. Eddie Slovik was shot by an Army firing squad in France on Jan. 31, 1945, after being convicted of desertion. He was the only American soldier executed for desertion during World War II.

Under current Army regulations, a military execution requires approval from the president. Regulations were revised in 2019 to remove language specifying lethal injection as the required method, leaving greater flexibility over how a military death sentence can be carried out.

Even with Trump’s approval and a Dec. 3 execution date, Hasan could still seek to delay the sentence through litigation in the civilian federal courts, including a petition for habeas corpus. Military death sentences have historically generated years — and sometimes decades — of additional legal proceedings.

Hasan is one of only a handful of prisoners on U.S. military death row. Others include Hasan Akbar, convicted of murdering two fellow soldiers in Kuwait in 2003; Ronald Gray, convicted of multiple murders and rapes; and Timothy Hennis, convicted of murdering a woman and two of her children.

Hasan’s case, however, stands apart because of the scale of the Fort Hood massacre and his own statements concerning his motives. The attack was among the deadliest acts of violence ever carried out on a U.S. military installation.

If the execution proceeds as scheduled on Dec. 3, Hasan will be put to death at the military base where he carried out the massacre — ending a capital case that has stretched from the Fort Hood killings in 2009 through nearly 17 years of court proceedings and appeals.

{Matzav.com}

United Airlines has once again removed Capt. Ibrahim R. Mossallam from flying duties after renewed scrutiny revealed that the pilot, who defended the Hamas-led Oct. 7 massacre as “resistance by a brave people,” had returned to flying passengers following a brief suspension nearly three years ago.

The airline confirmed Tuesday that Mossallam is currently being kept out of the cockpit while another review is underway. “We have withheld this pilot from service pending an ongoing review,” United said.

The new action follows reports this week that Mossallam, a Newark-based United pilot who flies Boeing 757 and 767 aircraft, had continued operating passenger flights despite the controversy that erupted over comments he posted on Oct. 7, 2023, as the Hamas massacre was unfolding in southern Israel.

In the Facebook post that originally sparked outrage, Mossallam wrote, “For all my friends here in FB land with Questions / Thoughts / Assumptions / Critique about whats [sic] transpiring in Palestine currently in response to the Zionist occupation, please work on expanding your media literacy. Know that mass media here in America is heavily politicized and skewed to show a non-occupying narrative of Palestine. This is a resistance by a brave people who have endured decades of occupation, oppression, humiliation, apartheid, and straight up murder. This was not an unprovoked attack, but a response to this past years attacks by the Zionist regime. Don’t take my word, do your due diligence in acquiring your information.”

The comments drew widespread condemnation after they came to public attention in November 2023, with critics questioning how passengers — particularly Jewish and Israeli travelers — could feel comfortable knowing that a pilot entrusted with their safety had publicly characterized the Oct. 7 assault in those terms.

United responded at the time by removing Mossallam from active duty while investigating. “This pilot has been removed from service, with pay, while we look into this matter,” the airline said in November 2023.

What happened after that, however, remained largely out of public view. United did not announce the findings of its investigation or explain whether Mossallam had been cleared to return to the cockpit.

A federal court order issued in June 2025 later provided an important clue. The order, in an unrelated lawsuit filed against United and a union, recounted an allegation that Mossallam had been suspended with pay following his Oct. 7 comments but returned to flying approximately one month later. The court itself was not making a finding about Mossallam’s conduct or United’s investigation; it was recounting allegations in the litigation.

Additional reporting in 2025 indicated that Mossallam remained employed by United, while reports this year said that he was continuing to fly Boeing 757 and 767 aircraft for the carrier. United does not operate those aircraft on its Israel routes.

Mossallam also serves as vice president of the board of CAIR-New York, the New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

The controversy erupted anew this week when Israeli journalist Libby Blanca Alon reported that Mossallam was still actively flying for United and publicly pressed the airline to explain why he had been permitted to return to the cockpit.

Alon subsequently reported an even more striking allegation: two United pilots who were deadheading on a flight operated by Mossallam after his return to duty reportedly gave up their first-class seats and remained in the cockpit for the entire flight because they did not trust him and wanted to keep an eye on him.

That allegation is based on sources cited by Alon and has not been independently confirmed by United. The airline has not publicly addressed the claim involving the two pilots.

Alon also reported, citing sources familiar with the matter, that United had wanted to terminate Mossallam but was prevented from doing so by the pilots’ union. That allegation likewise has not been publicly confirmed by United or the union.

The renewed scrutiny comes at an especially sensitive moment for airline security following the Sept. 30 attack aboard flydubai Flight FZ1073, which was traveling from Dubai to Tel Aviv when its co-pilot allegedly attacked the captain with a cockpit crash axe and attempted to take control of the aircraft. The wounded captain was able to open the cockpit door, and others aboard intervened before the aircraft ultimately landed safely in Saudi Arabia.

Authorities have characterized the flydubai incident as a terrorist act, and investigators have been examining reports that the co-pilot had previously raised concerns over extremist material and had allegedly planned his attack before joining an airline that operated flights to Israel.

There is no evidence that Mossallam was involved in the flydubai incident, and the two cases are entirely separate. There is also no public evidence that Mossallam has threatened passengers, attempted to interfere with an aircraft or planned any act of violence. The controversy surrounding him concerns his public statements about the Oct. 7 massacre and United’s handling of his employment and return to flying.

Still, the flydubai attack has intensified questions about how airlines evaluate warning signs involving flight crews and what standards should apply when a pilot makes public statements appearing to endorse or rationalize mass violence.

Nearly three years after Mossallam’s original suspension, United has never publicly disclosed what its first investigation determined, why he was returned to flying duties or what standards were used in reaching that decision.

Now, following the renewed attention, Mossallam is once again out of the cockpit — at least while United conducts its latest review. “We have withheld this pilot from service pending an ongoing review,” the airline said.

Wikipedia is facing renewed accusations of anti-Israel bias over the opening sentence of its main article on the Oct. 7 massacre, which describes the Hamas-led assault as “a series of coordinated armed incursions from the blockaded Gaza Strip” — language critics say inserts an implied justification for the deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust before even describing what occurred.

The controversy is the latest flashpoint in a much broader battle over Wikipedia’s treatment of Israel, Zionism, Hamas and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Jewish and pro-Israel organizations have repeatedly accused activist editors of manipulating articles to advance an anti-Israel narrative, an issue that has become increasingly significant as Wikipedia material is also used by search engines and artificial-intelligence systems.

“It’s yet another example of the Wikipedia editors’ anti-Israel bias,” Alyza Lewin, president of U.S. affairs at the Combat Antisemitism Movement, said. “They modify entries to support a distorted narrative that erases Jewish history and the Jewish experience. This time they added the word ‘blockaded’ to try and justify Hamas’s barbaric Oct. 7 massacre.”

Lewin said the wording echoes rhetoric that has repeatedly surfaced among anti-Israel activists since the massacre, including claims that “resistance is justified” and U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres’s controversial statement that Oct. 7 “did not happen in a vacuum.”

The disputed word did not appear in the article’s opening sentence from the beginning. “Blockaded” was added in February, setting off what initially was only limited opposition on the article’s Wikipedia “talk” page, where editors debate proposed changes and disagreements over content.

The dispute gained new life in August as additional editors challenged the wording. On Sept. 11, a formal discussion was launched to determine whether there was sufficient consensus among Wikipedia editors to retain “blockaded” in the article’s first sentence.

Under Wikipedia rules governing highly contentious Israel-Palestinian articles, participation in such discussions is restricted to established editors who have been active for at least 30 days and have made at least 500 edits.

“The edit ignores Hamas’s history of diverting humanitarian aid intended for Gaza’s civilian population,” Lewin said. “Indeed, Hamas used pre-Oct. 7 aid to build a massive terror tunnel network under homes, schools and mosques from which it launched its attacks, cynically exploiting civilians as a human shield and then crying ‘genocide’ when Israel defended itself.”

The argument over the word carries particular significance because of the enormous reach of Wikipedia. The online encyclopedia is among the world’s most heavily visited websites, and its material frequently surfaces prominently in internet searches and can influence the information used by artificial-intelligence systems.

Criticism of the phrase also comes against the backdrop of Guterres’s remarks shortly after the massacre. Speaking at the U.N. Security Council, the secretary-general said the attacks “did not happen in a vacuum” and that “the Palestinian people have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation.”

The remarks provoked an angry response from Israel. Gilad Erdan, then Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, said Guterres’s comments “expressed an understanding for terrorism and murder.”

The Wikipedia editor who initiated the formal debate over retaining “blockaded” defended the terminology, writing that “Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip is a defining feature of this topic and necessary context for a non-specialist reader.” The editor argued that high-quality sources supported describing Gaza that way in the article’s opening sentence and maintained that doing so was consistent with Wikipedia’s requirement for neutral language.

In making the case, the editor cited Palestinian-American historian Rashid Khalidi, describing him as the “preeminent expert in modern Palestinian history.” Khalidi’s background has itself been the subject of controversy. Jonathan Schanzer, executive director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, has said that Khalidi served as a spokesman for the Palestine Liberation Organization during a period when the PLO was designated by the United States as a terrorist organization. Khalidi has denied that characterization.

The Wikipedia editor defending the wording went still further, comparing the inclusion of Gaza’s “blockaded” status to providing context about the Warsaw Ghetto uprising against an oppressive regime.

“We must not create an exception to obfuscate through omission here,” the editor wrote.

Opponents of the wording argued that placing “blockaded” in the opening sentence does more than provide geographical or historical context. They said its placement before a description of the massacre risks suggesting a causal or moral explanation for Hamas’s actions.

A different Wikipedia editor wrote Tuesday that “blockaded” should be removed because “the word suggests justification.”

“To the unedified reader, it may well connote the most extreme version of what ‘blockade’ might mean, like the complete stoppage of all food and supply into a territory,” the editor wrote.

The debate remained unresolved, with editors continuing to argue over whether the word constitutes necessary context or injects a political interpretation into the opening description of the massacre.

The controversy is hardly the first involving Wikipedia’s coverage of Israel. Critics have accused groups of highly active editors of working together to reshape articles dealing with Israel, Zionism, Palestinian terrorism and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Wikipedia’s own arbitration process has previously taken disciplinary action against several editors involved in the contentious subject area.

Outside investigations have also alleged coordinated editing campaigns aimed at changing the framing of Israel-related articles, including efforts to emphasize criticism of Israel while minimizing or removing material concerning Palestinian terrorism, antisemitism and violence. The accusations have intensified since Oct. 7, as battles over individual words, descriptions and sources have played out across numerous Wikipedia entries.

The consequences, critics argue, extend far beyond people who deliberately visit Wikipedia. Material from the encyclopedia is frequently reproduced or summarized elsewhere online, meaning editorial decisions made by a relatively small number of volunteer contributors can potentially influence how millions of people encounter information about Israel and the Middle East.

Max Abrahms, an associate professor of political science at Northeastern University who studies terrorism and the Middle East, said the problem is connected to a broader ideological imbalance in academia.

“The removal of pro-Israel scholars and even Israel-neutral ones” from academia has impacted “Wikipedia and many other forms of discourse influencing the public,” Abrahms said.

“Zionist-free higher education reduces balanced scholarship and contributes to Wikipedia’s bias,” he said. “The same is true of podcasts and social media, where almost no pro-Israel scholars can be found.”

Abrahms argued that those concerned about the trend should focus on strengthening intellectual diversity within universities rather than treating individual Wikipedia disputes in isolation.

“Philanthropists who care about Israel and intellectual pluralism must make targeted investments to ensure there are faculty to teach the younger generation, which will also have all sorts of additional benefits like objectively correct entries on Wikipedia,” he said.

Eliya Cohen, who survived 505 days in Hamas captivity after being abducted from the Nova music festival, delivered a simple and defiant message to his former captors and terrorists around the world Tuesday at the United Nations: “I won.”

Cohen spoke before roughly 400 people at U.N. headquarters in New York as Israel’s mission to the United Nations marked three years since the Oct. 7 massacre. The gathering brought together survivors, senior diplomats, government officials and community leaders to remember those murdered and abducted and to focus on the resilience of those who survived.

Television host and psychologist Dr. Phil McGraw moderated an emotional conversation with Cohen and his wife, Ziv Abud, both of whom survived the Hamas attack on the Nova festival on Oct. 7, 2023, before being separated for 505 days.

Abud recounted how she and others attempted to flee the festival by car as rockets filled the sky and the music abruptly stopped. They eventually took refuge in a roadside bomb shelter that became packed with 29 people.

Hamas terrorists attacked the shelter, repeatedly throwing grenades inside and opening fire before eventually entering. Abud was shot in the leg and lost consciousness. When she awoke, she found herself beneath a pile of bodies.

She had no idea what had happened to Cohen. He had been taken alive to Gaza, while Cohen, for his part, spent his captivity believing that Abud had been murdered in the shelter.

“I fought for them for 505 days without knowing anything,” Abud said, of those she lost. “It will stay with me for the rest of my life.”

Cohen was ultimately freed in February 2025 after 505 days in Gaza, much of that time spent deep underground in Hamas tunnels. He has described enduring severe hunger, beatings, isolation and psychological torment during his captivity.

His reunion with Abud brought an extraordinary conclusion to their 505-day separation. The couple subsequently became engaged and married in Israel in August, surrounded by approximately 1,000 guests, while also remembering the friends and relatives they lost on Oct. 7.

“We are here, and we survive,” Abud told those gathered at the United Nations. “We need to live a normal life.”

Dr. Phil asked Cohen what emotion now defines him after everything he endured during his 505 days as a hostage. Cohen said he has made a conscious decision not to allow anger or bitterness to determine who he is, and he rejected the suggestion that his ordeal makes him fundamentally different from other Israelis.

“I don’t count myself as special or something,” he said.

Cohen noted that Israelis throughout the country continue to live under the threat of terrorism, making the trauma of Oct. 7 something that cannot simply be relegated to the past.

Dr. Phil made a similar point, telling the audience that the psychological impact of the massacre remains ongoing rather than being confined to a single traumatic event three years ago.

“This isn’t Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder,” he said. “This is something that is ongoing.”

Dr. Phil reflected on Abud’s experience of spending hours beneath the bodies of murdered victims, saying that the reality of what she endured is almost impossible to comprehend while sitting comfortably inside an air-conditioned room at the United Nations. The physical attack may end, he said, but its psychological consequences can remain long afterward.

During his remarks, Dr. Phil also described his own journey toward learning about Israel and the Jewish people. Growing up in Texas and Oklahoma, he said, he had never met a Jew as a child and knew little about Israel.

As an adult, Dr. Phil has traveled to Israel and met with hostage families, released hostages, Holocaust survivors and rabbis, seeking to learn firsthand about Israel and its people. He said his faith has played an important role in that process.

“Faith, for me, is a foundation,” Dr. Phil said. “I think it’s the foundation for your family, and I think it’s a foundation and a moral compass of how you live your life.”

He said that reliance on faith becomes particularly important during periods of suffering and uncertainty.

Faith is “the one thing that never varies,” and a person can “lean on” it every day, he said.

Dr. Phil told the gathering that the Hamas attack created a permanent dividing line in the lives of Israelis and Jews around the world, with people increasingly viewing events through the prism of what happened before and after that day.

“Oct. 7 will never be just another date,” he said.

At the same time, Dr. Phil said his encounters with Israelis have left him struck by their determination to continue living despite the enormous suffering they have experienced.

“The one thing that struck me is their extraordinary ability to carry the memory of this immense loss, suffering and pain but at the same time live beautiful lives,” he told attendees.

Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon also addressed the commemoration, telling the audience that Hamas failed in its attempt to destroy Israel’s spirit.

“Oct. 7, Hamas tried to break us. They did not,” the envoy said. “They changed us. They wounded us. They left a scar that will never fully heal, but they did not break us.”

Danon pointed to Cohen and Abud as living examples of that resilience. The two entered the Nova festival together, survived different horrors after the attack began, were torn apart for 505 days and ultimately found their way back to each other and married.

Abud also spoke about the people she lost at Nova and the challenge of returning to an ordinary life after surviving the massacre. She said she continues to struggle with “survivor’s guilt,” questioning why she was able to return home while so many others were murdered.

Among those killed was her nephew, Amit, who was inside the same shelter. During the attack, Amit repeatedly threw grenades back outside after Hamas terrorists hurled them into the shelter, an effort that helped save lives before he himself was murdered.

When Dr. Phil asked Cohen what message he wanted to give the Jews and Israelis who supported him throughout his captivity, Cohen answered with an appeal to Jewish pride.

“Stay proud to be Jewish,” he said. “Stay proud to be Israeli.”

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz also addressed the gathering, highlighting Cohen’s refusal to cooperate with Hamas propaganda efforts while he was a hostage.

Waltz said Hamas tried to force Cohen to record a propaganda video before his release in which he would claim that his captors had treated him well. Cohen refused to do it.

“He refused. He held firm,” Waltz said. “He said, ‘No.’”

Hamas again attempted to turn Cohen’s eventual release into a propaganda spectacle, Waltz said, but Cohen once more refused to play along.

“You are a proud, strong Jew. You’re undefeated,” Waltz told Cohen.

Waltz also praised Abud for surviving the Nova massacre and then enduring more than a year of uncertainty over whether Cohen was alive. He recalled the heroism of her nephew Amit, who repeatedly threw Hamas grenades back out of the shelter before he was killed.

The U.S. ambassador said the broader strategy pursued by Hamas and Iran to isolate Israel has also failed, pointing to the continued expansion of the Abraham Accords as evidence that the region is moving in another direction.

“Oct. 7 completely, and I think irreversibly, has backfired on Iran and all of their terrorist proxies,” he told attendees. “Peace is possible. America will stand with the Jewish people.”

“The terrorists are on their back foot,” he added.

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Jewish New Yorkers have been targeted in more than half of all confirmed hate crimes recorded across New York City this year, with newly released NYPD statistics showing 245 anti-Jewish incidents through the end of September — an extraordinary share for a community that represents roughly 10% of the city’s population.

The 245 confirmed anti-Jewish hate crimes account for 52.9% of the 463 confirmed hate crimes recorded citywide during the first nine months of 2026. The number of anti-Jewish incidents is also slightly higher than during the same period last year, when 242 were recorded, representing an increase of 1.2%.

“The most striking trend continues to be antisemitic hate crimes,” Jessica Tisch, commissioner of the New York City Police Department, said at a press conference on Tuesday.

“So far this year, 53% of all confirmed hate crimes have targeted Jewish New Yorkers, despite Jews making up only roughly 10% of the city’s population,” she said. “Those numbers are deeply concerning.”

The numbers stand in particularly stark contrast to the city’s broader crime picture. Overall major crime fell 6.6% during the first nine months of the year, while New York recorded the fewest murders, shooting incidents and shooting victims for that period in recorded history. Confirmed hate crimes, however, moved in the opposite direction, rising 12.9%, from 410 during the first nine months of 2025 to 463 this year.

“On the eve of the third anniversary of Oct. 7, we renew our pledge to Jewish institutions that they will not be left to protect themselves without a strong partner in the NYPD,” Tisch added.

The third-quarter figures offered a somewhat more encouraging picture for the Jewish community. Between July 1 and Sept. 30, the NYPD confirmed 59 anti-Jewish hate crimes, representing 47.2% of the 125 confirmed hate crimes citywide. That was a 13.2% decline from the 68 anti-Jewish incidents recorded during the same three-month period in 2025.

But Jewish leaders cautioned against interpreting the quarterly decline as evidence that the broader antisemitism problem has subsided.

Evan R. Bernstein, CEO of B’nai B’rith International, said that “the most alarming thing in these numbers is how unremarkable they have become.”

“Jews are about 10% of New Yorkers and the targets of 53% of the city’s confirmed hate crimes—245 of 463 through September,” he said. “A quieter month does not make that normal. It means the largest Jewish city in the world has learned to live with antisemitic hate crime as the baseline three years after Oct. 7.”

The figures show that anti-Jewish incidents vastly outnumber every other hate-crime category tracked by the NYPD. The next-largest category was crimes motivated by sexual orientation, with 52 confirmed incidents during the first nine months of the year, meaning there were nearly five times as many confirmed anti-Jewish hate crimes.

Anti-Muslim hate crimes also increased sharply. The NYPD recorded 32 confirmed incidents targeting Muslims through September, compared with 18 during the same period in 2025, an increase of 77.8%. During the third quarter alone, 11 anti-Muslim hate crimes were confirmed, compared with four during the corresponding period last year.

The NYPD additionally recorded 52 confirmed hate crimes based on sexual orientation, 37 targeting religion more broadly, 31 targeting Black New Yorkers, 20 based on gender, 16 targeting Asians, 13 based on ethnicity, 11 targeting Hispanics and five targeting white New Yorkers during the first nine months of 2026.

The department also distinguishes between hate crimes that are initially “reported” and those that are ultimately “confirmed.” During the third quarter, 181 incidents were reported as possible hate crimes, of which 85 — roughly 47% — were reported as anti-Jewish. Fourteen reported incidents targeted Muslims.

The distinction became significant earlier this year after the city changed the way it publicly presented its hate-crime statistics. Beginning in February, the city initially published confirmed incidents rather than reported incidents, making direct comparisons with some earlier figures difficult. In March, officials said both categories would be released separately.

Under the NYPD’s system, an incident reported as a potential hate crime is investigated by the department’s Hate Crime Task Force. Investigators, working with the NYPD Legal Bureau, determine whether the case meets the definition of a hate crime under New York State law. Incidents that meet that legal standard are then classified as confirmed hate crimes.

The NYPD has said that presenting both figures “enhances transparency and reflects best practices in hate crime reporting.”

The latest figures continue a pattern that has persisted since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attack in Israel and the subsequent explosion of antisemitic incidents in New York and elsewhere.

The NYPD had already warned ahead of the recent High Holy Days that antisemitism remained the dominant category of hate crime in the city. At a security briefing last month, Tisch said the department had tracked threats against Jewish institutions since Oct. 7, including alleged plots targeting a Manhattan synagogue and a Jewish center in Brooklyn.

“Our Hate Crime Task Force continues to aggressively investigate these incidents, while we deploy additional resources to protect Jewish communities,” Tisch said at Tuesday’s press conference.

“This year, during the High Holy Days, we deployed an unprecedented number of officers to cover virtually every synagogue across the city,” she said.

The statistics were released one week after Mayor Zohran Mamdani unveiled New York City’s first municipal strategy specifically aimed at combating antisemitism. The plan includes $6.4 million for hate-crime prevention and survivor support, $1 million to strengthen security at synagogues and other houses of worship, expanded Holocaust education and additional investments in Jewish cultural and historical institutions.

The latest figures also show that the share of all hate crimes targeting Jews has declined slightly from last year, even as the actual number of anti-Jewish incidents has risen. During the first nine months of 2025, 242 confirmed anti-Jewish hate crimes were recorded, compared with 245 during the same period this year.

The overall numbers nevertheless leave anti-Jewish hate crimes in a category of their own: through September, more than one out of every two confirmed hate crimes in New York City targeted Jews.

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that his administration is considering suspending the federal gasoline tax as part of a widening effort to bring down sharply elevated fuel prices, potentially putting another 18.4 cents per gallon back in motorists’ pockets.

“We’re thinking about that,” Trump told reporters at the White House when asked whether he would support suspending the federal gas tax.

Any nationwide gas-tax holiday would require congressional action, meaning Trump cannot simply eliminate the levy through an executive order. That presents an immediate obstacle: neither the House nor Senate is currently scheduled to return to Washington until after the Nov. 3 midterm elections.

The federal government currently collects an excise tax of 18.4 cents on each gallon of gasoline and 24.4 cents on each gallon of diesel. The revenue is primarily directed toward the Highway Trust Fund, which finances highway, bridge and public-transit projects around the country.

Trump did not say Tuesday how long a federal gas-tax suspension might last or provide details about legislation he would support. But the idea comes as the administration faces growing pressure to reduce energy costs following months of steep increases at the pump.

The national average for regular gasoline stood at roughly $4.37 per gallon Tuesday, up from about $3.13 a year earlier. Diesel remained even more expensive, averaging approximately $6.32 per gallon — nearly twice the $3.68 motorists were paying at the same point last year.

The current diesel average is down somewhat from the record $6.53 reached on Sept. 22, but the extraordinarily high cost continues to reverberate throughout the economy. Because diesel powers much of the nation’s trucking, agricultural and freight industries, increases in diesel prices can ultimately work their way into the prices consumers pay for food and other goods.

Energy prices have risen amid severe disruptions to global fuel supplies, including the war with Iran and Ukrainian strikes against Russian oil refineries. Tight refining capacity and constrained global diesel supplies have added further pressure.

Trump has repeatedly said he expects fuel prices to decline as his administration takes additional steps to increase supplies and reduce costs. Speaking Tuesday, he said, “Prices are now coming way down.”

“And oil, as soon as the war is over, which will be soon, will be coming way down,” Trump said.

The possible federal gas-tax holiday follows a separate action Trump took Monday targeting diesel prices. The president signed an executive order temporarily expanding highway access to red-dyed diesel, fuel that ordinarily is restricted to off-road uses such as farming and construction and therefore is not subject to the same federal excise tax at the point of sale.

“Today, I am announcing another unprecedented step to bring down costs. For many years, farm vehicles, construction equipment, and other off-road vehicles have used what is known as ‘red dye’ diesel… which is exactly the same as normal diesel, but is sold tax-free for off-road vehicles and big trucks… Tonight, I am going to sign a historic Executive Order to officially waive the off-road requirement and allow anyone to purchase tax-free red dye diesel for any reason,” Trump said while announcing the action in Nebraska.

The order applies from Oct. 5 through Dec. 31 and directs the Treasury Department to determine how it can defer federal excise-tax payments associated with the highway use of dyed diesel without penalties or interest. It also directs Treasury to explore ways, including legislation, to ultimately eliminate the obligation to pay those deferred taxes.

The administration says eliminating the 24.4-cent federal diesel tax from a 250-gallon fill could save roughly $60. If states take corresponding action on their own taxes, the White House says savings could exceed $100 on a large fill-up.

The order also directs federal officials to work with states, fuel distributors, agricultural cooperatives and industry groups to expand access to dyed diesel, particularly in areas experiencing heavy demand. The Department of Agriculture was instructed to work specifically on ensuring supplies are available to farmers.

Trump’s moves come alongside an international effort to increase fuel supplies. G-7 countries — including the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Canada and Japan — agreed last week to release a combined 100 million barrels of oil and diesel from strategic reserves in an effort to push prices downward.

At the same time, states have increasingly begun acting on their own rather than waiting for Washington, with both Republican and Democratic officials taking steps to soften the impact of higher fuel costs.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed legislation temporarily eliminating the state’s 38.5-cent-per-gallon gasoline tax and 47-cent diesel tax through Dec. 31. The measure won bipartisan support after high fuel prices became a major concern across the state.

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox moved to reduce his state’s fuel taxes by 6 cents per gallon through the end of the year.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp suspended the state’s gasoline tax of roughly 33 cents per gallon and its diesel tax of roughly 37 cents, with the current suspension scheduled to continue through at least Oct. 29.

Indiana Gov. Mike Braun has also taken aggressive action, suspending the state’s 7% gasoline use tax along with its 37-cent-per-gallon gasoline excise tax. The combined move is estimated to save Indiana drivers roughly 59 to 61 cents per gallon at current prices.

Indiana’s 63-cent-per-gallon diesel tax remains in place, although Braun has expanded access to red-dyed diesel in an effort to provide relief to farmers and other eligible users.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, took a different approach, pausing automatic inflation-based adjustments that otherwise would have increased the state’s fuel taxes.

The growing state-level movement has added pressure on Washington to consider similar relief. Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri has proposed legislation that would suspend the federal gasoline tax and the underground-storage-tank fee for 90 days, with authority for the president to extend the suspension for an additional 90 days if economic conditions warrant it.

Sen. Bernie Moreno of Ohio has likewise called for federal action following his state’s decision to suspend its own fuel taxes.

A federal gas-tax holiday, however, would raise questions about how to replace revenue normally deposited into the Highway Trust Fund. The gasoline and diesel excise taxes together generate tens of billions of dollars annually for transportation infrastructure, meaning Congress would have to decide whether to replace the lost revenue from another source or allow the fund to absorb the reduction.

There is also debate over how much of a tax reduction would ultimately reach motorists. Supporters argue that eliminating the tax would provide immediate relief at the pump, while critics contend that during periods of tight fuel supply, some portion of the savings could be absorbed elsewhere in the supply chain rather than passed entirely to consumers.

For now, Trump has stopped short of formally endorsing a specific federal gas-tax holiday proposal. But his acknowledgement Tuesday that the administration is actively considering the idea represents the latest step in an increasingly broad campaign — from strategic-reserve releases and expanded dyed-diesel access to state tax holidays and potentially a nationwide federal tax suspension — aimed at bringing fuel prices down.

{Matzav.com}

President Donald Trump has turned the long-running battle over daylight saving time into an extraordinary public feud with Republican Sen. Tom Cotton, publishing what he said was the Arkansas senator’s personal cellphone number and urging voters to call him directly and demand that he stop blocking legislation to end the twice-a-year changing of the clocks.

Trump’s move came as he intensified his push for the Sunshine Protection Act, legislation that would make daylight saving time permanent across most of the United States. The bill passed the House in July by a lopsided 308-117 vote but has since run into resistance in the Senate, with Cotton emerging as one of its most vocal Republican opponents.

“Everybody in Arkansas, Tom Cotton, a friend of mine, is holding up a very important Bill,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, accusing Cotton of standing in the way of what the president argues is an overwhelmingly popular change.

Trump then took the highly unusual step of posting Cotton’s cellphone number.

“To the Great People of Arkansas, please let your Senator know it would be a GREAT Bipartisan WIN for the United States Senate, and for America, itself,” Trump wrote. “Call Tom on his cellphone.”

Reporters who called the number reached either voicemail or a message indicating that the recipient was unavailable, with the voicemail box at one point becoming full.

Trump argues that Americans are fed up with moving their clocks forward and backward every year and that keeping daylight saving time permanently would provide an additional hour of afternoon and evening sunlight during the winter.

“We want to get away from this ridiculous way and custom of — every twice a year, turning your clocks back, turning your clocks forward, being late to dinner, being late for very important meetings, it’s ridiculous,” Trump told reporters.

“It discombobulates everybody,” the president said.

Trump has also argued that permanent daylight saving time would benefit sports and recreation by keeping daylight later into the afternoon and evening.

“You know who wants it? The farmers want it. You know who wants it? Sports want it,” Trump said. “Professional sports and amateurs that would like to play tennis at night, would like to play golf a little bit without having to run home after 14 holes.”

The president also shared a letter from PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp backing the legislation and arguing that additional evening daylight would allow Americans to play millions of additional rounds of golf each year.

Trump has framed the issue as more than a matter of convenience. He has argued that later sunsets could also reduce crime by allowing people to return home from work and other activities while it is still light outside.

“A table full of very distinguished people just told me that they HATE, immediately after a mandatory time change, going home at night – and it’s DARK,” Trump wrote.

“It’s depressing!” he added. “One of the gentleman stated that, ‘I just hate going home in darkness.’ It’s also, in Crime Ridden Blue States, a lot more dangerous to be walking home in the dark!”

Cotton, however, has refused to budge.

“No one likes changing the clock, me included, but Congress has enacted permanent Daylight Savings Time multiple times before and repealed it each time once Americans experienced absurdly late sunrises in the winter,” Cotton wrote. “Arkansans don’t want their kids going to school in the pitch dark, and I’ll always put Arkansas first.”

Cotton’s central argument is that permanent daylight saving time simply transfers the problem from the evening to the morning. During the darkest weeks of winter, sunrise would come considerably later in many parts of the country, meaning children could be waiting for school buses and commuters could be traveling to work before sunrise.

The United States has tried year-round daylight saving time before. Congress instituted it during the energy crisis in the 1970s, but public support quickly deteriorated as Americans experienced dark winter mornings, and the experiment was cut short.

Trump responded to Cotton’s argument by accusing him of getting the issue exactly backward.

“If Tom Cotton were putting Arkansas first, he would give them an extra hour of daylight and, more importantly, they wouldn’t have to run all over their houses, farms, work places, and everywhere else, twice a year, having to change their Clocks, and often forgetting to do so,” Trump wrote.

The president then turned up the political pressure, arguing that Republicans should seize what he sees as an easy bipartisan legislative victory.

“Give the Republican Party a Senatorial WIN, for a change!” Trump wrote. “TAKE THE WIN TOM, JUST TAKE THE WIN! YOU NEED IT, AND SO DOES OUR BELOVED REPUBLICAN PARTY!”

Cotton is seeking reelection in Arkansas this November, although his race is not considered competitive. Trump carried Arkansas with more than 64% of the vote in the 2024 presidential election.

Cotton is also not the only Republican senator skeptical of the legislation. Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana has called the Sunshine Protection Act “dead as disco” and expressed doubt that Senate Majority Leader John Thune will bring it to the floor.

The dispute comes just weeks before Americans are scheduled to change their clocks again. On Nov. 1, most of the country is due to “fall back” one hour and return to standard time for the winter. The Sunshine Protection Act would eventually eliminate that ritual by keeping most of the country on daylight saving time year-round.

Polling has shown widespread dissatisfaction with the current system, although Americans remain divided over what should replace it. A 2025 AP-NORC poll found that only 12% of U.S. adults favored continuing to change the clocks twice a year, while 47% opposed the practice and 40% were neutral.

Trump’s decision to publicize Cotton’s number also recalled a similar episode during his first presidential campaign. In 2015, after then-Sen. Lindsey Graham criticized him, Trump publicly read Graham’s cellphone number during a campaign appearance and encouraged people to call him.

Now, more than a decade later, Trump has revived the tactic against another Republican senator — this time over what might ordinarily seem like one of Washington’s least dramatic policy disputes: what time Americans should see when they look at the clock.

{Matzav.com}

Delta Air Lines and United Airlines were recovering Tuesday from separate technology problems that disrupted websites, apps and other systems, creating headaches for travelers at airports across the United States and beyond.

The problems surfaced Tuesday morning, with passengers reporting difficulty accessing airline apps, checking flight information and, in some cases, completing parts of the boarding process. Outage reports for both airlines spiked around midday Eastern Time.

Delta confirmed that it was dealing with what it described as a “limited global technology issue” affecting data connectivity within some of its systems.

“Delta systems are stabilizing after a limited global technology issue that affected data connectivity to some of our systems behind-the-scenes,” the airline said.

“Delta teams are working to keep our operation moving safely as systems return to normal. We appreciate our customers’ patience and understanding.”

Delta advised passengers to continue checking its app and website for the latest information about individual flights.

United was dealing with a separate technology problem that affected its website and mobile app. Customers attempting to use United’s digital services encountered a notice saying the airline was “working to fix a temporary technical issue affecting united.com and the United app.”

United later said the problem was tied to an outside vendor and primarily prevented customers from accessing their MileagePlus accounts.

“United encountered a brief technology issue connected to a vendor that prevented customers from logging into their MileagePlus accounts,” the airline said. “The issue has been resolved and there was no impact to our flight operations.”

That distinction is significant: while travelers around the country were experiencing flight delays Tuesday, United said its particular technology failure did not cause operational disruptions to its flights.

Delta did not immediately provide a specific number of delays or cancellations attributable directly to its technology problem, and there was no indication of a nationwide Delta ground stop.

Nearly 1,000 flights nationwide had been reported delayed by Tuesday afternoon, along with dozens of cancellations, but not all of those disruptions could be blamed on the airline technology problems.

A number of unrelated issues were simultaneously affecting the nation’s aviation system Tuesday, including weather and airport-specific restrictions.

The FAA warned that thunderstorms could cause delays at Orlando, Tampa, Miami and Fort Lauderdale, while winds were creating potential problems at airports in New York and Boston. Low clouds were also expected to affect Seattle.

Boston Logan was dealing with delays related to runway construction, while LaGuardia experienced air-traffic restrictions related to airport volume and wind.

That meant a passenger experiencing a delayed Delta or United flight Tuesday could not necessarily assume that the airline’s computer trouble was responsible. Weather, air-traffic-control restrictions and airport congestion were also contributing to delays.

The technology problems nevertheless caused considerable frustration because modern airline operations rely heavily on digital systems for everything from reservations and boarding passes to passenger accounts, upgrades, baggage information and flight status.

Travelers took to social media to report being unable to sign into their accounts or properly use airline apps.

There were also reports of problems involving American Airlines’ website and app Tuesday, although American did not immediately confirm that it was experiencing the same type of outage.

The precise relationship, if any, between the problems experienced by the different airlines was not immediately clear. Major carriers use complicated technology networks combining their own systems with services provided by outside technology companies, meaning trouble at a third-party vendor can sometimes affect multiple companies simultaneously.

Tuesday’s incident follows a series of high-profile technology failures that have demonstrated how quickly computer problems can ripple through the airline industry.

In July, American Airlines temporarily halted flights for less than an hour after an information-technology outage affected connectivity.

United suffered a much more serious technology breakdown in August 2025, when problems forced the airline to ground aircraft and ultimately contributed to more than 1,000 delays and dozens of cancellations.

The most dramatic recent example came in 2024, when a faulty CrowdStrike software update crippled Windows computers around the world. Delta, United, American and several other U.S. carriers were among the airlines affected, with the disruption triggering widespread cancellations and delays.

By Tuesday afternoon, both Delta and United indicated that their latest technology problems were either stabilizing or resolved, although passengers were advised to continue checking their individual flight status before heading to the airport.

A chareidi initiative designed to provide financial support to yeshiva bochurim imprisoned over their military draft status has made its first major payout, with a draft evader who spent 12 days in military prison receiving 12,000 shekels in cash.

The payment was revealed Tuesday night by Channel 13, which aired footage showing Avraham Engel receiving the money through the initiative, known as “Kele Elef” — literally, “Prison 1,000.”

The concept is straightforward: an eligible chareidi draft evader who is imprisoned by the military receives 1,000 shekels for each day he spends behind bars.

The initiative was launched approximately a month ago amid the growing wave of arrests of yeshiva bochurim over their draft status. Channel 13 reported that nearly 10,000 people have already joined the program, with participants contributing relatively small amounts that are pooled to fund payments to those who are imprisoned.

Engel, who spent 12 days in military prison, became a prominent example of the program in action when he was handed 12,000 shekels in cash following his release.

The initiative has received the backing of leading rabbonim, including Rav Dov Landau and Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch, as well as Rav Yitzchak Yosef.

Organizers have described the program as a financial safety net intended to lessen the burden on yeshiva bochurim and their families when they are imprisoned because of their refusal to enlist.

Sinai Greenboim, a member of the initiative’s leadership, previously explained that the model relies on a large pool of participants, each contributing a small amount when arrests occur. He said the arrangement is designed to spread the financial burden across thousands of people rather than requiring large donations from individual contributors.

Greenboim has also rejected claims that the initiative is intended to encourage people to violate the law, saying, “We are not calling on people to break the law.”

At the same time, he acknowledged that one of the program’s objectives is to reduce the deterrent effect of military imprisonment by providing financial protection to those who are jailed.

The initiative’s rules reportedly contain restrictions intended to prevent participants from deliberately seeking arrest in order to collect money. According to Greenboim, eligibility is intended for someone who is arrested without deliberately bringing about his own detention and who had no reasonable opportunity to avoid it.

As an example, someone who intentionally turns himself in or knowingly travels to Ben Gurion Airport despite expecting to be arrested may not necessarily qualify for the payment.

The program has nevertheless drawn fierce criticism from political figures who argue that payments of 1,000 shekels per day effectively transform military imprisonment from a punishment into a financially rewarding experience.

Yashar! with Eisenkot issued a lengthy statement accusing the government and chareidi political establishment of rewarding those who do not serve while soldiers are risking their lives.

“We heard the partners of the draft-dodging government attacking those who serve, and tonight it was revealed that someone who evades service and goes to prison also receives a financial prize of thousands of shekels. This is not an isolated case. It is a worldview that has turned draft evasion into an ideology and those who serve into suckers — and it receives political backing from the government.

“While the best of our sons and daughters serve, fight and risk their lives, we cannot accept a reality in which someone who refuses to serve is rewarded for it. And in the Netanyahu government — silence. No one condemns it, no one stands alongside IDF soldiers and servicemembers, everything is for the sake of the chair. The coming elections are between Netanyahu’s non-Zionist draft-dodging government and Eisenkot’s Zionist conscription government. We will establish a Zionist government in which everyone shares the burden and everyone serves the state. We pledge: conscription and service for all,” the party said.

Naftali Bennett, chairman of the Beyachad party, also attacked the program following the Channel 13 report.

“Shame and disgrace. This Deri-Goldknopf-Bibi-Smotrich government transfers 1,000 shekels a day to a chareidi draft evader in prison. We will dry them out, shut down all their pipelines and dismantle this chareidi state,” Bennett said.

Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman similarly condemned the payments.

“This madness must stop. The chareidi community cannot turn draft evaders into heroes — heroes who receive the support of the rabbis and the political establishment and receive tens of thousands of shekels in cash, which is already a violation of the law. We will put an end to it. With us, you will not receive a single shekel. All the money we take from the draft evaders will be transferred to the soldiers!” Liberman said.

{Matzav.com}

An unexpected recognition during a video call between a Namibian pathologist and a ZAKA official in Israel led authorities to cancel a planned autopsy on an Israeli tourist who died suddenly while vacationing in the African country during Sukkos, Matzav.com has learned.

The Israeli man had been traveling in Namibia with his wife when he suffered cardiac arrest and passed away. Local authorities subsequently informed those assisting the family that an autopsy would be required.

Efforts to prevent the procedure were launched by Chabad shliach Rav Yosef Rahimi, working together with Israel’s Foreign Ministry and ZAKA’s international unit, because of the serious halachic concerns surrounding an autopsy and the importance of preserving the dignity and integrity of the deceased.

As part of those efforts, Rav Rahimi arranged a video conversation between the local pathologist and Yossi Landau, the operations officer for ZAKA’s Lachish region, who sought to explain the religious sensitivity involved and ask that any medical examination be kept to the absolute minimum necessary.

But as the conversation began, the pathologist looked closely at Landau on the screen and suddenly realized that the Israeli standing before him was familiar.

“You look familiar to me. I know you from somewhere,” the pathologist told him.

It soon emerged that the two men had indeed met — nearly two decades earlier, under tragic circumstances in Namibia.

Approximately 19 years ago, five Israelis were killed in a plane crash in the country. ZAKA volunteers traveled to the scene to assist with identifying the victims and ensuring that the remains were handled with appropriate respect. Landau was among the ZAKA personnel who participated in that operation.

The Namibian doctor had been involved in the aftermath of that crash and remembered Landau and the ZAKA team. In particular, he recalled the extraordinary importance the volunteers placed on kavod hameis and their efforts to ensure that the victims were treated in accordance with Jewish law.

That encounter from nearly 20 years earlier suddenly became decisive in the present case.

After Landau explained the halachic significance of avoiding an autopsy and the importance of returning the deceased for burial with his body intact, the pathologist agreed to waive the procedure entirely and authorize the release of the body.

“He remembered our work and our struggle for the dignity of the deceased,” Landau recalled. “I explained to him how important it was for us to prevent the autopsy and to bring the deceased for burial intact. He understood the significance and agreed to our request to release the deceased without any autopsy at all.”

The remarkable resolution brought together two men who had last encountered one another at the scene of a tragedy nearly two decades ago — with the impression left by ZAKA’s work at that time ultimately helping preserve kavod hameis for another Israeli family 19 years later.

{Matzav.com}

FlyDubai has fired a “significant number” of employees following an internal investigation into the security failures surrounding the attempted attack aboard one of its flights to Israel, while Israeli authorities are simultaneously moving to establish tougher screening procedures for foreign passengers and airline crews.

The developments mark the latest fallout from the extraordinary incident aboard the FlyDubai flight, in which the Omani co-pilot attacked the captain while the aircraft was en route to Tel Aviv, triggering a struggle for control of the plane before passengers intervened and the aircraft was ultimately landed safely in Saudi Arabia.

According to a Channel 13 report, FlyDubai’s CEO and senior officials in the United Arab Emirates have informed Israeli authorities that the airline has completed its internal investigation into the incident.

The investigation reportedly uncovered a series of failures in the airline’s security and personnel-screening systems. As a result, FlyDubai dismissed a “significant number” of employees who were involved in the areas where the failures occurred.

The findings have taken on particular significance amid reports that the Omani co-pilot had previously raised security concerns while employed by Oman Air. He had reportedly been removed from flying duties there amid concerns over his conduct and interest in radical ideology, yet was subsequently hired by FlyDubai and allowed to operate flights to Israel.

Following completion of the investigation and the disciplinary measures taken by the airline, FlyDubai asked Transportation Minister Miri Regev to authorize the resumption of its flights to Israel.

Israeli officials, however, are moving beyond the measures taken internally by FlyDubai and are working on a broader overhaul of the security-screening system for foreign airline personnel flying into the country.

According to a Channel 12 report, proposed changes were presented during a classified meeting of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee’s intelligence subcommittee, headed by MK Boaz Bismuth.

One of the central proposals calls for Israel to establish a list of countries considered to pose an elevated security threat. The National Security Council is expected to work with the Mossad and Shin Bet in determining which countries will be included.

Under the proposed system, when airline crew members from one of those countries are scheduled to fly to Israel, their identifying information would have to be submitted to Israeli authorities 48 hours before the flight.

That advance notice would give Israeli intelligence and security agencies time to examine the crew members’ backgrounds and determine whether they should be permitted to operate a flight entering Israeli airspace.

Israel is also preparing to change the way it handles passengers and crew members carrying passports from countries that do not maintain diplomatic relations with Israel.

At the request of the Transportation Ministry, the Population and Immigration Authority is expected to provide lists of those individuals to the ministry’s security division so that their information can undergo additional review.

Officials also clarified the division of responsibility for screening foreign travelers. The Population and Immigration Authority, working through the National Security Council, is responsible for examining the passports of passengers and airline crew members and transmitting relevant information to the appropriate security agencies.

The changes come after revelations that more than 1,200 airline crew members holding passports from countries without diplomatic relations with Israel — including Syria, Lebanon and Oman — entered Israel during 2026.

The FlyDubai incident exposed potentially serious gaps in that system, particularly because the Omani co-pilot had reportedly flown to Israel on previous occasions despite the concerns that had surfaced during his earlier employment.

Israeli officials are now seeking to create a system in which potentially sensitive information reaches security agencies before an aircraft departs for Israel rather than relying on checks conducted after foreign crew members have already been assigned to the flight.

The proposed 48-hour advance screening mechanism, combined with the identification of high-risk countries and closer scrutiny of passports from states without diplomatic ties to Israel, is intended to prevent a repeat of the failures exposed by the FlyDubai attack.

{Matzav.com}

Israeli authorities have uncovered an apparent loophole at Ben Gurion Airport that allowed dozens of chareidi draft avoiders who were barred from leaving the country to travel to Uman, Ukraine, before being caught when they returned to Israel.

A total of 64 draft avoiders were stopped at border control upon their return from Uman, according to a report by Kan News. A subsequent examination produced a startling finding: the men had no official record of ever leaving Israel.

That indicated that despite being subject to orders prohibiting them from leaving the country, they had managed to depart without properly passing through border control.

The men had traveled to Uman, where tens of thousands of Jews gather annually around Rosh Hashanah at the kever of Rav Nachman of Breslov.

All 64 men apprehended upon their return were transferred to the Ben Gurion Airport Police for further handling. Some have already been questioned under caution on suspicion of violating Israel’s Entry Law, while others are expected to be questioned in the coming days.

Investigators examining how the men managed to leave the country discovered what authorities believe was the primary method used to circumvent the restrictions.

According to the investigation, some of the suspects allegedly passed through the gate located after passport control by closely following another passenger, effectively slipping through without registering their own departure in the border-control system.

Police reviewing surveillance footage from Ben Gurion Airport have reportedly already identified some of the suspects on camera using the method.

The discovery is particularly significant because the problem extends well beyond the current dispute over chareidi military conscription. The apparent security gap could potentially be exploited by anyone prohibited from leaving Israel, including individuals facing criminal proceedings, debt-enforcement restrictions or other court-imposed travel bans.

The cases have therefore raised broader questions about how passengers subject to exit restrictions could physically leave the country without their departure being recorded by Israel’s border-control system.

The Population and Immigration Authority has responded by implementing a series of measures at Ben Gurion Airport aimed at closing the loophole. Among the immediate steps taken is an increase in the number of inspectors stationed at the airport.

{Matzav.com}

Israel’s National Security Council is warning Israelis traveling or living abroad to exercise heightened caution on Wednesday, the third anniversary of the October 7 massacre, amid concerns that Iran, Hamas and other terrorist organizations could attempt attacks against Israeli or Jewish targets around the world.

The warning, issued Tuesday ahead of the anniversary, also cites the possibility of demonstrations, violent disturbances and other incidents in locations frequented by Israelis and Jews. Travelers are being urged to remain vigilant and avoid situations that could expose them unnecessarily.

According to the National Security Council, terrorist organizations view the October 7 anniversary as a significant symbolic date that could provide an opportunity for attacks. Officials specifically pointed to Iran and its proxies, Hamas and global jihadist organizations as sources of concern.

The council said the heightened threat could take the form of attempted terrorist attacks against Israelis and Jews overseas, while anti-Israel demonstrations and public disturbances surrounding the anniversary could create additional security risks.

Israelis abroad are being advised to stay away from demonstrations and large gatherings, particularly events connected to Israel or the Gaza war, where tensions could escalate.

Travelers are also being urged not to post their locations, itineraries or travel plans on social media in advance. Such information, security officials warn, can reveal an individual’s movements and make it easier for hostile actors to identify or track potential targets.

The National Security Council is additionally urging Israelis to avoid destinations currently under a Level 4 travel warning, the highest warning level. Those destinations include Jordan, Qatar, Somaliland and Egypt, including the Sinai Peninsula.

For countries and destinations subject to a Level 3 warning, Israelis are being advised to take additional precautions, including limiting the use of Hebrew in crowded public areas and avoiding unnecessary displays that could identify them as Israeli.

The public is also being cautioned against posting material on social media that reveals past or present service in the IDF or other Israeli security forces, information that could potentially draw unwanted attention or be exploited by hostile elements.

The warning comes amid continuing concern over Iranian efforts to target Israelis and Jewish communities outside Israel. Israeli security authorities have repeatedly warned that Iran and organizations linked to Tehran seek opportunities to carry out attacks overseas, while Hamas and global jihadist groups have also called for attacks against Israeli and Jewish targets since October 7.

Officials are urging travelers to familiarize themselves with the current warning level for their destination, maintain awareness of their surroundings and reconsider unnecessary travel to locations where the threat level is particularly high.

In the event of an emergency abroad, Israelis are instructed to contact local law-enforcement and security authorities first. Israel’s National Security Council travel-warning center will remain operational around the clock at 02-6667444.

{Matzav.com}

Tensions over the arrests of chareidi military draft evaders intensified Tuesday after a yeshiva bochur was detained in Eilat and transferred to the Military Police, with activists warning that major demonstrations could erupt Wednesday — the third anniversary of the October 7 massacre — if he is not released.

The detainee was identified as Yakir Ralbag, a bochur currently learning at Yeshivas Beis Meir Sosnovsky who previously learned at Yeshivas Chevron Knesses Yisroel. According to reports from the Peleg Yerushalmi, Ralbag was arrested Tuesday in Eilat and subsequently handed over to the Military Police.

His arrest came one day after another young avreich, who married only several months ago, was detained in Eilat after being stopped for a check by traffic police and was also transferred to the Military Police.

Both men are awaiting hearings in their cases. They and their families are being represented by attorneys affiliated with the Notnim Gav organization, which is also providing assistance and support.

Activists are now preparing for the possibility of widespread protests if Ralbag remains in custody. Any demonstrations Wednesday would coincide with Israel’s commemoration of three years since the October 7 massacre, potentially adding another volatile element to an already sensitive day.

The arrest also came just hours after Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara demanded an urgent increase in enforcement against chareidi draft evaders, including the resumption of proactive arrests rather than relying primarily on encounters with wanted individuals at airports, border crossings and during unrelated police activity.

“Proactive enforcement efforts and field arrests must be urgently improved,” the attorney general said. “The absence of proactive enforcement is inconsistent with security needs, the principle of equality, and the state’s commitments to the High Court.”

Figures presented during the discussion underscored what officials described as gaps in the existing enforcement system. Authorities disclosed that 64 draft evaders had succeeded in leaving Israel without being apprehended and were arrested only when they returned to the country.

Additional figures indicated that 163 chareidi draft evaders were detained at border crossings during September, with the Taba crossing becoming a significant enforcement point and accounting for 20 apprehensions. Of 188 individuals apprehended at Ben Gurion Airport during the relevant period, 64 were reportedly caught only upon returning to Israel, indicating that they had managed to leave despite being wanted by military authorities.

Following the disclosure, the Population and Immigration Authority said it would investigate whether loopholes exist that are allowing draft evaders to depart Israel despite their status.

At a meeting held under the deputy attorney general, officials decided that the Military Police should resume proactive enforcement operations as soon as possible, working in coordination with Israel Police. Military officials said those operations are expected to restart during October.

At the same time, the existing joint procedure between the military and Israel Police will remain in effect for draft evaders and deserters who are encountered incidentally by police officers and subsequently identified as wanted by military authorities.

Officials also determined that the Military Advocate General’s Office should quickly complete steps toward lowering the threshold for prosecuting draft evasion cases, including cases involving individuals who failed to report to the IDF induction center, and move ahead with changes to the military’s disciplinary regulations.

The developments follow a dramatic confrontation overnight in Modiin, where an attempt by Military Police officers to arrest another yeshiva bochur ended with the arrest being abandoned after large numbers of protesters descended on the scene.

Shortly after midnight, a small Military Police force arrived at a residence on Yaar Yerushalayim Street in Modiin to arrest a young man classified by the military as a draft evader. The young man, who comes from a non-chareidi family and became religious, learns at Yeshivas Ohr Hachaim in Yerushalayim, headed by Rav Reuven Elbaz.

Word of the attempted arrest quickly reached Tzeva Shachor, an alert network established to notify the chareidi community about attempts to arrest yeshiva bochurim over their draft status. An alert was circulated, and within a short time bochurim and avreichim began arriving from chareidi communities, including large numbers from nearby Modiin Illit.

As the crowd grew, confrontations broke out with police. Protesters pushed toward the residential building where the Military Police officers and the wanted man were located, while additional Israel Police forces were summoned to the scene.

The standoff continued for more than an hour and a half before the Military Police ultimately left without taking the young man into custody. He remained at home, and the protesters dispersed.

The episode subsequently produced sharply conflicting accounts from the IDF and Israel Police over who made the decision to abandon the arrest.

The IDF said: “In light of the situation, during the arrest it was decided to send the deserter an order to regularize his status and release him, in order to disperse the demonstration.”

Military officials maintained that Israel Police made the decision and that the IDF merely implemented it.

Israel Police offered the opposite account. According to the police review of the incident, a small Military Police force arrived to make the arrest but, contrary to established procedures, failed to immediately remove the wanted man from the location after taking control of the situation and instead allowed him an extended period to prepare.

Police said they were called for assistance only after dozens of protesters had already gathered around the building, forcing a substantial deployment to help extract the Military Police personnel and restore order.

Israel Police insisted that the decision to release the draft evader and instead issue him an order directing him to regularize his military status was made by IDF officials, not by the police. Police said their officers responded at the military’s request, deployed substantial forces and assisted in carrying out the decision and restoring public order.

With the government’s legal authorities now pressing for intensified enforcement and chareidi activists mobilizing rapidly in response to arrests, Ralbag’s detention in Eilat could become the next flashpoint in the escalating confrontation over the draft — particularly if he remains in military custody when Wednesday’s October 7 commemorations begin.

{Matzav.com}

Aviva and Keith Siegel have revealed harrowing new details of their captivity in Gaza, describing the violence of their abduction from Kibbutz Kfar Aza, their repeated transfers between homes and tunnels, desperate shortages of oxygen and water, and moments when they became convinced they would not survive.

The couple recounted their ordeal in a special interview for the IDF’s international podcast marking three years since the October 7 massacre. Aviva was freed in November 2023 after 51 days in captivity, while Keith remained a hostage for 484 days before being released in February 2025.

The Siegels described the morning of October 7, when they were inside their home as the sounds of gunfire drew increasingly closer. After terrorists broke into the house, Keith said their small living room quickly filled with approximately 15 armed men, some wearing uniforms and others dressed in civilian clothing. They were carrying Kalashnikov rifles and knives.

Keith said that even as the attack unfolded, he initially could not comprehend the scale of what was happening or imagine that terrorists would actually reach their home. “I thought in terms of a handful of terrorists who somehow managed to breach the border fence,” he recalled, explaining that residents had been led to believe that the border barrier was extraordinarily difficult to penetrate.

The terrorists eventually forced Keith and Aviva out of their home through a rear window. Aviva injured her knee while being taken out, while Keith suffered broken ribs.

As they were marched toward a vehicle, Keith deliberately tried to slow the process. He walked slowly and pretended to be confused, hoping that every additional moment they remained inside the kibbutz might give Israeli forces enough time to arrive and rescue them.

“The more time I can buy before we get to the car, that’s the time that will allow the IDF to rescue us,” he explained.

His attempt to stall came at a cost. At one point, the terrorists opened fire again, and Keith was struck by a bullet in his hand.

Even after reaching the vehicle, Keith continued searching for ways to prevent their abduction. He knew the car required a security code to start and that entering the wrong code three times would disable the vehicle for approximately 20 to 30 minutes.

“That was my plan,” Keith recalled. Aviva remembered desperately trying to stop him: “Keith, are you crazy? They’re going to kill us.” Keith ultimately entered the correct code.

As they were driven toward Gaza, Keith saw thick black smoke rising over Kfar Aza. When they reached the border, he was stunned by what he saw: Rather than finding a section of fence that had simply been cut open, he said an enormous gate itself was standing wide open.

“In my imagination, I thought they had cut a section of the fence and entered through it. But they managed to open a gate, a huge gate,” he said.

“Is this real? Is this really happening?” Keith remembered thinking. He said that sense of disbelief stayed with him from the moment terrorists entered his home until the end of his 484 days as a hostage.

During the period in which Keith and Aviva remained together, Aviva said their captors moved them 12 times from one location to another. After she and Keith were separated, she was moved once more.

Their places of captivity included underground tunnels and civilian homes. At one stage, Aviva said, they were held in what she believed was a large United Nations school. She recalled seeing a vehicle marked “UN” at the entrance to the facility.

Among the most terrifying locations was the second tunnel into which the hostages were taken. Aviva said conditions deteriorated to the point where she and Keith believed death was imminent.

“Keith and I touched death. And when I say that, it’s not just a sentence. We touched death with our bodies, with our souls, with our emotions, with everything,” Aviva said.

The lack of oxygen became so severe, she recalled, that even basic movement became almost impossible. “We couldn’t breathe. We had no oxygen. The lack of oxygen was at a level where all we could do was lie down and just try to get a little air into our bodies.”

Aviva described overwhelming heaviness, headaches and extreme weakness. Then she realized that Keith was also struggling for air.

“I just looked at the ceiling and told myself: Don’t look at Keith, don’t look at Keith. And I kept telling myself: Just let me die before Keith,” she recalled.

Throughout her captivity, Aviva said, she had been convinced that their son, Shai, had been killed. As she lay in the tunnel believing that she, too, was about to die, she began thinking about saying goodbye to the rest of her family and to Keith.

“It sounds like somebody else’s story, but I was there,” she said.

According to the Siegels, their captors would enter the tunnel briefly in the morning and return again during the afternoon, leaving the hostages alone for much of the remaining time. Food and drinking water were severely limited, and eventually their supply of water ran out entirely.

When only a tiny amount remained in one bottle, Aviva divided it among herself, Keith and another hostage being held with them. “I said: Anyone who needs a sip of water, take only one. And everyone has to take a sip,” she recalled.

Their dehydration became so severe that Aviva began preparing for the possibility that they would have to take extraordinary measures simply to stay alive. She spotted a plastic bag and told the others that she intended to keep it in case she needed to urinate into it.

“I was sure we would reach the point where we’d have to drink it to survive. And I really meant it,” Aviva said.

She was so badly dehydrated that she did not need to use the bathroom at all. More than 12 hours passed before their captors finally returned with water. Aviva remembered the overwhelming relief of seeing the bottle: “We’ll have water. We’re going to survive.”

The Siegels also described being held inside civilian homes during their captivity. In one house, Aviva recalled seeing young children, including a girl approximately three or three-and-a-half years old. One of their Hamas captors told the hostages that the little girl was his daughter.

Their account adds to other testimony from released hostages describing captivity in Gaza’s extensive tunnel network and in civilian locations. Israeli forces have also documented Hamas tunnels, weapons and other terrorist infrastructure in or near civilian facilities, including schools, mosques and hospitals.

Keith said the circumstances in which hostages were held are something he believes the international community needs to understand. “It’s very important that everyone knows that Hamas uses hospitals, schools, mosques and private homes to hide.”

Aviva ended with an appeal that the suffering they endured not be ignored. “This world needs to wake up. No one should suffer the way we suffered, and no one should go through what we went through. And Hamas must not be allowed to behave this way.”

{Matzav.com}