About 50 female soldiers who were recruited at the beginning of the week and assigned to surveillance duty refused to report for duty at the training base of the Border Protection Corps in the Aravah, Ynet reported. According to the report, some of them were detained and sentenced to military prison. The soldiers’ refusal comes in the wake of the disaster that befell the female surveillance soldiers on October 7th at the Nachal Oz base next to the Israeli-Gazan border. Fifteen soldiers and three officers were killed and six were taken hostage. The soldiers, who were unarmed, had repeatedly warned their superiors of ominous Hamas activities on the border but their warnings went unheeded and they paid for their commanders’ failures with their lives.

Sgt. First Class (res.) Ahmad Abu Latif, a 26-year-old husband and father and resident of the Bedouin town of Rahat, was one of the 21 IDF soldiers killed in Gaza earlier this week after Hamas terrorists threw RPG missiles at a building laced with explosives. Latif wrote a now famous social media post before being called to serve in Gaza in which he expressed his pride in being an Israeli-Bedouin and serving in the IDF to defend Israel. He also noted that Hamas murdered and abducted Jews and Arabs alike during the October 7th attack. “Since the start of the war, we’ve heard a lot about the involvement of Arab citizens,” he wrote. “Unfortunately, among the dead are Bedouin and Druze soldiers, Muslims and Christians, who became heroes defending the country.

The IDF says its Paratroopers Brigade has intensified its military operations against Hamas in Khan Younis, reporting that that its forces have been actively engaging with Hamas gunmen, conducting raids on their sites, and seizing a substantial cache of weapons. The military says the Paratroopers Brigade has been operating in the al-Amal neighborhood of Khan Younis, a known stronghold of Hamas. During their operations, IDF soldiers have faced multiple encounters with armed terrorists. The IDF reports that during these confrontations, several Hamas operatives have been killed, both in sniper engagements and close-quarters combat.

Former President Donald Trump has issued a stern warning that any supporters donating to his Republican opponent, Nikki Haley, will be permanently barred from the “MAGA camp” from now on. This declaration came through a post on Truth Social, following Trump’s recent triumph over Haley in the New Hampshire primary. Trump criticized Haley, referring to her as “Nikki ‘Birdbrain’ Haley” and condemning her for what he described as false statements and derogatory comments. He suggested her focus should be on opposing Joe Biden and his administration rather than those he considers true American patriots.

A major Atzeres Tefillah will be taking place Wednesday night at Bais Medrash Lutzk in Lakewood due to the current situation in Eretz Yisroel, and in light of growing worldwide antisemitism. Maariv will be at 8:00PM, followed by Divrei Hisororus by Hagaon HaRav Yitzchok Sorotzkin at 8:15. Tehillim will be recited at 8:30. It will be streamed on Torah Anytime and seen below, or on the phone at 718-820-7284 Extension 40.

Dozens of Israelis, including relatives of hostages, IDF reservists who were released from duty in Gaza, and those who have been evacuated from their homes due to the war, held a protest on Wednesday and tried to stop the entry of trucks carrying humanitarian aid into Gaza. “No aiding the enemy!” the protesters said as they gathered at the Kerem Shalom border crossing. “No aid should be transferred until all the hostages are returned.” Tzufit Liebman, the sister-in-law of Elyakim Liebman who worked as a security guard at the Nova music festival and was abducted by Hamas, expressed her feelings to Ynet about Israel allowing aid into Gaza while Israeli hostages are suffering from harsh conditions in captivity.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned against ending the war in Gaza in a meeting on Tuesday of the members of the war cabinet with the heads of local councils of Israel’s northern communities. According to a Kan News report, Gallant warned that “ending the war in the south will lead to another front with Hezbollah in the north. The war in Gaza must not stop in the current situation without the complete dissolution of Hamas.” Gallant added: “The fact that there is no public target date [for the return of northern residents to their homes] is a good thing. The lack of clarity makes it even more difficult for Hezbollah.

A new Harvard CAPS-Harris finds that US voters overwhelmingly support Israel over Hamas in the ongoing conflict that was triggered by the terror group’s violent actions on October 7th. According to the poll results, 83% of respondents categorized the events of October 7th as a terrorist attack, while 17% disagreed. 94% of respondents aged over 65 firmly labeled the attack as an act of terrorism, while 74% of those aged 18-24 held a similar view. Furthermore, the survey found that 74% of participants believed that Hamas’s attack was genocidal, and 75% of all respondents agreed that the assault could not be justified by Palestinian grievances. However, these opinions varied significantly among different age groups.

The Saudi-owned, London-based Arabic-language newspaper Asahrq Al-Awsat has disclosed details about an underground communications system used by Hamas leaders and officials in Gaza. The report, based on sources close to the leadership of the group, reveals that this network has been operational since 2009. Developed initially by engineers from the al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s military wing, the system has been progressively enhanced with technology smuggled from abroad. The network is said to consist of switchboards installed underground, connected to older landlines above ground, enabling the group to exchange messages covertly. According to the report, the IDF has been aware of this communication system for several years and have made multiple attempts to either hack or destroy it.

One hundred and thirty IDF commanders and reserve officers who actively participated in the war in Gaza issued a rare public letter earlier this week to IDF Chief of Staff Herzi HaLevi and members of the war cabinet in which they demanded that Gazan civilians be prevented from returning to their homes in the northern Gaza Strip until all the hostages are released. The letter states: “In recent days, the IDF has started releasing reserve units and we immediately asked ourselves: did we fulfill the mission for which we were recruited and how do the significant gains we achieved on the battlefield translate into achievements at the strategic level?