Israel-Hamas War: IDF reveals new combat vehicle, 'closing in on Gaza hostages

Israeli soldiers seen at a staging area near the Israeli-Gaza border, southern Israel, January 21, 2024

(photo credit: Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

4 hr 4 min ago

IDF closing in on Gaza hostages in Khan Yunis, Gallant tells families

Defense minister: Most sensitive locations for Hamas are getting us closer to the two goals of the war.

By YONAH JEREMY BOB

 

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant flies over the Gaza Strip, January 21, 2024

(photo credit: DEFENSE MINISTRY)

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Sunday told representatives of Israeli hostage families that there are growing signs that they are hotter on the heels of Hamas's top leadership and the hostages in Khan Yunis than they have been until now.

"Operations in Khan Yunis are at a high point, and there are early signs that are arriving at the most sensitive locations for Hamas are getting us closer to the two goals of the war," said Gallant.

The defense minister was referring to the goals of dismantling Hamas and returning the around 130 Israeli hostages.

He made the statement one day after the IDF revealed it had found cages in Khan Yunis where hostages had previously been held by Hamas.

'Mushroom clouds will continue to cover the skies of Gaza'

Earlier, Gallant visited the 100th Squadron of the Israeli Air Force at the Hatzor base and conducted a flight over the skies of Gaza, accompanied by the squadron commander, Lieutenant Colonel S.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant flies above the skies of Gaza with the Israeli Air Force, January 21, 2024 (credit: DEFENSE MINISTRY)

Afterward, the defense minister held a conversation with the pilots, aircrew, and ground crews responsible for the aircraft armament.

Gallant expressed his appreciation to the air and ground teams and emphasized the importance of coordination between the Air Force and the forces operating in the Gaza Strip to achieve operational objectives.

"I observed the forces operating in the northern, central, and southern parts of the Gaza Strip," Gallant said. "I witnessed a real-time attack by the Air Force in the southern part of Gaza City.

"The accuracy, the quality of execution, and the perfect coordination with the forces are very impressive," Gallant continued. "We are operating with force in the Khan Yunis area, and it will expand. The mushroom clouds from the tanks, artillery, and Air Force planes will continue to cover the skies of Gaza until we achieve our goals, primarily the dismantling of Hamas and the return of the hostages to their homes."

Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.

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4 hr 2 min ago

Legislation proposed on the representation of terrorists in court

There have been ongoing discussions involving senior police officials, legal advisors and prosecutors on how the perpetrators of the October 7 attack on the Gaza border will be brought to trial.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF

 

Yariv Levin, Simcha Rothman in the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee

(photo credit: Mark Israel Salem)

Although the Ministerial committeeapproved a bill on Sunday that would prevent terrorists from being represented by public defenders, the Minister of Justice stated that the bill would only be advanced with the consent of additional authorities, according to Kan News.

The Legal Advisor to the Government and the Public Defender’s Office had already opposed the proposal. 

One of the reasons for the delay is that according to the Attorney General, the bill in its current form could create a false impression that it would prohibit any representation for terrorists in Court, not only public defenders. 

The Attorney General argues that this could harm the international reputation and legitimacy of Israel’s legal system. 

There have been ongoing discussions involving senior police officials, legal advisors and prosecutors on how the perpetrators of the October 7 attack on the Gaza border will be brought to trial. Police are already demanding to file collective indictments against the terrorists, according to Kan News. 

Homes are destroyed, following the deadly October 7 attack by Hamas terrorists from the Gaza Strip, in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, southern Israel November 2, 2023 (credit: REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein)

The main reason for a collective indictment is that there is a lack of specific evidence against the terrorists, including the absence of forensic evidence. There are almost no real-time pathological reports, and it is difficult to attribute specific murders to specific terrorists. 

Additionally, according to initial reports, the charges against the terrorists will be categorized by regions—so each terrorist will face charges based on cities, kibbutzim, and the Nova music festival in Re'im, Kan News reveals.

Discussions surrounding prosecuting Hamas terrorists

Changes to the regulations regarding the arrest of suspects; defining terrorists as “unlawful combatants'; setting up special courts; indicting hundreds of detainees under the same charge; and examining the implications of imposing the death sentence are only some of the issues that are currently being discussed by the Israeli Justice Ministry as it tries to decide how Israel’s legal system will deal with the Hamas terrorists who perpetrated the October 7 atrocities, according to a report by Shomrim, the Center for Media and Democracy.

“These are discussions that happen once in many years – if at all,” one official from the justice system told Shomrim. These issues are extremely sensitive, and therefore the discussions are held in secrecy.

The Justice Ministry said that it is not responding to questions on the subject at this time, Shomrim reported. 

These trials recall the Nuremberg Trials after the Holocaust and the desire for revenge, Prof. Amichai Cohen, an expert in the law of armed conflict at the Israel Democracy Institute and a member of the Faculty of Law at Ono Academic College, reflects. He told Shomrim, “Of course, we are instilled with the desire for revenge but we are a Western nation, so we will conduct a proper legal process, we will expose the crime to the world, we will put the terrorists on trial and maybe in the end it will be decided to execute them. But it will not be barbaric revenge.”