ISRAEL WAR: IDF Eliminates Three Terrorists Near Ashkelon, Destroys Hamas Spokespersons Home

I am shocked.

You Dear Jewish Daily Blast,

I was shocked and horrified to read today your long article about the conflict in Israel. If I had read it in an English newspaper or on the BBC, I would have thought it was anti-Israel and even subtly anti-Semitic!
You refer to Hamas as “militants” rather than terrorists and murderers and constantly compare the actions of the two sides as if they have some parallel and equivalency.
Below I have quoted the offending parts with my added comments in red. If you do not make some sort of apology, I will seriously consider taking this matter up with our Rabbinical leadership, as I consider it completely unacceptable.
Yours sincerely.

Rabbi Mordechai Rose (Edgware)

Dear Rabbi Rose
We apologize for this error as one of our editors took it from the wires without checking the information.

The Editor

Dear Editor and readers,

There have been many letters to redact news content, leaving out various scare-inducing information and to insert references to Hashem in stories. I would strenuously urge you to cease calling for or considering these enhancements.

I absolutely agree that ideally, we should receive just a few sentences with the main headlines so that we know what is happening and can share the pain of our brethren. Then we should devote any remaining time to saying tehilim, learning and doing mitzvos. It is counterproductive and incompatible with tzidkus (righteousness) to avidly follow the news. The news as you present it is wrong on many levels including that a reader may absorb the impression that it is our military that can help instead of realising that it is the learning, tefilah and mitzvos that really enable the miracles to occur. A reader may also put their confidence in foreign powers and their official statements, as if they are sincere and of significance compared to a blatt gemora and kapital tehilim.

However, unfortunately I and many contemporaries are not yet on that level. There are many places that we can obtain information from, especially in times of war. We choose to ignore all of these and limit ourselves to The Blast, leaving the difficult coverage decisions up to the editors, who will never be able to get it right and cater to all perspectives. They tend to quote from mainstream media which is often irritating. But we do not expect them to do otherwise or be able to get the balance exactly correct to our perspectives. If you alter the news then you defeat the purpose of being a news source. (There may be additional differences between acceptability of printed family papers and emails geared for adults.)

Any person wishing to hear more about Hashem is correct and would be better served by unsubscribing and saying tehilim, with its constant references to this truth. A person wishing not to be alarmed should not be following the news, ever. This is a frightening world and knowledge can sometimes be emotionally crippling.

I and many contemporaries wish to know the basic news. This is why we subscribed to The Blast! Before this, we sought news from other sources and therefore now feel blessed to have this service. If it ceases to function in the manner it has, then we will probably revert to alternative news sources, even though these are more misleading, less tznius, more biased and halachcially challenged. This is not something we are proud of and wish we could be on the level of some of your complainants.

Your faithfully,
Tuviya Lopian

Re: Spreading the picture with ‘free Palestine 

I live in Israel, but moved here from London not long ago. I did actually appreciate seeing the news of London, being that otherwise, I would not hear about it.

Thank you for your great work

A Happy Reader

The IDF took dozens of foreign journalists on Tuesday to see for themselves the death and destruction wrought by Hamas terrorists this week, reports Times of Israel.

The crews, wearing helmets and flak jackets, due to the on-going explosions and artillery fire in the background, wayed their way through the destroyed Kibbutz Kfar Aza, where the bodies of Palestinian terrorists still lay outside of fire-scarred homes.

The pleasant scenery of the kibbutz with its lawns and one-story homes, further underscore how horrifying the atrocities that took place only days before were.

The journalists, who were protected by IDF soldiers clad in full combat gear as they continued to clear homes, spoke of the stench of death in the air.

A reporter from i24 News said that an IDF commander told her that they had found the bodies of some 40 babies, some of whom had been beheaded.

“It’s not a war,” General Itai Veruv, head of the IDF’s Depth Command, told reporters. “It’s not a battlefield. You see the babies, the mothers, the fathers in their bedrooms, in their protection rooms, and how the terrorists kill them. It’s not a war… it’s a massacre.”

“It’s something I never saw in my life. It’s something I used to imagine of my grandmother and my grandfather in Europe and other places,” he said.

Rav Rachamim, a member of the kollel in Ofakim, famed for the yeshiva founded by Rav Shimshon Pincus zt”l, had been on his way to the vasikin minyan on Simchas Torah when he was shot by Hamas terrorists who had infiltrated the town. Rav Rachamim, who had spent his entire life between the walls of yeshiva, was initially declared missing. It was only hours later that his body was discovered and identified. He is survived by his wife and children. Yehi zichro boruch

Rav Porat lived in Tveria, but he was in Ofakim on this past fateful Simchas Torah to serve as mohel for his newly born grandson. He was staying at the home of his youngest daughter, who had just given birth to a son, when the house was infiltrated by the Hamas invaders. The terrorists shot him, but security forces managed to neutralize them before they were able to kill anyone else.

Rav Porat was a cheerful man, and he was beloved in the assisted living home where he served as a mashgiach for kashrus. He is survived by four daughters and sons-in-law, as well as his grandchildren. Yehi zichro boruch.

The IDF announced late Tuesday night that it has successfully eliminated three terrorists near Ashkelon, and struck the home of Hamas’s military wing spokesman, as it continues to target terrorists in Gaza and those who have remained in Israel following four days of horrific attacks against Jews.

The IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, Avichay Adraee, wrote in a social media post that the spokesperson, Abu Obeida, was “working to direct terrorism against the State of Israel.”

It is not known if Obeida was home at the time of the strike.

The IDF says it is continuing to carry out targeted strikes in Gaza at this hour.

According to the IDF, troops of the 17th Battalion, with the help of a drone and a combat helicopter, met and killed three terrorist gunmen close to the Ashkelon industrial zone, outside the city.

“The troops eliminated the three terrorists and are now continuing to search the area,” the IDF says.

The President said , “We stand with Israel, and we will make sure Israel has what it needs to take care of its citizens, to defend itself and to respond to this attack,” “Our hearts may be broken, but our resolve is clear.”

Biden repeatedly condemned Hamas, which led terrorists in a shocking attack on Israeli towns this past weekend that killed more than 1,000 people, including 14 Americans.

He added, “The brutality of Hamas…brings to mind the worst rampages of ISIS,” “Hamas does not stand for the Palestinian people’s right to dignity and self-determination…Hamas offers nothing but terror and bloodshed, with no regard to who pays the price.”

Biden also confirmed that there are US citizens being held hostage by Hamas.