GNITN - Special Edition

Israel At War – Day 122

October 7th Truthers?

Victory In Months

We’ve heard dates mentioned concerning the war in Israel’s ending with one estimate of lasting until 2025. Now, it appears those estimates may need to be revised as we read in an article from The Times Of Israel:

Israel’s leaders claimed that they had killed or seriously injured most of the Hamas terror group’s fighters Monday, saying that the end of a nearly 4-month-old offensive in Gaza was a matter of months, not years, as fighting was set to spread to the southern metropolis representing the Strip’s final redoubt.

Will this be a final complete conquest?

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed that Israel would reach “complete victory,” even as military officials detailed resurgent fighting in areas of northern Gaza previously cleared by troops. The complicated situation underlines the difficulty Israel faces in meeting its war goals, though it looks to complete an unprecedented sweep by pushing into the southern city of Rafah.

And with Hamas’s top leaders still on the loose, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant insisted that the terror group’s Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar was on the run, out of touch with his fighters, and forced to flee from one hideout to another with the IDF hot on his heels.

Netanyahu doubled down on this assessment:

“Our goal is a complete victory over Hamas,” Netanyahu told a meeting of his Likud party faction at the Knesset. “We will kill the Hamas leadership, so we must continue to operate in all areas in the Gaza Strip. We must not end the war before then. It will take time — months, not years.”

The estimate appeared to be more optimistic than a prediction Netanyahu reportedly gave local council leaders last month that the war would continue into 2025.

On The Run

Netanyahu also brought up more details on why this war could be winding down:

The prime minister also said that Israel is “collapsing and destroying” Hamas’s tunnel network, a vast complex of hundreds of kilometers of subterranean passages cavities it uses to house and deploy its forces.

At a press conference in Tel Aviv, Gallant said “about half of the Hamas terrorists have been killed or seriously wounded,” echoing Netanyahu.

Neither figure put a number on the Hamas casualties. Israel previously said it had killed over 10,000 Hamas operatives in Gaza.

Defense Minister Gallant added this:

Gallant described the ground operation as “complex and complicated,” while “progressing and achieving its goals,” with the IDF active “in most of the territory of the Gaza Strip.”

He said Hamas’s leadership, including Sinwar, is “on the run.”

“Sinwar goes from hideout to hideout, and is unable to communicate with his surroundings,” Gallant said. “Sinwar does not lead the campaign, does not command the forces, he is busy with his personal survival. He turned from the head of Hamas into a fugitive terrorist, and IDF forces continue to pursue him.”

More Evidence Found

As the IDF moves from place to place hunting down Hamas and its leader, Gallant reports they see signs of Hamas being in distress:

Gallant revealed that IDF troops have recently found significant material in the places where Sinwar “had recently been” and the information gleaned revealed insights into Hamas plans.

He asserted that disagreements between Hamas officials in the Strip and those abroad “indicate panic and distress” in the terror group.

Echoing Netanyahu, Gallant said “18 Hamas battalions are dismantled and no longer function as fighting military frameworks.

If true, without leaders the terrorist group may only be able to fight in small skirmishes:

As the IDF pushes through the Hamas tunnel network, denying them as a place of refuge for terrorists, “we are increasing the pressure on the terrorists and the leaders of the terrorist organizations,” he said, and issued a warning to remaining Hamas fighters in Rafah stronghold.

“Every terrorist hiding in Rafah should know that his end will be like those in Khan Younis and Gaza [City],” Gallant said referring to two areas conquered by the advancing Israeli military.

Pressure Will Get Hostages Back

Gallant also mentioned that continued stress on Hamas will help get the remaining hostages back:

The defense minister repeated the assertion that the IDF’s military pressure on Hamas will advance the return of the hostages held by the terror group.

Prime Minister Netanyahu added this:

Regarding the hostages, Netanyahu noted at the Likud faction meeting that 110 have been released so far, mostly during a negotiated November lull, and said the framework for any future deal will be based on a similar formula. That deal saw Israel release roughly three times as many Palestinian security prisoners held in Israel in exchange for each hostage.

“Hamas has demands that we will not agree to,” Netanyahu said. Efforts to negotiate freedom for more hostages “will not be realized at any cost,” he said.

He is most likely referring to the rumored Hamas demand for thousands of terrorists prisoners as part of another hostage deal. While talk of the fighting ending is heard, the protests for the hostages to be released is also heating up as relatives allegedly were not permitted to attend this meeting.

Rise Of October 7th Truthers

Social media can see the launch and then rapid rise of all manner of theories and even build momentum for them within hours. Now, just like there are those who believe that the terrorists attacks of 9/11 were an inside job, so there are those who are now saying that it was Israel, not Hamas that led the October 7th massacre as we read in an article from CBN.com:

On the social media platform TikTok, a video features a man saying, "This is day 16 of your daily reminder that Israel, not Hamas, is responsible for the massacre of Israeli civilians on October 7th 2023."

Called "October 7th Truthers," they believe Israel was behind the attack that killed 1,200 Israelis and led to hundreds of Israelis being taken hostage that fateful day.

The massacre by Hamas is one of the most well-documented crimes in history, livestreamed for the world to see, and yet October 7th denial is spreading.

It entered the mainstream when an Oakland, California city employee blamed Israel for the attack during a city council meeting, telling officials, "There were not beheadings of babies and rapings (sic). Israel murdered their own people on October 7th."

In spite of vast amounts of evidence provided by even Hamas itself, these “truthers” still believe that Israel was behind the attacks:

Israeli military helicopter footage has been misused to claim that the IDF intentionally fired at its own citizens.

And in the "Conspiracy" forum on Reddit with 2 million members, a person writes, "There is a 100% chance Israel is behind all of this. It's not like they don't have a long track record of false flag terrorism."

Another anti-Semite writes, "The world is a stage run by the sons of Zion."

Not everyone is buying into this, though:

Calling the October 7 Truther movement "the ultimate fake news," Rabbi Abraham Cooper of the Simon Wiesenthal Center says antisemitism since October 7 last year has "skyrocketed."

Cooper added, "And those who have not experienced it personally, all they have to do is go up on social media. It's pervasive, it's increasing. Social media is tailor-made for conspiracy theories. You can manipulate photos, videos, information to bend it to whatever your reality is, including creating a flat earth, whatever it might be."

Antisemitism was already prevalent before the October 7th attacks, but now, they are reaching fever pitch levels:

In December, almost 200 Jewish organizations across the U.S. were targeted with swatting incidents; false reports to the police of shootings or bomb threats. One Alabama synagogue had to be evacuated during a Shabbat service because of a bomb threat.

Regardless of outright proof of Hamas being the terrorists and documented antisemitism, the conspiracies continue:

Even the antisemitism on college campuses is being called a "false flag" created by Jews. The website Grayzone says it's a "contrived campus antisemitism crisis."

Cooper says no amount of evidence will change the minds of those who want to believe a conspiracy theory.

He said, "The Nazis worked so hard to cover up their crimes and to erase evidence of their crimes. Hamas, they were live streaming it. We have people who don't want to be confused by the facts. They don't want their world view to be interrupted, even if it involves crimes against humanity and possible genocide."

Jesus told his followers who were Jewish that if they hated Him they will hate them. Add this to your prayers for the peace of Jerusalem.