January 8, 2024

Jewish Federations’ Israel Emergency Campaign has now raised a total of $768 million system-wide and has allocated over $283 million to a wide range of humanitarian organizations in Israel. See a detailed update on allocations here.

The Latest Numbers
As we mark three months since the October 7 Hamas attack and subsequent war, these are the latest numbers:

• 1,300 Israelis have been killed. Of these:
  • At least 35 were children.
  • 509 were IDF soldiers (and of these, 177 were killed in the ground operation). See details of all the fallen soldiers here.
  • 14 were in the country’s north.
• 11,594 Israelis have been injured.
• An estimated 218,000 Israelis are currently internally displaced, including from 67 towns that have been officially evacuated. (Some 40 of the 67 towns have been permitted to return in the coming days).
• Around 12,500 rockets (and other projectiles) have been fired at Israel since October 7. Of these:
  • About 10,500 were fired by Hamas and other terrorist groups from Gaza
  • 14 by the Houthi rebels in Yemen
  • 2,000 by Hezbollah from Lebanon and Syria.

• Thousands of rockets were fired by Hamas on October 7, and hundreds of rockets per day in the weeks that followed. By the week of December 1-7, as IDF ground operations restricted Hamas’ capabilities, the terror group still managed to fire 75 rockets per day, but by December 8-14, the number had dropped to 23. From December 15-27, the average number of rockets dropped to 16 and is now below 10.
• There are 130 hostages in Gaza, but at least 25 of these are believed to be no longer alive (that number could be much higher). 109 hostages have been released; and the IDF has rescued one hostage, recovered eight bodies, and accidentally killed three hostages.

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Operations

• The IDF says that it has completed “dismantling Hamas’ military framework” in the northern part of Gaza.
• Meanwhile, intensive fighting took place in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis overnight, with the Israeli Air Force carrying out strikes on some 30 Hamas targets in the area, including underground sites, weapons depots, and other infrastructure belonging to the terror group. At one point, commando troops spotted a group of more than ten Hamas operatives at a rocket launching site in Khan Younis and directed a drone strike, which killed all ten.
• Over the weekend, Israel’s security cabinet met to discuss "the day after" the war, for the first time.
• The IDF Chief of Staff announced that he had appointed former Defense Minister and former IDF Chief of Staff Shaul Mofaz to head an inquiry into the errors made by the IDF leading up to the October attack.

Rockets

• Hamas rocket attacks on Israel have been reduced to a trickle.
• In the north, Hezbollah has been slowly increasing its level of rocket and other fire against Israeli targets. Earlier today, Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned the Lebanese-based terror group against further escalation, saying that “Israel can easily copy and paste the war in Gaza, to Beirut." Yesterday, Hezbollah anti-tank rockets hit the Israel Air Force’s Meron Air Traffic Control base near the northern border. Nobody was injured, but undisclosed damage was made to the facility, which continues to function as normal, possibly using backup systems.
• In the Red Sea, Israel and the United States military continue to shoot down missiles and UAVs fired at Israel and commercial shipping vessels, by Iran-back Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Hostages

• Qatar and Egypt continue efforts to reach a new deal that could see the release of some hostages. Over the weekend, the Qatari prime minister met with Israeli hostages’ families.
• It is believed that 136 hostages remain in Gaza — not all of them alive — after 105 civilians were released from Hamas captivity during the weeklong truce in late November. Four hostages were released before that, and one was rescued by troops. The bodies of eight hostages have also been recovered and three hostages were mistakenly killed by the military. The IDF has confirmed the deaths of 23 of those still held by Hamas, citing new intelligence and findings obtained by troops operating in Gaza.

International Response

• U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will arrive in Israel later today on his fifth trip to the Jewish state since October 7. Blinken was in Jordan and Qatar on Sunday at the start of a five-day diplomatic effort in the Middle East, he is seeking to avert a wider war in the region. He is also due to visit the West Bank and Egypt this week.
• Former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence visited the northern front and met with IDF soldiers over the weekend. In a strong statement supporting Israel, Pence said that although he doesn't speak for the American Administration, he does represent the sentiment of the American people, who stand by Israel. 
• The INSS think tank reports that since October 7, there have been 7,557 protests against Israel around the world, compared to 602 pro-Israel gatherings. This report cover the only the first two months of the war.
• This week, South Africa filed a case against Israel in the International Court of Justice (ICJ), alleging that Israel’s actions in Gaza constitute genocide.
  • Under the Court’s rules, Israel has the right to appoint one judge to the 15-justice panel. Earlier today, Israel announced it would send retired Supreme Court President Aharon Barak. Barak, a Holocaust survivor, is one of Israel’s foremost jurists and a world-renowned expert in international law and how the legal system interacts with security and defense decisions. The decision by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to appoint Barak surprised many commentators due to Barak’s background as the instigator of judicial reforms that the current coalition had been trying to overturn for most of 2023. Nonetheless, the decision has been universally praised by legal experts and others, who say that Barak is the best-suited person for the role.
  • British international law and human rights expert Prof. Malcolm Shaw will defend Israel before the court.
  • Israel’s National Security Advisor Tzachi Hanegbi stated, “The Jewish people have experienced genocide more profoundly than any other nation, with six million of our people brutally slaughtered. A similar cruelty was inflicted on Israeli citizens in the massacre of October 7th, but this time we can defend ourselves against those seeking our destruction. The absurd petition against the right of the victim to self-defense is disgraceful, and we expect all civilized nations to stand with our determination.”
  • In response to the South African case, U.S. National Security Council Spokesman John Kirby this week described the filing as “meritless, counterproductive and completely without any basis in fact.”
  • The defined concept of genocide is relatively new, coined by a Polish lawyer in only 1944 to describe actions taken by the Nazis, including attempts to eliminate the Jewish people. The legality of the concept was established by the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
  • The key element in the convention is that in order for killings to be described as genocide, there must be “a proven intent on the part of perpetrators to physically destroy a national, ethnic, racial or religious group.”
  • Israeli military and government leaders have repeatedly declared that the country is at war with Hamas and not with the Palestinian people. Furthermore, the IDF does not target civilians and has established multiple measures to minimize civilian casualties by international law, including civilians ahead of attacks and establishing safe zones.
  • In contrast, Hamas’s charter calls for the annihilation of Israel and the murder of Jews, and Hamas leaders repeatedly incite violence against Israel and vow to repeat the October 7th attacks until Israel is wiped off the map.

Stories 0f Heartbreak, Heroism and Hope

• A young couple who survived the massacre at the Nova Music Festival, returned to the site this week to get married at the location.
• Under expert eyes, objects retrieved from rubble help document October 7’s horrors.
• See this story of 26-year-old Ella Hamuy, described as a young woman who “always had a smile on her face” and was dedicated to justice and generosity. Ella lived on Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak and was looking forward to beginning her training to be a nurse this year. Ella attended the Nova Music Festival when she was seriously injured by Hamas terrorists; she succumbed to her wounds three weeks later.
• The city of Ashdod in Israel's south has suffered some 275 sirens since October 7, meaning that residents have had to run to shelters an average of three times per day for the last three months. Some residents recorded this song of hope for a better future: A great version of "We Are the World."
• Brother of hostage slain by IDF visits ‘hell on earth’ that was once his Kfar Aza home.

Further Reading

• The IDF’s shifting tactics in Gaza
• Former Ambassador to the U.S. Zalman Shoval: Still a long way to go before Israel's goals are attained
• “Israel is not committing genocide - but Hamas is.” – The Hill
• The Gaza War as Seen from Southeast Asia
• How three months of war in Gaza changed Israel

Jewish Federations’ Resources

• Jewish Federations’, 10/7 Project is a collaboration with AJC, AIPAC, ADL, and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. The 10/7 Project is an organized effort to counter the disinformation about the attacks of October 7th and Israel’s response, especially aimed at the key media and government influencers. See here for more information about the 10/7 project, as well as this news bulletin.
• Resources: Readers can see links to resources, background, research, and other information on the current war here; can access a Jewish Federations toolkit here, and can refer to the Community Mobilization Center Resource Hub for the latest talking points and tools. 
• See these resources by Jewish Federations that give insight into some areas of Federations’ emergency allocations:
  • Women
  • Pastoral Guidance
  • Bedouin Communities
  • Food Security
  • People with Disabilities
• Details: For information on the latest overall numbers from the conflict, see here.
• Webinar: The Jewish People Policy Institute (JPPI): Daily webinars sponsored by Jewish Federations and the Jewish Agency are offered. A rotating team of analysts of Israeli military affairs, the US-Israel relationship, Israel’s political system, and the country’s diverse society will speak every Sunday to Thursday from 11-11:30 am ET. No registration is required. Join here.
• Volunteering: Read this updated Jewish Federations update on the latest volunteering opportunities in Israel right now.
• Local Authorities: Jewish Federations have produced a document answering questions about funding-impacted localities and municipalities in Israel. See here. 
• Read the latest communication from the Community Mobilization Center here.
• Previous updates can be found here.

Jewish Federations
Our Israel Office, having activated emergency protocols, is working closely with our partners on the ground, and is in close contact with the Government of Israel and the IDF. We will continue to update you as the situation develops.