Israel-Gaza ground offensive: Hamas warned delay to attack has made Israeli troops ‘more lethal’
There was a nervous energy at a dusty staging post for ground troops, waiting for an order to invade Gaza.
Several soldiers, stern-faced and in full combat gear, asked not to be filmed.
Others, however, appeared more relaxed, even smiling as they stood by a line of armoured personnel carriers on a sprawling stretch of flat, sandy fields in southern Israel, weapons slung over one shoulder, some with heavy-looking green rucksacks on their backs.
The overwhelming sense on the ground with an infantry brigade was one of a force preparing for battle rather than a prolonged wait – even as debate swirls at a high political and diplomatic level about potential delays in the next stage of Israel’s war against Hamas.
Lieutenant Colonel Gilad Pasternak, 38, the executive officer for the brigade, said his troops were preparing themselves for action.
“Our brigade is about to manoeuvre wherever needed, through the sectors that we need to go through,” he told Sky News, speaking in English.
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Lieutenant Colonel Pasternak says the wait has benefitted the soldiers
The 828 infantry brigade is massed near the border with Gaza
The officer did not talk specifically about any delay but said soldiers have been using their waiting time wisely since commanders mobilised the military in the wake of the 7 October Hamas terror attack on Israel.
“Actually the time that has been given us has made us much more prepared, much more efficient, much more lethal towards Hamas if it will be needed to go inside,” he said.
“All the ground forces know exactly what they are about to do and actually this time of wait that the commanders gave us, it actually made us much more prepared.
“When we have the sign, we will be able to go, do whatever we need to do and we have full confidence in our leadership to do so.”
Israel has been saying for days that it is preparing to move to the next phase in its war against Hamas.
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This is expected to involve a significant ground assault into Gaza, which is controlled by Hamas, but is also home to more than two million Palestinian civilians.
But there has not been a rush to enter, despite a massive build-up of thousands of Israeli troops, tanks and artillery along the border with the Palestinian enclave.
Instead, allies such as the United States have been offering Israeli leaders words of caution against a hasty ground attack while Hamas still holds more than 200 hostages inside Gaza.
There is also mounting concern at the rising number of dead Palestinians, including children and women, killed in an unprecedented barrage of Israeli airstrikes.
The soldiers are preparing for a dangerous ground invasion of Gaza
Israel says it only hits Hamas targets but knows that the militant group operates within Gaza’s civilian population.
In addition, there is the very real risk that Israel’s conflict with Hamas could ignite a regional war as Iran – an arch-enemy of Israel – seeks to exploit the crisis.
Sky News was allowed to film with soldiers of the 828 infantry brigade, one of Israel’s most effective infantry units, at the staging post on Tuesday afternoon.
We watched as tracked armoured vehicles rolled into different positions, surrounded by groups of troops.
The soldiers said they had no choice but to fight after the terror unleashed by Hamas inside Israel which left more than 1,400 people dead and many more injured.
Lieutenant Colonel Pasternak, who is a full-time officer rather than a reservist, said a goal of the military operation was to free the hostages who were taken that day.
“I am sure that is exactly what is going to happen,” he said.
He is no stranger to fighting in Gaza.
The officer was injured during a previous ground incursion into the territory in 2014 but said he is ready to return.
“I know Gaza is maybe dangerous,” he said. “The infrastructure Hamas has built inside Gaza is terror infrastructure.
“But I know for sure the IDF (Israel Defence Force) is strong, powerful and able to stand by its missions.”
World
Amsterdam: Police break up pro-Palestinian protest after ‘antisemitic’ violence following football game
More than 100 pro-Palestinian protesters have been taken away by police during a banned demonstration in Amsterdam following “antisemitic” violence in the wake of a football game.
Hundreds of people had defied an order banning protests and gathered in the city’s Dam Square on Sunday, chanting “Amsterdam says no to genocide” and “free Palestine”.
A three-day ban on demonstrations was brought in on Friday, following violence that erupted on Thursday after a Europa League game between Israeli team Maccabi Tel Aviv and local side Ajax.
The ban was later extended for four more days until next Thursday.
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Police crouched over a man during the pro-Palestinian protest. Pic: Reuters
Hundreds of people defied the order and gathered in Amsterdam. Pic: Reuters
The aftermath of the football game was marred by violence that the mayor of the Dutch city and the country’s prime minister described as antisemitic.
At a hearing challenging the protest ban, a senior police officer said it was still needed as people thought to be Jewish were targeted on Saturday night, with some being ordered out of taxis and others asked to produce their passports.
A local court ratified the ban and the people who were rounded up were put on buses and dropped off on the outskirts of the city, police spokesperson Ramona van den Ochtend said, without confirming how many had been detained.
One protester was taken to an ambulance bleeding.
After the initial violence, five people were treated in hospital and more than 60 were held by police.
The attacks followed a Palestinian flag being torn down in the Dutch city, and another being set on fire, before Maccabi Tel Aviv fans shouted anti-Arab chants as they were escorted to the game.
The initial attacks on Israeli fans were carried out by what Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema described as “hit-and-run squads”.
Prosecutors said that four suspects remained detained, including two minors, and 40 people have been fined.
Police broke up the pro-Palestinian protest in Dam Square. Pic: Reuters
Dutch police detain a pro-Palestinian protester during the banned demonstration. Pic: Reuters
Pic: Reuters
A night that ‘defied description’
Tensions began to build the day before the match when some of the 3,000 visiting Maccabi supporters had minor altercations with locals, including taxi drivers and Ajax supporters, police said.
According to officers, on Wednesday a Palestinian flag was set on fire in Dam Square, and another was pulled down from a nearby building as a taxi was also vandalised.
On game day, the Maccabi supporters chanted anti-Arab slogans including “Let the IDF win, and f*** the Arabs,” as they were escorted by police to the stadium.
A planned pro-Palestinian demonstration on Thursday was moved away from the ground to Anton de Komplein square, in an attempt to prevent any clashes, but after the game on Thursday night violence spread in the city.
Attacks broke out and police rounded up and escorted some Maccabi fans back to their hotels.
Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof described the violence as “antisemitic” and said it “defied description”.
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A video which was circulated on social media showed a man being chased through the street with the caption “watch and enjoy six Zionists chased away. Free Palestine”.
A statement by Amsterdam police and prosecutors said Thursday evening “was very turbulent, with several incidents of violence aimed at Maccabi supporters”.
They added: “There is no excuse for the antisemitic behaviour exhibited last night [Thursday] by rioters who actively sought out Israeli supporters to attack and assault them.”
World
Mackenzie Michalski: Irish man allegedly admits killing US nurse at Budapest flat and dumping body near lake, say police
An Irish man is suspected of killing a 31-year-old US nurse during an “intimate encounter” at his Budapest flat before dumping her body in woodland, according to police.
Hungarian police said Mackenzie Michalski, from Portland in the US state of Oregon, was killed after meeting the 37-year-old man at a nightclub while she was on holiday in the city.
Officers identified the suspect by the initials LTM and said he cleaned up his rented apartment in the Hungarian capital and put Ms Michalski’s body in a wardrobe and then into a suitcase.
He allegedly rented a car and drove 90 miles (150km) to Lake Balaton, where he is said to have disposed of the body in a wooded area near the village of Szigliget.
Police video showed the suspect guiding them to where he left the body.
Officers said he also searched online for how to dispose of a body, and about the competence of Budapest police. Police said he also conducted online searches about procedures in missing person cases, whether pigs eat dead bodies, and if there are wild boars around Lake Balaton.
He was arrested on 7 November but claimed the killing was an accident, police said.
Ms Michalski had been reported missing two days before, and the suspect was identified after CCTV showed the pair together at a nightclub, where police said they danced and left for his flat.
Pic: Facebook/Find Mackenzie Michalski
Crime scene photos show a rolling suitcase, items of clothing and a handbag next to a credit card with Ms Michalski’s name on it.
The victim’s family flew to Hungary to help find her, but on the way found out she had been killed.
“There was no reason for this to happen,” her father Bill Michalski said at a candlelight vigil in Budapest on Saturday night.
“I’m still trying to wrap my arms around what happened… I don’t know that I ever will.”
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Friends attended a candlelight memorial in the city on Saturday. Pic: AP
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Wearing a cap she had given him, Mr Michalski said his daughter had been to Budapest before and called it her “happy place”.
“The history… she just loved it and she was just so relaxed here,” he said.
A Facebook group set up last week to find Ms Michalski said she was known as “Kenzie” and worked as a nurse.
It said she would “forever be remembered as a beautiful and compassionate young woman”.
Tributes have been paid to a “brave” 22-year-old British man who was killed while fighting in Ukraine.
Callum Tindal-Draper, from Gunnislake, Cornwall, died while serving with the foreign volunteer platoon in the country’s struggle against Russia.
It is believed he was defending an observation point when he was killed on 5 November.
Callum Tindal-Draper. Pic: Handout
Callum’s mother Caroline Tindal said in a post on Facebook that “he fought till he could no longer hold them off any more”.
“His platoon are calling him a ‘hero’ and ‘as brave as they come’,” she said.
“22 is a young age. But you lived and died following your heart, soul and morals.
“May you rest in peace and help watch over those who have passed.”
Mr Tindal-Draper was a former student of Duchy College, in Stoke Climsland, Cornwall.
In a tribute on Facebook, the college’s Military and Protective Services Academy said he was a “model student” with a “strong moral compass”.
“He was a passionate, articulate and bright student, who was keen to learn,” the post said.
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“He was very proud of his family history in the services,” the post added.
“He was well-liked and respected by his peers, and was not one to shy away from causes he believed in and was instrumental in collecting the three minibus loads of humanitarian equipment for civilians that the learners gathered when the war in Ukraine initially kicked off.”
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The post said Mr Tindal-Draper worked for the NHS after finishing the course.
A spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said: “We are aware that a British national has reportedly died in Ukraine and stand ready to assist the family in the UK.”
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