November 6, 2023

ITC update: Operation Iron Swords

Day 31, 6.11.23
These updates will now be sent on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday Monday

Two Border Police officers were stabbed and wounded, one of them critically, in an attack Monday morning near the Herod’s Gate entrance to Jerusalem’s Old City.

IDF casualties from fighting inside Gaza stand at 30.

The number of confirmed hostages inside Gaza is 240.

According to the IDF, troops are continuing to eliminate terrorists in close quarter combat and with direct aircraft strikes on Hamas terrorist infrastructure, weapons depots, observation posts, command and control centers. IDF Spokesperson Rear Admiral Hagari said, “IDF troops… have reached as far as the beach in the southern part of Gaza City and they have encircled Gaza City. Essentially, today there is north Gaza and south Gaza.”

Anxiety is high as entering Gaza City is a dangerous phase. Despite progress, senior officials continue to warn that it will take weeks and months to complete the mission.

Last night, several rockets were launched towards Tel Aviv and the center of Israel.  

Northern Front:  On Sunday, An Israeli civilian was killed in an anti-tank guided missile attack launched from Lebanon at an area near the northern community of Kibbutz Yiftah. Later, several rockets launched from Lebanon also landed in Kiryat Shmona, causing damage. One home was hit. Kiryat Shmona has been evacuated, along with dozens of other communities along the Lebanon border, amid repeated Hezbollah rocket and missile attacks on northern Israel.

The existence of Hezbollah forces deployed along the border fence, is enough to ensure that the civilians who were evacuated cannot yet return.

ITC on the Ground

Training therapists: With most clinical psychologists and social workers having no background in treating trauma and thousands of Israelis in acute psychological distress by the events of 7^th October and the ensuing war, ITC experts are training many professionals to meet both immediate needs and looking towards the long-term.

A comprehensive training program was initiated by the ITC for psychologists and social workers who possess the appropriate professional foundation but require additional trauma training, including EMDR, CBT, Solution Focus Intervention, SE, and the like. A total of 150 new therapists were trained in the initial phase, and several hundred more are expected to be trained over the next three months.

Southern Resilience centers that provide direct care had to adapt their operational structure to meet current demands. Rather than serving an entire region or city, the resilience centers had to disperse their therapeutic resources into numerous evacuation points. As a result of this change, the number of therapists had to be increased significantly.  As a result, the number of therapists in these resilience centers has doubled to 400 to date. In Israel, only therapists with a master’s degree who have received specialized training in trauma care can provide direct care.

ITC has joined forces with over 13 new NGOs to meet the increased demand for treatment. Over 1,000 additional therapists are now available due to this influx of new organizations.

Training teams: ITC trained trauma nurses to facilitate communication between hospital medical teams and injured families. Six training sessions were provided to equip them with tools for handling pressure and delivering tragic news.

In the civilian sector, unlike the military, the Ministry of Welfare and Social Workers are responsible for delivering tragic news to grieving families. The ministry requested training and assistance from the ITC for their teams.
ITC also prepared emergency teams in 256 localities and councils across Israel.

ITC provided emotional first aid training for dozens of municipal hotline workers in local authorities located in high-risk municipalities / cities. Operators were also provided with tools for identifying stressful situations so that they could refer callers for professional treatment and team support.

A sweet note:

A sign written by soldiers apologizing for breaking into the Kibbutz Be’eri nursery so they could

water plants in the evacuated community, November 4, 2023. (X video screenshot: used in accorda

with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

Thanks for all your support. We will keep you updated.