October 12, 2023

ITC Update: Operation Iron Sword

The official death toll stands at 1,300.

The IDF said to date 222 families of soldiers received the news of their death. For civilians, matters are more complicated. As of this afternoon, a total of 854 bodies of civilians have been brought to the IDF rabbinate base for identification. Of them, only 361 have been identified, and 264 buried.

97 families were informed that their relatives were captured and taken to Gaza.

Emergency unity government formed: Prime Minister Netanyahu and National Unity Party leader Benny Gantz last night came to an agreement for Gantz and his party’s 12 MKs to join an emergency unity government.

Gaza Envelope: After two people were critically injured when rockets landed in the city the Sderot mayor called for IDF and the government to evacuate all residents of the city, to areas outside the immediate range of rocket fire. As of yesterday, there were still pockets of Hamas terrorists inside Israel. Residents in Ashkelon, Netivot and Sderot were instructed to lock themselves inside their homes.

Almost 1 in 10 of the residents of kibbutz Be’eri were slain by Hamas terrorists. Bodies are continually being pulled from the rubble. Major Doron Spielman said, “Be’eri will be the symbol of this pogrom. It is as if all the cruel monstrosities ever perpetrated by man throughout history were concentrated into one morning in one small town”.

The northern front: 90 minutes of sheer panic. With Israel still reeling from Hamas terrorists storming across the border on Saturday, last night, the prospect of a similarly murderous mass invasion by Hezbollah along the northern border sparked panic in a country on edge. 2 million northern residents headed for shelters after an apparent drone incursion from Lebanon, which later proved to be a false alarm. Sirens rang across the north. Fearing a large-scale attack on the northern front, IDF Home Front Command warned locals to stay in their homes.

ITC on the ground

“Behind a tear-soaked mask,

I have yet to decide if I am angry

at the tree and the sea

that they go on

or whether I thank them.”

(Anat Chen)

People can’t even speak, they’re not eating. They’re not sleeping. People have experienced such brutality that they cannot find words for. Some 4,000 requests for emotional help have been received by the ITC Southern resilience centers that are providing trauma care in evacuation areas and telephone and Zoom support when face to face direct care is not possible. This is almost three times the number of referrals received during previous crisis situations.

In addition, over 5,500 inquiries came to the ERAN hotline.

32 centers from Eilat to Tiberius have been established for evacuees from Gaza Envelope Communities in cooperation with the Ministry of Health and the resilience Centers (Teams who know and understand the population and will continue with their treatment in the long-term). ITC teams are managing and delivering trauma care in hotels (Jerusalem area, Dead Sea, Netanya, Eilat). Care ranges from immediate emotional first aid to referrals for those who need more specific care.

ITC is also accompanying and supporting the teams who are helping families during the process of identification of bodies and with those who have loved ones missing. The sheer number of dead is far overstretching the army rabbinate’s system for identifying victims of wars and terror attacks. There is also a shortage of ready graves. Overnight hundreds of volunteers, many of them teens, worked through the night digging and preparing a new area being set up on the Mount Herzl military cemetery for security forces killed in battles.

                                                                 As we continue our work, we will continue to update you.