War with Hamas – Updates

Four IDF soldiers were killed in Khan Yunis when they were ambushed emerging from a tunnel shaft under a recently destroyed building. The body of murdered hostage Elad Katzir has been retrieved from Gaza and returned to Israel for burial. Elad had been seen alive in two propaganda videos from Islamic Jihad in December and January. After being closed since […]

The accidental killing of Australian humanitarian worker Lalzawmi ‘Zomi’ Frankcom, along with six of her colleagues, in Gaza earlier this week is a tragedy. Israel has acknowledged responsibility for the attack, and is fully investigating what happened. The IDF statement about the incident, as well as the ZFA’s statement on the same, is below. While […]

The Pope called for an immediate ceasefire and the release of all hostages in his Easter address. Passionate protests across Israel call for an early election to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Bibi is standing firm that a reelection is what Hamas wants. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant states that the Gaza campaign is destroying Hamas as more leaders are being killed. Hezbollah leaders […]

IDF ground forces are fighting intense battles within the Shifa hospital. The Hamas offices within the hospital are a source of valuable intelligence that assists the IDF in their Gaza campaign, and may reveal the location of hostages. We recognise the exceptional courage of the soldiers active in this highly dangerous work. In the West Bank, Israeli police […]

5pm AEDT, 29 January UNRWA funding on hold On Friday, the US put on hold its funding of UNRWA, the UN’s dedicated Palestinian refugee agency. This was followed on Shabbat by Australia and four other countries doing the same. The move came after UNRWA fired nine of its staff because they participated in the 7 […]

11:45am AEDT, 25 January The last couple of days has been extraordinarily hard for Israel and its supporters. On Monday, 21 soldiers were killed when a Palestinian anti-tank missile appeared to detonate explosives in a building that the IDF was preparing to demolish. The building was brought down on those inside. With three other soldiers […]

11:00 am AEDT, 22 January 2024 Your correspondents here at ZFA HQ have noticed that, in this entire war, the one actor that hasn’t really paid any price at all is Iran. Iran has funded and trained Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis, all of which are attacking Israel, or Israeli targets. According to this Reuters […]

Yesterday marked 100 days since Hamas forces invaded Israel and carried out massacres, torture, rape and other depravities, and kidnapped hundreds of Israelis. Over 100 remain in Hamas captivity. Ride to Bring Them Home Yesterday, around Australia and around the world, Jewish communities came together to mark this awful milestone. Bike rides, with riders wearing […]

Welcome to our first newsletter of 2024. The last few weeks have been an opportunity to refresh after a pretty tough couple of months for both Israel and its supporters, including here in Australia. Sadly, the fight against Hamas continues on the ground in Gaza, and the fight against ignorance, against outrageous and untruthful allegations, […]

6:30am AEDT, 21 December What’s happening? Rumours of a new hostage deal and truce are once again swirling. Qatar-based Hamas head Ismail Haniyeh has arrived in Cairo to advance the talks. Iris Haim, whose hostage son was killed in Gaza by IDF forces shortly after she returned from Australia, has sent a message to those […]

7:30am AEDT, 20 December What’s happening? A coalition of 10 countries led by the US will patrol the Red Sea to deter and stop Houthi attacks on international shipping. Australia is not among the 10 countries. The UN Security Council is currently deliberating a resolution that aims to suspend hostilities in Gaza. Original text included […]

6:30am AEDT, Tuesday 19 December What’s happening? Israel has announced the death of five more soldiers, bringing the death toll since the ground operation began to 127. BP has announced it will temporary stop transiting the Red Sea, as US Defence Minister Astin said that Iran must stop its support for the Houthis attacking shipping. […]

7:30am AEDT, 18 December What’s happening? The IDF found a four-kilometre-long tunnel wide enough to drive through. It has branches, plumbing, electricity and communication lines, with many weapons found inside. Aid is crossing into Gaza direct from Israel, and Hamas and other gunmen are still stealing it, in view of the world. Iran, the same […]

8:30 am AEDT, 17 December What’s happening? Three Israeli hostages were accidentally shot dead by IDF troops. Because there were no Palestinian civilians in the area, soldiers thought they were Hamas combatants. Hamas operatives have been pretending to be civilians. The mother of one of the killed hostages was in Australia several weeks ago in […]

7:30am AEDT, 15 December What’s happening? A major report will be released by our friends at the ECAJ today. As a teaser article in the Australian reveals, reports of serious antisemitism has risen by 738 per cent compared to the same time last year, with death threats and bomb threats among them. (If you can’t […]

8am AEDT, 14 December What’s happening? Ten Israeli soldiers were killed in fierce fighting in northern Gaza yesterday. There are reports that a diplomatic solution to move Hezbollah away from the Israeli border is ‘close’. How this would be policed and enforced is the key question. Israel’s ambassador to the UN held up a poster […]

7am AEDT, 13 December What’s happening? In an extraordinary intervention, US President Joe Biden says Israel has to stop ‘indiscriminate’ bombing, and that the Israeli coalition needs to change. The IDF announced that it has retrieved the bodies of two Israeli hostages. Meanwhile, plans for the 7 October attack and videos of it are uncovered […]

7am AEDT, 12 December What’s happening? Israel has announced the deaths of seven more soldiers, with fighting raging in Khan Younis. The Israeli defence minister says the IDF has fully surrounded Jabaliya and Shejaia, in the northern Gaza Strip, with the Hamas battalions there on the brink of collapse. These were key Hamas sites the […]

6:45am AEDT, 11 December What’s happening? Six soldiers were injured by a Hezbollah drone attack in northern Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered his two cents to Russian President Vladimir Putin in a 50-minute phone call yesterday. Bibi reportedly told Putin that his relationship with Iran was dangerous, and expressed annoyance about the anti-Israel […]

8am AEDT, 10 December What’s happening? The IDF attempted a rescue mission of a hostage yesterday. The mission apparently failed, though few details have been released. Shortly afterward, Hamas released a video of hostage Sahar Baruch, whom Hamas claimed was killed by the IDF during the rescue attempt. The IDF says that Baruch was murdered […]

6:45am AEDT, 8 December 2023 What’s happening? Hamas has fired rockets at Israel from within a humanitarian safe zone. Five more Israeli soldiers were killed overnight, bringing the IDF toll to 89 since the start of ground operations. Among the dead was Gal Eisenkot, son of the former IDF chief-of-staff, and a minister in the […]

8:45am AEDT, 7 December Tonight is the first night of Hannukah. It is also two months since the depraved Hamas attack on Israel. In that attack, Hamas attempted what it has long promised – to extinguish Jewish life from the land of Israel. In the two months since, vicious hatred of Israel, which has rushed […]

10am AEDT, 6 December What’s happening? IDF troops are pushing deep into the northern and southern Gaza Strip, with raids on a Hamas operational headquarters in Shejaia and movement towards the centre of Khan Younis, where Hamas leaders and Israeli hostages are believed to be. Family members of hostages met with the Israeli war cabinet […]

7am AEDT, 5 December   What’s happening? Heavy fighting is reported in Khan Younis as Israeli tanks and other forces move into southern Gaza (though the fighting in northern Gaza continues) Three Israeli soldiers were killed overnight. Seventy-five soldiers have been killed since the beginning of the ground operation. Israel has issued travel warnings for […]

8am AEDT, 4 December What’s happening? The Israeli ground operation has expanded into Khan Younis, in the southern half of the Gaza Strip, with Israel urging civilians to evacuate part of the city. Two more soldiers were killed on the weekend, bringing the number to 72 killed since the beginning of the ground operation. Since […]

8:45am AEDT, 3 December What’s happening? The truce ended Friday afternoon Australia time, after the deadline for Hamas to produce the next list of hostages it would release expired. In the hours leading up to that deadline, Hamas fired a rocket salvo into Israel and carried out a deadly terrorist attack in Jerusalem. The US […]

12pm AEDT, 1 December What’s happening? The truce was extended for a seventh day yesterday after Israel accepted a Hamas-produced list of eight civilians and three killed soldiers it would hand over. Hamas released the eight civilians but has yet to relinquish the bodies of the fallen soldiers. The only child hostages left in Hamas […]

8am AEDT, 30 November What’s happening? Today is the sixth day of the truce. Hamas is due to release 10 Israeli civilian hostages, but the release has been ‘delayed’ as this newsletter is being written. Two Russian-Israelis and a foreign national were released earlier today. Hamas has apparently expressed a desire to extend the truce […]

11:15am AEDT, Wednesday 29 November What’s happening? The fifth tranche of hostages were released overnight, despite a breach in the truce by Palestinian fighters. They include nine Israeli women and a teenaged girl, the daughter of one of those released. The heads of the Mossad and CIA are in Qatar, negotiating Hamas’s request to extend the ceasefire. […]

6:30am AEDT, Monday 28 November What’s happening?  Hamas played more mind games with Israelis, threatening to delay the release of the fourth tranche of hostages, but, as this newsletter is being prepared, 11 more Israelis were ‘on track’ to be released today. This is who they are. Qatar and the US have announced an extension […]

7am AEDT, Monday 27 November What’s happening? 14 more Israelis were released overnight, nine of them children. Among those released is four-year-old Avigail Idan, whose parents were murdered on 7 October, and whose two siblings survived by hiding in a closet for 14 hours. Following the release, 177 hostages remain held by Hamas: 18 children (8 girls and […]

6am AEDT, Sunday 26 November What’s happening? The first 13 Israeli hostages, plus 11 foreign nationals were released by Hamas on Friday afternoon, local time. Hamas reportedly ‘delayed‘ the return of the next tranche of hostages. After Israel threatened to resume military operations if they weren’t released by midnight (9am AEDT) (plus ‘unspecified threats’ from Qatar), Hamas […]