Today’s suggested actions to support Israel in your local community:

• Thank your Senators who voted in support of the Supplemental Aid package that includes approximately $14 billion in aid to Israel and $400 million in funding for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP) needed to ensure houses of worship remain safe. If you would like a customizable version of our ad to share locally, please  fill out this form.
• Urge your Members of Congress in the House to support the swift passage of aid to Israel, funding for NSGP, and assistance for Ukraine, by calling their offices and signing our action alert. 
• Read this article by international law expert Michael Schmitt on Hamas’s misuse of hospitals for terror purposes and the legal implications as dictated by international law.
• Share these social media reels on Facebook and Instagram about the racial, ethnic and religious diversity of Israel.
• Read and share the story of 61-year-old Lior Rudaeff, an immigrant from Argentina who has a deep love for the earth of Israel and for Kibbutz life. He taught generations of young people how to drive tractors. A volunteer medic and ambulance driver, on the morning of October 7 he left his home to defend his Kibbutz and family, and has not been heard from since. Lior is presumed to be in Hamas captivity and requires medication for a heart condition. His wife Yaffa, four children and grandchildren are eagerly awaiting his return home.

Issue:
Hamas’s strategy is founded on hiding under and within civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, in order to maximize civilian casualties and cause international pressure to prevent Israel from rightfully defending itself. Hamas has systematically exploited hospitals as cover for its tunnel system and to store weapons, launch rockets, shelter terrorists, operate command and operation centers, and hide hostages.

Background:

• Hamas has been conducting terror operations from hospitals for years. In 2009 the IDF reported that during Operation Cast Lead, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh operated a command and control center out of Shifa hospital and took over a ward of the hospital, believing that the IDF would not attack the hospital due to potential harm to civilians.
• Hamas isn't the only terrorist group to use hospitals as cover for military operations. The Al Salem hospital in Mosul was used by ISIS as a base for its attacks and was bombed by American troops.
• Earlier in the war, much attention was placed on Shifa hospital.. This week the New York Times reported that evidence suggests that, “Hamas used the hospital for cover, stored weapons inside it and maintained a hardened tunnel beneath the complex that was supplied with water, power and air-conditioning.”
• The director of the Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza admitted that up to 100 Hamas terrorists would hide in the hospital, and that some even had their own offices.
• The IDF uncovered a tunnel under the Rantisi hospital where it believes Hamas hid hostages.
• The IDF said today that it has “credible intelligence” that Hamas held hostages at Nasser Hospital in the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, and there may be bodies of hostages currently hidden there.
• Hamas terrorists continue to operate from and around Nasser and Al-Amal hospitals, which includes launching a rocket from within Nasser. 
• The United States has corroborated Israel’s position about the misuse of hospitals by Hamas, stating in a Pentagon release that, “We do have information that Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad uses some hospitals in the Gaza Strip, including the al-Shifa hospital, as a way to conceal and support their military operations and hold hostages."
• International law stipulates that medical facilities lose their protected status if they are used for military purposes, and that the defending military must provide warnings and consider other protections before attacking a hospital.
• According to International Law expert Michael Schmitt, “The IDF appears to have taken numerous measures to fulfill the obligation, such as by providing the requisite warnings, including medical teams and Arabic speakers when operating near hospitals, facilitating the evacuation of medical facilities, and maintaining dialogue with hospital authorities.” 
• Today, the IDF said it is conducting a “precise and limited” operation inside Nasser hospital. As it has done with other hospitals, the IDF has liaised with the staff of Nasser to ensure that the hospital can remain operational. The IDF spokesperson said, “Our message to them is clear: We seek no harm to innocent civilians. We seek to find our hostages and bring them home. We seek to hunt down Hamas terrorists wherever they may be hiding.”

Community Spotlight

JCRC of Minnesota and the Dakotas mobilized over 200 community members to participate in listening sessions with more than 20 legislators ahead of the state's legislative session, which opened on Monday. These sessions were important in helping prepare legislators for the upcoming session where anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian groups are expected to push for legislation that repeals the state’s anti-Boycott, Divestment, and Sanction bill that was passed in 2018.

Submit a community initiative here that you would like to highlight for our system.

Additional Resources

Click here to access Jewish Federations’ toolkit on the War in Israel, which links to the Community Mobilization Resource Hub to help you speak up for Israel.

Click here for guidance on responding to anti-Israel resolutions proposed by city councils.  

The Community Mobilization Center is monitoring major developments in Israel and North America related to Israel’s war against Hamas. The Community Mobilization Center will rapidly disseminate resources to help mobilize and support our local communities as they build and sustain civic and political support for Israel in this conflict. The work of the Community Mobilization Center will continue as long as it takes Israel to eradicate the terrorist threat and restore security to the country.

The Community Mobilization Center is at your service. Click here to send us an email.

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