(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Hamas attacked Israel's Arab Citizens too. Hostages include nonIsraelis. Egypt & Jordan respond. [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-10-13 Haaretz - Jack Khoury Oct 12, 2023 ...Israel's Arab citizens did not miss the gushing flow of information about the many dead, wounded, kidnapped and those whose whereabouts are unknown. Many of them have lost their relatives, friends, or family members, some from Arab communities in the Negev where there are no shelters. Activists in nonprofit organizations and public benefit corporations that engage in activities for the Bedouin population near Gaza were also killed or wounded in the attacks. Attorney Hanan Alsanah, a social activist and member of the Be'er Sheva office of Itach-Maaki, an association of women lawyers for social justice, does not hide the pain and dilemma in Arab society, but emphasized that one should focus primarily on basic human values. "The heart weeps," Alsanah wrote on Facebook. "It weeps for the many friends we have lost, for the innocent citizens on both sides who paid such a price. The heart weeps for all the people missing; for the citizens in the unrecognized and unprotected [Bedouin] villages, many of whom died and are not even mentioned. The heart weeps for the children, the women, the young and the elderly. The heart weeps! Because we knew we were led by erratic individuals who were setting the whole area on fire, and we did not do enough."... I haven’t been able to find information about Israeli Arabs taken hostage, if any. Chatham House reported on October 11 that Hamas is holding between 100 and 150 people hostage in the Gaza Strip, according to Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan – who describes it as ‘an unprecedented number’…. ...The vast majority of those being held are Israelis, but it is thought other nationalities are among their number including Britons, Americans, Germans, Thais, Mexicans, Brazilians and Nepalis. It is being reported that an official UK source has confirmed that there are 17 Britons feared dead or missing. Why did Hamas take hostages? There are five likely reasons … First, it will hope to use the hostages as a ‘human shield’ in the face of Israel’s counter-attack: given the scale of Hamas’ actions, it cannot have anticipated anything but a full and robust response, such as it is now seeing…. Second, the hostages are an insurance policy, to be used as bargaining chips ... Hamas has said it will murder hostages if Israeli forces target Gaza residents without warning them and they are likely to issue further demands as time goes on. Third, hostages create media opportunities for Hamas and an ability to control the narrative. If and when things are not going well for the group, their continued ability to hold hostages sends a signal of their strength and Israel’s powerlessness to bring them home…. Fourth, the multinational nature of the hostage group draws other countries into events in Israel, inflicting harm not just on Israel,.. Fifth, hostage taking, especially on this scale, generates sheer terror, shaking the very foundation of life for many Israelis... If anyone has free reads at Haaretz, there’s an analysis article today that women hostages “Pay a Different Price at War” Relatedly over all, according to Reuters today ...Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, said in an interview with Al Jazeera television last year that his group had received $70 million in military help from Iran. "We have rockets that are locally manufactured but the long-range rockets came from abroad, from Iran, Syria and others through Egypt...," Yesterday, Relief Web reported that the King of Jordan announced it will donate US$4.3 million to help fund the UNRWA civilian response in the Gaza Strip. “...[Jordan] is hosting the highest number of Palestine Refugees and has been a trusted and committed partner to UNRWA since its establishment in the early 1950s,” said Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA Commissioner-General. This ... first in cash in the history of UNRWA - will support the teams in Gaza to respond to unprecedented humanitarian needs including to deliver food and other basic supplies to those impacted by the ongoing crisis. More than 222,000 people have sought refuge in over 90 UNRWA schools and other facilities. The Agency’s resources are stretched to the limit as frontline workers respond to emerging needs around the clock. UNRWA ran out of basic supplies in the shelters including mattresses, hygiene and cleaning supplies. “Jordan is one of the first countries to heed the Arab League’s call to provide funding to UNRWA as our Agency struggles with deep financial needs made much worse by the recent escalation in the Gaza Strip. We do hope that other countries around the Arab region follow suit and lend a hand to families in need. The time to turn solidarity into action is now,” concluded Lazzarini….. The above article includes notes to editors and background on the UNRWA. USA Today on Oct 13 said ...Egypt is discussing plans with the U.S. to provide humanitarian aid through the border but will not take in refugees fleeing the strip, Al Jazeera reports…. ...“Egypt will not allow the Palestinian cause to be settled at the expense of other parties,” Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said Tuesday, according to The New York Times…. cbc.ca/news/world/ today reported Egypt’s el-Sisi saying ..Egypt already hosts some nine million refugees. That population swelled this year as 300,000 Sudanese fled their country's war into Egypt, which was already facing economic crisis... From 1949 to 1967, Egypt occupied/owned the Gaza Strip.and Jordan owned the West Bank. www.UNRWA,org More than 2 million registered Palestine refugees live in Jordan, the largest number of Palestine refugees of all UNRWA fields. Most, but not all, have full citizenship. About 18 per cent live in the ten recognized Palestine refugee camps throughout the country. In addition to the ten official camps, there are three unofficial camps, and other refugees live near the camps; All of them live under similar socio-economic conditions. Tens of thousands of Palestine refugees displaced from Syria have sought assistance from UNRWA in Jordan. The majority of them are believed to suffer from abject poverty and live in a precarious legal status. UNRWA is working to accommodate Palestine refugee children displaced from Syria in its schools and to provide relief and health care to those in need. Anera (American Near East Refugee Aid) webpage says the Arab-Israeli conflict of 1948 between Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, and Egypt and Israel in the former Palestinian mandate left Palestinian refugees today living in four main locations: ... Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon and Jordan. Today, one in four people in Lebanon is a refugee ... over 1 million Syrians and 450,000 Palestinians…. Syria was one of the nations with official Palestinian refugee camps but [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/10/13/2199103/-Hamas-attacked-Israel-s-Arab-Citizens-too-Hostages-include-nonIsraelis-Egypt-amp-Jordan-respond?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/