ToI’s weekly deep dive: Israeli spokesman raises eyebrows * ToI in Gaza’s underground terror city * Antisemitism at DC med schools * Podcast: Haviv Rettig Gur on polls

[Times of Israel]( [Weekly Deep Dive]( Sunday, December 24, 2023 Interview [Israel’s newest, British-born international spokesperson is raising some eyebrows]( By Avner Hofstein Between his mic drop moments and fiery rebuttals of skeptical interviewers, Eylon Levy is learning to master TikTok and confronting Hamas supporters on social media Op-ed: Day 75 of the war David Horovitz [In a war that’s far from over, renewed infighting is a luxury Israel cannot afford]( We are fighting an enemy that wants to kill us all. Surely, after October 7, that challenge is sufficiently tangible and dangerous as to at least temporarily banish our differences ToI in Gaza City [Under the heart of Gaza City, IDF digs up a vast hive of lairs where Hamas’s elite hid]( By Emanuel Fabian Beneath once-busy Palestine Square, troops show ToI a tunnel network that includes living quarters and personal shafts — one with an elevator — used by terror chiefs on Oct. 7 [IDF uncovers largest-ever Hamas attack tunnel, near northern Gaza border crossing]( By Emanuel Fabian [Interview / ‘If the generals are counting tunnels, it suggests things are not going well’]( By Tal Schneider [ToI podcast / Daily Briefing Dec. 21: Day 76 – A visit to Gaza’s ‘underground terror city’]( By ToI Staff Interview [How an unprecedented medical committee determines when a hostage held in Gaza is dead]( By Renee Ghert-Zand Inside story Jacob Magid [Israel cornering itself into postwar Gaza military occupation, Western diplomats warn]( By asserting it will maintain security control over Strip, rejecting PA return, not advancing alternate plans, Israel likely to find itself stuck in enclave, top officials tell ToI [Abbas says willing to reform PA to rule Gaza, but Israeli policies ‘the problem’]( By Jacob Magid and ToI Staff [Health Ministry issues directives for medical treatment of detained Gazan terrorists]( By Renee Ghert-Zand and ToI Staff Reporter's notebook Sam Sokol [Devastation of Gaza border towns a ‘gut punch,’ says Huckabee during evangelical tour]( Touring Kfar Aza, where Hamas killed dozens on October 7, prominent evangelicals call to eradicate terror group, say American Christians need to be better informed on war [Hostages’ relatives take shifts at Defense Ministry, worry plight is now ‘white noise’]( By Jessica Steinberg Loved ones of those held hostage hold vigil outside military headquarters in Tel Aviv: ‘This country stopped on October 7, and it can’t go on unless they come home’ [Brothers of hostages appeal via international media: ‘Bring our loved ones home’]( By Sue Surkes [‘We’ll never forgive’: Mom, daughter on life of fear in Gaza captivity, pain upon return]( By ToI Staff [‘My daughter was burned here’: Bereaved families of lookout troops visit torched base]( By Michael Bachner and ToI Staff [Those We Are Missing]( [The hostages and victims whose fate is still unknown]( [Read Here]( Inside Story [Drawing on memories from shattered lives, Gaza area evacuees endure long, uncertain wait]( By Canaan Lidor At hotels and housing complexes across Israel, tens of thousands struggle to sustain their uprooted communities, yearn for a speedy return [After Oct. 7, entire kibbutz temporarily resettles in two newly built Tel Aviv towers]( By ToI Staff [Yifat Sitbon / Uprooted: Yifat Sitbon, 45, evacuated from Moshav Dekel. This is her story]( By Tamar Mor Sela Inside Story [Med students’ antisemitic comments after Oct. 7 roil two prominent DC universities]( By Cathryn J. Prince [As war mars festivities, Christians in Israel and West Bank cling to Christmas spirit]( By Gianluca Pacchiani In Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Nazareth, public celebrations have been called off, but some insist that the holiday’s message of hope must be allowed to shine [Islamophobia and antisemitism condemned by dozens of US interfaith leaders in DC]( By Matt Lebovic Top Ops Michael Oren [‘Friendly fire,’ that horrific oxymoron]( Casualties in these tragic accidents are doubled: those who are killed, and those who must live with their fatal mistakes Michael Hilkowitz [The 2 hostages Hamas has held for thousands of days]( If we don’t bring them all home now, the hostages are at real risk of being stuck in Gaza for years and years, like Avera Mengistu and Hisham Al-Sayed Adele Raemer [I once believed more Gazans want to live in peace]( How upsetting to still not be sure that my Gazan friend’s texts on October 7th were to find out how I was and not where I was [Targeted again after Oct. 7, Tunisia’s small Jewish community wonders what future it has]( By Gianluca Pacchiani [Those We Have Lost]( [Those We Have Lost]( [Stories of civilians and soldiers killed in Hamas's onslaught on Israel]( [Read Here]( ToI podcast [What Matters Now to Haviv Rettig Gur: Wartime polls and unexpected conclusions]( By Amanda Borschel-Dan ToI’s senior analyst sifts through a slew of surveys on perceptions of Hamas, Israel and the day after the war. The results are often counterintuitive [For second consecutive month, Times of Israel is world’s fastest-growing news site]( By ToI Staff [At group home in Nahariya, bond between Muslim and Jewish young adults survives Oct. 7]( By Diana Bletter Aya Jaber, 22, feared being ostracized after the Hamas atrocities, but connection with her friends and flatmates in northern Israel, who also have disabilities, is unbroken by war [Interview / At war: Psychologist details signs children are in distress — and how to help]( By Sue Surkes [‘The party is over’: Documentary on #Nova, the desert rave that became a massacre]( By Jessica Steinberg Dan Pe’er shows ‘the dancing and the RPGs,’ using footage filmed by partygoers and Hamas terrorists, for 52-minute film on the Oct. 7 Supernova festival, where 360 were slaughtered [Tel Aviv exhibit simulates aftermath of rave where Hamas killed 360 on Oct. 7]( By Jessica Steinberg [An army of volunteer physical therapists treats aching IDF soldiers on the front lines]( By Deborah Fineblum Realizing that exhausted troops need more than food and supply deliveries, UK-born Tasha Cohen launched Chayal’s Angels, which has touched over 2,000 and counting [Officer tasked with arranging constant IDF funerals nearly died after heart gave way]( By Renee Ghert-Zand Interview [Is American democracy safe? These historians say the US may be slipping toward fascism]( By Cathryn J. Prince The tenor of the moment [Freed hostage Yaffa Adar gets concert invite from Andrea Bocelli]( By Jessica Steinberg 85-year-old fan of Italian opera singer said she hummed his music in captivity to stay strong; video shows emotional moment as her granddaughter reads his letter to her [Flower power / Bouquets of flowers spread hope for hostages from Tel Aviv to US]( By Jessica Steinberg ['Garden of Eden' to hell / Evacuated musician Micha Bitton sings about life near Gaza]( By Jessica Steinberg [Singing' in the pain / Aviv Geffen performs duet with released hostage Mia Leimberg]( By Jessica Steinberg From The Blogs [A soldier’s laundry]( By Michal I. Berman Other mothers no longer need to fold their son’s uniforms…their sons don’t need them anymore [Weekly Deep Dive]( [facebook]( [twitter]( [instagram]( [View in browser]( [Contact support](mailto:support@timesofisrael.com) [Advertise with us](mailto:advertise@timesofisrael.com) Were you forwarded this email? [Subscribe here]( [Unsubscribe]( from this List © 2023 The Times Of Israel, All Rights Reserved