Update from Israel: Avi Yemini on Gaza invasion, Israel's intel failure, US plans

Rebel News reporter Avi Yemini joined Ezra Levant for a live update from Israel on today's edition of the DAILY Roundup. With military activity going on in the background, Avi told Ezra that his sources were telling him to expect an update from Israeli officials about the recent killing of a Hamas leader.

Providing his analysis of the expected invasion of Gaza, Avi explained how negotiations over dual-nationality hostages are likely causing delays. Since the expected release of 50 hostages last week turned into just two Americans after a breakdown in communication. “And since then, it's been really difficult to get a sense of when (the invasion of Gaza) is happening,” Avi noted.

SHOCKING: Avi Yemini (@OzraeliAvi) was near the Gaza-Israel border Tuesday night when sirens alerted that a "group of terrorists" had made an incursion into Israel approximately 500 metres from his location.

FULL REPORT: https://t.co/svcElii4ia pic.twitter.com/sbBjj7Da0W

— Rebel News Australia (@RebelNews_AU) October 25, 2023

Despite the delays, Avi insists “this ground invasion is happening.” With Ezra noting that rockets continue to be fired from Gaza, perhaps in a surprising amount given the strikes carried out by Israeli forces against targets within the region, Avi commented “imagine they put that effort into taking care of their own citizens instead of trying to kill their neighbours.”

These ongoing attacks, he said, serve as a reminder to Israeli citizens that action must be taken.

In the midst of a turbulent landscape in northern Israel, where the threat of battle looms large, Lt Col. Sarin Zehavi, an expert on the nation's security challenges, has issued a chilling warning.

Visit Rebel News for more on this story by @OzraeliAvi: https://t.co/ha028KI7f4 pic.twitter.com/AiqXcWXuPu

— Rebel News Québec (@RebelNews_QC) October 19, 2023

Turning his focus to how he's been gathering information on the ground, Avi told Rebel News viewers that he's not interested in speaking to the typical spokespeople put forward by Israel's government. Instead, “we want to hear from the people that are going to be marching across that border at some point.” Stay tuned for interviews with those individuals, as Avi teased an interview with police special forces who helped recapture Sderot after Hamas terrorists attacked the border city on Oct. 7.

When it comes to U.S. involvement in the area, the situation is still in its “wait and see” stage, though Avi said he does not expect American forces to be engaged in any fighting. “Whatever it is [that's going to happen], it's going to have to come from Israel.”

Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida has issued a directive targeting college student groups that expressed support for the Operation Al-Aqsa Flood attacks by Hamas on Israel a fortnight ago.https://t.co/a4mBN65KwU

— Rebel News USA (@RebelNews_USA) October 25, 2023

One question that has gotten less attention is how Israel failed to detect such a large scale attack. On that, Avi says he's asked everyone — political figures, to activists, special forces, regular military members — and the response is the same:

A lot has to be answered. Everybody says that. And then they all say the same thing: right now it doesn't matter because it did happen. Right now, we need to be able to win the fight to be able to then go back and look at what went wrong.

This question, Avi says, is one that motivated him to travel from Australia to Israel. Now that he's there, Avi says the people are probably right, “it's not the most important issue right now, because it doesn't matter even if you find out who is at fault, if you lose this war what does it matter? Because none of them will be here to answer what went wrong.”

Keep following all of Avi Yemini's reporting from the Israel-Gaza border at TheTruthAboutTheWar.com. There, you can also support our 100% viewer-funded journalism.