An Israeli hostage released by Hamas has described her ordeal after she was kidnapped by gunmen and taken into a tunnel system in Gaza during the Palestinian militant group’s deadly assault in Israel on October 7, saying “I went through hell.”

Yocheved Lifshitz, a frail 85-year-old grandmother who was one of two hostages released by Hamas on Monday, recounted the moment that militants snatched her from her home in the kibbutz of Nir Oz and drove her away on a motorbike towards Gaza, a “painful act” during which she said she was beaten and sustained bruises.

Lifshitz said she was forced to walk on wet ground and descended into an underground tunnel system she likened to a spiderweb, where she was greeted by “people who told us we believe in the Quran” and promised “not to harm” her and her fellow hostages.

Lifshitz’s daughter Sharone, who helped convey her mother’s comments to reporters outside a hospital in Tel Aviv on Tuesday, called it a “huge network” of tunnels.

Lifshitz said she was initially grouped together with 25 other people before her captors separated her into a smaller group with four other individuals from her kibbutz. She said they slept on mattresses on the floor of the tunnels, ate the same food as Hamas fighters and received regular treatment from doctors during her incarceration.

“They really took care of the sanitary side of things so that we didn’t get sick,” Lifshitz added.

Each of the five hostages in her group received their own doctor and there was a paramedic present who supervised medication, she said.

“They were very generous to us, very kind. They kept us clean,” Lifshitz said. “They took care of every detail. There are a lot of women and they know about feminine hygiene and they took care of everything there.”

Lifshitz also accused the Israel Defense Forces and Shin Bet intelligence service of not taking threats from Hamas “seriously” and said the costly Gaza border fence erected by Israel had done nothing to protect her community from Hamas’ attack.

“The lack of awareness by Shin Bet and the IDF hurt us a lot,” she stressed. “They warned us three weeks beforehand, they burned fields, they sent fire balloons and the IDF did not treat it seriously,” she continued.

Lifshitz explained how this culminated in the attack on Nir Oz in southern Israel on October 7.

“All of a sudden on a Saturday morning, everything was very quiet. There was a hard pounding on the settlement,” Lifshitz said. Not long after, “hordes” of Hamas fighters broke through the kibbutz’s “expensive” fences and kept coming in their “droves,” she said.

“It was very, very difficult and unpleasant,” a visibly upset Lifshitz added.

As she concluded her remarks, Sharone said her mother’s feeling was that “the story’s not over until everybody comes back.”

Hostage release an ‘amazing thing’

Hamas released Lifshitz and her neighbor and friend Nurit Cooper, 79, on Monday, and later they were reunited with family members who rushed to their bedside at Ichilov hospital in Tel Aviv.

Lifshitz’s grandson Daniel, who heard of her release while staying at a hotel in Eilats with other evacuees from Nir Oz, said Monday that news of the women’s release sent a jolt of joy through the hotel and hope that others may be freed soon.

“For this community to see these two old women was just an amazing thing,” said Daniel Lifshitz, who took a helicopter from the hotel to see his grandmother in the early hours of Tuesday.

More than a quarter of the Nir Oz community are dead or remain missing after October 7 attack, when Hamas killed more than 1,400 people in barbaric raids, according to Israeli authorities.

The attack triggered a retaliatory Israeli assault on Gaza that has killed more than 5,000 people, according to Palestinian health authorities, and threatened to escalate into a wider regional conflict.

The release of the two women takes the total number of captives freed to four, but more than 200 hostages are believed to be trapped in Gaza, some within the labyrinth of Hamas tunnels dug beneath the coastal strip.

The remaining hostages include Lifshitz and Cooper’s husbands, Oded Lifshitz, 83, and Amiram Cooper, 85.

Yocheved’s daughter Sharone previously told CNN she was “delighted” about her mother’s release but fears for her father and others being held.

“My father is there and so many other people we know are waiting for good news about everyone,” she said. “We don’t know what’s going on with them. Not even know if they’re alive or what their situation is.”

For decades, Lifshitz and Cooper lived within the close community of Nir Oz, once home to 400 people near the Gaza border. Being so close to the barrier fence, it was one of the first communities targeted by Hamas militants – and one of the worst hit.

Rows of houses now stand devoid of life, their windows broken, bedrooms torched, and residents’ possessions strewn all around. Video footage shows dried blood smeared on beds and floors, the walls pocked with bullet holes.

Lifshitz is one of the community’s founders and worked as a photographer and a teacher at the regional high school, according to a Nir Oz community statement.

Cooper was also a long-term resident and worked in early childhood education and at the local paint factory, the statement said.

On Tuesday, Eti Uziel, head nurse at Ichilov hospital, said both women appeared to be in “OK medical condition.”

“They will stay with us tonight and tomorrow,” Uziel said in a video released by the hospital shortly after the women’s arrival. “Right now, for them and family members, it is a very, very emotional situation, and we are happy that they are here with us.”

Ken Grey, a criminal justice professor at the University of New Haven and former FBI special agent, told CNN Tuesday of the intelligence value of Lipshitz’s remarks.

“It means that there was a process of separating the hostages to make it more difficult in the event that IDF comes in to rescue the hostages,” he said. “That may not have been the intent but it certainly shows that this will be a difficulty on the part of any type of rescue operation – the fact that the logistics will make it difficult having them in separate locations.”

Grey also noted Lipshitz’s comments could be part of a strategy from Hamas.

“They want to project the information that they are treating the hostages very well … using this as a method of being able to show themselves of being humane, treating the hostages well. And then it will make the IDF look even worse when they actually enter into the Gaza,” referring to Israel’s anticipated ground operation.

Remaining hostages

The latest hostage release comes amid growing international pressure on the Israeli government to secure the release of hundreds of others still held captive in Gaza.

They include nationals from countries including Mexico, Brazil, the United States, Germany and Thailand as well as Israeli civilians and soldiers.

Talks to secure the release of a large number of hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza are ongoing, two sources familiar with the matter and one western diplomat familiar with the discussions told CNN, but the negotiations - which involve the United States, Israel, Qatar, Egypt and Hamas - are being complicated by a number of factors.

Israel has vowed to wipe out Hamas in response to the deadly October 7 attacks, and is cutting off Gaza from water, fuel and food as it pounds key targets with airstrikes.

The sustained bombardment of the enclave despite the presence of so many Palestinian civilians has angered Arab nations and drawn condemnation with public protests worldwide.

The US is seeking to delay an Israeli ground offensive in hopes of getting more hostages out and aid into Gaza, according to two sources briefed on discussions. However, a senior Israeli official told CNN there will be “no ceasefire.”

US President Joe Biden on Monday called on Hamas to release its hostages before talks could start on a ceasefire.

For the families of those held, there’s no time to waste.

Daniel Lifshitz said seeing his grandmother had shown him that other hostages need to be freed as soon as possible.

“I’m telling you we have to be fast, seeing my grandmother like that,” he said. “The clock is ticking and… bringing all those hostages back is so evident now – it’s the top mission now for everybody.”

CNN

Israeli airstrikes surge in Gaza, destroying homes and killing dozens at a time

Israel escalated airstrikes across the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, crushing families in the rubble of residential buildings, as health officials said hundreds of Palestinians were killed in the past day and medical facilities were shut down because of bomb damage and lack of power.

The soaring death toll from the bombardment is unprecedented in the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It augurs an even greater loss of life in Gaza once Israeli forces backed by tanks and artillery launch an expected ground offensive aimed at crushing Hamas militants.

Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been running out of food, water and medicine since Israel sealed off the territory following the devastating Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on towns in southern Israel.

The Gaza Health Ministry, which is run by Hamas, said Israeli airstrikes killed at least 704 people over the past day, mostly women and children. The Associated Press could not independently verify the death tolls cited by Hamas, which says it tallies figures from hospital directors.

In Washington, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters that the U.S. also could not verify that one-day death toll.

“The Ministry of Health is run by Hamas, and I think that all needs to be factored into anything that they put out publicly.”

Israel said Tuesday it had launched 400 airstrikes over the past day, killing Hamas commanders, hitting militants as they prepared to fire rockets into Israel and striking command centers and a Hamas tunnel shaft. Israel reported 320 strikes the day before.

Hamas is sworn to Israel’s destruction.

Israel, for its part, has vowed repeatedly since the massacre to crush Hamas.

On Tuesday, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen told the U.N. Security Council that the proportionate response to the Oct. 7 attack is “a total destruction to the last one” of the militants. “It is not only Israel’s right to destroy Hamas. It’s our duty,” he said.

The Israeli military said it thwarted an assault by a group of Hamas underwater divers who tried to infiltrate Israel on a beach just north of Gaza. They were attacked by air, naval and ground forces.

Across central and south Gaza, where Israel told civilians to take shelter, there were multiple scenes of rescuers pulling the dead and wounded out of large piles of rubble from collapsed buildings. Graphic photos and video shot by the AP showed rescuers unearthing bodies of children from multiple ruins.

A father knelt on the floor of the Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir Al-Balah next to the bodies of three dead children cocooned in bloodied sheets. Later at the nearby morgue, workers prayed over 24 dead wrapped in body bags, several of them the size of small children.

Buildings that collapsed on residents killed dozens at a time in several cases, witnesses said. Two families lost a total 47 members in a leveled home in Rafah, the Health Ministry said.

A strike on a four-story building in Khan Younis killed at least 32 people, including 13 members of the Saqallah family, said Ammar al-Butta, a relative who survived the airstrike. He said there were about 100 people sheltering in the building, including many who had evacuated from Gaza City.

“We thought that our area would be safe,” he said.

Another strike destroyed a bustling marketplace in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, witnesses said. AP photos showed the floor of a vegetable shop covered with blood.

In Gaza City, at least 19 people were killed when an airstrike hit the house of the Bahloul family, according to survivors, who said dozens more people remained buried. The legs of a dead woman and another person, both still half buried, dangled out of the wreckage where workers dug through the dirt, concrete and rebar.

The Health Ministry says more than 5,700 Palestinians have been killed in the war, including some 2,300 minors. The figure includes the disputed toll from an explosion at a hospital last week.

The fighting has killed more than 1,400 people in Israel — mostly civilians slain during the initial Hamas attack, according to the Israeli government.

As the death toll in Gaza spirals, and fuel supplies dwindle, the number of facilities able to deal with casualties is shrinking. More than half of primary health care facilities, and roughly 1 of every 3 hospitals, have stopped functioning, the World Health Organization said.

Overwhelmed hospital staff struggled to triage cases as constant waves of wounded were brought in. The Health Ministry said many wounded are laid on the ground without even simple medical intervention and others wait for days for surgeries because there are so many critical cases.

While Israel has allowed a small number of trucks filled with aid to enter, it has barred deliveries of fuel to Gaza to keep it out of Hamas’ hands. The U.N. said its operation distributing aid will halt Wednesday evening if it does not receive fuel.

To make room for the dead, cemeteries have been forced to excavate and reuse old plots. Families have dug trenches to bury multiple bodies at a time.

“Bodies pour in by the hundreds every day. We use every empty inch in the cemeteries,” said Abdel Rahman Mohamed, a volunteer who helps transfer bodies to Khan Younis’ main cemetery.

Israel says it does not target civilians and that Hamas militants are using them as cover for their attacks. Palestinian militants have fired over 7,000 rockets at Israel since the start of the war, according to Israel, and Hamas said it fired a fresh barrage on Tuesday.

On Monday, Hamas released two elderly Israeli women who were among the roughly 220 people Israel says were taken hostage during the Oct. 7 attack and forced into Gaza.

Appearing weak in a wheelchair and speaking softly, 85-year-old Yocheved Lifshitz told reporters Tuesday that the militants beat her with sticks, bruising her ribs and making it hard to breathe as they kidnapped her. They drove her into Gaza, then forced her to walk several kilometers (miles) on wet ground to reach a network of tunnels that looked like a spider web, she said.

Once there, she said, she was treated well, fed and given medical care.

Lifshitz and 79-year-old Nurit Cooper were freed days after an American woman and her teenage daughter were released.

The Israeli military dropped leaflets in Gaza asking Palestinians to reveal information on the hostages’ whereabouts. In exchange, the military promised a reward and protection for the informant’s home.

Iranian-backed fighters around the region are warning of possible escalation, including the targeting of U.S. forces deployed in the Mideast, if a ground offensive is launched. Israel and Hezbollah have traded fire almost daily across the Israel-Lebanon border.

AP

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Russian forces pound eastern Ukraine's Avdiivka

Russian forces pounded the shattered eastern Ukrainian city of Avdiivka on Tuesday, but heavy losses forced them to switch to air attacks and rely less on full-on ground advances, Ukrainian officials said.

Russia has focused on advancing in the east -- in the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk -- after failing to move on Kyiv in the early days of its invasion, launched in February 2022.

Ukraine in June undertook a counteroffensive, capturing villages in the east and south, but at a much slower pace than a rapid advance through the northeast a year ago.

Russia appears to have focused for the moment on Avdiivka -- a town known for its vast coking plant and now a hallmark of Ukrainian resistance.

"The enemy dropped about 40 guided aerial bombs in two nights. But the number of ground assaults has been reduced, half of what it was yesterday and the day before," Oleksandr Shtupun, spokesperson for Ukraine's southern group of forces, told national television.

"This is not surprising as over the past five days, the enemy has lost about 2,400 dead and wounded in Donetsk region."

Most of those casualties, he said, were near Avdiivka and the nearby long-contested town of Maryinka

Vitaliy Barabash, head of Avdiivka's military administration, said the town was enduring unrelenting artillery and air attacks.

"The enemy is persistently trying to surround the city and is throwing in new forces from the north and south," Barabash told television.

"For two days, they have been operating mostly in small groups, trying to find cracks in our defence, but without success. The defence line is holding."

Avdiivka was captured briefly in 2014, when Russian-backed separatists seized large chunks of eastern Ukraine, but Ukrainian forces took it back and built solid fortifications.

Russian forces have also been attacking further north in the area of Kupiansk -- a town initially seized by Russian forces after the invasion but recaptured by Ukraine in last year's drive in the northeast.

Kharkiv Regional Governor Oleh Synehub said two civilians had died in an artillery strike on a village near Kupiansk.

Russian accounts of the fighting have avoided any mention of Avdiivka this week, but noted successful artillery and air strikes near Bakhmut -- a town to the northeast captured by Russian forces in May after months of battles.

Reuters could not independently verify accounts of battlefield activity on either side.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Russian forces pound Ukrainian troops, equipment in 109 areas over past day

Russian forces struck Ukrainian troops and military equipment in 109 areas over the past day in the special military operation in Ukraine, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported on Tuesday.

"Operational/tactical and army aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, missile troops and artillery of the Russian groupings of forces struck the Ukrainian army’s manpower and military hardware in 109 areas," the ministry said in a statement.

Russian forces destroy 60 Ukrainian troops in Kupyansk area over past day

Russian forces destroyed roughly 60 Ukrainian troops in the Kupyansk area over the past day, the ministry reported.

"In the Kupyansk direction, units of the western battlegroup supported by aircraft and artillery fire repulsed in their active operations eight attacks by the Ukrainian army’s 14th and 32nd mechanized, 68th jaeger and 101st territorial defense brigades near the settlements of Ivanovka, Sinkovka and Sergeyevka in the Kharkov Region. The enemy’s losses equaled as many as 60 Ukrainian personnel and two pickup trucks," the ministry said.

** Russian drones hunt for German Leopards

Newly published battlefield footage from the conflict in Ukraine purports to show two German-made Leopard battle tanks taking direct hits in Russian drone strikes, with both seen erupting into flames during engagements with Russian forces.

In a pair of clips shared by military bloggers on Tuesday, two Ukrainian tanks appeared to meet their demise after taking direct hits from Russian UAVs and artillery. Open-source conflict monitor channel LostArmour identified the destoyed tanks as German-made Leopard 2A4s.

The videos were said to have been captured near the town of Rabotino in Zaporozhye, the site of fierce battles in recent weeks.

Another clip shows a Leopard advancing through an open field from a distance, firing off a few shells before it is struck by a First Person View (FPV) drone, which have been employed heavily throughout the conflict.

Since the start of the Ukrainian counteroffensive in early June, the Russian military has repeatedly published photos and videos of destroyed Ukrainian military equipment, including Western-made hardware. Clips showing the destruction and capture of German-made Leopard tanks and at least two British Challengers have since been made public.

Earlier this month, Russian Lancet loitering munitions were seen taking out British-supplied howitzers in a long-distance “precision strike,” while other footage has shown strikes on Ukrainian aircraft parked at far-away airfields.

Moscow has repeatedly urged against foreign arms shipments to Kiev, insisting the weapons would only prolong the fighting but do little to deter its military objectives.

Late last month, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated that Western-made armor was “readily burning” under Russian strikes, and though he acknowledged recently-supplied US Abrams tanks were “some serious weapons,” he declared that “these will burn too.”

According to the Russian Defense Ministry’s latest estimates, Ukraine has lost more than 17,000 soldiers and over 2,700 pieces of hardware in its counteroffensive in September alone. The operation has failed to achieve major changes to the front lines since it was launched in June, despite the heavy casualties suffered by Ukrainian forces.

Reuters/Tass/RT

Shortly after Israel was savagely attacked by Hamas terrorists, a popular meme appeared showing former President Donald Trump in silhouette in a Batman-esque bat signal with the line: "The entire world right now." Under Trump, "peace through strength" wasn't just a suggestive mantra; it was a governing imperative. Trump understood that when the United States is weak or is perceived as weak, the good guys retreat, the bad guys advance, and the wheels come off the world.

Trump also knew that by putting America First, our allies and our adversaries would understand that he meant business: If the American people or interests were threatened, there would be an overwhelming U.S. retaliatory response. This kept the bad guys in check and allowed the world to enjoy relative peace, stability and prosperity.

Enter President Joe Biden, who, like most Leftists, put America Last. He rejected the moral and practical necessity of American strength and embraced feeble irresolution. He has projected constant weakness, equivocation, ineptitude and moral bankruptcy. The result has been an explosion of global instability, increased adventurism from existential threats like China and Iran, hot wars in Ukraine and Israel, and the advance of anti-American and anti-freedom forces around the world.

The globe is in absolute chaos because Biden has abdicated his role as Leader of the Free World.

The silver lining to this abject disaster is that it is becoming ever-clearer that Trump's robust, principled leadership is desperately needed back in the White House.

Biden's recent Oval Office address—delivered after Arab leaders canceled a scheduled summit while he was en route to the region and while U.S. forces in Iraq were being attacked by Iranian-backed forces—put that into bold relief.

Biden failed to punish Hamas's terrorist patron Iran, did not forcefully demand the release of American hostages, equated rampant antisemitism with invented Islamophobia, did not condemn the raging antisemitism in his own party, and announced a request for another unaffordable $100 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel, and other things.

This continuing weakness invites ever-more aggression from our adversaries. Taiwan could be the next casualty of Biden's impotence.

During the 2020 campaign, we were told by Biden's wingmen in the Left-wing press that because foreign policy was his supposed forte, the "adults would be back in charge" and "America would be respected again." Of course, those lies have now brought us violent mayhem, with America lunging from one crisis to another while going off the debt cliff.

Biden's catastrophic performance is a major reason why a competitive Republican primary hasn't materialized. Trump remains so dominant—his lead in the RealClearPolitics polling average has not dipped below 20 percent since April— that The Washington Post recently dubbed it the "make-believe primary."

No candidate has been able to successfully break through, despite two Trump-less debates. Voters aren't looking for worthless chatter or a rehash of tired, counterproductive policies. They want America First policies that improve their lives, keep them safe, and protect America's superpower status.

Only one candidate has a stellar record of delivering all of that as president. With tax cuts, regulatory relief, energy independence and fairer trade deals, Trump delivered a thriving economy with record-low unemployment, significant wage gains, little to no inflation, and a manufacturing boom. He essentially solved illegal immigration, enforced the border, delivered law and order, smashed ISIS, took on China, and ushered in a workable peace in the Middle East.

Despite constant pounding from the Left, Trump's historic policy successes made life significantly better for all Americans—a fresh memory that stands in stark contrast to Biden's many disasters. Most of the policies that the GOP candidates discuss as objectives, Trump has already done—and will do again. The other candidates are accomplished leaders, but America needs someone primed from presidential experience and ready on Day One.

Biden's radical policies have created staggering problems. Since he entered office, his inflationary spending has made the typical American family $7,300 poorer. Approximately 8 million illegal immigrants have crossed the wide-open southern border, bringing tsunamis of dangerous drugs and crime. Our once-great cities are in collapse. Three different American bases are under attack in the Middle East.

To be clear, President Trump's record doesn't just appeal to conservatives. A recent Bloomberg News poll found that the majority of all voters trust Trump over Biden to handle issues such as the economy, immigration, crime, the war in Ukraine, and U.S.-China relations.

It looks increasingly likely that we may be headed for a 2020 redux: two candidates, both of whom have been president but only one of whom has delivered a booming economy, enforced border and world peace.

A chaotic, barbarous world is calling out for strong American leadership. And for that, there's only one option: a restoration of the Trump presidency.

** Monica Crowley is the Host of the Monica Crowley Podcast and served as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury from 2019 to 2021.

Last week, I bought $400 in Amazon gift cards because I was fooled by an elaborate internet con called the "boss scam". Here's how the scam works, and why almost anyone – even an entrepreneur who doesn't have a boss, or a technology writer like me – can get sucked in.

The basic premise of the boss scam is to send a request to someone, ostensibly from their boss, asking them to purchase gift cards as a surprise for valued employees.

The scammer then obtains the gift card numbers and uses the cards and the person who bought them learns a humiliating and expensive lesson. In my case it didn't get quite that far – but it was still infuriating and deeply embarrassing.

Here's how it happened. I applied to join the board of a local nonprofit. Last Friday, I got an email from the group's president, or so I thought. [I'll call him Pete, which is not his real name, but is the name of my first boss.] I use Gmail, which shows the sender's image, if there is one and their name in bold letters.

The email address is there too, in smaller type. I saw Pete's image and his name. The subject line referenced his nonprofit. I assumed the message was really from him. 

That was the entire email and nothing about it made me think this might be a hoax. So I answered with an equally brief message to say that I was available. 

Hi Minda, I have been working on incentives and I aim to surprise some of our staff with gift cards and I will like you to handle this for me. You will keep it secret from others until I reveal the beneficiaries. I will get back to you with full details. Let me know if you can take care of this for me.

Regards, Pete

At the mention of gift cards, I should have suspected something was up. But it was the middle of a busy Friday afternoon.

I was hurrying to finish some work because my husband and I had plans that evening. Also, the real Pete had told me this was a working board and that he would ask board members to handle various tasks for the organization.

I decided he must be testing my willingness to do administrative work. I wrote back quickly to say that I didn't know the staff yet and wouldn't know what they'd like but was willing to help him as needed.

Okay Minda, Here is what I need you to do, Kindly make the purchase of 4 Amazon gift cards at a denomination of $100 each, amounting to $400 from any nearby store or gas station. Get back to me with the picture of the receipt once you have them. Let me know how soon you can get them and how you would prefer to be reimbursed.

Regards, Pete

I think it was clever of the scammer to end the message with the question about how to reimburse me. It immediately got me thinking about how he should send me back the money and kept me from focusing on how odd the whole thing was.

Still rushing to meet a deadline, I quickly looked on Amazon, found I could have the cards delivered the same day, and bought them.

When they arrived, I figured the simplest thing to do would be to forward Amazon's purchase confirmation to Pete and I did – but because I was forwarding the message rather than responding in the thread, I sent it to the real Pete's email address.

That's was when I finally started thinking about what I was doing. I noticed the image that came up with Pete's real address was a different photo from the one in the earlier emails I'd received.

The scammer, having never gotten an email from Pete, couldn't know what image he used on his email, I'm assuming. And Pete is a local entrepreneur whose image is widely available online, along with the name of the nonprofit.

Having noticed the inconsistent images, I at last took a look at the email address on the messages asking me to buy the gift cards. It turned out to be This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. My first--unbelievably stupid – thought was that this might be Pete's personal email, which he was using to keep the gifts secret and perhaps by using his proper email I had spoiled the surprise.

I even started writing an email to warn him that I'd forwarded Amazon's email to his official address. But I didn't finish that message because the truth had begun to penetrate my brain.

I abandoned my half-written email and did a quick search, first for that strange email address, which turned up no results, and then for "scam involving Amazon gift cards." And there it was, a warning from the Federal Trade Commission describing exactly the email conversation I was having with Fake Pete.

I quickly got on the phone with Amazon and was told that 1) even if I had forwarded my order confirmation to Fake Pete, that would not be enough for the scammer to get access to the gift cards; and 2) gift cards are non-returnable, so I was stuck with them.

Fortunately, we buy lots of things on Amazon, particularly around the holidays, so we can use those cards or give them as gifts.

"I need you to remove the cards from the pack."

I got further confirmation that the scammer couldn't use the cards when he started texting me, having gotten my number from my email signature. 

Hi Minda, did you receive my email? Can you send the receipts here? – Pete

I decided to string the scammer along a little. "I'm not sure how to forward to a text."

Okay. Can you take pictures of the cards and send them to me?

"You don't believe me that I have them?"

I'm sorry. I just needed to be sure. And I will like to have details of the cards before sending them out. I need you to remove the cards from the pack, scratch the silver panel at the back of each card and send me the photos of each card.

Apparently the scammer had decided to stop babying me along and come right out and ask for what they needed. I responded: "As I said, you can trust that I have them. If we're giving them as gifts, I shouldn't open them, it seems to me."

I was curious to see how the scammer would try to convince me that opening the cards was the right thing to do, but I guess they realized the scam wasn't working, because I never received another message from Fake Pete.

I wish I could tell you that this was the end of the story, but it wasn't quite. Later that evening, the real Pete – who had seen my email forwarding the Amazon order – interrupted a date with his wife to call me and make sure I knew that the gift card request was a scam.

The same email had gone out to many of his contacts at the nonprofit, though most had recognized that it was fraud faster than I had.

I assured him that I'd figured it out before giving the scammer any money and apologized for interrupting his date. I hung up wondering if he now thought I was too big an idiot to serve on his board.

This is what makes the boss scam so powerful. The messages supposedly come from someone you really want to please and impress – a customer, an investor, a trusted colleague or even an actual boss. It plays on our human desire for success and happiness and for connection. That's a strong motivator – and one that can too easily be turned against us.

Inc

Nigeria expects to receive $10 billion of inflows in the coming weeks that will help ease a liquidity crunch weighing on the naira.

The government has a “line of sight” on the inflows into the country “in weeks rather than months,” Finance Minister Wale Edun said at the Nigerian Economic Summit in the capital, Abuja, on Monday. He didn’t disclose details.

President Bola Tinubu’s government has been struggling to stem the decline in the currency. The inflows will add to other steps being taken by the government to boost foreign-exchange liquidity, including improving market transparency and allowing domestic entities to issue foreign-exchange instruments, Edun said.

“The market is illiquid, it’s not functioning properly because there is not enough supply of foreign exchange,” Edun said at the conference.

“As part of a wider review, there’s a revamping of the foreign-exchange market such that the foreign-exchange market will be simplified, it will be digitalized and it will be reformed.”

The authorities also plan to broaden the official currency market to include other “legitimate” participants, including bureaux de change and financial-technology companies, Taiwo Oyedele, chairman of the presidential committee on fiscal policy and tax reforms, said at the conference.

Nigeria is considering making it illegal to trade in the parallel market, Oyedele said.

“We currently have a market that is not working and it’s not going to work in its current format,” he said. “We don’t have sufficient liquidity even if you combine the parallel and the official markets.”

The naira slid about 4% to 1,215 a dollar on Monday amid insatiable demand for the greenback on the streets. The decline came days after the central bank ended curbs on using dollars to buy dozens of imported items, and at a time of the year that typically sees Nigerians making payments for tuition at foreign schools and universities.

Further details elaborating on the specifics of these “far-ranging initiatives to deepen foreign-exchange liquidity and improve confidence across” will be shared by the finance minister and the central bank governor, Tinubu said at the conference.

Bloomberg

Federal executive council (FEC) has approved $3.45 billion in loans for the execution of five projects.

The council meeting, presided over by President Bola Tinubu, was held on Monday.

Speaking at the end of the meeting, Wale Edun, minister of finance, and coordinating minister of the economy, said the approved projects were conditioned in the five memos he presented.

Edun said the memos approved include concessional loans with zero-interest financing by the World Bank and the International Development Association (IDA) the concessional financing arm of the bank.

He said the projects approved for funding were in the power and renewable energy sectors.

The minister added that the approved funding for states for resource mobilisation programmes to help them with the internally-generated revenue efforts.

“The council also approved a project for adolescent girls’ initiative for learning and empowerment,” Edun said.

“It’s a programme to support young girls from the age of 11, secondary school age, and to ensure that at the end of the schooling, they have one skill or the other that is marketable, as well as the academic laurels.”

He said the fifth financing that the council approved is for the women’s project.

“This is an additional project. The first one was very successful. It was all about empowering women, upscaling their skill levels, and of course, giving them some financial inclusion, including in the banking system,” he added.

“So those were five loans totalling N3.45billion. And as you know, the tenure is all around 40 years, moratorium period of around 10 years and interest very low, or in the cases of either loans, zero interest, although some fees would be incurred.”

Last week, FEC approved a $1.58 billion loan request.

The loan request was split into two; $1.5 billion from the World Bank and $80 million from the African Development Bank (AfDB).

Debt Management Office announced a foreign debt portfolio of $108.3 billion as March ending 2023.

The Cable/NewsScroll

Lagos, Rivers, and the FCT led as the total Internally Generated Revenue of states in the country marginally rose to N1.93tn in 2022.

Data from the National Bureau of Statistics on Monday, revealed that the states could only raise their IGR by 1.57 per cent from the N1.89tn they recorded in 2021.

The IGRs by the states showed Lagos (N651.15bn), Rivers (N172.82bn), FCT (N124.37bn), Ogun (N120.58bn), and Delta (N85.90bn) were the top five states in terms of revenue generated.

Kebbi (N9.15bn), Taraba (N10.24bn), Yobe (N10.46bn), Ebonyi (N12.43bn), and Katsina (N13.06bn), were the bottom states.

The NBS disclosed that 2022 IGR figures for the states had two major revenue sources namely, taxes and Ministries, Departments and Agencies’ revenue.

It noted that the taxes sub-category recorded in the period included Pay As Your Earn, direct assessment, road taxes, stamp duties, capital gain tax, withholding taxes, other taxes and LGAs revenue.

It said, “PAYE was the most contributing revenue source during the year, recorded 67.62 per cent share to the total tax generated revenues nationwide. While capital gains tax was the least in the year under review with 0.24 per cent share to total tax revenue.

“Oyo, Lagos, and Jigawa states were the three leading states with the highest LGA revenue reported during the year. The states recorded N11.83bn, N11.51bn, and N8.70bn respectively.”

Total PAYE collected in 2022 was N994.41bn, direct assessment tax amounted to N52.35bn, road taxes was N24.57bn, stamp duties was N27.13bn, capital gain tax was N3.52bn, withholding tax was N139.91bn, other taxes amounted to N179.95bn, LGA revenue amounted to N48.71bn, and the states made N455.07bn from their MDAs.

Despite the growth in IGR, states relied heavily, as in other years, on allocations from the Federal Government in 2022. Total FAAC allocation to states, excluding the FCT, was N3.16tn, 63.73 per cent more than the total states’ IGR for the year. In 2022, states domestically borrowed N870bn to augment their expenses.

In 2022, only 11 states including the FCT attracted foreign investors with the others losing out on investment opportunities.

Punch

Seventy-six people were arrested for attending a birthday party for gay people in northern Nigeria, the country's paramilitary agency said on Monday, adding that the organiser had also planned to hold a same sex wedding, which is illegal.

There are the latest arrests targeting LGBTQ Nigerians after police in August raided a gay wedding in the southern city of Warri in Delta state, and arrested dozens of people. The accused are out on bail.

In Nigeria, like in most parts of Africa, homosexuality is generally viewed as unacceptable, and a 2014 anti-gay law took effect.

Buhari Saad, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) spokesperson for the largely Muslim Gombe state, said after receiving a tip off, the agency raided a party on Saturday night that was being attended by "homosexuals and pimps".

He said 59 men had been arrested, including 21 who confessed to being homosexual, and 17 women.

The Gombe NSCDC said in a statement that the organiser of the birthday party had also planned to wed another man, who was still at large, before police raided the event.

The anti-gay law in Africa's most populous nation includes a prison term of up to 14 years for those convicted, and bans gay marriage, same-sex relationships, and membership of gay rights groups.

The case is expected to be heard in the Gombe state High Court on Tuesday (today), Saad said.

Reuters

Hamas frees two Israeli women as US advises delaying ground war to allow talks on captives

Hamas on Monday released two elderly Israeli women held hostage in Gaza as the United States expressed increasing concern that the escalating Israel-Hamas war will spark a wider conflict in the region, including attacks on American troops.

The death toll in Gaza rose rapidly as Israel ramped up airstrikes that flattened buildings in what it said was preparation for an eventual ground assault. The United States advised Israel to delay the expected invasion to allow time to negotiate the release of more hostages taken by Hamas during its brutal incursion two weeks ago.

A third small aid convoy from Egypt entered Gaza, where the population of 2.3 million has been running out of food, water and medicine under Israel’s sealed border. With Israel still barring entry of fuel, the U.N. said its distribution of aid would grind to a halt within days when it can no longer fuel its trucks. Gaza hospitals flooded by a constant stream of wounded are struggling to keep generators running to power lifesaving medical equipment and incubators for premature babies.

The two freed hostages, 85-year-old Yocheved Lifshitz and 79-year-old Nurit Cooper, were taken out of Gaza at the Rafah crossing into Egypt, where they were put into ambulances, according to footage shown on Egyptian TV. The two women, along with their husbands, were snatched from their homes in the kibbutz of Nir Oz near the Gaza border during Hamas’ Oct. 7 rampage into southern Israeli communities. Their husbands, ages 83 and 84, were not released.

“While I cannot put into words the relief that she is now safe, I will remain focused on securing the release of my father and all those — some 200 innocent people — who remain hostages in Gaza,” Lifshitz’ daughter, Sharone Lifschitz, said in a statement.

Lifschitz, an artist and academic in London who uses a different spelling for her name, told reporters last week that her parents were peace activists, and her father would drive to the Gaza border to take Palestinians to east Jerusalem for medical treatment.

Kindness, she said last week, could somehow save them.

“I grew up, you know, with all these Holocaust stories about how all my uncles’ lives were saved because” of acts of kindness, she said.

“Do I want that to be the story here?” she asked. “Yeah.”

Hamas apparently received nothing in exchange for the release of the two hostages, who were freed days after an American woman and her teenage daughter. Hamas and other militants in Gaza are believed to have taken roughly 220 people, including an unconfirmed number of foreigners and dual citizens.

Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas. Iranian-backed fighters around the region are warning of possible escalation, including the targeting of U.S. forces deployed in the Mideast, if a ground offensive is launched in Gaza.

The U.S. has told Iranian-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon and other groups not to join the fight. Israel and Hezbollah have traded fire almost daily across the Israel-Lebanon border, and Israeli warplanes have struck targets in the occupied West Bank, Syria and Lebanon in recent days.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said there has been an uptick in rocket and drone attacks by Iranian-backed militias on U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria, and the U.S. was “deeply concerned about the possibility for any significant escalation” in the coming days.

He said U.S. officials were having “active conversations” with Israeli counterparts about the potential ramifications of escalated military action.

The U.S. advised Israeli officials that delaying a ground offensive would give Washington more time to work with regional mediators on the release of more hostages, according to a U.S. official.

Israeli tanks and ground forces have been massed at the Gaza border, and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told troops there Monday to keep preparing for an offensive “because it will come.” He said it will be a combined offensive from air, land and sea, but he did not give a time frame.

A ground offensive is likely to dramatically increase casualties in what is already the deadliest by far of five wars fought between Israel and Hamas since the militant group took power in Gaza in 2007.

More than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed — mostly civilians slain during the initial Hamas attack. At least 222 people were captured and dragged back to Gaza, including foreigners, the military said Monday, updating a previous figure.

More than 5,000 Palestinians, including some 2,000 minors and around 1,100 women, have been killed, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said Monday. That includes the disputed toll from an explosion at a hospital last week. The toll has climbed rapidly in recent days, with the ministry reporting 436 additional deaths in just the last 24 hours.

Israel said it struck 320 militant targets throughout Gaza over the last 24 hours. The military says it does not target civilians, and that Palestinian militants have fired over 7,000 rockets at Israel since the start of the war.

Inside Gaza, the civilian death toll continued to mount.

Fifteen members of the same family were among at least 33 Palestinians buried Monday in a shallow, sandy mass grave at a Gaza hospital after being killed in Israeli airstrikes.

The bodies were laid to rest side by side in the courtyard of al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah. Men discussed where to fit the shrouded corpse of a small child. “Bring them all,” a gravedigger called out.

Israel carried out limited ground forays into Gaza. On Sunday, Hamas said it destroyed an Israeli tank and two armored bulldozers inside Gaza. The Israeli military said a soldier was killed and three others were wounded by an anti-tank missile during a raid inside Gaza.

On Monday, the Palestinian Red Crescent said 20 trucks entered Gaza carrying food, water, medicine and medical supplies through the Rafah crossing with Egypt, the only way into Gaza not controlled by Israel. It was the third delivery in as many days, each around the same size.

The aid coming in so far is “a drop in the ocean” compared with the needs of the population, said Thomas White, the Gaza director of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA. The U.N. has said 20 trucks amounts to 4% of an average day’s imports before the war and that hundreds of trucks a day are needed.

White said the agency had only three days of fuel left for its trucks. The supplies coming through Rafah are reloaded onto UNRWA vehicles and the Red Crescent trucks to take to hospitals and U.N. schools in the south of Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of people are taking shelter, running low on food and largely drinking contaminated water.

At least 1.4 million Palestinians in Gaza have fled their homes, and nearly 580,000 of them are sheltering in U.N.-run schools and shelters, the U.N. said Monday.

No aid will be distributed in Gaza City and other parts of the north, where hundreds of thousands of people remain. Gaza City’s main al-Shifa Hospital, with a normal capacity of 700 patients, is currently overwhelmed with 5,000 patients, and around 45,000 displaced people are gathered in and around its grounds for shelter, the U.N. said.

AP