Archive for month: February, 2024

News Update

Special forces are currently operating against Hamas terrorists in Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, the largest hospital still functioning in Gaza. The IDF said it had credible information that the bodies of hostages taken on Oct. 7 may be in the facility.

Staff Sgt. Omer Sarah Benjo, 20, of the 91st Division’s 869th Combat Intelligence Collection unit, from Ge’a, was killed in the rocket attack on Safed yesterday. She was killed on her way to a shelter. Eight other soldiers were wounded in the attack. The IDF is investigated why the Iron Dome failed to intercept several rockets. The IDF struck many Hezbollah targets yesterday and continues to strike today.

For a complete list of the soldiers killed in the ground offensive, click here.

The US State Department is investigating whether Israel has misused U.S. supplied bombs and missiles to kill civilians and allegations that the IDF used white phosphorus in attacks in Lebanon.  State Department Spokesperson Mathew Miller said, “We do seek to thoroughly assess reports of civilian harm by authorized recipients of US-provided defense articles around the world.” For more, click here. 

There is an ongoing power struggle to determine who will eventually take over leadership of the Palestinian Authority from 88 year old Mahmoud Abbas, when that day eventually comes. For more on this, click here.

The Washington Post reported today that the US and some Arab states including Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Palestinian representatives are “rushing to complete a detailed, comprehensive plan for long-term peace between Israel and Palestinians, including a firm timeline for the establishment of a Palestinian state, that could be announced as early as the next several weeks.”

The plan would include an initial 6 week truce and the release of the hostages. It would also include the dismantling of most settlements in Judea and Samaria, a Palestinian capital in east Jerusalem, and a reconstruction of Gaza. Israel would get normalized relations with Saudi Arabia and other Arab states. It would also get a neighboring state run by Hamas and Fatah terrorists with the means of creating a modern army and air force to then use to repeat the Oct. 7 massacre on a massive scale to try and destroy Israel and rule “from the river to the sea”.

Does President Biden and his administration not understand the Palestinian desire to wipe Israel off the map? They have been saying it clearly for decades and succeeded in showing us a glimpse of their ultimate plan on Oct. 7. So the plan is to reward them by giving them the means to carry out their plan? Are the votes of the radical “progressive” wing of the Democratic party worth setting up the destruction of the Jewish People? Unfortunately, it appears that way.

News Update

IDF soldiers killed in Gaza:

Lt. Col. (res.) Netanel Yaacov Elkouby, 36, the commander of the Gaza Division’s Southern Brigade’s 630th Battalion, from Haifa.

Maj. (res.) Yair Cohen, 30, an acting company commander in the Gaza Division’s Southern Brigade’s 630th Battalion, from Ramat Gan.

Sgt. First Class (res.) Ziv Chen, 27, of the Gaza Division’s Southern Brigade’s 630th Battalion, from Kfar Saba.

For a complete list of the soldiers killed in the ground offensive, click here.

Mossad chief David Barnea and Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar travelled to Cairo at the head of an Israeli delegation for talks on a possible hostage release deal. The US CIA director will also be there.

Turns out that the medicine that was supposed to have been delivered to hostages, based on a deal brokered by Qatar, was never distributed to the hostages. The two hostages just rescued confirmed that. Is there still a question about the integrity of the terrorists we’re trying to negotiate with?

A terrorist attempted to run over soldiers at the Gush Etzion intersection. Two civilians were lightly hurt. Troops pursued the terrorist and arrested him.

A 14 year old boy and his 47 year old mother in Kiryat Shemona were seriously wounded in a rocket attack. Rockets also hit the northern town of Margaliot, causing damage but no casualties. Hezbollah said the attack came in retaliation for an Israeli strike in the southern Lebanese town of Talloussa on Monday, in which at least two members of the Iran-backed terror group were killed. For more, click here.

[The situation in the north cannot continue for much longer. Israel will have to push Hezbollah back and significantly degrade their ability to attack Israel.]

 

News Update

Israel reportedly struck a military airport in Damascus this morning.

Over 30 rockets were fired into northern Israel last night, towards an air force base near Mt. Hermon. All landed in open areas. The attack followed a drone attack in Nabatieh, southern Lebanon, which wounded a regional Hezbollah commander. Other rockets and projectiles were fired towards Israel throughout yesterday. No casualties or damage was reported.

The Shin Bet released  video from an interrogation of a Hamas commander in the Nukhba unit who surrendered deep inside a tunnel in Khan Yunis, along with 2 other terrorists. The terrorists were heavily armed, but they chose not to fight in order to save their lives. He says on the video, “I recommend to everyone to surrender, because your destiny is to die.”

Yahya Sinwar, Hamas leader in Gaza, has been out of contact with the Hamas leadership abroad for more than 10 days now. He is hiding deep underground and moving fro place from place. It is unlikely that he is involved in the current round of negotiations for the release of hostages.

The WSJ published an article based on extensive interviews with Tamar Metzger, a 78 year old female hostage who was released in one of the exchanges. The article reflects the experience of Metzger and other elderly hostages and paints a picture of hardship and suffering — but it also humanizes their Hamas captors and the treatment they received from them. Unfortunately, the younger female hostages being held in other places are facing a much different reality that includes constant sexual assault, rape and torture. The men are facing that same reality. So let’s not be lulled into complacency by the experiences of some of the elderly female former hostages. We, and the world, must demand that all of the hostages be released, immediately and unconditionally. There is no valid defense for permitting rape. The hundreds of thousands of pro Hamas protesters throughout the world, including the budding scholars populating our universities (and manning the counters at your local Starbucks) don’t agree — at least when the rape is against Jewish women. The rape must stop. The hostages must be released. Period.

For a complete list of the soldiers killed in the ground offensive, click here.

 

 

News Update

Israeli airstrikes hit Iranian backed militia around Homs, Syria. Airstrikes against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon continue.

Hamas presented a counterproposal to the hostage release agreement that would include a ceasefire followed by a complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza within 4 months, as well as the release of 1,500 terrorists from Israeli prisons. Israel will not agree to these demands. Whether the negotiations will continue will be seen. For more, click here.

IDF forces continue to kill terrorists and destroy Hamas infrastructure in Khan Yunis. Troops are beginning to operate in Rafah. The Hamas leadership is reportedly running scared, moving from one hideout to the next, along with hostages.

IDF soldiers killed in Gaza:

Maj. David Shakuri, 30, the deputy commander of the Combat Engineering Corps’ 601st Battalion, from Rehovot.

Staff Sgt. (Res.) Hanan Drori, 26, a soldier in the 551st Reserve Paratroopers Brigade Chief’s Forward Command Team, from Jerusalem.

For a complete list of the soldiers killed in the ground offensive, click here.

Recently elected Argentinian President Javier Milei visited Israel yesterday and announced that he would move his country’s embassy to Jerusalem.

The Saudi foreign ministry said in a statement that Saudi Arabia would not normalize relations with Israel until there was an independent Palestinian state.

News Update

Combat operations continue in Gaza.

IDF troops operating in Gaza found a detailed Hamas manual for the production of explosives and rocket propellant material using Hydrogen Peroxide supplied to hospitals. The IDF has captured over a half million Hamas documents including operational plans and combat strategies.

IDF troops captured the primary base for the Khan Younis Brigade, which was used to train terrorists for the October 7 massacre. The base contained advanced weapons production facilities and warehouses filled with rockets and mortar shells. According to an IDF assessment, over 100 miles of tunnels have been mapped beneath Khan Yunis. The army has facilitated the evacuation of over 120,000 civilians from Khan Yunis in the last 2 weeks.

Sgt. First Class (res.) Shimon Yehoshua Asulin, 24, of the Combat Engineering Corps’ 924th Battalion, from Beit Shemesh, was killed in southern Gaza.

For a complete list of the soldiers killed in the ground offensive, click here.

Hamas has reportedly ordered members of its police force to resume working in the northern part of Gaza, where the IDF presence has been significantly reduced and where civilian daily life is beginning to resume. The police has been instructed to arrest Gazans involved in looting houses and shops. In footage released from the northern Gaza Strip on Saturday, Hamas police officers, masked and armed, are seen leading partially naked detainees who allegedly looted homes in a “walk of shame.” Leaders of the Hamas military wing reportedly have appointed new battalion commanders, deputies and field personnel to replace those eliminated by the IDF.

US envoy Amos Hochstein outlined the key elements of a diplomatic plan to deescalate tensions between Israel and Hezbollah. The plan consists of two phases. In phase 1, Hezbollah would cease hostilities along the border and withdraw 8 to 10 kilometers north from the border. A large deployment of the Lebanese army and UNIFIL peacekeeping forces would maintain quiet in the border area. In phase 2, Israel and Lebanon would begin negotiations to demarcate the land border, including discussions on 13 points on disputes along their shared boundaries. Simultaneously, the U.S. and the international community would explore offering “economic incentives” to Lebanon. The proposal was approved by the Lebanese government. Israel has stated that it is open to a diplomatic solution, but its first priority is to the safety and returning them to their homes in the north.

Over the weekend, dozens of rockets were fired at Israeli communities from Lebanon. The IDF responded with strikes against Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon.

The IDF’s 36th Division, which includes the Golani Infantry Brigade, the 188th Armored Brigade, and the 282nd Artillery Brigade, has been deployed to the Lebanon border following their withdrawal from Gaza.

A terrorist attempted to stab Border Police in the town of al-Eizariya, outside of Jerusalem. The officers shot and neutralized him. No Israelis were hurt. Security forces arrested 33 terror suspects in overnight raids throughout the West Bank.

Pramila Patten, the Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Special Envoy for Sexual Violence in Conflicts who is in Israel investigating the sexual crimes against Israeli women on Oct. 7, said that she has been unable to sleep for a week since viewing the 47-minute video compiled by the IDF of the atrocities committed on October 7. For more, click here.