Israel News for 12-13-2023
News Update
In a fierce combat operation in the Shujaya neighborhood of Gaza City, part of the IDF forces entered a building that was rigged with explosives. Ten soldiers were killed in the fight:
– Lt. Col. Tomer Grinberg, 35, commander of Golani Brigade’s 13th Battalion, from Almog.
– Maj. Roei Meldasi, 23, company commander in Golani Brigade’s 13th Battalion, from Afula.
– Maj. Moshe Avram Bar On, 23, company commander in Golani Brigade’s 51st Battalion, from Ra’anana.
– Sgt. Achia Daskal, 19, soldier in Golani Brigade’s 51st Battalion, from Haifa.
– Cpt. Liel Hayo, 22, platoon commander in Golani Brigade’s 51st Battalion, from Shoham.
– Maj. Ben Shelly, 26, squad commander in the Israeli Air Force’s Unit 669, from Kidron.
– Sgt. First Class Rom Hecht, 20, Israeli Air Force’s Unit 669, from Givatayim.
– Staff Sgt. Oriya Yaakov, 19, Combat Engineering Corps’ 614th Battalion, from Ashkelon.
– Colonel Itzhak Ben Basat, 44, commander of a command room in the Golani Brigade, from Sde Yaakov.
– Sergeant Eran Aloni, 19, Battalion 51 of the Golani Brigade, from Ofakim.
Three other soldiers sustained serious injuries in the operation. [As you can see from the list, officers in the IDF lead their men from the front, and are the first to enter combat situations.]
Shujaya is the last remaining Hamas stronghold in northern Gaza. The neighborhood is so densely populated, that it is extremely difficult to bring in tanks and bulldozers to level buildings, making it necessary for ground troops to directly engage terrorists face to face. Hamas has booby trapped all of the buildings they are firing from, hoping to lure as many soldiers into them as possible.
The IDF recovered the bodies of Eden Zacharia, 28, from Rishon Lezion, who was abducted from the Nova music festival in Re’im, and Sergeant Major Ziv Dado, 36, from Rehovot, who was killed during the Hamas surprise attack on October 7. As part of the operation during which the bodies were located, Master Sgt. (res.) Gal Meir Eisenkot and Master Sgt. (res.) Eyal Meir Berkowitz were killed, and other soldiers were injured.
IDF aircraft and tanks struck Syrian Army military posts and infrastructure in response to rockets launched from Syria. The IDF also struck Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.
Israel informed US officials that it has begun flooding the Hamas tunnels with seawater on a limited basis to test its effectiveness.
The UN General Assembly passed a non-binding resolution calling for an “immediate humanitarian cease-fire” in the Gaza Strip. The vote was 153 countries in favor, 10 against and 23 abstained or absent. The countries that voted against include the United States, Israel, Czech Republic, Micronesia, Paraguay, Papua New Guinea, Liberia, Nauru, Guatemala and Austria. The countries that abstained include Germany, Great Britain, Ukraine, Georgia, Argentina, Bulgaria, Hungary, the Netherlands, Panama, South Sudan, Togo, Tonga, Slovakia, Uruguay and Lithuania.
