War! Terrorist Invasion of Israel-Day 25 of the War

Shalom all,
Israel Update – Day 25 of the War.
The War on the Ground: Reports throughout the day indicate the battles against Hamas terrorists is fierce and difficult. That is usually a preparation for receiving news tomorrow morning of the IDF soldiers who were killed or wounded. My fervent hope and prayer is that this is not the case and that their arms will be strengthened for war and that they will all return to their homes in peace.

Still, Israeli ground forces have moved deep into the Gaza Strip in heavy fighting and eliminated dozens of terrorists, including the Hamas commander who directed the massacre of Black Saturday, on 7th October. This same commander had his hand in developing drone and paragliding capabilities.

Speaking of paragliding: Amid the numerous videos of the deadly Hamas assault, which resulted in the deaths of over 1,400 Israelis and visitors and at least 243 people taken as hostages, the ones of paragliders captured the attention of anti-semites around the world. Within two days following the massacre, neo-Nazis from Florida began selling a t-shirt depicting two paragliders, AK-47 rifles and another figure, probably intended to be interpreted as a Hamas terrorist. Other, pro-“Palestinian” groups developed various symbols of paragliders to show their support of Hamas and the “Palestinians”. I choose not to publish these symbols of anti-semitism.

The “Houthi” Front: Try saying “Houthi” five times fast. It sounds almost like the name of a kid’s movie, only their actions are anything except funny. The Houthis are a branch of Shiite moslems, that has been fighting the Sunni moslem majority government in Yemen for the past almost 20 years. They succeeded to take control of Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, in 2014 and since 2016 they control much of north Yemen. So, why are the Houthis launching cruise missiles and drones against Israel, particularly towards the City of Eilat in southern Israel? The simple answer is that this terrorist organization, like Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, is backed by Iran, who trained and financed their actions against the ruling Sunni government. “Yahya Sria, a spokesman for the group, said that the aerial assault…was carried out ‘out of a sense of religious, moral, humanitarian and national responsibility’ for the people of Gaza, in the face of the weakness of the Arab world, and of the collusion of some Arab countries with Israel.” He added, incredibly, that the Houthi action against Israel was prompted by “the demands of the Yemeni people.” <https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-first-arrow-system-used-to-down-missile-from-red-sea-houthis-claim-uav-attack/> Really? Until now, I didn’t know that the Yemeni people were Iranian Ayatollahs.

Priorities of this war: In a speech given this afternoon by Tzachi Hanegbi, the National Security Council Chairman, he said the primary aim of the war is the return of the hostages and he is of the firm opinion that the present ground offensive of the IDF will help to accomplish that goal. He said: “This is our sacred responsibility as a nation, to our soldiers and our civilians.” But, he added that the massacre on Black Saturday “did away with the illusion that we are facing an enemy who wouldn’t risk his total destruction”, and that Hamas hides behind the residents of Gaza, whom it treats as “human dust that offers it protection.” The mission of the IDF is to see to it that Hamas will cease to exist and that “Monstrous terrorist organizations will never again be allowed to rule the Gaza Strip.” It is interesting to note that at the outset of the war, the priority was the elimination of Hamas, without taking into account the situation of the hostages. Pressure from within and from without reversed the priorities – now, first hostages, then military action for the elimination of the threat, which action that is supposed to help achieve the primary goal of returning the hostages. And so, the real priority is…?

Hanegbi also acknowledged the strong backing of the U.S. that assists Israel “to wage an unprecedentedly powerful campaign” against Hamas. But, he added, in order to maintain that support, “it is our responsibility to distinguish between murderers and civilian bystanders, to encourage the civilian population in the northern Gaza Strip to position themselves in safe areas in the south, to allow foreign aid forces to provide food, water, and medicine to everyone who heeds our call and is in the south today, and to call for lifesaving medical care to everyone who needs, but not in the hospitals which today serve as terror headquarters, for Hamas and PIJ command and control, but in Egyptian hospitals, in the protected area, or in hospital ships.” Foreign medical ships are already on their way to the coast of Gaza. But, providing medical care to Gazans in Egyptian hospitals is not a suggestion that will immediately be acted upon. Egypt is reluctant to take in refugees from Gaza, for the simple reason that Egypt may be stuck with them. The official claim is that Israel has not publicly agreed to allow the return to Gaza of those who leave to receive medical attention. <https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/hanegbi-says-israel-recognizes-egypts-reluctance-to-take-refugees/#:~:text=Asked%20whether%20Israel%20wants%20Egypt,border%20if%20it%20is%20opened.> Sounds familiar. Following Israel’s War of Independence, the Arabs who left Israel before the war were not allowed to return. And, none of the Arab nations around was willing to take them in, including Egypt. So, while Egypt is willing to help in a humanitarian effort, it is not willing to take a chance of the “Palestinians” becoming its unwelcome guests.

The psychological, financial and human price of war: A quarter of a million Israelis have been displaced from their homes because of the war, either because of physical damage already committed and/or because of concern that they were and/or might be and/or continue to be, in harm’s way, due to rockets launched from the Gaza Strip or from Lebanon. <https://www.jns.org/250000-israelis-displaced-bodies-identified-three-weeks-after-mass-murder/#:~:text=Some%20250%2C000%20Israelis%20have%20been,according%20to%20a%20senior%20Israeli> Some of the residents in the north were put up in a hotel, only to receive an evacuation notice from the hotel, which was closing due to lack of available financing. Other hotels are still full, while some cities have set aside special areas to set up “tent cities”. Indeed, refugees inn our own land.

Additionally, according to the Walla news site in Hebrew, the Department of Welfare and Human Services reports that as a result of the slaughter that took place on Black Saturday, 20 children were orphaned and 96 were left with one parent. At a meeting of a special Committee of Labor and Welfare regarding the treatment of children orphaned by war, the Committee Chairman, Member of Knesset Yisrael Eichler, of the United Torah Judaism party, said: “The State of Israel never dealt with a situation like this since the day of its establishment, not in the numbers and not in its essence.” The main problem is that the figures of missing and orphaned children is not yet final and they continue to change. More than that, it is not clear which government department is responsible for dealing with those minor children and that there are a lot of relatives who took in orphans, all resulting in the need for someone to coordinate between the various factions. Too many issues, not enough concrete solutions.

I am leaving out facts regarding the targets of various missile launchings in the south, the middle of the country and cross-border gun fire and mortar fire in the north. All of these are on-going and they will be reported on in additional updates.

Bon Appetite!

It’s been claimed, rightly or wrongly, that if Jewish people stop eating Chinese and Italian food, we will put two countries out of business. There is a very good Chinese Restaurant in Haifa, whose owners we have known for close to 40 years. The original owners were refugees from South Vietnam during the Vietnam War, who were received by Israel and were granted Israeli citizenship. They learned Hebrew and established a restaurant. Their children serve in the IDF and the next generation is now in charge of the restaurant. They are very thankful for Israel and loyal to it, demonstrating it in no small number of ways. There is a particular unit of the IDF not far from our area. We reached out to the owners of the restaurant and ordered food for the unit, which the restaurant delivered. Needless to say, it blessed the soldiers and we were blessed as a result. There is a short video of the unit expressing thanks in unison. But, we were not able to cover the faces, so we can’t show it. Still, you can see some of the pics. There was enough for all to be satisfied, as well as enough for a full meal tomorrow.

“His attendant said, ‘What, will I set this before a hundred men?’ But he said, ‘Give them to the people that they may eat, for thus says the LORD , “They shall eat and have some left over”.’ “ (2 Kings 4:43)