Shalom all,

Israel Update – Day 6 of the War. The number of those killed or fallen since the beginning of this war has risen to 1,300. The number of wounded stands at 3,200. The incremental reporting of the numbers is undoubtedly intended to ease the emotional shock of trying to digest the magnitude of the slaughter. 

It is impossible to report everything that has happened and is happening since last Saturday, when this war began. There are news sites that will fill in the gaps, but all too often from an impersonal point of view. The reporting of atrocities, slaughter of innocents, beheading of babies, booby-trapping corpses so that they would explode and kill those trying to identity victims, shooting elderly and handicapped people at point-blank range, burning to death entire families in their homes, and more, cannot be reduced to objective numbers and dispassionate news. Many who deal with tragedy and death on a daily basis here find themselves hard pressed to cope with and express in words the horror of the sights that they have seen in the wake of the Hamas terrorist onslaught.

A veteran, experienced plastic surgeon, upon seeing the remains of victims of the Hamas murder rampage, was left in shock and pain. “These things I never saw, terrorists booby-trapped the bodies so that those trying to free them would be blown up.” When he left the area where the bodies were being gathered, he wrote these words to himself: “This cannot be repeated again after we swore ’Never again’.” He was helping to identify the bodies of those killed in the terrorist attack and said, in shock: “Until last night I thought I had already seen everything. As a doctor in the field, I saw burns, war wounded, terrorist attacks, terrorists who came to me after they exploded. But I have never seen such things in my life…I felt that I entered a Time Machine and went back in time to 1945, that I was released from a concentration camp. These were inhuman scenes, impossible to believe…The number of corpses was considerable and they brought them in frozen food trucks…They came to abuse, to eliminate and to eliminate. I don’t have in my vocabulary words to describe what I saw there. Those who did that are not animals, they are sub-animals…When I left there this morning, another truck came. [One of the workers from Zika – the organization that helps pick up bodies and body parts] said to me that there were bodies of 50 babies and children. We need to publish those pictures. One such picture will make it clear to the world who we have to deal with.” There’s more, but not for now.

There is this expression “the two-state solution”. Although it was buried a number of times, apparently, each time it buried alive and repeatedly made its way out of the grave. It was treated by those who live in “lalaland” and who refuse to accept reality. Then, it showed up again, with many encouraging it and urging it on. The murderous terrorist attack that took place six days ago should prove, once and for all, that the time has come to kill the concept and very thought of a two-state solution and bury it so deep so that not even the memory of it will remain.

The Hamas massacre was not enough for those who killed indiscriminately. Two days ago, the leadership of the Hamas terrorist organization called for a General Mobilization Day for “Al-Aqsa Flood Operation” to take place tomorrow, Friday, 13th October. The call of Hamas, translated by Memri (Middle East Media Research Institute) can be found at: <https://www.memri.org/reports/hamas-declares-friday-october-13-general-mobilization-day-al-aqsa-flood-operation-urges-west> It is worthwhile to take 2 minutes to read it. In its essence, it is a call to all Muslims and the “Nation of Islam” to take to the streets worldwide and join “the battle”. Don’t be misled into thinking that “the battle” refers only to Israel. It is a call to Muslims everywhere in “the West”, in America, and Israel and in other places for reinforcements from the “Palestinian people, the masses of the Arab and Islamic world, and free people worldwide”. The Daily Signal reported yesterday (11th October, 2023 – <https://www.dailysignal.com/2023/10/11/there-blood-hamas-issues-unambiguous-call-arms-support-jihad-waging-gaza/>): “Robert Greenway, director of the Center for National Defense at The Heritage Foundation, told The Daily Signal that the statement will result in bloodshed. (The Daily Signal is the news outlet of The Heritage Foundation.) “It is an unambiguous global call to arms…It will be heeded. There will be blood.” From past experience, we know that whenever there is a flare-up here, there are large numbers of Arabs who foment violence and even bloodshed. Not a small matter of concern is the existence of “Palestinian sleeper cells”, who wait for the right opportunity to spring into action.
But, not all are part of a fifth column. Thankfully, there are many Israeli Arabs who are dedicated to the existence of Israel, who want to see it thrive and prosper, who want to raise their children in peace and security and who align and affiliate themselves completely with Israel, despite occasional differences of opinion and viewpoints that are part of a vibrant, democratic country. Please see the attached video. 

A final word for now: The situation in the north of Israel is heating up. The opening of a second front is a real possibility. Hezbollah would hesitate to start something against Israel on its own. But, since Hamas and Islamic Jihad have already started a war, and have called for Muslims everywhere to join in, the Hezbollah terrorist organization could try to take this opportunity to carry out its repeated threats against Israel.  All the while, Iran sits by and hands out instructions to Hamas and Hezbollah, and others, to kill and to be killed.

“On your walls, Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen;
“All day and all night they will never keep silent.
“You who profess the Lord, take no rest for yourselves;
7 “And give Him no rest until He establishes
“And makes Jerusalem an object of praise on the earth.” (Isaiah 62:6-7)

Bless, be blessed and be a blessing.

Marvin