Shalom all,

As of this update, the number the IDF death toll since the beginning of the ground operation in the Gaza Strip is 66.

Hostage dilemma: deal or denial. Ynetnews reported that according to what a Hamas official supposedly said to the Jordanian newspaper Al Ghad, there was going to be a pause/ceasefire/halt in the fighting that would go into effect as of 11:00 a.m. this morning. Well, obviously that hasn’t happened. So, let’s chalk up one more untruth emanating from the hellish halls of Hamas. From the Israeli side, it was denied that such an agreement was reached.

The fighting is ongoing, reports of IDF casualties continue to come in, loud and aggressive protests call for the government to “bring the hostages home now”, while Yehya Sinwar, the head of Hamas, sets the terms that he wants Israel to agree to in order to effectuate a release of hostages. It should be pointed out that Hamas is not willing to capitulate, but it is willing to “negotiate” – on its terms. The families, friends and protest organizers, who are clamoring for the government to act, should ask themselves a simple question: What can Israel do to expedite the return of the hostages? If they consider all of the circumstances, they may readily come to the conclusion that what they are requesting is not going to be decided by Israel, but by those holding the hostages – Hamas, “Palestinian” Islamic Jihad and others. More specifically, the fate of the hostages will be decided, from a human point of view, by Sinwar. His erratic “on again – off again” behavior at the negotiating table (through his intermediary, of course) reveals that he is, essentially, a one-man show, who does not take into account the perspectives of other senior Hamas members.

According to an article today in Haaretz, an acknowledged leftist journal: “Israeli defense officials say Sinwar is still euphoric over the success of the October 7 massacre. Consequently, he is sticking to hardline bargaining positions and ignoring the enormous suffering he brought down on Gaza’s residents. But based on that same analysis, some people are arguing that Israel should leap at the opportunity for a deal, even though it won’t free all the hostages. Sinwar is less rational than, for instance, Hezbollah, they say, and might therefore cut off contact with the mediators or even with the hostages if the war intensifies. If so, there’s an urgent need to quickly extricate anyone we can from captivity.” (my emphasis) The use of the term “captivity” in the article evokes considerations of prisoners of war. The hostages are prisoners of terrorists, not of soldiers.

Again, we come back to the dilemma of whether Israel should do everything it can (in other words, compromise) to get out as many hostages as possible from the clutches of an irrational ego-maniac (as is argued by former IDF chiefs, or do everything it can to put more pressure on Sinwar to agree to Israeli terms, as suggested by the present Minister of Defense, among others. No matter how we look at it, entering into a deal with Hamas will buy time for Hamas to try to get its act together. There will be trickles of releases, but no comprehensive deal will be worked out until Sinwar, or whoever will take his place, is convinced that Israel’s ground offensive will not be able to destroy Hamas’s rule in the Gaza Strip, notwithstanding present victories on the ground by the IDF.

So, where does that leave us? Go for a deal and get as many hostages back as possible, or press on militarily to achieve the original goal of eliminating Hamas, its tunnels and its threat to Israel? The former will, at some point, necessitate ending the ground offensive, as more promises are made for the release of additional small groups of hostages. But, there still is no guarantee that ALL of the hostages will eventually be returned, or that whoever is returned will still be alive. Maybe at some later point, Israel could initiate military action to eliminate Hamas once and for all and finally accomplish what this war was intended to achieve

.The second alternative is to press on for military victory now, which would undoubtedly succeed in one of its goals, namely, removal of the threat of Hamas. But, that would be accompanied by the reality that we may never see most of the hostages alive again. The real, practical question is whether Israel will be able to locate and return all of the hostages through its military endeavor. That is doubtful, because, as I have written on earlier occasions:

“***Hamas clarified that it does not know the whereabouts of all the kidnapped children and mothers and would need to gather them during the initial days of the truce, provided Israel refrains from airstrikes.

“Additionally, Hamas expressed willingness to increase the number of released hostages, contingent on being able to locate them in Gaza during the truce.” In other words, Hamas has been “negotiating” to commit to doing something that, at this time, it does not even know that it can accomplish. So, we are back to square one and the question that I asked very early on: If it was up to you, what would you decide to do?

Hostages brought to Al-Shifa Hospital:Contrary to denials by Hamas and denials by doctors and medical staff that hostages were brought to the Al-Shifa hospital, video footage reveals that at least some hostages were brought there. This adds to the physical findings in other parts of this and other hospitals that reveal that the hostages were taken there. Whether they were treated or killed inside or outside of the hospital will eventually be revealed. For now, the footage speaks for itself. Hamas forgot to shut off the video cameras inside the hospital, which cameras provide evidence against their claims that the hospital was not used for their purposes.

In many instances, where the IDF goes and what it does in the Gaza Strip is based on intelligence information received from captured terrorists, as well as from civilian residents in Gaza – including the use of hospitals for Hamas bases. “The IDF’s Military Intelligence Directorate’s Unit 504 — which specializes in HUMINT (human intelligence) — has dozens of Arabic-speaking soldiers that are on the ground in the Gaza Strip, alongside the combat units, carrying out field interrogations and providing intelligence to forces….We received thousands of phone calls from [Palestinians willing to provide information] at a magnitude never before seen in the unit. It is evident that the residents of the Gaza Strip are not satisfied with the barbaric behavior of Hamas, the ordinary citizen understands that Hamas is bringing a disaster on the residents of Gaza that will be difficult for them to recover from.” If somebody wants to yell “war crimes”, they should direct their accusations at Hamas, not at Israel.

Today is World Children’s Day and some 40 children, including babies, are being held hostage by Hamas and other terror groups. Most of the articles dealing with World Children’s Day relate to the children in the Gaza Strip, while humanitarian crisis of Israeli children being held captive by Hamas is largely ignored.

And while President Joe Biden continues to say that a hostage deal is close to being worked out, two rockets were fired this evening from Gaza towards central part of Israel, setting off sirens in Tel Aviv.

The northern arena continues to see action, as the IDF struck a Hezbollah command center, along with other sites in southern Lebanon, following rocket and missile fire launched into northern Israel. Since the beginning of the war, about 1,000 projectiles have been launched by the Hezbollah into Israel.

The incredibly idiotic lie of the day: In an official statement of the “Palestinian” Authority, it denies that Hamas murdered participants at the music festival near Re’im and claims that the casualties there were caused by bombing from an Israeli jet fighter. Uncontrovertible facts prove that Hamas slaughtered and committed other atrocities on October 7th, which included those attending the festival. There will probably be many around the world who will believe what the P.A. claims. They won’t want to know the real facts, so they won’t be confused by those facts. After all, they’ve already made up their minds that Israel is guilty – it doesn’t matter what the issue is. For them, Israel is to blame. 

To round out the day:In addition to the hijacking of an “Israeli-linked ship” by the Yemenite Houthis, which had no Israelis on board, another sea adventure is soon to be undertaken from Turkey. An estimated 1,000 boats are reportedly getting ready to leave Turkey for Gaza and Ashdod this Thursday (23rd November). The goal is to break the Israeli sea blockade of Gaza and disrupt maritime trade with Israel. This is an enlarged, but repeat, performance of the Mavi Marmara “Gaza Freedom Flotilla” of May, 2010, which resulted in the deaths of ten Turkish activists and the wounding of ten members of the IDF, and caused an extended diplomatic strain in the relationship between Israel and Turkey. This time, it is estimated that some 4,500 people, including women and children, from 40 countries, will participate. The largest contingent will be with Russian activists (313 boats) and Spanish activists (104 boats). Although the organizers of the venture claim that none of the boats will carry weapons, still, if they attempt to violate the territorial waters of Israel, they will be stopped. Just another matter to pray about!

Update regarding Amitay, the IDF soldier who was severely wounded almost two weeks ago and had to have both of his legs amputated: He is still hospitalized in intensive care, sedated and ventilated.  He had another surgery on his legs today, which reportedly went well. Many more surgeries on his legs are expected. A prolonged hospitalization in the intensive care unit is expected.

 The family asks for prayer for him:

 * That no further infections develop and that the fever remains stable and low

 * Wisdom for the medical team regarding decisions regarding the continuation of treatment

 * That the wounds on the legs will respond well to the treatment

 * Full recovery for the left eye

And finally, if the war, the missiles, the vessel hijacking and the planned flotilla were not enough to deal with, the Israeli Ministry of Health announced this afternoon (Monday) that in light of unusual microbiologic results obtained as part of a routine sampling of the drinking water, it is mandatory for Haifa residents to boil water before drinking, cooking, preparing food, preparing medicines and brushing teeth. Water can be used for bathing and sanitation. These instructions are valid only for Haifa (where we live).

Bless, be blessed and be a blessing.

Marvin