Shalom all,

The IDF moves south and surrounds Khan Yunis: Multiple brigades of the IDF were involved in the massive effort to gain control over Khan Yunis, the most crucial city in southern Gaza and the stronghold of Hamas. It is also the home of the two main Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar and Muhammad Deif. In the process, the southern command of the IDF was able to surround the home of Yahya Sinwar, which was destroyed by the air force before the ground troops arrived there. Unfortunately, Sinwar, the mastermind behind the terrorist slaughter of 7th October, was not in his home at the time it was destroyed.

Upon learning that Sinwar’s house was surrounded by the IDF, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remarked: “Yesterday I said that our forces can reach anywhere in the Gaza Strip. Now they are surrounding Sinwar’s house. So his house is not his fortress, and he can escape, but it’s only a matter of time before we get him.”

In addition, a major IDF force, that included two Divisions, pressed on into Shejaia, in northern Gaza, which is said to be the greatest remaining stronghold of Hamas in that area.

The three members of the War Cabinet held a press conference last night (5th December), during which they responded, among other things, to questions whether the continued humanitarian aid and fuel into Gaza decreases the leverage over Hamas regarding the release of the hostages. P.M. Netanyahu said there was no contradiction between the war effort and the supply of humanitarian aid. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant commented that the ground offense both requires and enables humanitarian aid, which, in turn, gives Israel the “right to demand” that Hamas fulfill its commitment to allow the hostages to vbe visited by the Red Cross, or, at the very least, to supply the hostages with needed medication. Netanyahu also spoke with the head of the Red Cross and requested that she speak to Qatar, which has proven to have leverage over Hamas, and tell them to exert pressure on Hamas to allow the Red Cross to visit the hostages still being held by Hamas, which now number 138. At the present time, it appears that Israel speaking with the Red Cross, the Red Cross speaking with Qatar and Qater placing pressure on Hamas to allow visits by the Red Cross are all wasted efforts. There was no follow-up to Netanyahu’s request. The situation of the hostages clearly deteriorates with each passing day. Some have been killed while in captivity, while others have died. They need much prayer coverage. And the government needs abundant wisdom to deal with the pressure of the families to make any deal necessary in order to bring about the release of the hostages.

Spies in the IDF? An article in The Guardian stated that among the various documents recovered by the IDF following the massacre of 7th October “was a thorough map of an Israeli military base, arguabaly more detailed than would have been required by the IDF itself. Compiling such a map could only have been done using ‘inside knowledge’ – almost certainly from a Hamas spy – an Israeli intelligence source said…The detail and sheer scale of the information found have led insiders to conclude that Hamas engaged in ‘years of planning’ – an effort that the IDF and other Israeli intelligence agencies simply failed to take seriously as a threat. There are details of weapon stores and home-produced guides to the munitions available.” (emphasis mine) The article also states that in addition to the 1,200 who were killed, “300 were taken hostage” (not the approximately 240 that has been constantly reported).

Antisemitism on college campuses: The presidents of Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (“MIT”) testified before the House Education Committee and Workforce. They were grilled and slammed for allowing the rise in antisemitic speech and incidents. New York Congresswoman Elise Stefanik proved to be the leader of the Committee’s questioning, as she was the toughest critic of the failure of those institutions of “higher learning” to curb the antisemitic incidents in their respective universities. In particular, Harvard University President Claudine Gay received the brunt of Stefanik’s unrelenting questioning, and even called for Gay’s resignation, noting that Harvard ranked “the lowest when it comes to protecting Jewish students”. 

When Rep. Stefanik asked if “calling for the genocide of Jews” was against the codes of conduct of the respective universities, the answer of all three presidents hedged their responses and said that the answer “depended on the context”. A short, three and a half minute video of the Committee Hearing, appearing on “X” (formerly Twitter) can, and should, be seen here . Should any of those universities still be treated as “esteemed institutions of higher learning”, or of high-priced campuses that provide unrestricted opportunities for the promulgation of hate and the encouragement of antisemitism, where their “learning” is takes place when the students “join the crowd” and “go with the flow” of intolerance. If the founding fathers of those institutions could see what happened to these institutions, they would probably roll over in their graves.

Opening the “tunnel” floodgates: It is reported that the IDF is planning to flood the Hamas tunnels with sea water. One of the reasons is to make the tunnels unusable. The other, more practical reason, is to cause the terrorists hiding in the tunnels to come out of the tunnels to escape drowning. It may take a while to arrange the piping system necessary to flood the tunnels. But, since so much of the tunnel network is located under existing buildings, both private and institutional, perhaps the fastest way of flooding them would be to blow holes in Gaza sewer system and let the sewage seep into the tunnels. It might expedite achieving he goals intended.

Sometimes, we’re in such a hurry, we just want to fill the car with gas and get moving to avoid getting stuck in the rush hour. And when we are in a rush, we often forget a few things.

Bless, be blessed and be a blessing,

Marvin