Shalom all,

The number of IDF members killed in action since the beginning of the ground offensive now stands at 119.

Latest update about Urijah Bayer (as of 18:35 this evening): Following examinations this afternoon, the family was told that Urijah is not responding to stimulation and it appears that he is brain dead. Tomorrow, the medical staff will begin a series of examinations to determine whether, in fact, he is considered brain dead or not. The family is thankful for everyone’s prayers and support.

The nation mourns the tragic loss of three hostages: As is probably widely known by now, three hostages who were mistakenly believed to be terrorists, were killed by the IDF. Following an initial probe of the incident by the senior officer of the Southern Command, the situation appears to be as follows: A soldier stationed inside of a building in the Shejaiya neighborhood Gaza City saw three men coming out of a building dozens of meters away. They were shirtless and one of them carried a makeshift white flag. Believing that those moving towards him were attempting to lure the IDF into a trap, as has happened a number of times before, the soldier opened fire, killing two of the men, while shouting “terrorists” to the other forces. The third man was wounded, but managed to run back into the building that they existed from. The Officer commanding the battalion was inside the same building from which the soldier had fired. He went outside and told the forces to cease firing. Then they heard someone yelling “Help” in Hebrew, apparently the third hostage. A few moments later, the third man came out of the building and another soldier opened fire and killed him. It was only then, because of the third man’s appearance, that it was understood that he was one of the Israeli hostages. All three bodies were taken back to Israel for identification.

The Officer said that no “Palestinian” civilians had been identified in Shejaiya for a number of days. But, the only people in that area who wore civilian clothes were Hamas operatives, who collected abandoned weapons, then opened fire on the IDF and fled into other buildings. Some who wore civilian clothing also turned out to be Hamas suicide bombers. The IDF did not expect to see hostages walking around freely in the battle zone. 

The two soldiers who killed the three men were said to have acted contrary to established protocols. The IDF said, however, that the conditions of war, in the field, caused them to do what they did. The area where the hostages were killed was near the location of a deadly battle two days earlier, which resulted in the deaths of nine soldiers, two of whom were senior commanders. 

New protocols were issued by the IDF immediately following this tragic incident, which included: “There is a possibility that hostages were abandoned or escaped, and forces should be aware of the possibility of such an encounter and pay attention to tell-tale signs, such as speaking in Hebrew, raising hands, and clothing.”
Two days earlier, on Wednesday, the IDF saw a building that was spray-painted with the words “SOS” in English and the words “Help, three hostages”, in Hebrew. At the time, the soldiers who found the building believed it was bobby-trapped, as a number of other locations had been. Now, the IDF is investigating a possible connection to the three hostages mistakenly killed.

As for the soldiers who were responsible for killing the hostages – they are receiving psychological care.

Following the shooting deaths of the hostages, Herzi Halevi, the IDF Chief-of-Staff said today, in part: “The IDF and I, as its commander, are responsible for what happened, and we will do everything to prevent the recurrence of such cases in future combat…The three hostages, who survived seventy days of hell, approached IDF soldiers and were killed by our forces’ fire. There is nothing IDF soldiers and commanders in the Gaza Strip want more than to rescue hostages alive. In this case, we failed to do so…I believe the three hostages did everything to make us understand – they moved without shirts so we wouldn’t suspect a bomb on their body and held a white cloth to signal us. The shooting of the hostages was in violation of our rules of engagement. It’s forbidden to shoot at someone waving a white flag and seeking to surrender. However, this shooting occurred in the heat of battle and under extreme pressure…Our soldiers have been fighting for seventy days in Gaza and other fronts, bravely and resolutely to protect our home. In one moment, the complexity of our just war in Gaza is manifested. We went to fight to dismantle the enemy across the border, and to bring the kidnapped men and women home. Without determined fighting, we cannot bring back the hostages nor can we restore security to our communities. We must continue to fight vigorously, without losing sight of our objectives.”

Adding to Halevi’s comments, Israel Minister of Defense, Yoav Gallant, speaking at a joint press conference this evening with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and War Cabinet Minister, Benny Gantz, said: “As defense minister, I take [responsibility] for everything that happens in the security establishment, and everything that happens in this war, the achievements and the costs, and the severe mistakes. The same is true for the incident yesterday…I have lost commanders and brothers in arms, I have seen a lot of difficult incidents, a lot that were close to me, including friends dying in battle. This is one of the most tragic incidents I have ever known…The price of war is very high. We pay it every day, but when you know that you are on a path  that is just, then you are willing to pay a price until you achieve your entire goal, which here is destroying Hamas and returning all the hostages to their homes.”

“Why is it so difficult for the IDF to destroy Hamas’ military capabilities?” This was the simple, straightforward question posed by Anshel Pfeffer, in the Haaretz News today. His answer: “Hamas’ Gaza fortress is a military target like no other…The militarization of the Gaza Strip in the 16 years since Hamas seized control of the enclave from the Palestinian Authority in a bloody coup has created a battlefield without precedent in the history of war. Hamas was digging tunnels even before it took over Gaza in 2007, but those were mainly smuggling routes under the border with Egypt and a few attack tunnels under the border with Egypt – such as the one it used in 2006 to carry out the attack in which IDF soldier Gilad Shalit was captured and two members of his tank crew were killed…{There] are probably not enough bunker-busting bombs in the world to destroy the tunnels and the thousands of Hamas fighters still hiding in them.” 

Whatever our thoughts may be of the Gaza War and, particularly, of the unspeakable tragedy of killing some of the very people that the IDF was trying to rescue, we cannot condemn what happened from the comfort of our homes. We should be free to express those thoughts after we spent seventy days fighting terrorists in a extremely difficult war zone; after we experience the loss of more than 120 of our brothers-in-arms, including many officers whom we have known and served with for years and after we suffer from extreme exhaustion in combat. But, not now.

We need to be careful not to judge too quickly and not to pursue a knee-jerk reaction to a tragedy of war. The goals remain the same – elimination of Hamas and the return of the hostages who are still alive. We cannot, indeed, we must not, allow our emotions to rule our decisions, particularly in the middle of a war and in the face of a deadly enemy. But, it looks like some want to do just that.

Hostage families demand new “exchange” deal: Families of hostages still held by Hamas held a protest yesterday, urging the government to take the initiative to secure the release of the hostages. Chants from the crowd include, “Their time is running out! Bring them home now! There is no victory until every last hostage is released.” Many reject the premise that the military offensive will help to pressure Hamas to release the hostages.

In line with the pressure being placed on the government, David Barnea, the head of the Israel Mossad, met with the Prime Minister of Qatar to discuss the possible continuation of contacts between Israel and Hamas. Apparently, the meeting was set before the incident involving the three hostages who were mistakenly killed by the IDF. There’s a lot of background noise and the positions of the parties remain far apart, but the way the situation stands at the moment, even if Israel wants a deal, there isn’t one on the table. 

It cannot be said with certainty that the “release” of hostages in the middle of a war zone was intentional on the part of Sinwar. But, the tragic deaths of those three hostages evoked what could be considered as an anticipated outcome from the Israeli public, particularly from the families of those still being held hostage, namely: added pressure to make a deal with the devil for the return of the hostages – at any price, be it a full ceasefire and/or the release of all “Palestinian” prisoners. 

The demand of Yahyeh Sinwar to return to the bargaining table hasn’t changed: “All the hostages in exchange for all of the “Palestinian” prisoners held in Israeli jails.” The situation is now about 130 hostages in exchange for about 6,000 prisoners. Israel is reportedly prepared to enter into a partial release of hostages – all the women, children, elderly and wounded, in exchange for a temporary ceasefire. This time, however, Israel will have to keep a cool head and keep up the military pressure. Although Sinwar is getting closer to the chopping block, apparently, he still feels so secure in his hiding place that he sets the bar for discussion so tremendously high. When the idea of renewed negotiations is thought through, we have no choice to come to the conclusion that the decision to negotiate and the terms of the negotiation are both in the hands of Sinwar. Amazing, simply amazing!

Second front in the north, while the Gaza War continues: The “fighting” is getting considerably worse. The IDF is preparing its troops for combat in Lebanon. May it be that the temperature gets turned down, before a multitude of people get burned. This situation needs to be followed up.

More prayers for wounded brethren. Please add the following soldiers, brothers-in-the-Lord to your prayers:Elia (from a congregation in Haifa – condition not known); Sean (on a respirator – in Soroka Hospital, in Beer Sheva); David (both legs amputated – in Tel HaShomer Hospital, in Tel Aviv). These are all the details I have at the moment.

Bless, be blessed and be a blessing.

Marvin