The two images posted today are dedicated to the brave and well trained members of the IDF Special Forces Unit called Oketz. This unit is composed of specially trained dogs integrated with a special forces unit that has done truly amazing work in flushing out the tunnels in Gaza. These brave animals have entered numerous tunnels with cameras strapped to their bodies searching and detailing the tunnels and terrorists occupying them. Last time I checked, about a month ago, six of these brave animals died while in combat missions.
No rockets launched from Gaza landed in Israel for the past 48 hours. No IDF casualties in the past 10 days on either front, but the eighteen seriously injured from yesterday’s Hezbollah drone attack remain in the hospital.
The IDF announced today that it wrapped up a series of infantry ground operations in central Gaza, around Nuseirat resulting in the destruction of 100 terrorist tunnels, rocket manufacturing facilities, rocket launchers, armories and operations facilities along with the elimination of more than 40 terrorists. One of the facilities was a large tunnel connecting Nuseiret to Gaza City. You can read more about it here and see a nice, short video of the operation. The brigade still in Gaza will most likely be replaced with a reserve brigade over the coming days to give the soldiers some time off with family. Preparations are also beginning for the IDF entry into Rafah and the seizure of the border area with Egypt. Follow up meetings between the USA and Israel regarding that operation are ongoing. It appears that the IDF is starting to ramp up strategic and targeted air attacks on limited sites in Rafah, perhaps in preparation for an IDF operation.
And today the IDF announced that during its recent operations in Beit Hanoun they eliminated the Hamas Chief of Internal Security, Yousef Shabat. You know, this is the guy who runs the Hamas torture facilities where they interrogate their own people. During the operation, an airstrike eliminate two vehicles carrying terrorist operatives.
The effective attack yesterday by Hezbollah on that Arab village in Israel’s north continues to cause ripples through the IDF. First of all, all eighteen victims remain in the hospital so the injuries were obviously serious. As important, is to figure out how the kamikaze drone managed to evade Israel’s radar systems. No sirens sounded before the blast because the drone entered Israeli airspace without detection. It appears that the drone flew at a very low altitude crossing the border, then in advance of reaching its target it ascended so it could make the most impact when it came crashing into its target. Without doubt many IDF intelligence units are busy trying to understand what happened and how to early detect such attacks in the future. This morning the IAF attacked an Hezbollah facility in southern Lebanon, eliminating a few of Hezbollah operatives. Hezbollah claims that so far 280 members of its military organization have been killed. In a related operation, the IAF destroyed an Hezbollah military facility after IDF observers saw Hezbollah troops take refuge there. It is unknown how many operatives were killed. This afternoon sirens sounded in the north again. It is not sure what is inbound yet.
The US ship carrying the equipment needed to build a pier off Gaza is scheduled to arrive this Saturday. It will arrive in the Israeli port of Ashdod. Meantime there is a flotilla scheduled to depart a port in Turkiye with “humanitarian relief”. But the organizations participating are major Hamas terror supporters. Last time they tried this was in 2010 and it ended up a disaster as supposedly these “unarmed” aid workers attacked unarmed IDF troops that border their ship with axes, machetes, etc. Nothing good will come out of this unauthorized operation. They are entering a war zone.
In related news, the cost of a sack of flour in Gaza has now dropped from a peak of 1,800 NIS a couple months ago to 95NIS (about $25 USD). A carton of 30 eggs are selling for $10 there. That is probably cheaper than in most of the USA. Many bakeries are now fully operational. I wonder what new fake images Hamas will cook up now to feed the international press?? Here are some photos of markets in Gaza. Yesterday an image of Gazans enjoying life on the beach made its way around the internet. It was real. Here are a couple more along with an article describing the resentment and frustration of the hostage families in seeing these photos knowing that while these Gazans are getting relief, their hostages are still being tortured, raped while imprisoned below ground. And in the middle of all this we get this most sincere and honest assessment from Philippe Lazzarini - A man-made famine is tightening its grip across the Gaza Strip…. This guy has the IQ of a toad. You can tell that he is totally unemployable at any sane organization. This guy just makes a bigger fool of himself each time he opens his mouth and tries to capture an insect. He is trying to hold onto a job leading the most corrupt, deceptive organization in the world. He continues to trade accusations against Israel. Now he is claiming that Israel is out to dismantle UNRWA. DUH!!! It should have been dismantled 75 years ago.
In a statement to Ashram Al-Awsat, a senior Hamas leader, Moussa Abu Marzouk, announced that Hamas has no idea how many hostages are alive and how many are dead. You can’t make this stuff up….
Defense Minister Gallant met today with many of the fighter jet pilots that participated in the defensive operation against the Iranian missile onslaught. He told them that “Our missions are not going to decrease, they will only increase.” The IAF has to be active on more than six fronts simultaneously - Gaza, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq (via Jordan), Yemen (via Saudi Arabia) and now Iran.
There are consistent reports, some of which I cited in a previous post, that the two members of the War Cabinet from the “Unity Camp” pushed very hard to launch a preemptive attack on Iran prior to the large wave of missiles entered Israeli air space. These two members, Minister Benny Gantz and Minister Gadi Eizenkrot, were viewed in Israel as move dovish than the other members of the War Cabinet. So this was a surprising revelation. During the conversations between President Biden and Prime Minister Netanyahu, Biden seems to have made convincing arguments on why Israel should temper its future operation against Gaza. As a part of that conversation it has been revealed, not confirmed, that in exchange for reducing the scope of Israel’s response the Biden Administration agreed to review and discuss Israel’s plan to enter Rafah in Gaza so it can eliminate the last few battalions of Hamas, Islamic Jihad and ISIS there. I think that this is a very good outcome and I believe the report authentic. It is very consistent with the way Netanyahu does things. You may recall that in a previous government of his, that he intended to announce the legal annexation of large parts of the Jordan Valley. But then the UAE came along and offered a Peace Treaty if Israel would stop. And that worked out with great outcomes.
On another, but important, note related to Iran, and it pertains to Hezbollah as well. The bulk of the armaments developed by Iran are offensive in nature like the ones we saw during the 320+ missile/drone attack last Sunday morning. They invest little in their defensive systems, relying on antiquated SCUD missiles from Russia and jet aircraft more than 40 years old. So in many ways, they are a “sitting duck” and a very attractive attack target. Likewise most of Hezbollah’s systems are intended for offensive measures as they largely rely on what Iran gives them. I do not think it would take a lot for the IAF to take out arms factories or infrastructure in Iran. But the aircraft would require refueling along the way. The key is getting sufficiently large ordinance on aircraft that are capable of taking out facilities deep underground such as their nuclear weapons development facilities. Iran announced that it would consider launching nuclear weapons if Israel were to attack it on its home turf. They put it as “Iran would review its nuclear doctrine” should Israel attack.
As I mentioned yesterday in a preliminary report, it has now been confirmed that Hezbollah and the IRGC have been evacuating commanders from Syria due to fears that Israel will strike there. It was confirmed today in the Lebanese press. I wonder if some of the rebel groups in Syria will see this as an opportunity now?
And there is an important development in the Red Sea arena near Yemen. Some of you may recall my talking about an Iranian vessel anchored off the coast of Yemen used to track commercial ships navigating in and around the Gulf. I had said earlier that I did not understand why the US military forces did not take this ship out of commission as it was responsible for directing all the offensive attacks launched by the Houthis. It now appears that Iran recalled the ship back to one of its ports in fear that Israel would attack it. You can read more about it here and see a photo of the “commercial” ship. For Israel it would have been a “sitting duck”. Previously it was claimed, but never confirmed by Israel, that a similar ship was heavily damaged in a similar attack a couple of years ago. By the way, that Iranian “spy” ship carried commercial license in order to try and avoid detection.
Israel’s Rambam Hospital in Haifa held a drill today, simulating the destruction of a large apartment building with many civilian casualties. The hospital has built the largest underground emergency medical facility known to the western world. They simulated an inbound flood of 100 casualties.
Meanwhile, the USA and many European countries have announced plans to increase sanctions on Iran. Hah, I say!! This is after eliminating them with the phony JCPOA agreement dating from the Obama Administration. Too little, too late!!
And today during a criminal investigation in the mixed (Arab and Jewish) city of Lod, near the airport, police found a missile and launcher in a kindergarten, within 20 km of the airport
Speaking of “good deeds”, today Michael Bloomberg arrived in Israel and held discussions with several Israeli mayors whose communities have been hit hardest by the Gaza and Lebanese wars. He plans on leading an initiative of investors to focus on a plan to invest in creating opportunities in the hardest hit communities.
Martin Scorsese’s office announced that he is taking on a new movie project to be filmed in Israel based on the life of Jesus. When this happens, Israel will be host to two of the greatest living US Directors - Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino. Tarantino lives in Tel Aviv with his family. When are Christopher Nolan, Denis Villeneuve and James Cameron coming here???