October 206, 2023, "The War"

My 156th post on The War

The photos you see posted today are of men serving in the IDF Desert Reconnaissance Battalion which is comprised of Muslim, Christian and Circassian Israelis who volunteer to server in the IDF. Many come from the Bedouin Community residing in both the northern and southern parts of Israel. The IDF invests substantially in this unit as it is also a means for integrating some of these marginal communities into Israel. The man in the bottom image is Sgt. First Class (res.) Salm Alkreshat (Z’’L) who died today during fighting in Beit Hanoun in Gaza. More about this Israeli Bedouin below.

Five rockets were fired from Gaza this morning. One landed inside Gaza, one was intercepted by Iron Dome and two of the others struck an empty warehouse causing a brief, small fire. Earlier in the day mortars were fired from Gaza against the Israeli city of Sderot, a short firing distance away. One IDF soldier was reported killed in action from an operation in the Gaza city of Beit Hanoun during infantry operations there: Sgt. First Class (res.) Salm Alkreshat 43 (Z’’L). Akreshat was a Bedouin Israeli, married with 12 children.

It appears that IDF troop operations are increasing once again in Gaza. During the course of patrols in Beit Latiya attempts were made by terrorists to attack the infantry. Before they could be eliminated the terrorists jumped back into the tunnels from which they emerged. Shortly after, air strikes were called in and the terrorists along with the tunnel entrances were eliminated. Also the Netzah Yehuda Battalion, the one presumably being sanctioned soon by the Biden Administration, has also started active operations in the north Gazan city of Beit Hanoun. To remind you, these soldiers come from the ultra-orthodox world and volunteer to serve in the IDF. Members of this battalion fought alongside members of the Reconnaissance Battalion during operations in Beit Hanoun yesterday and today. The infantry was successful in blowing up several tunnels and killing several terrorists. Later this afternoon the IDF issued an order for residents of Beit Lahaina to evacuate to another part of the town in northern Gaza. They were informed through leaflets, phone calls and public addresses in Arabic. The IDF is planning an operation there as some terrorists have returned to the 300,000 person town and have started operating there. The infantry units also spotted several rocket launchers “ready to launch” in southern Gaza. They called in IDF air strikes and eliminated the launchers.

It is also being reported that the newly arrived IDF brigades in Gaza have launched several simultaneous pinpoint operations based on gathered intelligence in and around the central Gaza Corridor. Gunmen were spotted, air fire called in and the terrorists operatives eliminated. In more than one case, secondary explosions took place indicating large ammunition stores. There are satellite images of a new “tent city” being constructed between the western edge of Khan Younis and the sea. There are suggestions that this is the beginning of the Rafah operation as this is the preparation for the Gazans who will be evacuated from the conflict area to be housed in this humanitarian corridor. These are based on reports in the Hebrew Press and there has been no confirmation from either the IDF or the government. This is conjecture and nothing has been formally announced. Reports like this are also appearing in US newspapers. Here is one from the Wall Street Journal.

During an air strike in south Lebanon Israel hit a building run by Hezbollah. Several operatives of Hezbollah were killed in the attack. Earlier in the day, there was an air strike on a moving vehicle in southern Lebanon about 40 kilometers from the Israeli border. The IDF said that this attack successfully eliminated two senior Hezbollah commanders - one in charge of their air defense systems and the other a senior ranking commander in their Radwan unit. Subsequent to these strikes, Hezbollah launched several drones reaching beaches in the north of Israel along the Mediterranean shore. They were eliminated by attack helicopters from the air. Hezbollah insisted that this was revenge for the killing of several of its commanders earlier in the day. This is the furthest south yet, that Hezbollah drones or missiles have reached. Here you can see some video footage of the event from a fishing boat off the shore of Israel..

Hamas’ spokesman, Abu Obeida, released a statement today, marking the 200th day since the October 7 massacre. In it he called for a united front across all the “resistance” forces alongside Israel’s borders as well as inside Judea/Samaria (West Bank). He also praised Iran for its large missile attack against Israel.

There is a lot of commotion being made about an outlandish Al-Jazeera report that mass graves are being dug up around a hospital in Gaza, in the city of Khan Younis. Al-Jazeera, the Qatari government run media outlet, claims that the IDF murdered these Gazans and buried their bodies in order to hide it. As I have mentioned to you before, just remember that everything you see and hear on your evening news, particularly coming from Al-Jazeera, is because this is what Hamas wants you to see and hear. They cannot show pictures of starving Gazans because aid is flooding into the Gaza Strip. They cannot show tens of dead Gazan children because they can’t find any. So they need to find some new issue. And this is it. The Palestinian Gazans buried many of their dead on the hospital grounds long ago, before the IDF entered Gaza. The IDF actually has proof as they possess recordings of the Gazans digging the original graves themselves. There were some sites where IDF soldiers were requested to dig up bodies so that DNA tests could be made. In this way they found several (< 5) bodies of murdered hostages which was the sole purpose for doing this. After the tests were made, the bodies were placed back where they were found. And this exhumation was only conducted when the IDF received intelligence that witnesses had seen hostages buried in those sites. According to the IDF “The examinations were carried out in an orderly manner while maintaining the dignity of the deceased and in a respectful manner,” the IDF said, adding that the bodies were “returned to their place in an orderly and proper manner.” The IDF insists that “The claim that the IDF buried Palestinian bodies is completely baseless.” As a policy the IDF does not bury the dead terrorists as they require a proper muslim burial by the Islamic Burial Society. You can read more about it here . This report is from an independent NGO. The original report is a prime example of Al-Jazeera fake news.

There is not a lot of talk of hostage negotiations, probably because there aren’t any really happening. The US Biden Administration labelled Hamas’ most recent response as “moving the goal posts”. If I had family being held hostage in Gaza for 200 days I would find offense with this description. Speaking of the families, most families in Israel hosted their Passover Seder with a spare seat and place setting to symbolize those Israelis unable to join in the observance of this most important holiday. The Hostage Families held an outdoor seder in what has become known as “hostage square” in Tel Aviv. They were joined by many supporters. Hundreds of them went on to demonstrate for their release this evening after the end of the holiday.

A rocket launched from Iraq attempted to strike US forces in north eastern Syria, but failed. The forces are there, together with Kurdish Troops, overseeing a large ISIS refugee camp. US troops were also attacked while on Al-Asad Air Base in Iraq today. No injuries or damage reported. This was the second attack since February 4. Speaking of Iraq, on the same day that the Iranian air base in Isfahan was successfully attacked by an air fired missile bypassing their radar systems, I reported that there was an explosion on a military base in Iraq, south of Bagdad, run by a Shi’ite Iranian proxy para-military organization. It has now been confirmed that the explosion was the result of a misfire in a large ammunition storage facility on the base.

Yesterday, among our good “friends” in Qatar, a member of the Qatari legislative Shura council, Essa Al-Nassr, spoke at an Arab League session saying “There will be no peace nor negotiations with the Zionist entity for one reason: because their mentality does not recognize negotiations, but rather only… breaking promises and lying… They only recognize one thing, which is killings; since they are killers of prophets.” Al-Nassr continued, in his speech, to praise Hamas and their “Flood of Al-Aqsa” Massacre, saying that this is only the beginning of such attacks against the Zionist entity. Remember, these guys are supposedly neutral parties helping to negotiate the release of our hostages?????

And here is a short video I encourage you to watch. It is in Arabic with English subtitles. It is a recording of a broadcast over Fatah TV. Fatah is the military wing of the PLO - Palestinian Authority. In it, they document how Hamas is stealing aid and hoarding it from its own population.

And for those of you with a bit more time, I recommend reading this very thoughtful analysis by Ambassador Michael Oren, former Israeli Ambassador to the USA on Iran and how we all got “here”.