In Israel, Memorial Day is followed immediately by Independence Day. Both follow the Jewish Calendar (Lunar). And there is a truly incredible transition between the two. Throughout today, all across the country, families were visiting the gravesites of loved ones lost either in this war, a previous war or through a terrorist attack. This evening, together with friends, we attended an event right outside the Old City in an area known as The Kidron Valley. For those of you who have visited Israel, it was in the valley between the King David Hotel and the Jaffa Gate. The photo you see above was taken early on at the event. The walls you see are only 500 years old, being built during the period of Suleiman the Great, an Ottoman King. Since we were technically still in Memorial Day at the start, several parents of soldiers fallen in the current war spoke about their sons, their lives, how much they are missed and how important it is for the country to stay united. Before that there was a single performer singing very solemn songs.
Then at about 19:15 (7:15PM) the evening prayer started. Everyone stood and prayed together. This video was taken near the start. Those that wished to pray separately (i.e. men separated from women) moved to different sides of the main area. For those that didn’t care, men and women remained together. But, everyone prayed together. It is an expanded set of prayers from the normal evening prayer. By the time the prayers started, there had to be more than 5,000 men, women and children there. We were wrapping up by about 21:00. When we got to the end, the shofar is blown. You can hear part of it in the following video.
And then, “just like that”, the evening transitioned to Independence Day and the dancing started. See photo below.
Ordinarily there would be dancing in the streets all over the city as well as other cities, towns, settlements across the whole country. But, celebrating was much more sedated this year due to our ongoing war in Gaza. I took the photo below on our walk back home. It is of David’s Citadel inside the Old City. The walls surrounding David’s Citadel were built in about 20 BC by King Herod. Inside the Old City one can find walls dating back to the First Temple Period, about 2,600 years ago.
Everything here takes on special meaning, particularly when we are in the middle of a war. By combining Memorial Day, followed immediately by Independence Day we understand the sacrifices made and all those young people killed so early in their life, in order to create and perpetuate the miracle we call, Israel.
Two rockets launched from central Rafah landed near the Kerem Shalom border crossing used solely for bringing aid into Gaza. Both rockets were intercepted. No damage or injuries. No IDF casualties were reported in the past 24 hours.
The IDF continues its three separate operations in Gaza in the areas of Jabaliya, Zeitoun and eastern Rafah. At this point, it is estimated that the IDF divisions operating in Gaza at are about 50% of their peak levels back in November, 2023. Operations in Jabaliya, Gaza have increased in intensity in the past day. Situations of hand to hand combat have emerged. The IDF has reported five seriously injured soldiers, including two from a special forces unit, Yahalom. Early yesterday morning an infantry operation in central Gaza resulted in the killing of a senior official from the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, another terrorist group with operatives in Gaza as well as parts of Lebanon. Near the Rafah border crossing several tunnels, armories and rocket launching sites were uncovered and destroyed. There were also armoire
During fighting in Rafah, an employee of the UN Department of Safety and Security was killed and another wounded. At this point it is unknown if it was Hamas fire or IDF. The IDF is investigating.
This afternoon sirens sounded in Israel’s north, warning of inbound hostile aircraft. No reports of damage or injuries yet. Early this morning anti-tank missiles fired by Hezbollah landed in an Israeli town, Zarit. It is less than ½ km from the Lebanese border. Four IDF soldiers were injured, three with light wounds and one moderately wounded needed hospital care. A little before the anti-missile fire, two kamikaze drones launched by Hezbollah landed in open areas near the small town of Beit Hillel near the Lebanese border. No injuries or damage was reported. IDF fighter jets attacked several Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon including armories and missile launching sites. You can see the operation in this video. You will notice pronounced secondary explosions indicating that other weapons were stored in large quantities at the site.
Another UAV drone launched by Iranian proxies in Iraq tried to enter Israeli air space but was intercepted over Jordanian territory.
Israeli protestors from the “Tsav 9” movement vandalized a couple of aid trucks enroute to Gaza. This is the most serious incident to date. They are taking these actions because they demand that there should be no aid until the hostages are released. Today there was an uptick in aid trucks entering Gaza, 64 trucks. It is still off the peak of 360 trucks, but both Rafah and Kerem Shalom border crossing are not functioning at all or only partially due to Hamas rocket fire from Rafah. Most of these trucks are coming through the northern Erez crossing. This should increase once the second northern border crossing is opened.
There are reports coming out from multiple news sources, including The New York Times, that Yahya Sinwar was running a secret Gestapo like police force focussed on surveillance of more than 10,000 Palestinian civilians. Sinwar, by the way, was imprisoned in Israeli jails with a life sentence for killing Palestinian Arabs, not Israelis. He was notorious for seeking out informers, torturing them and killing them, even if he had no evidence. The IDF intelligence units captured all the data. I am sure that they are putting it to good use.
Last night, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant conducted a phone briefing with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken regarding the ongoing, but expanding, Rafah Operation. Gallant described the current state of troop deployment and encounters with the enemy, stressing that the operation is still limited and focused on specific objectives. Blinken reiterated the Biden Administration position that the Rafah Operation is a “mistake”.
More details are now emerging regarding events leading up to the IDF’s entry into eastern Rafah. Firstly, the IDF offered officials from the Palestinian Authority PA the option to send representatives to take over the operation of the border crossing with Egypt at Rafah, both for aid and people. But the PA refused, presumably because they do not want to appear like they are cooperating with Israel. Or because they are afraid of Hamas. Or both. Moreover, Egypt threatened to suspend the Peace Treaty with Israel as it was angry after it claimed to receive such short notice. Egypt’s claim is nonsense. Senior IDF officers visited Egypt to meet with their counterparts at least twice to brief them on plans for Rafah. It was announced today that more than 400,000 civilians have left eastern and central Rafah. That is about 40% in a week. The USA insisted it would take three months to evacuate the civilians.
During various Memorial Day ceremonies across the country today, protesters, in some cases, tried to disrupt various government officials when they would get up to speak. I find this very unfortunate and not appropriate for a day of mourning and unity of purpose.
Turkiye made a rather interesting announcement today. They said that they are treating more than 1,000 Hamas terrorists in their hospitals for injuries sustained during the fighting. They are NOT treating Gazan civilians, only the terrorists… which they label freedom fighters.
I came across this twitter post providing a recording of a conversation, in Arabic, with a family leader at a home in Gaza, near a bank which the IDF intended to blow up. It is about 4 minutes long and worth listening to as you hear how the thinking goes amongst the civilian population. In short, Sinwar by running the schools for a long time has managed to create a Jihadi philosophy of life throughout the civilian population. You will hear the family head encouraging the IDF to blow up his family so they can become martyrs and create international pressure on Israel. I cannot prove when this recording was actually made, but it is authentic. In the words of the family head, “we value death, while you value life”.
And this approach to life explains why Hamas leadership is so keen on remaining in power in Gaza. Here is a good analysis of what Hamas is hoping for in a post war scenario. They are hoping to create a society like Hezbollah has created in Lebanon. That is one where they can continue to conduct a war of terror against Israel while allowing either the PA or some other entity to run the administrative functions so they don’t have to bother. But the reality is that the PA is not so keen on running a government either…
Finally, if you find the time you might find this interview with Dr. Mordechai Kedar, professor at Bar Ilan University, on the Arabic channel of Sky News, a cable TV network in Great Britain. The man is the most knowledgable public figure, in my opinion, of not only the Arabic language but also the political structure of societies around the Middle East.