This is a photo of Israeli designed and built Merkava 4 tank seeing widespread use in the Gaza War. I am not posting a photo of a weapon to praise the use of weapons. I am doing it to recognize the ingenuity here in Israel being applied to reduce dependency on foreign powers for our own defense. This tank has an active anti-tank defense system called Trophy that was also developed here in Israel. It recognizes inbound RPGs and anti-tank missiles, then fires countermeasures to actively neutralize them. That canopy you see on top is an invention that came out of the Ukraine-Russia War. It turns out that cheap Chinese made drones can be adapted to carry bombs that are directed over the tank and exploded remotely. Those canopies prevent that. During the three weeks in October before the IDF entered Gaza, army personnel and volunteers were busy welding those canopies in place before those tanks went in. And staff from Mobileye, the largest autonomous vehicle company in the world, went down to Gaza placing rear facing cameras on the tanks so the operators could get full 360° views. Mobileye is an Israeli Company started by Amnon Shashua, former faculty member at the Computer Science Department at the Hebrew University. I guess that all those Pro-Hamas rioters on campuses in the USA will have to have their parents return all those Teslas, Priuses and many other cars built in the last 10 years as they employ technology built in Israel.
Hamas Gaza Rockets
No rockets fired from Gaza crossed the border with Israel today.
Casualties
Three IDF soldiers died during intense combat in northern Gaza in the past 24 hours: Master Sgt. (res.) Gideon Chay DeRowe 33 (Z’’L), Cpt. Israel Yudkin 22 (Z’’L) and Staff Sgt. Eliyahu Haim Emsallem 21 (Z’’L). Yudkin is from a village occupied by Ultra-Orthodox from Chabad and Emsallem served in the Netzah Yehuda, which is the ultra-orthodox battalion that the Biden Administration wanted to censure. Emsallem and Yukon were killed by a Hamas sniper in Beit Hanoun. DeRowe died when an IED exploded in a booby trapped building. Altogether, 286 IDF soldiers have died in combat.
Gaza Operations
The IDF is reporting that operations in Jabaliya are amongst the most intense of the war. Several pockets of combatants were found and eliminated in the past 24 hours. Also several batteries of rocket launchers armed and primed were uncovered during the targeted sweep operations of the area. Noting the importance of the Jabaliya Operation, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant went to visit with the troops there today. The Brigadier General commanding this operation is Brig.-Gen Dan Goldfus who has become a well know figure in this war and highly respected by many. In this article, my friend Seth Franzman provides a lot of the background and details to this operation. It is well worth reading. In it, he explains why/how the IDF skipped over some of the neighborhoods of this town back in November, early in the war. Many foreign “experts” and government officials have been using the fact that because IDF went back into Jabaliya it is showing how the IDF strategy is not effective as it allows Hamas to regroup. These people do not understand what the IDF has learned and how it is deploying its troops to effectively take out Hamas without inflicting too many non combatant casualties. To quote Seth:
“The repetition of the tactic the IDF is using in Gaza -- going into an area and clearing it, leaving it, and clearing it again – is having an effect. For instance, in the beginning, when the IDF went into areas such as Jabalya, it required more forces than it does today. This is because even though the enemy returns, they return in fewer numbers.”
One day Goldfus will be promoted to the highest ranks of the IDF.
There was also an IDF Air Force strike called in by Israeli intelligence to an UNRWA school in the town of Nuseirat located in central Gaza. The town was empty of non combatants. Several Hamas combatants were in the school. They were members of the anti-tank unit and many participated in the October 7 massacre. The school was used to store massive amounts of weapons. You can see a video of the strike here. You will notice several “after explosions” indicating that significant amounts of ammunition was stored there. The attack used the “smart ammunitions” in order to isolate the explosion to a very narrow corridor for the purpose of avoiding any non-combatant casualties. Those are the types of ammunition being held up from delivery to Israel by the Biden Administration.
And the IDF reports that it carried out a targeted assassination against a commander in the Hamas anti-tank unit, Ahmed Yasser al-Qara. In advance of the strike, the IDF located a child in the vicinity of the commander and the operation was held up until the child moved a safe distance away. In a separate, but similar strike the IDF eliminated three other lower ranking commanders. Here you can see a video of the operation including seeing how the UAV operator waited until the child was out of harm’s way. But, according to the ICC the IDF is intentionally killing non combatants… ???
Meanwhile in Rafah, the IDF deployed a fifth brigade staged in order to expand the operations there. Egypt reports that the IDF has now taken control of about 70% of the Gaza border with Egypt, called by the IDF The Philadelphi Corridor. Operations in Rafah have expanded into additional neighborhoods in the periphery of the main city. Yesterday, I reported that it “appeared” like the operation in Rafah was being intentionally stalled. But, I was wrong. It is proceeding methodically and carefully, expanding as it goes. During the course of operations, the IDF uncovered several rocket launchers armed and reach to strike. At the same time that these infantry and tank operations proceed through neighborhoods, the IAF is called in by the infantry when combatant cells are spotted and confirmed in order to neutralize them. On any given day, there at least 50 such air borne missiles fired at the combatants or their infrastructure. And NOW senior Biden Administration officials are saying that, the Rafah Operation, may aid the hostage/ceasefire negotiations as it will apply greater pressure on Hamas. Well, that is what the Israeli Government has been saying for weeks now, as the US has been threatening Israel with arm shipment delays and publicly leaked disputes between the two allies. And despite all the US Army criticisms of the IDF plans in Rafah, they are now witnessing how careful the operation has been planned and how quickly the non-combatants were evacuated.
The US Military Echelon has been briefing reporters and media outlets in the USA on their disappointment with how Israel is conducting the war. The most recent example is this article that appeared in Politico. Because I am not on the ground in Gaza, I am unable to verify the numbers they are throwing around regarding the percentage of Hamas Terrorists killed and the percentage of tunnels destroyed. But, from the beginning the advice given by the US Military, for the most part, was either provided to serve a political purpose or just outright misguided. The IDF officers listen, but then move on using their own tactics. Only time will tell how this plays out. There is a lot of criticism coming from the Biden Administration regarding how the IDF takes control over an area, evacuates and then returns later when combatants reassemble. They argue that this allows Hamas to re-assert its control and operate over an area previously taken by the IDF. But, maintaining IDF troops in hostile neighborhoods for sustained periods also opens them to sniper attack and suicide bombers…. as well as potential hostage taking. Base on much experience gained from operations in Judea/Samaria (West Bank) over the years and what was learned in the early weeks of the Gaza War, I believe that the IDF has figured out best how to minimize its own casualties, non-combatant casualties yet inflict damage on the combatants. That was proven beyond a shadow of a doubt on the Shifa Hospital operation back in the end of March when special forces went back in to the hospital found more than 800 combatants there, killed about 250, arrested more than 500 and without a single civilian casualty.
Lebanon Operations
Late this afternoon IDF fighter jets struck several Hezbollah buildings in the southern Lebanese village of Mays al-Jabal. These sites included armories and observation posts. While Defense Minister Gallant was down visiting troops in Jabaliya, Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi was up in the north near the Lebanese border reviewing the situation with commanders there.
Iraq/Jordan/Egypt
Today it was reported that about a month ago when Hamas announced that it agreed to the negotiated hostage/ceasefire agreement, what they agreed to did not resemble at all what the US, Qatar, Egypt and Israel had agreed to and detailed. It turns out that some entrepreneurial senior Egyptian “Intelligence (?)” took some very liberal means for modifying the draft before submitting it to Hamas. While it did not go public at the time, it apparently infuriated CIA Director William Burns, who was shuttling back/forth at the time, as well as Qatari and Israeli negotiators. Maybe that explains why the lead for negotiating (or the lack thereof) has moved back to Qatar. You can read more about it here.
On a different Egyptian thread (pun intended) here is an article detailing how the Hamas October 7 massacre basically rescued Egypt from near certain bankruptcy. It is a worthwhile read. Their economic situation has been aggravated by the shipping traffic that, as a result of Houthi attacks, has diverted much traffic away from the Suez Canal.
Now that Egypt has received the economic benefits from the tragic war, this article describes how/why they wish to see it end soon.
Those of you following me for some time may recall my post, when I was using Facebook, on January 9, 2024 in which I describe how Jordan’s Air Force attacked several sites in Syria because an Iranian proxy group there was smuggling in drugs and arms to a terror group inside Jordan, expecting to launch attack against the Jordanian Government. Well things have gotten a bit more serious. In a report in the Japan Times (distributed through Reuters), an article appeared a week ago detailing an Iranian led plot to smuggle weapons to assist opponents in the overthrow of the Jordanian monarchy. The captured weapons were intended for a Muslim Brotherhood terror cell in Jordan linked to Hamas. By the way, The New Arab publication is rife with anti Israel writers and editors.
Gaza Aid
Today, Secretary of State Antony Blinken communicated with the Egyptian Government insisting that they release all the aid pallets piled up on their side of the border in order to deliver it into Gaza. While Egypt complained that the Rafah Border crossing was an active battle zone, they were told that Kerem Shalom Crossing is not and the aid trucks should enter from there.
And so far, none of the aid that arrived via the US’s pier had been delivered to non combatants. Out of the 25 truck loads of aid, only 6 arrived with their cargo to the warehouse of the NGO, World Food Program, responsible for distributing it. The rest were commandeered as I reported two days ago. The NGOs along with the IDF and US Army personnel are meeting to coordinate alternative routes for the aid unloaded from the pier in order to avoid this problem in the future.
Hostages
This evening on Israeli TV a short, about 2 minutes, video clip taken from the GoPro cameras of the Hamas terrorists captured on October 7 was broadcast. I deliberately did not watch it. It shows five female hostages being taken captive by the terrorists. There were IDF soldiers serving in an outpost that observes activities in Gaza near the border. These unfortunate victims were doubly hit. First, they called into their superiors the night before warning them that something was going on. They were ignored. And then they were taken hostage to a fate that I hate to think about. The families of the victims pushed to have the video released in order to gain more impetus from the Israeli citizens to pressure the government. Apparently it is a short encapsulation of a longer 40 minute video. During the video one of the terrorists is saying in Arabi how they are so beautiful and how they will make good mothers…. I leave the rest to your imagination. Sick!!!! For those of you with a “strong stomach” you can watch the video here. But be forewarned that you should NOT watch it if any minors are nearby AND it contains graphic material that may be disturbing for some viewers.
Well the broadcast video seems to have had the intended affect as the War Cabinet in Israel met to discuss reviving hostage talks this evening here in Tel Aviv. I could tell because I could see the demonstrators outside the Kirya (Israeli Pentagon) from my window in my apartment. They were shouting and blocking traffic everywhere.
International
Today Ireland and Norway lived up to their threats to “recognize a Palestinian State”. Spain is expect to follow suit later this week. One has to ask about their motivations. Is it a punishment for Israel or a reward for Hamas?? Most of the Arab World will see this as a reward for Hamas and its tactics. For sure the Palestinians will see it this way. They will see that only through the use of force - rape, torture, dismemberment, taking hostages - do you achieve the goals you want. Hamas’ popularity will soar now. Pathetic!!! While such things should come through the process of negotiation, even if you insisted on doing this, they should have waited until things settled down and some form of new administrative power staffed by Palestinians takes hold in Gaza. Then that would be a reward, in advance, for doing something good, not perpetrating evil. Irish Foreign Minister Michael Martin announced that they decided to recognize Palestine in the borders following the green line set in 1948 armistice agreements. They also said that they would recognize the capital of Israel as West Jerusalem and the capital of Palestine as East Jerusalem. Do you think that they will move their Israeli Embassy to Jerusalem??? If that is what they announced they nothing should get in their way, no?
Hamas announced that they welcome the initiative from these three EU countries.
Politics/Demonstrations
In that category of “you could not make this stuff up” today a young Israeli woman was caught trying to sneak a small goat, hidden under her dress, onto the Temple Mount - Dome of the Rock. Apparently it was intended to be a religious sacrifice. During the arrest process, the small goat died of suffocation. Israelis, and Arabs, going up to the Temple Mount must go through stringent security.
In Your Copious Spare Time…
Former Israeli Ambassador to the USA, Michael Oren, wrote a very nicely organized article outlining his view on a plan for the day after. I found it a worthwhile read and I think you will too.
And here is a podcast appearing on YouTube of an interview with Haviv Rettig Gur, who I have referenced several times before. It was conducted right around our 76th Independence Day celebrations about a week ago. It is about 30 minutes long and worth hearing.