Today’s Image
Meet Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer Yerushalmi, the woman that will be leading the IDF investigations into the tragic event last night near Rafah. She and her team are likely to be very busy for awhile.
Hamas Gaza Rockets
One rocket launched from Gaza crossed over into Israeli territory this evening landing in an open field.
Casualties
No IDF casualties were reported in the past 24 hours.
Gaza Operations
The big news today is last nights missile strike by the IDF on targets in the Tel Sultan, a neighborhood in the western part of Rafah. Hamas and most international media have claimed that the missile struck an area within the IDF designated humanitarian zone, but THAT IS NOT TRUE and foreign media do not bother fact checking as all they do is echo Hamas. The targets of the attack were two very senior Hamas commanders. Both sat in Israeli prisons but were released back in 2011 as part of large release of 1,027 convicted terrorists in exchange for the captured IDF soldier, Gilad Shalit. They are Yassin Rabia and Khalid Najjar, who ran all of Hamas’ terrorist operations in Judea/Samaria (West Bank). They were responsible for transferring funds and directing the daily terror attacks coming from the Arab community in the West Bank. Hamas is claiming that 45 Gazans were killed in the strike. The IDF has launched a full and serious investigation into the matter. I expect more details to emerge in the coming days. The IDF has a formal system in place for launching investigations of this sort which will include looking at video footage of the strike and those who were operating the UAV drone. The members of the investigation committee are outside the chain of command. It was ordered by Military Advocate General Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi. In a press conference today, Tomer said that
The details of the incident are still under an investigation, which we are committed to conducting to the fullest extent. The IDF regrets any harm to noncombatants during the war.
What we know so far is that two missiles “reduced in size” were used in the attack and are typical of such attacks. What is meant by that is that the missiles were nowhere near the class of the 2000 pound missiles used to destroy tunnels, but were smart missiles much smaller in size. The IDF insists that before the attack aerial surveillance of the area was conducted, they used precision munitions and had other, undefined, intelligence information. Further, the IDF says that before firing the UAV operators verified that there was not a civilian population in the same building as the targeted terrorists. Based on all this information the initial assessment was that there were very few citizens around the area at the time of the strike. Most of these strikes take place at night for the main reason that civilians are less likely to be around as they sleeping in their homes. It appears that most of the deaths were due to the fires ignited in the aftermath of the missile explosions rather than the explosions themselves. Those fires spread from some after explosion and then spread to tents not far away that ignited very quickly. I was not there and I am not privy to any inside information here. But fires like the ones that were ignited in this attack do not typically occur as a result of the missile attack itself. There have been too many pictures of missile explosions both at the time of the attack and soon after. I am guessing that either there were either a large amount of ammunition stored in the attacked building OR there was a reserve of fuel stored nearby. BUT, that is my view. We will have to see what unfolds during the course of the investigation.
Based on information from a captured combatant during fighting in Jabaliya, the IDF located large caches of weapons and communications gear in UNRWA schools. You can read more about it here. The IDF blew up an 800 meter long, 18 meter deep tunnel located in the Sabra neighborhood of Gaza City. You can see the operation in a video here. The IDF has expanded its operations in Jabaliya to the eastern section of the city where it is actively fighting numerous combatants, locating weapons, a bomb making laboratory and many tunnel entrances.
Lebanon Operations
This evening Hezbollah launched a rocket barrage consisting of 10 rockets at Mount Meron and another one at the northern Israeli city of Kiryat Shmona. The 25 rockets fired at Kiryat Shmona resulted in shrapnel doing minor damage and several fires, but no injuries. Fire fighters have been fighting fires in the north for more than 24 hours now, while under fire from Hezbollah rockets.You may remember that I spoke about this holy site two days ago in describing the Jewish Holiday of L’ag B’Omer. Ordinarily there would have been thousands of religiously observant people praying and celebrating there. But it was decided to block civilian access to the site this year due to the war. These attacks were followed by an Israeli fighter jet mission striking the locations of the rocket launches and nearby Hezbollah facilities in southern Lebanon. Several Hezbollah combatants were seen rushing for cover in these facilities as the strikes were conducted.
An Israeli drone crashed inside Lebanese territory today. The cause is being investigated, but the IDF announced that there is no fear of any intelligence leak.
Yemen Operations
This evening the Houthis announced airborne attacks on three commercial ships and two US destroyers in both the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea. The commercial ships are the MSC Michela and Laredo Desert in the Indian Ocean, and the Minerva Lisa in the Red Sea. All these areas are, by International Treaty, considered International Waters open to ships without restrictions. There have been no reports of injuries or damage. It seems to me that all this Houthi activity falls in the category of “those who play with matches often get burned”. If they are ever really successful in sinking a ship I wonder how the world, USA or European powers will react??
Syria/Iraq/Jordan/Egypt
Cross border firing broke out today between Egyptian troops and IDF troops. Each side claims the other fired first. One Egyptian soldier died as a result. It is strange that when Egypt reported the event they described the dead soldier as a “martyr”. The IDF has launched an investigation so more details are likely to come soon. Reports from Egypt are saying that IDF troops were engaged in a firefight with terrorist combatants (my description) when shooting started in several directions. At this point it is not clear who fired in the direction of the Egyptian troops. In the meantime, IDF liaison staff is in touch with their Egyptian counterparts.
International
Nikki Haley visited the communities surrounding Gaza today that were subjected to the attacks on October 7. Among other comments she said
I think it is very important to never talk negatively about an American president when you're on foreign soil. So this is not going to be a time where I'm gonna say anything negative about the president. What I will tell you is what America should do.
What America needs to understand is, when Israel's fighting our enemies, how can we not help them? The sure way to not help Israel is to withhold weapons. The sure way to not help Israel is to praise the ICC or the ICJ or any of those that are condemning Israel instead of condemning what happened,
If there's anything I've known over the years, [it's that] Israel values human life just as much as America does, just as much. And what they are having to do now is surgical, to go in there and make sure they eliminate Hamas. They need to finish Hamas. Don't stop until they finish. But also make sure that security is intact so that it never never happens again from Hamas or anybody else.
Needless to say, French President Emmanuel Macron said that he is “outraged” and that Israeli operations in Gaza must stop. And EU Foreign Policy Chief, who always has something to say about anything involving Israel, said that he condemns the strike and is “horrified” the news coming out of Rafah. The Whitehouse issued a statement “lamenting the devastating and heartbreaking images” coming out of Rafah. A spokesperson for the National Security Council said
Israel has a right to go after Hamas, and we understand this strike killed two senior Hamas terrorists who are responsible for attacks against Israeli civilians, but, as we’ve been clear, Israel must take every precaution possible to protect civilians … We are actively engaging the IDF and partners on the ground to assess what happened.
US President Biden announced that he expects a full investigation by Israel into the tragedy and will wait for further information. And, “surprise, surprise”, the Executive Director of UNRWA issued a statement calling Gaza “hell on earth”. Well that may not be far from the truth, but they should look in the mirror when pointing fingers as their collaboration with Hamas made Gaza what it was on October 7.
On a different subject, Israel’s Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara publicly castigated the International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan directly, saying his investigation into Israel’s actions lacked jurisdiction. She correctly points out that the ICC only has jurisdiction when it can be shown that the nations judicial system is either compromised, doesn’t exist or refuses to investigate such charges. She has gone up against this government more than once during its term in office for its plans on judicial reform and the cases against Netanyahu in court. In the “additional reading section” I refer to an article on the subject largely based on comments from Irwin Cotler, the former Attorney General for Canada. In Baharav-Miara’s words
The steps taken by the ICC prosecutor of the contravene the basic legal idea on which the court was founded, the principle of complementarity.
Politics/Protests
Yesterday, I reported that a member of the Israeli hostage negotiating team leaked to the press that “this government will never agree to a hostage deal because they insist on no permanent ceasefire”. Today
And War Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz accused Netanyahu and the government for prioritizing politics over the national priorities needed in the country. Specifically, he has a bill he has proposed regarding how to draft the ultra-orthodox into the IDF. But, the government is pushing a bill that they prefer through the legislative process. Because this government has a majority in parliament it is likely that their sub-par bill is likely to pass. BUT, Defense Minister Gallant has come out against the government’s bill. If several other members of the Likud Party follow his lead it could cause a crisis in this government. According to Gantz
This law will not pass the Knesset, will not pass the High Court and most importantly — will not pass the public … Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is “responsible for the breach in security” that will occur if the bill passes into law.
The government intends to bring the bill to a vote in 14 days. It is unlikely to meet the approval of the Supreme Court. Prime Minister Netanyahu relies on the ultra-orthodox political parties remaining in the coalition to keep the government in power.
On a different subject, we have another issue with this government coming to the fore. Based on an independent investigation by TV Channel 1’s investigative staff, reports are emerging that Transportation Minister Miri Regev (a senior Likud Member, about whom I cannot say one good thing) used her role as Minister to systematically award contracts and give preferential treatment to local Likud officials in several different municipalities around the country. Demonstrations outside her home took place tonight. I certainly hope that the Attorney General investigates what appears to be a massive amount of corruption.
In Your Copious Spare Time…
Here is an article written by Carolyn Glick on the subject of Egypt’s involvement in cross border smuggling of arms to Hamas. It is not long. I have read many of Carolyn’s articles and listened to some of her podcasts. Her views can sometimes bit a bit extreme, but her factual accounts of this situation and many others are on solid ground. Carolyn is from Chicago, came to Israel and served as a Lone Soldier. She was assigned to the IDF team, during the Oslo Accords implementation, to assisting the part of the IDF that daily communicated with the early stages of the Palestinian Authority. Much of her views come from personally witnessed events of lies and duplicity during that process. I think that this article is important for understanding how the Egyptians are behaving in all this.
And continuing on the subject of Egypt’s role in all here is a translated article from one of the larger Israeli newspapers written by Smadar Perry.
And here is an analysis of how other Middle Eastern countries would view Israel’s effort to destroy Hamas’ rule in Gaza. It was written exactly one hear before the horrendous terror attack last October. So one could say that it was “prescient”. And most important…. it aligns with what I have been saying on these pages for a long time :-))))) .