Today’s Image
The Israeli Olympic Team, which has come under numerous threats to their lives, paused today their competition in order to hold a minute of silence to honor the victims of Hezbollah’s attack on Sunday. Here you can see a photo taken during that short ceremony.
Gaza Rockets
No rockets fired from Gaza landed in Israel the past day.
Casualties
One other victim from the Majdal Shams tragedy died. Originally he, Guevara Ebraheem - 11 (Z’’L) was reported missing, but then they found his body. That brings the total to 12 killed in the attack. Eight children remain in the hospital with conditions ranging from critical to light.
Gaza Operations
The IDF reports that the divisions operating in Khan Younis have encountered major Hamas resistance resulting in many combatants killed in battle. They are finding many booby trapped buildings and tunnel entrances not reported in the previous incursion.
Operations are also continuing in Rafah.
Lebanon Operations
As you might recall, during President Trump’s term as President, the USA recognized Israel’s jurisdiction over the Golan Heights in 2019. Today, the White House issued a statement reiterating its position that the Golan Heights are a part of Israel. I think that the editors of the New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN and MSNBC should read and re-read that announcement. You can read it here.
Prime Minister Netanyahu visited Majdal Shams today in order to see the site, meet with the village leaders and extend his condolences to the bereaving families. He was greeted with respect but some of the attendees yelled for the Prime Minister to leave. They are upset with him mostly because they believe that the government is not doing enough to deter Hezbollah from attacking Israel. This is part of the irony of the situation. Those of you living outside Israel hear from your political leaders that Israel has conducted its operations against Hamas for too long and done too much damage. But most of the population in Israel think that when it comes to the operations against Hezbollah, the government has not been aggressive enough.
Overall, it is my impression that the IDF is going to wait for a time of its choosing and set of high value targets to expose themselves before taking the action it needs to in the aftermath of the Majdal Shams tragedy. Everything reported today is along the lines of what has been going on most days in the past six months.
Very early this morning IDF artillery shelled several Hezbollah military facilities in southern Lebanon. Then at around 06:00 the IDF shot down an Hezbollah drone that triggered sirens due to fears of falling shrapnel.
There are reports from the Associated Press that unnamed officials from within Lebanon have found that Hezbollah has started moving its “smart precision-guided missiles” into position in order to attack Israel in the event that a full war breaks out.
Among other actions, IDF drones conducted several assassinations today of Hezbollah combatants successfully eliminating them Here is a video of one. Right now, the names of only two of the targets were announced - Abbas Salami and Abbas Hijazi. Their roles within Hezbollah were not disclosed. Not much is being said about the identity of the other victims publicly at least. One of them is reported to be a member of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Unit.
And another Hezbollah kamikaze drone was neutralized today over Israel’s territorial waters in the north. It is not clear whether it was heading for shore or intended to attack one of Israel’s offshore gas rigs. One of IDF Navy’s Sa’ar class boats launched a sea to air Iron Dome missile and neutralized the Hezbollah drone.
Lufthansa and Austrian Airlines (a subsidiary of Lufthansa) have suspended flight operations in/out of Lebanon. The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan has advised its citizens to leave Lebanon immediately. Germany has advised all its citizens to leave Lebanon immediately. There are reports of British naval vessels in the Mediterranean, rumored to serve in case an evacuation of Lebanon becomes acute.
Yemen Operations
Iran, not the Houthis, seized a Togo flagged oil tanker today carrying a full load of crude oil from the Gulf. Iran insists that it is “smuggled” whatever that is supposed to mean.
Syria/Iraq/Egypt/Jordan/Turkiye
I just had to add Turkiye to this list today. President for Life Tayip Erdogan accused Israel of “ongoing genocide in Palestine” and threatened to send in Turkish troops in order to invade Israel. Erdogan said:
Just as the genocidal Hitler met his end, so will the genocidal Netanyahu. Those who tried to eliminate the Palestinians will be held accountable, just like the genocidal Nazis. Humanity will stand with the Palestinians. You will not be able to eliminate the Palestinians. Just as we entered [Nagorno-]Karabakh, just as we entered Libya, we might do the same to them. There is nothing we can’t do. We must only be strong.
IDF General
There are two investigations which have been launched by the IDF military prosecutor relating to the treatment of Palestinian Terrorist prisoners captured during the current Gaza fighting and being held in the Sde Teiman detention facility. This facility was set up on a temporary basis. The Israeli Supreme Court, a month ago, heard arguments insisting that the facility be closed as it is not appropriate for holding prisoners on a long term basis. The government responded to the Court by insisting that the facility was temporary and they were working on constructing a new prison facility to house the prisoners. Building and administering prisons is the responsibility of the Ministry of National Security, being run by the right wing extremist leader Itamar Ben Gvir. But, in the meantime this facility is being administered and run by the IDF on a “temporary” basis. Now, back to the investigations.
The first case involves a single IDF reservist soldier found to have been abusing imprisoned terrorists. The case was initiated two months ago and is being tried in a military court. I guess that there is enough evidence that the military prosecutor will indict this individual.
The second case was initiated today and involves nine IDF soldiers accused of abusing an imprisoned terrorist, a commander of the Nukhba Force that led some of the forces in the massacre of October 7. All nine were arrested after an investigation launched two weeks ago. The alleged abuse took place three weeks ago, again on a singular prisoner. According to the prosecutor, the prisoner was found at the base in critical condition and rushed to the hospital for treatment. The prisoner was treated and is no longer in life threatening condition. The arrested soldiers, or at least four of them, have already secured legal counsel to defend them. That legal aid organization announced that the charges will not stand up in court as their clients were acting in self defense. The detainee initiated the attacks and the actions of his clients were in an effort to restrain him.
The arrest prompted a huge political confrontation. National Security Minister Ben Gvir, along with other ministers from his party and other right wing extremists went to Sde Teiman in an attempt to storm the prison. They adamantly object to any IDF soldier standing trial for abusing terrorist prisoners. Then to add gasoline to the fire, Justice Minister Levin, who led that entire Judicial Reform mess in 2023, publicly declared that he will push forward with the Judicial Reform legislation in order to circumvent situations like this. But, right now the entire affair is within the military court system, not the civil court system. So I do not think that his legislation would have any affect and, moreover, his legislation was deeply flawed and removed some of the checks and balances in the Israeli system of governance. And these extremist nut cases had the audacity to say that ministers are allowed to break into military bases.
Charges are already being filed against some of the “demonstrators”. What these idiots don’t understand is that maintaining our system of governance is essential to maintain the democracy of this country and are the best deterrence against interference from International Courts which have no jurisdiction if internal systems of justice are active and working.
After the attempts to break into the detention facility earlier this afternoon, the extremists did break into the IDF’s Beit Lid base where the accused IDF soldiers are being held. The IDF ultimately removed them from the premises. You can read more here.
Leader of the Opposition, Yair Lapid, who incessantly attacks anything the government does issued this statement today:
The prime minister asked two hours ago to calm passions. Since then, journalists have been beaten, posters reading ‘the military advocate general to prison’ have been waved, and masked uniformed men with guns demonstrated against the IDF base of Beit Lid (the facility where the accused IDF soldiers are being held). This is not a riot, this is an attempted coup by an armed militia against a weak prime minister who is unable to control his government.
The head of the Israeli Bar Association had this to say:
The severe riots and acts of sedition happening right now at Sde Teiman are anarchy and the trampling of the rule of law. We are all for the IDF soldiers and the reservists but when suspicions of severe criminal violations are raised there is no escape from an independent investigation.
Our President Isaac Herzog had this to day:
This morality has stood and is being tested even in the face of cruel enemies, including the cursed Nukhba terrorists, hatred of whom is surely understandable and justified. Let us not forget that our enemies try to persecute us again and again, including in the international legal arena – the commanders, the fighters, and the elected officials. It is forbidden in any way to give them grounds against the IDF and the State of Israel…. breaking into a military base by civilians, and certainly when it is done with the encouragement and involvement of elected officials, is a serious, dangerous, illegal and irresponsible act, which first and foremost harms us as a people and as a country…. I trust our IDF, its commanders and soldiers to act accordingly.
The government’s Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara came out strongly in support of the military prosecutor saying:
I give my full backing to the Military Advocate General, the law enforcement agencies in the IDF, and the Israel Police, who are working professionally and fairly for the sake of abiding by the law.
And Prime Minister Netanyahu had this to day:
The IDF will continue and act in accordance with the law. We must allow the authorized parties to carry out the necessary investigations while maintaining the dignity of our soldiers.
Aid
Today the Hamas run Gaza Health Ministry declared a polio epidemic across the entire Gaza Strip. There has not been a single case of Polio reported but it is now, according to them, an epidemic. Testing waste water in Gaza showed evidence of the Polio Virus as I reported a week ago. And as I reported then, a million of the Gazan residents were inoculated against Polio at the onset of The War. And as I reported two days ago the WHO has just received 1 million vaccines that they intend to administer to the population in the coming weeks. And the IDF is inoculating their soldiers.
BUT, this will not stop all the major newspapers - BBC, New York Times, Washington Post, The Guardian, al-Jazeera, etc., etc., etc. from posting headline articles claiming that there is now a Polio Epidemic in Gaza. And then South Africa will amend its case against Israel at the ICJ to include charges of intentionally trying to infect Gazan residents with Polio… no doubt.
Hostage/Ceasefire
Accusations are being exchanged between the government and Hamas regarding who is at fault regarding the lack of progress on the hostage/ceasefire proposal. The government is insisting that Hamas demanded 29 changes to the “generous” proposal put forward by the government. And in response the government made 3 adjustments to Hamas’s response. In the meantime no progress is apparent from public remarks but who really knows what is going on in the background. Defense Minister Gallant warned that delays in reaching an hostage deal could harm the safety of the hostages. You can read more here.
International
Iran’s new so-called liberal President Pezeshkian informed French President Emmanuel Macron that any Israeli attack on Lebanon will have serious consequences for Israel.
And In Your Copious Spare Time…
Here is an article in The Jerusalem Post which describes an unusual convergence of interests resulting in a joint military base being established by Israel and the UAE for the purposes of observing and acting on intelligence gathered about the Houthis and their operations.
And here is another Jerusalem Post article well worth reading in which they describe phone interviews with a handful of Lebanese Druze about what happened in Majdal Shams. While it is all anecdotal it is very revealing and interesting. Until now, the Druze along with Christian Community has toted the Hezbollah lone as they are militarily intimidated by Hezbollah and its firepower.
Most of you won’t remember, but back in 2022 just before the most recent set of elections here Yair Lapid, the head of the opposition Yesh Atid Party was the lame duck Prime Minister. During his short term in office, he pushed through a very flawed three way agreement between Israel, the USA and Lebanon with the intention of establishing the maritime border between the two countries. Here is an excellent analysis of why that deal was flawed and ill-conceived by Lapid, the non stop critic of the current government. I have never voted for Lapid as I thought he is stupid and very self serving. And here is a good explanation on why that deal was so poorly constructed on the premise that it would bring peace as Hezbollah would not attack and jeopardize any future Lebanese gas field.
And here is a report I have started seeing appear in several different sources, so I note it here. Apparently, the US designated envoy who has been shuttling between Lebanon and Israel for the purpose of securing some form of deal between the two appears to have been compromising Israeli intelligence all the time. I was wondering why we no longer heard his name or seen him in the region for the past two months. I believe the report.