Today’s Image
This is a Givati Company of IDF reservists who were called up on the first week of October. They have been called back twice since and are scheduled to go back to serve in October. Of the last ten months they have spent 65% of their time in the IDF, leaving their families, companies and university studies behind. Some of their small business are likely to collapse due to their service. Some have lost a full year of studies.
The unit is commanded by the boyfriend of my wife’s daughter. He is a very serious, honest and sincere individual loved by his unit. They have launched a fund raiser to help some of those in the unit that are “in need” in order to help them return to a normal life. If you have the “where with all” and inclination, they would appreciate any assistance you might consider. Donations are fully tax deductible in the USA. Here is the url - https://www.jgive.com/new/en/usd/donation-targets/132079 .
And if you do donate, please indicate on the “dedications” field - Via Eric’s Substack.
Thank you…
Gaza Rockets
No rockets fired from Gaza landed in Israel the past three days.
Casualties
No IDF casualties have been reported in the past five days.
Gaza Operations
At the moment IDF infantry is only actively operating in Rafah and the Netzarim Corridor. There is not a great deal to report today as the attention of the country, and the world, has shifted elsewhere in the Middle East - Beirut, Tehran, Doha, Yemen,…
Lebanon Operations
Yesterday, in my report on the assasination of Fuad Shukr in Beirut I mentioned that there was some cross claims as to whether the guy was actually dead or not. Well today the AFP, Agence France-Presse, was informed by a high ranking Hezbollah official that they found Shukr’s body under the rubble, dead. But legends live on, so we may never really know or have proof. Sky News also insists that his body was found. Confirmation finally came this evening when Hezbollah announced the funeral for Shukr to be held tomorrow. Apparently, Hassan Nasrallah will deliver a speech, but I doubt that he will show up at the funeral but will choose to broadcast his message from his underground bunker. As of this evening, Lebanon’s Health Ministry (much more reliable than the Hamas Health Ministry) announced that the total death toll from the assassination stands at 5. As they sift through the rubble the number might go up. It is estimated that 70 people were injured due to the blasts.
Meanwhile among the child victims of the Hezbollah attack on Majdal Shams 12 remain hospitalized with 3 still in serious conditions. That is progress from yesterday when I reported that 16 were hospitalized with 7 in serious condition.
Royal Jordanian Airlines announced that it is resuming flights to/from Beirut while Air France and Transavia (a low cost French carrier) announces that flights remain suspended.
In other related news, early this morning the IDF neutralized a kamikaze drone launched by Hezbollah across the border with Israel.
Yemen Operations
The Biden Administration announced today that they are applying sanctions on two people and four companies, in Yemen and China, who are responsible for sourcing equipment used in the construction of the Houthi’s advanced weapons systems. I honestly do not know what that means nor the consequences of the decision.
Syria/Iraq/Egypt/Jordan/Turkiye/Iran
Yesterday, I reported that Ismail Haniyeh, Chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad secretary general Ziad Nakhaleh were in Tehran visiting with the Iranian Supreme Leader. Today, someone assassinated Haniyeh while he was resting in his residence in Tehran. Nakhaleh was in the same building but emerged unharmed. A missile struck his residence directly instantly killing him and his bodyguard. Reports from Hezbollah sources claim that the missile used in the strike was launched from another country and it was not launched from within Iran. As of now, no one has claimed responsibility for the attack but everyone presumes that it was Israel. If so, that means that the IDF and Israeli Intelligence units successfully assassinated the leaders of two terrorist organizations sworn to Israel’s destruction, in the capital city of two countries at war with Israel in a 24 hour period. But, Israel nor the IDF have made any comments publicly regarding the assassination of Haniyeh, certainly NOT taking any credit or responsibility.
The implications of these two events are far reaching. Except for pointing out that both occurred in capital cities of countries hosting these senior terrorist I will focus today on Haniyeh’s assasination in Tehran as I spent considerable time yesterday providing background on Fuad Shukr. Haniyeh has been a senior figure in Hamas since 1997, just 10 years after the organization was founded. He represented Hamas in the second of two elections held by the Palestinian Authority in 2006. Under his leadership the organization pushed the platform of armed resistance, violating the Oslo Accords Agreements in so doing. Because of the discord between Hamas and Fatah, President Mahmoud Abbas refused to recognize the results from the 2006 election. This led to violent fighting between Hamas and Fatah in Gaza in 2007. Ultimately, while Haniyeh was the leader of Hamas, Hamas seized control of Gaza, killing many of the Fatah officials in Gaza. Not long after taking control of Gaza, Hamas under Haniyeh’s leadership started launching rockets into Israel. Resulting from ongoing rocket attacks by Hamas during this period, several wars occurred, particularly in 2012 and 2014. Haniyeh ran Gaza throughout this period, until 2017 when Yahya Sinwar took control of the organization and Gaza.
I mention all this background because many in the Western Media are trying to portray Haniyeh as the moderate in Hamas and simply a diplomat. Under his leadership Hamas killed many, many Israeli civilians. Just because he wore a suit and lived in a five start facility in Qatar does not make him innocent of the many murders that took place under his orders. And those that say his assassination will harm the current negotiations are being ridiculous. Haniyeh has had little to do with the negotiations. Sinwar holds the hostages and he is dictating the Hamas positions/demands in the negotiations. Haniyeh was not even a messenger as that was the role of Egypt and Qatar. Now, Hamas may claim that his assassination will harm the negotiations but if it does it is only because they are mad, afraid or both.
With Haniyeh’s death there are now four top Hamas officials out of the 8 or 9 on Israel’s list that have been made into Shahids. And may the others follow their lead sooner than later. The fact that he, and his bodyguard, were killed while in his luxury residence in Tehran has infuriated Iran. Mostly, I believe because it was done on their territory and their protection meant nothing. If assassins could reach Haniyeh in Tehran it begs the question, couldn’t the Iranian leadership also be hit? I am not saying that they should be targets, but they should go home every night to sleep wondering if they will wake up the next day or not.
Iran has requested that the UN Security Council meet to address the assassinations of both Haniyeh and Shukr. Iran accuses Israel of the Haniyeh assassination. I won’t be surprised if the UN declares a global day of mourning for this murderer. It is ironic that Iran's outgoing intelligence minister, Esmail Khatib, claimed just last week, six days before Haniyeh's assassination, that:
the greatest achievement of my tenure is dismantling the Mossad's infiltration network in Iran.
His statement has now become a subject of ridicule among regime opponents, as Haniyeh's assassination joins a long list of actions attributed to Israel within the heart of the Islamic Republic. You can read more about the Haniyeh assassination here.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, calling it a “cowardly act and dangerous development.”
President for Life Tayyip Erdogan of Turkiye called the missile attack a “treacherous assassination” . He continued by saying “Zionist barbarism will not be able to achieve its goals as it has done so far.” President for Life Mahmoud Abbas has scheduled a visit to Ankara, Turkiye to address their parliament. Just a couple of weeks ago Erdogan was insulted by Abbas skipping a previously scheduled meeting. That is how it goes here in the Middle East - one day you are bosom buddies and the next day you find a knife in your back.
This poster was hoisted on a building in Tehran… Their Hebrew is not at all bad:
The poster says, in Hebrew, “Wait for a Severe Punishment”.
And The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying that the Haniyeh assassination was a violation of International Law. And I presume that the Iranian missiles/drones fired at Israel were not??
In totally separate news, there are reports emerging from Syria that an explosion has occurred in the Damascus suburb of Sayyidah Zaynab, an area where Iran and its proxies maintain a strong presence. No other details have been provided publicly. There is a video posted to YouTube you can find here along with more information, although not much is really known yet.
In Iraq today, US forces carried out a strike on an Iranian aligned militia because it presented an immediate threat to US and allied forces stationed in Iraq.
IDF General
The demonstrations against the arrest of those nine IDF soldiers accused of abuse of the Hamas commander in detention have quieted down, along with tempers. Two of the nine soldiers were released from custody as they are no longer suspected of any wrong doing. The other seven are still being questions and will have an initial opportunity to defend themselves in a hearing to be held over the next few days.
Aid
213 trucks carrying humanitarian goods were transferred to Gaza today. A total of 171 trucks worth of aid were transported from the staging areas to distribution centers within Gaza. Aid continues to pile up inside Gaza, sitting in the staging area and waiting for distribution… Yet Israel is accused of using hunger as a weapon of war…. huh???
Hostage/Ceasefire
Despite all the rhetoric from world leaders claiming that the assassinations will place the negotiations in jeopardy, Defense Minister Gallant said today that Israel will continue pushing for a deal despite all the loud rhetoric. And Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Qatari Prime Minister Muhammed al-Thani in order to stress the importance of continuing work on reaching a deal. Qatar has been making very threatening public statements in the aftermath of the Haniyeh assassination.
International
United Airlines, Delta and British Airways announced today that they were halting flights to Israel starting Thursday.
And In Your Copious Spare Time…
Those of you following my posts for some time have a solid basis for knowing my position on many of the issues confronting Israel today, both externally and internally driven. Here is a great analysis by Matti Friedman, author and former AP correspondent for the Middle East. I think that you will find “great minds think alike” as you have heard many of his opinions expressed by me previously in this Substack.
For those of you wishing to brush up on your historical knowledge of Hezbollah and how they got to where they are, here is a great video instructional from the Wall Street Journal.
And here is an analysis of the implications of Israel’s attack on the Houthi Al-Hodeidah port about a week ago. You should take the time to read it.