Today’s Image
The Israeli Defense Industry was one of the pioneers in drone technology used in defensive operations. Now Hezbollah is causing a lot of damage to northern Israel using cheap drones imported from Iran. Two articles, in the last section, talk about the impact of drones on this war and some possible means for Israel to deal with the threat from the north.
Gaza Rockets
No rockers fired from Gaza landed in Israel in the past five days.
Casualties
Today, the IDF announced the death of Sgt. Ori Ashkenazi Nechemya - 19 (Z’’L). He was killed by an anti-take missile during ground operations in the Rafah area.
Gaza Operations
Today the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement announced that it is still holding 30 of the hostages. It also insists that compared to Hamas, much of its arsenal is still intact. Most of the recent rocket fire was from their arsenal. Those rockets only have a range of about 7 km.
During operations in the Tel Sultan neighborhood of Rafah IDF infantry uncovered large bags marked as UNRWA property containing explosives, guns and military vests. The IDF reported that during the course of intense close quarters fighting in the past 24 hours, more than 50 Hamas combatants were killed in battle.
During operations in Gaza City I reported yesterday that the IDF struck a small room in the large Salah al-Din School used by Hamas operatives, who were occupying the facility at the time. Today, after finding a weapons storage building inside the complex, the storage facility was destroyed. Inside that building they found rockets ready to be fired. You can read more here.
And this report from The Washington Post claims that US officials believe that Sinwar is trapped underground and running out of ammunition/supplies. According to them he is looking more favorably on a hostage/ceasefire deal than previously. It is my opinion that this is not quite true. Certainly his ammunition is being depleted as is the personnel in his army. But Sinwar is an ideological fanatic, and I do not think he is the type to “give up”.
Lebanon Operations
Early this evening rockets fired by Hezbollah struck the northern town of Zarit, only 500 meters from the Lebanese border. A home was hit while a man and his two sons were inside. There was damage but no injuries.
China has told its citizens to evacuate from Lebanon.
Late last night, IDF fighter jets conducted a series of strikes on Hezbollah weapons storage facilities and rocket launchers, destroy more than 10 such facilities. As you might recall Hezbollah sent more than 50 rockets into Israel yesterday and more than 150 the day before.
Yemen Operations
Yesterday I reported that the British UKMTO reported that a tanker had been fired on by Houthi drones off the port city of Hodeidah in Yemen and that there was damage. Today a French Navy frigate rescued the 29 members of the crew. The ship is a Greek flagged oil tanker called the Sounion that received multiple drone explosions. The tanker is now anchored and represents an enormous environmental risk should its tanks start leaking in any way. It is holding 150,000 tons of crude oil. Apparently men on small boats opened fire on the tanker about 140 km off the coast of the Yemen port.
It has been 35 days since the IDF struck Yemen’s port of Al-Hodeidah, and without any missiles fired from Yemen towards Israel.
Syria/Iran/Jordan/Egypt/Iraq
According to reports appearing in The Washington Post, Iran appears to be postponing its announced attack against Israel but pushing Hezbollah to launch some form of offensive soon. Who knows?? People here are going on with their lives. Everyone has stored essentials in the home to cover a period without power and/or water. But except for that life goes on.
IDF General
As you will recall I previously reported on the military detention of 10 IDF soldiers accused of abusing a detained Hamas terrorist commander while in detention. Five of those arrested were released after questioning. The remaining four are still being held, at least until September 4. A hearing is to be held on August 25 where the prosecution and defense will present their cases to the Military Judge. According to the IDF, the soldiers are suspected of aggravated sodomy (a charge equivalent to rape), causing bodily harm under aggravated circumstances, abuse under aggravated circumstances and conduct unbecoming of a soldier.
Aid
COGAT reports that 206 trucks crossed into Gaza carrying aid and offloaded into the staging areas. About 108 trucks worth of aid was distributed from within the staging areas to those in need.
Politics/Protests
As strange as this might sound, the country is seeing a noticeable uptick in new immigrants. We recently inquired with a couple of real estate agents in Jerusalem in order to assist a new family arriving from Panama about finding a home. We were told that there are a large number of families from the USA buying property in the capital with the intention of moving here. The phenomenon is significant enough that it has driven up rents and home prices. Previously we were told by senior officials in the Jerusalem Mayor’s Office that they are overwhelmed with the number of new immigrants coming from France wishing to find a home in Jerusalem. Housing prices substantiate what we are being told verbally. Housing prices dipped were on a declining trend in the second half of 2023, perhaps driven by the revolt against the Judicial Reforms, and accelerated after October 7. However, by February they recovered more than they had lost and now housing prices are higher, much higher than a year ago. And you can see more data here. And today the largest influx of immigrants from the USA since October 7 arrived on five dedicated flights from New York. While increase of immigrants from France is clearly a result of the increasing anti-semitism in Europe, it is not clear yet whether it is anti-semitism driving the uptick from the USA or other causes.
Previously I have written about the issue of extreme right wing Israelis taking the law into their own hands resulting in serious damage to property belonging to Arabs in Judea/Samaria (West Bank) and in some cases physical harm to them or members of their families. I provide updates below. But, it was reported today in the Israeli press that the chief of Israel’s Shin Bet sent a formal letter to the Prime Minister, Defense Minister and Attorney General warning that the problem is growing and needs to be addressed in a serious way. In Israel these extremists are referred to as the “hilltop youth”. Until recently the occurrence of this form of violence was rare. But, since this new government took form, and in particular since October 7, the frequency and intensity has increased. Besides taking on the role of vigilantes, these hilltop youth have also increased the frequency by which they try to circumvent the government in order to establish illegal settlements, only to have them torn down by the army and then attempt to rebuild them in an endless cycle. It is an unnecessary distraction for the IDF which is busy enough without this aggravation. The Shin Bet chief also warned that the ongoing provocations of National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s when he ascends the Temple Mount will lead to much unnecessary bloodshed. Previously, non moslems are permitted onto the Temple Mount but must not display any obvious exhibitions of prayer there. This status was agreed to years ago. But Ben Gvir and his companions have shown flagrant disregard by not only praying in very obvious fashion but also boasting about the fact in a very public fashion. Responses have not come yet from the recipients of the letter. You can read more here.
Along these lines, police have arrested four more individuals suspected of participating in the violent attacks on an Arab village in Judea/Samaria Friday, August 18 in which one civilian died from injuries. That brings the total to eight. There are likely to be more arrests in the coming days. You can read more here.
The War has had a clear negative effect on our economy. Based on economic data from the first three months of this year, our GDP growth is expected to decline from its originally projected 3.3% to 1.9%. Yet this government continues to spend funds on the special needs of its narrow constituency while knowing that there will have to be an increase in the Defense Budget as well as funds for helping the communities damaged by the war in the south and north recover.
Hostages/Ceasefire
The Israeli negotiating team departed today for Cairo, led by Mossad chief David Barnea. The word here is that despite what you read in the news, all the pressure is being applied to the Israeli Government to bend its positions, not Sinwar and Hamas. Yet the government announced that it insists that the IDF will continue to have a presence along the Egypt-Gaza border to ensure arms are not being smuggled in and that while there will hopefully be a ceasefire with hostages released, the war will continue until the primary goals of Israel are achieved so security can be brought back to the southern part of Israel once again.
Based on the autopsies of the six hostage bodies recovered from Gaza the IDF announced that bullets were found inside some of the bodies, leading to an assessment that they were likely murdered by Hamas in captivity. More information should be released in the coming days.
International
An Israeli NGO organization called Shurat Hadin has filed a brief with the International Criminal Court saying that the organization does not have the authority to issue arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant as requested by the tribunal's chief prosecutor Kharim Khan last May. The ICC asked nine Palestinian groups and two Israeli groups to submit their opinion before making the decision. According to the report submitted by the Shurat HaDin, the tribunal has no jurisdiction to deal with the Palestinian petition, and any attempt to intervene will hinder Israeli victims' efforts. Shurat Hadin also argued, in its brief, that according to the Rome Convention, the prosecutor had to comply with the principle of complementarity, according to which the accused state has the right to investigate any allegation before the tribunal decides to step in. Israel should have been allowed to address false claims such as "starvation" in Gaza. The court failed to work according to procedure, preventing the cooperation with the Israeli authorities, and harming the investigation against Hamas and Israel.
And In Your Copious Spare Time…
If you can afford 45 minutes of your time, I very highly recommend listening to this podcast by Bari Weiss of The Free Press. She interviews a very interesting and brave young Palestinian on his experiences in his village, his time in Korea and working in the high tech sector in Tel Aviv. I found it a bit frightening as it shows how a normal young man grows up under very difficult conditions, manages to break out of his mold after being inspired by the holocaust survivors Victor Frankel’s book “The Meaning of Life”, goes on to create a great opportunity for himself/family and then sees it evaporate as his neighbors accuse him of being a traitor.
In this interview with retired Brigadier General Ran Kochav in The Jerusalem Post he outlines the current dangers in the multi-tiered aerial attacks from Russia on Ukraine and Hezbollah on Israel. He offers some practical solutions as well, particularly to the kamikaze drone attacks that are penetrating our air space. He was formerly a senior member of the IAF overseeing air defense strategies.