Today’s Image
This past Friday I took friends out sailing from the Tel Aviv Marina. About 1 ½ hours into the sail we were joined by this pod of dolphins who just wanted to play. Altogether we counted more than 8 dolphins. You can see one of the “babies” near the top of the screen swimming alongside the parents. They swam with us for a good 10 minutes. Earlier in the sail, we set out an attached fender and many members of the crew swam in the clean waters off the shore of Tel Aviv.
Gaza Rockets
Yesterday two rockets were fired from northern Gaza in the direction of Sderot, falling short of their target. No damage nor injuries.
Casualties
The IDF announced the loss of three IDF soldiers on Friday during fighting in Gaza City: Sgt. First Class (res.) Danil Pechenyuk - 27 (Z’’L), Sgt. First Class (res.) Danil Pechenyuk - 27 (Z’’L) and Sgt. Maj. (res.) Yaniv Itzhak Oren - 35 (Z’’L). The first two were killed by an explosive device triggered while they were outside a building in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City. Seven other soldiers were injured and taken to the hospital in the same incident. Oren was killed during operations near the Netzarim Corridor.
Gaza Operations
The IDF began another limited operation in Gaza City late last week. It was during this operation that the soldiers cited above were killed. It is reported that dozens of Hamas combatants were killed during this operation.
Then during operations near the Deir al-Balah neighborhood of Gaza City IDF troops uncovered a tunnel, built and operated by Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The 500 meter long tunnel was destroyed on Friday by the IDF Engineering Corp. The dozens of PIJ combatants who tried to interfere with the operations were killed. Both Deir al-Balah and Nuseirat are the last remaining strongholds of the terrorists. They are separate towns located between Gaza City and Khan Younis. The IDF has been reluctant to enter them because it is believed that this is where the hostages are being held. You may recall the daring raid of a month ago when 4 living hostages were recovered from the Nuseirat neighborhood. You can see a video of the tunnel being destroyed and read more here.
Late last night IDF fighter jets launched a light missile, assassinating an high level Hamas operative, Taha Abu Nada, who is apparently managing much of the weapons production in Gaza. You can read more here.
In Rafah, close quarters combat continues in the Tel Sultan neighborhood. The IDF reports that it uncovered weapons and explosives in a storage facility there, destroying the facility. Dozens of Hamas combatants were also killed during the operation.
Also, in Rafah, the IDF uncovered a 1 km long tunnel a few weeks ago. Inside they found explosives and electrical infrastructure. After seeing several Hamas operatives emerging from the tunnel about two weeks ago, the decision was made to destroy the tunnel. That was accomplished on Friday.
Lebanon Operations
Late this afternoon a barrage of 8 rockets were fired by Hezbollah in Lebanon into the Golan Heights. Some were intercepted by aerial defense systems. No damage or injuries were reported.
Earlier in the day the IDF intercepted a kamikaze drone launched by Hezbollah on its way to attack civilian facilities in the Western Galilee, not far from the Mediterranean Sea.
On Friday, the Israeli Air Force assassinated, using a drone, the senior Hezbollah figure, Saeed Mahmoud Daeb, while he was traveling in a car near Tyre, Lebanon. He was a senior member of Hezbollah’s Rocket and Missile unit. You can see the strike in a video here. This followed a previous strike on an officer in that same unit, Muhammed Mahmoud Nagm, in the area of Aaita El Lot. You can see a video of that strike here.
On Friday twenty missiles fired by Hezbollah entered Israeli air space. Most were intercepted, one fell in an open area but one struck a structure on an Israeli air base near Meron creating damage. That air base is a regular target for Hezbollah and it is rare that a projectile gets through the air defenses there.
Yemen Operations
Videos are being posted of that oil tanker struck by the Houthis burning out of control in the Red Sea. You can also see the attack boat used by the Houthis in their attack of this Greek operated oil tanker.
It has been 37 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
The US military command in eastern Syria reported that it killed a senior leader of an Al Qaeda group, Abu-Abd al-Rahman al-Makki.
According to reports from the Syrian Army, the Israeli Air Force struck an Hezbollah military base near Homs. According to these reports, four pro-Iranian militia members were killed and several injured. At this military base is the Dabaa Airport which is the main hub for transfer of weapons from Iran to Hezbollah. You can read more here.
Aid
On Thursday 206 aid trucks unloaded their cargo onto the staging areas inside Gaza. This time most of the aid arrived through the Karen Shalom border Egypt-Israel-Gaza. Only 108 truck loads of aid were picked up for distribution. So aid continues to build inside Gaza still waiting for distribution. Those bakeries continue baking away at the rate of 3 million pitas a day.
Hostages/Ceasefire
Everyone seems to be convening in Cairo Egypt. The Israeli negotiating team left on Thursday evening, Hamas announced that it sent a team on Friday and the Qatari Prime Minister is scheduled to arrive today. From reports in the press, there are several issues still outstanding, the most prominent being the Rafah border crossing. Israel is insistent that sufficient means, that they trust, be in place to prevent the smuggling of arms across that border (above or below ground). While Hamas sees it as a vital resource for re-arming and smuggling all kinds of goods. It was announced today in the Saudi press that Israel is insisting that a minimum of 5 living hostages be released each week in the first phase of the deal. That phase is supposed to last 6 weeks. The IDF estimates that there are 60-70 hostages still alive. If they are correct it would seem that they are determined to get half out. There is a growing expectation that Israel will “never” get all the hostages out of Gaza as Sinwar is now worried about his own life and the only assurance he has that he will keep it is to have hostages around him. Apparently as a solution to the impasse over Rafah, Israel proposed that it build eight watchtowers that it would either man or equip with surveillance equipment. The Egyptians are rejected this. The Egyptians are not impartial observers on this issue as they collaborated and financially benefitted from the lucrative smuggling across their border with Gaza. Israel would be more publicly vocal about that collaboration, but in the interest of avoiding embarrassing the Egyptians, they have refrained.
This editorial appeared a couple days ago in The Jerusalem Post, drafted by the Editorial Staff which has often been critical of the government and Prime Minister Netanyahu. Its title tells just what is on all our minds:
Netanyahu’s firm stand on Philadelphi corridor is crucial for Israel’s security
Politics/Protests
A group of extremist right wing Israelis attempted another attack in the Arab town of Rujeib in Judea/Samaria (West Bank). Some automobiles were damaged, but before things could get out of hand IDF troops arrived and forcibly removed the extremists. It was not clear if any arrests were made or not.
Demonstrations are being held this afternoon and this evening in support of a hostage/ceasefire agreement. Some of the family members speaking have accused the Prime Minister of “systematically thwarting” a deal.
International
US Air Force General C.Q. Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, began a previously announced tour of the area today. He landed in Jordan first, then heads to Egypt followed by Israel. At least publicly it has been announced that his main mission is to discuss with allies how to avoid the escalation of hostilities.
In response to the many briefs arriving at the International Criminal Court insisting that the court has no jurisdiction over filing warrants against Israeli leaders, the ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan insists to the contrary and has demanded that the court issue the warrants as soon as possible.
And In Your Copious Spare Time…
This article written by IDF Brigadier General (res.) Amir Avivi does a persuasive job of describing the dilemma that Yahya Sinwar has created for himself and Hamas, as a consequence of his actions, those of the IDF and the Israeli government. One thing he states, which every Israeli would agree with, is “The Gaza Strip, for all the significance of the war there, is still a secondary battlefield. Strategically, precedence goes to the north where the danger is Hezbollah and to Iran where the danger is nuclear”. His analysis dovetails well with this one provided by David Ignatius of The Washington Post. Ignatius, while referencing unnamed senior US military advisors, suggests that Hamas is stalling for time hoping that Hezbollah and Iran attack launching a wider scale war, which was Sinwar’s aim all along.
You might find this article on the transformation of the Iranian backed and trained proxies in Iraq shifting from conducting military operations to massively wealthy prominent criminal leaders. According to the article they amassed their wealth by blackmailing and embezzling the government of its oil money.
Those of you who have been following me for sometime will recall my descriptions of the “Hamula” (clan) society of the Palestinian Arabs as well as the massive distrust of both Hamas and Fatah. Here is an article providing background to a large survey conducted among Palestinian Arabs living in Judea/Samaria (West Bank) regarding trust. It is relevant because when trying to figure out the appropriate “day after” plan one needs to integrate how to best organize the society and a ruling power(s).
If you have an hour to spare, you might want to watch this virtual panel discussion between three knowledgable authorities on Israel-Iran in which they discuss the possibilities of a wider war breaking out.
https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/brink-potential-broader-conflict-middle-east
https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/year-suwayda-protests-show-assad-no-partner
https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/two-state-solution-israelis-palestinians-708b6075?mod=hp_lead_pos7
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/4518/media-hamas