October 366, 2023, "The War"

My 272nd post on The War

Oct 02, 2024

Today’s Image

Meet, from left to right, Shahar Goldman, Nadia Sokolenco, Iliya Nozadze, Inbar Segev Vigor and Ionas Karussis. Yesterday they were alive enjoying their lives in Tel Aviv. Today they and two others are dead having been murdered by two terrorists firing an M-16 in a Tel Aviv Light Rail station.

Special Announcement - New Year

I will be signing off for three days as the Jewish New Year is here and starts this evening. I hope to resume starting our Saturday night after sunset.

Wishing all my readers a Happy and Healthy New Year, with hopes for much brighter and quieter days ahead!!

This image below is of a pomegranate tree. Pomegranates are a traditional fruit in season this time of year and are eaten to symbolize the coming of a sweet year. The Hebrew word for Pomegranate is Rimon, which is also the vernacular for a grenade.

Casualties

Today the IDF announced the deaths of Captain Eitan Oster - 22 (Z’’L) and Never Itkin (Z’’L) who was killed in battle with Hezbollah combatants in Southern Lebanon. Oster was a commander and Itkin a member of a special forces unit called Egoz (Nut, in Hebrew). Earlier this week Oster posted a video on social media in which he said:

There is no one prouder than me to lead fighters in the hope of completing our missions. A person does not fight from hate of what stands before him, but for love of what stands behind him.

Oster represented our first casualty in our newly launched offensive into Lebanon. He will be buried this afternoon on Mt. Herzl, a military cemetery, in Jerusalem. Many residents will be lining the streets with flags as his body is carried by automobile to the cemetery.

And here is an update on that terror attack in southern Tel Aviv last evening. In all 7 civilians were killed when two terrorists opened fire with an M-16. At first it was reported that they stabbed an IDF soldier and stole his rifle. But that appears to be refuted. An investigation is ongoing. So far the victims of the attack whose names have been released publicly include: Ionas Karussis - 26 (Z’’L), Shahar Goldman - 30 (Z’’L), Inbar Segev Vigor - 33 (Z’’L), Revital Bornstein - 24 (Z’’L), Nadia Sokolenco - 40 (Z’’L) and Iliya Nozadze - 42 (Z’’L). Nozadze was a citizen of Georgia (the country, not the state) and was visiting. Karussis was identified as a citizen of Greece and resident of Athens. I am guessing that it was Sokolenco. One other was killed but his/her name has not been released yet. Besides the 7 casualties, another 16 civilians were wounded in the gunfire while they were embarking/disembarking from a Light Rail train. One of the terrorists was shot dead by security. The other was wounded. Both are from the Judean city of Hevron (the burial location of Abraham/Isaac/Jacob). The IDF has now cordoned off the city as it investigates who/how many individuals were involved. Most likely the homes belonging to the two terrorists will be destroyed as a regular policy of the government against perpetrators of such acts.

Rockets & Missiles & Drones

No rockets launched from Gaza crossed into Israeli air space in the past 13 days.

This afternoon Hezbollah launched a barrage of 40 rockets into the Upper Galilee reaching as far south as Tzfat. Most of these as well as several kamikaze drones were intercepted by IDF aerial defense systems. There are no reports of injuries or damage. By mid morning Hezbollah had fired more than 100 rockets into Israel targeting Haifa Bay and towns along Israel’s northern Mediterranean shoreline.

Here is an update on last night’s Iranian ballistic missile attack on Israel. It turns out that a couple of Israeli IDF airbases were successfully hit in the attack. There was no damage to any critical infrastructure such as aircraft, communications infrastructure, landing strips, munitions, drones or other such infrastructure. On one base an office building was hit and on another a maintenance facility was hit. The IAF resumed its operations in Lebanon - southern, eastern Beqaa Valley and Dahiyeh neighborhood of Beirut - as if nothing happened last night. So clearly the attack did not impact the ongoing operations of the Israeli Air Force. But the city of Hod Hasharon, about 10 km north of Tel Aviv, reported damage resulting from shock waves and shrapnel. Residents of about 100 homes reported some level of damage. There were no injuries. The city is quite close to an area called Glillot where there is an IDF base from which several of the intelligence units of the IDF operate.

What is not being reported well is that this attack is tactically more serious than the attack in April. In April the attack was largely carried out using drones along with ballistic missiles. That required synchronization by Iran. This is because it takes about 30 minutes for a ballistic missile to traverse the 800 km between Iran’s border and ours while it can take 2-3 hours for a drone. For them to land at the same time the drones must be launched must earlier. But this time all the aerial projectiles were ballistic missiles requiring the use of either Israel’s Arrow or David’s Sling anti-missile defense systems. So the intensity of the activity on the IAF defensive systems was under more stress. But it was handled almost perfectly!!!

Reports from opposition groups within Iran have reported that several of the ballistic missiles launched by Iran fell within the borders of Iran itself. You may recall from my post yesterday that I wrote that about 50% of the missiles fired by Iran in April either blew up on the launch pad or self destructed on the way to Israel without needing either US or Israeli aerial defense systems.

Lebanon Operations

Today the IDF released videos showing infantry in the, what is now famous, 98th Division operating in Southern Lebanon. This division and the others now operating inside Lebanon are well engaged in close quarters combat with Hezbollah combatants. The 98th Division has become famous as they were the ones led by famous IDF General Dan Goldfus and developed an admiral reputation for taking on Hamas in Khan Younis, their original stronghold. This division has reported finding and destroying a few rocket launchers and explosives warehouse. At the same time that they are operating on the ground the IAF is active taking out Hezbollah facilities from the air. Hezbollah confirms the fighting with IDF troops in the town of Maroun Al-Ras. Meanwhile, the IDF has called up another division of reservists to report to duty in the northern part of the country. So far the IDF reports that more than 150 Hezbollah positions have been destroyed by ground troops in the early days of this land based operation.

The IDF’s Arabic Language spokesman issued a statement on his x.com account informing the residents of two dozen villages in Southern Lebanon to evacuate their homes immediately. The warnings went to residents via a Lebanese mobile phone text account managed by the IDF saying that anyone living in these villages and Hezbollah missiles or rockets are likely to see their homes destroyed.

The IAF reports that it has been busy targeting and destroying rocket manufacturing facilities located in the Dahiyeh neighborhood in Beirut. In advance of the strikes civilians inside the affected buildings were warned to evacuate. You can see a video of their operations here.

Gaza Operations

The IDF reports that it struck a base of Hamas combatants congregated in a former school inside central Gaza not far from the Netzarim Corridor.

Yemen Operations

The Houthis announced that they launched 3 Quds 5 Iranian built rockets into Israel, targeting military bases. But the IDF has not reported any rocket fire from Yemen.

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Syria/Iran/Jordan/Egypt/Iraq/Turkiye

From his underground fortress Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused the USA and Europe for the source of problems in the Middle East saying that their presence here is the source of “conflicts, wars, concerns and enmities”. He said this the day after he ordered the launch of more than 180 missiles against Israel. According to him:

Regional nations can manage themselves and… they will live together in peace.

The new Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi announced this morning that Tehran did not communicate any advanced warning of their attack to the Biden Administration. He warned the US that it should stay out of this justified attack against the Zionist entity and that the US forces should withdraw form the Middle East.

Meanwhile, there are lots of rumors of what facilities in Iran will be targeted by the IDF now. As best I can tell, the government requested a list from the IDF Chiefs of Staff on their recommendations.

Protests/Politics

Opposition leaders have announced their support for a strong response to the Iranian missile attack on Israel in support of the IDF. Chairman of the combined Labour/Meretz Party (the most left wing party in the Israeli political spectrum) said today that the Iranian attack on Israel was a “declaration of war” and that the IDF must respond in a well thought through and highly effective manner. National Unity Chairman Benny Gantz said “The state of Israel has capabilities that were developed for years to strike Iran, and the government has [our] full backing to act with force and determination”.

International

US President Biden said “At my direction, the United States military actively supported the defense of Israel. Make no mistake, the United States is fully, fully, fully supportive of Israel.”

During a briefing to reporters U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said that Iran’s ballistic missile attack on Israel did not result in any deaths nor damage to any military assets nor critical civilian infrastructure:

Based on what we know, this attack appears to have been defeated and ineffective…. There will be consequences, severe consequences, for this attack, and we will work with Israel to make that the case.

Sullivan said that the US CENTCOM military worked closely with Israel resulting in about a dozen missiles neutralized by anti-missile systems launched from nearby US Naval Destroyers.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin issued a statement saying that the US “fulfilled our commitment to partner with Israel in its defense” after its forces intercepted about a dozen of the ballistic missiles fired by Iran.

Our Foreign Minister Israel Katz announced today that UN Secretary General António Guterres is a “persona non grata” and will be blocked from entering Israel. This was in apparent response to Guterres’s comments last night on the Iranian missile attack in which he failed to mention Iran by name nor condemned them for the attack. It is my belief that in the not to far future the UN and UN officials will be blocked from operating from within Israel.

From our friends in Germany, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called on Iran and Hezbollah to immediately end their attack on Israel. He said:

Iran is risking setting the entire region on fire — this must be prevented at all costs. Hezbollah and Iran must immediately cease their attacks on Israel.