Today’s Image
This is a photo taken by a civilian drone of the weekly protest at Tel Aviv’s Cultural Plaza against the Government. Over the past week there has been a serious increase in attendance a this protest as well as others in Jerusalem and around the country as Prime Minister Netanyahu is pushing to fire Shin Bet Director Ronen Bar and possibly Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara.
Casualties
There have been no IDF or civilian casualties in the past 7 weeks.
Rockets & Missiles & Drones
Early morning on Wednesday, 3 rockets were fired from Gaza towards the center of Israel. One was intercepted and the other 2 landed in open areas. No injuries or damage. Sirens went off in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and the surrounding areas. I had to dash off to my bomb shelter room in my Tel Aviv apartment in the middle of the night, as did most Israelis across central Israel. On Thursday morning the Houthis launched a ballistic missile towards central Israel that was intercepted outside Israeli air space by IAF defensive missiles.
Then very early this morning, Saturday, sirens went off in Jerusalem due to an inbound ballistic missile fired from Yemen that was safely intercepted.
Earlier last week a Houthi ballistic missile landed in Egypt’s Sinai, without causing damage or injury. And just today a ballistic missile launched by the Houthis fell short in Saudi Arabia en route to Israel.
And today, Saturday morning, six rockets were fired by Hezbollah into the northern city of Metula in Israel causing damage but no injuries. Three of the rockets were intercepted and three fell short inside Lebanon. There was no reported damage or injuries inside Israel.
Gaza Front
There are now daily aerial attacks on Hamas positions in Gaza. So far all the light missile fire is directed at eliminating the remaining Hamas leadership. Today they took out Osama Tabash, who was previously a battalion commander in the Khan Yunis Brigade. He was one of the planners of the October 7, 2023 attack. Two days ago they assassinated by aerial missile Rashid Jahjoud, head of Hamas’s General Security Apparatus. It was his responsibility to find, torture and kill Gaza informants working against the ruthless Hamas rule. His predecessor was Ruhi Mushtah, who was killed by IDF forces in July, 2024. An Ayman Aslih was also killed in the same assassination. He was a deputy in the same Internal Security apparatus. On the same day, Thursday, Ismail Abd al-Aal was killed in a separate attack. He was a key leader in Palestinian Islamic Jihad, responsible for securing and transporting weapons to the terror network. All these operations involve close collaboration between the two major Israeli Security forces - IDF and Shin Bet. On Wednesday IAF forces eliminated Yasser Muhammed Harb Musa who was the head of Security for the Hamas Political and Development. He was a close associate with Yahya Sinwar. On the same day they killed Muhammed Jamatzi the Chairman of the Hamas Emergency Movement committee. In that role he directed numerous attacks against Israel and Israelis. I won’t bore you with the names and roles of at least 30 other senior Hamas officials targeted and killed during the week.
In addition to these aerial attacks, IDF tanks and land forces have entered Gaza from multiple positions. They have largely retaken the Netzarim Corridor, which it had evacuated as part of the Phase 1 of the hostage/ceasefire deal. They have also entered neighborhoods in Rafah, in the South, and Beit Lahia in the Northwestern part of Gaza, near the beach. The IDF has posted this video of forces operating on land inside Gaza. So far these land forces have met little resistance from Hamas. As outlined in this article, most believe that Hamas will move to start operations as in a guerrilla war fare situation. It is estimated that Hamas earned at least $1B off selling the humanitarian aid shipped to Gaza by charging its residents on the black market. It is using that money to pay its new recruits of soldiers. This is nearly the only source of income that is entering Gaza at this stage.
The IDF identified the area from which the three rockets were fired to be adjacent to one of the humanitarian zones, Al-Furqan. They do this routinely as they think that the IDF will not attack such areas. You can see and read more details here.
Today the spokesman for Fatah, the group to which Palestinian President for Life Mahmoud Abbas belongs, issued a warning against Hamas saying that the organization should relinquish power to avoid the ongoing tragedy of ordinary Gazans. Fatah and Hamas are rivals. This story was reported in Saudi Arabia’s Al-Arabiya, here.
Lebanon Front
In response to the Hezbollah rocket fire, the IAF launched strikes in Eastern and Northern Lebanon targeting Hezbollah operation centers, arms storage and arms smuggling facilities.
The IAF also targeted the areas from which those rockets were launched earlier today. In a surprising announcement the Lebanese Army announced that it dismantled three makeshift rocket launchers near the Lebanese towns of Kfar Tebnit and Arnoun, near the launch sites of the rockets that were fired today.
Syria Front
The IAF has also been active in Syria, albeit not as much as either Lebanon or Gaza. Syrian media reported an unconfirmed attack today in the town of Najha, just outside Damascus. The IAF also struck, yesterday, the Syrian military airport near the ancient archaeological site of Palmyra. This is the ancient Roman city that ISIS attempted to destroy but is a favorite of major archaeologists. Israel had previously informed the Provisional Syrian Government that it will be active in eliminating any large military presence in Southern Syria. The IDF posted a video of some of these strikes here and here.
Yemen Front
The Houthis announced today that the target of their attacks is Israels main airport, Ben Gurion Airport, located between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. So far one of the missiles landed in Egypt’s Sinai, one in Saudi Arabia and two have been intercepted by the IAF outside Israeli air space.
Iran/Turkiye/Iraq/Egypt Front
Last week President for Life of Turkiye Tayyep Erdogan had the leader of the opposition party, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, arrested on charges of terrorism. In response riots erupted across Turkiye including the capital Ankara and Istanbul. More that 340 people were arrested in some of the more violent protests.
There are reports, now being denied, that Egypt has offered to take in ½ to one million Gazans on a temporary basis while Gaza undergoes reconstruction. Egypt denies that such offers were made. You can read more here.
IDF/Government
To date the Netanyahu led Government has refused to appoint an independent State Commission of Inquiry to investigate decisions that led up to October 7, 2023, what happened on that day and subsequent events. However, the Defense Establishment has already conducted its investigations, both the IDF and Shin Bet (aka FBI). Earlier this month Former Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi resigned from leading the IDF. His successor, Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, appears to have been welcomed by both the Government and several of the opposition parties. Zamir announced today that he appointed a set of retired former senior IDF officers to examine and review the Halevi commissioned report to determine recommended actions and whether there are areas not covered by the investigation that might need to be revisited. So we have the IDF that, during active fighting on several fronts, commissioned an investigation, derived recommendations and is now having it “audited” by an independent group of former generals. All this while the Government continues to stall any inquiry.
In the meantime, there is a mounting and growing crowd of demonstrators going into the streets demanding the Government resign. Last week the Cabinet met to agree to “fire” Ronen Bar, the General Director of Shin Bet. Bar is highly respected in much of the country but is unpopular within this Government because he does not “fall in line” with Netanyahu. Specifically he said that he serves the interests of the Israeli people and not the personal whims of the Prime Minister. He is a bright man of high integrity. The Attorney General, last week, informed the Government that they must convene a special committee in order to fire Bar as this was the committee that approved his appointment. All this is happening while the Opposition Parties have appealed to the Supreme Court in an effort to block the Government’s efforts to dismiss Ronen Bar. It is likely that the Supreme Court will rule in favor of the opposition parties. In that case we are likely to be in a “Constitutional Crisis” but actually we can’t since we don’t have a Constitution.
Most of the public, me included, believe that the real motivation for the moves against Ronen Bar is because he has launched investigations, which is his job, into what is becoming known here in Israel as “Qatargate”, borrowing the US term coined during the Nixon Presidency - “Watergate”. First released to public by an independent, very pro Israel NGO, Middle East Media Research Institute, months ago their investigation suggested that members of Netanyahu’s Prime Minister’s Office PMO received money indirectly from the Qatar Government in exchange for help in presenting the Qataris positively in Israel. I reported on this at the time it was released. MEMRI routinely monitors the Arab Press, in Arabic, and highlights stories that are likely to interest pro-Israeli audience. Here is a link to their web site where they discuss issues pertaining to this item. And here is a link to their originally breaking story. And here is a summary from The Israel Times.
At the time this story first broke, I was surprised that none of the Israeli media picked up on the story and pushed. But this has changed now and this whole affair is resulting in nightly news investigations across the spectrum of the Israeli Media - TV, newspaper and online. Netanyahu is claiming that he is the subject of a Witch Hunt by a “Deep State” left wing entrenched media/government that is out to get him.
In my view, Netanyahu is crying wolf. If he had appointed an Independent State Commission (by definition appointed by the Supreme Court) he would not be in this situation, although he might still be in a difficult position. Most people here believe that it was Netanyahu’s policy, perhaps supported by others, that the Government “buy off” Hamas by allowing the Qataris to send in immense amount of cash to Gaza at the demands of the terrorists. Netanyahu is trying to squirm out of this claiming that there were others that supported this policy. But the reality of the situation is that with the exception of 1 ½ years (from June 2021 to December 2022) Netanyahu has served as Prime Minister since March 2009. Netanyahu succeeded in bringing down this short lived Government due to very sneaky backdoor politics. Hamas seized control of Gaza from the Palestinian Authority, murdering many PA officials in the process, in 2007. So Netanyahu cannot place this fundamental policy mistake on any other individual or group, and he knows it. He claims to be firing Ronen Bar because of the mistakes on October 7, 2023. but here is a Prime Minister standing before Israel and the world taking credit for the successes of the IDF - pager attack, operations in Lebanon, etc. - while placing the blame for its failures on others. Not a sign of a good leader in my book, or at least a leader with principles.
I found this analysis of the situation fairly balanced. You might want to read it. And incidentally Ronen Bar already, months ago, announced his intention to resign while absorbing partial responsibility for what happened on October 7, 2023.
Many people here, me included, believe that this is the main reason that Netanyahu is trying to fire Ronen Bar and why he is blocking a State Commission of Inquiry. And, in part, because of this demonstrations are picking up pace in the streets of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. The Attorney General, Gali Baharav-Miara, has informed the Government that they cannot dismiss Ronen Bar without approval from the committee responsible for appointing him. And this evening the Government asked Ronen Bar, who they claim they fired, to a meeting tonight to discuss the hostage deal. All this feels like a real circus and not a responsible Government.
Because the IDF has resumed fighting in Gaza, Itamar Ben Gvir and his extreme right wing party have rejoined the Government resuming the positions from which they left. I am not too happy with this. If he is irresponsible enough to leave the Government then he and his party should not just resume the positions they vacated. More importantly, he is reforming the Israeli Police Force not based on abilities or merit but whether its leadership follows his political ideology.
Hostage/Ceasefire Agreement
Simultaneous to the resumption of the war in Gaza, the Government announced that there will no longer be negotiations contingent on a cessation of hostilities. This means that Israel intends to conduct negotiations but without stopping the fighting. Essentially, no more free ticket for Hamas.
Special US Envoy Steve Witkoff recently remarked publicly that it would be acceptable for Hamas to remain in Gaza if it were to lay down its arms. At the time he said this he presumed that this was a concession. But today Hamas responded that there is no demilitarization until the “occupation” ends. Hamas, and most of the Palestinians, view Tel Aviv and all of Israel as “occupied”. This is what they learn in school, mosques, newspapers, etc. So Mr. Witkoff is getting a quick lesson on the realities of negotiations in the Middle East. I suspect that it is not at all like negotiating a major real estate deal in New York.
And In Your Copious Spare Time…
I described what is being called “Qatargate” here in Israel earlier. Here you can see the results of investigations being led in the USA on how much Qatari money has infiltrated the education system in the USA, not just Universities but also K-12.
תודה
Thank you, Eric