War in Gaza
Soldiers fighting in Gaza
The fighting continues in Gaza. So far 168 soldiers have been killed since the Israeli army entered Gaza on Oct. 27 and over 6000 injured. Overall nearly 500 Israeli soldiers, including police, have been killed since the Oct 7th attack by Hamas that resulted in the massacre of 1200 Israelis and foreign workers, and the kidnapping of 240. 129 kidnapped hostages are still held in Gaza.
According to AP, Israel’s Minister of Defense, Yoav Gallant, has said that Israel is now fighting on seven fronts. Gaza, West Bank, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Iran and Yemen.
IDF Chief of Staff Herzi HaLevi told a press conference on Tuesday that Israel is expanding operations in Gaza. He said that the fighting is expected to continue for several more weeks, if not months. “We will not return to the situation before Oct 7th. If it takes weeks of months, we will continue to destroy Hamas.”
Opposition leader and former Chief of Staff Gen. (ret.)Benny Gantz told a press conference, “Israel is obligated to do whatever is necessary to get her citizens back into their homes.” As of now more than 120,000 Israelis have been relocated from the north and the south due to rocket attacks.
Military observers say that the fighting has shifted to the refugee camps in Gaza where Hamas is deeply entrenched. Reportedly, the fighting is face to face. According to the Army Spokesman’s office, Israeli forces hit over 200 Hamas targets on Tuesday. In one incident troops came across a Hamas terrorist squad fleeing one building for another. An air strike was called in and the building attacked by a missile. A secondary explosion, apparently caused when a booby-trap set for Israeli troops, exploded, razing the building.
On Tuesday, Hamas leader Yeheh Sinwar made his first public statement since Oct 7th. He said that Hamas will not surrender.
Gen. (res.) Tomer Hyman, former head of IDF Military Intelligence, told a panel on Channel 12TV that fighting in the south was different than the north. The area is densely populated, especially with those Gazans who fled south. “You could use artillery (in the north), but it is not advisable (in the south) because the area is too crowded.’
“In the north,” he said, “the army went from neighborhood to neighborhood. You could see the war move. But in the south you have to go down deep, into the tunnels. There is no center that you can destroy and the war is over. Taking out Hamas’ military organization and capabilities.will take time.”
Channel 12TV’s military correspondent Nir Dvori said that the far southern Gaza Rafiah area is especially tricky since the area is laden with UN tents filled with refugees from the north, and is also up against the Egyptian border. The tactics Israel used in the north, bombing and artillery to soften up the ground before troops went in, won’t work in the south.
The expanded operations are in accordance with the IDF battle plan, said Gen (ret) Israel Ziv on Channel 12TV news. He called this the “third phase” of the war. Reportedly, this phase will see the IDF focusing more on specific locations while holding the military superiority over Gaza.
According to Ynetnews, Israel’s objective at the end of the second phase is to achieve control over 70% of Gaza. And then, in the third phase, to initiate targeted strikes against specific areas they’ve passed over intentionally.
IDF tanks in Gaza
Ynet reported that, “IDF forces operated in recent days in the olive groves in the eastern part of the Gaza City neighborhoods of Daraj and Tuffah, the last Hamas stronghold remaining in the northern Gaza Strip. They carefully scanned the ground, and beneath almost every tree they found an entrance to a Hamas tunnel or a rocket launch pit.”
Ynet also reports that, “Typically, the IDF embarks on campaigns based on operational plans preserved in the drawer and adapted or rehearsed periodically in response to intelligence changes. For this incursion, and especially its depth, there was no plan at all – it was built from scratch in the three weeks following the October 7 terror attack,”
IDF sniper in position in Gaza apartment
According to Ynet, “Hamas spares no means to entrap the soldiers. The troops in the field identify Hamas terrorists almost every day inside a UNRWA shelter, with their weapons, near children. To deal with this, IDF snipers are deployed in the area to precisely kill those terrorists. At the same time, the forces work with great effort to evacuate these shelters, but sometimes the terrorists shoot civilians who try to escape. Almost every school and even diplomatic embassies in the Gaza Strip have become a terrorist base, similar to the hospitals where weapons are found in abundance and firing positions.”
In phase three, many of the 360,000 reserve troops, some who have been on active duty for 82 days, will be released. According to pundits, this move is expected to provide an impetus for Israel to begin to return to some semblance of normalcy. Returning these soldiers to their business and places of work will be a much boost to the economy.
The IDF recently reported that Israel had underestimated the size of the Gaza tunnel network by “500% to 600%. Army Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari told the press that Israel was being hit by booby traps, RPGs, snipers, and in return all were getting hit by the IDF in the air and on the ground. He said that Israel had found tunnels tens of meters beneath the ground. Hagari also said that the IDF has found bomb making and missile laboratories, networks of tunnels that led right to hospitals and schools.”
Gen. (ret.) Israel Ziv told a Channel 12TV panel that Israel was now entering a new phase in the war, that would be a war of the tunnels.”This will be bloody,” said Ziv. “Israel needs to change their strategy. This cannot become another Vietnam. We need to have an exit strategy. We need a unity government to form a strategy. That is not what we are doing, now.”
According to Raul Sergo, head of the building contractors association, the ban on Palestinian construction workers entering Israel could cost the economy billions of dollars.
Sergo said, in an interview with the Times of Israel, that so far the industry is losing $850 million a month. “The construction industry is at a standstill. We are in dire straits,” said Sergo.
There is still political pressure against removing this ban, mainly from ultra-right wing National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotritch. However, there are reportedly many Israeli citizens suspicious of any Arab working in close proximity to them even though some of the workers are Israeli citizens.
Channel 12TV ran interviews with soldiers who were owners of small businesses. One said he left his restaurant when he received his call-up on Oct 7th and hasn’t been back since. He hopes to be able to get enough credit to keep the business going once he is released from reserve duty.
Another soldier, Ron Boutillier, who owns a bicycle repair shop serving both Jews and Arabs in the Christian Arab town of Mailiya in the Western Galilee, with his partner, Ran Gefen,” received help from Zippy Schrager a 56-year-old grandmother and the daughter of an Orthodox rabbi who immigrated to Israel from Chicago in 2012.
Schrager, a triathlon competitor, volunteered to do the repairs, that she learned on-site, and take care of his shop while he was doing his army service. “Zippy does all the basic — and not so basic — mechanical repairs,” said Boutillier. Zippy lives with her family, her husband Robert who is also a bicyclist, in the neighboring Arab-Israeli town of Maalot-Tarshiha. She has three daughters and two grandchildren.
Israeli sentiment still remains high. Soldiers interviewed said they are highly motivated and will do what is necessary to defeat Hamas. Iris Haim, the mother of Yotam Haim, 28, who was abducted by Hamas terrorists from Kibbutz Kfar Aza on Oct 7th, and later killed accidentally by IDF soldiers after escaping captivity, said she did not blame the soldiers. She has invited them to visit her at her home.
In a recorded message she said that she and her family love the soldiers and do not blame them for his death. Two other escaped hostages, Alon Shamriz and Samar Talalka, were also tragically killed in the accidental shooting. Talalka’s Toyota Corolla was later found in the Indoniesia Hospital in Gaza.
According to news reports, Iran has claimed that the Oct 7th strike was in response to the assassination of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, who was coordinating Hezbollah and Hamas attacks from his offices in Syria. Hamas, however, says that the Oct 7th attack was for Israel’s alleged desecration of the Mosque of Omar on the temple mount in Jerusalem.
On Channel 12TV, Gen.(ret.) Tomer Hyman said he expects that Iran will eventually seek revenge for the recent killing of Sayyed Reza Mousani, a senior commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard who was stationed in Damascus, Syria.
Meanwhile, Channel 12TV’s Arab affairs correspondent Ohad Hemo reported that the IDF’s intelligence unit 504 has revealed cracks of dissent against Hamas rule.
The unit has made over 50,066 calls to contacts in Gaza, some 12 million voice messages, and 14 million text messages, with warnings of potential fighting in their area and with calls to evacuate. Sometimes, according to the report, they also get information about Hamas’ activities.
In one phone call, an IDF soldier was told that Hamas gunmen were blocking evacuation routes, firing at those trying to flee.
In another call a soldier was told by a Palestinian that he had not seen any gunmen but had cursed Hamas saying “The problem is that we’re dying, and they’re saving themselves…We have not even seen their faces.”
Armed terrorists atop aid truck in Gaza
The man went on, ““If you think someone can say something against Hamas and then go out in the street afterward — they will destroy him. You don’t understand what it’s like in Gaza. They (Hamas) do whatever they want.”
Asked about aid from the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, the man said the warehouse had been looted and that all the food had been stolen. He did not know if Hamas had stolen the food.
However, Hemo did say that the UN refugee camps in Rafiah were now under complete Hamas control. He screened a conversation with another Gazan who said that Hamas is stealing humanitarian aid, but went further to say that the terror group actually controls UNRWA.
“Wherever Hamas is located, they destroy everything. Hamas places its hand on everything. It has placed its hand on the UNRWA staff. Hamas are the senior leadership of UNRWA, and they’re also in charge of the humanitarian organizations.” The man, identified as Munir, said, “The UNRWA staff are Hamas.” UNRWA denied the claims. Ynet reported that the IDF found weapons in UNWRA bags and in two Gaza schools.
The Israeli Ombudsman’s office stated yesterday that they have begun an extensive investigation into the causes leading up to the Oct 7th invasion of Israel by Hamas terrorists.
Meanwhile, the US has so far reportedly delivered 244 cargo planes, 20 ships and over 10,000 tons of military equipment to Israel.
North
According to the Times of Israel, Hezbollah fired 34 rockets into Israel from Lebanon,. Most fell in the northern Galilee town of Kyriat Shmona. No injuries were reported but there was significant damage to buildings. Other missiles fell in the seaside border town of Rosh Hanikra. No injuries were reported.
The latest rocket attack was a significant step up in Hezbollah attacks. According to the Times of Israel, the recent rocket fire was in response to an Israeli attack that killed a Hezbollah member, as well as his brother and his brother’s wife.
There is also speculation that the Hezbollah rocket attack was ordered by Iran as revenge for the killing of Sayyed Reza Mousan, a senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps officer in Syria. Iran has blamed that killing on Israel.
Kyriat Shmona has been evacuated, as have many of the towns and villages along the Lebanese border. Damage to property has been extensive. In the border town of Metulla a resident told Israel Radio’s Reshet Bet that half of the homes in the small village have been destroyed.
On Wednesday, a Hezbollah spokesman said in Beruit that now Israeli’s are growing accustomed to seeing half of their home destroyed, soon, he warned, all of the Israeli homes will be destroyed.
St. Mary’s church in northern Israel
On Tuesday, a missile landed on St. Mary’s Greek-Orthodox church in the Western Galilee town of Ikarit in northern Israel. According to Ynet, one elderly man was near the church when the rocket hit. The man was injured and the IDF sent in soldiers to extract him from the building. Hezbollah then sent other rockets attack aimed at the church, injuring 9 IDF soldiers, one seriously. Israel claims that the church attack was in direct violation of UN resolution 1701.
According to the times of Israel, on Tuesday, the IDF announced that a soldier seriously wounded in the Hezbollah rocket attack on St. Mary’s church on Friday had died. He was named as Staff Sgt. Daniel Nachmani, 21, from Kfar Saba. Sgt. Amit Hod Ziv, was also killed.In the December 22 attack on an army position near Shtula along the norther border with Lebanon.
Hezbollah has been attacking the northern settlements on a near daily basis. There are increasing calls from the northern communities for the IDF to invade Lebanon and knock out Hezbollah. However, this would mean fighting a war on two fronts, according to military analysts, and that is something Israel would rather avoid at this point.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has made it clear that unless Hezbollah reins in the terrorists along the border, Israel will have no choice but to go to war. And that Israel is fully capable of fighting a war on two fronts.
Hezbollah has an army of approximately 150,00 men and hundreds of thousands of rockets.
In an effort to deescalate the situation, Israeli representatives have appealed to US President Biden to push the UN to enforce resolution 1701 that calls for a demilitarized zone from the Israeli Lebanese border to the Litani River, 30 kilometers away.
According to the Israeli media, Israeli evacuees from the north met with President Biden and asked him to back an Israeli military operation if Lebanon does not rein in Hezbollah.
On Thursday, sirens again sounded across the north near Lebanon. Eight missiles reportedly fell on Kryiat Shmona but caused no injuries.
West Bank
According to Ynetnews, the IDF has arrested 2,500 wanted persons, among them 1300 Hamas operatives. The report stated that 290 Palestinians have been killed, most were terrorists. These are more than were killed during the 2002 operation “Defensive Shield.” The IDF has also carried out more than 25 airstrikes.
Missiles
Missile hits synagogue in south of Israel
A missile from Gaza tore through the roof of a synagogue in the Sdot Negev regional council on Wednesday. No injuries were reported.
Missiles also continued to fall on southern Israel although with a marked downturn in frequency. On Thursday, sirens sounded across the Gaza settlement region. One pundit said, that “Still, when sirens sound residents have to race to a nearby shelter. This itself is an effective form of terrorism. Just as is the economic slowdown caused by the massive call up of reserve army troops.”
Also, an undetected armed drone crashed near Moshav Eliad in the southern Golan Heights. No injuries were reported but there was some damage to nearby structures. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a coalition of Iranian-backed paramilitary groups, claimed responsibility for the drone.
Hostages
Wall in Israel plastered with names of hostages
According to the Times of Israel, 129 hostages out of the 240 hostages kidnapped on Oct 7th, still remain in Gaza — not all of them alive — after 105 civilians were released from Hamas captivity during a weeklong truce in late November.
On Thursday, the army spokesman’s office announced that American-born Judy Weinstein Hagi, 70, who was kidnapped on Oct 7th died in Gaza. Her husband Gadi who was also kidnapped, was also declared dead. Families of the hostages say that every day the hostages remain in Gaza puts their lives at risk.
Israel is actively seeking to find a way to get the hostages back, according to observers. Ron Dermer, Israel’s Minister for Strategic Affairs, flew to Washington to meet with US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan to discuss new cease-fire proposals that would see the return of hostages.
Reportedly, Egypt, Qatar and the US are involved in the negotiations. Hamas has demanded a complete cease-fire and release of all Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons. Israel has said no. The counter proposal was for a short pause in the fighting and release of some prisoners. Hamas said no.
Meanwhile, the bodies of four hostages were found while the IDF was fighting in the tunnels beneath Gaza.
Families of the hostages hold a daily vigil in Tel Aviv demanding the hostages be returned immediately, warning that their lives are in danger and pointing out that some are in desperate need of medicines and medical attention.
Israel blames the Red Cross for not demanding access to the hostages. Recently, the former head of the UN in Gaza was appointed to head the Red Cross. Also, the new head of the UN in Gaza is married to a Palestinian and has been known to be critical of Israel.
According to the Times of Israel, The Red Cross announced on Friday that it had appointed Pierre Krahenbuhl, former head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, as its next director-general. Krahenbuhl resigned as head of UN agency for Palestinians amid internal probe into alleged mismanagement, ethical abuses. He takes office in April.
Also, Sigrid Kagg, 61, is the new UN coordinator for humanitarian aid in Gaza. Kagg is the former deputy prime minister of the Netherlands and will be responsible for implementing the Security Council's decision to monitor and accelerate humanitarian aid to Gaza. Kagg is married to a former deputy minister in the Arafat government. She reportedly clashed with the Prime Minister Holland over his friendly stance towards Israel.
Tik Tok, the social media site, reportedly refused to run an ad bringing the public’s attention to the Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. Tik Tok called the ad “too political.”
Red Sea
Tanker hit by Houthi missile
According to AP, US CENTCOM said the USS Laboon, a guided-missile destroyer, and F-18 fighter jets from the Eisenhower carrier strike group were involved in the effort to down 12 one-way attack drones, three anti-ship ballistic missiles, and two land attack cruise missiles in the southern Red Sea that were fired by the Houthis over a 10-hour period.
The Iranian backed Houthis have lately fired many missiles and sent armed drones at Israel. Last Friday the Israeli air force shot down a drone near the Sinai town of Dahab, aimed at Israel’s souther city of Eilat.
The Maersk Shipping Line has announced that they will resume Red Sea shipping. This is, according to analysts, because the US is leading “Operation Prosperity Guardian,” a multi-national coalition that will place military vessels in the Red Sea to protect the sea lanes through the Gulf of Aden to the Suez Canal.
Volunteering
Israelis have turned out in the tens of thousands to help where they could. Every day volunteers turn up in the groves, orchards and hothouses to help the embattled farmers.
Since the King of Thailand told the 30,000 Thai farm workers to return home, Israeli farmers have been hard put to bring in their crops. Israeli farmers had relied on these foreign workers, as well as Gazans, to be their farm hands.
Gazans have been forbidden to enter Israel since the war. Some have been captured and told investigators they’d been spies for Hamas and provided detailed maps of the kibbutzim where they worked including the location of the IDF army bases.
Destroyed home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza
Israelis of all ages have turned up to help bring in the crops. One man in his thirties, who works in hi-tech, from a northern village came down to the Gaza border and spent a week with a farmer. He was only one of many the farmer had provided housing for in order to get help bringing in his crop of tomatoes and peppers.
But an unusual initiative was taken to solve the housing problems of members of Kibbutz Nir Oz, one of the Gaza border kibbutzim that was hit with devastating force on Oct 7th. Hamas terrorists overran the kibbutz killing or kidnapping over 180 members out of 400.
Like most of the 60,000 Gaza border area residents, those in Nir Oz had been provided temporary housing by the government. Nir Oz kibbutz members were put up in a hotel in the southern town of Eilat.
The Israeli government decided to try to solve the housing problems of the kibbutz members of Nir Oz by purchasing 80 unsold apartments from the building company Dona and giving them rent-free to the evacuees from Nir Oz. Many of the apartments in the hi rise buildings have a view of Nir Oz on the horizon. The government also purchased an additional forty apartments to make up the difference.
Group of volunteers in Kyriat Gat
Donations were requested by the large companies, and the results were surprising. Furniture companies, appliance suppliers, household goods providers, all stepped up and donated whatever was needed to fully-furnish apartments.
Everything from a full kitchen to pillow cases and sheets were supplied
Volunteers were recruited to help unpack the boxes and stock the apartments with everything from beds and pillow cases to sofas and televisions. Even household plants were provided.
Volunteers working in the fully furnished apartment for evacuated Nir Oz residents
One observer said this was a clear message, that Israel was united in supporting those not only fighting the war, but those whose lives were ruined by it.
Hi-Tech
Intel, the giant chip maker, has announced the construction of a new $25 Billion semiconductor manufacturing plant in Israel. Israel will reportedly contribute $3.2 Billion to help Intel build the plant. Intel currently has eight “FAB” plants in Israel as well as an extensive R&D operation. The new plant is expected to provide more jobs and income for Israel.
According to Reuters, Intel's $9 billion in exports account for 5.5% of total high-tech exports. The Centrino chip, which enables the use of WiFi, and its Core processors were developed in Israel.
Anti-Semitism
Other high profile celebrities have also come out against the war. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez came under fire for comparing the death of Jesus at the hands of the Romans to the deaths in Gaza.
Abe Foxman, former head of the ADL (Anti-Defamation League) joined a chorus of other voices accusing AOC of bringing up the old accusation that the Jews killed Jesus.
AOC called Jesus a “Jewish Palestinian.” One pundit pointed out that there was no Palestine back in the time of Jesus and if anything the Jewish Jesus would be a Jewish Israeli, not a Jewish Palestinian, turning her accusation on its head.
Jewish billionaire Lev Blavatnik has announced he is suspending his support of Harvard University, until the university addresses anti-semitism on campus.” He is one of 1600 donors to Harvard who have vowed to withdraw their support until the university takes more active measures to combat anti-semitism on campus.
Also, media reports that people with obvious Jewish sounding names have used an alias, usually a non-Jewish sounding name, when ordering Uber taxis fearing reprisals by pro-Palestinian drivers.
And in India, a bomb exploded outside the Israeli embassy in Delhi. There was no injuries and no damage to the building. Police are investigating. Jewish institutions and synagogues went on high alert in Delhi after the bombing.
Public Opinion
Israel has been harshly criticized for the war in Gaza. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, that Israel considers unreliable and almost always exaggerates numbers to gain sympathy, over 20,000 people have been killed in Gaza. Israel admits to killing over 7000 Hamas terrorists.
In Rabat, Morocco, thousands of people marched demanding an end to ties between Morocco and Israel because of the war in Gaza.
Anti-Israel protesters arrested in Los Angeles
In the USA on Wednesday, the roads to two airports were blocked by anti-Israeli protesters holding signs calling for Israel to stop fighting in Gaza.
Roads leading to JFK airport in New York City, and LAX in Los Angeles were closed briefly when anti-Israeli protesters used barriers and laid down on the roads disrupted morning traffic in the airports’ busiest weeks of the year. Police arrested 35 protesters.
Health
According to health officials, One soldier has died after 10 Israeli soldiers who were wounded in the Gaza fighting were found to have developed what the health authorities are calling a ‘dangerous’ fungus that appears in wounds suffered in the fighting. Some health officials are investigating if the fungus was lingering in the Hamas tunnels in Gaza where some of the soldiers were injured. Authorities are also concerned about the spread of the fungus.
Judicial Reform
High Court session from September 2023
In a bombshell report, Channel 12TV said on Wednesday that Israel’s High Court (Supreme Court) is about to issue their ruling on the “reasonableness bill” that allows the court to annul government and ministerial decisions deemed to be undemocratic.
The push for Judicial Reforms, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his Justice Minister Yariv Levin and MK Simcha Rothman, created a social divide in Israel that resulted in massive weekly protests, soldiers refusing reserve duty, and polarization of the Israeli society.
Some blame these Judicial Reforms for the Gaza war saying Israel’s enemies saw the protests and the reserve soldiers refusing duty as a sign of weakness and an invitation to attack. PM Netanyahu was warned by the military that the Judicial Reforms were dangerous. Netanyahu reportedly ignored the warning.
Israel does not have an official constitution and there is no legal divide between the judicial, legislative and executive branches. Should the Reasonableness Bill go into effect the government could pass any bill it liked without restraint, even, as in Russia and China, passing a bill to allow the leader of the majority party to rule for life.
The ‘reasonableness bill’ is part of the Judicial Reform package that the Netanyahu government was trying to pass until the war in Gaza began. Legal scholars did not expect the High Court to intervene in the matter since the bill was considered part of the quasi-constitutional Basic Law.
However, by a vote of 8-7, for the first time the High Court is apparently going to nullify a bill that is considered part of the basic law. Two of the justices who voted to nullify the bill, former High Court Justice Esther Hayun and Justice Anat Baron, retired in October. But any opinions they wrote during their term in office would be part of any court decision until January 15th.
Pro-Judicial Reform stalwarts were livid that the court was about to nullify what they considered a keystone to the Judicial Reform, aimed at lessening the power of the court in favor of the government. Justice Minister Yariv Levin, who led the push for Judicial Reform, said that bringing up this issue during a war was against Israel’s interests.
Anti-Judicial Reform activists have called for a police investigation into the leak. Pundit say that the ruling was leaked in order to pressure the judges to change their minds.
Also, should the decision not be issued until after Jan 15, 2024 then the opinions of Hayut and Baron would not be considered and the “Reasonableness Bill” would not be nullified since those justices against the bill would not have a majority.