8:47 pm: Hamas Palestinian terrorists have hit the Ashkelon area with two more rockets: one Grad and one Qassam.
8:23 pm. 5 Qassam rockets have just struck Ashkelon. Incoming rocket sirens over Beersheva.
8:00 pm. The terrorist alert is still in force in Ashdod and has been extended to other nearby cities and towns, and the Grad warning is still in place.
In what can only be described as another ludicrous display of trying to close the barn door after the horse has escaped, Ehud Barak’s lapdog, IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz, declared this afternoon that the IDF was going to take three steps: strengthen security along the Israel-Egyptian border in the Sinai, collect more intelligence in Gaza and the Sinai, and change the operational structure of the Navy Command Center in Eilat. He also announced that the IDF was ‘considering’ speeding up the construction of the fence along the Egyptian border.
In making the announcement, Gantz’s spokesman blathered “These are important changes that come in response to the serious threat that Israel faces today from the Sinai peninsula.”
What a joke. Even people like your humble servant who don’t have access to any intelligence reports have been reporting on the threat from the Sinai since the day Mubarak was driven from office. It is astonishing and extraordinarily disconcerting that Barak and Gantz have sat on their hands and done nothing to counter the obvious threat before now.
In doing nothing, Barak and Gantz have made themselves (and unfortunately are in the process of making the IDF) the laughing stock of the Middle East. It is past time for Netanyahu to take charge of the Defense portfolio and put the IDF on solid ground again by relieving both of them of control and command.
6:00 pm. There is a MADA alert of a possible impending Grad attack for southern Israel.
12:56 pm. This morning at 8:3o am we were turned away from the Wednesday shuk (market) by security personnel informing us that the shuk was closed because of an elevated threat level. As of one minute ago, a full-blown terrorist alert has been issued for the entire city of Ashdod.
Palestinian Hamas terrorists firing mortars at the children, women, and men of southern Israel
7.25 am. Two mortars were fired at the citizens of southern Israel one hour ago at 6:28 am. This is how it was reported by the Jerusalem Post:
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Two mortar shells fired from the Gaza Strip exploded in open areas in the Eshkol Regional Council on Wednesday morning. No injuries were reported, but light damage was caused.
This infuriating news item exhibits every point your humble servant made in his Jerusalem Post op-ed yesterday. Note that “Hamas” is not mentioned; note that the euphemistic “no injuries were reported” phrase is used; and finally note that the euphemistic “exploded in open areas” is also used.
Here is how the news item should have read:
Two mortar shells were fired Wednesday morning at the men, women, and children of southern Israel by Hamas Palestinian terrorists in the Gaza Strip, exploding in the Eshkol Regional Council. No physical injuries were reported but the emotional trauma caused by the explosions cannot be measured. Light property damage was caused.
In other words, we are back to the same ridiculous situation we were in before last Thursday. There is a ‘ceasefire’ in effect which means that we Israelis in the south will be fired at every day with rockets and mortars from the Palestinian terrorists in Gaza–with no protection from our beloved IDF.
Meanwhile, our do-nothing, hollow-man ‘Defense’ Minister Ehud Barak is back to his old themes–pushing for Israel to apologize to Turkey. And what is his newest bizarre reason? Because Turkey will play a major role in post-Assad Syria. And our do-nothing, hollow-manned IDF officials are back to blathering that we should not blame Hamas for the most recent round of rocket attacks.
It is important, dear reader, to realize that no one supports the IDF and its soldiers more than your humble servant. The courage and commitment of our IDF soldiers is astonishing. However, your humble servant holds Ehud Barak and his minions in the IDF officer corps and intelligence division in utter contempt.
***Special note: This blog is not going to only focus on southern Israel from now on, but it will detail every missile and mortar strike against us in southern Israel. More than this, as time permits, this blog will have an afternoon or evening update everyday.
A student from Malawi, who had worked with an Israeli health volunteer in his country battling AIDS, came up to us as we walked down the street in the UC-Davis Picnic Day Parade and wanted to carry the Israeli flag.