UPDATES 6 pm Israel time, Tuesday, October 28 2014:
—>A series of explosions, including one particularly large one, rocked Ashdod just over two hours ago. There were reports of houses “shaking” and glass breaking in the central and southern parts of the city especially in the area near the marina.
So what happened?
The police say that the explosions were likely “sonic booms” caused by Israeli aircraft over the city. Your humble servant would have accepted this explanation except for two things.
First the IDF issued a statement shortly thereafter declaring that “there has been no shooting from Gaza”. Of course, all of us in southern Israel know that whenever the IDF says that there have been no missiles fired from Gaza, there have been missiles fired from Gaza.
But more than this, a resident of Ashdod who lives near the port took this fuzzy picture immediately after one of the “explosions”:
If it sounds like a missile impact explosion, and looks like a missile impact explosion, it must be a missile impact explosion.
—>In what can only be described as yet another idiotic “humanitarian” gesture today, Israel transported money from the PLO in Ramallah to 24,000 Hamas terrorists in Gaza.
The money is supposed to pay the “salaries” of Hamas workers.
And who are the Hamas “workers”? The terrorists who dug tunnels into Israel and fired missiles into Israel.
—>While Israel falls all over itself to placate the PLO and Hamas, Egypt continues its clamp down on both terrorist groups. As israelstreet suggested yesterday, Hamas “negotiators” announced today that they are now persona non grata in Cairo and that indirect ceasefire talks have now been delayed until late November.
At the same time, the Egyptians have begun the work on their new buffer zone on the Gaza border by razing houses (see picture below)–and are even talking of building a huge moat or canal along that border.
At the same time, Egyptian soldiers continue pouring into the area abutting Gaza.
Egyptian soldiers boarding helicopters on their way to the Gaza border yesterday.
—>You will recall, dear reader, that your humble servant wrote yesterday that no one should be deceived about PM Netanyahu pushing a proposal to build new housing in Jerusalem because as soon as Netanyahu makes such proposals, he freezes them.
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This morning we had yet another blatant example. Remember that in late August, the Netanyahu government announced that 3799 hectares of land near Gush Etzion would be declared “state land” and building would shortly begin there. This action was supposedly in response to the three Israeli teenagers who were brutally murdered by Palestinian Hamas terrorists in an area nearby. But first there had to be a 45 day period during which Palestinians could file appeals.
Guess what? The 45 day period ended two weeks ago and no appeals were filed. Yes, that’s right. No appeals were filed.
So what did the Netanyahu government through the Civil Administration and Defense Ministry do today? It decided to extend the period of time during which Palestinians could file an appeal by another 30 days.
To put it a different way, the entire proposal is being frozen by Benjamin Netanyahu.
TODAY’S BLOG:
In thinking about the subject for today’s blog, your humble servant thought about the unrelenting attack being waged against Israel from the podiums of the U.S. State Department and European Union. It is an attack that is being ratcheted up everyday with the spokeswoman for John Kerry proclaiming yesterday that “Israel’s actions do not match their aspirations for peace.”
But instead of going over this well-trod territory yet again, perhaps a short “feel-good” story might be better.
During the war with Hamas in November 2012, a captain in the IDF (who shall remain nameless for reasons of privacy) was severely wounded.
Of course, he was immediately transported to a hospital, but it was thought that he might not survive–and at the very least would lose one of his arms. But he survived, and did not have to have an amputation.
Nevertheless, his road to recovery was long and hard, and probably would not have taken place completely without the help of his IDF Casualty Officer who visited him daily in the hospital and offered him words of encouragement.
Yesterday, the Captain and his Casualty Officer were married in a wedding described as one of “great joy.”
Israelstreet wishes the happy couple a wonderful life together!
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.