Yom Reva’ee
Wednesday
2 Kislev 5784
November 15 2023
UPDATE 11:00 PM
368 Soldiers, Police, and First Responders have fallen in battle.
A Call To Evacuate
For the first time, the IDF has distributed notices to the eastern neighborhoods of Khan Younis in southern Gaza to evacuate immediately and take shelter elsewhere.
This is the first sign that Israel is about to expand the ground operation.
On the Ground Since Our Last Update
At the Shifa Hospital
It still remains unclear whether the IDF has breached the area under the hospital. According to reports, the army is proceeding extremely cautiously to try to avoid booby-traps and ambushes.
In the meantime, more than 200 terrorists were captured in and around the hospital. Our troops have set up shop around the Shifa compound which is completely under IDF control.
Destroying HamISIS Assets
During the day, the IDF destroyed the HamISIS Parliament Building (where the Golanis took photos yesterday), the HamISIS Military Academy, and Al Quds University which churned out terrorists.
Attacks
In the South:
Nir Am, Sderot (15:00); Nir Am, Sderot (15:16); Nir Itzhak (18:15).
As you can see, this is a dramatic reduction in the number of missiles fired (although the day isn’t over yet). Apparently, the IDF has done a fantastic job of taking out missile and mortar launch sites in northern Gaza. It will be interesting to see if the number picks up again now that we are supplying fuel to Gaza.
In the North:
Matat (15:18); Dafna, Kibbutz Dan, Snir (17:48).
Hezbollah has “taken credit” for six attacks on IDF positions.
Over the Red Sea This Afternoon
The U.S. Navy intercepted a UAV sent by the Houthis in Yemen to attack Eilat.
Over the Red Sea Last Night
It has been revealed that the Etz (Arrow) intercepted two ballistic missiles heading to Eilat last night from Yemen.
The Deadly 5252 Zik Unit
As you may not know, the Zik artillery unit is called the “Air Force of the Infantry”. In addition to the artillery, it also operates Hermes 450 UAVs which record the result of every shell that is fired.
Yesterday, the unit recorded its 500th terrorist killed so far.
As the Lt. Col. in charge said: “Since the ground maneuver began, the IDF has published estimates of the number of people killed by some of the brigades and units. However, these are very general estimates. In the case of the 5252 Zik Unit, these are exact numbers, for the simple reason that all the attacks are recorded on video.
Another Zik Unit is now operating along the Lebanese border.
Who Was Murdered (By Age) on October 7?
New details from the National Insurance Institute about who was slaughtered in the Gaza Border communities during the October 7th massacres:
1 fetus that was cut out of its mother and killed
2 girls between 0 and 9 years old/10 boys between 0 and 9 years old (5 of these boys were babies under the age of 1)
11 girls between 10 and 19 years old/25 boys between 10 and 19 years old
162 women between 20 and 40 years old/259 men between 20 and 40 years old
59 women between 41 and 64 years old/102 men between 41 and 64 years old
69 women between 65 and 80 years old/31 men between 65 and 80 years old
7 women older than 80 years old/18 men older than 80 years old
This age listing does not take into account some 400 IDF soldiers, police, firefighters, and members of Shin Bet who lost their lives on that day. Nor does it take into account the 239 hostages–many of whom may be dead.
Israeli Arming Themselves
In the last 40 days, 236,006 Israelis have applied for a license to carry a gun. Normally, this number of applications would be received during a 20-year period.
Christmas Canceled
Much to the dismay of Palestinian Christians in Bethlehem and Jerusalem, the Muslim PLO announced today that there will be no Christmas celebrations this year.
Hope They Enjoy Hatikvah
The terrorist prisoners captured on October 7 and afterwards are having the pleasure of hearing Hatikvah played in their cells 24 hours a day.
UPDATE 3:00 PM
After a long pause, missiles have begun falling again:
Ashkelon, Bereyka, Zikim, Kiryat Shmona (14:01)–as you can see, this barrage was in the South as well as near the Lebanese border. The question is which terror group shot at Kiryat Shmona? If it was HamISIS in Lebanon, are the two branches of HamISIS now syncing their missile fire?
Misgav Am–along the Lebanese border (14:05)
More on the Abominable Fuel Deal
As it turns out, Israel has agreed to permit delivery of 24,000 liters of fuel every 48 hours to UNRWA—indefinitely.
To review, HamISIS needs fuel for two reasons:
–to operate its hydraulic missile launchers which have fired more than 9,000 missiles at Israel so far (this does not include mortars which are not hydraulically launched).
–to ventilate its tunnels . . . 500 km of tunnels require a lot of ventilation.
Also, to review, according to UNRWA itself, every drop of fuel that it had stored has been confiscated by HamISIS despite the fact that HamISIS is believed to have between 500,000 and 1,000,000 liters of fuel in its possession–both in tanks visible from the air, and secreted away in its tunnels underground.
HamISIS speakers have often commented that they at least enough fuel and food for 4 months underground.
Which brings us back to the question of why in the world would the Netanyahu government go back on its word and start supplying fuel to UNRWA with no hostages being released?
The obvious answer is that in the end, PM Netanyahu for all of his tough talk doesn’t have the cajones to stand up to the Biden Administration’s demand that fuel be supplied.
As a side note, the first fuel trucks into Gaza this morning belong to the Abnana Sinai Fuel Company which just so happens to have an intimate relationship with Egyptian President Al-Sisi.
UPDATE 11:30 AM
We would be greatly amiss not to praise the huge outpouring of support for Israel from some 300,000 people in the Washington Mall yesterday. In the sea of anti-Semitic marches taking place around the world, what happened in Washington was a welcome reminder that there are sane people in the world. Kolakevod to the organizers!
Talk about heartwarming:
These are a few of the kids from the Gaza border communities that survived the massacres on October 7th. This morning several hundred of them flew to Hungary to support the Israel National Soccer team in its games against Switzerland tonight and Romania tomorrow. Who can even imagine what these children saw? Kolakevod to the “Blue and White Victory Project” for making this trip possible.
UPDATE 10:00 AM
The news from Shifa is that our scan of the facilities is ongoing. It remains unclear whether our forces have accessed the underground HamISIS command and control center.
On the way into the hospital, the IDF encountered a squad of terrorists and killed all 5 of them.
Once inside, the IDF has been questioning doctors and nurses as to what they know about the hostages and terrorists. At the same time, the IDF has brought incubators, baby food, and medical supplies to the hospital.
No hostages or terrorists have been found inside so far.
Nor do we expect that there will be.
After all, the terrorists have had 40 days to plan their escape and remove any hostages that might have been there to southern Gaza.
Down The Slippery Slope
Remember how PM Netanyahu and the rest of the government swore up and down that no fuel would be permitted into Gaza until our hostages were released?
This morning the Cabinet approved “humanitarian” delivery of 24,000 liters of fuel to “UNRWA in Gaza.”
Utterly disgusting.
As we all know, UNRWA in Gaza is nothing more than a front organization for HamISIS with the U.N.’s Secretary-General Guterres serving as the HamISIS spokesman.
What is the point of making declarations of what we are going to do or not going to do, if we do not keep our word?
UPDATE 8:00 AM
There is no new news from Shifa Hospital at this moment.
What happened overnight?
The IDF continued its pincer movement joining and consolidating forces in the southern part of northern Gaza with those in the northern part of northern Gaza. As we reported yesterday, the primary focus was on the area around the Shifa Hospital.
Two more IDF officers in the reserves fell in battle:
Capt. Omri David, 27, Deputy Commander of a company in the 9217th Battalion of the Negev Brigade
Capt. Yedidya Lev, 26, Deputy Commander in the Shaked Battalion of the Givati Brigade
May their memories be for a blessing.
In the North
Terrorists in Lebanon attacked IDF positions near Margaliot, Arab Al Aramsha, and Petah with anti-tank missiles and mortars. The IDF responded by going after the launch points.
The IAF continued to attack Hezbollah infrastructure and eliminated an anti-tank squad.
In another action, an IDF tank eliminated an anti-tank squad near Yiftach.
In Judea and Samaria
The firefight that we reported on yesterday continued for 15 hours in Tulkarm and concluded with 7 terrorists dead, an explosives laboratory destroyed, and the discovery of more than 30 IEDS along the road leading to Tulkarm. The fighters that took part in the operation came from the Kafir Brigade, Harov Patrol, Dukifat Battalion, Shin Bet, and Border Police.
Palestinian terrorists tried to murder Israelis with Molotovs, IEDs, and “rocks” at Hawara, south of Givat Assaf, on Road 443 east of he Dor gas station, Al Muayyir, Luban Al Sharqiy, Ujah, Harsha, on Road 465 near Deir Nizam, Road 463 near Deir Ivzia, Psagot, Horon, Beit Hadassah in Hevron, Jiftlik, on Road 458 near Ein Samia, and south of Emanuel among some 50 locations.
A Palestinian terrorist tried to run over soldiers near the Umm Hir Mosque at Mt. Hevron. No soldiers were wounded, but the terrorist escaped.
UPDATE 7:00 AM
IDF forces have entered the Shifa Hospital and have full control of the above ground compound.
All cellphone, landline, and internet communication has been cut off in the hospital, and the IDF has installed a biometric identification system.
All focus at the moment is on gaining access to the HamISIS underground complex as the soldiers are scanning the Hospital for signs of hostages.
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.