Yom Shnee
Monday
2 Tammuz 5784
July 8 2024
UPDATE 9:00 AM ISRAEL TIME
May His Memory Be For A Blessing
Maj. Jalaa Ibrahim.
Maj. Jalaa Ibrahim, 25, an IDF Druze soldier from Sajur in northern Israel was a company commander in the 601st Engineering Battalion. He was killed when his location was hit by an anti-tank missile in Rafah.
He was the 326th IDF soldier to have fallen in the Gaza Operation since October 27th.
The Disingenuous Quote of the Day
“Our commitment to return the kidnapped is absolute and supreme. We do not forget them for a moment. The people of Israel do not forget them for a moment. In every home and family, in every synagogue, in every community, in every public and private event – we hear from all sides the concern for the abductees, the prayer and the cry – for their quick return home. The entire nation wants their return, and an absolute majority supports a hostage deal. The state’s duty is to return them and it is at the heart of the consensus.”
President Yitzhak Herzog speaking yesterday–referring to current negotiations for a hostage deal.
Yes and no. Of course, we do not forget the hostages for a moment and of course we all want their return. But what evidence is there that “an absolute majority supports a hostage deal”–especially the hostage deal currently on the table that no one really knows the specifics of? What the leftist Herzog was doing was throwing his support behind the anti-government demonstrators in the streets.
In this context, Eli Shavti who has become a spokesman for many hostage families and whose son is a hostage in Gaza had this to say yesterday: “What is being done in the streets today has nothing to do with us; we decided at the headquarters of the families of the abductees to lower their profile and let the government move forward with contacts.
The War In Gaza
*An IDF aircraft attacked and killed Ihab al-Hussein in Gaza City. He was the deputy HamISIS Minister of Labor.
*Here in Ashdod, we have heard heavy airplane activity all night and explosions apparently coming from Rafah, Gaza City, and Shujaieh.
On the Ground in the North
Places targeted by Hezbollah missiles yesterday–note the distance away from the border. Other missiles went even further south.
It was another day of massive barrages fired by Hezbollah into Israel–with the difference that the barrages reached much further south than before: all the way to the Kineret and Tiberias:
Interceptions over Tiberias yesterday.
All told, Hezbollah fired some 50 missiles into northern Israel and the Galilee region: 20 rockets to the lower Galilee (Kineret and Tiberias), 20 rockets to Mt. Meron, 10 rockets to the area around Tzfat, and 2 anti-tank missiles to the Zarit area. In addition, the terrorists in Lebanon sent 5 exploding drones to Mt. Dov and Mt. Hermon, and one to the Golan Heights.
Three Israelis (2 citizens and 1 soldier) and one American were seriously wounded–the American most critically. If you can believe this, the American was in northern Israel to teach IDF reservists how to use the drones they had purchased privately from the American’s company.
Yes, you read that correctly. Some of our IDF forces are relying on private purchases to arm and defend themselves.
*The Israel Nature and Parks Authority says that as of yesterday 104,679 dunams (about 25,900 acres) of northern Israel have been burned by Hezbollah missiles and drones:
The fire on Mt. Arbel yesterday.
Benefits To Citizens in the South and North
Yesterday, the government extended state aid to residents living between 0-7 km from the Gaza fence, and residents living between 0-5 km from the Lebanese border. The government aid will assist the residents with finding temporary housing elsewhere.
Obviously, the judgment was made that living in these area remains utterly unsafe.
On the Ground in Judea and Samaria
*Palestinian terrorists opened fire on Israelis at the Hala checkpoint in Gush Etzion. No Israelis were wounded, and the terrorists escaped.
*The IDF revealed yesterday that even though our idiotic government has authorized the entry of 8,000 Palestinians from Areas A and B into Israel for “work”, the reality is that 40,000 have entered the country illegally through “gaps” in the border fence.
In short, we are quickly returning to the situation we had before October 7. Whatever happened to that divorce between Israelis and the Palestinians?
*”The light is green”: so said Minister of Settlements Orit Struck as she stood at a construction site in south Mt. Hevron. She went on to say “Tick tick tick like this, we want to get as much done as possible, this is a sacred mission.”
She continued: “Look at what we have achieved in just these last few months and the hand is tilted with the help of God, as long as this government lasts–but it’s unclear how long it will last . . . Strengthening settlement in areas where our enemy is investing efforts to harm it is my main goal. After decades in which the PLO invested more in Mount Hebron than the governments of Israel did, I am now developing this strategic area . . . A miracle is happening here.”
Kolakevod to Minister Struck and to Bezalel Smotrich for changing the reality in Area C of Judea and Samaria!
Speaking of Judea and Samaria . . . and the Golan Heights
This map appeared on the wall of a kindergarten summer camp in Givatayim yesterday.
However, a group of leftist parents who brought their kids to camp saw the map and immediately objected because the map of Israel included the Golan Heights as well as Judea and Samaria.
Immediately, the camp organizers took the map down.
It is just plain disgusting how the leftists in the country are trying to take over the narrative of what constitutes Israel.
And so it goes today here in Israel . . .
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.