The Gaza War Day 452; The War in the North

Tuesday

Yom Shleeshee

30 Kislev 5785

December 31 2024

The 6th Day of Chanukah

78 IDF soldiers who were fathers have been killed since the war began. They will never light a chanukiah with their family again.

But our soldiers are lighting candles wherever they are. This was a candlelighting in Gaza yesterday evening:

May His Memory Be For A Blessing

Sgt. Uriel Peretz, 23, from Beitar Illit was killed in Gaza yesterday when his unit in the Kfir Brigade was hit by an anti-tank missile. Three other members of his unit were critically wounded.

The View from Ashdod

At 11:10 pm last night, the emergency alert sounded on our phones here in Ashdod as it did on all the phones of all the people in the target areas you see below:

Once again, the Houthis in Yemen fired ballistic missiles (2) at central Israel. They were supposedly intercepted before reaching Israeli airspace. Fragments crashed into Beit Shemesh and Rehovot; fortunately no one was wounded.

We heard the warnings on our phones, but we could hear no intercept explosions because of the intense thunderstorm striking Ashdod at that very moment. Yesterday, throughout the evening and night and continuing into this morning, Ashdod has been hit by one massive storm after another. of an intensity we have never experienced here.

Each storm has been marked by intense lightning, “thunderous” thunder, and extremely heavy rain mixed with hail and sleet.

In fact, Ashdod was flooded in numerous areas overnight which have become evident this morning:

Major highways around Israel including Highway 1 from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem are currently closed because of flooding.

On the Ground in Gaza

**Astonishingly, there have been 4 separate missile attacks from Palestinian terrorists in northern Gaza yesterday and this morning: Erez (10:06); Nir Am (10:20); Kissufim (18:02); Zikim (20:37); Nir Am (08:54 this morning).

**The following numbers have come from Division 162 in Gaza this morning which has been fighting there since the war began:

*240 soldiers of Division 162 have fallen in battle.

*4,872 soldiers of Division 162 have been wounded (3,690 have returned to service).

*Soldiers in the Division have killed 11,285 terrorists.

*Soldiers in the Division have taken 2,482 terrorists as prisoner.

*At the Kamel Adwan Hospital this past week, Division fighters killed 106 terrorists and captured 250 more in two hours of fighting.

*Division sappers have defused 1,100 IEDs, and 606 booby-trapped houses in Jabaliya alone.

The News from Around Israel

*PM Netanyahu continues to recuperate at Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital following his prostate removal surgery two days ago. He is progressing well and is expected to be released by tomorrow. Already he is conducting Coalition business from his room–attempting to get a new budget passed.

*A dramatic change: it was reported this morning that the birthrate among women in ultra-orthodox society has dropped to a 43-year low–to “only” 6.1 children per mother.

*Sara Netanyahu has yet to return to Israel from the U.S. because she has Corona.

*It is likely that the government will vote tonight to create a new international airport to join Ben Gurion Airport. The new airport will likely be slated for Nevatim near Beersheva.

*The ten most common girls’ names (in order) among newborns in the general population last year:

Avigail, Miriam, Tamar, Sara, Yael, Leah, Ayala, Libi, Ella, Noa

The 10 most common girls’ names (in order) among newborns in the Jewish women’s population last year:

Abigail, Tamar, Yael, Libi, Sarah, Noa, Ayala, Leah, Ella, Adelle  

The 10 most common boys’ names (in order) among newborns in the general population last year:

Muhammad, Joseph, Adam, David, Ariel, Lavie, Omar, Rafael, Uri, Daniel

The 10 most common boys’ names (in order) among newborns in the Jewish population last year:

Ariel, David, Lavi, Rafael, Ori, Eitan, Daniel, Eliyahu, Yehuda

And so it goes in Israel this morning . . . so far . . .