The Gaza War Day 455; The War in the North

Friday

Yom Shishee

3 Tevet 5785

January 3 2025

UPDATE 4:00 PM ISRAEL TIME

The View from Ashdod

It has been a night and day of booming and nonstop drones circling overhead, punctuated by another Houthi missile from Yemen which targeted central Israel (the area between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv:

After being intercepted, the missile broke into parts, one of which fell in a citizen’s backyard in Gilo:

On the Ground in Gaza

The IAF has substantially increased the intensity of bombing Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists and other assets in 40 separate attacks. Our aircraft have hit Jabaliya, Al-Balad, Al-Shatim, Al-Darj, and in the center of Gaza Nuseirat and Al-Zaida. 63 terrorists have been eliminated since this morning.

Meanwhile, Palestinian terrorists have hit Sderot twice during the day at (02:54) early this morning (see target map below) and at (13:29) this afternoon. Also, there was an alarm at Kibbutz Be’eri at (12:08)–the same Kibbutz Be’eri that was ravaged by Palestinian barbarians on October 7th of last year–when a Palestinian terrorist fired a shoulder-fired missile at an IAF helicopter. Fortunately, it missed the helicopter; however, it landed in the area of the kibbutz..

The target map at (02:54):

On the Ground in Lebanon and Syria

*The IAF hit Hezbollah missile launchers at Jaba’a in southern Lebanon.

*A new defensive strategy is being proposed by the IDF:

–12 new IDF outposts will be built along the border with Lebanon, each one opposite an Israeli community.

–9 new IDF outpopsts will be built within the “DMZ” along the Israeli-Syrian border, 2 of them will be built on the formerly Syrian section of Mt. Hermon. In fact, the Hermon bases are already under construction.

The only problem with the strategy vis a vis the Lebanon border is that there are 42 communities within 2 km of the border, not 12:

Ghajar, Dishon, Kfar Yuval, Margaliot, Metula, Avivim, Dovev, Ma’ayan Baruch, Bar’am, Manara, Yiftah, Malkia, Misgav Am, Yir’on, Dafna, Arab al-Aramshe, Shlomi, Netu’a, Ya’ara, Shtula, Matat, Zar’it, Shomera, Betzet, Adamit, Rosh Hanikra, Hanita,Kfar Giladi, Snir, Dan, Beit Hillel, She’ar Yashuv, Hagoshrim, Liman, Matzuva, Eylon, Goren, Gornot HaGalil, Even Menachem, Sasa, Tziv’on and Ramot Naftali–and these are not even to mention the cities of Metulla and Kiryat Shmona.

The Government Is Concerned About Biden’s Waning Days

From Channel 14 News:

“Jerusalem fears a diplomatic ambush by the outgoing administration in the Security Council. In the scenario in question, a third country would submit a resolution to the Council that would demand that Israel withdraw from the buffer zone in the Syrian Golan Heights and from the summit of Mount Hermon and/or end the war in Gaza.

In the next stage, the administration will deliberately refrain from vetoing such a resolution – and then we will be stuck with it forever, since even if the Trump administration proposes a resolution that repeals it, Russia or China will veto it.

An Israeli official commented: ‘We are very, very wary of an American move that would lead us to a decision in the Security Council. There is great and real concern about this matter, and therefore in the two and a half weeks remaining until Trump’s inauguration, we are really walking on eggshells.'”

The Carnage on Israeli Roads Last Year

Here at OneIsrael we have often bewailed the maniacal way that Israelis drive and the numerous near-accidents we have been involved in. Driving along an Israeli freeway is risking your life.

433 Israelis were killed on the roads last year, an increase of 21% over 2023:

–155 people were killed in accidents involving private vehicles – 36% of all fatalities.

–112 pedestrians were killed in road accidents – 26% of all fatalities.

–97 motorcycle and scooter riders were killed in road accidents – 22% of all fatalities.

–29 bicyclists and scooter riders were killed in fatal road accidents – 7% of all fatalities this year.

–77 people were killed in road accidents involving trucks over 3.5 tons, 18% of all fatalities this year.

–22 people were killed in road accidents involving buses – 5% of all fatalities this year.

–8 people were killed in road accidents involving tractors.

In the past 24 hours, your husband has driven from Ashdod to Jerusalem and back, Ashdod to Tel Aviv and back, and Ashdod to Nes Ziona and back. There were numerous crashes all along the roads. Frankly, the only surprise about the above grim statistics is that so few have been killed.

And so it goes in Israel today . . . so far . . .