Monday
Yom Shnee
26 Tishrei 5785
October 28 2024
UPDATE 4:00 PM ISRAEL TIME
On the Ground in the North
*Hezbollah launched 90 missiles and drones at northern Israel yesterday.
*Hezbollah attacks so far today (note 7 barrages at Metulla already):
15:51 Natua; 15:47 Metulla; 15:41 Natua; 15:39 Even Menachem, Shumra; 15:38 Metulla; 15:19 Arab al-Aramshe; 15:13 Haifa, Kiryat Biyalik, Kiryat Motzkin [5 missiles]; 14:33 Nahariya [30 missiles] ; 13:47: Metulla; 13:45 Misgav Am; 12:55: Menara, Kiryat Shmona; 10:11 Metulla; 08:07 Metulla; 07:26 Shlomi; 07:12 Kiryat Shmona; 06:41 Metulla; 06:29 Metulla; 00:50 Margaliot; 00:20 Margaliot.
The IAF has been focused on Hezbollah assets in the coastal city of Tyre today. First we had the IDF issue this evacuation order:
Then we had this IAF strike:
On the Ground in Gaza
Hostage negotiations:
The current negotiations with Mossad head Dedi Barnea, the head of the U.S. CIA, and the Prime Minister of Qatar have ended. Diplomatic-speak suggested that “progress has been made”; however, the only progress seems to be that ‘outlines’ on how to proceed were put forward by Israel, the Egyptians, the Americans, and the Qataris (aka Hamasniks).
We know already that Hamas rejected the Egyptian proposal for a 2 day ceasefire for the release of 4 hostages, so there is very little reason to believe that the negotiations are going anywhere. Nevertheless, the next diplomatic folly will be to somehow integrate the four outlines.
For what?
In case you missed it, the Palestinian newspaper Al-Quds just published three pages of what it claims were Yahya Sinwar’s last handwritten notes:
In them, Sinwar orders his minions to take care of the hostages because they are Hamas’ only leverage against Israel–and says that the main goal of Hamas should be the release of Palestinian terrorists from Israeli prisons.
He also then specifies that there are 112 hostages being held including 51 in Rafah, 25 in central Gaza, and 14 in Gaza City. He includes the names, ages, and genders of the hostages indicating a precise knowledge of who is being held where.
Again, who knows if this “documentation” is real or not?
And so it goes this afternoon 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.