Yom Shishee
Friday
5 Cheshvan 5784
October 20 2023
UPDATE 10:00 PM
2 American hostages, Yehudit Ra’anan and her daughter Nathalie, have been released to the Red Cross by Hamas and are now in Israel. The two hostages had been held by the Al-Qassam Brigades, and their release was negotiated by Qatar (translated: money was almost certainly involved).
On the Ground in the Last 4 Hours
Mortars and Missile Attacks:
Sderot, Nir Am (9:17), Sderot, Ni Am (9:11), Ashdod (9:03), Ashkelon (9:01), Ashkelon (8:56), Sderot, Nir Am (8:37), Yad Mordechai (8:17), Sderot, Nir Am (8:07), Ashdod (8:01), Ashkelon (8:00), Ofakim (7:59).
Our neighborhood of Ashdod was hit 3 times today.
In the north:
Incoming missile interception at Mt. Dov (9:24).
Anti-tank fire at Natua and Birnit (9:10).
Terrorists attacked IDF soldiers at Margaliot (7:44). One terrorist was killed, one soldier was wounded.
Missile fired at Metula (6:11).
Yesterday’s Attack from the Houtis in Yemen
The final report: the USS Carney shot down 15 drones and 4 land-air cruise missiles.
What do you think it means?
Iran has told its citizens to leave Lebanon in the next 24 hours.
UPDATE 6:00 PM
On the Ground in the Last 5 Hours
Terrorists in Lebanon have fired at least 10 more anti-tank missiles at IDF installations, and have fired 4 volleys of missiles at Israeli communities in the north (Dov, Gezer, Adrat, Nahariya).
The War Outline
Defense Minister Galant spoke at the Knesset today and outlined this war plan:
“We are in the first stage, in which a military campaign takes place with fire and then with maneuvers whose purpose is to destroy operatives and damage infrastructure in order to neutralize and destroy Hamas.
The second stage will be an intermediate stage of continuing the fighting at a lower intensity and eliminating pockets of resistance.
The third step will be the creation of a new security regime in the Gaza Strip, the removal of Israel’s responsibility for life in the Gaza Strip and the creation of a new security reality for the citizens of Israel and the residents of the surrounding area.”
One Hero: A Bedouin Tracker for the IDF
There are so many stories of heroism on October 7 that we hardly know where to begin, but let’s start today with Lt. H, a Bedouin tracker with the IDF.
When he first arrived on the scene he was nearly killed and immediately realized that his best way to survive was to pretend he was a terrorist because he knows how to speak Arabic with a Gazan accent.
During the remainder of the day, he lured terrorist after terrorist out into the open, and then killed them. Fifteen hours later, he had killed 22 of the barbaric monsters. He also had been hit with shrapnel and had broken ribs.
The next day he arrived for service anyway. When asked how he had the power to come in, he replied: “Then where else will I be? That’s exactly how the IDF trained me. Obviously I’m at the base, that’s what’s expected of me and that’s what I expect of myself.”
He concluded: “As long as I am on my feet, I will defend our country.”
Speaking of the Bedouins
Another Bedouin soldier released a video today from which this screen shot is taken:
A Bedouin fighter in the IDF.
This Bedouin’s message: “You murdered our brothers and sisters. We are coming to Gaza to cleanse it of your evil. Arabs of the Negev are neither with you nor with your hypocrisy, you don’t believe in Allah.”
The Perverted Idiots of Hamas
Isn’t it amazing how many “celebrities” around the world have rallied to the cause of a monstrous ISIS organization that beheads, tortures, and rapes babies and women before killing and burning them? And beheads, tortures, and butchers men? And is holding hundreds more in brutal hostage?
Famed environmental activist and sorry excuse for a human being Greta Thunberg (lower right) and three of her perverted friends–all of whom support the slaughter and butchery of Jews.
UPDATE 12:15 PM
The Morning, Missile and Mortar Attacks
Nir Im (9:57 am), Sderot (10:49), Kissufim (11:17), Kfar Aza (11:50), Ashdod (12:01), Ashkelon (12:03).
As usual, the Iron Dome intercepts here in Ashdod were right over our house.
The view outside our front door. Note the erratic trail of the Iron Dome interceptor to the point of impact.
And:
The view outside our back door of 2 intercepts. A total of 8 missiles targeted Ashdod.
4,834 Israelis have been wounded since the war began: 301 of these are still in the hospital, 48 of these are in critical condition.
The Overall War Picture: Our Darkest Hour
Iranian backed Hamas-ISIS and Islamic Jihad are facing us in the south. Despite our bombing, the terrorists are still shooting missiles at us.
Iranian backed Hamas-ISIS-Lebanon and Islamic Jihad-Lebanon are firing missiles at cities in the north.
Iranian backed Hezbollah is firing at IDF outposts and cities in Israel with anti-tank weapons.
Iranian backed Hezbollah-Iraq began busing terrorists to the Jordanian border last night.
Iranian supported ISIS contingents entered Syria yesterday.
Iranian proxy Houthis in Yemen fired cruise missiles and sent drones at us last night which were intercepted by a US warship.
Iran moved its mobile ballistic missile launchers to border points closer to Israel last night.
There is no wonder that PM Netanyahu said several times yesterday that “this is Israel’s darkest hour.”
Last Night
A Hamas supporter tried to run over Israelis in Jerusalem. He was captured.
Palestinian terrorists on 3 ATVs tried to enter the Tzalim base. One terrorist was shot and killed. The others escaped.
Finally Al Jazeera Is Closed Down
The government has closed down Al-Jazeera in Israel following its endless stream of false reporting that “harms the security of the state.”
Prepare To Be Sickened
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken cabled all U.S. diplomatic and consular posts, authorizing them to lower American flags to half-staff over those supposedly killed at a Gaza hospital on Tuesday if they are in a country which is observing a day of mourning for the supposed Gaza hospital dead.
UPDATE 8:00 AM
12 hours ago, we published the announcement that went out on major Israeli networks last night that the cabinet had given the army the green light to enter Gaza.
Nothing has changed. However, the green light is apparently a “standing green light.” Though the message suggested action was imminent, the question this morning is what does “imminent” mean?
What has changed in the last 12 hours is the involvement of Gen. (res) Yitzhak Brick.
You will recall that Gen. Brick is the former Israel ombudsman who exactly predicted last June exactly what happened on October 7. Yesterday afternoon, Brick had an extensive meeting with PM Netanyahu in which he most likely conveyed the same message that he gave on Israel’s Channel 14 in a long interview last night.
That message was an impassioned plea for Israel NOT to invade Gaza at this moment. Brick said that such an invasion would be a suicide mission because of the extensive array of booby traps that Hamas has covered Gaza with.
Brick also said that an invasion should not happen at this moment because the IDF is unprepared, and that some of its commanders are incompetent and should be sacked–as evidenced by what happened on October 7. An invasion, Brick said, must not happen until the IDF gets its ducks in order.
Brick’s opinion is simply that Israel should continue what it is doing: intensively bombing northern Gaza, and continue cutting off water and electricity to that part of the Palestinian terror state. Eventually, Brick said the some 40,000 Hamas terrorists currently in the tunnels would begin to come out. Only at that point should Israel go in.
To sum Brick up: Crush them from the air, dry them out for two months in a siege without food, electricity, and water, and then conquer.
However, Brick’s analysis ignores that terrorists in tunnels in northern Gaza can easily be supplied with food and water via tunnels from southern Gaza (if they need to be supplied at all given the fact that they probably have months worth of supplies stored underground).
Nevertheless, Brick’s analysis was a sobering statement about the IDF’s lack of preparedness and lack of leadership.
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.