Yom Shishee–Shabbat
Friday–Saturday
13-14 Cheshvan 5784
October 27-28 2023
UPDATE 10:00 PM
In tandem with the intensive bombing we reported on our last update, IDF ground forces have gone into Gaza “in an expanded raid.“
Iran has issued a threat that if Israel begins a ground invasion, “Lebanon (aka Hezbollah) is ready with its finger on the trigger.”
A rash of missile and mortar fire since 7:30 pm:
(9:09) Nativ HaAsara; (9:07) Ashkelon; (9:03) Kfar Aza; (8:59) Sderot; (8:49 Ashkelon; (7:51) Holit.
Rumors are swirling about a ground invasion, and about possible deals to release the hostages. It is impossible at this hour to separate fact from fiction.
Whatever the case, Israel is on edge. There is no Shabbat Shalom.
UPDATE 7:30 PM
The IAF is currently intensively bombing northern HamISIS in northern Palestinian Gaza in what is described as an “unprecedented attack.”
At the same time, missile volleys out of Gaza just targeted Tel Aviv and central Israel.
UPDATE 4:00 PM
Missiles and mortars fired at Israel in the last 3 hours:
(2:31 pm) Rishon Lezion, Tel Aviv (direct hit, 4 wounded–1 critically), Petah Tikva, Ramat Gan, Ashdod; (2:02) Tel Aviv, Karmia, Givatayim, Bnei Brak; (1:42) Ashdod.
The direct hit in Tel Aviv at 2:31 pm this afternoon.
You will notice above that Ashdod was hit twice. A few observations:
1. Supposedly, according to the Homefront Command, Ashdod is 40 km north of the Palestinian terror state of Gaza–meaning that from the time the siren goes off in the neighborhood until we hear the first intercept, we have 45 seconds to make it to our bomb shelter. This Homefront calculation is dangerously inaccurate.
In fact, we are actually only about 25 km north of Gaza. During the course of the war, we have had a maximum of 20 seconds to get to our bomb shelter before the explosions begin.
2. Second, the idea that the Home Front Command had of dividing each city into neighborhood target zones seemed like a good idea at the time. For example, instead of blaring a siren throughout an entire city when the Iron Dome begins tracking an incoming missile, the siren only goes off in the neighborhood in the city where it is projected to hit.
However, it is has turned into a fiasco. The 2:31 volley on Ashdod an hour and a half ago was projected by the Iron Dome to hit the port and northern industrial area so we received no warning siren in our neighborhood. But suddenly out of nowhere we had concussive blasts all around and over us. We still don’t know if the missiles got through or if they were intercepted. To say that it is disconcerting to suddenly get the explosions with no warning whatsoever is an understatement.
3. The policy of not sounding a warning siren when a missile is supposed to hit “an open area” must cease. Open areas are all around us here in Ashdod: parks, beaches, dunes. If a missile explodes with no interception and no warning 100 meters in front of us, it is startling to say the least. And what if someone happens to be in an open area taking a walk or doing some other activity?
UPDATE 1:00 PM
A Brief Recap of the War
310 Israeli soldiers have fallen in battle
229 Hostages are being held
7,546+ Terrorists have been killed
9,500+ Missiles and mortars terrorists in Gaza have fired at Israel since October 7.
In the last 15 minutes
HamISIS mortars targeted Kissufim and Kerem Shalom on the Gaza border.
In the last 3 hours
In the Palestinian terror state of Gaza: The IDF has killed the Commander of West Khan Younis Battalion in Gaza.
In Samaria: The IDF has killed Issar Al-Amer, one of the leaders of the Jenin Battalion.
In Iran: A hacker group called RedEvils has hacked and leaked documents related to management of all fuel and oil facilities in Iran.
UPDATE 10:00 AM
Missile and mortar fire since our last update
Be’eri (2:51)
How sickening is it that the kibbutz where the most gruesome massacres occurred on October 7 is still being targeted by HamISIS terrorists in Palestinian Gaza.
In the Air over Gaza Last Night
As of this hour, no specifics have been given about last night’s attacks. However, your humble servant can attest to the fact that major bombing took place between 11:00 pm-3 am. The bombing was so intense that it was impossible to sleep here in Ashdod both from the roar of planes overhead and the huge continuous blasts taking place.
That bombing has resumed at this hour.
The IDF’s Ground Gaza Strategy
It has become apparent over the last 48 hours that the current phase of the war on the ground consists of the IDF entering Gaza on daily and nightly raids.
Yesterday, infantry, accompanied by armored and engineering units IDF helicopters and helicopter gunships went into the center of Gaza and attacked HamISIS targets there and in the Sujayieh neighborhood. Dozens of positions for luanching anti-tank missiles as well as operational headquarters were hit.
A similar raid took place last night. In that raid carried out by the 36th Division, dozens of HamISIS terrorists emerged from their tunnels and were killed.
In Judea and Samaria
IDF forces carried out counter-terror operation in Jenin. 3 terrorists were killed in a clash with our troops.
IDF forces also entered Dahariya and Beit Omer near Hevron as part the same overall counter-terror operation. There are no statements yet this morning as to what took place.
U.S. Forces Under Attack In Syria
US military aircraft carried out strikes yesterday in eastern Syria against Iranian-backed militant groups responsible for more than a dozen rocket and drone attacks on US troops in Iraq and Syria that wounded 21 American soldiers over the past few days.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin declared: “Today, at the order of President Biden, US military forces conducted self-defense strikes on two facilities in eastern Syria that were used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and related groups.”
After the American attack, Shi’ite militias connected to Iran carried out another rocket attack on an American base near the Amr gas field.
All of these attacks come as the Iranian foreign minister speaking at the U.N. yesterday brazenly warned the U.S. that its continuing support for Israel “would bring the fire to the U.S.”
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.