Yom Shishee
Friday
11 Kislev 5784
November 24 2023
SPECIAL REQUEST
Once again, we urge you to use the “Donate” button in the right hand column to support our IDF troops on the front lines. With the current pause in fighting, they need our help more than ever as winter approaches. Warm clothing is in especially short supply. All donations made here go straight to them.
Two Final Notes To End Today
Shabbat Shalom
(and for those of you who celebrated the holiday yesterday)
Happy Thanksgiving
Here in Israel we are thankful for a long list starting with our brave IDF soldiers, Israel’s supporters around the world, and most of all our family and friends like you!
UPDATE 7:00 PM
It has taken three hours for Israelis to find out the 13 Israelis who have been released by HamISIS:
Adina Moshe (72)
Daniel Aloni (45) and her daughter Amelia Aloni (6)
Yaffe Ader (79)
Hannah Perry (79)
Hana Katsir (77) (she had reportedly died but obviously hadn’t)
Margalit Mozes (77)
Daron Katz (34), mother of Aviv Asher (2), Raz Asher (4)
Ruthie Munder (78) and her daughter Karin Munder (54) and Karin’s son Ohad Munder (9)
UPDATE 5:00 PM
The hostage release hour arrived at 4:00 pm, and Israelis were glued to their television sets. The split screen showed the Rafah Crossing on one side and Ofer Prison (where the Palestinian terrorists would be released) on the other.
We saw videos of the vans carrying 12 Thai releasees driving away from the Rafah Crossing.
The current, unconfirmed news, is that 12 of the 13 Israelis released come from Kibbutz Nir Oz.
The 13 were turned over to the Red Cross at the Khan Younis Hospital in southern Gaza, and are now in the care of Egyptian doctors.
As of this hour, we still do not have the names of those released nor, obviously, any photos or videos of them.
On the Ground in Gaza
The situation is described by several IDF commanders as “a chaotic disaster.”
The defensive perimeter set up by the IDF has been breached in numerous places by Palestinians moving north. The IDF has tightened “open fire” instructions so as not to hurt any Palestinians, and all attempts by the IDF to thwart such movement by verbal persuasion appear to be failing.
By four days from now, we will be back to square one.
UPDATE 1:00 PM
During this pause in the fighting, I will take the opportunity in this update to list 5 failed concepts that have infected Israeli political and military thinking–and led us to this point.
Five Failed Concepts
1. Israel’s superior technology means that we do not need boots on the ground. October 7th showed that whatever high-tech advantage we thought we had was an illusion. Using extremely low-tech means, the terrorists were easily able to overcome our supposedly technologically superior border fence. Years of decreasing the size of the IDF has made us vulnerable.
2. We can “contain” terror. Whoever came up with “containment” ignored reality. For 15 years, we tolerated continuing attacks along our Gaza border and did virtually nothing except in 2009 and 2014. The rest of the time we allowed HamISIS to continue a low-grade war against our citizens in the south–essentially treating those citizens like missile fodder. Terror must be destroyed, not contained.
3. We can peacefully coexist with people who want to kill us. The fallacy of this concept can be seen in every direction, but nowhere more so than the people in the border communities who tried to peacefully engage our enemies. Those Palestinian Gazans who worked along the border went back to Gaza with detailed plans of the communities and IDF installations, and then returned to the communities to massacre those who sought peace. Even after all that has happened in the last 48 days, we still are reaching out to the PLO–the same PLO that had members that participated in the massacres.
4. The Israel economy cannot exist without Palestinian workers. There are an abundance of foreign workers who don’t want to erase Israel from the map (20,000 more announced this morning from Sri Lanka) who are willing and able to take over the jobs in agriculture and construction. We must divorce ourselves ourselves completely from our addition to Palestinian workers.
5. Giving the Palestinians economic incentives will make them love us. Creating free trade zones, providing money from Qatar, giving the Palestinians benefit after benefit only makes them hate us more. It is not Israel’s responsibility to care for the welfare of the Palestinians.
There are a number of other failed concepts that we will consider in the coming days, but these will serve as starters.
UPDATE 10:00 AM
*Dozens of “ambulances” supposedly evacuating wounded (undoubtedly most of whom are HamISIS terrorists) have been passing through the Rafah Crossing all morning.
*Despite Israeli warnings, hundreds of residents of northern Gaza are streaming back into the north from where they had fled to in southern Gaza.
*HamISIS has seemingly retracted the unconditional release of 23 Thai hostages; however, another report says that they are already out of Gaza because of Iranian pressure.
*It is now confirmed that the reported HamISIS willingness to negotiate for the body parts of Hadar Goldin and Oron Shauel (killed in the 2014 war with Gaza) was nothing but a fraud to lull the Israeli government to sleep.
*There are unverified Arab reports of heavy shooting at the Kerem Shalom Crossing.
UPDATE 8:00 AM
The 4 day ceasefire started at 7:00 am–but HamISIS has already broken the ceasefire by firing missiles at Ein HaShlosha at 7:15 am.
What do we know at this hour?
*10 child and female hostages who hold Israeli IDs will be released at 4:00 pm. Some or all of these may be dual citizens. Another 3 hostages holding foreign passports may be released.
*We now know there are 5 female soldiers who are hostages. They will not be released any exchange during the ceasefire. It is not known if they are alive or dead.
*HamISIS has also stated again this morning that contrary to the terms of the Agreement, it will not allow the Red Cross to see any hostages remaining in captivity.
*HamISIS has reportedly agreed to release 23 Thai hostages without conditions.
*HamISIS has declared its intention that all those evacuated from northern Gaza to southern Gaza should return to their residences in the north. The IDF says that Israel will actively work to thwart this.
*Islamic Jihad announced yesterday that it will not release any hostages it holds during the ceasefire. How many it holds is unclear.
On the Ground Before the Ceasefire
*Omar Abu Jallah, the commander of HamISIS naval forces in Khan Younis was eliminated at around 10:00 pm last night.
*The IDF destroyed one of the tunnels under the Shifa Hospital late last night.
*Just before the ceasefire, the IAF hit HamISIS targets in the Rafah and Nuseirat neighborhoods.
What We Know About the Palestinian Terrorists To Be Released By Israel
*Virtually every woman to be released committed a stabbing or shooting attack.
*Almost all of the “children” are 17-18 year old men who are members of HamISIS, Islamic Jihad, Fatah, or the PFLP.
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.