Yom Shishee
Friday
25 Kislev 5784
December 8 2023
May This Chanukah Festival of Light
Bring Victory To Our Soldiers and Freedom To Our Hostages!
Shabbat Shalom and Happy 2nd night and day of Chanukah! (image: rotter)
Battlefield in Gaza:
UPDATE 10:00 PM
Unfortunately, as we predicted, the intensive attack on north and south Gaza in the last 24 hours has resulted in increased IDF casualties both in terms of killed and wounded.
More than 40 wounded soldiers have been brought to Soroka Hospital–ten of them are in “very serious condition.”
And this is just at Soroka.
419 IDF soldiers, policemen, and first responders have fallen in battle since October 7th.
93 of these are IDF soldiers who have died in the ground offensive in Gaza.
Important Quotes Today
The IDF Spokesman: “We need another month and a half to collapse Hamas.”
Defense Minister Gallant talking to a group of female IDF fighters on the border today:
“It is impossible to ignore the strong, prominent and successful female presence. Women have not really fought in the IDF since 1948, this is the first time this has happened after 75 years of numerous wars.
Your results are very impressive, both in the operation of on the ground and in our command structure.
IDF soldiers are in dozens of places around Gaza lighting Hanukkah candles – this is the victory of the New Maccabees over evil and darkness. We turn on light in Gaza, and turn off the light of the Hamas terrorists.”
Israel U.N. Ambassador Gilad Erdan Speaking in the U.N. Security Council Against A Sea of Countries Aligned Against Israel
“If the Council wants a cease-fire, it must demand it from Hamas, which violated the last two cease-fires: on October 7 and again a few days ago. Why don’t you address the call for a ceasefire to Yahya Sinwar? Why don’t you turn to Ismail Haniyeh? Why did you wake up only now and not when Hamas violated the last truce and caused it to collapse?
When you listen to the discussions here in the council, you get the impression that Hamas doesn’t exist at all and everything has to do with what Israel is doing. Hamas is solely responsible for the situation in Gaza! A ceasefire will only strengthen Hamas’s reign of terror in Gaza and prolong the suffering for both sides.
Today is the first day of Hanukkah. This is one of the holidays in which we celebrate the victory of the Jewish people in the face of the attempts to destroy us in every generation. Powers tried to prevent our presence in our land, in Jerusalem, even before Christ. Before Muhammad.
This is a holiday that symbolizes the victory of light over darkness. Today we find ourselves again surrounded by darkness. Against forces that seek to destroy us, demonize and delegitimize us. Jewish tradition teaches that even a little light repels a lot of darkness. Each of you can be the light here today, which will dispel the darkness in the UN and reveal the truth.
I pray that we will see another Hanukkah miracle here at the UN, and that God will allow truth and light to prevail here in the Council. That we will see Hamas defeated soon, so that both Israelis and Gazans can live freely. Without violence and without fear. Israel will continue its mission – destroying Hamas and returning all the abductees. We will complete our mission while supporting any humanitarian initiative to improve the situation of the residents of Gaza.
Those who truly want peace and security must understand that the only way to achieve this is to destroy Hamas – not by calling for a ceasefire, which will only prolong the war and the suffering of everyone. There is no other option.”
Kolakevod to Ambassador Erdan for telling it like it is!
UPDATE 5:00 PM
Maj. (res.) Naftali Yonah Gordon, 32 years old, from Jerusalem, armored fighter in the 53rd battalion, Barak design (188) fell in battle in the northern Gaza.
Maj. (res.) Omri Rot, 25 years old, from Katsrin, a tank commander in the 53rd Battalion, Barak formation (188) was killed in battle in northern Gaza
May Their Memories Be For A Blessing
Our Soldiers’ Causes of Death
The IDF does not list the cause of death of each soldier, but from we can gather, some of the causes of death have been: running over an IED in a vehicle, being in an armored vehicle that was hit by an anti-tank missile or RPG, being ambushed by terrorists coming out of a tunnel, and friendly fire.
Missile and Mortar Fire in the Last 3 Hours
In the South and Center:
Kissufim (16:05); Mivtahim, Ashkelon (15:59); Ein Hashlosha, Nirim (15:21); Kerem Shalom (14:47); Sufa, Holit (14:45); Tel Aviv, Kiryat Shmona (14:30).
Why can’t Israel stop this missile fire? The short answer is that we can, but to do so we would likely kill “civilians” camped out around the launchers.
In the North:
Matat (16:42); Kfar Blum (14:39); Kfar Blum, Neot Mordechai (14:27).
Two Israelis were wounded in the Matat attack.
Utter Hypocrisy
The abominable Amnesty International raised its ugly head today to complain that photos released yesterday (and which appeared on this blog) of Palestinian prisoners in their underwear are “humiliating” and must be investigated.
We all know why prisoners are stripped to their underwear. In doing so, guns, knives, IEDs, and suicide vests are revealed. Not humiliation but survival of our soldiers.
This is the same odious Amnesty International which has had little to nothing to say about what happened on October 7th, and absolutely nothing about our hostages held in barbaric conditions underground in Gaza.
UPDATE 2:00 PM
A moving Chanukah ceremony at the Kotel (Western Wall) last night. One candle was lit for each hostage still brutally held underground in Gaza.
More horror stories from released hostages: Itay and Maya Regev were taken to the tunnels. Itay was shot in the hip; a doctor operated on him without using anesthesia. Maya was shot in the leg and feet; she was operated on and her feet were reconnected upside down.
Both are still in Soroka Hospital in Beersheva and are now doing well having had corrective surgery. However, both will require further surgeries.
Maya (21) and Itay (18) with their younger brother. It’s remarkable that they can still smile after what they have been through.
UPDATE 10:00 AM
On the Ground in the South
More HamISIS surrenders this morning in Gaza ( Photo: IDF)
*The IDF spokesman reported this morning that the IDF attacked 450+ terror targets from the air and on the ground last night.
*The IDF has begun to release some of the reserve units whose soldiers have been in Gaza for many consecutive weeks and to replace them with soldiers who have served a shorter time in combat.
*After 10,000+ close range support missions by Apache helicopters, a tragic event last night. A combat unit called in for support, but the helicopter hit the building they were in instead of the one the terrorists were firing from. One IDF soldier was killed.
On the Ground in the North
A chanukiah erected by our IDF soldiers on the Lebanese border last night:
*IDF Division 210 attacked 2 terror targets in Syria following missile fire into the Golan.
*The Eagle Observation Battalion at Mt. Dov spotted a terror squad trying to infiltrate Israel. It called in an air strike that eliminated the terrorists. Ground forces that went to the location found the bodies–heavily armed with grenades, Kalashnikovs, and anti-tank missiles.
On the Ground in Judea and Samaria
*5 Palestinian terrorists were killed after they opened fire on our soldiers near Tubas.
*Palestinian terrorists threw an IED at an IDF pillbox on Mt. Hevron.
UPDATE 8:00 AM
On the Ground in Gaza Last Night and Right Now
Overnight, IDF focused its attacks on Nuseirat, Khan Younis, and Jabaliya. Those attacks included massive artillery fire, IAF bombing, and fire from helicopter gunships. This morning those attacks have expanded to the neighborhoods of Al-Tupah, Al-Daraj, and Deir Al-Balach east of Khan Younis.
Two More Soldiers Have Fallen In Battle
Maj. (res.) Kobi Dvash, 41 years old, from Tiberias, a fighter in the 271st Engineering Battalion, the 14th Strike Brigade, was killed yesterday in a battle in the south of the Gaza Strip.
Maj. (res.) Eyal Meir Berkowitz, 28 years old, from Jerusalem, a fighter in the 699th Battalion, ‘Hafti Hash’ formation (551), fell yesterday in battle in the northern Gaza Strip.
May Their Memories Be For A Blessing
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.