Yom Shabbat
Saturday
4 Tevet 5784
December 16 2023
UPDATE 10:00 PM
Inbar Hayman, 27, from Haifa. She was at the Peace Festival on October 7th when kidnapped. A subsequent HamISIS video showed that she was alive in Gaza.
*Another hostage has been found dead–murdered while in captivity: Inbar Hayman.
*IDF Sgt. Maj. Yehezkel Azaria, 53, from Petah Tikva has fallen in battle on the Lebanon border near Margaliot. He was killed by a suicide drone launched by Hezbollah in Lebanon.
*The USS Eisenhower aircraft carrier and strike group which was originally off the coast and then moved to the Arabian/Persian Gulf has now been repositioned off the coast of Yemen.
UPDATE 6:00 PM
In The Last Few Hours
*In a raid by the IDF’s elite Shayetet 13 unit on a school in the Rimal neighborhood, more than 25 terrorists were killed and 50+ surrendered.
*The USS Carney intercepted 14 drones launched by the Houthis in Yemen toward Eilat.
A Transformative Event?
If there is anything good that has come from the Houthi rampage in the Red Sea and Bab Al Mandab, it is that a company called Traknet has begun operating a land bridge between Bahrain and Dubai to Haifa.
The overland journey from Dubai covers 2,550 km and takes four days, and from Bahrain a distance 1,700 km/two days and seven hours. As you can see from the above map the route runs from Dubai or Bahrain through Saudi Arabia and then through Jordan.
Overall the travel time is shorter than the sea route through the Suez Canal and much shorter than the route around Africa via Cape Horn. The cost is about 1.2 dollars per km–about the same as by sea.
Believe it or not, the first 10 trucks completed the route this week.
UPDATE 2:00 PM
The news from last night about the inadvertent killing of our three hostages grows even worse, if that is possible.
It turns out that all three of the hostages came out of a building walking toward our soldiers wearing no shirts, shouting in Hebrew, and one of them waving a white flag.
Despite the fact that the IDF is under orders not to shoot when someone is waving a white flag, the three were shot.
Two apparently were killed instantly. The third was wounded and returned to the building whereupon the commander of the force ordered everyone to stop shooting. However, when the hostage appeared again yelling in Hebrew “Save me”, he was shot and killed.
Apparently, this particular group of soldiers had been engaged in fierce hand to hand fighting in the nightmarish Shujayieh for several days during which they had encountered dozens of terrorists dressed in civilian clothes who were using all sorts of ploys to try to lure them into an ambush.
That being said, one wonders what else the hostages could have done to identify themselves. Also, it goes without saying that those who opened fire in direct contravention of orders should be held to account.
On the Northern Border
So far, the day has seen numerous missiles fired into northern Israel at Gonen, Kfar Blum, Kfar Szold, Malkia, and the areas of the Mt. Hermon regional council as well as an attempted aircraft infiltration near Kiryat Shmona.
As has been the case with every terror attempt from Lebanon, the IDF has responded with artillery fire targeting the launch sites and weapons repositories of the terrorists.
Now comes unbelievable word that the Biden Administration has just “reprimanded” Israel for “dozens of attacks in Lebanon”–and that any attacks that “damage the infrastructure of the Lebanese Army are not acceptable.”
So what are we supposed to do?
Just sit back and let them fire at us forcing all of our citizens to evacuate?
UPDATE 12:00 PM
“We are coming back.”
The Goldstein-Almog family in happier times: (l-r) Agam (17), Gal (11), Nadav (48-murdered), Chen (48), Tal (11), Yam (20-murdered).
On November 26, Chen Goldstein-Almog was released from Hamas captivity along with three of her children, Agam, Gal, and. They had been held hostage since October 7 when barbaric HamISIS terrorists overran their home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza. Chen’s husband Nadav and oldest daughter Yam were murdered in front of the rest of the family.
In an interview this week, Chen told what the head terrorist warned her before she was released:
“Do not return to your kibbutz, do not return to a place so close to Gaza. Go to Tel Aviv or somewhere further north, because we are coming back.”
The Fighting Intensifies . . . On the Ground In Gaza
*For three hours now, the IDF has been attacking terrorist targets from the ground and from the air in northern Gaza–particularly against terror squads in Gaza City and Jabaliya that operate from buildings.
*According to the IDF Spokesman:
“Following information about Hamas terrorists hiding inside the schools, the fighters of the 401st Brigade Combat Team and the 13th Fleet, under the command of the 162nd Division, raided the “Alma’atsam in Allah” and “Alfarabi” schools where Hamas terrorists were hiding in the Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City.
The forces eliminated terrorists in battles that took place in the area. In addition, terrorists hiding inside schools surrendered and were arrested by the forces.”
UPDATE 10:00 AM
It is important to note that the demonstration in Tel Aviv last night and the announcement of a hunger strike by some of the families of the hostages do not represent the views of all the “abductee” families.
The following is a statement this morning from the Tikva Forum “Which Unites Families of the Abductees”:
—–
“We send our condolences to our dear friend Iris Haim, and to the families of Shamriz and Talalka, for the death of the sons Yotam, Alon and Samer in the tragic and shocking event last night.
* The only culprit in the event is Hamas who kidnapped, tortured and murdered the best of our sons and daughters and the blood of the sons by his own hands.
* The fact that the Hamas murderers had to give up the abductees proves that the military and political pressure on Hamas is working.
* Our soldiers in Gaza are in an impossible reality facing Hamas that operates with brutal methods such as Hebrew-speaking dolls and complete disregard for the Geneva Convention and the laws of war in international law.
*In every war, mistakes are made and soldiers are killed by the fire of our forces. From the beginning of the maneuver, 13 IDF soldiers were killed after they were mistakenly identified as terrorists, joined last night by our three sons. The Minister of Defense announced that the IDF has refined procedures and everything will be done so that such a tragic event will not happen again and we thank the soldiers who sacrifice their lives for the return of the abductees and security even now.
* The person who initiated and led the massacre and kidnapping campaign is Yahya Sanwar, who was released in the Shalit deal along with hundreds of other murderers. We are not ready to think about another child who will be kidnapped, one family who will be slaughtered and one girl who will be raped due to the release of another murderer.
*We demand to do everything so that the enemy is the one who pays the price. Giving a reward and a reward to the enemy, such as the massive release of murderers, will lead to the fact that the people of Israel will have to pay a very painful price in the future. Never Again!
* The task of returning the abductees to their families, returning the dear warriors to their home in peace and restoring security to the country is a difficult and complex task that sits on the shoulders of the decision makers.
We pray that they will succeed in their complex mission and that we will soon see our kidnapped loved ones and our soldiers return home in peace crowned with victory.”
—–
Well said Tikva!
UPDATE 9:00 AM
Israel is still reeling from the news last night that IDF soldiers inadvertently killed three of our hostages whom they thought were terrorists. The incident occurred in the intense combat zone of Shujayieh. No further information has been forthcoming this morning about how this tragedy happened.
In Tel Aviv last night, the families of the hostages blocked traffic and declared that they are going on a hunger strike until their loved ones are released.
However, there seems to be no real way to bring about that release. The hostages are scattered throughout Gaza, and the various terror groups that hold them have declared that there will be no releases until Israel ceases all military activity in Gaza and all terrorists are released from Israeli prisons.
On the Ground This Morning in Gaza
The IAF continues striking at terrorist bases embedded in homes. This morning several houses belonging to the Sarhan, Elanger, and Khader families in the Almanara neighborhood and on Old Gaza Street in northern Gaza were hit.
IDF artillery fire is reported in the Al-Fukhari neighborhood of Khan Younis.
Intense firefights have been taking place at Tal a-Zatar in Belia (northern Gaza).
Mortar and Missile Fire So Far This Morning
In the north: Zerait (08:01)
In the south: Netiv Ha’Asara (07:03)
The Abominable UN Strikes Again
This time in the form of the so-called U.N. Human Rights Office in Gaza two days ago:
“Adverse human rights impacts, some long term”? Yes, terrorists could be killed.
“Goods indispensable to civilian survival could be at risk”? It would seem that the U.N. is talking about the “humanitarian” goods that HamISIS has stolen and stored in the tunnels for its own survival. The “civilians” are HamISIS terrorists.
“Civilians must be protected.” Again, the UN believes that the terrorists must be protected.
Yesterday, UN Watch replied to the UN Human Rights post:
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.