Yom Rishon
Sunday
19 Tevet 5784
December 31 2023
A Request And An Important Anecdote
(repeated from yesterday)
We ask you again today to make an end-of-the-year donation here at OneIsrael to our heroic soldiers by clicking on the donate button in the right hand column.
At the Shabbat dinner table Friday night, one of our family members who has a boyfriend in the reserves fighting in Gaza in an elite unit, told of an incident this week in which his unit came upon a “suspicious” house in which it was thought that hostages might be held.
The commander of the unit ordered the fighters into the house.
They refused and told the commander to bring in a team of sappers from an engineering unit to first check for booby traps.
The sappers were brought in and discovered the house was booby trapped from top to bottom. No hostages were inside, and the house was blown up.
On a separate note, she said that his unit is operating in wet, squalid conditions, and that many are getting sick. Specifically, they need warm, dry clothes–hence our call today for donations.
UPDATE 11:00 PM
There are no fireworks and no celebrations in Israel tonight. There may be private parties, but the restaurants and bars that are usually overflowing on New Year’s Eve are largely empty.
No one likes to end the year on a down note, but this has been a down year by anyone’s standards.
Two more soldiers were announced to have fallen in Gaza today:
Sgt. (res.) Eliraz Gabai, 37, from Petach Tikva, fighter in Battalion 7810, ‘Yiftah’ Brigade (11), fell in battle in the center of Gaza.
Maj. (res.) Liav Seada, 23, from Tiberias, a fighter in the 7107 Engineering Battalion, was killed in battle in northern Gaza.
170 IDF soldiers have now fallen in the Gaza war.
May all of their memories be for a blessing.
UPDATE 6:00 PM
Three Thoughts For The New Year
1. From a group of reservists fighting in Gaza–posted this morning:
At least some people are mature.
“The political battles continue all the time while the fighting in Gaza does not stop. This is the message of the reservists to politicians and the media: ‘If you don’t have a unifying message, just shut up.’“
Absolutely correct.
2. From journalist Nir Kipnis concerning the amazing interview former hostage Miya Shem gave to the media in which she said that everyone in Gaza is a terrorist:
“Precisely thanks to statements like Shem’s, perhaps it is time to tell the truth about Gaza: Hamas is not a terrorist organization that took over two million innocent people, but out of two million Israel-haters grew the terrorist organization called Hamas. The roots of Hamas are deeply rooted in their hearts and dictate all of their actions.
Absolutely correct.
3. From Nir Barkat at the Cabinet meeting today (his second quote here this day):
Barkat continued on the theme of what he said before the Cabinet meeting about the fighting on the northern border:
“We must wake up now, get out of the concept . . . The Iranians are playing chess and the war cabinet is playing backgammon, you are stuck at October 6th.”
Absolutely correct.
UPDATE 3:00 PM
On the Ground in the South
The IDF Spokesman:
“After two months of significant fighting in northern Gaza, the combat team of the Paratrooper Brigade joined the forces of Division 98 and began operating in the Khan Younis area this week.
Upon entering the area, the combat team began an attack on a number of terrorist infrastructures, including observation posts, anti-tank posts, and munitions warehouses of the Hamas terrorist organization. In addition, the fighters eliminated terrorists in short-range encounters; the brigade’s sniper teams have identified and eliminated terrorists accurately, and the fighters are constantly working to locate tunnel shafts and underground lines in the area.”
On the Ground in the North
The IDF Spokesman:
Fighter jets of the Air Force attacked a number of terrorist infrastructures and military buildings of the terrorist organization Hezbollah this morning in the area of the village of Ramiya in southern Lebanon. The terrorist organization Hezbollah operates from the area of the village, which is used as a terrorist center.
In addition, IDF forces last night attacked military positions of the terrorist organization Hezbollah in the areas of Amra and Al-Hayam. One of the positions is located in the area from which anti-tank fire was fired at the Upper Galilee yesterday.
Solidarity for the Hostages Tonight
As 2023 nears a close, numerous buildings across the country will be lit up in yellow this evening in solidarity with the 17 women and 116 men who remain in the barbaric captivity of Hamas.
The “Families of the Abductees” which is organizing this demonstration of solidarity issued a simple statement: “2024 is almost here and they are not yet home – their time is running out.”
We here at OneIsrael firmly believe that our soldiers are doing everything possible to find and rescue the hostages, but we believe that the “Families” are correct: “their time is running out.” Approaching 3 months in underground captivity with little food and water, they must be in ever greater dire straits.
UPDATE 12:00 PM
An Excellent Noon Quote
“This morning, 133 Israeli hostages are held in Gaza by Hamas. While they are there, the State of Israel continues to transfer goods and fuel to Hamas. With one hand the State of Israel fights Hamas, and with the other hand it sends hundreds of trucks everyday, which prolong the life of Hamas and allow it to continue fighting our soldiers. It’s absurd. There has never been a case in history of a country fighting an enemy country and supplying it with fuel and goods. This thing must stop today.”
Minister of the Economy Nir Barkat at the entrance to the Cabinet meeting this morning.
Can any statement be more obvious and more correct?
UPDATE 9:00 AM
On the Northern Border
It is disconcerting to see the accuracy of Hezbollah’s smaller missiles from such a distance.
Would You Ever Go Back And Live Along the Gaza Border?
As you know, most of the residents of the Gaza Border communities that were targeted on October 7 have evacuated to other locations. There has been much talk lately about when it will be safe for the evacuees to return to their homes.
But this morning, we have an astonishing report on the comments of officials in the IDF General Command (as reported in the GLC morning journal):
“According to IDF officials familiar with the matter, the deepening of the fighting in the area and ground maneuvering certainly contributes to reducing the launch capabilities of Hamas and the terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip.
However, even if the war ends with Israeli success in achieving its goals – the IDF estimates are that “lone terrorists” would still be able to launch rockets towards the border communities.
The IDF compares what will happen in Gaza in the coming years to Operation “Protective Wall” in Israel – a long process of purifying the area from pockets of resistance and terrorist cells, with security control over the area, but not with zero terrorism but a state of “controlled terrorism”.
A senior officer in the IDF comments: “Even in two years, it is possible that the residents of the Gaza Strip will still hear red alarms.”
Unbelievable.
And frankly pathetic that the IDF has already reached the conclusion that we will go back to the idiotic concept of “controlled terrorism.”
And we can imagine that the IDF General Command believes that the situation on the northern border will be the same.
No one will want to move back to their homes in the south or north under such conditions.
In Case You Missed It
This is Muslim blogger Hoda Jannat’s blog on December 25th about 18 things she has learned about Gaza during the war:
1. We suddenly discovered that in the Gaza Strip, where 2 million people live, there are 36 hospitals. There are Arab countries with a population of 30 million that do not have that many hospitals.
2. Surprisingly, we discovered that Gaza receives free water, electricity, gas and fuel from Israel. Of course, there is not a single Arab citizen anywhere else who does not pay for water, electricity and gas.
3. We suddenly found out that Gaza receives 30 million dollars a month only from Qatar. And 120 million dollars a month from UNRWA. And 50 million dollars a month from the European Union. And 30 million dollars a month from America. There are Arab countries drowning in debt and can’t find anyone who can give them even a million dollars.
4. Suddenly we discovered that there is no “siege” on Gaza and all goods flow there and the borders are open. The Gazans went to Egypt and from there to all over the world.
5. Unexpectedly, we found that people live better in Gaza than in many Arab countries . . .
6. Suddenly we discovered that our minds were programmed by the lies of the Muslim Brotherhood media.
7. Suddenly we discovered that the children in Gaza are not children as we usually think, but terrorists’ children with machine guns and suicide belts who have undergone special training by Hamas.
8. We suddenly discovered that the schools, hospitals and mosques in Gaza are organized terrorist headquarters and ammunition depots with underground tunnels of Hamas.
9. We suddenly discovered that in Gaza there is an underground “metro” of Hamas that extends over 500 km, which Israel can only envy.
10. Suddenly we discovered that the so-called doctors and teachers in Gaza turned out to be active Hamas terrorists.
11. Suddenly we discovered that rockets and mortars are kept in children’s rooms in Gaza homes.
12. Suddenly we discovered that Hitler and his book “Mein Kampf” are very popular in Gaza, and its Arabic translation is in almost every house in Gaza, or a portrait of the author.
13. Suddenly we discovered that there are Gazans who live a life of luxury, with multi-story mansions with swimming pools and premium German cars.
14. We suddenly discovered that there is no Israeli blockade in Gaza because Gaza still borders its Muslim sister Egypt.
15. We suddenly discovered that most of the “citizens” in Gaza support Hamas and other terrorist groups, elected Hamas in democratic elections and celebrated the massacre on October 7.
16. We suddenly discovered that the so-called reporters and journalists in Gaza who work for the Western media CNN, AP, Reuters and others turned out to be Hamas terrorists who participated in the October 7 massacre.
17. Suddenly we discovered that the so-called ‘peace activists’ and ‘workers of international human rights organizations’ of the UN, the Red Cross and the WHO, turned out to be terrorists and supporters of corrupt Hamas.
18. We suddenly discovered that each of the Hamas leaders is a billionaire and richer than President Trump, with a net worth of 4-5 billion dollars each.
You can imagine what the reaction to Hoda’s blog has been in the Arab world: a mixture of those who support her finally telling the truth with those cursing her as a “Zionist bitch.” In any case, she has disappeared from view because of threats on her life.
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.