Yom Shabbat
Saturday
3 Shevat 5784
January 13 2024
UPDATE 7:00 PM
Another brave soldier has fallen:
Maj. (res.) Dan Wajdenbaum, 24, from Ra’anana, a fighter in the 5037th Battalion, the ‘Yiftah’ Brigade (11), was killed in battle in the center of Gaza Friday.
May his memory be for a blessing.
The Last 24 Hours in the South
For the first time in three weeks, Palestinian terrorists fired missiles (21:00 Friday) at Ashdod. Islamic Jihad took credit for what it called a “massive barrage”; in fact, 3 missiles were fired, and all 3 were intercepted.
*Despite Egyptian objections, the Israel has informed Egypt that is moving to take over the so-called “Philadelphia Axis”–the strip of land that runs between Egypt and Gaza.
*The IDF continues to thin out its forces in northern Gaza and moves to “surgical raids” in the area.
*Heavy fighting continues in central Gaza.
*It is now estimated that after 99 days of the Gaza war, the IDF controls about 60% of Gaza. The IDF spokesman said yesterday that “9,000 terrorists have been killed.”
*Apparently, the U.S. CIA is passing information to Israel concerning the hostages and the location of senior HamISIS leaders. How the CIA is gaining this information is unclear though one can imagine that it comes from drones flying over Gaza.
The Last 24 Hours in the North
*Hezbollah fired a missile (16:00) at Ruisat Al-Alam in the Shebaa Farm area near Har Dov.
*Hezbollah fired an anti-tank missile ((16:55) at a Merkava tank positioned near Metula.
In addition, Hezbollah claimed responsibility for 6 more terror attacks on northern Israel during the day.
*The IDF spent the day directing artillery fire at Hezbollah positions at Khula.
*The IAF bombarded the al-Salihani area, Jabal Blat, and the outskirts of al-Nakura.
The Last 24 Hours in Judea and Samaria
*Three Palestinian terrorists were killed after they infiltrated the Industrial Area security fence near Tallit on Mt. Hevron.
*IDF forces have been engaged in firefights in the Bethlehem area.
The Last 24 Hours in the Red Sea
Following the British and American strikes on Houthi assets two days ago, U.S. planes hit a Houthi base near Hodeidah tonight after a missile was launched from it:
The Houthi base near Hodeidah going up in flames tonight.
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.