Yom Shnee
Monday
29 Adar II 5784
April 8 2024
IDF soldiers on the ground in Gaza and in the north have indicated that they urgently need more basic supplies and armaments.
The IDF ombudsman reported last month that there has been a 265% increase in the number of incidents in which soldiers are short of combat equipment and basic protective gear.
Note that in addition to the tactical vest, soldiers can now wear neck armor to protect against stabbing attacks (IDF photo).
Here at OneIsrael we are beginning another campaign for our soldiers. This campaign will extend through Passover and to Shavuot.
Please consider donating to our campaign by clicking on the donate button in the right hand column on this page. All donations go directly to our soldiers.
UPDATE 9:00 AM
The Statement This Morning From The Tikva Forum
“The government did not keep its word.
‘Until the victory’ or ‘complete victory’ are words and phrases that this morning did not stand the test of action.
Unfortunately, our children are still in the tunnels of Hamas, and where the terrorists will feel the long hand of the security forces, we are retreating.
There is no management, there is no fighting, there is nothing; our hearts are with the heroic IDF soldiers who are once again prevented from winning by the politicians.
We demand that the government and the IDF return to Gaza and complete our tasks, first and foremost to return the abducted and defeat Hamas.
With what cards will we reach the negotiations when our tanks are not in Gaza on their heads? We feel that we lost our way a long time ago.”
There is no good way to look at the events in Gaza in the last 24 hours.
Israel appears to have folded in every area and has crumbled before the demands of U.S. President Joe Biden. All the confidence that we once had in the strategy of the government and the IDF to eliminate HamISIS and rescue the hostages has evaporated. All the promises made by PM Netanyahu are rapidly slipping away into the wind.
Let’s consider what has happened.
Suddenly and shockingly, the IDF announced that it is pulling Division 98–the last remaining IDF Division in Gaza–out of Khan Younis and effectively out of Gaza. The only Israeli forces remaining in Gaza are the Nahal Brigade and a small portion of Brigade 401–and they are essentially patrolling the area between northern and central Gaza.
Suddenly and shockingly, the government announced a series of “humanitarian” measures–most of which PM Netanyahu had promised would never happen until HamISIS was eliminated and the hostages were rescued. This is what we agreed to yesterday:
- Israel will establish a coordination group that will function better and link humanitarian organizations directly with the IDF’s Southern Command.
- Israel will open the Erez Crossing to transport food, water and hygiene items, shelter and health materials to Gaza via Ashdod port (this was done yesterday: 322 humanitarian trucks entered Gaza–the most on any day since October 7.)
- Israel will increase the number of trucks entering through the Allenby Bridge crossing from Jordan from 25 to at least 50 per day.
- Israel will lengthen the operating hours of the Kerem Shalom and Nitsana Crossings to allow an additional 100 trucks per day.
- Israel will place scanners and additional personnel at the Kerem Shalom crossing to speed up the transfer of aid into Gaza.
- Israel will grant permits for 20 more bakeries for northern Gaza.
- Israel will reactivate the Nahal Oz water line in northern Gaza (this was done yesterday).
Israel will, Israel will, Israel will, Israel will, Israel will, Israel will, Israel will . . . and what will HamISIS and all the other terror groups in Gaza do?
Nothing.
What all of these steps look like this morning is the same sequence that happened when we suddenly and shockingly pulled out of Lebanon back on May 24, 2000.
HamISIS put an exclamation point on the Khan Younis withdrawal one hour after it was announced by firing missiles once again at southern Israel.
After half a year of fighting, there is still no security for the communities along the Gaza border. After half a year of war, the communities that bore the brunt of the October 7th remain largely burned and empty.
HamISIS remains very much intact and no hostages have been rescued.
A parade of politicians and even IDF Chief of Staff Halevi appeared on television yesterday to declare “the war is not over” and “we are pulling out of Khan Younis to prepare to enter Rafah.”
Those statements ring increasingly hollow.
To top all of this off, we apparently are on the verge of an Eid Al-Fitr ceasefire of unknown duration as part of some new deal with HamISIS. Whatever that deal is, you can be sure of one thing: Israel will come out of it on the short end of the stick.
The War in the North
One of a number of Hezbollah missile barrages yesterday.
This one occurred at 8:31 pm last night and targeted Tzfat, Dalton, and Kadita.
In an IAF attack last night, Ali Hossein, ‘Abbas Jaafar’, the commander of Hezbollah’s Radwan force, was killed.
On the Iranian Front
We still await the Iranian response. Yesterday, a senior Iranian official remarked that “no Israeli embassy or consulate in the world is safe.”
In Judea and Samaria
*An IDF soldier (as yet unnamed) was critically wounded by a Palestinian terrorist who opened fire near the Nabi Elias Junction. She remains in critical condition this morning and needs your prayers.
Another Israeli was wounded in the same shooting attack but is in “moderate” condition today.
Some Good News
Also from Judea and Samaria where Deputy Defense Minister and Finance Minister Smotrich announced that 4 fledgling Jewish communities received full governmental recognition yesterday: Mishmar Yehuda, Beit Hogla, Asael, and Shaharit.
After making the announcement, Smotrich remarked: “As we promised, we are regulating the young settlement and developing and building the country. Judea, Samaria, Benjamin, Gush Etzion, the Jordan Valley and Mount Hebron are Israel’s protective land and we are committed to them. We continue to make history. together.”
Kolakevod to Bezalel Smotrich for spearheading this effort.
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.