Yom Shnee
Monday
12 Iyar 5784
May 20 2024
OneIsrael’s Campaign For Our Soldiers
IDF soldiers on the ground need basic protective gear, armaments, and supplies.
OneIsrael is now engaged in a campaign to help protect our soldiers. This campaign will extend 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.
Thank you to those of you who have already contributed to the protection of our brave men and women in uniform; we have now reached over $6000 on the way to our goal of $10,000!
UPDATE 7:30 PM
Photos of the Day
1. The following two photos are from a classroom in Sderot yesterday. The city was once again targeted by Palestinian terrorists in Gaza. The children did not have time to make it to a bomb shelter:
And:
Can you imagine your children or grandchildren having to go through this everyday?
2.
A balloon release celebrating the end of military service last night in Ashkelon.
This extraordinarily sad “celebration” was the last wish of Sgt. Sivan Assraf, who was slaughtered by Palestinian terrorists on October 7–two weeks before she would have concluded her military service. Her mother Osnat said that “Several weeks before she was murdered, she said she wanted to have a release party. That’s why we made her dream come true.”
3.
The body of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi being removed from the crash scene yesterday.
So who were the 9 people on the helicopter?
The Iranian president, Ayatollah A-Sayed Ebrahim Raisi; the Imam of the city of Tabriz Ayatollah A-Sayed Muhammad Ali Elhasham; the Iranian Foreign Minister, Hossein Amir Abd al-Lahyan; the Governor of East Azerbaijan Province, Malek Rahmati; the General in charge of presidential security, Seyed Mehdi Mousavi; the pilot, Col. Syed Taher; the co-pilot, Col.Mahson Drainosh; an unnamed helicopter crew member; an unnamed officer from the Ansar Al-Mahdi military force.
The reaction of the street in Iran has been a mixture of mourning and celebratory fireworks. Interestingly, in Gaza, sweets were handed out:
A local imam leading celebrations in Gaza–in the background you can see the sweets that were passed out (photo source on photo).
You might be asking why the Gazans would be celebrating the death of one of the leaders of the country largely responsible for their report?
The answer is simple: the Muslims in Gaza are Sunni and they have not forgotten how Shi’ite Iran is responsible for the murder of hundreds of thousands of fellow Sunnis in Syria, Iraq, and Yemen.
We will have more to say about the impact of Raisi’s death in our next update.
About the War
The latest IDF estimates are that the war in Gaza will continue until 2026 and that a “war” against Hezbollah will start no later than September 1.
On the Ground in Gaza
Note that the IDF is edging ever closer to the Mediterranean along the Philadelphi axis (graphic source unknown).
The IDF Spokesman a few hours ago:
“In Jabaliya in northern Gaza, the forces of the 98th Division are fighting in a cohesive manner, with the combat teams of the 7th, 460th Brigades and paratroopers participating in the divisional attack. So far, the forces have eliminated more than 200 terrorists and destroyed terrorist infrastructure and underground tunnels from the ground and from the air. The forces locate launch areas and destroy dozens of TMS launchers.
In the central Gaza, the forces of the 99th Division carry out targeted raids on the enemy’s infrastructure. At the same time, they are working in a defensive battle in the corridor area of the center of the Gaza Strip, this after completing last week a divisional operation in the Zeyton area in which they eliminated terrorists in face-to-face encounters. In the last day, the combat team of the 679th Brigade began a brigade operation in the Zabra area. As part of the operation, the forces clear the area of enemy infrastructure, locate an underground route and IDF that remains in the area adjacent to the corridor.
In Rafah in southern Gaza, the forces of Division 162 are deepening the fighting in the space above and below the ground. The fighters of the Givati, 401, Commando and 12th Brigades raided terrorist infrastructures, located many weapons including launchers and explosives, and eliminated terrorists in the area. So far the forces have eliminated over 130 terrorists. The forces located dozens of shafts as well as a number of significant underground routes which are in the process of exploration and destruction.”
On the Ground in the North
Another day another 100 missiles and suicide drones fired from Lebanon in two drone and 4 missile barrages.
The Outrageous But Expected News From The Hague
Contrary to initial reports, the International Criminal Court in The Hague did not issue arrest warrants for PM Netanyahu and Defense Minister Gallant. Instead the abominable Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan–a British Muslim of Pakistani heritage– called on the Court to issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant, Hamas head Ismail Haniya, and Hamas head in Gaza Yahya Sinwar for various “war crimes.”
Immediately, leaders of all parties in Israel have condemned Khan, and have said that Israel will not abide by any decision of the ICC.
President Herzog spoke for many when he issued this statement this morning:
“The announcement of the prosecutor at the ICC is beyond outrageous, and shows the extent to which the international judicial system is in danger of collapsing.
Taken in bad faith, this one-sided move represents a unilateral political step that emboldens terrorists around the world, and violates all the basic rules of the court according to the principle of complementarity and other legal norms.
Hamas’ leaders are oppressive dictators guilty of launching mass murder, mass rape, and mass kidnappings of men, women, children and babies.
Any attempt to draw parallels between these atrocious terrorists and a democratically elected government of Israel – working to fulfill its duty to defend and protect its citizens entirely in adherence to the principles of international law – is outrageous and cannot be excepted by anyone.
We will not forget who started this war, and who raped, butchered, burned, brutalized, and kidnapped innocent citizens and families.
We will not forget our hostages whose safe return should be the main concern of the international community.
We expect all leaders in the free world to condemn outright this step and firmly reject it!”
Well said President Herzog!
And so it goes until our next update…
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.