Yom Chamishee
Thursday
18 Av 5784
August 22 2024
The Disingenuous Quote of the Day
“Hezbollah this morning launched about 50 rockets into the center of the city of Katzrin. Like any country that protects its citizens – we will act accordingly.”
Daniel Hagari, IDF Spokesman
Talk about understating what happened. In fact, Hezbollah launched more than 50 missiles into Katzrin.
At least 5 of the missiles were direct hits on homes in city; it was miraculous that only 1 person was wounded and that none were killed:
The Hezbollah target was Katzrin.
It hit its target:
A home completely destroyed in Katzrin. One of several.
Whatever the IDF is doing to protect cities like Katzrin in the north and on the Golan is utterly failing. There is no protection. The IDF’s idea of “acting accordingly” is to kill another Hezbollah commander, but the commanders are not the ones launching the missiles.
After Hagari made the statement above, he added that “Hezbollah has made a strategic turn and is now indiscriminately targeting residential homes”.
Say what?
Where has Hagari been for the last 10 months as Hezbollah missiles have destroyed countless homes in Metulla, Kiryat Shmona, and in numerous other communities along the Lebanese border?
By the way, the IDF spokesman this morning just crowed that 10 Hezbollah targets were hit in southern Lebanon last night. Does anyone really think that this will stop the next Hezbollah barrages which are sure to come today?
The Ceasefire/Hostage Talks Continue To Founder
All reports yesterday were that the talks are, as we wrote, going nowhere.
And everyone is piling the blame on PM Netanyahu because:
1. Israel refuses to commit to a permanent ceasefire.
2. Israel refuses to withdraw from the Philadelphi and Netzer Corridors.
We even had the ridiculous scene of President Biden and VP Kamala Harris calling Netanyahu last night and trying to force him to be more flexible about withdrawing from Philadelphi and Netzer.
None of the blame is Netanyahu’s; it all belongs to Hamas which could end the war tomorrow by releasing our hostages.
Two other factors:
Egypt has suddenly taken the side of Hamas concerning the Philadelphi Corridor. Why? Now that we have uncovered some 135 tunnels under that corridor leading to and from Egypt, we know that smuggling weapons to Hamas was a substantial source of income for Cairo.
Hamas now has another demand. Yahya Sinwar is demanding that he not be assassinated after an agreement is signed.
On the Ground in Gaza
As we noted previously, another corridor has been completed by the IDF–the “Kissufim Corridor” which extends from Kissufim to the Mediterranean where IDF tanks arrived yesterday further dismembering Gaza by dividing the cities in the center and Khan Younis:
The newly created Kissufim Corridor (the yellow strip across Gaza).
The IDF Spokesman:
“With the direction of IDF and ISA intelligence, the IAF conducted a precise strike on Hamas terrorists who were operating inside a command and control center. The command and control center was located inside a compound that previously served as the “Salah al-Din” School in Gaza City. Hamas operatives used the compound as a hideout and a base to plan and execute attacks against IDF troops and the State of Israel.”
On the Ground in Judea and Samaria and . . .
The head of Hamas in Balata near Shechem, Jamal Saudi, died yesterday after being wounded in the Palestinian settlement last Thursday.
The IDF Spokesman:
“The IDF and ISA continue a series of eliminations in Lebanon of terrorists that are directing terrorist activity in Judea and Samaria on behalf of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Earlier today (Wednesday), with the direction of the IDF and the ISA, an IAF aircraft struck the terrorist Khalil Hussein Khalil Al-Maqdah in the area of Sidon in southern Lebanon.
Khalil is the brother of Mounir Al-Maqdah, a resident of Lebanon who operates on behalf of the Hezbollah terrorist organization and the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and is continuing attempts to carry out terror attacks. The two collaborate on behalf of the IRGC and are involved in the direction of terror attacks as well as the smuggling of weapons and funds designated for terrorist activities into Judea and Samaria.
In March 2024, it was revealed that weapons that had been smuggled into Judea and Samaria and distributed to terrorist cells that were recruited and directed by Khalil and Mounir’s terrorist infrastructure in Lebanon.
The officials responsible for the direction and execution of the smuggling of weapons into Israel and the direction of terror attacks are Iranian, led by Jawad Jaafari, Head of Unit 4000, a special operations unit in the IRGC’s intelligence wing, alongside Ashgar Bakari, Commander of Unit 840, a special operations unit in the Iranian Quds Force.
The IDF and ISA are operating to identify and thwart attempts to smuggle Iranian weapons into Judea and Samaria and the terrorist cells that are recruited by Iranian officials and their proxies.”
After 10 Months
After 10 months one of the military officers most responsible for the October 7 castastrophe, Maj. Gen, Aharon Haliva head of the Intelligence Division of the IDF, finally resigned.
In another unseemly spectacle, the IDF staged a full-blown celebratory exchange of leadership ceremony last night as the new head, Maj. Gen. Shlomi Binder was sworn in.
A tearful Haliva expressed his personal responsibility for what happened while Chief of Staff Halevi (himself also responsible for October 7) thanked him for his years of service which were only marked by one failure.
But what a failure it was.
On the Airlines Front
As you probably know, El Al now has a virtual monopoly on flights to and from Israel now that all the other major carriers (United, Delta, British Air, Air France, Lufthansa, and others) have suspended flights here indefinitely.
Because of that monopoly, El Al has jacked up prices and recorded millions of dollars in profits.
Yesterday, the head of El Al met with Economics Minister Barkat and worked out a new deal: El Al will provide cheaper flights to 4 hubs where Israelis can then get less expensive flights to destinations in North and South America as well as Asia. Those hubs are Larnaca Cyprus, Vienna, Dubai, and Athens. For example, a round trip ticket to Larnaca will now be $199.
Lower prices are great news for those who travel in and out of Israel.
Not only El Al but also Israeli airline Israir has posted significant profits in the current situation. As you may not know, Israir has 8 airplanes (El Al has 45), and a quarter of its planes are flown by pilots who are in the Israeli reserves and currently taking part in the war in Gaza and in the north. In the last 3 months, Israir carried 305,000 passengers.
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.