Yom Rishon
Sunday
6 Elul 5784
September 8 2024
The Photo of the Day
IDF soldiers from the 401st Brigade’s Combat Team in the Tel Sultan area of Gaza yesterday (photo IDF).
UPDATE 9:00 AM ISRAEL TIME
Startling “Statistics” Since The War(s) Began
Now that we are well into the 12th month of the war(s), Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) issued these statistics yesterday of what has happened in Israel since October 7th:
1,664 Israelis have been killed, including 706 soldiers in the IDF.
101 abductees (living and dead) remain in captivity in Gaza.
Nearly 20,000 launches of missiles and drones have been made into Israel.
936 cities, kibbutzim, moshavim and other communities have been under alarms—and Israelis have had to run to their bomb shelters and protected spaces about 15,000 times.
143,000 Israelis have been evacuated from their homes.
Specifically in the North:
50 Israelis have been killed, including 24 IDF soldiers.
More than 68,000 Israelis have been evacuated from 43 cities and other communities.
Specifically in Judea and Samaria:
There have been 4,973 terror attacks.
38 Israelis have been killed including 12 soldiers and 3 policemen.
285 Israelis have been wounded.
On the Ground in the North
The quote of the day from the head of the Upper Galilee Regional Council: “Not only does the army not fulfill its obligation to provide security to the residents of the north, it prevents true reports and frightens the residents.”
How many decades have we residents in southern Israel said the same thing? Years of missile fire from Gaza, deliberate obfuscation of the number launches from Gaza, and on and on. It is a sad commentary that our fellow Israelis in the north are now experiencing the same.
More than 100 missiles and explosive drones were launched into northern Israel by Hezbollah yesterday, again.
The IDF Spokesman:
“The IDF attacked terrorist targets of Hezbollah in southern Lebanon; the IDF eliminated terrorists from the terrorist organization Amal during the night, fighter jets attacked military buildings used by the terrorist organization Hezbollah in the areas of Itatron, Marun al-Ras and Yaron in southern Lebanon. Last night (Saturday), an aircraft attacked and eliminated terrorists of the terrorist organization Amal who were operating inside a military compound of the terrorist organization Hizbullah in the Faron area of southern Lebanon. Following the alerts that were activated in the Upper Galilee area at 5:35, about 30 launches were detected that crossed the territory of Lebanon, the air defense fighters successfully intercepted several launches, the rest fell in an open area, no casualties. Following the alerts that were activated in the Kiryat Shmona area at 00:57 and between the hours of 2:34-2:39, about 20 launches were detected that crossed the territory of Lebanon, the air defense fighters successfully intercepted most of them, crashes in the area were detected, no casualties.”
“Crashes in the area were detected” is an example of IDF obfuscation; in reality, more homes in Kiryat Shmona were hit directly by missiles and destroyed.
On the Ground in Gaza
The IDF Spokesman:
“Based on IDF and ISA intelligence, IAF aircraft conducted a precise strike on a command and control center used by Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists, which was embedded inside the Humanitarian Area in Deir al-Balah. The strike was conducted to remove an immediate threat in the area.
A number of terrorists were eliminated in the strike, including:
The terrorist Abdallah Khatib, commander of the Islamic Jihad’s Southern Deir al-Balah Battalion, who commanded the terrorist activity of the battalion during the October 7th Massacre in southern Israel. He also advanced and carried out terror attacks against the State of Israel, including anti-tank missile and mortar launches.
In addition, the terrorist Hatem Abu Aljidian, commander of the Islamic Jihad’s Eastern Deir al-Balah Battalion, was eliminated. The terrorist planned and carried out attacks against IDF troops throughout the war.”
On the Ground in Judea and Samaria
There have been numerous Palestinian terror attacks over the last 24 hours such as: terrorists shot at Israelis at Karmi Tzur; terrorists attacked 2 Jewish shepherds with clubs near Miter Farm, and a Palestinian terrorist rammed his car into a police car near Ali in Samaria:
The car used by the terrorist in the ramming attack.
The Incident On The Tel Aviv Beach Yesterday
Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir, his wife Ila, and their children decided to take a walk on the beach yesterday accompanied by their usual security detail. Along the walk they received some applause, but quickly things turned sour with people calling Ben Gvir “Murderer!” and even yelling “Your children need to know that their father is a murderer!”
Why a murderer? Because Ben Gvir opposes a ceasefire/hostage release deal with Hamas which agrees with Hamas’ terms for the deal.
In the midst of what was happening on the beach, a woman came out of the water and threw sand at the Ben Gvir family. She was quickly arrested and taken to a local police station where she remained until this morning until she was released to house arrest.
The incident has caused an eruption on Israel social media with supporters and detractors of Ben Gvir weighing in. There is even a new form of “protest” on the streets of Tel Aviv this morning:
Photos of Ben Gvir with sand on them.
What happened to the Ben Gvir family is yet another example of how civility in Israeli society is disappearing. What the woman did is no different than a protester walking into a restaurant and throwing food and drink at a politician eating there with his or her family. It cannot be tolerated.
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.