Yom Shabbat
Saturday
19 Elul 5784
September 21 2024
UPDATE 10:00 AM ISRAEL TIME
The above photo shows the remains of the building in the Hezbollah Dahiya neighborhood of Beirut which was destroyed by IAF missiles yesterday.
The building was 8-stories with two floors underground where many of the Hezbollah’s most elite leaders were planning an imminent, murderous, hostage-taking, cross-border infiltration of Israel similar to that which occurred on October 7th.
The plan called for 5000 Hezbollah terrorists divided into 4 basic brigades; the mission of each:
Brigade 1: Cross the border at Rosh HaNikra and enter by sea to capture the city of Nahariya taking as many hostages as possible.
Brigade 2: Cross the border and capture the town of Shlomi cutting off IDF supply and troop movement routes.
Brigade 3: Cross the border and capture the city of Karmiel thereby blocking IDF movement between Akko and Tzfat.
Brigade 4: Cross the border and capture the communities of Malkia, Ramot Naftali, and Yiftach to stop IDF attacks toward southern Lebanon.
Fortunately, after yesterday this plan has been dealt a severe setback.
Hezbollah has been publishing photos of the dead all evening and morning–continuously adding to the count. Here is one of the most recent montages:
Those confirmed killed so far in the IAF strike on Hezbollah in Beirut yesterday:
Ibrahim Akil (photo center in bottom row above). Akil was the long-time Head of Hezbollah Operations and Commander of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force whose specific mission was the “Occupation of the Galilee.” Akil had a $7 million dollar bounty on his head for his responsibility in the 1983 explosion at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, and barracks attack on the U.S. Marines.
Ahmed Wahbi (photo far left on bottom row). Aka “Abu Hussein Samir”, he was the commander of Hezbollah’s 800 Unit in charge of Radwan force training.
A list of other “Radwan Commanders” and what Hezbollah calls “Hajj Fighters”:
Commander Seraj Khadraj
Commander Hamza al-Gharbia
Commander Al-Haj Ninewa
Commander Abu Yasser
Commander Mehdi Albokas
Commander Muhammad Al-Attar
Commander Hamza al-Rabia
Commander Hajj Mahdi
Hajj Fighter Hasan Khodraj
Hajj Fighter Mehdi Jamul
Hajj Fighter Samer Halawi
Hajj Fighter Jihad Hazel
In short, the IAF strike basically eliminated the chain of command of the Radwan Force. The primary Hezbollah leader left is its head, Hassan Nasrallah who spoke yesterday saying that the structure of Hezbollah had not been affected.
Not affected? You be the judge.
**We may have put a serious dint in the structure of Hezbollah, but the terrorists in the field fired 170 more missiles and explosive drones at northern Israel yesterday. Here are the areas hit in one of the barrages; as you can see locations were hit from the Lebanese border almost down to the Kineret (Sea of Galilee):
In addition to continuing the destruction of Metulla and Kiryat Shmona, Hezbollah missiles and drones also set 7 major fires yesterday that burned hundreds of dunams.
**Seemingly in response to what is happening in Lebanon, the U.S. announced that it is sending the Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Truman to the eastern Mediterranean along with its strike force. Its arrival is expected in about a week.
On the Ground in Gaza
According to the IDF Spokesman, Division 252, which is responsible for the Netzer Corridor, expanded the area under Israeli control by blowing up a number of buildings used by Hamas on both sides.
And so it goes this Shabbat morning here in Israel where we wish all of our soldiers and you dear readers:
Shabbat Shalom!
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.