Yom Chamishee
Thursday
15 Tishrei 5785
October 17 2024
UPDATE 10:00 PM ISRAEL TIME
We are constantly reminded that life is bittersweet. As soon as we received the news of Yahya Sinwar’s elimination came news an hour ago that 5 Golani soldiers had fallen in southern Lebanon:
Vider, Capt. Elad Siman Tov, Sgt. Ofek Bakr
Maj. Ofek Bachar, 24 years old, from Nes Ziona, company commander in the Golani Patrol, fell in battle in southern Lebanon.
Capt. Elad Siman Tov, 23 years old, from Mitzvah, a crew commander in the Golani patrol, was killed in battle in southern Lebanon.
Sgt. Elyashiv Eitan Wieder, 22 years old, from Jerusalem, a platoon commander in the Golani patrol, fell in battle in southern Lebanon.
Sgt. Yaakov Hillel, 21 years old, from Jerusalem, a fighter in the Golani Patrol, fell in battle in southern Lebanon.
Sgt. Yehudah Dror Yahalom, 21 years old, from Hebron, a fighter in the Golani Patrol, fell in battle in southern Lebanon.
May Their Memories Be For A Blessing
The IDF Spokesman about how they fell:
“This is a Lebanese village where the Golani patrol has been fighting for the past week. During the fighting in the village, the fighters captured terrorists, killed more than 10 terrorists, and seized large amounts of military equipment and intelligence material.
As part of the activity, the force launched an attack on Hezbollah’s terrorist infrastructure with the aim of destroying it. Before the force entered the building – a D-9 bulldozer destroyed part of the building with its shovel, and Matador missiles were fired at the building – with the aim of producing a preliminary strike and hitting any terrorists that may be inside. There was no early airstrike.
At around 17:00 yesterday – the patrol force entered the building and located several underground shafts. In one of the shafts there was even a significant accumulation of weapons.
About half an hour after the start of the searches in the compound, four Hezbollah terrorists emerged from the building and opened fire at close range on the fighters in the staircase.
The fighters returned fire and eliminated all four terrorists, but
10 Golani patrol fighters were hit in the battle; 5 of them fell (3 who were killed on the spot and 2 more who were pronounced dead at the hospital), 3 were seriously injured, 1 moderately and 1 lightly.”
BREAKING NEWS 5:00 PM ISRAEL TIME
Yahya Sinwar is dead, confirmed by DNA tests. He was killed by IDF soldiers in a booby-trapped building in Rafah. Apparently he was carrying a large amount of cash. The identities of the two terrorists with him have not been revealed. The following photograph has been online for several hours now:
No hostages were with Sinwar, and the question now is what will happen to them. More news as it develops.
BREAKING NEWS 4:00 PM ISRAEL TIME
Israel media is going a little crazy at the moment with the story that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar might have been one of three terrorists killed last night. The IDF and Shin Bet are currently checking DNA.
To emphasize, there is no confirmation that Sinwar is dead.
UPDATE 11:00 AM ISRAEL TIME
On the Ground in the North
*Hezbollah barrages this morning:
Hezbollah has already attacked numerous targets this morning:
00:02 Kiryat Shmona, Misgav Am, Kfar Giladi, Metulla, Tel Hai, Margaliot; 00:50 Margaliot, Kiryat Shmona, Manara; 01:22 Kfar Shamai; 03:26 Karmiel, Deir Hanna, Tamra, Moreshet, Bar Yochai, Nazareth, Tzippori; 07:28 Haifa, Carmel, Kiryat Motzkin, Kfar Biyalik, Akko, Arab al-Aramshe; 07:31 Usha, Yokneam Illit, Migdal HaEmek; Daliyat al-Karmel, Bethlehem of Galilee, Nesher; 08:11 Pek’in, Migdal Tefen, Abirim.
*From the IDF Spokesman this morning:
“Fighter jets of the Air Force together with the forces of the 7338th fire brigade under the 91st division attacked and killed the terrorist Hasin Muhammad Owacha, commander of a battalion in the Bint J’beil area.
Ouacha was responsible for promoting firing lines from a number of villages in the Bint Jabal area to the territory of the country.
During the last day, the maneuvering forces and aircraft of the Air Force eliminated more than 45 terrorists and destroyed more than 150 targets of the terrorist organization Hezbollah. Among the targets that were attacked, weapons warehouses, launchers and military buildings of the organization.”
During the last 24 hours, IAF planes have pummeled Hezbollah targets in Nabatieh:
On the Ground in Eilat and the South
*A UAV launched from Yemen was intercepted over the Red Sea this morning. This comes as U.S. B2 bombers hit underground Houthi storage areas in Yemen.
*The southern Negev has also been attacked with drones, presumably from Iraq: 00:54 Sapir; 00:57 Ein Yahav; 01:32 Har HaNegev.
On the Ground in Gaza
Between 4 am-6 am this morning, the IAF launched massive attacks on Gaza City and Jabaliya.
As you can imagine, these attacks were heard here in Ashdod.
About UNIFIL
In the past few weeks, most recently this morning, UNIFIL–the United Nations Force (UNIFIL) which is supposed to be in charge of Lebanon south of the Litani–claims that Israel has been intentionally targeting its soldiers. This comes after Israel has practically begged UNIFIL to evacuate southern Lebanon only to be met with refusals.
In the process of operating in the area, the IDF has discovered numerous Hezbollah tunnels and outposts built within a stone’s throw of UNIFIL facilities and has given UNIFIL a warning before attacking each.
As you may not know, consists of 10,058 “peacekeepers” from 50 countries. The 10 countries with the largest contingents:
Indonesia: 1,231; Italy: 1,068; India: 903; Nepal: 876; Ghana: 873; Malaysia: 833; Spain: 676; France: 673; China: 418; Ireland: 370.
Hmm. Let’s see. Indonesia and Malaysia don’t recognize Israel. Ireland wants to send Irish troops to Lebanon to help Hezbollah. Spain and France have been outspoken in their condemnation of Israel. China? Even the other countries regularly vote against Israel or abstain in anti-Israel votes in the U.N.
The bottom line is that there is no reason in the world to believe that UNIFIL is anything but an egregiously anti-Israel force operating in south Lebanon at the beck and call of Hezbollah.
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.