Thursday
Yom Chamishee
4 Kislev 5785
December 5 2024
UPDATE 9:00 AM ISRAEL TIME
On the Ground in Gaza
Hostage Body “Rescued”:
Kidnapped on October 7, 2023 from Kibbutz Bari and murdered by Hamas monsters in January of this year, Itai Svirsky (his body) has been “rescued” by IDF soldiers in a complex and daring operation that reflects the IDF’s goal to return all hostages, living and dead, to Israel.
Not only was Itai taken from us, but also his parents Orit and Rafi were murdered on October 7.
*The IDF Spokesman:
“Early today (Wednesday), with the intelligence direction of the ISA and IDF, the IAF conducted a precise strike on senior Hamas terrorists who were involved in terrorist activities in the “humanitarian area” in Khan Younis. Following the strike, secondary explosions were identified, suggesting the presence of weaponry in the area.”
On the Ground in the North
*According to the IDF, the IAF attacked a Hezbollah missile launcher and destroyed weapons in southern Lebanon.
*According to Lebanese sources, the IAF attacked Hezbollah members and assets in Zwatar near the Litani River.
*A senior IDF official told an Israeli newspaper yesterday that on October 6th of this year:
“In a strip about three kilometers north of the border, about 3,000 terrorists were ready to invade Israel as soon as they received an order. The State of Israel faced an existential threat without knowing it. The terrorists were on full alert, ready to act. What saved Israel from a coordinated invasion was the IDF’s quick action to jump four brigades to the north on October 7. The jumping of the brigades eliminated the element of surprise in Hezbollah’s plan, and the terrorists realized that their plan was no longer possible.”
On the Ground in Judea and Samaria
Joint IDF, ISA and Israel Police announcement:
“A short while ago, Yamam and ISA forces apprehended the terrorist Ayman Ghanam, in a hospital at Shechem (Nablus). Ghanam was the third member of the terrorist cell that carried out the shooting attack in the Mehola junction on August 11th, 2024, in which Yonatan Deutsch was killed and another Israeli civilian was injured.
Ghanam was injured in an ISA-directed strike in Aqabah, in the Jordan valley area on December 3, and was evacuated by terrorists to a hospital in Nablus. Following the elimination attempt, the security forces precisely operated and apprehended him today.”
*Additionally, it was cleared for publication that during a Yamam and IDF operation, with the direction of the ISA, conducted on October 9th, 2024 in the Jordan Valley Regional Brigade, the terrorist Abd al-Ra’uf Masri who also took part in the shooting attack was eliminated during exchanges of fire. M-16 rifles, cartridges, and military equipment were located on the terrorist’s body.
*At the beginning of the week, the terrorist Wael Lahluh was eliminated by the IDF and ISA in an aerial strike. Lahluh was the head of the terrorist cell that carried out a shooting attack along with three other terrorists. These additional terrorists carried out several shooting attacks in the area of Gilboa.
Chabad’s Answer
At the end of the Shiva for Rabbi Zvi Kogan, the Chabad emissary in Abu Dhabi who was murdered by terrorists, the Chabad Center for Educational Affairs announced the establishment of one hundred new centers around the world. Rabbi Kogan had always stressed that one must grow from difficult events and channel the pain into a leap and action forward.
And so it goes in Israel . . . so far . . . today.
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.