Monday
Yom Shnee
8 Kislev 5785
December 9 2024
The View from Ashdod and on the Ground in Gaza
For the first time in several weeks, there were no booms from Gaza last night. But that does not mean that Hamas has disappeared, as it continues to use “humanitarian areas” in Khan Younis and elsewhere to attack our soldiers.
Yesterday morning, terrorists launched mortar shells at our troops from the “humanitarian area” adjacent to the Kerem Shalom Crossing. Shortly thereafter, the IDF eliminated the terrorists who fired the mortars.
Taking the place of the booms last night was the constant, sometimes deafening roar of planes overhead heading north, presumably to Syria.
It was reported that the IAF struck more than 100 targets in Syria yesterday. There are no reports on how many were hit last night.
Three Important Messages About Syria Delivered in the Last 24 Hours
From IDF Chief of Staff Halevi:
“Starting tonight, the main battle front will move to Syria. We will start fighting on the Syrian front and will not allow anyone to reach our borders.”
[No longer are Gaza and south Lebanon on the front burner because the IDF views Hamas and Hezbollah as defeated.]
———-
From PM Netanyahu speaking at the Syrian border:
“This is a historic day in the history of the Middle East. The Assad regime is a central link in Iran’s axis of evil – this regime has fallen. This is a direct result of the blows we have inflicted on Iran and Hezbollah, the main supporters of the Assad regime. This has created a chain reaction throughout the Middle East of all those who want to be free from this oppressive and tyrannical regime.
[Hamas, Hezbollah, Assad in Syria: Iran’s axis of evil has crumbled. What’s left of the axis are Iranian proxies in Iraq, the Houthis in Yemen, and Iran itself. There are reports this morning that a major attack on the Houthis may be soon in coming.]
This of course creates new, very important opportunities for the State of Israel. But it is also not without risks. We are working first and foremost to protect our border. This area has been controlled for nearly 50 years by a buffer zone agreed upon in 1974, the Separation of Forces Agreement. This agreement collapsed, the Syrian soldiers abandoned their positions.
[The 1974 Separation of Forces Agreement (the so-called Purple Line) is no longer in force. A new border between Syria and Israel will need to be established.]
Together with the Minister of Defense, and with the full backing of the Cabinet, I yesterday instructed the IDF to seize the buffer zone and the controlling positions adjacent to it. We will not allow any hostile force to establish itself on our border.
[The buffer zone and Mt. Hermon: see the discussion about Mt. Hermon below.]
At the same time, we are working towards a policy of good neighborliness, the same good neighborliness we maintained when we established a field hospital here that treated thousands of Syrians who were injured and harmed in the civil war. Hundreds of Syrian children were born here in Israel.
“Therefore, we extend the same hand of peace to our Druze neighbors. First of all, to them, they are brothers of our Druze brothers in the State of Israel. And we also extend a hand of peace to the Kurds, the Christians, and the Muslims, who want to live in peace with Israel. We will closely follow developments. We will do what is necessary to protect our border and protect our security.”
[Isn’t it time for a Druze country and a Kurdish country?]
———-
From Defense Minister Israel Katz:
“PM Netanyahu and I have directed the IDF to:
1. Complete the takeover of the buffer zone in Syria and the controlled points.
2. Work to create a security zone free of heavy strategic weapons and terrorist infrastructure in the southern region – beyond the buffer zone – that could threaten the State of Israel – while establishing contact with the Druze population in the region and other populations.
3. Work immediately to prevent and thwart the renewal of the weapons smuggling route from Iran to Lebanon through Syria, in the Syrian region and at the border crossing points.
4. Continue to work to destroy heavy strategic weapons throughout Syria, including surface-to-air missiles, air defense systems, surface-to-surface missiles, cruise missiles, long-range rockets and coastal missiles.”
[Point 4 delineates the current IAF targets in Syria.]
One of those targets yesterday was the Mezzeh AFB in Syria:
Perhaps the most iconic photo yesterday was that of members of the elite Sheldag unit raising the Israel flag on Mt. Hermon:
You might be asking yourself “Doesn’t Israel already control Mt. Hermon?” The answer prior to yesterday was “yes and no”.
The above are the typical ideas that most people have of Mt. Hermon towering over Israel as the highest point in Israel. Since the Arab-Israeli war of June 1967, about 40 square miles (100 square km) of Mount Hermon’s southern and western slopes have become part of Israel.
The map below better shows the well known Israeli ski area (note the Mt. Hermon Ski Lift at the top of the “white area”:
However, “Mt. Hermon” is actually a group of mountains with three separate summits.
The Hermon range extends for 70 km (43 mi), from 25 km (16 mi) northeast of Mt. Hermon to 45 km (28 mi) southwest of it. Prior to yesterday, Syria controlled the area of Mt. Hermon below the red dotted line you see on the map (the map is courtesy of The Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security.)
No more.
As you can see from the above topographical map, Damascus actually lies at the base of Mt. Hermon. Once the dust settles in the Damascus, we can expect that Israel’s takeover of the “Syrian side” of Mt. Hermon to quickly become a point of contention.
Speaking Of Contention
Already yesterday, we had some of the Syrian “rebel” groups proclaiming that their ultimate goals are “the Jews” and “Jerusalem.”
The reason we say “some of the Syrian rebel groups” is because the rebel forces are a hodgepodge of different groups that will almost certainly begin to fight among themselves to divvy up parts of the area they have just conquered:
Some of these include Al-Qaeda and ISIS fighters who were already attacked overnight by U.S. aircraft.
And of course, Israel knows what is coming. This is a photo of IDF engineering equipment creating berms and barriers along the Golan yesterday:
As you can see, Israel is calling the Israel-Syria border area “The New East.”
If You Can Believe This
If you can believe this, with wars in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Yemen, the Israeli judicial system is cranking up again tomorrow to continue the trials of PM Netanyahu in Cases 1000, 2000, and 4000. This follows repeated failed efforts by Netanyahu to have his trials postponed because of the security situation or at least to have his testimony limited to a few hours a day so that he can manage the wars
But no, the prosecution is determined to drag Netanyahu into court. We will have a description of where things stand in the trials tomorrow.
And so it goes this morning . . . so far . . . here in Israel . . .
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.