Monday
Yom Shnee
10 Adar 5785
March 10 2025
The Quotes of the Day
From former hostage Omer Shem Tov (released two weeks ago) and his mother Shelly who were speaking to an audience yesterday:
Omer:
“For five months, I had half a bottle of grape juice, which I used for Kiddush on Shabbat. The bottle never ran out, and the juice never spoiled. It really reminded me of the miracle of the jar of oil – a little story that showed me how good God is and how much He was with me. Even in the darkest places, I felt the light you [those who prayed for me] sent me.”
Shelly:
“I didn’t just keep the Sabbath – it kept me.”
UPDATE 8:00 AM ISRAEL TIME
On the Ground in Gaza
The Hostage Front:
As we noted yesterday, it has been revealed that Trump envoy (and Jared Kushner friend) Adam Boehler has held meetings with Hamas terrorist Khalil al-Hayya in Doha over the past few weeks.
According to the first reports, Boehler said that the purpose of the meetings was to obtain the release of 5 hostages with American citizenship–four of whom are dead, and one alive, Eden Alexander.
This revelation has caused an increasing outcry here in Israel for three reasons. First, the U.S. didn’t inform Israel of these talks in advance. Second, the talks focused only on the American hostages. Third, Khalil al-Hayya was one of the architects of the October 7 massacres–even to the point of discussing plans for the attack with senior Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander Mohammed Izadi some 3 months prior to October 7.
During the last 24 hours, Boehler has been engaged in damage control first appearing on Israel Channel 12 last night in a somewhat awkward interview in which he indicated that his number one priority is the release of all the hostages, and then tweeting this last night:
In any case, judging from Hamas’ negative response yesterday to Boehler’s overtures, it doesn’t appear that Boehler’s negotiations have gotten anywhere.
But who knows what will happen next?
Israel Takes Steps To Pressure Hamas:
No “humanitarian” truck has gone into Gaza for the last week; however, as we have pointed out, Hamas now has enough food in its storehouses from 42 days of humanitarian trucks to last at least 3-5 months.
Yesterday, Israel announced that it has cut off electricity to northern Gaza. However, it must be pointed out that most of the electricity for Gaza comes from generators operated by fuel. Until the fuel runs out, Hamas will feel no pressure. Interestingly, the electricity cutoff does effect water insomuch as Gaza’s 2 desalination plants operate on electricity.
What will likely pressure Hamas most will be a shortage of cigarettes which can sell as much as for $30 a cigarette. If Hamas has no cigarettes to sell, its coffers will suffer.
More Actions on the Ground:
*Several terrorists were identified yesterday operating in proximity to IDF troops and attempting to plant an explosive devicesin northern Gaza. The IAF eliminated the terrorists.
*Part of the ceasefire agreement was supposed to be that Palestinian vehicles could not move along the coastal Al-Rashid Road without being insspected.
That restriction has gone out the window and videos yesterday showed dozens of vehicles moving from south to north unimpeded:
The 4 small black dots to the left of the arrow along the coast and the 2 to the right are Palestinian vehicles.
On the Ground in the North
In Lebanon:
A large funeral for Hezbollah terrorists killed last month (note the Hezbollah yellow flag draping the coffins in the two trucks) took place in Kfar Kila directly across from Metulla yesterday:
As you can somewhat see, Kfar Kila was destroyed in the fighting with Hezbollah.
During the funeral, a Lebanese soldier was killed by IDF gunfire after he threatened IDF soldiers.
In Syria:
In what has to be the most laughable action of the day, the new Syrian President Julani said that he is launching an investigation into the ongoing massacres of Alawite and Christian families carried out by his forces along the Mediterranean coast.
Why isn’t the world crying out about the massacres?
On the Ground in Judea and Samaria
*IDF troops were attacked by terrorists throwing IEDs and Molotovs on Highway 55 near Nebi Elias. Another attack took place at Azzun.
*A Palestinian terrorist opened fire on an Israeli bus near Hizma. No Israelis were physically wounded; the terrorist escaped.
*Palestinian terrorists struck Israeli vehicles with “rocks” on the Gilad Highway near the Little Yitzhar Junction. No Israelis were physically wounded.
*IDF forces attacked Palestinian terrorists in the Tarqumiya area who were trying to infiltrate into Israel. 2 terrorists were seriously wounded; a third one escaped.
And so it goes in Israel this morning . . . so far . . .
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.