Yom Shnee
Monday
7 Kislev 5784
November 20 2023
UPDATE 9:00 PM
388 Soldiers, Police, and First Responders Have Fallen Since October 7
*According to a very reliable source, the concrete door blocking the way to the underground tunnel complex at Shifa Hospital has finally been breached.
*A major moment today. For the first time, Israel’s laser system downed an incoming mortar fired from Lebanon at Israeli soldiers.
*New sickening video from Kibbutz Alumim on the morning of October 7. In the video, we see a terrorist run down two women from the kibbutz who were trying to escape, and gun them down at point blank range.
The top photo below–a screen shot from the video–shows (in the circle) the second woman being shot in the head and murdered after the first woman was murdered the same way. The bottom photo is a Nazi member of the Einsatzgruppen murdering a Jewish woman and her young child the same way in Ivanhorod, Ukraine in 1942.
Evil. (courtesy Amir Tsarfati).
*It is being reported that around 600 HamISIS terrorists surrendered or were captured over the weekend. Some of them gave information that led to the discovery of a large storehouse of missiles which the IDF took possession of and emptied.
*It is estimated that the IDF has destroyed more than 100 mosques so far in northern Gaza. Why are the mosques being destroyed? Take a look at what was found in a mosque today:
This mosque like the others was a storage facility for weapons, and a construction area for HamISIS drones.
UPDATE 6:00 PM
It was a mere 3 days ago that I wrote this after the War Cabinet broke its promise to Israelis and began allowing large amounts of diesel fuel into Israel:
Here in Ashdod–after no missiles for three days– we are counting the hours until the missiles start falling again after HamISIS gets its hands on the fuel and charges its hydraulic launchers.
Today we were up to 6 days with no missiles until this at 2:01 this afternoon:
If it weren’t so dangerous, it would be laughable. We provide the fuel to Gaza, the terrorists charge their launchers and try to kill us.
In this barrage, we had 3 intercepts that exploded right over our house.
The barrage on Ashdod and Ashkelon was one of three this afternoon. The others were at Kerem Shalom (16:02) and Nir Oz (14:20).
In the North
Meanwhile, just as soon as wrote in our last update about Hezbollah holding its fire to some extent came news that the shooting it did at the IDF post at Birnit at 10:30 was far more extensive than at first reported.
In the attack, the terrorists fired 2 Birkan missiles which carry a much larger warhead than they had fired before. The missile explosions and accompanying huge fire that erupted, mostly destroyed the small Branit base:
Some of the aftermath of the missile strikes on Branit on the northern border.
It is not believed that any IDF soldiers were wounded though official confirmation has yet to come by the time of this update.
During the afternoon, Manara (13:19), Kiryat Shmona (13:32), Shlomi (13:55), Avivim (14:47), Misgav Am, Tel Hai, Kfar Yuval (17:21) were also targeted from Lebanon.
UPDATE 1:00 PM
So far today, Hezbollah has “taken responsibility” for 3 shooting attacks incidents on the Lebanese border: (06:40) . . . Firing into the Arab region of Aramsha; (08:00) . . . Shooting at the IDF post in Birnit; (10:30) . . . Shooting at an IDF post in the Ream area.
What’s Going On With Hezbollah and Iran?
The time has come to consider what is going on with Iran and its main proxy Hezbollah.
From long before the beginning of the war, it was clear that Iran was using its proxies to encircle Israel. The first blog that I wrote about this “Iran Trying to Tighten the Noose Around Israel” was on May 30, 2011.
In that blog, I discussed the ever increasing threats of Iranian proxies Hamas and Hezbollah, and wrote that they were part of “a global terrorism largely funded and controlled from Iran.”
Even in the early days, it was Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani who directed the expansion of Iran’s terror network surrounding Israel. From 1998 until his assassination in 2020, he was the commander of the Quds Force, the division of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards responsible for “extraterritorial and clandestine military operations. In other words, he was in charge of establishing terror bases and carrying out terrorism.
It was Soleimani who heavily funded Islamic Jihad in Gaza and encouraged a new Hamas base in Lebanon and Hezbollah’s involvement in Syria–and eventually established the Houthis in Yemen as well as Iranian proxies in Iraq. All of these groups are now arrayed against Israel.
Fast forward to the current war. There is no doubt that the war is the brainchild of Tehran. There were numerous well-publicized meetings of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, and Iranian leaders.
From the beginning there were reports that the central core of terrorists who carried out the massacres were trained by Iranian Revolutionary Guards in Lebanon. Numerous reports and even videos show that some of the terrorists on October 7 were speaking Farsi.
So, when we hear now from Hezbollah head Nasrallah in Beirut and Iranian “Supreme Leader” Khamenei that they were greatly “surprised” by the events of October 7 because Hamas in Gaza kept them completely in the dark, we have to laugh. They were all intimately involved from the beginning.
But what was most interesting recently is how it was reported in the Arabic and Iranian media that at a recent meeting of the terror leaders with Khamenei, he used that excuse of not knowing about the attack to say that Iran was not going to get directly involved in the war–and even to tell Nasrallah to squash any dissension among Hezbollah followers that Iran was not doing its share.
So what has happened?
At the moment:
Iran is not “directly” involved–and seems content to direct the war from behind scenes through its proxies.
Hezbollah seems content to confine its part in the war to 40 km area on both sides of the Lebanese border–and is not firing its any of its huge arsenal of powerful precision missiles.
It is almost as if they have hung Hamas out to dry.
The Houthis are making noises from Yemen, but they represent a relatively minimal threat.
All of this could change in an instant and may still–but we have to ask why are Iran and Hezbollah holding their fire for the moment?
Is it because they realize that Hamas has awakened the sleeping bear of the Israel Defense Forces and they don’t want to see what has happened to Gaza happen to Lebanon or Iran?
Is it because of the sudden and unexpected U.S. intervention in the war both in terms of the vast naval forces deployed and the huge arming of Israel?
Or a combination of the two? Or something else such as part of a pre-designed strategy that has yet to be revealed?
UPDATE 9:00 AM
All talk at the moment seems to be about an impending “hostage deal”. Because there have been so many false reports about the details of such a deal, we hesitate to speculate about what it might contain.
On the Ground
In the South:
IDF infantry forces supported by tanks eliminated dozens of terrorists overnight near the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza. The fighting continues there this morning.
Three more HamISIS company commanders were killed last night in firefights with IDF troops.
Palestinian terrorists have fired missiles and mortars at IDF soldiers and civilians at Yad Mordechai, Netiv HaAsara, south Ashkelon (08;54); Sderot, Nir Am (08:24); Mefalsim (04:25); Nir Am (03:58); Nir Am (03:52).
Defense Minister Galant’s Remarks Last Night
“Since the beginning of the war, Hezbollah has fired over 1,000 weapons against Israeli targets, but suffers far more significant hits. We thwart firing squads and hit military assets and targets, Hezbollah pays a heavy price every day. In addition, there are many attempts in Judea and Samaria to carry out terrorist attacks against Israelis that are thwarted every day by the IDF and the Shin Bet.
In recent days, the security establishment has recognized a growing tendency of Iran to intensify the attacks of the militias against Israel through the proxies in Iraq, Syria and Yemen. We follow things and will know how to act at the appropriate time, place and strength.”
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.