Yom Reva’ee
Wednesday
30 Kislev 5784
December 13 2023
A Special Request
Winter weather has hit Israel–and Gaza. Last night we had torrential rains, sleet, and even hail. All of these combined with the cold weather–reaching 13 C with 21 km/hr winds this week–make for miserable conditions for our soldiers. We urge you to use the Donate Button in the right hand column. All donations go straight to support our heroic warriors!
It is the 7th night of Chanukah here in Israel (image courtesy: rotter.net).
UPDATE 11:00 PM
On the Ground, At Sea, In the Air
*The USS Mason intercepted a drone launched toward Eilat from the Iranian proxy Houthis in Yemen.
*Following the days-long operation by the IDF in Jenin, our soldiers are playing Chanukah songs from the mosques in the city tonight.
*Believe it or not, the legal officers embedded in each IDF unit fighting in Gaza must sign off on the “legality” of every target and every attack before it takes place. They assess the “proportionality of the attack”, whether civilians have been properly informed, and the expected damage to be caused. Can you believe this nonsense? Once again the welfare of our enemies is put before the well-being of our soldiers.
*Two more believed to be hostages have been declared “dead” on the basis of information gathered by the IDF. One is Israeli was Tal Chaimi of Nir Yitzhak; the other is Joshua Luito Molal a 21-year-old agricultural student from Tanzania who was living in Nahal Oz. Both were murdered in Gaza.
*The missile barrage that struck Ashdod this afternoon was fired from the humanitarian zone in Gaza. Since the opening of that zone on October 18, Palestinian terrorists have launched 116 missiles from it. The world clamors for a “safe humanitarian zone for the poor Palestinians” but doesn’t give a whit about the use of that zone to fire missiles into Israel to try to murder Israelis.
We close this final update today with these words from Adar Ben Simon, a young IDF soldier who was murdered on October 7th:
Another Israeli full of life murdered by barbaric Palestinian savages.
Her message to us:
“Live life to the fullest, savor every moment. Chase your dreams, and always view life with optimism.”
Adar Ben Simon
May Adar’s memory always be for a blessing.
UPDATE 6:00 PM
Today has seen one tragic funeral after another as all the soldiers killed yesterday have been buried. The country is once again heartbroken.
On the Ground in Gaza Today
*There has been massive machine gun fire in Shujaiya all day—in the area of the casbah where the Golani soldiers were ambushed yesterday.
*Numerous terrorists have been killed in Deir Al-Balah.
*Exchanges of fire have occurred in the Beit Lahiya, Karma, and Al Tawam neighborhoods.
*After last night’s disaster, the IDF spokesman says that the IDF has spent part of the day blowing up booby trapped houses (How do they know they are booby trapped? And why didn’t they do this before?) Every house should be blown up in problematical areas.)
Missiles and Mortars Fired So Far Today
In the North:
Rosh HaNikra (14:03).
In the South:
Ashdod (17:02); Kissufim (12:22); Nahal Oz (12:13); Zimrat, Shuva (11:21); Nir Oz (10:20); Nirim, Ein HaShlosha (08:54); Nir Am, Sderot (08:43); Kissufim (06:36).
Our neighborhood of Ashdod was targeted an hour ago for the first time in a week. We counted 12 intercepts directly over our house. Here’s a photo I took from our back patio ten minutes later of 6 of those intercepts (the small point of light near the left margin is actually a star):
One of the interceptors crashed through the ceiling of a supermaket about a quarter of a mile from here:
Note the hole in the ceiling and the interceptor missile leaning on a shelf. Fortunately, no one was wounded.
The Newest Outrageous Proposal From Amos Hochstein
To remember, Amos Hochstein is President Biden’s personal envoy, the same envoy who engineered the vast giveaway of Israel maritime territory to Lebanon last year. Then PM Lapid agreed without even taking the Agreement to the Knesset or to the people in the form of a referendum.
In that giveaway, Israel received absolutely nothing except “the hope” that Hezbollah would lose power in Lebanon and not threaten along the Lebanese border. One look at “missiles and mortars” fired today show how absurd this was.
Well guess what? Hochstein is back in Lebanon again, and back to the same old story. The way for us to have peace with Lebanon is to give Hezbollah everything it wants:
1. Lebanon will receive “ownership” of a point B1 in Nakura.
2. Resolving the 13 disputed points on the blue line.
3. Israeli withdrawal from the Lebanese part of the village of Ghajar.
4. Israeli withdrawal from Sheba farms and their handover to international forces [Israel withdrawal from Sheba and handing it to UNIFIL is the same as turning it over to Hezbollah].
It’s just unbelievable what is always expected of Israel.
.
UPDATE 10:00 AM
The day has darkened even more with the news that two more Golani soldiers were killed in the booby-trapped house:
Col. Yitzhak Ben Basat, 44 years old, from Sheda Ya’akov, Commander of the Golani Brigade.
Sgt. Eran Aloni, 19 years old, from Ofakim, a fighter in the 51st Battalion, Golani Brigade
May their memories be for a blessing.
UPDATE 8:00 AM
It is black morning here in Israel.
Eight soldiers were killed last night. Most of them were members of the Golani Brigade, and most of them were high ranking officers: the Battalion Commander, 2 Company Commanders, and platoon commanders.
Apparently, a Golani Brigade Combat team was searching buildings in the casbah of Shujaiyeh. The team came under fire from a house and an explosive device was set off. The force returned fire and unknowingly entered a booby-trapped building where a bomb was detonated. When another group of 669 soldiers came to rescue the victims, another bomb was detonated.
These are the fallen:
Lt. Col. Tomer Greenberg, 35 years old, from Malmog, commander of the 13th Battalion, Golani Brigade
Maj. Roi Meldasi, 23 years old, from Afula, a company commander in the 13th Battalion, Golani Brigade
Maj. Moshe Avraham Bar-On, 23 years old, from Ra’anana, a company commander in the 51st Battalion, Golani Brigade
Sgt. Ahya Daskel, 19 years old, from Haifa, a fighter in the 51st Battalion, Golani Brigade
Capt. Liel Haiu, 22 years old, from Shoham, a platoon commander in the 51st Battalion, Golani Brigade
Maj. Ben Sheli, 26 years old, from Makdaron, commander of a platoon of fighters in the Special Rescue Tactical Unit (669 )
Maj. Rom Hecht, 20 years old, from Givatayim, a fighter in the Special Rescue Tactical Unit (669)
Sgt. Oriya Yaakov, 19 years old, from Ashkelon, Combat Engineer in the 614th Battalion
May their memories be for a blessing.
Once again, we here at OneIsrael call on all the buildings in northern Gaza to be razed. It must be assumed that every building in Gaza is booby-trapped.
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.