The Gaza War Day 260, The War in the North

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Yom Rishon

Sunday

17 Sivan 5784

June 23 2024

UPDATE 7:00 AM Israel Time

May His Memory Be For A Blessing

Maj. Gros Malkia, 25, from Susiya–beside Hevron– in Judea, a fighter in the 9212 Armored Battalion, fell in battle in Rafah.

Maj. Malkia unfortunately adds to the disproportionately long list of IDF soldiers from Judea and Samaria who have fallen in Gaza.

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In a hideous butchery yesterday, Israeli citizen Amnon Mokhtar was murdered in Qalqilya where he had driven to buy vegetables as he had done every week for decades.

The fact that Mokhtar willingly drove himself into the always dangerous Qalqilya does not lessen what happened to him.

He was shot in his car, the terrorists then filmed him for over an hour until he died, and then they burned him and his car:

A sideways photo of Amnon’s car on fire–with his bullet-riddled body still in it.

Mokhtar, 67 years old, leaves behind a wife, five children, and many grandchildren. He was the long-time owner of a vegetable and fruit stall and a seller in Petah Tikva. May his memory be blessed.

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Live Hostages?

This was a flyer in Arabic of “hostages” distributed in Khan Younis and Gaza City by the IDF yesterday. It warns residents that if they have any information about these, they should give it to Israeli officials on pain of something happening to them and their families if they do not.

26 hostages–some of whom we already know are dead. Does this collage contain the photos of the only remaining hostages that Israel thinks are alive?

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On the Ground in Gaza

The 4th most wanted HamISIS commander was assassinated yesterday in an IAF air strike on a building in the Shati neighborhood:

Raed Saad was known for numerous terror attacks against Israelis.

With his demise, who is left at the top? Yahya Sinwar, Sinwar’s brother, and Mohammed Def.

From the IDF spokesman:

“IDF troops continue to operate in central Gaza, striking and eliminating several armed terrorists and dismantling terrorist infrastructure in the area. During one of the strikes, the troops identified a number of armed terrorists in the area, and an IAF aircraft then struck and eliminated the terrorists. In another operation, a rocket launch site in the area of the corridor used to launch rockets at IDF troops yesterday was struck by an IDF aircraft.

In addition, IDF troops are continuing intelligence-based, targeted operations in the Rafah area. Over the past day, the troops dismantled terrorist infrastructure in the area and eliminated several armed terrorists in close-quarters encounters.
The troops eliminated a number of terrorists with sniper fire and directed an aircraft that struck and eliminated additional terrorists.

IAF fighter jets and additional aircraft struck numerous terror targets in Gaza , including armed terrorists, weapons storage facilities, and additional terrorist infrastructure. During one of the strikes, IAF aircraft eliminated a terrorist cell that launched an anti-aircraft missile toward an IDF fighter jet that was operating over  Gaza. No damage was done to the aircraft during the incident. Moreover, the weapons storage facility used by the terrorists to carry out the launch was eliminated in an aerial strike.

In another strike, an IAF aircraft eliminated two Hamas terrorists that were operating in northern Gaza.”

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On the Ground in the North

More homes went up in flames in Metulla last night as a result of Hezbollah anti-tank missile strikes.

Israel killed a senior member of Al-Jama’a al-Islamiyya in the car attack in the Khiara area of Lebanon.

From the IDF spokesman:

“An IAF aircraft conducted a precise strike in the Beqaa area in Lebanon in order to eliminate Ayman Ratma, a central terrorist operative responsible for weapons supplies for the Hamas and Jamaa Islamiya terrorist organizations in Lebanon, as well as the development of terrorist infrastructure in the area.”