Yom Shabbat
Saturday
28 Tammuz 5784
August 3, 2024
UPDATE 10:00 AM ISRAEL TIME
Our tense night here in Ashdod actually began yesterday afternoon at 3:59 pm when we heard a large explosion to the east. It turned out that the explosion was a missile fired from Gaza targeting Tel Aviv that was intercepted somewhere between Kiryat Malachi and the Re’em Junction.
After that until now it has been quiet.
Deathly quiet.
Here, but not elsewhere.
During the evening and night:
*Palestinian terrorists fired missiles at Israeli communities on the Gaza border: Sufa, Nir Yitzhak (19:15), Sufa (20:03), Nahal Oz (20:33).
*Hezbollah terrorists fired missiles at Israeli communities on the northern border: Zarit, Shomera, Netua, Shtula (18:45), Netua (20:30).
*The IAF destroyed the A-Dabaa airport in Syria–the one that is used by Hezbollah to ferry weapons.
*The IAF struck a border crossing in northeastern Lebanon through which convoys of trucks arrive from Syria via Iran. The IAF also hit a major convoy.
*The IAF eliminated 5 Palestinian terrorists in an air strike on their car near Tulkarm among them Haitham Balidi, commander of the al-Qassam Brigades, the military arm of Hamas:
*It was revealed yesterday, that an IAF strike on a tunnel in Gaza City killed a number of leading HamISIS leaders including close friends of HamISIS leader in Gaza Yahya Sinwar:
Ruchi Mushtaha (aka the King of Clubs)
Sameh Al Saraj (aka the “Queen” of Spades)
Mahmoud Odeh (aka the 10 of Hearts)
As you can see, those alive on Israel’s most wanted list have dwindled to only a handful:
Courtesy of “Gaza’s Most Wanted List.”
Back to the tense situation here.
Why haven’t the Iranians and their minions attacked yet? There are a multitude of possible reasons perhaps led by these two:
1. The Iranians now know that it was not an Israeli missile fired from outside of Iran that killed Ismail Haniya, but instead a bomb that was placed in Haniya’s room months before and remotely detonated. Who planted the bomb remains unclear, but Iran has gone on an arrest binge taking into custody everyone who worked at the building and numerous officers in the military. In short, the Iranians are struggling to find out who did what–and suspect everyone. This is a photo made yesterday of the Commander of the Revolutionary Guards Al-Quds force hiding in a street in Tehran:
No one is safe.
Even while speaking at Haniyeh’s funeral in Tehran, Iranian leader Ali Khamenei continued looking sideways and skyward as if expecting an attack:
We all know what he was looking for.
2. There has been a tremendous surge in the U.S. military presence in the region. The aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt is currently in the straits of Hormuz with a large complement of aircraft and anti-missile capabilities. Apparently it is about to be repositioned and replaced by the USS Abraham Lincoln strike force. In addition, American B2 bombers are in the air.
It may be relatively quiet, but still, airspaces in countries around Israel remain closed and airlines continue canceling flights to and from Israel–the lastest two being KLM/Air France and Wizz Air.
And so we wait . . . expecting an attack at any minute but hoping for a
SHABBAT SHALOM
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.