Thursday
Yom Chamishee
29 Tishrei 5785
October 31 2024
UPDATE 8:00 PM ISRAEL TIME
The dead in the missile attacks earlier today have been identified:
In the missile attack that killed two people near Kibbutz Afek, the two were Druze, Mina and Carmi Hasson, a mother and son from Shfaram. They were picking olives in their orchard.
In the missile attack near Metulla that killed 5 people, the Israeli farmer was Omer Weinstein, 47, from Kibbutz Dafna. The four others were Thai citizens. They were picking apples in their orchard.
BREAKING NEWS
7 people in Israel have been killed by Hezbollah missiles today. Read below.
UPDATE 5:00 PM ISRAEL TIME
The War in the North
*At 11:37 am two missiles from Hezbollah in Lebanon struck (in the words of the IDF) “an open space near Metulla.”
The space was not open.
In fact, 5 people were killed–four foreign workers and an Israeli farmer. Another worker is in critical condition in Rambam Hospital with “shrapnel wounds all over his body.”
No names have been released at this hour nor has the nationality of the workers–though most agricultural workers in Israel are Thai.
Considering the fact that Metulla is hit by 5-10 barrages of missiles everyday, one must ask the question of what in the world were a farmer and foreign workers doing out in a field beside the town?
*Two more Israelis (a 60 year old woman and her 30 year old son) were killed a short time ago when a Hezbollah missile hit an olive grove near Hwy 79 towards Kibbutz Afek south of Emek Zebulon.
*Between 12:21-12:23 today, the Galilee region was hit by more than 30 missiles. There have been numerous other missile strikes during the day.
*IAF attacks during the day have focused on Tzur in Lebanon and munition warehouses of the Radwan Unit in Syria. Also in Syria, the Al Qusayr bridge was hit near Homs.
The War in Gaza
*This afternoon Hamas rejected all proposals for a temporary ceasefire. What’s new?
By the way, who is speaking for Hamas these days?
*A UNICEF employee was caught yesterday smuggling Carila (brand name) cigarettes into Gaza. In his UNICEF vehicle were a thousand cartons of cigarettes.
On the Gaza black market, the street value of a thousand cartons of cigarettes is 30 million shekels (more than $8,000,000 dollars).
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.