Wednesday
Yom Reva’ee
19 Adar 5785
March 19 2025
UPDATE 9:00 AM ISRAEL TIME
The Quotes of the Day
“Any harm to a hostage will result in the annexation of territories in Gaza to Israel!”
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich yesterday speaking for a group of government ministers.
What Smotrich was talking about was annexing 5% of Gaza to Israel each time a hostage is harmed. It is a good idea; however, the facts are that the hostages are harmed everyday, and some have been murdered in captivity.
We here at OneIsrael believe that the buffer zone created by the IDF since October 7 should have already been annexed.
“From now on, negotiations will only take place under fire.”
PM Netanyahu speaking to the nation on television last night. What he is referring to is that Hamas completely stopped negotiating during and after the 42 day ceasefire. Military action is the only factor that will force them to negotiate.
“Hamas is stalling the deal before us and forcing the Palestinians to suffer the consequences. The pillars of our approach remain steadfast: to stand with Israel, to stand for peace.”
A spokesman for the U.S. State Department yesterday.
Can you imagine the Biden State Department ever making such a statement?
The View from Ashdod
Your humble servant was somewhat amused this morning to read that the IAF attacked Palestinian Hamas in Gaza at 2:26 am and 6:26 am this morning.
The fact is that we heard and felt the roar of planes and concussive blasts from Gaza all night long. We are still hearing the booms right now.
On the Ground in Gaza
*Specific points of IAF and IDF artillery attacks overnight were:
–the Al-Tufah neighborhood east of Gaza City in northern Gaza
–the Al-Bureij neighborhood in central Gaza
–the Al-Mawassi neighborhood in south-central Gaza along the coast
–the Sabra neighborhood in western Gaza
–Deir Al-Balah south of Gaza City
*More senior terrorists were killed in Gaza yeserday including:
Naji Abu Seif, aka Abu Hamza, the spokesman for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. We here in Israel have seen masked Abu Hamza making daily pronouncements during the Gaza war:
In addition, three more terrorists were killed while planting IEDs:
Another Missile From Yemen
In the midst of getting blasted by the U.S., the Houthis found time and space to fire another missile at Israel yesterday evening.
But wrap your mind around this.
The ballistic missile took off from an area around Sana’a. It was intercepted by an Israeli Arrow missile in the atmosphere over Saudi Arabia. The following areas in Israel around Beersheva (central and southern Negev) then received warnings for incoming shrapnel:
There were no shrapnel hits recorded.
On the Ground in Syria
The IAF continues eliminating threats in southern Syria. Yesterday two artillery cannons were destroyed in the area of Khan Arnabeh in southern Syria, and another strike took place just after midnight west of the city of Homs on the Homs-Tartus Road.
In Internal Israeli Politics
The news of the day was was the return of Itamar Ben Gvir and his Otzma Yehudi members to the government (the Knesset vote confirming them will take place today).
If you remember Ben Gvir had resigned from the Coalition because he insisted on a continued attack on Palestinian Hamas in Gaza. Since that happened, he returned. It should be noted that his return came over the objection of the ever-abominable Attorney General/Legal Advisor/Ombudsman/Attempted Controller of the Country Gali Basharav-Miara.
Netanyahu needs Ben Gvir and Otzma’s votes during the impending budget battle in the Knesset.
By the way, Ben Gvir will return to his post of Minister of National Security.
On the Ground in Judea and Samaria
From the IDF Spokesman:
“Overnight, IDF, ISA, and Israel Police forces began operating in Shechem as part of the ongoing counterterrorism operation in northern Samaria.
During the activities, the forces apprehended three wanted individuals, questioned suspects, and confiscated weapons. Throughout the night, security forces carried out additional counterterrorism activities across Judea and Samaria, during which they apprehended more than ten wanted suspects and seized numerous weapons.
During an operation by the Israel Police in Qalqilya, terrorists opened fire toward the forces. The forces eliminated one of the terrorists and struck additional terrorists.
The apprehended suspects and the confiscated weapons were transferred to the Israel Police’s Samaria and Judea District and the ISA for further processing.”
And so it goes (BOOM) here in Israel this morning
. . . so far . . .
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.