Sunday
Yom Rishon
28 Kislev 5785
December 29 2024
Happy Chanukah!
Our Chanukah Fund For Our Soldiers
We at OneIsrael would like to thank those of you who donated to our fund to uplift our soldiers during this Chanukah season. In the coming days, we will post photos of what you have done with your kind contributions. Thanks again!
UPDATE 10:00 AM ISRAEL TIME
The View from Ashdod
The IDF reportage of what happened yesterday is suspect at best.
At 4:15 pm incoming missile alarms sounded in the following locations:
If you think that this alarm pattern looks very similar to those of recent incoming Houthi ballistic missiles from Yemen, you are not alone.
And yet, it turns out that the two missiles this time were supposedly from northern Gaza.
And not ballistic missiles.
Which begs the question of why were so many communities alerted for two missiles? In the past, missiles fired from Gaza have been specifically tracked and only specific communities–even neighborhoods— are alerted which might be hit should the Iron Dome fail.
But look at the map again. More than 50 communities alerted.
Afterward, the IDF issued a statement starkly similar to those issued when ballistic missiles are incoming. According to the spokesman, the missiles were intercepted before entering Israeli territory and the large number of communities alerted was because of the fear of falling shrapnel.
Say what?
Intercepted before entering Israeli territory? Of course, they weren’t. There are numerous videos of their launch from Gaza and flight toward the Jerusalem area.
Fear of falling shrapnel? That has never been a criterion for alerting communities regarding launches from Gaza.
If all this was not enough, more missiles were fired out of Gaza 15 minutes before the above took place at Nir Am and Mefalsim along the Gaza border.
On the Ground in Gaza
**According the IDF, large numbers of troops are now being redirected south in advance of another full-scale attack on Gazan cities from which missiles are being launched and terror attacks are emanating.
Preparations for that attack began in the last few days with an attack at the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Jabaliya. The IDF spokesman issued this statement yesterday:
“At the beginning of the targeted operation, the 401st Brigade encircled the Kamal Adwan Hospital and apprehended terrorists who were hiding in the area and eliminated additional terrorists. Shayetet 13 special forces conducted precise activities inside the hospital and located and confiscated weapons in the area, including grenades, guns, munitions, and military equipment.
During IDF operations next to the hospital, terrorists fired anti-tank missiles and RPGs at the troops and attempted to carry out additional attacks against the troops. The troops swiftly eliminated the terrorists. In addition, the IAF conducted strikes that eliminated terrorists attempting to flee the area. There were no IDF casualties.
During the operation in the area, over 240 Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists and other operatives suspected of terror activities were apprehended, some of whom attempted to pose as patients or flee using ambulances.
Among the suspects taken for questioning was the director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital, who is suspected of being a Hamas terrorist operative, as well as Hamas engineering and anti-tank missile operatives, and approximately 15 terrorists who infiltrated Israel during the October 7th massacre.”
**In regard to the hostages taken on October 7th, the Health Ministry has compiled a report that will be submitted to the U.N. committee that deals with torture (where it will undoubtedly fall on deaf ears).
The details are gruesome.
From a section of the report detailed on Israel’s Channel 12 yesterday:
“The report says that hostages were kept for days in darkness, with their hands and feet bound, and received little food or water. They were beaten all over their bodies, some had hair pulled out, and in some cases were burned and branded with metal heated over an open flame. Others, including children, were subjected to sexual assaults.”
Another summary from the Jerusalem Post this morning:
“Two children reported that they were bound together and beaten throughout their captivity, and two additional children were found with burn marks consistent with branding on their lower limbs.
Two teenage hostages described how they were made to perform sexual acts on each other.
Many hostages of all ages and genders described undergoing sexual abuse at the hands of their captors, including a woman who was raped at gunpoint by a Hamas terrorist.”
And on and on. There are no surprises, but the report underscores the behavior the Palestinian monsters who held and still hold our hostages.
On the Ground in Syria/Lebanon
The news of the day has been the heavy snow that has hit the area:
Mt. Hermon is covered in snow, but our soldiers are being kept warm at a rapidly assembled base that contains insulation and heaters.
And so it goes on a chilly morning here in Israel . . . 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.