Israel Update 8.8.24

There will be no further updates until early September. 

 

TENSE SITUATION IN ISRAEL

 

Over a week since Israel killed Hezbollah’s military commander Fuad Shukr and allegedly killed Hamas’s leader Ismail Haniyeh in pinpoint attacks in Beirut and Tehran respectively, all of Israel remains braced for a repeatedly threatened major response by the Iranian regime and its proxies, and the country has been on high alert.

Amid all the vicious rhetoric emerging from Tehran and Beirut, the current “pre-response” situation is anything but peaceful. Hezbollah continues to launch dozens upon dozens of projectiles at Israel — at military and civilian targets — to devastating effect.

And Hamas is doing its much-reduced utmost to fire into Israel from Gaza, again targeting communities close to the Strip.

A resident summed it up thus: “It’s like living in 2 realities at the same time here…Working, kids, ‘routine,’ and living life — while dealing with grief, actual threats and uncertainty constantly.”

While a mother wrote:

“Our shoes are by the door. If I wake you and your sister, you will put them on and walk to the shelter together with me. You won’t be afraid. And we have snacks.”

On Sunday, August 4, 2024 at bedtime, I instruct my children. They are 6 and 4 — so tiny. They shouldn’t be hearing me say this. I say it anyway. I hope they can’t smell fear….. Though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we also have work to do in the morning…

Shoes by the door. But head on the pillow. Evil will not prevail.

Editorial hereArticles hereand here

 

HOSTAGE

 

Thousands of people sent orange balloons into the air in Tel Aviv on Monday to mark the fifth birthday of redheaded hostage Ariel Bibas, 304 days after he was snatched from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, along with his baby brother and parents.Report here

 

TERROR ATTACK IN ISRAEL

 

An Israeli woman, Rina Daniv, 66, was killed as well as an 80-year-old man, and two others were wounded on Sunday morning in a Palestinian stabbing attack in Holon. A policeman shot the terrorist who was in Israel illegally. Rina’s husband Shimon, 69, is in serious condition and Yaakov Levertov, 26, is in moderate condition. Report here

 

HEZBOLLAH’S WAR AGAINST ISRAEL

 

Two IDF soldiers were wounded in a Hizbullah drone attack near Kibbutz Ayelet HaShahar in northern Israel on Monday. Report here

Nineteen people were injured Tuesday, one of them critically, after a Hezbollah drone attack in the Nahariya area. Report here

Deep under the northern city Haifa, there’s a vast underground hospital. There are operating theatres, a maternity ward, and medical supplies stacked up in corners. Rambam Medical Centre excavated this bunker after the Israel-Hezbollah war of 2006. It’s normally a multi-storey car park but it can be converted into a hospital in less than three days and has been on standby since shortly after the Hamas attacks of 7 October.

The medical director said that people are anxious. He and his staff just hope that any escalation of violence doesn’t last long.

ISRAEL’S WAR AGAINST HAMAS

 

Last week, Israel began a humanitarian operation to evacuate Gazan patients, including children, through the Kerem Shalom crossing and Ramon airport for medical treatment in the UAE.Report here

During efforts to uncover all of Hamas’s arms-smuggling routes in the area, last week the IDF discovered a 3-metre (10-foot) unusually high tunnel at the Philadelphi Corridor, big enough for vehicles to drive through. Photo here

Gazan terrorists launched 19 rockets at southern Israel on Friday, marking some of the most intensive rocket fire in weeks. One rocket triggered warning sirens around Kiryat Malachi, about 65 kilometers (40 miles) from Gaza. Report here

Seven reservists were wounded, including four seriously, during fighting on Monday. Also on Monday, an Israeli truck driver was lightly injured by a rocket impact near Kibbutz Re’ím, as Gazan terrorists fired a barrage  of some 15 rockets at southern Israel. Report here

The IDF confirmed a strike in Gaza City last week that killed  an Al Jazeera reporter who was a member of Hamas’s elite Nukhba force who participated in the October 7 onslaught and  also instructed other terror operatives on how to film and distribute videos of attacks on Israeli troops. Report here

The IDF completed operations in the Bani Suheila neighbourhood of Khan Yunis last week, dismantling dozens of sites used for terrorist activity and eliminating more than 70 terrorists.Report here

 

COUNTER-TERRORISM

 

Nine Palestinian terrorists, among them a Hamas commander, were killed in two Israeli drone strikes near Tulkarem on Saturday. In the first incident, the IDF targeted a cell of terrorists en route to carry out an attack.Report here

IDF forces operating in Nablus located and blew up a laboratory for the production of explosive charges, which contained explosives ready to be used.Report here

 

ASSASSINATION OF HAMAS LEADER HANIYEH

 

Under Haniyeh, Hamas acquired longer-range rocket technology with Iran’s backing, transforming its short-range Qasam rocket arsenal into a colossus of long-range rockets that could hit Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Haniyeh also helped secure more funding from Qatar that enabled it to build hundreds of miles of tunnels and position its rockets to fire barrages of more than 100 rockets at a time. Report here

 

Reportedly, the explosive device placed under his bed was planted by two Iranians recruited by the Mossad from the Ansar al-Mahdi security unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the very people who were supposed to secure the building and its guests…To minimise harming innocent civilians, they used a bomb known for its precision which targeted only Haniyeh’s room. As a result, only one specific area of the building was damaged. Report here

IRAN

 

Ynet news interviewed some Iranian civilians located in several cities following the assassination of Hamas leader Haniyeh and heard some of their surprising responses: “We all wish to see the destruction of the Islamic Republic as soon as possible” When asked about the possibility of an all-out war between Israel and the Islamic Republic, most of the interviewees expressed more fear of the latter than of the IDF. “I personally am not scared of Israeli retaliation becuase I know that the IDF and Israeli officials see us Iranian people as on their side and would do whatever they deem necessary to minimise the collateral damage as they did in the case of Haniyeh.” Report here

 

THE UK

Pro-Palestinian activists ram-raided the UK branch of Elbit Systems Horizon facility near Bristol on Tuesday and attacked police officers with sledgehammers. Six were arrested. Elbit Systems UK has said that nothing it manufactures goes to the IDF and that its UK arm provides equipment to the British military.Report here (paywall)

 

UNWRA

 

The UN announced on Monday that nine employees of the UNRWA agency for Palestinian refugees “may have been involved” in Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel and will be fired from the organization.In response, Israeli Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan branded the investigation “a disgrace,” noting that it had focused only on 19 UNRWA employees, despite Israel having provided the UN with “detailed information” about 100 UNRWA employees that Erdan said were Hamas members. Report here

Last week, Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner general of UNRWA was heckled while giving a speech in Lausanne. “UNRWA kidnapped my son,” an anguished Israeli woman shouted from the audience. Ayelet Samerano’s son, Yonatan, was murdered on Oct. 7. His body was then dragged into Gaza by  UNRWA staff.
Ten months later, as his mother held up his picture during the UNRWA speech in Switzerland, a member of the audience snatched it from her hands and shoved it into a nearby bin.Article here (paywall)

 

SOLIDARITY

 

Following Nagasaki Mayor Shiro Suzuki’s decision to not invite Israel to the annual ceremony commemorating the atomic bombing of the city in 1945, Western ambassadors from the US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Australia and Ukraine will boycott the event. Report here

 

SCIENCE

 

Yoram Rozen, the head of Technion’s Space research institute is seeking funding to trial the technology for a potential huge sunshade that would block 2% of the sun’s radiation and bring global average temperatures down by some 1.5ºC (2.7ºF) within 12 to 18 months.Report here

 

 OLYMPIC GAMES

 

At the time of writing, Israeli athletes have won 6 medals in 3 sports:

Tom Reuveny : Gold medal Windsurfing

Sharon Kantor : Silver medal Windsurfing

Artem Dolgopyat : Silver medal Gymnastics

Raz Hershko : Silver medal Judo

Inbar Lanir : Silver medal Judo

Peter Paltchik : Bronze medal Judo

They competed while the country is at war, facing unprecedented threats.  Some of the Israeli team received personal death threats. This challenging environment led to enhanced security measures for the delegation who have armed security guards with them 24/7.

Reports herehereand here

Israeli cyclist Mikhail Yakovlev briefly set a new Olympic record in the men’s sprint with a time of 9.152 seconds. His time was then quickly overtaken by Australian and Dutch cyclists. Report here

 

COMMENT & OPINION

 

Elder of Ziyon blogger analyses the current uncertainty: Every few hours we see a new report based on some anonymous intelligence sources on what Iran might be doing…but for now, everything we are reading is a combination of purposeful leaks and wishful thinking. Take it all with a grain of salt.

 

Retired US officers visited Israel

 

Dave Deptula: I was the first U.S. general officer (active or retired) to travel across Gaza during this war. The IDF face the acute challenge of defending their nation while striving to protect Palestinian civilians. Unfortunately, negative perceptions on social media and elsewhere, based on a combination of disinformation, ignorance, and anti-Semitism, indicates there is a wide gap between the reality I witnessed and the perceptions abroad.
Assertions that Israel is intentionally starving Gazan civilians did not match what I witnessed. While the average man needs 2500 calories a day to maintain a stable diet and the average woman needs 2000, there is enough aid entering Gaza daily to support over a 3,000 calorie a day diet.
The military activities I saw, as well as the processes and procedures followed by the Israeli military, are indicative of the IDF complying with the laws of armed conflict. What I witnessed in Gaza impressed upon me that the sooner the Palestinians subjugated by these militant forces can be free of extremism, the sooner the world can become a better place. Article here

 

Will Selber: My tour guide, Nuri, was a young commando who had fought on Oct. 7. As we walked to the site of the Nova Music Festival, I was immediately overwhelmed. I have been to many killing fields in Iraq and Afghanistan, but this was different. The unspeakable atrocities on those happy, optimistic young people – not just Jews, but Arabs and others, too – inspired an extra level of grief and anger. Here, 364 people were massacred and 40 more were taken hostage. Most of them were Jews murdered for being Jews, but some were gentiles who were murdered just for being around Jews…
The area now bloomed with memorials. There were mourners everywhere. Families weeping by the memorials of their loved ones. But the cries I heard were those of a determined people being reminded that many of their neighbours just really want to kill them.Article here

 

The West & Iran

 

Sun. Tel. Editorial: America’s decision to deploy additional jets and warships to help defend Israel from a possibly imminent major attack by the Iranian regime is welcome and necessary. But this renewed crisis is largely due to the West’s cowardice and inconsistency in dealing with the Middle East. America, Britain and Europe have been far too soft on the Iranian regime for well over a decade, and have increasingly proved reluctant to fully support Israel after it fell victim to barbaric Hamas terrorists last year.
Regrettably, in mooting a ban on arms sales to Israel and refusing to challenge the arrest warrant for the Israeli prime minister, the new Labour government is also proving itself to be an unreliable ally of the region’s only pro-Western democracy. A lasting peace in the region will only ever be possible if Iran is finally contained properly and Hamas and Hizbullah effectively dealt with.Editorial here (paywall)

 

WSJ Editorial: The media is fretting about a broader war, but that war is already here and it’s as likely the strikes on Iran’s proxy allies have a deterrent effect on Tehran, even as it responds…The U.S. can help Israel prevent a larger war by putting pressure on Hizbullah and Iran. Expediting weapons to Israel, including deep-penetrating bombs that would put Iran’s nuclear facilities at risk, would send a message, as would enforcing oil sanctions again…Israel has a right to defend itself, but more than that it has the right and ample cause to defeat the terrorists who won’t let it live in peace. Editorial here

 

Hizbullah

 

Stephen Daisley:  UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres…urged all parties to “recommit to the full implementation of Security Council Resolution 1701.”

This resolution was the UN’s solution to the Second Lebanon War. It called on Israel and Hizbullah to withdraw from southern Lebanon and the Lebanese government to exert control over its territory and prevent it being used by Hizbullah to resume hostilities. Israel withdrew, Hizbullah didn’t, Beirut never exerted control and Hizbullah continued to use southern Lebanon as a base from which to attack Israel. Since Oct. 7, Hizbullah has fired 5,000 rockets at Israel.Article here (paywall)

 

US V.P. Harris

 

Bassam Tawil:  On July 26, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris stated that the “two-state solution is the only path” for Israel, and made clear her “serious concerns” about casualties in Gaza. “It’s time for this war to end,” she added. Yet on Oct. 6, 2023, there was a ceasefire in place between Israel and Hamas. Hamas broke it.
Harris completely ignored the fact that the Palestinians of Gaza are suffering because of a war initiated by Hamas…
By advocating an end to the war in Gaza, Harris is asking that Israel, by allowing Hamas to remain in power, submit itself to unending jihadist attacks. What country would do that? Article here

Escalation?

 

Prof. Efraim Inbar: For years, Israel preferred to absorb many rocket attacks and refrained from a strong response that could lead to escalation. This only gave time to Hamas to build its military capabilities and acquire the might to withstand an Israeli offensive now in its tenth month.
Similarly, Israel’s reluctance to pre-empt in Lebanon allowed Hizbullah to build a formidable missile arsenal. Hizbullah grew to become a monster that since Oct. 8 has conducted, undeterred, a war of attrition against Israel. The continued existence of over 100,000 missiles in the hands of Hizbullah is an intolerable situation for Israel. Only an escalation intended to eliminate the missile arsenal can put an end to the war of attrition. The “diplomatic solution” the Americans and the French are pushing for in Lebanon is a mirage. Hizbullah cannot be trusted to abide for long by any agreement.
Being perceived as having a predilection for escalation helps deterrence. Deterrence must be maintained over time by the occasional use of force. Restraint may be construed as weakness and invite aggression. This is the way the bullies read things in the Middle East. In the final analysis, the only effective persuasion is the use of force. This requires willingness to escalate the struggle to defeat the Islamist radicals. Article here

 

Jake Wallis Simons: The West has somehow forgotten that if you shun conflict, it will come for you on the enemy’s terms. The West pays lip service to the Jewish state’s “right to self-defence,” but when Israel retaliates, it is accused of warmongering or genocide. In the ears of many Israelis, calls for “de-escalation” sound like requests to bare their necks for the knife. Strength is the currency of the Middle East.
Jerusalem is in the very jaws of the jackal, facing attacks from Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank, Iraq and Yemen. Behind it all is the octopus of Tehran, whose tentacles reach as far as London. Sooner or later, the West must wake up. Nobody wants war. But how to respond when war wants you? Article here (paywall)

 

The Palestinian Authority (PA)

 

Elliot Abrams and Sander R. Gerber: In 2018, the last year that the PA made its budget public, $350 million – 7% of the total – was reserved to pay terrorists who killed or injured civilians in Israel or members of the IDF, and to pay the families of those terrorists.
While civil servants are suffering with 50% salary cuts, the PA continues to pay terrorists and their families 100% of their stipends. According to PA law, the PA is required to employ any males who have served at least ten years and females who have served at least five years in Israeli prison, at salaries no less than the monthly “pay for slay” stipends they received in prison. The PA has created a perverse system that incentivizes violence and hatred…the PA uses its resources to prioritize the murder of Israelis over basic governance. The PA’s financial condition is a product of an immoral system that it – and it alone – has created. Article here (paywall)