"Medinat Tel Aviv" (the "Country of Tel Aviv"), is, as ever, its own world. Sunny and warm. Feeling a bit like... pre-war times. With less going on, more soldiers on leave with guns, and kidnapped posters everywhere. Still fewer people. But by far the most since October 7.
On the beach, a coffee stand is playing CSN. The yoga studio was packed -- first time since Black Saturday.
In The U.S.
Stand up for your Jewish friends now so you don't have to hide us later. From the march in Washington D.C.
(Thank you S.D.)
From The Southern Front (Gaza)
IDF Briefing
Orientation Briefing for IDF soldiers. 3.5 minutes, English subtitles.
IDF assisting Gaza civilians
Alef
IDF Spokesman: Rockets inside a girl’s bed, anti-tank missiles inside a baby stroller; Terror organizations in the Gaza Strip and their cynical use of children as a cover for terror
Bet
IDF spokesman: Our forces located heavy rockets at an Islamic Jihad post in the north of the Gaza Strip.
These are rockets of the "Badar 3" type In Arabic it is written on them (near the tail of the rocket): "Made in Palestine"
Gimmel - Found at Al-Shifa
Vehicle and ammunition found in a garage at Al-Shifa Hospital. This was one of the trucks used in the attack on October 7. [The big building you see there is the Qatari building of the hospital]
IDF Spokesman: Terrorist infrastructure, an operational tunnel shaft connected to the garage where the vehicle above was found that was used on 7/10 at the Al-Shifa hospital [The big building you see there is the Qatari building of the hospital]
Message under the Message?
Why wreak destruction in Gaza? Because Hamas and Islamic Jihad are everywhere. A high percentage of apartment buildings have offices, weapons workshops, weapons storage, tunnel entrances, etc. This was done deliberately: To make the cost of Israeli engagement so high that it wouldn’t occur. The point of the destruction, from Raf's chair, is not just to find and destroy these weapons. It is also to destroy the workshops and to create such a demand for basic infrastructure that the populace will not stand for resources to be diverted to weapons manufacture.
A Unit at the Northern Front
A friend on active duty (e.g. early 20's) was tossed in with a group of reservists. Instead of the intended office job, he is on the Lebanon border. A text:
The average soldier here is in his thirties and has little kids back home, so watching them video chat with their kids isn't rare around here
Today I saw a guy holding his phone's camera to his gun sight to show off to his kid how far he can see through it
Relief Area
Alef
Bet
The humor today is what I have. There was a time when such things could only be said by Jews. (I don’t think those guys are, but don’t know.)
An email I wrote yesterday: The war will end. The acute phase will pass. The question is: What are the building blocks for what comes next? Are we making sure we don’t blow those up now by taking positions or saying stupid things that foreclose on the future?
That is how it looks to me today.
Raf
(Thank you A.K., S.D., M.N., __ for content. Thank you A.K. for feedback and engagement. Raf made the subtitles in the first video. Translation of the Hannah Senesh poem is by Tal Davidovich, found in Rocznik Orientalistychny LXVI Z. 1, 2013)