Tags: 8 Min to read it all; Videos
The weather: Nice in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. The Jerusalem evening carries scents of blossoms. In December.
Just in the past few days: 20-somethings released from reserve duty after a month or more in Gaza. Yet just now was sitting with a 50-something on his way to reserve duty there. A friend who normally does computer work in the army has been for two months on the Lebanon border.
Wrapping one's head around the pile of crazy... Bits of the day:
Bit One
Friday, Dec 15: A rocket from Hamas' latest barrage towards Jerusalem landed near the "Al Istishari" hospital in Ramallah. (e.g. in the midst of West Bank Palestinians)
A joke about it: Perhaps Hamas is trying to settle a score with Abu Mazen or with the American national security adviser, Sullivan, who visited him today in Ramallah (:
They aren't counted, but Hamas rockets that fall inside Gaza aren't limited to the one that fell in the hospital parking lot early on. There are dozens of them by now.
Bit Two
Bit Three
Haaretz article about Hamas money. (PDF here) The Youtube spoof isn't even the main scandal.
Bit Four - Numbers
Remember the Hamas/Islamic Jihad rocket that fell in the hospital parking lot early on and was initially blamed on Israel? Hamas/Gaza initially said “500 dead!” Later it came down to fifty-ish. (It is the one President Biden said came from Hamas/Islamic Jihad. This has been confirmed and is non controversial.)
The source for the 500 number (which they never corrected, to my knowledge) is the same source that says 18,000 now. We already know that the 18,000 number includes military/terrorist casualties. But the point is, why listen to the number at all? It easily could actually be 1,000-2,000 civilian deaths and the rest military/terrorist.
Numbers in Gaza are not what they say: Money to Gaza that doesn’t go to Gazans; Food to Gaza that is hijacked by Hamas; 500 dead in a parking lot but the number is a fiction; staged injuries all over social media. Where does the fiction stop?
Mail Bag
From S.D.
I'm not sure how Bibi's kids would ever show their faces again. It's really shameful. Their uncle died at Entebbe, a hero of the special forces unit that rescued those hostages. [There is a film about Yoni Netanyahu] Say what you want about Bibi, but he did his service (I think in an elite unit himself). Everybody is all on the front in one way or another (I know people too old for milu'im who insisted on going back to their units and are serving), and these two punks are avoiding it all. How do they look themselves in the mirror after this?
From M.T.
…hopefully the war shit can end soon :)
Read / On Line
GoPro On A Front Line Dog
The video published today in Israel, in which the dog Aisha is seen identifying an explosive device and rescuing soldiers in the Gaza Strip, succeeds in causing a storm and outrage among Muslims on social media.
The reason: "Aisha" was the name of the Prophet Muhammad's wife....
From a Reservist: "Yoni’s updates - Dec 17"
Yoni posts every week or two when he gets a chance.
I’m “ok.”
It’s been some time since my last update. Not because there’s nothing on my mind, but because sometimes it doesn’t stitch itself into a coherent narrative.
It’s been almost a week since the funeral, but the words of Itai Peri’s widow still ring in my ears. Actually, not so much the words she said as the way she said them. The way she sobbed and accused and pleaded to the partner who will never again come home.
Our unit has been operating in Gaza for some time now. We’ve been working in areas that have been the base for launching rockets into Israel, focusing our efforts on making the towns around Gaza safer for what we call ‘the day after.’ It’s not easy: there is a tremendous amount of infrastructure, built over years and years, supporting Hamas’ attempt to kill Israeli civilians. Also, it is clear they expected us to arrive and laid plans to exact a cost in the form of IDF casualties. Thankfully, our careful pace has kept us to one or two light injuries.
Much of what we have accomplished isn’t publishable, but I can mention one find: alongside a pamphlet in Arabic demonstrating the weak points of Israeli tanks was the other one in the series, sharing best practices for attacking civilian populations of small towns.
Our unit will soon be moving again. Transitioning to a new mission often creates pockets of downtime, which allowed one of our officers to visit the platoon he used to command. They lost five soldiers last week, including their commander. When I asked how they are doing he just shook his head. And the one things they most want - time at home - can’t come until they regain their footing as a fighting unit.
Some soldiers on my team are students whose semester starts this week, but they aren’t sure if or how they can juggle studies in between shifts. Those with small businesses agonize over the choice between weekend leave when they can spend time with their children, or during the week when they will have more time to keep their heads above the water financially.
Sarah signed a contract for her first job out of college in the days before October 7th, but has barely connected with her office and has no idea what will await her after the war, if she will have a a job or be back at square one.
Yossi’s wife was just diagnosed with a high risk pregnancy. He couldn’t arrange leave so he drove an hour and a half each way in the twelve hours between his shifts just so she wouldn’t have to sleep alone after hearing the news, returning before his morning shift.
One of my good friends noted that from his small town in south central Israel, seven soldiers have been killed already in this war. And it’s true, he said - it’s always the best of us who fall.
A handful of cakes arrived at our base for shabbat. A small note on one of them read: “it’s been 70 days but you are not forgotten. Come home safely!” I miss the days when the walls were plastered with colorful pictures.
It turns out we are human. We have made mistakes. But in our current circumstances those mistakes can directly cause injuries or death. Today we were lucky when a mistake led only to the mild injury of one of our soldiers.
The toughest blow over the weekend came from the news that three hostages escaped from Hamas and ran towards our forces further south, only to be misidentified as terrorists and killed by IDF forces. After 70 days in hell. It was hard enough to digest - how do you process something like that? As soldiers, familiar with the battlefield and the territory and the rules of engagement, we looked to reassure ourselves that we could not make the same mistake. Hindsight is 20/20, but after some minutes, one of the officers said ‘look - if I were in that position, I would strip before running at our forces. Hamas has played enough games and we’ve seen these tactics. It’s hard enough in a war zone to figure out what’s going on.’ We sadly agreed. If only.
Then a couple of hours later we learned that the three had taken off their shirts and were waving a white flag, calling out ‘help’ in Hebrew. We were shaken back into silence.
Our next mission might bring us into contact with the enemy in an area that could have hostages. It feels wise to use our brigade, reservists with more life experience than the younger troops that might be in better shape physically, given how complex this battlefield can be. Last week our unit held their fire at the last minute because the suspicious man hurrying towards our position carrying a bundle seemed off. It turned out he wasn’t carrying bomb - he was carrying a baby.
This jumble of notes comes after 28 hours during which I was on duty for 20. Maybe it will arrange itself better in your minds than in mine.
It’s been more than seventy days, and I’ve only been with my family once to light Shabbat candles. A friend of mine is really frustrated about this. ‘Why? So many other soldiers have been home more, and have been home weekends. Some have even been released!’ I don’t know what to tell her. But I know that our work isn’t finished yet.
Why So Slow? (E.g. Two months of war and only half of Hamas destroyed?)
One reason... tunnels... In this article is video of a 4 kilometer tunnel network, including footage found on captured Hamas computers showing it under construction.
Another: Hospitals
There has been some noise about the IDF arresting/targeting medical personel, such as the specialist doctor Nasser Almadhon.
The IDF spokesman reports that he was caught along with 89 other Hamas terrorists who turned the Kamal Adwan hospital in the north of the Gaza Strip into a military compound and even planted weapons and ammunition inside incubators!
Joint IDF and ISA announcement:
The IDF completed its activity in the area of the Kamal Adwan hospital.
Over the last few days, the IDF and ISA operated in the area of the Kamal Adwan hospital, which had been used by Hamas as a major command and control center in Jabalya. The troops apprehended approximately 80 terrorists, some of whom took part in the atrocious October 7th massacre. In addition, the troops destroyed terror infrastructure in the area and located numerous weapons including AK-47s, RPGs, explosive devices, Nukhba military equipment, technological equipment, and Hamas intelligence documents.
During the activity in the hospital, IDF and ISA forces questioned the hospital workers. The workers confessed that weapons were hidden in incubators in the NICU, incubators that were supposed to be used to treat premature babies. Following the questioning, IDF troops located weapons, classified documents, and tactical communications equipment.
Translation of the Hebrew in the video:
We are adjacent to the hospital Kamal Adwan--this building has a joint wall with the hospital.
What is here: Two Kalashnikovs, magazines for them, grenades, explosive belts, explosive materials,
Below is footage from the NICU (for premature babies)--you can see the sign as the camera enters the NICU, and finding pistols and ammunition stashed inside NICU equipment.
Bill Maher's Latest - 8 Min
Relief Area
Ack, no material today!
“Uncle Bill” above is all I have to offer.
Apologies
I finished this segment of my ulpan just now. Final exam and everything. Considering another segment. I wasn't the focused student I'd like to be. Then again, it was scheduled to start October 8.
Shavua Tov and Be Well,
Raf
(Thank you A.K.)