A terrorist infiltrated the city of Ashkelon Tuesday night, and it’s not clear if he came from the Gaza Strip or not. Large security forces chased him and exchanged fire with him until they eliminated him. One person was seriously injured in the attack. It is clear, then, that despite IDF announcements that southern Israel has been cleansed of terrorist invaders, on Wednesday, the fifth day of fighting, reality is suggesting otherwise.
As the death count continues to rise––it’s at 1,200 this morning––the IAF continues to carpet bomb Gaza, as the infantry and armored corps are getting ready to move in. Meanwhile, the IDF has been repelling attacks on Israel in the north and south.
Also: the first US plane loaded with “advanced ammunition” landed at the Nevatim Air Force base. We hope by “advanced ammunition” they mean bunker-busting bombs which to date the US has refused to supply Israel. But with the entire Hamas leadership in hiding underground in their tunnels, perhaps the Pentagon has decided it was time to fumigate.
The 52nd Battalion of the 401st Brigade of the Armored Corps killed 3 terrorists in an encounter near Zikim late Tuesday night. One of the terrorists was run over by a tank, and 2 more were shot from the same tank in more traditional fashion.
There’s an IDF video online showing the commander of the Paratroopers’ 101st Battalion standing over the bodies of the terrorists who were killed in one of the kibbutzim in the Gaza Strip and saying: “This is how every incident in which terrorists try to attack the IDF forces and harm the citizens of Israel will end.”
אשקלון.. pic.twitter.com/lJYz3hHQBb
— יוני בן מנחם yoni ben menachem (@yonibmen) October 9, 2023
For the first time since the outbreak of the war, there were several launches from Syrian territory into Israeli territory Tuesday night, some of them crossed into Israeli territory and apparently landed in an open area. IDF forces responded with artillery and mortar fire at the source inside Syrian territory.
In the neighborhood of Ha’Shiloach (Silwan) in eastern Jerusalem, there were violent riots that included shooting fireworks and throwing stones from a short distance at Border Guard officers. One officer was hurt. The thing is, the rioters probably didn’t know about the change in the rules of engagement, and were shocked to see two of them getting shot and killed on the spot. They should tell their friends – the Jews be crazy.
Or, as the police put it: “Any attempt to disturb public order, to harm and cause injury while the fighting is going on in the southern region, will be met with a determined response and zero tolerance. Anyone who chooses to endanger the police or fellow citizens is putting his life at risk.”
Israeli Police announce killing two Palestinian protestors in East Jerusalem’s Silwan neighborhood, for using fireworks. pic.twitter.com/zSFEqFRxlW
— Chika Austine (@Chikaustine) October 11, 2023
NBC News reported that the United States is working to create a humanitarian corridor to allow civilians to leave the Gaza Strip for Egypt, in preparation for the IDF ground operation. Question: how do you make sure the Hamasniks won’t put on a hijab and flee masquerading as frightened women? This is how we got the thriving Nazi community in Argentina in the late 1940s.
Incidentally, several Israeli experts on Arab affairs have been making the rounds on local and foreign television explaining that despite what the Egyptians, Saudis, and the Emirates are saying against Israel’s plowing the Gaza cityscape, they are all rooting for the Jews, because to them, Hamas is just another name for the Muslim Brotherhood which is a threat to all the pro-Western Arab regimes.
At 4:12 AM Wednesday, another wave of IAF warplanes attacked more than 200 targets throughout the al-Furqan neighborhood in Gaza, according to the IDF spokesman. It was the third attack on this area during the last day, during which the IAF attacked more than 450 targets altogether in the neighborhood.
The neighborhood is named after the Sura of Al-Furqan which is a reference to the Torah that says, “We sent Moses the Book, and appointed his brother Aaron with him as minister” (Sura 25, verse 35).
Well, Gaza folks, Moses and Aaron are back, and they’re riding a fiery chariot full of death.
According to the IDF Spokesman, Israeli aircraft destroyed an advanced detection system that was developed by Hamas, which was used to detect incoming aircraft over the Gaza Strip. Over the years, Hamas had established a network of high-quality cameras, hidden inside solar heaters throughout the Gaza Strip, to identify and track Israeli aircraft. On Tuesday, in a matter of minutes, one IAF squad attacked all the locations associated with this detection network and deprived Hamas of its ability to produce a wide sky image in an attempt to attack aircraft. It’s back to counting the booms, now.
Finally: since 2006, the IDF has avoided attacking Hezbollah terrorists on Lebanese soil and invested great efforts to avoid doing so on Syrian soil either, knowing that Hezbollah would not be complacent about seeing its people getting killed.
This time around, Hezbollah stated that it would respond to the killing of its people, and the big question that worried Israel was whether the skirmishes of the past few days along the Lebanese border would escalate and get out of control, to the point of an all-out campaign in the north, with tens of thousands of rockets laying waste to Haifa and the entire Galilee, God forbid.
But with the IDF today being as prepared as it has ever been, having called in an estimated 360,000 reservists, and with backing from one, possibly two US aircraft carriers nearing the Israeli shore, this may be the optimal moment for a resounding preemptive attack on Hezbollah’s stock of some 100,000 rockets. Many experts in Israel have been saying that the only way to facilitate an effective blow to Iran’s nuclear threat is by destroying the Hezbollah threat first.
In fact, many in Israel are now saying that if the IDF does not wage war on Hezbollah now, Israelis may be asking in the future why the security apparatus had failed to take advantage of this rare opportunity.
Interestingly, and perhaps because they are aware of Israel’s new paradigm of no holds barred against the enemies, Hezbollah on Tuesday informed the Lebanese government that under no circumstances are they planning to strike first against Israel.
Let Moses and Aaron pour their fury on Amalek up north.
