Wetherhorn

First, I have to say that all of us are okay.  We have 2 grandsons on active duty, but neither, as far as we know, is anywhere near the fighting.

That said, I’ll continue with that we experienced when it all started. I was in the synagogue at about 0800 when we were told there is a security alert and everyone needed to move to the protected space on the lowest level and remain away from the windows. Some people heard a warning siren, but with all the crowd milling around, I did not.  As soon as the alert was lifted I went home. It was still Sabbath, so we remained isolated from the world; no TV, no radio, no computer.  At this tie Hamas was firing rockets at targets all over the country. We heard explosions when the defensive Iron Dome missiles intercepted some of them.

 After sun down we heard the first real reports. Our village has an emergency communications net on cell-phones and we were able to turn on the TV. These sources brought us up to date regarding the invasion. I should also mention that we are in a village/town about 11 miles south of Jerusalem. That’s far from the Gaza strip which was the site of the fighting. There were still lots of rockets, and occasionally we heard more explosions, but not near us. IDF aircraft passed overhead frequently, headed south.

The picture that gradually emerged was that Israel had been taken completely by surprise. A couple of IDF border positions were overrun. Hamas terrorists headed across the border in large numbers. The initial wave captured about 8 kibbutzim and villages along the border and some terrorists made it into several other locations. The planning and execution of the attack seemed well done, but their logistics was not at the same level. Most Hamas terrorists are organized into para-military units and receive extensive training with weapons. The initial attackers apparently came with limited ammunition, no first aid kits, and no extra water. But they came with lots of morale, shouting “Allahu Akbar” as they crossed the fence line. Some other Gaza residents who were not part of the organized units followed them. Many came in white pick-up trucks. Others on motorbikes, and at least 2 dropped in on hang gliders.

The group that attacked one kibbutz went from house to house and systematically killed everyone they found. In other places they took hostages. There was a secular youth RAVE outside of one location with several hundreds of young people in attendance. They thought the first rockets were fireworks that were part of the event. The terrorists opened fire on them. There was a panic. Many tried to flee to their cars, parked on a nearby road. The Hamas terrorists shot and killed them. The cars were set afire. Most of the Israeli dead came from this site. About 250 of them found shelter in a culvert under the main road. They were not discovered, and were rescued a day later.

The overall picture at the end of the first day was total confusion. It did not last long.

The IDF ordered an emergency call up of reservists. Regular forces streamed into the area and began to establish order. Civilians were ordered to remain in their homes. School was cancelled. Wounded were being evacuated to hospitals, some as far away as Tel Aviv or Jerusalem. The IDF began hunting down the terrorists, complicated by the fact that more Hamas fighters kept coming across the border through tunnels that we should have known were there.

The offensive action of the IDF was limited to air strikes. These were still being carried out with the standard warnings to Gaza civilian residents to evacuate targeted buildings and neighborhoods. We also cut off electricity from Israel, and would have closed the border crossing station if it had still existed. Hamas destroyed it as part of their initial attack.  In any case, none of the trucks usually traveling the route with fuel or food went from Israel into Gaza

A handful of wanna-be terrorists showed up at various locations all over the country. There was a knife attack in one place, an attempt to run over people at the gate of another village, and a couple of shooting incidents. One took place at Kibbutz Migdal Oz, about 2 miles SW of us.

As I write this there are still reports of a few terrorists still inside 4 of the populated places on our side of the Gaza fence.

Now for the political/national background: Hamas has ALWAYS refused to recognize Israel. They don’t conduct direct talks with Isreli representative, only via Egyptian intermediaries. They totally control media outlets in Gaza. At first, they let news networks, like Al-Jazeera, send photos of damaged structures in Gaza, accompanied by complaints of many civilian casualties. Today, no photography is being allowed, possibly because of the extent of the damage. Anything you see from Gaza has passed Hamas censorship. That’s important to remember.

It seems counter-intuitive for Hamas to launch a real invasion of Israel. One would think they know haw inferior their military wing really is when compared to the IDF. But wars are launched for POLITICAL objectives. There are several of these that might have prompted their decision.

1. It is possible that they believe their own propaganda and that they expected an uprising by Palestinians, possibly aided by other outside elements like Lebanese Hizbullah.
2. They may have planned a scenario where the UN or other international bodies or individual countries would intervene and halt Israeli actions before they suffered too much. This has been a pattern they have successfully used in the past.
3. They may have prepared for a long discussion, via third parties, to gain objectives they set for themselves. They have asked for the release of all Hamas prisoners held in Israeli prisons.
4. The whole game might be a show to prevent an Israeli-Saudi rapprochement.

israel War