One of the concerns about the extended pause in the fighting was that it would give Hamas time to regroup and re arm. At least part of that was true. In the first 24 hours after the shooting started again Hamas launched several rockets. Prior to the pause the number of rockets launched at Israeli towns and cities had dwindled considerably. Some of the rockets from the newest round were aimed at Gush Etzion, where I live. We heard 2 loud explosions when Iron Dome interceptors took out rockets that were en route to our area. There were also some smaller booms from interceptions that were further away.
Meanwhile, the cries about humanitarian crisis were becoming louder. It was almost like Israel was being blamed for being able to better defend her citizens. Of course Hamas could have protected all the people in Gaza by not attacking Israel in the first place. But since they did, they try to make their callous indifference to what happens to their own population into a public relations weapon. Israel directed civilians to leave the northern part of the Gaza Strip and go to the south west. Now Hamas is trying to move them to the east so that they will be areas where the IDF is expected to attack. The media, and several heads of state wring their hands and complain about innocent Palestinian civilians, but they were less vociferous about Hamas massacring Israelis, and remain almost silent about the rape of Israeli women during that first day.
I’ve had some friend requests as a result of my war diary posts being shared. They were rejected because I use Facebook primarily for family contacts. The war reports also appear on my Easter Egg Fleet blog. Anyone interested can follow me there.
Final note: The American destroyer, USS Carney, shot down 2 drones sent to attack shipping off Yemen by the Iranian controlled Houthi regime. The Houthis have been attacking shipping frequently. The US seems to be very reluctant to respond in kind. Saudi sources reported that at least two facilities in Sana’a, at least one of which was a missile storage magazine, were destroyed by “mysterious” explosions. According to the Saudi source, this was an Israeli operation. In Israel there has been no mention of this.
Wetherhorn 