Ramadan starts in less than 3 weeks. The month long period of daytime fasting for Muslims, ending with the ‘Eid al-Fitr holiday, is a major feature of the Muslim lunar calendar year. It often means going to the mosque for prayers rather than praying elsewhere. The security implications for Israel regarding prayers at the El … More Gaza War 22 Feb
The brief break in the news about Sinwar being in Egypt seems to have died down. All the potential official sources for the story are saying it isn’t true and that they do not know where he is. There is a new lead item to replace it. The US vetoed a Security Council Resolution (remember, … More Gaza War 21 Feb
Is Sinwar still in Gaza? That’s the question raised by an article in a Saudi newspaper that claims to have the information from an Israeli source. Of course, it’s all speculation. But raising the possibility will definitely result in a lot of tongues wagging. Expect the Egyptians to deny the possibility. They have an interest … More Gaza War 20 Feb
A number of countries are sitting on the sidelines and wringing their hands over the numbers of “civilian” casualties in Gaza and approaching humanitarian disaster there. They are also self-righteously giving gratuitous advice to Israel about not advancing troops into Rafah, This is the same Rafah where it appears the Hamas leaders are hiding, and … More Gaza War 19 Feb
Martin Griffiths is the chief of UN Relief. Sky News interviewed him. He made a few statements that appear to be pretty stupid. Obviously, he doesn’t know much about terrorists or counterinsurgency. I hope he knows more about providing aid. He said “Hamas is not a terrorist group for us, as you know, it’s a … More Gaza War 18 Feb
The Nasr Hospital in Khan Yunis has been a target for IDF intervention. Israeli intelligence has what it believes to be credible information that hostages, and bodies of hostages, are located inside (or under) the hospital. The footage in the reports aired by CNN show a lot of destruction and damage and are accompanied … More Gaza War 16 Feb
The UN Human Rights Council tried to send an envoy to Israel. Israel refused to allow him to enter. UNHCR is one of the most biased branches of the entire UN organization, right up there with UNRWA, Look at the membership list. There are 47 countries, and it includes some with the worst human rights … More Gaza War 15 Feb
There are some other items that I want to mention. Israel’s international credit rating at Moody’s (one of 3 companies that publish them) dropped from A1 to A2. That would usually reflect a weaker economy. But immediately after that there was a new issue of Israel Bonds to raise money. It was oversubscribed before the … More Gaza War 14 Feb – 2
This morning we get to see the aftermath of that heroic hostage rescue. On CNN they were blaming Israel for the many casualties that resulted from the rescue operation. The number 100 was mentioned a lot. I first heard 100 as a Hamas estimate. Hamas later lowered their number to 40-50. It may have gone … More Gaza War 13 Feb
Wetherhorn 