There have been a few new developments since my morning post that I thought needed to be addressed. First, the border crossing at Rafah is being opened for some people. Beneficiaries include about 80 injured Palestinians whom Hamas is allowing to be transferred to medical facilities in Egyptian territory. Another category of people allowed to … More Gaza War 1 Nov – part 2
This morning two of the bigger international networks demonstrated how poorly they understand what is happening in Gaza. Yesterday Israeli forces attacked the Jebalya ‘refugee’ camp. It’s a UNRWA facility originally set up to provide housing for Arab refugees. Almost all such camps, originally created to provide ‘temporary’ homes for refugees of the 1948-9 war … More Gaza War 1 Nov
Yesterday listening to the report of the IDF spokesman was a morale boosting experience. He did not give details of the operation, but simply reported the results. A force of from various units, mostly the elite, succeeded in rescuing one female soldier from Hamas captivity. Only one from a total of over 200 isn’t a … More Gaza War 31 Oct
The ID ground campaign is moving forward slowly. Probably out of a desire to avoid casualties to several relevant groups: IDF soldiers, Hamas held hostages, and Gazan civilians. With regard to the latter, the IDF is even using mobile loudspeakers to call upon civilians to get out of the fighting zone. Such efforts aren’t enough … More Gaza War 30 Oct
I live in Israel. When the heinous Hamas attack occurred I was at home. As information arrived and the situation became more clear I began posting a daily update on my Facebook page for my very close friends and relatives. I have now taken those daily reports and placed them on my blog, more or … More Gaza War – About the posts
The long anticipated IDF ground operation in Gaza has commenced. At this point there is little hard fact news about what they have done or are doing. It is unlikely that there will be any such data for a while. We can only hope that they are able to locate and release all the hostages … More Gaza War 29 Oct
Iranian arms storage facilities in Syria were bombed yesterday. That’s not something new. Israel has been doing it regularly. What’s different is that the attackers were American. The strike came in response to many attacks by rockets and drones on US base facilities in Iraq and Syria. To use American phrasing – Iran’s fingerprints were … More Gaza War 27 Oct
As I have already noted, Hamas is trying to revert to an old formula that has the world intervene to protect them. It’s cloaked in “humanitarian crisis” terms, and the loudest voices on the block are from the UN representatives (in Gaza, these are almost all Arabs). It means that Hamas vetted pictures are going … More Gaza War 26 Oct
Israel has refrained from launching the long expected ground operation for another day. Hamas tried to provoke the IDF last night by sending a terrorist squad in boats to attack the coastal village of Zikim. But the Israeli Navy and Air Force found them, and killed all 10 before they could reach the civilian residents. … More Gaza War 25 Oct
Two elderly women that had been kidnapped by Hamas on Oct 7th were released. Hamas continues to hold over 200 others captive. Why release these 2 now? My analysis from yesterday seems to provide the answer, and it was confirmed in an interview I just watched on Sky News of Hamas spokesman Khaled Mashaal. The … More Gaza War 24 Oct
Wetherhorn 