Last night was the first night in the past four nights when we were not awakened at 2am by the sound of the red alert on my phone or the booms of Iron Dome intercepting missiles in our area. One long range missile shot from Lebanon made it as far as the central coast cities from Netanya to Tel Aviv/Jaffa before it got shot down by David’s Sling. The Iranian proxy claimed their target was Mossad HQ in Tel-Aviv.

The Hizbulla launches up north resumed at about 7am, and there have been two barrages in the last eight hours: one large salvo of about 40 shot down over the Tsfat/Rosh Pina vicinity (see cool photos below). Several people were treated for shock and anxiety. A small cottage in an assisted living neighborhood in Tsfat was hit directly by a missile. The tenants were abroad at the time. The other a small volley of 4 missiles right overhead…Misgav, Yodfat, Moreshet, Rakefet.

In the past 24 hours, the Israeli Air Force has attacked Hizbulla targets round the clock. Using 250 jet fighters, nearly 3,000 launch pads, weapons storage facilities, homes housing missiles, military warehouses, ammunition manufacturing sites have been eliminated. All but the top three Hizbulla heads of command have been killed, including their rocket and missiles division commander, Ibrahim Qubasi, killed in an IAF strike on Beirut.

To quote Gabe E., a retired military general in his latest post, “The hard truth is that Hezbollah and its leader, despite suffering significant setbacks, has no intention of surrendering. On the contrary, Hezbollah is now more determined than ever to demonstrate its resilience and ability to strike against Israel, even after thousands of its operatives have been injured along with the recent assassinations of its last two chiefs of staff and top Radwan Force leaders. Hassan Nasrallah is not only driven by a desire for revenge, but also seeks to restore his lost honor – an essential concept in the Middle East. But he has no one to communicate with. In a scene straight out of a bad sitcom, our ‘hero’ finds himself in quite the pickle. With all three of his four military deputies mysteriously killed, his only surviving deputy is MIA, playing hide and seek someplace. But wait! He can’t use his phone because Mossad is listening while at the same time, a guided missile is tracking the number. And the only other communication device he had a bipper[sic], just turned into confetti thanks to an unfortunate encounter with a rogue explosive. His trusty walkie-talkie is gone too. And let’s not even talk about his donkey, who’s currently experiencing a case of explosive diarrhea – more concerned about the loud booms in Beirut’s Damien district than the national crisis at hand. He’s left with only one option: smoke signals! But to whom? Meanwhile Maj. Gen. Hussein Salami, commander in the IRGC is busy conducting a covert operation to find Israeli spies. Little does he know that the real espionage is happening in the form of his own deputies playing hide and seek at a nearby shawarma stand.”

Several of the Israelis we have spoken with feel that Hizbulla has been fairly emasculated in many ways. Even though they constantly boasted of having over 150,000 short and long range precision guided missiles; despite the fact that two months ago they posted satellite images of Israel’s soft and hard targets in the North, their military capabilities have been truncated. This renders them gravely injured, but not completely incapacitated. The terror organization has had its top leaders killed and its communications rendered useless. Yet they are still very dangerous.

A big question now is who else will get involved? The US is sending more troops and the. U.S.S. harry Truman to our rescue. (🤢) Nasrallah is hoping Iran will enter the fight and save their skins. Hizbulla has officially declared all out war on Israel “ in defense of Lebanon and its people.” Last Wednesday, Israeli officials and Western diplomat told left-of-center Axios, that Nasrallah urged the Iranian regime to carry out a revenge attack on Israel in retaliation for the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. The answer came back “the timing isn’t right.”

New Iranian President, Mahmoud Pezeshkian, speaking at the UN General Assembly, said that Iran would avoid “Israel’s trap” of escalating the Hizbulla conflict into a broader war. Yet the terror organization is fully funded by and receives its arms and munitions from Iran. The exiled Iranian crown Prince, Rehza Pahlavi, has called for action to overthrow the evil Islamic-controlled theocracy. He is calling on the world to take action while Iran is distracted by events to the south.

In the meantime, it seems as if the ground has been softened by the IAF for the next phase of Operation Northern Arrows to begin- IDF boots on the ground. Two extra battalions have been called up and are fully trained and ready to go in. They know of the massive terror tunnel network (even more extensive than those in Gaza). The IDF is now battle trained and equipped to dismantle those. They understand that the Iranian proxies will be using very powerful Iranian made anti tank missiles and anti ship missiles and RPGs.

Ending this post now, as there is a Zoom meeting being offered to give us strength and build resilience during this time. There are so many programs now in Israel on how to reduce stress levels and navigate this time both individually and with families. Clinics all have 24 hour open help lines to assist people in emotional or mental anxiety or distress. The psychologist will be discussing how to avoid and deal with PTSD. Should be interesting.

L’hitraot….until next time.