Mazal tov to us! After welcoming a happy, healthy grandchild #7 in late March (we were there in the States), another daughter just had her second last week. That brings the grand total to 8… so far.

Up here in the North of Israel things are relatively quiet. The IDF has had to go into southern Lebanon repeatedly to destroy Hizbulla and their weapons caches as they try to rebuild and re-arm. They have broken their side of the ceasefire over and over again despite the established government vowing they would not be allowed to establish a foothold. Yet they keep trying. What else is new? And the army stays entrenched there instead of backing down and allowing another 7 October from the North.

We are still waiting for news of a hostage release and ceasefire in Gaza. Unfortunately Hamas will only allow 10 live and 15 dead captives to be returned. This is out of 50 hostages still being held there. They refuse to disarm. They refuse to relinquish control of the Strip. And they are asking for over 1000 terrorists (convicted) to be released from Israeli prisons. Most people here are hoping the IDF will clear the area of terrorists and somehow retrieve the hostages before hostilities end.

The Houthis in Yemen sank two tankers in the Red Sea last week. One was flying a Liberian flag. The other was from the Balkans. At least 19 crew members were killed from both boats. And these Houthi rebels keep firing on the shipping lanes and sending ICBMs toward Israel. Every day. It never stops. Most fall short or are intercepted before they can reach Israel.

I plan on covering all that’s been going on in Judaea and Samaria (West Bank), but since that is a whole subject in and of itself, I’ll save that for next week. Earlier today, another deadly terror attack happened. This time at the Gush Etzion junction. Two Palestinian terrorists – OK, they were security guards for the PA – opened fire murdering a border control IDF officer, Shalev Zvuluny, z”l. They were quickly neutralized by armed civilians. We’ve just learned those Palestinian Authority Police were trained in Qatar. Does this surprise? These ‘security officers’ of the PA are fully backed by international support as peacekeepers. And there is talk about letting them have control of Gaza after Hamas is removed from power. I don’t think so….

In other news, it’s heavy into the wedding season here. It’s crazy amazing that so many young couples are tying the knot and quickly starting new families. Some would think it counter-intuitive being there is a war going on.

Sapir Cohen was held in Hamas captivity for 55 days.shasha Trouvanov was hostage in Gaza for almost 500 days. They were both taken hostage from Kibbutz Nir Oz on 7 October, 2023. Yesterday they announced their engagement. From days of darkness to a future filled with light and love, their story is one of strength, hope and love…and the refusal to let evil win. Wish wish them a lifetime of joy and many, many children.

Einat Danino, a 47 year old Orthodox Jewish mother whose son Ori was taken hostage by Hamas and then murdered in captivity, just completed her IDF basic training. She chose to enlist in a special unit for Orthodox women. “It is the most meaningful way to honor my son’s service,” she stated.

A really weird story: Liri Albag, one of the IDF soldier girls who was abducted, spending almost a year and a half in the tunnels of Gaza, went to the US a month ago to meet with the President and other figures was stopped at JFK Airport in NY on her way home. Ironically her name was still on the hostage list due to a computer glitch. She was on some sort of no fly list and held for hours undergoing questioning. The Israeli Consulate stepped in to straighten the matter out… anyway, Liri re-enlisted in the IDF this week to finish up her service. Nothing can keep her down!

Former hostage, Romi Gonen was finally discharged fully from the hospital after 6 months. She was shot in the hand and kidnapped from the Nova festival, then operated on by a veterinarian while in a Gaza hospital. Freed last January, she has undergone two major surgeries at Sheba. She will need one more, scheduled for the upcoming months.

And for the heartbreaking: Avraham Azulay,25, married his childhood sweetheart, Ruth only two months ago. A carpenter and engineer, he built their home by his own hands. Right afterwards he was deployed into a reserve unit in Gaza. He fell heroically fighting the terrorists who ambushed him and tried to take him hostage, Avraham fought them off, however was sadly killed in the battle. Ruth is also mourning a sibling who fell last year.

In addition, 7 more of our soldiers were killed in action in Gaza this week with scores wounded. May their memories be for a blessing and their sacrifice not be in vain.

In the last couple weeks I’ve had several friends share memes and video clips with me that they’ve downloaded from social media. All of them are about top secret classified Mossad developments in military technology: one clip shows a robot army ready to fight any world army; another secret micro bees, flies, roaches and mosquitos equipped with micro cameras. They are able to infiltrate anywhere and can explode on command. How about the dog that brings his master a bone, drops it at his feet, leaves and the bone explodes? There are some other really crazy ones out there. Thing is they are ALL AI generated. Most started circulating around the time of the Hizbulla beepers. Most originally had Hebrew subtitles (now in English and Spanish) and were spoofs. Completely fake. Great deep fakes, but completely untrue untrue nonetheless. So please be careful what you watch and what you believe.

Just think: if Israel could keep the entire beeper and walkie talkie operation under wraps for a decade and if Mossad and the IDF can keep their Iran plans a secret, do you think these top secret videos be leaked to the internet on TikTok or Instagram? Please – as we say in Israel: Don’t be a freier (gullible Gus).