Nine months in. So much is happening on a daily basis it’s hard to keep up here. Since I last posted, early Sunday morning, there was a barrage of over 40 missiles shot from Lebanon into the Galilee and Golan. Red alerts were in the towns all around us, and we were able to see and hear several of the IronDome interceptions from our balcony. Several of my friends in outlying communities spent the morning in bomb shelters. The targets were military bases, but most of the rockets were headed for the myriad Arabic-speaking (Muslim, Christian, Druze) population centers. The Iron Dome anti-missile system, fortunately intercepted all the rockets except for the ones whose trajectories were destined for open fields.
Point: Hizbulla does not discriminate between Jewish and Muslim and Christian population centers. Whether their aim is bad, their weapons substandard, our defense superior, or Divine providence, very few hit their intended targets. Their rockets do more psychological damage than anything else, although I am not trying to minimize the damage to homes and businesses as well as the civilian and IDF casualties.
I’ve learned to time my comings and goings to the latest local news. It seems Hizbulla sends over armed drones and rockets in the early morning, noon, around three in the afternoon, at sunset and later at night. They have a limited reach, which has never directly affected us. When the IDF targets and kills a high level IRGC or Hizbulla official or commander, the intense drone and missile strikes are launched. This is the time we know to stay close to home just in case. Last week there were two of these volleys of 40-60 missiles targeting the Galilee and the Golan. The drones are difficult to intercept because they are mostly plastic and fly quite low avoiding detection. These military grade drones supplied by Iran can carry 88 pounds of explosives and can travel at speeds of upwards of 360 mph.
Yesterday we drove up to the mountain city of Tsfat for a medical appointment. On the way up, we saw the destruction from the missile strikes this week. (We were running really late so I couldn’t get out and photograph) Patches of the Birya Forest on the side of the mountains all the way up to the road’s edge burned out. Vineyards beautifully green with a charred area surrounding a small crater were fairly prevalent. The smell of burnt wood and sulfur still hung heavy in the air. We marveled at how close some of the missile strikes came to structures (farm buildings, a random cafe, the tomb of a holy prophet) yet did not reach them. We took another route down the mountain to try to see any signs of missile strikes, but with the flow of traffic and the steep winding roads, it was nearly impossible to pull to the side and take pictures.
Late Tuesday afternoon, early evening, I received news of a direct hit on a car carrying two passengers in the Golan Heights. The incoming missiles were from Syria and were targeting the many military bases scattered throughout the Golan.
Yesterday the names of the couple were released and their funeral held. Noa and Nir Barnes, both 46, were from Ortal, very much a suburban US style community of young families. Ortal is known for their grapes and magnificent winery as well as their cherries and fruit orchards. We frequent both. The Barnes’ car was hit at the junction which is less than a mile from my son’s base when he serves in the reserves. Nir and Noa left behind three kids, ages 16,14 and 12. Our good friend’s son was best friends with Mattan, the eldest son. So it really hits home. This is a very small country. We are all affected.
On the broader news front: 3000 missiles designated to be used by Israel in defensive ops only (everything is specified, ordered, procured, contracted out, paid for and stipulated in advance in international legal contracts) have been held up by the current US administration. High level meetings between Israel and the US have been ongoing over the past couple months in order to get the weapons delivered. Yesterday an agreement was reached which will see the delivery of 1500 midsize missiles. The larger, long range missiles are still delayed. This piece of common knowledge sends a very strong message to the enemy countries that surround us. Advanced weaponry serves as a deterrent to attack by these malign forces.
In other news: the Israeli Foreign Affairs & Defense Committee has approved three bills to curtail UNRWA. The legislation will ban the organization from operating in Israel, including in East Jerusalem. It will brand it as a terrorist organization complicit with Hamas, thus requiring Israel to cut ties. It will strip staff of UN of their legal immunity ties such as tax exempt status. This is a good thing. UNRWA has been documented explicitly as housing weapons manufacturing, terrorism, terror tunnels in Gaza. Some UNRWA workers (teachers, humanitarian aid suppliers, health care workers) have been found to have definitively harbored some of the rescued Israeli hostages. They are totally complicit.
Upon its clearing Rafah in Southern Gaza, the IDF relocated what was thought to be civilian refugees back to the center of the Strip and the Gaza City area. Neighborhoods that were previously left relatively intact by the IDF because they were Christian neighborhoods, have now been found to harbor terrorists. Whether Hamas operatives have taken over the abandoned homes, schools and some church property or whether they were present from the beginning is not clear, but areas such as the Shejaiya neighborhood have become a hotbed of Hamas fighting. More terror tunnels and weapons storage facilities are being documented in video by the IDF before they are blown up. There are far more tunnels discovered than previously thought to have existed. They serve as underground passages for Hamas to run, hide, store weapons and hide hostages. Thousands of active Hamas terrorists have been captured.
The IDF is still warning civilians in active military zones to leave by dropping leaflets telling them to leave the area. They are warning the people in advance to clear out by loudspeaker and providing military coverage and pathways to safe corridors of passage. All is being carefully filmed and documented for later use. Still, there are reports of civilians who refuse to leave or who are being used under threat as human shields by Hamas.
The Gaza Health Ministry, an arm of Hamas, continually spits out inflated, and ever-changing numbers of civilian casualties and deaths. These numbers are held as Gospel truth by many journalists, leaders and global organizations. There is never a report of Hamas killed. Many of the Hamas soldiers, who once dressed in khakis and balaclavas with their signature green headband (now chic pro-Palestinian protestor fashion) have now traded in their uniforms for civvies. They are carefully disguising themselves as refugees in order to escape detection. Urban guerrilla warfare is now the modus operendi.
Many of the buildings and almost all of the tunnels are extremely booby trapped. Different tactics are used by the terrorists to lure the Israeli soldiers into a trapped building. The IDF has used different tactics in discovering hidden explosives including aerial drones, canine units and other devices to prevent being caught. Unfortunately, they are not always successful. It is intense and difficult operationally. The most extreme caution is being taken to reduce casualties, both for the IDF soldiers and for civilians.
I am currently working on several articles with documented research and interviews. In the weeks upcoming I hope to be able to share some of my investigative work with you. In the meantime, we pray for a peaceful weekend with no action and no bad news.
Israel Dreams 