Carolyne's thoughts on the war
ICarolyne is in England at the moment where she is celebrating the delivery of a new granddaughter. Sadly she is also not well with pneumonia but despite that she has written this piece. Thank you Carolyne
With devastating consequences Israel has made two mistakes : Firstly they underestimated the brutality of Hamas and secondly they allowed the enemy to think we are fragmented and weak. The illusion of power, strength and unity kept the enemy at bay. That has now been smashed and we must rebuild the fear that kept Israel safe for so many years. We must especially now make Hezbollah terrified to touch us.
The entity that rules Gaza and has done since the disastrous handover in 2005 has had 20 years to build a terrorist army and to brain wash the next generation that peace with Israel is somehow anti Islamic and treachery. Those born in the last 25 years have known nothing but war and hatred, drilled into them from the kindergarten. Israel was foolish to think they could contain the situation long term and the internal conflict in the country had sent a message to embolden the enemy.
Hamas has morphed into an ISIS like organisation without even the modern day normal rules of war engagement being respected. Israel must understand they are dealing with a primitive army that will harm and torture civilians without impunity.
The first priority for the IDF must be locate the hostages and free as many as possible. It is reported that the hostages held in the dining room in Kibbutz Be’eri have been freed and while it is understand there are still terrorists at large in the South, at least the IDF are in the area and are starting to bring it back under control. As of Sunday morning fighting was continuing in the village of Kissufim and clashes were reported from Yated, K’far Aza and kibbutz Be’eri . The IDF is currently chasing a Hamas armed vehicle north from Gaza.
The simultaneous incursions and air strikes caught Israel by complete surprise not dissimilar to the Yom Kippur war, when a lot of the country were either praying or sleeping as this time it was Simchat Torah and Shabbat. Hopefully, this time , we will not listen to the US and destroy Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Pressure must be put onto Egypt to take the area of Gaza and put it under their control.
From initial reports it seem despite all the security and alarms they managed to blow up the security fence in 29 different locations and invade, heading straight for the kibbutzim and small communities in the Gaza corridor. At the same time they let lose 2000 rockets on the country. Several direct hits caused death and injury in the centre of the country.
The ethos of the kibbutz is peace and sharing and they do not have much security, with people coming and going all day long. They were quickly overwhelmed with devastating consequences.
Houses were set on fire and unarmed people shot in cold blood. Hostages were taken, especially from an open air party of teenagers. It is estimated that more than 100 have been transferred to Gaza.
An extensive Mobilisation of reservists have been called up and a second planned invasion by Hamas has been thwarted.
The shelters are open in all areas and Ashkelon is coming under heavy air attack with one building suffering a direct hit and another in Tel Aviv being hit.
The numbers are confusing but there are hundreds dead (approx 350) and around 2,000 injured, some critically. 4 more people have been injured in the last hour from a rocket in Sderot.
On a personal note our grandchildren are very scared being on a kibbutz and knowing a lot of other kibbutznik kids who have been caught in this terrible nightmare. They are however, out of the area being close to Eilat and are safe. School is cancelled across the whole country and easy jet cancelled their flights this morning.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the brave IDF who are currently battling the enemy and trying to clear them from the country. May G-d give them the strength and advantage to win the battle.
DAY 2
My facebook feed has become a continuous post of those murdered or missing after the surprise massacre carried out by Hamas in the last 36 hours. It is now too much to process so quickly.
The nightmare that has unfolded highlights a massive intelligence failure on the part of Israel. It is thought that a cyber attack was unleashed that blocked the alarm signals from the security barrier. It was well planned and co-ordinated by Hamas and the latest death toll is 700 plus , more than 2,000 injured and 100 taken to Gaza as hostages.
So many families are sitting in grief tonight, while others are praying for the safe return of their kidnapped family. Most families have members that have been called up to fight.
The entire country is traumatised. The government doesn’t know what has hit them as an attack like this is totally unprecedented.
The response will likely also be unprecedented. Israeli planes have destroyed 800 Hamas targets but this time we must not be lulled into an early ceasefire and must finish Hamas and Islamic Jihad permanently. Every time Israel is attacked the world urges caution and proportional responses and this is the result of years of pulling back and letting a murderous organisation strengthen beneath our noses.
The world must fully side with Israel now and support her to the end, not just lip service for a few days. We can see how vital Israel is to give Jewish people a homeland and how easily we could have another Shoah. Some of the videos today were carbon copies of Nazi Germany. Small children being beaten and humiliated and called “dirty Jew”.
What happened to Never Again ? A Jewish State is not good enough, we must have a strong Jewish State and in recent months we have seen the people fractured and divided. Now we must be together and hold each close, regardless of politics or religious preferences. Everyone must give the government full support to destroy the enemy and bring the hostages home where they belong.
Those of us overseas at this time, can only watch on in horror . If you wish to donate to MDA , here is the link: If you can please donate to Magen David Adom (MDA).
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